Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 14:42:36|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close PARIS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and eight others injured in an apartment fire in the eastern French city of Mulhouse Sunday night, French media reported. The fire erupted in the stairwell and 50 firefighters were dispatched to the scene before the fire was brought under control, according to national TV network BFMTV. Mulhouse is the second-largest city in the Alsace region. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 14:52:38|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close CANBERRA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A horror flu season has resulted in the deaths of 116 people in an Australian state's aged care system, it has been revealed. The Victorian Government on Monday pledged an additional 89.9 million U.S. dollars for the state's health system to help it deal with the deadly influenza virus. Jill Hennessy, Victoria's health minister, confirmed that the aged care death toll had risen to 116, up from 95 in mid-September. An eight-year-old girl died in September after falling ill with the flu while Sarah Hawthorn, 33, remains in a coma with the disease having given birth while in the coma. "We have had over 14,000 notifications of influenza this year in Victoria - that is more than double what we had last year," Hennessy told reporters in Melbourne on Monday. "We are being advised that the flu season may have peaked, but we'd like to see some greater evidence of that because, certainly, the demand on our health system continues." The additional funding will be shared between the state's public hospitals and rural nursing centers. Hennessy on Monday said she had written to federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, urging him to install a national vaccination program. Lou Irving, a respiratory medicine doctor at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), said he supported the push for a national program. "This has been a perfect storm; there've been three separate viruses circulating," Irving told Australian media. "There's a cohort of unvaccinated people, including young children, that have been spreading the illness. "There's a peak and it's beginning to drop, fingers crossed... although there is 'background flu' now even out of season." Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 15:12:42|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese diplomatic services around the world celebrate the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China which falls on Oct. 1, wishing China prosperous and strong, and the world peaceful and flourishing. Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui said at the National Day reception held in Moscow that since 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), under the party's leadership, the country has proposed a series of major strategies and completed some tremendous events which were used to be incapable of being done in the past. China is willing to implement with Russia the consensus reached by the two nations' leaders, continuously enhance the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation, to yield more tangible fruits and to bring benefits to the two peoples, Li said. Chinese Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye said at the National Day reception that the upcoming 19th CPC National Congress will have great and profound impact on China's future development and its relations with the world. Looking to embrace the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Cheng said, China stands ready to work with Australia to foster bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership. "Guo Qing Jie Kuai Le! (Happy National Day!)" Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives David Carter expressed his greeting in Chinese language at the National Day reception held at China's Embassy in New Zealand. Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Lutong said that China's achievements in various fields make its people proud and that China's prosperity is important to the Asian-Pacific region even the world as a whole. Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong said at the National Day reception in Seoul that China pursues independent and peaceful foreign policy, and sets a good example by maintaining world peace and pushing for common development. China sincerely looks forward to communicating with South Korea and other parties to explore an effective plan to properly settle differences and resolve difficulties, and to remove obstacles for improving China-South Korea relations as soon as possible and for better evolvement of bilateral ties, Qiu said. Ri Kil Song, vice foreign minister of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and government officials, as well as foreign ambassadors and representatives of international organizations among others attended the Chinese National Day reception held in Pyongyang. Chinese Ambassador to the DPRK Li Jinjun said the CPC and Chinese government are willing, jointly with the DPRK side, to make efforts to promote China-DPRK friendly cooperation relations and contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the region. In Tokyo, some 2,000 people, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Foreign Minister Taro Kono, former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and other government officials, as well as lawmakers, friendly groups, overseas Chinese and employees of Chinese enterprises, among others, attended a ceremony marking China's National Day at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo. The ceremony took place a day before China and Japan mark the 45th anniversary of the normalization of the two countries' diplomatic ties. At the reception held in Italy, a TV documentary on China's Belt and Road Initiative has sparked applaud among guests. They were also impressed by Pipa (a Chinse lute or guitar) playing and ink painting at the scene. Chinese Ambassador to Somalia Tan Jianri held the first National Day reception in the African country since the civil war erupted there in 1991. He assured guests that China will forever be Africa's good friend, partner and brother. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 15:17:45|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's proven gold reserves reached 12,100 tonnes at the end of 2016, making it the world's second largest gold holder after South Africa. Zhang Yongtao, vice chairman of the China Gold Association (CGA), revealed the figure at a press briefing. Last year, total gold transactions in the Chinese market, including trading at gold exchanges, futures exchanges and the over-the-counter gold in commercial banks, reached 70,000 tonnes, said Zhang, who expected the volume to exceed 100,000 tonnes by 2020. China has been the world's biggest gold producer for 10 years and the largest gold consumer for four years. It aims to increase its annual gold output to 500 tonnes by 2020 from around 450 tonnes currently. In the first half of this year, a total of 207 tonnes of gold were produced, down 9.8 percent from a year ago, according to the CGA. Meanwhile, gold consumption rose nearly 10 percent year on year to 545 tonnes in the six-month period, with consumption of gold bars up more than 50 percent. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 15:32:50|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close KABUL, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday afternoon and held a meeting with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to discuss issues of mutual interests, said a statement of the presidential palace on Monday. "In the meeting, a variety of issues including the war on terror, regional security, bilateral relations, peace and stability, trade and transit relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan were discussed," the statement said. The visit of Pakistan's top military official to Kabul came amid increasing militancy in Afghanistan and Washington's new strategy on the conflict-hit country where the United States has been experiencing its longest war in its history. President Ghani stressed at the meeting the importance of taking practical steps to consolidate trust and confident environment between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the statement said. Pakistan Army Chief of Staff General Bajwa said at the meeting that his country "would provide any cooperation in war on terrorism and supports an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace talks," it added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 16:08:01|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Yukio Edano, deputy president of the effectively disbanded main opposition Democratic Party, will form a new political party comprising liberal members, local media quoted informed sources as saying Monday. The members of the new party will be made up of those who will likely be excluded from running on Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's Party of Hope ticket in the general election. Democratic Party President Seiji Maehara has said that his members would be allowed to run in the Oct. 22 lower house election with Koike's Kibo no To (Party of Hope). The alliance between both parties was agreed upon by their leaders to better stand against the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Koike, however, has said that she will vet the Democratic Party candidates wanting to run on her party's ticket to ensure they share the same views on issues of national security and amending the constitution, among others. Observers have said that Koike will likely exclude Democratic Party candidates who hold particularly liberal views, with Edano stating that it is necessary to form a new party for Democrats who still uphold the party's principles. Democratic Party Vice President Shoichi Kondo, Akira Nagatsuma, who chairs the party's election campaign committee, and Hirotaka Akamatsu, a former vice speaker of the lower house, are expected to join Edano's party, Kyodo News quoted sources close to the matter as saying. Koike's Party of Hope will announce later this week its list of candidates, which is expected to comprise around 200 names, half of whom are from the moribund Democratic Party. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 16:23:03|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close TEHRAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chief of the General Staff of Turkey Hulusi Akar discussed military and security issues with his Iranian counterpart on Monday, official IRNA news agency reported. During the meeting, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri and Akar held talks on regional developments, fight against terrorism and joint border security issues. The two sides also reviewed defense ties and previously made agreements between Tehran and Ankara. The Turkish commander's visit to Tehran comes at the official invitation of Baqeri and in response to his August visit to Ankara. The Iraqi Kurdish region's recent vote for secession from Iraq was also on the agenda of their talks, according to Tasnim news agency. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 16:28:05|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- A mass shooting occurred outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada Sunday night during a concert, resulting in multiple casualties, local media reported. In video clips posted online, the sound of an automatic weapon being fired can be heard. It was reported that the kind of firearm that made that noise cannot be easily purchased at U.S. gun stores. ABC 7 news channel reported that there were hundreds of shots, and more than 20 victims are being treated in a Las Vegas hospital. It added that one suspect was killed by police. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 16:28:06|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close WELLINGTON, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand police's "Eagle" helicopter will be operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, starting on Monday, providing essential support to on-the-ground staff in keeping communities safe as a "game-changer." A police statement said that these extra hours have become possible through the Safer Communities package announced earlier this year, which will see an extra 388 million NZ dollars (279 million U.S. dollars) of funding for police during the next four years. Police Commissioner Mike Bush said that the investment enables police to allocate new staff, equipment, training and other resources to districts and service centers and included amongst this is the ability for "Eagle" to go round-the-clock. "Literally having eyes in the sky' will give us an invaluable advantage in keeping the streets safe for our communities," Bush said, adding that "Eagle" is involved in not only catching offenders but it also greatly assists with search and rescue operations. "There are many examples where thanks to 'Eagle,' missing children, elderly people and those who may have health issues have been quickly located," he said. In the 2016-17 financial year, "Eagle" attended over 3,500 incidents and in almost 1,600 of those incidents, the targeted person was located, which includes offenders who had committed offences including burglaries, vehicle theft, aggravated robberies or been involved in pursuits, according to the police statement. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 16:33:07|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close HARBIN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Police in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have arrested 14 people involved in gun manufacture and sales. A total of 27 guns have been seized since June 2, when a detained drug user confessed to police that one of his friends, Ren, had a gun, said a police officer with public security bureau of Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang. Ren was apprehended on the same day with six guns and some parts and tools for making guns. Ren told the police he started manufacturing guns in 2016. He bought guns, models and parts from three dealers, made or converted the guns, and then sold to buyers in more than 10 provincial-level regions, including Beijing and Shanghai. The guns, including assembled ones for military use, were sold online and the gang offered to teach the buyers online how to use them. Civilian possession of guns is illegal in China. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 16:53:14|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's unification minister on Monday urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to cooperate in the separated families issue regardless of political situations. Cho Myoung-gyon, Seoul's top policymaker in charge of inter-Korean affairs, said at an event to celebrate the 36th anniversary of the Separated Families Day that his country adheres to the principle that the separated families issue should consistently be pushed independently of political and military situations. Cho vowed to make all-out efforts to resolve the humanitarian issue though situations between the two Koreas got grave and difficult, according to local media reports. Tensions ran high on the peninsula as the DPRK conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3. Cho urged the DPRK to cooperate with South Korea in resolving issues on separated families. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 17:08:17|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close BANGKOK, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A Jetstar Airways plane with more than 180 people on board was forced to make an emergency landing at northern Thailand's Chiang Mai International Airport on Monday, according to National Broadcasting Services of Thailand. The airport received an emergency report about 11:30 a.m. local time, and then the plane landed safely with no injuries or damages reported. Official news said there was smoke rising from the luggage compartment of the plane, leading to the landing. Local media said the aircraft continued its journey after a full inspection. The plane from the low cost airline was heading for India from Vietnam's Noi Bai International Airport. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 17:23:22|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has compiled its campaign platform for the Oct. 22 lower house election comprising six points, Kyodo News quoted a source close to the party as saying Monday. According to the ruling party's election pledge, it will aim to make the first-ever amendment to the constitution that will first need a two-thirds majority backing in parliament as well as a majority in a national referendum. On the contentious amendment, the LDP said it should be made "on the basis of sufficient debate inside and outside the party of four specific points." One point includes the specific referencing of the status of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF). Article 9 of Japan's pacifist Constitution decrees that the Japanese people forever renounce war and prohibits Japan from maintaining any war potential. Amending this key pacifist clause has been widely denounced by opposition party members, internationally-recognized scholars on the issue, as well as legal entities. The potentially divide issue has, according to recent media polls, also perturbed the public, the majority of whom wish the pacifist clause, instituted after World War II, to be left unchanged. The other points set forth by the LDP, also include a controversial plan to allow exemptions to parts of the constitution during a state of emergency, a point already criticized thus far as being "exceptionally vague" by political observers here. Free education and the merger of electoral districts in the upper house comprise the other major points in the ruling party's platform. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 17:58:35|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close MANILA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Philippine and U.S. Marines and sailors launched on Monday the inaugural joint exercise codenamed KAMANDAG at multiple locations on the Philippine main Luzon Island. The U.S. Embassy in Manila said in a statement that the joint exercise, which will run until Oct. 11, is an acronym for the Filipino phrase "Kaagapay Ng Mga Mandirigma Ng Dagat," or "Cooperation of Warriors of the Sea." The statement said the goal of KAMANDAG is to increase counterterrorism capabilities through bilateral military exchanges between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the U.S. forces focused on enhancing counterterrorism capabilities, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities. Washington and Manila have long been conducting joint military activities to bolster the combat readiness of the AFP and to maintain the interoperability of the AFP and the U.S. military forces. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 18:03:36|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close AMMAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Jordan said it will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the Syrian refugees stranded at the Jordanian-Syrian border, the state-run Petra news agency reported Monday. Jordan said it will provide medical supplies and foodstuff to the refugees and provides protection to aid convoys. Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani rejected as groundless some reports claiming that Jordan was obstructing aid delivery to the refugees. "There are repeated attempts to place pressure on Jordan to allow those refugees to enter Jordan," Momani said. Jordan is shouldering a huge responsibility and it is time for the international community to shoulder its share, he added. He noted that Jordan provided aid centre and all facilities necessary for the distribution of aid to those refugees. Jordan is home to some 1.3 million Syrian refugees and has exerted tremendous efforts to help the refugees. Momani affirmed Jordan's will to continue coordinating with international aid agencies to deliver aid to refugees. He also warned against reducing interventions by aid groups to refugees, which will increase pressure on Jordan. According to some estimates, there are more than 50,000 Syrian refugees stranded at the no man's land between Jordan and Syria. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 18:08:39|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni security authorities arrested a commander of al-Qaida branch in a raid against his house in the southern province of Abyan on Monday, a government official told Xinhua. The government source described the captured al-Qaida militant as an important person in the terrorist group and participated in masterminding armed attacks against security forces in Abyan. A source of the security forces in Abyan said "after receiving intelligence tips, our troops deployed and arrested Mohamed Hakim, in his mid-forties, and three others in Mudiya area of Abyan province." The security forces also seized heavy weapons and explosives inside a building located in the same area, according to the source. In neighboring Lahj province, a group of al-Qaida militants launched attack and targeted a checkpoint manned by security forces, causing casualties among the soldiers. Al-Qaida militants have intensified their drive-by attacks on security checkpoints in the Yemeni southern provinces as government forces backed by the United Arab Emirates have increased military operations against the group hideouts in the war-plagued Arab country. Last month, the Yemeni government forces and the UAE armed forces operating in the southern province of Aden launched a new anti-terror military offensive "to root out al-Qaida militants from their strongholds in neighboring southern province of Abyan." Thousands of newly-recruited southern soldiers joined the campaign after receiving military training and financial support from the UAE forces. The ongoing anti-terror campaign resulted in kicking al-Qaida militants out from several villages in Abyan province in addition to arresting more than 50 terrorists who were moved to jails in the port city of Aden. The Yemen-based al-Qaida branch has exploited years of deadly conflict between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence, especially in Shabwa and Abyan provinces. Actor perform during the closing and award ceremony of the 2013 Slum Film Festival in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Sept. 9, 2013. Founded in 2011 in Nairobi, the Slum Film Festival is a community-based annual film event featuring stories from, by, and about people living in urban slums. (Xinhua/Meng Chenguang) NAIROBI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A film festival will roll out in Nairobi on Monday featuring 2,600 entries from 120 countries, many about slum lives or shot by slum communities. Organizers of the annual Slum Film Festival, now in its seventh year, said on Sunday that the films will be screened in two of Kenya's largest slums, Kibera and Mathare. George Karanja, the Director of the Film Festival, said the bulk of African entries were received from Nigeria, Cameroon and Kenya, which will be screened alongside non-African films from the United States, India, Pakistan and others. The community-based film event features stories by, and about people living in urban slums globally. The highlight of this year's event is the award-cum-closing ceremony set for October 6 and which will be graced by influential players in the film industry, both local and foreign. He said winners from nominated entries in over 10 categories ranging from best African film, best international film, best cinematography, best director to best sound, will be awarded during on the gala night. The festival aims to offer a platform for films from slum communities to reach broader audiences as well as promoting dialogue about life in slums by using stories from such communities. "The festival demonstrates that slums are also a home for very talented, creative and culturally active artists," said Karanja. Spanish Ambassador to Kenya, Javier Garcia de Viedma, said the embassy, a key sponsor of the festival, will continue supporting the festival as it has a positive impact on people living in slums. "Some big cities around the world started as slums and telling the slum story helps authorities understand the situation in slums and consequently make the right decisions," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 18:28:46|Editor: Liu Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- More than 20 people were killed and over 100 others were wounded in a mass shooting during a concert Sunday night outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada, local police confirmed on Monday. The shooter opened fire from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay hotel around 11:00 p.m.(GMT0600 Monday) and was killed by police later, Joseph Lombardo, Sheriff of Las Vegas Metropolis Police Department (LVMDP) said at a press conference 1:30 a.m.(GMT0830) Monday morning. Investigators identified the shooter as local resident and did not found any relationship with terrorism, Lombardo said, adding that policemen were also hunting an Asian female whose name was Marylou Danley. "We don't believe there are any more shooters," Lombardo said. University Medical Center told Xinhua earlier that two victims were dead in the hospital. Some of off-duty California police officers were reportedly among the victims. "26 patients were admitted to the hospital, at least 2 have passed away, 12 are in critical condition, rest of the patients are being evacuated," Danita Cohen, spokesperson of University Medical Center, told Xinhua. In video clips posted online, the sound of an automatic weapon being fired can be heard. It was reported that the kind of firearm that made that noise cannot be easily purchased at U.S. gun stores. ABC 7 news channel reported that there were hundreds of shots. The concert was interrupted after people gathering there run away when they found it was sound of machine gun instead of fireworks. Earlier, CBS Los Angeles and FOX 11 both said two were killed in the shooting, while 24 were injured and 12 in critical condition. LVMPD tweeted early that "Please do not livestream or share tactical positions of our officers on scene, this may put emergency responders in danger." "We heard what sounded like firecrackers going off. Then all of a sudden we heard what sounded like a machine gun. People started screaming that they were hit ... when we started running out there were probably a couple hundred on the ground," Meghan Kearney, who was at the festival when the shooting broke out, told MSNBS news channel. "People kept dropping and dropping ...People were getting shot one foot away from us," she said. "People were trying to save their friends. There were gunshots everywhere. Helping them would' ve meant that we got shot too." Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 18:43:49|Editor: Liu Video Player Close ATHENS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Greek police on Monday freed a local businessman on Crete island who had been abducted six months ago near his home, the national news agency AMNA reported. According to police and hospital sources, Michalis Lempidakis, 53, co-owner of Crete Plastics company, is in good condition. Seven Greek nationals, including six Cretans, have been arrested, according to police sources, while the investigation is still underway. This was the first time in Greece that a kidnapping victim has been held for so long. "Thank you," Lempidakis said to police when they found him tied up in a car lot in the outskirts of Rethymno city, local ANT1 TV quoted Greek Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas as saying. Lempidakis was abducted on March 30 near his home in the city of Heraklion, about 80 km east of Rethymno. The perpetrators had staged a minor car accident, according to police. Several days later they requested 100 million euros (117.64 million U.S. dollars) in cash as ransom from his family. As they exchanged messages with the family for months, they reduced the amount to about 15 million euros (17.55 million dollars), according to police sources. Greek authorities, the victim's family and Greek media had agreed to release minimum information to facilitate the investigation. According to police, some of the perpetrators had been tracked down early but the police did not detain them until they had located the place where the businessman was held. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and several leaders of political opposition parties issued statements congratulating the Greek police on "a major success." Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 19:03:54|Editor: Liu Video Player Close BRUSSELS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Monday called for unity and stability instead of divisiveness and fragmentation in Spain, saying that Sunday's independence vote in Catalonia was "not legal" under the Spanish constitution. "For the European Commission, as President Juncker has reiterated repeatedly, this is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain," said the EU commission in a statement published on its website. "We also reiterate the legal position held by this Commission as well as by its predecessors. If a referendum were to be organized in line with the Spanish Constitution it would mean that the territory leaving would find itself outside of the European Union," said the commission. "Beyond the purely legal aspects of this matter, the Commission believes that these are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation," said the statement. "We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics. We trust the leadership of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process in full respect of the Spanish Constitution and of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined therein," said the statement. Rajoy on Sunday gave a televised speech defending government actions following violent clashes which left hundreds injured in a banned referendum. The prime minister said "today there has not been a self-determination referendum" and that "our state maintains its strength and reacts and acts with all its resources against any kind of provocation". Rajoy also defended the decision to send in police force to stop the voting, which was earlier deemed illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court. He said that the referendum had produced "attitudes that should be repugnant to anyone who believes in democracy", and blamed Catalan leaders for the violence. Online videos posted Sunday showed that police officers armed with batons clashed with voters at polling stations in Catalonia. According to Catalan health authorities, more than 800 people received treatment at hospitals after being injured by police during Sunday's disputed referendum. Two people were in serious conditions. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 19:03:55|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close GAZA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian consensus government Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and a delegation of 120 members arrived in Gaza on Monday to take over administration of the strip. It is the first visit of Hamdallah and his government members and ministers to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, since December 2014, to hand over rule of Gaza according to an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement reached in Cairo last month. The consensus government was formed in June 2014, in accordance with an agreement reached in April 2014. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered to road sides near Erez crossing point on the borders, waving Palestinian flags, to receive the large convoy of Hamdallah and his team. Ibrahim Salem, a 28-year old unemployed man from Gaza, waited for the delegation at Erez crossing and said he came here to "receive Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and the government. I want to tell them that ten years of internal division are enough, we suffered a lot in our life and it is time to end this division, unite and live a life with dignity." Abdul Rahman Abu Namoos, 32, a former security officer, said it is a historic day for the Palestinians. "I feel so happy today because it will be a first step towards unity and towards ending our suffering. I hope they will succeed in achieving a full unity, end the suffering in Gaza, lift the blockade, open the crossings and find jobs for tens of thousands of unemployed people here," he said. The Hamas-run security forces ensured the area and the road that goes from the borders down to Gaza city, where the delegation will stay for three days to takeover ministries that had been run by Hamas for more than ten years. A senior Egyptian security delegation, high-ranking figures and leaders of various factions and political powers, including Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Party received Hamdallah and his team at the crossing. Hamdallah and his cabinet ministers are scheduled to hold meetings on Monday with leaders of factions, including Hamas and Fatah, and will also head to their offices in Gaza to officially hand over the ministries. On Tuesday, Hamdallah is to chair his weekly cabinet meeting at the consensus government's headquarters in Gaza city, the former house of President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamdallah and most of his ministries will leave the Gaza Strip back to the West Bank on Wednesday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 19:08:58|Editor: Liu Video Player Close TEHRAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi military forces joined the Iranian Army to stage military exercises in common border regions on Monday, local media reported. In the war game, code-named Heidar-e-Karrar, various units of the Iranian Army, including the Rapid Reaction Unit, the Artillery Unit, and the Drone Unit participated. The military drills, contributed by some forces of the Iraqi Army, is conducted near the Parviz Khan border post in western Iran. Following the recent controversial independence referendum of Iraqi Kurdistan region, Iran's air force reinforced its defensive role along the country's western borders by deploying new missile hardware. Last week, the Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) staged joint military drills along the country's western border areas. The IRGC also staged independent drills in the Kurdish populated western provinces. According to the Iranian military officials, the ongoing war games signals the message of peace and security to the friends and reminds the enemies that the country's borders will be powerfully protected against hostile moves. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 19:14:00|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close TEHRAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned the terrorist attacks in France's Marseille and in Canada's Edmonton that killed and injured a number of people. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi expressed sympathy with the families of victims of the terror attacks, calling for global resolve to uproot terrorism. "It is necessary that the human community and all countries in the world to effectively deal with this most-hated phenomenon," Qasemi was quoted as saying by Tasnim News Agency. On Sunday, a man struck a police officer with a car before stabbing him in Edmonton of Canada and plowed a truck into pedestrians on a busy street, injuring at least four people. Also on Sunday, a man killed two women in a frenzied knife attack at Marseille's main railway station before being shot dead by soldiers. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack in France. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 19:49:38|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Suo Zhanhua makes dough flowers to decorate a big moon cake at Suobutan Village of Huzhu Tu Autonomous County in Haidong, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Oct. 2, 2017. The special moon cake is a traditional food of Tu ethnic group on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on Oct. 4 this year. (Xinhua/Zhang Hongxiang) Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 19:59:13|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close NAIROBI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Africa Development Bank (AfDB) plans to promote remittances into Africa from its diaspora community in order to boost the region's economic growth, an official said on Monday. AfDB Director General of the East Africa Regional Center Gabriel Negatu told Xinhua in Nairobi that it is working with national governments to reforms their financial systems in order to attract more remittances. "We want Africa to fully exploit the potential of its remittances in order to mobilize funds for development," Negatu said during the AfDB Business Opportunity Seminar. The three-day event aims to highlight procurement opportunities that exist in the pan-African bank's projects. Negatu noted that remittances are playing a bigger role in Africa's development than in the past. "In fact, remittances from Africans living abroad have exceeded value of Overseas Development Aid from donors," he added. The AfDB official said that remittances can also help the continent shield itself from externals shocks such as lower commodity prices. The pan-African bank is currently providing technical assistance to a number of African governments to put in place appropriate policies and regulations that will attract Africans living overseas to invest at home. Negatu noted that returns of investments in Africa are typically higher than in the developed countries. He noted that one of the key challenges facing diaspora remittance is the high cost of sending money. "We are encouraging governments and private sector to come with innovative solutions to lower cost of remittances," he added. According to AfDB, most of the diaspora remittances are used for meeting households needs such as food and rent. He said that in order for remittances to have maximum impact, the funds need to be directed towards national infrastructure projects. The pan-African bank suggested special purpose vehicles such as infrastructure bonds in order to attract remittances. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 19:59:14|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close ULAN BATOR, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's next government will face heavy external and internal debt, Speaker of Parliament Miyegombyn Enkhbold said Monday. "The volume of state external and internal debt as of August this year ... is equaled to 73.8 percent of GDP. Therefore, this will be a serious challenge to Mongolia and the next new government," Enkhbold said at the opening of the parliament's autumn session. "The main attention should be paid on updating and defining the self-management strategy of the executive power, on promoting of major projects and programs, and to build up the accumulation of debt obligations," Enkhbold said. Meanwhile, the parliament speaker said Mongolia's economy has improved due to the country's involvement in the Expanded Fund Facility Program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As of the first half of this year, Mongolia's economy was up 5.8 percent, and growth is expected to increase in the future, he said. "Proceeding from this, the monetary policy council of Bank of Mongolia decided to keep the key rate at the level of 12 percent," he said, adding that the parliament will consistently support the IMF program. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 20:19:21|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- An airstrike launched by the Saudi-led coalition hit a civilian target, killing five people and injuring four others in the southwestern of Taiz on Monday, pro-Houthi media outlets reported. According to the Houthi-funded Al-Masirah TV channel, "five innocent civilians were killed and four others wounded due to air bombing by fighter jets of the Saudi-led aggression coalition in the village of Barh in Taiz province." Residents in Taiz confirmed to Xinhua saying that most of the victims killed in Monday's air raid were civilians and there were no military targets located in the area. In August, the Saudi-led Arab military coalition admitted responsibility for an airstrike in the Yemeni capital that killed 14 civilians, describing it as a "technical mistake." The coalition said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency that after a review of the strike investigators found "that a technical mistake was behind the accident." Yemen's internationally-backed government, allied with the Saudi-led Arab military coalition, has for more than two years been battling Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels over control of the country. The coalition began a military air campaign in March 2015 to roll back Houthi gains and reinstate exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government to the power. The coalition also imposed air and sea blockade to prevent weapons from reaching Houthis, who had invaded the capital Sanaa militarily and seized most of the northern Yemeni provinces. UN statistics show more than 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the coalition intervened in the Yemeni civil war that also displaced around three million. The impoverished Arab country is also suffering the world's largest cholera epidemic since April, with about 5,000 cases being reported every day. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 20:29:24|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close BUDAPEST, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Laszlo Botka, the Hungarian socialist party's (MSZP) candidate for the post of prime minister quitted the race 8 months before the general elections, but MSZP President Gyula Molnar vowed to continue the fight at a press conference on Monday. "The resignation of Laszlo Botka is a great loss, because he was a credible and real challenger versus Prime Minister Viktor Orban," Molnar said after the resignation of Botka. Earlier Monday morning, Laszlo Botka resigned in a letter sent to Hungarian media, in which he blamed the fragmented opposition parties for not uniting against the Fidesz (Orban's ruling conservative party), but to measure themselves individually, which, according to Botka, would result in the third consecutive victory of Viktor Orban. On Sept. 25, Botka proposed the opposition parties to form a single electoral list against the Fidesz during the elections, in order to collect all of the votes of those unsatisfied with Orban's regime. Molnar said that Botka had undertaken the candidacy with the intention of being a real challenger to power as the leader of the democratic opposition. He added that this was not an easy task, and Botka knew exactly what would happen to him: he was going to be the subject of worthless and deceitful attacks. According to the recent polls, the ruling Fidesz party has a very comfortable advantage over its adversaries and Orban could easily win the next elections scheduled for next spring. Molnar also said the Orban-led government could only be replaced by a full-fledged opposition, but in recent months it has become clear that this cooperation could not be achieved due to the individual intentions of most opposition parties. "In the lack of cooperation, Botka did not want to continue," Molnar said. The main message of Molnar was that the MSZP did not want to choose a new prime minister candidate for the moment, but was to concentrate on establishing a new cooperation with the other opposition parties, and to present voters a "new and clear alternative". He also said the party would hold a general assembly next weekend, where a new political agenda would be adopted. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 20:29:24|Editor: Liu Video Player Close PARIS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The man who stabbed to death two women at a railway station in Marseille, southeastern France, had seven different aliases and known for public offenses, but no links with terrorism have yet been established, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said Monday. Molins said the suspect in the fatal knife attack, claimed by the Islamic State (IS), appeared to be a 30-year-old Tunisian who illegally entered France earlier this year. He had been arrested by police in the central French city of Lyon two days prior to the assault for shoplifting. He then presented a Tunisian passport naming himself as Ahmed H born in 1987. He was released the following afternoon without charge. Molins added that the suspect told police he was homeless, divorced and suffered from drug abuse. "This identity and the different aliases are unknown to the specialized anti-terrorist services," he told reporters, adding his office was verifying the authenticity of the Tunisian. On Sunday afternoon, the suspect armed with two knives stabbed to death two cousins, aged 21 and 20 years at Saint-Charles station in Marseille before being shot dead by military soldiers who were patrolling the zone. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 20:29:25|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese railway police have arrested 1,350 suspects in a national campaign against ticket scalping during the National Day holiday. Around 83,000 tickets have been confiscated, with 1,198 cases closed, police said in a statement. Over 2,700 squads comprising some 12,000 policemen took part in the two-month campaign, which is scheduled to conclude on Oct. 8, the last day of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays. Police have increased patrols around railway stations, and ran inspections at entrances to stations. They also encouraged the public to report scalpers. Ticket scalping is a major problem around public holidays as the demand for tickets is high. Chinese railways set a new high in passenger traffic with more than 15 million trips made on Sunday, the first day of the National Day holiday, according to China Railway Corporation. The company forecast that railways nationwide will receive around 130 million passengers in the 11 days following Sept. 28. Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (C) attends the first unity government meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Reuters Photo) RAMALLAH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said in a news briefing upon his arrival at Erez crossing Monday that no Palestinian state would be established without geographical unity between Gaza and the West Bank. Hamdallah voiced appreciation to the role Egypt played into realizing the breakthrough in the efforts of the Palestinian reconciliation. The Palestinian prime minister said "we are back again to Gaza in order to achieve reconciliation and unity and end of internal division." He said "we are here to tell the whole world from the heart of Gaza that the Palestinian state won't be established without the unity of Gaza and the West Bank." "From now and further everyone will be involved in the efforts of reconstructing the Gaza Strip and boosting the steadfastness of the people of Gaza and protest their freedoms," he added. Hamdallah urged the masses to unite and back the efforts to achieve national unity and reconciliation, by placing the national priorities on top of any other partisan interests. He explained that the government will "immediately handover the ministries in the Gaza Strip and will immediately start performing," adding that three committees were already formed to deal and manage outstanding administrative issues, mainly the question of Gaza employees in accordance to Cairo agreement." While observers say it is still early to judge the success of the reconciliation process, Hamdallah said "the success of the government is linked to its abilities to implement its plans on the ground and make a real change that the residents would feel and touch." "We are confidence that the atmosphere of understandings and positivity are dominating and we are looking for more serious work with all powers and factions and institutions to rescue our beloved people in Gaza," he said. The last time the prime minister in Gaza was in late 2014. "We are standing before a series of steps and programs that relax the hard life in Gaza and then the international community will be asked to stand to our side and bear its responsibility and contribute in reconstructing the Gaza Strip," Hamdallah said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 20:49:32|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close TEHRAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's foreign minister on Monday called for talks between the Iraqi government and the Kurdish authorities to settle their disputes politically, Pres TV reported. "The referendum in Kurdistan was against the Iraqi constitution, which does not help the people of Kurdistan, and is not justifiable for Iraq's security," Mohammad Javad Zarif said. The results of Kurdish independence vote showed that the referendum would have "a lot of risks for the security of Iraq and the region," he was quoted as saying. Tensions have been running high between Iraqi government and the Kurdish region after the region held a controversial referendum on independence of Kurdistan and disputed areas, including Kirkuk. The independence referendum was opposed by many countries because it would threaten the integrity of Iraq and it could undermine fight against Islamic State militants. In addition, neighboring countries such as Turkey, Iran and Syria see that such a step would threaten their territorial integrity, as larger populations of Kurds live in those countries. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 20:49:33|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close MOSCOW, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday on Facebook that the U.S. authorities tried to infiltrate into its property in San Francisco. The ministry released a video clip showing two men checking something at the door of a compound at night. It did not disclose when and where the footage was shot. "The terror that flaps in the night ... Representatives of the U.S. special forces and police continue to practice illegal intrusion into the territory of the Russian facilities and violating international law and its own legislation," it said. On Sept. 2, U.S. authorities shut down the Russian Consulate General in San Francisco and trade missions in Washington D.C. and New York City. The closure of the three facilities was in retaliation for the Russian decision in July to cut the number of U.S. diplomatic staff by 755 people and seize two U.S. properties in Moscow. Moscow-Washington ties have reached a low point due to the ongoing war of mutual sanctions. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 20:49:34|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close Police vehicles are seen near the site of shooting in Las Vegas, the United States, Oct. 2, 2017. At least 50 people were killed and over 200 others wounded in a mass shooting at a concert Sunday night outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada. (Xinhua/Huang Chao) LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 50 people were killed and over 200 others wounded in a mass shooting at a concert Sunday night outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada. The death toll if confirmed would make the mass shooting the deadliest in U.S. history and surpass the 49 killed at an Orlando nightclub last year. Las Vegas Metropolis Police Department (LVMDP) published the latest casualty number at a news briefing to media early Monday morning. The shooter opened fire from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay hotel and was killed by the police later, said Joseph Lombardo, sheriff of LVMDP. Investigators identified the shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, as local resident and did not find any links to terrorism, Lombardo said, adding that he had "numerous firearms" in the hotel room. The police also said they were hunting an Asian female named Marylou Danley, adding that they have located the suspected vehicles and the person of interest. 15 people were killed on Oct. 2 by bombings targeting a police station in Syrian capital Damascus' Midan neighborhood. (AFP Photo) DAMASCUS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people were killed on Monday by bombings that targeted a police station in the capital Damascus' Midan neighborhood, pro-government al-Ekhbariah TV reported. Several suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts in front of the police station and inside, according to the report. The capital Damascus has enjoyed relative peace in latest months, but explosions still rock from time to time. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 21:19:44|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close VALLETTA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese language and culture program started in Maltese state middle schools on Monday, with the first lessons taking place at St. Margaret College Middle School. The state middle school is the first to offer Chinese, with a further four schools to be added in the next scholastic year. Maltese students must learn both Maltese and English -- the country's official languages -- but are also encouraged to learn a third language, explained Gaetano Bugeja, director of the Learning and Assessment Programs directorate at Malta's Ministry for Education. Speaking to Xinhua, Bugeja said students had the option of learning Spanish, French, Italian, German, Arabic or Russian. "Since Malta's contact with China is increasing, its time we taught Chinese in state schools," said Bugeja. After setting up a curriculum, authorities eventually partnered up with the Confucius Institute -- an international educational organization based at the University of Malta -- which offered to arrange for a teacher to be sent over from China. With the program about to start its first year, Bugeja said so far only two students had chosen to learn the language, but he insisted that the government intended to see more students with time, as well as to have enough local teachers for it not to depend on foreign ones. "For now, we need help and support from China but in future, we hope to be self-sufficient." In addition to teaching the language, Bugeja said that within five years Malta will also be offering the subject at O level -- public exams students must sit for at the age of 16 which are needed to get into a sixth form college, from where they eventually progress to university. The national Chinese syllabus was designed by Salvatore Giuffre, from the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Malta. Giuffre said he was expecting the students in state schools to able to recognize up to 700 characters, and be able to write around 650 characters with five years' studying. This, he said, was proficiency close to level three of the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) -- the Chinese Standard Exam, which has a total of six levels. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 21:24:46|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close COLOMBO, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka is expecting an influx of tourists, including from China, during a month-long Colombo International Shopping Festival which began on Oct. 1, Sri Lankan Tourism Minister John Amaratunga told Xinhua on Monday. The international shopping festival, organized by the Sri Lanka Retailers Association in collaboration with the Tourism Ministry, will promote Sri Lanka as a global shopping hub. Amaratunga said the shopping festival will offer goods and items at a discounted rate at various shopping malls and tourists could reap its benefits. He said the festival will provide world-class and internationally renowned original brands at competitive prices. The event will be held under the theme "One Island, One Big Mall." "The Colombo International Shopping Festival has been a roaring success in the past and has now begun to attract tourists. From next year we hope to hold the festival island wide," Amaratunga said. Leonard Perera, an official with the organizers said that last year an estimated 2.5 million people had attended the festival, of whom 30 percent were Chinese tourists. He said this year the event had partnered with China's UnionPay for the benefit of the Chinese visitors. A special shopping weekend will also be held from Oct. 21 to 22, Perera said. In order to promote the event, Sri Lanka has launched a special international advertising campaign to promote the country as a "shopping hub" in South Asia. The Colombo International Shopping Festival will conclude on Nov. 15. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 21:29:54|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close RAMALLAH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Foreign Relations Advisor Nabil Shaath said Monday that the reported news about Israel's intention to isolate Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem is "Israeli emphasis of apartheid regime." Shaath said in exclusive statements to Xinhua that this Israeli announcement "is part of the colonial Zionist scheme." He added "it isn't enough that they surround us with the apartheid wall that curls its way through the West Bank like a snake, but also want to sub-divide Jerusalem to isolate Palestinian neighborhoods inside it because they found out that the Palestinian demographic will exceed Jewish residents, so they built a wall to isolate the Palestinian towns and camps from the holy city." Maariv daily newspaper reported that that Likud Knesset member Anat Berko was assigned by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to put together a plan to isolate Palestinian towns and refugee camps from Jerusalem. According to the newspaper, the plan aims at making a 95 percent Jewish majority, after transferring towns, villages and camps that are located around Jerusalem to the control of the Palestinian National Authority. Meanwhile, Shaath criticized that the U.S. position towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict "is still unclear and concerning," underlining that the American side "has not yet submitted any project" to start negotiations between both sides. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 21:34:57|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close LONDON, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond on Monday described Brexit as one of the most challenging tasks ever faced by a peacetime government in Britain. Addressing the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Hammond added in his keynote speech that Britain would succeed in its task of withdrawing from the European Union. Repeating Prime Minister Theresa May's pledge that the government would respect the leave decision in last year's EU referendum, Hammond said the British people had chosen independence over the EU's greater integration. Britain is scheduled to leave the EU in March 2019, with progress in the negotiations with Brussels still described as slow. Hammond said the short-term challenge of uncertainty around the Brexit process must be resolved by accelerating negotiations with Brussels and to deliver a limited interim period of around two years for businesses to adjust. His message confirmed what May said in her speech in Florence last month that there should be a two-year transition period starting in March 2019. Hammond added that as the government implements the referendum decision, Britain must use its new independence "in the nation's best interests to protect jobs and strengthen our economy." "Our economic future will remain closely linked with the EU for many good reasons. But our political future will be our own. Our EU partners can go their way, but we will not join them on a voyage to ever closer union," he said. He said the process of negotiating Britain's exit from the EU has created uncertainty so investment has slowed as businesses wait for clarity, adding: "we must remove this uncertainty." In an upbeat plea, Hammond said: "The future prize is great. If we get this right Britain will have a bright future beyond Brexit. But to get to it, we must be clear-eyed about the challenges along our way, and in doing so, we will unleash our nation's potential." Hammond in his keynote speech announced an investment worth almost 400 million U.S. dollars on transport projects in Northern England. The aim is to give the so-called Northern Powerhouse a boost to help the provinces better compete with London and the wealthy south-east region of Britain. The funding will future-proof the railway network in the north, ensuring the new south-north rail project, HS2, can link up with future projects in the Northern Powerhouse and Birmingham's Midlands Engine economic strategy. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 21:40:00|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close by Ahmed Shafiq FAYOUM, Egypt, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian farmer Ahmed Rabei will follow the steps of his government and enlarge the area planted with cotton in an effort to revive the country's rewarding industry that can help improve Egypt's stagnant economy. Rabie, a villager from Fayoum province, some 100 km south of Cairo, cultivated one feddan (1 feddan=1.038 acres) of land with the finest long-staple cotton (known in Egypt as Giza 95). He will double his cotton field next year. "The ministry of agriculture helps me much ... they provided me with subsided seeds and fertilizers necessary for the treatment of the plants to get high-quality cotton," Rabie said, watching his family members picking the "white gold" of Egypt. Rabie, who always sold his cotton to local manufacturers, said the prices this year are good. "I can say that farmers can earn good money this season ... I urge other farmers to double and even triple their fields cultivated with cotton for their own and the country's good," Rabie said as he checked the quality of his harvested cotton. Cultivating one feddan of long-staple cotton costs around 10,000 Egyptian pounds (568 U.S. dollars). Egyptian cotton is an extraordinary commodity that has played an important and vital role in Egypt's economic, social, and political history during the past two centuries. Egypt's unique climate and fertile soil are ideal for cotton cultivation. From the early 1800s up to the present, Egyptian cotton has always been synonymous with luxury and quality. After the popular revolution in January 2011, cotton industry has witnessed recession due to the lack of government care, which caused a quality degradation of Egypt's most famous crop. However, the government has set plans to restore the important sector by doubling the production of high-quality cotton after years of suffering. "The government has a plan to plant half a million feddans with cotton by 2019, which means doubling the areas planted with cotton," Hassan Gouda, deputy minister of agriculture in Fayoum, told Xinhua. The Egyptian official said the total area planted with cotton across the country this year is 220,000 feddans." Last year only 130,000 were cultivated with cotton." Gouda said Egypt is back on track to be the world's leading cotton producer, adding that the ministry has set plans to double the cotton fields in Fayoum, the second largest producer of cotton in Egypt after Kafr al-Sheikh province in Delta. "The total area planted with cotton in Fayoum is 13,092 feddans ... this will definitely be doubled by 2019," he said proudly. The Egyptian official said the average yield per feddan of cotton in Fayoum is 8 to 11 kantars (also known as qintar, a kantar equals to either 157 kilograms of seed cotton or 50 kilograms of lint cotton) per feddan, pointing out that the government has set a guaranteed price of 2,100 Egyptian pounds per kantar. "Prices at local market range from 2500 to 2700 pounds per kantar. The government has set the price to ensure that farmers will not sell at lower prices; the price could increase," Gouda stressed. The deputy minister said the government pays much care to cotton farmers as the agriculture ministry follows the cotton planting season from A to Z and provides farmers with high-quality seeds as well as technical assistance before, during and after the cotton season. In an attempt to encourage farmers to plant cotton, the government has decided to subsidize 300 pounds per kantar for farmers whose produce exceeds 10 kantars. Experts say that Egyptian cotton is high on demand worldwide this year because of the devaluation of the Egyptian pound in addition to an international campaign against fake cotton. The return of Egypt's cotton to international markets will provide a significant export opportunity needed by the Middle East country which has been suffering economically for almost seven years due to security and political issues. In July, the agriculture ministry announced it targets 1.4 million kantars of long-staple cotton to be exported, compared to 700,000 kantars last year. The most populous Arab country has been suffering economic recession due to political instability and relevant security challenges following two uprisings that toppled two heads of state since 2011. The turmoil led to a decline in the country's foreign currency reserves, foreign investments, tourism revenues and others. Besides floating its local currency's exchange rate to face dollar shortage, Egypt started last year a strict three-year economic reform program including austerity measures, fuel subsidy cuts and tax increase. The program is encouraged by a 12-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 21:45:01|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close by David Musyoka NAIROBI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN World Food Program (WFP) said Monday it had cut food rations by 30 percent for about 420,000 refugees living in Dadaab and Kakuma camps in northern Kenya due to insufficient funding. WFP Representative and Country Director Annalisa Conte said the UN food agency will cut the share of food from October while keeping the cash transfers unchanged. "WFP urgently needs 28.5 million U.S. dollars to adequately cover the food assistance needs for the refugees for the next six months," Conte said in a statement issued in Nairobi. She said refugees living in Dadaab and Kakuma camps will receive a food ration equivalent to 70 percent of their requirements. "We are facing a critical shortage of resources which has compelled us to reduce the amount of food given to the refugees only six months after we resumed full rations," said Conte. She said the WFP is working closely with UNHCR and other partners to meet urgent food and nutrition needs of refugees and other vulnerable groups. The WFP official called on all parties to take all necessary steps to end conflicts and create conditions for refugees to safely return home. WFP provides food assistance to refugees in Kenya as a combination of food (cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, and nutrient-enriched flour) and cash transfers sent via mobile phones used to buy fresh food items from local traders. In addition to the general food ration and cash transfers, WFP provides nutritious foods to young children, pregnant women and nursing mothers, to stave off malnutrition. Primary school pupils receive porridge in school, which helps them concentrate on their classes and acts as an incentive to their families to send them to school. For the time being, WFP can maintain these critical safety nets for refugees. Conte also said WFP will not provide fortified flour to the general population as the low stocks remaining will be prioritized for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers through health clinics. This, she said, may lead to a rise in levels of malnutrition among the refugees. "Cutting rations is a last resort and we hope that it is only a short-term measure as we continue to appeal to the international community to assist," said Conte. "An abrupt halt to food assistance would be devastating for the refugees, most of whom rely fully on WFP for their daily meals," said Conte. The UN food agency has provided food and cash to refugees this year thanks to the generosity of donations from Canada, China, the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), Germany, Hungary, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Conte said if new funds are received immediately, WFP can quickly mobilize food stocks from within the region, and/or increase the amount of cash transfers to the refugees allowing them to buy adequate food from the local markets. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 21:55:03|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close by Chris Mgidu NAIROBI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Foreign envoys from 14 countries on Monday opposed changes to the electoral law ahead of Kenya's fresh presidential elections slated for Oct. 26, saying it is against international best practice. The envoys from the United States, Canada, Britain and France urged all parties to engage immediately in a genuine dialogue with the electoral body regarding electoral procedures and processes. The diplomats who spoke to journalists after holding a meeting with Independence Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) officials in Nairobi said the proposed draft Election Laws Amendment Bill should be shelved as it puts at risk the IEBC's ability to conduct a better election within 60-day timeline, and unnecessarily heightens political tensions. "Well-established international best practice is to avoid changes to electoral rules just prior to an election. Kenyans can debate whether or not electoral changes are warranted, but the timing is a serious problem," said the envoys in a joint statement issued after the meeting. "Wise reforms to an established electoral process take time. They require thoughtful reflection and broad agreement from all parties," the statement read. Kenyans are divided on the proposed changes to the electoral laws by the ruling party Jubilee ahead of repeat polls on Oct. 26. While some, in particular president Uhuru Kenyatta's supporters, believe the changes are good and are what the country needs before the polls, those supporting Opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga oppose the amendments, noting they are a rigging plot. One of the radical changes Jubilee proposes is that if only one candidate remains in a fresh presidential election, he will be declared president-elect without polls being held. The bill, currently in Parliament, further proposes a custodial sentence of up to 15 years for any electoral officials who knowingly refuses to sign, submits incomplete forms or wilfully alters or falsifies documents relating to elections. It also proposes to strip the powers of announcing the winner of a presidential poll from the chairman of the electoral commission to any other commissioner. The opposition has termed the changes a plan by the Kenyatta to rig the forthcoming polls and called out on his supporters to resist, through protests, what he calls "dictatorship" on Mondays and Fridays. The envoys also said the growing list of political demands, inflammatory rhetoric, and boycott threats undermine the IEBC's ability to carry out its constitutionally-mandated job to hold a new election. According to the diplomats also from Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Finland and Norway, the IEBC should then make reasonable, fair decisions, and the election should be held as the Supreme Court directed. The diplomats urged Kenyan leaders and citizens to reject violence, noting that the international community is watching Kenya on every step of its electoral process. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:00:05|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces battling Islamic State (IS) militants on Monday freed a town and 45 villages as part of the second phase of offensive to dislodge the IS militants from their stronghold in the city of Hawijah and surrounding areas, the Iraqi military said. The Iraqi army, commandos of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) forces and the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi brigades liberated the town of al-Rashad and nearby airport, in addition to 45 villages around the IS-held city of Hawijah, some 230 km north of Baghdad, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Yarallah, commander of Hawijah Operations, said in a brief statement. Meanwhile, a source from Salahudin Operations Command told Xinhua that the federal police and the interior ministry elite forces, known as Rapid Response, advanced to new positions near the strategic area of al-Fat'ha at the edge of the Tigris River west of Hawijah, and started pounding IS positions preparing to take full control of the area. The troops are also advancing to seize Makhoul Mountain near the Tigris River from IS militants. The mountain is part of vast rugged areas under IS control that stretch from the eastern part of Salahudin province to the city of Hawijah, which located in the western part of the adjacent province of Kirkuk, the source said. Also in the day, the security forces advanced to new positions located some 5 km away from the IS-held town of Ryadh east of Hawijah, the source added. Monday's military operations were part of an offensive that began on Sept. 29 when the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launch of the second phase of offensive to dislodge IS militants from their stronghold in the city of Hawijah and surrounding areas. "We announce the start of the second phase of the liberation of Hawijah and all the surrounding areas to the west of Kirkuk, and as promised the sons of our country are continuing to liberate every inch of the land of Iraq and crush the gangs of terrorist Daesh (IS) group," said Abadi in a statement. The first phase of the operation was launched on Sept. 21 to liberate Hawijah in the western part of Iraq's oil-rich Kirkuk province. The operation to free Hawijah came as tensions are running high between Baghdad government and the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan after the Kurdish region held a controversial referendum on independence of Kurdistan and disputed areas, including Kirkuk. The independence referendum was opposed by many countries because it would threaten the integrity of Iraq and it could undermine fight against IS militants. In addition, neighboring countries such as Turkey, Iran and Syria see that such a step would threaten their territorial integrity, as larger populations of Kurds live in those countries. NAIROBI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Foreign envoys from 14 countries on Monday opposed changes to the electoral law ahead of Kenya's fresh presidential elections slated for Oct. 26, saying it is against international best practice. The envoys from the United States, Canada, Britain and France urged all parties to engage immediately in a genuine dialogue with the electoral body regarding electoral procedures and processes. The diplomats who spoke to journalists after holding a meeting with Independence Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) officials in Nairobi said the proposed draft Election Laws Amendment Bill should be shelved as it puts at risk the IEBC's ability to conduct a better election within 60-day timeline, and unnecessarily heightens political tensions. "Well-established international best practice is to avoid changes to electoral rules just prior to an election. Kenyans can debate whether or not electoral changes are warranted, but the timing is a serious problem," said the envoys in a joint statement issued after the meeting. "Wise reforms to an established electoral process take time. They require thoughtful reflection and broad agreement from all parties," the statement read. Kenyans are divided on the proposed changes to the electoral laws by the ruling party Jubilee ahead of repeat polls on Oct. 26. While some, in particular president Uhuru Kenyatta's supporters, believe the changes are good and are what the country needs before the polls, those supporting Opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga oppose the amendments, noting they are a rigging plot. One of the radical changes Jubilee proposes is that if only one candidate remains in a fresh presidential election, he will be declared president-elect without polls being held. The bill, currently in Parliament, further proposes a custodial sentence of up to 15 years for any electoral officials who knowingly refuses to sign, submits incomplete forms or wilfully alters or falsifies documents relating to elections. It also proposes to strip the powers of announcing the winner of a presidential poll from the chairman of the electoral commission to any other commissioner. The opposition has termed the changes a plan by the Kenyatta to rig the forthcoming polls and called out on his supporters to resist, through protests, what he calls "dictatorship" on Mondays and Fridays. The envoys also said the growing list of political demands, inflammatory rhetoric, and boycott threats undermine the IEBC's ability to carry out its constitutionally-mandated job to hold a new election. According to the diplomats also from Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Finland and Norway, the IEBC should then make reasonable, fair decisions, and the election should be held as the Supreme Court directed. The diplomats urged Kenyan leaders and citizens to reject violence, noting that the international community is watching Kenya on every step of its electoral process. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:05:08|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close DHAKA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh and Myanmar Monday agreed to establish a joint working group soon to repatriate Rohingya people who have crossed into Bangladesh. The agreement came during a meeting between Bangladeshi Minister for Foreign Affairs Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and a Myanmar delegation led by Myanmar's Minister of the State Counselor's Office U Kyaw Tint Swe on Monday. U Kyaw Tint Swe, representative of Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, arrived here earlier in the day on a visit to discuss the Rohingya issue with the Bangladeshi side. After the meeting which lasted for more than one hour, the Bangladeshi foreign minister briefed journalists on Myanmar's repatriation proposal. "The meeting was held in a peaceful manner. Myanmar has proposed us to take back the Rohingyas. We've agreed on forming a joint working group to oversee the repatriation process," said Ali after the meeting at state guest house Padma. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army extremist terrorists launched attacks on police outposts in Rakhine on Aug. 25, displacing residents from a number of areas in Maungtaw district to border areas with Bangladesh. This is the first visit of a Myanmar minister to Bangladesh since the fresh wave of violence erupted in Rakhine state. Bangladeshi Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Sunday reiterated Bangladeshi government's stance of zero-tolerance to terrorism, saying they will never allow its soil to be used as the launching ground for any kind of terrorist activities. Bangladeshi ruling party Bangladesh Awami League party General Secretary Obaidul Quader Monday expressed the hope that the Rohingya issue would end through Swe's visit. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:10:10|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has planned to help India improve its power transmission network and expand the use of solar and wind energy with a loan of 100 million U.S. dollars. The loan approved by the Board of Directors of AIIB involves co-financing of 50 million U.S. dollars from the Asian Development Bank. This was the fourth co-financing made by AIIB and ADB, two major multilateral development banks in Asia. Since AIIB commenced its operations in 2016, the two sides have co-financed four projects, including the M4 expressway in Pakistan with 100 million U.S. dollars from each bank. The second is a natural gas production and transmission project in Bangladesh, with an aggregate financing of 227 million U.S. dollars, including 167 million U.S. dollars from AIIB. The third relates to a highway round the port city Batumi, the second largest city of Georgia, with 114 million U.S. dollars provided by each bank. In late September, ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada said the two banks could cooperate to meet Asia's huge infrastructure investment needs. Infrastructure needs in Asia and the Pacific stand at about 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars per year, and there is a finance gap of 500 billion U.S. dollars per year, Sawada said. Even if the ADB and the AIIB "put money together", it's not enough and thus it is necessary to mobilize public and private investment, he noted. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:15:12|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close COLOMBO, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan government needs to focus on special policies to address the needs of the elderly, particularly older women, as the country becomes the fastest aging society in South Asia, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said in a report on Monday. In 2012, there were 2.5 million people or 12.4 percent of Sri Lanka's living population above the age of 60, according to the latest statistics. Population ageing in Sri Lanka is accelerating at a faster rate than other South Asian countries and has been increasing rapidly since 1980s. Between 1981 and 2012, the proportion of population aged 60 years and above has increased from 6.6 percent to 12.4 percent, the report said. The median age of the Sri Lankan population has also increased from 21.4 years to 31.0 years from 1981 to 2012, which is much higher than other countries in the region. Rapid demographic transition with marked decline in death rates and birth rates, increases in life expectancy are leading to important changes in age-sex structure. "Comprehensive policies and programmes need to address the inequalities experienced by the majority of older population in Sri Lanka," the report said. "Hence it must be recognized that the older population are contributors to sustainable development." Older women in particular need protection to ensure their wellbeing in old age. "It is also important to support current working-age women's employment participation, so that women can have a stable income during their working age, thus can plan and be prepared for retirement, reducing their vulnerability in their old age," the report added. Currently only 34 percent of Sri Lankan women are employed in the formal sector. The Sri Lankan government in its latest economic policy document has expressed the need to improve this segment. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:15:13|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close ATHENS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Greek government submitted on Monday the 2018 draft budget to the parliament, projecting 2.4 percent GDP growth next year up from 1.8 percent for this year, according to the Greek national news agency AMNA. The draft budget which was e-mailed with a press statement by the Finance Ministry, also projects a 3.5 percent of GDP primary surplus for 2018, up from 2.2 percent forecast for this year. Both estimates are above the targets set by the current three-year bailout program which expires in the summer of 2018, the Ministry noted. "This is the last draft budget tabled in parliament while Greece is under a bailout program," Deputy Finance Minister Yorgos Chouliarakis told Parliament Speaker Nikos Voutsis, according to an e-mailed press release issued from the latter's office. According to the draft budget, unemployment was expected to fall close to 19 percent in 2018, private consumption to increase by 1.4 percent and total private and public investment to rise by 12.6 percent. Exports of goods and services were projected to be increased by 4.7 percent next year, while imports of goods and services by 4.4 percent. Greek media, such as "Kathimerini" (Daily) newspapers, noted in articles that the goals outlined by the government's draft budget may be altered in coming weeks following the start of the third review of Greece's third bailout since 2010. International creditors' representatives were due to visit Athens in late October to discuss with Greek officials the pending issues and targets for forthcoming months. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:20:15|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close SUVA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Pacific island state Vanuatu has launched a large-scale evacuation on its northern island of Ambae as a flotilla of boats rescued islanders from a volcano eruption that has resulted in the pollution of sources of drinking water. The threat level of the Manaro Voui volcano on Ambae island remains at four, one step away from a full-blown eruption. The Vanuatu government has asked all the 11,000 residents of the Ambae island to leave and most of them are leaving by boat. But the sick, the elderly and people with disabilities are being flown out by chartered flights, according to the website of Vanuatu's Daily Post. Islanders from at least three evacuation points have boarded ferries, canoes and commercial vessels to take shelter in surrounding islands Maewo, Pentecost and Santo. About 3,500 evacuees arrived on the island of Espiritu Santo overnight, bringing the total number of evacuees close to 5,000, with up to 4,000 more still to leave Ambae. Provincial officials said the 19 evacuation centers on the Santo island were already filled to capacity and about 1,000 evacuees have yet to be processed. The volcanic eruption has polluted many of Vanuatu's water sources, leaving thousands of people in need of safe drinking water, Red Cross delegate Joe Cropp said. The Manaro Voui volcano, Vanuatu's largest, has been raining rock and ash on villages over the past weeks. The Vanuatu government has acknowledged it is not well-prepared for a volcanic emergency and has called for international assistance. Vanuatu lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activities. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:25:16|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close NAIROBI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Fast increase of food and oil imports flowing into Kenya led to widening of trade deficit in the second quarter of the year, compared with the same period in 2016, government statistics showed Monday. The deficit was mainly pushed up by increased bill on imports of food items like maize and petroleum products, a new economic report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) showed Monday. "In the second quarter of 2017, imports valued on free on board increased by 15.5 percent to 4 billion U.S. dollars from 3.5 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2016, mainly on account of increased bill on imports of food and petroleum products," said the report for the April-June period. Total exports increased marginally to 1.5 billion dollars in this quarter, up from 1.4 billion dollars in the same period of 2016. "This resulted into widening of the external trade deficit in the review period. The balance of trade continued to worsen for the second consecutive quarter of 2017," said KNBS. During the period, Kenya suffered an acute food shortage, particularly of maize and sugar, forcing up prices. The shortage saw the government allow duty-free importation of maize and sugar, thus, pushing up the import bill. Maize and sugar were imported into the east African nation, with the former coming from as far as Mexico and the later mainly from the Commond Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region. With the imported maize and government was able to subsidize prices to 0.9 dollars for a 2kg packet of maize flour, down from 1.5 dollars. "Imports from the EAC (East African Community) nearly doubled from 71 million dollars in the second quarter of 2016 to 131 million dollars in the quarter under review, while imports from COMESA increased to 260 million dollars in the same period," said the government agency. EAC groups Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. COMESA has 19 member states. However, total exports to the EAC recorded a 14.4 percent decrease in the second quarter of 2017, to 25 million dollars, from 30 million dollars in the second quarter of 2016. A similar trend was observed in total exports to COMESA, which fell from 42 million dollars in the second quarter of 2016 to 39 million dollars in the second quarter of 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:25:17|Editor: liuxin Video Player Close People evacuate after the shooting in Las Vegas, the United States, Oct. 2, 2017. At least 50 people were killed and over 200 others wounded in a mass shooting at a concert Sunday night outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada. (Xinhua/Huang Chao) LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 50 people were killed and over 200 others wounded in a mass shooting at a concert Sunday night outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada. The death toll if confirmed would make the mass shooting the deadliest in U.S. history and surpass the 49 killed at an Orlando nightclub last year. Las Vegas Metropolis Police Department (LVMDP) published the latest casualty number at a news briefing to media early Monday morning. The shooter opened fire from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay hotel and was found dead inside a hotel room later, said Joseph Lombardo, sheriff of LVMDP. Investigators identified the shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, as a local resident and did not find any links to terrorism, Lombardo said, adding that he had "numerous firearms" in the hotel room. The police also said they were hunting an Asian female named Marylou Danley, adding that they have located the suspected vehicles and the person of interest. "We don't believe there are any more shooters," Lombardo said. University Medical Center of Las Vegas told Xinhua earlier that two injured people were later dead in the hospital while the death toll at other hospitals were unknown so far. "Twenty-six patients were admitted to the hospital, at least two have passed away, 12 are in critical condition, rest of the patients are being evaluated," said Danita Cohen, spokesperson of University Medical Center. The sound of an automatic weapon being fired can be heard in a video clip posted online by people attending the country music concert during the attack. The kind of firearm that made the noise was reportedly not easy to purchase in the United States. The gunfire that interrupted the concert was initially mistaken for fireworks. "We heard what sounded like firecrackers going off. Then all of a sudden we heard what sounded like a machine gun. People started screaming that they were hit... When we started running out there were probably a couple hundred on the ground," Meghan Kearney, who was at the festival when the shooting happened, told MSNBC news channel. "People kept dropping and dropping... People were getting shot one foot away from us," she said. "People were trying to save their friends. There were gunshots everywhere." Luo Xianlin, a Chinese tourist, told Xinhua that he was walking on the street two blocks away when the shooting happened, and ran into Ceasar Palace Hotel with a crowd of frantic people. "I didn't hear any sound of opening fire, but I ran with other people. Some stayed in the lobby. My four Chinese colleges and I hid in a room with seven Guatemalans and two Germans for four hours," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:30:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close AMMAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A joint Jordanian-Kenyan military exercise started in Jordan Monday as part of the efforts to enhance bilateral military cooperation. The training, attended by high ranking officers from both countries, is part of cooperation between the Jordanian Armed Forces and the Kenyan army, the Jordanian army said in a statement. The training, which will last for two weeks, will help promote the exchange of expertise, address various threats and challenges, and increase the preparedness of the two armies to face various situations, the statement said. In September 2016, a joint military drill was held in Kenya during a visit by King Abdullah II of Jordan to the African country. Jordan is keen on entering African markets through Kenya and boosting cooperation with African countries in various areas. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:35:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close AMMAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Monday rejected as groundless accusations by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) that claimed Jordan was deporting Syrian refugees. Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs said in a statement to the press that the claims by the HRW are baseless, stressing that Jordan follows the international law with regard to the issue of the refugees. A report by HRW on Monday claimed that the Jordanian authorities have been summarily deporting Syrian refugees, including collective expulsions of large families. The 27-page report claimed that it documents that during the first five months of 2017, Jordanian authorities deported about 400 registered Syrian refugees each month. In addition, approximately 300 registered refugees each month returned to Syria during that time under circumstances that appeared to be voluntary. Another estimated 500 refugees each month returned to Syria under circumstances that are unclear. "Jordan shouldn't be sending people back to Syria without making sure they wouldn't face a real risk of torture or serious harm and unless they have had a fair opportunity to plead their case for protection," said Bill Frelick, refugee rights director at HRW. "Jordan calls for accuracy when publishing such reports ...Jordan's security is on top of all considerations," Momani said Monday. "Such organizations need to be accurate when it comes to issues of sovereignty ... Jordan has provided major humanitarian support and aid to the refugees and these organizations should use the international community to support countries that host Syrian refugees," he said. Jordan is home to some 1.3 million Syrian refugees. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 22:35:24|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 30, 2017. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) by Xinhua writer Shi Xiaomeng BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- As Beijing and Washington are preparing for U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to China later this year, the event will surely be a special one for the world's most important bilateral relationship. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Sunday wrapped up his whirlwind China visit, during which he and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed Trump's visit in November. Xi said currently President Trump's visit to China is the most important event in China-U.S. relations and the teams on both sides should work closely to make it "successful and special." Indeed, Trump's scheduled visit will come at a significant moment in time only days after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The upcoming meeting will be the third between Xi and Trump this year, with two previous meetings in the U.S. state of Florida in April and in the German city of Hamburg in July. In those meetings, Xi and Trump exchanged views on bilateral relations. Since the U.S. president took office in January, the two leaders have maintained close contact on issues of common concern, including the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. The two have held eight phone conversations so far, a record number in the history of the two countries. Frequent communication between the two presidents is crucial since it can help avoid misunderstandings, smoothly manage differences and strengthen bilateral cooperation. No doubt the world's two largest economies don't see eye-to-eye on every issue. Therefore, negotiations are key to properly handling differences and disputes, and such talks must be based on mutual respect for each other's core interests. Just as President Xi has observed, the common interests of the two countries far outweigh their differences, and "cooperation is the only correct choice." Over the past year, China and the United States have been making progress in bilateral cooperation via four high-level dialogue mechanisms focusing on diplomacy and security, the economy, social and people-to-people exchanges, and law enforcement and cyber security. Looking ahead, there are numerous areas in which the two countries can continue to work together, not only at the bilateral level, but also at the regional and international levels. Trade and investment and climate change are two examples. Trump's visit will offer an opportunity for the two leaders to review the achievements in China-U.S. ties and outline the relationship's next steps. It is hoped that the U.S. president's visit to China will bolster China-U.S. relations and better position both countries to jointly combat global challenges. Cooperation is in the interest of both China and the United States. Strong ties will not only benefit both countries, but the world as well. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 23:00:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close JERUSALEM, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Israel Innovation Authority issued a report Monday saying that employees in the innovation industry would reach half a million within a decade, doubling the current number. To achieve the goal, Israel will make efforts in expanding circles of influence of multinational companies, both in terms of employment opportunities and the range of technological fields. The country will also encourage the growth of Israeli companies, from startups at the early stages of developing technology to companies with a complete value chain of design, manufacturing, marketing, sales, etc. Also, employment will be expanded in hi-tech industry, including integration of women, members of the Arab sector and Ultra-orthodox Jews in the workforce, along with veteran engineers above the age of 45, and diversify the entry points to hi-tech employment by promoting initiatives such as coding boot-camps and others as well. Moreover, other innovative sectors apart from ICT (software, computing and communication), with an emphasis on the life sciences, and the promoting of innovation in a wide range of industries, especially leveraging global trends in Industry 4.0, are also important ways to realize the goal. Israeli Minister of Economy and Industry, MK Eli Cohen, believed that Israel is a key player in a "global economy characterized by technological innovation," mentioning a great number of startups and leading international companies active in Israel. "The 2017 Innovation Report published by the Israel Innovation Authority encompasses a range of achievements and challenges faced by the Israel innovation industry and presents a roadmap for future development," he said. "We are providing incentives for more multinational companies to add manufacturing and export activity to their R&D (research and development)," he said, adding that this will increase the number of people employed in technological branches. Israel enjoys achievements on a global scale, ranking top in the world regarding the percentage of R&D investment and venture capital investments taken in the GDP. It also has 600 new startups per year, more than 300 multinational R&D centers, such as Intel, Google, IBM and Apple, according to the report. However, these achievements "do not carry over to other branches of the economy," Aharon Aharon, director of Israel Innovation Authority said, adding that the percentage of employees in hi-tech lies at 8 percent for over a decade. He thinks that manufacturing industries in Israel are not innovative enough, and have trouble competing with "the low costs in the East and the high production standards and innovation level of the West." "If we do not act to leapfrog these industries forward, the gap between the hi-tech industry and traditional economy will only increase," Aharon stressed, saying that the hi-tech industry itself is facing significant challenges. According to him, hi-tech industry suffers from a lack of engineers and programmers, which hinders its growth. Moreover, the Israeli model of innovation is largely based on creating technological added value. However, the economic value emanated from the technological value is "enjoyed outside Israel's borders," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 23:10:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TOKYO, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Nissan Motor Co. said on Monday that it will recall over 1.2 million vehicles in Japan which have undergone flawed safety inspections. The automaker's CEO Hiroto Saikawa told a press conference that the recall is expected to cost the company some 25 billion yen (220 million U.S. dollars). The company announced last week that it has suspended the registration of some 60,000 new cars because their safety inspections were conducted by uncertified personnel. Some 21 models manufactured in six factories in Japan were involved in the malpractice, including the Note, Cube, CT-R, March, Skyline, and Leaf electric car among others. The issue was first brought into light following an on-site inspection by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on Sept. 18, said local reports. It was found that Nissan had "assistant inspectors," instead of certified inspectors, do the safety check before the cars leave the factories. The ministry has asked Nissan to redo the inspections and instructed other automakers to review their own operations. Saikawa said the company has begun an internal probe into the cause of the malpractice which is expected to take a month. Nissan shares ended 2.69 percent lower on Monday, the first trading day since the incident was reported by the media. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 23:20:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's army said on Monday that Indian forces' cross-border shelling has killed a civilian and injured four others. The Indian forces carried out "unprovoked firing" along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir region and targeted civil population, Pakistan's army said in a statement on Monday, adding that "1 civilian M Din embraced Shahadat (martyrdom) while 4 civilians were injured." Pakistan's army "effectively engaged" Indian posts which were targeting civil population and destroyed two of them, the statement said. Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner and condemned the "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces in Rukh Chakri and Rawalakot Sectors on Sept. 30 and Oct. 2 respectively. A Foreign Ministry's statement said on Monday that three civilians were killed and five others injured in recent Indian forces's cross-border shelling. "This is the fifth ceasefire violation by the Indian forces in the past twelve days, resulting in the shahadat (martyrdom) of 11 civilians, including 5 women, and injuries to 37 others," the Foreign Ministry statement said. The Director General of South Asia at the Foreign Ministry, Mohammad Faisal, who summoned the Indian envoy said that the "deliberate targeting of civilians" is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws. "The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation," he told the Indian envoy, according to the statement. The director general urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate the incident and other ceasefire violations, and instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 23:30:44|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BERLIN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- CSU leader Horst Seehofer has warned Monday ahead of negotiations over the formation of a "Jamaica" coalition in Germany that relations between his party and their conservative sister party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) had fallen to a historical low. The CDU and CSU traditionally form a joint faction in Germany's Federal Parliament (Bundestag). The newspaper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" cited Seehofer describing the high-level discussions between the two parties scheduled for coming Sunday as the "most difficult" talks since the CSU briefly dissolved its association with the CDU in 1976 before reversing the decision. Seehofer stressed his view that the CDU and CSU needed to agree on a unified stance before officially entering any coalition negotiations with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens (Gruene). The CSU leader has reportedly cleared his schedule entirely in order to prepare for the meeting which will be attended by CDU leader Angela Merkel, secretary of the chancellery Peter Altmaier and CDU parliamentary faction leader Volker Kauder amongst others. The CSU will be represented by Seehofer, its lead election candidate Joachim Herrmann, secretary general Andreas Scheuer and former Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt. Scheuer supported Seehofer's insistence on Monday not to commence formal talks about the party's entry into a coalition government until it had coordinated itself with the CDU. According to Scheuer, the most urgent task was now for the joint CDU/CSU faction to hold consultations on why the electoral alliance had failed to defend its voter share in federal elections. He spoke of a "trend of discontent" which had swept across Germany and needed to be reversed. As a consequence, Seehofer said that he expected concrete answers from the CDU on topics such as pensions and social care. The touchiest subject likely to be encountered in talks between the conservative sister parties, is migration policy, however. The CSU has promised voters a fixed annual cap of 200,000 refugees to be admitted to Germany, a proposal repeatedly rejected by Merkel. Seehofer noted in the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" that there was "no chance" to form a new government without the CSU's participation. The CSU leader is widely seen to be fighting for his political survival after the CSU recorded heavy losses in recent Federal Elections. There have been calls from senior party members for Seehofer's resignation with Bavaria's regional Finance Minister Markus Soeder being tipped as a potential successor. In the meantime, the FDP announced its intention on Monday to start "bilateral" formal coalition negotiations with the CDU/CSU without the Greens. The FDP is likely to see this strategy as a means to find shared positions with the CDU/CSU, for example with regard to migration, and thus strengthen its negotiating hand against the Greens. Lindner emphasized that an agreement to lower the fiscal burden was a "condition" which needed to be met for his party to enter government. In turn, green party politician Robert Habeck urged his party's potential coalition partners in the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" to focus on the positions they shared instead of "continuously drawing red lines." Habeck's comments were echoed by CDU governor of Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff, who voiced confidence that a "Jamaica" could be successful if all parties involved prioritized the solution of problems over their respective ideologies. Haseloff who leads a regional coalition government between the CDU, Greens and Social Democrats added that Germans expected "swift government formation to address existing problems". Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 23:35:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LOS ANGELES -- At least 50 people were killed and over 200 others wounded in a mass shooting at a concert Sunday night outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada. The death toll if confirmed would make the mass shooting the deadliest in U.S. history and surpass the 49 killed at an Orlando nightclub last year. (US-Las Vegas-Shooting) - - - - STOCKHOLM -- Three scientists share 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the Nobel Committee announced on Monday in Stockholm. The Nobel assembly at the Karolinska Institute has decided to award the 2017 physiology or medicine prize jointly to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm. (Sweden-Nobel Prize) - - - - RAMALLAH -- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said in a news briefing upon his arrival at Erez crossing Monday that no Palestinian state would be established without geographical unity between Gaza and the West Bank. Hamdallah voiced appreciation to the role Egypt played into realizing the breakthrough in the efforts of the Palestinian reconciliation. (Palestine-Gaza-West Bank) - - - - BRUSSELS -- The European Union (EU) on Monday called for unity and stability instead of divisiveness and fragmentation in Spain, saying that Sunday's independence vote in Catalonia was "not legal" under the Spanish constitution. "For the European Commission, as President Juncker has reiterated repeatedly, this is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain," said the EU commission in a statement published on its website. (EU-Spain-Catalonia) Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 23:40:47|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BERLIN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The left-wing faction of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) has called for a significant ideological change of course in the party, preparing for four years in parliamentary opposition, newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported Monday. In response to the party's popularity falling to a historically low voter share of 20.5 percent, it should abandon the controversial "Agenda 2020" labor market policies adopted by former SPD chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Instead, it should focus on the goal of "distributive justice," according to a resolution circulated internally by the SPD over the weekend, as cited by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The group led by SPD parliamentary delegate Hilde Mattheis further called for a far-reaching personnel reshuffle in the party, including in parliamentary committees. Voters needed to see that the election result was followed by consequences. The SPD recorded its worst electoral performance since World War II in German federal elections on Sept. 24 and has since announced that it would return to the opposition benches. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 23:55:55|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS)' Amaq news agency said Monday the executioner of the Las Vegas mass shooting was one of its "soldiers." Amaq released two short statements; the first claimed that the mass shooter was a soldier of the IS, and the second said he had converted to Islam months ago. Amaq said its claims were founded on information passed on by a "security source," providing, however, no evidence to back up its claims. In Las Vegas, a gunman on a high floor of a Las Vegas hotel opened fire at an outdoor concert where a huge number of people were gathering, killing over 50 people and wounding hundreds of others. The attack was said to be one of the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 23:55:56|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close RIYADH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will visit Russia on Thursday at an invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. The two leaders will discuss bilateral relations and means to boost cooperation in various fields, in addition to reviewing regional as well as international issues of mutual interest. The visit comes a month before members of the OPEC oil cartel, of which Saudi is the biggest producer, are due to meet with the other nations including Russia that have jointly cut crude output to extend the pact that has helped prop up prices. | 2017-10-03 00:15:12|Editor: An Video Player Close BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a congratulatory message to Julie Payette on her assuming office as Canada's new governor general. In his message, Xi praised the development of China-Canada relations since diplomatic ties were established 47 years ago, noting the fruitful results of bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, as well as their sustained communication and coordination in international affairs. Under the current circumstances, the two countries share broad common interests and vast room for cooperation in boosting national development and addressing global challenges, said Xi, adding that there is an opportunity to further develop China-Canada ties. China is willing to work jointly with Canada to enhance mutual political trust and expand practical cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, so as to lift the China-Canada strategic partnership to new heights and bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples, he said. | 2017-10-03 00:16:07|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Rami Hamdallah (2nd R, front), Prime Minister of the Palestinian Consensus Government, shakes hands with Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh (2nd L, front) in Gaza Strip, on Oct. 2, 2017. Rami Hamdallah announced on Monday that his government began its work in the Gaza Strip in accordance to the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation understandings aimed at ending 10 years of internal divisions. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar) GAZA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Rami Hamdallah, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Consensus Government announced on Monday that his government began its work in the Gaza Strip in accordance to the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation understandings aimed at ending 10 years of internal divisions. Hamdallah and a delegation of 120 figures, including cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and security chiefs arrived on Monday morning in the Gaza Strip after crossing the borders between the northern tip of the coastal enclave and Israel, coming from the West Bank city of Ramallah. It is the first visit of Hamdallah and his government's members, ministers and security chiefs to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since December 2014. The visit aimed at handing over the rule of Gaza, according to an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement reached in Cairo last month . The consensus government was formed in June 2014, in accordance to an agreement reached in the house of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in April 2014 between Hamas and Fatah. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered to the sides of the road near Erez Crossing Point on the borders waving Palestinian flags to receive the large convoy of Hamdallah and his team. They expressed happiness and hope that the visit of the government to Gaza would improve their hard daily living condition. Around 200 Palestinian figures, representing the Palestinian factions, society notables and head of local society organizations received Hamdallah and his government at the checkpoint. The convoy headed to have lunch at the home of Ahmed Helles, member in Fatah Central Committee, in eastern Gaza City. A high-ranking Egyptian security intelligence delegation and a United Nations delegation are in Gaza to receive Hamdallah and his government and also to observe handing over the ministries, which were run by Hamas for more than ten years, to Hamdallah's government. "We are back again to Gaza in order to achieve reconciliation and unity and end of internal division. We came to build up on this historic moment and the Palestinian factions biased to national reconciliation," Hamdallah told a new briefing at the crossing before getting into Gaza. Hamdallah went on saying that "We are certain that the only road that would take us to our national goal is the road of unity and turning the page of division." Ibrahim Salem, 28 years old unemployed from Gaza, who waited for the delegation at Erez crossing said: "I came here to receive Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and the government. I want to tell them that ten years of internal division are enough. We suffered a lot in our life and it is time to end this division, unite and live a life with dignity." Abdul Rahman Abu Namoos, 32-year-old former security officer said "I think it is a historic day today for the Palestinians. I feel so happy today because it will be a first step towards unity and towards ending our suffering." "I hope they will succeed in achieving a full unity, end the suffering in Gaza, lift the blockade, open the crossings and find jobs for tens of thousands of unemployed people here," he said. The Hamas-run security forces ensured the area and the road that goes from the borders down to Gaza city, where the delegation stays for three days to takeover ministries that had been run by Hamas for more than ten years. A senior Egyptian security delegation, high-ranking figures and leaders of various factions and political powers, including Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Party received Hamdallah and his team at the crossing. Hamdallah and his cabinet ministers are scheduled to hold meetings on Monday with leaders of factions, including Hamas and Fatah, and will also head to their offices in Gaza to officially hand over the different ministries. On Tuesday, Hamdallah is to chair his weekly cabinet meeting at the consensus government's headquarters in Gaza city, the former house of President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamdallah and most of his ministries will leave the Gaza Strip back to the West Bank on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs told reporters that handing over control on the crossing points, either with Egypt or with Israel, "will be after two Fatah and Hamas delegation meet in Cairo on reconciliation talks next week." General Tawfiq Abu N'iem, Hamas security chief in Gaza told reporters that he is ready to handover control of security apparatuses to the interior ministry of the consensus government. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 00:06:00|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close People take to the streets to defend Spain's unity, its constitution and protest against the independence referendum set to be held on Sunday which has been declared illegal by Spain's Constitutional Court, in Barcelona, Spain, on Sept. 30, 2017. (Xinhua/Guo Qiuda) MADRID, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Junker on Monday gave Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy his support over the issue of Catalan independence. According to the Spanish media, Junker and Rajoy held a telephone conversation in which Junker expressed his support for constitutional order in Spain following the independence referendum held in the Catalan region of Northeast Spain on Sunday. That referendum was declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court. Junker reportedly also asked Rajoy to avoid further tension and the use of force. The conversation came after the European Commission issued a communique earlier in the day, agreeing with the Spanish government that the referendum was "not legal." "This is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain," commented the Commission, adding that an independent Catalonia "would find itself outside of the European Union." The Commission also mentioned the tactics used by the National Police and Civil Guards against voters, saying "violence can never be an instrument in politics." Rajoy Monday also held meetings with Pedro Sanchez, the leader of the Spanish Socialist Party and Albert Rivera, the leader of center-right party Ciudadanos to discuss possible future action and government response to the crisis. Rivera said he wants to see Rajoy's government invoke 155 of the Spanish Constitution to temporarily override the autonomy of the Catalan region and call new regional elections. Sanchez is thought to prefer looking for dialogue with Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 00:11:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close by Denis Elamu JUBA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan army (SPLA) Monday said it had killed 91 rebels and wounded several others in the wake of renewed fighting in the Waat area of Bieh state, north of the capital. SPLA spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said the violence broke out on Sunday, and more casualties are expected as fighting resumed on Monday. "Yesterday a combined force of rebel fighters supported by Lou-Nuer youth launched an attack on our position from 5:30 p.m until 8 a.m. We lost four soldiers and killed 91 rebels," Koang said in Juba. He said they repulsed the SPLA-in opposition rebels allied to former First Vice President Riek Machar in the wake of fresh attacks on Monday that lasted one hour. Koang disclosed that there were no serious civilian casualties besides members of Lou-Nuer ethnicity who largely comprise the white army militia. "The timing of the attack coincides with the peace high-level revitalization process by the regional leaders, and the rebels are trying to use this to blackmail the international community because they want to gain more territory," he added. In June, regional leaders under Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) launched the peace deal revival process in the wake of renewed July clash last year seeking to include all armed groups. South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Machar led to fighting that pitted mostly Dinka ethnic soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir against Machar's Nuer ethnic group. The 2015 peace agreement to end the violence was again violated in July 2016 when the rival factions resumed fighting in the capital, forcing Machar to flee into exile. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions others. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 00:11:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close PRAGUE, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Taxi drivers here launched a protest against rival transportation company Uber on Monday, blocking the main access roads to and from the international airport, which led to a three-hour traffic jam in the airport vicinity. Before the protest, Prague Mayor Adriana Krnacova met a representative of the Czech Taxi Drivers' Association. Krnacova said that Prague had no powers to ban Uber and that a meeting of the Government Office's expert group to seek solutions was scheduled for Thursday. Taxi drivers partially admitted that the solution was up to the government and the respective ministries, but they set out for their protest ride anyway, she said. The protesters said that drivers working for Uber breach laws by driving customers without having a taxi-service licence. Taxi drivers want to exert pressure on the responsible institutions and at the same time make people aware that the Uber services are in violation of the law. Using a cell phone application, people can call an Uber driver to take them where needed. Uber says it does not offer taxi services, but rather a shared drive on the principle of shared economy. Seventy taxi drivers drove to the local airport in Brno, where a court issued a preliminary ruling to ban Uber. There are currently 2,000 Uber drivers in Prague, most of them work for the UberPop service. According to municipal data, there are 5,000 taxi drivers in Prague. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 00:16:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of gun licences issued by authorities, local media reports quoted an official report as saying Monday. According to data released by Indian home ministry, 1.27 million people in the state are authorized to carry weapons. "The highest number of gun licences was given in Uttar Pradesh where 1,277,914 people are authorized to carry weapons," India's semi-official news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted the home ministry report as saying. In whole of India, until Dec. 31, 2016, authorities have issued 3.36 million gun licences. According to officials, most of the weapons have been taken in the name of personal security. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 00:46:20|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close HANOI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam and Laos on Monday agreed to focus on implementing key projects such as energy and transport connectivity projects. The pledge came as Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks with his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith here on Monday, according to the Vietnam Government Portal. Thongloun is currently on a visit to the country. The two sides also agreed to continue fostering and diversifying the exchange of high-level delegations and coordinate in realizing agreements reached by the two countries. They also discussed measures to step up the bilateral trade exchanges, Vietnamese businesses' investment in Laos and cooperation in such fields as security, education and training. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 00:46:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ANKARA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Syrian individuals and businesses in Turkey had made a valuable contribution to the country's economy, keeping the economy on strong grounds, said a Turkish expert who recently conducted a research on Syrian enterprises in Turkey. Some 8,100 Syrian enterprises in Turkey have made an investment worth nearly 500 million U.S. dollars in the country, said Vural Cakir, head of the Humanitarian Development Foundation. "Syrian enterprises have contributed to the economy of Turkey," said Cakir, adding that the contribution helps Syrians integrate into Turkish society and keep the national economy strong. The companies are mostly small to medium-sized enterprises, 39 percent of which are wholesalers and retailers, according to the research. Syrian refugees who could obtain work permits are less than 20,000, but the number of Syrians working in Turkey is much more. Among the nearly 3.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, an estimated 1.8 million had reached working age and 31 percent were in labor market, with a total of 650,000 Syrians employed registered or unregistered, according to the research. 17 percent of those Syrians are working for Turkish companies, while 5 percent is hired by the Syrian ones. The daily purchasing power of Syrians, who are working as unregistered as cheap labor, is under 2 dollars. 64 percent of Syrians in Turkey said they were hopeful for the future, while 52 percent of them expected to stay in Turkey. 74 percent of Syrian refugees said they wanted Turkish citizenship, while the percentage rises to 80 at the 15-17 age group. However, 45 percent of Syrians in Turkey felt "excluded by the people of Turkey because he/she is Syrian" and 42 percent said they would prefer to move to Europe. One of the striking results of the survey is that the average household size of Syrian refugees is approximately 6.2 people, almost double the size of Turkey's household size of 3.5 people. "Nearly all Syrian refugees are outside the financial system," Cakir said. According to the survey, only 4 percent of the Syrian refugees have bank accounts in Turkey, with less than 2 percent have debit cards. "Temporary protection identity alone is not enough to open a bank account for Syrians, residence documents should also be provided. It is necessary to eliminate the financial exclusion of the Syrian refugees," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 01:01:25|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close HELSINKI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Cooperation between NATO and the European Union (EU) was underlined in Helsinki on Monday at the opening ceremony of the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE). In his opening remarks, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto warned against alarmism, saying "We must avoid inflating the threats." The Finnish president noted the EU and NATO share the same security environment. Niinisto said the joint presence of both the NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Frederica Mogherini signified the determination to counter threats together. NATO, meanwhile, said in a press release that the center is an initiative of the Finnish government, supported by 11 other nations, as well as NATO and the EU. "The center will make an important contribution to our security," the NATO chief said in his speech. Stoltenberg said hybrid threats range from covert to overt, and "from tweets to tanks." Mogherini said the Center reflects "an unprecedented level of cooperation" between the EU and NATO. She said individual countries would not be able to cope with the complex threats alone, but can do it together. Hanna Smith, Director of Strategic Planning and Response of the Center, noted the Center can facilitate more dialogue between the member states. "We have to be able to identify a threat and and to see if it is a threat or not," said the director. Asked about access to intelligence sources, she said the work of the Center will be research oriented and classified information would not be needed. The budget of the Helsinki Hybrid CoE is relatively small, at 1.5 million euros, and half of it is met by Finland. Of the 12 members, Finland and Sweden are not in NATO, and Norway and the U.S. are not in the EU. Asked why the Center has only 12 members, Stoltenberg said other countries could join later or cooperate with the Center. People evacuate after the shooting in Las Vegas, the United States, Oct. 2, 2017. (Xinhua/Huang Chao) NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 others wounded on Sunday night in a mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada, the worst in U.S. history. In recent years, deadly shootings have been occurring more frequently in the United States, where over 57,000 incidents of gun violence happened in 2016, killing at least 14,000 people and injuring 30,000 others. The following is a chronology of the deadly mass shooting incidents recorded in the United States in recent years: -- FORT LAUNDERDALE, Florida, Jan. 6, 2017: A shooting killed five people and injured six others inside the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport in the U.S. state of Florida. -- HOUSTON, July 7, 2016: Four police officers were killed and seven others injured as two snipers opened fire during a protest against police shootings across the United States. -- ORLANDO, June 12, 2016: A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun killed at least 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. -- SAN BERNARDINO, California, Dec. 2, 2015: At least 14 people were killed and 17 others were injured after gunmen opened fire at a social services center in San Bernardino City, southern California. -- OREGON, Oct. 2, 2015: At least 10 people, including the gunman himself, died in a shooting at a community college in the state of Oregon. The gunman, identified by U.S. media as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, about 290 km south of Portland, Oregon's largest city. -- CHARLESTON, South Carolina, June 17, 2015: A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing nine people in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime. -- CHICAGO, May 26, 2015: Twelve people were killed and more than 40 more wounded in shootings in Chicago during Memorial Day. -- WACO, Texas, May 17, 2015: Nine people were killed and several wounded after a shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco, Texas, with more gangs threatening to descend onto the town after the violence. -- WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2013: A shooting inside a building at the Washington Navy Yard that serves as the headquarters of the Naval Sea System Command killed 13 people, including a suspect later identified by the FBI as 34-year-old navy contractor employee Aaron Alexis. -- NEWTOWN, Connecticut, Dec. 14, 2012: A shooting incident in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, killed 20 children and six adults. -- CHICAGO, Aug. 5, 2012: At least seven people were killed in a shooting incident at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, in the state of Wisconsin. -- AURORA, Colorado, July 20, 2012: Twelve people were killed and 59 others injured at a Batman movie premier, where a lone, heavily armed gunman burst into a packed theater in a suburb 10 miles (16 km) east of Denver. Local police identified the perpetrator as James Holmes, 24. -- TUSCON, Arizona, Jan. 9, 2011: A gunman opened fire at a public gathering outside a grocery in Tuscon, Arizona, killing six people including a nine-year-old girl and wounding at least 12 others. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was severely injured with a gunshot to the head. -- FORT HOOD, Texas, Nov. 6, 2009: U.S. army psychologist Major Nidal Hasan opened fire at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas, leaving 13 dead and 42 others wounded. -- BINGHAMTON, New York, April 4, 2009: A man shot dead 13 people at a civic center in Binghamton, New York. -- NORTH CAROLINA, March 30, 2009: A heavily-armed gunman shot dead eight people, many of them elderly and sick, in a privately-owned nursing home in North Carolina. -- DEKALB, Illinois, Feb. 15, 2008: A man opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, killing five students and wounding 16 others before laying down his weapon and surrendering. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 01:21:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VILNIUS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Lithuanian national railway operator Lithuanian Railway said on Monday it is to seek for "cost-effective and less damaging" option following a fine of 28 million euros from the European Commission (EC) for breaching the competition rules. Lithuania's state-controlled railway company said on Monday it is to conduct a thorough assessment following the EC decision to fine the company almost 28 million euros for blocking competition on rail freight market. "We will strive to solve the present issue that we have inherited, as well as other problems which haunt us from the past, in a way that's cost-effective and least damaging to Lithuanian Railways," Mantas Bartuska, the head of Lithuanian Railways, said in a statement on Monday. He added the company would study the arguments of the EC before coming up with the way to respond to the fine. On Monday, the EC has imposed a fine on Lithuanian railways for breaching the EU antitrust rules following the commission's investigation. In 2008, Lithuanian Railways dismantled a 19-km long railway track connection between Lithuania and neighboring Latvia, hereby preventing oil company Orlen Lietuva, a subsidiary of Polish oil company PKN Orlen, from using the services of other railway companies. Orlen Lietuva is a major customer of Lithuanian Railways. The EU's rail freight market was liberalized in 2007. The EC noted that Lithuanian Railways, as a vertically integrated company, is responsible for rail transport as well as for railway infrastructure. "It is unacceptable and unprecedented that a company dismantles a public rail infrastructure to protect itself from competition," Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner in charge of competition policy, was quoted in an announcement from the EC Monday morning. In recent years, state controlled Lithuanian Railways has seen its management completely reshuffled, amid corruption scandals. The fine from the EC is burden inherited from the previous management, says the company and the leaders of the Baltic country. "Tolerated for several years by several governments, 'the state within the state' and its irresponsible behavior has caused financial and reputation harm to the entire country," Grybauskaite, the Lithuanian president, was quoted as saying by news agency BNS, using the term "the state within the state" to describe the previous management of Lithuanian Railways. "We will use all legal measures available to defend the interests of Lithuania. At the same time, we put all efforts to establish a constructive dialogue with the European Commission," Rokas Masiulis, the country's minister of transport and communications, was quoted as saying by news website vz.lt. Lithuanian Railways was given by the EC three months to develop a plan to correct the situation. The decision by the EC can also be challenged before the General Court of the European Union within two months, informed Lithuanian Railways. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 01:26:33|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close KIEV, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko here on Monday met visiting Australian Senate President Stephen Parry to discuss the cooperation between the two countries on the investigation of the MH17 crash, Poroshenko's press service said. In particular, during the talks, the parties stressed the efficiency of the investigation that is being carried out by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and emphasized the inevitability of punishment for all those involved in the tragedy, said a statement on Ukrainian president's website. The Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crashed in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board died, including 38 Australian citizens and residents. In Aug. 2014, authorities from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Ukraine, and Malaysia have set up a JIT to conduct a criminal investigation into the crash. A report published by the JIT in September 2016 concluded that the plane was shot down by a Russian-made Buk missile fired from a region in eastern Ukraine, controlled by independence-seeking insurgents. Moscow and the rebel leadership in east Ukraine have denied the allegations, saying that the plane was shot by a missile from the territory controlled by Ukrainian government troops. In December 2016, JIT said that it has identified about 100 people, who are linked to the crash. Parry arrived in Kiev earlier in the day for his first official visit to Ukraine ever. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 02:01:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Monday issued a report saying that during September, violence in Libya killed 12 civilians and injured 23 others, including women and children. "The killed include seven men, three women and two children," the report said. "The majority of civilian casualties were caused by explosive remnants of war and gunfire," the report added. "UNSMIL was unable to determine with certainty which parties to the conflicts had caused the civilian casualties in September," it said. The Mission demanded all parties involved in the conflicts in Libya to stop the use of mortars, other indirect weapons and unprecise airstrikes on populated areas. Since the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, Libya has been suffering escalating violence and insecurity, as well as political division. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 02:11:48|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MAPUTO, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Poaching activity in Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in central Mozambique has fallen by 72 percent since the beginning of this year, a park official said here on Monday. The remarks by Rui Branco, head of surveillance at GNP, followed the arrest last week of seven teachers and three GNP guards in possession of ivory and precious stones. Branco attributed the success in combating poaching to the team work of natural resources committees. "The collaboration of the local committees led to the seizure of 35 guns that were used by poachers to slaughter animals, and the conservation law that inflicts heavy penalties on illegal hunters also contributes to the reduction of the activities," he said. This year, 240 traps set up for capturing large animals in the buffer zone of the park have been removed, Branco said. However, Branco said, in Limpopo National Park, in southern Mozambique and linked to South Africa's Kruger Park, at least 30 elephants have been killed so far this year, compared to 22 of last year. The Gorongosa National Park is the largest wildlife park in Mozambique, which has a total of 84,000 animals, including 650 elephants and 100 lions. Police form a perimeter around the road leading to the Mandalay Hotel (background) after a gunman killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 500 others when he opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 2, 2017. (AFP Photo) MOSCOW, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message of condolences to his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on Monday over a bloody mass shooting in Las Vegas, the United States. "The crime, which claimed the lives of dozens of civilians, is shocking in its cruelty," said Putin in the message, according to a Kremlin statement. It said Putin expressed sympathy and support to the families and friends of the victims, and he wished the injured a speedy recovery. At least 58 people were killed and an estimated 515 people were transported to hospitals in a mass shooting at a concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, police said on Monday. The death toll made the mass shooting outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip the deadliest in U.S. history. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 03:07:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NAIROBI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A senior police commander was killed on Monday by a junior police officer in Puntland region in northern Somalia. Abdisalam Sanyare, who was the commander at Galkaayo airport, was shot dead by a police officer guarding the facility in what sources said could have been a result of a scuffle. "The commander was shot and killed by one of the airport guards," Liban Ahmed, a police officer in Galkacyo, told Xinhua. "Investigations are already underway to establish the motive." A worker at the airport told Xinhua the two had a quarrel before the killing. "There was a scuffle between the two and shortly we heard gunfire. The officer took off immediately," said the worker, who did not want to be named. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 03:12:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian police on Monday killed three senior members of a militant group loyal to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group near Cairo, said the interior ministry. According to the ministry, the terrorists belong to Hasm group, which claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks that killed several policemen in Egypt, referring to the group as a Brotherhood's armed wing. The police raided the group's hideout in an area under construction in 15th of May city, south of Cairo, killing them in a shootout, the ministry said. Over the past few months, the Egyptian police killed a number of militants in similar raids in Giza, Cairo, Ismailia, North Sinai and other provinces across the country. Egypt has been fighting growing terror activities after the military toppled former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his Brotherhood group. Terror attacks in Egypt used to be centered in North Sinai before spreading nationwide and killing hundreds of policemen and soldiers over the past few years. Meanwhile, security raids killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 03:42:15|Editor: An Video Player Close Chinese peacekeeping soldiers wait for the glorious moment at the medal-receiving ceremony on Oct. 3, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Zan) JUBA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese peacekeepers, serving the United Nations in the South Sudanese capital of Juba, have been honored for their exemplary service in the war-torn nation. The third Chinese Peacekeeping Battalion with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), received their medals in a ceremony on Monday. It was double joy for the Chinese peacekeepers who on Sunday celebrated China's National Day. Braving the scorching sun, the soldiers stood proudly in their immaculately polished boots, white gloves and the classic blue berets with the UN insignia in a parade as the UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Moustapha Soumare, pinned the medals on them. Soumare, according to UNMISS, said the UN mission recognized the "dedication, commitment and professionalism" of the troops. He noted that 13 members of the contingent were women, highlighting the impact of female officers in peacekeeping. "The role and contribution of female officers is especially crucial in a place like South Sudan by making uniformed personnel more accessible to the most vulnerable civilians," said Soumare during the ceremony which brought together personnel from different military contingents, UN Police, civilians and dignitaries. Soumare encouraged troop-contributing countries to further strengthen the participation of women in uniform. Since the deployment of the battalion in December 2016, the Chinese contingent has carried out missions including patrolling at the Protection of Civilians (POC) site near the UN base, in Juba and along dangerous and damaged roads to reach vulnerable people in the remotest areas. Commanding Officer Ding Hailong expressed gratitude to the UNMISS for their continued support in helping the Chinese Battalion, also known as CHNBATT, fulfill their mandate. He commended the UN mission for its consolidated efforts towards building durable peace in South Sudan. Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan He Xiangdong said he was hopeful that the assistance to the people of South Sudan by CHNBATT will contribute towards a positive image of both UN peacekeepers and the Chinese army. For almost 30 years, China has contributed more than 30,000 UN peacekeepers to 24 different missions. During the ceremony, a minute's silence was observed in honor of peacekeepers who lost their lives in South Sudan as well as in other peacekeeping missions around the world. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 04:07:26|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BERLIN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- About 10,000 people were forced to leave their homes on Monday in Berlin after an unexploded 250-kilo WWII bomb was founded in the vicinity, the police said. The Berlin police said on its twitter account that the bomb was found by construction workers near Innsbrucker Platz in the western of the city. In a bid to defuse the bomb, the police sealed off the area within a 500-meter radius of the site, in which all houses will presumably be evacuated in the evening. The police called on residents to go to friends and relatives, and provided emergency shelters for evacuated people. Underground and suburban rail traffic in the area was also disrupted. Unexploded bombs are found across Germany on a regular basis even more than 70 years have passed after the World War II. In September over 60,000 people were evacuated in Frankfurt after a 1.8-tonne bomb was discovered. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 04:32:35|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi government on Monday strongly condemned the mass shooting attack in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada that killed at least 58 and wounded hundreds of others. The attack "underlines the importance of increasing international efforts to eradicate terrorism and follow up the sources of its support and funding," said a statement issued by the Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's office. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the mass shooting in Las Vegas, but U.S. authorities have denied that, saying that nothing in hand could so far connect the attack to any international terror organization. On Sunday night, a mass shooting took place at a concert in Las Vegas leaving at least 58 people killed and some 515 others wounded. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 04:37:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ARUSHA, Tanzania, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania on Monday unveiled a plan to promote tourist attractions in the southern circuit, a senior official said Monday. Jumanne Maghembe, Tanzania's Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, described southern tourism circuit as untapped potential when it comes to tourist attractions. "One of our commitments to make this strategy implemented is to improve the infrastructure of the area including roads, airports and accommodation facilities. We want to see key tourist destinations are packaged in better ways so that it encourages tourists to see the importance of visiting those areas," he said. The official added that the government recognizes the contribution of tourism to the national economic growth. According to Maghembe, the Tanzanian government working with the World Bank (WB) were strategizing on how to improve the infrastructures leading to Ruaha, Udzungwa, Kitulo National Parks and Selous Game Reserve. "It is indisputable fact that the Southern Circuit has a lot of unique historical sites and national parks with rare animal species in the world," he explained, noting that improving infrastructures would play a significant role in attracting tourists in the area. He said promoting the Southern Circuit would also go hand in hand with intensifying the war against poaching in the country. "We are also promoting investments in hotels of three and five stars. It is my hope that we will be receiving tourists/visitors of different levels," the minister said . Tourism is among the Tanzania's key sectors of the economy, contributing to 17 percent of the East African nation's GDP. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 04:37:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MEXICO CITY, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 pilgrims died and 38 more were injured when their bus overturned in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, local authorities said on Monday. Jalisco's director of civil protection, Trinidad Lopez, told Xinhua that the accident took place on Sunday night in the town of Atotonilco along state highway 307, between Arandas and Atotonilco. She added that 12 people, including men, women and children, died at the site while three other died in hospital while receiving care. Lopez said the dead were all pilgrims who were returning from a visit to the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos, a town located in the north of Jalisco. According to preliminary reports, the pilgrims bus was struck by a heavy transport vehicle, which caused it to overturn. Local press reports said a number of victims were pinned beneath the bus and are in a severe condition. Emergency teams from five towns, as well as the state civil protection corps, rushed to the site. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 04:37:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close VIENNA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Austrian unemployment rate has fallen 4.3 percent for the month of September, marking the biggest decline in the past six years, the social affairs ministry stated Monday. According to the ministry, the national unemployment rate dropped to 7.5 percent, a 0.6 percent year-over-year decline, meaning 374,935 people in the country without a job. The strongest unemployment declines were observed in the goods production sector (down 10.9 percent), construction (down 10 percent) and trade (down 7.3 percent), it said. The result marks a trend in falling unemployment observable in every month since March. An improving economy is a primary driving factor for the result, with between 2.6 percent and 2.8 percent GDP growth expected by leading economic institutes for the year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 04:37:39|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Monday that "there will be a time for policy debate" on gun control, but now is not the time. "Today is a day for consoling the survivors, and mourning those we lost ... there's a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country," Sanders said during a press briefing. "I think that there will be, certainly, time for that policy discussion to take place, but that's not the place that we're in at this moment," she added. Sanders said U.S. President Donald Trump learned about the incident early Monday and law enforcement officials were still at a fact finding period to gather all evidence. The White House observed a moment of silence Monday afternoon to remember those killed or wounded during the mass shooting. Trump said in a televised speech earlier Monday that the mass shooting had been an "act of pure evil", and ordered "flag be flown at half-staff." At least 58 people were killed and an estimated 515 people were transported to hospitals in a mass shooting at a concert in Las Vegas in the U.S. state of Nevada, police said on Monday. The death toll made the mass shooting outside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip the deadliest in modern U.S. history. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 04:52:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was shocked by Sunday night's shooting in Las Vegas that killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 500 others. "He was very shocked and alarmed by the horrific attack that took place in Las Vegas," Guterres' deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, told reporters on Monday. Guterres will be writing a letter of condolences to the U.S. government to express the world body's sorrow at the loss of so many lives, he said. In the worst ever shooting incident in the United States, a gunman opened fire on music concertgoers from the 32nd floor of a hotel, killing at least 58 people and wounding 515 others. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 05:02:47|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close RABAT, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- An official investigation committee has revealed that many development projects in Morocco's northeastern city of Al Hoceima witnessed "delay or failure." A report by the committee was handed to King Mohammed VI by the Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit and the Minister of Economy and Finance Mohamed Boussaid at Rabat royal palace, the king's office said in a statement. In 2015, Morocco launched Lighthouse of the Mediterranean, a large-scale development program in the northeastern province of Al Hoceima, but many of its projects have been marred by delays. Disappointed by the suspected delays, King Mohammed VI ordered in late June the cancelling of the vacations for the ministers concerned with the implementation of the development program, and set up an investigation committee to hold related officials responsible for the delays. The investigations have concluded that there are delays in some projects and failure to implement others, while excluding any act of embezzlement or fraud, the statement pointed out. The situation in Al Hoceima has been tense since October 2016, when fish vendor Mouhcine Fikri was crushed to death after climbing into a rubbish lorry to retrieve his swordfish confiscated by police. The demand for justice for Fikri in the northeastern region has evolved into a major grassroots movement to protest the delay in the implementation of scheduled projects, requesting greater government investment to create more jobs. Currently returning to calm, Morocco has not witnessed any protests of this size since the pro-democracy demonstrations during the Arab spring in 2011. A visitor poses with the wax figure of actor Bruce Lee at the first wax museum in Selangor State, Malaysia, Aug. 15, 2013. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) by Ronald Ssekandi KAMPALA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- In the shanty slum of Wakaliga on the outskirts of Uganda's capital Kampala is a movie studio that is little known at home but is gaining international fame. Clogged trenches, semi-permanent houses are what makes part of the set at Wakaliwood, a movie studio run by Ramon Film Productions. Isaac Nabwana is the brain behind Wakaliwood. In his childhood, Nabwana's brothers used to narrate to him Chinese movies they had watched at the cinemas. Nabwana could only imagine the moves in the movies. "I was inspired by the stories of the Chinese movies. I remember some names like Wang Yu, Bruce Lee and later on Jet Li and Jackie Chan," Nabwana told Xinhua in a recent interview. This sparked off his dream in the 1990s that one day he would set up a studio to produce movies. To begin with, he picked Kung Fu trainees from his brother's school to shoot video clips. "The stories were not connecting because we did not have a script. It was a puzzle to me," he said. Nabwana learnt how to write a script and in 2010, he released the movie titled, "Who Killed Captain Alex?' Since then, he has directed several movies, in which Kung Fu stunts never missed. "We love the Chinese culture of Kung Fu which has its own importance like body fitness, self-defense ... we need that in our society, it is almost a medicine," Nabwana said. "BRUCE LEE OF UGANDA" As Nabwana continues to get international attention, he is focusing on the Chinese market. Apart from China having a big market, Nabwana hopes the Kung Fu stunts in his movies will speak more to the Chinese population. One of the latest movies he has directed is "Bruce U," which was acted basing on Chinese film star Bruce Lee. "Bruce Lee was famous here, and I think he is one of the few Chinese who sold the Chinese image in Uganda. And now we have Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen. But Bruce Lee made a very remarkable impact on us, so that is why I decided to call it 'Bruce U' meaning Bruce Lee of Uganda," Nabwana said. The movie was acted by both Chinese and Ugandan actors. Some of the scenes of the movie were shot at China's the South Shaolin Temple. The movie tells the story of a Uganda boy Kiwa, who loved Chinese Kung Fu since his childhood and gets a chance to learn Kung Fu at a Shaolin Temple. "Smile Africa", a project aimed at helping spread Chinese culture in Africa, played a major role in the production of the movie by inviting Nabwana and his cast to the South Shaolin Temple to shoot some scenes. AIMING FOR INDUSTRY TAKEOFF Uganda's movie industry is still in its formative stages. Vincent Bagiire, permanent secretary of the ministry of information, communication, and technology, said partnership with countries like China are critical in developing the industry. Bagiire, who was speaking during the premiere of "Bruce U" in August, said the movie industry can contribute to a more informed society, help shape attitudes and develop the minds of local viewers. "We need to expedite the process to protect the huge potential that the industry presents to cause employment, as well as economic and cultural growth," he said. Nabwana decided to have his studio in Wakaliga as it was not only his home area but also budget friendly. "I know we need good cameras, computers but even without, you can not just sit, we have the talent, we have the passion, we can do it," he said. "We have people who can make props, makeup artists, we have so many people coming together," he added. Nabwana acknowledges that budget constraints are always a key challenge but is optimistic that over time, the industry will start generating revenue. His dream is to set up a studio on a 10-acre piece of land, though he is currently operating on a piece of land that is less than half an acre. "We are training children, they are ten in number. They are going to be the future of this industry. If you are to build a film industry, we have to start from children," he said. "My dream is seeing a big studio with the young generation learning how to edit, direct and write scripts. That is my dream if I get money." Nabwana has partnered with an American film promoter Alan Hofmanis to ensure his movies reach the international market. Hofmanis told Xinhua in a recent interview that they have arranged tours to Europe, India, Kazakhstan, and the United States to promote Wakaliwood movies. Chinese peacekeeping soldiers wait for the glorious moment at the medal-receiving ceremony on Oct. 3, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Zan) JUBA, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese peacekeepers, serving the United Nations in the South Sudanese capital of Juba, have been honored for their exemplary service in the war-torn nation. The third Chinese Peacekeeping Battalion with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), received their medals in a ceremony on Monday. It was double joy for the Chinese peacekeepers who on Sunday celebrated China's National Day. Braving the scorching sun, the soldiers stood proudly in their immaculately polished boots, white gloves and the classic blue berets with the UN insignia in a parade as the UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Moustapha Soumare, pinned the medals on them. Soumare, according to UNMISS, said the UN mission recognized the "dedication, commitment and professionalism" of the troops. He noted that 13 members of the contingent were women, highlighting the impact of female officers in peacekeeping. "The role and contribution of female officers is especially crucial in a place like South Sudan by making uniformed personnel more accessible to the most vulnerable civilians," said Soumare during the ceremony which brought together personnel from different military contingents, UN Police, civilians and dignitaries. Soumare encouraged troop-contributing countries to further strengthen the participation of women in uniform. Since the deployment of the battalion in December 2016, the Chinese contingent has carried out missions including patrolling at the Protection of Civilians (POC) site near the UN base, in Juba and along dangerous and damaged roads to reach vulnerable people in the remotest areas. Commanding Officer Ding Hailong expressed gratitude to the UNMISS for their continued support in helping the Chinese Battalion, also known as CHNBATT, fulfill their mandate. He commended the UN mission for its consolidated efforts towards building durable peace in South Sudan. Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan He Xiangdong said he was hopeful that the assistance to the people of South Sudan by CHNBATT will contribute towards a positive image of both UN peacekeepers and the Chinese army. For almost 30 years, China has contributed more than 30,000 UN peacekeepers to 24 different missions. During the ceremony, a minute's silence was observed in honor of peacekeepers who lost their lives in South Sudan as well as in other peacekeeping missions around the world. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 05:53:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RAMALLAH -- Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said in a news briefing upon his arrival at Erez crossing Monday that no Palestinian state would be established without geographical unity between Gaza and the West Bank. Hamdallah voiced appreciation to the role Egypt played into realizing the breakthrough in the efforts of the Palestinian reconciliation. (Palestine-Gaza-West Bank) - - - - RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia announced on Monday a plan to launch a company to increase the capacity of the grand mosque in Mecca to accommodate pilgrims that are expected to reach more than 30 million by 2030. The company's establishment is in line with Vision 2030, which aims to provide an opportunity for the largest possible number of Muslims to perform Hajj and Umrah and to enrich and deepen their experience through the development of the grand mosque. (Saudi Arabia-Mecca) - - - - DAMASCUS -- The Islamic State (IS) group's Amaq news agency said Monday the executioner of the Las Vegas mass shooting was one of its "soldiers." Amaq released two short statements; the first claimed that the mass shooter was a soldier of the IS, and the second said he had converted to Islam months ago. (Syria-IS) - - - - BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi government on Monday said it will not hold talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) until the latter cancels the results of the controversial independence referendum. "There is a need for the (Kurdish) region to cancel the results of the referendum which is contrary to the constitution, and then to engage in serious dialogue (with Baghdad) to strengthen the unity of Iraq," the government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said in a statement. (Iraq-Kurdistan) Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 05:53:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ALGIERS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Algerian Energy Minister, Mustapha Guitouni, on Monday confirmed the government's decision to amend the hydrocarbons law to make it more attractive for foreign investors, according to official APS news agency. "The amendment of this law would attract more foreign investments, especially in the field of exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons," Guitouni told reporters in Algiers, following a meeting of the Algerian-American Business Council, in the presence of major U.S. companies. This step comes within the financial crisis hitting Algeria due to the decline of oil prices in world markets, and the erosion of exchange reserves, which fell from about 200 billion dollars in 2014 to 97 billion dollars currently. This situation prompted the government to accelerate the process of reviewing the hydrocarbons law in force since 2006. On Sunday, Prime Minister, Ahmed Ouyahia, said that the amendment of the hydrocarbons law is a must to attract investors and raise the state's hard currency income. A report by the International Finance Institute (IFI) predicted that the growth rate of the Algerian economy will decline markedly this year despite the government's austerity decisions to curb budget deficit. The Algerian economy relies heavily on oil and gas exports, which account for about 30 percent of the country's GDP, and about 95 percent of the country's total exports. Oil and gas exports also account for 40 percent of the country's revenues. Ouyahia further announced resorting to the exploitation of shale gas, as a supplier of energy to ensure the future of Algerian energy. Two years ago, this decision triggered a wave of protests in the country to reject the exploitation of this type of energy because of its potential negative effects on the environment and the populations. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-03 06:23:11|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui(R) meets with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, on October 2, 2017. (Xinhua/Adele Ezzine) TUNIS, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui confirmed on Monday that he had received a proposal from Indonesia on establishing a free trade partnership between the two countries. Jhinaoui made the remarks during the visit of his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi. He said that the two sides aimed to strengthen bilateral cooperation through the Tunisia-Indonesia Joint Committee which had resumed operation after nine-year suspension. The two ministers agreed to boost bilateral cooperation that is mutually beneficial in fields including trade, investment, education, diplomatic training and fight against terrorism. According to Marsudi, her current visit will encourage the acquisition of new investment potentials as part of the public-private partnership projects in both countries. The current volume of trade between Tunisia and Indonesia is between 120 and 150 million dinars (between 48 and 60 million U.S. dollars). Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has appealed to Nigerians not to allow differences and the challenges confronting various ethnic nationalities to divide them as members of a united country. Ajimobi made this appeal in his goodwill message issued in Ibadan on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka, on the occasion of the 57th independence anniversary of Nigeria. While admitting that many things were wrong with the current federal arrangement in Nigeria which, according to him, had put some parts of the country at a serious disadvantage, he said that things could be sorted out under, one and indivisible country. Ajimobi said, It is quite unfortunate that at 57, Nigerians are more divided along ethnic and religious lines than we used to be at independence in 1960. The drum of separation is being beaten now more than ever before. Ethnic groups with separatist agenda are springing up on daily basis, while erstwhile brothers and compatriots are taking up arms against one another, with others shouting `To thy tent, O Israel. Right now, many of our countrymen see Nigeria as one alien enterprise from which they are very distant and which has no bearing on their existence. This alienation had led to the series of unwholesome developments which have put Nigeria on the map of violence-ridden countries. While it is true that some ethnic nationalities have not fared better under the current federal arrangement, the solution does not lie in the disintegration of the country or issuance of quit notice by one ethnic group to another. We are indeed better and stronger together with common aspirations in a united Nigeria. Ajimobi then called for concerted efforts at combating the violence, maiming and wanton destruction of lives and property, all in the name of religious extremism. More fundamentally, let us combat the demon of violence and crimes that is posturing as part of our clime. We must wean our country from the hands of this unwholesome tag that is a major disincentive to growth and development. We should hold the relative peace in the country very sacred and deepen the confines of peace. We can do this by living peaceably with our fellow men and women and put Nigeria at the centre of our interpersonal relationships. Ajimobi while congratulating Nigerians on the occasion, called for more patriotism, resilience and determination on their part to ensure that the country attains greatness. Nigeria celebrates its independence day annually on the 1st of October. On October 1, 2017 it became 57 a long time since the nation gained freedom and keeping in mind that there are constantly changed feelings shared by Nigerians on the day, it is as yet a day worth celebrating. As Nigerians celebrated Nigeria at 57, there was no deviation from the norm. Some Nigerians took to social media to complain about the countrys stagnancy over a number of issues while others declared their commitment to the country which they hailed as still having a lot of potential. Here are five other proud moments that the country has enjoyed since then. Wole Soyinkas Nobel Win What a great moment for a growing country. Having the literary accomplishments of the nation lauded with a win by one of their own was, and remains till today, a proud moment for many Nigerians. Match that to the fact that the great Wole Soyinka was the very first African laureate and you may begin to understand why that is still a very proud moment for Nigeria at 57. The Nobel Foundation described him as one of the finest poetical playwrights that have written in English. His win in October 1986 continues to inspire generation after generation of Nigerian writers to reach as far as they can with the art and since then, the country has recorded some other amazing literary wins. Nigerias Olympic Gold Win in 1996 Anyday and anytime, an Olympic gold has the capacity to make an individual or a country proud. Now, imagine all the high emotions that this particular Olympic Gold win in Atlanta 1996 elicited. On this momentous occasion, Nigeria became the first African country to win the Olympic Gold after winning Argentina 3-2 in the finals. Of course, to even get to the finals, the country also had to beat Brazil in the semis, doing so with an incredible score line of 5-3. Nigerias Return To Democracy Almost as momentous as the countrys Independence was its return to democracy in May 1999 after 19 years of uninterrupted military rule. It ushered in an air of optimism in the country as the feeling of taking their fate in their hands was distilled across the board. Over the years, a scattered minority of Nigerians may have a return to the days of military rule due to the failures of leadership in Nigeria under democracy but that idea may never be embraced mainstream as a majority of Nigerians still see the time of military dictatorship as very dark days. Agbani Daregos Miss World Crown In November 2001, the beautiful Agbani Darego wore the Miss World Crown and made the hearts of many Nigerians swell with pride. Agbani Darego had been the reigning Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria when she ran but no one had really expected a black woman to go far in the competition. The beautiful woman became the first black African woman to claim the crown and forever gave us the words declared over and over by black women everywhere; Black is beautiful! Defeating Ebola The proud moment in most recent history that has inspired a film, several think pieces and National pride that will go on for a long time. By the time the Ebola virus had been kicked out of Nigeria, 8 people had lost their lives but thanks to the collective effort of people in the country it was not the sweeping disaster that it could very easily have been. September 2014 will always be one of Nigerias prouder moments when people like the late Dr Ameyo Adadevoh showed great patriotism and intelligence, containing the spread of the virus and saving countless lives. Since Nigeria got independence from Britain, it seems Nigeria has not got it right. Even the First Republic, which appeared better, was not without problems; the military struck. We had the period of military interregnum that affected the development of our democracy. There are myriad of problems militating against the economic development of this beleaguered nation. It is disheartening that Nigeria is 57 years old and we are still in the woods. The aphorism A fool at 40 is a full forever, can be applied to us as a sovereign nation. Nigeria is blessed with enormous human and material resources, but what do we have to show for it? We have been battling with selfish leaders who fight and cling to power for personal aggrandisement. Corruption, religious and ethnic divide are other militating factors. We abandoned agriculture and failed to develop other sectors like mining. Our economic existence as a nation depends on oil and we import virtually everything including toothpick. Our Gross Domestic Product is nothing to write home about. How can we develop? I am in a state of despondency and despair about the Nigerian project and we need to get serious and committed to move forward. The polity is consistently being heated up with agitations of marginalisation from some quarters. I think this present government needs to do more. I commend the efforts of President (Muhammadu) Buhari in fighting corruption and fixing the economy. They must go back to the drawing board to tackle the lingering issue of devolution of powers, so that we can practise true federalism. Recent happenings in the South-East are avoidable and I think dialogue rather than force is the best option. Chief Rafiu Balogun (National Legal Adviser, Nigerian Bar Association The 57 years of Nigerias existence is a mixed bag. It is one that reflects the dangers and challenges that a country has faced on the one hand. On the other hand, it is a bag which contains the prospects and the possibilities that Nigeria can attain if we get our acts together. At 57, it is disheartening that as a nation we squandered a greater part of the hopes, aspirations and momentum that we gathered at inception. The challenge now is that at 57, with such a huge country in the comity of nations, how do we re-prioritise and re-organise ourselves in a way that we can stop this deliberate mortgage of the future of our children? On the political scene, it should be our objective that Nigeria remains an indivisible entity and navigate the odds. We must not fritter it away; the essence of being together is not because of the size. We should be able to leverage on the diversities and heterogeneous nature of the country. On the socio-cultural side, we cannot lay claim to doing very well, because the values and the ethos which bind us together are fast disappearing. I think that the major problem is the economic front, where the present government, in spite of its acclaimed determination, is yet to re-tune the economy into the path of recovery and progress. This can better be explained by the degree of disaffection, hunger and resentment of the Nigerian people. Malachy Ugwummadu (President, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights) Nigeria is not moving in the right direction and that is what makes the situation very, very sad indeed. Frankly speaking, 57 years is a good measure of time to assess not only an individual, but also a country. I think it is unfortunate, I dont want to start the blame game; the fact is that we have largely not done much to justify the potential we had at independence in 1960. Dr Junaid Mohammed (Medical Doctor/Politician) I would say that Nigeria is doing very well in all respects. Until 1960, the places you call Edo and Delta states today were having only four standard secondary schools. Today, there over 1,000 schools. That means there are more opportunities for the education of more people. Back then, we had just one university and three polytechnics. The University of Ibadan was even a college then. We had the Ahmadu Bello University, which was then more like a polytechnic. But now, we have over 200 universities. So, there are more opportunities and access to education and education is life because they say a learning man is a leading man. Until 1963, I remember when I was going for an interview into the Nigerian Army in Kaduna; it took me three days. It took me a whole day to get to Osogbo from Benin and from Osogbo to Kaduna, by train, took me two days. But today, from Benin to Kaduna is only 10 hours. We talk of the groundnut pyramid and cocoa. But the industries using those things and the people consuming them are so many. The estimated population, as of 1960, was only 64 million. Today, it is estimated at 170 million. So, you can imagine. I remember that in 1976, when I retired and got to Benin, there were only two people in my area driving cars. But today, there is no house that does not have a minimum of one car. Also, those days, you could count the number of engineers, doctors and lawyers. We are very critical of ourselves, which is very good because it makes our leaders work harder. But we should relax in our criticisms. The Buhari-led administration listed three areas it said it would concentrate on within four years security, corruption and the economy. But within one year, people started criticising him, alleging non-performance. In the area of security, one can score him 80 per cent or 90 per cent. For corruption, one can score him up to 80 per cent. On the economy, the World Bank and IMF have said that we are coming out of recession. So, we should be giving kudos to our leader. The only thing is that the sort of government we are running is very expensive. We need to find a way to cut down on the cost of governance. Col. Paul Ogbebor (Retired Nigerian Army veteran) The problem with Nigeria at 57 is that it is not yet a nation. It is merely a geographical expression as described by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Nigerians have yet to agree on terms of cooperation. Before you talk about restructuring, you have to talk about structuring. It is not a political concept. It is a sociological concept on how a people can agree on socio-political structures that would regulate socio-political institutions. Until we sit down to structure Nigeria, political stability and social justice will continue to elude us. Nigeria does not have economic problems but moral ones. People behave wrongly in public affairs because of their sense of justice. They dont believe in the country. Our people think first as Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, etc., before they think as Nigerians and that is the foundation of Nigerias underdevelopment. The solution to Nigerias problems at 57 is to formulate a mechanism that, based on research and study, would create the principles of justice that would take us forward. The current agitation on restructuring is misplaced and misdirected. There is currently no agreed structure by the different ethnic groups that make up Nigeria. The process must not be led by politicians but by scholars, researchers and socio-political philosophers. It should be done through the process of building structures that will regulate our institutions. All the problems of corruption and the likes are justified in a disordered country such as Nigeria. There must be a sincere process of getting Nigerians together to deliberate on the principles that would lead to social justice and political stability. Until this is done, all the political and economic problems would continue Former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu has said leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu is currently in London. Kalu revealed this in an interview he granted Sunday Punch, adding that he does not know about the whereabouts of Nnamdi Kanus parents. He said contrary to what has been fed to the public so far, the military did not take Kanu and his parents away. Orji Uzor Kalu told Sunday Punch: Kanu was not taken away by the military. Kanu went to Malaysia from where he travelled to the United Kingdom. Nnamdi Kanu is in London right now as we speak. He was not arrested by anybody. He left the country on his own. One of his relations has spoken to me and explained everything because I wanted to see him and talk to him wherever he was and see how I could meet some Federal Government officials on his issue. I also wanted to see ways of talking to the President about him, and find common ground but his family told me that he has left the country, unless they are lying to me. I believe, whether he had left the country or not, he is not with the military because I asked the Commander of the 14 Brigade, Brigadier General A.K Ibrahim, who is a very fine and good soldier, well educated and dedicated, and he told me that they dont know his whereabouts and I am sure, the Department of State Services have the same information. I also visited the Commissioner of Police and he said he didnt know his whereabouts and that they are also looking for him. On the whereabouts of Kanus parents, Kalu told Sunday Punch: I dont know. I visited them in December last year and I was not impressed with the discussion I had with the father and the mother because I expected them to have acted better. Since then, I have not visited them. I feel that they have not impressed me because they ignored my advice to them to talk to their son on the need to stay at home and avoid public outings. I said his people can continue to carry their flags around but that they should not disturb anybody again. They have a right to express themselves but that such rights should be within the limits of our constitution. They have the right to carry Biafran flags but they should do so within the limits of the constitution. Once your activities are within the limits of the law, you are in order. You cannot carry Biafra flags and be stopping vehicles and smashing their windscreens. You cannot carry Biafra (flags) and be molesting young girls, you also cannot carry Biafra (flags) and be assembling young men every day. These are people who have no job and after doing that, they will go and engage in kidnapping or they will go and do armed robbery while some will go and do other things to make money. Hunger is a very terrible thing. The traders in the market have warned them to stop the nonsense they are doing. Why should you be extorting money from people in the name of Biafra agitation? They are extorting money from people in the market against their will. If the federal and state governments continue to watch and allow all these things to continue, there will be chaos in the state. If Kanu had not proved stubborn but listened to advice and kept to the rules of the court, we wont be where we are now. 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. Morocco has become a popular destination for African students seeking to pursue their academic studies or acquire new skills in a wide variety of highly paid fields. Since 1986, the North African Kingdom has provided free training to over 25 000 Africans from 47 countries. The list of Africans, who graduated from Moroccan Schools, includes Presidents, Prime ministers, ambassadors, diplomats, senior military officers, government officials, doctors, engineers, technicians, economists, lawyers, said Director General of Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation Mohamed Methqal. The graduates received advanced education in economics, law, medicine, pharmacy, architecture, biology, geology, literature, journalism, diplomacy, statistics, engineering, etc. The number of African students applying for Moroccan scholarship keeps increasing year on year thanks to the solidarity-based African policy, spearheaded by King Mohammed VI and the high-standard of the training provided by Morocco, preferred by the Africans due to its hospitality and tolerance unlike neighboring Algeria wherein African migrants suffer racial discrimination, humiliation and systemic abuse. Currently, 16 000 African students are enrolled in Moroccan schools and institutes and benefit from scholarships granted by this country. The success of the Moroccan story in this field has been recognized and praised by several Western countries and international institutions. Some countries such as Japan, Germany, Norway and others have even expressed interest in the experience of Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation and in its approach in training African students. For its part, UNDP is looking into ways of supporting Moroccos actions and program aimed at enhancing human development in Africa through education, vocational training and funding micro-projects to combat poverty, create job opportunities and improve living conditions of African population. Poverty eradication is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda. Achieving this goal requires sharing knowledge, expertise, technologies and financial resources. According to UNDP administrator Achim Steiner, there is significant evidence showing that knowledge exchanged among Southern countries can be more relevant and adaptable to the specific development challenges they face. South-South and Triangular Cooperation has been steadily on the rise over the past decades, and now plays a transformative role in advancing sustainable development, he said. Washington in August froze $300 million military aid to Cairo after US intelligence intercepted a shipment of 30,000 grenades from North Korea to Egypt under an apparent secret deal violating international sanctions against the rogue state, reports suggest. The Trump administration unexpectedly put halt to the money citing the North African countrys poor human right record while asking Cairo to severe military ties with Pyongyang as one condition to fulfill before releasing the aid. Washington Post Monday revealed that the US decision was motivated by the discovery in Summer 2016 of a cache of more than 30,000 grenade concealed in a vessel named Jie Shun flying Cambodian colors which set off from North Korea. The vessel spotted by US intelligence entered Egyptian waters. US officials secretly informed Egyptian diplomatic officials forcing Cairo swarm the shipment worth some $23 million. US officials who did not want to be named because they were not allowed to speak on the matter told the UN that Egyptians were behind the secret deal. UN investigations indicated that Egyptian businessmen linked to Cairo ordered the shipment containing more than 24,000 rocket-propelled grenades, and completed components for 6,000 more. The size of the order looked for military purpose. The weapons were copies of North Korean copies of a rocket warhead known as the PG-7, a variant of a Soviet munition first built in the 1960s, the US media said. Egypt at the time denied any link with the contraband adding that it would continue to abide by all Security Council resolutions. Egypt has been an historical ally of North Korea. Diplomatic and military ties date back to 1970s. Egypt possesses Korea military hardware. In a visit to Seoul early last month, Egyptian defense minister, Sedki Sobhi told South Korean officials that Cairo has already severed military ties with Pyongyang and will side with Seoul to increase international pressure on North Korea. Thousands of people gathered on Placa de Catalunya in Barcelona expecting the results of the referendum on independence. Photo: Alain Pitton/NurPhoto via Getty Images The violent response of the Spanish government to Sundays independence referendum in Catalonia came as perhaps more of a surprise than it should have. While its always shocking to see an ostensibly democratic government behave so aggressively toward its own citizens, the circumstances in which Spain finds itself today make it ripe for the deterioration of democratic norms. To begin with, Spain has not enjoyed democratic government for very long; in fact, its one of the youngest democracies in western Europe. Spain began its transition to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, and did not complete that process until the early 80s, so it has only been a fully functioning democracy for about as long as the 36 years Franco reigned. Many Spaniards alive today, including Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, grew up under fascism, and the country has precious little experience navigating constitutional crises in a democratic context. A country cobbled together from several medieval kingdoms with their own languages and cultures, Spain has always had a particularly fictive national identity, which Francos authoritarian nationalist regime took pains to enforce. Franco canceled the autonomy that had been previously granted to Catalonia and other regions and violently suppressed Spains cultural and linguistic diversity, revoking the national status of the Catalan, Galician, and Basque languages and barring them from being used in schools, churches, road signs, or advertising. After Franco, Catalonia was granted a measure of autonomy under a statute passed in 1979 and updated in 2006, but in 2010, Spains constitutional court infuriated Catalans by abolishing 14 articles of the statute and ordering another 27 of them reinterpreted. That decision helped ignite the latest iteration of the separatist movement, leading to waves of mass demonstrations and a referendum on independence in 2014, for which then-leader of the Catalan government Artur Mas was prosecuted. Earlier this year, Mas was sentenced to a fine of 36,500 euros and a two-year ban on participating in politics. Since Rajoy took office in 2011, his governments rejection of Catalan independence has done little to stifle the movement; if anything, the more stridently Madrid resists, the more determined the separatist camp seems to become. Mass successor Carles Puigdemont is already making hay from the bad optics of Sundays police response. The odds that Catalan separatists will give up and go home now on account of a bloody nose are precisely zero, and Rajoys strategy of coercion makes outright civil conflict more likely the longer he pursues it. Knowing that, it may be hard to fathom why Rajoy felt the need to send a militarized police force into polling stations to confiscate ballot boxes and rough up demonstrators when those acts were guaranteed to be recorded and published online immediately. Research on Catalan attitudes toward independence by Artis International suggests that acts of suppression from Madrid only heighten pro-independence sentiment, while on the other hand, the 2014 referendum actually had a cathartic effect and ended up softening those attitudes. Had Rajoy allowed this years referendum to proceed in peace, but negotiated to give voters the option of expanded autonomy within Spain as well as outright independence, he might have defused the situation and created an opportunity for compromise. So why didnt he? The likely answer begins with another finding from Artis: that only 23 percent of Spaniards regarded democracy as a sacred value, and that this declining faith in the system stems largely from perceptions of the national government as power hungry and unresponsive. When Rajoy was unable to form a government after a general election in 2015, necessitating another election the following year, many Spaniards simply didnt care; they no longer saw the central government as a meaningful, much less positive, presence in their lives. With the Spanish publics faith in their government declining (sound familiar?), Rajoy and his center-right Peoples Party now find themselves with a minority government, a tenuous grip on power, and no real mandate to lead. Rajoy has managed to remain in power thanks largely to a leadership crisis in the Socialist party, but he also faces a new challenger in Podemos, a populist left-wing party founded in 2014 as an alternative to the corrupt and ineffectual Establishment, but that has so far served only as a spoiler for both leading parties in national elections. What Spanish voters do care about is the economy, which has been depressed since 2008, leading to frighteningly high unemployment rates and the accrual of massive public debt. Indeed, the economy is a major reason why many residents of Catalonia want out of Spain and why Madrid is desperate not to let it go: Catalonia has the highest GDP of any of Spains regions, accounting for nearly a fifth of the countrys economic output. It also pays about 20 percent of the countrys taxes, while receiving only 14 percent of national government expenditures. If Spain is struggling now, it will struggle much harder without Catalonia, whereas pro-independence Catalans believe they would be much better off if they didnt have to send so much of their money to Madrid. Taken together, these conditions of political and economic stagnation put Spain in an especially fragile state. When the stakes are so high, its easy to see how a cornered head of government might resort to authoritarian tactics to prevent his country from fracturing even further. However, Rajoy needs to wrap his head around the fact that Catalonian independence or autonomy is a question of when and how, not if. His choice in the matter is whether to pursue a negotiated compromise while its still on the table, or to dig in his heels and send Spain further down the road to partition, or worse, civil war. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images There has always been a sense among those who really know Las Vegas that the city was defying the odds. Mass shootings and acts of terrorism had visited so many places across the United States Virginia Tech, Newtown, San Bernardino, Fort Hood, Orlando, Aurora, Colorado, and many more but somehow the city emblematic of so much American excess had moved on through this era of random public violence virtually unscathed. Until it didnt. Until the luck ran out and, finally, someone deranged enough decided to take advantage of all the potential for inflicting harm on innocents that this live-and-let-live vacation city and its libertarian state offered. The things that make Las Vegas appealing an affordable place where people of all stripes can blend in and indulge, so many huge resorts and venues squeezed together were always also its greatest vulnerability. With at least 58 dead, the city may now be defined as the site of the worst mass shooting on U.S. soil thanks, police say, to a gunman with ten assault rifles who strafed a crowd at an open-air country-music concert. Weve always been a soft target, said Nevada assemblyman Elliot Anderson, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan and later worked as a security officer at the Planet Hollywood resort. Although were not a high military-grade target, if someone wanted to cause panic here, they could do it easily. For whatever reason, international terrorists have left the city alone. When it turned out that some of the September 11 hijackers spent time on the Strip plotting their attacks, it was treated as a peculiar factoid, one that proved the hijackers own internal hypocrisy. But the question also hung in the air: Isnt Vegas the kind of place that could draw their attention as a target? There were jitters when the FBI said that Vegas was one of a few cities that could be terror targets on New Years Eve 2003, but nothing happened. Still, going back to 9/11 and even before there was an awareness of the potential for a violent attacker to cause devastation. Everybody knows that Las Vegas is something of a soft target because there are so many outdoor attractions on the Strip that can never be secured, a board member with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, who asked not to be named, told me. A truck bomb at a busy intersection is almost impossible to prevent, and, bam our economys dead. To be sure, small-scale incidents on the Strip were harbingers. In 2007, a Las Vegas man opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun from a balcony overlooking the casino at the New York-New York resort, injuring four before being tackled by four tourists. Also that year, a 24-year-old restaurant employee was killed when a homemade bomb was left in a coffee cup atop her car in the parking garage of the Luxor. In December 2015, an Oregon woman swerved her car into a crowd of Strip pedestrians, killing one and injuring more than 30 people outside the Paris resort. After the New York-New York event, Bill Young, a former Clark County sheriff who became security chief for Station Casinos, told me: We have not had an event here in Las Vegas the equivalent of the events of 9/11 or anything close to that, and that hasnt been by accident. With all that said, its going to be very, very, very difficult to prevent lone criminals who have the intentions of harming themselves and others. Thats not to say the powers that be werent on alert. Immediately after 9/11, trucks were no longer permitted to cross the Hoover Dam, and vehicle checkpoints appeared on both sides. Las Vegas resorts have long been praised by law enforcement for their cooperation with Homeland Security in using facial-recognition software and sharing information as demanded on hotel stays. It used to seem overkill when the garage attendants at Sheldon Adelsons Venetian and Palazzo resorts required trunk checks, but others have started to do that as well. But now the unthinkable yet somehow not unpredictable has happened anyway. Yes, the casinos are equipped with a zillion cameras. Yes, the hotels have loads of private security and the Las Vegas Metro Police make themselves visible along the Strip. None of that, of course, was enough to stop Stephen Paddock from opening fire on tens of thousands of concertgoers from a 32nd-story window. The question is whether this event now defines Las Vegas. And as aggrieved and in shock as many there are, Las Vegans are also starting to worry about the fallout. State Senator Yvanna Cancela, a Democrat whose district envelops the southern part of the Strip where the massacre happened, told me this morning that part of reassuring people that the destination is a safe place to visit may include revisiting its aversion to effective gun-control legislation. The states voters narrowly passed mandatory background checks for private gun sales via referendum in the 2016 election, but the attorney general, Republican Adam Laxalt, said it could not be implemented because he said the FBI was refusing to cooperate with the referendums requirements for records access. Its insane that one person could have access to that many weapons and that kind of weapons, Cancela said. As a state, we can look at where our gun laws are and figure out if we can make changes to prevent tragedies like this in the future. For one thing, we should start by implementing the background check. Meanwhile, Anderson had a different plea. Its really important for people to know how dependent on tourism we are, he said. If you want to help, you really need to keep coming and not let this effect the perception of Las Vegas. It can have a crushing impact on our city. People run from the Route 91 Harvest country-music festival after apparent gunfire was heard on October 1, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: David Becker/Getty Images The Latest A gunman in a Las Vegas hotel opened fire on an outdoor concert packed with 22,000 fans on Sunday night, killing at least 59 people. More than 500 people were injured. It is the deadliest mass shooting in American history, with the number of fatalities exceeding that of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando last June. The gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino, from the window of which he waged his killing spree. Police have not identified a motive for Paddock, who lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada, and with the exception of a traffic ticket did not have a criminal history. Law-enforcement officials are investigating this as a lone wolf attack, and do not believe any other locations are under threat. The FBI has said that Paddock had no connection to any international terror groups. President Donald Trump called the mass shooting an act of pure evil. He said he will visit police, first responders, and victims and their families in Las Vegas this Wednesday. The Shooting A gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, sprayed a stream of bullets from the window of the 32nd floor of the towering Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino at a crowd of thousands below, all celebrating the final night of an outdoor country-music festival. What witnesses described as hundreds of shots rang out just after 10 p.m. as Jason Aldean performed on the final night of the Route 91 Harvest music festival. The music stopped, and concertgoers paused for a moment, some thinking that the noise was just firecrackers. Then hundreds began fleeing in a panic as they heard another burst of gunfire. It was a horror show, concertgoer Ivetta Saldana told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. People were standing around, then they hit the floor. The band ran off stage and it was pandemonium, Jon Bessette told NBC News. Everyone was running, people were getting trampled. (Warning: the videos below are graphic.) #BREAKING: Unconfirmed footage: Shots heard during a concert near Mandalay Bay Casino, Las Vages pic.twitter.com/zEZxho2riU Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) October 2, 2017 @News3LV found this from a friend on IG. So scary. My heart is breaking. pic.twitter.com/OWiqmFwfiG Silla Torres (@yoquierosilla) October 2, 2017 Witnesses said the shots appeared to be coming from a high floor of the adjacent hotel. Rumors spread that there were multiple shooters, and that explosives had been left around the city. There was chaos throughout the area as hotels went on lockdown and police searched for the shooter. The Suspect Around midnight local time, police confirmed that one suspect was taken down on the casinos 32nd floor. Early on Monday morning, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo identified him as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, and said they believe he was a lone wolf. "We are comfortable the primary aggressor in this event has expired...is no longer a threat," says @Sheriff_LVMPD https://t.co/PwuCWsLR5G pic.twitter.com/8m4DaIGjqv CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017 BREAKING NEWS: Police name Stephen Paddock, age 64, as Las Vegas shooting suspect. He was killed by police. https://t.co/75ca0Bvqr6 pic.twitter.com/kX0hDvGdjb CNN International (@cnni) October 2, 2017 A SWAT team reportedly used a controlled explosion to enter Paddocks room. Initial reports suggested Paddock was shot and killed by police in a standoff, but it now appears that the suspect turned the gun on himself and died from a self-inflicted bullet wound before police blasted into his room. Inside, authorities found a cache of more than a dozen firearms, including some weapons that were fully automatic. He allegedly used a hammerlike tool to smash the hotel windows so he could fire down on the celebratory crowds below. Photo shows broken windows on 32nd floor of Las Vegas hotel where gunman opened fire on music festival below https://t.co/jz4n7ZfaGg pic.twitter.com/lUQIe5GRBp CNN International (@cnni) October 2, 2017 Paddock reportedly checked into the room on September 28, though he lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada, a little more than an hour outside Las Vegas. Police have not elaborated on a potential motive yet, but authorities have said Paddock wasnt on any terror-related watch lists and there is no evidence he had any links to terror groups. He does not appear to have a criminal history, with the exception of a minor citation. Stephen Paddock. Photo: Facebook Nevertheless, ISISs Amaq News Agency, the terror groups wire service, claimed responsibility for the mass shooting, calling Paddock a soldier of the Islamic State. That claim has not been verified, and is being met with a heavy dose of skepticism among experts, who say it would not be the first time in recent months the group has tried to take credit for a completely unrelated attack a strategy extremists have undertaken as theyve been squeezed on the battlefield. 1- This is strange. ISIS just claimed Las Vegas attack. Arabic statement says shooter converted to Islam months ago. @jenanmoussa pic.twitter.com/LjJUcwB7Hy Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) October 2, 2017 Reporters spoke to the suspects brother Eric Paddock outside his home in central Florida. He registered shock at the shooting. Theres no reason for me not to say. I would love to be able to give some reason to this, he said. No religious affiliation. No political affiliation. He just hung out. "No religious affiliation. No political affiliation. He just hung out," brother says of Las Vegas gunman https://t.co/czfMSEMkpu pic.twitter.com/NUxv0xYaxX CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017 Police were also initially searching for Paddocks companion, Marilou Danley, whom police described as a 4-foot-11 Asian woman. Police said early Monday they had questioned Danley, who has been out of the country for two weeks. Officials do not believe she was directly involved in the shooting, though they are looking to bring her back to Las Vegas for additional questioning, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Paddock might have used Danleys ID in the leadup to the attack, including possibly to secure the hotel room. Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! pic.twitter.com/Z83XvcHejH LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 Danley reportedly shared a home with Paddock in Mesquite. Law enforcement has descended on their neighborhood Monday, SWAT teams surrounding the empty home. Police found a firearm and some ammunition in the empty house, reports the New York Times. The Response President Donald Trump offered his warmest condolences on Twitter the morning after the shooting. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 Trump delivered a measured televised address later Monday, calling the mass shooting an act of pure evil. The president credited the courageous efforts of the police and emergency personnel, and described their quick response as miraculous. Pres. Trump: "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence...it is our love that defines us today." pic.twitter.com/99ILImub4k CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017 We pray for the day when evil is banished and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear, Trump said. The president said he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with the families of the victims and first responders, a day after he visits a Puerto Rico devastated by Hurricane Maria two weeks ago. The president did not offer any details on the investigation or on the suspect. In response to #LasVegasShooting, Trump says he orders U.S. flags to half staff and says he will visit Vegas on Wednesday. Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) October 2, 2017 Nevada governor Brian Sandoval, who visited one of the hospitals tending to victims, called the shooting a cowardly, despicable act. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval on Las Vegas attack: "We're angry. We're grieving. We're confused. People are hurting." https://t.co/W1Y9ah9RQY pic.twitter.com/IyDeRr0JDT CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017 Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman described Paddock as a crazed lunatic full of hate, saying, whatever his motive, it was not an extension of what we believe in. The Victims At least 59 people have been killed, and more than 520 hurt in what is now the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The names and identities of the victims are beginning to be released, including a 29-year-old registered nurse from Texas who was gunned down while shielding his wife. Former and current on- and off-duty police officers were among the deceased. It is with heavy heart that @Sheriff_LVMPD & @LVMPD confirm off duty officers are among the many deceased. #vegasshooting Mesquite NV Police (@MesquiteNV_PD) October 2, 2017 Troy Rhett has ID'd his friend Charleston Hartfield, former military/Metro Police and current author as one of the victims @LasVegasSun Ricardo Torres-Cortez (@rickytwrites) October 2, 2017 Following the shooting, ambulances and police vehicles flooded into the area, transporting victims to University Medical Center and Sunrise Hospital Medical Center. At one point, the former facility said it was at capacity, and told police to bring only people with life-threatening injuries. The scene looking down Las Vegas Boulevard, huge medic tent to the left with lots of people going through #breaking #RJnow pic.twitter.com/PB8LNSOXX2 Chase Stevens (@CSStevensphoto) October 2, 2017 Images from the active shooter scene so far around Tropicana and Las Vegas Boulevard #RJnow pic.twitter.com/5QWavyO3lF Chase Stevens (@CSStevensphoto) October 2, 2017 Ambulances queued up at UMC at I-15 and Charleston pic.twitter.com/i28iJ3KzkH Bridget Bennett (@bridgetkbennett) October 2, 2017 The wounded included those suffering from gunshot wounds and some people who had been trampled or hurt in the chaos as people tried to flee from the spray of bullets. No one has experienced patient volumes to this level, Jennifer Cooper, a spokeswoman for Dignity HealthSt. Rose Dominican Hospital said, another facility that received dozens of patients. Hundreds of people in the Las Vegas area lined up to donate blood in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Officials urged people to continue donating to meet the overwhelming need. Its basically a war zone, Governor Sandoval said. We need blood. Regional director of the blood bank, Erik Hill, said the wait list for the bank is 150. pic.twitter.com/OMCsMcSOYA Mike Shoro (@mike_shoro) October 2, 2017 The Aftermath Various roads were blocked and police asked people to avoid the southern end of the Strip. The local airport diverted more than 25 flights, and there were reports that some people ran onto the runway while fleeing the concert. As close to the strip as you can get right now from the south side. Very eerie with the street closed to traffic #RJnow pic.twitter.com/UYvE2wDSRB Adam Hill (@AdamHillLVRJ) October 2, 2017 Apparently some fleeing the scene made their way onto airport property seeking cover to McCarran security is compromised. LV Cabbie Chronicles (@LVCabChronicles) October 2, 2017 After fleeing for their lives, many survivors found themselves stranded, with no way of getting back into their locked-down hotel rooms. MAN AT #ROUTE91 CONCERT DESCRIBES MASS SHOOTING. His friend was shot in shoulder. She's in ER. @KTNV pic.twitter.com/YmfhoRp7GU David Schuman (@david_schuman) October 2, 2017 One witness said a woman pushed her way to the front row of the concert, got into a scuffle, and told everyone that they were all going to die tonight. Its unclear if that incident had anything to do with the shooting. Terrifying. Woman celebrating 21st birthday was in front row. Says another woman came during show & told everyone they were going to die. pic.twitter.com/kwe00GMmqR Ryan McKinnell (@RyanMcKinnell) October 2, 2017 Eventually the Thomas & Mack Center was opened as a shelter for festivalgoers, and several busloads of people were brought in. Each person was patted down before they were allowed in. One man showed up to the arena with a leg wound, and was bandaged and taken to a hospital. Hundreds arriving at the Thomas & Mack. METRO taking statements. LV locals bringing water, providing rides back to hotels and homes. pic.twitter.com/zpZFrLdVGO Peter Dawson (@PeterFox5LV) October 2, 2017 Aldeans spokesman said no one in his band or crew was injured. Tonight has been beyond horrific, he posted several hours later on Instagram. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. Police warned that given the astounding number of wounded, the death toll is likely to rise even higher. But with at least 50 deceased at the Las Vegas concert, this is now the deadliest mass shooting in United States history, surpassing the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando last year, where 49 were killed. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Shine less, you crazy Donald. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images On Saturday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged for the first time that the U.S. has been in contact with the North Korean government and has been probing to see if the regime would be willing to open negotiations over the countrys nuclear weapons program. Later in the day, the State Department released a statement announcing that Pyongyang has rebuffed those advances and shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization. (As nonproliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis immediately pointed out, this was not necessarily evidence that North Korea is refusing to negotiate, but refusing to negotiate what the U.S. wanted.) On Sunday, and not for the first time, President Trump appeared to contradict his secretary of State. Seemingly responding to the media coverage of Tillersons remarks, Trump announced on Twitter that he had told his chief diplomat that he was wasting his time trying to negotiate with Pyongyang. Trump also repeated his trademark insult about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and offered a veiled military threat: I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 ...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 Later on Sunday, Trump added, Being nice to Rocket Man hasnt worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I wont fail. (Kim has only been in power since 2011. His father, Kim Jong-il, ran North Korea prior to that.) Other Trump administration officials added to the confusion on Sunday. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, a former co-host of President Trumps favorite daily briefing, Fox & Friends, bizarrely tweeted that North Korea will not obtain a nuclear capability. Whether through diplomacy or force is up to the regime. (North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon in 2006, and more recently, has successfully developed a hydrogen bomb and intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well.) R.C. Hammond, Tillersons communications adviser, weighed in with another interpretation of Trumps remarks. Replying to criticism of Trumps tweets which many, but not all, read as the president publicly undercutting his own administrations diplomatic efforts, humiliating Tillerson, and itching for a military response Hammond said that Trump had, in fact, just sent a clear message to North Korea: Show up at the diplomatic table before the invitation gets cold because the private and public diplomatic channels that have been on the table for months are cooling. Here is my chance to use a @CillizzaCNN catchphrase: Kim Jong Un, call your office. R.C. Hammond (@rchammond) October 1, 2017 So if Hammond is correct, the weekends mixed messages demonstrate a coordinated diplomatic strategy on the part of the Trump administration. On Sunday night, Axios reported on what that strategy might be: that the White House has embraced a kind of good cop, crazy cop routine when it comes to foreign policy. Thats because, in early September, Trump advised his staff to use his wild-eyed reputation as an asset in trade negotiations. You dont tell them theyve got 30 days [to agree to concessions]. You tell them, This guys so crazy he could pull out any minute, Trump reportedly said. And by the way, I might, he added. You guys all need to know I might. The presidents top aides claim that the crazy Trump strategy has worked in some of their negotiations, but its worth remembering that a hallmark of Trumps presidency has been how often administration officials, and many in the media, have claimed there is some grand method in Trumps madness, despite much evidence to the contrary. Back in February, media critic Jay Rosen offered a convincing description of the crazy Trump theory as he understood it: Trump [is] revising the Presidency before our eyes. In his grip, it no longer attempts to muffle anxiety about the President and make people around the world feel okay about granting one person such enormous, unthinkable and inhuman powers. Instead, a new model is proposed: the president keeps everyone in a constant state of excitement and alarm. He moves fast and breaks things. He leads by causing commotion. As energy in the political system rises he makes no effort to project calm or establish an orderly White House. And if he keeps us safe its not by being himself a safe, steady, self-controlled figure, but by threatening opponents and remaining brash and unpredictable maybe a touch crazy. You can argue that this tactic assuming it even was a tactic panned out for Trump on the campaign trail, especially when it came to generating media coverage. But its hard to find any evidence that it has benefited him much since. If the White House isnt just trying to spin away Trumps tendency to do nutty things, and they really do believe this is a viable strategy for approaching the North Korean nuclear crisis, we all may come to regret it. The madman theory of diplomacy doesnt really work, after all or at least it didnt for President Nixon with the Soviet Union or the North Vietnamese, and he was the one who coined the term. As Dani Nedal and Daniel Nexon explained in Foreign Policy back in April, the madman theory would work a lot better for Trump if he were in charge of North Korea instead of the U.S.: Playing crazy may sometimes be an attractive strategy, especially for weaker actors that have a narrow set of minimalist goals like survival or autonomy. But if a state has more expansive goals, and ample resources to pursue them, as does the United States, unpredictability is a poor approach to grand strategy. It is hard for others to follow your lead when they dont know what your goals are. Partners are less likely to stand by your side if they lack confidence that you will stand by theirs. If Trump wants America to remain a dominant power, and wants others to respect American interests around the world, he needs to bolster American credibility. This requires a good measure of predictability, not the attitudes of an unpredictable rogue state. In addition, as Dan Drezner quickly pointed out in response to the Axios article, if the White House is embracing the madness, it has already broken the theorys most important rule, which is: Dont leak the strategy to the press. The other problem, as it pertains to the weekends news about North Korea, is that whether Trump is pretending to be the general in Dr. Strangelove or not, Pyongyang was already confused, and now Trump may have gutted his top diplomats ability to work with them on Americas behalf. The New Yorkers Evan Osnos made that argument on Sunday: By extending the taunts to his own Secretary of State, Trump might imagine that he is playing the bad cop to Tillersons good cop. At its best, it might be a ham-fisted effort to make Pyongyang more pliable to Tillersons entreaties. But this is not a police procedural. In national-security terms, Trump was undermining Tillersons credibility in the eyes of his North Korean counterparts. Why should they offer concessions to Tillerson when his boss clearly doesnt support him? And as Osnos went on to detail, the other problem is the unique psychology that drives both Kim, specifically, and North Korea, more broadly. Put another way, you cant out-crazy crazy: After Trumps personal taunts of Kim, Evans Revere, a Korea specialist who is a former deputy assistant secretary of state, told me that it is easy for outsiders to underestimate the depth of North Koreas rage. Im a big fan of keeping your adversary off balance, of keeping your adversary guessing about your intentions, he said. But this is North Korea, and part of the national credo is the protection of what they call the dignity of their supreme leadership. It is so ingrained in their politics, in their society, and their culture. He added, At some point, you risk crossing the line, and they just feel compelled to do something. Otherwise, they just end up looking foolish, internally. In addition, even by the standards of dictatorships, Kim is acutely sensitive to the risk of looking weak, in part because of his youth. (He is thirty-three.) Not long ago, I met Ri Jong Ho, who was a senior North Korean official until he defected, in 2014. North Korea is similar to a monarchy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Ri told me. In that analogy, Kim is the nervous tyrant. Although he is worshipped like a god, he does not think that he has stable control over the country. You can see, from his actions, that he is anxious. Hes quick-tempered, Ri said. He feels the need to show that he is a bold, daring leader who can make spontaneous decisions, that his power is strong. He is young and proud. He is like a car with no brakes. So the Trump administration cant depend on Kim being a normal, sane leader who is persuadable by normal means. Even if he were, whether its good cop, bad cop or good cop, crazy cop, that strategy can only work if the cops have credibility and share the same goal. Tillerson may have lost even more credibility on Sunday, and its not clear Trump ever had any in the first place, since his numerous threats have done nothing to slow down Pyongyangs nuclear-weapons program. In addition, if Tillerson could come up with a deal that was both tenable to Kim and a boast-worthy victory to Trump both big ifs why would the regime believe Tillerson could deliver it when his boss, the president, seems more obsessed with attacking the mayor of a hurricane-ravaged city than he is with preventing a war. Defeat the Washington machine. Photo: Richard Ellis/Getty Images/2015 Richard Ellis The Republican Party wants to cut taxes on rich people. The vast majority of the American voters including Republican ones do not like that idea. This is a problem for the GOP, since our political system still has a few of the trappings of a representative democracy. But its not, necessarily, a fatal problem. After all, Republicans have taken pains to build an epistemic wall around their core voters, by delegitimizing the mainstream media, academics, or any kind of expert who does not flatter Sean Hannitys intuitions. And this wall makes it relatively easy for conservative politicians to tell their supporters bald-faced lies. For example, President Trump recently said that he would not benefit from his own tax plan, despite the fact that said plan cuts the Trump Organizations tax rate by nearly 15 points, while abolishing the tax on multi-million-dollar estates. Instead, Trump insisted that his plan was a middle-class tax cut that would deliver the bulk of its benefits to ordinary, hardworking Americans. When nonpartisan research institutes, like the Tax Policy Center, began highlighting the fact that this is not true, conservative politicians and media outlets quickly set about reinforcing the GOP bases epistemic barriers. Tax Policy Center? More like Joe Bidens National Tax Center! budget director Mick Mulvaney basically said on Fox News Sunday. The Wall Street Journal editorial page proceeded to assure conservatives that the think tanks analysis which showed that 80 percent of the benefits of Trumps tax cuts would accrue to the top one percent, while a significant swathe of the middle class might actually see a net tax increase was mere left-wing propaganda. And then, on Monday afternoon, Rand Paul merrily took a sledgehammer to a load-bearing piece of that aforementioned (epistemic) wall. This is a GOP tax plan? Possibly 30% of middle class gets a tax hike? I hope the final details are better than this. https://t.co/lcjkI4YRz8 Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 2, 2017 The Kentucky senator has previously demanded that every taxpayer see at least a 15 percent tax cut under the GOP plan. Given how much some upper-middle-class taxpayers rely on specific exemptions and deductions, meeting Pauls standard would likely require Republicans to give up on offsetting their giant rate cuts by closing any significant loopholes at all. Which is to say: It would require them to swell the deficit by an ideologically untenable margin, or else, to cut social spending by a politically toxic one. But while Pauls legislative demands are detached from reality, his observation about the GOP plans distributional effects very much arent. And thats bad news for the Republican Party. A conservative senator has now affirmed the realities that: (1) The Tax Policy Center isnt a socialist propaganda outlet. (2) The GOPs middle-class tax cut is anything but. Pauls tweet echoes a dynamic we saw during the Obamacare-repeal effort, when far-right critics of Trumpcare began latching onto populist arguments against it. In June, Utah senator Mike Lee complained that the GOP leaderships health-care bill cut spending on the poor to pay for corporate bailouts and tax cuts. Weeks later, capital-gains tax cuts fell out of Trumpcare. Weeks after that, the bill was dead. Donald Trumps love for Luther Strange was well-known in Alabama, but didnt help much with actual voters. Photo: Brynn Anderson/AP Before other urgent news distracts us all entirely from the political upheaval that occurred in Alabama last Tuesday, theres some valuable intel from a Republican firm trying to glean lessons for its clients involved in the upcoming midterm elections: Our friends at Optimus monitored the electorate in the Alabama Republican Senate Runoff with four separate opinion reads (polls) for two weeks leading into this election. Firehouse Strategies worked with 0ptimus to review data and learn lessons for next years midterms. During that time, voters awareness of President Trumps endorsement of Senator Strange increased dramatically. However, in a trend that could have dramatic impacts on the midterm elections, Trumps endorsement and campaigning for Strange did not move voters. Key takeaway: We can concretely say that Donald Trumps endorsement, and active campaigning for Sen. Strange, had absolutely no impact on the ballot. By the time of the runoff, 80 percent of poll respondents knew about Trumps support for Luther Strange. But it made no difference. Over the time we were monitoring during the last two weeks of the campaign, as knowledge of Trumps endorsement grew, Strange support did not. In fact, Moore was solidifying support through Trumps visit, and Trump was unable to reverse this momentum. This suggests that while Trump may be good at translating his supporters sentiments, he is unable to persuade them. Now there are three ways to read this result, given the dynamics in Alabama. (1) Maybe Trump cannot transfer his support to other candidates i.e., he has no coattails, at least in an election where he is not on the ballot. (2) Maybe Stranges problem was that while he had Trumps support, Trumps best-known national and in-state supporters were nearly all backing Roy Moore, creating a Trump versus Trumpism phenomenon that vitally undercut the presidents endorsement. (3) Maybe Luther Strange was just too poor a candidate to win no matter who endorsed him. I personally think this last factor has been underestimated, particularly by people unfamiliar with Alabama and the shadow cast by disgraced former governor Robert Bentley on this race. But the bottom line is that its hard to discern a clear lesson for 2018. Maybe Trump has no coattails, or maybe Trumpisms appeal will be independent of the various gaffes and scandals Trump finds himself constantly embroiled in. Given the size of his ego, that alone could have an impact on his behavior going into the midterms. This morning, Facebook turned over to Congress records of the 3,000 ads that it had identified as being linked to the Russian government, providing congressional investigators with further insight into how the enormous platform was used for information warfare last year. Along with the content of those ads, Facebook also turned over data on whom the ads were targeted at, who saw them, and how they were paid for. Sources told the Washington Post that the ads were seen, as the paper put it, tens of millions of times. At the same time, the company says that it will hire more than 1,000 people globally to review ads bought on the service, and as always, is working on nebulous machine learning solutions to eventually replace those human eyes. This is in addition to previously announced policy changes that end dark advertising, policies that require the disclosure of who paid for the ad, and which require the ad to be visible to everyone. Requirements for buying ads related to federal elections will also become more stringent. Among the contents of the ads, according to the Post, are those featuring photos of Hillary Clinton behind what appear to be prison bars, and an armed black woman dry firing a rifle pulling the trigger of the weapon without a bullet in the chamber. SK-II, the Japanese beauty brand known for its cultishly beloved skin-care products, doesnt come cheap. And the last time we saw their products on sale as part of a promotion at Nordstrom they were only 15 percent off. For today (October 2) only, a slew of SK-II wares are 25 percent off at Spring. We singled out the items our writers (and Cate Blanchett) have personally endorsed. SK-II Facial Treatment Mask Another one of Rios favorites, this facial treatment mask: I love, love, love it, and my heart breaks every time I look at its price tag. Its soaked in all that SK-II juice actually called Pitera that clears your skin and keeps you looking glowy. Original Price: $17 Sale Price: $13 (25 percent off) at Spring Buy SK-II Mid-Day Essence Spray Apparently, Cate Blanchett, who has been a spokesmodel for SK-II for the past 13 years, convinced the brand to turn their Essence into a spray. She told the Cut: Ive been pestering them for a long time! I used to decant it into a spray bottle. I would put it on in the morning or during the day over makeup. I found working in film, particularly with HD, putting powder on really reads on camera. If you spray the Essence on it, it sets the makeup, and keeps you looking hydrated. Finally, after about ten years of working with them, they did it! I was very pleased. Original Price: $80 Sale Price: $60 (25 percent off) at Spring 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. In what could be described as a deal gone bad, Sadolin Paints has relaunched in the Ugandan market and announced a new local partner, Crown Paints East Africa, to oversee its sales and distribution network. In August, Japanese paint firm Plascon announced it had bought Sadolin. It went ahead to carry out a media blitz of advertisements. Disagreements development shortly between the two parties, with Sadolin heading to court to cancel the agreement it signed with Plascon. The relaunch development comes on the heels of an announcement by Sadolin parent firm AkzoNobel, that it was committed to the East African region. Speaking to journalists at Sheraton hotel last week, Johann Smidt, the director for AkzoNobel Decorative Paints in sub-Saharan Africa, said: We are delighted to relaunch Ugandas number one paint brand. We will offer global standard quality paint that the Ugandan people can enjoy. Smidt said Sadolin was investing in an advanced manufacturing plant in Namanve Industrial Park worth $3m (Shs 10.8bn) to increase production, quality products, and create more jobs. Our Sadolin plant in Namanve will be the primary site for manufacturing and distri- bution of Sadolin. We are confident that in partnership with Regal Paints, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Crown Paints East Africa, our new sales and distribution partner, we will service Uganda and the region with excellence, Smidt said. Crown Paints CEO Rakesh Rao said the partnership signals a strong statement on the investment opportunities the East African region offers. Sadolin brand has been a household name for many years. We are thrilled to enter into this partnership and facilitate the continued supply of Sadolin in Uganda and the region, Rao said. Trade state minister Michael Kafabusa welcomed Sadolins relaunch and hoped Sadolins growth means more employment for young Ugandans. I am aware that the paints, coatings, and adhesives sector has one of the highest con- centrations of employment for chemists, he said. Kafabusa added: Its known that all forms of entrepreneurship play a critical role in the economy, and it is the young, high-growth firms that are the key drivers of innovation and job creation. Plascon East Africa boss Wim Bramer told reporters in August that Sadolin had not been sold because of an economic squeeze. There was no particular reason for this deal other than business. Plascon just wanted to expand and thats why they bought into Sadolin, Bramer said in an attempt to justify the deal. The cost of the deal was kept secret. Sadolin has been in Uganda since 1963, growing to become one of the top makers of coating liquids with up to 40 per cent of the market share. zurah@observer.ug After months of lying in limbo, the ministry of Foreign Affairs has finally found a station to post the former national chairman of the Democratic Party, Mohammed Baswale Kezaala. During the announcement of a reshuffle of Ugandas diplomats early this year, President Museveni appointed Kezaala as deputy ambassador without specifying the foreign mission he would join. Speaking to The Observer on Saturday, Margaret Owino-Kafeero, the head of public diplomacy and spokesperson of ministry of foreign affairs, confirmed the posting and added that Kezaala will be working under Grace Akello, the head of Ugandas mission in New Delhi, India. Mohammed Kezaala The permanent secretary of Foreign Affairs, in exercise of his prerogative powers, posted him to India. And I cannot comment any further than that, Kafeero said. She refused to discuss the politics surrounding the appointment. You call the permanent secretary, who is currently out of the country, to perhaps answer that. But what you should know is that our human resource manual requires us not to share some information with the public, Owino-Kafeero said. This posting comes at a time when Kezaala had become a laughingstock amongst his former opposition colleagues. In the intervening, he has been teased for shifting camps with no return. Kezaala did not answer our repeated phone calls to his known mobile phone. However, one of his close friends in the opposition told us that the posting is a relief. It is better than giving your conscience for nothing, the leader, who worked closely with Kezaala during the 2016 elections, said. POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS President Museveni has been criticised for appointing failed politicians instead of career diplomats to missions abroad even when such appointees do not possess any background in diplomacy. Such appointments are blamed for the inefficiency at Ugandas foreign missions. Uganda-India diplomatic relations are significant considering the historical attachment between the two countries. Currently, Uganda hosts a large Indian community and there is a substantial group of Ugandans, who are of Indian origin, particularly in business and manufacturing sectors. Also, according to Bank of Uganda figures, as of 2016, India was the second largest exporter to Uganda after China even though there is a huge trade deficit. The figures show that Uganda imported goods worth $705 million from India but exported goods worth $42 million dollars to India. Twelve years after Parliament amended the 1995 constitution to remove the presidential term limit, plans are in high gear to remove the presidential age limits as well. CRISPIN KAHERU, the coordinator, Citizens' Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (Ccedu), told Prisca Baike in recent interview why the coalition is determined to defend the constitution at all costs. Before we got to this age limit amendment, there was the presidential term limit removal. As the nations democracy champions, what have you done about calls for restoration of term limits? From 2012, we were involved in a countrywide campaign to rally people to support reinstatement of the presidential term limits in the constitution of Uganda and we made significant progress. That was also a resounding yes that we need term limits brought back. Between 2012 and 2014, we traversed this country and Afrobarometer did research which concluded that people were totally in support of the term limits. We liaised with our friends in parliament and developed a private members bill to reinstate term limits in the constitution. The bill was delivered to the speaker of parliament and that is as far as it went. That draft bill still sits on her desk to-date and we are still waiting for the day it will make it to the order paper. Crispin Kaheru Explain to us why the age limitation clause is relevant to Uganda as a democratic nation. The 1995 constitution had three major safeguards that were envisaged to guide the smooth and fair leadership transition in Uganda and those three safeguards included conducting regular free and fair elections every five years, the presidential term limit whereby a president could hold office for a maximum of two five-year terms and the age limitation for presidential candidates that for one to qualify to run for presidency they will be not less than 35 years of age and not more than 75 years of age. When you remove one of those three from the constitution, you are actually compromising a smooth leadership transition for the country. So, you will be left with one safety valve which is election, which can, by the way, be removed in case we allow our constitution to be amended every now and then. By the mere fact that you have removed the term limits, you need to retain at least those two provisions in the constitution that guide a smooth and peaceful transition. If you compromise any of the two that are left, that is the age limit clause and the elections, then you have nothing and we have already seen the contestation in Uganda about the elections. Immediately after elections, you have hundreds of petitions lodged into courts of laws, meaning that something is not right with the elections in Uganda, making the age limit our only functional safeguard. So, what are the implications of this move by the ruling party to lift the presidential age limit especially since the Supreme court issued orders for electoral reforms following the 2016 presidential elections petition? That is the same question here. An instruction or an order by the Supreme court is very highly respected. Any well-meaning government institution would ensure that they attend to that order but we havent seen that sense of urgency on the side of government to get things in order, say to institute a process through which they can have these political and electoral reforms discussed and presented to parliament. We have not heard that and we wonder what is going on. Every time we have a by-election, we see the same issues rising up; issues to do with use of money to bribe voters and violence, among others. For instance the recent Iganga Woman MP by-election was marred with lots of violence and all forms of election malpractice. That is why the Supreme court in the first place ordered for those electoral reforms and mainstreaming the role of security in the election process. And what does this current state of affairs highlight about our electoral commission? I maintain that the role of the Electoral Commission needs to be reflected upon to ensure that it is more inclusive, more participatory and to ensure that it lifts the confidence of the people. We have demanded that for the past so many years but nothing has been done. So, the question is: what is the executive thinking about? Right from when court pronounced itself, I think government was quick to come out and tell Ugandans that a constitution review commission was being set up. Actually, the NRM party mentioned that as one of its commitments in its manifesto. True. The NRM party promised that after the 2016 elections, it would institute a constitution review commission which actually tied in well with the recommendations of the Supreme court to undertake reforms. Now after the court ruling, everything has subsided but the trouble still looms. We still have bad elections, an overbearing executive whose influence is partly attributed to the electoral management body being weak. It is a combination of many issues but they can all be addressed if a comprehensive political reform process is instituted for this country. As Ccedu, have you established the progress so far registered in regard to creating the constitutional review body? The minister for justice keeps coming up with several excuses yet these are serious matters. Government will be required to go and appear before the Supreme court to speak about how far they have gone with implementing the reforms. What are they going to report? That they instead presented a private members bill on the age limit? I think for me the onus is on government. If indeed it was committed towards addressing the question of electoral reforms in Uganda, it must be proactive and it must be seen to be addressing these challenges and championing elections that bestow confidence upon its people. What is your comment about Hon Anites claim recently that she and her colleagues who support the age limit removal have the armys backing? If you have a candidate whose campaign has been run by state apparatus and he or she wins an election, then such a leader will not bear allegiance to the voters but to the government which put him or her in that position, which is wrong. It is no wonder that a leader can confidently assure the people or the electorate that they cannot do anything about them because they have the backing of the army. Those are the security-generated politicians whose allegiance is to the people that put them in those positions rather than the voters who voted them. In other words, the voters mean nothing and the men and women who hold guns mean everything. So, as long as you have aligned yourself to the men and women who hold guns, you have everything. The voters can cry and froth; it will not mean anything. They can queue up at polling stations and vote, their votes will not count. And also, this increasing persuasion that the country rests on the base of those men and women that hold guns is actually a fallacy. This countrys bed is built on the people. On Saturdays Capital Gang radio show, Ofwono Opondo said majority of the people were in support of the age limit removal. How true or false is that? I would challenge Ofwono Opondo to present his research findings because as far as I am concerned, we did a scientific survey about this issue and the results we got were overwhelmingly a No to the removal of presidential age limits. So, if this has changed, I would be happy to be educated but as far as I am concerned, we have traversed this country and there has been a resounding No to the question of removing the age limit. Whether learned or not learned, whether in urban or rural areas, Ugandans are saying one thing; that tampering with this particular clause in the constitution seems more about the issue of legislating for an individual rather than the people, which is against the principles of legislation. We cannot be seen or heard to be legislating or changing rules because of an individual. As a principle of lawmaking, rules are supposed to be made with respect to the interests of the people. From our survey, we have established that Ugandans do not want that clause tampered with. Which kind of people did you involve in your research? We spoke to various groups of people including members of parliament and 73 percent of MPs said a resounding No to the question about the removal of age limit. But why are many of them endorsing the removal of the age limit then? Those are, for lack of a better word, businesspeople. They know what is best for the country and some of them actually support the removal of the term limits but they are only looking out for what is in it for them. What they want is the man to stay around so that they can continue bagging as much as they can whether it is through businesses, state contracts, etcetera. These people vouching for the removal of the term limits are not doing it for the bigger interest of the country. They are doing it for their personal interests. These are people who have businesses that are in some way connected to the government; these are people who are seeing a future for themselves and not the country. But even then, President Museveni, for whom they are bidding, promised not to run for president again as soon as he clocked 75 years. If he himself said that, then why would the MPs bid for him to stay if at all they did not have vested personal interests? So, that is what happens when you have leaders whose true allegiance is not to the people, not to the nation but to the individual who put them in those positions. That is why they are not willing to go and consult their constituents about this issue. Why not discuss this issue with the people they claim elected them to those positions? Because they know that they will get a different message. For as long as we have such leaders, then the role of parliament gets greatly compromised. I know there are some excellent model members of parliament but majority of the representatives we have are totally incompetent. There are all these issues in the country, for instance women are being killed but they are not concerned. They think the age limit bill is a better deal for them. Talking about the rampant killings of women, it has been alleged that these murders are a calculated move to divert the public from this pertinent age limit bill. What are your thoughts about this? If you have a government that is not coming out with a proper stand about these killings and it is not showing the desired level of interest in a spate of murders that are going on, then it leaves people wondering. And whenever government fails to fulfill its mandate, the people try and fill that vacuum whether using civil ways or crude ways. If for instance there are several murders and the government which has stood on the platform of security since it came to power does not show cause that it is doing something about these murders, the people will allege what they think is right. Its baffling that police is swift to act against and investigate people who engage in peaceful demonstrations yet when it comes to something as grave as women being killed, nothing is done about it. To what extent does this amendment of the constitution affect our countrys democracy? This proposed amendment will take Uganda back to the days and years when smooth and peaceful leadership transition of power especially at presidential level was something unheard of. This amendment actually resets the country to that time when we were under life presidency because once you take out that clause 102b from the constitution you have opened up the floodgates to life presidency not only for president Museveni but to also any other person that will come into that position and realize that there is a lacuna in the law which can give him or her the chance to rule until they die. Therefore, we will be talking about a monarchy and not a democratic republic. In short, that amendment is regressive and it is a bullet in this concept called democracy. It leaves a big gaping hole in our democratic fabric and this is the time for our country to rise up in fearless defence of the soul of their nation which is the constitution. Apart from the research you conducted, what other measures have you put into place to prevent the amendment of the age limit clause? As soon as members of the NRM party announced that they had plans to go on a countrywide tour to enlist peoples support to lift the age limit from the constitution, we swung into action there and then and you might realize that there are many voices out there against this issue. On one hand, being the voice of reason to the members of parliament who seem to be persuaded by that amendment. But also we have embarked on other actions that are intended to make Ugandans appreciate discussions that are going on in parliament and among their leaders. We have realized that many MPs who are pro-age limit removal are not taking this discussion back to their people; so, we have decided to have this conversation with their people. You might also realize that when people were availed with the phone contacts of their people, they called their MPs, sent text and WhatsApp messages in an unprecedented action that has never happened in the history of this country. We have armed people with information about the proceedings of this amendment so that they can pronounce themselves on how they want to be governed. Finally, what are your options in the event that the age limit bill is passed by the members of parliament? We are going to be engaging with the civil society and this is business unusual. We have a lengthy game-plan to address that. We have realized that usually when an issue comes up, we as civil society are not persistent enough in our demands. This time round, we have a full plan that heavily enlists non-conventional actions that are going to take this bills advocates by shock and surprise but at the same time our actions are granted by the supreme law of the land and are within the confines of the constitution. The constitution gives us the power to defend and protect it if it is going to be abrogated. Also, we are calling upon the president to come out and publicly pronounce his stand on this amendment. At the end of the day, the main subject in this debate is President Museveni; therefore, he needs to come out and tell the public whether he approves of the amendment of article 102b of the constitution or not. pbaike@yahoo.com Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga continued to come under attack on social media going into the weekend with several posts saying her handling of the two chaotic parliamentary sessions last week brought the countrys image into disrepute. Last week, parliament turned into a fighting arena with MPs hurling chairs and swinging microphone stands at soldiers from the presidential Special Forces Command, who stormed the chamber, and violently evicted them from the House. On Thursday, Kadaga suspended 25 MPs opposed to the constitutional amendment motion, which begins the formal process of removing the presidential age limits and is feared will open the door for President Museveni to rule for life. The motion seeks to amend Article 102(b) of the Constitution, which caps the age for qualified presidential candidates at 75 years. Museveni will be 77 years old at the next election in 2021. Speaker Rebecca Kadaga presiding over a chaotic plenary On social media, the widespread feeling was that the speaker could have handled the chaotic situation better, and that the brutal and violent attack on the MPs by soldiers was not necessary. Many posters expressed their at times very disparaging views, under the Twitter hashtags #Togikwatako, #Kogikwatako, #AgeLimit, among others. A number of posts attacked the speaker at a very personal level, in language, which cannot be repeated here. [Im] very disappointed in you, Kadaga! I couldnt expect that from you! one Paul Zziwa, said on Twitter. Yes thats how we are feeling. So hurt by the one we trusted so much but trust me, we all pay at one time, Douglas Eli posted. Fauza Mahmood recommended that: Next time just send them a notice about your decision on their misconduct and on the next day, stop them at the entrance. Comedian Trevor Noah, whose online Daily Show is normally headlined by jokes around US president Donald Trump, also had a hilarious go at the dramatic events in Ugandas parliament. Chaos breaks out on the floor of Ugandas parliament as lawmakers brawl over...who cares, it's hilarious! https://t.co/jI3nqvLof7 pic.twitter.com/3Jo83z5RKd The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 30, 2017 The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), on the other hand, issued a notice to broadcast media houses barring them from hosting the suspended MPs on their platforms. This directive was quickly questioned on social media too. On what law are they based? What specific provisions of the law back them? Peter Mwesige, the executive director, at African Centre for Media Excellence, wondered. Sow violence, you will reap violence. Sow impunity, you will reap impunity. Sow vengeance, you will reap vengeance. Weeds begets weeds, Silver Kayondo, a lawyer, warned. But Frank Tumwebaze, the minister for ICT, responded that: Violent scenes and fights offend minimum broadcasting standards. UCC is obliged by law to enforce these standards and protect consumers. CSOS TAKE In a video uploaded by NTV, Uganda National NGO Forum executive director Richard Ssewakiryanga said: We condemn the shameful, barbaric, primitive and evil might that was displayed. We condemn the brutal arrest of MPs and many activists, journalists and Ugandans that have expressed their dissent at the proposed amendment of Article 102 (b) of the constitution. He was flanked by the coordinator of the Citizens Coalition on Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU), Crispin Kaheru, who added: What happened is that we saw the speaker of parliament surrendering her powers to people who I dont know whether she knows or doesnt know. They were strangers and hooligans because they were not identifiable. Moses Khisa, a columnist with The Observer, sarcastically encouraged Ugandans on his Facebook page to pray for their country following last weeks unprecedented incidents. Now were being exhorted to pray. But we pray every day. I do. General Museveni too, prays. He has a church in his home. One of the daughters is a pastor to boot! he wrote. I dont know another nation that beats Uganda at praying. So, dear faithful, dont be diversionary. Thank you. Prof George Kanyeihamba George Wilson Kanyeihamba, a former attorney general, minister of justice, and retired judge of the Supreme court, said in a September 25 interview with Baker Batte Lule, that debate and amendment of Article 102(b) of the Constitution, which caps the presidential age at 35 and 75 years, is too big an issue to be left to members of parliament only. Excepts:- Why are you opposed to the lifting of presidential age limits? When we were promulgating the 1995 Constitution, President Museveni said this was the best constitution and that he would go back to the bush once more if anybody attempted to amend it illegally or overthrow it. The whole country and the international community was very surprised that it was the same NRM that moved in 2005 to amend it to remove the term limit. We didnt double entrench those two articles on age and term limits because they were not controversial at the time. But you journalists dont ask why they are removing these limits. Some of you are afraid to ask the questions that matter. The only reason we are having this amendment is because Museveni wants to continue to be president until he dies. I dont oppose somebody who is old to lead But Museveni said he cant be president past 75 years; why is he changing now? He is telling us about doctors; it wasnt doctors who said it, it was him. I have heard some lawyers argue that amending the constitution is unconstitutional yet in there it [the Constitution] provides for how it should be amended. What is your view? Supposing you amend the constitution to say the president can now execute people who he suspects [of wrongdoing] without going to court, what would you say? If the people of Uganda decided that there should be term and age limits for the president, and MPs without the mandate of the people of Uganda, decide to amend it, there is nothing wrong with that because after all, they [MPs] are entitled to do so? The president might have powers to execute people but he must exercise it in accordance with the law. To remove term and age limits is not in accordance with the wishes of Ugandans, that is the reason. Secondly, Prof Oloka Onyango and I shared a platform at a conference held at Hotel Africana; the president was there with ministers. Our chief guest was the speaker of the parliament of Kenya, he said: I agree with Kanyeihamba; the president works everyday continuously for five years serving the country. By the end of the five years, he is tired but hasnt finished his programme. But Oloka said, if no president finishes his programme in 10 years, he is incompetent and also tired. Five years, he is struggling; people begin to get fed up of him. The next five years he is no longer productive; if he hangs on [another] five years, he is a liability to the nation, he cant deliver and he becomes dictatorial. He is the only one who has a vision, he becomes politically senile and if his ministers dont do the work, the country starts going backwards. Should he survive beyond the 20 years, he becomes a disaster. A person after 75 shouldnt stand for president and I advise Ugandans strongly never to elect anybody who is beyond 75. You want to remove age limits but supposing Museveni retires or God decrees otherwise and we get a leader like Idi Amin, would you be clamouring like youre doing now to lift term and age limits? God gave us heads to think. What would you want Ugandans to do to resist the MPs manoeuvres? They should reject it 100 per cent. I want Ugandans to fight it because they have the powers to do so. So why do you want provisions that were put in place by very intelligent representatives having been reviewed by even the international community to be altered by the current parliament, which many of its MPs who, according to what Im reading in the papers, want to be paid to lift age limits? Come on, are all Ugandans zombies? Cant they think for themselves? What is your message to members of parliament? Do you know a rubberstamp? What message do you give them? The president owns the rubberstamp. So, go and tell them they shouldnt change the law because for me I dont want to address a rubberstamp; I will be wasting time. We are talking about important matters but many NRM MPs are saying you must pay us to change it; are they working for this country or for an individual? So, I cant waste my time advising such people. I just hope the country listens. As attorney general you justified the extension of the NRM government for five more years. Do you take responsibility for what the country is going through 30 years later, stuck with one man? When the Movement came, they had given themselves four years but that was idealistic. Museveni entrusted me to articulate the views why the NRM should extend for another five years; I did. You dont have to believe my word, go to the NRM secretariat. If you read my books, you will see the president praising me, saying that Kanyeihamba is a very brainy Ugandan who advises what the country should do and he is not a traitor. I respect President Museveni but he also knows that I speak out when things go wrong because I love my country even more. Age has nothing to do with the ability to lead but it is the weakness of the body and the mind. And for the president who has served the country for over 30 years, making decisions day and night; he is physically and mentally exhausted. We said that when judges who have been very busy acting intellectually, when they reach the age of 70, they should retire, everybody agrees. Other civil servants retire at the age of 60. So, how can intelligent people continue to defend the lifting of presidential age limits? Ugandans long ago decided that for one to become a leader, you must be between 35 and 75 years old. Now we are saying they were wrong? Tell me; what would you do in 2021 if a schoolboy who comes from a rich family wants to become a presidential candidate; what would you say? What about if your grandmother stood at the age of 87; what would you do? This age limit is not related to anyone else but the incumbent president. He is mortal and as such, he gets mentally and physically unfit. My late Uncle Canon John Bikangaga told me before he died that there is one disease in the world, which doesnt discriminate and has no cure; aging. You have said if parliament lifts age limits, it would be treasonable for President Museveni to stand I have read to you the oath, which says, I [Museveni] swear in the name of the Almighty God that I will respect, uphold, obey and protect the constitution So, obey the constitution and you cant change it. Others in the future can benefit from it but this president cannot. I have made that argument before but you people continue ignoring it. President Museveni is on record saying he advises people not to vote for candidates who are over 75. If parliament was to rubberstamp and Museveni stands in 2021, you have the sovereign right to reject him because he will be committing treasonable acts against the people of Uganda. He swore to uphold, protect and obey the constitution under which he was sworn in. Any subsequent extension of time is unconstitutional and if the president were to benefit from it, that is treason. How many of you journalists are willing to invite me and the president and we debate that? Youre afraid to do it. What was your reasoning for introducing age limits in the constitution? Some say it was meant to lock out particularly [former president Apollo] Milton Obote? Do you know what other constitutions say? In the Soviet Union you couldnt become president unless you were over 60. In other countries, it is over 40. Ours, we lowered it because we are a young generation. Below 35, you dont know much about the country and are not mature enough. When we were making the constitution, Obote was in exile and nobody was thinking about him. [Democratic Party president Paul] Ssemogerere who was quite aged participated in the 1996 election. We were never barring President Obote; he served his country well but later on abandoned his programme just like the NRM is abandoning its programme. So, they are similar, if they remove age limits, President Museveni who is in his mid, if not late 70s by the year 2021, he will certainly be 80 years old if not more, [and] will stand again as a presidential candidate. bakerbatte@observer.ug A long-running contest over top jobs and resources at the ministry of Health will be decided in the High court where a lawsuit filed by a senior official accuses the permanent secretary and minister of orchestrating a conspiracy against him. Until recently, Prof Anthony Mbonye was acting director general of Health Services (DGHS). His formal application to be appointed as the substantive officer in that position has, however, run into heavy head winds. According to Mbonye, Health minister Dr Ruth Aceng and her permanent secretary Dr Diana Atwine are behind the campaign to undermine his prospects. Prof Anthony Mbonye (R) looks on as Ruth Aceng (C) makes a speech He also hints at the possibility that a whistle-blower who complained about irregularities in the recruitment of 12 senior personnel, including the DGHS, to the Inspectorate of Government was encouraged by his enemies at the ministry. The Inspectorate stopped the recruitment and mid-last month issued a report, effectively bumping Mbonye out of the coveted DGHS position. Last Thursday, Mbonye filed his suit in the civil division of the High court challenging the decision by Atwine to drop him. When one reads the tenor of the entire impugned report by the IGG, it is evident that the whole purpose of carrying out the investigations was targeting me personally and actuated by the desire to exclude me from the recruitment process for the position of the DGHS, in which I had not been found wanting for all that period I had been acting to date and to generally dent my hard-earned integrity and name in the public service, Mbonye says. In her September 11 report, IGG Irene Mulyagonja said Mbonyes involvement in the recruitment process created a conflict of interest. Mulyagonja found Mbonye guilty of conflict of interest for determining person specifications for the DGHS job allegedly to suit his interest. But Mbonye hopes that Judge Henrietta Wolayo finds the Report on systemic investigation into the recruitment of Director General Health Services and other senior positions at the Ministry of Health rendered by Mulyagonja is irrational, unfair, unjust, ultra vires, illegal, null and void to the extent that it adversely affects him. Mbonye lists his competencies, observing that between 2016 and 2017, he handled duties of the permanent secretary upon assignment by former PS Asuman Lukwago. Mbonye states that he is the most senior director, having been a medical officer in 1996, assistant commissioner in 2002, commissioner for health in 2008 and subsequently, director, Health Services (Clinical-Community) in 2013. All the above positions are management and technical positions and it is my seniority as director that entitles me to act as director, General Health Services and handle the duties of the PS ... In 2016, Mbonye says cabinet approved a new structure including 12 positions: Director General Health Services, Commissioner health Services (Community health), Commissioner Health Services (Planning & Policy) and Commissioner Health Services (Integrated Epidemiology and Surveillance), among others. In August 2016, Lukwago was authorized to fill 255 vacant positions plus some of the above, and that in accordance with the law and in consultation with the department of human resource, Lukwago provided a draft of person specifications to the Health Services Commission (HSC) for approval. Mbonye says the job advert also said an applicant must have at least 15 years of working experience, three of which must have been served at the level of commissioner in government or equivalent level in a reputable institution. Between October 10 and 14, 2016, Mbonye says, as acting PS, he reviewed the job specifications and found them restrictive. I consulted with and got the approval of the substantive PS MOH Dr Asuman Lukwago before the revised specifications were submitted to the HSC in writing, Mbonye says. The letter submitting the revised specifications, dated October, 12, 2016, was copied to the head of public service and secretary to cabinet, the permanent secretary ministry of Public Service. Mbonye swears that the revised specifications were advertised by the HSC without any influence from him. But in December 2016, while attending a meeting of senior managers, Mbonye says, Aceng excitedly announced that the IGG had halted the recruitment, noting that those of us who expected that appointment should forget. He says he later learnt from the IGG report that six people applied for DGHS, including himself. ... I was shortlisted by the HSC with only one other applicant and that the remaining two us could not be invited for interview because my detractors and enemies in the ministry of health, some of whom were on the short-listing panel, feared that I might pass the interview, which they detested, Mbonyes affidavit adds. In order to bar him from attending the interview, Mbonye claims, his detractors then made the false complaint through a whistle-blower to the IGG. He points out that the IGG falsely reported that he never informed Lukwago that he was interested in the DGHS job yet it was correctly observed in the same report that Lukwago recommended him (Mbonye) for the position and endorsed his application form on October 31, 2016. On Saturday, Atwine told The Observer she wasnt in position to comment about the report by the IGG because she wasnt the author. She, however, denied sacking Mbonye. I have not fired him. All we did was to assign him other duties within the ministry, Atwine said, referring to the position of director of Health Services (Clinical and Community) to which Mbonye has been reassigned. dkiyonga@observer.ug Kabula County Member of Parliament, James Kakooza, survived being lynched by mourners in Lyantonde who accused him of supporting the scrapping of the presidential age limit. Kakooza was one of the mourners who turned up at Nakawanga village in Kisekka sub-county in Lwengo district for the burial of 76-year-old Vincent Nsamba, the father of Masaka municipality MP, Mathias Mpuuga. No sooner had Kakooza arrived than the mourners jeered at him and asked him to leave immediately. The angry mourners told Kakooza he wasn't welcome to the funeral, since he is one of the enemies of Uganda for supporting the proposed amendment of 102 (b) of the Constitution, which caps the presidential age at 75 years. Some of the mourners at the funeral Some of the mourners started charging at the MP and threatened to lynch him unless he left the funeral. Sensing danger, Mpuuga beckoned Kakooza to move closer to his seat and assured him of his safety as mourners continued pointing accusing finger at the legislator. This prompted the Buganda kingdom premier Charles Peter Mayiga who was the chief mourner to intervene. He asked the mourners to exercise restraint and pardon Kakooza, saying he would speak to him. However, the mourners continued threatening Kakooza forcing the funeral organisers to 'hide' him inside the family house. He was helped to leave the funeral by the Mayiga's personal security guards. In his speech, Mayiga applauded the legislators who stood their grounds to protect the Constitution. Mayiga said he was very happy with MPs like Mpuuga who don't change their positions on key issues. It is not yet clear why the mourners targeted Kakooza since there were other National Resistance Movement (NRM) party members at the funeral including; Christopher Kalemba, the Kakuuto MP and the Nsangi LC III chairperson, Hajj Abdul Kiyimba among others. Emmanuel Kizito Muwonge, one of the mourners told URN that they singled out Kakooza because he has been at the forefront of promoting life presidency. Speaking at the same funeral, Dr Kizza Besigye, the former Forum for Democratic Change president called for civil disobedience. He said it is time that those opposed to the life presidency and those in favor are known. Besigye said he is sure president; Yoweri Museveni will be defeated with the civil disobedience campaign, which is expected to start on Tuesday this week. Rev Father George William Lubega of Kitovu Cathedral who led the mass, said Vincent Nsamba, a retired head teacher died a miserable man. He explained that Nsamba who was opposed to lifting of age limit died before enjoying his pension. He also disclosed that Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala issued a circular asking the clergy in Catholic churches to use the pulpit to oppose the proposed scrapping of the presidential age limit. According to Lubega, in his circular, Cardinal Wamala notes that those plotting for the removal of the age limit are committing treason. With public anger against the proposal to scrap presidential age limits palpable, the government has warned opposition kingpin Dr Kizza Besigye not to incite people. The four-time presidential candidate on Saturday announced a new phase of peaceful protest against the ruling partys plans to grant President Museveni lifetime tenancy at State House. Addressing media on Saturday at his Katonga road office in Kampala, Besigye challenged the elite, who are concerned about President Musevenis mismanagement of the country, to take a stand. Kizza Besigye has announced he will resume walk to work protests Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, Besigye said, they should leave their cars at home and either walk, move on boda bodas or use public means as a form of protest. His call for mass action is being interpreted as incitement to break the law by the government. Acting Information minister Dr Chris Baryomunsi told The Observer that the government will not look on as Dr Besigye incites the public. I thought Dr Kizza Besigye is represented in parliament by his FDC MPs, where this bill is going to be discussed. It will not be walk to work or any form of demonstration that will facilitate this amendment of the constitution, Baryomunsi said on Saturday. The path available through law is the parliament process, which has started. If he is planning to break the law, then the state organs will restrain him from breaking the law. If he has any views to do with the proposals, which are being tabled in parliament, he should use his members of parliament to air those views, he said. This bill will also be processed by a committee that will give all Ugandans the opportunity to submit their views. It is not the demonstration efforts that will feed into considerations of that bill. It is not necessary to incite people to use unlawful means to challenge this bill because it is following laid-down lawful procedures, Baryomunsi said. Under Ugandas Constitution, peaceful demonstration is provided for as a legitimate form of political protest. However, during walk-to-work protests led by Besigye in 2011, police alongside assorted paramilitary militias, including the so-called Kiboko squad, brutally dispersed peaceful marchers. Opposition leaders at the forefront of the protests were sealed off in their homes in what police called preventive custody, repeatedly arrested and banished to rural police outposts. As the protests intensified, police adopted a shoot-to-kill policy, which left scores either dead or injured. With the death toll rising, human rights defenders, both here and abroad, launched a campaign against the blood-letting at the hands of Ugandas police. The government soon found itself being targeted for condemnation by the international community. Igara West Member of Parliament Raphael Magyezi is expected to table his private members bill that aims to scrap presidential age limits on Tuesday, the same day Besigye has chosen for the mass protest to begin. We want to know whether the elites are with us or with the oppressorTherefore, we recommend that the elites dedicate one day of the week to move with the people it will be good to see only public transport and not tinted private vehicles, Besigye said. Police spokesman Asan Kasingye declined to comment on Besigyes call. I havent heard about it; when I do, I will comment, Kasingye told The Observer on Saturday. In any case it will be a policy issue and I will first get guidance he said. During walk-to-work protests, which kicked off in April 2011 following that years disputed presidential election, two-year-old Julian Abigail Nalwanga of Masaka was shot dead. The child became an enduring symbol of that campaign organised by the banned civil rights group, Activists 4 Change. Starting Tuesday, Besigye wants all Ugandans to wear red clothes and bandanas as symbols of resistance, as already being done by some MPs. Citizens should identify with the symbol of red that has emergedI wasnt part of it but I think its a meaningful symbol that symbolises the blood that this country has [shed], Besigye said. It is a symbol to halt; stop, togikwatako, stop stealing from us. Stop brutalising our people. We would like to identify with and promote it, Besigye said. For the campaign to be successful, Besigye urged civic, cultural and religious leaders to stop sitting on the fence. Separately, Besigye also condemned Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga for allowing soldiers to storm the House on Wednesday last week. The strongest condemnation is reserved for Speaker Rebecca Kadaga; she held a meeting with Museveni and accepted to become the hired gun. The Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union should isolate her, Besigye said. He called upon the international community to stop looking on as the NRM government abuses the rights of Ugandans. He said officials like Kadaga and others used by regime to harass Ugandans should be sanctioned and barred from travelling abroad. September 27, 2017 was a sad day as parliament turned into a battleground amid the much-contested age limit debate. I was bemused by the chaotic scenes, geared by the plainclothes, highly-trained military personnel. I was awed by the enthusiasm and determination of the minority opposition legislators, the ripping apart of the honourable House and the provocative silence of the majority NRM MPs as many didnt stir from their seats amidst all this. Yes, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga had kicked out 25 defiant MPs including a minister who, perhaps, was being punished for being too loyal to the extent of carrying a gun into the chambers of parliament to ensure that his masters will is granted at whatever cost. This minister accessed parliament through the presidential entrance, so he would sneak in a gun. Why not give him a heavier punishment? Is this how far the NRM were willing to go? By now, Ugandans should have seen that Musevenis life presidency will be legalised at whatever cost! It is bloodshed, indeed, that brought this regime and it is going to be the same that will keep it in power! Kadaga is among the few Ugandans, especially in the ruling party, that have been regarded with respect and trust. It might sound a little farfetched but lets all consider the possibility that she was under duress. This is a military regime that is willing to go to any heights to keep their grip on power. There is no way Kadaga, who has defied her party position before and set some heroic precedents, wouldnt know that this is against the will of the people, much less her own will! What then would stop the regime, as daring as they have proved to be, to put the speaker in a compromising position? During the scuffle, most NRM MPs stayed still! Whatever is guiding these peoples reasoning, God knows! Looking at some of them defending the actions of the regime and justifying the manner in which opposition legislators were handled, I fear for this country! We can lose everything, but not conscience, for conscience is the court that supersedes all other courts of justice. The motion was all the same tabled, without the presence of the opposition. How ridiculous does it sound that Uganda, a multiparty system, introduced a bill to remove the presidential age limit without a single member of the opposition in parliament? What Museveni needs is not a bill to help him stay longer in power. The MPs should, instead, introduce a bill to protect him once he peacefully hands over power. Aggrey Nyondwa Kikobera, Communications Assistant, Uganda Red Cross. Only Museveni can save himself When I first decided to write this article, I meant to thank the president for his marvellous act of distancing himself from those undisciplined people who advocate for tampering with the Constitution to change the age limit. Had he done this, he would have set an example for many overstaying African leaders. Now that NRM will definitely table the infamous motion, I am left wondering if the president is being a trickster? Mr President, you have a chance to be recorded in the annals of history as a trailblazer in our motherland who joined visionary African leaders such as Seretse Khama, Leopold Senghor, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela, Olusegun Obasanjo and Kenneth Kaunda. If, however, you endorse the acts of what I call the undisciplined NRM stalwarts, you will have joined the disgraced and infamous company of Mobutu Sese Seko, Idi Amin, Hosni Mubarak, etc. You should realise it is not the Evelyn Anites, Simeo Nsubugas or James Kakoozas of this country who hold the keys, but you, and only you. You cant imagine the amount of joy and relief you would give your countrymen if you peacefully ceded that office to another one. And this is not because by opposing you, we hate you, but we love Uganda more. Paul Kisubika, Retired teacher. Is Kayihura okay? I hear Gen Kale Kayihura has found the solution for the serial murders in Entebbe municipality and Nansana. Kayihura says most deaths are caused by misunderstandings in intimate relationships and the solution is in registration of all girls/women and their lovers in the affected areas. Sometimes I hear some statements attributed to our leaders and I want to believe that they are being misquoted. Of all such statements, this was the most ridiculous. How does he plan to register the girls and how sure is he that they will give the right information? And how does that end killings? Police should admit that they have failed to solve these murders. Joan Nassuuuna, Gayaza. Abiriga actions show calibre of our MPs The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates court on September 27 issued criminal summons against Arua Municipality MP Ibrahim Abiriga for being a public health nuisance by easing himself in an open space. The office the accused holds and his conduct are what I find hard to ascribe to one person. How did a man who does not know where to urinate find his way into Ugandas parliament? That, for me, is the question the nation needs to be asking as emotions rage on over the age limit constitutional amendment. According to our laws, amendments to the constitution are made by MPs. But if the public misconduct of the accused MP is in any way a reflection of the calibre of people who sit in the august House, how dare we not expect a nuisance of a nation? Uganda embraced governance by democracy. And under this system, the majority will always have their way. See what democracy has brought unto us! Reagan Turakira, @RTurakira. Multiparty politics is not working Since Uganda became a multiparty dispensation, the struggle of political parties has seemingly grown! The sole purpose to transit from single-party to multiparty politics was to allow the thriving of democratic competition which is very healthy for any democracy. If one chooses to go by the data that Uganda has 29 political parties, they would quickly pass it for being the most democratic! However, given all these political parties, Uganda still runs as a single-party political dispensation! The NRM has consolidated itself in power for the last 31 years and the multiparty dispensation has seemingly died off! Of course there are opposition parties that have stood the test of time to challenge the status quo amid vast bottlenecks! The notion to deny citizens services simply because they did not elect an NRM cadre in their area is unfortunate! Citizens of whatever colour and nature must be able to access services regardless because they pay taxes. Michael Aboneka, Kampala. letters@observer.ug The distasteful events that took place in parliament last week exposed the speakers lack of will to protect and defend her members. And to protect does not mean she has to be clothed in armoured equipment and surround herself with unpleasant armed personnel. Whereas the speaker routinely chairs parliamentary debates, she/he is supposed to embody the independence of the House. Being a multiparty parliament, the speaker ought to exhibit impartiality in her conduct. In her case, Kadaga is the champion of the House as well as its servant! In the past, Kadaga had shown some commitment to defending the rights and interests of MPs. She defended the NRM rebel MPs who the party wanted expelled from the House. When some Ugandans ran to court to block parliament from probing and debating the Shs 6bn given to some government officials for winning a court case that delivered $700 million from oil companies, the speaker defied Justice Steven Kavumas stupid order. The speaker regarded this order as an affront on the independence of the legislature and that it offended the doctrine of separation of powers. In all this, Kadaga drew inspiration from the most celebrated example set by Britains William Lenthall in 1642, who defied an order from King Charles I to hand over five members of the House of Commons, saying he only took instruction from parliament: I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me. Therefore, with such examples of stellar performance, until last week, there was no doubt that Kadaga was in charge of the House. In many ways, the speaker is to blame for the fracas that arose last week. Three MPs rose and said Minister Ronald Kibuule had entered the chambers with a gun. The first MP, William Ngozhu, was rudely asked to sit down when he raised the issue. Medard Lubega Sseggona then requested that the speaker suspends the House for some minutes so that they can check the members for the gun. Then MP Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda told the speaker that she could even be assisted with camera footage to ascertain that Kibuule, indeed, had a gun. Ssemujju told the speaker that Kibuule had threatened to kill him that day. Still, the speaker refused to do anything. It is from this point that members decided to take charge of their security by attempting to check Kibuule for the gun. It is not clear why the speaker was protective of the minister at the expense of the dignity and safety of the House. A melee ensued and, in seconds, chairs and other items were flying. The speaker also could have saved the subsequent fracas if she had found that some members conduct deserved punishment such as suspension from the sitting. She should have meted out this punishment on that day (Tuesday) according to the rules, and not carry forward her action to the following day. It appears the speaker knew that the affected MPs would defy her orders to withdraw from the chambers. Before the Wednesday sitting began, plainclothes security operatives were seen accessing the parliamentary building from the presidents office side. They would later come in handy after the speaker suspended 25 legislators and ordered their immediate eviction from the House. The inspector general of police, Gen Kale Kayihura, chest-thumped in the aftermath of the events that he had planned the invasion of parliament. It appears the orders were to manhandle all opposition MPs, whether they were suspended or not. Otherwise, what explains that Nabilah Naggayi, Matthias Mpuuga, Ssemujju and many others who had not been suspended were brutally thrown out by these very security operatives? It appears the orders were to harass and brutalize all those who were opposed to the bill on lifting the presidential age limit. It was not about restoring order in the House. In an interview published by Saturday Vision of September 30, 2017, Kadaga denies deploying SFC operatives, or even having knowledge of their presence. She says the Sergeant at Arms sought assistance from them (this contradicts Kayihuras utterances). But then in the same interview, Kadaga asks: So, if there is danger to parliament, we should leave it? We should allow people to be killed? Parliament to be burnt? People to approach and overrun parliament This is a contradictory stand. If the intention was to ensure safety and security of the House, then the speaker should have suspended the House on Tuesday when members complained about the minister who possessed a gun. Kadaga needs to pick Lenthalls approach. She is a servant of the MPs, and she does not have to fuse the interests of the executive with those of the legislature. It is difficult to serve two masters equally and comfortably at the same time. The author is a former parliamentary reporter. When Nelson Mandela was still under incarceration and singing positively about him was literally criminal under Apartheid, in 1987, the South African legendary artiste Chicco Chimora sang a transparently-veiled, highly emotional song with the lyrics: We miss you Manelo, where are you? Mama was crying the day you disappeared; Papa was weeping when you ran away; Come back home, were missing you Of course, it is said that when he performed it at concerts, crowds insisted on singing we miss you Mandela in place of the Manelo guise. Similarly, Lucky Dube hid behind metaphor in songs like Slave (1989) where he sings: Ministers of religion Have visited me many times To talk about it They say to me I gotta leave it ... Its a bad habit for a man But when I try to leave it My friends keep telling me Im a fool amongst fools Now Im a slave, a slave... Im a liquor slave. You just have to replace the word Liquor with Power to dig out the message depicting the situation of the Apartheid regime that had become enslaved by its own misdeeds and no longer sure who to listen to between its sycophants and those who wanted to save it from itself. Listening to these songs a few weeks ago, I was sent into helpless nostalgia. Not about the songs and their context, but about President Museveni from my childhood memories. I loved drawing right from primary school, and I remember being punished a couple of times for being found drawing during class time. I still keep some of these books, and I look at the many drawings in imagination and reminiscence of what could have been going on in my young mind. Most of the drawings were of President Museveni, Salim Saleh, Philly Lutaaya, and some dancer called John Jones. The drawings of Museveni clearly depict the fantasy and admiration I had for him as a child. This wasnt only because he was the president; he was uncontestably an enigma across the social and political spectrum. Yes, we had heard about all the myths surrounding his bush war escapades and mysteriousness. Who had not heard about how he would turn into a cat and disappear when Tito Okellos soldiers surrounded him? Talk about his bank robberies was everywhere, but in a heroic interpretation. Many of the things we had watched in Hollywood movies were partly brought close to us in bush war narratives, mainly as told and embellished by the victors. But even beyond the narratives, I dont think there is any president in Ugandas history that has achieved as much popularity as Museveni did at the time. In our child games, how we euphorically sang those charismatic war songs! Eeh moto unawaka maama eeeh moto unawaka... Amba Museveni ambaaa, kulika entalo, ambaaa... We felt the man, we felt the liberation. We received free high-quality 96-page exercise books labelled Government of Uganda, Not for Sale even in private schools. If it wasnt for the exclusionary post-war anyanya narrative that demonised people from Northern Uganda, I think Museveni would have scored about 90 per cent had there been an election in the late 1980s. When he spoke, even for a child, you wanted to listen on and on. The sagacity in his oratory deployment of local proverbs was always a thing to look forward to in his speeches. And all was easily taken in because he not only spoke, he lived his word no lies, no summersaulting. So, it was hard to doubt him without seeming odd. Like is said of good wine, his name needed no bush. I remember in P6 we had an inter-school art exhibition, and one of our teachers, Master Budde, drew an awesome portrait of Museveni waving a salute. It stole the whole show. One simply had to look in Musevenis eyes to see a bright future for the country. Or was I just a naive child? When Nelson Mandela visited Uganda in the 1990s, we lined the roads in chants as they [Mandela and Museveni] waved at us through the roof of an SUV. We had waited for about five hours in our school uniforms without anything to eat. But the hunger meant nothing at that special moment. It was my first time to see my hero, Museveni, alongside another African legend. That picture is still fresh in my mind. Well, I will skip all else we know too well that happened in subsequent years of liquor. The next time I came closest to him again was coincidentally at the launch of the Nelson Mandela Lecture Series at Makerere University a few weeks ago. He was seated in my eyes direction. I looked at him for hours and somehow found a tear rolling down my face. This was not helped by his long, patronising speech and saying that he finds no problem with overstaying in power! That now we have to sing the moto unawaka songs in resistance of the same man that was our hero is quite painful. Its more disturbing that he no longer seems to care what we feel about him. This cant be him! When we travel outside Africa and say we are from Uganda, we had gotten used to being asked about Amin. But that we are now asked about Museveni in almost the same mockery is ironical. We miss you Museveni; where did you go? Please come back and talk to this one in your body to honorably leave before all your legacy is irreparably reversed. I pray the sycophants that surrounded him when you left will allow you to access him. They have no reputation to lose and would even exchange their name for good food, but you still do. Come back home and quit the liquor. jsssentongo@gmail.com The author heads the Center for African Studies at Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi. Homegrown handset maker Lava plans to focus on sub-Rs 10,000 mobile phones with 6-7 models in its portfolio to capture a bigger pie of the market in this price segment. "We want to focus and dominate in the sub Rs 10,000 mobile phones segment with a portfolio of 6-7 models. Our strategy is to have limited number of products and drive volumes. With our R&D centre in Shenzhen in China, we are working hard to enhance customer experience," Lava International Head Smartphones Deepak Mahajan told PTI. The company, which has presence in 11 countries, offers 8-9 feature phones and 6-7 smartphones. Lavas current market share, in the under Rs 10,000 price segment, is around 11 per cent. Mahajan expects India to be become a hub for IT and handset makers and sees global brands emerging from the country. He also expects a big opportunity for his company. He gave example of how giants such as Google and Facebook made it big from the US, Sony in Japan, Samsung, LG and South Korea and Huawei and Oppo in China. He expects similar opportunity to arise from India. According to Counterpoint Research, under Rs 10,000 mobile phones contribute 59 per cent of the total smartphone sales in the country. Lava has operations in 11 countries such as India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the UAE, Indonesia, Mexico, Myanmar, Pakistan and Egypt. The company reported a revenue of Rs 7,626 crore in the 2015-16 fiscal and 23 per cent growth as compared to the previous year. When asked if the company is looking at foraying into new markets overseas this year, Lava International Senior VP Head of Product Gaurav Nigam said: "We will continue to grow and expand our business in new markets to make Lava products and services available to more customers." Lava, which has a strength of 15,000 employees, plans to increase its head-count to close to 1 lakh in the next 8-10 years, Nigam said. The company said that majority of the increased workforce will be in the manufacturing and field sales team. On the China R&D centre, Nigam said: "With our established R&D centre based out of Shenzhen, Lava is in the process of spearheading the R&D road map among Indian manufacturers in the country...On an average, Lava develops about 8 smartphones and 3 feature phones per year at its China facility". Streetwise: My Love Affair with SFPL by Frank Dunnigan October 2017 From the time that I acquired my very first library card at the age of six, Ive had an on-again/off-again love affair with the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). My first experience with that institution, other than accompanying Mom when she picked up or dropped off a book or two for herself on weekly shopping trips in the mid-1950s, was a Parkside School field trip exactly 60 years ago, in October of 1957. It was a drizzly day, and our entire Kindergarten class was dressed in bright yellow slickers and rain hats, plus the black rubber galoshes that were usual back then. We walked two-by-two, hand-in-hand, from 24th Avenue and Ulloa Street to 23rd Avenue and Taraval Street to the Parkside Branch library that afternoon. Once there, we seated ourselves in a semi-circle on the floor of the reading room that has the tall windows that facing southwest. As we were settling in on that warm radiant-heated cork floor, with a crackling fire in the big copper-clad fireplace, a pleasant librarian arrived to read a story about a family of ducks to a squirming group of excited youngsters. That day is my fondest memory from my first year in school. Thanks to encouragement of our teacher, Mrs. Beckerman, I went back to the Parkside Branch a few days later with Dad, and the nice lady at the desk issued me my very own library card, boldly printed with my name in capital letters. I thought it was the best gift I had ever received and I carefully placed it in my nightstand drawer once we returned home, checking on it each and every morning. Nice-lady-at-the-desk took the time to remind me of a few rules: 1) Speak very quietly when in the library. 2) Six was the maximum number of books allowed for check-out at one time. 3) Books had to be returned by the due date or else there would be a fine. On that visit, I eagerly scanned the shelves on the back wall (where tall windows framed the eucalyptus trees in McCoppin Park) to the spot where the childrens books were kept in those days, and quickly selected six to take home with me. For most of my grammar school days, I was a weekly visitor to the Parkside branch, returning last weeks books and picking out five or six new ones. In those days, check-out was a fascinating process. The open book, its pocket card, and the patrons library card were all placed face-up on the base of a large microfilm recording machine. When the documents were lined up, the librarian pressed a button to record the image for library records. By the 1970s, this process was changed to having the patron write the title/author on a slip of paper that the librarian would file before placing a slip of brightly colored paper with the due date into the books pocket on the front page. This still seems to be a rare example of taking what was a slightly automated process and reducing it to a more manual operation. The library was a home-away-from-home for many of us in grammar school years, and bumping into classmates and neighborhood friends was a regular event. As time went on, we all learned the intricacies of the card catalog and the Dewey Decimal System (something unknown to most people today). Librarians were always there to offer advice when a patron was looking for something new or a bit more advanced than the usual offerings in the childrens section. On the Friday afternoon of John F. Kennedys assassination in 1963, a librarian wisely mentioned, Be sure and check out a few good booksweekend television programs will all be cancelled. So right she wasand escaping into a good book has always been a positive refuge for me from unhappy events in life. The old Main Library was also a treasure trove once I was in high school. Just a quick bus ride from the Stanyan Street campus of St. Ignatius (S.I.) on the old #5 McAllister bus, I visited the old Main at least three times a week during my early high school years. That spot had many holdings that were not stocked in the branches. Everything from bound magazines and newspapers to special collections to historical displays were readily available to all patrons. Rainy days, steam heat, and a few individuals with an addiction to alcohol sometimes made for an uncomfortable atmosphere, but the thrill of reading old documents first-hand made up for that. While studying World War II in World History class in the Fall of 1966, I was simultaneously reading TIME magazine articles from 1941-45, thus getting an incredibly accurate feel of how the public perceived the war situationthat year marked the 25th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. Far from an assured victory, it was very clear that in the early months of 1942, things were not looking at all good for the Allied forces. This led to some interesting dinnertime conversations with my parents about their own personal memories of those days. As high school progressed, term papers often required more research than was possible at the Parkside Branch, and I began to stray from SFPL. Many S.I. students discovered the vast resources of the nearby University of San Francisco (USF) Libraryplus the holdings of the Sutro Library, then located in the same building, at the back of the ground floor, facing Golden Gate Avenue. In addition, the library at San Francisco State was open to non-students at the time, thus supplying access to additional reference material, even closer to home for many of us. Later, when I was a student at USF, I discovered that various branches of SFPL often held vastly different collections. During my first few years as an English major, I found that the West Portal Branch on Ulloa and Lenox Way, as well as the Sunset Branch at 18th Avenue and Irving Street, both had large collections of Literary Criticismfar greater than could be found at Parksidethus speeding along my work on numerous research papers. I still remember the end of each semester when the front trunk of my trusty Volkswagen bug was loaded with books to be returned to multiple branch librariessome on time and many not. Later, when I became a Business major, I learned that the Mechanics' Institute library downtown had a vast collection of annual reports issued by many large- and medium-sized corporations. With membership open to the public, it was a quick streetcar ride from the Parkside to Market and Post Streets to make use of those collections during regular evening hours. After graduation, I had my first apartment at Parkmerced and found that the Merced Branch at 19th Avenue and Winston Drive had an especially large collection of easy readingnovels, mysteries, etc.likely geared to older patrons who made up the majority of nearby residents at Parkmerced and Stonestown. Libraries still maintained both day and evening hours then, so it was easy to stop off after work and pick up some light reading. Meanwhile, SF State was increasing its collection of San Francisco history (Dewey Decimal classification 917.9461), and that fueled my addiction to local history. With the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, property tax increases were suddenly controlled and government budgets had to be re-evaluated. Surely, no politicians suffered reductions in office staffs, but the spending cuts that were approved at the time seemed designed to place maximum impact on libraries in particular, with open hours cut drasticallydefinitely not a good time for those of us who were regular users. Gradually, these limited hours became the status quo, and entire generations of high school students never experienced the joys of studying/hanging out until the old 9:00 p.m. closing time at a local branch library. For about 15 years, from 1980-1995, when I was living on 22nd Avenue, the hours of the nearby Parkside branch were very difficult to remembernot open until 1:00 p.m. some days, virtually no evening hours, closed completely on a couple of weekdays, limited Saturday hours, and closed Sundays. In addition, with reduced budgets, there were very few new books, no multiple copies of popular titles (if the branchs one copy was checked out, there was usually a very long waiting list), and staff cuts that limited the ability of librarians to help patrons. I soon fell out of love with SFPL and even allowed my once-treasured library card to expire. The romance was over. Books were still my friends, though, and I continued to acquire them at the then-new Brentanos on the second level of the new Stonestown Galleria, and also at a short-lived discounter, Crown Books at Lakeshore Plaza on Sloat Boulevard. Ultimately, there was Amazona books-only retailer in its early days. Slowly, though, things began to change in the world of libraries. Selections were being updated, including audio and video titles. The old card catalog was replaced with an electronic look-up system with the Library of Congress classification system. More study cubes were being installed, and online computer access was offeredinitially for an extra feebut then such services became standard. On my first visit to the New Main when it opened in 1996, I was impressed with the architecture, even though I missed certain features of the old building. Among the new designs were the round skylight and computer access in glass-enclosed study roomsand the innovative wallpaper in these rooms consisted of thousands of laminated cards from the drawers of the old card catalog. Gone were the stacks where you could browse endlessly, but staff members were readily available to help you find what was needed. No more leafing through yellowing newspapers bound into large books, but the images were readily available onscreen, thus helping me immensely during the years that I was actively researching my familys San Francisco genealogy going back to 1860. Those cumbersome City Directories, once lined up in rows in the Bound Periodicals room on the third floor at the old Main, were now quickly accessible onlinea big help for researchers. Once I began writing local history books in this millennium, the resources of the San Francisco History Rooms photo collection were a treasure trove. Even working remotely, I could research various topicsLowell High School, Golden Gate Park Childrens Playground, Richmond District, Bank of America, Bakeries, Emporium Christmas Roof Rides, etc.and immediately be viewing thousands of images. With one quick phone call to the archivist, I was able to order high-resolution photos that met the publishers exact printing specifications. After making payment, the images were then instantly sent to me as an email attachmentand I received great service from that department time and again. As my books were published, a very nice librarian at dear old Parkside Branch set me up to do a series of book talks there and at a number of other branchesAnza, Merced, Ortega, Sunset, West Portal. With built-in equipment at most locations, it was very easy to include photo images with the presentation. It was particularly apt that one of my first 2014-15 talks was in the comfortable reading room at Parkside Branchnearly 60 years after my first visit there as a Kindergarten student. Today, libraries represent many things to everyone. I was extremely pleased to read a recent San Francisco Chronicle article reporting that ALL San Francisco Public Library branches are now open Sundays, effective in June of 2017. In addition, funding has now been approved so that all brancheseven the smaller oneswill be open a minimum of 50-60 hours per week, including some evening hours at every branch. This is a near-restoration of the pre-Prop 13 operating hours and a huge gift to all users. Who says you cant go back to an old love? Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places! Hindu community in Sindh observed Muharram MITHI: Far from Karachi, in Mithi city, the districts headquarters of Tharparkar, a remote district with almost half of its population Hindus, located in eastern side of the Sindh province along Indian border, the scene is entire different. Though, rangers and police is deployed in the city for the security, but mourners do not feel any security threats. Dressed in funereal black, the mourners gathered at Maqbool Shah Imambargah, they were beating their chests, and wailing nohas and mourning the day of Imam Hussain's martyrdom. Half of the mourners are Hindus. When the procession proceeded through the Mithi city, at different places, Hindus women brought their newborns to the procession and put the clothes of the Tazia on the forehead of their newborn and worshiped the Tazia and later kept some coin as they do while performing Pooja or worship by Hindu way at their temples. In southern Sindh, specially in different districts of Mirpurkhas districts including Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Tharparkar, where majority of 7 million Pakistani Hindus reside, one can see Hindu Shias or the devotees of Imam Hussain. Just in Tharparkar district there are 72 Imambargahs and many of them are historical and according to the locals some of the Imambargahs are around 200 years old. In Mithi city, most of the Sabeels are arranged by the local Hindus and many of the Hindus join procession. At the end of the procession when mourners reach at the Imambargahs, they are offered food and in Mithi at historical Maqbool Shah Imambargah, almost half of the food is provided by the local Hindus, according to the caretaker of the Imambargha. "In Mithi city for last 200 years, long before the partition of subcontinent, Hindus are actively taking part in procession during Muharram," said Hadil Faqeer, caretakers of the Shoaib Abu Talib, Imambargah, Mithi. He said that Hindus visit Imambargahs almost entire year, but during Muharram they take active part in the procession, Sabeel and Niaz (sacred food distributed during Muharram). "Many of the local young Hindu couples come to the Imambargahs and they tie knots and walk around the Alam Pak or Tazia, as they walk around holy fire during their wedding, because they consider Alam Pak and Tazia as sacred as the holy fire," said caretaker of the Maqbool Shah Imambargah. In Umerkot city, many Imambargahs are managed by Hindus and many caretakers are also Hindus. In Sindh, Hindus are not just the mourner, but some of them are famous Shia Zakir and they hold Majlis-e-Aza on Karbala incident during Muharram. During these Majalis, not just the Hindus and Shia Muslim, but even Sunni Muslim come and listen to them. Ravi Shankar Khatri, a resident of Umerkot is one of them. He is a Shia Zakir and conducts Majlis-e-Aza in different cities across Sindh. Another Shia Zakir was Heman Das who called himself Hyderi, resident of Sanghar city, died last year at the age of 83, was invited to hold Majlis-e-Aza not just in Sindh but many cities of Punjab and even in abroad. In most of these districts, Nohas (Shia laments) that mourner wailing during procession, are written by the Hindus. "If Imam Hussain (AS) was born in this part of the world, we, the Hindus of Sindh could be worshiping him as an avatar (a concept in Hinduism refers to the incarnation of a deity on earth)," said Kirshan Khatri of Umerkot. He said that Imam Hussain (AS) was like a devta (a divine being) who came to the world against the injustice and brutality and sacrificed his life for humanity. The Attorney General is expected to resume oral examination of businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome today [Monday], over his GHs51 million debt to the state. The Deputy Attorney-General, Godfred Dame in July began an inquiry into sources of income and assets of the businessman in order to recover the monies due to the state. The last hearing of the case at the Supreme Court witnessed an almost two-hour grilling of Mr. Woyome by the deputy AG. Mr. Woyome had prayed the Supreme Court to stay proceedings on the oral examination since he had filed for a review of the case. But the Supreme Court dismissed the application for stay of proceedings by Businessman Alfred Woyome, seeking to halt an oral examination by the Attorney General. According to the court, presided over by a single Judge, Justice Alfred Benin, the application had no basis. Background to saga Mr. Woyome was paid the GHc 51 million after claiming he helped Ghana raise funds to construct stadia for the hosting of the 2008 African Cup of Nations. However, an Auditor Generals report released in 2010, held that the amount was paid illegally to him. Subsequently, the Supreme Court in 2014 ordered Mr. Woyome to pay back the money, after a former Attorney General, Martin Amidu, challenged the legality of the payments. Following delays in retrieving the money, Supreme Court judges unanimously granted the Attorney-General clearance to execute the courts judgment, ordering Mr. Woyome to refund the cash to the state. There had been previous attempts to orally examine Mr. Woyome with Mr. Amidu himself, in 2016, filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to examine Alfred Woyome, on how he was going to pay back the money, after the Attorney Generals office under the Mahama Administration, led by the former Minister for Justice, Marietta Brew Appiah-Oppong, discontinued a similar application. In February 2017 however, Mr. Amdu withdrew his suit seeking an oral examination, explaining that the change of government and the assurance by the new Attorney General to retrieve all judgement debts wrongfully paid to individuals, had given him renewed confidence in the system. Source: Citifmonline Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. 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Por culpa de Chavez Cerveza Polar Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar Translate LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares? Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano... Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos: Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias. Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera. No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje. En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio. Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida. Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella. Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal. Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista. Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen. Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che? Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio. Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora. Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo. Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo. Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania. No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar. Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga. Alguna duda? Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia. OZ1 OZ2 OZ3 OZ4 Homenaje a Jason Galarraga La Victoria de Samotracia Odalisca Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008 La Sierra Nevada de Merida Nuestro precioso Churum Meru Homenaje a Picasso Autoretrato Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola? La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar. Mi profesion? Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos. Sal en la Coca Cola? A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar. De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla: Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido) azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa) Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas Mucha Cafeina Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja. Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos. Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja. En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero). Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma. La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate. Bebidas Light? Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal. Publicado por loretahur En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina: 1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias. 2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina. 3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard. 4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos. 5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla. 6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos. Ahora... sobre la margarina: 1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) . 2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias. 3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno). 4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer. 5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna. 6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo. 7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina. Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas: * No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo). * No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!! No a la guerra, Si a la Paz Misterios de la ciencia... Los costos de la guerra medicos y capitalismo... Capitalismo... medicos (2) Quien educa a nuestros hijos? Los Medios... Sin Palabras... Chistes feministas - Cual es el problema, Eva? - Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas. - Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas... - Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti. - Que es un hombre? - Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente. - Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente. - Cual es el truco?. - Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion. - Cual? - Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer. Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas? Porque todos son unos cerdos Ellas... Ellas (2)... Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1 Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije: -Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro. Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria. Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre? -Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa! VENGANZA NUMERO 2 Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris. A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita: - Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!! Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta. La mujer paso quince dias en Francia. El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla. Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es: - Y amor me trajiste mi francesita?? - Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina. VENGANZA NUMERO 3 El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion. - No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo. - Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz. Te quiero confesar algo. - Esta bien, esta bien. Habla! - He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga. - Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!! machismo y cibernetica Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston. -Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?. El simio hace la sena de OK. -Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide. -Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!. .Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti. Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos. Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco. Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas Gol !!!! Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso! Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy! CORINTH A new Facebook page has been started by a resident concerned about bullying in Corinth schools. The page, titled Bullying is Real in Corinth School District, was created after parent Apryl Tortorice said her son has been repeatedly bullied and called a racial slur, which led to his suspension after he fought back against the student. Tortorice said her biracial son has been called the N-word and students have said theyre going to send him back to N-ville. She said the bullying has been going on for years. It involves a group of about four or five boys. Bullies have stolen students lunch money, slashed tires and threatened students with knives. She said the school has not done anything about the bullies, who also target students with disabilities. Tortorice said her son could not take it anymore and beat up one of the boys. Her son now has been suspended for the entire school year. She said that her son should not be fighting, but the school has to do something about the bullies. They keep doing it because theres no repercussions for their actions, she said. If the bullies were older, Tortorice said they would be charged with a hate crime. She said she also has contacted the NAACP. The town is becoming more populated with minorities. Its going to become a really serious issue at some point, she said. Superintendent of Schools Mark Stratton said he has never worked in a district that has done more to combat bullying. For the elementary school-age children, they have a program called Bully Busters, in which members of the staff talk about bullying and model positive behavior. For the older students, the school uses Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports, which rewards good behavior. The district also participates in the Working Against Violence Program, in which high school students are trained to work with middle school students who are experiencing bullying. The district follows the regulation of the Dignity for All Students Act to document bullying incidents and maintains a tips line. On our website, theres a place where students, parents and anybody can go to and report bullying. You can remain anonymous, he said. Although he would not discuss specific cases, Stratton said students receive punishment depending on their disciplinary history. If we do substantiate that bullying is occurring, we always impose a consequence, he said. Stratton said he is disappointed to have the negative publicity on this issue. One of the things I love about Corinth is the sense of community that we have and how the community and district all rally together if we have a family in crisis. We couldnt be a more supportive and caring environment, he said. HUDSON FALLS A Hudson Falls man was arrested Saturday night after he allegedly assaulted a woman and threatened her with a knife, police said. Kirby M. Lopez, 42, was charged after Hudson Falls Police were called to a River Street home at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday for a reported assault, officials said. Police determined that Lopez had choked and injured a woman and threatened her with a kitchen knife, Hudson Falls Police Detective Scott Gillis said. He also allegedly fought with Hudson Falls Police who responded to the home. Lopez has a criminal record, including a carjacking arrest in Florida, and can't legally possess a weapon, police said. So he was charged with felony criminal possession of a weapon and misdemeanor counts of assault, menacing, resisting arrest, criminal obstruction of breathing and obstructing governmental administration, police said. Lopez was arraigned and sent to Washington County Jail for lack of bail. Hudson Falls Police officers Zack Pastore and David Costello handled the case. FORT EDWARD The Hudson Falls man who allegedly set his home on fire last month, killing his girlfriend, has been indicted on murder and arson charges by a Washington County grand jury. The grand jury heard testimony Thursday and opted to charge Derrick M. Guilder with second-degree murder and first-degree arson in connection with the Sept. 6 fire that claimed the life of 18-year-old Ashley E. Coltrain. Coltrain died shortly after she called 911 from her bedroom to report her North Street home was on fire early that morning. Guilder was also in the home, but fled out a window. Hudson Falls Police arrested him the next morning, after investigators questioned him about inconsistencies in his story, such as how he got out of the home but Coltrain did not, and apparent problems in their relationship. Guilder, 22, was rescued from a porch roof as the home burned. Police said he admitted setting fire to papers on a couch, and said that he planned to take his life and hers by waiting the fire out in their bedroom. But he panicked and fled the home, leaving her behind in a smoke-filled second-story bedroom. The indictment will be handed up to Washington County Judge Kelly McKeighan on Thursday, with arraignment possible Friday or next week. Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said he could not comment on grand jury action until an indictment is handed up to a judge. Guilder was due in Kingsbury Town Court on Oct. 11, but that hearing will be canceled as the case is moved to County Court by the grand jurys action. Guilder did not testify before the grand jury. He is being held in Washington County Jail without bail pending further court action. His lawyer, Theresa Suozzi, said she had no comment on the case Monday, and had not yet seen a copy of the indictment. I knew the grand jury was going on last week, but I havent heard anything, she said. The grand jurys action means a panel of between 16 and 23 people reviewed evidence in the case and determined there was sufficient evidence for it to be prosecuted in superior court. Second-degree murder and first-degree arson are punishable by up to 25 years to life in state prison. Coltrain was a recent Hudson Falls High School grad who worked at Great Escape amusement park. QUEENSBURY An Argyle woman was seriously hurt Sunday night when the motorcycle she was on collided with a car that turned in front of it on Route 9, police said. Joanne Commisso, 58, was a passenger on a motorcycle being driven by her husband, Dominick R. Commisso, 59, when the crash happened at 8:42 p.m. near the Exit 20 interchange, according to the Warren County Sheriff's Office. She was taken to Albany Medical Center via helicopter for injuries police described as serious, while her husband went to Glens Falls Hospital for treatment of less serious injuries, police said. Albany Med would not release Mrs. Commisso's condition on Monday. The Commissos were thrown from the 2015 Harley-Davidson when a northbound Toyota sedan made a left turn in front of them without yielding the right of way, causing the motorcycle to hit the side of the car. The driver of the car, Dakota S. Millington, 23, of Minerva, was not hurt, but was ticketed for failure to yield the right of way. Sheriff's Patrol Officer Thomas Pozzouli investigated the crash, assisted at the scene by West Glens Dalls EMS and West Glens Falls Fire Department. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East UPDATE: 12 jurors and two alternates have been selected to hear the Sean M. Freese murder case. Opening statements will begin at 1:30. Tara Becker (@TaraBecker_QCT) October 3, 2017 EARLIER REPORT: Jury selection will continue Tuesday in Scott County District Court for a Davenport man charged in the fatal shootings of his parents in their home in October 2016. Prosecutors and defense attorneys for Sean M. Freese, 21, questioned prospective jurors Monday. Twelve jurors and two alternates will be selected to hear the case. Freese is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kevin and Donna Freese, 58 and 57, respectively. If convicted, he faces a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Davenport police and EMS were called about 4:45 a.m. Oct. 5 to the Freeses' home in the 1100 block of West 59th Street for a reported shooting and found the the couple dead. Police say in court documents that Freese "with premeditation" shot his parents just before 4 a.m. He is represented by attorneys Michael Motto Jr. and Joel Walker. The case will be tried by Scott County Attorney Mike Walton and Assistant Scott County Attorney Andrea Glasgow. District Court Judge John Telleen will preside over the trial, which he said is expected to last a week. Freese remains in the Scott County Jail on a $1 million cash-only bond. Americans woke this morning to news of the deadliest mass shooting in this country's history. Words here fail in comparison the the actual footage of the event in Las Vegas, and reaction across the country. View a roundup of the incident and reactions here. Iowa's lone Democrat in Congress said Monday that "it is past time we act" in the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting that left at least 59 people dead and hundreds wounded. In a statement Monday, Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, offered condolences to the victims, but added that isn't sufficient. "We must take time to honor the victims, but words alone are not enough. It is past time we act to keep our families and communities safe. We must come together and work toward ending these heinous acts," Loebsack said. Loebsack didn't expand in his statement on what that might be, but a spokesman later noted his past support for stronger background checks on gun sales and prohibiting people on terrorist watch lists from buying guns.His comments came as there were renewed calls in Congress for stricter gun control measures. They also were a contrast from Republicans in the state who offered condolences but steered clear of anything controversial. "My prayers are with all of the victims in Las Vegas, and their loved ones affected by this senseless act of violence," Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said in a statement. "As we learn more about what happened in the days ahead, let us come together and show our gratitude to our first responders and the other unsung heroes who put their lives on the line for others." Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also offered his prayers. Gov. Kim Reynolds said the shooting was horrific and ordered flags flown at half staff. But she also told reporters that it wasn't the right time to talk about policy changes. "Right now I think we just need to keep the families and the victims in our thoughts and prayers and really focus on the people," she said Monday. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders also told reporters it wasn't the time for political debates. However, as details of the mass shooting, the worst in U.S. history, unfolded, many congressional Democrats disagreed. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said it was Congress' responsibility to do something. "The notion that theres no way to prevent gun violence is falseand without action to stop gun attacks, Congress is complicit in them," Durbin said on Twitter. (Rod Boshart from the Lee Enterprises Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.) The five candidates looking to replace former Davenport 6th Ward Alderman Jeff Justin don't unanimously agree on much, but what they all possess is a willingness to listen and help their neighbors. Rich Clewell, Dale Gilmour, Ben Jobgen, Sean Liddell and Chris Webster will square off during the Oct. 10 primary election to determine which two candidates will advance to the Nov. 7 regular election. While they share which ward they reside in, there are vast differences in the candidates' viewpoints, including how the ward was represented in the past and why they are running for public office. Gilmour and Jobgen wre not satisfied with the level of representation, which factored into their political aspirations. I dont think the 6th Ward has been represented well, Gilmour said. It was more like a good at-large alderman versus a 6th Ward alderman. Case in point was how the City Council handled the Costco Wholesale rezoning on 53rd Street and what representation they received from Justin and Gene Meeker, who was appointed to fill the seat once Justin resigned from office to move to Florida in July. Jobgen said while Costco's arrival in Davenport was a good thing, its choice of a poor location was compounded by what was perceived as the City Council dismissing residents' concerns about traffic, neighborhood access, public safety and stormwater runoff. What (Justin and Meeker) should have said was 'I hear what youre saying and the data provided Costco may have been done at an inopportune time to collect data,' Jobgen said. What (Justin and Meeker) should have said was 'Im going to dig further.' I would desire to be that voice. I have no personal agenda and just want whats best for the ward and the city. For the other candidates, their desire to seek public office stems from their past experience. Webster, the Emergency Medical Services coordinator for Genesis Health System, has 22 years of experience in public safety and emergency preparedness to go along with participation on a number of different boards. Among the candidates, he is the most knowledgeable candidate when it comes to public safety and infrastructure, which he targeted as areas of improvement. It really comes down to the concerns of voters and those appear to be public safety and infrastructure, Webster said. Compared to my experience, other candidates dont know how the city operates with police and fire. For Clewell and Liddell, they possess the most board or political experience out of all the candidates. Liddell was an alderman for the city of Moline for five years before his tenure was cut short with his move to Davenport. I'm not going in because I'm angry, Liddell said. I'm going in because I enjoy public service, and it feels good to help people and help them solve whatever their issues are. For Liddell, public service experience matters and allows him to hit the ground running while the other candidates are just getting their feet wet. Clewell spent 16 years on the Davenport Community School District board and while he said there were both areas to take pride in and some issues, primarily the status of Superintendent Art Tate, that were left unresolved, his focus lies on helping pushing forward Davenport's vision for the future. Clewell said he believed Davenport has the right goals in mind, but because its age structure is flat, it's success has ties to the health of the school district, growing the arts community while also needing to focus on attracting younger talent to the area. I want to be at table, not on the menu, Clewell said. I want to make Davenport the city we want to live in." How to represent the people One aspect that has been missing in the 6th Ward during Justin's tenure was regular ward meetings. While the candidates have a difference in opinion on how best to implement them, a return in some form of communication seems likely. Liddell, an IT professional by trade, said regular meetings were important, but there were also other tools available, such as Facebook, that could be implemented to engage residents. I would be for re-establishing in-person ward meetings because they are great avenue for connecting with the people they represent, Liddell said. Liddell's sentiments were echoed by Jobgen, who suggested the city "embrace technology" and explore closed applications or a bulletin board where residents could post and see answers from their alderman. Jobgen also suggested the use of polls to see Is this a vocal minority or the majority that have this position on the issue? Gilmour, who attends more city and ward meetings than any other person in Davenport, said that re-instituting meetings would be one of the first things he would do, given that it is difficult to understand what's going on in the 6th Ward due to its distinct geographic boundaries. No one can know whats going on everywhere, and you need input from the residents, Gilmour said. For Clewell and Webster, input they have received thus far indicated less interest in regular in-person ward meetings, but that does not take away their importance. I haven't heard that people are all that interested in getting together to discuss their problems, Clewell said. Im very interested to see what their response is to having that meeting because most people don't have a lot of concerns. Webster used Costco as an example of the perfect application of a ward meeting to see what was on the minds of residents. Since the 6th Ward doesnt tackle a lot of things, look at meeting when large issues come up, Webster said. Webster said representation for the ward provided an opportunity for Davenport to improve on one area it struggles in: effective, efficient communication. We should be looking at having a better online presence, having an outlet for communication, whether thats Facebook or a blog that we can communicate better, Webster said. Drive past the greenhouse at Rock Island's Longview Park and you'll find, tucked behind an oak tree where the road ends, a brown-and-white building with cutouts of arrows and crescent moons on its window shutters. This is the Swiss-style chalet that was built on the grounds exactly 100 years ago this summer. It served a dual purpose of providing housing for a parks employee who could then provide security for the grounds at night, and offering a shelter for the public to have events and maybe buy ice cream from a concession stand. Through the years, parks employees have continued to live there, and the public area variously has been used as meeting space and a pre-school program site. At one time, the office of the park superintendent also was in the building. Now, though, the public use has ended, and the building with the arrows and moons on the shutters has been largely forgotten and overlooked. It needs some fixing-up. And that is why members of the Rock Island Preservation Society have chosen to highlight the chalet with a 100th birthday celebration on Sunday, Oct. 8. The public is invited to the park at 17th Street and 18th Avenue for food, including free cake and ice cream with brats and hot dogs for purchase; kids' activities such as "chalk the walk" and face painting; and music by David Smith. People also are invited to share memories of the park/chalet that will be recorded and any ideas for future use. "It seems like it's not very public anymore," Linda Anderson, of the preservation society, said of the building. She's hoping the party increases awareness and leads to better utilization. Other under-utilized buildings in Rock Island parks that have received recent attention and care from citizen groups include the fire station at Douglas Park and the Hauberg Civic Center. Some fix-up work at the chalet already has been done. Last year, the parks department spent more than $50,000 to reshingle the roof that had started to leak, said John Gripp, parks director. And, on Sept. 21, about 35 volunteers from Deere & Co. descended on the site as part of United Way's Day of Caring to work on the landscape, clean the gutters, remove torn screens and scrape and paint part of the exterior. Materials and equipment were provided by the city. Gripp would like to continue renting part of the building to a parks employee for revenue and security, and to revitalize the remainder for community meeting space. Whatever the use, the main goal of preservation members is to keep the building in use and maintained. "All of us read about Longview and how important the park was to the city, especially in the early years when thousands of people would come there," Anderson said. "There were Fourth of July celebrations and at one time there was a bandshell and there were an awful lot of family reunions there." In keeping with the National Historic Trust Campaign "This Place Matters," members of the preservation society will be at the Oct. 8 event to record people's stories and memories of the park and the chalet. As part of its Pete the Purple Bull program, Q-C United is hosting three events in October to recognize National Bullying Prevention month. A fiesta supporting school anti-bullying programs in honor of Pete is 6-9 p.m. Thursday at the RiverCenter in Davenport. The first annual Margarita Mix-Up will feature six flavors of margaritas, a tequila tasting table, peoples choice taco and enchilada contest, music by Crooked Cactus and a raffle drawing for $1,000. Participating restaurants include Rudys Tacos, Nallys Kitchen, The Phoenix, Zekes Island Cafe and Acapulco Cafe. Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door, and may be purchased at qcunited.org. For more information, call Kim at 563-349-1870. Petes Run with the Bull 5K will be 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, at Modern Woodman Park, Davenport. Registration is $27 and includes a race T-shirt, entry to Petes Post-Race Fiesta, food and drinks. Proceeds benefit Pete the Purple Bull school and community programs that promote respect, kindness and personal responsibility. Pete the Purple Bulls Awesome Party rounds out the month of activities. The free family festival is 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, at the Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center, 2021 State St., Bettendorf. The festival includes inflatables, crafts and games, cookie decorating and pictures with Pete. Participants may bring three canned good donations to be entered into a drawing for a bicycle. For more information or to register for events, visit qcunited.org. --Times staff Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012 -- Westside tunnel project's second phase gains traction | Davenport sewer work stays ahead of schedule From where contractors work 60 feet underground at the end of the westside diversion tunnel, a pinprick of light can be seen to the south, the next drop shaft at Dover Court in Davenport. From the site at Williams Intermediate School on Division Street, Dover Court is about 1,500 feet away ... The city showed off the project Monday after it recently reached a milestone. Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007 -- Rock Island school board signs off on $22M plan | Members also OK buying current site of Villa de Chantal School board members in Rock Island-Milan touted a $22 million plan Tuesday, which overhauls the district's elementary and junior high schools, before unanimously approving it. "The superintendent you see before me now has given us a plan to enter the 21st century," said Earl Strupp, board member. "And I trust him implicitly. I can't see us doing anything but getting better." Friday, Oct. 4, 2002 -- JOD STADIUM RENOVATIONS | Grants could fill gap in funds | Scott Co. expects request for help on renovation Davenport has applied for three grants to try to close a funding gap in plans for $12.5 million in renovations at John O'Donnell Stadium. The largest if approved, would come from the state's Community Attraction and Tourism, or CAT, program. The city is seeking $2.125 million to cover the general expenses of rebuilding the stadium. Sunday, Oct. 5, 1997 -- Many residents, especially retirees, who make the move from Iowa to Illinois simply are looking for ... A better state of taxation | 'If you are making money at all, you are paying less in Illinois ...' Dick Wharton found a good way to cut his state income tax bill. He moved from Davenport to Rock Island. He is not alone. For years, the state of Illinois has offered clear income tax advantages over Iowa, and many people have moved into the Land of Lincoln from Iowa. Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1992 -- Ste. Genevieve sinks to new depths | Old dredge once made its home in Davenport The Ste. Genevieve dredge, the boat the city of Davenport sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into, has sunk in the Mississippi River. The dredge, which was on its way to a boat festival in Cincinnati, sank to the bottom of the river several miles from the southern tip of Illinois. Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1987 -- Teacher leaves Moline money for art gallery A former art teacher for the Moline schools has left the city $250,000 in her will for an art gallery to be established. Helen Bertha Reher, who died in May, asked that the gallery be named in memory of her parents, William H. and Bertha Reher. Friday, Oct. 8, 1982 -- Harvester: Language is grim International Harvester Co. is caught between a rock and a hard place and the squeeze is getting tighter, in view of analysts reacting to a company warning that bankruptcy may be unavoidable. The latest Republican push to essentially kill the Affordable Care Act through lawmaking is dead. Setting a time bomb to blow up current Obamacare benefits in 2027 would have been sneaky, sneaky. Where were Democrats in all this? They were mostly on the sidelines letting Graham-Cassidy head for oblivion on its own outrageous terms. That was the politically wise place to be. Where was Bernie Sanders? He was throwing Graham-Cassidy a last lifeline by staging a debate with its sponsors. That framed the issue as a false choice between the cruel Republican legislation and single-payer health care. Republicans jumped at the opportunity, portraying their bill as an alternative to "single-payer socialism." Fortunately, enough people saw the choice properly as between saving Obamacare and killing it. Democrats need to come up with their own health care policy. That means shoring up Obamacare as they make incremental changes. The Sanders vision poses large problems that cannot be ignored with a dismissive wave of the Bernie hand. That said, his ideas deserve consideration. He appears to be advocating a more nationalized version of Canada's single-payer system, with added benefits. Canada provides decent health care at a relatively low cost. But though its system is good, it's not the best. The Commonwealth Fund ranked the health care systems in Britain, Australia and the Netherlands as the top three for overall performance. Of the 11 rich countries studied, the U.S. was last, but Canada finished at an unimpressive ninth place. Among the winners, only Britain's system is truly socialized. The doctors work for the government. Australia covers everyone under its government insurance plan but allows other payers. About half the population buys private insurance to access care outside the public system. The multi-payer system in the Netherlands is most like Obamacare, though better regulated. Every adult must obtain coverage or pay a fine, and there are subsidies for those with low incomes. As Bernie says, health care should be the right of every American. But health care is just as much a right for citizens using the multi-payer systems of France, Germany and the Netherlands as it is for Canadians under single-payer. Sanders markets his plan as "Medicare for all," a much easier sell than "single-payer." Medicare is pretty good at setting fair rates of payment. And despite much grumbling, providers generally do not lose money serving Medicare patients. If that were the case, hospitals would not be lining Florida's highways with billboards beckoning retirees to come on in. Democrats should be asking themselves whether the public is in any mood to be sent back into the Mixmaster of another complete health care overhaul. That's what Sanders' four-year plan would do. For starters, it would wipe out employer-sponsored health coverage as a benefit. Though this insurance is expensive, the great majority of workers on company plans say they are happy with the outcomes. Sanders' bill barely addresses financing. One estimate has his plan costing $32 trillion over 10 years. "I don't understand where the money is coming from," writes David Anderson, a health care analyst at Duke University. The few financing details to emerge include tax hikes of a politically explosive nature. Many Democrats support the more modest step of letting Americans 55 or older enroll in Medicare. That makes sense. People would sign up voluntarily. And it would not require a total renovation of American health care, stripped to the studs. Smart Democrats, like Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, describe the Sanders plan as "aspirational." That's a nod of respect for single-payer but short of worship. There is nothing sacred about single-payer. It's just another approach to universal coverage. One reason why Gov. Bruce Rauner promised to veto HB40 last spring was to prevent a House Republican revolt on the state budget. The bill deletes a so-called trigger provision in current law, which states that if the Roe v. Wade case is overturned by the US Supreme Court, Illinois would automatically revert to outlawing abortions. Theres a dispute about whether this is needed, but the more controversial part of the bill would allow state funding of abortions through Medicaid and the state employee group health insurance program. Everyone knew from the beginning of the two-year budget impasse that the House Republicans were the key to victory for both sides. As long as Rauner could hold them completely together, he could continue the impasse fight with the Democrats. By April, however, mutinous rumblings were growing in that caucus and one way Rauner could placate them was to swear he would veto HB40 if it ever reached his desk. There are no remaining pro-choice Republicans in the House, and there are certainly no supporters of taxpayer funded abortions in the caucus. Legislative threats were made to the pro-choice governor that there would be holy heck to pay if he signed HB40 into law. They'd abandon him in droves and there would be nothing he could do to stop them from working with the Democrats on a budget solution. So the governor told several House Republicans to their faces that he'd veto the bill. But then a couple of months later, some of the same House Republicans who'd been demanding an HB40 veto broke with the governor and voted for the tax hike. That tax vote may have played into the governor's decision to become the first American governor to sign a taxpayer-funded abortion bill into law. He may have simply decided that he wasn't bound to his promise because the House Republicans didn't hold their caucus together. The trouble is, he made that veto promise to more than just the House Republicans. As Sen. Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) pointed out after Rauner signed the bill into law, the governor made a "public commitment" to veto the bill. "His flip-flopping on this issue," McConchie said in a statement, "raises serious questions on whether the Governor's word can be trusted on other matters." The reason this issue became such a huge crisis in the first place is that Rauner's cant be taken as truth. This started to become apparent on election night, when the governor claimed during his victory speech that he'd spoken to House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton even though he hadn't. Rauner spent more than two years traveling the state to tell everyone who would listen that he would stop the Democrats from muscling through a Chicago Public Schools "bailout," but then he signed a bill into law that actually gave CPS more money than the Democrats had proposed. The governor told the Chicago Tribune in the spring of 2015 that a budget crisis would give him the leverage to obtain concessions from Democrats on his pro-business, anti-union agenda, then flat-out blamed the Democrats for the next two years for creating the crisis the governor had wanted. I mean, the man repeatedly lied about his own grandfather to score political points. The governor has claimed over and over that his "best friend" growing up had immigrated from Sweden - the last time was when he bragged about it during a speech to an immigrant rights group when he signed a bill into law restricting what the police can do to undocumented immigrants. In fact, his grandfather was born in the United States. Politifact awarded the claim its harshest rating: Pants on fire. The list is just endless with this guy. When Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich publicly calls you out for breaking your promise to veto HB40, you know you have a problem. Candidate Rauner explicitly promised the pro-choice group Personal PAC in 2014 that he would sign legislation for government-funded abortions. So the question really boiled down to who the governor would wind up lying to. With a tax hike passed over his veto and an education funding reform plan in place, the calculation could've been that he just doesn't need the House Republicans for much of anything next year. But the governor's campaign insists that Rauner is running for reelection. If he manages to win, he's going to have to eventually find a way to reestablish his relationships with legislative Republicans. Time will likely heal some of these wounds within his own party, but only if he makes a genuine attempt to reestablish his credibility. The Quad-City Times editorial board's take-down of U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, for their support of the nominations of Scott Pruitt for the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) administrator and Rick Perry for Department of Energy Secretary, is well-documented. Those two men are sworn enemies of biofuels, which happen to be very important to the economic well-being of all Iowans. It was entirely predictable that President Trump would nominate persons preferred by the moneyed-class that supported him. But there were other economic reasons Iowans should not have voted for Trump. He is threatening North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA,) which has been very positive for American agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada, according to The Atlantic. He also has pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which would have greatly benefited Iowa farmers, per CNBC News. Iowans knew before the election Trump's antipathy towards free trade, yet he still was their choice for the presidency. Amazing. Terry Solie Bettendorf Watching the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick PBS documentary presentation of the Vietnam War has been painful and surprisingly eye opening. It brought back my feelings from that time of my fathers out-hatred of the protesters and my sympathys to a USI college cousin to the war. More than one referenced the fact that our country had never been this divided since the Civil War. I watched it every night on TV until a childhood friend was brought back in a body bag and could watch it no longer. I stuck my head in the sand and went on with my life and raising my family. One soldier from the war made the remark that our country never did heal from that time. Is that what is wrong with us now? Vicky Danielson Bettendorf By most definitions, I am a Turcophile. I studied abroad in Istanbul, speak some Turkish, am fascinated by the Ottoman Empire and am addicted to Turkish tea. But when it comes to Turkish politics, I strive to remain objective. Earlier in September, the Quad-City Times Editorial Page Editor Jon Alexander and Turkish Consul General Umut Acar wrote divergent articles on the state of Turkey. Mr. Alexander wrote that Turkey is sliding toward a dictatorship while Mr. Acar countered that Turkey and its democracy are merely growing stronger. I met Mr. Acar a month after he was posted to Chicago. I had the pleasure of playing Turkish music in front of him. Indeed, I agree with several of his points. The July 2016 attempted coup in Turkey was undoubtedly a tragedy and the 250 dead should rightfully be mourned. Turkey has also tragically faced a slew of terrorist attacks in the past two years from ISIS and the Kurdish secessionist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). In addition, I have the utmost respect for Turkey (and Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, and others for that matter) for sheltering millions of refugees. But while I respect Mr. Acar and his countrys position, I must agree with Mr. Alexander to an extent. The Turkish government has cracked down on dissent and freedom of expression. Turkey has been cited for human rights abuses against prisoners, refugees and ethnic minorities. At the very least, Turkey is guilty of moves that belie its commitment to freedom and democracy. At worst, Turkey is in dire straits. Michael Goodyear Davenport The driver of a semi truck died early Monday when he crashed into an overturned semi sprawled across both eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 six miles east of Wall, according to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety. Two people from inside the overturned truck exited safely before the impact. They were treated at Rapid City Regional Hospital and released. The name and identity of the 65-year-old driver killed was not released, pending notification of family. The names of the other driver, age 29, and his passenger, 27, both men, were also not released. No other vehicles were involved. Tremendous debris from the accident shut down both eastbound lanes of I-90 for several hours, causing detours. The crash occurred at 5:22 a.m. when the 29-year-old driver lost control of his 2014 Volvo semi truck and overcorrected, causing the tractor and trailer to tip over across both eastbound lanes, investigators said. The second driver died when his 2010 Freightliner, pulling double trailers, crashed into the first. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating the crash. Other agencies on scene were the Pennington County Sheriffs Office and Wall Ambulance. PIERRE | In 1879, a guy by the name of Sam Clemens was on the last leg of a months-long tour of Europe and got a little homesick. Mr. Clemens had grown up in Missouri, learned to pilot riverboats and became famous for the novels he published under the pseudonym Mark Twain. For several months, he'd subsisted on the fare found in some of Europe's finest hotels. Clemens, apparently, was not impressed. Clemens wrote many times of his disdain for European cuisine, in fact. And as his tour of the continent was winding down, he penned a list of 80 dishes he was most looking forward to eating upon his return to America. Featured prominently on that list was the prairie hen, a bird better known today as the greater prairie chicken. It was that little bit of history that helped inspire Jim Munson of West Yellowstone, Mont., to do a bit of digging on how to properly prepare prairie chickens. He and a group of his friends had been trekking annually to the Fort Pierre National Grassland to hunt the grassland birds for many years. They just hadn't quite got the hang of cooking them. Eventually, Munson stumbled onto a recipe posted online by none other than Tony Dean, the noted conservationist and TV personality from Pierre. The recipe boiled down to something very simple treat a prairie-chicken breast like a steak. Sear it at a high temperature for about a minute on each side. Munson and his two long-time hunting buddies, Ken Herring of Adel, Iowa, and Dave Cummings of Waterloo, Wis., were on their 25th pilgrimage to the grassland on Sept. 17, as they sat in the early evening hours with their tired pointing dogs, sipping on cocktails and waiting for dinner to cook. It was the second day of South Dakota's grouse season. They'd pitched a camp against the western edge of the short, scrubby shelterbelt at Richland Dam, one of the grassland's larger ponds. "We found out this is one of the few places you could hunt prairie chickens in the traditional way over pointers," Munson said of the group's first trip a quarter century ago. The Fort Pierre National Grassland is one of the few places where prairie chickens have been thriving in recent decades. Their population on the grassland has been increasing slowly over the long term, though, that fact was hard to tell from Munson, Herring and Cummings' hunting success. They'd killed a few birds and said they hadn't seen as many grouse this year as they had in other years. Still, the trip was worth the effort, they said. "It's not about the hunting anymore," Munson said. Things have changed a lot over the 25 years the group has been hunting. For one thing, there's more cropland than there used to be, Herring said. There are more people chasing prairie chickens and sharptail grouse than there used to be, as well. In all, there were more than 10 grouse camps set up along the Richland Dam shelterbelt. A few dozen yards to the west of Munson, Herring and Cummings' camp was a camper belonging to Steve Smith of Lebanon, S.D., and Chuck Luscombe of Belle Fourche. Smith and Luscombe were relaxing with Fowler, Smith's wirehaired, pointing Griffon, after walking several miles. Fowler had covered 12 miles by the end of the day, Smith said. In all that walking, the trio collected two sharptail grouse. They'd seen plenty of birds, but they couldn't get close enough for a shot. "The dog would get close, but the birds would flush wild," Smith said. He and Luscombe said they've been hunting together since the 1970s. They started hunting grouse on the grassland about five years ago, partly because there's so much public ground they can hunt and partly because they both have deep respect for the prairie. "Just being here is worth it, even without the grouse," Luscombe said. As for Munson, Herring and Cummings, Tony Dean's prairie chicken recipe has helped deepen their love of the bird. "There was no greater advocate for South Dakota than Tony Dean," Munson said. LAS VEGAS A gunman perched on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel-casino unleashed a hail of bullets on an outdoor country music festival below, killing at least 58 people as tens of thousands of concertgoers screamed and ran for their lives, officials said Monday. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. At least 515 others were injured in the Sunday night attack, authorities said. SWAT teams using explosives stormed the gunman's hotel room in the sleek, gold-colored glass skyscraper and found he had killed himself, authorities said. He had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles, they said. There was no word on a motive for the attack. Aaron Rouse, the FBI agent in charge in Las Vegas, said investigators saw no immediate evidence connecting it to an international terror organization, despite a claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group. Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the attack was the work of a "crazed lunatic full of hate." Country music star Jason Aldean was performing Sunday night at the end of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival in front of a crowd of more than 22,000 when the gunman opened fire from inside the 44-floor Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street. The gunman was identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada. He had checked into the hotel room on Thursday, authorities said. Police said he was a retiree with no criminal record in the Nevada county where he lived. Paddock's brother, Eric Paddock, who lives in Florida, told the Orlando Sentinel: "We are completely dumbfounded. We can't understand what happened." In an address to the country, President Donald Trump called the attack "an act of pure evil" and added: "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has." He ordered flags flown at half-staff. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said authorities believe it was a "lone wolf" attack. And the U.S. Homeland Security Department said there was no "specific credible threat" involving other public venues in the U.S. In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said the gunman was "a soldier" who had converted to Islam months ago. But it provided no evidence. Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered the support of the FBI and other federal agencies but noted that the investigation is being led by the sheriff in Las Vegas. That was seen as another possible sign the shooting was not believed to be an act of international terrorism. Las Vegas authorities put out a call for blood donations and set up a hotline to report missing people and speed the identification of the dead and wounded. They also opened a "family reunification center" for people to find loved ones. Aldean was in the middle of a song when the shots came rapidly: pop-pop-pop-pop. Video showed Aldean stopping and the crowd getting quiet as if it were unsure of what had happened. The gunman paused and then fired another volley, the muzzle flashes visible from the casino, as victims fell to the ground while others fled in panic. Some hid behind concession stands, while others crawled under parked cars. Kodiak Yazzie, 36, said the music stopped temporarily when the first shots began and then started up again before the second round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," Yazzie said. "You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash, flash, flash, flash." Monique Dumas, of British Columbia, Canada, said she was at the concert, six rows from the stage, when she thought she heard a bottle breaking, then a burst of pops that sounded liked fireworks. Couples held hands as they ran through the dirt lot. Faces were etched with shock and confusion, and people wept and screamed. Some were bloodied, and some were carried out by fellow concertgoers. Dozens of ambulances took away the wounded, while some people loaded victims into their cars and drove them to the hospital. Police shut down busy Las Vegas Boulevard, and federal and state authorities converged on the scene. Interstate 15 was briefly closed, and flights at McCarran International Airport were suspended. Hospital emergency rooms were jammed with the wounded. Rep. Ruben Kihuen, a Democrat whose congressional district includes a portion of Las Vegas, visited a hospital were some of the victims were taken and said: "Literally, every single bed was being used, every single hallway was being used. Every single person there was trying to save a life." The dead included at least three off-duty police officers from various departments who were attending the concert, authorities said. Two on-duty officers were wounded, one critically, police said. "It's a devastating time," the sheriff said. Nearly every inch of the Las Vegas Strip is under video surveillance, much of it set up by the casinos to monitor their properties. That could yield a wealth of material for investigators as they try to piece together the attack. Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and that the shooting was "beyond horrific." "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," the country star said. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman who professed support for Muslim extremist groups opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. Sunday's shooting came more than four months after a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. Almost 90 people were killed by gunmen inspired by Islamic State at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris during a performance by Eagles of Death Metal in 2015. Russia ratifies Convention on laundering of proceeds from crime - CoE MOSCOW, September 29 (RAPSI) Russia has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism. The relevant document has been submitted to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjrn Jagland, according to the Councils (CoE) statement released on Friday. The Convention will become effective in Russia on January 1, 2018, the statement reads. The Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism is an international agreement covering prevention and control of money laundering and financing of terrorism. According to the Convention, quick access to financial information or information on assets held by criminal organizations, including terrorist groups, is the key to successful preventive and repressive measures, and, ultimately, is the best way to stop them. The Convention was signed on behalf of the Russian Federation on January 26, 2009, in Strasbourg. Ratification of the Convention would enhance the efficiency of Russias cooperation with other countries in anti-money laundering and combating the financing of international terrorism and provide additional features for development of international cooperation of competent authorities in laundering, search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from crime, Russian authorities said earlier. The most-awaited part of the Route 91 Harvest Festival was hitting its groove when Montanans Michael Goguen and Jamie Stephenson found themselves in the middle of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Jason Aldean was the final act on the final night, Stephenson said in a phone interview from Las Vegas on Monday. The mood went from joyous ecstasy to hearing that rapid-fire sound. At first, we were super-confused as to what that was. Stephenson and husband Goguen, who founded Whitefishs Two Bear Air helicopter rescue service, could see the Mandalay Bay Resort tower about 400 yards up to their right. At 10:08 p.m, a gunman on the 32nd floor started raining rifle fire into the crowd. I had seen some drones, and I thought it might be fireworks going off from a drone, Goguen said. But the mood shifted and the lights went out quick and the performers ran from the stage. There was a very long burst of automatic fire. My next thought was, now that we know its gunshots, somebody is actually shooting at people, intentionally causing this kind of panic. He had a shooting position all lined up. After first running for cover during the gunfire, Goguen and Stephenson ran back to give aid to the wounded and dying. The festivals medical tent transformed into a trauma crisis center. Event security, arriving first responders and dozens of volunteers started helping the nearly 600 victims of the shooting. It all happened so swiftly, Stephenson said. People were clearly wounded, mortally, critically. Michael was stopping passenger vehicles, picking up people and putting them in cars, just finding random people on (the) way home. Some refused to stop. Others were so gracious. They put five people in one van. Whatever it took, these people stepped up and did the right thing. Goguen had received his own emergency medical technician certificate last year. While Two Bear Air has gone on at least 15 rescue missions in western Montana since he started it in 2012, nothing prepared him for Sunday night. As of Monday afternoon, the official toll was 59 killed, and more than 500 injured. The ambulances got there in fast time, but it sure felt like forever, Goguen said. There were a lot of victims with terrible injuries multiple bullet wounds to the head and chest. We were trying to keep airways open, apply direct pressure. Fortunately there was a good set of people with training EMTs, off-duty officers, a core set of people who were helping. The officers were incredibly brave. One officer by me was helping while holding compression on his own neck wound." Goguen said at least three people died as he was trying to get them to aid. As he was helping load victims into ambulances on a side street, he saw several people whod apparently died where they fell. He realized the shooter had picked a position where the field of fire included one of the main exits from the festival grounds. You just get so angry at whatever evil drives somebody to do something like this, Goguen said. There were so many people there, having such a positive time, in this atmosphere of happiness and love. To have somebody intentionally wreak such evil and carnage it doesnt inspire fear. It inspires extreme anger. Neither Stephenson nor Goguen was injured in the incident. Stephenson grew up in Las Vegas and still has many family and friends there. Vegas will rally, she said. Well get through this. We will not stop living our lives. We will not stop going out. Well figure out ways to unite. Taking cover When Becky Anderson first heard the fire-cracker pops of explosives at the Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Sunday night, she was sure someone was lighting off fireworks in the crowd. "Who would be that dumb?" she said thought in the moment. It was then the firing started again and didn't stop. Anderson, from Great Falls, was at the music festival with five of her friends standing on the top row of a stand of bleachers. As soon as they realized they were hearing gunfire, they all took cover. "We just laid down in between the bleacher seats," she said. Another break in the shooting and Anderson remembers a man yelling at them that this was their chance to get up and run. It felt like they had been laying there for 30 or 45 minutes, Anderson said. It wasn't until Monday that she realized they'd been down between the bleacher for maybe 30 seconds. Standing up to run, she looked across the festival grounds and saw "blood everywhere" and people who had been shot. She and one friend ran from the bleachers and followed a festival worker, whom they figured would know how to exit the venue. "It was just crazy," she said. Every so often, they'd hear more gunfire and drop to the ground for cover. She called those gunshots the most frightening sounds she's ever heard. Gun shots or shrapnel were hitting the metal bleachers, and people all over the grounds were screaming, she said. "I was pretty sure we were going to die," she said. Still, "I stayed pretty calm because (my friend) was hysterical." Anderson and her friend ended up at the MGM Grand, where staff were preparing to lock down the hotel. They didn't want to be stuck there, so Anderson and her friend slipped out the front and caught a cab back to their hotel, where they sat up all night watching the news. "I have not slept yet," she said Monday afternoon. She was set to fly home Tuesday morning. Anderson isn't sure what she's going home to. She hopes the tragedy and the terror of the shootings haven't changed her, but she knows it has. "It hasn't sunk in yet," she said. She loves big music festivals and attends them every year. She knows that will change. "It'll be a while until I can go to another one," she said. One floor down At Mandalay Bay, Toby Schmidt and his fiance were on the casino floor Sunday night when they heard the first gunshots. Schmidt, a Billings resident, had spent a year as a patrol officer for the Billings Police before starting his work as a computer technician there. He'd had enough active shooter training to know what was happening. As dozens of police officers "carrying long guns" ran inside and up the stairs, "I knew things were going south," he said. Schmidt would later learn that his hotel room was just one floor below the shooter. Festival-goers began to stream into the hotel, coming from the concert grounds across the street and into the lobby. Schmidt said many of them were scraped and bruised; they all look terrified. As it became clear the shooter was firing from a room at Mandalay Bay, Schmidt, his fiance, and others ran from the hotel and took shelter across the parking lot at the Luxor Resort and Casino. Officials at the Luxor took people and placed them in lockdown in a basement room usually reserved for employees. "We had multiple people from the festival with us," he said. Someone near them appeared to be shot, and those around the person were working to stop the bleeding. "It makes you feel vulnerable," he said. Law enforcement didn't clear the Luxor until about 5:30, Schmidt said, at which point they were let out of the basement. When they came out, the whole Las Vegas Strip was uncharacteristically quiet. "It was pretty eerie," he said. Checking on loved ones Across town, Dustin Principe, who moved from Billings to Las Vegas a year ago, had spent the night trying to find his friend's mother and sister, who had been at the country music festival when the shooting began. Principe is a showroom host for Paris Las Vegas and Bally's Hotel and was working Sunday night when the shooting happened. At first no one had any idea it had happened, Principe said. But then he and his co-workers started receiving texts and messages from loved ones wondering if they were OK. It was long after that rumors of other shooters and hidden bombs began to spread. "It started to get real panicky," he said. Principe bolted the showroom before his hotel was placed on lock down, and that's when he got a message from his friend asking if he could pick up the friend's mom and sister. Everyone was trying to get away from the venue, he said. He eventually found the two women about a mile away at the Tropicana. The mom had shielded the daughter from gunfire and saw the woman in front of her shot and killed. They were all in shock, he said. "It was surreal," he said. Principe spent the night checking whether friends and acquaintances were all right and responding to messages from others wondering if he was all right. Monday night's shows have all been canceled, he said. It's hard to comprehend the scope of the tragedy or communicate the panic and the fear people felt Sunday night, he said. "This definitely changes the future," he said. 'It was horrifying' Lexie Andre, who grew up in Missoula and attended both Sentinel High School and Willard Alternative High School before moving to Las Vegas several years ago, said she and her friend were on the Las Vegas Strip during the shooting. One of her friends was at the concert and called Andre for a ride. We had gone to pick her up, and we saw bodies in the ground covered in sheets and people that had been shot, she said. It was horrifying. It was traumatizing. People were grabbing their arms and legs, bleeding everywhere. It was complete chaos. Andre said she and her friends were uninjured, but many people around them werent so lucky. It was like something out of a movie, she said. It didnt even seem real. Even in the car we could hear him shooting. It sounded like fireworks. This guy was relentless. She said the scariest part was the fact that shooter was above everybody, so there didnt seem to be anywhere to hide or run. Ive never seen anything like that with bodies on the ground, she said. 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I found the final paragraph of the piece especially insightful: [A better Second Amendment debate would not focus on whether the Amendment protects an individual right, but rather] would involve examining how best to recognize and protect the right while also allowing legislatures leeway to develop criminologically sound measures designed to limit, in so far as possible, access to weapons on the part of career criminals and those who are mentally unstable. Such a debate would involve recognizing that the right to have arms has been and remains part of the American Constitutional tradition, that it is valued by large segments of society and that the right sets real limits on governmental regulation. It also involves recognizing that measures designed to keep weapons out of undesirable hands are not necessarily inconsistent with this right. In the second half of the twentieth century, we were unable to develop this kind of debate on the national level precisely because of the effort to redefine the Second Amendment into meaninglessness, perhaps in the first half of the twenty-first century a greater willingness to recognize the Second Amendment will allow the dialogue to begin. I am eager to begin this dialogue, in part because technological advances are a potential "magic bullet" solution here. (Sorry for the bad pun.) Society is moving swiftly toward using technology like GPS tracking to deal with the risks associated with sex offenders, and I am troubled that we are not also moving swiftly toward using technology to deal with the risks associated with the misuse of guns. Interestingly, though apparently there was a lot of "smart gun" talk and research going on years ago, I have had a very hard time finding any up-to-date materials on modern smart gun technology research. For example, the NRA has this fact sheet and this article by David Kopel assailing smart gun technologies, but the NRA fact sheet was last updated in January 2000, and the Kopel piece is from January 2003. Disappointingly, this page from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence has over a dozen research reports, but none appear to discuss concepts of a "smart gun" or other technology-driven research seeking to reduce gun violence. Meanwhile, I found this interesting piece in Science Daily providing a positive view of smart gun technology, but it was written in 2005. Of course, 2005 does not seem that long ago, but it certainly is in the fast-moving world of technology. (Consider again the swift pace of GPS technology advances: in 2005, a car-friendly GPS device cost thousands of dollars, now such devices are available for under $100 and are becoming a standard feature in many vehicles.) Notably, I discovered that, in June 2001, the Bush Administration put out this very interesting document an "NIJ 'Smart Gun' Solicitation," which included this assertion: "NIJ is interested in bringing 'smart gun' technology to the law enforcement community as rapidly as possible, but in a manner that develops confidence in the technology through a clearly defined development, evaluation and demonstration process." So, apparently seven years ago there was a serious commitment by the Bush administration to bring "smart gun technology to the law enforcement community as rapidly as possible." Does anyone know how that's coming along these days? In my view, techonology could and should provide a much more refined and effective way to regulate an individual right to bear arms than, say, completely prohibiting all felons from having guns. An effective smart gun technology could and should be able to keep guns out of the hands of those who are unlikely to be able use guns safely e.g., kids, illegal purchasers, those with a history of violence or mental illness, abusive spouses under an active restraining order while ensuring that police officers and lawful gun owners have little reason to worry about their own gun rights and usage. Maybe I need a catchy slogan to get smart gun talk going again. So here goes: "Smart guns don't kill people, dumb people using dumb guns kill people!" Some related recent Second Amendment posts: February 23, 2008 at 10:08 AM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e200e55080e2288834 Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Technology, smart guns, GPS tracking and a better Second Amendment: "Smart Guns": from The Volokh Conspiracy Doug Berman (Sentencing Law & Policy) asks how "smart gun" technology is doing. I take it that "smart gun" here means technology ... [Read More] Tracked on Feb 25, 2008 8:08:59 PM Comments That's partially because nobody wants a smart gun, if by that you mean a gun with biometric identifiers so only you can shoot it. You want to be able to sell the thing or loan it to your wife, your son, or your buddy, or show it off to your boss at the gun range, without having to register every new user with the company. For that matter, if you've never been part of it it's easy to underestimate the "gray market" aspect of gun ownership. Among the rural poor, some folks own guns for the same reason poor folks in the ghetto buy flashy jewelry - it stores value in a way that's very liquid for people who don't have a bank account. I had a friend who sold all his guns to pay for his wedding; another to pay of all things for his wife's political campaign! (That's the sign of a devoted husband.) That's an unspoken part of the attraction of owning multiple firearms, in some quarters, besides the fact that shooting guns (like wearing flashy jewelry) is fun. Now GPS on your gun may be a good idea, b/c they're valuable and it would help you retrieve a stolen one. And there may be other technological solutions that the public would accept. But the "smart gun" concept was a bust among users, even among cops, is my understanding what happened to it. I'd forgotten that the Bush administration took such ownership of the idea; their base just didn't buy it. Posted by: Gritsforbreakfast | Feb 23, 2008 4:27:58 PM Doug, as usual , you are stretching people to broaden perspectives and encouraging thought on possible solutions. What about a "crawl before you run" low tech approach? Remember Gary Holt, convicted of marijuana possession in the eighties, who wants to hunt? How about a limitation that says he keeps his shotgun at the Sheriff's office, when he wants to hunt, he checks it out with information on where he is going and when he'll be back. After hunting, he returns the gun to the Sheriff's office? Would anyone feel threatened by that? After five years, his permit to possess a hunting shotgun could be expanded to allow the gun to be stored at his house. bruce cunningham Posted by: bruce cunningham | Feb 24, 2008 8:07:10 AM There will never be a smart-gun technology that even a dumb-criminal cannot routinely disable. I don't care if you were able to shrink a GPS unit down to the size of a grain of rice. It can be quickly located and removed or disabled (heck placing the gun inside a metallic case for a quick crime-scene gettaway would also almost certainly defeat the GPS system). For the last time to all the anti-gunners out there "Its not the gun, its the criminal." Posted by: David M. Bennett | Feb 26, 2008 9:35:45 AM There are two major problems with "smart" gun technology. The first is that it doesn't work. The second is that no gun user wants it. The New Jersey smart gun law contains an exception for law enforcement, which the group most likely to be killed with their own guns. Facing few sales to civilians and no sales to law enforcement, it's my guess that the effort to create these guns has quietly been abandoned. Posted by: Willy | Feb 28, 2008 9:35:41 AM Thats a very intereting system i have seen this year on the IWA show in Nurnberg, Germany. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-auX26P7Xbg They have implemented an interface wich allows the owner to change the mode of activation and disactivation of his gun (fingerprint, wristwatch, bluetooth,...). They said that there is also an "open" module available wich switches the smart gun to a normal working handgun. Posted by: rascal | Mar 30, 2010 2:30:38 AM Very Interesting! Great Job! Great Blog! Thanks Guys! Posted by: | Jan 6, 2011 6:37:07 AM Post a comment Celebrity witness for high-profile (and interesting) federal sentencing appeal | Main | Just Sentencing # 6: The problem of sentencing enhancements for prior and multiple current convictions December 19, 2012 "Smart Gun Technology Could Have Blocked Adam Lanza" As our leaders begin the uncertain political debate over gun control, there is a simple and straightforward policy solution right now that would uphold gun owners' 2nd amendment rights and still keep our kids safer. It's called "smart gun technology." The system is similar to "smart technology" already in use for things like cars, iPhones and security doors. A computer microchip measures the bio-metric details of the person attempting to activate the product. If the details match the rightful owner, the device is "enabled." If the details don't match, the device will not work or open. Smart gun technology has been around for years. CBS News profiled a New Jersey institute that was perfecting it in 2009. Science Daily had a story about the emerging technology back in 2005, The most reliable smart gun technology involves a grip recognition system. There are 16 digital sensor chips embedded in the handle. The computerized sensors capture the unique pattern and pressure of your grip, plus the specific size of your hand. If someone else tries to use the gun, the information will not match the stored pattern of the gun owner's and the weapon will not fire.... [T]his technology, as well as similar versions involving fingerprint recognition, could be embedded in guns today. But for years, the National Rifle Association has blocked these efforts, in part because they would make guns costlier to produce and purchase. The NRA has also insisted that smart gun technology would infringe upon the Second Amendment. Constitutional experts say that argument is absurd. The Constitution allows for all kinds of product regulations.... The best argument against smart gun technology is a logistical one. It could prevent a homeowner who wrestles away an intruder's gun from firing it back at them. I think we can agree, however, that such MacGyver-like situations are exceedingly rare. And the fact is, 10 to 15 percent of guns used in home invasions, robberies and mass shootings are weapons that have been stolen. Furthermore, smart gun technology allows for multiple biometric "identities" to be stored in one gun. This would solve a problem for police or members of the military who may want to have the option of "sharing weapons." In the case of the Connecticut massacre, is it possible that Adam Lanza's mother, a gun enthusiast who reportedly took her sons to the range, would have embedded Adam's biometric data on her weapons if that was possible? Sure. But family baby sitters have told reporters that Nancy Lanza repeatedly urged "caution" around Adam and was worried about his behavioral problems.... The weapons Adam Lanza relied on were not his. They belonged to his mother, the only person entitled to use them. And while she may have taught her son how to fire the weapons at shooting ranges over the years, she was the sole owner of the weapons, not him. If smart technology had been in place, the weapons would have likely been useless to Adam Lanza. And that's the point. Congress and the President should begin their new effort at preventing mass shootings by mandating something that might have made a different in Newtown, Conn. require smart gun technology in all weapons. Just as our nation insists on basic quality standards for cars, houses, tools, air, water, and etc, insisting on basic features for all weapons that may be "fired" is perfectly reasonable. It's not about taking guns away. It's about making sure that guns can't be fired by anybody but their lawful owners. Is that too much to ask? The title of this post is the headline of this new Huffington Post commentary by David Shuster, which I view as a long-needed and welcome example of a new kind of discourse over gun control needed in the wake of the Newtown massacre. Here are excerpts: As long-time readers know, I have been talking up smart-gun technology on this blog for years (examples here and here), and I have been sincerely hoping that the horrific shooting in Connecticut will start generating new and needed buzz on this encouraging front. This Huff Post commentary is a good start, and I sure hope the new leadership and initiatives coming from President Obama and VP Biden (basics here from the AP) will be focused like a laser on the potential pros and cons of smart guns. Prior posts both old and new: December 19, 2012 at 06:21 PM | Permalink TrackBack TrackBack URL for this entry: https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451574769e2017ee66df50c970d Listed below are links to weblogs that reference "Smart Gun Technology Could Have Blocked Adam Lanza": Comments The simple fact is that these technologies do not work. The stress placed on a gun and any attached technology is too great for something this sensitive. Colt spent millions developing a 'smart gun' but never fired it because the technology was too expensive and fragile. If it were practical, you'd see police departments doing it. Presently, none have used 'smart guns'. Posted by: MikeinCT | Dec 19, 2012 6:47:47 PM too expensive (at present maybe) and fragile (baloney) Posted by: Raul | Dec 19, 2012 7:35:16 PM This is literally too unspeakable, but there is this. Uploaded on Mar 25, 2009 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PezlFNTGWv4 A psychiatrists (and Charlie Brooker's) insightful perspective on news coverage's perpetuation of mass shootings in schools. The full version of this wondrous and though provoking programme is currently available in the UK via BBC iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jf3hx/Newswipe_Episode_1/ Posted by: George | Dec 19, 2012 7:41:27 PM @Raul Please elaborate. @George It's sad how people miss the fact that turning these people into grim celebrities causes more to follow them to murder. Weapons used by the military have been available since the 1930's (fully automatic, by mail and with no background check for many years) but large numbers of mass murderers like Lansa are a recent phenomenon. Posted by: MikeinCT | Dec 19, 2012 10:24:30 PM Smart guns are for technical illiterates. That includes most law professors. Technology can almost always be circumvented or, more importantly, fail when needed most!!! Posted by: albeed | Dec 19, 2012 10:59:42 PM What a crock. Its already trivially easy to secure firearms from unauthorized use. If that's the goal, a cheap $10 gun lock, available at any sporting goods store, could accomplish the exact same thing as this as-to-date purely science fiction "biometric technology". The better locks are easy to use and actually fairly difficult to defeat Many handguns now come with integral key locks that accomplish the exact same thing. Of course gun banners don't like this "answer", because compared to James-Bond-movie biometrics, ordinary gun locks don't ridiculously increase the complexity and cost of manufacturing guns. Posted by: looking closely | Dec 20, 2012 2:34:38 PM What if you need your gun for legitimate reasons (self-defense, or even hunting) but your hands are wet/dirty/gloved, or you have to use your weak hand to fire for some reason, and the biometric device doesn't unlock the gun? That's one of the biggest concerns about this sort of thing. "Only" 98% reliability isn't good enough when lives are on the line, or even if a multi-thousand dollar hunt is on the line. Even if this technology is perfectable (and again, its not even close to being there yet) all these "biometrics" just amount to another form of lock on a gun. Admittedly, a technologically fancy one, but a lock, nevertheless. Like any other, such a lock is a mechanical device that would ultimately be crackable by a dedicated hacker/gunsmith with the right knowledge and tools. Depending on design, it might even be trivially easy to defeat a lock like this. Anyone legally able to obtain their own guns would still do so, and a biometric lock wouldn't prevent them from using the guns illegally. (EG Jared Loughner) With enough work, someone able to acquire a locked gun biometrically coded to someone else would still be able to either crack the lock by themselves, or find someone else able to do it. So this type of technology is never really going to prevent a dedicated criminal from getting their hands on a functional gun, even if it could magically could be applied to all guns. At *best* it might prevent a dropped, negligently misplaced, or stolen gun from being used *immediately* (say by a child or by an attacker who seizes a gun). Of course, realistically, there are already hundreds of millions of "legacy" guns in the country that don't have this sci-fi technology installed. Since properly stored/maintained guns can literally remain functional for centuries, its unrealistic to think that adopting this technology would prevent criminal access to guns any time during the lifetime of anyone reading this post. Add it up, and all this "biometrics" talk is still just a bunch of hot air. The point of these proposals isn't to keep guns from those with criminal intent, but mainly to massively increase their complexity and cost of guns, thereby decreasing their affordability and accessibility. Posted by: looking closely | Dec 20, 2012 3:31:10 PM Even if these biometric measures worked exactly as hoped, there is zero chance that they would be retroactively applied to the 300 million or so guns that already exist in the United States. Thus it's a stretch to say such "smart gun" technology would have stopped Lanza since the particular guns he used 1) already existed and 2) did not have "smarts". It's not very useful to say "IF every gun made in the last forty years had been made with biometric safeguards THEN Lanza would have been stopped" since the conditional is clearly not true. Posted by: Carthago | Dec 20, 2012 4:17:16 PM 'MikeinCT' "Smart guns" show promise, but not readily available on U.S. market http://news.yahoo.com/smart-guns-show-promise-not-readily-available-u-202657039.html Posted by: Raul | Dec 20, 2012 4:21:15 PM @Raul Plenty of potential but no answer to the problem of reliability. It's sensitive electronics being subjected to tremendous shock and heat, sort of like slamming a laptop on the ground and sticking it in the microwave for 30 seconds and expecting it to work just as well as a brand new one. If you don't believe me then rent a gun at a range, fire a few hundred rounds down range and put your bare hand on the barrel for a minute. The layer of skin you'll leave behind will be the proof. Posted by: MikeinCT | Dec 20, 2012 5:26:39 PM I'm a recent law school graduate and I honestly feel Smart Gun Technology is the way to go. This debate we currently have on gun control is stagnant, with both sides vehemently staring at each other, but not accomplishing much. That's why i've made this petition, if anyone would at last check it out and pass it along that would be amazing. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/institute-national-gun-buy-back-all-proceeds-going-towards-smart-gun-technology-reward-discounts/Xx9NbWVT Posted by: Carlos Q. | Dec 27, 2012 10:10:13 AM Until they are reliable for the police and able to recognize the back-up officer whose gun jams as he reaches for his fallen comrade's gun to continue the fight, the gun will NOT be smart enough. As long as the POLICE aren't required to use the technology (because they know/believe it's untrustworthy), I won't. BTW, what do you do about the 300,000,000 guns out there in the hands of people who loath "gun control"? Posted by: 30yearProf | Dec 29, 2012 3:16:36 PM The technology is there and has been used for years to start cars reliably 100s of thousands of times without problems another form of the technology is used regularly to track commercial parcels and military gear for years using RFID and UID chip tranducer technology try reading more and relying less on ill-informed excuses to stop viable safe solutions to this senseless deeds Posted by: tito | Dec 30, 2012 5:15:31 PM To suggest that any technology could've restricted someone like Adam Lanza from acquiring a firearm is ridiculous. When someone is willing to kill even their own mother to get a gun, there is likely no technological solution. Technology is always evolving, however Apple Computer has spent billions of dollars developing the iPhone and the fingerprint recognition technology on my device works about half the time. That failure rate would be completely unacceptable when considering it's use in a defensive firearm. In fact, any firearms with that type of technology would not be used by the police or military unless the failure rates for those weapons were no greater than the failure rates for weapons without such technology. Even if a very good solution already existed, it should be deployed within the police and military and tested there before being deployed in the civilian world. If the police and military would not trust the technology with their lives, there is no way I would trust it with mine. Posted by: TyrannyOfEvilMen | May 5, 2014 10:55:03 PM Post a comment Smarter Sequestration: simple statutory ways to save prison monies (and avoid federal furloughs?) | Main | "The Conservative Case Against More Prisons" In the latest James Bond movie, the hero is given a gun that recognizes the palm of his hand. Later, when a bad guy snatches the pistol away in a tussle, it won't fire, and Agent 007 lives to die another day. It may have felt like Hollywood fantasy, but the basic premise is very real and very dear to some lawmakers and gun control advocates. They believe that in the age of smartphones and the aftermath of December's elementary school massacre in Connecticut, the time has come for a marriage of firearms which have changed little for decades and modern technology that allows all sorts of devices to be personalized to their user. President Obama, in the anti-gun-violence plan he introduced in January, directed the attorney general to issue a report on "existing and emerging gun safety technologies." He also promised prizes to companies that develop the smart guns. Sensing momentum, state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, introduced legislation last month that would require all handguns sold in the state to be "owner-authorized." Under the bill, which is similar to one New Jersey passed in 2002, standard guns would become illegal for sale 18 months after the state Department of Justice determines personalized guns are readily available and function well. The idea is that a gun should be useless if picked up by a child or a suicidal teen or stolen in a burglary. The weapons would feature biometric technology such as fingerprint or grip recognition, or radio-frequency identification, which is used in employee-access badges and the toll-collection system FasTrak. The guns could be used only by their owner, who in some cases would have to wear a special watch or ring to be able to fire the weapon. The firearms could be configured to allow for multiple users, such as family members. Skeptics of the technology point out that, despite years of research and high hopes, such guns are still not available in the United States. But that may be changing. Belinda Padilla, the head of U.S. sales for a German company called Armatix, said the firm plans to sell a .22-caliber pistol in the United States by this summer that works only after its user activates it by entering a five-digit code into a wristwatch. The watch uses radio waves to communicate with the gun. "The bottom line is, this exists now," said Stephen Teret, founder of the Center for Gun Policy and Research at Johns Hopkins University, who has followed the progress of personalized guns for years. "The question isn't one of technological feasibility anymore, but one of policy." No one doubts the tough politics around personalized guns, which have been studied and debated for more than two decades. Many gun owners oppose them, saying they fear the technology will fail them in a pinch. A major gun control group, the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C., also opposes the idea, arguing that personalized technology would save few lives, distract from more important efforts, and give a false impression that guns are safe, perhaps driving new sales. Brandon Combs, who heads the Calguns Foundation, a gun rights organization, said personalized guns aren't close to being marketable or reliable. Even if they were, he said, a law mandating their sale would make guns much more expensive and difficult to use, infringing upon the constitutional right to bear arms. "We're creating laws now for a possible future that may or may not ever come to fruition, and to me that's silly," Combs said. "The reality is this would do nothing but create another opportunity for California to ban handguns and make them expensive for people." "Plea Bargains Are a Travesty. There's Another Way." | Main | "Whats Behind the Decline in the Death Penalty?" October 2, 2017 Anyone have any wise insights after latest and worst US mass shooting? I am soon to go off-line to prepare and then teach my 1L Criminal Law class in which we are starting an in-depth discussion of homicide laws. In the wake of horrific events in Las Vegas, which according to the latest reports, involved a gunman's murder of "at least 58 people" and hundreds more injured, I am eager to say something wise to my students before we get started with our regular programming. But I am not sure I have much wisdom on this front. As some long-time readers may recall, after some recent past mass shooting, especially Sandy Hook, I talked up the possibility of smart gun technologies being at least a partial plausible "solution" to mass shootings and extensive gun violence. (A bunch of those prior posts are linked below.) But I am not sure such technology could have made any difference in this latest evil killing, and I am sure that the failure of the Obama Administration or progressive states to make any progress on the smart gun front in recent years likely signals that it would be foolish to hope or expect a technological remedy to our massive gun violence problem. Notably, Nicholas Kristof already has this op-ed up at the New York Times headlined "Preventing Future Mass Shootings Like Las Vegas." Here are some of his closing sentiments, which strike me as thoughtful, if not quite wise: Its too soon to know what, if anything, might have prevented the shooting in Las Vegas, and it may be that nothing could have prevented it. In some ways, these mass shootings are anomalies: Most gun deaths occur in ones or twos, usually with handguns (which kill far more people than assault rifles), and suicides outnumber murders. But in every other sphere, we at least use safety regulations to try however imperfectly to reduce death and injury. For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has seven pages of rules about ladders, which kill 300 people a year. Yet the federal government doesnt make a serious effort to reduce gun deaths, with a toll more than 100 times as high. The best example of intelligent regulation is auto safety. By my calculations, weve reduced the auto fatality rate per 100 million miles driven by more than 95 percent since 1921. There was no single solution but rather many incremental efforts: seatbelts, air bags, padded dashboards, better bumpers, lighted roads, highway guardrails, graduated licenses for young people, crackdowns on drunken driving, limits on left turns, and so on. We havent banned automobiles, and we havent eliminated auto deaths, but we have learned to make them safer and we should do the same with guns. The analogy between driving/cars and guns does not quite work for a variety of reasons, but there is surely a kind of wisdom in the idea that we can and should try to improve gun safety in a variety of incremental ways without the political and practical problems posed by proposals involving prohibitions. And, perhaps ironically, Prez Donald Trump may be better positioned than any recent president to navigate the challenging gun politics that often impeded efforts to improve gun safety. Though I have little reason to believe Prez Trump will be eager to make improving gun safety a political priority, not long ago I had little reason to believe that there would ever be a Prez Trump. A few recent and older related posts: October 2, 2017 at 12:10 PM | Permalink Comments Any animal will become psychotic if placed under enough population pressure; humans are the only animal that will willingly do this to themselves. Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Oct 2, 2017 12:30:56 PM No rational argument can be made about federal gun control at this point of partisan divide, regardless of type of law ("smart gun", "assault rifle ban", "magazine limits", etc.). The Democrats/media will use this to advance their overall progressive agenda, the Republicans/NRA will do everything they can to prevent that movement. The NRA will not budge, the anti-gun forces will not budge, etc. The only movements will most probably be done incrementally in blue state legislatures, with a corresponding rush to prevent such movements in red state legislatures. Is Trump the wild card? Not sure. Too many establishment GOP types side with the conservative wing on this one, and their constituents are keeping a very close eye on this. Prediction: Nevada may enact a few more feel-good laws, California likewise, other blue states less so, and no movement federally. Perhaps a few lawsuits against the gun manufacturers. Posted by: Eric Knight | Oct 2, 2017 12:51:16 PM Prof. Berman. This case will likely indicate a mental illness to be a factor. I will address the role of the Supreme Court in these deaths, when more facts are known. You can help this nation and thousands of future murder victims, by becoming the first Criminal Law teacher to disclose the following. 1) One must read the mental state of a murderer, when the murderer had a 50% chance of being legally drunk. The murderer may have had a memory blackout of the crime. You will be reading the mind of someone who cannot report his own state of mind; 2) the state of mind is dispositive. A hunter who shoots another thinking him a deer goes home. A hunter who shoots another because the other's wife paid him $10,000 will get the death penalty. Same act, same result. Yet, the drunken, careless hunter may be far more dangerous than the contract murderer, after hitting a school bus going the wrong way on a road; 3) this intent came, word for word, from here, the Catechism, 1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent." A mortal sin is a violation of the Ten Commandments. To the credit of the Medieval Catholic Church, it was their faith, God would judge intent after death. It never claimed, men could judge intent. Catechism and Ten Commandments doctrines are a no-no in our our secular nation's laws; 4) because death was the sole penalty, even for minor violations, a loophole was needed in 1275 AD, but not today. Intent is not longer needed as a loophole; 5) the executive branch should investigate the background of the defendant, and sort the dangerous from the careless and not dangerous. The sentencing authority should be held accountable for mistakes that cause damage to future victims of crime, in accordance with professional standards of due care. These standards do not involve predicting the future, but counting the past behaviors; 6) the solution rate of murder is inversely proportional to the rate of murder, 60% in the US, 30% in Chicago, 0% in Honduras; 7) it is inversely proportional to the ratio of lawyers to population, Japan has 20,000 lawyers for 100 million, and close to no crime; 8) those blaming lax gun regulation must account for the low rates of murder in Israel and in Switzerland; 9) the five fold rate of murder of blacks, or an excess of 5000 a year, is the same as it took the genocidal maniac Klan to lynch over 100 years. The Klan was the terror arm of the Democratic Party. The high murder rates are mostly located in jurisdictions with elected Democratic Party officials; 10) around the world, 10% of the murders are committed by paranoid schizophrenics, as aremost rampage murders. All are preventable with forced treatment, including long term injected medication that cannot be refused by the patient. The Supreme Court ended the decision making of clinicians. It is totally responsible for 10% of the murders of the last 40 years. And, with that idea, we return to the tragedy of Vegas. Posted by: David Behar | Oct 2, 2017 2:23:55 PM Nra followers are pushing for passage of the silencer bill now before Congress. In light of the incredible noise erupting from the lunatic's automatics in Las Vegas as he was slaughtering the innocents, the bill's chances of passage have greatly improved. Posted by: anon21 | Oct 2, 2017 2:55:21 PM Speaker Paul Ryan wants us all to stand in memory of those who were killed. What does that do? Try outlawing the manufacture, sale, and possession of magazines with more than 10 rounds. Posted by: anon21 | Oct 2, 2017 2:58:21 PM "I am sure that the failure of the Obama Administration or progressive states to make any progress on the smart gun front in recent years likely signals that it would be foolish to hope or expect a technological remedy to our massive gun violence problem." The progressive states part -- one where gun control advocates theoretically control both houses (or the only house, as the case may be) of the state legislature and the governorship -- I'll give you. But do you really think it was the Obama administration standing in the way of any type of gun control reform, including technological changes, for the last 8 years? What would you have had him do? Do you think he kept the argument that was finally going to get congressional Republicans to move on the issue up his sleeve? Posted by: anon22 | Oct 2, 2017 3:23:59 PM Professor -- You ask whether "[a]nyone [has] any wise insights after latest and worst US mass shooting?" The answer, most assuredly, is that no one has particularly "wise" insights so soon after the horrible event and before many facts are known. Of course, lack of information won't prevent certain commenters from vomiting forth 10-point screeds. DRF Posted by: DRF | Oct 2, 2017 3:33:38 PM Its a bigger failure at the federal level than the state level. Follow the lobbying money trail. All politicians should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves for their lack of action. Especially after the Newtown killings. Just disgusting dirt bags all. Posted by: Ed | Oct 2, 2017 5:52:57 PM DRF. I am thinking of the failure of the criminal law to protect 10's of 1000's of murder victims, yearly. It stinks because everything from 1275 AD stinks. Not only is the criminal law stinky, it violates the Establishment Clause by its super-natural doctrines. My 10 points relate to the criminal cult indoctrination that Prof.Berman is about to infect dozens of future lawyers who will one day run the criminal law. They need to be vaccinated against the sick 13th Century Catholic bullshit he is about to lay on them. It is delusional, and more psychotic crap that whatever the rampage killer was thinking. ***************** Ed. Those who want more gun control must answer for, 1) the tight gun control of Chicago and of Baltimore. Between them, 59 dead would be considered a slow month; 2) the low murder and crime rates of Israel and of Switzerland, where being armed to the teeth is a legal requirement. We do not need your stupid gun control. We need the control of evil people, mostly lawyers protecting, privileging, and empowering criminals like this rampage killer. In Israel or in Switzerland, the victims would have shot back at the gun flashes, into the two hotel windows. The rampage killer would have been blasted after 2 victims, not 600. Thanks to irresponsible people like you, the police took an hour to respond. And, the killer had killed himself before they entered. They blew up the hotel room door instead of using a pass key. They did nothing of value, and damaged the hotel. Worthless, government, make work morons. They are, of course, agents of the prosecutors. All are lawyers, the stupidest people in our country. Posted by: David Behar | Oct 2, 2017 6:21:24 PM Hey, DRF. Had the career criminal father been executed at 14, he would not have had this son. We would have 59 people alive. We do not know how many more will die from their wounds. The executions of all super predators at the earliest age, preferably by abortion, would have an exponential benefit, saving many generations of crime victims. The crime meter starts to spin at age 3, so hundreds of children would be spared victimization, as well. Think about that, all you pro-criminal lawyers on this blog. Posted by: David Behar | Oct 2, 2017 6:31:36 PM Hey dirt bag DH the U.S., with 300M+ diverse people in it, is not Israel and Switzerland. Go back to your troll hole. Posted by: Ed | Oct 2, 2017 7:13:11 PM One of the first, if not the first, thought should be: what anti-depressants was this man on? The known side effects of homocide and suicide from many anti-depressants frequently prescribed by doctors in America appear to be the culprit in all of these extremely unnatural shootings. Unnatural because in most of these mass shooting incidents there is little if any motive that every comes up. As the shooter's brother has said, his brother's actions are a total mystery to all who knew him. This statement points to some kind of sudden shift in mental attitude, and that points to the possibility he was taking anti-depressants. I hope that this theory is promptly investigated. The question is do we need more gun control or do we need more anti-depressant control? Posted by: Stephen Douglas | Oct 2, 2017 7:57:24 PM Hi, Ed. Israel is as diverse as the United States. Probably half of the population are immigrants from Russia to Central Africa. It even has a huge, hostile, 20%, Israeli Arab population that is not friendly to its values, but with voting rights. They do not carry weapons. Ed, let me ask you a test question. Do you believe that 9/11 was a Mossad/CIA operation? Do you believe the out buildings were destroyed by timed detonations, as one might have in a scheduled demolition? Answer the question. Posted by: David Behar | Oct 2, 2017 8:14:08 PM Hi, Stephen. Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo. Ding. And, I am not referring to Stephen Paddock. Posted by: David Behar | Oct 2, 2017 8:15:41 PM David You prove my point. Posted by: DRF | Oct 2, 2017 8:40:23 PM DRF. Outside of personal insult, what was your point? I was first to say we need more facts. Posted by: David Behar | Oct 2, 2017 10:25:27 PM We are a pampered pathetic weak nation. When kids get a fever, run them to the dr and get meds. Look at all of the ads on tv telling you about new drugs. Drs need to know not us. My point is we depend on meds for this and that, not really when its necessary. This is how we got the opiod epidemic, Meth and crack in the 80s. When the auto industry crashed, american manufaturers cut back on accessoties and decided quality was important. Well, look at the price of trucks, $50K and 20% off. But thats still crazy high and too many things go wrong with american vehicles. We didnt learn our lesson. Feds had a chance to ban or remain banned military style guns, but they caved in. Men might feel feminine and go visit womens bThroom, no biggee right. Well, America has a paper @sshole and this is how we got into this mess and 20 trillion in debt. Everyone is going to have to hurt to get out of the mess America is in. But who has the brass to do it and the finess to get both oarties to agree on anything? Nobody on this planet. So we are in for a rough ride and future generations are going to go down the tubes. Not very positive but its gonna happen. Korea getting away with the garbage they are pulling, Hacking into everyones data and then identity theft of us all. Boy, how about the ozone layer, thats why we are getting Hurricanes of magnum size and often. But just keep on ignoring these items and go after ObamaCare. Posted by: MidWestGuy | Oct 2, 2017 10:48:14 PM whether gun-rights advocates or gun-control advocates won lots of battles, the levels of crime and violence would be pretty much the same. So maybe we should simply turn our attention to other policies that might be more effective in fighting crime and violence: more police on the streets, ensuring that young people have better access to education and jobs, more disparagement by leading public figures of violence on television and in movies, or whatever else serious inquiry into the causes of crime and violence reveals to be somewhat effective policies." -Out of Range: Why the Constitution Cant End the Battle Over Guns by Mark V. Tushnet Posted by: Charleton H | Oct 3, 2017 4:16:50 AM http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/04/28/police-recoil-experiments-obamas-smart-guns/ Rank-and-file police officers are already rallying against President Barack Obamas scheduled push for government purchases of smart guns. Police officers in general, federal officers in particular, shouldnt be asked to be the guinea pigs in evaluating a firearm that nobodys even seen yet, said James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police. We have some very, very serious questions, he said, according to Politico. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/obama-smart-gun-technology-222574 Of the 330,000 officers in his union, Pasco said, I have never heard a single member say what we need are guns that only we can fire, noting that there might be moments in close combat when an officer would need to use a partners weapon or even the suspects. Theres a legitimate question right now whether smart gun technology will work for policemen said Stephen P. Teret, a Johns Hopkins University professor who studied how airbag rules impact safety before he turned his focus to gun violence. Some of the concerns might be overblown. The technology is intriguing, said Louis Dekmar, police chief in LaGrange, Georgia, and vice president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. But the jurys still out. He added, The more complicated you make the weapon, the more likely you are to have a failure. Dekmar said hed certainly be open to having his officers test the guns under limited circumstances and hailed their potential to protect officers whose guns are taken. Posted by: Charleton H | Oct 3, 2017 4:24:05 AM https://mises.org/blog/fbi-us-homicide-rate-51-year-low If there are 49 percent fewer homicides nowadays compared to twenty years ago, it is a bit disingenuous to imply that homicides are actually going up because the rare events knows as mass shootings are claimed to be more common. Victims of mass shootings are not more dead than other homicide victims. If the goal is to decrease homicide, we must first ask ourselves why the conditions that coincided with falling homicide rates (i.e., increasing gun ownership) should be abolished all the name of reducing one specific kind of homicide. Moreover, it is untrue that the US is unique in the occurrence of mass shootings. The claim is so far from accurate that even Politifact rates the claim as "mostly false." One can only even begin to make the claim if one conveniently excludes mass shootings in Europe (such as the Paris attacks) as "terrorism" while defining similar acts in the US (i.e., the San Bernardino and Orlando killings) as generic "mass shootings." Similarly, it's also disingenuous to ignore other forms of mass homicide that occur when the murderers use means other than guns. The 2002 Bali bombings at a night club, for example, killed more than 200 people. But never mind that, we're told. Just focus on mass shootings. Also, ignore killings like the 1995 Ohlahoma City bombing and the Boston Marathon bombings. Although some components of fertilizer bombs are monitored, it's still perfectly legal to buy the means to carry out those killings. Posted by: Mises | Oct 3, 2017 5:56:57 AM https://www.infoplease.com/us/crime/homicide-rate-1950-2014 Homicide Rate 1961--4.8 1968 Gun Control Act passed. 1971--8.6 1980-10.2 1991--9.8 2001-5.6 2010--Supreme Court rules people have a constitutional civilian right to own firearms for self-defense 2011--4.7 2014--4.5 Posted by: Gun Owners of America | Oct 3, 2017 6:01:02 AM https://www.amren.com/the-color-of-crime/ In 2013, a black was six times more likely than a nonblack to commit murder, and 12 times more likely to murder someone of another race than to be murdered by someone of another race. Posted by: J. Taylor | Oct 3, 2017 6:12:57 AM U.S. Homicide Rate by Race (2014) Blacks--17.21 Hispanics--5.55 Whites--1.84 Asians--1.00 ------- Norway--0.5 Posted by: The Warrior Gene | Oct 3, 2017 6:29:08 AM If the right to have an abortion means no waiting periods, then a right to own a gun means no waiting periods. If the right to use the internet means ex-felons can use the internet (Packingham), then the right to own a gun means ex-felons can own guns. Any law that you wouldn't apply to any right, don't apply to the right to own guns. If speech-control laws and abortion-control laws are morally bankrupt, then so are gun-control laws. Posted by: gun-control is fascism | Oct 3, 2017 6:48:54 AM The shooter would have passed his background check. He had a pilot's license (likely more difficult to pass, with physicals and drug testing), no crime record, no treatment for mental illness (so far). The Second Amendment was really about resistance to tyranny. It still applies. And those who say we would face our modern military, they were run out of six countries by Stone Age savages with $50 weapons due to their poor leadership. If I wanted to do even more damage than the shooterdid, I would have driven a tractor trailer, filled with fertilizer explosives into the crowd. Ban tractor trailers. Posted by: David Behar | Oct 3, 2017 8:25:46 AM Do not allow guns into Catholic Church. Posted by: Liberty1st | Oct 4, 2017 11:09:22 AM @David Behar Consider the fact that a large percentage of firearms owners are ex-military themselves, and that an even larger part of the military would side with the rebels over the progressive leadership if the fit hit the shan. In any case, I would submit that the US Military as an entity, at this time, is the most Constitutional-following federal government organization, and has been since the progressive Democrats/Republicans have started skunking up the works since the thirties. Posted by: Eric Knight | Oct 6, 2017 4:36:00 PM Check or what the feds are trying to do to me? 10 years? I haven't been it trouble in over 15 years and I mess up once and they're ready to hang me! https://www.gofundme.com/the-justice-system-failed-mehelp Posted by: Lawrence Archer | Mar 21, 2018 2:23:02 AM Post a comment The case against de facto Ghost Ship leaders Max Harris and Derick Almena moved forward on Wednesday as the two defendants each pleaded not guilty to 36 charges of involuntary manslaughter in Alameda County court. This development comes about four months after the two were first charged, and nearly 10 months after the tragic Ghost Ship fire which claimed 36 lives in Oakland on December 2, 2016. At first, both Harris's and Almena's defense lawyers argued to have the case dismissed. According to CBS, Harris's attorney, Samuel Geller, said that because the charges against Harris didn't exactly spell out what he did wrong, he "doesnt know what hes up against," and thus, asked the charges to be dismissed. Similarly, the East Bay Times reports that Almena's attorney, Tony Serra, argued that the charges weren't specific enough to be used in a case against Almena. In both cases, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Yolanda Northridge denied the motions to dismiss, leading to yesterday's official arraignment. Currently, both Harris and Almena are being held in custody in lieu of posting $750,000 in bail. At first, the bail amount was much higher, totaling about $1.08 million. As we shared back in July, Harris's attorney fought to have that reduced. KRON 4 reported then that the judge who heard the request then was "concerned that Max Harris ties to Northern California arent deep enough to support him while he awaits trial on 36 counts of involuntary manslaughter." Essentially, the judge was worried that Harris just wouldn't be able to stick around for the hearing due to his shaky employment history, and given that he was already residing in Los Angeles when charges were filed. The Oakland Fire Department released a 50-page "Origin and Cause" report back in June, stating that the exact cause of the fire could not be determined. The report details what firefighters experienced upon arriving at the venue, and goes on to state that all 36 victims of the Ghost Ship fire died of smoke inhalation. As for right now, the Chronicle says that a preliminary hearing is set to begin on November 13th, wherein a judge will hear evidence and decide whether the case is substantial enough to be heard by a jury. All previous coverage of the Ghost Ship fire on SFist. The role of Hamlet is a holy-grail, bucket-list thing for many actors eager to prove they can command a stage for over three hours and convincingly deliver the many famous soliloquies of the brooding Danish prince. More than any other Shakespearean role, Hamlet is a test of virtuosity as well as endurance, with a character who oscillates between grief, cunning, humor, rage, love, vengeance, madness, and pathos, and back again, and again, in the play's long five acts. For actor John Douglas Thompson, the role has apparently always been something he wanted to tackle, with Othello, Antony, and Julius Caesar's Cassius already under his belt, and ACT Artistic Director Carey Perloff who is stepping down from the role after this, her final season jumped at the chance to give Thompson a stage on which to play the tortured Dane. ACT's Hamlet is well staged and adequately paced despite its typically daunting length as written, the play would take over four hours to perform, and it's often cut down as it was here, in this case to three hours, not counting the intermission. And Perloff, as director, takes pleasure in teasing out the many moments of levity in Shakespeare's most complex tragedy. ACT veteran Dan Hiatt plays Polonius with plenty of bowtie-tweaking pompousness and farcical physical comedy; likewise does ACT company member Anthony Fusco, slightly miscast here as Horatio, bring his characteristic querying tone and amused skepticism to his role as Hamlet's closest confidant. And ACT company member Dominique Lozano is flippant and almost comically oblivious as Gertrude almost too much so until she's confronted by her son late in the play. The versatile set design by David Israel Reynoso feels appropriately apocalyptic and industrial, and he uses a simple set of retractable sheer curtains to depict transitions between interior and exterior Perloff says she wanted something inspired by places like Fukushima and Chernobyl, "places pitting the vulnerability of humanity against the toxicity of the world." The result is a soaring, foreboding set of concrete-textured walls, a fortress that doubles as an asylum, and an abandoned, contaminated nuclear power plant. (In keeping with that theme, they employ the sound of a Geiger counter every time the Ghost enters.) Possibly the most powerful scene and most effective performance in the production comes in the second half, from Rivka Borek as Ophelia. The ACT MFA candidate is riveting as she portrays Ophelia's descent into madness, moreso than I've ever seen in a stage production and Perloff's choice to have her don one of her dead father's suits and use a "bouquet" of his bowties for the famous monologue about rosemary and other herbs is an effective and clever one. But coming back to Thompson's Hamlet: While he is eminently watchable and convincing during many moments in the play, using admirable restraint throughout the character's most well known soliloquies and his ultimate breakdown, I kept feeling distracted by one inescapable thing that is no fault of his. While tons of actors of all ages, many older than Thompson, have played this role for all the reasons I laid out above, I can't say I see it as a role that stands up to age-blind casting. Hamlet is a young prince, still in touch with college friends, prone to the fits of petulance, rage, and moral absolutism that one expects from a man in his twenties or early thirties (the text suggests the character is about 30, but possibly younger). Physically, too, this is a role that requires an actor to bounce, run, and jump all over the stage, and at 53 years old, Thompson is at best a capable Hamlet, just not always a believable one. Also, his voice came off as even slightly hoarse perhaps just from rehearsing and performing the role in previews in recent days which added to the distraction. As his father's ghost and his villainous uncle Claudius, Steven Anthony Jones does convincing work as Thompson's elder, but just given the fact that audiences most recently saw Thompson portraying a 70-year-old Louis Armstrong in Satchmo At The Waldorf, I feel like it shouldn't go unsaid that playing the 30-year-old Hamlet requires a bit too much suspension of disbelief. Theatergoers new to Hamlet are still likely to enjoy this production, especially with the care that's given to highlighting Shakespeare's language, and the many, many turns of phrase that are now woven into English idiom, like "my mind's eye," "woe is me," and "heart of hearts" that originated with this important play. Also, Perloff and dramaturg Michael Paller stayed truer to Shakespeare's end for the play than many do when making cuts, ushering in Hamlet's foil, Fortinbras, prince of Norway, who gets the final words (though as usual, the subplot about Fortinbras avenging his own father's death through war gets a little bit lost in the shuffle of all the main characters getting killed). Perloff says she pulled Hamlet off the shelf the day after last November's election, "longing to make sense of this altered world by reading something truly great," and she says she was "struck by the frightening resonance to our own time." As Polish theater critic Jan Kott has written, "Hamlet is like a sponge. It immediately absorbs all the problems of our time." This Hamlet does that and then some, in a contemporary fashion, though without any overt gestures it's a Hamlet outside of time, loyal to the language and as natural sounding as it can be, and it's an auspicious beginning to Perloff's swan song. 'Hamlet' plays through October 15 at the Geary Theater. Find tickets here, or on the Today Tix app. Lost in the mercurial leadup to and catastrophic flop of Berkeleys late September Free Speech Week was the footnote that two conservative student organizations have had a lawsuit against UC Berkeley arguing that the school hasnt been provided enough of a safe space for the speakers they book. (Or try to book). Motivated mainly by the implosion of a planned Ann Coulter appearance in April and to a lesser degree the venue switcheroos for Septembers Ben Shapiro appearance, student groups the Berkeley College Republicans (BCP) and Young Americas Foundation (YAF) argue that theyre being discriminated against for their politics and not because of safety concerns. But a U.S. District Court judge has tossed that lawsuit out, according to Berkeleyside, saying that recent school policy changes rendered its arguments moot. While we realize the litigation is likely to continue, the university is pleased that a federal judge has confirmed the campus is meeting its First Amendment obligations, UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof said in an email to Berkeleyside. The likely to continue part of that statement refers to the near-damned certainty that they YAF and BCR will submit a revised complaint to the court by the Oct. 27 deadline, which the judge's ruling allows them to do. The young conservatives attorney is Harmeet Dhillon, a sort of right-wing legal rock star who is vice chair of the California Republican Party and also representing our old friend James Damore, the ex-Googler fired for his anti-diversity screed. She told Berkeleyside that the new rules which require student groups make venue booking and security arrangements eight weeks before the event were unconstitutionally vague and a multi-week, bureaucratic, turgid mess of a policy. The Berkeley-based controversy has gone into national news overdrive, with attorney general Jeff Sessions griping about UC Berkeley just last week, and celebrity-lawyer-turned-pundit Alan Dershowitz had his upcoming Berkeley appearance canceled because the student group booking him didnt meet the eight-weeks advance rule. (Berkeleys law school has since gotten Dershowitz scheduled again, using the loophole that they are not a student group.) Dhillon promises that an amended complaint is definitely on the way, and it will go into excruciating detail about UC Berkeleys dishonesty in the Ann Coulter affair. Oh, Im sure that complaint will be excruciating, alright. Related: Bill Maher And Bernie Sanders Slam Berkeley For Attempting To Cancel Ann Coulter Event A San Francisco police officer says he's stuck in a "living hell" of retribution since reporting his supervisors for alleged racist comments made while on duty. NBC Bay Area spoke with Joel Babbs about the retaliation he's been facing since filing a complaint regarding some racially charged comments he says one of his supervisors made in the presence of other police officers. "Its been (a) living hell," he said. "How dare you have the audacity to make a complaint? Were going to ruin you. Well ruin you." Babbs believes that this retaliation stems from when he turned over two cell phone videos to the SFPD's Internal Affairs division, both of which were of the same police lieutenant. In one video, he's reportedly heard discussing a recent Department of Justice report that the SFPD disproportionately targets black motorists for traffic violations and stops. At first, NBC BA=ay Area says he warns officers to not dismiss the study, but that warning turns into a story about a recent stop. The lieutenant then reportedly said, "You know as a cop, Im asking those guys, because they look fing dirty," allegedly referring to black motorists. "But what they see, what they see is you pulled over two black men, and you ask them if you are on probation and parole." Commenting on the lieutenant's story, Babbs told NBC Bay Area, "They were dirty, they looked dirty as he referred to black occupants in a vehicle that thats why I say hes racist, thats the nature of the complaint. When listening to the video, over and over, he says some very, what I feel, are some very racist things toward black people." In the second video, the same lieutenant appears to talk about an encounter he had with a black woman in Bayview. He said, "If you ever see her, shes missing a tooth from me." Later, he added, "I went to handcuff her and she grabbed my hand, so I fing grabbed (her) finger and snapped it." After turning in the videos, Babbs says he thought that the lieutenant would be dealt with and that would be it. But he says that things only got worse. According to Babbs, Internal Affairs questioned him about surreptitiously taking the videos, and moved two supervisors out of the unit. He then says that he was kept from taking on overtime shifts, then eventually stripped of his badge and gun, and given paid leave. He says he only learned why from the department doctor: "People in my unit were scared of me," Babbs said. A subsequent investigation by the city's Department of Human Resources appeared to concur with Babbs' fears, writing in a report that their "investigative findings were sufficient to establish that you were subjected to retaliation." Despite everything, Babbs still wants to return to work. He tells NBC, "Its a job I love, its a job they took away from me. For no apparent reason but to tell the truth." Related: SFPD Doesn't Have A Racism Problem, Says SFPD Gather round kiddies, and I'll tell you a tale: Long, long ago, before your cell phone could let you do anything besides make calls and play Snake, people who wanted to travel to SFO without driving themselves had to: Beg a friend with a car for a ride or Load your luggage onto Muni till you get to BART, then take BART to a bus or Shell out $50-75 bucks (maybe more) for a cab that (if you live outside the hotel zone) may or may not pick you up and get you there on time or For $25 or so bucks you could schedule a Super Shuttle van (or its ilk) that would pick you and many others up hours and hours before your flight and, bumping you up and down (I don't see a seat belt are there any seat belts?) till your teeth were ready to fly out, then would unceremoniously dump you in vague proximity to your airline's departure doors Oh, the good old days, mulling which I think I just got PTSD. For now one has little excuse to beg a friend for a ride, as BART service to SFO is relatively seamless and an Uber Pool or Lyft Line will arrive within moments of when it's requested and will cost $15-30 (sometimes even less). It's only now the remaining San Francisco taxi drivers are reportedly hoping to return as a top choice for travelers, by offering a $30 flat rate to the airport. The news of this possibility comes to us via the Ex, which warns that "no formal change has been proposed" but that the $30 SF-SFO flat rate was discussed by "taxi drivers, industry leaders and regulators met in a town hall meeting at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency in late September." According to the Ex, local taxi operator Tariq Mehmood says he came up with the flat rate idea because We will try to get back our customers. It's unclear how the rate would be implemented, as the Ex reports that "Cab drivers can set their own prices, and on an individual basis could charge a $30 flat rate on their own," but also quotes Kate Toran, head of taxi services at the SFMTA, as saying that it's possible for the MTA to set a flat rate, but that Its still up for discussion. Were looking at what our options are. Luxor Cab owner John Lazar told the Ex that "an advertised price drop may be an effective tool to lure riders," and if the flat rate went into effect, I think volume would increase, yeah. But I don't know about that! Twice now, I've tried to call a cab from Lazar's company to my Outer Sunset business to take customers to the airport. You know how this story ends, right? In both cases, after half an hour of no cab, I called back, and was told that no drivers were responding to the call. I ended up arranging ride-hail rides for both. They were picked up within five minutes in both cases. So you'll have to forgive me if I am dubious about this whole thing. But what about you? Would you start taking good old taxi cabs to SFO if they were only $30, or have you tired of giving that industry chances? Related: San Francisco's Biggest Cab Company Sold To Competitor For $810K Part of its long history in Central Highlands culture are rice paintings. The best place to witness these paintings is at Ho Village, located at Bac Kan Street, Kon Tum City. The village offers visitors a visual feast in art works. The paintings vary from calligraphic, the daily activities of the local people to cultural features of ethnic groups and their traditional housing near Dak Bla River and big forests. New shop: Dang plans to open another gallery at Kon Ktu village so tourists can experience or create their own rice paintings. (Photo: VNS) Painter Nguyen Kieu Dang, who founded the Ho Village rice painting gallery, said that behind every painting was the happiness of the makers. Each painting holds a different spiritual value. To be able to present that value to viewers is the true bliss of artists, said Dang. To me, giving soul to a painting is the hardest thing, since only truthful and vivid sketches create a good painting. The success of the artwork is also decided based on how the colour of the rice fits into the painting. Joining in: Staff at the gallery show visitors how to make a rice painting. (Photo: VNS) Describing the procedure to develop a rice painting, Dang said that first, the idea was sketched on paper and then painted onto hard paper or plywood. The key here is choosing the rice and roasting it into different colour tones. Depending on the roasting time, the colour will turn from white to a darker tone, and finally to black. Roasting the rice is also the toughest part, as we are not allowed to let it burst open, break down or burn. Hands must be steady while roasting so the colour is fresh, she said. The rice is then divided into small boxes and placed around the sketched painting. The artist then overlays the sketch with roasted rice, while picturing the light and dark area to be filled. The finishing touch is covering the work with polyurethane, which allows the colour to remain intact. A completed rice painting must be a perfect combination of the colours and sizes of the rice. The artist has to master the trick of putting the rice into the right position, either straight, down or crosswise. Collectable: The paintings are priced from VND200,000 ($8) to more than two million dong ($88). (Photo: VNS) Visitors to the gallery can observe 10 young people meticulously overlaying the rice on paintings by Dang. Besides painting, she also gives lectures to the poor and disabled young people to help create a livelihood for them. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao, who has been working at the gallery for three years under the guardianship of Dang, now creates rice paintings on her own, featuring local cultural highlights. I can now complete an entire rice painting on my own, said Thao. On show: Artist Kieu Dang (standing) poses with foreign tourists visiting the gallery. (Photo: VNS) Rice paintings by Ho Village are well known to tourists with artworks displayed at craft villages in Hoi An, Da Nang, Hanoi and HCM City. Several charity foundations in America have ordered a large number of paintings priced from VND200,000 (US$10) to more than 2 million ($88), depending on the size. At present, Dang is implementing a craft village tourism project at Kon Ktu Village. Her plan is to open one more rice-painting gallery at the village, so tourists can admire the artworks made by Dang and experience or create their own rice paintings. According to Dang, the gallery at Kon Ktu will be completed at the end of the year and will be open for Tet (Lunar New Year). VNS The aid will be used to purchase OCT machines to serve some three million people suffering from eye diseases in the northern central and central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, said Pham Minh Truong, director of the Hue Eye Hospital, during the ceremony.Part of Japans Grassroots Grant Assistant Programme in Vietnam, the signing ceremony took place last week in Hanoi with the participation of Kunio Umeda, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam, and project representatives.Simon Rea, country director of MAG in Vietnam, said the organisation will use the aid to identify and destroy 2,100 bombs and unexploded ordnances, clearing around 2.6 million square metres of land, as well as paying 81 MAG staff in the Quang Binh Province and organising 128 training workshops on mine clearance for them.These projects will not only minimise the threats to the existence and livelihoods of people at grassroots level, but also benefit them greatly, Ambassador Umeda said.Established in 1992, Japans Grassroots Grant Assistance Programme has supported 600 grassroots projects in Vietnam, with Official Development Assistance (ODA) totalling 50 million USD. Vietnamplus Every 1,000 residents own 22 automobiles and 516 motorbikes. Auto and motorbike purchase demand has strongly increased for the last years. Auto growth rate hits 6.5 percent while motorbike reaches 7.3 percent a year. In big cities, the growth rate is 15 percent a year for automobiles while 10 percent for motorbikes. According to reports by Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA), 2017 is a gloomy year of the auto market. Consumption is forecast to reduce compared to 2016 and unable to reach 300,000 automobiles as expectations from manufacturers. The reduction has been because consumers have been waiting for lower prices in 2018 when import tariff from ASEAN region will reduce to 0 percent. By T. VAN Translated by Hai Mien 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. STORM LAKE, Iowa | A Storm Lake woman was arrested Friday after allegedly biting her son in the neck. According to a new release, investigators met with a 17-year-old boy who alleged that on Sept. 25 he engaged in a verbal argument with his mother. During the incident, the mother, identified as Mary Tuong, 41, reportedly bit and grabbed her son on his neck. Police alleged they could still see the bite marks several days after the incident. Storm Lake police located Tuong at Storm Lake's Tyson Pork Plant where she was taken into custody. Following an investigation, Tuong was charged with child endangerment causing bodily injury (class D felony) and was booked into the Buena Vista County Jail on a $5,000 bond. A report was also filed with the Iowa Department of Human Services. SIOUX CITY | Eric Preston, 36, attached brackets to the chassis of a 1966 C10 pickup in one of the auto shops belonging to Western Iowa Tech Community College. For the past nine months, Preston and other WITCC automotive technology students have been rebuilding the 50-year-old truck with all-new, state-of-the-art accessories. "(The customized vehicle) will still have a retro feel of a vintage truck," Preston explained. "But it won't drive like one." The project began when the school's automotive program was invited to display a vehicle in Las Vegas at the 2017 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, the largest automotive-based trade show in North America, WITCC automotive instructor Shane Sampson said. "Last year, I was attending the SEMA Show in Las Vegas with (WITCC auto body instructor) Tim Hardyk when the two of us struck up a conversation with representatives from Accele Electronics," Sampson said. "We mentioned it would be great if our students could build a vehicle for next year's SEMA Show." The representatives of the Cerritos, Calif.-based mobile electronics manufacturer agreed to sponsor the project. "They especially liked that this would be a learning experience for our college students as well as the high school students that we teach," Sampson said. "Tim and I liked it because all of our students will be recognized in a very big way." The truck, which is slated to be completed and shipped in the mid-October, will be on display Oct. 31-Nov. 3, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Still, there's a lot of work to be done. "Tim's students are working on the body of the Chevy while my students are working on the chassis," Sampson said. "It may not look like it now but we're in pretty good shape." He said purchasing this particular Chevy C10 wasn't by accident. "The truck was originally built in 1966, the same year that (WITCC) was founded," Sampson said. "This is a tribute to the school." For Preston, having a truck displayed at the SEMA Show is the equivalent of being in the Super Bowl. "I'm one of the students who will be going to Las Vegas for the SEMA Show," he said. "This is gonna be so much fun." Unlike Preston, Joseph Hauswald has attended several SEMA Shows in the past. "SEMA shows are the best," the 20-year-old WITCC automotive technology student said. "But when I go this year, it will be different. I'll be able to say I had a hand in building one of the entries." In addition, all of the automotive technology students will eligible to compete in the SEMA Show's "Battle of the Builders" and may have their work critiqued by celebrity judges like Chip Foos, star of TV's "Overhaulin"' series. Though Hauswald knows it will be a long shot to even make it into the top 40 of the "Battle of the Builders," he's keeping his fingers crossed. "I never thought my class would be invited to customize a vehicle for the SEMA Show but that happened," he maintained. "Just goes to show what can happen." And, if Sampson has his way, what happens in Vegas won't stay in Vegas. "We have an auto program in a small community college in Iowa," he said. "Being asked to build a truck for the SEMA Show for the first time is something we'll remember for the rest of our lives." Before Judge Steven Andreasen Lonnie Ray Whitebeaver, 37, Sioux City, delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance; sentenced Sept. 28, 10 years prison suspended, two years probation. Edward Leroy Neville, 53, Sioux City, domestic abuse assault -- third offense; sentenced Sept. 28, five years prison. Jesus Zapata, 18, Sioux City, eluding, operating while intoxicated; sentenced Sept. 28, deferred judgment, three years probation for eluding, two days jail for OWI. Nathan Charles King, 46, Sioux City, operating while intoxicated, possession of a controlled substance -- third violation; sentenced Sept. 27, five years prison suspended, three years probation. Jeffrey Alan Conner, 52, Sioux City, failure to register as a sexual offender -- second offense; sentenced Sept. 27, five years prison. Hannah Rose Tyndall, 19, South Sioux City, second-degree theft; sentenced Sept. 27, deferred judgment, three years probation. Charles Matthew Schwille, 32, Sioux City, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, failure to appear; sentenced Sept. 26, five years prison suspended, three years probation. John Russell Edwards, 34, Sioux City, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance; sentenced Sept. 25, deferred judgment, three years probation. Kaitlyn Marie Bunn, 19, Sioux City, eluding; sentenced Sept. 25, deferred judgment, three years probation. Nathaniel Isiah Zuniga, 18, Sioux City, lascivious acts with a child; sentenced Sept. 25, 10 years prison. DAKOTA CITY | Barring unforeseen circumstances, it appears Brayan Galvan-Hernandez will stand trial in two weeks for the death and dismemberment of an Emerson, Nebraska, man. Attorneys met Monday with District Judge Paul Vaughan for a final pretrial conference before the trial, scheduled for Oct. 16 in Dakota County District Court. Other than a minor modification in the legal code subsection that prosecutors will use in one of the charges that Galvan-Hernandez faces, the hearing consisted of scheduling issues and determining that Galvan-Hernandez will be able to wear civilian clothes rather than a jail jumpsuit during trial. He also will be unshackled in the presence of the jury, a common practice to avoid prejudicing jurors against a defendant. Galvan-Hernandez, 19, of Wakefield, Nebraska, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony, accessory to a felony and abandoning human skeletal remains or burial goods. He and Andres Surber are accused of shooting Kraig Kubik, 41, of Emerson, Nebraska, with a 9mm firearm on Nov. 1 and dismembering his body. A jury pool of 150 people has been called for the trial, but Vaughan said some already have been excused from appearing. Lawyers hope to choose the 12 jurors and two alternates who will hear the case on the trial's first day. "Generally, it's my experience that we can get a jury picked within a day," said assistant Nebraska Attorney General Corey O'Brien, the special prosecutor appointed to the case. O'Brien told Vaughan he expected to call approximately 40 witnesses, and his case will stretch to Tuesday or Wednesday of the second week of the trial, which lawyers said they expect to take eight to 10 days. Investigators responded to Kubik's disappearance on Nov. 2 and found a pool of blood near his car at his Emerson residence. They found a severed arm and leg in the trunk of a car at an abandoned farmhouse in rural Dixon County, about 24 miles away from Kubik's home. The rest of Kubik's remains were found three days later in a creek about four miles from the farmhouse. Autopsy results showed a gunshot wound to Kubik's head. Surber, 26, also of Wakefield, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, use of a firearm to commit a felony and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He has been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial and is currently receiving psychiatric treatment to determine if his competency can be restored in order to face the charges at trial. SIOUX CITY | Sunday was date night for Lee and Michelle Bottger of South Sioux City. Instead of just doing dinner and a movie, the couple decided to attend the Southern Uprising Tour show at the Tyson Events Center featuring Travis Tritt and the Charlie Daniels Band. When asked why they wanted to go to the show, Michelle Bottger's answer was simple: Charlie Daniels. Lee Bottgers said the 80-year-old country music legend, Kenny Rogers and George Jones are the reason he became a fan of the genre. Sunday was the first time the couple will be able to see Daniels live. The Devil Went Down to Georgia, the couple answered in unison when asked which song they wanted to hear Daniels perform the most. Prior to the show, the Bottgers spent time at Doxx Warehouse Bar, which is not too far from the Tyson. Both noted they are big supporters of Doxx and its adjacent sister bar, The Firehouse, and thought it was the perfect place to kill time and have a good time. Less than a mile away, two couples from Dakota City were splitting a Lil Chicago pizza a 12-inch pie topped with beef, Canadian Bacon, pepperoni, sausage at Bodega 401 and also preparing for the show. This foursome, all country western fans, were split as to which of that evenings headliners they wanted to see more. Alyce Davis was all about Daniels as was Tim Schnee; however, his wife, Mardi Schnee, was keen on seeing Tritt perform. The early 90s would have been more of my time when I listened to country, Mardi Schnee said. That would have been Travis Tritt, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Shania Twain. Despite the headliner divide, the Davises and Schnees were excited about the show and hanging out with a few thousand country fans. Were just going to have fun; looking forward to a good time, Alyce Davis said. Exactly, Mardi Schnee added. SIOUX CITY | Democratic governor candidate Fred Hubbell will campaign Monday in Sioux City. Hubbell's team in a release announced he will speak at 5 p.m. at The Big Snug, 419 Pearl St., in a meet and greet event. There is a wide field of Democratic candidates seeking the party's 2018 nomination. Hubbell, who lives in Des Moines, is a well-known philanthropist and campaign donor who has been involved in multiple business ventures in Iowa, including life insurance and retail firms. Hubbell in campaign events is touting progressive stances on education and access to health care, which includes women's and mental health. He has previously campaigned in Sioux City. Stephen Paddock, who sent bullets and terror down on thousands attending a Jason Aldean concert in Las Vegas, had an arsenal in his 32nd-floor hotel room and at his home 80 miles away, officials said. In the hours after the retired accountant committed the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history -- killing 59 and wounding at least 527 -- authorities rolled out frightening new details, including the discovery of scopes on rifles at the resort and explosives at his home. But what they couldn't explain is why the man who has never faced any notable criminal charges did it. There was no known motive late Monday. Even Paddock's brother had no answers. "We're still just completely befuddled. Dumbstruck," Eric Paddock said in Orlando, Florida. Latest developments -- A team of six officers spoke with security at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where Paddock was staying, and searched the hotel floor-by-floor Sunday night before they encountered him, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. -- Paddock, 64, shot through the doorway, firing at officers, Lombardo said. A SWAT team broke down the door to the hotel room. "We believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry," the sheriff said. -- Lombardo said 16 rifles and a handgun were found in the room on the Las Vegas Strip. Several of the rifles had scopes of them. Authorities found 18 firearms, explosives and several thousand rounds of ammunition in Paddock's Mesquite, Nevada, home. The gunman apparently had smashed out two windows to increase his range of targets. -- The sheriff said a SWAT team was standing by at a house in northern Nevada. A law enforcement official confirmed the FBI is present in Reno. -- Sandra Casey, a special education teacher in Manhattan Beach, California, was killed, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District said. "We lost a spectacular teacher who devoted her life to helping some of our most needy students," school board President Jennifer Cochran said. -- Sonny Melton also was identified as among the dead. His employer, Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tennessee, said Melton was a registered nurse. His wife survived the shooting. -- Police had no prior knowledge of the gunman before the attack, Lombardo said. "I don't know how it could have been prevented," he said. -- Paddock bought multiple firearms in the past, but investigators believe the firearms were purchased legally, a law enforcement official said. The official said initial reports suggest at least one rifle was altered to function as an automatic weapon. -- Chris Michel, owner of Dixie GunWorx, in St. George, Utah, recalled selling Paddock a shotgun earlier this year, CNN affiliate KTVX reported. "He talked about how he just moved closer to where we are," Michel said of Paddock. "He said he was visiting local firearms shops." Paddock lived in Mesquite, Nevada, about 35 miles from St. George. 'Everyone's dying around me' Witnesses described the horror that unfolded. Taylor Benge said he "could see a guy with a bullet wound right in his neck, motionless," several feet away. "From there on ... people just started dropping like flies." Alexandria Cheplak, 25, called her father as she ran from the bullets. "Everyone's dying around me," Jon Cheplak recalled her saying. "Everyone's dying. They shot my friend ... I've got to get out of here." Police said Paddock, unleashed a hailstorm of bullets from the 32nd floor of the resort, Lombardo said Monday. Authorities are still piecing together a motive. "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath," the sheriff said. Mayor Carolyn Goodman described the gunman as "a crazed lunatic full of hate." Festival turns into massacre The massacre started about 10:08 p.m. Sunday (1:08 a.m. ET Monday) at the Route 91 Harvest festival, Lombardo said. Benge was enjoying the concert with his sister when he heard a relentless onslaught of at least "200 to 300" bullets. "The firing went on forever," witness Kimberly Chilcote said. She and her husband ran in short bursts -- sprinting and hiding to avoid being targeted. "There were purses and shoes everywhere ... there were bodies and blood," she said. "We just kept running." Benge lauded the heroics of his sister, who "threw herself on top of me and said, 'I love you, Taylor,'" he said. "Even after an hour and 30 minutes, I didn't know if I was safe." Witness Bryan Hopkins said he survived by jumping into a walk-in freezer at the Mandalay Bay hotel. "There must have been, I don't know, 23 to 30 of us inside this freezer," he said. Corrine Lomas recalled the heroism of fellow concertgoers, risking their lives to save others. "A lot of really good people (were) holding people's wounds shut, trying to help them while everybody was just ducked down," she said. The investigation Police said they believe Paddock acted alone. "Right now, we believe it's a sole actor, a lone-wolf-type actor," the sheriff said. So far, the massacre has no known link to overseas terrorism or terror groups, a US official with knowledge of the case said. And a woman who was described as a "person of interest" after the attack is now not believed to be involved in the shooting, police said in a statement. "Marilou Danley is no longer being sought out as a person of interest," the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said. "LVMPD detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip." The gunman's brother, Eric Paddock, said he was stunned to learn Stephen was believed responsible. He described his brother, a retired accountant, as "a wealthy guy. He liked to play video poker. He went on cruises." The last time Eric Paddock spoke to his brother was when Stephen texted him, asking how their mother was doing after losing power from Hurricane Irma. Eric Paddock said he knew his brother owned a few handguns and maybe one long rifle, but said he did not know of any automatic weapons. Blood donations needed With hundreds of victims still hospitalized, officials feared the death toll will rise. The sheriff implored the community to donate blood. And hundreds of Nevadans did exactly that. Shanda Maloney tweeted a photo while she stood in line at 4:30 a.m. "This. Is. Vegas. This is our community. These are our people. Thank you to everyone here donating," she tweeted. Maloney told CNN she also gave transportation to anyone who needed it after the attack. "I just started picking people up and giving people rides," she said. Aldean speaks out Aldean posted a statement on Instagram saying that he and his crew were safe. "My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," he wrote. Country singer Jake Owen, who was on stage with Aldean, said children were among the crowd. "I saw kids on their parents' shoulders tonight," he said. "This is something they'll never forget." 10 minutes of gunfire Rachel De Kerf filmed her escape, starting just after the first shots were fired. "The gunshots lasted for 10-15 minutes. It didn't stop," she said. "We just ran for our lives." Her sister, Monique Dumas, said everyone dropped to the ground as as the gunman sprayed bullets. "It seemed there was a pause in the gunfire, and the people in the yellow shirts were telling the people to 'go, go, go, go,' " she said. But "the gunfire never ended, it seemed like it went on and on and on. A concertgoer told CNN affiliate KLAS that frantic concertgoers piled on top of each other, trying to get out of the shooter's line of fire. "My husband and I ran out toward our car, and there were people hiding underneath my car for cover," she said. "There was a gentleman who was shot and he said, 'Can you help me?' And so I put him in my car, and I had like six people in my car -- people without shoes, running, just to get away." 'Like shooting fish in a barrel' Audio of the shooting suggested that the shooter had used a military-style weapon, CNN law enforcement analyst James Gagliano said. "Automatic weapon(s) like that -- had to be numbers of magazines or a very large drum," he said. "It sounded to me like a belt-fed weapon, a military-style weapon. And then to be shooting down, to use the analogy, it was like shooting fish in a barrel in that space." MGM Resorts, which owns the hotel the gunman fired from, tweeted its condolences. As local hospitals rushed to treat hundreds of patents, some relatives were still trying to find their loved ones. Those looking for friends and family still missing after the attack can call 866-535-5654. Facebook has set up a crisis response page to help people determine whether their loved ones are safe. CNN's Susannah Cullinane, John Couwels, Amanda Watts, Paul Murphy, Jean Casarez, Shimon Prokupecz, AnneClaire Stapleton, Evan Perez, Euan McKirdy, Su and Lawrence Davidson contributed to this report. 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. As Hurricane Irma approached Florida anxiety was everywhere. People were rushing for fuel, water, food and supplies. Vehicles clogged the roads northbound and airplane seats became scarce. Through it all, one South Florida legislator kept tabs on the prison population. We had the largest relocation of inmates that has ever occurred in the United States, David Richardson told a group of supporters in Coconut Grove last week. The three-term state representative said 12,000 inmates were moved without any publicity and with highway patrol escorts. And I was briefed all along, Richardson revealed. In an e-mail, Michelle Glady, Director of Communications of the Florida Department of Corrections, confirmed Richardsons account. The Department successfully evacuated over 12,000 inmates to various facilities across the state, Glady wrote. If an evacuation of this size has ever occurred in FDCs history, or anywhere else in the country, our leadership team is unaware of it. Satellite facilities including work camps, community release centers, etc., were evacuated to larger facilities. Also, open-bay type housing units were evacuated across the state and those inmates were temporarily relocated to secure housing units within the larger institutions. Richardson has spent a bulk of his legislative career auditing the states private prison industrial complex. The result has seen the state stepping in to take over failing facilities. It is an achievement Richardson thinks will bolster his chances of becoming Floridas first gay man elected to U.S. Congress. The work Ive done in the prison system was not something I had on my radar a couple years ago but I realized if I dug deep enough I would be able to effect change, Richardson said. The Department of Corrections has worked very closely with me and they make sure if they are going to make a big move they call and brief me and Im just a little Democrat. Richardson has thrown his hat in the ring for the open seat in congressional district 27. Current Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is retiring and the district will likely flip from Republican to Democrat in 2018. Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump by 20 points in this Miami-Dade district. I am very pleased David was the first openly LGBT person elected to the Florida House of Representatives, but I am even more impressed with his ability to get things done in the minority party, said Joe Falk, past president of SAVE, who hosted Richardson at his home for last weeks fundraiser. His amazing work with the prison system is extraordinary. Even more extraordinary is the hard detailed work that is never reported by the press. Joining Falk in the Richardson camp is Mark Gilbert, chair of the board of directors of Outshine Film Festival. Gilbert cited Richardsons assistance in bringing a grant to his organizations attention and praised his help in providing housing and transportation for youth visiting Miami for this years Maccabi Games. Richardsons work in the prison system, Gilbert said, is heavy lifting and far from glamorous work. When hes talking about the prison stuff hes not talking about getting them beach chairs, hes talking about getting them toilet paper and toothbrushes, Gilbert said. According to local media outlets in Orlando, Walt Disney World has agreed to pay its employees wages they lost when the theme park was shut down because of Hurricane Irma. For individuals with employers which arent as generous, the deadline to apply for government compensation for lost wages is Oct. 16. Individuals who are self-employed can also qualify. The financial assistance is funded by the federal government but administered through each state hit by Irma. Floridians can go to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunitys website, Connect.Myflorida.com, to apply. According to Benefits.gov, the U.S. governments official benefits website, individuals who are not eligible for unemployment benefits, can apply to be compensated for lost wages because of Irma. Those who apply must live in a region declared a disaster zone by a presidential order, which includes Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties. Those who apply must provide their Social Security number, check stubs, and documents to prove they were working or self-employed at the time of the storm. Circumstances for obtaining compensation include the loss of employment, inability to reach the workplace, inability to work because of injury, structural damage to workplace, loss of power, or the person seeking compensation became the head of the household after the previous head of household died because of the storm. In a press released, Governor Rick Scott touted the financial assistance program. As we all recover from Hurricane Irma, we are doing everything we can to help Floridians get back on their feet. This federal funding will provide important employment opportunities to Floridians who may have lost their jobs due to the impacts of this massive storm and will also support ongoing recovery efforts. Now, Floridians can get back to work helping those in their communities. We will continue to work together to make sure everyone has the support they need to rebuild. Loans Small business owners can also apply for loans. The Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program provides financial assistance to businesses damaged by the disaster. The short term, interest-free loans can be used to pay for expenses until insurance claims are paid-out or more long-term loans can be secured. Visit FloridaDisasterLoan.org for more information. A woman running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates is on the receiving end of transphobic comments but she wont just sit and take it. Democrat Danica Roems opponent GOP incumbent Bob Marshall refuses to debate her before the November election and repeatedly misgenders her on purpose. Why do you call Danica a female? he said last month according to NewNowNext. Did Danicas DNA change? In response, Roem released a counter-advertisement this week against Marshalls attacks simply stating that her identity as a transgender woman should not be an issue. Im running for office because my identity shouldnt be a big deal, she said in the ad, which depicts her taking medicine and putting on makeup in her restroom. Because this shouldnt be newsworthy or political. This is just who I am. Roem is the first openly transgender candidate and, if elected, would be the nations first transgender state legislator. There are millions of transgender people in this country, and we all deserve representation in government, she added. So when I stand up on the Statehouse floor and the Speaker says the gentlewoman from Manassas, LGBTQ kids everywhere will know they can succeed because of who they are, not despite it. Watch the ad below. Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza. Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres. We can't seem to find the page you are looking for. You may have typed the address incorrectly or you may have used an outdated link. In an explosive move, handicapper Anne Stepien leapfrogged from seventh to second place, just 14 points away from first place in the Hambletonian Society Grand Circuit Handicapping Challenge as week one (9/28-10/1) of the Red Mile Grand Circuit supplemented with races from Harrahs and Northlands Park ended. In the overall standings, Rusty Nash maintains his hold on the stop spot for the third week in a row. Four handicappers earned triple-digit points for the four days. Stepien earned a total of 180 points to earn weekly honours with Ray Cotolo finishing second with 152 points. Jay Hochstetlers 137 points was good enough to land the show spot with Megan Maccario completing the superfecta with 111 points. On Thursday, Sally Hinckley drew first blood with her selection of Seven Iron ($26.80) in the second division of the Bluegrass for two-year-old colt and gelding trotters and Moosonee, whose second-place finish in a later division earned her an additional $34.40 dividend to cruise to victory. Despite Stepien having six winners on Friday, the days top spot belonged to Ray Garnett, whose three winners were coupled with Baby Wants, whose third-place finish in the Simpson paid $76.40 to show. On Saturday, Cotolos three winners was good enough to grab the top slot, as he edged Maccario by $1.70. Saving the best for last, Stepien tabbed seven winners on Sunday to grab daily honours. Among her winners were Mikes Z Tam ($27.60) and International Moni ($10.60). In the year-to-date battle, Nash maintains his lead with 1,111.2 points, just ahead of the surging Stepien (1,097.82 pts.). Moving back into the top three is Maccario with 1,094.9 points. Matt Rose (1,073.88 pts.) and Gordon Waterstone (1,070.5 pts.) round out the top five, within striking distance. Next Up: The Red Mile meet will conclude with the contesting of the International Stallion, Allerage Farms TVG, Glen Garnsey Memorial, Tattersalls, Kentucky Futurity and Kentucky Filly Futurity stakes. The following week, Hoosier Parks Circle City and Madison County stakes will be contested along with the Yonkers International Trot on Saturday, October 14. (HANA Harness) Fractional ownership is a relatively new concept in racehorse ownership, and many different models exist in Standardbred and Thoroughbred racing. Its a great entry point for someone brand new to racehorse ownership and offers a lot less risk than the traditional methods. So, if youve always wanted to own a racehorse and felt that it was too expensive, or too risky, the fractional route might be the way for you to go. You still get the same experiences and its a great way to test the waters of racehorse ownership without diving into the deep end on your first horse. On Friday, October 6, in co-operation with the upcoming London Selected Yearling Sale, a free racehorse ownership seminar will be hosted at The Raceway at Western Fair District. The seminar will focus on fractional horse ownership and will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (just prior to the live card of harness racing). Seminar attendees will receive 20 per cent off dinner that night and a $5 betting voucher. The seminar will feature presentations from ownership groups LandMark Racing Stables, thestable.ca and the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association (SBOA), and answer prospective owners questions about racehorse ownership. LandMark Racing Stable provides a unique opportunity for harness racing fans to participate in the fractional ownership of several horses, trained by veteran conditioner Mark Steacy, for a very modest one-time investment. This year will mark the 11th year for this group. The Stable, formed in 2015, and owned and operated by horseman Anthony MacDonald, along with his wife, Amy, offers buyers a comprehensive, cost effective and informative purchase process with shares starting as low as a few hundred dollars. Each year the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association (SBOA) offers nine individuals the opportunity to purchase a share of a Standardbred yearling. With the assistance of the SBOA and trainer Blake Macintosh, this years newcomers to harness racing will be guided through the intricacies of ownership. All three groups offer an affordable and easy way to become involved in owning a Standardbred racehorse. Workshop attendees will also receive an entry into the Win A Share in A Racehorse contest, sponsored by the Ontario Sires Stakes and presented in conjunction with the London Selected Yearling Sale hosted at the Metroland Media Agriplex at Western Fair District on October 14 and 15. The contest winner will receive a share ($2,000 value) in LandMark 11 Stable which will include an Ontario-sired horse. Racing takes place at The Raceway on Friday, October 6 starting at 7:00 p.m. To reserve a spot, or for more information on the seminar, email [email protected] or contact Kathy ([email protected]) or Hailey ([email protected]) at Standardbred Canada at 905-858-3060. 'Divergent Theology' is a Clarion Call to the Church and Might Even Ruffle Some Feathers Richard P. Moore's New Book Uncovers Some Perplexing New Developments Creeping Into Evangelical Christendom Contact: Richard P. Moore, +49 (0) 160 3125806 KANDERN, Germany, Oct. 2, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- Richard P. Moore, a missionary serving in Germany, released his first book on September 24, 2017. The book is called "Divergent Theology: An Inquiry into the Theological Characteristics of the Word of Faith Third Wave Movement & the New Apostolic Reformation." Richard asks the questions "are all so called Christian Movements, leaders, pastors, and churches really Christian? Are they all practicing historically accepted Christian teaching? What is really Orthodox Christian Theology anyway?" So many movements are growing and developing in modern Christendom. In Divergent Theology Richard P. Moore addresses many of the new theological streams of thought that are appearing in the new Christian landscape. Do you have the tools to discern between Biblical truth and Divergent or incorrect theology? In Moore's first book he deals with the Teaching, Theology and Practice of the Word of Faith, Third Wave Movement and the New Apostolic Reformation. He compares their theological underpinnings to historical creedal Christianity, what he finds may surprise you. "Divergent Theology" is available now at US Amazon and European Amazon stores, Kindle, and Createspace.com So what? What's the big deal? You may ask. If the New Apostolic Reformation does not affect you yet, it probably soon will. It is the fastest growing non-Catholic movement in the world. Some researchers have estimated that 369 million people worldwide are connected to, and or affected by the movement that has come to be known as the New Apostolic Reformation. Some authors have written about what the New Apostolic Reformation is, but there is very little by way of theological critique. Richard Moore hopes to chart a new course in which the New Apostolic Reformation and its leaders are held up to the lens of scripture and Creedal Christendom. Richard is available for interview or other media appearance upon request. Here is what people are saying about "Divergent Theology" "Richard Moore has identified and clearly explained a major doctrinal departure from the Bible. He has researched it well and written this important work warning of its effect upon evangelical churches today." -- Dr. Daniel E. Woodhead, President, Scofield Biblical Institute and Author of The Book of Zechariah: God Remembers Israel's Future "Divergent Theology" short advertisement: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir0isvygz-s&t=3s Jewish and Christian Leaders Come Together in Jerusalem as the Nations Unite in Prayer for Peace Contact: Stephen Jenks, Eagles' Wings , 716-759-1058JERUSALEM, Israel, Oct. 2, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- The words of Isaiah, "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob," echoed across the valley and over the Temple Mount, as hundreds lifted their voices for the global broadcast of the fifteenth annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.Started in 2002, and co-chaired by Evangelical Christian leaders Rev. Robert Stearns, Dr. Jack W. Hayford, and Dr. Paul Cedar, the DPPJ is a movement calling believers to intercede for the city God calls His own and to invoke God's blessing, purposes, and provision upon all of Jerusalem's people. On Sunday, October 1, believers on six continents gathered in remote villages and sprawling metropolises, in grass huts and ornate cathedrals to lift their voice in obedience to Psalm 122:6.Broadcast by GOD TV to 300 million viewers in 192 nations, people were also able to participate in the special Jerusalem DPPJ Celebration - hosted by Eagles' Wings Founder / Executive Director Rev. Robert Stearns at the Tayelet Haas Promenade overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem.Some of the speakers included: Member of Knesset Robert Ilatov, Member of Knesset Rabbi Yehuda Glick; Joshua Reinstein, Director of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus and President of the Israel Allies Foundation; David Nekrutman, Executive Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation (CJCUC); Rabbi Dr. Dovid Refson, Founder of the Neve College for Women in Jerusalem; Pastor Rusty Nelson, Senior Pastor of Rock Family Worship Center; and Dr. Jurgen Buhler of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.Pastor Rusty Nelson, speaking about how special it was to be a part of this gathering, said, "My father brought me to Israel when I was just sixteen years old. He raised me to understand the importance of loving and praying for the land and people of Israel. I am very thankful that we get to stand here today and stand with believers around the world praying for Jerusalem."Referring to the annual prayer gathering in Jerusalem, Member of Knesset Yehuda Glick exclaimed, "This event is so moving for every one of us here in Jerusalem."Member of Knesset Robert Ilatov, Chairman of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus, referencing the recent United Nations resolutions denying any historic Jewish presence in Jerusalem, stated, "The question of Jerusalem is a matter of truth. It is a biblical issue. We have to believe the Bible that says Jerusalem is the eternal, undivided capital of Israel."Dr. Jurgen Buehler explained, "It is special that we are here praying for this city today, as this year we are celebrating fifty years since Jerusalem was reunified under Israeli leadership."Referencing this unity, Rabbi Dovid Refson declared, "The unification of Jerusalem cannot come about by conquest and not by political machinations but only by the word of God coming to all of us."Orthodox Jewish leader David Nekrutman, as he stood with Rev. Stearns, said, "I would have never thought that a Christian would stand side by side with a Jew; that is a move of the Holy Spirit."As the gathering culminated with an extended time of worship and prayer led by Christian leaders from throughout Israel, Rev. Stearns affirmed, "We believe prayer makes a difference, and it is a privilege to offer prayer for God's peace in Jerusalem from this holy city."Throughout the 24 hours of October 1st, hundreds of believers from around the world participated in a 24-Hour DPPJ Prayer Conference Call hosted by greatercalling.org. Callers representing many states in the U.S. were joined by believers from the nations, praying a total of 20,985 combined minutes of prayer, which is the equivalent to one person praying for the peace of Jerusalem non-stop for more than 27 days.The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem on the first Sunday of every October - is the largest Jerusalem-focused prayer initiative in the world, involving tens of millions of believers participating each year from over 175 nations. It is endorsed by prominent Christian leaders worldwide, including T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Samuel Rodriguez, Michael W. Smith, Kenneth Copeland, Kay Arthur, Jane Hansen Hoyt, Ravi Zacharias, Lance Wallnau, Larry Stockstill, and many more. It's Election season and our editor's mailbox is overflowing. Who do your neighbors support? Read about it here. A Longview woman who admitted to giving her roommate heroin and then leaving their apartment while her friend overdosed and died was sentenced to 42 months in prison and 42 months in community custody Thursday. Jessica Nicole Brown, 28, pleaded guilty to controlled substance homicide in the May 7 death of her friend and roommate, Sara Marie Kirchner, 26. Sarah was a good friend of mine, not just an acquaintance in the drug world that I used with, Brown told Cowlitz Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning. Not only did I lose a person dear to me, but I lost a piece of myself. My terrible choices that day cast a big shadow in the brightness of my future and darkened hers forever. For that, I am deeply ashamed. Brown added that her time in jail awaiting resolution of her case helped her get clean. When I look back at six months ago, I dont even know who I was, she said. I needed this time to be clean and focus and soul-search. I would literally rather have the death penalty than get out and do the same things again, because I would be a hopeless individual. Just after 2 p.m. on May 7, police were called to the 3800 block of Pennsylvania Street. They found Kirchner dead in the apartment bathroom from an apparent overdose. Officers found Brown in the bushes outside the apartment. Brown later admitted to giving Kirchner heroin and leaving the apartment in a panic when her roommate overdosed, according to court records. A friend whom Brown called to the apartment alerted authorities approximately 40 to 60 minutes later, but by then Kirchner had died. Kirchner is the granddaughter of Robert and Pauline Kirchner, who are known for their philanthropy and his leadership of what formerly was Kalama Chemical Co. Brown was given a so-called DOSA (Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative) sentence, in which the judge takes the midpoint of a crimes standard sentencing range in this case, 84 months, or seven years and splits that time halfway between prison and community custody. Deputy Prosecutor Eric Bentson recommended prison time of six years, with a year in community custody. He said the fact that Brown gave Kirchner heroin in the first place was reckless. When youre giving someone else heroin, youre putting their life in danger, Bentson said. Its like handing (someone) a revolver with one round chambered in Russian Roulette. Bentson directly blamed Brown for Kirchners death. (Kirchners) life could have possibly been saved if the defendant had not been so fearful of what would have happened to her and had looked out for the other person who was harmed, he said. But Judge Warning went along with defense attorney Edward Debrays request for a DOSA sentence. Had he sentenced Brown to six years in prison, Warning said, the most community supervision she could have served was a year, and he felt that wasnt not long enough for her to stay clean. If Brown violates any terms of community custody, Warning said he could send her back to prison. Warning did, however, agree with Bentsons analogy. Mr. Bentson is correct in that opioid use is a giant game of Russian Roulette, and everyone loses eventually. Browns sentence includes her guilty plea to a March money laundering charge. In one of the more disturbing news stories in a while, Southern California school districts warned parents Saturday that homemade flutes handed out by a music teacher with a non-profit group may have been tainted with the teachers semen. Heres more on that from Joseph Pimentel and Louis Casiano Jr. of The Orange County Register: Several school districts across Southern California posted updates Saturday, Sept 30 regarding a state and federal investigation into a person suspected of distributing homemade flutes tainted with a bodily fluid to children in school music programs. An official with the Saugus Union School District said she was told the fluid was semen. The Fullerton School District and the Saugus district in Santa Clarita both issued statements saying the states Department of Justice is investigating a musical performer associated with Flutes Across the World, a nonprofit music program that has partnerships with school districts in Orange County and Los Angeles as well as with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. The performer distributes a flute-like musical instrument made of PVC pipe or bamboo to students during a music lesson, and the allegation is that he contaminated some of these instruments with semen, Joan Lucid, superintendent of the Saugus district, said in the email to parents Saturday. According to several school district officials, a performer from Flutes Across the World handed out handmade, do-it-yourself flutes made of PVC plastic piping and a cork that could be decorated on the outside to students who participated in the music program. Cop stabbed dead by mugger in Kishoreganj A policeman was stabbed to death by a mugger in Bhairab upazila of Kishoreganj Sunday night. The deceased was identified as M Arif,22, a constable of Bridge Ghat Police camp. Police said a group of muggers snatched some money from a transport worker, Dalim, after chopping him on Dhaka-Sylhet Highway near Syed Nazrul Islam Bridge around 8:30pm yesterday and tried to flee the scene. As the victim shouted for help, constable Arif rushed in from the nearby area. When Arif was trying to capture one of the muggers, he attacked the policeman with sharp weapon, leaving him critically injured. Locals took Arif and Dalim to Bhairab Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared Arif dead. Bhairab Police Station Officer-in-charge Mokhlesur Rahman said they launched a drive to arrest muggers. UN to send war crimes investigators to Yemen Yemeni men stand on the debris of a house, hit in an air strike on a residential district, in the capital Sanaa. AFP : The UN Human Rights Council agreed Friday to send war crimes investigators to Yemen, overcoming resistance from Saudi Arabia, which had fought to head off an independent international probe. In a resolution adopted by consensus, the council mandated UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein to send a group of "eminent experts" to Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Huthi rebels since March 2015. The experts will conduct "a comprehensive examination of all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights" committed in the conflict and seek "to identify those responsible," it said. Launching the probe marks a victory for a group of European states and Canada, which pushed hard for an international inquiry fully independent of a Yemeni national investigation that is backed by the Saudis. The Saudi-led coalition has been accused of bombing schools, markets, hospitals and other civilian targets in support of Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. The Iran-backed Huthi rebels have also been accused of widespread abuses, which the UN team will also probe. Saudi Arabia had for the past two years succeeded in blocking the rights chief's call for an international inquiry. In a letter leaked to several media outlets this week, the kingdom threated economic and diplomatic retaliation against rights council members which voted for the EU/Canadian proposal. The Saudi envoy to the council, Abdulaziz Alwasil, ended up endorsing Friday's resolution, which was slightly softer than previous EU proposals. An earlier Dutch/Canadian draft asked for a Commission of Inquiry, the UN's highest level investigation, but that call was removed from the adopted version. In a statement, the Saudi Press Agency hailed the move as a victory for Riyadh's diplomatic efforts to have the Dutch proposal withdrawn and for Europe to adopt "the Arab proposal which supports Yemen's national investigative committee". Countries with significant and lucrative ties to Saudi Arabia, including the United States, Britain and France, were reported to have sought a compromise to break the deadlock. US envoy Theodore Allegra said he was pleased the 47-member rights council was "speaking with one voice on Yemen" and Britain's ambassador Julian Braithwaite called the resolution "a significant achievement". Yemeni envoy Mohamed Saeed Majawar said his government would "engage positively" with the experts. Human Rights Watch had argued forcefully for a Commission of Inquiry but said Friday's result still amounted to a success. "After more than two years of impunity for horrendous crimes in Yemen, today could mark a turning point," HRW's Geneva director John Fisher said in a statement. The new probe "will bring an unprecedented level of scrutiny to the conduct of all parties to the Yemen war", he said. DIU holds dialogue on Rohingya crisis Speakers at a dialogue on \'Rohingya Crisis: Challenges and Way Forward\' held at Daffodil International University organized by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication on Thursday. Campus Report : Speakers in a dialogue held at Daffodil International University (DIU) recently urged all to stand by the Rohingya and to be sympathetic to them. They also urged to come forward all national and international organizations to ensure their safe repatriation and right to their citizenship as millions of Rohingya people took shelter in Bangladesh after they had faced persecution in the Rakhaine State of Mayanmar. The dialogue was held at 71 Milonayoton of DIU on Thursday. The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of Daffodil International University has organized this dialogue on 'Rohingya Crisis: Challenges and Way Forward'. Country's renowned Writer and Columnist Syed Abul Maksud presided over the program and Brigadier M Sakhawat Hossain (Rtd.), Former Election Commissioner, Prof Salimullah Khan, Ambassador M Jamir, Ambassador Munshi Faiz Ahmed, Chairman, BIISS, Prof M Shaheduzzaman, Department of IR, University of Dhaka, Poet and Journalist Sohrab Hasan of Prothom Alo, Asif Munir, Formar Country Head, IOM, Saiful Haq Omi, Photographer and Human Activist, Monzurul Islam, Chief Editor, DBC News took part in the dialogue session. Syed Mizanur Rahman, Director of Student Affairs of Daffodil International University delivered the welcome address. Media Personalities Prof Robaet Ferdous moderated the program. Prof Dr AMM Hamidur Rahman, Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, DIU, Prof Dr Golam Mowla Choudhury, Controller of Examinations, DIU and Many other Faculty members and students were also present at the program. Syed Abul Maksud said to his presidential speech that Rohingya crisis is one of the most vulnerable crises of 8/10 crisis among the history of last two thousand years of the world. Bangladesh has given them shelter for the consideration of humanity. Now we have to solve this problem by diplomatically or political way or anyhow. Syed Abul Maksud said that top intellectual personalities are giving speech in today's program. It's a great opportunity for the students to listen from them face to face. We didn't have this kind of opportunity while we were student. In the mean time he said, its duty for a University to arrange various kind of expert knowledge and provide to the students. He gave thank to Daffodil International University for taking this initiative. Prof Salimullah Khan said, there are two type of crisis for Rohingya issue. One is, they are coming like flood water and another is, they have no right to live in their own native land of Myanmar. So that it's not enough to push back them, but also we have to ensure that they will reside there with complete citizenship and rights. For doing this, Bangladesh will have to create international pressure on Myanmar about Rohingya issue. Brigadier M Sakhawat Hossain (Rtd) said, our big challenge is, we have not enough knowledge on Myanmar. Our connectivity with Myanmar is so narrow. For solving this Rohingya crisis, firstly we have to gather knowledge on Myanmar. We have to take initiative keeping Myanmar's strength in consideration. Former ambassador M Jamir said to the young students that, you have to move from facebook and look forward to other medium of internet to know about Myanmar and Rohingya issue. SSLCOMMERZ to provide online payment service to UITS Vice Chancellor of University of Information Technology and Sciences, Prof Dr Mohammed Solaiman and Chief Operating Officer Ashish Chakraborty of SSL Wireless shaking hands after signing an agreement on behalf of their respective organizations held on UIT Campus Report : SSLCOMMERZ, a secure online payment gateway platform developed by SSL Wireless, will provide online payment gateway service for University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS). An online payment gateway service agreement has been signed between UITS, one of the recognized private universities of Bangladesh and SSL Wireless. Connecting with SSLCOMMERZ's online payment gateway will make collecting all types of payments from students easier and secure for UITS. According to the agreement, from now on, the students and guardians will be able to pay academic fees online from home or anywhere, anytime using their Debit/Credit Cards or via Online Banking, Mobile Banking etc. The signing ceremony took place at UITS Campus, Dhaka. Vice Chancellor, Prof Dr Mohammed Solaiman and Chief Operating Officer Ashish Chakraborty signed the agreement on behalf of UITS and SSL Wireless respectively. The signing was witnessed by top level management personnel from both sides including SSL Wireless's M Nawat Ashekin, Head of e-Commerce Services, Ahsashan Habib, Deputy Manager and UITS's Md. Mahfuzur Rahman Bhuiyan, Director F&A and some other high officials from both the companies were present there. Austrian Professor meets DU VC Professor Dr Franz Ottner of the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences of Vienna, Austria paid a courtesy call on Dhaka University (DU) Vice-Chancellor Professor Md Akhtaruzzaman at his office on Monday. DU Professors at the Department of Soil, Water and Environment Dr Md Aminur Rahman Majumder and Dr Md Zakir Hossain Khan were present on the occasion, said a DU release. During the meeting, they discussed the possibilities of undertaking joint collaborative academic and research programs between the two universities. They agreed to sign a MoU in this regard soon, the release added. Jaya targeted on social media for celebrating Durga Puja At a time when Kolkata was busy soaking up the festive fun, actress Jaya Ahsan was targeted by by an Internet mob for celebrating what else but Durga Puja! Jaya Ahsan was in for an unpleasant surprise when her post and photo were stalked and picked on by trolls. Jaya said, The picture with my mother was clicked at the Puja in our residential compound. This is where 300 people of different religions happily co exist -its a mini Bangladesh.We celebrate Puja in a big way. Only today, I posted a picture of Muharram-er khichuri that my mother prepared. Before I was awake, she divided the khichuri into small portions so that it could be sent to the houses in our neighbourhood. We dont send the khichuri only to Muslim families, but also to Hindus.Likewise, we send halwa to everyone on Shab-e-Barat. Those who are on social media and have an easy access to internet don't know much about my country. And because they lack education, they are not aware of Islam. As per Islam, a rich man and a fakir are supposed to read namaz together and eat from the same plate on Eid. Buddhists exchange views with AL leaders Chittagong Bureau : Organizing Secretary of ruling Awami League Barrister Muhibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel said there is no cause to be feared for the internal crisis of Myanmar and Buddhist people here will release Fanus to celebrate the Proborana Purnima in Chittagong. Addressing the view exchange meeting with the leaders of Buddhist community in Chittagong, Barrister Nowfel said Bangladesh is a country of communal harmony. "Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured the security of people of all religions." He said Buddhist people will release Fanus to celebrate the Proborana Purnima in Chittagong like every year. Myanmar is suffering from their internal crisis. But, our people are saving the lives of Rohingya Muslims as well as our Buddhist people." Among others, Awami League leaders Mithun Barua, Babita Barua, Pronob Raj Barua, Kajol Priyo Barua, Engineer Polash Barua, Advocate Dirgotom Barua, Rajesh Barua, Shafu Barua, Bojoy Barua, Professor Jogot Jyoti Barua, Reba Barua, Proshanto Kumar Barua, Sujit Kumar Barua, Dola Barua, mintu Barua, supayon Barua, Rupam Barua addressed the view exchange meeting held at the residence of A B M Mohiuddin Chowdhury at Chashma Hill in the port city on Friday.evening . 293 motor cycles seized during raid: Chittagong district police recovered a total of 293 stolen and non registered motor cycles in a two hour- long storm raid in Chittagong district area on Wednesday. Police filed 214 cases in this connection. Sources said, police conducted a storm raid to nab the motor cycle thieves by setting up 54 check posts in Chittagong. The two hour- long raid from 10 am to 12 pm was led by Additional SP's Rezaul Masud and A K M Emran Bhuiyan. The police team seized a total of 293 stolen and non registered motor cycles during the raid. Rezaul Masud said under the supervision of SP Nur -e- Alam Mina, raids were conducted setting up check posts on Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway and Dhaka-Chittagonghighway.The Chittagong Buddhist leaders in Chittagong exchanging views with AL leader Barrister Muhibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel at his city residence on Friday . ACC seeks UNODC's support to probe mega scams UNB, Dhaka : The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has sought support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to effectively conduct probes into mega scams, including money-laundering incidents and cyber crimes, here. ACC chairman Iqbal Mahood sought UNODC's help when a two-member delegation, led by its Anti-corruption Adviser (South-East Asia and Pacific Zone) Zorana Marcovic, met him at the Commission's head office on Monday. Mahmood said the ACC lacks skilled manpower to conduct in-depth probes into cyber crimes, money-laundering incidents and mega corruption allegations. "During probes into big scams, our officers have not enough capacity to collect strong evidences, which could be placed in court. And that's why our officials should be trained to improve their capacity," he said. Noting that preventing money-laundering is a big challenge for Bangladesh, the ACC chief said, "Tade-based money-laundering is a big threat to us." He said the ACC wants to see the exchange of the best practices of global anti-graft agencies under the South-South cooperation and North-South cooperation as the nature of corruption of the South-South countries is the same. ACC commissioner AFM Aminul Islam and its secretary Dr Shamsul Arefin were, among others, present at the meeting. It`s not a bilateral issue, and it`s another country's internal crisis A MINISTER of Myanmar's State Counsellor Office, U Kyaw Tint Swe, is currently leading talks with Bangladesh, led by our Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali. As we all know, the Myanmar delegation's attempt for starting the dialogue comes in the wake of more than a half a million Refugees being forced to take shelter in Bangladesh because of intensifying persecution carried out by the country's military there. What needs a clear understanding in this regard is - it is not about any unresolved issue between the two countries; it is a manmade humanitarian crisis which has sprung up in Myanmar. Therefore, the source, the oppressors and the oppressed are all in that country. Bangladesh is only being forced to shelter the Rohingyas because of its geographical border being shared with Myanmar. For instance, when Bangladesh needed to resolve the unresolved sea territory issue with Myanmar, it was forced to take the country to the international courts in Hague and get it resolved through a landmark verdict in 2014. It was purely a bilateral issue then, but the continuing Rohingya crisis by no way involves Bangladesh for which it is now bearing the brunt by giving shelter to hundreds of thousands of refugees. Since the international community and the UNSC members have attempted to resolve the crisis within their capacities, which has no connection with Bangladesh, the Myanmar government should exclusively deal with the UN and the International Community on how the country plans to put an end to the crisis while taking its refugees back and repatriate them. We are more than sceptic about the outcome of the ongoing discussion between our Foreign office high-ups and the Myanmar Minister. There is also a risk involved for engaging in bilateral talks, since the international community is now engaged in addressing the crisis. Myanmar government can well try to evade humanitarian obligations and aim to settle the issue by following adhoc measures, meaning - temporarily it may take a few thousand refugees and give a clear 'diplomatic eye-wash' to the rest of the world. The apparent fear is that, the country can divert international attention and somewhat convince the UN to tackle the issue by taking full advantage of our weak and naive diplomacy. Myanmar past record is not reliable. At par with the UN Secretary General's three major conditions - Myanmar must allow UN observers to enter the Rakihne state for monitoring the progress. Hold frequent dialogues with the key members of the UN and the International Community other than indulge in fruitless time wasting measures. That said -- Myanmar should focus to ensure safe and quick repatriation of Rohingyas, stop the ongoing military persecution and grant unimpeded access to all aid relief. There is no room for Bangladesh to play any role in the realisation of any of these three UN obligations. We should refrain from engaging bilaterally with Myanmar -- at least on the topic of the Rohingya crisis. BD contributes with 65 pc of all Hilsa Anisul Islam Noor : The government has imposed a ban on catching, selling, hoarding and transportation of Hilsa for 22 days from Sunday (October 1) to protect hilsa breeding. The ban covers 100 kilometres of river waters from Shatnal Upazila in Chandpur district to Char Alekjhander in Lakshmipur district. There are also rules of punishment and fines for breaching the ban order, sources said. According to a report by World Fish, Bangladesh is the leading country in Hilsa production with 65 per sent of all Hilsa, while India contributes with 10-15 per cent and Myanmar 8-10 per cent. The remaining Hilsa comes from other countries. The government started identifying breeding spots of Hilsa since 2002. The Fisheries Department initiated a project to conserve Jatka (Hilsa less than 10 inches long) in 2004. Initially, raising awareness and dissuading fishermen from catching Hilsa fry was the target. The government slapped a ban on fishing Jatka and mother Hilsas in five breeding zones, including Chandpur, Lakkhipur, Barisal, Bhola, Patuakhali, Cox's Bazar and Chittagong for eight months between November and June from the 2007-08 season. Fisheries officials said the Hilsa traders, sellers, buyers and fishermen ultimately are being benefited due to the ban on Hilsa catching during the peak breeding season for last several years, increasing its production. Among the 11 countries where Hilsa is found, Bangladesh is the only country where production of this silver fish is on the rise. Besides, Hilsa is contributing to meet the demand of protein in the country. Md Shafiqur Rahman of Chandpur District Fisheries Department said that the period (October 1-22) is known as the peak breeding season of Hilsa. According to the World Fish, Hilsa production is on the wane along the coasts of India and Myanmar, Bahrain and Kuwait's Arabian Sea, the West Mid Pacific adjacent to Malaysia and Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia's Mekong, as well as China and Thailand's China Sea waters. Yet Hilsa production has been increasing at the rate of 8 pc to 10 pc every year in Bangladesh. The government provided identity cards to around 224,000 Hilsa fishermen in a bid to give them a three-month access to social security during the ban period. Research organisations think these measures to safeguard the fish have been very effective. Bangladesh has almost doubled its Hilsa production just in 12 years. According to the Directorate of Fisheries, Bangladesh is likely catch around four tonnes of Hilsa this year. India and Myanmar have already started following Bangladesh model to increase their Hilsa production. Fish experts said Hilsa production can be maximised in adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal. For this, India and Myanmar have to stop netting mother hilsas and jatkas along Bangladesh which will increase Hilsa in these areas. Fish experts from Kuwait and Bahrain contacted with researchers of the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) to understand Bangladeshi strategy to enhance Hilsa production. Following Bangladesh, both the countries have taken measures to identify Hilsa spawning spots and slap a ban on Hilsa catching during the time of spawning. Hilsa expert Sugata Hazra of the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University in India said that the number of Hilsa is increasing in Bangladesh as the sweet water of Padma and Meghna rivers is still fine and Hilsas get enough food there. Another reason that boosted Hilsa production in Bangladesh is the Jatka conservation project initiated in 2005 that imposed a ban on Hilsa fishing for its spawning period. According to the international fish research organization World Fish, Hilsa is available along the coasts of India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Iran and also some other countries of the world. However, the fish selects the Ganges basin of Bangladesh for breeding. Mother Hilsas gather in the rivers of the country to lay their eggs in monsoon. Hilsas are available from 1200 to 1300 kilometers upstream of the river and up to 250 kilometers away from the coast. The hilsa gets even tastier when they swim into the fresh water, washing away the salinity. Pointing out that Hilsa contains Omega-3, Professor Abdul Wahab of the Fisheries Department of Bangladesh Agriculture University said this is a kind of oil which is used worldwide as a medicine for several ailment, including heart disease. Only a number of fish has Omegs-3. Hilsa soup is sold at a high price in the US, New Zealand, and several European countries. Almost all the countries in the world, as a result want to increase Hilsa production. Bangladesh is leading the way. Allegations are there that the Hilsa price is high despite good production. The price of Hilsa is quite stable over the last 4-5 years compared to other foods. Hilsa might have been restricted to rich people if production was not increased. The middle and the upper middle class can enjoy the fish too because of the increased production. CJ goes on one month`s leave There was no pressure, says AG; Any mystery can bring disaster on Judiciary: Kh Mahbub Staff Reporter : Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha has applied to the President Abdul Hamid for one month's leave on health grounds. "The Chief Justice will go on one month's leave from Tuesday on health grounds," Law Minister Anisul Huq told journalists on Monday. He said, "The Chief justice usually approves his own leave," adding that his ministry received a letter in this regard yesterday. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said, "There was no pressure on him regarding 16th amendment verdict, he (Chief Justice) sought leave for one month showing personal reason." A gazette would be issued in this regard following the approval from the president, he added. The Supreme Court Bar Association yesterday evening arranged a press briefing in the Supreme Court Bar building to express their concern about the news. Bar leaders also went to CJ's residence to meet him but failed, bar secretary Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokan told this reporter. Senior Advocate and former President of the Supreme court Bar Association Khandker Mahbub Hossain said, "If there is any other mystery behind Chief Justice's leave then it will be a great disaster on the Judiciary." The Supreme Court is starting its regular functions from Tuesday after one and a half months vacation. Now top most senior Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court will act as Chief Justice, the Attorney General told the New Nation. As per rules, Justice Md. Abdul Wahab Miah would be made acting chief justice, he said. A vacation was running in the Supreme Court from August 27 to October 2. The Chief Justice was in foreign trip from September 8 to September 22. In a verdict on July 3, 2017, the Supreme Court upheld a previous High Court verdict that declared illegal the 16th amendment of the constitution. By this verdict the Parliament lost its authority to impeach any apex court judge. A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha unanimously declared the amendment illegal, dismissing a government appeal. The Supreme Court published the full verdict in its website on August 1, 2017. Controversy raised after publishing of the verdict. The ruling Awami league was aggrieved about the verdict. Some ministers of the government, ruling party leaders and lawyers expressed their dissatisfaction about some observations by the Chief Justice. They also demanded the resignation of the Chief Justice. The Parliament also accepted a proposal on September 14, 2017 to take some legal steps about some observations of the verdict. The High Court in May last year ruled that the 16th amendment was illegal and unconstitutional as it found the changes went against the principles of the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary. In the legal battle with the HC, the government tried to defend the amendment which being passed in September 2014 abolished the chief justice-led Supreme Judicial Council to empower parliament. On January 4 this year, it filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against the HC verdict. After hearing the arguments for and against the appeal for over 11 days, a seven-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on July 3, 2017 unanimously upheld the HC verdict by rejecting the appeal. While announcing the short order, the chief justice said they dismissed the appeal unanimously with some observations. The observations was learnt after release of the copy of the full verdict on August 1, 2017. Over 50 killed in Las Vegas shooting People scramble over barriers to get to safety as the gunfire rages on at the Las Vegas event. Los Angeles Times : More than 50 people were killed and at least 200 others injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said. Police released the updated death toll in the early morning hours after a horrific night of violence that turned a concert into a scene of carnage. While initial reports put the death toll at 20, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police tweeted later that at least 50 were dead. Police said the suspect, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nev., was killed after a SWAT team burst into the hotel room from which he was firing at the crowd. "Right now we believe it's a solo act, a lone wolf attacker," Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. "We are pretty confident there is no longer a threat." Authorities said the gunman appeared to have begun firing at 10:08 p.m. from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel toward the concert venue across the street. Officers entered the room and engaged the suspect. "He is dead, currently," Lombardo said, adding that authorities have no evidence of a motive. "We don't know what his belief system was at this time." Police are seeking to speak to Marilou Danley, who is described as the suspect's "companion." Police said they have succeeded in locating a woman, identified as Marilou Danley, who was believed to be traveling with Paddock and is listed as living at his address in Mesquite, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. "We are confident we have located the female person of interest," the department said on Twitter. Authorities executed a search warrant at the suspect's home and found several rifles in the suspect's room, Lombardo said. Mesquite Police officer Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the department, said about 10 Mesquite officers were at the home early Monday morning holding a perimeter. Two of the dead may include a pair of off-duty police officers who were attending the concert, Lombardo said. "A tragic and heinous act of violence has shaken the Nevada family," Gov. Brian Sandoval said on Twitter. "Our prayers are with the victims and all affected by this act of cowardice." President Trump tweeted his "warmest condolences and sympathies" to the victims and their families. University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said the hospital was treating "many patients" with gunshot wounds in the wake of the shooting. There were so many that citizens were arriving at the emergency room with gunshot victims loaded into their cars, local media reported. Authorities established a command post and triage center, and shut down parts of the Strip in the hours after the shooting. Hotel guests blocked from returning to their hotels were shuttled to a center equipped with metal detectors. Police initially investigated reports of a "suspicious device" down the street, outside the Luxor Hotel, but said later there appeared to be no explosive devices related to the incident, other than that used by the SWAT team breaching the room where the suspect was located. A three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival performance was underway across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Mandalay Bay hotel when the shooting erupted. Concertgoers reported a burst of weapons fire as a Jason Aldean performance was underway. The shots appeared to be coming from an upper floor of the hotel, some witnesses said. Video posted on social media showed the open-air concert fully underway when bursts of automatic gunfire rang out in rapid succession. Dozens of concertgoers dropped to the ground, screaming, while others ran, some in pairs or in groups with their arms linked. The shooting went on for about more than 30 seconds before the music stopped, and another burst was heard later. "Get down, stay down," one woman shouted. "Let's go," another voice said. Another wave of gunshots followed soon after. Seth Bayles, of West Hollywood, said Aldean had been performing for about 20 minutes when he heard shots. "I thought it was like bottle rockets going off," Bayles said. "Then we saw people dropping. We saw someone get hit and then we started running." Bayles said he was probably 50 feet from the stage when he heard the shots. "We saw people down all over the place." Bayles said Aldean was quickly pulled off stage, and soon after, the band was brought off as well. Two men near the casino said they heard a helicopter with a bullhorn yelling "Go! Go! Go!" as the incident unfolded. Others said they saw police and SWAT teams streaming into the Mandalay Bay casino. Bernice Allard, who came to the concert with her husband Frank Allard, said there was screaming when the shooting began. "Single shot. Single shot, then a lot of shots," Frank Allard said. Allard, 56, said he had come to see Eric Church and Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean, who was into his fourth or fifth song when the shooting began. He said the crowd began to stampede, and he grabbed a nearby fence, stretched both arms wide and tried to shield his wife from the danger. Then they ran. Rohingya crisis is not bilateral: Foreign Minister is wrong about bilateral solution Under worldwide condemnation of Myanmar for indulging in ethnic cleansing and threats of actions against the government of Myanmar a minister has been sent to discuss the matter with the government of Bangladesh. After the discussion with our Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali yesterday a statement came out to say that under a joint working committee steps will be taken for arranging the return of Rohingyas. Not a fool will believe that a solution is so simple and the government of Myanmar cares to take Bangladesh seriously for a peaceful solution. The minister himself U Kyaw Tint Swe did not say anything about what passed between him and our Foreign Minister. It is so easy to bluff our inactive foreign ministry. The words of our Foreign Minister are anything but misleading. Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot be so novice as not to believe that the Minister from Myanmar has been sent to Bangladesh for using the occasion to reduce the international pressure for ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. Our government is heard telling the world imitating the position of India and China that the issue of Rohingyas can be resolved bilaterally. Although there were several bilateral agreements with Myanmar in the past, the last being in 1992, none worked. If any importance was attached by Myanmar government to these agreements then the present savagery would not have taken place. Our Foreign Minister appeared unconcerned about the genocide committed in Myanmar. It is disappointing and a shame for our people. A low-level minister should not have been welcome. At par with the UN Secretary General's three major conditions -- Myanmar must allow UN observers to enter the Rakhine State for monitoring the progress, hold frequent dialogues with the key members of the UN and the international community other than indulging in fruitless time wasting measures. Myanmar has been telling lies to the international community, even denying the occurrence of genocide. Our friendship with Myanmar counted for nothing and treated us most unkindly by pushing lakhs of their own people into our country as stateless refugees. The Myanmar government committed an act of aggression against Bangladesh when more than five lakhs of their own people had to flee for saving their lives and still fleeing. The military operation has been going on over a month slaughtering men, women and children while burning their houses to make clear to Rohingya Muslims that Myanmar is not their homeland. The army used rape as a war weapon also. Observers believe that Myanmar thought that without the support of India and China Bangladesh will find itself too weak to respond. But remained unmindful that the genocide they committed against Rohingya people is an international crime and an international issue. Many world leaders including USA are talking of punishing the military leaders responsible for the ethnic cleansing. The leaders of the world other than those three countries namely India, China and Russia, came out strongly to condemn the ethnic cleansing and demanded end to the brutalities in Myanmar. The issue was taken up by the members of Security Council supporting the displaced Rohingya Muslims. They insisted in unequivocal terms their safe return. The countries, where life has value and human rights are respected, have united against the military brutalities in Myanmar. Bangladesh must not isolate itself from the role of the international community or undermine it. India, China and Russia have left us because of their self-interest. Why cannot we stand for our national interest? Country United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica 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 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 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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 With tens of thousands of visitors to Southern Illinois for the eclipse, the day was already not normal for paramedics in Jackson County. Then two paramedics on a hot day walked into an even hotter mobile home, and their day changed. What they chose to do that day has been lauded by the medical director of EMS services for the region, and widely shared on Facebook. With their situational awareness, they concluded that there was likely more to this 911 call than meets the eye, wrote the medical director, Dr. Joseph R. Haake, in a memo to EMS providers and shared on Facebook. Haake is medical director for emergency medical service in Southern Illinois. He wrote the memo to recognize their outstanding service on a call. The two small kids come out, and they looked hot. My God, it was hot in there, said Tony Baudino, now of Mascoutah. Baudino and his paramedic partner, Travis Hicks, had been called to the home for the childrens mother. She had recently been diagnosed with an illness, Baudino said, and was unsure about some of her symptoms. Hicks and Baudino checked the thermostat on the window air unit: 92 degrees and blowing warm air. It was brutally hot in there, Hicks said. The kids were red-faced; parents were sweating. The womans condition did not merit a trip to the hospital. But the family still needed help. Travis and I ... just kind of looked at each and were like, Man, theres got to be something more we can do. Baudino said. Both men have children of their own. The men asked the family if they would accept help. They were very, very nice people who had just fallen onto hard times, Hicks said. Haakes memo said the men asked to go off-duty so that they could help the family. We explained we were going to the gas station to get some food and see what we can do, Baudino said he told dispatchers. And the response was, Hell yeah, well cover for you guys. Hicks, who lives in Vergennes and has family in the area, started calling churches and family and friends. The church could help, but not for two days because the pastor was out of town. We didnt want them to have to wait a couple of days, Hicks said. Hicks works as both a full-time paramedic and is a part-time police officer; he called police officer Brian Tripp to buy an air conditioner for the family. Tripp, Hicks and Baudino split the cost. Hicks called upon his mother, too, who with his sisters bought the family groceries, school clothes for the children and school supplies. Hicks brother-in-law installed the air conditioner that evening. Hicks lives in the same community as the family, Baudino said, so had family resources nearby to help. Baudinos own wife and children had just moved to Mascoutah, and he hadnt seen them for two weeks because the paramedics were on mandatory work schedules. We probably spent 50 or 60 bucks, not a whole lot, but it means a whole lot to these kids, Baudino said. Im crying here; Ive got kids of my own. These kids didnt know what to eat first, he said. Baudino said the family had been struggling for some time, affected by the tornado in February and the fathers job change. Haakes memo has been widely shared on Facebook. Travis Hicks and Tony Baudino displayed exemplary compassion and kindness to this family, Haake wrote, recognizing the great display of care to fellow citizens. Baudino has moved on from the Jackson County Ambulance Service, now working as an on-site medic for Amazon, an opportunity he says he just couldnt pass up. I definitely had a soft spot for these people. They were definitely trying to help themselves, Hicks said. And the kids were so cute; both of the kids ran up and hugged us and told us thank you. CARBONDALE Southern Illinois Airport has been selected to host a two-day gathering of airplane pilots and enthusiasts that could bring as many as 5,000 people to the region. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Midwest Fly-In will be held at Southern Illinois Airport from Oct. 5 to 6, 2018. The event will give airplane pilots and owners a chance to socialize and participate in educational seminars, said Gary Shafer, Southern Illinois Airport Authority manager. It is expected to bring 500 to 700 aircraft to the airport. When you consider that theres about 5,000 airports in the country that are open to the public to fly into to be hosting something like this is a pretty unique honor, Shafer said. Carbondale Tourism, the Southern Illinois Airport Authority and SIU Aviation have been working to attract the event for two years, said Cinnamon Smith, executive director of Carbondale Tourism. We hope that people will either be willing to come early or stay later and enjoy some of the different activities and amenities that the Carbondale area has to offer them, Smith said. Shafer said the event will offer an opportunity to make an impression on new visitors to the region. Within the pilot community, it will certainly put (the region) on the map, Shafer said. Carbondales well known anyway from an aviation perspective because of the presence of SIU and the success theyve had over the years in providing talent throughout the industry. But this will likely be the first opportunity for most of these participants to fly into the community. SIA's events for the Aug. 21 solar eclipse demonstrated that the airport had the capacity to host the fly-in, according to Smith. They had hundreds of different aircraft and people out at the airport. The logistics of getting them in and out were very good, under the circumstances, and so it basically proved to the AOPA that although as a community were not as large as other communities that they have chosen in the past, where they maybe have 50,000 to 70,000 residents, we have the ability and the capacity to hold this event without issue, Smith said. AOPA Fly-In events will also be held from June 15 to 16 in Missoula, Montana; from Sept. 14 to 15 in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and from Oct. 26 to 27 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. This is going to be a full community event so we want people to understand that this is open to anyone, not just pilots, and we would love for people to come out and see all of the activities that are going to be happening at the airport next October, Smith said. To inquire about volunteering or sponsoring the event, contact Carbondale Tourism at 618-529-4451. SPRINGFIELD Conservatives furious about Gov. Bruce Rauner's expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion in Illinois are threatening to put up a challenger against the first-term governor in next spring's Republican primary. The new House Republican floor leader, Rep. Peter Breen of Lombard, called a primary "inevitable" after Rauner agreed Thursday to enhanced medical coverage for abortion, reversing the position he articulated months earlier. "This guy is done," Breen said Friday. "No matter that he writes big checks." But some experts suggest such a revolt won't make much of a dent given Rauner's power of incumbency and his pocketbook. He has $70 million in the bank and easy access to millions more. "It's the type of issue that galvanizes a segment of the population," Loyola University political scientist John Frendreis said of the abortion question. "I'm just not sure they could mount a successful insurgency against him. He is the major donor for the entire array of candidates running for the state Legislature next year." Frendreis said party faithfuls will look beyond 2018, to 2020 control of the next legislative remap. He predicts they'll conclude they have a better chance of retaining the governor's office with Rauner than wresting control of the House or Senate from powerhouse Democrats. Breen, who didn't immediately mention any potential challengers, likened conservative discontent over Rauner to the five stages of grief. He said loyalists ought to move through denial, anger and the others, and then quickly reach the final stage of acceptance by finding someone new. Rauner, a private-equity investor, won his first political office in 2014. He drew praise for his vocal criticism of Chicago Democrat Michael Madigan, the longest-serving state House speaker in U.S. history. But Rauner has had a rough summer. He lost a two-year budget battle with Madigan in July when the Democratic-controlled General Assembly shelved a gubernatorial veto of a multibillion-dollar income tax increase and adopted the state's first budget in two years. Campaign spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski issued a statement calling Republicans "the party of reform in Illinois." She said voters know Rauner "is leading the effort to overcome Mike Madigan's political machine and deliver more jobs, better results for taxpayers and term limits." Breen isn't so sure. "By signing this bill, he thought he was taking abortion off the table, but it's put abortion front-and-center in the minds of the base that he needs in order to win," Breen said. Besides having to overcome Rauner's name recognition and money, a challenger must collect at least 5,000 valid petition signatures by Dec. 4 to get on the March 20 primary ballot. Jim Edgar, Illinois' Republican governor from 1991 to 1999, faced right-wing primary opposition in both of his campaigns. Edgar said voters often greeted him by voicing their disdain for his abortion stance, but added, "but you didn't flip-flop on me." "I don't see a serious challenge to Rauner in the primary," Edgar said. "But do these (anti-abortion) people sit on their hands in the general election or hold their noses and vote for him? We'll have to wait and see." Members of Congress should never be forced to choose between low-income children and low-income seniors. However, that is the decision that lawmakers will face if congressional leaders rework Medicare benefits to pay for an extension of the Childrens Health Insurance Program. The plan under discussion would dramatically increase out-of-pocket costs for low-income seniors who need brand-name prescription drugs. The change would effectively make this medicine more expensive for the Medicare population that can least afford higher prices. This is a very real concern for people who can barely afford their existing drug coverage. Most of the people who qualify for low-income subsidies under Medicare, also known as Extra Help, make less than $18,000 a year. And they are more likely to suffer from a range of common ailments, including diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease. This is the problem with tinkering with patients co-pays. People often base their health-care decisions on financial incentives, but doctors and diseases do not. Low-income patients are particularly vulnerable to these changes because studies show they are more inclined to choose lower-cost medicine if the price increases for another, even if doctors recommend other treatments that would be more effective. For Americans struggling to make ends meet, every penny matters, and research shows that even a modest uptick in out-of-pocket costs will force patients to choose lower-priced alternatives, even if they are less effective. Some forgo treatment entirely. One study found small increases in co-pays for cancer patients on Medicaid prompted them not to take the medicines they need. Increasing co-pays for branded pharmaceutical products pose the biggest threat to patients who suffer from diseases for which there are not as many generic treatments. Low-income Americans are more likely to suffer from HIV, for example, and the most prevalent HIV treatments are branded biopharmaceutical products. Similarly, a change could limit the options available to physicians looking to treat psychiatric conditions. This is not typically a partisan issue. Prominent Republicans have supported Extra Help in the past. The credits were established by the prescription-drug bill former President George W. Bush signed into law with the help of GOP majorities in the House and Senate. At the time, Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, who is now chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, penned an editorial endorsing the program and encouraging lower-income Oregonians to enroll. Medicares prescription-drug benefit is hugely successful by every possible measure. A survey of 2,000 seniors over the summer found 87 percent are satisfied with their Part D drug coverage and 90 percent think the costs they pay for prescription drugs would be much higher if they didnt have this coverage. In July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that premiums for the popular prescription-drug plans will fall. The announcement was a welcome sign that Medicare is already helping to tame prescription-drug costs. The program is also helping seniors live healthier lives. A study by the University of Illinois released earlier this year found that expanded access to prescription drugs has resulted in a noticeable drop in the mortality rate for American seniors. That means seniors, on average, are living longer lives. This program is working well and has a demonstrated history of helping seniors from every income bracket. It does not make any sense to disrupt such a wildly successful program, especially for the very seniors who need it the most. Medicare was designed to help older Americans meet their basic health care needs, just as the Childrens Health Insurance Program does for lower-income kids. Pitting one group against the other defeats the purpose of both programs. Surely Congress can find other ways to finance both programs, preserving two basic backstops for two groups who need the most help. It is now clear that Republicans are incapable of giving us a free market in health insurance, so it continues to be illegal in America to buy plans that don't cover shrinks, domestic violence counseling and HIV screening, and perhaps always shall be. But there are still other good things Republicans can do! First, for fun, Republicans ought to request a Congressional Budget Office score of Obamacare. The GOP's various replacement bills have been pilloried over their CBO scorings, showing, for example, that if given a choice, up to 20 million Americans would voluntarily choose not to buy health insurance in the year 2026. The horror. Hey, does anybody remember how the Democrats "scored" Obamacare? I do! Democrats gamed the numbers given to the CBO by asking it to score the first 10 years of a bill that collected taxes for 10 years, but only started paying out benefits in the last six years. On the basis of that accounting trick, the Democrats spent months hectoring Republicans who refused to vote for the bill, saying they were against SAVING THE TAXPAYERS MONEY. Yes -- we'd be SAVING MONEY by providing health care for all, especially transgenders and illegals. Now that both parts of Obamacare are in place -- the money coming in and the money going out -- how about asking the CBO to score the real Obamacare? Second, where are the hearings? The usual complaint with Republicans is that they're all talk, no action. But when it comes to Obamacare, it's the reverse: The GOP is all action, no talk. I pay attention to politics. Have there been hearings I've missed? Republicans seem to think the Tea Party did all their work for them, so why bother losing friends by holding hearings to demonstrate what a catastrophe Obamacare is? No, that's not how it works. The public needs to be educated on the destruction Obamacare has wrought. Apparently, so do members of Congress, having exempted themselves from experiencing Obamacare the way the rest of us do. Millions of Americans have been thrown off their insurance plans. Or they're getting the exact same plan they had in 2009 -- at 10 times the price. Or their so-called health insurance isn't accepted by any English-speaking doctors. Republicans need to put faces to Americans being whipsawed by astronomical premiums along with enormous deductibles, all to pay for useless health insurance. We want to hear from anguished doctors whose patients are only allowed to buy plans that no longer cover anything they actually need, and can't pay the bill when emergencies force them to seek medical care anyway. Third and finally, if Trump wants a win, how about medical malpractice reform? That's a fix that will instantly cut at least 20 percent off the cost of everyone's health care. Republicans can say, with zero support from the Democrats, we can't pass any decent replacement for Obamacare, but that doesn't mean we're going to stop trying to improve health care for all Americans. The whole country has been screaming for malpractice reform for decades. Democrats know how repelled the public is by lawyers making millions of dollars from obscene jury awards, but, unfortunately, their party is joined at the hip to trial lawyers. Shyster lawyers taking 50 percent "contingency fees" off their lottery-style winnings have made health care not only a lot more expensive, but also unbelievably annoying. Patients are forced to take medicine that's bad for them and sit in doctors' offices waiting for pointless tests -- all because the doctor doesn't want to get sued. The GOP should have a gigantic photo of John Edwards on display throughout the hearings. The former North Carolina senator made more than $30 million pushing a theory that we now know was bogus science. It's as if all Edwards' legal victories depended on the Earth being flat. As a result of his since-disproven claim that cerebral palsy was caused by a doctor's failure to perform a C-section, getting pregnant now is more dangerous, as doctors are forced to perform more of these riskier surgeries or stop delivering babies altogether. "She speaks to you through me, and I have to tell you right now ... I feel her. I feel her presence. She's inside me, and she's talking to you." -- Actual quote from attorney John Edwards to a jury of illiterates in 1985. Let doctors testify about having to go out of business, drop practices and perform needless surgeries and tests -- for the sole purpose of avoiding lawsuits. Lawyers' PACs will spend gobs of money fighting any limits whatsoever on malpractice suits, but so what? They'll have a lot less money to spend against Republicans in the future. (And it might distract them from trying to bring terrorists into the country!) Even if Republicans lose, the price of Democrats going to bat for these hilarious ambulance chasers would be worth it. If decent health insurance is off the table, we should at least demand that Republicans entertain us. The latest Republican attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has failed. South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, co-sponsor and leading spokesman for the most recent legislation aimed at Obamacare, says the effort is not over. And he is getting support from President Donald Trump, who contends the GOP will win the day on health care, even if not this year. Grahams bill would have turned over much of the health care system to the states by taking the same Obamacare dollars and appropriating them in the form of block grants. The concept is to get rid of one big umbrella system in favor of separate systems for each state. There is no agreement on the merits of such a new system, though reality is that so much differs from state to state now. And what of the continuing forecast of trouble ahead for Obamacare? Graham and others say it will collapse. Even supporters acknowledge there are problems. Graham and Republicans warn that those looking to fix Obamacare are interested in moving toward a single-payer health care system that makes the government the single payer essentially Medicare for all. So they frown on efforts to reform the ACA. Yet Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., the chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate health committee, had been working on legislation that would address ACA flaws. The focus on the Graham-Cassidy legislation upstaged their work. As a pragmatist willing to work across the aisle, Graham should be expected at this point to join such bipartisan efforts even as he stands by his steadfast opposition to a single-payer system and cries foul where proposals will not make real improvements. He and other senators Republican and Democrat could start by addressing immediate Obamacare challenges as identified by the Kaiser Foundations Kaiser Health News: 1. Insurers face uncertainty. Wednesday was the deadline for health insurers to finalize rates for the 2018 individual market open enrollment season, which starts Nov. 1. Yet there has been no resolution to the question of whether the federal government will continue to reimburse insurers for subsidies known as cost-sharing reductions. Those are payments insurers are required to provide to moderate-income enrollees to help them afford deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. The law says the federal government is supposed to make those payments, but a lawsuit has left that an open question, and the Trump administration has repeatedly threatened to stop making the payments. 2. The Trump administration has cut funding for efforts to sign people up for insurance. Administration officials announced major cuts to the navigator program, which provides funding to community groups that guide people through the complex task of signing up for health insurance through the online marketplaces. Some groups are losing more than 90 percent of their budgets. 3. The 2018 enrollment period is half the length of 2017s, and now it will be shorter still. Trump officials are also slashing by 90 percent the advertising budget that reminds people about open enrollment and how to sign up from $100 million to $10 million. The cuts are even more significant this year because, for the first time since the laws implementation, open enrollment for healthcare.gov starts in November, rather than December, and lasts only 45 days. 4. The Trump administration is delaying giving states flexibility to stabilize their markets. In March, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services chief Seema Verma, who oversees the ACA, sent a letter to states encouraging them to use the laws waiver process to improve the functioning of their individual insurance markets. In particular, they suggested states could create reinsurance programs that would help lower premiums by providing a payment mechanism for the most expensive patients. But when Minnesota took up that invitation, the administration delayed its response. When it finally did grant permission this past week, HHS also informed the state that it will lose significant funding for a program that provides insurance to the states low-income residents. None of the fixes would end the debate over the ACA and its future. Republicans are sure to try again for a replacement, but as long as Obamacare is to be health care system for America, making it work as much as possible is a priority. This is more than a political game. Ukraine's "Zorya-Mashproekt" is interested in establishing large-scale and long-term cooperation with Azerbaijani companies in the energy sector, the company's Head of the group for market analysis, Natalia Garkusha told Trend. Garkusha said the company is ready to supply gas turbine equipment with the capacity of 6, 15 and 25 MW for the needs of oil and gas companies of Azerbaijan and for regional power supply and power supply of factories. "Our biggest interest is cooperation with companies who are involved with energy projects based on EPC [Engineering, procurement and construction] contracts, as well as with suppliers of gas pumping units for construction or modernization of existing compressor stations," Garkusha said. She went on to add that the company is interested in participating in oil and gas projects, where gas turbine equipment is in demand. "Such projects include the development of Shah Deniz and Neft Dashlari fields, the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, the extension of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and other projects involving the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR)," Garkusha said. "Zorya-Mashproekt", which is part of the state Ukrainian concern "UkrOboronProm", has already worked in Azerbaijani market. In the mid-1980s, the company supplied gas turbine engines with a capacity of 12 MW for power supply of the Neft Dashlari (Oil Rocks) oil field. By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 123 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on October 2. 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. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today arrived in Gobustan district for a visit. The head of state first laid flowers at a statue of national leader in the Heydar Aliyev Park in the center of the city of Gobustan, Azertac reported. Head of Gobustan District Executive Authority Adil Mammadov informed President Ilham Aliyev about the work carried out in the park. As part of his visit to Gobustan, President Aliyev has attended the opening of Jangi-Badalli section of the Baku-Shamakhi-Mughanli highway. Chairman of Azeravtoyol Open Joint Stock Company Saleh Mammadov informed the head of state of the works done under the project. Jangi-Badalli section, which stretches from the 55th km to 101st km of Baku-Shamakhi-Mughanli highway, has been expanded to four lanes. The total length of this part of the highway is 46 km, while its width is 27.5 metres. Some 16 underground passages and six overground pedestrian crossings were built along the highway under the project. A bridge measuring 47.5 metres in length and 30 metres in width was also built on the Jeyrankechmaz River along the road. Jangi-Badalli section of Baku-Shamakhi-Mughanli highway underwent a major overhaul as part of the State Program on Socio-Economic Development of the Districts in 2014-2018 which was approved by the Azerbaijani President. The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the highway. Later, President Aliyev attended the inauguration of a newly built 100-seat kindergarten in Gobustan district. The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the kindergarten. All conditions were created here for children. The two-storey building covers an area of 826 square metres. The building features four teaching rooms and four bedrooms. All rooms are supplied with the necessary equipment and visual aids. The kindergarten also has a gym, two computer rooms, a medical center and a kitchen. The landscaping work was done, and amusement facilities were installed in the yard of the kindergarten. President Aliyev also attended the inauguration of Takla-Sundu-Khillmilli highway in Gobustan district after major overhaul. Chairman of Azeravtoyol Open Joint Stock Company Saleh Mammadov told the head of state that Takla-Sundu-Khilmilli highway connects six villages with a total population of 15,000 people. The total length of the highway is 17,2 km, while its width is six metres. Takla-Sundu-Khilmilli highway has two lanes. Under the project, nine bus stops were installed along the road. The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of Takla-Sundu-Khilmilli highway. By Trend Threats are increasing in the world and conflicts are flaring up, but Azerbaijan is an island of stability and development, said President Ilham Aliyev at a meeting with members of public in Gobustan on October 2. Today, Azerbaijan is one of those countries that stand out for stability, development and progress in the world, noted President Aliyev. Now you are following the processes ongoing in the world. There are many big problems both in economic, political and military fields. Risks and threats are increasing, bloodshed, conflicts, wars are breaking out, and stability is being violated. However, Azerbaijan is an island of stability and development. A well thought-out policy, the unity between the people and the authorities, and the patriotic nature of our people these factors are the basis of our success. The next year will be a year of rapid economic growth, said President Aliyev. Our achievements in economy are reflected both in our statistical indicators and in the reports of prominent international economic organizations. Perhaps, you have heard that Davos World Economic Forum has recently ranked the Azerbaijani economy 35th for its competitiveness. We have advanced by two steps, from 37th to 35th position. This is a great result. I should also note that we rank first in the CIS area. Weve been leading for several years and we are ahead of many developed countries, noted the president. Taking into account the fall in oil prices last year and this year, some difficulties and some economic problems have arisen in our country. Nevertheless, our successful work and serious reforms have been highly appreciated by the worlds first economic forum Davos Forum. This once again confirms that we are on the right path, our economic policy fully meets the interests of the Azerbaijani people, and our country is strengthening, said the head of state. I should also note that, despite the fall in oil prices this year, we have managed to increase our foreign currency reserves. This demonstrates that by conducting a right policy even in difficult years, we have not spent our resources, and in contrast, earned extra money. This money serves the interests of our country and our people. Using these funds, we build schools, hospitals, roads, water lines and strengthen our countrys defense capabilities, added President Aliyev. By Azernews By Rashid Shirinov The illegal visit of Turkish citizens to the Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia caused great discontent and anxiety in Azerbaijani society. Political Scientist Fikrat Sadikhov told Day.az that each country has a certain circle of people, who even being aware of the roots of a conflict, still try to annoy someone, or pretend to be great peacekeepers, human rights defenders who are allegedly somehow able to help resolve the conflict. Of course, the visit of Turkish citizens to the occupied Karabakh is a step against Azerbaijans interests, and if you even consider such actions of questionable content in a different context, for example, as a peace step, they still cannot be justified, since there is the most logical and objective way for that, he noted. The Grave Crimes Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office filed a criminal case under Criminal Codes Article 318.2 (illegally crossing Azerbaijans state borders) against Turkish citizens - Ufuk Uras, Ali Bayramoglu, Said Cekinoglu and Erol Katircioglu , who without documents and consent from relevant executive authorities crossed the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan avoiding checkpoints. That is, they deliberately traveled from territory of Armenia and illegally arrived in occupied Khankendi and other settlements of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. They have been declared in the international wanted list. Azerbaijan also sent an appeal to the Turkish law enforcement agencies in order to detain the four citizens. The expert reminded that the Turkish citizens could appeal to international organizations to demand the enforcement of Armenia to implement resolutions on de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Once they went to Karabakh, they should have required from Armenia to start to liberate the seven occupied Azerbaijani regions around Karabakh. But instead, a bunch of people makes fruitless conversations, and frankly twaddle, which a priori cannot benefit any of the parties to the conflict, Sadikhov said. Therefore, these human rights defenders should bear criminal responsibility under the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, the expert added. These Turkish citizens demonstrated their betrayal and disregard for the interests of Turkey and its closest ally Azerbaijan, Sadikhov noted. At the same time, such steps, made on the initiative of a separate group of people, are not able to harm bilateral close relations between our countries. He added that Turkey has always supported Azerbaijan's position in all political, military, and strategic issues in international forums. The Turkish Foreign Ministry, commenting on the issue, stated that the illegal visit does not reflect the official policy of Ankara. Turkey will continue to support Azerbaijan's fair position on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Ministry said. Turkeys Ministry of Justice, in turn, informed that after verifying the issue, the Turkish side will inform Azerbaijan in detail. MP Rovshan Rzayev, in turn, told Trend that along with Azerbaijan, the Turkish side should sharply condemn the illegal visit of its citizens to the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. He noted that the illegal visit made by the representatives of the fraternal country causes regret. It is an act of their disrespect to the legislation of Azerbaijan. They met with the separatist regime in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and expressed opinions against Azerbaijan, he said. The Turkish citizens visit to our lands occupied by Armenia is a support for the provocative Armenian policy. The MP expressed hope that the issue will be investigated in accordance with the law and measures will be taken against these persons. Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia are considered illegal, and any individuals paying such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's black list. The Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of the country. Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of illegality of visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law. By Trend Economic relations between Iran and Kazakhstan are of regional importance, with promising areas of growth. In recent years the level of trade turnover between the two countries was changing, going up and down, but now it seems to have reached a stable level. The bilateral trade turnover between Iran and Kazakhstan was declining from 2014 to 2016. Relatively good result amounting to $986.345 million in 2014 has decreased to $635.567 million in 2015 and $596.242 million in 2016, according to the Committee of Statistics of Kazakhstan. Currently, the economic cooperation remains close to the result of the previous year with $273 891 million, during the first half of 2017. A large share in general trade turnover between the countries account for the export from Kazakhstan to Iran. Kazakhstans export to Iran amounted to $892.503 million in 2014, $565.791 million in 2015 and $550.518 million in 2016. In the first half of 2017 the level of export amounted to $239.756 and it is expected to reach the level of the previous year. Previously, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Iranian economic officials declared the two countries decision to increase their volume of trade turnover to $1 billion per year, during the meeting in April 2017. President Nazarbayev called on Iranian companies to cooperate in agricultural and mining sectors in his country, and pledged to take measures aimed at easing visa requirements for Iranian traders. However, the only positive indication at present time is the stability of economic relations between Iran and Kazakhstan, and the plans over the further development are seem to be in process of implementation. By Azernews By Kamila Aliyeva Turkey and Iran, two regional superpowers, will discuss regional issues during the visit of Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar to Iran. The sides are expected to discuss the Syrian crisis as well as the referendum on independence in the Kurdish autonomy of Iraq, Turkish media outlets reported on October 2. The Kurdish Regional Governments (KRG) held a controversial independence referendum in northern Iraq, including areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, on September 25. Election authorities in Kurdistan announced that the independence referendum passed with 92 percent support. Iraq, Iran and Turkey - countries with Kurdish minorities - have all denounced the referendum as a threat to the stability of a region already beset by conflict, while the United States has expressed similar disquiet. Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he will pay an official visit to Tehran on October 4. In the course of the visit, the Turkish president will meet with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The meetings will discuss bilateral relations, regional issues, the settlement of the Syrian crisis and the situation in Iraq. Speaking at the Turkish Parliament's legislative year reception, the Turkish president said the roadmap that Turkey and Iran will follow in response to the controversial referendum and other regional developments will take shape after this visit. As for Syrian issue, Russia, Turkey and Iran - had agreed on May 4 in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to establish "de-escalation zones" in war-torn Syria. The zones would cover the city of Idlib and certain parts of Latakia, Homs, Aleppo and Hama as well as Damascus, Eastern Ghouta, Daraa and Quneitra. Syria has been locked in civil war since March 2011. According to UN's special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, around 400,000 people have died in the conflict while half the population has been driven from their homes. Government forces are opposed by militant groups belonging to armed formations of various political orientations. The most active are the Islamic State, YPG and PYD. Chris Sutton says Koeman's days are numbered Sunday, 1 October, 2017 Chris Sutton thinks time is up for Ronald Koeman. He does not believe the Dutchman will still be in charge at Goodison Park after the International break. Read the full article at Daily Mail Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer About these ads Irans Arvandan Shipbuilding Company plans to construct utility vessels for oil platforms for the first time, the company's managing director was quoted as saying in a media report. The firm is in talks with Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) on the construction of the utility vessels, Hossein Qorbani was quoted in an Iran Daily report. IOOC is working on most of Iran's oil platforms, Qorbani said, noting that since about two years ago, the company has sought to employ domestic utility vessels for oil platforms rather than hiring them from foreign companies. Arvandan Shipbuilding has proposed to build some of the utility vessels needed by the IOOC, he added. Leviton, a leader in energy management solutions, announced today that the company will be running a series of seminars on various aspects of networking and lighting solutions across several countries in the Middle East. The first of the series of seminars was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on September 26 and followed by the seminar in Jeddah on September 27. The inaugural seminar focused on advance LED lightening solutions, and senior executives from Leviton will present a product overview for lighting solutions in its portfolio. During the seminar experts from Leviton will also share case studies and discuss technological advances made in the lighting technology such as Power over Ethernet (PoE), which has evolved over the years that today it can run on most of the devices in homes and offices. PoE eliminates the need for electrical wiring, whilst it will utilise data cables creating a more intelligent lighting solution. The other major focus area for this series of seminars would be the networking solutions and the company will hold a separate set of seminars on networking at different locations across the region to give an overview of the latest innovations and lay down the companys roadmap in the networking space and share the growing portfolio of solutions including Internet of Things (IOT), fibre optic cabling solutions with a focus on OM4 and OM5 fibre technologies, cost-effective, energy-saving next-generation POE lighting technology and CPR that is going to revolutionise smart homes and offices. Another area of spotlight during the networking seminar would be data centre solutions and evolving CAT8 network cabling technology that is going to transport data at several times faster than today at same or lesser power per port. Leviton will also be talking about the September launch of its latest Make To Order (MTO) cell in Glenrothes Scotland, which will manufacture pre-terminated solutions with best in industry lead times. The managing director for Leviton Middle East, Aldo Strawbridge along with regional and international experts will preside over the seminars that are expected to be attended by several partners, consultants, and customers across the region. Strawbridge said: Leviton is in the forefront of technology innovations, it is important for us to connect with our consulting partners and customers to share our best practices from across the globe and present them with our future technology solutions that are going to provide them an extra edge over their competition. These seminars will also help us strengthen our relationship with our consulting partners and end-users and also allow us to understand their concerns and challenges, so that we are better prepared to service them. The company is investing heavily in the region and we are excited about this series of seminars. After, the inaugural seminar at Riyadh, we will travel to other locations in the region and hold these seminars in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Beirut in Lebanon, Cairo in Egypt and Muscat in Oman, among others in the next few months this year, he added. TradeArabia News Service Area 2071, part of the UAE Centennial Plan 2071, has received expressions of interest from over 100 global and local institutions looking to co-create an ecosystem, to answer the worlds biggest questions facing humanity. The list comprises highly innovative multinationals from diverse industries such as aviation, technology, healthcare, consulting and education, as well as innovation-focused government entities from a number of countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. Area 2071 will also serve as a critical node to over 10 other ecosystem nodes - ranging from the talent magnet of Silicon Valley to the digital innovation of Estonia, and the manufacturing innovation of Shenzhen. Located across 100,000-plus sq ft in Emirates Towers, Area 2071 is a high-energy space purposefully designed for disruptive experiments to grow to scale. Abdulaziz Al Jaziri, Director Area 2071 stated: Given that the worlds most pressing problems are large-scale in nature, we need a different operating model to solve them a model that is centred on co-creation through experimentation, in order to deliver on fundamentally new economic and social value. He added, Area 2071 is the experimental nucleus that enables diverse stakeholders to come together to solve large-scale questions facing humanity as a whole. By large-scale, we mean questions, which serve a social need, can reach billion plus people with a business model that enables scale. Area 2071 ecosystem will seek to address disruptive questions, examples include: What if we could construct high-quality houses for 1/10th of the cost and 1/10th of the time on current projects? What if we could get to anywhere we want at 1/10th the current cost and at our personal comfort? What if we could customize the education curriculum for each individual to harness inherent strengths? How might we build a city using 100 per cent renewable energy? The most viable and disruptive solutions that address will get to spend one year gaining access to world-class programming that is created by, with and for the ecosystem. The objective is to turn experiments into scalable ventures that will have an outsized impact on the world. Whether they are operating as researchers or hackers, startups, corporate x-labs, VCs or governments units we invite experimenters from all over the world to come and co-create large-scale change, said Al Jaziri. TradeArabia News Service Currently, digital jobs account for only 1.7 per cent of the total GCC workforce, compared to 5.4 per cent of the total workforce in the European Union being employed in similar roles, a report said. In fact, GCC nationals are mostly employed in sectors at risk of disruption by new digital technologies, added the study titled "Empowering the GCC digital workforce: Building adaptable skills in the digital era" conducted by the Ideation Center at Strategy&, part of the PwC network, together with LinkedIn. To remedy this, GCC countries should undertake the large-scale creation of digital jobs both within and outside the ICT sector, it said. Ali Matar, head of LinkedIn Talent Solutions, for EMEA Emerging Markets, Middle East & Africa said: Our analysis mapped digital professionals on the LinkedIn platform to functions in digital-related industries. Only one of the ten skills that GCC digital professionals cited matched the fastest-growing skills globally on the LinkedIn platform. Although there is a regional trend towards more technical skills, these remain scarce for emerging technologies such as big data and analytics. The skills showing the highest growth among GCC digital professionals are focused on technology sales and distribution, whereas globally the most rapidly growing skills relate to product development. Such a mismatch between the regional digital job environment and that of our global peers has its roots in an underdeveloped digital job market. The GCC digital job market faces challenges on both the supply and demand sides. From a supply perspective, the GCC education system does not keep up with technological changes or provide the adequate level of ICT education. In fact, 93 per cent of the regions digital professionals on LinkedIn completed their university education abroad. Also, the professional development environment is inadequate. Due to the limited awareness of what digital careers offer, young students are reluctant to study in this field GCC nationals tending to prefer more stable jobs in traditional sectors. In terms of demand, there are low levels of digitization in the region for example, only 18 per cent of companies use cloud computing which restricts employment opportunities for digital professionals locally. The GCCs ICT industry itself is also underdeveloped and focuses on technology consumption rather than production. Melissa Rizk, fellow with the Ideation Center, Strategy& Middle Easts think tank, said: Digital jobs are more adaptable in the face of technological disruption, and can support a more flexible working culture hence allowing for self-employment and remote work a model that encourages greater participation by women and the inactive youth. In fact, an enhanced digital job market has the potential to create 1.3 million additional jobs in the GCC by 2025, including 700,000 in Saudi Arabia alone. To create a skilled workforce, GCC countries will need to focus their efforts on building digital capabilities within academia by emphasizing a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) approach in schools and training teachers to use more digital tools in delivering their curriculum. Equally important is enhancing professional development opportunities, including post-graduate specializations and internships for digitally-inclined students, as well as company-led training programs. These will help digital professionals acquire the skills they need to increase their employability. Furthermore, GCC nationals should be motivated, starting at a young age, to explore digital careers this could be achieved through awareness campaigns in schools and universities, as well as competitions, hackathons, and boot camps, according to the study. To increase the demand for these jobs, GCC countries should push for greater digitization, the aim being to drive organizations to leverage more emerging technologies and adopt digital strategies to transform their business models. Stimulating innovation and production in the digital economy must also be a priority, and can be encouraged by making the region an appealing environment for ICT companies to thrive in. The region also needs to review its entire approach towards start-ups and ensure digital entrepreneurship can flourish and attract more skilled professionals. Samer Bohsali, partner with Strategy& and the leader of the firms Digital Business and Technology practice and the digitization platform in the Middle East, concluded: GCC governments need to continuously reskill their workforce to embrace the latest technologies. The digital sector tends to change rapidly because of continuously emerging new technologies that redefine the way business is done, which is less often the case in traditional jobs. Creating a digital workforce of continuous learners is key to drive the success of national transformation plans. Other findings of the report include: Taking inputs from World Economic Forums report - 'The Future of Jobs', the report by LinkedIn and Strategy& have concurred that a very high percentage of GCC nationals are now employed in sectors which are at high risk of disruption by new digital technologies; particularly jobs in professional services and public administration. If, by 2025, the region reaches the same proportion of digital employment that the EU has today, then approximately 1.3 million new jobs, could be created. Self-employment throughout the developed world is on the increase, propelled by a digital age which gives people more ability to design the rhythm and schedule of their working lives. There are some 3.9 million inactive women and male youth in the GCC, some of whom could benefit from digital self-employment. The digital skills most highly prized by employers in all sectors such as statistical analysis and data mining, Algorithm design, website architecture are almost absent among GCC digital professionals. Most young people have a preference for traditional public sector employment in their country because it offers them job security and high pay. Indeed, according to a 2016 survey, more than two thirds (70 percent) of GCC youth prefer public sector jobs over private sector employment. TradeArabia News Service Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) announced that Dubai will host the International Desalination Association's 2019 World Congress on water desalination in 2019. Previously, the congress was held in Dubai in 2009. This global event is the world's largest and the most prominent conference on water desalination specialty areas. It will be attended by leaders, senior officials, experts, and academics, as well as 2,000 participants from 60 countries. The event was announced at a press conference at the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, in the presence of Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa, and Helal Saeed Al Marri, director general of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, and Patricia Burke, secretary general of the International Desalination Association (IDA). Al Tayer expressed his pride in the UAE's success in hosting the World Congress on Water Desalination 2019, which was the culmination of a series of major international events successfully hosted by the UAE. Dubai's success in hosting this important conference came as a result of the fruitful cooperation between Dewa, and the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in the preparation of the proposal to host the event. Dubai was selected by the IDA after careful review of its profile, which surpassing international cities, such as Barcelona in Spain, Busan in South Korea, and Muscat in Oman. The IDA has received nominations from eight countries, including Canada, South Africa, India, and Malta, in addition to the above-mentioned countries. The conference will coincide with the 21st Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX), which will be held under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and president of Dewa. The IDA, the organiser of the conference, is based in Topsfield, Massachusetts, USA. It is a non-profit organisation within the United Nations NGO Network, comprising of scientists, engineers, consultants, and researchers from the public and private sectors, as well as academic institutions. IDA World Congress 2017 will be in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from October 15 to 20. TradeArabia News Service ASaffa Foods, a fully integrated poultry and processed food producer based in Oman, said it has secured a RO31.5 million ($81.5 million) loan from Meethaq, the Islamic banking unit of Bank Muscat, to finance its robust expansion plans. The expansion project will see the company double the production capacity of ASaffa Foods from the current capacity of 20 million birds per annum production to 40 million birds per annum; and will comprise the addition of 10 farms with 90 poultry houses, in addition to a hatchery, feed mill, processing plant, and other utilities. ASaffa Foods CEO Dr Nasser Zahir Nasser Al Maawali and Sulaiman Al Harthy, the deputy chief executive at Meethaq Islamic Banking signed the agreement in the presence of company chairman Sheikh Rashid Saif Mohammed Al Saadi, chief financial officer Rafique Chaudhary and marketing and sales head Sidhartha Lenka. Speaking on the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Al Saadi said: "In keeping with the governments vision of enhancing food security and economic diversification - we are pleased to join hands with Meethaq for the long-term financing of the expansion project, which will make a significant contribution to Omans food sector." "With an annual production capacity of 40,000 tonnes of chicken meat per annum, the project will have a far-reaching impact on meeting the growing demand of ASaffa products in the sultanate and beyond; and will also help in the generation of employment opportunities," he added. Dr Al Maawali said being market leaders in the sultanate, ASaffa Foods has always been committed to proactively improving its performance year on year. "Given our robust expansion plans, we will continue to focus on production and operational excellence, brand variation and overall growth and development; while creating long-term value for our stakeholders, and ensuring sustainability in all our operations," he stated. Chaudhary said the expansion projects key objectives include promoting food security, increasing Omanisation and export percentage besides boosting business environment, as well as stimulating the economy of the country by reducing dependence on the oil and gas sector. Lenka said given the market environment, ASaffa Foods was proud to be a leading domestic poultry producer with a market share that is steadily growing. "Expansions like these, will position us to grow further, while supporting our customers in particular, and the community at large," he added.-TradeArabia News Service King Abdullah Port, the first privately-owned commercial port in Saudi Arabia, has announced the arrival of its first liquid bulk shipments of fresh pasteurized milk for Almarai, the largest dairy company in the region. Strategically located on the Red Sea coast on one of the worlds busiest maritime shipping lanes, King Abdullah Port has direct access to extensive transportation networks and urban centres. King Abdullah Port, which is owned by the is the first privately owned, developed and operated port in the Kingdom. It is characterized by its strategic geographic location and its integrated services using the latest state-of-the-art technology and utilizing local and international experts. The milk shipment, which arrived from the Port of Moerdijk in Netherlands and weighs 265 tons, is the first of its kind to dock at Saudi ports, constituting a quantum leap for King Abdullah Port and for Saudi imports in general, said a statement from Ports Development Company, the owner and developer of the port. Abdullah M. Hameedadin, the managing director of the Ports Development Company, said: "King Abdullah Port continues to achieve milestones that are fully in line with Vision 2030s mandate to activate the role of the private sector in creating a more diverse, less oil-dependent economy." "Such an economy would enhance the Kingdoms global competitiveness and elevate its status among developed countries in economic and logistical fields, not to mention in the maritime transport sector, as well," he stated. This comes following the company's plan to expand the ports partnership with Almarai, which signed a contract with the port for loading, unloading and handling of its bulk cargo. The arrival of this shipment is particularly important as Almarai is one of the most prominent investors in King Abdullah Economic Citys Industrial Valley, said the top official. Hameedadin said the new milk shipment follows King Abdullah Ports earlier success in receiving huge loads of equipment, weighing over 20 tons each, for the Rabigh 2 Independent Power Plant and through the ports strategic partnership with Samsung. The port has been listed as one of the worlds largest maritime shipping lanes, and its development plan is proceeding at a steady pace and with a clear vision towards becoming one of the worlds leading ports, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Ninety per cent of companies plan to invest in Internet of Things (IoT) projects over the next 12-24 months, said business transformation enabler SAP, citing a research from IDC. By 2025, IDC predicts there will be 80 billion Internet of Things devices worldwide, enhancing productivity, efficiency, and the customer experience. SAP will showcase how the Internet of Things can drive Saudi Arabias digital business competitiveness at the upcoming Gitex Technology Week 2017 in Dubai, UAE. The event will be held at the Dubai International Convention Center from October 8-12. As the Gitex Business Transformation Partner, SAP will support the Kingdoms adoption of the Internet of Things. The SAP stand will showcase Internet of Things in Live Airports, the SAP Leonardo Experience for the recently-launched digital innovation system, and SAP Blockchain for Real Estate. Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020 are catalyzing business innovation with technology across key sectors such as government, oil and gas, and banking and finance. CIOs across the Kingdom want to leverage cloud-based Internet of Things for new digital business models. Gitex Technology Week presents a vital platform for CIOs to experience SAPs practical Internet of Things use cases, said Ahmed Al-Faifi, managing director, SAP Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen. Gitex attendees will also be able to experience SAPs cloud innovations in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and machine learning. Attendees can hear the latest trends and insights from SAP experts at the Gitex Vertical Days conference sessions on Intelligent Cities and Smart Manufacturing. Visitors can also learn about winnovate, powered by SAP. The newly-launched initiative helps the region to embrace innovation by offering collaborative learning opportunities and engaging programs based on various innovation methods. It is a catalyst for enquiring minds that are open to ground-breaking thinking methodologies and supports individuals and organizations alike. TradeArabia News Service A high-profile London High Court trial over a $700 million Islamic bond will go ahead next week without Dana Gas, a UAE-based energy company, according to Financial Times. A civil trial between Dana Gas and its investors was due to open in the High Court this week but was delayed after three shareholders obtained a last-minute injunction from a UAE court preventing the London trial from going ahead. The UAE court order effectively prohibits Dana Gas from taking part in an English trial, stated the report. The case is being closely watched by the markets because it could set a precedent for other sukuk issuers to refuse to redeem their bonds on the grounds they are no longer sharia-compliant. The dispute is significant because sukuk bonds are relatively new and the design of the bonds is based on the judgments of Islamic scholars about which structures are compliant., said the Financial Times report. Dana Gas has been in a legal battle with bondholders after it rejected an offer by creditors to restructure $700 million of the debt. The high-profile dispute centres around a sukuk bond sold to global investors, including BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, that Dana Gas announced in June was no longer compliant with Islamic law, it stated. London is a centre for Islamic finance and UK became the first western country to issue a sukuk in 2014, said the report. On Friday, Justice Leggatt ruled that a limited trial of English law issues relating to the sukuk bonds purchase agreement will start next week. BlackRock, one of the investors, will make its submissions on Monday, it added. Dubais luxurious desert retreat Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, has been crowned the regions prime holiday destination after scooping no less than three prizes at this years Middle East Hospitality Awards (Meha). The collection of private villas nestled deep in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve was named Resort of the Year at the prestigious industry ceremony, held last night at the Palazzo Versace Dubai. Described as a truly unique Arabian paradise, the serene desert oasis also took home the 'Most Impressive Hotel Feature' award for their on-site safari, where guests can get up close to passing camels, oryx and gazelles. The resorts general manager Arne Silvis was also named 'Hospitality Leader of the Year'. It is wonderful to be part of a property that is so truly unique and successful, Silvis commented on Al Maha at the awards ceremony. I love the desert. The silence and tranquility. Our team lives on-site and being a smaller property, we are able to provide a personalised experience to guests. I am incredibly grateful to the team who are so loyal, they have stood by me the past 15 years, and they make Al Maha what it is. The three awards we have won this evening are a tribute to their hard work. The annual awards orchestrated by and held during The Hotel Show Dubai, which began yesterday and runs through Wednesday at the Dubai World Trade Centre celebrate the achievements, innovations and excellence of the Middle Easts ever-expanding hospitality industry over the past 12 months. In what was the prize-givings biggest ever number of entries, judges had the unenviable task of assessing hundreds of different submissions across 18 separate categories. The Meha ceremony welcomed more than 400 leading industry professionals. Big winners included host venue the Palazzo Versace Dubai, crowned 'Luxury Hotel of the Year'. 'Boutique Hotel of the Year' went to the XVA Art Hotel in Al Fahidi, while the newly-opened Rove Downtown celebrated being named Mid-Market Hotel of the Year. Across food and beverage, Hendricks Bar at the Four Seasons Jumierah Beach won 'Best Bar/Nightlife Venue'; folly by Nick & Scott was named 'New Restaurant of the Year'; and Gregoire Berger of Ossiano was announced as 'Head Chef of the Year'. Other individual awards went to 24-year-old Elham Bolooki of the Jumierah Group, named as the hospitality industrys '2017 Rising Star'. Michelin-starred chef Gary Rhodes OBE was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award, the year Rhodes W1 his signature Dubai restaurant celebrates 10-years in the Emirates. Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort in Oman famed for being perched on a cliff won 'Hotel Launch of the Year', while on the leisure front Talise Fitness at the Madinat was voted 'Best Gym', and Al Bararis Heart & Soul Spa declared the regions 'Best Spa/Wellness Centre'. Gary Williams, event director at The Hotel Show, said: The Middle East Hospitality Awards celebrate the exceptional endeavor, service standards and guest experience offering that combine to keep visitors coming back to the Middle East time and time again. The exceptionally high standards of the hundreds of entries we had for this years competition prove only once again how our region now competes with any other destination in the world in regards to the level of hospitality we continually provide to all residents or tourists that spend quality time here." I would like to congratulate every venue and individual that entered Meha 2017 an awards ceremony which truly celebrated another outstanding year for the industry, he said. The Hotel Show Dubai 2017 is running at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from September 18-20 as part of Dubai International Hospitality Week. The Dubai Tourism endorsed event, organised by dmg events and the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), is expected to attract more than 50,000 visitors. The three-day event encompasses six hospitality and food service trade shows under one roof: The Hotel Show and The Leisure Show, owned and organised by dmg events; GulfHost, The Speciality Food Festival and Seafex Middle East owned and organised by DWTC; and yummex ME, jointly organised by DWTC and Kolnmesse. - TradeArabia News Service In a sharp exchange, Sen. Chris Rothfuss criticized the School Facilities Commissions decision to change the classroom capacity for younger students at a legislative meeting Tuesday, saying the move took the power to drive education policy out of the Legislatures hands. With this new calculation, some districts would have no possible way ... of implementing the student-teacher ratio were putting forward in the model, the Laramie Democrat said. This short-circuits that. In June, at the Select Committee on School Facilities previous meeting, Rothfuss said much the same thing: The model the system that dictates how much money school districts receive for various purposes, like class sizes should be driving the ideal classroom and what it looks like. The commission, which had floated changing the student-teacher ratio for kindergartners through third-graders from 16 to 1 to 25 to 1, was threatening to make the Legislatures decisions on the model pointless, Rothfuss said. Three days after he and some educators criticized the proposal, the commission decided to approve it anyway. Officials have said the change is to fully utilize available square footage as the state grapples with a shortfall both in its day-to-day education budget and in the money it has to build schools. The change doesnt mandate that districts put 25 students in classrooms, but it does allow them to and sets the 25 to 1 ratio as the standard from a facilities standpoint. Decision criticized On Tuesday, Rothfuss continued to criticize the capacity change, saying it constituted a change to an incredibly significant part of the education system. He was further frustrated by the commissions decision to do it without any public input. He said that the change should be made by lawmakers, not by a commission in a single meeting. How did we decide this as a policy amendment at a meeting when this committee, the education committee, the recalibration committee are spending meeting after meeting on this classroom ratio, and this didnt even go through the rule-making process? he asked commission director Del McOmie. McOmie replied that the Legislature had already repealed the 16 to 1 requirement, which it technically did: In March, lawmakers decided to eliminate that mandate, but the state continued giving districts money so they can have small classes. The 16 to 1 ratio often isnt achieved the average for K-3 is more than 18 students. Still, because they provide money for it, lawmakers still expect small classes, Rothfuss said. We removed one sentence that made it a requirement for a district to report that, he told McOmie. There was no change to the overall funding model. The funding model still had in place the same ratios and the expectations still there." This change would undermine the Legislatures model, he continued. It could have a few effects, educators who spoke after the meeting said. For one, school districts like Laramie County No. 1 that previously didnt have the classroom space to meet the 16 to 1 ratio may not ever obtain that space because the commission now says the district has capacity so long as they can fit 25 kindergartners in a room. They will never get that because now the school facilities guidelines say now its sufficient, said Brian Farmer, the executive director of the Wyoming School Boards Association. On top of that, Farmer and others said, fewer classrooms may be built in the future because now the acceptable ratio, from a facilities standpoint, is 25 to 1. Kathy Vetter, the president of the Wyoming Education Association, said it could also have some legislators start talking about increasing class sizes from a model perspective, meaning they could debate cutting the funding schools receive to keep class sizes small. Staffing implications After Rothfuss finished questioning McOmie about the change, state school finance expert Matt Willmarth testified before that committee that if lawmakers began funding classes at a 19 to 1 ratio instead of the current 16 to 1, it would mean more than $44 million in cuts, translating to 589 teachers laid off. If the ratio was funded at 20 to 1, the cut would be $57 million and 745 teachers. Its important to note that the commissions change does not institute any cuts, nor does is directly signal that any may be coming related to class sizes. But Willmarths data show the significant impacts classroom size changes can have for a school district. Last session, at least two bills wouldve increased class size. Both measures died before gaining much momentum, and its likely that if any legislative action is taken to change class-size funding, it will come through the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration, which is taking a broad look at the funding model that pays districts to keep a 16 to 1 ratio. On Tuesday, McOmie and commission chairman Bryan Monteith told the committee that schools would likely continue working to deliver 16 to 1 ratios to students, regardless of what the commission did to maximize space. Monteith said he expected districts to fight and scratch to keep teachers employed and classrooms small. Rothfuss said the commissions move would make that fight harder. What if they dont have enough space? he said. Weve heard anecdotally from many districts that theyd like to go closer to 16 to 1, but the reason they dont is they cant. They dont have enough classrooms. Rothfuss suggested that the commissions move mightve been trying to dictate policy. Monteith denied that and said the decision was based purely on maximizing available square footage. After the heated discussion between Rothfuss and the commission officials, Farmer testified that changing the ratio had broader implications and needed careful consideration. What could happen if this new 25 to 1 becomes the new ratio for staffing? he asked. Thats a really big discussion and should not be simply a policy decision by a state agency. Adolescents may not be able to vote yet, but that doesnt mean their opinions or ideas should be brushed off, according to Casper Vice Mayor Ray Pacheco. As the regional director for Gear Up a program at Casper College that helps students successfully transition to college life Pacheco said he spends enough time with the citys younger residents to know they have valuable input to offer their communities. I think sometimes kids do get a bad rap, but Ive always felt like the youth are a lot wiser than we give them credit for, he remarked. To encourage middle and high school students to share their ideas, concerns or advice to the city, Pacheco is holding a Youth Town Hall at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Metro Coffee Company in downtown Casper. The event will be more of a causal gathering than a traditional town hall, explained the Vice Mayor. Pacheco added that hes eager to hear what teens think and will relay their messages back to the City Council. I dont know what ideas are going to come up, and I dont know what they are going to say, he said. Pacheco also wants to inspire teens to take an active role in community change. Once he learns more about their ideas, the vice-mayor said hell work with the youth to help them achieve these goals. To the best of his knowledge, Pacheco said this will be the first Youth Town Hall held by the city, but he plans to hold more so he can follow-up with teens. The council has been very supportive of this initiative, he added. Jesse Taylor, the general manager at Coffee Metro Company, said shes pleased the coffee shop was selected as the events venue. I think the youth getting involved in politics is very important, she remarked. For updates on the town hall, visit Pachecos Facebook page. Campbell County firefighter Bayelee Burton was returning from the restroom Sunday night when he first heard the popping noise. It wasn't until the noise started again and the music stopped that the 20-year-old Gillette man realized the noise was more than a cap gun or fireworks. He fell to the ground as the bullets sliced through the crowd of more than 22,000 people at the Jason Aldean concert, the culmination of a three-day country music festival in Las Vegas. The smooth country pop was replaced by the sound of screams. The shots stopped and Burton crawled forward, looking for shelter from the attack. He froze when they started again and crawled when they stopped, all the while trying to help those around him. "Stay down," he told them. "Stay calm." Finally, he paused his escape. Crouched behind a cart used to haul supplies, he took stock of the situation. People in cowboy boots and hats walked with blood on their skin and clothes. Gates were toppled in the chaos as the crowds attempted to flee the gunman's attack, which killed at least 59 fellow concertgoers and injured more than 520. He didn't yet know that his father, 50-year-old Clint Burton, had been shot in the leg. For hours, he wouldn't know where the rest of his family his mom, aunt, uncle and three cousins were hiding or if they were alive. "It was just mad chaos," he said. Then, Burton went to work. Burton moved to a nearby gas station, where an injured man had been taken in a wheelbarrow. He stopped to give the man CPR he had just been certified on Wednesday but the man died. He went back into the complex, dodging teams carrying the injured and dead on metal gates and tables, and helped rescue people still hiding behind folding chairs and in portable toilets. He held IV bags in the first aid-tent-turned-makeshift-emergency-room and searched for scant medical supplies. After a while, he retired to his room in the nearby Excalibur hotel. He connected with the rest of his family, who were on lockdown in a hotel across the street. They were all uninjured, but nobody had heard from his dad. It wasn't until after midnight that they got a call from the hospital. Clint Burton had been shot in the back of his thigh but was conscious and stable. About 4:30 a.m., the family reunited at the hospital, United Medical Center. By 6 p.m. Monday, Bayelee Burton was exhausted but relieved. His family was safe. Everyone was together. They were ready to go home to Gillette. It was just a crazy event. Crazy," Burton said. "Never would have thought something like that would have happened. Close call For many Wyomingites, the lights and chaos of the Las Vegas strip offer a radical change from the silence of the sagebrush and dark nights of the mountains. Its impossible to know how many Wyoming residents were at the concert Sunday night. But based on Vegas popularity as a weekend getaway and the states widespread love of country music, its a fair guess that the Cowboy State was well-represented in the crowd. And so, the loved ones of the concertgoers were left in limbo late Sunday and early Monday as the news of the shooting broke. They waited to hear from their wives, brothers and children who were at the concert. Waited to see if they would join the thousands of others across the country who have lost loved ones in seemingly senseless shootings. Cheyenne resident Charis Kipper heard the news about 4:30 a.m. Monday: All five members of her family who attended the concert were alive. Her sister, who was born and raised in Laramie but now lives in Nevada, as well as her niece and nephew and their spouses are big fans of country music and had been at the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival since Friday. Information about their whereabouts trickled through social media they had all lost their phones in the scramble. Kipper spoke to her niece briefly but said the woman was still shaken. "They're all pretty traumatized," Kipper said late Monday morning. Uncertainty remained for the family, however. Kipper's niece's husband, a firefighter in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, was shot in the leg while shielding his wife from the bullets. He's stable, Kipper said, and is waiting for surgery while others in more serious condition are treated. All of her family members were still in Las Vegas on Monday morning. You just are happy that your family is OK, but still worried about what kind of mental state they were in and what theyre going through," Kipper said. "You wish you were closer. Candlelight vigil Monday night, once again, Casper residents gathered to remember those killed in a mass shooting, to pray for those who survived and to attempt to comprehend the unimaginable. More than 30 people traveled through sleet and rain to gather in the dim light of the United Church of Christ's sanctuary for a candlelit vigil just before sunset. Rev. Dee Lundberg did not offer platitudes. She spoke to the difficulty of rationalizing evil, the need for change, the hard work that is grief and the necessity of pursuing peace, regardless of it all. "We can't let this darkness win," she said. "That's unacceptable." People in the crowd responded with questions of their own: How can we feel safe? How do we make sense of evil? How do you explain this world and its evils to your children, your grandchildren? How much do you let them know? Is it bad that these shootings feel normal now? Lundberg noted that Casperites had gathered in the same sanctuary a little more than a year ago after a gunman killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub. These vigils have become a dark American tradition each rendition of flickering candles and bowed heads reminiscent of the last, though the victims names change and the blood-soaked venue is different. A calendar item published in the Star-Tribune a few days after a gunman killed 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012 lists numerous recipients of one such remembrance: A candlelight vigil in honor of the victims of recent violence in Casper, Connecticut, Oregon and Colorado will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at Conwell Park. At the end of the service Monday, the group passed flames from white candle to white candle, like so many before them. Then the 30 people, young and old, bowed their heads over their dripping, glowing candles and sat, the only noise the battering of the storm outside. The Associated Press contributed to this report. WASHINGTON Disputes over a wedding cake for a same-sex couple and partisan electoral maps top the Supreme Courts agenda in the first full term of the Trump presidency. Conservatives will look for a boost from the newest justice, Neil Gorsuch, in a year that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said will be momentous. President Trumps travel ban appears likely to disappear from the courts docket, at least for now. But plenty of high-profile cases remain. The justices will hear important cases that touch on gay rights and religious freedoms, the polarized American electorate, the governments ability to track people without search warrants, employees rights to band together over workplace disputes and states rights to allow betting on professional and college sporting events. Last year, they didnt take a lot of major cases because they didnt want to be deadlocked 4-to-4, said Eric Kasper, director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. This year, that problem doesnt present itself. Gorsuch quickly showed he would be an ally of the courts most conservative justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, most recently joining them in objecting to the courts decision to block an execution in Georgia. While justices can change over time, Gorsuchs presence on the bench leaves liberals with a fair amount of trepidation, especially in cases involving the rights of workers. The very first case of the term, set for arguments Monday, could affect tens of millions of workers who have signed clauses as part of their employment contracts that not only prevent them from taking employment disputes to federal court, but also require them to arbitrate complaints individually, rather than in groups. Im very fearful, given the new Supreme Court, of what will happen, said Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Just on Thursday, the justices added a case that has the potential to financially cripple Democratic-leaning labor unions that represent government workers. Taken together, the those cases have a real chance of being a one-two punch against workers rights, said Claire Prestel, a lawyer for the Service Employees International Union. In the terms marquee cases about redistricting and wedding cakes, 81-year-old Justice Anthony Kennedy, closest to the courts center, remains the pivotal vote. In an era of sharp political division, it may be now or never for the court to rein in excessively partisan redistricting. If the justices do set limits, their decision could affect elections nationwide. The high court has weighed in several times on gerrymandering over the past 30 years, without agreeing on a standard that would allow courts to oversee a process that elected lawmakers handle in most states. But a lower court was convinced that Democratic voters challenge in Wisconsin to the Republican-led redistricting following the 2010 census offered a sensible way to proceed. The GOP plan seemed to consign Democrats to minority status in the Wisconsin Assembly in a state that otherwise is closely divided between the parties. The only real question in the case is whether Kennedy will decide that partisan redistricting has just gone too far in Wisconsin and other states where one party has a significant edge in the legislature, but statewide elections are closely fought, said Donald Verrilli Jr., solicitor general during the Obama administration. The wedding cake case stems from a Colorado bakers refusal, based on his religious beliefs, to make a cake for a same-sex couple. Colorados civil rights commission said baker Jack Phillips refusal violated the states anti-discrimination law. As the case has come to the Supreme Court, the focus is on whether Phillips, who regards his custom-made cakes as works of art, can be compelled by the state to produce a message with which he disagrees. MARSEILLE, France A man with a knife stabbed two women to death Sunday at the main train station in the southern French city of Marseille as he reportedly shouted Allahu akbar! an attack the Islamic State group claimed was the work of one its soldiers. French soldiers shot the man to death after the attacks and authorities were working to determine if he had links to Islamic extremism. Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, who went to Marseille to meet with local authorities and troops on the scene, said police have video that shows the man attacking a woman and running away, then coming back and attacking a second woman. The video shows the man running toward soldiers who were rushing to Marseilles Saint Charles train station. The soldiers fatally shot him and both women died of their injuries, Collomb said. Some witnesses reported hearing the assailant shout Allahu akbar! Arabic for God is great, Collomb said. The Paris prosecutors office, which oversees all terror cases in France, said it had opened a counterterrorism investigation into the Marseille attack. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said in a statement Sunday night that the assailant was acting in response to IS calls to target countries in the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS extremists in Syria and Iraq. The statement did not provide any details or evidence of a direct link to the attacker. France has been part of the anti-IS coalition since 2014 and has been repeatedly targeted by IS attacks. Police sources told The Associated Press that one of the victims was stabbed and one had her throat slit. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly about the investigation. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was deeply outraged by Sundays barbarous knife attack. Last week our Biz Tip article examined the sales funnel in general. This week we will help you to attract more quality clients, while improving your client conversion rate and your branding at the same time. If you want to attract better clients, you must start by describing your perfect client. Be able to describe them demographically and geographically. Ask yourself where do they live, how much money do they make and what other traits do they share? What life events may cause them to need your services? Once you can describe the perfect client, allocate all of your marketing efforts to target them. It is important to remember the time you spend working with the wrong customer prevents you from working with the right one. It is OK to fire a client or refer them to someone else if they are not the right client for you. Your marketing plan should include ways to generate business by referral. Direct referrals have a much higher closure rate and lower acquisition cost. Identify your best sources for potential referrals and design a marketing plan to reach these sources. Once you connect with potential referral partners, they become prospects in the sales funnel. Now you need to convert them using your sales processes, much like you did with your clients. The sales process is different for referral sources. It is important to consider things like your follow-up process and how you will add value to the referral relationship. As you fill your sales funnel with more referrals, your closure rates will automatically go up. If your sales process converts a high percentage of new referral sources, your business will grow exponentially. We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Oct. 2 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages. Last year the countys Tres Rios Wastewater Reclamation facility produced around 254 million cubic feet of so-called biogas, a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process that if cleaned could supplant the natural gas consumption of more than 5,000 homes. However, most of the potentially valuable resource is being burned off at the plant, though the wastewater facility uses as much as it can on site. In recent years, the county pursued deals with several companies to treat and market the methane-rich biogas, proposals that ultimately fell through. Now some officials say the best way forward is for the county to build the cleaning facility itself and sell the product, which could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for the wastewater department that has been contending with declining usage and revenues. As to potential customers, the county has reached out to UNS Energy Services and considered hiring a third-party marketer that would find natural gas customers. Any deal, as well as how to pay for the new facility, would need the approval of the Board of Supervisors. We were in negotiation forever with firms ... and just frankly we werent getting anywhere, County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said of the failed efforts. I just said, Its time to basically do something. And its not that expensive. In a July memo to wastewater Director Jackson Jenkins, Huckelberry estimated the new biogas cleaning facility could cost about $8 million to build. He suggested that debt could be repaid by assessing the utilitys customers a small monthly renewable energy fee. However, he later told the Star that might not be necessary. Now that we see the market improving for environmental biogas, its quite likely that it will actually make money and pay the capital cost back without any fee increase, and thats the direction were headed, he said. Production of the cleaned gas would also earn the county renewable identification numbers, which can be sold to energy refiners and importers looking to comply with federal renewable standards, according to a recent memo from Huckelberry. Those revenues will also offset a portion of the Tres Rios (plants) operations and maintenance costs to benefit ratepayers, according to the 2016 wastewater facility plan. In April, supervisors approved a 3 percent hike for both wastewater user and connection fees. County officials said two additional hikes will be necessary in coming years to prevent potentially serious financial consequences for the department. In 2014, the Board of Supervisors approved a contract with the companies Anaergia Inc. and Grannus Biagas LLC, which were going to build and operate a treatment facility and sell the gas. The contract called for the county to receive 10 percent of gross revenues, which were estimated to eventually rise to nearly $175,000 annually, excluding lease payments. Jenkins said a second deal, which was pursued with the company BioFuels Energy, would have brought in closer to $200,000. Because the current effort would require paying just for moving and possibly marketing the gas, Huckelberry said the potential revenues for the county could be as much as 10 times those figures. Jenkins agreed the new proposal would likely bring in significantly more revenue than contracting with a company to build and operate the cleaning facility, but was more cautious in his estimates, suggesting the potential revenues could be two to three times as lucrative. The county canceled the Anaergia/Grannus contract in early 2015 after the joint venture was unable to find a customer for the cleaned biogas. One possibility was an Apple supplier in Mesa that filed for bankruptcy, according to Jenkins. Negotiations with BioFuels Energy were suspended in July after it became clear there will not be any significant progress on contracting, Huckelberry wrote in a memo earlier that month. Now, the county is hoping to team with Southwest Gas to move the cleaned biogas to a final customer or customers. Jenkins said Southwest is all in and has even added a stub to its pipe network near Tres Rios near West Ina Road and Interstate 10 to connect to a cleaning facility. Huckelberry said Southwest could potentially transport or purchase the gas, as well as assist with operations, maintenance and marketing, though the exact responsibilities are still being discussed. Company spokeswoman Amy Washburn said the company is excited to partner with the county to move its renewable natural gas, which she described as a domestic, renewable and a clean form of energy. Where the gas might go is still unclear. Huckelberry sent a letter to UNS Energy Corp. CEO David Hutchens in August raising the possibility of UNS subsidiary Tucson Electric Power buying the gas. A spokesman told the Star that TEP is still reviewing the idea and intends to meet with the county and Southwest to discuss feasibility. In Jenkins opinion, the returns for the county could be greater having a third-party marketer finding buyers throughout Southwests range, instead of relying on a single local customer like TEP. That market out there, (it) sure seems like this would be a good way to go, not only from the green, sustainability perspective, but also the economic value to our county and ratepayers, he said. Huckelberry said its a very safe bet that the revenues would be sufficient to cover the debt necessary to build the cleaning facility, though he conceded the price of natural gas has been variable. Given rising demand for cleaner fuels, he argues that the market is going to be fairly stable and healthy for the next 10 years. Jenkins said a request for proposals for the facility will likely be out by the end of the year and construction could begin as soon as next summer. It wont take us too much longer, he added. Were going to have a gas cleaning project and were going to be selling a renewable fuel out there to somebody. The plan will face some skeptics. While he hasnt had the opportunity to review the proposal in-depth, Supervisor Steve Christy said hes uncomfortable with the idea of a local government becoming a player in the energy market. My first inclination is to be wary when local government, or any government, starts to become a private enterprise, he said. But Supervisor Sharon Bronson said shes glad theres finally some movement on a long-talked-about goal, which she says will promote sustainability and energy independence. Her support, however, is dependent on the project not being put on the taxpayers backs, she said. MADRID (AP) A vote on whether the Catalonia region should secede from the rest of Spain has deeply divided the country. Catalan officials say an overwhelming majority voted Sunday in favor of independence, but the central government in Madrid has repeatedly condemned the referendum as illegal and invalid. What happens next is unclear, but Catalan officials have said they regional parliament plans to declare independence in the next several days. Catalonia, one of Spain's 17 autonomous regions, has some 7.5 million people and includes the tourist-popular Mediterranean port of Barcelona, the country's second-largest city, which is home to a Catalan parliament and regional government. The region has its own language and generates a fifth of Spain's 1.1 trillion euro economy. Here is a look at the events leading up to the vote: 2006: Spain's central government and Catalan authorities agree on devolving more powers to the northeastern region, including finance, health care and education. The agreement is approved by both Catalan regional lawmakers and the national parliament. 2008: Spain enters a five-year financial crisis that brings harsh austerity measures and recession, leaving many Catalans feeling their wealthy region could do better on its own. 2010: Spain's Madrid-based Constitutional Court strikes down key parts of the 2006 charter, inadvertently breathing new life into the secession movement. Some 1 million Catalans voice their anger in a march through Barcelona. Pro-independence parties win a regional election. Sept. 11, 2012: On Catalonia's national day, a huge turnout provides a show of force for the independence movement. But Madrid snubs Catalan officials by refusing to grant greater financial independence to the region. March 2014: Spain's Constitutional Court rules that Catalonia can't go ahead with a planned Nov. 9 vote on its independence, as all Spaniards must be allowed to cast a ballot. Nov. 9, 2014: The Catalan government scraps its planned referendum on independence and, instead, calls the ballot an unofficial opportunity for locals to express their opinion about Catalonia's future. Of the around 2.3 million Catalans less than half of those eligible who vote, more than 80 percent choose secession. The national government rejects the vote as propaganda. September 2015: Then-U.S. President Barack Obama says the United States wants a united Spain. European Union chiefs say an independent Catalonia wouldn't be allowed as a member. In another regional election, Catalonia's pro-independence parties narrowly win the most seats. December 2015: Spain's Constitutional Court rules that a pro-independence resolution at the Catalan parliament is unconstitutional. March 2017: Former Catalan president Artur Mas is barred from holding public office for two years for holding the November 2014 vote. June 9, 2017: Catalan president Carlos Puigdemont announces a new vote on independence on Oct. 1. Catalan officials say they will proclaim a new republic within 48 hours of the ballot if a "yes" vote wins, regardless of the turnout. Sept. 7, 2017: After a legal challenge from the central government in Madrid, the Constitutional Court suspends the ballot. Sept. 20, 2017: Spanish police arrest a dozen Catalan officials for organizing the independence referendum, sparking mass street protests. Police seize 10 million ballot papers in a crackdown. Sept. 21, 2017: Spain's Constitutional Court says it is fining 22 Catalan electoral board members between 6,000 euros ($7,000) and 12,000 euros ($14,200) a day as long as they fail to comply with the court order suspending the ballot. Sept. 29, 2017: The Spanish government vows to block the ballot. Catalan officials vow to proceed with it. Sept. 30, 2017: Police give activists and parents occupying schools in Catalonia so they can be used as polling stations for the Oct. 1 vote an ultimatum to leave by 6 a.m. on Oct. 1. Oct. 1, 2017: Spanish riot police smash their way into polling stations and fire rubber bullets to try to halt the disputed independence referendum, and hundreds of people, including some police, are injured, officials say. Still, voting continues. The rainy season, when Da Lat potato prices surge as supply falls behind demand, is also the peak time for dishonest wholesalers to re-brand Chinese potatoes into Da Lat-grown delicacies. Fresh potatoes are one of the specialties that earn Da Lat, the capital of Lam Dong Province, its moniker of Vietnams vegetable kingdom. However, not all Da Lat potatoes are actually grown in the Central Highlands hub. The Da Lat wholesale market has become a mecca for the llegal practice of washing away the origin of potatoes imported from China. Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper has recently penetrated the wholesale market and observed first-hand how Chinese potatoes are turned into Da Lat-grown produce. Coating trick The Da Lat wholesale market consists of three rows of booths, two of which belong to potato wholesalers. Approximately three large trucks can always be found parked outside the market, ready to unload Chinese potatoes to wholesalers who buy them for their fraudulent business. The Chinese potatoes, covered in muddy black soil, are first washed to remove the dirt. Wholesalers have machines capable of washing a few hundred kilograms in five minutes. The dark yellow skin of the washed Chinese potatoes will be exposed, markedly different from the red or light yellow skin of genuine Da Lat potatoes. This is when the most blatant stage of the fraud begins: wholesalers will coat the Chinese potatoes with the red dirt typical of Vietnams Central Highlands and wait until the plants become dry and the dirt sticks to their skin before storing them into plastic bags. Some even take an additional step: putting some red dirt inside the bags before sealing them. Trang, who runs one of the largest potato stalls at the market, said the dirt coating phase should be done with great care to ensure that the dirt stays on the potato skin during transportation. The potatoes must remain wet, while the dirt must be completely dry during the mixing process, she added. Wholesalers do not even seem to think the practice of coating the Chinese potatoes with red dirt is something that should be done secretly. Bags of red dirt are openly placed on several potato booths and some even dry the dirt on the street, with no pretense of hiding anything. Van, another potato wholesaler, said they were forced to source Chinese produce and perform the coating' trick to meet the demand of smaller markets. If I dont do this, there are others who will, she said. Hard to punish Nguyen Xuan Ky, a member of the Da Lat produce wholesale market, said the potatoes are legally imported from China with proper papers and receipts. Even after being coated with the red dirt, the potatoes will leave the market with papers claiming they are Chinese potatoes, Ky said, implying that the produce is only put on sale under misleading labels by smaller markets and traders. Lai The Hung, head of the provinces plant protection department, said that while coating Chinese potatoes with red dirt to dupe consumers into thinking they are from Da Lat is the same as producing counterfeit products, there is no official rule to punish the dishonest wholesalers. Wholesalers who properly declare that their potatoes are of Chinese origin in all the relevant papers say that the dirt coating is to help preserve the plants during transportation, Hung said. Hung said authorities can only impose a fine if one is caught selling the Chinese products as the Da Lat potatoes, but proof in the form of labels or receipts must be obtained. Unfortunately this is something out of the authority of Lam Dong as the potatoes are only sold to consumers outside of Da Lat, he admitted. Huynh Ngoc Hai, director of the Lam Dong trade department, said that more than 7,000 metric tons of Chinese potatoes are transported to Da Lat, via both official and cross-border imports, on an annual basis. Da Lat wholesalers do not deceive traders in smaller markets about the origin of the potatoes, but they are indirectly duping consumers, who may be tricked into buying Chinese potatoes labeled as Da Lat-grown ones, he said. Below are some photos of the dishonest practice taken by Tuoi Tre in previous exposes: Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A trainee teacher from Denmark is packing kindergarten classes in central Vietnam by using fun, novel learning experiences and showering his special needs students with care and devotion. Nikolai Hansen, 28, is working as a teaching assistant at Uoc Mo Xanh (Blue Dream) School, which helps students with special needs to integrate socially, and Ngoi Sao Xanh (Blue Star) Kindergarten, both of which are based in Da Nang. He is making the most of his six months at both schools before returning to the University College of North Denmark to complete his studies. Despite being unable to speak a word of Vietnamese, the young man, sporting a bushy beard, has quickly become the focus of childrens attention. They jump at any opportunity to sit in his lap and burn themselves out playing his mesmerizing games. As the heavy-set young man sweats profusely during his classes, he says that he does not mind losing some of his facial hair during his work and play classes. In one recent class, Hansen taught his preschoolers how to identify different kinds of fruit. The children beamed with excitement as their teacher walked around the class with a basket loaded with pieces of watermelon, grapes and apples. Hansen articulated all the words before awarding the fruits to those who pronounced them correctly. He then showed them how to peel and slice the fruits with plastic utensils, with the assistance of their Vietnamese teacher. Hansen gave encouraging applause and praise to those students who performed well. Before arriving in Da Nang, Hansen had traveled to several countries while learning about the kindergarten education system in his own country. Danish high school graduates spend at least six months experiencing the profession of their choice before actually pursuing it at university. This helps students get an idea of what their chosen profession is about and if they are cut out for the job. Fewer students drop out or change their major halfway through as a result, which prevents the government from wasting money, Hansen explained. The young man has come to a few honest conclusions regarding Vietnamese children based on his observation and trainee teaching experience in Vietnam. Vietnamese children are overly protected and pampered. Their parents do everything for them without showing them how to get what they want themselves, he said. This is not necessarily in the best interests of the children. Deprived of opportunities to practice independence, the children will fail to strive for their dreams in adulthood, he added. The trainee teacher also pointed to the difference in childrens traveling experiences in Asian and Western countries. Asian parents tend to take care of their childrens luggage when they travel. By contrast, Western couples will generally buy their five-year-old a piece of luggage for them to drag along. If the child runs into problems with the suitcase, the parents will wait and encourage the kid to fix the problem on his/her own rather than rushing to help. Hansen revealed he had worked at centers that offer care for children aged from a few months to three years old. With his considerable experience working with autistic children and those with special needs, Hansen has shown a keen interest in behavioral and psychological intervention. At Uoc Mo Xanh, Hansen made it a point for the children there to engage in movement games as part of a physically taxing pedagogical approach. A teacher is supposed to correct each of the autistic childs movements and spend considerable time in the emotional intervention and movement awareness process. I really want to be with mentally challenged children in order to help them, he said. Hansen added that he had never met a male kindergarten teacher in Vietnam, while nearly one-fifth of kindergarten teachers and teachers to students with special needs in Denmark are men. I think anyone is cut out for a kindergarten teaching job, as long as they adore children and are physically robust enough to play with them, Do Thi An Khue, principal of Ngoi Sao Xanh Kindergarten, observed that the Dane not only bolsters his students confidence but also helps the other teachers improve their English. Hansen has breathed new life into our school. He has excellent body language and maintains great eye contact in order to get himself across to the children, Khue noted. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The cow market often becomes bustling during Cambodias annual flooding season, from May to November. Several parts of Cambodia are often flooded at this time of the year, forcing local farmers to sell their cows to their Vietnamese counterparts. The cow market is named Ta Ngao, which has been open for decades in An Phu Commune, Tinh Bien District. Cows are carried on a raft from Cambodia to Vietnams An Giang Province. Buyers of these cattle continue to raise them or slaughter them for meat. A cow at Ta Ngao Market sells for VND5 million (US$220) to VND30 million ($1,319), which is much cheaper than the average price at other markets. The main currency used at the place is Cambodian riel ($1 = KHR4,054). The venue is open daily from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm. The market becomes bustling early in the morning. During other times of the year, only a few dozen cows are sold. However, the number reaches up to 300 during the flooding season in Cambodia. All sellers are required to pay an amount of tax to be able to enter the market. According to Nguyen Van Dong, deputy head of Ta Ngao Markets managing board, all animals sold at the venue have undergone a thorough vaccination and quarantine process. Buyers look at the cattle before making a purchase. Cambodian sellers wait for their customers at Ta Ngao Cow Market. Some local residents of Tinh Bien District, An Giang, also sell their cows at the market. A buyer selects his favorite cow and states the price. A deal has been made. Vietnamese buyers lead a cow onto their truck. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A second food street opened on Monday morning in Ho Chi Minh City, one month after the launch of the first. The new food hub is located at the Bach Tung Diep Park in District 1, bordered by Nam Ky Khoi Nghia and Ly Tu Trong Streets. The 30-meter food street houses up to 30 catering businesses run by former street vendors, who take turns to occupy the stalls in two shifts: between 6:00 am and 9:00 am, and from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. The food street is the second of its kind to be opened in the southern metropolis, following a months-long crackdown on sidewalk-encroaching street vendors headed by Doan Ngoc Hai, deputy chairman of District 1. The citys first food street was launched on August 28 along Nguyen Van Chiem Street, which lies between the Youth Culture House and Diamond Plaza, connecting Pham Ngoc Thach and Hai Ba Trung Streets in District 1. While the Nguyen Van Chiem food street only offers takeaways, there are tables and parasols available at the Bach Tung Diep food street for diners to enjoy their meal nearby. Parasols and tables are available for diners to enjoy their meal on the spot. Photo: Tuoi Tre Food safety and hygiene are the number-one priorities a both streets, with all vendors undergoing a compulsory training course, according to Tran The Thuan, chairman of District 1. Doan Ngoc Hai was present at the opening day of the Bach Tung Diep food street on Monday morning to hand out lucky money and wish the vendors a profitable year. A representative from District 1s administration said the district would permit night shifts in the near future to meet the varied demands of diners in the city. The sidewalk clearance campaign began earlier this year after Hai took it upon himself to enforce the districts often-ignored sidewalk occupancy laws. Taking note of the campaigns positive reception from local citizens, other neighborhoods in Ho Chi Minh City had begun following suit until the initiative came to a sudden end in late March. Hai marked the campaigns return with a surprise crackdown on August 9, issuing fines to multiple cars and taxis parked illegally on sidewalks and confiscating tables and chairs from eateries occupying the pavements. The Bach Tung Diep food street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre The Bach Tung Diep food street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre A vendor prepares food at the Bach Tung Diep food street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre Doan Ngoc Hai, deputy chairman of District 1, talks with vendors at the Bach Tung Diep food street on the opening day, October 2, 2017. Photo: Tuoi Tre Wooden stalls are used at the Bach Tung Diep food street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre A vendor prepares food at the Bach Tung Diep food street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! At least six people have been confirmed dead and several others wounded after two passenger buses collided head-on in southern Vietnam in the early hours of Monday morning. The incident occurred at around 4:00 am on the provincial road DT 784 in Truong Mit Commune, Duong Minh Chau District, Tay Ninh Province. A 16-seater van was traveling toward the center of Tay Ninh, about 100km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, when it slammed into a 35-seater long-haul bus, which was driving in the opposite direction. Six people were killed instantly in the collision. A witness said that the driver of the van was among those killed. About eight others were also injured and brought to Tay Ninh Province General Hospital for emergency treatment, an official from the provincial traffic safety committee told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, before adding that three remain in a critical condition. Officers investigate the scene of the accident. Photo: Tuoi Tre At the scene of the accident, the front end of the 35-seater bus was damaged, while the 16-seater van was severely distorted, with its roof and left side ripped open. According to Tran Huynh Thanh, chairman of the Peoples Committee in Truong Mit Commune, the van was carrying visitors from the southern province of An Giang to Ba Den Mountain, a popular tourist destination in Tay Ninh. Local authorities are investigating the scene to determine the cause of the crash. They have already provided financial support to the victims and their families. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Check out the news you should not miss today, October 2: Politics -- Vietnams Minister of National Defense General Ngo Xuan Lich, leading a high-ranking military delegation, left for a three-day official visit to Myanmar on Sunday. -- The Vietnam-South Korea Friendship Week kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, in celebration of the East Asian country's National Foundation Day (October 3) and the 25th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between the two countries. Society -- The Ho Chi Minh City food safety watchdog on Sunday proposed destroying 3,750 pigs found to be sedated prior to slaughtering last week, instead of keeping them until the drug completely excretes from their bodies. -- Localities in Vietnams Central Highlands and the south-central and southern regions are forecast to have rains and thunderstorms in the next two to three days, with heavy downpours expected in the late afternoon and the evening. -- There is a black market where leaked information of airline passengers is on sale for taxi firms or companies that offer shuttle services to and fro Noi Bai and Cam Ranh airports. -- Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, both accused of murdering the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un by rubbing the toxic VX nerve agent on his face in February, will go on trial in Malaysia today, October 2, AFP reported. Business -- Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports in the Jan-Sep period are estimated at US$2.64 billion, surging 44.2 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has reported. -- Many facilities in Da Lat are washing the origin of Chinese potatoes by coating them with the red dirt typical of Vietnams Central Highlands and putting them into packages labeled a made-in-Da Lat delicacy. -- Vietnams international arrivals topped 9.4 million in the Jan-Sep period of this year, up 28.4 percent against the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office. -- Vinfast, the car-making arm of Vietnams leading property developer Vingroup, has introduced 20 concept designs for its sedan and SUV, rendered by four famous car design firms Pininfarina, Torino, Zagto and ItalDesign. The Vinfast manufacturing plant is under construction in the northern city of Hai Phong and is expected to produce the first batch of products by September 2019. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! New UK period drama The Last Post, starring Jessie Buckley & Jessica Raines, begins next week on ABC. The 6 part series, written by Peter Moffat (Spooks) is a close up view of army life in Aden, Yemen, during the 1960s. It is based on his childhood memories, his fathers career as an officer in the Royal Military Police and his mothers struggle between being what the army required her to be and what she felt like being. It launched this week in the UK. Set in the shimmering heat of Aden (Yemen), the drama centres on a unit of Royal Military Police officers and their families. Their job is two-fold: half soldiers and half policemen who face constant insurgency and threat. Danger is everywhere. Hand grenades, mines and sniper attacks are a constant threat. But life and love must continue. The Sixties are starting to swing: sexual liberation, polka dot bikinis, new music and prized copies of Vogue have reached the sun loungers of the glamorous BP Club. Dashing, newlywed RMP Captain Joe Martin (Neumark-Jones) and his wife Honor (Buckley) arrive dressed like JFK and Jackie, full of excitement and ambition about the start of married life. A big new adventure. But how well does Honor know the man shes just married? 8:20pm Saturday October 14 on ABC. An LA court last week gave 101 year old Olivia de Havilland welcome news in her lawsuit against FX over its portrayal of her in the Ryan Murphy miniseries, Feud: Bette and Joan. Last week a judge said that FX wont be allowed to strike her complaint on First Amendment grounds. Ms. de Havilland, the only surviving principal portrayed in the series, claims she has built a reputation for integrity and dignity. But she took issue with her portrayal by Catherine Zeta-Jones as a hypocrite who sold gossip to promote herself. FX claimed that de Havillands consent was not needed to include her in the show, nor did her inclusion violate her right of publicity, citing the states statutes protecting petition and free-speech rights. But L.A. Superior Court Judge Holly Kendig ruled that de Havillands complaint will stand, unless the defendants successfully appeal the decision. Kendig concluded that Ms. de Havilland has showed a minimal probability of prevailing on the merits of her claims. Because of her advanced age, the judge has fast-tracked the trial to late November, unless FX appeals. The defendants have also indicated they wish to depose de Havilland, who is currently residing in France. Her attorneys plan to depose Murphy, Zeta-Jones and others involved with Feud next month. Source: Hollywood Reporter, LA Times Help India! By Tariq Hassan for TwoCircles.net It is said that in politics a week can be as long as a lifetime. A lot of water has flowed in the river Ganga at Patna since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made his momentous decision to switch his political loyalties overnight on the call of his conscience. Support TwoCircles Nitish Kumar had, it seems, presumed that the BJP led government at the centre was invincible as far as the next parliamentary elections are concerned. Nobody knows what must be going through the mind of the Bihar Chief Minister at this point in time but with the passage of each week, it is becoming increasingly clear that it would be a gross political naivete to assume that the 2019 parliamentary elections in India cannot spring any surprises. Nearly three months back, I had written that there is a simmering discontent in rural India over the present governments policies on the agriculture and allied sector. This noise, which was just a murmur a couple of months back, has now become a chorus. There are three distinct factors which are causing this rural discontent to trickle across to urban India also. The first, of course, is the growing realisation that the note ban was an exercise in futility. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinhas no-holds-barred attack on the governments economic policy has done more damage to the Modi government than the half-hearted rantings of Congress leaders. The clumsy manner in which half-baked procedures were structured within the GST implementation is hitting the BJPs most loyal vote bank. This is the second goof up. The traders are reluctant to speak out because of fear and the lingering hope that it will lead to long-term gain. But the GST mishandling is now also impacting both the unorganized industrial sector and the farm sector in a big way. The third issue interestingly enough is the cow factor. If you visit the countryside all over the North India, you see stray cattle stumbling all over the rural space, especially farmlands. After the fatal blow caused by Gau Rakshak attacks on the transport of all bovines, the small farmers who generally own not more than a couple of bovines, are now reeling under a severe economic crunch because their economic chain has been grievously impaired by their inability to sell off their non-productive livestock. Driving through the UP heartland between Lucknow and Allahabad last week, this writer came across half a dozen carcasses of animals lying along the roadside. They had apparently been killed by fast moving vehicles during the night and there was no one even to remove these dead bodies for a long time. Farmers are complaining that the stray cattle have become a menace as they keep foraging in their fields day and night. But the real question is, whether this rural discontent going to lead an anti-Modi wave in the next parliamentary elections? The answer to this is far from clear. Despite all the ammunition which the opposition parties have been bestowed with, there is still no direction and no counter-narrative and no personality in the entire opposition including the Congress Party, who can even remotely claim the mantle of a formidable leader of the opposition.So far it is the farmers lobbies and the citizens groups which are leading the attack on the Modi government. Congress Vice President, Rahul Gandhi may have improved his rating in the western media by his new-found persuasive style of communication, but it is very doubtful whether he can translate this into some sort of advantage in the context of Indian political scenario. The best way for Congress now seems to search out a non-controversial personality from outside the main political parties. The person should be chosen for his ability to garner greater acceptability amongst the different regional parties. This person can be a social activist, media person or even a retired government official like a Supreme Court judge who should, of course, understand the dynamics of the political process. This person can be projected as the Prime Minister and the Congress party and someone from the regional party can be projected as deputy prime ministers. The political situation in the most important state of the country, Uttar Pradesh has gone through a sea change in the past few weeks. Here too, the opposition parties, in particular, former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, have failed to capitalise on growing widespread discontent against the Yogi government. Some political analysts, with whom this writer discussed the UP political scenario, were quick to point out that Akhilesh appears to have missed a golden opportunity when the Chief Minister Yogi preferred to enter the state assembly through the upper house instead of seeking the publics mandate by contesting for the Vidhan Sabha. According to these analysts, if, instead Akhilesh had asked one of his sitting MLAs to resign and could have announced that he was ready to face the chief minister in the peoples court, it could have electrified the political scene not only in UP but all over the country. Even if he would have lost by a narrow margin, the message would have been loud and clear that the party which had been claiming to win all the 80 seats in UP, is not likely to cross even a halfway mark if the present trend continued. But this was not to be. A listless opposition in the country continues to languish in the oblivion losing one opportunity after the other, to present a united front against the ruling dispensation. According to some analysts, this could also be the result of a strategy to keep the pot boiling without interfering directly and then ride on the steam a strong peoples movement against the government. One thing is pretty clear by now that the present government is riding on the crest of communal and caste polarisation. Any attempt by the opposition to attack the BJP-led government on its questionable credential on the issue of communalism will deliver no dividends and will only help in communal polarisation in favour of the Bhartiya Janata Party. Clearly, a strategy of the opposition has to be focused on economic issues and misgovernance. In the weeks ahead, it is obvious that the ruling party in the centre is going to face a lot of trouble on the economic front. Some heads are bound to roll but the million dollar question is, Will the opposition wake up from its slumber? [The author is a veteran journalist based out of Aligarh.] Help India! By TCN News Aligarh : Only a few people in the history of civilizations have made an everlasting impact as huge as Mahatma Gandhi. To pay tribute to the Father of the Nation who was a pivot behind Indias struggle for freedom against British rule, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) celebrated Gandhi Jayanti (Mahatma Gandhis birth anniversary) at the varsitys Maulana Azad (MA) Library. Support TwoCircles Addressing a gathering of AMU teachers, students and other staff at the Cultural Hall of MA Library, AMU Vice Chancellor, Professor Tariq Mansoor said that Mahatma Gandhi was one of the greatest world leaders, who has inspired Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, His Holiness Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr, Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs among many others. Prof Mansoor pointed out that Mahatma Gandhis teachings are relevant even today and will continue to inspire people. He added that non-violence is still and will remain the most relevant way of handling situations. Gandhiji protested against oppression and tyranny on all sections of society and communities, said Prof Mansoor adding that Gandhiji promoted the idea of bringing self-reliance in rural areas. Gandhiji always believed that nations can only progress if there is equality and tolerance among populations, said the Vice Chancellor. Prof M Rizwan Khan (Department of English) pointed out that Gandhiji today is more relevant as an idea than only as a historical figure. He added that Gandhis appearance was of a week and fragile person, but his actions were of a very strong, committed, persuasive and a devoted world leader. He added that Gandhiji struggled against the evils and sickness of society and worked for communal harmony all his life. Prof Khan pointed out that Gandhiji fell into a dark despair on the eve of Indias independence in August 1947. While, Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru was delivering the famous Tryst with Destiny -speech, Gandhi was in Calcutta (Now Kolkatta) in West Bengal to bring peace after communal riots in the city. He further said that Gandhiji was not born as a Mahatma, but his life experiences and work made him a Mahatma. Dr Mohibul Haque said that Gandhiji often felt helpless when he saw the world in turmoil, a result of the differences between ideals. He added that Mahatma Gandhi inspired the world with his faith in truth and justice for all mankind. Gandhiji was a great soul who loved even those who fought against his ideals to bring about peace with non-violence, said Dr Haque. AMU students, Mr Mateen Ashraf (BA Urdu) and Ms Arisha Zaidi (BA English) delivered speeches on how Gandhiji lead with an exemplary life that echoed his ideals. They spoke on how Mahatma Gandhi sacrificed his thriving law practice and adopted a simple life to live among the millions who lived in poverty during his freedom struggle. Prof Javaid Akhter (AMU Registrar) conducted the programme. Dr Nabi Hasan (AMU Librarian) proposed the vote of thanks. On the occasion, AMU Vice Chancellor inaugurated an exhibition with books, journals and photographs of Mahatma Gandhi on display. The exhibition also had copies of magazines edited by Gandhi. Prof Mansoor administered a pledge to work with dedication for preserving and strengthening the freedom and integrity of the Nation. He also administered a Swachchta Shapath (Cleanliness Pledge) by saying that Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt of a developed and clean country. Help India! By Sheikh Khurshid Alam for TwoCircles.net The news about the change of guard at Aliah University shows yet again the looming crisis of Muslim leadership in West Bengal. On September 27, TwoCircles.net reported that The West Bengal governments decision to transfer the control of state-owned minority institution Aliah University from Minority Affairs and Madrassa Education Department (MA&ME) to Higher Education Department has not gone down well with the community. The report covers the views of the stakeholders and interestingly there is a mixed response from all the quarters. Support TwoCircles The sarkari musalman sees no fault with the change of guard and naturally the punching bag is the student community. It is no surprise that the West Bengals Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education, Giasuddin Molla, has said that the University would not have faced such a situation if students did not commit any hooliganism in name of students protest in the campuses. So, the question is who failed Aliah? Is it the protesting students or those who let the matter go out of control due to their sheer lack of required ability to control situations? Moreover, a section of the community has also figured out the solution to this crisis; if the government executes the order, a massive protest march would be arranged I tried to figure out the reasonableness of the apprehension of the community with the change of guard. It seems to me that people are worried about the admission of all those students, who would be refused admission to other institutions. It is very convenient to cite data and tell that a very negligible percentage of students get admission in premier institutions like Presidency and Jadavpur Universities but have we ever pondered over the reasons that lead to such phenomena! One of the very quick responses would be to blame biases or partiality of the administration but is that the complete picture? Isnt the deservingness of the students a factor? Do we have the data which tells us the number of candidates rejected because of administrations bias and those who were rejected because they were not deemed good enough? Aliah University was established not only as an answer to the crisis of educational institution for higher studies only but also as an answer to the crisis in the culture of our educational institutions. Is the student community the only standard bearer of culture? Why dont the elders admit their responsibility in failing the vision of Aliah University? Todays youth is the collective product of the societys misguided efforts. The community has no right to expect cultured youth when it cannot present itself as an ideal. Where have the youth learned the dirty politics from? Where have they learned the art of ugly protests, arson, riot and havoc from? I am not ready to buy the story that the youth is misguided all of its own, that the youth lacks dedication, hard work and perseverance. Had that been the case, the results of state board education would have had a different story to tell. Record of the past few years tells us that many from the community have come out with flying colours. Those who succeeded in these competitive examinations were from amongst those who made an effort towards it. The event to be looked into is the number of applicants for these examinations and their capabilities. It would not be wrong to say that those youth who have been guided rightly by the community have never failed them, they have always performed. But the majority is lurking in the darkness because they have no ideal elder to look up to, no helping hand to catch on and no support system to rely upon. Our issues will not be solved by sporting black bands during Eid, massive protest marches and mudslinging at each other for the failure of our institutions. The revolutionary Mohammed Iqbal has pointed out the will of God in his following couplets: Koi Qabil Ho To Hum Shan-e-Kai Dete Hain, Dhoondne Walon Ko Duniya Bhi Nai Dete Hain! It is time to realise that we deserve what we get and we dont get what we dont deserve. It is very plain and simple. Will our elected and self-appointed leaders only remain busy in updating their Facebook walls with stolen poetries, visit high-profile get-togethers, rhetoric comments and self-appraising selfies or show some action by taking the situation head-on? The circular dated 08.09.17 issued by the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of West Bengal states that WHEREAS Aliah University was set-up in the year 2008-09 under the Aliah University Act 2007 as a minority educational institution and an autonomous university under the Department of Minority Affairs and Madarsah Education, Govt of West Bengal it has been decided by the order of the Governor of West Bengal that henceforth the said University, while remaining under the administrative control of the Department of Minority Affairs and Madarsah Education, shall be guided by the Department of the Higher Education, Science & Technology and Bio-Technology, in academic and administrative matters. The matter to be looked into is that how much viable the circular is, because, a plain reading of the words will tell you that the circular stands in contradiction of its own words. At one point it says that Aliah University will remain under the administrative control of the Department of Minority Affairs and Madarsah Education and later on it says that the University will be guided in the matters of administration by the Department of the Higher Education, Science & Technology and Bio-Technology. It is like saying the father will decide whether son can go to a picnic or not but the mother will guide the decision of whether son will go to a picnic or not. It will be wise to seek competent counsel on the matter of the change of guard and deal the issue as it requires to be dealt with, i.e legally before the proper forum rather than hot-headedness of crazy massive protest march. The author is alumni of Aliah University, Department of Islamic Jurisprudence and Law, batch of 2014-16. Currently, he is pursuing Law and Development from Azim Premji University, Bangalore. Help India! TCN News Attack over the Indian Dalit scholar, writer, and ideologue Professor Kancha Illaiah has sparked various groups and civil societies across the globe. Support TwoCircles The Alliance for Justice And Accountability (AJA), an umbrella coalition of progressive organizations across the United States, condemned the life-threatening attacks against the renowned author and Dalit scholar Kancha Illaiah by members of the Arya Vysya community. The attack was an attempt on the life of the outspoken political philosopher who has authored several books including Why I am not a Hindu, Buffalo Nationalism Post-Hindu India, Untouchable God, among many others. The violence and ensuing death threats were apparently a response to the release of a chapter from his book on Post-Hindu India. AJA has demanded court ordered 24-hour protection of Kancha Illaiah, and accountability for those that threatened his life, under the full extent of the law. The role of the police, who failed to even file a FIR, on Illaiahs complaint needs further scrutiny. The life-threatening situation was exacerbated when a Member of Parliament from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) T.G. Venkatesh addressed a press conference against the author and sought that he be hanged publicly. The silence of mainstream Indian media is telling of an atmosphere where expression of any ideas that go against the Hindutva narrative creates security risks. Instead of expressing remorse for the incident, J. Venkateshwara-President of Andhra Pradesh Arya Vysya Mahasabha (AVP) demanded an apology from Prof. Illaiah, failing which AVP would protest wherever Prof. Illaiah went in the state. The polices bias and refusal to uphold the law in defense of intellectual bodes ill for the safety and security of common citizens in India and for the future of political dissent, said Mr. Ahsan Khan, President of Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), an AJA-constituent. That a sitting member of Parliament called for violence against a renowned scholar is reflective of the extent to which a fascist mindset has taken root amongst sections of the Indian political class, added Mr. Khan. In Illaiahs complaint, he stated that no FIR was registered in the matter by the police. After the attack, Illaiah was followed by 200 protestors until he proceeded to Warangal city under a police escort. Illaiah put himself under house arrest in an effort to safeguard his life. The attack is outrageous and an affront to freedom of speech. People are not tolerant and open to criticism when information challenges Hindu doctrine, said Umang Kumar, a member of AJA ad community activist from Boston. The Alliance for Justice and Accountability has pledged to work with people of all faiths to defend India from the onslaught of hate and divisiveness. Moreover, the India based Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee has strongly condemned the threatening language and attempts to attack Prof. Kancha Ilaiah on raising some basic questions in his book. The committee strongly believes that raising the questions and expressions of inequality prevailing in the caste system in the Indian culture is a step forward to eradicate social injustice and to maintain spiritual equality. It is a matter of fact that Brahmanical hegemony is suppressing the people in the name of caste and Prof. Kancha Ilaiah criticized the same as well as presented some facts and figures in his book and arguments on different TV Channels. Help India! By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net In a surprising twist to the ongoing protests at the Banaras Hindu University, the Universitys vice-chancellor Prof GC Tripathi has gone missing since Sunday, an absence which sources inform as a kind of leave. Messages over Whatsapp started circulating since Monday regarding the absence of BHU vice-chancellor. Support TwoCircles The news erupted after vice-chancellor did not attend the Gandhi Jayanti programme at the campus today. The BHU VC has been in the news recently after he mishandled the situation at the campus when the girl students of the university go on protest demanding safeguard practices inside the campus. VC allegedly ordered lathi-charge at the students. including girls and later even refused to acknowledge the incident on campus. GC Tripathi had been terming the abrupt protest as planned and pre-scheduled. But HRD ministry showed displeasure over the stance which VC took in handling the situation. Reportedly, the HRD ministry was thinking to send the vice-chancellor on forced leave, but university officials had termed the leave as personal. No university official responded to our calls regarding the allegations in the case. Moreover, the universitys acting VC who assumes the charge in absence of vice-chancellor did not respond to the calls or messages. Tripathis leave also puts students in the dilemma of whether they should see this as their win or as a gesture just to console them momentarily. One student told us, If he is sent on leave by the ministry then we can at least say that is good news but if he is actually on leave because of personal reasons, that is not acceptable. N0 GSCASH yet in campus During the protests on September 24, the Varanasi DM Yogeshwar Ram Mishra had promised the students of setting up a GSCASH (Gender Sensitization Committee against Sexual Harassment) within the university in few days. But instead of setting up the GSCASH, the university administration has now informed the students that they will be setting up an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in the University. This step has not gone down well with students as ICC is a committee which is constituted by University administration unlike GSCASH, where students elect a female representative which is responsible for GSCASH proceedings and actions. Moreover, the administration still smells a conspiracy theory behind the student protest at the university as a result of which several charges including attempt to murder were loaded with the students and the activists. These students and activists include Vikas Singh, Atul Prakash Jaiswal, LN Sharma, Mrityunjay Kumar Maurya, Himanshu Prabhakar, Dhananjay Tripathi, Sunil Yadav, Shantanu, Yashpal Singh and Roshan Pandey. These people have been charged with section 147, 148, 149, 353, 332, 307, 336, 427 and 436 of the Indian Penal Code. Sunil Yadav, BHU alumni, and activist wrote on the Facebook wall, We are asked to submit our statement against these charges but did someone ask the VC why he lied about lathi-charge even though it was based on his orders? The investigating committee constituted for the event on September 22 and 23, did not ask us for the allegations and incidents for which we are being charged, said Yadav. Roshan Pandey, a graduate student and one of the listed in the cases, said, This is a pure practice to victimise us. Anybody can testify that where was I when the violence was happening. This is not the first time when Roshan has been listed in any case against the University. I have been raising issues of the University, and that may be the reason that administration in and outside the campus do not like what we do. For Roshan and the other accused of the case, which they term fake, a fair investigation of student violence along with police lathicharge should also be done. But the Universitys VC has gone missing since Monday morning keeping many issues in limbo. During this year's general election, Theresa May achieved a result that she did not anticipate or want. Britain had its first hung parliament since 2010, an unwanted outcome considering the Conservative Party succeeded in achieving its first majority since 1992 two years prior. This happens in British political history when the electorate fails to distinguish between the two main parties under the UK's two-party voting system. It was clear that the Conservatives moved too far to the left in a bid to compete with Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party. It seems like the Government may have learnt lessons from this humiliating result. Today's speech by the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, has heralded a return to traditional Conservative values. The party needs to distinguish itself more from Corbyn's socialist utopia Many centre-right journalists and commentators have been urging the Prime Minister to shrink away from big state solutions for a considerable period of time. Activists did not want a general election this year, but if there is one silver-lining from it, then it should be that the party needs to do more to distinguish itself from Corbyn's socialist utopia, and today they just did that. The Chancellor referenced Tory values like a "property-owning democracy", a phrase the party has not issued for a long time. At a time when home ownership among millennials born in between 1981-2000 is diminishing, it is encouraging to hear Mr. Hammond sympathise with the plight of young people failing to own a home. He even made reference to his own children, demonstrating that he shares other parents' anxieties for their own offspring. The Chancellor must do more Yet the Chancellor must do more. An extension in Help to Buy loans is welcome, but it is not a satisfactory solution. He must deregulate the housing market to a greater extent to enable the free market he championed earlier to deal with increasing demand. He was correct to condemn the socialist language of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, and he even appeared upbeat more than usual. A hung parliament should have demotivated the senior leadership, but it seems to have inspired him to issue a direct warning to the Labour Party to fight them. He even reminded delegates about how Margaret Thatcher rescued this country, something leading Tories have not done for a while. The Chancellor need to maintain this attitude. It is these aspirations that are needed now more than ever. Leaving the EU continues to dominate the Conservative Party Conference as the Chancellor embraced a positive future for Britain post-Brexit. Blasting News has reported exclusively from the event as Philip Hammond addressed delegates, vowing to "take back control" from Brussels and ending the UK's part in the European political project. He said: "The British people voted to leave the EU and we must respect that. They voted for independence over integration, to protect our jobs and strengthen our economy. It is our job to implement it. Our future will be our own "Our political future will be our own. There will be no voyage to ever-closer political union." He said there will be an interim period of two years after March 2019, the date the UK is due to leave the trading bloc, to enable businesses to adapt to a post-Brexit business environment. He added: "Britain will be safer, stronger and richer. We have a well-lit path and a bright future beyond Brexit. We will deliver a Brexit that works for Britain." The Chancellor warned that whilst Labour was led by Jeremy Corbyn, they will take the UK to a "back to the future socialist fantasy, ending the hope of a better Britain and threatening our freedom." Mr. Hammond issued a warning to the Labour Leader, employing the words "bring it on" to challenge their socialist utopia. He promised party faithfuls that the power of argument and logic will defeat Mr. Corbyn. The Tory paid tribute to the British economy, saying it is "well-positioned" for the future. He said the UK is a more competitive place to do business than ever before due to a "fourth industrial revolution" that has enabled digital technology to expand to unprecedented levels. A society that embraces the future He said that he wants to create a society that "embraces the future." The Chancellor praised Britain's export market, saying it is the second largest exporter of services, which will place the UK in a powerful position to trade with expanding economies like China. He said from next year, Britain's debt will start to shrink, making a reference to the pro-Corbyn group that propelled the Labour Leader to a more powerful position at this year's general election, Momentum, saying that he does need "Momentum" behind them. The Chancellor outlined a series of measures designed to help young people expand their skill sets and generate wealth after the UK leaves the EU. He said half a billion pounds will be invested in new technical qualifications and create 3.5 million new apprenticeships. Mr. Hammond said this was about "embracing the future and preparing Britain's workforce for it." He reiterated his commitment to the Infrastructure Fund that will invest 23 billion in funding to proposed projects like the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine. In addition, he will fund HS2 with 300 million to enable it to link with the Northern Powerhouse. The Chancellor said he wants to create a "property owning democracy" He pledged to extend Help to Buy, the scheme designed to help young people enter the housing market, by funding it with 10 billion through to 2021, aiding 130,000 future aspiring homeowners. The Chancellor said he wants to create a "property-owning democracy." The Welsh Secretary Alan Cairns repeated the Government's support for a "Brexit that works for everybody" by outlining his support for the Union. He said this is an opportunity to bring all parts of the UK together to achieve a trade deal with the EU. He condemned Wales' First Minister, Carwyn Jones, for standing "shoulder-to-shoulder" with Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to break up the UK. Scottish Secretary David Mundell said he wants a "common sense approach" to Brexit and urged the SNP to end their political point-scoring in this process. He said he wants to use leaving the EU as an opportunity to enhance Holyrood's responsibilities. He urged the Scottish and Westminster governments to collaborate on this issue. Dialpad Brings Its Cloud Communications Service to Canada, Makes Long-Distance Fees Obsolete Share Tweet By Erik Linask Group Editorial Director By Erik LinaskGroup Editorial Director Cost reduction or productivity gains? Thats the question facing business today at least those that have not yet made the switch to cloud-based communications services. Todays workforce is more mobile than ever and demand mobile business communications capabilities. Its a trend that is only going to continue as mobile natives continue to become a growing force in the business community. For business leaders, the choice is not whether to accommodate an evolving mobile mindset, but how to embrace it most effectively. There are certainly ways to enable mobility and access to applications in an on-premises environment. But, businesses both large and small are coming to the conclusion that cloud communications offers an opportunity to not only embrace mobility and productivity, but to reduce cost and management and maintenance efforts at the same time. Today, Canadian businesses have access to a new cloud communications provider, Dialpad, which officially extended its services into the country, providing an innovative alternative to tired, traditional telcos, as well as a competitor to other cloud-based solutions. Dialpad CEO Craig Walker (News - Alert) has long understood the value of combining mobile access with quality voice service, having built GrandCentral Communications which later became the foundation for GoogleVoice, a business he ran for several years at Google (News - Alert). Walker has been nothing but consistent in his vision for creating disruption in communications and Dialpad is no different, based on the catchphrase the company has adopted, Kill the Deskphone. The Dialpad service allows users to turn one or several connected devices into their business phones, including porting existing business numbers to their Dialpad accounts without foregoing the must-have call control features for business communications (transfer, three-way calling, visual voicemail, call recording, call screening, simultaneous ringing, etc.). Geographically dispersed workforces can also leverage P2P video to create an increased sense of community and unity within teams and entire organizations. SMS/MMS and IM, along with presence, round out the suite of features that combine unified communications with the mobile experience to which users are accustomed. And of course, theres UberConference for meetings, launched by Walker back in 2012, which is included with all business plans. Having the full breadth of mobile experience on the mobile device that is most convenient at the moment is key to ROI and business growth. By giving users the intuitive tools they need and know, on devices they already love, businesses ensure high adoption rates, one of the common deficiencies of many UC solutions. Integration with other business apps makes Dialpad an appealing alternative beyond its low monthly cost (entry-level packages start at just CAD20 per user per month), the service includes integration with popular productivity, CRM, social media, and other apps, including Salesforce, Okta, LinkedIn (News - Alert), and Office 365. Walker also isnt shy about pointing out that Diapad is the only business phone system with native integration with Goolges G Suite, which Dialpad itself leverages heavily. The SMB market continues to adopt cloud communications at a healthy rate but, comprehensive business feature sets, service quality and reliability, a reduction in phone system management and maintenance, lower costs, and the ability to be productive anywhere and on any device is driving more and more large enterprises towards cloud communications services as well. Walker says Dialpad is seeing more and more interest from the large enterprise market, which adds stands to benefit most from a pure cost perspective. Companies like Motorola (News - Alert) Solutions, Uber, and Xero, among others are already using Dialpad, and he believes that, in the near future, all businesses will migrate to the cloud, because it simply makes no sense not to there is little benefit to owning, operating, and managing their own on-premises systems any longer. As for Canada, specifically, he says, We see Canada as a massively underdeveloped market for our breakthrough pure-cloud communications service. Canadian companies have long been saddled with legacy PBX service constraints, mostly from their native telcos. They have been unable to break the cycle of overpriced monthly service fees and confusing long-distance calling plans. Thats why its time to modernize communications for every business, from the smallest office to the largest enterprise customers, across all industries, bringing the era of the Anywhere Worker to Canadians. Dialpads Canadian efforts are being spearheaded by another mobile communications veteran, CounterPath (News - Alert) and Hookflash co-founder Erik Lagerway, who said, Our born-in-the-cloud solution is a perfect fit for a market characterized by an extremely high concentration of traditional phone companies that have a stranglehold on customers, pricing, scalability, and coverage, Whether the death of the deskphone in Canada or elsewhere is imminent or not remains to be seen thats a debate thats been going on for a decade. But, Dialpad, with its inclusive calling to the US and within Canada, is certainly ushering in the death of long distance in the Great White North. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Article comments powered by Disqus Article comments powered by Edited by Mandi Nowitz In a recent story published by the BBC, an Italian woman married herself. No! You did not read wrong; Laura Mesi married herself at a grand ceremony that contained everything that can be found at a traditional wedding party - except the groom, of course. A lavish 'Sologamy Ceremony' Laura Mesi, a 40-year-old Fitness Instructor, used a model of the world-famous white wedding dress to seal the "marriage" in a celebration attended by 70 guests. Moreover, there were also the bridesmaids and a cake with three tiers - above which was the decoration of a "bride" alone, holding a bouquet. According to the BBC, Laura Mesi (the bride) said that she firmly believes in the idea that, first and foremost, people need to love themselves. Moreover, about her unusual marriage, she commented: "It is possible to have a Fairy Tale wedding without the necessity of a prince." The idea of a self-marriage Laura Mesi had first conceived the concept of self-marriage (known by the term Sologamy, whose advocates believe that it is about self-love and self-acceptance) in 2015, after a twelve-year relationship with her boyfriend - that came to an end. The Italian woman told the newspaper that she told her colleagues and parents that if she did not find her soul mate by the age of 40, she would seal the marriage with herself. However, the fitness instructor does not rule out the possibility of sharing life with someone special. Laura Mesi nevertheless pointed out that her well-being needs to flow from herself - not from other people - because she said, "If one day, I discover a man with whom I can shape a future, I will be comfortable, but my satisfaction does not depend on him. Laura Mesi posted several photos of the ceremony on her personal Facebook page, and among the congratulations sent by social network users, some people made negative comments such as "so sad," "you are out of your" senses and "theres something incorrect with your brain." Laura countered the criticism on Facebook However, she countered criticism by stating that 'nothing and no one can take away your smile.' Even though she says she is happy with what she did, the Italian woman acknowledged in interviews given to some media that this type of marriage - which has no legal weight - is not appropriate for everyone. According to the BBC, Mesi revealed that to unite himself/herself, a person needs three distinct things: a certain amount of money, the support of the people around them, and - above all else - "a pinch of madness." The Chinese government announced on Thursday, September 28, through the Ministry of Trade China, that they will close all Chinese companies that are working in the North Korean territory until January next year. This is a severe economic blow to North Korea, since a significant amount of its economy, revolves around trade with China. The action is motivated by sanctions imposed by the UN on the dictatorial regime of Kim-Jong-Un.The Security Council of the United Nations voted, on September 12, for the expansion of economic and diplomatic sanctions against North Korea. North Korea and economic restrictions The restrictions include the cancellation of exports from the textile industry and the limitation of fuel supply.The Chinese government also ruled that foreign-owned companies that have some connection with the North Korean Government should also be closed. The move is a turning point in the geopolitical scenario, as China was considered one of the few allies of North Korea, which is now even more isolated.The Chinese government was being heavily pressured because of its soft stance on the nuclear threats coming from the Kim-Jong-un's government. Earlier this year, Beijing had given indications it was cutting off relations with Pyongyang by blocking imports of coal, iron, and seafood at the border between the two countries. How does the North Korean economy behave? As North Korea is a country closed to the outside world, the dictator government does not publish information about its economy. But the Central Bank of neighboring South Korea, when analyzing information from the intelligence service, estimates that last year the North Korean Economy had the fastest growth over 17 years, with GDP above 3.9%, even with international sanctions. Economists believe that the increase is due to the small shops and stores that have spread in the North Korean capital during the last decade. But that does not mean social growth since much of GDP is used to cover military spending, while the average population lives with very little. Although the new sanctions are expected to have a significant impact on the economy, the action is not a total economic disruption. China may still trade oil with its neighbor, albeit in limited quantities. As a complement to Thursday's announcement, Foreign Minister Lu Kang said: "We are against any war on the Korean peninsula as well as sanctions. We should not emphasize one aspect while ignoring the other. " Today, the Health and Human Services Secretary, tom price, announced his resignation. This comes as the first sign of fallout from the administration's private plane scandal that is also affecting several other key figures. Price also becomes the most recent in a long list of people to have come and gone under President Trump. Tom Price announces resigns Tom Price's resignation today comes as he is being investigated by the department's inspector general for using private jets for a number of government business trips. According to Politico, his use of charter and military jets for trips cost taxpayers almost $1 million dollars. President Donald Trump was enraged by the scandal, as he stated before Price's resignation that I was disappointed because I didn't like it, cosmetically or otherwise. I was disappointed. Multiple sources told CNN that the President deemed Price's flights stupid during the week when talking to aides about it. They also stated that Price's offer to reimburse the government only a partial amount of the costs of using the jets only ticked over Trump further. The President was also upset that it made him look bad, as the situation proved an optics nightmare against his drain the swamp motto. It also gives fuel to his opponents, who had already accused his administration of being out of touch with average Americans. Besides Price, EPA head Scott Pruitt, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are some of the others involved in the private plane scandal. This week White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders Huckabee indicated that the White House was thinking about having greater oversight on agency travel. Thank you @POTUS for the opportunity to serve the American people alongside the dedicated folks of @HHSGov. It's been an honor & privilege. pic.twitter.com/nUBNsEDsPv Tom Price, M.D. (@SecPriceMD) September 29, 2017 Price only the latest to leave administration However, Price is only the latest person in the eight months that Donald Trump has been President to have been fired, resign or quit. His FBI director (James Comey), Press Secretary (Sean Spicer), Chief Strategist (Steve Bannon) and Chief of Staff (Reince Priebus) are only someone of the notable names that have had to be replaced. The Los Angeles Times actually has a chart of all of the key people who have left the Trump administration that shows the incredible amount of turnover in such a short time. Yesterday, the White House announced that Don Wright would serve as the acting head of Health and Human Services. Since February he had been the acting assistant secretary for health at the department. Hurricane Maria is the third strongest storm to hit the US. It came two weeks after Hurricane Irma left a path across the Carribean Islands. It started as a category 1, but it became a category 5 storm, with its eyes set on the already-battered island. This catastrophic storm made a direct landfall on Puerto Rico after it was spared by Irma. The devastating strike of the powerful hurricane has resulted in severe damages in the island, including power outage and disrupted communication links. It also caused the fall of a 90-year-old dam known as Guasataca Dam, leaving at least 16 persons dead. CNN reports that help has been slow to come to the communities with total devastation. Residents plead for more federal assistance The Puerto Ricans are complaining that US response to the Island is very slow. New York Times reports that the Humanitarian Crisis in Puerto Rico will increase. The health, safety, and well-being of the residents are under threat. Though the federal government is responding to these challenges, the residents are still not satisfied. They said it is very slow compared to the response Texas and Florida received after being slammed by Harvey and Irma. Water, food and fuel have been scarce, mobile towers are knocked out, and the weather radar has been destroyed by Hurricane Maria, making it hard to forecast new storms. US government responds to the disaster The Puerto Ricans have been complaining about the federal government's reluctant response. However, according to US President Donald Trump, the reason for the slow response is the fact that Puerto Rico is an Island and supplies can only be flown or transported by ships. The federal government has sent food, water, and other necessary supplies to the Island. "We are using air support when we can't get through, we are cleaning the roads regularly, we have expanded greatly, probably 90% of the Island is accessible now," said Elaine Duke. Though Donald Trump remained silent throughout the weekend, he broke his silence on Tuesday night by tweeting about Puerto Rico's troubled recent history, broken infrastructure, and massive debt. Despite the fact that Puerto Rico's government is broke, they sheltered some of the Florida residents when they were hit by Irma and they deserve help in return. President Trump told reporters that he would travel to Island on October 3, but that the response in Puerto Rico will be tougher than that of Texas and Florida. Space News is reporting that the United Arab Emirates has started a human spaceflight program. The policy move is Part of the UAEs drive to change its economy from an Oil And Gas based one to one based on technology. The Gulf country is already working on a robotic mission to Mars due to launch in 2020. How would the UAE astronaut program work? The UAE does not now nor does it intend to develop a native human spaceflight capability. Its astronauts will fly on the space missions of other, space-faring nations, the United States, Russia, or China. One might expect to see UAE astronauts serving stints on the International Space Station. The Arab Gulf state would also likely become a partner in an American led, international deep space exploration effort. NASA and the UAE already have a space cooperation agreement. Both Canada and the European Union have astronaut organizations that supply crewmembers for the ISS. The UAE would just be the next nonspace faring country to develop its own astronauts. The commercial option Within a year or two, SpaceX and Boeing will have working crewed spaceships, funded by NASA to service the ISS. Blue Origin and the Sierra Nevada are also working on craft capable of taking people into space. Smaller countries such as the UAE would be able to conduct their own crewed space programs, using commercial spacecraft to launch their astronauts. The wider geopolitical significance of Arab astronauts The UAE is developing its own space program for another reason that has to do with the aspirations of Middle Eastern youth. Sarah Amiri, the deputy project manager and science lead at the United Arab Emirates Mars Mission, explained that young people in the Middle East should be given big projects. The reason for having a space program is so that youth in the region would have an alternative to being jihadis, to show there is a path that is based on science and technology and not on radicalism. Amiri was thinking about young people in the Muslim world becoming scientists and engineers. However, there is something almost magical about being an astronaut, an individual who flies in space. The job of an astronaut is far more valuable than that of a jihadi. The UAE would also stand to forge more international partnerships by having a space program that includes astronauts. The country would harken back to the beginnings of the Islamic era when Muslim countries were at the forefront of scientific discovery and technological development, a thousand years ago. Its success should prove to be illuminating for other countries in the region struggling to form national identities. The mass shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday that left more than 50 dead, is just one more horrific incident to add to the list of American tragedies. The President of the United States took a few moments to tweet that he was offering warm sympathy and a "God bless you," to victims and families. Will, however, those who escaped with their lives and the loved ones of the people who were murdered be truly accepting of comments coming from the POTUS? DonaldTrump has released so much hate and vitriol into this nation that it's possible some people may not want him to even address this very sad situation at all. The responsibility of the president Murder has taken place since the beginning of time, and mass shootings are becoming all too random in America. Even so, when they happen, most people truly are empathetic towards victims who survive and the relatives and friends of those who did not. Donald Trump may be suspect and accused of tweeting or speaking empty words with no real meaning behind them. The President of the United States has a responsibility to unify the nation, but number 45 has only caused division since November. Some say he does not seem to show true concern for those who are not as rich and powerful as himself. On the rare occasions that the POTUS addresses the nation regarding current events, he has already offended many U.S. citizens due to his posts on Twitter. His tweets are often mean-spirited and insensitive, and Americans are complaining. For this reason, it is possible that despite what the president may have meant, he may actually lower his already dismal approval rating. Victims and families affected by the shooting in Las Vegas may be sick and tired of being sick and tired of Donald Trump. Rather than bring the country together, this man continues to say things that divide, so his condolences may not be perceived as heartfelt. Trump Twitter tweets leave much to be desired A quick glance at the president's Twitter page will leave one with much to be desired. In recent tweets, @realDoaldtrump refers to the leader of North Korea disrespectfully as the "little rocket man," and brags that he can do what Bush, Obama, and Clinton could not. Those who survived the mass shooting in Las Vegas, as well as the families left behind because their loved ones died, are in shock. This is no time for fake empathy and rhetoric. These Americans need real love and support to deal with the tragedy. Some will be grateful the president took time to acknowledge what happened. Others probably wish he would have stayed quiet and view his "God bless you" and tweets of sympathy, as anything but truly sympathetic. Fans of Dick Wolf's NBC shows were delighted to see "Chicago Pd" return Wednesday night and "Chicago Fire" return Thursday night. Viewers know "Chicago Justice" was canceled after only one season. What they might not know is the reason "Chicago Med" hasn't returned. The show's absence has not gone unnoticed. Where is 'Chicago Med'? The medical drama will not return until midseason or later. NBC decided to delay the return of Season 3. The network has a good reason for the delay. It is currently airing Wolf's "Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders." After that series ends, "Chicago Med" will probably return in that time slot, but there is no guarantee that will happen. When "Chicago Med" premiered in Season 1, it came on board in November. So, it could return in November or early next year. Fans are hoping it will be in November rather than having to wait until next year to find out what happened to Dr. Daniel Charles who was shot in the finale. While the medical drama is still on hiatus, its characters are being used on the other two shows when there is a role for them. For instance, in the premiere of "Chicago PD," Nick Gehlfuss was featured as Dr. Will Halstead. There will be other characters who might appear on the two dramas that have returned. Problems with the delay One problem that might come up is that there can't be scenes on "Chicago PD" or "Chicago Fire" that involves the hospital until "Chicago Med" returns. Another challenge for the writers might be the time element. It has been a long time since viewers saw Dr. Charles, a psychiatrist being shot outside the hospital. Therefore, the writers will have to bring viewers up to date about what has happened since then. One suggestion is there might be a lot of flashbacks to show what has happened at the hospital in the meantime. Dick Wolf series on another network Dick Wolf is very creative. He will know how to handle "Chicago Med" so viewers won't lose interest. In the meantime, he has an FBI series set to air with 13 episodes on CBS during the 2018-19 season. The series is about the careers and personal lives of the men and women who work at the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. NBC has been Wolf's network of choice for the last 15 years with his "Chicago" and "Law & Order" franchises. However, in 2003, the 70-year-old television producer did take his "Dragnet" reboot over to ABC. All that means is when the CBS's "FBI" series airs, Wolf will have had shows on all three of the major networks. Not many others can say that. One of the most controversial couples on this season of "90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days" is Darcey Silva, age 42, and Jesse Meester, age 24. While their age difference is the obvious issue that most seem to focus on, the couple has a lot of issues to overcome. In last night's episode, viewers saw Jesse Meester give Darcey Silva an ultimatum. She had to promise to never drink again or he was throwing in the towel. If she came around to his way of thinking and gave up alcohol, he said he would stay with her forever. She, of course, reluctantly nodded in agreement to his demand. Compromise is key Darcey has repeatedly said that Jesse is controlling and everything has to go his way. She has traveled from New Jersey to Amsterdam in hopes of finding love with a man young enough to be her son. Darcey even said on the show last night that he is still going through things that she has already done. Yet, rather than act as equal partners, the two seem to be at odds or following what Jesse wants. "90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days" fans know the issues run deep for the couple. When Darcey first met Jesse's family, his stepfather told them that she was in a different class than Jesse. The way he said it made it very clear that Darcey was the one falling short in his eyes and he wanted a better match for his son. The same held true when Darcey met with some of Jesse's friends. Though some don't totally understand the connection, they are supportive of Jesse and what he decides he wants for his life. As for Darcey's family, it seems that her children are supportive of their mother and whatever she decides is best for her. Seems to be a lack of trust The main component of the foundation for a relationship is that of trust. This is where the true problem lies for this couple. Darcey is terribly insecure, and Jesse doesn't know how to handle it. According to The Hollywood Gossip, the relationship of the two remains tumultuous at best. With posts on social media, that has since been removed, it is obvious that Darcey is still fighting insecurities. Jesse, as always, remains supportive of her choice to leave social media due to the outburst. Speculation is that the couple is still together. It hasn't been easy and fans don't know if the issues were resolved, but they are trying to find a way to make their relationship with the odds against them work. Will you be tuning in to follow Darcey and Jesse on future "90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days?" Tell us what you think in the comments section below. On Thursday, August 3, 2017 1:05 PM, AMBASSADOR MORRISON < ofice065@tim.it > wrote: (US FEDERAL RESERVE BANK CORPORATE OFFICE 20TH ST. AND CONSTITUTION AVE. N.W MAIL STOP K300 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20551 OUR REF:USFRB/IRU/SFE/15.5/NY/011 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MONDAY-FRIDAY 8 A.M.-9 P.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME(EDT) SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 8 A.M.-4 P.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME(EDT) Federal Reserve BankA Your payment files from three (3) different banks, Natwest Bank of London, Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of America was compiled and submitted to my desk this morning for review. The total sum owed to you by the 3 banks mentioned above was sum up to the tune of US$15,500,000.00 (Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars). Now the fund has been totally lodged in one particular Escrow account (non deductible) here in the Federal Reserve Bank New York on your name, while waiting for accreditation to your personal bank account in any part of the world. Meanwhile, after due scrutiny and verification, I confirmed that you have fulfilled all the necessary obligations that will enable the release of your payment to you, but yet your payment was not released to you due to one flimsy excuses or the other from the Bank officials in charge of your payment, because they had the intention of diverting your funds to their private accounts in order to satisfy their selfish interest. You are however lucky that we the management of the US Federal Reserve Bank detected their evil plans and therefore call for the submission of your payment file to us so we can personally handle the payment assignment to ensure that you receive your funds accordingly. Now, all modalities regarding your fund release has been put in place here in the Reserve Bank of America, thus, your funds has been made ready for transfer in our sophisticated macro transfer system, what we need from you now is to provide to us the bank account of your choice which you want us to transfer your funds so we can expedite action for the accreditation of your funds into your account immediately. Below are the information needed for now for your transfer. 1. Personal Details: Full Name: Current Address: Age/Gender: Occupation: Direct Mobile Number: Passport Copy, ID card or DL: 2. Banking Details: Bank Name: Bank Address: Account Name Account Number: Routing Number: Swift Code: Note: If you prefer to receive your funds in form of a Visa Card, we could load and ship your Visa Card to your address which will permit you a daily withdrawal limit of US$5000 or write a draft check which can be deposited in any bank and send to you. In anticipating for your urgent cooperation YOURS SINCERELY, DR.MARK WILLIAMS CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK FEDERAL RESERVE BANK WASHINGTON, D.C. DIRECT PHONE NO'+1(202) 844-0776. CO-CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, RESERVE BANKA CORPORATE OFFICE, WD, WASHINGTON, D.C. FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, N.A. MEMBER FDIC. A 2017 FEDERAL RESERVE BANK CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. AR72768/DD6A66. On Sat, Aug 5, 2017 at 11:23 pm, SERVICE CREDIT UNION USA < philip_gray_2005@yahoo.co.uk > wrote: THE DIRECTOR INTERNATIONAL REMITTANCE DEPT, SERVICE CREDIT UNION., USA Email: service_credit@usa.com Dear Sir, PAYMENT ON ACCRUED INTEREST OF US$3.5M I am the Executive Director and Head of Swift Transfer Unit of Foreign Payment Clearing of Service Credit Union U.S.A. Sometime ago, in our bank your contract money was brought to our bank from Nigerian Apex Bank, Central Bank of Nigeria (C.B.N.) and after some period, this money was taken back to the Federal Government Treasury. For the period of time this money was in our bank, it generated an interest of US$3.5 Million, which we are about to be paid to you via International Certified Bank Draft. For your information and advice, you need to hasten up to pick this fund because from time to time, the CBN auditors do come to our Bank to cross-check our files and our financial updates, the earlier you comply with the demands of the delivery of the fund, the faster the action, because the CBN Officials wants the accrued interest to be paid to them but we refused. So when they find out that this interest fund is still in our bank they will want to call back the money to the Federal Government Treasury. What we need from you now is any form of your identification for example: your International Passport or your drivers license, then your telephone and fax number for easy communication with your mailing address where this Draft will be delivered to you. As a matter of fact, we don't have enough time to waste since we have wasted time in contacting our respective customers, so try and comply with the entire necessary requirement for remittance. Contact me on Tel: +1-313-447-0084 cell phone, expecting your immediate response. Yours Sincerely, Rev. Mark Williams. Payment Officer SERVICE CREDIT UNION, U.S.A On Sunday, August 6, 2017 12:02 PM, AMBASSADOR MORRISON < ofice065@tim.it > wrote: (US FEDERAL RESERVE BANK CORPORATE OFFICE 20TH ST. AND CONSTITUTION AVE. N.W MAIL STOP K300 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20551 OUR REF:USFRB/IRU/SFE/15.5/NY/011 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MONDAY-FRIDAY 8 A.M.-9 P.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME(EDT) SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 8 A.M.-4 P.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME(EDT) Federal Reserve BankA Your payment files from three (3) different banks, Natwest Bank of London, Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of America was compiled and submitted to my desk this morning for review. The total sum owed to you by the 3 banks mentioned above was sum up to the tune of US$15,500,000.00 (Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars). Now the fund has been totally lodged in one particular Escrow account (non deductible) here in the Federal Reserve Bank New York on your name, while waiting for accreditation to your personal bank account in any part of the world. Meanwhile, after due scrutiny and verification, I confirmed that you have fulfilled all the necessary obligations that will enable the release of your payment to you, but yet your payment was not released to you due to one flimsy excuses or the other from the Bank officials in charge of your payment, because they had the intention of diverting your funds to their private accounts in order to satisfy their selfish interest. You are however lucky that we the management of the US Federal Reserve Bank detected their evil plans and therefore call for the submission of your payment file to us so we can personally handle the payment assignment to ensure that you receive your funds accordingly. Now, all modalities regarding your fund release has been put in place here in the Reserve Bank of America, thus, your funds has been made ready for transfer in our sophisticated macro transfer system, what we need from you now is to provide to us the bank account of your choice which you want us to transfer your funds so we can expedite action for the accreditation of your funds into your account immediately. Below are the information needed for now for your transfer. 1. Personal Details: Full Name: Current Address: Age/Gender: Occupation: Direct Mobile Number: Passport Copy, ID card or DL: 2. Banking Details: Bank Name: Bank Address: Account Name Account Number: Routing Number: Swift Code: Note: If you prefer to receive your funds in form of a Visa Card, we could load and ship your Visa Card to your address which will permit you a daily withdrawal limit of US$5000 or write a draft check which can be deposited in any bank and send to you. In anticipating for your urgent cooperation YOURS SINCERELY, DR.MARK WILLIAMS CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK FEDERAL RESERVE BANK WASHINGTON, D.C. DIRECT PHONE: +1 (202) 4003133 CO-CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, RESERVE BANKA CORPORATE OFFICE, WD, WASHINGTON, D.C. FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, N.A. MEMBER FDIC. A 2017 FEDERAL RESERVE BANK CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. AR72768/DD6A66. On Monday, August 7, 2017 4:00 AM, DRMARK WILLIAMS < drmarkwilliams@yahoo.com > wrote: Thank you for your email and your good question , Everything concerning your fund is legal and legit , You should not be afraid of anything cause is government approved ,is real and legit , So Below are the information needed for now for your transfer. 1. Personal Details: Full Name: Current Address: Age/Gender: Occupation: Direct Mobile Number: Passport Copy, ID card or DL: 2. Banking Details: Bank Name: Bank Address: Account Name Account Number: Routing Number: Swift Code: Thank you, YOURS SINCERELY, DR.MARK WILLIAMS CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK FEDERAL RESERVE BANK WASHINGTON, D.C. On Monday, August 7, 2017 12:37 PM, DRMARK WILLIAMS < drmarkwilliams@yahoo.com > wrote: Email received , So Below are the information needed for now for your transfer. 1. Personal Details: Full Name: Current Address: Age/Gender: Occupation: Direct Mobile Number: Passport Copy, ID card or DL: 2. Banking Details: Bank Name: Bank Address: Account Name Account Number: Routing Number: Swift Code: Thank you, YOURS SINCERELY, DR.MARK WILLIAMS CHAIR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK FEDERAL RESERVE BANK WASHINGTON, D.C. On Wednesday, August 9, 2017 5:05 AM, DRMARK WILLIAMS < drmarkwilliams@yahoo.com > wrote: Headquarters Justice Of Washington,D.C House, Chief Justice Of Washington,D.C Court of United State Office 1 First St NE, Washington, DC 20543, USA Ph: +1 (202) 4003133 Validation & Review Process Of Your Trust Fund Has Been (COMPLETED IN FULL) Dear Respected Customer ; This is to acknowledge the receipt of your concise email response with the reconfirmation of your personal details as requested by this reputable bank. That is a sure start to the realization of this transaction which will see you claim what rightfully belongs to you as long as you keep to all our banking policy and instructions. As previously stated, your total fund is valued at the total sum of US $ 15,500,000.00 (Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) and it has since been lodged in one particular Escrow Account (non-deductible account) here with the Federal Reserve Bank and well registered in your name. All arrangements to have your funds conveyed to you via any means of your choice have duly been put in place prior before we made contact with you. We must express our sincere apology for the delay regarding the release of your payment until now. We are sorry if there was any point in time you were contacted in regards to this transaction and was subjected to strict and non-government procedures by some unscrupulous individuals or organization most of which are corrupt African officials who had the intention of diverting your funds to their personal looting Swiss Accounts for personal interests before we come to the limelight after due scrutiny and verification to put a stop to all their deceptive plots. Now, this is what is needed to get your fund conveyed down to you. We need to obtain a Clean Bill of Record Certificate "CBRC" from the Supreme Court here in Cotouon Benin Republic. This Certificate is what will enable the release of your funds from this bank and the cost of the Certificate as placed by the Supreme Court is US $2550 After the Certificate is secured, then your fund will be conveyed to you through any payment method of your choice as listed below.: 1. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer: Your fund will directly be deposited into your private bank account and it will reflect in your account within 3-working days after the transfer. 2. Draft Check: Your total funds will be written out in the form of a valid draft check and be dispatched to your address through DHL COMPANY Priority Mail Express. 3. ATM Visa Card: Your fund could be loaded in an ATM Visa Card and will be shipped down to your home address via DHL Priority Mail Express which only takes few days to deliver. Having explained all that above, I'll now provide you with the payment information for you to have the cost of the "Clean Bill of Record Certificate" sent immediately. The cost is payable either through Money Gram transfer or western union transfer, NOTE, Ambassador Morrison is US Ambassador To Benin Republic and he is the one to obtain your Clean Bill of Record Certificate "CBRC" from the Supreme Court there in Cotonou Benin Republic.his is currently in Benin Republic right now, This Certificate is what will enable the release of your funds from this bank and the cost of the Certificate as placed by the Supreme Court is USD $2550 After the Certificate is secured, then your fund will be conveyed to you thoroughly , So I will advice you to send the $2550 to him through money gram transfer or western union transfer to Benin Republic for him to get your "CBRC" to enable you receive your fund , So here is his information Receivers name :Morrison Nelson Country: Benin Republic Text question : Right Answer: Away Amount :$2550 If possible, attach the payment slip to us after you make the payment. However, in a case where you are not able to use any of the above electronic payment methods, then we shall provide you the full Banking details of same receiver for you to deposit the cost via bank to bank wire transfer. Once we secure the Certificate then that settles it all because your fund will be in your care at most 72-hours after the we secure the Certificate in your name from the Supreme Court here in A Cotonou Benin Republic . NOTE: Do disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possession of your funds, you are hereby advice only to be in contact with me as I have been given strict instructions to work under your care and give you guidelines until you receive your overdue funds. Also you are to forward any emails you get from impostors directly to me so we could act upon, commence investigation and give advice to avoid been ripped off. In anticipating for your urgent cooperation Chief Justice Of Washington,D.C - Supreme Court of United State Office 1 First St NE, Washington, DC 20543, USA Ph: +1(202) 400-3133 DR.MARK WILLIAMS On Wednesday, August 23, 2017 6:13 PM, DRMARK WILLIAMS < drmarkwilliams@yahoo.com > wrote: This is the information we got today from international monetary Fund(IMF), So that is why I ' m trying to make sure your fund is been transferredto your accountbefore thenbut you don ' t want tounderstand me , READ BELOW , Today, the Management of the INTENATIONAL MONETARY FUND head Office here1900 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20431United States appropriate to Intimate you that your payment donation will be transferred into the United States Treasury Account with the Federal Reserve Bank Headquarter in Washington, DC United States according to the record we got from United States Federal Government due to your Inability to complete the transaction and your failure to meet up with a Minor payment obligation. The actual transfer of yourpayment donation ( US$15.5 Million) Into the government account comes up next week Friday. The US$15.5 Million award to you we talking about. This is inline with the instructions of the United States Treasurer, Mrs. Gumataotao Rios Law that all unclaimed funds must paid into the United States Government Treasury Account as unserviceable funds in compliance to Section 3 subsection 1(a) of the United States Financial Law enacted in 2001 after an attack on our dear country on June 20, 2015. Find below the profile of the banking institution where your payment donation will be Transferred into following the government directive: Name of Bank: JP Morgan Chase Headquarters at 270 Park Avenue in New York. JP Morgan Chase Official Bankers for the United States Treasury Department AC NO: 68302345093 Routing NO: 021109593 Account Name: United States Treasury Department, USA Amount: US$15.5 Million Note that if you still wish to receive your actual donation payment ( US$15.5 Million) do get back to(IMF) Immediately so that we will remove your funds transfer from the list of those transactions to be seized by the United States Government, Thank you, Regards , Chief Dr.Christine Lagarde, On Tuesday, August 29, 2017 5:08 PM, DRMARK WILLIAMS < drmarkwilliams@yahoo.com > wrote: This is the information we got today from international monetary Fund(IMF), So that is why I ' m trying to make sure your fund is been transferredto your accountbefore thenbut you don ' t want tounderstand me , READ BELOW , Today, the Management of the INTENATIONAL MONETARY FUND head Office here1900 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20431United States appropriate to Intimate you that your payment donation will be transferred into the United States Treasury Account with the Federal Reserve Bank Headquarter in Washington, DC United States according to the record we got from United States Federal Government due to your Inability to complete the transaction and your failure to meet up with a Minor payment obligation. The actual transfer of yourpayment donation ( US$15.5 Million) Into the government account comes up next week Friday. The US$15.5 Million award to you we talking about. This is inline with the instructions of the United States Treasurer, Mrs. Gumataotao Rios Law that all unclaimed funds must paid into the United States Government Treasury Account as unserviceable funds in compliance to Section 3 subsection 1(a) of the United States Financial Law enacted in 2001 after an attack on our dear country on June 20, 2015. Find below the profile of the banking institution where your payment donation will be Transferred into following the government directive: Name of Bank: JP Morgan Chase Headquarters at 270 Park Avenue in New York. JP Morgan Chase Official Bankers for the United States Treasury Department AC NO: 68302345093 Routing NO: 021109593 Account Name: United States Treasury Department, USA Amount: US$15.5 Million Note that if you still wish to receive your actual donation payment ( US$15.5 Million) do get back to(IMF) Immediately so that we will remove your funds transfer from the list of those transactions to be seized by the United States Government, Thank you, Regards , Chief Dr.Christine Lagarde, On Wednesday, August 30, 2017 10:10 AM, DRMARK WILLIAMS < drmarkwilliams@yahoo.com > wrote: Headquarters Justice Of Washington,D.C House, Chief Justice Of Washington,D.C Court of United State Office 1 First St NE, Washington, DC 20543, USA Ph: +1 (202) 4003133 Validation & Review Process Of Your Trust Fund Has Been (COMPLETED IN FULL) Dear Respected Customer ; This is to acknowledge the receipt of your concise email response with the reconfirmation of your personal details as requested by this reputable bank. That is a sure start to the realization of this transaction which will see you claim what rightfully belongs to you as long as you keep to all our banking policy and instructions. As previously stated, your total fund is valued at the total sum of US $ 15,500,000.00 (Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars) and it has since been lodged in one particular Escrow Account (non-deductible account) here with the Federal Reserve Bank and well registered in your name. All arrangements to have your funds conveyed to you via any means of your choice have duly been put in place prior before we made contact with you. We must express our sincere apology for the delay regarding the release of your payment until now. We are sorry if there was any point in time you were contacted in regards to this transaction and was subjected to strict and non-government procedures by some unscrupulous individuals or organization most of which are corrupt African officials who had the intention of diverting your funds to their personal looting Swiss Accounts for personal interests before we come to the limelight after due scrutiny and verification to put a stop to all their deceptive plots. Now, this is what is needed to get your fund conveyed down to you. We need to obtain a Clean Bill of Record Certificate "CBRC" from the Supreme Court here in Cotouon Benin Republic. This Certificate is what will enable the release of your funds from this bank and the cost of the Certificate as placed by the Supreme Court is US $2550 After the Certificate is secured, then your fund will be conveyed to you through any payment method of your choice as listed below.: 1. Bank to Bank Wire Transfer: Your fund will directly be deposited into your private bank account and it will reflect in your account within 3-working days after the transfer. 2. Draft Check: Your total funds will be written out in the form of a valid draft check and be dispatched to your address through DHL COMPANY Priority Mail Express. 3. ATM Visa Card: Your fund could be loaded in an ATM Visa Card and will be shipped down to your home address via DHL Priority Mail Express which only takes few days to deliver. Having explained all that above, I'll now provide you with the payment information for you to have the cost of the "Clean Bill of Record Certificate" sent immediately. The cost is payable either through Money Gram transfer or western union transfer, NOTE, Ambassador Morrison is US Ambassador To Benin Republic and he is the one to obtain your Clean Bill of Record Certificate "CBRC" from the Supreme Court there in Cotonou Benin Republic.his is currently in Benin Republic right now, This Certificate is what will enable the release of your funds from this bank and the cost of the Certificate as placed by the Supreme Court is USD $2550 After the Certificate is secured, then your fund will be conveyed to you thoroughly , So I will advice you to send the $2550 to him through money gram transfer or western union transfer to Benin Republic for him to get your "CBRC" to enable you receive your fund , So here is his information Receivers name :Morrison Nelson Country: Benin Republic Text question : Right Answer: Away Amount :$2550 If possible, attach the payment slip to us after you make the payment. However, in a case where you are not able to use any of the above electronic payment methods, then we shall provide you the full Banking details of same receiver for you to deposit the cost via bank to bank wire transfer. Once we secure the Certificate then that settles it all because your fund will be in your care at most 72-hours after the we secure the Certificate in your name from the Supreme Court here in A Cotonou Benin Republic . NOTE: Do disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possession of your funds, you are hereby advice only to be in contact with me as I have been given strict instructions to work under your care and give you guidelines until you receive your overdue funds. Also you are to forward any emails you get from impostors directly to me so we could act upon, commence investigation and give advice to avoid been ripped off. In anticipating for your urgent cooperation Chief Justice Of Washington,D.C - Supreme Court of United State Office 1 First St NE, Washington, DC 20543, USA Ph: +1(202) 400-3133 DR.MARK WILLIAMS If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... 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. HA NOI The Hanoi Textile & Garment Industry Expo (HANOITEX 2017) will be held from November 1 to November 3 at the Ha Noi International Conference and Exhibition Centre in the citys Hoan Kiem District. The expo is organised by the CP Exhibition Hong Kong, in collaboration with the VCCI Expo and the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association. Vinatax Deputy Director General Hoang Ve Dung said that the annual expo was organised to introduce equipment for weaving and dying, automatic sewing machines, cloth cutting machines, design software and auxiliary materials. HANOITEX 2017 will also give a chance to textile companies in the north to access information and the textile and garment technology solutions provided by leading companies in the world, he added. The expo will attract the participation of 200 enterprises from 15 countries and territories, such as China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan and Thailand. They will feature their products in an area of 6,000sq.m. VNS SYDNEY Nearly 100 kilos of dragon fruit were sold during the Vietnamese Dragon Fruit Day held in Sydney by the Vietnamese Trade Office and the Embassy of Vietnam on Saturday. The fruits high quality and eye-catching experience helped it sell at AUD30 (US$23.89) per kilo. Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia, Ngo Huong Nam, expressed his hope that entry into the Australian market entry will help the dragon fruit enter a group of fruits earning export values of $1 billion and above. The entry can also be a good launch pad for the fruit to go to other fastidious markets worldwide, Nam said. He said that Australia was a prospective market for the Vietnamese fruit because of the contrast in harvest time. Viet Nam will promote negotiations to ship other fruits to Australia, including longan, passion fruit and rambutan, he said. Hoang Huy Khanh, director of the a Lat Export-Import Company in Australia, said farmers and domestic businesses should abide by strict food safety and quarantine requirements set by Australia. Fruits for export should be harvested from orchards complying with Global GAP standards and undergo proper pasteurising process, he said. Among the three Vietnamese fruit (lychees, mangoes and dragon fruit) that have been shipped to Australia thus far, the dragon fruit has better potential because it can produce fruits all year round, and if the importing cost is less, consumption will go up soon, he added. The first batch of Vietnamese dragon fruit was exported to Australia by the Hoang Phat Ltd Co in the southern province of Long An on September 20. Dragon fruit is one of Viet Nams key fruit exports, enjoying revenues of $895.7 million in 2016, accounting for 50.3 per cent of the countrys total fresh fruit exports and 36.1 per cent of its total fruit and vegetable exports. Vietnamese dragon fruit has thus far been exported to 40 countries and territories including China, Thailand and Indonesia. VNS Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during a discussion on business policies with representatives from the private sector in Ha Noi on Saturday. VNA/VNS Photo Thong Nhat HA NOI Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc praised the significant success of the private economic sector, saying it represented 96.7 per cent of the countrys 500,000 enterprises. PM Phuc spoke in Ha Noi at a Saturday policy dialogue with 14 chairmen and general directors of leading private enterprises. Attending the event were also leaders of the Government Office, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the members of the PMs Economic Advisory Group, which was established in July. Phuc applauded the production and business achievements of the firms, describing them as important contributions to the economy. The cabinet leader called for solutions to spur business development in line with the Partys resolution on the importance of the private sector as a driving force in the socialist-oriented market economy. The PM said he wants business leaders to speak frankly about the difficulties they encounter. "Businesses voice will help address national issues. We want to listen to the private sectors recommendations to alleviate difficulties and create the best possible environment to nurture the private economic sectors development," he said. The Government leader highlighted the recent substantial progress achieved by the private sector, but also pointed to a lack of large-scale private companies with most Vietnamese private enterprises being small-, medium- and micro-sized firms. Phuc said the Government would collect feedback from the companies to revamp relevant policies, improve the business climate, and remove bottlenecks. According to the Business Development Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the private economic sector contributes 43.22 per cent to the countrys gross domestic product (GDP), accounts for 39 per cent of the total social investment, and generates 11.9 per cent of all jobs. Meanwhile, the State economic sector contributes 28.69 per cent to the GDP. In 2016, the number of newly-established enterprises nationwide hit a new record with more than 110,000, up 16 per cent annually. In the first nine months of 2017, an additional 94,000 firms were established with a combined registered capital of VN900 trillion (US$39.6 billion). At the second Viet Nam Private Sector Forum held in Ha Noi two months ago by the Viet Nam Young Entrepreneurs Association and the Mekong Business Initiative, the PM said private enterprises should continuously reform and increase competitiveness to contribute 50-60 per cent of the national GDP in the future. In a recent interview with the Viietnam News Agency, Phan uc Hieu, deputy director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said Viet Nam now has more than 4,000 business procedures, creating inexplicable barriers for businesses. More than 50 per cent need to be abolished as soon as possible, Hieu said. Economist Le Duy Binh told Vietnam News Agency that what the private sector needed the most was neither support nor incentives but a transparent, fair and healthy business law system, together with a simple and convenient administrative system. VNS HCM CITY Consumers in HCM City can trace the origin of chicken meat and eggs they buy at both traditional and modern retail outlets starting on October 3. Speaking at the launching ceremony, Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, deputy director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, said poultry eggs and meat are essential foods whose quality and production process are important to consumers. The traceability programme would make people more confident about consuming local products, he said. Origin-traceable duck eggs are being supplied from today by Vinh Thanh at Food Company to Co.opmart, Co.opXtra, Co.op Food and Co.opSmile systems, and his department is working to ensure the eggs are supplied city-wide as soon as possible, he said. To trace the origin of the products, customers can download the QR Code decoding application from www.te-food.com to their devices. By scanning the stamps on packages, customers can get information about the poultry meat and eggs from the hatching to final stages. Their prices remain unchanged, Hoa said. Nguyen Thi My Trang, a District 1 resident, said: I usually buy food at Ben Thanh Market. I appreciate the citys traceability programme and hope more and more products [are included]. Thirty five farms supplying chicks, 431 farms that provide chicken meat, 61 chicken and duck egg farms, 17 slaughterhouses and meat packaging establishments, and nine egg packaging establishments have registered to join the programme. Hoa admitted that the origin of half the citys supply of poultry meat is untraceable because it is sold without packaging at traditional markets and it is hard to stick stamps on unpackaged meat. The department plans to persuade traders at such markets to sell packaged meat, he said. There are more than 1,749 sales points selling traceable poultry meat and eggs in the city. VNS Ruth Sinai A temperature of 30 degrees Celsius and 94 per cent humidity are hardly the ideal, inspirational conditions for celebrating an event called mid-Autumn Festival. Forget golden foliage, nippy evenings and the smell of wood burning in the fireplace. Suppress cravings for pumpkin pie, roasted chestnuts and hot apple cider. On the other hand, where else would you find pink dogs sculpted out of succulent pomelo? Dragons chiseled from carrots? Lanterns in the shape of grains of rice? One of this yearsmain celebrations in Ha Noi was held for the first time at a unique venue, the 11th century Temple of Literature, a Confucian temple that was also the site of one of the worlds first universities. Its five courtyards, gateways, pavilions, and ancient stelae of the scholars who studied there were illuminated to serve as a backdrop to a three-day event featuring a potpourri of folk games, rituals and performances. Viet Nam marks the traditional festival, as do some other nations in Asia, around the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar when the moon is at its fullest. Only Tet, the Lunar New Year, is designated as a more important annual observance. This year the moon will be at its fullest on October 4, but the celebrations began over the weekend. We wanted to bring an autumn ambiance to the city, said one of the organisers, Hoang To Anh, decked out in a traditional ao dai costume of tunic and long pants, standing beside a table heaped high with seasonal fruit eaten, she explained, while admiring the brilliant moon. The festival folds into one agrarian and pagan-based traditions found in different forms throughout the world, including a post-harvest theme, moon worship, thanksgiving for natures bounty, elements of Halloween and the Hindu Diwali festival of lights, and more. Fun time: Skipping rope, a traditional childrens pastime offered to participants at the mid-Autumn Festival in Ha Nois Temple of Literature. Photo: Isa Priel In recent years, it has evolved into a children-centred event. When you have children, you pay particular attention to the festival, said Tran Bao Ngoc, a model and former Miss Viet Nam, who attended the happening. It reminds me of my childhood. She conceded, nonetheless, that the festival was mostly appealing for younger children. The older ones, she added ruefully, are more interested in video games and other thrills. If they do take part in a mid-autumn celebration its mostly to take selfies, she added with a smile. Her observation seemed apt. The majority of the hundreds of excited children jumping with their parents in sack races, skipping rope, playing Vietnamese variations of hopscotch and pickup sticks, and learning how to make a mask,appeared on the younger side of ten. Winners were treated to a variety of goodies, ranging from masks to rice figurines known as to he, to moon cakes in the shape of animals. Thuy Evans, a university student who was one of the volunteers handing out gifts to the children, said the festivities took her back to celebrations with her family in the countryside when she was growing up. We would also put on masks, we had much energy to run around, she recalled. With all the electronic, digital toys and games todays children have, are they still keen to get such simple presents, we asked. This is something special to them. They are not so used to this kind of gift, but it makes them feel happy because they are enjoying the festival with their parents and grandparents, she said. Among the parents shepherding their toddlers in a Vietnamese-style conga line straggling behind a dancing lion and dragon was Le Thu Huyen. She explained that in some places, dance groups perform on the streets andin peoples homes and are considered to bring luck and fortune. Under a 15th century stele inscribed with the name of a doctoral candidate who passed the imperial examinations, a nine-year-old girl was balancing twin baskets full of rice sheaves as she teetered on a log. In one of the Temple courtyards, next to a pool festooned with floating lotus flower lanterns, a group of young women was holding incense sticks. The incense is burned, they explained in a mixture of English and pantomime, to worship the moon goddess. Maybe, one of them said shyly, she will bring me good luck and I have (a) husband and children. The event was organized jointly by the Ha Noi Peoples Committee and the Quan An Ngon ethnic food restaurant chain, which seeks to brand itself as a preserver of tradition and culture.-- VNS TUYEN QUANG Locally-made lanterns of different colours and designs decorated the northern mountainous city of Tuyen Quang on Saturday night at the start of the Tuyen Quang City Festival. A lantern parade, along with art performances and fashion shows, entertained tens of thousands of visitors to the annual Mid-Autumn Festival. In her opening remarks, Vice President ang Thi Ngoc Thinh applauded the achievements Tuyen Quang has recorded in child care and education. She also praised the festival initiative, which captures the special cultural identities of Tuyen Quang Province and contributes to promoting the land and people of the locality to domestic and foreign tourists. The vice president asked the provincial Party Committee to continue disseminating revolutionary traditions, mobilise all resources to serve socio-economic development and national defence and security, and build a strong political system. Tuyen Quang should pay more attention to education and care for the poor, especially those in remote and disadvantaged areas, she said. On this occasion, the vice president presented VN300 million (US$13,200) and 100 bikes to 100 underprivileged children. The festival will last until October 4. Tuyen Quang has more than 300 places of interest, including the nationally historic sites of Tan Trao, Kim Binh, Kim Quan, and Lang Ngoi-a Ban. Steeped in revolutionary history and diverse ethnic culture, Tuyen Quang is celebrated as a place of cultural exchange for ethnic minorities in the north, and is featured in traditional festivals, legends and folksongs. VNS HCM CITY A book on the countrys revolutionary fine arts in the 1950s was released last weekend in HCM City, after years of work by staff of prestigious museums and associations. The 300-page Hoa Si Khang Chien (Vietnamese Artists in the Resistance War against the French colonialism), includes 255 photos and images, some of them released for the first time, and many documents related to Vietnamese artists in the 1950s. It was collected and edited by ao Mai Trang of the Van Hoa Nghe Thuat (Culture-Arts) magazine, in co-operation with veteran artists and cultural researchers, including Dr Ma Thanh Cao, former director of the HCM City Fine Arts Museum. The book features the first students who graduated from the Viet Nam Fine Arts College, which opened in 1945 in Ha Noi, including To Ngoc Van the schools director and his students such as Luu Cong Nhan, Trong Kiem, Tran Luu Hau and Le Lam. Artists such as ao uc, Mai Long, Ngo Manh Lan, Huynh Van Muoi, Xuan ong and Tran Trung Tin, who made the first bricks for the countrys revolutionary cinematography industry, are also featured. The artists played an important role in the development of the countrys contemporary fine arts. The book focuses on their life and art of different styles, which depict the countrys heroic history, culture and lifestyle from 1950 to 1954. It also introduces paintings from this period, some of which focus on the patriotic struggle of local residents. The books publisher, the Fine Arts Publishing House, organised a seminar last Saturday in HCM City on the 22 Vietnamese artists who took the first course at the Viet Nam College of Fine Arts. The event attracted many readers from HCM City, Ha Noi and southern provinces. Cao, who hosted the seminar, said that Hoa Si Khang Chien would be valuable for younger generations, particularly students at art schools. They can learn not only about the countrys contemporary fine arts but also its history and culture, he said. The book is available in bookstores and websites. VNS Deputy Prime Minister Vuong inh Hue meets with voters from the provinces Huong Son and Nghi Xuan districts on Saturday and Sunday. Photo chinhphu.vn HA NOI The impact of free trade agreements on special economic zones and farmers being hurt by bumper harvests were among concerns raised by voters in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Vuong inh Hue in Ha Tinh Province during the weekend. Hue met with voters from the provinces Huong Son and Nghi Xuan districts on Saturday and Sunday to collect feedback and proposals for the upcoming fourth meeting of the 14th National Assembly (NA). The voters spoke highly of efforts by the NA, as well as NA deputies representing the province, in making laws and handling complaints from citizens. They also appreciated the Governments initiative to build a transparent, facilitative and innovative administration for the benefit of people and business, and voiced support for solutions preventing corruption and improving the business climate. Hue affirmed that voters wishes were the goals for all actions taken by the Government and the NA. He updated them on the countrys socio-economic development and answered their questions. Phan Tien Hung, a voter from Huong Son District, wanted the Government to issue separate policies for non-tariff areas because he was concerned that special economic zones would be hurt by the elimination of duties under Free Trade Agreements that Viet Nam has signed. The deputy PM said ministries would review all coastal and border gate economic zones and find new ways to maintain their development. Several voters told the deputy PM that more policy support and incentives were needed to help farmers who get hurt by falling prices that follow bumper harvests. Hue promised to discuss the issue with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Governor of the State Bank. He said the Government was formulating a decision on agricultural insurance and attracting investment to boost the sector. Also on Saturday, Hue visited residents in Ky Anh Town, and the districts of Ky Anh and Cam Xuan that were affected by the storm Doksuri recently. Among other northern central coastal provinces, Ha Tinh was hardest hit by Doksuri, the 10th storm from the East Sea. One of the most powerful storms in many years, Doksuri left nine dead, four missing and 112 injured. Hue and his encourage also visited the Ky Thinh 2 Elementary School in Ky Thinh District, Ky Anh Town, and a kindergarten in Ky Lam Commune, Ky Anh District. They presented gifts worth VN1.2 billion (US$52,800) raised by organisations, individuals and donors to 15 households in Ky Anh and Cam Xuyen districts. The deputy PM asked Ha Tinh to review its losses, especially in disadvantaged localities, so as to take suitable measures to overcome the storms consequences. He granted gifts to children, the disabled and homeless people in the provincial orphanage. The deputy PM stressed that the Party and the Government always paid particular attention to people living in difficult circumstances. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the Vietnamese Party, Government, and people cherish the relationship with Laos, considering it a valuable asset in the two countries revolutionary cause. His comment was made during the meeting held to receive Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, who is on a four-day visit to Viet Nam, starting Monday. At the meeting, PM Phuc expressed his appreciation for PM Sisouliths visit, especially with the two countries celebrating the Viet Nam Laos friendship year. At the meeting, leaders of the two countries reviewed the implementation of co-operation agreements, bilateral investment and trade projects, and discussed solutions to challenges in order to meet their goals. The two sides agreed to continue high-level exchanges and visits and realise the agreements achieved at the 39th meeting of the Viet Nam Laos intergovernmental committee in Ha Noi earlier this year as well as the visits by Vietnamese high-level officials to Laos. The two countries will focus on accelerating key projects like the Laos National Assembly building a gift from Viet Nam to Laos, the Ha Noi Vientiane expressway, Hon La oil and gas bonded warehouse and pipeline in the central province of Quang Binh, ports in the Vung Ang Port area, and several other energy and traffic connectivity projects. The two Prime Ministers also concurred to increase trade turnover between the two countries, facilitate Vietnamese businesses investing in Laos, and to boost ties in defence and security as well as education and training. With 2017 Viet Nam Laos friendship year, PM Phuc and PM Sisoulith agreed that the two countries will promote awareness programmes aiming to educate younger generations on the unique friendship between Laos and Viet Nam. VNS HAI PHONG Drivers using National Highway No 5 in the northern Hai Phong City are asking for the removal of two toll stations on the route to avoid paying double road fees. Chairman of the citys Transportation Association Le Van Tien said the highway was developed with funds from the State budget, and according to current regulations, drivers were paying a road maintenance fee. Toll is usually required to be paid by vehicles travelling on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) road projects. At present, drivers on National Highway No 5 are paying both road-related fees. A representative from a local transportation firm said his company had to pay VN1.7 million per month, or over VN600 million (US$26,400) per year, as road maintenance fee for its 30 container trucks. Transportation firms suffer from a double burden because of the overlapping fees, he said. Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Cong explained that drivers currently paid both fees because the Road Maintenance Fund had failed to meet funding for regular maintenance of national highways. The toll fees collected from vehicles travelling on National Highway No 5 was actually aimed at helping the Ha Noi-Hai Phong Expressway investor get back his investment. This was one of the special mechanisms granted by the Prime Minister to express investor Viet Nam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment Joint Stock Company (VIDIFI) since the express route required huge investment. Le Hoang Minh, chief of the Office of the Central Road Maintenance Fund, said since 2013, the fund increased by some VN6 trillion ($264 million) yearly because the number of vehicles increased 5-10 per cent every year. As much as 65 per cent of the fund was spent on maintenance of over 20,000km of national highways in the country while the remaining 35 per cent was spent on provincial or district roads. However, the road maintenance fund is currently able to cover 25 per cent of required funding, Minh said, adding that road maintenance work still required more funding from the State budget. For example, last year, the Road Maintenance Fund collected over VN6.3 trillion; however the Government must provide an additional VN3.5 trillion to maintain roads nationwide. Minh said since Viet Nam was tightening its belt, it was difficult to allot more money for road maintenance. Therefore, at this time, the Road Maintenance Fund could not be removed. VNS HA NOI Japan has provided US$727,400 to two grassroots social projects in central Viet Nam: optical coherence tomography (OCT) equipment for the Hue Eye Hospital and a mine clearance project, managed by the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in the central province of Quang Binh. The aid will be used to purchase OCT machines to serve some three million people suffering from eye diseases in the northern central and central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, said Pham Minh Truong, director of the Hue Eye Hospital, during the ceremony. Part of Japans Grassroots Grant Assistant Programme in Viet Nam, the signing ceremony took place last week in Ha Noi with the participation of Kunio Umeda, Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam, and project representatives. Simon Rea, country director of MAG in Viet Nam, said the organisation will use the aid to identify and destroy 2,100 bombs and unexploded ordnances, clearing around 2.6 million square metres of land, as well as paying 81 MAG staff in the Quang Binh Province and organising 128 training workshops on mine clearance for them. These projects will not only minimise the threats to the existence and livelihoods of people at grassroots level, but also benefit them greatly, Ambassador Umeda said. Established in 1992, Japans Grassroots Grant Assistance Programme has supported 600 grassroots projects in Viet Nam, with Official Development Assistance (ODA) totalling $50 million. VNS HAI PHONG A tuberculosis prevention project was launched in the port city of Hai Phong by the citys Department of Health yesterday. Aiming to limit the incidence of tuberculosis in the country to two in every 100,000 persons by 2025, the project, entitled "Zero TB" (ZTB), will implement a comprehensive model of care for tuberculosis patients in the three cities with the highest, average and lowest incidence of tuberculosis in the country. They are HCM City (164/100,000), Hai Phong (101/100,000) and Hoi An (68/100,000), respectively, according to Dr Le Van Hoi, deputy director of the National Lung Hospital. The project will intensify the screening for people who make direct contact with tuberculosis patients, improving the social workers capability and the quality of the diagnosis processes, as well as minimising the risks of recurrence, and expanding the collaboration with the National Tuberculosis Control Programme. Within the period between 2005 and 2015, Viet Nam was one of the few countries that was able to reduce the incidence of tuberculosis and deaths to below 50 per cent of the total population. VNS About 3,750 pigs at a slaughter house in HCM City tested positive for sedatives, said Pham Tien Dung, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development inspectorate. Photo vnexpress.net HCM CITY About 3,750 pigs at a slaughter house in HCM City tested positive for sedatives, said Pham Tien Dung, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development inspectorate. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, Dung said the solution being injected into pigs was found to contain a high concentration of Axeprocemin (a type of sedative) of between 0.47-0.51mg per litre. Inspectors also took 140 urine samples from the pigs and samples of the bottled infusion for testing. The sedatives send the pigs to sleep and prevent them from urinating, helping reduce weight loss and thus making them more profitable, Dung said. The drug also lends the meat a healthier colour and eases animals pain, making them easier for traders to transport. Consumption of pork with sedative residue can affect human kidneys and nervous system, he said. Fines of between VN30-35 million (US$1,300-1,500) will be imposed on 13 traders for their violations. On Thursday, a joint inspection team of environmental police and inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development raided the Xuyen A slaughter house in Cu Chi District following a tip-off. Two merchants were caught red-handed injecting the pigs with a sedative solution right before having them slaughtered. A number of empty bottles of sedatives and dozens of infusion bottles containing water mixed with the sedatives were seized. According to Huynh Tan Phat, deputy head of HCM Citys Health Department Agency, about 5,000 pig are slaughtered every day at Xuyen A slaughter house, accounting for half the pig meat consumed in the city. Phat said seven cases of sedative injections have been detected by the agency since the beginning of this year. Phat said the agency was working with the joint inspection team to clarify the responsibilities of the veterinary officers at Xuyen A slaughter house, adding that due punishment would be imposed on the violators. VNS HCM CITY Children who live at five social welfare centres and shelters in HCM City and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province took part in a Humpty Dumpty Design and Painting Contest from September 17 to October 1. From this contest, five winners were chosen by the contests jury and the public, which will vote via social media from October 2 to 9. The four centres and shelters represented include Thu uc Youth Village, Linh Xuan Children with HIV/AIDS Care and Welfare Centre, HCM City SOS Childrens Village and Vocational Education Centre for Youth in HCM City, and the Children Social Welfare Centre in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. The children were under the mentorship of film director Viet Max, fashion designer Thuy Nguyen, animation artist Phan Vu Linh, and Kingsmen Vietnams design manager Nique Choo. The winning designs will be mass-produced and sold to the public at pop-up stores set up by Kingsmen Vietnam at high-traffic shopping malls in HCM City in November and December to raise funds for the centres and shelters. Tran Cong Hung, aged 9, of HCM City SOS Childrens Village in Go Vap District, told Viet Nam News: Through the mentorship, my friends and I were taught how to design and use different colours to paint the concrete statues. Film director Viet Max said the contest was a chance for young people to discover their artistic abilities. Art helps them show their creativity. Film director Viet Max helps a girl at HCM City SOS Childrens Village paint a concrete statue at the Humpty Dumpty Design and Painting Contest held from September 17 to October 1 in the city and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. VNS Photo Gia Loc Nguyen ac Chien, who specialises in education for children at the village, agreed, saying that the activities helped the children develop their intelligence and personality. Kevin Cheon, executive director at Kingsmen Vietnam, said that everyone should have an equal opportunity to pursue their dreams under any circumstance. The contest aims to create a sustainable platform to empower and inspire less privileged youth to nurture their creativity and explore future career opportunities, Cheon said. The contest is part of a campaign organised by Kingsmen Vietnam, a communication design and production company headquartered in Singapore, and endorsed by HCM City Peoples Committee and the citys Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs. The campaign aims to raise VN500 million (US$22,026) from September to December. Humpty Dumpty is Kingsmens mascot. VNS LOS ANGELES At least two people were killed and more than 20 wounded when a gunman went on a shooting spree on the Las Vegas Strip late Sunday, police and US media reports said. Police said that the shooter was taken "down" after officers swarmed over the famous boulevard following reports of multiple shots being fired from the Mandalay Bay casino. "At this time we do have a suspect down," Las Vegas police officer Steve Gomez told reporters, without elaborating. "We have numerous victims right now," he added. While police did not immediately give a figure for the number of dead, CNN reported that at least two people had been killed in the shooting while several local news outlets put the number of injured at up to 24. Pictures taken at the scene showed revelers cowering in the street or running in terror, as well what appeared to be several bodies lying prone on the ground. A local hospital was taking in "several" people with gunshot wounds, University Medical Centre spokeswoman Danita Cohen told the local Sun newspaper. Video footage circulating on social media purportedly of the Mandalay Bay showed a crowd enjoying a country music concert before what sounded like volleys of automatic gunfire halted the performance. A witness told local TV news station KLAS he saw someone several stories high firing hundreds of shots into a crowd of people. Police however denied reports of multiple shooters. "At this time we do not believe there are any more shooters," the department wrote on Twitter. AFP WATERLOO Main Street Waterloo will host Tour de Loo, a behind-the-scenes tour of downtowns newest rehabilitation projects, on Thursday. Twelve sites will be open for the tour from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Guests are invited to see historic properties, view recent restorations, get a peek at work in progress, view plans of projects yet to come and see the finished product of spaces on the last tour. The self-guided tour features the following locations: KWWL (opens at 6:45 p.m. for tours); Rodneys Kitchen; Cibo Street Food Bar; On The Rocks; Marsh-Place building; Ananda Studio; 515 E. 3rd Street Project; First Presbyterian Church; Courtyard by Marriott; Harolds Chicken No. 28; Sidecar Coffee; and SingleSpeed Brewing Co. SingleSpeed Brewing Co., 225 Commercial St., will host the conclusion of the evening with socializing, refreshments and drawing for a door prize from each destination at 9:30 p.m. Dollys Party Bus will shuttle from three locations around downtown Waterloo from 6 to 10 p.m. Advance tickets are on sale now at the Main Street office, 212 E. Fourth St. and at www.MainStreetWaterloo.org for $8 until 5 p.m. Thursday, with tickets available from the Sidecar Coffee site for $10 on the evening of the event. Also available are corporate packs of 10 tickets for $60. DES MOINES -- Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday ordered all flags in Iowa be lowered to half-staff until sunset Friday to honor the murdered and injured in Sunday nights tragedy in Las Vegas. Flags will be at half-staff on the State Capitol Building and on flag displays in the Capitol Complex in Des Moines, as well as all public buildings, grounds and facilities throughout the state. Everyone is encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff as a sign of respect. At her weekly news conference, Reynolds called the worst mass shooting in U.S. history a senseless, horrific and unconscionable act. The Iowa governor said it was too early to decide whether any policies regarding open venues where large crowds gather in Iowa or other relevant issues should be revisited in light of the tragedy. Right now I think we just need to keep the families and the victims in our thoughts and prayers and really focus on the people. Theyre going to be evaluating the horrific incident that just took place and there will be time to really take a look at what happened and whats behind it, Reynolds said. The governor said she receives regular confidential briefings from the state Department of Public Safety, the Iowa National Guard and emergency management regarding possible threats, and work on training, communications and other aspects of law enforcement are ongoing in this regard. Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect her address as Hickory Street, not Hickory Lane. WATERLOO A lifelong Waterloo resident and cosmetologist is making her first bid for elected office. April Leadley, 39, of 610 Hickory St., has formally announced her campaign for the Ward 3 City Council seat in the Nov. 7 municipal election. She is taking on one-term incumbent Pat Morrissey for the position, which represents the northwest quadrant of the city, including a portion of downtown and the Church Row Neighborhood. Leadley said she was inspired to run for the City Council earlier this year when she attended meetings of Citizens for a Better Waterloo. I know I can bring fresh ideas and a new perspective in leadership, she said. I am devoted to the future of Waterloo. Her platform includes hiring three new police officers and maintaining current Waterloo Fire Rescue staffing levels. She also plans to stand firm on responsible and sensible spending, increasing our tax base and reducing the tax levy. Using available programs to bring new businesses to Waterloo that provide good jobs with livable wages and supporting small businesses are essential to our city, she added. Leadley has always called Waterloo home, attending Edison Elementary, graduating from East High School. She earned a cosmetology license in 1997 and opened her own business, Studio A1A, in 2016. She is a member of Our Saviors Lutheran Church, where she taught Sunday School, helped coordinate a blood drive for the Red Cross and advocated for the churchs little free pantry. Leadley is the mother of two girls who are both in the Waterloo public schools. For the past four years, she and her husband, Brian, have provided respite care for children with special needs through Respite Connection Inc. and Iowa Family Services. At one point, we wanted to move to a house with a larger yard and garage outside of this town, she said. It was then that I had a great realization that wed planted roots in our neighborhood that I wasnt willing to give up. Leadley said running a small business has allowed her to connect with the community and interact with multiple people, creating a plan of action for each clients request. I have a new boss every time someone sits in my chair, she said. More information about her campaign can be found at facebook.com/april4waterloo. WATERLOO The city has been unable to lure a new user to the downtown RiverLoop Public Market Building a full year after the previous tenant moved out. The city-owned building at 327 W. Third St. remains empty since the original tenant, a grocery and restaurant cooperative, departed at the end of September 2016. While city officials said theres interest in the building, which represents about $1 million of the $5.7 million public investment in the downtown two-block RiverLoop Expo Plaza, they are not close to signing any leases at this point. RiverLoop Public Market Co-op closed WATERLOO The downtown RiverLoop Public Market Cooperative is folding up its tent. We have shown it about 12 to 15 times to potential tenants, said Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson. Those interested parties have ranged from grocers to a convenience store to professional office uses. But Anderson said there was concern professional offices wouldnt create a symbiotic relationship to the plaza, which is used for events like weddings, community celebrations and farmers markets. The city is very interested in talking with all interested groups but wants to ensure whatever entity goes into the space interacts positively with the abutting Expo Plaza space, Anderson said. The success of SingleSpeed Brewing Co. a block away and ongoing construction of new residential units on the downtowns west side have spurred some newer interest in the location, he added. The Vision Iowa board in 2007 awarded a $1 million Community Attractions and Tourism grant to help build the RiverLoop Expo grounds in the area bounded by West Park Avenue, Commercial and West Third streets and by U.S. Highway 218. The $5.7 million project, which was also funded with gaming revenue and $1.2 million in city acquisition bonds, included renovating the former TruGreen ChemLawn building into a public market which was required to serve as a grocery for at least five years. A cooperative, which focused on providing locally produced meats and produce, operated in the building starting in September 2011. But the volunteer-led effort struggled financially despite not having to pay rent and folded exactly five years later. Use of the state CAT grant prevents the city from selling the building outright until at least 2028, or 21 years after the grant award. A group of downtown residents calling themselves Grow Waterloo approached the city when the cooperative shut down and asked to be part of the effort to find a new user. As a group, we want to see a business move into the former public market building that has a positive impact on downtown and helps build the community, said Ivan Valtchev, a member of Grow Waterloo. We want a business that will bring people downtown and also meet the needs of those already living downtown and in the surrounding neighborhoods. While the public market was open, it was providing basic grocery service to downtown residents. Without it, downtown was a complete food desert. Our group started to meet soon after its closure in fall of 2016, he added. As we got the conversation started, at the top of our list as a desired business to replace the market was either another public market or a co-op/grocery store. Valtchev now lives in the Walnut neighborhood on the northeast edge of downtown and is excited about the planned All-In Grocers supermarket at Franklin and East Second streets. Grocery gains community support WATERLOO Supporters packed City Hall and cheered Monday as council members voted to award My wife and I look forward to making the short walk over to grab what we need for the week, he said. As a group, Grow Waterloo is also very excited and in support of the Franklin supermarket. (But) the group still feels that the former public market building would be a viable location for a market, a co-op or a smaller grocery store that serves downtown residents and also surrounding westside neighborhoods, he added. The 7,700-square-foot building, which includes a full kitchen, has not been formally listed with a real estate agent. But Anderson said he did notify local Realtors about the lease opportunity. He said its possible the city eventually will put out a formal request for proposals from prospective tenants. DES MOINES The State Appeal Board Monday unanimously approved a $1.75 million settlement with a woman who won a $2.2 million jury award in July for claims she was sexually harassed while working for Iowa Senate Republicans. The settlement came with an apology from State Auditor Mary Mosiman. This should not happen, said Mosiman, a Republican who chairs the appeal board. Its members agreed 3-0 to pay the settlement to Kirsten Anderson and her attorney. In July, a jury awarded Anderson $2.2 million after she asserted she had been fired in 2013 only hours after she complained of a toxic work environment in the Capitol. The state was appealing the verdict. Mosiman, State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald and David Roederer, director of the Iowa Department of Management, voted to end the dispute with Anderson, former Iowa Senate GOP communications director. The settlement will pay $1,044,776 to Anderson and $705,224 for legal fees. Anderson who worked in the Senate for five years told jurors she was fired in 2013 about seven hours after she complained to her boss about lewd behavior she experienced there. Her assertions were backed up by others who also testified. Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock, originally contended Anderson was fired for poor work performance. But he later said things he learned from the trial prompted him to launch an internal investigation and contract with the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to provide human resources services to the Senate. The Senate Republican Caucus employee at the center of the lawsuit resigned. Fitzgerald, a Democrat, said he was outraged and appalled by the toxic work environment described during the trial, and he expressed concern more lawsuits could be forthcoming. He said he voted to approve the settlement to avoid further state losses. Im appalled that Sen. Dix is not taking responsibility.... the treasurer added. I think the governor should ask for Sen. Dix to step down. Dix declined to comment Monday. In August, GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds backed Republican Senate leaders but called sexual harassment in the workplace unacceptable. On Monday, she reiterated that stance, but added, lets stop taking incidents like this and making it a political issue. This is ridiculous. WATERLOO As Sunday nights Route 91 Harvest Festival massacre erupted in Las Vegas, Waterloo police officer Stephen Crozier sat a few blocks away stuck in traffic without his gun. Meanwhile, a Cedar Falls business owner was down the strip at another casino when waves of people swept over the gaming floor. The most frustrating thing to me last night and this morning is everybody is running away. And all I want to do is get in it. I think its that soldier mentality, when you hear shots, you run towards it, said Crozier. He was in Vegas for a vacation when a gunman at the Mandalay Bay hotel opened fire on concertgoers below, killing at least 59 and injuring 529 in the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Im hearing everybody talk about how they are trying to run away, they are trying to run away, and they are frustrated by that and traumatized by that. And Im exactly the opposite. Im frustrated because I cant get there, and I dont have any tools, he said. Crozier, a 27-year veteran of the Waterloo Police Department, landed at McCarran International Airport on Sunday as part of a five-day vacation. He was in an Uber on an overpass near the Mandalay when traffic came to a halt. There were sirens, there were ambulances and police everywhere, Crozier said. We were just on the west side of Caesars, so we were literally stuck, and theres people walking the other direction, away from it. During the hour or so on the overpass, Crozier used a scanner app on his phone to tune into emergency radio traffic and listen as chaos unfolded. The mass of people that were exiting, calling in man-with-a-gun, shots fired, stuff like that, from other places like (casinos) New York New York, Caesars, Paris. It could have been anything, it could have been because off-duty and undercover cops are coming that way, too, Crozier said. Other shots-fired reports turned out to be false. He also heard reports of an officer, possibly off-duty, picking up injured in his pickup truck and taking them to the hospital. He had three, and then on his way to the hospital, he picked up two more, Crozier said. Crozier was unable to see the concert venue from the overpass because other casinos were in the way. You could see everyone filtering off to the west. And of course, the emergency vehicle traffic was crazy, he said. Casinos and hotels were in lock-down status, so some travelers were unable to get to their destinations. Aaron Schurman of Cedar Falls was at Caesars Palace, about two miles from Mandalay Bay. There was still a lot of misinformation. You heard a lot of people on their phones trying figure out what was going on or telling people they were safe. We had learned it was at Mandalay Bay, and Caesars is quite a ways from Mandalay Bay down the strip, so we figured we go about our night and stay in the casino and not move around much, Schurman said. He was standing on the gaming floor texting friends he was alright when a surge of people, likely spooked by rumors of more shooting or other gunmen, rushed in. I heard tables knocking over and glass breaking, and then a couple people screaming. I just hit the record button. There was a wave of people. Panic had just rolled right through the casino, and everybody started running for the exit, Schurman said. Video on Schurmans phone continued to roll as he ran. Everything calmed down, and the dealers were starting to stand up from behind their tables when a second hysteria hit about 10 minutes later, said Schurman. The second wave came through, and you see me ducking behind a trash can. People just started running again. People were getting knocked over and trampled. It was pretty scary. I ducked behind that trash can because I didnt want to get jammed out the back where everybody else was, he said. After that they shut down the casino, he said. He said there were minor injuries at Caesars from the confusion. He later heard there had been an unfounded report of gunfire next door at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino that sparked the rush. As state troopers began to get traffic moving again, Crozier had difficulty finding a place to stay. He had thought about going to the Tuscany but was unable to reach it. His Uber driver a guy from India named Sammy who has been in the United States for only six months offered up his place, but Crozier was able to find lodging. We ended up driving, literally, all the way around Las Vegas, the long way. Now were at the Palms. That was the only place that wasnt locked down, he said. It was a 9-dollar ride and they charged me 90 bucks. He appealed the charge to Uber, which provided a full refund, and he took Sammy out to dinner at Dennys. First in a series of stories from our fall Inclusion magazine highlighting diversity in the area. ANAMOSA A 2-year-old program is helping convicts find jobs to reintegrate into society after spending time behind bars. Weve seen success for offenders that are returning, they are landing jobs even before they are released, said Tim Diesburg who oversees the Iowa Department of Corrections apprenticeship program. For instance, one returning citizen had a job interview a month and a half before he went before the parole board. He was offered the job, and released on a Friday in August. His first day of work at his new job as a computer operator was on Monday a week later, Diesburg said. Another person who took part in the welding apprenticeship program found a job in Ottumwa, staring at $11.25 an hour in January. As of last month, he was making more than $28 an hour and obtained his journeymans card from the union. With benefits and everything, its $61.10 that hes making, Diesburg said. The Iowa Department of Corrections started its apprenticeship project with a pilot program at the Anamosa State Penitentiary in early 2015, offering careers in cabinet making, computers, food service and welding. Thirty-seven inmates signed up. By early 2015, officials added 10 more occupations. In the summer of 2015, the apprenticeship program spread statewide, with vocational learning at all nine of the correctional institutions. There are currently 19 occupations with 308 participants, Diesburg said. They train everyday in the field, and then they have 144 hours of training curriculum instruction per year for each program, Diesburg said. Jobs range from landscaping and housekeeping to plumbing and electrical, and courses range from one to four years. About 99 percent of the work is done inside the facilities with a small amount of groundskeeping taking place outside, Diesburg said. To enter the programs, prisoners have to be in good standing, be on time and are subject to annual reviews. The program is voluntary, so if they go through this program, they already have the mindset that they want to change, and they want to become productive tax-paying citizens, Diesburg said. For employers, hiring someone who has been through an apprenticeship program makes sense because they know theyre getting a good employee. The individual that has gone through the program to become a journeyman is 100 percent skilled in their occupation, so that guarantees that employer that the person is a highly skilled individual, Diesburg said. Corrections officials are looking to expand the program to include peer support specialists and graphic arts, Diesburg said. Wanting more influence in the presidential nominating process, California last week approved a plan to move its 2020 primary election to early March. Whether the more prominent role for the nations most populous state impacts how presidential candidates campaign in Iowa remains to be seen. California Gov. Jerry Brown this week signed legislation that set the states next presidential primary election for March 3, 2020. That would place Californias primary on the first Super Tuesday, along with seven other states, following only Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Party officials and state lawmakers in California sought a more relevant role in choosing the president. Candidates will not be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation as they seek our countrys highest office, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in the Los Angeles Times. With Californias massive delegate haul looming after the early voting states, could that alter how candidates participate in Iowa and its first-in-the-nation caucuses? Opinions vary. Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University and co-author of The Iowa Precinct Caucuses: The Making of a Media Event, said Californias move actually makes Iowa and the other early states even more important. If candidates want a shot at Californias big prize, they first will have to perform well in Iowa, Goldford said. When states move their own primary or caucus closer to Iowas, that increases the impact of the Iowa caucuses even more because a candidate that does poorly doesnt have as much time to recover, Goldford said. Anybody moving forward, closer to Iowa, makes Iowa even more important. Which is sort of counterintuitive, but they just have not realized that over the years. Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, agrees. I actually think that an argument can be made that it makes Iowa even more important. Now you have to get past Iowa to get to California, Kaufmann said. I think it puts more emphasis on the carve-out states. While that could be true, Californias looming presence seems likely to take at least some of the candidates focus off Iowa in the lead-up to the caucuses, said Tim Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa. With such a big delegate haul to be won on Super Tuesday, candidates will devote at least some of their early resources - staffing, campaigning and advertising - to California, which likely will mean less of those things in Iowa, Hagle said. Because California is such a big state, its going to require candidates to come up with a stronger organization and a lot more money a lot faster. And because California is such a big prize, regardless of the party ... theyre going to have to spend more time there, which means less time in smaller states like Iowa and New Hampshire, Hagle said. One national political scientist thinks the impact to Iowa and other early voting states will be minimal. Josh Putnam, who specializes in campaigns and elections and writes the political blog Frontloading HQ, said Super Tuesday was already a big deal without California, and the states addition to the lineup will not change much. That date was going to demand great fundraising and organization with or without California being there. I dont think that takes much of the luster off Iowa or any of the other carve-out states, Putnam wrote in an emailed response to questions about Californias impact on Iowa. But I also dont know that it makes Iowa any more important than it was in a similar position in 2016. Iowa will still be first and that will continue to carry the benefits that it usually does. Putnam said it appears likely there will be enough candidates in 2020 that there will be plenty of campaign visits to the first-in-the-nation state, regardless of Californias position. And he said skipping the early states to focus on Super Tuesday states will not be a viable strategy. (Candidates) will be (in Iowa) traipsing around in the January and February snows and they will be there throughout the invisible primary, Putnam said. Candidates have to organize for the first contest if they want to play in the second and subsequent ones. Put me in the minimal effects column at this time. Many major retailers will be closed on Thanksgiving Day 24H competition, a competition branch of ideas forward, has announced its winners for the 19th edition of the competition - called Cts. The winners designed their "ideal city models" propelling the futuristic evolutions for cities which can be set within next decades, while taking into account the changing demands of society in a larger scale. The competition's 19th edition selected 3 winners from Sweden, Argentina, Russia and 7 Honorable Mentions from Russia, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, UK and India, Taiwan. Participants designed and sent their submissions in only 24 hours and they were asked to draw a master plan for the city of the future. They should have defined their city mode with cities' population, circulation system and its organization. All competitors were obligatorily asked to define 6 areas of the city including housing, commerce, services, industry, communication routes and green spaces, with additional areas that they could propose. They were asked to define population of the city as well. Localization and areas were not defined in the competition. "Utopian thoughts have always been gathered on the construction of cities, with the greatest concern being the constant quality of human beings life, as a society with an eye on the future. Some of these great proposals have never materialized because they were considered a utopian error, but they have served as inspiration for many proposals for urban planning," stated the competition. "Our present cities are still not perfect, of course, but it is because of this that evolution and the needs for change remain present in the demands of society. Knowledge, Ethics, Esthetics will be the way to reach a site that everyone seeks to find." Scroll down to see the winners with jury comments below: 1st prize winners: Piotr Pietras and Veronica Camuncoli - Lund, Sweden "The proposal reorders and structures the cities with innovative solutions very connected to the recent past. The buildings have a large range of detail in their composition elements and in their different scales. The somewhat conservative reference is equally attractive and well-worked," said Joanna Helm, arq. "The proposal is based on an inspiring interpretation of handling density in complex urban settings, which also aims to minimize buildings impact on natural environments. The way the project interprets precedents and takes them further by speculating on the future of cities is appreciated. The versatility of individual city floors within the proposed system promises variations in urban settings with different requirements, which forms another important aspect of the design. Finally, keeping the limited time available in mind, the proposal has successfully been developed and elaborated to present its speculative scenario for prospective urban settings," said Onur Ozkoc, arq. "Looking forward to Ct you, takes on the grand issue of densification while maintaining the urged quality of life. Light, air and a close relation to green nature is the remedy, so they stack the city to make space on the ground. I really like the ambitious thought of solving this through simple organization, solving the city as you would a building. The proposal is very elegantly communicated," said Martin Smedsrud, arq. "The proposal has managed to create the perfect urban community in scale, diversity, legibility and organization. At the same time, it manages to propose a solution for solving a rational and effective mass production of communities on a macro level. It shows an understanding for the important, and at times dystopian, visions of the utopias from the last century, and combines them with a delicate solution for city design on a human scale. Prototyping the perfect city within a framework that can allow adjustment and local adaptation, stacked in mega structures that can inhabit any context and be scaled to infinity," said Arne Reisegg, arq. "More than nine decades after first presented by Le Corbusier, the city of the Modern Movement still lives and thrives in our imagination: tabula rasa, implicit confidence in philosophical positivism and faith in technological progressivism. How dense can we make the city? How clean? How tall? How fast can we move around it? In sum, what is the best city (future) technology can build? The Horizontal City is a powerful and neat proposal that skillfully answers all those questions with a good dose of optimism. It borrows heavily and uncritically from its Modernand even pre-Modernprecedents, and it is perhaps that lack of criticism that pushes it forward making it somehow credible, and subtly disquieting," said Alvaro Bonfiglio, arq. 2nd prize winners: Francisco Jose Vannini, Emiliano Barbeito, Maria Candela Parra - Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina "A solution that responds to a close contingent, with connections that adapts the technologies to aN utopian city. The central element of the city is renovated and transported through virtual reality is at last an interesting, creative and re-based element of the concept of the ancient Agora. It is a simple proposal, static, without great aesthetic variations, which in the meantime is closer to a possible future reality," said Joanna Helm, arq. "The projects unique approach to merge the virtual and physical worlds in a single proposal is rather exciting, however, the project may benefit from a deeper investigation of the possibilities and extents imposed by digital media on individuals lives. The brilliant proposal for coexistence in both realms may also benefit from eliminating direct references such as taking a circuit board as a model for city growing concept," said Onur Ozkoc, arq. "Over-linked takes augmented reality to city planning. The city center as what we want it to be, not on a personal level, but as something the public can experience together. Its an intriguing thought, and nicely presented," said Martin Smedsrud, arq. "The proposal focuses on a traditional mixed city ideal in combination with a utopia of futuristic connectivity and virtual experience. Although it is not scalable to address a larger demand for housing in an urban context, it could be copied and linked to create a cluster of mini cities," said Arne Reisegg, arq. "Nowadays, we interact with the built environment through a mixture of real relationships and virtual connections: we search for a good coffee shop by checking maps over the smartphone, or we chat with friends in a bar while asking other friends to join us through some social media application. Or, we can even find specific sets of information overlaid directly on the camera feed of our smartphones through the use of augmented reality. The Over-Linked proposal tries and explores with great insight and craftsmanship these real, virtual and mixed reality environments, this is, the virtual continuum, at a city scale. Its main urban space, the QR Centerwhich is somewhat close to Star Treks holodeckis actually a void ready to be filled with imaginary and fantastic worlds. Here, the traditional ceremonial, monumental and representative center of the city becomes a virtual playground. The possibilities are endless," said Alvaro Bonfiglio, arq. 3rd prize winners: Konstantin Golovnev, Ekaterina Limonova, Sergey Izko - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation "A proposal of conformation of utopian city that has responded with intelligence according to the requirements of the contest. The solution of independent modules that are connected and that are in constant movement, is delicate and sensitive. Structures are grouped and separated by deconstructing the concept of boundaries, creating mutable and constantly moving cities. The modules of occupation were well thought out and developed and the proposal explains well the mechanisms of operation and interconnectivity between spaces and the infinite possibilities of organization of cells. A simple proposal, which presents a futuristic rereading of beehive cities," said Joanna Helm, arq. "The project successfully interprets cities as plug-in stations for mobile units. Variation in the layouts of individual units, and consideration of urban zones as a result of mobile units configurations are well elaborated to convey the main idea. In short, the alternative scenario of moving cities and stations forms an interesting contribution to the discussions on the future of cities," said Onur Ozkoc, arq. "Cities appear by the will of certain people to live together for a while on a particular territory. The proposal redefines the city in an ideal world where you get to choose your belonging. No strings attached," said Martin Smedsrud, arq. "The proposal takes an interesting position in the discussion around countries vs cities for future power centers, and the possible changeability of the urban environment. The movable cells support the idea of the city as an organism, and a future society without borders," said Arne Reisegg, arq. "Natural Born Nomads. This proposal generates a fantastic response to a simple thesis: Humans are roamers, and whenever the species reaches the necessary level of technological development, it will naturally evolve towards a nomadic society. Thus, this project feels closer to an exercise of prospective science-fiction than an urban design proposal, because in fact, there will be no cities. In the future, total mobility is achieved through drone-like dwelling units, which are capable of forming ad-hoc cluster compounds: always changing, always moving. Ready to fly to the next destination, looking for better weather, companion, or services," said Alvaro Bonfiglio, arq. Honorable mention: Maria Medushevskaya, Ekaterina Baranova, Elizaveta Mashkova - Moscow, Russian Federation Honorable mention: Fruzsina Karig, Kate McAleer - Budapest, Hungary Honorable mention: Esther Moreno Palacios, Marina Duran Merinero - Madrid, Spain Honorable mention: Jorge Nuno Monteiro, Jose Costa, Goncalo Castro - Porto, Portugal Honorable mention: Diagung Thongram, Ayantika Roy, Abhishek Kumar, Durjoy Biswas - Cuttack, India Honorable mention: Kai Yeh - Chiayi, Taiwan Honorable mention: Holly Templeton, Shreya Mukherjee - London, United Kingdom World Architecture Community is media partner for 24H competitions and you can register to 24H's next competition Biomimetic. Regular registration period ends up on October 11, 2017. All images courtesy of ideas forward > via ideas forward "News and advertising services, market research, PR advisory and other market entry support for clients looking to broaden their footprint in Japan." TOKYO, JAPAN, October 02, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Japan Industry News together with Japan Rubber Weekly, The Chemical Daily and IDA Group will showcase industry news and information services at the International Elastomer Conference 2017 (IEC, Booth #228), held from Oct. 10-12 in Cleveland, OH. The companies will introduce news and advertising services, market research, PR advisory and other market entry support for clients looking to broaden their footprint in Japan. As Japan's leading newspapers for the chemical, rubber and tire industries, The Chemical Daily and Japan Rubber Weekly will showcase their English-language editions to business people who want to know more about the Japanese market. On occasion of IEC, readers are invited to take advantage of a Special 3-Months Free Trial at both japanchemicaldaily.com and japanrubberweekly.com. Please use the discount code IEC2017 during check-out to get this special offer (no credit card needed; code valid until Nov. 15, 2017). The Chemical Daily and Japan Rubber Weekly also offer attractive advertising and content placement opportunities in their Japanese-language print editions to business people who want to reach potential clients in Japan. Both newspapers offer superior access to readers in their respective industries. IDA Group is a specialized consultancy for international industrial B2B companies. Based on substantial expertise especially in the chemical, rubber and tire industries, the firm's Japanese group member Bonuterra Inc. offers its clients tailored market research, PR advisory, advertising localization and other market entry support for the Japanese market. The Chemical Daily is Japan's leading newspaper for the chemical and allied industries. Its Japanese-language print version has been published since 1936 and is read by over 100,000 people every day. Japan Rubber Weekly is a leading publication covering the Japanese tire, rubber and rubber-related raw materials industries. Published since 1961, the newspaper reaches over 25,000 readers every week. The IEC is an international exhibition for companies from the rubber and chemicals fields organized by Rubber Division, American Chemical Society. The event is the premier place for customers, suppliers of materials, equipment, tools and services, and educators to come together. This year's IEC co-hosts the International Rubber Conference (IRC 2017 Cleveland), which takes place annually in rotating countries. # # # John Maxwell Launches Maxwell Corporate Leadership Facilitator Program 2022-11-10 | This program will help participants fix culture and people problems, learn how to attract, retain and develop talent so they want to stay, and help them hone their own skills to become better leaders as they add more value to their organization. Oct 2, 2017 | By Tess A mechanical engineering student at the University of Colorado Boulder is putting his knowledge to use through the development of functional and low-cost prosthetics made with the help of 3D printing technology. What started off as an eighth-grade science project for Peter Max Armstrong, the student in question, has grown into a highly promising initiative called Go Prosthetics. After years of research, prototypes, and tinkering, Armstrong believes he has developed a low-cost and customizable prosthetic that could be deployed in parts of the world where medical aids and prosthetics are hard to come by. On a personal level, Armstrong was inspired to pursue the project by a family friend who suffered a double amputation. After learning how much lower limb prosthetics can cost (upwards of $3,000), the student decided to see if he could do something to make a difference. Of course, at the time Armstrong was not using 3D printing to make prosthetics, but the interest in developing accessible artificial limbs certainly grew from that point. Impressively, by the time he was in high school, Armstrong had conceived of the prosthetic design he has now printed, tested, and patented. Armstrongs Go Prosthetics technology basically consists of a general shaped 3D printed prosthetic socket (which come in a variety of sizes), which can be customized to the wearer by injecting expandable foam into the socket until it is a perfect fit. According to the Go Prosthetics website, a socket fitting only takes about 30 minutes to complete and the prosthetics themselves only cost about $300 to producea price that Armstrong says will drop once production increases. To test his 3D printed prosthetic limb system, Armstrong has worked closely with Brian Sherman, who had his left leg amputated below the knee in 2013. Sherman heard about the CU Boulder students work via an amputee support group in Oregon, and quickly got in contact. Brian Sherman wearing the Go Prosthetics 3D printed limb "I think it's phenomenal he's had such dedication," Sherman told CU News. "He's had a great idea, and he's run with it. Working together, Sherman has given Armstrong vital feedback on his prosthetic design, telling him if and when the socket was uncomfortable and whether it was easy to move with. "The first one he didit hurt," he explained. "I told him if it hurts, people aren't going to use it. The second one he did is much better. I walked around the room. I had control. I had balance. (Images: Go Prosthetics) Since then, Armstrong says he has tested his design with three below-the-knee amputees and received positive reviews of his 3D printed prosthetic. Currently, the engineering student is trying to find an NGO or nonprofit organization to collaborate with to deploy his 3D printed prosthetics. Ultimately, the goal of Go Prosthetics is to offer amputees in developing regions of the world better access to prosthetics, effectively giving them their mobility back. Armstrong will also keep working on his design to make it suitable for upper-limp amputees as well. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: James McCrory wrote at 5/16/2019 10:46:17 AM:HI I am a below knee amputee with a back ground in electronics I was an electricain but had to give up work done a degree in electronic, build my own acouistic guitars and mandolins. I have been having trouble getting my prosthesis ,socket to fit. I have had several made and they have all been to small ot to big. I live in Ireland and wonder did you every get your project of the ground. my email is jimmccy@gmail,com I have giben a lot of though about the design the socket and how it could be manufactured I find this web site and realise other out there are not only thinking about it but doning it llets know how you are getting onGilbert Cameron wrote at 11/21/2017 8:08:18 PM:Hi. Would be good to chat. We are running a 3 year project in 3d printing prosthetics in LVDC Musoma, Tanzania. In our 3rd year, starting April 2019 we hope to be printing lower limb sockets. by Paul Braterman The wise learn from everyone.1 The freak success (half a million reads) of my recent piece How to slam dunk creationists, and the subsequent discussion, have again set me thinking about how to learn from creationists. It is not enough to say, as Dawkins notoriously said, "[I]f you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I'd rather not consider that)." Conversation is a two-way street, I have certainly learnt from creationists' attacks on evolution, and if I am learning from them it is at least possible that they are learning from me. Types of comment Comments I have had from creationists fall into three broad groups (and note that contrary to what Dawkins says, some of these are at least partly informed, highly intelligent, and completely rational): 1) Simple misstatements 2) Appeal to the Bible 3) Purportedly scientific arguments, some without merit, while others refer to important issues. From simple misstatements, not very much can be learnt, except perhaps the source of the misinformation. Remember that if someone quotes wrong information, the burden of proof is not on you but on them. Leave it there, as in this actual exchange: Creationist: Chimps are not our relatives. The genomic similarity between humans and chimps is only 29.8%. Me: "The genomic similarity between humans and chimps is only 29.8%"; if so, I have been seriously misinformed. Please give your source for this information. I am of course being disingenuous. I do not really think that I have been seriously misinformed, and I could have cited the standard literature value of over 98%. But much better to leave the burden of proof where it belongs. Meantime, I have (truthfully) presented myself to bystanders as open to new information, if only the creationist would supply it (he didn't). What about the Bible? When it comes to arguments based on Genesis, I have seen two different strategies employed: you can either a) Denounce the Bible as the ignorant writings of bronze-age goatherds, or b) Describe the Bible as the written and rewritten work of scribes and scholars, over many generations, doing their best with the knowledge they had at that time about how the world works, and constrained to express their beliefs in language that made sense to them and their contemporaries. Which do you think is more likely to win new friends, and which, for that matter, is more accurate? With preamble (b), you can discuss without rancour the internal and external evidence that the Bible is not a historically accurate document. It gives us a world-wide flood, and reduction of humanity to a mere eight individuals, just when the Egyptians were busy building the pyramids. And the Egyptians didn't even notice. The place names and customs of Genesis and Exodus match those of the Two Kingdoms period (Israel and Judah, 7th Century BCE), not the much earlier Bronze Age to which the patriarchs and Moses would, if real, have belonged. And there is the notorious conflict between the creation stories of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, just one of the Bible's many internal contradictions. Remember however that the biblicalist will have met such arguments before, and I would advise against detailed discussion of particular verses, unless you can quote the original Hebrew. And now to science A creationist favourite: mutation plus natural selection cannot generate new information, since mutation merely generates noise, and selection can eliminate, but not produce, novelty. My reply (and I found it instructive to have to formulate it), and how it led to a further informative exchange: Me: You are right twice and wrong once about how evolution works. Correct; selection alone cannot create novelty. Correct; random mutation alone cannot create significance (and most mutations are harmful or at best neutral). But, as in the case of genetic algorithms, the combination of the two of them can indeed create meaningful novelty. [In computing, a genetic algorithm takes an initial computer program, allows it to mutate, compares the new program with its predecessor, keeps whichever is better on some pre-established criterion, and repeats.] Creationist: Genetic algorithms are designed to reach specific pre-defined goals. Natural selection isn't. Me: Natural selection has a very specific pre-defined goal. Survival. The problem of complexity L: Stages in the evolution of the mammalian eye (schematic). Click to enlarge. R: Evolution's Witness, I. Schwab, describes the evolution of eyes throughout the animal kingdom Then, of course, the evolution of complex systems. The mammalian camera-like eye, with retina, lens, and pupil. This is an old creationist favourite, perhaps because Darwin himself said2 that "To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree". We have, however, learnt quite a lot about this since 1859. Darwin went on to spell out all the things that we would need to show in order to explain the evolution of the eye by natural selection, and in this he has been fully vindicated. How does the Sun move across the sky? Here's an answer, from 4th Century BCE Ilium. Click to enlarge Other multicomponent systems. Flowers and pollinators. Male and female. The blood clotting system. The bacterial flagellum. Parasites and their hosts. Here I think we need to answer at three different levels. At the most general level, the creationist is claiming that because we don't know how something could arise by natural processes, it could only have arisen by supernatural intervention. Technically, this is known as the "argument from ignorance". In antiquity, it might have been used to prove the reality of the Sun God's chariot, and today it is routinely used to invoke a miraculous origin for life, or for the Universe, or for consciousness. It is a pernicious argument; because we haven't found an explanation within our current science, we are invited to stop looking. L: The bacterial flagellum, and the injectisome to which it is related. Click to enlarge Going down a step, all the arguments involve the assumption that the systems would not work unless all their parts were already in place. Well, perhaps they would not work so effectively, or in the same way, but to get the ball rolling they wouldn't need to. Good examples here are the blood clotting system, which involves the operation of a large number of successive steps in order to stop bleeding, and the bacterial flagellum, a kind of "motor" used by some bacteria to propel themselves, through the combined action of many different protein molecules. Both of these were produced, and both found wanting, as examples of irreducible complexity at Kitzmiller v Dover,3 where the critics of Intelligent Design creationism were able to point to numerous partial precursor systems. As the links cited here show, the family relationships between these are the subject of active ongoing research. Finally, getting down to particulars, what the creationist is actually doing is setting out a series of excellent research programmes, many of them, as mentioned in the case of the flagellum, already vigorously under way. Life, alas, is short, and there is not time to satisfy all one's curiosities, but it is always instructive to have that curiosity aroused. My reading has certainly benefited from creationists' questions about the eye, the appearance of new species, random drift versus selection, whether evolution is the same thing as progress (it isn't4) and the evolution of parasites, some with extremely complex lifecycles involving several hosts. I am also left wondering how the creationists themselves explain the very existence of parasites, if they believe that every living kind was separately hand-crafted by a benign Deity. R: Life cycle of heterophytids, parasites that use three separate hosts at different stages. Click to enlarge. Deep time Then there is geology, and the Young Earth creationist challenge to the deep time necessary for evolution. I was asked, for instance, why the Colorado had carved out a canyon, but mightier rivers such as the Nile and Amazon had not, and why the Nile delta wasn't much larger than it is if it had been in place for many millions of years. (What's your answer? Mine's at the end of this post. Good to be made to think about it, and more to it than I had realised). This Geological Society Special Publication summarises historical and current thinking on the age of the Earth; free download here And other alleged problems with the age of the Earth. The thickness of sediments suggests an age of "only" 100 million years, and if we divide the amount of salt in the oceans by the amount brought down by rivers each year, we get a similar number. So indeed 100 million years was the figure generally accepted by geologists at the end of the nineteenth century. But why do creationists keep talking about this? An Old Earth creationist has no reason to care, while a Young Earth creationist needs an age measured in at most thousands of years, so 100 million years is no better than the actual value of around 4.57 billion. No matter; conflicting claims have been made in the name of science, and so, by a lawyerly trick, we are invited to regard science in the same light as we would a witness who changed his story on the stand. The very opposite of the scientific attitude which (ideally at least) regards mistakes as both inevitable and instructive. As to how geologists 120 years ago got it so badly wrong, it's worth noting that logically their suggestions were lower limits. They took into account how fast material (sediments on land, salt and the oceans) was arriving, but had no idea of how effectively it was being removed. They did not know about subduction, part of the process of plate tectonics, which returns sediments to the Earth's mantle beneath the crust. Nor did they realise the extent to which the continents had moved, cutting off regions as large as the Mediterranean basin and allowing them to evaporate to dryness, depositing their salt content. Other old favourites R: Macaque monkeys grooming Some other old favourites: Why are there still monkeys? Answer: we have not evolved from present-day-day monkeys, any more than English has evolved from present-day German. Our last common ancestor with a present-day monkey was over 25 million years ago, and we've all moved on a bit since then. But still useful to be reminded that a modern monkey is the same distance in time from that common ancestor as the modern primatologist studying him. We are no more, and no less, evolved than any other life form, even if we have evolved in what are, to us, particularly interesting directions. And what about the missing links? This is a creationist favourite. Did not Darwin himself describe the poverty of the fossil record in his time as the gravest objection to his theory? Yet things were already changing in his lifetime, and the rate of change has been increasing ever since. In time for the fourth edition of The Origin of Species, we had the discovery of Archaeopteryx, a missing link between reptiles and birds, and if we now regard Archaeopteryx as a bit of a dead end, that is because we now have many more examples of intermediate species, and can see a clear line of descent which leaves Archaeopteryx on a side branch. Darwin himself, with characteristic caution, described Archaeopteryx as "that strange bird," and simply used it as evidence of "how little we as yet know of the former inhabitants of the world." Above, R: Archaeopteryx, the Berlin specimen, showing leg feathers later removed in cleaning. Click to enlarge. The 1863 specimen, referred to by Darwin, is in Londons Natural History Museum; its image is copyright but can be seen here. But what about human evolution? Isn't that something more special? No. A century ago, it made sense to wonder at the scarcity of intermediates between humans and non-human apes, although we already had Java Man (now known as Homo erectus) and, of course, our Neanderthal cousins. Then, in 1924, came the discovery of the Taung Child skull, now classified as Australopithecus africanus, and since then a steady stream, showing not one but three or four lineages of which we are the only one surviving. (The Smithsonian's Human Origins page gives a very good description of all this.) But aren't there still missing links? Yes there are, and there always will be. And yes, just as the creationists say, filling in the gaps is an act of interpretation. Find an incomplete sequence of footprints in the sand at the edge of the ocean, and you can interpret them as evidence that someone walked that way. Or you can insist that each separate footprint was the result of a separate act of creation, and none can prove you wrong. The same is true for the hundreds of thousands of fossils, all at the right place in the geological sequence, unknown to Darwin, but known to us. The creationist cites the inescapable incompleteness of the record, but under creationism we would not expect any record at all. And some other good questions The creationists raised numerous other important questions, to which I will be returning in my own reading, and some of which may feature here at some future date. The Cambrian explosion (hint: "explosion" is a relative term). Not seeing evolution actually occurring (yes we do, actually, all the time). What did our last common ancestor with chimps look like? And how could our large difference from chimps be achieved with so little difference in our DNA? (Good questions, still largely unanswered). The origin of life; we don't know, lots of interesting work going on. Notice, though, that this isn't really a question about biological evolution itself, but about what had to happen before that evolution got started. Think of the chemists, who had spent 150 years using and developing atomic theory before we developed any insight into the origin of atoms.5 The distinction between historical and operational science (yes they are different, but not in the way people usually imagine. It is historical science that is the more certain!) Evolution doesn't explain consciousness, define morality, or give meaning and purpose to our lives (should we expect it to?) Are scientific statements the only rational ones? (My own heretical view: we can usefully ask whether a statement is rational, but I see nothing more to be learnt by then asking whether it is scientific.) No proof of evolution? A good jumping off point for thinking about what counts as "proof" in science. Or does science do proof at all? Much to think about here; much to learn from. Those rivers again L: Grand Canyon (image Luca Galuzzi www.galuzzi.it) Note horizontal strata; the river has carved the canyon through a block udergoing uplift as a unit. Click to enlarge Now what about those rivers? What about the Grand Canyon, and the absence of canyons for the Amazon and the Nile? The answers were pretty well what I had guessed, but with much more interesting detail. The Grand Canyon formed as a result of the uplifting of the Colorado Plateau by between 1,500 and 3,000 metres, and was further enlarged during the Ice Ages, when there was much heavier rainfall upstream. The so-called Eonile, precursor to the modern Nile, did indeed cut a deep canyon during the period, up to around five million years ago, when the Mediterranean was isolated from the Atlantic and dried up. So the expected massive sediments do indeed exist, but are now under water, and the canyon was formed, but has long since been filled in. The Amazon does indeed have a massive land delta, as well as underwater formations spreading up to 300 km from the coastline. The river in its present form is only some ten million years old, with its headwaters reshaped by the rise of the Andes. If so, by analogy with the Colorado you might expect it to have carved up a canyon in the area of uplift, and you would not be disappointed. The Rio Maranon, principal feeder to the Amazon, rises on the west side of the Andes, and has cut a path deeper than the Grand Canyon through the mountains rising beneath it. And the difference between the canyons is as revealing as the similarities. In the Grand Canyon, the strata lie horizontal, since the river cut its way through the undeformed block of the Colorado Plateau. The Maranon, in contrast, cut its way through folded strata, buckled by the forces that built the mounrtains. R: Strata bent by lateral compression in wall of Maranon canyon Conclusion With evolution, as with everything else, we are blind to our own confirmation bias. We will focus, if left to ourselves, on questions that are easily answered, and avoid those that might make us uncomfortable. But such questions are by far the most instructive, and we owe a debt of gratitude to those who raise them, whether they want our thanks or not. Some useful resources "29+ Evidences for Macroevolution" http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/ especially Prediction 4.5 and Figure 4.4.1 at http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/section4.html#retroviruses Speciation: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-speciation.html and http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/speciation.html . "Lizards Undergo Rapid Evolution After Introduction To A New Home" https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080417112433.htm Human evolution; Smithsonian Institute, http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils ; timeline of human fossil discoveries, https://australianmuseum.net.au/a-timeline-of-fossil-discoveries Whale evolution: Thewissen's review article, free download, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12052-009-0135-2 The Cambrian Explosion http://www.geologypage.com/2017/08/mystery-first-animals-appeared-earth-solved.html Jochen J. Brocks, Amber J. M. Jarrett, Eva Sirantoine, Christian Hallmann, Yosuke Hoshino, Tharika Liyanage. The rise of algae in Cryogenian oceans and the emergence of animals. Nature, 2017 Historical vs operational science: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/667/chapter/3807501/Common-cause-explanation-and-the-search-for-a 1] Ben Zomah, Mishnah Aboth 4:1 2] Origin of Species, 1st ed., Ch 6, "Difficulties on Theory" 3] The 2005 court case establishing that Intelligent Design is merely a variant of religious creationism, and as such cannot be taught in government-run schools in the US. 4] The actual balance between selection, drift, and constraints in particular cases is a major research area. See e.g. my earlier Evolution is not progress 5] We can date the modern atomic theory to Dalton's New System of Chemical Philosophy, 1808, and our understanding of how atoms are formed to papers by Fred Hoyle and colleagues in the 1950s. An earlier version of some of this material appeared in The Conversation. Bible image from bible-png. Eye development image Matticus78 via Wikipedia. Sun God in chariot, Ilium (Troy), Temple of Athena, via Wikipedia. Falgellum and injectisome image Matt Baker. Parasite lifecylcle from CDC via Stanford. Monkeys grooming AKS.9955 via Wikipedia. Archaeopteryx, from Vogt, C. 1880, Archaeopteryx macrura, an Intermediate Form between Birds and Reptiles, Ibis 4:434-45, via Wikipedia. Hominin skulls from Smithsonian. Grand Canyon image Luca Galuzzi (who must be informed regarding re-use) via Wikipedia. Maranon Canyon David O'Keefe, via https://community.nrs.com/duct-tape/2013/12/18/perus-rio-maranon-another-grand-canyon/ Sam Anderson in the New York Times: When you call John McPhee on the phone, he is instantly John McPhee. McPhee is now 86 years old, and each of those years seems to be filed away inside of him, loaded with information, ready to access. I was calling to arrange a visit to Princeton, N.J., where McPhee lives and teaches writing. He was going to give me driving directions. He asked where I was coming from. I told him the name of my town, about 100 miles away. Ive been there, McPhee said, with the mild surprise of someone who has just found a $5 bill in a coat pocket. He proceeded to tell me a story of the time he had a picnic at the top of our local mountain, with a small party that included the wife of Alger Hiss, the former United States official who, at the height of McCarthyism, was disgraced by allegations of spying for the Russians. The picnic party rode to the top, McPhee said, on the incline railway, an old-timey conveyance that has been out of operation for nearly 40 years, and which now marks the landscape only as a ruin: abandoned tracks running up a scar on the mountains face, giant gears rusting in the old powerhouse at the top. Hikers stop and gawk and wonder what the thing was like. It was amazing, McPhee said. A railroad created by the Otis Elevator Company. An incline of 60-something percent. Then he started giving me directions 87, 287, Route 1 until eventually I admitted that I was probably just going to follow the directions on my phone. McPhee kept going for a few seconds, suggesting another road or two, but finally he gave up. More here. Seeking the warm climate of Marin, an L.A. native turns this Mill Valley cottage into an art and antiques-filled sanctuary that's uniquely hers. Before the Golden Gate Bridge was erected in 1933, Mill Valley, California, served as a summer getaway spot for San Franciscans looking to shed the fog and frenzy of city life. Designer Laura Hunt had the pleasure of updating one of these former summer cottages into a cozy home for a longtime friend who raised her children here. House at a Glance Who lives here: A single woman with two grown children Location: Mill Valley, California Size: 1,700 square feet (158 square meters) Designer: Laura Hunt Design Photo by David Duncan Livingston, original photo on Houzz Much of the house was kept in original condition including a chic diamond pattern on the windows, which remains as a testament to the cottage's history. Structurally, the home remained the same as well, aside for the addition of French doors leading out to the terrace. Inside, a bold living room boasts a settee reupholstered in orange, black, cream and white striped silk from Romo Fabrics. The curtain design emerged organically from the settee's upholstery. Hunt was struggling to find another pattern to coordinate with the sofa, when she realized the right move was right in front of her: "Why wouldn't we just use the same fabric as on the sofa instead of trying to force another fabric into the room?" Hunt wanted the homeowner's original Wayne Thiebaud prints to occupy a suitably prominent place within the decor, so she mounted one above the mantel and one at the staircase where it is visible from both upstairs and downstairs. The two vintage bergere chairs were in great shape when Hunt found them, so she simply had them tightened up and covered in a heavy linen paisley by Etro that matches the taupe-gray stripe of the sofa fabric. The coffee table is a gray shagreen. The homeowner is an avid cook, and during dinner parties, her guests often congregate in the kitchen to watch. Hunt knew she needed an island with ample seating and plenty of storage on the sink side of the island, since they decided to forgo upper cabinets. A La Cornue stove with brass accents ties in with the brass drawer hardware and Barbara Barry drum fixtures from Visual Comfort. Admittedly, the pendant lights above the island stretched the client's imagination, but she trusted her designer and friend when she advocated for their scale. "Scale is such a big part of what designers do well," Hunt says. And in this case, her client's trust paid off: Once the lights were in, everyone loved them. Photo by David Duncan Livingston, original photo on Houzz Hunt had the counters and walls clad in pure white Caesarstone for a continuous, clean look. She had a "super tricky situation" to contend with over the oven that required her to reconcile the placement of the vent with the stairs. Once the house was completely finished, she wasn't satisfied with how the hood looked, so they tore it out and started over. The Tom Bolles colorblock painting on the wall was purchased from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's Artist Gallery, an outlet where museum-goers can rent art with the option to buy. Hunt felt it was a strong but serene color to add a bit of modernity to the house. The client wanted to make the home's side entrance the main entrance for the house. Therefore, Hunt needed to find a way to create a comfortable transition into the home. The homeowner wanted to cut a window opening into the wall, while the designer favored keeping the wall to display art. The client's boyfriend came up with the winning suggestion: a laser-cut metal screen that would act like art but allow some connection between the entry vestibule and the living area. Photo by David Duncan Livingston, original photo on Houzz The client's office used to be the original entrance, but since the homeowner decided she wanted to use the side entrance exclusively, they closed off the door and replaced it with a window. The homeowner pulls one of the two custom vinyl stools to her Portuguese desk and keeps the second on hand for when she and a friend or one of her kids are browsing online together. "It's nice to have seats you can move around easily," Hunt says. Shades keep the room dark when a visitor sleeps in the daybed or when the client herself curls up and reads by the light of her new reading lamps. The walls are covered in a Scalamandre wallpaper and the daybed is in a matching fabric. "In a house like this, every single inch needs to have an impact. We needed not to overwhelm the room with too many disparate elements," Hunt says. Photo by David Duncan Livingston, original photo on Houzz On the second floor, there were three little bedrooms and a small bathroom, so they reallocated floor space to create two bedrooms and two baths instead. This room kept its original footprint but got a functional and stylistic makeover in the form of a deep soaking tub where the homeowner bathes and watches TV as a relaxing ritual. Photo by David Duncan Livingston, original photo on Houzz Arguably, the master bedroom is the room that changed the least. The two gold mirrors, the armoire and dressers were also pulled out of storage along with the client's collection of blue-and-white porcelain, for which Hunt created a window ledge where they could be displayed. A gas-insert fireplace also with a gold surround provides a warm glow on winter nights. This article was written by Jess McBride Houzz. You might also like: Stylish Kitchen Countertops Available in Every Color and Material Bookmark These Amazing Home Office Ideas for Your Next Remodel New Bathtub Faucet Sets for a Spa-Fresh Feeling Bombardier Commercial Aircraft today announced that it has concluded a firm purchase agreement with SpiceJet Limited (SpiceJet) of Gurgaon, India for up to 50 Q400 turboprop airliners, making it the largest single order ever for the Q400 turboprop aircraft programme and bringing total Q400 firm orders to over 600 Q400 aircraft. Upon delivery, the airline will become the first in the world to operate a 90-seat turboprop, pending certification by regulatory authorities. The purchase agreement includes 25 Q400 turboprops and purchase rights on an additional 25 aircraft. Based on list prices, the order is valued at up to $1.7 billion. We are very proud to firm up this agreement with SpiceJet as it is another demonstration of the Q400s unique versatility. This repeat order will not only increase the Q400 aircraft fleet in the fast-growing regional market in India and in the Asia-Pacific region but will also launch the high-density 90passenger model, said Fred Cromer, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. This order confirms the airlines increased capacity needs on regional routes with high passenger demand and demonstrates the increased profitability potential that this unique turboprop configuration has to offer. I am pleased to confirm SpiceJets latest order for up to 50 Bombardier Q400 planes, which has been announced at the Paris Air Show. I am sure this fresh order will help us further enhance connectivity to smaller towns and cities and help realize Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision of ensuring that every Indian can fly, said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet. SpiceJet operates Indias largest regional fleet and has always been a firm believer in the growth story of Indias smaller towns and cities. We have worked hard over the years to put these smaller towns on the countrys aviation map and will strive to keep that momentum going in the times to come. We have been witnessing growth in the number of passengers per departure in the turboprop market, and especially in India. Today, Bombardier offers the largest turboprop aircraft available on the market and SpiceJet will be the first airline to take advantage of the profitable and efficient operations that the 90-passenger high-density Q400 will offer them, said Francois Cognard, Vice President, Sales, South-Asia and Australasia. Since 2010, SpiceJet has taken delivery of 15 new Q400 aircraft. The airline currently operates 20 Q400 aircraft in a 78-seat configuration to domestic and international destinations. This fleet expansion will provide SpiceJet with the ability to grow profitably and leverage the robust demand forecast in the worlds fastest growing regional aviation market. Bombardiers Q Series turboprops and CRJ Series regional jets have made significant advances in the Australasia region where approximately 380 aircraft including more than 240 Q Series turboprops - are in service with or on order by over 45 customers and operators. Bombardiers customer support network for commercial aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region includes Regional Support Offices in Gurgaon (India), Tokyo (Japan), Sydney (Australia), Shanghai (China) and Singapore (Singapore), as well as Parts Services Depots in Sydney (Australia), Tianjin (China), Narita (Japan) and Singapore (Singapore). The network also includes three strategically located Authorized Service Facilities - GMR Aero Technic in Hyderabad (India), STAECO in Jinan (China) and Hawker Pacific in Cairns (Australia). Operating from the companys regional office located in Singapore, Bombardier Commercial Aircrafts sales and marketing team is well positioned to provide industry-leading solutions to its current and prospective customers. Including SpiceJets order, Bombardier has recorded firm orders for a total of 610 Q400 aircraft. EasyJet has confirmed a milestone for expansion at its Belfast Airport, with the introduction of an A320 aircraft- the sixth aircraft to be positioned at the airline's Northern Ireland base. The aircraft is scheduled for delivery on 22nd June 2018 and will remain based in Belfast throughout the year. From summer 2018 easyJet will now base three A319 and three A320 aircraft at its Belfast International Airport base. As Northern Irelands largest airline, easyJet operates more than 32 flights per day between Belfast and London and has already added over 6,000 seats to the route this winter. This ongoing growth demonstrates the airlines long-term commitment to Northern Ireland, connecting Belfast with London and other popular destinations. Ali Gayward, easyJets UK Commercial Manager, said: We are absolutely delighted to be celebrating further expansion at Belfast Airport. The addition of another aircraft will help us to deliver long term, sustainable growth at the base providing passengers with a greater range of destinations, all with low fares and great service. EasyJet is the largest airline in Northern Ireland and we have been committed to Belfast airport for over 19 years. We are proud to have carried over 50 million passengers in that time. Graham Keddie, Managing Director at Belfast International Airport, said: "We are pleased once again to acknowledge easyJet's strong focus on developing the UK market by adding a sixth aircraft to their Belfast base. As Northern Ireland's leading airline they continue to be a strong supporter of the local economy creating even more capacity and choice for Northern Ireland consumers." EasyJet serves 28 routes from Belfast airport, offering up to 636 flights per week. Actor Domhnall Gleeson says he almost turned his role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as he did not want to face the pressure of fame that came with it. The 34-year-old actor, who plays General Hux in the new trilogy of the popular sci-fi franchise, says he was worried that being recognised in public would get in the way of his personal life, reported Contactmusic. Why would I have thought of saying no? Fame is the end goal for a lot of people but it is not mine. I worried that the accompanying fame would get in the way of how I live my life. It got a little crazy for a couple of months for a while, going out and having a drink with my friends was difficult, and then it died down, Gleeson says. The actor will now appear in both the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and its follow-up which is currently just titled Star Wars: Episode IX. Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits cinemas this December. Transformers star Josh Duhamel will be getting an honorary doctorate degree in his native North Dakota. The University of North Dakota will bestow the honour on Duhamel, 44, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The actor is a Minot native who earned a bachelors degree in biology from Minot State University in 2005. The states Board of Higher Education approved the nomination earlier this week. Minot State does not grant doctorate degrees, so the university could not offer a similar honour to Duhamel. Veteran social activist Anna Hazare will soon launch an agitation to protest against the Modi governments failure to bring in Lokpal and enforcement of Lokayukta act. According to Hazare, the government is not serious about eliminating corruption from the country. After paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his birth anniversary, Hazare said that the nation is deviating from the principles of Gandhiji. He added that the nation has forgotten about Gandhijis vision for India. Hazare who had success spearheaded a campaign against the erstwhile UPA government for its failure to pass Lokpal Bill has gone into hibernation after the BJP government came to power. People criticised Hazare for going soft on the BJP government and alleged that he is the agent of RSS. They also added that Hazare will now only begin his agitation after the Congress returns to power. A question which arises here is will Hazares fast yield any results or is it merely a publicity stunt? Why didnt Hazare launch his campaign against corruption after BJP came to power? Anil Prakash, national social activist said, Anna has remained silent for so many days and now he has started his campaign against corruption. He has soft corner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even though he starts protest but he lacks idea about how to sustain it. In his every speech, Anna says that he lives a simple life. People dont take him seriously now. He never speaks about the economic problems of the country and hardships faced by farmers. Sukhdev Benbansi, AAP leader said, Anna had given time to the government but they failed to act against corruption hence he has gone ahead with hunger strike. The government has not formed Lokpal and Lokayukta. The allegations made against Anna that he is working for the RSS is unjustified. He works in the interest of the nation. Anna has started agitation in support of Lokpal and had achieved success and it will remain successful in future too. All of us should join hands with Anna to fight against corruption. Preeti Sharma Menon, AAP spokesperson said, Anna had gone to Delhi for giving tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. I will definitely support Anna in his fight against corruption. The government had blamed bureaucrats for the Elphinstone stampede incident. If Lokpal would have been formed then they could have taken action against bureaucrats under citizens charter. If the government does not know how to govern then they should quit. It is important to have Lokpal today as the government has failed to tackle corruption and control violence. Vijay Kamble, social activist said, Anna is working for the welfare of the people. So many protests are being organised in Maharashtra and across the country and the government had taken action against protestors. If such incident occurs again during Annas protest then it will be proved that Anna is not the supporter of BJP. Medha Patkar, activist said, This time Annas agitation wont receive good response. I dont think that Anna has links with BJP and RSS and he has done good work. I will seek opinion of my activists before taking any decision to support Hazares campaign against corruption. Stop blindly claiming that Khatna is the same as Western clitoral unhooding, we must understand that clitoral unhooding is not performed on unconsenting minor girls. It is chosen by some adult, sexually active women only if they have problems such as too much prepuce tissue coming in the way of orgasms. The clitoral-hood serves an important purpose in every woman, it guards the clitoris from over-stimulation, scuffs and injury, and it naturally retracts during sexual arousal to allow exposure to the clitoris. It does not need to be cut in order to expose the clitoris. We must understand the natural functions of our body parts before artificially altering them with a blade that to with an unprofessional woman having no medical background. And finally, if you think that the purpose behind Khatna is taharat, then remember physical hygiene can be maintained very well with soap and water, and the key to achieving spiritual or religious purity lies not in a persons genitals, but in their thoughts, words and deeds. There are hundreds of spiritual women across the globe from various religions. I dont think they are chopping off clitoris. Its a cruel practice, as it is performed on minor girls who are not in a position to give consent for performing such acts. Imagine the hot knife slicing your clitoris. Imagine young girl shrieking in pain. Imagine the mother who is holding their daughters, and seeing her in blood pool with pain for days and months. The cruel practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) has to be stopped in India. Young girls aged six and seven are regularly being cut right here. Mumbai abounds with inexpert midwives who continue to scar young girls from the Bohra community. They have to undergo pain and are felicitated and respected just because of the bled that they hold in their hand. I inquired with my driver Zujer, a Bohra Muslim about this practice. He surprised me by replying back, if a female is born in our religion she has to go through this. Our religious perching says so. I asked him, you never feel bad when your daughter shriek in pain? He said, Its done by Janana (female) and we males dont become part of it. Our only duty is to eat, render dua (blessing) and keep calm. This is for the girls betterment. I was speechless, but when it comes to religion you really cant argue on humanitarian grounds as this hurts their religious sentiments. FGM remained a well-kept secret, a taboo, a subject never to be discussed. When I asked such awkward question to a male member of community, he was not very comfortable. With changing time, few women victims at the hands of the Bohra tradition are choosing to speak out and create awareness. Masooma Ranalvi, a Delhi-based issuer who has put her name to an online, petition against the practice along with seventeen other women has decided its time to come out in the open. The pain has become a trigger and the passion to save other girls from being cut have made her and the others fearless. Masooma who was also cut when she was 6 years old said its been 42 years now. For a long time, Masooma did not understand what had happened to her or why she had been cut. The realisation that she had been so betrayed shattered her. The reasons why khatna is so common in the community shocked her. The abuse leaves women physically, psychologically and sexually damaged. It takes a long time for a child to be okay. It is something that has affected many Bohra girls like Zohara; it affected the kind of work they do. The mutilation affects marriages. Couples are finally admitting to it but only in one-on-one confidential meetings. One reason why khatna continues is because the Syneda, or the Bohra high priest, refuses to engage on the issue either with the women or the media. The United Nations has declared female genital mutilation a human rights violation but there is no ban in India. Young girls are still being taken to midwives and to doctors in Bohra-run hospitals. Slowly, the issue is becoming less taboo. Immediate complications of Female genital mutilation includes severe pain, shock, haemorrhage, tetanus or infection, urine retention, ulceration of the genital region and injury to adjacent tissue, wound infection, urinary infection, fever and septicemia. Haemorrhage and infection can be severe enough to cause death. Long term consequences include complications during child birth, anaemia, the formation of cysts and abscesses, keloid scar formation, damage to the urethra resulting in urinary incontinence, dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse), sexual dysfunction, hypersensitivity of the genital area and increased risk of HIV transmission, as well as psychological effects. Infibulation or type three female genital mutilation may cause complete vaginal obstruction resulting in the accumulation of menstrual flow in the vagina and uterus. Infibulation creates a physical barrier to sexual intercourse and childbirth. An infibulated woman therefore has to undergo gradual dilation of the vaginal opening before sexual intercourse can take place. Often, infibulated women are cut open on the first night of marriage (By the husband or circumciser) to enable the husband to be intimate with his wife. If not on religious ground, if not on humanitarian ground, if not on gender ground at least on medical and health grounds this revolution should go wide spread and judiciary should take up the issue with same aggression it has taken Triple Talaq. In future the womanhood in Islam needs to be protected. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) Aiken, SC (29801) Today Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 46F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 46F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. On Tue, Aug 1, 2017 at 1:06 am, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA < offcies@tim.it > wrote: PRESIDENCY FROM THE DESK OF GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. TEL 234 8098934557, EMAIL, presidentofnigeria58@gmail.com CHANGES OF BENEFICIARY ATTENTION:Sir/Madam This is the second time we are notifying you about this said fund. We hereby send to you the information submitted by Mr. John T. Kehoe U.S.A of California, with an application to receive your Award Payment of $32,000.000.00.on your behalf from this office .Please as a matter of urgency, you are required to verify the following information and inform us if you are aware or know anything about this. This morning Mr. John T. Kehoe came to the office claiming that you have instructed him to come and receive the payment on your behalf with some representatives. I have ask them to come back tomorrow as they did not provide any power of an attorney from you which will proof that you thoroughly send them, This was to enable me contact you to verify how genuine this people are to you. 1. Did you instruct one Mr. John T. Kehoe of 122 Fitch Way, Sacramento, Ca. 95864. whose information's is below, to claim and receive the payment on your behalf? 2. Did you sign any 'Deed of Assignment' in his favor thereby making him the current beneficiary with the following account details: Account Name: Mr. John T. Kehoe Group Ltd, A/C #004792442195 Bank Name: Bank Of America Swift Code: 111000025. Finally, you are hereby advised to indicate to this honorable office with immediate effect, if you are the person that instructed Mr. John T. Kehoe to come for the claim of your fund worth of $32,000.000.00. NOTE: your full name and telephone number is needed for easy communications. THE STATED BELOW INFORMATION IS REQUIRED FOR SWIFT PROCESSING OF THIS PAYMENT 1. YOUR NAME:. . 2. YOUR FULL ADDRESS:. 3. YOUR TELEPHONE. . 4. AGE. . . . 5. SEX:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. YOUR OCCUPATION . . . . . . . . 7. YOUR VALID ACCOUNT DETAILS:. . . . . . 8. A COPY OF YOUR IDENTITY. . . . . . For your information we have three mode of payment . 1 , Bank to bank transfer. 2, ATM CARD 3, Through our cash payment center here in London We wait for your call on 234 8098934557 via email, presidentofnigeria58@gmail.com and urgent respond to this office so that you will be giving an immediate Response. Yours sincerely, GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA DIRECT TELEPHONE TEL :234 8098934557, Note:PLEASE CALL ME ON 234 8098934557 AND RECONFIRM YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 4:44 am, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA < winfor@tim.it > wrote: PRESIDENCY FROM THE DESK OF GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. TEL:234-8068609049. TEL:234 8098934557 EMAIL, presidentofnigeria58@gmail.com Attention:BENEFICIARY WHY ARE YOU DELAYING THIS TRANSFER , I WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR FUND IS NOW WITH BANK OF AMERICA AND I THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA HAS APPROVED YOUR FUND TO BE RELEASE TODAY .IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN GETTING YOUR FUND TODAY , CALL ME ON THIS NUMBER 234-8068609049 0R234 8098934557 AND RECONFIRM YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER AND BANKING INFORMATION ONCE AGAIN TO AVOID WRONG TRANSFER . IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU TODAY , YOUR PAYMENT WILL BE CANCEL AND THE FUND WILL BE RETURN BACK TO THEY FEDERAL OF NIGERIA ACCOUNT . CALL ME ON 234-8068609049 0R234 8098934557 SO THAT WE CAN CONCLUDE THE RELEASE OF YOUR PAYMENT TODAY .PLEASE RECONFIRM YOUR CONFIDENTIAL DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER . CONGRATULATION IN ADVANCE BEST REGARDS GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. CODE -IN GOD WE TRUST DIRECT TELEPHONE 234-8068609049 0R234 8098934557 NOTE: PLEASE CALL ME ON MY DIRECT NUMBERS WHICH IS 234-8068609049 0R234 8098934557 FOR YOUR INFORMATION YOUR FUND WILL BE RELEASE TODAY AS SOON AS I HEAR FROM YOU TODAY.CALL ME NOW.IF I DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU TODAY , YOUR FUND WILL BE CANCEL General Muhammadu Buhari keys73@alice.it > Date: Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 2:06 AM Subject: Greetings to you From General Muhammadu Buhari (G.C.F.R).President Federal Republic of Nigeria. To: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA From: Office of the New President Commander in Chief of Arm Forces and First Payment Guaranty Remittance. Destination: Presidential Guest House Aso - Rock Villa, Wusa Zone II Abuja - Nigeria. Our Ref: FGN/PRE/VP/FMF/2015. Greetings to you and your house hold. I believe you have been expecting to receive an email from me regarding your payment which wasn' t paid to you by the past administration. Yes I am talking to you about your unpaid fund and I was able to recover so many unpaid files which your name is among the listed names I saw herein, and I have found out that former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan wasn' t man enough to stamp his authority over those who are suppose to transfer your fund to you. I have been elected by my people as the whole world saw how my victory was emerged, and it is expected because my people know what I am capable of doing and I have done immensely well before as a Military Head of State and my second coming as a Civilian President under Democracy will be much more intense as I am not a party to corruption. So you should count yourself lucky as you will receive your fund under my authorization and you will follow my instructions and you shall be paid. Suspend every transaction you are dealing with any one, you have as i have cancelled all foreign payments and i am now handling them by myself and it is for your own good to end corruption and save you stress as well. I don't have time to mess with you or anyone else, and I saw how much you owned herein but I am going to make your payment very easy for you to receive your fund. I have approved of USD$10.5000,000.00 to be transferred to you, I don't want to know how much you are suppose to receive before, so if you want to receive your payment, then you will be ready to off-set the bill for PAYMENT ACCEPTANCE FUND BOND FEE of of $70.00 and that is all. I am doing this to end your long awaited payment, and if you aren' t ready to heed to my instructions and receive your payment, please don' t bother to reply me as I will not entertain any such mail from you. I believe in Change and Excellency in Democracy will always stand, You can send the cost of PAYMENT ACCEPTANCE FUND BOND FEE to my personal ACCOUNTANT DIELI ALEX with given details below by Money Gram. Receivers Name: DIELI ALEX Location:. . Lagos - Nigeria. Text question: :. word? Answer:. . Yes Amount:. $70 of dollars. Note that as soon as i receive the required of $70.00 only, i will certainly accomplish your fund release to you without any delay. So you should get back to me with the payment details such as the senders name and MTCN as soon as possible to enable me conclude matters. . Yours Sincerely General Muhammadu Buhari (G.C.F.R). President Federal Republic of Nigeria. Email From:Date: Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 2:06 AMSubject: Greetings to you From General Muhammadu Buhari (G.C.F.R).President Federal Republic of Nigeria.To:FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIAFrom: Office of the New President Commander in Chief of Arm Forces and FirstPayment Guaranty Remittance.Destination: Presidential Guest House Aso -Rock Villa, Wusa Zone II Abuja - Nigeria.Our Ref: FGN/PRE/VP/FMF/2015.Greetings to you and your house hold.I believe you have been expecting to receive an email from me regarding yourpayment which wasn' t paid to you by the past administration. Yes I am talkingto you about your unpaid fund and I was able to recover so many unpaid fileswhich your name is among the listed names I saw herein, and I have found outthat former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan wasn' t man enough to stamp hisauthority over those who are suppose to transfer your fund to you.I have been elected by my people as the whole world saw how my victory wasemerged, and it is expected because my people know what I am capable of doingand I have done immensely well before as a Military Head of State and my secondcoming as a Civilian President under Democracy will be much more intense as Iam not a party to corruption. So you should count yourself lucky as you willreceive your fund under my authorization and you will follow my instructionsand you shall be paid. Suspend every transaction you are dealing with any one,you have as i have cancelled all foreign payments and i am now handling them bymyself and it is for your own good to end corruption and save you stress aswell.I don't have time to mess with you or anyone else, and I saw how much you ownedherein but I am going to make your payment very easy for you to receive yourfund. I have approved of USD$10.5000,000.00 to be transferred to you, I don'twant to know how much you are suppose to receive before, so if you want toreceive your payment, then you will be ready to off-set the bill for PAYMENTACCEPTANCE FUND BOND FEE of of $70.00 and that is all.I am doing this to end your long awaited payment, and if you aren' t ready toheed to my instructions and receive your payment, please don' t bother to replyme as I will not entertain any such mail from you. I believe in Change andExcellency in Democracy will always stand, You can send the cost of PAYMENTACCEPTANCE FUND BOND FEE to my personal ACCOUNTANT DIELI ALEX with givendetails below by Money Gram.Receivers Name: DIELI ALEXLocation:. . Lagos - Nigeria.Text question: :. word?Answer:. . YesAmount:. $70 of dollars.Note that as soon as i receive the required of $70.00 only, i will certainlyaccomplish your fund release to you without any delay. So you should get backto me with the payment details such as the senders name and MTCN as soon aspossible to enable me conclude matters.Yours SincerelyGeneral Muhammadu Buhari (G.C.F.R).President Federal Republic of Nigeria.Email generalmuhammadubuhari7@yahoo. com On Mon, Aug 7, 2017 at 1:17 am, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA < winfor@tim.it > wrote: PRESIDENCY FROM THE DESK OF GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. TEL:234-8068609049. TEL:234 8098934557 EMAIL, presidentofnigeria58@gmail.com Attention:BENEFICIARY WHY ARE YOU DELAYING THIS TRANSFER , I WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR FUND IS NOW WITH BANK OF AMERICA AND I THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA HAS APPROVED YOUR FUND TO BE RELEASE TODAY .IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN GETTING YOUR FUND TODAY , CALL ME ON THIS NUMBER 234-8068609049 0R234 8098934557 AND RECONFIRM YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER AND BANKING INFORMATION ONCE AGAIN TO AVOID WRONG TRANSFER . IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU TODAY , YOUR PAYMENT WILL BE CANCEL AND THE FUND WILL BE RETURN BACK TO THEY FEDERAL OF NIGERIA ACCOUNT . CALL ME ON 234-8068609049 0R234 8098934557 SO THAT WE CAN CONCLUDE THE RELEASE OF YOUR PAYMENT TODAY .PLEASE RECONFIRM YOUR CONFIDENTIAL DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER . CONGRATULATION IN ADVANCE BEST REGARDS GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. CODE -IN GOD WE TRUST DIRECT TELEPHONE 234-8068609049 0R234 8098934557 NOTE: PLEASE CALL ME ON MY DIRECT NUMBERS WHICH IS 234-8068609049 0R234 8098934557 FOR YOUR INFORMATION YOUR FUND WILL BE RELEASE TODAY AS SOON AS I HEAR FROM YOU TODAY.CALL ME NOW.IF I DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU TODAY , YOUR FUND WILL BE CANCEL To: Undisclosed-recipients:; Subject: The Presidency. Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2017 14:50:09 +0000 PRESIDENCY PRESIDENCY Federal Republic of Nigeria OFFICE OF HIS EXCELLENCE VICE PRESIDENT FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA Aso Rack villa Abuja. Attention dear fund beneficiary, Sir/Madam, Hope this mail meets you in good health. Acting for and on behalf of the President who is currently sick and receiving medical attention at the London hospital, based on contradictory report in my desk, please, kindly confirm if your payment has been credited into your Bank account, the reason why I am sending this letter, is to establish the true fact, for records purposes. Our government is taking foreign debts settlement as a top priority and a significant efforts is currently being made. Please, if you're not paid as I was told, kindly act fast and get back to me. I expect your full trust, confidence on me please feel free and talk to me, together we shall find a lasting and positive solution on your funds transfer, through a legitimate means Bank to Bank. I am taking my time in this subject matter based on series of complaint I receive on daily bases. Please, am committed for justice and fairness, do not allow anybody or Bank to mislead you, the payment is through the approved international funds transfer, Bank to Bank transfer only and we have engaged services of reputed, trusted and customer friend Bank to handle this process. I am sincerely sorry for the delay in transfer. I anticipate your speed response. Wishing you and your family the best of 2017. Thanks, Yours truly, His Excellency, Prof. Prof. Yemi Osinbajor i -GCON, GCFR, BNER, GCON Vice President, , -Federal Republic of Nigeria. FRN. Seal of the Vice President of Nigeria From: "Mr. Muhammadu Buhari" < muhamadu.buhari@outlook.com >To: Undisclosed-recipients:;Subject: The Presidency.Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2017 14:50:09 +0000 On Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 12:40 am, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA < winfor@tim.it > wrote: PRESIDENCY FROM THE DESK OF GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. TEL: 234-9029421012 EMAIL, presidentofnigeria58@gmail.com Attention:Sir /Madam This is to inform you that we are going to pay you through our corresponding bank in America which is Bank of America and you are advise to reconfirm your banking information now to enable the bank release your fund today RECONFIRM YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER Please call me on 234-9029421012 or Send SMS TEXT MESSAGE Please you are advise to stop any further dealing any other person or group of person because they are just taking advantage of you . CONGRATULATION IN ADVANCE Yours sincerely, GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA DIRECT TELEPHONE 234-9029421012 THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA NOTE:YOU CAN CONTACT BANK OF AMERICA VIA +1-415-7044421 BUT YOU HAVE TO RECONFIRM YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER TO ME FIRST BEFORE CALLING THEM TO ENABLE ME TO GIVE THEM YOUR NUMBER FOR SECURITY REASON AND YOUR IDENTIFICATION To: "federalftc@gov.net" < federalftc@gov.net > Subject: FROM GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. PRESIDENT ,FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA,FRN. Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2017 14:59:36 +0200 (MEST) From: "GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR." < Trutz-Ludwig@t-online.de >To: "federalftc@gov.net" < federalftc@gov.net >Subject: FROM GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. PRESIDENT ,FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA,FRN.Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2017 14:59:36 +0200 (MEST) Federal Republic of Nigeria From: The Honorable Office of the Presidency" And Debt Reconciliation Payment Report and Immediate Fund Remittance. Address: Aso-Rock Villa "Presidential Guest House, Wuse Zone II Abuja- Nigeria. Our Ref: Fgn/Pre/Vp/Xnx/2017 ATTENTION: SIR/MADAM , I Was Surprised That You Have Not Received Your Fund Up Till Date, I Am The President Of Federal Republic Of Nigeria, I Believe Your Payment Will Be Concluded Immediately I Hear From You And You Are Advise To Call Me Immediately You Receive This Important Email. Based On My Investigation In My Office I Noticed That You Have Wasted A Lot Of Money In The Hands Of Fraudsters as Regards Your Fund. Now I Am Advising You To Stop Any Communication With Any Person Or Bank Until You Receive Your Fund From Bank Which I Will Direct You. Meanwhile Try And Reconfirm To Me All Your Personal Information By Email And Call Me On This Number Immediately. Congratulation in Advanced Once More. Remember Your Transaction With Me Is Confidential, Due To A Lot Of Impersonators, I Want Us To Use A Code Which Is What Is The Code And Answer Is In God We Trust. You Are Advised To Call Me As Soon As You Receive This Mail On +2347068019880 REGARDS, GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. PRESIDENT ,FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA,FRN. On Mon, Aug 28, 2017 at 1:58 am, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA < winfor@tim.it > wrote: PRESIDENCY FROM THE DESK OF GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. TEL 234-9029421012 EMAIL, presidentofnigeria58@gmail.com CHANGES OF BENEFICIARY ATTENTION:Sir/Madam This is the second time we are notifying you about this said fund. We hereby send to you the information submitted by Mr. John T. Kehoe U.S.A of California, with an application to receive your Award Payment of $32,000.000.00.on your behalf from this office .Please as a matter of urgency, you are required to verify the following information and inform us if you are aware or know anything about this. This morning Mr. John T. Kehoe came to the office claiming that you have instructed him to come and receive the payment on your behalf with some representatives. I have ask them to come back tomorrow as they did not provide any power of an attorney from you which will proof that you thoroughly send them, This was to enable me contact you to verify how genuine this people are to you. 1. Did you instruct one Mr. John T. Kehoe of 122 Fitch Way, Sacramento, Ca. 95864. whose information's is below, to claim and receive the payment on your behalf? 2. Did you sign any 'Deed of Assignment' in his favor thereby making him the current beneficiary with the following account details: Account Name: Mr. John T. Kehoe Group Ltd, A/C #004792442195 Bank Name: Bank Of America Swift Code: 111000025. Finally, you are hereby advised to indicate to this honorable office with immediate effect, if you are the person that instructed Mr. John T. Kehoe to come for the claim of your fund worth of $32,000.000.00. NOTE: your full name and telephone number is needed for easy communications. THE STATED BELOW INFORMATION IS REQUIRED FOR SWIFT PROCESSING OF THIS PAYMENT 1. YOUR NAME:. . 2. YOUR FULL ADDRESS:. 3. YOUR TELEPHONE. . 4. AGE. . . . 5. SEX:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. YOUR OCCUPATION . . . . . . . . 7. YOUR VALID ACCOUNT DETAILS:. . . . . . 8. A COPY OF YOUR IDENTITY. . . . . . For your information we have three mode of payment . 1 , Bank to bank transfer. 2, ATM CARD 3, Through our cash payment center here in London We wait for your call on 234-9029421012 via email, presidentofnigeria58@gmail.com and urgent respond to this office so that you will be giving an immediate Response. Yours sincerely, GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI,RTD.,GCFR. PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA DIRECT TELEPHONE TEL :234-9029421012 Note:PLEASE CALL ME ON 234-9029421012 AND RECONFIRM YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... September 29, 2017 Nubians have been waiting decades to return to their homeland around Lake Nasser on the banks of the Nile, but Egyptian authorities have other plans for much of the land. Many people were forced out of their villages in the 1960s when the Aswan High Dam was built. Much of the area is under water now, but what remains is literally the Nubians' promised land: The government pledged they would be able to return. However, the government announced in October 2016 that the land was for sale to Egyptian and foreign investors, as well as farmers. The Nubians have staged protests over the years, but their efforts often end in beatings and arrests. Most recently, security forces arrested 24 people Sept. 3 who were participating in a small, peaceful march in Aswan. They were playing drums and singing as they called for the government to activate Article 236 of the 2014 Egyptian Constitution, which states, The state [must work] on developing and implementing projects to bring back the residents of Nubia to their original areas and develop them within 10 years in the manner organized by law. Abdul Dayem Ezz al-Din, a Nubian activist, told Al-Monitor, The march was totally peaceful. The security forces prepared an ambush for the protesters, encircled them and beat them up. Even some Nubian women were beaten. Those arrested staged a hunger strike Sept. 3 at the General Security and Central Security Forces Center in el-Shallal in Aswan to protest the security forces behavior with the demonstrators. Abdul Atti Abu al-Teres, a lawyer with the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms who followed up on the case, told Al-Monitor they ended the strike three days later. The Aswan Prosecution Office accused the detainees of unlicensed protesting, blocking roads and funding protests. Abu al-Teres noted that the detainees include Mounir Bashir, the head of the Nubian Lawyers Association, and Mohammad Azmy, the former head of the Nubian Union. The imprisoned were to have been released on bail Sept. 19, but the Aswan Court extended their incarceration. A hearing is set for this week. The arrests of the Nubian activists were locally and internationally condemned. Local parties and rights organizations in Egypt expressed their disdain, while Amnesty International urged the Egyptian government to release the detainees, writing in its Sept. 12 report, Successive Egyptian governments have forcibly displaced Nubians from their traditional lands for development projects. Egypt began displacing Nubians in 1902, when work on the Aswan Low Dam took off. Massive removal came between 1963 and 1964, when the government was building the Aswan High Dam during the days of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Residents of 44 Nubian villages were forced to relocate to temporary shelters. Most displaced Nubians currently live in the Kom Ombo Desert in Aswan. The January 25 Revolution in 2011 reignited Nubians' hopes that they would return home. They put together political and social actions and formed some organizations, including the Nubian Union. They also launched several events, such as the annual Nubian World Day on July 7. Facing pressure, the Egyptian government caved and issued the 2014 Constitution, which included Article 236 binding it to put in place a comprehensive economic plan to develop Nubian lands. But President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi subsequently issued two decrees that devastated Nubians' hopes. The first decision came in November of that year, when Sisi decreed that 16 of the 44 Nubian villages would be considered military border lands. This gave control of the villages to the army and forbade civilians to live there or benefit from the lands. Nubians thus resorted to the judiciary and contested the decision. On Aug. 18 of this year, the State Councils Board of Commissioners recommended that Sisi's decision be annulled, but it was never canceled. The decision deprived us of our right to return. It completely contradicts Article 236 and makes the situation more difficult," Ezz al-Din told Al-Monitor. So many successive Egyptian governments have disappointed Nubians that they will no longer take the governments promises seriously in the absence of a clear timeline to implement their demands, he added. After that, Sisi launched a project in December 2015 designed to increase Egypt's agricultural area by 20% and create new urban communities for the rising population. The project involves 1.5 million acres of land. In August 2016, Sisi issued the second crushing decision: to annex 922 acres of Khorqandi and Toshka lands in the old Nubian area on the banks of Nasser Lake in southern Aswan. In October 2016, he announced the annexed acres would be auctioned off to Egyptian and foreign investors. The following month, in response to the decision, Nubians organized the Nubian Return Caravan and headed to Khorqandi and Toshka to try to halt the auction and get the land returned to them. Security forces stopped the caravan, encircled the protesters and cut off their access to food and beverages. The protestors announced a sit-in for days on the main road. Once government officials came to negotiate with them, Nubians gave the government one month to respond to their demands. On Jan. 18 of this year, they got their response during the Youths Conference in Aswan. Sisi exempted 12,000 acres from the Khorqandi project and designated it for the Nubians. He earmarked 320 million Egyptian pounds ($18.1 million) to wrap up projects currently under way in Nasr al-Nuba and Wadi Karkar by June 2018 by improving sewage services, electricity and other facilities. He also allocated 5 billion Egyptian pounds ($283.6 million) over five years to establish the Higher Committee to Develop South Egypt to improve services, provide employment and help preserve Nubian antiquities. However, Nubian lawmaker Yassin Abdul Sabour told Al-Monitor recently, The money allocated for funding the Higher Committee to Develop South Egypt has not been spent, and the details of the expenditure have not been revealed because there is no law organizing the work of the committee. So far, no decisions to develop Nubian lands have been issued. He said the government also ignored a bill he submitted in November regarding an economic development plan for Nubian areas. The plan was supposed to be addressed by March, but still hasn't been discussed. After the 2014 Constitution was issued, the interim Ministry of Justice had formed a committee to develop and build a Nubian area. The committee came up with a draft law to establish the Higher Committee to Develop Nubia, but the law has never been issued. Nubians who feel marginalized by the government say that they will not stop asking for their legitimate historical rights. For that purpose, they will continue to stage marches and sing Nubian songs, raising their slogan, Right to Return. Abdul Sabour said Nubians love their country and aren't seeking autonomy just the rights they were promised. September 29, 2017 CAIRO It didnt take long for some Syrian refugees to find their niches in Egypt. Eleven Syrian women are cooking the recipes from their grandmothers, and Egyptians are eating it up. Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, millions of Syrians have left for neighboring countries. Most of them now live in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, while some have fled to Europe. Tareq al-Koni, the assistant to the Egyptian foreign minister for Arab affairs, told Al-Monitor that the number of Syrian refugees registered in the Office of Refugee Affairs in Egypt increased from 115,000 in 2016 to 120,000 by mid-2017. According to the latest data issued by the UNHCR on July 31, the number of Syrian women registered with the organization make up 48.8% of a total 122,203 Syrian refugees in Egypt. This figure also includes some 52,000 children who receive help from the Egyptian government. Zeit Zeitoun, located east of Cairo, serves Syrian meals for home delivery. Their food quickly gained popularity in Cairo, and after its 2016 launch, the project became a way to employ Syrian women, especially widows and divorcees, while preserving their Syrian heritage. Meals are prepared in the early morning. Women meet in the kitchen to bake pastries and do prep work. They receive from two to 10 orders per day 48 hours in advance, with prices starting at 400 Egyptian pounds ($23) for 10 meals. They deliver the orders to customers in plastic boxes. The Facebook page for the project reads, Traditional Syrian recipes come to life under the expert hands of a group of Syrian women living in Egypt. A mouthwatering mix of colors and flavors brings Syria to Cairo, in a festival of fresh ingredients carefully picked to ensure consistently exquisite dishes, excellent taste and strict hygiene. This is the kind of food you would get if you visited a home in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs or Latakia. Founder Tamara Rifai, a Syrian human rights lawyer and former regional director for media affairs and human rights advocacy in the Middle East and North Africa for Human Rights Watch, looked for a way to empower these women. Rifai told Al-Monitor how the project started. The idea of the project saw the light when I visited the Souriyat Association in Cairo and met the women there. I got the idea of opening a commercial kitchen and employing Syrian ladies living in Cairo. The Souriyat Association seeks to empower women, help them find a livelihood to provide for their families and promote a culture of human rights. Rifai continued, We started to prepare recipes with precise ingredients, and it took us a month or a little more to taste the food and set the exact criteria. Each woman has her own way of cooking and her own way of finding quick solutions. We had to make sure the same taste is produced every time without any difference or surprises. Rifai, who fled Damascus for Cairo after the Syrian revolution began, has worked in the field of humanitarian aid since her arrival in Cairo. She worked with Syrian Lina Shaker, the executive director of the project, to establish Zeit Zeitoun, helping raise 25,000 Egyptian pounds ($1,418) to rent a small house and buy the necessary equipment. Shaker and other Syrian women had already started preparing food in their own houses and were promoting their meals for delivery. Shaker catered big Syrian and Egyptian concerts to great success. She met with Rifai at one of the birthday parties she was catering, and they developed the project until they rented a house where more than 11 Syrian women cook together. Shaker explained to Al-Monitor that the cost of living has become intolerable amid Egypts soaring prices of basic goods. Priority is given to women who have lost their husbands or to mothers who provide for their families. Each woman cooks dishes she excels at. While one would be dedicated to preparing salads such as fattoush and tabbouleh, among others, another would bake pastries. Another group specializes in small dishes like zucchini, eggplants or grape leaves stuffed with minced meat, tomatoes, onions and other ingredients. The project also provides them with a system of social support, according to Shaker. Shaker explained that the profits cover the rent for the house where they prepare the food; the gas, electricity and water bills; the ingredients, which keep increasing in price; maintenance expenses; and delivery service expenses. The rest is equally distributed to the women. When the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced its local report on the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan 2017-2018 in April, Koni stated, The Egyptian government provides full and almost free public services to Syrian refugees, just like Egyptians, and they receive the same services in the fields of health, education and higher education. With initiatives like Zeit Zeitoun, this population promises to make Egypt's investment pay off. September 28, 2017 The United States and Israel announced Sept. 18 the establishment of the first permanent US-Israeli military base in the Negev desert, in southern Israel. Despite the long-term military cooperation between the United States and Israel, the establishment of the first US military base inside Israeli territory takes military cooperation with Israel to a whole new level, with US troops present in anticipation of any possible future offensive against Israel. Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich, the head of the Israeli armys Aerial Defense Command, told Israeli media outlets at the inauguration of the base that this is the first base to be established in Israel with their US friends. An American flag is flying over the US army base, he said, adding that this step is not a direct response to any specific incident, but comes in light of the lessons learned in the 2014 war in the Gaza Strip and intelligence analysis of future dangers. We have many enemies around us, near and far, he noted. Mohammed Abu Allan, a West Bank-based journalist who covers Israeli affairs, believes the US-Israeli military base is an additional indicator of the importance of the strategic military cooperation between the Americans and the Israelis, which has been materialized with the completion on Aug. 27 of a deal signed in November 2016 to purchase 17 F-35 fighters. He told Al-Monitor, According to the Israeli media, this military base is established in light of attempts by Hamas and Hezbollah to obtain high-precision rockets. The objective of this step is to allow Israel to intercept long-range missiles in its next potential war with Hezbollah and Hamas and their main ally Iran. Abu Allan said his argument that the joint military base was established in the Negev desert within the scope of a war with Iran and its allies is corroborated by recent Israeli statements. In his recent speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Sept. 8, [former] Israel Defense Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Yair Golan said Israel cannot handle Iran alone. Golans statements provoked controversy in Israel, he said. He also noted that the Iranian presence in Syria is one of the top security and political priorities of Israel, pointing out that the US military presence in Israel may have to do with Tel Avivs will to counter the increasing Russian military presence in Syria. Abu Allan indicated that only dozens of US soldiers operate the missile defense at the US base in the Negev, which means that in any expected wars, Israel will be relying mainly on technological development rather than on human resources. Islam Moussa, an expert in military affairs and a researcher at the Palestinian National Security Research Department of the PLO Planning Center, told Al-Monitor, The announcement of the launch of the US-Israeli missile defense military base by the head of the Israeli armys Aerial Defense Command confirms that this step complements and crowns years of military cooperation between the two sides, especially in the field of air defense. This is particularly true after the significant progress achieved by Israel in the short-range rocket defense systems such as the Iron Dome that Tel Aviv boasts about. He said, All this pushed the United States to invest in these defense systems, in particular since the US military industries lack a short-range rocket defense system given the great distance between it and its closest enemies across the borders. However, the United States has recently felt the need to protect its military bases in hot spots that may be targeted by short-range rockets. Moussa added, The United States decided to invest about $235 million in this system following reports by Israeli media that the Iron Dome is the best to intercept and destroy short-range rockets, artillery shells and mortars. This also comes after the Iron Dome performance in Israels war on Gaza in 2014. Moussa also pointed to the US-Israeli collaboration on the Davids Sling missile system, also known as the Magic Wand, which was launched by Israel in April. He explained, This system was jointly developed by Israeli arms maker Rafael and American missile giant Raytheon and aims to intercept missiles with a range of not more than 1,000 kilometers [621 miles], such as the Syrian-made M-600 and Iranian-made Fateh-110 ballistic missiles. On another note, Moussa pointed out that this step occurred after the end of US President Barack Obamas term during which US-Israeli relations were not at their best, since Obama sought to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process between Palestine and Israel but faced Israels intransigent position. However, he said that under Obama, US-Israeli military industries were not affected and both sides maintained full cooperation in this field. The continued cooperation in terms of military industries between the United States and Israelis under Obama was not reflected in the political scene under Obama, he said. He added, After [Donald] Trumps victory, the US-Israeli political relationship got more intimate and the launch of the first US military base in Israel may be the perfect proof. But the timing of this announcement may also be interpreted in light of the Russian expansion in the region. It seems that the new era of US-Israeli military cooperation may be an official and direct declaration that the two sides have upgraded their relationship from support to alliance. October 2, 2017 US President Donald Trump has repeatedly indicated that he wont find Iran to be in compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal later this month. If he follows through, the agreements fate will lie with a Republican-controlled Congress for whom the easiest solution both politically and legislatively will be to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions that could well blow up the deal. Under the 2015 law that paved the way for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Congress will have 60 days to take action if Trump wont certify Iranian compliance with the deal by the Oct. 15 deadline. While most legislation takes 60 votes to pass in the Senate, the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) specifically allows the upper chamber to reinstate several hard-hitting sanctions packages with a partisan majority of just 51 senators (Vice President Mike Pence would split a 50-50 tie). Its 50 votes, so they cant rely upon a minority to block it procedurally, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a supporter of the deal. I think that would be a difficult vote. Republicans currently hold 52 Senate seats and a comfortable majority in the House, more than enough to reinstate sanctions without any Democrats joining them if they band together. Not a single Republican in either chamber voted for the deal in 2015, and congressional leaders are desperate for a political win after back-to-back defeats on health care. If you look at the Republican majorities in the House and Senate, none of those members of the Republican caucus voted for the deal during the 2015 congressional review, a Senate aide told Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity. So the pressure would be overwhelming on those members. Already, proponents of the deal are bracing for the worst. This could very easily take on a momentum of its own, said Jon Finer, the chief of staff to former Secretary of State John Kerry. You could be in a situation where the administration [won't certify compliance] and Congress will say, Well the administration has spoken as to Irans implementation of the deal, and this moves forward whether or not people have fully thought through the consequences. Kerry himself urged Congress not to rush into action in a Washington Post op-ed on Sept. 29. Having cast dozens of arms-control votes as a senator judging not whether they were perfect, but whether we were better off with them I want to take those who may soon cast a similar vote into the negotiating room to explain the product we negotiated to close Irans pathways to a nuclear weapon, and why it is so important to keep the agreement in place, Kerry wrote. Some Democrats are echoing that sentiment on Capitol Hill. "I think this will be a big fight, but at the end, I dont know if Republicans want to be responsible for Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told Al-Monitor. I know there are some Republicans who are so rabidly against the agreement they might vote to impose sanctions, but I have to believe there are enough reasonable Republicans that they wouldnt put both North Korea and Iran on a pathway to nuclear weapons. At the other end of the political spectrum, some argue that Congress cant be trusted to kill the deal cleanly. Perhaps the most inane argument is that Congress should decide the deals fate and whether to reimpose US sanctions, former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Sept. 28. If a president is unwilling to solve this kind of problem, he shouldnt have applied for the job. Congressional Republicans for their part have been in no hurry to get pinned down on a potentially momentous vote. I just dont want to move into public discussions yet about what may occur, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told Al-Monitor. Corker wrote the INARA bill and has been in contact with the Trump administration regarding certification. The House and Senate leaders who would be tasked with putting potential legislation on the floor are being equally coy. "This could very easily take on a momentum of its own and this moves forward whether or not people have fully thought through the consequences. Youve done a really good job of twisting yourself around the hypothetical axle, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Al-Monitor when asked if his boss planned to bring nuclear sanctions to a vote. At its core, the Iran deal rescinded US and international sanctions in exchange for Iran curtailing its nuclear program. If Trump doesnt certify Iranian compliance, Corkers INARA law would allow Congress to easily reimpose all or some of four main nuclear-related sanctions packages that Tehran may well view as reason enough to leave the deal. All four of those are quite potent, quite potent, said Kenneth Katzman, an Iran sanctions expert with the Congressional Research Service. Iran would certainly charge that the US has breached the agreement even if any one of them were reimposed. Sanctions from the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act would have the most sweeping effect on curbing Irans oil exports, which have been key to ensuring that Iran remains in compliance with the deal, according to Katzman. The key one I would say is the National Defense Authorization Act of fiscal year 2012, which would require countries to cut their oil purchases from Iran every six months or risk having their banks basically be shut out of the American financial system, said Katzman. That was very, very damaging to Iran. Katzman also pointed to the Iran Sanctions Act, which has been waived under the deal, as very effective as far as curbing investment in Irans energy sector. Furthermore, reimposing the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act would once again freeze Iranian assets abroad. This was basically oil money Iran received and was in banks all over the world, said Katzman. Those banks could be liable to sanction if they allowed Iran to withdraw that money to a central bank to expatriate the money. And while Katzman identified the Iran Freedom and Counterproliferation Act as the least damaging of the sanctions Congress could reimpose, he still characterized it as very sweeping. Tellingly, even some of the deals most vocal critics have started to warn against rash congressional action. In a joint Wall Street Journal op-ed Sept. 25, Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security proposed that Trump refuse to certify compliance with the nuclear deal but as a means to make it stronger by adding new conditions and slapping Iran with new non-nuclear sanctions, not kill it. Congress should do its part to help fix the deal, they wrote. Reinstating the JCPOA sanctions after decertification would ruin the decertify, waive, slap and fix approach. To persuade Republicans, who are the most likely to vote to reinstate JCPOA sanctions that have been waived or lifted, the administration needs to demonstrate a comprehensive strategy to fix the deal and use all instruments of American power to neutralize and roll back Iranian aggression. But lawmakers say theyve seen nothing from the Trump administration to inspire confidence that the White House has any strategy beyond passing the buck to Congress. I am not aware of any conversations that have taken place between the administration and the Democratic leadership or between the leadership of our committee, said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I have not been involved in any discussions. Cardin led a group of Senate Democrats in penning a letter to Trump administration national security officials Sept. 20 noting that INARA requires the president to notify Congress of Iranian noncompliance within 10 days. To date, the Senate has received no such notification, and the administration has provided little public testimony to Congress on the status of Iranian compliance with the agreement, the senators wrote. House Republicans have also been reticent to discuss INARA contingencies. When asked if House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., intends to put Iran sanctions on the floor if Trump does not certify Iranian compliance, spokeswoman AshLee Strong said that the House Foreign Affairs Committee is taking the lead on the issue. Committee staffers, however, said they dont know how theyre going to proceed as they dont know what case Trump intends to make. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Al-Monitor that he was still formulating his decision on using INARA to re-impose sanctions on Iran. Engel was one of 25 House Democrats to vote against the deal in 2015. Iran should not be able to get away scot-free, but whether not certifying is the way to go, weve gotta see, Engel told Al-Monitor. And I havent really decided one way or another. Senate staffers, meanwhile, have put in semi-weekly requests to the administration to hold JCPOA briefings for members of Congress and their staff for the past several months. The Washington Post reported that they are unlikely to receive such a briefing before Trump makes his decision. Ironically, Cardin was one of four Senate Democrats who voted against the deal in 2015. Today, he says the United States should stay in as long as Iran isnt overtly violating its nuclear-related commitments. I think I speak for a lot of us who oppose the agreement, Cardin told Al-Monitor. We thought it was the wrong decision, [but] once it was entered into, once it was implemented, we want to see it enforced. We dont want to see the United States violate it. The situation is further complicated by the fact that INARA was written with the expectation that the president would only decline to certify Iranian compliance if Tehran was clearly cheating on its end of the deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency and several top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Joint Chiefs Chairman Joseph Dunford, have said Tehran is in technical compliance with the deal. But hard-liners such as Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley want a debate over whether the deal is in Americas national security interest, which would provide another rationale for kicking it back to Congress under the 2015 Corker law. INARA, the Senate aide said, wasnt written for this scenario. October 2, 2017 JENIN, West Bank There are regular grapes, then there are Jenin grapes, boasts the slogan for Jenins first grape festival, reflecting this West Bank provinces desire to create awareness of Palestines second best-known product after olives. The festival, which was organized by the Local Economic Development platform at the end of August in Jenin province, northern West Bank, aimed to introduce new varieties of Palestinian grapes that could enter the European markets and compete with other grape varieties globally. The festival also showed the history and current developments in grape cultivation in the Palestinian territories in general and Jenin in particular through products and workshops. We are trying hard to encourage farmers to plant different kinds of grapes in the Palestinian territories, Fathi Abu Ayyash, the director of the Fruit and Grapes Council, told Al-Monitor, We want to increase and improve the production of the existing grapes, especially between Aug. 15 and Nov. 15 when it is the high season for grapes. Abu Ayyash said, There are 10,000 grape farmers in the West Bank; 63,640 dunams [15,725 acres] of land are used for grape production, and we produce around 55,000 tons of grapes annually, including 27,000 tons produced in Hebron alone and 2,000 tons in Jenin. He added, There are up to 50 types of Palestinian grapes, including white grapes such as Jandali and Hamdani, and red Damascene grapes. There are also seedless grapes that enter the market early in the fall and sell at a good price. Grape cultivation is concentrated around Hebron, which has the highest grape production in the Palestinian territories. In Jenin governorate, grapes are planted in the towns of Yabad, Qabatiya and Misilyah. Ayyash told Al-Monitor that grapes rank second after olives in agricultural production in Palestine, with 23% of the produce exported to Israel. Grape production constitutes 12% of the gross domestic product of Palestine. He added, There are many products derived and produced from grapes, and they are estimated at 12% of the total annual production. Around 4% of grapes are used to make raisins, and 8% is used for molasses, vinegar, jam, grape juice and lokum production. They largely contribute to reviving the Palestinian economic and trade activity. Ayyash said, The next phase requires increasing agricultural spaces to produce sufficient quantities of Palestinian grapes by supplying special grape seeds. Seeds are sold to farmers at a low price to boost production. We can export grapes to support Palestinian farmers so that grapes become an economic and commercial product that has local and international renown. As per the Palestinian-Israeli interim agreement, known as the Oslo II Accord, the Palestinian economy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is linked to the Israeli economy. Israel was given control over the crossings, borders and ports, and no trade exchanges were allowed between the Palestinian Authority and the world, unless they were done through Israel. Many Palestinians believe the deal delivered a fatal blow to the Palestinian economy and burdened it with losses. Chairman of Jenins Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hisham Massad told Al-Monitor, Grape cultivation is part of our heritage. Farmers are struggling to ensure its continuity. Despite the difficulties, they continue to produce different types of internationally recognized grapes. Massad called on the Ministry of Agriculture to provide both subsidies and training to the farmers, and on the farmers to use new techniques to increase production. We also suggest organizing workshops, lectures and panels to raise awareness regarding new technologies in agriculture and to support farmers to increase the planting of grapes, he said. He noted, We want to organize several festivals in Jenin to display the products of Palestinian farmers and help them sell their crops. Consumers should also discover the different types of crops [that Jenin farmers produce]. When asked about the main challenges facing grape farmers in the West Bank, Ayyash said that the Israeli settlements in the area had adverse effects. The available farming space is being taken up by urbanization as Israeli settlers move in. Moreover, settlers attack the vineyards by letting out their pigs to ruin the crops. Settlers also attack farmers who are picking the grapes. Consequently the produce is ruined because the farmers are unable to pick it in time, he said. He added, Water resources are scarce, market sales are tough and the production cost is on the rise. All these factors have affected grape agriculture and pushed the new generation away from it." October 2, 2017 While Iran has not yet taken a public position on the Catalan independence referendum in Spain, Iranian media has given the vote widespread coverage. Scenes of violence by Spanish police, which so far has left over 700 people injured, have featured prominently on media websites. Catalans independence referendum has begun, read Khabars headline early Oct. 1. Spanish court blocks budget for Catalan independence referendum, read an article by conservative Tasnim News Agency. An article carrying pictures of ballots was headlined Ballot of Catalan independence referendum from Spain. The Iranian medias coverage of the Catalan referendum can be contrasted with their coverage of the recent Kurdistan referendum vote, which the Islamic Republic of Iran publicly opposed and its media widely criticized. Nearly all of the headlines in Iranian media described the Catalan referendum as an independence referendum. The Kurdistan referendum in northern Iraq was described as a separatist vote. The double standard of coverage spanned across both Reformist and conservative outlets, newspapers and websites. This double standard in coverage was not lost on Iranian Twitter users who noted that while criticizing foreign media, particularly the British Broadcasting Corporation, there is rarely the same type of critical eye toward domestic media. The Catalan referendum also gave Iranian media an opportunity to highlight police brutality in a Western country. A bloody day in Catalonia during a referendum/Police raided polling stations, read a Fars News Agency headline. Eghtesad published pictures of Spanish police dragging Catalan voters. One Twitter user noted sarcastically, comparing Irans police reaction to protests, Western democracies are allowed to attack even before the conflict, Iran is not allowed to confront even after street riots. While Iran has no strategic interests in Catalonia, it has serious interests in the Kurdistan referendum. On Oct. 1, Hulusi Akar, the chief of general staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, arrived in Tehran. One of the topics of conversation, according to Fars News Agency, will be the Kurdistan referendum of northern Iraq. Akars trip will soon be followed by a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, where the issue of an independent Kurdistan will be an important topic of discussion. Iranian media has continued to be unrelenting in its criticism of the Kurdistan referendum, which was led by President Massoud Barzani. An article in Bultan News wrote that the referendum vote was more of a negotiation tactic by Barzani against the central government in Baghdad. The article continued that the tactic has backfired because the armies of Iraq, Iran and Turkey, the United Nations and Arab countries in the Persian Gulf opposed the referendum vote. The article stated that Barzanis failed move will be clear to the Kurdish people of Turkey, Iraq and Syria, who will see him retreat from his authoritarian demands and return to the negotiation table. October 2, 2017 Members of the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) government headed by Rami Hamdallah arrived in Gaza on Oct. 2 for an Oct. 3 meeting to advance efforts for a reconciliation with Hamas. Joining them were the heads of the PA's security apparatus, Majid Faraj, director of the Palestinian Intelligence Services, and Ziad Hab al-Rih, head of Preventative Security. Faraj and Hab al-Rih will ultimately determine whether there will be a reconciliation. They will make their decision after hearing from their Hamas counterparts about how much Hamas is willing to concede. Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh and the movement's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, have recently been talking quite a bit about turning the page in their dispute with Fatah and the importance of Palestinian unity. On Sept. 17, Hamas announced the dissolution of its shadow government administering Gaza. Shortly afterward, Sinwar told journalists that the announcement had been made before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly on Sept. 20 so the world would view Abbas as the strong leader of a unified Palestinian people. Sinwar, as proof of his seriousness, said that the head of the movement's military wing, Mohammed al-Deif, is an enthusiastic supporter of reconciliation. As everyone in Gaza and the West Bank knows, whatever Deif says goes. Much has already been written, including in Al-Monitor, about what is motivating Hamas to advance reconciliation at this particular moment. It looks like the movement's current leadership has no choice but to accept the Egyptian ultimatum that makes the opening of the Rafah border crossing dependent on Palestinian reconciliation. Indeed, in parallel with the arrival of the PA ministers, a delegation of senior Egyptian intelligence officers also arrived in Gaza to serve as patrons of the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation talks. Joining them there are Egypt's ambassador to Israel and Egypt's consul in Ramallah. "Abbas knows that once they are done with all the hugs, the statements and the photo ops for all the news agencies in the Gaza Strip, and they finally get down to brass tacks, the smiles will be wiped off [the Hamas representatives] faces," a Palestinian security source told Al-Monitor, speaking on condition of anonymity. "[Hamas leaders] still don't understand the meaning of unity and the importance of one government. Most of all, they still dont understand that Abbas is the Palestinian president and as such, the supreme commander of the Palestinian military forces." Hamas currently has a fully equipped army with tens of thousands of armed troops. If there really is to be a Palestinian reconciliation, Hamas will have to accept that these troops will no longer be its private military. Instead, they would become part of the PA's security apparatus, subject to Abbas' authority. Furthermore, Hamas' military doctrine is to prepare for armed conflict with Israel, whereas Abbas considers the Palestinian security outfit to be a police force, charged with maintaining public order, securing his regime and protecting the PA's official institutions. Is there a way to bridge these differences? The first hint of a point of dispute for Hamas and Fatah could be found in a statement by senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk, who said on the eve of the meeting in Gaza that the fate of the movement's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, is not up for discussion in the talks. "If Hamas is not prepared to give up the army that it created in the Gaza Strip since the coup [in 2007], if it is unwilling to abandon the smuggling of weapons and ammunition, and if it still regards Iran as a supporter and influential ally, there is absolutely nothing to talk about," the Palestinian source said. "We can all smile for the camera and go right back to Ramallah." In fact, anyone familiar with the way Hamas has operated since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accord and Israel's recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) knows that there is a significant ideological divide separating Fatah, the leading PLO faction, and Hamas, which is not in the PLO, and that this gap cannot be bridged. The dispute revolves around what the PA should look like, what its objectives and goals are and how it should achieve them. Hamas believes that the liberation of Palestine will be brought about through jihad and armed struggle against Israel. In contrast, Abbas and other top leaders of the PLO have chosen diplomatic means as their preferred strategy. The chances that Hamas will accept this as a principle, and that the movement will refrain from strengthening the military force that it has created or abandon it entirely, all tend toward zero. According to the Palestinian source, Hamas is talking about a gradual reconciliation, including a long-term timetable, that would allow the PA a modicum of control over its military forces in Gaza. On the other hand, it will never concede full control of these forces to the PA. What Hamas is really offering is Palestinian reconciliation in the form of a "hudna," or long-term cease-fire, just like it offered Israel in 2015, due to the crisis facing the organization and the realization that at that point it could not reach its objectives in its struggle against Israel. The same is true of the proposed reconciliation with Fatah. The reconciliation initiative comes as a result of pressure within Hamas and the clear understanding that the movement has reached a dead end and is trapped. It has two choices: reconciliation or oblivion. The dilemma Hamas faces is clear. Abandoning its military wing and transferring responsibility for security affairs to Abbas would be considered total surrender, even suicide as far as it is concerned. That is why it seems that what Haniyeh, Sinwar and Deif are really trying to do amounts to little more than drawing out the process. As described in the Quran, a hudna is understood as a temporary cease-fire for a limited time in order to reorganize and grow stronger. Hamas cannot give up the Qassam Brigades, because they are its greatest pride and glory in the conflict with the "Zionist foe." On the other hand, it could grant a certain amount of symbolic control to Abbas if doing so would save the movement. "We understand where this is heading, but it won't work," the Palestinian source said. "If they [Hamas] expect Abbas to lift all the sanctions he imposed on them and to start pouring money into Gaza as early as tomorrow morning, they are mistaken." The source refused to say whether Abbas plans to lift sanctions on Hamas gradually, based on the principle that the greater his control over the security apparatus in Gaza, the more money he will allow into Gaza for civilian purposes. October 2, 2017 Likud Knesset member Anat Berko arrived at the Prime Ministers Office on Sept. 24 with a group of experts with whom she about a year ago developed a plan to change the face of Jerusalem. They held an extended meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the course of which Berko showed him a plan for redesigning and partitioning Israel's capital. Such a program, developed by a strong right-winger like Berko, who was personally appointed to Likud's Knesset list by Netanyahu, is no less than a political and diplomatic powder keg. This was not the first tete-a-tete between Netanyahu and Berko on the volatile subject of Jerusalem. They had sat together several months earlier, when MK Berko showed the prime minister the general principles behind her program to separate from Jerusalem as many Arab-Palestinian neighborhoods as possible. The proclaimed goal is to increase the Jewish majority in the city, reduce the economic burden on the state treasury and improve security. Netanyahu did not authorize the principles or express agreement, but he did encourage Berko to continue to work on the program and present it to him later as a consolidated working paper. That is what transpired on Sept. 24. Berko, a lieutenant colonel in the reserves, previously published an extensive academic paper on suicide bombers and their handlers. Over a 15-year period, she met with numerous Hamas terrorists and other prisoners in Israeli prisons. These included Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who served as Hamas spiritual leader until he was assassinated by Israel after his release. Berkos husband, Reuven Berko, is an expert on Middle Eastern affairs. He served in the past as an adviser on Arab affairs to the mayor of Jerusalem. In the September meeting, Anat Berko presented detailed maps to Netanyahu in which the city was divided into geographic and political regions, differentiated with colors. Digital simulations were also included. According to her plan, almost all the Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem would be transferred to Palestinian control. In the first stage, they would be under Palestinian civil rule with Israeli security control, like area B of the West Bank. In the final stage, they would have area A status, that is full Palestinian control. This would decrease Jerusalem's population by 300,000 Palestinians, leaving some 30,000 Palestinians alongside the more than half a million Jewish residents of the city. The Jewish demographic majority in Jerusalem would grow from the current less than 70% to more than 95%. Israel would be spared the billions of shekels it now pays in National Social Insurance payments and various stipends to the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, who have permanent residency status in Israel. Berko, speaking to Al-Monitor, refused to provide details on Netanyahus reaction to the program. [The program] is on our table, she said, and I plan to continue to promote it. The plan and the meeting with the prime minister were revealed Sept. 30. A storm erupted at the Likud ministers first weekly gathering following the meeting, with members asking Netanyahu whether the news of it was true and whether he supports the plan for partitioning Jerusalem. Netanyahu hurriedly backtracked from the plan. He confirmed that Berko had, indeed, submitted some papers to him, but claimed that he does not support the plan and that it goes against the principles of the Likud. Berko was not alarmed. As opposed to all the other parliamentarians and ministers in the Likud, her fate does not hinge on the support of party members or the results of the partys primaries for its Knesset list. As noted, she was added to the list as a personal appointment of the prime minister. Berko is not a professional politician and is not afraid to voice her true opinions. She says out loud what quite a few Likud higher-ups whisper in conversations that cannot be quoted. Senior Likud ministers recognize that most of the Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem were not part of the city's municipal jurisdiction until June 1967. They also know that there is no reason to keep an inflated municipal Jerusalem of monstrous proportions by insisting on retaining those neighborhoods within it. To them, places such as Kafr Akeb, Azaria, the Shuafat refugee camp, Jabel Mukaber and many additional quarters in which only Palestinians live and which are technically part of the Jerusalem municipal jurisdiction do nothing to add to Jerusalems financial stability or to its Jewish character. The opposite is true: They are a millstone on the neck of Jerusalem. Many high-placed Likud officials state as much in private but would never dare express such an opinion in public. Now and Forever, a United Jerusalem is the most sacred slogan of the Likud, Israels ruling party. Woe to anyone who dares to challenge this mythic statement. In this context, Berko is like the small child who shouted The emperor has no clothes! For decades, the unity of Jerusalem has been the Likuds ultimate battle cry. Netanyahu rose to power in 1996, having defeated Shimon Peres in elections thanks to the mantra Peres will divide Jerusalem. To this day, practically the only issue that has united Likud officials throughout the ages, and even heads of other parties, including Yesh Atids Yair Lapid and Kulanus Moshe Kahlon, is declarations like Jerusalem is Israel's united, eternal capital forever. Berko is now holding up a mirror to this mantra and demonstrating how hollow it is. Her program does not differ much from other plans, such as that presented last year by Haim Rimon, former senior member of the Labor Party and deputy to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The Berko plan is unique in that it sprung from the depths of the right, from the very hub of the ruling party. Also, Berko does not view the plan as leverage for the two-state solution. To the contrary. She emphasizes that she does not trust the Palestinians. Even if and when an arrangement is made with them, she feels, [They] will continue to challenge us. Instead, she says that implementing her program will save Jerusalem from continuing to wallow in the present condition, which is not only bad for Israels left-wingers, but also bad for its right-wingers too. This constitutes a fascinating trial balloon, somewhat like the pistol placed on the table in the first act of a play. Netanyahus stance in the context of Berkos plan is typical, no different from his approach to all the futile negotiations he has conducted with the Palestinians over the years. Netanyahu will always find something to hide behind. He will always act to protect himself, one way or another, from far-reaching diplomatic proposals. It could be US envoy Dennis Ross backing him up, categorizing a peace proposal as an American working paper or declaring negotiations academic. This time, it is the plan of Knesset member Berko, whom Netanyahu placed on the Likud list with his own hands. She tells the truth in his name too, but he renounces it. October 1, 2017 Russian President Vladimir Putin had been banking on Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani. Over the past year, Russia has invested over $4 billion in the Kurdistan Regions energy sector, overtaking the United States as the largest investor. By making such a commitment to northern Iraq, Putin was likely counting on both an eventual energy windfall and another card to play as a regional broker at the expense of the United States. He could count on good, or at least working, relationships with Damascus, Tehran, Ankara, to some extent Baghdad and, with the massive oil and gas venture, Erbil. What the Russian president had not banked on was that Barzani would go ahead with the independence referendum on Sept. 25 against widespread international and regional opposition. The Kremlin, of course, could not support ethnic separatism, and was probably hoping for a last-minute deal with Baghdad to stave off the vote. As the prospects of a postponement collapsed, Barzani likely saw Russias investment as a hedge against the nearly unified international opposition to its referendum on independence. Putin, of course, kept up appearances of being in control, but there was no denying the unusual nature of his visit to Ankara on Sept. 28 for consultations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, just three days after the referendum vote. Erdogans position was predictable and blustery, including when he said, No one has a right to throw our region into the fire, as Yekaterina Chulkovskaya reports. But Putin sought to dial it down, and instead referred to the Russian Foreign Ministrys statement, which included the phrase Moscow respects the national aspirations of the Kurds and the hope for a constructive and respectful dialogue, with a view to devising a mutually acceptable formula of coexistence within a single Iraqi state, as reported by Jasper Mortimer. Putin likely implored Erdogan to back off his threat to shut down the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, expects the pipeline to be open for business, and Moscow expects revenues from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) as a return on its investment. Without the pipeline, open borders or payments from Baghdad to Erbil, the KRG will go broke, a disaster for the Russian venture. Putin may have had some effect on Erdogan, who has threatened economic sanctions, conducted joint exercises with Iraq troops on the border and claims he will now only deal with Iraqi authorities in Baghdad, freezing out the KRG. Two days before Putins arrival, Erdogan threatened to close the oil taps, all [their] revenues will vanish and they will not be able to find food when our trucks stop going to northern Iraq." Following Putins visit, the Turkish government seemed to somewhat hedge on that threat, saying it would avoid targeting civilians in whatever retaliatory steps it takes. Putin may have an ally in the Turkish business community, which is seeking to mitigate the economic costs of any retaliation against the Kurdistan Region, as Mortimer writes. Turkey exported $4.5 billion worth of goods through the Habur border crossing the first six months of this year, Mahmut Bozarslan reports, and Turkish contractors are doing over $5 billion in business annually in Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkeys second-largest market for contractors after Turkmenistan. Putin can hardly count on either Erdogans restraint or for the Turkish president to defer to economic rationality in making his decision. Turkeys opposition to the Kurdistan Regions independence is crystal clear and void of caveats. Indeed, the good relations between Ankara and Erbil over the past decade were more the exception than the rule. The independence referendum has put back into play Kirkuk, where there is a sizable Turkmen population. Ankara is now lined up with Baghdad in seeking to assure that control of the oil-rich area stays with the central government. But a hard line on the KRG could backfire for Turkey. Fehim Tastekin writes that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist group, could benefit if Barzani is weakened. Boosted by the Kurdish autonomy drive in northern Syria and its defense of Sinjars Yazidis against the Islamic State (IS), the PKK stands a chance of gaining a greater foothold in Iraqi Kurdistan. Existing power balances and traditional politics based on kinship ties prevent the PKK from getting mass popular support, but things may change if sanctions weaken Barzanis administration. The PKK has been organizing silently in Kirkuk lately, which Ankara must have noted. According to Al-Monitors sources in Kirkuk, the PKKs presence there is no more than 500 people, but the sympathy net might expand in the event of turmoil. Hence, a scenario where the PKK fills a vacuum in the area should be also factored in as a counterweight in the calculations. If this were not enough, it is Iran, rather than Turkey, that will be the final arbiter of Putins ambitions in Iraq and the region. Like Turkey, Iran will seek to prevent the Iraqi Kurdish model from spreading to its own Kurdish population. Tehran may be ready and willing to commit its Popular Mobilization Units to back Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi if he decides to deploy forces to Kirkuk. Such a move by Abadi would be popular among Arab Iraqis and likely stave off the political challenge of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Indeed, if events take this course, one might even imagine a state of emergency and a postponement of Iraqs general elections scheduled for April 2018. It goes without saying that Iran has little interest in supporting Russian efforts to expand Russia's share of the international gas market via Rosnefts deal with the KRG. Putin has forged a fragile consensus with Iran and Turkey on cease-fires in Syria, and he cant afford to lose either Iran or Turkey, or both, and maintain his position. There is no Russian military muscle to flex in Iraq, as it has in Syria, especially compared with the assets of Turkey and Iran there. As we wrote here earlier this summer, the referendum has revealed the limits, rather than the extent, of Barzanis influence and leverage with Baghdad and the region. If the Kurdistan Region faces hardship or conflict as a result of the referendum, Barzani could be blamed or weakened in the ensuing fallout. Putin has much at risk, but is not without options, in contemplating his next moves. If he misplays his hand in northern Iraq by banking on a weakened Barzani, he may end up finding himself exposed and on defense in both Syria and Iraq, and at odds with Iran and Turkey the worst of all worlds. Or he can tactfully shift toward the Iran-Turkey alignment, which is gaining traction and strength, quietly distancing himself from dependence on Barzani while opening discussions with Baghdad to pursue Russias energy interests in northern Iraq. As this column observed in August, Putins grip on events in Syria increasingly depend on Turkey and especially Iran. Russia might therefore undertake an outwardly passive and inwardly supportive role that allows the regional parties to take the initiative against the Syrian Kurds or others, we wrote. The same can be said for his approach to the Iraqi Kurds. October 2, 2017 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Gold not bought from Suq al-Qaysariyya market does not sparkle as it should, Safa Shteiwi told Al-Monitor as she went from shop to shop among the arches of the historical market to buy herself a ring. Suq al-Qaysariyya, the "Gold Market in Gaza City's old quarter, is the largest gold and silver trade complex in Gaza. Shteiwi said, I could have bought the ring from any gold shop near my house in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, but I decided to drive to Suq al-Qaysariyya to visit this venue of Palestinian heritage and history. The market's establishment is the subject of speculation and various traditional tales. Locals say the structure was built during the Roman rule of the Gaza Strip in 63 B.C. and served as a stable for the army's horses before it became a popular market. However, the director of archaeology at the Ministry of Tourism and Archaeology in Gaza, Hiam al-Bitar, told Al-Monitor, The market was built during the rule of the Mamluks in Gaza in A.D. 1250, but it was inspired by the markets of the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar, and thats why it is called Suq al-Qaysariyya," Arabic for Caesar Market. She explained that it was first a leather market selling leather goods from shoes to saddles, and then a place to sell grains. Its role as a market of gold and other valuable metals began during the Ottoman rule in the Gaza Strip (1516-1920) and continues to this day. Suq al-Qaysariyya is located on the southern side of the Great Mosque of Gaza, one of the oldest and greatest mosques in the Gaza Strip. The market itself is a small 3-meter-wide and 70-meter-long (10-foot by 230-foot) corridor covered with stone arches. Small shops line both sides of the ancient market. An eastward courtyard contains modern and larger gold shops. Suq al-Qaysariyya has two gates. The eastern gate is more beautiful than the western, characterized by distinguished oriental motifs, with stones inlaid with a mixture of red and white, giving it a unique aesthetic. Samir Ayad, a 72-year-old owner of a gold shop in Suq al-Qaysariyya, told Al-Monitor he did not know when exactly his family bought the shop. He said that the shops are passed down from one generation to the next. I started working with my father when I was 8 years old. I started learning how to make gold bracelets and necklaces as well as gold liras weighing eight grams, he added. Ayad pointed out that traders in Gaza import gold from the West Bank, which imports it from Jordan and other Arab countries such as Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and then processes it locally to sell it in local markets. There are 40 gold-processing plants in Gaza. Suq al-Qaysariyya is a destination for brides-to-be across the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian customs, brides allocate a third of their trousseau, averaging about $4,500, to buy the gold wedding accessories that make up their savings for the future. Mona al-Yaziji accompanied her 18-year-old daughter Asma to Suq al-Qaysariyya to buy gold for her wedding, to be celebrated in two months. This market smells different. One can smell the fragrance of ancient history in here, she told Al-Monitor. When I was preparing for my wedding party about 20 years ago, I came here with my mother and bought my gold jewelry. Today I am buying my daughter's jewelry from this very market, and from the same shop. I always like to pass through this market even if I do not need anything because it brings back memories and a sense of stability and peace. According to local gold exchange prices, 1 gram of 10 karat gold is worth $17.60. The price of 24 karat gold is $42.40. Yaacoub Shaheen, the director of the precious metals department at the Ministry of National Economy, told a local economic website on Feb. 28 that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are estimated to have about 80 tons of gold. He explained that 7-9 tons of gold is available in Palestinian shops, and the rest is possessed by citizens. Suq al-Qaysariyya has been negatively affected by the economic conditions resulting from the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007. Zuhair Tabaza, an owner of another gold shop in the market, told Al-Monitor, I have worked with my father in this shop since 1975. The market has never experienced a similar recession before. Back then, 40 customers would visit our shop on a daily basis compared to 10 nowadays. The real estate value of the shops in Suq al-Qaysariyya continues to increase by the day. Shop rentals in this market range between $7,000 and $15,000 a month, Tabaza said. The closer a shop is to the two gates, the higher its price, he added, and explained that rent for other shops around the market do not exceed $5,000 a month. October 2, 2017 When will Massoud Barzani resign? The question posed by pro-government columnist Yahya Bostan in the English-language Daily Sabah suggests that Turkey is cranking up pressure against the Iraqi Kurdistan's president over the referendum on Kurdish independence that was held on Sept. 25 over the objections of Turkey, Baghdad, Iran and the United States. Bostan wrote in his column today, In a recent phone call between the prime ministers of Turkey and Iraq, the leaders reportedly agreed to cut the [Kurdistan Regional Government's] oil exports and have Baghdad compensate Turkey for its losses. Similar steps have been taken with Iran. In a further bombshell, Bostan claimed, Turkish officials, in particular, indicate that canceling the referendum results wont be enough. Normalization, they argue, cannot take place until Massoud Barzani steps down and is replaced by another politician. Bostan, whose brother, Mehmet, until recently ran Turkeys sovereign wealth fund, is known to be plugged into Erdogans inner circle, notably with the presidents son-in-law, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak. Thus his claims possibly do reflect Erdogans thinking. If so, Barzani may be facing a far bigger challenge than anticipated because Turkey has more immediate leverage than any over Iraqi Kurdistan. Some 550,000 barrels per day of crude, the cash-strapped statelets main source of income, are exported via a pipeline that runs to export terminals on the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The Habur border crossing with Turkey is Iraqi Kurdistans sole outlet to the West. Habur is used to ferry all manner of supplies that help to keep Iraqi Kurdistans fragile economy afloat. Over 2,000 Turkish troops dug in across the northern areas of Iraqi Kurdistan could complicate matters further. Both the pipeline and the border crossing, however, remain open. And despite Turkish threats its hard to imagine how Iraq could begin collecting revenue from Iraqi Kurdish oil sales or that Turkey would benefit from it. As Ben Van Heuvelen, the editor-in-chief of Iraq Oil Report, observed in a series of tweets, Iraq is suing Turkey on the grounds that Turkey violated an existing Iraq-Turkey pipeline treaty and the Iraqi governments sovereignty. The international arbitration case dates back to 2014, when Turkey allowed the Iraqi Kurds to sell their oil independently of Baghdad through a new pipeline. Van Heuvelen wrote, Hard to see how Turkey could give back control of Ceyhan exports to [Iraqs State Organization for Marketing of Oil] without undermining its legal position in arbitration." Pressure through the borders may prove a lower-risk strategy because it can allow Turkey to continue trade with the KRG while reimposing Baghdads sovereignty. Washington, according to senior administration officials who spoke to to Al-Monitor on condition that they not be identified by name, is backing a scheme to insert Iraqi customs officials along Turkey and Irans respective borders with Iraqi Kurdistan provided it is done peacefully. A small contingent of Iraqi troops have deployed along both borders and are holding joint drills at the invitation of Iran and Turkey. The Iraqi Kurds have vowed to respond with force should they seek to enter territory under their control. A defiant Barzani, who surveyed peshmerga fighters in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk today, refuses to cave to demands that he annul the referendum. The Iraqi army is plainly no match for the Kurdish peshmerga and in a bizarre precedent, Iraqi customs officials will likely operate out of Turkish and Iranian territory. In a related development, Rudaw, a leading Iraqi Kurdish news outlet, claimed today that Iran had sealed its borders with the KRG. The bigger threat to the Iraqi Kurds is Shiite militias loyal to Tehran. Battle-hardened and ruthless, they are said to be itching to go after the peshmerga, particularly in Kirkuk. Should the Shiite militias succumb, it would paradoxically play straight into Barzanis hands. For one, it would draw the attention of anti-Iran hawks in the White House, who may conclude that the Iraqi Kurds are better partners against Iran than Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and drop their objections to the referendum. It would also rally the Western public opinion around the Kurds, who have become experts at milking their victimhood. Predominantly Sunni, the Iraqi Kurds are also seen in Ankara as a bulwark against Shiite encroachment. And until the referendum, Erdogan counted Barzani among his top allies, feting him with the kind of pomp and ceremony reserved for heads of state. But Erdogan is said to be personally affronted by Barzanis decision to press ahead with the referendum. Anyone familiar with the mercurial Turkish president knows that he is fiercely loyal to those who stick with him during difficult times. Yet Erdogan is every bit as fiercely vindictive when he feels hes been let down. Barzanis move has triggered nationalist hysteria in Turkey, not least because balloting was also held in Kirkuk, which is home to a large ethnic Turkic minority known as the Turkmens. Since 2015, Erdogan has come to rely heavily on nationalist support. Barzanis truculence will be pounced upon by Erdogans opponents in the run-up to municipal, parliamentary and presidential elections that are due to be held in 2019. Thus it should come as no surprise that Erdogan called Barzanis actions a betrayal. But Turkish thinking on Iraqi Kurdish independence transcends Erdogans personal ambitions. Until recently, it was widely assumed that Turkey could happily cohabit with an independent Kurdistan. A pliant Kurdish entity would serve as a buffer against the instability engulfing Iraq, help counter Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) influence and provide cheap energy, especially natural gas. When asked about Kurdish independence Erdogan famously called it "Iraqs internal matter," saying, "It does not concern us." The calculus changed when Syrian Kurds with close ties to the PKK seized control over a broad swath of territory bordering Turkey. It has tripled in size since late 2014, when the United States began arming and training the Syrian Kurds and their Arab allies to drive out the Islamic State from Syria. When Turkish officials look at the map, they see the contours of an independent Kurdistan that extends all the way from the Iranian border to the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, the more Turkey pressures Barzani, the greater the likelihood that he will shelve old rivalries and join forces with the Syrian Kurds. The PKK has already declared that it stands ready to defend the Iraqi Kurds against all attacks. What began as a nonbinding referendum on independence could balloon into something far bigger than either Barzani or his detractors counted on. In his nearly four years of working in environmental policy in Alabama, Michael Hansen deals with his share of lawyers. "We run across others, but Balch & Bingham has a special reputation," Hansen said. Hansen is the executive director for GASP, a nonprofit that advocates for cleaning up air pollution in Birmingham. Hansen said there's a widely held belief among the environmental community in Alabama: if you need to fight an environmental regulation, you call Balch & Bingham. Hansen's group, as well as other environmental groups around the state, often find themselves facing off in court with Balch. "There's a reason they represent Alabama Power and Drummond," he said. Other clients Balch has represented over the years include the Alabama Coal Association; Alabama-Tombigbee Rivers Coalition, a nonprofit that sought to remove the Alabama Sturgeon from the endangered species list; and the Business Alliance for Responsible Development, a group who lists members including Drummond, Alabama Power, and several developers, that describes itself as protecting against "no-growth extremists." GASP has had direct involvement with the case against former Rep. Oliver Robinson that eventually led to two of Balch's lawyers being indicted last week on charges of bribery, honest services wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Balch & Bingham released a statement last week that said if the charges are true then the actions "are contrary to the ethical values that guide our firm's attorneys and staff." One of the indicted attorneys' lawyer released a statement asserting his client's innocence, and the other did not appear to have retained representation as of Monday morning. GASP pushed for the EPA to fast-track the cleanup for north Birmingham neighborhoods in the existing Superfund site and consider expanding the Superfund into Tarrant and Birmingham's Inglenook neighborhood. "They're not the type to just settle. There are some clients who will hire a law firm that will settle, to get them the cheapest way out of whatever it is that they're working on. Balch is not that firm," Hansen said. "They're the guys that get you off and make the other guys pay. They have a reputation for being hard. Alabama Power and Drummond, they don't mess around." The nearly century-old Balch & Bingham, headquartered in downtown Birmingham's Regions Harbert Plaza, represents a lot more than environmental cases, of course. It has about 230 attorneys in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Washington D.C., and works with regulated industries ranging from financial services to health care. Former Alabama Attorney General William Logan Martin Jr. founded the firm in 1922, primarily focusing on the legal affairs of Alabama Power Co., where his brother Thomas Martin was President and General counsel. The firm helped Alabama Power develop its massive hydropower projects and argued constitutional questions of the New Deal era before Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Martin died in 1959, and is now in the Alabama Lawyers' Hall of Fame. William Logan Martin Jr., founding partner of Birmingham-based Balch and Bingham LLP Balch & Bingham doesn't only represent those seeking less regulation, though. A few years ago, they represented the town of Repton in a case against a company that wanted to put a landfill one mile south of the town in unincorporated Conecuh County. Repton, a small town between Mobile and Montgomery, had a population of 282 according to the 2010 census. David Ludder, an environmental lawyer based in Florida, represented a community group called Citizens for a Cleaner Southwest Alabama that sought the same result: both the city and CCSA opposed that location for the landfill. "Balch & Bingham represented the city of Repton, and that's not their usual type of client. But they did represent the city and they won," Ludder said. "Their tactics were kind of zealous." One of those "zealous" tactics, Ludder said, was requesting information about the investors for the multimillion-dollar project. "That obviously became a sore point for the investors, and ultimately, I think that's what led to the landfill withdrawing," Ludder said. "In my mind, it had nothing to do with the merits of whether or not the process to get permission to build the landfill was valid or not. Who was investing in the project might be of public interest, but it wasn't relevant to whether or not they should win or lose the case. It was kind of intimidation against the landfill." In that case, Ludder and Balch were on the same side. But he also dealt with Balch on opposing sides when he represented GASP in their dealings with the firm. Balch sent GASP a letter asking for, among other things, "statements showing the sources of the organization's income and receipts and their disposition" which Ludder said was totally irrelevant to the case, and a strategy he'd seen in the Repton case. "The thrust of what I was trying to say in combining the several things I've observed or been involved in is simply that they employ tactics which seek to have their opposition withdraw, rather than litigate the merits ... nothing unethical or illegal, but they are tactics that, in my opinion, don't have any place in the processes that are available to resolve disputes," Ludder said. AL.com asked several questions of Balch & Bingham for this story, and a spokeswoman issued the following statement: "For nearly a century, we have served our clients as dedicated advocates a core commitment that guides our attorneys and is a foundational principle of our profession. We fight hard for our clients, and do so within the bounds of ethics and professionalism. Our firm includes 65 practice areas and more than 230 attorneys who help clients respond to and navigate complex challenges every day across the U.S. We are proud of the work we do for our clients, and are committed to delivering effective legal advocacy to help them achieve their goals. While we can confirm the identities of some of our clients, we obviously cannot discuss the details of the work that we perform for those who trust our attorneys to represent them." Wayne Flynt, a professor emeritus of history at Auburn University, said Balch is perceived as one of the top law firms in Alabama and also for being one of the best at fighting environmental regulations. "It's obviously one of the most prestigious and respected law firms in Alabama," Flynt said. "I've always thought of it as, like anyone would, as a prestigious law firm. A prestigious law firm sells, most notably, not its legal skill, but its ethical practice of law, so to say. This is going to be a huge, overwhelming blow from this point forward." If writer-director George Gallo didn't hate flying so much, a new movie about the pioneers of the bodybuilding movement might be filming in Montreal instead of Birmingham. But now that they're here, the filmmakers like it so much they're already talking about sticking around. "Bigger" -- a period drama about Joe and Ben Weider, the "Brothers of Iron" who overcame a life of poverty to build a global fitness empire -- begins filming in the Birmingham area on Oct. 9. Steve Lee Jones, one of the producers of the movie, said in an interview with AL.com that "Bigger" might be just the first of several productions he and his partners will film in Alabama. "You can start by saying that Steve Lee Jones says he loves the place, and I didn't expect it," he said. "That's the truth. "We originally were going to shoot this in Montreal because the Weider brothers are from Montreal," Jones said. "We actually went up there and did location scouting, but we ended up choosing Birmingham because our director (Gallo) does not like to fly. It's a quirky situation. "He has driven this country more than most because he doesn't like to fly and he said, you know, 'Birmingham has got a lot of wonderful old buildings that could look like Montreal in the '20s.' So that is why we came here, and I was very reticent to do so." Jones, who lives in Beverly Hills, said his concerns were allayed soon after he came to Birmingham to check it out a couple of months ago, "I didn't think it would be production friendly enough, and I didn't think our cast would enjoy it here," he said "I didn't think I would enjoy it here, but I've been very, very surprised -- so much so that we are talking about doing other productions here, several next year. "It is very film-friendly," Jones added. "The film board has been great. The government has been great. The city has been great. The people have been great. We've been welcomed with open arms -- Southern hospitality at its finest." The movie, which spans the 1920s to the 1970s, is adapted from the Weider brothers' book "Brothers of Iron," and it stars Tyler Hoechlin from Richard Linklater's "Everybody Wants Some!!" and MTV's "Teen Wolf" as Joe Weider and Aneurin Barnard from Christopher Nolan's World War II epic "Dunkirk" as Ben Weider. "It's the story of two poor, young immigrant boys who grew up in a Montreal ghetto, and they experienced anti-Semitism, they experienced extreme poverty, (and) they cobbled together eight dollars to launch what became a multibillion-dollar empire," Jones said. "It's a story about relentlessness," he added. "It's a story about self-empowerment. It's a story about brotherhood. And it's a rags-to-riches story about beating the odds." "Bigger" director Gallo, who previously wrote the screenplay for the Robert De Niro-Charles Grodin road comedy "Midnight Run" and who wrote and directed the crime saga "Middle Men" with Luke Wilson and James Caan, co-wrote the movie's screenplay with Brad Furman, whose credits include directing "The Lincoln Lawyer" with Matthew McConaughey and "The Infiltrator" with Bryan Cranston. Birmingham locations will double for Montreal, New Jersey and Los Angeles, Jones said. Near the end of the filming, the "Bigger" crew will film in the Mobile area, which will double for the beaches of California, he said. Among the Birmingham locations will be the Alabama Theatre, the Lyric Theatre, Temple Emanu-El and serveral others, he said. "It's my goal in the future to bring more films and television to Alabama and particularly to Birmingham," Jones, who was an executive producer on the Jack Kevorkian biopic "You Don't Know Jack" with Al Pacino, said. "I think Birmingham has the most to offer with these wonderful old buildings and the city skyline and the wonderful churches and the scenic hills that can double for Los Angeles. "I live in Beverly Hills currently, and there are homes up in Mountain Brook that are very, very similar to Beverly Hills because they were built in the '20s and they have big, manicured lawns, and it's hilly and they have views of the city. So it's very Beverly Hills-like -- remarkably so." The Weider brothers founded the International Federation of Body Builders, which sponsored the Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe competitions, and in the late 1960s, Joe Weider groomed a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had moved to America from his native Austria and began training under Weider in Los Angeles. Calum Von Moger, a native of Victoria, Australia, and the winner of the World Fitness Federation's 2015 Mr. Universe title, will play Schwarzenegger as a young man in the movie. "He's in in his 20s, and he's going to play Arnold in his 20s," Jones said. "He has a shocking resemblance to him, both face and body. So that should be interesting. It's his acting debut." Other cast members include Robert Forster, an Oscar nominee for his supporting role in Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown," as Joe Weider in the latter stages of his life; Julianne Hough of "Dancing with the Stars'' as Joe Weider's wife and pin-up model, Betty; Victoria Justice of Nickelodeon's "Victorious" as Ben Weider's wife, Kathy; Colton Haynes of the FX anthology series "American Horror Story: Cult" as fitness guru Jack LaLanne; and Tom Arnold from James Cameron's "True Lies" and the ABC sitcom "Roseanne" as publisher Roy Hawkins. "And we've got a bunch of local actors playing many different roles," Jones said. "We've tried to engage the Alabama film community as much as we can." In addition to Jones, the other "Bigger" producers are Camila Castro (TV's "Redwood") and Scott LaStaiti (HBO's "The Infiltrator"). "Bigger" will film in the Birmingham area and later in Mobile until about Thanksgiving, Jones said. The filmmakers are aiming for a late 2018 release. State Rep. Jim Patterson, R-Meridianville, died suddenly on Monday afternoon, House Speaker Mac McCutcheon confirmed to AL.com. Patterson, 67, died from a heart attack, McCutcheon said. McCutcheon described Patterson as "a great guy" and said the two spoke for about an hour this morning about upcoming legislation. Patterson told McCutcheon he had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Monday afternoon. Patterson, who lived just north of Huntsville and whose House District 21 included parts of downtown Huntsville, was first elected to the legislature in 2010. "He was a great guy," McCutcheon told AL.com. "Full of life, a hard worker and he's done some great things." Perhaps his signature legislation was passed into law learlier this year that mandated insurance companies provide coverage for full coverage for children with autism of medically necessary applied behavioral analysis therapy by health insurance. "He was a genuine public servant who operated without fear of the consequences," said Sam Givhan, chair of the Madison County GOP. "He did what he thought was right." Patterson was a deacon at Flint River Baptist Church in Meridianville. He is survived by his wife, Susan, and their three children. "Representative Patterson had a huge heart and exemplified the role of a citizen-legislator. Jim was a voice for the children and the needy in our society, and that voice will be sorely missed," Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement. "My thoughts and prayers remain especially with his wife Susan and their three children during this very difficult time. They have lost a loving husband and father, and Alabama has lost a tremendous public servant. As governor, I will do all I can to help the Madison County area and our state move forward." In a statement, McCutcheon praised "Big Jim" and the fact that his passing came hours after the deadliest shooting in U.S. history overnight in Las Vegas. McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, served with Patterson as part of the Madison County legislative delegation. "A difficult day for all of America became even more difficult for those of us in the Alabama House who learned that our colleague, Rep. Jim Patterson of Meridianville, has passed away from a heart attack," McCutcheon's statement said. "Jim worked tirelessly for his district and celebrated his greatest legislative achievement last year when his bill requiring insurance companies to cover life-changing autism therapy was passed and signed into law. "All of us in the Alabama State House will miss 'Big Jim' and his equally big personality. Our prayers and thoughts go out to his wife, Susan, and the rest of the Patterson family." House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter remembered Patterson's "big laugh, big voice and big personality." "The Alabama House Republican Caucus and each of its members will feel the loss of our colleague, Rep. Jim Patterson, for some time to come," Ledbetter said in a statement. "Rep. Patterson was defined by the hard work he devoted to serving his constituents, the thoughtfulness with which he approached each issue, and the way he tackled problems, bills, and initiatives about which he felt strongly. "These traits were demonstrated very publicly during his successful effort to pass important autism therapy legislation that will positively affect the lives of children and families across Alabama for years to come. Rep. Patterson's big laugh, big voice, and big personality often made the more difficult days in the Alabama State House easier to handle. On behalf of the Republican Caucus, we send out thoughts and prayers for comfort to his wife, Susan, and the family that made him so very proud." Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle also offered condolences in a statement Monday. "Representative Patterson was a great family man and community leader who will be missed for his many contributions to our area," Battle said. "We could always count on Jim to support our economic development initiatives, road projects, anything to help our community grow and prosper. We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Susan, and their children." Patterson also served three terms on the Madison County board of education from 1988-2000. He retired in 2008 after 29 years as a pharmaceutical representative of Bristol Meyers Squibb. In a Facebook post, state Rep. Jack W. Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, described Patterson as "one of the really good guys." "Jim was a strong voice in Montgomery for those people and causes he believed in." Williams wrote on Facebook. "Today we lost one of the really good guys -- a man who remained true to his convictions throughout his legislative service." Patterson's big personality endeared him to those who knew him, Givhan said. "We probably talked for an hour on multiple occasions," he said. "We'd just go on and on. And he'd say, 'Well, I've got to tell you one more thing and I've got to go' and he would go on for another 15 minutes. "He was such a delight, such a joy and such a servant to his district and to people in Madison County." As news of Patterson's passing spread, his Facebook page had postings from friends sharing their memories. "The state lost a great man today," state Rep. Will Ainsworth, R-Guntersville, posted. "Jim Patterson loved life and I was fortunate to call him a good friend. He is having fun in Heaven right now." Updated today, Oct. 2, 2017, at 5:42 p.m. with new information throughout. John Locher The mass shooting that killed at least 59 people in Las Vegas on Sunday night was the worst in modern American history. Police suspect that Stephen Paddock fired on the crowd at a country-music concert indiscriminately from his hotel room window. More than 525 were injured. If it seems as though we only just experienced another deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, it's because we did. About 16 months ago, Omar Mateen killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State. Before that, the record was held by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, in which 32 people were killed. Obviously any new "deadliest incident" will have more deaths than the ones that came before. From 1949 to 1991, though, the increase in the number of deaths was only nine. The shooting at Virginia Tech was more than double that in Camden in 1949. The killings in Orlando added 17 more deaths to the total. How many will end up as victims in Las Vegas isn't yet known - but it's already twice the toll of the deadliest shooting in history as of 11 years ago. That the most recent incident to set a new record was only 16 months ago may have been a grim fluke; these incidents are too few to draw a real pattern in that regard. That the next incident to establish itself as the deadliest in American history will mean that more than 50 people will have given their lives, though, is only slightly less alarming than the near-certainty that there will be a next incident. Don't Edit America's deadliest mass and spree shootings - 1949, Camden, New Jersey, 13 killed. Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, walks the streets of Camden killing random people. - 1966, Austin, Texas, 18 killed. Charles Whitman (pictured above) fires from a tower on the University of Texas campus. - 1982, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 13 killed. George Banks kills five of his children and 8 other people. Don't Edit JOHN DAVID MERCER - 1984, San Ysidro, California, 21 killed. James Huberty enters a McDonald's and begins shooting. - 1986, Edmond, Oklahoma,14 killed. Postal worker Patrick Sherrill kills 14 people at his workplace. - 1990, Jacksonville, Florida, 10 killed. James Pough kills 8 people after his car is repossessed. He'd killed two others earlier. - 1991, Killeen, Texas, 23 killed. George Hennard drives his truck into a cafeteria and then opens fire. - 1999, Littleton, Colorado, 13 killed. The shooting at Columbine High School was the deadliest school shooting to date. Police stand watch outside the school in the photo above. Don't Edit Rw+yHy - 2005, Red Lake, Minnesota, 9 killed. Jeffrey Weise kills members of his family and then students at a local high school. - 2007, Blacksburg, Virginia, 32 killed. Until 2016, the 32 people killed by Seung-Hui Cho was the deadliest mass shooting in American history. - 2009, Fort Hood, Texas, 13 killed. Nidal Hasan, pictured above, kills 13 people at Fort Hood. Don't Edit Dave Martin - 2009, Binghamton, New York, 13 killed. Jiverly Wong murders 13 people at a small immigrant services center in southern New York. - 2009, Geneva County, Alabama, 10 killed. Michael McClendon kills 10 people, including a baby, in rural Alabama. Funerals for four of the victims is pictured above. Don't Edit Don't Edit Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com - 2012, Newtown, Connecticut, 27 killed. Adam Lanza's spree at Sandy Hook Elementary including the murder of 20 children. Students are led from the scene in above photo. - 2012, Aurora, Colorado, 12 killed. James Holmes kills a dozen people during a late-night movie screening. - 2013, Washington, D.C., 12 killed. Aaron Alexis kills a dozen people with a shotgun. Don't Edit Associated Press - 2015, San Bernardino, Calif. 14 killed. Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik kill more than a dozen people during a holiday party. A screenshot above shows a victim. - 2015, Roseburg, Oregon, 9 killed. Chris Mercer kills nine in a shooting at a community college in Oregon. Don't Edit Rw+yHy - 2015, Charleston, South Carolina, 9 killed. Dylann Roof attends a prayer meeting at a church in Charleston before opening fire. Don't Edit Chris O'Meara - 2016, Orlando, 49 killed. Omar Mateen murders dozens at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State. - 2017, Las Vegas, 50 killed. Stephen Paddock shoots at a concert crowd from a hotel room on the Las Vegas Strip. The rival Palestinian factions are set to meet in Gaza after a decade of bitter feuding. Hamass offer to submit to a long-delayed reconciliation process with its Fatah rivals signals that the balance of regional forces may be tipping in its favour and against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, analysts say. Officials from the Palestinian Authority (PA), led by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, are due in Gaza on Monday, for the first time in three years, to test Hamass commitment to establishing a unity government. The first weekly government meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, with an Egyptian delegation overseeing the proceedings. Hopes are that reconciliation will end a decade of bitter feuding between Hamas and Fatah and a parallel entrenchment of territorial divisions between Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Most analysts expect the reconciliation process to fail, as previous attempts have. The biggest stumbling block is likely to be over long-promised elections. Polls suggest that Hamas would win in both Gaza and the West Bank. Nonetheless, the move is being hailed by PA officials as a victory for Abbas, Fatahs leader, after he imposed harsh sanctions on Gaza over the summer to punish Hamas for setting up what was viewed as a shadow government there. Abbas more alone than ever? Abbass measures have included cutting electricity to a few hours a day and slashing the salaries of thousands of government workers. But experts argue that the move towards reconciliation initiated by Hamas puts it not Abbas in the driving seat, by helping it find a way out of its regional isolation. Abbas, by contrast, appears more alone than ever, with no tangible support for his diplomatic campaign for Palestinian statehood from Israel, the US administration or the Gulf states. READ MORE: Why Fatah and Hamas wont reconcile The severity of the measures against Hamas have in a sense backfired on Abbas, said Nathan Thrall, a Jerusalem-based analyst with the International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution think-tank. [The sanctions] frightened everyone by deepening the humanitarian crisis and accelerating the gradual march towards renewed escalation between Israel and Hamas. Egypt had no choice but to react to try forestall another war. Thrall said the unpredictable consequences of such hostilities could include Gazas Palestinians storming the Rafah crossing into Egypt, or accusations from across the Arab world of Egyptian complicity with Israel. Cairo has responded in part by easing conditions in Gaza, noted Thrall. It has been supplying fuel to the enclave with Israels quiet approval in defiance of Abbass sanctions. But Cairo has also appeared ready to give Hamas the leeway necessary to cultivate a range of strategic ties across the region. Egypt, Hamas have shared interests After Abdel Fattah el-Sisi seized power in Egypt in 2013, he sealed off Gazas one border with Sinai, effectively joining Israels blockade. He justified his tough stance by accusing Hamas of aiding fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in Sinai and conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypts own Islamic movement, to subvert his rule. Menachem Klein, a politics professor at Bar Ilan University, near Tel Aviv, and an expert on Israeli-Egyptian relations, said Hamas had been gradually winning Sisis confidence. The politicisation of Hamas has been gaining momentum since it took part in, and won, the 2006 [Palestinian national] elections, he told Al Jazeera. He pointed out that Hamass revised charter, published in May, had opened the door to further cooperation with Cairo by effectively renouncing the groups ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt and Hamas have shared interests. Hamas can limit the influence of ISIL in Gaza and ensure [Gazas existing ISIL] supporters cannot connect with ISIS in Sinai. In return, Egypt can open the Rafah crossing and break Israels closure. Egypts biggest concession, however, may have been its tacit consent for Hamas to strengthen its ties to other regional actors, putting Abbas further on the back foot. Thrall noted that, despite Egypts oversight of the reconciliation process, Hamas was also renewing its ties to Iran and Syria. Hamas soured relations with both by backing the opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when the countrys civil war erupted in 2011. The loss of Damascus as a base has been keenly felt ever since. A Shia axis of Iran, Syria and the Lebanese faction Hezbollah had supplied Hamas with training, weapons and intelligence information. Mending fences In a sign of Hamass commitment to mending fences, a senior Hamas delegation visited Tehran in August. Afterwards, Yahya Sinwar, Hamass leader in Gaza, said the relationship was returning to what it was in the old days, adding that Iran was helping with money and arms. Hamas wants Egypt and the Gulf's diplomatic support, but it knows that Iran will offer military backing in a way the Sunni states won't. by Nathan Thrall, analyst with International Crisis Group It is possible that Hamass overtures to Iran and Syria are in part designed to raise the stakes for Egypt, which along with a Saudi-led group of Gulf states, is bitterly opposed to increased Iranian and Shia influence in the region. Hamas does not want to have to choose, Thrall told Al Jazeera. It wants Egypt and the Gulfs diplomatic support, but it knows that Iran will offer military backing in a way the Sunni states wont. Another indication that Hamas is likely to emerge from the reconciliation process strengthened whether moves towards unity succeed or fail is the groups increasingly close ties to exiled Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan. Dahlan, who is living in the United Arab Emirates, has been seeking a way to get back into the occupied Palestinian territories to challenge Abbass leadership, said Diana Buttu, a former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization. If Dahlan wants to be a player, he cant remain in exile. He has to come back and portray Abbas as the obstacle to reconciliation, to solving Gazas problems and to developing a proper liberation strategy, she told Al Jazeera. Thrall observed that Egypt wanted a twin-track reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, and within Fatah, between Abbas and critics such as Dahlan. But in practice, said Buttu, Egypt has prioritised unity between Hamas and Dahlan, as well as Fatah critics of Abbas. They have been given a chance to form a common front against Abbass rule, to become allies, she said. Egypt, along with the Saudi-led Gulf states, she noted, has grown increasingly exasperated by Abbass failure to anoint a successor, hold elections and promote a new generation of reformers. Instead, they have helped Dahlan to create a power base in Gaza, allowing him to channel money into the enclave from the UAE. Dahlans ties Dahlan stepped up his efforts last month by launching his own Fatah-Hamas reconciliation programme, distributing $50,000 apiece to families whose loved ones were killed or injured in the clashes in 2007 that removed Fatah from Gaza. The compensation was designed to win him new allies in Hamas and Fatahs most powerful families. In late June, Zvi Barel, a leading analyst with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, reported that Egypt, the UAE and Israel were seeking to persuade Hamas to agree to install Dahlan as prime minister of what would effectively become a state of Gaza. Dahlans loyalists would be in charge of the Rafah crossing into Sinai, and the UAE would finance a power plant. Dahlan is reported to have ties to both Israel and the United States, as well as Egypt and the UAE, which reportedly view him as the main candidate to succeed Abbas. According to the Haaretz report, Egypt, the UAE and Israel see Dahlans influence in Gaza as a way to weaken Abbas and neutralise the roles of Turkey and Qatar. Doha has been helping to finance the enclaves reconstruction after a devastating military attack by Israel in 2014. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been leading a campaign against Qatar over the summer, accusing it of sponsoring terror in the region and being too close to Iran. Last week, Haaretz military analyst Amos Harel observed that the UAE is trying to push [Qatar] out of Gaza by spending its own money there, channelled through Dahlan. OPINION: A step towards Palestinian unity? Meanwhile, said Klein, the accommodation between Hamas and Dahlan had freed Hamas to enlarge its relations with the region. It can build ties to Egypt, UAE and maybe the Saudis so far they have kept silent. If Hamas can move closer to Egypt, that will calm Saudi concerns. As a result, he added, Abbas has been pushed into the corner. Klein said Hamas wanted to extend its rule from Gaza to the West Bank. Then it can negotiate a long-term interim agreement with Israel a truce based on the 1967 borders. It needs Egypts help because Egypt can advocate to Europe and the US on its behalf. According to Klein, Abbas is now exposed. He has no Plan B if his diplomatic process for statehood fails. He depends exclusively on US support, and Donald Trump is now in charge. The US president isnt even ready to cooperate with Europe on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Israels response During his trip to New York for the UN General Assembly last month, Sisi met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reiterate the pressing need for a peace accord. But Egypt knows no serious pressure can be exerted on Israel for talks unless Hamas and Fatah reconcile. Netanyahu would prefer to keep the focus on Iran rather than the Palestinians, using Abbass domestic weakness as a pretext for inaction. Buttu observed that Israels overriding priority was to foil reconciliation and maintain the territorial split between Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The only capital Israel could extract from unity, she said, would be to discredit Abbas for colluding with terrorists and thereby bolster the case that the international community should block funding to the PA as happened after the last Palestinian elections in 2006, which Hamas won. In that situation, the PA will have to focus all its energies on survival and raising money rather than developing a strategy of resistance, she said. Buttu added that reconciliation was unlikely to succeed as long there was little collective pressure for it from the Arab world. The Arab states are focused on their own narrow interests rather than acting as the champions of the Palestinian cause, as they once did. Their approach now is that the Palestinians should be left to resolve their differences with Israel alone. That deep isolation has left the Palestinian national movement in disarray. A new mother and former FARC fighter, an ex-FARC commander, a peace worker and senator reflect on 2016 peace accord. The people of Colombia were given a choice on October 2, 2016, to approve a peace deal designed to bring the worlds longest continuous war to an end through a referendum. The accord was narrowly rejected with 50.2 percent of voters opposing the deal. The armed conflict between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) spanned more than 50 years. The war resulted in the deaths of more than 220,000 Colombians and displaced nearly seven million people. Despite a desire for peace, many felt that the agreement made in Havana, Cuba, was too lenient towards the FARC. Under the proposed accord, its members who confessed to their crimes would be entitled to reduced sentences. On November 24, 2016, President Juan Manuel Santos pushed through a revised peace agreement. Since then, a fragile peace has been maintained, with the FARC fighters laying down their weapons and some of them starting families. Still, there are concerns about the implementation of the peace deal, the viability of the FARC as a political party with guaranteed seats in congress and the threat coming from right-wing paramilitary groups. A new mother and former FARC fighter, an ex-FARC commander, a peace worker and a senator reflect on the events of the last year and consider the challenges of creating a lasting peace. Yorly Ramirez, 26, former FARC fighter and medic At age 13, I said Id join the FARC and change the situation that thousands of Colombians were facing. Now, Im 26 years old, and Im a new mother to a boy called Enders. I was pregnant before, but it was too difficult. It wasnt safe to have children during the war. We had no place to raise them in the camps. We were exposed to bombing and raids, and the paramilitaries would use your children to threaten you. I wasnt going to have a baby for it to be raised by someone else. Thats when I decided to have an abortion. Four months after the peace treaty was signed, they sent me to Bogota to be part of a group of journalists and tell the story of the post-conflict time. Were part of a new era, all of us guerrilla fighters. FARC did many things that were inconvenient. We have asked for forgiveness and will do so until the very last moment. It hurts us because we also lost family members. It hurts us bad. Theres no going back now. Theres a risk of dying because Colombia is still not prepared to accept us as regular citizens. A paramilitary could still kill me because he doesnt agree [with the deal]. I firmly believe in the peace process, and I will continue with it. I will keep on working for the party. I dont think it would be right for me to walk away from something Ive spent so much time fighting for. To go home and not lift a finger, I mean, its good that Im with [my family] but where would all those years of fighting go? Luis Emil Sanabria, Director of REDEPAZ (National Network of Civic Initiatives for Peace and Against War) Hearing the [referendums] result was a very difficult moment. There was nothing more we could do. Our surveys said that the majority of the population were in favour [of the Yes vote]. We never had any expectation that it would be rejected. Since 1993, we have been working for peace, for reconciliation.We did a campaign to support the peace agreement. This agreement followed one of the most significant discussions between the government and the FARC guerrillas ever. I think the public was manipulated. by Luis Emil Sanabria Of course, there was a counter-campaign in favour of the No vote, which was fundamentally based on false truths, but which won. I think the public was manipulated. But, at the same time, the peace deal had gained significant support, almost 50 percent of the population, so we decided to keep working. I think little by little, the Colombian people are understanding the magnitude of the agreement and the importance of implementing it. A year after the plebiscite there is still not social justice in Colombia. Colombian society needs to know the truth so that we can reconcile ourselves with everything thats happened during this armed conflict. But we are working to reconcile ourselves, particularly in the regions that have been closest to the conflict and are most affected by it. Theres also a concern about what will happen after the next elections [to be held in March 2018]. The Centro Democratico opposes the peace agreements, they dont want the FARC in congress, and they feel the victims have not received reparations, so if they get into power, the peace agreement could be at risk. They [FARC] will face challenges adjusting to traditional democracy because they are not an organisation that follows that path. They have a democracy which is still gripped by corruption in regions where drug trafficking takes place. Eventually, I think we will see that the peace agreement will benefit everyone, in economic terms and in social terms. There are various sections of Colombian society that are excluded from the benefits of development and economic growth. Peace will aid Colombias economic development. Colombia is still one of the most under-developed countries in the world, with everything concentrated in the cities. But there is still the question of reparations, of drug trafficking of politics and recognising the FARC as a political party. This is a difficult moment for Colombia. Alfredo Rangel Suarez, 62, Senator, Centro Democratico political party It was a very intense, animated campaign leading up to the referendum. Centro Democratico supported the No campaign, but the Yes campaign was supported by the government, the media, business owners and by many parts of the international community. The campaign was very unequal. We've had a year of implementing agreements that were rejected by the Colombian people by Alfredo Rangel Suarez However, the public voted No. Unfortunately, this decision was ignored by the government, so weve had a year of implementing agreements that were rejected by the Colombian people. The problem with the Havana agreement is that it gave impunity to a terrorist group. The FARC have carried out tens of thousands of crimes against humanity; assassinations, massacres, kidnapping, disappearances, systematic rape. The Centro Democratico doesnt object to FARC having a political party after it has turned in all weapons and has fully demobilised, but what we do object to is that those members of the FARC who are responsible for crimes against humanity dont spend time in jail and can become politicians and occupy seats in congress and enjoy a situation of complete impunity. President Santos said the FARC had agreed to hand over 14,000 weapons, but theyve only handed back 8,000. This presents a risk to national security in Colombia. They are the only political party in Colombia with an armed wing and an illicit trade that provides them with huge economic resources. [FARC] say they need to protect themselves from paramilitary groups but paramilitaries dont exist in Colombia. They were demobilised, and their leaders are in prison. Many became drug traffickers once they were demobilised and they do business with the FARC and ELN guerrillas now theyre partners. The peace agreements were designed to reconcile a country, but they cant do this when theyre out of step with the majority of public opinion. The agreements being enforced in Colombia now were rejected by the public because the Colombian people see that they are agreements for impunity, that there hasnt been justice and that the promises havent been fulfilled. Robinson Ramirez Franco, 49, former FARC commander When the plebiscite happened, I was in Bolivar Square in Bogota. No one knew who I was, but I was going crazy thinking how is it that after so many years of war people can say no to peace? We thought we were going to win; I couldnt believe it. I thought Whats happening? These people are ignorant; they want the war to continue. I left the FARC eight years ago. I had to travel for four days and three nights through the mountains without food. I had been with them for 13 years. After so much death I had to leave. I was tired of war. by Robinson Ramirez Franco When the bombardments started many of my friends died. One of the commanders who died knew me since I was 17, hed been with me the whole time, since my beginnings with the FARC. After so much death I had to leave. I was tired of war. I started a foundation called NUVIPADES, which stands for Nueva Vida por los Desmovilizados (New life for the demobilised) to support demobilised guerrilla fighters and to keep ourselves strong and heard, if not by FARC, then by the government. We were not represented at Havana; deserters couldnt speak, there were no pardons for us, we are traitors to the cause. There was a girl whose parents were FARC guerrillas. The mother died a short time after she was born and so her grandparents took care of her. Her father was killed when he deserted to return to his daughter. Now shes 14 years old, and her family is trying to get her recognised as a victim of the conflict, but nothing has happened so far. Weve helped about 180 ex-guerrillas. We help them and their families find employment, or to set up businesses, but we also try to build up their self-esteem and teach them respect and responsibility. My hopes for the future? I dont have many. While capitalism reigns people will always take up arms. Peace can exist but not within the current system. Im tired of wars; I dont want to fight. Ive always wanted peace and to build a new Colombia. We have to fight for a lasting peace so that that can be the story of the nation. Survivors of boat tragedy that left more than 60 dead recount the horrors of losing their loved ones. Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh The Rohingya refugee boat was metres away from safety in Bangladesh when a huge wave upended it, throwing Nur Fatima and her nine-month-old son into the choppy surf. She grabbed the edge of the boat with one hand and held her son with the other. We went under four times and I saw the bubbles coming out of his mouth as he died, she told Al Jazeera on Saturday, her face impassive as she recounted the September 28 disaster that reportedly killed more than 60 refugees. Most of those feared dead were women and children. Only 17 survived, rescue workers said. At least 23 bodies have been recovered along Inani Beach, a popular tourist spot in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar, and among them was Fatimas son, Saiful Rahman. The 20-year-old mother of two and her family were fleeing an army crackdown in Myanmars Rakhine State, which the UN said amounted to ethnic cleansing. More than half a million Rohingya have emptied out of northern Rakhine and into Bangladesh since August 25, carrying stories of mass killings, gang rapes, and razing of whole villages. READ MORE: Rohingya refugees share stories of sexual violence Its very clear that people are quite desperate to flee, said Kitty McKinsey, a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). And clearly they are risking their lives to do so. Fatima lost eight members of her family on the voyage to Bangladesh. Twelve survived, including her husband, three-year-old son, and brother-in-law Nurul Salam. Al Jazeera met Salam at a Bangladeshi fishermans house, hours after the boat capsized near Inani Beach. In shock and exhausted, his voice was hoarse and he kept nodding off to sleep. His wife and only son had drowned that day. I tried to hold on to my son, but I couldnt, he said, too exhausted for tears. On Saturday, Al Jazeera caught up with Salams family at the Kutupalong camp, a vast and squalid tent city, which houses more than 200,000 refugees. They had spent the night at a UNHCR shelter in Kutupalong. Salam covered his face and broke down into dry sobs, as he described his two-year-old childs drowning. He went under six times, and every time I saved him. And every time he called out to me, baba. Fatima, wincing in pain, said she held on to her sons body even after his death, letting him go only to save herself. Her arms and thighs were covered in bruises, she said, and her breasts were sore and heavy with milk. Their family had fled Myanmar in mid-September when the Myanmar military allegedly razed a village near their home in Mwai Daung in the Rathetaung township. Myanmar has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing, saying the military offensive was a clearance operation to flush out Rohingya fighters who had staged attacks on border posts in August. Myanmar considers the Rohingya illegal immigrants from Bangladesh despite the ethnic minority living there for generations. Salams family left behind 6.5 hectares of paddy fields, and only took a few clothes, blankets, bulbs, all of their gold and 500,000 Burmese Kyat ($366). They trekked for three days through the foothills of the Mayu mountains to Go Zon Dia, a border village where the Naf River flows into the Bay of Bengal. There, they boarded a packed and rickety fishing boat organised by a relative in Australia. Thousands remained on the Nafs mud flats as they set off. Most refugee boats departing Go Zon Dia dock at Shah Porir Dwip, a Bangladeshi fishing village two hours from the Myanmar coast. But their boat got lost when Myanmar soldiers opened fire, Salam said, causing the captain to take to the open seas, where they remained overnight and through the next day. IN PICTURES: Rohingya mothers and babies Hungry and traumatised The weather was so rough. It rained all day. We didnt eat anything, Fatima said. Compounding their misery, the boatmen forced them to throw their belongings, including food, overboard, and attempted to seize their cash and gold, Salam said. Later that afternoon the captain, fearing Bangladesh border guards, refused to anchor at Shah Porir Dwip, Fatima recalled. Instead, he took them further west, and was looking to come ashore at an unguarded point when the boat capsized. This was not the case for most sea voyages, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said. Hala Jaber, an IOM spokeswoman, said a majority of the fishermen only asked for the cost of fuel and that most Rohingya were surviving the journey. A lot of people from Bangladesh from the areas near the border are doing this because they want to help, she said. Everything we know is that these people are really feeling for the Rohingya. Border officials and aid agencies said that Bangladeshs borders remained open to refugees, a claim fishermen from Shah Porir Dwip also backed. In Kutupalong, Fatimas family now faces an uncertain future as they try to rebuild their lives. We lost everything, she said. Clutching her surviving son Abdul Rahman to her chest, she added: We lost members of our families, our homes and our neighbours. I hope the world community will ensure us justice. Additional reporting by Adil Sakhawat and Anamur Rahman At least 50 people were killed and more than 400 injured when a gunman opened fire at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, raining down bullets from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before shooting himself dead, according to police. The death toll, which police emphasised was preliminary, would make the attack the deadliest mass shooting in US history, eclipsing last years massacre of 49 people at an Orlando nightclub. Cole Watson, who was at the concert with his wife and kids, said: At first it sounded like someone was setting off a whole lot of firecrackers. He said when they realised it was gunfire and everybody started running. The scene was insane it was absolute chaos, Watson told Al Jazeera by telephone. Some 22,000 people were in the crowd when the man opened fire, sending panicked people fleeing the scene, in some cases trampling one another, as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack. At least 406 people were taken to area hospitals with injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said. In March 1959, the spiritual head of the Tibetans, the then 24-year-old Dalai Lama, with a rifle slung over his shoulder, made a dramatic escape on horseback from the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Assisted by Tibetans resisting China, he crossed into Tawang in Indias then North East Frontier Agency (NEFA, now in Arunachal Pradesh). At the border, waiting to receive a physically and mentally worn out Dalai Lama, was an Indian official. As soon as I saw his face it was a feeling of reunion and then I knew I was safe and there was no danger, the Dalai Lama told a group of journalists in 2009. Be it the Tibetans, or Sri Lankan Tamils, or Afghans, or Bangladeshis escaping what was East Pakistan in 1971, India has had a long history of giving asylum to refugees. Giving them a space they can call their own. This despite Indias refusal to become a state party to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 and the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1967. However, the Indian governments recent efforts to smear all Rohingya in India as illegal migrants, expel them en masse, and prevent Rohingya from entering the country, is an alarming development, which risks dismantling the safe space India has historically provided to refugees. Indias Home Ministry has suggested that the 40,000 Rohingya it estimates are in India, and those who may potentially enter the country, pose a national security threat. This position stigmatises members of the community who have fled their homes following decades of violence and persecution in Myanmar. It is a position bereft of a moral or legal compass, which feeds into the rising tide of Islamophobia in India. READ MORE: Amnesty: Indias Rohingya need support, not expulsion Indias volte-face on refugee rights appears to be a mix of paranoia and xenophobia. It is an approach that welcomes Hindu refugees from Indias neighbouring countries, but shuts the door on Rohingya, who are predominantly Muslim, in the name of national security. But this move goes against Indias international legal obligations, and also its constitutional guarantees of human rights. In August this year, following attacks by a Rohingya armed group on dozens of security forces posts, the Myanmars security forces have engaged in an unlawful and disproportionate campaign of violence against the Rohingya, which has led 436,000 of them to flee to Bangladesh. The UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein has correctly said, I deplore current measures in India to deport Rohingyas at a time of such violence against them in their country. Indias legal obligations Amnesty International has documented evidence of a brutal campaign of what can be described as ethnic cleansing, with the Rohingya targeted for their ethnicity and religion. In legal terms, these are crimes against humanity that include murder and deportation or forcible transfer of the population. And if India expels Rohingya refugees, they would face the risk of such crimes. India should push Myanmar to stop the violence, allow access to the UN Fact Finding Missions and ensure full and unfettered humanitarian aid for all affected communities. by In a battle being fought at the Supreme Court against the proposed expulsion of Rohingya from India, the Indian government maintains that the principle of non-refoulement a fundamental principle of international law that prohibits countries from sending back refugees to a country where their life or wellbeing would be at risk is not binding on it since it is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention. That interpretation is incorrect. As pointed out by the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, the principle of non-refoulement is a part of customary international law, which is binding on all countries, regardless of whether they have signed the UN Convention. India, unfortunately, does not have a domestic legal refugee protection law of its own. Its treatment of refugees falls largely under the Foreigners Act of 1946, which makes no distinction between asylum seekers, refugees and other foreigners. This Act also criminalises undocumented physical presence in the country. About 14,000 Rohingya in India have been recognised as refugees by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This recognition, in some cases, has allowed refugees to procure a long-term visa, and helped them access education, healthcare, and housing. However the recent smearing of all Rohingya as illegal immigrants puts these at risk. Two of Indias north-eastern states, Assam and Manipur, have issued circulars saying that the police should push back Rohingya who try to enter India, and there are reports that this is already taking place. It doesnt take much to aid xenophobia. Nowhere to go? Myanmars Rakhine state is home to just over a million Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority who have faced decades of state-sponsored discrimination and violence. They have for years been denied the right to a nationality under the discriminatory 1982 citizenship law and its application, and suffer severe restrictions on their other rights, for example, freedom of movement and access to healthcare, education and livelihood opportunities. READ MORE: India plans to deport thousands of Rohingya refugees Most of those who have fled in the last month have been forced to traverse the Naf river which separates Myanmar and Bangladesh to seek refuge there. As the Myanmar security forces and vigilante mobs continue to burn villages and shoot at civilians, international investigators, and in particular a UN-mandated Fact Finding Mission are being prevented from accessing Rakhine state. One can only get a sense of the terror from the smoke billowing from the burnt villages or the satellite images or from the stories of those who have managed to escape. Against this toxicity, India has a legal, ethical, and moral responsibility to help people escaping persecution. It must not expel Rohingya to Myanmar, or prevent them from coming to India, and must instead suspend the transfer to Myanmar of all military and security equipment and assistance. India should push Myanmar to stop the violence, allow access to the UN Fact Finding Missions and ensure full and unfettered humanitarian aid for all affected communities. Arijit Sen works for Amnesty International, India. Follow him on Twitter: @senarijit The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. The control of food importation into Yemen is being used as a weapon of war, seemingly by all sides. The last two decades have seen a significant expansion of international, regional and domestic accountability mechanisms for an array of international crimes and a variety of forgotten victims. Much of this activity has been focused on the conduct of senior military and political leaders who control or significantly contribute to excesses on the battlefield. However, as is becoming clear, this focus does not adequately confront the scale or scope of victims living in the path of armed conflict or under the yoke of brutalising regimes. This year has seen the resurgence of famine. South Sudan is enduring the first famine to be declared globally for six years. Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen are all on the brink of famine. In each, deliberate political and military action has contributed to the resulting death and injury of thousands of innocent civilians, demanding that serious consideration be given to prosecuting those responsible. Yemen is emblematic of the problem and may provide a backdrop for the development of the potential remedy proffered by a more imaginative approach to the prosecution of those who engineer, or fail to act to prevent, mass starvation. Yemen has been described as the war the world forgot eclipsed by Syria and complicated by a Saudi-led coalition supported by the United States, the United Kingdom and France. The resulting humanitarian disaster features a famine of cataclysmic proportions. The word famine evokes images of dusty pot-bellied children and the wrath of nature. However, the reality is that this is less natures cruelty and more mans: starvation often more accurately reflects these wholly human-made and preventable catastrophes, where failed diplomacy and ostensible military objectives collide. READ MORE: Saudi Arabias war in Yemen a strategic failure While perhaps viewed as collateral to the conflict, political and military actors could have easily predicted this crisis and taken preventative measures to avoid. Yemen is almost entirely dependent upon imports for its staple commodities. Prior to the conflict, approximately 80-90 percent of food was imported, principally at the Red Sea port of al-Hudaida, which quickly became the epicentre of the fighting. Eventually, coalition forces imposed a UN Security Council-approved blockade on the port in March 2015. Prosecuting famine as a war crime faces distinct and sometimes significant obstacles. by While the blockade contains an exemption for food, little has been done to ensure the continued functioning of the port. For example, the port has been aerially bombed and there are reports that the Houthi rebels have destroyed key infrastructure at the port causing delays in the importation of food with foreseeable and fatal consequences. In addition, food and humanitarian supplies reportedly encounter laborious inspection procedures and, in some cases, are reportedly being withheld or destroyed. This blockade and the attacks on the port are contributing to, or causing, the famine in Yemen. Some 17 million are food-insecure (defined as inconsistent access to adequate food supplies), and 6.8 million facing famine conditions. Put another way, more people are facing famine than the present population of Kuwait. Justice demands that a variety of legal avenues be pursued to hold those responsible for a famine accountable. The prohibition of starvation as a method of warfare is criminalised under customary international law governing conflict, the Geneva Conventions, and the Rome Statute. Despite having these legal facilities available, there have been only two known prosecutions- both domestic and conducted in absentia that have entered convictions for starvation as a war crime and a crime against humanity: the first in Croatia and the second in Ethiopia. Given the frequency with which famine occurs as a consequence of conflict, taking such a passive approach to famine does not respect a states duty to mount effective prosecutions of serious violations of international humanitarian law. OPINION: Nobody will win the war in Yemen There have been several steps already taken in considering accountability in Yemen. For example, Yemens exiled President Hadi established a National Commission of Inquiry in September 2015 mandated to investigate the alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. However, it failed to obtain the support of all concerned parties and was unable to operate in parts of Yemen. In August 2017, an open letter was sent to the UN Human Rights Council with 62 signatories from non-governmental organisations around the world, calling for the creation of an independent body to look into the violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws in Yemen. Prosecuting famine as a war crime faces distinct and sometimes significant obstacles. First, blockades that cause starvation are not prohibited so long as their purpose is to achieve, and is proportionate to, a military objective. Second, the causal link between action and outcome may not be clear enough to establish beyond reasonable doubt that remote military or political actors are responsible. READ MORE: Women like us: On Women and war in Yemen Yemen faces both these obstacles. First, the blockade is purportedly pursuant to the legitimate military objective of prohibiting the illegal supply of arms to rebel groups like the Houthis. Second, the evidentiary problems of establishing individual criminal responsibility in a country which has always depended, almost entirely, on food imports and has historically endured food insecurity issues are complex. Notwithstanding, amongst the other three famine affected countries, Yemen may offer the clearest set of facts that amount to crimes with which to pursue accountability. The UN Special Rapporteur has urged the blockade to be lifted in order to prevent starvation. In his view, the blockade was one of the main causes of the humanitarian catastrophe. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the control of food importation into Yemen is being used either intentionally or negligently, as a weapon of war, seemingly by all sides. Those responsible should be held accountable as primary perpetrators of, or accessories to, starvation. Catriona Murdoch is a consultant with Global Rights Compliance and a member of 1 Crown Office Row Chambers in England. Catriona practices international humanitarian and criminal law. Wayne Jordash QC is a managing partner of Global Rights Compliance LLP a human rights and humanitarian advisory law company specializing in the reform of national systems of accountability to ensure complementarity with international standards. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Improvised explosive device planted on a road in Malam Jabba in Swat Valley kills one and wounds two others. Islamabad, Pakistan A remote-controlled roadside bomb explosion targeting an anti-Taliban leader in the northern Pakistani Swat Valley has killed one man and wounded two others, police say. The blast targeted the vehicle of Ahmed Zeb, a local leader opposed to the Taliban near the town of Malam Jabba, about 150km north of the capital Islamabad, on Monday. Zebs father Mian Sher was killed in the attack, police said. His brother Muhammad and another companion were also wounded. The attack killed his father. [Ahmed Zeb] was not even in the vehicle. It was a remote controlled IED [improvised explosive device] planted on a remote rural road, Akhtar Hayat Khan, the Swat Valley police chief, told Al Jazeera. Pakistani Taliban fighters took partial control of the Swat Valley in 2007, the first territory outside of the countrys tribal districts where they were able to establish their rule. They were defeated two years later after a series of military operations that have since been hailed as the blueprint for the Pakistani militarys continuing battle against the group. Zeb is a member of the local Village Defence Committee (VDC), a network of councils created across the valley in the wake of those operations to establish and maintain government control in conjunction with local tribal elders. Anti-Taliban leaders have often been targeted by the Pakistani Taliban in revenge attacks that have continued long after their defeat. In 2012, gunmen attempted to kill then 14-year-old student Malala Yousafzai, who had often written against the brutality of their rule, in one such attack. Mondays attack, however, is the first such assassination attempt in more than 15 months, said Khan. Obviously it is a serious incident and we are working on this, he said. Many VDC leaders such as Zeb, particularly those facing repeated threats, are accorded police protection. Not all, however, can be given such protection, given that there were scores of such committees, said Khan. Some of them are still getting police protection [] as per agreed lists with the councils, he said. Given the number of VDCs, if we provide protection to every VDC member then the police in Swat would only be doing one job: protecting them. Ahmed Zeb was not one of those currently assigned police bodyguards. Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras Web Correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim. Mohammad Azmal Haque, who served in the Indian army for 30 years, has been asked to prove his nationality. Guwahati, India Police in Indian state of Assam has accused an army veteran, who served the country for 30 years, of being an undocumented migrant and asked him to prove his nationality in a Foreigners Tribunal court. The Foreigners Tribunal, established to detect illegal citizens residing in India, has issued a notice in the name of Mohammad Azmal Haque, 49, who retired from Indian Army as Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO). The notice said that Haque had entered the country after March 25 of 1971 without any papers the cut-off date to be considered for Indian citizenship. It further said if Haque thinks otherwise, he needs to be present at the court in Kamrup district with proper documents to prove if he is an Indian. I was shocked and stunned. I never expected this kind of treatment after serving the nation for 30 years. I gave everything for my country. I had taken pledge to put my country first before anything else when I joined the army and I take pride in it, Haque told Al Jazeera. The notice was issued on July 6 this year. As it arrived late at his residence, he missed the date on September 11. Now he is expected to appear in the court on October 13. READ MORE: The demons within: Indias tryst with torture But this is something I never expected. Its humiliating, a sobbing Haque, told Al Jazeera, from his residence at Chaygaon, in Kamrup district of Assam state, in the northeastern part of India. Haque who joined the Indian Army in 1986 said that all his documents were verified by police before he was inducted into the army. Besides, my father Maqbul Alis name features in the 1966 voters list. If my parents are Indian and if all my siblings are Indian, how can I be an illegal foreigner? Im very hurt at this treatment, said Haque whose elder son is studying at Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) and aspires to be an army man. Incidentally, his wife Mamataj Khanam was also served notice in 2012 when Azmal was still serving in the army. However, it was sorted out later in the court. This is nothing but harassment. How many times we need to prove our citizenship? asked the army veteran. Indian defence official, Lieutenant Colonel Suneet Newton, said that Haque will be provided all required assistance. We have learnt of the matter and we are looking into the details, the required assistance will be provided to the individual, Newton said. Assam Director General of Police Mukesh Sahay also said that he will look into the matter why the notice was served to the former army officer. READ MORE: To be an Indian patriot Aman Wadud, Haques lawyer, said that his client was never approached by any investigation agency. He (Haque) is being accused as illegal immigrant without any investigation whatsoever. If a person who served Indian Army for 30 years can be harassed and humiliated in this manner you can imagine what normal citizens go through. This is the story of hundreds of thousands of genuine Indian citizens in Assam who are being harassed and humiliated on daily basis in the name illegal immigrants, Aman told Al Jazeera. Earlier this year, Abu Taher Ahmed, a policeman himself, was also served notice as an illegal citizen. Though, he was cleared later. According to the government data there are altogether 141,733 doubtful or D voters present in Assam. People who are marked as D voters are not allowed to vote and their citizenship rights, entitlements and privileges are withheld until they prove their citizenship. An official document published by Assam government in October, 2012 says that more than 92 percent of the resolved cases of D voters have been declared as genuine Indian nationals. Foreign minister says a delegation from Myanmar offered to take back hundreds of thousands who fled army violence. Myanmar has proposed taking back the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled a brutal military crackdown into Bangladesh in recent weeks. Bangladeshs Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali told reporters that Myanmar was willing to bring back more than 500,000 people from the persecuted minority after talks on Monday with a senior Myanmar representative. The talks were held in a friendly atmosphere, and Myanmar has made a proposal to take back the Rohingya refugees, Ali said after meeting Myanmar official Kyaw Tint Swe in the capital, Dhaka. What Bangladesh has been saying is that we want to settle this issue peacefully and both countries have agreed to that. Ali said both countries agreed to form a joint working group to start work on the massive repatriation. The Myanmar delegation did not speak to the media. FEATURE: I watched my son drown Rohingya boat survivor The United Nations has called the exodus of 507,000 Rohingya since August 25 the worlds fastest-developing refugee emergency and said Buddhist-majority Myanmar is engaging in ethnic cleansing against its mostly Muslim Rohingya minority. Myanmar rejects that, saying its forces launched an offensive in the north of Rakhine state in response to coordinated attacks by Rohingya fighters. Myanmar blames the rebels for attacks on civilians and for setting most of the fires that have reduced Rohingya villages to ashes. The fighters deny that. Myanmar says more than 500 people have been killed in the latest violence, most of them rebels. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for an end to the violence and for safe zones to be set up in Myanmar to enable refugees to return. She has also called for a UN fact-finding mission to go to Myanmar and for the government to implement recommendations on solving problems in Rakhine drawn up by a team led by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. FEATURE: Rohingya refugees share stories of sexual violence The crisis over Myanmars treatment of the Rohingya is the biggest problem leader Aung San Suu Kyi has had to face since forming a government last year after winning a landmark election in late 2015. Aung San Suu Kyi, in an address to the nation last month, said Myanmar was ready to start a verification process under a 1993 agreement with Bangladesh and refugees from this country will be accepted without any problem. There were already about 300,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh before the most recent exodus. Aung San Suu Kyi has no power over security policy under a military-drafted constitution and the public in Myanmar where Buddhist nationalism has surged over recent years largely supports the offensive. Berlin The far-right party Alternative for Germany has won parliament seats in the country for the first time since the Nazi era. AfD gained many votes by attacking the decision to accommodate more than one million refugees two years ago. For those new arrivals to Germany it is a time of uncertainty. But one project in Berlin is trying to create understanding and unity. The project, called Multaka, which means meeting point in Arabic, also aims is to emphasise the contribution of migrants to Western culture. More economic sanctions on Iraqs Kurdish region are expected in retaliation for last weeks secession referendum. Now businesses near the Turkish border fear their crossing may also close. More economic sanctions on Iraqs Kurdish region are expected in retaliation for last weeks secession referendum. Iran has joined Iraqi efforts to take control of its border crossing from the Kurdish Regional Government. Now businesses near the Turkish border fear their crossing may also close. Al Jazeeras Andrew Simmons reports from Habur on the Turkey-Iraq border. From college dropout to head of Catalonias regional government, former journalist eyes independence. Standing inside the grand hall of the Palau de la Generalitat, the Catalan regional governments headquarters in the Spanish city of Barcelona, in early 2016, a 54-year-old bespectacled former journalist addressed a crowd of politicians and citizens. Carles Puigdemont had just been inaugurated the Catalan president. Hanging around his neck was the gold medal of the government to symbolise his role as the 130th leader of the region. With pro-independence flags fluttering inside and outside the hall, he declared, We have come from far, but we are not tired. We are full of hope. Impossible is just an opinion. Catalonia referendum: Latest updates As two senior Spanish government officials from Madrid looked on, Puigdemont was defiant, vowing to consolidate support among the Catalans in his uphill effort to establish an independent republic. We are pretty confident about the future of Catalonia within the European Union. It is a yes-yes situation, he said in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeeras John Hendren recently. On October 1, 2017, millions of Catalans voted in a referendum, with the large majority of voters supporting independence. That same day, violence unfolded as the government in Madrid tried to stop the vote from happening. In the weeks following the referendum, Puigdemont inched closer to his goal for his homeland, becoming the unlikely leader of a movement that started in a tiny town in the Catalan province of Girona. Almost four weeks after the referendum, Catalonia officially declared independence, with the Spanish government in Madrid immediately triggering Article 155, which allows the national government to take direct control of Catalonia. A day later, the Spanish government dismissed Puigdemont and his cabinet, calling for new regional elections on December 21. Puigdemont and a handful of other Catalan ministers then left Barcelona for Belgium, where they remain. Spain has issued an international arrest warrant for the Catalan leaders. Puigdemont was the driving force behind Catalonia declaring independence on October 27. But who is the now sacked Catalan leader? Catalonia referendum: Who are the Catalans? He was born on December 29, 1962, in the Catalan region. At 16, he started working as a reporter for the local newspaper Diari de Girona. At the University of Girona, Puigdemont studied Catalan philosophy. But he dropped out of university to become a full-time journalist. After working for years for the now-defunct newspaper El Punt, he became its editor-in-chief in 1988. He wrote for the journal, Presencia and also founded the English-language magazine, Catalonia Today. In 2006, Puigdemont left journalism to join a Catalan electoral alliance, which later turned into a pro-independence movement. Because of his background in communication, he also helped establish the Catalan News Agency, a digital native mouthpiece for the Catalan movement. In 2011, he was elected mayor of Girona, the capital of the province of the same name. He was the first politician in 32 years to break the Socialist Party of Catalonias dominance in the city. Puigdemont further burnished his political credentials among Catalans by becoming chairman of the Association of Municipalities for Independence and being elected a member of the regional parliament. On January 10, 2016, he was elected president of Catalonia. He is the first Catalan president to not declare an oath of loyalty to the Spanish constitution and the current king, Felipe VI. Amid criticism from the central government in Madrid for his role in the referendum, Puigdemont managed to push for the vote in the Catalan parliament. The voting was declared unconstitutional by the countrys courts. However, Puigdemont and his supporters were defiant as he pushed for the regions second referendum on independence in three years. Of those that cast their ballots, a majority voted in favour of independence, leading to a political crisis in Spain. On October 27, Catalonias future once again caused turmoil after the region declared independence from Spain. Several hours after the declaration, Puigdemont was fired, and his regional government dissolved. The future of Puigdemont and the Catalan independence project is now uncertain. The day after the declaration, the Spanish prime minister dissolved the Catalan Parliament and called for new regional elections on 21 December 2017. On 30 October Puigdemont and other members of the Catalan government were charged with rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds, charges that carry a maximum sentence of 30 years. On the same day, Puigdemont and five other Catalan ministers fled to Belgium, having left Catalonia right after the charges were laid. Puigdemont claimed he had gone to the capital of Europe to speak from a position of freedom and safety. He said that he wouldnt return to Spain unless he was guaranteed a fair trial. On 7 December 2017, about 45,000 Catalan protesters descended on Brussels in support of the exiled president. The protests took place outside EU institutions aiming to put pressure on EU institutions to support the regions cause. While remaining in self-exile, Puigdemont contested the regional elections on 21 December and was re-elected to Parliament. In the election, Catalan secessionists retained a slim majority in the Catalan Parliament. After the election, Puigdemont called for new unconditional talks with the Spanish government and proposed to meet Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy outside Spain, but the latter rejected the offer. On 25 March 2018, while travelling from Finland to Brussels by car, Puigdemont was detained by German police on the border with Denmark. The German officers were acting on a European arrest warrant that had been issued against him by the Spanish Supreme Court. Catalan leaders expected to declare independence from Spain, which would present historic challenge to PM Rajoy. Catalonia, in northeastern Spain, held its second referendum on independence in three years on October 1. What happened? Catalonia voted in favour of independence with 90 percent voting Yes in Sundays referendum, the regions officials have said. The Catalan government, which said turnout for the referendum was 42 percent, has now opened the door to a unilateral declaration announcing secession from Spain. The citizens of Catalonia have won the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic, said Carlos Puigdemont, leader of the Catalan government, on Sunday. My government, in the next few days will send the results of todays vote to the Catalan parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum, he added. READ MORE: Yes wins Catalonia independence vote marred by chaos Whats next? It seems clear that Catalonias leaders now intend to declare independence from Spain in the coming days, triggering a political and constitutional crisis for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys administration. Such a declaration, though lacking legal force, would present a historic challenge to Rajoy who has accused supporters of independence of trying to blackmail the whole nation. The Spanish constitutional court ordered a suspension of the referendum, following a legal appeal against the vote from Madrid, on September 7. Spains 1978 constitution decrees that the country is indivisible, and grants the national government exclusive power to hold referendums. A Catalonian declaration of independence could force the Spanish government to invoke Article 155 of the constitution, which stipulates that following approval granted by the overall majority of the Senate Madrid would be able to suspend Catalonias current autonomy. Puigdemont appears unperturbed by such a possibility. Instead, he seems to be politically emboldened following the referendum, which witnessed more than two million people vote Yes to independence. Catalonia has earned the right to be heard, to be respected and to be recognised, he said on Sunday. Rajoy, in contrast, faces a fight for his future and the unity of Spain. He leads a minority government in Madrid whose precarious position may now be exploited by opposition parties seeking to take advantage of this political crisis. Violence by Spanish police against civilians in Catalonia on Sunday appears to have damaged his position. Ada Colau, the mayor of Barcelona, called for his resignation, accusing him of having crossed all the red lines with police actions against normal people that left almost 800 people injured. Rajoy is due to meet government officials in Madrid on Monday before holding a parliamentary session on the issue. Pro-independence trade unions in Catalonia have called for a general strike in the region on October 3, according to Reuters news agency. READ MORE: Catalonia referendum Who are the Catalans? Why does it matter? Catalonia, home to 7.5 million people, accounts for 15 percent of Spains population and 20 percent of its economic output. The areas tax revenues form a critical part of Spains state budget. Spain is the Eurozones fourth biggest economy. As such, the situation presents a major economic concern for Rajoy on top of the mounting political crisis he now faces. Terrorist explosion in al-Midan area kills more than 10 people, including civilians and police, in continued violence. More than 10 people have been killed in apparently coordinated blasts in the capital of Syria, Damascus, according to several sources. A car bomb went off near a police station in Damascus al-Midan neighbourhood on Monday, shortly before two suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. The 11 dead included police officers and civilians, the SOHR said, adding that the attack also caused injuries. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Syrian state TV blamed two suicide bombers for a terrorist explosion in al-Midan area while the pro-government Al Mayadeen TV channel said four fighters carried out the attack, killing more than 10 people. Ministers account The fighters targeted the police station in al-Midan and clashed with police officers there, Mohammad al-Shaar, Syrias interior minister, said in comments broadcast by state television from the police station. One attacker blew himself up at the main entrance, and another detonated his explosive device on the first floor, he said. Footage broadcast by state TV showed bodies wrapped in shrouds at the scene and firefighters putting out flames. Previous suicide attacks in Damascus have been claimed by both the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group and the Hayet Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance, which is led by the group formerly known as al-Nusra Front. Mondays attack came a day after SOHR said September was the deadliest month of the conflict this year, with at least 3,000 people, including 955 civilians, killed. More than 70 percent of the civilians were killed in regime and Russian air raids, or in air raids of the international coalition battling ISIL, also known as ISIS, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, SOHR head. Backed by Russian air raids, the forces of Syrias President Bashar al-Assad are pressing a battle to retake ISIL-controlled areas in the eastern province of Deir Az Zor. A US-led international coalition has been providing air support to a Kurdish-Arab alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), also fighting ISIL in its former northern bastion of Raqqa city and Deir Az Zor. Increased fighting The number of people killed in September was higher due to increased fighting and intensified air raids of the international coalition and Russia against jihadist bastions in the north and east of Syria, but also due to increased Russian and regime strikes on rebel-held areas, Abdel Rahman said. Russian and government warplanes have in the past two weeks increased their strikes on the northwestern province of Idlib, which is largely controlled by HTS. The 955 civilians killed in September included 207 children, said the SOHR, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria for its information. It said the toll also included 790 government troops and loyalists, 738 fighters from ISIL and HTS, and 550 opposition fighters and SDF members. Syrias conflict has killed more than 330,000 people and displaced millions since it broke out in 2011 with a crackdown on anti-government protests before evolving into a complex war drawing in world powers. Thirty people die in two mass shootings within hours, shocking the country and prompting calls for tighter gun control. At least 22 people were killed after a man armed with an assault rifle opened fire in a packed Walmart store in El Paso, Texas on Saturday the seventh deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. Hours later, a gunman dressed in body armour opened fire in a downtown district of Dayton, Ohio on Sunday, killing nine people and wounding at least 26 others. God bless the people of El Paso Texas. God bless the people of Dayton, Ohio, US President Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday. Six of the 10 deadliest massacres in the United States have taken place in the last five years. Heres a look at the deadliest mass shootings in the US over the last 35 years: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas (2017): 58 killed Attacker Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd of concertgoers at a country music festival at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more. Pulse nightclub, Orlando (2016): 49 killed A heavily armed man killed 49 people inside a gay nightclub in the city of Orlando on June 12, 2016. The attacker, US citizen Omar Mateen, was killed in a gun battle with police. He had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, which later claimed responsibility for the attack. Virginia Tech University, Virginia (2007): 32 killed A 23-year-old student, South Korean national Seung-Hui Cho, went on a rampage at Virginia Tech University in April 2007, killing 27 students and five teachers before committing suicide. Sutherland Springs church, Texas (2017): 26 killed A gunman opened fire on a Sunday morning church service in the small rural town of Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing at least 26 people and injuring 20 others. The youngest person killed was 17 months old. Sandy Hook, Connecticut (2012): 26 killed A 20-year-old American citizen, Adam Lanza, killed his mother in December 2012 before shooting and killing 20 children aged between 6 and 7, and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. He later committed suicide. Texas restaurant (1991): 23 killed In October 1991, 35-year-old George Hennard, a US citizen, shot dead 22 people in a restaurant in the town of Killeen before shooting himself. The 23rd victim succumbed to her wounds three days after the shooting. Walmart store, El Paso (2019): 22 killed A man armed with an assault rifle opened fire at a packed shopping area in El Paso, in the US state of Texas, killing at least 20 people and wounding 26 others. McDonalds, San Ysidro (1984): 21 killed In July 1984, 41-year-old James Huberty, shot dead 21 people and wounder 19 others in a mass shooting at McDonalds restaurant in San Ysidro. Florida high school (2018): 17 killed A former student opened fire on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in southeastern Florida , killing at least 17 and injuring more than a dozen others. San Bernardino (2015): 14 killed A newlywed couple US citizen Rizwan Farook and his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, who was a permanent resident stormed an office party at a social services centre in San Bernardino, California in December 2015, killing 14 people and injuring 22 others. The couple were shot dead by police. Fort Hood military base (2009): 13 killed In November 2009, US Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan opened fire at his military base in Killeen, killing 13 people and injuring 42 others. New York immigrant centre (2009): 13 killed A Vietnamese immigrant, Jiverly Antares Wong, shot and killed 13 people at a civic centre in the city of Binghamton in April 2009, before killing himself. Columbine High (1999) : 13 killed Two American teenage boys Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 12 classmates and a teacher, before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in April 1999. Virginia Beach, Virginia (2019): 12 killed At least 12 people were killed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in May 2019 when a gunman opened fired at a municipal centre, sending employees scrambling for cover before police and shot and killed him, authorities said. Navy Yard headquarters (2013): 12 killed Former serviceman Aaron Alexis, a US citizen, shot randomly at workers at the Washington Navy Yard headquarters in September 2013, killing 12 people before he was shot dead by police. Aurora, Colorado (2012): 12 killed James Holmes, a US citizen born in California, wearing body armour, stormed a cinema showing a late-night premiere of a Batman film in Aurora, Colorado in July 2012, opening fire and releasing tear gas. Twelve people were killed and 70 others wounded. Holmes was sentenced to life in prison. California bar (2018): 12 killed A 28-year-old US Marine Corps combat veteran opened fire in a crowded country music bar in California, killing 12 people in November 2018. The assailant, a troubled former machine gunner who served a tour in Afghanistan, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Synagogue in Pittsburgh (2018): 11 killed A 46-year-old gunman burst into the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during Shabbat services, killing eleven people in October 2018. He reportedly yelled All Jews must die! during the attack. He was indicted on 29 counts, some of which carry the death penalty. High School in Santa Fe (2018): 10 killed A 17-year-old student armed with a shotgun and a revolver opened fire just as classes started at his school in Santa Fe, Texas, in May 2018. He killed 10 people, including eight students. The student, who authorities say used weapons legally owned by his father, was taken into custody on murder charges. Oregon District of Dayton, Ohio (2019): 9 killed Twitter users accuse US president of double standard over his reaction to deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. US President Donald Trump has been criticised on social media over his reaction to the deadliest mass shooting in the countrys modern history. At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 others injured on Sunday when a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concert-goers in Las Vegas, Nevada. The attacker, named by police as Stephen Paddock, was found dead in a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, from where he is believed to have carried out the attack. In a televised speech on Monday, Trump expressed his warmest condolences, calling the attack an act of pure evil. READ MORE: Las Vegas Mandala Bay shooting: What, where and who? He also praised local law enforcement for their rapid response to the shooting. Trumps first reaction came hours after the mass shooting took place, when he tweeted that the attack was a terrible tragedy. Many on social media felt Trumps reaction on Twitter, and later during his speech was too little, too late. Donald Trump responded to the London Bridge attack in 2 hours, Parsons Green explosion in 3. Now 5+ hours since Las Vegas and still silent. Lizzie Dearden (@lizziedearden) October 2, 2017 No Trump tweets yet abt the #LasVegas shooting. What is he waiting 4? 2 find out the shooter is/isnt white? Now is a good time 2 b a leader Sherri TWDFan4Ever (@Specneedsmom4) October 2, 2017 https://twitter.com/hachik012/status/914803783254761473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw US police revealed on Monday that Paddock had in excess of 10 guns in his hotel room, renewing the debate over gun control in the US. Since taking office, Trump has raised the issue of gun ownership rights only obliquely at a few of the campaign-style rallies he has held. But he has taken steps to roll back some restrictions on gun use and sales put into effect while his predecessor, Barack Obama, was in office. https://twitter.com/Joel_Ainsworth/status/914805441829457920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw "Las Vegas" Presumaby #Trump will now issue a complete and total ban on Americans entering the United States of America. Or ban guns maybe Scott Tracey (@Hammersfanno) October 2, 2017 #LasVegas Is it normal in the States to carry machine guns around? Uuups, Trump is President and yes it is normal. Sad, very sad!!! Manukay (@Manukay1) October 2, 2017 Replying to reporters questions on gun control on Monday, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, said there is a time and place for a debate but that is not the place were in at this moment. She said Trump was focused on the victims and stressed that it was a time to unite the country. Obama frequently used mass shootings to call for stricter gun control laws. Some social media users also condemned Trump for not calling the Las Vegas shooter a terrorist, with many pointing to what they say is a double standard in the way white attackers and non-white attackers are labelled and treated in the US. A non-exhaustive comparison of the response by President Trump to terror attacks depending on whether the perpetrator(s) or victims are Muslim #disappointing pic.twitter.com/qPbsAtULus Miqdaad Versi (@miqdaad) October 2, 2017 https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/914866451508494339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/GuthrieGF/status/914884119254978560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Las Vegas shooter identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, a Las Vegas localWhy wont Trump call out this violent DOMESTIC terrorism? Cyrus Sanati (@BeyondBlunt) October 2, 2017 #domesticterrorism hits Las Vegas. Death toll up to 50. This, Mr #Trump , is the real terror threat to Americans!https://t.co/vPRZxj3e9U NOBODY likes Kamala Harris (@CheetahkitD1) October 2, 2017 Sundays attack is the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. So far in 2017, the watchdog group Gun Violence Archive has documented 273 mass shootings in the country. Journalists in dozens of cities across India have protested against recent attacks on the media on the 148th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the countrys independence movement. Journalists have protested in almost every state across India today. This is unprecedented and historic, tweeted senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai on Monday, who was among the more than 100 journalists gathered at the Press Club of India in New Delhi. Between 100 to 150 journalists in New Delhi formed human chains to send a message of peace. Gandhi Jayanti is a day of peace. We took out a peaceful march from the Press Club of India to the Womens Press Corps, Munne Bharti, a journalist with NDTV, told Al Jazeera. Delhi protest against killing of journalists pic.twitter.com/AJntyqUbHL Siddharth (@svaradarajan) October 2, 2017 Journalists are being attacked and killed, and the perpetrators are not being arrested. We demand that government act against the killers. There are fears that journalists critical of the government might be targeted in the future. The government should take steps for the safety of journalists. READ MORE: Gauri Lankesh A fearless Indian journalist silenced The recent killings of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh a vocal critic of the government and young reporter Shantanu Bhowmik has riled the media fraternity in India. Journalists critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modis administration have been targeted by online supporters of the government, many of them followed by Modi himself. Journalists &activists gather on #GandhiJayanti to condemn attacks on journos at Press Club @newslaundry pic.twitter.com/ByYmHnXPkA Shruti Menon (@shrutimenon10) October 2, 2017 Ravish Kumar, one of Indias finest broadcast journalists, wrote a public letter last week to the Indian prime minister, seeking Modis intervention to stop online harassment and threats against journalists. The sad part is that you happen to follow some of these people on Twitter who use grotesque language and indiscriminately dole out threats. And you have continued to subscribe to their accounts even after their malevolence was highlighted in public and sparked controversies. That such people should be able to claim or have any affiliation to you does not behoove either you or the dignity of your office, he wrote. His fears are not without basis. India is the third most dangerous nation for journalists after Iraq and Syria, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. In Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, Indias ranking slipped by three places to 136 out of 180 countries behind Myanmar and Zimbabwe. With the rise of Hindu nationalists, self-censorship is growing in the mainstream media in India, the report by the Paris-based media watchdog said. A petition signed by journalists is expected to be submitted to the home ministry on October 5, Gautam Lahiri, the president of the Press Council of India, told thewire.in website. Four-month long Southwest Monsoon 2017 comes to an end with below normal rainfall. Rainfall in Indias annual monsoon season was below average and less than forecast. Some crop-growing central and northern states received less rain than needed, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said, as the rainy season officially came to an end. Monsoon rains were 95 percent of the long-term average compared with the IMDs forecast of 98 percent, marking the fourth consecutive year in which the national weather office has overestimated likely rainfall. The monsoon, which delivers about 70 percent of Indias annual rainfall, is critical for the farming sector that accounts for about 15 percent of Indias economy and employs more than half of its 1.3 billion people. Indias rainfall was below average mostly because of low rainfall in the oilseeds and pulses-growing central state of Madhya Pradesh, and in the rice-growing northern states of Haryana and Punjab. While rice output is expected to decline by two percent from 2016 because of better irrigation in the rain deficient northern states, soybean output could fall about eight percent, the government said. Conversely, as is always the case, there are places that have enjoyed an abundant amount of rain. Tamil Nadu recorded its highest monsoon rainfall since 1996. The state recorded a 30 percent excess in rainfall this season, compared with last years 20 percent deficit during the same period. IMD has adopted the so-called dynamic computer model, based on a US model tweaked for India, to improve the accuracy of its forecasts. IMDs forecast for the 2017 monsoons was its most accurate since 2008, when there was a difference of only one percentage point between the forecast and actual rainfall. Indians mark the 148th birth anniversary of Gandhi, who preached a message of tolerance and global unity. Indians are celebrating the 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the South Asian nations independence. He is remembered for his non-violent protests against British colonial rulers and his criticism of the countrys caste system. Gandhi, who is known as the father of the nation, worked to liberate India while also bridging internal divisions. He was born on October 2, 1869. The following quotes highlight Gandhis legacy of tolerance grounded in an expressed faith in human goodness: On peace: Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds. On tolerance: My religion teaches me to love all equally. On progress: To be dissatisfied with the slowness of progress betrays ignorance of the way in which reform works. On civil action: Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. On democracy: True democracy is not inconsistent with a few persons representing the spirit, the hope and the aspirations of those whom they claim to represent. I hold that democracy cannot be evolved by forcible methods. The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within. On global unity: The logical conclusion of self-sacrifice is that the individual sacrifices himself for the community, the community sacrifices himself itself for the district, the district for the province, the province for the nation, and the nation for the world. A drop torn from the ocean perishes without doing any good. If it remains a part of the ocean, it shares the glory of carrying on its bosom a fleet of mighty ships. On looking forward: The world of tomorrow will be, must be, a society based on non-violence. That is the first law; out of it all other blessings will flow. It may seem a distant goal, an impractical Utopia. But it is not in the least unobtainable, since it can be worked for here and now. Human Rights Watch has accused the Jordanian government of summarily deporting hundreds of registered Syrian refugees, despite the possible harm they may face by going back to their war-torn country. Jordanian authorities have been summarily deporting Syrian refugees including collective expulsions of large families, HRW said in the report. The US-based rights advocacy group released a 27-page document that chronicled the deportation of 400 refugees during the first five months of 2017. It has also called on other countries to increase their assistance to Jordan, which has hosted more than 650,000 Syrian refugees. Jordan shouldnt be sending people back to Syria without making sure they wouldnt face a real risk of torture or serious harm and unless they have had a fair opportunity to plead their case for protection, said Bill Frelick, refugee rights director at HRW. READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning The rights group also accused Jordan of violating its obligations under the Arab Charter of Human Rights, to which it is a party. According to the report, some 300 registered refugees returned to Syria voluntarily during that time, and another 500 returned under unclear circumstances. Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war that is now in its seventh year, Jordan has hosted hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, according to the UN. But the Jordanian authorities have placed the number at more than one million people. The report includes testimonies of 35 Syrian refugees in Jordan, and 13 others who have recently been deported to Syria. Those interviewed say the Jordanian authorities provided little evidence of misconduct before forcefully deporting them, and claim that they were not given the opportunity to appeal or seek legal assistance. Refugees left stranded Last year, at least six Jordanian soldiers were killed in an attack near the countrys border with Syria, in the northeast Rukban district. Following the incident, the Jordanian army declared the northern and northeastern border with Syria as closed military zones. As a result, some 50,000 refugees were left stranded in remote border areas, with limited access to food, water and humanitarian aid. Ahmed Benchemsi, HRWs advocacy and communications director of the MENA division, told Al Jazeera that the Jordanian authorities cite security reasons as the basis of these deportations. READ MORE: US funding cuts and the impact on Syrian refugee women Since the expulsion of Syrian refugees coincides with attacks on Jordanian security forces, the authorities have not provided direct links with these people to the attacks, said Benchemsi. It [expulsions] should not be done in an arbitrary manner. HRW reached out the Jordanian authorities for explanation in August, but did not receive a response, said Benchemsi. We believe it is somehow linked to the attacks against Jordanian forces. This is what local aid workers tell us, he said. Mohammad Momani, Jordans minister of state for media affairs, rejected HRWs findings. The return of refugees is voluntary and not to any dangerous areas, he told local news media. According to local media, he also said international organisations should do more to pressure other countries to host more refugees. Minor violations Though Jordanian authorities regularly cite security concerns as reasons behind deportations and border closures, local rights group say that deportation orders can come from more than one institution in Jordan. Sometimes, minor violations can trigger deportations, Essa Al Mazareeq, head of the Syrian refugee team at the Amman-based National Center for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera. Orders can come from the ministry of labour, the ministry of foreign affairs, or from the public prosecutors office all for different reasons, he explained. But decisions based on security issues will always be above us. According to Al Mazareeq, though not formally announced, Jordans borders with Syria remain largely closed-off, with authorities only granting a limited number of people entry to the country. Police in several cities clash with demonstrators calling for electoral commissioners to be sacked before rerun vote. Before a rerun presidential election, supporters of Kenyas opposition have called for electoral officials to be sacked and demanded the ruling party is blocked from changing voting laws. In the opposition strongholds of Kisumu and Siaya, police on Monday fired tear gas at protesters who jammed roads and burned tyres. Security forces hurled fired tear gas canisters at demonstrators in the capital, Nairobi. The nationwide demonstrations were called by Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, on Thursday. He has promised that protests will take place twice a week until the demonstrators demands are met. We have no other option but to take the battle to the people, Odinga said at a press conference on Thursday, as he called his supporters to turn out in force. I call upon on this generation to resist. They must arise and resist an attempt to try and take them back to the eras of single-party dictatorship. We are calling our people to action, Odinga said. On the same day, the ruling Jubilee party which has a majority in parliament presented their proposal before the legislature to prevent the countrys Supreme Court from annulling the results of the rerun presidential election, scheduled for October 26. The Supreme Court annulled President Uhuru Kenyattas election on September 1, citing illegalities and irregularities in the way results were transmitted. Opposition leaders accused the electoral commission of manipulating the results. Kenyas chief prosecutor on September 24 ordered the countrys anti-corruption commission and the criminal investigation department to investigate several electoral commissioners over possible offences committed during the August 8 general election. The opposition has threatened to boycott the polls if their demands are not met. But President Kenyatta said election re-run will not be delayed. There is no way that the government will allow any person to block any voter from exercising their right to choose the leader or leaders of their choice, Kenyatta said on Friday. Gunman opens fire on concert-goers on the popular Las Vegas Strip in the deadliest US mass shooting in modern history. At least 59 people have been killed and more than 500 injured after at least one gunman opened fire on concert-goers on the popular Las Vegas Strip in the US state of Nevada. The mass shooting took place late on Sunday outside a building at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino during the Route 91 country festival. More than 22,000 people were in attendance at the concert. Police named the shooter as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, who they said fired into the crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. He was later found dead in his hotel room, a police statement said. Eric Paddock, Stephens brother, said on CNN that his brother had absolutely no mental problems or political motives that the family was aware of. READ MORE Las Vegas Mandala Bay shooting: What, where and who? Cole Watson, who was at the concert with his wife and kids, said: At first it sounded like someone was setting off a whole lot of fire crackers. He said when they realised it was gunfire and everybody started running. The scene was insane it was absolute chaos, Watson told Al Jazeera by telephone. Wade Millward, a journalist with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, told Al Jazeera that the attack took place while country-music star Jason Aldean was performing. Witnesses told me they heard a sound like fireworks going off, he said. Aldean played on for about thirty seconds before it dawned on everyone that this was not fireworks. Then people hit the ground and people ran. Watson said he saw several injured people when he and his family ran from the scene of the attack. Aldean later wrote on social media that he and his band and crew were safe. He called the night beyond horrific and offered condolences. Running all over the place Another witness, Felipe Uribe, was watching the concert from the top floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel when he saw the attack take place. We were looking at the concert down below when we saw what appeared to be fireworks, Uribe told Al Jazeera. It wasnt until later on that we realised it was actual gunshots. He said that people were running all over the place and they were laying on the floor on their backs or their stomachs. We didnt know at that time the shots were coming from the hotel. Police later took Uribe and others he was with to a secure location where they had to wait for the situation to be cleared. Videos posted on social media show the crowd ducking for cover as multiple shots can be heard. https://twitter.com/IamChinoDollaz/status/914759836499288064?ref_src=twsrc^tfw The Las Vegas Review-Journals Millward told Al Jazeera the lobby of one of the hospitals where victims were taken was packed with friends and family. Ive seen people wearing bloody clothing and there is discarded bloody clothing outside, he said. There are still people walking by with blood on their shirts. There is police everywhere and there are two helicopters flying overhead. During a press conference, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said that at least 59 people had been killed and more than 500 were injured, but added that the precise number of victims could not be given. Two on-duty police officers were shot, one of them is still in critical condition, Lombardo said. Lombardo added that police are still looking for a possible accomplice, who is wanted for questioning. US President Donald Trump tweeted his warmest condolences to the victims of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. In a televised address Monday morning local time Trump called the attack an act of pure evil. Sundays attack is the deadliest US mass shooting in modern history. So far in 2017, the watchdog group Gun Violence Archive has documented 273 mass shootings in the US. The group also recorded 11,621 gun-related deaths and 23,433 firearm-related injuries during that period. The Mandalay Bay attack comes just weeks after Spencer Hight carried out a mass shooting during a gathering at his estranged wifes home in Plano, Texas. The assailant killed eight people and was later shot dead by police. Three US geneticists discoveries identified genes that set circadian clock which regulates sleep and eating patterns. Three US geneticists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young have been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for shedding light on the biological clock that governs the sleep-wake cycles of most living things. The teams work revealed the role of genes in setting the circadian clock which regulates sleep and eating patterns, hormones and body temperature, the Nobel committee said in announcing the prize on Monday. Their discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronised with the Earths revolutions. All life on Earth is tuned to the rotation of our planet. Scientists have long known that living organisms, including humans, have an internal timekeeper that helps them anticipate and adapt to the rhythm of the day. Hall, 72, Rosbash, 73, and Young, 68, were able to peek inside our biological clock and elucidate its inner workings, the jury said. The three scientists will share the prize of nine million Swedish kronor (about $1.1m or 937,000 euros) They identified genes that regulate the clock, and the mechanism by which light can synchronise it. Circadian dysfunction A disrupted circadian clock is what causes jetlag which happens when the internal clock and external environment move out of sync as people rapidly change time zones. The clock also regulates sleep, which is critical for normal brain function. Circadian dysfunction has been linked to depression, bipolar disorder, cognitive function, poor memory formation and some neurological diseases. Studies have indicated that a chronic misalignment between a persons lifestyle and the circadian clock when doing irregular shift work, for example might be associated with an increased risk for neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic disorders and inflammation. Disruptions to the circadian clock can have serious consequences ranging from impulsive behaviour to life-threatening conditions such as obesity and cancer, the experts say. One need only to look at the poor health records of shift workers such as nurses or factory labourers. The World Health Organization has already raised the red flag, with a 2007 report noting that circadian disruption is probably carcinogenic which means cancer-causing. Scientists are working hard on methods to alter the rhythm of errant clocks as a means to improve human health, the Nobel jury said. The period gene Using the fruit fly as a model organism, this years laureates isolated a gene that controls the daily biological rhythm, called the period gene. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night and is then degraded during the day, the Nobel statement said. Subsequently they identified additional protein components of this machinery, exposing the mechanism governing the self-sustaining clockwork inside the cell. When workers force themselves to stay awake, it triggers the release of stress hormones such as cortisol the same one that rushes into your blood in a life-or-death situation. The chemicals may keep a person awake, but there are significant side effects. For example, cortisol works to suppress the immune system and, in the long run, can make a person more susceptible to a range of illnesses. Such a lifestyle also opens one up to eating outside of normal times, when the bodys metabolism might be lower and the calories are more likely to be converted into fat instead of being burned up. Even short-term disruptions of the circadian clock can wreak havoc on the human body, such as jetlag. Flying from Paris to Los Angeles deposits travellers nine hours earlier in time, upending eating and sleeping patterns. The results can be blunted interaction with the world and a lack of empathy, complex thinking, or even clear memories. In such a state, people can do overly impulsive things jump the red traffic light and fail to see the consequences of actions. Curiosity for medicine Rosbash, born in 1944 in Kansas City, Missouri, to parents who had fled Nazi Germany, received his doctoral degree in 1970 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has since 1974 been on faculty at Brandeis University, where he worked closely with Hall on his prize-winning research. Hall had originally planned to attend medical school when he entered Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1963, but halfway through his bachelors degree, his curiosity for medicine was replaced by one for basic science. He went on to earn his doctoral degree in 1971 at the University of Washington, before joining Brandeis University in 1974. He is now retired. Young received his doctoral degree from the University of Texas in Austin in 1975 and has been on the faculty at Rockefeller University in New York since 1978. After a decade of divide, the Palestinian Authority is expected to take over the administration of the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah arrived in the occupied Gaza Strip on Monday, in the latest effort at national reconciliation between the West Bank-based PA and the Hamas government in Gaza. In a press conference upon his arrival, Hamdallah described the visit as a historic moment towards unity of the Palestinian people. We came at the orders of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to announce to the world, from the heart of Gaza that the Palestinian state cannot be without political and geographic unity between the West Bank and Gaza We know that the only way to achieve our goals is through unity, and to protect the Palestinian political system, said Hamdallah, adding that the national unity government would start to assume its administrative responsibility of the Strip. The premier also announced that several committees have been established to handle issues such as border crossings and PA employees in the Strip. The visit is Hamdallahs first to Gaza in two years. We look forward to turning over the page of division forever, and achieving comprehensive national reconciliation that would strengthen the perseverance of our people and preserve their rights, Iyad al-Buzom, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior in Gaza, said in a statement ahead of the visit. Hamdallah will also be visiting the Shujayea neighbourhood, where the Israeli army committed a massacre during the 2014 war on Gaza. An Egyptian security delegation led by the Egyptian ambassador to Israel, Hazem Khairat, will be monitoring the reconciliation process. READ MORE: Hamas ready to reconcile with Fatah reports After a Hamas delegation met Egyptian diplomats in Cairo late last month, the movement decided it would dissolve its administrative committee and expressed its willingness to reconcile with its rival, the Fatah political party, after a decade of division. Hamass decision to respond to Abbass intitiative and to dissolve the administrative committee is an important step that we will build on with lots of work, Hamdallah said at the press conference. Hamas has been the de-facto ruler in the Gaza Strip since 2007 after the party defeated President Mahmoud Abbas long-dominant Fatah party in parliamentary elections. Hamas then pushed Fatah out of Gaza in a bloody conflict, when the latter refused to recognise the result of the vote. Hamas and Fatah have ruled the Gaza Strip and the West Bank respectively ever since, and multiple attempts at reconciliation have since failed for several reasons. The latest attempt in 2014 was thwarted when Israel launched a 51-day war against Gaza. Hamas control over security and its nature as an armed resistance movement have also constituted an obstacle for the PA, which cooperates with Israel on security-related matters, as laid out in the Oslo Accords, signed in 1993 and 1995 between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel. READ MORE: Is the PLO facing a legitimacy crisis? While administrative control will be handed over, the Hamas government will retain authority over security, a factor that political analysts say is likely to result in the failure of the unity government. Abdulsattar Qassem, a political science professor at the an-Najah University in Nablus in the occupied West Bank, said it was very unlikely that there will be lasting reconciliation. This is all just an exercise. The PA does not believe in the legitimacy of Hamas arms. This means that the PA wants to end the resistance in Gaza and Hamas refuses that. And if Fatah accepts the resistance, Israel will take measures against the PA, Qassem told Al Jazeera. This will inevitably lead to the destruction of the potential new unity government. For this reason, this week, and for the coming months, Hamas and Fatah will attempt not to speak about Oslo and the issue of resistance. At least, to appear successful before the Palestinian people. But at the end of the day, Israel will not accept this. READ MORE: Why Fatah and Hamas wont reconcile Over the last few months, Hamas has been under heavy pressure from Abbas measures against Gaza, aimed at pressuring Hamas to relinquish control of the territory. Punitive measures included cutting the salaries of PA employees living in Gaza and requesting Israel to reduce the electricity supply to the territory. Gaza-based political analyst Waleed al-Modallal says that in the short term, people are expecting the situation to improve. There is an air of positivity and optimism on the street, but people are also cautiously watching. They are hopeful that this step will alleviate the difficult economic situation in Gaza, the border crossings will be open more often, the issue of PA employees will be solved, and that electricity [will] be returned, Modallal told Al Jazeera. The issue of Hamas armed resistance, he added, would not be discussed for at least a year. Any noble Palestinian in Gaza would not accept giving up resistance under any condition, because we are a people under occupation. The PA would not be able to protect us, and that is clear in the West Bank Israel enters the city centres and they are not able to defend themselves. More than half of girls in South Sudan drop out of school before the age of 18. Many come under pressure from their families to get married. More than half of girls in South Sudan drop out of school before the age of 18. Many come under pressure from their families to get married. But teachers in one school in the rural town of Rumbek are working with the community to change attitudes, and help girls to finish their education first. Al Jazeeras Hiba Morgan reports from Rumbek, South Sudan. Member of Libyan armed group was captured by US security team two years after deadly attack on US diplomatic compound. Federal prosecutors have opened their case against Ahmed Abu Khatallah by telling jurors he orchestrated the 2012 attack on a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador, and three other Americans. Khatallah has been awaiting trial since 2014 when he was captured by a team of US military and FBI officials in Libya and transported on a 13-day journey to the US aboard a navy vessel. Before his capture, he was part of a revolutionary armed group aimed at overthrowing Muammar Gaddafis government. The charges against Khatallah include murder and providing material support to terrorists. Khattala, who has a long, grey beard, entered the federal courtroom in Washington, DC on Monday and shook hands with members of his legal team. Before the opening statements, US District Judge Christopher Cooper gave the jury 30 minutes of instructions. I am here to run a fair and efficient trial and to make sure the trains run on time, Cooper told them. You and only you are the ultimate deciders of fact in this case. Khatallah, who wore a white shirt, monitored his trial through an interpreter. At times, he swivelled in his chair at the defence table. Opening statement In his opening statement, federal prosecutor John Crabb said Khatallah hated the US with a vengeance and played a leading role in organising the September 11, 2012, attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi. Khatallah didnt do the killing by himself, he said. He didnt light the fires, and he didnt fire the mortars but you will hear he is just as guilty as the men who lit those fires and the men who fired those mortars. Crabb told the jury that Khatallahs hatred simmered until it boiled over and he organised the attack. Stevens was killed in the attack along with Sean Patrick Smith, a state department information management officer. Nearly eight hours later, at a CIA complex nearby, two more Americans, contract security officers, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, died in a mortar attack. The Benghazi attack stirred up a political storm in the US, where Republicans repeatedly accused Hillary Clinton, the then-secretary of state, of failing to adequately protect the diplomatic compound. That debate stretched for years and continued throughout the 2016 presidential election during which Clinton ran unsuccessfully for president against Donald Trump. Mondays trial represents a major test in the use of a federal court to try a foreign terrorism suspect, as opposed to holding him at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba where he would face military legal proceedings. Miranda rights While Khatallah was being transported by navy ship from Libya to the US, he was questioned by US intelligence officials before he was read his Miranda rights and questioned by FBI agents. He waived his rights to remain silent and have a lawyer present before speaking with the agents. His attorneys sought to suppress the statements, saying the government had violated his rights. However, Judge Cooper issued a ruling in August that found his statements could be admitted at trial. Crabb alluded to prior statements by Khatallah, telling the jury the defendant had said: I didnt do all of that by myself. US president contradicts Rex Tillersons efforts to engage Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programme. US President Donald Trump dismissed the prospect of talks with North Korea as a waste of time a day after his secretary of state said the United States was maintaining open lines of communication with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with little rocket man, Trump wrote on Twitter, using his sarcastic nickname for Kim and seeming to contradict the top US diplomat. Trump, who has traded insults and threats with Kim in recent weeks amid escalating tensions over Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programmes, later tweeted that his White House predecessors, Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama, had all failed on North Korea by being nice to rocket man. So why would it work now? he asked. READ MORE: North Korea vows to become a state nuclear force Kim succeeded his father, Kim Jong-il, as North Korean leader in 2011, during Obamas administration. Previous presidents negotiated with Pyongyang but ultimately failed to prevent it from pressing ahead with its internationally condemned weapons programmes. Tillerson disclosed on Saturday that the US was directly communicating with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programmes but Pyongyang had shown no interest in dialogue. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done, Trump said. A senior Trump administration official, asked for clarification about Trumps tweets, played down the significance of the communication channels. At a time when North Korea is continuing its provocations, the president does not think now is the time to negotiate with them, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. RC Hammond, an adviser to Tillerson, denied his boss had been undercut by Trumps tweets and rejected any suggestion the secretary of state should resign. Lets resign the idea of resignation. The president just made it clear to the Kim regime the diplomatic offer on the table is cooling, Hammond said on Twitter. The US president has dismissed efforts by his secretary of state to negotiate with North Korea as a waste of time. The US president has dismissed his secretary of states efforts to negotiate with North Korea as a waste of time. Donald Trumps comments come a day after Rex Tillerson revealed that the US was using direct channels of communication with Pyongyang. Al Jazeeras Mike Hanna reports from Washington, DC. Syed Hasan, who is 15, is in critical condition after the alleged attack outside a Shia mosque in Birmingham. A man has been charged after a 15-year-old Muslim boy was stabbed outside a Shia mosque in the central English city of Birmingham. Dominic Palmer, who is 29 years old, is expected to appear in front of magistrates early on Monday accused of the attempted murder of Syed Hasan on Friday at the Idaara Maarif-e-Islam Hussainia Mosque in the Small Heath area of the city. The teenager, who had celebrated his birthday two days before the incident, is in critical condition with injuries to his neck. The alleged attacker is believed to have lived on the same road where the mosque is located. This was a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time, said Detective Inspector Jim Colclough of West Midlands Police. Our investigation is continuing as we work to establish the circumstances of what happened so that we can provide his family with the answers they need, he added. Open mind Earlier, Colclough said investigators were keeping an open mind as to whether the incident could be racially or religiously motivated. The alleged attack took place as worshippers were gathering at the mosque to mark the Islamic month of Muharram, one of the holiest occasions for Shia Muslims. A statement by the mosque administration said it was too early to speculate on a motive but called on worshippers to remain vigilant. We must be cautious about those that may have evil intent, the mosque statement read. Harun Khan, the secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was thankful to God that the young man did not lose his life. A further statement by dozens of representatives of the British Muslim community asked the community not to jump to conclusions while the police carried out their investigations. We urge all in our communities to remain calm while the police establish the facts, the statement said. Catalan government says 2.26 million people cast ballots with 90 percent voting to split during day of violence. Catalonias regional leader opened the door to a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain after voters defied a violent police crackdown and voted 90 percent in favour of breaking away. Carles Puigdemonts comments followed a television address by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who ruled out independence and accused separatists of trying to blackmail the whole nation. He offered all-party talks on the regions future. Despite Spanish police using batons and rubber bullets to disrupt the banned referendum, which was declared unconstitutional by Madrid, the Catalan government said 2.26 million people cast ballots, a turnout of about 42 percent. Catalan officials say more than 800 people were injured in clashes with Spanish riot police during the referendum. Rift deepened The referendum has pitched the country into its deepest constitutional crisis in decades and deepened a rift between Madrid and Barcelona. On this day of hope and suffering, Catalonias citizens have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic, Puigdemont said in a televised address. My government, in the next few days will send the results of todays vote to the Catalan parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum. READ MORE: Catalonia referendum: As it happens Puigdemont added he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote. Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia. Catalan officials said 844 people had been injured in the police crackdown and the Spanish Interior Ministry said 12 police officers had been hurt. Spains deputy prime minister said force used by the police had been proportionate. The absolute irresponsibility of the regional government has had to be met by the security forces of the state, said Soraya Saenz de Santamaria. Treated like criminals Elisa Arouca, who was waiting to vote outside the Estel school in central Barcelona, reacted with anger when national police agents yanked her and other prospective voters out of the way, then smashed open the door and confiscated ballot boxes. I was always against independence, but what the Spanish state is doing is making me change my mind, she said. The national police and civil guard are treating us like criminals. No one knows what will happen if Catalan officials follow through on their pledge to use the vote as a basis for declaring independence, a provocation that would possibly remove from Spain one of its most prosperous regions, including the coastal city of Barcelona, the regional capital. In another sign tensions would endure beyond the vote, secessionist groups and trade unions in Catalonia called a general strike for Tuesday, La Vanguardia newspaper said. English speakers in Cameroon are demanding an end to what they say is discrimination by the French-speaking majority. Secession has been the talk of the week, from the Kurdish region of Iraq to Catalonia in Spain. And on Sunday, English-speaking parts of Cameroon joined the trend by demanding their own independence. Police shot and killed at least eight people in the western regions of the country. The rallies took place on the very day Cameroons English and French regions had united 56 years earlier. There have been similar protests for almost a year now, but until recently they only had called for reforms. Cameroonss English-speaking minority say they are being marginalised by the French-speaking majority. So, what does this unrest mean for Cameroons unity? Presenter: Elizabeth Puranam Guests: Hans de Marie Heungoup Cameroon analyst, International Crisis Group Albert Nchinda Political blogger focusing on Cameroon Michael Amoah Visiting Fellow, Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa, Institute of Global Affairs, London School of Economics Two Colombian guerrilla fighters prepare to give birth for the first time, as their rebel army lays down its arms. After more than half a century of fighting against the Colombian state, the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) laid down its arms to become a political party after a peace deal was signed in 2016. With the prospect of long-term peace, FARC is finally allowing its remaining 7,000 fighters to have children. Both Diana and Yorly joined FARC as teenagers and will soon leave it as mothers. But as they prepare to welcome children into a new Colombia, their comrades are still being killed by paramilitaries. FILMMAKERS VIEW By Lali Houghton They were disconnected from Colombian society and using secret identities. At night all lights were banned as they became paranoid that electronic devices, or a simple match, could give away their coordinates and trigger an aerial attack. Now, after half a century of war, the truth about what life in the jungle for FARC fighters was like is beginning to come to light. When we first approached this story we reached out to five of the 26 newly formed demobilisation camps set up around the country. Various news outlets had started picking up on a baby boom taking place, the result of the end of a ban on having babies during wartime. With their newfound freedom, the fighters were starting families. We set out to find pregnant fighters with compelling stories. But owing to the general mistrust of the media, most of the women did not want to speak. And who could blame them? Mainstream media, especially Colombias leading newspapers, have mostly covered one side of the story, demonising FARC as a drug-funded terrorist organisation that mistreated its women fighters. After careful deliberations, we finally found two pregnant women willing to tell their story. We received clearance from the FARCs top brass, a seven-man secretariat composed of its chief commanders. Our challenge now was to see beyond the stereotypes and to challenge our own preconceptions. There were always niggling questions: surely there was some truth to the stories of sterilisation and forced abortions? And how could our two guerrilla fighters justify the countless war crimes carried out in their name? These were questions not easily answered and perhaps more appropriate for their commanders. Our two characters described very similar childhoods. They came from poor peasant households, had been victims of domestic violence and had been drawn to a guerrilla army that said it represented the countrys disenfranchised communities. Both women joined the FARC aged 13 and began receiving the basic education the state had failed to give them. At no point was there a sense of the two women acting against their will. If anything, they were bound to the FARC by gratitude for what the movement had instilled in them: a sense of purpose. Both had trained as nurses and rarely saw conflict until the bombs started raining down on the camps from 2004 onwards. FARC did many things that were inconvenient. We have asked for forgiveness and will do so until the very last moment. It hurts us because we also lost family members by Yorly, former FARC member Trenches were built. Fellow comrades were maimed or killed. The true horror of war began encroaching on their existence. Diana remembered in tears a New Years Eve in the jungle when they huddled together and celebrated another year of life. Who can blame these young women for wanting a different future when so many past generations had failed to bring peace to the table? And yet these women have not forgotten why they were fighting in the first place and remain deeply mistrustful of the peace deal. The fear remains that now that their arms have been handed over, their former enemies will seek them out. Since the peace treaty began, several FARC members and more than 100 community leaders have been murdered in Colombia, enforcing the idea that right-wing paramilitary groups are muscling into areas formerly controlled by FARC. The true picture of post-conflict Colombia has yet to materialise. We did get some answers to our niggling questions. The two women we profiled had previously had an abortion in the jungle. The mere idea of having a baby during wartime was unthinkable. And as for FARCs war crimes, Yorly had prepared a response: Really no one is perfect, we all have our errors. FARC did many things that were inconvenient. We have asked for forgiveness and will do so until the very last moment. It hurts us because we also lost family members. It hurts us bad. FARC now embarks on a new path as a political party with perhaps a rather unduly name. They have retained the same FARC acronym but with a different meaning: the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force. Yet with so many in Colombia unwilling to forgive and forget one begs to wonder if the name will haunt them for years to come. For Antonio Sierra and Marines de la Pena, it was never a choice to help out in Mexico. It was necessity. It was about their home. Once you see whats going on, you cant not do anything, de la Pena, 35, said. You know what is happening, and you cannot just sit back. We know this community, and were going to stay here. This is our problem if they go down, we go down as well. De la Pena and Sierra, two UF alumni from the School of Forest Resources and Conservation, have been assisting in Morelos, Mexico, since the powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake rippled through the central and southern part of the country Sept. 19. They had practiced an evacuation drill just two hours before. The city was chaos, said de la Pena, a UF visiting scholar in 2015. For the past two weeks, the married couple has been organizing food, housing and donations for affected communities. They have raised nearly $5,000 for construction supplies, like metal roofs, to repair houses in the countryside but still need more resources, de la Pena said. The villages theyre assisting are poor and havent received the same attention as big cities, Sierra, 36, said. You can feel the grief, but I think you can also feel the gratitude, said Sierra, a UF alumnus from 2016. To help raise money, the two developed a website with pictures of the work being done and links for donation. Sierra said hes grateful for the generosity of the UF community and other places internationally. Paloma Carton de Grammont, a researcher coordinator at the School of Forest Resources and Conservation, has helped promote the website throughout UF. She said UF is a humanitarian community that helps beyond its borders. For Carton de Grammont, the fact she can see the exact person her money is going to reassures her. On the website, families who received funds hold a board thanking donors. She said the couple has no intentions of stopping their work, despite having jobs and lives of their own. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now They told us, were not stopping until the funds stop, Carton de Grammont said. As long as we keep giving them support, theyll be there to help the communities. De la Pena estimates nearly 10,000 homes have been badly affected. In the initial few days after the earthquake, repair groups and volunteers helped clear debris and provide food but many of the damaged houses still need to be cleared and repaired, leaving many poor residents sleeping outside their former homes. I dont know if people know how big of a problem this is, she said. Like de la Pena and Sierra, all the people helping have been other citizens, not the government. She called the government impotencia, which means impotence, and said they needed to step up to provide aid. Right now there is a lot of aid coming from some other states around, a lot of people are collecting, but thats going to end, de la Pena said. And the situation is going to be remaining in our state. A father and son watch their damaged home being demolished in the village of Contla, Mexico. An elderly couple thanks the person who donated materials for their temporary shelter in Huatecalco, Mexico. Their collapsed home lies in the background. This is a breaking story. Check back for updates. Fred Byrd remembers hearing what chaos unfolding sounded like. Byrd, a 27-year-old UF alumnus now living in Las Vegas, took to the police scanner app on his Android at about midnight, just after his friend Tony texted him to warn him of the mass shooting that happened two hours before. For about a half hour, the Byrd listened from inside his Henderson, Nevada home, about a 20-minute drive away from the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert, as officers responded to calls early Monday morning. At first, it was two concertgoers confirmed dead, multiple injured and at least one suspect found dead. Police werent sure at first it was just a lone shooter or a widespread attack, he said. No one was sure if the gunfire had stopped for good yet. Then it was a number, 419 the Las Vegas Metropolitan Polices code for a dead body. Byrd said officers at the festival reported that number back at least six times in the time he was listening in. I remember hearing that over and over again, Byrd said. It was really cold, very chilling the way they were describing it. Having just moved to Las Vegas from Gainesville last year, he said he feels like mass shootings are happening everywhere. Byrd was finishing his masters degree in mathematics at UF when the Pulse nightclub shooting happened in June 2016. Now, yet an even deadlier shooting took place across the street from where he used to work just last month as a slot machine mathematician for entertainment company Konami, he said. His office building in downtown Las Vegas was less than 3 miles southeast from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. I used to see that place every single day; we were just down the street from it, he said. The death toll in this place is just staggering, and off-putting. If I still worked there I dont know if Id be able to go in today. One UF student was injured in the deadliest mass shooting in American history in Las Vegas. Kristin Babik, a third year law student at the UF Levin College of Law, is in stable condition after being shot at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday. According to an email from the law schools Dean Laura Rosenbury, Babik suffered from a collapsed lung and broken ribs. The shot missed her spine and other major organs. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Rosenbury has been in contact with Babik as she rests. We look forward to welcoming her back to Gainesville as soon as she recovers, Rosenbury wrote in the email. UF spokesperson Steve Orlando said Babik was a UF undergraduate student as well. She studied criminology and psychology, graduating in May 2015 cum laude. Shian Knuth didnt know Babik well when the two were in Phi Mu together at UF. But when Knuth, a Las Vegas resident, heard Babik had been injured, she drove over to the hospital. What if this poor girl is all alone in Vegas? Knuth said. Can you imagine waking up in a hospital and not having your mom or sibling there? Since about 8 a.m., Knuth and another of Babiks friends have been in the hospital room with Babik. Knuth said shes in and out and is still in a lot of pain. Knuth said Babik wants to get better and has been asking about when she can get back to school. From her apartment last night, Knuth heard the police sirens and distant shouts of move, move, move! She called all her loved ones to check on them, then settled in for a night of restless sleep. It was surreal, the 26-year-old said. When I woke up I was a lot more shaken. Knuth started a GoFundMe, called Help Kristin, Vegas Shooting Victim, with Babiks permission. The money will help cover medical bills and travel costs for Babiks family, Knuth said. The fundraiser reached more than $9,000 in six hours. Something really horrible happened, Knuth said. And this person needs help. And people sometimes are great, and they help. One of Babiks friends, Matt Rumack, described her as energetic and friendly. The two worked together at the University Athletic Association from 2011 to 2013. Rumack said Babik is always called either K-Babs or Babs by her friends. He knew Babik had been in Las Vegas for the past few months and had posted concert videos to her Snapchat the past few nights. He immediately thought of her when he heard the news. Babiks brother posted to her Facebook to mention she was hit and in the hospital. Obviously, your heart sinks at that point, knowing somebody you know is involved, because you never really think thats going to happen, the 28-year-old UF alumnus said. The shooting has killed at least 58 people and injured over 500, according to the Los Angeles Times. The lone gunman, Stephen Paddock, was found dead in his hotel room by police. The FBI said there is no evidence it was an act of international terrorism. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America held a candlelight vigil outside of Gainesville City Hall at about 7 p.m. Monday. Terry Fleming, a co-president of Pride Community Center of North Central Florida, announced that the center will donate 500 candles and candle holders to the vigil. Some of the candle holders are being reused from the vigil held 15 months ago for the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando. The Pulse shooting was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States until Las Vegas. Fleming said he was dumbstruck when he saw Facebook comments Monday morning about the shooting. It makes you think of Pulse, he said. Its the same senseless slaughter for reasons we probably never fully understand. Fleming said he worries about how ubiquitous mass shootings have become in the country. The Las Vegas shooting was the 237th mass shooting nationally in the past year, according to CBS News. When we become inert, when this is normalized, we stop caring, he said. I hope thats a place we never get to. Romy Ellenbogen, David Hoffman and Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report. @romyellenbogen rellenbogen@alligator.org @MerylKornfield mkornfield@alligator.org @hoffdavid123 dhoffman@alligator.org A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. The Mid-Autumn Festival, which is every Oct. 4, celebrates family, community and giving thanks in the Chinese culture. The holiday typically falls on a full moon and is commemorated with eating traditional Chinese pastries called mooncakes and solving riddles. Chinese Student Association When she sat in the Reitz Union for the Mid-Autumn Festival on Saturday night, Grace Li felt at home. The student from China said the Chinese Student Associations annual festival was the only place she found that was celebrating the holiday. Every year I come here, said Li, a 26-year-old UF electrical engineering sophomore. This year, Li brought a friend she met through the International Friendship organization to experience the festivities and share a mooncake with her. The CSAs president, Yifei Liu, 22, said the Mid-Autumn Festival is comparable to Thanksgiving. She said its a time to bring everyone in your family together in unity and share a mooncake. Thats like the traditional food, she said. Just like you eat turkey for Thanksgiving. During the show, students performed a ballet duet, hip-hop routines, live music on traditional Chinese instruments and ballads sung in Chinese. Liu, a UF mathematics senior, said since many CSA students arent from the U.S. and cant celebrate with their family, they come to the festival to celebrate with friends. We feel very happy that we can provide them a place to be together with their friends and their classmates here to celebrate this awesome festival. Savannah Lai, the director of public relations for the association and a UF biological engineering junior, said Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the biggest Chinese traditional festivals. Its an event the CSA holds annually, but this year the organization reached out to other communities. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now So were not only inviting a lot of people from the Chinese community, we also invite a lot of people whos like outside of the Chinese community, the 21-year-old said. Were trying to bring people in and share our culture to them. Yucai Chinese School Yuquin Weng and her son, Yanjun, worked on a riddle together. It didnt matter to Yuquin Weng what the puzzle was about she was happy to spend time with her son. It is all about family being together, said Xiaoman Wang, an event organizer. Weng was one of about 20 people who participated in Mid-Autumn Festival activities at Yucai Chinese School, located at 4426 SW 35th Terrace, on Sunday from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Although the holiday isnt for another three days, participants ate mooncakes and solved riddles that were written on the wall and on orange and pink lanterns. The lanterns were donated from the CSA event, Wang said. Children who attend the Chinese school, like Yanjun, ran around the common room and enthusiastically ate traditional Chinese candies from a buffet table of treats. There were about six varieties of candy. On Oct. 4, Weng will be at her parents house. Weng said she visits her parents home every year and shares a meal with them. The most important (of the holiday) is that the family will all stay to eat and drink together and talk with each other, she said. The Chinese Student Association Dance Team presents a dance that portrays a legend involving a tragic love story and alludes to the origin of the Mid-Autumn festival. Traditional Chinese music pours over the audience as members of the Chinese Student Association create the melodies on their instruments. "This festival and the traditions in the gala is how we celebrate the holiday and bring the Chinese community closer to each other," said Savannah Rai, the public relations representative for the CSA. Pastor Chad Fair drove to church Sunday in the rain. As he got ready for service, the rain kept falling. Yet as soon as he and 30 other members stepped out onto West University Avenue to march down the street spreading a message of peace and unity, the rain stopped. Thats a God moment, Fair said. The group, made up of members from the congregations of University Evangelical Lutheran Church, located at 1826 W. University Ave., and Gethsemane Lutheran Church, located at 4011 NW 34th St., marched with signs that read, love not hate at 11:45 a.m. from University Evangelical Lutheran Church to the corner of West University Avenue and Southwest 13th Street. The march was part of a national movement of Lutheran churches to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, when Martin Luther accused the Roman Catholic Church of corruption and began his own church. The event was originally scheduled for Sept. 12 but was postponed because of Hurricane Irma. Fair, of Gethsemane Lutheran Church, and Pastor Terrance Jacob, of University Evangelical Lutheran Church, led the march. Jacob said he has seen inequality between East and West Gainesville since he moved to the city four months ago. When I preach that, no one argues, he said. After UF announced that Richard Spencer, a white supremacist, would possibly come to speak on campus in October, Fair and Jacob decided the theme of their event should focus on encouraging love. Love not hate is relevant to us here in Gainesville, Jacob said. George Chappelle, 77, carried a sign and wore a yellow shirt that said, Gods work. Our hands. He said he was satisfied after the march from the positive response he got from passersby and cars. One man smiled and he just said, march on, Chappelle said. He said he is welcoming of every visitor he meets as a volunteer at Morningside Nature Center. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Loves a lot better than hate, Chappelle said. If you open with love, it works so much better. However, Fair said he doesnt believe the march had a lasting effect on the community. I would be naive to think the world is a better place but we can start that discussion and keep continuing the discussion, Fair said. After the march, members gathered in the church to say grace before a potluck luncheon. People lower their defences when you give them a plate of food, he said. Foods always a unifier. Jacob devoured every last crumb of three slices of apple cinnamon pie as he reflected on working together toward a common goal. We were able to come together as two different churches, he said. Thats a big thing. Pastor Chad Fair, of Gethsemane Lutheran Church, and Pastor Terrance Jacob, of University Evangelical Lutheran Church, hold signs that read, Love not hate. The pastors led a march on West University Avenue on Sunday morning. To help the sustainability of banana plants, UF researchers have been studying a bacterial infection threatening the East African staple. Ariena van Bruggen, a professor of plant pathology at UF, said the disease is called banana Xanthomonas wilt, which is caused by bacteria that causes the plants to wilt and makes bananas inedible. The banana plants bacterial infection, initially found in Ethiopia, has spread to Tanzania. Van Bruggen said the disease is a threat to the survival of farming communities in Central and Eastern Africa because these groups depend on bananas and plantains for calories. People in the country use banana leaves to cover other banana bunches, which can spread the infection. Mpoki Shimwela, a UF doctoral alumnus from the department of plant pathology, said yellow ooze secretes from a cut on any part of an infected plant. To prevent spread, the government mandated farmers cut down infected banana plants. When farmers cut down infected plants, the bacteria spreads from their contaminated tools to the plants, van Bruggen said. Some of these farmers dont have money for bleach, which is recommended to sterilize tools, she said. Van Bruggen said the disease has not affected American communities yet. She said American communities need to be aware of potential outbreaks of the disease because of illegal shipments of plant materials. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Each morning, Megan McDowell would wake up, uncover herself from her mosquito net and find her friends for the day: elephants. McDowell, a UF animal sciences sophomore, traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, in July with Loop Abroad, a volunteer program, to gain experience working with animals. She said she cared for exotic and domestic animals, including elephants and dogs. McDowell, 19, worked in Elephant Nature Park for a week to practice medicine on the elephants who have been poorly treated in Thailand. She said elephants are treasured and glamorized for circuses and the tourism industry, which causes them harm. I got to learn about each individual elephant and its story, she said. The elephants are made to look happy, but behind the scenes they are being tortured. The group of 12 volunteers, including McDowell, worked with five to 10 elephants each day. She and her peers would clean their wounds, which are spread over their feet, ears and neck, and give them medication. The volunteers developed a relationship with the elephants, she said. As she pet and tended to the elephants, McDowell said she felt as though the animals were comforted. All students on the trip were on the pre-veterinary track and came from universities across the U.S. McDowell said the students, veterinarians and Thai volunteers who participated all shared one goal helping animals. It was great because all the people I worked with were very passionate and genuine for their love for elephants, which I could relate to, she said. Going on the trip opened her up to a new, welcoming culture, McDowell said. She said she gained a new perspective of the world that is more open something she keeps in mind now. Even though she wasnt used to the unrefined conditions she was staying in, McDowell said it taught her patience and how to live without nonessential items. It was rustic just because Im not used to living in cabins and roughing it out with mosquito tents, she said. Taylor Paddock, a UF management senior, said McDowell has been committed to helping animals since her freshman year. She said McDowell would wake up before sunrise and drive 35 minutes away to an exotic animal refuge to volunteer there. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Megan has an incredible passion for animals and for accomplishing her goals, the 20-year-old said. She is driven and hard working, and excels past obstacles most college students get deterred by." Megan McDowell, a 19-year-old UF animal sciences sophomore, bonds with an elephant shes been treating in Chiang Mai, Thailand. For the past century, socialists, progressives, communists, statists, and an increasing number of Democrats have supported the imposition of a government-run socialized medical care system in the United States. Every Democrat president since FDR (except JFK and possibly Jimmy Carter) has spoken in favor of or introduced a plan for socialized medicine. Now, it finally appears that a critical mass has been achieved and the Rubicon has been crossed. A Quinnipiac University national poll on August 3, 2017 reported Replacing the current health care system with a single payer system in which Medicare covers every American citizen is a good idea, voters say 51-38 percent. This reported majority support for single-payer reflects recent samplings of public opinion by Pew Research and other polling organizations. Citing a September 28, 2017 Quinnipiac survey, a CNN article on September 30, Majority of Democratic voters are all-in on single-payer, further advanced the story: Asked in a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday whether they support a single-payer system, in which the federal government would expand Medicare to cover the medical expenses of every American citizen, nearly two in three Democratic voters (65%) said it was a "good idea." That result mostly fell in line with other recent surveys, which have shown increased backing among liberals and independents, with a slight upward trend across the board. But the Quinnipiac poll pushed harder, incorporating another key detail into a subsequent question the specter of a tax hike. "Would you think that a single payer system is a good idea or a bad idea if it removed all health insurance premiums, but also increased your taxes?" the pollsters asked. With the added information, support dropped, but not as much as one might expect. Fifty-nine percent, just slightly down from 65%, still called it a "good idea. A good idea now that was once considered anathema During the entire 20th century, the American Medical Association (AMA), the nations largest organization of physicians, strongly opposed socialized medicine. By and large, most of the American people and their political leaders were with the AMA. That began to change in 1993 when Bill and Hillary Clinton pushed their unsuccessful but groundbreaking national health care reform plan right out of the box. Meanwhile, medical education, like most higher education around that time, had institutionalized promoting socialism and indoctrinating new students in collectivist concepts like health care as a right. The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) in particular took up the charge for government-run health care and the nations nursing associations, hotbeds of social justice, socialism, and radical, anti-hierarchy activism, also started mobilizing for the long march ahead. Another recent survey has found that a majority of the nations doctors not just idealistic medical students are now for the first time finally and fully on board with government-guaranteed and -run health care. This revelation suggests that another wall against socialized medicine has been breached. MDLinx: The majority of United States physicians56%support a single-payer health care system, according to the survey, conducted by Merritt Hawkins, a Dallas-based physician recruitment search firm. The survey relied on detailed responses from over one thousand licensed physicians who were asked about single-payer. According to the MDLinx article: 14% [of physicians] somewhat support a single-payer health care system 42% strongly support it 6% somewhat oppose it 35% strongly oppose it 3% neither support nor oppose it The 2017 results, according to a Merritt Hawkins news release, contrast with a national survey of physicians Merritt Hawkins conducted in 2008, which indicated that 58 percent of physicians opposed single payer at that time while 42 percent supported it. Merritt Hawkins cites four reasons why a growing number of physicians are in favor of single payer. First, they are seeking clarity and stability. Second, its a generational issue. The various surveys that Merritt Hawkins has conducted for The Physicians Foundation in the past show that younger doctors are more accepting of Obamacare, ACOs, EHR, and change in general than are older physicians As the new generation of physicians comes up, there is less resistance among doctors to single payer. Third, there is a feeling of resignation rather than enthusiasm among some physicians about single payer. These physicians believe we are drifting toward single payer and would just as soon get it over with. [emphasis added.] The 14% of physicians surveyed who said they "somewhat" support single payer are probably in this group. Fourth, there is a philosophical change among physicians that I think the public and political leaders on both sides of the aisle now share, which is that we should make an effort to cover as many people as possible. Travis Singleton, Senior Vice President of Merritt Hawkins, commented: Physicians appear to have evolved on single payer. Whether they are enthusiastic about it, are merely resigned to it, or are just seeking clarity, single payer is a concept many physicians appear to be embracing. Some of the comments by doctors who responded to the Merritt Hawkins survey as reported by MDLinx are revealing. As a CPA and an MD, I believe strongly in a single-payer system that removes the insurance industry from the medical delivery system. We must restore the sacred relationship between patient and physician, and only when we move toward a single-payer system can we ever restore it, said pediatrician Craig M. Uhl, MD, of Palm Desert, CA. A governmental program with basic insurance paid by income taxes and contracted out to insurance companies by the individual states with standard forms, denials, and expected payments would simplify medical practice, said OB/GYN and professor emeritus Selman Welt, MD, of Johnson City, TN. Despite all the complaints against Medicare and Medicaid, they pay promptly and you know how they will react and how to make appeals. Then if some people want a more deluxe plan, the insurance companies can provide that with a second tier of standardized services. We would probably earn less per patient, but more people would get needed health care so it would average the same, said psychiatrist Jed Shapiro, MD, of Boulder, CO. Currently, medical and surgical subspecialists are overpaid (and ideally should earn less) and generalists are underpaid (and ideally should earn more), said cardiologist Wade Martin, MD, of St. Louis, MO. Not all of the respondents were enthralled with the possibility of single-payer. I do not care about the money, said osteopath and family medicine physician Harold Kornylak, DO, of Virginia Beach, VA. It would destroy free choice, individual responsibility, innovation, and make medical care like working for McDonalds. The field of innovative alternative medicine has sold out, too At one time in fairly recent history, for example during the 1970s and 80s, the growing field of innovative alternative medicine was a hotbed for support for medical freedom and many alternative medicine providers and patients were active politically in that area of ensuring medical freedom of choice. That began to change in the 1990s when, as I can report from personal experience, many among the new generation of natural medicine students and practitioners began to be influenced by, and then start espousing, pro-socialist ideas relating to medical care. Eventually, entire professions of so-called alternative medicine were seduced and co-opted to abandon their commitments to medical freedom and pluralism and jump on the bandwagon of single-payer. Insidiously, federal agencies at the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere burrowed in the Deep State bureaucracy, supposedly established to integrate alternative medicine into the mainstream, assisted in that co-optation and seduction. The collectivist impulse that is enveloping society has now blossomed into full scale support for socialized medicine on the part of natural health care physicians groups, like those representing licensed naturopathic doctors. A 2013 article about Obamacare published by a leading naturopathic medical school, Bastyr University in Washington, for example, was titled Health Care Reform Extends Reach of Naturopathic Medicine. That same year, the author of an article at the Web site of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians wrote glowingly about a particular section of Obamacare, that it offers naturopathic medicine a true watershed, and were making the most of this golden opportunity. Nicholas Gonzalez, M.D. (1947-2015) photographed in his office in 2005 Photo by Peter Barry Chowka One of innovative medicines most acclaimed practitioners, the late Nicholas Gonzalez, M.D., spoke frequently about the Faustian bargain represented by socialized medicine and its fellow traveling Pied Pipers. He pointed to government-controlled health cares incompatibility with medical innovation and freedom. When Gonzalez passed away suddenly in July 2015, the world lost a clear and articulate voice for sanity in health care, including the politics of medicine. In 2005, in a lengthy interview that I did with Gonzalez on socialized medicine, he commented: Medical science always thrives when there's freedom to think independently. Socialized medicine doesn't allow that because it requires physicians to practice according to preset standards. That's the way the Canadian system is. You can't deviate from those standards at all. The trouble is that medicine is not a fixed science. It requires creativity, originality in thinking in new ways. Socialized medicine doesn't allow that. If socialized medicine worked, they would have had to build a Berlin Wall to keep people out. Instead, they had to build the Berlin Wall to keep people in because they were trying to escape socialism and socialized medicine. Peter Barry Chowka has reported on health care, with an emphasis on alternative medicine, since 1972. Between 1992-94 he was an advisor to the National Institutes of Health. His new Web site is AltMedNews.net. Follow Peter on Twitter. The worst kind of fight in one in which you wish for both sides demise. Whatever satisfaction you get from watching one foe whipped is instantly tempered by the victors success. Its a no-win situation. Watching Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defend his digital empire before menacing lawmakers was one such brawl. In early September, Facebook disclosed that it had suspended hundreds of accounts associated with a St. Petersburg-based website that dispensed pro-Kremlin propaganda. The long-held suspicion that Putin operatives attempted to influence the 2016 election was confirmed. Then the levee broke. With appetites whetted with the possibility of finally cutting the social media giant down a peg, lawmakers, including an enlivened Senator Richard Burr (R-SC), demanded Facebook executives testify before Congress on the matter. This is just the tip of the iceberg, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) declared, licking his massive chops with gleeful anticipation. During his recent big business conclave, former New York City mayor and slurpee-hater Michael Bloomberg said Facebook employees should be required to read every message posted on the platform -- a demand far beyond the realm of reasonability. The pressure got to Zuckerberg. Out of patriotism or profit (the latter, most likely), he announced new restrictions on political ads. The social kingpin also revealed that he is working in full cooperation with the U.S. government, including Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is probing to find out if President Trump colluded with Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton. This was a remarkable concession in what is, at heart, a power struggle. All these years, the 33-year-old founder of Facebook has been dismissive of the idea that social media and A.I. could be used for global domination or even that they should be regulated, Maureen Dowd giddily wrote in the New York Times. Now, Zuck and his digi-army are on the defensive. Theyre being forced to accept more regulation by politicians who dont have the first clue about their algorithmic magic. The Russia business has awoken policy makers to a cruel reality: A private entity has the eyes of over a billion people in the world. Its influence is unparalleled. The government commandeering every television station in the country wouldnt come close to the ability Facebook has to broadcast one universal message across the platform. So the empire is striking back. Facebook is ostensibly under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government. But with its unfiltered stream directly to the palm of your hand, Zuckerbergs behemoth exercises what Orwell called reality control. By policing the flow of information, it can, quite literally, help define what is real in the individual mind. With its capacity to sway public opinion, the question is: Who controls whom? As a techie, Zuckerberg loathes the added attention. His clandestine campaign for president, zigzagging across the country, will now face more scrutiny. Putting a slight damper on Zuckerbergs imperial ambition is a small victory. The downside is that it feeds into the myth that somehow Vladimir Putin put Trump in the White House. If Democrats are to be believed, the Kremlin dropping hundreds of millions of rubles on anti-Hillary ads changed middle Americas mind about the inevitable Madam President. But as Rachel Stoltzfoos of the Daily Caller News Foundation points out, this requires toddler-level gullibility. If the Democrats theory is correct, $150,000 in rinky-dink ads determined an election in which more than a billion dollars was spent. Facebook has influence. But not that much influence -- yet anyway. Dont expect Democrats to let up on making Zuckerberg a punching bag, though. Hes one of a handful excuses they can point to in order to avoid coming to grips with their besting by Trump. This whole episode is a warning for the future. Facebook has reshaped the way news is consumed. Traditional media outlets are at the mercy of an inhuman decider. Many, through no fault of their own, are finding themselves on the losing end. Facebook has taken over a large chunk of the news publishing business by co-opting its lifeline: ad revenue. The reality of the American media is that Google and Facebook own nearly the entire advertising market, writes Lee Smith in Tablet magazine. By nearly monopolizing the means publications have to monetize their product, Facebook has its hooks deep in the news industry. Will journalists speak out against Zuckerberg when it could cost them their livelihood? Conservatives are normally wary of extending governments power over business. But as Facebook cozies up to the left, the greater chance there is it will be used as a weaponized propaganda arm for liberalism. Hillary Clinton received over $100,000 in campaign donations from its employees last year -- far exceeding the amount given to any Republican. Theres no hyperbole when the president labels Facebook anti-Trump. Some on the right have realized Facebooks potential in suppressing unorthodox views. Former White House strategist and Breitbart bigwig Steve Bannon considered regulating the company as a public entity. Prior to joining the Trump campaign, Bannon reportedly mulled the idea of having a mole apply to the social media giant and report back from the inside. A cockamamie scheme like that was destined to backfire. Zuckerberg isnt dumb enough to let just anyone waltz into his A.I. fortress. But Bannon, a terra firma philosopher who doesnt let his head get lost in the clouds, showed foresight. Republican blindness toward business is dissipating. Tocqueville wrote in Democracy in America that the pursuit of wealth generally diverts men of great talents and strong passions from the pursuit of power; and it frequently happens that a man does not undertake to direct the fortunes of the state until he has shown himself incompetent to conduct his own. Zuckerberg wouldnt be the first to parlay his private enterprise into a political career (our current president is testament to that), but he would be the most potent. Facebook didnt determine the last election, but as the company continues to gobble up attention spans like an insatiable Pac-Man, its plausible that it could one day skew a presidential contest. That should give even the strictest laissez-faire conservative pause. Powers a force not limited to the state. In some cases, it can be as innocent as the simple brushing of a phone screen with your thumb. On Sep. 25, the Washington Post ran The Democratic Partys nomination process isnt democratic enough by Ronald A. Klain. Mr. Klain has an impressive list of jobs and accomplishments. Kevin Spacey portrayed Klain in the HBO film Recount (2008), which dramatized the Bush-Gore 2000 election battle in Florida. Klain was also a senior advisor to Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign. The focus of Klains article is reforms that he thinks will make the Democrats presidential nomination process more democratic. But shouldnt the paramount concern and purpose of a political party be to find the best nominee, not the process by which the nominee is chosen? Klain does not believe his partys nomination process is rigged, but writes: you have to acknowledge that the complexity of the process fuels criticism that it was constructed by insiders, to advantage insiders. Moreover, the current nominating process -- built over decades in successive waves of reform, counter-reform and re-reform -- is so jerry-rigged as to be incomprehensible to all but the most savvy observers. Mr. Klain wants future Democrat nominees to be democratically chosen by the broadest possible cross section of voters. That means abolishing caucuses and using only primary elections. Klain offers up the numbers to demonstrate why primaries are more democratic than caucuses. He also believes Democrat primaries should be open to independents, although not to members of other parties. Klain is running into a wall: the states. The states conduct elections and enact laws regarding primaries and caucuses. And those laws differ significantly from state to state. So it seems that Klain is doing nothing less than advocating an amendment to the Constitution to take away such prerogatives and responsibilities from the several States, at least for the selection of the convention delegates. My solution to the problem of the primary-caucus system is simpler than Klains, and it is this: Convention delegates should be chosen by a partys state committees only, and those delegates should vote for whomever they want as their nominee, regardless of the results of the primaries and caucuses. Any state law that would dictate to a party how their convention delegates must be chosen or how their delegates must vote in their conventions should simply be ignored. Youll notice that unlike Klain Im not advocating for the abolition of anything. Its better to just ignore unenforceable laws that should never have been enacted in the first place. Parties should not be quasi-governmental. Some might think that Im proposing that nominating conventions be open. But a more apt word would be closed, as theyd be closed to everyone except party insiders. But none of those insiders would be elected officials. Elected officials should never be allowed to work in a partys organization. Having Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) as the head of the Democratic National Committee would never be allowed in a decent party system, and not because she is crooked or incompetent, but simply because shes an elected official. In choosing a partys presidential nominee, why does Mr. Klain fixate so intently on democracy? We get enough democracy in general elections. Democracy has given the world, including America, some real stinkers. The voters arent always right. Of course, the voters arent always given good choices, thanks to the process Klain wants to only tweak. In 2016, voters on each side gave us nominees that were unacceptable, if not loathed, by the other side. Many Americans believe that the Democrats nominee, the woman Mr. Klain advised, is an irredeemably corrupt, unregenerate liar who should be going through the judicial system rather than an endless round of talk-show appearances. Yet, shes the one whom the primary voters chose. The primary-caucus system has been coming up with very divisive nominees, so why keep that system? The very system that sewed it up for Hillary, the ultimate insider, also made it possible for her to be challenged by an outsider, Bernie Sanders. Hillary is now blaming that challenge for her defeat in the general election. On the Republican side, the same system gave us the ultimate outsider in the person of Donald Trump, a complete political neophyte. That same system forced GOP voters to split up their votes among 17 candidates. Ironically, the system set up to serve insiders allows invasions by outsiders. If a non-Democrat like socialist Bernie Sanders can run in Democrat primaries, then what prevents a non-Democrat like neo-Nazi Christopher Cantwell or the race monger Louis Farrakhan from doing so? The success of Trump should be sending a loud message to the parties that careerist professional politicians are losing favor with the folks. There is any number of people who have never held elective political office who could perform the job of president. The parties might start looking to them. With my reform, would Democrat delegates have nominated Clinton? Wouldnt they have drafted and nominated someone who wasnt despised by half the country? Surely the Democrats bench isnt so narrow that they must choose between the Dragon Lady and a socialist outsider. Ron Klain thinks the Democratic nominating process is a 1977 AMC Gremlin [when it] should be a 2017 Tesla. And he thinks that the process can become a Tesla only when more people chime in by voting in primaries. That means that nominating conventions would remain mere rubberstamps of the primaries. I have another idea: Nominating conventions should be such that anyone, including the very best person, can be drafted. Parties should be autonomous, self-determinative, and private. If you dont like the nominees that come out of their conventions, then form your own damned party. Hell, I might even vote for your partys guy or gal. Jon N. Hall of Ultracon Opinion is a programmer/analyst from Kansas City. The news from Catalonia -- at the time of this writing, Sunday night in America -- is not good. There has been violent confrontation over the independence referendum. Hundreds injured in Catalonia as Spanish police crack down on referendum vote... Police acting on orders from the Spanish government to stop the voting across the countrys northeastern region clashed with Catalans who were attempting to stop them from confiscating ballots. Videos that emerged Sunday on social media appear to show police using brutal force on people attempting to cast their vote. Catalonias health service said Sunday night that at least 844 people were injured today by the evening -- nearly half of them in the Barcelona region, where police fired rubber bullets near at least one polling station, according to The Associated Press. Spanish authorities said 11 police officers were injured in the melees. -- ABC News For weeks, the Spanish state had been doing all it could to obstruct and suppress the then upcoming October 1st vote. The Madrid government had been threatening people, arresting Catalan officials, and had stepped in to take over the province's finances. Spain has taken control of Catalonia's finances to prevent funds being used for an independence referendum it deems illegal, a move that limits the region's autonomy and puts in doubt the payment of thousands of public workers' salaries. -- TheLocal.es, September 20, 2017 On October 1st, Madrid followed through with its threats of force should the referendum go ahead. What immediately comes to mind is that Madrid did not act as forcefully as Franco would have. Franco would have sent in tanks and just killed people. The present Spanish response might have been thuggish, but it was measured. Likewise, the response of the Catalan people and their representatives were also measured. It was not totally clear how the vote was going to swing. Pro-Madrid media were accusing the Catalans of suppressing local anti-Independence sympathies; and there seemed to be a degree of truth to that, as the data indicated. Still, however, Catalonia had a long history of striving for independence. There seemed to be real local sympathy for their cause. While most anticipated a victory for the pro-independence side, there was also the precedent of how the referendum for Scottish independence failed in 2014. Recently, even the Catalan government produced some disturbing poll results. Opinion polls are hard to come by but the clearest indication came in July, when a public survey commissioned by the Catalan government suggested 41% were in favour and 49% were opposed to independence. -- BBC A check of this page, set up by the Catalan government -- which has a readable Abstract in English -- showed that the matter was not settled as late as July [See page 11& 12 of pdf file]. At that point, the Independentistas may not been as representative of the Catalans, as a whole, as it appeared. On the other hand, the referendum results today may only have demonstrated the inaccuracy of polls, as breaking news, at this time, seems to show. Initial reports say that the referendum was 90% in favor of secession. This is the worst of all of Madrid's fears. Even if there was local social pressure to minimize or limit the pro-Madrid vote, a 90% result indicates a massive sentiment to remove Spanish rule from Catalonia, even if the turnout was low. And that low turnout can be blamed on Spanish police interference. Spanish riot police fired rubber bullets and seized ballot boxes from polling stations in Catalonia on Sunday as thousands flooded the streets to vote in an independence referendum banned by Madrid. -- The Telegraph Spain will soon be in a meltdown of sorts. The Madrid government is constitutionally required to preserve the unity of Spain. The Catalan government has obliged itself to act upon the results of the referendum within 48 hours. There is a problem: Spains democratic constitution of 1978, which was approved by more than 90% of Catalan voters, gave wide autonomy to the regions but affirmed the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation. Only the Spanish parliament can change the constitution. -- The Economist Meanwhile, contrariwise: [T]he regional [Catalan] Parliament has committed to making the result binding within 48 hours, which could translate any approval for a Catalan republic into a unilateral declaration of independence. Under Spanish law, however, the national government could still invoke emergency powers to take full administrative control of Catalonia. -- NY Times, Sept 26, 2017 What happens how is anyone's guess. Most interesting is how the European Union has steadfastly taken Madrid's side. Separatism cannot be allowed to prosper while the EU is trying to centralize everything. It sets a bad precedent. Jean-Claude Piris, the former director general of the EU Councils legal service, poured cold water on Catalonias plot to hold an independence referendum. The Frenchman warned the EU would not welcome an independent Catalonia as a member state and called on Brussels to speak out. -- Express, June 3, 2017 And so, today: [T]he European Union remained conspicuously silent on the police tactics, which saw masked officers smash their way into polling stations and forcibly remove ballot boxes. -- The Telegraph,Oct 2, 2017 One Catalan politician has finally spoken up to get angry at the EU for their silence. Silence from the European Union in the face of a violent referendum in Spain has been condemned with one furious politician saying he no longer wants to be European. -- The Daily Express -- October 2, 2017 Another Catalan noted: Another said: Do not call me neither spanish nor european any more ... I M CATALAN !!! --The Daily Express, October 2, 2017 The centralizing bureaucrats of Brussels do not want independent nations. The Catalan independence referendum is a much bigger issue for the EU than Brexit -- The Independent, September 30, 2017 And one Scots Observer finally put all the pieces together. The EU want a fascist United States of Europe. viva Catalan. -- The Daily Express It seems the Catalonia is not merely a problem for Spain, but for all of the European bureaucrats. n order for Catalonia to be free, Catalonia may not only have to defy Madrid, but also the European Union. No longer will the Catalans have the option of trading subservience to Madrid to subservience to Brussels as an option. If Catalonia wants to be free, she may have to decide for total freedom. If nothing else comes out of this referendum, that alone will be worth it. Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who wishes he had availed himself more fully of the opportunity to learn Spanish in high school, lo those many decades ago. He writes on the Arabs of South America at http://latinarabia.com. China has sent an unmistakable signal that Kim Jong-un had better not rely on the historic alliance between China and North Korea to resist President Trump's demands. In fact, as he dallies with his troop of teen sex slaves, he had better keep in mind that Beijing is wondering what it might be like with the Kim dynasty out of the way. The Chinese way of delivering such a harsh message is to use a third party preferably one without a policy role, but who clearly speaks for the ruling elite. Someone, for instance, like the dean of international studies at Beijing University (the Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford of China). Patrick Baert of AFP writes: Jia Qingguo, dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, raised eyebrows earlier in September when he published an article entitled: "Time to prepare for the worst in North Korea". The paper was published in English in East Asia Forum, a website of the Australian National University, but it is unlikely that he could have released it without the approval of Chinese authorities. Jia urged Beijing to start discussing contingency plans with the United States and South Korea -- talks that the two nations have sought in the past but China has resisted for fear of upsetting Pyongyang. "When war becomes a real possibility, China must be prepared. And, with this in mind, China must be more willing to consider talks with concerned countries on contingency plans," Jia wrote. This comparatively mild language is telling KJU that in a war, China might not be on the North Korean side. Observers say the public debate might be a tactic to try and coerce Pyongyang into cooling its weapons programme, with its nuclear and missile tests visibly angering Beijing, which has backed tough new United Nations sanctions on the country. But it may also indicate growing calls to overhaul its relationship with the North, a longterm ally that it defended during the 1950-53 Korean War and has a mutual defence pact with. Yalu River bridges from China into North Korea at Dandong, Liaoning Province. As most readers know, the Korean War never ended. So an "overhaul" of the relationship could only mean weakening or abandoning the alliance and allowing the war to be fought to completion without Beijing backing Pyongyang in the fighting. Even raising this possibility, indirectly and via a scholarly journal published in English, is calculated to let Kim know he could be on his own. This could indicate a shift in the tectonic plates of China's geostrategy: But there are also signs of a genuine shift in perceptions over how China should handle North Korea. David Kelly, director of research at Beijing-based consultancy China Policy, said the thinking among Chinese academics was: "We could do better without them, a unified Korea would be incredibly good for China, the northeast would boom". China has long supported North Korea because it serves as a buffer from US troops stationed in South Korea, but Barthelemy Courmont, a China specialist at the Institute of Strategic and International Relations in Paris, said Pyongyang's downfall could be good for Beijing, especially economically. "China now believes that a collapse of North Korea would not necessarily be to its disadvantage," Courmont said. "If North Korea were to fall in a peaceful way, China would be best positioned for its reconstruction. China is the only country capable of overseeing the reconstruction of North Korea," he said. This has to be related to the current "conflict" between SecState Tillerson and President Trump that has progs reveling in what they see as amateur hour. The New York Times: President Trump undercut his own secretary of state on Sunday, calling his effort to open lines of communication with North Korea a waste of time, and seeming to rule out a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear-edged confrontation with Pyongyang. A day after Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said he was reaching out to Pyongyang in hopes of starting a new dialogue, Mr. Trump belittled the idea and left the impression that he was focused mainly on military options. Mr. Trump was privately described by advisers as furious at Mr. Tillerson for contradicting the president's public position that now is not the time for talks. This sounds more like good cop/bad cop than outright conflict. As with President Reagan, Trump is regarded as a bit of a madman, who might just start a nuclear war. Even Kim Jong-un understands that North Korea cannot win such a conflict. But now, the old passivity and delay that characterized American policy toward North Korea for the past three decades is over. If (and it is a big if) China switches over to a policy of Korean reunification and dumps the embarrassment in Pyongyang, it would be an achievement of President Trump that echoes Nixon opening relations with China and Reagan wining the Cold War. An eco-terrorist charged with trying to sabotage part of the Dakota Access Pipeline says he will appeal to the jury to validate his terrorism by asking them to accept his "act of conscience." Michael Foster will claim that the fossil fuel companies are destroying the Earth and that sabotaging the pipeline was a "necessity." Daily Caller: Foster plans to argue that he was trying to protect the environment from what he believes to be the fossil fuel industry's role in global warming. "I'm going into this to challenge the jury to use their conscience to consider my act of conscience," Foster said about his plan. The necessity defense is popular among activists. Attorneys involved with the case, meanwhile, are asking District Judge Laurie Fonataine to toss out Foster's necessity defense. "Although the defendants may testify what was going through their mind at the time they took the actions they did, the court should prohibit any other presentation of a climate necessity defense or the attempt to turn this into a trial on global warming," assistant North Dakota Attorney General Jon Byers told the judge. Foster was one of several protesters associated with the group Climate Direct Action in October to warn officials at Enbridge, Kinder Morgan, and TransCanada ahead of time of their intent to take the projects offline. The pipeline in Washington wasn't operating at the time of the attempt. Foster faces various felony and misdemeanor charges in North Dakota, including criminal mischief, conspiracy, and reckless endangerment. His fellow protesters will be tried later this year for the joint action. Pipeline developers have been successful in recent cases against environmentalists. A federal judge determined earlier this year that Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind DAPL, could hide information pertaining to the pipeline's leak points at areas along its route. The judge argued the exception was necessary to prevent possible acts of vandalism in the future. Foster's act was not just an attack on a private company. His beloved environment would have been severely damaged if he had been successful. It points to the total incoherence of the thinking of many greens, who believe that the Earth is so fragile that a pipeline can damage it. The fact is, if the Earth were as sensitive to human habitation as the greens say it is, the planet would have been destroyed eons ago. The Earth has absorbed blows from countless comets and asteroids and recovered. The puny efforts of humans to alter the environment pale in comparison to the cosmic shooting gallery Earth is in. Elevating the environment to the level of religion makes the individual environmentalist into a hero in his own mind. Foster no doubt sees himself that way. But it's doubtful the jury will. The New York Times reported this weekend on another incident of racist graffiti at an unlikely venue: the United States Air Force Academy Prep School, located on the campus of the Academy itself, not exactly a hotbed of white supremacist activity. Over at my favorite military blog, This Ain't Hell (but you can see it from here), the discussion was decidedly skeptical, as the people commenting are those serving or who have served and who therefore have an informed appreciation of the dire consequences that could befall the writer of such racist messages on a military installation. Many of them noted the several recent situations like this where the perps have turned out to be one and the same as the complainants. A link was provided to a website that monitors such spurious claims of racist activity, Fakehatecrimes.org, where I discovered an interesting occurrence that might shed some light on such ersatz reports. If you click on the graphs page at the website, you will find a pair of simple bar graphs tracking the reported numbers of such faux incidents by month and year. One thing is immediately apparent: there was a tremendous spike in 2016, and that spike was attributable primarily to the very large number reported in November of that year. It would appear that 2017 is headed to an even higher finish. That spike, coinciding with the presidential election, immediately set me to wondering if such reports were being used for political purposes, but the greater likelihood is that it was the heightened emotional turmoil following the Democrats' hugely unexpected loss that triggered more such activity. That it has continued at an increased pace well into 2017 could indicate that it is a racial variant of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Whatever the driving mechanism, I'm with my comrades in arms at This Ain't Hell in believing that this latest situation on the USAFA campus is highly suspect, perhaps just a social justice form of a Blue Falcon designed to bring the entire organization bad publicity. There is another aspect of this phenomenon of false racist activity reporting that I find even more significant: its necessity. Why, in a nation of privileged racist white supremacists who are determined to oppress blacks, as the Democrats and their media constantly remind us that we are, is there even a need for blacks to create phony incidents? If we are as hugely racist as Black Lives Matter and other social justice organizations say we are, we're doing a piss-poor job of it if the downtrodden minority folks have to step up their game of false racism incidents just to keep the white racist meme moving along. Are you telling me, all you privileged white supremacists reading this, that we're incapable of performing our own racist acts on a scale to justify the media harangues about white privilege and white racism? This can't be good: I'm forming a mental image of some social justice mob leader, standing before a maze of media microphones and fulminating about how the damned white folks have done gone and gotten so lazy, they won't even do their own damned racism no more! On the other hand, and this is where I'm inclined to go, this could be a very good indicator of the fact that this is not such a racist nation after all. We are, as so many of us have long believed, much better people than the Democrats and their controlled media claim we are. I have long chosen to disbelieve them, and I'll bet the rent money that this blossoming situation at the Air Force Academy will someday be included on the pages of Fakehatecrimes.org. Now that Tom Price has been forced out of office as secretary of health and human services, the left has established a standard for the conduct of federal officials that may come back to bite a few of its favorites. Jeffrey Lord has noticed that Robert Mueller, when he was head of the FBI, has got some explaining to do. From The American Spectator: The headline in The Washington Post dates back to March 21, 2014. It reads: Personal FBI flights for Holder and other Justice officials went unreported The story begins: The agency that tracks federal travel did not report hundreds of personal and other "nonmission" trips aboard government planes for senior Justice Department officials including Attorney General Eric Holder and former FBI Director Robert Mueller, according to a watchdog report. Congress's nonpartisan Government Accountability Office determined that the 395 flights cost taxpayers $7.8 million. But the General Services Administration, which oversees trips aboard federal jets, did not require documentation because of a GSA reporting exemption that covers intelligence agencies, even in cases of unclassified personal travel. And when one follows the link from the Post to the General Accounting Office report one finds a report that says, among other things, this: For example, in February 2013 GAO found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is a member of the intelligence community did not report to GSA, based on the intelligence agency exemption, information for 395 unclassified nonmission flights taken by the Attorney General, FBI Director, and other Department of Justice (DOJ) executives from fiscal years 2009 through 2011. And who was the Director of the FBI in that period between 2009 and 2011? Yes, of course. It was now Independent Counsel Robert Mueller. Jeff asks the key question: Thus the question: Did Robert Mueller (not to mention then-Attorney General Eric Holder) reimburse the government just for his own seat on what the GAO describes as "unclassified nonmission flights" which is what Price did? Or did Mueller do what Price did not pay for the full cost of the flights in question. Since the cost of these flights would undoubtedly run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars if not several millions, one can reasonably suspect Mueller did exactly what Price did pay only for the cost of his seat. In which case? Why, if he did exactly what Price did, is he back in government at all? In the normal (pre-Trump) GOP, this double standard would be accepted as the way the world works. But I hope the president will note Mueller's private jet travel for non-mission purposes and raise the question as to why his abuse (if that's what it was) is to be tolerated. Keep in mind that Saul Alinsky now works for us, as the MOTUS blog always says. We are the insurgents fighting an establishment that refuses to treat us with justice. So let's invoke his rules 4 and 5: "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules." If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." There is no defense. It's irrational. It's infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. When they hit us with new standards, we hit back harder, applying those standards to them. That sounds rather Trumpian, and I hope the president raises these questions of Mueller. The brutal, violent response by Spanish security forces to citizens trying vote in the Catalonia independence referendum has shocked the Spanish people and is causing a backlash against the government of Prime Minister Mariana Rajoy. More than 800 Catalonians were injured by Spanish riot police. Scenes of police wading into crowds assembled outside of polling stations swinging batons and firing rubber bullets played out on TV screens across Spain. Children were clearly visible in the crowds that were assaulted. The international reaction has been one of shock and anger. But even pro-union Spanish citizens are criticizing Rajoy for the way he has handled this crisis. Catalonia unions have called for a general strike on Tuesday. And it is very likely that the street demonstrations have only just begun. Reuters: The streets of Barcelona, the Catalan capital, were quiet on Monday, but newspaper editorials said the referendum, in which Catalan officials said 90 percent of voters had chosen to leave Spain, had set the stage for a decisive clash between Madrid and the region. It could all get worse, the moderate Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia said in an editorial after Spanish police used batons and rubber bullets to disrupt the vote, which had been declared illegal by Madrid. Catalan officials said 840 people had been injured. Were entering a phase of strikes and street protests ... and with more movement, more repression. Catalonia is a centre of industry and tourism accounting for a fifth of Spains economy, a production base for major multi-nationals from Volkswagen to Nestle, and home to Europes fastest-growing sea port. Although it already has extensive autonomy, its tax revenues are crucial to Spains state budget. Catalonias regional leader, Carles Puigdemont, declared on Sunday that voters had earned the right to independence and said he would present the results to the regions parliament, which then had the power to move a motion of independence. What is incomprehensible about the Spanish government's handling of this crisis was that the vote had absolutely no legally binding authority. The government had not only declared the vote illegal, but the Spanish supreme court also ruled that the referendum had no legal basis. Why the massive crackdown on a vote with no real meaning? Rajoy offered to call all-party political talks on Sunday to reflect on the future of Catalonia, but maintained his outright rejection of independence as an option. The Madrid governments attempts to prevent Sundays referendum through the use of police force brought criticism from fellow members of the European Union, including Britain and Belgium. But there has been silence from the EU itself. At home, the crisis does not appear to have endangered support for Rajoys minority national government, with mainstream parties largely backing his opposition to Catalan independence. In Rajoy's defense, the pro-union forces in Catalonia were under seige from the minority of pro-independence activists. But in trying to prop up those Catalonians who wish to remain part of Spain, he has angered and alienated a large segment of the population of the province who may have been lukewarm towards independence or on the fence. In other words, Rajoy's over the top response to the vote has polarized the region and made unrest and street violence more likely over the coming months. The violent scenes of police attacking Spanish citizens will not be forgotten any time soon. And it remains to be seen whether Rajoy's offer of an all-party dialogue will be - or can be - accepted by the pro-independence Catalonian regional government. Recent FBI statistics show that there is at least a "causal relationship" between reduced policing in cities that suffered from anti-police violence and violent crime. The most glaring example is Chicago, where police have come under withering attack for several high-profile killings of unarmed civilians. The murder rate went up an astronomical 86% from 2014 to 2016. Other cities, including Dallas, Baltimore, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Charlotte, also experienced spiking numbers of murders. The common factors in all those cities were protests and riots against perceived police brutality. Daily Caller: As McDonald [sic] sees it, agitation by groups such as Black Lives Matter, encouraged by slanted media coverage, has led to a retrenchment among big-city police forces. Street cops are so worried about being vilified by city leaders and the press that they are avoiding contact with the criminal element, she says. "Cops are backing off of proactive policing in high-crime minority neighborhoods, and criminals are becoming emboldened," MacDonald [sic] wrote in a Sept. 25 piece for City Journal. "Having been told incessantly by politicians, the media, and Black Lives Matter activists that they are bigoted for getting out of their cars and questioning someone loitering on a known drug corner at 2 AM, many officers are instead just driving by." Critics have said MacDonald's [sic] theory is not supported by statistical evidence, noting that big spikes in violence occurred in just a handful of cities. If the Ferguson Effect were a real phenomenon, they argue, it would have manifested itself across the country. "It's really a local problem, not a broad trend," Ames Grawert, an attorney with the Brennan Center for Justice, told The Intercept in 2016. "There is no evidence that crime has gone up overall." Another year's worth of FBI data, however, adds weight to MacDonald's argument. Killings have spiked in several cities that experienced rioting or significant protest against the police. Dallas, for example, recorded 171 murders in 2016 47 percent more than in 2014. The story was the same in Charlotte and Milwaukee, whose 2016 homicide totals were 43 and 57 percent higher than in 2014, respectively. Nowhere is the correlation between reduced police activity what MacDonald [sic] calls "de-policing" and a higher number of murders stronger than it is Chicago. Earlier this year, the University of Chicago issued a report on the data behind the city's horrifying rise in gun violence in 2016. After concluding the wave of murders couldn't be attributed to warm weather or a decrease in educational or social welfare spending, the report suggested a precipitous drop in police stops might be a causal factor. It isn't just officers being worried about getting into trouble for stopping people. There is real fear on the streets. Targeted assassinations of police officers are rising as black activists use white-hot rhetoric to describe police as "terrorists" or "targeting" black males. Every time an officer gets out of his patrol car in a high-crime area, he has to be wondering if there is a shooter out there. This is the reality that police officers face and is certainly a part of the "Ferguson Effect." Politicians in big cities have shown they do not have officers' backs. This contributes to the feeling that cops are alone and is a huge disincentive for them to enforce the law. The Ferguson Effect is real. How many more cops have to die to convince anti-police activists of that fact? It's the first Monday in October, which means the Supreme Court will open its session today with some important cases on the docket. Cases touching on civil rights, free speech, presidential power, redistricting, and privacy rights will be heard as well as a case involving mandatory union fees and possibly other First Amendment matters. The Hill: It will be Justice Neil Gorsuch's first full term on the bench. He joined the court in April after a bitter, partisan battle over the vacancy left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Court watchers also say this term could be Justice Anthony Kennedy's last. Long the court's pivotal swing voter, Kennedy was rumored to have been considering retirement last spring. "There's only one prediction that's entirely safe about the upcoming term," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said recently while speaking at Georgetown Law School, "and that is it will be momentous." Ginsburg is guilty of understatement. Here are a few of the cases that will be considered by the court: Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project; Trump v. Hawaii Some argue the Trump administration has already won the fight over its travel ban. The court in June agreed to reinstate the 90-day ban on nationals from six majority-Muslim countries that had been blocked by lower courts. The justices, however, carved out an exemption from the ban for people who have a "bona fide" relationship with a person or entity in the U.S. The challengers, including the state of Hawaii, are pushing the court to find the ban, which expired on Sept. 24, unconstitutional. They argue Trump used nationality as a proxy to uphold a campaign promise to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. ... Gill v. Whitford The justices have agreed to wade into the controversial issue of partisan gerrymandering the process of drawing voter districts to increase the political power of one party over another. The case centers on Wisconsin's 2011 legislative map, which was drawn by the state's Republican-controlled legislature. A lower court struck down the map as unconstitutional last year. A group of Democratic voters claim Republicans divided Democrats among districts so they fell short of a majority. Other Democratic voters were packed into districts their party's candidate was already sure to win, they say. ... Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission The case centers on Jack Phillips, a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple and argues he can't be forced to do so under the state's public accommodations law. That statute prohibits businesses from discriminating against customers based on their sexual orientation. As a Christian, Phillips says he strives to honor his faith in all aspects of his life, including his art and his cakes. Creating a custom wedding cake to celebrate a same-sex wedding ceremony, he argues, would violate his First Amendment rights. The justices will decide whether Phillips's religious objections prevail over the state law. Also on the docket is a case involving cell phone privacy. Do the cops have the right to obtain location data from your phone without your permission? The justices will decide that case, which has far-reaching implications for privacy of other devices as well. The narrow conservative majority is no guarantee that these cases will be decided in ways that benefit individual freedom. But there is a chance that some of these cases will expand the notion of personal liberty, setting boundaries on government power that is desperately needed. Two nursing students in the ASU Honors Program. Two very different backgrounds. Two incredibly fulfilling summer study abroad experiences. Katherine Bautista Junior Katherine Bautista was born and raised in the Philippines until she moved at 10 years old when her mom got a nursing job in Tennessee. They later moved to Brownwood, where they have lived for the last seven years. She wants to be a medical missionary. Nadia Rodriguez Senior Nadia Rodriguez is a native small-town Texan born and raised in Brackettville, and she is a first-generation student. She wants to be a nurse educator and, eventually, a nurse practitioner here in Texas. But despite their differences, both are interested in caring for women and infants, and both picked the summer of 2017 to take the trip of a lifetime through the Honors Program. Bautista spent eight weeks on a medical mission trip to the Mercy Maternity Center in Davao City, Philippines. I held and loved plenty of precious babies, Bautista said. My team served with the staff on all the shifts, and we learned on the job. We provided care for all the women there, including prenatal care, vaccinations and postnatal care. We also got to observe and participate in the births, and I actually delivered my first baby on my last day there. The most exciting part of my summer was definitely delivering a baby, she added. It was a heart-warming and life-changing experience to be able to serve all the women and babies. We provided physical, emotional and spiritual care. Bautista in the Philippines Meanwhile, Rodriguez had originally hoped to study in Mexico, but ended up in Cordoba, Argentina, where she completed a four-week internship at the Hospital Universitario de Maternidad y Neonatologia. I was placed with the medical residents to shadow them, Rodriguez said. In the mornings, we would do prenatal consultations, and then we would take lab specimens, which I was able to do. A lot of my role was taking specimens and vital signs, and I was able to observe births and caring for post-partem mothers. Argentina was familiar enough so I could communicate, but definitely a different culture, she added. So I think it turned out better than if I had just visited Mexico like I had planned. Im really thankful for the opportunity. Rodriquez in Argentina Already comfortable with the Philippine culture, Bautista was content to stay in student housing during her trip. But Rodriguez had a much different experience in Argentina, living with a host mom, Isabel, and her two small children. More than just seeing the culture, I was able to learn more about it, Rodriguez said. Isabel explained every kind of food and why they made it. There were also some holidays that happened while I was there. So it was nice to not only be able to see what was going on, but also have everything explained to me. Id never been away from home except for coming to ASU, she added. I was homesick for a little bit, but it got better. One thing I learned is that the Argentinians are a very nice people. I loved it. These types of experiences are something that typical ASU students couldnt afford on their own. Yet because of the Alvin New Family funding, they are able to take advantage of these life-altering experiences. Dr. Shirley Eoff, Honors Program Director Both Bautista and Rodriguez also made sure they got out and about on the weekends. We had half of Saturday off and all of Sunday, Bautista said. We went to the Eden Nature Park where we went zip-lining and horseback riding. We also went island-hopping to different beaches around the island we were staying on. Im ecstatic that I went, she added. It gave me a vision of what my future holds for me and that I do want to be a medical missionary, long term. My host mom was from Villa Carlos Paz, Rodriguez said, which is known for the Black Lake, and we walked around the lake and shops. We also went to Villa Belgrano, which is a German-inspired town. It was completely different than the rest of Argentina. Plus, Cordoba is a big city, she added. I was able to take tango classes. We did different traditional food tastings and we went to an artisanal fair. We did a lot of things to just get a better knowledge of their culture. Now back at ASU, the dynamic duo is continuing to work toward their respective goals. Rodriguez will graduate in December, while Bautista will follow in December 2018. But both are already nurses without borders. From: info@capital.com Subject: URGENT MATTER COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:38:47 -0700 Ref: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Attn: , We the entire staff and board member of capital oil and gas regret to announce the death of our colleague which sad invent took place on one of our oil installations in Libya during the raid by rebels in the area. He was aged 58yrs and Single Based on his death, the company has worked out FULL payment of his entitlement which will be paid to his next of kin. Your name and contact address was on his employment form as his next of kin that is why we are contacting you to come forward for his payment which is put at US$25,000.000.00 American Dollars. Send us an email for quick response via: boardexecutive@live.com or infocompensation@yahoo.cn Thanks Mrs Veena Almad Human Resource Manager, Capital Oil And Gas Limited Recruiter 1 Capital Oil Close, Westminster, Ibru Jetty Complex, London, U.K Email: boardexecutive@live.com De: Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com > Enviado: lunes, 14 de agosto de 2017 06:32 a.m. Asunto: Re: URGENT MATTER COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com >lunes, 14 de agosto de 2017 06:32 a.m.Re: URGENT MATTER COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Human Resource Manager, Capital Oil And Gas Limited Recruiter 1 Capital Oil Close, Westminster, Ibru Jetty Complex, Ibafon, Apapa Lagos Date: 14-08-2017 Email: capital_oil@live.com REF: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Dear , After fews year of no communication, I have able to secure the easymeans of you getting your money. Right now I need to hear from you before I can able to give you final details and location of your funds and hoe it can be remitted to you with further stress, but an urgent response is needed from you for immediate action to be taken. Thank You and Stay Bless. I await your urgent response. Yours Faithfully. Mrs. Veena Almad De: Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com > Enviado: martes, 15 de agosto de 2017 03:07 a.m. Asunto: Re: Dear URGENT MATTER COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com >martes, 15 de agosto de 2017 03:07 a.m.Re: Dear URGENT MATTER COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Human Resource Manager, Capital Oil And Gas Limited Recruiter 1 Capital Oil Close, Westminster, Ibru Jetty Complex, Date: 15-08-2017 Email: capital_oil@live.com REF: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Dear About your message that you sent to me, I will need you to send me the below details so we can proceed and get this done as soon as possible, below are the details. Full Name: Company name: Home Address: Mobile Line: Immediately I receive the above details, I can proceed with your file and we can get this Transaction done with. Thank You and Stay Bless. I await your urgent response. Yours Faithfully. Mrs. Veena Almad De: Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com > Enviado: martes, 15 de agosto de 2017 10:37 a.m. Asunto: Re: Dear URGENT MATTER COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com >martes, 15 de agosto de 2017 10:37 a.m.Re: Dear URGENT MATTER COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Human Resource Manager, Capital Oil And Gas Limited Recruiter 1 Capital Oil Close, Westminster, Ibru Jetty Complex, Date: 15-08-2017 Email: capital_oil@live.com REF: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Dear Thank you for your prompt response and details that you sent to me, I want to make known to you that we have begin the filing process. Be informed that we are going to use through a diplomat to get the money across to you, with this means, the money will seal in a consignment / truck boxes which will be delivered to you through a private COURIER SERVICE. This is a safer way of getting the truck boxes delivered to your nominated addres. With thisprocess! we will avoid any Eye-browns on YOU or the truck boxes / consignment. Once we finalize the process, I will give you further instructions which you will have to follow to get this done. Thank You and Stay Bless. I await your urgent response. Yours Faithfully. Mrs. Veena Almad Disclaimer: This message is for the named recipient(s) above and may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information of EXILANT. Do not disseminate this message to anyone if you are not the intended recipient. All e-mails and attachments sent and received are subject to monitoring, and archival by EXILANT. If you have received this message in error, delete all copies of it, and notify the sender. We do not accept responsibility for any malware that may be transferred by way of this email. De: Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com > Enviado: viernes, 18 de agosto de 2017 08:13 p.m. Asunto: Re: Fees and charges Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com >viernes, 18 de agosto de 2017 08:13 p.m.Re: Fees and charges Human Resource Manager, Capital Oil And Gas Limited Recruiter 1 Capital Oil Close, Westminster, Ibru Jetty Complex, Date: 18-08-2017 Email: REF: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Dear I will urge to contact courier service through their below details. Name: Mr. Daniel Abraham Operational Delivery Officer International Express Delivery Service Hoover Building Email: DELIVERY OFFICERName: Mr. Daniel AbrahamOperational Delivery OfficerInternational Express Delivery ServiceHoover BuildingEmail: daniel.abraham@diplomats.com Thank You and Stay Bless. I await your urgent response. Yours Faithfully. Mrs. Veena Almad Disclaimer: This message is for the named recipient(s) above and may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information of EXILANT. Do not disseminate this message to anyone if you are not the intended recipient. All e-mails and attachments sent and received are subject to monitoring, and archival by EXILANT. If you have received this message in error, delete all copies of it, and notify the sender. We do not accept responsibility for any malware that may be transferred by way of this email. Date: 18-08-2017Email: capital_oil@live.com REF: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11DearI will urge to contact courier service through their below details.Disclaimer:This message is for the named recipient(s) above and may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information of EXILANT. Do not disseminate this message to anyone if you are not the intended recipient. All e-mails and attachments sent and received are subject to monitoring, and archival by EXILANT. If you have received this message in error, delete all copies of it, and notify the sender. We do not accept responsibility for any malware that may be transferred by way of this email. De: Daniel Abraham < daniel.abraham@diplomats.com > Enviado: lunes, 21 de agosto de 2017 05:48 a.m. Asunto: Re: Deliver in Daniel Abraham < daniel.abraham@diplomats.com >lunes, 21 de agosto de 2017 05:48 a.m.Re: Deliver in DELIVERY OFFICER WORLD COURIER SERVICE ADVISE: YOUR CONSIGNMENT NOTIFICATION Code: REF: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Attn: A given notice was forwarded to my office concerning your consignment which is ready for delivery to your address: Right this moment you are advise to comply with this office advise by remitting the charges fees Two Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty dollars ($2,820), below are any of the branches payment can be made. Branches: Transfer Details as Follow. Walmart Transfer United State Receiver Name: CARLOS NEGRON Address: TAMPA FLORIDA. USA Money Gram Transfer U.K Receiver Name: DICKSON BLESSING Address: London U.K Money Gram Transfer Nigeria Receiver Name: JOHNSON JOYOUS ONORIODE, Address: Apapa Lagos Nigeria. Your swiftly response is needed for confirmation of payment details immediately is done. Be advised that any further delay from your side could be dangerous, as we would not be held liable for any delay or consequences. Best Regards, Mr. Daniel Abraham Operational Delivery Officer International Express Delivery Service Hoover Building Privacy: This email is Intellectual and other property rights to the information contained in this mail office are held by this office rights reserved De: Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com > Enviado: martes, 22 de agosto de 2017 05:50 a.m. Asunto: Re: Fees and charges Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com >martes, 22 de agosto de 2017 05:50 a.m.Re: Fees and charges Human Resource Manager, Capital Oil And Gas Limited Recruiter 1 Capital Oil Close, Westminster, Ibru Jetty Complex, Date: 22-08-2017 Email: capital_oil@live.com REF: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Dear, if you are comuunicating with the diplomat, please do not disclose the content inside the truck boxes / package, why? because we will get into a serious troubles /problem. Thank You and Stay Bless. I await your urgent response. Yours Faithfully. Mrs. Veena Almad Disclaimer: This message is for the named recipient(s) above and may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information of EXILANT. Do not disseminate this message to anyone if you are not the intended recipient. All e-mails and attachments sent and received are subject to monitoring, and archival by EXILANT. If you have received this message in error, delete all copies of it, and notify the sender. We do not accept responsibility for any malware that may be transferred by way of this email. De: Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com > Enviado: jueves, 24 de agosto de 2017 04:26 p.m. Asunto: Re: Fees and charges Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com >jueves, 24 de agosto de 2017 04:26 p.m.Re: Fees and charges Human Resource Manager, Capital Oil And Gas Limited Recruiter 1 Capital Oil Close, Westminster, Ibru Jetty Complex, Date: 22-08-2017 Email: capital_oil@live.com REF: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Dear , you have to look for money and get this done with, with out money, their is no way we can able to resolvethe issue. Thank You and Stay Bless. I await your urgent response. Yours Faithfully. Mrs. Veena Almad Disclaimer: This message is for the named recipient(s) above and may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information of EXILANT. Do not disseminate this message to anyone if you are not the intended recipient. All e-mails and attachments sent and received are subject to monitoring, and archival by EXILANT. If you have received this message in error, delete all copies of it, and notify the sender. We do not accept responsibility for any malware that may be transferred by way of this email. De: Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com > Enviado: martes, 29 de agosto de 2017 09:42 a.m. Asunto: Re: Fees and charges Mrs. Veena Almad < capital_oil@live.com >martes, 29 de agosto de 2017 09:42 a.m.Re: Fees and charges Human Resource Manager, Capital Oil And Gas Limited Recruiter 1 Capital Oil Close, Westminster, Ibru Jetty Complex, Date: 29-08-2017 Email: capital_oil@live.com REF: COG/CEP/OAG/VOL.IV/11 Dear , it's obvious you feel less concern about this, but that its your problem, not mine. You are expecting some else to take care of your responsibility,. This is your money and its ready to move by the diplomat, which the diplomat is not even aware that their is money inside the consignment. Secondly this is a large amount of money and you behave luck-warn in getting your money, if you behave like this, i am not sure you are the owner, although all names and file showed, you are the money of this money, but you are not acting like one. Thank You and Stay Bless. I await your urgent response. Yours Faithfully. Mrs. Veena Almad Disclaimer: This message is for the named recipient(s) above and may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information of EXILANT. Do not disseminate this message to anyone if you are not the intended recipient. All e-mails and attachments sent and received are subject to monitoring, and archival by EXILANT. If you have received this message in error, delete all copies of it, and notify the sender. We do not accept responsibility for any malware that may be transferred by way of this email. If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (30 Sept, 2017) The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) continue to receive updates from member countries and hotels regarding the recovery and rebuilding efforts following the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the northern Caribbean and Leeward Islands. The CTO Relief Fund (a 501 c3) helps families and countries rebuild after hurricanes, with monies raided being sent directly to CTO-member destinations affected by the hurricanes. To make a donation, visit www.gofundme.com/hurricane-relief-fund-cto. Donations through CHTAs Caribbean Tourism Recovery Fund can be made via http://www.tourismcares.org/caribbean. Anguilla The government has announced that recovery from Hurricane Irma is proceeding at an extraordinary pace. Phone and internet communications have been restored to most parts of the island. Roads and beaches have been cleared, there are no longer queues at petrol stations, and grocery stores are well provisioned. Many local restaurants have reopened, along with a number of hotels that are housing relief workers and UK government officials. Significant progress is also being made on the restoration of the electricity grid; power lines to many villages on the central line through Crocus Hill and The Valley have been restored in the three weeks following Irma. Chief Minister, Victor Banks, has announced that plans are in place for the expansion of the Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport (AXA) and the reconstruction of the Blowing Point ferry terminal. The British government has indicated that in short order they will be responding to the need to expand the airport. A team from the British Corps of Royal Engineers will oversee the project to extend the runway by 600 feet from its current 5,400 feet. The airport will remain open to private and commercial aircraft during this planned expansion period. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, the terminal at Blowing Point will be demolished. Architectural plans have already been commissioned for the design and construction of the new facility. Construction is expected to begin shortly, at which point a more detailed timeline will be provided. Seaborne Airlines has also announced the resumption of service between Anguilla and San Juan beginning 30 September, departing San Juan at 12:10pm to arrive in Anguilla at1:15pm and departing Anguilla at 1:45pm to arrive in San Juan at 2:50pm N.B. Seaborne Airlines also announced on its Facebook page that it will resume service today, 30 September to Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis, and to St Thomas on 2 October. Anguilla latest hotel updates Carimar Beach Club:Grand re-opening is planned for 21 December. CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa: As assessment continues, it is anticipated the resort will remained closed for restoration through the summer of 2018. Four Seasons Resort & Residences Anguilla: will not reopen before the end of 2017. Frangipani Beach Resort: annual opening date has been pushed back to December 2017 British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands Tourist Board remains focused on rebuilding a stronger territory and tourism product and officials on the ground are continuing their full assessment of the tourism industry, and will share updates as they become available. As of 29 September, there are several charter operators that have announced they will be operating during the winter 2017/2018 season including: The Moorings: December 2017 Marine Max Vacations: December 2017 Festiva Sailing: December 2017 Horizon Yacht Charters: January 2018 Through the BVI Ports Authority, we are on a fast track towards the restoration of Tortola Pier Parks cruise and shopping facility with a targeted date of reopening at least 50 per cent of retail and food and beverage stores by 1 November, Mark Vanterpool, the minister of communications and works said. A majority of the hotels in the territory are currently closed and will share updates after more extensive assessments in the coming weeks. Nearby Cyril E. King Airport (STT) in St Thomas reopened on 28 September, and BVI ferry companies (Road Town Fast Ferry and Native Son) have resumed operations between the islands allowing BVI Islanders, residents and work permit holders to return to the country. For those who wish to support the critical rebuilding efforts following the hurricanes devastation, please visit: http://pledgeling.us/bvi or text BVI to 707070 to donate to the BVI Recovery Fund. Dominica The ferry company LExpress Des Iles has resumed service between Dominica and Saint Lucia. While there is no service today, 30 September, beginning tomorrow there will be daily service through to Friday 6 October, although there will be return service only tomorrow 1 October and Friday 6 October. On the remaining days, service will be one way only, either from or to Dominica. The government has announced that Calls may fax and telephone landline services are back up in the northern town of Portsmouth, and that the main Princess Margaret Hospital continues to function, along with most of the major type 3 healthcare centres on island. However, it says only some of the wards are currently functional and occupied, water and electricity have been partially restored and only emergency/life-saving surgical procedures are being performed.. Latest hotel updates: Fort Young Hotel: Closed. No word yet on a possible reopening date. Secret Bay Dominica: Damage assessments are under way and an update is expected soon on restoration of grounds and structures. Rosalie Bay Resort A nature and Wellness Resort Once communication is restored, updates will be provided as they become available. Cuba Minister of Tourism Manuel Marrero Cruz is quoted by the official Granma newspaper as saying Cuba will be ready for the high tourist season without a trace of Hurricane Irma. The minister met with 160 tour operators last week at Varaderos Plaza America convention centre. He said power, water, and communications were restored in 100 per cent of the countrys tourist resorts, including the northern Santa Maria, Coco and Guillermo keys, and that tourism facilities in the territories of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Cienfuegos, Mayabeque, Artemisa, and Pinar del Rio, did not suffer any damage, and have been operating without any difficulties. He described the damage suffered by facilities in Sancti Spiritus, especially in the north, Las Tunas, the northern coast of the province of Holguin, and Camaguey, as minor, while the damage in Havana and Varadero as minimal. According to Granma, the minister said of the 18 hotels located on Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, the latter of which suffered less damage, 14 will be fully recovered by 1 November, while the local airport will also be fully operational, and in better condition than before the hurricane struck. The remaining four hotel facilities will be completely restored to reopen their doors by 15 November. The minister explained that all extra-hotel activities in Cayo Coco will be restored and back in operation between 15 and 20 October, including its marina, dolphinarium, glass tower, and beach huts, and that hotels on Cayo Santa Maria are expected to be fully operational by 15 November. Of the 52 hotels in the countrys main tourist destination of Varadero, all except five are open, and the minister said: By 30 October, there will not be a trace of the hurricane in Varadero. He reported a 50 per cent drop in arrivals in September due to the hurricane, but through 22 September, the country had received 3.6 million tourists, 24 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year. Puerto Rico The Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC) said it continues to work with state and federal government agencies and is collaborating with industry partners to assess the impact of Hurricane Maria. The resumption of normal flight operations at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU) is being delayed for safety reasons due to radar functionality limitations impacting the number of arrivals and departures. The airport is operational again but on a limited schedule from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. until further notice. There are approximately twelve commercial flights scheduled daily. International flights have not yet been authorized. Airport authorities are working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resolve this situation while ensuring safe operations. The following airports are operational and offering limited service: Rafael Hernandez Airport (Aguadilla) Mercedita Airport (Ponce) Jose Aponte de la Torre Airport (Ceiba) Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport (Isla Grande) Antonio Rivera Rodriguez Airport (Vieques) Travellers should contact airlines directly for the most up-to-date information specific to each travellers circumstances. The following ports are open with restrictions (daylight transit only): Guayanilla Tallaboa Salinas San Juan Harbor Fajardo Culebra Vieques Guayama The following hotels are closed, therefore they are not taking new reservations until further notice. Contact the hotel directly for rebooking. Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve W Retreat & Spa in Vieques Gran Melia Coral by the Sea Hotel Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa (planning to reopen at the end of the year) Royal Isabela The following hotels are open, but are not taking new reservations prior to 15 October: Hyatt Place San Juan Hyatt House San Juan Verdanza Hotel The following hotels are open, but are not taking new reservations prior to 22 October: Hyatt Hacienda del Mar (Dorado) Hotel El Convento Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino Condado Vanderbilt Hotel AC Hotel by Marriott San Juan Condado La Concha Resort InterContinental San Juan in Isla Verde San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino The Wave Hotel Holiday Inn Express San Juan Condado Hotel by IHG Canario Boutique Hotel Coral Princess Hotel At Wind Chimes Boutique Hotel Best Western Condado Palm Inn & Suites Comfort Inn San Juan Hotel Miramar Hotel Villa Montana & Spa The following hotels are not accepting existing or new reservations through 31 October: Caribe Hilton The Condado Plaza Hilton Embassy Suites by Hilton Dorado del Mar Beach Resort Embassy Suites by Hilton San Juan Hotel & Casino Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort Hampton Inn & Suites San Juan El San Juan Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Juan El Conquistador, a Waldorf Astoria Resort (no longer accepting existing or new reservations through 31 December) PRTC has a travellers support center which is accessible by calling 787-522-5960 or Live Chat. Donations can be made via www.unitedforpuertorico.com. Updates can be viewed via www.seepuertorico.com. St. Barthelemy: Latest hotel updates: Eden Roc has advised that due to the damage caused by Hurricane Irma, the hotels reopening, planned for October after its annual closure, is postponed until further notice. Hotel Christopher St Barth:currently closed with no reopening date set. Hotel Le Toiny: currently closed with no reopening date set. Le Guanahani: currently closed with a reopening set for Summer 2018. St. Maarten (Dutch) Minister of Aviation Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher told The Daily Herald this week that the management of Princess Juliana International Airport was still carrying out in-depth assessments of the internal and external facilities, the majority of which suffered heavy to severe damage. The minister estimated the airport would not be back at full operation capacity in all its glory for another 35 weeks, but would be able to function optimally much sooner than that. The entire airport perimeter fencing was destroyed and all four jet bridges sustained substantial structural damage. The swing cabs were blown off all four bridges and all metal entrance doors attached between the bridges and the terminal building were blown in. All runway and taxiway lights and precision approach path indicators were destroyed. The shoulders and a section of the runway were under water due. The majority of the roof was destroyed in the terminal building exposing the terminal to outdoor elements with water found on all four levels of the terminal. There is no official date for the resumption of commercial flights into St. Maarten, according to the minister. Latest hotel updates: Royal Islander Club: Hotel and insurance adjusters are assessing the full extent of the damage. Royal Islander Club La Plage and La Terrasse will be closed through the end of 2017. Coral Beach Club / Oyster Bay Beach Resort: Oyster Bay Beach Resort and the sister property Coral Beach Club are currently closed until the completion of repairs Sonesta Resorts: Suffered significant damage from Hurricane Irma. Started to process refunds for 2017 reservations with refunds issued progressively based on the date of travel. Refunds will continue through 31 March, 2018. Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach: currently closed. St. Martin (French) Alamanda Resort: Will reopen for Autumn 2018 Belmond La Samanna: does not anticipate opening until at least April 2018. La Playa Orient Bay: currently closed Turks & Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) is making a strong and speedy recovery following the passage of Hurricane Irma. Hurricane Maria did little to delay the rebuilding, and additional damage was minimal across most of the TCIs eight inhabited islands. Providenciales, which is the most developed of the islands and where 90% of the population lives, is on a steady path to complete restoration in the coming days, with additional islands in the archipelago close behind. Currently, water and power have been restored in Providenciales, North & Middle Caicos and South Caicos with needs being addressed on other islands. All roads on these islands have been cleared and as of 23 September, Providenciales International Airport and Grand Turk International airport were back to full operation and all flights in and out have resumed. Many hotels and resorts are already welcoming guests, including Seven Stars, The Atrium, Caribbean Paradise Inn, Grace Bay Suites, The Sands and Somerset and Windsong. Additional hotels have set opening dates that run now through the end of the year as follows: 30 September 30: The Shore Club, The Palms, Regent Grand, Grace Bay Club 1 October: West Bay Club, Villa Del Mar, The Venetian, The Tuscany, Reef Residences 5 October 5: Gansevoort 12 October: Ocean Club West 16 October: Coral Gardens 20 October: Amanyara 1 November: Blue Haven, Beach House, Royal West Indies, Meridian Club 15 November: Alexandra Resort 20 November: Ocean Club 25 November: Ports of Call 30 November: Club Med TBD November: Point Grace 14 December: Beaches TBD December: Sail Rock Shops and restaurants are also largely open and welcoming local guests and visitors through their doors. U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas) Governor Kenneth E. Mapp reported that St. Thomas Cyril E. King Airport opened to commercial flights as planned on Thursday, with both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines operating services to the mainland United States. The restoration of power, he added, was inching its way forward, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency, working with local counterparts, was progressing with its provision of water to homes. The governor said cruise ships would like to return to St. Thomas and St. Croix as soon as 15 October, but that late October is a more realistic target. A formal announcement from the cruise lines and the U.S. Virgin Islands Government is expected next week. Several businesses that serve cruise ship passengers are prepared to welcome visitors. Pash Daswani, President of the India Association, stated that association members who own Charlotte Amalie businesses are fully operational. Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty said the cruise lines have requested a status report on beaches and other attractions in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and that representatives would soon visit to assess sites in the territory so they can start scheduling cruise calls. The West Indian Company Limited (WICO), which manages St. Thomas main cruise pier, was largely undamaged by the storm, according to WICO CEO Clifford Graham. The official website to donate to the U.S. Virgin Islands recovery effort is usvirecovery.org. Department of Tourism updates are available via www.usviupdate.com. Latest hotel information is as follows: After Las Vegas: everyone knows why Stephen Paddock did it Why did Mesquite, Nevada, man Stephen Paddock shoot dead more than 50 people and wound 400 more when he opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas? Police believe he committed suicide before they raided his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. It was from there that he fired at the crowd below, allegedly. We might never know why he did it, if he did it and if he did it alone 10 weapons were found in his room, say police. So can anyone with an agenda subscribe their bigotry to this horror? ISIS says they know why Paddock did it. A statement published by the groups Amaq propaganda agency says: The Las Vegas attacker is a soldier of the Islamic State in response to calls to target coalition countries. They claim Stephen Paddock converted to Islam several months ago. The Daily Mail endorses that message: Naturally, the Daily Mail initially ran with its them foreigners what done it. pic.twitter.com/FXDrn3JrkU Richard Littler (@richard_littler) October 2, 2017 Eric Paddock, the suspect brother, is quoted in the Orlando Sentinel: We are completely dumbfounded. We cant understand what happened. We have absolutely no idea whatsoever. I cant imagine. When you guys find out why this happened, let us know. I have no idea whatsoever. Tariq Nasheed says its to do with white supremacy. Paddock had been travelling with Marilou Danley, who is not a suspect. The Australian said Danley was an Australian passport holder, possibly of Indonesian descent, but officials there have not confirmed her nationality. White supremacist friendly with Indonesian women attacks country music festival. Really? Danley relocated to the United States 20 years ago, according to one of her former neighbours who said she is originally from the Philippines, The Herald Sun reported. Was it terrorism? There is motiving factors associated with terrorism other than a distraught person just intending to cause mass casualty. Before we label with that it will be a matter of process, says Sheriff Joseph Lombardo.We believe its a solo actor. A lone wolf, Lombardo added. Is there something about his name? What about Donald Trump? Armchair Detective On Twitter tabs the side of his nose and gives us the side eye: Mari Lou Danley & Stephen Paddock have traveled to the Middle East 3 times in last 2 years & FACEBOOK shows they HATE PRESIDENT TRUMP #Dems pic.twitter.com/SpxKc5X2JR Right Hand Jab (@LEFTH00K) October 2, 2017 Paddock hated Trump! right? How about Stephen Paddocks whiteness? Terror attacks are used to further a cause. What Paddocks was Charles Clymer doesnt say. But when it comes to being murdered, he is producing a league table. Ban white guys, says Charles! Can we ban God, who was angry at Trump. The dead are victims of white privilege: Deborah Schurman-Kauflin says he was a killer: Too many people are at a loss to understand such killings. They cant comprehend the deep pitted hatred that fills the black hearts of these multiple murderers. A shooting or mass event shocks the public which doesnt spend its time dreaming of murder. However these killers do just that. Every waking moment is focused on their deviant desires. By rote, they practice over and over in their minds how they will destroy as much life as possible. They live and breathe an inevitable revenge. Fueled by continuous anger, they prepare for their destiny. That is how they see it. Every mass killer I interviewed said they always knew they would kill. In a way it is a self fulfilling prophecy. Whatever method they choose to execute their plan, they practice ad nauseum. They go to the location they want to attack. Once there, they watch. They want to memorize the patterns of the people at the location. They want to see who is there and where they go. What is normal for this area? Yes, killers profile too. They need those patterns so they can predict the behavior of their targets. When they can anticipate how a victim will react, they can cut off escape routes. Weapons are obtained, and very often, they tell someone of their goal. Though they are deadly serious, the threat is blown off. People have a hard time believing that this person could do such a thing. Or, the person is too frightened to say a word. Thus, the behavior and words do not get reported. And the plan continues. More to follow Anorak Posted: 2nd, October 2017 | In: Key Posts, News Comments (3) | TrackBack | Permalink TEL AVIV - Israel has taken the extraordinary measure of closing border crossings with the West Bank for 11 consecutive days during the Jewish festivity of Sukkot, which starts on October 4 and lasts for a week. This closure will include the following Saturday, October 14. The decision is motivated by the fear of terror attacks, Public Security Minister Ghilad Erdan (Likud) told military radio. The minister mentioned in particular the attack on September 26 on a settlement in Har Adar, when a Palestinian killed three Israeli guardians before he was killed, and the recent arrest of three Arab Israelis who were ISIS supporters. Security services believe they were planning an armed attack on the holy site known as Temple Mount to Jews and Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, similar to one carried out last July. MAZARA DEL VALLO (TRAPANI) - A total of 58 country delegations, 150,000 people and over 600 companies and economic operators, and as many students, took part in 39 congresses and over 1,200 B2B meetings at the sixth edition of Blue sea land, the trade fair of clusters from the Mediterranean, Africa and the Middle East that wrapped up last night in Mazara del Vallo. A protocol to fight food waste was signed at the event, the results of which were outlined by Giovanni Tumbiolo, president of the Sicilian fishing district, at a press conference closing the expo at one of the region's stands in Piazza della Repubblica. The press conference was also attended by the deputy speaker of the Lower House Simone Baldelli, Umberto Vattani, president of the Venice International University, the deputy mayor of Mazara del Vallo, Silvano Bonanno, who stressed the importance of the event as a promoter of peace when different areas of the world are dealing with stability issues. The importance of the green and blue economy was also stressed. Vattani said the countries taking part in the initiative have pledged to propose Blue sea land as a candidate for the Nobel Peace prize. Representatives of the Christian, Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, Bektashi and Muslim religions met Sunday in a square between the local church of St Francis and the Ettakwa mosque to pray for peace. (ANSAmed). Egypt: car bomb attack foiled in Sinai Soldiers detonate car in north-east (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, OCTOBER 2 - A car bomb was detonated by security officials before it exploded at a checkpoint in north-eastern Sinai, Egypt, Mena news agency reported last night, quoting security sources. The attack was foiled yesterday on a ring road south of Arish: soldiers fired repeatedly at the vehicle which was driving towards the checkpoint, detonating it before it reached the soldiers on duty. A low-intensity conflict between Egyptian security forces and ISIS militants has been ongoing over the past four years in the north-eastern part of Sinai, at the border with the Gaza Strip. (ANSAmed). BEIRUT - September was a particularly deadly month in the Syrian conflict with over 3,000 reported dead, the highest toll so far this year, according to the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The organization relies on a vast network of activists and researchers on the ground for its reports. According to the NGO, over 3,000 people died in September, including 995 civilians. The great majority of civilians, about 70%, died in Russian and government air raids or bombings by the US-led coalition, the NGO said. The fatalities included 207 minors, many of them children. As far as militants casualties are concerned, 790 of the dead were pro-government fighters, over 700 were ISIS or al Qaida affiliates and 550 belonged to various groups in the Syrian anti-government insurgence. Libya: Alfano warns against proliferation of mediators 'We support action of UN envoy' (ANSAmed) - ROME, OCTOBER 2 - Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano on Monday said Italy supports the action of UN envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame, after meeting with Libyan Deputy Premier Ahmed Maitig at the foreign ministry in Rome. ''We support the action of the UN envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame'', Alfano said. ''We shouldn't multiply mediators otherwise we will have too many mediators and few results''. ''For a year and a half in Libya, ever since the presidential council and Fayez al Sarraj arrived in Tripoli, we have had more security, fewer terrorists and less migrant trafficking'', the minister noted. Maitig for his part added that all initiatives must take place under the UN's supervision. (ANSAmed) ANSAmed - Weekly diary from October 2 to October 8 (ANSAmed) - ROME, OCTOBER 2 - The following are the main events scheduled in the Euro-Mediterranean area from October 2 to October 8: MONDAY OCTOBER 2 ISTANBUL - International Labor Organization (ILO) meeting on access to labor markets for migrants and refugees. ROME - Italy-Spain forum in Palazzo de Carolis (also 3/10). VARIOUS CITIES - UN's International Day of Non-Violence. STARSBOURG - Plenary session of European Parliament (until 5/10). TUESDAY OCTOBER 3 ROME - National Day in Remembrance of the Victims of Immigration at Palazzo delle Esposizioni. WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 4 PALERMO - Migrant Literature Festival (until 8/10). FIESOLE - Opening of the Transnational School of Governance 'Policies of Science and Innovation: the EU's role'. THURSDAY OCTOBER 5 VARIOUS CITIES - World Education Day. ST. JULIAN'S (MALTA) - Conference on 'Our Ocean' with Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. UDINE - XIII Central Europe and Adriatic Forum. FRIDAY OCTOBER 6 TUNIS - Mediterranean dialogues between Sicily, Portugal and Tunisia. SATURDAY OCTOBER 7 TUNIS - International conference on the oil sector in Libya (until 8/10). SUNDAY OCTOBER 8 BARI - Water Festival (until 11/10). (ANSAmed). BARCELONA - A reported 90% voted for Catalonia's independence in a referendum held Sunday, according to preliminary results released early on Monday by Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull, when almost all ballots had been counted. Government officials said 2.2 million out of the region's 5.3 million registered voters cast their ballots. 'No' votes garnered 7.8%, according to preliminary results. Turull said 15,000 ballots still need to be counted. He added that 400 seats for 770,000 voters had been shut down by Spanish police with security officials seizing ballot boxes in some instances. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has announced that he will transmit the vote's results to parliament in the coming days so that it can take a decision, based on legislation on the referendum. The law, which was approved in August but suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court, states, among other things, that the assembly can declare Catalonia's independence after 48 hours. (ANSAmed) - ROME - Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said he would like an "international mediation" with Madrid on the Catalan referendum crisis. He announced the creation of an investigative commission on the violence against civilians that took place Sunday. He said the government will also take legal action "up to the final consequences" against those responsible, including politicians, for the intervention by Spanish police that left 893 people wounded. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, said he was "very disturbed" by the violence in Catalonia. He called on "Spanish authorities to ensure thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence". "Police responses must at all times be proportionate and necessary," Zeid said in a brief statement from Geneva. "I firmly believe that the current situation should be resolved through political dialogue, with full respect for democratic freedoms," Zeid said. European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas, however, said that "according to the Spanish Constitution, the vote isn't legal". The European Commission sees the situation as an internal Spanish matter that must be faced in terms of the Spanish constitutional order and in line with fundamental human rights. "These are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation," Schinas said in a statement. "We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics. We trust the leadership of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process in full respect of the Spanish Constitution and of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined therein," he said. On Twitter, European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: "Just spoke to @MarianoRajoy. Sharing his constitutional arguments, I appealed for finding ways to avoid further escalation and use of force". Meanwhile, in Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Monday met with Pedro Sanchez and Albert Rivera, leaders of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Ciudadanos, the two large Spanish parties from the opposition that support his strategy in Catalonia. The three have to agree on new measures. Rivera asked Rajoy to activate Article 155 of the Constitution to suspend Catalan autonomy before a possible declaration of independence. Spanish government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said the European Union will not recognise an eventual unilateral declaration of independence by Catalonia, because "for Europe it would mean a mess" of enormous proportions. He said such a statement "wouldn't have any political or legal effect".(ANSAmed). Migrants: almost 5,000 stopped in Turkey in seven days 444 intercepted at sea, 682 alleged traffickers detained (ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, OCTOBER 2 - Turkish authorities have apprehended over the past week a total of 4,687 migrants and refugees who were trying to cross the borders with the European Union or enter the country illegally, the Turkish interior ministry said Monday. The number includes 444 people who were intercepted at sea, the ministry explained. Over the same period, authorities have arrested 682 alleged human traffickers, it added. (ANSAmed). (ANSAmed) - GAZA, OCTOBER 2 - Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah entered the Gaza Strip on Monday after a two-year absence, as part of efforts at reconciliation between Hamas and al-Fatah. At the Erez (Beit Hanun) crossing, several government ministers and security personnel accompanied Hamdallah. A crowd of several thousand people enthusiastically welcomed the prime minister upon his arrival in Gaza. During a speech to the crowd that was waiting for him on the Palestinian side of the Erez (Beit Hanun) crossing, Hamdallah emphasised that geographic unity between the West Bank and Gaza is a necessary condition for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. The prime minister also thanked Egypt for the role it took in bringing al-Fatah and Hamas together after years of disagreement. He said his ministers will begin work immediately to assume their responsibilities for administration of the Gaza Strip, including controls at the border crossings, maintaining security, and other aspects of daily life.(ANSAmed). Turkey: 1,200 arrests on terror charges in a week Including 1,000 suspected 'Gulenists', '49 PKK militants killed' (ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, OCTOBER 2 - Turkey has been at the center of a new wave of arrests on terrorism charges. Over the past week, 1,202 people were jailed, according to the Turkish interior ministry. The majority of those arrested (998) are suspected of ties with the alleged network of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen accused of the failed coup in July 2016. Another 133 have instead been detained in operations against the Kurdish PKK during which 68 militants were ''neutralized'', including 49 who were killed. An additional 45 people suspected of being ISIS affiliates and 26 alleged members of banned far-left groups have been arrested. Since a state of emergency has been declared following the failed coup, over 50,000 people have been arrested in Turkey on charges of terrorism. (ANSAmed) Established in 2004 in Dubai, DTP is a system integrator with a broad portfolio of solutions and services designed to support the aviation industry. The company says it is on the verge of signing a significant contract for a flow management system with a major Gulf aviation hub. The contract will be operated in partnership with the Swiss person-tracking technology provider, Xovis. DTP also anticipates making a major announcement by the end of this year for its new flight performance monitoring (FPM) solution, which provides real-time data and a holistic view of airport operations and flight-related processes, coupled with robust forecasting and decision support tools to improve on-time-performance (OTP). Version one of the new FPM suite, according to MD Abdul Razzak Mikati, is winning substantial airline interest due to its OTP benefits and cost-saving abilities. One of the most critical challenges facing airlines and airports, not only in the region but also across the world, is meeting OTP, said Mikati. According to one estimate, it costs airlines as much as $70 for each minute a flight is delayed and this is before you factor in potential loss of business due to any drop in customer satisfaction. The challenge of improving OTP has been further complicated in recent years with the on-going migration of traffic to low-cost carriers. This has increased demand for 30-minute turnarounds, and combined with the introduction of larger aircraft like the A380 and 747-8, has caused increased ramp congestion and driven the need for more effective ground-asset utilisation. Airlines have a choice when managing turnarounds, continued Mikati. They can continue to be reactive and tackle issues as they arise, or they can direct those efforts and resources to prevention and mitigation to ensure a smooth turnaround process. FPM utilises flight schedules, a highly configurable rules engine, and process tracking to provide operators with an overview of the current status of the flight and drills down to details of turnaround processes. Its precision time schedule (PTS) event-tracking mechanism re-evaluates and updates, in real time, the task status every time an above or under-the-wing activity takes place. Using FPM makes it possible to share all relevant flight airport collaborative decision-making milestones, towing status, check-in, baggage details, etc, among the various concerned stakeholders, said Mikati. It immediately flags any delay of a task that might affect other tasks and, based on the latest information, calculates the new target off-block time, which alerts the air and ground operations coordinators to take immediate proactive action to ensure on-time departure or minimise delay. DTP has prioritised its target segments as airlines, ground-handlers and airports. We have been presenting the solution to multiple potential customers and have strong interest from airlines. We are looking to announce our launch customer at the Dubai Airshow and it will be a major Gulf carrier, said Mikati. The financial headwinds currently buffeting Gulf carriers could, said Mikati, deliver a windfall for the system which, he claimed, can lower airline costs and deliver return on investment in a very short time span. It really helps them. Though the company is planning to initially focus sales of the made-in-the-UAE solution, which was developed in conjunction with DTPs partner, SAP, in the Middle East and North Africa, Mikati said it is already planting seeds in Europe, presenting to some initial partners over there. He explained: The current plan is to target the smaller carriers over there, not with the full suite, but with a mobile app we have created for boarding system management, which is a holistic system that would provide them with a single data source. These two new aircraft are the 5th and 6th ATR planes as Iran Air took delivery of the first four of the purchased ATR passenger jets on May 17. The turboprops will be used for regional domestic flights according to Iran Air new CEO Farzaneh Sharafbafi. After the agreement, called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran has received a total of nine new aircraft, including three Airbus passenger planes and six ATR turboprops. Iran Air and the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR negotiated for months on order of 20 ATR 72-600 aircraft worth $536 million at list prices, with option for another 20 of this type. Iran has paid all the prepayments to ATR, Deputy Transport Minister Mr. Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said at the time, adding that 15 to 20 percent of the total payment is paid by Iran and the rest is funded via foreign financers. At the delivery ceremony of delivering ATR confirmed they will deliver the remainder of the 20 aircraft order by the end of 2018. New Iran Air Regional name launched for the ATR's domestic duties according to CEO Ms Farzaneh Sharafbafi The AAPCT needs the Carmichael mine to fill the gap created as its current take-or-pay contracts expire. Adani group's Abbot Point Coal Terminal in Australia faces the risk of becoming a stranded asset if its proposed Carmichael mine fails to get 1 billion Australian dollar (AUD) subsidy. New Delhi: Adani group's Abbot Point Coal Terminal in Australia faces the risk of becoming a stranded asset if its proposed Carmichael mine fails to get 1 billion Australian dollar (AUD) subsidy, according to a report by US- based institute IEEFA. The IEEFA further said the analysis finds more broadly that "Adani's entire AUD 3.5 billion debt-funded investment in Australia is at grave risk". Currently operating at just over 50 per cent capacity, the AAPCT needs the Carmichael mine to fill the gap created as its current take-or-pay contracts progressively expire. "Securing this refinancing is going to be a real challenge, not the least because the port value has been tied to the success of the Carmichael coal mine proposal which is itself yet to secure funding and which the big four Australian banks have refused to touch," Tim Buckley, lead author of the report and IEEFA's director of energy finance studies, Australasia was quoted as saying in the report. "The potential for a loss of up to AUD 1.5 billion on any decision to walk away from Carmichael mine and rail proposal, explains why the Adani Group has been so focused on securing Australian taxpayer money and royalty holidays to subsidise its loss-making ventures," he said. Meanwhile, Adani continues to search for overseas project funding and events have transpired that make the Carmichael project a greater financial risk than ever, it said adding "Adani's major proposed offtake coal customer, Adani Power Ltd's 4.6 GW import-coal power plant at Mundra in Gujarat, is financially distressed..." No comment could be obtained from Adani group on the IEEFA's report. MT New Prosperity, with a capacity to haul two million barrels of crude, left the US on August 19 and arrived at Paradip on Monday. India on Monday received its first ever shipment of US crude oil with state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). Photo: Twitter| @IndianOilcl New Delhi: India on Monday received its first ever shipment of US crude oil with state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) importing a 1.6 million barrels parcel at Paradip in Odisha. MT New Prosperity, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), with a capacity to haul two million barrels of crude, left the US Gulf Coast on August 19 and arrived at Paradip port. IOC will process the crude at its refineries located at Paradip, Haldia (in West Bengal), Barauni (in Bihar) and Bongaigaon (in Assam), the company said in a statement. The first US crude oil cargo of 1.6 million barrels bought by Indian Oil Corporation from the US has been received at Paradip port today. pic.twitter.com/NEzL6rtgJd Indian Oil Corp Ltd (@IndianOilcl) October 2, 2017 A function was held at the Paradip port to mark the arrival, which was attended by officials of IOC, oil ministry and the US embassy. IOC, which became the first Indian public sector refiner to source US crude, has placed a cumulative order 3.9 million barrel (of US crude), it said. State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) have also placed orders for about 2.95 million barrels and 1 million barrels of US crude, respectively for their Kochi and Vizag refineries. The total volume of the crude presently contracted by Indian public sector refineries is, therefore, 7.85 million barrels, the statement said. MT New Prosperity, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC, capacity 2 million barrels), brought crude from US Gulf Coast in 40 days. pic.twitter.com/YbF8zrUYdw Indian Oil Corp Ltd (@IndianOilcl) October 2, 2017 This is one of the first shipments to India since the United States stopped oil exports in 1975, and follows recent commitments to US oil purchases by Indian state refiners, a separate statement issued by US embassy said. US crude oil shipments to India have the potential to boost bilateral trade by up to USD 2 billion, the embassy statement said. Indian companies, both public and private, have invested about $5 billion in US shale assets. They have also contracted 5.8 million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and the first shipment is expected to be delivered to India in January 2018. The Indian government has encouraged state-controlled refiners to buy US and Canadian crude from the US Gulf coast as it looks at cheaper alternatives that have emerged due to global supply glut. While in the first purchase IOC is importing 1.6 million barrels of high sulphur crude Mars from the US and 400,000 barrels of Western Canadian Select oil, in the second it has bought 1.9 million barrels of US crude, half of it being shale oil. The second shipment is expected in a months time. India, the worlds third-largest oil importer, joins Asian countries like South Korea, Japan and China to buy US crude after production cuts by oil cartel OPEC drove up prices of Middle East heavy-sour crude, or grades with a high sulphur content. Buying US crude has become attractive for Indian refiners after the differential between Brent (the benchmark crude or marker crude that serves as a reference price for buyers in western world) and Dubai (which serves as a benchmark for countries in the east) has narrowed. Even after including the shipping cost, buying US crude is cost competitive to Indian refiners, an industry official said. The IOC deal came within weeks of Prime Minister Narendra Modis June-end visit to the US when President Donald Trump talked of his country looking to export more energy products to India. MaryKay Carlson, Charge dAffaires at the US embassy, termed the oil imports as a significant milestone in the growing partnership between the US and India. The United States and India are elevating our cooperation in the field of energy, including plans for cleaner fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear, and cutting edge storage and energy efficiency technologies. We look forward to working together on further sales of US crude and exploring opportunities to expand the role of natural gas in India, Carlson said. During their June 26 meeting in Washington, Trump and Modi committed to expanding and elevating bilateral energy cooperation through a strategic energy partnership. The leaders called for a rational approach that balances environment and climate policy, global economic development, and energy security needs, the US embassy statement said. President Trump affirmed that the United States continues to remove barriers to energy development and investment in the United States and to US energy exports so that more natural gas, clean coal, and renewable resources and technologies are available to fuel Indias economic growth and inclusive development, it added. To encourage US crude purchases, the government has allowed refiners to use a foreign rather than an Indian-owned vessel for the purchase. Indian refiners typically have to use domestic vessels for their crude imports. BJP Chief said, 'If Rahul dreams about Gujarat then he should visit Porbandar, not Italy for fulfilling those dreams.' Speaking at 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' in Porbandar BJP Chief Amit Shah said, 'Rahul always questions what Prime Minister Narendra Modi did in past three years, but I want to ask what UPA did in 10 years.' (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Porbandar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Sunday launched a fresh salvo on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi saying that the latter need to wear Gujarati spectacles to see the development of Gujarat and not the one made in Italy. "If Rahul dreams about Gujarat then he should visit Porbandar, not Italy for fulfilling those dreams. He should wear Gujarati spectacles and not the one made in Italy, only then he will see the development in Gujarat," Shah said while speaking at 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' in Porbandar. He said the Congress Party opposing Gujarati should know that Gujarat used to get 43,345 crore under United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and is not getting 1,22,453 crore under National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government. "Rahul always questions what Prime Minister Narendra Modi did in past three years, but I want to ask what UPA did in 10 years," Shah asked. He said the 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' has been started as Gujarat is proud of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Prime Minister Modi who were born in this land. He added that the party is taking pride of making Gujarat a curfew-free state and providing 24 hours electricity in the state. Shah on Sunday kicked off the 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birthplace, Karamsad. The yatra will go on till October 15. It will be held on two routes simultaneously. Kannur is the home district of chief minister Pinarayi Vijiyan and had often witnessed political violence involving Sangh and the Left cadre. New Delhi: Taking its fight against the red terror to the doorstep of Kerala chief minister Pinnarayi Vijiyan, with its national president launching a 15-days-long Janraksha Yatra from Kannur, the BJP on Monday accused the states ruling party CPI(M) of promoting murder politics and blamed it for the unabated growth of jihadi terrorism in this southern state. Mr Shah will launch the yatra on Tuesday from Kannur and will himself participate for three days. Kannur is the home district of chief minister Pinarayi Vijiyan and had often witnessed political violence involving Sangh and the Left cadre. Even the RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat during his Vijaydashmi speech had accused the Kerala government of supporting anti-national elements and violence which was vehemently rejected by Mr Vijiyan who said that Mr Bhagwats remark was nothing but the Sanghs oft-used formula to pit people against one another. BJP state unit said Mr Shah will also walk past the home of Mr Vijayan at Pinarayi on October 5. Kerala is on the key state, where BJPs organisational strength remains unimpressive and the RSS headed Sangh Parivar, has been propagating the demographic imbalance. The BJPs state unit had been requesting the central leadership to take up the issue of red terror in a big way and also how the state machinery was being misused against the saffron cadre. The state is also under Mr Shahs radar for increasing the organisational and support base. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is trying hard to emerge as a credible alternative in this state which has seen mostly the Left and the Congress led governments. Though Mr Shah will launch the padyatra from Payannur in Kannur on Tuesday, he will first visit the Rajarajeswara temple located at Taliparamba. Several central ministers and some chief ministers of BJP ruled states will also participate in the 15 day long padyatra and highlight the red terror which the sangh parivar including the BJP had been accusing for the killing and attack on the saffron cadre. The BJP has only one member in the 140- member Assembly. The M in CPI(M) now stands for Maoists and not Marxists, claimed Union minister Prakash Javadekar as he accused the ruling state party of using violence as a tool to suppress the saffron party. Mr Javadekar said his party would use democratic means to protest the Lefts violence in the same manner Mahatama Gandhi used non-violence to oppose the British. He accused the ruling CPI(M) of murder politics and claimed that it had become desperate due to the saffron partys growing popularity and had started state-sponsored violence against its workers. Mr Shah will also attend the concluding day of the yatra on October 17 and address a public meeting. The BJP had claimed that as many as 120 of its workers, 84 in Kannur alone, had been killed in the state since 2001 with 14 of them in the chief ministers home town since he took the reigns last year. The CPI(M) had, in turn, accused the BJP and the RSS of resorting to violence and denied the involvement of its government and leadership in political killings. Prof Tripathi has denied the lathicharge on girl students and even said that the incident was one of minor eve-teasing. Lucknow: Banaras Hindu University vice-chancellor Prof Girish Chandra Tripathi has proceeded on leave, citing personal reasons. Last week, the vice-chancellor had said that he would resign if he was asked to proceed on leave. The vice-chancellor had said that it would be insulting to go on leave two months before his tenure comes to end and he would rather prefer to quit. The vice-chancellor said that he had not been asked by the HRD ministry to go on leave. His tenure ends on November 27 and the ministry have reportedly starting short-listing candidates for the coveted post. The HRD ministry officials said the process for appointing his successor has been initiated, but added that the timing of violence in the BHU campus and steps for appointment of a new V-C were coincidental. The vice-chancellor has been at the centre of controversy, following the incident of sexual assault with a girl student and the ensuing violence on the BHU campus in which a number of girl students and journalists were injured. Prof Tripathi has denied the lathicharge on girl students and even said that the incident was one of minor eve-teasing. His statements further fuelled unrest on the campus. Constructed at a cost of Rs 37 lakh, the trans-toilet facility has a separate make-up room for them. Bhopal: In an interesting development, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday announced to rope in third gender community members to spread awareness among the people on different government programmes, particularly the Swachchh Bharat Mission, in the state. The transgender members would be hired on honorarium basis to join the campaign to spread awareness among the people particularly in rural areas on cleanliness drive and other government sponsored welfare programmes, Mr Chouhan declared while inaugurating the trans-toilet, for exclusive use of the third gender members, here on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Monday. After Mysore, Bhopal is the second city in the country where a separate toilet has been built for the third gender. Constructed at a cost of Rs 37 lakh, the trans-toilet facility has a separate make-up room for them. More such toilets are planned in other places in state, Mr Chouhan said. Official sources said the decision to employ the third gender members particularly for cleanliness drive has been taken keeping in view significance given to the community in various social occasions such as marriages and birth of children particularly in rural areas. People in remote areas take transgender community members seriously out of reverence. Hence, the government has decided to hire them for cleanliness drive under the Swachchh Bharat Mission, sources added. Officials said both the sides are expected to bring on table the recent incidents of movement of Rohingya Muslims across the border they share. Newly arrived Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and some Bangladeshi sympathizers walk across a makeshift bridge continuing their journey in to camp for refugees in Teknaf, Bangladesh. (Photo: AP) New Delhi: The movement of Rohingya refugees, smuggling of fake Indian currency notes and narcotics are among a host of issues that will be discussed at the bi-annual talks between the chiefs of the border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh beginning Tuesday. A 24-member delegation of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) led by Director General Maj Gen. Abul Hossain will hold talks with a Border Security Force (BSF) team led by its chief K.K. Sharma. The DG-level talks, the 45th between the two sides, will be held at a BSF camp here. They will end on October 5. Officials said both the sides are expected to bring on table the recent incidents of movement of Rohingya Muslims across the border they share. The Indian side is also expected to take up the issue of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) being smuggled from the other side. The two sides are also expected to discuss trans-border crimes, including cattle smuggling; activities of Indian insurgent groups based in Bangladesh, prevention of illegal migration, joint efforts for effective implementation of common agenda programmes and other confidence building measures, they said. The two sides will also take up issues that were discussed when a BSF delegation visited Bangladesh in February this year. The relations between the two forces are very cordial and the aim of these talks is to take them forward, they said. The two sides will also review the progress of the single -row fence they are erecting to secure over 250 villages ahead of the existing barbed-wire fence along the International Border to curb cross-border crimes. The ED has summoned Rabri Devi for questioning on October 11 in connection with the case. New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members, who have been evading CBI summons for the past one month, are now expected to troop into CBI headquarters in Delhi Tuesday onwards. If Mr Yadav and his family members fail to turn up this time, the CBI will explore stringent legal options, sources in the CBI said. On September 26, the CBI issued fresh summons to RJD chief and his son Tejashwi to appear for questioning on October 3 and 4 respectively in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities committed in awarding tenders for development, maintenance and operation of railway hotels in Ranchi and Puri to a private firm in 2006, when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railway minister. Lalu, who was earlier summoned by CBI for the second time to appear before the investigating team on September 26, sent his lawyer, who submitted a request seeking two weeks time for questioning. Lalu and Tejashwi had earlier been called on September 11 and 12, respectively. But they failed to appear before the agency, sources said. The agency will explore other legal options if the two dont appear before it, they added. The case pertains to allegations that Lalu Yadav, as railway minister, handed over the maintenance of two hotels run by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of Indian Railways, in Ranchi and Puri to Sujata Hotel, a company owned by Vinay and Vijay Kochhar, in return for a prime plot of three acres in Patna. The FIR alleged that Lalu Yadav abused his official position for extending undue favours to the Kochhars and acquired a high-value premium land through a benami firm, Delight Marketing Company. As quid pro quo, the then railway minister dishonestly and fraudulently managed award of leasing of the two hotels. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), meanwhile, is expected to initiate the process of attaching their properties this week as part of its investigation into the case. The ED has summoned Rabri Devi for questioning on October 11 in connection with the case. Dhinakaran supporters had distributed pamphlets accusing the Centre and the Tamil Nadu govt for the death of medical aspirant S. Anitha. Salem: Rebel AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran and 16 of his supporters were on Monday booked on sedition charges for publishing and distributing pamphlets that contained defamatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. Dhinakaran supporters had distributed pamphlets accusing the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government for the death of medical aspirant S. Anitha. Anitha committed suicide as she could not pass the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Besides Pugazhendi, P. Vetrivel, former MLA, S.E. Venkatachalam and party functionary Saravanan, a case under various Sections of IPC, including 124A (Sedition), was filed against 20 unknown persons for distributing the pamphlet across Salem city. The case was registered at the Annadanpatty police station in Salem and four persons, including Venkatachalam, have already been taken into custody. They have been booked under Sections 143, 120B, 124A, 153, 500, 504 and 506 (2) sections of the IPC based on a complaint by K.R.S. Saravanan, who alleged that the accused were found distributing the pamphlets. The case was registered on Friday and the complaint says the pamphlets, which had Dhinakarans name, had derogatory and defamatory remarks against Modi and Palaniswami on various issues like NEET. The pamphlets were distributed widely among people in Salem and some were even pasted on walls, sources said. Responding to filing of case against him, Dhinakaran dismissed it as political vendetta. This government is anyway going to fall. They are doing such these things since he (Palaniswami) is the police minister...Let them do what they want. The AIADMK supporters and the people are going to send them home, Dhinakaran said. This is the second case slapped against Dhinakaran, who is engaged in a tussle for power with Palaniswami, by the state police. Earlier, Dhinakaran along with Tamil comedian Senthil were booked for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Tiruchy MP, P.Kumar. However, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had restrained the Tiruchirapalli police from arresting them. The Congress V-P is expected to make three more short visits to Gujarat before the election dates are officially announced. New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah attacked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for questioning development in poll-bound Gujarat and asked him to wear Gujarati glasses and not the ones made in Italy, if he wants to see development. The BJP national president is campaigning in Gujarat after the Congress vice-president recently visited the states Saurashtra region. The Congress is asking us what the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has given Gujarat in these three years. I want to remind them that the Modi government approved AIIMS for Gujarat, an international airport for Rajkot, approved raising the height of the Narmada dam and allocated homes to six lakh urban poor, Mr Shah said on Monday at a gathering in Porbandar during the launch of the second phase of his Gujarat Gaurav Yatra that was kicked off on Sunday from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patels birthplace Karamsad. However, Rahul could not see any of this. He still asks what we have done in these three years. Rahul cant see it because he is wearing Italian glasses. To be able to see the development, he needs to remove those spectacles and wear Gujarati glasses, Mr Shah added. Taking a dig at Mr Gandhi, Mr Shah accused the Congress of inflicting injustice on Gujarat, generation after generation. Those who mock the Gujarat development model will be made fun of by the people of Gujarat, Mr Shah said, claiming that elections in the state will be held in the first week of December. The Congress V-P is expected to make three more short visits to Gujarat before the election dates are officially announced. The Congress, that is going all out to encash anti-incumbency sentiment in the BJP-ruled state, plans to use all-women campaign teams. Newly-appointed Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev, a Lok Sabha MP from Silchar in Assam, is in Gujarat to oversee the women-centric campaign. The Congress had got a shot in the arm earlier this year when Ahmed Patel, political secretary to party president Sonia Gandhi, had won a fiercely contested Rajya Sabha election. But the election also exposed fissures within the Gujarat Congress with the former chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela quitting the party. Mr Vaghela has now floated a new political front. Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit his constituency from October 4 to 6. Lucknow: After facing criticism for asking Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to put off his three-day visit to Amethi, district magistrate Yogesh Kumar said on Monday that the Congress MP could visit his constituency as scheduled earlier. The Amethi DM said that he had never said no to the Congress MP, but had simply suggested a postponement, taking into account the concerns over his security. We had just sent a confidential letter to the district Congress chief suggesting that the visit be postponed by a day or two in view of the fact that security personnel were busy with the immersion of Durga idols and Muharram, Mr Kumar said. The administration is ready for his visit on the original dates as the Congress MP wanted to stick to his schedule, he said. Mr Gandhi is scheduled to visit his constituency from October 4 to 6. According to UPCC president Raj Babbar, by asking Mr Gandhi to reschedule his visit, the Yogi government had shown its cowardice and fear that the Congress leader might overshadow the proposed visit of BJP chief Amit Shah and Union ministers Smriti Irani and Nitin Gadkari, all of whom are scheduled to visit Amethi on October 10. District Congress chief Yogendra Misra said, Rahul Gandhi is coming to meet the people of his constituency and he cannot be stopped. He will be arriving here as per his schedule on October 4 and the administration will be responsible for his security. During fermentation the wine yeast added by the fermentation process once again separates the sugar molecules and the smell develops. During fermentation the wine yeast added by the fermentation process once again separates the sugar molecules and the smell develops. (Photo: Pixabay) Scientists have found why wine cultivated in areas where forest fires are frequent have aromas that make the alcoholic beverage unpalatable. The findings may pave the way for growers to eliminate this degradation in quality. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany described the reason why the smoke aromas are stored in the grapes. In the case of wine production, it is not initially clear whether there was a fire near the vineyard from which the grapes come. Only when opening a bottle of wine is a strong off-note perceived. "The smell and taste of such a wine is then often described with the term ash or ashtray. This leads to a strong reduction in the quality of the wine," said Katja Hartl, scientist at TUM. The smell is different from the barrique-produced wines, which taste "smoky" to some people. The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, got to the bottom of this smoky taste and is now described by Professor Wilfried Schwab and his team from the Professorship for the Biotechnology of Natural Products at the TUM. Aromatic substances are volatile and in nature are attached to sugar, for example in plants. The aroma can be retained or stabilised with this sugary compound. The aromatic substance can then once again be detached from the sugar and released. This process is called glycosylation. It describes a series of chemical or enzymatic reactions, for example, in which carbohydrates are bound to small, hydrophobic compounds such as aromas. An enzyme called glycosyltransferase is responsible for this. If grape vines are exposed to bush fires, as happens more often in Australia, Southern Italy and California, the grape vine absorbs the smoky aromas via its leaves and fruits. In the plant, the off-notes are then linked with sugar molecules by a glycosyltransferase - a protein that acts as a biocatalyst. This link with sugar molecules makes the smoky off-notes more water-soluble. As a result, the grape vine stores smoke aromas that are no longer volatile. "Actually, the job of glycosyltransferase is to process the resveratrol," said Wilfried Schwab, professor at the TUM. Due resveratrol, a substance with a health promoting effect, is naturally contained in the grape vine and in terms of its structure resembles the smoky aroma molecules. As long as the grapes have not been harvested yet, the stinking smoke molecules are bound and the ashy smell and taste can not be noticed. During fermentation, however, the wine yeast added by the fermentation process once again separates the sugar molecules and the smell develops. "Therefore, it only becomes apparent in the finished wine that the vineyard was exposed to a fire and the final product is of poor quality," said Hartl The city government has a 50 per cent stake in Metro and no fare hike is possible without the consent of the Kejriwal government. New Delhi: Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari and Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Vijender Gupta on Sunday alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal government is running away from its responsibility on Metro fare hike and trying to mislead the people by playing dirty politics. The city government has a 50 per cent stake in Metro and no fare hike is possible without the consent of the Kejriwal government. In the present fare hike matter too, the transport minister and even the chief minister knew very well about the rise and allowed it. CM Kejriwals tweet on Sunday, regarding the demand of public audit of Delhi Metro, is a big joke on people as being 50 per cent partner, the Kejriwal government already has access to the Metro accounts. Delhi BJP president has said that the Kejriwal government has no concern for the people and has made no effort in improving the public transport infrastructure in the city, which includes Delhi Metro, DTC, feeder buses, autos, cabs, and rickshaws. BJP leaders have said that earlier this year, with the prior consent of the Kejriwal government, the Delhi governments chief secretary, finance secretary, and transport commissioner joined the Delhi Metros Fare Revision Committee meeting and approved a 50 per cent raise in fares to be implemented in 2 phases, i.e. in May and October 2017. With the consent of the Kejriwal government, the chief secretary and the others, who were present in the meeting, approved the Metro fair hike and did not file any dissent over the raise. All they did was to get the dates of implementation postponed to May as the Delhi municipal polls were scheduled in April 2017. No government leaves such decisions on bureaucracy. In this case too, the Kejriwal government gave consent to fare rise, but its bureaucrats ensured that implementation was postponed after the civic elections. The High Court bench referred to an apex court order declaring Chandni Chowk as a no-vending zone. Chandni Chowk is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi. It is located close to the historic Red Fort. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has warned of serious action against the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the police if they failed to stop encroachments at the Chandni Chowk area in the walled city. A bench of Justices G S Sistani and Chander Shekhar said that despite the order of the Supreme Court police would be held responsible for encroachments in the Chandni Chowk area, "we find that the orders are not being complied with". The bench referred to an apex court order declaring Chandni Chowk as a no-vending zone. While hearing a petition filed by the Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal against encroachments in the area, the bench observed that the apex court order has to be complied with. "We make it clear that in case MCD and Delhi Police are not able to comply with the order passed by the Supreme Court, then we will be forced to call the senior officers from both the departments to court and initiate appropriate action," the bench said. The court fixed the matter for October 26. The bench also took into account some photographs of the area submitted by the petitioner, which showed that the place was full of encroachments. Chandni Chowk is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi. It is located close to the historic Red Fort. The Senas stance appears advantageous, as the party can now conveniently slam the BJP or claim credit for the latters decisions. Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackerays Dussehra rally speech has made it clear that the outfit will act as the main opposition party despite sharing power with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Maharashtra government. The Sena will question the BJP on all issues concerning the people directly, Mr Thackeray had said, indicating that the rift between the estranged allies will widen further. The Senas stance appears advantageous, as the party can now conveniently slam the BJP or claim credit for the latters decisions. In the rally, held on Saturday at Shivaji Park grounds, Mr Thackeray spoke on issues ranging from Hindutva to Kashmir to the beef ban to the molestation incident at Banaras Hindu University to police harassment over social media posts and the Mumbai University results fiasco. The issues that were supposed to be raised by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Parties were actually highlighted by the Sena chief. The Sena was actually chosen as the opposition party by the voters in 2014. But it decided to support the government. However, it has been playing both the roles of opposition and the government. Uddhav and the Shiv Sena have seen opposing many decisions taken by the government like the Goods and Services Tax and (implementation of) the loan waiver. There is no point in asking the Sena why it is not quitting the NDA. If the Sena is not obeying the alliance rules, why cant the BJP remove it from NDA, senior journalist Prakash Akolkar asked. However, Congress and NCP have refused to accept that Shiv Sena it a better opposition party than them. Opposition does not mean just threatening. There has to be some constructive movement by the party. We have pursued the government to declare a loan waiver by raising our voice in the Assembly and by conducting rallies across the state. Uddhav Thackeray has no strategy and cannot take any stand. He looks confused to his own party as well as to the people, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said. The Union minister has chalked out a plan to improve railway infrastructure in the city. Mumbai: Two hundred officials that will be brought in from various parts of India to implement the plan chalked out by Union railway minister Piyush Goyal for improving railway infrastructure in the city will add to the expenditure of the railways, said an official. The officials, who will be stationed in suburbs where work will be underway on FOBs, will also bring with them additional staff such as personal assistant steno increasing the expenditure of the railways. Railway officials, who were present at the meeting with Mr Goyal on Saturday, believe that this will not necessarily sort out the problems faced by Mumbai railway system. The authorities said, An official will require at least two assistants or around the top thirty out of the two hundred officials are likely to ask for their own point man while handling this project. For example, both Central and Western railways have two additional divisional railway managers, and the numbers will be increased to three, said a source. Also, additional personnel will be deployed for engineering and construction. The WR and CR suffer a loss of nearly Rs 15, 000 crore per year. Gopal Guru, a renowned Dalit thinker from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi condemned the statement. Mumbai: Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athawales comments on the availability of quality liquor in the Indian army on Sunday in Pune have kicked up a moral-policing row. However, later he clarified his statement, saying he was misunderstood. Speaking at a programme commemorating the formation of the Mahar Regiment on October 1, 1941, in which Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar played a pivotal role, Mr Athawale exhorted those gathered to join the army. You will get high-protein food. You can improve your health as well as your financial situation. Dont waste your time loafing around, said Mr Athawale. He then added in a lighter vein, You get country liquor here. Join the army. You will get rum. Slamming Mr Athawales comments as foolish, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Mahesh Talwar said, The Dalit youth are known for their bravery and the Mahar Regiment was formed due to this. A memorial to the bravery of the Dalit youth has been erected at Koregaon, Pune. Mr Athawales statement is contrary to the ideals of Dr Ambedkar as he was critical about addiction. He should apologise to the community. State Congresss Schedule Caste cell head Raju Waghmare also lashed out at the RPI chief. Ministers are supposed to advocate de-addiction. But here Mr Athawale is making an appeal for liquor addiction... He must be warned, said Mr Waghmare. Interestingly, some experts view Mr Athawales comments in a different light. Gopal Guru, a renowned Dalit thinker from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi condemned the statement. But he said, There is core point in it. The Dalit community has been denied high-quality food for centuries. So, when the British started recruiting men for their army in the late 18th century, it were the Dalit youth who enlisted for financial reasons as well as to get good food. So, the appeal to enlist for good food has a historical context. But, adding liquor to it is against Dr Ambedkar's ideas. Mr Athawale on Monday denied having intentionally conveyed a negative message. I appeal to the Dalit youth to join the army. I also demand reservation in the army. But, my statement about country liquor is been interpreted wrongly. I didnt mean that, he said. Stationmaster blames RPF, claims he received call after tragedy began. Mumbai: The Elphinstone Road railway stationmaster has told the police that the only call he received informing about the stampede on Friday, which killed 23 people, was from a booking clerk at around 10.30 am when the tragedy was already underway. The stampede was already on at around 10.26 am, according to CCTV footage procured by the police. Even as the police said there was a lone Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel on the bridge who failed to respond to the incident or escalate it to higher ups till commuters were crushed to death, Anil Gupta, the stationmaster, said the RPF should have alerted him. In addition to the 23 who died in the incident, 38 others were injured in the stampede. The Asian Age reported on Monday about CCTV camera on the bridge capturing an RPF personnel, who was seen standing expressionless a few steps away from the stairway. The footage showed some commuters capturing pictures and footage of the incident around 10.26 am. However, the RPF personnel never informed Mr Gupta about it. The Dadar police recorded Mr Guptas statement on Sunday, in which he revealed that the only call he received, informing about the stampede, was from a booking clerk at around 10.30 am after the incident unfolded. Speaking to The Asian Age, Mr Gupta said, The call came from booking (ticket) office on the bridge and I was informed about what had happened. The second call came soon after. I took all the necessary steps soon after and ambulances and force was summoned. The RPF should have informed me in such a situation even though they dont report to me. When Anup Shukla, senior divisional security commissioner, RPF (western railway) was contacted, he was unavailable for comment. The police has recorded the statement of all the survivors and a couple of officials from the Government Railway Police (GRP). Now the process of recording statements of other railway officials will begin. Statements of survivors is completed, said Sunil Deshmukh, assistant police commissioner, (Dadar). A television screen to monitor the footage of all the CCTV cameras on Elphinstone Road station and the Foot Overbridges (FOBs) is put up in the cabin of Mr Gupta. However, it proved to be of no help as no one monitored the footage. RPF personnel, who are trained in disaster management including crowd management could not even anticipate a disaster in the offing after the crowd started unusually swelling on the bridge, bringing to the fore glaring lacunae. In foreign policy, Saudi Arabia finds its proxies near total defeat and its Syrian war strategy in shambles. Saudi Arabias royal decree allowing women to drive automobiles is a weeny symbolic change in an overwhelmingly gender-unequal country. It is incapable of opening a wedge in the absolute patriarchal system of laws and enforcement which relegates women to the status of less-than-full human beings. The journey for the emancipation of almost-enslaved Saudi women is long and tortuous, and will require fundamental political and religious transformation rather than token administrative gestures. This is because the system aptly described as gender apartheid by Prof. Ann Elizabeth Mayer of the University of Pennsylvania is interwoven into the fabric of governance and legitimacy underpinning the ultraconservative rule of the Saudi monarchy. Treating womens liberation as a standalone issue, separate from the broader question of Saudi Arabias democratisation, is a reductionist folly. When a state authority driven by Wahhabi Islamic ideology is in power, there simply cant be genuine autonomy for women to make their own choices. Saudi social anthropologist Madawi al-Rasheed has analysed how women are subordinated and excluded from the public domain to maintain the worlds most masculine state. She shows how the Saudi state and its allied Wahhabi clerics consciously use suppression of women to forge a unified nationalistic narrative over heterogeneous pre-Islamic tribal traditions and set Saudi Arabia apart as an exceptionally pure Islamic country. Further, she argues that controlling womens religiosity, appearance, movement, education, work, economic activity, property and marriage are the most cherished devotions of Saudi religious nationalism, its priesthood and the state. The unparalleled surveillance and punishment of women in public and private spheres through the notorious moral police (Mutaween) is a central mechanism for the Saudi monarchy and its Wahhabi theologians to maintain order and their own supremacy. Feminists hold that all nation-states, not just hardline Islamic ones, are gendered to some extent as they are built upon unjust distribution of rights and duties that disadvantage women and legalise their inferiority. Saudi Arabia is the epitome of this process its guardianship laws and prohibitions have so many not allowed categories for women compared to men that finally securing the right to drive cars is akin to the proverbial drop in the ocean of misogyny and intolerance. The list of forbidden activities for the fairer sex is too voluminous and entrenched in the Saudi body politic to be wiped out clean. Abolishing the whole fulcrum of the guardianship legal frame and the Sharia justifications behind it would amount to implosion of the Wahhabi monarchy itself. So, given the overall rigidity of Saudi gender apartheid, the most the royal family is willing to do at critical junctures are paltry incremental sops like lifting the ban on women driving. Whenever the Saudi state is under duress and scared of rising dissent, it looks for safety valves by easing a little bit of pressure on society while keeping the overarching principles untouched. In September 2011, the late King Abdullah granted Saudi women the right to vote and contest as candidates in local body elections from 2015 onward. This may have been motivated by fear of the Arab Spring fervour spreading into the kingdom and triggering a revolution. By extending political rights to over half the population, the idea is to contain the spirit of democratisation and other secular tendencies. But in the Saudi context of an entrenched hereditary monarchy, voting and elections have negligible impact and letting women cast ballots is another cosmetic measure. Statistics tell the true story of Saudi womens caged situation. According to the World Bank, women constitute just 20 per cent of the Saudi labour force, comparing poorly even with GCC member-states like Bahrain (39%), Oman (30%), UAE (42%), Qatar (53%) and Kuwait (48%). Preventing women from driving was one of several factors marring women from working and increasing their income levels. Overturning of the ban might minimally improve womens presence in the Saudi workforce and boost the Vision 2030 economic diversification blueprint of the new crown prince Mohammad bin Salman. But the ban on women working in many sectors of the economy where there could be sexual intermixing and restrictions on female mobility without the permission of male guardians can obviate the practical benefits of women getting drivers licences. Politically, the recent sensational palace coup which upstaged the previous crown prince and elevated Mohammad bin Salman to the pinnacle offers some context to the surprising edict easing womens driving conditions. The young heir to the throne hopes to consolidate his own power and displace rivals in the transitional phase. Positioning himself as a socio-economic reformer can be a cynical ploy to weaken factions in the clerical establishment opposed to him. In foreign policy, Saudi Arabia finds its proxies near total defeat and its Syrian war strategy in shambles. The kingdom has been lobbying fervently in the United Nations to block an independent inquiry into war crimes its military has committed. The image problem that constantly dogs Saudi Arabia for its foreign policy misadventures and export of sectarian Sunni fundamentalism is being sought to be softened through rescinding the driving ban on women. For every allegation that Saudi Arabia is a theocratic state with links to jihadi terrorism, the idea is to retort with a liberal projection of a stable and gradually reforming country where women are being empowered. But when Saudi women covered in the abaya (head-to-toe loose robes) do start revving engines on the streets, it would not compensate for their overall second-class status in law where their testimony equals half of that of a male Saudi. The World Economic Forum ranks Saudi Arabia 141st out of 144 nations in the Gender Gap Index, with only Syria, Pakistan and Yemen faring worse. Saudi women are at the bottom in terms of citizenship, and will remain so as long as there is a Saudi Arabia. If Nawaz was going to be saved, it would take an almighty effort. Was he worth it? They came this far only to let him sneak back in? It doesnt make any sense. Its like the gang that cant shoot straight. So back, again, we must go to the beginning. Why did the attack happen? Between the silliness of this being about accountability and the space that Nawaz has to fight back, there lies a probable explanation. He got knocked out because the system was on autopilot, the ones who could save him neutralised by his own stupidity. Go back to when it had started to become clear that Panama wouldnt get settled under the previous CJP. Carried away by the opportunity to play saviour, Anwar Jamali had dragged the judiciary into a mess from which there was no obvious exit. So he did the next best thing and exited himself retiring on schedule. But the opening had been achieved; the system had something to work with. The first trick was to neutralise the successor, the current CJP. An upright jurist by all accounts with no interests in games and shenanigans, he couldnt be a good custodian of the political fate of Nawaz. What if he went by the book? So he was forced out of the picture. The reasons are several, but one was the silliness of the N-League. Theres two basic rules about the CJP: he must retire at 65 and his successor is automatically selected on the basis of seniority. The first is to prevent a crusading type from terrorising the system in perpetuity; the second to prevent the pols from fiddling around with the judiciary. In the turmoil of last November, with Nawaz at war with a different chief resisting retirement and the court scheduled for a change of command in the midst of the Panama hearings, the N-League made it known it was looking forward to December. The implication being that with the double change in command, among the boys and in the court, Nawazs legal troubles would recede. That stupidity by the PML-N the next CJP is a good man, wink, wink helped the system get the incoming CJP out of the way. So instead of the Panama hearings being handed off from one CJP to the next, the successor had to step aside under carefully manufactured pressure. A more muscular, more aggressive judicial approach had been fashioned. Then came mistakes number two and three. Under pressure in the court, Nawaz and the N-League did what they do best they acted like they are above the system. There was no need for a methodical legal defence or sophisticated legal manoeuvring when the system could be brought to heel in other ways. The chief is a good guy. So is the DGI. Not like the last chaps. Everything will be all right. That was the N-Leagues not-so-subtle early message. But the only thing worse than a chief who is at war with you is a chief who you act like you own. Because it creates an institutionally intolerable position for him. As the system ground on, as the court bristled at Nawaz and cos casual attitude and demeaning approach, as the JIT farce unfolded, the problem became apparent. Even if he wanted to save Nawaz, could he afford to? The system had been amped up to deafening. The missteps in court had created an impression that the Sharifs had something to hide. The propaganda on TV and online was violent and shrill; they werent going to stop until they had a head. If Nawaz was going to be saved, it would take an almighty effort. Was he worth it? The answer was obvious. The arrogance and stupidity of the N-League had made it easier. The only duo who could possibly save Nawaz had been neutralised by the N-Leagues suggestion that the duo would eventually save him. The system was on autopilot and the system had Nawaz in its sights. If you can believe any of that, you may be able to explain the current uncertainty. Nawaz is gone, but hes not. The N-League is doomed, but its not. The system seems to swing wildly from confrontation to conciliation, week to week and even day to day. The explanation: at the very top, at the level at which he could have been saved, there is ambivalence about keeping Nawaz out. Thats creating the space and uncertainty for Nawaz to try and force his way back in. But the problem is that hes just recently been forced out. To force his way back in will create the same doubts and suspicions that forced the ones who could have saved him, and may have been inclined to save him, to the sidelines in the first place. Its possible that in a second round, with the ones who could do the saving settled in, they will be able to exert their will on the system more. But that would depend on two things. First, Nawaz and co cleaning up their act and ditching a lifetimes habit of acting like you own people and berating them for not doing whats expected-slash-demanded of them. That itself could be a step too far. And then theres the other problem: is Nawaz worth re-accomodating in the system? Even if theres stuff to be done that may require a civilian partner, is Nawaz willing to play partner and not act like hes boss? It doesnt make any sense. By arrangement with Dawn Saudi Arabia has been heavily criticised for not being transparent about MERS, but Van Kerkhove said that had totally changed. Geneva: The fight against the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers), which has killed at least 722 people over the past five years, is honing in on its target: camels. Mers coronavirus, a member of a virus family ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, appears to have emerged in humans in Saudi Arabia in 2012, but has now been traced back in camels to at least 1983. Almost all the outbreaks so far originated in the Arabian Gulf, but Mers-CoV could infect humans wherever there are one-humped dromedary camels two-humped bactrians are not affected. That means people across a swathe of Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan and South Asia are potentially at risk. So the hunt is on for vaccinations both for humans, and camels. The virus is in camels everywhere. The virus is in Qatar, its in United Arab Emirates, its wherever we look, said Maria Van Kerkhove, a disease outbreak expert at the World Health Organisation (WHO), where 130 experts gathered last week to collaborate for the first time on tackling the disease. I know so much more about camels than I ever thought I would, the expert added. People have probably caught Mers in Africa but the absence of outbreaks recorded there may be due to poor disease surveillance, less contact with camels, or lower rates of underlying conditions like obesity and heart problems that make MERS more severe. Saudi Arabia has been heavily criticised for not being transparent about MERS, but Van Kerkhove said that had totally changed. It is now testing 70,000 human samples a year and generating a vast amount of research. DRIVE-THRU Mers is hard to spot, and far more deadly than other acute respiratory infections, killing one in three sufferers. It has a habit of infiltrating Saudi hospitals via patients visiting for regular dialysis or cardiac appointments, causing outbreaks that have killed patients and health workers alike. Hospitals are raising their game. One hospital even has a drive-thru. Literally a drive-thru in their emergency department, said Van Kerkhove, explaining how patients are vetted before being allowed in. You drive up in the car to the person in the booth and they ask you three questions. It takes less than 13 seconds. A dozen human vaccines are in development, with vaccine coalition CEPI expected to announce soon which it will fund. But the key to stopping human deaths is controlling Mers in camels. Two camel vaccines have been developed, but only one, developed by the Jenner Institute, is in field trials. The other, developed at the Erasmus Medical Centre, is still seeking funding. The WHO MERS program is also under-funded, Van Kerkhove said. At last weeks meeting, hosted by the WHO, animal health body OIE and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Saudi and Qatari experts were happy to talk to each other despite their governments diplomatic friction, she said. Collaboration is vital, because camels must be diagnosed, quarantined and vaccinated as they enter the Gulf from the Horn of Africa. The virus must be tracked like bird flu is in birds, Van Kerkhove said. But there is a long road ahead. Ive never seen a really good map showing where camels move, she said. White House spokesman Sanders said separately that the president had been briefed on "the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas" on Sunday night. The gunfire reports emanated from the Mandalay Bay Casino on the Las Vegas famous strip. (Photo: AFP) Washington: US President Donald Trump sent his "warmest condolences" on early Monday to the victims and families of a shooting at a concert in Las Vegas which has killed at least 50 people. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Trump wrote on Twitter in response to what is the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said separately that the president had been briefed on "the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas" on Sunday night. "We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials," she said."All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers." Over 50 people were killed and at least 200 got injured in on Sunday night when a 64-year-old gunman called Stephen Paddock opened fire on fans at a US country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip, police said.The gunman, who police said was a local resident was killed after being "engaged" by officers who responded to report of gunfire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, a hotel-casino next to the concert venue. The Nevada sheriff said they believe this was a "lone wolf" attack but said they are looking for a roommate of the dead suspect as a person of interest. Revellers screamed and fled in panic as a steady stream of automatic gunfire rang out at the venue shortly after 10:00pm local time, footage captured on smart phones showed. Thousands of fans were attending the concert next to the Mandalay Bay which was part of a three-day country music festival known as Route 91. Non-bailable warrants issued against Nawaz Sharifs children, son-in-law. Islamabad: Pakistans ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday appeared before an anti-corruption court for the second time in a week but his indictment was postponed till October 9 as his children, who are also been named in the high-profile Panama Papers case, failed to appear in court. Mr Sharif, who was ousted as the Premier by the Supreme Court in July, faces references pertaining to London flats, Nelson, Nescom, Hill Metal and Azizia Steel Mills. Justice Mohammad Bashir heard the references pertaining to the cases. The NAB prosecutor told the court that Mr Sharifs children and son-in-law were deliberately skipping the hearing as their arrest warrants were sent to the London authorities over which the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for his sons, son-in-law and bailable warrant for his daughter. The court has also decided to hear cases against Mr Sharif, who was not indicted in Mondays hearing due to the absence of his children, in separate trials. Subsequently, the hearing was adjourned till October 9. Later, speaking to reporters, state minister Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha said that Mr Sharifs daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Mohammed Safdar will attend the next hearing as Ms Maryam was in London for the treatment of her mother. Ahead of the hearing, several Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leaders including interior minister Ahsan Iqbal, Talal Chaudhry, Raja Zafarul Haq, federal minster for railways Saad Rafique, Pervez Rashid, Asif Kirmani and Hanif Abbasi were stopped at courts gate while Maiza Hameed and Daniyal Aziz were allowed to participate in the hearing. Journalists were also barred from entering the court. On the occasion, strict security arrangements were ensured as Rangers took control of the situation without the orders of interior minister over which Ahsan Iqbal expressed resentment and announced to launch investigation. He said that Chief Commissioner informed about the Rangers deployment around the court in the morning. On September 26, Nawaz Sharif had short appearance before the court after which he was granted permission to leave to attend his ailing wife who is undergoing treatment for lymphoma. The court had also issued bailable arrest warrants for Sharifs children Hassan, Hussain and Maryam Nawaz along with his son-in-law Mohammed Safdar over failing to attend the hearing. Mr Sharif has faced such challenges before. In 1993 he was sacked from his first term as prime minister for corruption, while in 1999 he was sentenced by a military court to life in prison after his second tenure ended in an army coup. That time he was allowed to go into exile in Saudi Arabia, returning in 2007 before winning the premiership for a third time in 2013. Iqbal said that Rangers took control of the court without any formal direction due to which he came to access the situation. Islamabad: Pakistan interior minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday threatened to resign as he was stopped by the para-military Rangers from attending the hearing against former Premier Nawaz Sharif at an accountability court here. Expressing resentment on Rangers deployment outside accountability court, Mr Iqbal said that he cannot become a puppet minister as the security forces under his command are acting on someone elses will. Speaking to reporters after being barred entry into accountability court, he said that Rangers took control of the court without any formal direction due to which he came to access the situation. Mr Iqbal said that the Rangers refused to comply with the orders of chief commissioner. He warned that whoever was behind the deployment will face disciplinary action. He also made it evident that he will tender his resignation if the matter was not solved as two administrations cannot function in the same state. He asserted that Mr Sharif had always respected the law and presented himself before the court on every call. Mr Iqbal criticized the court proceedings and said that it was the right of every supporter of Nawaz Sharif and media personnel to witness fair trial inside court as closed trials are carried out in dictatorship. At least 92 people were injured in Catalonia as the police and protesters clashed over a banned independence referendum, the Catalan govt said. Barcelona: Spanish riot police burst into polling stations across Catalonia, on Sunday, confiscating ballot boxes and voting papers to try to halt a banned referendum on a split from Spain as Madrid asserted its authority over the rebel region. The police broke down doors to force entry into voting stations as defiant Catalans shouted Out with the occupying forces! and sang the anthem of the wealthy northeastern region. In one incident in Barcelona, the police fired rubber projectiles. At least 92 people were injured in Catalonia as the police and protesters clashed over a banned independence referendum, the Catalan government said. A total of 465 people were attended to at hospitals and health centres, a spokeswoman for the Catalan governments health department said. So far 92 have been confirmed as injured, two of them seriously. The referendum, declared illegal by Spains central government, has thrown the country into its worst constitutional crisis in decades and deepened a centuries-old rift between Madrid and Barcelona. Despite the police action, hundreds-strong queues of people formed in cities and villages throughout the region to cast their votes. At one Barcelona polling station, elderly people and those with children entered first. Al Sharhan, head of the ambulance and rescue section, said they want to honour the bravery of the 'abaya woman'. Dubai: A quick-thinking Muslim woman saved the life of an Indian truck driver in the UAE when she saw him in flames following a horrific road accident, media reports said. Jawaher Saif Al Kumaiti, 22, was driving home after visiting a friend in a hospital when she saw two trucks burst into flames in Ras al-Khaimah, a city in the UAE - and heard the victim shouting for someone to save him, Gulf News reported. She bravely saved the Indian driver from a fire by putting out the flames with an abaya cloak - a robe-like dress worn by some Muslim women. Al Kumaiti said that she was at first taken aback when she saw the two trucks on fire following the accident. She also saw a man on fire screaming in pain and fear shouting for help, the report said. The truck driver, an Indian-origin, is called as Harkirit Singh, police said. Al Kumaiti persuaded her friend who was a passenger to take off her abaya cloak then leaped out of the car and used it to put out the flames, it said. "He was lying down. He was on fire... I took out my friends abaya, asked her to stay inside and left the car. I went to cover the guy because there were no clothes on him. He looked at me and said, Im dying. Im afraid to die," she said, adding that she tried to talk to him and calm him down telling him that he would survive as the rescue teams will arrive soon." "I just thought about saving the mans life," said Al Kumaiti, who works at Adnoc Oasis in Sharjah. "The police patrols, ambulance and paramedics shortly arrived. They swung into action, provided first aid to the driver, and rushed him to the hospital," it said. "All thanks and praise to Almighty Allah who gave me the power and courage to act and intervene into the situation at the right time and rescue the mans life." Both the drivers suffered "40 to 50 per cent burns." Both were first taken to a hospital and then to the Saqr Hospital, said Major Tariq Mohamed Al Sharhan, head of the ambulance and rescue section at the Ras Al Khaimah police. Al Sharhan said they want to honour the bravery of the "abaya woman", the report said. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi will also honour Al Kumaiti, Navdeep Singh Suri, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, was quoted as saying by the report. Shockingly, she said there were other people at the scene in before she was but they did not help and simply stared at the man as flames burnt his body. by Melani Manel Perera Catechism students from three parishes have set up 15 stands, made of different materials and with digital media. The preparation lasted two months. Parish priest of Bolawalana: "Young people are our future". Two students: "We did not know where to start and we prayed to St. Joseph. And he also gave us good weather. " Colombo (AsiaNews) - Hundreds of people attended an exhibition dedicated to St. Joseph Vaz, considered the Apostle of Sri Lanka, to which the local Church devoted the year 2017. The exhibition, formed by various stands set up by young catechism students, was held on September 16 and 17 in the outer spaces of the parish of Bolawalana, which is part of the Diocese of Colombo. Father Terrance Bodiabaduge, the pastor, explains that the goal is to "make the students more aware of the wonderful life of St. Joseph Vaz, so that we Catholics can be inspired by his missionary spirit." Born in India in 1651 into a Portuguese family, he arrived in the island then called Ceylon in 1687 to support local Catholics at a time of persecution at the hands of Dutch Calvinists. Pope John Paul II described Joseph Vaz as the greatest missionary that Asia has ever had. Saint Joseph Vaz was the first to understand the urgency of re-establishing the islands Catholic community and give impetus to priestly training and the work of the laity. With this in mind, he set up the Congregation of the Oratory of Goa to train missionaries to be sent to Sri Lanka. The island-nations first saint learnt its two main languages, Sinhala and Tamil, in order to create friendly relations with Buddhist monks. The exhibition was titled "Foot steps of the Faith". The priest reports: "We have spoken of the origins of our Church. Because there is no greater or more glorious history than our Catholic Church. So many people have sacrificed their lives for faith. It is thanks to these people that today we have our religion and we can practice our faith. This exhibition is to remember our past and its prominent figures. " The Jayabima, Uluambalama and Bolawalana catechism students set up 15 stands, created with different materials and digital media. The preparation lasted two months. The booths reproduce various moments of Church history: Jesus commands his disciples to go and preach the word of God in the world; the feast of Pentecost; the most difficult times for Christians, with the Church built by the blood of the Apostles; the arrival on the island of Portuguese missionaries and [the persecutions of the Calvinists] of the Netherlands [to the detriment of Catholics, ndr]. "We chose the young people - says Fr. Bodiabaduge - because they represent our future and must have a proper knowledge of our past. " The student Anne Prashanthi spoke of her fellow classmates reaction to news of the exhibition's layout: "We gladly welcomed the parish priest's initiative because honestly we did not know much about the life of St. Joseph Vaz. We searched for information on books and asked priests and sisters. " Two other students, Thehansa Lakrandi and Imashi Athaliya, reported that they were a bit afraid at the beginning, because we did not know where to start. But then we asked St. Joseph to illuminate us. And St. Joseph gave us the ideas and also the good weather. If there had been rain, the whole show would have been ruined. " Tomorrow, a cabinet meeting will be held in the Strip. Control of Gaza could pass to the Palestinian Authority. An Egyptian delegation will be present. Sabella, a Fatah member, is cautiously optimistic, but the details are needed. Unity is necessary unity, and elections for a change of guard. Gaza (AsiaNews) Fatah, which controls the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, met today for the first time since 2015. Tensions between the two sides had exacerbated the Strips humanitarian crisis, including its energy shortages. Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah arrived in Gaza for this purpose. In the afternoon he was scheduled to meet with Hamas chief Ismail Haniya and Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar. A cabinet meeting is set for tomorrow. An Egyptian delegation will be present as an observer. The meeting should be the first important step towards the transfer of authority from Hamas to the PNA. On 17 September, Hamas had announced that it was ready to dissolve the governmental committee running Gaza and hold general elections for the first time since 2006 when it seized the Strip and expelled Fatah representatives. This split has often been cited as the reason for delaying the PNA presidential election since 2009. For Bernard Sabella, a Catholic and a Fatah representative from Jerusalem as well as executive secretary of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches, the meeting represents an "important step towards the unity of the Palestinians" who "cannot continue to be divided. However, there are obstacles. It will be necessary to clarify what "reconciliation" means, in particular with regard to security issues. "It's a long way," says Sabella, but "we must try; otherwise we're all stuck." The main objective is to ensure the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections so that "the old guard is replaced by a younger generation, more involved in everyday life." Despite great optimism, Sabella calls for caution. "I hope they are right that the time of division is really over, but everything depends on the details." A day not for celebration, but for "national sadness" for the "status of the rule of law in Hong Kong." The memory of the three young Occupy Central activists sentenced to months in jail by will of the city government. "Political persecution" also for co-founders of umbrella movement. Demonstrators call for the resignation of justice secretary Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung, branded Beijings "puppet". Hong Kong (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Thousands of young people and adults marched in downtown Hong Kong yesterday calling for democracy and criticizing Beijing's growing influence, which is endangering the rule of law in the territory. Yesterday was also the national celebration of the Chinese People's Republic celebrated by the Hong Kong government with speeches and a great firework display in the evening. Yesterday's march was in protest at the arrest of three young pro-democracy activists, among the leaders of the Occupy Central movement, the sit-in that in 2014 brought downtown Hong Kong to a standstill, demanding universal suffrage and free election of the district governor, against the will of Beijing. The three young leaders - Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow - after a light sentence to community service, last August were prosecuted and sentenced to months in jail by will of the city government. Reflecting this, demonstrators carried signs and photos of the justice secretary Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung demanding his resignation, accusing him of "political persecution" and not being in the service of the law but of Beijing. The march was also attended by Lam Wing-kee, one of the book-publishers seized in Hong Kong and brought to China together with the founders of Occupy Central, Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man, and Pastor Chu Yi-ming. The three must undergo a process of public order disturbance, for their role in the manifestations of 2014. Most demonstrators dressed in black shirts in mourning signalling that the first of October, China's National Holiday, was not a celebration, but a day of "national sadness." Some protesters interviewed by Scmp described Kimsky Yuen Kwok-keung as Beijing s "puppet". "I am very upset about the rule of law in Hong Kong," says David Lok. "It has become a joke." Many international organizations point out Beijing's influence even on Hong Kong's judiciary. But the Carrie Lam government claims independence and that there is no interference from China. The organizers estimate the participation of the event from Victoria Park to Causeway Bay at 40,000. Police say that there were only 4,000 participants. The celebrations took place yesterday in the holy city, to remember the killing of Mohammed's grandson. Over 25,000 agents assigned to the security of the faithful. Participants chanted slogans and songs against the Kurdish leader Barzani and the "separatist conspiracy in northern Iraq". Baghdad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslim pilgrims visited the holy city of Kerbala, Iraq, yesterday to celebrate the festival of the Shura, which this year took on anti-Kurdish connotations. The Baghdad authorities allocated more than 25,000 officers to protect the safety of the faithful who took part in the recurrence that remembers the prophet Muhammad's nephew seven centuries ago. In the recent past Sunni groups and jihadist movements - including the Islamic State (SI) - took advantage of the day to launch bloody attacks. There were no major accidents this year; however, ceremonies were marked by singing and slogans against Kurdish leader Massud Barzani. Among them, "Barzani the arbiter of the division of the country" and "Do not believe we will give you Kirkuk." On 25 September, the autonomous region in northern Iraq held a referendum on independence, which ended with an overwhelming victory in favor (over 90% yes). The vote was also held in the controversial territory of Kirkuk. Hamed al-Obays, one of the organizers of the procession, says the songs intend to counter the "separatist conspiracy in northern Iraq." Pilgrims marched beating their chests in an expression of mourning for the duration of the ceremony. Some of them also carried swords, dripping blood which also marked their clothes. The annual celebration of the Shura celebrates the killing of Imam Hussein by the forces of Caliph Yazid in 680 AD, one of the central events of Shiite Islam. His death is part of the controversy over the Prophet Muhammad, which ended with the division between the Sunni and the Shiites. Among the pilgrims, many were from neighboring Iran and other nations in the region who gathered in the holy city, about 80 km southwest of the capital. Millions throughout the Shi'ite world, from Lebanon to South Asian nations, have organized processions in their respective cities of origin, accompanied by traditional rituals including flagellation. (DS) His wife has applied for family reunification. Vanunu worked at the Dimona nuclear power plant. In 1988 he was sentenced to 18 years of prison for high treason, and spent more than 10 in isolation. Since his release in 2004, he has been under a travel and media ban. For Israel, he still represents a threat to national security. Oslo (AsiaNews/Agencies) Norway is ready to host Mordechai Vanunu, a former Israeli nuclear technician sentenced in 18 years of prison in 1988 for high treason and espionage after he disclosed details about Israels nuclear programme, said his Norwegian wife Kristin Joachimsen on a Norwegian TV station two days ago. "We made a request for family reunification as that's exactly the case here, for spouses and a family to be able to live together," Kristin Joachimsen told TV2 late Saturday. "So even if I know the affair is controversial in some circles, it's the family values that won over," she added. Karl Erik Sjoholt, an official with Norway's immigration agency, confirmed the request had been approved. Vanunu was arrested in 1986 for divulging information concerning the Dimona nuclear research facility to the Sunday Times newspaper. He was convicted in 1988, and spent more than ten years in isolation. After he was released in 2004, Vanunus freedom of movement and expression have been restricted. He cannot travel, have contacts with foreigners, or speak to the media. Since then, he has been arrested twice for breaking the bans, the last time in 2015, when he gave an interview to Channel 2. His Norwegian lawyer, Arild Humlen, said he hopes that the immigration agency's decision will increase the likelihood of Vanunu leaving Israel. On Sunday, a spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry could not say if Vanunu had made a new request to travel to Norway. But he said restrictions on the whistle-blowers freedom of movement were "due to the danger that he posed" to the state. Vanunu converted to Christianity and took the name John Crossman just before his capture by the Mossad in Rome in 1986. He married Joachimsen, who teaches at the School of Theology in Oslo, in May 2014. Israels nuclear programme is under tight wraps. For years, the Israeli Disarmament Movement has denounced the "taboo" surrounding it, highlighting the risks that nuclear power represents for public health. Only recently has civil society begun to discuss the issue more openly. Israel is the only country in the Middle East that refuses to confirm or deny its possession of nuclear weapons. Together with Pakistan, India and North Korea, it is also the only nuclear power that has not ratified the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This is how Francis described what the Little Sisters of Jesus do. In situations that are difficult from a human point of view, [. . .] they are not primarily concerned with caring, educating, and catechising, but with loving, being with the littlest ones, just as Jesus did, to announce the Gospel with the simple life of work, presence, friendship, unconditional welcome. Vatican City (AsiaNews) Pope Francis met today with the participants in the 9th General Chapter of the Little Sisters of Jesus. He said the nuns, who come from 28 countries, express more an evangelisation of gestures than of words in situations that are difficult from a human point of view. Mentioning their foundress, Little Sister Magdaleine of Jesus, who following the Blessed Charles de Foucauld understood how God was not afraid to be a small, trustful child, in the arms of Mary, out of love for us, which continues even today, the pontiff noted that today more than a thousand Sisters work around the world 80 after the communitys foundation. There are situations that are difficult from a human point of view, with the smallest and the poorest. They are not primarily concerned with caring, educating, and catechising - though they do these things well but with loving, being with the littlest ones, just as Jesus did, to announce the Gospel with the simple life of work, presence, friendship, unconditional welcome. It is important, of vital importance for you to return continually to this original experience of the closeness of God, Who is gentle and humble to us to save us and fill us with His love. Do not be afraid to go ahead, bringing the little Child Jesus into your hearts, in all the places where there are the smallest of our world. Stay free from bonds with works and things, free to love those you encounter wherever the Spirit leads you. Free to fly, free to dream. The difficulties of the present time make you share the sorrows of so many brothers: you too, with them, sometimes find yourself forced to close or abandon your homes to flee elsewhere; you too know the trials of age, solitude and suffering; you too experience the hardness of the journey when you must remain faithful while crossing the desert. But in all this, the love you bear in your hearts makes you free women attached to the essentials. The pope stressed the quality of brotherhood in the communities. Only if brotherhood is experienced within the community can hearts open to fraternity. Your Foundress invited you to become Arabs among the Arabs, nomads among nomads, workers among workers and, above all, human beings among humans. Thus, the Institute has spread to many countries and you have met many of these little ones, of all races, languages and religions. Your hearts have no barriers. Of course, you cannot change the world by yourselves, but you can illuminate it by bringing the joy of the Gospel to the neighbourhoods, the streets, mixing with the crowds, always close to the smallest. Increased sales aided by slow application of anti-trafficking laws and cheap prices. Beijing pledging to eliminate sales by the end of the year, demand moves across the border. Chinese visitors buy 80% of ivory for sale in Laos. Survival of the African elephant at risk. Vientiane (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The growing demand of Chinese visitors has made Laos the fastest-growing market for ivory in the world according to conservation group Save the Elephants. China, currently home to the worlds largest traffic in the trade, is committed to eliminating sales by the end of the year. However, with pendants, bracelets, ivory statues still popular among Chinese consumers, demand is moving beyond the border. In a report published on September 28, Save the Elephants declares that sales in Laos have increased dramatically. The organization denounces the slow application of laws against the trading of precious material and the competitiveness of its price in the country. In Laos, Chinese visitors buy 80% of ivory for sale, while in the two main national markets, the capital of Vientiane and Luang Prabang, the number of specialized stores has increased by more than 10 times between 2013 and 2016. The Southeast Asian country is one of the signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). This means that ivory traffic is a crime, but since 2004, when Laos entered the Convention, Vientiane has carried out only one seizure. African ivory is very sought after in China, where it is seen as a symbol of prestige and can cost up to 1,000 euros per kilo. A similar trend in Laotian sales is found in neighboring Vietnam and Hong Kong's autonomous territory, where Chinese buyers can find it at cheaper prices. Hong Kong is considering imposing a ban on trade, but this measure would not come into force until 2021. For the survival of large African elephants, it may be too late. Doan Thi Huong and Siti Aisyah claim they were part of a TV prank. They accuse North Korean agents repatriated following an agreement between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang. Tensions between North Korea and the United States remain high. US president discourages Secretary of State from holding talks. North Korea is preparing a new test and celebrations for the autumn festival. Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/Agencies) The two women charged with murdering Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, have pleaded not guilty as their trial in Malaysia got under way under tight security. The two accused, 29-year-old Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam and 25-year-old Siti Aisyah (pictured) were arrested three days after the assassination. The two women were accused of rubbing Kim Jong-nam's face with a highly toxic nerve agent known as Vx agent, which overcame his central nervous system in just 20 minutes. The two women are the only suspects in Malaysian custody for what South Korean intelligence calls a plot carried out by Pyongyang to assassinate the leader's brother, seen as a dissident. If convicted, the defendants face the death penalty. They claim they were tricked by North Korean agents who told they were part of a TV prank. Malaysian police said that four North Koreans involved in the plot left the country on the same day as the assassination. Three others were allowed to return to North Korea following a diplomatic agreement for the repatriation of nine Malaysians detained by Pyongyang. Meanwhile, tensions between North Korea and the United States remain high. US President Donald Trump said yesterday that he has discouraged US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson from talking to North Korea over its nuclear weapons programme because it was a waste of time. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump wrote on Twitter, using his nickname for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" In an apparent bid to ease the tensions, Tillerson said a day earlier that the US maintains channels of communication with Pyongyang and is not in a "dark situation, a blackout. [. . .] We can talk to them. We do talk to them," he told reporters. As analysts announce a new provocative North Korean atomic test, Pyongyang is getting ready to celebrate Chuseok, Koreas traditional autumn festival, which this year falls on 4 October. However, whilst the holiday will last 10 days in South Korea, in the north it will be a one-day affair. Since 1945, when the Korean Peninsula was divided after its liberation from Japan, the time-honoured celebration was not observed in the North until it was reinstated it in 1989. During this time, the traditional holiday was denounced as being "in breach of the manners of socialism". Now Chuseok is one of North Korea's 18 national holidays, but it is observed in a much more modest way, as the communist regime puts more emphasis on the birthdays of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung on 15 April, and his successor Kim Jong-il on 16 February. Two-day holidays are given for those anniversaries. VIDEO: Vehicle Breakdown Response When a vehicle breaks down, the driver needs to take steps to ensure it's visible to other motorists and to mitigate crash risk. The Kentucky State Police offers this advice: Pull completely off the road, to the right if possible. If you cannot get completely off the roadway, try to stop where your vehicle can be seen from a distance. Do not stop just over a hill or just around a curve. Turn on your emergency flashers to warn other drivers. Lift the hood to show others you need assistance. If you cannot pull completely off the road, give other drivers plenty of warning. If you have flares or reflective triangles, put them 200 or 300 feet behind the vehicle if its safe to do so. This allows other drivers to change lanes, if necessary. If you do not have emergency flares or triangles, stand off the roadway and wave traffic around your vehicle. Use a white cloth flag or a piece of clothing. Call for assistance for your stalled vehicle, if you can. To view a AAA video offering advice on what to do after a vehicle breakdown, click on the photo or link below the headline. Photo courtesy of GoCar GoCar has continued to expand in Ireland following a 3 million euros investment this year, according to a report by Business World. GoCars carsharing service has grown from two to 18 counties across Ireland, says the report. In the last year, GoCar has doubled its fleet and its members. We are delighted to mark European Mobility Week with the announcement of GoCars expansion across Ireland, a significant milestone for the company as we approach our 10-year anniversary next year, Colm Brady, GoCars managing director, told Business World. Partnerships with Irish Rail and county councils helped GoCar expand its carsharing service beyond Cork and Dublin to 16 more counties, including Galway, Limerick, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Wicklow, according to the report. Since its launch in 2008, GoCar has continued to expand to new locations, added an electric vehicle fleet in 2016, and now offers dedicated parking spaces in Dublin. Click here for the full Business World report. Photo courtesy of SurPrice Car Rentals SurPrice Car Rentals has launched in Portugal after its expansion in Spain and Italy. Franchise locations have been opened in the Portugal cities of Lisbon, Porto, and Faro. Portugal is one of 19 countries where SurPrice currently operates. Other countries include Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Malta, Turkey, Latvia, Georgia, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Croatia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Romania, and Slovenia. Were delighted for signing one more franchise agreement with perspective in the European market, said Nikos Paspalakis, managing director at SurPrice Car Rentals. We are confident and strongly believe that under the new agreement we have made with Travelport, our sales will explode in the coming year, leading our dynamic presentation in more channels and online car rental market. We pay great attention to the outcomes of our franchisees and the gradual growth so that they will gain the trust of the tough, competitive market, added Paspalakis. We will proudly announce more countries entering our brand after our dynamic representation as exhibitors in WTM London 2017 exhibition. Photo courtesy of Zoomcar Zoomcar, an India-based self-driving car rental service, has partnered with Malaysian-based AirAsia, according to a report by the Economic Times. The partnership allows AirAsia customers to book Zoomcar for its local and intercity self-driven transportation, says the report. Located in 26 cities across India, Zoomcar rents vehicles on hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis. We are excited about the partnership which will further enable the AirAsia guests to experience Zoomcar accessibility at airports with an ease and flexibility, Greg Moran, Zoomcars co-founder and chief executive, told Economic Times. The door-to-door delivery experience enhances customer comfort and convenience and to leave them with a memorable experience of self-drive time and again. AirAsia India currently flies to 16 destinations with its hubs in new Delhi, Kolkata, and Bengaluru. Click here for the full Economic Times report. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Targy: ATTN: Datum: Fri, 8 Sep 2017 08:50:51 -0700 Felado: FBI FBI < fbi.usinfo@gmail.com > FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION(FBI) Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division Fbi Headquarters In Washington, D.C. Federal Bureau Of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover Building ATTN: I hope you are doing fine. It may interest you to know that the President of the United States, President Donald Trump have mandated that I, the new FBI Director should put all the necessary effort and see that you and other beneficiaries owed in Africa precisely Nigeria receives their funds without further delay. This is to let you know that we,the FBI have completed our investigation regards to your unpaid funds in African precisely Nigeria. We found out that you have spent much money in the process of receiving your funds but still no funds was transferred to you. We also found out that many criminals were impersonating the real Government officials thereby stealing/extorting money from you and other beneficiaries. We are now doing our best to arrest those criminals and prosecute them. I have contacted the bank that will transfer your funds into your account. The only thing that is required is to obtain an International Funds Transfer Clearance on your behalf from the United Nations office here in the United States. Once this document is obtained, it will be sent to the bank in Africa and your funds will immediately transfer into your account. The issuance fee for the International Funds Transfer Clearance is US$850. You should send this US$850 immediately to the below person in the office of United Nations here in the United States in charge of issuance of the International Funds Transfer Clearance. NAME: CAMILLE COUSIN LOCATION: MARIETTA GEORGIA USA You should send the US$850 for the International Funds Transfer Clearance to her through Money Gram, Western Union, RIA or Walmart. You should do this quickly and get back to me. You should also reconfirm the below to me: 1) Your Bank information 2)Amount you are claiming 3)Your telephone Number. You have my assurance and guarantee that the FBI will secure your payment and your funds will be transferred into your account without delay. I await your prompt response. Yours in Service, MR CHRISTOPHER WRAY FBI DIRECTOR On Fri, Sep 15, 2017 at 11:18 am, Christopher Wray < hcontact@tim.it > wrote: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF YOUR FUND TO YOU NOW FROM FBI WASHINGTON DC FBI.ROOM,7367J.EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING 935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,NEW YORK CITY WASHINGTON,D.C 20535-0001 ATTN:SIR/MADAM IF YOU FAIL TO SEND THE $230 IN ONE WEEK TIME YOUR $8.200, 000.00 IS GONE FINALLY. I have to inform you again, that we are not playing over this, I know my reason for the continuous sending of this notification to you, the fact is that you can't seem to trust anyone again over this payment and we have now cut the prize of $490 to $230 for what you have been in cantered in many years ago, but I want you to trust me, I cannot scam you for $230 it is for bank processing of your payment, the fees is $490 but we have cut to $230 so that you can be able to send it today, $230 is clearly written to you before, and the good part of this, is that you will never, ever be disturbed again over any kind of payment, this is final, and the forms from there becomes effective once we submit your payment application processing fee and pay the form fee of $230 I don't want you to lose this fund this time, because you may never get another such good opportunity, the federal government is keen and very determined to pay your overdue debts, this is not a fluke, I would not want you to lose this fund out of ignorance, I will send you all the documents as soon as bank payment processing fee is paid, you have to trust me, you will get your fund, find a way to get $230 you will not lose it, instead it will bring your financial breakthrough, find the money and send it to our bursary. The reason why am sending you this because I want you to receive your USD10.5M immediately, we are trying to round up for this payment program. The processing charges which was initially on the high price has been cut down by the payout bank considering the poor economic situations that make it difficult for the middle class citizens to meet up with the processing charges of their entitlement. Upon the confirmation of your processing charges you will get your US$8.200, 000.00 into your account within 15hrs. Here is the payment information through western union money transfer or money gram money transfer finally my advice to you is not to abandon this transaction because of the requirement of ($230) Account Officer Info: Send the fee through Money Gram Or Western Union only. RECEIVER'S NAME: OKAMNI OGUIKE COUNTRY: NIGERIA TEXT QUESTION: GO NOW ANSWER: TODAY AMOUNT REQUIRED: US$230 As soon as the payment is received today, you will receive the said US$8.200, 000 the same today without any delay. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION IN ADVANCE AS WE EARNESTLY AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE TO THIS MATTER. Yours Sincerely, Mr. Christopher Wray New FBI Director. On Sat, Sep 16, 2017 at 4:21 am, FBI FUND INVESTIGATION UNIT < fbigov@fbi.hu > wrote: FEDERAL BUREAUOF INVESTIGATION J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue , NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 Email; fbigov@fbi.hu YOUR FBI FUNDS INVESTIGATION REPORT. Dear Beneficiary. Having resume office as the New FBI Director. In my relentless effort to protect our citizens and fight crime and corruption Globally, we wish to notify to you that we the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC in conjunction with some other relevant Investigation Agencies here in the United states of America have recently been informed through our Global intelligence monitoring network that you presently have a transaction going on here and over there in Africa and others in regards to your over-due contract/inheritance payment which was fully endorsed in your favor accordingly, in which the DHS, IMF and other Agencies have approved. It might interest you to know that we have taken out time in screening through this project as stipulated on our protocol of operation and have finally confirmed that your inheritance/UN Compensation payment is 100% genuine and hitch free from all facet and of which you have the lawful right to claim your fund without any further delay. Recently we were informed about your EFCC recovered fund in Nigeria, which the fraudsters tried to DIVERT into their own pocket and claimed that you have received it. We have done all our investigation and confirm that the said fund was rightfully belong to you, but some elements of criminals and the Government of the Country are trying every thing possible to deny you access of receiving this fund. They planned to frustrate you to abandon the payment, n me you to loose HOPE and Trust in receiving your fund, so that they can have it. Don't loose HOPE and don't abandon your payment for them to STEAL it again, that fund belong to you and CSP OLAOLU ADEGBITE will deliver it to you 100%. He is EXCEPTIONAL, TRUSTED and RELIABLE in doing his job, he has assisted other of our citizens and yours will not be exceptional. Desist from communicating with any other office you are dealing with now and contact CSP OLAOLU ADEGBITE, The Chief Superintendent of Police in charge of EFCC Operations and Fund Recovery Unit at this email address: { efccoperation.fundrecoveryunit@gmail.com / olaolu.adegbite@yahoo.com } or call him on his direct phone number: { +234-9074997621 } and send your details and your recovered fund CLEARANCE FEE to him, to enable him obtain your recovered fund clearance and complete the delivery of this fund to you without any further delay. He is a SPECIAL CRIME FIGHTER, A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT, and the only TESTED and TRUSTED person that is approved to handle the release of your recovered fund, because of INCOMPETENT and FRAUDULENT activities of others. Contact him now and send him the required fee, to enable him complete the delivery of your fund to you latest by coming Monday. Do keep us update, as we are closely monitoring this transaction to ensure that your interest is highly protected. It is our duty to protect the Life's and Properties of our Dear Citizens here and across the globe, to advice them, protect them and direct them accordingly, to ensure that their interest is highly protected in general. Feel free to report any suspicious activity to us, to enable us protect your own interest. FBI is working to Safeguard our Nation. In God We Trust. Mr. Christopher Wray, New FBI Director, De la: Christopher Wray < hcontact@tim.it > Catre: Trimis: Sambata, 16 Septembrie 2017 14:46:09 Subiect: IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF YOUR FUND TO YOU NOW FROM NEW FBI DIRECTOR FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF YOUR FUND TO YOU NOW FROM FBI WASHINGTON DC FBI.ROOM,7367J.EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING 935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,NEW YORK CITY WASHINGTON,D.C 20535-0001 ATTN:SIR/MADAM IF YOU FAIL TO SEND THE $230 IN ONE WEEK TIME YOUR $8.200, 000.00 IS GONE FINALLY. I have to inform you again, that we are not playing over this, I know my reason for the continuous sending of this notification to you, the fact is that you can't seem to trust anyone again over this payment and we have now cut the prize of $490 to $230 for what you have been in cantered in many years ago, but I want you to trust me, I cannot scam you for $230 it is for bank processing of your payment, the fees is $490 but we have cut to $230 so that you can be able to send it today, $230 is clearly written to you before, and the good part of this, is that you will never, ever be disturbed again over any kind of payment, this is final, and the forms from there becomes effective once we submit your payment application processing fee and pay the form fee of $230 I don't want you to lose this fund this time, because you may never get another such good opportunity, the federal government is keen and very determined to pay your overdue debts, this is not a fluke, I would not want you to lose this fund out of ignorance, I will send you all the documents as soon as bank payment processing fee is paid, you have to trust me, you will get your fund, find a way to get $230 you will not lose it, instead it will bring your financial breakthrough, find the money and send it to our bursary. The reason why am sending you this because I want you to receive your USD10.5M immediately, we are trying to round up for this payment program. The processing charges which was initially on the high price has been cut down by the payout bank considering the poor economic situations that make it difficult for the middle class citizens to meet up with the processing charges of their entitlement. Upon the confirmation of your processing charges you will get your US$8.200, 000.00 into your account within 15hrs. Here is the payment information through western union money transfer or money gram money transfer finally my advice to you is not to abandon this transaction because of the requirement of ($230) Account Officer Info: Send the fee through Money Gram Or Western Union only. RECEIVER'S NAME: OKAMNI OGUIKE COUNTRY: NIGERIA TEXT QUESTION: GO NOW ANSWER: TODAY AMOUNT REQUIRED: US$230 As soon as the payment is received today, you will receive the said US$8.200, 000 the same today without any delay. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION IN ADVANCE AS WE EARNESTLY AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE TO THIS MATTER. Yours Sincerely, Mr. Christopher Wray New FBI Director. On Thu, Sep 21, 2017 at 1:49 pm, FBI FUND INVESTIGATION UNIT < fbigovt@fbi.hu > wrote: FEDERAL BUREAUOF INVESTIGATION J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue , NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 Email; fbigov@fbi.hu YOUR FBI FUNDS INVESTIGATION REPORT. Dear Beneficiary. Having resume office as the New FBI Director. In my relentless effort to protect our citizens and fight crime and corruption Globally, we wish to notify to you that we the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC in conjunction with some other relevant Investigation Agencies here in the United states of America have recently been informed through our Global intelligence monitoring network that you presently have a transaction going on here and over there in Africa and others in regards to your over-due contract/inheritance payment which was fully endorsed in your favor accordingly, in which the DHS, IMF and other Agencies have approved. It might interest you to know that we have taken out time in screening through this project as stipulated on our protocol of operation and have finally confirmed that your inheritance/UN Compensation payment is 100% genuine and hitch free from all facet and of which you have the lawful right to claim your fund without any further delay. Recently we were informed about your EFCC recovered fund in Nigeria, which the fraudsters tried to DIVERT into their own pocket and claimed that you have received it. We have done all our investigation and confirm that the said fund was rightfully belong to you, but some elements of criminals and the Government of the Country are trying every thing possible to deny you access of receiving this fund. They planned to frustrate you to abandon the payment, n me you to loose HOPE and Trust in receiving your fund, so that they can have it. Don't loose HOPE and don't abandon your payment for them to STEAL it again, that fund belong to you and CSP OLAOLU ADEGBITE will deliver it to you 100%. He is EXCEPTIONAL, TRUSTED and RELIABLE in doing his job, he has assisted other of our citizens and yours will not be exceptional. To get more information about the (US$40MILLION) EFCC recovered fund, which yours was among. Read the LINK below: www.vanguardngr.com/2017/ 04/photos-money-recovered- efcc-ikoyi-lagos Desist from communicating with any other office you are dealing with now and contact CSP OLAOLU ADEGBITE, The Chief Superintendent of Police in charge of EFCC Operations and Fund Recovery Unit at this email address: { efccoperation.fundrecoveryunit@gmail.com / olaolu.adegbite@yahoo.com } or call him on his direct phone number: { +234-9074997621 } and send your details and your recovered fund CLEARANCE FEE to him, to enable him obtain your recovered fund clearance and complete the delivery of this fund to you without any further delay. He is a SPECIAL CRIME FIGHTER, A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT, and the only TESTED and TRUSTED person that is approved to handle the release of your recovered fund, because of INCOMPETENT and FRAUDULENT activities of others. Contact him now and send him the required fee, to enable him complete the delivery of your fund to you tomorrow. Do keep us update, as we are closely monitoring this transaction to ensure that your interest is highly protected. It is our duty to protect the Life's and Properties of our Dear Citizens here and across the globe, to advice them, protect them and direct them accordingly, to ensure that their interest is highly protected in general. Feel free to report any suspicious activity to us, to enable us protect your own interest. FBI is working to Safeguard our Nation. In God We Trust. Mr. Christopher Wray, New FBI Director. Targy: PLEASE YOUR FUND IS READY FBI APPROVED $40M ATTENTION, Datum: Sun, 24 Sep 2017 04:57:10 +0900 Felado: CHRISTOPHER WRAY < watkimber@naver.com > Valaszcim: federalbureauinvestigation984@gmail.com PLEASE YOUR FUND IS READY FBI APPROVED $40M ATTENTION, I 'M CONTACTING YOU NOW BASE ON ISSUE IN MY OFFICE THIS MORNING IN FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) BECAUSE YOUR PAYMENT FILE WHICH CONTAIN YOUR $40 MILLION WAS BROUGHT TO ME BY THE BANK OF AFRICA HERE IN BENIN REPUBLIC WHO ORDERED ME TO SIGN THE CANCELLATION OF YOUR PAYMENT FILE AND I ASKED HIM WHY AND HE SAID THAT YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED AND ALWAYS INSULT HIM BECAUSE THEY TOLD YOU TO PAY $190 TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND. SO I DECIDED TO WRITE YOU BECAUSE I FOLLOWED THE LAW AND I WILL NOT BE AGAINST ANYBODY IN THIS WORLD AND I THINK THAT MAYBE HE HAS A LITTLE PROBLEM WITH YOU, I HAVE NOT TOUCH YOUR PAYMENT FILE UNTIL I HEAR FROM YOU THIS MORNING BECAUSE I HAVE A HUMAN SYMPATHY. SO MY DEAR I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AND IF YOU STILL NEED TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND THEN I WILL TELL YOU WHERE YOU WILL SEND THE $190 AND HAVE THIS FUND SEND TO YOU THROUGH MY POWER, DON'T WORRY YOURSELF WHAT I NEED FROM YOU IS HONEST BECAUSE THIS FEE OF $190 IS GOING TO USE TO OBATIN THE DOUMENT TO PROOF OUR GOVERNMENT THAT THE FUND BELONG TO YOU ,SO YOU ARE TO TEXT ME MESSAGE ONLY ON THIS MOBILE + (539) 444-4887 YOUR URGENT REPLY IS HIGH NEEDED. SINCERELY CHRISTOPHER WRAY FBI DIRECTOR FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) + (539) 444-4887 From: CHRISTOPHER WRAY < Date: September 24, 2017 at 6:10:58 PM EDT Subject: PLEASE YOUR FUND IS READY FBI APPROVED $5.5M Reply-To: federalbureauinvestigation802@gmail.com CHRISTOPHER WRAY < filippovp@alice.it September 24, 2017 at 6:10:58 PM EDT PLEASE YOUR FUND IS READY FBI APPROVED $40MILLION I 'M CONTACTING YOU NOW BASE ON ISSUE IN MY OFFICE THIS MORNING IN FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) BECAUSE YOUR PAYMENT FILE WHICH CONTAIN YOUR $40 MILLION WAS BROUGHT TO ME BY THE BANK OF AFRICA HERE IN BENIN REPUBLIC WHO ORDERED ME TO SIGN THE CANCELLATION OF YOUR PAYMENT FILE AND I ASKED HIM WHY AND HE SAID THAT YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED AND ALWAYS INSULT HIM BECAUSE THEY TOLD YOU TO PAY $190 TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND. SO I DECIDED TO WRITE YOU BECAUSE I FOLLOWED THE LAW AND I WILL NOT BE AGAINST ANYBODY IN THIS WORLD AND I THINK THAT MAYBE HE HAS A LITTLE PROBLEM WITH YOU, I HAVE NOT TOUCH YOUR PAYMENT FILE UNTIL I HEAR FROM YOU THIS MORNING BECAUSE I HAVE A HUMAN SYMPATHY. SO MY DEAR I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AND IF YOU STILL NEED TO RECEIVE YOUR FUND THEN I WILL TELL YOU WHERE YOU WILL SEND THE $190 AND HAVE THIS FUND SEND TO YOU THROUGH MY POWER, DON'T WORRY YOURSELF WHAT I NEED FROM YOU IS HONEST BECAUSE THIS FEE OF $190 IS GOING TO USE TO OBTAIN THE DOCUMENT TO PROOF OUR GOVERNMENT THAT THE FUND BELONG TO YOU ,SO YOU ARE TO TEXT ME MESSAGE ONLY ON THIS MOBILE + (539) 444-4887 YOUR URGENT REPLY IS HIGH NEEDED. SINCERELY CHRISTOPHER WRAY FBI DIRECTOR FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) + (539) 444-4887 On Tue, Sep 26, 2017 at 10:43 am, FBI FUND INVESTIGATION UNIT < fbigovt@fbi.hu > wrote: FEDERAL BUREAUOF INVESTIGATION J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue , NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 Email; fbigov@fbi.hu FBI FUNDS INVESTIGATION REPORTS / ADVICE. Dear Beneficiary. We are deeply sorry for the inconveniences and difficult you have passed through trying to receive your Inheritance/UN Compensation Fund for the past few years, due to some strict measure we have taken to protect our Citizen and World in general, since after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack in USA. The financial analysis of the September 11 hijackers gave us a better idea of what to look for. It helped us establish new intelligence requirements and set up new tripwires. We established a specialized section in our Counterterrorism Division called the Terrorism Financing Operations Section, and to combat the Money Laundry & Cyber crimes. The mission of our agents and analysts in TFOS is to trace transactions and track patterns. Having resume office as the New FBI Director. In my relentless effort to protect our citizens and fight crime and corruption Globally, we wish to notify to you that we the Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington, DC in conjunction with some other relevant Investigation Agencies here in the United states of America have recently been informed through our Global intelligence monitoring network that you presently have a transaction going on here and over there in Africa and others in regards to your over-due contract/inheritance payment which was fully endorsed in your favor accordingly, in which the DHS, IMF and other Agencies have approved. We understand that many of our citizens have pending fund transfers in many Countries and even here in the States. We have taken out time in screening through this project as stipulated on our protocol of operation and have finally confirmed that your inheritance/UN Compensation payment is 100% genuine and hitch free from all facet, and of which you have the lawful right to claim your fund without any further delay. Any person or individual that tells you that this PAYMENT or this message is FAKE, is the enemy of your progress, and should be ignored, if you want the best for your self and if truly you wish to receive your fund. Recently we were informed about your EFCC recovered fund in Nigeria, which the fraudsters tried to DIVERT into their own pocket and claimed that you have received it. We have done all our investigation and confirm that the said fund was rightfully belong to you, but some elements of criminals and the Government of the Country are trying every thing possible to deny you access of receiving this fund. They planned to frustrate you to abandon the payment, n me you to loose HOPE and Trust in receiving your fund, so that they can have it. Don't loose HOPE and don't abandon your payment for them to STEAL it again, that fund belong to you and CSP OLAOLU ADEGBITE will deliver it to you 100%. He is EXCEPTIONAL, TRUSTED and RELIABLE in doing his job, he has assisted other of our citizens and yours will not be exceptional. FBI is in partner with other Agencies, including EFCC & FATF to produce Fund Transfer Clearances/Records and maintained pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act are especially vital weapons in our arsenalaparticularly Suspicious Activity Reports and Currency Transaction Reports. Every single one of our terrorism/Money Laundry investigations has a financial sub-fileaand one of the first things on our checklist is to query FinCEN for BSA reports, EFCC & FATF Clearance that match the subject. You would be amazed at how much valuable intelligence they produceaespecially SARs and CTRs. And the BSA Report, confirmed your pending fund to be among the US$40MILLION recovered by the EFCC . Desist from communicating with any other office you are dealing with now and contact CSP OLAOLU ADEGBITE, The Chief Superintendent of Police in charge of EFCC Operations and Fund Recovery Unit at this email address: { efccoperation.fundrecoveryunit@gmail.com / olaolu.adegbite@yahoo.com } or call him on his direct phone number: { +234-9074997621 } and send your details and your recovered fund CLEARANCE FEE to him, to enable him obtain your recovered fund clearance and complete the delivery of this fund to you without any further delay, that is the ONLY FEE required from you. Do not ague with him, get him the required fee, so that he can get your job done. He is a SPECIAL CRIME FIGHTER, A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT, and the only TESTED and TRUSTED person that is approved to handle the release of your recovered fund, because of INCOMPETENT and FRAUDULENT activities of others. Contact him now and send him the required fee, to enable him complete the delivery of your fund to you immediately. Do keep us update, as we are closely monitoring this transaction to ensure that your interest is highly protected. It is our duty to protect the Life's and Properties of our Dear Citizens here and across the globe, to advice them, protect them and direct them accordingly, to ensure that their interest is highly protected in general. Tightening our financial systems works to our advantage and to our enemies' disadvantage. The more we work together with our citizens, the more we deny criminals the ability to work in secret and force them to be creative. And the more they are forced to take risks and find ways around our systems, the higher the likelihood they will slip up. Adhering to our advice will not only protect you & your fund, but safeguard you from the criminals, fraudster and cyber threat. Feel free to report any suspicious activity to us, to enable us protect your own interest. FBI is working to Safeguard our Nation. In God We Trust. Mr. Christopher Wray, New FBI Director. On Fri, Oct 6, 2017 at 4:29 pm, FBI FUND INVESTIGATION UNIT < fbigov@fbi.hu > wrote: FEDERAL BUREAUOF INVESTIGATION J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue , NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 Email; fbigov@fbi.hu FBI FUNDS INVESTIGATION REPORTS. Dear Beneficiary. Since resuming work as the new FBI Director, I have taken different measure to advice, protect and help many beneficiaries to receive their over due pending funds in various offices here in the States and in abroad, and yours will not be exceptional. Like I stated to you in our previous email message to you, that we have taken out time in screening through this project as stipulated on our protocol of operation and have finally confirmed that your inheritance/UN Compensation payment is 100% genuine and hitch free from all facet, of which you have the lawful right to claim your fund without any further delay. Any person or individual that tells you that this PAYMENT or this message is FAKE, is the enemy of your progress, and should be ignored, if you want the best for your self and if truly you wish to receive your fund. We are aware that your (US$10.5MILLION) approved to release to you was part of the US$40MILLION EFCC recovered in that Apartment in Lagos-Nigeria. Read the below news link for more details about your EFCC recovered fund: www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/photos-money-recovered-efcc-ikoyi-lagos . Having confirm you as the original beneficiary to this fund and that EFCC & FATF Clearance is the only thing holding the release of this fund to you. esist from communicating with any other office you are dealing with now and contact CSP OLAOLU ADEGBITE, The Chief Superintendent of Police in charge of EFCC Operations and Fund Recovery Unit at this email address: { efccoperation.fundrecoveryunit@gmail.com / olaolu.adegbite@yahoo.com } or call him on his direct phone number: { +234-9074997621 } and send your details and the required EFCC & FATF CLEARANCE FEE to him, to enable him obtain your fund clearance and complete the delivery of this fund to you without any further delay, that is the ONLY FEE required from you. Do not ague with him, get him the required fee, so that he can get your job done. He is a SPECIAL CRIME FIGHTER, A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT, and the only TESTED and TRUSTED person that is approved to handle the release of your recovered fund to you, because of INCOMPETENT and FRAUDULENT activities of others. Contact him now and send him the required fee, to enable him complete the delivery of your fund to you immediately. Do keep us update, as we are closely monitoring this transaction to ensure that your interest is highly protected. Adhering to our advice will not only protect you & your fund, but safeguard you from the criminals, fraudster and cyber threat.Feel free to report any suspicious activity to us, to enable us protect your own interest. FBI is working to Safeguard our Nation. In God We Trust. Mr. Christopher Wray, New FBI Director. Dear Beneficiary. If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more.... 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. Tom Warui Wanjohi a third-year student at the University of Nairobi died today after he was beaten by riot police in the campus.He was found in class reading by the Police and received a thorough beating that left him unconscious.He succumbed to injuries that led his death.Police got to the institution punished everyone including lectures who found in the campus offices. Only one is known to have been died in the university.The majority of the students claimed that the police killed more than two students and others raped but they have kept quiet. Some of the students are reported missing after the incidence.The KUSO secretary general Fred Makajos met with former SONU leader and Embakasi Mp Babu Owino and discussed issues affecting pour education system in Kenya. The Embakasi MP said that he will be a champion in fighting student injustices and foster human rights. Banknet Conferences are the pioneers and leaders in organizing Financial services and Technology Conferences in India. For last 8 years Banknet has been providing a neutral platform for Financial services & IT industry through highly focused conferences, seminars and workshops, forums and roundtables. Banknet Conferences has brought more than 150 CEOs, CTOs and Business Heads as speakers/panelists from Ministry of Finance, RBI, IDRBT, NPCI, IIB, Nasscom, IIM Ahmedabad, WE, NMIMS, KPMG, McKinsey, Delloitte, Major PSU, private, foreign & cooperative banks and technology vendors globally. Banknet Conferences had been supported by more than 100 major IT Companies and Financial Institutions from 12 countries. More than 5,000 from 900+ Financial Institutions /Companies from 26 countries have been represented at Banknet Conferences. We also organize Film Finance Conferences & Awards. CSR SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - Banknet group with Six Sigma Films is organising series of screening of social cause short films. We invite corporates to join us in this corporate social responsbility initiative as a sponsor or partner. Please mail us at banknetgroup@gmail.com for festival details or any query. For More Click Here PARTICIPANT PROFILE.. CLICK HERE OUR PARTNERS.. CLICK HERE MEDIA COVERAGE.. CLICK HERE EVENTS ALERTS.. CLICK HERE $$$ If you are planning to organize Seminars, Briefings or Product Launch for BFSI or IT sector, we at Banknet would be pleased to associate with you.... Read more $$ Register for conference alerts to get the conference & event updates. If you are a senior BFSI industry professional, you may also get a free invite to one of our events... Register here $$ If you want to speak at the major Banknet Conferences, contact us at conference @ banknetindia.com or banknetgroup@gmail.com EARLIER CONFERENCES & EVENTS Banknet's BANKING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT (BITS) - "Leveraging the power and promise of technology" was organized on the 6th March 2013, JW Marriott, Mumbai. .. Click here We in association of Six Sigma successfully organized two editions of COFFI Film Finance Conference and Film Finance Awards at JW Marriott, Juhu, & Taj Lands End, Mumbai It was attended by senior film & finance industry professionals and senior representatives of Films Division, Film Federation of India, Western India Film Producers' Association, Indian Film Exporters Association, NFDC & more. .... Click here 8th Edition of Banknet's Annual Payments Conference on 18th Jan 2012 at Mumbai was addressed by 24 speakers. More than 100 Banks, Insurance, Finance, IT Cos participated at the conference. Conference also featured a Technology Exhibition Banknet's 7th Edition of Annual International Bank Tech Summit on 20th September 2011 at Taj Lands End, Mumbai, India focused on "Strategies & Management of Technologies for BFSI in the Next Decade" More than 20 Top level executives from Major Indian & Foreign Banks, Insurance Companies, B Schools, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Technology Vendors addressed the Summit, 7th Edition of Banknet's annual payments conference in India on 19th January 2011, Mumbai had participation from more than 100 banks & IT Cos. Dr. K. C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was the Chief Guest and made the inaugural address. Now in its 7th year, Banknet's Annual Conference on Payment Systems is the largest payments event in India and has gone from strength to strength. "BANK on IT is the annual Banking conference organized by the students of MBA Banking course at NMIMS, Mumbai. This year Banknet is supporting the conference. It is being organized at Hotel Intercontinental, the LaLiT on 23rd October 2010. Banknet's 6th International Bank Tech Summit on 24th September 2010, Mumbai focused on New Technologies like Green Technologies, Cloud Computing, Social Media Technologies in addition to Risk Management, Compliance, Business Intelligence, Data Mining, CRM, Security, Financial Frauds etc Banknet's 6th Annual CTO-CXO Summit on 22nd June 2010 brought together on one platform C-level Executives like CEO, COO, CIO, CTO etc. from 56 major banks, FIS and IT Cos to discuss top priorities for banks in India. Banknet's Insurance Technology Forum on 1st June 2010 at Mumbai brought together Insurance & Technology Professionals from more than 30 companies on one platform Nearly 300 from 125+ Banks, Insurance, Business Schools, IT Cos participate in Banknet's Sixth Annual Conference on Payment Systemson 22nd Jan'10, at Mumbai. This was the first major conference to focus on "RBIs Vision for Payments Systems in India for 2009-12".Banknet Master Class was also conducted at the conference. For Previous Conferences ... Click Here For Registration, Sponsorships & Partnerships and more Information mail us at banknetgroup@gmail.com The gunman in Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas, Stephen Paddock, has several ties to Central Florida. Stephen Paddock used to have home in Viera Paddock's brother, Eric, lives in Orlando area Neighbors say Paddock, girlfriend, gambled as profession Almost 60 dead, more than 500 hurt in Sunday night's Las Vegas shooting Almost 60 people were killed and more than 500 injured in the shooting, which happened during an outdoor country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip. Authorities said Paddock randomly gunned down concertgoers with an automatic weapon from a 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay casino, across the Strip from the concert. Paddock's brother, Eric, who lives near the Waterford Lakes community near the University of Central Florida, said he's in shock over what happened and simply can't believe his brother would do something like this. "Steve had nothing to do with any political organization, religious organization, no white supremacist (group), nothing as far as I know, and I've only known him for 57 years," Eric Paddock said. In a break from talking with federal investigators at his Orlando-area home, he said Stephen Paddock lived in Melbourne until he helped him move to Nevada, where he loved to play high-stakes video poker. He played at a lot higher level than you people do, but he had a lot more money than you people had, Eric said. He described his brother as a multi-millionaire real estate investor. There's absolutely no way I can even conceive that my brother would shoot a bunch of people he doesnt even know, Eric Paddock said. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp; "Yes, he had a couple of guns. I mean, it's legal to own a couple of guns in the United States," he said of his brother, who he said had a girlfriend and no children. Eric Paddock said he last talked to Steve when his power came back on after Hurricane Irma. When did we get power back, five days after the storm, he texted me and said, 'How is mom?' and I texted him back. Eric said their 90-year-old mother was the last one to talk to Steve just a couple of weeks ago. He said federal investigators were reaching out to her as they try to figure out what may have led to what happened in Las Vegas. "Something just incredibly wrong happened to my brother," Eric said. Shooter owned home in Viera In Viera in Brevard County, residents in one 55-and-older community said he used to live there. Records indicate Stephen Paddock lived at a home in the Heritage Isle neighborhood for two years, between 2013 and 2015. FBI agents interviewed residents in the neighborhood Monday morning. A resident in community in Viera said that he didnt have face-to-face contact with Paddock, nor talked to him on the phone. Neighbors said Paddock and his girlfriend lived in Las Vegas, and their profession was gambling. Don Judy said Paddock asked him to look after the house while he was away and didn't see anything suspicious inside. Im aghast. I just cant believe it, but obviously it happened," Judy said. "I have no idea what the cause was. He never said anything about guns or anything. He never owned guns that we know about. He never said anything about them. I mean, he did travel the world. Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock owned this home for a few years in Viera in Brevard County. (Spectrum News 13) Sharon Judy said Paddock and the woman visited his Viera home about five times in two years. "He was real friendly," Sharon Judy said. "He only came now and then on the weekends. He was a big gambler, he and Marilou both." Marilou Danley was considered a person of interest early in the investigation, but police no longer consider her one. The current owner of the house, Mick Anderson, said he had little to no interactions with Paddock. The house was pretty much empty when we looked at it," Anderson said. "I dealt with him over the phone, mainly through the Realtors, and that was it. The neighbors said Paddock purchased the home to be closer to family in Orlando. Blood donors are sought in the aftermath of Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas in which nearly 60 people were killed and more than 500 injured. RELATED stories: Officials at OneBlood said Monday they have reached out to a blood center in Nevada and offered to assist them. "We are in the process of preparing a shipment of blood and platelets to be sent to them as soon as possible and remain on standby to assist further if needed," OneBlood said in a news release. OneBlood said that, generally, healthy people age 16 or older who weigh at least 110 pounds can donate blood. To find a donor center or Big Red Bus, visit www.oneblood.org. Gov. Rick Scott recently announced new initiatives to fight the opioid epidemic in Florida, including $50 million in funding for treatment, counseling and services. Recent USF grad joining opioid fight in the Bay area Adam Abaldawi created Opioid Resesearch Network Tampa's Opioid Research Network But one group in the Bay area is already working hard to research ways to fight the epidemic and educate others about treatment and prevention. For Adam Abaldawi the opioid epidemic hits close to home. His 44-year-old uncle died from opioid related causes last year. His uncle was involved in a car accident that crushed his back and Adam says he soon began to rely on opioids to cope with the constant pain. "Had this accident in his life never happened and had he never gotten into these drugs to taper off his pain, I really think that he would probably still be here with us today," said Abaldawi, with Tampa's Opioid Resesearch Network. So when one of his friends from the University of South Florida mentioned an opportunity to research the opioid epidemic and develop initatives to combat it, Abaldawi says he was eager to get involved. "It's through him that really I'm inspired today to try to make a change in any way I can," Abaldawi said. The Opioid Research Network began its work in Hernando County. But it's an issue that affects the entire state. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control, opioid deaths in Florida increased by nearly 23% from 2014 to 2015, with about 3200 people passing away from that drug use in 2015. "If I can save a couple people - one or two people even, I'd be happy," he said. Abaldawi's team has already come up with some initiatives they think can help decrease overdose related deaths including equipping all first responders with Narcan. And educational programs about prescribing opioids for medical professionals and opioid addiction for middle and high school students. While the initiatives are still in the early stages, Abaldawi's and his team said they are dedicated to continuing to combat the epidemic and aim to change the way people see addicts. "Addiction is a disease and it should be treated the same as any other disease that we treat today in hospitals," he said. "I truly believe in my heart that if we have more empathy in society with addiction in general we can start to solve some of the issues that we face today." For Orlando-area residents who happened to be in Las Vegas when the mass shooting unfolded, it was a feeling that was terrifyingly familiar. Tabitha McCausland ONeill, a photographer from Orlando, was in Las Vegas for a wedding convention when gunshots rang out on the Strip late Sunday night. Authorities said Stephen Paddock, a Nevada resident who owned a home in Brevard County, opened fire on a concert crowd from a 32nd-floor hotel room at the Mandalay Bay casino, killing almost 60 and wounding hundreds. Since then, O'Neill has been trying to erase the horrific memories from her mind. As we got closer to the hotel, our phones started going off that there was an active shooter, she said. She was staying at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, near where the massacre happened. Upon hearing gunfire, she managed to make it safely to her room, where she watched the tragedy unfold from the 21st floor. Women (were) crying, men white-face pale, she said. People (were) screaming, yelling and running. It was just all of the sudden, instant chaos. ONeill had plans to attend the Route 91 country music festival, but she's grateful tickets were sold out when she arrived. At one point, we thought that there was a shooter at Mandalay Bay, at MGM and the country music festival, ONeill said. I know for me and my friends, the scariest part was not knowing. ONeill feels fortunate that she, her husband and her friends managed to escape the chaos but says her heart hurts for those around her. I feel honestly the feeling that I felt the day after the Pulse shooting: Its very calm here; its very surreal, she said of the two mass shootings. Until Sunday, the June 2016 Pulse shooting in Orlando was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. But I feel like theyre going to do exactly what Orlando did, which is rally together. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate After opening a nail salon in Beaumont, Thuy and Phuc Tran decided they wanted to dive into a delectable family-oriented endeavor, which inspired the creation of Pho & More in Nederland. "My aunt and uncle wanted to start a family business and work together," said manager Alanna Huynh. "My uncle loves food, and he wants to show other people how to eat Vietnamese food and enjoy Vietnamese food the way he enjoys it," she said. Pho & More, which opened July 3, stirred up enthusiastic interest in the community, Huynh said. Pho & More Where: 1027 Nederland Ave., Nederland Hours: 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 10 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday Credit cards: All major Drink situation: Vietnamese coffee, Thai tea, soda, iced tea and bottled water Info: www.facebook.com/phoandmore or (409) 237-4219 Price range: $4.50-$8 See More Collapse "A lot of the people who live around here were really excited that they have somewhere close to go and eat Vietnamese food," she said. The restaurant already has attracted a following. "We have regulars who come almost every day," Huynh said. "One customer, she has a dad that loves our spring rolls here, and he will not eat anything else but the spring rolls here. She'll have to run out here and get spring rolls every single day for him. It's so sweet." Huynh said working together, the family has the opportunity to spend more time together. "We get to talk more," she said. "We really don't see them a lot, so I get to communicate with them and socialize with them more. It really keeps us bonding. With my aunt's business and other stuff, the children, she's been busy, busy. Just because it's a family business, I wanted to help out." To start your meal, try an appetizer like the shrimp spring roll with shrimp, fresh veggies and vermicelli wrapped in rice paper. A customer favorite is the house special vermicelli with eggrolls, grilled shrimp, charbroiled pork and vermicelli noodles for $7.99. "A lot of people love our house special," Huynh said. "Vermicilli is a skinny type of noodle that has a lot of condiments on the side and then you pour fish sauce on top." Another popular dish is the combination beef noodle soup - aka pho - that consists of eye round steak, brisket, soft tendon and meatballs. All pho is topped with yellow onions, green onions and cilantro. Rice dishes also are well-liked by customers, Huynh said. "A lot of people order the Vietnamese Shaking Beef," she said. "People love that. I do, too." Picky eaters can choose from the seafood and wings menu, which includes dishes like shrimp salad, popcorn shrimp, and salt and pepper wings. A Vietnamese coffee is the perfect sugary way to top off your meal. Famous for its sweetened condensed milk, the strong, dark-roasted coffee hits the spot without being over the top. Pho & More offers takeout and will soon make an appearance on Waitr. Kara Timberlake is a freelance writer. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Students at Silsbee High School will wear purple on Tuesday to mark what would have been Tristan Dilley's 15th birthday. Dilley, a high school freshman and junior varsity cheerleader, was killed on Sunday at her mother's home on County Road 784 in Buna, according to Jasper County Sheriff Mitch Newman. Newman said the girl's body was found in a second-floor room around 7:45 p.m. Dilley had a gunshot wound to the head, which Newman said likely came from a small caliber rifle. According to a GoFundMe account set up by a woman claiming to be an extended relative, the teen's brother discovered her body. Dilley was home alone when the shooting happened, according to the fundraiser page, which had raised more than $1,300 as of Monday night. The GoFundMe account, according to its creator, is intended to be used to pay for Dilley's funeral experiences. Evidence found at the home led officials to a 19-year-old suspect believed to be romantically involved with Dilley, Newman said. Officers found the man dead near his white Toyota Corolla on a secluded stretch of FM 1135 near Vidor around noon Monday, according to Orange County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Derry Dunn. Authorities believe the man, who was not immediately identified, died from a self-inflicted gunshot. Silsbee ISD issued a statement Monday announcing grief counselors would be made available to Dilley's peers this week. The Silsbee High School Class of 2018 asked students and staff in a tweet to wear Dilley's favorite color, purple, today in honor of what would have been her birthday. Dilley's funeral arrangements are being handled by Adams EE Stringer Funeral Home in Buna. A man who identified himself as Dilley's stepfather said the family anticipated the funeral would be held on Saturday. Standing outside his Buna home, the man said Dilley's mother was distraught and asked for privacy as the family grieved. Enterprise reporter Liz Teitz and Jasper Newsboy Editor Andrea Whitney contributed to this article. MGstalter@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/morgGstalt TV chef Nadiya Hussain has reached out to dashed Strictly Come Dancing hopeful Chizzy Akudolu, inviting her over for a night of cake and dancing after she was booted off the show. The actress, and professional dance partner Pasha Kovalev, became this years first couple to be eliminated from the BBC One show this weekend. 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 Akudolu who viewers said was robbed of another round in the competition has since been showered with messages of love from her Strictly co-stars, as well as the tempting offer from Hussain. The Great British Bake Off champion tweeted Akudolu: Can you come to my house? Bring @PashaKovalev we can eat cake and dance together. Im so sad. 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 Delighted with the idea, Akudolu responded: Babe, youve mentioned my trigger word- CAKE!! Im there, with or without @PashaKovalev Hussain then replied that Strictly wont be the same. 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 Akudolu, known for her role as Mo Effanga on Holby City, tweeted following Sunday nights results show that she was gutted to be leaving the show as she had been looking forward to performing in the movie-themed round. 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 She also shared a selfie with Kovalev and wrote: Ive enjoyed every minute of my time on #Strictly Except the elimination part Massive thanks to this dude for making it exceptional !! 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 Returning the sentiment, contestant Ruth Langsford tweeted a video clip of herself describing Akudolu as the life and soul of the Strictly party. She added: We all love Chizzy so much were going to miss her loud and funny voice and her singing and dancing. 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 Professional dancer Karen Clifton Tweeted: Love ya @chizzyakudolu boy did u set that floor on fire on Saturday night.. will miss ya x @bbcstrictly. Oti Mabuse shared a cartoon picture of the pair behind the scenes and wrote: Genuinely emotional to see my twin sister @chizzyakudolu leave us you have blessed us with your Queen personality and will be missed. 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 Janette Manrara added: Going to miss @chizzyakudolu & @PashaKovalev so much! They always lit up the room when they danced! Love to you both!!!! 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 Akudolu and Kovalev were given their marching orders after they failed to win over the judges in their dance-off against comedian Brian Conley and Amy Dowden. BBC One Songs of Praise presenter Claire McCollum with the young cross border crew on the Brian Boru A cross-border youth voyage is set to feature on the BBC's popular Songs of Praise religious programme. The young Atlantic Youth Trust crew from Northern Ireland and the Republic sailed from Drogheda to Carlingford Lough on board the 'Brian Boru', where they were met by the Songs of Praise film crew on Saturday morning. Over the course of the afternoon they sailed up the lough with the film crew on board, discussing their experiences on the ship and what faith means to them. The programme, which is expected to be viewed by more than a million regular viewers of the long-running religious show, will be presented by Co Antrim broadcaster Claire McCollum. The Atlantic Youth Trust is a maritime charity which aims to bring young people from Northern Ireland and the Republic together for youth development voyages on a purpose-built tall ship. It plays a significant role in furthering peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland. The Brian Boru is a magnificently-restored gaff-rigged wooden sailing ketch, which has been specifically adapted for carrying passengers on voyages of discovery of heritage and wildlife. The ship is normally based in Waterford. Speaking about the Songs of Praise voyage, Atlantic Youth Trust Executive Director Neil O'Hagan said: "We spent the day on Saturday sailing around the breathtaking Carlingford Lough on Brian Boru. The idyllic setting, that is literally on the border, provided the perfect backdrop to explain what the Atlantic Youth Trust does - and to give the producers the chance to hear first hand from the young crew on board. "Given the joint government support for the project this will only strengthen the overall case for developing and integrating young people on tall ships." The Songs of Praise programme will be transmitted on Sunday, October 22, on BBC One. The Addams Family runs at the Grand Opera House from Tuesday, October 3 Everyone's favourite spooky household will be showcased at the Grand Opera House this week when The Addams Family come to Belfast. The live stage show is currently touring the UK and will be performing at the city centre venue from Tuesday, October 3 - Saturday, October 7. This musical comedy has been winning rave reviews and boasts a stellar cast of TV and theatre stars. So who will be appearing on stage in Belfast next week? Samantha Womack Playing: Morticia Addams Best known for playing Ronnie Mitchell in BBC soap EastEnders, Samantha has also played Tanya Dawson for three series of the hit comedy Mount Pleasant and starred in 90s sitcom Game On. She can also be seen reprising her role as Michelle Unwin alongside Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, and Halle Berry in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Les Dennis Playing: Uncle Fester Les Denniss career has spanned over 45 years, and he has most recently been on screen as Michael Rodwell in Coronation Street. His TV career includes Russ Abbots Madhouse and The Laughter Show, and he famously hosted primetime Saturday night game show Family Fortunes for 15 years. As an actor on stage Les has starred in musicals such as Me & My Girl, Chicago, Monty Pythons Spamalot and Hairspray. Carrie Hope Fletcher Playing: Wednesday Addams On stage Carrie has performed in Les Miserables, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Mary Poppins and she has also established a huge online presence with over 398,000 followers on Twitter, 422,000 on Instagram and over 631,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel ItsWayPastMyBedTime. In 2015, Carrie released her first book All I Know Now: Wonderings and Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully and her second book, On the Other Side, was released in July 2016. Cameron Blakely Playing: Gomez Addams Cameron is no stranger to the stage having appeared in productions of Into The Woods, Oliver!, Fiddler On The Roof, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, and Les Miserables to name a few. His film and television credits include Splitting Heirs, Julie and the Cadillacs, and Galavant. Valda Aviks Playing: Grandma Addams Valda has appeared in Doctor Who, as well as Little Britain and her extensive theatre credits include Funny Girl, Sweeney Todd, The Full Monty, Mary Poppins, Sweeney Todd, and The Witches of Eastwick. Grant McIntyre Playing: Pugsley Addams Having trained at the Arts Educational Schools in London, Grant has appeared in We Are Here at The National Theatre, as well as productions of Bugsy Malone, Screwface, and The Famished Land. Northern Ireland restaurants Ox and Deane's Eipic have retained their Michelin stars in the 2018 guide. The new guide was launched at the a gala event in London on Monday. It is considered the foremost authority on the world's greatest dining establishments. The awards, the judges said, recognised the very best dining experiences in Britain and Ireland. Read More This years Michelin Guide lists a total of 74 establishments in Northern Ireland and 350 in the Republic of Ireland, including many that offer overnight accommodation. Both Ox, on Oxford Street and Deanes Eipic on Howard street retained their single star each. They first made the coveted list for the 2016 edition. Deanes at Queen's also retained its Bib Gourmand award. Michael Deane has won 17 stars over the past 21 years. He said: We are absolutely delighted to hold the star for the third consecutive year and retain our Bib Gourmand. Its a true reflection of the dedication to high standards and the dogged hard work of the team at Deanes. Mr Deane thanked chef Danni Barry "for her sterling contribution to Deanes EIPIC over the last four years and for the seamless handover to our recently appointed new head chef at Eipic, Alex Greene". "Im confident that Deanes EIPIC with the existing kitchen brigade will continue to deliver the quality experience our customers appreciate. Alex is an exceptionally accomplished chef with an impressive track record. Michael Deane also paid tribute to Deanes Executive Chef Chris Fearon for the teams repeated success at Deanes At Queen's with the award of the Michelin Bib Gourmand signifying what Michelin describe as "exceptionally good food at moderate prices". New to receiving a star was Wild Honey Inn in Lisdoonvarna in Co Clare. It is the first pub in Ireland to receive a star. Expand Expand Previous Next Close OX restaurant has gained a reputation for adventurous, fine dining Ox Restaurant / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp OX restaurant has gained a reputation for adventurous, fine dining Meanwhile, Holywood's Noble was awarded a Bib Gourmand in this year's edition. It indicates the inspectors favourite establishments which "offer high-quality products and services and good value for the money". In all seven eateries hold the accolade in Northern Ireland. Speaking at its launch, Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland editor, Rebecca Burr, said: Northern Ireland produces some world-class ingredients, such as its lamb, beef, fish and shellfish, and its good to see so many of the entries in the guide using those with skill. Were very proud of our Bib Gourmands, so its great to welcome Noble to the fold. A nursing home where residents once shared underwear has come under fire again for staffing levels and care practices. Northern Ireland's health watchdog carried out an unannounced inspection of Kingsway Private Nursing Home in Dunmurry in July after it received a number of anonymous complaints. The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) received a letter and telephone call in which concerns were raised about staffing and management arrangements and care practices. During a subsequent inspection on July 4 staff, residents and relatives of people living in the home - which provides care for elderly and terminally ill people - expressed concerns about delays in answering call bells and high staff sickness levels. An RQIA report following on from the inspection noted: "Two staff consulted with were of the opinion that an additional care assistant in the nursing unit during the morning shift would allow for additional time to be spent with individual patients. "The staff provided examples where they were of the opinion that patients' needs were not being met in a timely manner. "Three patients consulted and one respondent within a relative questionnaire also expressed concerns in relation to staffing levels. Two patients, one from each unit, described waiting for prolonged periods of time for care needs to be attended to." It continued: "The majority of staff consulted spoke of good teamwork within the home. "However, two staff commented that there was a high staff sickness rate in the home, which affected the teamwork. "An additional two staff commented that more organisation and direction from senior staff could be provided to direct teamwork." According to the inspection report, comments from staff about working in the home included: "It's all right. Morale can be low." "Low staff morale can be overwhelming for new staff." "Work can be stressful at weekends." One patient commented that "there is a big issue with staff at weekends", while another complained: "I have to wait a long time to get hoisted into chair after mealtimes." Another said they "sometimes have to wait long time before the call buzzer is answered". However, the RQIA inspector said patients' needs were met in a timely manner during his visit. He did raise concerns about the records relating to the use of a catheter on a resident, while shortfalls were also identified about records of the condition of residents' skin. The inspector also discovered that residents were able to access three rooms where there were harmful chemicals, and expressed concerns about a failure to comply with best practice in infection prevention and control in some parts of the home. Despite this, the RQIA report said: "The concerns raised in the letter and by the anonymous caller were not substantiated during the inspection and it was evident that patients' needs were being met in a safe, compassionate and effective manner." Kingsway Private Nursing Home hit the headlines in December 2015 when the RQIA revealed a series of startling failures in care at the facility. These included residents left to sit in soiled underwear after waiting to be taken to the toilet, residents sitting for eight hours without being moved, communal use of underwear and tights, and a patient being injured by a badly fitted piece of equipment. Aidan Hanna, chief executive of Northern Ireland Patient Voice, said he was disappointed about the comments made by staff during the latest inspection. "The RQIA has been raising concerns at this nursing home for many years and it is completely unacceptable that concerns are still being raised," he said. "It is also confusing that the RQIA have stated that the whistleblowers' concerns were not substantiated but the report clearly details other staff and patients raising the same concerns raised by the whistleblowers." A RQIA spokesman said the organisation's inspector was unable to substantiate the anonymous allegations. He added: "Following the inspection, RQIA identified a number of areas for improvement, which will be followed up through RQIA's ongoing unannounced inspection programme. "The safety and wellbeing of every patient at Kingsway Nursing Home is of paramount importance to RQIA, and we continue to monitor this home through our regulatory activities." Northern Ireland Secretary of State James Brokenshire has said the fight to keep thousands of jobs in Belfast safe with the ongoing dispute between Bombardier and Boeing could be helped with the return of the Executive and Stormont institutions. Mr Brokenshire held meetings with the Bombardier's chief executive in Northern Ireland Michael Ryan and trade union Unite. He said: "Bombardier jobs are absolutely vital to the Northern Ireland economy. Todays visit to meet Bombardier NI CEO Michael Ryan provides assurance on the UK Governments continuing commitment and efforts, to protect jobs and the livelihoods of so many people across Northern Ireland and discuss how we can continue to work together to resolve this very serious issue. "There is a compelling requirement for all in politics, in business and across the community to stand as one on this issue. "The UK Governments commitment has been clear from the outset, with the Prime Minister, Business Secretary and other Cabinet colleagues working tirelessly to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion. "I want to echo comments by Defence Secretary Rt Hon Sir Michael Fallon MP that this is an unjustified action by Boeing and whatever course of action they take could have an impact on any future dealings they may have with the UK Government." He continued: "The Government is committed to building a stronger economy across the UK, including Northern Ireland. But it is clear economic success, securing existing jobs and creating new ones, attracting local and foreign direct investment is largely dependent on sustainable and stable Government. "We will continue to work with the senior management at Bombardier, the trade unions and the workforce as well as with the Canadian and US Governments to find a resolution. I hope this fight can be boosted by getting Stormont back up and running. I remain hopeful a political deal can be done and I again call on the parties to resolve differences and work together for everyone in Northern Ireland." Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney has claimed that the Bombardier dispute will put the Northern Ireland peace process at risk. The Republic's minister raised concerns with the US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross over possible consequences of an interim US ruling that the Canadian aerospace company was receiving unfair state aid from the Quebec regional government. A complaint from US rival Boeing against Bombardier resulted in a massive 220% tariff on its Belfast-made C Series planes being sold to the US. This will more than triple the cost of C Series aircraft sold in the US and has put the jobs of thousands of staff at the east Belfast plant at risk. Up to 1,000 Bombardier staff in Northern Ireland work on the wings and fuselage of the C Series passenger planes. The Sunday Times reported that Mr Coveney said the Irish government was "very concerned" by the findings. "However, it remains a preliminary finding, a step in a process which will continue for at least a number of months," he said. He also told the US minister that any threat to jobs in Belfast could affect the peace process. "The government is engaging as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, given the risks that the investigation presents for the economy in Northern Ireland, which is a fundamental support to the peace process," he said. Prime Minister Theresa May said the UK government will continue to work to protect the 4,000 employees here who face an uncertain future as a result of the trade dispute. A British soldier has been arrested under suspicion of child grooming. Police in Northern Ireland have confirmed that a British soldier was arrested earlier this year on suspicion of child grooming. The 28-year-old was arrested after he had been identified by a high-profile sexual predator hunter in Aldergrove, Co Antrim. Police confirmed that a man was arrested on Sunday night. Police stated: "Following information received and enquiries made by police a 28-year-old man was arrested in the Killead Rad area of Aldergrove on July 6, 2017 on suspicion of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming." "He was later released on police bail, pending further enquiries." It has been reported the soldier had been based at a facility formerly known as RAF Aldergrove close to Belfast International Airport. According to the Irish News, the soldier used the internet to arrange a meeting with a person he believed was a 14-year old girl. A spokesman for the MoD said: "I can confirm that a member of the HM Armed Forces based in NI is assisting police with their inquiries. "Due to on-going legal proceedings it would be inappropriate to comment further." An impasse over the Irish language is preventing the restoration of powersharing at Stormont Negotiations that paved the way for the first Sinn Fein/Democratic Unionist-led devolved government at Stormont produced a very clear agreement to protect Irish language speakers, Jonathan Powell has said. Tony Blair's former chief of staff said his memory of the talks leading up to the 2006 St Andrews Agreement was that, from the Government's perspective, consensus had been reached on the language issue. An impasse over the Irish language is preventing the restoration of powersharing at Stormont. Sinn Fein will not go back into a coalition executive with the Democratic Unionists without an Irish language act. The DUP, for its part, will countenance a broader culture act, that incorporates the Ulster Scots culture, but will not agree to a piece of legislation that offers protections only to the Irish language-speaking community. Sinn Fein claims a commitment was made in the St Andrews Agreement but the DUP insists the annex that refers to an Irish language act represents a side-deal between the Government and republicans. Mr Powell, who was on a visit to Belfast on Monday, told the Press Association that, from the Blair government's point of view, the negotiations produced an agreement on the language issue. "I know how vexed a political point that is here now, but I'd have to say that my memory of the negotiations is very clear that we, the Government had agreed to the Irish language issue. "Now the DUP will have to interpret what happened in the negotiations in their way, but it was very clear that was agreed there as far as we were concerned." Mr Powell said any resolution to the current wrangle on the language issue would have to factor in the views of both unionists and republicans. "I think if you are going to get to a successful agreement on this you are going to have to take into account what both sides want," he said. "It seems to me that on the republican side, the nationalist side, they are very dug in on this issue, so something will have to be done about this if they are going to find a solution." The diplomat, who now works in conflict resolution in war zones across the world, expressed hope that powersharing could be restored. He welcomed the fact that talks between Sinn Fein and the DUP were ongoing away from public glare. "It has been a very painful process trying to get the institutions up and running, they haven't got there," he said. "But now the pressure is a little bit off, a little less public, maybe they can come to some sort of compromise because I think the people in Northern Ireland are certainly crying out for the institutions to come back into effect." People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was hear on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marilou Danley has been held for questioning in connection with the gun attack in Las Vegas People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01: (EDITORS NOTE: Image contains graphic content.) People carry a peson at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01: People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after an apparent shooting on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) A crowd of people at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) A Northern Ireland woman has described the shooting massacre in Las Vegas as "terrifying". More than 50 people have been killed and hundreds injured after a gunman opened fire on a mass shooting at an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Read More Las Vegas police have said they killed a suspect, named 64-year-old Stephen Paddock on 32nd floor of a hotel across from the concert, and said they did not believe there were any other attackers. It is believed his girlfriend Marilou Danley was held for questioning after a city-wide search was launched to find her. 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 Are you in Vegas and been caught up in this incident? Contact digital.editorial@belfasttelegraph.co.uk. Omagh woman Kathy Ewing said she was at the concert when the gun fire broke out. She said she and her three friends were able to escape unharmed. "Terrifying," she said in a tweet. Belfast woman Frances McCullough, has been in the city since last Monday. She described the shooting as "absolute chaos". She was close to the concert when the shooting began: "At first I thought it was fireworks.... then we heard screaming and shouting and the police were running toward us telling us to run for cover. "I haven't experienced fear like it. I was all excited and buzzing to get here and now I can honestly say I can't wait to get home," she told the BBC. 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 political leaders said there is an onus on the PSNI and statutory agencies for immediate support to the families affected Six Northern Ireland party leaders have called for the lifting of threats against Catholic families in Belfast. Loyalist paramilitaries have been blamed for intimidation at a mixed housing development. The DUP, Sinn Fein, the SDLP, the UUP, the Alliance Party and the Green Party united in condemnation of sectarian, intolerance and threatened violence. A statement from the political leaders said: "Four families have been forced to leave their homes in South Belfast. This is wrong. Any threat to these families should be lifted immediately. "There is also an onus on the PSNI and the statutory agencies to provide immediate and appropriate support to the affected families, including re-housing those affected if they feel unable to remain in their homes." Cantrell Close, off the Ravenhill Road in the south of the city, was supposed to be a flagship cross-community development as part of the Stormont Executive's Together Building United Communities programme. The political statement added: "This situation runs absolutely contrary to the ethos under which the Cantrell Close development was created. "Everyone has the right to live in a society without fear of intimidation and free from sectarianism. "Those behind this threat offer nothing but hatred and division and should be condemned by all political, community and statutory leaders." Assembly members have blamed the UVF. The development was hit with another controversy in the summer when loyalist paramilitary flags were erected on lamp-posts. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Police are investigating after a man was shot in both legs in a paramilitary style shooting in north Belfast. The 30-year-old man was shot in both legs in the Velsheda Court area on Monday night. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. SDLP North Belfast MLA Nichola Mallon called on anyone with information on the incident to come forward to the police. She said: This attack in Ardoyne last night is a throwback to a time that people here want to leave in the past. There is no place for guns on our streets and there is no place for those who see fit to issue rough justice in this society. I would appeal to anyone with information to come forward to police as soon as possible. Sinn Fein councillor Gerry McCabe has condemned the incident. He said: "There can be no place for these type of actions in our society. The people responsible need to end their campaign against the community. I would encourage anyone with information to bring it forward to the police." Former Irish President Mary McAleese has described her appointment as an honorary lay canon at Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral as an "enormous act of generosity". Dr McAleese, who is from north Belfast, and three others were installed by the dean of the cathedral, the Very Rev Dermot Dunne, yesterday. Professor Jim Lucey, who is medical director of St Patrick's Mental Health Services, Jesuit priest Fr David Tuohy and Rev Lorraine Kennedy-Ritchie were also bestowed with the honour. The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Dr Michael Jackson said the opening up of these roles to two lay people and two ministers of other churches was "an expression of reconciliation". Dr McAleese said: "At a time when we are reflecting back on the Reformation in a hugely significant anniversary year, isn't this just the most perfectly beautiful bridge acknowledging our oneness. By taking a risk on one another we are sending a message of great hope for the future." TUV leader Jim Allister has hit out at Sinn Fein for involving pupils in its demonstration at Stormont in support of an Irish Language Act Sinn Fein has been accused of "exploiting schoolchildren for political purposes" after around 100 youngsters in school uniforms appeared at an Irish language protest outside Stormont. The event saw Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill, former Culture Minister Caral Ni Chuilin, campaigners and some pupils from Irish-medium schools put red tape across their mouths in protest at the ongoing deadlock over an Irish Language Act. In a recent interview, DUP leader Arlene Foster claimed the issue was being used by Sinn Fein "as a way to humiliate unionists". At the rally on Thursday, Mrs O'Neill said the young people had "come here to say that their language rights humiliate no-one". The primary and secondary school pupils also held posters featuring the slogans 'Sinn Fein Gaeilge' and 'Acht Anois'. TUV leader Jim Allister told the Belfast Telegraph the children were being "used to promote a Sinn Fein agenda". "Probably those schools involved don't object, but I would have thought they should have been more circumspect about letting them be used in that fashion," he said. "Sinn Fein has done damage to the Irish language by politicising it, and, by continuing to do so, any meritorious points regarding cultural significance have been overshadowed. They are using them as a promotional shield for their political cause. Calling on schools and their boards of governors to "consider their PR", Mr Allister said they were "supplying the fodder of a highly politicised campaign". "I thought it was just a stunt," he added. "I thought it was ironic that the publicly-funded manifestation of the Irish language sector was demanding more. "The Irish language has been highly feted in Northern Ireland, it has its own Irish-medium education sector. "A controlled high school in Lisnaskea had to close as it only had 140 pupils, and an Irish-medium school opened on the same site with 40 pupils. "It has its own North-South body Foras na Gaeilge, which is funded by Stormont and Dublin, and in 10 years the Irish language has had 177 million spent on it - they are the last people who should be complaining." Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People Koulla Yiasouma welcomed the children's involvement in the Stormont protest. She told the Belfast Telegraph: "Article 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that children have a right to enjoy their own culture and use their own language. "Assuming the correct parental permissions were sought, I welcome children being involved in public debates about their rights. "I also welcome any legislation which protects children and young people's rights under the UNCRC, whether that be for children who speak Irish, Ulster-Scots or other languages." The current stand-off over Irish is one of the key issues preventing the restoration of power-sharing at Stormont. Sinn Fein has said it won't return to government with the DUP unless it agrees to a standalone Irish Language Act. Stephen Wilkinson, who was knocked down and killed in Cookstown Neil Stewart died in a crash on Tandragee Road in Newry Neil Stewart died in a crash on Tandragee Road in Newry A Co Armagh family has been plunged into mourning again after a second brother died in a road crash. Motorcyclist Neil Stewart, a father-of-six, was killed in a collision near Newry that left his wife Sandra with serious injuries. It is the second tragedy to hit the family after his brother Howard died in a crash in the same area a number of years ago. Mr Stewart (49), a former Territorial Army soldier who served in Afghanistan, died on Saturday evening. Less than 12 hours later Co Tyrone man Stephen Wilkinson was knocked down and killed in Cookstown. And east Belfast teenager Steven Sunstrum succumbed to his injuries in hospital on Saturday following a road accident on Wednesday. It brings the number of people to die on our roads this year to 47. Mr Stewart's death prompted a number of online tributes as his family struggled to come to terms with the loss of another brother. The father to two daughters and four sons was travelling on Tandragee Road with his wife when they were involved in a crash at around 7pm on Saturday. Mrs Stewart is recovering in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Ulster Unionist councillor Jim Speers, who knows the family, described Mr Stewart's death as a "devastating blow". "It's a terrible tragedy and a blow to anyone who loses a family member through a road accident," he said. "This is the second one to hit the family, it's a double tragedy. "It's incredible, and one can't even think how a family could attempt to deal with such a devastating blow. "The prayers and thoughts of the community are with the family at such a time like this." Mr Stewart was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church near his home in Markethill. His minister Rev Philip Murphy said: "It has been a devastating blow, not only for his own congregation but other congregations within the denomination. "He spent two weeks of the summer on a relief team that went to Romania to do work for a women's refugee centre along with 40 other people. "Everyone is devastated, they can't take it in." Meanwhile, tributes have been paid to 26-year-old Mr Wilkinson, a pedestrian who died after he was hit by a Ford Focus in Cookstown shortly before 3.30am yesterday. The 26-year-old male driver of the car was arrested by police. A local Sinn Fein councillor said Mr Wilkinson, a mechanic from nearby Ardboe, would be "sorely missed". Ronan McGinley said: "These are tragic circumstances which are hard to believe. My thoughts are with his family and wide circle of friends. "I knew him personally so I know he will be sorely missed by the entire community." Ulster Unionist councillor Trevor Wilson also expressed his condolences. "Like the rest of the Cookstown community, I was shocked to wake up to the news that another young life had been lost on our roads," he said. "My thoughts and prayers are with the Wilkinson family at this desperately sad time and my deepest sympathies are with the family and his friends." One online tribute said: "We are so sorry to wake up to such terrible news of the death of Stephen, our thoughts are with his family and (girlfriend) Bronagh. Thinking of you all at such a sad time." A friend also wrote on social media: "Can't believe the news, rest in peace Stephen. Gone far too soon. One of the most nicest people I have ever known." Mr Wilkinson is survived by his parents Sharon and Christopher and brother Ryan. Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the collision to contact the PSNI in Cookstown. Catalan national Eileen Perez showing her support for the vote at a rally at Belfast City Hall The DUP has hit out at young republicans who lit up Londonderrys historic walls in a show of support for the people of Catalonia. On Saturday night Derry Republican Youth lit up a section of the walls facing the Bogside in red and yellow, the colours of the Catalan flag. DUP councillor David Ramsey branded their action a disgrace and demanded an apology be sent to the Spanish government. The citys walls are probably our biggest tourist asset, he said. And we are involving our tourism assets in something of another country that we probably dont know enough about. We are seen to be supporting something that goes against what a lot of people think in Spain. We are embroiling ourselves in something that is being deemed illegal, which is a major issue for us. We have a lot of Spanish visitors who Im sure will not be pleased. Because, although its a small number of people who were involved in the protest, it is still seen worldwide with the lighting up of this worldwide tourist attraction that we are supporting something that is illegal and undemocratic. Its a very dangerous thing to be doing because it doesnt represent this city. It is a disgrace. I would, however, like to say that there is no way that I support the actions of the Spanish police. It is totally wrong. It has proven not to have worked in the past. We all thought that governments had learned from the past. Sinn Fein held demonstrations in solidarity with Catalonia last night at Belfast City Hall and Free Derry Corner. Party leader Gerry Adams praised the efforts of the Catalan government and citizens to hold a referendum. He also condemned as undemocratic and counter-productive the violence being used by the Spanish authorities against peaceful citizens. The widespread scenes of violence being used by Spanish authorities today, including the use of plastic bullets, must be condemned, he said. The European Union cannot stand aside and allow EU citizens to be denied their right to vote. SDLP leader Colum Eastwood also condemned the violence. He said: I am completely horrified at the disgraceful scenes of violence and oppression we are seeing on the streets of Catalonia against civilians. No matter what position anyone has on whether the vote in Catalonia is legal or not, violence from the Spanish police cannot be condoned. However, TUV leader Jim Allister said there could be no selectivity on the issue of crushing democratic expression. What is happening in Catalonia is unseemly and disturbing, but some of those crying the loudest should examine their own attitude to the democratic Brexit vote here in the UK. Others, like Sinn Fein, who used to justify their IRA attacking polling stations are just hypocrites, he claimed. In Spain, a vote is rejected before it is even cast, but in the UK Remoaners have devoted themselves to crushing the already expressed vote of Brexit. The Spanish version may be more brutal, but disrespecting the Brexit vote is also an undemocratic travesty. Green Party leader Steven Agnew says that while he backs an Irish Language Act, he doesn't "support Sinn Fein bringing this country to its knees". Addressing his party's conference in Belfast at the weekend, Mr Agnew said Sinn Fein in particular was responsible for the chaos in health and education due to the lack of a budget. "It was historic when Sinn Fein took the reins of finance for the first time in 2016. It was a disgrace when for the first time ever Northern Ireland was left without a budget," he said. "Yes, I support an Irish Language Act. Greens have supported indigenous languages across Europe. But let me very clear. I do not support Sinn Fein bringing this country to its knees. "It is rare that you'll hear me agree with Arlene Foster but, as with RHI, for Sinn Fein the Irish Language Act has become the excuse not to go into government, but not the reason." Around 100 delegates attended the conference including new member Sophie Long, who resigned from the PUP in March after her comment on social media about Martin McGuinness's death sparked outrage among loyalists. Mr Agnew said a majority of MLAs supported an Irish Language Act, equal marriage, and a Bill of Rights. He added: "If Sinn Fein were serious about these issues, the solution would be to get agreement on reform of the petition of concern. However, this has been little more than a side issue of the discussions." He said the petition of concern hadn't been made an issue because it wouldn't bring people onto the streets. "It does not tap into the historical division of Northern Irish society ... it does not fit the Sinn Fein divide and conquer strategy," he continued. Mr Agnew expressed fears that Northern Ireland could be facing a lengthy period of direct rule and admitted that, with Stormont not functioning, he was embarrassed to be an MLA. The Green leader said it was "galling to see Sinn Fein's crocodile tears over Brexit" as it had failed "to mount any campaign for Remain" and chose to stay "out of power while key decisions are being made about the future of this island". Turning to the DUP, Mr Agnew said Arlene Foster had accused those who raised the border issue during the EU referendum of scaremongering. "It is unionists who now fear a coalescing of opinion around the idea of shifting the border to the Irish Sea," he commented. He said either the UK should "ditch Brexit altogether" or remain in the Customs Union and "secure a deal that looks so much like Remain". There must be a second referendum on any deal reached with the EU, he added. Meanwhile, Fermanagh and South Tyrone representative Tanya Jones was elected as the Greens' new deputy leader to replace Clare Bailey. "Here in Northern Ireland, the Green Party has led the way on many, initially unpopular campaigns," she said. "We were the first to call for marriage equality, a ban on dangerous fracking, the decriminalisation of abortion, a referendum on the final Brexit deal and a new civic conversation to renew and revitalise the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement." Sir Kenneth Branagh has called it an "incredible honour" as he is to become the 82nd recipient of the freedom of Belfast. The request was put forward in April 2017 by the then Lord Mayor of Belfast, Brian Kingston, who asked that Sir Kenneth be recognised for his outstanding achievements and international status in drama and cinema, as an actor, director, producer and screenwriter. A special meeting was held at City Hall on Monday night ahead of the council's monthly meeting where members unanimously agreed to bestow the honour upon the north Belfast native. Reacting to the news Sir Kenneth said it was an "incredible honour from his home town". In a statement he said: Belfast has always given me more than I could ever repay. It took great care of me til the age of 9. It gave me a profound sense of family, a magnificent landscape to play in, and a Belfast sense of humour that is a constant boisterous reminder to never take yourself too seriously. It gave me my first professional job, in Graham Reid's Billy Plays. It gave me the sharpest and most generous of audiences at the Opera House and at the Lyric theatre, and at cinemas across the years, who welcomed and supported my films. Im proud to say that you can take the boy out of Belfast, but you can't take Belfast out of the boy. He added: This is an incredible honour from my home town and I am humbled to be included in a roll call that includes artists like Van Morrison and Michael Longley and the nurses of the city who were recognised last year. I used to run home for my lunch when I was at the Grove Primary School in North Belfast. My granny looked after me while my folks were at work. My father a joiner, my mum working in the local chippy. Granny lived in a very small but spotlessly clean house which I particularly remember for the eccentric and temperamental outside loo. If she and my parents from those humble beginnings had been told that the Freedom of the City could ever come my way, they would have expired with pride. They loved this place and these people, as do I. I thank Belfast City Council for their generosity, and please know that I will continue to shout aloud to the world at large about the many amazing developments happening in the place I am proud to call home. Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Nuala McAllister, said: Hailing from north Belfast myself, I am especially delighted to see a fellow north Belfast native receive this very special honour. The granting of the Freedom of the City is the greatest honour which Belfast City Council can bestow on any person, and Sir Kenneth Branagh is a most worthy recipient. As someone who has reached the very pinnacle of his career in acting and film, he has never forgotten his Belfast roots and is a fantastic ambassador for the city. Other recent recipients include Michael Longley, Van Morrision, and Dame Mary Peters. Details of the official Freedom of the City ceremony for Sir Kenneth will be announced at a later date. A trainee accountant in Northern Ireland died from head injuries sustained while she was being removed from a house by her partner, a coroner said. Mairead McCallion, 36, was found by police hurt outside a flat in Omagh, Co Tyrone, and died the following day in February 2014. Some of her hair had been pulled out by the roots, an inquest found. Opportunities were missed to seek medical attention while in the care of police, but even if she had been immediately taken to hospital she would not have survived the traumatic injury, coroner Paddy McGurgan said. A criminal case against a suspect was dropped by prosecutors. Her sister Patricia O'Brien declared: "We believe we owe it to Mairead to make sure that we do everything that we can to make sure that she gets the justice that she deserves." Ms McCallion claimed she was grabbed by the hair and had her head struck against a wall during an assault. The coroner found that the fatal trauma sustained involved an impact with Ms McCallion's head. He added: "It occurred on the morning of Sunday 23 February whilst the deceased was being removed from 6 Castleview Court by her then partner." She was discovered by police locked outside the house without a coat or shoes and died from bleeding on the brain a day later at the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen. Her partner, Noel Knox, was initially charged with murder but the case was dropped after prosecutors raised concerns about inconclusive medical evidence. He denied wrongdoing. The coroner said her alleged head injury was not reported by police to a forensic medical officer when she was seen at a police station. He added: "The lack of details to the forensic medical officer represented a loss of opportunity in respect of the care and treatment of the deceased." PSNI procedures have since been changed to ensure that injured people are referred to doctors or hospital, a senior officer told the inquest. Ms O'Brien said: "We have always known that there were missed opportunities and it is some comfort that the coroner has now alluded to that and we believe that lessons have to be learned from this incident." She said her sister was a lovely, gentle, intelligent, articulate, kind person. "Mairead can never be replaced." During Ms McCallion's time with police she became progressively more unsteady but blamed her high-heel shoes, and officers at the station did not raise the alarm with paramedics. But she deteriorated on the way to a friend's house, an ambulance was called and she died in hospital. Pathologist Dr Peter Ingram told the inquest there could be a period of lucidity in people suffering such injuries before rapid decline. He said even if Ms McCallion had been taken to hospital initially, the outcome would have been no different. The findings of the inquest were delivered in Belfast. The revival of the Scottish Tories under Ms Davidson's leadership has made her a popular figure (Lesley Martin/PA) Gay Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has said it is "pretty awful" same-sex marriage is banned in Northern Ireland. Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative party conference, she was asked how she felt about her party "getting into bed" with the DUP in order to run a minority government. "I'm not sure Arlene Foster would be comfortable with the idea of getting into bed with me," she said. Read More The MSP also said she sought assurances from Theresa May that progress on gay rights would not be diverted by her party's 1bn deal with the Northern Ireland party. Read More At the event Ms Davidson told the Tory party it needed to "man up" and get over its "nervous breakdown" following Theresa May's general election humiliation. A popular figure within the party, she played down the prospect of succeeding Mrs May at Number 10 saying instead she was focused on overthrowing Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland's first minister as being prime minister appeared to be the "loneliest job in the world". The Tories have 13 seats in Scotland, having gone into the election with just one, and Ms Davidson said while the issue of protecting the union was an important factor in that success, she also avoided the mistakes made by Mrs May's campaign south of the border. "I was able to write my own manifesto that didn't involve things like taking winter fuel allowance off old people or asking to reform social care without being able to explain to people why it is," she said. "You can't pitch roll a major policy shift three weeks into an election campaign, it doesn't work." Read More Scottish Tory MPs are learning to operate as a bloc at Westminster and because Mrs May does not have a majority, they can wield influence over the Prime Minister, something Ms Davidson suggested would result in extra funding for Scotland. Chancellor Philip Hammond had acknowledged they were "assertive" and Ms Davidson said she was "looking forward to hearing the Budget". An Irish bishop has been urged to withdraw comments over the safety of a vaccine that protects women from cervical cancer An Irish bishop has been urged to withdraw comments over the safety of a vaccine that protects women from cervical cancer. Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Phonsie Cullinan said recently that giving the injection to 12-year-old girls to guard against the human papillomavirus (HPV) could cause promiscuity. Yesterday, the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) said that while his comments could be considered idiosyncratic, "they were ill-informed and dangerous". "Parents who may be convinced that he enjoys some competence in this area could follow his advice and unwittingly put their children at risk," the ACP said. "Sadly, his comments also bring the Irish Catholic Church into further disrepute, suggesting a nonchalance about women's health and an obsession with sexuality. "The ACP further asks the Irish bishops to disassociate themselves from Bishop Cullinan's comments and to support the medical and scientific evidence that makes the vaccine a vital protection against cervical cancer." The comments were also criticised by controversial Enniskillen cleric Fr Brian D'Arcy. "Obviously as a pastor I want to see people, especially young women, not having to go through the danger of cancer because I have buried far too many young women to cancer," he told the Mail on Sunday. The bishop said last week that he believed the HPV vaccine "could certainly lead to a false sense of security" and "gets people to think they are fully protected". He added: "Prevention, the number one and most effective protection is abstinence. A good old traditional value." The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore was criticised by the Health Minister and medical chiefs after he attacked efforts to prevent the human papilloma virus among women A Catholic bishop in Ireland has apologised after warning that a cervical cancer vaccine could lead to promiscuity. Bishop of Waterford and Lismore Phonsie Cullinan last week hit out at efforts to prevent the human papilloma virus (HPV) among women by saying "we have to do better than to give our boys condoms and our girls injections at the age of 12". After being roundly criticised by the country's Health Minister and medical chiefs, the senior cleric issued a statement accepting that he had not been fully informed. "I wish to apologise for contributing to any misinformation, or indeed for causing upset to anyone, concerning use of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines," he said. Bishop Cullinan said he initially spoke out after parents had raised concerns with him about the HPV vaccine. "My intention was solely motivated to protect people from the HPV," he said. "I was not fully informed about the vaccination programme and I can see now how HPV vaccines can contribute greatly to lowering the rate of cervical cancer. "As I have learnt, possession of full information is paramount on this vital health issue." Health Minister Simon Harris had described the bishop's initial remarks as "ignorant". The country's Health Service Executive, which has previously warned parents about conflicting and misleading information, said his criticism of the vaccination programme could endanger women's lives. The HPV vaccine used in Ireland is Gardasil. It is said to protect against two high risk types of the virus, one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. It prevents HPV 16 and 18, which cause 90% of genital warts, and is used in more than 25 European countries, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Vaccinations against the HPV virus fell by half last year in Ireland amid scares over side-effects but the uptake has since stabilised. Since 2010 more than 230,000 girls have been vaccinated, with about 1,000 reporting adverse reactions. Most commonly, people fainted when injected or showed gastrointestinal symptoms, malaise, headache, dizziness and injection site reactions. Other allergic-type reactions have been reported, including skin rashes, hives and flushing and isolated reports of more severe hypersensitivity-type reactions and some reports of persisting or chronic fatigue. Ireland has one of the highest cervical cancer rates in Europe with more than 90 women dying from the disease every year and more than 280 others needing surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. The first meeting of disaffected Sinn Fein members took a place in a Chinese restaurant in Waterford over the weekend, with between 30 and 40 people turning up to share grievances over alleged bullying and intimidation within the party. The meeting, organised by Melissa O'Neill, a councillor who was expelled from Sinn Fein last December, has led to a confidential email hotline being set up for members. The group also agreed to form 'support hubs' in towns around the country. The prospect of setting up a rival republican party to Sinn Fein was also not ruled out, according to Ms O'Neill. She said it was agreed at the meeting that the identities of those who attended would be kept under wraps. They included "dozens" of like-minded members and former members who felt "disrespected" or "disenfranchised" from the party. Further meetings of Sinn Fein dissenters are scheduled to take place in Athlone, Tipperary and Limerick ahead of the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in November. The meetings are likely to embarrass Sinn Fein, which has faced a growing swell of criticism over its internal structures and disciplinary process, which have been slated as dictatorial and intimidating by some members. Sinn Fein has repeatedly denied that there is a culture of bullying within the party. However, claims of bullying have gathered momentum following a string of expulsions and resignations. Many have complained about bullying, intimidation and whispering campaigns. Others who have challenged the party's decisions have been subjected to internal disciplinary processes. Last month alone, three Wicklow councillors were expelled from Sinn Fein after they challenged the party in a dispute over internal leadership roles. Lisa Marie Sheehy, who at 23 was Sinn Fein's youngest councillor, also resigned from the party last month, claiming she had been "undermined, bullied and humiliated". Melissa O'Neill said she was aware of hundreds of Sinn Fein people who are not happy with the party structures but were fearful of speaking out. "We don't want anyone to go through what we went through," she said. "The sense of the weight of the world off their shoulders, the energy in the room of a psychological sense of relief, after being gagged for so long. The people leaving that room were different to the ones that came in. We all felt it." Tara Reynor O'Grady, a human rights campaigner who was expelled from Sinn Fein in June, said people felt "emancipated" as a result of the meeting. "There was a sense of encouragement, and a tremendous conviction that they were justified in their grievance," she said. The Government has urged authorities in Spain to reduce tensions over the controversial independence referendum in Catalonia. Hundreds of voters were injured when national police moved across the region to stop voting in the poll which was deemed illegal by the Madrid government and the country's top court. Officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin said they were closely following developments. "With regard to the political context, it is the Government's view that it is for Spanish citizens to determine for themselves their preferred constitutional and political arrangements through their own democratic institutions and in keeping with the rule of law," the department said in a statement. "The reports and images of clashes, violence and injuries are of concern." It added: " Upholding the constitution and the rule of law in all its aspects is a key underpinning of a modern democracy. "It is important now that steps are taken to reduce tensions and to find a way forward together." Spain's security forces used rubber bullets and baton charges as they clashed with voters, leaving more than 750 people injured, according to Catalan health officials. Catalonia's leader Carles Puigdemont declared the region had won the right to independence in the vote. He called for Spanish national police reinforcements to leave the region after Sunday's violence, and for international mediation to solve the political deadlock. Spain's prime minister Mariano Rajoy indicated that he will discuss the issues with all of the parliamentary political parties and talks are also planned with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. Protesters hold up placards as they take part in the March for Choice in Dublin on Saturday afternoon Thousands of people have taken part in protests demanding abortion rights for Irish citizens after Dublin announced last week a referendum on the issue would be held in 2018. The sixth annual March for Choice is believed to have been the biggest to date. Thousands marched through Dublin city centre, while protests were also held in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Brussels. In Dublin campaigners gathered at Parnell Square from lunchtime on Saturday before making their way down the city's main thoroughfare, O'Connell Street. Chanting and waving placards, demonstrators then marched along the River Liffey past the landmark Custom House before crossing the water on their way to the gates of the Irish parliament. Anti-abortion activists staged counter events in the city and across Ireland to warn against relaxation of the current law. Protesters were demanding the government repeal the eighth amendment to the Irish Constitution. The amendment affords equal rights to pregnant women and unborn children. Added to the constitution in 1983, the amendment recognises an unborn child's right to life. Terminations are currently only permitted when the life of the mother is at risk, and the maximum penalty for accessing an illegal abortion in Ireland is 14 years in prison. In 2015, 3,265 women travelled from the Republic to England for a termination, according to official figures. Abortion is also effectively banned in Northern Ireland. Linda Kavanagh, a spokeswoman for the Abortion Rights Campaign, said: "The reality is we have an instrument of violence against women written into our constitution, violence that is enacted every day on all pregnant people in Ireland. "The eighth amendment has caused untold misery and damage, and it's time we removed it once and for all." In London members of the London Irish Abortion Rights campaign made 205,704 chalk markings on the pavement outside the Irish Embassy to commemorate the 205,704 Irish women who have travelled to Britain for an abortion since the introduction of the eighth amendment in 1983. Maeve O'Reilly, an organiser of the London protest, said: "We want to tell these women that we see them and we support them, and we want to show the Irish and Northern Irish governments that they cannot ignore this any longer." The referendum on abortion is likely to take place in May or June next year, according to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. The decision was taken after a Citizens' Assembly, a body composed of 99 randomly chosen Irish citizens, recommended that women should have legal access to abortion. However, pro-choice campaigners are concerned about the options voters will be given in the referendum. The Abortion Rights Campaign said it would "reserve judgment on the announcement of a standalone referendum on the eighth amendment until we know the question that will be put to the people of Ireland". It is feared that voters may be given the choice to amend, rather than repeal the eighth amendment. Abortion is only permitted in Northern Ireland where the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother, or would adversely affect her mental or physical health. The husband of a detective whose body was found in a lake has been charged with her murder (PA) The husband of a detective whose body was found in a lake has been charged with her murder. Leanne McKie, 39, a serving Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer from Wilmslow, was found dead in Poynton Park, Cheshire, on Friday. Darren McKie, 43, also a GMP officer, will appear at Crewe Magistrates Court on Tuesday. 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 A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said: Darren McKie, from Burford Close, Wilmslow, was arrested in the early hours of Friday 29 September after the body of Leanne McKie was found in a lake at Poynton Park. He was subsequently charged with murder today and has been remanded in police custody to appear at South and East Cheshire Magistrates Court tomorrow. Earlier on Monday, police said they wanted to speak to a group of four people who walked past the lake off London Road North, Poynton, in the direction of Stockport at 12.15am on Friday. 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 Detectives said they were keen to hear from anyone who was in the area around Poynton Park between 11.30pm on September 28 and 3.30am the following day, and who may have witnessed anything suspicious or unusual. They also reiterated their appeal to anyone who believes they may have seen the Wilmslow mother-of-threes red Mini car, registration number DA12 DFO, during the afternoon of September 28 and into the early hours of September 29 to come forward. Detective Inspector Adam Waller, from Cheshire Police, said: The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Leannes death is ongoing and we are following a number of inquiries. 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 Leanne was a devoted mum of three young children and a dedicated officer who worked tirelessly to support victims of crime. Her family, friends and colleagues have been left totally devastated by her death and she will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her. I urge anyone who has any information that could assist our investigation, no matter how small, to get in touch. Expand Close Cheshire Police are appealing to anyone who saw Leanne McKie's red Mini the day before her death to come forward (Cheshire Police/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cheshire Police are appealing to anyone who saw Leanne McKie's red Mini the day before her death to come forward (Cheshire Police/PA) Anyone with any information should contact Cheshire Police on 101 quoting 93 of 29/9/2017. Information can also be reported anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111. Members of the public with any dashcam or video footage can upload it to the Cheshire Police website via this link and reference incident 93 of 29/09/17: Millions of rail and Tube passengers will be hit by strikes this week in separate disputes over the role of guards and working conditions. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Southern, Merseyrail, Arriva Rail North and Greater Anglia will walk out for 24 hours on Tuesday and Thursday in bitter rows over staffing and driver only trains. 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 Southern dispute is now in its 18th month, with no sign of the deadlock being broken. Meanwhile members of the drivers union Aslef on London Underground will strike on Thursday in a row over working conditions. Transport for London has warned of substantial disruption to Tube services. Last-ditch talks between the two sides will be held on Monday. 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 RMT said pickets will be out in force in all its disputes, taking the message to the public that axing of guards is part of a co-ordinated strategy driven by the Government. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: These strikes are about putting the safety and security of the travelling public before the profits of private companies, profits that in the most part are shipped overseas to subsidise transport services in Europe and China. That is a national scandal. 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 It is disgraceful that we have been unable to get serious and meaningful talks going in any of these disputes and that points clearly to the dead-hand of the Government driving the faceless railway policy on purely ideological grounds and demanding that their contractors fall in line. The RMT has written to Merseyrails joint owners Abellio and Serco with what it called a realistic and fair proposal to resolve the guards dispute. The union has also written to Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram urging him to support the initiative. 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 Greater Anglia is planning to run a full service on the strike days and Southern said there will be a normal service on most of its routes. Arriva Rail North aims to run around 1,200 services across the North, 46% of its normal timetable, on both days between 7am and 7pm. Most Merseyrail services will run between 7am and 7pm, with a break during the middle of the day, and some stations will be closed. Expand Close Aslef members on London Underground will strike on Thursday in a row over working conditions (Nick Ansell/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Aslef members on London Underground will strike on Thursday in a row over working conditions (Nick Ansell/PA) Rail minister Paul Maynard said: The RMT should stop using passengers as pawns in their political game, call off this strike action and return to talks. This dispute is not about jobs as all the companies have guaranteed posts and I have been clear I want to see more people working on the railways, not fewer. Its not about safety either as the independent regulator has ruled that driver-controlled trains are safe. Police forces across the US and around the world are sending support to their colleagues in Las Vegas following a mass shooting. 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 At least 58 people have been killed and 515 people wounded after a man opened fire into a crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. The lone shooter, identified by police as 64-year-old white Nevada resident Stephen Paddock, took aim from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. He also took his own life. The incident is the most deadly mass shooting in modern US history. As investigation work continues, social media is awash with support from police forces paying tribute to the work of officers. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 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 Messages of support for the #ThinBlueline even came from outside the US. 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 Forces were also showing their support and sympathies to those affected and the city of Las Vegas as a whole. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference 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 In New York, Police Commissioner James ONeill spoke about the shooting at the citys annual domestic violence awareness conference and offered prayers. He said: I want to say that our thoughts and prayers are with the city of Las Vegas. 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 In an address to the country, US president Donald Trump called the attack an act of pure evil and added: In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has. Pro-referendum supporters celebrate on the street after the closing of a polling station (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) Catalan separatists called for international mediation with the Spanish government as they pushed ahead with plans to declare independence after a violent police crackdown scarred a disputed secession referendum. The referendum debacle only deepened Spain's most serious political crisis since democratic rule was restored in 1978. The violence on Sunday in the prosperous north-eastern region left more than 890 civilians and 430 police injured when anti-riot squads moved into polling stations and dispersed voters. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said a regional parliamentary commission would investigate why Spain's anti-riot squads fired rubber bullets, smashed into polling stations and beat protesters with batons to disperse voters in the independence referendum that Spain opposed. He also urged the 5,000-strong contingent of special Spanish police forces deployed in Catalonia to leave immediately. Mr Puigdemont called for the EU "to stop looking the other way" and urged Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to accept international mediation in the crisis. He urged the EU to view Catalonia's desire to break away from Spain as a Europe-wide issue. "This is not a domestic issue. The need for mediation is evident," Mr Puigdemont said. Calls for restraint came from across Europe, including EU chief Donald Tusk, who appealed to Mr Rajoy to "avoid further escalation and use of force" while agreeing that the independence vote was invalid. Several human rights organisations called for an impartial investigation into the violence. Of the 893 civilians injured in the melee, two suffered serious wounds, Catalan health authorities said. The Interior Ministry said 39 police received immediate medical treatment and 392 others had scrapes and bruises. But Spanish authorities commended the police, saying their response to the voting was professional and proportionate. And Spain's interior minister said the 5,000 extra officers deployed to Catalonia would stay as long as necessary. "I don't think there was such a heavy hand, but in any case, they had to react," said Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis. Speaking in Rome, Mr Dastis said "some of the pictures are real, some of them are not real" but that police had simply responded when people prevented them from doing their job. Catalan officials say 90% - an overwhelming majority of the 2.26 million voted for independence from Spain. The central government in Madrid has repeatedly condemned the referendum as unconstitutional and invalid. The Catalan president said the regional parliament will be asked to declare independence this week after final results are announced - and plenary sessions are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. The euro and Spanish stocks fell on Monday as investors tried to gauge what the weekend unrest in Catalonia means for the future of Spain and European unity. The referendum fiasco brought Spain and Catalonia closer to a potentially disastrous showdown as each side said Sunday's events proved them right. Mr Rajoy met with his conservative Popular Party members before seeking a parliamentary session to discuss how to confront Spain's most serious political crisis in decades. He also met with the leaders of the opposition Socialist and Citizens parties to discuss Spain's options, although no immediate consensus emerged. The impasse developed after Catalan authorities decided to go ahead with Sunday's referendum even after Spain's Constitutional Court suspended it while assessing the claims by Mr Rajoy's government that the vote was illegal. The court has previously ruled against unilateral secession attempts. Amnesty International said the Spanish police used "excessive and disproportionate" force against people "passively resisting" a judge's order to impede the referendum. UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein called on Spain's government to ensure "thorough, independent and impartial investigations" of the violence. AP . . . Las Vegas police sweep through a convention center area during a lockdown Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, at the Tropicana Las Vegas following an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip. Multiple victims were transported to hospitals after a deadly shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) US President Donald Trump walks away from the podium after delivering a statement on the Las Vegas shooting from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on October 2, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images US President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the Las Vegas shooting from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on October 2, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGANMANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images US president Donald Trump has condemned the largest mass shooting in modern American history as an "act of pure evil" after more than 50 people were gunned down in Las Vegas. In a televised address from the White House, the American leader said he would be visiting the city on Wednesday "on a very, very sad moment for me ... for everybody no matter where you are, no matter what your thought process". In a slow and sombre statement, Mr Trump said the nation was "joined together in sadness, shock and grief" but that the US would rally together. "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence," he said. "We call upon the bonds that unite us: our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity." Mr Trump did not describe the gunman or suggest any possible motivation or affiliation. He praised the first responders whom he said had prevented further loss of life. He also offered condolences to the families of those killed, saying: "We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss. "We are praying for you. We are here for you." He also ordered that the American flag at the White House and at all public buildings across the nation be flown at half-mast. Mr Trump was speaking hours after 64-year-old Stephen Paddock unleashed a hail of bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, on the Las Vegas strip, onto an outdoor country music festival below. The gunman killed at least 58 and injured more than 500 others before taking his own life. The president, who quoted from the Bible and invoked God several times, said he prayed for the day when the "innocent are safe from hatred and from fear". "At times such as these I know we are searching for some type of meaning in the chaos, some kind of light in the darkness. The answers will not come easy," the president said. Unlike his predecessor Barack Obama, who used mass shootings to call for stricter gun control measures, Mr Trump made no mention of firearms restrictions. During the presidential campaign, the president cast himself as an ardent protector of the Second Amendment and proclaimed that if more "good guys" were armed with firearms there would be fewer gun tragedies. After the Orlando nightclub shooting last year, he suggested that if the club were not a gun-free zone, someone would have been able to stop the bloodshed. "I was obviously talking about additional guards or employees," he tweeted later. Trump has long-standing connections to Las Vegas. He owns a hotel just off the strip, about three miles from the shooting site, and has been supported by some of its biggest casino moguls, including Phil Ruffin and Sheldon Adelson. LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01 People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01: (EDITORS NOTE: Image contains graphic content.) People carry a peson at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01: People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after an apparent shooting on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after an apparent shooting on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) A crowd of people at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after a active shooter was reported on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was hear on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here is what we know so far about the Las Vegas music festival shooting: A gunman, named by police as Stephen Paddock, opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Festival during a performance by country music star Jason Aldean on Sunday night. At least 59 people were killed and 527 injured in the deadliest gun massacre in modern US history. An off-duty police officer was among those killed, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. Paddock, 64, sent bullets raining into the crowd of more than 22,000 concert-goers, perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Swat teams who stormed the gunman's room found he had killed himself and discovered as many 17 guns, including rifles. Islamic State, which has been known to exaggerate and make false declarations, claimed responsibility for the attack. But the FBI said authorities investigating the shooting had found "no connection with an international terrorist group". The killer's brother Eric Paddock told the reporters he was "completely dumbfounded" by the shooting and he could not understand what had happened. He said Paddock was a multi-millionaire property developer and gambling fan with no political or religious affiliation. US records show gunman Paddock lived in a three-year-old, 396,000 US dollar (297,554) two-bedroom home in the tiny desert community of Mesquite, 80 miles (129km) north-east of Las Vegas, near the Arizona state border with Marilou Danley, 62. He is the son of Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, a bank robber who was once on the FBI's ten most wanted list. Police say they believe Paddock was a "lone wolf". US President Donald Trump described the mass shooting as an "act of pure evil" and said he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet emergency services and relatives of the victims. Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the "completely senseless and cowardly" attack and said UK authorities were working to establish whether any British nationals were victims. The Queen said she and the Duke of Edinburgh were "saddened" to hear of the atrocity, adding: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and those who have been injured." A poster of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah hangs on a street in Gaza City (AP) The Palestinian prime minister has arrived in Gaza for the most ambitious attempt yet to reconcile rival Palestinian factions. Rami Hamdallah drove through the Erez Crossing on Monday, heading a large delegation of Fatah officials from the West Bank in an attempt to end a 10-year rift with Gaza's Hamas rulers. In a significant concession, Hamas has offered to turn over all governing responsibilities to Mr Hamdallah. However key sticking points, primarily Hamas' refusal to disarm its powerful military wing, are likely to complicate or even derail the reconciliation efforts in the coming weeks. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 after overrunning the Fatah-led forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Mr Abbas' Palestinian Authority has since governed only in autonomous enclaves of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Repeated attempts to reconcile have failed. A UK academic survey, the Millennium Cohort Study, has found that 24% of adolescent girls at the age of 14 were depressed (compared with 9% of boys). One of the authors, Praveetha Patalay of the University of Liverpool, said that: "Compared to previous generations, there seem to be increasing problems, particularly in girls." Twenty thoughts on this situation More openness about mental illness and less stigma surrounding the problems may be partly why youngsters admit to depression. More openness is good. Mental illness was often hidden. When I was a youngster I was punished for repeating what I'd heard whispered: "Mrs So-and-So has had a nervous breakdown." I was told sternly: "You must never, ever say that about someone." Later, in France, I heard various forms of mental vulnerability referred to by the more attractive phrase "temperament d'artiste". There were certain euphemisms in Ireland which were also used, not all of them disparaging. Someone apt to have mood swings was 'highly strung'. This also referred, sometimes approvingly, to thoroughbred racehorses. Another word in currency was 'neurasthenia'. An aunt of mine had been told she suffered from neurasthenia, and it was a comfort to her, when unhappy. She took it to mean 'hypersensitive', as if one layer of skin had been peeled off. Depression and mental illness have always existed, but not all forms of depression were pathologised as a medical condition. Some were called 'melancholia', and maybe teenagers should be consoled by the knowledge that adolescents were always prone to 'melancholia'. The current UK study puts considerable blame on social media. Emotional problems arise because young girls, already insecure, are constantly comparing themselves to other, apparently more fortunate, lives. Then there's 'body image dissatisfaction', triggered by so many explicit pictures of Kim Kardashian-type ideal bodies. A serious source of girls' depression. And cyberbullying. To be tackled. As per Stella O'Malley's book Bully-Proof Kids. Yet there is quite a lot to be worried about, factually. The world could go up in a nuclear holocaust at any moment. Around the globe, there are daily tragedies and afflictions. All this is brought instantly to our screens. Life has always been uncertain, but earlier generations weren't as instantly informed about so much. Being exposed to endless streams of information adds to anxiety. Or, as the Book of Ecclesiastes says: "In greater knowledge is greater sorrow." Sexual liberation can be freedom from old taboos; it can also bring new insecurities. It may well be depressing for a 14-year-old to be worried about whether she will measure up in terms of sexual performance. 'Sexting' is another source of harassment and concern. For the millennial generation, child-rearing has been approached in a much gentler way than ever before. We don't (usually) smack children any more. Parents are told to 'be positive' in their attitudes. Childhood itself is probably happier. But this protective upbringing may not prepare youngsters for the hardships that everyone encounters. Including the psychological hardships. The central tenet of Buddhism is: "Life is suffering." The teachings of the Greek Stoics also flowed into our cultures: you must endure and face difficulties without complaint. The atheist Nietzsche said we should "be hard!" in our characters - in preparation for what life may throw at us. It may help adolescents to learn about these Stoical traditions, which have lasted over so many centuries. Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Stoic, has recently enjoyed a popular revival. He starts his meditations by saying: "Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill will and selfishness." A useful thought before going on your Twitter feed? Parents are encouraged to have honest conversations about mental health issues. But teens don't always want to share with parents. And maybe they do need their space, and their own secrets. Anyone, adolescent or adult, who needs clinical help with mental health problems should get it. Pronto. But for everyday feelings of being low, unloved, lonely or self-loathing (mentioned in the study), sad poetry can be strangely consoling. I remember being uplifted by Shelley's Stanzas Written in Dejection Near Naples when I was a miserable 15-year-old. Identify with Shelley! It's recently been discovered the teenage brain needs a huge amount of sleep. They're not always being lazy when they lie in bed: they need the slumber. Some depression may be linked to sleep deprivation. Early to bed, then. Girls from poorer backgrounds were more likely to be depressed, so money can help. Yet emphasis on wealth comparisons can make you more depressed. Social media, which is blamed for causing so much anxiety, also has many good effects - crowdfunding for charitable projects, linking people up with one another, and helping with rescues in great disasters. So that's a cause for cheerfulness. Is Sinn Fein leader-in-waiting Mary Lou McDonald's row with the Taoiseach in the Dail this week a portent of difficult times ahead for the party when Gerry Adams finally steps down? Malachi O'Doherty and Andrew Lynch read the runes. There must be a lot of people who would like one day to be the leader of Sinn Fein. It is, after all, a huge political party with the prospects of taking power on both sides of the border. And the leader is touching 70 and already intimating that he will soon stand down, though not before he has put his stamp on the party for another decade. Part of that stamp, it is widely assumed, will be the choice of new leader. The dogs on the street and the cats on the mats believe they know who that will be. It will be Mary Lou McDonald. McDonald is a real credit to the party in that she is a vigorous parliamentary performer. She has also stuck loyally at the side of her leader, Gerry Adams, even through the darkest periods, as when he was challenged in the Dail for describing those who interrogated Mairia Cahill, a rape victim, as "decent people". Ms McDonald might have been expected more widely to have rested her sympathies primarily with the victim, but she grasps the first essential of political survival; you defend the party. Brutus didn't knife Caesar until he had backings and a leader in waiting has even less reason to finish off the incumbent, the one who will ultimately crown her if she is patient. Designated successors have a bad record, however. Gordon Brown did not last long after Blair. Peter Robinson waited years for Paisley to vacate the leadership of the DUP and then moved against him with only a few years of good health to spare. Hillary Clinton was the candidate of right for the Democratic party, but the electorate did not fancy being taken for granted. So, who wants to be leader of Sinn Fein when Adams goes? Nobody, apparently, other than Mary Lou McDonald, the anointed one. Of course, a contender does not declare an ambition until it is safe to do so. But if Conor Murphy and Martina Anderson and Mairtin O Muilleoir and John O'Dowd and Michelle O'Neill don't want a whack at the top job, then they are very strange politicians. As things go, they presumably live with the understanding that the job is taken. The Sinn Fein MLAs in Stormont appear to have similarly assented happily to Michelle O'Neill being made the northern leader over their heads, without a vote. But that may prove to be easier to endure while Stormont is in cold storage. Perhaps one of the advantages for Sinn Fein of not putting their MLAs and ministers back to work is that the strains that might arise from leaders being ordained rather than elected would begin to show. And how much more would they show in the post-Gerry era with Ms McDonald in place to block the ambitions of party talent - if they have any - and to lead a party that straddles the border and has separate political projects on either side of it? Can ambition be relied on to subserve itself to the leadership when that leader isn't Gerry Adams? Adams leads the party now as someone with clout north and south. He has earned his standing in the south but done it the painful way, his weaknesses being exposed and scoffed at and his uncanny resilience surviving every attack. And McDonald has had a presence in the north, attending negotiations with governments during past crises, so she may be able to shape up for a while as someone with a grasp of the issues. And though it might be intensely annoying for unionists to be lectured by her when she is in the top job, that may well be something she would take pleasure in anyway. But how would the local MLAs take it? Would they not be inclined to feel that they were better qualified to engage with the DUP on the big issues ahead, like Shared Future, dealing with the past and locally rooted crises as yet unforeseen? The danger for Sinn Fein in the coming years is that it will be partitioned, that having to function in two different jurisdictions will make it appear to be two different parties. And this would be a peculiar irony for a party that exists to oppose partition. And if a candidate emerged who was not so supine and docile as they all currently appear, who did want to pitch for the leadership, would she, or he, not be accused by the leadership of exposing it to precisely that danger. A northerner who wanted Gerry's job would be slapped down and accused of splitting the party and jeopardising the all-Ireland project. So what is an ambitious politician to do within Sinn Fein? For now, if there are any hopefuls, they are keeping their heads down. They are very strange politicians if they intend continuing to do that. Malachi O'Doherty's book Gerry Adams: An Unauthorised Life, Faber, 14.99 is out now Andrew Lynch: Taoiseach on the offensive as he bites at McDonald Leo Varadkar gave Sinn Fein fair warning. "I'm not putting out an olive branch to them," he declared during the Fine Gael leadership election last May. "I think Sinn Fein remains the greatest threat to our democracy and our prosperity as a State. Part of my mission, if I have that opportunity as leader, is to take Sinn Fein on and expose them." This was the week when Varadkar started to deliver on his promise. He did so, however, in a slightly unexpected way. For two days running, the Taoiseach launched stinging personal attacks on Sinn Fein's leader-in-waiting Mary Lou McDonald - and gave us a preview of how he intends to deal with her if she succeeds Gerry Adams before the next general election. The first Leo-Mary Lou clash took place on Tuesday afternoon. During a Dail exchange over childcare costs, Varadkar clearly shocked McDonald by comparing her to one of the most reviled politicians in Europe. "Even though their politics is completely different, Deputy McDonald reminds me more and more of [French far-right leader] Marine Le Pen," he declared. "Because she always goes back to her script. She delivers a scripted question and when I give her an answer and ask her a question, she goes straight back to the script again." On this occasion, in fact, the Sinn Fein woman seemed to have lost her place - because she was temporarily rendered speechless. Just 24 hours later, the pair had an even more bitter encounter. In response to a query from Mary Lou about AIB's tax practices, Leo began by saying: "I wish to compliment Deputy McDonald on the flawless delivery of your script. Pauses, intonation and everything was absolutely perfect as always. Hope you didn't spend too much time practising it this morning." A visibly shaken McDonald then started heckling, prompting Varadkar to accuse Sinn Fein of having "an innate contempt for democracy and free speech". Later he remarked, "you're very cranky today," to which she retorted, "I find you facile and dismissive on important issues". Finally, the Dail chairperson, Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell, became sick of McDonald's interruptions and asked her to leave the House. The Taoiseach gave her a mocking wave as she walked over to his seat, spoke a few more angry words and warned, "I'll write to you", before storming out of the chamber. Bad-tempered spats in Leinster House are obviously nothing new. These ones, however, had much more political significance than usual. As members of the Taoiseach's inner circle privately acknowledge, he is using a strategy that can be traced all the way back to Ancient Greece: define your opponent before they have a chance to define themselves. In other words, Varadkar has already started planning for the Sinn Fein leadership change that everyone expects to take place in 2018. While Gerry Adams is still regularly dogged by his alleged links to IRA atrocities, almost every voter in the country formed an opinion of him long ago. By contrast, Mary Lou McDonald's public image is very much a work in progress - and the Taoiseach clearly thinks that she has weaknesses crying out to be exploited. Varadkar stressed that his comparison of Mary Lou with Marine Le Pen was based on style, not substance. He could have chosen a more obvious example from the UK, where Prime Minister Theresa May's habit of relying on stilted soundbites such as "strong and stable" has caused one parliamentary sketch writer to dub her The Maybot. The nickname stuck and did May severe damage during June's general election, feeding into a widespread reception of her as cold, mechanical and unfeeling. Many other politicians around the world have been undone by an inability to think on their feet. In early 2016, Marco Rubio looked like a strong contender for the US Republican presidential nomination. During a candidates' debate in New Hampshire, however, he seemed to freeze and repeated the same attack on Barack Obama word-for-word four times. "There it is, everybody," his rival Chris Christie sneered. "The 25-second memorised speech." Rubio's poll numbers nosedived overnight and a few weeks later he dropped out of the race. Could something similar happen to Mary Lou? Even her biggest critics would admit that she is always impeccably well briefed for media and parliamentary debates. Her chief weakness, as the Taoiseach's advisers have spotted, is that she sometimes appears to be trying too hard - speaking in lengthy sentences that sound rehearsed rather than spontaneous. Leo Varadkar is not the only party leader who has McDonald in his sights. At the Fianna Fail think-in last week, Micheal Martin was asked if a change of Sinn Fein leadership would make it easier to share Government Buildings with them. He shot down the idea in no uncertain terms by pointing out: "Whatever Gerry says, Mary Lou will say." This is another line of attack for which McDonald must start bracing herself. She has often been mocked as a Sinn Fein nodding dog who is slavishly devoted to her party leader and even backs up his ludicrous claim that he never actually joined the IRA. Assuming that she does replace him in due course, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and others will insist nothing has really changed except the face on Sinn Fein's election posters. There is a sinister undercurrent to all these charges. Micheal Martin maintains that while Sinn Fein has officially abandoned violence, its strings are still being secretly pulled by the IRA Army Council. If so, then McDonald may find it difficult to persuade the hard men in west Belfast that their movement can be led by a middle-class Dublin woman who has never fired a gun in her life. Younger Sinn Fein members must have watched this week's Dail rows with deep unease. For them, the whole point of choosing Mary Lou as leader is that she would represent a decisive break from the party's blood-soaked past. They have fond memories of her appearance in a 2013 TV3 documentary, where she was filmed shopping at her local Superquinn and quipping: "I'm just looking for Cheerios Cheerios and a united Ireland." Although Sinn Fein have certainly made electoral progress in the Republic under Gerry Adams's leadership, right now they seem to have hit a glass ceiling of around 15%. Mary Lou plans to offer herself as the 'Heineken candidate', capable of reaching voters that other leadership contenders just can't reach. Leo Varadkar and Micheal Martin are well aware of the danger, which is precisely why their verbal assaults on her have already started to step up a gear. The next general election is shaping up as a three-way contest between Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein. McDonald's party has been quietly executing a U-turn in recent months, signalling that it is now ready to consider a coalition with one of the two big parties. Ironically, it may be Varadkar and Martin's shared contempt for her that finally pushes them together and brings almost a century of Civil War politics to an end. "Neither cranky nor rattled!" Mary Lou McDonald tweeted after her bruising experience with the Taoiseach on Wednesday evening. "Would take more than that nonsense to rattle me. I'm well used to Leo-type carry on in the Dail." She may have to get even more used to it in the years ahead - and if this week's scenes are anything to go by, the burgeoning Leo-Mary Lou feud will not make for pretty viewing. Glamour model Laurena Lacey and some of her in Playboy Laurena Lacey at the Playboy Mansion with Holly Madison and Bridget Playboy beauty Laurena Lacey has hit out at claims that the late Hugh Hefner was a creep. The 31-year-old from Belcoo, Co Fermanagh, has fond memories of lavish parties at the famous Playboy mansion in Los Angeles hosted by Hefner, who died last week aged 91. "Hugh was actually very quiet when I saw him, he wasn't outlandish at all," said Laurena. But the parties were something else. "I used to go along to their Halloween party which was the best party, they had actors and built different kinds of environments outside and a zoo with lots of different wild animals," she recalled. "They were fond of the Irish for sure, they were always really receptive." Following his death many critics labelled former magazine magnate Hefner an old sleazebag - but Laurena believes the characterisation is very unfair "He was very much a showbiz person," she said. "I think a lot of the criticism is hyped up to portray him in a certain way." Laurena was the first model from Northern Ireland or the Republic to follow the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Pamela Anderson in posing for Playboy. She also dismissed claims that Playboy models were pressured into having cosmetic enhancement. "They actually prefer women to be more natural, I think people are pressured into cosmetic surgery through the standards of others, I don't think it would be Playboy directly," she said. She described the news of Hefner's death at the age of 91 as "quite sad" but said she could see he was in decline the last time they met. "I was sad one of the last times I saw him at a party in LA last year because he didn't seem that engaged," explained Laurena. "He just seemed like he was going along with things for the sake of it. "He wasn't fully engaged in the environment, it was just like he was not really there." As well as modelling for glamour shoots for the legendary men's magazine, the Belcoo blonde was a party-goer at the famed Los Angeles Playboy mansion. Now living in London, Laurena has embarked on a new career in developing motion capture software for video games and films. "I've started working in 3-D animation and I was working on a cutting edge technology solution synthesising muscle information for 3-D characters to be used in movie quality games," she explained. "We were also designing a Playboy interactive game with the photographer Stephen Wayday from Playboy. "I was the base body for that modelling and I learnt project management from there." Laurena decided to step out of the limelight as the glamour modelling industry was transformed by the rise of free online content. "I still do the odd shoot because I enjoy it but it's over saturated now," she said. "Everyone does everything for free, the photographers and the models do everything for free. "The only way to really make anything is to build a following online. "I didn't really do it for those reasons as I enjoyed the process of it and a lot of the other aspects of it are negative. Getting a lot of attention is not necessarily a good thing." Laurena still visits her family in Fermanagh but considers London her home now. Previously, she had spoken of how not everyone in her home county approved of her Playboy work, with some old friends even refusing to speak to her due to the racy nature of her snaps. Philippine troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members march toward an alleged training camp of Islamic State-linked militants near the town of Datu Salibo in Maguindanao province, Sept. 28, 2017. American forensics experts have been helping their Filipino counterparts in determining whether foreign terrorists were among 40 bodies recovered from the ruins of the southern Philippine city of Marawi, where Islamic State-linked militants are still holding out, officials said Monday. Four members of the U.S. forces have been sent to Iligan, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Marawi, to observe autopsies and collect samples for DNA testing, said local forensics head police Senior Supt. Mary Lecoy Mag-abo. Most of the bodies bore gunshot and shrapnel wounds, she said. The U.S. forces are interested to determine and know the possibilities that there are foreign terrorists aside from Maute fighters who fought and were killed by the military in Marawi, Mag-abo said. She said the bodies were recovered from inside the main battle area, and that they would be buried by Thursday because no one has come forward to claim them. "Some of the 40 remains are skeletons and some are in advanced stage of decomposition, she said. It was not clear whether the bodies included the remains of five militant leaders whose deaths were announced late last week, including Abdullah Maute and two foreigners the military did not identify by name. Abdullah is the brother of Omarkhayam Maute, who is believed still fighting alongside Isnilon Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf commander and the overall Islamic State (IS) leader in the country. Abdullah and his lesser-known brothers Madhi and Utto were killed together with two foreign fighters during recent clashes in Marawi, the military said. The Maute gang, a small band of militants, backed Hapilon when his forces took over the city of Marawi on May 23. Fighters from Southeast Asia and the Middle East were said to be involved in the fighting as well. Hapilon, who is on Washingtons list of most-wanted terrorists, was believed still in command of the remaining militants, estimated by officials to number between to 45 and 80. Hostages killed? The militants seized up to 300 hostages, including women and children, at the start of the violence. The men and boys in the group were forced to wear black and to fight alongside the militants, the military said. Many of the hostages escaped or were rescued, including Marawis Catholic priest who escaped unharmed last month as troops closed in on the enemy. Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of the local military task force, said the gunmen may have killed some of their hostages, but he could not say how many of the remaining 40-45 captives had been executed. According to the other rescued hostages, some of the hostages who were considered to be a burden were also killed by the Maute terrorists, he said. At least 749 enemy fighters, 155 government forces and 47 civilians had been killed in fighting during the past four months. The civilian death toll, however, could go up pending final analysis of the bodies recovered. Brawner said 1,733 civilians trapped in the fighting or taken hostage had been rescued, and a cache of unexploded homemade bombs and more than 700 firearms had also been recovered from slain militants. On Sunday, about 300 soldiers attended a mass at the St. Mary's Catholic Church, which was occupied by the militants during the early days of the Marawi fighting. In a video and pictures released by the military, Army Capt. Alfredo Era Jr., a military chaplain, was shown officiating the church service inside the war zone. It was the first mass officiated there since fighting began, and the church was still standing despite massive damage. Early in the fighting, a video posted by the militants on the Internet showed them ransacking the church, destroying statues and burning bibles. Brawner said loud exchanges of gunfire could be heard during the sermon in the bullet-riddled church. Rebuilding Marawi President Rodrigo Duterte, in a visit to Marawi on Monday, vowed to rebuild the ruined Islamic city of 200,000. We dont like what happened here. This is not what the government wants. Our soldiers hate killings and wounding people. You see, even when theres fighting, they find time to rebuild, he said during a speech at an evacuation center. That to me is enough. He called on the public to shun terrorism and avoid the bloody examples of the Middle East, where the cities of Aleppo in Syria and Mosul in northern Iraq had been destroyed in the name of religion. It will give us nothing except trouble. It is an imported ideology from the Middle East. Look what happened to Middle East? It used to be the center of civilization. All the golden things of the past were there. Now its all gone and only because of terrorist activities, he said. Meanwhile, the army said Monday its forces were going after another Muslim rebel faction that had pledged allegiance to the IS and vowed to help the Marawi militants. Troops recovered a cache of firearms belonging to the slain fighters, who are believed to belong to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, near the village of Tee in the southern province of Maguindanao. Mark Navales in Cotabato city contributed to this report. 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. 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Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. Von: TANIT KOCH and KAI WEISE The recording equipment is not yet running in the EU Commission Presidents office and Jean-Claude Juncker (62) is already saying how much he will miss Wolfgang Schauble (75, CDU) at European level. BILD: Greek newspapers are already celebrating that Schauble is no longer Finance Minister. But the FDP might adopt a far tougher position. Are the debtor countries celebrating too early? Jean-Claude Juncker: The Greeks know that Wolfgang Schauble stood up for their interests at a crucial moment. The way Schauble and Germany are portrayed in Greece often has nothing to do with reality. It is also a German myth that it was only Schauble who was committed to budgetary discipline. He plays an important consensus-building role in Europe. And he will now unquestionably be an outstanding President of the German Parliament. How likely do you consider a Jamaica coalition to be? Juncker: I do not get involved in German domestic politics. I assume that a stable Government will be formed, in which the three potential coalition partners pull together to create coherent policies. Are you afraid... Juncker: I am not afraid of anyone... Are you concerned that Juncker: No. Do you believe that a tough FDP position one that is not prepared to compromise with debtor countries could become a problem for the EU? Juncker: The CDU is a strong European party. I see no signs of the Greens distancing themselves from Europe. In fact, I see the contrary. And as for the FDP, I hope it will remember that it is the party of Genscher. You know Martin Schulz very well. Juncker: He is a friend of mine. Why did he not get his act together during the TV debate between party leaders? Juncker: Listen, I am not a commentator of German domestic politics. Do you feel sorry for him? Juncker: I will talk about Schulz with Schulz. Lesen Sie auch In the TV duel, Martin Schulz and Angela Merkel said that they would look to end EU accession negotiations with Turkey. Do you agree? Juncker: Turkey is distancing itself from Europe with giant strides. Turkey cannot take the heat in the European kitchen and as a result is trying to blame the European Union for the failure of the accession negotiations. I would like to prevent this from happening. A sizeable proportion of civil society in Turkey is very much in favour of Europe. We should support them, not disappoint them. But at the moment Turkey is not ready for accession. Auch interessant In occupied Luxembourg, the National Socialists forced your father to join the Wehrmacht (German army). How do you feel when Alexander Gauland from the AfD says people should be proud of what German soldiers achieved in the First and Second World Wars? How do you feel when his remarks are applauded? Juncker: It makes me angry that Mr Gaulands empathy for the people who suffered under German Nazi occupation is so under-developed. I am not insinuating that the AfD as a whole or its voters are Nazis through and through. That would be oversimplifying matters. However, if you are President of a parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, then you must show consideration for the feelings of Germanys neighbours. Gauland does not do that. On Juncker: One more thing: if colleagues from other European countries ask me about the AfD, then I feel the urge to make it clear that 87 percent of German people did not vote for them. Just imagine what image of Germany would have emerged on the Monday morning after the elections if all parties had shared the same manifesto as the AfD. Those who run after populists become populists themselves. I prefer Merkel's Germany. I also find it arrogant to think that those who got 13 percent of the vote have the ear of the people. On German market squares, it is noticeable that the consequences of open borders and the implications of Angela Merkels refugee policy have not yet been well-digested not by a long stretch. Nor have the consequences of the euro crisis. Then, a few days before the German elections, you talked about your vision of Schengen and the euro for everyone. Juncker: These are things that are written in the Treaties that I signed at Maastricht, Lisbon and elsewhere. Why is it so surprising if I recall them? Because of the timing. Juncker: The timing has been the same since 1992. Those countries that meet the criteria must be allowed to join the monetary union. I am there to ensure that the criteria are complied with. I did not say: 'Tomorrow morning at 11AM, all EU Member States must have the euro'. In the case of Greece the EU Member States made a mistake. I see no danger of that happening again. The fact that Greece snuck its way into the euro area should not only be laid at Greeces door. All decision-makers in the EU share responsibility. Juncker wishes for Angela Merkel (63) to remain Chancellor for a very long time Many Germans no longer have much confidence in the criteria being met. Juncker: German people do not know how often Germany itself has broken the Stability Pact. I can tell you that it is 19 times. Germanys debt level was never 60 percent. Any improvement now? Juncker: In the euro area in 2009 the average deficit was 6.3 percent. Now it is 1.4 percent. Despite constant criticism, there is growth in all countries. And why is that? Because the Stability and Growth Pact was applied intelligently. It is about structural reforms. We help with this everywhere! Strategic advice, administrative reform, efficiency enhancing tax administration. Why should countries like Poland and Hungary who openly threaten to break EU law comply with the stability criteria? Juncker: The criteria for stability and the criteria for virtue are two different pairs of shoes. In my State of the Union speech I made it clear that respect for the rule of law must remain a constant European virtue. We are currently in intense discussions on this with both Poland and Hungary, without any obvious progress so far. Lesen Sie auch Why are you so hesitant to cut off EU funding for countries that break the rules? Juncker: I would consider...is that how you say it? I would... 'I would consider sounds nicer. Juncker: Ok, so 'I would consider. I would consider it wrong to impose financial sanctions on Poland and Hungary before our talks have run their course. It is a matter close to my heart that we do not further widen the rift between East, West and Central Europe. Which was worse for EU cohesion: Not closing the German borders or some countries refusing to receive refugees? Juncker: I have already said many times that history will prove Angela Merkel right. The history has not yet been written. And by the way, Angela Merkel did not take her decision in an ivory tower. Many people who were involved and consulted are now hiding. What would have happened if all those refugees had simply been left in their desperate situation in the dirt at Budapest train station? Then it would have been Germany, which was admirably helpful, that would be facing permanent criticism today! The way Germans behave is judged differently to the way others behave because of history. If Germany had acted like France, then it would have been severely criticised. That does not mean that everything was done in the right way. Who does everything right in such a dramatic situation? I do not believe that Merkel has any reason to cast doubt on her decision. This decision did not harm the unity in Europe? Juncker: No it did not. Germany did something right and should be applauded for this humanity and compassion! For more than a century now there have been many foreigners living in the Ruhr region, unlike in eastern Poland. On the subject of distributing refugees, is it not naive to think that society in eastern Poland is already equally prepared for this? Juncker: This gap between Eastern and Western Europe, which is almost cultural, is what worries me. I am looking for answers to these questions when I wake up worried in the night... ... worried? So you do worry about something. Juncker: (smiling) and theres one thing I cant understand: the fewer foreigners that live in a certain place, the more afraid the local people are of foreigners. I come from a country where 49 percent of people are foreigners. We deal with this every day, and everyone knows that it is no problem. Are there no issues with burqas and Islamism? Juncker: That concerns only a very few immigrants. But it is true that many people in Europe feel that those who come to live with us from afar do not have to bring all that they can carry with them. It is important that they respect European cultural traditions. Will the EU ever manage to solve the refugee problem on its outer borders? Juncker: I am not a fortune-teller. I am a politician trying to find practical solutions to todays problems. I wish the press would spend more time reporting on Europes successes in dealing with the refugee issue. For example, thanks to the EU-Turkey Agreement, the number of refugees arriving in Europe has fallen by 97 percent. At the same time, the EU has so far provided EUR 1.6 billion in support of projects to help refugees in Turkey. We now also have a better grip on the central Mediterranean route. Last summer 81 percent fewer people arrived than the previous year, while the number of refugees risking their lives by taking this route fell by 17 percent. The number of people crossing the Niger for this reason has fallen from 330,000 last year to less than 40,000 now. 7 000 refugees from Libya have now voluntarily returned to their home country three times as many as in 2016. We are also improving border protection in Europe. More than 1,700 officers from the new European Border and Coast Guard are supporting the 100,000 national guards in Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and Spain. Is anyone talking about these successes? No. But let me also say this: Europe is and will always be a continent of solidarity. We will always offer asylum to people fleeing from war and violence in their home countries, and we will return those who have no right to stay here. These are two sides of the same coin of a responsible refugee policy. President Macrons speech on the future of Europe is still on our minds... Juncker: And my speech is still on mine... Emmanuel Macron said the EU was too weak, too inefficient and too slow. Do you take this statement personally? Juncker: No. Why should I? I said precisely the same thing in my speech. I spoke with him on the phone for an hour beforehand and we coordinated. Most of Emmanuel Macron's proposals are already on the way. However, I am against a separate budget for the euro area and a new parliament for the euro area. But I was encouraged when he said that we have to stop dumping all our problems on Brussels. Macrons speech makes me feel less lonely in Europe. While Macron is speeding up, is Germany pushing the brake? Juncker: No. Germany will remain one of Europes driving forces, but it will not succeed unless the smaller and medium-sized Member States join in. This is why I reject the term Franco-German axis. Axes have led to suffering for very many countries in Europe. Driving force is a good term, though. Germany and France still need to conduct intensive negotiations if the engine is really going to run at full power. This means not only agreeing on the headlines but also on the details. During her speech in Florence, UK Prime Minister Theresa May offered the EU an olive branch. Will you accept it? Juncker: I will gladly do so if there really are olives on it. Mrs Mays speech was indeed conciliatory. But we need flesh on the bones. Lesen Sie auch Is there not a risk that the EU, by being too tough in its negotiations with the UK, might damage EU-UK relations for the rest of the century? Juncker: While I fully recognise that the EUs future relationship with the UK is very important, the mandate that the European Council has given us for the negotiations is very clear: First we deal with the divorce, then we can talk about our future relations. I will stick to this mandate first the divorce questions, then we can see how the two sides can cooperate and remain good friends. The UK is trying to deal with both issues at once, but the rest of Europe is against this. Is the time for the Brexit negotiations not already running out? Should the deadline not be extended? Juncker: The Commission will probably not be able to report to the European Council in October that sufficient progress has been made on the divorce terms to enable us to enter phase two and discuss future EU-UK relations. This is unless something major happens before then. We are running late. This is because the UK took a year before delivering its Brexit notification to Brussels. In other words, the UK is to blame for the delay. British Prime Minister Theresa May (61) and the EU have hard Brexit negotiations ahead of them By insisting on dealing with the divorce first, isn't the EU imposing the law of the strongest? Juncker: No, we are not talking about the law of the strongest, but about the strength of the law! A condition of Article 50 Brexit means Brexit is that we first agree on the terms of the divorce and then, when we have separated, we see if we can half-lovingly find each other again. British cartoonists... Juncker stands up, goes behind his desk and holds up a framed cartoon, laughing. ... often portray you with an empty wine bottle or a full glass of wine. Does this damage your authority as President? Juncker: The British press has also claimed that my father and three of my uncles were rabid fascists and that they willingly joined the Wehrmacht. All four of them were victims of the Nazis and all of them came home injured from the war! The press also wrongly calls me a Euro-federalist, despite the fact I have always argued that nations are not some passing whim of history. The European Union will never develop if it is in conflict with the nations. I therefore do not feel that the cartoons, or particularly the articles, do me justice. What repercussions will the result of the referendum in Catalonia have for the EU? Juncker: The rule of law is a precious asset in Europe one that we must protect. We must respect our Member States constitutions, the judgments of the Spanish Constitutional Court and the opinion of the Spanish Parliament. However, if Catalonia were ever to break away from Spain in a way which complied with constitutional law, it would clearly no longer automatically remain part of the EU, as the Prodi Commission unequivocally stated back in 2004. The Bundestag elections weakened Angela Merkel politically. Will she be your successor as head of the Commission in 2019? Juncker: I do not think she has such plans, although I would have nothing against it. I would prefer that she remain Chancellor for a very long time. By the way, how many Heads of State or Government in Europe have a popularity rating of 32 percent? After twelve years as Chancellor, under difficult conditions, Angela Merkel still managed to make her party by far the largest grouping in the Bundestag. The international reaction to her relative success in the elections is: It is good she is still here!. You see respect, relief and expectation for her future resolve. PS: Sind Sie bei Facebook? Werden Sie Fan von BILD.de-Politik! For Immediate Release, October 2, 2017 Contact: Kristen Monsell, (510) 844-7137, kmonsell@biologicaldiversity.org Hearings Begin on Proposal for First Offshore Oil Project in Federal Arctic Waters Hilcorp's Liberty Project Risks Major Oil Spill in Polar Bear, Whale Habitat ANCHORAGE A series of hearings opens in Alaska today on a proposal by Hilcorp Alaska to build an artificial oil drilling island and underwater pipeline in the Beaufort Sea. If approved, Hilcorps Liberty would be the first offshore drilling development project in federal Arctic waters, where President Trump has called for more leasing to oil companies. The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups concerned about the possibility of major oil spills in this unforgiving environment will testify against the project at the Oct. 10 hearing in Anchorage. Giving us Liberty could give us the death of imperiled whales and polar bears. Conditions in the Arctic are brutal, and a major oil spill in this remote location would be impossible to clean up, said Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney with the Center. There are too many things that could go wrong with this project to take such a big risk. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold five public hearings on the Liberty Project Draft Environment Impact Statement from Oct. 2 through Oct. 10 and will accept written public comments until Nov. 18. The project involves construction of an 9.3-acre artificial island with a 24-acre footprint in about 20 feet of water and a 5.6-mile pipeline under Arctic waters to send the oil into onshore pipelines. Hilcorp took over management of the Liberty project from BP in 2014. The Alaska hearings are from 7-10 p.m. on Oct. 2 in Nuiqusut, Oct. 3 in Fairbanks, Oct. 4 in Kaktovik, Oct. 5 in Utquagvik/Barrow and Oct. 10 in Anchorage (in the Denaina Civic and Convention Center, 600 W. 7th St.). Details are at http://www.boem.gov/Hilcorp-Liberty. A real environmental disclosure would show theres no safe way to drill in the Arctic. Hilcorps track record of spills and safety violations offers another reason why Trump must reject this project , Monsell said. This is a bad deal for Alaskans and American taxpayers who will be paying the price for this project for generations to come. Background The projects environmental analysis predicts the project will cause at least 70 oil spills during its estimated 25-year lifetime. And if a blowout occurs, the project could result in a catastrophic spill of up to 4.6 million barrels of oil, about the same volume as the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. Rapidly changing conditions in the Arctic, which is warming at twice the global rate, create serious engineering challenges for this and other major infrastructure projects. Among the threats to Liberty outlined in project documents are land subsidence due to permafrost thaw and deep gouges from the sea ice that covers the area for most of the year. The environmental study says the project will harm fish, marine mammals, coastal birds, air and water quality and climate change. For example, the review finds that construction of the project could contribute to the injury and death of polar bears. The project would also destroy parts of the Boulder Patch, a unique series of underwater boulders and cobbles that supports the richest and most biologically diverse communities of aquatic life in the Beaufort Sea. Concerns about Hilcorps ability to build and manage the project were heightened earlier this year when its underwater gas pipeline in Alaskas Cook Inlet leaked for nearly four months because the company said the presence of sea ice prevented its repair. Hilcorp has been aggressively expanding its Alaska fossil fuel holdings, spending more than $3 million to lease 14 new Cook Inlet tracts in federal waters June. Hilcorp has also been the most heavily fined oil company in Alaska in recent years, with state regulators writing disregard for regulatory compliance is endemic to Hilcorp's approach to its Alaska operations. Hilcorp expects to extract about 167 million barrels of oil from the Liberty project. Drilling for and consuming that oil would result in about 64.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gas pollution being emitted into the atmosphere, worsening climate change. For Immediate Release, October 2, 2017 Contacts: Diana Dascalu-Joffe, Center for Biological Diversity, (720) 925-2521, ddascalujoffe@biologicaldiversity.org Dr. Brian Moench, UPHE, (801) 243-9089, drmoench@yahoo.com Gabby Brown, Sierra Club, (202) 495-3051, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org Trump's Utah Fracking Plan Challenged as Urgent Public Health Threat SALT LAKE CITY Conservation groups today challenged a Bureau of Land Management plan to lease 94,000 acres of public lands for fracking in Utahs Duchesne, Uintah and Emery counties a rural region with air quality as bad as Los Angeles due to decades of fossil fuel development. The administrative protest details the agencys failure to address how fracking will worsen pollution and threaten endangered species and public health in the area, as required by federal law. The Uintah Basins already choking on oil industry pollution, but the Trump administration is ignoring air quality in its rush to frack every square inch of public land, said Diana Dascalu-Joffe, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. This leasing plan disregards grave risks to public health and endangered species in favor of short-term profits for fossil fuel companies. Parcels to be auctioned in December are located in and near Utahs Uintah Basin, where ozone pollution already exceeds federal limits. The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to list the region as a non-attainment area this fall, which will require additional steps to control ozone. Fracking causes most of the basins ozone pollution, but the BLM has refused to analyze whether more fracking would exceed federal ozone standards, a requirement under the Clean Air Act. Health studies have linked ozone exposure to still births, premature death and other health problems. Air pollution studies have documented what can only be described as a pollution crisis created by the existing oil and gas activity in the Uinta Basin. A pollution crisis will inevitably lead to a public health crisis, and there is preliminary evidence that one may already be occurring with high rates of perinatal deaths in the Uinta Basin, said Dr. Brian Moench, president of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment. The health risks go well beyond ozone and particulate pollution. Although VOCs are not addressed by EPA national standards, they likely represent the greatest toxicity to the population, especially for infants and pregnant mothers. Under these circumstances, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment join many other groups in calling for an immediate suspension of new leasing in the Basin. The BLM failed to adequately analyze the greenhouse gas pollution that would result from more fracking or the impacts from that pollution. It also failed to ensure the protection of several endangered species, including the Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker and Mexican spotted owl. The Endangered Species Act requires the agency to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect those species from fracking. It is unacceptable that BLM is moving forward with this lease sale, ignoring concerns from Governor Herbert and the public, said Lena Moffitt, senior director of the Sierra Clubs Our Wild America Campaign. This land has incredible value to its residents and visitors, and allowing drilling to occur here would threaten the area's precious cultural and natural resources. This decision continues the Trump administrations attack on our national parks and public lands. Our parks and public lands are for Americans to enjoy and explore, not to be exploited for fossil fuel industry profits. Download a copy of the protest here. For Immediate Release, October 2, 2017 Contacts: Linda Krop or Alicia Roessler, Environmental Defense Center, (805) 963-1622, LKrop@EnvironmentalDefenseCenter.org; ARoessler@EnvironmentalDefenseCenter.org Charles Varni, Surfrider Foundation-SLO Chapter, (805) 459-6698, charles@varni.org Andrew Christie, Sierra Club-Santa Lucia Chapter, (805) 543-8717, sierraclub8@gmail.com Clare Lakewood, Center for Biological Diversity, (510) 844-7121, clakewood@biologicaldiversity.org Ross Hammond, Stand.earth, (415) 559-5082, ross@stand.earth Shana Lazerow, Communities for a Better Environment, (510) 302-0430, slazerow@cbecal.org Phillips 66 Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Denial of Rail Spur Project Environmental Groups Celebrate Final Victory in Protecting the California Coast From Dangerous Oil Trains SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. Environmental groups rejoiced as Phillips 66 agreed to dismiss its lawsuit challenging the denial of its proposed Rail Spur Project by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors. The dismissal means that the Countys denial stands, and Phillips will not be able to import heavy tar sands crude by rail car to its refinery near Nipomo in southern San Luis Obispo County. Phillips agreement to dismiss its lawsuit came as the company was facing a motion to dismiss from a coalition of environmental groups, as well as the County of San Luis Obispo, based on the fact that Phillips had failed to appeal the Countys denial to the California Coastal Commission. The Countys denial of the Phillips oil train project will stand, and our coast and communities will be spared the risks of dangerous explosions and horrific rail accidents, proclaimed Linda Krop, Chief Counsel for the Environmental Defense Center, which represented several of the groups involved in the litigation. This victory is important for several reasons - for stopping dangerous oil trains, protecting coastal habitats, and upholding the integrity of the Countys extensive decisionmaking process." This is a win for the citizens, environment, and economy of California, said Andrew Christie, Director of the Sierra Clubs Santa Lucia Chapter. In addition to removing the threat of all the well-documented hazards of this project, this decision thwarts the oil company's attempt to avoid the legal protections for environmentally sensitive habitats, one of the central pillars of the California Coastal Act. Californias environmental justice communities are disproportionately at risk from derailment or explosions of tank cars carrying explosive crude oil. The Countys rejection of this crude project goes a long way to addressing that risk, and we see it as a victory and a shining example for other decisionmakers who need to stand tall and say no to dangerous projects, said Andres Soto, organizer for Communities for a Better Environment. The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors denied the project on March 29, 2017. Phillips then filed a lawsuit, alleging that the County had improperly determined that environmentally sensitive habitat areas (ESHA) existed on the project site. Impacts to ESHA were cited by the County as one of many reasons Phillips application was denied. Because the project is in the coastal zone, however, Phillips was required to appeal the Countys action to the Coastal Commission before resorting to court. The County received comments and petitions from more than 25,000 Californians opposed to the Phillips Rail Spur project, and letters from more than 45 cities, counties, and school boards urging the County to deny the crude-by-rail proposal. If built, the Phillips 66 rail terminal would have allowed more than 7 million gallons of crude oil to be shipped via rail to its local refinery each week, and made it possible for Phillips 66 to refine volatile and carbon-intensive tar sands crude from Canada. Tar sands crude, when prepared for transport, is thinned with an unstable blend of chemicals that have been known to explode in derailment incidents, which have become increasingly frequent in recent years. Trains servicing the Phillips 66 project would have traveled from the north and south through hundreds of major California cities and smaller communities, including Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Davis, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Jose. These trains also would have jeopardized numerous ecologically sensitive areas including the San Francisco Bay and California's iconic central coast. "This is a proud day for the thousands of Californians who stood up to Phillips 66 and said "NO" to its proposed crude oil train terminal in San Luis Obispo County," said Charles Varni, STOP Climate Change Coordinator for San Luis Obispo Surfrider Foundation Chapter. He went on to add, "Across the western states we see grassroots movements challenging the fossil infrastructure and the last efforts of the fossil lobby to make more billions in profits regardless of harm to our health and planet. This victory is a symbol of what science based environmental impact analysis and enlightened citizen activism can accomplish." From California to Washington, citizens along the West Coast are standing up to Big Oils reckless plans to endanger our communities with risky projects and were winning, said Ross Hammond, U.S. Campaigns Director at Stand.earth. As the impacts of climate change are increasingly being felt locally, citizens are realizing that standing up to greedy fossil fuel companies must start at the local level, too. This is a huge victory for San Luis Obispo and the hundreds of communities along the rail line whose public health and safety would have been severely threatened by this increase in explosive oil trains traveling next to their homes, schools, and waterways. "Communities in San Luis Obispo and across California can rest easier knowing that Phillips 66 will not be allowed to put people and wildlife at risk from these dangerous oil trains," said Andres Sheikh, Clean Energy Campaign Fellow at the Center for Biological Diversity. "This great outcome is a testament to the power of people standing up for whats right, and putting public health and local communities ahead of pollution and profits. The Webby Awards launched its 22nd annual call for entries introducing a slate of new categories and judges in both machine learning and gaming. The early entry deadline for all categories is Friday, 27 October 2017. David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards Webby Awards website Some of the leading authorities on AI and machine learning are now members of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS) judging panel this year, including Facebooks director of AI Research, Yann LeCun, Amazon CTO Werner Vogels, Googles Gradient Ventures founder and managing partner Anna Patterson, CyPhy Works and iRobot co-founder Helen Greiner, Prisma-AI founder Alexey Moiseenkov, and Roam Analytics co-chief scientist and co-founder, Andrew Maas. The Webby Awards also added some of the biggest names in games to the judging panel to select this years new Games category winners, including pioneers like Niantic/Pokemon Go founder and CEO John Hanke, Playmatics founder and CEO Margaret Wallace, Kill Screen founder Jamin Warren, president of the Higher Education Video Game Alliance and former White House gaming advisor Constance Steinkuehler, TinyCo co-founder Suli Ali, Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer, and top gamer, Anne Munition. As our online experiencesfrom e-commerce to games to social mediahave become increasingly more dynamic, its important to acknowledge just how sophisticated and complex the technology is that powers nearly everything we do on the Internet, said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. These innovations demand recognition and were thrilled to celebrate the creative and visionary Internet work that continues to push the boundaries of what is possible. New categories With virtual assistants and chatbots replacing human interactions for simple tasks, and automated recommendations dictating what consumers watch, listen to, read, purchase, and communicate with, the impact of automation and machine learning on the daily lives of consumers is more significant than ever. The Webby Awards and newly recruited AI experts will recognise the transformative impact of these new technologies, with new categories this year honouring excellence in machine learning, messaging/bots, and augmented reality, among others. Likewise, a new suite of honours for games was introduced this year to celebrate the full range of creative and technical achievements across the gaming experiencefrom art direction and visual design, to user experience and musicon mobile, handheld, in-browser, and VR platforms. Past standout Webby Award-winning games that continue to drive the industry and internet forward include the wildly popular Pokemon Go, Monument Valley, Cut the Rope, Angry Birds, and Two Dots. The Academy also announced new members and Webby judges, including social entrepreneur and CNN contributor Van Jones, Lyft CEO and co-founder Logan Green, Airbnb CMO Jonathan Mildenhall, Actor Gillian Anderson, Rent the Runway co-founder Jen Hyman, Glossier Founder Emily Weiss, HBO chief digital officer Diane Tryneski, PopSugar founder and president Lisa Sugar, Merriam-Webster chief digital officer and publisher Lisa Schneider, and GE chief creative officer Andy Goldberg. Podcasting fans will recognise new Webby judges in that discipline, such as Missing Richard Simmons host Dan Taberski, Longest Shortest Time host Hillary Frank, Hidden Brain host Shankar Vedantam, the Nancy Podcast co-host Kathy Tu, and Pineapple Street Media founder Jenna Weiss-Berman. Media company with most wins will be recognised Also new this year is a formal Webby Award recognition for Media Company of the Year, honouring the media company with the most wins across editorial and branded content categories. With the explosion of dedicated in-house and brand content studios, media companies have found the key to developing sophisticated advertiser content that complements traditional editorial platforms. Past Webby Award-winning media companies include Vice Media, BuzzFeed, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Conde Nast, The New York Times, HBO, and BBC. The early entry deadline to submit work for Webby Award consideration is Friday, 27 October 2017. Entrants can submit work across categories including: Websites, Film & Video, Advertising, Media & PR, Mobile Sites & Apps, Social, Podcasts & Digital Audio, and new this year, Games. In 2016, The Webby Awards received 13,000 entries from all 50 U.S. states and 70 countries worldwide, capping off the biggest celebration of the innovators, entertainers, and visionaries on the internet last year. This years entrants will have the chance to join past Webby Winners like Spotify (Best Streaming Audio), The Womens March (Social Movement of the Year), Internet Archive (Lifetime Achievement), Apple (Best User Experience), Vice (Best Cultural Website), Game of Thrones (Best Social Presence), HBO Now (Best Streaming Video), Gimlet Media (Drama), Tyler Oakley (Best Web Personality), and Girls creators and Lenny Letter founders Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner. All entries compete for the Webby Award (as voted on by IADAS) and the Webby Peoples Voice Award (as voted online by the fans). Last year, more than 850,000 internet fans from more than 240 countries and territories around the world cast their votes. For more information on the Awards and to enter, click here. With an increase in boutique coffee shops, edgy cafes and creative eateries, the hospitality industry is becoming increasingly competitive for the millennial generation. Budding entrepreneurs, however, should not be discouraged. In the UK the coffee shop market has enjoyed its biggest period of growth since 2008 with the market rising by 37 percent over the past five years, up from 2.4bn in 2011 to 3.4bn last year. By following the steps below, entrepreneurs will give themselves the best possible chance of long term success. Cathy Yeulet via 123RF 1. Choosing your location Location is everything, and one of the main reasons for this is the cost. You will need to consider whether it is more cost-effective to rent or buy the property. Also research the marketplace, who else is offering catering in the area, look at their menu, prices and services. You may even consider buying a van if the location turns out to be a drawback, you can always move. Tip: Count the traffic volume in an hour during different times of the day. 2. Adapt the space to suit your needs Each company has its own image, and you have an amazing opportunity of changing the interior layout and decor to suit your image to perfection. You should think about the key areas of the property, and where each one is best placed from a functional perspective. With free websites like Autodesk Homestyler, you can start designing your floor from scratch. Tip: Make sure that you are catering for any customers who want to take food away rather than eating in. If you are running a coffee shop, offer discount to customers who use their own travel mugs. 3. Acquire eco-friendly high-quality equipment There are lots of things you will need to purchase when starting a catering business. Look for savings where you can but make sure the equipment you are choosing is reliable. Keep an eye-out for refurbished items, or items being sold from businesses in other locations that have closed. Tip: You can find end of the line or refurbished equipment for cheap 4. Consider your menu and manage waste The food and drink that you serve can make a huge difference to your clientele. Although you may wish to cover all bases, its better to have a small and select offering at first while you are setting up, so choose items that are simple and in season. There are schemes whereby small businesses can have their food waste collected and diverted away from landfill. Tip: Know plenty of information about the food you offer on your menu because people are interested, and they will ask! 5. Get to know your suppliers The suppliers you use are incredibly important, as it means you can be sure of good value, high quality products at all times. To help with this, you need to develop a good relationship with the suppliers that you use. Tip: If you havent yet chosen who to use, its a good idea to chat to other local business owners in a similar situation, as they will be able to tell you whos good and more importantly whos not. 6. Promote your business before opening The chances of huge numbers of people just dropping by your establishment are low however the modern age of social media gives you a great chance to advertise before your big opening day. There is also a lot to be said for using more traditional media such as radio and TV many local stations will be free to advertise on, so it is worth thinking about. Tip: You could try running a competition offering a free drink on opening day, for example, and people will share your posts and therefore spread the word. 7. Test your business before you open There may be a lot of attention on your business on the actual day of opening, so if there are going to be any issues, its important that these are ironed out well in advance. This should be done well before your opening, to give you the chance to change anything that might be needed as a result of the feedback that you are given. Tip: It is a good idea to invite a small group of friends or family for a practice evening, so that you can run as if you were open, and then gather feedback at the end. 8. Make sure people want to come back If your customers dont have the best possible experience every time they visit you, there is always the chance that they choose not to come back, and to go elsewhere the next time they are looking for somewhere to eat or drink in the local area. Not only does good service make people more likely to come back Tip: Set-up a form of loyalty scheme. This could be something like collecting coffee stamps, and having each 5th coffee free. Hopefully, when they visit they bring along different people each time, too, and this serves to spread the word even further. Carat Sub-Saharan Africa is thrilled to announce that after a rigorous pitch process, The Coca-Cola Company has selected the agency to lead the media planning, strategy and buying for the brand. Dentsu Aegis Network, together with Carat, displayed their strength of collaboration in their cross-capability, with support from, iProspect, Posterscope, Isobar, Amnet, Amplifi, the data experts and the vital input from the global team to ensure that a winning vision was carried throughout. A strong regional presence brought through a united team across 15 markets namely; Burundi, Congo, DRC, Rwanda, Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, Comoros, Mayotte, Seychelles, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso with the regional hub in Kenya. This appointment is a testament to the strong global relationship between Dentsu Aegis Network and The Coca-Cola Company in the following countries: Japan, China, Spain, Turkey, The Nordics, Ghana, Germany, Brazil and the US. Dawn Rowlands, CEO for Dentsu Aegis Network Sub-Saharan Africa, commented: We are extremely excited for the opportunity to innovate, one of the biggest brands globally. Our team are eager to collaborate and disrupt the media marketplace, to harness unique opportunities, for the brand. We are committed to continuing to expand upon our mobile, data first approach with our unique ability to balance both global and local consumer needs. AGT Foods and RADA personnel recently set off for Thata Kematla orphanage and Vuyiswa, a home for mentally and physically disabled people, in Orange Farm to deliver 100kg of green pea chips and 40kg of potato granules. George Tomazos, AGT Foods (left) and Kate Buchanan, RADA (right) Added to this, AGT Foods also donated 500kg of ePap - an instant precooked nutrient dense porridge. With a track record of 17 years of making a difference to communities in 15 countries, ePap is a whole food that has vitamins and minerals that the body can absorb and use. RADA is an acronym for rape, alcohol, drug and abuse. It is a registered non-profit company that is trying to combat these addictions and atrocities. The company also plans to build comprehensive renewal centres in South African cities to begin with and eventually in cities around the world. RADA is working very closely with communities in Orange Farm. It currently cares for 40 children at Thata Kematla orphanage as well as 80 people at Vuyiswa. Provision of raw food ingredients Said George Tomazos of AGT Foods Retail & Food Ingredients, AGT has long been a generous donor of food and other products to reliable organisations. When the company was approached by RADA for assistance, we were happy to commit to providing raw food ingredients from our wide range of pulses, grains, seeds, flours and pea protein. We make green pea chips by splitting whole green peas into three or four pieces. Split peas are highly beneficial for your health. They are high in fibre, protein, as well as various vitamins and minerals but low in fats. They are commonly used to make split pea soup and can be added to stews. Potato granules are a fine powder that is mixed with boiling water to yield a food similar in texture and taste to mashed potatoes. The production process involves peeling, cooking and drying potatoes. This is easy to make and a filling food that can be enjoyed by the residents. The annual South African Council of Shopping Centres' Legacy Awards give credit to trailblazers leaving their mark within the retail and shopping centre industry. Industry professionals are nominated by SACSC members each year. The SACSC Board of Directors then deliberate and elect the winners for the respective categories: Young Achiever and Industry Pioneer. Young Achiever Award Brett Abrahamse, CEO of Terrace Africa, walked away with the Young Achiever Award, which acknowledges the under 40's in the industry whom in a short period of time have achieved much in their career. After completing his BCom Honours degree, Abrahamse took up a position at Liberty Properties/Stanlib as business development manager for the property portfolio. He parted ways with Liberty Properties/Stanlib in 2011 and founded Terrace Africa, of which he is a director and owner. He started Terrace Africa and API Events at the age of just 28-years-old and is responsible for the strategic commercial direction and scaling of the Terrace Africa footprint and influence in the African countries. It was an honour to receive the award and to be nominated by my industry peers. Our retail development success has been built on strong tenant relationships, a passionate team and a straightforward business model which allows flexibility for each country we invest in. Finding ways to reduce the cost of development without influencing shopper and tenant experience is our key objective! Building a business in Africa takes hard work and much sacrifice; we are proud of what we have achieved as a team and look forward to growing our portfolio over the coming years," he said. Industry Pioneer Award Vice chairman of Shoprite Holdings, James 'Whitey' Basson, claimed this year's Industry Pioneer Award, which identifies front-runners who bring innovation and forward-thinking to the industry, leaving a legacy upon which the next generation can successfully build. Basson is the former MD and chief executive of Shoprite Holdings Ltd, the largest food retailer in Africa with a turnover of more than R130 billion for the year ended June 2016. Throughout Bassons leadership of the Group, spanning 37 years, he persisted with his dream to expand even further on the African continent. On 31 October 2016, he announced that he would be retiring as CEO at the end of that year but remained available to management for a further period of nine months thereafter, and will continue to serve on the Shoprite Holdings board as non-executive vice-chairman to ensure an orderly leadership transition. Bassons decision to retire brought to a close a remarkable career of nearly 45 years, virtually all of which was spent with Shoprite, in which the business grew from a small eight-store chain with a value of R1 million to a globally respected retailer with a market capitalisation of R114 billion, with 2,653 outlets in 15 countries across Africa and on Indian Oceans islands and over 140,000 employees. Amanda Stops, SACSC CEO, said she was happy to see the marks left by these two achievers. Each year the Legacy Awards celebrate industry achievers who are truly leaving legacies and paving the way for new generations to walk in their footsteps. It is important to acknowledge these achievers and showcase their hard work to the industry at large. I would like to congratulate both Brett and James on their achievements, she said. Just like any other perishable food industry, the South African dairy industry today faces many challenges in the food safety discipline, whether upstream or downstream in the value chain. These challenges go beyond what was perceived in the past, as little or no real threats were experienced. Pixabay via Pexels Food fraud, globally imported raw materials that may be contaminated, inadequate and unsafe water supply, animal disease control, chemical residues in milk, multidrug-resistant micro-organisms and spore-forming heat-stable bacteria that produce enzymes, are aspects of which the economic risks are often miscalculated. To add, the inability of government parastatals to fulfil their constitutional obligations places even more significant emphasis on what is considered necessary to uphold a thriving dairy industry from a food safety perspective. These concerns are real and lapses in control will evidently allow regulators abroad to stop imports of our products for purely food safety reasons or for broader motives. High national priority Many countries today declare food security as a high national priority of which food safety is a mere component. Having a strong domestic dairy industry is surely judged a better route to food security than importing the perfect product, especially from companies that may sometimes decline to supply less favoured customers if there is a supply shortage. Today modern dairy farming strives to produce milk of high quality, but farming practices evolve, sometimes bringing with them unforeseen and adverse quality consequences to milk itself. For example, for decades, in parts of South Africa cattle have been grazed mainly on pasture, with supplementary feed such as baled hay and grass silage in winter. However, it is now common practice for farmers to store plastic encased bales. This is an anaerobic environment in which spore-forming, heat-stable bacteria can grow. If such bacteria enter milk, they will be transported to a processing plant and can gain entry, surviving most heat treatments. They may be able to colonise within fouling films that can build up on milk-contact surfaces and ultimately contaminate the product. Another example is the use of palm kernel expeller (PKE) as supplementary feed, a waste product of the palm oil business, made and stored in uncontrolled environments which can also be a great haven for spore-forming bacteria or toxin-producing moulds. Although it is often claimed that the threat to milk from such feed is negligible, common sense still requires the most vigilant certification and testing. Analytical detection methods Increased use of feeding pads and housing systems can also potentially provide more opportunity for disease organisms to pass between animals in a herd than in the past. Subsequently, we cannot assume that some new way of doing things on the farm will have no effect on milk. That will require demonstration by means of modern analytical detection methods sensitive enough to detect even low amounts of chemicals, posing a threat to animal and human health. It is of little comfort to consumers who are increasingly wary of official reassurances, that the concentration of any regulated chemical is well below a certain prescribed limit. Dairy companies in South Africa cannot assume that the development and approval of processes for new agricultural chemicals will ensure zero contaminants in milk. Needless to say, the dairy industry will need to increase their active participation in the interface between farm practices and milk quality. And they need to be scanning for new threats looming in future. As the threat posed by raw material has increased, so too has the threat posed from within dairy product processing. Twenty years ago, bacteria were considered planktonic free floating. They came in with milk and we either killed or removed them, or they were in the finished product. Biofilm hazards Now we realise the size of the hazard posed by biofilms, a consortium of bacteria that cluster on process surfaces and grow, later to be shed into the product. If the biofilm sheds bacterial spores, these are unlikely to be killed downstream. In dairy processes, the major heat treatment is usually early and most surfaces do not provide favourable growth conditions for pathogens. Instead spoilage organisms grow as some process surfaces in dairy plants are at or near 37C for extended periods. While pathogen growth is of more obvious concern, the growth of non-pathogenic spoilage bacteria can have serious economic consequences in downgraded or rejected products, or in spoilage effects that may show up in the market as flavour defects and shortened shelf lives of even ultra-high temperature dairy products, for example, gelation and flocculation. Over the past decades, dairy processes have changed dramatically. Plants are widely spread in South Africa and raw milk is often transported over much longer distances. Modern equipment with large product contact surface areas, operating for long hours very efficiently, are common. Processes provide vast amounts of surface for biofilms to grow and, therefore, surface areas that must be cleaned thoroughly, not to be affected by the accumulation of a combination of organic boundary layers and microbes on process surfaces. Computer-controlled plants As our dairy processes gain in size, they also become more computer-controlled and increasingly complex. Gone are the days when operators interacted manually with process and product. The larger dairy factories are massive, operated by a small staff over long shifts, typically twelve hours. Operators do not see the product. They must discern the health of the plant and product from control screens. But what happens if pathogens enter these highly engineered systems? What happens if it is a bacterial strain or species not reported previously? New pathogenic strains of old organisms are indeed arising every few years and challenging a dairy companys food safety regimes. As our dairy products become more complex and incorporate more ingredients from other sources, which add further potential sources of contamination and complicate backtracing, the more the industry needs to prepare itself for new and unknown threats. But how well is the South African dairy industry currently placed to spot food safety challenges coming over the radar and to deal with them? Food safety In principle, the industry has a risk management based food-safety approach in place. It has good laboratories. It does good environmental monitoring. It has the ability to deal with the challenges from pathogens such as Salmonella and Listeria. Generally speaking the food culture, especially among the larger dairy processors and manufacturers, is strong. This means is that most large plants have a sound food safety record. The same, however, is not true in terms of the sale of unpasteurised packed and retail bulk milk as well as pasteurised retail bulk milk which, although of little significance in terms of the bulk of milk, is sold as fresh milk in the country. Overall, the picture is of a highly competent industry, but one which can expect new and different threats in future that it may not yet be fully prepared for, philosophically or systemically. There is a good deal to commend the food safety system and the self-regulatory initiatives established in the supply chain that the South African dairy businesses have built. In this case, the risk-based approach is playing a key role. Risk-based culture Well run companies with vested top management interest, are much more able to find and fix the extremely great number of small food safety issues that can arise, than a visiting auditor or law enforcer. A sound, risk-based food safety culture instilled in all employees, designed into the plant and coupled with the necessary knowledge, systems and support is definitely the right way to go. The major resource is best invested in a risk-based proactive position and not reactive. Yes, there is always a place for finished product testing both for process control and for regulatory assurance purposes. But this ambulance at the bottom of the cliff approach has its limitations. Overall, it is conceded that the self-initiated South African dairy industry food safety assurance systems have made good progress up to today. But is this good enough from what is required to prevent a train crash in future? One challenge stands out above all that there is a definite need for continuous change from a general reactive to a proactive approach to be able to face current challenges and, even more, those of the future. Six particularly appealing 'pinks' have been shortlisted in the inaugural Pinotage Rose Competition. The competition is being introduced by the Pinotage Association to benchmark and award exceptional wines over and above the single-varietal Pinotages and Cape Blends for which South Africa is famous. Pinotage Rose award Glass Rose is an exciting wine style with huge appeal, says Beyers Truter, chair of the Pinotage Association. Producers see great potential in the further growth of this category and are sure that the new competition will be even more fiercely contested in years to come. The winning wineries will receive their awards on 4 October at a presentation to be held at the Overture Restaurant of Hidden Valley Wines in the Helderberg, Stellenbosch. The finalists Asara Vineyard Collection Pinotage Rose 2017 - WO Stellenbosch Delheim Worth the Journey Pinotage Rose 2017 - WO Stellenbosch Kanonkop Kadette Pinotage Rose Dry 2017 - WO Stellenbosch Painted Wolf The Den Pinotage Rose 2017 - WO Paarl Riebeek Cellars Pinotage Rose 2017 - WO Swartland Rooiberg Pinotage Rose 2017 - WO Robertson Cabinet has endorsed the appointment of an interim board at the Umgeni Water Board in order "to stabilise the governance issues" at SA's second largest water utility. The interim board will assume control "while the minister is expediting the process to appoint the fully fledged Umgeni Water Board," the Cabinet said in a statement on Friday, 29 September, on the decisions taken at its meeting on Wednesday. The Umgeni Water Board has an annual turnover of more than R2.4bn and a capital expenditure budget for the next five years of more than R7bn. It has R1.5bn in listed bonds in issue. Instability at the board has been of concern to investors, particularly asset manager Futuregrowth. Cabinet was briefed on the discussions the Department of Water and Sanitation was having with its investors. The following individuals have been appointed to the interim board: Ziphozethu Mathenjwa (chairperson); Nompumelelo Chamane; Visvin Reddy; David Dikoko; Zodwa Manase; Tshidi Hatashe and Midiavhathu Tshivhase. Futuregrowth recently raised the alarm over governance at the Umgeni Water Board, which was left without a permanent CEO or a board after Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane dissolved it at the end of June. All major decisions including procurement were left in the hands of acting CEO Thami Hlongwa, and had to be taken "in conjunction" with Mokonyane. Futuregrowth chief investment officer Andrew Canter previously said the asset manager had been engaging with the management for the past 10 months on governance matters. He said governance lapses and the decision to fire the board could jeopardise the state-owned utility's ability to raise financing. Canter said the Umgeni Water Board required a fully functioning board, and that Futuregrowth and the market would be keeping close watch "to confirm that the selection process is transparent and that the new board is appropriately skilled and qualified". Source: BDpro The value of some Cape Town residential property has nearly doubled in the last seven years with, in many cases, a 10.5% per annum average increase in value. Some people, says Rowan Alexander, director of Alexander Swart Property, are now saying that Cape Town homes are overpriced. However, he says, those coming from the UK or Europe to buy a suburban house here are staggered at how inexpensive our properties still are: on the current exchange rates, they are often able to get homes in Cape Town at 15-20% of what they would pay back home. Looking at this matter in a worldwide context, says Alexander, one has to realise that Europe and the UK have had a highly active property market for well over 500 years whereas our property market is less than 100 years old. It is so young that we have only recently begun experiencing what the First World has witnessed for centuries, i.e. greatly increased values caused by rapid influxes of people to the urban areas. I know that South Africas big cities have seen this trend for some time but we are still in fact in the early stages of the densification that has led to the central precincts of the big cities New York, London, Paris, Berlin, etc. reaching astronomical price levels, with concomitant spinoffs for the suburbs surrounding them. Densification of peripheral, suburban areas Alexander believes that much South African property is undervalued because, he says, if you accept that our major cities will inevitably follow the same trends as those elsewhere, they will continue to densify and although this may cause slum areas in certain precincts, in others CBD property values will rise exponentially and this, in turn, will lead to further densification of the peripheral and suburban areas. In Cape Town, says Alexander, the city council already encourages the densification of those suburbs lying within relatively easy commuting distance of the CBD and certain developers, such as Rawsons, have been able to cash in on this and build multi-unit apartment blocks where previously there were only houses on separate plots. In the long run, the price trend will continue to rise upwards, says Alexander, because of increased demand for urban and peri-urban space and ongoing densification. We cannot simply spread out interminably: we will continue to consolidate and this consolidation will make all those areas affected and those near to them more and more valuable. The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute's 2017 report, The entrepreneurial ecosystem of South Africa , states that while bottlenecks do exist, such as large-firm dominance, cultural perceptions of entrepreneurship, and structural inequality, evidence suggests that several targeted actions could address key bottlenecks and further improve the entrepreneurship ecosystem in South Africa. It is within this unfolding environment that the Tsogo Sun Entrepreneurs programme was established in 2005, to contribute to employment creation, and towards the growth of the South African economy. The programme comprehensively supports emerging businesses in the tourism sector and other industries throughout the country. Development programmes for entrepreneurs Tsogo Sun Entrepreneurs holds an annual Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur of the Year Award competition for entrepreneurs and alumni benefitting from the development programme this year, two hundred were eligible to enter. From left to right: Devina Dawkinum, Ronnie Nemukula, Noli Mini, Hezron Louw, Nicole Msibi and Nqobile Nkosi Five 2017 finalists were selected, which include Devina Dawkinum, Gemkids Catch-up Programme, from KwaZulu-Natal; Hezron Louw, Sumting Fresh restaurant and gourmet street food, Gauteng; Nicole Msibi, Before Time Indlondlo Events, catering and events equipment and decor hire, Gauteng; Noli Mini, Relax Spas mobile health spa company, Western Cape; and Ronnie Nemukula, Ronem Maintenance Solutions, engineering services in construction, repairs and maintenance, Mpumalanga. Candy Tothill, Tsogo Suns general manager of corporate affairs, congratulated the finalists and wished them luck for the next stage of judging, which will be done by a panel of influential South Africans in business and society, who will rate the finalists using a process that evaluates business performance, self-confidence, presentation, professionalism, knowledge, and overall impression. Mapping the future for success Our finalists represent a diverse range of businesses and come from four different provinces, illustrating the growing reach and impact of our entrepreneurs programme. It is encouraging to see the innovative and industrious methods that they have employed to succeed in their businesses in these challenging economic times, and we are excited to be able to give them this wonderful Tsogo Sun Entrepreneurs Award platform which promises to place them squarely on the map for future success. Our far-reaching national enterprise and supplier development initiatives provide business and leadership skills, various business benefits such as equipment and advertising, and preferential procurement opportunities to qualifying predominantly black-owned small enterprises and emerging micro-enterprises. As far as possible, the percentage of black-owned businesses supported is aligned with the countrys economically active population statistics, says Tothill. Of the enrolled Tsogo Sun Entrepreneurs, 63% have successfully completed University of Cape Town Business Management Courses presented in collaboration with education company, GetSmarter, co-funded by programme partner Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Tsogo Sun. The value of the programme is significant to the entrepreneurs, to the group, and to the greater economy. He adds that 25% of the businesses enrolled in the programme have expanded their operations as a result of Tsogo Suns interventions and that each small business employs between one and 50 staff, and reaches up to 30 people in the value chain. The programme showcases good work by the entrepreneurs, while also assisting participants with skills development and exposure to the markets that Tsogo Sun serves; and it helps them build self-confidence and success. Its a worthwhile programme that empowers entrepreneurs to hold their own in the business world, says Vusi Dlamini, Tsogo Suns group HR director. The 2017 winner will be announced at the Tsogo Sun Entrepreneur of the Year Awards dinner on 26 October at Southern Sun Pretoria. Prizes for the winner include R50,000 from Tsogo Sun and a bursary valued at R30,000 from Tsheto Leadership Academy. Fastjet's reinstatement of its route between Johannesburg and Victoria Falls has seen significant positive movement in bookings. The route was temporarily suspended during the carrier's stabilisation plan implementation period but relaunched at the end of July. Demand for more affordable travel has increased substantially as Fastjet's South African traffic continues to grow along with international connecting travel. According to reports published in Zimbabwe, tourism to the resort town has seen 21% year-on-year growth, with increased with increased air traffic coupled with last years $150m airport upgrade counted as significant contributing factors. Travel to Victoria Falls sees positive jump Interest by South Africans in visiting Victoria Falls has also seen a positive jump. While reports show a decline in inbound tourism from the region, anecdotal evidence and trade feedback suggests that the Falls now rank amongst the top three future African destinations for South Africans, keeping company with Zanzibar," says Fastjet spokesperson Hein Kaiser. Weekend getaway travel also continues to grow as more affordable accommodation options become available in the resort town. International traffic to Victoria Falls is also up with Zimbabwean media reporting growth from American, German, French, Australian and Japanese inbound markets. Beyond its natural wonder, Victoria Falls is a gateway to adventure holidays and near incredible wildlife destinations. Our focus is on growing connecting traffic into the Falls as well as growing the South African outbound market to Victoria Falls, adds Kaiser. Supporting Zimbabwe opening its skies Fastjet has welcomed Zimbabwe's Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Patrick Chinamasa's announcement that Zimbabwe is opening its skies to any airline that wants to fly as many times as possible. This is very good news for Zimbabwe, says Fastjet Zimbabwe spokesperson Faith Chaitezvi, and Fastjet intends to grow its network over time to enable affordable inbound and domestic travel for everyone. She adds that flights between Bulawayo and Harare are at the top of Fastjets agenda along with plans to fly to other areas of the country as the airlines fleet grows. The carrier plans to engage with authorities as soon as this week to shape plans. Fastjet intends to serve both inbound connecting traffic as well as promote domestic travel as our destinations in Zimbabwe grow. In support of Zimbabwe, Fastjet intends to play a growing role in promoting tourism into Zimbabwe as well as regional and domestic affordable travel. The airline is presently running a campaign in South Africa to further promote regional tourism to Zimbabwe and recently implemented an interline agreement with Emirates whereby connecting traffic from Harare should increase onward travel to new and existing Fastjet destinations. Fastjet will work with all role players to build positively on the significant impact that open skies hold for the Zimbabwean economy. In other markets where open skies have been implemented, economic benefits have included substantial growth in tourism, economic activity and job creation. Tsogo Sun's new R700m, dual-brand, 19-storey hotel in Cape Town's CBD recently celebrated its official opening with the Director General of Tourism, Victor Tharage, delivering the keynote address, speeches by Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille and Premier Helen Zille, and many other local dignitaries and celebrities in attendance. SunSquare and StayEasy Cape Town City Bowl hotels (Image Supplied) The development incorporates two economy hotels, the select service SunSquare Cape Town City Bowl with 202 bedrooms and StayEasy Cape Town City Bowl with 302 bedrooms, bringing the total number of rooms operated by the group in the city centre to over 2,000, spread across six hotels. SunSquare Cape Town City Bowl Standard Room (Image Supplied) Jacques Booysen, Group CEO of Tsogo Sun, says: Cape Town has become a globally-competitive business and leisure destination and tourism to the city is growing. Just last year, according to Cape Town Tourism, over half a million visitors arrived in Cape Town by air, representing an 8% year-on-year increase. Of these visitors, close on 84,500 were international visitors, which was a strong 29% increase on the previous year. The numbers say it all and we were convinced that the City Bowl would be an excellent location for a major investment, particularly as this is the first large-scale new build in the Cape Town city centre for some years. The Cape Town City Bowl is an ideal location for easy access to innumerable attractions, as well as the now world-renowned Bree Street, which has overtaken other areas as Cape Towns coolest strip when it comes to eating opportunities according to EatOut.co.za. The new dual-brand hotel is located on the corners of Bree, Strand and Buitengracht, offering convenient access to the beautiful surroundings, the vibrant restaurant district, Table Mountain Cable Way, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town Stadium, and Cape Town International Convention Centre. The value of major investment in the sector Director General of Tourism, Victor Tharage, welcomed the new development: It is very encouraging for tourism and our economy as a whole when the private sector, in this case the Tsogo Sun group, recognises the value of major investment in this sector. Tourism contributes about 3% to the nations economy and through its growth, it adds value to the lives of many South Africans. Tsogo Sun is to be congratulated on its policy of continual investment in our cities and in its properties. This new hotel complex is providing affordable offerings for business and leisure travellers in a highly sought-after location, which will encourage visitor growth and contribute to job creation in the tourism sector. He adds that one in every 22 people who are employed in South Africa works in the tourism sector, which is about 4,5% of the total workforce. Responding to a growth trend in the mid-market hotel sector Booysen says that the development of two economy hotels opens access to a wider market sector as previously four- and five-star hotels were predominant in the area. These two hotels have been developed in response to a growth trend in the mid-market hotel sector in South Africa and offer excellent style and functionality, representing the next generation of room design in this category for Tsogo and offering superb accommodation, great location and good pricing. He emphasises the vital importance of innovation across the board in the groups offering to ensure that we can deliver what customers want in style and product. The new hotel - apart from the traditional The SunSquare hotel has five banqueting and conference venues, the largest of which caterers for up to 140 delegates; a fitness centre; a trendy Vigour & Verve casual dining offering; and the 14 Stories Rooftop Bar and pool with a spectacular vista of panoramic views that include the harbour, Lions Head, Signal Hill, Table Mountain, and the stadium. SunSquare Cape Town City Bowl -14 Stories Rooftop Bar (Images Supplied) Vigour & Verve in SunSquare Cape Town City Bowl Apart from the traditional offering in Tsogo Suns Vigour & Verve restaurants around the country, a special section has been developed especially for the new SunSquare City Bowl restaurant, featuring authentic specialities from the region the way they were prepared by our ancestors such as uitpak slaai; pickled fish; traditional Cape Malay lamb bobotie; wood-fired peri-peri chicken featuring Portuguese and African flavours; classic fish and chips; butter chicken; lamb shank and more. The StayEasy hotel has a dedicated breakfast restaurant and offers access to all the facilities on the complex. The project also includes undercover parking for 300 vehicles. Anticipating a strong end-of-year season Patricia de Lille, Mayor of Cape Town, says, Cape Town is proud of its growing reputation as a world-class tourist destination and the better we get at attracting visitors, the harder we work to make sure they come back again for another great experience. Were impressed with the bold new development that is happening in the hospitality sector in the city by companies such as Tsogo Sun, and we have no doubt that it will contribute to the continued regeneration and progress in our lovely city. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers Hospitality Outlook for 2017-2021, Cape Town is the dominant tourist destination in South Africa, which flourished in 2016, with tourist attractions in the city achieving record visitor numbers during the 2016/2017 season. Visitor numbers in the citys main attractions, including Robben Island Museum, Kirstenbosch, Groot Constantia, Cape Point, Table Mountain, and the V&A Waterfront, all showed an increase. Based on this growth, Tsogo Sun is anticipating a strong end-of-year season for all its Cape Town hotels. According to Enver Duminy, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, The figures represent an enormous boost to the citys economy, as well as an indication that the growth potential in the tourism sector remains positive. The new GM of the two hotels is Chandreshwar Singh, who started in the hospitality industry in 2000 and joined Tsogo Suns Southern Sun Waterfront hotel in 2009. He has gained valuable experience in many departments within various Tsogo Sun hotels in Cape Town and Johannesburg over the years. WARSAW, Poland: Polish citizens will be able to carry around electronic versions of their ID cards on their mobile phones starting next year, Digital Minister Anna Strezynska said. Photo by Gilles Lambert on Unsplash "I hope that Poles, who are known in Europe for their open-mindedness regarding new technology, will be leading users" of the system, Strezynska said, as quoted by Polish news agency PAP. She spoke during a visit to the southern town of Nowy Wisnicz, one of the locations where the technology is currently being tested. Ministry spokesman Karol Manys told AFP that similar systems already exist in a few other EU member states including Austria and cyber-savvy Estonia. He added that the government is preparing changes to current legislation so Poles will be able to pull out their mobile phones when they need to show identification to police officers and others. The new system will be rolled out gradually, starting with young people. Mobile phone versions of driving licences, vehicle registration papers, student cards and other documents will follow, according to Strezynska. Citizens of the country of 38 million people will see their ID cards stored in the cloud and will be able to call up the documents on their mobile phones using a code received by text message. Source: AFP Elon Musk may be nuts, but a remarkable number of the South African-born businessman's ventures have been successful. This week at the International Astronautical Congress in Australia, he announced another really special proposal. His space exploration company SpaceX is pondering a new method of transporting people from one corner of the Earth to the other. And it involves a space vehicle/rocket system called the BFR. The BFR will be capable of taking people from any city to any other city on Earth in under one hour, the company revealed. More specifically, the company quoted flight times of 39 minutes for a journey between New York and Shanghai, 37 minutes for a Sydney to Johannesburg trip, and a 34-minute flight between London and Cape Town. Currently, a flight to London from Cape Town requires half a day. The BFR system will reportedly hold around 100 people, breach the Earths atmosphere, reach speeds of 27 000km/h in sub-orbit, and conduct an automated landing on a platform. Both the passenger-filled space vehicle and the launcher will be reusable. SpaceX gave excited travellers an idea of how the system would work in a video that feels straight out of Mass Effect. But heres the kicker: Cost per seat should be about the same as full fare economy in an aircraft, Musk notes on Instagram. Forgot to mention that. Development of the craft will be funded by the companys current commercial space contracts. But eventually, the BFR will become the backbone of SpaceXs ambitions in the Solar System, including transporting cargo to the International Space Station, the Moon and Mars. As for the first launch date of Elon Musks remarkable travel system? Lets just say you wont be able to buy a ticket just yet. Nigerian ridesharing platform GoMyWay has announced its closure at the end of October, citing lack of funding to continue operations. GoMyWay launched its ridesharing platform in 2015, connecting passengers with car owners going the same route with empty seats to spare, in a bid to provide a solution to transportation problems in Nigeria via a people-powered transportation network. The startup received backing from a number of well-known investors, including Konga founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Sim Shagaya and former Amazon and Naspers executive Bill Paladino. GoMyWays initial business plan focused on customer onboarding, rather than pushing for revenues, and all seemed to be going to plan: on its second birthday, in June this year, the startup announced a 150% increase in registered members and a 300% increase in the number of seats offered in the last year. However, CEO Damilola Teidi this week announced the startup is to close, ceasing operations at the end of October, saying funding has run out and its investors do not wish to continue backing the company with further funds. In 2015, I was hired as the CEO [] to run GoMyWay. The plan by its shareholders/investors was to run a free service for a year or two, and focus on growing the user-base. Over the last two years, the team put time and effort into growing the business and building a trusted ridesharing community. We went from less than 1,000 members in the first few months to 12,000+ members; 106,630 rides offered and rides shared across 16 states, said Teidi. However, it does take a lot of resources to run this business and the initial plan was no longer sustainable. The shareholders/investors came to the conclusion to shut down operations and close the business as there were no funds to invest further. The sign-up page has already been disabled, and operations and customer service will be wound down by the end of October when the platform will be closed. PARIS - Photographers have risen up in revolt at the way fashion labels and influencers are using their street style images without crediting them, highlighting discontent about the "work for free" culture in the multi-billion dollar industry. A model walks the runway during the St. Sava Fundraising Fashion Show at Domenico Vacca Club New York on April 24, 2017 in New York City. Photo: Rob Kim / Getty Images North America / AFP More than 40 photographers who follow the fashion circuit and snap its top celebrities and bloggers as they arrive for shows in New York, Paris and Milan have formed an unofficial union, and have threatened to shame brands and influencers who use their images without permission. Influencers and bloggers are often paid by labels to wear their clothes and promote their lines in social media posts, mostly on Instagram. And the photographers claim that some influencers with hundreds of thousands of social media followers are making money from their photos while they get nothing in return. The row raises questions about how the fashion industry works in the digital age, with many people prepared to work for little or nothing to get a foothold in such an outwardly glamorous world. Most models, particularly young ones climbing the catwalk ladder, are paid "peanuts", with one 17-year-old model at Paris Fashion Week telling AFP: "It is pocket money for doing something that I love." The protesting photographers have begun adding the hashtag #NoFreePhotos to images uploaded to their Instagram accounts, which have more than three million followers. And they have threatened to refuse to tag rogue influencers and instead call them out with the #NoFreePhotos hashtag. One of the group's leaders, Nabile Quenum, told AFP that the protest was "not about shaming anyone. We are in this together. We are just asking for respect. "Girls get famous because of the photographers. We take pictures of the people we judge cool. When we shoot someone it says they are cool and people look for inspiration from cool people. "Brands can see (from what we do) who is hot, who is marketable... and who they can pay to lead them to the consumer. Somehow (the influencers) have forgotten that we make them." Quenum, who has been on the circuit for eight years, said most brands and influencers respected "copyright-protected photos". But a "growing minority" did not, using their images for commercial gain without paying. A Japanese photographer called Koji outside the Issey Miyake Paris Fashion Week show on Friday said he had stopped uploading his images to Instagram because of rampant piracy. "Why should I so people can steal my work and not even credit me. I have had enough," he added. But the claims that influencers were making a "disproportionate gain" from cheerleading for brands drew a sharp response on Instagram from some bloggers. "The notion that many influencers are being 'disproportionately' paid to wear clothes is quite laughable," said top blogger Bryan Grey Yambao, aka Bryanboy, who has more than 640,000 Instagram followers. "Do these photographers know how absolutely cheap many of the brands are? A lot of the girls I know are not being paid to wear clothes. Many spend money to go back and forth for 'fittings'... and are often dressed by brands to be on their 'good graces'. All for free! "Influencers are happy to do all that to develop a (usually disposable) relationship with brands who are more than happy to move on to the next girl with even more followers," the Filipino style guru insisted. Yambao said he understood that photographers had to be paid. "But then again, when was the last time an influencer demanded a model release form from photographers who sell their images to magazines, retailer websites or the brands directly? "Imagine if every influencer or editor or fashion person started complaining that their images are being taken and sold without authorisation?" he added. But American photographer Jennifer Graylock said the relationship was "lopsided in favour of the influencer or celebrity. If a photo runs of you wearing designer X you get exposure. Which leads to more followers which leads to more interest in your favour. "However (if the photographer has been credited) they only get the 10 cents and never benefit further." #EntrepreneurMonth: Be a change agent, help others grow their own businesses Mike Saunders, founder of Durban-based digital agency DigitLab and entrepreneur of note, shares what it takes to launch a startup agency in particular and how retrenchment helped him hit the road to business success. Last year, Saunders authored the book The Five Year Mark as a way of making sense of the ups and downs of starting and running his own business. In addition to serving as a way of figuring out that elusive work-life balance Whats that, business owners tend to ponder as they effortlessly flit between the different aspects of their lives the book is an excellent platform through which Saunders reflected on what hes learned in his journey of chasing the dream. The Five Year Mark: Lessons learnt chasing a dream To the bright-eyed among us who hope to emulate his success, Saunders shares practical advice to startups on the essence of entrepreneurial success, how he made it to the five-year mark and how you can, too Lets start with the basics talk us through the importance of entrepreneurship, especially in SA. Lets start with the basics talk us through the importance of entrepreneurship, especially in SA. Entrepreneurship is one of the most valuable contributions an individual can make to South African society. The everyday challenges of entrepreneurship develop stronger, smarter and more dynamic people. It brings out the best of people and inspires leaders to make the most of their lives. I believe that entrepreneurship is also one of the most powerful solutions to poverty, as it is a way for individuals to take ownership of their own destiny. Its about people reaching the point of complete discontent with the situation they find themselves in and, instead of waiting for someone to hand them the solution, finding it themselves. Entrepreneurship is where real and lasting job creation lies. It is through entrepreneurship and the creation of enterprises that hire and upskill employees that well be able to grow the skill set of our population, increase the tax base of our country and, as a result, grow our economy. Saunders in action. I also believe that I am not on this earth simply to start a business; Im also here to help as many people as possible start and grow their own businesses. I have purposefully over-simplified the concept, but I believe its true: entrepreneurship adds true value to peoples lives, the economy and society. Entrepreneurial thinking promotes a new lease on life, a positive outlook and an insatiable desire to make a difference. We need more people like this, we need more entrepreneurs. Thats for sure. Explain your own entrepreneurial journey thus far. Thats for sure. Explain your own entrepreneurial journey thus far. It actually started with a retrenchment. I decided that I would work for myself until someone hired me. So, I started out working as a consultant helping people understand social media. My work ranged from running social media accounts to doing keynote presentations at conferences. After about a year I was approached by an international consulting firm to move my presentation work into their business. It was a great idea and became an incredible learning experience for me to fine-tune my presenting skills. In the background, I continued to manage social media accounts for clients and started hiring people to help manage the workload. After a while, we realised that we had started a social media agency, and later that year we officially named and started DigitLab. That was six years ago. Over the last six years, we have transformed DigitLab from a social media agency into a digital marketing agency and have had the priviledge of working with the likes of KPMG, Beiersdorf, Huletts, Spar, Game stores, Corner Bakery and Bidvest, to name a few. Its been an incredible journey, one that we are all very proud of. Last year I decided to sit down and write down some of the things learned as we built DigitLab. There were so many lessons that I inadvertently ended up writing an entire book of 36 lessons! The book is called The Five Year Mark and has become a strong marker in my entrepreneurial journey to date. What does it take to launch a startup agency in particular? What does it take to launch a startup agency in particular? This is a loaded question! I dont think there is a magic formula. Each startup agency has used different methods to develop and grow, usually based on the specific skills and personality of their founder. Many agency leaders are great creatives and have built incredible creative agencies using those skills. Im more of a strategist and motivator, so I built our business with a strong focus on strategy and culture. I hired great creative talent to build our creative competency but focused my energy on driving good strategy and helping people win. Saunders on The Five Year Mark. I can say this though, every entrepreneur that I have seen succeed carries a high degree of grit,, the ability to stick to things and make the most of the opportunities before them. Its putting in the time, driving hard when it counts and putting in every ounce of energy possible to make their dream a reality. No matter your approach, the biggest winner is the hard worker who never gives up, considers all their options, hustles non-stop and makes the most of every single opportunity that comes their way. Every business should have a long-term plan that guides their decisions today. To build a business that contributes to the economy in a meaningful way you need to sustain it past the five year mark. So a new startup business should not be looking to be a one hit wonder about to crash and burn at any minute. The founders and owners should be looking at ways to take their idea and create a sustainable business that continues to contribute to the economy and build lasting value. Thats how you make a real difference. For sure. Why is it so important to inspire/encourage other entrepreneurs then and to be a change agent? For sure. Why is it so important to inspire/encourage other entrepreneurs then and to be a change agent? Ill answer the second part of this question first! A change agent helps people and organisations move to the next necessary step. They help you see the future, can identify how to get there and are capable of helping you get there. Personally, I enjoy change, Im comfortable with it. I get bored when things arent progressing, improving, moving and shaking. Most people, however, dont enjoy change. It scares them, makes them anxious and uncertain. Change by its nature pulls the rug out from under our feet and unsettles us. So, thats why we need change agents. We need them to guide us through the uncertain times, to give clarity where we cant see it and to remind us why we are changing in the first place. Change agents are leaders who specialise in helping people through uncertain and unstable times. With this in mind, entrepreneurs themselves are change agents: They deal in the uncertain and unstable every day. They themselves need change agents to help them navigate their entrepreneurial life, to remind them its possible, to keep their hearts strong as they face big adversity, and to share their own stories of success or failure. Its lonely being an entrepreneur. The decisions we make are not always understood by others and the things that consume us seem strange to others. Alone, an entrepreneur can achieve a fair amount of greatness, but together with others, encouraging them along the way and inspiring them through their challenges, entrepreneurs can achieve so much more. More than you could imagine. Join us in celebrating the courageous innovators, in small businesses and large, in South Africa and the rest of Africa, who take the risks that create new revenues, models and livelihoods, as we designate October and November as Entrepreneur Month across 18 industries on Biz. During the course of Entrepreneur Month our readers and subscribers will get a chance to learn how entrepreneurs think and act and the challenges they face. Expect lessons in starting and building products and services, management skills, acknowledgement of influencers and mentors, how to enjoy both success and failure, handle fear, set goals and get life balance! Last year the article showcasing the Standard Bank Entrepreneur of the year Lebogang Mokubela and the hundreds of other entrepreneur-themed articles across 18 categories on Biz, received many thousands of impressions and social shares, which could mean increased exposure and engagement for your brand. If your company has entrepreneur in its DNA, apply to get your branding associated with this high quality content across web, newsletters and mobile, an annual presence in the Entrepreneur Month Special Section and added social amplification. Contact moc.ytinummoczib@selas or 0860 812 000 (SA) or +27 21 404 1460 from elsewhere in the world, to own annual sponsorship of Entrepreneur Month content on Biz. Flight companies were accused of cashing in on the chaos from the Monarch collapse as flight prices were allegedly increased by the minute as desperate passengers struggled to rebook flights. An intensive care nurse from south London, who has asked to remain anonymous, rebooked flights to Alicante and saw the quoted price rise from 138 to 199 per person on the Ryanair site in the time it took to complete the booking. British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has stepped up the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to intervene in the trade dispute with the US threatening hundreds of jobs in the Belfast factory of planemaker Bombardier. In a letter to Mrs May, the Labour leader (pictured) urged her to join with Canadian premier Justin Trudeau in summoning the head of Boeing to an "urgent summit" to demand the US aerospace giant drops its claim against Bombardier. In a preliminary ruling the US Department of Commerce, imposed a 220% tariff on Bombardier's new C-Series jets following a complaint by Boeing that it's Canadian rival had received subsidies from the Canadian and British governments. The decision is threatening to derail a major contract with Delta Airlines - jeopardising jobs at Bombardier's Belfast plant, which employs more than 4,000 people and which builds the wings for the C-Series aircraft. In his letter, Mr Corbyn accused Mrs May of "foot-dragging" over the issue, saying that while she had raised the matter directly with President Donald Trump, she had so far failed to secure a resolution to the dispute. He urged her to act with "strength of purpose" and join Mr Trudeau in confronting Boeing chairman and chief executive Dennis Muilenburg to make clear the firm must now withdraw its claim. He said that the dispute showed the dangers of relying on a free trade deal with the US once Britain has left the EU. "Your own discussions with President Trump, now over three weeks ago, have not resulted in the resolution of this dispute," he said. "You must now realise that the aggressive and protectionist way the US government conducts its trade relations with other countries is not conducive to the swift and beneficial post-Brexit trade agreement that you and your ministers have so often suggested. "You must now act with strength of purpose in the national interest." Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced a major jobs boost for Dublin with 250 new jobs on the way for Veritas Technologies. The company is launching a new research and development entire in the city following a multi-million euro investment. Update9.44am: The government needs to invest at least 54m each year for the next five years to clear hospital waiting lists, according to Barnardos. The charity said the lives of many children hang in the balance due to a lack of investment in services. The victim of a child rapist has told a court how the man subjected him to 12 years of sexual and mental torture. The Mayo resident pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 20 counts of oral and anal rape of the boy between August 1997 and and April 2008. He also pleaded guilty to 11 counts of raping his own daughter. These attacks began in mid 2007 and continued regularly for two years. The man cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims. The court heard that rumours in the local rural community have resulted in his complete ostracism and he appeared in court without any support. After hearing the facts in the case Mr Justice Tony Hunt adjourned sentencing to December to allow time for the defence to obtain a medical report. Grooming The court heard that the first victim had a fractured family home life. The accused was a friend of the boy's stepfather and took the ten year old boy under his wing and told him how special he was. In his victim impact report the man, now aged 31, said this meant so much to him as a boy as he had no other father figure in his life. He said he was oblivious to the man's real motives and said the accused was very cunning and devious in his grooming. The first oral rape attack took place on a fishing trip in remote Mayo and the victim said that at the time he felt numb, sick, scared and alone and lonely. The rapes, including anal rape, continued on a twice weekly basis up into the victim's 20s. In his mid-teens the victim moved in with his abuser because his family life had become so cruel and neglectful with no food in the house or clothing on his back. 'Beaten-down dog' The court heard he felt he had no other choice but to move in with the accused and he convinced himself that the abuse would stop. At the age of 20 the man said he still felt like a scared 10-year-old boy and was like a beaten-down dog. He made me believe I was worthless and he was the only one who cared about me, he said. He was 22 when the abuse stopped, after 12 years of sexual and mental torture. Rapes 'like a routine' for daughter The man's daughter was aged 14 when he first raped her. He accused her of lying to him and took her for a walk along a golf course. When they reached some sand dunes he told her I'm going to f**k you for lying and told her to get down on the ground and raped her. The woman later told investigators that she was scared shitless. The rapes continued on a weekly basis and became like a routine for her. The court heard the man had total physical and mental control over his daughter and told her who she could meet with or speak to. The man would only have to say he was feeling stressed for the victim to know he was going to rape her. In her victim impact report the woman said she was terrified of her father. She said her father would threaten her and once told her he would kill her. She was too scared to go to sleep because she would suffer night terrors and dream of the abuse. She said she used to self-harm to deal with the effects of the abuse and later turned to misuse of alcohol and drugs. She said she was terrified to get counselling and didn't want to relive the abuse and didn't think it would help. I don't care for my life. I want to die most days. I feel so broke inside, she said. She said she could not stand men and believed that there was something inside every man that made him capable of rape. She said she freaks out at the prospect of sex in a relationship. The male victim said he felt nothing but hatred and disgust for his abuser and also for himself for not speaking up. He said by his actions the man was a manipulative paedophile who had stolen his self worth and his very being. The damage this animal has inflicted on my mental health will last to my dying breath. I don't know who I am, he said. He said he has battled suicide and left his own children with a father incapable of compassion. After his arrest the man initially claimed he was in a relationship with the male victim. The court heard this was untrue and the man accepted to gardai that none of what he did could be justified or right. He said he was grateful the victims had come forward because he couldn't live with the guilt. I'm sorry. I feel complete hatred for myself, he said. He claimed he was the victim of child sex abuse himself. Mr Justice Hunt said that even with all the help in the world, the man's action had changed the course of his victims' lives for the worse. But he said that he had saved himself a life sentence by pleading guilty to the offences. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court is due to be told this afternoon that the Director of Public Prosecutions is no longer pursuing prosecutions against the remaining Jobstown defendants. In June, Solidarity TD Paul Murphy and five others were acquitted of falsely imprisoning former Tanaiste Joan Burton and her adviser three years ago. Failte Ireland has been urged to review its decision not to provide funding to Cork County Council for a major upgrade of facilities at Spike Island, which has been voted Europes leading tourist attraction, writes Sean O'Riordan. The island beat off the challenge of the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, and the Colosseum in Rome to win the prestigious award. More than 6m has so far been spent on upgrading facilities on Spike Island, which is owned by Cork County Council. A portion of that was funded by the tourism body. However, further major work stalled on the project after Failte Ireland declined to help fund a 7.1m county council plan which proposed additional restoration work, new exhibition centres, a visitor centre and themed train connection to and from from the island pier. Chairman of the Cobh municipal district council Cllr Padraig OSullivan said he would introduce an emergency motion at its meeting today to ask Failte Ireland to financially support phase two of the project. Spike Island is now considered to be of international importance. The value of this win cant be underestimated and Failte Ireland has to realise that and invest in it now, he said. The Port of Cork and Cobh and Harbour Chamber both want a meeting called with all stakeholders to put a clear roadmap in place for further development on the island. Port of Cork commercial manager Captain Michael McCarthy said the port authority is planning to build a multipurpose berth at Lynch Quay, Cobh, that will provide a year-round sea-bus terminal to service Spike Island. From left: Declan Daly, division manager, John Crotty, Spike Island manager, County Mayor Cllr Declan Hurley, and David Keane, former county engineer, with the Top European Attraction award. He said waterbus transport was being planned for tourists to access Fort Camden, Monkstown, Ringaskiddy and Cork City which could also be used by cruise liner passengers. Declan Daly, the county councils deputy chief executive, said the local authority can fund some short-term, low-cost projects itself. He said they are also finalising a tender for additional ferry services to and from the island which he aims to have in place for the start of next season. Needless to say, given Titanic Belfasts experience of winning the same award, numbers and demand will grow significantly next year and in subsequent years, Mr Daly said. Fortress Spike Island will now go forward to represent Europe at the Grand World Final in Vietnam on December 10. This story originally appeared in the Irish Examiner. Gardai are seeking the publics assistance in tracing the whereabouts of Janusz Jasicki Janusz, who lives in Co Dublin, went missing from Carrick-On-Shannon, Co Leitrim on Saturday. Janusz was last seen on Saturday September 30, at approximately 8.45pm. He is described as being 5 10, with light brown hair and blue eyes. When last seen he was wearing a navy jacket, blue jeans and a light blue t-shirt. Anyone who has seen Janusz or who can assist in locating him should contact Carrick-On- Shannon Garda Station on 071 965 0510, the Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station. By Ann O'Loughlin A High Court judge will give his decision this week on whether Ryanair is entitled to certain documents for its legal action against Channel 4 and a production company behind an allegedly defamatory TV programme about the airline. The Dispatches "Secrets from the Cockpit" programme, broadcast in August 2013, dealt with Ryanair's fuel policy, passenger safety, and pilot working conditions. Ryanair says it was defamatory because it wrongly meant the airline endangered passenger safety by operating a low fuel policy and by pressuring its pilots to take on as little fuel as possible. Channel 4 and the programme makers, Blakeway Productions, deny the claims. They say the words complained of were true, an expression of honest opinion, and fair and reasonable publication on matters of public interest. Ryanair sought court orders that the defendants make further and better discovery of certain documents it needs for its action. The defendants opposed the application. The discovery application was heard last June by Mr Justice Charles Meenan who said today he would give his ruling this Thursday. A jury has been sworn in the trial of a former Anglo Irish Bank official on conspiracy charges. Tiarnan O'Mahoney (aged 58), who was formerly Chief Operations Officer at Anglo Irish Bank, has pleaded not guilty to a charge that he conspired to destroy, mutilate or falsify books and documents affecting or relating to the property or affairs of Anglo Irish Bank Corp PLC. The offence is alleged to have occurred between March 25, 2003 and December 31, 2004 and relates to a number of named accounts. Mr O'Mahoney, a business consultant, with an address at Glen Pines, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, held his position at Anglo Irish Bank until December 2004. He denies the charge. Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard from barristers in the case that the trial is expected to last four to six weeks. A jury of eight women and four men were selected to serve and the trial is expected to begin before them on Monday. Prior to the jury swearing process Judge Nolan told the panel that anyone who had any association with Anglo Irish Bank, such as through working there or holding shares, or who knew anyone who had such an association should not serve. He said no one working in Revenue should serve. He said that anyone who felt they could not act impartially or had strong feelings about the bank should also not serve on the jury. He warned the jury that investigating Mr O'Mahoney on the internet would be a breach of their oath. Judge Nolan said Mr O'Mahoney was entitled to a fair and impartial trial and should be tried only on what is heard in the court room. A list of witnesses including bank staff and revenue officials were outlined in court. Dominic McGinn SC and Kerida Naidoo SC, appear for the prosecution, and Brendan Grehan SC, with Lorcan Staines BL and Edward Doocy BL, appear on behalf of Mr O'Mahoney. Following the selection process Judge Nolan told the jury that there were legal and procedural matters to be dealt with and they were not required until Monday next. By Ann O'Loughlin The Minister for Justice has again refused to revoke a deportation order against an Algerian man with alleged links to Islamic terrorism, the High Court has heard. Last July the Supreme Court unanimously quashed the Minister for Justice's refusal to revoke the deportation order issued in December 2016. The Supreme Court also remitted the man's case back to the Minister for further reconsideration. The Supreme Court's ruling came after the man appealed an earlier High Court order which found the Minister's decision that there were no substantial grounds to find that the man would be at real risk of ill treatment if deported to his home country was lawful. The State had opposed the appeal. The man's case returned before Mr Justice Richard Humphreys at the High Court today. David Leonard Bl for the man said the Minister, after reconsidering the matter, had informed his client late last month that he was refusing to revoke the deportation order. Counsel said his client wishes to bring proceedings challenging the Minister's decision. Counsel for the State Sinead McGrath Bl said the man's challenge will be opposed and that the State wanted the matter to be heard as soon as possible. The Judge adjourned the matter for two weeks. The State claims the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is involved with Islamic terrorism and was convicted of terrorism offences in Algeria and France. The Minister issued a deportation order after gardai informed the Department of Justice the activities of the man and his associates were of serious concern and contrary to the States security. The man, aged in his 50s and living in Ireland for several years, denies being involved in terrorism or being involved in groups such as al-Qaida. He claims that if deported he is at risk of being tortured and subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment due to his political views. During the 1990s he was convicted of several offenses in Algeria and received three life sentences and two death sentences, which are no longer carried out. Those offences include forming an armed terrorist group intending to spread murder, sabotage, possession of prohibited war weapons assassination, theft intending to harm the security of his home country. He was also convicted and jailed for eight years following his arrested in France in 2002. A French court found him guilty of charges including membership of a criminal organisation preparing an Act of Terrorism. A Dublin man who repeatedly raped his two nephews when they were small boys has been jailed for eight years. James Maher (aged 64) inflicted pain and violence on his young nephews, who were aged just eight and six when he started abusing them 37 years ago, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today. One victim described how Maher abused him like an animal and both brothers described turning to drugs as a way of coping with the pain of the abuse. Judge Patricia Ryan jailed him for nine years but suspended the final year, taking into account his age, health issues, guilty plea and lack of previous convictions. In a victim impact statement previously read out in court, one of the man's victims, now aged 44, said he had considered murdering his uncle in the years since he was repeatedly sexually abused as a child. But that would be letting you off easy, he told his uncle. Here I stand, not as a victim. I'm free, you're caged. You'll answer to God and you'll answer to granny and granddad. Maher, with an address in Cherry Orchard Green, Ballyfermot, Dublin, pleaded guilty to six counts of sexually abusing his nephews, Keith Fox and Richard Fox, at various locations in Dublin between January 1980 and March 1984. They were aged between eight and 13 years' old and six and seven years' old respectively at the time of the offences. The court heard the victims wished to waive their anonymity so their uncle could be named. They waited to come forward about the abuse until after their grandparents had died, for fear of how the revelations about their son would affect them. Sergeant Kevin Moran told Antonia Boyle BL, prosecuting, that in the case of the older brother, the abuse started when the boy dropped over laundry to his uncle's home. The court heard Maher frequently comforted him throughout the abuse, told him it was OK and alright and that it was our secret. The younger brother recalled he was first abused at the age of six when his uncle invited him around to his grandparent's home to watch a video. The abuse stopped when Maher got a girlfriend, the court heard. He went on to marry and have children. In his victim impact statement read out in court, Keith Fox said: My uncle, this man, robbed my youth and spirit. He abused me like an animal. I felt like a piece of dirt my entire life. Those acts I endured, I would not wish on my worst enemy, he added. The man described how he struggled with his conscience about not coming forward after family members asked him not to. I was scared he was doing it to other kids. I know what a monster he is, he said. Both brothers described how they turned to drugs for a long time as a way of coping with the pain and the flashbacks from the abuse. Richard Fox said he had suffered from severe depression and had relationship issues. I feel incapable of showing love my whole life, he said. He said the abuse still makes me angry, sad and physically sick. Both men cried in court as they listened to the evidence and hugged after reading out their statements. The court heard Maher made some admissions to gardai when he was questioned in 2013, telling them he had sexually abused his nephews after reading books about sex. He said he had never been with a woman at that stage and didn't know much about sex. He was aged between 26 and 30 at the time of the abuse. The court heard he took a drug overdose and spent some time in hospital. Defence barrister Damien Colgan SC, told the court his client was a man who had worked all his life and who had some health problems now. He said Maher was extremely remorseful and had written a letter of apology to his victims some time ago. The court heard Maher received counselling for sexual issues in the 1990s, although no treatment records were available. He had pleaded guilty to several counts of indecent assault on the two boys. President Michael D Higgins has said the Las Vegas gun attack was appalling and sent shock around the world. No Irish people are believed to have been killed or injured in the indiscriminate shooting that left scores dead at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. It is estimated there are at least 200 Irish people in Las Vegas at the moment. Tour operators say they will arrange for tourists to cut short their trip to the city if requested. Mr Higgins said: "The appalling massacre of music lovers of different generations, at a public event in Las Vegas will have shocked people all over the world. "On behalf of the people of Ireland, may I express my deepest sympathies to all those bereaved and affected by this brutal tragedy. "Our thoughts in Ireland, and of the Irish in the United States, are with the people of Nevada and the United States at this tragic time." Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney condemned the shootings and expressed condolences on behalf of Ireland. "This was a savage and brutal attack targeting innocent festival-goers," he said. "I wish to express my heartfelt condolences and those of the Irish people to the families of the victims, those who were injured and to the people and the authorities of the United States on this tragic day." Irish diplomats in the consulate general in San Francisco and the honorary consulate in Las Vegas are monitoring the situation. The Department of Foreign Affairs issued a contact number for families in Ireland who have concerns about relatives to ring the consular assistance unit on +353 1 408 2527. There have been calls for the publication of an internal Waterford City and County Council probe into how 1.5m was spent on 63 new vans for no specific reason, writes Fiachra O Cionnaith. Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane said more transparency is needed after the council refused to explain how it has addressed the issue, declined to provide any details on how the mistake happened, and if the taxpayer has been left with an unnecessary cost. In a letter to the Public Accounts Committee , TDs were told that at the start of this year the council bought 63 Volkswagen vans for 1.5m. It said management told officials in May the vans were not needed and would be sent back within three weeks. However, the councilchose to keep the vehicles, with the vans left unused on the authoritys premises. The council subsequently launched an internal probe into thepurchase, whether any money was retrievable, why it was signed off on, whether any disciplinary action was required, and what should happen next. In a statement to the Irish Examiner, a council spokesperson said: There has been a procurement issue with regard to the purchase of fleet vehicles and an internal investigation has been undertaken and is almost at completion and in the process of being resolved. Late last week, the spokesperson added the situation was resolved and that the vans would be in use from early October. However, the spokesperson refused to explain how the issue was resolved, what was the outcome of the internal investigation, if the council has lost out on money, and how the vans will now be used. Mr Cullinane said: I am conscious that there is an internal examination underway. I await the publication of this report. It is also an issue that will be subject to examination by the councils auditors. I will contact the council management seeking clarity on the procurement process followed. This story originally appeared in the Irish Examiner. Theresa May's effective deputy prime minister has stressed the need for flexibility in the UK's Brexit negotiations - putting him at odds with the red lines set out by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Britain's First Secretary of State Damian Green suggested that the "implementation period" after leaving the European Union could last a few months longer than the two-year period suggested by the Prime Minister. He also refused to rule out paying for continued access to the European single market after leaving the bloc. Mr Johnson used an eve-of-conference interview with the Sun to insist that the implementation period should last "not a second more" than two years and there should be no ongoing payment for single market access after Brexit. The move caused fresh controversy and overshadowed the start of the Conservative Party conference, with critics claiming Mr Johnson should face the sack for seeking to impose conditions on the Prime Minister. Asked what an appraisal of Mr Johnson's ministerial performance might say, Mr Green said: "Boris is doing what Boris has always done - adding to the gaiety of nations." At a fringe event at the conference in Manchester, Mr Green said the implementation period could go beyond two years for some parts of the economy. He said: "The phrase the Prime Minister used was 'around two years' but that means a few months either way." He added that could mean "instead of the end of March it's the end of June" 2021 and the Government was not committing to two years "to the minute". Mr Green also refused to rule out annual payments for ongoing single market access - indicating that he did not want to constrain Brexit Secretary David Davis during the negotiations. "I'm not ruling anything in or out that will be in the detail of the negotiation because David Davis has got a difficult job and he is eminently suited to doing it," he said. "I'm not going to do anything that makes his job more difficult." Mr Green played down the prospect of leaving the EU without a deal - despite Mrs May's stance that "no deal is better than a bad deal". Leaving the EU and resorting to World Trade Organisation terms "would be much less good than having a decent agreement" for both sides, he said, but stressed a deal was likely to be reached with Brussels. "If you study European negotiations, they follow the same pattern where there's a lot of posturing, a lot of people saying a deal is completely impossible, and then at the last minute a deal is done. "It is overwhelmingly almost always the case in the EU that a deal is done." Trade talks with other countries would be able to take place during the implementation period, but deals could not be signed until it expired, he suggested. The role of the European Court of Justice is a potential stumbling block in the Brexit talks, and Mr Green stressed that there "won't be direct control" by the Luxembourg court in the way there is now. But there would need to be a "dispute resolution procedure" governing the deal, which he suggested could involve a panel made up of British and EU judges. Update 10.15am: Catalonia's government is to hold a Cabinet meeting to discuss the next steps in its plan to declare independence from Spain following a disputed referendum which was marred by violence. Regional officials said the vote, which Spain insists is illegal and invalid, shows that a majority favour secession. Catalan president Carles Puigdemont will chair Monday's closed-doors meeting, which is expected to consider asking the regional parliament to vote on an independence declaration later in the week. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is to meet ruling party leaders before seeking a parliamentary session to discuss how to confront the country's most serious crisis in decades. Catalonia said preliminary poll results showed 90% backed independence after less than half of the electorate voted on a day which saw around 850 people injured in clashes with police. Riot officers attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians gathered to cast their ballots. After the polls closed, Mr Puigdemont said Catalonia had "won the right to become an independent state". "Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia," he added, saying he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote. Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters that 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted chose the "yes" side in favour of independence. He said nearly 8% of voters rejected independence, while the rest of the ballots were blank or void. He said 15,000 votes were still being counted, and that the number of ballots did not include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids that aimed to stop the vote. The region has 5.3 million registered voters. No-one knows precisely what will happen if Catalan officials actually follow through on its pledge to use the vote - chaotic as it was - as a basis for declaring the north-eastern region independent. Such a provocative move would threaten Spain with the possible loss of one of its most prosperous regions, including the popular coastal city of Barcelona, the regional capital. Clashes broke out less than an hour after polls opened, and hundreds of police armed with truncheons and rubber bullets were sent in from other regions to confiscate ballots and stop the voting. Amateur video showed some officers dragging people out of polling stations by the hair, throwing some down stairs, kicking them and pushing them to the ground. Firefighters now protecting people from Spanish police#CatalanReferendum pic.twitter.com/i5gZ5hIz1k Gissur Simonarson (@GissiSim) October 1, 2017 Police were acting on a judge's orders to stop the referendum, which the Spanish government had declared illegal and unconstitutional - and Mr Rajoy said going forward with the vote only served to sow divisions. In a televised address after the majority of polls closed on Sunday, he thanked the Spanish police, saying they had acted with "firmness and serenity". Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said the violence, while "unfortunate" and "unpleasant" was "proportionate". "If people insist in disregarding the law and doing something that has been consistently declared illegal and unconstitutional, law enforcement officers need to uphold the law," Mr Dastis told The Associated Press. By the end of the day, Catalan health services said 844 civilians had been treated in hospitals for injuries, including two who were in a serious condition and another person who was being treated for an eye injury which appeared to have been caused by a rubber bullet. Thirty-three police officers were also injured. Earlier: Catalonia's regional government declared a landslide win for the "yes" side in a disputed referendum on independence from Spain that descended into ugly scenes of mayhem. More than 800 people were injured on Sunday as riot police attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians gathered to cast their ballots. After the polls closed, Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said Catalonia had "won the right to become an independent state," adding that he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally from Spain if the "yes" side wins. "Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia," Puigdemont added, saying he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote. Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters that 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted chose the "yes" side in favour of independence. He said nearly 8% of voters rejected independence, while the rest of the ballots were blank or void. He said 15,000 votes were still being counted, and that the number of ballots didn't include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids that aimed to stop the vote. The region has 5.3 million registered voters. No one knows precisely what will happen if Catalan officials actually follow through on their pledge to use the vote - chaotic as it was - as a basis for declaring the northeastern region independent. Such a provocative move would threaten Spain with the possible loss of one of its most prosperous regions, including the popular coastal city of Barcelona, the regional capital. Clashes broke out less than an hour after polls opened, and hundreds of police armed with truncheons and rubber bullets were sent in from other regions to confiscate ballots and stop the voting. Amateur video showed some officers dragging people out of polling stations by the hair, throwing some down stairs, kicking them and pushing them to the ground. Police were acting on a judge's orders to stop the referendum, which the Spanish government had declared illegal and unconstitutional - and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said going forward with the vote only served to sow divisions. In a televised address after the majority of polls closed Sunday, he thanked the Spanish police, saying they had acted with "firmness and serenity" - comments sure to anger Catalans. Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said the violence, while "unfortunate" and "unpleasant" was "proportionate". "If people insist in disregarding the law and doing something that has been consistently declared illegal and unconstitutional, law enforcement officers need to uphold the law," Dastis told The Associated Press. By the end of the day, Catalan health services said 844 civilians had been treated in hospitals for injuries, including two who were in a serious condition and another person who was being treated for an eye injury that fit the profile of having been hit by a rubber bullet. Thirty-three police officers were also injured. Catalans favouring a break with Spain have long wanted more than the limited autonomy they now enjoy, arguing that they contribute far more than they receive from the central government, which controls key areas including taxes and infrastructure. There was no organised campaign for the "no" side in the vote, which most national political parties boycotted because it lacked legal guarantees and was suspended by the courts. Polls in recent years have shown roughly half of the 7.5 million residents of the region want to remain a part of Spain. Mari Martinez, a 43-year-old waitress, said she did not vote in Sunday's referendum. "I don't lean toward independence, because we are part of Spain," she said. "Today's violence is not good for anybody. We never should have gotten to this point. Politicians haven't done their job, and they should have reached an agreement a long time ago." Tensions were running so high that Barcelona played its football game against Las Palmas without fans after the team announced the match would be played behind closed doors. The gunman responsible for the worst mass shooting in modern US history is believed to be a grandfather who lived in a remote desert home. Stephen Paddock, 64, was named by police as the perpetrator who massacred more than 50 people from a 32nd-floor Las Vegas hotel room. The Nevada native left more than 50 dead after opening fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip late on Sunday. His brother Eric Paddock told Mail Online from his Orlando, Florida, home that the family was "dumbfounded" by what happened. He told the website: "He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something." He has also asked where he got his weapons, saying he was "not an avid gun guy at all". Stephen Paddock. Speaking to CBS News in Orlando, Florida, his emotional brother, Eric Paddock, described his sibling as a gambler with "no religious affiliation, no political affiliation", or history of mental illness. He added: "The fact that he had those kinds of weapons is just ... where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that. "He's a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite and drove down and gambled in Las Vegas." US records show Paddock lived in a three-year-old, 396,000-dollar (335,155) two-bedroom home in the tiny desert community of Mesquite, 80 miles north east of Las Vegas, near the Arizona state border. The house is currently being searched by detectives, Clark County sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. Paddock is believed to have killed himself before a police SWAT team burst into his room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, where at least 10 "rifles" were found, he added. He said: "We have no investigative information or background associated with this individual that is derogatory. "The only thing we can tell is he received a citation several years ago, and that citation was handled as a matter of normal practice in the court system." Local media said Paddock had also previously lived in Reno, Nevada, California and Florida. He lived in the property in Babbling Brook Court with Marilou Danley, 62, records show. Described as 4ft 11ins and of Asian ethnicity, she was named as his "companion" and initially as a person of interest by police. But Sheriff Lombardo later said she was out of the country at the time and they did not believe she was involved, although Paddock used some of her ID to get into the hotel, where he had been staying since September 28. US president Donald Trump's latest tweets on North Korea have received a muted response in South Korea, where media focused more on US secretary of state Rex Tillerson's acknowledgement that the US is keeping communication channels open with the Pyongyang. South Korea's largest daily newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, warned in an editorial that any US-North Korea talks should not recognise the North as a nuclear state, or the South would be also be forced to seek nuclear arms. Monday also marks the start of a week-long national holiday in South Korea, so many people were focused on traffic conditions for getting away. Mr Tillerson made headlines on Saturday when he said in Beijing that the Trump administration is probing North Korea's willingness to talk, though his spokeswoman later said that North Korea has shown no interest in talks on denuclearisation. On Sunday, Mr Trump tweeted that he had told Mr Tillerson "he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man", referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The South Korean president's office declined to comment. A small progressive online newspaper, Voice of People, said in an editorial that Mr Trump's comments are signs of confusion in US policy toward North Korea, though it said the tweet is unlikely to cause a major change in Mr Tillerson's position. "Such unstable US policy toward North Korea is entirely a burden on us," the editorial read. It has been previously established that Mr Trump and Mr Tillerson have differing opinions on foreign policy, said Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor at Renmin University's School of International Studies. He said: "In my view, Trump hopes both North Korea and China hear what he said on Twitter. "His Twitter comments put greater pressure on North Korea, which is at a critical road crossing now, so it must make a choice. In the meantime, the US hopes China will continue to put pressure on North Korea." Zhang Lifan, an independent commentator in China, said he believes Mr Trump's latest tweets show that the US president is losing patience with North Korea. He said that China and the US need to find a way to resolve the nuclear issue, because past experience shows that negotiations with the North are useless. AP Several people have been shot dead by security forces during protests in Cameroon, Amnesty International said. The group said some demonstrations had turned violent in Cameroon's English-speaking regions on Sunday as people gathered on the 56th anniversary of the incorporation of those areas. How you can help Give A Christmas to Lower Bucks families in need A 24-year-old man is facing a slew of felony charges for illegal straw purchase of 21 guns at gun stores, almost exclusively in Bucks County. Leonard Truesdale was arraigned on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, on 21 counts each of making false statements on firearm purchase forms, criminal conspiracy to make false statements on firearm purchase forms and selling or transferring... Rumors about Kenya Moore quitting The Real Housewives of Atlanta surfaced after she didnt make the trip to Barcelona, Spain with the rest of the cast in season 10. According to gossip website Tamara Tattles, some of the housewives convinced producers to include Kim Zolciak in the trip in place of Moore, who was reportedly was asked to be left behind. The 9 Weirdest Parties the Real Housewives Have Ever Thrown>>> However, Zolciak still didnt make the trip. The Dont Be Tardy star addressed the issue on Instagram, explaining the reason for her absence. WAS packing to leave the country then had a choice AND I decided, she wrote. Ill be headed out for #DontBeTardy press instead! Season 6 premieres October 6th 8pm on @Bravotv #WhenYourOWNShowCalls #SomeNeedToJustGiveItUp #ArentYouTired #Season6 #IAlwaysHaveAChoice. Y #BlessedGrateful A post shared by Kim Zolciak-Biermann (@kimzolciakbiermann) on Sep 27, 2017 at 4:00pm PDT While Zolciak opted to stay behind, Moore still didnt join the cast. Coincidentally, former Americas Next Top Model winner Eva Marcille officially joined the cast and was included in the excusion. Despite what it appears to be, a production souce tells Us Weekly, Kenya has not quit the show, nor has she been fired. Moores marriage to Marc Daly is one of the controversial topics in the upcoming season of RHOA. It is also allegedly part of the reason behind Moores exclusion from the trip. Her husband is a former investment banker who has never sought the spotlight, the source told Us Weekly. However, he wants to support his new bride and her career apparently not fast enough. Kenya was pulled from the cast trip last-minute and Bravo may be playing a bit of hardball to get Kenyas new husband on the show by limiting her on-air appearances, the source added. Kenya is a newlywed and has to respect her new husbands wishes to not be part of the show. Kenya has been trying to have a baby and the stress has caused her unnecessary emotional distress. Moore has not responded to the rumor directly but she did share a post on Instagram that seems to address the issue. #sitting A post shared by Kenya Moore (@thekenyamoore) on Sep 30, 2017 at 2:27pm PDT The Real Housewives of Atlanta season 10 premieres Sunday, November 5 at 8/7c on Bravo. Want more news? Like our RHOA Facebook page! (Image courtesy of Bravo) Parker Building Supplies received the Builders Merchant Award at the recent Federation of Master Builders (FMB) Master Builder Awards, with EH Smith 'Highly Commended' for the same Award. The FMB Awards event featured a Builders Merchant Award for the first time, championing builders' merchants that have most successfully developed and improved their business since January 2016. The FMB held competitions across each region of England, as well as Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the winners from each region being put forward for consideration to win the national award. The winners were then announced at a ceremony at the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel, hosted by DIY SOS: The Big Build presenter, Nick Knowles. The regional finalists were: Northern Ireland : Haldane Fisher : Haldane Fisher Midland : EH Smith : EH Smith North : Milford Building Supplies : Milford Building Supplies Scotland : Beatsons Building Supplies : Beatsons Building Supplies South : Parker Building Supplies : Parker Building Supplies Wales: LBS Builders Merchants. The Builders Merchant Award was sponsored by the Builders Merchants Federation. When announcing the finalists and ultimate winners, Nick praised all the merchants for their hard work, and highlighted the altruism of those merchants who continued to support DIY SOS: The Big Build with building materials, despite never receiving any direct coverage or exposure on the programme itself, due to BBC rules. He said: "Quality building and craftmanship is very dear to me. Lots of people fall through the net and DIY SOS: The Big Build is there to help them out, but we rely on the building industry and can only do the work if people turn up." How international students in South Jersey celebrate the holidays South Jersey's international students share how they cope when they can't make it home for the holidays by finding new ways to celebrate the season. Its 10 past 10 on a Tuesday. Lawyers and their assistants with large bags containing case documents begin strolling into court room no 1. The principal bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) comprising its president Mahesh Mittal Kumar, and S K Mohapatra, member (technical) will assemble in a few minutes in the brightly lit, largish rectangular hall, with a seating capacity of about 50. Port-to-power behemoth is set to enter the airport business with an international airport at Mundra, Gujarat. The group has firmed up plans to upgrade the existing airstrip at Mundra to a full-fledged commercial airport with integrated cargo and aerospace operations. Chemicals company BASF on Monday said it has received Rs 197.63 crore from Stahl India for sale of its leather chemicals business. "The company has received an aggregate sum of Rs 197.63 crore from Stahl India Private Ltd towards the consideration for the sale of the leather chemicals business," said in a BSE filing today. According to the statement, the leather chemicals business stands transferred to Stahl India from September 30, 2017. BASF India's parent company BASF SE Germany had signed an agreement for sale of global leather chemicals business to Stahl Group. is engaged in providing chemicals, plastics, performance enhancing and crop protection products, among others. Global food and support services industry player Elior has committed over 100 million euros in India as it looks to acquire local food caterers to institutions and corporates and expand into newer markets in the North. Renewables company Greenko, backed by Singapore's GIC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, is seeking to buy the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure's Mumbai electricity business for Rs 13,000-14,000 crore ($2.15 billion), the Economic Times reported on Monday while citing sources familiar with the development. State-run oil marketing on Sunday increased aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price by 6 per cent, the third straight rise since August. The revision adds to the cost pressure of airlines and could lead to rise in fares. State-run Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) Ltd has initiated dialogue with leading iron ore producer National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) for exports of the commodity to South Korea and Japan. Reliance said on Friday that customers of its Jio telecoms unit who buy the latest Apple iPhone models from partner stores could sell them back in a year at a guaranteed price, a move that could help the U.S. tech firm expand in India. Suzuki Motor Corp arm Private Limited (SMIPL) today said it sold 50,785 units -- a record -- in India in September. "SMIPL capped off September 2017 with record sales for consecutive months. The company registered a domestic sale of 50,785 units in India, breaching the significant landmark for the first-time in the process," a company statement said. According to the statement, overall, SMIPL clocked a year-on-year growth of 32.99 per cent with 57,469 units (domestic and exports), drawing significant gains on its 2016 performance during the same month. This consistent upward trajectory enabled the company to improve its April-September (FY 2017-18) performance by 41.73 per cent viz-a-viz last year, with a total sale of 2,81,182 units in this period. The company said that September was also a month of aggressive expansion for Suzuki two-wheelers with 13 new dealership inaugurations, expanding its presence to 467 dealerships all over India. Sajeev Rajasekharan, EVP, Sales and Marketing (SMIPL) said, "The opportunity for us to grow remains huge, as customer's confidence in our products is very high. We believe that the new dealerships will help us enhance this trust by offering customers more touch-points from where they can take home their dream Suzuki two-wheeler." To support the festive rush at its dealerships, the company also rolled-out multiple benefits for customers like the Suzuki Great Gold Rush, exchange offers, corporate schemes and financial tie-ups that allow them to take home a Suzuki two-wheeler at low down payment. Targeting 5 lakh unit sales in 2017-18, the company is set to build on this momentum especially in centres where there is a strong demand for premium two-wheelers. Private Limited is a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan. It manufactures two- wheelers best suited for the valuable Indian customers. The company started its India operation in February 2006. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Monday alleged that portals are "openly flouting foreign direct investment (FDI) policy", and said it may move the court if no action is taken by the government against them. British automotive marque Morris Garages, which is in the process of establishing full-scale operations in India, will wait for policy clarity on electric vehicles before finalising plans for the segment in the country, according to a top company official. MG Motor India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China's largest automaker SAIC Motor Corp that owns the brand, aims to launch its first product in 2019 and follow it up with another a year later. It has already taken over General Motor's Halol plant in Gujarat where is has earmarked investment upwards of Rs 2,000 crore to refurbish it to have an initial installed capacity of 85,000 units. "On electric vehicles, I just want to say one thing that we will wait for more clarity, policy and regulation to come," MG Motor India President and Managing Director Rajeev Chaba said. He was responding to query on the company's plans for EVs as it was entering India at a time when the government has been pushing for an all-electric fleet by 2030. "Speaking about capability and intention... MG and SAIC are more than capable to launch any kind of anywhere in the world, including India," Chaba said. Reiterating the need for policy clarity on the front, he added, "But we need to wait for details to come then we need to study and then we need to have a plan." It is just not the . It is the whole ecosystem and infrastructural details, which the government has to come out with clearly, Chaba added. He clarified that the first lot of products that the company plans to introduce from 2019 is not going to feature electric powertrains. "The first product is not going to be electric for sure but yes, as and when details come we would be part of that story. We will participate in the segment when the government clarifies," Chaba said. When asked if the company is prepared for the new set of regulations that are going to be ushered in, Chaba said that they are "more than ready". "We are ready...no problem for us...this is the positive side of being a late entrant as we know what norms we have to comply," he added. Safety standards, including that of occupants and pedestrians, along with CAFE (corporate average fuel efficiency) norms are set to kick in beginning this month till 2020, when India is set to adopt BS VI emission norms. On Halol plant, Chaba said the company is trying to bring international suppliers to create jobs on the ground. MG sells a range of products, including hatchback MG3 and SUV MG GS in the European market. SAIC had earlier this year signed a term sheet to evaluate buying the Halol plant of General Motors in Gujarat after the American company decided to stop production as part of consolidation of manufacturing operations in India. On May 18, General Motors suddenly decided to stop selling its vehicles in India as there was no turnaround in its fortunes here after struggling for over two decades to make a mark. Congress Vice President has received the administration's nod to visit his parliamentary constituency Amethi in Uttar Pradesh on October 4, officials said on Monday. The Congress leader, who was earlier denied permission to visit Amethi, would also be given protection by the district administration during his scheduled visit. Amethi District Magistrate Yogesh Kumar said on Monday: "We urged in a confidential letter to postpone his visit due to security reasons on account of Durga Puja, Muharram and Gandhi Jayanti, but the visit could not be postponed." The District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police had urged the Amethi MP to postpone his visit in a letter. The letter angered the Congress workers and party leaders alleged that the administration was trying to prevent from visiting Amethi. Germany is likely to follow Japan in aiding Indias quest for superfast trains. After laying the foundations of the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train with aid from Japan, India is tapping Germany to finance and execute the proposed Chennai-Bengaluru high-speed rail project, which will have almost the same terms as the Japanese venture. Having assailed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over the "mess" in the economy, BJP veteran leader Yashwant Sinha attacked the government on the Kashmir imbroglio, insisting "India has lost people of the valley emotionally". In an interview to 'The Wire' recorded on Friday, the former Union minister answered questions from journalist Karan Thapar on him being criticised for an article he wrote in a leading English daily on the state of economy that left the BJP embarrassed. Sinha termed as "exaggerated claims" the success of the various reforms and schemes undertaken by the government like the Mudra Bank. "I am looking at the alienation of the masses of people in Jammu and Kashmir. That is something which bothers me the most We have lost the people emotionally You just have to visit the valley to realise that they have lost faith in us," Sinha said. Sinha leads a civil society organisation--Concerned Citizens Group (CCG)-- which has visited the troubled Valley several times and interacted with various stakeholders to explore the possibility of finding a lasting solution to the seven-decades-old problem. The group comprises eminent people from different walks of life like Justice (retd) A P Shah, former Mumbai police commissioner J F Ribeira, Wajahat Habibullah, A S Dulat, Aruna Roy and Ramchandra Guha. Sinha claimed he has sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue 10 months ago and was "hurt" as it did not materialise. "I am hurt. I am absolutely hurt. That you ask for time, ten months has gone byLet me tell you, ever since I have been in public life, no prime minister of India, starting with Rajiv Gandhi, has ever said no to a meeting I have sought no prime minister has said to Yashwant Sinha, I dont have time for you. "And this is my own prime minister who has treated me like this. So if somebody rings me and says please come talk to mesorry, the time has passed I have been treated shabbily," he said. Sinha also took on Jaitley for suggesting that his shifting from the finance to external affairs ministry when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister was a "demotion". "How can [Jaitley] say that shifting from the ministry of finance to external affairs was a demotion for me? If Mr. Jaitley with the same stroke wants to say that Sushma Swaraj, the external affairs minister of today, is handling a totally insignificant portfolio, nobody is going to believe it." He debunked claims by several BJP leaders and ministers, including his own son Jayant, Minister of State for Civil Aviation, that the government has made massive structural changes which will help the economy in the long run. Sinha claimed Mudra scheme set up to provide funding to non-corporate, non-farm sector income generating activities of micro and small enterprises, was another name for the Pradhan Mantri Swarozgar Yojana launched by the Vajpayee government. He said the average loan in these accounts was a meagre Rs 11,000. "And you tell me, in todays day and age, what kind of business can be set up with Rs 25,000 rupees, Rs 50,000. The party president said that all these 80 million people today are self-employed which means we have created 80 million job opportunities. This is absolutely untenable," he said. Almost a century ago, Mohandas K. Gandhi commonly known by the honorific Mahatma, the great-souled one emphasised nonviolent resistance in his campaign for Indian independence. Two minors were today killed and 12 civilians injured in cross-border shelling by Pakistan along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, a senior government official said. Five children were among the injured, the youngest being five-year-old Zobia Kousar who was airlifted to a hospital in Jammu in a helicopter. The latest ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Dighwar, Shahpur, Qasba, Kerni and Mandhar sectors started round 6.30 am and continued till 11.30 am, District Development Commissioner, Poonch, Tariq Ahmad Zargar told PTI. A police spokesman said Indian troops guarding the border effectively retaliated to the unprovoked and indiscriminate firing and shelling by Pakistan which targeted dozens of villages and posts in the sectors. "A nine-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl were killed and 12 others were injured in the Pakistani shelling and firing. Two of the critically injured persons were airlifted to Government Medical College Hospital Jammu for specialised treatment," Zargar said. The deceased have been identified as Asrar Ahmad of Mohallha Qasba and Yasmeen Akhtar of Kerma village of Dighwar. He said two more seriously injured persons were shifted to a hospital in Jammu, while eight others were undergoing treatment at the district hospital. Ten of the injured were from Dighwar sector, while two others received splinter injuries in Kerni sector, the police spokesman said. The district development commissioner said Dighwar was the worst-hit in the shelling which sparked panic among the people. However, he said the residents are reluctant to migrate from the affected villages and have moved to safer places within their villages. The district administration has rushed ambulances to the affected villages to evacuate the injured who were also provided immediate relief of Rs 5000 from the Red Cross fund. Zargar said the government has started construction of 40 community bunkers along the LoC for the safety of civilians. "Work on construction of 40 underground community bunkers has started all along the LoC including areas which were hit by Pakistan this morning," he said adding the project is expected to be completed in the shortest possible time. The year 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Till August 1, there were 285 violations by Pakistani forces while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, according to Army figures. State Bank of India (SBI) account holders will have reason to cheer as the state-owned lender has waived off account closing charges for all savings bank customers under the condition that their account has existed for over a year. The waiver came into effect on October 1. Earlier, the bank used to deduct a sum of Rs 500, along with the applicable goods and services tax (GST), in the form of account closing charges for all accounts other than those closed during the 14-day free-look period. Commercial bank credit to the services sector contracted 9.1 per cent in April-August 2017, against 1.2 per cent growth in the year-ago period, reflecting a slowdown in the economy. In an article for the Indian Express on September 27, senior BJP leader and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha lit into the Modi governments handling of the economy, warning of more turbulence and the possibility of a hard landing. The governments first response was to field a counter article by Sinhas son, Jayant Sinha, who is minister of state for civil aviation. Later, finance minister Arun Jaitley publicly attacked the elder Sinha at an event in Delhi. In an exclusive interview to The Wire recorded on Friday, September 29, Yashwant Sinha takes on the criticisms that have been levelled against him by Jaitley and other ministers and commentators, questions what he says are their exaggerated claims about the success of various government reforms and schemes that they had accused him of ignoring and warns that worse is yet to come. The government has firmed up a Rs 1,000 crore plan to revive Hindustan Paper Corporation through the involvement of private sector in certain activities and settlement of dues, official sources said. The go-ahead to the revival plan was given at a meeting of the inter-ministerial group chaired by the prime minister earlier this month, the sources said. The inter-ministerial group has been tasked with undertaking turnaround of Hindustan Paper Corporation and government think tank NITI Aayog has been entrusted with overseeing implementation of the revival plan. "A Cabinet note is being prepared for settlement of the company's liabilities to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore, including payment of salaries to its 1,500 odd employees (barring Hindustan Newsprint Ltd) and clearance of outstanding statutory bank liabilities," a senior Heavy Industries Ministry official told PTI. Employees of Nagaon and Cachar paper mills belonging to central PSU which comes under the administrative control of the Department of Heavy Industries, have not paid salaries for 10 months and a year, respectively. Due to a shortage of working capital, the production in Cachar Paper Mill and Nagaon Paper Mill has been suspended since October 2015 and March 2017, respectively. "There was a brainstorming meeting chaired by the prime minister wherein it was decided that while retaining the public sector character of Hindustan Paper Corporation, contracts will be given to private players for carrying out procurement and due diligence activities," the official said. While roping in private players is a practice commonly followed by state-run PSUs in the services sector, it is a "paradigm shift" for companies operating in the manufacturing sector, the official added. "We are roping in a transaction advisor to chalk out the terms of the Expression of Interest and for floating the Request for Proposal," another official said, adding that the successful private bidders will be given an assurance and a "clean slate" after settlement of all the liabilities of the sick Kolkata-headquartered Hindustan Paper Corporation. HPC group has four paper mills, two of which are units and two are subsidiary companies. HPC is the holding company for Hindustan Newsprint Ltd and Nagaland Pulp & Paper Company. Nagaon Paper Mill and Cachar Paper Mill function directly under HPC's control and their performance is reflected in its operating results. Over a period of three decades, HPC has built up a total capacity of about 3.35 lakh tonnes of paper and newsprint. Availing of the benefits of a flat tax rate and easier compliance, the number of businesses opting for the composition scheme under the goods and services tax has gone up by 50 per cent. . 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. India will on Monday receive its first ever shipment of US crude oil when a very large crude carrier (VLCC) docks at Paradip port in Odisha. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) in early July booked the first US cargo, opening floodgates that saw other state-owned refiners including Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) rush to buy US crude oil. "The ship carrying 1.6 million barrels of US crude will reach Paradip sometime around midnight tonight (Sunday) or early tomorrow (Monday) morning," IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh told PTI here. The Indian government has encouraged state-controlled refiners to buy US and Canadian crude from the US Gulf coast as it looks at cheaper alternatives that have emerged due to a global supply glut. A US energy official had on Friday stated that IOC and BPCL have committed to buy eight shiploads of US oil by March 2018. "We have booked a second cargo as well for delivery at Vadinar in Gujarat in about a month from now," Singh said. "We expect to buy one shipload of US crude every month through tenders." While in the first purchase IOC is importing 1.6 million barrels of high sulphur crude Mars from the US and 400,000 barrels of Western Canadian Select oil, in the second it has bought 1.9 million barrels of US crude, half of it being shale oil, he said. "We have bought 950,000 barrels of light sweet Eagle Ford shale oil and 950,000 barrels of heavy sour Mars crude in the second tender," he said. India, the world's third-largest oil importer, joins Asian countries like South Korea, Japan, and China to buy US crude after production cuts by oil cartel OPEC drove up prices of Middle East heavy-sour crude, or grades with a high sulphur content. Buying US crude has become attractive for Indian refiners after the differential between Brent (the benchmark crude or marker crude that serves as a reference price for buyers in the western world) and Dubai (which serves as a benchmark for countries in the east) has narrowed. Even after including the shipping cost, buying US crude is cost competitive to Indian refiners, an industry official said. The IOC deal came within weeks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's June-end visit to the US when President Donald Trump talked of his country looking to export more energy products to India. To encourage US crude purchases, the government has allowed refiners to use a foreign rather than an Indian-owned vessel for the purchase. Indian refiners typically have to use domestic vessels for their crude imports. BPCL has bought two of the US cargoes -- 500,000 barrels each of Mars and Poseidon varieties of medium-to-high-sulphur crude for delivery to its Kochi refinery between September 26 and 15 October and 1 million barrels of US WTI Midland sweet crude for delivery in October. HPCL too has made its first purchase of the US oil, buying 1 million barrels of Mars crude from trading firm Trafigura for delivery in December at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Bharat-Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL) has also bought 1 million barrels of Mars crude from Trafigura for November 16- 25 arrival. BORL is a 50:50 joint venture between BPCL and Oman Oil, which operates a 6 million tonnes a year refinery at Bina in Madhya Pradesh. A VLCC can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil. A day after visiting three high-altitude India-China border posts in Uttarakhand, Union Home Minister on Sunday visited Gauchar in Chamoli district to interact with Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel. But, he did not visit the Barahoti post close to Tibet, which has witnessed transgression by Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in the recent past. The proposal in the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017, to introduce a resolution corporation to tackle bankruptcy in financial services firms has piqued the interest of analysts. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is headed for yet another showdown between party chief Sitaram Yechury and former party chief Prakash Karat at the partys three-day central committee meeting, starting on October 14. Discuss Laws on Wildlife with a Modern and Scientific Outlook: Dr. HARSH Vardhan Environment Minister Inaugurates Global Wildlife Programme; Releases National Wildlife Action Plan 2017-2031 Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has appealed to the fraternity of wildlife experts and scientists to deliberate on various wildlife-related laws with a modern and scientific outlook. If you can blend science and technology to the cause of wildlife, it will produce a drastic difference to the outcome of the Conference", the Minister said. Inaugurating the Global Wildlife Programme here today, Dr. Harsh Vardhan emphasised that modern technology must be used to counter poachers and wildlife crimes. He pointed out that the effort has always been to resolve all issues related to wildlife in a harmonious manner. The Minister said that India has the largest participation of people living in the forests towards conservation efforts. Referring to the National Wildlife Action Plan released today, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that the NWAP has been made landscape-based, rather than sanctuary, or national park-based. The Minister urged the students to become strong Eco-messengers in the society.Two documents Indias National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP) for the period 2017-2031 and Secure Himalaya were released on the occasion. The Plan focuses on preservation of genetic diversity and sustainable development. The NWAP has five components, 17 themes, 103 conservation actions and 250 projects. The five components are strengthening and promoting the integrated management of wildlife and their habitats; adaptation to climate change and promoting integrated sustainable management of aquatic biodiversity in India; promoting eco-tourism, nature education and participatory management; strengthening wildlife research and monitoring of development of human resources in wildlife conservation and enabling policies and resources for conservation of wildlife in India. The Plan will help to mainstream wildlife conservation in development planning processes. The Minister also launched the India Wildlife Mobile App to mark the occasion. Addressing the gathering, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ajay Narayan Jha pointed out that the Conference will provide a platform to build strategic partnerships between all the 19 nations and enable India to strengthen its enforcement mechanism to control wildlife trafficking. Shri Jha also said that the nations will learn from each other on strengthening peoples participation. The Environment Secretary emphasised that some new action issues have been considered in the Third National Wildlife Action Plan. These issues include climate change and wildlife, wildlife health, inland, coastal and marine conservation and wildlife conflict mitigation. Some of the issues that will be discussed during the Conference are leveraging partnerships to promote shared benefits on public-private partnerships and opportunities in wildlife-based tourism that help promote wildlife conservation; inclusive growth infrastructure for wildlife conservation and ways to mitigate impacts of infrastructure in wildlife and innovative approaches to engage people in wildlife conservation. Senior Biodiversity specialist, Global Environment Facility (GCF), Dr. Jaime Cavelier, Country Director, UNDP-India, Ms. Marina Walter also addressed the gathering. Director General, Forest & Special Secretary in Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Siddhanta Das gave the welcome address, while IG, Forest, Shri Soumitra Dasgupta delivered the vote of thanks. An Indian Forest Service officer, Shri Sujoy Bannerjee gave a Live performance of the theme song. Students and teachers from various schools, and representatives of NGOs were among those present in the gathering. Earlier in the day, the delegates from GWP countries visited Rajghat memorial to pay tributes to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. In another programme held earlier today at National Zoological Park to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti and Wildlife Week, 2017, around three hundred students from various schools of National Capital Region (NCR) participated. The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated/laid the foundation stone of various projects pertaining to the economic advancement of traditional fisherfolk communities in Mangrol, Gujarat, today (October 2, 2017). . . Speaking on the occasion, the President said that Gandhiji aimed at the overall development of society and believed in the dignity of labour. The people of Saurashtra are known for their hard work, whether in agriculture, trade or other professions. They have improved their lives by dint of their hard work and diligence while facing natural calamities and other challenges of nature. The President inaugurated various projects today such as the Jetty & other facilities at Jafarabad Fishing Harbour; upgradation of Veraval and Porbandar Fishing Harbour and Navibandar, Miyani & Salaya Fish Landing Centres, and the Mangrol Rural Water Supply Augmentation Scheme for 45 villages. He hoped that these would boost the economic development of the region and improve the quality of life of the people. . . The President said that Gujarat has contributed immensely in various areas such as agriculture, industry, education, arts, literature and public life. In fact, coastal Gujarat has contributed to the economic development of the country since ancient times. Around 48% of the cargo entering or exiting the ports of the country is from the ports of Gujarat. The State is the largest contributor in the marine fisheries business in India and its share is around 20% of the total trade. He said the projects inaugurated today are very important for the people of Gujarat, particularly the people of Saurashtra. On the occasion, he congratulated the Government of Gujarat and its Chief Minister, Shri Vijay Rupani for building on the past legacy and working diligently in order to make the projects possible. . . Click here to see President'Speech . . AKT/SH PM addresses event to mark Swachh Bharat Diwas: 3rd anniversary of the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission, and conclusion of Swachhata Hi Seva fortnight The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today addressed an event to mark Swachh Bharat Diwas: the 3rd anniversary of the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission, and the conclusion of Swachhata hi Seva fortnight. He said 2nd October marks the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri; and is an occasion to reflect on how far we have travelled towards our goal of Swachh Bharat. He recalled how the Swachh Bharat Movement had been initiated three years ago, amid immense criticism. He said he is convinced that the path that Mahatma Gandhi has shown, cannot be wrong. He said that even if there are challenges, that does not mean one must shy away from them. The Prime Minister said that today people are expressing their desire for cleanliness in one voice. He asserted that Swachhata cannot be achieved through the efforts of leaders and governments, but can only be achieved through the efforts of the society. Jan Bhagidari has to be appreciated, the Prime Minister said, adding that today, Swachhata Abhiyan has become a social movement. He said that whatever has been achieved till date, is also the achievement of the Swachhagrahi people of India. PM to visit Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will visit Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, on Tuesday. The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), at Bilaspur. This 750 bed hospital will be built at a cost of approximately Rs. 1350 crore. In addition to healthcare, it will also provide medical education at the under-graduate and post-graduate level, besides nursing. The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), at Una. Shri Narendra Modi will also inaugurate a Steel Processing Unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), at Kandrori, Kangra. He will later address a public meeting. The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley to leave on a 2 day Official visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh tomorrow; To deliver a Talk on Macroeconomic Initiatives of the Govt. of India: Financial inclusion, Demonetization and Cashless Economy"; To Call on the Prime Minister of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh during the visit; To launch Cashless Visa Services among others. The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley will arrive at Bangladeshs capital, Dhaka tomorrow i.e. Tuesday, 3rd October, 2017 on a two day official visit to Bangladesh. After his arrival, the first major engagement of the Indian Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will be to deliver the Inaugural Address at the Business Meeting between Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) tomorrow afternoon. In the evening, a Dinner will be hosted by the High Commissioner of India, Shri HarshVardhan Shringla in honour of the Indian Finance Minister.Next day i.e. on Wednesday,4th October, 2017, the Union Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley will hold a Bilateral Level Meeting with the Finance Minister of Bangladesh, Mr. Abul Maal A Muhith. During the visit of the Indian Finance Minister, Shri Jaitley, a Dollar Credit Line Agreement between the Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh and Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) is likely to be signed for 3rd Line of Credit. Besides it, Joint Interpretative Notes on the Agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments" are also likely to be signed during the visit of Indian Finance Minister. Later, the visiting Indian Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley and Bangladesh Finance Minister Mr. Abul Maal A Muhith will launch the Cashless Visa Services. After that, the Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will deliver a Talk on the Macro-economic Initiatives of the Government of India: Financial Inclusion, Demonetization and Cashless Economy". Later in the afternoon, the visiting Indian Finance Minister, Shri Jaitley is likely to call on the Prime Minister of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. In the evening on 4th October, 2017, the Bangladesh Finance Minister Mr. Abul Maal A Muhith will host a Dinner in the honour of the visiting Indian Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley will depart for back home in the morning on 5th October, 2017 after completing his two day official visit to Bangladesh. At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, raining down bullets from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before he was shot dead by police. Myanmar has proposed taking back the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks, the Bangladeshi foreign minister said after talks on Monday with a senior Myanmar representative. "The talks were held in a friendly atmosphere and Myanmar has made a proposal to take back the Rohingya refugees," A H Mahmood Ali told reporters. British companies including pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca urged the government on Monday to agree a three-year transitional deal to ease the uncertainty hampering investment decisions and the economy. Britain's biggest companies have become increasingly alarmed by the slow progress of negotiations and the prospect the country could crash out of the world's biggest trading bloc without a deal in 2019. Prime Minister Theresa May vowed in a speech last month to seek a two-year transition deal to help reduce the disruption, but her efforts were overshadowed by a challenge from Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson who has set out his own terms for Britain leaving the European Union. Johnson, a leading campaigner, said a transition period should not last a second more than two years. He also said Britain should not accept new EU or European Court of Justice rulings during transition, must not make payments for single market access when the transition ends, and should not agree to shadow EU regulations to gain access. AstraZeneca Chairman Leif Johansson said the reality was that a company like his, with 60,000 employees around the world, needed at least three years to prepare for Brexit, and more guidance beyond that. "It should be at least three years," he told the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. "And very early in that period, we need to know what to expect in years four, five and six." Adam Marshall, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce which represents companies employing 5 million people, also called for a three-year transition, and went further, saying the infighting at the heart of government had undermined confidence in the country. "Businesspeople across Britain are growing impatient with division and disorganisation at the heart of the party of government," he said in a statement. "Public disagreements between cabinet ministers in recent weeks have only served to undermine business confidence." Britain's shock 2016 vote to leave the EU stunned many businesses, with the prospect of border delays and tariffs threatening to fracture intricate supply chains that have built up across the continent over the last 40 years. Supporters of leaving the EU admit there may be a short-term hit to the economy but say that ultimately Britain will prosper because Brexit will break the shackles that have clamped it to a decaying German-dominated experiment in European integration. The world's fifth-biggest economy grew at its slowest pace since 2013 in the 12 months after the referendum and companies have warned they will struggle to invest until they have a clearer idea of how Britain will trade in the future. While many businesses welcome a transitional period, they warn it does not help if they do not know what they are transitioning to. Showing how little room the government has to manoeuvre, the trade body that represents Britain's powerful finance sector, CityUK, said any transition deal should be used to hammer out a deal that allows Britain to set its own future and not take rules from Brussels. "We stress that we need a transitional period in order to reach a decent deal in the long term," it said. "We cannot be in a situation where the UK is a rule-taker, that is not appropriate either for this industry or for this country." Finance minister Philip Hammond acknowledged the divisions within the cabinet and said uncertainty over Brexit was weighing on the economy. But he said he was working to remove the "cloud of uncertainty" and that he was fighting for a good deal. "There are short-term challenges and the uncertainty created by the Brexit negotiation process is one of them," he told BBC radio from the Conservative Party's annual conference. "The sooner we can get some clarity, the sooner we can move forward, give businesses and investors more certainty about the future, the quicker this economy will start growing again." (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.) Soybean prices at Indore are trading at Rs 2,995 per quintal. In the coming days, prices are expected to head towards Rs 2,960 per quintal. The undertone is expected to remain weak on forecast of clear weather, which would speed up harvest of new season crop, and increase in new crop arrivals. In April last year, then Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan described the Indian economy as a one-eyed king in the land of the blind. He was speaking in the context of India becoming the fastest-growing economy despite a gloomy condition around the world. A year and a half later, Indias macroeconomic indicators no longer seem appealing even as the world economy sees a strong rebound in both economic growth and trade. Amber Rose transformed into a sultry superhero on Sunday for her third annual slutwalk. Donning a white leotard with a pink cape and belt around her waist with the letters 'CSH', Rose appeared at the event as her superhero alter ego: Captain Save a Hoe. "And so it begins," she captioned a photo of herself showing off her outfit on Instagram. Her boyfriend 21 Savage was on-hand to lend his support, walking through the event with her while holding her hand. The walk started in 2011 after a Toronto police officer suggested women to 'avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Responding positively to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for launching a cleanliness drive, or Swachhata Abhiyan, across the nation, the Indian Army has spent the last fortnight carrying out special cleanliness drives in various cantonments across the country. Monday being Gandhi Jayanti and the 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, and Swachhata (cleanliness) being celebrated with community runs and other programmes, the armed forces have remained consistent in pursuing cleanliness over the three years since the call for the movement was given by the Prime Minister. The most significant has been the cleanliness drive on the Indian side of the Siachen Glacier, where more than 60 tonnes of waste has been removed. The positive effect of this in an ecologically sensitive area has been tremendous. Cleanliness has been intrinsic to the culture and tradition of the armed forces. Military cantonments are oases of cleanliness and the green lungs of cities. ALSO READ: Swachh Bharat: Kerala best-performing, BJP-ruled states fail the clean test This is made possible only by wide participation. Maintenance is done not only by the composite staff but all residents and families. The residents look after their own areas, particularly when it comes to preservation of trees and the ecology. Children studying in army schools are particularly sensitised to the need of maintaining clean surroundings. Interactive sessions are organised to create awareness and generate motivation to voluntarily take on the responsibility. Army units deployed in remote areas that have a particularly sensitive ecological balance join with the locals to maintain the same. ALSO READ: India celebrates Gandhi Jayanti 2017 with Modi's 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' In case there is degradation happening, they attempt to contain the same. There are innumerable instances where degradation has been reversed due to efforts of the armed forces. The Army raised the Territorial Army Ecological Task Forces (ETF) more than three decades ago and it has made a sterling contribution in afforestation and ecological restoration in Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and a few other places. It is now proposed to extend this highly successful initiative onto the Nirmal Ganges project also. The active participation of the armed forces in the Swachhata movement is of great value since the country looks upon its soldiers as role models and follows their example. ALSO READ: 3 years of Swachh Bharat: States may be inflating number of toilets built In cleanliness, none can give a better example than the armed forces of the country and this needs to be leveraged for the success of the Abhiyan. Groups of citizens and Swachhata volunteers should be facilitated visits to cantonments to see the models of cleanliness being applied there and to emulate the same. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha on Monday said that the Indian Army should hand over the anti-militancy operations to the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF), adding the Army should return to barracks in Jammu and Kashmir. Speaking at the 'Kashmir - Now and Way Ahead' event, Sinha said that the Army is in the forefront of fighting militancy in the valley, instead of protecting the border and the Line of Control (LoC). "In villages or towns, when there is a militancy situation, it is the Indian Army first, then the CRPF and the Police," he said. He added, "There is a case for the Army going back to the barracks leaving the operations (against militancy) to the CRPF and the J-K Police," he said, adding "it will act like a balm on the psyche of the people." Sinha also said that the CRPF is well equipped and trained to handle militancy like they tackle the Left Wing Extremism problem in the country. He also lamented that the people of at least four generations had been living under the shadow of the security forces and claimed that it wouldn't have been tolerated anywhere else in the country. "Nobody wants violence. We all want to resolve the Kashmir issue," he said. Sinha claimed that it had been "the longest issue with us since our independence". He touched upon the plight of the people there and their sentiment towards their treatment. "If you visit Kashmir, they tell you that we always been in denial. They also feel a strong feeling of betrayal and discrimination," he said. The former external affairs minister also lashed out at Pakistan, claiming that it exports terror. He said, "Of course, Pakistan is exporting terror and there is terrorism and we have issues with Pakistan." Sinha also expressed hope for the fact that Kashmir would help resolve the issue between India and Pakistan. "Jammu and Kashmir can become the bridge between India and Pakistan and the Line of Control (LoC) can become the line of peace." he said. He also said that Pakistan is acting as a third political party in the Kashmir situation. Sinha said that Kashmir is more of a political problem than a security problem and stressed on the need for engaging in a dialogue for resolving the decades-old turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir as "non-violence is completely at a discount there". Quoting his experiences during a visit to Kashmir after the killing of Burhan Wani, he said that there was a strong constituency of peace and a possibility of engaging in a dialogue. He stressed on the need to engage in a two-way dialogue process, beginning with "our own people"of Jammu and Kashmir. "The day you announce the dialogue process and its tits and bits, that day there will be a dramatic improvement in the situation of J-K, because noone wants violence." he said. He added, "There is an urgency attached to it as people are suffering. It is our fault that the people over there are feeling alienated and it is our responsibility to reach out to them." He also urged the Centre to operationalise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dialogue regarding "Embracing Kashmiris" during his Independence Day speech. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley will arrive at Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on 3rd October on an official visit to have a bilateral meeting with the Finance Minister of Bangladesh, Mr Abul Maal A Muhith. After Inaugural Address at the Business Meeting of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), the Minister is most likely to sign Dollar Credit Line Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank). The Finance Minister will also throw light on the topic "Macroeconomic Initiatives of the Government of India: Financial Inclusion, Demonetization and Cashless Economy". Arun Jaitley and Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal A Muhith will launch the Cashless Visa Services in Bangladesh. He will return back to India on October 5th after completing his two-day official visit. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a move to empower the transgender community, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the first community toilet for this stratum in Mangalwara, Bhopal, with the help of the municipal corporation. Further, Chouhan stated that a dedicated panchayat would soon be set up in order to address the grievances of members of this community. "The state government has decided to soon set up a panchayat for the transgender community so that we can address their problems. We will also be allocating Rs. 1, 50,000 towards construction of houses for them," he said. Chouhan also stated that they have a very important role to play in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, which completes its three years today. He also said the transgender community will be given all the rights that any other citizen of the state is entitled to. However, Chouhan categorically stated that any individual who is seen misusing the status of a transgender will be subject to strict action by the police. Earlier last week, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced that the transgender community must be supported by the government with housing, ration cards and pension of 1000 rupees. In a bold move, Naidu also said that employment opportunities must be created so that they can be a self-sustainable community. He also asserted that the state government is planning to provide pensions to the transgender community in order to provide equality and a better living standard to every individual of the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) iStock/Thinkstock(LAS VEGAS) -- Adam Payne was among the many concertgoers forced to run for their lives late Sunday when a shooter opened fire during the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, killing at least 58 people and injuring 515. "Everything hit the fan," Payne told ABC News. He said he carried his wounded friend to safety and felt "very lucky" to have escaped alive. Another survivor, Brian Claypool, said he was able to flee the terrifying scene as shots rung out from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Claypool said he saw two people get shot down and spoke to other witnesses who said they watched their friends die. He said it was hard to figure out where to run. "It was chaos everywhere." But for the survivors of the Las Vegas shooting and their loved ones, emotional trauma is likely to follow, experts say, and it can come in several phases. "In this early time, right after this incredible tragedy has occurred, there are different stages of grief between shock, extreme sadness, perhaps angry that this has occurred," Donna M. Morrissey, spokesperson for the American Red Cross told ABC News. "That's all normal. That's why it's important for us to dig deep and bring in the mental health experts who are trained and licensed to help deal with this." Morrissey responded to the scenes in Newtown, Connecticut following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and also tended to families in the immediate aftermath of the Boston bombing. Morrissey said she and the Red Cross offered mental health counseling and family assistance centers where individuals would wait for news about their loved ones. Following Sandy Hook alone, 200 trained mental health counselors arrived at the scene, she said. Morrissey stressed that similar support is needed in the wake of the mass shooting in Vegas. "These are the initial hours where we are learning about what has occurred, but as the weeks go on it's important for people to have self care," she said, "look at their loved ones around them, their kids, talk about it." Dr. Gerard Lawson, president of the American Counseling Association, said although not all survivors will suffer from psychological disorders, many will have "challenging reactions." "The most difficult thing that they will struggle with is, Why did I survive when someone else didnt? Was there something that I did that someone else didnt?: Lawson said. "It sets you up for [the thought] that your life is either more or less important than someone elses." Surviving an attack can also shake a person's sense of security in everyday situations. "Whether youre going to school in the morning or a concert at night, it shatters the sense of safety in the world," he said. "It breaks the understanding that My life will not be in danger." Lawson practices psychology in Virginia and offered counseling following the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. He said that, like that attack, many people could move into some emotional changes following the shooting in Las Vegas, which can linger over the long term. Here are some difficulties survivors may experience in the aftermath, according to Lawson. Heightened sense of arousal Individuals may be tuned into noises or sudden movements that can trigger them to become startled. Similar smells can also trigger emotional reactions. Disruption of sleep Images may come back to them as dreams at night, or during the day, like a sort of deja vu. "Not flashbacks, but a feeling that things are happening all over again," Lawson said. Withdrawal Survivors of trauma may close up and choose to not talk about their concerns. "They may become numb to their emotions," Lawson said. Coping mechanisms and self-care for trauma Avoid quick fixes such as drugs and or alcohol. Mindfulness Lawson suggests managing thoughts through deep breathing and physical exercise and practicing "self-talk." "Be sure that you can assure [yourself] that, 'I am safe right here in my home. Right here, right now, I am as safe as I can be,'" he said. Avoid overexposure to media Limit time spent watching news footage in the aftermath of the shooting. Lawson recommends checking in maybe once a day, "Rather than every 10 minutes." Another option is to ask a friend to share any major developments. Seeking a counselor Although the idea of when to actually seek help depends on each individual, Lawson suggests following this rule: "If it's beginning to get in the way of your day-to-day, or keeps you from enjoying your life, it's time to talk to a professional." If you are a friend or family member of a survivor, Lawson said it's best to "follow their lead." "It's important to spend time together," he added. "It doesn't mean you have to talk about the trauma. Make yourself available and let them know if they want to talk about it, that you're available to listen. Encourage them to seek help if this is something that starts to linger." Morrissey echoed this advice. "If you notice that somebody is really unable to continue with their daily activities or retreating to their own space and they're not able to come to grips with what's going on, then that's the time you reach out and seek help," she said. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Monday tore into Union Minister Ramdas Athawale for his suggestion to the dalits to join the Indian Army for foreign liquor, saying that the remark of the minister shows his mindset about the backward class of the country. BSP leader Sudhindra Bhadoria objected Athawale's remark and said that it should be condemned by all. "This only speaks about the mindset of this government; they think that the dalits are not doing anything in this country except for consuming liquor," Bhadoria told ANI. "This whole nation, for past 2000 years, has been standing on the shoulders of the Indian dalits. They have been working on the field, on construction sites and therefore to say that the dalits are only consuming liquor is something that needs to be condemned by one and all," he said. Earlier on Sunday, Athawale asked Dalit youth to join the Indian Army to get foreign liquor, instead of consuming country liquor while unemployed. While interacting with media in Pune, Athawale said he would personally make efforts to ensure that Dalits get reservation in the defence. "The Army provides good food and liquor. Instead of consuming country liquor while being unemployed, the Dalit youths should join Army where they can get rum," Athawale said. On a related note, the BSP leader also expressed grief over an incident in Gujarat, where a Dalit man was beaten to death by a group of men belonging to the upper caste for attending a garba event. Bhadoria said Gujarat has become a state where maximum numbers of atrocities are taking place on dalits. "This proves that the whole Gujarat model of Prime Minister Modi was nothing more than atrocities on dalit that has been multi-fold increasing with the BJP in power in Gujarat and in the rest of the country," Bhadoria said. He appealed to the people of the nation to rise against the Prime Minister for 'high-handed administrative lapse which are taking place in his own home state of Gujarat. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chabahar port, located in the Sistan-Baluchistan province on the south-eastern coast of Iran, is of a major strategic importance to India as it would give it sea-land access into Afghanistan and through Iran's eastern borders, to Central Asia. From the Chabahar port, there is a 883-km road route to Afghanistan's border town of Zaranj, the Zaranj-Delaram road constructed by India's Border Roads Organisation in 2009, provides access to four major cities of Afghanistan - Herat, Kandahar, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. Chabahar will also serve as the Indian Ocean outlet for Central Asia, and the proposed 7,200-km International North South Corridor (INSTC) running northward through Iran and Afghanistan will also provide India vital access to the markets of five Central Asian Republics (CARs), Russia, and ultimately Europe. India's trade with Central Asia has long been constrained by the absence of viable overland transit routes, denied by Pakistan and China, which share boundaries with India. Once the Chabahar Port is developed and becomes operational, India may be able to begin to compete with China. Following his visit to Iran in early August, 2017, Nitin Gadkari, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, had stated, "Talks are on for building railways and roads through Chabahar till Afghanistan and then we have access to Russia. Once Chabahar is operationalised, which we are hopeful to be in 12 to 18 months, it will prove to be a gateway to golden opportunities to boost trade and business... would be a 'win win' situation for India, Iran and Afghanistan as it would serve as a "growth engine and gateway to golden opportunities..We are working on a fast track." In September 2014, on Iran's request, the Indian Government decided to participate in the development of the Chabahar Port. Thereafter, following a series of meetings between the two countries, a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of the Chabahar Port by India was signed in Tehran by Gadkari and Dr. Abbas Akhoundi on May 6, 2015. Then followed several rounds of meetings of the Ministry of Shipping and India Ports GlobaL Pvt. Ltd. from the Indian side with Arya Bander Iran and Port and the Maritime Organisation from Iran's side, leading to the contract agreement signed on May 23, 2016. Also in May 2016, Narendra Modi became the first Indian prime minister in 15 years to visit Iran, and during his visit, he pledged up to $500 million to develop and operate Iran's Chabahar port as part of a trilateral engagement between India, Iran and Afghanistan. On January 22, 2015, in preparation of India's commitment, the India Ports Global Pvt. Ltd, was set up in Iran as a joint venture between Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust with 60 per cent shares and Kandla Port Trust, recently renamed as Deendayal Port Trust, with 40 per cent shares, along with participation from private Iranian and Indian firms to develop and operate the port at Chabahar. The paid up capital of this company is presently Rs. 10 crore. The contract entails developing and mechanising two terminals with four berths to be equipped with rail-mounted quay cranes, rubber tyre gantry cranes, mobile harbour cranes, yard cranes, empty container handlers, reach stackers and terminal tractor trailors for handling cargo. In June 2017, India reportedly ratified the United Nations TIR (Transports Internationaux Routiers) Convention. Developed and managed by the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the road transport organisation, TIR is the global standard for goods customs transit, which will ensure a secured supply chain and boost trade and is part of India's multi-modal transport strategy to integrate the economy with global and regional production networks through better connectivity. This is expected to increase the overland trade and regional integration across South Asia and beyond, fast-tracking the region's potential to become a strategic trade hub. IRU Secretary General Umberto de Pretto said: "I am delighted to welcome India into the TIR family of nations. This is an important step in harmonising standards and boosting transport, trade and development across South Asia......We look forward to working closely with the Indian government and business community as we turn our attention now to implementing the TIR system." With India joining TIR, the INSTC becomes closer to implementation and also becomes India's suitable substitute to China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) strategy. During the second meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council between India and Afghanistan, held in New Delhi on September 11, 2017 and co-chaired by the External Affairs Minister of India, Sushma Swaraj, and the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Salahuddin Rabbani, the two sides welcomed the establishment of the Air Cargo Corridor between Kabul and Kandahar with New Delhi in June 2017. It was agreed to expand it to include other cities in Afghanistan and India as well as to increase the frequency of the cargo flights between the two countries. Reaffirming the importance of connectivity and free and unfettered transport and transit access for Afghanistan and Central Asia, both sides agreed to work towards expeditious operationalisation of the Chabahar Port in Iran under the trilateral Agreement for Establishment of International Transport and Transit Corridor signed in May 2016. In this context, both sides agreed to explore joint investments. Also, the Afghan side welcomed the imminent commencement of wheat shipments of 1,70,000 metric tonnes from India to Afghanistan via the Chabahar Port. Timed with the recent forward movement on the Chabahar, Dr. Amiya Chandra, the Joint Director General, Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce, has come out with his book, The Trade Game, a revised extension to his earlier book, India-Central Asia Relations: The Economic Dimension. Dr. Chandra, has handled the East European region including Central Asia, and was part of the Indian government's delegation, which set up India's trade route to Central Asia via Iran. This book elaborates on the importance of India's all-round economic engagement with the Central Asia. The CARs are resource-rich and have vast reserves in natural gas and oil. Energy cooperation, thus, forms an important component of the India-Central Asia relations. India-Central Asia economic relations also need to be seen through a wider prism that would involve important sectors of each of the CARs' economic development planning: uranium, electricity, hydroelectricity, infrastructure, construction, transport, banking, agribusiness, and above all, the other emerging service sectors, such as the Information and Communications Technology (ICT), healthcare, hospitality, tourism etc. The book explores various transportation routes and networks which are likely to propel India into the Central Asian picture in the near future. Apart from energy and uranium resources, Central Asia offers a relatively untapped market for the Indian consumer goods, especially as consumers in the region have little to choose from between the highly priced imported Western products and cheap but lower-quality Chinese manufactured goods that have flooded the region. The potential for Indian investment and expertise has been identified in the areas of IT, banking, construction and food processing. Besides, the potential for Indian assistance to the CARs in developing their small and medium-scale enterprises is immense, in addition to the tremendous opportunity in joint ventures in different sectors especially service sectors. Interacting with this writer, Dr. Chandra made an interesting point. He said, "China's economic strength comes from its foreign trade and it is exporting to almost all the nations of the and slowly killing local industries. However, Chinese foreign trade currently is majorly dependent on maritime routes and it is because of its limitations in maritime trade that it has opted for overland routes for furthering its economic and militarily interests through the One Road One Belt (OBOR). The CARs are the soft target of China as they are currently dependent upon China and Russia for their foreign trade, and in absence of any credible trade route they are bound to be attracted and more intricately and integrate with China, against the interest of India and the U.S. Unfortunately, the U.S. under President Donald Trump's administration is getting sidelined more and more and its absurdity and fickleness in international trade and political dealings. It would be in India's economic, foreign trade and political interest to have excellent relationship with Iran and Central Asia. With the western and the US in turmoil and their antithesis to lifting any further trade barriers is against India's economic and security interest, Central Asia, Iran, Russia and EU offer much better opportunities for Indian exports growth." Claudia Waedlich, in her article 'CPEC and military design eliminations for development,' on September 25, 2017, stated: "The implementation of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) raises many questions. Is it only an economic corridor as promised by China and Pakistan? Or has it another purpose? Will it bring the promised free trade, prosperity and development to Balochistan and the other nations in the artificially constructed State of Pakistan? The answer is a clear no. Regarding strategic designs - first Gwadar port, the end point of the CPEC, which stretches from Kashgar in Xinjiang to Gwadar, close to the Straits of Hormuz, will be in danger of being completely blocked with a high impact on international trade from around the world". (http://www.vijayvaani.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?aid=4443) India's development of the Chabahar, just 70 km away from Pakistan's Gwadar port, handed over by it to China for 40 years and part of the CPEC, is being viewed by Pakistan as a threat. According to Ahmad Bilal Khalil, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies, Kabul, writing in The Diplomat on 31 January 2017, Iran also wants to connect CPEC (and Gwadar) and Chabahar. Given that both Afghanistan and Iran have embraced the OBOR, it seems unlikely that Chabahar will line up in direct competition with the Chinese project. The rivalry between Chabahar and Gwadar mostly hinges on two factors. First, analysts posit that the probability of a Chinese and Indian military (especially navy) presence in these ports will increase Sino-Indian rivalry in the Indian Ocean. Second, there is an expectation that Chabahar port will diminish the importance of Gwadar port (the end of CPEC) as a transit hub and route for Central Asian republics and Afghanistan. The signing of the Chabahar transit agreement in Tehran has left Pakistan in a quandary. This transit trade agreement, seen with both suspicious and hopeful eyes in Islamabad, has since become a dilemma for Pakistanis. The reactions of the Pakistani media (particularly the Urdu media) have been uneasy; some retired army generals (and former defence secretaries) even referred to the Chabahar agreement as a "security threat" to Pakistan. This will have to be appropriately factored by India, Iran and Afghanistan. (DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in the above article are that of Col. (Retired) Anil Bhat, a strategic and defence expert. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China has opened a 409-km toll-free new expressway linking Lhasa and Nyingchi, the two major cities and tourist attractions in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Nyingchi is close to the Arunachal Pradesh border. Costing about $5.8 billion, the expressway cuts Lhasa-Nyingchi travel time from eight to five hours at a speed limit of 80 km per hour, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Heavy trucks are temporarily banned from using the Lhasa- Nyingchi expressway, Xinhua news agency added. The India-China border covering the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) is deputed. Notably, China claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, whereas India asserts that the dispute covers the Aksai Chin area, which was occupied by China during the 1962 war. The two sides have so far held several rounds of talks with Special Representatives, including a stand-off in the Doklam area, to resolve the boundary dispute. Chairman of the Balawaristan National Front (BNF), Abdul Hamid Khan, has said that the oppressed people of Gilgit Baltistan will vote in favour of joining India as they are fed up with Pakistan's colonial rule. "There are only two options - either you can vote to India or you can vote to Pakistan. After the long 69 years of experience, we the people of Gigit Baltistan believe we are living under Pakistani occupation and we live like in a prison of 72,000 square kilometers (area). By keeping that in our mind, if we have only two options, we will not give our vote to Pakistan, we will vote for India" said Khan, who lives in Belgium in political asylum. Criticising Islamabad for violating the UNCIP Resolution and for falsely framing political activists, religious persons and students of Gilgit Baltistan under the controversial anti-Terrorist Act of Schedule IV, Khan said access to justice is denied because there is no legal, constitutional high court or Supreme Court in the region. He claimed that the judicial system of Gilgit Baltistan is under Pakistan and its armed forces 's firm control. "Pakistan is the first country which violated the UNCIP resolution. If you are demanding a UN resolution, first you perform yourself, your obligation - you withdraw your forces from the area, and then, you can ask the United Nations to ask India to withdraw the bulk of its forces from that area. But, Pakistan is violating the rights of the people of Gilgit Baltistan. We are not allowed free speech, we are not allowed to free walk in our area. If you say anything, you will be detained under the terrorist law and booked for sedition, you will be detained under Schedule IV. People have no freedom and people of Gilgit Baltistan have no access to the justice system", Khan said. He added that the lives, properties and freedom of the people is under serious threat due to Pakistan and China's joint conspiracy to strengthen their occupation under the garb of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The corridor, which starts in China's Xinjiang Province enters Pakistan via Gilgit-Baltistan. Calling Gilgit Baltistan as victim of multi-billion dollar CPEC project Khan said, "Gilgit Baltistan is the first victim of CPEC because the Chinese government did not talk with the representatives of the Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly, the governor or the chief minister and take them into confidence. Before the CPEC agreement was done during the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government and Asif Ali Zardari, who was known as "Mr. 10 Percent", he takes his own share. Also, the whole Pakistan Army is backing the CPEC because they have got a lot of money, they are defending the CPEC. Nobody in Gilgit Baltistan was consulted before the CPEC and even after". "We are totally against the CPEC. If you are doing some development or some good thing for the people of Gilgit Baltistan, why don't you talk to them? Without taking them into confidence, its violation of their rights, it's a violation of the UNCIP resolution, it's a violation of the Pakistan Constitution and it's a violation of all norms of international law," Abdul Hamid Khan told ANI. People from across Pakistan and China are now settling in Gilgit Baltistan as in 1974 the Government of Pakistan abolished State Subject Rule in the region. In an utterly disgraceful move to ensure its own colonial control over Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan has deployed its citizens in all departments, including administration, police and judiciary. Abdul Hamid calls it a deliberate attempt by Pakistan to grab the resources of Gilgit Baltistan by making the indigenous people into minority. He added, "In whole Jammu and Kashmir, including Ladakh and Gilgit Baltistan, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir imposed State Subject Rule in 1927 to protect the people, their history, their culture, resources and their land from outside invasion. India is respecting the State Subject Rule. No Indian citizen from other state can buy any land in J&K and cannot acquire any permanent employment there and their rights are protected. But on the other side, in Gilgit Baltistan, this law is totally violated as Pakistan is sending on daily basis its citizens by violating the State Subject Rule. Pakistanis are not a democratic loving people as they don't listen to the people's voice". "Now the people of Gilgit Baltistan are becoming a minority in their own land. Tomorrow, if the CPEC is completed after the construction of six mega dams in that area, six Pakistan Army divisions will be deployed to protect those dams, the ISI and Chinese people will also be there. After the completion of the CPEC, you won't find any indigenous people in the area. Even today, in Gilgit city, you will hardly find any local residents. That has become like any other Pakistani city" said Khan, who demanded serious international intervention to protect the rights of the local people. People in Gilgit Baltistan are living under constant fear as Pakistan and China continue to indulge in violating all international norms by exploiting the resources and land. A large number of political workers in Gilgit Baltistan are facing death sentences in fake cases without right to appeal in any High Court and Supreme Court. Those who raise their voice against the forceful occupation are being crushed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Germany celebrated its first same-sex wedding on Sunday, following a new law that puts gay and lesbian couples on an equal legal footing with heterosexual couples. The new law was made possible by a surprise vote in the Parliament three months earlier. "We're making a single exception to fire a symbolic starter pistol because same-sex marriages are possible from today," The Independent quoted Gordon Holland, a registrar in Berlin's Schoeneberg district, as saying. About 60 guests and an equal number of journalists packed into Schoeneberg town hall's "Golden Room" to witness the marriage of Karl Kreile and his partner of 38 years, Bodo Mende. Kreile, 59, told The Independent it was an "incredible honour" to be the first same-sex couple to marry in Germany, noting that he and Mende, 60, had been campaigning for gay rights for decades. Their wedding cake featured a rainbow flag and the words "marriage for all". The couple have now planned to hold a small reception and fly to Vienna later in the week for a five-day honeymoon. Germany introduced registered partnerships in 2002, but those gave same-sex couples fewer rights than heterosexual couples who married. Chancellor Angela Merkel had long opposed same-sex marriages, only agreeing to a free vote in Parliament on the matter in June, shortly before national elections. The bill, which enjoyed strong public support, passed by a wide margin, with 393 lawmakers voting in favour of marriage equality and 226 - including Merkel - voting against. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As part of 'Swachhata Hi Seva' campaign, the ICICI Bank on Monday announced that it will be organising multiple sanitation, health and hygiene training modules across the nation, which aims to impact 1.5 lakh individuals. The sanitation, health and hygiene training modules will be conducted across all the 24 urban centres, over 200 rural centres of ICICI Academy for Skills, and 17 Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs). In this regard, ICICI Bank will train over 15,000 individuals tomorrow. In addition, over the next 30 days, the bank will hold awareness programmes in 100 ICICI Digital Villages, wherein each attendee of these programmes will act as an influencer in his or her respective family. The training module will cover three important aspects of hygiene: 1. The importance and know-how of maintaining personal hygiene focusing on activities like regular hand wash and usage of toilets among others 2. Ways of maintaining community hygiene through the segregation of waste at the household and the community level, information on public toilets and prevention of water and air borne diseases 3. Government initiatives on the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan With this initiative, ICICI Bank aims to impact nearly 1.5 lakh people over the next month. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the MD and CEO of ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochhar participated in the 'Swachhata Hi Seva' campaign along with the bank employees, by cleaning the area surrounding the Backbay Reclamation branch in Mumbai. Keeping with the spirit of 'Swachh Bharat', ICICI bank will continue to clean the surrounding area of one branch every day. Speaking on the occasion, Chanda Kochhar, said, "The ICICI Group has always been a catalyst in India's growth and will continue to support the country in every sphere. We believe that it is essential for everyone to learn about cleanliness, hygiene, sanitation and the various diseases that can be caused due to poor hygiene." "So long as you do not take the broom and the bucket in your hands, you cannot make your towns and cities clean." Kochhar quoted Mahatma Gandhi and urged "fellow Indians to also participate in this Swachhata Hi Seva campaign for creating a better, cleaner and healthier India." Nearly three years ago, ICICI Bank had joined the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On November 11, 2014, Chanda Kochhar adopted the Clean India mission. Since then, employees of one ICICI Bank branch have been participating in the initiative by cleaning the area surrounding their branch every working day. Around 6,000 employees of ICICI Bank have cleaned the surrounding areas of approximately 800 branches in over 130 cities till now. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rebuffed the claims by the Turkish Government of Israeli involvement in the Kurdish referendum in Iraq. "Israel has no links to the referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan's independence, but sympathises with the Kurds' aspiration for independence," Sputnik International quoted the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as saying on Sunday. "There's no link except for Israel's years-long deep natural sympathy for the Kurdish people and their aspirations," he added. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had, on Tuesday, said that Israel was the only country that supported and recognised the Kurdish referendum in Iraq, adding that "Israel though will not be able to help Erbil in the event of an economic blockade." Erdogan further asserted that the Israeli intelligence services could have "helped the organisers of the referendum." The independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan was held on Monday. 92.7 per cent of the voters cast their ballot in support of the independence from Iraq. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian army on Monday foiled an infiltration bid and gunned down three terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Tangdhar district. The army has also recovered weapons. Search operation is underway. Earlier in the day, the India army foiled an infiltration bid and neutralised two terrorists in the Rampur sector of Baramulla district. Around 60-70 terrorists are present on the launching pads in Pakistan and are ready to infiltrate in India, informed Major General R.P. Kalita on Monday. General Kalita said terrorists are ready to infiltrate through 19 division of Baramulla from Gulmarg to Naugam of . A Police Head Constable, Ashiq Hussain, was shot dead by terrorists on Monday near Awantipora's Padgampora village in Pulwama. This incident came hours after the Indian Army, earlier in the day, foiled three infiltration bids and had also gunned down two terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Tangdhar district. The army has also recovered weapons. Earlier in the day, Major General R.P. Kalita informed that as many as "60-70 terrorists were present on the launching pads in Pakistan and were ready to infiltrate in India." General Kalita said the terrorists are ready to infiltrate through the 19th infantry division of Baramulla from Gulmarg to Naugam of Jammu and Kashmir. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Foreign Secretary Dr. S. Jaishankar on Monday arrived in Thimpu on a three-day official visit. The visit commencing on October 2 will culminate on October 5. The two countries share strong bilateral relations. India remains influential over Bhutan's foreign policy, defence and commerce. It is Jaishankar's first visit to Bhutan in three years. Earlier, Jaishankar visited Bhutan in 2015 which was followed by a visit to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on SAARC mission. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made Bhutan his first visit abroad in 2014 under his government's emphasis on the "neighbourhood first policy". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's indictment on charges of corruption has been deferred by a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court till October 9. The accountability court, which is hearing three corruption references against former Sharif and his family, also issued non-bailable arrest warrants against his children and son-in-law. Sharif, his children - Hussain, Hassan, and Maryam - and her husband Captain Safdar are expected to appear in court on October 9 and be indicted in the corruption cases. Geo News quoted Sharif's lawyer Mohsin Ranjha as saying that the former premier's indictment has been deferred to Ocotber 9, the next date of hearing and the court has been assured that Maryam Nawaz and her husband Capt (retd) MNA Safdar will appear in court in the next hearing. Sharif accompanied by his political aide, Senator Asif Kirmani arrived at the court amid tight Rangers deployment. According to reports, media representatives, as well as supporters of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and members of the government, were barred from entering the judicial complex. On July 28, a five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court, while disqualifying Sharif under Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution had asked the NAB to file four references in the Rawalpindi accountability court within six weeks on the basis of the material collected and referred to by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) as well as that already available with the Federal Investigation Agency and the NAB. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Monday launched a campaign against the menace of child marriage and dowry and urged the masses to abandon such practices. Nitish Kumar also called upon people to create awareness in the regard by forming human chain on January 21, 2018. "Bihar is second in dowry torture after Uttar Pradesh. The campaign against child marriage and dowry practice in Bihar will affect the entire country," Nitish Kumar said. Kumar also appealed all political parties to help government combat social evils like child marriage and dowry. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Kuarmunda Police team arrested seven Jharkhand-based extortionists belonging to People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) including a retired Border Security Force (BSF) commandant. Huge caches of arms were also seized by the Kuarmunda Police team. Speaking to the media, S.P. Pinak Mishra said that they were tipped off about the presence of about ten to fifteen PLFI operatives in Khukundubahal forest. The police in the search operation raided the area leading to the arrest. All seven arrested have been sent to jail. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday will visit Bilaspur city in Himachal Pradesh to lay the foundation stone for All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Approximately Rs. 1350 crore will be allocated towards building the 750-bed hospital, which will also function as a medical college for imparting medical education at the under-graduate and post-graduate level, besides nursing. Later in the day Prime Minister Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), in Una. The Prime Minister is also scheduled to inaugurate a Steel Processing Unit of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). He will end his day by addressing a public meeting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The former Pakistan prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, will be indicted by an accountability court hearing the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) references against him on Monday. Sharif and his family members are facing three corruption references filed against them by the NAB on the orders of the Supreme Court, which had disqualified the former prime minister in its July 28 Panama Papers verdict, the Express Tribune reported. According to the reports, the references pertain to London's Avenfield flats, Flagship Investment Limited and 15 other companies as well as al-Azizia Company Limited and Hill Metals Establishment. Sharif had appeared before the court on September 26, in connection with the three corruption-related references and was allowed to leave after a few minutes. He was accompanied by several Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, including federal ministers. Sharif returned to Pakistan last month after he had gone to London about a month ago on account of his wife's Kulsoom Nawaz's treatment. On July 28, a five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court, while disqualifying Sharif under Article 62(1) (f) of the Constitution had asked the NAB to file four references in the Rawalpindi accountability court within six weeks on the basis of the material collected and referred to by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) as well as that already available with the Federal Investigation Agency and the NAB. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 17 people were killed after two suicide bombers attacked a police station in Syrian capital Damascus on Monday. A suicide car bomb went off in Damascus' central Midan neighbourhood in front of a police station, the local media reported. Following the car bomb, two suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts inside the station. No group has claimed or commented on the incident so far. Midan itself has been the target of several bombings during the country's over six-year war. The same police station in Midan was targetted last December, when a suicide seven-year-old girl blew up inside the station, in what later appeared to be remotely detonated by al-Qaida-linked groups. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Neerja Batra, suspended principal of Ryan International School (Bhondsi), where a seven-year-old student was murdered, has now joined the school's Gurugram Sector- 40 branch as a teacher. Batra was suspended for negligence in delivering her duties. Batra was officiating as Ryan school's principal in Bhondsi branch and was also an in-charge of the school. She has been working with the Ryan school for approximately 20 years. On September 28, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the arrest of the Pinto family, who are the owners and trustees of Ryan International School, in connection with the murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur. The Pinto family -- Augustine F Pinto, his wife Grace and their son Ryan -- had moved the High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the matter. The court will hear the matter next on October 7. On September 8, the body of the class II student Pradyuman Thakur was found inside the toilet of the school, with his throat slit. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor has said that Syria's war killed at least 3,000 people including 955 civilians in September, the deadliest month of the conflict this year. "More than 70 per cent of the civilians were killed in regime and Russian air strikes, or in air raids of the international coalition" fighting the Islamic State group, the Britain-based monitor added. The number of people killed in September was higher due to "increased fighting and intensified air raids of the international coalition and Russia against jihadist bastions in the north and east of Syria, but also due to increased Russian and regime strikes on rebel-held areas," the observatory's head Rami Abdel Rahman added. The 955 civilians killed in September included 207 children, said the Observatory, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria for its information. It said the toll also included 790 regime troops and loyalists, 738 jihadists from IS and HTS, and 550 rebels and SDF members. Syria's conflict has killed more than 3,30,000 people and displaced millions since it broke out in 2011. A United States-led international coalition has been providing air support to a Kurdish-Arab alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces, also fighting the jihadists in its former northern bastion of Raqa city and Deir Ezzor. Backed by Russian air strikes, the forces of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad are pressing a battle to retake IS-controlled areas in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Tamannaah Bhatia will team up with eight-year-old child-actor Sunny Pawar for a film inspired by the 'Beti Padhao Beti Bachao' campaign, titled 'A B C'. The movie is an initiative by Anti Corruption and Crime Control Committee of India in association with Gravity Group. The script of the film will revolve around the importance of awareness and education for the girl child. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' wife Amruta Fadnavis will be contributing to the musical score and voice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be used in the form of a guiding force to the on-screen characters in the film. Ramkumar Shendge will be directing the film. Other leading celebrities who will be supporting the campaign through special appearances include Chiranjeevi, Suniel Shetty, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Kiran Bedi, Amitabh Bachchan amongst others. The two-hour movie will be premiered at the German and French Film Festival in January 2019. This film will be made a compulsory to watch in all schools across the nation and will be dubbed in 14 different languages. U.S. President Donald Trump has also given a principal consent of endorsing the film on a global level. Bhatia said, "I have always been driven to contribute to noble causes since childhood. I am of the opinion that the power vested in being a media figure should never be abused and should instead be used to inspire others. The girl child is a cause that is very close to my heart and I am proud to be associated with it." The brainchild behind this project, Meehir Kulkarni, Chairman, Anti Corruption And Crime Control Committee, Maharashtra said, "This is our way of paying a small tribute to our mentor - Narendra Modi ji - by celebrating his commitment and dedication towards making India an advanced and a prosperous nation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ousted All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader TTV Dinakaran on Monday said that former party general secretary VK Sasikala, who is serving a four-year sentence for corruption in jail has applied for a 15-day parole to visit her ailing husband M.Natarajan. "VK Sasikala has applied for a 15-day parole to visit her ailing husband M.Natarajan," he said. Dinakaran further stated, "If judicial commission asks us we will submit a video clip of Jayalalithaa shot by us and will ask them not to reveal it." TTV Dinakaran earlier had said that has a video of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa when she was admitted to hospital and will give the video to the probe committee. "Sasikala has a video of Jayalalithaa when she was admitted to the hospital. We will give the video to the probe committee," Dinakaran said. "People have started to lose trust on them due to the u-turns they take. Be it Dindigul or Panneerselvam or Madhusudhanan or OS Maniyan, Jayakumar, the legal expert CV Shanmugam they are losing the trust now. Just see how they changed their stance before and after Amma's death," he said. Dinakaran's statement came after Tamil Nadu Forest Minister Dindigul Sreenivasan levelled serious allegations on Sasikala and said that she and her family had access to Jayalalitha when she was admitted to Chennai's Apollo Hospital last year. He also admitted that he and all other Tamil Nadu ministers used to lie about Jayalalitha's health. During a public meeting at Madurai, Sreenivasan had said, "Jayalalithaa brought AIADMK as third largest party of India. Sasikala said so many things to make you believe she is healthy but truth is no one had seen her. Only VK Sasikala and her family had access to see Amma, rest no one was allowed." "In order to make you believe about Jayalalithaa's health, we have uttered so many things like she ate idli, she drank water etc. To tell you frankly, nobody saw her. This is truth. He saw, she saw, etcetera were nothing at all. Just we would go till upstairs, bow down then we would return. Forgive me my party workers, but all of us ministers lied before you when we said Amma is alright," he further said. He also stated that Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi came to visit Jayalalithaa, but they were allowed only to meet Sasikala and doctors. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi was supposed to come within a week when Amma was hospitalised. Then Arun Jaitley, Venkaiya Naidu, Rahul Gandhi came to visit Jayalalithaa, but they were allowed only to meet Sasikala and doctors. Had they been left to meet Jayalalithaa, she would have told them what is being done to her" he claimed. Meanwhile, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President M. K. Stalin had said that the Tamil Nadu Government announced probe into Jayalalithaa's death but it has not started yet. "Although Tamil Nadu Government announced probe into Jayalalithaa's death but it has not started yet," he said. Reportedly, last week, Sreenivasan had also said that VK Sasikala was responsible for former's death. Jayalalithaa passed away on the night of December 5, 2016, after spending 75 days in Apollo Hospitals, Chennai in critical condition. A wheelchair-bound man, who was allegedly abused and termed as a 'Pakistani' by two men at a multiplex for not standing up during the anthem, said he will be taking up the matter seriously and will pen down a letter to Chief Justice Dipak Misra. The victim, identified as Arman Ali, is the executive director of Sishu Sarthi, an NGO working for the empowerment of differently-abled people. While he was at a movie screening in multiplex here on Friday, he was allegedly called a 'Pakistani' for not standing up during the anthem. Describing the unfortunate incident, Arman said the behavior of the two men in their late 40s has left a question mark in his mind, adding that he would certainly take up the matter in the Supreme Court (SC). "The SC came up with this order with the hope of inculcating patriotism. However, it is being misused and it is high time we look into it. We all know what to do when the anthem is played and we don't need pseudo-nationalism. I am doubtful if they were even aware of the fact that I am Muslim, or else repercussions would have been far more. With the ongoing mob-mentality, I couldn't raise my voice then. But I will take this up, and write to the CJI, as a citizen of India," he told ANI. Dismissing the need to display one's patriotism in a cinema hall, Arman opined that the anthem is not something that needs to be sung just for the heck of it, adding that of all places, nobody needs to prove their nationalism in a movie hall, irrespective of their caste, creed or disability, if any. "In our organisation, we start our day by singing the national anthem. Is this practice followed in the high courts, parliament or government offices? The way those two men were smirking is as though they had done their national duty. We are respectful enough to wait to enter after the national anthem is played for this reason. We pay our respects to the flag in every way that we can," he stated. On 30 November, 2016, the apex court had passed an order making it compulsory for all movie theatres to play the national anthem before each screening for what it called 'the love of the motherland'. However, in February this year, the Supreme Court clarified that people are not obliged to stand up when the national anthem is played as and in part of a film or documentary. The verdict also says that people don't need to sing the national anthem when it is being played before the screening of a film. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Catalonian government has announced that 2.2 million ballots were cast in its independence referendum and 90 per cent of those votes were in favour of the region breaking away from Spain, compared to 7.8 per cent against. Government spokesman Jordi Turull said the voting held on Sunday was valid despite the Spanish constitutional court declaring it as illegal, reports Efe news. He said over 2.26 million votes had been tallied even though 400 polling stations had been closed or were occupied by Spanish police who carried away ballot boxes and polling material. On Sunday night, the regional president, Carles Puigdemont said Catalonia "has won the right to decide its future, its sovereignty". He said that in the coming days he would forward the referendum results to the regional Parliament and that if a majority of people voted to secede he would unilaterally proclaim independence for the region. In a surprise move, the region established a "universal census" that allowed people to vote at any polling station in the region and also permitted them to vote without an envelope and to use home-printed ballots. The ballot papers contained just one question: "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?" Given that around 5,313,000 people were eligible to vote and there were 2,262,424 ballot cast, the participation rate was 42 per cent. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who had declared the referendum illegal, said that "there has been no plebiscite on self-determination". The intervention of security forces to impede the vote led to over 800 people being injured, according to regional authorities. Spain's Interior Ministry said 19 police and 14 Civil Guardsmen were also injured. Catalonia, a wealthy region 7.5 million people in north-eastern Spain, has its own regional government, or Generalitat, which already has considerable powers over healthcare, education and tax collection, but is not recognised as a separate nation under the Spanish constitution. Catalonia's campaign to break away from Spain has gained momentum since 2010 when Spain's economy plunged during the financial crisis. Catalonia held a symbolic poll in 2014, in which 80 per cent of voters backed complete secession -- but only 32 per cent of the electorate turned out. The AAP on Monday launched its election campaign in Gujarat with a roadshow in the city, even as its senior leader Gopal Rai mounted a scathing attack on the ruling BJP calling it "arrogant, corrupt and murderer". Rai, a minister in the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Delhi government, told reporters before the roadshow that the pride of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had "scaled higher than Mount Everest". "When people come out to seek justice against corruption, unemployment, deteriorating condition of schools, injustice to farmers, the arrogant BJP government has only given them sticks and bullets. "People will give them a befitting reply with ballots in elections," he said. Rai alleged that it was impossible in Gujarat to get any work done without corruption. As many as 1,000 vehicles, 700 bikes, 200 autorickshaws and 10 publicity raths with 5,000 workers from across the state joined the 21-km roadshow from the Naroda area to Sabarmati Ashram late evening. The AAP, which was active in the state, had gone into virtual hibernation after the party's drubbing in the Punjab and Goa Assembly polls last year and was learnt to be in two minds on contesting the Gujarat elections likely in December. However, sources said it was much pressure from the local Gujarat unit of the party that the AAP leaders decided to jump in the fray. The AAP has still not clarified how many of the 182 seats it will contest, while it had earlier stated it would field candidates everywhere. --IANS desai/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip killed at least 20 people and injured over 100, according to media reports. Las Vegas police on Monday alerted people to avoid the area near the Mandalay Bay Casino on the city's Strip due to reports of an active shooter, media reports said. Confirming that one suspect is down. This is an active investigation. Again, please do not head down to the Strip at this time. LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 UPDATE: Flights in and out of @LASairport have been temporarily halted in response to reported shooting incident on Las Vegas Strip. McCarran Airport (@LASairport) October 2, 2017 Please avoid the south end of the Strip. Very sad night for Las Vegas. https://t.co/1Cwb10fwEC City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) October 2, 2017 Dozens of patrol vehicles descended on the Strip after authorities received reports of an active shooter near the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across Las Vegas Boulevard from the country music festival and the sound of what they described as automatic gunfire. Twenty-six people were admitted to the hospital, University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said. Of those, at least two died, 12 were in critical condition and the rest were being evaluated, she said. Witnesses said they saw multiple victims as they fled the gunfire raining down on the concert venue. Some later huddled in the basement of the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino. Some officers took cover behind their vehicles while others carrying assault rifles ran into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15. Some flights destined for the McCarran Airport were diverted due to the shooting. Witnesses say country singer Jason Aldean was playing near the end of the concert when gunfire began. No further information was immediately known. Twelve security personnel were killed after Afghan aircraft mistakenly pounded their positions in Helmand province, a defence official said on Monday. "The airstrike took place in Otrang village of Gereshk district on a position where Afghan troops were involved in operations against the Taliban," the official told Xinhua news agency. More details of the incident will be provided later in the day. --IANS ksk/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Monarch Airlines, Britain's longest-surviving airline brand, collapsed on Monday stranding tens of thousands of travellers and prompted the countrys biggest-ever peacetime repatriation effort. The airline has ceased trading and its 300,000 future bookings for flights and holidays have been cancelled, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said. In all, the cancellations could affect up to 750,000 people, BBC reported. The move leaves roughly 110,000 Monarch customers -- whom the airline was meant to fly back to the UK in the next two weeks -- stuck overseas, the CAA said. The agency said it was working with the government to secure a fleet of more than 30 aircraft, flying to more than 30 airports, to bring the stranded tourists back to the UK. It described the crisis as "the biggest ever UK airline failure". The CAA chief executive, Andrew Haines, said: "We know that Monarch's decision to stop trading will be very distressing for all of its customers and employees. "This is the biggest UK airline ever to cease trading, so the government has asked the CAA to support Monarch customers currently abroad to get back to the UK at the end of their holiday at no extra cost to them." Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the company fell victim to a price war over flights to the Mediterranean and told customers not to come to airports. "We are doing our best to make sure that those people who are stranded and can't get back otherwise will be able to do so," he told BBC. Accounting firm KPMG, which has been appointed to manage Monarch's insolvency, said the airline had been unable to deal with increasing financial problems. "Mounting cost pressures and increasingly competitive market conditions in the European short-haul market have contributed to the Monarch Group experiencing a sustained period of trading losses," said KPMG partner Blair Nimmo. Monarch, whose headquarters are at London Luton airport, was founded in 1968. It operates from four other UK bases -- London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds Bradford -- travelling to more than 40 destinations around the world. The company employs about 2,750 predominantly UK-based staff and reported a 291 million pounds loss last year, a BBC report said. Monarch said it would work with the administrators, and the unions Balpa and Unite to help its employees find new jobs as quickly as possible. The chaotic situation prompted angry and anxious posts on social media. "Thanks @Monarch - that's our Christmas holiday stuffed," tweeted one user. "Waking up to find out @Monarch has collapsed," tweeted Naveed Khan, a medical student in London. "Flights for a family break are cancelled, and equivalent flights double the price." Customers affected by the company's collapse were urged to check the dedicated website monarch.caa.co.uk for advice and information on flights back to the UK. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence over the murder of senior Kannada editor and activist Gauri Lankesh, popular south Indian actor Prakash Raj said it was "disappointing" to see the PM follow those celebrating Lankesh's murder on social media. "Gauri's killers have not been caught yet. But what is more disappointing is people celebrating her murder over social media spreading hatred," Raj said on Sunday speaking at the 11th state meet of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) held in Bengaluru. "Some of these people who celebrated her (Gauri's) murder are followed by our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) on Twitter. We have a PM who shuts his eyes to this," he said. Immediately hitting out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Raj said, "When you look at the kind of statements he (Adityanath) makes, you don't understand whether he's a Chief Minister or a priest." "He (Adityanath) is a better actor than me. I think I must give out all my five national awards to him," he said on a sarcastic note. Clarifying Raj's statement, Muneer Katipalla, the state president of DYFI told IANS here: "It was only a satirical comment that Prakash Raj made referring to how Adityanath was trying to act like a Chief Minister." Raj, however, did not respond to attempts by IANS to contact him to verify if he really plans to return his national awards. Raj, a popular actor in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil film industries, has won five National Film Awards for his movies. The 55-year-old editor of Kannada weekly tabloid by her name "Gauri Lankesh Patrike" was gunned down by unidentified men outside her home in the city suburbs on September 5. The Special Investigation Team set up to probe the murder is yet to nab her killers. --IANS bha/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Bangladesh are likely to ink major economic agreements during the official visit of Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to Dhaka beginning from Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Finance, Jaitley will arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday for a two-day official visit. Major economic pacts like US dollar credit line agreement and joint interpretative notes on bilateral promotion and protection of investments are likely to be signed during Jaitley's visit. "The first major engagement of the Indian Finance Minister... will be to deliver the inaugural address at the business meeting between Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) tomorrow afternoon," the ministry said in a statement issued on Monday. Further, Jaitley will hold a bilateral level meeting with his counterpart Abul Maal A. Muhith on Wednesday. "During the visit of the Indian Finance Minister... a dollar credit line agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and Export-Import Bank of India is likely to be signed for third Line of Credit," the statement said. "Joint interpretative notes on the agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments are also likely to be signed during the visit." In addition to the likely agreements, Jaitley and Bangladesh Finance Minister Muhith will launch the "Cashless Visa Services". "Finance Minister Jaitley will also deliver a talk on the macro-economic initiatives of the Government of India," the statement added. --IANS rv/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facebook CEO has apologised for hurting and dividing people through his social media platform and said he would work to do better. In a post written after Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews, concluded on Sunday, Zuckerberg said, "We reflect on the past year and ask forgiveness for our mistakes. For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better. "For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better. May we all be better in the year ahead, and may you all be inscribed in the book of life." Facebook has been facing an intense scrutiny over the presence of Russian ads on its platform during the 2016 presidential election. President Donald Trump has also accused the platform of being "anti-Trump". Zuckerberg responded to the criticism saying: "Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump. Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don't like. That's what running a platform for all ideas looks like". Facebook is facing a probe after disclosing the details about the presence of Russian political ads worth $100,000. After an extensive legal and policy review, the social media giant on Monday will share 3,000 Russian ads with Congressional investigators. According to a ReCode report, along with the Russian ads, Facebook plans to share information about the users those ads targeted and how they were paid for with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee. Facebook earlier handed over the details to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently investigating claims of alleged Russian meddling in the election, included copies of the ads and details about the accounts that bought them and the targeting criteria they used. (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.) Facing an intense scrutiny over the presence of Russian ads on its platform during the 2016 American presidential election, Facebook will finally hand over nearly 3,000 Russian political ads to US Congress on Monday. According to a ReCode report, along with the Russian ads, Facebook plans to share information about the users those ads targeted and how they were paid for with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee. "All three committees are investigating the extent to which Russia may have interfered in last fall's US presidential election," the report added. Facebook is facing a probe after disclosing the details about the presence of Russian political ads worth $100,000. After an extensive legal and policy review, the social media giant recently announced that it would share 3,000 Russian ads with Congressional investigators. Google, Facebook, and Twitter have been invited to testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee on November 1 over the Russian probe. Facebook earlier handed over the details to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently investigating claims of alleged Russian meddling in the election, included copies of the ads and details about the accounts that bought them and the targeting criteria they used. As the probe into Moscow's alleged meddling in the election intensifies, Twitter also announced that it has deleted over 200 fake Russian accounts and identified Russia Today of buying bought ads targeted at American users' accounts. In a closed-door meeting last week, Colin Crowell, Twitter's Vice President for Public Policy, met with staff from Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to discuss the issue. Twitter also shared with committee staff ads that three Russia Today accounts targeted to the US market in 2016. "Based on our findings thus far, RT spent $274,100 in US ads in 2016. In that year, the three RT accounts promoted 1,823 tweets that definitely or potentially targeted the US market," Twitter said. Google has also launched a probe into the role its services could have played in the Russian interference. "Google is conducting a broad internal investigation to determine whether Russian-linked entities used its ads or services to try to manipulate voters ahead of the US election," media reports said last week. --IANS na/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four suspected terrorists of Khalistani terror outfit Babbar Khalsa were arrested from Punjab's Ludhiana district, police said on Monday. They were nabbed following the interrogation of seven members of the Babbar Khalsa who were arrested on Saturday after the police busted a terror module with direct links to the Khalistani terror outfit. Three pistols and some ammunition was seized from the men arrested earlier. Ludhiana Police Commissioner R.N. Dhoke told the media on Saturday that the group planned to target those opposed to or writing against Khalistani ideology and radical Sikh organisations. Those arrested were allegedly linked to and were funded by Surinder Singh Babbar, who is said to be based in London. Dhoke claimed that Babbar was providing money and weapons to the members of the group. --IANS js/amit/vm/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal on Tuesday joined the rest of the nation in celebrating the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with various programmes organised by the government, political parties and civic bodies. The main programme was held at Gandhi Ghat in Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district where Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi paid floral tribute at the martyrs' column. Women took part in spinning the yarn. An all-faith prayer service was held and school students read excerpts from Gandhi's writings. Tripathi also offered flowers at Gandhi's statue. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also saluted Mahatma Gandhi. In a bid to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, an exhibition on his life and contribution towards the nation commenced in the Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya, also known as Gandhi museum in Barrackpore's Dhobighat area from October 1. It will end on October 5. --IANS mgr/mr (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a bid to help news publishers woo more readers online, Google is ending its controversial 'First Click Free' policy, which required publishers to provide a minimum of three free articles per day via Google Search and Google News before people were shown a paywall. While research has shown that people are becoming more accustomed to paying for news, the sometimes painful process of signing up for a subscription can be a turn off. "We will end our 'First Click Free' policy in favour of a 'Flexible Sampling' model where publishers will decide how many, if any, free articles they want to provide to potential subscribers based on their own business strategies," Richard Gingras, Vice President News, Google, wrote in a blog post on Monday. The "first click free" model has been described as "toxic" by some big publishers. "The new move is informed by our own research, publisher feedback, and months-long experiments with the New York Times and the Financial Times, both of which operate successful subscription services," he added. Apart from dropping 'First Click Free', Google is also making it easier for users to subscribe to services. Publishers generally recognise that giving people access to some free content is the way to persuade people to buy their product. The typical approach to sampling is a model called metering, which lets people see a pre-determined number of free stories before a paywall kicks in. "We recommend that monthly, rather than daily, metering allows publishers more flexibility to experiment with the number of free stories to offer people and to target those more likely to subscribe," Gingras posted. For most publishers, 10 articles per month is a good starting point. "Since news products and subscription models vary widely, we're collaborating with publishers around the world on how to build a subscription mechanism that can meet the needs of a diverse array of approaches to the benefit of the news industry and consumers alike," the post further read. The company is also exploring how Google's machine learning capabilities can help publishers recognise potential subscribers and present the right offer to the right audience at the right time. "Google's decision to let publishers determine how much content readers can sample from search is a positive development," said Kinsey Wilson, an adviser to New York Times CEO Mark Thompson. "Longer term, we are building a suite of products and services to help news publishers reach new audiences, drive subscriptions and grow revenue," Gingras added. --IANS na/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the wait for new Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 now over, Google is ready to unveil Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones, a smart speaker and a 'PixelBook' laptop in the US on October 4. According to a series of leaks from technology websites Droid Life and Android Authority, Google is also likely to launch a new Daydream VR headset. Just like last year, Google is expected to launch two Pixels -- Pixel 2 and a larger Pixel 2 XL -- that would directly succeed Google's existing line-up. While Pixel 2 XL is rumoured to have a new bezel-less display design, the Pixel 2 might have a similar design to the original. Pixel is designed by HTC (Google recently bought HTC's smartphone business) while Pixel XL is made by LG. The new phones would have IP67 water resistance. According to Android Authority, both phones might come with "squeeze" interaction like HTC "U11", along with Optical Image Stabilisation for the cameras. The smartphones would have single camera and support 'Portrait Mode'. Google may also remove the headphone jack in favour of only using USB-C for a possible addition of stereo speakers. Just like Amazon which has expanded its smart speaker Echo line, Google is also planning to release a smaller Home model. 9to5Google reported of a larger Google Home "Max" speaker, which might have more "premium" design and stereo sound. Google may also launch a high-end Chromebook called Google Pixelbook. Like the Chromebook Pixel, the Pixelbook is expected to sell at the ultra-premium end of the Chromebook market, starting at $1,199, with a separate stylus accessory similar to the Apple Pencil that will cost an extra $99, The Verge reported. A new Daydream VR headset might also be on its way. The headset may come in three colours -- charcoal, fog, and coral -- for $99. A team of scientists have identified a species group that infected early humans with genital herpes (HSV2), a sexually transmitted infection, nearly two million years ago. Parathropus boisei was a heavyset bipedal hominin with a smallish brain that walked on two legs and had dish-like face. It most likely contracted HSV2 through scavenging meat of chimpanzee, and then passed the pathogen to humans when they hunted for food. Close contact between P. boisei and our ancestor Homo erectus would have been fairly common around sources of water, such as Kenya's Lake Turkana. This provided the opportunity for HSV2 to enter into our bloodline, the researchers said. "For these viruses to jump species barriers they need a lucky genetic mutation combined with significant fluid exchange. In the case of early hominins, this means through consumption or intercourse -- or possibly both," said Charlotte Houldcroft, a virologist from Britain's Cambridge University. "Once HSV2 gains entry to a species it stays, easily transferred from mother to baby, as well as through blood, saliva and sex." "HSV2 is ideally suited to low density populations. The genital herpes virus would have crept across Africa the way it creeps down nerve endings in our sex organs - slowly but surely," she said. According to the research, published in the journal Virus Evolution, the researchers found that somewhere between three and 1.4 million years ago, genital herpes jumped the species barrier from African apes to human ancestors. "By modelling the available data, from fossil records to viral genetics, we believe that Parathropus boisei was the species in the right place at the right time to both contract HSV2 from ancestral chimpanzees, and transmit it to our earliest ancestors, probably Homo erectus," Houldcroft noted. --IANS rt/ksk/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian High Commissioner in Accra Birender Singh Yadav led a community group and members of the Society of Friends of India to make a presentation of assorted drugs worth thousands of dollars to a military hospital to mark the 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi -- also observed as the International Day of Non-violence. Yadav declined to give the exact cost of the drugs, given by Indian companies based in Ghana, calling it a "friendly donation". The companies are: Pharmanova Pharmaceuticals, M&G Pharmaceuticals, Deepaks, GR Industries, Induslite Sciences, Eskey, Theurapeutics and Tablets India. The donation followed a Peace Walk from the residence of the Indian High Commission through the Switchback Road and the Liberation Road in Accra and then back to the residence. Speaking to IANS, Yadav said: "The celebration of this day reinforces the relevance of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, many years after his death." "It reinforces the need for all of us to follow in the belief of Gandhi in a world that is facing a lot of political and security crises," Yadav said, adding, that "if we follow the Gandhi's principles the world will enjoy a lot of peace". He said the world needed peace to help bring about development. "We need a safe world so that efforts that will bring about the development could be implemented to benefit the vulnerable in society. Without peace, it is only anarchy that will consume the world." A statement by the UN on the International Day of Non-violence said: "In his life, Gandhi remained committed to his belief in non-violence even under oppressive conditions and in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges." "The theory behind his actions, which included encouraging massive civil disobedience to British law as with the historic Salt March of 1930, was that 'just means lead to just ends'... He believed that Indians must not use violence or hatred in their fight for freedom from colonialism," the statement said. A United Nations' General Assembly resolution in June 2007 established the commemoration as an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness". The UN said, the resolution reaffirms "the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence" and the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence". (Francis Kokutse can be contacted at fkokutse@gmail.com) --IANS francis/soni/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An assembly of religious leaders, academics and scientists on Monday passed a resolution proposing construction of a multi-religion "temple of humanity" in Ayodhya to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue. The resolution also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to form a 27-member steering committee under his leadership to initiate an inter-religion dialogue on the issue. It said that 67 acres of government land contiguous to 2.77 acres of disputed land should be used for construction of "Vishwadharmi Shri Ram Manavata Bhavan", consisting of places of worship for Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and followers of Judaism and Zoroastrianism, "giving equal respect and status to all the religions". However, the Delhi Declaration added that apart from a multi-religion temple, "a magnificent and beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Ram be constructed on his very birthplace" -- the 2.77 acres of disputed land presently trifurcated by the Allahabad High Court. The resolution was passed at the national round-table organised by the MIT World Peace University on the need to amicably resolve the contentious issue through inter-religion dialogue. The participants included Ram Vilas Vedanthi, Arif Mohammed Khan, Vijay Bhatkar, Swami Agnivesh, Syed Kalbe Rushaid Rizvi and Vishwanath Karad, among other academics and religious scholars. According to the conference declaration, the multi-religion temple would serve as "India's contribution to promoting the message of culture of peace and harmony". "The Bhawan be open to all, where prayers, meditations and devotional services can be offered by individuals and communities belonging to different religions and faiths and institutions as decided and scheduled by the trustees of the temple," it added. "We sincerely feel that in the greater national interest and to minimise the possible hatred, jealousy, violence and suspicion, particularly between the two major communities of the country, it is essential...to make sincere and sustained efforts to resolve this vexing, long-standing conflicting issue of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya," Vishwanath Karad, Founder President of MIT World Peace University, said. The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute encompasses 2.77 acres of disputed land, at present allotted to three litigating parties by the Allahabad High Court -- the All India Hindu Mahasabha, Nirmohi Akhara and All India Sunni Waqf Board. With each party getting only 0.9 acre of the disputed piece of land, it was not enough to construct either a Ram temple or even a mosque, the declaration said. "Further, according to Islamic belief, no mosque or place of worship can be constructed on a disputed piece of land, and according to the Hindu belief, temple of Lord Ram should be necessarily constructed on this very site -- the birthplace of Ram," the Delhi Declaration said. --IANS vv/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has summoned Chief Secretary M.M. Kutty over his absence from the event held to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at Vijay Ghat here on Monday. Nagendar Sharma, the media Advisor to the Chief Minister, on Monday said in a tweet that the Chief Minister had summoned the top Delhi officer for being absent from the Vijay Ghat programme. The birth anniversary celebration of the former Prime Minister was attended by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others, earlier in the day. In the past also, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government had been at loggerheads with government officers. Kutty was unavailable for comment on the issue. --IANS nkh/nir/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Myanmar on Monday proposed to take back the half a million Rohingya refugees who have fled into Bangladesh, a media report said. Kyaw Tint Swe, a Minister in the office of Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, offered to take back the Rohingyas after talks with Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali here, Daily Star reported. Both countries also agreed to form a joint working group to solve the Rohingya crisis during the meeting that lasted for over an hour. Foreign Minister Ali briefed media and disclosed about Myanmar's proposal to take back its nationals. "Talks were held in a peaceful manner," Minister Ali said after the meeting at state guest house Padma. "Myanmar proposed to take back the Rohingyas from Bangladesh." According to him, both sides decided to form a joint working group soon which will draw up plans for repatriation process of Rohingya refugees. Under international pressure, Aung San Suu Kyi, in her speech last month, had spoken of taking back the Rohingyas, but said Myanmar would conduct a process of verification. At Monday's meeting, Bangladesh handed Myanmar with a draft agreement of repatriation. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office, state minister for foreign affairs, Foreign Secretary and other high officials attended the meeting. Bangladesh is sheltering 507,000 Rohingya refugees, who have fled Myanmar since August 25. --IANS rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Facing global flak, Myanmar on Monday proposed to take back the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, a media report said. Kyaw Tint Swe, a Minister in the office of Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, made the proposal during talks with Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali here, Daily Star reported. At the meeting that lasted for over an hour, both countries also agreed to form a joint working group to resolve the . ALSO READ: Head of UN food agency says world must step up Rohingya aid Foreign Minister Ali, briefing media persons later, disclosed about Myanmar's proposal to take back its nationals. "Talks were held in a peaceful manner," Minister Ali said after the meeting at state guest house Padma. "Myanmar proposed to take back the Rohingyas from Bangladesh." According to him, both sides decided to form a joint working group soon which will draw up plans for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees. Under pressure, Aung San Suu Kyi, in her speech last month, had spoken of taking back the Rohingyas, but said Myanmar would conduct a process of verification. At Monday's meeting, Bangladesh proposed signing a bilateral agreement for the repatriation process and handed over a draft to the Myanmar delegation, the Minister added. Asked when the process might start, Ali said: "One meeting cannot solve all the issues. The joint working group has to be formed first. Both sides will propose names. We are moving it fast." His reply to how long it would take to form the joint panel was: "Very soon." Ali said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal will visit Myanmar soon, Dhaka Tribune reported. "The Home Minister will discuss with the Myanmar government regarding border security and border management issue," he said adding that four Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) are expected to be signed during the visit. ALSO READ: Rohingya crisis a great opportunity for India to set its house in order Home Minister Khan Kamal, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office, state minister for foreign affairs, Foreign Secretary and other high officials attended the meeting. Over half a million Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh since the start of a military crackdown in the Myanmar border state of Rakhine. The refugees have claimed that the Myanmar security forces are shooting at civilians, setting fire to their homes and raping Rohingya women. Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed on a framework towards achieving a "peaceable environment" conducive to political process and essential for regional stability," media reports said on Monday. The reports, citing a military statement, said that Pakistan's Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa paid a day-long visit to Afghanistan on Sunday for the first time since he assumed office last November, reports Xinhua news agency. Bajwa held talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, during which they agreed on the framework. "There was also a consensus on regular and focused dialogue at multiple levels to evolve bilateral process for minimizing misunderstanding, managing crisis situations and enhancing cooperation in order to bring peace and stability in the region," the statement said. On his part, Ghani said that Afghanistan and Pakistan were friendly countries and together both shall move towards enduring peace and stability. "Issues related to long-term peace, cooperation against the shared threats, coordination between respective counter-terrorism campaigns to restrict space for non-state actors, intelligence sharing, trade and commerce, and people-to-people contacts were discussed," the statement said. Bajwa offered Pakistan's complete support in achieving shared interests in war against terrorism including training and capacity building of Afghan Security Forces, it added. --IANS ksk/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Air-conditioning your building without electricity? Researchers at Stanford University in the US report it is potentially possible through the technology of "radiative sky cooling" using a new coating material they have developed. "Radiative sky cooling exploits a natural property of our atmosphere," Mumbai-born Aaswath Raman, co-lead author of the paper, told this IANS correspondent in an email. "If you can dissipate heat as infrared radiation into something that is very cold -- like outer space -- you can cool a building without any electricity. This then provides a completely passive, non-evaporative way to cool below the ambient air temperature." The heart of the invention is an ultra-thin multi-layered material Raman and co-workers Eli Goldstein and Shanhui Fan had developed and first tested in 2014. The material, made of seven layers of silicon dioxide and hafnium oxide on top of a thin layer of silver, does two things at the same time. It beams invisible infrared heat from within a building into the cold outer space (using it as a heat sink), while simultaneously reflecting virtually all of the incoming sunlight that would otherwise warm up the building. According to the authors, the material thus acts both "as a radiator and an excellent mirror" and the net result is cooler buildings that require less air conditioning. "The internal structure of the material is tuned to radiate infrared rays at a frequency that lets them pass into space without warming the air near the building." "In 2014, we showed that optical surfaces could be designed to enable this cooling effect even on a sunny day," Raman said. In the recent work, the researchers tested a system -- with panels coated with the specialised material laid atop pipes of running water -- on the roof of a Stanford University building. They found the panels were able to consistently reduce the temperature of the water three to five degrees Celsius below ambient air temperature over a period of three days. "When connected to refrigeration or air conditioning systems, they can improve efficiency 20 per cent or more. We are now commercialising the technology as a start-up, SkyCool Systems, and have a pilot demonstration active in California," said Raman, who has already partnered with a manufacturer that can produce large sheets of the cooling material for further development. "For Indian buildings, our fluid cooling panels can have a major impact in commercial refrigeration in supermarkets, cold storage facilities, data centres, office buildings, malls and other commercial buildings," Raman said. "Also, there is the remarkable opportunity to use this technology to enable completely electricity-free, low-grade cooling in rural scenarios." At least two technical problems remain to be solved before the technology is put to practical use. The engineers must first figure out how to efficiently deliver the building's heat to the coating material and then create fabrication facilities that can make the panels on the scales needed. (K.S. Jayaraman is a senior journalist who writes on scientific issues. He can be contacted at kiluguddi@hotmail.com) --IANS ksj/vm/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vatican, Oct 2 (IANS/AKI) Pope Francis is praying for the victims of the deadly mass shootings in Las Vegas and was "deeply saddened" to learn of the "senseless tragedy" which killed over 50 people and wounded over 400, Vatican Radio reported on Monday. "Deeply saddened to learn of the shooting in Las Vegas," Vatican Radio cited a telegram sent on behalf of the pontiff to the Bishop of Las Vegas, Joseph Anthony Pepe, by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin "Pope Francis sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this senseless tragedy," the telegram continued, praising the response of police and emergency services and promising his prayers. The Islamic State jihadist group claimed Sunday's attack in Las Vegas, which has been described as the deadliest mass shooting in recent United States history. In a statement carried by its Amaq news agency on Monday, IS said the gunman converted to Islam in recent months and staged the attack in response to its calls to target countries taking part in the US-led military coalition against the group. The gunman, identified by US police as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock - a Nevada resident - died at the scene. Police said he fired from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas Strip casino hotel onto an outdoor country music festival on Sunday night. Police were on Monday interviewing Paddock's relatives and neighbours in a bid to uncover what may have triggered the shooting spree. Paddock, who was retired, had no police record, or known political or religious affiliations, according to officials. --IANS/AKI vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday said Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is unable to see the development in Gujarat because of "Italian spectacles". Flagging off the second phase of Gujarat Gaurav Yatra from Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi on his birthday, Shah said: "Rahul should wear Gujarati spectacles and not the one made in Italy, then he will see the development in Gujarat." His criticism of Gandhi comes after the Congress leader during his visit to Saurashtra last week termed the Gujarat model of development as a failure. The BJP is taking out a series of such yatras across the state ahead of the assembly election later this year. The yatras would culminate at Gandhinagar on October 15, during which 138 public meetings would be addressed by party leaders. Addressing a meeting at Porbandar, Shah hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gujarat's pride. He said the BJP takes pride in Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Narendra Modi and in developed, peaceful and curfew-free Gujarat. "BJP takes pride for making Gujarat drought free by bringing Narmada water to the parched areas," Shah added. Shah also took a dig at the opposition for its dismal electoral performance in other states since 2014 and said the Congress is "day dreaming" about winning Gujarat in 2017. He also taunted the Congress Vice President, saying that elections are not won by spending vacations abroad but with boots on the ground. Shah claimed the BJP has established the rule of law in Gujarat after the Congress' "misrule" and that like the erstwhile goons in Porbandar and elsewhere in the state, the opposition too has gradually "disappeared" from Gujarat. He also spoke of last year's surgical strikes across the border and questioned Rahul Gandhi about a Congress leader's comment on the Army General. Shah termed the Congress "anti-Gujarat" and said the NDA government at the Centre has enhanced the financial allocation for the state to Rs 1,58,380 crore as opposed to Rs 63,343 crore till May 2014 besides approving various other projects for the state, and completing Sardar Sarovar dam over Narmada, "the life line of Gujarat". --IANS desai/rn/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The accountability court in Pakistan on Monday deferred ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's indictment to October 9 in three corruption cases against him and his family while issuing non-bailable arrest warrants for the former leader's children and son-in-law. The anti-corruption court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Sharif's children -- Hassan, Hussain, Maryam -- and for son-in-law Captain Safdar after they failed to appear before it despite repeated summons, Dawn online reported. Khawaja Harris, Sharif's counsel, informed the court during the hearing that the Sharif children were busy tending to their convalescing mother in London and will appear in court once she is better. Previously, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had sent bailable arrest warrants on September 26 for Sharif's children and son-in-law to their residences in Lahore and London. Sharif had arrived around 8.30 a.m. at the court amid tight Rangers deployment. He was accompanied by his political aide Senator Asif Kirmani and only his vehicle was allowed to enter the complex. Media representatives, as well as supporters of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and members of the government, were barred from entering the complex. After Sharif's appearance before the court, Mohsin Ranjha, a member of his legal team said that the former premier's indictment was deferred to October 9. The Sharif family is facing corruption references pertaining to their London apartments, Azizia Steel Mills and 16 offshore companies filed against them by the NAB on the orders of the apex court. The former Prime Minister had earlier appeared before the accountability court last week. At the Monday hearing, Harris pleaded the court to exempt his client Sharif from personal appearance. However, the judge observed that the matter would be deliberated upon once the former premier has been indicted. According to reports, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will also hold meetings of its central working committee and general council later in the day to appoint Sharif as the party's president after his removal from office. The Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif from office on July 28 in the so-called Panama Papers case. NAB had also filed one reference against Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for owning assets beyond his known sources of income. He had already been indicted in the reference against him. South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday surprised listeners by turning up as a radio station traffic reporter. "Hello, this is Moon Jae-in. This is information on the current traffic conditions as you make your happy way to your hometowns," said Moon as he took to the airwaves from the studios of the TBS broadcaster in the north-east city of Seongnam. "You must be surprised that I've suddenly turned up on the broadcast," Moon said. Reminding people that dozing off at the wheel is the most dangerous thing on long-distance drives, the President said there is a saying that the most reliable seat belt is rest, Yonhap news agency reported. "It's good to take a rest at rest areas when tired," Moon said. He also asked drivers to make sure "all seat belts are fastened when you hit the road again". Moon's appearance on the station was part of his signature campaign to better communicate with people on the occasion of the Chuseok holiday, the equivalent to Thanksgiving. The President also thanked bus, taxi, train drivers as well as maritime workers who will be working during the holiday. "This is Moon Jae-in. Thank you," he said at the end of the broadcast. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Sri Lankan refugee who was being detained by Australia in Papua New Guinea was found dead on Monday in a hospital, the media reported. The body was found in the Lorengau General Hospital earlier on Monday, Manus Island Police Commander David Yapu told the BBC. The Tamil man, 32, died in a suspected suicide after receiving treatment for mental illness, refugee advocates said. Australia controversially holds refugees and asylum seekers who arrive by boat in centres on Manus Island and the Pacific nation of Nauru. Nine detainees have died since 2013 - including six at the Manus centre, which is due to close on October 31. Last month, the US accepted the first of up to 1,250 refugees under a resettlement deal. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two accused, who were on the run after the arrest of four of their accomplices in connection with the murder of a real estate broker at Chalakkudy near here, were held on Sunday night, police said. Police tracked down the accused C. Johnny and his close aide to a farm house in nearby Palakkad district. Both were taken into custody and have been kept at an undisclosed location in Thrissur, with the police trying to unearth more information about the murder. This murder case drew attention because the name of an extremely popular advocate, who is very close to the top CPI-M leadership and top police officials, had surfaced in the media. Rajeev, 43, was found dead on Friday morning near here. Ever since Rajeev's body was found, the advocate's name started doing the rounds in the media after a friend of the deceased said the broker had filed a complaint stating that he was being threatened by the advocate. Rajeev's teenaged son gave a detailed statement to the police yesterday. He mentioned the advocate's name and said that he knew his father as they often had interactions concerning real estate deals. Thrissur (Rural) Superintendent of Police Yathish Chandra told reporters here on Saturday that there were six people involved in the murder, adding the conspiracy angle would not be looked into to get to the bottom of this case. --IANS sg/amit/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Abu Dhabi, Oct 2 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Monday, which left at least 50 people dead. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation expressed the UAE's condemnation of the incident in a statement reaffirming the country's firm position against terrorism and violence in their various forms. The statement also expressed solidarity with the US government in the face of violence and terrorism and called on the international community to unite and to put an end to "this serious scourge that threatens world security and stability". The Ministry extended the condolences of the UAE to the government and people of US, wishing for a speedy recovery of the injured. --IANS/WAM soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and state BJP president Kummanem Rajasekheran on Monday indulged in a war of words in the wake of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's allegation that the Kerala government is helping anti-nationals. The clash comes as BJP national President Amit Shah is to flag off a state-wide yatra by Rajasekheran at Payanur in Kannur district on Tuesday. The yatra is to highlight the attack of the CPI-M on the BJP/RSS cadres and also against the increase in jehadi terrorism in Kerala. Vijayan in a Facebook post asked the RSS supremo to come clean on what he means by saying that Kerala government is supporting anti-national forces for narrow political interests. "I understand that Bhagwatji is speaking such utter nonsense because their outfit failed to poison the minds of Keralites for BJP's narrow political gains," said Vijayan. Hitting back at Vijayan, Rajasekheran in a press release issued here said Vijayan was speaking like this out of guilt. "What you failed to do was to act tough against anti-national forces; and what's wrong if a leader from outside Kerala points it out," said Rajasekheran. In his Facebook post, Vijayan went on to point out that RSS got a foothold in many states by "spreading terrorism in the name of religion", making communally abrasive comments and by attacks on minorities, while the Left-led secular and democratic political practices in Kerala have strengthened people's confidence to resist all such attacks unleashed by the RSS. "Dear Bhagwatji, you need not worry about Kerala and its people-friendly, secular-democratic government. We need no lessons from you or RSS. Let RSS concentrate on issues reported in media and social media regarding violence related to communal polarisation, cow vigilantism, atrocities against minorities, Dalits and women in various BJP ruled states. "The Left Democratic Front government came to power with a mission of building a corruption-free, development-driven and secular new Kerala. Our government will deal strictly against any false propaganda by anyone whosoever, aiming to disturb the peaceful secular environment of Kerala," wrote Vijayan. Rajasekheran went a step further and pointed out to Vijayan that it was the CPI-M party which gave the nod and sanction for forming a separate district - Malappuram (in 1969) to the Indian Union Muslim League, who was instrumental in dividing India. "You have been playing the of appeasement that began then and it continues even in 2017. If one looks into the number of terrorists killed in Kashmir, one should not forget that there were many from Kerala and it took place even when power in Kerala alternated between the Left and the Congress. "Also you should not forget that the Kerala assembly has passed unanimous resolutions favouring Abdul Nasir Maudany, who is currently implicated in terror related cases. A few years back a college professor's palm was chopped off and even the kidnapping of Fr Tom Uzhavannil, all have been the work of these anti-nationals," pointed out Rajasekheran. BJP President Shah after flagging off the march on Tuesday, will on October 5 walk past the home of Vijayan in Kannur and that evening address a party rally at Tellichery - the home town of Vijayan. CPI-M state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan speaking to reporters in Delhi on Monday said that while the RSS/BJP has so far lost 185 of their cadres, they have lost 525 workers due to the violence unleashed by the BJP/RSS combine. "What Shah should do is not just walk in Kannur, but go through all the streets of the state to know what the situation is," said Balakrishnan. Here also Rajasekheran hit back by saying that the roads in Kannur have not been given exclusive rights to any one party. --IANS sg/rn/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A secular tribute is in order for the Father of the Nation, who espoused a Ramrajya that stood for principled rule for all. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, an assembly of religious leaders, academics and scientists met in New Delhi to discuss the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute. They proposed that the 67 acres of government-acquired land contiguous to 2.77 acres of disputed land be released by the Centre for the construction of Vishwadharmi Shri Ram Manavata Bhavan, consisting of places of worship for Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, and giving equal respect and status to all the religions. The conference declaration urged for setting up a 27-member All India National Steering Committee under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and taking the lead to find an amicable solution to the vexing and complex dispute. Speakers at the conference included Ram Vilas Vedanti, Arif Mohammad Khan, Dr Vijay Bhatkar, Swami Agnivesh, Syed Kalbe Rushaid Rizvi, Dr Vishwanath Karad and many other academics and religious scholars. The United States Congress is likely to enact a major tax reform sometime during the next six months. Although the new rules will apply only to American taxpayers, they will have important consequences for companies and markets around the world. The most important changes will apply to US corporations rather than to individual taxpayers. Of these reforms, the one with the most obvious and direct international impact will be the change in the taxation of US corporations foreign subsidiaries. The current US rule is unique among all major advanced economies. Consider the example of a subsidiary of a US corporation that earns profits in Ireland. That subsidiary pays the Irish corporate tax at Irelands low 12 per cent rate. It is then free to reinvest the after-tax profits in Ireland, in financial securities, or in operating businesses anywhere in the world except the US. If the foreign subsidiarys parent company brings the after-tax profits back to the US to invest or distribute to its shareholders, it must pay the current US corporate tax rate of 35 per cent on its original pre-tax Irish profits, with a credit for the 12 per cent that it has already paid. Because of this 23 per cent penalty on repatriation, US companies generally choose not to repatriate the profits of their foreign subsidiaries. The Treasury Department estimates that these subsidiaries have accumulated $2.5 trillion of offshore profits. Congress is now likely to adopt the territorial method of taxing the profits of US corporations foreign subsidiaries. Under the territorial method, which virtually every other advanced economy uses, US corporations will be able to repatriate their foreign subsidiaries after-tax profits with little or no extra tax. Illustration by Binay Sinha Congress is also likely to enact a deemed repatriation tax on the $2.5 trillion of profits that have been accumulated abroad but never subject to US tax. Although the details of this provision have not been decided, the basic idea would be to levy a tax of about 10 per cent on the untaxed overseas profits, to be paid over a period of years. In exchange for this new tax liability, a US corporation could repatriate those accumulated profits whenever it wanted to do so. The shift to a territorial tax system is likely to have important effects on US corporations behaviour. A large share of their foreign subsidiaries future profits, which would be retained abroad under current law, are likely to be returned to the US, reducing investment in Europe and Asia. A portion of the $2.5 trillion of past profits now held abroad would be repatriated as well. Moreover, US corporations will no longer have an incentive to shift their country of incorporation to other countries in order to be able to distribute their foreign-earned profits to their shareholders. At the same time, foreign companies will have an incentive to shift their headquarters to the US, where they could enjoy the advantages of being a US corporation without incurring the current tax penalty. Although the shift to a territorial system of taxation would have the most obvious foreign impact, the planned reduction in the corporate tax rate may have an even larger effect. The 35 per cent statutory tax rate on corporate profits is one of the highest among all developed countries. The congressional proposal would reduce the corporate rate to 20 per cent. President Donald Trump has called for a 15 per cent rate. A lower corporate tax rate and the shift to a territorial system would increase the flow of capital to investment in US corporations from abroad and from capital investments in owner-occupied housing and in agriculture. This would raise productivity and GDP, leading to increases in tax revenue that would partly offset the direct effect of the corporate rate reduction. But, because corporate tax revenue is now about 1.6 per cent of GDP, the direct effect of halving the tax rate would reduce revenue by about 0.8 per cent of GDP, or $160 billion a year at the current level of output. The US cannot afford such a large increase in the fiscal deficit. And, because few features of the corporate tax law can be changed to reduce that revenue loss, I think the corporate tax rate will be reduced to about 25 per cent. That would still be substantially less than the current rate and in line with the OECD average. Corporate tax rates have been declining around the world in recent decades. The US rate was previously 50 per cent, and rates in the other OECD countries were substantially higher than the current 25 per cent average. It is certainly possible that the reduction of the US rate will cause other developed countries to reduce their corporate tax rates to improve their relative attractiveness to internationally mobile capital. In short, the congressional legislation that is likely in the months ahead will change the tax rules for US companies, but it will also have important effects on international capital flows. It could also have significant effects on tax rules around the world. Martin Feldstein, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and President Emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research, chaired President Ronald Reagans Council of Economic Advisers from 1982 to 1984. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2017 The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has made transferring ones provident fund from one employer to the other smooth and seamless. Now, the funds will be automatically transferred when an employee changes jobs. All he needs to do is fill up a newly-introduced Form-11. (SP) seems desperate to rediscover its mojo at its national convention in Agra on October 5, at which about 15,000 delegates from 25 states are expected to congregate at the Targhar Ground in Agra Cantonment. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Sunday held a meeting with Union minister and BJP poll in-charge for Gujarat Arun Jaitley and other top party leaders to discuss the issues related to the state Assembly polls due later this year. The meeting, which took place at the state party headquarters 'Kamalam' in Gandhinagar on Sunday evening, was also attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Gujarat BJP in-charge Bhupender Yadav, party sources said. On Monday, Jaitley would guide the panelists designated by the state BJP unit for television debates, the sources said. Shah, who has been camped in Gujarat since September 26, arrived in Gandhinagar this evening after flagging off the party's 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' at Karamsad in Anand district earlier on Sunday. During his stay, Shah has chaired several meetings with the party's office-bearers of different cells, departments, and leaders involved in the election management, including its social media team. ALSO READ: Amit Shah reviews party performance at BJP national executive Days after quitting the Congress, former Maharashtra Chief Minister today launched a new party called 'Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh', and indicated his organisation may align with the BJP. "I have just launched the party. I am waiting for some people to join, then I will decide the future course (of action)," the 65-year-old tough-talking leader, who has pockets of influence in the Konkan region, told a press conference here. Rane, who served as the chief minister in 1999 when he was in the Shiv Sena, hinted that his outfit might be veering towards the BJP camp. "I have friends there, so I have no issues with the party (BJP). Let me first make new friends for my party, and then I will be able to announce my next move." Asked if he aspires to become the chief minister, he said, "I still have an ambition to become the chief minister of Maharashtra. It never dies. I will wait for the right time to come." He said he or his new party will never oppose any development work, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious bullet train project. The BJP's saffron ally Shiv Sena has been critical of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. The criticism has become increasingly strident following the stampede on the narrow foot overbridge linking Parel and Elphinstone Road stations that claimed 23 lives recently. Earlier, there was speculation that Rane may join the BJP as some reports suggested that he had met party president Amit Shah in Ahmedabad a few months ago and later in New Delhi. However, a section in the BJP was learnt to be not in favour of Rane's induction into the party. The Shiv Sena's threat to review its continuance in the Maharashtra government was also seen as a hint to the BJP not to take Rane into the party fold. The Shiv Sena has been bitterly critical of Rane, who had objected to Uddhav Thackeray's elevation in the party. Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had expelled Rane from the party following which the Maratha leader joined the Congress on July 26, 2005. He was made the revenue minister in the then Congress-NCP government in the state the very next day. Rane's son Nitesh, an MLA known for his strongarm tactics, had launched 'Swabhimani Sanghatana' around a decade back. His organisation was often locked in confrontation with the Shiv Sena. Today, senior Rane borrowed the name for his new party from his son's organisation. Asked about the future of his son's outfit and his own party, said, "Now, both would become one entity. The Swabhimani organisation will be a part of the political party." Rane had resigned from the Congress last month after accusing the party having reneged on the promise of making him the chief minister when he had joined it 12 years ago. He had also resigned as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council. Asked if he would contest the election for the seat that has fallen vacant following his resignation, Rane said he would take a call after the Election Commission announces the schedule. Rane also criticised Uddhav, saying "Everyone in Shiv Sena, except for Uddhav Thackeray, is my friend. He hardly understands any issue and keeps criticising BJP leaders and their decisions. It is due to his leadership that the party has been widely ridiculed." "I have similar equations with Ashok Chavan (the state Congress chief). Except for him, everyone in Congress is my friend," he said. Karnataka is set to attract attention when it goes for assembly elections next year. While the BJP plans an attempt to return to power, the Congress government expects to run a second term in the state. The Western Railway has claimed that the kin of 22 people killed in a stampede here received ex- gratia payment within 24 hours and that its officers travelled to different parts of the country to disburse the money. A statement issued by the Western Railway said Rs 1.34 crore have been disbursed to the injured and the deceased. "We have disbursed cheques of Rs 4.85 lakh to the kin of 22 deceased. One dead passenger is yet to be identified," said Mukul Jain, DRM of Mumbai division of WR. He said Rs 15,000 were disbursed on the day of accident itself. The deceased had received the cheques by Saturday. "We had opened a special counter at the KEM hospital to disburse cash to the kin of the deceased for transportation/ rituals of the deceased," Jain said, adding as per the rules when such an emergency-like situation arises, the railways gives a part of the money in cash to meet contingency expenses. He said after the railway minister announced the amount of ex-gratia, a decision was taken to disburse the remaining amount through cheque and railway staffers handed it over to the kin of the deceased by on their doorstep. "Our railway staffers reached the doors of kin of the deceased in not only in Pune, Sangli but Allahabad also to hand over the cheques," Jain said. Cheques have also disbursed to 30 passengers who received minor and grievous injuries into the mishap, the statement said. Twenty-three passengers were killed and 36 injured in a deadly rush hour stampede that occurred on a narrow foot overbridge connecting the Elphinstone Road railway station to Parel station on September 29. Shivaraj Pasalkar, the brother of Priyanka Pasalkar (23) who was killed in the stampede, confirmed receiving the cheque. Speaking to PTI over phone from Pune, Shivaraj said, "Of course, the railways displayed promptness in disbursing the money, but money can never compensate the loss of valuable lives." He said had the railway administration been so quick to take measures about the bridge earlier, then this situation would not have arisen. Jain said apart from Rs five lakh compensation on behalf of the railways, the kin were also eligible to be paid Rs 8 lakh each from Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT). BJP MP from North Mumbai Kirit Somaiya, who has been taken up the issue of compensation with the tribunal, said, "The registrar of the tribunal has told me that a special Bench of Mumbai Railway Claim Tribunal is being formed to hear the matter of Elphinstone Bridge stampede and the claim for the compensation will be attended to in one month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today kick-started its election campaign in poll-bound Gujarat, accusing the BJP goverment in the state of being "arrogant, corrupt and murderous" and highlighting several issues, including unemployment. AAP leader and Delhi minister Gopal Rai launched the party's campaign as he led a road show that roughly covered a distance of 20 kms in the city, in which thousands of party workers took part. During his address to the party workers, Rai, who is the party's election in-charge for Gujarat, expressed confidence that his party would throw out the government in the upcoming elections. He also said that the people of the state would respond to the bullets fired by the government through ballots. "The BJP government is arrogant, corrupt and murderous. The AAP has started a march to bring about a change in the state by throwing out such a government," Rai said. He added that the arrogance of BJP government has reached the "peak of the Mount Everest", and not a single work is possible without corruption. "Corruption, unemployment, pathetic condition of schools and hospitals, injustice to farmers, are some of the issues faced by the people in the state. The government fires bullets at people when they raise their voice against this. But people will respond to the bullets through ballots," he said. The road show started from Nana Chiloda Circle on the outskirts of the city and ended at Sabarmati riverfront, after which some leaders of the party visited the Sabarmati Ashram to pay obeisance to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary. The AAP had recently made an announcement that it would contest the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat. Out of the total 182 assembly segments, the party has so far conducted meetings in 21 constituencies. Total 125 persons have expressed their wish to be in the fray from these 21 seats, the party had recently said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) About 40 people, including some authors, were today detained when they raised slogans seeking justice for slain journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh at the Gandhi Statue near the Marina Beach here, police said. According to a senior police official, those detained were lodged in a marriage hall and later let off in the evening. Among those detained were some academicians and authors including professor Mangai and Manushyaputhiran. Police said a group of persons, including some from a youth outfit, arrived at the spot to garland the statue of Mahatma Gandhi as part of seeking justice for Lankesh, gunned down by unidentified persons in Bengaluru last month. When they were told that only one person could go ahead, an argument ensued before police detained them. "Among those who were detained included academicians, authors and some youth. They were released in the evening", Mangai told PTI. Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association, condemned the detention of the authors and academicians. Stating that several people paid their respects to the statue of Gandhi on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi, the association alleged police "forcibly" evicted the authors and academicians who raised slogans near the statue. "We strongly condemn the incident. It is undemocratic" the association state President S Tamilselvan said in a statement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 11 people, including police officers and civilians, were today killed in a bomb attack at a police station in Syria's capital Damascus, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were also injuries in the attack, which involved up to three explosions in the city's southern district of Midan. The interior ministry also reported the attack, saying two suicide bombers had blown themselves up, killing civilians and police officers, but giving no precise toll. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mementos from the collection of legendary actor Audrey Hepburn have nabbed USD 6.2 million at a London auction. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the star's personal shooting script for "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was sold for 632,750 pounds at Christie's, seven times its pre-sale estimate. A Tiffany bangle that was a gift to Hepburn from director Steven Spielberg, inscribed "you are my 'inspiration'", sold for 332,750 pounds. A black satin Givenchy cocktail gown worn in the 1963 film "Charade" was sold for 68,750 pounds. A bidder paid 68,750 pounds for Hepburn's Burberry trenchcoat. The star of "Roman Holiday", 'My Fair Lady" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" died in 1993 at the age of 63. Hepburn's sons are selling about 500 items through live and online sales at Christie's. The online sale runs to October 4. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A "terrorist explosion" during a Shiite procession commemorating Ashura lightly wounded five policemen today, the interior ministry in Sunni-ruled Bahrain announced. "A terrorist explosion caused five light injuries among policemen deployed as security for a procession along Budaiya Avenue" in western Manama, a tweet from the ministry said. Shiites in the tiny Gulf kingdom mark Ashura with processions in Manama and in villages around the capital. The annual Ashura commemorations mark the killing of Imam Hussein by the forces of the Caliph Yazid in 680 AD -- a formative event in Shiite Islam. Imam Hussein's death was part of a dispute over who should succeed the Prophet Mohammed, which eventually developed into a bitter schism between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam. Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, has seen sporadic violence since the repression in 2011 of a protest movement by the Shiite majority, demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister. Hundreds of protesters, mainly but not all Shiites, were arrested and sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their role in the demonstrations. Bahrain says it does not discriminate towards the country's Shiites, and regularly accuses Shiite Iran of meddling in its internal affairs, an allegation Tehran denies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BHU Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi, under the spotlight for his handling of student protests last month, today proceeded on leave, citing personal reasons, university officials said. Tripathi, who was scheduled to retire on November 30, has gone on "indefinite leave", BHU officials said. The development comes amid indications from top HRD ministry sources that the central government was upset with the manner in which he handled the entire episode, including a protest by women students following an incident of alleged harassment. University administration called the police to the campus. A number of students were injured in the police lathi- charge. Tripathi had claimed he would resign if asked to go on leave. Calls and messages to Tripathi did not elicit any response. The ministry has already started the routine process of shortlisting Tripathi's successor. BHU is one of the country's 43 central universities. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Brazilian judge overseeing a massive corruption probe into billions of dollars in kickbacks says the investigation is nearing an end. Judge Sergio Moro isn't setting a timeline for when the "Car Wash" probe will wrap up. However, he says he is personally "a bit tired" of the work and believes it is in its final phases. Moro spoke to journalists Monday in Sao Paulo after receiving an award from Notre Dame University. Launched in March 2014, the sprawling investigation has ensnared many of Brazil's elite and spawned related probes that have expanded nationwide and to several Latin American nations. Yesterday, Moro also ruled out a political career despite garnering some support in preference polls one year ahead of Brazil's presidential election. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont today called for international mediation in the crisis pitting his regional separatist executive against Madrid, a day after police violence marred an independence referendum banned by the central government. Speaking to reporters, he called for "mediation", "which means there must be the presence of a third party, which must be international to be efficient." Just as he spoke to reporters, Catalans took to the streets of central Barcelona in droves to protest the violence, cutting roads to traffic and shouting: "The streets will always be ours," a phrase that has become the slogan of the pro-referendum movement. The vote yesterday saw riot police move in on polling stations in Barcelona and other towns and cities in the Catalan region to stop people from voting, in some cases baton-charging and firing rubber bullets to disperse crowds. Madrid had warned Catalan separatist leaders they could not hold the vote in a region deeply divided over independence, stating it was illegal and courts had ruled it unconstitutional. But they had retorted that Catalans had a right to decide on their future and pressed ahead anyway. More than 800 people received medical attention as a result of the crackdown, according to regional authorities. Puigdemont also demanded today that Madrid withdraw all police it had deployed to Catalonia from other parts of the country. He requested the "withdrawal of all police forces deployed to Catalonia for these acts of repression." In the early hours of this morning, the Catalan government claimed that 90 per cent of voters backed independence in the referendum, which it said saw a turnout of just over 42 per cent despite attempts to stop them from voting. Puigdemont, meanwhile, said his region had "won the right to an independent state." He told reporters today that so far, 73 Catalans had filed official complaints against police brutality. "It's the biggest day of gratuitous violence that we've experienced in the past 40 years," Puigdemont said, referring to the four decades of democratic rule in Spain. "Not only can it not happen again, but it can't remain unpunished." Puigdemont also called for "detente" as Catalans reeled from the clashes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre is mulling setting up a study group to analyse the security and development issues along the China border, with a special focus on involving the frontier population in the mainstream of the country. The study group or the committee will also interact with the state governments and other representative groups of the states whose borders run with China, before they submit their report to the Union home ministry. Home minister Rajnath Singh, during his recent forward area tour to the China border areas along Uttarakhand, told PTI that the group will be soon constituted to conduct a wholesome study on various aspects that pose a challenge and need improvement on the about 4,000-km border spread across five eastern states of the country. Singh, after interacting with ITBP troops at their border post here in the Chamoli district, said the group will also look at ways to further expedite the work of completing border roads in these states. The minister underlined the need to enhance the government support system in these areas in a recent speech in Joshimath when he called the border population as strategic assets of the country who need to be given due importance. He urged border guarding forces, such as the ITBP, to ensure that the locals living in these areas do not migrate."The local population are the eyes and ears of the country and its security mechanism. If they are not there, then it is a worrisome situation," a senior official of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said"The study group, apart from studying these issues, will also analyse what more needs to be done to enhance the overall security and defence systems along the China border," the official said.The home ministry had recently set up an expert committee of a similar nature to examine the rules which allow free movement of Indian and Myanmarese citizens within 16 km of the border, but are exploited by militants for smuggling arms, drugs, and fake Indian currency.Addressing locals and ITBP troops at Joshimath on September 30, Singh had said the border population should be given more importance as the government has "full faith and trust" in the people living in these remote areas."People living along the India-China border should not be made to migrate at any cost. They are our strategic assets. They should be given more importance. The day they will migrate...that will not be good for our border security," he had said. The minister said the border population is considered important by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. "The prime minister has said special attention should be given to the well-being of the people living on the borders. I will request ITBP (personnel) to make friends with the local population in the area of their border deployment," he said. The minister asked the border force to hold special camps to help the locals and assist them in redressing their problems. The 3,488 km-long India-China border stretches through Jammu and Kashmir (1,597 km), Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km), Sikkim (220 km) and Arunachal Pradesh (1,126 km). Recently, Chinese and Indian troops were in a face-off situation for more than two months in the Dokalam area of the Sikkim sector after Indians stopped the construction of a road by China's Army. The Sino-India border is not fully demarcated and the process of clarifying and confirming the Line of Actual Control is in progress. The area is characterised by high-altitude terrain and thick habitation which have resulted in inadequate development of infrastructure in these regions. To redress the situation arising out of lack of infrastructure along border with China, the government has decided to undertake construction of 73 roads of operational significance. Of these, 27 roads involving 804.93 km are being constructed by the home ministry in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 1,937 crore. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has urged the Centre to ensure the safety of party supremo Bimal Gurung and other top leaders to enable them to take part in a tripartite meeting proposed by the government. Gurung and several other top leaders of GJM have been on the run for the last one month after cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were lodged against them for their alleged involvement in several bomb blasts in the Darjeeling hills. "The Centre should ensure the safety and security of Bimal Gurung and other top leaders of GJM, so that they are not arrested by the West Bengal police," GJM vice-president Kalyan Dewan told PTI. Terming it a part of confidence building measures, Dewan said if GJM leaders were arrested "who will carry forward the talks". Meanwhile Binay Tamang, the expelled GJM leader and chairman of the Board of Administrators of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, said the suspension of the strike on the assurance of a tripartite meeting by the Centre was nothing but a "face saver and a political gimmick" of Darjeeling BJP MP SS Ahluwalia and Gurung. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had appealed to the GJM to withdraw the strike in the Darjeeling hills for a separate Gorkhaland state and asked the Union home secretary to convene an official-level meeting to discuss related issues. Gurung had called off the indefinite shutdown on its 104th day on September 26 in response to Singh's appeal. "When I had called for lifting the strike, Bimal Gurung opposed it. Actually he wanted some excuse for the strike to be lifted and he got this excuse from the tripartite meeting. The people of the hills no longer consider Gurung as their leader," said Tamang. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that issues such as cleanliness and hygiene should not be politicised and asserted that even 1,000 Mahatma Gandhis could not achieve the goal of a clean India without the participation of 1.25 billion Indians. Addressing a gathering here to mark three years of the Swachh Bharat mission, he said he had been severely criticised when he had initiated the programme and stepped out with a broom to launch it. Maintaining that it was essential for children to wash their hands before eating as unhygienic conditions had led to several children dying, the Prime Minister said when he flagged the issue people asked how they would get soap and water. People went to the extent of saying that the Prime Minister was making these statements just for the purpose of making a speech, Modi said. ...If you have to abuse Modi, there are a thousand (other) issues...but we should neither make fun nor politicise issues which are meant to bring about change in society, he said. People, including fellow politicians, had slammed him for spoiling childrens October 2 holiday, Modi said. We cannot achieve the target (of a Clean India) even if 1,000 Mahatma Gandhis, one lakh Narendra Modis, chief ministers and all governments come together. We can achieve it (only) when all 1.25 billion countrymen come together, Modi told the gathering. Asserting that he was convinced that the path shown by Mahatma Gandhi could not be wrong, he said he had endured a lot of criticism. But my nature is such that I endure a lot of things. My responsibility is such that I should endure. Slowly, I am increasing my capacity to endure (criticism)...For three years, without hesitation, I continued. I continued as I was sure that the path shown by the Mahatma and what he had said cannot be wrong, Modi said. About five years ago, when children were seen cleaning their schools, it would create controversy with even parents criticising teachers. But now, children helping clean schools is seen as positive news. he added. Soon, people who participate in cleanliness drives will not make news but pictures of those who stay away from it will be shown on television, Modi said. ICICI Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar participates in cleanliness campaigns in Mumbai on Monday. Photo: PTI State Bank of India Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya participates in cleanliness campaigns in Mumbai on Monday. Photo: PTI He noted that the media and members of civil society had played a key role in propagating the importance of cleanliness. There was need for introspection if the programme had not gained the desired momentum, notwithstanding the support from these sections, he stressed. Modi said the issue of cleanliness should be looked at from the prism of women, who face difficulties due to lack of toilets, and lauded children for being ambassadors of the key programme. He said men find it easy to answer nature's call at any traffic junction. But women hold themselves back till they reach home. Referring to the need for toilets, he said when women don't have access to toilets, they go out in the open at the crack of dawn and hold themselves back till sunset to defecate. This could lead to health problems for them. The prime minister also asked people to not discourage those who were practicing cleanliness if the government was telling them to do so. Convicts too "must breathe fresh air" and be allowed to maintain social ties provided they show a tendency to reform, the Supreme Court has said and favoured a "humanistic approach" while dealing with pleas for parole or furlough to those serving long jail terms. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked the government to update its rules, framed way back in 1955, on granting of parole and furlough, saying these were skeletal in nature. It referred to one of the objectives of awarding punishment and said it was about reformation of the convicts. "There is an imperative and immediate need for updating these Rules thereby including comprehensive provisions in the light of the discussion...so as to provide suitable guidelines to those who have to consider such applications for grant of parole," it said, adding that the copy of its verdict be sent to the Ministry of Law and Justice. The bench, however, said a person must remain in jail for the period of sentence awarded to him or her. "It is in this context that his release from jail for a short period has to be considered as an opportunity afforded to him not only to solve his personal and family problems but also to maintain his links with society. "Convicts too must breathe fresh air for at least some time provided they maintain good conduct consistently during incarceration and show a tendency to reform themselves and become good citizens. Thus, redemption and rehabilitation of such prisoners for good of societies must receive due weightage while they are undergoing sentence of imprisonment," it said. The top court, in its verdict, referred to the grounds on which parole can be granted and said "the most important ground, which stands out, is that a prisoner should be allowed to maintain family and social ties." It said the reason for grant of parole to maintain family and social ties also found justification in one of the objectives behind punishment that was reformation of convicts. "When we recognise reformation as one of the objectives, it provides justification for letting of even the life convicts for short periods, on parole, in order to afford opportunities to such convicts not only to solve their personal and family problems but also to maintain their links with the society. "Another objective which this theory underlines is that even such convicts have right to breathe fresh air, albeit for periods," it said. A parole can be defined as conditional release of prisoners on good behaviour, with regular reporting to the authorities for a set period of time. Furlough, on the other hand, is a brief release from the prison which is given in cases of long-term imprisonment. The verdict came on the plea of one Asfaq, who is serving life term in connection with cases lodged under TADA for his role in serial bomb blasts that had taken took place in five trains on December 6, 1993. The blasts had taken place in trains at Kota, Allahabad, Kanpur, Gujarat, Malkangiri and Karjat allegedly at the behest of certain miscreants on the first anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition. Asfaq had moved the apex court against denial of parole by the authorities. The court, however, upheld the decision of the Rajashtan High Court with a direction that he may file a fresh plea seeking parole after some time, if the situation warranted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A special court here has allowed an NRI, accused of smuggling foreign currency, to travel to the United States to keep his Green Card status active. Special Judge N K Malhotra allowed Virender Verma to go to the US for a month in October while directing him to furnish his travel itinerary, addresses and phone numbers of the places he would be staying. It also directed him to furnish an additional security of Rs 5 lakh in the form of Fixed Deposit Receipt. The special court's directions came on an appeal filed against a magisterial court's order denying him the opportunity to visit the USA. In his application before the special court, he submitted that he had to visit USA within 180 days in order to retain his Green Card. He said his wife, a US-citizen, was not well and was scheduled to undergo a surgery for which he was needed there. The prosecution agency had opposed the application, claiming that earlier the accused was granted permission to go abroad when he had misused the concession. Verma was arrested in connection with a smuggling case and the prosecution had alleged that he was the mastermind of a smuggling racket. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Home-grown FMCG major Dabur has helped 12 villages in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh achieve the open defecation-free (ODF) status by joining the government's Swachh Bharat initiative. The company has a target of bringing 26 villages under ODF by the end of 2017-18, Dabur said in a statement. It has helped construct toilets at over 2,600 households in eight villages in Uttar Pradesh and four in Himachal Pradesh. In addition, separate toilet blocks for boys and girls are being built in close to 20 schools across five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Assam. "Our idea is to improve the overall hygiene standards in these villages and turn them into model villages, offering a variety of services, from operating health posts," Dabur India CSR Head A Sudhakar said. Last fiscal, Dabur had constructed nearly 1,254 household toilets. Dabur and its CSR arm Sundesh have also been organising several programmes and cleanliness awareness drives in these villages to sensitise residents about keeping their surroundings clean. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Aam Aadmi Party today said the representation of the Delhi government in the Metro's fare fixation panel was futile if its views were not considered before raising tariffs. The AAP's Delhi unit chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said that K K Sharma, the representative of the Delhi government in the fare fixation committee, had on June 30 vehemently protested against the proposed fare hike. "What is the use of having a representative of an elected government in the fare fixation committee if the Urban Development Ministry and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) want to go ahead without taking its views into consideration," Bharadwaj said. He said fares of Kolkata Metro, which is the oldest in the country, were lower than that of the Delhi Metro, as he sought to draw a parallel between the transport systems of the two metropolitans. "The fare for Delhi Metro is Rs 10 for the first five kms, whereas the first five kms in the Kolkata Metro costs Rs 5. Delhiities have to spend Rs 50 for 32 kms or more whereas people from Kolkata shell Rs 25 for travelling 25 kms or more," he added. The AAP has threatened protests over the proposed fare hike. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran today pressed for a CBI probe into the death of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa. "I want a CBI probe," was his reply when asked if the party faction led by him was ready to cooperate with the government-constituted Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry to probe the death of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016. "Only when there is a CBI probe, can the ministers, who are making contradictory remarks (on meeting Jayalalithaa when she was hospitalised), be questioned," he said. Tamil Nadu Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan had recently said nobody had met the former AIADMK supremo after she was admitted to the Apollo Hospital last year and that they "lied" that she ate idly, among others, out of fear of her close aide and now party chief V K Sasikala. However, Cooperation Minister Sellur Raju had contradicted Srinivasan saying, "All the ministers had met her." On September 25, the Tamil Nadu government constituted an inquiry commission headed by Justice A Arumughaswamy to look into the circumstances leading up to the death of the former chief minister. Initiating such a probe was a key pre-condition of former rebel AIADMK leader and now Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for merging the party faction led by him with the one led by chief minister E K Palaniswami. The two factions had merged on August 21. Dhinakaran accused the state government of trying to use "the doubts over Amma's (Jayalalithaa) death" to "divert" the attention from its misgovernance. "To divert the people's attention from the misgovernance, doubts are being raised over Amma's death," he said, adding that the Palaniswami government would be sent home soon. Palaniswami and Dhinakaran are engaged in a tussle for power, with the latter accusing the chief minister of "betraying" Sasikala, who had nominated him to the top party post in February, following a revolt by Panneerselvam. Dhinakaran asserted that the disqualification of the 18 AIADMK MLAs loyal to him from the state Assembly was only "temporary" and vowed to take legal recourse and "send this government home and once again usher in Amma's rule". He also lashed out at the government on the spread of dengue, saying "their words and action show they are only bothered about the government. We can't expect any action from them". On the appointment of Banwarilal Purohit as the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Dhinakaran said, "We expect at least the new governor to work in a non-partisan manner." Earlier, Dhinakaran had met former governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and sought for the removal of Palaniswami from the post of chief minister. In August, 19 MLAs supporting Dhinakaran had met Rao and pressed for a similar demand, saying they had lost confidence in the chief minister. However, one of those MLAs subsequently switched over to the Palaniswami camp. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A farmer was killed after being attacked by a tiger in Khargapur village near the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve here, the police said today. The incident took place yesterday when Bablu Sarkar (40) was working in his field and was attacked by the tiger, they said. He died on the spot. The district administration has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the family of the victim. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Worried over the recent accidents at JSPL and SAIL plants, the government has asked the industry to stick to Standard Operating Procedures to avoid any further mishaps, saying there will be "no compromise" on that. "(There should be) no negligence. It is clear that you have to adhere to the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). If you do that, accidents will not happen," Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma told PTI. Asserting that security is extremely vital for any production plant, including steel, Sharma said she strongly believes that in India the accidents occur as people have turned a blind eye to SOPs. "These are laid out principles. You have started forgetting it and then you do patchwork...you have to get back to the drawing board and set these principles again. There is no compromise on that. This has to be done," the secretary said. In September, a mishap at Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) plant in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh took away life of a technician and caused injury to two others. According to police officials, the three, working at a steel melting shop in the plant, suffered burn injuries when the temperature in its hot metal pot rose suddenly and generated flames that engulfed them. In August, a worker was killed and another seriously injured in an accident at company's plant in Chhattisgarh. In another incident which happened in May, two contract labourers were killed and seven others seriously injured when molten iron accidentally fell on them at SAIL's Burnpur-based IISCO steel plant in West Bengal. A high-level enquiry committee was constituted to ascertain the cause of the accident, SAIL had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Four children and an adult were killed when a fire engulfed a social housing block in the French city of Mulhouse, authorities said. Eight others were injured, three critically, in the blaze that began in the basement of a four-storey building in the northern Bourtzwiller district, the fire service said. The fire broke out shortly before midnight. Around 20 residents were rescued from their homes by ladder, the local l'Alsace newspaper reported. "It's terrible, the whole city has been shaken by this tragedy," Mayor Jean Rottner told AFP. The cause of the fire was unknown. "The building is in very good condition and is situated in a quiet housing project, with no particular problems," Rottner said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The upcoming dry port at Sindi in the Wardha district of Maharashtra will give a boost to the development of Vidarbha region, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday. Logistics will be the biggest business in India in future and Nagpur, which is centrally located, will become a logistics hub, Fadnavis said, speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for the dry port at Sindi in the presence of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. Dry port, also called inland port or multi-modal logistics centre, is an inland terminal connected to a seaport by rail or road. "At one end is a port like JNPT (in Mumbai) which handles the highest container traffic (in the country), on the other end the logistics centre of Nagpur, and joining the two will be the Maharashtra government's Samrudhhi Corridor (Nagpur-Mumbai expressway) which will generate opportunities at the Wardha dry port," Fadnavis said. The dry port at Sindi is being developed by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said, "A container arriving in Mumbai can be transported to the Sindi dry port directly by rail, which will help traders save the money they spend on road transport. "It will also enhance export capabilities of the region," the union minister for road transport, highways and shipping said. Dry ports will also have cold storages and pre-cooling plants which would be beneficial for local farmers, Gadkari said. "One of our primary objectives in setting up this facility was to provide employment to local youth," he noted. Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa today joined the campaign for Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll for the first time after remaining absent and sought votes for party candidate Sunil Jakhar, calling him an "ideal" nominee. The participation of Bajwa, a former member of Lok Sabha from Gurdaspur, in the electioneering assumes significance amid reports that he had sought a ticket for his wife for the bypoll. The ticket went to Jakhar as his name was recommended by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to the party high command, party sources said. A few days ago, Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla had even taken a dig at Jakhar, asking him why Bajwa was "missing" from his poll campaign. Talking to media at the residence of Qadian MLA Fateh Jung Singh Bajwa today, the Rajya Sabha member said he would campaign for Jakhar in all nine assembly segments of the Gurdaspur seat. Later in the day, addressing a workers' meeting at Tugalwal village ground in Qadian, Bajwa said Jakhar was like a brother to him. "Sunil Jakhar is like a brother to me and an ideal candidate to represent the people in this border belt in Parliament," he said. Lambasting the Shiromani Akali Dal members, Jakhar said the Akalis claimed to be 'Faqr-E-Quam' (pride of the community), but they allegedly "sold off" Punjab's interests for their personal gains. He was referring to the Rs 32,000- crore foodgrain "scam" during the Akali regime and vowed to bring back every dime. "It was former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who looked after the interests of Punjab and was the real Faqr-E-Quam and Capt Amarinder Singh is 'Punjab Da Sher'," said Jakhar, declaring that the Congress government would take into account the government funds misused by the Akalis and bring the culprits to book. Jakhar, who was also present there, recalled that as Lok Sabha MP, Bajwa got 400-km roads constructed in Gurdaspur. Later, addressing worker meetings in Qadian, Jakhar charged BJP candidate Swarn Salaria with giving "misleading" statements on GST and other issues. "Contrary to what Salaria was projecting, GST had not benefited anyone so far," he said, challenging his opponent to engage in a debate with him on issues of education and employment. Referring to alleged atrocities against Dalits during the Akali regime, Jakhar recalled that he had always raised his voice against such incidents. Jakhar said the Capt Amarinder government was ensuring that every elderly person got his old age pension and every family eligible for Blue Cards received their due irrespective of their political allegiance. Jakhar, who was also the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president, came down heavily on the price rise under the Modi government, pointing out that the LPG cylinder that used to cost Rs 400 under the UPA government now costs Rs 744. "A vote for Salaria will send across a misleading message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that people are happy with the central government's policies," said Jakhar, exhorting the people to cast their vote judiciously. Earlier, addressing a meeting organised by the United Christian Front in Gurdaspur, Jakhar said the minorities needed political empowerment, which only the Congress could provide them. The Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll, necessitated following the death of actor and BJP MP Vinod Khanna, has been scheduled for October 11. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit today urged historians of the North eastern region to play a proactive role and act as a bridge between past and present generation. "Historians of the present day society must take a lead in writing books on the role of freedom fighters and their supreme sacrifices of the sons of the soil so that the present generation could know and study about them," the Governor said while inaugurating the 38th Annual Conference of North East India History Association at Mirza near here. Regional study should be complementary and not competitive with historians concentrating on researching the history of the region and publishing them, the governor said. He also asked historians to take initiative in re-writing the history of India by incorporating their findings about North East and its role in history and culture of India, so that the national history becomes comprehensive and complete. The governor lamented that the people in other parts of the country do not have much knowledge about the uniqueness of the region. He, therefore, requested historians of the region to take the responsibility to take corrective steps and write books eulogising the role of the freedom fighters of north east along with other great achievers so that the history of this part of the region is read and understood at par with national history of the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Veteran actor Harrison Ford says his five children keep an "appropriate distance" from his job. The "Blade Runner 2049" star, who has Ben, 50, Willard, 48, Malcolm, 29, Georgia, 27, from previous relationships and 16-year-old son Liam with his wife Calista Flockhart, wants his children to have some distance from his life as a movie star, reported Telegraph. "They have an appropriate distance from what I do at the office. My 16-year-old said he was going to watch the original 'Blade Runner', but I'm not sure he has. Let's say they don't want to sit down and watch daddy's history that way, at this point," Ford says. The 75-year-old actor says he does not socialise much as he prefers to spend his freetime with his children. "I don't see much of anybody socially. With five kids I can hardly find time to see my accountant," he says. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Anna Hazare, whose anti-corruption protest attracted a huge outpouring of support in 2011, on Monday threatened a rerun of his crusade as he denounced the Modi government over its failure to appoint a Lokpal and create a graft-free India. Hazare, who was the face of the impassioned movement for the creation of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayukta in states to probe corruption in the government, targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is averse to appoint anyone to the office. The announcement came after the octogenarian Gandhian visited Raj Ghat to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of the 148th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation. The movement I started for appointing a Lokpal is incomplete, which is why there is a need for another agitation. The government failed to appoint a Lokpal in the past three years. In fact, it has weakened the Act (The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013), he told reporters at a press conference at the New Maharastra Sadan here. The new movement, he said, would be launched by the end of the year or early next year. Hazare, who drove thousands of people onto streets in 2011, said he would interact with volunteers from across the country at Ralegaon Siddhi in Maharashtra on October 7 and 8 to chalk out future course of action. He accused the government of not fulfilling its promises of bringing back unaccounted money stashed abroad and implementing the Swaminathan Commission report. The promise of bringing unaccounted money remains unfulfilled, the number of farmer suicides is increasing at an alarming rate, the Swaminathan Commission report has not been implemented yet, and corruption in the country is on the rise, Hazare said in a letter to the Prime Minister on Monday. Citing media reports, the social activist claimed that corruption had increased over the past 15 years. He (the Prime Minister) has shown no interest in appointing a Lokpal. When he was the chief minister of Gujarat, he did not want a Lokayukta. So he went to the high court against the move and later approached the Supreme Court, he said. Hazare has written several letters to Modi in the past over the appointment of a Lokpal. Asked whether he had received a response from the government, Hazare said, There has been no response to my letter. Why will they write back to me? They only respond to industrialists. The Lokpal and and Lokayukta Act was enacted in 2013. An amateur historian has discovered a trove of 2,000-year-old Roman silver coins worth 200,000 pounds with the help of a metal detector in a farmer's field in the UK. Mike Smale, fisherman and amateur historian was hunting for treasure with friends when he found 600 rare Denarii in a field in Birdport. Some of the coins are extremely rare as they were minted in Roman general Mark Anthony's short-lived reign when he was allied with Egypt's Cleopatra, and can be worth up to 900 pounds each. "I was elated and shaking because this is a once in a lifetime find," Smale said. "The archaeologists excavating it could not believe what they were seeing because these coins are so rare," he added. It is a great find, my biggest one, but I won't be giving metal detecting up, it is great fun and I am sticking with it, Smale was quoted as saying by 'The Metro'. "Coin finds such as this are fascinating, and are incredibly important in shedding light on the history of Roman Britain," said Dominic Chorney, coin expert of A H Baldwin and Sons in the UK. "Republican coins and those of Antony were issued before the Roman Invasion of Britain in AD 43, and would have drifted over in the pockets of Roman soldiers and citizens alike," said Chorney. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A consumer court here has directed a private hospital in the city to pay a compensation of Rs 15,000 to a man for causing damage to his prostate gland during a surgery in 2009. Besides, the Madurai district consumer forum also ordered the hospital to pay Rs 3,000 towards cost of the case. The Judge Balasundarakumar and member Bhagyalakshmi who heard the consumer litigation recently observed that the prostate gland of the consumer, Mani was damaged due to the carelessness of the doctors who operated on him for hydrocele. The court also gave a direction to pay Rs 5,000 spent by the petitioner for treating the damages to the prostate gland. The petitioner submitted that he had undergone a surgery at the private hospital for hydrocele in 2009 and came to know of the damage caused to the prostate gland a few days after he was discharged, he said. When the petitioner had approached the hospital, the doctors did not provide a proper response to his anxious queries regarding the damage to the prostate gland. However, he had learnt about the same from another doctor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Several medical practitioners under the banner of Indian Medical Association's Goa unit held a two hour long token hunger strike at Raj Bhavan's main gate in support of their demands including deterrent punishment for violence against the doctors. The hunger strike which began at 8 am outside the main gate of Raj Bhavan near here culminated after presenting memorandum to Governor Mridula Sinha listing out all the demands pressed by the IMA as a part of its nationwide protests. IMA Goa President Medha Salkar in a memorandum to the Governor has said that all the 1,500 doctors affiliated to the association have resolved that "time has come for the Prime Minister of India to intervene to resolve the issues faced by the medical professionals." The memorandum has demanded that central government should strictly implement the Act to tackle violence against medical professionals on duty. The IMA also demanded to stop criminal prosecution for minor medical negligence and clerical errors. Salkar said the compensation to be paid by doctors in the cases under the Consumer Protection Act should be capped. "There should be professional autonomy for the doctors in treatment and giving the prescription to the patients," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India today received its first ever shipment of US crude oil with state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) importing a 1.6 million barrels parcel at Paradip in Odisha. MT New Prosperity, a very large crude carrier (VLCC), with a capacity to haul two million barrels of crude, left US Gulf Coast on August 19 and arrived at Paradip port. "IOC will process the crude at its refineries located at Paradip, Haldia (in West Bengal), Barauni (in Bihar) and Bongaigaon (in Assam)," the company said in a statement. A function was held at the Paradip port to mark the arrival, which was attended by officials of IOC, oil ministry and the US Embassy. "IOC, which became the first Indian public sector refiner to source US crude, has placed a cumulative order 3.9 million barrel (of US crude)," it said. State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) have also placed orders for about 2.95 million barrels and 1 million barrels of US crude respectively for their Kochi and Vizag refineries. "The total volume of the crude presently contracted by Indian public sector refineries is, therefore, 7.85 million barrels," the statement said. This is one of the first shipments to India since the United States stopped oil exports in 1975, and follows recent commitments to US oil purchases by Indian state refiners, a separate statement issued by US Embassy said. "US crude oil shipments to India have the potential to boost bilateral trade by up to USD 2 billion," the Embassy statement said. Indian companies, both public and private, have invested about USD 5 billion in US shale assets. They have also contracted 5.8 million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and the first shipment is expected to be delivered to India in January 2018. The Indian government has encouraged state-controlled refiners to buy US and Canadian crude from the US Gulf coast as it looks at cheaper alternatives that have emerged due to global supply glut. While in the first purchase IOC is importing 1.6 million barrels of high sulphur crude Mars from the US and 400,000 barrels of Western Canadian Select oil, in the second it has bought 1.9 million barrels of US crude, half of it being shale oil. The second shipment is expected in a months time. India, the world's third-largest oil importer, joins Asian countries like South Korea, Japan and China to buy US crude after production cuts by oil cartel OPEC drove up prices of Middle East heavy-sour crude, or grades with a high sulphur content. Buying US crude has become attractive for Indian refiners after the differential between Brent (the benchmark crude or marker crude that serves as a reference price for buyers in western world) and Dubai (which serves as a benchmark for countries in the east) has narrowed. Even after including the shipping cost, buying US crude is cost competitive to Indian refiners, an industry official said. The IOC deal cames within weeks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's June-end visit to the US when President Donald Trump talked of his country looking to export more energy products to India. MaryKay Carlson, Charg dAffaires at the US Embassy, termed the oil imports as a significant milestone in the growing partnership between the US and India. "The United States and India are elevating our cooperation in the field of energy, including plans for cleaner fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear, and cutting edge storage and energy efficiency technologies. We look forward to working together on further sales of US crude and exploring opportunities to expand the role of natural gas in India," Carlson said. During their June 26 meeting in Washington, Trump and Modi committed to expanding and elevating bilateral energy cooperation through a strategic energy partnership. The leaders called for a rational approach that balances environment and climate policy, global economic development, and energy security needs, the US Embassy statement said. "President Trump affirmed that the United States continues to remove barriers to energy development and investment in the United States and to U.S. energy exports so that more natural gas, clean coal, and renewable resources and technologies are available to fuel India's economic growth and inclusive development," it added. To encourage US crude purchases, the government has allowed refiners to use a foreign rather than an Indian-owned vessel for the purchase. Indian refiners typically have to use domestic vessels for their crude imports. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian-origin "chicken king" Ranjit Singh Boparan's food company in the UK has suspended poultry processing operations at a plant accused of serious safety breaches. The 2 Sisters Food Group, one of the largest suppliers of chicken to supermarkets across the UK, said the action had been taken as a temporary measure at its West Bromwich factory in the West Midlands region of England to retrain staff on hygiene standards. The company said in a statement on Monday that it was "shocked and distressed" by the allegations and the footage which emerged last week as part of a joint investigation by the 'Guardian' newspaper and ITV channel and have been "working around the clock" to get to the truth of the matter. "Our internal investigation has shown some isolated instances of non-compliance with our own quality management systems. We have therefore decided to temporarily suspend operations at the site to allow us the time to retrain all colleagues including management in all food safety and quality management systems," the statement said. The company added that the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been in daily attendance since the allegations were raised and confirmed that it has "not identified any breaches". The move came after undercover footage showed an instance of 2 Sisters' workers at the plant altering the source and slaughter date of poultry being processed in the firms Site D plant. Experts said altering "kill dates" could artificially stretch the commercial life of the meat and dupe consumers into buying chicken past its use-by date. It is illegal to place incorrect use-by dates on food, which are set for safety reasons and differ from "best before" dates. Other sections of the footage, which was filmed in August, showed chicken being picked off the floor and thrown back on to the production line, and older poultry being mixed with fresher birds. All major supermarket supplied chicken from the plant quickly announced a boycott of the supplier until their own investigations were complete, as did the FSA. The chairman of the House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee, Neil Parish, said he was preparing to call Singh before the committee to answer questions about the allegations. "It would be good if we could have a short, sharp inquiry. We need to restore both food safety, animal welfare and consumer confidence to these massive chicken plants run by 2 Sisters, Parish said. The 2 Sisters group was founded in 1993 by Ranjit Singh Boparan and now employs 23,000 staff. Although it has diversified, the bulk of the group's income still comes from processing poultry. The company, the UKs second-largest food company which claims to process around 6 million chicken every week, has said its staffs pay will not be affected during the suspension of operations. "We continue to work closely with the FSA and our customers throughout this period. We remain committed to ensuring that we operate to the highest standards of hygiene and food safety, and we act with honesty and integrity at all times, a 2 Sisters spokesperson said. Nearly 500 students from an Indian school in Singapore along with community leaders celebrated Mahatma Gandhi's 148th birth anniversary today. India's acting High Commissioner, Ninad Deshpande delivered Mahatma Gandhi's peace message after garlanding his statue at the school premises. The students of the Global Indian International School (GIIS) Singapore heard the Mahatma's struggle for independence from keynote speakers, Dr V P Nair and Ameerali Jumabhoy, the two lead members of thecommittee organising Gandhi Jayanti and International Day of Non-Violence here. Lee Kwang Boon, vice president of the United Nations Association of Singapore also addressed the GIIS Students. The Indian community also held another observation at the Gandhi Memorial Hall in the Little India precinct here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Indian companies raised a record close to Rs 27,000 crore through initial public offerings in the first half of the current fiscal and an impressive pipeline is already in place for coming months. "Besides, over a dozen firms, including New India Assurance Company, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management and HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, have lined up their IPOs to raise funds totalling Rs 35,000 crore in coming months," Dinesh Rohira, founder and CEO at 5nance.com, said. Adding to the depth of the market, companies from diverse sectors like insurance, healthcare, education, bank, cable TV and shipping have made their way to the space during the period under review. According to the latest data compiled from stock exchanges, 19 companies garnered over Rs 26,720 crore through their respective IPOs in April-September of the ongoing financial year, much higher than Rs 16,535 crore raised by 15 firms in the year-ago period. Prior to that, companies had raised a record Rs 21,244 crore from initial public offers (IPOs) in the first half of 2007-08. Proceeds of the were used to fund business expansion plans, pay debt, meet working capital requirements and for other general corporate purposes. "One of the big reasons why we are seeing so many IPOs hitting stock is the uplift in investor sentiment, which is also reflected in the returns that the Nifty gave in the first half of the year," Rohira added. "Further, Sebi's proactive regulations and (Narendra) Modi-led government's pro-business policies have helped both companies and investors shrug off fears and lap up opportunities to become part of the India growth story," he noted. Making a similar point, Bajaj Capital CEO Rahul Parikh said: "The underlying bullish sentiment in the and consequent high demand from domestic investors means that companies can get a good price for their issues. Also, there is a need to deleverage balancesheets." He added: "Time is also ripe for institutional investors like private equity to exit at a good price as prevailing valuations in secondary are high." Market watchdog Sebi has taken numerous steps that have encouraged companies to sell shares. One key enabler is making Asba (Application Supported by Blocked Amount) mandatory for all investors, including retail. Also, Sebi's proactive approach to the market has calmed investors' nerves on frauds. By taking the IPO route, the companies achieve benefits of listing as well as enhance their brand name and provide liquidity to the existing shareholders. Moreover, IPOs like Avenue Supermarts -- which runs retail chain D-mart -- and CDSL clocking more than 200 per cent returns since listing have bolstered investors' faith to clock handsome gains. The IPO chart in the first half of the current fiscal was led by SBI Life Insurance (Rs 8,400 crore), followed by ICICI Lombard General Insurance (5,700 crore), AU Small Finance Bank (Rs 1,912 crore), Eris Lifesciences (Rs 1,741 crore), Cochin Shipyard (Rs 1,468 crore) and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Rs 1,224 crore). (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.) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will begin a two-day visit to Dhaka from tomorrow during which a pact on bilateral investment promotion and protection is likely to be signed. Besides, "a Dollar Credit Line Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and Export- Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) is likely to be signed for 3rd Line of Credit," an official statement said It did not provide details on the line of credit. On Wednesday, it said, a "Joint Interpretative Notes on the Agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments" is likely to be signed. On his arrival in Dhaka tomorrow, Jaitley will deliver the inaugural address at the business meeting between Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). In the evening, he will attend a dinner hosted by the High Commissioner of India, Harsh Vardhan Shringla. On Wednesday, Jaitley will hold a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal A Muhith. Later, the two will launch the cashless visa services. Jaitley will also deliver a talk on the 'Macroeconomic Initiatives of the Government of India: Financial Inclusion, Demonetisation and Cashless Economy'. Later in the afternoon, Finance Minister is likely to call on Bangladesh Prime Minister. In the evening on October 4, the Bangladesh Finance Minister will host a dinner in the honour of the visiting Indian Finance Minister. The minister will depart for home on October 5. The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) today expressed anguish over a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch district that resulted in the death of two children and injured a dozen others. The JKPCC also demanded adequate compensation to the affected families. "It is tragic that Pakistan has repeatedly violated the ceasefire and it was unfortunate that the unwarranted firing in Poonch resulted in the killing of two children and injuries to 12 others We demand adequate compensation to the victims and specialised treatment for the injured," JKPCC chief spokesman Ravinder Sharma said. Criticising Pakistan for the repeated ceasefire violations, Sharma demanded that necessary measures be taken for the safety of the people living along the border. "It is unfortunate that the PDP-BJP government does not care much for people living near the border," Sharma alleged. He termed the Centre and the state government "total failure on all fronts" and blamed them for the "present situation of the state". The state Congress leader demanded immediate fulfilment of the promises made to the residents of the border areas that they would be accommodated in safer zones to save them from Pakistani firing. Two minors were killed and 12 civilians injured in Poonch in cross-border shelling by Pakistan along the LoC today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Journalists in Guwahati joined the national media fraternity to protest against the recent killing of scribes across India. Organized by the Journalists Action Committee Assam, the demonstration was held in front of the Guwahati Press Club and participated by various media organisations and independent journalists. The journalists raised slogans in support of various demands including a special protection law for media persons on duty. The year 2017 alone witnessed the killing of eight journalists in nine months with three working journalists losing their lives in September alone. The city based journalists also joined in the mission with their specific demands for justice to over 30 journalists who have been killed in the last three decades in Assam. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala is looking at an over 8 per cent growth in domestic tourist footfalls this year as it undertakes a slew of initiatives to promote the state as a preferred destination, a senior official has said. In 2016, the total number of tourist arrivals in Kerala stood at 1,42,10,954, an increase of 5.8 per cent from the previous year. "The Tourism Department of Kerala aims to increase domestic tourist arrivals by over 8 per cent and international tourists by 13 per cent every year," state Tourism Director P Bala Kiran told PTI. Over the last five years, the state "witnessed 100 per cent growth" in domestic tourist arrivals, Bala Kiran said. Kerala hosted 1,31,72,535 domestic tourists and 10,38,419 foreign tourist arrivals during 2016, he added. As far as international arrivals were concerned, he said, "the UK, the US, Saudi Arabia, France and Germany were the top 5 international markets in 2016". With an aim to promote the state as a preferred destination, Bala Kiran said the tourism department is focusing to promote adventure tourism. "The state has huge potential for adventure tourism and it can substantially contribute to the overall growth of the tourism sector," he added. When it comes to tourism, the state will be re-branded as 'the land of adventure'. "This is to woo the younger generation by offering them activity and water-based tourism," Bala Kiran said, adding Kerala Tourism has been following a robust development plan in order to make the state as the most sought-after destination globally. Moreover, the department has planned to develop water based activities like Kayaking, cruise tourism, he added. "Additionally, the state government plans to develop 10 eco-tourism circuits to connect various forests in order to promote green tourism," Bala Kiran said. The government is also committed to the concept of 'responsible tourism' wherein the local community is benefited by tourism with the sustained effort on environment conservation, he added. The tourism department is keen on promoting home stays and rural tourism, Bala Kiran said. Owing to the considerable growth in terms of foreign tourist footfall, Kerala Tourism has planned several trade meets/ B2B meets across high potential international markets, he added. "As part of the ambitious promotional campaign, Kerala Tourism has planned 24 road-shows and 12 trade fairs with an estimated cost of around Rs 11.5 crore under the international campaign for ongoing financial year 2017-18," Bala Kiran said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan today hit out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for criticising RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat's statement that in the Left-ruled Kerala "jihadi and anti-national" forces were at work. A day after Vijayan lashed out at RSS chief, saying that Keralites did not need any advice on nationalism from those who had turned their back towards the freedom struggle and served the colonial rulers, Rajasekharan said "there are several instances of both the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF promoting anti-national forces for narrow political ends. "Pinarayi Vijayan's reaction to RSS chief's statement that Kerala Government was helping anti-national forces for political gains, had risen out of the Chief Minister's guilty feeling", he said, a day ahead of the BJP's 15-day janaraksha yatra to be launched by its chief Amit Shah here. The BJP is taking out the state-wide foot march, to be led by Rajasekharan, to expose the alleged 'red terrorism' unleashed by the Marxist party against its workers. The BJP leader said if Vijayan was sincere in his concern for the self esteem and security of Malayalees as he claims, he should initiate stern action against anti-national forces. "I can understand your embarrassment when a leader from outside the state points out that It is the irresponsible and indifferent attitude of those who rule Kerala including yourself that made the state a safe haven for terrorists" Rajasekharan said in a statement, ahead of BJP chief Amit Shah's campaign against political violence in the state. He alleged that there were several instances of both the LDF and the UDF promoting anti-national forces for narrow political ends. Vijayan must not have forgotten that terrorists with international links were caught from Kanakamala in Kannur, the Chief Minister's home district. Vijayan, inaugurating the 2017-19 Delhi Union of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists, yesterday had said that the RSS considered religious minorities as an "internal threat" to the country. He had also said that the RSS chiefs allegation that the state government was supporting anti-national elements was a challenge to each Keralite and to Kerala society as a whole. Bhagwat, at a Vijayadashmi celebration in Nagpur had said that in the Left-ruled Kerala and the Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal "jihadi and anti-national" forces were at work and the governments there were not only indifferent but at times lending a helping hand to them to "appease" a section of the voters for "petty political interests". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court here today rejected an application of former Akali minister Sucha Singh Langah for surrendering in connection with a rape case against him. Langah, who had been on the run since the case was lodged against him by the Gurdaspur Police, appeared before the court of the duty magistrate here to surrender himself. However, Judge Hirdejeet Singh declined to accept Langah's plea. "The court has rejected the application for surrender," Langah's counsel Harpreet Singh Brar said. The counsel said his client appeared before the court in Chandigarh to surrender as there was an apprehension of "danger from the state machinery" in Punjab. "Two cases, including rape, have been filed against Langah by the Punjab Police in just last 15 days," the counsel alleged. Meanwhile, talking to reporters outside the court, Langah dubbed the rape case lodged against him as "false" and alleged that the case had been registered at the behest of a Congress MLA. "This case was registered to win (Gurdaspur Lok Sabha) bypoll...It is a false case and I have complete faith in the judicial system. I will bring out the truth pertaining to this case in the court," he claimed. "I want to appeal to my workers to help the BJP candidate and ensure his victory in the bypoll. I'm ready for any sacrifice and I have complete faith in the court," he said. Langah, who remained in the court complex for about an hour, claimed that the video clip was fake. Yesterday, a video had gone viral on social media purportedly showing Langah in a compromising position. He has been on the run even as the Punjab Police was conducted raids to trace him. Langah was booked by police on September 28 after a lodged a police complaint alleging that the Akali leader had been raping her repeatedly since 2009. The police had booked Langah on charges of rape, extortion, cheating and criminal intimidation. The victim had also given a video clip in pen drive to the police to support her accusations. Meanwhile, Gurdaspur SSP Harcharan Singh Bhullar today said he had come to know about Langah's appearance before Chandigarh court and he was getting this information verified from the Mohali Police. "We are carrying out raids to nab him," SSP further said. On the viral video, the SSP said he had written to Facebook and Youtube, asking them how it went viral. "We are also taking the help of cyber crime cell to trace the source from where the video was uploaded online," Bhullar said. Langah had claimed the complaint was a "classic example of political vendetta" as it was lodged just ahead of the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency bypoll. The former minister had said that he would surrender before court on September 30 but he did not do so. The SAD had already accepted Langah's resignation from all party posts. Langah was Punjab's minister for agriculture from 2007 to 2012. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Buddhist monk was today arrested in Sri Lanka for leading a mob that allegedly attacked a group of Rohingya Muslim refugees, including 16 children, in a UN- run safe house and demanded their deportation to Myanmar. Akmeemana Dayarathana was arrested after he reported this morning to record his statement at the police's Colombo Crime Division. He and another monk was asked to report to the police yesterday following the arrests of four others. They were accused of storming a house of Rohingya refugees in a suburb here last week. Dayarathana was later produced before the court which remanded him into custody till October 9. Dozens of monks from Sri Lanka's majority Buddhist community led a mob that barged into a UN-run safe house for Rohingya Muslims and attacked them, claiming that they were terrorists and should be sent back to Myanmar. The attack on the refugee centre, which housed 31 Rohingya refugees, was led by Dayarathana's radical Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa (Sinhalese National Force), which uploaded videos of the attack on their Facebook page. The police had to relocate the Rohingya Muslims to a safe location in Boossa in the south of the country following the attack. The arrests came after the government ordered a crackdown on the mob following the attack. The refugees had arrived in Sri Lanka five months ago after the Navy found them drifting in a boat off the country's north coast. Earlier, a woman was among two persons arrested in Sri Lanka for allegedly attacking a group of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. In 2008 and 2012, two groups of Rohingya refugees had been rescued from the seas and accorded UNHCR facilities before being repatriated. Nearly 500,000 refugees have crossed the border from Myanmar's Rakhine State since August 25 when a military crackdown was launched following attacks on security forces allegedly by Rohingya militants. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two floating with the capacity of 10 MW each are coming up in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to harness unutilised water bodies. "Two 10 MW floating solar projects, which will be the largest so far in the country, will come up in Andra Pradesh and Kerala. We are carrying out the design," leading renewable energy expert and head of Arka Renewable Energy College, S P Gon Chaudhury told PTI. "The Andra Pradesh project is expected to be commissioned new year. Location for the Kerala project is yet to be firmed up," he said. So far a 100 KW plant is the largest in the floating solar executed by the NTPC in Kerala. In the renewable energy space solar has gained momentum, but realising constraints in getting adequate land floating are receiving focus now. He said the project cost for each one was about Rs 70 crore and was funded by the World Bank and would be executed by either respective state governments or The Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd (SECI). The SECI had earlier announced that it had planned to develop floating along with hybrid solar plus wind schemes with a combined capacity of 325 MW. Chaudhury said currently floating plants were being developed on still water but to harness floating solar projects capability projects were being considered on sea water. He said, in Lakshadweep, a 100 KW project is been conceptualised but to cope with the sea waves planning was being done to keep them stable to get maximum sun energy. Though the Andhra Pradesh and Kerala floating solar projects will be the largest the first floating solar project was executed in West Bengal in 2014 at Rajarhat. The deadliest mass shooting in modern US history at Las Vegas that killed at least 58 people and injured over 500 others has rekindled the debate on gun control laws in America. Nearly 12,000 Americans have been killed by guns in 273 mass shootings in 2017 so far one incident for each day. On an average, more than 90 Americans lose their lives to gun violence every day, a daily toll of heartbreak and tragedy in communities across the US. Experts believe that the last night incident, which President Donald Trump termed as an "act of pure evil", is unlikely to bridge the bitter differences between the pro- and anti-gun control law lobbies in the country. Trump, who ran his campaign against any gun control laws, did not mention it in his two remarks today during which he said that this is "a very very sad" day for him. Responding to questions, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said today that is the day of reflection and mourning and not a day to discuss political issues. Referring to Chicago, she said gun control laws have not been helpful. Taking a lead, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, sought off a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan on creation of a Standing Committee on gun violence and passage of a common-sense legislation on gun control. "Congress has a moral duty to address this horrific and heartbreaking epidemic. Charged with the solemn duty to protect and defend the American people, we must respond to these tragedies with courage, unity and decisive action," Pelosi said in her letter to Ryan. The Congress, she said, must pass the bipartisan King- Thompson legislation to strengthen the life-saving background checks that keep guns out of the wrong hands. But this is only a first step, she said. "I urge you to create a Select Committee on Gun Violence to study and report back common sense legislation to help end this crisis. The bipartisan committee would make recommendations to prevent unspeakable tragedies such as the mass shooting in Las Vegas and to restore confidence in the safety of our communities," Pelosi said. Congressman Kathy Castor said: "Certainly, we can come together to pass common sense safety requirements such as background checks and limits on civilian use of military-style weapons and to enforce the laws on the books. "The sorrow that I and so many around the country feel for the innocent men and women whose lives were cruelly cut short by this heartless act of domestic terrorism is immeasurable". Congressman Earl Blumenauer said: "From Orlando to Roseburg, OR and now Las Vegas, the carnage has only continued. Thoughts and prayers will not stop future tragedy. Enough is enough. My hope is that sanity will prevail, and Republican leadership in Congress will muster up the courage to act". The right-wing and NRA messaging point that nothing could have been done to prevent the horrific attack in Las Vegas is just wrong, he said. Over two years ago, he had released a comprehensive plan to deal with gun violence like the public health epidemic that it is, the lawmaker said, adding that the solutions should not be hard. Congressman Andre Carson said it is time people need to stop hiding behind the false narrative that enacting common sense gun policies somehow limits the rights of law abiding Americans. "Every day that we fail to act puts more innocent lives at risk. It is long past time to fix our gun laws. Congress has a moral responsibility to act and address the daily tragedy of gun violence in our communities," he said. Last week, he said, Republicans planned to vote on a bill that would loosen gun laws, instead of strengthening them. In light of the tragedy in Las Vegas, and the ongoing tragedy of gun violence in America, this could not be more inappropriate. The American people deserve a vote on legislation that will curb gun violence, including reinstating an assault weapons ban and instituting new restrictions on gun trafficking, Carson said. Congressman Alcee L Hastings said that more than 33,000 people will die from gun violence this year. "With each new tragedy that occurs, those who stand in the way of legislation to address our country's gun violence epidemic are increasingly culpable for its continuation," he said. "Trump, who ran as a champion of gun rights throughout his campaign, is unlikely to directly tackle the issue of gun control and, in fact, rolled back a restriction that made it more difficult for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun," a report in Newsweek said. Acts of mass gun violence, reported The Washington Post, "have done little to change the strong partisan divide on the issue". Most Democrats argue that the incidents heighten the need for tighter gun laws, while most Republicans think Americans should have a greater ability to protect themselves, the daily said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will be leading the Indian delegation at the Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians to be held in Colombo from October 4. Mahajan will deliver the lead speech on the topic 'Association of the SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians, a platform for the Parliamentarians of South Asia to work together to reach the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development', according to a statement issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat. Other topics of the conference include 'Promoting Parliamentary Diplomacy and Open Parliament in the age of digitalization', 'SAARC Parliamentarians role in preserving Cultural and Archaeological Heritage in South Asia Region', 'Support Women to upheave themselves from poverty and build better future for their communities'. The topic of 'Countering violent extremism among youth to prevent terrorism and empowering youth to combat human trafficking, modern slavery and illegal trafficking in drugs' is also on the agenda of the three-day conference. The inaugural ceremony will be attended by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe. The Speaker will also attend the special parliamentary session of Sri Lanka to celebrate the occasion of 70th anniversary of the establishment of Parliament of Sri Lanka. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A six-foot tall statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled today in Wales to mark his 148th birth anniversary. The 300-kg statue, which is made of Indian bronze, is situated at Lloyd George Avenue in Cardiff. The amount for the memorial, 65,000 pounds (USD 86,222), was raised from three years of fundraising by the Hindu Council of Wales (HCW) as part of its campaign for Wales to get its first statue of Gandhi. "The memorial will be a tribute to a unique man who epitomises peace, non-violence and tolerance. The iconic figurine will act as a focal point of peace and will help ensure that the legacy of Gandhi lives on for future generations in Wales," the HCW said in a statement. The statue was unveiled by Indian High Commissioner to the UK YK Sinha, hours after he paid floral tributes at a similar but much older Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Tavistock Square in London. Designed and created by Indian sculptors Ram Sutar and his son Anil Sutar, the effigy depicts Gandhi holding a stick in one hand and the 'Bhagavad Gita' in the other. The HCW said that the new sculpture at Lloyd George Avenue in Cardiff Bay will become a focal point for the Indian Diaspora in the UK as well as a tourist attraction for international visitors to Wales. "The HCW hopes his life will inspire the whole society in Wales," it said. The event in Cardiff was also attended by Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones and Gandhi's great-grandson Satish Kumar Dhupelia. Raj Aggarwal, the Honorary Consul General for India in Wales, said: "This statue shows the important bonds between the two nations of India and Wales and the great relations for the Indian Diaspora who have made Wales their home". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Francesco Prandoni/RedfernsMarilyn Manson has scrapped nine of his Heaven Upside Down tour dates after a New York City show on Saturday night, during which he was crushed by a falling piece of the stage set. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Mason's rep said, "Marilyn Manson is being forced to cancel several of his October dates on his forthcoming U.S. tour. On Saturday night, the legendary performer suffered an injury on stage towards the end of his set at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom, causing him to cut the show short. He was treated for the injury at a local hospital and will be recuperating at home in Los Angeles." According to the rep, Manson's shows from October 2 through October 14 will be rescheduled. He's scheduled to resume his tour October 15 at the Freaker's Ball at Grand Prairie, TX. "Manson hopes to return to the stage soon, more details on upcoming shows to follow," concluded the statement. According to Manson's itinerary, the rocker is currently scheduled to resume his tour October 15th with a gig at Grand Prairie, Texas' Freaker's Ball. Video shot by concertgoers showed Manson climbing onto the prop of two giant handguns, which tipped backwards and fell on top of him. Manson was performing a cover of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" at the time of the accident. Friday's show was on just the third night of Mason's 41-show Heaven Upside Down world tour. He's currently promoting his new album of the same name, which is due out October 6. A piece of the set fell right on him :( :( @marilynmanson pic.twitter.com/p6KQLyXUOK Anthony (@antkneebee) October 1, 2017 Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. In a gruesome incident, a 65-year-old man was beheaded at Mania nalh, near Olamba village under Ganjam districts Badagada police station limit, about 65-km from here. The incident took place on Sunday night. Though the accused person was trying to escape with the severed head, the police nabbed him from Harabhangi canal road near Raipur on Monday morning. The deceased has been identified as Pandav Nayak of Olamba and former head of the village committee, while the accused has been identified as Angada Nayak of the same village. The accused hacked the deceased while he was returning to the village in the night, police said. We have recovered the beheaded body from the roadside near Mania nalh. The head was recovered from the accused person. These have been sent to the MKCG Medical College and Hospital here for post-mortem," said officer in charge, Badagada police station, Jibananand Das. The wife of the deceased, Sabitri, alleged before the police that her husband was killed due to a previous political rivalry with the accused person in the village. "We dont see any political angle in the murder. Previous enmity might be the cause of the incident, said Das. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The man who stabbed two young women to death in Marseille in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group used seven different identities and had been arrested just days earlier, French prosecutors said today. Authorities said the man, who was shot dead by anti- terror troops after Sunday's attack outside the southern city's main train station, had previously used a Tunisian passport under the name Ahmed H, 29. But investigators are seeking to confirm his identity as the attacker -- who had a history of petty crime but was not on a jihadist watch list -- used seven aliases, anti-terror prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters. "The method of the attacker, a knife attack at a train station, responded to a permanent call from the terrorist group Daesh," Molins said, using another name for IS. The jihadist group's propaganda agency Amaq claimed the killer was one of its "soldiers", while a source close to the investigation told AFP no solid evidence linked him to IS. The attack in France's second biggest city followed a string of stabbings around Europe claimed by or blamed on Islamist radicals. The man killed two 20-year-old cousins from the eastern city of Lyon. One was studying in Marseille and the other was visiting her for the weekend. Molins confirmed that witnesses heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) as he lunged at the women with a 20-centimetre (eight-inch) knife before threatening soldiers, who shot him dead. The attacker's fingerprints showed he had had seven brushes with the law since 2005 -- most recently when he was arrested last week in Lyon. He presented the Tunisian passport to police, saying he was divorced, used "hard drugs", and had no fixed address. The shoplifting charges were dropped for lack of evidence, and local authorities "were not able to take a decision to deport him," Molins added. Police evacuated Marseille's ornate Saint Charles station after the attack, temporarily halting all train traffic on some of France's busiest lines. "I was on the esplanade just in front of the station," Melanie Petit, an 18-year-old student, told AFP. "I heard someone shout 'Allahu Akbar' and I saw a man who seemed to be dressed all in black." French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted Sunday that he was "deeply angered by this barbaric act". The attack comes as parliament prepares Tuesday to vote on a controversial anti-terror bill that transfers some of the exceptional powers granted to police under a 22-month-old state of emergency into national law. France has been under a state of emergency since the IS gun and bomb attacks in Paris in November 2015 -- part of a string of jihadist assaults that have left more than 240 people dead over the past two years. But rights groups warn that making parts of the state of emergency permanent would give police too much free rein in handling terrorism suspects. Knives have been the weapon of choice in a string of smaller-scale attacks in recent months, mainly targeting troops from the 7,000-strong Sentinelle anti-terror force set up to patrol the streets and vulnerable sites such as stations and tourist attractions. In most cases, the attackers were shot dead at the start of their rampage, before they could kill others. The Marseille attack came only days after IS released a recording of what it said was its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urging his followers to strike their enemies in the West. The French government has deployed troops and its air force to the Middle East and is a leading partner in the US- led international coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The famous Sri Meenakshi Temple here has been selected as the cleanest among the 10 holy sites across the country under the Union Government's Swachta hi Seva (Clean India scheme). The city had also been selected for the "Clean Holy city" award, a city corporation press release said. It said development works for the clean holy city of the country had been undertaken in and around Meenakshi temple. The Bharat Petroleum Corporation in collaboration with the city corporation, had undertaken the clean city scheme at a cost of Rs 11.65 crore. "The project has made Madurai a clean holy city", the release said. Various works, including segregating garbage into bio degradable and non-degradable waste and making of natural manure had been undertaken, the release said. The union government's water supply and sanitation department had announced the award for Madurai, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan today said that modern technology must be used to counter poachers and wildlife crimes. Inaugurating the Global Wildlife Programme here, he also appealed to wildlife experts and scientists to deliberate on various wildlife-related laws with a modern and scientific outlook. "If you can blend science and technology to the cause of wildlife, it will produce a drastic difference to the outcome of the conference," he said. Vardhan also emphasised that "modern technology must be used to counter poachers and wildlife crimes", a statement from the ministry said. He pointed out that the effort has always been to resolve all issues related to wildlife in a harmonious manner. The minister said India has the largest participation of people living in the forests towards conservation efforts. Two documents--India's National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP) for the period 2017-2031 and Secure Himalaya--were released on the occasion. The plan focuses on preservation of genetic diversity and sustainable development. The NWAP has five components, 17 themes, 103 conservation actions and 250 projects, it said. Referring to the NWAP, Vardhan said it has been made landscape-based, rather than sanctuary, or national park- based. The minister urged students to become strong 'eco- messengers' in the society. Addressing the gathering, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ajay Narayan Jha, said the event will provide a platform to build strategic partnerships between all the 19 nations and enable India to strengthen its enforcement mechanism to control wildlife trafficking. Jha said some new action issues have been considered in the Third National Wildlife Action Plan. These issues include climate change and wildlife, wildlife health, inland, coastal and marine conservation and wildlife conflict mitigation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Conflicts, violence and persecution in Myanmar, South Sudan, Syria and elsewhere have forced more than two million people to flee as refugees this year, the UN refugee chief said today. At the end of 2016, a record 65.6 million people had been uprooted from their homes worldwide, with 22.5 million of them registered as refugees. "The despair of millions of men, women and children driven from their homes, cast adrift into a life of uncertainty, is a stain on our collective conscience," Filippo Grandi told UNHCR's annual Executive Committee meeting in Geneva. Calling for more international cooperation and support to address the crisis, he pointed to the dire needs of the more than half a million Rohingya Muslims who crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar since August 25. During the same period, 50,000 refugees had flooded out of South Sudan and another 18,000 had fled clashes in the Central African Republic, he said. War-ravaged Syria continues to account for the world's largest number of forcibly displaced people, with civilians there still bearing the brunt of clashes. Grandi warned that refugee rights and protection were eroding worldwide, including in Europe and the United States, "driven by confused, sometimes frightened public opinions often stirred up by irresponsible politicians." "Border closures,... restrictive asylum procedures, indefinite detention in appalling conditions, offshore processing, pressure for premature returns all have regrettably proliferated," he said. He said resettlement was vital to addressing the growing refugee problem and decried that countries were dragging their feet. "Close to 1.2 million refugees need resettling globally," he said, voicing "major concern that fewer than 100,000 resettlement places are expected to be available this year, a drop of 43 per cent from 2016." Grandi also warned that his organisation was facing a dramatic funding shortage and was increasingly being "faced with impossible choices", which in some cases was leaving refugees without protection and host communities without support. In 2016, UNHCR had USD 4.4 billion available funds, but still ended the year with a 41-per cent shortfall. And this year, the agency expects to receive less, with USD 4.2 billion available, leaving nearly half of the needs unmet, Grandi warned. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A quick-thinking Muslim woman saved the life of an Indian truck driver in the UAE when she saw him in flames following a horrific road accident, media reports said. Jawaher Saif Al Kumaiti, 22, was driving home after visiting a friend in a hospital when she saw two trucks burst into flames in Ras al-Khaimah, a city in the UAE - and heard the victim shouting for someone to save him, Gulf reported. She bravely saved the Indian driver from a fire by putting out the flames with an abaya cloak - a robe-like dress worn by some Muslim women. Al Kumaiti said that she was at first taken aback when she saw the two trucks on fire following the accident. She also saw a man on fire screaming in pain and fear shouting for help, the report said. The police has named the victim as Harkirit Singh. Al Kumaiti persuaded her friend who was a passenger to take off her abaya cloak then leaped out of the car and used it to put out the flames, it said. "He was lying down. He was on fire... I took out my friend's abaya, asked her to stay inside and left the car. I went to cover the guy because there were no clothes on him. He looked at me and said, 'I'm dying. I'm afraid to die'," she said, adding that she tried to talk to him and calm him down telling him that he would survive as the rescue teams will arrive soon." "I just thought about saving the man's life," said Al Kumaiti, who works at Adnoc Oasis in Sharjah. "The police patrols, ambulance and paramedics shortly arrived. They swung into action, provided first aid to the driver, and rushed him to the hospital," it said. "All thanks and praise to Almighty Allah who gave me the power and courage to act and intervene into the situation at the right time and rescue the man's life." Both the drivers suffered "40 to 50 per cent burns." Both were first taken to a hospital and then to the Saqr Hospital, said Major Tariq Mohamed Al Sharhan, head of the ambulance and rescue section at the Ras Al Khaimah police. Al Sharhan said they want to honour the bravery of the "abaya woman", the report said. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi will also honour Al Kumaiti, Navdeep Singh Suri, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, was quoted as saying by the report. Shockingly, she said there were other people at the scene in before she was but they did not help and simply stared at the man as flames burnt his body. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Myanmar today proposed to take back over half a million of its Rohingyas from Bangladesh as the two countries agreed to set up a working group to coordinate the repatriation of the minority Muslims who have fled across the border after a military crackdown. More than half a million Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh over the last five weeks after militant attacks on police checkposts in the Buddhist majority country sparked violent reprisals. Bangladesh has repeatedly urged Myanmar to repatriate them. Bangladesh's Foreign minister A H Mahmood Ali today held talks here with a senior representative of Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "Myanmar has proposed to take back the Rohingyas from Bangladesh," Ali told newsmen emerging from an over one hour long meeting with Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor of Myanmar Kyaw Tint Swe. The two sides agreed on forming a joint working group to oversee the repatriation process but its composition would be decided later by both the countries, he said. Ali said the meeting was held "in a peaceful manner" and Bangladesh handed over the Myanmar representative a proposed agreement for smooth refugee repatriation and suggested implementation of Annan Commission report for peaceful resolution of the crisis. "Fruitful discussion was also held on security cooperation (in the meeting) when Bangladesh reiterated its zero tolerance policy against all sorts of terrorism," Ali said. Asked if there was any timeframe fixed for forming the joint working group, the minister evaded a direct answer saying "the process has started" but said Bangladeshs Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan would "soon visit Myanmar to discuss the issue". Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier called for an end to the violence and for safe zones to be set up in Myanmar to enable refugees to return. She asked the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar and for Myanmar to implement recommendations drawn up by a former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan-led team on solving problems in Rakhine. Khan and senior Bangladesh officials joined the meeting, which came after the overnight arrival of Kyaw Tint Swe. There was no immediate comment from Suu Kyi's representative, who arrived last night amid mounting global pressures on the country over exodus of its ethnic minority Rohingya nationals to Bangladesh. The latest influx of refugees began on August 25 when Myanmar's military launched a crackdown in the northern Rakhine State over alleged terrorist attacks on its police outposts. With the latest influx, there are now more than 800,000 refugees living near Bangladesh's border with Myanmar. The refugees claimed the Myanmar security forces were shooting at civilians, setting fire to their homes and raping Rohingya women. Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, who has been severely criticised for her failure to curb the military crackdown on the Rohingya, said in a speech last month that Myanmar would take back "verified" refugees. She said Myanmar was ready to start a verification process under a 1993 agreement with Bangladesh and "refugees from this country will be accepted without any problem". Rohingyas, a Muslim minority, do not qualify for Myanmar citizenship even though many have lived there for generations while its army insists they are interlopers from across the border in Bangladesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The North East Indigenous Peoples Forum (NEIPF) today said influx of illegal immigrants into the North East states is one of the key issues that it would be raising with the legislature, executive and the judiciary of the country. The decision was taken at the first meeting of the NEIPF, a conglomeration of various organisations which include peace-bound militant outfits from the seven states of the NE region. The meeting was held today at the picturesque Orchid Lake resort at Umiam, about 15 km from Shillong. The Federation of Khasi-Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP), one of the biggest social organisations from Meghalaya, was the host of the meeting chaired by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) general secretary Anup Chetia as the forums chief convenor. The NEIPF was formed on September 7 at the North East Indigenous Peoples Conference (NEIPC) held at Guwahati. Addressing newsmen after the meeting, NEIPF spokesman N Ibungochoubi said, "One of our serious concerns is the influx of illegal immigrants to the NE region which is changing the demographic profile in every aspect whether it is property, job facilities. The indigenous people in many of the states are being reduced to the status of minority." Stating that the Forum will take on all the challenges, find out all the inherent issues facing the different seven states, he said, "We will discuss and bring it to the highest level of our country whether it is the judiciary or the executive or the legislature to protect the rights of the indigenous people." On the short-term and long-term solutions to the problem, the Forums spokesperson said all the NE states will work together to first understand and comprehend what are the endemic and inherent issues of different areas and different ethnic groups. "In the process, we will workout the modalities by working with the local indigenous people and once we comprehend we will initiate our own course of action because our serious concern is the loss of our own identity," he said. Ibungochoubi claimed that Tripura is a facing a serious issue today where its indigenous population have been overpowered by people from outside and said that the NE will continue to face this issue in the future if it is not addressed. "We will lose our own identity, own economic strength, we cannot be part of that system where outsiders have become rulers in our own state," he said. "Our economic rights have already been dominated by business communities from different parts of the world whether it is from across the border or from mainland India. Our view is that the indigenous people should have equal share in the economic development," he said. "Unless our political leaders have the political will to protect their own people it will be a difficult task for every organisation or people of our own land. We need strong committed political leaders first to protect their own people it should be in their political agenda," he stated. The NEIPF also resolved to establish its chapters in all the NE states as part of strengthening the organisation on the objective to raise the various issues concerning the indigenous people of the seven states. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the first time, Nepal and India will undertake a joint tiger census next month in their national parks, forests and protected areas adjoining the two countries using a globally-recognised method, officials said today. Conservation authorities and experts would install cameras in various locations in tiger habitats as well as in buffer zones to capture and track the movements of the big cat, a senior official said. The counting of tigers will begin from the second week of November, Director General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Man Bahadur Khadka said. According to Khadka, this is the first time that both the countries are counting tiger heads using the same method that is recognised globally. During a meeting recently, Nepalese and Indian conservation officials had decided to use the camera tapping procedure for the joint. "By using this method we can avoid chances of repeated counting of the same tiger," Khadka said. The Chitwan National Park in Chitwan and Parsa Wildlife Reserve of Nepal are adjacent to the Balmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar. Likewise, Nepal's Bardiya National Park adjoins India's Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary while the Shuklaphant National Park in Nepal adjoins India's Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Tiger is an endangered animal listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The last tiger count conducted by Nepal in 2013 puts the number of adult tigers around 200 in the Himalayan country. Recent figures showed that since 2010, the estimated number of tigers across 13 tiger range countries including India and Nepal stood at 3,900. Tiger range countries (TRCs) are those where the big cat roams freely. At the International Tiger Conference in Russia in 2010, participating countries including Nepal had made a commitment to double the tiger population by 2022. This means Nepal would have at least 250 tigers, 100 per cent increase from its 2010 tiger count which had put the number of the big cat at 125. The 13 tiger range countries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), tigers have lost 93 per cent of their historical range. Human and wildlife conflict, climate change and poaching and illegal wildlife trade are among the major reasons that has pushed the feline into the endangered category -- facing risk of extinction in the wild -- over the years, the WWF said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) leader Sachin Pilots remark that may take over as the party president after Diwali accurately echoes the sentiments of a vast number of party functionaries and their hope will fructify after organisation polls, a party spokesperson said on Monday. The spokesperson, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, also attacked the government in Uttar Pradesh after the Amethi district administration had asked Gandhi to reschedule his visit to his Lok Sabha constituency on law and order grounds. Speaking to reporters here, Singhvi questioned whether Prime Minister or UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would decide who can visit their constituencies and when. What Mr Pilot has done is accurately echoed the sentiments of the vast number of workers, Singhvi said, but added he expressed views as a party functionary and not as a spokesperson. award winning actor Prakash Raj on Monday described as "chilling" the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on those "celebrating" the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh, including the ones "followed" by him on Twitter. While questioning Modi's silence, Raj said that he felt like "returning" his awards to "such actors who are acting as though nothing has happened" but later insisted that he was "not such a fool to give back the awards." Lankesh, who had strident anti-right wing views, was shot dead from close range by unknown assailants at her home here on the night of September 5. Raj posted a video statement on Monday night on his Twitter account, saying that he had not said that he "wants to reject the awards". "I saw on news channels that Prakash Raj has decided to give back the national awards. I am not such a fool to give back the national awards. It has been given for my work, which I am proud of," Raj said in the video statement. Earlier, at an event here on Sunday, he had said, "When I see such actors who are acting as though nothing has happened, I have been given five national awards, I feel like returning it to them. They are bigger actors than me." Raj, who described Lankesh as his close friend, said, "Who is celebrating? I am pained at the celebrations of inhuman killing. I have vented out my pain and my anguish at those who are celebrating. I have been trolled..." He went on to add, "At the same time, my question is, as the prime minister of this country, if such people are being followed by the prime minister and the prime minister is not taking a stand on them or not commenting on them, as a citizen of this country, I am disturbed, hurt. I am afraid of the silence of my prime minister." Emphasising that he did not belong to any political party and was speaking as a citizen of the country, Raj said, "I am not talking against any party. I am talking to my prime minister. I am saying your silence is chilling. I am hurt by the silence....I have a right to say this." On Sunday, the actor had said, "...My problem is that -- who killed (her) is not important -- but who is celebrating is clearly seen (on Twitter)." He had added, "Who is happy can be clearly seen. There may not be proof (regarding the killing), but things can be seen. Today through social media the hidden cruelty is known." He made the remarks after inaugurating the 11th state conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the CPI(M), here yesterday. "We have a prime minister amidst us who is sitting with his eyes shut to this," Raj said. In further comments, he had said, "I'm bigger actor than you, don't try to act in front of me, please respect me as an actor. If you act in front of me as though you know nothing-- am I a fool (to believe it) or are people or today's younger generation fools?" He has won national awards as best supporting actor for his film 'Iruvar' in Tamil, special jury award for 'Anthapuram' in Telugu, special jury award for various movies in multiple languages, best actor for 'Kanchivaram' in Telugu, and best film for 'Puttakkana Highway' in Kannada. The city police has arrested a constable for allegedly driving a vehicle in an inebriated condition while on duty, an official said today. Constable Ankush Sanap, attached to the MHB colony police station in suburban Borivali, was on patrolling duty last night. Some locals allegedly spotted Sanap driving a police mobile van in a zigzag manner on the Western Express Highway near a temple in suburban Kandivali around 11.30 pm, the official said. The locals then informed the police who arrived at the spot and took the constable to a police station, he said. Upon examination, Sanap was found to be under the influence of alcohol, the official said. The constable was arrested in the wee hours today and booked under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act and the Maharashtra Prohibition Act, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top leaders paid tributes today to Mahatma Gandhi on his 148th birth anniversary and asked the people to follow the noble ideals of the Father of the Nation. Modi paid floral tributes to the Mahatma and former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at their 'Samadhis' at Raj Ghat and Vijay Ghat here. "Bow to beloved Bapu on Gandhi Jayanti. His noble ideals motivate millions across the world," the prime minister tweeted. In another tweet, he hailed Shastri as a source of inspiration for soldiers and farmers. President Kovind also paid floral tributes to Gandhi and Shastri at their respective memorials. "Homage to Bapu on #GandhiJayanti. His ideals of truth, non-violence and compassion continue to be our moral touchstone #PresidentKovind," said a tweet on the President of India's Twitter handle. "Birthday tribute to Shastriji. Resolute wartime leader, founder of Green Revolution; inspired us with "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" #PresidentKovind," another tweet on the President of India's Twitter handle said. Unveiling a 1.8-metre-tall statue of Gandhi at Rajghat on his 148th birth anniversary, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said people should strive together to realise the dreams of the Mahatma and usher in 'Ram Rajya' where all are equal with no discrimination of any kind. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi also paid tributes to Gandhi and Shastri and urged people to take pledge to protect "till last breath" the ideas the Father of the Nation stood for. "Remembering Bapu on his birth anniversary. Let's pledge to protect and defend the ideas he stood for till our last breath. #GandhiJayanti," he tweeted. Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, along with other parliamentarians, paid floral tributes at the portraits of Gandhi and Shastri in the Central Hall of Parliament House. Among those who paid tributes were Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Harsh Vardhan, Prakash Javadekar, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambi Durai. Senior BJP leader and former deputy prime minister L K Advani and family members of Shastri also joined the leaders in paying tributes to the Father of the Nation and Shastri. Governor of Manipur Najma Heptulla and Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao paid tributes to the Mahatma. Chief Ministers of West Bengal (Mamata Banerjee), Manipur (N Biren Singh) and Tamil Nadu (K Palaniswami) also paid their homage to the Mahatma. Born on this day in 1869, Gandhi led India's struggle for independence and also influenced movements for civil rights in other parts of the world. He was assassinated in January 1948. Shastri, India's second prime minister, was born in 1904 and was in office between June 1964 and January 1966. He had given the popular Jai Jawan Jai Kisan slogan in 1965 at a public gathering at Ramlila Maidan here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prohibitory orders were imposed today in parts of Kanpur, Ballia and Bahraich districts of Uttar Pradesh in the wake of communal violence and tensions there, officials said. Sikandarpur township of Ballia district, which saw a communal clash two days back, witnessed fresh violence today with some mischievous elements targeting houses of a particular community and indulging in vandalism, according to district magistrate Surendra Vikram. In view of the prevailing situation, section 144 of CrPC (which prohibits assembly of more than four persons at a particular place) was imposed in the township. Four persons were arrested in connection with today's incident, the DM said. On Saturday last, nearly half-a-dozen people were injured after members of two communities clashed over a petty dispute related to children in Sikandarpur area. In Kanpur too, section 144 of CrPC was imposed in Kalyanpur and Juhi police station areas in view of communal violence and tension, according to district magistrate Surendra Singh. Six people were injured yesterday in Parampurva area in a clash that occurred when a Muharram procession deviated from its fixed route and members of another community hurled stones, police said. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident, the DM said. Singh said the Muharram procession as well as the Durga idol immersion concluded last night itself under heavy police security. Bahraich's Gullabir area has also been tense since yesterday after violence in which a police booth, an ATM and two vehicles were damaged by a mob. Prohibitory orders were in force in the area, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SAD chief Sukhbir Badal today accused Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh of trying to "lower the dignity" of Sikh institutions including the SGPC by asking them to "submit" before a commission of inquiry. Amarinder had yesterday accused SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar of obstructing the course of justice by refusing to appear before the Justice Ranjit Singh commission probing sacrilege cases in the state. "The commission has been set up to destroy all evidence of the Congress hand in the acts of sacrilege which were committed by our opponents merely to defame the Akali-BJP government and turn the Sikhs away from it," Badal said in a statement. He said everyone in Punjab was "aware" of the authenticity of this commission. "The utter absence of independence and neutrality of this commission is proved by the fact that it needs Amarinder to act as is its spokesperson. "Amarinder's statement criticising the SGPC chief for refusing to cooperate with this commission is really the ultimate proof of the true motives behind the setting it up," Badal said. The former deputy chief minister said the fact is that these acts of sacrilege were a part of a deep-rooted conspiracy against the then Akali-BJP government and the Congress was its prime suspect. "And now, the chief minister expects us to validate his commission of inquiry which is set up only to provide a legal cover to those very acts of sacrilege," Badal alleged. He said Amarinder was merely continuing the old policy of the Congress of trying to "undermine" the sanctity and authority of Sikh institutions like the Akal Takht and the supreme elected parliament of the Sikhs, the SGPC in order to "destroy" the fountainhead of spiritual power of the Sikhs. The Punjab government set up the Ranjit Singh Commission after it found the report submitted by the Zora Commission constituted by the previous SAD-BJP government "inconclusive". More than 120 incidents of desecrations of holy texts and religious places were reported in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversaries today. Rahul urged people to take pledge to protect "till last breath" the ideas the Father of the Nation stood for. "Remembering Bapu on his birth anniversary. Let's pledge to protect and defend the ideas he stood for till our last breath. #GandhiJayanti," he tweeted. Born on this day in 1869, Gandhi led India's struggle for independence and also influenced movements for civil rights in other parts of the world. He was assassinated in January 1948. Shastri, India's second prime minister, was born in 1904 and served in the office between June 1964 and January 1966. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Rajasthan unit of the Congress is all set to launch a state-level farmers' rally tomorrow to demand a blanket crop loan waiver. The "Kisan Nyaya Padyatra", which will traverse 100 kilometres, will commence from Baran tomorrow and culminate in Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's constituency of Jhalawar. "The Raje government wants to take political mileage out of the farm loan waiver issue. There should be no politics on it. We will put pressure on the government for immediate announcement of a complete farm loan waiver," Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot told PTI in an interview. He alleged Raje and her ministers were "insensitive" towards the issue of famers' suicides and that none of them visited any of the families of the farmers who ended their lives. He said there had been a pressing need to alleviate agrarian distress and the state government had announced it would form a committee to see if it can grant a waiver of up to Rs 50,000. "This is completely unacceptable. We will put pressure on the anti-farmer BJP government of Vasundhara Raje to announce a complete farm loan waiver," the former Union minister said. Pilot accused the BJP government of "betraying" farmers, common people and the youth, and said the Congress will not only expose the BJP for failing to keep its promises but it's preparing a "better alternative governance model". The model will focus on "handling issues relating to education, labour, sanitation among others". "And, we will not renege on our promises. The Congress will present itself as a better alternative in the upcoming assembly elections," he said. Asked if he was ready to contest the Ajmer Lok Sabha bypoll, necessitated following the demise of the sitting BJP MP, he said: "I am ready if the party decided to field me. The final decision rests with the AICC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Information Commission of Rajasthan has directed the state chief secretary to appoint Public Information Officer in offices of all ministers within a month and ensure that information is provided under the Right to Information Act. Deciding on an appeal recently, the Commission held the office of ministers as public authority and expressed surprise that there was no proper arrangement for providing information from offices of ministers. Information Commissioner Ashutosh Sharma passed an order directing the chief secretary to appoint state PIOs and first appellate authority in the offices of the state ministers within a month so that information could be provided under the RTI. The order was passed on the appeal of one Gaurishannkar Malu, who was denied information under the RTI Act by the rural development and panchayati raj department as the information was related with the minister's office. While deciding the appeal, the commissioner said offices of ministers are public authority and liable to answer under the RTI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In-form Indian opener Rohit Sharma broke back into the top-five at fifth, while skipper Virat Kohli held on to the numero uno position in the latest ICC ODI rankings, issued today. Rohit moved up four places to reach fifth position after finishing as the leading scorer in the home series against Australia which India won 4-1 yesterday. Rohit's 296 runs in the series, which included a 125 in the last match in Nagpur, contributed significantly to India's convincing victory over the world champions that helped the home side grab the No.1 position in the team rankings. Rohit is now on a career-best 790 rating points but his highest ranking has been third, which he attained in February 2016, the ICC said in a statement. Rohit's opening partner Ajinkya Rahane has moved up four places to reach 24th while Australia's opening pair of Aaron Finch and David Warner also moved up. Finch gained nine slots to reach 17th while Warner has closed in on Kohli, bridging the pre-series gap of 26 points to just 12 as he has moved to 865 points. Other batsmen moving up include Kedhar Jadhav (up eight places to a career-best 36th), and Marcus Stoinis (up 74 places to 54th). In the rankings for bowlers, South Africa leg-spinner Imran Tahir has regained the top spot after Australia pace bowler Josh Hazlewood missed the India series due to a side strain and lost 18 points in the process. Tahir is now just four points ahead of Hazlewood at 718 points. In other movements, India's left-arm spinner Axar Patel has reached a career-best seventh after moving up three places while wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (up 24 places to 75th) and Kuldeep Yadav (up nine places to 80th) have also moved northwards. In the list of all-rounders led by Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan, England's Ben Stokes has moved into the top five at fifth. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting with the president of Turkmenistan on a rare visit to the gas-rich Central Asian nation. Putin today arrived in the capital, Ashgabat, for talks expected to focus on the energy ties between the two former Soviet republics. Putin's visit to Turkmenistan came amid a dispute between Russia's largest mobile provider and local authorities. The mobile company MTS said last week it had to suspend operations in Turkmenistan after a state telecommunications company cut its access to services. MTS said it is continuing talks with authorities in order to extend the permission it needs to use frequencies and other resources to provide services in the ex-Soviet nation. Neither Putin nor Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov mentioned the row in their opening remarks today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russia's intelligence agency today said it had arrested members of an Islamic State 'cell' which was preparing terror attacks. The FSB said in a statement it had "thwarted the illegal activities of ... the international terrorist organisation Islamic State" on September 30, by detaining all members of a cell in the Moscow region. It said they were all from Muslim-majority republics in the Caucasus but took orders from "foreign emissaries" pledging allegiance to the IS. The group was planning "significant" terror acts in Russia, including in densely populated places and on public transport, the statement said, without specifying the number held. Two home-made explosives as well as guns and grenades were found during raids on their homes. Russian officials regularly claim foiling terror plots. In August, the FSB said it had arrested four IS members who were planning suicide attacks in Moscow shopping malls. In July, security services said they arrested seven Central Asian migrants accused of preparing attacks in St Petersburg, where 15 were killed in a metro bombing in April claimed by a little known group called the Imam Shamil Battalion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) King Salman of Saudi Arabia will visit Russia on Thursday, senior Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying. "We are awaiting the king's visit on Thursday," Ushakov said today, without elaborating. The visit comes a month before members of the Opec oil cartel, of which Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer, are due to meet with the other nations that have joined them in cutting crude output, including Russia, to discuss extending the pact that has helped prop up prices. Opec and its allies agreed from the beginning of 2017 to cut their production by around 1.8 million barrels per day for six months. It was subsequently extended through March 2018. The pact has helped reduce the glut of crude supplies on the market and the price to climb to around $55 per barrel currently. Saudi Arabia and Russia are heavily dependent on oil exports and the plunge of the price of crude that began in 2014 lashed both of their economies. While Russia and Saudi Arabia are now allies on the global oil market, they are on the opposite sides in the Syria conflict. Moscow supports the regime of President Bashar al-Assad while Riyadh supports the opposition. At least 3,000 people including 955 civilians were killed in September, the deadliest month of the conflict this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Sunday. The Supreme Court has asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to look into the prospect of an amicable settlement of the decades-old dispute between Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh over payment of compensation relating to the Bhakra-Nangal and Beas power projects. The apex court directed the warring states to depute some responsible officers on the date to be fixed by Venugopal for adjudication of the long-drawn dispute in the top court. "We request K K Venugopal, Attorney General, to go through the matter to find an amicable settlement regarding the liability of the payment of the States of Punjab and Haryana to the State of Himachal Pradesh. The respective States may depute some responsible officer on the date to be fixed by K K Venugopal for this purpose," a bench of Justices R K Agrawal and A M Sapre said. The current dispute is an offshoot of the September 2011 verdict of the apex court in an original suit filed by Himachal Pradesh in 1996, seeking 7.19 percent of the total power generated from three hydro power projects, Bhakra- Nangal-Beas Projects, situated in its territory with effect from November 1, 1966. The apex court in its verdict had partly allowed Himachal Pradesh's claim and directed the Centre to calculate the compensation amount and submit a report in consultation with the three states. The apex court had on August 7, 2014, asked the Attorney General to assist in the matter to resolve the issue amicably. The Centre had filed its report in the case specifying how the compensation amount can be paid as per the 2011 decree of the top court. Himachal Pradesh has claimed that a compensation amount of Rs 4,249.45 crore is payable to it from Punjab and Haryana for the short supply of electricity from the date of actual supply and its entitlement, as per the apex court verdict. The hilly state had stated it was entitled to Rs 2,724 crore on account of the Bhakra projects, Rs 1,033.54 crore in respect of Dehar Power project and Rs 491.89 crore with regard to the Pong Power project. The Centre in its report had said that as per the apex court's verdict, Himachal Pradesh is entitled for compensation of Rs 1,497 crore, about one-third of the claim. The compensation amount claimed by HP was also disputed by Punjab and Haryana who had told the apex court that if it was entitled to 7.19 per cent share of the total power from the projects with effect from November 1, 1966, then it should also share the construction cost of these projects. The Bhakra dam across the river Satluj was proposed in the year 1944 in the then Bilaspur State. The construction of Bhakra dam resulted in submergence of a large territory of the Bilaspur State but benefitted the then Province of Punjab. The then Raja of Bilaspur had agreed to the proposal for construction of the Bhakra dam only on certain terms and conditions including payment of royalties for generation of power from the water of the reservoir of the Bhakra dam. However, the formal agreement between the Raja of Bilaspur and the province of Punjab, could not be executed as the Bilaspur State ceded to the Dominion of India in 1948. In 1954, Bilaspur and Himachal Pradesh were united to form a new State of Himachal Pradesh under the Himachal Pradesh and Bilaspur (New States) Act, 1954. In 1966, Parliament enacted the Punjab Reorganisation Act, which bifurcated the erstwhile State of Punjab into two states of Punjab and Haryana, and transferred some territories of the erstwhile State of Punjab to the Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh. With effect from January 25, 1971, Himachal Pradesh became a full-fledged State by the State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970. The apex court in its 2011 verdict had noted that the construction of Bhakra dam had brought lot of benefits to the country and neighbhouring states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Chandigarh, but also resulted in submergence of 27,869 acres of land in the erstwhile Bilaspur State out of the total 41,600 acres. It had said that submergence and reservoir of water over large areas of land in Himachal Pradesh have meant loss of cultivated and uncultivated land to a total extent of 1,03,425 acres which needed to be compensated by neighbhouring states. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A gathering of journalists today vowed to take up the recent killings of mediapersons in the country with the home ministry and demand a status report on the attacks against the media in various states. Scores of journalists gathered at the Press Club of India (PCI) here and formed a human chain to condemn the recent spate of killings, threats and violence directed at mediapersons. Organised on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the protesting journalists, wearing black bands, also took out a silent march from the PCI to the Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) building, demanding press freedom. A petition, signed by hundreds of journalists, would be submitted to the home ministry on October 5, when the presidents of various press clubs from across the country would meet to chalk out the future course of action, PCI president Gautam Lahiri said. Similar protests were staged by the PCI's affiliate bodies across the country, down to the district-level, IWPC vice-president T K Rajalakshmi said, expressing anguish over the recent killings of veteran journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru and young reporter Shantanu Bhowmik in Tripura. "A memorandum appending the signatures of hundreds of journalists will be submitted to the home minister, requesting his intervention for a status report on attacks against journalists in various states and action taken in that regard," a joint statement issued by the PCI, IWPC, Federation of Press Clubs in India, Press Association, Kerala Union of Working Journalists and the Indian Journalists' Union said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least seven people were killed in Cameroon's restive anglophone belt at the weekend as a separatist group made a symbolic declaration of independence. The separatists chose October 1, the anniversary of the official reunification of the anglophone and francophone parts of Cameroon, to declare independence for "Ambazonia", the name of the state they want to create. Since November, the anglophone minority has been protesting against perceived discrimination. The government deployed security forces at the weekend in English-speaking regions, notably Buea in the southwest and Bamenda, the main town in the northwest and a hub of anglophone agitation. Several people were admitted to hospital in Bamenda Sunday after clashes between demonstrators and police, according to a medical source. "At least one person was injured by live fire" in Bamenda, where the situation was "very tense", a source close to the local authorities told AFP. The "security forces had to resort to tear gas and sometimes to shots to disperse the protesters", the source said by telephone. Bamenda residents contacted by AFP reported "shooting" by the security forces without giving further details. One of the leaders of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), Joshua Osih, told AFP the security forces were "firing real bullets at the protesters" but stressed that he was not a supporter of the secessionist movement. In Ndop, 40 kilometres from Bamenda, two people were "shot dead", according to sources, while one was killed in Kumbo on the sidelines of the protests, city mayor Donatus Njong said. Also in Kumbo, three prison inmates were shot and killed trying to escape while security forces were mobilised for the deployments in anglophone regions, a source close to regional authorities said. A young man was shot dead by security forces on Saturday in the southwest town of Kumba, known as a rebellious city since the start of the protests, sparking clashes between security forces and the local population. "They fired at him during a security operation," a nurse who requested anonymity told AFP. The incident was confirmed by a security source and several local residents contacted by phone. Cameroon's long-serving president, 84-year-old Paul Biya, took to social media Sunday to condemn "all acts of violence, no matter where they come from or who is responsible." The European Union called on all sides to be responsible and "respect the rule of law and avoid any act of violence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The JD(U) headed by Nitish Kumar today hit at rebel Sharad Yadav faction saying that even after rejection of application for party symbol twice, they are trying to buy time from Election Commission as a 'shield' to protect Rajya Sabha membership of Yadav. "Even after their application has been rejected twice by the EC as its not backed by any valid papers, Sharad Yadav and his aides are trying to buy time from election panel," new JD(U) Parliamentary party leader in Parliament R C P Singh told PTI here today. "They are doing so with sole intent to use their plea a 'shield' to protect the Rajya Sabha membership of Sharad Yadav," Singh, a trusted aide of Nitish Kumar, said. The Sharad Yadav faction had on Sunday last said that it will submit fresh application to claim party's poll symbol of arrow after the Election Commission asked it to provide evidence to back the demand. Singh, who replaced Yadav as Parliamentary party head, described as "unconstitutional" Sharad Yadav faction calling a meeting of national executive earlier on September 17 and now summoning national council meet on October 8. "They have no constitutional right to call any such meeting of the party," he said. Singh laughed at Yadav raising issue against election of Nitish Kumar as President of JD(U) of which he himself was a part. "It was Sharad Yadav who had proposed name of Nitish Kumar for JD(U) President which the party national executive had ratified at Rajgir in 2016," the JD(U) Parliamentary party chief said. "I and Javed Raza (suspended JD-U General Secretary who is now approaching EC on behalf of Sharad Yadav) had apprised the EC then about Nitish Kumar election as party President," he added. Differences between Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar factions in the wake of disintegration of the Grand Alliance have reached a point of no return now and the two groups have knocked the EC for allotment of symbol to them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An anti-corruption court in Pakistan today postponed the indictment of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on charges of corruption in the Panama Papers scandal. Sharif, 67, arrived at the accountability court amid tight security for the court hearing in three graft cases against him and his family. During the hearing, his lawyer Khawaja Haris argued that all of the accused in the case have to appear in court before an indictment can take place. Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, a leader of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), told the media after the hearing that last for more than an hour that the indictment has been postponed. "The indictment is still pending and it would be discussed at the next hearing on Monday (October 9)," he said. The court also issued non-bailable arrest warrants of Sharifs daughter Maryam, sons Hussain and Hasan and son-in- law Muhammad Safdar and summoned them for the next hearing. Sharif had earlier appeared before the accountability court on September 26 in connection with the case. The Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif on July 28 in the Panama Papers case and ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file corruption and money laundering charges against the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The NAB has filed cases of corruption and money laundering against Sharif, his family members and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the Accountability Court in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The anti-graft body also froze the bank accounts and seized properties of Sharif and his family members to put pressure on them to appear before the court. Sharif's family has alleged that the cases are politically motivated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ahead of Diwali, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today wished Indians ajoyous and prosperous year,saying the spirit and message of the ancient festival resonates across faiths and cultures. Describing Diwali asone of the most important events on the Hindu calendar, Turnbullsaid it was a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge "our great fortune" to live in a land of peace and tolerance where diversity is valued and celebrated. "Itis a time to celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair, the spirit and message of this ancient festival resonates across faiths and cultures," the prime minister said about Diwali, which will be celebrated on October 19 this year. Turnbull, who visited India in April this year, said people from around the globe and from all faiths and traditions, live together in remarkable harmony. This, he added, was due to "our commitment to mutual respect". "We are the most successful multicultural nation on earth, and with each passing day this becomes more evident," he said, adding"against a twilight of widening divisions and deepening conflict around the world, our nation shines brightly as a beacon." The Indian community in Australia stands nearly at 4,96,000, contributing significantly to the country's economy as teachers, doctors, accountants, engineers and IT experts. India is now the third largest source of immigrants to Australia, and the second largest source of skilled professionals for the country, according to information available on the Ministry of External Affairs website. The two countries share a friendly relationship and the growing significance of the community is reflected in the large scale celebration of Indian festivals in Australia, especially Diwali, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five persons including a woman and two children were killed and three others injured in a road accident at Andugulapalli village in the Peddapalli district of Telangana, 40 km from here, today. Police sub-inspector P Vijender said a car heading for Godavarikhani from Karimnagar hit the road divider at Andugulapalli and jumped over, falling on another car coming from the opposition direction, in which the victims were travelling. "Mohd Azeem (42), his wife Asia Sultana (36) and their daughter Arfa (1 year) were killed on the spot," the officer said. Mohd Afreen (28) and Mahivish (4) died on the way to hospital, he added. Driver Nazeer(38) and Rafia (7) were shifted to the Karimnagar district hospital for treatment, he said. Sudarshan (35) who was driving the other car sustained grievous injuries. He was shifted to Hyderabad for treatment and his condition was critical, the police officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Packaging solutions firm Uflex is aiming at Rs 9,000 crore turnover in the next three years, a growth of nearly 40 per cent over the previous fiscal, on the back of robust domestic business, a top company official said. In the next 2-3 years, the company expects the domestic packaging business to contribute 80 per cent to its overall turnover. "By 2019-20, we should look at top line of Rs 9,000 crore, which at the end of FY17 was Rs 6,500 crore," Uflex Group President (Finance and Accounts) Rajesh Bhatia told PTI. Asked which business segment will be the growth driver, he said: "We are looking at more growth coming from the packaging business... we have just commissioned our Sanand Gujarat plant for aseptic packaging and our hologram business is also expanding in Jammu." Apart from packaging products and films, Uflex has presence in chemicals, engineering and holography. Packaging products and packaging film businesses contribute equally to the company's overall turnover. However, in overseas markets, it is into packaging films only. "Contribution from the packaging products business would go up. In two years, we would make it 80:20," Bhatia said. Uflex has invested Rs 580 crore at Sanand-based aseptic liquid packaging manufacturing plant and is in the midst of trials with companies in the segment. "Delivery would start from the last quarter of this year and from the next year, we would have about 60 per cent capacity utilisation," he said. The plant has a capacity to roll out 3.5 billion packs per year and it could be doubled with additional investment of Rs 75 crore. Based on market conditions, its capacity could be expanded after 2018-19, Bhatia said. The company, he said, is also focusing on liquid packaging segment, which is currently led by Swiss firm Tetra Pack here. It is currently valued at around Rs 1,800 crore, growing at 20 per cent annually. "Initially, we would be happy to have 30 per cent market share by 2019-20," Bhatia added. On future investments, he said normally the company earmarks capex of around Rs 150 crore annually. Headquartered in Noida, Uflex has manufacturing facilities in India, the UAE, Mexico, Poland, Egypt and the US. It provides flexible packaging solution in the US, Canada, South America, the UK, Europe, Russia, CIS countries, Africa, the Middle-East and South Asian nations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK's low cost carrier Monarch Airlines collapsed today, forcing the government to launch one of the biggest peace time repatriation operations to bring back nearly 110,000 passengers stranded abroad. The country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it had been asked by the government to charter more than 30 aircraft to bring home stranded passengers after all Monarch flights were cancelled, affecting as many as 300,000 future bookings. The airlines went into administration in the early hours of today, with KPMG being appointed to oversee the financial chaos. "I have immediately ordered the country's biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded abroad," said UK transport secretary Chris Grayling. "This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation. Together with the CAA, we will work around the clock to ensureMonarchpassengers get the support they need," he said. The minister has warned of the size of the challenge, urging passengers to be "patient" as they would be flown back home from abroad. Monarch is the UK's fifth biggest airline, employing around 2,700 people. It reported a loss of 291 million pounds last year and was placed in administration at 4 am local time when there were no Monarch planes in the air. Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield blamed the collapse on terror attacks that had affected the budget carrier's revenues. In a letter to the staff, he said the airline was badly affected by the 2015 bombing of a Russian plane which departed from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, a terror attack in Sousse, Tunisia, during the same year which left 30 dead and a 2016 attempted coup in Turkey. "It has been a company that has cared for its customers and which has been like a family for many people for five decades. I cannot tell you how much I wanted to avoid this outcome and how truly sorry I am," he says in his letter. The CAA is coordinating the response to the crisis and has said that all Monarch Airline customers who were due to return to the UK in the next two weeks would be flown home at no extra cost and did not need to cut short their stay. CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said: "We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UKs largest airlines to manage this task. "The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home." Monarch was founded in 1968 and has its headquarters at London Luton airport. It operates from four other UK bases London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds Bradford travelling to more than 40 destinations around the world. The airline said it would work with the administrators and workers' unions to help its employees find new jobs as as quickly as possible. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 40 unions and Catalan associations called a region-wide strike for Tuesday, after a major police crackdown on a banned independence referendum. In a statement yesterday, UGT and CCOO, Spain's biggest unions, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), a powerful pro- independence civil association, and 41 other organisations called for the work stoppage due to "the grave violation of rights and freedoms." "We call all society, on employers' organisations, business owners, unions, workers, self-employed workers, institutions and all the citizens of Catalonia to stop the 'country' on Tuesday, October 3," they wrote. Pro-independence Catalans often refer to the northeastern region as a "country." The regional government says more than 840 people received medical attention yesterday after riot police moved in on polling stations as Catalans tried to vote in the referendum, defying a ban by Madrid. In some cases, police used batons and rubber bullets to evict people from the voting centres and confiscate the ballot boxes. Spain's interior ministry said 33 police agents also received medical aid. Madrid had warned Catalan separatist leaders they could not hold the vote in a region deeply divided over independence, stating it was illegal and courts had ruled it unconstitutional. But they had retorted that Catalans had a right to decide on their future and pressed ahead anyway. Catalonia is a major engine for Spanish growth, and accounts for around 19 percent of its GDP. As such, any region-wide strike will be damaging for Spain. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US-led coalition says a service member was killed and another was wounded when an explosion from a bobby-trapped explosive hit their vehicle in Iraq. Today's statement from the coalition says further details would be released once next of kin are notified. The explosion happened yesterday. So far, seven American servicemen have been killed in Iraq in the fight against the Islamic State group, including two in the battle to retake the northern city of Mosul. Additionally, a French paratrooper was killed in the fight against IS last month, though officials did not specify if the individual died in Iraq or Syria. US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said in August that more than 1,200 Iraqi forces were killed in the battle for Mosul and more than 6,000 were wounded. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro condemned the "brutal repression" of protesters defending a banned Catalan independence referendum Sunday -- branding Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy a "dictator." "I do not interfere in the internal affairs of Catalonia, Spain or any country, but these are international events of great importance (...). The repression appeared brutal, really brutal, because if people are peaceful and calm, leave them alone," Maduro said on state television channel VTV. "Who is a dictator? Nicolas Maduro or Rajoy -- who has chosen blood, the club and the blow against a noble people?" he asked before comparing events to the Franco era of 1939- 1975. Maduro is himself accused by the Venezuelan opposition of "savage repression" during a wave of protests between April and July, which left some 125 people dead. But he justified police and military action in his country by arguing Catalonians "did not have hoods or homemade guns like the Venezuelan right." Relations between Caracas and Madrid deteriorated following the creation of an all-powerful Constitutional Assembly in Venezuela -- with Spain pressing the European Union to impose sanctions on Maduro's government. Hundreds were injured in clashes during the Catalan referendum Sunday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rabia Kousar is battling for her life at a hospital in Jammu. The five-year-old girl was seriously wounded in Pakistani shelling along the Line of Control (LoC). Rabia is among four people, who have suffered splinter injuries in the shelling this morning and have been brought to the government medical college in Jammu for treatment. The four continue to writhe in pain, but Rabia's condition was "very grave", doctors at the hospital say. "We will have to operate on the little girl to save her life. She suffered multiple internal injuries," a doctor told PTI. Rabia was airlifted to Jammu with Mohammad Rafiq, 25, from Poonch. Two others - Mohammad Sadiq and Nazir Hussain were brought to the hospital in an ambulance this evening after their condition deteriorated. Rabia's uncle Mushtaq Hussain, a resident of Bannat village near the LoC, said her elder sister Yasmeena, 15, died and her mother and another sister were injured after a mortar shell fired by Pakistani forces pierced through the wall of their house and exploded near them. Mohammad Sadiq, Rabia's father, escaped the shelling as he was not present in the house. He said Yasmeena suffered the major brunt of the shelling by Pakistan and died on the spot. "(Rabia's) condition is also not well as the doctors said the chances of her survival were bleak. They are doing their best and we are praying for her life," he said. Hussain, 40, said he was lucky to survive the shelling. "I have never seen such intense shelling in my life," he said. Pakistani security forces have been frequently violating the ceasefire agreement with India. The latest violation happened along the LoC in Dighwar, Shahpur, Qasba, Kerni and Mandhar sectors was reported around 6.30 am and continued till 11.30 am, officials said. This year, particularly, has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Till August 1, there were 285 violations by Pakistani forces compared to 2016, when the number was significantly lower at 228, according to the Indian Army. Rafiq, a resident of Qasba who was airlifted with Rabia, said he and his family members were having tea when a shell landed in their house and exploded with a bang around them. "I felt that my legs were amputated due to the impact. When I regained consciousness I saw blood oozing out of my thighs. My nephew Asrar Ahmad was lying dead nearby," he said. Rafiq's brother Mohammad Riyaz said there had been no warning by the Army about the mortar shells by the Army. He said it took him two hours to pull his brother out of the house and then trekked two kilometres to reach the place where police officials were waiting for them. They were subsequently airlifted. Riyaz demanded that underground bunkers be constructed in his village. "At least we can save our lives by taking shelter there." Sharma, who claims to be a Bajrang Dal activist and goes by his first name only, demanded that free treatment be given to the victims of border shelling at hospitals. Muneer Hussain, who was accompanying two of his nephews, said they were returning to their village with their herd of sheep when the shelling started, killing at least three dozen animals. Slamming Pakistan for targeting civilian areas without provocation, he said his nephews were injured in chests and arms in the shelling. "We reached here by ambulance after initial treatment at Poonch district hospital," he said adding several of their family members were undergoing treatment at district hospital Poonch. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has begun pre-production on his next venture which is based on the "mysterious death" of India's second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri. The director took to Twitter to make the announcement on the occasion of Shastri's 113th birth anniversary today. "On this day when India's most honest, successful and loved leader, Shri Lal Bahadur Shashtri was born, we begin the pre-production and casting of our film on his mysterious death in Tashkent," wrote Agnihotri. The filmmaker also shared a poster with Shastri's picture and the tentative title of the film is "Bharat Ke Lal". Agnihotri had announced in January that his next project will be dedicated to the statesman. He had tweeted, "This is my next film dedicated to Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, on his 51st death anniversary. Please support and contribute ideas. #WhoKilledShashtriji "Death/assassination, questions must be answered. Contribute ideas. This will be first crowdsourcing of ideas for a film." Agnihotri had also shared a poster, which read, "I think it is our democratic right to know if our second Prime Minister Shri Lal Bahadur Shastriji died a natural death, or, as alleged, was it an assassination? Why the cover-up?" Shastri passed away on January 11, 1966 in Uzbekistan, after signing the Tashkent Declaration with Pakistan. He reportedly died due to cardiac arrest at the age of 61. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will on Tuesday inaugurate about Rs 1,930 crore National Highway (NH) projects in Andhra Pradesh and lay the foundation stone for a stretch of (NW-4) on the Krishna river. He will also lay the foundation stone for another 250 km NH projects which will cost over Rs 2,539 crore. Road Transport and Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will be present on this occasion, a shipping ministry statement said. The Vice President will lay foundation stone for the development of Muktyala to Vijayawada stretch of Krishna River in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, it said. As per the MoU signed with Andhra Pradesh on April 14, 2016, NW-4 in Andhra Pradesh is proposed to be developed in three phases The Phase-I of 82 km covers Muktyala to Vijayawada (Krishna River). The second phase is from Vijayawada to Kakinada (Eluru canal & Kakinada canal) and Rajahmundry to Polavaram stretch of Godavari of 233 Km. The third phase is Commamur Canal, Buckingham canal and balance stretches of Krishna & Godavari Rivers of 573 km. The project will help boost economic growth of the region and facilitate the development of the capital city, Amravati. Three cargo terminals are proposed to be built at Muktyala, Ibrahimpatnam and Harishchandrapur, while four Passenger Terminals are to be built at Durga Ghat, Bhawani Island, Vedadari, and Amravati on NW- 4 in phase 1. The DPR (detailed project report) for construction of these seven terminals has been completed. NW-4 was declared in November, 2008 for 1078 km, which was extended to 2,890 km. A proposal for Phase-II has been recommended by IWAI board for PIB/Cabinet (Public Investment Board). Also, a proposal for formation of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for implementation of the project is under consideration for the approval of Cabinet. The SPV is expected to be formed by next month. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first step to create a developed India is to create a clean India, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu said today. Naidu was speaking at India Today's 'Safaigiri' awards on a day the Centre is observing the third anniversary of its Swachh Bharat Mission, which aims at making the country open defecation free (ODF) by 2019. "The first step to create a developed India is to create a clean, hygienic and, therefore, a healthy India. A wealthy India can't be made without a healthy India," Naidu said. The vice-president said that the cleanliness campaign was conceptualised as a people's movement to effect a change in mindset. "It is easy to build a road, bridge or an airport but trying to change human behaviour is complex. I am happy that because of collective efforts by all there is a change of mindset," Naidu added. Echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech earlier in the day, Naidu laid emphasis on the role played by women who have demanded toilets in their homes and villages. "Chhattisgarh's 105-year-old Kunwar Bai has sold her boats and contributed for construction of toilets. A teenager in Karnataka went on fast demanding that everyone in the neighbourhood should have a toilet. Dr Manjula, former CEO of Bangalore Rural, achieved ODF in 48 gram panchayats in six months. A 16-year-old from north Karnataka recently went on a hunger strike to put pressure on her mother to build a toilet," Naidu enumerated. While listing the achievements of the government's cleanliness campaign, Naidu said there was still "a long way to go" and a "business as usual approach" would not deliver results. He also proposed that the government might have to think of punitive measures to ensure "swacchta". "We have to think of going for punitive action also. It is crucial that swacchta becomes everyone's business," the vice-president said in his address. Referring to the note-ban, Naidu said that "safaigiri" is "cleaning the dirt everywhere -- tan se, man se, dhan se". Naidu later also gave away awards at the event. Babu Bai of Toomdar village, Rajasthan, who sold her jewellery to build a toilet for herself and her daughter-in- law won an award. Among others who were recognised was Bangladesh for Best Asian Government Initiative in public sanitation, hygiene and cleanliness. Its High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali received the award. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu today called upon the people to wear khadi on Independence Day, Republic Day and Gandhi Jayanti. This will help the poor, a press release said quoting the governor. It would also be the best tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, Murmu said while addressing people after garlanding Gandhi's statue here, the release said. Chief Minister Raghubar Das said that Gandhiji got the title 'Mahatma' for his devotion towards the country. Das said, the state government is following the path preached by Mahatma Gandhi and encouraging self-sustenance, self-governance and good governance. Stating that people are being trained to promote forest produce of the state, the chief minister said that 62 per cent of the countrys lac and 82 per cent of tussar are produced in Jharkhand. Boards have been set up for their development, the release quoting the chief minister said. Lac products are being exported to four countries, he said, adding training would be imparted to women to make lac products. The state government would also encourage apiculture, Das said. Pledging to root out poverty, the chief minister said the government is working with the commitment to eradicate poverty by 2022. For this, assistance from everyone is required, he added. The chief minister also remembered former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his birth anniversary and paid tribute to him, the release said. He said the country has become self-reliant on production of grains because of Shastri. On the occasion, Jharkhand Khadi Board distributed 16 sewing machines, 12 lakh kit and 10 charkhas to people, the release said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Attacking the Centre over a recent stampede at a railway station in Mumbai, the Congress today alleged the demand for an additional foot over-bridge there was "criminally neglected" and asked why a case of culpable homicide should not be filed against the ministers concerned. Twenty-three people were killed in the September 29 stampede on a foot over-bridge (FOB) connecting two suburban railway stations of Parel and Elphinstone in Mumbai. Stressing that accountability -- administrative and political -- needs to be fixed for the "tragic" incident, the Congress also demanded Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and his predecessor Suresh Prabhu need to come clear on the issue. Speaking to reporters here, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai-South constituency, Arvind Sawant, had on August 14, 2014, written to then Railway Minister Sadananda Gowada seeking FOBs at Parel, Curry Road and Chinchpokli suburban railway stations. Singhvi alleged Prabhu, who took over from Gowda, replied to Sawant on February 20, 2016, blaming "adverse effects of global slowdown" for the delay and added that "despite the slowdown" the demand was under "active consideration". Prabhu is holding the commerce porfolio at present. "This is nothing short of criminal negligence. (Responding) after two years, Prabhu told Sawant that the proposal was under active consideration...This is not only a man-made disaster, but culpable homicide," Singhvi said. He asked, "Why file FIR against railway employees only? Why not against ministers in-charge?" Singhvi also alleged that out of the Rs 12 crore sanctioned for renovating the existing FOB at the Parel- Elphinstone stations, railway officials allotted only Rs 1,000. "On one hand, there are photo-ops for bullet train...on the other, only Rs 1,000 is sanctioned for renovating the bridge...if not murder, it calls for registering culpable homicide case minimum," he said. The Congress leader alleged that Mumbai Police and its railway counterparts "argued over jurisdiction" after the incident occurred instead of coordinating over probe into the matter. "Personnel from both the forces were seen taking measurements on the bridge to decide the area of jurisdiction...it is a sad, but tragic affair," Singhvi said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At the age of 65, when most leaders work to establish their heirs in politics, former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane is opening a new page in his political career, and getting ready for a tightrope walk with his new party in the state. Within days of quitting the Congress, Rane yesterday floated his party called 'Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh', and indicated it might align with the BJP. Earlier, speculation was rife that the Maratha strongman would join the BJP, a plan which did not go down well with sections in the saffron party in the state. "I have just launched the party. I am waiting for some people to join. Then I will decide the future course (of action)," Rane said yesterday, refusing to comment when reporters pressed him about his next move. He, however, hinted his front might veer towards the BJP. Rane, who still has pockets of influence in the coastal Konkan region of the state, served as the chief minister in 1999 when he was in the Shiv Sena. Ever since he joined the Congress, he has been a bitter critic of the Sena, especially its chief Uddhav Thackeray. "Now Rane will have to prove his mettle. The general elections are one-and-a-half years away, while the Assembly polls are two years down the line," said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified. The real issue, he said, was what role Rane could play for the BJP. "It all depends on how he takes his next step and who benefits from it," he said. Rane started his career as a supporter of the Sena, launched as a social outfit to voice regional aspirations in the late 70s, before it became a political party and a force to reckon with in Maharashtra. Rane, who was in his 20s at the time, was spotted by the late Vamanrao Mahadik, a leader who had worked for the Shiv Sena since its inception. Mahadik brought him into the party, and Rane got easily drawn into the party's aggressive style, inspired by the fiery rhetoric of Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. He scaled the political ladder and as a corporator in Mumbai, he was among the first to realise that ensuring and controlling the flow of funds for urban amenities would help empower any ambitious leader. His influence was evident on the streets those days, but it was his efforts to master administrative procedures, understand legal issues and the ability to move crowds that ultimately catapulted him to the post of Maharashtra's chief minister, when he was serving his second term as an MLA. In 1999, when Manohar Joshi stepped down from the post of state chief minister, Rane succeeded him. He, however, held the post for less than a year as the five-year term of the then Shiv Sena-BJP government came to an end. In the election that followed, the saffron alliance conceded power to the Congress and the NCP. An ambitious Rane faced his first major challenge from within the Sena with the rise of Balasaheb's son Uddhav. Uddhav was anointed executive president of the Shiv Sena, and Rane, who was the leader of opposition in the state Assembly, read the signs when the BJP-led NDA was routed in the 2004 general elections. In July 2005, Rane was expelled from the Sena by Balasaheb Thackeray, which led to his joining the Congress. He won a hard-fought byelection from Sindhudurg district in his native Konkan and was appointed revenue minister under then Congress chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Rane continued to claim that Congress leaders had promised to make him the chief minister -- a pledge that was never met. In 2014, the Congress lost power and Rane himself failed to make it to the assembly. He also lost the byelection in 2015 from Bandra in Mumbai where no Congress leader came to campaign for him. Though Rane was elected as an MLC on a Congress ticket, he was moving away from the Congress, and increasingly growing closer to the BJP. Speculation that Rane may join the BJP was fuelled by reports suggesting that he had met party president Amit Shah in Ahmedabad a few months ago and later in New Delhi. However, a section in the BJP was learnt to be not in favour of Rane's induction into the party. But Rane said yesterday that he had "friends there" and had "no issues" with the party. "Let me first make new friends for my party, and then I will be able to announce my next move," Rane said. Asked if he aspired to become the chief minister, he said, "I still have an ambition... It never dies. I will wait for the right time to come". He said he or his new party would never oppose any development work, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious bullet train project. Significantly, no Congress leader or any sitting MLA has so far openly supported Rane. He also faces a challenge on his home turf in Sindhudurg, from where his younger son Nitesh is a Congress MLA. Though the saffron party is not inclined to roll out the red carpet for him, political observers think that he would support the BJP and try to gain proximity to its leaders. But, they say, it is going to be a tightrope walk for the veteran leader in the coming days. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An experimental robotic farm run by UK scientists has been harvested for the first time, yielding about five tonnes of spring barley. Everything from start to finish - including sowing, fertilising, collecting samples and harvesting - has been done by autonomous vehicles on the farm, researchers said. Researchers from the Harper Adams University in the UK believe that the robotic technology improve yields in agriculture, which is necessary to avoid food crisis with the growing population in coming years. For the project, dubbed Hands Free Hectare, researchers used commercially available agriculture machines and software used to guide amateur drones. "In agriculture, nobody has really managed to solve the problem of autonomy," said Jonathan Gill, mechatronics researcher at Harper Adams University, who led the project. The researchers purchased several small-size agricultural machines, including a tractor and a combine, a machine for harvesting grain crops, the 'Live Science' reported. They then fitted the machines with actuators, electronics and robotic technology that would allow them to control the machines without the presence of a human operator. "The vehicles navigate entirely based on the GPS, and they are just essentially driving towards targets that we predetermined," said Martin Abell, of Precision Decisions, an agricultural company that partnered with the university. "At different GPS targets, there are different actions designed to be carried out," Abell said. The Harper Adams team plans to use the robotically harvested spring barley to make a limited batch of "hands- free" beer that will be distributed to the project's partners. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Plagued by poor earnings, Britain's biggest steel plant, located in Port Talbot, is likely to be first in line for job and output cuts after the planned European merger of Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel, industry sources told Reuters. Germany's Thyssenkrupp and India's Tata Steel have signed a memorandum of understanding for a 50-50 joint venture which, if approved, would forge Europe's No.2 steelmaker after ArcelorMittal, with sales of around 15 billion euros ($17.70 billion). The merger was driven chiefly by a need to address chronic overcapacity in Europe's steel market and should conclude late next year. The company will begin reviewing its combined production network from 2020 onwards. This is expected by industry analysts to include further job cuts in addition to 4,000 already announced along with the deal, leaving open the question where the hammer will fall hardest. Tata's century-old steelworks in Port Talbot, Wales, employing some 4,000 people directly and up to 16,000 more indirectly in a region with few other major industries, is a prime target for cuts in the event of a steel market downturn after 2020, industry analysts said. "They'll only invest in the UK operations if they earn money," said Rakesh Arora, managing director at Go-India Advisors in Mumbai, who has been following Tata for decades. "It's difficult to make a call, but one thing I can tell you for sure, earnings will not be higher than they are now because we're at a cyclical peak in the steel cycle." According to brokerage Jefferies, Port Talbot will have core earnings (EBITDA) of 12 euros per tonne, a margin of 2 per cent, in the first year of the merger. This compares with 92.4 euros, or a margin of 14 per cent, at IJmuiden, Tata Steel's other main production site in the Netherlands. Thyssenkrupp's key plant in Duisburg, Germany, will earn 85.4 euros per tonne, at a profit margin of 11 percent. "It would logically make sense to cut capacity at lower margin sites, which I believe are mainly the Tata assets. Thyssenkrupp's sites are amongst the best earners in Europe," one of Thyssenkrupp's top-20 shareholders said. A Tata Steel spokesman said it was the clear intent of both shareholders "to continue with the current asset configuration at all upstream sites including Port Talbot". Thyssenkrupp declined to comment. Fears stoked Concerns resurfaced about Port Talbot's future after the UK government wrote to Tata Steel Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, asking him to commit to relining Port Talbot's blast furnace 5. That process typically costs over 150 million pounds ($201 million) and gives the furnace about 20 additional years of life. Chandrasekaran said this was Tata Steel's intent should the funds be available, but he declined to commit. "As you know, its (blast furnace 5) relining was not included in the memorandum of understanding signed earlier this year (with the unions)," he replied in correspondence posted on a UK government website. A spokesman for UK union Community said: "Relining blast furnace 5 is something that in the next weeks and months we will continue to push for." Unlike Port Talbot's blast furnace 5, Thyssenkrupp's Duisburg furnaces will not need relining in the next five years, people familiar with the matter said, because all had been relined or started operations during the past decade. A source close to Tata's IJmuiden plant said one of its blast furnaces will require relining within the next 3-5 years. Experts, however, say the merged group is still more likely to invest in IJmuiden rather than Port Talbot in a downturn because the Dutch operation is more profitable. "Thyssenkrupp flagged potential for additional savings beyond 2020 from upstream crude steelmaking and hot rolling capacity adjustments, which we believe are most likely at Port Talbot," Jefferies analyst Seth Rosenfeld said. Profitable enough? According to a filing with UK government database House, Tata Steel UK made an operating loss (EBIT) of 449 million pounds in the year ending March 2017. This included a 413 million pound one-off in relation to the British Steel Pension Scheme, which the group has since separated from. Excluding exceptional items, the business made an operating profit of 106 million pounds, but only after European steel prices rose 66 percent, raising doubts over whether earnings can be sustained during a downturn. Tata Steel Europe as a whole, which includes Tata Steel UK, posted core profits (EBITDA) of 536 million pounds in the same year, suggesting its British business accounted for just a fraction. A UK government spokeswoman said: "It's too early to be speculating on the future direction of individual sites. Both Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp have acknowledged the improved performance at Port Talbot over the past 18 months." Thyssenkrupp's steel unit is on average more profitable than Tata EU assets - which have burnt about $1 billion of cash a year over the past decade - giving German unions more muscle to extract job and plant guarantees from management at the expense of Tata Steel jobs. By Tom Hals WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) - Key Safety Systems has agreed to terms on the $1.6 billion purchase of assets of Takata Corp <7312.T>, stricken by a recall of its faulty vehicle air bags, and final documents will be signed in less than two weeks, a lawyer for Takata's U.S. unit said on Monday. Takata and its U.S. unit, TK Holdings Inc, filed for bankruptcy in June and the asset sale to Key Safety Systems, or KSS, is the cornerstone of its plan to raise funds to compensate automakers and drivers. Marcia Goldstein, a lawyer for TK Holdings, told a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Monday that a U.S. deal had been reached and was being reviewed by lawyers in Japan, Germany and elsewhere. "The documentation is fully negotiated, subject only to what all the lawyers agree is clean up," said Goldstein, an attorney with the Weil, Gotshal & Manges law firm. The sale must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, as well as regulators. TK Holdings said when it filed for bankruptcy that final papers on sale to KSS, a Michigan-based parts supplier owned by China's Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp <600699.SS>, would be provided within "a few weeks." Takata in February pleaded in a U.S. federal court to a felony charge as part of a $1 billion settlement that included compensation funds for automakers and victims of its faulty air bag inflators. Under the settlement, the sale to Key Safety Systems must close by Feb. 27. Takata faces tens of billions of dollars in costs and liabilities resulting from almost a decade of recalls and lawsuits. Its air bag inflators have been linked to at least 16 deaths and 180 injuries around the world because they can rupture and send metal fragments flying. KSS plans to take over Takata's viable operations, while the remaining operations will be reorganized to continue churning out millions of replacement inflators, the two firms said. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A gunman on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas Strip casino opened fire on an outdoor music festival, killing at least 50 people - including two off-duty police officers - and wounding more than 100, officials said early Monday. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing when the shots began ringing out Sunday night at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Officers confronted the suspect on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street from the concert, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. Authorities say the man died. Police did not release the suspect's name but said he was a local resident. Concert-goers reported hearing what they described as automatic gun fire during the shooting. Lombardo said they believe this was a "lone wolf" attack but said they were looking for a roommate of the dead suspect as a person of interest. The two slain off-duty officers were attending the concert, Lombardo said. An on-duty officer was in critical condition and another was wounded, Lombardo said. Several officers from California were attending the music festival. A Bakersfield police officer was shot and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and said the shooting was "beyond horrific." Kodiak Yazzie, 36, said he and his girlfriend were watching Aldean's performance when he heard what sounded like fireworks. The music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. Thousands fled as bursts of gunfire could be heard for more than five minutes, Yazzie said. Jose Baggett, 31, a Las Vegas resident, said he and a friend were in the lobby of the Luxor hotel-casino - directly north of the festival - when people began running. He said people were crying and as he and his friend walked away, they encountered police checkpoints where officers were carrying shotguns and assault rifles. "There were armored personnel vehicles, SWAT vehicles, ambulances, and at least a half-mile of police cars," Baggett said. Witnesses said they saw multiple victims and dozens of ambulances near the concert venue. Some attendees later huddled in the basement of the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino. Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15. Flights were temporarily halted at McCarran International Airport because of the shooting, the airport said on its verified Twitter account. A day after Reliance Communications called off its merger talks with Aircel citing 'legal and regulatory' delays, Anil Ambani-led RCom on Monday expanded its board by adding four new board members. Punit Garg, president, telecom Business has been appointed as Executive Director of Reliance Communications. Manikantan V, who is the Chief Financial Officer, has been elevated as Director of the company, the company said in a BSE filing. After its merger plan with Aircel collapsed, Reliance Communications presented an alternative plan for debt reduction by selling company's real estate, tower and fibre business. Suresh Rangachar, who heads the fibre and tower business as Director of Reliance Infratel Ltd (RITL), a subsidiary, has been elevated as Executive Director of RITL. Rangachar has been with the company for the last 17 years. Gurdeep Singh, co-CEO and CEO of the Mobility Business, has also been promoted as Executive Director of Reliance Telecom Ltd, a subsidiary of the firm. Singh has been working with the company for the last 6 years. "Merger of mobile business of RCom and Aircel lapses with mutual consent," the Anil Ambani-led firm said in a statement. "Legal and regulatory uncertainties, and various interventions by vested interests, have caused inordinate delays in receipt of relevant approvals for the proposed transaction," it said. Reliance Communications (RCom), like other telecom operators, has been losing its market share to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio ever since the new entrant in the telecom sector was launched last year. RCom is in debt of about Rs 46,000 crore. RCom and Aircel had signed binding agreements in September 2016 for the merger of mobile business. RCom also blamed high level of competition as one of the reasons for termination of the merger talks. "Unprecedented competitive intensity in the Indian telecom sector together with fresh policy directives, adversely impacting bank financing for this sector, have also seriously affected industry dynamics. As a result of the various factors aforesaid, the merger agreement has lapsed," RCom added. At the Reliance Capital annual general meeting (AGM), Anil Ambani termed falling wireless telephony rates as "creative destruction" and not a "disruptive factor" and said that he would fight the attempts to thwart Reliance Communications' revival strategy. He warned that the consolidation in the telecom industry would lead to a drastic reduction of choice for Indians.The company said that unlimited free voice offers and "irrational pricing" by all industry participants have destroyed profitability of traditional 2G and 3G mobile business. In early July, RCom blamed Jio directly as the reason for financial stress in the telecom industry. "the telecom industry's current financial problem to some extent can be attributed to the entry of a new telecom operator (Jio) and its strategy of offering freebies to gain customer and market share," the company said in a notification to the BSE. RCom has been pursuing a three way merger involving Sistema Shyam Teleservices and Aircel for more than a year. Also, it has been trying to sell the tower unit Reliance Infratel to Canada's Brookfield to partly repay the debt of over Rs 45,000 crore. Anil Ambani's telecom business has been shrinking in big size for last couple of years - RCom made a standalone loss of Rs 1796 crore in the last financial year, compared to its peak profit of Rs 4803 crore in March 2009 and its net sales fell by 35 per cent to Rs 8823 crore in this period. The media reported in May that RCom defaulted on its loan servicing obligations with more than 10 local banks and some of whom categorised the exposure as "special mention account" in their asset books. In June, Anil Ambani said that the lenders have given RCom time until December to sell its towers to Brookfield and merge the wireless business with Aircel. It was claimed that with the deal the debt of RCom will come down to around Rs 20,000 crore, while that of Aircel to around Rs 4,000 crore. RCom now plans to monetise prime real estate in Mumbai and Delhi as well as telecom tower and optic fibre assets by December to avoid lenders converting a part of their debt into equity. The company, however, also said that the combination of the mobile business of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) into RCom will be completed this month. This merger would bring to the company SSTLs valuable spectrum holdings in the 800-850 MHz band, strengthening RComs spectrum portfolio by 30 Mhz as well as extend its spectrum validity period in 8 important circles by another 16 years to 2033. RCom said that its Board of Directors at a meeting held today in Mumbai reviewed the ongoing strategic transformation programme and considered alternative plans for debt reduction. The board decided that RCom will evaluate an alternative plan for its mobile business, through optimisation of its spectrum portfolio and adoption of a 4G focused mobile strategy. "RCom already has the unique advantage of capital light access to Indias most extensive world class nationwide 4G mobile network through spectrum sharing and ICR (intra-circle roaming) Agreements with Reliance Jio," it said. It has spectrum across 800, 900,1800 and 2100 Mhz spectrum bands aggregating 200 Mhz, valued at over Rs 19,000 crore for the balance of validity period, based on last auction pricing. "The company will evaluate opportunities for monetisation of the same through trading and sharing arrangements," the statement said. RCom had defaulted on some of its debt obligation and has been given additional time to service its debt by lenders. "The company continues to be under a standstill period till December 2018 and expects to complete the SDR process as per applicable guidelines," it said. Shareholders of the company at the annual general meeting held on September 26, 2017 have already approved issuance of equity shares to lenders by conversion of loans. RCom said that it will focus on domestic and overseas B2B business. "These B2B businesses generate equal revenues from domestic and overseas operations. As part of the ongoing transformation and in order to enhance value for all stakeholders, the RCom board reaffirmed the focus on these stable, capital light B2B businesses which have sustained and predictable revenues and profits, with immense growth potential," the company said. It also claimed that the firm has made progress on steps to monetise real estate which includes nearly 125 acres of land at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai with development rights of potentially over 17 million square feet and another around central Delhi measuring nearly 4 acres. "Indications of interest from leading developers, and independent third party valuations, have established significantly higher present value monetisation potential of Rs 10,000 crore for the DAKC Complex alone," RCom said. The company also expects to realise Rs 11,000 crore from sale of its tower business. WITH PTI INPUTS Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has publicly apologised for the social-media platform's negative effects and asked for forgiveness for his work that was used to divide people rather than uniting them. Zuckerberg, 33, did not mention any specific incident, but his apology came in the face of mounting evidence that Russians had used Facebook he created more than a decade ago to spread propaganda and influence voter sentiment all to tip the US presidential election in Donald Trump's favour, Washington Post said. He took to his social media account and wrote, "For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better." "For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask for forgiveness and I will work to do better," he wrote in a brief post. Earlier, Facebook had announced it would turn over to Congress copies of more than 3,000 advertisements that a shadowy Russian company bought for USD 100,000 from June 2015 to May 2017. The ads were linked to about 470 fake accounts likely operated out of Russia. Alex Stamos, Facebook's chief security officer, said last month that the vast majority of the ads didn t specifically mention the presidential election, but it touched on divisive topics, such as LGBT rights, race, immigration and gun rights. Facebook had initially declined to share copies of the ads, saying it would compromise user privacy, but Zuckerberg announced a reversal of that decision on September 21, the paper said. "I don't want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy. That's not what we stand for," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook Live video. Zuckerberg acknowledged that the amount of problematic activities Facebook has uncovered is "relatively small", but he vowed that the company will continue to investigate and enhance transparency on who buys political ads. Last year it was expanded to include a broad stage of music, bands (local and non-local) and that expansion continues into the second year of the Block Film Festival to be held this Friday and Saturday in downtown Logan. It started as the Logan Film Festival but organizers soon saw the need to stretch out into a bigger event. One of the people involved, Mason Wendell, was on KVNUs For the People program this past Thursday and told us what we can expect this year. Weve set up this experience where were putting this year 60 films in three theatres. We have over 50 bands and musicians that are scheduled in over six different downtown venues. And last time I checked, its around 30 art gallery installations that are both inside and outside of downtown businesses and thats in conjunction with Cache Valley Center for the Arts Gallery Walk, according to Wendell. He said they will also have a Learn Program that is dedicated to providing educational opportunities which include seven panels. As far as film venues they include the Utah Theatre, the Lyric Theatre and the Dansante. The festival leads with Dying in Vein, an intimate portrait of heroin addiction, recovery and the complicated path that leads from teenaged drug use to addiction. Another film is entitled Superpowerless, directed by a professor from Utah Valley University that tells the story of a superhero having to adjust to normal life after he loses his powers when he turns 40. For more information visit theblockfestival.org With its new office in Switzerland, Unicom Group hopes to further Chinas goals for its Belt and Road initiative by linking up international lines, integrating information technology and developing the internet of things, Chinas ambassador to the European country said. Photo: IC Unicom Group has opened a Swiss office as part of Chinas drive to boost infrastructure development along the old maritime and land-based Silk Roads, in a relatively rare move for the nations insular trio of big state-run telecoms carriers. Chinas second largest carrier by wireless subscribers launched the office in Zurich, Switzerlands largest city and a leader in global finance, according to a posting on the website of Chinas Swiss embassy late last week. In a ceremony to mark the opening, Ambassador Geng Wenbin made reference to the new offices roll in the One Belt, One Road initiative, a signature effort of President Xi Jinping aimed at promoting infrastructure construction in developing nations. Promotion of China-Switzerland cooperation in One Belt, One Road requires a greater level of interconnectedness, Geng said. As one of the worlds important telecoms carriers, Unicom will help to link up international lines, integrate information technology and develop the internet of things and other areas to benefit both countries. Geng did not elaborate further on what specific activities Unicom would engage in from the new office. But Zurichs role as a European and global financial center may mean that infrastructure finance could be part of the equation. China has spent hundreds of billions of dollars over the last two decades to build up state-of-the-art infrastructure, including an immense network of highways and the worlds largest high-speed rail system. The country has also become the worlds largest wireless market and boasts three cutting-edge 4G networks with more than 1.3 billion users combined. Having built all that infrastructure, much by homegrown companies, China now wants to export some of that know-how to other developing markets. To encourage such projects, China has set up institutions like the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to help finance such endeavors. Beijing is also encouraging infrastructure builders and operators like Unicom to become more active abroad. Despite their huge domestic market, Unicom and its two domestic rivals, China Mobile and China Telecom, have largely refrained from overseas expansion or other offshore investment to date. China Mobile has made a few small investments outside the country, all in developing markets. Unicom has also taken on some large foreign carriers as investors in the past, with Spains Telefonica S.A. at one point buying 10% of the company. But those have all ended in disappointment, with the foreign investors selling most or all of their stakes after failing to gain any strategic advantage from the tie-ups. Contact reporter Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) | BY Ricki Green | Virgin Australia has unveiled its new brand platform via DDB Sydney. This is the first campaign Virgin Australia has launched with DDB Sydney as the airlines advertising agency and it will roll out across digital, outdoor, magazines, print, social media and radio. Says Inese Kingsmill, chief marketing officer, Virgin Australia: Our new brand platform, Heres to looking Up, recognises the evolution of Virgin Australia and captures the spirit and values of our people and our guests. Our people are renowned for their positive energy and can-do attitude, so in developing our new brand direction, we wanted to encapsulate this spirit that makes Virgin Australia unique. We couldnt find the right word to embody our belief so in true Virgin Australia style, we created a word that we call Uptimism. We believe that a positive and optimistic approach can open up a world of opportunities and we want this essence to shine through in our guests travel experiences. At a time when there is much uncertainly in the world, we believe that even when times are tough, a positive attitude helps achieve better outcomes. Says Ben Welsh, chief creative officer, DDB Australia: Virgin as a brand is the embodiment of optimism. When you look at Virgin Australias role in society in connecting people with opportunity and their belief in better, you can see how Uptimism felt right. Executionally, we wanted to capture the upbeat excitement of the brand, said Mr Welsh. The TVC was filmed in various locations around Australia including the Blue Mountains and Richmond in Sydney, as well as the Melbourne CBD and airport precinct. It showcases people who have been identified as Uptimists, including 30-year-old rock-climber Andrea Hah from Ninja Warrior, 13-year-old up-and-coming AFL star Jack Peris, GWS Giants players Adam Kennedy and Matt Buntine. Says Welsh: The campaign also features Virgin Australias award-winning crew and team members. Theyre unmistakable, unmissable and they embody the energy and style behind the brand they are Uptimists through and through. In an Australian-first, the Virgin Australia Fan Report was launched at the 2017 Toyota AFL Grand Final, created to gather live data about fan behaviour and demonstrate how it changes and influences a teams success. The results of the Virgin Australia Fan Report were tracked during the Channel 7 broadcast, as well as shared on both AFL and Virgin Australia social platforms. Says Kingsmill: The Virgin Australia Fan Report was designed to determine how Uptimism can contribute to an AFL team winning a premiership. We have the ability to draw on live data such as noise levels, fan heart rate and colours in the stadium, tracking one teams fans versus the other. We are really excited about this innovative tool and its just the tip of the iceberg in terms of measuring the influence Uptimism has on Australian culture. As part of the brand platform launch, eligible Velocity Frequent Flyer members will also receive a personalised eDM detailing their history with the program. Your History of Up is designed by CHE Proximity and highlights various milestones as a Velocity member, plus details about flights taken in the last 12 months including number of hours in the air, and their most popular destination. Says Kingsmill: This personalised communication for Velocity members is our way of saying thank you for their ongoing loyalty with Virgin Australia and our partners. DDB Sydney Hulsbosch Carat | BY Lynchy | IPG Mediabrands has appointed Simon Talvard-Balland as Head of Digital Solutions APAC for the Reprise brand. Reprise is the full service digital performance and experience marketing agency within the IPG Mediabrands group of agencies. At Reprise our purpose is to connect brands with their customers through the right digital experience achieved through an unrivalled understanding of consumer behavior. The head of digital solutions APAC will function as a core catalyst within the APAC regional leadership team to champion world class digital experience and growth of our next generation digital network across the region, and the world. With more than ten years industry experience spanning New York, Paris, Walldorf, Tokyo and Singapore, Talvard-Balland (pictured left) is skilled at leading multi-national teams across search, social media, channel marketing, digital transformation and business development. Having specialised in multiple categories including FMCG, technology, hospitality, health, and automotive, his passion for innovation and diversity led him to spend two years travelling across forty countries as an independent consultant / digital nomad before settling in Asia in 2014. Talvard-Balland joins Reprise from his position as Regional Director Resolution Media where he led the Unilever account across the APAC region. I am both honored and delighted to join IPG Mediabrands APAC. Meeting with Scott (McBride), Leigh (Terry) and Craig (Ellis) stimulated the appetite for a new challenge in an innovative space, and I look forward to us building great things together, said Talvard-Balland. Scott McBride Chief Digital Officer IPG Mediabrands APAC commented, Simon joining the Reprise APAC team marks the evolution of the agency, moreover the beginning of a journey for which Im very excited to enlist the holistic digital experience and channel skills that Simon brings to the network. David Becker/Getty Images Jake Owen and other country stars took to social media Sunday night after apparently witnessing the mass shooting that took place during a country music festival in Las Vegas near the Mandalay Bay Casino. "Gun shots!!! Vegas. Pray to god. Love you guys. Love you Pearl," he tweeted, in reference to his daughter, Olive Pearl. He added, "Praying for everyone here in Vegas. I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Others aren't. Please pray." The shooting erupted during Jason Aldean's set at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a three-day event which featured major stars including Eric Church, Sam Hunt, Maren Morris and Brothers Osborne, Lee Brice, Kane Brown, Michael Ray and Lauren Alaina. Aldean was closing out the festival on Sunday night. "Tonight has been beyond horrific," the two-time ACM Entertainer of the Year said on Instagram. "I still don't know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate." Spent I don't know how long on the floor of a trailer behind the stage... Chris Young -- whos been on tour with Aldean this year -- tweeted. Know multiple people are dead. Listening to that gunfire... I'm literally shaking still. Prayers to everyone at @Route91Harvest in Las Vegas, Dylan Scott shared. We are ok, had literally just left for the airport. What is wrong with this world!! "This world is sick," Kane Brown tweeted. Michael Ray wrote, "My heart is breaking, we were just there Friday! My prayers are with everyone." Luke Combs tweeted, "We're safe. Love you guys." "Praying for everyone at Route 91. That crowd was one of the best I've played all year," tweeted Lauren Alaina. "This news is devastating. My camp is home & safe." Josh Abbott wrote that everyone in his band is accounted for, adding, "They evacuated us from Mandalay. My fiancee is still in room. They won't let me in but she's safe." "Take cover and get safe immediately," tweeted Brothers O. "Prayers to everyone there." Officials at the Las Vegas University Medical Center in Las Vegas told ABC News that 26 patients had been received. Two are dead, and 12 are in critical condition, according to a spokesperson. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. It would, in my opinion, be absurd for the Comcare Act to override the discrimination acts in this way, because it would mean public servants could only sue for unlawful discrimination if it either caused them permanent impairment (for which the Comcare Act provides an exception to section 44), or no injury at all but not for anything in between. One can easily imagine some obscene outcomes if this interpretation was applied in practice: for instance, a public servant is raped at work by their boss and suffers a psychological injury because of it, but because they are not permanently impaired, they are precluded from recovering any compensation from the Commonwealth for their pain and suffering, despite the Commonwealth's clear liability otherwise. THIS WEEK IN CAPE BRETON: Raising the peace flag, reviewing future plans for Centre 200 and more SYDNEY During a time of conflict around the world and with racial tensions on the rise in many parts, its clear there are those who want to find a bright, positive light wherever they can. Over the next several days, the YMCA of Cape Breton will ... 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. When it comes to mid-size sedans, two names are normally at the top of everyones list: Camry and Accord. These two models dominate the segment as Toyota sold 388,616 Camrys in the United States last year, while Honda moved 345,225 Accords. As Honda pointed out in its press briefing in New Hampshire, the Accord alone outsells 30 different brands such as Mazda, MINI, and Fiat. The two models have a bit of sales rivalry and since they were both redesigned for the 2018 model year, we couldnt resist pitting the two vehicles against one another. While the test was short and only good for some initial observations, its clear consumers are going to benefit from the improvements made to both sedans. Without further ado, lets meet out contenders. The Accord I drove for this test was a Touring model equipped with the turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine developing 192 hp (143 kW) and 192 lb-ft (260 Nm) of torque. It was pitted against a Camry SE featuring a 2.5-liter four-cylinder with 203 hp (151 kW) and 184 lb-ft (249 Nm) of torque. The performance figures are pretty close and the driving experience reflects that as both models offered decent acceleration. However, a closer look at the numbers really a weighty difference as the Accord tips the scales at 3,294 lbs (1,494 kg) while the Camry comes in at 3,340 lbs (1,515 kg). Most drivers probably wont notice the difference and surprisingly the Camry is more fuel-efficient as it has an EPA-estimated fuel economy rating of 28 mpg city / 39 mpg highway / 32 mpg combined. For comparison, the Accord gets 29 mpg city / 35 mpg highway / 31 mpg combined. Since its not fair to compare a rental fleet Camry SE to a luxurious Accord Touring, well skip over the tech features and confirm both models have well-built interiors but the Accord has a slight edge in the styling department. Thats a tad subjective but Ive never been a fan of Toyotas overwrought interior design. As for the driving experience, both models offer a comfortable and compliant ride. However, the Accord seems to have the edge in the handling department as the Camry didnt feel quite as connected to the road. The latter model also seemed to exhibit a tad more body roll but, again, this was just a very limited test. Were not going to call a winner at this point but if history is any indication, the Accord and Camry will continue to dominate the sales chart and drivers will be well served with either vehicle. Photo Gallery Given that General Motors shut down the Hummer brand over seven years ago, youd think that the vehicle that started it all would be long since out of production. But youd be mistaken. AM General isnt just still producing them, but producing them hand over fist. In fact it just signed a new contract worth over half a billion dollars in orders. The $550-million contract will see nearly 3,000 of the rough-and-tumble military vehicles sold to US allies around the world, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Jordan, Slovenia, Bahrain, Colombia, Bosnia, and Kenya. The order represents roughly a quarter of the $2.2 billion, 5-year maximum term of the contract that AM General received less than a month ago from the Pentagon as part of the US Armys Foreign Military Sale framework. The overall contract is for 11,560 vehicles which may not sound like that many in the grand scheme of things, but amounts to more than twice as many civilian H1s as GM ever sold under the Hummer brand. At a quarter of the total, this latest order alone amounts to nearly as many H1s as GM sold in the US between 2000 and 2003, inclusively. Those were the Hummer brands most successful years on the consumer market, and the new contract is just for foreign militaries, valuing each at roughly $190,000. Though no longer branded as Hummers, the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) are essentially the same vehicle that launched in 1992 and would later become known on the civilian market as the Hummer H1 popularized by its use in Operation Desert Storm and by celebrities like Arnold Schwarzenegger. General Motors bought the civilian brand in 1999, spinning off of it the smaller Hummer H2 and Hummer H3. But the industrial giant ultimately shut down the Hummer brand (along with Pontiac, Saturn, and Saab) during its bankruptcy restructuring in 2009. AM General continued manufacturing the HMMWV for military applications, just like it always had. The company based in South Bend, Indiana, also builds the new Multi-Purpose Truck platform (also for military applications), the wheelchair-accessible Mobility Ventures MV-1, and the R-Class for Mercedes-Benz (which exports them exclusively to China). Photo Gallery Video American vehicles have never sold exceptionally well in Japan but Jeep has somehow attracted a large following in the country and is selling vehicles in record numbers. In the first eight months of the year, Jeep sold 6,344 vehicles in Japan. While that number is tiny compared to what it sells in the United States, it is significantly ahead of any other U.S. carmaker. In fact, Chevrolet sold only 373 vehicles in the first three months of the year while Cadillac mustered up only 327 sales. In the past eight years, Jeeps popularity has soared in Japan, Automotive News reports. In 2009, it sold less than 1,000 vehicles there but last year, reached a record 9,388 sales thanks largely to the arrival of the Renegade. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles hopes to top five figure sales this year and thanks to the impending rival of a new Compass and Wrangler, delivery figures are expected to rise even further in the coming years. Speaking about the brands success in Japan, FCAs local chief executive Pontus Haggstrom said the key to success in the market is to adapt vehicles to meet the needs of the Japanese. We have to spend money and engineering hours to do it, but we think its worth it. They are things that make our jobs harder and make it more expensive and time-consuming to bring cars to Japan. But are they trade barriers? My honest opinion is, no. Are they excuses for why I cant sell or succeed in Japan? No, he said. Jeeps success in Japan comes at an interesting time for the brand and during a stage where President Trump wants to sell more American-made vehicles in Japan. PHOTO GALLERY A pair of 2018 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 prototypes were recently spied in the midst of testing by Carscoops reader Kyle Thoreen. Chevrolet has been testing the new ZR1 for well over a year and these images appear to confirm previous reports that the car will be offered with at least two different aero kits. One of the prototypes has been fitted with a towering rear wing which will inevitably help to stick the track-focused Corvette to the tarmac. As for the second prototype, it has a much smaller rear wing barely any more prominent than the lip spoiler of the current Corvette Z06. During recent outings at Germanys Nurburgring, it has become increasingly apparent how performance-focused the car will be. Theres even a possibility that Chevrolet will look to set a sub-7-minute lap time at the track but its difficult to imagine it topping the GT2 RSs 6min 47 sec lap record. When the 2018 Corvette ZR1 arrives in showrooms, it is widely expected to use a new LT5, twin-turbo V8 engine with over 700 hp. However, there remains a possibility that the supercharged V8 of the Z06 will be retained and simply upgraded. PHOTO GALLERY VIDEO You wont hear any mention of it in the Western press, but the Chinese media has offered plenty of coverage of the Disney-China Animation Exchange Program, a five-day gathering of Chinese animation executives and producers at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. The most recent edition of the event, which ended last Wednesday, allowed a small group of Chinese animation creators to visit Disney and learn more about the companys creative approach and production pipelines, as well as best practices for marketing and distribution. Some of the participants can be heard from in this news story: The Exchange Program is the brainchild of Disney and Pixar Animation chief creative officer John Lasseter, who came up with the idea after the Chinese publicity tour for Big Hero 6, during which he was repeatedly asked if Disney would open a Chinese facility. Evans says that he grew up a fan of the California Raisins and Vintons Eighties tv holiday special A Claymation Christmas Celebration, but hadnt considered Vintons story until he ran across this story about him. The nostalgia of Wills work brought me right back to being a kid and discovering his work for the first time, Evans told Cartoon Brew. What sold me though is that Will has truly a great story. I dont want to give away too much of the movie for people that dont know the story, but I became really excited about the potential for a movie when I realized how much material there is to work with. Evans pitched Vinton on the idea for the film over coffee in Portland, but Vinton turned him down, saying he wasnt interested in the idea of a documentary. Over time and with Evans persistence Vinton warmed to the idea, and eventually gave Evans the rights to produce the film, along with unprecedented access to his personal archives. Its been nothing but fantastic working with him, says Evans. Weve interviewed him four times, spent time at his home with his familyHes just such a nice guy and always available when we need him for an interview or just to meet up about the project. Hes really let me and the crew go off and do our thing, but anytime we need something such as an introduction to somebody wed like to interview, hes always super helpful. Evans has already recorded interviews with dozens of Vintons associates, friends, and colleagues, among them former Vintoners like Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett, Oscar-winning animator Joan Gratz, Strata-cut animation inventor David Daniels, Rogue One animation supervisor Hal Hickel, and animator Chuck Duke (Isle of Dogs, Frankenweenie, Fantastic Mr. Fox). Evans tells us that there is still a lot of filming left to do, including more interviews and creative scene re-enactments. He will also use archival footage, and plans to produce original stop-motion segments with two new characters Lodge and Randy who live inside Vintons head and represent the left and right sides of his brain. Will Laika chiefs Travis and Phil Knight participate in the documentary as well? Evans certainly hopes so. We have not connected with them yet, he says, but Im very hopeful to have their participation in the film. I really admire what Travis has done with Laika, and am of course a fan of his work. Evans is designing the film so that it will interest the widest possible audience, even those who arent necessarily familiar with Vintons body of work. Its my goal that we tell a great story and make a great movie, as exciting and entertaining as any film about a guy thats setting off to achieve an impossible dream, he says. At its core, thats really what we have here: a protagonist that sets off to follow his dream, and the accolades and obstacles along the way. I think this story has a really interesting arc to it that will hopefully draw people in outside of just animation fans. The project until now has been self-funded. Evans plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign in the near future to help raise additional funding to complete the film. To get updates on the films production, stay tuned to the official film website and Facebook page. Crime Stoppers is asking the publics assistance in locating the following female who is wanted on a province-wide warrant as of October 2, 2017. Danielle Lynn Pedersen (DOB 1987-03-10) is wanted for one count of theft under $5000 and one count of breach of undertaking. Pedersen is described as a 30-year-old Caucasian female, 54 tall and 130 lbs. She has blonde hair and hazel eyes. Crime Stoppers will pay cash for information leading to the arrest of this suspect. If you see her, do not approach her. Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, go to www.crimestoppers.net or text to CRIMES (274637) Keyword: ktown. RCMP File # 2016-18152 Photo: Crime Stoppers Kelowna's most wanted is Danielle Lynn Pedersen. This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Photo: Home Depot The Home Depot Canada Foundation has given $50,000 to The Canadian Mental Health Association for Foundry Kelowna. The grant is part of The Orange Door Project grant program, which supports repairs, renovations and modifications to accommodations or other support facilities for homeless youth. The money was used to construct the teaching kitchen and resource room at Foundry. "This generous funding ... has directly helped to create a safe and welcoming space designed by and for youth, says Shelagh Turner, executive director of CMHA Kelowna. It provides access to programming, relationships, and supports that will help them to live their best life possible. We are so proud to support CMHA Kelowna with their kitchen and resource rooms at Foundry Kelowna, said Jeff Kinnaird of Home Depot Canada. Photo: Contributed I learned some new things recently, and remembered something Id forgotten: YouTube has keyboard shortcuts. You can recover from a too-aggressive Google Contacts clear out. Windows Update broke Internet Explorer. Again. But you can fix that. Or you can use a decent browser. You dont need a mouse to navigate YouTube I like keyboard shortcuts, and I have no idea how I managed not to know that YouTube offers several useful ones. What do you want to do? Place the mouse cursor in the video, and try these key combinations. (Some only work when the video is paused. Others work at any time. Experiment!) Action Key Play or pause video Space bar or k Go back 5 seconds Left arrow Go back 5 seconds Left arrow Go back 10 seconds J Go ahead 5 seconds Right arrow Go ahead 10 seconds l Go to a section of the video Numbers 1 9 on top row, not number pad (5 goes to 50%, 9 goes to 90%, etc.) Go to the beginning of the video 0 or Home key Go to the end of the video End key Increase volume Up arrow Decrease volume Down arrow Mute m Turn captions on/off c Go full screen f Quit full screen Esc Im sure there are more shortcuts out there. Send email to me at [email protected] and Ill share in a future column. Thanks to faithful reader Eric for sending along the first batch. You can easily recover your deleted Google Contacts if you are quick Every so often I clean out my Google Contacts. Sometimes I delete a contact or a group I meant to save. Whoops! It turns out you can go back in time and undo those changes. Better still, its easy. In your browser, head over to the Google Contacts page. If youre using the new layout: Click on the three horizontal lines at the top left of the window (Thats called the hamburger menu.) Scroll down to Undo changes and click there Choose your timeframe Click on Confirm If youre using the old-style contact layout: Click on More near the top of the window Click on Restore Contacts Choose your timeframe Click on Confirm Holy smokes what a time saver. You can hide the Search Bar in Internet Explorer for Windows 10 again A Windows Update on Sept.12 changed the look of Internet Explorer in Windows 10. Microsoft really, really, really wants you to have a Search bar in the upper right corner of the IE Window. If you hid that thing months ago, you probably dont even remember how you did it, and now its back. Banish it again: Open Internet Explorer Right-click on an empty space near the tabs Clear the check box next to "Show tabs on a separate row" Youre done. At least for now. If youd like to try a better, faster, more secure, more flexible browser, consider Google Chrome, available here, or Mozilla Firefox, here. Internet Explorer is terrible on modern versions of Windows, and dangerous on anything else. Read why here, or just take my word for it. This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Alanna Kelly Winter weather has made a return in Kelowna on the first day of October. A short hail storm made its way through Kelowna at noon on Sunday. Light rain was expected on Sunday with a high of 10 degrees and the hail only lasted a few moments. Big White Ski Resort posted on social media that it got quite a dumping of snow as well. See you later summer, winter is on its way! said Big White Ski Resort. Its still puking hard. The resort got more than two centimetres of snow overnight. Alanna Kelly The Porsche Club B.C. Interior Region asked drivers to fill their frunks with donations for the Kelowna Food Bank on Sunday. Over 25 drivers showed up to participate filling their vehicles with items for those in need. We thought we would get together and fill a frunk, said Brad Pape PCA Interior Region president. At first glance it may look as if the front trunks cannot fit much, they actually are quite large. They are pretty deep, almost like a regular car truck but they are vertical," he said. Pape said normally they only have 17 drivers out for their meetings so to have even more people come out and participate is amazing. "I think it is important for everybody in the community to get together and give to people that are less fortunate," he said. Alanna Kelly Hundreds of runners gathered together to race like Wonder Woman on Sunday. The Canadian Cancer Society's CIBC Run for the Cure took place in Kelowna and asked people to dress up like the comic book character. We wanted to choose a theme that would showcase the strength, power and resilience that so many of these women and men have shown, because we all have a Wonder Woman inside us, said Deina Albrecht, run director. Attendance was down from previous years, but participants were able to raise more money. "I think this year we raised over $120,000," said cancer survivor Kirsten Brown. Brown said coming out the other side, you feel stronger than ever before. "I did eight rounds of chemo and six weeks of radiation, and had a double mastectomy. It is a very empowering experience," said Brown. "If you can make it through that, you can make it through anything." For more information or to donate, visit this link. Photo: Randy Millis Vehicle that went over an embankment in West Kelowna. A vehicle drove over an embankment in West Kelowna, Sunday afternoon. The incident happened at about 1:35 p.m., at Boucherie Rd. and Green Bay Rd. and no one appeared to be injured, according to a bystander. The vehicle flipped upside down, crushing the hood. RCMP, fire crews and ambulance were on scene. If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,... Sign up for our newsletter Figure 3. The circadian clock anticipates and adapts our physiology to the different phases of the day. Our biological clock helps to regulate sleep patterns, feeding behavior, hormone release, blood pressure, and body temperature. Figure 2A. A simplified illustration of the feedback regulation of the period gene. The figure shows the sequence of events during a 24h oscillation. When the period gene is active, period mRNA is made. The mRNA is transported to the cell's cytoplasm and serves as template for the production of PER protein. The PER protein accumulates in the cell's nucleus, where the period gene activity is blocked. This gives rise to the inhibitory feedback mechanism that underlies a circadian rhythm. Figure 1. An internal biological clock. The leaves of the mimosa plant open towards the sun during day but close at dusk (upper part). Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan placed the plant in constant darkness (lower part) and found that the leaves continue to follow their normal daily rhythm, even without any fluctuations in daily light. Life on Earth is adapted to the rotation of our planet. For many years we have known that living organisms, including humans, have an internal, biological clock that helps them anticipate and adapt to the regular rhythm of the day. But how does this clock actually work? Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young were able to peek inside our biological clock and elucidate its inner workings. Their discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the Earth's revolutions. Using fruit flies as a model organism, this year's Nobel laureates isolated a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night, and is then degraded during the day. Subsequently, they identified additional protein components of this machinery, exposing the mechanism governing the self-sustaining clockwork inside the cell. We now recognize that biological clocks function by the same principles in cells of other multicellular organisms, including humans. With exquisite precision, our inner clock adapts our physiology to the dramatically different phases of the day. The clock regulates critical functions such as behavior, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism. Our wellbeing is affected when there is a temporary mismatch between our external environment and this internal biological clock, for example when we travel across several time zones and experience "jet lag". There are also indications that chronic misalignment between our lifestyle and the rhythm dictated by our inner timekeeper is associated with increased risk for various diseases. Our inner clock Most living organisms anticipate and adapt to daily changes in the environment. During the 18th century, the astronomer Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan studied mimosa plants, and found that the leaves opened towards the sun during daytime and closed at dusk. He wondered what would happen if the plant was placed in constant darkness. He found that independent of daily sunlight the leaves continued to follow their normal daily oscillation (Figure 1). Plants seemed to have their own biological clock. Other researchers found that not only plants, but also animals and humans, have a biological clock that helps to prepare our physiology for the fluctuations of the day. This regular adaptation is referred to as the circadian rhythm, originating from the Latin words circa meaning "around" and dies meaning "day". But just how our internal circadian biological clock worked remained a mystery. Identification of a clock gene During the 1970's, Seymour Benzer and his student Ronald Konopka asked whether it would be possible to identify genes that control the circadian rhythm in fruit flies. They demonstrated that mutations in an unknown gene disrupted the circadian clock of flies. They named this gene period. But how could this gene influence the circadian rhythm? This year's Nobel Laureates, who were also studying fruit flies, aimed to discover how the clock actually works. In 1984, Jeffrey Hall and Michael Rosbash, working in close collaboration at Brandeis University in Boston, and Michael Young at the Rockefeller University in New York, succeeded in isolating the period gene. Jeffrey Hall and Michael Rosbash then went on to discover that PER, the protein encoded by period, accumulated during the night and was degraded during the day. Thus, PER protein levels oscillate over a 24-hour cycle, in synchrony with the circadian rhythm. A self-regulating clockwork mechanism The next key goal was to understand how such circadian oscillations could be generated and sustained. Jeffrey Hall and Michael Rosbash hypothesized that the PER protein blocked the activity of the period gene. They reasoned that by an inhibitory feedback loop, PER protein could prevent its own synthesis and thereby regulate its own level in a continuous, cyclic rhythm (Figure 2A). The model was tantalizing, but a few pieces of the puzzle were missing. To block the activity of the period gene, PER protein, which is produced in the cytoplasm, would have to reach the cell nucleus, where the genetic material is located. Jeffrey Hall and Michael Rosbash had shown that PER protein builds up in the nucleus during night, but how did it get there? In 1994 Michael Young discovered a second clock gene, timeless, encoding the TIM protein that was required for a normal circadian rhythm. In elegant work, he showed that when TIM bound to PER, the two proteins were able to enter the cell nucleus where they blocked period gene activity to close the inhibitory feedback loop (Figure 2B). Such a regulatory feedback mechanism explained how this oscillation of cellular protein levels emerged, but questions lingered. What controlled the frequency of the oscillations? Michael Young identified yet another gene, doubletime, encoding the DBT protein that delayed the accumulation of the PER protein. This provided insight into how an oscillation is adjusted to more closely match a 24-hour cycle. The paradigm-shifting discoveries by the laureates established key mechanistic principles for the biological clock. During the following years other molecular components of the clockwork mechanism were elucidated, explaining its stability and function. For example, this year's laureates identified additional proteins required for the activation of the period gene, as well as for the mechanism by which light can synchronize the clock. Keeping time on our human physiology The biological clock is involved in many aspects of our complex physiology. We now know that all multicellular organisms, including humans, utilize a similar mechanism to control circadian rhythms. A large proportion of our genes are regulated by the biological clock and, consequently, a carefully calibrated circadian rhythm adapts our physiology to the different phases of the day (Figure 3). Since the seminal discoveries by the three laureates, circadian biology has developed into a vast and highly dynamic research field, with implications for our health and wellbeing. Advocates for children's health started worrying months ago that congressional incompetence would jeopardize the nation's one indisputable health care success the Children's Health Insurance Program, which has reduced the uninsured rate among kids to 5 percent from 14 percent over the two decades of its existence. Their fears turned out to be true. Funding for CHIP ran out on Saturday, and no vote on reestablishing the program's $15-billion appropriation is expected for at least a week, probably longer. That's the case even though CHIP is one of the few federal programs that has enjoyed unalloyed bipartisan support since its inception in 1997. The consequences will be dire in many states, which will have to curtail or even shut down their children's health programs until funding is restored. Hanging in the balance is care for 9 million children and pregnant women in low-income households. Advertisement What happened? The simple answer is that congressional Republicans' last harebrained attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act got in the way. A funding bill for CHIP seemed to be well on its way to enactment until a week or so ago. That's when the effort to pass the egregious Cassidy-Graham repeal bill sucked all the air out of the legislative room. There are huge ramifications in pretty much every state across the country. Bruce Lesley, president of children's advocacy group First Focus Agreement on a bill had been reached in mid-September by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). "Momentum was building," says Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus, a children's advocacy group in Washington. Then came Cassidy-Graham, and "we couldn't even get a meeting," Lesley says. "No one was even taking our calls." Advertisement The impact of delay varies by state, because states are able to apply unspent CHIP money in any fiscal year to the next year. But even those with money in their coffers can't escape the consequences of Congress' inaction. Because they can't merely assume that Congress will eventually get around to reauthorizing the funding, they have to start planning to shut down their programs now, or reallocate funding from other social programs. According to Medicaid officials, who manage CHIP from the federal end, California, Arizona, Minnesota and North Carolina will run out of CHIP funding by December or early in January. Half the states won't make it beyond the first three months of 2018. Some will run out of money next week. "There are huge ramifications in pretty much every state across the country," Lesley says. Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper warned her congressional delegation on Sept. 13 that the state's $115-million allotment for CHIP would run out this weekend, throwing health care for low-income children, infants and pregnant women into chaos. The only way to save their care, even temporarily, would be through an intricate series of funding shifts it took Piper two densely worded paragraphs to explain. Utah sent a warning Sept. 15 to Medicaid administrators that the state would have to roll up CHIP starting immediately if funding wasn't enacted by Saturday. Utah's senior senator is Hatch, who co-founded CHIP with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) in 1997 and has called providing children's health care "a moral responsibility," but couldn't manage to move a funding bill to the floor in time. In today's dysfunctional political environment, even the traditional bipartisan support for CHIP has come apart at the seams. The Affordable Care Act bumped up all CHIP allocations to states by 23 percentage points from 2014 through 2019, bringing the total federal share to 100 percent for some poorer states such as Mississippi and West Virginia, and no less than 88 percent for all others. The Children's Health Insurance Program has brought healthcare to millions of kids. Why was it so hard for Congress to make sure its funding was secure? (Kaiser Family Foundation ) That enhanced funding became a bone of contention for congressional conservatives, who wanted the increase axed outright. Supporters of children's health, meanwhile, wanted the increase made permanent. The compromise reached between Hatch and Wyden will kill the increase, but wind down the funding over four years instead of immediately. By the way, if you're wondering why former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who resigned Friday, didn't bother to sound the alarm about CHIP funding, which falls within his bailiwick, consider that as a Georgia legislator he voted twice against expanding the program in his state. Losing the 23-point bump will be costly across the board. California, as the largest state, would lose more than $600 million of a federal grant that reached $2.7 billion in the current year. But if the cut were enacted this year, Mississippi's appropriation would fall to about $243 million from $317 million, money it can ill afford to go without. Advertisement The main problem facing CHIP, however, is congressional resistance to making it permanent. Under current law, the program has to be reauthorized every few years; Saturday's deadline was the product of a two-year extension negotiated in 2015, the most recent episode of brinkmanship over whether Congress would act in time to avoid disruption. This time it failed. Obamacare bumped up the federal share of CHIP funding by 23 percentage points, bringing it to 100% for some poor states (orange band). A congressional compromise would remove the increase over four years and reduce federal funding for the traditional federal share of Medicaid. (Congressional Research Service ) To avoid the chaos, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), a nonpartisan congressional advisory body, recommended in January that CHIP be extended by five years to 2022, the better to inoculate the program from "heightened uncertainty about the stability of the exchange market" and proposals to "change the structure and financing of the Medicaid program." MACPAC also recommended extending the 23-point funding bump to 2022 and eliminating a six-month waiting period imposed on children who lose employer-sponsored insurance. Is there any more poignant example of how Congress' wasteful partisanship affects ordinary Americans? It's hard to imagine one. If the lawmakers can't act in support of a program that was enacted in a spirit of bipartisanship and serves the most truly defenseless members of society, there's no hope for them. Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltzik's blog. Washington A 29-year-old bank teller stole more than $185,000 from a homeless customer who tried to deposit a garbage bag full of cash at a Wells Fargo branch in Georgetown, according to court filings and attorneys in the case. In a deal with prosecutors, Phelon Davis of District Heights, Md., last week pleaded guilty to one federal felony count of interstate transportation of stolen property, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Advertisement The victim was unnamed in court filings but was described as a homeless street vendor and longtime Wells Fargo customer who had more than one account that had gone dormant because of a lack of activity. Court filings did not identify the customer or say why a homeless person would have a large amount of cash in a bag when he showed up at the branch where Davis worked. Outside the courtroom, Davis' attorney, Bruce Allen Johnson Jr., said he also did not know how the individual came to have the cache of cash. "That's the million-dollar question," Johnson said. Advertisement In plea papers, Davis acknowledged that the customer had "thousands of dollars of cash" that he wanted to deposit in October 2014, but he lacked identification. Davis told the customer where to get ID documents and a Social Security card, and also noted the customer "had a surprisingly large balance with the bank," according to a signed, three-page statement of the crime. On two consecutive days that October, Davis fraudulently opened a new account by forging the customer's signature, set up an ATM card, personal identification number, email address and online login that Davis controlled, and funded the account with $3,000 from one of the customer's other accounts, according to the court filing. Over the next two years, the filing disclosed, Davis transferred $177,400 between the customer's accounts, withdrew $185,440, and transported at least $5,000 from automated teller machines in the District of Columbia across state lines to his home in Maryland, the basis of the federal charge. The customer did not receive mailed statements, use email or have access to a computer and so remained oblivious. The customer could see the balance of only one of the checking accounts at an ATM, Davis and prosecutors agreed. Davis used the stolen money for the down payment on his home, to pay off personal debt, and to fund vacations in Aruba, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Court documents did not say how Davis was caught. He was charged July 19. As part of his plea, Davis agreed to pay back the stolen money, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kondi Kleinman said he would probably face a sentence of 18 to 30 months under federal guidelines. U.S. District Judge Emmett Sullivan of the District would be free to go higher or lower. "Did you, in fact, take money from an account as Mr. Kleinman described?" U.S. Magistrate Robin Meriweather asked in the Thursday plea hearing. Advertisement "Yes, ma'am, I did," said the soft-spoken Davis. Davis's attorney, Johnson, said outside of court that "he greatly regrets the decisions he made and is dedicated to doing everything he can to make it right, including restitution. He is putting everything aside to repay the money and do what he can to repair what he's done to his name, his reputation and to the victim." A sentencing date has not been set. Washington The Supreme Court justices returned to the bench Monday ready to argue and disagree sharply along usual ideological lines on a basic question of workers' rights in the 21st Century. Can employees join together to argue their company is violating the law by denying them overtime pay or minimum wages or by discriminating against women or minorities? To the court's four liberal justices, this looked like a case of back to the future. Early in the 20th Century, companies often required workers to waive their rights to join a union or take collective action. Those agreements were referred to as "yellow dog contracts," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted. In 1935, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Congress adopted the National Labor Relations Act, which guaranteed workers a right to join a union and to take "other concerted activities" to protect their interests. The yellow dog contract became a thing of the past. In the past decade, however, a growing number of companies have started to require employees to waive their rights to sue in court or join class-action cases and agree instead to arbitrate disputes as individuals. Under these rules, employees are barred from joining co-workers to seek overtime pay or other benefits promised by law. About 60 million nonunionized private sector workers are bound by arbitration clauses that's about half the private-sector labor force and 25 million of them must bring their claims as individuals. Companies say arbitration is more efficient and less costly than going to court, and that a worker retains the right to bring an individual claim. Workers' rights advocates say that as a practical matter, an employee will not contest the legality of a company policy if he or she must do so alone. As a legal matter, the case involves a conflict between two major laws the National Labor Relations Act and the Federal Arbitration Act, passed in 1925, which generally encourages the use of arbitration as a substitute for lawsuits. In Monday's case, the Trump administration's top lawyer and a former Bush administration attorney, now representing private companies, made a joint appearance, urging the court to uphold the individual arbitration rule and bar workers from joining together to bring legal claims. If the two laws conflict, the arbitration rules should be upheld, they said. "The tie goes to arbitration," said Paul Clement, former U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush. Jeffrey Wall, the new deputy solicitor general, agreed, pointing to the Federal Arbitration Act of 1925. The arbitration law makes it "clear that these agreements ought to be enforced," he said. The liberal justices strongly disagreed. "What you are saying is overturning labor law that goes back to FDR at least, the entire heart of the New Deal," said Justice Stephen G. Breyer. Ginsburg said the 1925 arbitration law concerned merchants who were making commercial deals. By contrast, for employees today, "there is no true bargaining. It's the employer who says that if you want to work here, you sign this," she said. "This is truly a situation where there is strength in numbers," she added. "That was the core idea of the NLRA." Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan also insisted the 1930s-era laws make clear employers cannot require workers to waive their rights to bring joint claims. But as soon as the general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board rose to the lectern to argue in favor of the labor law, the court's conservative justices pounced. Richard Griffin Jr., an Obama appointee, said the labor board was right to reject employment contracts that forbid employees from bringing joint claims. "I'm not sure I fully understand your position," said Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. If arbitration is legal for employees, he asked, why should they be able to ignore the rule requiring disputes be resolved individually?. Justice Samuel Alito said the court had upheld arbitration agreements in a variety of contexts. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy suggested a middle-ground solution: Disgruntled workers could hire the same lawyer, who could then file a series of individual arbitration claims on their behalf. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch sat silently, but their votes could create a conservative majority to uphold company rules that bar workers from joining together in legal claims. The justices have agreed to decide three separate cases, all involving claims for overtime pay. NLRB vs. Murphy Oil came from gas station workers in Alabama. Ernest & Young vs. Morris came from several accountants in northern California and Epic Systems vs. Lewis came from technical writers in Wisconsin. david.savage@latimes.com Treasure Island Foods plans to open its first new location since 2009 in summer 2018 in Chicagos Uptown neighborhood, part of the companys efforts to evolve and grow in a fiercely competitive industry. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) Treasure Island Foods plans to open its first new location since 2009 in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood next summer, part of the company's efforts to evolve and grow in a fiercely competitive industry. Similar to chains like Mariano's and Whole Foods Market, Treasure Island is expanding prepared food and beverage offerings with higher profit margins at the perimeter of stores. At the recently remodeled Gold Coast location, lunch hour shoppers dined Monday on panini sandwiches, freshly made pastas and juices a glimpse of what Uptown shoppers may experience when the store opens next summer as part of the luxury apartment development at Montrose and Clarendon avenues. Advertisement The 32,000-square-foot Uptown store will offer even more amenities, such as a full bar and a "produce butcher" to peel, slice and dice fruits and veggies for shoppers, said Christ Kamberos, vice president of business development for the Chicago-based, family-owned company. "This is not a reaction (to other grocery stores). Our company was built on innovation and we continue to be a market leader," Kamberos said. Advertisement Kamberos declined to disclose revenue or profit figures for the privately held company, saying only that sales and profits were growing. Treasure Island, which claims to be "America's Most European Supermarket," has seven locations in the Chicago area. Uptown will be number eight. Treasure Island plans to accelerate the pace of remodelings and store openings in the coming years, he said. While Treasure Island's shift toward in-store experience is in line with how other retailers are responding to today's consumers, who tend to buy less packaged food in the center-store aisles than previous generations and more fresh food on the perimeters. With the rise of e-commerce, grocery stores also are scrambling to find the right platform for online grocery shopping. Currently, dry goods from Treasure Island are available for online delivery via Google Express. But Kamberos said the company will announce a new e-commerce option next year that will include delivery of perishable food. Treasure Island is "exceptionally well-positioned to grow," in part because of how its high-end offerings appeal to millennial shoppers, said Jon Hauptman, a senior director of retail for grocery consulting firm Willard Bishop. "They're much more focused on unique solutions rather than just packages of groceries. The folks who won't be growing are the stores that have the same products as everyone else," Hauptman said. Uptown, a North Side neighborhood that's struggled over the years with poverty and lack of economic investment, has also seen a resurgence in young professionals in their 20s and 30s moving to the area. Treasure Island represents another option for shoppers to buy groceries locally instead of traveling to other neighborhoods, said Ald. James Cappleman, 46th. An economically diverse neighborhood with a growing number of young professionals, Uptown also needs a diverse mix of business and housing, he said. Advertisement The Treasure Island store will be on the ground level of a luxury apartment building with 381 rental units. The city approved $15.9 million in tax increment financing for the project. As part of the agreement, developers have agreed to contribute $5.7 million to the city's affordable housing fund, fund $4.6 million in improvements to nearby Clarendon Park and to make 20 of the rental units affordable relative to the area median income, the city said. Treasure Island was founded in 1963 by Christ Kamberos Sr., who died in 2009, and his brother Frank Kamberos. Christ Kamberos Sr.'s wife, Maria Kamberos, is the company's CEO. An earlier version of this story failed to list both Treasure Island founders. gtrotter@chicagotribune.com Twitter @GregTrotterTrib Cher has filed a lawsuit against Patrick Soon-Shiong, alleging fraudulent concealment and breach of fiduciary duty over the sale of her shares in the biopharmaceutical company Altor. (AFP / Getty Images) Performer Cher filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, alleging that Los Angeles billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and others duped her into selling her shares in a promising drug company at a fraction of the stock's value. In January 2016, Cher sold her shares in a Florida-based biopharmaceutical company, Altor, at $1.50 each for a total of $450,000 which the suit described as "an unreasonably below-market price." She sold her shares back to the company. Advertisement Soon-Shiong, through his firm NantCell, acquired the outstanding shares of Altor in 2016 for about $15 million. The suit contends that Altor now is worth "over $1 billion." The suit contends that when Cher was asked to sell her shares she was not told that compounds of an Altor drug were showing promise in treating cancer and AIDS/HIV in clinical trials. Other minority shareholders have separately sued over the deal. Advertisement The lawsuit alleges fraudulent concealment and breach of fiduciary duty. In addition to Soon-Shiong, defendants include Altor Acquisition LLC, Altor cofounder Hing C. Wong and Fred Middleton, a vice chairman of Altor's board. The suit asks for damages and attorney fees and costs. "The lawsuit has no merit. We intend to vigorously defend against it," Soon-Shiong's spokesman Michael Sitrick said in a statement. A person close to the situation said Soon-Shiong was not aware that Cher was an investor nor did he approach her about selling her interest. Cher bought her stake in the company in 2013 through the Inshallah Trust, of which she is the trustee. The lawsuit did not say how much she paid for her minority stake in the company; the person close to the situation said Cher and others paid about 50 cents a share for their Altor holdings. Middleton, in a statement to the Times on Sunday, said the 2016 stock sales came after a small group of investors, including two board members, became unhappy with the direction of the company. The board members were Boyden Gray and Adam Waldman, an attorney and advisor to Cher. Middleton said that they wanted to sell their stakes in the company and negotiated the price of the shares. "Cher decided to sell her shares in January 2016 [after] she made a substantial profit in less than three years," Middleton said. "Her decision to sell was completely discretionary as she was under no duress to sell." By that time, Altor's management had been encouraging Soon-Shiong to buy out the shares of the restive investors, Middleton said. Soon-Shiong agreed to purchase his initial shares in the company for $1.50 apiece. He became a shareholder in early 2016, investing $50 million in the company. Advertisement Earlier this year, Soon-Shiong's Nantcell bought Altor for $2 a share. Minority shareholders approved the deal, Middleton said. Soon-Shiong is a major stockholder of media company Tronc Inc., which owns the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. meg.james@latimes.com @MegJamesLAT Surveillance photos of a man who police say has broken into at least three downtown offices or restaurants since early August. (Surveillance photos via Chicago police) Chicago police on Monday released surveillance photos of a man who's broken into at least three restaurants or offices downtown since early August in the overnight hours. The man has broken door looks to get into businesses and stolen or tried to steal items, according to a police alert. Advertisement The most recent burglary took place Sept. 24, with earlier break-ins Aug. 6 and Aug. 3, police said. In the most recent burglary, about 3:30 a.m. Sept. 24 in the first block of North Michigan Avenue, near Madison Street, a cash register was damaged but no items were reported missing. Advertisement In a burglary about 5:20 a.m. Aug. 6, in the same Michigan Avenue block, a safe containing cash was stolen. And in the first break-in, about 9:15 p.m. Aug. 3 in the 100 block of North Franklin Street, a cellphone and computer equipment were stolen and a cash register damaged, police said. The burglar is described as a black man with black hair, age 25 to 30, standing 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11 and weighing 180 to 200 pounds. In both surveillance photos, which appear to be of different incidents at the same business, the man appears to have his hair in short braids. In one photo, he is wearing dark pants and a dark, short-sleeved shirt with a white pattern on it; in another, he is wearing dark pants and a dark short-sleeved shirt, possibly a button shirt with a collar. Anyone with information about the burglaries is asked to contact Area Central detectives at 312-747-8384. WEST LOOP If you're fixing for a burger, Small Cheval will open its second location, this one at 150 N. Riverside Plaza, by the end of October. The restaurant's third location, at 1345 N. Wells St. in Old Town, may open in early December, so get ready to pump some fries and aioli into your system. 150 N. Riverside Plaza and 1345 N. Wells St. SOUTH LOOP Pad thai and sushi come together at Mai Tai, which features lunch specials for those working downtown. Other menu items include curries, fried rice and other pan-Asian favorites. 614 S. Wabash Ave. 312-583-9633, www.maitaichicago.com. Advertisement LOOP A third Beatrix Market has opened, featuring large self-serve salad, soup and hot food bars. The location will also have rotating chef-prepared salads, sandwiches and snacks, as well as nuts, chocolates and candies. 155 N. Wacker Drive, www.beatrixchicago.com. GOLD COAST Marisol, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago's new restaurant helmed by Jason Hammel, has opened The Street, its quick, casual counter service option. The Street will serve breakfast and lunch, like sunflower granola, a breakfast sandwich, pastries, soups and avocado toast. Tea and coffee will also be available. 205 E. Pearson St., 312-799-3599, www.marisolchicago.com. Advertisement WEST TOWN Offering up its popular salads and warm grain bowls, Sweetgreen opened last week in Fulton Market. It's the salad chain's third Chicago location, with a fourth anticipated to open near Millennium Park. 1000 W. Randolph St., 312-471-0200. THE LOOP Mix up your lunch routine with Cuban sandwiches, salad and rice bowls at Cubano Latin Street Food. Breakfast includes items like chorizo con huevos or Cubano coffee. Round out your meal with sides like fries and plantains. 176 N. Wells St., 312-285-2996, cubanostreetfood.com. WEST TOWN Rascal Flatts may be opening a country music-themed restaurant, but no date has been set yet, Crain's has reported. The country music band said in a Mississippi radio interview that the restaurant will be a place where you can go with your family to enjoy a nice meal and live music. Corner of West Fulton Market and South Green Street. RIVER WEST San Soo Gab San will open a new location downtown and rebrand as San Soo Korean BBQ, according to a report by Eater. Offering up popular items like kalbi and bulgogi, it will also add newer items like hard-shell Korean tacos and cocktails, rather than beer. Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > LAKEVIEW The Crepe Shop has opened, offering both savory and sweet crepes, as well as coffee, DNAinfo reported. The restaurant also plans to serve gluten-free options. 2928 N. Broadway, 773-857-0018. WICKER PARK Mana Food Bar will add a separate restaurant option within, offering hand rolls filled with seafood and rice wrapped in nori, Chicago Magazine reported. Anaba Handroll Bar will also have dipping sauces to go with the hand rolls. 1742 W. Division St., 773-342-1742 ICYMI SKOKIE Sugo Italian Street Food will move into the former Kabul House space. It will serve customizable lunch options and have a small grocery area with grab-and-go items. LOGAN SQUARE Cemitas Puebla in Logan Square has closed. Advertisement MORGAN PARK Snappers Seafood & Chicken is closing, DNAinfo reported. Although 13 other Snappers restaurants are operated by the owners' family in Miami, the two brothers who opened the Chicago location said it never caught on. gwong@chicagotribune.com Twitter @GraceWong630 Sea salt goses and tropical IPAs can be fantastic, but once the leaves begin to change, many drinkers start looking for stronger beers aged in wood. That's often a porter or imperial stout that pulls flavors from bourbon or whiskey barrels. But it can also be a tart autumnal ale that gets funky, woody flavors from aging in oak. Here are a few barrel-aged beers you'd be wise to look for this autumn. - Ballast Point High West Barrel Aged Victory at Sea: Last October, Constellation Brands, the parent company of Ballast Point and Corona, purchased Utah's High West craft whiskey distillery for $160 million. This year, Ballast Point began aging its Victory at Sea coffee porter in High West barrels. (Ah, corporate synergy!) Victory at Sea has previously been aged in a variety of barrels, including Heaven Hill and Elijah Craig bourbons and Ballast Point's own Three Sheets rum, and the whiskey versions have had prominent whiskey spices and lots of creamy vanilla, as well as a lingering coffee and chocolate finish. ballastpoint.com. - Lagunitas Willettized Coffee Stout: High West's new ownership meant the end of a long-standing partnership with Lagunitas, which aged its coffee stout in a mix of High West bourbon and rye barrels for up to 17 months to create High West-ified Imperial Coffee Stout. Brewmaster Jeremy Marshall wasn't thrilled about the decision. "It's an interruption of your raw material supply," he explains. "The barrel becomes an ingredient." Thankfully, Lagunitas quickly found a new supplier: Kentucky's family-owned Willett distillery, which worked with Lagunitas last year on a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. Marshall says there will obviously be differences in the two beers because of the wooden barrels themselves as well as what they contained, but everything else will be pretty much the same, down to a variety of ages in the whiskey. "In my mind, why would I change the base recipe or use a coffee that was radically different? . . . We'll see what the court of public opinion is. We're already prepared for the 'High West-ified was better.' " In preparation for the change, Lagunitas released its remaining High West-ified bottles in August. "Anything anyone finds is the last of the last," Marshall promises. Happy hunting. lagunitas.com. - Founders CBS: Founders' CBS - short for Canadian Breakfast Stout - is one of the most sought-after and highly rated beers in America right now. It hasn't been commercially available since 2015. But news broke last month that Founders had filed a new 2017 CBS label with the Treasury's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, indicating it would be part of the brewery's 2017 Barrel-Aged Series. Before long, beer geeks were speculating about when they would get their hands on the stout, which is brewed with coffee and chocolate, then aged in single-barrel bourbon casks that have most recently been used to age maple syrup. An email from a brewery publicist said that "We actually haven't announced our final Barrel-Aged Series release yet," but if it is CBS, previous versions have been released in December, and unlike the last incarnation, it won't be draft-only: The label Founders submitted is clearly for a 750-milliliter bottle. foundersbrewing.com. - New Belgium Wood Cellar Reserve Series: New Belgium has been shaking things up this year, releasing several variations on its new Voodoo Ranger IPA series and replacing the popular Lips of Faith line with fancy corked-and-caged bottles called the Wood Cellar Reserve series. Look for sour ales, such as Felix - the base beer for New Belgium's Le Terroir and La Folie - aged in wooden barrels called foeders and in Leopold Brothers whiskey barrels. newbelgium.com. - Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout: One of the biggest and best-known barrel-aged beers is set to make a big comeback. After having to recall four of the six Bourbon County variants released in 2015 because of bacterial infections, Goose Island sent only four types of barrel-aged stouts and barleywines to the market in 2016. This year will see an expanded lineup of beers hit the market on Black Friday, including a stout aged with blueberry juice and almond extract and, for the brewery's home town of Chicago, a Bananas Foster-inspired stout aged "with bananas, roasted almonds and cassia bark," which is essentially cinnamon. gooseisland.com. - Dogfish Head Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout: Dogfish Head's potent World Wide Stout is one of the most legendary American craft beers: Brewed in 1999 with the intent of being "the strongest beer in the world," it has ranged from 15 to 20 percent alcohol by volume, a level that still sounds over the top even as we've become accustomed to high-test imperial stouts. Last month, Dogfish released its first bottled variation, Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout, with a stated potency of 16 to 17.5 percent ABV. Aged in 10,000-gallon oak tanks with Madagascar vanilla beans, it has notes of fudge, cocoa and raspberries, and a noticeable heat from all that alcohol. Dogfish says it will be available through October. dogfish.com. - Redbeard Moriarty: Every fall, I find myself looking forward to Moriarty, a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout from Redbeard Brewing in Staunton, Virginia. The tiny brewery doesn't bottle or can, so you'll have to make the trip to the Queen City of the Shenandoah Valley to guarantee a taste. It's worth the drive: The balanced, flavorful Moriarty is as good as the Sherlock Holmes nemesis it's named for was evil. Previous incarnations were aged in Van Winkle or Colonel E.H. Taylor rye barrels, and this year's edition, set to be released Oct. 18, spent six months in a blend of 10-year-old John J. Bowman barrels, 10-year-0ld Eagle Rare barrels and seven-year-old Buffalo Trace barrels. redbeardbrews.com. RELATED STORIES: Is Vermont becoming the Napa Valley of beer? Double brown ales coming out from under IPA/barrel aging/sours shadow Revolution to release 8 barrel-aged beers as part of Deep Wood series In the wake of the Las Vegas massacre that resulted in more than 50 deaths at an outdoor country concert Sunday, the notion of "concert security" suffered another major blow. Few public statements from concert promoters and music industry executives were forthcoming Monday except for expressions of sorrow and condolence. CEO Michael Rapino of Live Nation, which staged the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Vegas that ended in a hail of sniper fire and death, tweeted, "Our hearts are with the victims in Las Vegas, their families and loved ones who are grieving this morning." Advertisement But in interviews with concert promoters who requested anonymity, there was growing concern that a string of violent incidents in and around concerts around the world has shaken confidence in their ability to keep concertgoers safe. At one time, art was ostensibly staged in safe zones, places where people could detach from the world outside for a couple of hours and lose themselves in the highest form of human communication and creativity, whether it's in a museum, a movie theater or a concert hall. Advertisement But now these very same venues have become terrorist targets, in large measure because of what they represent. Recent events, capped by the Vegas massacre, have put the notion of art as a haven, as a kind of cocoon for spiritual renewal, in deep jeopardy. This uptick in violence has occurred even though concert security has been ramping up since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and two 2003 tragedies: the nightclub fire and stampede at the Chicago nightclub E2 in which 21 people died, and a fire at the Station nightclub in Rhode Island set off by fireworks during a concert by Jack Russell's Great White that killed 100 people. More recent incidents of gun violence around the world have magnified the difficulties of keeping large crowds secure in concert venues. In 2015, a terrorist attack at the Bataclan theater in Paris during an Eagles of Death Metal concert resulted in 89 deaths. In 2016, 49 people were gunned down in an attack at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub. Earlier this year, a terrorist detonated a bomb as patrons were leaving an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena in England, which left 23 dead. Bands have been coordinating tighter security measures with concert promoters and venues. U2's show a few months ago at Soldier Field included bomb sweeps of cars at nearby parking garages. U2 and Ed Sheeran more recently canceled concerts in St. Louis over concerns that security standards would not be met in the wake of rioting over a police officer's acquittal in the fatal shooting of a black man. Wand metal detectors are now commonplace at most arena shows and outdoor festivals. But the Manchester bombing and Vegas shooting put a new, horrific spin on security concerns because the perpetrators did their damage from outside the concert venues. Promoters noted that outdoor festivals such as Lollapalooza, Pitchfork and Spring Awakening in Chicago were particularly vulnerable because of access to high-rises and other concealed areas outside the venues that might escape typical concert security measures. "I guarantee you everyone (in the industry) is thinking about it today," said one promoter. But promoters said that venues would likely be purposely vague in discussing any heightened security responses to the latest concert-venue tragedy. "No one wants to give some nut-job terrorist an idea of what they have to get around," another promoter said. "It's a symptom of the kind of world we're living in." Greg Kot is a Tribune critic. Advertisement greg@gregkot.com Twitter @gregkot [ RELATED: More than 50 killed, over 400 injured at Las Vegas concert in worst mass shooting in U.S. history ] [ Country artists who performed at Route 91 Harvest festival react to mass shooting ] [ Las Vegas gunman liked to gamble, listened to country music, lived quiet retired life before massacre ] [ Trump condemns 'act of pure evil' in Las Vegas ] Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 126 Woody introduces the gang to a homemade spork toy with self-esteem issues in "Toy Story 4." Read the review. (Pixar / AP) Two Mexican immigrant grandparents residing in Cicero just west of Chicago who adopted their five grandchildren, after their mother passed away and their father was deported following a domestic violence conviction, could receive a helping hand thanks to an online fundraiser started by two community activists close to the family. Marcelo and Maria Martinez, originally from Guerrero, Mexico, have cared for their grandchildren Joshua Martinez, 12, Ariela, 11; Paloma, 10; Jollen, 9, and Yara, 7, since their mother died of cervical cancer, shortly after giving birth to Yara. Advertisement Since then, volunteers Esmeralda Garcia and Elsa Prado have supported Maria and Marcelo in their battle to obtain legal custody of the five children and to deal with the expenses of raising them, as the family survives on Marcelo's minimum wage custodial job. However, when Maria was diagnosed with uterine cancer several months ago, and in light of the family's economic situation, Prado and Garcia decided to ask for their community's support to help the family, Prado said. Advertisement "Every time I think this family couldn't possibly face more challenges, they hit another obstacle", Prado said. "We fought so hard to get the adoption, and now these concerns about Maria's health come up. They really need assistance." The fundraiser, hosted through crowdfunding website, gofundme.com, hopes to raise $5,000 for the family of seven, to help them with leftover legal expenses from the adoptions and the medical expenses that Maria will incur as she prepares to undergo a hysterectomy to remove her uterus, where cancerous cells have been detected, said the grandmother, who is also taking a regimen of anti-cancer medication. "I'm grateful to God and to everyone [who has participated]," Maria said, in Spanish. "With this support we'll be able to get past some of the setbacks that we've had". Maria, 54, and her husband, 60, took temporary custody of their grandchildren when the father of four of the five, Victor Hugo Ramirez, was arrested for domestic violence against the family. Following the death of Maria's daughter, Rosa Yasmin Pereyda, the children's mother, the grandparents began the process of applying for legal custody, and later adoption of their grandchildren, all with the help of Prado and Garcia. Though she believes all donations come from the heart, Prado emphasized that the family is most in need of direct financial support, and mentioned that the family has previously had to sell donated clothing and goods because they did not have room to accommodate them in their two-bedroom apartment. "We need long term solutions that will really help the family. Not band aids," Prado said. "They need this money just for essentials." "Cancer prescriptions are extremely expensive. And if Maria gets sick she's going to need help with the kids," Prado added Advertisement In an interview with Hoy Chicago, Marcelo said that although his family struggles to pay bills and buy school supplies, they dream of owning their own home, where the children would have, "enough space to grow up," Marcelo said, and their own back yard to play in. But the family's financial situation has made it difficult to get a loan. In more than four years, the family hasn't found anyone who can help, Garcia said. "The father does not have a job that generates enough income to attract [lenders] and there hasn't been a person or company who would believe in them," Garcia said. In conjunction with the online fundraiser, the family will also be honored at a gala for the Break the Silence Foundation, which supports victims of domestic violence, on October 27, said Prado, treasurer of the foundation. Together with other domestic violence survivors, the family will participate in a fashion show, and attendees will be offered the opportunity to join in support of the family, Prado said. In past activities, the Break the Silence Foundation has supported Prado's efforts to find pro bono legal services for the family, and also sponsored a toy drive for the children, Prado said. Advertisement Donations can be made to the Martinez family's GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/martinez-familyfamilia-martinez In mid-May, in the backyard of a Cicero home, a community of friends, neighbors and relatives gathered to celebrate a family that rose from the ashes. Outside, Joshua, 12, Ariela, 11, Paloma, 10, Jollen, 9, and Yara Martinez, 7, played in their all-white First Communion outfits, staining them with all varieties of Mexican candy. Inside, on the kitchen table and in the small, dim living room, were the donations rice, beans, sodas and cake that the guests brought to help Marcelo and Maria Martinez, grandparents to the five kids, give them a First Communion party as good as any other in the neighborhood. Advertisement Over some seven years, neighbors, church acquaintances, activists and even strangers who heard of the family on social media, have rallied around them, inspired by their story: the mother, taken too soon, whose ashes rest in an urn in one of the two small bedrooms in the family's apartment, and the father who abused and abandoned those he should have protected. For Marcelo, 60, and his wife, 54, both immigrants from Guerrero, Mexico, the support they receive is a blessing from God. "In those moments when we feel like we're ready to throw in the towel, is when someone shows up to lend us a hand," he said, in Spanish. Advertisement It's a reminder to keep fighting for the stability that has been so hard to secure in recent years. A reminder not to give up. Rosa Yasmin Pereyda arrived in Chicago at 15 years old with the same goals as many immigrants. She hoped to work to help her mother, Maria, have a better life. They had dreams of buying land back in Mexico, and earning enough to make a life for themselves there. But everything changed in 2004, when Yasmin fell in love with a coworker at her factory job. The man, who gave Yasmin her first child, Joshua, disappeared so quickly that Marcelo and Maria do not remember his name. Just a year later, Yasmin gave birth to another Ariela, the first of four children she would have by Hugo Ramirez, a tall, skinny man, rude and withdrawn, as Maria remembers him, who would eventually be deported for the crimes he committed against his young family. Ariela Martinez participates in the procession leading up to her first communion at the church Nuestra Senora del Monte, in Cicero. (GABRIEL NEELY-STREIT/HOY) In a folder hidden where the children cannot find it, Marcelo and Maria keep photos of their granddaughter Paloma, horribly beaten at 10 months of age. Her stare is glassy, her eyes watery, and her face dirty and bruised. It's a moment that the effervescent 10-year-old claims not to remember. Marcelo and Maria can only guess, based on her injuries, how it happened. They know by the bruises that her father hit her and held her by the neck. Marcelo believes he attempted to strangle her. The couple did not find out what had happened until they were called to the hospital, where police officers and a social worker from the Department of Child and Family Services asked them to take custody of the children. A few years later, the nightmare repeated itself. This time, the victim was Yasmin, beaten in front of the children during one of the unsupervised visits she had won legal rights to hold in her home. This time, it was Joshua's face that was burned into Maria and Marcelo's memories, when he escaped from his mother's nearby home and ran to tell his grandparents what had happened. The grandparents contacted the police and DCFS, Victor Hugo was arrested, and eventually deported for his crimes. Pregnant with her fifth child, Yasmin returned to live with her parents, covered in bruises that would not heal. Advertisement "She was a good person in that she showed how much she loved her kids, but she was too quiet, because she never told us what was wrong," Marcelo said. Yasmin wouldn't explain why her injuries lasted so long, or why she was growing weaker every day. Maria's believes she kept to herself to spare her mother the worry. Just months before Yasmin returned home, Maria had lost a son in Mexico, a father of two murdered during an attempted robbery. In secrecy, Yasmin took the decision, that would define the rest of her life, in 2010. Instead of aborting her baby to begin treatment, she would carry it to term and late-stage cervical cancer would claim her life. She had been diagnosed shortly after getting pregnant. When her family found out, months later, there was nothing to be done. When Maria visited daughter at the hospital near the end of her life, she was accompanied by three of her nieces, sisters Elizabeth 'Liz' Juarez, and Melissa and Candy Velasquez, Yasmin's first friends when she arrived in the U.S. There, Liz, now 39, translated to her aunt what the doctors said about her daughter: That a blood clot had formed in her chest and would soon reach her brain, that the doctors could do nothing, and that at some point on that day in early December 2010, her daughter was going to die. Advertisement A photo of Rosa Yasmin Pereyda in the hospital, after giving birth. (GABRIEL NEELY-STREIT/HOY) The sisters cried, thinking back on that day, as night fell over the First Communion party, and children swung at a pinata behind them, screaming with excitement. They remembered how traumatized the family was, and the depression that enveloped Maria. The remembered how Jollen had lost the ability to talk, and still stutters today, despite speech therapy. But in spite of it all, the women find hope in the five children, and even a sense that everything happened for a reason. In Yara, they see her mother, the sisters say. Her eyes, her liveliness, her "sassy" attitude. And although denying an abortion may have cost Yasmin her life, they said, it is what brought Yara into this world. Even the pain that they went through may have had a purpose, inspiring the sisters to help others who are in pain: Liz is now a nurse and Melissa is a social worker. "Every year it surprises us to see more and more people are here (helping the family)," they said at the First Communion party, even people they don't know. "These kids touch people's' hearts." Advertisement At a nearby table sat one of the new faces, a middle-aged woman, dressed in humble elegance with hoop earrings and a shiny grey blouse. In her hand were five envelopes, one for each child. Francisca Dircio knows that what she has to give the children isn't much. Her job as a janitor pays $14 an hour, and is only part-time. It's barely enough to support herself, she said. A few years ago she separated from her husband, and lost her house. Her children are grown, and Dircio moved in with a friend, struggling to afford an apartment. She met the Martinez family three years ago, and was immediately enchanted by the kids, their energy, optimism and sweetness, she said. So taking them pizza during the week, or a cake on each of their birthdays, as well as gloves and sweaters around Christmastime, is as much a source of happiness for her as a helping hand for them. "What little I have I share with them," she said. "At Christmas, instead of buying things for my friends, I buy for them." And the circle of people like Dircio keeps growing. They are friends from the church where the children take bible study, or neighbors, like don Jose Nungaray, who lives on a nearby block where Marcelo and his wife used to rent, and buys baskets of candy for the children at Christmas. Advertisement "Out of 100 men you won't find another like 'don Chelino,'" he said of Marcelo, while handing out money to the kids for their First Communion. For Dircio, this spirit of community comes from Latino culture. "We are like this: When we find out about some tragedy, 'let's go help'". Esmeralda Garcia met the family in 2013, after seeing a photo on Facebook of an urn of ashes, with five children in the background. "It was a sad family, that didn't have any aspirations left," said Garcia, a short, energetic and positive woman. On the day they met, Garcia remembers, Maria broke down in tears, telling her what her family had been through. Seeing that the family had, "neither enough to eat nor to pay the rent," Garcia mobilized immediately, organizing a social media campaign to solicit donations of goods and money, together with another volunteer, Elsa Prado. But the women were most concerned about the custody of the children, an issue Yasmin never formally resolved. Advertisement Without formal legal custody, the grandparents feared the state would seize their children and divide them up, "each one to a different home," Marcelo explained. Even worse, the grandparents feared the kids could be returned to their fathers. "If he hit us here, he would hit us worse in Mexico," Paloma and Mariela would tell Marcelo. With the help of Prado, the family acquired a pro bono attorney and began a lengthy legal battle, first officializing custody in 2012, and finally, a year ago, officially adopting the children in August of 2016. Maria supervises the children while they do their homework, at their apartment in Cicero, Illinois. (GABRIEL NEELY-STREIT/HOY) The new parents took immediate steps to heal the scars of abuse and neglect that the children's' fathers had inflicted. A legal name change removed Jollen's former first name, Hugo, which came from his father. And today all of the children proudly bear the last name Martinez, from the man who they've always called "papa," although he's not even their biological grandfather. "I want to give them the confidence to feel safe, to feel that they are not alone, that they are protected," Marcelo said. In that aspect, he said, he considers capable. Advertisement But when it comes to economics, the man, who went from working as a chemistry teacher in Mexico to being a day laborer in the U.S., struggles to provide. "I don't make enough to give them what they need, what they deserve," Marcelo said. For both parents, it's a daily struggle. For Marcelo that struggle means being constantly aware of which bills must be paid immediately, and which can wait until his next pay day. It means always being behind, always owing rent, he said. He often works from 6am to 5 pm, earning minimum wage, and takes every overtime hour he can get on weekends. He even collects scrap metal in the alleys of Cicero. Maria, meanwhile, is responsible for everything else: putting food on the table when money is tight, making sure her kids never miss a parent-teacher conference or doctor's appointment. Without a car, or driver's license, she does the shopping and the errands on foot and by public transportation. "She's the real fighter," Marcelo said. Every day, immediately after school, the five children sit down at the kitchen table, with Maria at the head, supervising them as they do their homework, Advertisement "I only made it as far as second grade [in Mexico]," she said. "But I've learned. I've learned together with my kids." No matter how long it takes, Maria checks all five's homework, encouraging them to do their math without a calculator. And when a question comes up that she can't answer, "we help each other," Paloma explained. The kids know things aren't easy for their family. They notice it when Marcelo gets home from work and falls asleep without eating, as soon as he sits down on the couch. Or when it comes time to buy school supplies, and their parents, "get worried and say, 'what are we going to do?'" Paloma explained. But instead of worrying, the children lend a hand. Paloma puts her parents at ease, telling them, "don't worry, you'll see that we'll get the money." Joshua and Ariela take care of their younger siblings, zipping up everyone's jackets before going outside to play. When Marcelo gets home at night, Jollen and Yara often kneel down to take his boots off his feet. But there are things that the children will only understand when they're older. They'll get why their father hides his gifts for them, until he can afford to buy something for everyone. And why, unlike other kids, there's no money set aside for their studies. And why their mother, who suffers frequent pain, never goes to the doctor. For now, they can't understand how vulnerable their family is. Advertisement "We're talking about a man, who's nearly a senior citizen, and his wife, who's sick. And they don't have the health services that would allow them to get care," Garcia said. "They don't have access to good medical care, or government health insurance." And that's when the omnipresent question rears its head, Garcia said: "If something happens to them, who is going to take care of these kids?" In late April, the abdominal pain that Maria had brushed aside for weeks grew too strong to ignore. Doctors diagnosed precancerous cells in her uterus, and she was scheduled for a series of biopsies. She spent three weeks in the hospital recuperating from the first procedure, she said, because her diabetes increases her vulnerability to infection. But laying in her hospital bed, Maria could not rest. Her mind was racing.. Soon, the school year would be upon the family, and once again, the expenses of school supplies, and replacements for the clothing Joshua and Jollen outgrew. More immediately, Maria could not stop worrying about her kids: what were they eating, what were they doing all day. Despite the nurses' entreaties that she calm down, her blood pressure would not stop rising. Finally, in mid-May, Maria was allowed to return home, prescribed a regimen of anti cancer medication, and will soon undergo a hysterectomy, to remove her uterus, where cancerous cells were detected. The family has no other option than to remain positive, Marcelo said. Advertisement "I try to keep firmly in my mind that nothing is going to happen," Marcelo said. "If I start to worry about what might happen, I don't think that will take us down a good road." Their day-to-day worries do not prevent the family from having dreams. Foremost among them is owning their own home, where the children would have enough space to grow up without sharing beds, and their own back yard to play in, Marcelo said. But the family's financial situation has made it difficult to get a loan. In more than four years, the family hasn't found anyone who can help, Garcia said. "The father does not have a job that generates enough income to attract [lenders] and there hasn't been a person or company who would believe in them," Garcia explained. "They need support," added Hilda Burgos, another volunteer active in the Cicero immigrant community, who has supported the family. "Why not dream of having a home?" she said. "Someone can help them. Something can be done. We've overcome so many [similar] economic challenges. And thanks to who? Not to wealthy businessmen, but to the people." Paloma's dream is to be a doctor, "because they do good work and to help my parents when they're older." Advertisement Joshua dreams of a better life for his siblings. "I want them to grow up and be just like me, and take care of each other," he said. And he and Jollen want a Lamborghini, the second fastest car in the world, according to them. On the night of the children's First Communion, the community that has assembled around this family also shared their dreams: to see the Martinez kids graduate from college and get good jobs. To see them remain forever as close and caring as they are today. Marcelo and Maria's dreams are more modest: that their children learn to value themselves, that they have the strength to defend themselves from the bullies at school who make fun of them for not having a mom, that "no one ever look badly on them," they said. They know their resources are few. They know that every day will bring new, "tests from God," as Maria calls her challenges. They don't know if their strength will last forever, but they know they will do all they can, every day, to see their children through. "I don't have any way to measure how much I love them, I can only say more than anything," Marcelo said. "They are not alone." They could receive a helping hand thanks to an online fundraiser started by two community activists close to the family. Advertisement The fundraiser, hosted through crowdfunding website, gofundme.com, hopes to raise $5,000 for the family of seven, to help them with leftover legal expenses from the adoptions and the medical expenses that Maria will incur as she prepares to undergo a hysterectomy to remove her uterus, where cancerous cells have been detected, said the grandmother, who is also taking a regimen of anti-cancer medication. Reporting from Las Vegas More than 50 people were killed and at least 400 others injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said. Police released the updated death toll in the early morning hours after a horrific night of violence that turned a concert into a scene of carnage. Though initial reports put the death toll at 20, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police tweeted later that at least 50 were dead. Advertisement UPDATE: FBI says no evidence that Las Vegas massacre is act of international terrorism Police said the suspect, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nev., was killed after a SWAT team burst into the hotel room from which he was firing at the crowd. Advertisement "Right now we believe it's a solo act, a lone wolf attacker," Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. "We are pretty confident there is no longer a threat." The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is a joint city-county force headed by the sheriff. Authorities said the gunman appeared to have begun firing at 10:08 p.m. from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel toward the concert venue across the street. Officers entered the room and engaged the suspect and "he is dead, currently," Lombardo said, adding that authorities have no evidence of a motive. "We don't know what his belief system was at this time." Police said they have located Marilou Danley, who is described as a person of interest in the investigation. Police said they have succeeded in locating a woman, identified as Marilou Danley, who was believed to be traveling with Paddock and is listed as living at his address in Mesquite, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. "We are confident we have located the female person of interest," the department said on Twitter. Mesquite Police Officer Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the department, said about 10 Mesquite officers were at the home early Monday morning, holding a perimeter. Authorities found several firearms in the suspect's hotel room, Lombardo said. One of the dead is an off-duty police officer who was attending the concert, Lombardo said. Several other officers from Nevada and California, both on and off duty, were wounded by gunfire, officials said. "A tragic and heinous act of violence has shaken the Nevada family," Gov. Brian Sandoval said on Twitter. "Our prayers are with the victims and all affected by this act of cowardice." Advertisement President Trump tweeted his "warmest condolences and sympathies" to the victims and their families. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said the hospital was treating "many patients" with gunshot wounds in the wake of the shooting. There were so many that citizens were arriving at the emergency room with gunshot victims loaded into their cars, local media reported. The Clark County Fire Department estimated that approximately 406 people were transported to area hospitals. Authorities established a command post and triage center, and shut down parts of the Strip in the hours after the shooting. Hotel guests blocked from returning to their hotels were shuttled to a center equipped with metal detectors. Police initially investigated reports of a "suspicious device" down the street, outside the Luxor Hotel, but said later there appeared to be no explosive devices related to the incident, other than that used by the SWAT team breaching the room where the suspect was. The three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival was underway across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Mandalay Bay when the shooting erupted. Concertgoers reported a burst of weapons fire as a Jason Aldean performance was underway. Advertisement The shots appeared to be coming from an upper floor of the hotel, some witnesses said. Video posted on social media showed the open-air concert fully underway when bursts of automatic gunfire rang out in rapid succession. Dozens of people dropped to the ground, screaming, while others ran, some in pairs or in groups with their arms linked. The shooting went on for more than 30 seconds before the music stopped, and another burst was heard later. "Get down, stay down," one woman shouted. "Let's go," another voice said. Another wave of gunshots followed soon after. Seth Bayles, of West Hollywood, said Aldean had been performing for about 20 minutes when he heard shots. "I thought it was like bottle rockets going off," Bayles said. "Then we saw people dropping. We saw someone get hit and then we started running." Advertisement Bayles said he was probably 50 feet from the stage when he heard the shots. "We saw people down all over the place." Bayles said Aldean was quickly pulled off stage, and soon after the band was brought off as well. EDITORIAL: The slaughter in Las Vegas is all too familiar, yet Americans refuse to stop it Two men near Mandalay Bay said they heard someone in a helicopter with a bullhorn yelling, "Go! Go! Go!" as the incident unfolded. Others said they saw police and SWAT teams streaming into the hotel. Bernice Allard, who came to the concert with her husband, Frank Allard, said there was screaming when the shooting began. "Single shot. Single shot, then a lot of shots," Frank Allard said. He said he had come to see Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Aldean, who was into his fourth or fifth song when the shooting began. Allard said the crowd began to stampede and that he grabbed a nearby fence, stretched both arms wide and tried to shield his wife from the danger. Then they ran. Advertisement "We followed the crowd out," Bernice Allard said. Alarm spread up and down the Strip as news of the shootings spread. Alfonzo Ewing said he had arrived shortly before midnight for an overnight shift as a cook at the White Castle at the Best Western Plus Casino Royale on the northern side of the Strip, a little more than two miles from Mandalay Bay. "We heard reports of gunshots and customers rushed to jump the counter for safety. Everyone just took off running from the White Castle and the hotel," said Ewing, 37. "Employees and customers went downstairs to hide in the break room. We're here now, 15 of us, with customers. We're safe but we don't know what's happening." Kevin Daly, 58, of Long Beach, said he had been playing pai gow at the MGM Grand Hotel, down the street from the concert venue, and left to see if he could play a Game of Thrones game near the entry when chaos erupted. "All these people started running and screaming, and then that stopped for about a minute, and then more people started coming in the other way and ran through where I was," he said. "There were so many people walking and running and people crying and people saying there's an active shooter on the street, so I finally asked one of the waitresses what's going on and she said the shooter is outside of the casino." Advertisement Daly said the entire area was put on lockdown so he went upstairs to his room. "Out the windows, we can see Mandalay Bay, we can see all the police cars and all the lights and there are helicopters all over the place." Several off-duty Bakersfield police officers were attending the concert when the gunfire began, officials said. Bakersfield Police Lt. Jeff Burdick said they were not in a position to return fire. One Bakersfield officer was wounded the gunfire and was taken to a hospital for treatment, but is expected to survive, Burdick said. "Our officers were actually attending the concert as civilians," Burdick said, adding that the agency has accounted for every officer known to be there. Officials at McCarran International Airport reported that some flights were diverted in the immediate aftermath of the shootings. "Expect delays," the airport said on Twitter. Hospital personnel across Las Vegas were paged to work, local media reported. Advertisement Parts of Interstate 15 near the Strip were also shut down, and hotel guests across the city were being ordered to shelter in place. The freeway reopened later, but offramps near the Strip remained closed through much of the night. Aldean was the final act of the Route 91 Harvest festival, while dozens of others had played over the course of the weekend, including Church, Hunt and Maren Morris. In numerous tweets, artists communicated with fans and followers, expressing their sorrow and prayers for anyone injured and telling loved ones that they were safe. Jake Owen, who played the main stage before Aldean, tweeted: "Praying for everyone here in Vegas. I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Others aren't. Please pray." Aldean himself responded on Instagram: "Tonight has been beyond horrific," he wrote. "I still don't know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate." Former broadcast journalist Dan Ball, 42, of Palm Desert, had been backstage as a friend of the country duo Big & Rich when they performed, then went to John Rich's bar "Redneck Riviera" nearby as Aldean took the stage. Advertisement "The tour manager came over to us and said shots were fired and people were down. We were locked down in the bar and hunkered down," Ball said. When he had been backstage during the performance, he said, he had marveled as he looked at the crowd and thought, "Isn't it great to look out there? We saw white, black, straight, gay, males, females, everyone out there having a good time. Moments later, these cowards commit a heinous act like this. It's unbelievable. Unbelievable." Montero reported from Las Vegas and Tchekmedyian from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Jaweed Kaleem, Seema Mehta and Jevon Phillips in Los Angeles and Rong Gong Lin II in San Francisco contributed. david.montero@latimes.com Twitter: @davemontero MORE: Advertisement Police officers, both on and off duty, among those killed, injured in deadly Vegas shooting 'We saw people dropping': This is what eyewitnesses saw as a gunman opened fire on Las Vegas concert Videos capture moments of terror as gunfire rings out at Las Vegas concert UPDATES: 5:40 a.m.: This article was updated to add that 406 people were sent to local hospitals, per fire department estimates. 5 a.m.: This story was updated to reflect that multiple police officers were killed or injured in the shooting. Advertisement 4:15 a.m.: The story was updated with a tweet from President Trump responding to the shooting. 3:40 a.m.: The story was updated with the identity of the suspect and information about a search warrant at his home, as well as an updated death toll. 3:30 a.m.: The story was updated with a report from local police on the shooting suspect and a comment from Jason Aldean. 2:50 a.m.: The story was updated with an interview with a concertgoer. 1:40 a.m.: The story was updated with information from a sheriff's briefing, including an updated death toll. 1:10 a.m.: The story was updated with additional witness accounts. Advertisement 12:25 a.m.: The story was updated with an additional witness report. 12:10 a.m.: This story was updated with news that one suspect is down. 12:05 a.m.: The story was updated with a witness interview and also reports of a suspicious device at the Luxor Hotel. 11:40 p.m.: This story was updated with reports of at least two deaths. 11:30 p.m.: This story was updated with additional details from witnesses. This story was originally published at 10:55 p.m. A large mural designed by artist Kerry James Marshall photographed Oct. 1, 2017, is being painted on the west side of the Chicago Cultural Center and honors important women past and present on the cultural scene of Chicago. The mural which is far from being completed, misspelled the name of actress and wife of the artist, Cheryl Lynn Bruce. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) Artist Kerry James Marshall scored big-time husband points when he included his wife, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, in his giant mural honoring the women of Chicago's arts scene. But workers responsible for painting Marshall's design onto the side of the Chicago Cultural Center nearly dropped him into the dog house by misspelling Bruce's name. Advertisement "I would have popped a cork!" Bruce, a playwright, director, actress and co-founder the Dearborn Homes Youth Drama Workshop, told Chicago Inc. when she was informed of the mistake (The missing 'c' from Bruce's surname had been added back in Monday morning). "He's very fortunate because I would have chewed him out," continued Bruce. "He's been saved!" Advertisement Due to be completed in November, Marshall's mural honors 20 powerful women artists with ties to the city, including writers Gwendolyn Brooks and Sandra Cisneros, former Department of Cultural Affairs commissioner Lois Weisberg and Oprah Winfrey. It's the largest work the artist whose fans include Beyonce and Michelle Obama has produced. Luckily Bruce, due to return to the stage next year in The Walking Dead star Danai Gurira's "Familiar," can see the funny side. kjanssen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimjnews Then Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Collins and Zachary Fardon are shown in the background at a press conference at the Dirksen Federal Building on July 19, 2000. (Candice C. Cusic / Chicago Tribune) Back in the day, they were dubbed the "Starsky and Hutch" of Chicago law. Now blond former U.S. Attorney Zach Fardon and brunette fellow former prosecutor Patrick Collins who together brought down former Gov. George Ryan are getting the band back together. Advertisement Fired along with the rest of the nation's top prosecutors by President Donald Trump in March, Fardon signed on with his former law firm, King & Spalding, to open its Chicago office. Collins and his fellow Perkins Coie partner Jade Lambert were announced Monday as two of Fardon's first hires. "It's 10 years since the band split up and now we are getting it back together," said Collins, who has remained a close confidant of Fardon's over the years. "We always talked about doing something together and this was our chance." Advertisement Collins described his partnership with Fardon as a "yin and yang" relationship. "Zach is rounder around the edges and I'm more like a bull in a china shop, but we round each other out," he said. While Collins' name is often mentioned whenever there is a vacancy at the top of the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago, he told Chicago Inc. that he has made a long-term commitment to building up King & Spalding's office. Asked if he'd like to be U.S. Attorney, he said, "I don't think so." Reunited with Fardon, he's likely to be high on the list of potential hires for alleged white-collar crooks and politicians feeling federal heat. kjanssen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimjnews John W. Glueckert Sr. was a visible figure in Arlington Heights' business community, both as the longtime owner of the funeral home that bears his surname and as a 50-year member of the city's Lions Club. "He loved Arlington Heights, he loved the town and he loved the people," said his son, John Jr. "Even after retiring, he'd put on a suit and come in to the funeral home just so he could be around the employees. He really enjoyed talking with people." Advertisement Glueckert, 82, died of complications from brain cancer Aug. 14 at his home, his son said. A lifelong Arlington Heights resident, Glueckert had battled cancer for 18 months, his son said. Born in Arlington Heights, Glueckert graduated from the now-shuttered Arlington High School in 1954 and attended Northern Illinois University. Advertisement Glueckert had a longtime interest in the death care industry. As a teenager, he worked part time doing chores at a local funeral home, Black's Memorial Home. After studying at NIU, Glueckert earned a degree from the Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Wheeling and continued working at Black's. After Black's owners divorced, Glueckert remained with the funeral home, staying on after it was bought by Howard Haire, who renamed it Haire Funeral Home. Glueckert was a manager there from 1961 until 1970. In 1970, Glueckert bought the funeral home from Haire. He kept Haire's name on the facility until renaming it Glueckert Funeral Home in 1976. In 1987, Glueckert relocated the funeral home to its present location at 1520 N. Arlington Heights Road. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 86 Dick Orkin, an award-winning radio advertising creator for close to a half-century who was perhaps best known for his syndicated Chickenman spoof, which aired on Chicago stations, died on Dec. 24 in California. He was 84. Read more. (Handout) Glueckert was honored for 50 years of service in Arlington Heights' Lions Club. He was a past president of the club. "He was always there when we needed him," said fellow Lions Club member Ron Niemaszyk, a longtime friend. "He and his wife helped out in different projects we did in town." Glueckert, who enjoyed horse racing and owned some horses, also liked spending time at Arlington International Racecourse. "I think he liked a little bit of the action of it," his son said. "He was intrigued and had a knack for reading the racing form and things like that. He did much better playing the horses than he did owning them." Advertisement John Christiano, a jockey agent and longtime friend, recalled owning horses with Glueckert before Christiano became a jockey agent. "We talked horses all the time. If anybody needed anything, he'd do it," Christiano said. "And if anybody needed money, he was very generous. He was just a great guy. He was a hell of a guy." Glueckert retired in May 2007. During retirement, he enjoyed spending time at his winter home outside Las Vegas and spending time with friends at the Dunton House restaurant in Arlington Heights. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 100 Actress/singer Rose Marie is gleeful as director Carl Reiner, right, and Honorary Mayor of Hollywood Johnny Grant, present her with 2,184th star on the famed Hollywood Walk of Fame Oct. 3, 2001, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Marie died Dec. 28, 2017, at age 94. Read more. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press) Glueckert served in the Army Reserve from 1958 until 1964 as a supply sergeant while stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. In 2012, he began organizing annual bus trips for veterans and their families to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood. "It was kind of his thing," Glueckert's son said. He would get people from town, he would be here in the morning early, greeting people and just enjoying walking around the grounds with people. And he'd walk people out to the bus. That's the type of personality he was. He just wanted to help if he could." In addition to his son, Glueckert is survived by his wife of 59 years, Rosanna; two daughters, Mary Cecelia Glueckert-Heidkamp and Jacqueline; four grandchildren; and a sister, Mary Ellen Borton. Advertisement Services were held. Goldsborough is a freelance reporter. Logan Square is a hotbed of rat activity. What is the city doing to combat rat infestations in Chicago neigborhoods? (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) Claus Johnsen and Michelle McFall-Johnsen weren't surprised to hear their Logan Square neighborhood is among the city leaders in rat complaints, though they say the real news is just how ever-present the pests have become since the couple moved into a home on the community's western edge 12 years ago. "What I'm used to seeing is a rat maybe darting out in the middle of the night across the street," said Johnsen, a paramedic. "These days they are brazen. (They're) like, 'I'm taking a walk. This is my alley!'" Advertisement Rat complaints reported to the city in Logan Square and other communities skyrocketed in 2016, with the city receiving 46,879 rat-related requests for service through the 311 call center and online. The 2016 total was the most of any year since 2011, the first year of data provided by the city, and it dwarfed 2015's total by more than 13,000 complaints. Through Sept. 21, the city is on pace to set another record with about 1,500 more rat complaints than it had by the same time last year, a Tribune analysis of city data shows. City officials say the increase was expected as Streets and Sanitation rodent crews and elected officials have ramped up publicity efforts urging residents to report rats. Advertisement Johnsen and McFall-Johnsen, who abandoned apartment living to raise their two children in a two-story house on West Shakespeare Avenue, say they've waged war to keep the disease-carrying pests out of their home. Over the years, they've progressed from basic snap traps, poisons and regular 311 complaints to installing chicken wire fencing in their backyard, letting feral cats play on their property and using sealant foam to close cracks and crevices. "And then they just tunnel near the hole that you just sealed," McFall-Johnsen laughed. "My husband used to put out traps and poisons, and (the problem) seemed to be OK and we controlled it," McFall-Johnsen said of the early days in her home. "This is the worst it's ever been." With just about three months left in the year, the West Town community which contains the West Town, Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods has the early lead for the dubious title of Chicago's rattiest neighborhood, with more than 1,600 service requests. West Town is followed by Logan Square, with about 1,580 requests, and West Ridge on the Far North Side, third with 1,529 requests. City residents who spot a rat, or merely suspect they have them, can call 311 or file a report using the city's website. The neighborhoods with the most complaints don't necessarily have the biggest rat problem. Experts say it's impossible to say just how many rats may be roaming city streets, but Discover Magazine in 2006 noted a pair of brown rats could produce as many as 2,000 descendants in a year. The majority of communities in the top 10, which includes Lakeview, Irving Park, Austin, Portage Park, Lincoln Park and Belmont Cragin, were also among last year's communities with the most rat complaints. The only South Side community in the top 10 was Clearing, a community near Midway Airport, which rose from 12th last year to No. 6 this year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the data suggest the city's most dense neighborhoods the ones with higher populations, restaurants and trash, Logan Square, Lakeview and Lincoln Park among them have the greatest number of rat complaints and the most houses baited. Advertisement The reasons for the rise in rat complaints can be many, experts say. Warm weather not only brings rats out of their burrows, it also brings diners out to sidewalk cafes or to picnic in the park. They can find ready food sources in alleys and garbage cans. New construction, demolition and large-scale rehab projects can quickly disperse rats into a community, and adding to the problem are pet owners, or more exactly, those who don't pick up after their pets. The latter is a sore spot for Ald. Proco "Joe" Moreno, 1st, who lays some of the blame for the rat problem at the feet of negligent dog owners. "I tell my residents, 'We will abate, and abate and abate, 'but if residents don't pick up after their dogs and/or close the lids on their garbage cans, we can abate till the cows come home," Moreno said. "It may sound basic, but you can't imagine how many people (there are) who don't do those things." The problem has gotten so bad in his ward, which contains portions of West Town, Wicker Park and Logan Square, Moreno said he allows his constituents to contact him directly through social media with rat complaints. Moreno said he has used cash from his political fund to pay for lawn signs that read "Please pick up after your dog." The increase in rat complaints, city officials said, has much to do with outreach efforts by Streets and Sanitation rodent control to get residents to report any rats they see and to take ownership over their trash and pet waste. This year was the first for Streets and Sanitation's new Bureau of Rodent Control, which had a budget of more than $10 million more than doubling last year's budget for rodent control. The money paid for 22 rodent abatement crews, supplies, brochures in several languages and signs with tips and reminders on eliminating food sources for rats. Advertisement Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams said rodent control workers respond to complaints within five days, checking around property for rat burrows and putting down bait. To deal with the scourge, the city may use nonlethal liquid contraceptive bait in a feeding tube to make rats infertile, feral cats and dry ice placed in rat burrows to suffocate the scurrying rodents. "You have to remember you're never going to completely eliminate the rats from our society, but you want to keep it under control," Williams said. "(But) by properly responding, you're preventing that rodent problem from spreading elsewhere." The most common city rats, also known as brown rats or Norway rats, can live almost anywhere and eat anything from grains and meat to dead animals and pet waste to survive, according to public health experts. They have been known to carry disease, and female brown rats can breed any month of the year and produce up to 22 babies in one litter, experts say. As for the Logan Square couple, they are staying put in their home and are determined to fight off the fearless rodents, though there's little left in their arsenal. "We've tried everything," McFall-Johnsen said. wlee@chicagotribune.com Advertisement jrichards@chicagotribune.com Twitter @MidNoirCowboy Twitter @jsmithrichards Top Chicago communities for rat reports in 2017 1. West Town 1,640 2. Logan Square 1,580 Advertisement 3. West Ridge 1,529 4. Lakeview 1,436 Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > 5. Irving Park 1,318 6. Clearing 1,175 7. Austin 1,118 8. Portage Park 1,097 Advertisement 9. Lincoln Park 1,038 10. Belmont-Cragin 989 *As of Sept. 21, per Tribune analysis of city portal data. In what legal observers describe as a highly unusual move, the Illinois Supreme Court has for a second time in two years removed the same Cook County judge from a pending wrongful death case in civil court. Last year, the state's high court took the unusual step of removing Judge Daniel Lynch, a former Cook County prosecutor, from a byzantine case involving a traffic death that ended with Lynch sentencing the deceased victim's uncle to six years in prison for contempt of court. Advertisement Then earlier this month, Lynch was ordered removed from a cancer death case after attorneys complained he had inexplicably launched a two-year "rolling inquisition" after a settlement had already been reached, then issued a meandering 270-page ruling last summer threatening to charge attorneys on both sides of the case with contempt. In both cases, according to court records, Lynch indicated he had uncovered wrongdoing or a conspiracy among the litigants. But attorneys in one of the cases accused the judge of overstepping his authority and embarking on "a dangerous and unprecedented abuse of his judicial office." Advertisement "The ability of the Respondent Judge to discern unfounded suspicion from provable fact has collapsed," attorney Lance Northcutt wrote in his Supreme Court petition on the cancer case. "The desperation of ... (Lynch) ... to find a conspiracy where none exists is beneath the dignity of his office and only underscores the need for this Court's prompt intervention." The Supreme Court did not give a reason in its rulings for the decisions to remove Lynch, who is assigned to the Law Division, a highly sought-after posting in Cook County Circuit Court. Occasionally, a higher court will on appeal reverse a judge's ruling and order the case randomly reassigned, but it's almost unheard of for the state's highest court to police pending civil cases this way, longtime legal observers said. "I don't know that I've ever seen that happen," said Warren Wolfson, a former Cook County and appellate judge for three decades who is now a distinguished visiting professor at DePaul University's law school. Lynch told the Tribune he cannot comment on pending cases. Both matters were reassigned to other Cook County judges and the cancer case is ongoing. It's unclear what steps, if any, Chief Judge Timothy Evans might take against Lynch, who was first elected to the bench in 1998. A spokesman for Evans declined to comment. Multiple sources said Lynch already has been placed under investigation by the Judicial Inquiry Board, the state agency that looks into allegations of judicial misconduct. Judicial Inquiry Board proceedings are secret and a state Supreme Court spokesman declined to say if the court had referred the matter to the agency. In the most recent removal of Lynch on Sept. 6, the high court took him off a case involving the 2015 death of Bertha Winford from mesothelioma, a type of cancer associated with exposure to products containing asbestos. Her family sued five brake-equipment companies and a gasket-maker, alleging Winford was exposed to their products while working at a several gas stations over five years beginning in 1965. On the day the matter went to trial in 2015, Lynch called for the gasket-maker, John Crane International, to be dismissed from the case. But soon after the plaintiff's attorney agreed to drop JCI and the case was settled, according to court records, Lynch questioned whether there had been a conspiracy in the case to keep JCI on as a defendant to avoid having the matter removed to federal court. Advertisement Even though the case had settled, Ford Motor Co., one of the defendants, followed the judge's line of thought and asked for contempt charges to be brought against JCI for allegedly conspiring with the plaintiff's attorneys to keep the case out of federal court. It later withdrew that motion and asked only for sanctions against the plaintiff's attorneys. In March 2016, Lynch held a hearing at which he and Ford's attorneys questioned the two sets of lawyers. More than a year later, Lynch released a 270-page "preliminary" opinion that for the first time added other defendants, including some of Ford's lawyers, as possible targets of contempt sanctions. The unusual opinion included large swaths of transcripts and lengthy asides, some with nearly 40 bullet points, as well as writing that left some confused. "It is reasonable to ask if this this (sic) is a case where there was JCI liability risk or one where there was not but a remainder to defeat removal deal still stood so JCI could avoid it later, the next time it came around with C&V," Lynch wrote in one such passage. As part of what lawyers dubbed a "vortex of treachery" in the case, the judge also had a law clerk call the plaintiff, Winford's daughter Roxanne Richards, to tell Richards that her attorneys would no longer be allowed to represent her, the attorneys alleged in a court filing. Richards also was ordered to appear in court as part of a sanctions hearing, the attorneys wrote. In the first removal of Lynch last year, the state Supreme Court stopped him from presiding over a lawsuit stemming from the 2007 death of a Chicago woman named Hawa Sissoko, who was hit by a semitruck in Indiana. Lynch threw out a $4.25 million judgment a jury had awarded her family after evidence emerged that Sissoko was married to a New York cabdriver at the time of her death. Sissoko's paternal uncle, Bangaly Sylla, earlier had filed court papers saying Sissoko was unmarried. Advertisement Lynch charged Sylla with contempt of court, and after Cook County prosecutors refused to take the contempt case, Lynch appointed attorney Terry Ekl as a special prosecutor. A jury convicted Sylla of lying, and Lynch sentenced him to six years in prison, which Sylla's attorneys called an extreme amount of time in a contempt matter. Sylla spent nearly a year in prison before an appellate court ordered him released on bond, a decision that came after his attorneys alleged a law firm working for Roadway Express, the owner of the semi, had bribed officials in Sissoko's homeland of Mali to produce a fake marriage license. Earlier this year, an Illinois appellate panel threw out Sylla's conviction, ruling that a different judge should have presided over his contempt trial. The Cook County state's attorney's office stands by its original assessment of the case and will not prosecute Sylla, a spokeswoman said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Attorneys almost never ask the state Supreme Court to step in and remove a judge, viewing it as a last-ditch remedy that risks further alienating the judge hearing their case. And when such petitions are filed, experts said they rarely succeed. Advertisement Earlier this year, defense attorneys in a 2004 murder case asked the high court to remove Cook County Judge Diane Gordon Cannon, accusing her, among other things, of falsely insisting one of their key witnesses was a fraud. The Supreme Court declined, but Cannon later recused herself after a bizarre hearing at which she denied calling one of the lead defense attorneys "Mr. Underpants." Lynch has had other controversial rulings, including one in 2016 in which he threw out a $25 million settlement from a year earlier in a boating injury case. A court clerk had allegedly shared details of a jury note with the plaintiff's attorney as jurors deliberated and the two sides were discussing settling the case. A defense attorney contended his side did not learn the details of the jury note until after the parties had agreed on a settlement. Lynch wound up recusing himself for reasons he did not explain, and another judge eventually upheld the settlement. sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com Twitter @SteveSchmadeke Brian Foote of Huntley arrives at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport from Las Vegas on Oct. 2, 2017. He was at the country music festival in Las Vegas with his friends the night before when the gunfire started. He and his friends went into "survival mode" as they ran from the scene. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune) (Stacey Wescott) Las Vegas has long been a playground for people from the Chicago area and rest of the Midwest, but the usual fun turned to horror Sunday night. Several people from the area had personal connections to what is being called the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history from being a part of the terrified crowd under gunfire to frantically awaiting word from family members who were nearby. Advertisement Brian Foote, of suburban Huntley, initially thought something was wrong with the speakers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival late Sunday in Las Vegas. Then he saw country singer Jason Aldean leave the stage. He knew then it was time to run. Advertisement "The whole area was gated off," Foote said Monday afternoon at O'Hare International Airport upon his return from Nevada. "Some people were ripping things off, pushing the fence, jumping around ... survival mode." Holding onto his friends, Foote made it to a restaurant called Topgolf. He and his friends, who had traveled to Las Vegas for the concert, waited there for hours before officials allowed them to leave. "I just want to get home to my son," Foote said Monday as he waited for his luggage. According to authorities, a gunman identified as Stephen Craig Paddock perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino unleashed a hail of bullets on the outdoor country music festival below. At least 58 were killed and more than 500 people were hospitalized. "That sounds like a bullet" Passengers arriving from Las Vegas at Midway Airport on Oct. 2, 2017, describe their experiences following the mass shooting in the Nevada city late Sunday night. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) Eric and Danielle Gottlieb of Whitefish Bay, Wis., joined two other couples from Wisconsin in Las Vegas over the weekend for multiple Jason Aldean concerts. The Sunday evening performance was about six songs along when Eric noticed what sounded like fireworks ringing through the air. "I made a comment to my friend that that sounds like a bullet. Because you could hear a pop and then a hiss afterward. It just kept going and going," Eric Gottlieb told the Tribune by telephone Monday morning. Advertisement After the band quickly exited the stage and security guards in yellow jackets ran up to the front of the stage area, the Gottliebs knew something was horribly wrong. While the shooting was taking place, the concert crowd quickly started running, crouching down every time the sound of gunfire started back up again. The Gottliebs tried to take cover under bleachers, but too many people were coming toward the area to stay in one place. Although the gunshots were ongoing, it was impossible to know in the chaos if anyone was hit. "I couldn't tell if they were going down or not," Gottlieb said. "People would be jumping down to the ground when the bullets were shot, but then people would get up and start running again. Every time we heard gunshots, I'd push my wife down and I'd lay on top of her until we heard the bullets stop." The Gottliebs lost track of their friends as they waited with other concertgoers along a brick wall for what seemed like a very long time before the bullets stopped. Finally, after the popping ended, they helped carry a woman shot in the neck and leg from the nearby Tropicana Hotel to an ambulance for help. While at the Tropicana, they finally reached their friends by text message and learned the others were safe. When they all reunited at another nearby hotel, there were SWAT team members scattered throughout the lobby searching and patting down people. Drops and small pools of blood were left in the hallways and on elevators by bleeding victims, Gottlieb said. Advertisement "It was just kind of surreal at this point, it just puts thing in perspective," Gottlieb said. "It all changed really fast. To get out of it unscathed is pretty lucky." What to tell the kids? Dave Christopher, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was with his wife late Sunday trying to get back to their hotel, the Holiday Inn, when he saw the large police presence. He eventually managed to drive back to their hotel where police stopped and searched them. "I asked 'what's going on, someone rob a bank,'" Christopher said. "They said no, there's a mass shooting downtown at Mandalay Bay, and I thought oh my God." Sarah Byer, Christopher's adult daughter, was sleeping and didn't realize what happened until this morning. Sarah said people were sharing stories about their experiences Monday morning at the airport in Las Vegas. Still, she has not fully explained what happened to her 7-year-old daughter, Lily, who was traveling with the family. The girl stood quietly next to her mother at O'Hare's baggage claim area. Advertisement First responder needed a hug Trent Koland, 36, who works in Chicago, was having a drink with his sister and her fiance at the Luxor hotel, which is close to Mandalay Bay, when they noticed groups of people running through the lobby. Casino staff at first calmly told patrons they would need to move to a different bar. But within seconds, staff instead told Koland and other bar patrons they were being relocated to basement tunnels with break rooms and hallways usually used only by staff. "I thought it was a joke at first," said Koland, senior art director at Edelman in Chicago, who was in Las Vegas with family celebrating his parents' 40th wedding anniversary. "It was crazy, so they moved us into this break room and we were watching the TV." Koland and dozens of other tourists taking shelter watched in horror as news accounts on the TV reported a growing number of victims. As more people from outside joined them in the waiting area, Koland said he comforted one woman who was distraught about what she had seen. "There was a woman and she needed a hug, so I just went over there and gave her a hug. She said she was a first responder, and she was ashamed that she didn't do more," Koland said by telephone, breaking down into tears at the thought. Advertisement Koland estimates that he and other patrons were moved to the tunnels about 10 p.m., and were not released to go back outside until 4 a.m. Monday. During that time, he and others stranded checked social media on their phones and frantically kept up with friends and family to let them know they were safe. Hotel staff brought refreshments and bedsheets so they could lie on the floors of the hallways as they waited, he said. "We were just lying in a hallway with other people that didn't know what was going on," Koland said, adding that some were worried about friends who were at the concert and had not been accounted for. "We had phone service, I was trying to update my Facebook letting people know I was OK." As Koland boarded a flight back to Chicago on Monday morning, he said he was still processing the horrible incident. "I just want to be home," he said. 'Don't have to go look overseas' Angelo Mendoza, 60, of Chicago, woke up to text messages Monday from his son, Trent, who is a cast member in the "Michael Jackson ONE" show at Mandalay Bay. Advertisement The son, who was born in Elgin and lives in Memphis, sings and dances in the show. He told his father no one in his theater could see or hear the shooting as the performance was in progress. But afterward, they were all restricted from leaving the theater overnight before authorities gave them clearance to leave. "I was greatly relieved," Mendoza said of speaking with his son this morning. Mendoza said a few years earlier, he had warned his son against taking a job with Cirque du Soleil in Paris, because he was worried about him being in a country that had experienced repeated terror attacks. The Vegas shooting was a reminder that such tragedies happen everywhere. "They're among us. We don't have to go look overseas," Mendoza said. Hearing horrific updates A woman arriving back to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Monday morning from Las Vegas called the shooting "tragic." Advertisement As Delma Hughes arrived at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, she saw police cars fly past with sirens blaring. "I knew something had happened," Hughes, a 57-year-old Chicago resident, said at O'Hare. She quickly heard about the mass shooting from news sources at the airport and settled in for a long wait, as her flight was delayed by a couple of hours. Hughes had visited Las Vegas to celebrate her brother's 65th birthday, spending the weekend in high spirits with family. But the weekend ended with a subdued flight. Along the way, her phone's battery had died, so she caught updates from other passengers, each one more horrific. After the plane landed, Hughes stood in the baggage claim at O'Hare on Monday morning, tired and emotional. Advertisement "It's tragic," Hughes said. "Some people didn't make it back home." 'A very resilient city' Joe Freiburger, 52, of Mount Prospect, had spent the weekend in Las Vegas for a softball tournament. He returned to O'Hare hours after the deadly shooting. He had walked around the area hours before gunfire was heard, but he went back to his hotel room early. He heard about the shooting on the news. "We were watching it on TV and saw that sirens heading toward the area," he said. Freiburger has been trying to get in touch with a friend who works as a concert promoter who was in Las Vegas. Advertisement Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 55 Windows are broken at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino in Las Vegas on Oct. 3, 2017. (John Locher / AP) "I haven't heard from him yet," he said. Hospital official safe after witnessing tragedy, Aurora officials say Rush-Copley Medical Center Chief Operating Officer John Diederich is safe Monday after attending the concert in which the shooting happened, according to a Facebook post by the city of Aurora. He "witnessed the tragedy firsthand," according to the Facebook post. The post was removed Monday afternoon. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > After the shooting, Diederich posted a message on his Facebook page. "Mass shooting at Jason Aldean concert. Keith and I are safe. We were very close. Major emergency response right now. Please pray," he wrote Advertisement Officials with the Aurora hospital said Diederich was not available to be interviewed Monday. Cardinal Cupich: 'Reaffirm commitment to nonviolence' Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, said it's important that people "not become numb to these mass shootings." "We reaffirm our commitment to nonviolence and to addressing the causes of such tragedies," Cupich said in a statement. "At this time we come together in prayer and also in resolve to change a culture that has allowed such events to become commonplace. We must not become numb to these mass shootings or to the deadly violence that occurs on our streets month in and month out. Let us join with all people of good will to work for increased access to mental health care and stronger, sensible gun control laws. And let us build a nation characterized by kindness, remarkable for its tolerance and defined by its reverence for human life." The Associated Press contributed. Police tape sits on a vehicle at the scene of a shooting in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune) Just 15 minutes after Chicago police said a man tried to abduct a 62-year-old woman Sunday, another woman reported that a man tried to carry her toward a parked vehicle, police said. She, too, was able to escape, according to a community alert from the Police Department. Advertisement The most recent incident happened around 7:55 p.m. in the Pilsen neighborhood, a little more than a mile from the first reported attempted abduction in the South Loop neighborhood. Police do not know whether the two cases are connected, a police spokesman said. Advertisement In the second case, a 29-year-old woman said a man came up to her from behind while she walked east on the sidewalk in the 1000 block of West 18th Street. The woman told police the man struck her in the abdomen and covered her mouth, according to the alert. He then tried to carry her toward a parked car, police said. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > The woman screamed and struggled, and two passers-by tried to help, police said. The man dropped the woman and drove away in his car. The community alert described the man as 20 to 30 years old with short, dark hair, a thin build and a light complexion. He stands around 5-foot-7 to 6 feet, the alert said. The car was a newer model, light-colored sedan, according to police. Around 7:40 p.m. Sunday, a 62-year-old woman reported that a man tried to force her into a beige sedan in the 200 block of West 19th street. She fought the man off and escaped, police said. The suspect in that case was described as 20 to 30 years old with short dark hair and standing 6 feet to 6-foot-2. The man is clean shaven with a round face and thin build, according to the alert. Advertisement Officer Hector Alfaro, a police spokesman, said detectives are investigating whether the same man attempted to abduct both women, but they are not able to confirm it. "They are looking to see if this is the same guy," Alfaro said. "It's possible." Cornell Dawson, the alleged ringleader of the Black Souls street gang, left, and Teron Odum, his reputed second-in-command, are among six people on trial in the first test of Illinois' racketeering law. (Cook County state's attorney's office) The Black Souls was a violent street gang that controlled the drug trade on its West Side blocks with killings, beatings and threats even against their fellow gang members going back to the 1990s, prosecutors said as Cook County's first racketeering trial opened Monday. While the gang controlled just a few square blocks, the six reputed leaders on trial ruled with "an iron fist" while running gang operations like a business with a management hierarchy and rules, Assistant State's Attorney Erica Dillon told jurors in opening remarks. Advertisement "Every crime that members of the Black Souls committed was done for the betterment of the business," Dillon said. Authorities have alleged the gang's heroin and cocaine sales reaped $11 million a year. Advertisement Lawyers for each of the six defendants also addressed the jury. Many attacked the credibility of key prosecution witnesses, saying some were paid or given leniency in exchange for their testimony. Prosecutors would "parade a bunch of bums in front of you," warned attorney George Becker, who represents Cornell Dawson, the gang's alleged ringleader. Joining Dawson on trial are Teron Odum, his reputed second-in-command; Duavon Spears, an alleged gang enforcer; and Ulysses Polk, Antwan Davis and Clifton Lemon, all alleged managers and trusted advisers. In a crackdown on the gang, nearly two dozen people were arrested in 2013, most of whom have since pleaded guilty. While racketeering charges have long been used at the federal level against mobsters and gang leaders, this marks the first test of the Illinois law that experts say was narrowly tailored to target gangs. The trial at the Leighton Criminal Court Building is expected to last two months or longer. Jury selection alone took nearly two weeks to complete. Security will be tight, with a metal detector outside Judge Michael McHale's courtroom in addition to the normal safeguards in the lobby. The racketeering statute allows prosecutors to hold leaders accountable for criminal behavior carried out on their behalf, though not necessarily at their specific instruction. In their openings, several of the lawyers for the reputed gang leaders tried to play up that distinction. "The evidence doesn't point to a huge overall conspiracy," said Becker, making a point repeated by other attorneys who urged jurors to evaluate their clients as individuals. Advertisement In addition, the Black Souls' control over its territory wasn't as organized or strict as prosecutors made it seem, the defense attorneys said. Some also pointed out that their clients weren't living the kind of lavish lifestyle that would be expected of drug kingpins. At the heart of the prosecution case is the slaying of Claude Snulligan, who in 2012 told police he had been robbed and brutally beaten by Odum and other gang members, court records show. The Black Souls offered Snulligan money to sign an affidavit denying his beating claims, but Snulligan instead cooperated with police, letting them listen in on the bribery-related conversations, court records allege. A few months later, Snulligan was shot in the back of the head near the corner of Madison Street and Pulaski Road in Black Souls territory. Prosecutors on Monday alleged Spears acted as the gunman. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Prosecutors have also alleged that the gang killed a man mistaken for a gang rival and a lower-level Black Souls member who was beaten to death and buried in a shallow grave for allegedly stealing from his boss. Cook County prosecutors have brought just one other racketeering case involving a much smaller Outfit-connected drug ring whose members were charged in 2014 with robbing stash houses. Advertisement Such cases require extensive resources and sophistication on the part of prosecutors and law enforcement to pull off, said G. Robert Blakey, professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame Law School who helped write the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act. "It's hard to investigate a group and a pattern of criminal behavior," Blakey told the Tribune. "It's getting the police and the prosecutors to not just be surgeons but to be brain surgeons. Brain surgery is hard. (It's) easier just to be a surgeon." But racketeering charges can be effective at uprooting entire criminal enterprises much more so than policing single incidents of crime, Blakey said. mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com Twitter @crepeau Chicago's recent U.S. attorney who oversaw the prosecution of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has joined the current FBI director's old law firm. Atlanta-based King & Spalding announced Wednesday that Zachary Fardon will become a partner and open a new Chicago office. The firm recently reported annual revenues of $1 billion. That translated into $2.5 million for each partner. King & Spalding employs around 1,000 lawyers globally. One recent employee was Chris Wray, who replaced James Comey as FBI director. Fardon resigned in March after the Trump administration asked more than 40 U.S. attorneys held over from the Obama administration to step down. Hastert served over a year in prison for breaking banking laws as he sought to pay $3.5 million in hush money to someone he sexually abused. Ald. Michelle Harris, 8th, is sponsoring a bill that she says will give some security to female hotel employees who too often feel like they dont have enough power to report guests. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) Chicago hotels would be required to provide portable "panic buttons" to workers like housecleaners who venture alone into guests' rooms, under a plan aldermen advanced Monday. Hotels also would need to post sexual harassment policies and promise workers would not face retribution if they reported sexual harassment or assault by guests. Employees would be guaranteed paid time off to file police reports or to testify in court against guests they say harassed or attacked them in the hotel. Advertisement The ordinance was approved by the Workforce Development Committee and heads to the City Council next week. Sponsor Ald. Michelle Harris, 8th, said the changes would give some security to women who too often feel like they don't have enough power to report guests. "It's all about the workers who were feeling a little challenged about their issues and not having mechanisms in place that they felt really protected them," Harris said. Advertisement Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, underscored the imbalance hotel workers face. "Who does the hotel manager believe if a complaint is filed, the powerless employee or the executive paying hundreds of dollars in room charges with a corporate platinum American Express card?" Burke asked. "Without safeguards in place, it's the employee who's exposed and vulnerable to the abuser and even, at times, the hotel management." If the ordinance is approved, hotels will have until July 2018 to install a panic button system so workers can quickly call security or a supervisor for help. Ald. Patrick O'Connor, 40th, said the system might operate similarly to services elderly people can use to call for an ambulance if they've fallen. Hotels would need to adopt the rest of the regulations within 60 days of aldermen passing them. Hotels that don't provide the panic buttons or adhere to other parts of the measure would face fines of $250 to $500 under the proposal. If the Chicago Commission on Human Rights determined a particular hotel has violated the ordinance twice or more within 12 months, the city Office of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection could start proceedings to suspend or revoke the hotel's license. jebyrne@chicagotribune.com Twitter @_johnbyrne Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin could be getting a challenge in the March primary, a reflection of the continued and deepening turmoil within the state GOP. Burr Ridge Mayor Mickey Straub said Monday that while he has long thought about running for higher office, the "icing on the cake" came when several Republicans joined with Democrats in July to enact an income tax hike and budget package over GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto. Advertisement "What pushed me over the edge was this latest vote of so many Republicans indeed jumping ship and going with the Democrats. There's something wrong here when so many Republicans are jumping ship," said Straub, 60, who has served as mayor of the western suburb since 2013. "It has pained me for years to see the direction of our state getting deeper and deeper into debt with no real concern for the future. And, then the next step that moved me forward was going north and south and seeing all this building just across our state borders. Illinois' becoming an evacuation state. I'd like to help make it a destination state," he said. Advertisement Asked about the prospect of entering into a potentially messy and expensive primary with a legislative leader, Straub said: "I don't always analyze all that stuff. I follow my heart and my soul where I think I'm being guided. And it may be an insurmountable challenge. Because I'm going up against the establishment, I'm going up against the leading Republican. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. All I know is success leaves clues and so does failure." Straub's announcement comes amid widespread dissatisfaction in Republican legislative ranks exacerbated last week when Rauner signed into law a controversial expansion of taxpayer-subsidized abortion coverage for women on Medicaid and on state employee health insurance. Rauner, who backed the goals of the abortion measure as a candidate, told Republicans in April that he would veto it as he sought to keep GOP lawmakers unified against the legislature's Democratic majorities. But facing increasing pressure amid a re-election campaign, Rauner approved the measure Thursday. That prompted some socially conservative Republicans to question his leadership of the GOP, which the governor has rejuvenated through his personal wealth. Durkin, 56, has been House GOP leader since 2013 and has served in the legislature for 19 years. Durkin has benefited from Rauner's cash infusions into the state Republican Party with financial aid dedicated to myriad Republican legislative candidates that led to a net gain of four seats in 2016 that eliminated Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan's veto-proof majority. Durkin's campaign issued a statement saying he "looks forward to the opportunity in distinguishing his successful record of fiscal conservatism in representing the families of suburban Cook, DuPage and Will counties in Springfield." Burr Ridge Mayor Mickey Straub says he will challenge Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin in the March 2018 primary. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune) While it is not uncommon for legislative leaders to face a primary, it is unusual for a leader to be challenged by a local elected official of the same party. Rauner's signature on the abortion legislation also creates a new dynamic. The governor had encouraged primary challenges to legislative Republicans he thought were disloyal and those GOP lawmakers who backed the tax-and-budget package had expected challenges. But after signing the abortion bill, some Republicans are reluctant to get his support. Straub is president of Sales Activity Management, which describes itself as a "faith-based company" that provides "custom performance management" and motivational tools to more than 50,000 clients. Advertisement It was Straub's firm that published his book, "50 Capitols in 50 Days, Big Goals/Short Deadlines," reflecting on Straub's recital of the Gettysburg Address at all 50 state capitols in a 2012 national tour. Straub has described the trip as setting priorities of "God, family, country in that order." "He likes to say that 'he left a believer and came back almost an evangelist-in-training,' " according to promotional material for the book. Straub was featured Monday on WIND-AM 560's morning show hosted by Dan Proft, a failed 2010 Republican primary governor candidate. Proft also is a political operative who was once a Rauner ally and is now at odds with the governor after he signed the abortion bill. On his show, Proft was highly critical of Durkin. But Proft said his Liberty Principles political action committee, which got $2.5 million from Rauner last year, "did not convince anybody to run" against Durkin. Straub said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that he had been encouraged by many conservative groups to challenge Durkin, including getting support from Proft and Patrick Hughes. Proft and Hughes co-founded the politically tax-exempt group, the Illinois Opportunity Project. rap30@aol.com Advertisement Twitter @rap30 Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, a Democrat who was first elected sheriff in 2006 and is seeking re-election next year, is frequently mentioned as a potential candidate for a variety of offices. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) 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 Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says his political ambitions have changed over the years, and that his interest in a bid for attorney general or other higher offices would have been greater 15 years ago. Advertisement "The reality is, I have different priorities in my life," Dart recently said before talking to an audience at Aurora University about criminal justice reform. Dart, a Democrat who was first elected sheriff in 2006 and is seeking re-election next year, is frequently mentioned as a potential candidate for a variety of offices, including County Board president or Chicago mayor. But he said he is finding more satisfaction in his current post and has said he won't run for attorney general. Advertisement As for seeing his name floated, Dart said, "I don't mean it in a snarky way, but it's not because I'm like a lot of these other people trying to slip my name in the conversation. It comes up and it's nice, I guess." As for attorney general, Dart said, "It was an office I was very interested in 20 years ago, 15 years ago. I was absolutely wanting to run for that at that point in time. Without any hesitation, that's what I hoped to have done. But it became abundantly clear it would have been a futile effort." Futile, because 2002 was the year that Lisa Madigan ran for the office. That left Dart running for state treasurer at the time and defeated by Republican Judy Baar Topinka. Dart said he was surprised by Madigan's decision vacate the office after four terms. "But when it came up, I honestly did the math and said to myself and my family, 'This will be a year and a half. No one's giving it to me. It will be a year and a half of campaigning and raising money and all that, and my children are very young and I'm very engaged with them. I mean, that's just how it is," he said. Dart, the father of five children with ages ranging from 8 to 16, said he is ambitious, but about his job. "I take on really difficult issues. I upset tons of people and get in lots of fights and do not take the easy path and work long hours. But when it comes to, like, the politics of things, I'm not politically ambitious. That's just not my DNA. My life isn't about literally moving up to these other offices. I honestly, in my heart of hearts, I just don't care," he said. (Rick Pearson) What's on tap *Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will announce 23 people from the Chicago Fire Department will go to Puerto Rico to help with relief efforts. Advertisement *Gov. Bruce Rauner has no public events scheduled. *The City Council's Committee on Workforce Development and Audit will meet. *Stuart Strahl, pesident and CEO of the Chicago Zoological Society, which runs the Brookfield Zoo, will speak to the City Club of Chicago. *The week ahead: On Tuesday, four City Council committees will meet, including an Aviation meeting about sound-deadening windows installed by city contractors in homes around Midway Airport. On Wednesday, three more city committees meet, and Loyola University Chicago President Jo Ann Rooney will speak to the City Club. On Thursday, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will present her budget proposal to commissioners. From the notebook *"Emasculated" lawmakers? Dart also made some critical references to House Speaker Michael Madigan, who also chairs the state Democratic Party. The sheriff effectively accused him of taking power away from rank-and-file lawmakers. Dart served in the General Assembly from 1991 to 2003. "I've often told people, 'Absolutely, truly if the legislature had not become emasculated, which is what had happened, I probably would have stayed down there, because my first two years I'm introducing 120 bills a year and all the rest of the stuff,'" he said. Advertisement "But when you have people walk in to you and say, 'Listen, you all have three bills a year and we pick them by the way,' then you sit and say, 'I can't be impactful here. I'm mortal like everyone else. I either need to get a different job or find a different governmental position where I can be impactful,'" Dart said of a mandate once imposed by the speaker's office on his Democratic members. "So the sheriff's office came out of the blue too, I wasn't expecting that. But I have found that office has this incredibly broad mandate that I think, just objectively, anybody that looks at it can tell you we've been able to make these remarkable changes that have impacted the entire country." (Rick Pearson) *On the "Sunday Spin": Chicago Tribune political reporter Rick Pearson's guests were Tribune reporter Hal Dardick, state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz and Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer. "Sunday Spin" airs from 7 to 9 a.m. on WGN-720 AM. Listen to the show here. What we're writing *Anti-pop-tax hired guns pay $11 an hour for workers to "educate" Cook County voters on repeal. *Rauner's left turns on abortion, immigration put his political base in doubt. *Rauner vetoes bill that would prevent local right-to-work zones. Advertisement *State allows educators to bypass some exams, courses for teacher licensing. *Pro-immigration rally held at Arlington Heights library that received threatening phone calls. *Amid flag controversy, York parents buy lunch for teachers to show support. What we're reading *"It's a disgraceful job:" Rep. Gutierrez slams Trump over hurricane response. *New to actually winning, Cubs require a $50 deposit for a chance to get NLCS tickets. *Putting an end to hazing takes more than written policies, experts say. Advertisement *Two Chicago Marathon runners connected by one transplanted heart. Follow the money *Quarterly campaign finance reports are due. Watch them stream in here. *Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here. Beyond Chicago *One day in Puerto Rico. *Tillerson says the U.S. is talking directly to North Korea. Advertisement *Trump says Tillerson is "wasting his time." *Will Google and Facebook have to reveal secrets? This June 28, 2014, file courtroom sketch shows United States Magistrate Judge John Facciola swearing in the defendant, Libyan militant Ahmed Abu Khattala, wearing a headphone, as his attorney Michelle Peterson watches during a hearing at the federal U.S. District Court in Washington. (Dana Verkouteren / AP) WASHINGTON The alleged mastermind of the 2012 attacks on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, despises America and when his hatred "boiled over," he organized the strike that killed four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens, a government prosecutor told the jury on Monday. Opening statements began in the case against Ahmed Abu Khattala, whom prosecutors describe as the ringleader of the attacks at a diplomatic compound an attack that became a political flashpoint given its timing weeks before President Barack Obama's re-election. Advertisement It's one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years in a U.S. civilian court at a time when the Trump administration has said terror suspects are better sent to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. An 18-count indictment against Abu Khattala arises from a burst of violence that began the night of Sept. 11, 2012, at a State Department compound, a rampage prosecutors say was aimed at killing American personnel and plundering maps, documents and other property from the post. Advertisement Abu Khattala has pleaded not guilty to his charges, including murder of an internationally protected person, providing material support to terrorists and destroying U.S. property while causing death. Stevens was killed in the first attack at the U.S. mission, along with Sean Patrick Smith, a State Department information management officer. Nearly eight hours later at a CIA complex nearby, two more Americans, contract security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, died in a mortar attack. Stevens and Smith "choked to death by thick black smoke," John Crabb, assistant U.S. attorney, said in his opening statement. Woods and Doherty were "blown apart by mortar," he said. Crabb said Abu Khattala "hates America with a vengeance" and that his "hatred simmered until it boiled over." "He killed Ambassador Stevens a man of peace." Khattala, who has a long, gray beard, entered the courtroom and shook hands with members of his legal team. The defendant, who wore a white shirt, monitored his trial through an interpreter. At times, he swiveled in his chair at the defense table. Before the opening statements, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper gave the jury 30 minutes of instructions. "I am here to run a fair and efficient trial and to make sure the trains run on time," Cooper told them. Advertisement "You and only you are the ultimate deciders of fact in this case." The trial began in a federal courtroom in Washington, three years after he was captured by U.S. special forces in Libya and brought to the U.S. on a 13-day trip aboard a Navy ship. The case became instant political fodder, with Republicans accusing the Obama administration of intentionally misleading the public and stonewalling congressional investigators, though officials denied any wrongdoing. Some in Congress were particularly critical of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's handling of the matter. And the trial itself could have political ramifications, as it is likely to be held up as an example of the effectiveness of trying terror suspects in federal court, at a time when the Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have said they should be sent instead to Guantanamo. It could also renew focus on U.S. interrogation strategies that Abu Khattala's lawyers have argued were illegal. During his trans-Atlantic trip, he faced days of questioning aboard the USS New York from separate teams of American interrogators, part of a two-step process designed to obtain both national security intelligence and evidence usable in a criminal prosecution. He was questioned for days about national security matters before being advised of his rights. A new team of FBI investigators then pressed him some more, this time to produce evidence prosecutors could present at trial. Abu Khattala waived his rights, but his attorneys argued that the trip was so coercive, the waiver shouldn't count. Advertisement The judge rejected that, and is allowing the statements to be used as evidence. More than 50 people were killed and at least 400 others injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said. CAIRO Without providing any evidence to support the claim, the Islamic State group on Monday said the gunman in the mass shooting in Las Vegas was "a soldier" from its ranks who had converted to Islam months ago. Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting, and said initially there was no evidence of any connection to international terrorism. Advertisement The extremist group has a history of exaggerated or false claims, including earlier this year, when it claimed an attack on a casino in the Philippines that turned out to have been a botched robbery carried out by a heavily indebted gambling addict. The group's Aamaq news agency released two brief statements hours after the shooting at a country music concert that killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 500. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Advertisement IS did not name the suspected shooter, but said he had "executed the operation in response to calls to target countries of the coalition" batting the extremist group in Iraq and Syria. The group later released Spanish language versions of the statements. Police have identified the shooter as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, and have said he killed himself after the shooting. Authorities have not commented on his religious background or said what might have motivated the attack. Most IS attacks have been carried out by much younger men. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said authorities believe it was a "lone wolf" attack, and the U.S. Homeland Security Department said there was no "specific credible threat" involving other public venues in the U.S. The extremist organization has suffered a string of major setbacks in Iraq and Syria, where it has lost much of the territory it once claimed as part of a self-styled Islamic caliphate. However, the group remains active in recruiting followers on social media, and has repeatedly called on its supporters to carry out attacks in Western nations. The IS group often claims attacks by individuals inspired by its message but with no known links to the group. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. The shooter, Omar Mateen, had pledged allegiance to IS and it claimed the attack. IS claimed the attack on a casino in the Philippines that killed dozens of people, but police later identified the attacker as a Filipino gambling addict who was $80,000 in debt, saying it was a botched robbery that was not terrorism-related. "It looked like chocolate," said Ferdinand Ramos, a 63-year-old retired police officer whose home was directly in the path of massive landslides. The viscous mud crashed into his living room and kitchen, leaving a shin-high sludge. Then, for almost nine days, Ramos and Norma Jimenez and members of their extended family were trapped on their property. No one came to help. Their home on the remote outskirts of this town 60 miles southwest of San Juan became a prison. Even after they cleaned up inside, they had no way to leave the mud, broken trees and chunks of debris had piled up outside. On Thursday eight days after Maria had passed a municipal utility worker cleared their street. The family had almost run out of drinking water. Their isolated community of Caonillas had received no aid from the local or federal government, residents said. And they had no way to make the perilous trek to town; the winding roads had been obliterated and six of the family's cars had been stored in a garage that collapsed, crushing five of the vehicles and sending a sixth sliding down the mountainside and into a river. So their daughter decided to try hitchhiking to town, desperate for bottled water for her month-old premature baby, Diana. As Jimenez, 62, waited for her daughter to return, she rocked 6-pound Diana in her arms, kissing the infant's forehead. "She left this morning and still hasn't come back," Jimenez said. An unknown number of families are still trapped in this part of Utuado, much of which is inaccessible nearly two weeks after the storm. From the air it is clear why: Mountaintop houses are surrounded by landslides, shredded structures are scattered down mountain slopes, and residents in some areas could be seen waving frantically for help as a helicopter passed. Some of the homes are so remote and in such rugged terrain that getting to them requires extraordinary effort by helicopter or all-terrain vehicle. Pilots can't land in many nearby spots, making it unclear how authorities will reach people before the road infrastructure is repaired, which could take months. Residents are cut off from civilization, in some places at least a four-hour walk to the nearest store. If aid and essential resources have been slow to reach Puerto Rico as a whole, getting help to isolated communities such as Utuado has been taking even longer. In these rural neighborhoods, tucked between mountain ranges and nestled along murky river beds, there is no telecommunication. Some residents recounted coming across Federal Emergency Management Agency officials, none carrying aid only search-and-rescue teams seeking assessments. These are the U.S. citizens for whom the mayor of San Juan has been crying, the people who say they have been forgotten and betrayed by their government in Washington. President Donald Trump has been declaring the federal government's role in Puerto Rico a success, but the people here see things very differently as they struggle to survive. "In the towns I represent, there are people who have no water," said an emotional Sen. Nelson Cruz Santiago, who represents the island's southern region. "In Utuado, there is an area where the bridge was washed out and people are screaming from the other side for help. We can hear them, we can see them, but we can't help them." At least three people died in mudslides in Utuado after Maria hit on Sept. 20. Many residents of the Caonillas neighborhood worry that if it rains again, the mountains and roads could buckle even more and come after them again. Hector Ruiz, a utility worker hired by the Utuado municipality to clear its roads, is often the first outsider to encounter stranded families. With a large excavator on Friday, he cut through a mountain that had fallen over Highway 140. He estimated that it will take at least one more month to make the entire highway in Utuado accessible. Ruiz said he came across a community of about 50 homes surrounded by a broken road on one side and a lake on the other. "They can't get out either way," he said. Ana Rosa Cruz escaped from one of those isolated communities on Friday and was walking through Caonillas with her nephew. She emerged from a road covered with tall mounds of broken trees and mud. She was out of breath and exasperated, her shins covered in scratches and gashes from the trek. Cruz, 58, had walked for about two hours just to reach an accessible road. She was carrying empty gasoline containers and had about an hour to go to reach her destination. Since the storm, Cruz had been staying at her mother's home, which had been cut off by landslides. About nine families live there, but dozens more live even farther into the area, she said, miles away from anything. Her mother, who has circulation problems, had enough fuel to use her generator for only two more days. She and her neighbors are forced to drink "water from the mountain or from the sky," she said. "If she gets sick, we can't get her out," Cruz said of her mother, noting that she has seen helicopters but none of them have stopped. "We just wave goodbye, because there's nothing else we can do." For Lisandra Torres, 43, who lives down the road from Jimenez and Ramos, her family's sedan is too low to the ground to make it up the muddy, rugged route only a four-wheel-drive SUV would even have a chance. Torres walked for three hours to get to the center of Utuado on Thursday, seeking food and water. Her extended family is almost out of cash, so Torres tried to pick up their benefit checks from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children known as WIC to purchase food and diapers for her grandchildren. But the WIC offices in their town were closed. "If my babies get sick, I need to buy medication," said her daughter, Lizbeth Coraliza, 24. A relative tried driving her sister, Angelica Coraliza, 26, to a minimart Friday in a different sedan. That car got stuck four times because of mud and road damage, and other drivers had to help. When they finally made it to the store, they found that it was sold out of water. The Coralizas, like many other families in the Utuado area, can reach mountain springs. The cloudy water works for bathing and cleaning, but many said they wouldn't risk drinking it and definitely wouldn't give it to infants. Jimenez's daughter might not have a choice. The young mother has been struggling to breast-feed her newborn, probably because she is stressed and not getting enough to eat, Jimenez said. If they can't find bottled water, the family will have to start boiling water from the mountain to add to the baby's formula. And the shortage of food is increasingly grim. Fuljencio Guzman and his 12-year-old son, Kelvin, lost their home, its wooden structure devastated. They are staying next door at Guzman's mother's house. A pantry showed the family's only remaining nourishment: one can of beans, a few cans of tomatoes, saltine crackers and a few potatoes. Even if they could reach the nearest grocery store, they have no cash to buy food, and no banks or cash machines in town are functioning. The Guzmans are limiting themselves to one meal a day, the father said. About 1 p.m. Friday, Kelvin ate some Chef Boyardee and rice probably his only meal until Saturday. Another resident, Migdalia Guzman, said she thinks the U.S. government doesn't realize there are communities up here, away from the cities and the television cameras. "I think they think no one is here," Migdalia Guzman said. "But there are a lot of people here." The storm loosened massive boulders in the mountain slope directly above Migdalia Guzman's home, where she lives with her children. She worries that additional rain could cause another catastrophe. "We would all die," she said. When she saw a local government official around town on Thursday, she was told that she should move to a different home because of the risk. "We don't know where to go," she said. On Friday afternoon, thunder clapped and dark clouds started rolling in over the mountains. It began to rain. He liked to bet big, wagering tens of thousands of dollars in a sitting. He owned homes in four states but preferred staying in casino hotels, sometimes for weeks at a time, as he worked the gambling machines. He grew up the son of a convicted bank robber who was constantly running from the law. But in his own life, Stephen Paddock, 64, had kept his nose clean until Sunday night, when he suddenly unleashed a firestorm of bullets from his casino hotel room, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500 more on the Las Vegas Strip. "If you told me an asteroid fell into Earth, it would mean the same to me. There's absolutely no sense, no reason he did this," his brother Eric Paddock said in an interview outside his home in Orlando, Florida. "He's just a guy who played video poker and took cruises and ate burritos at Taco Bell. There's no political affiliation that we know of. There's no religious affiliation that we know of." After the shooting, officers found Stephen Paddock dead with 17 guns on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where he had arrived Thursday. Police believe Paddock acted alone in executing the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Eric Paddock said he knew of five guns his brother kept in his safe but was shocked that a rapid-fire weapon was used in Sunday's shooting. He said Stephen Paddock didn't hunt and barely shot his guns, once taking Eric's children on a skeet-shooting trip paid for by the casinos. In the final years of his life, Stephen Paddock was living out his retirement in quiet obscurity. He liked country music, relatives said, and went to concerts like the Route 91 Harvest festival where he killed so many Sunday night. He was worth more than $2 million, relatives said. Before retiring, he made a small fortune from real estate deals and a business that he and Eric Paddock sold off. He traveled a lot and had millions of free airline miles. At various points of his life, Stephen Paddock worked for defense contractor Lockheed Martin and as an accountant and property manager. As a retiree, he had no children and plenty of money to play with. So he took up gambling. "It's like a job for him. It's a job where you make money," said Eric Paddock, adding that his brother could lose $1 million and still have enough to live on. "He was at the hotel for four months one time. It was like a second home." He recalled one time when the entire family took over the top floor of the Atlantis at the casino's expense. His brother was very particular about the games he played. "It had to be the right machine with double points, and there has to be a contest going on. He won a car one time," Eric Paddock said. "He's known. He's a top player. He's the small end of the big fish." Over the past two decades, Stephen Paddock had bought and sold properties in several states, including California, Nevada, Florida and Texas, where for a time, neighbors said, he lived with his mother. Public records show Paddock at one point owned two planes and was a licensed pilot. He also had a fishing license from Alaska. He told neighbors he was a professional gambler and a prospector, and he appeared to favor buying homes in retirement communities. At one point, he and his longtime girlfriend, Marilou Danley, were living in at least three retirement communities, property records show. Neighbors said the couple seemed almost itinerant, leaving the properties empty for long stretches as Paddock visited his casinos. Donald Judy, who was his next-door neighbor in Florida until two years ago, said the inside of Paddock's home "looked like a college freshman lived there." There was no art on the walls and no car in the driveway. Just a dining chair, a bed and two recliners. Paddock was constantly on the move, carrying a suitcase and driving a rental car whenever he stayed at the community near Cocoa Beach. "It looked like he'd be ready to move at a moment's notice," Judy said. Judy said he never flashed his wealth, often wearing khaki cotton pants, with a polo or other collared shirt, and never driving anything nicer than a standard rental car. A little while after living there, Paddock left Judy a key and asked him to keep an eye on the rarely used house and to borrow any tools he might want. Judy said there were no drugs or parties, nothing unusual except for Paddock's gambling. "They did seem to always stay up till midnight and sleep in till noon," Judy said. "They always seemed to stay on Vegas time." Then, as quickly as he had appeared, Paddock put up a for-sale sign, Judy said. "He never said much about it, just said they were moving back to Vegas." Police in Texas and towns Paddock lived in in Nevada said they could find no records of run-ins with the law involving him. California records show that Paddock married a woman named Peggy Okamoto in 1985. They divorced in 1990 citing "irreconcilable differences." In recent years, Danley had become his girlfriend, relatives said. Authorities said Danley was out of the country at the time of the shooting and was located in Tokyo. She is not considered a suspect. At one point, Danley worked as a high-limit hostess for Club Paradise, a rewards program in the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, Nevada, according to her LinkedIn profile. In a statement, Atlantis officials said she has not worked for the casino for several years. Diane McKay lived next door to Paddock and Danley at their Reno home until July, when McKay moved away. Danley wasn't forthcoming about her life, and Paddock was unfriendly, McKay recalled. She only saw him in the mornings, when he went to the clubhouse to work out. "He was weird. Kept to himself," said McKay, 79. "It was like living next to nothing. . . . You can at least be grumpy, something. He was just nothing, quiet." The couple kept their blinds closed, but sometimes Paddock would open the garage door, revealing an enormous safe the size of a refrigerator. Paddock's father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, described on a 1969 wanted poster as "psychopathic'' with suicidal tendencies. He escaped from prison that year and, according to news accounts, was not captured until 1978, when he was nabbed while running a bingo parlor in Oregon. Stephen Paddock was the oldest of four boys. Eric, eight years his junior, was the youngest, with two in between: Bruce and Patrick. Their father died a few years ago, but Eric Paddock grew up thinking their father was already dead. He found out otherwise when Patrick went to the Air Force Academy and was told his father was a decorated veteran and still alive. "We didn't grow up under his influence," Eric Paddock said. "I was born on the run in Tucson. My dad was about to be arrested for robbing banks." FBI agents interviewed relatives Monday, including Stephen Paddock's mother, who is in her 90s and spoke with him two weeks ago, Eric Paddock said. Five days after Hurricane Irma hit Orlando, Stephen Paddock texted his brother to see whether relatives had been affected. Eric Paddock said he did not know of any mental illness, alcohol or drug problems in his brother's life. He said he had no clue whether Stephen had gambling debts or was financially troubled. By Monday night, after an entire day dealing with FBI investigators and reporters camped outside his house, Eric Paddock said he and other relatives were still struggling to process the atrocity carried out by his brother. "When we talked about a month ago, I can't believe he was planning this," he said, squeezing his eyes closed. "But he must have. It takes time." What he knows about his brother doesn't fit with Sunday's massacre of innocents. "Something broke in his head is the only thing possible. Did he have a stroke?" he said. "I'm hoping they cut open his brain and find something. There's a data point missing." Julie Tate and Mark Berman in Washington; Ally Gravina in Reno, Nev.; Heather Long in Mesquite, Nev.; William Dauber in Los Angeles; and Justin Glawe in Dallas contributed to this report. Las Vegas shooting victims: Portraits of the fallen At least 58 people were killed and almost 500 were injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said. These are the names and stories of those whose identities have been made public: Hannah Ahlers, 35 Murrieta Hannah Ahlers could be daring. The Murrieta, Calif., resident was part of a tightknit community of skydivers and enjoyed the outdoors. But a friend, Sunni Almond, said Ahlers also enjoyed simpler pleasures. She savored spending weekends lounging by the pool with friends and family. She was possibly one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, with a heart to match, Almond said. She never came across with the diva mentality she easily could have had. She was a devoted mother and wife. Ahlers studied at Crafton Hills College and went to Redlands East Valley High School, according to her Facebook page. She is survived by her husband of 16 years, Brian, and three children. Melissa Etehad Heather Alvarado, 35 Cedar City, Utah A mother of three and the wife of a firefighter, Heather Alvarado was someone who liked to see the good in others. Alvarado enjoyed going on vacations and spending time outdoors with her husband, Albert, and their children. She would do anything for [her children]. She spent her whole life serving others in her family and community, her husband said in a statement. Albert Alvarado is a firefighter in Cedar City, Utah, where the family lives. The Cedar City Fire Department is selling cookbooks to raise money to help support the family. Melissa Etehad Dorene Anderson, second from right. Courtesy of Cowbell Crew Dorene Anderson, 49 Anchorage Stefanie Anderson posted a photograph of her family on Facebook with a sorrowful caption. The Andersons were attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. This is one of the last family photos we will take, Stefanie Anderson wrote. Sadly, my mom was one of the victims that did not make it. Dorene Anderson was a hockey booster in Anchorage and a self-described stay-at-home wife and mother. She had traveled to Las Vegas with her husband, John, and daughters Stefanie and Jessika, according to a friend. She was the only one shot. Anderson had served as treasurer of the Cowbell Crew, a nonprofit organization based in Anchorage that supports local hockey teams. Dorene was ... a wonderful, generous person who was a friend to many, said friend Marie English, who was also involved with the nonprofit group. Anderson attended Tigard High School in Tigard, Ore., according to her social media profile. On Monday, Stefanie Anderson updated her Facebook profile with a photo of her and Dorene at a hockey game. You lit up her world, Gayle Simmons White commented on the photo. There was no end to her love for you and your sister and dad. She was by far the best person I've ever known. Ben Poston Courtesy of Nicole Johnson Carrie Barnette, 34 Riverside Carrie Barnette was celebrating a friends 30th birthday in Las Vegas when she was shot in the chest. She died before reaching the hospital, her mother said. She was the oldest of three children, and family was her priority, said her mother, Mavis Barnette. Beautiful child; she was my firstborn, Mavis Barnette said. She was always generous and helping everybody in every way. She loved her nieces and nephews and her sister and brother. Carrie, of Riverside, Calif., had worked at Disneyland for 11 years in food services and she loved it there, her mother said. Mavis Barnette was almost asleep on Sunday night when she received a phone call around 11:30 from her daughters friend. She had told me shed been shot. I said, What are you talking about? I said, Where? When? What? And she told me she was shot in the chest. As of Monday evening, Mavis Barnette still had not received confirmation of her daughters death because shes been unable to reach officials, despite repeated calls. Nobody has any idea where shes at, she said. Still, based on what her daughters friend said, she is convinced her daughter is dead. Carrie was also close to her grandparents, and had a hummingbird tattoo their favorite bird in their memory. Her Facebook wall is covered with messages of love from friends and family who say they take solace in her reunion with them. She was the kind of friend that everybody would want in their life. She was vivacious, caring, funny, sweet, energetic, creative, loyal, thoughtful, giving and full of life, Carries friend Nicole Johnson wrote in an email. Johnson remembers the laughter she and Carrie always shared, whether at the Stage Coach music festival two years ago, or on a roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I am going to miss her greatly, she wrote. Sonali Kohli Courtesy of Lauraine Cook Jack Beaton, 54 Bakersfield Jack Beaton and his wife, Laurie, had been with friends celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary, which fell on Sunday, the final day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival. That evening, Jack posted a picture of the group on Facebook, all smiles as they sipped beers and sprawled on the grass with the stage in the background. Laurie later posted that she was with her best friend and soul mate. Heres to 23 wonderful years and looking forward to 23 more, she wrote. Less than an hour later, the shooting began. Jack tried to shield his wife with his body, according to Lauries parents. Jack got on top of Laurie to protect her. He laid on top of her and said, Laurie, I love you. She said, I love you too, and boom he got hit. I dont know how many times, said Jerry Cook, Lauries father. The group separated as they sought shelter, and later tried to find Jack. But his body was gone. Laurie Beaton did not learn until Monday afternoon that her husband had been identified among the casualties. Later Monday, Laurie Beaton flew to Phoenix to pick up daughter Delaney, a freshman at Arizona State University , and returned home to Bakersfield, where her son Jake attends college. Lost my best friend. I love you so much more then you could ever imagine, Jake Beaton posted on Facebook, along with a collage of pictures of his father, mother, sister and himself. Please watch over our family. You will forever be remembered as our hero! #atruehero Jack worked in construction and Laurie in human resources at an energy company. But their lives centered around their children, watching their daughter cheerleading or taking their son dirt-bike riding in rural areas near Bakersfield. He had a heart of gold, he would do anything for those who he loved, his family, his friends, even for strangers, she said. Seema Mehta Candace Bowers, second from right, with her three children. Courtesy of Candace Bowers' family Candace Bowers, 40 Garden Grove Candace Bowers, 40, overcame many challenges in her life. Her mother died when she was a young girl. She raised two children as a single mother. Nevertheless, when a relative experienced her own life problems, Bowers took in the womans baby and officially adopted her in May. Family members say the act of kindness showed the Garden Grove womans character, always placing the needs of others above her own. Bowers worked as a waitress at Mimis Cafe, had a wide circle of friends and enjoyed spending time with her children, 16-year-old Katie, 20-year-old Kurtis, and the recently adopted Ariel, 2. Everybody loved her. She always had a smile on her face and would help anybody, Vicki Jeffries, Bowers aunt, said in a phone interview before breaking down in tears over Bowers death. She had a big heart. She was just a sweetheart. She would do anything for anybody. There has been an enormous outpouring of community support. The football team at Pacifica High School, which Katie attends, plans to wear decals on their helmets honoring Bowers during their next game. The Posse Bar in Westminster, where Bowers socialized, is holding a fundraiser Oct. 21. And a fundraising website for Bowers memorial costs and children had raised more than $30,000 by Wednesday afternoon. Bowers loved country music and spending time outdoors, so a trip with a girlfriend to the Route 91 Harvest Festival combined both. When the shooting broke out, the women huddled under a table but decided to seek safety by running. In the chaos, they got separated. The last time Bowers friend saw her, she was running behind her holding her phone in the air, Jeffries said. Nobody could find Bowers on Sunday night, so her uncle, a retired Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy, drove to Las Vegas on Monday. Late that night, the family received the confirmation that Bowers was among the fatalities. Katie called her great-grandfather, Robert Lacayo, and asked him if he was sitting down. The worst day of my life was on Monday, Lacayo said. Katie called me and she tells me, Pop, Moms gone. She started crying. She said, Pop, what am I going to do without Mom? It was the worst feeling you can ever have. I cant even express it. I would have preferred death myself. Lacayo, a 78-year-old veteran who served in the Korean War, wants to use his granddaughters death to try to decrease the availability of assault weapons. Everyone else might forget this in six months, but we will never forget about it. I wont and her daughter wont and her little daughter wont and her son will never forget about it, he said, thinking ahead to Thanksgivings and Christmases where there will be an empty seat at the dinner table. Thoughts and prayers are just not going to do it, he said. People tell me God works in mysterious ways, and Think of the good times. That doesnt work when youre hurting. Seema Mehta Denise Burditus Martinsburg, W.Va. Denise Burditus and her husband, Tony, held each other close and grinned big for a photo at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the Mandalay Bay hotel in the background. The West Virginia resident posted the picture on Facebook, not long before the shooting broke out. She later died in her husbands arms. It saddens me to say that I lost my wife of 32 years, a mother of two, soon to be grandmother of five this evening in the Las Vegas shooting, Tony later wrote in his own post. Denise passed in my arms. I LOVE YOU BABE. The two lived in Martinsburg and loved to travel and spend time with their grandchildren. She was a Seattle Seahawks fan and described herself on Facebook as semi-retired. In photos, shes often surrounded by family, acting goofy, planting kisses on Tony. Most recent posts on social media showed them poolside and out to dinner in Sin City. Oh Tony, Tammy Petersen Hacker wrote on Facebook. I just keep looking at the cool, beautiful pictures both you and Denise have been sharing of all the fun you were having your loss is unfathomable. Esmeralda Bermudez Manhattan Beach Unified School District Sandy Casey Manhattan Beach Sandy Casey was a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School for nine years. She is loved by students and colleagues alike and will be remembered for her sense of humor, her passion for her work, her devotion to her students, and her commitment to continuing her own learning and to taking on whatever new projects came her way, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District said in a statement. She has made a tremendous difference in the lives of her students and their families, many of whom worked with her over multiple years. On Facebook on Monday, Sarah Kapusta called Casey her best friend during childhood. Your loving spirit will always be a part of me. RIP, Kapusta wrote. The school district is offering counseling for students and staff. We lost a spectacular teacher who devoted her life to helping some of our most needy students, Supt. Michael Matthews said in a statement. Melissa Etehad Thomas Day Jr., 54 Riverside Thomas Day Jr.s four children all in their 20s and 30s were with him at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. He was the best dad. Thats why the kids were with him, said his father, Thomas Day Sr. Day lived in Riverside and worked as a home builder. His father, who lives in the Las Vegas area, said he received a phone call about 11 p.m. Sunday telling him that his son was among those killed at the concert. Now he and his grandchildren grieve together. The elder Day struggled to put words together to do his sons memory justice. His kids are with me right now. Theyre crushed. Benjamin Oreskes Austin Davis , 29 Riverside Austin Davis was a proud union man. The 29-year-old Riverside resident was a pipefitter for UA Local 364, which covers San Bernardino and Riverside counties, along with Edwards Air Force Base. On Facebook he posted photos of himself at work and of the local union outfits insignia: A skull with an American flag do-rag with combustion lines running through the eyes. Two large wrenches cross behind the skull and below are the words Union Til I Die. His girlfriend of nine years, Aubree Hennigan, commented on the photo: Love your dedication baby! In May 2015, Davis became a journeyman pipefitter after years of training. He posted the news on Facebook and highlighted the increase in his pay that came with the promotion. One friend commented: Congratulations to you my good man! Davis played softball and enjoyed fishing and skiing with his friends. He joined friends to attend the Route 91 Harvest festival. Davis last called Hennigan around 8 p.m. Sunday. The gunfire started about two hours later. He just told me that Big & Rich was playing and he didnt really care for them but they threw one hell of a concert, Hennigan said. Thats all he told me. When Davis couldnt be reached, Hennigan traveled to Nevada to search for him. She eventually learned of his death, and Monday evening she wrote on Facebook: Austin, my love, I can't believe this happened. You didn't deserve this. Benjamin Oreskes Courtesy of Nannette Meyers Christiana Duarte, 22 Redondo Beach native Christiana Duarte known as Chrissy came from a family of baseball players. Her father, Michael, always took her to Dodgers games. Her brother Mikey played shortstop at UC Irvine and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox . Her cousins Gerald and Brandon Laird have played pro ball as well. Brandon got the news of his cousins death in Japan, where he plays for the Nippon-Ham Fighters. Duarte followed her family into sports not on the field, but in the front office. Before she graduated from the University of Arizona in the spring, Duarte interned for the Tucson Roadrunners, the Arizona Diamondbacks and then the Los Angeles Rams. She started her first full-time job in September as a fan services associate with the Los Angeles Kings hockey team. She wanted to be in marketing in those organizations and probably run a sports team, said Los Angeles County Deputy District Atty. Danette Meyers, who has worked with Duartes father for decades in the prosecutors office. She had those aspirations, and she wouldve made it. Chrissy was at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival with Mikeys girlfriend, Ariel Romero, a law student at Chapman University, Meyers said. Mikey was supposed to be there too, but the White Sox needed him in Arizona. As they stood at the concert Sunday, Romero watched Duarte fall to the ground. She jumped on Duarte and was shot in the face. Someone scooped up Romero, treated her wound and carried her to a paramedic leaving Duarte behind. Romero had surgery Tuesday and is expected to survive. Duartes death was confirmed late Monday, after her family spent a desperate day searching for her. On Monday, Mikey Duarte tweeted a photo of his sister and girlfriend with an emoji of a broken heart. Benjamin Oreskes Associated Press Stacee Etcheber, 50 Novato, Calif. Stacee Etcheber was as likely to be seen cheering on her kids sports games as starting a fire on their school camping trips, or helping someone change the oil in their car. The hairstylist, mother of two and wife of San Francisco Police Officer Vinnie Etcheber died in the Las Vegas massacre. Stacee was taken in a senseless act of violence as her husband, SFPD Officer Vinnie Etcheber, heroically rushed to aid shooting victims in Las Vegas on Sunday, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said in a statement. Stacee was a beloved mother of two young children and a well-loved hairstylist in Marin County. She lived around the corner from San Ramon Elementary School, said Principal Amanda Langford. Both her children attended the school, and her youngest is in fifth grade. Stacee was a really intelligent, beautiful and caring mother, Langford said. She was well-known for her involvement in the school and PTA , always making herself available to help students and families, or to chaperone field trips. Her brother-in-law, Al Etcheber, announced her death on Facebook on Tuesday morning, after posting Monday that she was missing. It's with a heavy heart and deep sorrow, Stacee Etcheber has passed away, he wrote. We will dearly miss you. Sonali Kohli Keri Galvan, 31 Thousand Oaks Keri Galvan had three children under the age of 10, and her devotion to them wasnt difficult to spot. In one Facebook photo, she wears Mickey Mouse ears and holds her daughter as Minnie Mouse shakes the childs hand. In a selfie, Galvan tenderly kisses her daughter, who has big brown eyes and a pink bow around her head. In her profile photo, her children walk hand in hand on a school track. In a post on a GoFundMe page established in Galvans memory, her sister Lindsey Poole said Galvan attended the Route 91 Harvest festival with her husband and friends. The 31-year-old worked as a waitress at Mastros Steakhouse in Thousand Oaks Galvans days started and ended with doing everything in her power to be a wonderful mother, Poole wrote. Stefanie Reines, a friend, wrote on Twitter that Galvan was a beautiful, amazing, kind and generous person who made everyone smile. Benjamin Oreskes Courtesy of San Bernardino County Dana Gardner, 52 Grand Terrace When Bob Dutton became the San Bernardino County assessor-recorder-clerk, he knew a strong and experienced deputy would be essential to do the job. Dana Gardner was just that person. As the deputy recorder-county clerk, she was one of my go-to people, Dutton said. If you needed advice or questions came up, she had the answer. She was my go-to person. Gardner, of Grand Terrace, had traveled to Las Vegas with one of her daughters to attend the Route 91 Harvest Festival. After Gardner was wounded in the gunfire unleashed on the crowd, the daughter rode with her in the ambulance to the trauma center. The daughter, who was unharmed, contacted Duttons office and said she and her mother had become separated. About 7:30 a.m. Monday, one of Duttons colleagues received the news. Gardner was dead. You never think its going to be someone you know until it is, Dutton said. San Bernardino was the site of the terrorist attack that left 14 dead and 22 wounded in 2015. On Monday, getting through the day was particularly difficult because Dutton said they couldn't just close the clerk's office. Everyone kept working, he said, even after they got received the horrid news. Benjamin Oreskes Courtesy of Lupe Avila Angela Gomez, 20 Riverside Angela Gomez was a Riverside native who left a lasting impact on her high school classmates and teachers. She graduated from Riverside Polytechnic High School in 2015 and attended classes at Riverside Community College. "Angie was a fun-loving, sweet young lady with a great sense of humor," her former cheer coach, Lupe Avila, said in an email. "Angie was a loyal friend who loved her family and will be forever missed by all those who knew her." She challenged herself academically, enrolling in Advanced Placement classes, and "loved the stage" she was involved in cheer, choir and the Riverside Children's Theatre, Avila said. Sonali Kohli Charleston Hartfield, 34 Las Vegas Las Vegas Police Officer Charleston Hartfield was off duty when he attended the Route 91 Harvest Festival, one of many law enforcement officers who went to the country music concert. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hartfield was a military veteran and coached youth football. Hartfield posted a picture from the concert on Facebook before the gunfire broke out. As news of the massacre spread, friends began posting on Hartfields page, urging him to let them know he was OK. He never responded, and then friends started posting messages grieving his death. I dont know a better man than Charles. They say its always the good ones we lose early. Theres no truer statement than that with Charles, Hartfields friend Troy Rhett told the Review-Journal. Our hearts have just been very heavy since hearing the news. Hartfield enlisted in the Army in July 2000 and became a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, ultimately rising to the rank of sergeant first class. He deployed to Iraq during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and served in a task force that was awarded a presidential unit citation for extraordinary heroism. He was also awarded several individual commendations and achievement medals throughout his uniformed career, according to Army records. By all accounts he was a special human being, someone who carried the best virtues and characteristics from this division with him beyond his service here, the 82nd Airborne said in a statement. Hartfield joined the Nevada Army National Guard in June 2006 and continued serving until his death. Seema Mehta Chris Hazencomb, 44 Camarillo Colleagues and relatives described Chris Hazencomb as a kind and selfless man, a friend and co-worker who loved talking sports. Tim Wong was among those who wrote about Hazencomb on social media. He said he worked with Hazencomb for eight years and enjoyed his humor, love of sports, but most of all, love for his friends. Hazencombs aunt Carolyn Hazencomb said she and her nephew lived in the same mobile estate park in Camarillo Carolyn on her own, and Chris with his mother. Chris was 6-feet-5, so he would often reach to top shelves at grocery stores to get what his aunt needed, or help people around the park with different tasks, she said. "He was the nicest person youd ever want to meet," Carolyn Hazencomb said. He was at the country music festival Sunday with a friend who has two children, she said. He gave his life for the person that he was with at the show, at the concert. He covered her so that she wouldnt get shot," Carolyn Hazencomb said. "It was fortunate that he saved her life...so that her kids are ok to have a mom. Chris Hazencomb graduated from Thousand Oaks High School in 1991, said Principal Lou Lichtl. He had worked as a self-checkout host at the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Camarillo since 2013, said Walmart spokesman Charles Crowson. We are deeply saddened that one of our associates, Chris Hazencomb, was among those killed in Las Vegas, Crowson said in an email statement. Our hearts and prayers are with his family, and with all who have lost family members and loved ones in this attack. Sonali Kohli Associated Press Jennifer Topaz Irvine, 42 San Diego To Kyle Kraska, Jennifer Topaz Irvine was a smart woman who enjoyed life and brought joy to others. She was like a little sister, he told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Irvine was a family-law attorney in San Diego who did her undergraduate work at the University of San Diego and later the California Western School of Law, according to the Union-Tribune. As news spread of her death at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, friends and family went on Facebook to offer condolences and share memories of Irvine, whose interests outside the courtroom learned toward the athletic yoga, snowboarding and taekwondo. Thomas Slattery, a fellow attorney, wrote on his Facebook page: My good friend, colleague, and business partner Jennifer Irvine was killed by a madman at the festival in Las Vegas. A tragic loss of a kind, generous, and beautiful lady. She will be greatly missed, he wrote. Rest in peace Topaz. Seema Mehta Jessica Klymchuk, 34 Valleyview, Canada Jessica Klymchuk was a librarian and a bus driver who was raising four children on her own. Then she found someone to love. His name was Brent Irla, and in April Irla announced on Facebook that the two were engaged. Since meeting Brent my world has changed, Klymchuk wrote. His smile is something I cant live without. The couple were together in Las Vegas when the hail of bullets rained down on the crowd. Klymchuk died Monday morning with Irla by her side, according to a family friend. Klymchuk was a resident of Valleyview, a tight-knit town of about 2,000 people in central Alberta, Canada. Her death was confirmed by Rachel Notley, the premier of Alberta. She worked at St. Stephens School, northwest of Edmonton. Her children attended the school. She was loved by the kids, the Rev. Abraham Joseph told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. He said when staff and students heard the news Monday, the teachers were in tears and the children in shock. Betty Turpin, superintendent of the Holy Family Catholic Regional Division, said in a statement: Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. As well as all the families affected by this unimaginable attack. Esmeralda Bermudez Associated Press Rhonda LeRocque, 42 Tewksbury, Mass. Rhonda LeRocque of Tewksbury, Mass., was an active member of the Jehovahs Witnesses and worked at a Cambridge design firm. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she and her husband, Jason, helped rebuild homes in Louisiana. All I know is someone started shooting and people are running and she got shot in the head, Carol Marquis, LeRocques grandmother, told the Boston Globe. And we lost a dear, close, good person one of the nicest people you will ever meet in your life. Her husband and her daughter were unharmed in the shooting, according to multiple media reports. LeRocques family struggled to understand the violence that broke out at the country music festival. It makes no sense. Why would he do this? LeRocques sister Jennifer Zeleneski told the Boston Herald. My sister didn't do anything. She never hurt people. She was the [kindest] person that I know. Seema Mehta Jordan McIldoon, 23 Maple Ridge, Canada When Jordan McIldoons parents confirmed their sons death to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., they summed up their pain and loss in 12 words. We had only one child, Al and Angela said in a statement. We just dont know what to do. They described their son, a heavy-duty mechanic apprentice who was about to start a trade school, as a self-described cowboy boot, tattoo-covered redneck who loved the outdoors. He grew up on his familys land in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Photos of McIldoon on social media show him in cowboy boots and on snowmobiles and motorcycles, often smiling big with an arm around his girlfriend, Amber Bereza. Las Vegas had become an annual tradition for the couple, according to the Global News, and Sundays concert at the Route 91 Harvest Festival was a few days before his birthday. When McIldoon was among the hundreds struck by bullets at the concert, a bartender named Heather Gooze stepped in to help. I felt his fingers, like tighten and then loosen, Gooze told the CBC. When McIldoons phone rang in his pocket, she told the news agency, she answered and found out his name from the friend on the line. Gooze wrote McIldoons name on his arm, then searched for his family on Facebook. She eventually reached Bereza, who was on lockdown nearby. Please be honest with me, Bereza asked. Whats going on? I didnt want to be the one to tell you this, but he didnt make it, Gooze said she told her. McIldoons mother soon called and Gooze promised she would stay with McIldoon. She did for five hours. Esmeralda Bermudez Kelsey Breanne Meadows, 28 Taft, Calif. Kelsey Breanne Meadows stayed close to home, growing up to become a substitute teacher at her alma mater, Taft Union High School. There she got to work close to her mother, Stacy Lynn Meadows, an IT manager for the district. My family and I want to take a minute and thank everyone that has been trying to help us locate my sister, her brother, Brad Meadows, wrote Tuesday on Facebook. So it is with an absolutely shattered heart that I let everyone know that Kelsey did not survive this tragic event. Meadows graduated from the high school in 2007 and earned a bachelors degree from Cal State Fresno before joining the school district as a substitute teacher in 2012, according to the school district. The school district made counselors available for grieving students and staff, and planned a vigil in honor of Meadows at the high school Wednesday evening. Kelsey was smart, compassionate and kind, Principal Mary Alice Finn said in a statement. She had a sweet spirit and a love for children. Sonali Kohli Calla Medig, 28 Edmonton, Canada Calla Medig was going to become a manager at Moxie's restaurant in Edmonton. But before reaching that professional milestone Thursday, Medig was going to spend some time in Las Vegas. She had gone to the Route 91 Music festival for three straight years. She and a friend decided to go again this year. Her boss at Moxies, Scott Collingwood, grew concerned Monday morning when he couldnt reach Medig. No texts were answered. Facebook messages went unread. Finally, the friend who was with Medig at the festival called back and told Collingwood the news. Shes left a huge hole in our hearts, Collingwood said of Medig. She was an absolute fantastic lady. Now, Medigs father is in Las Vegas arranging for her body to be returned to Canada. Benjamin Oreskes Associated Press Sonny Melton, 29 Tennessee Sonny Melton was a nurse from Tennessee who saved his wifes life before losing his own. He grabbed me from behind and started running when I felt him get shot in the back, his wife, Heather Melton, told USA Today. The couple worked at the Henry County Medical Center she an orthopedic surgeon, he a nurse. The thoughts and prayers of the entire HCMC family are with Sonny and Heathers families, Thomas Gee, CEO of Henry County Medical Center, said in a statement. Melton was the president of his nursing class at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., according to a Facebook post from the college. You know how when you met someone and you just know that theyre good and kind? That was Sonny, Christy Davis, an assistant nursing professor, said in the colleges statement. He just had a sweet, kind spirit about him. A co-worker also posted her memories of Sonny Melton on Facebook. Sonny was such an amazing person and an amazing nurse, Victoria Peyton Dowd wrote. I'm thankful I had the pleasure of knowing such an awesome man. Sonali Kohli Associated Press Adrian Murfitt, 35 Anchorage Born and raised in Anchorage, Adrian Murfitt worked as a commercial fisherman. A fan of country music, Murfitt decided to travel with longtime friend Brian MacKinnon to Las Vegas to attend Sundays concert. MacKinnon, 33, described his childhood friend as an animal lover and goofball. He made me laugh. He was like an Alaskan cowboy, but when he saw a dog hed turn into a 10-year-old kid, MacKinnon said. MacKinnon was with Murfitt when gunfire raked the crowd and said his friend died in his arms. Other people described Murfitt as a caring person who went out of his way to help friends. Cant describe in words how thankful and grateful I am to have you show me what a real true gentleman you are, Christine Young said of Murfitt on Facebook. Ill keep the advice you gave me and I promise to take it as I go through life moving forward youll be kept in a special place in my heart. Melissa Etehad Courtesy of Manhattan Beach Police Department Rachael Parker, 33 Manhattan Beach Rachael Parker, a records technician at the Manhattan Beach Police Department, was among four off-duty department employees who attended the concert Sunday night. Two were shot Parker and a sworn officer. Parker died at a hospital, authorities said. The sworn officer suffered minor injuries. Parker worked for the Police Department for 10 years. She was just a great, great worker, always happy definitely had her whole future ahead of her," said Manhattan Beach police spokeswoman Kristi Colombo. "Im heartbroken and speechless. Sonali Kohli Courtesy of Anaverde Hills School Jennifer Parks, 35 Lancaster Jennifer Parks had just started her third year of teaching kindergarten at Anaverde Hills School in Palmdale. She was attending the Sunday night concert with her husband, who was injured in the shooting, Westside Union School District Supt. Regina Rossall said, and she has two children: one in the elementary school where she taught and one in high school. Parks was the kind of teacher everybody wants their children to have. Rossall said. Every child in her class was the most important child to her. She just has a zest for life, Rossall said before correcting herself. Or, had a zest for life. I cant even say it that way. The school district learned of Parks death Monday morning, and the schools principal asked parents to talk to their children. Obviously [in] kindergarten thats a hard concept to grasp, Rossall said. A crisis counselor who is familiar with the school is also in the classroom Tuesday, she said. Parks was a blessing to our school district and our students, Rossall said. It is just unfortunate that she will not get to share her joy of learning with more students. Sonali Kohli Carrie Parsons, 31 Seattle Carrie Parsons was a huge fan of country music singer Eric Church and, as he played at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday night, she stood near the stage and took a selfie. She posted the photograph on Facebook, adding the message: Night made! #ericchurch #vegas #rt91harvest. The next day, a friend of Parsons sent a note to the singer on Facebook. My good friend Carrie Parsons lost her life in the route 91 harvest shooting Sunday. She loved your music, Carolyn Parker wrote. I think she had been to about 10 of your concerts, including when you played at tractor tavern in Seattle before you got big. Thought I should share the photo below! It was her last post. I feel peace knowing she was living life until her last moments, loving country music. Church hasnt yet responded, but his fans have, including one who wrote: Prayers for her, her family and friends, and all the people directly affected by this tragic and cowardly act of evil. Country music Artists and Fans are one big family and we hurt and mourn with you. Parsons brother Jeff Parsons announced her death via Facebook on Monday. My sister Carrie has passed away due to her wounds as part of the shooting in Vegas, Jeff Parsons wrote. We have no more news, as we are not yet permitted to see her. A manager at the Seattle staffing and recruiting firm Ajilon, Parsons grew up across Puget Sound on Bainbridge Island. A 2004 graduate of Bainbridge High, she played on the schools volleyball and fast-pitch softball teams and earned a college arts scholarship awarded by Bainbridge Arts & Crafts, according to her LinkedIn page. She graduated in 2008 from Arizona State University with an arts degree and spent a year studying at the Seattle Art Institute. She was an advisor at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Seattle and a volunteer for numerous causes including Toys for Tots, the Girl Scouts and Food Lifeline. Neither I, nor my family will be available to talk for some time, Jeff Parsons said in his post. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and space. Rick Anderson John Phippen, 56 Santa Clarita John Phippen of Santa Clarita was born in New York and later moved to California. He was the owner of JP Specialties, a home remodeling company in Santa Clarita. He was dancing next to his son, Travis, at the country music festival in Las Vegas when he was struck by a bullet in the lower back. Travis, an emergency medical technician, carried his father to a car that took them to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, where the elder Phippen died from his injuries. He was my best friend, Travis said. He never did anything wrong to anybody. He was always kind and gentle. He was the biggest teddy bear I knew. In the chaotic scene, Travis had been shot in the arm but didnt realize it until he arrived at the hospital. He is staying with family in the Las Vegas area until the Clark County coroner releases his fathers body. We are all kind of in disbelief that it would happen to someone so gentle, Travis said. Ben Poston Jordyn Rivera, 21 Jordyn Rivera was a fourth-year student at Cal State San Bernardino and had spend the summer studying abroad in London. We will remember and treasure her for her warmth, optimism, energy, and kindness, university President Tomas D. Morales wrote in a letter to the campus community. He said he had spent time with Rivera when she was studying abroad. Rivera was a member of the national health education honors society Eta Sigma Gamma and graduated from Bonita High School in La Verne, where she grew up. This is a devastating loss for the entire CSUSB family. In this time of grief, our thoughts and prayers are with Jordyns family, friends and all who knew her, Morales wrote on the universitys website. On Facebook, friends mourned Rivera. She was a beautiful person with a welcoming smile and so young, Denise Gutierrez wrote. I still cant believe it. We were just with her last week. Sonali Kohli Quinton Robbins Henderson, Nev. Quinton Robbins was a recreation employee for the city of Henderson, near Las Vegas. In a Facebook post early Monday, his aunt, Kilee Wells Sanders, announced Robbins' death. My sweetest nephew has passed away. He was the most kind and loving soul. Everyone who met him, loved him. His contagious laugh and smile. He was truly an amazing person, she wrote. He will be missed by so many, he is loved by so many. On Monday afternoon, his Facebook profile had been switched to a memorialized account a virtual gathering place for friends and family to remember a person who has died. One friend wrote on Twitter: "You set such a good example to me of how to love life and live it to the fullest every day." Sonali Kohli Courtesy of Brad Jerbic Cameron Robinson, 28 St. George, Utah Cameron Robinson was known for being spontaneous, smart and the life of any space he entered. On Sunday night, he lost his life while listening to country music. On Tuesday, Las Vegas officials confirmed that Robinson, a management analyst in the city attorneys office, had been killed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival across from the Mandalay Bay hotel. Robinson grew up in Henderson, Nev., and moved to St. George, Utah, recently to live with his partner, said Las Vegas City Atty. Brad Jerbic, his boss and friend. Jerbic, who said Robinson would drive two hours to work each morning, met him about seven years ago and was immediately impressed. I thought, Hes 21 years old and already has his bachelors, Jerbic said. Despite a 30-year age difference, the two became friends, embarking on adventures together whenever Robinson got bored with the status quo, which was often, Jerbic said. He would call and say, Were going hiking in the mountains, Jerbic said. He was just spontaneous, fun, really, really smart. Jerbic remembered one trip in particular, when the pair drove from San Diego to Laguna, where they went boogie-boarding. Suddenly, Robinson called out to Jerbic that he saw fins in the water; as Jerbic swam closer he saw dolphins, so close that he and Robinson could touch them. About four years ago Jerbic had the opportunity to hire a records specialist and brought Robinson into the city attorneys office. If there was a heart and soul of the office it was Cameron, Jerbic said. He constantly brought in dishes hed tried to perfect, and was the resident party planner he was supposed to plan the Christmas party this year. At 5 a.m. Monday, Jerbics son called him to make sure he was OK and told him about the shooting at the festival. As soon as Jerbic realized there had been an attack, he called to check on Robinson. It rang and rang and rang, Jerbic said. He texted too. No response. Sonali Kohli Courtesy of Vanessa Pineda Rocha Rocio Guillen Rocha, 40 Eastvale, Calif. Rocio Guillen Rocha would want to be remembered as a supermom. Her greatest accomplishment in life was being a mom, said close friend Shannon Dahl. Rocha had two teenagers, a 1-year-old and her fourth child, a boy, who was born seven weeks ago. Rocha was still on maternity leave when she traveled to Las Vegas last weekend, according to NPR. She and her fiance, Chris Jaksha, were fans of country music and were celebrating a friends birthday. Rocha was shot in the thigh and Jaksha, with the help of police, got her to the hospital, where she died. Rocha, a manager at the California Pizza Kitchen in Santa Ana, grew up in Anaheim and went to Katella High School. She worked hard at the restaurant, said Dahl, but still found time to attend her older boys sporting events. She did whatever she could not to miss out on her childrens lives. She was a great friend, said Nicole Hill, who would exchange texts with Rocha each day with pictures of their children. We were always joking about who would get pregnant next. She and Jaksha lived in Eastvale and planned on getting married in May, Hill said. But Rocha wanted to wait until after she had the baby. She evoked a spirit and light about her that made you feel better in life, Dahl said. She was a light that shined super bright and had an amazing personality. She just lifted you up. A family friend and relatives are caring for Rochas children, and two GoFundMe pages have been established to help support the family. Thomas Curwen Lisa Romero Gallup, N.M. Lisa Romero worked as a secretary for Gallup-McKinley County Schools in Gallup, N.M., where colleagues remembered her as a loving person who went out of her way to give advice to students. Romero was an incredible loving and sincere friend, mentor and advocate for students in many of our schools, Mike Hyatt, interim superintendent of Gallup-McKinley, said in a statement. As a colleague, she was also outgoing, kind and considerate of all those she worked with, and we will miss all of these great attributes she shared with students, staff and parents in our community. Teachers and administrators at the Miyamura High School, where she was based, visited students in their classrooms Monday to offer support. In an interview via Facebook, Ryan Gomito, a history teacher at Miyamura, said the entire school was mourning her death. In a public post about Romero, Gomito wrote that he could not believe what had happened: Ms. Lisa Romero, you have touched so many lives, he wrote. Rest easy, Maam. Melissa Etehad Courtesy of Debbie Allen Christopher Roybal, 28 Denver U.S. Navy veteran Christopher Roybal had survived firefights with armed militants in the outer reaches of Afghanistan, and was one week shy of turning 29 when he traveled with his mother, Debbie Allen, to celebrate his birthday. They checked into their room Sept. 28 and stayed on the 32nd floor at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino the same floor where gunman Stephen Paddock had been staying, Allen said. The Denver resident had a special relationship with his mother. He was never ashamed to go out with me. We would go to bars together and concerts together, Allen said. They often had date nights where they would watch chick flicks. Our favorites were The Notebook and The Story of Us, Allen said. On Sunday, Allen and Roybal spent the day lounging by the pool and drinking. Later they went to the hotel room to take a quick nap before the concert. That was the last time she saw her son. They had gone to the concert separately and were trying to meet up before gunfire erupted, Allen said. About four to five songs into Jason Aldeans performance the shooting started and the girl to my left was shot, Allen said. I started running toward the street, but I turned around and tried to go against the crowd. I kept thinking that my baby is in there. A stranger grabbed Allen. He said, You cant go back in there; youll get shot, Allen recalled. She learned that her son was shot from a firefighter who had been trying to save his life amid the gunfire. The fireman told me he tried to give my son first aid, but the life went out of him, she said. Roybal, who grew up in Corona, Calif., served five years in the Navy after enlisting in 2007, a period in which he earned a Combat Action Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, according to Navy records. Having served in combat, he wrote a lengthy Facebook post July 18 to describe the nerve-racking experience a message that now eerily reads like an epitaph. What's it like to be shot at? It's a nightmare no amount of drugs, no amount of therapy and no amount of drunk talks with your war veteran buddies will ever be able to escape, he wrote. Cheers boys. Melissa Etehad and W.J. Hennigan Courtesy of Infinity Communications and Consulting Bailey Schweitzer, 20 Bakersfield Bailey Schweitzer started work seven months ago as a receptionist at Infinity Communications and Consulting, a software company in Bakersfield. She quickly made an impression. Bailey was always the ray of sunshine in our office on a cloudy day, said Chief Executive Fred Brakeman. No one could possibly have a bad day when Bailey was around. If you have ever called or visited our office, she was the perky one that helped direct you to the staff member you needed. Friends and colleagues decided to hold a candlelight vigil Monday evening at the office where she worked. Melissa Etehad Courtesy of Jay Purves Erick Silva, 22 Las Vegas Erick Silva was the type of guy who bought hamburgers for elderly people who found themselves homeless and without supper last Christmas. Just a week ago, the 22-year-old helped a neighbor haul an old sofa to the dump, refusing to accept money in exchange. He regularly gave friends rides in his car to tend to errands. He had a hard time saying no, his stepfather, Gregorio de la Rosa, said. He was very generous. He liked to help other people. So it was only fitting that Silva, a security guard stationed near the front of the Route 91 Harvest music festival, would spend the last moments of his life helping others, his mother, Angelica Cervantes, said during a vigil Tuesday at the familys home in Las Vegas. Silva lifted concertgoers over a barricade and to safety near the front of the stage where he was stationed Sunday night, said Jay Purves, vice president for the Las Vegas branch of Contemporary Services Corp. He was a hero, Purves told Cervantes. He was saving lives. Purves said Silva, who had been with the company for about three years, was shot several times, including once in the face. Purves said he and others carried Silvas body away from the shooting zone. He was breathing but unresponsive, Purves said. He was fighting for his life, he told Cervantes. Purves put his hand on the mothers shoulder, as the familys living room filled with mourners. A large photo of Silva in uniform decorated a wall nearby. I know he was. That was my son, Cervantes replied. Always doing something for someone else. He should have saved himself. Purves shook his head. That was not Erick, he told her. He helped others first. Gina Argento, an office manager at the security company who worked closely with Silva, embraced Cervantes. Silva was never late to work and did everything that was asked of him and more, Argento said. He was so stellar at his job that hed been told hed be promoted soon to a supervisory role, she said. He went above and beyond for everyone, Argento told the mother. I trusted him. Cervantes eyes swelled with tears. Thank you, she said. But I want my son back. Cindy Carcamo Laura Shipp, left. Courtesy of Steve Shipp Laura Shipp, 50 Las Vegas Laura Shipp had such a close bond with her 23-year-old son, Corey, that they lived together in Las Vegas and were looking to buy a house. It was just the two of them, Laura Shipps brother, Steve Shipp of Thousand Oaks, said in a phone interview. He looked out for her and she looked out for him. Laura Shipp, who moved from Thousand Oaks to Las Vegas five years ago, worked for a heating and air condition company. She had many friends and was loved, Steve Shipp said. And she was talkative, he said. She would dominate most conversations. The devoted Dodgers fan returned to California a few times a year to visit friends. On Sunday, she was attending the concert in Las Vegas with her son and friends when bullets started flying. Amid the chaos, Laura Shipp got separated from the group. By early morning Monday, Steve Shipp had found out she was among the missing. He jumped on the first plane he could get to Las Vegas. Other family members also headed there. We spent 24 hours trying to find her. We were hoping she was missing and injured because she had given her ID to Corey, he said. By late Monday, the family learned she had been among those killed. We dont have a big family, but we are tightly knit, her brother said. Melissa Etehad Courtesy of the Simi Valley Unified School District Susan Smith, 53 Simi Valley For most students and visitors to Vista Fundamental Elementary School in Simi Valley, Susan Smith was usually the first person they would see when they walked into the school. She was the office manager, which means she was the hub of the school. She was the center of it. Everyone who came through those doors she knew. She knew the children, she knew the staff, she knew the parents, said Jake Finch, a spokeswoman for the Simi Valley Unified School District. She was married with children, but Finch did not have details about the family. Smith had worked for the district for 16 years. She was great with the children, patient and kind. Her loss is huge to us, Finch said. Finch said administrators learned about Smiths death overnight, and mobilized their crisis counseling team. Substitutes were brought in to staff every classroom at Vista so that the teachers could be gathered and told about Smiths death. Counselors went to every classroom and told the children in an age-appropriate manner. Seema Mehta Brennan Stewart, 30 Las Vegas It was Brennan Stewarts love of music that drew him and his girlfriend to the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in his hometown. But on Sunday, as Stewart and Gia Capri Iantuono listened to an early evening performance, the shooting broke out and the two eventually became separated. Iantuono recounted the chaotic scene in a Facebook post: He was hit last night, I am not sure where, everything was happening too fast. I dislocated my knee and as I was holding onto Brennan a man took action to protect me and pulled me away from him, hiding me under a table. I was unable to get back to Brennan and this man carried me, running me to safety, she wrote Monday. Stewarts family said he had tried to protect his girlfriend and help other concert-goers. Brennan made close friends quickly; was loved and will be missed greatly by family and friends, but his memory will live on, the familys statement said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. By Monday afternoon, Stewarts Facebook page had been transformed into a memorial page where friends posted pictures and tributes. A GoFundMe campaign was set up to honor Stewarts love of music. I love you man. You were always a brother to me. You will never be forgotten, wrote Justin Todd Hunter, a friend. Several people shared a 2016 video of Stewart playing guitar and singing "You Should Be Here" by Cole Swindell. The song is about loss, and its lyrics are haunting in light of Stewarts own death. Seema Mehta Courtesy of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Lt. Derrick Bo Taylor, 56 Oxnard Lt. Derrick Bo Taylor's career as a California corrections officer spanned 29 years. The 56-year-old Taylor got started with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in 1988 at the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center in Galt, Calif. In 1994, he started working at the Wasco State Prison as an officer and transferred a year later to the High Desert State Prison. By 1997, Taylor was promoted to correctional sergeant at Pleasant Valley State Prison and four years later to correctional lieutenant. In 2004, Taylor began working as a camp commander for the La Cima Conservation Camp one of 43 camps in California that houses inmates who fight wildfires. He stayed there for 10 years before transferring to Ventura Conservation Camp. Its a job that requires interpersonal skills with inmates, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Bill Sessa said in a phone interview Wednesday. He was very well thought of throughout the department and was approachable. Taylors colleagues were stunned by news of his death at the country music festival in Las Vegas. There are no words to express the feeling of loss and sadness regarding Bos passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, Warden Joel Martinez wrote in a memo to staff, according to a newsletter by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Martinez said Taylors loss will be felt throughout the prison, conservation camps and department. Taylor, of Oxnard, had attended the music festival with his girlfriend, Denise Cohen, who also died. He is survived by two sons. Melissa Etehad Neysa Tonks Las Vegas Neysa Tonks worked at Technologent, a technology company based in Irvine, and was the mother of three boys. Tonks known to her niece as Aunt Ne-Ne had over the years shared dozens of photos of her children on Facebook, showing them hurtling down snowy hills on sleds, displaying gap-toothed grins at Boy Scout ceremonies, and years later, and feet taller standing with their mother on the beach. After word of her death spread, a GoFundMe page was created to raise funds for her three sons. Tonks brought joy, happiness, fun and laughter to so many of us, a coworker wrote on GoFundMe. She has always been there for her community in time of need, and now we would like to do the same for her. Friends flooded the fundraising page with photos, showing her grinning at parties. She lived in Las Vegas, and other photos showed her flashing a broad smile with friends at the Bellagio pool. "Always smiling! Always living!" one friend wrote. Laura J. Nelson Michelle Vo, 32 Michelle Vo, a Los Angeles-area insurance agent, was described by her sister as a sparkling and adventurous person who relished life. She was my baby sister who had an infectious smile. She made you feel like you've known her for a lifetime when she spoke to you, Diane Vo Hawkins wrote on Facebook. She spread joy and laughter everywhere she went. She gave everything 150% including her career and was very successful at it. She loved people. She loved sports and will try anything. She was kind and charismatic. She was full of life, Vo Hawkins wrote. Words cannot begin to describe the pain, utter sadness, and void our family feels as this young angel was abruptly taken from us. Vo graduated from UC Davis, studied abroad and was employed in the Bay Area before moving to Southern California, according to her profile on LinkedIn. She worked at New York Life Insurance Co. and had recently become a member of the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce. Seema Mehta Kurt von Tillow, 55 Cameron Park, Calif. Kurt von Tillow was described as a great husband and friend, but it might be his laugh that some people will miss most. I will always remember him for his big belly laughs and smiles and tremendous friendship, Mark Baca said in a Facebook post. Everyone was his friend. Steve Marchi, another friend, also recalled Von Tillows deep and affectionate laugh. Kurt von Tillow was a dear friend who lit up the room with his famous belly laugh, Marchi said in a Facebook post. If Kurt was ... at your dinner table, or in the bar with you, you knew you were in for a good time. Von Tillow lived in Cameron Park, outside Sacramento, and had a truck company. On Monday night, friends, family and neighbors gathered at Cameron Park Country Club to mourn him. Melissa Etehad Bill Wolfe Jr., 42 Shippensburg, Pa. Bill Wolfe Jr. was a father of two who happily gave up his free time to coach Little League baseball and youth wrestling, friends said. Wolfe and his wife, Robyn , went together to the Route 91 Harvest festival. She was not injured, authorities said. But he was killed. He encouraged his kids to do their best, said Wanda Neil Davenport, whose grandson wrestled with one of Wolfes sons. The world has lost another good man, good father and husband. We all mourn with his family. He is in heaven and will watch down upon all of you. Heartbreaking from our family of wrestlers to his. God be with you. As a youth wrestling coach for the Shippensburg Greyhound wrestling team, Wolfe was the kind of coach to pull the child aside and tell them what they did right and how proud he was of them and then follow it with a few tips on how to improve, the aunt of a young wrestler posted on a GoFundMe page set up on behalf of the Wolfe family. He is survived by his wife and two sons. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf released a statement about Wolfe on Tuesday. On behalf of our family and all Pennsylvanians, our hearts go out to the Wolfe family and the entire Shippensburg community, the governor said on Facebook. Ben Poston UPDATES: Oct. 4, 6:45 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Chris Hazencomb and a new injury count according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Oct. 4, 5:55 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Candace Bowers, Lt. Derrick Bo Taylor and Charleston Hartfield. Oct. 4, 4:20 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Carrie Parsons and Erick Silva. Oct. 4, 2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Heather Alvarado, Christiana Duarte, Keri Galvan, Kelsey Breanne Meadows, Jordyn Rivera, Laura Shipp, Brennan Stewart, Michelle Vo and Kurt von Tillow. Oct. 3, 8:45 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Dorene Anderson. Oct. 3, 8:30 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Cameron Robinson and Rocio Guillen Rocha. Oct. 3, 7 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Stacee Etcheber. Oct. 3, 5:15 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Jack Beaton. Oct. 3, 4 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Christopher Roybal. Oct. 3, 2:25 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Calla Medig and Bill Wolfe Jr. Oct. 3, 1:25 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Austin Davis. Oct. 3, 11:50 a.m.: This article was updated with information about Jennifer Parks. Oct. 2, 10:15 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Hannah Ahlers, Jordan McIldoon and Jennifer Topaz Irvine. Oct. 2, 7:44 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Dana Gardner. Oct. 2, 7:05 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Carrie Barnette and Jessica Klymchuk. Oct. 2, 6:02 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Rhonda LeRocque and Lisa Romero. Oct. 2, 5:15 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Quinton Robbins and Bailey Schweitzer. Oct. 2, 4:50 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Thomas Day Jr. and Angela Gomez. Oct. 2, 3:40 p.m.: This article was updated with information about John Phippen. Oct. 2, 3:20 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Charleston Hartfield and Adrian Murfitt. Oct. 2, 2:50 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Denise Burditus. Oct. 2, 2:10 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Neysa Tonks and with comment about Rachael Parker from a Manhattan Beach police spokeswoman. This article was originally published Oct. 2 at 12:45 p.m. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., right, listens as her husband Mark Kelly, left, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. (Susan Walsh / AP) WASHINGTON White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the day after the deadliest mass shooting in the nation's history is not the time to renew a debate over gun control. Sanders was asked Monday during the press briefing that there is a "time and place" for a debate but that is "not the place we're in at this moment." Advertisement She said President Donald Trump was focused on the victims and stressed that it was a "time to unite the country." Trump's predecessor Barack Obama frequently used mass shootings to call for stricter gun control laws. Trump did not mention firearms during his remarks earlier Monday after a gunman in Las Vegas and killed 58 people and injured at least 515 others. Advertisement The Republican president has cast himself as a friend to firearms owners and the powerful National Rifle Association lobby. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords raised her fist at the Capitol and said "the nation is counting on you" after the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas. Giffords, who was grievously wounded in 2011, and her husband, Mark Kelly, were at the Capitol on Monday. They said the nation's thoughts and prayers are not enough and Congress must pass legislation to keep deadly weapons out of the wrong hands. Kelly and Giffords had planned to campaign for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam, but instead they went to the Capitol to comment on the shooting. Citing President Donald Trump, Kelly said "Americans need more than our president's prayers. We need his plans." Kelly is calling for a commission to work on solutions to gun violence. He says it's the only acceptable moral course for the country. A drone is displayed during the World Robot Conference 2017 in Beijing, China, on Aug. 23, 2017. Experts fear that extremists could use similar drones to drop dirty bombs or poison on Western cities. (Xinhua / TNS) Terrorist drones. Two years ago, you would have had a tough time getting a meeting with a junior staffer in Washington to discuss the subject. A year ago, people had begun furrowing brows. Now, this is Topic A for an entire "community of experts that has emerged inside the federal government," as National Counterterrorism Center chief Nicholas Rasmussen told a panel of senators last week. "It's a real problem," he said. Advertisement How real? Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria, using off-the-shelf aircraft modified to drop grenades, have repeatedly menaced U.S. Special Operations forces. If they can do it in Raqqa, surely someone will try to do it here. FBI Director Christopher Wray, testifying to the same panel, said the threat is palpable and immediate: "The expectation is it's coming here imminently." Drones are "relatively easy to acquire, relatively easy to operate, and quite difficult to disrupt and monitor." Advertisement Most drones on sale in the United States are small, short-range birds aimed at the hobbyist market and unsuited to carrying cargo. But for the price of a flat-screen TV, a would-be terrorist can go online and purchase a commercial model heavy enough to deliver a small package. You don't need to be a Hollywood screenwriter to imagine what might come next: A nearly silent, low-altitude little helicopter bearing a small bomb or supply of toxic material hums over metal detectors and barriers and bodyguards to strike a public gathering or senior official or hallowed landmark. In 2015, a hobbyist's drone landed on the White House lawn. Awakening to the threat, the Trump administration drafted legislation this year to enhance police powers in tracking civilian drones and their payloads including by codifying the authority to destroy drones in flight that appear menacing. Among the fast-growing number of hobbyists and entrepreneurs who fly drones for fun or profit, many have expressed alarm at the proposed legislation. But perhaps they should take their complaints to al-Qaida. The hard fact is that today's danger will soon be followed by a much larger threat. While Rasmussen and Wray were on Capitol Hill testifying about the problem of radio-controlled and GPS-directed drones of relatively small size, many of the top scientists in the field of autonomous flight were gathering in Vancouver, B.C., to share details of their progress on building entirely self-guided aircraft. One such scientist shared his concerns with me about where this is headed. He says with confidence that off-the-shelf drone technology will move rapidly from grenade-size payloads to cargoes of 10 or 12 pounds. As belt-wearing suicide bombers have shown, a tremendous amount of destruction can be packed into a vessel about that size. More important, though, is the rapid progress being made toward truly autonomous navigation. Encouraged by Pentagon planners who envision helicopter rescues and resupply missions in combat zones without putting human crews at risk, the scientists at the Vancouver meeting are well on their way to building drones that fly independently of radio guidance or GPS. These aircraft can "see" and survey terrain to know exactly where they are and steer themselves accordingly to avoid traffic, trees and power lines on the way to their destinations. Or their targets. If you're excited by the idea of one day stepping into a personal aircraft, tapping an endpoint into the control panel and whisking to work high above snarled traffic, the promise of truly autonomous flight is exciting. Deep-pocketed innovators such as Google founder Larry Page and Airbus are pursuing the idea of self-flying personal aircraft. But if you are a counterterrorism expert, this stuff worries you. Our best defenses against terrorist drones fit into three categories. The first is radar, but radar performs poorly against small, low-flying craft. Alternatively, we can jam radio signals, but the autonomous drones now in development won't need a radio controller. Our third defense is to interrupt GPS. But a drone that can "read" terrain and react to obstacles will be able to fly without such guidance. Advertisement "The vehicles we are developing (for the Pentagon) are specifically designed to foil all three prevention systems," the worried scientist told me. One thing we know about technology: Today's improbable experiment is tomorrow's inexpensive gadget. You likely have more computing power in your car than NASA had on the space shuttle. If autonomous drones are able to execute complex simulated combat missions today and they are you can bet that technology will eventually be widely and cheaply available in smaller forms to ordinary buyers. And one thing we know about terrorists: They love gadgets. They've learned to detonate bombs using cellphones, toy cars, garage door openers and so on. Once they have access to nearly undetectable flying machines big enough to carry substantial payloads, we can be confident they will try to use them to wreak havoc. Which is a threat worth all the attention the community of experts can give to it. Perhaps Washington has been slow to see this new threat. But it's not too late. Yet. The Washington Post David Von Drehle is a Washington Post columnist. Windows are broken at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino in Las Vegas on Oct. 3, 2017. (John Locher / AP) America has experienced yet another mass shooting, this time at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the strip in Las Vegas. It is reportedly the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. As a criminologist, I have reviewed recent research in hopes of debunking some of the common misconceptions I hear creeping into discussions that spring up whenever a mass shooting occurs. Here's some recent scholarship about mass shootings that should help you identify misinformation when you hear it. Advertisement 1. More guns dont make you safer A study I conducted on mass shootings indicated that this phenomenon is not limited to the United States. Mass shootings also took place in 25 other wealthy nations between 1983 and 2013, but the number of mass shootings in the United States far surpasses that of any other country included in the study during the same period of time. Advertisement The U.S. had 78 mass shootings during that 30-year period. The highest number of mass shootings experienced outside the United States was in Germany where seven shootings occurred. In the other 24 industrialized countries taken together, 41 mass shootings took place. In other words, the U.S. had nearly double the number of mass shootings of all other 24 countries combined in the same 30-year period. Another significant finding is that mass shootings and gun ownership rates are highly correlated. The higher the gun ownership rate, the more a country is susceptible to experiencing mass shooting incidents. This association remains high even when the number of incidents from the United States is withdrawn from the analysis. Similar results have been found by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which states that countries with higher levels of firearm ownership also have higher firearm homicide rates. My study also shows a strong correlation between mass shooting casualties and overall death by firearms rates. However, in this last analysis, the relation seems to be mainly driven by the very high number of deaths by firearms in the United States. The relation disappears when the United States is withdrawn from the analysis. 2. Shootings are more frequent A recent study published by the Harvard Injury Control Research Center shows that the frequency of mass shooting is increasing over time. The researchers measured the increase by calculating the time between the occurrence of mass shootings. According to the research, the days separating mass shooting occurrence went from, on average, 200 days during the period of 1983 to 2011 to 64 days since 2011. Advertisement What is most alarming about mass shootings is the fact that this increasing trend is moving in the opposite direction of overall intentional homicide rates in the U.S., which decreased by almost 50 percent since 1993, and in Europe where intentional homicides decreased by 40 percent between 2003 and 2013. 3. Restricting sales works Due to the Second Amendment, the United States has permissive gun licensing laws. This is in contrast to most developed countries, which have restrictive laws. According to a seminal work by criminologists George Newton and Franklin Zimring, permissive gun licensing laws refer to a system in which all but specially prohibited groups of persons can purchase a firearm. In such a system, an individual does not have to justify purchasing a weapon; rather, the licensing authority has the burden of proof to deny gun acquisition. By contrast, restrictive gun licensing laws refer to a system in which individuals who want to purchase firearms must demonstrate to a licensing authority that they have valid reasons to get a gun like using it on a shooting range or going hunting and that they demonstrate "good character." The type of gun law adopted has important impacts. Countries with more restrictive gun licensing laws show fewer deaths by firearms and a lower gun ownership rate. 4. Background checks work In most restrictive background checks performed in developed countries, citizens are required to train for gun handling, obtain a license for hunting or provide proof of membership to a shooting range. Advertisement Individuals must prove that they do not belong to any "prohibited group," such as the mentally ill, criminals, children or those at high risk of committing violent crime, such as individuals with a police record of threatening the life of another. Here's the bottom line. With these provisions, most U.S. active shooters would have been denied the purchase of a firearm. 5. Not all mass shootings are terrorism Journalists sometimes describe mass shooting as a form of domestic terrorism. This connection may be misleading. There is no doubt that mass shootings are "terrifying" and "terrorize" the community where they have happened. However, not all active shooters involved in mass shootings have a political message or cause. For example, the church shooting in Charleston, S.C., in June 2015 was a hate crime but was not judged by the federal government to be a terrorist act. The majority of active shooters are linked to mental health issues, bullying and disgruntled employees. Active shooters may be motivated by a variety of personal or political motivations, usually not aimed at weakening government legitimacy. Frequent motivations are revenge or a quest for power. Advertisement 6. Historical comparisons may be flawed Beginning in 2008, the FBI used a narrow definition of mass shootings. They limited mass shootings to incidents where an individual or in rare circumstances, more than one "kills four or more people in a single incident (not including the shooter), typically in a single location." In 2013, the FBI changed its definition, moving away from "mass shootings" toward identifying an "active shooter" as "an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area." This change means the agency now includes incidents in which fewer than four people die, but in which several are injured. This change in definition had a direct impact on the number of cases included in studies and affected the comparability of studies conducted before and after 2013. Some researchers on mass shooting, like Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox, have even incorporated in their studies several types of multiple homicides that cannot be defined as mass shooting: for instance, familicide (a form of domestic violence) and gang murders. In the case of familicide, victims are exclusively family members and not random bystanders. Gang murders are usually crime for profit or a punishment for rival gangs or a member of the gang who is an informer. Such homicides don't belong in the analysis of mass shootings. Advertisement Frederic Lemieux is a professor and faculty director of the master's in applied intelligence program at Georgetown University. Originally published on Dec. 3, 2015, in The Conversation and updated Monday. The Trump tax plan is grand in scope, though scant on key detail. The number of tax brackets will be collapsed to three with rates of 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent and the standard deduction will be increased. Corporate taxes will be eased, and estate taxes will be eliminated. Naturally, such ambitious tax-cuttery has invited comparisons to Ronald Reagan. All very well, but to which Reagan are we comparing him? The man who oversaw swashbuckling supply-side rate decreases in 1981? Or the steward of the good-government, technocratic reforms of 1986, which reduced the tax code to two low brackets, while eliminating so many deductions that tax collections didn't even fall? Advertisement At first glance, we seem to be looking at Reagan II. Like in 1986, this plan promises to reduce both the number of brackets and the number of deductions. And yet, the 1986 tax reform was largely revenue neutral, and indeed, raised the amount that corporations paid. This new plan, on the other hand, seems to be wildly tilted in favor of corporations, at the expense of folks who work for a living. Winners and losers We can't be exactly sure who will come out ahead, and who behind, from this bill. Too many provisions have asterisks where there ought to be numbers. Nonetheless, we can sketch out a few winners and losers. On the losing side: some of the lowest-income Americans, who get an increase in the standard deduction that turns out to be underwhelming, and in return see their marginal tax rate rise by 2 percentage points. Also upper-middle-class professionals in blue states, who get creamed by the loss of their deduction for state and local taxes, and probably won't see much improvement in their effective tax rate. Advertisement And maybe that's a price worth paying for a simpler tax code. But where's the simplicity? Not only do the mortgage and charitable deductions stay, but "The framework retains tax benefits that encourage work, higher education and retirement security." Go down the list of the tax breaks that actually cost the government serious money, and it looks like state and local tax deductibility is the only major tax benefit on the chopping block. We should end the deductibility of state and local taxes, which effectively forces people living in low-tax states to subsidize higher spending elsewhere. But getting rid of one deduction does not a simplification make. And on the corporate tax side, it actually introduces a new giveaway to business owners. That would be the new, special 25 percent tax rate for "pass-through" income. In the U.S., certain kinds of closely held corporations are organized as S corps (so named for the subchapter of the tax code that created them). These corporations pay no corporate income tax. Instead, the corporation's income "passes through" to the individual's tax return, and is taxed at their personal income tax rate. Under the Trump plan, however, it will be taxed instead at a special 25 percent rate, as will income from partnerships and sole proprietorships. Since the 25 percent rate is the same as the plan's middle tax bracket, this provides no benefit for middle-income business owners (and will actually disadvantage any lower-income taxpayers who happen to have a stake in an S corp). Rich owners, on the other hand, get 10 percentage points shaved off their tax bill. Who will benefit? I can't help but notice that our president is an extremely rich guy who has a lot of pass-through income. And who will be passing on much of that income tax free to his heirs under this plan, which also eliminates the estate tax. Oh, there are other cuts on the corporation side a slash in the rates, and a switch to territorial taxation, rather than attempting to tax global income, as the U.S. now does. But these things at least have plausible economic rationales: The corporate income tax results in double taxation (because shareholders then also pay taxes on dividends or capital gains), and extra-territorial taxation is an administrative headache that distorts corporate decision-making. But I have spent years struggling to think of an economic rationale for special tax treatment of pass-through income, and still can't. For young businesses, struggling businesses, or modestly profitable businesses, the new tax regime does nothing; for people who are already rich, it makes pass-through income a better tax deal than anything except muni bonds. Might this provide some incentive to work hard and build a business? Perhaps. But on what logic do we want to encourage starting a convenience store or founding a car wash more than we encourage, say, working hard and building yourself into a cardiac surgeon or a CIO? Nor will this simply reward people who are building businesses and creating lots of jobs. As we've already seen in Kansas, the first thing that grows from this sort of special treatment is a fertile industry of tax specialists helping the wealthy to reconfigure as much of their income as possible in the form of pass-through earnings. And a series of absurd scenarios in which people who earn the same amount of income are paying dramatically different rates on what they earn. This is exactly the opposite of what the 1986 reform aimed to do: reduce the structuring opportunities and make everyone at the same income level pay roughly equal taxes. So it doesn't look much like Reagan II. Advertisement Reagans clear vision But neither is this a Reagan I proposal, with its dramatic supply-side cuts for all income levels. In fairness, Trump simply hasn't as much scope for reduction as Reagan did, since the top rate in 1980 was almost double what it is now. But of course, that scope gave Reagan reason to believe (or at least to hope) that rate cuts would expand the economy and thereby help pay for themselves. It's hard to argue that we're going to achieve substantially higher growth rates by lowering the top rate by 4 percentage points, and ditching the deduction for state and local taxes. Or that the special rate for pass-through entities is going to generate explosive growth, outside of the already-booming field of tax law. Whatever Reagan's failings, his administration had a clear vision for how the tax code should work: low rates to encourage work, and equal treatment for taxpayers with equal incomes. Perhaps his party heirs still share that vision. If so, they've badly marred it with provisions that will inevitably give voters quite a different vision: of a party that has stopped even pretending to care about tax cuts for anyone but the rich, and of a president making a generous gift to himself. Bloomberg Megan McArdle is a Bloomberg View columnist. She wrote for the Daily Beast, Newsweek, the Atlantic and the Economist and founded the blog Asymmetrical Information. She is the author of "The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success." Students walk on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. UIC was one of only two of the state's public universities that didn't suffer decreases in enrollment in 2017. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) Across Illinois, high school seniors are deep in their quest for the ideal college. They're visiting campuses and taking tours. They're poring over college guide books and comparing notes with friends. They're thinking about what their families can afford and how close or far they want to be from home. Many of those students, however, already have made one decision: They won't attend college in Illinois. Advertisement Why? Several reasons. Public universities in other states often present a better value proposition. Tuition may be lower, state government support may be more stable, and some more specialized campuses elsewhere aren't trying to be all things to all students. What's more, in Illinois, many years of choppy finances have forced institutions to cut programs and professors to flee. Take a look at the accompanying chart: A startling 10 of the state's 12 public university campuses suffered overall enrollment declines in 2017, some plummeting by double digits. Some have been hemorrhaging students for years but maintaining the same attitude: What, us worry? Nope, not as long as the legislature keeps doling out the cash and not asking too many questions about how well it is spent. Advertisement Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 12 (Tribune Graphics) We believe Illinois can rebound and win back students if state leaders overhaul and consolidate the state's scattered system. If they stop the Thunderdome death match among universities battling for students in virtually every academic field. If they force colleges to specialize and offer advanced curriculums in the areas where each school can be distinctive. All these universities should share a single goal to offer Illinois' young people an array of campuses with common basics but less redundancy in upper-level and graduate programs. We're glad to hear that lawmakers in Springfield are listening. State Sen. Chapin Rose and Rep. Dan Brady, both Republicans, are sponsoring a bill that we hope could kick-start this debate. "We have 12 of everything right now," Rose tells us. "We need to start funding our strengths and stop funding to what we're not good at. So we're not subsidizing mediocrity or weakness." How to do that? Under the Rose-Brady proposal, the Illinois Board of Higher Education would evaluate campuses and rank their academic programs. It would also rate the campuses' "economic efficiency." The bill goes no further, but we would: We'd use this data to revamp the state's university system. If a campus excels in engineering, for instance, that school becomes a magnet for engineering students. If a geology or economics program is 12th out of 12, then that should be scrapped so the school can focus on developing the prowess it has already demonstrated in other areas. No more subsidizing mediocrity. Further consolidating back-offices and purchasing would make sense. The nine separate boards yes nine that currently oversee 12 state college campuses should be whittled down to a fraction of that not because boards are costly, but because they think parochially, not holistically. Talk of streamlining sends an icy chill through administrators and legislators who fiercely defend their spendy, top-heavy fiefdoms. Some behave as if universities exist primarily to prop up local economies. Gov. Bruce Rauner has talked about strengthening and rationalizing this scattered system. Governor, dive in. Centralized oversight would jettison duplicate administrators, overhead and curricula. It would let Illinois send more money to classrooms. This is essentially how Wisconsin, California and New York do it. Georgia and several other states are on the same path. The aim of the Chapin-Brady bill isn't to downsize Illinois schools; it's to attract more students to stay in or come to Illinois. That starts by demolishing the status quo. "Let's learn from this whole (budget) mess, and let's see how we can better apply things in higher ed," Brady tells us. "If we don't, the dwindling enrollment numbers are going to continue." Advertisement Many of the students who leave Illinois for out-of-state campuses never return. They don't come back to take jobs. They don't return to raise families. They don't start businesses or lead foundations in Illinois. Student by student, U-Haul by U-Haul, Illinois squanders its future. Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook. All votes in the CO-3 election won't be counted until the end of this week Adam Frisch attending new member orientation in D.C., with the official outcome of the race between him and Boebert unclear By Gidon Gautel and Zoey Zhang Editors Note: This article was first published on August 28, 2017, and was last updated on February 1, 2021. Social insurance exemption for foreigners can be a valuable asset for employers and foreign employees to save on unnecessary costs. However, many companies hiring eligible employees are not aware of the benefits available to them, while those who do are often unsure as to how to go about applying. Chinas social security system consists of five different types of insurance, plus one mandatory housing fund. The five insurances are pension, medical, unemployment, work-related injury, and maternity insurances. The premiums for pension, medical, unemployment insurance, and mandatory housing found are jointly contributed to by the employer and employee, while the premiums for work-related injury and maternity insurance are solely contributed to by the employer. While regional authorities manage the social insurance system not all regional governments have enacted the implementation rules for Chinas international social security agreements. China has signed social security agreements with 12 countries, but only 11 such agreements have been implemented. Currently, expatriates from Germany, South Korea, Denmark, Canada, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Luxembourg, Japan, and Serbia are eligible for social security exemptions across China. In this article, we look at who is eligible for exemption and how to apply. Social insurance in China The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security requires foreign employees working in China to participate in its social insurance scheme as detailed in the Interim Measures for the Participation in Social Insurance of Foreigners Employed in China, 2011. According to Chinese labor law, any foreigner employed by a legally registered entity in China or any foreigner dispatched to a registered branch or representative office of a foreign company must participate in basic pension insurance for employees, basic medical insurance for employees, work injury insurance, unemployment insurance, and maternity insurance. However, since social insurance is managed at a regional level, a range of inconsistencies exist among cities. As a result, most major cities have implemented their respective requirements for foreign employees. For example, in cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Nanjing, among many others, social insurance payments are compulsory for foreign employees who are treated in the same way as domestic workers. On the other hand, Shanghai does not currently require foreign employees to contribute towards social insurance. Since all regional authorities have not implemented rules in accordance with international social security agreements which increases the difficulty in obtaining exemptions employees from countries that have agreements with China are eligible for social insurance exemptions. To date, 11 such agreements have been implemented between China, and the following countries: Germany, Korea, Denmark, Canada, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Luxembourg, Japan, and Serbia. China has also signed agreements with France and Serbia; these agreements are not yet in effect. Applicable countries All existing agreements define the groups of employees eligible for exemption and lay out the categories of social insurance for which employees are exempt from paying. In turn, Chinese employees sent to the participating country will also be exempt from making the relevant social insurance contributions there. Social insurance exemptions are only available to a defined group of labor categories, and not to all foreign employees. The 11 bilateral agreements with China for social insurance payment exemptions that have been implemented are shown in the table below. For example, the China-Japan social insurance agreement, which took effect September 1, 2019, will exempt Japanese nationals from Chinas basic pension contribution as well as exempt Chinese nationals from Japans National Pension and Employees Pension Insurance. It will apply to dispatched personnel, employees on board ships and aircraft, civil servants, and diplomatic and consular personnel of each side. As to the agreement with France, which is not yet effective, details including the implementation date and range of exemptions will be announced once each country completes their respective domestic legal procedures. Basic process for applying for premium exemptions Exemption does not apply automatically, and companies with foreign employees are required to apply to related bureaus for exemption. Though the process of applying for insurance premium exemptions varies across regions, and according to the specific agreement under which it is performed, it follows a standard formula. The entity that employs the foreign employee in China must submit original certification of insurance issued by a relevant entity in the country of origin to the local Chinese social insurance bureau. This will then be verified, and a copy will be held on record. Following verification of this documentation, and possible further verification and certification, the employee in question will be exempt from the relevant social insurance payments. The time limit of the exemption period may vary. For employees from the Netherlands, for example, the maximum length of the exemption period is five years. If the dispatch period is more than five years, the time limit for exemption will not be extended for more than one year. Difficulties of implementation While social insurance exemption agreements offer cost benefits to enterprises based in China, businesses should act in caution regarding how they go about availing them. Although bilateral agreements for exemption are made at a national level, regional governments must implement the system locally. This invariably results in inconsistencies and varying levels of implementation at a local level, complicating the process for companies and foreign employees. David Niu, Senior Manager of Human Resources Administration and Payroll Services at Dezan Shira & Associates, explains: Officers in social insurance bureaus are often unsure about how to implement foreign employee social insurance exemptions. Many cities have no local regulations relating to this topic, especially in second and third-tier cities. He elaborates: Cases exist where city-level regulation for insurance exemption is not at hand from the local bureau. In such cases, if a business makes the decision not to make social insurance payments for their foreign staff, they may be challenged by the bureau for non-compliance during a later insurance inspection. David also highlights a key grievance that emerges in this area in the case of Shanghai. By local rule, female foreign employees are not required to contribute to maternity insurance in Shanghai, which can cause some disagreement between the employer and the employee. In case the foreign female staff needs to take maternity leave, the local social insurance bureau will not cover the payroll and relevant costs for the staff during the leave. However, from the employers perspective, they seem to have no legal obligation to compensate the cost themselves either. Thus, the employer should reach an agreement prior to employing the staff to define the future obligations and responsibilities to avoid labor disputes on this issue. Finally, companies should note that failure to pay social insurance premiums when not in receipt of explicit consent from the local social insurance bureau bears an inherent risk. Therefore, it is essential to consult both the local social insurance bureau, as well as relevant staff at the local labor bureau before taking any unilateral measures. Additionally, seeking the help of an advisor is highly recommended. If appropriate precautions are taken, these agreements can be beneficial tools for enterprises employing foreign staff in China. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 150 millon U.S. dollars loan to help improve infrastructure and living environment in a prefecture of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The fund will finance an infrastructure project in Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture near Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, which is rapidly urbanizing but remains constrained by challenges in urban infrastructure and services, according to the ADB. The project, covering the city of Fukang and counties of Hutubi and Qitai, will construct or rehabilitate roads and install utility pipes for water, wastewater, heating, and gas in the three areas. Specifically, it will help local governments better manage the water supply and solid waste in Qitai County, and fund the planting of trees in the city of Fukang, which will help preserve soil, reduce flooding, and form ecological protection shelterbelts, the bank said. The project will also help improve urban planning in Changji and help rural migrants better adapt to the urban environment by enhancing the quality of their technical and vocational education and training. "The project aims to help the government establish a livable environment and sound economic base in the Urumqi-Changji economic corridor by responding to economic and social development challenges," said Hinako Maruyama, an Urban Development Specialist at ADB. The total cost of the project will be 255.42 million dollars, with the rest of funding to be covered by governments of Fukang, Hutubi and Qitai. The project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023. Japanese Hirasawa Jun swiped his ID to check in at the high-speed rail terminal in Shanghai and got on the train swimmingly. Having lived in Shanghai since 2014, Hirasawa was the first foreign expat in Lujiazui, part of Shanghai's CBD, to get the new-generation permanent resident permit in September, which looks and functions just like Chinese ID card. "I can use it for checking in at railway stations and airports through channels for Chinese residents," said the director of Marubeni (Shanghai) Corp. To help Shanghai become an international destination for science and technology, the Ministry of Public Security has allowed Shanghai to pilot a simplified procedure for granting expats permanent residence permits. Foreigners can apply for the permit from the Shanghai Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone or the administration committee of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Senior executives of multinational companies like Hirasawa can enjoy swift processing, which previously took two years, in less than two months, said Xu Dejie, an official with the Oracle Bay, an HR consultancy in Lujiazui. In addition to the permit service for the business elite, Shanghai has over 1,000 business incubators, which provide services for some 200,000 domestic and foreign entrepreneurs. The Australian Trade and Investment Commission based its business incubator in XNode, a startup accelerator in downtown Shanghai. Daniel Zhan, the commission's Landing Pad project manager, said it assisted Australian companies access the Chinese market. Australian start-ups are keen to explore China's health, AI, Web of Things, education, science and finance markets, said Zhan. Half of the start-up businesses served by XNode are from overseas, said founder Zhou Wei. "XNode has helped aspiring entrepreneurs from 24 countries and regions since it opened in 2015," he said. It has also sourced 30 million U.S. dollars of start-up funding. Another business incubator Histrong specializes in returned overseas Chinese talent. "From medical and social insurance to fund sourcing, Histrong gives overseas Chinese entrepreneurs a sense of security of doing business in China," said Zhu Zhenrong who, after living in the U.S. for over 20 years, set up Shanghai Sanoviv Biological Technology Co. Ltd. in June with Histrong's help. Chinese American Robin Young has lived in Shanghai since 2005. He set up AI firm Seedlink in 2013 to help companies in HR management. "It's all possible because we started in China. China is growing and has open policies for immigration," Young said. Flash French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb on Sunday said the knife attack at a railway station in France's Marseille could be of "terrorist nature," but called for caution as probe was underway to identify the attacker and determine his motives. People are evacuated to a street near the Marseille Saint Charles railway station after an attack in Marseille, southern France, Oct. 1, 2017. Two passers-by were stabbed to death on Sunday at a central Marseille railway station by a knifeman, who was shot dead by security forces, French media reported. (Xinhua/Si Tu) "This act could be of terrorist nature. But at this time we can not confirm it," Collomb said after visiting the site of the assault in Marseille, southeastern France. Collomb denounced the "awful act" which left "two young victims," when a man with a knife killed two women on Sunday afternoon in Saint Charles railway station in Marseille. He rushed at military officers who were patrolling the zone and tried to attack them in the station's public square before being shot and seriously wounded. He succumbed to his wounds in the scene. A counter-terrorism inquiry was launched "to identify the individual and the murdered people," the minister added. Local media reported the man shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he carried out the assault. He was around 20 years old and known to police for public offenses including robbery and drug trafficking. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "deeply indignant about this barbaric act." He hailed on Twitter soldiers' "calmness and efficiency." Risks of terror attacks remain high in France where emergency security laws have been imposed in 2015 after about 130 people were killed and 350 others were injured in a series of explosions and shootings claimed by the Islamic State. French lawmakers are scheduled to vote on Oct. 3 disputed anti-terrorism law which will turn some emergency rules to law. The Communist Party of China's recent decision to seriously punish a former senior official was widely supported by the Party's provincial and municipal authorities nationwide, all of whom pledged to maintain a high degree of unity with the Party's central authorities. Sun Zhengcai, former Party chief of Chongqing, was expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office for "serious discipline violations", according to a statement issued after a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Friday. The investigation and punishment of Sun, a former member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, shows that the CPC Central Committee, with President Xi Jinping as the core, has firm determination to fight corruption, according to a commentary article in People's Daily on Saturday. The Party's Chongqing municipal committee held a meeting on Friday evening, soon after the statement was released, at which municipal Party officials vowed to firmly safeguard the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and maintain firm unity with the Central Committee. The probe and punishment of Sun before the Party's 19th National Congress proves that the CPC has great capability for self-improvement and self-purification, said a statement released by the CPC Chongqing municipal committee. The CPC will begin its 19th National Congress on Oct 18. The Party committees of many other provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Guangdong, Shanxi and Heilongjiang, also voiced support for the Central Committee immediately after Friday's meeting. Based on evidence found by authorities and tips from the public, the Central Committee decided to remove Sun from his position as Chongqing Party chief on July 14. A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee on July 24 decided to put Sun under investigation. The investigation was conducted by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The investigation found that Sun had betrayed Party principles and lost his political stance, ignoring the Party code of conduct and rules, according to a statement issued after Friday's meeting. He was also found to have seriously violated the CPC eight-point code on frugality and maintaining close ties with the masses. He sought pomp, ostentation and privileges, according to the statement. The statement said that Sun was guilty of nepotism and seeking benefits in the selection of officials. He was also found guilty of leaking confidential Party information and seriously breaching Party rules on integrity. He took advantage of his power and influence to seek benefits for others, and accepted a "huge amount" of money and gifts in return. He was found to have sought substantial benefits for his relatives' businesses and accepted valuable gifts. The statement accused Sun of bureaucracy and sloth in work and degradation and power-for-sex trades in life. Sun totally deviated from the Party spirit and political requirements for senior officials, the statement said, adding that his misconduct betrayed the trust of the CPC Central Committee and the public, and inflicted great harm on the Party and the country with an "extremely bad" social influence. The case involving Sun's suspected crimes will be transferred to the judiciary. The decision to expel Sun from the CPC will be put before a plenary meeting of the CPC Central Committee. Mu Xiangang, a resident of Huamao village, Guizhou province, works a piece of pottery on a wheel. [Chen Zebing/China Daily] Zhang Shengdi, an entrepreneur in Fengxiang, Guizhou province, has been working to revive papermakingher part in the fight against povertyever since President Xi Jinping visited Huamao village in June 2015. Huamao falls under the administration of Fengxiang, which is part of the larger Zunyi city. To alleviate poverty by developing tourism and cultural industries, the local government has made great efforts to protect traditional crafts such as pottery and papermaking, as well as developing other creative products. Zhang's company once marketed Moutai liquor. Now she has set up a cultural brand called Hua Mao Ren Jia, which means "households of Huamao". "President Xi's visit to Huamao drew public attention to my hometown, with the village welcoming many more tourists than ever before since he came here. So I thought it was time for me to ride the growth wave and do something for my poverty-stricken fellow villagers," Zhang, 43, said. She spent some time with poor families who receive government subsidies and discovered that dependence on subsidies might not be the best answer to make their situation better. She decided to train some people in the village to help with long-term employment. Making paper by boiling the bark of mulberry trees is an old tradition in the village. Zhang drew up a blueprint to help diversify the products made of papernotebooks, umbrellas, lanternsand gave customers an opportunity to participate in the process of papermaking. "There's an old Chinese saying that goes, 'Teaching a man how to fish is better than feeding him fish,'" Zhang said. Her papermaking startup gained the support of the village Party committee and the local government. Three houses in Huamao were rented out for the purpose. "I paint Chinese pictures on paper products to enrich their design," said Wang Peikuan, a member of the Calligraphy and Painting Association of Fengxiang. "Working on the poverty alleviation project gives me a sense of achievement." Last month, Zhang and representatives from 13 other cultural enterprises in Guizhou attended the China Beijing International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo, where they promoted their products. With the help of the local branch of the All-China Women's Federation, she learned about the mass entrepreneurship and innovation drive that China has launched to generate more jobs. Members of the village committee also used their social networks to find potential customers for her, she said. Developing sales channels, especially online, is a priority now. "I would like to cooperate with universities in the future to see if young people can give us ideas for product designs," she said. To find young talent for startups, the local government established the Maker Center in Huamao, where students majoring in visual communication design at Zunyi Normal College interact with local artisans involved in traditional pottery. Wang Weiqi, a volunteer at the center, said the students' brainstorm about how to turn clay into exquisite pottery pieces so that men and women in the craft can break out of their insularity in designing such works. They also want to find ways to pass down traditional techniques to the younger generation. Achieving both within the craftsinheriting and innovatingis the long-term goal of the village's cultural and creative industry, even though the approach is being used to fight poverty at the moment. With the help of the government of Fengxiang, Mu Xiangang, 50, a local pottery maker whose workshop was visited by Xi in 2015, has become a pioneer in his ancestral craft. His workshop serves as a base for college students to create artwork out of clay. Mu also offers tourists the experience of making pottery themselves, at 20 yuan ($3) per person. He said he uses an electric kiln instead of his old coal-fired furnace now because Xi urged traditional artisans to be environmentally friendly. "My annual income has increased to 300,000 yuan from 30,000 yuan as tourists flock to my workshop to experience pottery and buy my wares," Mu said of the big change in his life. "Since President Xi's visit, we have a clearer idea about lifting the village out of poverty. We should try to make papermaking, farming and revolutionary culture the symbols of Huamao. These symbols will strengthen the cultural identity of the village, thereby raising its profile and boosting tourism," said Shuai Bo, Fengxiang's Party secretary. More and more foreigners are traveling, working and studying in China. Most are fascinated by the country's culture, as well as being impressed by its rapid development. With smartphones, they upload and share photos they have taken in China, showing an innovative China and prosperous lives of the people. The pictures on this page are chosen from hundreds taken by expatriates in China in the past five years, named Forging ahead (2012-2017): Amazing ChinaA fresh perspective. More photos will be chosen and shared in future sessions. US citizen Bryan Shapiro celebrates his marriage to his Chinese bride Zhang Wan in a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony at a restaurant in the Chaoyang district of Beijing on June 12 last year. [Photo by Akash Ghai (United States)/For China Daily] Wearing Red Army uniforms, students from a primary school in Huaying city, Sichuan province, experience the Red Army's Long March by climbing a steep hill. [Qiu Haiying/Xinhua] New measures are helping maintain love of country in the modern world The past few years have witnessed changes in the education system aimed at further raising awareness of patriotism among young Chinese. The National Anthem Law, approved in September by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, states that the national anthem should be played and sung at primary and middle schools nationwide. "Schools should regard the national anthem as an important part of patriotic education for students," according to the law, which came into force on Oct 1. "They are obliged to teach students to sing the anthem, learn its history and the spirit it reflects and obey the etiquette of singing it." Earlier this year, the Ministry of Education urged education departments across the country to revise textbooks for primary and middle schools by extending the duration of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to 14 years (1931-45) from eight (1937-45). The move was intended to not only uphold the spirit of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and China's struggle against the Japanese, which fell in September 2015, but also to strengthen patriotic education for the younger generation by allowing them to understand the history in a profound, all-around way, the ministry said. Lyu Liangqiong, director of the student affairs office at the Shengli Experimental School in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, who is responsible for designing the related curriculum and organizing activities for the students, has noticed the changes and the growing emphasis on patriotic education. "China has changed so much during recent years and is growing more influential in the world, so I think it's necessary to conduct patriotic education among young people, which will deepen their love for the country on the basis of better knowing and understanding," she said. According to Lyu, patriotic education at her school started becoming regular and systematic in 2009, when construction of the campus was completed and the school decided to weave the content of such education into school activities. "For example, we bring students to historical places during the annual spring outings. Before setting out, we give lectures about the background information; while there, we guide students to listen to stories told by the descendants of revolutionary martyrs at those places. After they return, we ask them to generate and deliver work - a short article, an exhibition board or other forms," she said. "In the past, the spring event was purely an outing and just about having fun." While patriotic education is still considered highly important, some patriotic education centers, which aim to raise awareness through a range of activities, face problems. Although they are crowded on special dates, some education centers receive very few visitors at other times. One such example is the Li Dazhao Martyrs Cemetery in northwest Beijing, where Li, one of the founders of the Communist Party of China, is buried. It was listed as a national patriotic education center in 2001. Guan Xiaolin, a security guard who has worked at the cemetery for three years, said that the record number of visitors, in his memory, was about 3,000, when a group of soldiers visited on a special day. "Apart from occasions like that, the place is extremely quiet for most of the year, just as you see now - there's not even a single visitor," he said. Other centers are experiencing similar situations. One example is the former residence of Soong Ching Ling, the honorary chairwoman of the People's Republic of China in the 20th century, located near Houhai Lake in Beijing's downtown. It was Soong's home from 1963 to 1981, and is now a patriotic education center. "Mostly people come to visit on certain memorial days, such as National Day on Oct 1 and the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, which falls on July 1. Most visitors come in groups rather than individuals," said a 65-year-old volunteer at the residence, who asked only to be identified by her surname, Gao. She added that the visitors vary greatly in age, and most come in the name of social groups or Party committees from across the country. "But the number of individual visitors has risen a lot compared with years ago, thanks to the country's improved patriotic education in recent years and the official website of the residence, where visitors can access exhibition information," she said. According to Beijing Daily, more than 200,000 visitors visited the residence last year, and the official website of the residence says it received an average of nearly 2,500 visitors a day during the seven-day National Day holiday last year. In addition, some patriotic education centers fail to meet visitors' expectations because they lack diverse displays and exhibitions. Tursongul Torgan, a primary school teacher from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Northwest China, visited Soong's former residence soon after she arrived in Beijing with colleagues for a period of training in late September. She said young people, especially children and teenagers, quickly become bored with exhibitions and listening to guides. "Based on my experience, most children around me don't enjoy just reading information boards. They prefer modern displays, which they find more interesting," she added. Sun Lu, a teacher of Chinese at Hefei No 42 Middle School in East China's Anhui province, said many patriotic education centers still display the history in dull ways, and are failing to keep pace with the times. "Those centers should provide better services by utilizing modern technologies, such as VR glasses and 4-D films, which will not only attract the attention of teenagers, but also adults," she said. Jiang Chenglong contributed to this story. For the past years, China has made major breakthroughs in science and technology that indicate it is on the path to national rejuvenation. Li Yang takes a look at four best of them. Aerospace China's Tiangong II space lab blasted off in September last year, marking another milestone in the country's increasingly ambitious space program, which envisions a space station and sending a probe to Mars at the start of the next decade. One month later, the Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft carried two astronauts into space to dock with the lab. The astronauts worked in the lab for 30 days before returning to Earth. In April this year, China's first space cargo ship Tianzhou 1, was sent into orbit to dock with the space lab, providing fuel and other supplies. Its predecessor Tiangong 1, which docked with the unmanned Shenzhou 8, and manned Shenzhou IX and Shenzhou X spaceships, was used to verify the technology involved in space docking and served as a simple platform for a number of scientific experiments. Tiangong 1 ended its data service earlier this year and will, reportedly, burn up as it falls into Earth's atmosphere in the latter half of 2017. Tiangong II will drop into the Pacific Ocean at the end of its mission, according to the manned space engineering office. The successful launch of Tiangong II along with the maiden flight of China's new generation carrier rocket Long March 7 in June last year, bodes well for the final phase of China's three-step manned space program. The first step, to send an astronaut into space and return safely, was fulfilled by Yang Liwei in Shenzhou V in 2003. The second step is to develop advanced space flight techniques and technologies including extravehicular activity and orbital docking. This phase also includes the launch of two space laboratories - effectively mini space-stations that can be manned on a temporary basis. The final step will be to assemble and operate a permanent manned space station. Construction of the space station is planned for completion by around 2020. It will enter into service around 2022, with an initial designed life of at least 10 years. Now China is preparing Tianhe I, a core space station module, which is due to be carried into space by the powerful Chinese rocket Long March 5 in 2018. Additionally, Chinese scientists are making a Hubble-like telescope to orbit near the planned space station. China also aims to land a probe on Mars by 2020. Aviation The C919, the first Chinese-built passenger jet, made its maiden flight in May. A total of 23 foreign and domestic customers, including China's national carrier Air China and leasing company GE Capital Aviation Service, have already placed orders for 570 aircraft, according to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China. With 158 seats and a standard range of 4,075 kilometers, it competes with the updated Airbus 320 and Boeing's new generation 737. China has invested heavily in commercial passenger jet manufacturing. In 2007, plans to develop a domestic large passenger jet were approved by the State Council. In November 2015, the first C919 jet rolled off the assembly line. The ARJ21, the country's first regional aircraft also produced by COMAC, began commercial operations in June 2016 following its maiden flight in 2008. Likewise, it has invested heavily in the development of military aircraft. China's J-20 stealth fighter made its public debut at the China Air Show in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province, in November last year. The development of the J-20 is progressing as scheduled, and it is expected to further boost the fighting capacities of the Chinese air force, said Shen Jinke, spokesperson for the People's Liberation Army Air Force, at a news conference at the show. Shen said that the fighter will help the air force better fulfill the mission of "safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," adding that the J-20 is adaptable for the future. Before the public unveiling of the J-20, China's first domestically developed heavy air freighter, the Y-20, made its maiden flight in January 2013. The development of the two planes shows the country is well on the way to achieving its goal of becoming a strategic air power, according to analysts. "A genuine strategic air power must possess a strong power projection capability, which is highly reliant on large aircraft, namely a strategic air freighter and a strategic bomber," Wang Yanan, deputy editor-in-chief at Aerospace Knowledge magazine and a military analyst, said. "The long-range power projection capability of the Chinese air force still lags behind. But the Y-20 means we have made strides toward building a strategic air power." The Y-20, with a crew of three, has a maximum payload of 66 metric tons and a maximum takeoff weight of more than 200 tons. The length of the Y-20 is 47 meters and its wingspan is 50 meters. High-speed railways Former state leader Deng Xiaoping was impressed by Japan's bullet trains when he visited the country in 1978. At that time, China had less than 9,000 locomotives - of which only 200 were electric - running at an average speed of about 40 kilometers per hour. Since then, Chinese people have regarded the speed of its trains as an indication of the country's development level. China named its first high-speed train, which came into use in 2007 with operating speeds of 200 to 300 kilometers per hour, as Hexie, or Harmony, conveying its wish for a harmonious society in the fast-changing country. The latest Chinese bullet trains, which China developed independently, have an operating speed of 350 km an hour. The new high-speed trains are called Fuxing, or Rejuvenation, demonstrating the country's resolve to achieve national renewal. They went into operation on June 25 between Beijing and Shanghai. "The launch of the Fuxing bullet trains symbolizes China's high-speed railway construction is among the most advanced in the world, and China has mastered the technology of high-speed train's manufacturing, operation control, traction power supply and communication signal systems, as well as other things," said Liu Hui, vice-president and chief engineer of CRC. Among the 254 important standards of the Fuxing bullet trains, 84 percent are Chinese, showing China has largely acquired the ability to manufacture high-speed trains independently, according to Cao Gangcai, deputy chief economic manager of the CRRC Group, China's largest locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer. China is a large country with diverse geological conditions. The high-speed railway network extends 5,200 km from east to west and 5,500 km north to south, covering areas that not only experience extremely low temperatures and strong winds, but also areas where the earth is frozen or which are prone to landslides, among other things. "To overcome these difficulties, the researchers, engineers and constructors had to make concerted efforts, and optimize many technologies and designs to adapt the high-speed rail lines to different environmental conditions," Cao said. At the end of last year, China had 66 high-speed railways, whose total length was 220,000 km, the longest in the world. Nearly 1.5 billion passenger trips were made on them last year. By 2025, the total length of the high-speed railways in China is expected to reach 380,000 km. Quantum communications The quantum communications network connecting Beijing and Shanghai, about 2,000 kilometers apart, recently passed a technological examination, meaning the world's first quantum communications network is ready to be launched in China. Quantum communications allow the sharing of a messages that are encrypted by a key made up of quantum particles, which means they are generally regarded as being "unhackable", because if a third party tries to intercept the message it will immediately alter the information being relayed, with the disturbance being instantly known. Quantum communications technology has developed rapidly in recent years, with the United States, Europe, the Republic of Korea and China all investing heavily in R&D, as quantum technology is regarded as being one of the major technological advances of the 21st century that will support the next generation of telecommunication and the computing technology. China launched the world's first quantum communications satellite into orbit in August last year. The satellite can be used to transmit encoded data through quantum keys transmitted via light pulse signals. It also announced it had successfully built the world's first optical quantum computer in May. Pan Jianwei, professor of quantum studies at the University of Science and Technology of China and head of the research team of the quantum communications satellite, said quantum communications technology not only has practical applications but also lays a solid foundation for theoretical breakthroughs in physics and space studies. The central government regards quantum communications as "disruptive technology that can lead a new industrial revolution" in its State Science and Technology Innovation Plan for the 13th Five-Year Plan Period (2016-20), and so supports the research and development of it accordingly. Pan appreciates the support of the government and multiple research institutes across the country for the project. "Different parts of the satellite come from the hard work of different institutes. It is basically teamwork," he said. Experts say the launch of the Beijing-Shanghai quantum communications network marks China's transformation from being a leading researcher in the field to the first user of the advanced technology, which will give China a considerable advantage in the development of related technologies and industries. Xinhua contributed to this story. Like many scenic spots around the nation, Beijing's Summer Palace is packed on Monday. JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY Airports, train stations and highways packed as millions hit the road Chinese railways set a record in daily passenger traffic as more than 15 million trips were made on National Day on Sunday, the first day of an eight-day holiday, and over 113 million visitors flooded domestic resorts, the rail and tourist authorities said on Monday. It is the year's longest public holiday as Mid-Autumn Festival happens to coincide with the National Day holiday this year. Sunday's estimate of 15 million trips was up 4.2 percent from the 14.4 million trips made on National Day last year, according to rail system administrator China Railway Corp. It said 12 million rail trips were expected on Monday, and 130 million rail trips forecast for the entire holiday travel season. In addition, 560 million road trips and 15.9 million trips by water are expected, according to the Ministry of Transport. Over 13 million trips are expected by air, an increase of 14 percent, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The number of daily flights was pegged at nearly 14,800. Beijing Capital International Airport, China's busiest, expects to see 3.95 million trips during the rush, the airport said. On Sunday, cars were trapped in kilometers-long traffic jams on expressways and passengers stood in long lines at stations and airports. Large groups of tourists crowded into resorts. At Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Guangdong province, nearly 1,000 passengers missed their planes due to a traffic jam on the airport expressway, officials said. Passengers around the country were advised to take subways to airports when possible. Provinces took measures to ease traffic congestion on Sunday. In Jiangsu province, police used 80 drones for traffic surveillance. About 1,000 patrol cars equipped with video transmission systems received real-time information sent by the drones. The drones had helped clear 52 minor road crashes by 4 pm Sunday, according to the provincial public security department. Tourists were estimated to have made 115 million trips across China on Sunday, a year-on-year increase of 10.5 percent, according to the China National Tourism Administration. Those tourists were estimated to have spent 96.5 billion yuan ($14.5 billion), 12.2 percent more than on National Day last year. For tourists heading abroad, Russia, Australia and the United States were cited by industry sources as popular destinations, as were countries in eastern and southeastern Asia. National flag-raising ceremony to mark the 68th National Day in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua] Sunday marks China's National Day, which is also the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In the early morning, some 100,000 people across the country gathered at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing for the flag-raising ceremony, an indispensable part of the celebrations. Accompanied by the national anthem played by the military band, the national flag rose at 06:10 am BJT sharp, together with the sun. Over 10,000 white doves were also released at the ceremony. The national anthem and the national flag are the most solemn symbols of a nation, and in China, playing or singing the national anthem and raising the national flag are routines done on a daily basis at Tiananmen Square, and there are always people traveling long distances to watch the ceremony. Village on edge of Tongzha 1993. [Photo by Bruce Connolly/chinadaily.com.cn] Tianya Haijiao, west of Sanya, where the land literally gives way to the sea, in 1993 felt tranquil, peaceful. With few visitors to these rock pinnacles embedded in the sand of a long sweeping bay, people on the beach were mostly fishing families gathered around their small wooden boats. I sat there on that warm January afternoon, looking across the South China Sea, with a feeling of both contentment and restlessness. Sanya for travellers was a 'comfort-zone' - there were a couple of cafes with English menus; there was the beach; much to photograph and easy to return to Haikou. However my map showed a very different Hainan, the mountainous interior, but there was very little travel or hotel information except that Tongzha was the capital and main centre for the Li and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Next day I was on a local bus heading inland for several hours, climbing up from the coast by a winding, occasionally dramatic road towards the crest of a forested ridge. Much of the land had been terraced for rice cultivation but also plantations of rubber and coffee. Reaching the bus station of what felt initially a small rural town Tongzha was also known as Tongshi and more recently as Wuzhishan or 'Five Finger Mountain' - the dominant landscape feature. Booking into a hotel near the bus station, from my top floor room I looked out over Yaxucun, a former village of compact, single floor tiled roof cottages set with a backdrop of red, tropical earth. The pattern felt artistic and well worthy of photography. Early evening was approaching as I explored the town, virtually traffic free except for noisy three wheeled 'tuk-tuks' transporting people and goods to and from surrounding agricultural communities. Tongzha sits astride a meander, or bend, of the broad Nansheng River. January was dry season and bamboo enclosures of geese and ducks stretched across the bed where turbulent waters would flow during the summer rains. Britain's famous Stonehenge landmark [Photo/VCG] A road tunnel beneath Britain's famous Stonehenge landmark was announced recently as part of a $2.1 billion plan to cure a major tourist route that faces regular gridlock. The Stonehenge tunnel will remove the traffic blight on local communities and reconnect two halves of the 2,630 hectare World Heritage site which is currently split by the road, say government officials. The 2.9 km tunnel will remove the sight and sound of traffic from the Stonehenge landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site visited by over a million people a year, add the officials. It will also ensure traffic headlights do not interfere with annual Solstice gatherings at the landmark site. In a joint statement, Historic England, the National Trust and English Heritage, said the route will ensure the winter solstice alignment will be unspoiled by lights and traffic from the road. But campaigners called for a major rethink, warning the road scheme could threaten Stonehenge's place on the list of World Heritage Sites. Celebrity historian Tony Robinson described the project to local media as the most brutal intrusion ever into the Stone Age landscape. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced details of the scheme along the A303 main road, as a key part of a South West expressway and will include the new tunnel. "Linking the M3 in the southeast and the M5 in the southwest, the expressway will upgrade this key route and improve journey times for millions of people," says a spokesperson for the Department for Transport. It will support economic growth and tourism in an area where congestion and slow journeys have long had a negative impact on the region's economy. President Xi Jinping said on Saturday that he thinks a "special, wonderful and successful" outcome awaits US President Donald Trump on his upcoming state visit to China, which Xi said is "the most important event in the bilateral ties currently". Xi made the remark while meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The visit is to lay the groundwork for Trump's visit. "His visit will be a major opportunity for the development of China-US relations," Xi told Tillerson. Chinese and US teams should implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, grasp the direction of the relationship, respect each other and focus on cooperation while dealing with differences properly, Xi said. "China attaches great importance to President Trump's visit, and I look forward to working with him to outline and advance our bilateral relations in the years to come," Xi said. President Xi called on the two sides to handle their differences and sensitive issues through dialogue and consultation. "The common interests of our two countries far exceed our differences, and cooperation is the only correct choice," Xi said. In the three months since early July, Xi and Trump have had three phone calls to exchange views on bilateral relations and global issues. Tillerson conveyed Trump's greetings to Xi, saying the US president looks forward to his visit to China. Hailing the progress in US-China relations under the two presidents, Tillerson said the United States values its relations with China and hopes to increase mutual trust and practical cooperation. David Becker/Getty Images(LAS VEGAS) -- More than 20 people were killed and 100 injured when what appears to be a lone gunman opened fire from a perch high up in the the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas Sunday night, police said. The "nonstop gunfire," according to one witness, sent bystanders outside the resort on the Vegas strip ducking for cover and fleeing for their lives. Tourists hid in their hotel rooms and flights headed into the McCarran International Airport were held elsewhere. Bystanders sprang into action, caring for the wounded and at least one described someone dying in their arms. Videos filmed by onlookers gave a window into the chaos that ensued, with some thinking that fireworks were going off. The final night of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival was taking place across the street from Mandalay Bay when the shooting took place and concertgoers were caught off-guard. In the wake of the shooting, the Las Vegas Police Department said the suspected gunman, was believed to be a local, was on 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay hotel. Police responded to the scene, engaged him and he is now dead. Officials said they did not believe there were any more shooters. Authorities were looking for a companion of the shooter, Marilou Danley, as well as two vehicles, a Hyundai Tucson and Chrysler Pacifica, both with Nevada plates. At least two police officers were hospitalized "We were just at the concert there, and Jason Aldean was playing," one of the concertgoers, named Mike Cronk, 48, a retired teacher, told ABC News. "Kinda sounded like some fireworks going off. I think there was the first kinda volley, and then all of the sudden second volley. My buddy's like 'I just got hit, ya know.' He got hit three times. Then people started diving for the ground. And it just continued." "It was pretty much chaotic," Cronk continued. "Lots of people got hit. ...It took a while to get him out. We had to get him over the fence and hiding under the stage for a while, ya know, to be safe. And finally we had to move him because he had three chest wounds." Cronk said his group were finally able to track down an ambulance "and basically the one guy ended up dying in my arms because he was bleeding," he said. "And my buddy got in there. We got three more people in the ambulance. ... But I just got a message from my buddy -- and he's going to be okay." As bursts of gunfire crackled in the air, people outside of the casino ducked and screamed, according to video filmed by witnesses. "We're going to get trampled if we don't go," a bystander could be heard saying in a dramatic video of the incident. Confusion appeared to abound as those outside fled the scene with another person saying, "it's fireworks." Michelle Leonard, who was located in a booth near the main entrance of the arena, said the shooting just kept going nonstop. Leonard said mass confusion unfolded as people tried to flee the scene. She said the shooting seemed like it went on for more than a minute. I had no idea of where it was coming from or where to run to," Leonard said. She said she injured her leg as she tried to escape. Another witness, Jake Freeman, said he was standing on the rooftop of a nearby hotel when the shooting broke out. I had a birds-eye view of the shooting, Freeman said in a phone interview with ABC News. He said he saw "crowds of people running as people dropped to the ground. At the moment we didnt realize that they were being shot, he said. Shooting in Las Vegas. People fleeing (video from the Mandalay Bay hotel) pic.twitter.com/hs98J5uK6T Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) October 2, 2017 ATF agents have responded to the scene and the FBI is assisting with the investigation. The Las Vegas Police Department said people should avoid the area. Flights in and out of the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas were temporarily halted due to the incident. The FBI is also supporting local law enforcement efforts in Las Vegas. "Pray for Las Vegas. Thank you to all our first responders out there now," Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman said via Twitter. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Stewart Lee Beck(left), author and producer of the China simplified book series and Yue-Sai Kan, Chinese American television host and producer, entrepreneur and bestselling author, present the two books of the series at a book launching party in New York on Friday night. [Photo by Hong Xiao / chinadaily.com.cn] Stewart Lee Beck, who has lived and worked among the Chinese for 24 years, has always wondered what it is about China that intrigues foreigners like him so much. And why, with all that's been written and said about the land, is China still so misperceived and misunderstood? The two questions became the genesis of his China Simplified project. The project aims to explore and demystify China and its people for the rest of the world. "By shifting our collective attention beyond the 1 percent (hot-button issues in the mass media) to the other 99 percent (relevant conversations about history, language, business, and more), we hope to raise cultural awareness and increase mutual understanding," writes Beck, who calls himself the project's managing dreamer. So far, two books from the project Empowerment: Demystify Chinese Culture and Fire up your Mandarin and History Flashback: An Entertaining Journey through the Past to Better Understand Modern China written and produced jointly by Beck and his team members, are available. "My plan was for us to collaborate on a fast-read book full of lighthearted stories," he said, "that is, to use the language as a window into the culture." Language Empowerment is not just a textbook or a language course; the authors also impart plenty of encouragement, spinning story after story about the many pitfalls of learning Mandarin. For example, the phrase "Ma Shang Dao Le" is translated into "I'll be there immediately", but because of cultural differences, the true meaning of the sentence is "I'll be there sometime in the near future, probably." "It sounds fast, it should be fast, but in reality it probably means your meeting is going to start half an hour late," Beck explains in the book. Beck has conducted business in China since the early 1990s and since then has been learning the Chinese language. After immersion training, Beck was inspired to give up the sterile, academic approach. "I committed myself every time I studied to find something entertaining, unexpected or intriguing in the universe of Mandarin. In short, I started having fun," he said. "That little change of focus made all the difference in the world," he added. Beck believes unless you aspire to make your living as a translator or in professional broadcast, attempting to learn to speak, read and write perfect Chinese from scratch as an adult is a venture in futility. "Most people quit, which is sad because buried somewhere in all that frustration is the spark of genuine interest. And that is what this book is all about sharing my many personal disasters (and a few triumphs) to help make the Chinese language and culture more accessible to a wider audience," he writes in the foreword of the book. "Let go of your fear and persevere, and have some fun along the way!" Beck said, calling that the best advice for language students at any level. The other book, History Flashback, which combines serious research and good humor, gives readers an introduction to Chinese history from Sima Qian, a historian in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), to Chairman Mao. "This is the history book for people that didn't know they love history," said Yue-Sai Kan, a Chinese-American television host who is also Beck's friend. "The authors both entertain and inform with each turn of the page, to leave us with a lighthearted appreciation for the supreme depth of Chinese civilization," Kan said. "The future of our world is interconnected with that of the people of China. Wouldn't it be great if we could all communicate a little better with one another?" Beck wrote. Chinese workers get aboard a plane at V.C. Bird International Airport, Antigua and Barbuda, on Saturday. They were expected to arrive in Shanghai on Sunday night. [Photo by Yin Liqin/China News Service] Relief, gratitude show as planes leave for Shanghai ST. JOHN'S, Antigua and BarbudaChina Eastern Airlines crew members greeted Chinese nationals who had been transferred to St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, in the West Indies with a warm "Welcome home!" as two chartered planes landed at V.C. Bird International Airport. After Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean island of Dominica, 377 of the more than 400 Chinese who found shelter are finally getting a ride home. Chen Gangjun, 48, had been doing construction work in Dominica as part of an assistance project carried out by China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. "Many of our fellow workers woke up very early and came to the canteen at 4 am, much earlier than usual. ... Everybody is very excited and eager to go home. They couldn't bear waiting anymore," Chen said. "I shared the feeling, and I don't feel tired at all." Sun Haojie, director of a Chinese agricultural aid program in Dominica, waited to board with his wife and their 2-year-old son. "I really want to express my gratitude for our motherland. Without the combined efforts of so many departments, we would not be able to return home in such a short period of time," Sun said. "My son seems to understand the good news, too. He is particularly excited this morningI just hope he will not be troubled by the long flight." People are evacuated to a street near the Marseille Saint Charles railway station after an attack in Marseille, southern France, Oct 1, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] PARIS - French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb on Sunday said the knife attack at a railway station in France's Marseille could be of "terrorist nature," but called for caution as probe was underway to identify the attacker and determine his motives. "This act could be of terrorist nature. But at this time we can not confirm it," Collomb said after visiting the site of the assault in Marseille, southeastern France. Collomb denounced the "awful act" which left "two young victims," when a man with a knife killed two women on Sunday afternoon in Saint Charles railway station in Marseille. He rushed at military officers who were patrolling the zone and tried to attack them in the station's public square before being shot and seriously wounded. He succumbed to his wounds in the scene. A counter-terrorism inquiry was launched "to identify the individual and the murdered people," the minister added. Local media reported the man shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he carried out the assault. He was around 20 years old and known to police for public offenses including robbery and drug trafficking. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "deeply indignant about this barbaric act." He hailed on Twitter soldiers' "calmness and efficiency." Risks of terror attacks remain high in France where emergency security laws have been imposed in 2015 after about 130 people were killed and 350 others were injured in a series of explosions and shootings claimed by the Islamic State. French lawmakers are scheduled to vote on Oct. 3 disputed anti-terrorism law which will turn some emergency rules to law. People take part in a demonstration in central Manchester, Britain, on Oct 1, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] LONDON - British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined new proposals Sunday to win support from younger voters after many backed the rival Labour Party. May's bid to woo thousands of disaffected students came on the first day of the Conservative party's annual conference in Manchester. Tens of thousands of protestors converged on the northern England city, with a number of rallies organized by anti-Brexit groups and activists demanding an end to the Conservative austerity measures. Local media in Manchester reported that 50,000 people were expected at the various rallies during the day. Around 1,000 police officers were on duty forming a security shield around Manchester Central, the one-time railway terminal where the conference is taking place over the next four days. A heavy presence of armed police were on duty outside the nearby baroque-style four-star Midland Hotel which has become May's conference headquarters. This year's terror bombing at the nearby Manchester Arena, in which 22 people were killed by suicide bomber Salman Abedi, has heightened security precautions around the conference. The security operation is costing police almost 2.7 million US dollars. In a major interview in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, May announced the freezing of university tuition fees at 9,250 pounds (12,400 US dollars) a year. She also plans to raise the threshold so students won't start paying back their debt until they earn over 33,500 US dollars a year. An ambulance leaves the concert venue after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, US October 1, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] LAS VEGAS, Nevada -A 64-year-old man armed with more than 10 rifles rained down gunfire on a Las Vegas country music festival on Sunday, slaughtering at least 58 people in the largest mass shooting in US history before killing himself. The barrage from a 32nd-floor window in the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people lasted several minutes, causing panic. Some fleeing fans trampled each other as police scrambled to find the gunman. More than 500 people were injured. Police identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, who lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada, and said they had no sense of what prompted his attack. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the massacre, but US officials expressed skepticism of that claim. The preliminary death toll, which officials warned could rise further, eclipsed last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club by a gunman who pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothing, wandered streets, where the flashing lights of the city's gaudy casinos blended with those of emergency vehicles. Police said they had no information about Paddock's motive, that he had no criminal record and was not believed to be connected to any militant group. Paddock killed himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. Federal officials said there was no evidence to link Paddock to international militant groups. "As this event unfolds, we have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group," FBI special agent in charge Aaron Rouse told reporters. One US official discounted a claim of responsibility that was made by Islamic State. There was reason to believe that Paddock had a history of psychological problems, the official said. In its claim, Islamic State said the gunman was a recent convert, according to the group's news agency Amaq. Its claim did not include the gunman's name and showed no proof. In the past, the group has also claimed responsibility for attacks without providing evidence. Lombardo said there were more than 10 rifles in the room where Paddock killed himself. He had checked into the hotel on Thursday. Police found several more weapons at Paddock's home in Mesquite, about 90 miles (145 km) northeast of Las Vegas, Mesquite police spokesman Quinn Averett told reporters. The dead included one off-duty police officer, Lombardo said. Two on-duty officers were injured, including one who was in stable condition after surgery and one who sustained minor injuries, Lombardo said. "He brutally murdered more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil," US President Donald Trump said in a White House address. He ordered flags lowered to half-staff in a national gesture of mourning and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Leaders from around the world expressed shock and sadness at the news. 'JUST KEPT GOING ON' Video of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. "People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on," said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. "Probably 100 shots at a time," Smith said. "It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again." Las Vegas's casinos, nightclubs and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out shortly after 10 p.m. local time (0400 GMT). Shares of US casino operators fell in morning trading on Wall Street, with MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, down 3.5 percent. Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, Wynn Resorts Ltd and Las Vegas Sands Corp were little changed. Mike McGarry, a financial adviser from Philadelphia, was at the concert when he heard hundreds of shots ring out. "It was crazy - I laid on top of the kids. They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life," McGarry said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks, after people ran over him in the panicked crowd. The shooting broke out on the final night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival, a sold-out event featuring top acts such as Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean. "Tonight has been beyond horrific," Aldean said in a statement on Instagram. "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone." 'WE'RE HORRIFIED' The suspected shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned. "We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims," Eric Paddock said in a brief telephone interview, his voice trembling. "We have no idea in the world." As with previous US mass shootings, the incident sparked anger among advocates for gun control. The Second Amendment of the US Constitution protects the right to bear arms, and gun-rights advocates staunchly defend that provision. "It's time for Congress to get off its ass and do something," said US Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, where 26 young children and educators were killed in an attack on a school in 2012. "This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren't public policy responses to this epidemic." The rampage was reminiscent of a mass shooting at a Paris rock concert in November 2015 that killed 89 people, part of a wave of coordinated attacks by Islamist militants in which 130 people were killed. People attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, crouch down as a gunman opens fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel, in Las Vegas, US, October 1, 2017 in this still image obtained from social media video. [Photo/Agencies] Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a shooting that killed at least 50 people and wounded over 400 in Las Vegas early on Monday, and said the attacker had converted to Islam a few months ago. "The Las Vegas attack was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried it out in response to calls to target states of the coalition," the group's news agency Amaq said in reference to the US-led coalition fighting the group in the Middle East. "The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam a few months ago," Amaq added. Reuters Concertgoers scramble for shelter at the Route 91 country music festival after gunfire breaks out on Sunday in Las Vegas, Nevada. David Becker / Getty Images VIA AFP Attack deadliest mass shooting in modern US history; IS claims responsibility LAS VEGAS A gunman killed at least 50 people and wounded over 400 at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, raining down rapid fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes. Police said the gunman killed himself before they entered his hotel room. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the shooter had converted to Islam months ago, Reuters reported. The group provided no evidence. The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary, would make the attack the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, eclipsing last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando nightclub. Thousands of panicked people fled, in some cases trampling one another as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and stop the gunman. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets. Police identified the gunman as area resident Stephen Paddock, 64, but said they had no immediate information about his motive. He was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. "Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor. We've located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied." Las Vegas police said they no longer think Marilou Danley, 62, who they were seeking, was involved in the shooting. Police initially said they were looking for the woman, who may have been the roommate of the shooter. The dead included one off-duty police officer and at least one other officer was critically injured. Police warned the death toll may rise. Thousands of fans were attending the concert next to the Mandalay Bay that was part of Route 91, a three-day country music festival. Video of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. Witnesses told how the gunman opened fire with an initial burst and then appeared to reload as he continued his spree. Luo Xianlin, a Chinese tourist, said that he was walking on the street when the shooting happened, and ran into Caesars Palace Hotel with a crowd of frantic people. "I didn't hear any sound of opening fire, but I ran with other people. Some stayed in the lobby. My four Chinese colleagues and I hid in a room with seven Guatemalans and two Germans for four hours," he said. Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, said the gunfire went on for an extended period. "Probably 100 shots at a time. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again," he said. "People were shot and trying to get out. A lot of people were shot." Online travel agency Ctrip told China Daily that eight of its Chinese clients had been trapped in the hotel where the shooting originated. All were safe and left the blockaded hotel with the help of police on Monday. They were moved to another hotel in the city. US President Donald Trump offered his condolences to victims in a Twitter post early on Monday. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Trump said. AFPReutersAPXinhua Las Vegas Mass Shooter Identified as 64-Y-O Stephen Paddock; Brother 'Completely Dumbfounded' Christian Post Contributor | 02 October, 2017 by Stoyan Zaimov Las Vegas police identified 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, a white male, as the lone suspect in the mass shooting Sunday night on the Las Vegas Strip that led to the deaths of at least 50 people. Paddock's brother expressed shock at the massacre and said he has no idea what sparked such a rampage. The Clark County Fire Department said in a press release that another 406 injured people have been transported to area hospitals following the mass shooting, which is the deadliest in U.S. history. The suspect apparently opened fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel overlooking a country music festival, spraying bullets for several minutes before he was killed. Eric Paddock, the brother of the suspect, said in a brief interview that his family is "completely dumbfounded" by the tragedy. Read more about Stephen Paddock at The Christian Post. The work of Holy Spirit risen from WonSan spread over Pyongyang. About 20 missionaries who worked at Pyongyang decided to start the prayer and Bible meeting just as they did at WonSan, and in August 1906, invited Dr. Hardie to their meeting. They started the Bible meeting studying the First Epistle of John. They joined together for a week and tried to gain the experience of deepening their spiritual lives. Exhorting each other, they were praying that God would give revival to Pyongyang just as He did for India. However, after one week, they thought that they couldn't experience God's grace sufficiently up to their expectation. Finally, they determined to pray until they receive grace and continued to pray more than four months: Most of the missionaries determined to pray continuously, believing that God would permit the thing just as He did for the area of Kasia, India. They all agreed not to shorten but extend the prayer time. In order to do so, they altered their appointed prayer time to 4 P.M. Then was the free private prayer time until dinner. Focusing on prayer only, sometimes when a person needed to tell others for encouragement, his utterance was assimilated into praying. They continued to pray for 4 months. Not caring about their different denominational background like Methodist or Presbyterian, they only thought that all in one in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was really a union of the Churches. Such union only could come from kneeling prayer and endure long, and only such union could glorify the Most High God. (Jonathan Goforth, 1907Nein HanKugUl HwibSein SeingLyeingEi BulGil (Holy Spirit Fire swept over Korea in 1907), tr. by YongLyein Kim (Seoul: Life Line, 1977), p. 13). William Newton Blair, a Northern Presbyterian missionary and a professor at Pyongyang Presbyterian Seminary, wrote; In the prayer meeting at August, we realized that the transcendental power of Spirit Baptism could enable us and the Korean brothers to overcome the future tribulation. We felt that the Korean Church should repent not just only her sins of conflict and dissolution but also all her sins obviously. (William Newton Blair, Gold in Korea, SokHi YeiSu MiDuSiGiLeil BaRaNaEiDa (I Hope You Shall Believe in Jesus Soon), tr. by SeingTai Kim, (Seoul: Tyrannus, 1995), p. 98; And also refer to Blair, The Korean Pentecost and Other Experiences on the Mission Field (New York, 1908). Mr. Blair was thus convinced that the great revival must be need for the Korean Church, above all, for her repentance of sins and for her experience of Holy Spirit. Missionaries decided to pray that God would give abundant blessing to the winter men's Bible conference which was expected to be held at Pyongyang in 1907. In September of 1906, after the missionaries' monthly meeting was ended, the American missionary Rev. Howard Agnew Johnston dropped by Pyongyang and preached a sermon at JangDaeHyen Church. When he delivered the message about the revival in Wales, most of the missionaries and believers who were gathered were very impressed. In his sermon, Johnston asked to them; "Who will receive the Holy Spirit fully and lead the Korean Church? If there is any volunteer, raise your hand and come forward." (JinKyeng Kil, YoungGye Kil SeinJu (YoungGye SeinJu Kil) (Seoul: JongLoSeiJeik, 1980), p. 182). Then SeinJu Kil, the theology student and elder of the church, raised his hand and went forward. And Dr. Johnston prayed for him and promised that a great revival would take place in Korean Church someday. In fall of 1906, J. L. Gerdine, a missionary of the Southern Methodist Mission, who entered Korea in 1902 and worked as one of the representatives of WonSan, MokPo Revival and Pyongyang Revival in 1907 at last. He also taught as the professor at the Methodist Seminary at Seoul from 1926, led one of the services in MokPo, and as a result, there was a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When a Presbyterian missionary, J. F. Preston participated in the meetings, he described this event and its result like this; The most powerful revival meeting the writer ever participated in was recently held at MokPo..... As the Spirit through him (Mr. Gerdine) took the Word and reasoned of righteousness, and temperance, and the judgement, of the sinfulness of sin, and the necessity of cleansing, a deathlike hush fell on all, and it was as if the Word was a scalpel, cutting deep down into men's hearts laying bare secret sins and hidden cancers of the soul. Then it was that confession of sin poured out of scores of burdened souls and strong men wept like children. Then, as the yearning love of the Savior was dwelt upon, it was as a healing balm poured in. Faces shone with new life and light, and the church rang the hymns of triumph, and men stood six deep, eagerly waiting their turn to testify of blessings received, sin forgiven, differences healed, victory over self, Baptism of the Spirit..... The influence of this meeting will be felt far and wide in South Chulla. (J. F. Preston, "A Notable Meeting", The Missionary, (1907.1), p. 21). Rev. Gerdine, the main speaker of the MokPo meeting, reported that the Holy Spirit gave remarkable signs to the meeting such as the deep awareness of sin, the pentecostal-style confession, and joyful victory. This revival at last became a next step in the process to the Pyongyang Great Revival in 1907. Namely, Wonsan prayer meeting in 1904 gave birth to MokPo revival in 1906, and MokPo revival had an influence on Pyongyang revival in 1907. Likewise, the Holy Spirit was at work not only in South Chulla, but also across the length and breadth of the land. In January, 1907, the missionaries at Pyongyang began to pray with great anticipation that the large men's Bible class then in session might become a vehicle for revival. After that time, Elder SeinJu Kil was active as a main speaker in the Bible meeting of HwangHae Province in December, 1906. Eventually, Kil agreed with the missionaries that they would hold the winter conference in January, 1907. This winter conference at JangDaeHyen Church would give rise to the beginning of the Pyongyang Great Revival. Kil led the day-break prayer meeting for the conference. "The day-break prayer meeting which was initiated by Kil was permanently established as a unique characteristic of the church..... These prayer meetings became habitual gatherings in the church and continue to at the present time." (InSoo Kim, "Protestants and the Formation of Modern Korean Nationalism, 1885-1920: A Study of the Contributions of Horace Grant Underwood and SunChu Kil" (Ph. D. dissertation, Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, 1993), p. 192). He made thorough preparation for the conference; the church members were passionate for help, and, moreover, many unbelievers were greatly interested in news of the conference. Rev. Dr. Bonjour Bay (BonChul Bae) has been a professor of Historical Theology at SungKyul University, Korea since 1989. He also serves as Researcher on Spiritual Movement and as English Ministry Director. He studied at Canadian Thelogical Seminary (M. Div.) and Seoul Theological University (Th. M., Ph. D.). He wrote more than 20 books on Church History and on Pneumatology including History of Pneumatological Perspective. home World Catholic youth volunteers beaten, raped and shot while delivering earthquake aid in Mexico Members of a Catholic youth group were reportedly beaten, raped and shot while they were bringing aid to earthquake victims in south Mexico. The volunteers, who were delivering food and relief aid to communities affected by the earthquakes in Oaxaca on Tuesday morning, were intercepted by unidentified gunmen who shot up their cars. The assailants reportedly raped one of the girls, beat one of the men and shot another in the neck. The suspects took away the supplies, the youths' cellphones and approximately $2,300 collected to purchase items to donate to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Mexico City. "We are very sad. We have cried at the impotence of the situation, as much for the young people as the girl who was raped," the statement said, as reported by Catholic News Service. "We hope that both (of the injured) survive. We are still awaiting a medical report on these brave young people," it continued. Southern Mexico was hit with a deadly quake on Sept. 7, leaving nearly 100 people dead and many more homeless in Oaxaca and Chiapas states. Another quake struck near Mexico City on Sept. 19, claiming at least 337 lives. The federal government has reported that more than 150,000 homes have been damaged in both disasters, while church officials in dioceses close to the capital report massive damage to churches. Carlos ArvizA, Administrator of Papa Francisco Pro Felicitas AC, noted that this was not the first time that volunteers have been attacked. He said that other aid workers have been assaulted and claimed that the Mexican army even tried to rob volunteers from Guanajuato of their relief supplies. He said that he had to restrict some relief efforts in the interest of safety, adding that neither the federal government nor the locals had contributed efforts to provide security for volunteers. Aid being sent over land has been halted for now in light of the attack against the youth aid workers, and future volunteers have been warned about potential attacks and have been advised to stay off the highways, according to Arvizu. He further noted that his organization has had to redirect a truck filled with food from Morelia, MichoacAn, and put a hold on aid coming from San Diego, California because of the risks on the aid workers. "If the government guaranteed the safety of the volunteers, this would not have happened. They are not helping, working or carrying food, neither the president nor the governors of the states ... but the work they have to do, that of providing security to those who do help, is practically nothing," he said. home US Judge orders Pennsylvania county to remove Christian cross from its seal A federal judge has ordered the removal of the Christian cross from the official seal of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, stating it violated the Constitution. U.S. District Judge Edward G. Smith noted in his decision on Thursday that the canary yellow cross at the center of the county's seal runs contrary to court limits on government endorsement of religion. He stressed that he was unhappy about his ruling, but he was following the rule of constitutional law, including the establishment clause, which prohibits Congress from passing any laws establishing a religion. "While the court does not believe the current state of the law applicable to this case comports with the text of the Establishment Clause, the court is not in a position to reject it," Smith stated in his ruling, as reported by Fox News. "The law, as it currently stands, requires that the court rule in favor of the plaintiffs: the inclusion of the cross lacked a secular purpose both when the defendant adopted the seal and when the defendant refused to remove the cross from the seal, and a reasonable observer would perceive the seal as endorsing Christianity," he continued. The lawsuit over the county seal was filed in August 2016 by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), which promotes the separation of church and state. The group launched a campaign to have the cross removed from the county seal and flag in 2014 after four residents complained about the symbol. County officials refused to give in to the group's request, arguing that the cross should be viewed in its historical context. Temple University Beasley School of Law professor Mark Rahdert noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has found it constitutional for a government agency to use a religious symbol among a range of images for a nonreligious purpose, and it has upheld the government use of religious symbols in a historical context. The law professor, however, stressed that a symbol is not permissible when it is used for an explicitly religious purpose. Rahdert also noted that while the high court has not dealt with cases involving the depiction of a cross, it has dealt with the public display of a Christmas creche depicting the birth of Jesus and other memorials depicting the Ten Commandments. Following the ruling, the county officials must now await another court filing from FFRF that will propose a course of action for the county to follow under an order from Smith. "I'm personally not happy with the decision, but now the county, the board of commissioners will review the judge's decision and decide what the next steps are," said commissioners Chairman Marty Nothstein. The seal, which was first adopted by Lehigh County in 1944 with the Latin cross at the center, is included on county flags, buildings, letterhead and legal documents, as well as its website. The insiders guide to Frieze Week 2017 From 5-8 October, the art world's attention is trained squarely on London. Here, the city's most in-the-know curators, gallerists, specialists and critics share their tips on the citys must-see shows, and the best spots to eat and drink Leonie Moschner, director and senior specialist, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Christies London: I really look forward to Frieze Masters. It is a wonderful combination of art from across the centuries, with an incredibly civilised atmosphere which contrasts nicely with the vibrancy of Frieze across Regents Park. These two fairs, together with events such as PAD [the 20th-century art-and-design fair, 2-8 October], mean that you have the whole mix of the art world in London. Open a larger version of this image Hella Jongerius, Dragonfly coffee table on display at PAD London 2017 Sylvie Chan-Liat, Courtesy Galerie kreo Open a larger version of this image The Roman Singularity at Sir John Soane's Museum. Photo by Roberto Apa At Sir John Soanes Museum this October we have an exhibition celebrating the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of Seti I, which Soane purchased in 1825. It is also important that we have exhibitions such as The Roman Singularity [the museums current show of work by architectural designer Adam Nathaniel Furman, which examines Roman architecture in the historical imagination] because they reflect Soanes belief that his collections should inspire contemporary artists. Open a larger version of this image Piero Dorazio (1927-2005), Arc en Ciel, 1965. Oil on canvas, 180 x 140 cm. Courtesy Mazzoleni Mira Dimitrova, Managing Director, Mazzoleni, London: We are excited to be showing at Frieze Masters for the first time this year, and to present our solo Alberto Burri booth. We will also be presenting a gallery exhibition at the same time: Light in Motion: Balla, Dorazio, Zappettini, which places the work of these three major 20th-century Italian artists in dialogue. I look forward to a frantic visit to Frieze as well, and hopefully discovering a new young artist whose work challenges me. Emily Druiff, director, Peckham Platform: For the first year Peckham Platform has collaborated with the team at Frieze Projects, working with Swiss artist Marc Bauer, who has created an installation at the main entrance to Frieze. It reflects his collaboration with our Youth Platform, looking at themes of personal identity with 13- to 19-year-olds. (If you want to see their work, its on display in Peckhams Aylesham Centre.) Open a larger version of this image Everything we see could also be otherwise (My sweet little lamb), installation at The Showroom, 2017 Open a larger version of this image Pascale Marthine Tayou, Colonne Pascale and Diamondscape, showing at 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Courtesy the artist and GALLERIA CONTINU Open a larger version of this image Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, The Roses of Heliogabalus, 1888, showing at Leighton House. Perez Simon Collection Open a larger version of this image Tiger, Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Barcelona. From Can Graphic Design Save Your Life? at the Wellcome Collection. Rubio Arauna Studio, Rai Pinto Studio. Picture by Victoria Gil At Frieze and Frieze Masters, were curious to see the newly curated section by Alison Gingeras. Were also excited to see work at galleries joining the fair for the first time, such as Cape Towns Blank Projects and Londons Emalin and Union Pacific. Open a larger version of this image Bernar Venet, 17 Acute Unequal Angles, 2016, Frieze Sculpture 2017. Photo by Stephen White. Courtesy of Stephen White/Frieze Open a larger version of this image Rachel Whiteread, Untitled (One Hundred Spaces), 1995, Resin, Various dimensions. Pinault Collection Rachel Whiteread. Photo: Tate (Seraphina Neville and Andrew Dunkley). Tate Britain celebrates 25 years of Whitereads sculpture Open a larger version of this image Jasper Johns,Target, 1961. Encaustic and collage on canvas. 167.6 x 167.6 cm. The Art Institute of Chicago Jasper Johns/VAGA, New York/DACS, London. Photo: 2017. The Art Institute of Chicago/Art Resource, NY/Scala, Florence. A survey of the artists work is being held at the Royal Academy Video: PAD 2017 Preview Open a larger version of this image Tom Wesselmann, Gina's Hand, 1972-1982. Oil on canvas, 149.9 208.3 cm (59 82 in), on view at Gagosian Davies Street Open a larger version of this image Thomas Ruff, phg.07_II, 2014. C-print. 240 185 cm Thomas Ruff. A solo exhibition of Ruffs work is at the Whitechapel Gallery Peter Doigs Camp Forestia (1996) Counted among the artists finest paintings of the 1990s, this work speaks directly to the act of art-making. Alastair Sooke discusses the 1996 masterpiece created during a pivotal period in Peter Doigs practice Against an inky forest, a cabin is reflected in a lake below. Its windows are dark, as if long abandoned; the scene is deserted, save for an almost imperceptible figure in the foreground. Camp Forestia (1996), offered in the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 6 October at Christies in London, is a masterwork dating from a pivotal period in Peter Doigs practice. Studies are held in the Tate, London, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. A native of Scotland, Doig spent five years in Trinidad before moving with his family to Canada. He would remain there for the next decade, before attending art school in London. It was in the early 1990s, as Doigs star was rising on the international art scene, that his works began to evoke the lands of his youth. Camp Forestia is a fantastically strong and self-confident piece of painting, says art critic Alastair Sooke. In the 1990s, Doig is often painting scenes that evoke memories of his Canadian childhood. But the paintings aren't really records of external scenes and places, Sooke explains. Instead they articulate something internal; things that are impossible to put into words. The wild Canadian landscape snow, forests, lakes became a means by which to examine the sprawling wilderness of memory itself. I don't think my paintings are about Trinidad or Canada, Doig has said. They're about my idea of what that place is. The place is a kind of portal to possibilities in painting. The painting is what it becomes, and when I start, I dont know what that will be. That's what makes the process so fascinating. The cabin quickly became a central motif in Doig's work. That structure, to which he returned again and again in his Concrete Cabin series, could conjure nostalgia, loneliness or unease; in Doigs major early paintings, concealed homes induce an uneasy sense of trespassing on private property. I have made relatively few straight landscapes that didnt have any architecture, and I always wanted a landscape to be humanised by a person or a building, the artist explains. For Doig, the material properties of paint approximate the sensation of remembering. It makes sense, then, that his artistic approach is grounded in the plasticity of paint itself: Oil paint has a kind of melting quality, and I love the way that even when its dry its not really fixed. Doig frequently leaves his paintings dormant for long periods in his studio before returning to them later on. If you leave a painting for a year it becomes extremely dry and absorbent and the next layer of paint reacts to that situation in a very different way, he explains. My paintings are non-linguistic. They can't be boiled down and defined in language Peter Doig AUSTIN -- The Austin Police Department is reviewing security plans for the upcoming Austin City Limits Music Festival in response to the Las Vegas mass shooting, Police Chief Chief Brian Manley said Monday. "This a plan has been months in the making, and it's a plan similar to one we have used in the past, however, we can't come in the day after an event like we just saw happen in Las Vegas and not reconsider our plans and make sure that we are comfortable that we have addressed every threat possible," Manley said during a press conference. "As a police department, it is important that we pay attention to all the threats, and what we saw happen last night into this morning was something new that we haven't seen before," Manley said. Late Sunday, a gunman opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 at the Route 91 Harvest music festival from the 32nd floor of a hotel near the Las Vegas Strip, killing 58 and wounding more than 500. ACL is a two-weekend music festival in Austin that draws thousands of people from across Texas. The music festival is held annually in Zilker Park, overlooked by the skyscrapers of downtown Austin. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement there was "no information to indicate a specific credible threat involving other public venues in the country." Manley also said APD has been monitoring the internet for threats against ACL and has found none. The Austin Police Department is anticipating state and federal assistance with policing ACL both weekends, Manley said. "We have reached out to our partners at federal and state, and I know at the federal level we will have some participation," Manley said during the press conference. "I just spoke to DPS minutes ago, and they too are volunteering resources to bring in this weekend as well as next weekend to assist with overall security ... I want to emphasize that it is important people come out and enjoy this event, and we will make this event as safe as possible partnering with other agencies." Two bands that performed at the Vegas festival, Brothers of Osborne and Midland, will also be at ACL. Both bands performed in Las Vegas on Friday, and Brothers of Osborne will be performing both weekends of the festival in Austin, Oct. 8 and 15. Midland will be in Austin for the second weekend of the festival, on Oct. 15. Neither band has announced any changes to upcoming tour dates. Eagles of Death Metal, the band performing in the Bataclan Theatre at the time of the 2015 Paris attacks that left 130 dead across the city, is also slated to play at ACL on Friday, Oct. 13. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate After taking a long, hard look at President Donald Trump's tax overhaul, I'm left with more questions than answers. The framework outlined by the president and his staff offers up a dozen smart proposals to reform a profoundly broken and unfair tax code. We need fewer brackets, shorter forms and a simpler law. We need a tax code that doesn't encourage the employment of an army of accountants and lawyers to search out every possible loophole or unearth anachronistic deductions and exemptions. Corporations shouldn't suffer because they can't afford high-dollar campaign donations and lobbyists. Most importantly, we need a system that collects enough revenue to cover the government's expenses and pay down the national debt while encouraging economic growth. RELATED: Republican tax cut would benefit wealthy, corporations most, report finds Trump promised that kind of system during his campaign, and that's what he claimed to propose last week. Unfortunately, no fair-minded analyst can reach any conclusion because he didn't provide enough details about how he's paying for it. The national debt recently topped $20 trillion, and if the federal government continues on this trajectory, it will add another $10 trillion over the next decade. That's not fiscally sustainable. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that Trump's framework would cut $5.8 trillion in taxes but broaden the tax base to add $3.6 billion in revenue from new sources. Trump's plan would increase the deficit by another $2.2 trillion over the next 10 years. Maybe. "These numbers come with a high degree of uncertainty and exclude a number of potential offsets where no details exit," the committee's analysis said. "But it is clear that much more work needs to be done to ensure tax reform is fiscally responsible." Equally unclear is exactly who will see a tax cut, and who gets a tax increase. RELATED: Senate unveils budget blueprint allowing $1.5 trillion in tax cuts Gary Cohn, the chief White House economic adviser, told ABC News last week that when it comes to middle-class families, "I can't guarantee anything. You can always find a unique family somewhere." The uncertainty comes from Trump shuffling the deck with unclear consequences. The standard deduction doubles, but some itemized deductions go away. The corporate tax rate goes down, but so do some business deductions. The estate tax goes away, but deductions for the blind and elderly do too. More fundamentally, we don't have any details about new tax brackets, or whether Trump's proposal would make the rich richer or the poor richer. Trump's plan is intentionally vague, with the expectation that Congress will work out the details. But a proposal to eliminate the deduction for state and local taxes appears dead on arrival, with Republicans and Democrats opposing it. The fights are only beginning. Americans will need to follow the debate very closely over the next few months and rely on reputable sources of information. Partisans on both sides are already producing propaganda like Russian agents during a presidential election. Even Trump's own promises are unsupported. RELATED: With tax cuts on the table, once-mighty deficit hawks hardly chirp For example, tax cuts can stimulate the economy, but only if government spending remains constant. If the tax cuts are offset by an equal reduction in government spending, then the two cancel each other out. There is also no evidence, historical or mathematical, that supports the claim that tax cuts generate an equal amount of tax revenue by increasing economic activity. While this is established conservative dogma, even conservative economists at the University of Chicago reject the "pay for themselves" theory of tax cuts as magical thinking. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback slashed tax rates in 2012, and the state went from a budget surplus to a $280 million deficit. The tax cuts did not boost economic growth or job creation; Kansas under-performed neighboring states that didn't cut taxes in both categories. Five years later, the Kansas legislature was forced to raise taxes again. Brownback's experiment is worthy of careful study as Republicans in Congress make overly optimistic predictions about economic growth to avoid dealing with the national debt. The Washington swamp monsters also are striking back. The previously mentioned army of accountants, tax attorneys and corporate lobbyists will do its best to complicate Trump's simple framework by insisting on special exemptions, deductions and carve-outs. Whether the Republican majority will allow Democrats to participate in shaping the tax code by holding public hearings and allowing amendments also will determine the tax overhaul's future. Once-in-a-generation policy changes require bipartisan support to pass and persist. The framework we see today will undergo profound changes, and it's too early to praise or condemn the plan. But every American needs to stay informed and let their lawmakers know what is acceptable in the final version, or perhaps more importantly, what is not. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Federal officials hit the University of St. Thomas with $172,000 in fines last week after an investigation found that it underreported campus crimes including sexual assault and robbery and didn't publish key safety policies in a centralized document required by federal law. The U.S. Department of Education concluded that St. Thomas violated the Clery Act, which requires universities to publish an annual document outlining its safety policies, crime notification systems and a list of crimes committed on campus over the last three years. That document is called an annual security report. Now Playing: Baylor University has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit with a former student who accused the nation's largest Baptist school of fostering a ''hunting ground for sexual predators'' and mishandling her alleged attack in 2015. Video: JW Player St. Thomas's "students and employees were denied important safety information about how to prevent crime; where to report incidents; their rights after an alleged sex offense has occurred; and information about the school's missing student notification procedures," an Education Department letter to President Richard Ludwick said. "Students and employees cannot benefit from policies and procedures that have not been provided to them." St. Thomas spokeswoman Sandra Soliz said Ludwick as of Monday had not thoroughly reviewed the report, which was dated Sept. 27. Ludwick sent the report to Vice President Gary McCormack for review, Soliz said. He is scheduled to meet with an administrator who oversees security on Wednesday, when she returns from a wedding. Ludwick will meet with McCormack to discuss the letter on Thursday, she said. The university has until Oct. 20 to appeal the fine through a request for a hearing or a written outline of why the fine should not be imposed, according to the letter. Soliz had no immediate comment on whether St. Thomas will do so. The letter describing St. Thomas's "very serious and numerous" violations was from Susan Crim, who directs the federal administrative actions and appeals service group of the Education Department's federal student aid and enforcement unit. It said that the investigation began after several complaints that the university violated the Clery Act by not including sexual assault prevention and response procedures and not properly disclosing reported crimes. Complainants then also said that St. Thomas did not issue its 2012 annual security report by the federally required Oct. 1 deadline. Soliz said in an email that the university's last reporting cycles have been timely. As part of their investigation, federal officials reviewed samples of St. Thomas's incident reports, arrest records and student and employee discipline documents from 2008 through 2015, the letter said. Nearly $100,000 of the fines came because St. Thomas did not properly report 2012 and 2013 crime -- including sexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery and motor vehicle theft -- in a 2015 annual security report and in data provided to the Education Department. Eleven crimes in total were omitted. Other fines came because St. Thomas did not include eight required policy statements in its 2012, 2014 and 2015 annual security reports and because the university did not include the St. Mary's Seminary Campus as part of its grounds, which was required. In 2015, the university did not include in its annual security report any outline of policy regarding disciplinary action in cases of alleged dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, the Education Department said. That disclosure must describe a range of possible sanctions and a list of protective measures. Complying with the Clery Act is crucial because current and prospective students and employees should know how to make important personal safety decisions and understand their rights and obligations, the Education Department wrote in its letter. St. Thomas is one of 10 universities fined this year for Clery Act violations. It is the first Texas university since at least 2015 to be fined under the law. Baylor University acknowledged in April that the Education Department is reviewing its annual safety reports. "Baylor has extended our full cooperation with this DOE review, as it provides another opportunity to demonstrate the significant enhancements that have been made within the Baylor University Police Department and the Department of Public Safety for the benefit of our students, faculty, staff and guests, as well as in the administration of the Clery Act," the university said in a statement at the time. The Clery Act is named after Jeanne Clery, a student who was raped and murdered in April 1986. Lindsay Ellis writes about higher education for the Chronicle. You can follow her on Twitter and send her tips at lindsay.ellis@chron.com. Lawyers wrangled for two years before a Harris County state district judge 10 days ago rejected a lawsuit challenging the state's so-called futile-care law. Now, the lawyers are arguing about his reason. The lawyers had told Judge Bill Burke they would draft an order for him to sign summarizing his ruling in the case involving a Pasadena woman whose 46-year-old, cancer-stricken son died, still receiving treatment, at Houston Methodist Hospital in 2015. Doctors there had invoked the 18-year-old law, which allows them to withdraw care in terminal cases they deem futile. Burke, a Republican, heard the arguments, then ruled that the suit was moot and the law constitutional. Unable to reach agreement on what Burke ruled, the lawyers last week submitted separate orders, both framed to make the appeal process more favorable to their side. Methodist's submission says Burke ruled the law was moot in this particular case; the plaintiffs say he ruled the law was unconstitutional. (Plaintiff's lawyer Joe Nixon had argued in the hearing that the law is unconstitutional because it denies patients "due process." Methodist's lawyers had asked the judge to dismiss the suit as moot because the patient is no longer alive.) Through Friday, Burke had not responded to either submission. The case drew national attention, the first real legal challenge to a statute considered a model by much of the medical community and an affront by some patients and guardians. The plaintiff plans to appeal the ruling, Nixon confirmed last week. You can read the Chronicle account of the hearing here and a set-up story here. Below is material Burke's comments made for a lively hearing -- that space constraints kept out of the original hearing coverage. -- When the opposing lawyers quibbled over who got to lay out arguments to open the proceedings, Burke called it a "juvenile start" and said tartly "it makes no difference who goes first." -- Burke interrupted Nixon to say, "No, no, no," when the lawyer suggested doctors terminate a patient's life when they invoke the law. Burke said the doctor "doesn't terminate the patient's life, he withdraws life-sustaining treatment." The judge said to keep in mind that "life is a fatal illness. We're all headed there." When Nixon suggested doctors in some cases deem a life not worth living, Burke called the statement "histrionic" and said, "no one says that; they say I can't help you." -- Later in the hearing, when Texas Assistant Attorney General Austin Nimocks also referred to doctors terminating life, Burke fired back for "y'all to stop this, what's the phrase, waving the red flag or throwing red meat to your base with language about terminating someone's life. That's not what's happening." -- Burke posed a hypothetical of whether such patients should get a jury trial before doctors can discontinue life support, calling the notion "ludicrous." Nimocks responded, "I don't deny that's a possibility. Subjecting medical decision to a jury is nothing new. We do that all the time in medical malpractice cases." -- The judge told Nimocks. "I can't tell you how bizarre this sounds from somebody whose party has spent the last 10 or years trying to protect doctors. Now, you're telling me the doctor has to have some sort of undefined proceeding before he makes a medical decision. This is bass-ackwards from the whole thrust of what's come out of Texas state government over the past 10 years." -- Nixon argued that the case represented an exception to mootness, citing as a precedent Roe v. Wade, the abortion case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court long after the plaintiff had given birth. Burke never responded directly to the argument, but said a patient who recovered after doctors invoked the law would make a good plaintiff. Lorenzo Simonelli, president and CEO of General Electric-controlled Baker Hughes, also was named chairman on Monday. The move comes after retired General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt on Monday left the GE and Baker Hughes boards. Immelt had planned to remain chairman of Baker Hughes and the larger GE through the end of the year. Simonelli took over as Baker Hughes CEO in July after the merger of Baker Hughes and GE's oil and gas division was complete. GE owns more than 60 percent of Baker Hughes, which is traded under the "BHGE" stock ticker. Former Baker Hughes Chairman and CEO Martin Craighead remains the vice chairman of the merged company. RELATED: Baker Hughes CEO knows wine, seeks to blend two companies Simonelli, who previously led GE Oil & Gas, said he's honored to take on the additional role. Simonelli is a native of Italy who was largely raised in London and has relocated to Houston. "We are making the right moves to compete in the down cycle and position the company for long-term value creation," he said. "I look forward to serving the board, the company and shareholders." Simonelli was a finalist for the overall GE CEO role that ultimately went to Flannery. "BHGE is a valued and strategic energy business and an important part of the GE portfolio," Flannery said. "With Lorenzo's new chairmanship, the strong GE representation and the experience of the legacy Baker Hughes Inc. board members, the board leadership is in good hands." M&G, a financially struggling plastics plant under construction in Corpus Christi, will shut down and eliminate jobs unless the Italian parent company receives an influx of funding and liquidity. The more-than-$1 billion jumbo plastics plant, owned by Italy's Mossi & Ghisolfi Group, will close within two months, cutting about 100 jobs in the process, unless something changes, M&G informed the Texas Workforce Commission. The warning comes a couple of weeks after construction contractor Fluor, of Irving, said it was cutting 275 jobs at the construction site and pulling out because of M&G's inaction and financial woes. Also, M&G announced last week it may close its West Virginia chemicals plant. M&G spokesman Terry Tyzack confirmed the problems in an email response Monday to questions about the Corpus Christi project. "M&G Chemicals is facing financial difficulties and is working closely with its lenders to address the situation," Tyzack stated. "However, these circumstances require the company to reduce its operating costs and plant construction activity." He emphasized that the project isn't dead yet. "No decision has been made to permanently shutdown operations or construction at this time," Tyzack added. RELATED: Fluor cutting nearly 275 Corpus Christi jobs on Jumbo plastics project Several contractors or subcontractors have sued, alleging they haven't been paid -- in some cases since 2015. The project was scheduled to be completed last year. Alpek, a Mexico-based chemicals supplier, has halted deliveries to M&G plants and expressed skepticism about the continued viability of the Corpus Christi project. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Three years after a restoration project gave it new life, the San Jacinto Professional Building at 127 N. San Jacinto St., in Cleveland, received a historical marker from the Liberty County Historical Commission, honoring the building's history as the former home of First National Bank of Cleveland. The unveiling ceremony on Sept. 28 was led by Linda Jamison, LCHC chair, and Sherry Cook, who co-owns the building with her daughter, Lori Cook Smith. Various dignitaries, including Cleveland city council members and State Rep. Ernest Bailes, were on hand for the ceremony. The 100 or so people in attendance were reminded of the history of the building by Sherry Cook. The bank was chartered in 1912, making it the oldest bank in Liberty County. The building's addition and remodeling in 1931 was designed by architect Alfred C. Finn of Houston. In later years, the building was the home of Trinity Valley Savings and Loan, Diamond Mine Jewelry Store, Rags to Riches Resale, Second Chance Resale and the First Fundamental Baptist Church. The Cooks, when remodeling the building in 2013-14, opted to leave certain aspects of the building intact. The bank's original sign and vault remain. The exterior stairs were relocated to a grand staircase in the main foyer, crafted to blend into the original design. All of the work was performed by Cook Construction. At the unveiling ceremony, three guests, in particular, were happy to see the building's history being recognized. Dick Rhoden and Ann Blythe Major were former bank employees while 97-year-old Art Watson is believed to be among the oldest living customers of the bank. Watson, a World War II veteran, grew up in Cleveland before leaving in 1942, only to return in 2004. "I got my first bank loan here in 1932," Watson said. The San Jacinto Professional Building is now home to local attorneys, dental offices and other professional services. The building also has a conference center that can be rented. For more information, call 281-593-5802. Houstonians gathered at the Hobby Event Center for the Houston Biker Fest on Sunday, October 1 to celebrate all things motorcycle. "The Houston Biker Fest is a festival that was created to promote unity, diversity and to preserve the tradition and the lifestyle of riding for future generations like no other bike festival," the Facebook event says. Since it opened on Voss last November, Killen's STQ has been in the enviable position of being a tad too popular for its own good. The 60-seat restaurant (68 if you count the bar) is almost always completely booked with diners eager to sup on Ronnie Killen's lusty merger of his steakhouse and barbecue passions. And since it was open only for dinner, STQ raised the stakes on a reservation score. Later this week, however, the opportunity to get in its doors increases when STQ begins its first lunch service. Starting Oct. 5 the restaurant will be open Thursday through Saturday for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The dining room will reopen at 4 p.m. when weekday happy hour service begins. STQ lunch was, perhaps, an inevitability. "STQ has been an exclusive ticket for the past year," said Graham Laborde, director of operations for Killen's Restaurants. "Opening for lunch not only allows more diners to experience the restaurant, but also allows us the opportunity to offer menu items we have wanted to try for a long time that did not necessarily work well for dinner." While there are some menu items shared between lunch and dinner menus (including short rib tamale, smoked pork belly, a few steaks, sides, and desserts), the lunch document is invested with new additions to the Killen's vocabulary as defined by STQ chef de cuisine Teddy Lopez working with Laborde. Why not share a plate of smoked pork ribs that have been tempura fried and garnished with house pickles and Carolina mustard? Or burnished chicken wings that have been jerk seasoned then smoked? Lopez' clever vegetarian take on queso flameado is sure to get some good buzz: a hot skillet of Oaxacan cheese wearing a tangle of mushrooms and vegetables and a drizzle of chorizo spice oil (no pork fat involved). Salad options are a welcome respite from the familiar Cobb/Caesar/wedge lineup. Here there's a bulgogi beef salad, as well as a spicy tuna Nicoise. And a spicy tandoori chicken (smoked and grilled) salad festooned with barbecue-spiced chickpeas and roasted cauliflower. Anyone for hot shrimp Bloody Mary salad with pickled green beans and a schmear of ranch-style ricotta? The sandwich department boasts short rib grilled cheese, a new STQ burger (topped with French onion soup onions and gruyere), and an open face speck and honey sandwich. Yes there's a chicken-fried ribeye, and steakhouse indulgences such as filet mignon, ribeye, and double-cut pork chop. Don't think of the lunch menu as STQ dinner "lite." Or as a Killen's rogue agent. No, it's all within the STQ wheelhouse. Laborde prefers to think of it this way: "The B-side of our dinner album." Houston is ready to give it a play. Killen's STQ, 2231 S. Voss, will be open for lunch Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. beginning Oct. 5. Dinner is serve Monday through Friday from 4 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. Happy hour specials are available from 4 to 6 p.m. daily. There is something exciting, audacious even, about opening a fine dining establishment at a time when the Houston restaurant industry continues to right itself after Hurricane Harvey. But the arrival of the upscale Lucienne in the posh Hotel Alessandra, the new, 223-room luxury property that quietly opened over the weekend at 1070 Dallas in downtown's GreenStreet development represents something of a culinary stimulus. Lucienne signals that Houston may want need, even another high-end place to eat, drink, and party. And the Alessandra, which had hoped to open before the Super Bowl, wants to be that destination. Set to begin serving dinner this week, the 64-seat Lucienne is helmed by chef Jose Hernandez, who led the kitchen at Radio Milano, the restaurant at Hotel Sorella at CityCentre, which also is owned by the Alessandra's parent, Valencia Group (which operates the hotel that Houston-based Midway developed). His dinner menu is shot through with not-often-seen indulgences: blinis with gravlax, escargot, frogs legs, foie gras with veal demi-glace and Calvados, lobster with fennel bread pudding, and squab au vin with mushroom duxelles. "We don't want to call it fancy. That's not my idea. People hear 'fancy' and they think of [small] portions," Hernandez said. "What we're trying to create is something unique." And in a fancy sort of way, it is. Lucienne's dinner service offers two different tasting menus: four courses for $55 and six courses for $75. While breakfast and lunch are a la carte, Lucienne's dinner menu is something of a rarity in Houston where tasting menus are hardly prevalent. And even so, Hernandez's tasting menu doesn't follow a traditionally rigid presentation of courses. At Lucienne, Hernandez offers choices for each course, allowing dinners to customize their meal. Those options include veal consomme; cauliflower crepe souffle; egg with white Alba truffle shavings and toast "soldiers"; tuna with sea beans and fennel; frog legs with chickpea and chorizo; butternut squash risotto with comte cheese and a soft egg; lamb tartarte with quail egg and country bread; Black Hill Ranch pork belly with fermented cabbage; scallops with mushroom casserole; red snapper salad Nicoise; halibut with tomato and zucchini; lamb with endive, dates and parsley sauce; and ribeye steak with bone marrow, foie gras fat potatoes, and sauce bordelaise. Hernandez's lunch menu is full of equally accomplished dishes: Yellowfin tuna salad Nicoise, crudite salad with truffle oil, lamb tartare, scallop carpaccio, tuna tartare, gravlax, Maine lobster roll, steak frites, beef Bourguignon, Black Hill Ranch pork chop, salmon with mixed farmers vegetables, line caught red snapper, and chicken paillard. It's been nearly two years since Valencia announced that Hernandez would oversee dining at Alessandra. And with delays in the project, Hernandez said he is more than ready to get cooking for guests. "I've been waiting for two years for this," he said. "I'm really excited. I'm ready." Lucienne is on the second floor behind the hotel's guest reception area. Featuring a "rib cage" ceiling, the natural light-filled room offers banquette and table seating in a room of cream, gray, pale sage green and pops of emerald. A separate bar, Bardot, is an airy space with plush seating, a proper bar, and its own cocktail list and a separate food menu. Before joining Valencia Group, Hernandez was executive chef at La Balance Cuisine in Cinco Ranch. Before that he was chef de cuisine at Triniti, and part of the pre-opening team of Philippe Restaurant + Lounge, and had worked with Philippe Schmit at Bistro Moderne. He also worked with chef Scott Tycer as corporate pastry chef. Houston police are searching for a man suspected in three smoke shop robberies that occurred in August and September. In the first robbery on Aug. 25, the suspect was caught on video entering the Smoke N Toke at 10875 Katy Freeway. An employee of the store said the suspect pointed a gun at him and said "Give me all the money and whatever you have," according to an HPD report. POLICE: Robber shoots accomplice during tussle in southeast Houston The suspect took the cash from the register, then escorted the employee to a back office and took more cash, then made the employee lie face down on the floor. The employee reported that the suspect also robbed a store customer, taking the person's cell phone and wallet. That victim left the store before police arrived. The man responsible for this robbery is also a suspect in a Sept. 18 robbery of the Mr. Smoke Shop at 1726 S. Dairy Ashford and again at the Smoke N Toke on Sept. 22. The suspect is described as a black man 30 to 31 years old, 6 feet tall, 190 to 200 pounds with black hair. Anyone with information on the three robberies is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. As chief financial officer of Houston ISD for 11 years, Melinda Garrett helped pilot the state's largest school district through one of its most tumultuous times, an era marked by budget cuts, bond votes, teacher layoffs and administrative upheaval. Through it all, Garrett earned accolades from all corners. Her deep knowledge of the school finances, no-nonsense attitude and well-timed warmth ensured HISD's money was well managed and students had a stable learning environment. "The respect for her was universal," said Rosalind Young, the district's chief of staff from 2001 to 2007. "She could see the humor in things, and she made people comfortable, but you always knew she meant business." Garrett, whose 30-year career with Houston ISD began as a kindergarten teacher and ended with a decade-long run as CFO under three superintendents, died Saturday after a two-day hospitalization, her sister Martha VanDenBossche said. She was 65. The cause of death was not immediately known, VanDenBossche said. Garrett helmed the district's finances through the turbulent 2000s, when cutbacks in state funding and the national economic downturn put public school spending under the knife. She ushered principals and administrators through the early days of decentralization, which gave school leaders more authority over how to spend money at their individual campuses. And she was influential in getting massive school bonds passed in 2002, 2007 and 2012, which financed $3.5 billion worth of construction and capital projects across the district. For her work, the Council of Great City Schools, a coalition of 68 large urban districts, honored Garrett in 2010 with the Bill Wise Award, given annually to one school-finance administrator. The next year, Garrett's department earned the council's Award for Excellence in Financial Management, an honor bestowed on five districts since its inception in 2008. More Information A visitation is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, with funeral services at 11 a.m. Saturday. Both will be held at Earthman Bellaire Funeral Home. See More Collapse Former HISD superintendent Kaye Stripling, who in 2001 promoted Garrett from controller to CFO, said her former colleague knew Texas school finance inside-and-out. "I think she knew the culture of the district," Stripling said. "Melinda understood that in order for people to be successful, they had to work together as a team, and she was definitely a team player." Garrett graduated from Bellaire High School in 1970, earned a degree from Texas Woman's University and returned to teach kindergarten in HISD in 1976. She left two years later to get a master's degree in accounting, spent several years in the private sector, then again came back to HISD as controller. She held the position for 15 years before her promotion to CFO. As administrations changed, Garrett remained. When Stripling retired in 2004, Garrett stayed to work under Abelardo Saavedra. When Saavedra left in 2009, Garrett served as interim superintendent for two weeks during the transition to Terry Grier. When Garrett retired, Grier said "no single person has contributed more" to HISD's reputation for managing taxpayer money with an eye on what's best for children. Stripling said she believes Garrett's two years as a teacher helped her understand the impact of daily financial decisions. "She realized how important it was for us to do our job, so the teachers could impact the students and give them a good education," Stripling said. Garrett devoted much of her free time to her five nieces and nephews, and later to their 11 children. Her house on Lake Livingston became a frequent gathering point for friends and family. "She was such a workaholic, but from the day she left HISD, she was just enjoying going on vacations and being with family," VanDenBossche said. "She was just generous beyond means." Garrett is survived by her husband, Richard. A visitation is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, with funeral services at 11 a.m. Saturday. Both will be held at Earthman Bellaire Funeral Home. A suspected increase in labor and sex trafficking on the heels of Hurricane Harvey has prompted city officials and advocates to launch an awareness campaign to attempt to protect vulnerable Houstonians. The city's campaign for trafficking prevention will include billboards, social media outreach and an executive order, according to the mayor's office. Signs that read, "As the water recedes, labor trafficking may rise," have been installed in taxi cabs, and billboards with similar slogans are expected to go up Monday. "As long as you're displaced, anyone who can offer to take care of your basic needs can potentially take advantage of you," said Minal Patel Davis, the special adviser to the mayor on human trafficking. "As long as we're rebuilding, there is potential for labor trafficking." Research shows that both sex and labor trafficking rise after natural disasters, according to Mayor Sylvester Turner's office. Traffickers try to lure their victims with offers of food and housing and then make them pay by stripping, prostitution or manual labor. Immediately following the storm, a team provided "cot notes" with details of what potential traffickers might say to residents sheltered at the George R. Brown Convention Center and the NRG Center. Labor trafficking can be more difficult to identify following a natural disaster, Davis said. Residents should watch for signs of force, fraud and coercion, which define all forms of trafficking. Typical red flags include job offers that provide housing and transportation, but those also have an accepted place in post-Harvey Houston, she said. "A job offer right now may come with housing and transportation because you're bringing in people from outside of our city to help rebuild," Davis said. "That's what complicates it." The mayor's office has been working on an executive order to ensure safe labor practices in Houston for the past year, Davis said, but they sped up the process to finalize it in response to Harvey. Turner is expected to sign the order in a few days. Davis said the order should help ensure that companies contracted by the city follow proper recruitment and labor practices. "A lot of times, it's just about awareness," Davis said. "What we are using is our opportunity to educate the contractors." The mayor's office also has plans to give money and support so that anti-trafficking organizations can hire people to enhance outreach. The city will distribute "Harvey cards," with trafficking information and the hotline tip number in 11 languages with the help of groups like Fe y Justicia, The Landing, Children at Risk and United Against Human Trafficking. Advocates pointed to a spike in online sex ads on backpage.com immediately after Harvey as an indication that sex trafficking is on the rise. The number of sex ads more than doubled from its average of about 150 - reaching 350 in its highest day post-Harvey. "We responded by using decoy deterrent ads on backpage.com to increase awareness of the consequences of purchasing sex to potential buyers on the website," Children at Risk Staff Attorney Emily Freeborn said. The nonprofit plans to continue monitoring the site but said ads numbers started decreasing in mid-September. Ammonia from Ascend Performance Materials LLC leaked Thursday in a rural area of Brazoria County, the company announced Sunday. The leak was northeast of the intersection of County Road 232 and County Road 226 in the county. Ascend asked residents of three farmhouses to evacuate, the company told the Associated Press. Ascend, which has facilities in Alvin, about 20 miles from the leak, said it is working to repair the supply line that leaked Thursday. The ammonia flow has been turned off. There are no reported injuries, spokeswoman Alison Jahn wrote in an email, and a "full investigation" is ongoing. The leak is near the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge. She did not respond to questions on the leak's cause, when it was reported to local officials, how many people had to evacuate or the time frame of a potential fix. The Brazoria County fire marshal's dispatch referred all questions to Jahn. "These questions will all be answered in due course after the repairs and the investigation are complete," Jahn wrote in an email. Company officials warned in a press release that the smell of ammonia may be detectable but that air quality is being monitored. The Houston-based company makes plastics, fibers and chemicals. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has inspected Ascend facilities in Texas after complaints four times. In 2014, the agency found that Ascend did not manage hydrogen cyanide, a highly hazardous chemical, safely. The state has cited the company for violations to the Safe Drinking Water Act in recent years, including breaking rules on public notice, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Matt Dempsey contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The 27-year-old Houston man accused of decapitating his mother Friday was already out on bail for allegedly punching the 76-year-old in the face earlier this year, court records show. Kyriakos Savvas Georghiou was charged with murder and aggravated assault following the west Houston knife attack that left his mother dead and his father wounded in the hospital. The son allegedly stabbed his parents inside their 12300 Westella home sometime around 5:20 p.m. His father, Costas Georghiou, narrowly escaped by running to the neighbors for help. BACKGROUND: Man reportedly stabs mother to death, critically injures father in west Houston By the time patrol officers rushed to the home in response to an assault call, they found paramedics treating the elderly man for multiple stab wounds. He was rushed to the hospital and taken to intensive care. Meanwhile, the suspected assailant exited the home with two knives and quietly surrendered, police said Monday. But once officers were finally able to get inside the house, they found the body of Jane Georghiou. The woman's head was "completely separated from her body," according to court records. Kyriakos Georghiou "didn't say a whole lot" as was taken into custody, Assistant Houston Police Department Chief Wendy Baimbridge told reporters. He is currently being held in the county jail without bail, according to online records. He did not appear to have an attorney as of Monday morning. The accused killer has a long arrest record in Harris County, including drug and robbery charges, one of which netted a three-year prison sentence in 2008. Then in 2014, Georghiou was arrested for injury to elderly after he punched his mother in the face and broke two of her teeth. "I beat your mother's a** and I'm going to jail," he said at the time, according to charging documents. Afterward, Georghiou took a plea bargain including three years of prison time, to run concurrently with another sentence. But then earlier this year, he was arrested again - for exactly the same thing. His mother was sitting in the passenger seat of her son's car in early April when he allegedly reached over and punched her in the mouth, knocking out a tooth, she later told police. Georghiou's sister told responding officers that her brother didn't have any mental health problems and had previously assaulted his mother - but the elderly woman hadn't called police because she didn't want her son arrested. After police collared Georghiou last spring, he was released on $10,000 bail in September and banned from contact with his mother. He was still out on bail when police say he killed her. Following the latest attack, his father requested an emergency protective order, court documents show. Georghiou is due back in Harris County court Thursday. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The woman seen in Snapchat videos shooting from a moving car in Houston has been arrested. Sierra V. Tarbutton, 27, was taken into custody Monday morning by the Harris County Sherriff's department, the Houston Police Department (HPD) tweeted. The other person in the videos was 29-year-old Michael Anthony Cuellar, who remains at large, HPD added. Tarbutton and Cuellar could be seen smiling in the short videos as they fired about 14 rounds into a neighborhood near the 15800 block of Memorial Drive. The two were identified after police compared the videos to other social media platforms and law enforcement search engines, according to the charging documents at the Harris County District Clerk's office. WE SPOKE WITH WHO POSTED THE VIDEOS: Unbelievable videos show man, woman shooting guns from a moving car in Houston Now Playing: One has past with drugs, the other has threatened an officer's daughters, documents show Video: Houston Chronicle Both of them have had run-ins with the law in the past. Cuellar, a local rapper who goes by the name "Money Mike," is a known drug dealer, according to court documents. Tarbutton, who has a retaliation against a public servant on her record, previously threatened the life of a police officer's daughters stating, "those are two cute little girls, those are going to be two cute little tombstones," according to court documents. She also reportedly stated she knows cartel members. These threats were made on Aug. 18, 2015, at 1:55 a.m. after police responded to a car accident call at 3300 West Sam Houston Parkway northbound, the police told Chron.com Monday afternoon. Tarbutton was driving the car involved in the accident and was transported to 61 Riesner St. where she made the threatening remarks. Cuellar is wanted on a charge of felony criminal mischief and felony deadly conduct. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is encouraged to call Houston Police Department at 713-884-3131 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477. A deeper look into the family history of Stephen Paddock, the 64-year-old gunman who police believe murdered at least 59 people on the Las Vegas Strip before killing himself, reveals the alleged shooter may share some disturbing similarities with his father. Benjamin Hoskins Paddock of Wisconsin was a convicted bank robber pursued by the FBI in 1968 after escaping from federal prison in La Tuna, Texas, near El Paso. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The man police said killed at least 50 and injured 400 people at a concert in Las Vegas Sunday night previously lived in Texas, public records obtained by mySA.com show. Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, moved from place to place, including parts of Texas, California and Nevada, according to public records. In Texas, Paddock is registered as living in Mesquite, just outside of Dallas, and working in Houston. Mesquite Police said Paddock lived there from 2004 to 2012. Lt. Brian Parish says property records show Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, indicated he lived there during the period but that public records suggested he may have lived in the suburb longer. Parrish said Monday that Paddock owned at least three rental properties. Parrish also says Mesquite police have found no indications that officers had contact with Paddock. UPDATED: At least 50 killed as gunman opens fire at Las Vegas concert He worked as a manager for Central Park Apartments in Mesquite and Houston, records show. Paddock's Texas identification card was issued to him in October 2007, according to records. Now Playing: 59 dead, 400+ hospitalized in attack at Vegas music fest Video: San Antonio Express-News At least 27 addresses were found belonging to Paddock in public records, and at one point he moved to Mesquite, Nevada. Nevada police have said Parrish was most recently living in that state's city of Mesquite near the state line with Arizona. Paddock opened fire on thousands of concertgoers in Las Vegas Sunday night from the 32nd floor of a casino. It is the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. SWAT officers found Paddock had killed himself upon entering his hotel room. Staff writer Guillermo Contreras and staff researcher Misty Harris, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. kbradshaw@express-news.net | Twitter: @kbrad5 The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p. 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. All-Conference WEC teams The All-Conference teams for the War Eagle Conference have been announced with multiple MMCRU and South OBrien volleyball players making... Crane signs off, for now I miss my ol' buddy, sportscaster Keith Crane on the sidelines. I miss his friendly smile, his dedication to his... iStock/Thinkstock(LAS VEGAS) -- After gunfire broke out late Sunday night during the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, concertgoer Adam Payne carried his wounded friend to safety. Payne said he and his girlfriend were able to flee unharmed after a gunman opened fire from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing at least 50 people. Payne's friend, who was shot in the stomach, is now in stable condition after doctors removed the bullet. "When we turned around, we started running out toward the exit and I just happened to glance down at the right time and [my friend] was kind of laying on his back," Payne told "Good Morning America." "I stopped to help him and told my girlfriend to keep on going, get out." He added, "We just got really lucky...we were some of the last people out." Payne said he was watching country music artist Jason Aldean perform when the gunfire rung out. He then carried his injured friend away from the scene until paramedics arrived. "The initial string of gunfire sounded like a small chain of fireworks, like firecrackers," Payne said. "By the time the second string hit, it got a little bit louder, a little bit deeper and everybody started turning around, running around. The performer even ran off stage, him and his band." He continued, "Everything hit the fan. You realize it was not just fireworks." ABC's Karma Allen contributed to this report. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. AKRON, Ohio - An Akron man was sentenced Monday to 13 years in prison for fatally shooting his wife during an argument, prosecutors said. Donald Alexander, 52, previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a gun specification in the Feb. 24 shooting death of Shannon Meyer. Alexander shot his 37-year-old wife at the house they shared on 14th Street Southwest near West Wilbeth Road, prosecutors said. Meyer was found dead shortly after 5:30 a.m. with a gunshot wound to her head, police said. Judge Joy Malek-Oldfield sentenced Alexander in Summit County Common Pleas Court. Alexander faced a maximum of 14 years in prison, according to Ohio sentencing guidelines. Alexander was originally charged with murder and felonious assault in the shooting, but he reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to the lesser offense. Alexander's criminal history also includes a 1998 conviction for domestic violence, court records show. If you'd like to comment on this story, visit Monday's crime and courts comments section. AKRON, Ohio - "What can we do to create a stronger community?" That's the question On the Table Greater Akron hosts will pose to approximately 6,000 community members at gatherings slated to take place throughout the day on Oct. 3. On The Table Greater Akron, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and spearheaded by the Akron Community Foundation, seeks to bring community members together to share a meal and discuss ways to solve civic challenges via more than 500 conversations set to take place at a variety of venues throughout the day. "We have 30 super hosts, who will host about 15 conversations each and we have 475 people who have committed to hosting an individual conversation," said Tracy Burt, Akron Community Foundation senior director of marketing and communications. While conversations aren't limited to specific topics, some groups participating in the initiative have chosen to focus on specific community challenges, such as the opioid epidemic, recovery and re-entry. "Since conversations are happening in specific communities, we're expecting conversations to focus on issues specific to that particular community," said Burt. Hosting On The Table gatherings are members of Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan's administration, members of Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro's administration, the John S. Knight Center, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, the Akron Art Museum, religious groups, mental health agencies, neighborhood groups and more. On the Table, a Chicago Community Trust initiative, began in Chicago in 2013 as a way to help residents come together to tackle community challenges. Now, thanks to $1.15 million in funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 10 community foundations throughout the U.S. will host On the Table initiatives this year. Interested participants can still join a conversation. A list of public conversations is available at http://onthetableakron.com/find-a-public-conversation/. 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. AKRON, Ohio - Two men were shot by an Akron police officer early Sunday after they were threatened police and nightclub patrons with a firearm. The incident happened about 2:20 a.m., Akron police spokesman Lt. Rick Edwards said. A large fight started outside ZAR Nightclub, on South Main Street at the intersection with East Exchange Street. Some of the people involved in the fight ran across East Exchange Street but continued threatening people in the crowd, Edwards said. Akron police officers nearby got out of their cruiser and approached the group. An officer opened fire on two men "who were threatening other patrons and officers with a firearm," Edwards said. Shots were fired back at police. No officers were hurt during the exchange. Two men, ages 21 and 23, were injured in the shooting. The 21-year-old was taken to Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital, and the 23-year-old man was taken to Akron City Hospital. Both are in serious condition, Edwards said. The injured men have not been publicly identified. The Ohio Attorney General's Office's Bureau of Criminal Investigation was called to help process the crime scene, spokeswoman Jill Del Greco said Sunday afternoon. However, BCI has not been asked to assist in the shooting investigation, she said. The officer involved in the shooting has been with the Akron police department for more than 10 years, Edwards said. The officer, who has not been identified, was placed on paid administrative leave as the shooting probe continues. No additional information about what led up to the officer-involved altercation was released Sunday afternoon. This post will be updated if more details become available. If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section. BEREA, Ohio -- When conducting pre-employment testing and hiring for administrative assistants and bookkeepers, the Berea City School District has been required since 1985 to have the Brook Park Civil Service Commission administer the process. Board of education members are considering a resolution to sever ties with the commission in order to enable the school district to hire for those positions on its own. At the Sept. 25 board meeting, Director of Personnel and Employee Relations Michael Slivochka explained that the Ohio Revised Code requires school districts with multiple municipalities to fall under the jurisdiction of the civil service commission of the city that provides the most students. The district, however, can request exclusion from commission authority by appealing to Brook Park city officials and obtaining their consent. "Our utilization of the civil service commission from a testing standpoint has been minimal over the years," Slivochka said, noting the district has used the commission only about seven times in the past 30 years. The district provides the commission with all testing materials during the application process, and the commission administers the tests and compiles a list of top candidates based on scores. The district then takes the hiring process from there. Slivochka said that while the commission has been "outstanding to work with," the district independently could administer the process more quickly. "You have a third party that is duplicating the service we already do," he said. "When you have another party (involved), it takes time. It's really an efficiency thing." Board members have not voted yet on the official resolution. "The question is whether or not we would want to have conversations with the city of Brook Park Civil Service Commission to basically say we'd, as a school district, like to handle our own (hiring) in this process," said Superintendent Michael Sheppard. "Brook Park has to release us for that to happen." The next board of education meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 9. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will not review Anthony Sowell's appeal, after the state's top court upheld the Cleveland mass murderer's convictions and death sentence. The Supreme Court's denial of Sowell's case is just the latest in what will be a litany of challenges and court decisions in the years to come. Sowell, 58, is on death row for killing 11 women and burying their bodies at his Imperial Avenue home on the city's southeast side. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 5-2 in December and rejected Sowell's argument for a new trial on the grounds that the judge who presided over Sowell's 2011 trial had improperly closed a hearing. Ohio Justice Terrence O'Donnell wrote that while the judge did not correctly document all of the findings necessary to close the proceedings, that failure did not warrant a new hearing. The Ohio Supreme Court also rejected arguments that said the jury should have been able to hear about Sowell's offer to plead guilty if prosecutors took the death penalty off the table. Sowell is being held at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution. His execution date has not been set. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Monday's crime and courts comments section. Traditional forms of currency like paper money and coins are in declining use in consumer payments world wide but a cashless society is not yet fully developed. The news from the Netherlands that its bank note printer had closed its operations because of market overcapacity is a symptom of a worldwide movement towards a cashless society. During the month of September alone, a number of international reports were published about the declining demand for cash in consumer payments. U.S. Mint welcomes a fourth metal to the American Eagle bullion program. Also in this weeks print issue of Coin World, we teach our readers about what a weak-fatty gold coin is and why you dont want one in your collection. In Singapore, the increase in noncash payment systems has the potential to increase local bank profits by up to 9 percent over the next two years. Despite that, its prime minster expressed concern that his country had fallen behind China in e-payments and would be ridiculed by Chinese visitors as a result. In England, according to The Telegraph, a new system using fingerprint recognition is being implemented in a supermarket that uses an infrared scanner on peoples finger veins and then links it to their bank cards. Two-thirds of New Zealanders now carry no cash, preferring cards that can be tapped on a payment device. Vietnam is trying to reduce its number of cash transactions to 10 percent by 2020. Tanzania, a nation of 55.6 million people, had over 20 million mobile payment users by the middle of this year. Connect with Coin World: Sign up for our free eNewsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter The unrecognized breakaway republic of Somaliland, says the BBC, may become the first totally cashless society. There, where its currency has become so devalued that wheelbarrows are needed to transport it, most people are already making their payments by mobile phone. The BBC calls Sweden the most cashless society on the planet, with barely 1% of the value of all payments made using coins or notes last year. Cash is used in just 20 percent of retail sales and is not accepted on buses. Even in Zimbabwe, whose financial system is a catastrophe, a few organizations are trying to introduce digital payments. American consumers used cash in 32 percent of all retail transactions in 2015, down from 40 percent in 2012, according to the Federal Reserves most recent survey of payment choices. Despite these trends, there will always be a place for cash. Even with digital advances, many still find the old-fashioned way more comfortable. In Asia, for example, CNBC cites a PayPal study showing 57 percent preferring cash for daily transactions. It rises to 70 percent in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. There are also added, substantial costs for going cashless, an expense that not all merchants are willing to pay. A classic Canadian dollar design has been revived for a silver bullion coin. The Royal Canadian Mints newest limited mintage 1-ounce silver bullion coin depicts a largely unchanged version of the Voyageur dollar design that began appearing in circulation on a silver dollar in 1935. The 2017 coin commemorates the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. The .9999 fine silver $5 coin shows the design of the voyageur (a French Canadian fur trapper) with native in a canoe, the design from the 1935 coin issued to honor King George Vs Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary). Connect with Coin World: Sign up for our free eNewsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Very similar to the design that appeared on Canadian silver dollars from 1935 to 1986, the Voyageur image by sculptor and artist Emanuel Hahn is a powerful nod to Canadas early history and its reputation as an untamed frontier during the fur trade era. The year coin collecting in the United States changed forever Also in this weeks print issue of Coin World, we cite the secret weapon for any modern coin researcher or collector interested in how coins are made. Centered on the coins reverse, a canoe moves swiftly past windswept pines that dot a semicircular island. A voyageur paddles in the stern, while a First Nations member paddles at the bow; between them, a bundle of wrapped furs is marked HB for Hudsons Bay Company, while vertical rays above represent the aurora borealis lighting up the sky. The reverse also features a visible micro-engraved security maple leaf featuring 17 in the center of the leaf. The obverse features Susanna Blunts design of Queen Elizabeth II, with the $5 face value and the year 2017. The coin has a mintage limit of 250,000 pieces. Single coins are shipped in protective plastic. Rolls contain 25 coins, and monster boxes include 20 rolls, or 500 coins total. At press time, distributors are offering the coin for about $3.50 to $5 above the precious metal spot price, depending on quantity purchased and payment method. Finland will issue another circulating commemorative 2 coin on Oct. 21. The nations second such coin of 2017 pays tribute to Finlands nature and is a part of the Finland 100 program, celebrating the centenary of Finlands independence. U.S. Mint welcomes a fourth metal to the American Eagle bullion program. Also in this weeks print issue of Coin World, we teach our readers about what a weak-fatty gold coin is and why you dont want one in your collection. The coins obverse design is inspired by the winning entry in the Blue and White special category of the Nature Photograph of the Year competition (blue and white are the Finnish flag colors). The coin will be launched at the Nature Photograph of the Year gala held at the Finlandia Hall Oct. 21. Connect with Coin World: Sign up for our free eNewsletter Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter The winning photograph was shot by nature photographer Kari Auvinen and show the full moon over Harmaja (an island outside Helsinki) and a crow gazing down on the world from its perch. The crow symbolizes the modern Finnish character outwardly common but an intelligent bird that reacts flexibly to new situations. The Finnish Nature 2 coin has a mintage limit of 500,000 pieces, which include 11,000 Proof examples. The Mint of Finland will begin accepting orders for the coin on Oct. 5 through its website, with delivery of the coins beginning Oct. 23. The ringed-bimetallic coin has a copper-nickel core and copper-aluminum-nickel ring. The coins outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag. The common reverse shows a map of the European Union.< The 2 coin weighs 8.5 grams and measures 25.75 millimeters in diameter. Each nation may issue up to two different circulating commemorative designs annually, with designs of their choosing, though few nations issue the maximum number of designs. Joint euro programs, like the 2015 coins honoring the 30th anniversary of the flag of the European Union, do not count toward this limit. CORNWALL, Ontario Liam Lascelle made 45 saves but it wasnt enough as the Carleton Place Canadians beat the Colts 4-3 in overtime. Lascelle earned both the Pizza Pizza First Star and the Cornwall Toyota Hardest Working Player as the Canadians outshot the Colts 49-14. Cameron Hebert (4) and Jeremy Quesnel (1) each had a goal and an assist for the Colts. Alec Vent also scored his first CCHL goal. The Colts record stands at 5-5-1-0 (11pts). Aside from Lascelle, the Pizza Pizza Three Stars were Second Star Tim Theocharidis (CP) and Third Star Travis Broughman (CP). The Colts finished 0-for-3 on the power play while the Canadians were 2-for-7 with the man advantage. The Colts next game is in Navan vs the Grads this Sunday. Game time is 2pm at the Navan Arena. Cornwall returns home next Thursday (Oct 5th) to face off against the Nepean Raiders. Game time is 7:30pm at the Ed Lumley Arena. SOUTH GLENGARRY, Ontario On the evening of September 19, 2017, the Cornwall Regional Task Force (CRTF) observed a suspicious vessel coming to shore in the area of Westleys Point in South Glengarry Township. The vessel met up with a van on the shoreline and officers observed cargo being transferred to the van from the vessel. Officers intervened as the van was departing the scene. The vehicles occupants fled on foot into a nearby cornfield. One was located shortly thereafter by officers on scene while the remaining suspect was located with the assistance of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Ontario Provincial Police (SD&G OPP) members and an OPP canine unit. The van was found to be loaded with 65 black garbage bags filled with 1,161kgs of contraband fine tobacco. Felix St-Georges-Gobeil (aged 22) and Drake Simpson-Gratton (aged 19), from the province of Quebec, were subsequently charged with Possession of Unstamped Tobacco under the Excise Act. Both males are also facing charges under the Tobacco Tax Act. They were released to appear in court at the Cornwall Provincial Courthouse on November 21, 2017. During the evening of September 20, 2017, the CRTF attempted to stop a vehicle after observing a suspicious activity on the waterfront. The vehicle fled from police in a dangerous manner, but in the interest of public safety it was not pursued. Officers subsequently received information that the suspect vehicle was on Cornwall Island. Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service (AMPS) members were called to assist and located the suspect vehicle and its occupants. 176kgs of contraband tobacco was found inside the vehicle. The vehicle and its occupants were turned over to the CRTF for further processing. The driver, Stephen Simonds (aged 54), from Constable, NY, was charged with Flight from Police, Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Possession of Unstamped Tobacco as well as provincial Tobacco Tax Act charges. He was released to appear in Cornwall Provincial Court on November 21, 2017. Checks revealed that the passenger, Jordan Deer (aged 28) from Hogansburg, NY, was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant from Kahnawake QC for serious criminal offences, as well as a warrant of arrest from Valleyfield RCMP for an Excise Act, 2001 matter. Deer was charged with Possession of Unstamped Tobacco, breach of his Recognizance as well as provincial Tobacco Tax Act charges. Deer was held for a bail hearing and arrangements were made for inter-provincial extradition for his outstanding warrants. Deers next court appearance is scheduled for October 24, 2017 at the Cornwall Provincial courthouse. If you have any information regarding criminal activity in your area, you can contact the CRTF at 1-613-937-2800 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. The CRTF is a joint forces partnership that includes the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Ontario Ministry of Finance. The CRTF wishes to thank the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Ontario Provincial Police (SD&G OPP), OPP East Region Emergency Response Team, OPP Canine and the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service for their assistance in concluding these two investigations in a safe and expeditious manner. Meanwhile, the people who were evacuated and didn't return had to deal with unemployment, alcoholism, and the general soul-crushing depression that comes from having your life taken away by forces you can barely comprehend. 4 A City Inside An Actual Graveyard How do people do it? How do they live in a stinking necropolis -- a city of the dead, where their neighbors are all but pallid corpses, and decay greets them at every turn? How, oh how, do people live in Spokane? Continue Reading Below Advertisement It could be worse (the official city motto of Spokane, Washington). You could be living in the literal City of the Dead. Rgoogin/Wiki Commons Which should be named Spookane. The city is a vast 7th-century necropolis located on a four-mile stretch of land right outside Cairo, Egypt. The city's expanding metro area and the country's chronic housing shortage have led to desperate people setting up shop amongst the tombs. The arrangement is obviously illegal, but the denizens won't leave unless they're provided with new accommodations, and the population has grown so big over time that it's almost impossible to relocate everyone. The motivation for these three hashtags relates to Professor Mehrsa Baradaran's recently-released (and fantastic) book, The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap . In the book, she chronicles the rise and fall of black-owned banks as a vehicle to grow black wealth and combat predatory practices, such as red-lining, to help underserved, often low-income, predominately black communities. Since its release a couple weeks ago, the book has been reviewed in the Atlantic and the American Banker . Here, I want to highlight a couple of statistics and focus on what Baradaran's analysis suggests about the possibilities for the #BankBlack movement. #BankBlack emerged on Twitter earlier this summer. The hashtag began as an encouragement to those protesting police brutality to move their money to black-owned banks, and is credited with growing the assets of black-owned banks by $6 million over the summer . A search on Twitter shows that the hashtag remains popular, and now is linked with #BlackWealth and #BuyBlack. Indeed, I found one tweet that claims that black-owned banks' assets have grown $20 million over the past 9 months as a result of the broader movement. Baradaran expertly lays out the history, promise, and eventual failure of many black-owned banks in America. The idea of creating a safe place for black Americans to store their money and receive loans is enticing -- and proved useful for some periods of history. But, as Baradaran explains, black-owned banks live in the broader financial sector, which is home to inter-dependent banks and other financial institutions which also look to the government for help--and which are much more likely to be helped by the government. Living in this environment almost inevitably repeatedly becomes a drain on black-owned banks for a variety of reasons, including the types and amounts of deposits black-owned banks received and the types of loans black-owned banks made. (For example, Baradaran kindly cites my research about lending to black churches and the effects of both black-owned and other banks' foreclosing or threatening to foreclose on church buildings.) The environment also helps divert black households' deposits to white-owned banks, institutions, and households, effectively locking in the failure of many black-owned banks. To the statistics. The effect of this banking and lending environment, combined with the fact that black Americans pay more for just about everything, makes it extremely difficult for black households to accumulate wealth. As a consequence, at present, the median white family has thirteen times more wealth than the median black family. And it is not that black households do not save. In fact, they save more as a percentage of their annual income than white families -- 11% versus 10%. As Baradaran writes, "[t]he idea of blacks spending frivolously while whites save their pennies is a meaningless, damaging, and sadly persistent stereotype." What does this all mean for the #BankBlack movement? What history shows, as recounted and analyzed by Baradaran, is that moving money to black-owned banks and shopping at black-owned institutions is a start, but it is not enough. Black households have the ability, and if history is a guide, the incentive to #BankBlack and #BuyBlack. But if #BlackWealth is to increase by their doing so, there also must be fundamental changes such that we no longer expect black communities to create their own economic equality. In giving a nod to the #BankBlack movement, Baradaran likewise notes that black-owned banks likely cannot offer effective self-help. Nonetheless, might this be the point in history when larger changes are possible? Maybe -- and Baradaran ends her book by setting forth a path to meaningful change. To learn more about black-owned banks and the racial wealth gap, I highly recommend the book. Cloud News Oracle Rolls Out New Program For Cloud Software Implementers Joseph Tsidulko Share this Oracle told partners Sunday that its new channel program designed to ensure successful implementations across its portfolio of cloud software was going live. The Cloud Excellence Implementer (CEI) program, addressing the critical implementation phase of any cloud service engagement, was first introduced to partners in June when Oracle shared some details around the benefits of participating and the rigorous criteria to join. Oracle's channel learned more Sunday at the Oracle PartnerNetwork sessions that kicked off the OpenWorld 2017 conference in San Francisco. "It's very much looking at some of our larger partners and making sure they adhere to high standards. But also there's appeal to some of our smaller implementers, since we are also going to look at it from a regional perspective, as well as a modular level," Penny Philpot, group vice president for worldwide alliances and channels, told CRN about the new program. [Related: A Turning Point For Oracle? 4 Takeaways From A Strong Q4] "This is all about ensuring the customer can find the best implementation possible," she said. The program, which already has won commitments from many resellers and integrators in Oracle's channel, starts with an accreditation process that's unique to each of dozens of Oracle Software-as-a-Service products. Camillo Speroni, Oracle's vice president for Worldwide Strategic Alliances, told partners attending an Oracle PartnerNetwork keynote Sunday that a lot of work went into figuring out how to identify and reward partners for developing proven, repeatable skills around its SaaS portfolio. Oracle had to create criteria for 45 different cloud modules, Speroni said, breaking down its ERP suite to a very high level of granularity. "It will allow each and every one of you in the room to differentiate," he said, based on unique history, customer base, geographic knowledge, and employee skill sets and accreditations. The program has a global framework, but is executed at the regional level, due to the significance placed on geographic expertise of partner practices, he said. Partners who want to be recognized through the program, and as a result charge higher rates and see better margins, need to "commit to train and certify consultants." Oracle's channel also needs to start doing a better job "to capture our success," Speroni said. The CEI program is intended to help achieve that goal with a platform for documenting successful implementations so they can be used as references when selling future deals. Through the OPN Solutions Catalog, customers will see a full picture of partner implementation qualifications, helping them identity and engage partners best suited for specific projects and limiting their risk when deploying new cloud solutions. "Really it's very much an evolution of looking at our cloud business," Philpot told CRN. At last year's OpenWorld conference, the Oracle PartnerNetwork introduced an MSP program. Focusing on implementation is another important step forward, Philpot said. "We're selling a lot of SaaS. We're not able to implement it all ourselves. We very much need our partners in fulfilling our commitments," Philpot said. "Thats why we put this program together, to help fill that gap. And hopefully to support partners' margins and profits in their services businesses." Now partners must decide if the benefits warrant the commitments. Michael Lance, lead Oracle Solution Architect at Groupware Technology, a systems integrator based in Campbell, Calif., said his company is still waiting to learn more about the new program before making an investment decision. For a solution provider like Groupware that has practices across multiple cloud providers, the decision to join any new program, especially one with rigorous entry and ongoing criteria, might come down to Oracle's investment in supporting marketing and development of implementation resources, Lance told CRN. With other cloud providers, like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, vying for Groupware's resources, "there's an expense on our part to retool technical and services people," he said. "We need Oracle to basically help fund that investment, either by providing training or even fund some of the head count," Lance told CRN. Internet of things News CRN Exclusive: Zvelo Introduces IoT Security Offering To Detect Compromised Devices Lindsey O'Donnell Share this Network security company Zvelo Monday unveiled an IoT security offering that uses artificial intelligence to automate the way enterprises discover and profile IoT devices on the network and detect ones that are compromised. "Over the past two years, we saw more and more IoT devices shipped without any type of security that were posing a threat to our customers," Zvelo CEO Jeff Finn told CRN. "With this, we also saw that these native IoT devices were being compromised by DDoS [Distributed Denial of Service] attacks and we realized we could help our channel partners get their arms around these devices in profiling them, detecting them and provide alerts around vulnerable devices." Zvelo's offering uses an API to provide device profiles and compromised device data so that OEM partners can ingest the data into their user interfaces. [Related: These 6 Artificial Intelligence Startups Could Be Intel's Next Acquisition Target] Once deployed, the offering continuously monitors the behavior of devices that are connected to the network, looking for abnormal or malicious activity. As the offering gathers threat intelligence from connected devices, it sends a continuous data stream to Zvelo's cloud for analysis and in the meantime, network offerings equipped with Zvelo's IoT security features can be configured to automatically take action if anomalous behavior is detected. The offering is unique in that it inspects all seven layers of a network-connected device's OSI model to recognize the fingerprint of the communications functions performed, making it possible to instantly detect irregular traffic flow with "much more depth and detail than has been available in the market," said Finn. "Zvelo IoT security offers an effective and much-needed solution to the very real threat of IoT-based security breaches, offering an unprecedented depth of insight into the traffic and behavior exhibited by connected devices and the ability to mitigate these threats before critical issues occur," he said. Security vulnerabilities in Internet of Things devices were underscored a year ago when a DDoS attack launched through IoT devices like webcams, routers and video recorders overwhelmed servers at Dynamic Network Services, taking down up to 1,200 websites. Zvelo's offering supports connected devices that could be susceptible to a similar type of attack, such as connected printers, scanners, Bluetooth devices, IP phones and systems, security video, alarm devices and other potential connected devices found in enterprise environments. The Greenwood, Colol-based company, which sells 100 percent through channel partners including OEMs and systems integrators, wants its system to provide customers with the "best accuracy, fastest performance and lowest rate of false positives" in preventing IoT vulnerabilities. Finn said the artificial intelligence algorithms help companies safeguard against hackers with "much greater scale and volume" but partners also have an important part to play in working with customers to set up the offering in key vertical markets such as retail and health care. "Rather than trying to use a database list of connected devices, we're using AI and machine learning to categorize behaviors and leverage that to alert customers on device vulnerabilities. Security is both a problem but also an opportunity for resellers, channel partners and OEMs," he said. Managed services News CRN Exclusive: New Signature Star David Geevaratne Joins BitTitan To Anchor Channel Sales Offensive Michael Novinson Share this New Signature Co-Founder David Geevaratne plans to bring what makes him successful in the channel to other solution providers as BitTitan's new director of sales. As chief sales officer at Microsoft channel superstar New Signature, Geevaratne said he was primarily familiar with BitTitan's migration tools focused on helping customers lift and shift workloads to Office 365. But he was blown away by all the things their MSPComplete managed services automation platform could do after hearing BitTitan executives speak at Microsoft's Inspire conference. Geevaratne said he was specifically impressed by MSPComplete's ability to help solution providers improve their scale, increase their profits, retain the right employees, and document processes. By automating as many items as possible for his own staff at New Signature, Geevaratne was able to deliver a better experience for his workforce by ensuring that they weren't stuck doing mundane tasks. [Related: Founder Of A Top Microsoft Cloud Partner, New Signature, Steps Down] "These are all things that I lived and breathed for most of my career," Geevaratne told CRN exclusively. "I can bring a voice of what their customers' challenges are and what their customers' values are." Geevaratne spent nearly 15 years New Signature, building the company from a scrappy startup to two-time Microsoft U.S. Partner of the Year award winner. His last day with the Washington D.C.-based solution provider was Friday, and his first day at Kirkland, Wash.-based BitTitan is Monday. Upon joining BitTitan, Geevaratne will be focused on supporting the company's North American executive team, distributors, and solution provider customers. The decision to procure BitTitan's offering through distribution or directly from the vendor is left completely up to each solution provider, Geevaratne said. BitTitan has more than 50,000 customers across some 150 countries, according to Geevaratne, ranging from enterprise IT departments to multi-national channel partners to regionally-focused, 20-person solution providers. Leveraging BitTitan around offerings like Microsoft Azure and Office 365 creates an opening for solution providers to grow their business in a repeatable, efficient and automated way that takes advantage of economies of scale and ensures their success for many years to come, according to Geevaratne. "Those that have not evolved to embrace cloud are feeling a little bit pinched," Geevaratne said. BitTitan can augment and fill in gaps for solution providers by providing processes, automation, and checklists, Geevaratne said, and ensuring the right person is on the job at the right time with the right skillsets. The offering will also make it easier for solution providers to deliver turnkey solution and document their intellectual property, according to Geevaratne. The vendor is already considered the platinum standard for helping channel partners move their customers to Office 365, Geevaratne said. But existing customers can use BitTitan for more than migration, and Geevaratne is committed to showing them exactly how to leverage the tools they're already using in a slightly different way to automate and scale their businesses. Geevaratne will meet many of BitTitan's channel partners at the company's Elevate conference Oct. 16-18 in Denver. Solution providers attending the conference will have the opportunity to learn best practice from their peers and hear from experts on how BitTitan's MSPComplete platform can transform their business, according to Geevaratne. Managed services News Continuum CEO: Words Can Not Express 'Sorrow' For All Those Impacted By Las Vegas Mass Shooting Steven Burke Share this Michael George, the CEO of MSP platform provider Continuum, Monday morning told partners that words cannot express the "sorrow we all feel" for those impacted by the mass shooting just a few hotels away from where the company is hosting 700 people at its Navigate 2017 user conference. "This was an unspeakable act and words cannot express the sorrow we all feel for those who were lost, robbed of their hopes and dreams, and of their futures," said George in an email to partners. "Our heavy hearts go out to their families and loved ones at this incredibly sad time." The comments came after a shooting Sunday night at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, where a gunman on the 32nd floor fired a barrage of bullets on an outdoor country music festival below, killing at least 58 with hundreds injured in the midst of what is being called the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Related:[ NetApp, Tech CEOs Offer Condolences In Wake Of Las Vegas Mass Shooting] Continuum said all its team members in Las Vegas for the conference are safe. In addition, the company said it was not aware of any partners being present at the concert or harmed in any way. Although the Continuum conference, which is being held at the Cosmopolitan Hotel from Oct. 2 through Oct. 5, will still go on, the company is working with any attending partners who may wish to change their plans. The company, in fact, said it was reaching out to partners to "assure them that they should not feel obligated to attend in light of Sunday's events." NetApp, which is hosting its Insight 2017 user conference at the Mandalay Bay this week, canceled events Monday but plans to proceed as scheduled with the rest of the conference starting Tuesday morning. NetApp also offered to help provide new travel arrangements to Insight attendees who wish to leave Las Vegas in the wake of the tragedy. George said he was "saddened" by the tragedies in the world and thanked all who offered "prayers and well wishes on behalf of those lost" and impacted by Las Vegas shooting. At the same time, he said he was in "awe of the true side of humankind." "There were untold numbers of first responders running into harms way to help save others," said George. "Complete strangers helping one another take shelter, get help for the wounded, and usher people into safety. And this morning, countless others lining up to give blood. It is this brighter side of us all we know will endure and lift the human spirit. For this, we are all truly blessed." George said Continuum and its partners will endure in the wake of the immoral acts against mankind. "And endure we will as we came to this great city to help our partners do good work," he told solution providers. "You provide an important service to the small business community and create employment opportunities for thousands of people who provide for their families. We will not be daunted or dissuaded by these immoral acts against mankind, and will move forward as planned. As for our place in this world, one word peace." Storage News NetApp, Tech CEOs Offer Condolences In Wake Of Las Vegas Mass Shooting Steven Burke Share this NetApp, which is holding its Insight conference this week in Las Vegas, offered thoughts and prayers for the victims of Sunday night's Las Vegas mass shooting tragedy. NetApp Insight is scheduled to be held this week at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, the hotel where a gunman on the 32nd floor fired a barrage of bullets on an outdoor country music festival below, killing at least 50 with hundreds injured in the midst of what is being called the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. It is unclear if NetApp Insight will be allowed to continue amid the ongoing criminal investigation at the hotel. NetApp CEO George Kurian is scheduled to address conference attendees on Tuesday. NetApp is expected to provide an update on Insight at 10:30 AM PT. The company has offered to help provide new travel arrangements to attendees who wish to leave Las Vegas in the wake of the tragedy. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Las Vegas and its people amidst this unfolding tragedy," wrote NetApp in a tweet Monday morning. "Our safety and security teams will continue to provide information to our event attendees," the company said in a second tweet. NetApp has already canceled a Monday morning pre-Insight press conference in the wake of a lockdown at the hotel. Carey Lohrenz, the first female F-14 Tomcat Fighter Pilot for the U.S. Navy, who is scheduled to speak at NetApp Insight, tweeted: "Thankful for the brave @LVMPD officers who stormed Mandalay Bay & eliminated the shooter. Horrific tragedy." Continuum, the managed service platform provider, is also scheduled to kick off its Navigate 2017 user conference in Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on Monday. The event is scheduled to run through Oct. 5. CRN reached out to Continuum but had not heard back as of press time. Kevin Mitnick, the one-time hacker who did prison time and now is a security consultant who is scheduled to speak at Continuum's user conference, tweeted: "This is crazy horrible," in response to a tweet about witness reports of the shooting. Peter Melby, CEO of Greystone Technology, an MSP scheduled to speak at the Continuum conference, tweeted: "I'm safe in Vegas. And heartbroken." Las Vegas routinely serves as the host city for technology events and conferences, including many prominent tech gatherings in 2017 such as the annual Consumer Electronics show in January, May's Dell EMC World, June's HPE Discover and August's VMworld. Technology vendor CEOs, including Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins and Apple CEO Tim Cook, Monday morning offered thoughts and prayers for the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting tragedy. "Once again, thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and all those impacted by the #LasVegas tragedy," said Robbins in a tweet Monday morning. Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted: "Our hearts are with the victims in Las Vegas, their families and loved ones who are grieving this morning." Bob Cagnazzi, the CEO of Presidio, a NetApp partner and No. 21 on the CRN Solution Provider 500, tweeted: "Praying for our friends, partners and colleagues @NetAppInsight. @Presidio. Optiv, the world's largest security solution provider, tweeted: "Thoughts and condolences to the people of Las Vegas, as well as all of those personally affected by this extremely sad and tragic event. Joseph F. Kovar contributed to this story. Storage News NetApp 'A-Team' Solution Providers Forced To Evacuate Mandalay Bay In Wake Of Las Vegas Shooting Joseph F. Kovar Share this Solution providers attending an exclusive NetApp dinner were forced to evacuate the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Sunday night in the wake of the shooting that killed at least 58 people and injured hundreds. The solution providers were in Las Vegas to attend NetApp's Insight 2017 user conference, which was scheduled to run Oct. 2 to Oct. 5 at the hotel. The company has canceled event activities scheduled for Monday but will proceed as scheduled starting Tuesday. Several solution providers who are members of NetApp's "A-Team" of evangelizers were having dinner in the Mandalay Bay when the shooting started, said Glenn Dekhayser, field chief technology officer at Red8, a Costa Mesa, Calif.-based solution provider and NetApp partner. [Related: NetApp, Tech CEOs Offer Condolences In Wake Of Las Vegas Mass Shooting] Dekhayser, an A-Team member who was at the dinner, told CRN that he was about to leave the dinner early to meet a customer at the New York-New York hotel when the customer contacted him and told him to not go anywhere, which is how Dekhayser first learned of the shooting. At that point the dinner was interrupted as word of the shooting began to spread. "The restaurant staff told us to leave. We left the restaurant headed toward the [Mandalay Bay] convention center when we saw a group of heavily armed police walking our way," Dekhayser told CRN. "They had their guns pointed out and pushed us to move faster to leave the hotel." Dekhayser never heard any gunshots and does not know whether the shooting was still going on as the group was evacuated. "Police then walked us out of the conference center," he said. "The cops had us going south down Las Vegas Boulevard to the Town Square shopping center. A lot of people [were low on power] and couldn't use their cellphones. Dave Hitz walked part of the way with us," Dekhayser said, speaking of the NetApp founder and executive vice president, who was also among the evacuees. Mandalay Bay and several other area hotels, including the MGM Grand and the Luxor, were on lockdown, leaving anyone not already in their hotel rooms to find new places to stay for the night. Dekhayser and other A-Team solution providers had to book rooms at other Las Vegas hotels. John Woodall, vice president of engineering at Integrated Archive Systems (IAS), a Palo Alto, Calif.-based solution provider and longtime NetApp channel partner who was not at the dinner, told CRN he had just gotten to his room at the Mandalay Bay when he heard the shooting. "My room is on the same side of the hotel as the gunman's room, overlooking the music festival," Woodall said. "I could hear it was gunfire." "It appears the gunman had a perfect perch," Woodall added. All of IAS' staff at Insight are safe, Woodall said. One co-worker had a room at another area hotel, and three others joined him there for the evening after being forced to leave the Mandalay Bay because of the lockdown. "When police said to get out, they managed to get a taxi before the street was locked down and got to the Hard Rock," he said. Meanwhile, Woodall and a colleague are holed up in the Mandalay Bay, while another got stuck at the airport, he said. A NetApp customer in Las Vegas to attend the event said he first learned how serious the evening's tragedy was "at 3 a.m. when police pounded on hotel doors at the Mandalay Bay." The customer, speaking to CRN on condition of anonymity, said he heard yelling in the hallway. "I was going to yell out the door to tell them to be quiet, but when I opened the door there were four police officers in the hall. Two of them came in and swept the room while two stayed in the hall," the customer said. NetApp has offered to help provide new travel arrangements to attendees who wish to leave Las Vegas in the wake of the tragedy. A massive investigation is continuing Monday morning, with police blocking off the front entrances of the Mandalay Bay and Luxor hotels. Rear entrances to the hotels are open. Police have also taped off the section of Las Vegas Blvd. that runs near the hotels. One police officer directing pedestrians away from the hotel entrances described the evening as "chaos" and said no one would be allowed in the front of the Mandalay Bay. The casino floor of the normally bustling Mandalay Bay was eerily quiet Monday morning. A small number of gamblers could be seen at a gaming table, with a few others playing slot machines. It will be a difficult time to be at NetApp Insight, Dekhayser said. "I'm not in a mood to celebrate," he said. Ellison Introduces Oracle's Next-Gen Database Oracle founder, CTO, executive chairman and evangelist extraordinaire Larry Ellison welcomed customers and partners to the Oracle OpenWorld 2017 conference Sunday with a new release of the company's flagship database software. But Oracle 18c isn't just any database. It's "the only self-administering database in the entire world," Ellison told attendees of his company's annual conference in San Francisco. In expounding on 18c's breakthrough features and cost benefits, Ellison took every chance he could to say an unkind word about public cloud leader Amazon Web Services, his favorite target of late. Here are some of Ellison's descriptions of advances Oracle has made in its database technology, and all the corresponding digs against AWS. Oracle Database 18c will be available to customers in December, but, as Ellison said, only if they're "willing to pay much less." IoT Solutions From Around The World Companies from around the world will gather in Barcelona this week to exchange ideas and show off their coolest solutions in the Internet of Things market. This year's IoT Solutions World Congress will feature 220 manufacturers, distributors and service providers. The applications vary widely but all are generally aimed at how IoT continues to bring efficiency to industries like retail, construction, and manufacturing. Several of the companies at this year's show have worldwide channel partner programs. This year, companies are focusing on their top security and industrial IoT solutions, showing how they integrate multiple technologies to provide one solution and how they are successfully bringing these solutions to market. Here are the six coolest connected solutions to look out for at the show. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Tom Petty, the American rock icon whose laconic drawl and jangling guitars made him a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one of the best-selling musicians of all time, died Monday at a Santa Monica hospital after suffering cardiac arrest. He was 66. His death was confirmed by Tony Dimitriades, longtime manager of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. We are devastated to announced the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend, Tom Petty, said Dimitriades in a statement tweeted from Pettys official Twitter account just after 9:30 p.m. Monday. He died peacefully at 8:40 PM PST, surrounded by family, his bandmates, and friends. Now Playing: Singer Tom Petty died after suffering cardiac arrest Sunday night. He was 66 years old. Video: San Francisco Chronicle Petty was reportedly found unconscious and not breathing in his Malibu home on Sunday. There was confusion over his status for hours, as multiple media outlets reported his death then retracted their stories, citing erroneous information from the Los Angeles Police Department. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which sold more than 80 million albums worldwide, had wrapped up its 40th anniversary tour with three sold-out concerts at the Hollywood Bowl last week. In May, the group appeared as headliners at the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival and returned to Northern California for a three-night stand in August at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, with an additional show Sept. 1 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento (the singer was forced to reschedule the latter dates due to laryngitis). Mr. Petty had said that after four decades of touring, the trek was intended to be his final major outing. Its very likely well keep playing, but will we take on 50 shows in one tour? I dont think so, he said in an interview with Rolling Stone before the launch of the tour in April. Id be lying if I didnt say I was thinking this might be the last big one. Were all on the backside of our 60s. I have a granddaughter now Id like to see as much as I can. I dont want to spend my life on the road. This tour will take me away for four months. With a little kid, thats a lot of time. Intended to commemorate the release of the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers self-titled 1976 debut, the tour found the group digging into deep pockets of its back catalog, dusting off rarities from each of its 13 albums and the singers three solo discs, alongside its more than 40 mainstream rock hits. His finest songs such as American Girl, Free Fallin and Runnin Down a Dream invariably drew inspiration from rock n rolls glory years, when groups like the Byrds, the Zombies and Bob Dylan invented the brand of chiming guitar rock that Petty perfected. Mr. Petty devoted most of his time leading up to the final tour to curating the playlist and conducting interviews with his personal heroes for a dedicated SiriusXM channel. If there was a thread that ran through his work, from the rough-hewn radio staples from the early years (The Waiting, You Got Lucky) to his slickly produced hits of the 1980s and 1990s (I Wont Back Down, Learning to Fly), it was a quest for authenticity. If youre phony, they will feel it in the farthest row of the arena, Mr. Petty said in an interview with Esquire in 2006. You have to really care. And you have to make yourself care time and time again. Thomas Earl Petty was born in Gainesville, Fla., on Oct. 20, 1950. He grew up with an abusive father and dropped out of high school at age 17 to join the bar band Mudcrutch, whose members, guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench, he continued to play with after the bands breakup. Moving to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, they formed the Heartbreakers with bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. Their self-titled debut album (which featured Breakdown and American Girl) didnt initially make much of an impact when it was released, but following a tour of England the group began to get traction back home. In a 1977 review of the bands performance at Keystone in Palo Alto, The Chronicles pop music critic, Joel Selvin, wrote, The band concentrates on concise songs, backed by powerful ensemble work that de-emphasized individual solos in favor of a total band sound. By the time Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released 1979s Damn the Torpedoes, the group had a string of hits including Dont Do Me Like That and Refugee, which Petty followed with Stop Draggin My Heart Around, a duet with Stevie Nicks that appeared on her Bella Donna LP. In 1997, the band played 20 sold-out shows at San Franciscos 1,100-capacity Fillmore, during which, Selvin wrote, It was one of rock musics top outfits of the past 20 years relaxed and doing what it does best. This band is so unpretentious, so effortless, its almost easy to overlook how great it is. And when Pettys enormous catalog and consistent excellence are weighed, he has to be considered one of the greatest in the history of music. The last show of the residency stretched to four hours. We werent promoting anything, Petty would recall, speaking to The Chronicle two years later. We didnt have any agenda. And it was a very successful experiment for us. I think we enjoyed it more than anything weve ever done with the Heartbreakers. Pettys most recent release, 2014s Hypnotic Eye, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart. In 2015, Petty earned a writing credit on Sam Smiths megahit Stay With Me for its similarities to his 1989 song I Wont Back Down. He was also a member of the 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, with Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne, and recorded as a solo artist. Its shocking, crushing news, Dylan said in a statement. I thought the world of Tom. He was great performer, full of the light, a friend, and Ill never forget him. Petty is survived by his wife, Dana; two daughters, Adria and Annakim; Danas son, Dylan; and Pettys younger brother, Bruce. No services have been announced. Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicles pop music critic. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF Connecticut is known to be a particularly wealthy state, and a new report from financial site WalletHub suggests that's because Connecticut residents are smart with their money. Connecticut ranks number five in WalletHub's 2018 list of the most financially savvy statesthis is down two spots from its number three rank in 2017. The Nutmeg state joins its fellow New Englanders, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire in the top 10. New York and New Jersey, which were ranked in the top 10 last year, fell down to numbers 18 and 11. 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 ... Whoever would have thought the far Left would be in favour of restoring capital punishment? But apparently they are, for the most heinous of all crimes: which, in their eyes, is to be a member of the Conservative Party. This would explain the gigantic banner suspended from a bridge in Manchester, where Conservative members have assembled for their annual conference. The banners slogan, in deepest red, reads: Hang the Tories. In case we still dont get the message, two effigies of men in dinner jackets are hanging by their necks from ropes attached to the bridge. To the far Left, the most heinous of all crimes is to be a member of the Conservative Party, something that is apparently punishable by hanging A number of Labour MPs have condemned this stunt: one, Gareth Snell, said: If the people who did this think they speak for the Labour Party, be assured they do not. But its interesting, dont you think, that Mr Snell felt he needed to offer us this reassurance. Why should it even be necessary for him to distance his party from such murderous statements? Dangerous Perhaps it is because some of the most influential figures in the party, figures very close to its leader Jeremy Corbyn, could not be relied upon to do so and, indeed, have previously made clear their relish for exactly this sort of vile language. Two years ago, the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell described the then Conservative disabilities minister Esther McVey as a stain on humanity and went on to quote someone who called for her to be lynched. Just like the effigies of Tories swinging from that bridge in Manchester (except McVey is a woman with a strong Liverpool accent, rather than the Tory toff of the hard-Lefts demonology). Later, McDonnell denied that he was endorsing this call for McVey to be lynched. Hed just brought it up in the course of debate. As you do. And he insisted: I dont believe in any threats of abuse or violence. Ive said that continuously. I must have missed that. What I do recall is how McDonnell a much more intelligent and dangerous figure than his comrade Corbyn eulogised students who, as he put it, kicked the s**t out of the Conservative Party Headquarters during the riots over student fees in 2010. He described those smashing public property during that episode as the best of our movement arguing that weve got to encourage the direct action, in any form it can possibly take. Labour MP Gareth Snell condemned the 'Hang Tories' banner, possibly because some of the most influential figures in the party could not be relied upon to do so Then there is Andrew Fisher, the man Mr Corbyn brought in as his chief political adviser despite the fact that Fisher had been suspended from the Labour Party for a number of what shall we call them? provocations. Fisher, who was previously employed by McDonnell, bragged about how he had taken back Whitehall during the 2010 riots (he was actually 30 at the time) and how hundreds of people were enjoying the role reversal of the police being penned in and scared . . . I felt elated. Fisher also seems to have enjoyed the London riots of 2011 in which shopkeepers in Croydon experienced the horror and heartache of their businesses being looted and burned to the ground. He described how as soon as I heard things were kicking off in Croydon, I headed into the centre of town. According to him, the looting was nothing more than aggravated shopping. Now, the police (whose retreat from rioters so elated this intellectual darling of Jeremy Corbyn) are preparing to defend the right of Tory party members to go about their business in Manchester. Even if they perform that protective role successfully, intimidation has resulted in at least one scheduled event nothing more than an innocent gin-tasting Conservative social evening being cancelled. Threats on social media led the organisers to pull it: they felt they couldnt guarantee the safety of those involved. Jeremy Corbyn's advisor Andrew Fisher - who has previously been suspended from Labour - described looting and fires in Croydon during the 2011 riots as 'aggravated shopping' Doubtless those who would smash up a gin-tasting would not be threatening it purely for the love of violence itself, still less out of militant temperance. No, it is justified by its perpetrators in the belief that all Conservatives are evil. Not mistaken: evil. All of them, without exception. This means any action taken against them can be seen as correspondingly virtuous. Indeed, it sanctifies the perpetrators of such action, up to and including physical violence. Lethal This attitude is not confined to the far Left. The extreme Right has exactly the same mindset. It dehumanises its chosen enemy (as McDonnell described Esther McVey as a stain on humanity) and this allows it to treat them inhumanely or even murderously. The most lethal example is how the Nazis treated the Jews. Anything, including mass extermination, could be justified on the grounds that these people were inherently a threat to the wellbeing of the rest of humanity (and, in particular, Germans). Labour MP Clive Lewis, appeared to accuse the Government of practising Nazi principles in its method of public administration during a meeting last week I wouldnt have brought up this period of history, except that last week one of Corbyns closest allies, the Labour MP Clive Lewis, appeared to accuse the Government of practising Nazi principles in its method of public administration. Lewis told young Labour activists that in its alleged undermining of the BBC, NHS, public services, so-called neo-liberals (standard Left-wing jargon for anyone who believes in free markets) were emulating Nazi governing philosophy: The Nazis actually developed a word for it. Gleichschaltung. They understood that when they came into power they had to undermine those civil democratic institutions and hollow them out until they are pointless or irrelevant. Lewis hastened to add that he was not comparing the Conservative Government to the Nazis. But he must have been aware of the effect on a young audience in telling them that there was a common factor between recent Conservative governments and the intolerance towards public institutions exhibited by the most methodically murderous regime in all human history. And if we are going to compare any strains of modern British politics with the totalitarian regimes of the last century which were Marxist as well as Fascist then it is those who have no respect for the legal system who deserve to be so stigmatised. Both Nazi and Communist regimes took the view that if you were on the right path politically, you were above the rule of law. And it is the rule of law, independent of the day-to-day whims of politicians, which most guarantees our long-held freedoms. Abusive Yet, when the Unite leader, Len McCluskey, recently declared his willingness to endorse industrial action which did not meet the legal requirements (backing by a ballot in which at least half a unions membership took part), no member of Corbyns team nor indeed Corbyn himself was prepared to condemn what would be an illegal strike. This is also profoundly undemocratic. It is for Corbyn, if his party can command a majority in the next Parliament, to use the power conferred by the ballot box to change the law on strikes: but not for him, or indeed Len McCluskey, to declare themselves above the law as it stands. The threatened violence in Manchester during the Conservative conference is absolutely in the spirit of Corbyn and McDonnell's brand of politics, says Dominic Lawson Mainstream Conservatives, like the overwhelming majority of the British people, have an ingrained respect for the rule of law: they do not regard our courts as the hired lackeys of the ruling class. And they lack the moral vanity of the Left, which means they are able to disagree without regarding their opponents as evil. This may be why Conservatives have never attempted to disrupt a Labour Party conference, let alone use the threat of physical intimidation in their political campaigns. It is not just Conservatives who are right to feel threatened by the intolerance that pervades the Corbyn cult. As it has tightened its grip on Labour, it is that partys own MPs who feel most frightened to express dissent. They remember what happened when Angela Eagle stood to challenge Corbyns leadership last year. She received what an internal Labour investigation described as hundreds of abusive, homophobic Eagle is a lesbian and frightening messages. One of these messages was in the form of a brick thrown through her office window. Jeremy Corbyn claims to stand for a kinder, gentler politics. Its as if hed never met John McDonnell. Or Andrew Fisher. The threatened violence in Manchester is absolutely in the spirit of their brand of politics. Coming soon to a street near you. She was just 21 years old when she paid $12,000 to set up Australia's first beauty e-commerce website from her garage. Kate Morris, from Melbourne, was a university student working behind a cosmetics counter when the idea to launch her own business sprung into mind in 1999. And fast forward 18 years, the founder of Adore Beauty has turned her cosmetics website company from two brands into a $28 million dollar beauty empire. Founder of Adore Beauty Kate Morris cosmetics company into a $28 million beauty empire Then then-university student was working behind a cosmetics counter when the idea to launch her own business sprung into mind in 1999 The global beauty website has since blossomed into more than 200 brands, with 12,000 products up for sale. Working behind the Clarins counter, she saw an opening in the online market after noticing most women found department stores 'intimidating and unpleasant'. 'When I explained to other people what my job was, so many women would pull a face and talk about how they hated having to go into a shop to buy beauty products,' the 39-year-old entrepreneur told News Corp. 'They found it to be an intimidating, high pressure sales environment and they'd come home with products they felt they had been bullied into purchasing.' At the age of 21, she paid $12,000 to set up a beauty e-commerce website from her garage The website has since blossomed into more than 200 brands, with 12,000 products up for sale She said shopping for make-up was supposed to be a 'fun' experience but she soon realised women were feeling the opposite. And so, the businesswoman decided to create a disruptive beauty shopping experience by starting an online cosmetics store. But she struggled to get her company off the ground because the big cosmetic brands didn't believe e-commerce was going to be a hit in the beauty industry. 'As a 21-year-old, clueless and broke uni student, I was trying to convince the entire established beauty industry that e-commerce was big,' she said. She said shopping for make-up was supposed to be a 'fun' experience but she soon realised women were feeling the opposite The businesswoman decided to create a disruptive beauty shopping experience by starting an online cosmetics store And it wasn't until 2014, she closed her biggest deal with Estee Lauder Group, which owns popular brands such as Clinique, Bobbi Brown and MAC. Major retailers David Jones, Myer, Sephora and Mecca Cosmetica have been going head-to-head to win over consumers by offering free sample testers in-store. Keeping up with the beauty market, Ms Morris said her website also offers goodie bag promotions, which includes travel-sized product testers. She explained the website allows shoppers to speak with make-up artists and beauty therapists via live chats so they can get the best possible advice with purchases. When a young man seems to be getting along famously with his prospective mother-in-law, it is said, its a sign that things are getting mighty serious. It certainly seemed that way at the weekend, when Prince Harry was captured deep in conversation with Doria Ragland, the mum of his girlfriend (and, some say, soon-to-be fiancee) Meghan Markle. Looking much younger than her 60 years, and enviably trim, in a lilac chiffon top and jeans, with her hair stylishly braided, Miss Ragland had made the five-hour flight from her home in Los Angeles to Toronto, to join the couple at the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games. Meet the family: Harry joins Meghan Markle and her mother Doria Ragland on Saturday Harry was evidently delighted to see her, and from their smiles it was clear that the pair already get along famously. They appear to be on such good terms that, at one point, she cupped her hand over her mouth conspiratorially as she whispered something to him. Royal watchers eagerly awaiting the announcement of an engagement should regard this public show of affection as a highly significant development. For, as I discovered when researching Meghans life-story recently, no one is closer to the 36-year-old actress than her mother who calls her Flower and it would be essential for a future husband to get along with Miss Ragland and command her respect. Getting along famously: Harry shares an animated conversation with the woman who could be his mother-in-law So what do we know of this enigmatically private woman, whose childhood was spent, if not exactly in the ghetto (as some have claimed) then certainly in some of the tougher neighbourhoods of Los Angeles, yet could soon be joining the uppermost echelons of the British establishment? Like many black Americans, her distant ancestors were slaves. Put to work in the Deep South plantations, her great-great-great-great grandfather was freed after the Abolition in 1865. When he was permitted to choose a new name to mark his emancipation he called himself Wisdom. Her forebears then strove to improve their station, such that Miss Raglands father, Alvin, became a prosperous antiques dealer. A larger-than-life character with a fondness for fancy cars and pretty women, his fortunes fluctuated, but at one time he ran a string of shops in Los Angeles. It is believed he had two daughters, but if so Meghans maternal aunt has not yet been traced. Doria Ragland was just 20 years old, and temping in a TV studio, when she caught the eye of Meghans father, Thomas Markle, who was one of Hollywoods most respected cinematographers. He was a 32-year-old divorcee with two children, and by all accounts a workaholic. Even so, they were married in 1979, and Meghan was born two years later. Meghan has described her childhood as happy and settled, and in material terms the family certainly wanted for nothing. Since her fathers job was handsomely rewarded, she and her older half-siblings, Samantha and Thomas Junior, lived in a beautiful sea-front house before moving to an affluent small town in The Valley area of Los Angeles, where their neighbours included one of Bing Crosbys twin sons. Her half-brother recalls how Thomas and Doria doted on Meghan, who was not only inordinately pretty (with her mothers eyes, and her fathers distinctive retrousse nose) but academically clever, and a natural on stage. However, he says, Samantha envied the attention lavished on her half-sister, and tensions arose. It was exacerbated by Thomas seniors long working hours, and in 1986, when Meghan was a few months short of her sixth birthday, her parents divorced. Though they were awarded shared legal custody of Meghan, her life changed markedly thereafter. To supplement the $900 (670) maintenance she was awarded each month, Doria Ragland took various jobs at one time working as an air-stewardess, according to one of my sources, which means she will have at least something in common with the Duchess of Cambridges mother, Carole Middleton, should she also become a royal relation. As Doria was frequently away from home, the teenage Meghan spent much of her with time with her father, in a tenement block in a rather seedy area of Hollywood. However, her bond with her mother never wavered. Indeed, Doria used to drive a car with the personalised number plate MEGNME. Today, Meghan regards her mother as her mentor, and friends say it is she who gives the Suits actress her free- wheeling, hippy streak, and her strong social conscience. When Meghan was a young girl, for example, she took her to the poorest parts of Jamaica so that she could experience their culture first-hand. By the same token, her mother was fairly strict and made sure she dressed demurely in her teens. When boys became over-attentive, Miss Ragland would take her aside and deliver a blunt message to her budding young Flower. Honey, remember never give the milk away for free. A few years ago, Meghans mother was struggling to make ends meet, with her credit cards seriously overdrawn. She then filed for bankruptcy, declaring debts of $42,900 against assets of just over $17,000. Admirably, however, she reinvented herself as a yoga therapist, working for a respected Los Angeles charity, specialising in helping people who had suffered brain injuries. She now lives in a desirable part of the city, in a bijou cottage, painted pea-green and fringed by palm plants. When I called on her there recently, she was just returning from an evening walk with her two dogs. Im sorry, sir, but I cant comment, she said politely, when I asked her about her daughters romance. She and Meghans father (who has retired to a seaside resort in Mexico) seldom communicate these days, but family members assure me there would be no discernible friction, should they be reunited for a wedding service. Judging from the way Harry charmed Meghans mum this weekend, that day might be closer than we think. A new gym just for kids has opened up in Australia, and is hoping to inspire the nation's youth to move a whole lot more. You won't find a treadmill or spin classes at MyFirstGym, but you will see plenty of adorable babies getting their first taste of fitness. The Brisbane gym features lessons for children as young as seven months old, all the way up to 13 years of age. MyFirstGym, in Brisbane, offers classes for children from seven months up to 13 years of age Classes for babies focus on developing their balance, coordination, and basic motor skills Classes range from learning the fundamentals of balance and coordination and basic motor skills to yoga, dance, and even Ninja Warrior as the children get older. MyFirstGym CEO Dan Newton told Daily Mail Australia that his team saw a 'huge gap' in the market for children's fitness after working at adult gyms for decades. 'With the trends with childhood obesity, we felt we needed something for kids,' he said. 'We wanted to give a variety of activities for children, to activate them and keep them moving and give them an opportunity to fall in love with fitness.' Newton describes MyFirstGym as a 'swim school out of water', where babies are being taught how to pull themselves up, brace themselves, and grab for objects. 'We saw an opportunity for kids from seven months, that's when they start to develop their motor skills,' he said. Newton describes MyFirstGym as a 'swim school out of water', where babies are being taught how to pull themselves up, brace themselves, and grab for objects Newton said that unlike just letting children run free on the playground, MyFirstGym has designed classes that are all 'outcome based' and always have something for them to learn MyFirstGym CEO Dan Newton told Daily Mail Australia that his team saw a 'huge gap' in the market for children's fitness after working at adult gyms for decades 'They're grabbing, crawling, starting to walk...they develop most of their coordination and confidence building from one to three years old.' 'And all of that can be improved if you give them development activities. They're learning different milestones.' Newton said that unlike just letting children run free on the playground, MyFirstGym has designed classes that are all 'outcome based'. 'Whether it's martial arts or Ninja Warrior, everything has a teaching point and an outcome that the children are trying to develop,' he said. The children go up levels, from 'Crawling Koalas' to 'Jumping Joeys', as they learn these essential building blocks and discover what kind of sport they enjoy most. Classes range from learning the fundamentals of balance and coordination and basic motor skills to yoga, dance, and even Ninja Warrior as the children get older MyFirstGym wanted to give parents a break as well, creating time periods where they can drop off their children for free play or even before a date night The gym currently offers a 12-month membership at $25 per week or a month-to-month membership at $30 a week per child 'It offers peace of mind for the parents, because the kids are doing things that are going to get them started on development activities and build a basic passion for exercise and movement,' Newton said. 'MyFirstGym gives them activities that they can take wherever they go as they get older.' And MyFirstGym wanted to give parents a break as well, creating time periods where they can drop off their children for free play or even before a date night. The gym currently offers a 12-month membership at $25 per week or a month-to-month membership at $30 a week per child. After trialling the gym in New Zealand last year, MyFirstGym officially opened in Hawthorne last month. Newton said the positive feedback was instant, with parents revealing that their children are happier, sleeping better, and have improved confidence. There are plans to expand My First Gym across Queensland, and interest is also coming from Melbourne and Sydney. Newton said the positive feedback was instant, with parents revealing that their children are happier, sleeping better, and have improved confidence Harry Herbert, pictured right, has split up with his wife Francesca, pictured left During this summers ITV documentary in which Princes William and Harry paid tribute to their mother, Harry Herbert revealed the Queen was so concerned about Diana in her low points that she took him aside quietly at Balmoral to check on her welfare. Sadly, Herberts similarly beautiful wife, Francesca, is now the one left feeling low as, I can disclose, the couple have separated after 25 years of marriage. Old Etonian Herbert, 58, is the younger brother of the Earl of Carnarvon, who owns Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey was filmed. The break-up has meant that Herbert has had to sell his own Downton Clanville House, an impressive Queen Anne property in Hampshire near Highclere. They have begun divorce proceedings and sold their house as part of the divorce, a close friend of Herberts confirms, insisting: There is no third party involved. They put their Grade II-listed, six-bedroom house, which has a 19th-century stable block, on the market for 3.5 million. The Queen will be greatly saddened to learn of the break-up as Herbert is like a son to her. His father, the 7th Earl of Carnarvon, who was known as Porchy, was her racing manager and they were close friends. Hit Netflix series The Crown caused controversy by suggesting the extent of their friendship enraged Prince Philip. Mr Herbert is pictured with the Duchess of Cornwall at a racecourse meeting last year A gregarious figure, Herbert is one of the biggest movers and shakers in horse racing. In addition to running the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing syndicate, he works for the Qatari royal family. His brother-in-law, John Warren, is the Queens racing manager. Known as Chica, Francesca, 54, is universally popular. She has three children with Herbert: William, 17, art student Chloe, 23, and Frankie, 21, a top model. Bosom pals: Anna and Kitty cosy up Anna Friel made history on Brookside in 1994 when she shared, with Nicola Stephenson, the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss on British TV. And it seems the 41-year-old actress still likes to nuzzle up to attractive women. At a party in St Jamess, London, Anna enjoyed a tete-a-tete with Lady Kitty Spencer, Princess Dianas 26-year-old niece. Posting the snap on social media, Anna thanked the partys host, Fortnum & Mason boss Ewan Venters, writing: Cant believe our dresses matched your beautiful flower decoration. A grief-stricken mother has revealed how she carries her baby's ashes in her handbag and takes him on days out to make sure he is part of the family - after he died of sepsis at just six days old. Baby Tommy Roden passed away in St Vincenz-Krankenhaus hospital in Germany on July 3 this year, with his parents Becki, 30, and Jon, 29, by his side. Despite being born eight weeks premature, the baby had gone from strength to strength, and doctors were slowly reducing the amount of oxygen he was having. But within 12 hours of developing sepsis, where the body starts to attack itself in response to an infection, he took his last breath in his mum's arms. His heartbroken parents then took pictures of him one last time before saying goodbye. And, after the funeral on July 31, they were determined to make sure Tommy remained part of the family, putting his ashes in a jar decorated with teddies and taking it on days out with their older children Luke, nine, Tyler, seven and Matthew, two. Baby Tommy Roden passed away in St Vincenz-Krankenhaus hospital on July 3 this year, with his parents Becki, 30, and Jon, 29, by his side. Becki carries the ashes in her handbag and takes him on days out to make sure he is part of the family Full-time mother Becki said: 'Tommy will always be our fourth little boy. When people question it, I say, 'Well, you wouldn't leave your baby at home.' 'He was taken so suddenly from us, but we will make sure he is never forgotten.' After a normal pregnancy, Becki woke up to her waters breaking at the end of June this year, eight weeks before her due date. The couple, who are currently living in Paderbohn, Germany because of Jon's work with the military, but are originally from Tidworth, Wiltshire, were worried that their baby wasn't ready to be born. Becki explained: 'My son that was born before Tommy had been born 12 weeks early. We thought Tommy might come early too. 'When my waters broke, we went into hospital and they kept me in for a few days and gave me steroids in case he was born early to help him develop. They said I had an infection that had caused my waters to break.' As Becki remained stable after three days in hospital, medics decided not to induce her. But, at around 10pm on June 26, she started to experience contractions was told she had gone into labour naturally. At 2.07am the next morning - June 27 - Tommy was born weighing 4lb 2 1/2oz. Speaking about Tommy, pictured three days old before he died, Becki said: 'He was taken so suddenly from us, but we will make sure he is never forgotten' Becki added: 'He was actually a good weight for a premature baby. He cried and was breathing on his own. We got a look at him at then they took him up to neonatal intensive care so they could incubate him. 'He was doing well, but he just needed that little bit of help.' Tommy was kept in an incubator on the neonatal ward, but doctors and nurses were pleased with his process and he continued to get stronger every day. 'We would go and see him every single day,' Becki continued. 'He was on oxygen two hours a day and then four hours off, and he was kept in an incubator to help him control his body temperature. 'He was doing so well. I managed to breast feed him once, and we got to cuddle him the next day. All his brothers came and met him. He was getting stronger and stronger.' On July 2, when Tommy was five days old, the family went to visit him in the morning before going home to spend some time together. Tommy, pictured at two days old, was kept in an incubator on the neonatal ward, but doctors and nurses were pleased with his process and he continued to get stronger every day Becki told of how he was 'really alert and happy.' But that evening, when she was back home, she got a call from the hospital saying the tot had developed an infection. Just 20 minutes later, they phoned back and broke the news that it'd developed into sepsis. Becki and Jon rushed to the hospital to be by their little boy's side, while a friend stayed with the other children, but distressingly, Tommy was fighting to live. Through the night, they sat with him and were heartbroken when doctors took them aside to warn them he might not make it. Becki said: 'They had told us that they didn't think he was going to make it through this, and that he was really poorly. 'But he kept fighting and holding on so well.' After taking their boys to school, the couple returned to find Tommy in the same condition. After Tommy's funeral, the couple had him cremated and decided to have his ashes placed in a jar so they could take him with them wherever they went. Tyler, Matthew and Luke with Tommy's ashes Now, the couple are organising a bike ride in Tommy's memory to raise money for the Sepsis Trust, and awareness of the condition (The Roden family are pictured with Tommy's ashes) Discussing the tragic moment the little boy passed, Becki said: 'They took all the wires off him and laid him in my arms. He took a breath in, let it out, and he was gone' But suddenly, his heart started to deteriorate, meaning all they could do was watch helplessly as doctors fought to save him. Becki said: 'His heart would keep dropping out, and then he would come back and then drop out again. The doctors asked us if we wanted them to resuscitate him, and we said yes. 'They told us that his heart was beating, but it was extremely slow - it was not even 40 beats per minute and a normal heart rate is 110bpm. 'I knew he was really poorly, and he couldn't fight any more so I told them they could stop. We didn't want him to be in any pain.' Making the brave decision to let their son go, the couple wanted to hold him one last time. Becki went on: 'They took all the wires off him and laid him in my arms. He took a breath in, let it out, and he was gone. 'It was heartbreaking because he was doing so well but in just hours, sepsis took our baby. I was sending messages to my family saying he was fine, and then just half an hour later, I was telling them we were losing him. The next message I sent was that he was gone.' Tommy, in the incubator at two days old, died after his heart started to deteriorate, meaning all they could do was watch helplessly as doctors fought to save him As he'd spent his entire life wearing just a nappy in his incubator, Becki dressed him for the first time, before holding him close and taking pictures of them together Luke, Matthew and Tyler with a scan of Tommy after his mother announced his birth After Tommy passed away, devastated Jon went outside to get some air - but Becki knew that she wanted to create as many memories with her little boy as she could. As he'd spent his entire life wearing just a nappy in his incubator, she dressed him for the first time, before holding him close and taking pictures of them together. Jon then joined his wife and they took one last picture with their baby boy before going home to break the news to their other children. Becki said: 'Luke and Tyler came home and they asked us if we were okay, and we had to just say, 'I'm so sorry darlings but Tommy was very poorly overnight and he died this morning.' I had to watch their hearts break.' Becki Roden at 23 weeks pregnant After Tommy's funeral, the couple had him cremated and decided to have his ashes placed in a jar so they could take him with them wherever they went. Since his death, they have taken him on days out to the park, on the school run and even to bingo. Becki explained: 'We want to make sure that he's always there with us and we keep him as part of the family. 'We took the children to a barefoot walk and we kept Tommy's ashes in the side pocket of the changing bag. He is still part of our family and it feels very natural taking us with us. 'The older two talk about him all the time, and they draw pictures of them and him and the things he is doing up in heaven.' Now, the couple are organising a bike ride in Tommy's memory to raise money for the Sepsis Trust, and awareness of the condition. Jon will cycle from John O'Groats to Land's End and back to their home in Tidworth - 1250 miles, which is 10 miles for every hour Tommy was alive. Becki added: 'One of the big problems we have had since is how little people know about. I want everyone to know the signs. There were no signs with him because it happened so quickly. 'My husband and I want to do all we can to spread the word. If it can save just one person from going through this, then at least we will have done something. We can do something positive in his memory.' To donate to Tommy's fund, visit: http://go.pressassociation.com/e/314511/fundraising-ridefortommy/9tyq/200395439 Ivanka Trump started her week on an edgy touch on Monday, spicing up her work outfit with several quirky accessories amid the cool fall morning. The First Daughter, 35, was pictured heading out of her Washington, D.C. home wearing a bright yellow sweater with a crew neck, which she paired with a neutral-toned slit dress with a thin plaid pattern. But the most eye-catching elements of Ivanka's outfits were her accessories, including large earrings that brought touches of dark blue and silver to her look, as well as black pumps with quirky clear heels. Ready! Ivanka Trump started her week on an edgy touch on Monday, spicing up her work outfit with several quirky accessories amid the cool fall morning Details: The First Daughter, 35, was pictured heading out of her Washington, D.C. home wearing a bright yellow sweater with a crew neck Quirky: Ivanka spiced up her already-bold ensemble with some large floral earrings, and clear block heels Spouse: Her husband and fellow senior White House adviser, 36-year-old Jared Kushner, was also seen this morning heading out, looking businesslike in a suit and tie Carefree: Jared, who came under fire last week along with his wife for using his private email address to conduct official business, smiled for the cameras on Monday morning Respect: Later on Monday, Ivanka and Jared took part in a moment of silence for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting that has left 58 people dead and 515 injured Solemn: The first daughter and her husband stood next to White House staffers on the South Lawn during the homage Gathered: President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, as well as Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence also participated in the moment of silence Important: Ivanka and her husband were pictured interacting with a woman as they arrived for the moment of silence on Monday Ivanka, who also totted a black purse full of paperwork, headed towards a Secret Service car after leaving her family home in the upscale Kalorama neighborhood. Her husband and fellow senior White House adviser, 36-year-old Jared Kushner, was also seen this morning heading out, looking businesslike in a suit and tie. Jared, who came under fire last week along with his wife for using his private email address to conduct official business, smiled for the cameras as he also walked towards a car on his way to work. He is among six White House officials who discussed White House matters using private email addresses, along with Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus, the New York Times reported citing 'current and former' officials. As for Ivanka, she used a private account to communicate with a government official while working as an unofficial adviser in the early days of her father's administration, Newsweek wrote. Later on Monday, Ivanka and Jared joined President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, as well as Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence to take part in a moment of silence for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting that has left 58 people dead and 515 injured. The first daughter and her husband stood next to White House staffers on the South Lawn during the homage. Chic show: Ivanka stepped out of her home on Thursday wearing a form-fitting black shirt with a faux choker detail, and flowing black trousers Helping hand! Her assistant was seen carrying a much larger black tote stuffed with papers to the waiting SUV, along with a Starbucks coffee While Ivanka appeared to carry her own paperwork on Monday, last week she needed the help of an assistant to transport all of her documents. When the first daughter left her home on Thursday, she was seen carrying a small bucket-style handbag on her shoulder, which - although stylish - proved to be no match for all of the items that Ivanka required for a busy day at the office. Indeed, as she made her way out to her waiting SUV, she had to have an assistant follow her with a much larger tote, which appeared to be stuffed to the brim with various sheets of paper, and even a newspaper, as well as a coffee from Starbucks. She was seen leaving her home on Thursday shortly after Jared himself made his way to the White House, and less than 24 hours after it was revealed that he actually registered to vote as a woman back in 2009, having apparently ticked the wrong box on his form. Despite the embarrassing mix-up, Jared appeared fairly laid-back as he made his way out of his home, carrying just a single bag, and without the help of an assistant. Spreading the message: Ivanka joined Brad Smith, the President of Microsoft, for a morning of coding last Wednesday, in order to promote STEM education in schools One of us! Ivanka was seen at Reagan National Airport last Tuesday evening after flying commercial to return from Detroit It is possible that the First Daughter's bulging tote was full of paperwork regarding her recent campaign to increase STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education in schools - an aim which received a serious boost on Monday when the White House greenlit $200 million in grants to go toward such programs. Internet companies then pledged an additional $300 million the following day. And Ivanka wasted no time in spreading awareness about the program, joining Brad Smith, the President of Microsoft, and Hadi Partovi, CEO of Code.org, for a morning of coding with young students at the Middleburg Community Charter School on Wednesday morning. Posting images from the visit on her Instagram, she wrote: 'Excited to join Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, and Hadi Partovi, CEO of Code.org, for a morning of coding with these amazing students to highlight the importance of computer science education for the future of our workforce.' Ivanka also traveled on a solo trip to Detroit last Tuesday to appear on a panel discussing the importance of STEM education in schools, particularly among young girls. Strictly Come Dancing voters have been branded 'racist' after the first person to be booted out of the competition was a black woman. Actress Chizzy Akudolu, 43, and her partner Pasha Kovalev, 37, were placed in the bottom two after their foxtrot failed to impress the public. Judges opted to save comedian Brian Conley and his partner Amy Dowden, despite Chizzy having beaten him in the leader board. Chizzy had also beaten Ruth Langsford and Charlotte Hawkins' scores, but they sailed through to the second phase of the competition without landing in the bottom two. Viewers have called the public 'racist' for not voting for Chizzy, claiming she was only in the bottom two because she is a black woman. One Twitter user said black people 'always seem to leave first' while another said it wasn't a surprising result, calling the entire process 'racist'. Chizzy Akudolu, 43, and her partner Pasha Kovalev became the first pair to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday night Darcey Bussell, 48, Bruno Tonioli, 61, and head judge Shirley Ballas, 57, all chose to send Chizzy and Pasha home, saving Brian and and Amy. Chizzy was clearly disappointed to be leaving the competition so soon and began to cry as she spoke to presenter Tess Daly, 48. She said: 'This guy this dude, I have loved every minute dancing with him and it will continue because I will just be going round his house to dance now. 'But I don't have his address so if anyone could email me I would appreciate it! And thank you to the judges for the constructive criticism which I will take on board.' Chizzy and Pasha placed higher on the leaderboard than Brian and Amy, as well as Ruth, Simon, Charlotte and Rev. Richard, who all sailed through to the next round A history of the Strictly race row 2005: Holby City actress Jaye Jacobs, 35, is voted out second 2006: Singer Mica Paris, 48, is also second out, followed by DJ Spoony, 47 2009: TV presenter Rav Wilding, 39, is third out 2010: Musician Goldie, 52, is the first to leave 2015: Boxer Anthony Ogogo, 28, leaves second, shortly followed by chef Ainsley Harriott, 60, in fourth place 2016: DJ Melvin Odoom, 37, leaves first, followed by actress Temeka Empson, 40, and TV presenter Naga Munchetty, 42, fourth Advertisement Not only had Chizzy beaten Brian, 56, she also came out ahead of stars like This Morning presenter Ruth Langsford, 57, and newsreader Charlotte Hawkins, 42, who still sailed through to the next round of the show. Viewers pointed out that contestants who aren't white often leave the BBC competition early, with DJ Melvin Odoom, 37, becoming the first to leave the 2016 series. Melvin has since reached out to Chizzy, tweeting this morning: 'If anyone knows what youre going through its me...you gave it your all Chizzy and thats all you can do... we love you.' EastEnders actress Tameka Empson, 40, was second to leave that year, followed by TV presenter Naga Munchetty, 42, in week four. The series was won by TV presenter Ore Oduba, 31, but he was consistently in the bottom two throughout the competition. In 2015 boxer Anthony Ogogo, 28, was voted out second, shortly followed by chef Ainsley Harriott, 60, who left fourth. Viewers called the results 'racist', pointing out that non white contestants tend to leave the competition early Chizzy placed 10th out of the 15 pairs, beating Ruth, Charlotte, chef Simon Rimmer, 54, and Rev. Richard Coles, 55, who all made it to the next stage of the competition without having to face a dance off. Chizzy made her name playing surgeon Mo Effanga from 2012 to 2017 in BBC hospital drama Holby City. She has also had smaller roles in EastEnders, Hollyoaks, The Inbetweeners and Silent Witness. The only judge who opted to save Chizzy was Craig Revel Horwood, 52, who said: 'Well for me, both couples were worth a three but the person who I love watching more on the dancefloor is Chizzy.' Chizzy was placed in the bottom two with Brian Conley, despite beating him in the leaderboard The actress thanked her partner for dancing with her, saying she hopes they stay in touch after the competition But the other judges preferred Brian, with Shirley commenting: 'Well it's quite a difficult decision I feel that both of them brought quite nice performances there, but the person I'm going to save because I felt like they had a bit more musicality and content this evening is Brian.' Viewers flooded Twitter with criticism of the results, with many arguing that the public were racist for voting out a black dancer first, and not for the first time. The BBC declined to comment. The 14 remaining Strictly couples will take to the floor again on Saturday evening for a movie special. A Spanish-born chef has flown out to the devastated island of Puerto Rico to offer relief to thousands by serving up nearly 20,000 meals a day in communities that have been left without food and electricity. Chef Jose Andres, 48, left his Michelin star Washington, D.C. restaurant to cook in cramped kitchens, in food trucks and on outdoor grills to feed the hungry communities on the island, facing round-the-block lines of people waiting for some much-needed plates of paella, sandwiches and stew. But when he's not feeding the needy, he's wagging his finger at President Trump's lack of action on the devastated island. Scroll down for video Super chef! Washington, D.C. celebrity cook Jose Andres, 48, is feeding tens of thousands a day in the devastated island of Puerto Rico to neighborhoods without food, water or power Dinner's up! Jose gives a thumbs up to the hundreds of volunteers help prepare thousands of sandwiches and trays of rice, chicken, stew, vegetables and paella Teamwork: Two volunteers put their back into pouring rice in to stewing paella in massive pans on giant outdoor grills to feed dozens of Puerto Rican communities The small plates chef with restaurants across the US, flew to the island quickly after the hurricane receded with an agenda to feed as many people as possible as a part of a movement called Chefs for Puerto Rico headed by his foundation World Central Kitchen. Videos the chef posts on Twitter reveal the progress and a chart of the dozens of neighborhoods that he brings food too, many of which are without water or power, and in need of hundreds of meals, a high call he works hard towards. 'Today we're going to try to reach probably over 12,000 meals. Everything you see here has been delivered. 400 meals to La Perla...Caguas 600 people,' he lists his kitchen's success in one Twitter clip. 'This is effective and this is working. 12,000 meals alone thanks to great people like these children who are contributing their time...Today we probably made of 25,000 sandwiches,' he adds in the video and points to a group of children donning gloves and helping their mothers with food trays. The chef targets a neighborhood at a time, often via food truck to efficiently deliver the hot meals to the communities directly. Meals on wheels: Chef Jose gives the local food trucks that have offered their hands and wheels to help transport hundreds of meals, a sign of warm approval for going the extra mile Stronger together: Various 'kitchens' are used for the Chefs for Puerto Rico initiative that consist of restaurants, frying out of food trucks, and cooking paella outdoors (above) The long haul: Crowds brave the rain in line for sancocho stew whipped up by the chef's World Central Kitchen group in the Santurce community And with each step he's quick to call out the White House for its lack of action - especially when his World Central Kitchen group are making it work with just two kitchens. In one tweet even even directly messages Donald Trump with relief and food aid solutions. 'If I was Donald Trump I would activate every Food Truck in the country, create blocks of 10, centralize kitchen, 20,000 meals a day per block,' he wrote on a method he's made nearly feasible on his own. But the trauma of the people and the dire need for help has chef Jose in tears. 'I was crying a lot today because I know we can do better. I know that the people of Puerto Rico are amazing people. We need to remember and we need to send this message: the people of Puerto Rico are Americans like you and like me,' he said to Anderson Cooper on CNN. 'Dont forget about that. The people of Puerto Rico are Americans that happen to live on an island,' he added. He even directly asked the US to send more military personnel to the 3.4million on the island. The chef, named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People, is no stranger to disaster relief and has a history of bringing his cooking skills to communities that suffer natural disasters including Haiti and Houston. Side by side: Chef Jose works alongside San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz to prepare a truck of Hurricane Maria relief supplies on September 30 Getting political: He is certainly not afraid to direct his thoughts to the president and shared this shot yesterday next to Mayor Carmen, who Trump said has 'poor leadership' Real talk: The cook shared a plan to rebuild the communities and effectively provide aid, modeled after his current strategy making an impact on the ground Thankful: Unlike the president, the chef has made an obvious effort to thank his kitchen volunteers for their efforts that have impacted thousands 'Ive been in Haiti I went after the last two hurricanesand the amount of help that came from America was far way bigger than the amount of help that has come to Puerto Rico from the military. At one point we had 25,000 military in Haiti and were not very close to that here in Puerto Rico,' he said to CNN. 'So the message is simple, Mr. Trump we want you to lead, but lets keep doing what weve done successfully in the past,' he added. Jose has worked alongside with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who Trump has publicly bashed for 'poor leadership' in the hurricane aftermath. 'If I was Donald Trump I would not attack a leader that has worked non stop for her people,' he said in another tweet. A third jab was taken towards the president's lack of appreciation for the volunteers who have taken to the islands streets to help restore communities on the ground. While Jose is busy tracking down neighborhoods in need and whipping up enough food to distribute, he says his group World Central Kitchen will stay on the island until the need goes down. The celebrity chef is one of many in the public eye cooking up a storm for the president's poor action in Puerto Rico. Stars including Cardi B, Rihanna and Kim Kardashian have also been extremely vocal online, directly addressing the need for more hurricane relief towards Trump's social media. Sometimes people need to find reasons to go to the gym but one little girl in Arizona doesn't have too many or any reasons for partaking in any activities related to working out. Two-year-old Mila Stauffer 'weighed in' on her gym opinions in a video posted to Instagram by her mother, Katie Stauffer, 39 on September 30. In the clip, that has gotten more than three million views as of Monday, the little girl describes the moment her mother asked if she wanted to go to the gym. A no for yoga: Mila asks 'Do you know what yoga is?' and answers her own question with 'hineys in your face' Her mother was met with a sassy remark asking who Jim was and some other opinions expressing Mila's true feelings on going to the gym. She continues to question, with a perplexed look on her face, why people run at the gym, when they're not getting anywhere. Mila then asks, 'What are these people doing' referring to the gym goers that are subjected to yoga which Mila hilariously refers to as 'hineys in your face'. She says: 'Everybody's so sweaty and the teacher says it's spiritual' but Mila isn't buying it and rebuffs with 'I think I can smell the spiritual.' Who's Jim? Mila wants to know who Jim is after her mother asks her if she wants to go to the gym Smelly versus spiritual: Mila discredits the teacher who says it's 'spiritual' and instead describes yoga as smelly saying 'I think I can smell the spiritual' With her hand out to the side and wearing a pink dress, Mila says that there are people everywhere at the gym 'bettering themselves' but lucky for Mila, she says. 'you can't get better than this' as she point to herself. The attitude doesn't end there however and Mila continues the rant with comments on a guy who said he could bench 200 but Mila isn't amused and insists that she can sit on a bench longer than that. The sassy little girl then asks 'who are these people' and 'why these 'people are so motivated?' But Mila maintains that she's happy for them as she does an eye roll and tries to hide her distaste for gym goers. Viral diva: A photo of Mila from her video on her terrible first day of preschool that earned her instant fame Toward the end of the video, Mila says that Charles told her that the gym makes beef cakes but in her final show of disapproval for the gym and its occupants, Mila says that she will become a vegetarian. Mila has done numerous videos and is becoming a social media sensation for her diva antics and cute videos. She even appeared on Daily Mail TV to speak about her viral fame after a sassy clip detailing her first day if preschool earned her more than two million views in a matter of days. The video where Mila can be seen sitting down on her couch, opening a mega-sized bag of popcorn, and unleashing the dramatic rant about her terrible first day, was also posted to Instagram by her mother. Queen Silvia of Sweden is rarely seen outside of her native country but on Monday she and her daughter Princess Madeleine travelled to New York for a cause close to their hearts. The Swedish monarch, 73, joined leaders of the United Nations and celebrities at the World Childhood Foundation Conference in the American city. Silvia, who is founder of the foundation, was accompanied by Madeleine, 35, co-founder to address the hidden epidemic of child sexual abuse. Queen Silvia of Sweden and her daughter Princess Madeleine travelled to New York where they attended the World Childhood Foundation Conference The conference is part of the foundation's #EyesWideOpen global awareness initiative held at the Cipriani. For the engagement today Silvia looked preened to perfection in a monochrome ensemble in the form of cream fitted jacket with black piping. She paired the elegant jacket with a black pencil skirt this time featuring cream piping in the reverse and she completed the outfit with a monochrome pump. Queen Silvia, founder of the foundation, delivered an impassioned speech to those at the conference ahead of the Thank You Gala this evening Silvia looked preened to perfection in a monochrome ensemble in the form of cream fitted jacket with black piping Meanwhile her youngest daughter looked smart in a pair of skinny black jeans paired with a nude coloured blouse with chiffon detailing. Madeleine showcased her eye for style accessorising her outfit with complementary nude accessories for the engagement on Monday. The Queen gave an impassioned speech at the conference today ahead of the Thank You Gala expected to take place tonight. 'Every child deserves to have a happy and healthy childhood,' said Her Majesty who appeared to be in good spirits on Monday Four hundred guests are expected to attend, with the goal of raising money to benefit children at risk of abuse and survivors of child sexual abuse primarily in the US but also internationally. 'Every child deserves to have a happy and healthy childhood,' said Her Majesty. 'However, more than 200 million children worldwide are victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. It is imperative that we invest in programs and initiatives that work to eliminate sexual abuse and violence against children.' Viewers of Monday night's instalment of Liar were left stunned as Andrew's rampage took an even more sinister turn. In the previous episode fans had witnessed Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) attempting to seduce DI Harmon, the female detective gathering a case against him for the rape of Laura (Joanne Froggatt). And the latest episode took an unexpected twist as the villain took his revenge on Harmon (Shelley Con) for rejecting him. Monday night's installment of Liar saw Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) sneak into the home of pregnant DI Harmon (Shelley Con) where he appeared to attack her in her sleep After spiking her drink Andrew is seen checking that his victim is unconscious before launching his attack by tapping her to wake her up During the episode Andrew is seen creeping into the detective's home, managing to spike her drink and seemingly claiming his next victim. After pregnant Harmon awoke from her haze, she looks into the toilet bowl to find blood, implying that she may have miscarried. Viewers were horrified by the tragic twist, taking to Twitter to share their disgust over Andrew describing the scenes as 'disturbing'. In the opening scenes of the episode viewers were left feeling unnerved as Andrew perused Harmon's social media pictures. Harmon was later seen talking to her girlfriend on webcam, with the couple discussing Harmon's pregnancy and their plans for the future after she decided to leave detective work. She had been drinking smoothies to give her baby the nutrients it needed, and was later seen sipping one as she settled down to watch the TV and as Harmon drifts off Andrew creeps into her living room and leant over her. Andrew took the bottle from her hands and rinsed it in the sink, revealing that he had been spiking the smoothies. Viewers were disturbed by the shocking twist, with many finding it too difficult to watch He went back to her and made sure she was unconscious, before removing her glasses and appearing to attack her. When she woke up Harmon went to the toilet and noticed blood in the bowl, suggesting she had lost her baby. Viewers were outraged by Andrew's latest move, with many saying they were find it uncomfortable to watch. One Twitter user even said it was 'making my skin' crawl after watching the disturbing scenes. Andrew was first seen staring at Harmon's social media pictures, looking very sinister as he seemed to plan his attack Policewoman Harmon had been drinking smoothies to give her baby the nutrients it needs After waking up Harmon didn't appear to be in pain, until she spotted blood in the toilet bowl Meanwhile Laura had desperately been trying to gather more evidence to prove that Andrew raped her, travelling to Scotland to gather information about his wife, who we learn had committed suicide. The wife's mother told her to leave her alone, saying that Andrew was an exemplary father and husband. Laura managed to track down his wife's best friend Catherine, who revealed that Andrew had raped her in a similar way. The wife, Mary, committed suicide believing that Catherine and Andrew had had an affair. Laura traveled to Scotland to find out why Andrew's wife had committed suicide and found out he had another rape victim Catherine was persuaded into going to the police about the rape, but later became too scared about the backlash and refused to help Laura Referring to a social media post Laura had shared about Andrew Catherine said: 'Before Mary killed herself I slept with Andrew. All these years I thought it was my fault but then I read what you wrote and it made me realise. I thought I was drunk and that's why I couldn't remember anything. 'It was like it happened to someone else and I was watching. He must have drugged me too. I thought it was the worst mistake of my life but he said it was my idea and I believed him.' But later Catherine decided not to go to the police after Mary's mother intervened, leaving Laura hopeless that she'd ever catch her rapist. She was later dealt another blow from Andrew when a letter from his lawyer revealed that he was suing her for defamation. Last week it was revealed that Andrew was the one lying about the rape, having spiked Laura's drink when they went back to her flat Laura charged over to his house demanding to know why he felt he had any reason to sue her. She said: 'You don't get to do this to me twice, you raped me Andrew! And now you want to silence me? You won't, I will not, I won't keep quiet about what you've done.' 'I know why your wife killed herself, she found out what you did to Catherine McCauley didn't she? She couldn't bear to live with someone like you any longer.' Despite the revelation, Andrew remained straight faced and didn't react to Laura's words - instead issuing her with a cutting remark. He said: 'You should be running along now shouldn't you? It's getting late. Nice woman like yourself shouldn't be out on her own, not at this time of night.' Liar continues next Monday at 9pm on ITV. Diamonds may be a girl's best friend but according to Swarovski, crystals are the most glamorous, and expensive, way for her to adorn her water bottle. The brand has collaborated with trendy water bottle company BKR - popular for its silicone wrapped glass water bottles - on the release of a rather decadent charitable collection of bottles that each feature 500 crystals in the cap. But while the bottles - which are available in a variety of swoon-worthy shades, such as millennial pink and rose gold - have proven incredibly popular with some, they have also sparked fury among others, thanks to their hefty $185 price tag. Think pink: Swarovski has released a collaboreation with water bottle brand BKR to create a limited edition bottle featuring 500 crystals on the cap Wealth to health! The limited edition pink and rose gold water bottle retail for $185 each The new bottles are available in four shades including light pink, mauve, white, and black for the silicone body, with caps sold in silver, rose gold and gold. Inside the lid of the each bottle is myriad of matching colored crystals. BKR hailed New York-based Greek artist Lucas Samaras, the man behind the Mirrored Room installation, as the inspiration for the artistic bottle - designed for the woman 'who has everything'. While the bottle elevates hydrating into a high fashion activity, the proceeds of the glass will also have an equally high impact with 100 per cent of the proceeds going towards Water For People to bring clean water to needy communities. In fact, each bottle supplies a full month's supply of water to a person in need. The bejeweled bottle has pink and crystal loving fans in an uproar for the stylish debut. Sweet sips: The proceeds for each bottle will go to Water for the People, BKR claims that the price of one bottle will supply clean water to a person in need for a whole month High shine: The bottles, part of the 500 Collection, come in pink, mauve, black and white with caps in silver, gold and rose gold, each with a crystal-packed cap 'Words cannot describe how much I need this,' one Instagram user named Lenita commented on a picture of the newly-released bottle. 'Ive never wanted a water bottle so much!!' fan Tricia commented. 'How soon before these come to the UK? My inner sparkle goddess needs these!' British user Amanda gushed. But some were left in an angry uproar for the bank-breaking price for a bottle that usually costs $35 with the brand. '185 for a water bottle?? No! I have a few of these and at 35 theyre the most expensive glass water bottle which shatter easily,' user Tanya wrote on Instagram. 'Just gagged over that price tag though,' an un-amused woman shared. 'Pretty, but not for the price. Yikes!' Shae added. While fans have clamored for the coveted bottle in the comments, the demand has been so high that BKR already has delayed shipping delays for some models of their limited edition sparkly rendition. Pidapipo Gelateria has apologised after coming under fire for launching 'gender-specific' ice cream flavours A gelato bar has apologised after coming under fire for launching 'gender-specific' ice cream flavours. Pidapipo Gelateria teamed up with fashion brands Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter to create two flavours for men and women as part of a spring fashion event last week. The Melbourne gelateria, which has stores in Carlton and Windsor, announced the new flavours on Instagram, but the post has since been deleted after attracting backlash. 'Here are two gelato popsicles we've created,' the original post read. 'One for men and one for women. For men? Salted caramel with milk chocolate & malt crumb. For women? Strawberry rose with white choc & raspberry dust. Even better together.' The gelato bar teamed up with fashion brands Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter to create two flavours for men and women as part of a spring fashion event last week Fairfax Media reported one critic labelling the new release as 'tone deaf' while another said 'OF COURSE the women get a pink fruity one. I'm shocked the men's isn't rum or some s***'. A Pidapipo spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they decided to delete the post because it was 'creating confusion'. 'Pidapipo were one of the catering suppliers that were engaged be part of the Net-a-Porter Spring Fashion event on Thursday evening,' the spokesperson said. 'We were briefed to create two distinct gelato flavours to represent the unique Mr Porter and Net-a-Porter brands (male and female online shopping websites) to be enjoyed by all the guests who attended the event. 'We removed an instagram post about the event because it was creating confusion as to the intent of the creative collaboration. 'We love creating delicious gelato to be enjoyed by everyone and if the collaboration gave the wrong impression we are sorry.' On Monday, the gelateria apologised for the move, adding they decided to delete the post because the announcement had 'created confusion' On Monday, the gelateria took to social media to apologise for the move. 'We absolutely didn't intend for them to be interpreted as gender specific,' the post read. 'The gelato flavours were designed to be consumed by everyone who attended the event. 'We recognise the concept and post were not thought out well and we are truly sorry for this confusion and any offence this may have caused. 'Pidapipo make gelato for everyone to enjoy - we believe it's the right of everyone to eat whatever gelato they want... whenever they want.' The Melbourne gelateria, which has stores in Carlton and Windsor, announced the new flavours on Instagram But many jumped to the defence of the gelato bar, with many saying: 'People need to get over this gender thing' Unimpressed with the apology, one person commented: 'The fact is you got on board with the idea and used it as content. Don't pretend like you had no idea your product was being used this way.' But many jumped to the defence of the beloved gelato bar, with some saying: 'People need to get over this gender thing'. 'You can't choose your age or race, biology has it you are born a gender. Don't take it out on lovely people who do their best to make people happy with ice cream,' one said. Another posted: 'It's outrageous that people feel the need to criticise you for this. The world had gone mad. No apology necessary. Keep making amazing gelato!' Another said: 'You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. Don't succumb to these political correct idiots! They will forever find something to complain about.' And another wrote: 'Do not apologise to the sad, lonely dolts. They will want ladies wear and menswear to be non gender specific next.' Scientists have used gene therapy to reverse one of the most common causes of blindness. A single gene injected into the back of the eye restores vision, by fixing a problem which stops the retina detecting light. The breakthrough, in mice experiments, saw the animals' blindness cured so that they again responded to beams of light and could see objects placed in their cage. Crucially, the eye continued to make a vital protein which restores sight for 15 months after the initial injection. Researchers at the University of Oxford says the gene therapy goes further than other work on retinitis pigmentosa, which affects more than 20,000 people in Britain. Single gene injected into the back of the eye found to restore vision in mice with retinitis pigmentosa (stock photo) WHAT IS RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is the name given to a group of inherited eye conditions that affect the retina at the back of the eye. RP causes permanent changes to your vision, but how much and how quickly varies from person-to-person. Almost all types are inherited, caused by a fault in the genetic information passed down to you from a parent. The faulty genes cause your retinal cells to stop working and eventually die. This affects your eyes ability to process the light that enters it. For most people with RP, the early symptoms include: Difficulty seeing in poor light such as outdoors at dusk or in a dimly lit room. Loss of peripheral vision this can lead to tunnel vision Source: RNIB Advertisement Previous attempts focused on correcting the genetic mutations which cause blindness by killing off the cells we need to detect light. However the new technique provides a single fix, by drafting in completely different cells to do their job. It could be available for patients in five to 10 years. Samantha de Silva, the study's lead author from the Nuffield Laboratory of Opthalmology at the University of Oxford, said: 'There are many blind patients in our clinics and the ability to give them some sight back with a relatively simple genetic procedure is very exciting. Our next step will be to start a clinical trial to assess this in patients.' Key findings The rod cells in the eye allow us to see in dim light and provide peripheral vision, so that we can see to the side when staring straight ahead. The cone cells work best in bright light and help us read and recognise colours. Eventually both are lost in retinitis pigmentosa, the inherited disease which is the most common cause of blindness in young people. But another type of cell in the retina which is not normally light-sensitive can be drafted in to do the same job as the rod and cone cells, if encouraged to make a light-sensitive protein called melanopsin. The scientists did this in mice which have a similar natural genetic fault to the one which causes retinitis pigmentosa in humans - who are also blind. They injected a virus engineered to be harmless into the animals' eyes, 'infecting' the cells with a gene which causes the retina to produce melanopsin. Within just three weeks, the previously blind mice reacted to plastic objects placed in their cage, while their eyes responded when they were exposed to light. The changes in their behaviour made it clear they could see for the first time. Potential treatment for humans The results lasted into old age, although trials on humans are needed to ensure the results are permanent, and are hoped to go ahead within five years. The new research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Professor Alan Boyd, President of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, said: 'These results are very encouraging and could lead to a potential treatment for end-stage blindness in humans.' It comes as scientists at the University of Iowa have used gene editing to fix a mutation involved in causing glaucoma. They were able to prevent eye damage in mice, as well as the build-up of pressure which leads to glaucoma, and say the results could translate to humans. Public health was the straw that broke the camel's back for most swing states who voted Donald Trump, a new study has found. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital analyzed county-by-county election data, compared with public health data. In previous studies, counties with poor physical and mental health have seen poor voter turn-out. But last year, it was quite the opposite: new data show counties in poor health saw turn-out consistent with the rest of the country, and tended to go for the rogue GOP candidate. This association between public health and voting patterns was strongest in the West and particularly in the Midwest, where major voting shifts contributed to the Republican victory. Counties which shifted towards Trump had fewer health care resources, a higher rate of teen births, and lower life expectancy, according to a new analysis 'Across the country, we found that voters in counties with poor public health shifted dramatically towards the Republican candidate in 2016, compared with 2012, an effect that was particularly strong in states where the results changed Electoral College votes,' says Dr Jason H. Wasfy, of the Division of Cardiology, who led the study. 'Although we cannot determine causality from these results, the findings raise the possibility of a role for public health status in determining voting behavior.' The analysis shows counties shifting towards Trump had fewer health care resources, including around half the number primary care physicians per capita than counties shifting away from Trump. These counties also had higher teen birth rates and age-adjusted mortality, but lower rates of violent crime. The researchers combined county-by-county election data for both elections with information from a public health database compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, including data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The public health measures used in the analysis were reported days of poor health; the prevalence of food insecurity, obesity and diabetes; teen birth rates, and the age-adjusted mortality rate. Complete data covering both elections was available for 3,009 counties, more than 95 percent of the 3,142 counties or equivalent regions in the U.S. They measured the difference between the percentage of voters in a county voting for Donald Trump in 2016 and the percentage voting for Mitt Romney in 2012. ANOTHER DELAY FOR TRUMP'S HEALTH BILL President Donald Trump is predicting an Obamacare repeal will pass but not until roughly a year after he said he would be signing it into law. Trump made the comments at an Indiana rally last week after the collapse of the Graham-Cassidy health bill which was facing a Friday deadline for special 'reconciliation' instructions that let it speed through the Senate and avoid a filibuster. But even under that scenario, the majority must assemble a majority to pass it something that didn't happen. 'Because the reconciliation window is about to close, we have to wait a few months until it reopens before we take a vote,' the president said. Advertisement Overall, there was a 5.4 percent shift from Romney to Trump - with 88 percent of counties shifting towards Trump while 12 percent shifted away from Trump. Counties that shifted towards Trump - not all of which were won by the Republican - had higher proportions of white populations, more rural populations and lower average household incomes than those that shifted away from Trump. The election produced some unusual outcomes, which left experts baffled. It was the best performance for a Democratic presidential candidate in Texas in 20 years. It was also the first victory of a Republican candidate in Wisconsin in 32 years. Now, as political scientists try to take stock of the election, it is becoming clear that Trump's win was driven by health. 'Even after adjusting for factors such as race, income and education, public health seems to have an additional, independent association with this voting shift towards Trump,' explains Dr Wasfy, who is an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. 'It's critical to interpret our results as reflecting county-wide ecological associations, rather than individual voting behavior. 'More than anything, I think these results demonstrate that health is a real issue that can affect people's lives and their decisions. 'We all need to focus on improving public health as a means of improving people's lives.' If all but five percent of American smokers switched to e-cigarettes, 6.6 million premature deaths would be avoided, according to a new study. That adds up to 86.7 million cumulative years of life saved, as estimated by the new research from Georgetown University Medical Center. The 15 percent of Americans that currently smoke would regain about three years of life. The study also included a more 'pessimistic' prediction, in which all but 10 percent of smokers switched in the next 10 years, and vaping was not as safe as we currently hope. Even then, the researchers still found that 1.6 million lives would be saved, for a total of 20.8 million fewer years of human life lost. If all but five percent of American smokers switched to e-cigarettes, it 6.6 million premature deaths would be prevented, and 86.7 million years of life would be regained This Washington, DC study comes amid declining cigarette sales, and three years after the US Surgeon General's recommendation that the US follow the examples of Finland, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Ireland and come up with an 'endgame' for cigarette smoking. Though there has been some concern that e-cigarettes would only be smoked in tandem with regular cigarettes, or serve as a gateway to cigarette smoking, early research suggests that that e-cigarettes contain far fewer toxins than traditional smoking creates. This is not to say that there are no risks associated with e-cigarettes. Some studies have suggested that they can have negative effects on heart health, others have reported they could increase the risk of stroke. E-cigarettes vary widely in potency and, therefore, in the risks associated with them. But still other studies have demonstrated that e-cigarettes are less addictive than cigarettes, and that the switch drastically reduces the number of cancerous toxins a smoker is exposed to. In short, the jury is still out on what exactly the health effects of e-cigarettes will be. But lead study author David Levy and his team seem certain that even what they call the 'worst case scenario,' switching to e-cigarettes will still save lives. The number of cigarettes sold in the US each year has been declining steadily for a long time now, even as manufacturers raise prices and continue to see profits. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette sales fell 2.5 percent from 2015 to 2016. The CDC also reports that between 2012 and 2013 (its most recent data), sales of various forms of e-cigarettes sky-rocketed, with increases in sales of assorted e-cigarette products varying from 72 percent to 320 percent. 'The residual prevalence of cigarette smokers will depend on the potency of policies directed at cigarette use,' the study says, but acknowledges that the same will be true of e-cigarette use. As of 2015, about 15 percent of all adults in the US were current smokers, according to the CDC. The CDC reported that in 2014, about 3.7 percent of adult Americans vaped on a regular basis. The Georgetown University researchers based their numbers on the previous research that said that strict policies, significant tax hikes, and practices like packaging cigarettes with graphic depictions of health problems caused by smoking could reduce the prevalence of smoking in the US to 10 percent in the next 10 years. Dr Levy says that with the informed encouragement of e-cigarette use, 'the endgame would be getting cigarette use down to five percent of the US population.' He and his co-authors note in the study that the tobacco industry has taken a 'divide and conquer' approach to products like e-cigarettes, and it's been working. 'Right now the tobacco control community is divided, leading to counterproductive disagreements rather than seeking evidence-based strategies,' Dr Levy told Daily Mail Online. 'My hope is that this study leads to a more objective approach by realizing that e-cigarettes, even under a worst case scenario, could lead to public health gains, if we can determine how to promote the use of e-cigarettes in a way that reduces smoking without substantially increasing e-cigarette use.' There has been a surge in patients wanting to reverse their transgender surgery, according to a leading doctor in Serbia, the global hub of transgender corrective surgery. Dr Miroslav Djordjevic, a urologist in Belgrade, has been treating patients from all over the world for about 10 years. His clinic in the capital of a country that is openly hostile to LGBT groups, became an unlikely haven for transgender patiets. But now, Dr Djordjevic has told The Telegraph that he is seeing an increase in the number of patients seeking reversal surgery. He warns the majority of people exploring reversals did not receive sufficient psychiatric screening before undergoing the procedure - and he urges the medical community not to antagonize people that change their mind. Dr Miroslav Djordjevic (pictured), a urologist in Belgrade, has seen about 14 patients who have changed their minds. He said all of those patients got their initial procedures elsewhere, at clinics where he feels they did not receive sufficient psychiatric screening 'Definitely reversal surgery and regret in transgender persons is one of the very hot topics,' he told the newspaper. 'Generally, we have to support all research in this field.' Dr Djordjevic, who splits him time between Serbia and New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, says he has performed seven reversals in the past five years at his clinic in Belgrade. A further eight are in consultation or undergoing operations. Most are seeking reattachment of male genitalia, a complicated procedure which costs upwards of $20,000. The news comes amid a huge rise in the rate of gender reassignment patients. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons found a nearly 20 percent increase in vaginoplasties, phalloplasties, top surgery and contouring operations in just the first year of reporting. Increasingly, insurance companies are offering coverage for surgery for patients with gender dysphoria - a disconnect between how an individual feels and what their anatomic characteristics are. Gender confirmation procedures can include everything from facial and body contouring to reassignment surgeries. In 2016, more than 3,200 surgeries were performed to help transgender patients feel more like themselves. Surgeons in the field claim that figure is a conservative estimate - and would likely three times higher if all hospitals had a uniform way of documenting such surgeries. However, Dr Djordjevic warns that while the medical community is beginning to embrace this kind of surgery, there is a stigma surrounding reversals. Station managers in Mumbai have been told by India's railways minister to 'spend whatever is necessary' to ensure passenger safety following Friday's fatal footbridge stampede. Piyush Goyal made the demand as the death toll from the disaster, which officials said happened after hundreds of people took shelter from heavy rain, rose to 23. He announced steps to assess and improve safety on the Mumbai suburban network, which carries millions of people around the country's financial hub every day. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal announced steps to assess and improve safety on the Mumbai suburban network, which carries millions of people around the financial hub every day Panicked commuters surged forward over a foot bridge at the Indian city's Elphinstone Road station at about 10.45am on Friday amid rumours that the structure was collapsing Most of those killed on Friday were crushed to death, some suffocated and others fell from the narrow bridge between Parel and Elphinstone stations. Around three dozen injured were also injured in the stampede. The accident has raised new safety questions about one of the world's biggest rail networks, which is struggling to upgrade infrastructure and safety after a series of deadly crashes in recent years. Indian Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has promised improvements 'whatever the cost' Nearly $8 billion has been promised to upgrade the suburban trains in Mumbai that are a lifeline for city's 20 million people A man is carried away to receive medical treatment after being crushed during a stampede at a station in Mumbai, India this morning Goyal said all Mumbai stations would be inspected within a week and new footbridges were being approved for overcrowded stations. 'To eliminate bureaucracy and delays, I have empowered GMs (general managers) to spend whatever is necessary on safety,' he said on Twitter. 'Additional escalators sanctioned at crowded Mumbai suburban stations and thereafter for all high traffic stations,' the minister said after chairing a meeting of top railway department officials. Goyal, who was appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month to replace the previous railways minister following a series of accidents, has pledged to invest billions of dollars to make the network safer. Nearly $8 billion has been promised to upgrade the suburban trains in Mumbai that are a lifeline for city's 20 million people. Some 7.5 million passengers commute in nearly 2,500 trains daily but hundreds die every year due to losing their grip on the doors, falling while trying to get into packed compartments and hitting electric poles outside. The injured being shifted to a hospital in Mumbai on Friday after a stampede at Elphinstone railway station Official figures say some 3,400 people died in 2016 either from falling off the trains or while crossing the tracks of what is the world's most overcrowded suburban rail network. The toll from the stampede rose to 23 as another person died of his injuries at a city hospital Saturday. 'Rest all are receiving treatment and 11 have been discharged from the KEM hospital,' Tanaji Kamble, spokesman for the local civic corporation's disaster management cell, told AFP. The stampede is the latest disaster to hit Indian Railways -- the world's fourth largest network. Last month, 23 people were killed after a train derailed in a northern city. Nearly 150 died in November in a crash. A Buddhist monk accused of leading a mob which evicted Rohingya refugees - including children - from a UN shelter in Sri Lanka has been remanded in custody. Akmeemana Dayarathana will now be held for a week pending an identification parade in connection with the attack at a refugee centre near the capital of Colombo on Tuesday last week. Police told the magistrates at the court in Mount Lavinia on Monday that the monk was a member of an unlawful assembly, obstructed police and caused disaffection among peaceful Buddhists. Sri Lankan guards escort Buddhist monk Akmeemana Dayarathana after he was remanded in custody 'Peace-loving Buddhists were shocked to see a saffron-robed monk behaving so badly,' a prosecuting police officer told news agency AFP. 'We are charging the monk for causing distress to Buddhists.' The raid on the refugee centre, which housed 31 Rohingya refugees, was led by Dayarathana's radical Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa (Sinhalese National Force), which uploaded videos of the attack on their Facebook page. Several other people, including monks, were seen on the video urging supporters to destroy the refugee facility. Rohingya Muslim boys, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, cry as Bangladeshi men push them away during distribution of food aid Dozens of men and women led by monks stormed the building and smashed windows and furniture. Police eventually rescued the refugees who had huddled in upstairs rooms. Five men and a woman arrested over the weekend were also remanded in custody until October 9. The government of the Buddhist-majority country has accused the monks of behaving like 'animals' during the attack, which left two police officers injured. Cabinet spokesman Rajitha Senaratne condemned the attack on Rohingya refugees A young Rohingya Muslim boy from Myanmar carries a child on his back and walks through rice fields after crossing over to the Bangladesh side of the border near Cox's Bazar The refugees arrived in Sri Lanka five months ago after the navy found them drifting in a boat off the north coast. Before that, they had been living in India for several years. More than 800,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar in recent years. While most are in refugee camps in Bangladesh, a sizeable minority have moved to other parts of South Asia. The Rohingya have been the target of decades of state-backed persecution and discrimination in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, where many view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Extremist Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka have close links with ultra-nationalist counterparts in Myanmar. Both have been accused of orchestrating violence against minority Muslims. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has expressed alarm over last Tuesday's attack. Accused terrorist Hafiz Saeed has threatened to sue Pakistan's foreign minister after he suggested that he drank wine at the White House. The alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people has accused Khawaja Asif of 'slander' according to a legal notice from his lawyer The notice issued by Saeed's lawyer slammed Asif for the comments and described Saeed, a designated a global terrorist by the US and who has a $10 million bounty on his head, as a 'patriotic Islam loving Muslim'. Hafiz Saeed is a designated a global terrorist by the US and who has a $10 million bounty on his head Khawaja Asif (pictured) claimed Saeed was wined and dined by the US administration and is now being accused of slander by the alleged terrorist Asif, speaking with the dean of the Columbia University School of Journalism Steve Coll in New York last week, was reacting to US President Donald Trump's claim this year that Pakistan was giving safe haven to 'agents of chaos'. 'We went to hell and we are still burning in that hell... Don't blame us for Hafiz Saeeds, these were the people who were your darlings,' Asif said. 'Just only 20 years, 30 years back they were being dined and wined (at the) White House. And now you say go to hell Pakistanis because you are nurturing these - I don't want to use the word for them,' he added, sparking a lively debate on Pakistani social media. The US had offered $10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed, who heads the Muslim charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) The notice written by Saeed's lawyer, dated September 29 but obtained by news agency AFP Monday, read: 'It is shocking to know that (the) Foreign Minister of my country is accusing Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of taking wine!' it said. 'This is abusive language and can never be used about my client,' it continued, saying that it was issuing 14 days warning of a defamation suit. Saeed will seek 100 million rupees ($950,000) in damages, according to the notice. The iconic The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai where the 2008 attack took place The horror of the Mumbai carnage played out on live television around the world as commandos battled the heavily armed gunmen, who arrived by sea on the evening of November 26, 2008. It took the authorities three days to regain full control of the city. Saeed heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) group, listed as a terror outfit by the United Nations, and considered by the US and India to be a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the militant group blamed for the Mumbai attack. JuD is also popular for its charity work in Pakistan, where Saaed led a high-profile public life and regularly delivered fiery anti-India speeches as his group operated freely across the country. He was placed under house arrest earlier this year as Pakistan bowed to foreign pressure. JuD has lately backed a newly formed political party, the Mili Muslim League (MML), which Pakistan's Election Commission has so far refused to register. Their candidate contested a recent by-election in Lahore as an Independent, coming third with 5,822 votes. So often, Indian governance moves to the dark side. This happens most when it inspires hate and not humanity. Amidst all its triumphs, India falls prey to communalism, violence, anger and distrust. As if time bombs lacerate the pathology of Indian life. The nation goes tick-tock-tick- tock. So much of this is made by our prejudices for which some will fight the 'other' to the bitter end. Rohingya Muslim boys, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, cry as Bangladeshi men push them away during distribution of food aid Rohingya Muslim girl Afeefa Bebi, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh A small but poignant example of this is the case of Rohingyas, 44,000 of whom have crossed into India. The government wants to throw them out because they are 'terrorists'. They are prepared to send food supplies for them in Myanmar. The INS Gharial carried 700 tonnes for Rohingyas and airlifts of 55 tonnes were made earlier this year to induce Rohingyas to return. Myanmar deal Despite empty promises, their safety in Myanmar cannot be guaranteed. A deal is being worked with Myanmar for their return. Indo-Myanmar policies are being rewritten. The 'free movement' of 16 kilometres on either side may be revised. The terrorist problem cannot be resolved on a hunch but by a process that separates terrorists from refugees. Meanwhile, China has investments in Myanmar's Rakhine state and doesn't want this crisis to be internationalised. Manipur is taking preventive measures. All border states are supported by the Union Home ministry as if India is at war with these people. These Rohingyas are Muslims. The BJP targets Muslims as terrorists. The unwritten bias is Muslims are not welcome in this country. In the BJP, there is only one sane voice that has spoken with clarity. That is Varun Gandhi pleading humanity for refuges: 'As far as the Rohingyas are concerned, I've called for empathy, leading potentially to asylum while vetting each applicant for national security concerns.' For his sanity, Varun was ticked off by the high command and especially MoS Home Hansraj Ahir. Rohingya Muslim children, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, stretch out their arms out to collect chocolates and milk So much for democratic voices in the BJP. In Myanmar, the Rohingyas are beaten, tortured killed by the army and police along with civil forces. This is well documented. It is certain that if these 44,000 Rohingyas return, they will be harassed mentally and physically. If India denies asylum they will be in limbo. People with nowhere to go. In the BJP, there is only one sane voice that has spoken with clarity - Varun Gandhi (pictured) Refugee policy Although, India has housed a large number of refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tibet, Afghanistan and her own from Srilanka, its refugee policy is unclear. The universal refugee policy is contained in the Refugee Convention of 1951 and the Protocol of 1967 which most nations follow. In 1953, R.K. Nehru justified India's ambivalence because the Convention was perceived as anti-communist. India did not want to take sides during the Cold War. But that is no longer the case. Ironically, India following Pakistan is a member of the executive committee of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) but not a member! This is escapism. Varun Gandhi, like many of us long before him, have demanded a refugee policy. The convention defines 'refugee' as a person who has a 'well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, sex, nationality, ethnic identity membership of a social group or political opinion' and extends to victims of external aggression, public order breakdown and the like. India has no reason for not signing the convention especially because it (i) is a member of the executive committee (ii) has a UNHCR in Delhi. This contrasts with its enviable record to admit refugees in trouble into India. Its policy is erratic and absurd. Varun Gandhi, like many of us long before him, have demanded a refugee policy Indian courts have, nevertheless, provided succour to refugees. In the Arunachal v Khudiram Chakma case (1994), the court allowed a pushback of Chakmas to allotted areas. In the NHRC vs Arunachal case (1996), the court recognised a constitutional obligation to protect Chakmas. In the Malavika Karlekar case, the Supreme Court injuncted the deportation of 21 Burma refugees. It has also allowed refugees to get the status determined by UNHCR in Delhi. This has been followed by courts in Gujarat and Guwahati. The UNHCR determination is respected but not determinative. Thus, Indian courts rely on Article 14 (equality) and Article 21 (life and liberty) to build inchoate but distinct rights for refugees. In this context, any argument of terrorism will dissipate. The procedure of giving refugee status is very rigorous. One of its obvious consequences is that a person who is a terrorist can never be a refugee. UNHCR determination shows many are not accepted. The terrorist problem cannot be resolved on a hunch but by a process that separates terrorists from refugees. The former are a threat to India, the latter deserving benevolence. An Indian refugee policy, which is possible under our present law, will support anti-terrorism. Time magazine carrying a picture of controversial Myanmar monk Wirathu on its cover Foreigners Foreigners are controlled by the Foreigners Act 1946 which allows governments to behave arbitrarily towards foreigners they don't like. The Supreme Court was wary of this. Justice Bhagwati created a Model Refugee Law for SAARC nations. This had to be revised by a new Bhagwati Committee which I helped re-draft. But Parliamentary consensus on a new law is doubtful. The other way is to introduce 'Rules' which will differentiate between various classes of foreigners: the refugees being a distinct class. Section 14 of the Act of 1946 can be used by the Union Government to induce (a) a proper definition of refugee and (b) a rigorous process for refugees determination. All they have to do is to instruct immigration officers to sift refugees from others. Refugees in, terrorists out. The author is a senior advocate and human rights activist, his views are his own In a shocking new tactic intended to shame computer users into parting with their hard-earned cash, cyber criminals are emailing users claiming to have hacked into a personal computer system and recorded them using the computer's camera, watching porn and pleasuring themselves. The criminals then demand extortion to delete the intimate and explicit videos, which they threaten to make public. Cyber experts are warning that cyber crooks are now trying to extort money by threatening to leak, on social media sites, video clips that show their victims watching porn. Hackers claim control the computer and having filmed the user watching porn But these threats are baseless. It is believed to be impossible to hack into someone's computer and take control of their webcam in order to spy on them or catch them in the act of self love. Complainants have contacted police alleging that they have received emails from international hackers, who claim to have hacked their mobile and computer and now have access to all their contacts and data. In the mail they claim that they have recorded the video with the help of some spying software and threaten them to make it public if not paid $330 (Rs 21,544) payment in Bitcoin. A detailed investigation by Mail Today has revealed that scamsters have not hacked any computing device. They then threaten to make the footage public if not paid $330 in Bitcoin 'It is a new modus operandi, where criminals are only cashing on human behavior. As the number of porn viewers is very high, they are sending bulk mails and trying to scare soft targets. 'I have made a split screen video, in the first part you can be seen while in the second part of the screen the porn content accessed by you can be seen 'Jack Harris' from Nigeria 'Even if one in thousand pay the money their job is done,' said Amit Dubey, a cyber crime expert. One such email accessed by Mail Today reads, 'I have installed the virus on a webpage with videos for adults (porn web-page). 'It was downloaded in your system which also had a key-logger function. The software enables secretly recording in the computer. 'My software has also collected all your contacts from messengers, e-mails and social networks.' The mail was sent by one Jack Harris, who claims himself to be from Nigeria. In his extortion mail he further writes, 'I have made a split screen video, in the first part you can be seen while in the second part of the screen the porn content accessed by you can be seen. 'It will not be good news for you if I share this with your contacts or share it on porn sites. If you don't want this to happen then send me $330 payment in Bitcoins.' The hacker, who shared his wallet address, also mentioned that he was writing from abroad and that cops would not be able to track him. Noida Police have received such complaints, but so far no case has been reported, where a person has paid the extortionists. 'Earlier such scamsters used to send random emails claiming that the person has won a lottery but now they are trying to scare and extort,' said a senior police officer. Cyber investigator Amit Dubey said computers and mobile phones of those who received such mails were scanned and it has been found that the threat was baseless. Uttar Pradesh has become a communal tinderbox once again after two dozen people were injured and many vehicles were set on fire in separate spates of violence during the festive season. Learning from their past experience, police are now keeping a check on social media videos and pictures related to the clash, which are now circulating on the internet. Several communal clashes were reported from various parts of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday when Muharram and the last day of Durga Puja were observed on the same day. Uttar Pradesh has become a communal tinderbox as over two dozen people were injured and many vehicles were set on fire in separate cases of violence in several cities during the festive season With central monitoring in Lucknow, district police had been asked to check communal content on the web. Police suspects that anti-social elements may attempt to misuse the situation. There is a possibility to morph videos to spark violence as communal clashes broke out during Muharram processions and Dussehra celebrations in which several people were injured. According to the police, worst clash was reported from Kanpur district, Ballia, Pilibhit, Gonda, Ambedkar Nagar, Sambhal, Allahabad, Kaushambi and Kushinagar were also affected. In Kanpur, at least 12 people were injured and six vehicles four motorcycles and two cars were set on fire after Hindus and Muslims clashed in Parampurwa and Ravatpur area. Muharram and Durga Puja observed on the same day caused communal clashes A dozen people, including several policemen, were injured at both these places. Pictures and videos of communal violence immediately went viral on the internet. UP Police claims that they have brought the situation under control, but on the virtual world they are maintaining a strict vigil on malicious posts and rumour mongering. Social media users have already started tagging senior leaders of the ruling BJP in the state and blamed them for the violence. According to police, a dedicated team in Lucknow is monitoring and deleting defamatory content along with videos, images and messages, which can further spark the violence. The team is also keeping a track on computers and location used to upload such content. 'In previous incidents we have seen anti-social elements morphing videos and adding background information to instigate a particular group of people. 'We are deleting any content which are derogatory,' said a senior police officer. Violence was also reported in the Kalyanpur area of Rawatpur, the situation went out of control after a religious poster was torn by the miscreants, which led to heavy stone pelting in the area. Police resorted to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control. A communal clash was also reported at Ballia's Sikanderpur area over another Tazia procession. Here, six people were injured. Police fired tear gas shells to control the situation, but were unable to stop miscreants from arson. In Jogi Nawada area of Bareilly, clashes were reported as the route of the procession was changed. More than half a dozen people were injured in stone pelting. Similarly in Pilibhit, people protested over Tazias procession being allowed to take different routes. Speech plans? HSBC's soon-to-be departing boss Stuart Gulliver HSBCs soon-to-be departing boss Stuart Gulliver is the subject of intriguing gossip at the Tory conference. A senior political lobbyist claims a headhunter asked him for recommendations for a speechwriter for Gulliver, promising a managing director level salary. An HSBC spokesman says she isnt aware of any such appointment, though I wonder if strutty little Gulliver, 58, has an eye fixed upon his legacy. Relations between he and new chairman Mark Tucker, whos currently scouting for his successor, are said to be distinctly cool. Re HSBC, outgoing chairman Douglas Flints farewell speech at Spencer House last week praised the banks resilience to the various financial catastrophes during his 22-year career, from 1997s East Asian debt crisis to the global meltdown in 2008. Chunters a guest: Strangely, no mention of other crises to have befallen HSBC in that period the money-laundering scandal, the Swiss tax-avoidance storm, Libor rigging Invoke Capital boss Mike Lynch has named each room of the tech funds new Pall Mall offices after fictional spies. Bald-as-a-coot Lynch, 52, is something of an espionage nut. Rooms at the Cambridge offices of his software firm Autonomy, which he sold to Hewlett Packard in 2011 for 11billion, were named after James Bond villains. Bankers in Goldman Sachs New York offices were last week treated to a lunch made by Daniel Boulud, 62, the double Michelin-starred French chef who charges diners 200 a head to eat at his nearby restaurant. Another ruse by the bank to keep workers from leaving the building? Goldman are so determined to squeeze the hours out of its London staff, their offices have an in-house dry cleaner. Chasing up the Monarch Airlines collapse proved a nightmare for journalists when news of its impending doom first percolated around the City. The airlines media handlers were Bell Pottinger, the PR firm which itself had just gone belly-up following its involvement in a political scandal in South Africa. Online investment management service Nutmeg saw losses widen last year as it continued to invest heavily, and said it may need to raise more cash to continue its expansion. Its accounts with Companies House revealed that pre-tax losses went up from 8.9million to 9.3million in 2016 as operating expenses increased by nearly 1.2million to 11.9million. However, revenues rose from 1.7million to 2.5million and chief executive Martin Stead, who took the helm in May last year and appointed a new executive team, said the firm has grown significantly. Expanding: Nutmeg managed 600m of assets for 25,000 customers at the end of last year Nutmeg, one of the best known of the many so-called 'robo-adviser' services now available, increased its customer base to 25,000 by the end of last year, according to the accounts, with approximately 600million of assets under its watch. The website, which offers investors an automated way to invest online at a selected level of risk versus reward, said that it may need more cash on top of the funding it received last year to continue its development. The directors have [] determined that the company may require further cash injections to continue to develop and market its product offering and to build its customer base and its assets under management, Nutmeg said in a statement. Under such a scenario, the directors have a reasonable expectation of securing additional funding from the existing shareholders and new investors. Online investment management companies like Nutmeg have grown in popularity recently. Customers can start with as little as 500, plus a 100 per month contribution for portfolios less than 5,000, and pay Nutmeg an annual management fee of between 0.35 per cent and 0.75 per cent, depending on the size of their investment. Additional investment costs which average 0.19 per cent also apply. Last year the company received large funding from investors, including 12million from Taiwan-based Taipei Fubon Bank and 24million from Hong Kong financial advice firm Convoy. Stead said that it was using the last round of funding it received in December last year to expand its product offering and rapidly scale the business in the UK. Specific focus will be on innovation including new investing options, new tax wrappers and further developing the advice offering, he added. The owner of Monarch made desperate calls to rivals in a bid to sell the struggling business in the days before it collapsed. EasyJet, British Airways and Norwegian were approached by owner Greybull and accountants KPMG last week and offered the chance to take control of the failing airline. Budget rival Wizz Air, which specialises in routes to eastern Europe, was also approached. The airlines were given the chance to snap up short-haul routes and, crucially, Monarch's valuable runway slots as management frantically tried to raise cash to boost the balance sheet. Braced for impact: The owner of Monarch made desperate calls to its rivals to offload its struggling short-haul business in the days before the business collapsed However, when talks failed the firm was left with no cash and it sank into administration yesterday morning. Shares across the UK's largest airlines climbed when the news broke, on the expectation they would benefit from a boost in passenger numbers. EasyJet shares jumped 5.2 per cent, Ryanair rose 3.9 per cent and British Airways owner IAG increased 2.4 per cent. There is now expected to be a bidding war for some parts of Monarch's business, particularly its coveted slots at Manchester and Gatwick airports. An analysis of Monarch's recent accounts warned of a number of factors that affected its income and ultimately led to its demise. These included the knock-on effects of terrorist attacks in Tunisia and Egypt, which saw holiday firms boycott the regions, and higher currency exchange costs because of the weak pound. Between 2015 and 2016 its revenues dropped by 100million to 558million. Monarch's capacity fell, and the total number of booked passengers dropped by 7 per cent. It also flew more aircraft with empty seats. In October 2016 it was forced to write-down 102.8million over aircraft leases, and a further 198million for unavoidable costs on leases. Last week Greybull and KPMG are believed to have held discussions with EasyJet, Wizz Air, Norwegian and British Airways in a last-ditch move to force a sale of its embattled short-haul business. Ryanair, which runs a Boeing-only fleet, is believed to be out of the running as Monarch used Airbus planes. Robin Byde, transport analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, said: 'Monarch assets may enable EasyJet to increase frequencies on common routes, gain more attractive year-round and seasonal slots, and generally take market share. 'On fleets, synergies could be attractive as Monarch currently operates 34 Airbus A320 family aircraft which are compatible with EasyJet's fleet.' Monarch is the biggest UK airline to cease trading and around 860,000 customers are believed to be affected by the collapse including 110,000 who have been stranded abroad. Wizz Air yesterday announced 119 'rescue fares' for Monarch passengers stranded in Tel Aviv. Monarch's collapse follows the demise of European airlines Alitalia and Air Berlin, which fell into administration earlier this year. Alitalia filed to be put under special administration in April for the second time in less than a decade after workers rejected wage cuts linked to a 1.7billion rescue plan. Air Berlin, which opted against a government bailout in favour of winding down is business, has received bids from Lufthansa, EasyJet and Condor. Catch of the day: Angling Direct has snapped up rival Fosters Fishing FISHY BUSINESS Fishing equipment retailer Angling Direct has snapped up rival Fosters Fishing, a superstore located on the outskirts of Birmingham, for 3m. TASTY TREAT Ingredient manufacturer Treatt said its sales for the full year are expected to be 24 per cent up on last year. KICKED OFF Companies which describe their products as both novel and useful when raising cash on crowdfunding website Kickstarter make a quarter less than rivals, according to research. VOTE ADVERTS Social networking giant Facebook yesterday released details of more than 3,000 advertisements bought by Russians to interfere in the US election. TROUBLE AHEAD The owners of troubled German lender Deutsche Bank are demanding that boss John Cryan speeds up turnaround efforts over the next two quarters. GRAND TITLE A top accountant at PwC, Charles Bowman, 55, has been elected Lord Mayor of the City of London Corporation. ADVICE LINE Spanish asset manager Alantra is joining forces with London business adviser Catalyst in a 30million tie-up. FINANCE DEAL Corporate finance firm Centrus Advisors has bought transport financier MDT. PROFIT WARNING Stock in Nex dropped 5 per cent yesterday after the broker warned of low profits in its key post-trade arm. CREDIT CHECK Insurer Direct Line has taken a 15 per cent stake in tenant credit checker Canopy. MOVING ON Dealmaker Marc St John, 59, who was behind the takeovers of Formula One and luxury watch firm Breitling, is leaving private equity house CVC Capital Partners after nearly two decades. NAME CHANGE Danish energy company Dong Energy is changing its name to Orsted. HIGHER POWER London-listed power converter firm XP Power has bought the US-based power supply manufacturer Comdel for 17million. MORE ENERGY Independent energy supplier Utilita Group said its annual turnover has increased by 52 per cent from 271million to 411million. NEW BOSS Packaging business Macfarlane has appointed Stuart Paterson, 59, as chairman. Advertisement Incredible images from the end of the 1800s have helped capture what life was like for prospectors chasing the Klondike gold rush in the late 19th century. Pictures show hundreds of prospectors lining up to pass through the Chilcot Pass in Alaska on their way to the Yukon in Canada, while others show some of the camps set up by the hopeful gold-hunters on their way to their destinations. In another photo, a group of men can be seen pushing their supplies along the river in a canoe, while a further image shows notorious gangster and racketeer Jefferson 'Soapy' Smith enjoying a drink at a saloon shortly before he was killed. The Klondike gold rush began in 1897 which saw upwards of 100,000 people head towards the Yukon in Canada looking to strike it rich A group of men can be seen pushing their supplies along the Dryea river in a canoe on their way to the Yukon in Canada. Many of the prospectors who made the epic journey ended up leaving before the turn of the century This image shows notorious gangster and racketeer Jefferson 'Soapy' Smith enjoying a drink at a saloon shortly before he was killed A group of men share dinner on a steamer bound for Alaska, hoping to make their fortunes in gold after hearing about the Klondike rush A group of men work with horses to clear the Dryea trail in order to continue their ongoing hunt for gold in Canada. Gold was first discovered in the area in early August of 1896 on the banks of the Bonanza Creek The series of images were all taken between 1897 and 1899, during the infamous Klondike gold rush which saw upwards of 100,000 prospectors from areas such as Seattle and San Francisco up sticks and head towards the Yukon in Canada. Gold was first discovered in the area in early August of 1896 on the banks of the Bonanza Creek. By the end of August, the entire creek had been claimed. Prospectors advanced up creeks feeding into the Bonanza, which turned out to be even richer than the original creek. In July of 1897, two ships returned to Seattle and San Francisco bringing gold from Klondike. The press reported that a total of $1,139,000 (equivalent to $1,000 million at 2010 prices) had been brought in by these ships, although this proved to be an underestimate Of the estimated 100,000 who headed to the Yukon as part of the gold rush, it is estimated that only around 30,000 actually arrived Men mine for gold during the famous Klondike gold rush in the late 1800s. About 30,000 people flooded the area hunting for treasure Dozens of gold miners and packers on Dyea Trail in Alaska headed to the Yukon in Canada hoping to strike it rich. By the end of August, the entire Bonanza Creek had been claimed Pictured: Future gold miners in the Dryea Canyon in Alaska on their way to the Yukon in Canada. Upwards of 100,000 people began the journey but only 30,000 made it Pictured: Some of the camps set up in the late 1800s by the hopeful gold-hunters on their way to their destinations. The rush of people also attracted much unwanted attention from criminals and thieves Gold had been discovered there towards the end of 1896, and with reserves in California and other areas beginning to dry up prospectors from across the country decided to risk it all in search of their fortune. However very few who headed north succeeded in their quest for riches. Of the estimated 100,000 who headed to the Yukon as part of the gold rush, it is estimated that only around 30,000 actually arrived. And even for those that did arrive, the pickings were slim and conditions tough. Boomtowns such as Dawson City, which saw its population rise from around 500-people at the start of 1896 to 30,000 by 1898, were rife with disease and crime, and many of the prospectors who made the epic journey ended up leaving before the turn of the century. Gold had been discovered in Canada towards the end of 1896, and with reserves in California and other areas beginning to dry up prospectors from across the country decided to risk it all in search of their fortune In this image titled The Prospector, a man and his pack animal make their way to the Yukon in Canada in search of gold. Mining in the area lasted until around 1903 In July of 1897, two ships returned to Seattle and San Francisco bringing gold from Klondike, sending more prospectors, though many did not complete the journey Pictured: Courtney's Store and Post Office in Sheep Camp, Alaska. Future prospectors would stop here on their way to Canada Hundreds of prospectors lining up to pass through the Chilcot Pass in Alaska on their way to the Yukon in Canada. Many people left Klondike in 1899 The rush of people also attracted much unwanted attention from criminals and thieves, one of whom was notorious gangster Jefferson 'Soapy' Smith. After making his name in Denver running a series of 'businesses' which were actually dedicated to robbing their client-bases, he headed to the Klondike to take advantage of the throng of people towards the end of the 1890s. However, his luck eventually ran out in 1898, when he was killed during a shootout over unsettled gambling debts in the Alaskan town of Skagway. In the summer of 1899, gold was found in west Alaska and many people left Klondike, marking an end to that gold rush. Gold mining in the area lasted until around 1903. Since then, the area has been mined sporadically, but the legacy continues to draw in tourists. In July of 1897, two ships returned to Seattle and San Francisco bringing gold from Klondike, prompting a mass exodus to Canada Donald Malarkey, pictured in France in 2005, has died aged 96 A hero World War II paratrooper portrayed in the Band of Brothers miniseries, has died aged 96. Donald Malarkey, who received the Bronze Star for his heroic service during the Normandy landings, passed away on Friday from age-related issues in Salem, Oregon, his son-in-law said. He was one of several members of the famous Easy Company portrayed in the 2001 HBO miniseries in which he was played by Scott Grimes. Malarkey served in France, Belgium and the Netherlands and was presented with France's highest military award, the Legion d'Honneur, in 2009. On D-Day, Malarkey and his comrades parachuted behind enemy lines in Normandy to destroy German artillery. And in Bastogne in Decmber 1944 he fought off Nazi advances while surrounded during the Battle of the Bulge. Malarkey was haunted by memories of combat and the devastation of losing fellow soldiers and friends, his family members said. Still, the release of the Band Of Brothers miniseries was cathartic for him and helped him come to terms with the emotional scars of the battle, Mr Hill said. Malarkey was born on July 30 1921 in Astoria, Oregon. He was a fresher at the University of Oregon when he was drafted into the Army in 1942 and volunteered to become a paratrooper. He returned to the University of Oregon after the war, receiving a bachelor's degree in business in 1948. While a student at the school, he met and fell in love with Irene Moore. The two married in 1948 and had four children, Michael Malarkey, Marianne McNally, Sharon Hill and Martha Serean. Donald Malarkey was portrayed by Scott Grimes, pictured center, in HBO's Band of Brothers Malarkey met with historian Stephen Ambrose in 1987, and in 1989 travelled with other members of Easy Company to Europe to provide oral histories of their war experiences. Those recollections became the basis for Band Of Brothers and an earlier book with the same name written by Ambrose. Malarkey also detailed his experiences in a 2008 autobiography written with Bob Welch, Easy Company Soldier. He was frequently asked to speak about his experiences and he lectured at West Point and made trips to Kuwait and Germany to meet with wounded soldiers from the Iraq War. He remained close to the other surviving members of Easy Company and attended his final reunion in Portland, Oregon in August. 'You could look back and with great pride realise that you had done a very significant thing and acted responsibly in what amounted to saving the world,' Malarkey told Oregon Public Broadcasting in 2012. Malarkey is survived by his daughters and his sister, Molly Rumpunkis. A Greens senator invoked the name of U.S. rapper Macklemore to accuse Pauline Hanson of being 'grumpy' and old after she called for the voting age to be lifted to 21. Sarah Hanson-Young's clash with the One Nation leader escalated when Senator Hanson said the voting age should be raised from 18 for the first time since 1973. Senator Hanson, who is 63, accused the Greens of 'brainwashing the kids in schools' to vote for the Greens. Scroll down for video Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young (right) invoked the name of U.S. rapper Macklemore to accuse One Nation leader Pauline Hanson (left) of having 'grumpy old views' Controversial American rapper Macklemore performed Same Love at rugby league Grand Final 'They dont have any idea. Theyve never held a job. Theyve never paid taxes,' she told Sunrise on Monday. 'They have no understanding of politics. And you want to reduce it because youre picking up the Green vote because they have no idea.' Senator Hanson-Young, whose party wants the voting age reduced to 16, invoked the name of American rapper Macklemore to accuse Senator Hanson of being 'out of touch' with young people. 'I can hear Macklemore now. Grumpy, old views,' the 35-year-old senator said, tapping her right ear. Pauline Hanson (left) said Sarah Hanson Young's Greens party sought to 'brainwash' schoolkids One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says the smoking and voting ages should both rise to 21 The controversial rapper, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, performed his pro-gay marriage hit Same Love at the rugby league Grand Final in Sydney on Sunday. Senator Hanson had called for the voting age to be lifted after billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest advocated a lift in the legal smoking age from 18 to 21 as part of a cancer-fighting plan he had developed with his wife Nicola. The Fortescue Metals Group boss is funding the Eliminate Cancer Initiative through his philanthropic Minderoo Foundation. Australia's voting age has been set at 18 since former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam's government reduced it from 21 in 1973. A star of Only Fools and Horses met Adolf Hitler before the Second World War but missed out on the chance to shoot him down. It sounds like the far-fetched war-time yarn of lovable seadog Uncle Albert, but in fact this tale belongs to the actor famous for playing his brother. Lennard Pearce, who starred as Granddad for 23 episodes of Only Fools, met Hitler during the late 1930s, while touring Germany as a young actor. Lennard Pearce (right), who starred as Granddad for 23 episodes of Only Fools and Horses, met Hitler during the late 1930s, while touring Germany as a young actor Pearce's career saw him enjoy roles on-stage and the small screen, but for viewers across the country he will always be known as the elderly, chandelier-smashing member of the Trotter clan. However, before he took his place on Del Boy's battered sofas in Nelson Mandela House, he trod the boards in theatres across Britain and Europe. It was on such a tour that he experienced his brush with Hitler. He later relayed the incredible chance meeting to Only Fools co-star, Nicholas Lyndhurst, who famously played his on-screen grandson, Rodney Trotter. Lyndhurst said: 'He was a young actor touring Europe and they were playing some German city and the Nazis walked in. 'The top honchos of the Nazi party had seen the play and came to congratulate them afterwards. Lennard shook hands with Adolf Hitler. Left, Pearce with Nicholas Lyndhurst and David Jason in Only Fools, years after he met Adolf Hitler while touring Germany 'He only ever told me once, but he said, ''Had I known then what I know now, I would have drawn the pistol from one of the bodyguards and I'd have done my best to kill him.'' Steve Clark, author of Only Fools and Horses The Official Inside Story, added: 'We're used to hearing Uncle Albert's stories about his rather dubious wartime service in the navy, but it's incredible that Lennard Pearce actually met Hitler during his rise to power and could have put a stop to him before he was able to do so much evil.' Pearce died from heart-attack in between filming of the fourth season of the nation's favourite sitcom, aged 69, in December 1984. His passing was one of five deaths on the show, others included creator John Sullivan, Roger Lloyd Pack, who played Trigger, Buster Merryfield, who replaced Pearce as Uncle Albert, and Mike the landlord star Kenneth MacDonald. Lyndhurst reveals Pearce's brush with Hitler, on Tuesday in The Story of Only Fools and Horses, on Gold. Mining billionaire Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest has announced controversial plans to see Australia's legal smoking age raised to 21. The anti-cancer campaigner's Minderoo Foundation has called on the Federal and State government's to 'stop fuelling big tobacco preying on our vulnerable youth.' The plan, backed by Mr Forest and his wife Nicola, includes pursuing legal action on behalf of smoking victims, as well as pushing for legislation changes. Mining billionaire Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest (pictured) has announced controversial plans to see Australia's legal smoking age raised to 21 The idea was presented by Mr Forrest and members of the Eliminate Cancer Initiative at a meeting for the Council of Australian Governments back in August. 'When tobacco causes many times more cost to the nation than it ever brings in revenue and creates extreme suffering... there is something seriously wrong with any government in the world, particularly ours, tolerating it,' he said. Reports from the Department of Health suggest that smoking can kill an estimated 15,000 Australians each year and cost upwards of $31.5 billion. Mr Forrest said almost 90 per cent of adult smokers first start the habit as children and the law needed to be changed to stop the issue before it starts. 'We know that once young people have hit 18, many will not have made up their minds to smoke or not,' he said. 'By the time they reach 21, they are hooked and become lifelong customers of big tobacco.' The anti-cancer campaigner's Minderoo Foundation has called on the Federal and State government's to 'stop fuelling big tobacco preying on our vulnerable youth' through legal action and legislation changes Reports from the Department of Health suggest that smoking can kill an estimated 15,000 Australians each year and cost upwards of $31.5 billion (stock image) The Former CEO of Fortescue Metals Group said tobacco companies needed to be held account financially for the suffering they cause Australians. Part of the $75 million funding the ECI received from the Forrests' will be used to launch a legal 'assault' against tobacco companies. The ECI aims to help accelerate cancer research, improve prevention, detection and treatment options including access to clinical trials. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard applauded Mr Forrest's efforts, saying he suppotred plans for legal action against 'big tobacco'. 'As health minister Ive got no time whatsoever for big tobacco companies... They know well and truly the dangers of smoking and the costs to individuals and the community,' he told The Daily Telegraph. Alec Baldwin isn't known for mincing his words when it comes to President Donald Trump and even compared the 2016 presidential election to 'how Hitler got elected'. Baldwin recently spoke candidly about his Emmy-winning role mocking Trump in an interview with GQ Magazine. 'I think the powers that be, the money behind the Republican party, they'll have to get the smell out of the room so that Pence can be the runner in 2020. And the sooner they get rid of him the better,' the Saturday Night Live star said. Alec Baldwin isn't known for mincing his words when it comes to President Donald Trump. Baldwin recently spoke candidly about his Emmy-winning role mocking Trump in an interview with GQ Magazine On Saturday's episode of SNL, Baldwin began by mocking Trumps handling of the response to the recovery efforts in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico The actor took home an Emmy for the Best Supporting Actor on SNL two weeks ago for his portrayal of the commander-in-chief. Baldwin told GQ that he doesn't believe Republicans will deal with much more from Trump. 'How much more are they going to put up with? I don't think they'll put up with much more... I imagine he'll resign. 'I imagine they'll cite health problems. There might be things that would present themselves so he'd be forced to. And I'm not just talking about tapes with hookers... 'Putin is surrounded by a team of people who are ten moves ahead of everybody. If Trump f**ks them, they will just burn him to the ground. It'd kill him,' Baldwin added. Despite it all, Baldwin said that 'one of the real tradegies for him, on a Shakespearean level, is that his name is ruined'. 'His children are going to have to change their names when he gets out of the White House. Everything that he wanted to achieve, the opposite has resulted,' the actor noted. On Saturday's episode of SNL, Baldwin began by mocking Trumps handling of the response to the recovery efforts in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Baldwin told GQ that he doesn't believe Republicans will deal with much more from Trump, adding that he believes Trump 'will resign' becausae his 'name is ruined' It started with Trump returning to the White House after spending the weekend at his country club in New Jersey. He is welcomed back to the Oval Office by his press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is played by Aidy Bryant. Thank you, Sarah, Trump tells Sanders. I had to come back. Sometimes when youre president you have to make sacrifices so I skipped the back nine. And when Baldwin was asked about the difficulty of playing the Trump character, the actor said he doesn't hate Trump, but it does become difficult playing the part. 'I dont hate him. I mean, the longer hes in office the more unhappy I am. It just makes it harder. It doesnt make it impossible Its not like I have to take a shower or something,' he said. Baldwin also compared the Trump's shocking election win to how Hitler got into office. 'Now, I am by no means comparing Trump to Hitler, I would never do that... What you see with Trump is how Hitler got elected. Someone who will say anything to people because of their economic interest,' the star told the magazine. See the full shoot in the November issue of GQ, on sale Thursday. A 42-year-old woman has gone missing after heading out for a late night run. Elisa Curry was last seen at a home on Aireys Street, south-west of Melbourne, at around 10.30pm on Saturday, police said. Investigators believe Ms Curry may have gone for a run with her black Labrador and become disorientated. Elisa Curry, 42, was last seen heading out for a run on Aireys Street, south-west of Melbourne, at around 10.30pm on Saturday Police have searched the area where the 42-year-old was last seen but she has yet to be found. The search resumed at 8am on Monday. 'Police and family have concerns for Elisa as her disappearance is out of character,' a spokesperson said. Anyone with information about Ms Curry's disappearance is urged to call Crime Stoppers. The suspended male US maths student Joshua Paik, 20, pictured will be banned from classes for a year, returning next September A student has been suspended from Scotlands oldest university and six others have been disciplined after discussing an acid attack on female undergraduates. The online bullies, all students at the University of St Andrews, are said to have made indirect threats to two third-year women students through a Facebook group chat. The conversations, which did not involve their victims directly, saw one member of the group suggest throwing battery acid in the victims faces in what he described as Indian rejected marriage style, while others discussed potential murder and elaborate revenge. The online chat also suggested putting hair removal cream in a potential victims shampoo after gaining access to their flat with a key which one student still held after sharing accommodation with them. A plan was also discussed which would involve crumbling weight gain bars into their victims food in a bid to make them unknowingly put on weight. The victims described to student newspaper The Saint how they felt scared and violated and were unable to go out after they became aware of the threats. The conversations were initially reported to Police Scotland for investigation, but the incident was ultimately dealt with by the university, regularly rated among the top academic institutions in the UK. Ninoska Castillo, pictured left, and Kathryn Henderson, pictured right, were among those disciplined over the online bullying A spokesman for the university, pictured, said: The university has a zero tolerance policy on bullying and has rigorous procedures in place to deal with any complaints. The suspended male US maths student Joshua Paik, 20 will be banned from classes for a year, returning next September, while the six others have been forced to write letters of apology to their victims and have taken part in an anti-bullying course run by the university. Mr Paik is understood to have returned to the US and was unavailable for comment. Bernie Munro, Kathryn Henderson, Jessica Choi, Thadd Hall, Ninoska Castillo and Nela Soszynska were also disciplined for joining in on the chat, reports the Sunday Mail. One of the students targeted, who has asked not to be named, said: I barely went out after I heard about this. I didnt go out socially, I only really left the flat to go to my tutorials. 'I didnt go to any lectures, I didnt want to be in town by myself because I didnt want to bump into anyone. I had to buy locks for me and my friends bedrooms. We had to throw all our toiletries out and buy new stuff. Nela Soszynska, pictured left, and Jessica Choi, pictured right, were also disciplined by St Andrew's University And we signed an early lease so we could move out into a new flat. My parents made me call them a lot to make sure I was all right. The Saint reported that a student who found out about the group chat alerted the potential targets, and the universitys student services department was informed in March. It then referred the matter to police. Police said there was no criminality after a month-long probe and passed the complaint back to the university, which is said to have taken a further three months to investigate. A Police Scotland spokesman said: Police in St Andrews received a complaint of threats being made indirectly via a private online chat room to two female students in March 2017. Inquiries were carried out and no crime was found to have been committed. Bernie Munro, pictured left, and Thadd Hall, pictured right, were both involved in the bullying group chat 'However, the matter was referred to the university for consideration of any action it may find it appropriate to take. It is understood that no action was taken by police because the threats were not made publicly or directly to the students. A spokesman for the university said: The university has a zero tolerance policy on bullying and has rigorous procedures in place to deal with any complaints. Any cases of reported abuse are followed up and a small number of students have been disciplined at the highest levels in the last five years. A growing number of educational authorities in this country are ditching the use of the traditional calendar terms BC and AD in favour of the more bland and neutral BCE and CE. Their anxiety is that the older terms might upset non-Christians. BC stands for Before Christ and AD for Anno Domini Latin for In The Year Of Our Lord. The new terms stand for Before the Common Era and Common Era. You can spot immediately what a silly and bogus move this is by our educational apparatchiks. Only the letters are being changed, as if to disguise something shameful. The date 2017 will still mean 2017 years after the birth of Christ, as calculated by the Church. John Humphrys from the BBC has declared his dislike for the terms CE and BCE, with Christopher Hart adding alterations to our use of the Christian calendar is bonkers So the new terms really alter nothing. What they do indicate are some quite absurd preconceptions and delusions on the part of those decreeing the changes. Enslaved as they are by the dictates of that pernicious form of ideological idiocy known as Political Correctness, the guidelines for schools in East Sussex, for instance, state that BCE and CE are now used in order to show sensitivity to those who are not Christians. Ibrahim Mogra from the Muslim Council of Britain, pictured here with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, says the use of the Christian calendar doesn't offend Muslims This throws up any number of questions, the first of which is: What about those who are Christians? What about their sensitivities, and perhaps their preference for terms which reflect their own faith in a supposedly Christian country? Why should their sensitivities be secondary to those of other religions? And what members of other religions are actually offended anyway? Ibrahim Mogra, a Muslim leader from Leicester and assistant secretary general to the Muslim Council of Britain, says of the use of the Christian calendar in Britain: I dont believe it causes Muslims offence. Similarly, a spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews says: I dont think anyone would mind if in mainstream schools they use BC and AD. Well, we seem to have rubbed along with those terms for several centuries well enough. So who are these mysterious people who might take offence at these time-honoured Christian terms, which have been around since at least the time of the Venerable Bede? He used them throughout his wonderful Ecclesiastical History Of The English People, writing in the early 8th century AD. If a system has lasted well for some 1,300 years, why change it now? And if no one actually is offended by these terms, why are our schools fiddling around with them? Shouldnt they be concentrating on larger issues such as the fact that so many school-leavers are functionally illiterate? Behind this move to abolish BC and AD is a much wider crusade to rid Britain of any Christian echoes whatsoever: a task that is of course impossible, even if it were desirable, which it is not. Christianity runs through British history and identity like a golden thread, giving us everything from mince pies to Easter eggs, the majority of our most beautiful and historical buildings, and many of our Christian names sorry, first names. To eliminate all traces of the faith of our British ancestors would be effectively to strip away our history altogether: something which at times it really does seem our schools and universities are actively seeking to do. Yet this intolerant and sinister move to de-Christianise our culture meets with barely a murmur from our Church establishment, more concerned as it is with global warming or social justice. A rare exception is Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the staunchest defenders of our religious traditions. He has spent much of his life meeting members of other faiths, and says: I have never met a Muslim or Jewish leader who is offended by the Gregorian calendar. Of course not. The idea is absurd. But what a shame that it is only an Archbishop who has retired from the front line who feels compelled to speak out. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey says he's never met a Muslim or Jewish leader offended by the Gregorian calendar Another prominent voice raised against this latest attempt at the abolition of Christianity is Radio 4 and Mastermind presenter John Humphrys. I cant stand BCE and all that sort of stuff, he says in his usual forthright manner. Everyone knows where we are when we say BC and AD and that is how I want to keep it. He said this in response to the fact that he inadvertently used the term BCE when reading out a question on Mastermind. In fact, Mr Humphrys employer has been leading the way in this eradication of the Christian calendar for some years. It was accused of absurd political correctness in 2011 after dropping the terms BC and AD, and employing the trendy replacements on programmes such as University Challenge and Radio 4s In Our Time, hosted by Melvyn Bragg. The Beebs response at the time might have come straight from the mouth of the spoof Head of Inclusivity in the TV satire W1A: As the BBC is committed to impartiality, it is appropriate that we use terms that do not offend or alienate non-Christians. The supposed offence caused by these perfectly innocuous terms is entirely confined to the warped imaginations of the Left-wing establishment, terrified that anything, anywhere in Britain might appear to be well, British. Of course much of the world also now uses the BC/AD system for practical purposes. Otherwise there would be chaos. But for religious purposes, there are many variations with none of the others feeling that they have to conceal or apologise for their faith. In the Hebrew calendar, we are currently in the year 5778. In the Islamic calendar, it is now 1439, since Muslims calculate the date from the year Mohammed left Mecca for Medina, in our own AD 622. In Nepal it is 1134, while trying to work out how the traditional Chinese calendar works will give you a better mental test than a cryptic crossword. Yes, the world is full of a wonderful richness and diversity, but for major historical reasons, most agree to use the Western standard of 2017 in all things secular. But it is this very Western-ness which worries the arbiters of what is and is not acceptable in Britain. Because according to them, the West is sinful and oppressive. Barely a day goes by without some jaw-dropping new example of Western apology for past sins or current offences. Radio 4 and Mastermind presenter John Humphrys says he 'cant stand BCE and all that sort of stuff Perhaps the most fashionable is to do with slavery: that is to say, people who have never enslaved anyone, apologising to people who have never been enslaved. Meanwhile the rest of the world looks on in bafflement, as Western countries like modern Britain tie themselves in knots trying not to give offence where none is taken. Just as with an individual, a country so delusional could well be classed as mentally ill. But while there is a certain bitter comedy in the absurd spectacle of po-faced PC educationalists promulgating their deluded and loony views, there are serious issues here as well. Squirming over BC and AD only fuels the sense mistaken, but understandable that there are indeed numerous vocal, difficult religious minorities in our country, demanding that we, the native British, continually make way, self-abdicate and surrender to their delicate sensibilities. Yet no such demands are being made. Britains minorities continue to call the year 2017 in all but religious matters, to enjoy Christmas just as much as the rest of us, eat mince pies, and not resent one whit our fondness for bacon butties and sausage rolls. Muslims continue to revere Jesus as a major prophet, and Britains Hindus love a knees-up at Christmas just like the rest of us. In other words, by worrying needlessly that terms like BC and AD might be offensive to non-Christians, our thought-police are actually painting those very minorities as being far more intolerant and prickly than they really are. Is that really contributing to our national harmony? Or is it, by a terrible irony, genuinely insulting to our minorities to represent them as being so hyper-sensitive and hyper-critical of our traditions and customs? A mental health supertrust had become the first in the country to boost patients' confidence - by giving them a crash course in wizarding. Now sufferers around Britain are to benefit from the Magic Therapy Project after NHS bosses advertised for 'volunteer magicians' to roll it out to other areas. Patients' lives have been transformed after they were shown how to amaze loved ones with little more than a deck of cards and an NHS issued magic wand. The scheme so impressed hospital bosses that they are advertising for volunteer magicians to entertain patients on more wards and run Magic Workshops. They say they have been 'working wonders' with chronic patients using simple tricks with coins, silks, and cards. The scheme so impressed NHS hospital bosses that they are advertising for volunteer magicians to entertain patients on more wards and run Magic Workshops They include making a coin disappear and reappear somewhere else, and mind-reading acts to find a card a person has picked. Success stories include a man who had not spoken for four years who is now an accomplished conjurer who can now hold an audience spellbound with his patter. The scheme was started by Eamonn McClurey, Community health and learning disability nurse with Middlesbrough-based Tees, Esk and Wear Valley's trust. Mr McClurey, 45, said: 'I was always interested in magic as a child. I was shy and quiet and it gave me confidence because it is unique talent. 'I was working on holiday camps doing magic before going into nursing. I never thought anything about it until I saw a report about how card tricks could help with physio. 'So I thought why not try it with people with mental health problems. I saw how doing simple tricks can improve self-confidence and esteem if they do them for nurses and other patients. I did a magic workshop at a conference and people loved it.' He approached the local Middlesbrough Circle of Magicians and started doing mental health workshops with amateur conjuror Neil Armstrong. He said: 'We have seen some amazing results. A man with autism has really excelled at card tricks. He could not say his own name ten months ago. He now does card tricks for doctors. 'It is a completely new idea. We go onto the wards for two hours and show them simple tricks. 'A fortnight later we go back later and show them improvements and how to improve their patter. Patients are being taught simple magic tricks involving coins, silks, and cards. They include making a coin disappear and reappear somewhere else, and mind-reading acts to find a card a person has picked 'It is about teaching them to do something others can't which boosts the self-esteem of people who think they are not worth anything. It is amazing to see. 'Magic has become trendy now because of Harry Potter. It is cool to do street magic.' The patients will be putting on a magic show at a learning disability conference in October in front of 200 people at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. Mr Armstrong, 56, who specialises in close-up magic, has become one of the first to apply for the new NHS magicians' jobs. The patients will be putting on a magic show at a learning disability conference in October in front of 200 people at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham He said: 'They are recruiting a number of volunteer NHS magicians to go around the wards and a put a smile on people's faces. 'Sometimes you leave with a tear in your eye. We saw one patient eloquently performing a trick and were told by the nurses he had not spoken for four years. 'We think this is something that can really work and it does not cost the NHS anything. The patients have even been making their own props for shows.' Supporters of the scheme include Comedy Magician John Archer who said: 'Magic is a fantastic thing and it can change people's lives. I know it changed mine.' President of the Middlesbrough Circle of Magicians Nimmo Clarke said: 'Our circle fully endorses magic as a therapeutic tool for people with learning difficulties and mental health issue. We wish every success to the Magic Therapy Project.' We think this is something that can really work and it does not cost the NHS anything A trust spokesman said: 'The use of simple magic tricks can be beneficial in many ways, including helping to improve motor skills and concentration. 'The biggest benefit we have seen through our group sessions is the improvement in people's confidence and self-esteem. 'These are skills that are definitely improved by learning magic under the right instructor. 'Those who participate in our magic workshops not only have the opportunity to learn new skills, but we actually encourage them to put these skills to entertaining uses. 'Some of the patients who have been taking part in our magic workshops have really grown in confidence and the way they interact with others. 'As a result, a number of them will be presenting at our annual learning disability conference this year.' A private schools chief will today demand a cessation of hostilities against the independent sector. Chris King, chairman of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference, will claim fee-paying schools are sneered at despite their success. He will tell the organisations annual meeting in Belfast the attacks must end so we can all stop wasting time on needless battles. He will also highlight figures showing that private schools have enrolled 31,773 pupils in satellite campuses abroad. That exceeds the 27,281 overseas pupils being educated here. Chris King, chairman of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference, will claim fee-paying schools are sneered at despite their success during an annual conference in Belfast Mr King will say the political attacks on independent schools were a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face. And he will add: Our Scottish schools are facing the possibility of losing their business rates relief; an act with unwarranted implications not least given all our Scottish schools have done to meet a charity test. It would only serve to harm the state education sector and the economy. A similar threat waits in the wings in England and Wales. When the Labour Party suggested putting VAT on school fees south of the border in their election manifesto, we were obliged to explain such a policy would cost the taxpayer billions, as many pupils being educated independently would then have to be paid for by the state. This would require building expensive new schools or accommodating the new pupils in larger classes. With greater costs and fewer parents able to afford higher fees, our schools would have no option but to rebalance the books including withdrawing public service education which costs them money to provide. The hardest hit would be the less well-off, whose fees are paid by the school. He will say closures of private schools would see the loss of community resources, employment, economic opportunities, overseas trade and international influence. Mr King, who is headmaster of the private Leicester Grammar School, will say the private sector contributes significantly to the economy at a time when the state sector is facing a funding crisis. Any attempts to undermine private schools can only harm the Exchequer and thereby have a detrimental effect on already cash-strapped state schools. Threaten our schools and Britain would be the poorer in income, ideas, innovation and international influence, he will add. Independent schools, he will say, are experiencing an unparalleled period of international expansion, which is helping to build the UKs economic strength and soft power. Mr King will add: We have just crossed a symbolic threshold there are now more HMC pupils studying abroad in offshoots of British-based schools than international students coming to our schools in Britain. It is endlessly ironic that UK independent education, one of the most valued and enduring global brands, should be so sneered at in its country of origin. British private schools operate 59 campuses abroad including in China, India, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Thailand. The total is up from 46 last year. Westminster council plans to introduce the countrys first voluntary mansion tax on properties worth more than 10million, it has emerged. Alongside normal tax bills, the flagship Tory council said it intends to use government powers to collect further payment under another council tax band starting in April next year. The leader of Westminster council, Nickie Aiken, said she was certain wealthy people would pay the additional tax and even said the scheme could spread across the country. Westminster council plans to introduce the countrys first voluntary mansion tax on properties worth more than 10million, it has emerged She told The Sunday Times: This scheme might have its cynics, but I have spoken to very wealthy people who want to help the borough more. The voluntary scheme will be labelled as Westminster community contribution as opposed to mansion tax. It is not about overtaxing the rich that is the last thing we want to do. Council tax is a monthly payment, while a mansion tax is a property tax which penalises people who are asset-rich and cash-poor, she added. Doubling the 1,376 council tax they already pay, Mrs Aiken proposes to collect an additional 1,376 annually from 10million band H property owners which equates to roughly 2,000 owners. The leader of Westminster council, Nickie Aiken, said she was certain wealthy people would pay the additional tax and even said the scheme could spread across the country If the wealthy owners make the voluntary payment, the new scheme would raise a further 2.75m a year. Confident the idea would spread throughout the UK, Mrs Aiken has discussed the plans with other leaders of London boroughs and also the Surrey county council. She said: Ive had nobody say it wont work. But successive governments have been unsuccessful in tackling similar schemes. In the past, a compulsory mansion tax devised by the Lib Dems and proposed by Labour under Ed Miliband was criticised by Conservatives. Miliband had said that owners of properties more than 2million had benefited unfairly from the house price boom and therefore hoped to raise more than 1billion a year on those houses. But Mrs Aiken said the new scheme is about fairness and hopes it will work in order to help pay for a gangs unit, youth clubs and other statutory services that have faced substantial cuts. She has appealed to Westminsters 10million foreign property owners to play their part, adding, The message to them is: you are more than welcome to be here, but please play your part in ensuring that Westminster remains the diverse fantastic city that it is. A third of homes are estimated to be owned through companies, according to council officials. But there is not an exact figure for the amount of overseas owners. Sydney's house prices fell for the first time in more than a year last month. CoreLogic's monthly Home Value Index shows that values rose by 0.2 per cent across Australia in September led by a 0.3 per cent rise in capital city values. But in Sydney, prices fell 0.1 per cent the first monthly decline in the harbour city in 17 months. Sydney's quarterly result, a 0.2 per cent increase, was the slowest since values declined by 2.2% over the March quarter of 2016. CoreLogic's monthly Home Value Index shows that values rose by 0.2 per cent across Australia in September but dropped by 0.1 per cent in Sydney CoreLogic's head of research Tim Lawless says the decline in the Australia's most expensive housing market was due to the detached housing sector. For the Sydney housing market, concerns around unit oversupply is less evident compared with the Brisbane unit sector, or to a lesser extent with Melbourne, he said. 'Potentially the affordability challenges facing Sydney buyers within the detached housing sector are pushing more demand towards the medium to high density sector, where, based on median values, houses are almost $290,000 more expensive than units,' he said. Darwin was the only other capital to report a decline with prices falling 0.7 per cent. CoreLogic's head of research Tim Lawless also said the combined capital city trend growth rate is clearly losing steam Sydney's quarterly result, a 0.2 per cent increase, was the slowest since values declined by 2.2% over the March quarter of 2016 In Melbourne, prices climbed 0.9 per cent higher in September and jumped by 2 per cent over the September quarter. 'The stronger housing market conditions in Melbourne are supported by auction clearance rates which have consistently remained above 70 per cent,' Mr Lawless said. 'Additionally, advertised stock levels remain remarkably low and private treaty sales continue to sell rapidly, averaging 30 days on market.' Hobart was the best performing market, with prices rising 1.7 per cent in September, after a recent history of sluggish growth. The latest figures took national property values only 0.5 per cent higher over the September quarter, the slowest rate of quarter-on-quarter growth since June 2016. File photo The past 12 months has seen prices in the Tasmanian capital surge 14.3 per cent higher, the highest annual growth since 2004. However, the cost of housing remains substantially lower in Hobart than any other Australian capital with a median unit value of under $320,000 and a typical house value of $412,340. The latest figures took national property values only 0.5 per cent higher over the September quarter, the slowest rate of quarter-on-quarter growth since June 2016. Mr Lawless also said the combined capital city trend growth rate is clearly losing steam with dwelling values rising by 0.7% over the September quarter and well down from the recent peak rate of quarter-on-quarter growth which was recorded at 3.5% over the December 2016 quarter. 'This slowing in the combined capitals growth trend is heavily influenced by conditions across the Sydney market where capital gains have stalled,' he added. A excruciating video shows the moment that Tory loyalists broke out into a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' to Theresa May. In footage recorded during the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, allies of the under-fire Prime Minister can be seen celebrating as she turns 61 years old. Ruth Davidson, leader of the Tories in Scotland, leads the audience in a sing-a-long, before a member of the audience shouts: 'Give her the bumps'. Mrs May was later presented with a low-sugar cake, topped with an edible leopard-print heel, referencing her now-famous choice of footwear. In footage recorded during the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, allies of the under-fire Prime Minister can be seen celebrating as she turns 61 years old Ruth Davidson (left), leader of the Tories in Scotland, leads the audience in a sing-a-long, before a member of the audience shouts: 'Give her the bumps' The Prime Minister, who is diabetic, was presented with the cake by Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, who in turn received it from a constituent. Noticeably absent from the crowd of well-wishers was Boris Johnson, as Mrs May faces increased pressure to rein in the Foreign Secretary. Still weakened by the fallout from her election disaster, Mrs May was urged by some in her party yesterday to silence Mr Johnson, or remove him from her Cabinet. The birthday sing-a-long echoes a similarly cringe-worthy moment at the Labour Party Conference last week. Deputy leader Tom Watson attempted to get the audience singing the infamous 'Oh Jeremy Corbyn' chant - but was left red-faced when no one joined in. After giving up on the tune, Mr Watson apologised to the party leader, who was seated next to him on stage. The captain of a Trident-armed submarine has been relieved of his duties following accusations of an 'inappropriate relationship' with a female junior officer. Senior military officials have been dispatched to the Vanguard-class vessel, which is currently in international waters, to launch an investigation. Royal Navy protocol forbids intimate relationships between personnel while serving aboard a submarine or warship. As captain aboard a Vanguard submarine, he and his second in command both have access to a safe, inside of which is a 'letter of last resort' from the Prime Minister. Senior military officials have been dispatched to the Vanguard-class submarine, which is currently in international waters, to launch an investigation (stock image) The document contains orders on how to deploy the submarine's Trident-missile system, in the event that the UK be attacked. It is understood that other members of crew were ordered to delete their social media accounts to prevent information leaks, The Mirror reported. In 2014, Commander Sarah West - the UK's first female warship captain - was removed from her ship amid claims of a sexual relationship with a married officer. Then aged 42, she was found to have broken strict codes of social conduct while serving as captain of HMS Portland. In 2014, Commander Sarah West (pictured) - the UK's first female warship captain - was removed from her ship amid claims of a sexual relationship with a married officer In July, she was flown back to Britain from the Caribbean amid claims of an affair with her third-in-command, Lieutenant Commander Richard Gray, then aged 37. At the time the 5,000-ton frigate was conducting anti-narcotics patrols around the West Indies. While military police questioned the ships crew about claims of an alleged affair, Commander West went on annual leave for personal reasons. She later transferred to a desk job at Fleet Headquarters in Hampshire. During the investigation, both denied claims they had an affair. Even so, Commander West was found to have breached rules which forbid relationships that could undermine the operational effectiveness of a naval unit. Naval sources confirmed these rules can be broken even without an affair taking place. Sajid Javid last night savaged homeowners who sit on a nice nest egg but oppose housing developments Sajid Javid last night savaged homeowners who sit on a nice nest egg but oppose housing developments. The Communities and Local Government Secretary said so-called Nimbies were a national outrage for blocking the prospects of future generations. Mr Javids comments were supposed to show young people that the Conservatives were on their side when it came to building homes and fixing what he called the broken housing market. But they risk alienating some Tory voters who do not want to see homes built nearby. Mr Javid said: Housing is a totemic issue for younger people and I think all Governments, including previous Conservative governments, have not taken this issue seriously enough in the past. We have been listening too much to those people that are against development under any circumstances. They bought their homes 20, 30, 40 years ago, they are sitting on a nice nest egg and they dont want to see the next generation go ahead and that has been completely wrong and we have recognised that. His comments on BBC Radio 5 live follow the announcement yesterday of another 10billion for the Help To Buy loan scheme, which is expected to put another 135,000 first-time buyers on the housing ladder. Mr Javid also revealed landlords would be required to join a redress scheme, to make it easier for wronged tenants to get justice. All letting agents will have to register and a new housing court could speed up court cases. In his party conference speech, Mr Javid said the planning system was helping those who oppose all development. For decades our planning system has failed to plan for the number of homes we need, he said. Mr Javid's comments follow the announcement of another 10billion for the Help To Buy loan scheme (file photo) There has been too much control given to those who will never accept development. He said the inability of young people to buy homes was the biggest barrier to social progress in our country today. He added: Its no wonder that we see so many young people angry, feeling left behind. This is a clear injustice at the very heart of our society. 'For my generation home ownership was something that, if you worked hard enough, you could afford like my parents, when they moved to the UK, who bought their first home for just 500. For too many growing up today things are very different. Walk down any high street and youll see young people with their faces pressed against an estate agents window, trying, and failing, to find a home they can afford. Increasingly, a house seems like something that you have to inherit. Minister defies Tory rebels over welfare shake-up Ministers will today pledge to push forward with flagship welfare reforms despite a revolt from Tory MPs. David Gauke will reject demands to pause the roll-out of Universal Credit, which combines six benefits into a single payment. But the Work and Pensions Secretary will vow to make it easier for claimants to access help if they are left short of money when they first move over to the scheme. David Gauke will reject demands to pause the roll-out of Universal Credit, which combines six benefits into a single payment Twelve Conservatives led by Heidi Allen signed a letter to Mr Gauke urging him to slow down the number of claimants being moved on to Universal Credit. The MPs raised concerns about how new claimants can have to wait six weeks for their first payment. But Mr Gauke yesterday argued there was already support in place, including cash advances. Speaking at a fringe event, he said more than half of new claimants were already receiving advances and that new guidance would be issued so that everyone knew what was available to them. He said he would be ready to scrap the whole system devised by predecessor Iain Duncan Smith if he felt it was a mistake, but did not believe this to be the case. Mr Gauke, who is tipped for future promotion in the Cabinet, added: Lets not be carried away in terms of what is scheduled over the next few months. 'If you look at the total number of households that are going to move over to Universal Credit by the end of this process, we are 8 per cent of the way through. Under the scheduled plans, by January we will be 10 per cent of the way through. Nobody is talking about a reckless or risky approach. Behind closed doors at the Tory conference yesterday, Theresa May and her party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin held an inquest into the dire General Election campaign. The official report by former chairman Sir Eric Pickles probably wasnt much use to them, having been dubbed a whitewash. For what really went wrong, the party high command should turn to The Lost Majority, published by former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft. The 106-page book doesnt pull its punches. Ashcrofts team asked 20,000 voters after the election for one word to sum up the Tories. Theresa May held a behind closed doors inquest into the poor general election performance with Conservative chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin Some cited words like strength, stability and toughness, but there were more negatives than positives. Rich, liars, and nasty were most common. Ashcroft, who is a staunch Mrs May supporter, also published Call Me Dave, revealing the suggestion that David Cameron inserted a part of his anatomy into a pigs head in a student initiation ceremony. Cameron denied it. But, writing about his new book, he says: Some words had to be removed because this is a family publication. For Labour, the words which featured most were fair and fairness, while the negatives concerned competence. There was no cheer for Sir Vince Cables LibDems. The words most associated with them? Weak and nothing. Quite. A ticking off from Tarzan Tory grandee Lord Heseltine has critised every Tory leader since Sir John Major Tory grandee Lord Heseltine, 84, who has criticised every Conservative leader since Sir John Major stood down in 1997, is at it again. Predicting Mrs May will be gone in a year, he told Prospect magazine: I see no emergence of a leader prepared to say the sort of things that might give us a chance of preventing the disaster of a Corbyn victory. We need someone to sing a more acceptable and more relevant tune. As yet, that person hasnt emerged. Presumably for Tarzan, nothing less than a Remainer will do. Catholics for Labour is a new group founded by eight MPs with lofty ambitions. We are not about standing still or merely making observations of the world around us, they told The Tablet newspaper. Guided by the teaching of the Catholic faith we will work together to actively shape that world and prepare members for a life in public service. One backer is Keith Vaz, MP for Leicester East, who last year was embroiled in a drugs and rent boy scandal . . . Quote of the day : Damian Green, the First Secretary of State, said at the party conference: Labour always promises to spend more, with money that miraculously never comes from your taxes. They will promise Christmas presents, birthday presents, free cakes at tea-time, and unicorns on demand. Never a truer word said in jest. : Damian Green, the First Secretary of State, said at the party conference: Labour always promises to spend more, with money that miraculously never comes from your taxes. They will promise Christmas presents, birthday presents, free cakes at tea-time, and unicorns on demand. Never a truer word said in jest. Postal workers are being balloted this week over whether to strike for more pay. The strike literature says: Royal Mail policy is to ensure all hours paid are worked. In other words, what everyone else expects from an employee unless youre a dodgy, hard-Left trade union stuck in the past. PUT YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER, KEN Left-wing film-maker Ken Loach has accused the Tories of conscious cruelty. He cited the rise of zero-hour contracts to underline his point on the BBCs Daily Politics show. But hang on: Loach works in an industry that uses the contracts all the time. His own trade union, Equity, has launched a campaign on the very subject, Professionally Made, Professionally Paid, saying: The current situation of low and no pay in many parts of our industry is very damaging. Almost half of respondents in our most recent pay survey earn less than 5,000 per year from their professional work. Come on, Ken go to war on those nasty old movie bosses! Police are currently searching for owners of a 'crazed' dog that attacked an American tourist while she was running on a popular beach. Maya Kidan, 29, was getting some exercise and fresh air on New Brighton Beach, just north of Brunswick Heads, when a German shepherd attacked her on Friday. The attack left her with several open wounds on her thigh and significant bruising which were treated in Byron Bay Hospital. Maya Kidan, 29, (pictured) was getting some exercise and fresh air on New Brighton Beach, just north of Brunswick Heads, when a German shepherd attacked her on Friday According to the Daily Telegraph Ms Kidan was 'screaming' after the attack and asking the owners if the dogs were 'healthy and vaccinated', to which the reply was 'you'll be fine.' The owners then disappeared into the surrounding bush. Her friend Yonit Plotnik uploaded pictures of the incident to Byron Bay's Community Board on Facebook and explained that the dog's owners 'literally left her there bleeding by herself.' It was only the kindness of a total stranger that saw Ms Kidan driven to hospital for vaccinations, antibiotics and pain killers. 'Attention! Our friend from overseas was badly bitten today by a massive German shepherd while running on New Brighton beach around 14:30,' the post began. It was only the kindness of a total stranger that saw Ms Kidan driven to hospital for vaccinations, antibiotics and pain killers (pictured with her thigh wounds) 'Luckily a nice lady saw everything and reached out to help and drove her home after the owners literally left her there bleeding by herself. 'Please if anyone knows a mature couple with two big German shepherds tell them to take responsibility for there actions and contact us immediately so we can be sure the dogs are vaccinated.' Ms Kidan was treated for five gashes and two deep flesh punctures and was forced to stay in hospital over the weekend to allow the wounds time to bleed out and avoid infection. 'If you're the nice lady that brought her home thank you so much,' the post continued. Her friend Yonit Plotnik uploaded pictures of the incident to Byron Bay's Community Board on Facebook and explained that the dog's owners 'literally left her there bleeding by herself' 'It's good to know some good people are around and not only careless and selfish ones. 'Any piece of information will be much appreciated, please help us prevent this from happening again to someone else, I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if it was a little kid or a an old person.' Tweed-Byron Chief Inspector Gary Cowan said police were investigating the incident. Sir Edward Heath at the helm of his racing yacht 'Morning Cloud', in 1975 Sir Edward Heaths godson last night accused a police chief of acting as judge and jury ahead of the publication of a bombshell report into sex claims against the former premier. Lincoln Seligman called for an independent judge to review the full findings of the 1.5million probe by Wiltshire Police and rule on Sir Edwards guilt or innocence. Yesterday, it was claimed that a summary of the report due to be published on Thursday will reveal that investigators examined 42 sex assault claims against Sir Edward as part of the two year-long Opration Conifer. The report will allegedly say seven of the allegations are sufficiently credible to justify questioning Sir Edward under caution were he alive today. But Mr Seligman, 67, believes the report will contain nothing but innuendo that will forever tarnish his godfathers legacy. He accused Wiltshires Chief Constable Mike Veale of acting as judge and jury, adding that he has already convicted the man. My suspicion is that we will learn nothing from the report except innuendo and that really takes nobody any further forward, except it leaves a dark stain over a man who cant defend himself, he said. A report into sex claims against Sir Edward (pictured, in 1974) will allegedly say seven of them are sufficiently credible to justify questioning him under caution were he alive today What we are looking for is a judge-led review of a) how the police have conducted Operation Conifer and b) all the evidence it has produced. We want a judge to look at that who will be independent and impartial and ... we believe the truth will exonerate him. Mr Seligman, whose father met Sir Edward at university, added: Im not naive ... I think it would have been so difficult for him to hide anything, because he was constantly surrounded by protection officers, secretaries, his general household, that he just wouldnt have had the opportunity. Artist Lincoln Seligman, 67, (pictured) believes the report into sex claims against Sir Edward will contain nothing but innuendo Investigators on Operation Conifer are understood to have examined 42 assault claims levelled at Sir Edward, including the rape of a boy. One alleged victim is said to be just 11 years old. Some of the claims, which span his five decades as a Tory MP, are linked to sailing and allegedly occurred in Guernsey and Jersey. Two of the most serious claims allegedly took place in Wiltshire, where Sir Edward lived at his Salisbury mansion Arundells. The inquiry, launched at the peak of the historic child abuse scandal, divides opinion. Its supporters say Mr Veale is in a painstaking battle for the truth. But critics question whether Sir Edward, who died in 2005, is a victim of bogus claims by fantasists. It is understood the inquiry rejects arguments by supporters of Sir Edward explaining why he is innocent. These include claims that Sir Edward, who was in No 10 from 1970 to 1974, was asexual and was always accompanied by bodyguards. A 100-page summary will be made public, with the full 350-page full document being passed to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. The number of Uber drivers in London should be capped to ensure 'healthy competition and consumer choice', the boss of a rival minicab app has claimed. Kabbee chief executive Justin Peters called for a limit on the proportion of minicab drivers overseen by one company if Uber overturns a decision not to renew its operating licence. Some 116,000 minicab drivers hold licences in London and Uber says around 40,000 use its app in the city. Justin Peters, CEO of Kabbee, (pictured) called for a limit on the proportion of minicab drivers overseen by one company if Uber overturns a decision not to renew its operating licence Transport for London (TfL) refused to renew the firm's licence last month on the grounds of 'public safety and security implications'. Uber has said it will launch an appeal against the decision. It can continue to operate during that process. Mr Peters has written to London mayor and TfL chairman Sadiq Khan, warning it is 'very dangerous' to allow a private company to hold a monopoly in the transport sector. In the letter, seen by the Press Association, the Kabbee boss wrote: 'There should be a cap on the overall percentage of the minicab driver supply that can be overseen by an individual company. Transport for London (TfL) refused to renew Uber's licence last month on the grounds of 'public safety and security implications' 'This will ensure healthy competition and consumer choice forever. 'I am guessing this would also reflect the desired outcome of the Government too.' In explaining its decision not to renew Uber's licence, TfL said it had concerns over the company's approach to reporting serious criminal offences, how drivers' medical certificates are obtained, how criminal record checks are carried out and its use of technology which allegedly helps it to evade law enforcement officials. Mr Peters said Uber's licence should be renewed if it addresses the issues raised. Theresa May last week described the proposed outlawing of Uber in London as a 'disproportionate' move that puts thousands of jobs at risk. But Mr Peters claimed job losses 'will not be a natural consequence' of Uber losing its licence. Mr Peters has written to London mayor and TfL chairman Sadiq Khan (pictured), warning it is 'very dangerous' to allow a private company to hold a monopoly in the transport sector. He said Uber drivers would 'quickly secure ongoing work' as long as they were of the same quality of other minicab companies. Uber's new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi will meet TfL commissioner Mike Brown on Tuesday to discuss the licence renewal. Mr Khosrowshahi took over at Uber in August after predecessor Travis Kalanick resigned, following a series of scandals. The new boss has apologised for 'the mistakes we've made' and accepted that the company had 'got things wrong'. Uber will challenge the licence decision 'with the knowledge that we must also change', he added. More than 830,000 people have signed an online petition launched by Uber, urging TfL to reverse its ruling. A spokesman for Uber said: 'We're proud to have brought more choice and competition to this industry. 'With Uber, licensed drivers can choose if, when and where they drive and are totally free to work with other operators in London too.' Commuters across the country are facing a week of disruption and misery as a result of rail strikes. Train services will be hit by 24 hour walk outs tomorrow and Thursday. A separate dispute over working conditions on the London Underground will also cause travel chaos in the capital on Thursday. Transport for London has warned of substantial disruption to Tube services by the strike that is certain to clog the roads. Commuters at London Waterloo station during a strike that was part of a dispute now entering its 18th month Last-ditch talks between the two sides will be held today. There appears no end in sight to the long-running row over driver-only trains and the role of guards across the UK. Action is being taken this week by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at Southern, Merseyrail, Northern and Greater Anglia. The Southern dispute is now in its 18th month, with no sign of the deadlock being broken. Some parts of the country expect to maintain a near-normal service, with others more badly hit, especially in the evening. The government has hit out at the political motives of the union and urged talks to settle the dispute. Commuters at Clapham Junction in London were forced to queue for trains during a Tube strike in January Rail minister Paul Maynard said: The RMT should stop using passengers as pawns in their political game, call off this strike action and return to talks. This dispute is not about jobs as all the companies have guaranteed posts and I have been clear I want to see more people working on the railways, not fewer. Its not about safety either as the independent regulator has ruled that driver-controlled trains are safe. The Arriva-owned Northern franchise is expecting to run 1,200 services across the North, amounting to 46% of its normal timetable, on both strike days between 7am and 7pm. Northern expects all services to be extremely busy and are advising customers to allow extra time to travel and consider whether their journey is absolutely necessary. Scenes from Victoria station in London during rush hour as a 48-hour strike was underway in 2014 Sharon Keith, Northerns Regional Director, said the focus was on maintaining services on the busier routes and some bus services would replace trains on other routes. She said: RMT continues to reject our offers to talk and we are disappointed that the union has called this further strike action. We are still prepared to guarantee jobs and current pay for all our conductors for the next eight years and urge RMT to be open to discussions about the future. Most Merseyrail services will run between 7am and 7pm, with a break during the middle of the day, and some stations will be closed. A number of routes will not be operating on strike days. Commuters face transport chaos as strikes are set to hit the London Underground Greater Anglia is planning to run a full service on the strike days as back office staff have been trained to do the job of conductors on the 40% of services affected. Southern said there will be a normal service on most of its routes, although some will have a reduced number of trains. Gatwick Express will operate normally. RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said the strikes were about putting safety and security before profit. He said: It is disgraceful that we have been unable to get serious and meaningful talks going in any of these disputes and that points clearly to the dead-hand of the Government driving the faceless railway policy on purely ideological grounds and demanding that their contractors fall in line. The RMT general secretary Mich Cash says strikes are about putting 'safety and security before profit' Transport for London said more buses would run on Thursday. But a spokesman said: Bus services will be exceptionally busy on the day of the strike, so please complete your journey on foot if at all possible. Tube staff in the union Aslef are striking over demands for a four-day week. On the trains RMT has protested over the decision to switch to driver-only trains which can run without a guard on board. Drivers - using CCTV monitors in the cabin - are being handed responsibility for opening and closing doors, rather than guards. The RMT claims this is unsafe, despite the fact these trains are approved by regulators and have been running safely on Britains railways for decades. A Muslim leader says men have a social responsibility to take a second wife to liberate women from being spinsters. Islamic Friendship Association of Australia founder Keysar Trad says women can benefit from joining a polyamorous relationship when there's a shortage of eligible men. 'If a woman is interested in him and if his wife is okay with that situation, then it becomes his duty towards society to do his bit,' he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday. Scroll down for video Keysar Trad says men taking on a second wife are liberating women from the spinsterhood Islamic Friendship Association founder says women benefit from joining polyamorous union 'They'll have a husband. A lot of people think about it as the man getting the benefit. 'I don't see it as the man getting the advantage. It is about a man taking up a social responsibility.' Mr Trad, who has previously called for polygamy to be allowed in Australia to accommodate an aspect of Sharia law, now says he doesn't want the law changed to allow men to have multiple wives despite personally supporting the concept. Instead, he wants married men to have multiple female partners at the same time, without society judging them harshly. Keysar Trad, who opposes gay marriage, now insists he isn't pushing for polygamy in Australia The Muslim leader says it's better for a women to become a second wife than be a spinster (stock image) 'Society will stigmatise the man, society has stigmatised the man a lot in these situations but what I'm saying here is the woman should not be stigmatised,' he said. 'There are a number of women who opt for these plural relationships because they give them the best of what they want out of life and they still have the benefit of a relationship.' Mr Trad, who was previously president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, told his Facebook followers husbands who took second wives were mature men doing their bit for women. 'Few seem to get it, taking a second wife is a huge sacrifice imposed on the man and is a great liberator of women, it makes him less of a dependent child and more like a man who knows that he has a responsibility to alleviate spinsterhood,' he said. Keysar Trad says men taking on a second wife are exercising a form of social responsibility The Muslim leader (pictured with wife Hanifeh) previously said men should be allowed four wives in Australia However, Mr Trad declined to support the idea of women having multiple husbands because that was against Islam. 'There are religions that allow that. Good luck to them. My religion doesn't,' he said. Polyandry, where women can have multiple husbands, is practised in remote villages in India. Mr Trad is also a Muslim leader campaigning against gay marriage as Australians take part in a $122 million postal vote survey on the issue. His wife Hanifeh last year insisted she would not mind if her husband married another woman, saying she has no right to stand in his way. He told the Seven Network the law should be changed in Australia to allow men to have up to four wives. Not even Tintin or Captain Haddock sweated as much as Sajid Javid did yesterday when addressing the Tory conference Not even Tintin or Captain Haddock sweated as much as Sajid Javid did yesterday when addressing the Tory conference. Reading that, you may think Local Government Secretary Javid gave a thunderous speech, a furious lectern-whacker which drained such energy from him that his pores opened like the sluices of the Hoover Dam. Yet it was a decidedly humdrum effort, delivered in a staccato but generally placid manner. He spoke about housing policy and made sorrowful noises about the Grenfell Tower disaster and the Manchester bomb attack which happened just 1,500 yards from where this conference is happening. All right and proper, but hardly sweatsville. If Mr Javid perspires so much when giving a dullish speech, you dread to think what happens when he does his pre-breakfast star-jumps. The conference, far from packed, got off to a sticky start when party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin made a ploddingly awful speech. How can so dismal an orator rise so high in politics? He stared at his autocue with shifty unease, as though it might be about to bite him. Every time he stalled, naturally, the autocues text stopped. Sir Patrick gulped. Then he accelerated a little perhaps hoping to confuse it; so the autocue went faster, and panic entered Sir Patricks eyes. He makes John Prescott sound like Martin Luther King. Things improved only a fraction when First Secretary Damian Green wandered on with a TV game-show hosts gait and talked about the crusade and mission of the Government not least the need to allow half a million homes to be built by the end of 2022. Mr Green is a decent bloke but scintillation eludes him. He stands with shoulders slightly hunched, using phrases that might as well be grey carpet tiles. The one unusual thing about his performance yesterday was that as he left the lectern he tripped and very nearly went splat on the stage. Oh, if only. It would at least have lifted the torpor in the hall which only increased during a speech by Education Secretary Justine Greening. If Mr Javid perspires so much when giving a dullish speech, you dread to think what happens when he does his pre-breakfast star-jumps Your sketchwriter was considering a streak round the hall anything to stir the place a little when salvation arrived in the form of Scots Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson. She came bustling on in a big red jacket and did a wee skip to clear the step that had nearly undone Mr Green. I swear the stage shuddered as she landed. Bang. Straight into it, with an opening joke: Its great to be here in Manchester or as I call it, the southern powerhouse. She had been greeted with a standing ovation and set about showing us why she is regarded as a possible future leader. Her word-rate was speedier, her eyes roamed the audience (she did not depend so much on the autocue) and she brought some informality to the drabness. For years, she said, there had been only one Tory MP in Scotland the party was outgunned by those sodding pandas. The ripe language went down well. Now the party had 13 Scots MPs and the pandas were going to have to go some, to catch up. Briskness, wit and bombast were melded with solid exposition of Tory values the family, property ownership, work and classlessness. She spoke with optimism, telling the activists (if we can call so stodgy an audience that) to pull themselves together and stop being wet and defeatist about Corbynism. She also took coded swipes at Philip Hammond and Boris Johnson, saying the party should unite and fight (ie fight Labour, not themselves). She repeatedly referred to herself as serious something she apparently thinks Boris is not. Those who wish Miss Davidson would stand for a Westminster seat, essential if she is ever to become party leader, were given the clever line that although she loved London, she had no plans to move there myself. If only, if only, if only this punchy and immediate crowd-grabber was not so snooty about Brexit. The parents of two 16-year-old friends are begging for their children to be returned home after a series of cancelled flights has left them stranded on Cocos Island for almost a week. Monique Shannon and Lili McFarlane left Flew from Perth to Cocos Island for a marine studies excursion with six other Butler College students on September 19. The best friends were due home on Tuesday, but after four cancelled Virgin Airlines flights the girls are still yet to return. The pair made it one step closer to home on Sunday night and are now on Christmas Island awaiting a flight to Perth which has been delayed three times already, Monique's mum Natalie Shannon told Daily Mail Australia. Scroll down for video The parents of two 16-year-old friends (pictured are Monique Shannon and Lili McFarlane) are begging for their children to be returned home after a series of cancelled flights has left them stranded on Cocos Island for almost a week Monique (pictured) and Lili left Flew from Perth to Cocos Island for a marine studies excursion with six other Butler College students on September 19 The best friends were due home on Tuesday, but after four cancelled Virgin Airlines flights the girls are still yet to return Ms Shannon said the 16-year-olds have been crying and stressed after the persistent cancellations 'put a downer' on an otherwise wonderful trip. She said Monique and Lili packed up their belongings once again for their fourth attempted flight to Perth on Saturday, only to watch on in horror as the plane scheduled to pick them up suddenly turned around. 'They were devastated Monique called me crying,' Natalie said. 'They had a really good time until the second or third cancellation. They had to keep packing and getting ready to leave, only to be taken back to their accommodation again and told to unpack.' 'Virgin need a rocket up their a**. They want to go to the moon but they can't pick up kids that are stranded on Cocos Island.' Ms Shannon said she and her husband, as well as Lili's parents, have felt helpless being 3,000km away. 'It's very, very hard - you want to have your kids safe and close by and be there when they're having times that are hard and we can't do much from over here,' she said. Lili's mum Vicki McFarlane told 7News the families haven't had much communication with Virgin. 'We just want our children home,' she tearfully said. Monique and Lili made it one step closer to home on Sunday night and are now on Christmas Island awaiting a flight to Perth which has been delayed three times already Monique's mum Natalie Shannon told Daily Mail Australia the friends have been crying and stressed after the persistent cancellations 'put a downer' on an otherwise wonderful trip Ms Shannon said she and her husband, as well as Lili's parents, have felt helpless being 3,000km away Ms Shannon and Ms McFarlane paid $3,600 each for their daughters to go on the excursion, but costs from their extra week on the island are mounting. Virgin has offered to reimburse the school $50 a day for each student's accommodation and food. But with the island's high prices the compensation isn't enough, Ms Shannon said. A loaf of bread can cost $15 and chocolate bars go for more than $7, she said. Ms Shannon also said the family had shelled out $300 on internet fees to try and get in touch with the teenagers. A Virgin spokesperson told Perth Now the airline experienced problems with bad weather, and sickness among some crew members. The teenagers' nightmare trip follows an Adelaide man's claim his trip to Cocos Island on Tuesday was ruined when his flights were repeatedly cancelled, causing him to give up and fly home. A Virgin spokesperson told Perth Now the airline experienced problems with bad weather, and sickness among some crew members Ms Shannon also shelled out $300 on internet fees to try and get in touch with the teenagers Joe Moore planned to visit his sister at Cocos Island, in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, but returned home on Sunday following three 'disastrous' attempts by Virgin Airlines Joe Moore flew to Perth, but the connecting flight was cancelled at the last minute and rescheduled for Thursday. When he arrived at Perth Airport again on Thursday, his intended flight path was to Christmas Island, and on to Cocos Island. He and his fellow passengers were told the plane was unable to land on Christmas Island, and instead flew to Jakarta to refuel. The plane then flew back to Perth. The flight was again rescheduled for Saturday. Bad weather forced its cancellation. Virgin offered to reschedule his flight a fourth time but due to the stress, he gave up and flew back home to Adelaide. Mr Moore's holiday from hell started when he flew out of Adelaide on Tuesday bound for Cocos Island Five people have been charged after an out-of-control brawl erupted on a waterfront promenade in Sydney. The fight took place at a licenced venue near Darling Harbour on Sunday, after four men became involved in an argument. Police were called to the scene around 7pm, and said they found at least 30 people involved in the altercation. Scroll down for video Five people have been charged after an out-of-control brawl erupted on a waterfront promenade in Sydney on Sunday Officers were forced to call for back-up, with police from the Sydney City, Kings Cross, Transport Command and Operations Support Group all attending. The fight resulted in five men being arrested and taken to Day Street Police Station, while two people received minor injuries. Footage captured of the event showed one man striking another, as shocked onlookers watched on. A 27-year-old man was charged with two counts of assault and behaving in an offensive manner in public place. The fight took place at a licenced venue near Darling Harbour, after four men became involved in an argument Police were called to the scene around 7pm, and said they found at least 30 people involved in the altercation, with four men later released on bail Three other men aged 23, 25 and 26, were also charged with behaving in an offensive manner, as well as affray. All four men were granted bail and will appear in court on November 1, with the last offender issued a court attendance notice for hindering police. All the men have been issued long term bans from returning to the the Darling Harbour Precinct, police said. The death of a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee in Papua New Guinea is the sixth fatality on Manus Island in four years. Australia's immigration department confirmed the death at Lorengau Hospital but directed inquiries to PNG authorities. Authorizes believe the 32-year-old man took his own life early on Monday morning. The man's death is reportedly the second suicide on the island in the past two months. The death of a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee in Papua New Guinea is the sixth fatality on Manus Island in four years. It's believed the 32-year-old man took his own life early on Monday morning (stock image of Manus Island Detention Centre) Former Manus Island MP Ron Knight said the magistrate on the island will be conducting a coroner's investigation over coming days. 'It seems like a suicide but it's not confirmed yet,' Mr Knight told AAP. He said locals had become increasingly frustrated with the problems that have come with hosting the immigration detention centre, which is slated for closure at the end of the month. 'It's given the island a bad name, it's given the people a bad name, when people are being looked after by our government and the Australian government have to resort to something like this to prove a point, it means that something is terribly wrong with the whole system,' Mr Knight said. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said the man had been sent to the hospital three days earlier. The man's death is reportedly the second suicide on the island in the past two months (stock image) Greens senator Nick McKim said the case was 'catastrophic neglect' from Immigration Minister Peter Dutton. 'This man had suffered for years in a system that Australia's Labor and Liberal parties deliberately designed and operated to cause mental harm,' he said in a statement. The body of Iranian refugee Hamed Shamshiripour was found near refugee accommodation in early August. The death comes as more than 50 refugees last week left Manus Island and Nauru for a new life in the U.S. More are expected to follow in coming months. Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Multicultural Mental Health Australia www.mmha.org.au. A man accused of strangling his ex-girlfriend 'didn't intend for this to happen', the mother of three of his children says. Lance Michael Pearce was to face trial for murdering Blair Dalton, 35, but choked to death on a chicken sandwich behind bars. The 34-year-old was believed to have committed suicide by swallowing the plastic-wrapped food along with sugar sachets less than 48 hours after his victim's death. Lance Michael Pearce, 34, (right) choked to death on a chicken sandwich in custody after he allegedly suffocating and strangling his former partner Blair Dalton (left) Ms Dalton (pictured) died in hospital after allegedly being strangled by Pearce Tuesday night Donna Welsh, who dated Pearce from 2006 to 2012, made a heartfelt tribute to him on Facebook, promising to look after their children. 'I don't understand how it got to this point, but someday I will. I know you didn't intend for any of this and Blair didn't deserve to lose her life either,' she wrote. 'I'm so confused by the anger and frustration I feel for what you did, and the impact this is going leave on all our children, our friends and all of our families, including Blair's family and friends who are left here without a clue of what to do.' Ms Welsh said she had not yet told their daughter and twin sons, along with Pearce's young son with Ms Dalton, their father and 'step mama' were dead. 'I don't know how I'm going to cope with the heartache our children will go through from the loss of you and Blair,' she wrote. Donna Welsh (pictured), who dated Pearce from 2006 to 2012, made a heartfelt tribute to him on Facebook, promising to look after their daughter and twin sons The 34-year-old was believed to have committed suicide by swallowing the plastic-wrapped food along with sugar sachets less than 48 hours after Ms Dalton's death 'But I will do all that I can to protect them, guide them, nurture them, share with them, have fun and laugh always with them. 'I will promise one thing, and that is to make sure Sophie, Logan, Charlee and Bodhi all [will] be present in each other's lives. They need and deserve that.' Though she was angry about what Pearce did, Ms Welsh felt he must have been in extreme torment to have not lived for his children. 'I can still feel the pain, sorrow and heartache you must have been going through to leave all 4 innocent souls behind,' she wrote. 'You can now rest your head and watch over us all from above! Saw (sic) like an eagle and let your spirit be free. We will always love you LP xoxo.' Ms Welsh recalled how they met when they was 12 and went to the Year 10 formal in 1996, 10 years before their first date to KFC on Pearce's pay day. Pearce (pictured) was found unresponsive Friday morning in jail by prison staff, hardly spending three days in custody 'We were reunited at Quix Nightclub with Timmy, Abo, I remember it like yesterday,' she wrote. 'We may not have got on so well towards the end, but you always held a place in my heart and forever will.' Pearce's niece and nephew also paid tribute to their uncle online, and also to Ms Dalton as their families were very close. 'A man that taught me many things a man that I looked up too a man that always help me when I needed it (sic), I will miss you and will not forget you, I love you Lance,' his nephew wrote. His niece added he was the 'best uncle' who she would miss sharing a birthday with every year. 'I love you even after everything and I honestly can't believe any of this had happened, im going to miss you so much,' she wrote. Ms Dalton's family posted early Friday morning the news Blair (pictured) had died and that her organs had been donated to help others 'I can't believe how much my life has changed in a week, I love you guys so much and I always will xxx. 'Blair I am going to miss you so damn much, I love you so much and I can't believe your gone, I won't be able to come visit when I miss you or when I'm feeling sad and need someone to talk to, you have been there for me and I'll never forget you.' Close childhood friend Steven Clarke expressed utter shock that the man he called his 'brother' could have killed his ex-girlfriend. 'I still can't believe it went this way.. He was always one of the nicest blokes I knew growing up,' he wrote. 'We had some great times with all the boys running amok. But he honestly was the last person that I thought this would of (sic) happened to.' Ms Dalton died in hospital on Thursday evening after suffering critical injuries during the alleged domestic incident at Ettalong Beach last Tuesday night. Officers called to the scene commenced CPR on Ms Dalton (pictured), with NSW Ambulance paramedics then taking her to hospital in critical condition After being in custody for barely three days, Pearce was reportedly found unresponsive on his bed at about 11am after being served breakfast, according to Daily Telegraph. Police and prison staff told the publication the death baffled them and haven't heard anything like it. The exact cause of death will be determined by the coroner who will assess CCTV footage. Pearce was placed on suicide watch when he was first admitted to Silverwater Jail. Ms Dalton, who shared a young son with Pearce, donated her organs to help others following her tragic death, her family shared early Friday. 'Our beautiful Blair who is always helping others will today continue on this path when the transplanting of her organs begin RIP our best friend love dad and Gail,' they wrote. The alleged attack happened at Ms Dalton's home (pictured) at Ettalong Beach on New South Wales Central Coast Family and friends shocked at her passing also left emotional tributes to the young woman on social media, calling her 'one of a kind'. 'Rest easy hun... U didn't deserve to go this way, will remember our good old party days... Ur a awesome chic... So sad for u and all ur loved ones... (sic),' one person wrote. While a friend added: 'RIP Blair I am so blessed to have been able to work with you. You truly were one of a kind, down to earth and the life of the party.' 'Spread your wings and surround them around your loved ones sweetie. Rest easy.' The alleged attack happened at Ms Dalton's home, with police arriving at the Ettalong Beach property, on the Central Coast around 7.10pm Tuesday. Police were called to the scene around 7.10pm and were pictured investigating Wednesday morning After locating Ms Dalton, officers commenced CPR, with NSW Ambulance paramedics taking her to hospital in critical condition. Pearce was taken to Gosford Police Station following the incident, where he has was charged with attempt to strangle/suffocate with intent to murder. According to The Daily Telegraph during a court appearance Wednesday, he was heard saying 'no, no' and 'is she all right, she has to be all right,' from the dock. He was refused bail and was set to return to court on November 24 where charges against him were expected to be upgraded to murder, police said. Ms Dalton was taken to Gosford Hospital following the alleged attack, but died Thursday night, with family and friends taking to social media to express their sadness Friends described Ms Dalton as a 'good Aussie girl,' according to 7 News. 'We're just waiting on doctors reports but the end result won't be good either way will it?' While others sent their love and best wishes to the family, many expressing how Ms Dalton was 'very giving to the end and beyond'. 'I can't begin to imagine what you all must be going through right now. She was so loved,' one person wrote. While another added: 'Take your angel wings and let your loved ones feel a gentle breeze as you fly close to them during this difficult time.' The national domestic violence helpline is 1800 737 732. In an emergency call triple-zero. The country's second blind person to reach a judicial post wholly failed 'to meet the standards that are demanded by the office of a judge', according to a panel's ruling. The three-strong bench of senior judges ruled 'shambolic' 64-year-old immigration judge Amir Ali Majid had 'very little idea of either his own (limited) powers or the content of the law that is in issue'. Their ruling was the result of appeals relating to 13 cases heard recently by Judge Majid. Judges from the immigration and asylum chamber's upper tribunal allowed 12 appeals against the judge. Judge Amir Ali Majid was said to have 'very little idea of either his own (limited) powers or the content of the law that is in issue' And one case could still be allowed after it was adjourned to determine a point of law. All but one of the appeals allowed were remitted to be heard by a new judge at the immigration tribunal. One of the appeals was allowed without being remitted for another hearing. Judge Majid has been a part-time immigration judge for nearly two decades. He is the the second ever only blind person to serve on the bench after John Wall became the first when he was appointed in 1991 and became a High Court judge. The ruling recognised Judge Majid, who read law at London Guildhall University, was blind. Though judges said it may be 'wholly unreasonable to expect him to assimilate a complex matter in writing at short notice', they added it could not be reasonably suggested blindness stops somebody learning or applying law or performing 'crucial judicial tasks of hearing both sides and reaching and expressing a properly reasoned conclusion'. The 'shambolic' judge was found to have a 'misconception so basic it is difficult to deal with briefly and coherently' They also said many of the cases rested on 'notoriously complex' immigration rules, adding Judge Majid had not given 'the least reason to suppose that he is aware what the relevant requirements of the rules are' in any of the cases appealed. The tribunal found in one case the judge had a 'misconception so basic that it is difficult to deal with briefly and coherently'. He was found to have ignored core elements of the Refugee Convention, legal authorities 'from 1996 on and the entire trend of state and judicial status determination'. The ruling found in one case Judge Majid made a 'really serious error' by deciding he could allow an appeal 'on the basis of his discretion or dismiss it on the basis of his impression of the economy'. The judge will now face president of the immigration and asylum chamber Judge Michael Clements He faced serious allegations of 'unreasonable and inappropriate conduct' in one hearing and it was also alleged frequent misunderstandings angered him, complaints the tribunal found were well-founded. 'We regard the body of his work that we have examined . . . as wholly failing to meet the standards that are demanded by the office of a judge and expected by the parties. ' As a result, every one of the decisions under appeal shows error in law, in most cases serious error, in most cases multiple serious errors.' Immigration Law Practitioners Association chairman Adrien Berry said: 'It is hard to see how he first passed the judicial exams and then why it has taken so long for his lack of knowledge to be exposed. 'These are the sort of errors that first-year law students make. It is extremely rare for senior judges to make such a level of public criticism against another judge.' A judiciary spokesman said the complaint against Judge Majid is a matter for president of the immigration and asylum chamber Judge Michael Clements. Tributes have flowed for a teenage boy crushed when a 100 kilogram weight fell on him in a freak gym accident, as an investigation into his shocking death continues. Ben Shaw was reportedly stuck for up to 30 minutes beneath the heavy barbell after it fell on his neck and pinned him at the Pine Rivers PCYC gym in Brisbane this week. When finally discovered by gym staff the 15-year-old was rushed to hospital and put on life support, before his family made a heartbreaking call to turn it off on Saturday. But despite currently facing police and Worksafe investigations into the incident, the gym where Ben was training at the time has joined Ben's friends and family in paying tribute to the budding weightlifter. Scroll down for video Ben Shaw (pictured), the teenage boy crushed beneath a heavy weight at a Brisbane gym this week, had his life support switched off by his shattered family three days after the incident Despite currently facing police and Worksafe investigations into the incident, the gym where Ben was training at the time has paid tribute in the wake of his death Staff at the Pine Rivers PCYC (pictured) administered first aid to Ben until paramedics arrived and took him to Lady Cilento Hospital in a critical condition on Wednesday evening In a brief statement on their Facebook page, Pine Rivers PCYC said: 'Our thoughts and deepest sympathy goes out to the family of Ben Shaw at this difficult time.' Hours earlier Ben's father Scott also took to social media to share a photo of his son smiling and wearing a hat of his beloved NRL team the North Queensland Cowboys. The teenager's friends also paid tribute, remembering him as being 'loved by many' and leaving floral tributes at the Pine Rivers PCYC. 'Tragically taken away far too soon... my deepest condolences go out to his parents, family and friends,' one mourner wrote. 'Taken way too early brother... like they say the good die young, it's not fair one bit,' said another. His junior rugby league club also praised the teenager for leaving behind a 'legacy' with his family's decision to donate his organs. Hours after switching off his son's life support, Ben's father took to Facebook to post a photo of his smiling son wearing a hat of his beloved NRL side North Queensland Cowboys (pictured) Tributes have flowed from Ben's family and friends, while some left floral tributes outside the gym where the incident happened His junior rugby league club released a statement telling how Ben had left a 'legacy' by being able to donate his organs (pictured) The 15-year-old's neck was reportedly pinned under the equipment while he was working out The gym where he suffered the injuries has remained closed since the incident. Friends of Ben said he was a regular at the gym and had been competing in junior weightlifting competitions across the state. Two staff members at the gym performed first aid on Ben until paramedics could arrive and rush him to hospital. Worksafe Queensland has launched an investigation into the Pine Rivers PCYC and the incident. A 19-year-old man who was wanted on murder charges turned himself in to Georgia police. Khalif Wagner, 19, turned himself in in Toombs County in connection with the murder of Stevenson Derival, 20. The killing occurred in the early hours of September 24 at a house party, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Khalif Wagner, 19 (left), turned himself to Georgia police. He was wanted on murder charges stemming from the death of Stevenson Derival on September 24. Wagner's 19-year-old twin brother, Khalil (right), is wanted on charges of aggravated assault and remains at large Derival was shot dead at the party attended by more than 200 people. Stevenson Derival was shot dead on September 24 at a house party. He was a student at Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Georgia Another man, who has not been identified, was injured in the altercation that resulted in Derival's death. Wagner's 19-year-old twin brother, Khalil, is still at large. He is wanted in an aggravated assault case connected to Derival's death. Derival was a student at Brewton-Parker College, where he was on the track and field team. In a statement, the college's president, Steve Echols, said: 'Please pray for the family of Stevenson Derival who passed away early this morning in a tragic off-campus incident.' He added: 'We are all shocked and broken-hearted to see a friend and student whose life held such promise to be cut short in such a devastating way.' Those with information about Khalil Wagner's whereabouts are asked to call the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at 478-374-6988 or the Mount Vernon police department at 912-583-2771. The NYPD rescued a sailor who found himself stranded at sea for days with no food and no fuel. A fisherman noticed 39-year-old Paul Sayre's boat almost six miles off Rockaway Point, Queens, around 9.45am on Sunday and called the police. When NYPD Special Operation officers arrived, they found a boat with a ripped main sail and a boatman aboard. Officers say he was dehydrated but otherwise healthy after being stuck out at sea for four days. The NYPD rescued 39-year-old Paul Sayre after he found himself stranded at sea for four days with no food and no fuel (pictured). A fisherman noticed Sayre's boat in distress almost six miles off Rockaway Point, Queens, around 9.45am on Sunday and called the police Sayre had been traveling from Fire Island to Manhattan when he ran out of gas. He had no food and just a few bottles of water. Additionally, cellphone battery had died and he didn't have a radio. He was taken to the hospital (Pictured, officers rescue Paul Sayre) Sayre had been traveling from Fire Island to Manhattan when he ran out of gas, reported the New York Daily News. He had no food and just a few bottles of water. Additionally, his cellphone battery had died and he didn't have a radio. Sources reportedly told the Daily News that Sayre told officers he was living full-time aboard the vessel, but he had just bought it and hadn't given it a proper name. 'Apparently he had no business being out there,' said a police source. His rescuers towed the boat to the Marine Basin Marina in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and medics took Sayre to Coney Island Hospital in stable condition. The event comes just ten days after the NYPD rescued a sailor 16 miles out at sea. The crewman fell 35 feet while on board a commercial oil tanker vessel and then went into cardiac arrest (Pictured, NYPD rescuers save the injured sailor) The Aviation Unit was dispatched and medics were able to transfer the injured man to Staten Island University Hospital for treatment (pictured) The event comes just ten days after the NYPD rescued a sailor 16 miles out at sea. The crewman fell 35 feet while on board a commercial oil tanker vessel and then went into cardiac arrest. On September 21, the Aviation Unit was dispatched and reached the ship around 1.30pm. Once in the chopper, the officers flew the injured seaman to Staten Island University Hospital for treatment. Officers said, if done by boat, the rescue would have likely taken about two hours. But with the helicopter, the rescue took less than 30 minutes. Hugh Hefner was finally laid to rest next to Marilyn Monroe in an intimate ceremony that was attended by his wife, four children and some of his closest staffers. The Playboy founder's funeral on Saturday took place as LA's Westwood Village Memorial Park at noon. His four children, Cooper, Marston, Christie and David were all in attendance alongside his wife Crystal Harris, according to TMZ. Also in attendance were a few of his key staffers of Playboy. Hefner's crypt is next to Marilyn Monroe's. He bought the plot in 1992 for $75,000. Scroll down for video Hugh Hefner was finally laid to rest next to Marilyn Monroe (right) in an intimate ceremony that was attended by his wife, four children and some of his closest staffers Hefner's four children, Cooper, Marston, Christie and David all attended the ceremony. Hefner's crypt (left side) is next to Marilyn Monroe's. He bought the plot in 1992 for $75,000 Hefner died from natural causes at the Playboy Mansion surrounded by loved ones at the age of 91. Flowers and this sequin pillow were left under the crypt where he was buried Marylin Monroe's crypt at the Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery. The crypt directly to the left of Marilyn Monroe was purchased by Hugh Hefner in 1992 for $75,000. Richard Freddie Poncher was laid to rest in the crypt directly above Monroe's in 1986 The first issue of Playboy featured Marilyn Monroe and was published in December 1953 Hefner will join a number of Hollywood celebrities buried at the famous Los Angeles cemetery, including musician Roy Orbison, writer Truman Capote and iconic entertainer Dean Martin. Richard Freddie Poncher, who had purchased the crypt directly above Monroe's from Joe DiMaggio was laid to rest in that crypt in 1986. Hefner was born on April 9, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, and went on to become a millionaire after founding the influential men's magazine in 1953. The magazine hit with a splash, selling 50,000 copies of its first issue published in December 1953 - which featured Monroe on the cover - and went on to have seven million subscribers by its second year. Born Norma Jeane Mortenson in 1926, Monroe would become one of Hollywood's biggest stars and an American sex symbol for a generation. Monroe's films would gross over $200 million dollars in the decade leading up to her death, which came at the hands of a drug overdose. Hefner died from natural causes at the Playboy Mansion surrounded by loved ones at the age of 91. But on Friday, it was revealed that Hefner died after contracting a bug two weeks ago that eventually killed him. His wife Crystal Harris (pictured in 2013) was also in attendance along with a few of his key staffers of Playboy His sons, Cooper (right), 26, and Marston (left), 27, were also seen leaving their mother Kimberly Conrad's home over the weekend According to TMZ, his health decline began two years ago when an 'infection caused a crippling back condition that left him bedridden'. Hefner had been suffering from severe back problems for years but his condition worsened dramatically after he caught an infection. The magazine publisher was reportedly left unable to walk without assistance and made one of his final public appearances in May 2016 to announce Eugena Washington as Playmate of the Year. Hefner was pictured again on Father's Day this year in the Playboy Mansion in an intimate photo shared online by his son Cooper. His sons, David, 62; Cooper, 26; and Marston, 27; joined their sister Christie, 64; for the memorial dinner at the Japanese restaurant Katsuya in Brentwood, California, Saturday night. And earlier in the day on Saturday, it was also revealed that Hefner's widow, Harris, 31, will keep a stunning home worth $7 million and a $5 million lump sum, despite initial claims that she wouldn't receive anything. A watertight prenup had apparently blocked Harris from receiving a penny of the 91-year-old's $43 million fortune on his death. Instead, it was divided between his four children, the University of Southern California and a list of charities. Hefner's sons (left to right) David, 62; Cooper, 26; and Marston, 27; joined their sister Christie (second right), 64; for the memorial dinner at the Japanese restaurant Katsuya in Brentwood, California, on Saturday This is believed to be the last picture of Hefner in circulation. It was taken on June 16 this year, on Father's Day, and shared online by his son Cooper (right). He is pictured with Cooper and Marston (left) playing backgammon But that same prenup in fact promised Harris a substantial package of money, as well as the four-bedroom Hollywood Hills house that Hefner bought her in 2013, TMZ reported. Hefner bought the 5,900-square-foot home for $4,995,000 and placed the deed in a trust for Harris in 2012, the year before they married. As well as its four bedrooms, it has five bathrooms and a gorgeous outdoor infinity pool surrounded by decking and is now worth around $7 million, according to Zillow. But Hefner's most prized asset could be in limbo for at least a year. At the time of his death, Hefner held 35 per cent of the Playboy brand and still completely owned the magazine, but there were strings attached to that agreement. Under the deal, Playboy Enterprises has one year from the time of Hefner's death to buy back his shares, assuming his estate and Playboy can reach an agreement, according to TMZ. If they can't, after one year Hef's 35 per cent is up for grabs and will ultimately go to the highest bidder. And then the proceeds from the sale will go to Hefner's four children. Sources told the news site that Hefner's shares should reel in around $45 million. At his peak, Hefner was worth upwards of $200million, but as the magazine's popularity tanked, he lost millions. He was worth an estimated $43 million in 2009 - a figure that did not include his Playboy Mansion, which he sold in June for $100 million; half its asking price. He had $36 million worth of stocks and bonds and $6 million in a joint account with an unnamed person. His monthly earnings from the magazine only totaled $100,000, with the rest coming from his pension. The rest of his estate has been divided between his children: Marston and now-Penthouse-boss Cooper, who were born to second wife Kimberley Conrad; and Christie and David, whom he had with first wife Mildred Williams. This stunning home was bought in 2013 for Crystal Harris, now 31, by then-new husband Hugh Hefner for $4,995,000 Monarch staff sobbed as they cleared their desks today and drowned their sorrows in airport bars after coming to work only to learn the airline collapsed overnight. Administrators have confirmed 1,858 workers have been made redundant. The majority of the staff - including some who had been there 38 years - were told in an email. Workers at its Luton Airport headquarters hugged each other and wiped away tears as they carried their belongings in boxes and bags to their cars. Staff were seen leaving the building from a back entrance after clearing out their desks and they drove away from the airport in their vehicles tooting their car horns as they left. Some defiant workers left a briefing laughing, waving banners and drinking champagne as they decided to celebrate all the years they'd worked for Monarch. Pubs in Luton offered free food and drink to people left without a job while air crew elsewhere have been drowning their sorrows in a Gatwick Airport Wetherspoon pub since early this morning. Two Monarch staff sob at its Luton headquarters as more than 2,100 people lost their jobs today A tearful Monarch worker hugs a security guard at the Luton headquarters today after clearing her desk. 2,100 staff have lost their jobs and left with their belongings today Some cabin crew smile and has a glass of sparkling wine as they displayed gallows humour today Some revealed to social media followers that they had lost their jobs after hearing it on the news Builder Alan Jee, 42, from Bournemouth, has been saving 'for years' to pay for his 15,000 'love island' wedding with sweetheart Donna Smith, 40 - but their dream is in tatters today Staff were summoned to the airport to discuss the overnight announcement that the firm would be ceasing trade. The pub was packed out with Monarch staff who could be seen chatting closely and hugging. One air hostess, who had worked for the firm for three years, said: 'I touched down at not long after midnight and checked my emails and there was an email from management. 'They just said this was something they never had wanted to announce. I was stunned, there was no sign anything like that was coming. 'I went home and had a short sleep and came back in this morning, there was a Q&A and they told us we can apply for redundancy'. As the crisis-hit airline was grounded today it has emerged: Monarch knew it was in trouble four weeks ago and its board agreed to go into administration on Saturday - but it was still selling seats minutes before collapse today; 110,000 people are stranded abroad and will be repatriated over the next two weeks on 34 planes; 300,000 bookings involving 750,000 people to 40 destinations axed with people warned not to travel to airports if they are in the UK; People who booked flights as part of a package will be flown home for free or get their money back if it is a future holiday; Flight-only customers are not Atol-protected and insurance is unlikely to cover airline failure; 1,858 members of staff have lost their jobs after collapse in Monarch's 50th year; Scramble for tickets with rival airlines as Monarch try to save their holidays - but it appears budget airlines have already jacked the prices; 0300 303 2800 if calling from the UK or +44 1753 330330 from abroad Victims needing advice should visit monarch.caa.co.uk , or call the helpline onif calling from the UK orfrom abroad More than 110,000 Monarch customers are stranded abroad today after the airline went bust and cancelled all its flights. 34 planes have been chartered to bring passengers back to the UK over the next two weeks in the country's biggest-ever peacetime repatriation of citizens. Today it emerged Monarch's board knew it was going bust on Saturday night but kept it secret, allowing new booking until minutes before it collapsed at 3am today. Bosses were accused of 'picking the pockets of customers' because they launched a new sale on Friday despite being on the brink of collapse. John and Zeeta Dowsey, who flew back from Rome, said they were greeted with a smile when they arrived at the airport for their replacement flight. John said: 'We realised a couple of days ago that there was an issue and we were monitoring that. 'The only sad part about it is those people who work for Monarch, they today are in a poor place. 'It was great to have a British passport and go to a British Embassy and say 'we are Monarch refugees', and they could not have been better.' Sam Booth and Emma Plant said they feared they would be stranded but barely had any delays. Sam said: 'They swept in and just sorted everything out, we weren't delayed at all. (On the flight) we got a muffin, a Qatari-style pasty and a bottle of water.' Monarch passengers arrive in Birmingham Airport after flying back via a repatriation flight Grounded Monarch airplanes sit on the tarmac at Luton airport today as they were taken by administrators At least 300,000 future bookings worth 60million and involving up 750,000 customers have also been axed - leaving many out of pocket and left to pay hiked-up prices from rivals to save their holidays. Builder Alan Jee, 42, from Bournemouth, has been saving 'for years' to pay for his 15,000 'love island' wedding with sweetheart Donna Smith, 40, and they were flying to Gran Canaria from Gatwick with 30 loved-ones today. He said: 'Five minutes before we were due to go on the plane they just put an announcement out saying everything's been cancelled. My missus is in tears. We have been left high and dry. It's all ruined. We might have to sleep in the airport to see what we can get later in the week'. The collapse - the largest to ever hit a UK airline - happened at 3am when all planes were on the ground and could be seized. Will I get my money back if I bought a Monarch flight or holiday? Monarch has gone bust - what happens to customers abroad? If they are on a package holiday, they are Atol-protected and will be flown home for free. If they are on flight-only bookings, they may not be covered but the Civil Aviation Authority is organising some rescue flights. ... and bookings for future holidays? Package holiday customers will get their money back but with no guarantee of being able to rebook the same holiday with another firm. What about Monarch flight-only bookings? Flights alone are not covered by the Atol scheme. Insurance is unlikely to cover airline failure either. If the flights cost over 100 and were booked with a credit card, they are covered under the Consumer Credit Act meaning a refund. Advertisement It caused chaos as travellers arrived at airports across the UK and Europe this morning to be told that their flights were cancelled in text messages with no staff to speak to. More than 2,100 Monarch workers also lost their jobs but were not told in advance of the announcement, leaving many in tears at its Luton headquarters today as they cleared their desks. Monarch has been accused of 'trying to pick the pockets' of customers by selling seats up until minutes before its collapse including a sale on routes to Portugal and Spain launched three days ago. On Saturday night the board agreed it would go into administration but this was only announced at 3am today. Stephen Dodgson, 60, and wife Lin, 50, were turned away from the Monarch check-in desk in the early hours of this morning. He said: 'We were standing in the queue at 3.15am this morning you could still go on Monarch and book flights'. Judy Ballard, who was due to fly from Gatwick to Menorca today, said: 'I saw Monarch were still selling flights yesterday evening, that is just awful behaviour.' The Civil Aviation Authority, who is ion charge of getting people home, admiteed they knew the airline was in trouble early last month. Chief executive Andrew Haines said: 'We had notification from Monarch four and a half weeks ago that there were issues they were dealing with. 'Unfortunately we didn't get final confirmation until 4am this morning and my understanding is that the board resolution to go into administration didn't take place until close to midnight on Saturday night'. Alan Jee, 42, said their week had been plunged into chaos after flights for 30 of his friends and family - including fiancee Donna Smith - were also affected. Describing what happened he said: 'Five minutes before we were due to go on the plane they just put an announcement out saying everything's been cancelled and if we want to get flights anywhere else we have to pay for them ourselves. 'My missus just burst straight into tears, and my mother-in-law, and my mum. They (Monarch) are doing absolutely nothing about it whatsoever, they've palmed us off. 'No one's told us anything about it, we've tried speaking to Monarch but they've gone into liquidation. They can't get any more flights and we can't get a hotel out here until this is sorted.' Mr Jee, who left his home in Christchurch at midnight on Monday, said he was due to be in the air by 6am, with his stag party originally scheduled to take place later in the week. He said: 'It's been an absolute nightmare so far. I've got to (keep calm) for the kids. I've got another 36 people due to come out this week and I'm not sure if they're going to get out either. 'My missus phoned Monarch yesterday. They told us it's only the package holidays that are going to be cancelled - all our flights will be fine, the rest of our week's going to be fine. 'Then five minutes before we were due to board the plane, they've just told us 'No, nothing - everything's been cancelled'. 'We're stuck here now, we can't find a hotel because everything's been booked. 'We are looking to get flights now from anywhere, even if it's one or two here, four or five on a flight there. But I don't think it's going to happen. I think it's just a joke - an absolute joke.' This is the announcement made on Twitter confirming customers' worst fears that Monarch was no more An empty check-in desk for Monarch Airlines at Gatwick Airport today as the airline ceased trading at 3am A group of passengers at Gatwick today after arriving to learn that their flight would not take off Monarch passengers have been stranded abroad including these people whose flight home from Las Palmas to Gatwick was cancelled this morning A locked-up customer service desk at Manchester Airport today as 2,100 people lost their jobs Monarch Airlines check-in desks stand empty after the airline ceased trading at Birmingham Airport Stranded passengers outside the Monarch customer services desk at Gatwick Airport where CAA staff are assisting them Passengers who arrived to fly today were handed this note from the Civil Aviation Authority informing them that the company has gone bust while TV screens informed them it has collapsed Travellers walk past the rows and rows of empty check-in desks at Gatwick Airport today Monarch crisis: What to do now What to do if you are one of the 110,000 Monarch customers overseas or one of the 300,000 with future bookings cancelled. Monarch passengers abroad: What should I do now? The Government has told Monarch customers to continue their holidays as planned and is organising special flights back for passengers who are affected at no cost to them. At least 48 hours before you are due to return home you should visit the dedicated website monarch.caa.co.uk, call the helpline on 0300 303 2800 if calling from the UK or +44 1753 330330 if calling from overseas to confirm your new flight details. Repatriation flights are for all passengers who purchased tickets with Monarch irrespective of their nationality. When will I be able to fly? You should expect to be flown as close as possible to your planned departure dates, no earlier, and prepare for disruption to journeys. Some passengers may need to speak with their accommodation provider in case they need to extend their stay. When should I go to the airport? You should arrive at the airport more than three hours before your confirmed new flight as they will not be able to take earlier services. Foreign Office staff will be available at affected airports to help any vulnerable British citizens with specific needs. Any Britons requiring additional consular support should visit gov.uk/world. Can I check in online? There will be no online check-in. You will be issued with a new flight and new boarding card and will not be able to check in with your old flight details. Will I have to pay for the flight? Once on board the plane, you will be asked to provide details of your original Monarch booking. If you are not Atol (Air Travel Organiser's Licence) protected, this will allow the Government to claim the cost of their replacement flight directly from your credit or debit card company. You will not be asked to pay for your flight yourself. Do I have to pay for extra accommodation costs? Passengers with Atol protection are entitled to reasonable accommodation and subsistence costs if they are delayed by more than four hours. Those without Atol protection may be able to claim from credit card providers or insurers. Further information will be made available via the website. The CAA will process your refund as quickly as possible - check the dedicated website for more information. How do I know if I am Atol protected? Check if you have received an Atol certificate, or check with your travel agent. Will I be flown back to my departure airport? You may be flown back to different UK airports, with coaches available to take you to your destination airport. Monarch customers yet to travel: Check the dedicated website or contact your travel agent if you booked with one. They will be able to advise on whether you can change your holiday booking or are entitled to a refund or compensation. If you are not covered by the Atol scheme, you should also contact your credit card company or travel insurer. Advertisement Furious Monarch passengers found out their flights had been cancelled when the company texted them saying they had gone bust. Rickey Lal, 25, was already at Birmingham Airport when he received the text - just two-and-a-half hours before he was due to board his flight to Barcelona. The project manager, from Walsall, West Mids., said: 'I'd booked a flight to Barcelona with Monarch with my cousins when I found out the news. 'We had a text at 4.09am from Monarch. We were at the airport by then anyway so it was just pointless'. All Monarch customers currently abroad will be flown home for free around the time of their Monarch booking. Ryanair's share price bounces up - as Michael O'Leary also eyes up Monarch pilots Shares in Ryanair as well as rivals easyJet and British Airways' owner IAG rose in morning trading following the collapse of rival Monarch. Investors piled into the stocks after interpreting the airline's demise as a boon for competitors. Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said: 'The failure of Monarch is good news for rivals. It means fewer seats to fill sector-wide - more than six million in the case of Monarch. 'This should mean Ryanair and easyJet can comfortably improve load factors, even if the reputation of the former has suffered of late. 'This should be positive for margins despite pricing pressures.' Ryanair has been dogged by a wave of flight cancellations in recent weeks after the company miscalculated pilot leave. It has also launched a recruitment drive for new pilots and is likely to encourage Monarch air crew to apply. Brian Strutton, general secretary of airline pilots' union Balpa, said: 'The thoughts of all UK airline pilots are with our friends and colleagues in Monarch today. 'This is an extremely difficult situation for everyone involved, but especially for Monarch staff members who, in the case of many pilots, have spent their whole careers working for Monarch and are now to be made redundant. 'We were hoping that the clear difficulties Monarch were in could have been resolved and the airline could continue trade. Sadly, that is not going to be the case. 'However, we will be working with our partner airlines across the UK and with our Monarch members to try and help them secure new jobs as quickly as possible. 'The skill, experience and professionalism of Monarch pilots cannot and must not be allowed to ebb from our aviation industry.' Advertisement But flight-only customers are likely to be left out of pocket because they are not ATOL-protected and unlikely to be covered by travel insurance. Flight companies have already been accused of cashing in on the chaos from the Monarch collapse as flight prices increased as desperate passengers struggled to re-book flights. One nurse from London stuck at Gatwick today said the price of a Ryanair flight to Alicante went up 60 as she tried to book a replacement. More than 2,100 Monarch staff also learned this morning that they had lost their jobs and were not told in advance about the collapse. A man could miss out on walking his daughter down the aisle after the collapse of Monarch Airlines. Barry Gill was due to fly out to Cyprus on Wednesday for the wedding of his daughter, Gemma Brown - but could miss out on walking his daughter down the aisle after the collapse of Monarch Airlines. But the cancellation of all Monarch flights from the UK has left him and his wife Deborah wondering whether they will even be able to make it to Friday's ceremony at all. Mr Gill's stepdaughter, Joanne Richardson, 24, said her parents could be forced to shell out as much as 800 for new flights, but they were unsure if they could afford it. She said: 'We found out early this morning that Monarch had gone bust and we've spent all the time since then trying to sort out new flights. 'We (she and her stepsister) are already out in Cyprus but Mum and Dad, with working during the week, had been planning to come Wednesday through to Saturday. 'We checked the website in the morning and it said all the flights were cancelled. It's left people in the lurch. 'I'm not sure whether they're going to be able to get out as it's a lot of money to find in the space of a day.' Mr and Mrs Gill, aged 54 and 49, from Hartlepool, had been due to fly from Leeds Bradford Airport for the wedding in Larnaka. The whole family now face a worrying wait to see if alternative arrangements can be made. Ms Richardson added: 'It was the news nobody wanted. 'My stepsister has got all the wedding preparations to deal with, so we're trying to get it sorted. 'We just don't know whether he's going to be there to give her away.' John Connerty arrived at Manchester Airport today to fly to Marbella and said: 'In airport ready to fly out with Monarch then an announcement states that Monarch has gone into administration - so upsetting to see kids and pensioners crying, along with wife'. About 300,000 future bookings were cancelled when Monarch was placed into administration on Monday morning. Customers have been told to keep away from airports as there will be no more flights. They have been advised to check a dedicated website, monarch.caa.co.uk, for advice. Karen Patrick, from Northamptonshire, was due to fly with Monarch Airlines to Rome, Italy, with relatives who are visiting from the United States. The 53-year-old said fights with alternative operators were 'going so quickly' as the group tried to work out what to do. She said: 'We just could not believe it and we have our relatives who have come from America too. It's just unbelievable.' The group only discovered that travel with Monarch had been suspended when they arrived at Luton Airport. They have managed to get seats on a flight with easyJet on Tuesday and have been forced to pay for the new flights, but hope the cost will be covered by their insurance. Ms Patrick's cousin, Deborah Bond, 55, from Texas, said: 'We are not going to let it ruin our holiday.' Check-in desks are empty as two Monarch flights to Dalaman, Turkey, and Naples, Italy, have been cancelled at Leeds Bradford Airport An upset woman looks heartbroken after Monarch's collapse left thousands stranded Staff at Gatwick airport helping to advise customers due to the closure of Monarch airlines Two young women check their phones while another man sleeps on the floor at Gatwick Airport A passenger left stranded by the Monarch crisis is among hundreds of thousands affected Ann Johnson, from Luton, said there had been a lack of information for holidaymakers. The 75-year-old, who was due to go with her husband on a one-week package holiday to Faro, Portugal, arrived at Luton airport at about 4am on Monday. Are you stranded or lost your booking? Send your story and pictures to martin.robinson@mailonline.co.uk Advertisement She said: 'There was no notice up - nothing. We were just walking around looking for the check-in desk.' The couple have been forced to pay approximately 450 for two Ryanair flights on Monday evening, including baggage, but face a twelve-hour wait at the airport before take-off. Ms Johnson said the couple were 'angry', adding: 'There's no actual information desk here to go and ask anyone and no-one knows what to do. 'There's no-one giving out food or vouchers.' A Lithuanian couple on their honeymoon were among passengers who arrived at Luton Airport in Bedfordshire on Monday morning to find their flight had been cancelled. Customers due to fly out of the UK with Monarch have been warned not to travel to airports as there will be no further flights. Vilius Linkunaitis, 31, said he and his new wife, Zivile Rakauskaite, 32, felt 'stranded' and 'lost' after learning they would not be able to fly. He said: 'We are trying to fly as it's our honeymoon holiday and we are totally screwed at the moment.' The couple, who married just days ago, had flown to London from Riga, Latvia, and were due to travel on to Malaga in Spain for the end of their honeymoon. They said Monarch was not answering its phones and they could not get through to Kiwi.com, the website operator they booked the flights with. Mr Linkunaitis said: 'We feel very stranded and just lost and I don't know what to do now.' He said they had been told by airport staff to go online to find the cheapest seats on an alternative flight. A spokesman for Leeds Bradford Airport said around 250 passengers turned up on Monday morning for cancelled flights to Dalaman and Naples. He said: 'People were very, very understanding; there was a lot of disappointment but people were understanding. 'It was disappointing having to tell people who had come for their holiday that it was not going to happen. 'We tried the best we could to facilitate people.' The spokesman urged passengers not to turn up at the airport for cancelled flights to Barcelona and Menorca, which were due to depart on Monday afternoon. Replacement flights from Naples, Dalaman, Barcelona and Menorca are due to bring Monarch customers back to Leeds Bradford later. Stricken passengers have taken to social media to voice their frustration over the collapse A fleet of jets has been chartered to rescue up to 100,000 British holidaymakers who are stranded CAA chief executive Andrew Haines said the decision to stop trading would be 'very distressing for all of its customers and employees'. Staff left crying and laughing after 2,100 jobs are lost at airline Following the announcement that Monarch Airlines had gone into administration, staff at the Luton head office were laughing, then crying at the news that they no longer had jobs. Initially, when they found out the news, staff came out laughing, waving banners and drinking champagne, showing bravado, akin to Gallows humour, and celebrating all the years they'd worked for Monarch. A little while later, as the realisation hit them that they no longer had jobs at Monarch, the same staff were crying their eyes out. Staff were seen leaving the building from a back entrance after clearing out their desks. As they drove away from the airport in their vehicles, staff were tooting their car horns as they left. Some staff cracked open the fizz as they maintained humour at a time of crisis Advertisement 'We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UK's largest airlines to manage this task,' he said. 'The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home.' The regulator said all Monarch customers who are abroad and due to return to the UK in the next two weeks will be flown home. The flights will be at no extra cost to passengers and they do not need to cut short their stay, the CAA said. New flight details will be available a minimum of 48 hours in advance of customers' original departure times. The Government has warned passengers to expect disruption and delay as it works to ensure there are enough flights to return the 'huge number' of passengers. Commenting on the 'extraordinary operation', Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: 'I have immediately ordered the country's biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded abroad. 'This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation. Together with the Civil Aviation Authority, we will work around the clock to ensure Monarch passengers get the support they need. 'Nobody should underestimate the size of the challenge, so I ask passengers to be patient and act on the advice given by the CAA.' Administrator Blair Nimmo said Monarch, which employs around 2,100 people across its airline and tour group, had struggled with mounting costs and competitive market conditions that saw it suffer a period of sustained losses. Mr Nimmo told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the administrators were considering breaking up the company as no buyer has been found to purchase Monarch in its entirety. He said: 'While there have been some expressions of interest, in reality no offers for the business as a whole have been forthcoming, so we now are looking for who might be interested in certain parts of business, whether it be physical assets or whether it be slots, i.e. routes that they currently operate.' On the prospect of job losses, he said that because of the timing of the announcement, staff have not yet been spoken to about their futures. 'We have not spoken to the staff, we have people at all the major sites from KPMG this morning and we are going to... explain to them exactly where we are with them at the moment and where things are going to move going forward, what their rights and statutory rights are in these circumstances. That should become clearer over the next few hours.' Wedding couple and their family stranded at Gatwick with flights to Gran Canaria 'love island' axed Builder Alan Jee, 42, pictured far right, fears he may not be able to attend his dream wedding with his family after Monarch collapsed A couple's 15,000 dream wedding on a private Gran Canaria 'love island' is in tatters because Monarch cancelled their flights. The heartbroken couple and 30 members of their family have been left 'high and dry' at Gatwick Airport after the airline went bust overnight. Builder Alan Jee, 42, said he has been saving for the tropical wedding for 'years' and now fears he will have to cancel - because they can't get there. Speaking at the airport today, the father-of-two said: 'My missus is in tears. 'I have got 30 people here, they have travelled from all over the country, I've spent 12,000 to 15,000. 'Monarch have just told us we have to book new flights with other airlines, I am going to really struggle to do that. 'The prices have gone up from around 120 return to 480 return. 'We were meant to be flying out at 5.30am, ten minutes before we were due to board a tannoy announcement went out informing everyone that the flight had been cancelled. Alan, from Bournemouth, was set to marry sweetheart Donna Smith, 40, on Saturday morning, but they have a lot of planning and preparation still left to do. He added: 'We have been left high and dry. 'We were meant to be seeing the wedding planners tomorrow, my missus was getting her hair done on Wednesday, it's all ruined. 'We have been engaged for two years, I wanted everything to be right. 'We hired out a private love island, it is shaped like a little love heart. 'We might have to sleep in the airport to see what we can get later in the week, all my family have coaches booked and paid for so they are stuck here too. 'Even if we do get out there we will have probably spent all our money on hotels, I can't believe this has happened.' Monarch Airlines ceased trading overnight meaning 300,000 future bookings for flights and holidays have been cancelled. About 110,000 customers are currently overseas and the government has asked the Civil Aviation Authority to charter more than 30 planes to bring them back to the UK. Advertisement Leeds Bradford customers arrive to find their flights to Turkey and Italy will not fly as planned Monarch has gone bust after 50 years - but its own staff were not told in advance of losing their jobs Stricken airline Monarch had been handed a 24-hour reprieve as it teetered on the brink of financial collapse Mr Nimmo explained that Monarch had been 'significantly loss-making' over the last year and those losses were projected to continue in the year ahead. In the last year the airline had taken 14% more customers but revenue was 100 million less, while adverse movement of the pound against the dollar had increased costs including fuel, handling charges and lease payments. Monarch boss: 'I'm truly sorry' Monarch's boss said today he is 'truly sorry' as the airline was shut down. Chief executive Andrew Swaffield said the 'root cause' of Monarch's reduction in revenue was terror attacks in Egypt and Tunisia as well as the 'decimation' of Turkey. Mr Swaffield said the airline was carrying 14% more passengers than last year for 100 million less revenue. It was badly affected by the 2015 bombing of a Russian airliner which departed from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, an attack in Sousse, Tunisia, during the same year which left 30 Britons dead and a 2016 attempted coup in Turkey. In a letter to staff which he described as 'the update I hoped I would never have to write', Mr Swaffield explained that the firm went into administration 'despite our best efforts'. He said Monarch attempted to 'pivot our airline from short-haul to long-haul to reduce losses', but was unable to find a 'deliverable offer' from a buyer for its short-haul operations or assets. Mr Swaffield said he was 'so sorry' for causing 'huge inconvenience to customers'. He went on: 'We are working with the joint administrators and the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) to do everything we possibly can to help minimise disruption where we can, but are under no illusion as to the problems this will cause. 'And many suppliers will suffer hugely as a result of our insolvency - for which I am equally sorry.' Mr Swaffield told his employees that they can 'all hold your heads up high and be proud of what you achieved at Monarch'. He added: 'It has been a company that has cared for its customers and which has been like a family for many people for five decades. I cannot tell you how much I wanted to avoid this outcome and how truly sorry I am.' Advertisement He said affected customers currently abroad will 'broadly' get home when they were anticipating and 'in a similar manner' and urged them to check the website. Unite, which represents around 1,800 engineers and cabin crew working for Monarch, said it understands that potential investors and buyers were deterred by the continuing uncertainty surrounding Brexit. The union claimed that ministers rebuffed requests by Monarch to provide a bridging loan, charged at commercial rates, to tide the company over while it restructured the business to focus on its long-haul operations. Such assistance is not without precedent and was recently given by the German government to Air Berlin, said Unite. The union's national officer Oliver Richardson said: 'Monarch's workforce has worked tirelessly and loyally, with great sacrifice, to try and turn the airline around in the last year. 'Their hard work has been undone by a government seemingly content to sit on its hands and allow one of the UK's oldest airlines go into administration. 'There were a number of factors that impacted negatively on the company. However, continuing uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the ability of UK airlines to fly freely in Europe after the UK has left the EU undoubtedly hindered Monarch getting the investment it needed to restructure and survive. 'This uncertainty, combined with the apparent unwillingness of the government to assist at commercial rates and at a profit to the taxpayer, has left thousands of jobs at a great British airline hanging by a thread. 'Now is not the time for government ministers to wash their hands of a problem they have contributed to. 'Ministers need to act fast by intervening in a similar way as their German counterparts did with Air Berlin and help secure a future for Monarch. 'The government must also secure the current freedoms to fly that UK airlines enjoy in Brexit negotiations as a matter of urgency to stabilise confidence in the airline industry.' Monarch, whose headquarters are at London Luton Airport, was founded in 1968. It also operates from four other UK bases including London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds Bradford to more than 40 destinations around Europe and further afield. It is Monarch's second such temporary extension in two years and follows a spotlight being shone on the carrier's finances. The company employs approximately 2,750 predominantly UK based staff, its website states. UK travel firms selling holidays and flights are required to hold an Atol, which protects customers with pre-booked holidays from being stranded abroad in the event of circumstances such as the company ceasing to trade. It is thought Monarch bosses held talks with other airlines such as easyJet and Hungarian firm Wizz over a potential rescue deal. Last year, Monarch was forced to turn to Greybull for a 165million rescue package to keep flying. And last month Monarch chief executive Andrew Swaffield hit back after Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary said in an interview: 'It is an open secret that Monarch and Norwegian will not make it through the winter.' Customers affected by the company's collapse have been urged to check a dedicated website, monarch.caa.co.uk, for advice and information on flights back to the UK. A 24-hour helpline is also available on 0300 303 2800 from in the UK and Ireland, and +44 1753 330330 from overseas. Rival airlines including Ryanair 'cash in' on stranded Monarch passengers by hiking up flight prices as easyJet hosts 'recruitment day' for jobless pilots Monarch's rivals have been accused of hiking up prices of flights after it went bust and victims started scrambling to save their holidays. At least 300,000 future bookings worth 60million and involving up 750,000 customers have also been axed - leaving many out of pocket and left to pay hiked-up prices from rivals to save their holidays. An intensive care nurse from south London rebooked flights to Alicante and saw the quoted price rise from 138 to 199 per person on the Ryanair site in the time it took to complete the booking. She said: 'It is scandalous that Monarch were allowed to carry on taking bookings when it is now clear the Government knew they were about to fold. 'I haven't had a proper pay rise in seven years and was forced to either cancel my holiday or stump up an inflated price to Ryanair. 'I blame the Government for standing by and allowing ordinary working people like myself to be ripped off in this outrageous fashion.' EasyJet is set to hold a recruitment day for Monarch staff and Ryanair will be eyeing pilots to deal with its own cancellation crisis. Monarch's rivals hiked up prices of flights after it went bust and victims started scrambling to save their holidays as the planes were grounded today (pictured at Birmingham today) Customers said they were 'disgusted' as they accused Monarch's rivals of bumping up prices Amy Hodson wrote: 'Looks like @Ryanair are using the #monarch bust to their advantage and upping the prices... Nice one. @Cyba3security said; 'Not good business @Ryanair putting prices of flights up mid booking (46 to 116!) Taking advantage of Monarch cancellations. #thieves'/ Monarch victims promised there train tickets can be used The UK's largest rail firm today said it will honour any ticket holder affected by the collapse of airline company Monarch which has stranded over 100,000 people. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said any passenger returning home early or late will still be able to travel with their tickets, which would normally be voided. Monarch airlines this morning went into administration after failing to reach a deal with the Civil Aviation Authority last night leaving 110,000 passengers left stranded overseas. GTR has said its three train companies that serve airports will all honour the rail tickets of Monarch passengers, accepting any ticket regardless of date. GTR Chief Operating Officer Nick Brown said: 'People stranded by the Monarch problems have enough to worry about and this is something we can do to ease the last leg of their journey.' This applies to passengers with advanced pre-dated rail tickets returning from Luton (with Thameslink) and Gatwick (with Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink). Advertisement Joshua Courtney said: 'It's absolutely disgusting that @easyJet are raising prices to nearly DOUBLE because of the #Monarch situation. Sean Celecia wrote: '@British_Airways @easyJet taking advantage that @Monarch have cancelled all flights! Ridiculous prices'. Ryanair's chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, said: 'Ryanair's fares are only coming down this winter' while British Airways denied it had changed its fare levels'. Today it emerged Monarch's board knew it was going bust on Saturday night but kept it secret, allowing new booking until minutes before it collapsed at 3am today. Ahic Sahhadpao, 59, and his wife Michelle, 52, had checked in bags at Gatwick airport last night for an early flight to Gran Canaria but the flight was then cancelled. They quickly managed to find an alternative flight for 230 with Thomson, plus 150 for the taxi journey from Gatwick to Birmingham. A total of 27 flights were affected at Birmingham Airport today with 17 due to depart and another 10 arriving. Ahic from Surrey, said: 'We had checked in and our bags had been taken when we heard an announcement to suspend all transactions, not even the staff knew what was happening. 'One of the staff told us they had turned up for work this morning and they were removed of their staff passes, they just stood around not knowing what to do. They found out when customers found out. 'It was chaos at the check-in, people were shouting at staff and children were crying. 'We saw a wedding party of 30 stranded, trying to get an alternative flight.. 'We are lucky because we booked flights and accommodation separately but people with package holidays will now be struggling to get flights changed. 'As soon as we knew, we booked a flight through Skyscanner first thing this morning, around 4am. 'I've noticed that flights have now gone up to 800-1000.' Check-in desks stand empty in the Monarch flights departures area after the airline ceased trading, at Luton airport as victims scrambled for tickets Hilary and Richard Penn, both in their mid sixties, were due to fly to Barcelona at 6.45am this morning when they found out their Monarch flight had been cancelled. Having booked through a travel agent the couple tried to organise a refund but were told that was not an option and they would be transferred onto a Ryanair flight this afternoon and 3.45pm Hilary said: 'I would have rather gone home and had a refund but our travel agent told us that was not an option as they were organising flight for stranded passengers. 'We haven't slept all night and now we have to wait around the check in area with no where comfortable to sit until we can get through the departure lounge. 'I feel terrible for the staff who have lost their jobs, they have been really good and helped us as much as they can.' A group of three woman, travelling out to Lanzarote, had booked a departure flight with Ryanair but were due to fly home with Monarch airlines. One lady said: 'We have been keeping and eye on the news the last few days and it's been worrying as we don't want to be stranded. 'When we saw the news this morning we were certain we would have to book another flight and luckily we managed to get one, even if it has put us out of pocket. 'I think the price will go up throughout the day as desperate people book alternative flights. 'It's enivitable that airline will try and make money off the back of this.' Another couple in their mid 60's, who were supposed to be jetting off on their holidays to barcelona, were left stranded. With a 11 hour wait for an alternative flight. Stephen and Miranda Jeffs were due to fly with monarch airline at 6.45am. Miranda said: 'We heard on the news this morning but came to airport anyway to see what was going to happen with our flights. 'It was very busy with people this morning but they have left now. 'The staff have lost their jobs and will have to deal with all the customer complaints. I feel so sorry for them.' Richard Wainright, 68, who was also due to board the 6.45am flight with his wife will now have to wait for an alternative flight at 3.45pm. He said: 'We have been told that we can now fly with Ryan Air but for that airline you need to print boarding passes and we can't do that here. 'So the travel company is travelling down to the airport to bring out boarding passes around 1 pm. 'We have had to buy food and drinks in the airport that aren't cheap because we are having to wait and were also going to be missing two days of our holiday due to this alternative flight. 'We not sure I we can claim some money back through out travel insurance or the travel company. 'If it's the only way we can get home then we don't have a choice. 'We spoke to a couple earlier who were meant to be flying to Portugal. 'They have been sent in a taxi from here to Luton airport and put in a hotel over night to fly first thing in the morning.' John and Dionne, both 66, from Telford arrived at the airport at 2am to fly to Tenerife when they found out their flight had been cancelled. The couple have had to pay nearly 800 for an alternative flight, meaning they must transfer in Madrid and won't arrive in Santa Cruz till later tonight before getting a hours taxi to their hotel. John said: 'This the third time we have had a holiday cancelled before but not when we have already checked in. 'We now have to tell the travel company we booked with that we have an alternative flight otherwise they will cancel our holiday. 'We will miss a day in Tenerife because of this and will spend hours and hours travelling with transfers, not too mention what we have had to pay to get there.' Is this Ryanair's best Monday morning ever? Users flood Twitter with hilarious memes after Monarch airline collapse As British holidaymakers are plummeted into chaos with tens of thousands stuck overseas, social media users have taken the opportunity to respond in typically witty fashion. Monarch Airlines collapsed today leaving more than 110,000 British tourists stranded abroad and all customers in the UK told not to travel to the airport. And the beleaguered airline has now fallen victim to the inevitable onslaught of memes poking fun at its financial misfortune. Social media users have taken the opportunity to shed some light on the situation Social media has erupted with hilarious pictures mocking Monarch - with many suggesting Ryanair could now take on its staff. Many memes focus on Ryanair - which has cut thousands of flights due to pilots' annual leave, strikes and air traffic delays - now profiting from Monarch's troubles. Monarch travellers arrived at airports across the UK and Europe this morning to be told that their flights were cancelled while 300,000 future bookings worth at least 60million and involving 750,000 customers have also been axed. The collapse - the largest to ever hit a UK airline - happened at 3am when all planes were on the ground and could be seized. But many are trying to take a lighthearted view online. Ryan Gibbs posted an image of Tom Hanks in the blockbuster Castaway, with the caption: 'My current feeling knowing Monarch have gone into administration and my flight home still hasn't been changed'. Another wrote: 'Ryanair looking at the Monarch situation like...yep, won't have to worry about pilot shortage soon.' Social media has erupted with hilarious pictures mocking Monarch - with some asking for suggestions and help re-booking their holidays Administrators have confirmed Monarch package holidaymakers will be flown home for free or get a full refund on bookings - but flight-only customers are likely to be left out of pocket. Flight companies have already been accused of cashing in on the chaos from the Monarch collapse as flight prices were allegedly increased by the minute as desperate passengers struggled to re-book flights. One nurse from London stuck at Gatwick today said the price of a Ryanair flight to Alicante went up 60 as she tried to book a replacement. This comes after under-fire carrier Ryanair revealed 2,024 routes will be axed over the next six weeks, leaving the travel plans of up to 400,000 passengers in chaos. More than 250,000 people caught up in the cancellation chaos will miss out on compensation but boss Michael O'Leary insisted he won't quit and said: 'It's not my biggest cock-up'. The White House lit up in pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The special illumination in Washington DC on Sunday night, the first day of October, came as other monuments around the world joined in turning pink to raise awareness of breast cancer. 'During October, we raise awareness and encourage people to take steps to reduce their risk of breast cancer,' First Lady Melania Trump said in a statement. 'I encourage all women to talk to their healthcare providers about mammograms and other methods of early detection and what can be done to reduce that risk,' the first lady said. The White House has lit up in pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Sunday The first lady tweeted a view of the illuminated North Portico from inside the White House Pretty In Pink: First Lady Melania Trump was also done up in pink for a United Nations luncheon on September 20 About one in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime, with 250,000 new diagnoses expected in America this year. Early detection and treatment can significantly improve survival rates. 'Too many Americans endure the pain and heartbreak of losing a family member or friend to breast cancer,' President Donald Trump said in a formal proclamation earlier this week. 'Memories of our loved ones, and their courage in the face of suffering, drive us to find a cure.' On Sunday night, the first lady also tweeted a view of the illuminated North Portico from inside the White House. A man takes a picture of the White House, illuminated in pink for breast cancer awareness Other countries joined in marking the first night of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower blazed pinkly above the city to raise awareness Rome's Senatorial Palace was also illuminated, marking 25 years since the creation of Breast Cancer Awareness Month Around the world, other countries lit up their national symbols in pink to draw attention to the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower blazed pinkly above the city to raise awareness. Rome's Senatorial Palace was also illuminated, marking 25 years since the creation of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Elsewhere in Italy, the Milan Cathedral joined in, as survivors released pink balloons in front of the illuminated edifice. The union representing Streets factory workers may call for a boycott of the company's most popular ice creams. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union said it was looking into a boycott of Streets products including Paddle Pop, Magnum and Golden Gaytime if owner Unilever continue to explore ways to terminate the current enterprise agreement. Workers at the Streets factory in Minto, Sydney, are worried that the end of the agreement means their pay could be slashed by almost half, AMWU secretary Steve Murphy told Fairfax Media. The union sent a message to members who would be affected by the change and received a flood of responses expressing concern. The union representing Streets factory workers may call for a boycott of the company's most popular ice creams - including Magnum and Paddle Pop 'How am I going to feed my family, pay my home loan that was granted based on my current wage, pay my bills, clothe my children?' one asked. Another said: 'If my pay drops I'm worried I won't be able to pay for living expenses, plus treatment my kids need as they have autism and need lots of therapy.' Unilever has said that it lodged an application with the Fair Work Commission to terminate the current agreement in a bid to create 'more flexible working conditions and enhance the competitiveness and viability of the factory' in the long term. But Mr Murphy has said that the change would result in a 46 per cent pay cut for employees, which Unilever has denied as having 'no basis in fact.' A company spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that it spoke with employees and the union and said they planned to maintain pay rates and benefits under the current agreement until April 30, 2018, or earlier if a new agreement is reached. Workers at the Streets factory in Minto, Sydney, are worried that the end of the agreement means their pay could be slashed by almost half. File photo 'This commitment would come into effect in the event of a FWC decision to terminate the existing enterprise agreement,' he said in a statement. 'The intent of this commitment is to provide our employees with a period of stability while discussions are ongoing to find a mutually agreeable solution to make the site more viable and competitive in the long term.' He added that the decision to apply to terminate the existing agreement was made after an in-principle agreement was reached with the AMWU for a proposed replacement enterprise agreement, but workers at the factory voted to reject that proposal. 'The facts are that the costs of production at the Minto site remain high and uncompetitive and this is not a sustainable position,' he said. 'The suggestion by unions that Unilever will or may reduce employee wages by 46% has no basis in fact. 'Having been at the centre of negotiations for a new enterprise agreement for more than 16 months, the AMWU should be aware of this. 'As part of the FWC process, employees, the AMWU and Unilever will all get to have a say and be heard. 'We understand the prospect of any change can be unsettling so we have also made available a range of support measures to assist employees throughout the FWC process and beyond.' ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Below are President Donald Trump's full remarks on Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas, as delivered from the White House's Diplomatic Room on Oct. 2, 2017. Thank you. My fellow Americans, we are joined together today in sadness, shock and grief. Last night, a gunman opened fire on a large crowd at a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. He brutally murdered more than 50 people, and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are working closely with local authorities to assist with the investigation, and they will provide updates as to the investigation and how it develops. I want to thank the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and all of the first responders for their courageous efforts, and for helping to save the lives of so many. The speed with which they acted is miraculous, and prevented further loss of life. To have found the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired is something for which we will always be thankful and grateful. It shows what true professionalism is all about. Hundreds of our fellow citizens are now mourning the sudden loss of a loved one -- a parent, a child, a brother or sister. We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss. To the families of the victims: We are praying for you and we are here for you, and we ask God to help see you through this very dark period. Scripture teaches us, The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. We seek comfort in those words, for we know that God lives in the hearts of those who grieve. To the wounded who are now recovering in hospitals, we are praying for your full and speedy recovery, and pledge to you our support from this day forward. In memory of the fallen, I have directed that our great flag be flown at half-staff. I will be visiting Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with law enforcement, first responders and the families of the victims. In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one -- and it always has. We call upon the bonds that unite us -- our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity. Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence. And though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today -- and always will, forever. In times such as these, I know we are searching for some kind of meaning in the chaos, some kind of light in the darkness. The answers do not come easy. But we can take solace knowing that even the darkest space can be brightened by a single light, and even the most terrible despair can be illuminated by a single ray of hope. Melania and I are praying for every American who has been hurt, wounded or lost the ones they love so dearly in this terrible, terrible attack. We pray for the entire nation to find unity and peace. And we pray for the day when evil is banished, and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear. May God bless the souls of the lives that are lost. May God give us the grace of healing. And may God provide the grieving families with strength to carry on. Thank you. God bless America. Thank you. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Thousands of Shia Muslims across Australia marched to commemorate the battleground death of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson and take a stand against terrorism. Processions of men, beating their chests, marched along the edge of Sydney's Hyde Park and down Melbourne's Swanston Street as part of the Day of Ashura. Hijab-wearing women of the Shia faith also marched separately at the weekend to remember Hussain ibn Ali who was killed and beheaded at the Battle of Karbala, in what is now known as Iraq, in the year 680. These Shia Muslim men marched and beat their chests in Sydney for annual Day of Ashura Hijab-wearing women were among 5,000 Shia Muslims in Sydney who marched to Hyde Park But they also had a political message, with women in Sydney holding a placard which read: 'Like Hussain we stand against terrorism and injustice.' While the Prophet's grandson died on October 10 in 680, Muslims commemorated the death of the important Shia figure on September 29 and 30 this year. At Sydney's Hyde Park, more than 5,000 Shia Muslims gathered to hear a message of defiance against oppression. 'This is the day of Ashura. It's not affected by century and whatever the tyrants and others try to oppress it, trying to silence it, it gets louder and clearer every year,' one man said. Shia Muslim men in Sydney show their respect for the Prophet Mohammed's grandson A procession of Muslims in Sydney promised to take on terrorists as part of the Day of Ashura In Melbourne, Shia Muslim men marched down Swanston Street to mark Hussain's death Shias in Melbourne marched as their comrades in Iraq stood guard against Sunni extremists In Melbourne, streets were also closed off as thousands of Shia Muslim men marched down Swanston and La Trobe streets beating their chests and raising their hands in the air. The Day of Ashura was even bigger in the Iraqi shrine city of Karabala, where hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims cut themselves and their children with swords and blades swinging from chains. Past processions have faced attacks from Sunni extremists including Islamic State, which today resulted in 25,000 members of Iraqi security forces being deployed to the shrine city of Karbala to protect believers. A Sydney couple claim they were served a steak with what appear to be maggots crawling throughout, ruining their appetite and anniversary. Stella Kim and Sushil Lamichhane said they were celebrating 1,000 days together with two friends at The Ranch Hotel in North Ryde on Wednesday night when their night out suddenly went awry. 'We ordered steaks and one of our steak was full of worms. Live worms coming out of the steak,' Ms Kim posted on social media along with a video showing the plate of food. Scroll down for video A Sydney couple claim they were served a steak with what appear to be maggots crawling throughout (pictured), ruining their appetite and anniversary Stella Kim and Sushil Lamichhane said they were celebrating 1,000 days together with two friends at The Ranch Hotel in North Ryde on Wednesday night when their night out suddenly went awry In the footage, what are believed to be maggots fly larvae are seen crawling on the cooked slab of meat. 'We couldn't believe this was happening at one of the biggest restaurants in Australia,' Ms Kim said. Ms Kim said she alerted restaurant staff and the NSW Food Authority City of Ryde after the alleged incident. 'I wish no one has to go through this horrible experience. We have lost our appetite,' she said. 'It was our special day and we felt humiliated. Couldnt sleep as well, thinking about the risks,' she told Daily Mail Australia. We ordered steaks and one of our steak was full of worms. Live worms coming out of the steak,' Ms Kim posted on social media along with a video showing the plate of food (pictured) The video drew numerous horrified reactions from viewers. Critics questioned how the maggots would have survived during cooking and if the steak was actually served at The Ranch Hotel (pictured) Ms Kim said the restaurant compensated the party of four for their meals and offered her a $500 gift voucher for future visits, but she turned them down. The video drew numerous horrified reactions from viewers. Critics questioned how the maggots would have survived during cooking and if the steak was actually served at The Ranch Hotel. Maggots can survive in temperature up to 50 degrees Celsius, according to research. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the ALH Group, the owner of The Ranch Hotel, for comment. A car is burning by the side of the M4 motorway in Sydney, closing lanes and backing up traffic into the city. The wrecked sedan was seen in Glenmore Park just after Mulgoa Road, south of Penrith in the city's west, at 2.13pm on Monday. Flames licked into the air along with a plume of smoke as motorists looked on at the increasingly blackened car. A car is burning by the side of the M4 motorway in Sydney, closing lanes and backing up traffic into the city Flames licked into the air along with a plume of smoke as motorists looked on at the increasingly blackened car It was not known how the fire started or if the car crashed into anything, like a nearby metal barrier protecting a rest stop. Small fires were seen on the ground behind it while a larger blaze consumed the bulk of the vehicle. Emergency services were on their way to extinguish the blaze and reopen the road. Small fires were seen on the ground behind it while a larger blaze consumed the bulk of the vehicle Police are investigating after a body was pulled from the water in the Royal National Park on Monday. An NSW Police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that a crime scene was established after the body was found in the park, located south of Sydney, just before 11am. 'Inquiries are underway after a body was located in the water below Wedding Cake rock in the national park just before 11am today,' she said. 'Officers from Sutherland Local Area Command have established a crime scene and inquiries are being made into the circumstances surrounding the death.' Police are investigating after a body was pulled from the water in the Royal National Park A waitress and a manager at a Denny's in Washington state were accused of racism after asking a group of African-American men to pay for their food in advance. Palmer Pellham, in a since deleted post on Facebook, said he was out to dinner on Wednesday with his wife, Esther, at a Denny's in Federal Way when the incident occurred. Pellham said that the four young men waited about 10 minutes to be seated despite only two other tables in the restaurant being occupied. 'The server comes out...and walks over to the young men's table with their order slips,' Pellham wrote. 'She then asks for them to pay before the cook will prepare their food.' Palmer Pellham (right) said he and his wife, Esther (left), were eating at a Denny's in Federal Way, Washington, when a waitress and a manager asked a group of American-American men to pay for their food in advance Pellham said the waitress told the group that several people had ordered food and then left without paying so her manager had told her to ask diners to pay first (Pictured, Denny's in Federal Way) Pellham said the waitress told the group that several people had ordered food and then left without paying so her manager had told her to ask diners to pay first. However, Pellham said he and his wife and the other diners in the restaurant were not asked to pay in advance. Denny's published a statement on its Facebook page on Saturday morning saying the employees involved in the incident had since been fired. The statement read: 'We are deeply disappointed and outraged by the situation that took place at our independently-owned franchise restaurant in Federal Way, Washington. Denny's has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind. 'This type of behavior is unacceptable for any reason and is clearly inconsistent with our practices and policies. After a swift investigation, the employees involved in this incident are no longer employed by our franchisee and no longer a part of the Denny's system.' Denny's published a statement on its Facebook page on Saturday morning saying the employees involved in the incident had since been fired (pictured) This is not the first time the franchise has faced accusations of discrimination. In 1994, Denny's agreed to pay a $54.4million settlement after black customers alleged they were being treated differently than white customers (Pictured, the Pellhams' receipt from Denny's) This is not the first time the franchise has faced accusations of discrimination. In 1994, Denny's agreed to pay more than $54.4million to settle lawsuits filed by thousands of black customers who had been refused service or had been forced to wait longer or pay more than white customers. According to a New York Times article written in May 1994, one case involved six black Secret Service agents assigned to then-President Bill Clinton's detail who were refused a table at a Denny's in Annapolis, Maryland, while their white Secret Service colleagues were seated and served. After the settlement, Denny's created a racial sensitivity training program for all employees. More recently, in 2014, a Denny's in Deming, New Mexico, was accused of discrimination by an LGBT group who claimed that wait staff used homophobic slurs and refused to serve a group of gay, lesbian, and transgender customers who were attending a gay pride celebration. The bond between grandparents and their grandchildren is often something special. But a heartwarming photo taken by an impressed passerby may just have discovered Australia's best grandson. Posted to Facebook last week, the mystery man can be seen standing alongside the elderly woman at a popular Sydney beach - something they do together every week. A heartwarming photo showing a mystery man accompanying a woman, who is seemingly his elderly grandmother, to visit a popular Sydney beach each week has set social media alight As they overlook the ocean at Bronte Beach and enjoy a conversation, the elderly woman's walking stick can be seen resting up against the steel fence. Alejandra Guerra - the stranger who saw them together - praised the mystery man for his dedication to his grandma in posting the photo to Facebook. 'I'm not sure who this guy is but he does this every week with his grandma... his kindness is noticeable and it should be praised,' Ms Guerra wrote. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Guerra told how the pair venture to Jenny's Cafe at the beach on most weekends and are a talking point among impressed locals. 'My friend owns one of the cafes down there and one of the waiters kept telling me how this guy would come all the time with his grandma,' she said. 'Then one day I was there and so was he with his grandma, so I took a photo and put it online and it really resonated with people they said: "This guy deserves an award".' Praising the man for his dedication to his grandmother, Alejandra Guerra who saw them together told in the post to Facebook how the pair venture down to the beach every weekend Facebook users instantly fell in love with the man, with one even labeling him a 'champion' But it wasn't just the woman who posted the photo left impressed, with social media labeling the man a 'champion' for his dedication to his grandmother. 'You have to earn love like that. She must've done pretty good,' one person said. 'He's a keeper... champion kid,' another commented on the photograph. The Cellino & Barnes law firm no longer exists in California because of 'numerous business disputes' between the two lawyers. Ross M Cellino Jr filed a lawsuit wanting out of the partnership with Stephen E Barnes four months ago. The firm began operating as The Barnes Firm in Los Angeles, San Diego and Oakland in September, according to the Buffalo News. The Cellino & Barnes law firm no longer exists in California because of 'numerous business disputes' between the two lawyers. Ross M Cellino Jr (pictured) filed a lawsuit wanting out of the partnership with Stephen E Barnes four months ago Cellino (right) and his attorney, Terrence M. Connors, have maintained that the working relationship between Cellino and Stephen E Barnes (right) has become so poisoned that the two really cannot work together anymore A Barnes Firm spokesman said those California offices are now run entirely by Barnes. As part of the agreement between the two men, the Barnes firm must stop using the Cellino & Barnes hotline number of (800) 888-8888 for California business. Barnes has registered a new hotline number there, which is (800) 800-0000. But the law firm's offices in Buffalo, Rochester and New York City continue to be operated by the two feuding partners. And the decision on those firms will be decided in a legal battle that started in May. 'Mr. Cellino never had anything more than a very small role in the California offices. He has relinquished his interest. The Barnes Firm has been launched out there and is moving full steam ahead,' Robert J. Schreck, the law firm's managing attorney, told the Buffalo News. 'So far, we've seen no negative effects from changing it to The Barnes Firm out there,' he added. Cellino said he envisions both he and Barnes operating their own law firms in New York State. 'I withdrew myself as a stockholder in the California offices, and after that, it would have been unethical for them to continue using my name,' Cellino told the newspaper. 'I wish Steve well in California. I am happy to stay in Buffalo, Rochester and in the New York City area.' Cellino (center) said he envisions both he and Barnes operating their own law firms in New York State As part of the agreement between the two men, the Barnes firm must stop using the Cellino & Barnes hotline number in California Later this month, Cellino's attorneys will argue against Barnes' attorneys, and the judge will hear the reasons Cellino wants to break off and start his own firm. Cellino and his attorney, Terrence M. Connors, have maintained that the working relationship between Cellino and Barnes has become so poisoned that the two really cannot work together anymore. In May, Cellino filed the civil action lawsuit seeking to dissolve the partnership that he and Barnes began as two little-known attorneys about 25 years ago, according to Buffalo News. Cellino said he can no longer work with Barnes because of numerous business disputes that have arisen between the two men. Commercials showing the two law partners together are still airing on local TV and radio stations. But no new commercials have been recorded since the lawsuit was filed. If the judge grants Cellino's request to dissolve the firm, the assets would be split between the two men. A man considered a person of interest in the murder of a Florida nanny has been found holed up in a roadside motel and arrested. Scott Edward Nelson, 53, was captured on Sunday in Jacksonville, Florida, about 140 miles from where 56-year-old Jennifer Lynn Fulford was found dead in the woods outside of Orlando. Police had issued a broad appeal to the public for assistance in the manhunt, acting on information that Nelson had used the victim's ATM card. Julia Anne, a friend of the victim, told DailyMail.com that Fulford was kind-hearted person who enjoyed spending time with her friends and family. Scott Edward Nelson, 53, was captured on Sunday in Jacksonville. He is a person of interest in the murder of 56-year-old Jennifer Lynn Fulford Authorities say that this security camera image shows Nelson using Fulford's ATM card to withdraw $300 shortly after she vanished when she left her dentist appointment Wednesday 'She was very special, a big heart, kind word for everyone, and was enjoying life,' she said. Fulford, who was a mother of two, grandmother and nanny, was last seen leaving her dentist's office in Winter Park on Wednesday, according to police. The family who hired Fulford as a nanny became concerned after she failed to pick up their son from school and notified police. Her purse was found on the bathroom floor of the home. Fulford's vehicle, a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV, was found abandoned, and police found unspecified evidence inside that pointed to murder. On Saturday, Fulford's body was discovered in the woods off of Apopka-Vineland Road. Records showed that Fulford's ATM card had been used to withdraw $300 on the day she disappeared, and the security camera on the machine showed a man identified as Nelson making the transaction. Police zeroed in on Nelson by Sunday night, learning that he was holed up in the Sunshine Inn in Jacksonville. Police captured Nelson in a rain on the Sunshine Inn (pictured) in Jacksonville on Sunday Nelson is an ex-convict who has served time for a brazen bank robbery Heavily armed police cleared other guests out of their rooms before raiding Nelson's room, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The Jacksonville Sheriffs Office Criminal Apprehension Unit made the arrest, and records show that Nelson was being held Sunday night in Jacksonville pending a transfer to the Orange County Jail. The ex-convict spent five years in prison for a 2010 bank robbery in Daytona Beach, which court records show he planned while in federal prison for a separate crime. Nelson held up the Wachovia Bank in Daytona Beach with a note to the teller, claiming that he had a bomb that would 'light everything in the bank on fire'. 'We will all die', his note threatened, unless he got everything in the bank. Nelson disguised his appearance in that robbery by wearing a salt-and-pepper wig and stuffing napkins into his cheeks to make his face look rounder, court records show. Aussie Rules star Paddy Ryder has been charged with assault following a fight outside an Adelaide nightclub. The 29-year-old Port Adelaide player was with his younger brother and cousin outside a club in Hindley Street about 1.15am on Sunday when a fight broke out between a group of men. 'While police were attempting to break up the fight, it will be alleged three men hindered police and assaulted officers,' a South Australian police spokeswoman said. The officers sustained minor injuries, she said. Scroll down for video Aussie Rules star Paddy Ryder has been charged with assault following a fight outside an Adelaide nightclub The 29-year-old Port Adelaide player was with his younger brother and cousin outside a club in Hindley Street about 1.15am on Sunday when a fight broke out between a group of men 'Ryder met with club officials this morning to express his disappointment and regret for involving himself in an incident which primarily concerned his brother,' a Port Adelaide statement said. 'Given this is a police matter, Ryder and the club will not be making any further comment until after the court hearing.' The scrap follows the most impressive season of Ryder's 210-game career. Ryder's consistent ruck dominance was rewarded with selection in the league's prestigious All-Australian side. The 29-year-old is among the leading contenders to win Port's best-and-fairest award, a scenario that could make for an awkward acceptance speech on Friday night. He was released on bail on Sunday after being charged with an assault and hindering police The former Essendon ruckman was determined to make a point this season, having been forced to spend 2016 on the sidelines because of a ban emanating from his former club's drugs saga. Ryder was among many players left disheartened by the Bombers' rogue supplements program and ensuing approach to the situation. He was released on bail on Sunday after being charged with an assault and hindering police. Two others were also charged by police including a 22-year-old man from WA for resisting police and a 23-year-old WA man charged with assault police. The Port Adelaide player will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on November 15. Ethiopia's plans to build a $5 billion dam could cut off water supply to the 93 million population of Egypt amid fears the Nile River could run dry. The only reason Egypt has even existed from ancient times until today is because of the Nile, which provides a thin, richly fertile stretch of green through the desert. Now, for the first time, the country fears a potential threat to that lifeline, and it seems to have no idea what to do about it. Ethiopia is finalising construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, its first major dam on the Blue Nile, which will eventually start filling the giant reservoir behind it to power the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa. The exact details of how it will impact on Egypt downstream is unclear, but some experts analysing the statistics believe the country will lose more than half of its water supply. The Blue Nile river flows near the site of the planned Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near Assosa in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, near Sudan, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa in a picture dated 2013 Holiday makers enjoy Nile cruises during Sham el-Nessim, or 'smelling the breeze,' in Cairo, Egypt The only reason Egypt has ever existed from ancient times until today is because of the Nile River, which provides a thin, fertile strip of green through the desert Egypt fears that will cut into its water supply, destroying parts of its precious farmland and squeezing its population of 93 million people, who already face water shortages. Dam construction on international rivers often causes disputes over the downstream impact. But the Nile is different - few nations rely so completely on a single river as much as Egypt does. The Nile provides over 90 percent of Egypt's water supply. Almost the entire population lives cramped in the sliver of the Nile Valley. Around 60 percent of Egypt's Nile water originates in Ethiopia from the Blue Nile, one of two main tributaries. Egypt hardly gets by with the water it does have. It has one of the lowest per capita shares of water in the world, some 660 cubic meters a person. The strain is worsened by inefficiency and waste and with the population expected to double in 50 years, shortages are predicted to become severe even sooner by 2025. Egypt already receives the lion's share of Nile waters - more than 55 billion of the around 88 billion cubic meters of water that flow down the river each year. It is promised that amount under agreements from 1929 and 1959 that other Nile nations say are unfair and ignore the needs of their own large populations. Complicating the situation, no one has a clear idea what impact Ethiopia's dam will actually have. A neighborhood in Cairo during a power short cut in Egypt surrounded by water that could be lost Addis Ababa insists it will not cause significant harm to Egypt or Sudan downstream. Much depends on the management of the flow and how fast Ethiopia fills its reservoir, which can hold 74 billion cubic meters of water. A faster fill means blocking more water, while doing it slowly would mean less reduction downstream. Once the fill is completed, the flow would in theory return to normal. Egypt, where agriculture employs a quarter of the work force, is worried that the damage could be long-lasting. One study by a Cairo University agriculture professor estimated Egypt would lose a staggering 51 percent of its farmland if the fill is done in three years. A slower, six-year fill would cost Egypt 17 percent of its cultivated land, the study claimed. Internal government studies estimate that for every reduction of 1 billion cubic meters of water, 200,000 acres of farmland would be lost and livelihoods of 1 million people affected, since an average of five people live off each acre, a senior Irrigation Ministry official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the figures. Other experts say the impact will be far smaller, even minimal. They say Egypt could suffer no damage at all if it and Ethiopia work together and exchange information, adjusting the rate of filling the reservoir to ensure that Egypt's own massive reservoir on the Nile, Lake Nasser, stays full enough to meet its needs during the fill. Unfortunately, that isn't happening so far. A young boy irrigates rice seedlings before they are transferred to a bigger farm, in a village in the Nile Delta town of Behira, 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Cairo Kevin Wheeler at the Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute said: 'To my knowledge, this situation is unique, particularly at this scale. 'I just can't think of another case that has two large reservoirs in series without a plan on how to operate them together.' Originating in Ethiopia, the Blue Nile flows into Sudan, where it joins with the White Nile, whose source is Lake Victoria in east Africa. From there it flows through Egypt to the Mediterranean. For Ethiopia, the $5 billion dam is the realization of a long-delayed dream. Ethiopia's infrastructure is among the least developed in the world, leaving most of its 95 million people without access to electricity. The hydroelectric dam is to have a capacity to generate over 6,400 Megawatts, a massive boost to the current production of 4,000 Megawatts. The dam, around 60 percent complete, is likely to be finished this year or early next. Ethiopia has given little information on when it will start the fill or at what rate. Ethiopia's water, irrigation and electricity minister, Sileshi Bekele, said: 'We have taken into account (the dam's) probable effects on countries like Egypt and Sudan.' He added that plans for the fills could be adjusted. A pleasure boat carrying tourists and locals sails in the Nile River at sunset in Aswan, Egypt Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, center, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, left, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, right, hold hands after signing an agreement on sharing water from the Nile River, in Khartoum, Sudan In a 2015 Declaration of Principles agreement, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed to contract an independent study of the dam's impact and abide by it as they agree on a plan for filling the reservoir and operating the dam. But the deadline to complete the study has passed, and it has hardly begun, held up by differences over information sharing and transparency despite multiple rounds of negotiations among the three. Frustration among Egyptian officials is starting to show. In June, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri spoke of 'difficult talks' and complained of delays in the impact study. A high-ranking government official acknowledged there's little Egypt can do. 'We can't stop it and in all cases, it will be harmful to Egypt,' he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Egyptian leaders in the past have rumbled about military action to stop any dam, but that option seems less likely after Egypt signed the Declaration of Principles. Salman Salman, a Sudanese water expert, said Egypt has long had an attitude of 'this is our river and no one can touch it.' Now, he said, 'Egypt is no longer the dominant force along the Nile. Ethiopia is replacing it.' The two victims of the Marseille knife attack were identified by their first names as cousins and best friends Mauranne and Laura, both 20. Mauranne was from Eguilles, a town near Aix-en-Provence, and was studying medicine at Marseille university, where she lived on campus. Yvon Berland, the president of the university, said she was a brilliant student, who would have enjoyed a superb professional future. Tragic: The two victims of the Marseille knife attack were identified by their first names as cousins and best friends Mauranne (left) and Laura (right), both 20 Laura lived in Rillieux-la-Pape, on the outskirts of Lyon, and had travelled to Marseille to celebrate her upcoming 21st birthday with her cousin and other friends. Laura was in the second year of a course to qualify as a nurse in Lyon, and was also a scout leader, having joined the scout movement as a volunteer three years ago. The two young women were sitting on a bench in warm sunshine outside Marseille's main train station waiting for Lauras train home when they were stabbed to death by the suspected Islamic State knifeman on Sunday. The man shouted Allahu Akbar as he murdered the women outside St-Charles station in the southern city of Marseille on Sunday afternoon. Out of custody: The attacker, pictured lying dead after he was gunned down outside Saint Charles station, Marseille, was an illegal immigrant who had been arrested last week Shocked passers-by looked on in horror as he used a butchers knife to carry out the attack, before he was himself gunned down by a military patrol on anti-terrorism duties. French prosecutors have today said the man presented a Tunisian passport when arrested last week. Despite ISIS claiming responsibility for the attack, investigators have not found any link so far between the assailant and the terror group. The man, who was aged between 30 and 35, has not been formally identified. On Friday the attacker who was a North African of either Algerian or Tunisian origin was arrested in Lyon for shoplifting. He had no papers on him and was in an irregular situation in Europe, so giving the authorities a chance to place him under judicial control. Instead they let him go, and the next they heard about him was in connection with a double murder, said an investigating source in Marseille. Forensic evidence has linked him with the incidents in Marseille and in Lyon, but his actual name and other details remain in dispute. The attacker who was a North African of either Algerian or Tunisian origin was arrested in Lyon for shoplifting, but was released two days before the Marseille stabbings on Sunday The assailant was gunned down by soldiers who were on patrol inside Saint Charles train station at the time as part of France's ongoing state of emergency A body lies under a white sheet outside Marseille's main train station after a man with a butcher's knife attacked two women at the station He was known to police for his links to drug-related crimes, but had used up to eight identities over the past few months. The source said the murderer, who was not on a terrorist watch list, had no links with radicalisation, despite Islamic State claiming responsibility for his station attack. French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is 'Deeply outraged by this barbaric act and sharing the pain of all those involved. He said he saluted the soldiers from Operation Sentinel, an anti-terrorism initiative, who reacted with extreme calmness and efficiency as they killed the man. Jean-Claude Gaudin, the Mayor of Marseille, has described the atrocity as a 'terrorist attack', while Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said it 'could be' related to terror. It is thought to be the latest in a long series of Islamic State atrocities across France and the rest of Europe. The assailant was shot dead by soldiers who were patrolling the station as part of France's state of emergency The man shouted Allahu Akbar as he murdered the 17-year-old student and 21-year-old nurse outside St-Charles station Prosecutors have opened an enquiry into murders in connection with a terrorist enterprise and attempted murder of a person holding public authority. The second charge related to the knifeman trying to attack the soldiers who were shooting at him. Earlier this month, four female American college students were attacked with acid at Marseille St-Charles. A woman suffering with mental illness was arrested for an assault that had nothing to do with terrorism. France remains under a state of emergency following a series of attacks by Islamist radicals linked to Islamic State and Al-Qaeda. Security at transport hubs in France including rail stations has been massively stepped up because of repeated threats. Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by soldiers in Marseille French police search the body of the assailant shortly after he was gunned down outside the busy station Recent attacks have included an attempt to kill a soldier at the Eiffel Tower over the summer. The 19-year-old psychiatric patient was placed in custody after he brandished a knife and pledged allegiance to Isis. In April, 39-year-old police officers Xavier Jugele was shot dead while on duty on the Champs Elysee just days before the French presidential election. Isis claimed the killing by Karim Cheurfi, also 39, who was shot dead by police in a gun battle. Two other officers were injured in the attack. In June a student student shouted This is for Syria as he tried to attack a policeman with a hammer outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. He was shot and ended up in custody in hospital. And in March a convicted criminal with links to radical Islam shouted 'I am here to die for Allah, there will be deaths' seconds before he was shot dead during an attack at Paris Orly airport. Ziyed Ben Belgacem, a 39-year-old career criminal, was killed after wrestling a soldier's gun from her and fleeing into a McDonald's restaurant. It followed the shooting in February of a man outside the Louvre museum in the heart of Paris after he attempted to storm the historic art gallery. A Swedish man is being charged with raping 27 British and North American children after he allegedly forced them to perform sex acts - including bestiality - on camera. The man, in his 40s from Uppland county, allegedly told his victims - young girls from Scotland, the US and Canada - he would murder their families if they did not comply. Swedish prosecutors have charged him with rape despite the lack of physical interaction, due to the way the suspect used blackmail. Online grooming: The man, in his 40s from Uppland, Sweden, is accused of force dozens of young girls from Scotland, the US and Canada to perform sex acts on camera. So far, 18 of the 27 victims have been identified with the help of Scottish, US and Canadian authorities. The Swedish police have labelled the suspect's modus operandi 'sextortion' - sexual blackmail. The children have reportedly been threatened with a number of different types of reprisals in case they did not perform the sex acts the man demanded. Horrifying: 14-year-old from the US (not pictured) was forced to perform 'painful' penetrations and a sex act with a dog The man would find his victims on social media and groom them with flattery before moving on to blackmail. One of his victims, an American girl the man contacted via social media in December 2015, was 14 years old at the time of the assaults. In an interview with an FBI expert, she revealed how initially threatened to publish images of her on porn sites if she did not do his bidding during a Skype video chat. She told police he forced her to 'undress, touch her genitals and penetrate herself with fingers and objects, sometimes causing herself pain' while the threats escalated. He threatened to 'shoot her and her family'. 'He said he know what school I go to and where I live,' she said in the interview accessed by SVT. 'I flipped out, I cried and wrote to him that I'd do anything,' The man then forces her to carry out sex acts involving a dog. On trial: The man is on trial at Uppsala District Court, charged with aggravated child rape, aggravated sexual assault, abuse of child for sexual posing and child pornography 'This is one of the worst things I've ever seen,' one of the investigators, Jorgen Lindeberg told SVT. The man is today appearing in Uppsala District Court, some 44 miles north of Stockholm, charged with aggravated child rape, aggravated sexual assault, abuse of child for sexual posing and child pornography. Authorities believe it is the first time a person has been charged with child rape without any actual physical contact on this scale. If prosecutors are successful, he will be the first person in Sweden convicted of 'digital rape'. The case continues. Are these mesmerising brown snakes fighting, dancing, mating or practicing their Hydra impersonation? 'What is this?' a male can be heard asking, as he watches the bizarre display on Monday afternoon. 'All right, they're getting a little close!' The snakes are can be seen writhing and twisting themselves into a plait shape, and then in unison wriggling towards the camera. Scroll down for video Three snakes twist and writhe towards the camera on a Monday fternoon in Canberra, ACT The three reptiles were caught on video in Canberra engaging in what can only be described as very strange behavior. One theory, posted to Twitter, is that two snakes who were busy engaging in a nooner were interrupted by a third, jealous snake who 'wanted to get in on the action'. Erin Chancellor, whose husband shot the video, added that six brown snakes had been spotted in the same area in the space of 30 minutes. Six brown snakes had been spotted in the same area in Canberra in the space of 30 minutes Philip Hammond delivered a stark warning today that Labour's brand of 'Marxism' would take Britain back to the 1970s. The Chancellor urged the Tories to fight for free markets as he said the last time a socialist government was in power tax rates rose to up to 98 per cent. Describing Jeremy Corbyn as a 'clear and present danger' to the economy, Mr Hammond vowed: 'We will take them on and we will defeat them.' The rallying cry came as Mr Hammond delivered his keynote speech to the Conservative conference in Manchester. The Chancellor urged the Tories to fight for free markets as he said the last time a socialist government was in power tax rates rose to up to 98 per cent Mr Hammond delivered his keynote speech to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester today Mrs May was in the audience at the Conservative conference in Manchester today to hear speeches by her team including Chancellor Philip Hammond In a round of interviews ahead of his conference speech later, Mr Hammond (pictured in Manchester today with the PM) affirmed his '100% support' for Theresa May But so far the gathering has been overshadowed fresh leadership manoeuvring by the Foreign Secretary threatened to overshadow the party's conference in Manchester. MPs demanded Mr Johnson 'grow up or go' after he drew a series of red lines for Brexit negotiations and laid out demands on domestic policy. In a sign of her weakness in the wake of the disastrous election campaign, Mrs May dodged questions yesterday about whether her Foreign Secretary was 'unsackable'. But Cabinet ministers have rallied round, and crucially, the powerful Tory 1922 committee is still thought to be behind her. Despite his high-profile interventions, Mr Johnson tried to play down the spat today saying he was just repeating government policy and did not know what all the 'fuss' was about. But Mr Hammond delivered a rebuke to his colleagues by warning that nobody is 'unsackable'. Laying out the economic case for a Tory government today, Mr Hammond said under Labour in the 1970s there were tax rates of 83 per cent on earnings and 98 per cent on interest and dividends. He said the country effectively collapsed at the end of the decade with the 'winter of discontent' of strikes and unrest - before the Thatcher government came in and pushed through reforms. Mr Hammond said it was no good 'droning on' about the way those arguments were won. But he said lessons must be learned from history, and jibed that he would not trust shadow chancellor John McDonnell with a 'Monopoly set'. HAMMOND CALLS FOR BREXIT TALKS TO BE 'ACCELERATED' Brexit talks must be 'accelerated' to ease uncertainty for business, Philip Hammond said today. The Chancellor pointedly said an implementation period should be around' two years - a thinly-veiled jibe at Boris Johnson who said it should not be a 'second' longer. In his speech to Tory conference today, Mr Hammond said: 'The process of negotiating our exit from the EU has created uncertainty so investment has slowed as businesses wait for clarity. 'So before we can reap the benefits of our strong economic fundamentals and the investment we are making in the future we must remove this uncertainty.' He added: 'We must resolve the short term challenge of uncertainty around this process by accelerating the talks and delivering a time-limited interim period of around two years for our businesses to adjust.' Advertisement He said Mr McDonnell had gleefully welcomed the credit crunch and urged his hard-left allies to take advantage of it. 'It's a wicked and cynical business offering superficially simple solutions to complex challenges,' Mr Hammond said. 'But colleagues, we need to listen to those fears and concerns, we need to acknowledge the weariness at the long slog back from Labour's recession, the pressure on living standards caused by slow wage growth and a spike in inflation. 'The frustration among the young who fear that the combination of student debt and sky high rents and house prices will condemn them never to access the opportunities of property ownership their parents enjoyed.' He said the arguments about free markets had been won so decisively in the past that 'Corbyn and McDonnell were for years treated almost as museum pieces dinosaurs, worth preserving for the sake of historical curiosity'. 'But last week at Brighton the dinosaurs had broken out of their glass cases, their political DNA apparently uncontaminated by any contact with the reality of thirty years of global economic development ready to wreak havoc fighting the battles of the past using the language of the past, all over again, a sort of political version of Jurassic Park,' Mr Hammond said. Mr Hammond said he was not claiming the market economy was 'perfect', but it was the best way of creating wealth for all society. 'Our economy is not broken. It is fundamentally strong,' he said. In a round of interviews ahead of his conference speech, Mr Hammond affirmed his '100 per cent support' for Mrs May if she wants to stand at the next election. Mr Hammond repeatedly refused to give such a commitment when pressed by journalists last week. Asked whether Mr Johnson should be sacked, the Chancellor told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'We all serve at the Prime Minister's pleasure and we all owe the Prime Minister our allegiance and our loyalty within the Cabinet. 'I have always operated on the principle that it is probably best to believe that nobody is unsackable. Everybody has got to pull their weight within the Government.' A series of Cabinet ministers delivered thinly-veiled rebukes in public. Damian Green, Mrs May's effective deputy, said concerns about policy should be voiced 'privately' within government. Scottish Secretary David Mundell mocked Mr Johnson's chances of winning the top job, saying:'I do recall that Boris Johnson once stood as rector of Edinburgh university. You can look at the results of that.' In 2006 Mr Johnson came a distant third when he stood for that role, having been greeted by students with chants of 'Bog off Boris, you top-up Tory'. Mrs May refused to answer a question about whether Mr Johnson, pictured running in Manchester today, was 'unsackable' Keeping up with Mr Johnson is not just a struggle for the Conservatives, with one of the minister's close protection police officers taking a stumble following him this morning Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson was in the conference hall to hear the speeches today The PM and Mr Hammond left the Midland Hotel in Manchester, the centre of the conference, together this morning Ruth Davidson, the party's leader in Scotland, and often tipped as a future PM, also complained at the Tory 'psychodrama' being played out in the media. Former education secretary Nicky Morgan said last night that Mr Johnson 'had to go' unless he could show his loyalty to the Government. The British Chambers of Commerce has warned that public disagreements between Government ministers were damaging business confidence. MY HUSBAND'S NO GOOD AT DIY, ADMITS THERESA MAY Theresa May joked about how her husband is no good at DIY as she made a visit to a new housing estate. The Prime Minster and Chancellor Philip Hammond met a young couple who have just bought a starter home using the Government's Help to Buy scheme. But during the visit to Walkden, Salford, Mrs May revealed the other Philip in her life is no handyman. Rebecca Coulton said she had turned to help from her 'handy' dad when jobs needing doing, although her partner Chris Leyland had helped to build a table. Mrs May joked: 'I didn't choose a DIY specialist either, I can tell you.' The Chancellor, meanwhile, urged the couple to 'tell all your friends, 10 billion into the scheme' as they chatted over a cup of tea. Ms Coulton said: 'I can't recommend it enough.' Advertisement But Mr Johnson said: 'I think actually if you studied what I said, it was basically government policy. I think it's extraordinary that so much fuss has been made about repeating government policy, but there you go.' Mr Hammond acknowledged that uncertainty over EU withdrawal negotiations were causing 'a pause in business investment' which was harming the UK economy, and said it was the duty of all Cabinet ministers to 'pull their weight' in support of the Prime Minister. The Chancellor's intervention came as he tried to keep attention on the domestic agenda, with the announcement of 400 million for transport links in the North of England. Some 300 million will be used to ensure cities like Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, York and Leicester can be linked up with the HS2 high-speed rail route between London and the North. And a further 100 million will go into local road schemes to cut congestion and unlock new sites for homes and businesses in the North. Mr Hammond has also unveiled a 10billion for the Help to Buy scheme, which guarantees deposits for would-be home owners who do not have enough capital. On a visit to a new housing estate in Manchester this morning, the Prime Minster and Mr Hammond met a young couple who have just bought a starter home using the Government's scheme. But during the visit to Walkden, Salford, Mrs May revealed the other Philip in her life is no handyman. Rebecca Coulton said she had turned to help from her 'handy' dad when jobs needing doing, although her partner Chris Leyland had helped to build a table. Mrs May joked: 'I didn't choose a DIY specialist either, I can tell you.' The Chancellor, meanwhile, urged the couple to 'tell all your friends, 10 billion into the scheme' as they chatted over a cup of tea. Ms Coulton said: 'I can't recommend it enough.' Senior figures are prepared to back Mrs May, pictured in Manchester with husband Philip today, should she decide Mr Johnson has to be sacked An eerie new picture shows the alleged Russian cannibal kissing her co-accused husband as forensic analysis revealed pickled human remains of their last victim were found in a glass jar in their fridge. Glass jars were found in the home of Dmitry Bakseev, 35, and Natalia Bakseeva, 42, in Kransodar, some 90 miles east of the Black Sea, along with still unidentified frozen body parts and 'steamed human meat'. Forensic investigations have now confirmed that they contained the pickled body parts of 'final' murder victim Elena Vashrusheva, 35. Gruesome twosome: Dmitry Bakseev, 35, and Natalia Bakseeva, 42, from Kransodar, some 90 miles east of the Black Sea, allegedly murdered several people and ate their meat The pair confessed to murdering the waitress 'in a fit of jealously' after Natalia accused her of seeking to seduce her husband. In jail, Baksheev is reported to have 'complained' about the 'separation from his wife' who was said to dominate him in their relationship. Viktor Belikov, a human rights activist permitted to meet the alleged cannibal in detention, said: 'It is obvious that he loves his wife very much and worries about her. 'I agree that she dominated him in their relationship - and he was ready to do whatever she wanted.' Belikov also visited Natalia - whose grandfather Konstantin Chanikov was a decorated World War Two hero in Stalin's forces - and said the pair had spoken of their 'mad love for each other'. Dmitry Baksheev (first on the right in front row), his wife Natalia Baksheeva (next to Dmitry, wearing a black top and white shirt) and their friends. Baksheeva and are detained amid urgent police investigations into her confession that the couple killed and ate 30 or more victims The pair confessed to murdering Elena Vashrusheva, 35, 'in a fit of jealously' after Natalia (pictured) accused her of seeking to seduce her husband Baksheev and his spouse stored human remains in their fridge and freezer as well as a cellar, according to sources in the Russian Investigative Committee She told Belikov and his colleague Sergey Levushkan that she 'feels for her husband like a mother'. The jars found in the couple's home contained the pickled body parts of Elena Vashrusheva Baksheeva complained that two other women sharing her cell are taunting her over the cannibalism allegations, with inmates taunting her: 'Did you eat enough human meat?' Old friends say they are 'shocked' at the claims against Baksheeva, who is seen as a student nurse in a new picture. The Russian Investigative Committee - similar to the FBI - is examining an alleged confession from the ex-nurse that she and her husband killed and ate at least 30 people, including women dating site users who went missing after arranging to meet men. Spokesman Vadim Bugaenko said they are checking 'information about mass murders' and there is 'no confirmation yet'. However, now the couple have changed tack and while admitting to Elena Vakrusheva's murder, they reversed a previous confession and denied they were involved in previous killings or cannibalism, say the human rights team. 'Dmitry has heard that the newspapers have called him and his wife Natalia cannibals,' said Belikov. 'I would not say that he was angry, his reaction was more melancholic. 'But he fully denies having eaten human meat.' The man had been killing and eating people since 1999, according to his confession. Pictured: Body parts of a woman found in Krasnodar The pair was detained after a mobile phone was found in Krasnodar city with pictures showing a man posing for selfies by human body parts, it was reported. Pictured: A man with what appears to be a hand in his mouth Another picture has been reported as showing a human head on a plate surrounded by oranges Apart from human body parts, in their flat police found videos with instructions on how to cannibalise humans. They also discovered gruesome a picture dating to 1999 apparently of a human face being prepared as a dish surrounded by mandarins. The former cleaner 'does not look well, he is depressed' and prison chiefs have refused to put him in a cell with others because 'he could be beaten'. It has emerged that earlier reports the couple had been together since at least 1999 are wrong. He claims they met only a decade ago. 'We have never parted since,' he said from his cell. The pair married in church. Reports say Natalia made and sold 'pies' from suspected human meat and even supplied local restaurants. A friend, retired air force communications officer Sergey Labintsev, said the couple suddenly attacked him on the false allegation that he had slept with Natalia. Baksheev said he was consumed by jealousy. 'I could have been eaten too,' said the pensioner. 'I could have been dead. 'Last night I had a nightmare that they were making steamed meat from me. 'Some six weeks ago I just survived. They could have eaten me if I had not been in good physical shape. 'And I've known these people for many years and always helped them.' New York's entire congressional delegation has called on Rex Tillerson to banish a 94-year-old former Nazi guard living in the state. Jakiw Palij served at an SS training camp in Nazi-occupied Poland until at least 1943 before moving to the US after the Second World War. He was stripped of his American citizenship 13 years ago following a request from the Department of Justice and it was determined that he should be deported. Yet the pensioner has continued to live in the New York borough of Queens. Former Nazi guard Jakiw Palij, pictured in Queens, New York, in 2003, is still living in the US despite having been stripped of his citizenship 13 years ago Now, New York's 29-member delegation, which includes 18 Democratic and nine Republican House representatives and two Democratic Senators, have penned a letter to the Secretary of State calling for Mr Palij to be banished from the country. The message, seen by the New York Daily News, reads: 'Removing Mr Palij from American soil will send a message not only to the citizens of New York, but to the entire world. 'It has been 13 years since Mr Palij lost his right to remain here, and it has taken far too long for these court orders to be carried out.' The delegation ask the Secretary of State to 'step in to settle this long-standing injustice' personally. It follows a similar letter to Mr Tillerson in August, in which 21 members of New York's House delegation called for the former Nazi's deportation. New York's entire delegation has called on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, pictured, to step in personally to ensure that Mr Palij is banished from the US Mr Palij claimed he had worked as a farmer during the war when he came to the US in 1949. But he had been a guard at a notorious slave-labor camp in the south-western Polish village of Trawniki. The camp imprisoned 12,000 Jews and forced them to sort through clothes delivered from Holocaust locations before they were all massacred in November 1943. An immigration judge has ruled that Mr Palij should be deported to Germany, Poland or the Ukraine but all countries have refused to take him. Mr Palij, pictured in 1957, worked at a notorious slave-labor camp in the south-western Polish village of Trawniki during the war Responding to the New York delegation's August letter, the Department of State's Deputy Assistant Secretary, Charles Faulkner said that the Government was in talks with these nations to resolve the issue. He added that Mr Palij can become a Ukrainian citizen if he applies in person at the country's embassy or consulate. 'It is not clear whether they would be in a position to prosecute him for his wartime activities,' Mr Faulkner wrote. Banks are set to buy precious seconds with new technology that lets them precisely track the progress of a 'flash crash'. In January, financial regulations on transactions come into force in The City of London, which will mean every deal and payment will need to be properly auditable. Regulators will have to be able to oversee each trade and trace its progress between institutions. The issue is that each institution uses slightly different time systems and thousands of transactions are made every second. But Britain's heir to Greenwich, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), has waded in to solve the problem - using a fibre optic cable and atomic clock. In January, financial regulations on transactions come into force in The City of London, which will mean every deal and payment will need to be properly auditable The new technology is almost 21st century version of when people bought time in the Victorian era. Leon Lobo, from the NPL's time department, told The Times: 'It is very important to understand the order of events, particularly when there are changes in the market like flash crashes. 'The rise of algorithmic trading has led to several occasions when billions have been wiped off stock exchanges in seconds, due to faulty computer trading, and it has been difficult to find the cause. 'Everything is moving at faster and faster speeds, but we still need to be able to unpick it.' The technology will mean all the institutions are working in line with the same time. One cable will go to London while another heads west to Oxfordshire, serving the hub of companies that have set up business there to be microseconds closer to New York. Between 1836 and 1840, Ruth Belville (pictured), sold the time to the clockmakers of London - equipped with a pocket watch that was certified by the Greenwich Observatory Between 1836 and 1840, Ruth Belville, sold the time to the clockmakers of London - equipped with a pocket watch that was certified by the Greenwich Observatory. Her watch was set to within a tenth of a second of Greenwich Mean Time. The exact time was determined using the stars, which was best tracked by the Greenwich Observatory and the 'time ball' that still drops at exactly 1pm every day. A woman in the crowd screamed 'They're all around...You're all going to f***ing die today' just 45 minutes before a gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas music concert killing at least two people and injuring dozens more, DailyMail.com has learned. The woman, described as Hispanic and in her 50s, made the terrifying outburst before her and a male companion were escorted out of the venue by security. Less than an hour later automatic gunfire peppered the music festival crowd turning it into a bloodbath and sending terrified concert goers diving for cover. Russell Bleck, who witnessed the attack, told NBC News: 'I saw a lot of ex-military jump into gear and start plugging bullet-holes with their fingers. Scroll down for video At least 58 people are dead and more than 515 wounded after a gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday Brianna Hendricks (left) was attending the concert with mother Shawn (right) and said a woman ran up to them shouting 'you're all going to die' around an hour before the shooting Derek and Karen Bernard, 53 and 51, from Los Angeles, comfort each other after witnessing the massacre on Sunday night Miss Hendricks said the woman, described as Hispanic and in her mid-50s, was kicked out along with a male companion Miss Hendricks said she left the Route 91 Harvest Festival before the shooting started, but heard it from her room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Is is thought the gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor (highlighted above) 'While everyone else was crouching I saw police officers standing up as targets, just trying to direct people and tell them where to go. 'The amount of bravery I saw there, words can't describe what it was like.' Speaking about the moment shooter Stephen Paddock opened fire, he added: 'He was just spraying the crowd, it was relentless, there was no stopping, maybe five or eight seconds to move from cover to cover to try and get out as he reloaded.' Brianna Hendricks, who is in Vegas celebrating her 21st birthday, said: 'There was a lady who came running up behind us in the concert and she started to play with people's hair acting crazy and she told us that we're all going to f***ing die. 'She said they're all around us and we were going to die. 'She was Hispanic, probably about 5ft 5, brown hair. It felt like she had knowledge of what was about to happen, her and her boyfriend who was also Hispanic. 'The woman was saying her boyfriend couldn't breath so they could get through the crowd. It seemed she was telling us to either warn us or she was part of it and she was telling us because she knew we were going to die, it was so scary.' Police say they are looking for a woman called Marilou Danleywho they believe is connected to the attack, describing her as Asian Officers say a lone suspect has been found dead, and they do not believe there was a second shooter involved in the attack SWAT teams are believed to have breached a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel where the gunman was killed Concert goers walk past the Mandalay Bay Hotel after the shooting Police gather outside the hotel where shooter Stephen Paddock opened fire Brianna from Springfield, Colorado, was interviewed by police at a police cordon not far from Mandalay Bay. It's not clear whether what she witnessed is related to the shooting or not. Her and her mother, Shawn Hendricks, had returned to their room at the Mandalay Bay shortly before the shooting began and were evacuated shortly after. Brianna added: 'It was terrifying, we witnessed the shooting from our room, we heard constant gunfire.' In among crowds at the country festival another witness who was in his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay when the shooting erupted described the moment hundreds of rounds were fired from a nearby room. The man, who asked not to be named, said: 'I was in room 135 and I heard over the police scanner that the shooting came from room 137. 'It was non-stop, I would say well over 100 rounds. We hit the floor and took cover. A woman carries her baby as she is evacuated from the scene of the shooting It is not known who the shooter was, and police have not disclosed a possible motive Dozens of ambulances and police cars rushed to the scene, with officers saying they used their vehicles to transport the wounded It is thought the gunman fired across The Strip from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, targeting concert-goers opposite 'I called the front desk and she was remarkably calm and said she was aware of the situation and told us to stay in our room. 'After around 10-15 minutes it just kind of stopped. You could smell the gun powder. 'Right before we got out I heard an explosion, maybe a flash bang, but windows were blown out. 'The cops came on to the floor and they were clearing rooms room by room and six or seven cops came into our room and we were evacuated.' Other sobbing concert goers told DailyMail.com that the gunfire was so intense, it sounded like 4th of July. Derek and Karen Bernard, from Los Angeles, California, were in town for the Route 91 country festival and were close to the stage when the shooting began. 'We were inside,' said sales manager Derek, 53. 'All of a sudden, we saw the band disappearing - they were like running off the stage. Terrifying footage of the attack shows concert-goers hiding from a volley of automatic gunfire Jason Aldean was playing the closing set of the festival when his performance was cut shot as the massacre started Aldean was rushed off stage as shots rang out, later messaging fans to say that he and his crew had escaped without being hurt Recordings of the attack show the gunman fired on the crowd for several minutes, reloading multiple times as he carried out the attack 'We were off to the left side of the stage, we were running off there and there were staff security there. 'There was a woman bleeding - that's when we realized it was real shots. She just fell. She was shot. There was a lot of blood. 'It was so many - it sounded like 4th of July - just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. So many. I didn't think it was real because I couldn't see or feel anything. I was so panicked.' Wife Karen, a retired teacher, added: 'We heard shots fired, it sounded like firecrackers. We thought it was part of the concert. 'People were saying get down, get down and so we did. It was like mass havoc, panic, people were trampling over each other trying to get down. 'People were saying get behind the stage, get down and we crawled behind the stage. The shots they started coming much louder and closer.' Describing their escape, she added: 'We jumped behind the stage. Someone made a ramp up to the top of the wall - we crawled, jumped and they caught us. We didn't know where to go. There was just an exodus of people.' The couple said they were with a group of 14 friends who all ended up getting split up. All of them are accounted for and understood to be safe. A thief who blew up a cashpoint has brazenly posted selfies from prison just two weeks after getting an extra twelve months added to his six-year sentence. Brennan Hartrey, 26, was originally jailed in March last year after he admitted plotting the ATM heist in Bristol. Last month his punishment was extended when he was convicted of blowing up another cash machine at a petrol station close to sleeping truckers in Worcestershire. Hartrey now faces a possible further two years behind bars at HMP Erlestoke in Wiltshire for taking the selfies and uploading them to Facebook. Prisoner Brennan Hartrey is facing more jail time after illegally using a mobile phone behind bars to document his progress in the gym, uploading topless selfies, pictured, to Facebook The thief, left, has only just been handed an extra 12 months in jail for blowing up an ATM at a petrol station in Worcestershire, right Another picture sent via Whattsapp showed Hartrey, centre, and two fellow inmates sunbathing in the prison yard with their tops off Despite mobile phones being banned in prisons Hartrey, pictured, has made little effort to cover up his use of his device One topless photo boasts of his gym work out with the caption: 'Man up done work out an off to gym to sort my life out f** this jail s**t.' Another, taken by a fellow inmate, shows Hartrey and two other prisoners sunbathing in the yard. He even posted a picture of an offence form given to him by a prison guard after he refused to let them search his DVD case. Many of the shameless snaps taken of Hartrey are on the stairs or landing of the prison unit with no attempt to hide the fact he is in possession of an illegal item. In other pictures he is shown posing in designer clothes next to railings within the jail The inmate has also taken selfies of himself lying in bed and the meals he has eaten One picture shows an offence form he was handed for not allowing prison officers to search a DVD case which may have had drugs inside His photos were uploaded to his Facebook account, since taken down, and show him adopting a series of poses The Prison Service said: 'This behaviour is completely unacceptable and we are taking immediate action. 'We are clear that those who break the rules will be punished and can face extra time behind bars. 'We are taking decisive action to find and block mobile phones in prison, including a 2million investment to block mobile phone signals.' Hartrey's profile page has been removed by the Ministry of Justice after it was alerted to its presence. The thief made several mentions of the gym in his posts and also uploaded pictures of him using the facility The Ministry of Justice branded Hartrey's (left and right) behaviour 'unacceptable' and said it would be taking action Prisoners are generally banned from having or using mobile phones behind bars but devices are frequently smuggled in or thrown over walls. Use of the devices can lead to up to two more years in prison. Last year the Serious Crime Act gave prison staff more powers to crackdown on illegal use of phones by inmates including requesting mobile operating companies to blacklist and disconnect SIM cards and handsets. The new law is meant to help governors by stopping them from having to physically find the devices. The Home Office has previously ruled out installing phone blocking technology in all UK prisons because it would cost 300million to install and another 800,000-per-year to maintain. As British holidaymakers are plummeted into chaos with tens of thousands stuck overseas, social media users have taken the opportunity to respond in typically witty fashion. Monarch Airlines collapsed today leaving more than 110,000 British tourists stranded abroad and all customers in the UK told not to travel to the airport. And the beleaguered airline has now fallen victim to the inevitable onslaught of memes poking fun at its financial misfortune. Social media users have taken the opportunity to shed some light on the situation Social media has erupted with hilarious pictures mocking Monarch - with many suggesting Ryanair could now take on its staff. Many memes focus on Ryanair - which has cut thousands of flights due to pilots' annual leave, strikes and air traffic delays - now profiting from Monarch's troubles. Monarch travellers arrived at airports across the UK and Europe this morning to be told that their flights were cancelled while 300,000 future bookings worth at least 60million and involving 750,000 customers have also been axed. The collapse - the largest to ever hit a UK airline - happened at 3am when all planes were on the ground and could be seized. But many are trying to take a lighthearted view online. Ryan Gibbs posted an image of Tom Hanks in the blockbuster Castaway, with the caption: 'My current feeling knowing Monarch have gone into administration and my flight home still hasn't been changed'. Another wrote: 'Ryanair looking at the Monarch situation like...yep, won't have to worry about pilot shortage soon.' Social media has erupted with hilarious pictures mocking Monarch - with some asking for suggestions and help re-booking their holidays Administrators have confirmed Monarch package holidaymakers will be flown home for free or get a full refund on bookings - but flight-only customers are likely to be left out of pocket. Flight companies have already been accused of cashing in on the chaos from the Monarch collapse as flight prices were allegedly increased by the minute as desperate passengers struggled to re-book flights. One nurse from London stuck at Gatwick today said the price of a Ryanair flight to Alicante went up 60 as she tried to book a replacement. This comes after under-fire carrier Ryanair revealed 2,024 routes will be axed over the next six weeks, leaving the travel plans of up to 400,000 passengers in chaos. More than 250,000 people caught up in the cancellation chaos will miss out on compensation but boss Michael O'Leary insisted he won't quit and said: 'It's not my biggest cock-up'. Brexit is going to be a 'lesson' for countries considering leaving the EU, a French minister has warned. European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau flatly dismissed the prospect of trade talks starting soon - saying almost no progress had been made on the bloc's red lines. She also claimed voters had been misled during the referendum campaign, suggesting it showed why the public should not be given a vote on 'complex' issues. The comments came with the deadline looming for a decision by EU leaders on whether 'sufficient progress' has been made on the Brexit divorce bill, citizens' rights and Northern Ireland to allow trade negotiations to start. European affairs Nathalie Loiseau flatly dismissed the prospect of trade talks starting soon - saying almost no progress had been made on the bloc's red lines Ms Loiseau also claimed voters had been misled during the referendum campaign, suggesting it showed why the public should not be given a vote on 'complex' issues Ministers do not expect to get the green light at the European council summit this month. But senior Tory sources said today that Theresa May was increasingly confident that her speech in Florence last month had paved the way for a breakthrough in talks with Brussels. The upbeat tone contrasts with the verdict of European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who warned last week it would take a 'miracle' to move to trade talks in the coming months. And Ms Loiseau stepped up the rhetoric again during an interview on the BBC's HardTalk programme. She initially said that 'no progress' had been made on Brexit talks, before grudging changing that to say there had been ''very little'. Asked whether there had been sufficient progress for trade talks to start, she said: I would love to say yes but in the time being... there has been no progress. Very little and not sufficient.' Ms Loiseau denied that there was an attempt to 'punish' the UK, but accused the government of having 'no detailed position' on the core areas. BREXIT WILL ALLOW BRITAIN TO SELL MORE PIGS EARS TO CHINA, GOVES SAYS Brexit will allow Britain to sell more pigs ears to China, Michael Gove today said. He said EU rules mean pigs must have their ears pierced and tagged, but this puts off the Chinese market from buying them. After we quit the Brussels club, Britain will be free to tag animals in others ways, the Environment Secretary said. Speaking at a Countryside Alliance fringe event at the Tory Party conference today, his comments sparked cheers. He said: 'There are some cuts of an animal which are more popular with the British consumer, others a little less. 'But some of those cuts are hugely popular elsewhere. 'So, for example pigs ears are a delicacy in China. 'But one of the reasons we have not been as successful as we might have been in selling these ears to China is that EU rules dictate that pigs, like all livestock, have ear tags. 'This is for traceability reasons.' He added: 'Outside the EU we can have our own traceability mechanisms...and as a result we can have pigs ears which don't need to be pierced. 'Un-pierced pigs ears are worth more. We will have a air competitive advantage. 'We can sell more pigs ears to China and that means more bacon and ham sold here. 'By selling more sows ears to China you can buy more silk purses for British farmers.' Advertisement 'I think that there is sincerely the day by day discovery of the extent of work that has to be done to separate from the EU properly,' she said. 'I am witnessing the enormous amount of work that has to be done.' Ms Loiseau made clear she believed voters had been misled during the referendum campaign about the prospects of Brexit being successful. 'Compared to what was stated during the referendum campaign there is a huge difference in what had been said to British voters,' she said. 'I am not sure that debate on the referendum went on depth on the consequences. Ms Loiseau added: 'This is a lesson that has to be learned for all of us.' She said France had a 'similar experience' when its public rejected the EU constitution in a 2005 referendum, but with 'less dramatic consequences'. Ms Loiseau said it was not enough to have 'bright people deciding behind closed doors and then going back to the voters and saying there is a very complex issue, but the answer is yes or no'. Ms Loiseau denied that the EU was struggling in the wake of the Brexit vote, sayin she had never seen 'so many pro-Europeans' in her country since the referendum. She also reiterated Emannuel Macron's suggestion last month that the UK could come back into a reformed 'multi-speed' EU. 'This is something that you may consider. You can take a decision one day and change your mind another,' she said. Mrs May held meetings with EU leaders in the run-up to her Florence speech to brief them on her thinking, and held a private meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday. A senior Tory source said the PM had been pleased with the reaction to her speech, adding: 'The mood on Brexit is much more positive than the public pronouncements you hear, particularly from the European Commission. 'There is a growing sense of people feeling a bit more momentum and wanting to get on to looking at the future partnership.' Asked if the PM thought trade talks would begin by Christmas, the source said: 'Yes.' EU leaders have welcomed Mrs May's confirmation in Florence that the UK will pay into the Brussels budget during a two-year 'implementation period'. Progress has been slower on Northern Ireland. But ministers believe they are winning the argument that it is impossible to agree arrangements at the Irish border until both sides know the details of customs arrangements that will be finalised in trade talks. Senior Tories fear the inconclusive German elections last month could leave Mrs Merkel distracted by coalition talks. But they insisted they did not rely on the German Chancellor riding to Britain's rescue. Yesterday, Mrs May said the UK could start to 'diverge' from EU rules as soon as we leave in March 2019. Senior Tory sources say Theresa May (pictured at Tory conference in Manchester today) is hoping that trade talks will start by Christmas Kaiden Singh was told he would not be allowed to wear his Kara bracelet An eight-year-old Sikh pupil's religious bangle that he has worn since birth has been banned by his primary school because they deem it to be 'jewellery'. Kaiden Singh was told by Summerhill Primary School in Tipton, West Midlands, he would not be allowed to wear his Kara - a silver bracelet worn by many Sikhs as a symbol of faith. Kaiden's father, Sunnie, has vowed to fight the ban, claiming the school is discriminating against his son. However, the school insists Kaiden's parents had signed an agreement that they accepted the school's uniform policy, and a meeting had been planned later this week to discuss the matter further. The 29-year-old said: 'I never thought it would be the slightest problem. It didn't cross mind that they wouldn't let him wear it. I was totally gobsmacked and completely shocked. 'I'm nearly 30 and I've had mine since I was five and it's never been a problem and it has never been a problem for my son at school before. 'A teacher can't force him to take it off so I've told him, if they tell you to remove it then you say 'no'. 'They're threatening an innocent child, an eight-year-old, saying he'll have to be separated from the class if he continues to wear it. 'My wife and I, understand that obviously every school has certain policies on haircuts and jewellery and what not but the Kara bangle my son wears is not jewellery. It is a religious symbol and a religious principle. 'We wear it for religious reasons, it's not to give a statement or for fashion.' The silver bracelet, worn by many Sikhs as a symbol of faith, has been banned because it is classed as jewellery Kaiden was told to remove the bangle after he started at the new school last month The self-employed businessman said Kaiden was told to remove the bangle after he started the new school last month. He added: 'Kaiden's class teacher said he wasn't allowed any jewellery and that he had to remove it, otherwise he'd be split up from the class. 'My son came home very upset and said 'they're not letting me wear what I believe in'. 'My wife called the school and the head teacher was really rude and unprofessional, she said we should have researched the schools policies before joining. 'So then obviously I read the policies and nowhere in them does it state that you can't wear a religious sentiment. 'The school have threatened my son and said he'll be excluded if he continues to wear his bangle. 'They shouldn't do that to a child. Threatening an eight-year-old like that. 'Sikhs by law are allowed to carry a sword. So why can't my son wear an innocent Kara bangle? Summerhill's jewellery policy 'A watch is allowed for children that can tell the time. 'Gold stud earrings for pierced ears are allowed, providing that children can remove them themselves for P.E. 'No other jewellery is allowed for Health and Safety reasons. 'Nail varnish and make-up are not allowed. 'If your child is about to start school for the first time you may be entitled to a grant for their school uniform. If you would like further details please contact the main office.' Source: School site Advertisement 'They're trying to class it as a jewellery but it's not, it means a thousand words to us. 'How they're going about it is just morally wrong. It's racist and in my mind discrimination. 'Me and my wife our trying to bring our son up in our culture and the school is trying to take my child's beliefs away from him, yet they study religious education there so surely they know what the Kara means to us. 'There policies state that the school will cater to each individual and their cultures, yet they're failing miserably. 'Kaiden's settled in to this new school. But when he gets upset he gets depressed, still he's coping really well. 'Yet now he feels scared because his teachers are telling him to remove his bangle but his parents are saying he can wear it. 'I told my son he had to take it off for PE and swimming as it could be dangerous then or interfere. That I could understand. 'But when he's in a classroom just doing his work - why should he have to take it off then? 'My son feels threatened. He is eight-years-old and he has done nothing wrong - why should he be punished?' The ban has been imposed by Summerhill Primary School in Tipton, West Midlands Sunnie said he is determined to fight the ban and has contacted the authorities to put his case forward. He added: 'I've phoned Ofsted and they advised me to go through the school's complaints procedure then they'll investigate it further. 'His teachers said we'd have to book an appointment but that they are very busy so we'd have to go through their PA'. Like I'm booking a doctor's appointment.' Kaiden, who suffers from learning difficulties, said: 'I feel a little bit sad since I've always worn one ever since I was little. 'I've told my teacher that I want to wear it but they're not listening.' Summerhill Primary School, which caters for 600 pupils aged 7-11 received a 'good' rating at its last Ofsted inspection in 2015. Kaiden's father is determined to fight the ban and has contacted the authorities to put his case forward The school and Sandwell Council has been contacted for comment by MailOnline. Headteacher Kerry Rochester said: 'Our school uniform policy does state no jewellery, only ear studs if a child has pierced ears. 'All parents are made aware of this when they send their children to our school. And, as with all parents, Kaiden's mum and dad signed the school's agreement form accepting our policies when he started in September. 'We are a bit taken aback by this because we do consider religious items and we had arranged to meet Kaiden's parents on Wednesday to discuss the matter with them.' Headteacher Kerry Rochester said: Our school uniform policy does state no jewellery, only ear studs if a child has pierced ears. All parents are made aware of this when they send their children to our school. 'And, as with all parents, Kaidens mum and dad signed the schools agreement form accepting our policies when he started in September. 'We are a bit taken aback by this because we do consider religious items and we had arranged to meet Kaidens parents on Wednesday to discuss the matter with them.' The Sikh Federation has waded into the row and warned the school could be in for a legal battle if it does not change its stance, citing a case in Wales in 2008 when a 14-year-old girl won a High Court discrimination claim after being told to remove her Kara. Bhai Amrik Singh, chair of the Sikh Federation UK, said: 'Summerhill Primary School in Tipton may not be aware of the legal ruling. 'We suggest the school headteacher and governors urgently reverse their decision as legal advise will confirm eight-year-old Kaiden Singh has the legal right to wear his Kara to school. 'If this case ends up in court it could cost the school hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money and also see a few heads role in senior positions at the school.' Detectives investigating the disappearance of Dudley teenager Natalie Putt have being searching Ellowes Hall Woodland, in the Lower Gornal, in Dudley Police are scouring woodlands in the hunt for a teenage mother who went missing 14 years ago after Britain's Got Talent choir yielded fresh leads. Natalie Putt was 17 when she left her home in the Lower Gornal area of Dudley, West Midlands, to go to a local shop in September 2003. She was never seen again and left behind her baby son, Rhys, who was just 11 weeks old. Acting on new information in June about Miss Putt, who disappeared in 2003, West Midlands Police said it had launched a murder inquiry. Officers, including an underwater unit, are conducting searches at woodland in Ellowes Hall Wood, Lower Gornal. Natalie's sister, Rebecca Coggins, from Nottingham, said: 'We have been made aware that the police will be doing more searches. 'We can't really say anything at the moment but at this time we are remaining positive. 'We are hoping that this time the police will finally find something that will lead us to the truth.' After launching a murder inquiry in June, police initially exhumed several graves in a cemetery half a mile from her home. Police said 'the intelligence picture has changed significantly since then.' Police are carrying out a detailed search today using specialist officers in the hunt for the body of Natalie Putt Officers, including an underwater unit, are conducting searches at woodland in Ellowes Hall Wood, Lower Gornal Police are searching woodlands in the hunt for Natalie who went missing 14 years ago Detectives started their search Ellowes Hall Wood in Lower Gornal today after 'further credible information' was received West Midlands Police said they have received 'credible information' which has led them to the wood Natalie disappeared from her home 14 years ago and officers are treating the case as a murder inquiry Detective Superintendent Tom Chisholm, Head of Homicide at West Midlands Police said: 'This area was searched when Natalie went missing in August 2003 as part of the then missing person inquiry, but the intelligence picture has changed significantly since then. 'The information that we have received is corroborated by separate sources and is completely new information that was not previously known to us prior to June 2017. 'As such it is considered essential to the investigation that this information is thoroughly followed up in the search for Natalie's remains.' Natalie's family have been fully updated with the latest developments and are being supported by specialist officers. A detailed search is being conducted this morning, which includes the use of an underwater search unit A police search, using specialist officers and techniques, is being carried out today Police are this morning searching a pond in woodland off Foxlands Drive in Dudley Police are scouring Ellowes Hall Wood, in Dudley, in the hunt for the missing teenage mother Detectives are hunting for the body of missing Dudley teenager Natalie Putt, who disappeared 14 years ago DS Chisholm added: 'I am convinced that there are people who still live in the area who hold the key to solving the disappearance of Natalie, I would urge those people to come forward. 'There are people who need to be mindful that there is an absolute determination from the police to find the answers concerning her disappearance. 'Over the years the person who is responsible for Natalie's death will have confided in someone, I would urge that confidante to come forward.' Miss Putt had been for a night out with a friend the day before she went missing. She returned home around 9am and stayed until noon before heading out on a shopping errand. Following that officers searched land near to her home, including underwater searches of rivers and lakes. At the time there were unconfirmed sightings of her in Cradley Heath and Coseley, in the West Midlands, while officers checked hostels, hospitals and across her wider friendship circle to try and find her. She did not take her mobile phone or any possessions. Natalie Putt appeared on Britain's Got Talent in June during the Missing People Choir's performance - which may have helped sparked interest in her again Miss Putt was 17 when she left her home in the Lower Gornal area of Dudley, West Midlands, to go to a local shop in September 2003 Miss Putt, who would have been 31, featured in appeals on BBC's Crimewatch which to reported sightings across the country from Bournemouth to Scotland. An 18-year-old local man was arrested in March 2004 in connection with Natalie's disappearance, but was later released without charge. Officers have said from the day she went missing her bank account remained untouched. They said the last communication she made was a voicemail on the day suggesting she was planning to visit friends in Tamworth. A Missing People appeal described how she usually wore a pendant necklace with the words 'someone special' engraved on it. She was last seen wearing a white hooded top. In 2013 officers also scoured farmland in Wombourne, South Staffordshire, following a 'flashback' tip-off from a member of the public who recalled seeing a man digging near stables where Miss Putt is understood to have kept horses. But West Midlands Police said nothing significant had been found in those searches. The latest search comes four months after officers exhumed graves at Ruiton Cemetery (pictured) in search of Natalie's body An Australian family have told of the 'scariest night of our life' after being forced to walk with their hands up across an empty casino after a mass shooting in Las Vegas. At least 20 people are dead and more than 100 wounded after a gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Kevin Comerford, Nicole Shipman and her daughter Maddy Aspinall, 14, from Grafton in NSW, were in Las Vegas for one night only after a dance academy tour in the US had finished. 'This was supposed to be a one night special stop because we'd never been to Las Vegas before ... we were planning to live it up for one night and we've had probably the scariest night of our life,' Mr Comerford told AAP on the phone. Scroll down for video Kevin Comerford, Nicole Shipman (pictured top of left) and her daughter Maddy Aspinall (bottom of left), 14, from Grafton in NSW, were in Las Vegas for one night only after a dance academy tour in the US had finished An Australian family have told of the 'scariest night of our life' after being forced to walk with their hands up across an empty casino after a mass shooting in Las Vegas At least 20 people are dead and more than 100 wounded after a gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino They rode in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon on Sunday afternoon and then returned to their hotel, about two blocks from the shooting scene. The family had headed out to see the city in the evening and witnessed a rush of people running down the street and police and ambulances swarming. Mr Comerford said it took them about an hour to get safely back to their hotel and they bunkered down in the convention centre with other guests. Mr Comerford said Maddy had coped well with the ordeal. 'That is until we got to the hotel and the police had us walk through the empty casino with our hands above our head and it became very, very real for her then,' he said. 'That's when she got very upset. She's been a brave girl.' Mr Comerford said it took them about an hour to get safely back to their hotel and they bunkered down in the convention centre with other guests At least 20 people are dead and more than 100 wounded after a gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino Australia's Consulate General in LA is making urgent inquiries with local authorities to determine if any Australians have been injured or killed The family has a flight booked to New York on Monday afternoon and plans to continue the rest of their holiday. A Perth woman told Fairfax she only checked out of the Mandalay the morning of the shooting and had been rushed out of another casino as the incident unfolded. 'We were over at New York New York having some drinks with friends from Perth and there were police and ambulance and fire brigade everywhere and bodies on the street,' she said. 'People were terrified running around... we got in the lift to come up to the room where I my friends were staying and people were screaming and terrified. I've never seen faces like theirs before.' The Strip has been completely shut down after the sniper opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay resort and casino, located across a junction from the event Police confirmed that one suspect had been killed, and said at 12:38am that they believed there were no more shooters Australia's Consulate General in LA is making urgent inquiries with local authorities to determine if any Australians have been injured or killed. 'If you have any concerns for the welfare of family and friends in the Las Vegas area, you should attempt to contact them directly,' a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman told AAP. People unable to make contact with loved ones should phone the DFAT emergency hotline: 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 People unable to make contact with loved ones should phone the DFAT emergency hotline: 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 The shooter was killed after cops breached at the Mandalay Bay with explosives At least 20 people have been killed, including two police officers, and more than 100 injured after at least one gunman unloaded hundreds of rounds of ammo on a Las Vegas country music festival on Sunday night. There were 30,000 people in attendance at the event. The Strip has been completely shut down after the sniper opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay resort and casino, located across a junction from the event. Police confirmed that one suspect had been killed, and said at 12:38am that they believed there were no more shooters. Reports of shootings at other locations were unfounded, police said. The shooter was killed after cops breached at the Mandalay Bay with explosives. Police are now looking for a woman named Marilou Danley, whom they believe may have information that could help their investigation. Police are now searching for Marilou Danley (pictured left and right), whom they say may have information on the shooter as she was his roommate or companion. No information has been given out about the killer, only that he was a local man Police advised everyone in the area to continue sheltering in place until their safety can be guaranteed Speaking at a press conference early Monday morning, police said that they did not believe there were any more active shooters, and that claims of other explosive devices and suspicious cars were just rumors that emerged in the chaos after the shooting. The shooter was not identified, except as a local man. Police are now seeking a woman named Marilou Danley whom they believe to have information they need. She is described as an Asian woman, around four feet 11 inchest tall and weighing 111lbs. She and the shooter are said to be roommates or companions; their precise relationship has not been explained. They are also trying to locate two vehicles that they say belonged to the shooter: a Hyundai Tucson, license plate 114 B40, and a Chrysler Pacfica, license plate 19D 401. They advised everyone in the area to continue sheltering in place until their safety can be guaranteed. A British supermarket worker who left Buckinghamshire to join ISIS in Syria four years ago may have been killed. Omar Hussain, 30, from High Wycombe, has been a prolific recruiter and a frequent user of social media while fighting for ISIS in Raqqa. However, Hussain, who now calls himself Abu Saeed al-Britani, has been silent online for two months, the longest time he has done so since 2013. ISIS fighter Omar Hussain, 30, from High Wycombe has been silent online for two months, the longest time he has done so since he joined the terror group in Syria in 2013 After being suspended from Twitter and Tumblr, Hussain has been using Telegram, a secure encrypted messaging service popular among ISIS terrorists. But his profile fell silent on 30 July and he has not logged on since a previously unheard-of time offline for the radical. One UK-based reporter who has been speaking to Hussain online for close to two years revealed: 'The longest he's ever been off online in the past is a week or so and that's when he had been fighting on the frontline. 'A gap of more than two months leads you to suspect that he's either dead, injured or been taken prisoner.' Hussain, a former security guard at Morrisons, uses the profile Repunzel on Telegram and has the same log-on details for around 18 months. Terrorist: Hussain's last rant before going silent was announcing he did not care if his family in Britain died in a terror attack In one of his most recent outpourings he revealed to the same reporter that he didn't care if his own loved ones were killed or injured in terror attacks. Speaking on Telegram, Hussain said if his relatives were killed it is the price they must pay for not making hijrah pilgrimage from persecution to the Middle East. 'Let all my relatives die along with the disbelievers for all I care. 'Their own fault for living amongst the disbelievers and not doing hijrah away from the disbelievers. 'LET THEM DIE FOR ALL I CARE': SUPERMARKET TERRORIST'S LAST ONLINE RANT Omar Hussain's last rant before going silent in full:'Let all my relatives die along with the disbelievers for all I care. 'Their own fault for living amongst the disbelievers and not doing hijrah away from the disbelievers. 'Anyone who loves with the disbelievers has only himself to blame for being collateral damage in an attack. 'But of course, these lone wolf's do not intentionally target these so called 'Muslims' but if they happen 2 come in the middle, no problem.' And he revelled in attacks in London and Manchester saying the terrorists were 'carrying out God's command'. He added: 'Well Allah tells us in the Quran, 'O you who have believed, fight those disbelievers nearest to you and let them find in you harshness. And know that Allah is with the righteous'. (Quran 9:123) 'So our beloved brothers were just carrying out God's command. 'As for those killed, then I show no sympathy to any disbeliever, whether male or female, young or old. 'The West drops bombs on Muslims lands without differentiating between the male and female, the young or old. 'So they deserve this. In fact, even if every toddler and old man were to be murdered it would be justified due to it being a recompense for what they are doing in Muslim lands. Mind you, even the bible teaches the law of, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 'So the pathetic disbelievers deserve this.' Advertisement 'Anyone who loves with the disbelievers has only himself to blame for being collateral damage in an attack. 'But of course, these lone wolf's do not intentionally target these so called 'Muslims' but if they happen 2 come in the middle, no problem.' And he revelled in attacks in London and Manchester saying the terrorists were 'carrying out God's command'. Hussain left Britain in December 2013, flying to Turkey via Gatwick, despite being a known extremist who was stopped at Heathrow airport six months earlier. Once in Syria, he began making threats against the UK on the internet using the alias Abu Saeed Al-Britani. He warned how he would like to return to bomb Britain, and in one IS video described David Cameron as a 'despicable swine'. Last August he appeared on BBC2's Newsnight, saying: 'I hate the UK, the only reason why I would intend to return to the UK is when I want to come and plant a bomb somewhere.' In July, he moaned about Muslims' lack of support for the terror group, while complaining of air strikes on ISIS territory He added: 'Why is it that when your own daughter, or your own son is feeling ill or troubled you get worried? 'Yet when it is the son or the daughter of someone else, your Muslim brother, it doesn't hit you? 'Especially a mujahid... Someone who has left everything, left to come to Syria.' This comes days after dozens of towns and villages were hit by airstrikes in northern Syria, as government forces and US-allies backed troops continue to fight ISIS. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes are concentrating on Idlib, Hama and Aleppo provinces north of the country, which witnessed clashes last week between Syrian and Russian troops with insurgents. Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory's chief, said 42 towns and villages were aerially bombarded on Friday alone, killing at least 12 and wounded 31. The opposition's Thiqa News Agency released a video showing a bloodied dead baby being pulled from under the rubble in the village of Urem Al-Kubra in Aleppo province. Thiqa said five people were killed in the strikes Urem al-Kubra. Opposition activists say Syrian and Russian warplanes have been bombing northern Syria for nearly a week, killing as many as 150 people. An Australian has revealed that he believes Stephen Paddock, the gunman that terrorised the Las Vegas strip on Monday night, was staying next door to him. Brian Hodge, who hails from NSW, told The Age that he was staying in room 32134 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Paddock, who killed at least 59 people and injured 527 more was tracked down and then found dead in room 32135 - next door to the 36-year-old. Mr Hodge is thankful that he was not in his room at the time police used controlled explosives to enter room 32134 and locate Paddock. Scroll down for video Australian man Brian Hodge, 36, was staying in the hotel room next door to that of the shooter 'It was hardcore, like it was full machine-guns for 20 seconds and then it stopped for five seconds then it just went again,' he said, describing how he hid in bushes outside of the hotel for more than three hours. 'There were so many shots fired, I couldn't tell you how many.' Mr Hodge also described the terrifying moment a woman stepped in front of him and urged to turn back because there was a shooter. Mr Hodge described the moment that a SWAT team converged on the hotel in full police gear The shooter was later killed in his room by police, who also found weapons and ammunition He said that everyone just started running, and when he reached the ground floor of the casino, several guests went to hide in the kitchen. They then ran out onto the street, where Mr Hodge was confronted with 'utter chaos'. 'We could just hear bullets being fired and then we could see the bright lights of helicopters flying over the top of us,' he said. 'I was just laying on the ground. It was like a scene from a movie...The shooter was up above.' Police are now hunting for Mary Lou Delaney 'I was just laying on the ground. It was like a scene from a movie. The shooter was up above, we didn't know where they were. 'I didn't want anyone to know where I was so I just curled up and hid. It was the most terrifying moment of my life.' He then described the scene as a SWAT team converged on the hotel, in full gear, yelling for everyone to stay down and put their hands up. The shooter was later killed in his room by police, who also found a stash of weapons and ammunition. Police have located Paddock's live-in girlfriend, who has been identified as an Asian female named Mary Lou Danley. A man has been arrested after he was caught sexually assaulting a passed out British Oktoberfest visitor by performing an oral sex act on him. Police said they were looking for pickpocketers at around 10pm when they spotted the two men on a hill next to the giant meadow where Germany's biggest beer festival is held. The incident happened last Thursday in Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria. Austrian man is arrested for giving oral sex to a passed out male British tourist at Oktoberfest The victim, a 26-year-old British man, did not even realise the sex act was being performed on him as he was completely passed out. Police arrested the 46-year-old suspect, an Austrian national whose name has not been reported and charged him with sexual abuse of an incapacitated person. The hill on which the incident happened is infamous due to the many vomiting or passed out tourists scattered around and couples trying to have sex. On the same day, the Munich police also arrested a 37-year-old Iraqi national who had allegedly groped a 28-year-old American Oktoberfest visitor under her skirt in one of the party tents. He is currently being investigated on suspicion of the sex attack. The Munich Oktoberfest ends on Wednesday. Advertisement Being cute is exhausting, apparently. A set of adorable pictures have emerged showing tiny black-and-white bears falling fast asleep at a panda nursery in China. Probably the cutest school you've ever seen, the nursery is dedicated to looking after newborn cubs at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base. Scroll down for video Bear-ly awake! A group of cute cubs are seen fast asleep inside the 'panda nursery' at the Chengdu breeding centre, China Exhausted: The panda nursery is dedicated to taking care of newborn bears before they are old enough to be sent elsewhere Sweet dreams: After these cubs are strong enough, the nursery will send them to panda centres, zoos or into the wild The breeding base, located in south-west China's Sichuan Province, is the world's largest artificial breeding population of captive pandas. Every year, all the newborn pandas are gathered at the nursery to be looked after by specialist keepers. Last year, the nursery took care of 23 cubs born at the centre. Just last week, the nursery unveiled 11 panda cubs born to eight panda mothers this year. Too cute: Last year, the nursery took care of 23 cubs and this year 11 cubs have made their debut at the nursery Bear with me: One of the playful pandas lies on the floor as Israeli photographer Dafna Ben Nun takes a picture of it Around-the-clock care: The cubs are sent to the nursery after being born at the Sun or Moon delivery rooms at the base Photographer Dafna Ben Nun, from Israel, took these pictures on her visit to the nursery. Dafna, 37, said: 'These photos show month old cubs in the nursery where they are being kept and looked after for a few months until they are ready to be sent to panda centres, zoos or released into the wild. 'The cubs love to see interactions between them.' Time for a rest: The panda appeared to look bored as it slumps on a tree at the Wolong National Nature Reserve Thoughtful: Photographer Dafna considers it 'very important' to conserve the pandas as 'they are very territorial animals' The black-and-white bear, a symbol of China, was shifted off the endangered species list last year - after years of intensive conservation efforts. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in a report released last September that the animal is now classified as a 'vulnerable' instead of 'endangered' species, reflecting its growing numbers in the wild in southern China. Commenting on China's effort in protecting and breeding pandas, Dafna said: 'I think it is very important to conserve the pandas, they are very territorial animals so the biggest problem after releasing them into the wild is that they can kill each other. ' SIX FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT GIANT PANDAS It's estimated that around 1,600 Giant Pandas are living in the wild. There are 300 in zoos and breeding centres around the world. It's unsure how long Giant Pandas could live in the wild for. However the oldest zoo panda so far has reached 38 years old. A wild panda's diet is 99 per cent bamboo. The remaining one per cent is often small rodents. Giant Pandas need to consume around 20 to 40 pounds of bamboo each day to get the nutrients they need. On all four legs, Giant Pandas stand at around three to four feet tall. Cubs do not open their eyes until they are six to eight weeks of age and are not mobile until three months old. Advertisement Playful: A one-year-old panda plays on a tree at the Bifengxia Panda Base near the Ya'an City of Sichuan Province Panda, a symbol of China, was shifted off the endangered species list last year after years of intensive conservation efforts She added: 'China has managed to breed pandas successfully in the last few years - and even many pandas give birth to twins! 'In the wild the mum chooses one to raise and the other one dies - but they realised if they help the mum raise the cubs by taking one and swapping between them both then they will survive.' Besides the nursery, the centre has two maternity wards to look after expectant panda mothers around the clock. The two wards are called 'Sun Delivery Room' and 'Moon Delivery Room' respectively. And as their names show, one of them takes care of pandas in the day time and the other at night. This is what happens when you swallow a toy horn - you stop talking and start squeaking instead. Hilarious footage shows a boy of no more than 10 years old squeaking after swallowing part of the children's toy horn by accident. The clip was uploaded by Santiago Gomez Zuviria last week in Tucuman, north west Argentina. In a matter of days the clip has gone viral, with nine million views worldwide. Hilarious footage posted by Santiago Gomez Zuviria on Facebook shows an Argentinian schoolboy (pictured) squeaking after swallowing part of a children's toy horn by accident Another picture posted on social media shows the boy, aged no more than 10-years-old, with a woman presumed to be his mother, as they wait to have the toy part surgically removed The caption, posted on Mr Zuviria's Facebook, reads: 'Taken in Tucuman. Moral of the story: be careful with what you let your children play with.' Pictures posted with the story show the youngster with a woman, presumably his mother, looking worried in hospital. But another reveals the tiny contraption that is making him honk like a horn after he had it surgically removed by doctors. Those commenting on Facebook could not contain their laughter, posting hundreds of comments. But it appears Mr Zuviria was not happy with some of the less compassionate responses. The source of the squeaking (pictured) is revealed to be a tiny white plastic squeaker He posted a status on his Facebook a few days later saying: 'I want to ask your help. A few days ago I shared a video of a little boy who had an accident with a toy horn. My only intention was to make friends aware of the risk that small children are exposed to when playing with toys. 'To date, the video has almost nine million views, a number that continues to rise. 'Unfortunately there are those who have used the video maliciously, so I'm asking all my friends and contacts to report these posts, extracted from the video in question, that seek to ridicule the situation the little guy went through. 'Let us make this online community a healthy and respectful place for all. 'Thank you very much.' The schoolboy is believed to have made a full recovery, but it is not known how long he was squeaking for. This is the first trailer for a movie about Oscar Pistorius and the murder of Reeva Steenkamp - showing the athlete shooting his girlfriend and their violent arguments before her death. Oscar Pistorius: Blade Runner Killer charts the run-up to the murder on Valentine's Day 2013 at his home in Pretoria, South Africa - and the courtroom dramas that followed. Starring Andreas Damm as the 30-year-old double-leg amputee and Toni Garrn as girlfriend Steenkamp, the promo shows the athlete holding a pistol and shouting 'get out of my house' before firing the weapon twice. The first trailer has emerged for a movie about Oscar Pistorius and the murder of Reeva Steenkamp - showing the athlete shooting his girlfriend and their violent arguments before her death Drama: The minute-long trailer ends with Pistorius tearfully telling a court: 'I truly loved her' Oscar Pistorius: Blade Runner Killer charts the run-up to the murder on Valentine's Day 2013 at his home in Pretoria, South Africa - and the courtroom dramas that followed. It stars Andreas Damm as the 30-year-old double-leg amputee and Toni Garrn (pictured) as girlfriend Steenkamp In one scene Pistorius he challenges Steenkamp to 'prove to me that this is what you want and that you are worthy of me and this relationship' before she strips to her underwear and climbs into bed with him In one scene, Pistorius tells his girlfriend she will be his 'personal angel' as he trains for the Olympics. In another, he challenges Steenkamp to 'prove to me that this is what you want and that you are worthy of me and this relationship' before she strips to her underwear and climbs into bed with him. The following scene shows the pair having a row before he picks up a weapon, ordering her to 'get back here'. The minute-long trailer ends with Pistorius tearfully telling a court: 'I truly loved her'. According to channel24, the film will premiere in the US on November 11. Shooting: The film includes a scene where Pistorius shoots apparently believing there is an intruder in the house Pistorius can be seen brandishing a gun during the trailer for the film, which is due to be released in November The film charts the fall-out from the killing and the police investigation into the death. One scene shows bullet holes in a door The movie shows Pistorius training (pictured) and some of the arguments he and Steenkamp had before she was killed It comes just days after it was announced that the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa will hear the state's appeal against Paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius' six-year murder sentence. Pistorius was jailed for six years in 2016 for murdering Steenkamp. At the time, the length of his sentence described as 'lenient' by many commentators in the country. The appeal will be heard on November 3, the National Prosecuting Authority said. Oscar Pistorius (pictured) was jailed for six years in 2016 for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp Pistorius (right) initially escaped a murder conviction for shooting Steenkamp (left) through a locked bathroom door three years ago. The pair are pictured together in 2012 Pistorius initially escaped a murder conviction for shooting Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door three years ago. An appeal by prosecutors saw his manslaughter conviction upgraded to murder, and he was later sentenced to a six-year jail term. But prosecutors had said they would push for a longer sentence, saying six years was 'shockingly lenient'. President Trump called last night's mass casualty shooting in Las Vegas 'an act of pure evil' as he quoted scripture to comfort the bereaved, speaking from the White House Monday morning. 'Scripture teaches us, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit,"' Trump said. 'We seek comfort in those words but we know that God lives in the hearts of those who grieve.' Trump also announced that he would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday, telling reporters in the Oval Office that he planned to spend the whole day there 'and maybe longer than that.' 'It's a very sad moment for me, for everybody. For everybody, no matter where you are, no matter what your thought process, this is a very, very sad day,' Trump said, in a moment where he wasn't perfectly on-script. Scroll down for video President Trump gave a statement at the White House offering prayers and comforts to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting President Trump is photographed entering the Diplomatic Reception Room Monday as he told the American people that the shooting was 'an act of pure evil' President Trump, making his first public statement on what is the largest casualty shooting in modern American history, said he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday During his brief remarks, President Trump quoted scripture and said flags in the country would fly at half-staff Aides to President Trump watch as he speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room on Monday with both daughter Ivanka Trump and Vice President Mike Pence looking on Reporters gather in the Diplomatic Room at the White House and watch President Trump make brief remarks on the mass casualty shooting that took place in Las Vegas late last night President Trump thanked the first responders on hand in Las Vegas and marveled at how quickly they were able to find the shooter's hotel room, likely saving countless more lives The president, photographed leaving the podium, will travel to hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico first and then Las Vegas on Wednesday The president noted how 'in moments of tragedy and horror' the country comes together as one President Trump made his first comments on the deadly Las Vegas shooting at 7:11 a.m., wishing his 'warmest condolences and sympathies' to the gunman's victims and families In more official remarks, Trump spoke from the Diplomatic Reception Room, the same place where he addressed the country in the aftermath of the Congressional Baseball Game practice shooting, which only left the gunman dead. This time there were many more victims, with the president first wishing them well in a 7:11 a.m. tweet. 'My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!' Trump has written. The suspected shooter is 64-year-old Stephen Paddock (pictured) who died at the scene Standing at the podium several hours later, he began by saying the country was joined together in 'sadness, shock and grief.' 'Last night, a gunman opened fire on a large crowd at a country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada,' Trump said, not identifying the suspect, who police say is 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. 'He brutally murdered more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more,' the president said, calling the act 'pure evil.' He assured the public that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were coordinating with local officials on the ground, as he thanked those first responders for their quick efforts for sniffing out the shooter, carrying out his act from the Mandalay Bay Hotel's 32nd floor. 'The speed with which they acted is miraculous and prevented further loss of life,' Trump said. 'To have found the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired is something for which we will always be thankful and grateful.' 'It shows that true professionalism is all about,' the president added. Trump then turned to the victims, noting how 'hundreds' of Americans are now mourning a loved one. 'A parent, a child, a brother or sister,' he said. 'We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss.' The gunman took aim from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and shot people attending a country music concert across Las Vegas Boulevard A broken window is seen at the Mandalay Bay hotel, where shooter Stephen Paddock waged his assault against the crowd below Eric Trump used the moment to pay homage to the police who 'sacrifice their own lives every day to help others' He also said his 'thoughts and prayers are with the people of Las Vegas' 'To the families of the victims, we are praying for you and we are here for you, and we ask God to see you through this very dark period,' Trump said. 'To the wounded who are now recovering in hospitals, we are praying for your full and speedy recovery, and pledge to you our support from this day forward.' 'In memory of the fallen, I have directed that our great flag be flown at half-staff,' Trump said. The president noted how 'in moments of tragedy and horror' the country comes together as one. 'Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence. And though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our loves that defines us today, and always will, forever,' he went on. Trump said in times like these, 'I know we are searching for some kind of meaning in the chaos.' 'The answers to not come easy,' he said. 'But we can take solace knowing that even the darkest space can be brightened by a single light, and even the most terrible despair can be illuminated by a single ray of hope.' Winding down his short speech, he told the country that he and first lady Melania Trump were praying for those Americans affected by 'this terrible, terrible attack.' 'We pray for the entire nation to find unity and peace,' he said. 'And we pray for the day when evil is banished, and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear.' Earlier Monday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president had been briefed on the 'horrific tragedy.' 'We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers,' she said in a statement sent to reporters. Later in the day Huckabee Sanders confirmed that Trump had spoken with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and the sheriff. 'The president gave a beautiful message,' Goodman said, noting that Trump has shown 'great concern.' Later on Monday, Trump reconfirmed his trip to Puerto Rico, which will take place Tuesday, a day before he heads to Vegas. 'It's been amazing what's been done in a very short amount of time on Puerto Rico,' Trump said from the Oval Office Monday. 'There's never been a piece of land, that we've known, that's been so devastated,' Trump added. 'The bridges are down, the telecommunications was non-existent and it's in very, very bad shape. The electrical grid was totally destroyed.' Trump has been criticized for his response to Hurricane Maria, getting into a public tiff with the Mayor of San Juan on Twitter this weekend, suggesting Democrats encouraged her to act 'nasty' to the president and that Puerto Ricans 'want everything to be done for them.' Now he has a new disaster on his plate. Early Monday morning, a shooter took aim from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, just off the Las Vegas strip, and rained bullets on a crowd gathered at a country music concert across the street, killing a 58 people and injuring 200 more. The suspect is 64-year-old Paddock, police say, who had an 'arsenal' of weapons in his room, including at least 10 guns. Paddock committed suicide at the scene. Vice President Mike Pence put out three tweets Monday morning offering condolences and thanking first responders for their bravery As news of the shooting broke early Monday morning on the East coast, Eric Trump, President Trump's middle son, started tweeting before his dad. 'My thoughts and prayers are with the people of #LasVegas,' Eric Trump wrote. 'It is days like this that we should stop and thank all the men and women in uniform, who sacrifice their own lives every day to help others,' he said, paying respects to American police. After the president made his initial reaction, Vice President Mike Pence chimed in. 'To victims, families & loved ones affected by this senseless violence in Las Vegas, Karen & I are praying for you & offering our love [t]he hearts & prayers of the American people are with you. You have our condolences and sympathies,' Pence wrote. Ivanka Trump noted how Americans woke up to the 'devastating' news of the Las Vegas shooting. 'Our collective hearts are breaking for the victims and their families,' she wrote First son Donald Trump Jr called the shooter's actions 'evil' as he offered condolences to those affected Former President Barack Obama sent out a tweet from he and his wife. Obama was president during the last record-breaking mass casualty shooting, that at Pulse nightclub last June 'To the courageous first responders, thank you for your acts of bravery,' the vice president added. First daughter and top White House aide Ivanka Trump offered her condolences too. 'America woke up this morning to the horrific news of a devastating mass shooting in Las Vegas,' she wrote. 'Our collective hearts are breaking for the victims and their families.' Her eldest brother, Donald Trump Jr, took a harsher tone. 'Our prayers and deepest condolences are with all those affected by the evil perpetrated in Las Vegas,' the president's oldest son wrote. Former President Obama also used Twitter to send out a message. 'Michelle & I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy,' he wrote. President Obama had been in office for the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, in June 2016, which had been the deadliest in the country's modern history until last night's. Obama was also in charge during the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, which he called the 'worst day of my presidency.' Twenty children and six adults were killed by a lone gunman in that shooting in December 2012. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the lower chamber's top Democrat, said she was 'horrified and heartbroken' by the news On Thursday, the House of Representatives welcomed back one of their own, Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who survived a gunshot wound to the hip in June Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who returned to the House of Representatives last week for the first time since being shot in June, also sent his prayers Members of Congress began reacting too. 'Horrified and heartbroken by the awful tragedy in Las Vegas last night,' wrote House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the lower chamber's top Democrat. 'Praying for those lost, wounded & waiting for news from loved ones.' Her counterpart in the US Senate made a similar statement. 'Deeply saddened for the people of Las Vegas and the country. We will keep the victims & their families in our hearts,' tweeted Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. 'I commend the Las Vegas 1st responders, the SWAT team & the regular ppl who acted quickly & saved lives. Thank you,' the Senate minority leader added. Just last Thursday the House of Representatives welcomed back one of their own, as House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., returned to Capitol Hill after spending three and a half months recuperating from a gunshot wound. Scalise was the most badly injured of those wounded in mid-June when 66-year-old James Hodgkinson started shooting at members of the Republicans' Congressional baseball team, who were at an Alexandria, Virginia park at a morning practice. Shot in the hip, Scalise's injuries could have been fatal, however the fact that he was there a member of House leadership with an armed detail likely saved countless lives. Officers David Bailey and Crystal Griner were both wounded in the shoot-out, but survived, with the only fatality being the gunman killed. 'Jennifer and I are praying for the victims of this unspeakable violence in Las Vegas,' Scalise tweeted Monday morning. It was former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton who was the first prominent member of her party to take on the gun lobby in the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting. Hillary Clinton started by offering condolences, but then turned to the National Rifle Association in her Monday morning tweets Hillary Clinton was the first high-profile Democrat to go after the National Rifle Association in the aftermath of Sunday night's Las Vegas shooting She took particular issue with the NRA trying to get it made easier to purchase silencers in several states At first, Clinton just offered condolences. 'Las Vegas, we are grieving with youthe victims, those who lost loved ones, the responders, & all affected by this cold-blooded massacre,' she wrote. But then she quickly took on the National Rifle Association. 'The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots,' Clinton noted. 'Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get,' she said. The NRA was pushing legislation in some states that would quicken the time a gun owner could buy a silencer, pushing it up from a year to less than one day, according to the Wall Street Journal. 'Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again,' Clinton urged. At the White House press briefing later in the day, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called discussions about gun control 'premature' and pushed back on Clinton placing blame on the NRA. 'It's very easy for Mrs. Clinton to criticize and to come out, but I think we need to remember the only person with blood on their hands is that of the shooter,' Huckabee Sanders said. 'This isn't the time to go after individuals or organizations.' 'I think we can have those policy conversations, but today is not that day,' the press secretary said. The Prime Minister's deputy today slapped down Boris Johnson for making David Davis's job harder by launching a series of interventions on Brexit. The Foreign Secretary plunged the start of the Tory Party conference into turmoil by using an interview to set out his four 'red lines' on the Brexit talks. It has raised fresh questions over Theresa May's leadership just as she was hoping to get her premiership back on track with her crunch conference speech. But senior Cabinet members rounded on their outspoken colleague in a series of interventions today. Damian Green hit out at Mr Johnson by saying he would not rule anything 'in or out' of the deal because it would make the job of the Brexit Secretary tougher. Meanwhile, Chancellor Philip Hammond warned that no Government minister is unsackable in a jibe aimed at the Foreign Secretary. Downing Street has played down the prospect of the Cabinet big beast being sacked, saying his views are well known. But there are fears among MPs that Mr Johnson is determined to sacrifice himself for a 'hard' Brexit, ensuring he wins support from Tory activists when the government makes compromises to do a deal with Brussels. Theresa May's deputy Damian Green, pictured at Tory Party conference today, said it is unhelpful to rule things in or out of Brexit negotiations A windblown Boris Johnson has been at Tory conference in Manchester today, but not carried out any public events Mr Green, the First Secretary of State and the PM's de facto deputy, slapped down the Foreign Secretary's intervention. Speaking at a Tory conference fringe event today, Mr Green refused to rule out paying for single market access after the Brexit transition period - contradicting Mr Johnson's red lines. He said: 'I'm not ruling anything in or out that will be in the detail of the negotiation because David Davis has got a difficult job and he is eminently suited to doing it. 'I'm not going to do anything that makes his job more difficult.' Brexir Minister Steve Baker issued a further jibe at Mr Johnson at a conference fringe, insisting he would not be wading into the 'unfortunately public debate' about the nature of a transitional deal. Mrs May refused to answer a question about whether Mr Johnson, pictured running in Manchester today, was 'unsackable' Philip Hammond, pictured today with Theresa May in Manchester, warned Boris Johnson that nobody is unsackable from the Cabinet BREXIT MINISTER: COD WARS MEAN FAILURE A return to the 'cod wars' over fishing grounds would signal a failure of Brexit talks, a minister warned today. Steve Baker gave a rare signal of what failure would look like in a meeting on the fringe of the Conservative conference in Manchester. The leading Brexit supporter said he believed a deal would be struck on fishing. But pressed on the prospects of a return to fishing disputes dubbed the 'cod wars' between 1958 and 1976. Mr Baker told activists: 'We do not want to be having cod wars. If it comes to cod wars, things have failed.' Advertisement Asked what an appraisal of Mr Johnson's ministerial performance might say, Mr Green said: 'Boris is doing what Boris has always done - adding to the gaiety of nations.' And he said the transition deal could last a few months longer than two years, flouting another of the Foreign Secretary's demands. He added: 'The phrase the Prime Minister used was 'around two years' but that means a few months either way.' He added that could mean 'instead of the end of March it's the end of June' 2021 and the Government was not committing to two years 'to the minute'. While Mr Hammond stressed the need for loyalty to the Prime Minister and warned that everybody must 'pull their weight withing the Government', He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'We all serve at the Prime Minister's pleasure and we all owe the Prime Minister our allegiance and our loyalty within the Cabinet. 'I have always operated on the principle that it is probably best to believe that nobody is unsackable. 'Everybody has got to pull their weight within the Government.' Mr Green also played down the prospect of leaving the EU without a deal - dismissing bleak talk coming out of Brussels is just posturing. He said: 'If you study European negotiations, they follow the same pattern where there's a lot of posturing, a lot of people saying a deal is completely impossible, and then at the last minute a deal is done. 'It is overwhelmingly almost always the case in the EU that a deal is done.' Trade talks with other countries would be able to take place during the implementation period, but deals could not be signed until it expired, he suggested. And he reiterated the Government's commitment to freeing the UK from the control of EU judges. The role of the European Court of Justice is a potential stumbling block in the Brexit talks, and Mr Green stressed that there 'won't be direct control' by the Luxembourg court in the way there is now. But there would need to be a 'dispute resolution procedure' governing the deal, which he suggested could involve a panel made up of British and EU judges. Sam James has taken his mother and sisters to court over his father's will, which he says he was wrongly written out of A farmer's son is suing his elderly mother and sisters after he was 'completely cut out' of his dementia sufferer father's 3million will. Sam James, 60, says he devoted his life to working for his father, Allen James, on the promise that one day hundreds of valuable acres would be his. But he now claims his mother, Sandra James, 'intercepted' his father's will and, after he began suffering from dementia, had him sign another. The new will, made two years before Mr James' 2012 death, cut out Sam, despite his years of 'graft' on the farm and in the family haulage business, London's High Court heard. The son claims the will was only signed because of his father's dementia and 'pressure' from his mother. His father's illness was so far advanced that he lacked the legal capacity to make a valid will, he says. His mother Mrs James, 79, says she objects to being painted as a 'devious money-grabber' by her 'financially driven' son. No promise was ever made that Sam would inherit Pennymore Pitt Farm in Dorset, she and her daughters, Karen and Serena, insist. His mother Sandra (left) and sister Karen (right) say the son is not entitled to anything more Penelope Reed QC, representing the son, told Judge Paul Matthews that he had left school early and worked in the family business for nearly 35 years. He was an 'absolute grafter', who 'worked his socks off', she added. He toiled increasingly hard as his dad grew older, eventually becoming the 'driving force' of the business. 'Sam has positioned his whole life on the basis of the assurances given to him, and reasonably believed by him, that he would inherit Pennymore.' In 2004, Allen James, a 'self-made' but 'frugal' man, gave instructions to a solicitor to draw up a will which gifted Pennymore to Sam, the court heard. But he claims his mother, who lives in a farmhouse on the land, 'took exception to it' and intercepted the document, which was never executed, his QC told court. The marriage between Sandra and Allen, who was 81 when he died, had been 'difficult', with his refusal to put any assets in her name a source of tension, Miss Reed continued. In the father's 2010 will, under which Karen got another part of Pennymore, with the rest going to Sandra (right), and on her death to their second daughter, Serena Underwood (left) However, in 2007, he gave 193 acres to his daughter, Karen James, 58, and in 2009, put over 800,000 in cash and the rest of Pennymore, where the family kept cattle and sheep and dealt in hay and straw, into his and Sandra's joint names. Then came the 2010 will, under which Karen got another part of Pennymore, with the rest going to Sandra, and on her death to their second daughter, Serena Underwood, 55. But Miss Reed continued: 'By 2010, the deceased had been suffering from dementia for a number of years, something his wife and daughters were well aware of. 'As a result, there is clearly a real doubt about the deceased's capacity to make the alleged 2010 will.' But a lawyer for Sam's mother and sisters told the court they accept Sam was a 'hard worker'. But they say he 'did not care for school' and, having quit education, had no option other than to work in the family business. The row centres on the family's farm in Dorset, which the son says he is entitled to No promises were made about him having Pennymore, but he had 'persuaded' his father to give instructions for the 2004 document leaving him the farm, they say. 'The draft will was nothing more than a poorly thought-through attempt by Allen to keep the son happy, and one which he almost instantly regretted,' claimed the mother's barrister Steven Ball. The family's business partnership was dissolved in 2009 - Sam walking away with assets worth 1.3m - in the hope that that would 'draw a line' under his complaints, the barrister added. Mr Ball told the court: 'The son has gone to considerable lengths to cast Sandra as some kind of devious money-grabber.' The court heard Mr James has no intention of throwing his mother out of her home if he wins the case. Mr Ball said he would grant the pensioner the right to stay in her house on Pennymore for as long as she wants. Judge Matthews will give his ruling on the dispute at a later date. The mother of a French Islamic extremist who killed seven people during a shooting spree was jeered by victims' families as she appeared in court. Zoulikha Aziri, mother of Mohammed Merah who attacked a Jewish school and soldiers paving the way for an era of home-grown jihadi violence in France, was in court today to support her other son. Abelkader Merah, 35, is on trial accused of complicity in the massacre in which three Jewish children, a teacher and three paratroopers died over nine days in the Toulouse region. The 23-year-old gunman, Mohammed Merah, died after a 32-hour televised stand-off with France's police special forces. Zoulikha Aziri, the mother of gunman Islamist militant Mohammed Merah, who killed seven people in 2012, claimed she was abused by families of the victims Armed policemen stand guard upon the arrival of a van of the penitentiary authorities, on October 2, 2017 at Paris court house, before the opening of the trial of Abdelkader Merah who stands accused of complicity in the series of shootings committed by his jihadist brother in Toulouse and Montaubau in 2012 The 23-year-old gunman, Mohammed Merah, died after a 32-hour televised stand-off with France's police special forces Zoulikha Aziri, mother of Mohamed Merah, gestures as she speaks to journalists at court today Albert Chennouf-Meyer (left), father of French soldier Abel Chennouf who was slain by gunman Islamist militant Mohammed Merah Samuel Sandler, father and grandfather of three victims of the Islamist militant gunman Latifa Ibn Ziaten, mother of Mohammed Merah's first victim speaks to the media as she arrives at the courthouse in Paris Their mother, dressed all in black and wearing a veil, appeared today accompanied by an interpreter. She was told she would be called to testify on October 18 and was dismissed, but not before being abused by the family of a Jewish child and blowing a kiss to Adelkader who was in the dock. The mother made a tearful plea to reporters Monday outside a Paris trial for her son Mohammed Merah's 2012 rampage in southern France that left seven people dead. She said: 'I cry for the victims, for the families. That's not what Islam is about. 'I'm sorry about what Mohammed Merah did, but Abdelkader had nothing to do with that.' Emotions were raw at Monday's trial and Samuel Sandler, whose son Jonathan and his grandchildren Gabriel and Arieh were killed in the 2012 Toulouse attacks, denounced the attackers as 'rotten people who rot in a hole'. He insulted the mother of slain attacker Mohammed Merah after she took the stand. A police officer urged him to keep quiet. The estranged, third Merah brother also waded into the case claiming his sibling wants to 'bring France to its knees'. Abdelghani Merah told Europe 1 radio said: 'There is in this doctrine a point of no-return. Abdelkader Merah has long since crossed it. 'If he ever gets out he will remain a danger to France.' Abdelkader Merah has been in custody since days after the Toulouse killings. He has denied helping his brother, who trained with al Qaida-linked extremists in Pakistan, to prepare for or perpetuate the deadly rampage. Defence lawyer Eric Dupond-Moretti has said his client, who faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of 'complicity to murders in relation with a terrorist undertaking', was sent to trial 'by default' because the actual killer was dead. 'There is no evidence in the case file to convict him. That's what I think, that's what I'll say,' Mr Dupond-Moretti told BFM TV in February. The trial is being held in a special Paris criminal court and heard by judges. It is expected to last one month with about 50 witnesses and a dozen experts called to the stand. A verdict is expected in early November and the defendant appeared in court today dressed all in white, with a long beard and ponytail. He faces life in prison if convicted. He denies any wrongdoing. A French gendarme looks on as media films the courtroom before the start of the trial of Abdelkader Merah The families of the seven victims, two of whom were Muslim, have awaited the trial for more than five years, a period marked by an upsurge in deadly attacks in France, many of them carried out by young people born and radicalised in the country. Latifa Ibn Ziaten, the mother of a French paratrooper who was the first victim, said: 'This trial has to shed light, be clear, that the truth come out, that justice be done, and that it become a part of history.' Alongside Abdelkader Merah in the dock will be an acquaintance of the two brothers, Fettah Malki. He is accused of providing weapons that Mohammed Merah used and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Malki has maintained he was unaware of his friend's deadly plot. During his stand-off with an elite police unit, Mohammed Merah spoke with an intelligence negotiator. He claimed to be acting on behalf of al-Qaeda, but said he acted alone and that neither his older brother nor anyone else knew of his plans. All the witnesses mentioned a suspect driving a powerful scooter, wearing a black motorcycle jacket and a helmet with a lowered visor. Footage from the GoPro camera he was wearing when he shot his victims showed he was the sole perpetrator. But investigative judges said they gathered enough evidence to try Abdelkader Merah, who had been on intelligence radars since 2006 for proximity to radical cells, as his brother's accomplice. Mohamed Merah killed seven people in Toulouse back in 2012 The judges described Abdelkader as his brother's religious mentor on the path of a radical Salafist Islam. He has denied being the source of his brother's radicalisation and said he condemned his killings, but also told an investigating judge he was 'proud of the way he died, as a fighter, that's what the Koran teaches us'. Mr Dupond-Moretti said a few months after the March 2012 murders said: 'Assuming that he has contaminated his brother, it does not make a complicity in murders. 'Are we innocent or guilty of being brothers?' While the two brothers had not seen each other for months because of a family quarrel, they got back in touch a few weeks before the attacks, Abdelkader told investigators. He said Mohammed then 'told him again about jihad' and that he knew his brother wanted to 'move quickly, find a ploy quickly, or pull off jobs in France or abroad', according to court documents. Abdelkader said he did not approve of his brother's plans. The pair met several times between the first killing on March 11, 2012 and Mohammed's death on March 22, including for dinner in Toulouse a few hours after the younger brother killed two soldiers on March 15. Abdelkader told investigators Mohammed was 'very kind and affectionate' that night. Investigators suspect the older brother of choosing the target for Mohammed's first killing, via an advert posted by a soldier on the internet. Abdelkader is also accused of helping his brother steal the scooter he used for the rampage a few days later and paying for the jacket his brother wore during the attacks. Simon Cohen, lawyer of the victims of the Ozar Hatorah school answers journalists' questions, on October 2, 2017 in Paris court house, before the opening of the trial of Abdelkader Merah who stands accused of complicity in the series of shootings commited by his jihadist brother Mohamed in Toulouse and Montauban in 2012 Zoulikha Aziri (centre) speaks to journalists as she arrives on October 2, 2017 at Paris court house Zoulikha Aziri, the mother of gunman Islamist militant Mohammed Merah, who killed seven people in 2012, leaves during the trial of her son Abdelkader Merah The Toulouse attacks set the stage for even deadlier Islamic radical violence on French targets in the years to come. At the time, the highly-publicised killings prompted a wave of shock and indignation in France and abroad. Among the victims were a teacher at the Jewish school, his sons, aged three and five, and the eight-year-old daughter of the school's director. All four were shot at point-blank range over 14 seconds, and all are buried in Jerusalem. The Tories should hike taxes and spend billions more on providing social care, party grandee Sir Oliver Letwin claimed today. Sir Oliver, who was David Cameron's policy guru, said Government was not spending enough and needed new revenues. The intervention came on the fringes of the Manchester Party Conference today and hours after Chancellor Philip Hammond refused to rule out tax rises. The Tories should hike taxes and spend billions more on providing social care, party grandee Sir Oliver Letwin (file image) claimed today Asked about spending more, Sir Oliver told party activists: 'Yes, I think in the case of social care for the elderly and the NHS, which are the guts of the argument at the moment about public services and incredibly important to millions of people in this country. 'The fact is we arent spending enough on social care at the moment. That is causing severe strain to the NHS. 'I dont believe we should try to fund that through massive extra borrowing. I think we should be willing to raise taxes somewhat to do that.' The party grandee, who was re-elected in West Dorset in June, said the Tories must take the fight to Labour to ensure it could not win power. He said: 'Jeremy Corbyn is setting out a Venezuela-style socialism ... I think it is socialism red in tooth and claw, actually. 'Right before our eyes there is Venezuela. It has followed a programme remarkably similar to that which Jeremy Corbyn is advocating, with disastrous results.' The intervention came hours after Chancellor Philip Hammond (pictured today in Manchester with Theresa May) refused to rule out tax rises The Chancellor, who is making his main conference speech today, refused to rule ou taxes rises in a series of major interviews today. Pressed repeatedly on whether he would hike taxes, he told the Radio 4 Today programme: 'We will have to be prepared to support the economy during this difficult period.' Advertisement An isolated ruined cottage located on the rugged Cornwall moorland made famous by TV's Poldark has gone on the market for at least 400,000. Canaglaze on Bodmin Moor - where much of the filming for the BBC series took place - is now a derelict row of 17th Century workers' cottages that are totally inhabitable. They have no roofs, doors or windows. There is no electricity supply or drainage and running water comes from a spring and an old well on the grounds. Despite its run-down appearance, estate agents are anticipating plenty of interest in the property. It comes with planning permission to turn the three former cottages into one large detached house. It is completely 'off grid' and 'there are no neighbours to speak of'. A ruined rural property located on the edge of Bodmin Moor, in Cornwall, has gone on the market for 400,000 Canaglaze on Bodmin Moor - where much of the filming for the BBC series took place - is now a derelict row of 17th Century workers' cottages Poldark fans can live like Captain Ross in this isolated ruined cottage set in the heart of the Cornish moorland Canaglaze on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall is a row of 17th century cottages that have no roofs, doors or windows It is thought the cottages once housed staff who worked on an ancient hill farm that used to be on the same site. The three homes were lived in up until the 1960s but then fell into disrepair. A couple of artists have owned Canaglaze since 2012. They stay in a chalet on the land whenever they visit. They have now decided to sell the property after relocating to Belgium. Bids have to be in by December 1 and Canaglaze is expected to sell for around 400,000. It could cost the same amount again to turn it into a detached home. It comes with nearly five acres of land and is accessed by a dirt track which requires a 4x4 vehicle to get down. Bids have to be in by December 1 and Canaglaze is expected to sell for around 400,000. It could cost the same amount again to turn it into a detached home The current property is in a derelict state but there is planning permission in place to rebuild it The property is surrounded by the open moorland of Bodmin Moor which is featured in the BBC hit drama Poldark. The exterior scenes for Ross Poldark's cottage, Nampara, were filmed on the moor. Chris Bailey, a partner of estate agents Knight Frank, said: 'This really is a rare opportunity to purchase a property that is genuinely off-grid. 'It is completely isolated and there are no neighbours to speak of. 'It is absolute peace and quite, it really is getting away from it all. 'Yes, the current property is in a state because it is derelict but there is planning permission in place to rebuild it. 'It is not listed so it can be torn down but that would be a shame. It is well shored up.' The partner of the gunman behind the worst mass shooting in America's history, which claimed the lives of at least 50 people, has been identified as an Australian citizen. Marilou Danley, 62, was spoken to by police in the early hours of Monday morning after her 'companion', Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on a music festival just off the Las Vegas strip. Ms Danley, who shared a house in the city with the mass murderer, holds an Australian passport and is from the Philippines, The Australian reported. Police say they do not believe at this time Ms Danley is involved in or connected to the shooting. Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo confirmed they located her outside of the country. They say she was not with Mr Paddock at the time he checked in and also believe Mr Paddock was 'utilising some of her identification.' She lived on the Gold Coast in Queensland for more than a decade with her former husband, an Australian man, who has since passed away. She moved to the United States 20 years ago. Ms Danley described herself on her Facebook page as a 'proud mom and grandma'. She worked at one of the casinos in the city. 'I would never have thought she would be tied up in anything like this,' a friend told the Courier Mail. Scroll down for video Marilou Danley (pictured), who shared a house in the city with the mass murderer, holds an Australian passport and is believed to be of Indonesian heritage Marilou Danley was detained by police in the early hours of Monday morning after her 'companion', Stephen Paddock opened fire on a music festival just off the Las Vegas strip Mr Paddock's brother, Eric, told CBS Ms Danley was 'a nice lady' but said he wasn't aware if the two were married. 'I've met her three or four times, she's got a Facebook page, she sends cookies to my mum,' he said. 'We were worried he might have hurt her too.' Police say Mr Paddock, described as a local man, opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Village from a room across the street in the Mandalay Bay Hotel shortly after 10pm. Officers confirmed Paddock was shot and killed after they breached a room in the hotel, where he had stashed an 'arsenal' of weapons used during the massacre. Investigators are now raiding the Mesquite home he shared with Marilou Danley, described as his 'companion', who was detained for questioning in the early hours of Monday morning. She and the shooter are said to be companions; their precise relationship has not been explained. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said investigations are still ongoing and police have not yet determined a motive. She and the shooter are said to be roommates or companions; their precise relationship has not been explained She and the shooter are said to be companions; their precise relationship has not been explained Police say Mr Paddock, described as a local man, opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Village from a room across the street in the Mandalay Bay Hotel shortly after 10pm Revellers described hearing automatic rounds during the concert sparking mass panic and chaos. Thousands fled as bursts of gunfire could be heard for more than five minutes, at least 50 were killed and 200 more injured. A police handout said Ms Danley was being sought for questioning. The public were urged to call 911 if she was spotted. Police were reported to be searching his house in the early hours of Monday morning, though have not given any indication of a motive. Revellers described hearing automatic rounds during the concert sparking mass panic and chaos Thousands fled as bursts of gunfire could be heard for more than five minutes, at least 50 were killed and 200 more injured Kevin Comerford, Nicole Shipman (pictured top of left) and her daughter Maddy Aspinall (bottom of left), 14, from Grafton in NSW, were in Las Vegas for one night only after a dance academy tour in the US had finished An Australian couple and their teenage daughter who were caught up in the crossfire said the experience was the 'scariest night of our life'. Kevin Comerford, Nicole Shipman and her daughter Maddy Aspinall had been staying overnight in las Vegas attending a dance academy tour. The family from Grafton in regional New South Wales were told to walk with their hands in the air across an empty casino following the shooting that claimed at least 50 lives. 'This was supposed to be a one night special stop because we'd never been to Las Vegas before ... we were planning to live it up for one night and we've had probably the scariest night of our life,' Mr Comerford told AAP. They had been staying in a hotel roughly two blocks from where the shooting took place and said it took them an hour to get safely back to their room. Mr Comerford said his partner's 14-year-old daughter was struggling with the situation. 'The police had us walk through the empty casino with our hands above our head and it became very, very real for her then,' he said. 'That's when she got very upset. She's been a brave girl.' Revellers described hearing automatic rounds during the concert sparking mass panic and chaos Thousands fled as bursts of gunfire could be heard for more than five minutes, at least 50 were killed and 200 more injured A Perth woman told Fairfax she only checked out of the Mandalay the morning of the shooting and had been rushed out of another casino as the incident unfolded. 'We were over at New York New York having some drinks with friends from Perth and there were police and ambulance and fire brigade everywhere and bodies on the street,' she said. 'People were terrified running around... we got in the lift to come up to the room where I my friends were staying and people were screaming and terrified. I've never seen faces like theirs before.' Australia's Consulate General in Los Angeles is currently speaking with police to determine if any Australians have been victims of the shooting. 'If you have any concerns for the welfare of family and friends in the Las Vegas area, you should attempt to contact them directly,' a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman told AAP. People unable to make contact with loved ones should phone the DFAT emergency hotline: 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 A farmer has stunned the audience at a Chinese national television programme with an instrument made with raw vegetables. The 48-year-old Nan Weidong, from eastern China's Huaibei, made a pan flute-like instruments with carrots and leeks. He also showcased other similar inventions using glass bottles and toothpaste tube. The 48-year-old man taught himself to make a pan flute-like instrument using carrots and leeks Nan stunned the audience as he played a song during his performance at a variety show Video posted by China Daily shows Nan carrying his musical instrument mimicking a pan flute. The design was made with 11 carrots of similar sizes and two leeks which hold the carrots together at the front. The clip was part of a variety show, 'HuangJin 100 seconds', aired by Central China Television. Though coming from a grass-root family, Nan explained in the show that he learnt Erhu and Chinese flute when he was young. He was inspired by his one-time experience that he can play tunes out of a glass bottle. He realised the tune changed after taking a sip of water. His vegetable flute was based on the same theory when he surprisingly played tunes out of glass bottles (left). He said he can also play songs using toothpaste tube (right) Based on the same principle, Nan carved the carrots at different depths to create different tunes. The 11 carrots then turned into a musical instrument, decorated by two leeks as ornaments. He also apply the same theory on potatoes and toothpaste tube. Advertisement One moment they were dancing at a country music concert, they next they were fleeing for their lives from the worst mass shooting in US history. Haunting videos captured the moment joy turned to bloody tragedy for thousands of music fans as they were cut down by staccato volleys of machine gun fire in Las Vegas. The wounded were rushed to safety on office chairs, in wheelbarrows, and in trucks and cars as the carnage unfolded over 72 horrifying minutes. Russell Bleck, who witnessed the attack on the Route 91 Music Festival, told how some people plugged bullet wounds with their fingers. Haunting videos captured thousands of country music fans attempting to flee the carnage in Las Vegas after Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival Witnesses described seeing ex-service personnel plugging bullet holes with their fingers as they attempted to save the lives of the wounded A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Hundreds of rounds of automatic gunfire were reported by witnesses on the scene; one woman in the Mandalay Bay said that there was a shooter on the 32nd floor, and that they had killed a security guard Three people lie on the ground, one covered in blood, after the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Sunday He told NBC News: 'I saw a lot of ex-military jump into gear and start plugging bullet-holes with their fingers. 'While everyone else was crouching I saw police officers standing up as targets, just trying to direct people and tell them where to go. 'The amount of bravery I saw there, words can't describe what it was like.' Speaking about the moment gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire, he added: 'He was just spraying the crowd, it was relentless, there was no stopping, maybe five or eight seconds to move from cover to cover to try and get out as he reloaded.' Police say at least 58 people died and more than 515 were injured after Paddock, 64, attacked concert-goers with an 'arsenal' of weapons from a room inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel. People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after the shooting. One person can be seen with a shirt draped over their face; it's not clear if they are dead The wounded were rushed to waiting ambulances on anything that concert-goers could find, including a wheelbarrow A man in a wheelchair, apparently in distress, is taken away from the festival in the wake of the shooting First responders and bystanders carry an injured person to an emergency station located at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave - one block north of the shooting People assist a wounded woman at the Tropicana hotel, which is located close to where the Route 91 festival was being held Police run to cover at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay shooting People comfort each other after the shooting on Sunday FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino on October 2, 2017, after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Paddock was shot dead after police breached the room and got into a firefight with him. Two officers were wounded, one of whom required surgery. Footage from the scene shows people hitting the ground near the front of the stage, either wounded or in an attempt to hide, as gunfire is heard in the background. The shots can be heard getting louder and quieter as Paddock indiscriminately sprays a stream of bullets from side to side. People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard. Witnesses said they initially ducked down at the command of police, but panic then took hold and there was a stampede A police officer runs along the sidewalk towards the scenes of violence. Las Vegas Metropolitan PD officers were joined by other police from the surrounding counties People wait in a medical staging area on October 2, 2017, after a mass shooting during a music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer stands in the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave. after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers point their weapons at a car driving down closed Tropicana Ave. near Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada Other videos show thousands of people streaming away from the venue, while those unable to escape curl up behind whatever cover they can find. Some described watching their loved ones die in their arms. Brianna Hendricks, who was at the concert earlier in the night but had returned to the Mandalay Bay Hotel before the massacre took place, told Dailymail.com: 'It was terrifying, we heard constant gunfire.' People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground in Las Vegas on Sunday night Others were taken to safety on office chairs as medics rushed to save the wounded People carry an injured person from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunshots rang out on Sunday night Another witness, who asked not to be named, added: 'I was in room 135 and I heard over the police scanner that the shooting came from room 137. 'It was non-stop, I would say well over 100 rounds. We hit the floor and took cover. 'I called the front desk and she was remarkably calm and said she was aware of the situation and told us to stay in our room. Police officers and medical personnel stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip People flee from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, amid reports of gunfire there and at a nearby hotel People dive for cover at Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard. Witnesses said they initially ducked down at the command of police, but panic then took hold and there was a stampede Bystanders on the Las Vegas Strip come to terms with what they've seen after the brutal shooting A discarded cowboy hat is seen lying in the street in the wake of the horrifying mass shooting Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue - one block north of the music festival - after the mass shooting People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after the gunman opened fire Police officers stand along the Las Vegas Strip the Mandalay Bay resort and casino during a shooting near the casino, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino on October 2, 2017, after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. Initially people peacefully crouched at the command of police (left). But as the countless rounds rang out, people began to panic and flee 'After around 10-15 minutes it just kind of stopped. You could smell the gun powder. 'Right before we got out I heard an explosion, maybe a flash bang, but windows were blown out. 'The cops came on to the floor and they were clearing rooms room by room and six or seven cops came into our room and we were evacuated.' Other sobbing concert goers told DailyMail.com that the gunfire was so intense, it sounded like 4th of July. Some were able to flee the carnage, while others were only able to crouch in place as bullets ripped through the packed crowd Paddock is believed to have spent weeks preparing for the attack in a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel (right) before opening fire People scramble over barriers to get to safety as the gunfire rages on at the Las Vegas event This was the moment that crowds began to flee the scene as gunfire rang out at the 30,000-strong music festival is attacked. At first crowds didn't seem to know what was happening Professional poker player Dan Bilzerian, who was at the event, streamed footage of himself running. 'Holy f**k this girl just got shot in the f**king head,' he said, 'This is so f**king crazy.' A wounded woman is moved outside the Tropicana during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas on Sunday Officers are seen outside the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the shooter was holed up in a room on the 32nd floor Festival-goers, crouch in cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire rained down on crowds Local Police seal off the road leading to Vegas shooter Stephen Paddocks home in Mesquite, NV as they facilitate the arrival of further assets involved in the execution of a search warrant on the property A body lies under a sheet on The Strip in Las Vegas as police secure the area after 58 people were killed on Sunday A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle during the shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino (left); people take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival (right) Derek and Karen Bernard, from Los Angeles, California, were in town for the Route 91 country festival and were close to the stage when the shooting began. 'We were inside,' said sales manager Derek, 53. 'All of a sudden, we saw the band disappearing - they were like running off the stage. 'We were off to the left side of the stage, we were running off there and there were staff security there. 'There was a woman bleeding - that's when we realized it was real shots. She just fell. She was shot. There was a lot of blood. 'It was so many - it sounded like 4th of July - just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. So many. I didn't think it was real because I couldn't see or feel anything. I was so panicked.' Jason Aldean was performing the final set of the festival when the shooting started Video showed Aldean rushing off stage as it begins to dawn on the crowd what was happening Wife Karen, a retired teacher, added: 'We heard shots fired, it sounded like firecrackers. We thought it was part of the concert. 'People were saying get down, get down and so we did. It was like mass havoc, panic, people were trampling over each other trying to get down. 'People were saying get behind the stage, get down and we crawled behind the stage. The shots they started coming much louder and closer.' Describing their escape, she added: 'We jumped behind the stage. Someone made a ramp up to the top of the wall - we crawled, jumped and they caught us. We didn't know where to go. There was just an exodus of people.' An autistic woman was escorted from an easyJet plane by police after she was asked to move to a quieter seat. Manuela Atzori faced a gruelling 24-hour wait to get from London Stansted to Glasgow after she was told to leave her flight by the crew. The 39-year-old businesswoman, from Paisley, was returning home to Scotland from a trip to her native Italy when the incident happened on September 21. She started feeling overwhelmed by the volume of the noise when she first sat down and went to the back of the cabin while the plane sat on the tarmac. Manuela Atzori, pictured, 39, was escorted off an easyJet flight by police officers after she asked to move to a quieter seat because she became sensitive to the noise levels While standing next to the open door, air stewards asked if she was unwell and she explained she was autistic and was sensitive to noise. She told staff she just wanted to go home to Glasgow, and had flown with easyJet before without any problem. But cabin crew took her passport and boarding pass from her and ordered her to get off. Police then escorted her off the plane which caused her to have a panic attack as she was being led away in front of dozens of passengers. Ms Atzori, who suffers from a mild form of the condition, said: 'People were laughing and shouting and I said I was oversensitive to it, and have mild autism. 'They gave me a seat, but I was only there for a few seconds before another steward came over and said 'It's not noisy at all'. Ms Atzori said she 'cried for two hours' following the incident, which left her 'exhausted and stressed' 'I asked if I could sit in another seat, but they said no and asked me to leave the flight.' After waiting five hours in the busy terminal, she arrived at the gate for the next flight and was asked if she was okay to fly, to which she said yes.. However, staff returned a few minutes later and she was not allowed on this flight either. Ms Atzori has accused easyJet of 'acting like bullies' throughout the whole ordeal. However, the firm says its staff 'were compassionate and supportive'. She added: 'I cried for two hours. I didn't know what was happening. I was so exhausted and stressed. 'There were no more flights to Glasgow for that day - it was about 11pm. 'It was only thanks to the special assistant at Stansted that he managed to get easy-Jet to get me accommodation.' She has since been given around 400 in compensation by the airline. A spokeswoman for easyJet said: 'Unfortunately, Ms Atzori was unable to travel to Glasgow on 21 September as our crew had concerns for her well-being as she was clearly distressed. The airline said Ms Atzoi was asked to leave the flight because of 'concerns for her well-being' stating she was 'clearly distressed'. EasyJet added it has given her 400 compensation 'We would never prevent someone from flying because they are autistic. 'We transferred her flight and provided overnight accommodation and she was fully supported by easyJet employees along with the special assistance provider at the airport until she flew to Glasgow on 22 September. 'We understand the situation was difficult for Ms Atzori and have been in regular contact with her since. 'Our pilots were trying to act in the best interests of the customer and we believe they were compassionate and supportive.' Advertisement A 15th Century coastal mansion that was passed down through generations for 400 years has gone on sale for only the third time in its history. Historic Harlyn House was the property of one family for four centuries - it was only sold for the first time in 1856 and then again in 1947. The Grade II-listed property stands in five acres near Padstow, Cornwall and boasts breathtaking views of nearby Constantine Bay. It has 31 rooms, 10,000sq ft of space and features dating from the medieval, Jacobean and Georgian periods. Harlyn House near Padstow, Cornwall. The historic propertyt, which was owned by the same family for more than 400 years, is for sale at a list price 3 million Historic Harlyn House was the property of one family for over 400 years and was only sold for the first time in 1856 and then again in 1947 The Grade II-listed property stands in five acres near Padstow, Cornwall and boasts breathtaking views of nearby Constantine Bay (pictured) Harlyn House has 31 rooms (some of which are pictured on this call box), 10,000sq ft of space and features dating from the medieval, Jacobean and Georgian periods One of the staircases inside the property is pictured here. The family that owned the home for four decades were public figures through the 15th Century, including Richard Tregew MP for Cornwall in 1448 The house, at the end of a 200-yard long driveway, was owned for four centuries by the Tregoye or Tregew family. They were public figures through the 15th Century, including Richard Tregew MP for Cornwall in 1448. After him was Gregory Peter, High Sheriff of Cornwall, whose initials are found on the gateposts. His Henry Peter followed with a period of renovation and alteration which was continued by his son William. William died in 1851 and his son John, who was also High Sherriff of Cornwall, had no heir and put Harlyn on the market for the first time in 1856. The house has immediate access to a very beautiful and immensely sought after part of the north Cornish coastline with some of the county's most celebrated beaches literally 'on the doorstep' The house, at the end of a 200-yard long driveway, was owned for four centuries by the Tregoye or Tregewe family The character of the house is evident from this reception room, which still features a traditional brick fireplace The house dates back more than 500 years, and this marking from 1636 is still visible on one of the walls today Another of the older design features. The Hellyar family owned it for 90 years before selling it in 1947 to Captain N P S Millar who renovated the house to what it is today It was bought by the Hellyar family who were gentleman farmers rather than landed gentry and they considered Harlyn a working farmhouse. They owned it for 90 years before selling it in 1947 to Captain N P S Millar who renovated the house to what it is today. Estate agents Lillicrap Chilcott said: 'The setting of any property is often its most important attribute and it is indeed hard to find fault with the location of Harlyn House standing between Harlyn and Constantine Bay beaches. 'This is amongst the very best coastal settings anywhere in Cornwall with immediate access to a very beautiful and immensely sought after part of the north Cornish coastline with some of the county's most celebrated beaches literally 'on the doorstep' which is perfect for all manner of seaside activities from rock pooling to surfing.' Monarch's rivals have been accused of hiking up prices of flights after it went bust and victims started scrambling to save their holidays. At least 300,000 future bookings worth 60million and involving up 750,000 customers have also been axed - leaving many out of pocket and left to pay hiked-up prices from rivals to save their holidays. An intensive care nurse from south London rebooked flights to Alicante and saw the quoted price rise from 138 to 199 per person on the Ryanair site in the time it took to complete the booking. She said: 'It is scandalous that Monarch were allowed to carry on taking bookings when it is now clear the Government knew they were about to fold. 'I haven't had a proper pay rise in seven years and was forced to either cancel my holiday or stump up an inflated price to Ryanair. 'I blame the Government for standing by and allowing ordinary working people like myself to be ripped off in this outrageous fashion.' EasyJet is set to hold a recruitment day for Monarch staff and Ryanair will be eyeing pilots to deal with its own cancellation crisis. Monarch's rivals hiked up prices of flights after it went bust and victims started scrambling to save their holidays as the planes were grounded today (pictured at Birmingham today) Customers said they were 'disgusted' as they accused Monarch's rivals of bumping up prices Amy Hodson wrote: 'Looks like @Ryanair are using the #monarch bust to their advantage and upping the prices... Nice one. @Cyba3security said; 'Not good business @Ryanair putting prices of flights up mid booking (46 to 116!) Taking advantage of Monarch cancellations. #thieves'/ Monarch victims promised there train tickets can be used The UK's largest rail firm today said it will honour any ticket holder affected by the collapse of airline company Monarch which has stranded over 100,000 people. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said any passenger returning home early or late will still be able to travel with their tickets, which would normally be voided. Monarch airlines this morning went into administration after failing to reach a deal with the Civil Aviation Authority last night leaving 110,000 passengers left stranded overseas. GTR has said its three train companies that serve airports will all honour the rail tickets of Monarch passengers, accepting any ticket regardless of date. GTR Chief Operating Officer Nick Brown said: 'People stranded by the Monarch problems have enough to worry about and this is something we can do to ease the last leg of their journey.' This applies to passengers with advanced pre-dated rail tickets returning from Luton (with Thameslink) and Gatwick (with Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink). Advertisement Joshua Courtney said: 'It's absolutely disgusting that @easyJet are raising prices to nearly DOUBLE because of the #Monarch situation. Sean Celecia wrote: '@British_Airways @easyJet taking advantage that @Monarch have cancelled all flights! Ridiculous prices'. Ryanair's chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, said: 'Ryanair's fares are only coming down this winter' while British Airways denied it had changed its fare levels'. Today it emerged Monarch's board knew it was going bust on Saturday night but kept it secret, allowing new booking until minutes before it collapsed at 3am today. Ahic Sahhadpao, 59, and his wife Michelle, 52, had checked in bags at Gatwick airport last night for an early flight to Gran Canaria but the flight was then cancelled. They quickly managed to find an alternative flight for 230 with Thomson, plus 150 for the taxi journey from Gatwick to Birmingham. A total of 27 flights were affected at Birmingham Airport today with 17 due to depart and another 10 arriving. Ahic from Surrey, said: 'We had checked in and our bags had been taken when we heard an announcement to suspend all transactions, not even the staff knew what was happening. 'One of the staff told us they had turned up for work this morning and they were removed of their staff passes, they just stood around not knowing what to do. They found out when customers found out. 'It was chaos at the check-in, people were shouting at staff and children were crying. 'We saw a wedding party of 30 stranded, trying to get an alternative flight.. 'We are lucky because we booked flights and accommodation separately but people with package holidays will now be struggling to get flights changed. 'As soon as we knew, we booked a flight through Skyscanner first thing this morning, around 4am. 'I've noticed that flights have now gone up to 800-1000.' Check-in desks stand empty in the Monarch flights departures area after the airline ceased trading, at Luton airport as victims scrambled for tickets Hilary and Richard Penn, both in their mid sixties, were due to fly to Barcelona at 6.45am this morning when they found out their Monarch flight had been cancelled. Having booked through a travel agent the couple tried to organise a refund but were told that was not an option and they would be transferred onto a Ryanair flight this afternoon and 3.45pm Hilary said: 'I would have rather gone home and had a refund but our travel agent told us that was not an option as they were organising flight for stranded passengers. 'We haven't slept all night and now we have to wait around the check in area with no where comfortable to sit until we can get through the departure lounge. 'I feel terrible for the staff who have lost their jobs, they have been really good and helped us as much as they can.' A group of three woman, travelling out to Lanzarote, had booked a departure flight with Ryanair but were due to fly home with Monarch airlines. One lady said: 'We have been keeping and eye on the news the last few days and it's been worrying as we don't want to be stranded. 'When we saw the news this morning we were certain we would have to book another flight and luckily we managed to get one, even if it has put us out of pocket. 'I think the price will go up throughout the day as desperate people book alternative flights. 'It's enivitable that airline will try and make money off the back of this.' Another couple in their mid 60's, who were supposed to be jetting off on their holidays to barcelona, were left stranded. With a 11 hour wait for an alternative flight. Stephen and Miranda Jeffs were due to fly with monarch airline at 6.45am. Miranda said: 'We heard on the news this morning but came to airport anyway to see what was going to happen with our flights. 'It was very busy with people this morning but they have left now. 'The staff have lost their jobs and will have to deal with all the customer complaints. I feel so sorry for them.' Richard Wainright, 68, who was also due to board the 6.45am flight with his wife will now have to wait for an alternative flight at 3.45pm. He said: 'We have been told that we can now fly with Ryan Air but for that airline you need to print boarding passes and we can't do that here. 'So the travel company is travelling down to the airport to bring out boarding passes around 1 pm. 'We have had to buy food and drinks in the airport that aren't cheap because we are having to wait and were also going to be missing two days of our holiday due to this alternative flight. 'We not sure I we can claim some money back through out travel insurance or the travel company. 'If it's the only way we can get home then we don't have a choice. 'We spoke to a couple earlier who were meant to be flying to Portugal. 'They have been sent in a taxi from here to Luton airport and put in a hotel over night to fly first thing in the morning.' John and Dionne, both 66, from Telford arrived at the airport at 2am to fly to Tenerife when they found out their flight had been cancelled. The couple have had to pay nearly 800 for an alternative flight, meaning they must transfer in Madrid and won't arrive in Santa Cruz till later tonight before getting a hours taxi to their hotel. John said: 'This the third time we have had a holiday cancelled before but not when we have already checked in. 'We now have to tell the travel company we booked with that we have an alternative flight otherwise they will cancel our holiday. 'We will miss a day in Tenerife because of this and will spend hours and hours travelling with transfers, not too mention what we have had to pay to get there.' This is the moment a dull-witted arsonist sets himself on fire and runs head-on into a lamppost after torching a Mercedes parked outside a family's home. 'Shocking' CCTV footage shows two men pouring petrol over a Mercedes saloon and a Nissan Duke parked on a drive in Netherton, Merseyside. But one of the men does not appear to have thought out his crime, as he is engulfed in a fireball when setting the fluid alight. Desperately trying to escape the flames, he fails to look where he is going and smacks into a nearby lamppost before returning to retrieve the container he left behind. CCTV footage shows two men pouring petrol over a Nissan and Mercedes parked on a family's drive in Netherton, Merseyside After setting fire to the liquid, one of the men is engulfed in a fireball, seemingly setting himself on fire The dramatic nature of the clip suggests the man burnt his hands as he scrambled to pick up the evidence. The Mercedes was completely destroyed by the fire, but the Nissan was left untouched after the second man's fire failed to ignite. Describing the ordeal to the Liverpool Echo, a woman who lives at the house in question said: 'One of them was obviously injured by the fire he started. 'The police told us that they checked with local hospitals for someone who might have been treated for burns, but the checks came to nothing.' The mother explained how she was in bed with her husband when the couple were woken up by a rustling noise outside. She added: 'The next thing we knew my husband's car was on fire. We did not know it was arson until we played the CCTV back. I was sickened by the footage. As the man (pictured) tries to escape the flames, he runs head-on into a lamppost nearby As the blaze roars on, the Mercedes (pictured) is completely destroyed by the flames, but the Nissan remains intact after the petrol on it failed to ignite 'This happened outside our family home. I think our shock has just turned to anger now. These people need to be caught.' Police have confirmed the incident, which happened earlier this year, but said no one was been arrested. A force spokesman told the Echo: 'Officers were called by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service at around 4.30am on 14 June who reported they had attended an incident in which a blue Mercedes car was suspected to have been deliberately set on fire. 'It is believed two offenders approached the car and used an accelerant to start the fire before making off on foot. 'The car was destroyed in the incident.' Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0151 777 3055 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. Three paramedics have been forced to locked themselves in a house in Ambervale after being attacked by the man they'd been sent to help. Andrew Holmes, 26, allegedly fell unconscious after drinking too much, but then became violent after waking up in the early hours on Monday morning. It is alleged that he threw one paramedic across the room, elbowed another one in the chest and then attacked the third. Three paramedics attended a house in Ambervale, where they were allegedly brutally attacked The medical staff were trying to assist a drunken Mr Holmes when he allegedly attacked them After the alleged assault, the three joined together to barricade themselves in the house and searched for weapons with which to defend themselves. One of the paramedics told Nine News that it was the worst thing she'd ever experienced in 31 years on the job. Holmes reportedly did not attempt to re-enter the house, but did punch the back of a ambulance and smashed the window. Police arrived and arrested alleged attacker Andrew Holmes outside of his house (pictured) Police used pepper spray on Holmes to subdue him after arriving on the scene at the behest of the paramedics. He was arrested, along with his girlfriend, who was picked up on charges of obstructing justice. One of the police officers was injured, and Holmes was later denied bail at the Prammata District Court. A hotel owner who has been dubbed 'the female Basil Fawlty' launched a series of drunken attacks on her staff and police, a court heard today. Former barrister Shirley Bothroyd, 59, who was a human rights lawyer and worked alongside ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Booth, owned and ran the Bay Hotel in Teignmouth, just down the road from the Torquay setting of John Cleese's all-time comedy great. The eccentric businesswoman, who bought the hotel for 1.5million with a nest egg from her 30 year legal career, is on trial for allegedly attacking several of her employees. She is accused of slapping and pulling the hair out of one of her chefs, thoriwng a plant pot at her barman, branding a receptionist 'thick' and tossing a Guinness at a police officer. Bothroyd, from Devon, who said she is an alcoholic in recovery, claimed her drinks had been spiked and her drunken condition was 'involuntary intoxication'. Former barrister Shirley Bothroyd (arriving at court today), 59, from Devon, claimed her drinks had been spiked and her drunken condition was 'involuntary intoxication Newton Abbot Magistrates' Court heard she admitted hitting hotel chef Pauline Cave. Miss Cave said in a statement that one early evening in June Bothroyd wanted the key to the locked kitchen in her Bay Hotel in the seaside town of Teignmouth. Miss Cave said the kitchen was always locked on the advice on police because of 'previous incidents'. The chef said: 'I said she could not have the key. I turned to walk away and the next thing I knew Shirley had grabbed my hair from behind and pulled me down to the floor by my hair and repeatedly slapping my right cheek.' She tried to move her head to stop her hitting the cook who said 'quite a lot of her hair was pulled out' during the assault which lasted a few minutes. Bothroyd admitted being annoyed with 25 year old Hannah Glover when she threw two inches of wine at her and threw a glass towards her. And she admitted being angry with Pauline Cave when she attacked her because she had refused to get some 'mushrooms, tomatoes and garlic' from the locked kitchen for her. She said the kitchen locks had been changed 'behind my back' and Miss Cave had been grossly subordinate. The court heard that Bothroyd allegedly attacked other staff and the manager. The court heard she tossed a pint of drink - Guinness, red wine and cranberry juice - at a policeman called to the hotel. The court heard she tossed a pint of drink - Guinness, red wine and cranberry juice - at a policeman called to the hotel The magistrates were told that she was sat in a bar watching TV - even though the ceiling had fallen in because of burst water pipes. And the court was also told that she set off a fire extinguisher in her top floor penthouse during a fight with an ex partner. The JPs heard she was aggressive and very drunk during the incidents. After her arrest for pouring the drink on the policeman Bothroyd told fellow officers that she was 'cleverer then God' and said she did it because the policeman had called her a liar. Prosecutor Shaun Tipton said that there were three different incidents which happened between June and July. The assaults were caught on CCTV which was shown to the JPs. Bothroyd also admitted a second charge of a public order offence involving receptionist Hannah Glover. Bothroyd, pictured outside the Bay Hotel Mr Tipton said Bothroyd asked Miss Glover to say she wanted to use a telephone - but it was broken. Bothroyd then screamed at Miss Glover calling her a 'thick, useless c***'. The five foot tall former lawyer followed Miss Glover out of the bar area to the reception and called her a 'liar and a c***'. Bothroyd, who was shouting and pointing her finger aggressively was also holding a glass of wine, and threw the drink and then the glass towards her - the glass smashing on the floor. The court heard that City of London fund manager Christian Holland was a friend of Bothroyd's for 15 years and was trying to help her out with the running of the financially hit seafront hotel. He said Bothroyd came into the bar and wanted to use a phone. But he was talking on his own phone and she went up to him and hit him. Mr Holland stood up and pushed her away and she fell over some chairs as he left. He said she used her clenched fist and she struck the side of his face and calling him a 'f***ing c***'. The court heard on one day in June she assaulted Jay French and Stephen Fenton. She slapped Mr Fenton's face with her open palm. Mr French said Bothroyd turned up in drink and demanding he called her an ambulance. The court heard she picked up a green ceramic plant pot and held it behind her head as if she was going to throw it - which she then did as she shouted abuse, said Mr Tipton. She did not answer any police questions in interviews after she was arrested. In a 999 call to police one July night she told the operator 'she was a famous barrister who owned the Bay Hotel in Teignmouth'. Bothroyd said she was a schizophrenic with autism but later did apologise to policeman for throwing the drink over him She claimed her fiance was being violent towards her and was in the hotel with a fire extinguisher. She alleged she had caught him in her office trying to set fire to paperwork. The hotel had been closed for several weeks by the fire service because of the water damage - and staff said she was also banned from being served alcohol in her own premises. When handcuffed and arrested she said she was a 'barrister who earned millions'. She called police 'plastic pigs' and said she was 'a genius' who had defended police in courts for years. Bothroyd also said she was a schizophrenic with autism but later did apologise to policeman for throwing the drink over him. Bothroyd denies four assaults and her trial is continuing today. The woman who cared for missing Margaret Fleming is trying to sell the isolated cottage they lived at despite a council's attempt to have the dilapidated property torn down. Avril Jones, 56, who cared for Miss Fleming, is trying to sell the run-down five-bedroom house in Inverkip, Renfrewshire. Lawyers acting for Miss Jones have challenged a demolition order issued by Inverclyde Council, who said it was unfit for human habitation. Miss Jones' lawyers said a mystery buyer wanted to buy the house with their own plans to bulldoze it. She has been granted an extra two weeks to see whether a sale is likely to go ahead. A mystery buyer is poised to snap up the rundown house where missing Margaret Fleming lived in Inverkip, Renfrewshire Margaret Fleming, who has learning difficulties, was reported missing from the home in October 2016, but no-one but her carers had seen her since 1999 During a hearing at Greenock Sheriff Court last week solicitor Caroline Goodenough, acting for Miss Jones, said: 'There is a proposed sale of the property...a third party who advises they wish to purchase the property with plans to demolish it.' She asked for a period of grace for at least two weeks and confirmed to the court that it would become known in that time whether a sale was likely to go ahead. Lawyers acting for the council agreed to the extension of the case. Margaret Fleming, who has learning difficulties, was reported missing from the home in October 2016, but no-one but her carers had seen her since 1999. An intensive police search at the property, Seacroft, and an excavation of its grounds lasted several months as part of an international probe into Miss Fleming's potentially 'sinister' disappearance. Miss Fleming was reported missing by her carers Miss Jones and Edward Cairney last October after the police and benefits agency staff turned up at their home Detectives from Police Scotland's major investigations team - which normally probes murders - have established that, apart from her carers, the last independent sighting of Miss Fleming was at a family gathering on December 17, 1999. She was reported missing by her carers Miss Jones and Edward Cairney last October after the police and benefits agency staff turned up at their home. Last week the Mail revealed how friends of Mr Cairney, 75, and Miss Jones, 56, say they believe she is alive and well and living with travellers south of the Border. The claim is being examined by detectives, who said they could not rule it out despite no evidence that it is true. Miss Fleming's carers have said nothing publicly since police appealed for information in December. But Miss Jones told the Mail: 'Nothing untoward has happened, nothing.' When asked about the suggestion Miss Fleming might be living with gipsies, she said: 'I know that.' Miss Jones, who often walks with sticks, added: 'There's no heat on me. We're not suspected of anything, we're not being investigated. We're just witnesses. 'Most of what I've read has been rubbish.' Detective Superintendent Paul Livingstone, who is leading the investigation, previously said something 'sinister' may have happened. Inverclyde Council served a demolition order on Seacroft because it was in a 'serious state of disrepair'. But Miss Jones won a temporary reprieve against demolition and has now been granted more time to find a buyer. A spokesman for Inverclyde Council said: 'We are glad to see some plans being put in place at this property and are reassured that no one will be occupying it in its current state. 'The extension granted by the court will give a chance for the plans to be firmed up.' A new hearing has been set for later this month. The man suspected of opening fire at concertgoers attending a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night was a local resident with no prior criminal convictions in the state of Nevada. Stephen Paddock, 64, lived just 90 minutes outside Las Vegas in the city of Mesquite, where he purchased a home in a retirement community for just over $369,000 in 2015 according to public records. He lived there with his 62-year-old girlfriend Marilou Danley, the same woman police announced they were seeking to question on Sunday night as they began their investigation into the horrific terror attack. Paddock had both hunting and fishing licenses according to public records, as well as his pilot's license, but no criminal record in the state of Nevada. The retired accountant had worked as an internal auditor at Lockheed Martin for three years in the late 1980s, and was a manager and investor in apartment complexes located in Mesquite, Texas and California which made him millions according to his brother. Paddock was also the son of Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, a serial bank robber who ended up on the FBI Most Wanted list back in 1969 when he escaped from federal prison in Texas while serving a 20 years sentence. The FBI kept him on the list for the next eight years, and he was eventually found one year after he was removed from the list in 1978 while outside an Oregon Bingo hall. The agency said that the fugitive had been 'diagnosed as psychopathic' and also had possible 'suicidal tendencies.' Scroll down for videos PICTURED: The man suspected of killing over 50 people and injuring 200 when he opened fire on concertgoers Sunday night has been identified as Stephen Paddock (Paddock above in undated handout from his brother Eric) Home: Paddock, 64, lived just 90 minutes outside Las Vegas in the city of Mesquite (above circled in red) , where he bough a home in a retirement community back in 2015 First look: He lived at the $400,000 property (above after the police search on Monday) with Marilou Danley, 62, the same woman police were seeking to locate in the wake of the shooting Possible clues: Paddock had hunting and fishing licenses as was as his pilot's license, and may have worked at Lockheed Martin as an auditor according to public records (authorities block of a perimeter around Paddock's home early Monday) Paddock had committed suicide by the time police breached the door to the room from which the gunman had opened fire at the Mandalay Bay Resort just after 10pm on Sunday night. It marked the end of what has now become the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, which left at least 58 dead and 515 injured. The attack played out as Jason Aldean performed on stage to close out the third and final day of the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, which was taking place across the street from the resort. Over 22,000 people were in attendance at the event, and described the attack as 'nonstop gunfire,' which only stopped when the gunman went to reload his weapon. It is not yet known what weapon or weapons the gunman used in the attack. Police said in a press conference early Monday that that they discovered in 'excess of 10 rifles' in the room, and that Paddock's death was the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Law enforcement officials said on Monday that the suspected gunman appears to have acted alone in the attack, despite early reports that stated there may have been multiple shooters on the scene. Images of the Mandalay Bay Resort taken after the attack show two large windows on the 32nd floor of the building completely blown out. Paddock had been staying there since last Thursday, arriving on September 28 to the hotel. Multiple sources who knew Paddock in recent years also revealed on Monday that he spent a good deal of his time gambling, with law enforcement officials stating that in recent weeks he made a number of transactions in Las Vegas that were in the tens of thousands of dollars. On some days he spent over $30,000, and on others over $20,000 according to an individual who had seen Paddock's Multiple Currency Transaction Reports. That source told NBC News that it was unclear however at this time if those transactions were wins or loses for Paddock. His two favorite things about his new home in Nevada were that it kept him close to the gambling and music scene on The Strip, with country shows a favorite for the suspected gunman. It was not all good time for Paddock though, as he previously filed a lawsuit against Cosmopolitan Hotels & Resorts in 2012 following an incident that occurred at their Las Vegas casino. Paddock spent two years in court fighting his case after submitting his initial complaint citing 'Negligence - Premises Liability.' It was ultimately dismissed with prejudice in late 2014, and exact details of the case were not available on the Clark County Courts website. Dad: Paddock's father was a serial bank robber who was 'diagnosed as psychopathic' and spent eight years on the FBI Most Wanted list after escaping prison (Benjamin Paddock's FBI flyer above) Gunman's perch: Images of the Mandalay Bay Resort show two windows blown out on the 32nd floor of the building (above) Vantage point: A look at one of the Mandalay Bay Resort corner rooms (above) similar to the one where the suspected gunman launched his attack Lengthy stay: Paddock checked into the hotel on Thursday, September 28, using his girlfriend's ID according to sources (view of The Strip from corner room window) His Mesquite home was searched by officials early Monday, who closed off a large perimeter around the Nevada property to keep the public and media at bay. That search was completed by early afternoon, at which point police said they would be executing a warrant on one of Paddock's northern Nevada properties. Photos of the Mesquite property showed the garage door torn off its hinge and appearing crumpled in front of the house after the search, which yielded more weapons and ammunition according to authorities. Mystery: Paddock (above with Marilou Danley) was 'not an avid gunman' and 'has no military background' Paddock purchased a parcel of land and an apartment in Reno a few years before buying his Mesquite home, though he appears to have sold them both in recent years. In total, Paddock had lived in an astonishing 27 residences in Nevada, Florida and Texas over the course of his adult life. Authorities said that Danley is not believed to have been an accomplice in the attack after locating her outside the country in the Philippines. She was married in 1990 to Geary Danley and there is no record of a divorce between the two, while Paddock divorced his wife 27 years ago. Peggy Paddock, 63, lives in a two-story townhouse in Cerritos, about 30 mies south east of Los Angeles, where she stayed inside on Monday, too stunned to talk about the Vegas horror. Outside her home, Los Angeles Sheriffs Sgt. Cort Bishop told DailyMail.com that Peggy was married to Stephen for 6 years but divorced him 27 years ago. She is as shocked and surprised as everybody else by what happened in Vegas,' said Sgt. Bishop. He went on to say that Peggy has no children with her ex and has had no contact with him for many years. Sgt. Bishop added that Peggy has been in a relationship with her current boyfriend for 20 years and that he did not know why she kept her ex-husband's name after the divorce. Paddock married Peggy after the collapse of his first marriage to Sharon Brunoehler, who he was married to in the 1970s and 80s while living in California. No clues: 'Hes just a guy who lived in Mesquite who liked burritos,' said Eric Paddock (above) of his brother, who he noted had no 'political' or 'religious' ties Other Mesquite: Paddock managed an apartment complex in Mesquite, Texas (above) Paddock used Danley's ID when he checked himself into the hotel according to a source with knowledge of the investigation, despite the fact that she was not with him during his stay. Police were also on the lookout for two motor vehicles in the wake of the attack which they have also since located. Paddock and Danley live in a upscale community that includes an 18-hole golf course, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a recreation center with gym. Ex-wife: Paddock was married to Peggy (above) for six years before the two divorced 27 years ago Residents must be over the age of 55 and no children are allowed to live in the development of over 1,000 homes. In addition to his pricey Nevada property, Paddock was also the owner of two planes, and according to the FAA records was certified as a private pilot back in 2003. His address on that 2003 certification is listed as Mesquite, Texas, where he lived for in a $200,000 home for 12 years from 1998 to 2010. Records do not show him owning or living at any home however between 2010 and 2012, when he moved to Reno after two decades in Texas. Police have not said at this time whether or not Paddock had ties to any domestic or foreign terror groups, but he is not believe to have any connections per multiple sources including his brother. ISIS meanwhile claimed responsibility for the attack early Monday, saying the gunman was a recent convert to Islam. That claims was quickly discredited by multiple officials, who stated that there is no evidence to support that allegation. On the scene: Paddock had no criminal record in the state of Nevada and officials said at a press conference early Monday that they are still looking into his possible motive (law enforcement arriving on the scene of the shooting Sunday night) Former community: Paddock owned a home in a Florida retirement community (above) for two years between 2013 and 2015, but only visited a handful of times In an interview on Monday morning, Eric Paddock spoke about how shocked he was to learn that his brother was the suspected gunman. Eric said that his brother was 'not an avid gunman' and 'has no military background' while speaking with CBSN, adding that he had no idea how he might have been able to obtain automatic weapons. 'He had a couple of guns but they were all handgun, legal...he might have had one long gun, but he had them in a safe,' explained Eric. Eric stated later in that same interview: 'His life is an open book. It's all in public record. Once again, there is nothing. He went to college. He had a job.' He also said that his brother had 'no religious affiliation, no political affiliation,' adding: 'He just hung out.' Danley meanwhile was a nice woman who baked cookies for her mother-in-law said Eric, who conducted the interview outside his Florida home. Protect: Los Angeles Sheriffs Sgt. Cort Bishop (above) kept watch over the home of Paddock's ex-wife Peggy on Monday Eric did admit that he and his brother do not speak often on account of the fact that they live on opposite coasts, but did share a recent text he received from his brother, asking how their 90-year-old mother was holding up in the wake of Hurricane Irma. He closed out the interview by saying of his brother: 'Hes just a guy who lived in Mesquite who liked burritos.' During that interview Eric also made mention of the fact that his brother would often go to Las Vegas to gamble, and that Danley worked in one of the hotels as a hostess. In an interview with Florida Today, two former neighbors of Paddock also spoke about his gambling, saying he would stay up all night with Danley placing bets. 'He seemed normal, other than that he lived by gambling. He was very open about that,' revealed Sharon Judy. 'First time we ever met him, he handed us the key to the house and said, "Hey, would keep an eye on the house, were only going to be here every now and then."' Judy lived next door to Paddock in Melbourne, Florida, where he and Danley had a home from 2013 through 2015 that they only visited a handful of times according to their neighbor. That home was located at Heritage Isle in Viera, another retirement community that only admitted residents over the age of 55. Paddock bought his Mesquite, Nevada home at around the same time that he sold the Florida property. Northern Nevada: Paddock purchased a parcel of land in Reno back in 2012 that he sold earlier this year (above) after putting a house on the property Complex: The same year he bought the parcel of land, Paddock also bought an apartment in Reno (building above) The husband of Stephen's niece Nicole also commented on the attack, posting his thoughts on Facebook Monday morning. 'I really dont know what to say here. We've known Stephen Paddock for years. He was my wife's uncle who we saw once every few years at family gatherings. We have no clue, none whatsoever, on why he would do such a thing. We don't know anything more than what the LVMPD knows about Stephen. In fact it's been more than a year since we've been in contact with him,' wrote Luius Wiedemann. 'We are still trying to process the information coming our way and field all of the media that have been knocking/messaging/calling us non stop. We ask that you grant us some privacy while we digest the fact that this happened and more so that a member of our family was involved.' He went on to write: 'I implore everyone arguing online to turn off the screen and hug your loved ones as much as possible today. No amount of bickering online will bring these folks back to their families and loved ones.' Wiedemann then closed out his post by saying: 'Again, I cannot express how truly awful we feel for everyone involved. Our hearts go out to the families who lost their loved ones and to those injured in this unimaginable tragedy.' Nicole later posted her own response to the attack on her Facebook account. 'First off I want to express my deepest sympathies to everyone affected by this massacre, I am as shocked and appalled as anyone about this senseless act of violence,' wrote Nicole. 'It has been especially disheartening to find out that the perpetrator is a relative. Stephen Paddock was my uncle, but I did not know very much about him. Sometimes I would see him in Las Vegas when I was there visiting other family, but these encounters were casual and infrequent. 'It has been well over a year since I have had any contact with him. I cannot speak to what possibly motivates someone to do something like this nor what his specific motivations may have been. He never came across as religious or political. 'My family and I are still in shock by this news and my heart goes out to all of those who lost or had loved ones injured in this tragedy. I am at a loss for words Dogs with their vocal cords removed are being sold as pets in a market where an illegal vet was caught performing shocking 'de-barking' operations just days before, MailOnline can reveal. Video clips provided by a local animal activist shows dogs being kept in cages at a pet stall in the Qingbaijiang Birds and Flowers Market in Chengdu, south-west China. The animal activist, who wished to remain anonymous, said many of the pets on sale could not bark and he saw the animals desperately trying to make sound in order to express themselves. In mid-September, an undercover investigation caught an unlicensed vet cutting the vocal cords from dogs in the same market - because their owners were fed up with them barking. An animal activist in China visited the Qingjiangbai market after an illegal vet was caught. The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he saw dogs which could not bark on sale Last month, a vet was caught performing horrifying devocalisation operations at the market The Chengdu-based animal activist told MailOnline that he went to visit the market at around 11am on September 27 after reading reports of the vet. He said he did not see the aforementioned vet carrying out 'de-barking' operations that day. It was understood that the vet's tools had been confiscated by the authority and he was also told to stop performing surgery. But after asking around, the animal activist found out that the vet was still running his dog-breeding business in the market. 'Because it is not illegal to breed puppies, so the authority could not stop him from doing that,' the animal activist said. The activist said it was unclear whether or not the dogs being sold in the market that day had undergone surgery by the same vet. The vet cut the vocal cords from dogs as his assistant forced open the mouths of the animals After the operation, the dogs were lined up in a row to wait for the anaesthetics to pass According to PETA Asia, the other vendors in the market and the vet were likely to share business interests. The vendors were being extra cautious while speaking to visitors to the market after the vet had been caught. The Qingbaijiang Agriculture and Forestry Bureau told volunteers from PETA Asia that they had banned the vet from carrying out further surgery and taken away his tools. The officials said they were still investigating the case and they were treating the case as a matter of 'practising without license' and 'environmental pollution'. Millions of people have been shocked after an undercover report by local newspaper Chengdu Business Daily revealed the vet performing devocalisation operations on animals in the street. It was reported that the man had been carrying out surgery (left) at the market since September 14 until he was told to stop by officials on September 17. His stall remained empty (right) when the animal activist on the morning of September 27 Syringes, cotton balls and dozens of vocal cords were disposed on the floor after operations Pictures and video from September 18 showed the vet, surnamed Zeng, cutting the vocal cords from dozens of dogs as his assistant forced open the mouths of the animals. The news has sparked an outrage among the public as people and animal lovers called the procedure 'unnecessary' and 'cruel'. Mr Zeng told the undercover reporter, who pretended to be a potential customer, that he did not have a licence to run the operation, but he claimed that he learned the skills from 'the others' years ago. The reporter said all the equipment were been sterilised for once when the unlicensed vet performed about 10 operations in an hour. Vocal cords could be seen scattering on the floor near Mr Zeng's seat. Mr Zeng added that the operation costs from 50 to 100 yuan (5.62 to 11.24). In explaining why they had brought their dogs to undergo the operations, a few pet owners said that they had received complaints from their neighbours. The act of getting pet dogs devocalised can be observed around China. Most owners choose to let their animals undergo the surgery to stop their pets from barking too much. Forestry Bureau officers asked the vet to present his veterinary licence on September 17 The officials took away the vet's tools after he had failed to present a licence for his stall He Jinyi, a Chengdu-based vet, told MailOnline that many clinics in major cities have stopped performing devocalisation operations, but clinics in smaller cities still do. Mr He said that is why dog owners in Chengdu, a provincial capital, could only resort to illegal vets such as Mr Zeng to stop their pets from barking. Mr He, who runs the I and You Veterinary Clinic in Chengdu, added: 'Having vocal cords removed is very cruel. 'Dogs bark because they want to express themselves. There are many way to tackle the noise issues, such as to train or comfort the dogs. 'The problem cannot be resolved through cutting the vocal cords.' According to Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, devocalisation is an invasive procedure with the inherent risks of anaesthesia, infection, blood loss and other serious complications. Dogs could suffer breathing difficulties and increased level of stress and risks of threats to safety as a result of the operation. Animal rights group PETA Asia explained that devocalisation took away dogs of their natural ability to vocalise and communicate. The group said the procedure 'is unnecessary and inherently cruel'. Keith Guo, a spokesman from PETA Asia, said: 'It's horrifying to know so many dogs have suffered through this procedure at the hands of this unlicensed vet.' Irene Feng, director of Animals Asia's Cat and Dog Welfare, agreed that devocalisation is a cruel and harmful operation to dogs. 'It is being carried out in unsanitary conditions risking pain and infection for the animal, while such mutilation is obviously extremely negative for the dogs' welfare and quality of life,' Ms Feng stressed. Both animal groups admitted there are no organisation running a specific campaign against the devocalisation trend in China, but they have been working hard to increase the awareness about responsible companion animal ownership. Police scanner audio captured the terror and confusion as gunfire erupted in Las Vegas last night. Radio communications from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department captured the frantic moment cops braved the hail of bullets during the mass shooting at a country music festival inLas Vegas on Sunday night. 'It's coming from upstairs at Mandalay Bay,' a officer told a dispatcher on the recording, as gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, continued to fire gunshots from his hotel room, at the crowd of revelers below. 'Halfway up, I see the shots fired from the Mandalay Bay.' 'We have multiple casualties, GSWs (gun shot wounds), multiple casualties.' Three people lie on the ground, one covered in blood, after the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Sunday People assist a wounded woman at the Tropicana hotel, which is located close to where the Route 91 festival was being held Officers are seen outside the Mandalay Bay hotel, where the shooter was holed up in a room on the 32nd floor The dispatcher responded, warning the officer that they had reports of 'automatic fire, fully automatic fire, from an elevated position. 'Take cover!' The cop said he can see multiple people with serious, life threatening injuries. 'Multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, legs, femoral arteries. Send a medical team.' The police scanners then recorded the moment cops stormed the gunman's hotel room - as he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. After identifying the gunfire was coming from the 32nd floor Police identified where the gunfire was coming from room 135 on the 32nd story at the Mandalay Bay, a strike team set explosives on the door. All units were ordered to move back, before they burst in. 'Breach, breach, breach!' an officer told control, moments later something which sounded like a gunshot rang out, as Paddock turned his gun on himself. 'We have one suspect down,' an officer said. Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo confirmed that as police entered the room, Paddock killed himself. Lombardo said that his officers also found an 'arsenal' of weapons, with at least ten rifles. 'Right now, we believe it's a sole actor, a lone-wolf-type actor,' Lombardo said. He said a motive for the shooting had not yet been determined. People scramble over barriers to get to safety as the gunfire rages on at the Las Vegas event A body lies under a sheet on The Strip in Las Vegas as police secure the area after 59 people were killed on Sunday The gunman appeared to open fire on the Route 91 Harvest festival from the Mandalay Bay Casino. Unconfirmed reports were made of shots at the Bellagio. McCarran International Airport is now gradually reopening FULL TRANSCRIPT OF POLICE RADIO AS COPS STORMED GUNMAN'S HOTEL ROOM Officer: 169-10, we got shots fired, 4:15AFF. Sounded like an automatic firearm. Control: Code red, 169-10, we have shots fired... Officer: (inaudible yelling) It's coming from upstairs in the Mandalay Bay. Upstairs Mandalay Bay, halfway up, I see the shots coming from Mandalay Bay, halfway up. 2nd officer: Control, 3661IC, we have multiple casualties. GSWs (gun shot wounds), send a medical team, multiple casualties.' Control: Repeated just be advised there is automatic fire, fully automatic fire, from an elevated position. Take cover. 2nd officer 'Multiple GSWs to the chest, legs, femoral arteries. Send a medical team (inaudible). We have an active shooter, we have an active shooter inside the fairgrounds. 3rd officer: Shots fired from Mandalay Bay, there's many people down, stage left, just be advised. 4th officer: 790RI, I'm gonna form a strike team, Mandalay Bay and the Boulevard. I need five officers on me. 5th officer (storming the room): Control to Zebra 20 Control: Zebra 20, go ahead 5th officer: Set on the suspect's door. I need everybody in that hallway to be aware of it and get back. We need to pop this and see if we can get an inside response from this guy. To see if he's in here or if he has actually moved out somewhere else. Control: Copy. All units on the 32nd floor, SWAT has explosive breach, everyone in the hallway needs to move back. All units move back. Officer: Breach, breach, breach. (Gunshot?) 5th officer: (inaudible) We have one suspect down. Control: We need the air clear for Zebra 20, they have one suspect down inside the room. Zebra 20 has one suspect down inside the room. Officer: Can you confirm the location of the suspect down, please? Control: Zebra 20 is saying there is one down inside the room. Officer: Inside the what? Control: Inside the room at Mandalay Bay. Officer: 7 Victor, there is one down, 32nd floor, Mandalay Bay. Control: Is that room 135? Officer: That's affirmative, one suspect down in 135, floor 32, Mandalay Bay. I have the floor. Officer: Control to 360, Can you confirm that room number? Control: 135, 32nd floor, Mandalay Bay. Officer: Suite 135-32, is that correct? Control: 32nd floor, Suite 135. Advertisement Police confirmed that 59 people were killed, and 527 were wounded when 64-year-old Paddock, a resident of nearby Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Village from a room across the street in the Mandalay Bay Hotel shortly after 10pm. A witness at the scene said he saw one girl get shot in the face right in front of him. Medical teams at a local hospital confirmed that they had more than a dozen patients in critical condition, while two people died shortly after arrival. Another police scanner recording captured the confusion as cops received reports of multiple shootings at multiple hotels and locations across the Vegas strip, and pleas by officers for medical teams. 'We're now getting reports of shots fired at Cesar's and the Bellagio,' an officer reported to dispatch. This was the moment that crowds began to flee the scene as gunfire rang out at the 30,000-strong music festival is attacked. At first crowds didn't seem to know what was happening A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle during the shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino (left); people take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival (right) Dispatch responded: 'We need confirmation from these hotels as soon as possible about these shots fired. We just have one suspect down at this point of time.' The hotels confirmed the reports were incorrect. Swat teams were also sent out to reports of gunfire at New York, New York, Paris Las Vegas and The Tropicana. One overwhelmed cop called in for backup at Paris for reports of 434 - the Vegas cop code for illegal shooting. PICTURED: Stephen Craig Paddock, right, is the man who killed 59 and injured 527 in a shooting at a Las Vegas music festival Sunday night. He's pictured above with Marilou Danley, who he lives with 'You have a couple more strike teams on route to you, please hold and be safe on your entry,' a dispatcher responded. 'Are you still hearing 434s? 'We have people running everywhere,' the cop responded. 'Are you hearing 434s right now?' 'Negative, negative,' she told dispatch. It was later confirmed that the gunman had already been taken down but there was thousands fleeing the hotel. Investigators are now raiding Paddock's home in Mesquite, which he shared with a woman named Marilou Danley. Cops identified Danley as a person of interest in the shooting on the police scanner, but police no longer believe she was involved after contacting her early Monday morning and finding her out of the country. Police say it appears Paddock used her ID when he checked into his hotel on September 28. Lombardo said investigations are still ongoing and police have not yet determined a motive. He was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Lombardo said. 'We have no idea what his belief system was,' he added. President Donald Trump paid his respects on Monday morning after the shooting, writing on Twitter: 'My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!' Terrifying footage from the scene shows concert-goers reacting with confusion and then panic as the festival turned into a bloodbath around them. Video from close to the stage shows people hitting the floor as others crawl to safety or run for their lives. Audio from further back in the crowd captured several bursts of sustained automatic gunfire. A man lays on top of a woman as others flee the music festival grounds. She appears to be alive and moving Witnesses said 'hundreds' of rounds of ammunition were emptied into the crowd, with Paddock stopping several times to reload as he carried out his massacre. Among those shot dead at the concert was an off-duty Las Vegas Metro Police officer. Attendees said a large number of law enforcement and military personnel had been attending the show. Two on-duty Las Vegas police officers who engaged the shooter have been hospitalized. One of the officers was critically injured, but is now in stable condition after undergoing surgery. The other officer suffered minor injuries. Neither have been identified. Two officers with the Las Angeles Sheriff's Department deputies were also injured in the shooting. One is in critical condition and the other is in stable condition. Their names have not been released either. All of the ambulances in the area were been deployed to the location, and victims taken to two hospitals. One witness at the concert told DailyMail.com that a woman had entered the crowd with a male companion and screamed 'They're all around... You're all going to f***ing die today' just 45 minutes before the gunfire broke out. The woman was described as being Hispanic and in her 50s; she and the man were escorted out of the venue by security. President Donald Trump will lay out a plan on Monday to upend some of Barack Obama's regulations, which he says sidestepped Congress and cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars. His 'Cut the Red Tape' launch comes as Trump licks his wounds following the implosion on a second congressional effort to repeal the Obamacare law, and a slow start to a push to reform the U.S. tax code. Without any major legislative accomplishments to point to, Trump will give a speech highlighting his own directives to federal agencies the kinds of moves he can make without help from Capitol Hill. There's plenty for him to talk about, including dozens of executive orders and other moves he's undertaken to scale back on a range of issues, from immigration policy to campus sexual assault. A slate of 10 different federal agencies will hold their own 'Cut the Red Tape' events later in the day. President Donald Trump is pushing a 'red tape-cutting' effort to slash federal regulations One proposed rule would roll back protections for workers at shipyards and other places where metal blasting is done with beryllium, an industrial metal and known carcinogen Monday's event will 'highlight the president's broader initiatives on regulatory reform,' a senior administration official told reporters on Friday. The official said the White House is eager to show that 'the regulatory burden is being lifted, that agencies are working hard at accomplishing the president's directives, and that this is making a difference both to the economy and to job creation.' Executive orders are less enduring than legislation because a president can overturn a predecessor's policy. Obama reversed some of President George W. Bush's executive orders, and Trump's will be reviewed by his successor. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a White House agency, estimates that Trump's regulations will save about $300 million annually. Neomi Rao, OIRA's administrator, said Friday that 'in the process of rolling back regulations, were really looking to find regulations that are no longer working, that are duplicative or ineffective.' But liberal groups are crying foul. 'Trump and the Republican partys attacks on regulation are hurting regular Americans and setting the stage for large-scale deregulatory disasters,' the Ralph Nader-founded Public Citizen organization told reporters in a blast email. Trump's push 'represents a craven attempt at self-enrichment and payback to corporate donors,' the group claimed. The president's key legislative priorities at the U.S. Capitol (shown) have stalled, leading him to work unilaterally from the White House and side-step Congress Plastics companies will get relief from Clean Air Act rules that force them to divulge sensitive information, such as improvements made after a plant accident. Industry argues that this kind of public information could help terrorists plan an attack The president ordered this year that for every new regulation on the books, two must be eliminated. In April, Marcus Peacock, then-special adviser to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, defended Trump's order at a roundtable event in Washington, saying, 'A lot of the deregulatory actions that people will focus on first are those that simply make it easier for people to fill out paperwork or just fill out less paperwork, probably.' So far in 2017, according to Reuters, agencies have proposed or finalized 25 deregulatory measures under that two-for-one requirement. That's a broad easing of rules that will affect workers from miners and farmers to pilots and crane operators. The rollbacks will delay deadlines for farmers to comply with water quality requirements, speed up the approval process for natural gas exports, make it easier for public transportation projects to attract private financiers, and lift a rule that requires employers to disclose when they hire consultants to defeat union-organizing campaigns. A few of these measures will have minimal effect, or were planned before Trump took office. But most of the deregulatory actions dismantle rules that took years to develop. Some former agency officials, mostly from the Obama administration, have decried the rollbacks, saying the measures being targeted were aimed at protecting the public against significant health and safety threats. Industry groups, however, say many of the measures were onerous and unnecessary, and they are now using Trump's push to cut red tape to urge agencies to delay, modify or undo rules they have long opposed. The Interior Department is rescinding an Obama-era regulation dictating how much money coal companies have to pay the federal government in royalties from mineral extraction on federal land The Plastics Industry Association, representing nearly a thousand companies, for example, pressed for the removal of the Clean Air Act amendments, arguing that they would force companies to divulge sensitive information, such as improvements made after a plant accident, that would not help mitigate a disaster but could attract the interest of terrorists, said Marie Gargas, the association's senior technical director for regulatory affairs. Under Trump's two-for-one-push, the Department of Labor has proposed rolling back a rule protecting workers from beryllium, an industrial metal and known carcinogen. The department said the rollback would save the shipyard and construction sectors about $11 million annually. The Abrasive Blasting Manufacturers Alliance was among the trade groups welcoming the revocation of the rule, which would have required shipyard and construction companies to train and monitor workers to help them avoid dangerous levels of beryllium exposure. The rule 'imposed complex and costly regulations on abrasive blasters, despite no evidence of any beryllium-related illness in the history of the industry,' it said in a statement to Reuters. Multiple studies by occupational health and toxic chemical experts reviewed by Reuters show that exposure to beryllium dust can lead to chronic beryllium disease, a debilitating and potentially fatal lung condition. When the Labor Department under Obama issued the rule in 2015, it said even the legal level of beryllium exposure posed a 'significant risk' of the disease. In proposing to revoke the rule in June, the agency, now under new political leadership, said there was 'uncertainty' over the efficacy of such a measure. Allen Harville, safety chairman of United Steelworkers Local 8888 in Newport News, Virginia, says he believes dozens of his colleagues have suffered from lung diseases associated with beryllium exposure. But blood tests to confirm the link cost hundreds of dollars and are not offered at most hospitals, so few can prove it, he said. The beryllium case is one example of how the deregulatory push has angered those who want more protections. 'Two-for-one is a sledgehammer that could be used to smash progress in areas they don't like,' said David Friedman, who helped lead road safety and energy efficiency efforts at the Transportation and Energy departments during the Obama administration. Public interest groups sued Trump in February over the two-for-one deregulatory requirement, arguing it arbitrarily forces agencies to repeal regulations already deemed necessary to protect consumers and workers. Federal attorneys countered that the measure was needed to address outmoded, ineffective or overly burdensome rules. The rollbacks reflect what experts on both sides of Washingtons political divide describe as the biggest deregulatory push by the U.S. government in a generation under Trump, who said during his presidential campaign that 70 percent of federal agency regulations could be eliminated. In August, the Interior Department rescinded Obama-era regulations that clarified how much oil, gas and coal companies should pay the federal government in royalties from mineral extraction on federal land. States receive a portion of those royalties. The rule was aimed at stopping the practice of coal companies selling coal at below-market prices to their affiliated companies as a way to reduce royalty payments the companies owed, according to former Interior Department officials who worked on the rule. Rescinding the rule could save industry between $60 million and $75 million annually, according to an economic analysis the department published in August. In the drama surrounding the collapse of another Obamacare repeal bill, Congress failed to pass an extension of a program that provides health insurance coverage for 9 million children. The Children's Health Insurance Program expired on Sept. 30th, after high stakes talks and high-profile tweets about the Senate GOP's Graham-Cassidy health bill to repeal Obamacare and put in place state block grants. The program provides coverage for children of families who do not qualify for Medicaid health coverage for the poor. The law was enacted in 1997 under President Bill Clinton on a bipartisan basis, and was last reauthorized in 2015, insuring children in low to moderate-income families. THERE MUST BE SOMETHING WE'RE FORGETTING? Congress neglected to pass an extension of a program that provides health insurance coverage for 9 million children last week as it grappled with a GOP Obamacare repeal bill The deadline came and went during a week when Washington was once again transfixed by a Republican bill to repeal replace Obamacare, this time with talks over the Graham-Cassidy bill. President Trump tweeted numerous times about it as he tried to build pressure for its passage, pointing to momentum among holdouts and going after critics, like Arizona Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Ultimately, GOP leaders decided not to call up the bill after defections from GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, and McCain. House Democratic Conference chair Rep. Joe Crowley of New York blamed the inaction on 'Republican gridlock.' The program provides coverage for children of families who do not qualify for Medicaid health coverage for the poor 'Republican gridlock has put 9 million children at risk. This is unacceptable,' he tweeted last week. Three states and Washington, D.C. are set to run out of program funds by December, and most will have funding that will last until March, The Hill newspaper reportet, citing a July report by a Medicaid CHIP commission. The others are Arizona, Minnesota, and North Carolina. According to the Washington Post, the program helped drop the rate of children without insurance from 14 percent when the program was enacted to 4.5 per cent in 2015, when it was last reauthorized. The program covers such medical expenses as doctor visits and dental care. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who cosponsored a bill to extend the authorization, told the Morning Call he was 'deeply disappointed' in the delay. Health secretary Tom Price resigned Friday over a scandal about his use of government private aircraft. Charlotte Griffiths (pictured) crashed into a great grandfather while driving her blue Ford Fiesta in east London A young lawyer killed a 91-year-old great grandfather on a zebra crossing because she was not looking properly as she drove to work in heavy rain, a court heard today. Charlotte Griffiths, 26, was driving in heavy rain and crashed into father-of-five Basant Lal Sharma in her blue Ford Fiesta in Wanstead, east London. Mr Sharma hit his head on the ground and died in hospital from severe head injuries a few hours later on May 31 last year. Griffiths, then 24, broke down and cried 'oh my god, I have killed somebody' just after the crash at around 8.50am. She then told police officers at the scene she had 'no idea' how the accident happened and claimed the victim must have been obscured by nearby trees. But Jonathan Polnay, prosecuting, said: 'If Miss Griffiths had been looking or looking properly she would and could have seen him and brake in good time. She did not. 'Mr Sharma wasn't behind the trees, he was in the road. Miss Griffiths just simply wasn't looking properly. 'The conditions weren't good and visibility was poor but a careful and competent driver is going to drive carefully and slowly so as to see what is in front of them.' The Old Bailey heard Griffiths claimed to be driving between 10-15mph in the 30mph zone at the time of the crash and there is no suggestion she was going too fast. Mr Polnay added: 'There is no suggestion that drugs or alcohol or a mobile phone played any part.' Witnesses saw Griffiths turn on to Wanstead High Street and hit Mr Sharma as he made is way across the road. Local estate agent Faye Parsons-Hann said the road was 'completely clear' as Mr Sharma stepped on to the zebra crossing. She said: 'As he was getting to the crossing the car was getting to the junction. 'He began to make his way across the zebra crossing. The car began to pull into the high road towards the zebra crossing. 'As he was approaching the middle of the zebra crossing the car turned into the road. Mr Sharma (pictured) hit his head on the ground and died in hospital from severe head injuries 'I was thinking 'this can't happen.' He was knocked back towards the pavement. His head hit the road with force.' Griffiths later told police: 'I just came round the corner in second gear and he must have just stepped out. 'There was no one there when I came out of the junction, he must have been behind the trees.' Mr Polnay told jurors: 'The only conclusion is that she wasn't looking or wasn't looking properly. 'When Mr Sharma stepped into the road it was clear for him to do so. 'Miss Griffiths turned into the high street and there was a collision. It was that strike that caused the fatal injuries.' The court heard Griffiths obtained her driving licence at age 17 and has no previous convictions. Griffiths, of Upminster, east London, denies one count of causing death by careless driving. The trial continues. A business partner of radio host Kyle Sandilands has reportedly contributed part of Fadi Ibrahim's $2.2million bail. Ben Scott, 38, is also a business partner of Ibrahim's and the part-owner of pawn shop chain Aceben, The Daily Telegraph reported. Ibrahim was released from Silverwater jail on Wednesday but has been ordered not to leave his home in Dover Heights, in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Ibrahim (pictured with wife Shayda) was released from Silverwater jail on Wednesday but has been ordered not to leave his home in Dover Heights, in Sydney's eastern suburbs A business partner of radio host Kyle Sandilands (pictured) has reportedly contributed part of Fadi Ibrahim's $2.2million bail The second-youngest Ibrahim brother was arrested over alleged links to a massive drug and tobacco smuggling operation. Sandilands - who is also a close friend of Fadi's brother John Ibrahim - worked with Mr Scott to produce Meet the Hockers, which aired on TV until July this year. Mr Scott's home was raided by police in the August 8 operation, one of the biggest drug busts in Australian history. The Director of Public Prosecutions is examining Ibrahim's release and the source of the bail money due to police concerns about the links between Ibrahim and Mr Scott. The second-youngest Ibrahim brother (pictured with wife Shayda) was arrested over alleged links to a massive drug and tobacco smuggling operation Fadi Ibrahim's (pictured, right) bail was paid by three different people, and his wife Shayda Bastani (pictured, left) - a former model - is believed to have put up almost half the amount Fadi Ibrahim's bail was paid by three different people, and his wife Shayda Bastani- a former model - is believed to have put up almost half the amount, according toThe Daily Telegraph. The 43-year-old was arrested in Dubai with his brother Michael Ibrahim and four other men as part of the police sting. Fadi stands accused of two money laundering offences - providing $800,000 for the illegal importation of tobacco, and receiving $1.6 million from the proceeds. Sandilands (pictured with partner Imogen Anthony and John Ibrahim) - who is also a close friend of Fadi's brother John Ibrahim - worked with Mr Scott to produce Meet the Hockers, which aired on TV until July this year He is under effective house arrest at his six-bedroom, five-bathroom property in Dover heights. The home was bought for just over $4 million in 2013 and is now valued at an estimated $6 million. Despite being just four blocks away from older brother John's $8 million home on George Street, Fadi has been unable to visit that property since his release. John Ibrahim has not been charged with any offences, and Ben Scott has not been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to Fadi Ibrahim's bail. Stephen Paddock, 64, open fired on a packed festival crowd in Las Vegas from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel resort, killing at least 58 and injuring 515 more The Las Vegas shooting is the deadliest mass shooting in US history with a death toll that continues to rise. Stephen Paddock, 64, open fired on a packed festival crowd in Las Vegas from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel resort, killing at least 59 and injuring 527 more. Thousands of revellers were attending the Route 91 country music festival when Paddock struck. Sparking mass panic, festival goers fled while Paddock fired from on-high. The shooter was found dead in his hotel room having turned a rifle on himself. Previously, an attack on an Orlando LGBT nightclub left 49 dead while the infamous Columbine shooting reignited the controversial gun control discussion in the US. 49 dead - Orlando nightclub, June 2016 Omar Mateen launched a gun attack on a LGBT nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 The Las Vegas shooting comes 16 months after Omar Mateen launched a gun attack on a LGBT nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people and injuring 58 more. Mateen, who worked as a security guard, walked into a gay nightclub in Florida, with a handgun and AR-15 semi-automatic rifle before police stormed the club and fatally shot him. Reports emerged after that Mateen was a closet homosexual who had frequented gay dating app Grindr and had previously had a gay lover while married. Seung-Hui Cho, a student at Virginia Tech shot and killed 32 people 32 dead - Virginia Tech, April 2007 Nine years prior, Seung-Hui Cho, a student at Virginia Tech shot and killed 32 people and injured 17 others in two separate attacks around two hours apart. Cho, who had been accused of stalking two girls and declared mentally ill was allowed to purchase two pistols in the month running up to the attack. Because Cho had not been institutionalized, a legal loophole meant he was able to purchase the weapons without any hindrance. The shootings occurred in two separate incidents. The first incident was on campus at the West Ambler Johnston Hall, where he killed two and then he moved on to the Norris Hall where he killed 30 more before killing himself. In December 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza (pictured younger) shot dead 2 children aged between six and seven in an attack that appalled the world 26 dead - Sandy Hook Elementary School, December 2012 In December 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot dead 20 children aged between six and seven in an attack at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. In the early hours of the morning Lanza shot his mother in the head before driving her car to the school and murdering 26 others. The first gunshots were heard by staff and students over the school intercom. Lanza then moved through the school shooting the elementary school pupils and then turned the gun on himself. Truck driver George Hennard (not pictured), drove his pickup through the front window of the restaurant. A law enforcement officer surveys the scene 23 dead - Luby's Cafeteria, October 1991 More than two decades prior, the then deadliest attack on US soil took place at Luby's cafeteria in Austin, Texas. Truck driver George Hennard, drove his pickup through the front window of the restaurant, and immediately began shooting patrons. Hennard killed 23 people, and wounded 27 others before fatally shooting himself. He was reported to have had a hatred of women and ethnic minorities. Patrons of the diner where he struck initially thought the crash was an accident. However Hennard opened fire immediately, firing dozens of rounds before retreating to the toilets when police arrived where he shot himself. Father of two, 41-year-old James Huberty, shot and killed 21 people 21 dead - San Ysidro McDonald's Restaurant, July 1984 In 1984, Father of two, 41-year-old James Huberty, shot and killed 21 people and injured 19 others before being fatally shot by a team sniper at a San Francisco McDonald's. In the run-up the attack, Huberty told his wife he feared he had a mental problem. He rang a psychiatric clinic, referring himself for treatment. A receptionist told him someone who call back within a matter of hours to arrange his appointment. However, the secretary had taken his name down incorrectly meaning he couldn't be reached in the meantime. After waiting for the phone call, Huberty took his daughters to the zoo the next day before beginning his violent spree. He is reported to have told his wife before leaving the house that he was 'going hunting humans'. 14 dead - San Bernardino, December 2015 More recently, 14 people were shot dead at a social services center in San Bernardino, California. Husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, open fired and fled the scene but died hours later in a shootout with police. An FBI's investigation revealed the shooters were 'homegrown violent extremists' inspired by ISIS, though not directly instructed by any particular group. Despite this, the couple had amassed a large stockpile of weapons, ammunition, and bomb-making equipment in their home. Fourteen people were shot dead at a social services center in San Bernardino, California. Husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, open fired and fled the scene but died hours later in a shootout with police Fourteen were killed at an Edmond post office in Oklahoma, August 1986. Going on a mass rampage, postal worker Patrick Sherrill shot twenty co-workers, killing fourteen of them, before committing suicide himself 14 dead - Edmond post office, August 1986 Fourteen were killed at an Edmond post office in Oklahoma, August 1986. Going on a mass rampage, postal worker Patrick Sherrill sought out his supervisor Richard Esser who had reprimanded him the previous day. He then sought out a second supervisor who he bore a grudge with but Bill Bland had overslept that day and when he arrived to work late, the massacre was over. Sherrill killed fourteen people in total and a further six required hospital treatment. Charles Whitman took to the observation deck atop the Main Building tower at the University of Texas and shot 13 people 13 dead - University of Texas Tower, August 1966 A model student and Eagle Scout who went on to become a Marine sharpshooter, Charles Whitman murdered 13 people on his university campus in 1966. A child prodigy, he entered the military where he became a high-level sniper. Going on to study Mechanical engineering he became a poor student who developed a gambling habit. Murdering his mother and wife in their homes, Whitman took to the observation deck atop the Main Building at the University of Texas and shot 13 people. Following his death, a post-mortem revealed he had a brain tumour that may have contributed to his deteriorating behaviour. 13 dead - Columbine High School, April 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people in a meticulously planned attack that involved a firebomb used as a diversion and and stacks of explosives laid around their high school in Colorado. The pair shot and killed 12 students and one teacher in an attack that reignited the US gun control policy debate. While the motivation behind the attack remain unclear, a reading of their journals showed they wished their actions to rival the notoriety of the Oklahoma City boming in 1995. The ease in which they acquired their weapons went on to form the basis of the Bowling for Columbine documentary, which sparked a nationwide debate on gun control. Eric Harris (left) and Dylan Klebold (right) killed 13 people in a meticulously planned attack 13 dead - Fort Hood, Texas, November 2009 Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was convicted on 13 counts of premeditated murder and sentenced to death Thirteen soldiers and civilians were killed and more than two dozen wounded when a gunman walked into the Soldier Readiness Processing Center at Fort Hood, Texas, and opened fire. The shooter Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was convicted on 13 counts of premeditated murder and sentenced to death. During the shooting, Hasan was shot and as a result paralyzed from the waist down. Hasan was arraigned by a military court on July 20, 2011 and was charged with 13 counts of murder and and 32 counts of attempted murder. The former solider remains one of six servicemen on death row. Liam Fox (pictured today in Manchester) has lashed the 'pessimistic' BBC for talking down Brexit with 'bizarre' coverage of the negotiations Liam Fox has lashed the 'pessimistic' BBC for talking down Brexit with 'bizarre' coverage of the negotiations. The International Trade Secretary claimed not to be able understand why critical media produced the stories they did about Brexit. He insisted he still believed as many 40 trade deals - based on duplicates of existing EU agreements with nations around the world - would be ready for 'one second' after Brexit. And Mr Fox said his department was focused on delivering new bespoke deals with the US, Australia and New Zealand as soon as possible after Brexit. Speaking on the fringe of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Mr Fox said: 'It just seems to me a bit bizarre that people would want to talk down our own chances of success. 'It's actually beneficial to the United Kingdom that those we're negotiating with think that we have all the instruments at our disposal that we need,' he said. 'I think it's time that we stop this damaging, pessimistic view of our future. Because I think as I go round the world, I find countries all the time who want to do business with the UK, who want joint ventures with British companies. 'It's just that I don't read that in the pages of certain newspapers and I'm not even saying the three letters BBC.' He added: 'In the full year since the referendum we've had more investment into the UK than at any other year in our history. Didn't read that headline in the FT unless I missed it. 'We should be confident about our future, we should have some of the confidence that the investors in the rest of the world seem to have in the UK. 'It would be very nice if some of the editorships of our press took the same confidence and the same optimistic view for our country.' The BBC insisted it was committed to impartiality and would continue to hear from a range of voices on Brexit A BBC spokesperson told BuzzFeed News: 'The BBC takes impartiality incredibly seriously and we are covering Brexit developments in depth by examining all the perspectives and arguments. We have a wide range of voices on air and will continue to do so.' Mr Fox's intervention is the latest from a series of critical comments from ministers about Brexit coverage. Commons leader Andrea Leadsom was slammed for demanding the news out put from the BBC be more 'patriotic'. This week's conference in Manchester has been dominated by furious rows over Brexit after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's repeated interventions with his own priorities for the talks. Advertisement 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers, 43, has put his apartment in West Village on the market for $4.5million. Meyers and his wife Alexi bought the two-bedroom, two bathroom pad in December 2013 for $3.53million. The 990-sq-ft apartment with four and a half rooms total has hardwood floors and high ceilings. Both of the bedrooms have large en-suite baths and enviable closets. The renovated home also has an open kitchen and a separate dining area for entertaining. A large foyer at the entry leads to a 'sunken' living room has a wood-burning fireplace, sliding doors with glass panels and several bookshelves. 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers, 43, put his apartment in West Village on the market for $4.5million. He is pictured at his desk during an episode of the show in 2016 Meyers and his wife Alexi bought the pad in December 2013 for $3.53million. It has hardwood floors and high ceilings The modest, open kitchen has white cabinetry, a farm-style sink and brass accents with drawers and shelves for storage The 'sunken' living room has large windows looking out to Manhattan as well as sliding glass-paneled doors The two bedroom, two-bath home has a total of four and a half rooms, but the square footage isn't specified in the listing Meyers is best known for hosting 'The Late Show', which he took over from former host Jimmy Fallon in 2014 when Fallon moved to 'The Tonight Show'. Prior to that gig, he was a head writer for Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2014 and a host on the Weekend Update segment. The apartment is in a prewar building on 302 West 12th Street in Manhattan that was built by Bing&Bing in 1931. The building sits across from Abingdon Square Park and has 17 floors and a total of 128 apartments. It has a full-time doorman, stunning roof deck, storage/bike room and is pet friendly. The apartment is in a prewar building at 302 West 12th Street in Manhattan. It was built by Bing&Bing in 1931 The kitchen and dining area flow directly into the living room that is complete with a fireplace and several wide bookshelves Directly off the kitchen is a dining area complete with a padded bench. Natural light creates the illusion of extra space The apartment is dressed with modern furnishings, but it's simple design could be changed to fit the buyer's style Both bedrooms have comfortably large en-suite bathrooms with white tiling and wooden and brass accents A window lets natural light into one of the bathrooms with a white marble wall and charcoal-painted freestanding tub The listing is held by Maxwell Jacobs broker Max J. Kozower. The square footage is not listed. Meyers won't be in the market for a new home any time soon, though. Last year he and his wife upgraded to a much larger home Greenwich Village that was once owned by actress Mary Louise Parker. They bought the 3,000-sq-ft duplex for $7.52million in July 2016. Meyers married Alexi in September 2013 after the two dated for five years and their son Ashe Olson Meyers was born in 2016. Meyers married Alexi in September 2013 after dating for five years. The two welcomed their son Ashe Olson Meyers in 2016 The 17-story building sits across from Abingdon Square Park and has a full-time doorman, roof deck and storage/bike room ISIS claims of responsibility for the mass shooting in Las Vegas where 59 people were killed and more than 527 wounded, and said the attacker had converted to Islam a few months ago have been disputed by the FBI. Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, a resident of nearby Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on a country music festival taking place at Las Vegas Village from a room across the street in the Mandalay Bay Hotel just after 10pm on Sunday evening. However, by Monday morning, FBI investigators had 'determined that there is NO connection between the Vegas shooter and ISIS or international terrorism,' according to NBC. It came after the claim was disputed down by unnamed US officials, who said there is no evidence he was linked to ISIS. Paddock's family had earlier said he had no religious or political affiliations. Claims: Terror group ISIS said Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock had 'converted to Islam a few months ago' and that he was a 'soldier of the Islamic State' No proof: US officials have said there is no evidence Stephen Paddock was linked to ISIS 'The Las Vegas attack was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried it out in response to calls to target states of the coalition,' the group's news agency Amaq said in reference to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the group in the Middle East. 'The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam a few months ago,' Amaq added. Two senior U.S. officials said shortly after ISIS's statement that there was no evidence that the shooter was tied to any international militant group. One of the two U.S. officials discounted Islamic State's claim of responsibility and said there was reason to believe that the shooter had a history of psychological problems. Later on, Special Agent Aaron Rouse of the FBI said in a statement that the bureau had 'determined to this point no connection to an international terrorist group. 'As this investigation continues, we will continue to work with our partner to ensure that this is factually, thoroughly and absolutely investigated, to be able to bring comfort and peace back to this community.' In addition, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said investigations are still ongoing and police have not yet determined a motive. Paddock was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Lombardo said. Companion: Paddock lived just 90 minutes outside Las Vegas in the city of Mesquite, with 62-year-old Marilou Danley, an Australian citizen At least 50 people are dead and 200 injured after the Sunday shooting at the Las Vegas music festival Three people lie on the ground, one covered in blood, after the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Sunday A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle during the shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino (left); people take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival (right) In an exclusive interview with Dailymail.com, the shooter's family said he had no political or religious affiliation. 'He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something,' his brother Eric Paddock said from his home in Orlando, Florida 'He's my brother, we don't have a very close relationship but we talk occasionally. There's no rhyme or reason here, it makes no sense'. 'He has no political affiliation, no religious affiliation, as far as we know. This wasn't a terror attack'. Paddock lived just 90 minutes outside Las Vegas in the city of Mesquite, with 62-year-old Marilou Danley, an Australian citizen believed to be of Indonesian descent. Eric Paddock said of Ms Danley: 'She has nothing to do with this, at least from my perspective. Police said in a press conference early Monday that that they discovered in 'excess of 10 rifles' in the room, and that Paddock's death was the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A former top lawyer who was one of the highest paid barristers in the country has been found guilty of giving a client 2,300 to help 'turn her life around'. Roy Headlam admitted he was 'stupid' to give the woman cash for clothes and a college course while representing her boyfriend in ongoing proceedings. Based at Furnival Chambers in central London, Headlam was once said to be one of the highest paid legal aid barristers in the UK with an annual salary of 787,000 in 2010. But in 2013 he set out to help the 'manipulative' woman, whose boyfriend was a drug dealer, after she told him she could not afford food or electricity. Roy Headlam admitted he was 'stupid' to give the woman cash for clothes and a college course while representing her in ongoing proceedings He handed her up to 300 in cash outside his chambers after she called him saying she could not afford food or electricity in December 2013. Headlam gave her a 2,000 cheque the following month but the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service (BTAS) found that there was no guarantee the money would not be spent on drugs. His barrister William Clegg QC, said drug users can be 'the most manipulative people that you could ever have the misfortune to meet' and Headlam may have been 'conned' into giving her the money. 'Of course she told some cock and ball story about having no food and no electricity, that doesn't mean it's true,' he said. The Court of Appeal heard in 2011 that Headlam had allegedly sent text messages, said to be 'of a sexual nature' to the girlfriend of Mark Pettigrew, who he was defending at the time. Pettigrew was later jailed for five years for attempted burglary and handling stolen goods. Headlam denied the claims, saying the messages had been taken 'out of context'. Pettigrew appealed against his jail term, claiming that the alleged 'sexts' meant he had not been properly defended. The court did not rule on whether the sexting had taken place but found even if it had, it did not affect Pettigrew's sentence. Since the 'sexting' case, Headlam had lost his career and marriage, his health suffered, and he had been made bankrupt, the BTAS heard. The panel found Headlam's gift constituted a failure to maintain independence and diminished trust in the profession, but did not bring the profession into disrepute. Panel Chair Judge Witold Pawlak said: 'He gave the money to a drug addict, at one time apparently destitute, whose boyfriend was a drug dealer. Based at Furnival Chambers in central London (pictured), Headlam was once said to be one of the highest paid legal aid barristers in the UK with an annual salary of 787,000 in 2010 'She was given the money outside Mr Headlam's chambers as a result of her telephone call. 'Once he gave her the money he was no longer at arm's length from the client. 'The sum of 200 to 300, the admitted cash sum, is not trivial in our judgement. 'We are going to adjourn for mitigation, we would simply like to add that, as matters stand, and without having heard from either side as yet, we are not of the view that we would disbar Mr Headlam.' The recipient of the gift, referred to as 'Ms X', did not appear before the hearing. Mr Clegg told the panel: 'This whole tribunal is like Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark. It's not our fault that Ms X has not given evidence. 'This woman has been identified, not unfairly, as a vulnerable person in the sense that she was a drug user and as such she would undoubtedly be vulnerable. 'Drug users are and perhaps could be the most manipulative people that you could ever have the misfortune to meet. 'The truth is that Mr Headlam himself was at a very low end - he had recently been made bankrupt, his marriage was failing, his health was poor. 'You might think he is just the type of man that a manipulative woman could exploit. 'There may be more than one vulnerable person in this case at the time and we do know that drug users can be exceptionally manipulative and they can be very compelling and convincing liars.' Roy Headlam admitted he was 'stupid' to give the woman cash Mr Clegg told the hearing that Headlam's client moved him with stories of having no food and electricity, appealing to his altruistic nature at a low point in his life. He said: 'Let us suppose she went off and bought drugs with it, that doesn't make you guilty of her buying drugs - the fact that she has taken the money on false premises. 'The point is it's his actions, not hers that must determine whether an offence has been committed.' Headlam had written to the Bar Standards Board (BSB) claiming he could not pay a 300 fine in December 2013 because he did not have a bank account. The 2,000 cheque to his client was issued in January 2014, just one month later. Mr Clegg argued that Headlam's building society accounts - a mini cash ISA, a mixed cash plus account and a rainy day savings account - were not bank accounts in the normal sense. He said Headlam had not been dishonest when he claimed not to have a bank account. His intelligence financial account, through which he received payments for his advocacy, must have been known to the BSB as they knew he was still working, Mr Clegg claimed. Giving evidence Headlam said: 'You can criticise me for being stupid, naive, or gullible, but not dishonest or attempting to pull the wool over the Bar Council's eyes.' The panel dismissed the charge that Headlam acted without honesty and integrity. However Judge Pawlak added: 'A barrister has the duty to tell the truth to his regulator. 'A barrister of 30 years standing could not have thought that the building society accounts were not bank accounts of some kind.' Headlam denied six charges of misconduct and admitted one count of failing to cooperate with the Bar Standards Board. Four were found proved and two were dismissed. The panel found that Headlam failed to maintain independence and had diminished trust in the profession by giving his client the 2,000 cheque. They found that the 200-300 gift had been given but that this did not bring the profession into disrepute. The panel will make its final decision on a date to be fixed. Drivers and web users were left flabbergasted by what has been branded one of the most bizarre streets in the world - with snaking road markings that resemble a Salvador Dali painting. After the road in Oostzaan, near Amsterdam, was repainted recently, motorists have been unable to get their heads around it. A dash cam video posted online shows a car driving down the 'Kerkbuurt' street, with red cycle lanes on both sides of the stream of traffic. But as it continues, the road markings snake in and out, leaving the space for cars extraordinarily small - and then wide again. This suburban street in Oostzaan, near Amsterdam, Netherlands, has left Dutch motorists in awe of what they have branded 'the most bizarre road layout ever' Dutch media have compared it to a 'half-opened zipper' while another branded it as being 'designed by Salvador Dali', referring to the Spanish surrealist artist. But it has since been revealed the idea for 'the world's most bizarre road layout ever' came from a local Green Party politician called Joop Klinkhamer. He decided he wanted to make the cycle lanes the same width along he entire street so two people could cycle next to each other. But that has meant the lane for cars is reduced to the absolute minimum - with some spots only two inches wide. But according to local media reports, the strange layout does not mean cars are unable to drive along the road because there is not enough room - and are allowed to cross over into the cycle lanes. Dash cam footage shows the road snake in and out, with the lane for motorists extending out wide and then shrinking again, leaving just inches for a car to get through The local council claims the road markings will mean drivers will pay more attention to the road. Dutch social media users were equally as dumbfounded by the design as foreign ones. One wrote: 'This has been tested in Belgium. 'People get completely confused because of the vague marking, causing them to drive slower, which results in fewer accidents.' Another joked: 'This is not a road to go driving on when high on drugs.' These are the horrific injuries inflicted on a Bulgarian sex slave mutilated by criminals who forced her into prostitution. The 20-year-old Bulgarian, seen covered in bruises and scars, was routinely beaten after being made to walk the streets in The Hague, Holland. Harrowing images of the young woman were taken by an Austrian charity worker to raise awareness of the plight of victims of human trafficking. They show the unnamed victim's injuries from severe beatings, including a head trauma and a giant scar on her stomach. Her lips, nose and eyes are badly swollen. Pictures show the horrific injuries inflicted on a Bulgarian sex slave mutilated by criminals who forced her into prostitution The 20-year-old Bulgarian, seen covered in bruises and scars, was routinely beaten after being made to walk the streets in The Hague, Holland Austrian national Norbert Ceipek moved to Bulgaria after his retirement where he opened a special centre to help victims of human trafficking. And while Ceipek's NGO gets some financial support from the Bulgarian government and some donations, it is not enough to help all the victims. Ceipek said: 'A young woman, 20, got to know a young man who promises her all his love and takes her to the Netherlands.' 'When she arrives, she realises that she has to walk the streets with another Bulgarian and two Nigerians. She does not want to but by beating and other compulsive measures she complies and prostitutes herself eight months.' 'During a visit back to their home country both Bulgarians tried to escape from their location, but unfortunately she was caught by him [the pimp] and brought back. 'As the second woman managed to flee, he became so angry that he began to beat the young woman so much and also struck her with objects that she almost died.' Harrowing images of the young woman were taken by an Austrian charity worker as a reminder that not enough is being done to help the victims of human trafficking They show the unnamed victim's injuries from severe beatings, including a head trauma and a giant scar on her stomach. Her lips, nose and eyes are badly swollen The victim was thrown out of a car in front of a hospital. When the human trafficker was later arrested, he was surprised that he had been caught, and even more so to learn that his victim was alive. The Bulgarian hospital gave her primary care, but the victim had to leave the hospital after five weeks because she did not have health insurance and she was unable to pay for it. She ended up in Ceipek's shelter, where he is now trying to raise funds to pay the costs needed for additional treatment. Ceipek said: 'She desperately needs more surgery on her face and mouth, skin transplantation and much more. There is no body part which has not been affected.' With a yearly budget of only 30,000 EUR (26,450), which includes the salaries of employees such as social workers and psychologists, the Austrian pensioner and his NGO do not have the funds available to cover the costs themselves. Michael Hegarty, 40, is facing up to 10 years in jail in the US after admitting he smuggled a rhino horn cup to the UK An Irish man is facing up to a decade behind bars after admitting smuggling rhino horn from America to the UK. Michael Hegarty, 40, flew the $57,500 cup from Miami to London back in 2012 without declaring it, the Department of Justice said. He was later arrested in Belgium after accomplice Richard Sheridan was caught trying to sell the cup on to a Chinese buyer, and extradited to America. Hegarty, who was a member of Irish traveler gang Rathkeale Rovers along with Sheridan, pleaded guilty to trafficking the product of an endangered species. A court heard that in April 2012 Hegarty and Sheridan traveled to Miami where they met with a local man, before the trio traveled to an auction in North Carolina. Once there, the trio successfully bid $57,500 for the rhino cup, with Hegarty and Sheridan saying they would transport it to London for repairs before selling it on. Sheridan then packed the cup into his luggage without declaring it to customs, before he an Hegarty flew back to the UK. But the plan fell apart when Sheridan was arrested alongside two other Irish nationals in London while trying to sell the cup to a Chinese buyer. Hegarty helped purchase the cup, made from the horn of an endangered Great Indian Rhino (pictured), back in 2012 from an auction house in North Carolina before taking it to London Hegarty was arrested later in Belgium, before he was extradited to the US. He pleaded guilty to the charges at the U.S. District Court in Miami on Friday, according to the US Department of Justice. Sheridan was convicted on unrelated charges in England where he is currently serving jail time. He is still wanted in the US for trafficking offenses. Hegarty is due to be sentenced in November. The parents of murdered Reeva Steenkamp are 'furious and horrified' at a new Hollywood movie about Oscar Pistorius shooting their daughter. They have slammed claims that the movie is told from Reeva and her mother June's perspective and say they have not given the film their support Reeva's sister Simone, speaking exclusively to MailOnline from her home in South Africa, dismissed the movie as simply 'a money making exercise and very wishy-washy.' She added: 'My mother was mortified when she first found about it. When I told her about it, she said 'You have upset me now'. She was not happy. 'I watched a snippet today and the people don't even talk proper South African. They sound either British or American, but they certainly don't sound like South Africans. Anger: The parents of murdered Reeva Steenkamp Barry (left) and June (centre) are 'furious and horrified' at a new Hollywood movie about Oscar Pistorius shooting their daughter. backlash: Reeva's parents have slammed claims that the movie is told from the model and her mother June's (pictured left) perspective and say they have not given the film their support. Pistorius (right) initially escaped a murder conviction for shooting Reeva (left) through a locked bathroom door three years ago. The pair are pictured together in 2012 Blasted: Reeva's sister Simone, speaking exclusively to MailOnline from her home in South Africa, dismissed the movie as simply 'a money making exercise and very wishy-washy.' 'I mean Oscar is a Boer, a real Afrikaan.' The film 'Blade Runner Killer' stars South African-born Andreas Damm, who is New York based as Pistorius and German-born Toni Garrn, the former flame of Academy Award winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio, as Reeva. The model's father Barry was left reeling when dramatic clips from the film recreating the moment she was gunned down by Pistorius popped up on his facebook feed, the family lawyer said. The retired racehorse training and wife, June, 'had no idea any movie had been made', Tania Koen told MailOnline. 'Seeing this trailer which depicts the death of their daughter, and the horrific way in which it happened, has just opened all the old wounds for Barry and June,' Ms Koen explained. 'Barry was on facebook and these images just popped up, he had no idea such a film had been made. It is very sensationalist and obviously the lack of any warning that such material was in circulation gave him a terrible shock and left him very distressed. 'The producers did not give the Steenkamps the courtesy of letting them know that the film was in circulation. At least if they had been given prior warning, they might have had the opportunity to prepare themselves,' she added. 'Mortified': Reeva's sister Simone said her parents are angry about the new Hollywood film about her death. She said: 'My mother was mortified when she first found about it. When I told her about it, she said 'You have upset me now'. She was not happy.' Reeva was gunned down by Pistorius, the first Paralympian to compete in the Olympics in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013. He claimed he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet. Pistorius, who became the first-ever double amputee to compete in the Olympic Games at London 2012, pleaded not guilty at his trial in 2014. He denied killing Steenkamp in a rage, claiming that he was trying to protect her. During his trial Pistorius denied any suggestion that he knew Reeva was behind the door, often breaking down in tears weeping, wailing and praying whenever details of her injuries were heard. But after a series of legal delays and a trail over a six month period, he was found guilty on September 12 2014 of culpable homicide or manslaughter. In the dark: Reeva's parents Barry and June Steenkamp had no knowledge of the making of the film 'Blade Runner Killer', the model's sister Simone said. They are horrified and upset to read a report that 'the movie is told from Steenkamp and her mother's perspective', she added. Shot dead: Model Reeva (pictured) was killed when her boyfriend Pistorius shot her through the bathroom door on Valentine's Day in 2013. Jailed: Reeva was gunned down by Pistorius, the first Paralympian to compete in the Olympics in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013. During his trial Pistorius denied any suggestion that he knew Reeva was behind the door. He was given a five year sentence, but the decision to free him from jail and out him under house arrest for the remaining four years of his term caused uproar. Over a two year period, he was brought before the courts several times. The Supreme Court of Appeal convicted Pistorius of murder, saying his testimony was 'vacillating and untruthful', in 2015 and last year he began a six year sentence. A spokeswoman for Reeva's parents June and Barry Steenkamp said they were still 'mourning the tragic loss of their beloved daughter.' She added: [They] had no knowledge of the making of the film 'Blade Runner Killer'. They are horrified and upset to read a report that 'the movie is told from Steenkamp and her mother's perspective'. She added: 'Mrs Steenkamp was not approached to participate, comment or be part of the making of the film, and did not give the producers any assistance. 'Any impression that is created that this is June's view, or that the movie is endorsed by the Steenkamp family, is untrue and incorrect.' The Steenkamp's fury was fueled by a claim in showbusiness newspaper Dateline Hollywood that the film was from their perspective which they described as 'disreputable'. The film has been written by Amber Benson, best known for playing Tara on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and is produced by Lifetime. Simone added: 'June's husband Barry has not been well and this will bring back some terrible memories. The first trailer has emerged for a movie about Oscar Pistorius and the murder of Reeva Steenkamp - showing the athlete shooting his girlfriend and their violent arguments before her death 'My mother is working very hard in the foundation she set up in Reeva's name, but this is an unnecessary intrusion which we could do without.' Drama: The minute-long trailer ends with Pistorius tearfully telling a court: 'I truly loved her' Oscar Pistorius: Blade Runner Killer charts the run-up to the murder on Valentine's Day 2013 at his home in Pretoria, South Africa - and the courtroom dramas that followed. It stars Andreas Damm as the 30-year-old double-leg amputee and Toni Garrn (pictured) as girlfriend Steenkamp In one scene Pistorius he challenges Steenkamp to 'prove to me that this is what you want and that you are worthy of me and this relationship' before she strips to her underwear and climbs into bed with him In one scene, Pistorius tells his girlfriend she will be his 'personal angel' as he trains for the Olympics. In another, he challenges Steenkamp to 'prove to me that this is what you want and that you are worthy of me and this relationship' before she strips to her underwear and climbs into bed with him. The following scene shows the pair having a row before he picks up a weapon, ordering her to 'get back here'. The minute-long trailer ends with Pistorius tearfully telling a court: 'I truly loved her'. According to channel24, the film will premiere in the US on November 11. Shooting: The film includes a scene where Pistorius shoots apparently believing there is an intruder in the house Pistorius can be seen brandishing a gun during the trailer for the film, which is due to be released in November The film charts the fall-out from the killing and the police investigation into the death. One scene shows bullet holes in a door The movie shows Pistorius training (pictured) and some of the arguments he and Steenkamp had before she was killed It comes just days after it was announced that the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa will hear the state's appeal against Paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius' 'shockingly lenient' six-year murder sentence in 2016. The appeal will be heard on November 3, the National Prosecuting Authority said. Oscar Pistorius (pictured) was jailed for six years in 2016 for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp Court appearance: But after a series of legal delays and a trail over a six month period, he was found guilty on September 12 2014 of culpable homicide or manslaughter. Pistorius walks in the courtroom without his prosthetic legs in a dramatic demonstration of his disability in court. Ruth Davidson (pictured in the conference hall today) delivered the damning assessment of Tory infighting at a fringe event this afternoon The Tories are on the verge of a 'nervous breakdown' and need to 'man up', the party's leader in Scotland warned today. Ruth Davidson delivered the damning assessment as the Conservative conference in Manchester was again wracked by damaging infighting. Boris Johnson is facing a furious backlash from MPs and Cabinet colleagues over leadership manoeuvring that has seen him draw a series of Brexit red lines. Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered a thinly-veiled rebuke by warning no ministers were 'unsackable', while the PM's effective deputy Damian Green said the rows were undermining negotiations with the EU. Despite his high-profile interventions, Mr Johnson denied he was deliberately fueling the spat saying he was just repeating government policy and did not know what all the 'fuss' was about. Downing Street has played down the prospect of the Cabinet big beast being sacked, saying his views are well known. But there are fears among MPs that Mr Johnson is determined to sacrifice himself for a 'hard' Brexit. Ms Davidson, who oversaw a Tory surge north of the border in June, was urged to come to Westminster and 'save' the party by some members at a Times Red Box fringe event today. She replied: 'I don't think the party needs saving. I think it needs to get over its current nervous breakdown and man up a little bit.' In a pointed jibe at Mr Johnson, with whom she has clashed in the past, Ms Davidson said she had no explanation for his behaviour. 'If I was able to interpret the actions and the thought process behind the actions of the Foreign Secretary then I think I could make a better living doing that than I do now,' she said. When she was asked if she was a female Boris Johnson, she joked: 'I think it's fair to say I don't speak as much Greek as the Foreign Secretary.' Ms Davidson also took a bruising swipe at the PM's inability to enforce discipline on her top team. 'I have a lot of MSPs at this conference - if any of you think about writing anything without telling me that runs counter to Conservative policy, you're out on your ear because nobody is unsackable,' she said. A windblown Boris Johnson has been at Tory conference in Manchester today, but not carried out any public events Mrs May refused to answer a question yesterday about whether Mr Johnson, pictured running in Manchester today, was 'unsackable' Mrs May was in the audience at the Conservative conference in Manchester today to hear speeches by her team including Chancellor Philip Hammond Jacob Rees-Mogg, who came second in the poll, was confronted by protesters at a Tory conference fringe event today In a withering verdict on the Tory election campaign, she said plans to overhaul social care was 'a reform that to explain takes a paragraph, but it doesn't even take a sentence to knock it down'. 'You just say dementia tax and everyone runs away,'Ms Davidson added. Despite the wave of criticism, a poll released today shows the Foreign Secretary's tactics might be bearing fruit. A poll of party grassroots suggests he is once again the favourite to take over from Mrs May. Some 21 per cent wanted him to get the top job in the survey by the ConservativeHome website, up from a record low of just 7 per cent last month. He was well ahead of his nearest rival, cult backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was on 15 per cent. However, in a sign that Tories are not altogether happy with the choice on offer 'other' scored more than 18 per cent. Mr Green, the First Secretary of State and the PM's de facto deputy, slapped down the Foreign Secretary's intervention. Speaking at a Tory conference fringe event today, Mr Green refused to rule out paying for single market access after the Brexit transition period - contradicting Mr Johnson's red lines. He said: 'I'm not ruling anything in or out that will be in the detail of the negotiation because David Davis has got a difficult job and he is eminently suited to doing it. 'I'm not going to do anything that makes his job more difficult.' Brexit Minister Steve Baker issued a further jibe at Mr Johnson at a conference fringe, insisting he would not be wading into the 'unfortunately public debate' about the nature of a transitional deal. But Environment Secretary Michael Gove was less damning, The Chancellor urged the Tories to fight for free markets as he said the last time a socialist government was in power tax rates rose to up to 98 per cent Senior figures are prepared to back Mrs May, pictured in Manchester with husband Philip today, should she decide Mr Johnson has to be sacked A poll released today shows the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is once again favourite with the party's grassroots to take over from Theresa May Baby monitors being hacked by criminals and spies have Australian parents panicking after a Sydney mother claimed one of her cameras was being externally controlled. However, the manufacturer of the device in question assures customers that it is simply a glitch in the software. 'After I changed her nappy, I sat down to start feeding her and the camera turned and focused straight on us,' Emma McCarthy told 7News. Emma McCarthy (pictured) says the camera turns and focuses on her when she is in the room The McCarthy parents are 'uncomfortable' that someone could be spying on their family Ms McCarthy and her husband Zac are convinced that their monitor has been hacked. 'We're very uncomfortable knowing that someone could potentially be watching our daughter,' she said. Security and Privacy expert Professor Bill Caelli emphasised that security and privacy were not considered when baby monitors were designed and constructed. Security and Privacy expert Professor Bill Caelli recommends checking for security features Home networks can be searched for vulnerable devices by an outside search engines, and baby monitors do fall into the 'vulnerable' category. If hackers do manage to gain access to a device, they are able to control it externally. How to protect your privacy Create a strong password Connect monitor to a secure network Keep it up to date with firmware Choose one that doesn't connect to the internet Check if camera has security features Advertisement Mr McCarthy claimed that their baby monitor could track movement through their child's room during the night. However, their camera was not connected to the internet, which led manufacturer UniDen to conclude that it was a glitch rather than a hack. But they remain unconvinced. A Perth family with the same brand of monitor have also come forward claiming to have had an experience similar to the McCarthy's. The Las Vegas Sheriff has emotionally revealed that one of his own officers was shot and killed by the gunman who opened fire on country music festival revelers. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo's voice broke on Monday morning as he spoke to the media about the slain Las Vegas police department officer. The cop, who has not yet been identified, was off-duty and attending the music festival as a civilian at the time. Another Las Vegas officer was injured and is being treated in hospital. Scroll down for video Sheriff Joseph Lombardo's voice broke on Monday morning as he spoke to the media about his slain Las Vegas police department officer 'One is critical but stable and one of my officers was off-duty attending the concert and lost his life,' Sheriff Lombardo said when asked about his employees. At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured in what is the worst mass shooting in US history. Two police officers, including the off-duty Las Vegas officer, are among the dead. Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Village from a room across the street in the Mandalay Bay Hotel shortly after 10pm on Sunday. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police believe Paddock killed himself before officers breached the hotel room on the 32nd floor where he had been holed up for several days. Two broken windows on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel could be clearly seen from the Route 91 Harvest stage on Monday morning in the aftermath of the deadly shooting PICTURED: The man suspected of killing 58 people and injuring 500 when he opened fire on concertgoers Sunday night has been identified as Stephen Paddock (Paddock above with an unidentified woman in an image taken from the Facebook page of Marilou Danley) Officers are seen outside the Mandalay Bay hotel where the shooter was holed up in a room on the 32nd floor Officers found him among an 'arsenal' of weapons and ammunition, including at least 10 guns. Paddock had been staying at the hotel since September 28. Terrifying footage from the scene showed concert-goers reacting with confusion and then panic as the festival turned into a bloodbath around them. Video from close to the stage shows people hitting the floor as others crawl to safety or run for their lives. Audio from further back in the crowd captured several bursts of sustained automatic gunfire. Witnesses said 'hundreds' of rounds of ammunition were emptied into the crowd, with Paddock stopping several times to reload as he carried out his massacre. People carry an injured person from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunshots rang out on Sunday night Two brazen teenage yobs who smashed car windscreens by hurling bricks and rubble from a motorway bridge have been jailed for five years. Warehouse workers Jordan Arendorf and Peter Nugent, both 19, launched the heavy objects at the passing vehicles while they walked home in the morning after a shift. They smashed several windscreens and injured one driver. A judge said that it was 'only by the Grace of God' that no one was killed. The pair, of Bristol, were jailed for two-and-a-half years each after admitting four charges of obstructing a road and a single charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. One of the men was seen throwing an object from a bridge at passing vehicles on the busy road Warehouse workers Jordan Arendorf (left) and Peter Nugent (right) both threw objects from the bridge Shocking CCTV images showed one of them launching objects at motorists who were driving in the rain One of the men's supporters shouted: 'F*** the system' as she left court. The pair terrorised drivers over the course of several weeks by bombarding them with improvised missiles from Kings Weston Lane bridge, over the M49 and M5 slip road in Bristol. Christopher and Deborah Shaw were in their Ford Escort estate, towing their 10,000 caravan to Brean, Somerset, for a holiday, when a flat rock smashed the front window of the caravan. A vending machine cup - similar to those found at the teenagers' workplace - was also stuffed full of stones, gravel and brick and lobbed at traffic. Lorry driver James Armstrong had the windscreen of his 44-tonne DAF cement truck cracked, before a lump of concrete hit him in the chest. He was admitted to hospital with severe bruising. Three days later lorry driver Steve Morton spotted two boys on the bridge before one threw a missile and his windscreen smashed, covering him in glass. Recorder Mr Timothy Grice said the teenagers activity was 'horrifically dangerous'. They smashed several windscreens and injured one driver. A judge said that it was 'only by the Grace of God' that no one was killed The reckless pair ended up smashing a number of windscreens after throwing objects from the bridge The pair had just finished working in a warehouse when they decided to throw rocks and bricks at travelling vehicles He said: 'People who are involved in this and people who read about this would be absolutely horrified and find it unacceptable if the perpetrators did not face immediate prison. Initially the pair denied wrongdoing. Farah Rashid, defending Nugent, said her client couldn't explain why he did what he did but had shown remorse and concern for victims. Derek Perry, defending Arendorf, said: 'Maybe their brains haven't caught up with their bodies. They did something to get a thrill without thinking about the consequences.' Michael Gove today said low-skilled EU workers will still be able to come to Britain to work in seasonal jobs after Brexit. The Environment Secretary also hailed the opportunities of quitting the bloc saying it will allow the UK to sell more pigs ears to China. Mr Gove - a leading figure in the Vote Leave campaign - said EU farm workers should be able to sign up to a seasonal workers scheme after Brexit. The move would allow farmers who are often dependent on fruit pickers from Eastern Europe to 'augment' their labour force post-Brexit, Mr Gove said. Concerns that immigration was placing a major strain on public services was one of the main concerns that caused people to vote for Brexit last year. Michael Gove, pictured at the Tory Party conference in Manchester today, said a seasonal workers scheme would allow low-skilled EU migrants to work in Britain post Brexit But farmers have warned they still need eastern European migrants to work in their fields. Speaking to a Countryside Alliance fringe meeting at the Tory Party conference in Manchester this morning, Mr Gove said Britain will be able to to take back control of immigration policy. BRITAIN COULD BRING IN PLASTIC BOTTLE RETURN SCHEME Britain could introduce a plastic bottle deposit return scheme in a bid to increase recycling, Michael Gove said today. The Environment Secretary said the government is considering bringing in the scheme to charge for plastic bottles and return the cash if it is returned. The move would follow the success of the 5p plastic bag charge, which has slashed the number of bags doled out by supermarkets. Speaking at the Tory Party conference in Manchester today, Mr Gove said: 'Already this Government has announced a ban on the plastic microbeads which pollute our seas. 'And we are looking to go further to reduce plastic waste by working with industry to see how we could introduce a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles. 'Our oceans are our planets greatest natural resource and this Government is determined to ensure we restore them to health for the next generation.' Advertisement He said: There is the issue of EU citizens access to the workplace here and so on. Obviously, it is envisaged during the transition period that there will be a process whereby they are invited to register while they are here. Beyond that, I think it will be the case that, whether it is from the EU or beyond, that people will want to come here and work and where there is demand they should be able to do so with appropriate permits. On top of that, I think there might well be a case for looking at a seasonal agricultural workers scheme that allows people - whether they are from EU nations or indeed beyond - to come here for a limited period in order to augment the existing workforce. Mr Gove also spelled out the opportunities for sell more British exports to booming countries outside the EU - including pigs ears to China. He said: 'There are some cuts of an animal which are more popular with the British consumer, others a little less. 'But some of those cuts are hugely popular elsewhere. 'So, for example pigs ears are a delicacy in China. 'But one of the reasons we have not been as successful as we might have been in selling these ears to China is that EU rules dictate that pigs, like all livestock, have ear tags. Theresa May, pictured out in Manchester with her chancellor Philip Hammond today, said she wants Britain to be an outward looking trading nation when we leave the EU 'This is for traceability reasons.' He said that once Britain frees itself from the rules of Brussels then the country will be free to track pigs in different ways and keep their ears intact to sell on to the Chinese market. He said: 'Outside the EU we can have our own traceability mechanisms...and as a result we can have pigs ears which don't need to be pierced. 'Un-pierced pigs ears are worth more. We will have a air competitive advantage. 'We can sell more pigs ears to China and that means more bacon and ham sold here. 'By selling more sows ears to China you can buy more silk purses for British farmers.' A university worker was 'crumpled' to the floor outside a Starbucks after being struck and killed by a roofing panel, which was blown about 'like a piece of paper' in Storm Doris. Jurors were told the section of a water tank cover - similar in size to a dining table - hit Tahnie Martin after falling from the roof of a six-storey building during Storm Doris last February. Ms Martin, a 29-year-old university worker from Stafford, was pronounced dead near Wolverhampton's Mander Centre shopping centre after suffering head injuries, just a month after getting engaged. Jurors were told the section of a water tank cover - similar in size to a dining table - hit Tahnie Martin after falling from the roof of a six-storey building during Storm Doris last February Ms Martin, a 29-year-old university worker from Stafford, was pronounced dead near Wolverhampton's Mander Centre shopping centre after suffering head injuries Tahnie was determined 2017 would be 'their year' and the couple had recently bought their first home together. Reading a statement at Black Country Coroner's Court which quoted from F Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Beautiful and the Damned', Shaun Lee said: 'It is difficult to find the words. She had so much to look forward to. Our lives will never be the same again. 'She was beautiful, but not like those girls in the magazines. She was beautiful, for the way she thought. She was beautiful, for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. 'She was beautiful, for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. No, she wasn't beautiful for something as temporary as her looks. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul.' The inquest heard how Tahnie and Shaun first met when they were both working at adhesives firm Bostik. They met on his first day when she was trying to fix a computer. They started dating shortly afterwards and became engaged in January 2017. The court heard how, in her last Valentine's Day card to him, Tahnie had written how she was so excited to spend the rest of her life with him and that 2017 was going to be 'their year'. Shaun said she had originally wanted to become a war correspondent and studied American studies and journalism at Lincoln University before deciding she wanted to move into marketing. A statement read to the court on behalf of Ms Sarpal paid tribute to Ms Martin as a 'fab girl' and a good colleague During her school years, she had developed an interest in the Holocaust and had struck up a friendship with a Holocaust survivor. Because of this, her family had set up a donation page in her name following her death for the National Holocaust Centre and Museum in Newark. So far, almost 1,000 has been raised in her name and the centre is to shortly plant a white rose bush in her name with a plaque in her memory. Emma Whitting, assistant coroner for the Black Country, was told part of the cover, which appeared to a witness to be rotten, landed in Dudley Street, while a smaller section did not reach ground level. A statement given to police by witness Rebecca Cresswell said the incident happened after several gusts of high wind and lots of rain. In the statement, read to the jury by the coroner, Ms Cresswell said she stood on a chair in a cafe overlooking the street to track the progress of the flying debris. The witness stated: 'I looked out of the window and I saw a very large wooden rectangular panel - it was like the wind had picked it up like it was a piece of paper. 'I then saw it move quite rapidly. For a minute I thought it was aiming for me. I could see it had metal on it. 'The panel continued to moved downwards and it tipped forwards. I saw there were people on the street and the wood was aiming in their direction.' The inquest was told Ms Martin was walking with Wolverhampton University's head of marketing, Raman Sarpal, who was knocked to the ground and treated for a leg injury. The inquest was told Ms Martin was walking with Wolverhampton University's head of marketing, Raman Sarpal, who was knocked to the ground and treated for a leg injury The scene where Tahnie Lee Martin, 29 tragically died in February when Storm Doris hit Britain After seeing the panel strike the women, Ms Cresswell said she was in shock, believing someone had died. 'I had a clear view, watching it fall from the sky like a leaf,' she said in her statement. 'It took 10-20 seconds to get from top to bottom.' A statement read to the court on behalf of Ms Sarpal paid tribute to Ms Martin as a 'fab girl' and a good colleague. FIANCE'S TRIBUTE Quoting 'The Beautiful and the Damned', her fiance Shaun Lee said: 'It is difficult to find the words. 'She had so much to look forward to. Our lives will never be the same again. 'She was beautiful, but not like those girls in the magazines. She was beautiful, for the way she thought. She was beautiful, for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. 'She was beautiful, for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. No, she wasn't beautiful for something as temporary as her looks. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul.' Advertisement The inquest was told the pair were chatting about how windy it was when they were knocked to the ground. In her statement, Ms Sarpal said: 'I remember hearing the clatter of something on the floor. My legs were hurting and I was saying to Tahnie 'I think I can get up'.' Ms Sarpal then saw her friend being given CPR as she was tended to by retired doctor. Another witness, Tiffany Whitehall, gave a statement to police describing how she watched the timber falling to the ground. The 37-year-old, who had her hair tied up because of the high winds, said: 'After the woman was hit, everyone started to try and help her. There were people crying and screaming, it was chaos. 'It (the timber) reminded me a square dining table. The wood looked rotten. It looked like old wood that had been out in the elements for a long time.' The inquest, being heard in Oldbury, is expected to last for up to five days. A two-year-old boy has miraculously survived after plunging from a 20-foot-high barrier and being washed away by the a fast-flowing river in southern China. CCTV footage captures the moment the child's parents desperately tried to stop their van from falling into the river. The toddler was saved by an onlooker about 200 metres (656 feet) down the river. A toddler plunged into a river after accidentally starting his father's van while playing alone According to Guangxi Television, the toddler boy was left alone on a mini van when his parents were unloading goods at the back on September 28. The family owned a food shop at Hechi, Guangxi Province. Zhang Haiguang, the boy's father, explained that he had switched off the engine and pulled up the hand brake but left the key in the ignition. Mr Zhang's wife put the boy on the driver's seat before going to help her husband to unload goods to their shop. Surveillance camera footage shows the moments the mini van started to move and drove towards the river. The mini van crashed and fell from six metres (20 ft) high into the river. CCTV footage shows the moment the parents find the vehicle moving and try to stop (left). However, they could not take their son out of the car before it fell into a river (right) The boy was saved at the lower stream and was taken to the hospital with minor injuries 'When we found our van, we did not see our son. Someone near the river told us a child had got flushed away by the water and saved by someone at the lower stream,' Mr Zhang told the reporter. He added that he could not find the man who saved his son when he walked about 200 metres (0.12 miles) away from the scene. The toddler survived and was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Han Wenahuan, a police officer from the Hechi Police Bureau, confirmed to the reporter that the boy touched the key and started the engine by mistake. A married lesbian couple from Texas have been arrested in the death of their toddler son, who was mauled by their starving family dogs this summer. Brittany Brooks, 27, and her wife, 29-year-old Ashley Brooks, were taken into custody on Friday, charged with second-degree injury to a child. They were being held in jail on $75,000 bond each, On July 27, police officers responded to the women's home in the 9100 block of Morella Road in El Paso and found their four-year-old son, Jacob Brooks, lying unresponsive in the backyard, having been mauled to death by four dogs. Scroll down for video Couple charged: Ashley Brooks (left), 29, and her wife Brittany Brooks (right), 27, have been arrested in Texas and charged with injury to a child in the mauling death of their toddler son Victim: The Brookses' son, four-year-old Jacob Brooks, died on July 27 after being attacked by four dogs in his backyard The boy was playing on this enclosed trampoline when the dogs, led by a mixed-breed dog named Memphis, lunged at him A neighbor told El Paso Times at the time that the family kept as many as 10 dogs of various sizes and breeds, including pit bulls and German shepherds. On the day of the mauling, police said one of the young mothers had left her son to play in an enclosed trampoline in the backyard. 'They practically ate him,' Ramon Payan, the family's neighbor, said of the dogs. In all, six animals were removed by Animal Control officers from the couple's home, and four of them were eventually euthanized. Court documents obtained by the station KVIA indicated that a mixed-breed dog named Memphis was the 'instigator' of the mauling, and a German shepherd mix dubbed Helga was also deemed aggressive. Police officers responded to the women's home in the 9100 block of Morella Road in El Paso (pictured) and came upon Jacob's body Speaking of the mauling, a neighbor said the dogs 'practically ate him.' Jacob is pictured with his grandmother left and right Jacob's aunt previously claimed the family pets had no history of aggression and that the mauling was an accident According to the documents, both dogs appeared to be malnourished, with their ribs visible through their skins, and were not sociable. I understand they didn't feed the dogs, 'cause they'd be crying all night, neighbor Silverio Murillo told the channel KFOX14. In a written statement released to the news site KVIA, Jacob's aunt Laura Torguson claimed the family pets had no history of aggression and insisted that what happened to the 'beautiful, kind, intelligent' child was an accident that could have happened to anyone. A rusty North Korean ship was seized near the Suez Canal with a huge cache of weapons worth 17.3 million understood to be destined for Egyptian buyers. The bulk freighter called Jie Shun was disguised in Cambodian colours, but had been sent by Pyongyang with 30,000 rocket-propelled grenades on board. United Nations officials described it as the 'largest seizure of ammunition in the history of sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea'. A rusty North Korean ship was seized near the Suez Canal (pictured) with a huge cache of weapons worth 17.3 million understood to be destined for Egyptian buyers (file image) Last August, a tip sent from the White House to Cairo warned of what was described as a mysterious vessel hurtling towards the Suez Canal. Customs agents acted on the intelligence and stormed the vessel once it entered Egyptian waters. Under huge piles of iron, the officials found the enormous stash of weapons and seized the ship. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (pictured) Since then, investigations have been ongoing in an attempt to find out where the rockets were destined for. It has not been revealed, according to the Washington Post, that they were bought by Egyptians. The ship itself was said to be a complete wreck, and experts believe it was packed with a massive haul because it was set to be its last voyage. A Western diplomat told the Post: 'The ship was in terrible shape. 'This was a one-shot voyage, and the boat was probably intended for the scrap yard afterward.' The boat was decaying rust corroding the hull, the vessel was caked in coal dust from previous journeys and a number of its featured were completely out of service. Despite being in an awful state, Jie Shun set out on its 8,000-mile journey from Haeju on July 23 last year with a 23-man crew. It was registered in Cambodia as a way for it to cruise the waters without drawing the attention of the authorities. Last August, a tip sent from the White House to Cairo warned of what was described as a mysterious vessel hurtling towards the Suez Canal (pictured, file image) The investigation, carried out by the UN, lifted the lid on the complex deal supposedly arranged by Egyptian executives. They ordered millions of dollars worth of rockets for the country's army and went out of their way to make sure the transactions could not be traced back to them. With UN sanctions increasingly squeezing Pyongyang's economy, the case offers a glimpse into the global arms trade keeping Kim Jong-un's hermit kingdom afloat. The first day of Ahmad Khan Rahimi's trial for the 2016 twin bombings in New York and New Jersey was marked by courtroom drama when the defendant was temporarily removed for trying to address the judge without permission. Rahimi, 29, who has pleaded not guilty to charges including using a weapon of mass destruction that injured 30 people, stood up and began to speak, unprompted, shortly after jurors entered the room to hear lawyers' opening arguments. 'The whole year Ive waited to get this across,' Rahimi told US District Judge Richard Berman. 'I actually come out only to speak to you.' Trial begins: Ahmad Rahimi, pictured in court in December 2016, was booted from the courtroom on the first day of his trial Monday for speaking out of turn Rahimi is accused of detonating a bomb he made with a pressure cooker and a cellphone timer in Manhattan's Chelsea section on September 17, 2016 Rahimi is also suspected of planting a bomb in New Jersey, where he was arrested in September 19 After refusing the judge's order to sit down, the suspect was escorted from the room by US marshals and remained outside as a prosecutor delivered her opening statement. After that statement, with jurors out of the room, Rahimi was led back inside and told Berman he had wanted to complain that his brother and three children had recently lost the right to visit him, and his wife had never been allowed to visit. He said prison officials had not explained why. 'I have kept quiet for the entire year,' Rahimi said. Berman reprimanded Rahimi for talking out of turn, but said he would investigate his complaint. 'You have my assurance that now that the issue is on the table, I will intervene,' he said. Rahimi remained in the courtroom for his own lawyer's opening statement. In her opening for the prosecution, Assistant US Attorney Shawn Crowley told jurors that on September 17, 2016, Rahimi detonated a bomb he made with a pressure cooker and a cellphone timer in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. At the time of his arrest, the Afghanistan-born US citizen was carrying a notebook in which he wrote that he was motivated by a radical anti-American ideology inspired by Osama bin Laden 'It blew people off their feet, burned their faces, bloodied their limbs,' she said. Just minutes later, Rahimi planted a second bomb several blocks away, which was found by passersby and removed by authorities before it could explode, Crowley said. Crowley also told jurors that Rahimi planted a bomb on the route of a charity running race in New Jersey, which exploded without injuring anyone. When Rahimi was arrested, the Afghanistan-born US citizen was carrying a notebook in which he wrote that he was motivated by a radical anti-American ideology inspired by Osama bin Laden and others, Crowley said. Meghan Gilligan, a lawyer for Rahimi, told jurors in her brief opening that there were 'some serious questions about the reliability of certain witnesses and certain exhibits' which prosecutors planned to use. 'He is, at the end of the day, a person,' she said of Rahimi. "And he is a person who is presumed innocent.' Rahimi has not been charged with terrorism, but federal lawyers say his interest in jihad, terrorist attacks and terrorist organizations vastly influenced his plans. The government said it is seeking to have an expert witness testify about bin Laden and other terrorist leaders as a primer for jurors and to help explain some writings he made in his journal. Defense lawyers have argued the government is trying to wrongly paint a picture of Rahimi as an extremist. They say federal lawyers have drummed up a 'radicalization' theory. A police officer stands guard at an intersection as members of the FBI investigate a residence in connection to the Chelsea bombing on September 19, 2016 in Elizabeth, New Jersey Rahimi was shot by law enforcement during his arrest two days after the attacks. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. Jurors were expected to see various terrorism-related videotapes, a book, a blood-stained journal with a bullet hole in it and two 2012 emails found during the investigation, after Judge Berman ruled the evidence could be included because they might show motive, intentions, preparation and knowledge of the bombings. They also may hear details of a bomb left in an Elizabeth, New Jersey, trash can, along with video recordings of Rahimi in New Jersey and New York on September 17 and setting off explosives in his backyard two days before the bombing. Prosecutors have said they're not planning to introduce statements Rahimi made in the days after his arrest, gleaned while he was hospitalized and medicated with a breathing tube down his throat. Berman rejected a request to move the trial from New York to Vermont or Washington, DC. Rahimi also has been charged with attempted murder in New Jersey, because authorities say he shot at police officers during his arrest. Details of the shootout won't be included in the federal trial. A Sikh father-of-two who 'brutally' murdered his wife by beheading her with a ceremonial weapon has been jailed for life. Baldeep Singh, 39, carried out the killing of Amandeep Kaur, 35, at their family home after becoming paranoid she was having an affair. A court heard he left his wife with 'utterly brutal and horrific' neck injuries which severed her spinal cord using a Takua - a Sikh weapon of symbolic importance similar to an axe. He then made a phone call to police at 2.50pm on February 3, after seeking advice from his father shortly after the killing. Baldeep Singh (left) carried out the killing of Amandeep Kaur (right) at their family home after becoming paranoid she was having an affair Singh confessed to a stunned call handler and was arrested at the house in Thurmaston, Leicester after police found Amandeep dead upstairs in the bedroom. Earlier this year he pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed for life to serve a minimum of 19 years at Leicester Crown Court on Monday. A judge told the defendant he had been 'consumed with obsessive jealousy' and had subjected her to previous psychological and physical abuse. Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Dean QC said: 'In circumstances that will never be fully explained, you used a weapon to inflict appalling injuries on your wife. 'I find that you used a takua, a Sikh weapon of symbolic ceremonial importance. 'I find that because that's what your wife told her sister you had introduced into the home. She was concerned about it because she knew what you were capable of. 'I don't consider you introduced it for the specific purpose of attacking and killing your wife. 'In my judgement when you brought it into the household it was something at least you contemplated using. 'You'd been consumed over a long period of time with obsessive jealousy of your wife and were controlling her independence in her own life. 'She struggled against your efforts to control her. She'd found a job she enjoyed and it's clear she was sociable. A court heard he left his wife with 'utterly brutal and horrific' neck injuries which severed her spinal cord using a Takua - a Sikh weapon of symbolic importance (stock image) 'You resented that and the fact she enjoyed the company of others. You were convinced, on no basis whatsoever, she was having an affair or affairs. 'There was a background of psychological and physical abuse. You became irrationally obsessed she was having relationships. 'You used the takua, an axe-like implement, to inflict utterly brutal, horrific injuries, severing her spinal cord and inflicting other deep and appalling wounds. 'It's to be hoped her suffering was short, but she must have suffered appallingly in the time of her death. 'I don't think it was planned, but from time to time you would contemplate using extreme violence towards your wife. 'I have heard from Rajiv Kaur, she spoke of what a good person her sister was. It's clear Amandeep suffered in silence the abuse over the years you inflicted upon her. 'She was a loving wife who wanted nothing more than to be loved by you, but you didn't return her feelings. 'Amandeep leaves two daughters who have been profoundly affected by your actions. 'The extended family have suffered grievously as a result of your wicked actions.' Detective Inspector Chris Barratt, of Leicestershire Police, added: 'Due to Singh's actions two young children have lost their mother and he now faces a prison sentence with little or no contact with his children.' Boris Johnson was today told that his leadership manoeuvring risks makingJeremy Corbyn PM. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said there was a real danger that destabilising Theresa May would 'open the door' to Labour taking power. The grim message came as Chancellor Philip Hammond stepped up his warnings about the threat from the hard-left. He apparently urged business chiefs at a Tory conference dinner in Manchester last night not to 'collaborate' with Labour. A poll of Tory grass-roots suggested Mr Johnson's tactic of making high-profile interventions on Brexit is working - as he has once again become their favourite as next leader. Some 21 per cent wanted him to get the top job in the survey by the ConservativeHome website, up from a record low of just 7 per cent last month. He was well ahead of his nearest rival, cult backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was on 15 per cent. However, in a sign that Tories are not altogether happy with the choice on offer 'other' scored more than 18 per cent. A poll released today shows the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is once again favourite with the party's grassroots to take over from Theresa May Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said there was a real danger that destabilising Theresa May would 'open the door' to Labour taking power Mr Johnson, pictured out for a run in Manchester today, has faced a furious backlash from MPs and Cabinet colleagues over leadership manoeuvring that has seen him draw a series of Brexit red lines Mr Johnson's decision to set out Brexit 'red lines' in public has triggered a huge backlash from MPs and Cabinet colleagues as the party gathers for its conference in Manchester this week. Mr Hunt added his voice to the criticism today, saying that all ministers should 'pull in behind' Mrs May. Asked by the Guardian if he feared Mr Johnson was 'looking for the top job,' Mr Hunt said: 'All I would say to anyone who might be eyeing a different job is that Jeremy Corbyn is also eyeing a different job. 'And if they don't swing behind Theresa, who I think is doing a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances, they will just open the door to Jeremy Corbyn and probably the most dangerous Left-wing government this country has ever seen.' In interviews today, embattled Mrs May insisted she 'doesn't set red lines' for ministers as she dodged questions about what Mr Johnson would need to do to get sacked. The Prime Minister said she did not want a team of 'yes men' in her Cabinet as she tried to play down Tory infighting that has overshadowed the party's conference in Manchester this week. She said despite her weakened position following the disastrous election the gathering had set out proposals to help students with tuition fees, reduce inequality and improve life for struggling families. Asked during a round of broadcast interviews what 'red lines' she was setting for Mr Johnson, she replied: 'I don't set those kind of red lines.' She added: 'All I would say is actually I think leadership is about ensuring you have a team of people who aren't yes men, but a team of people of different voices around the table, so you can discuss matters, come to an agreement and then put that Government view forward, and that's exactly what we've done.' Mr Johnson, whose keynote conference speech later will be trawled over for signs of disloyalty, insisted last night that he is in complete agreement with the vision for Brexit set out by Mrs May. He told BBC Newsnight: 'Contrary to some of the stuff that I notice has been knocking around in the media, you have a Cabinet that is totally united behind every comma, every full stop, every syllable of the Prime Minister's excellent Florence speech. Chancellor Philip Hammond stepped up his warnings about the threat from the hard-left last night, apparently urging business chiefs at a dinner not to 'collaborate' with Labour Jacob Rees-Mogg, who came second in the poll, was confronted by protesters at a Tory conference fringe event today 'That's the agenda that we're going to deliver and we're going to deliver a great Brexit for this country.' Speaking at a 400-a-head private dinner for business chiefs in Manchester last night, Mr Hammond reportedly said: 'I know you don't engage in party political activity but I expect you to face up to when the principles that undermine our economic structure and your business are placed at risk.' According to Politico he added: 'You have to decide to combat this menace or collaborate with it and let it get into power.' The comments come after Mr Hammond used his keynote speech yesterday to highlight the danger of Labour effectively abandoning the free market system. The PM's effective deputy Damian Green has said publicly setting Brexit red lines - as Mr Johnson has over the length of the transition period and adopting new rules from Brussels - risked undermining negotiations with the EU. Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who oversaw a Tory surge north of the border in June, aimed a pointed jibe at Mr Johnson, with whom she has clashed in the past. Asked to explain his behaviour, Ms Davidson told a fringe event at the conference: 'If I was able to interpret the actions and the thought process behind the actions of the Foreign Secretary then I think I could make a better living doing that than I do now.' When she was asked if she was a female Boris Johnson, she joked: 'I think it's fair to say I don't speak as much Greek as the Foreign Secretary.' Ms Davidson also took a swipe at the PM's inability to enforce discipline on her top team. 'I have a lot of MSPs at this conference - if any of you think about writing anything without telling me that runs counter to Conservative policy, you're out on your ear because nobody is unsackable,' she said. Mrs May, pictured in Manchester with husband Philip today, has been facing speculation about her leadership Mrs May was in the audience at the Conservative conference in Manchester today to hear speeches by her team including Chancellor Philip Hammond Mr Johnson, pictured running in Manchester today, has recovered after his popularity appeared to slump in the poll last month Hundreds of people are lining up for hours to donate blood in the wake of the horror Las Vegas shooting that left 59 dead and more than 500 injured. Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo stressed the need for blood donations on Monday morning in order to help the hundreds of victims fighting for their lives in hospital. Police revealed that anyone who wanted to help could give blood at one of two locations in Las Vegas and nearby Henderson. A large group of people gather to donate blood at a special United Blood Services drive at a University Medical Center facility to help victims of the mass shooting Hundreds of people flooded blood donation centers in Las Vegas on Monday morning after 59 people were shot dead and more than 500 injured at a country music festival Richard Williams of Nevada smiles as United Blood Services phlebotomist Sha-Na Hill takes his blood at a special United Blood Services drive at a University Medical Center facility First thing Monday morning, hundreds of people were spotted already lining up outside the the donation centers as news flooded in of the deadly shooting rampage. Las Vegas police say a blood drive is also being planned. Uber announced they would be offering free rides to and from the United Blood Services on Monday for those wanting to donate. Authorities said Monday that it would take time to identify all of the injured and dead in what was the deadliest mass shooting in US history. Police have already set up a hotline (866 535-5654) to report missing people. Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Village from a room across the street in the Mandalay Bay Hotel shortly after 10pm on Sunday. Hundreds of people were spotted already lining up outside the the donation centers first thing Monday morning Some people were waiting up to five hours to donate their much-needed blood Hundreds of people lined up outside this blood bank donation center in Las Vegas on Monday Las Vegas police say a blood drive is also being planned to help the hundreds of victims fighting for their lives in hospital People started lining up before the sun even rose (above) on Monday morning in anticipation of the need for blood supplies to help the injured Las Vegas Metropolitan Police believe Paddock killed himself before officers breached the hotel room on the 32nd floor where he had been holed up for several days. Officers found him among an 'arsenal' of weapons and ammunition, including at least 10 guns. Paddock had been staying at the hotel since September 28. Terrifying footage from the scene shows concert-goers reacting with confusion and then panic as the festival turned into a bloodbath around them. Video from close to the stage shows people hitting the floor as others crawl to safety or run for their lives. Audio from further back in the crowd captured several bursts of sustained automatic gunfire. Witnesses said 'hundreds' of rounds of ammunition were emptied into the crowd, with Paddock stopping several times to reload as he carried out his massacre. Three people lie on the ground, one covered in blood, after the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Sunday night Stephen Paddock, 64, carried out the massacre after opening fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday night People scramble over barriers to get to safety as the gunfire rages on at the Las Vegas event Two broken windows on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel could be clearly seen from the Route 91 Harvest stage on Monday morning in the aftermath of the deadly shooting Mary Heller, 64, was arrested and charged with three felony counts of neglect of a dependent in Decatur, Indiana An Indiana woman accused of keeping two girls confined at a home for years allegedly failed to educate the now teenage youths, who told authorities their mother 'gave up on (them) a long time ago.' Mary Heller, 64, was arrested and charged with three felony counts of neglect of a dependent after authorities found her two teen girls living in deplorable conditions without food in a home in the 1000 block of Twin Lakes Drive in Decatur,WANE reported. Court documents say police found the girls emaciated and pale when officers arrived at their filthy Decatur home in January. A woman, who has not been publicly identified, told authorities that the girls' cousin had asked her and another woman to check on the girls, whose names have not been released. When they went to the residence, one of the girls answered the door and appeared 'very skinny, having a pale looking complexion, greasy long black hair, and her lips were dry and cracked,' according to the affidavit. The woman said the home had a 'foul, strong odor,' according to the affidavit. They took the two teens to McDonald's and the girls had 'had no clue as to how to order or what they wanted,' the affidavit said. Scroll down for video Heller is accused of keeping two girls confined at home (above) for years and allegedly failed to educate the now teenage youths, who told authorities their mother 'gave up on (them) a long time ago' They also had 'no social skills', and indicated they do not eat very much, the affidavit said. After they finished eating, the women took the two teens to a nearby Walmart to purchase basic food items. According to the affidavit, while inside, one of the girls said: 'I always dreamed of this, going to the store.' The next day, Heller called 911 saying she was unable to get up from the bathroom floor for 'approximately 20 hours.' While inside the home, medics reported that it smelled like 'rotting flesh,' the affidavit said. In addition, a medic recalled in the affidavit that one of the teens appeared 'skinny and dirty looking'. The teens told officers their mother only allowed them outside to get the mail or newspapers and pulled them from school years ago. A psychologist found that the sisters suffered psychological trauma from 'neglect and isolation.' Heller was released on bond last week after a judge entered a not guilty plea on her behalf. A telephone listing for the woman rang unanswered Monday. The girls were placed into the custody of Child Protective Services. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been derisively calling Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner 'The Royal Family' behind their backs. Ian Bremmer, a New York University political science professor and Time magazine columnist who is close to Tillerson and defends him regularly, made that claim Sunday on Twitter. 'Tillerson has lately taken to calling Jared & Ivanka "the royal family",' he tweeted. 'He's not expecting to be there long.' Tillerson found himself on the receiving end of harsh criticism from President Donald Trump over the weekend, sending a signal that the two men are feuding. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is reportedly calling Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump 'the royal family' in private Kushner (left) is married to Ms. Trump (right), and both are senior White House aides President Donald Trump (left) is feuding with Tillerson over how to handle North Korea Following news that Tillerson had confirmed that there are direct diplomatic talks between the U.S. and North Korea, the president tweeted a point-blank humiliation. 'I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!' The implication that Trump envisions only military solutions to the nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula directly undermined Tillerson's efforts. Worse, it laid waste to his international credibility, weakening him in future negotiations with adversaries who will wonder if the president has his back. Hours after Trump attacked Tillerson, a senior White House official told CNN that the administration is 'still committed to a diplomatic approach' as Kim Jong-Un's totalitarian government marches toward nuclear weapons readiness. Bremmer called Trump's broadside '[the] stupidest tweet on national security I've ever seen from a sitting head of state.' Ian Bremmer, an NYU political scientist who knows Tillerson, made the startling claim about the diplomat's new nickname for the couple previously known as 'Javanka' Bremmer is also a columnist at Time magazine and an outspoken critic of Trump's foreign policy leanings By Sunday morning a Politico magazine feature was openly asking whether Tillerson should resign. It's unclear why Bremmer would spread a rumor that Tillerson has a mocking nickname for the president's elder daughter and her husband, both of whom are senior White House officials. Bremmer has been a staunch Tillerson backer, saying over the weekend on Twitter that 'Trump doesn't remotely understand U.S. national security.' The Axios news website reports that Ivanka and Jared onc esneeringly dubbed 'Javanka' by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, have receded into more traditional West Wing roles. North Korean despot Kim Jong-Un is racing to develop a nuclear missile, and the U.S. is threatening military action Trump publicly embarrassed Tillerson over the weekend, telling him not to bother negotiating with Pyongang Their dual status as both Trump's senior aides and his family members has created resentments among their White House peers. Now both feel beset by constant attacks from Trump enemies who are using them as a proxy to attack the president. Having outlasted both Bannon and former chief of staff Reince Priebus, they have become content to follow the lead of new chief John Kelly. Kelly has professionalized Trump's previously chaotic managaement structure and exercised strict control over who can and can't see the president. 'Now there are proper channels, and they're just doing what they're supposed to be doing,' an insider said of them, according to Axios. An adorable video shows the heartwarming moment a military dad meets his newborn daughter for the first time. The unnamed dad had just got off the plane at Sacramento, California, after a five-month deployment in Afghanistan. A huge smile spreads across his face as he sees his wife and baby daughter waiting for him. A heartwarming video shows a dad arriving at an airport in Sacramento, California, after a five-month deployment in Afghanistan A huge smile spreads across his face as he sees his wife and baby daughter waiting for him. He embraces his wife with tears in his eyes and they hug for several seconds He then turns his attention to his newborn baby who is dressed in pink. 'She's so tiny,' he says The man embraces his wife with tears in his eyes. They hug for several seconds before he turns his attention to the tiny infant dressed in pink. 'She's so tiny,' he says. The mom passes the baby over to the dad who is overcome with emotion as he holds her for the first time. The family of three poses for pictures as onlookers cheer. The video was taken by another family member on a cell phone in 2013, but is now going viral. The husband of a police detective has been charged with her murder after the mother-of-three's body was discovered in a lake. Leanne McKie, 39, a serving Greater Manchester Police officer, was found dead in Poynton Park, Cheshire on Friday. Her husband, fellow officer Darren McKie, was arrested on suspicion of murder and has now been charged by detectives investigating the case. The 43-year-old sergeant, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, is due before South and East Cheshire Magistrates' Court tomorrow. Darren McKie (right) has been charged with the murder of his wife and fellow police officer Leanne McKie (shown left) Police are keen to speak to anyone who may have saw Mrs McKie's red Mini, registration number DA12 DFO, at anytime on Thursday or Friday A formal identification of the body has not yet taken place but it is believed to be Mrs McKie. A photo posted on Facebook shows the police officer beaming with her family A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said: 'Darren McKie was arrested in the early hours of Friday after the body of Leanne McKie was found in a lake at Poynton Park. 'He was subsequently charged with murder today and has been remanded in police custody to appear at South and East Cheshire Magistrates' Court tomorrow.' Cheshire Police were called to Poynton Park at about 3.45am on Friday after reports of a body, which was soon identified as Mrs McKie. The mother-of-three joined Greater Manchester Police in 2001 and worked in the force's serious sexual offences unit. Neighbours said the couple had only moved into their Cheshire home a few weeks ago, after refurbishing the detached property. They had been renting a home nearby while the house was under renovation. One neighbour described Leanne as 'a lovely lady'. Earlier on Monday, police said they wanted to speak to a group of four people who walked past the lake off London Road North at 12.15am on Friday. Detectives said they were keen to hear from anyone who was in the area around Poynton Park between 11.30pm on September 28 and 3.30am the following day. They also reiterated their appeal to anyone who believes they may have seen the mother-of-three's red Mini car. The car's registration reads DA12 DFO, with detectives keen to speak to anyone who caught a glimpse of the vehicle on Thursday or Friday. Mrs McKie joined Greater Manchester Police in 2001 and worked in the force's serious sexual offences unit Neighbours said the couple had only moved into their Cheshire home a few weeks ago, after refurbishing the detached property Detectives said they were keen to hear from anyone who was in the area around Poynton Park between 11.30pm on September 28 and 3.30am the following day Cheshire Police were called to Poynton Park at about 3.45am on Friday after reports of a body, which was soon identified as Mrs McKie Detective Inspector Adam Waller said: 'The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Leanne's death is ongoing and we are following a number of inquiries. 'Leanne was a devoted mum of three young children and a dedicated officer who worked tirelessly to support victims of crime. 'Her family, friends and colleagues have been left totally devastated by her death and she will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her. 'I urge anyone who has any information that could assist our investigation, no matter how small, to get in touch.' Anyone with any information should contact Cheshire Police on 101 quoting 93 of 29/9/2017. Information can also be reported anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111. Justice Minister Philip Lee today claimed it was not far to ask younger voters to pay more tax to fund the 'ponzi' scheme NHS because it would collapse A Conservative minister today claimed it was not far to ask younger voters to pay more tax to fund the 'ponzi' scheme NHS because it would collapse. Justice Minister Philip Lee will face condemnation for any hint that ploughing taxpayer cash into the NHS is a fraud on the public. Dr Lee - who was an NHS doctor - said young taxpayers should not have to pay for a health service that would collapse before they were old enough to be relying on it. He made the remark at a Social Market Foundation fringe meeting at the Conservative Conference in Manchester. The MP said: 'But you have to ask yourself the question, when confronted by significant liabilities that we currently can't meet: do we tax work or do we levy assets? 'It ain't more complicated than that, really. So, we have to find a way. 'Now we can talk about the threshold, we can try to have a debate. But fundamentally, when it comes to the under 44s, to say to them, Oh, by the way, we're going to tax you even more in work, whilst you're struggling with a family, whilst you're wondering about whether you're going to be paying for your kids' education, all those sorts of things, oh, by the way, we're also going to tax you even more because this Ponzi scheme that we've had in play for pensions and for healthcare and for social care for the past thirty years is about to collapse, so therefore we want you to work really, really hard, but when you get to 65, it's not going to be there. 'Hands up who thinks that's a really compelling narrative?' In further remarks at the same event, Dr Lee said 'natural wastage' was the biggest crisis facing the Conservatives and warned in a decade the party would be in a 'losing position'. Cabinet minsters addressed a near empty conference hall in Manchester today as only scores of activists turned out in the hall The junior justice minister made his admission on the conference fringe as a string of Cabinet ministers addressed a near empty hall in Manchester. Dr Lee said: 'I do think it is hugely important, in fact I'd say this issue [appealing to younger voters], the challenge the Conservative party faces, is the challenge, actually. 'Nick Clegg made some headlines recently for saying basically that Brexit wouldn't have happened because of natural wastage now. 'Rather unpalatable, but I wonder actually, in ten years' time, because of natural wastage, whether we're going to be in a similar losing position.' A five-year-old white girl fostered by a Muslim family wants to go back into their care because she 'misses' them (girl and family not pictured) A five-year-old white Christian girl taken away from her Muslim foster parents over claims they 'spoke Arabic' wants to go back into their care because she 'misses' them. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sent to live with the carers by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. But allegations later emerged that they wore an Islamic veil, spoke Arabic at home and took away her crucifix necklace. The family court was today told how, despite being placed in her grandmother's care following the claims, it is still possible the girl will return to the foster system. She is said to have 'expressed a view' to see her foster family and 'missed' being with them, the hearing was also told. Judge Khatun Sapnara said the youngster is dual-nationality and her maternal grandparents hoped to return with the girl to their country of origin, which cannot be reported for legal reasons. But if that is not allowed, the girl, a native English speaker, may re-enter the care system. Addressing the mother's solicitor, Brian Jubb, the judge said: 'The mother in her statement says she wishes for the child to remain in this country. 'I can't force them [the child's grandparents] to remain here and they don't want to remain here. 'In those circumstances, is the mother saying the child should return to [the country] with the grandparents, or she would prefer the child to remain in long term foster care in this country?' Mr Jubb said: 'Her position at the moment is that so far as placement outside the jurisdiction is concerned, she is opposed to that.' The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sent to live with the carers by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (file photo, Tower Hamlets) The issues resolution hearing today also heard there was an 'interesting and robust' defence against allegations about the Muslim foster carers. Judge Sapnara said the London Borough of Tower Hamlets had handed an assessment to the court which contested allegations about the carers. She said: '[There are] suggestions for example that the maternal grandmother herself is dismissive of those concerns and is very upset by them and in fact has a warm relationship with one of the foster carers, as does the child, with the child expressing a view to wanting to see that foster carer and saying she misses the foster carer and a child in the same placement. 'There are all sorts of other responses to other allegations surrounding the wearing of the crucifix, whether or not the foster carers spoke English or Arabic in the home, as well as referring to negative comments about Easter and Christmas. 'It addresses all of those and in fact makes very interesting reading.' She added: 'I'm making no findings one or the other about the truth of allegations made against the foster carers, but it seems to me this provides the alternative narrative, if I can put it like that.' It was said the council will prepare another report responding to allegations about the carer, which will be given to the court. A further hearing was scheduled for November 3 at 10am. Police in New York City are stepping up security measures in what has been described as 'strategic locations' in the wake of Sunday nights deadly massacre in Las Vegas that has left at least 59 dead and more than 527 wounded. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said on Monday there have been no specific threats to New York City. O'Neill offered his thoughts on the mass shooting, believed to be the deadliest of its kind in modern US history, while speaking at the 16th annual Domestic Violence Training Conference at Police Headquarters. Scroll down for video NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said on Monday, whle speaking at an unrelated event, there have been no specific threats to New York City Crossroads of the world: ounterterrorism units have been deployed in Times Square as a precaution (stock image) Bloodbath: People scramble over barriers to get to safety as the gunfire rages on at the Las Vegas country music festival Sunday night 'Here in New York City, were monitoring the investigation and have deployed personnel to strategic locations out of an abundance of caution,' O'Neill told the audience. 'There are no direct threats to New York City but well certainly be maintaining our vigilance. 'Were keeping everyone affected by the events in Las Vegas in our thoughts and I ask that you do as well.' Additional counterterrorism units have been deployed in Times Square as a precaution, according to CBS New York, on the heels of the devastating attack during the sold-out Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Authorities in Las Vegas have identified the gunman as 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, a resident of nearby Mesquite, Nevada, who they say unloaded thousands of rounds of ammunition on a 22,000-strong crowd of concertgoers while he was holed up in a room on the 32nd story of Mandalay Bay hotel across the street. PICTURED: The man suspected of killing 59 people and injuring 527 when he opened fire on concertgoers Sunday night has been identified as Stephen Paddock Thousands of rounds of ammunition were fired from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay overlooking the concert venue When Clark County officers burst into Paddocks room Sunday night, they found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, surrounded by an arsenal of 10 firearms. As of Monday afternoon, the number of casualties was 59 dead and 527 wounded. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered all flags on government buildings to be lowered to half-staff as a sign of mourning. Once again the nation mourns in the wake of yet another senseless and horrific mass shooting. New York stands with Las Vegas in the aftermath of this heinous and vile act of gun violence and my heart aches for its victims and their loved ones on this darkest of days, he said in a statement. Police departments in major cities around the country are monitoring the situation in Las Vegas. NYPD reassured New Yorkers Monday that there is no direct threat to the city LAPD Chief Charlie Beck tweeted that one of his officers was wounded in the shooting Chicago police tweeted that local authorities are receiving 'real-time updates from their counterparts in Vegas. 'There are no links to Chicago and nothing to indicate it's a part of a larger terror plot,' read the tweet. The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement that one of its off-duty officers was wounded in the attack while attending the country music festival in Las Vegas, but he is expected to make a full recovery. 'The Los Angeles Police Department continues to monitor the events in Las Vegas closely,' the press release read. 'While this appears to be an isolated incident with no apparent threat to Los Angeles, we ask the public to stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings.' A senior US general said he believed controversial Russian military exercises last month involved 'more than 40,000' troops, vastly more than Moscow acknowledged. General Ben Hodges, commander of US ground forces in Europe, said Russia split up the Zapad-2017 (West-2017) drills into smaller events to flout international agreements on reporting military exercises. The Russian defence ministry said the joint drills with Belarus on NATO's eastern flank involved just 12,700 troops and were 'strictly defensive' in nature, but the show of strength caused consternation in Poland and the Baltic states, which only broke free of the Kremlin's grip some 25 years ago. A senior US general said he believed controversial Russian military exercises last month involved 'more than 40,000' troops, vastly more than Moscow acknowledged (stock photo of Russian paratroopers) 'My guess is that there probably were over 40,000 service members in this whole-of-government exercise,' Hodges told reporters. He said Moscow broke up the exercises into smaller drills to skirt international protocols allowing foreign observers to inspect events involving more than 13,000 troops. NATO was invited to send observers to so-called visitors' days. 'But in fact from a professional military standpoint these were all connected,' Hodges said. General Ben Hodges, commander of US ground forces in Europe, said Russia split up the Zapad-2017 (West-2017) drills into smaller events to flout international agreements on reporting military exercises. Pictured: Russian special forces training in Tambov, Russia In the run-up to Zapad, NATO complained about Russian secrecy surrounding the event, warning that Moscow could be hugely underreporting the scale of the exercises. Estonia, Lithuania and Germany all said they thought about 100,000 troops would take part. The war games came with tensions between Russia and NATO at their highest since the Cold War due to the Kremlin's meddling in Ukraine and the US-led alliance bolstering its forces in eastern Europe. The last two editions of Zapad, in 2009 and 2013, involved a simulated nuclear strike against Warsaw according to various officials, though NATO itself has never said this. Hodges said that this time, Russian nuclear drills began after the conclusion of Zapad. 'I did not see in the scenario what I had seen before, where the scenario starts off with nuclear strike on a Western city,' he said. The exercises also involved a display of Russia's 'powerful, sophisticated' electronic warfare techniques, the US general added, without giving further details. A North Carolina substitute teacher was fired after he told a student to 'go back to where you speak Spanish' at a high school in Charlotte. Gary Atta is now facing accusations of racism after another student recorded the altercation and the video was shared on social media. The video shows Atta standing over a male student seated at a desk. The substitute teacher is heard saying: 'Go back to where you speak Spanish if you don't want to speak English.' Students then gasp after hearing their substitute's comment, where the student replies 'that's racist'. Atta responds: 'Okay, I'm a racist right'. Substitute teacher Gary Atta is seen spewing a racist comment to an unidentified male student The altercation began when the Spanish-speaking male student wearing an orange shirt was speaking with a classmate in Spanish. Atta, who was a substitute at South Mecklenburg High School since 2015, approached the student to tell him to stop. This happened at a school where a third of the population is Hispanic. Last year about 31 per cent of students were Hispanic, 26 per cent black and 36 per cent white, according to a district report. South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, has a population where a third of the students are Hispanic The student who recorded the cell phone video wishes to remain anonymous but told WSOCTV, 'It's not right. This is racism.' Senior Edwin Alarcon said: 'For a teacher to just put a student down like that in school where you're supposed to feel safe, it's just not correct.' South Mecklenburg principal Maureen Furr said in a message to parents that officials are reviewing the incident and assured them the substitute was fired. 'At South we seek to create a safe and respectful environment for students and staff, and promote respectful interaction for all,' Furr said. Inmates who went on a 15-hour rampage which caused more than 6million damage to Birmingham's Winson Green prison have been jailed for up to nine years. Luke Mansell, 24, and John Burton, 39, were found guilty of causing a prison mutiny which led to 'destruction on a grand scale' after they stole the keys and released more than 500 inmates out their cells. Ross Wilkinson, 24, Robert Smith, 34, Nathan Weston, 23, all admitted the same charge and have been charged for six years. Burton, who has been charged with 89 offences in the past, was jailed for nine years along with Mansell. Luke Mansell, 24 (left), and John Burton, 39, (right) were found guilty of causing a prison mutiny which led to 'destruction on a grand scale' at Birmingham's Winson Green prison More than 500 inmates were released from their cells and went on a 15-hour riot at the prison before specialist guards retook the wing Security and police activity outside HMP Birmingham in Winson Green, Birmingham, during the prison riot Paramedics entering Birmingham's Winson Green prison after five inmate sparked a riot Mansell was on remand at the time of the riot after being convicted in February 2017 of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm for 'unpalatable' offence in which the victim had his penis branded with hair straighteners, forced him eat his faeces and had his front tooth pulled out with pliers. When sentencing the five men, the judge told Birmingham Crown Court: 'You were unquestionably the ring-leaders and instigators of the mutiny. 'The destruction you few caused and the hostility showed was replicated by the other hundreds of prisoners. 'It was your direct action in allowing you to get hold of the keys, enabled the release of all the other prisoners on the wings.' After hundreds of specially trained 'Tornado' officers were drafted in to put down the disturbance, staff were greeted with the 'graphic evidence' of the violence faced by officers which is said to have a 'profound impact' on staff. The judge said the jail's wings were left 'uninhabitable' and 'there had been destruction on a grand scale'. He added that 'a clear message had to be given to anyone considering this type of action'. The court heard how trouble first flared when prisoners began jumping on the suicide netting on the N wing landing, where threats to take hostages were made by inmates. Ross Wilkinson, 24 (left), Robert Smith, 34 (middle), Nathan Weston, 23 (right), admitted to sparking the prison riot and were given six years behind bars Smith then threatened an officer by asking 'fancy some compensation, guv?' and Wilkinson said he had a syringe. While distracted, Smith snatched the keys from the guard, prompting a prison guard evacuation of the wing. After managing to get out 'just in time', guards tried to shore-up the prison. At one point there was just one single secured external gate between the inmates and possible jail-break. Prisoners took up armed with pool balls, paint pots and makeshift weapons and a television narrowly missed a prison officer's head. An officer caught in the melee described how pool balls bounced off his helmet. These verdicts send a powerful message that violence is never justifiable Thirty sick or ill inmates had to be abandoned during the riot. One officer spoke about the crippling mental effect the riot has had, telling the court: 'I keep thinking about what would have happened if we hadn't got out'. Director at HMP Birmingham, Richard Stedman, added: 'These verdicts send a powerful message that violence is never justifiable and those who endanger prisoners and staff can expect to face the full force of the law and the likelihood of an extended spell behind bars. 'The evidence shown to the court of the sustained aggression of these men during the disturbance underscores the courage of Birmingham's prison team and our colleagues from around the country in quelling the disorder. 'The work of a prison officer can be extraordinarily challenging and I want to pay tribute to the resilience and professionalism of all of our officers and their resolve in the months since to recover and re-open the affected wings.' The court heard how trouble first flared up when prisoners began jumping on the suicide netting on the N wing landing (pictured down the middle), where threats to take hostages were made by inmates Robert Smith and Nathan Weston acted as ringleaders during the disturbance on December 13 last year, instigating the trouble and urging others to join the rampage Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah MP said: 'I visited HMP Birmingham in the aftermath of this incident and heard first-hand from the brave front-line staff that had to deal with this unprecedented level of violence as it unfolded. 'The level of skill, commitment and dedication they displayed in bringing it to a safe conclusion was exemplary and undoubtedly saved many of their fellow colleagues and inmates from harm. 'I want to thank staff at Birmingham prison and those from other establishments who helped to resolve this incident, as well as those from the emergency services who closely supported them.' The sixth 'instigator', 30-year-old Grant Samed, will be sentenced in November. Carl Brookes, 33, and Ross Queen, 30, will be sentenced on Tuesday for taking an unauthorised photo in the prison, during the riot. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been jailed for 20 days by a court in Moscow for calling for an unsanctioned protest. Police detained Mr Navalny on Friday, preventing him from travelling to a rally in a major Russian city, which had received official permission. The charges relate to an upcoming rally in St Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, which had not been sanctioned and was set to take place on president Vladimir Putin's birthday on Saturday. Alexei Navalny at the district court in Moscow, where he was jailed for 20 days after calling for an unsanctioned protest Arguably Russia's most popular opposition politician, Mr Navalny announced his presidential bid last year and inspired a grassroots campaign to support his nomination. He mocked Putin on Twitter after today's ruling. Russian president Vladimir Putin was mocked on Twitter, where the opposition politician and lawyer referred to him as an 'old man' and suggested his jailing was a birthday present '20 days in jail. Old man Putin got so scared of our rallies in the regions and decided to make himself a little present for himself for his birthday,' he Tweeted. The Russian law on public gatherings that was hastily adopted following massive anti-government rallies in 2011-2012 carries 30 days in jail for repeated violations. Mr Navalny's jailing keeps him away from a sanctioned protest happening this weekend on Putin's birthday The 41-year-old lawyer has faced jailings and criminal cases and faces 20 days inside after calling for an unsanctioned protest The Kremlin has dismissed Navalny, who has faced repeated jailings and criminal cases, as an urbanite out of touch with people living in Russia's 11 time zones. But earlier this year the 41-year-old lawyer opened campaign offices in 80 cities and towns, attracting thousands of supporters in areas that lived for decades without political diversity. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders wept at the briefing room podium on Monday as she recalled the heroism of Americans who sacrificed their lives to save others Sunday night amid a hail of bullets in Las Vegas. The usually composed Sanders, a Christian who prays before briefing the media, became visibly choked up after quoting scripture. 'The Gospel of John reminds us that "there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend",' Sanders said. She had trouble making it past the next sentence. With a quivering voice, Sanders declared that 'the memory of those who displayed the ultimate expression of love in the midst of an unimaginable act of hate will never fade.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders fought back tears as she briefed reporters following Sunday night's mass-shooting in Las Vegas The presidential spokeswoman got choked up as she talked about selfless heroes who took action in the face of danger A man lay on top of a woman to protect her from gunfire as others fled an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas Heather Melton, left, says her husband Sonny, right, saved her life as gunfire rang out at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday. He was shot in the back and died, while Heather survived. The two are pictured above showing off their festival passes 'Their examples will serve as an eternal reminder that the American spirit cannot and will not ever be broken,' she said, regaining her composure. Sanders is the daughter of former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who is also a Baptist minister. At least 58 people are confirmed dead at the hand of gunman Stephen Paddock, who fired nonstop on a country music festival crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Donald Trump presided over a moment of silence Monday on the South Lawn of the White House, and ordered U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff. He will visit Las Vegas to fulfill his role as comforter-in-chief on Wednesday. Before taking reporters' questions largely about new calls for tighter gun control Sanders praised three heroes who protected others during Sunday night's chaos. Lindsey Padgett and her fiance Mike Jay returned to the scene of the shooting after the gunfire stopped so they could help others Sanders included Padgett and Jay in her list of heroes, telling the story of how they used their pickup truck to help transport wounded victims to hospitals 'Twenty-nine-year-old Sonny Melton had traveled from Tennessee to Las Vegas for the concert with his wife Heather,' she said. 'When the bullets began raining down from above, Sonny shielded her from danger selflessly giving up his life to save hers. They had been married for just over a year.' Another man, Mike McGarry, 'laid on top of students at the concert to protect them from the gunfire,' she said. McGarry, a financial adviser from Philadelphia, told a Reuters reporter: 'They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life.' Sanders also praised Lindsey Padgett and her fiance Mike Jay, who returned to the scene of the shooting after the gunfire stopped so they could use their pickup truck to help transport wounded victims to hospitals. And she cited an unnamed police officer who saved concertgoer Gail Davis by serving 'as a human shield, protecting her from harm.' President Trump spoke Monday about the shooting, calling it a 'senseless murder' and 'an act of pure evil' 'Multiple police officers, both on duty and off duty, were among those killed or injured,' Sanders said. 'But what these people did for each other says far more about who we are as Americans than the cowardly acts of the killer ever could.' My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down ones life for ones friends. Gospel of John, ch. 15, v. 12-13 Sanders resisted reporters' questions about a re-energized gun control push on Monday. 'Today is a day for consoling survivors and mourning those we've lost,' she said. 'There's a time and place for a political debate but now is the time to unite as a country. This was the scene at the music festival before the assassin opened fire on a crowd of as many as 30,000 people President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence led the White House staff in observing a moment of silence to honor the victims Asked if the president has considered whether he could add something new to the long-raging debate over guns in America, she said: 'I think there will certainly be time for that policy discussion to take place, but that's not the place that we're in at this moment. ... Certainly, I think there's a time for that to happen.' But she cautioned against a rush to pass 'laws that won't ... stop these kinds of things from happening.' The city of Chicago, Sanders noted, saw more than 4,000 shooting victims in 2016. 'They have the strictest gun laws in the country. That certainly hasn't helped there,' she said. The captain of a Trident nuclear submarine has been stripped of his command over claims that he had an affair with a female junior officer. Senior commanders were sent to the vessel in international waters after allegations emerged of an inappropriate relationship with the woman, it was reported. Stuart Armstrong, commanding officer of the Vanguard-class submarine HMS Vigilant, has been relieved of duties while he is under investigation. Stuart Armstrong (pictured) has been suspended from his post after an alleged affair with a female junior officer A senior Ministry of Defence source said the allegations were a duty of care issue. But an MoD spokesman would not confirm the alleged relationship between the captain and a female officer, adding: An investigation is under way. It would be inappropriate to say anything further. All Royal Navy vessels have a no-touching rule banning intimate relationships. However, the Navy is particularly strict about relationships that could affect the chain of command. It is understood that the female officer has not been suspended, and there is no suggestion she has done anything wrong. Asked to comment, Captain Armstrong told the Daily Mirror: Ive not got anything to say at the moment. He lives in Rhu, near Helensburgh in Scotland, and is a keen kayaker, runner and hill walker, according to his profile on the Royal Navy website. He was commander of the nuclear sub HMS Artful from December 2015 until this February, when he took command of HMS Vigilant, which has a crew of 135, including 14 officers. It was reported that other crew members on the sub were told to delete social media accounts to stop news of the allegations being leaked. Armstrong served as the commanding officer of the Vanguard-class submarine HMS Vigilant (pictured) As a captain of a vessel carrying Trident missiles, Captain Armstrong will have access to a safe containing the Prime Ministers letter of last resort, which gives instructions on how to respond if Britain comes under nuclear attack. The affair allegations come after the Navys first female warship captain, Sarah West, was released from her command of the frigate HMS Portland over an affair with a married officer in 2014 claims both denied. Women were banned from serving on submarines until 2011. But in 2014, three female lieutenants became the first in the fleets 113-year history. A Royal Navy spokesman said: We can confirm an investigation is under way, but it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage. Any allegations of wrongdoing are taken very seriously and will be dealt with appropriately. HMS Vigilant, one of four subs armed with Trident missiles, is based at HMNB Clyde in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The Royal Navy said the investigation had no impact on current operations. In January, the MoD revealed that in one year, 57 serving submarine crew members faced charges of disobeying orders, and assault, drink, drug and sex offences while on Trident vessels. Among them was a senior officer accused of other sexual offences not specified. Neighbors in the Florida retirement community where Las Vegas shooter Stephen Craig Paddock spent some of his time say he was just like them, and had the same hopes for a quiet retirement and desire for peace. Or so they thought. Paddock, is suspected of killing at least 58 people and injuring 515 when he opened fire on concertgoers in Las Vegas on Sunday night Stephen Paddock is suspected of killing at least 59 people and injuring 527 when he opened fire on concertgoers Sunday night His former Florida neighbors tell DailyMail.com that they were quizzed by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and Florida Department of Law Enforcement today, scouring Paddock's old neighborhood in suburban Melbourne asking if anyone had heard him rant about politics or religion. And every one they spoke with told DailyMail.com that the 64-year-old Paddock only talked about routine matters of life and gambling. Nothing about politics,' said next-door neighbor Sharon Judy. 'He didn't talk about religion,' said Cecelia Franzen, on the other side of Paddock's $250,000-house. 'Never saw him with guns,' said Jules Rothus, across the street. Those who knew Paddock in the adult 55+ Heritage Isle community say they'd never thought in their wildest imagination that Paddock, whom they referred to as a 'senior citizen,' would kill 59 people and wound 527 in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. Local records show Paddock bought his earthy-colored Mediterranean-style villa on Sansome Circle in May 2013 and sold it two years later for $235,000. 'We moved in at the same time as him,' said Judy, a semi-retired insurance worker. 'He said he bought the place as investment. He told me he liked to speculate on the price of a home going up.' All his neighbors said they rarely saw Paddock, who did tell them he had family in nearby Orlando. Neightbors said the 64-year-old Paddock only talked about routine matters of life and gambling. Nothing about politics,' said next-door neighbor Sharon Judy Neighbors Kathy and Jules Rothus never saw him with a gun 'He came maybe five or six times in the two years he owned the house,' Judy added. 'He said he was a professional gambler and showed me a photo on his cell phone of a slot machine that paid him $20,000.' Paddock also talked of his travels. During the time he owned the house just west of I-95 in Brevard County, Paddock bragged about going to The Philippines and Europe. Paddock, who sprayed bullets into a concert crowd on The Strip from a 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay, wasn't extravagant, Judy added. 'He rented regular mid-sized cars when he came, usually for the weekend,' she said of the tall, often well-dressed man next door. 'His house barely had any furniture.' Rothus said she first talked to Paddock when he came over in 2014 to welcome her and her husband George to the neighborhood. 'We talked quite a bit about the neighborhood,' she said. 'Nothing, but nothing he ever said could've led me to believe he'd do something like this. It's horrible.' Paddock had both hunting and fishing licenses according to public records, as well as his pilot's license, but no criminal record in the state of Nevada Paddock had no prior criminal convictions in the state of Nevada. He was lived just 90 minutes outside Las Vegas in the city of Mesquite, where he purchased a home in a retirement community for just over $369,000 in 2015 according to public records. He lived there with his 62-year-old girlfriend Marilou Danley, the same woman police announced they were seeking to question on Sunday night as they began their investigation into the horrific terror attack. Paddock had both hunting and fishing licenses according to public records, as well as his pilot's license, but no criminal record in the state of Nevada. The retired accountant had worked as an internal auditor at Lockheed Martin for three years in the late 1980s, and previously managed apartment building complexes in Mesquite, Texas and California. Paddock was also the son of Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, a serial bank robber who ended up on the FBI Most Wanted list back in 1969 when he escaped from federal prison in Texas while serving a 20 years sentence. The FBI kept him on the list for the next eight years, and he was eventually found one year after he was removed from the list in 1978 while outside an Oregon Bingo hall. The agency said that the fugitive had been 'diagnosed as psychopathic' and also had possible 'suicidal tendencies.' Phuonh Thanh Nguyen, 53, is the primary suspect in the death if his 77-year-old uncle, Cong Huu Nguyen (pictured) A man who allegedly killed his uncle in his retirement home then fled to Vietnam and committed suicide, police say. Phuong Thanh Nguyen, 53, has been identified as the primary suspect in the death of his 77-year-old uncle, Cong Huu Nguyen. Cong Huu Nguyen's body was found on April 20 in his home at the Little River Glen Senior Center in Fairfax, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, reports the Fairfax Times. He died from upper body trauma, according to the Virginia medical examiner. His death was ruled a homicide. Police believe that Phuong Thanh Nguyen killed his uncle on April 4. The nephew was originally a person of interest in the death. Police say the nephew killed the uncle on April 4 at the Little River Glen Senior Center and then fled to Vietnam, where he died by suicide Back in July, police reported that he had fled to Vietnam on April 5, the day after the killing. He was later found dead in the Southeast Asian country. He is believed to have committed suicide. Detectives say financial gain was the motive in the slaying. " " This illustration depicts the newly identified giant rat Uromys vika, an arboreal rat native to the Solomon Islands. Velizar Simeonovski/The Field Museum The Solomon Islands have, presumably, been home to a species of gigantic arboreal rat for a very long time. But these rats are evidently also very modest, or very rare, or both, because no researchers have been able to clap eyes on one until very recently. That's not to say that nobody knew about these humongous rats. A new paper published in the Journal of Mammalogy describes the 2.2-pound (1-kilogram), 18-inch (46-centimeter) rat species identified by researchers in 2015. But the scientists only found it because they were actively looking for it, and they only knew to do that after being told of its existence by the residents of Vangunu Island in the Solomons, an island group off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea. The residents have myths and even nursery rhymes about the animal. "Vika," the name given to the rodent by the people of the island, inspired its new scientific binomial Uromys vika. Advertisement " " Scientists used the skull retrieved from a dead specimen to rule out other species and identify the U. vika as its own creature. Tyrone Lavery/The Field Museum "It's the first rat discovered in 80 years from the Solomons, and it's not like people haven't been trying it was just so hard to find," said lead author Tyrone Lavery, a post-doctoral researcher at The Field Museum in Chicago, in a press release. Lavery had been hunting for the vika for years, but it was tough because he knew it was arboreal, and so the search had to take place both on the ground and in the trees. Once, in 2012, he found an exceptionally large rat dropping he thought looked promising. A few years later, study coauthor Hikuna Judge, a ranger at the Zaira Resource Management Area on Vangunu, found an extraordinarily large rat with reddish-brown fur that had been crushed by a fallen tree, which matched the description of the vika of legend. The vika most likely eats fruit including coconuts (it chews a hole into the shell), as well as nuts like the ngali. Not much else is known about the anmial, aside from the fact that in addition to being shy, their population is probably shockingly small. Lavery suggests there might be as few as just 100 of the animals alive on Vangunu today, and that number is probably dwindling. In fact, although the rodent has just been discovered, it will quickly be designated as Critically Endangered, due the rapid deforestation of its island habitat. But in the meantime, the vika's scientific discoverers are celebrating this incredible find: "Finding a new mammal is really rare there are probably just a few dozen new mammals discovered every year," said Lavery. Now That's Interesting Non-native rats can be very damaging to island habitats. They stow away on boats and when they arrive on a new island, they begin predating bird eggs and monopolizing food sources. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Trump still had confidence in his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, though didn't believe the US should be talking to North Korea. 'We've been clear that now is not the time to talk,' Huckabee Sanders said from the podium on Monday. 'The only conversations that have taken place, or that would, would be on bringing back Americans who have been detained.' On his second trip to Beijing as the country's top diplomat, Tillerson confirmed that the US and North Korea had been in contact, suggesting he was trying to work some back-channel diplomacy to decrease the nuclear threat. Scroll down for video White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that 'now is not the time to talk' to North Korea, a day after President Trump told his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson not to 'waste his time' on 'Little Rocket Man' President Trump (left) said Sunday that his own Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (right) was wasting time by trying to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over the regime's nuclear and missile testing President Trump may have thrown a wrench into Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's plans to start a dialogue with North Korea by dashing off these two tweets Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is visiting Beijing and revealed Saturday that the United States has direct channels to speak with the North Korean. He also advised that the Americans and the North Koreans needed to 'calm things down' On Sunday afternoon, President Trump tweeted that he 'won't fail' in North Korea like his predecessors Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama President Trump has nicknamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (pictured) 'Little Rocket Man,' for his testing of missiles and nuclear weapons However, President Trump likely killed any chance of that, by putting down Tillerson's efforts in a series of tweets on Sunday. 'I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man...,' Trump tweeted first. 'Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!' Trump also blended two North Korean leaders into one, suggesting 'Rocket Man' had been troubling American presidents for a quarter of a century. 'Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail,' Trump wrote. Kim Jong Un became the ruler of North Korea in 2011 after the death of his father Kim Jong-Il, who took over the regime in 1997. Both leaders have pursued a nuclear weapons program. A reporter asked Huckabee Sanders if the administration was trying to get North Korea back to the table for talks, to which she said no, unless those conversations revolved around the release of the three remaining Americans being held by the regime. 'That would be the only reason for us to have conversations with them at this time,' Huckabee Sanders said. The press secretary added that the US would continue to be 'diplomatic pressure' on North Korea. 'But now is not the time simply to have conversations with North Korea,' she said. 'We've encouraged all of our allies and partners to do more, and we're going to continue to keep all options on the table when it comes to that.' Over the weekend, Tillerson tried to preach caution with the North Koreans, as he also attempted to pressure China to get the regime under control. 'I think the most immediate action that we need is to calm things down,' Tillerson told reporters Saturday, after meeting with Chinese President Xi. 'They're a little overheated now. And I think we need to calm them down first.' A reporter then asked Tillerson if he was referring to words used by President Trump. Trump had adopted the nickname 'Rocket Man' for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, even deploying it during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly. 'I think the whole situation is a bit overheated right now, Tillerson said. 'I think everyone would like for it to calm down.' He added, 'Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles.' 'That would calm things down a lot,' he added, according to Time. Tillerson also acknowledged for the first time Saturday that the US is in direct communication with the North Koreans over their nuclear and rocket tests, according to the New York Times. 'We are probing, so stay tuned,' Tillerson said when asked how he might initiate a conversation with the North Korean dictator. 'We ask, "Would you like to talk?" We have lines of communication with Pyongyang we're not in a dark situation, a blackout,' Tillerson said. 'We have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang,' Trump's secretary of state acknowledged. 'We can talk to them, we do talk to them,' Tillerson said, though wouldn't go as far as describing the communication as an established dialogue. 'We haven't even gotten' that far, Tillseron acknowledged. The sheer brashness of Trump's Sunday morning tweets were greeted with shock by those in the diplomatic world. 'Diplomacy not a favor we dispense but a critical national security tool for ourselves,' wrote Council on Foreign Relations president Richard N. Haass on Twitter Sunday. 'Potus truly misguided here-& SecState should resign,' Haass advised. Britain's biggest ever peacetime repatriation mission has been launched to rescue Monarch's 110,000 stranded passengers. The airline ceased trading today, with all future flights cancelled and nearly 2,000 people left without jobs. Transport secretary Chris Grayling has promised a mass effort will now be executed to bring holidaymakers home, at a cost of 60million. Monarch customers left stranded without flights talk with officials at Birmingham Airport Britain's biggest ever peacetime repatriation mission will be launched to rescue Monarch's 110,000 stranded passengers The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has chartered 34 planes from 16 different airlines, including EasyJet and Qatar Airlines, with passengers expected back over the next two weeks. According to the CAA, there are 32,503 passengers in Spain, 9,553 in Portugal, 3,661 in Italy, 2,086 in Croatia and 1,924 in Turkey. While a further 1,921 are stranded in Cyprus, 1,759 in Gibraltar, 1,131 in Greece, 650 in Israel and 605 in Sweden. The CAA believes 56,000 travellers will be home by the end of the week. Monarch, the UK's fifth biggest airline, went into administration in the early hours of this morning. Customers were then sent text messages, where they were told their flights had been cancelled. Transport secretary Chris Grayling has promised a mass effort will now be executed to bring stranded Brits home, at a cost of 60million Mr Grayling said: 'This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK. 'That is why I have immediately ordered the country's biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded abroad. 'This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation.' But while the Government focuses on bringing people home, three quarters of a million people could be left out of pocket - due to future bookings with the travel firm. Administrators KPMG said 1,858 of around 2,100 people employed across Monarch's airline and tour group had now been made redundant. Ninety-eight of these were employed by Monarch Travel Group, while 1,760 were employees of Monarch Airlines. Monarch staff pick up their belongings from the airlines head office in Luton this morning Two Monarch staff sob at its Luton headquarters as more than 2,100 people lost their jobs today The remaining employees will help with the administration process, and assist the CAA in bringing holidaymakers abroad back to the UK. Administrator Blair Nimmo said it had prioritised contacting staff to let them know how they would be affected by the administration. He said: 'Regrettably, with the business no longer able to fly, a significant number of redundancies were made. 'Over the coming days, my team will be doing all it can to assist the employees in submitting claims to the Redundancy Payments Office for monies owed.' Mr Nimmo said Monarch had struggled with mounting costs and competitive market conditions that saw it suffer a period of sustained losses. Sobbing Monarch staff who found out they'd lost their jobs by EMAIL box up their belongings and drown their sorrows in airport Wetherspoons bars as airline collapses and cancels 750,000 furious customers' flights by Martin Robinson and Amie Gordon Monarch staff sobbed as they cleared their desks today and drowned their sorrows in airport bars after coming to work only to learn the airline collapsed overnight. Administrators have confirmed 1,858 workers have been made redundant. The majority of the staff - including some who had been there 38 years - were told in an email. Workers at its Luton Airport headquarters hugged each other and wiped away tears as they carried their belongings in boxes and bags to their cars. A tearful Monarch worker hugs a security guard at the Luton headquarters today after clearing her desk. 2,100 staff have lost their jobs and left with their belongings today Staff were seen leaving the building from a back entrance after clearing out their desks and they drove away from the airport in their vehicles tooting their car horns as they left. Some defiant workers left a briefing laughing, waving banners and drinking champagne as they decided to celebrate all the years they'd worked for Monarch. Pubs in Luton offered free food and drink to people left without a job while air crew elsewhere have been drowning their sorrows in a Gatwick Airport Wetherspoon pub since early this morning. Staff were summoned to the airport to discuss the overnight announcement that the firm would be ceasing trade. The pub was packed out with Monarch staff who could be seen chatting closely and hugging. One air hostess, who had worked for the firm for three years, said: 'I touched down at not long after midnight and checked my emails and there was an email from management. Some cabin crew smile and has a glass of sparkling wine as they displayed gallows humour today 'They just said this was something they never had wanted to announce. I was stunned, there was no sign anything like that was coming. 'I went home and had a short sleep and came back in this morning, there was a Q&A and they told us we can apply for redundancy'. Holidaymakers John and Zeeta Dowsey, who flew back from Rome, said they were greeted with a smile when they arrived at the airport for their replacement flight. John said: 'We realised a couple of days ago that there was an issue and we were monitoring that. 'The only sad part about it is those people who work for Monarch, they today are in a poor place. 'It was great to have a British passport and go to a British Embassy and say 'we are Monarch refugees', and they could not have been better.' Monarch Airlines check-in desks stand empty after the airline ceased trading at Birmingham Airport A locked-up customer service desk at Manchester Airport today as 2,100 people lost their jobs Sam Booth and Emma Plant said they feared they would be stranded but barely had any delays. Sam said: 'They swept in and just sorted everything out, we weren't delayed at all. (On the flight) we got a muffin, a Qatari-style pasty and a bottle of water.' At least 300,000 future bookings worth 60million and involving up 750,000 customers have also been axed - leaving many out of pocket and left to pay hiked-up prices from rivals to save their holidays. Stephen Dodgson, 60, and wife Lin, 50, were turned away from the Monarch check-in desk in the early hours of this morning. He said: 'We were standing in the queue at 3.15am this morning you could still go on Monarch and book flights.' A group of passengers at Gatwick today after arriving to learn that their flight would not take off Judy Ballard, who was due to fly from Gatwick to Menorca today, said: 'I saw Monarch were still selling flights yesterday evening, that is just awful behaviour.' Alan Jee, 42, said their week had been plunged into chaos after flights for 30 of his friends and family - including fiancee Donna Smith - were also affected. Describing what happened he said: 'Five minutes before we were due to go on the plane they just put an announcement out saying everything's been cancelled and if we want to get flights anywhere else we have to pay for them ourselves. 'My missus just burst straight into tears, and my mother-in-law, and my mum. They (Monarch) are doing absolutely nothing about it whatsoever, they've palmed us off. Builder Alan Jee, 42, from Bournemouth, has been saving 'for years' to pay for his 15,000 'love island' wedding with sweetheart Donna Smith, 40 - but their dream is in tatters today 'No one's told us anything about it, we've tried speaking to Monarch but they've gone into liquidation. They can't get any more flights and we can't get a hotel out here until this is sorted.' Mr Jee, who left his home in Christchurch at midnight on Monday, said he was due to be in the air by 6am, with his stag party originally scheduled to take place later in the week. He said: 'It's been an absolute nightmare so far. I've got to (keep calm) for the kids. I've got another 36 people due to come out this week and I'm not sure if they're going to get out either. 'My missus phoned Monarch yesterday. They told us it's only the package holidays that are going to be cancelled - all our flights will be fine, the rest of our week's going to be fine. 'Then five minutes before we were due to board the plane, they've just told us 'No, nothing - everything's been cancelled'. 'We're stuck here now, we can't find a hotel because everything's been booked. 'We are looking to get flights now from anywhere, even if it's one or two here, four or five on a flight there. But I don't think it's going to happen. I think it's just a joke - an absolute joke.' Have a good week everyone! Monarch chief sent upbeat email telling staff to ignore speculation over airline's future just SEVEN DAYS before it went bust leaving them all without jobs by Jake Wallis Simons The Monarch Airlines chief executive sent an upbeat email telling staff to 'have a good week!' just seven days before it went bust, MailOnline can reveal. Andrew Swaffield told staff to and ignore speculation over airline's future as it nosedived towards administration. But just a week later Monarch collapsed leaving them all without jobs and 110,000 passengers stranded abroad. Driven: Andrew Swaffield, who was brought in to help rescue Monarch, describes himself as 'passionate' about polo and said it consumes him at weekends In his email, airline boss Swaffield criticised Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary's remarks about Monarch's future. 'Michael OLearys recent press statement that Monarch would not survive the winter has caused much consternation, not least amongst our employees judging by the number of you that have written to me about it. He is clearly trying to manage a crisis of his own making with his pilot shortage and his aggressive attack is irresponsible and unhelpful. 'Again, my advice is to ignore him. I realise that speculation and rumour is stressful for you. I cannot stop stories appearing in the media, but I will try to keep you up to date as much as I can. 'These are challenging times, but the best way you can help is as always to continue to look after our customers day in day out, to do your job to the best of your abilities and do not believe everything you read in the press. He signed off with: 'Have a good week everyone wherever you are based.' Polo player: Andrew Swaffield taught himself to play polo and now runs the hugely successful Alcedo team, which won at least two trophies this summer Meanwhile MailOnline can reveal Swaffield splashed out tens of thousands of pounds a year on a private polo team while the business collapsed. The aviation chief plays for his hugely successful Alcedo team which was in action just weeks before Monarch went bust. Experts believe the 50-year-old spends at least 60,000 per season on top flight players and horses. His best player, James Harper, 37, a household name in the polo world, is said to command fees of about 3,000 per game. Unlike Monarch, Alcedo enjoyed an 'outstanding season' this year, according to the prestigious Cowdray Park Polo Club, the 'home of polo' where Princes Charles, William and Harry have also played. But today Monarch bosses were accused of 'picking the pockets of customers' because they launched a new sale on Friday despite being on the brink of collapse. The companys board knew it was going bust on Saturday night but allowed new bookings until minutes before the company collapsed at 3am this morning. The Civil Aviation Authority said Monarch had notified the body it was experiencing 'issues' four and a half weeks ago. Chief executive Andrew Haines said: 'Unfortunately we didn't get final confirmation until 4am this morning and my understanding is that the board resolution to go into administration didn't take place until close to midnight on Saturday night'. An empty check-in desk for Monarch Airlines at Gatwick Airport today as the airline ceased trading at 3am In a letter to staff today, which he described as the update I hoped I would never have to write, airline boss Swaffield explained that the firm had failed despite our best efforts. Monarch had attempted to pivot our airline from short-haul to long-haul to reduce losses, he said, but it was unable to find a deliverable offer from a buyer for its short-haul services. Apologising for the huge inconvenience to customers, Swaffield wrote: We are working with the joint administrators and the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) to do everything we possibly can to help minimise disruption where we can, but are under no illusion as to the problems this will cause. And many suppliers will suffer hugely as a result of our insolvency for which I am equally sorry. Employees, he said, could all hold your heads up high and be proud of what you achieved at Monarch, adding: I cannot tell you how much I wanted to avoid this outcome and how truly sorry I am. Whats the chance of getting a refund? by James Salmon Transport Editor for the Daily Mail The Civil Aviation Authority is arranging free flights to the UK over the next two weeks for around 110,000 Monarch customers who are abroad. But these passengers as well as around three quarters of a million people who were booked to fly in the future may also qualify for refunds for accommodation and other expenses. If your Monarch flight is part of a package holiday booked through a UK travel company, you should have ATOL (Air Travel Organisers Licence) protection. Monarch passengers arrive back at Birmingham Airport after repatriation flights today This means you are guaranteed a refund if a company collapses, and you would be found an alternative flight if you are stranded abroad. It should also cover you for other costs including accommodation. The refund will be organised by the Civil Aviation Authority which issues ATOL certificates. UK travel companies which sell flights and package holidays that involve air travel are required to give customers ATOL protection. If you booked your Monarch flight and then paid for your accommodation separately you will not be ATOL protected. The CAA estimates that around half Monarch customers who are already abroad or were booked on flights in the future are ATOL protected. Those who do not have ATOL protection should be able to claim against their credit card company under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This states that if you pay for something or even part pay on a credit card and it costs between 100 and 30,000 then the credit card company is jointly liable to pay for flights and other losses such as accommodation and expenses. Air Travel Organisers Licence protection will be guaranteed a refund from Monarch, despite the company collapsing For flights costing less than 100, or any flights paid using a debit card, there is another potential safety net in the form of the chargeback scheme. In this case, the customer asks the card provider to ask Monarch for their money back because they have not received the service they paid for. While it is not a legal protection like Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, card companies such Visa, Mastercard and American Express should provide it. Each provider has a different set of terms so youll need to check if you are covered in the first instance. There is a time limit for when you can make a claim. Typically this is 120 days from the date at which you become aware of a problem and 540 days from when you purchased your travel. If you paid through PayPal you need to raise your claim within 180 days of the date you paid for item so you should do this straight away. Claims opened after that period may be refused. Most travel insurance policies do not provide cover if an airline goes bust. Police swarmed the University of Southern California on Monday afternoon following reports of an active shooter. USC had issued an alert to students and staff urging them to stay away from the 610 Childs Way on the University Park Campus or take shelter at about 12.30pm. The school said they were investigating a 'threat or danger to the USC community'. Police are responding to reports of an active shooter at the University of Southern California on Monday afternoon. Pictured above is students being evacuated The LAPD later confirmed there was no evidence of a shooting at the university. Officers said they had conducted a systematic search of the building as a precaution. 'No danger to community,' LAPD officers tweeted about 30 minutes after they first responded. Police were spotted surround the Fertitta Hall at the Marshall School of Business as students were being evacuated. USC had issued an alert to students and staff urging them to stay away from the 610 Childs Way on the University Park Campus or take shelter at about 12.30pm Stephen Paddock (above) may have modified the firearms he used in his attack on Sunday night by adding a device that allowed them to fire faster The lone gunman who massacred at last 59 people and injured another 527 after opening fire on a crowd of concertgoers in Las Vegas on Sunday night may have modified his weapons for maximum carnage. Authorities have yet to share any details about the weapon suspected gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, used to carry out his attack or the 20 other rifles that were found in his room at the Mandalay Bay Resort, but eyewitness accounts and videos offer up some clues. It is likely that Paddock was using either a machine gun or a military-style assault rifle given the number of bullets he was able to fire off with a single pull of the trigger and the distance which they were able to travel, with the victims located across a boulevard and 32 stories below the gunman. Video of the attack also reveals that Paddock may have turned legally-purchased guns into illegal firearms with the addition of a simple and easy to obtain device. The rapid but inconsistent rate of fire that can be heard on some of the videos suggests that something was attached to the gun which allowed it to fire off more bullets with each burst, discharging ammo from the weapon at a much higher rate than is permitted by law. 'This suggests another possibility: that a weapon could have been modified to fire faster, a change to a semiautomatic firearms known as bump or slide fire,' writes The New York Times. 'Such modifications harness the recoil to allow for rapid fire.' Had Paddock been in possession of an automatic weapon such as an M-16 or AK-47 the sound of the gunshots would have been more consistent and far less erratic. He may have instead attached a device such as a hellfire to a semi-automatic weapon, allowing it to fire off more bullets at a far faster rate. The hellfire can be purchased online for just $25 and fits a variety of firearms. 'When firing commences the weapon will recoil and device is pressed against the trigger,' reads the website advertising the device. 'The tension arm in the device causes the gun to move forward again, causing the trigger to be pressed against the trigger finger again. The system utilizes the guns own recoil and inertia.' Keep firing: The bump fire (above) goes over the gun's trigger and links to the weapon's recoil system so that the firearm will continue to shoot until it runs outs of ammunition or the shooter's finger comes off the trigger That same website says that the hellfire is the perfect device for people who want to go 'FULL AUTO SELECT FIRE' but have been able to due to 'red tape' or 'jail time.' The addition of a device like this would mean that Paddock could take out the greatest numbers of victims, with his one-man slaughter now the deadliest massacre in modern US history. It is still technically legal in that there is still only one bullet discharged per trigger pull, with the rate of pulls as opposed to the release of bullets being increased when the device is added to a weapon. Meanwhile, the audio recorded from in and around the scene on Sunday makes it clear that Paddock likely had no military training, something his brother Eric had stressed on Monday in interviews. There were not 'brief, controlled bursts of fire' from the gunman's weapon during the attack but rather 'extended bursts.' Those men and women who have been trained in the military know that 'extended bursts' can cause the weapon to 'overheat' and make it 'difficult to control.' Paddock did not need to be that great a shot thanks to the weapons he was able to obtain and possible modifications he made, which allowed him to easily fire off thousands of bullets into a crowd of 22,000 people who were over 400 yards away from him at the time. The congestion meant that each bullet had a good chance of hitting someone below, with paddock having had almost four full days to plan out his attack after arriving at the Mandalay Bay Resort last Thursday. Gunman's perch: These devices, such as a hellfire, can be easily bought online and added to an legally-purchased weapon to create an illegal firearm that harnesses the recoil (the blown out window's of Paddock's room in the hotel above) Massacre: The weapon will then fire faster and discharge more bullets in each burst, allowing for the greatest possible damage (closer look at the blown out windows at Mandalay Bay) His corner room on the 32nd floor also gave him a variety of angles to take aim at concertgoers, with the retired accountant shooting out two windows in his room. Paddock also had no problem obtaining the ammunition he needed for the attack thanks to Nevada state law, which does not limit ammunition magazine capacities. It is not known how many of the weapons Paddock used that were on his possession, with the frequent gambler taking his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot just moments before a SWAT team was able to break down the door and gain access to his room. The girlfriend of the Las Vegas gunman left her job in Australia after the death of her husband, a long-time friend has revealed. Marilou Danley, who left the United States to travel to the Philippines a fortnight ago, has been ruled out as a person of interest in America's deadliest ever mass shooting. Las Vegas police were initially searching for the 62-year-old woman, before making contact with her in Tokyo where she was at the time of the shooting. Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Ms Danley still had questions to answer over the mass shooting by Stephen Paddock at the country music festival which killed 59 people and left 527 injured. In response to a question asking how she could 'not know that all of that was inside their home?', Mr Lombardo dismissed reports they were 'discontinuing their investigation' into Ms Danley. 'We are continuing the investigation into that female,' he said. 'There are several questions that need to be answered similar to what you proposed but she is currently out of the country.' Scroll down for video Authorities said later Monday morning that Danley is no longer a person of interest in the shooting and is currently out of the country, though it's unclear where exactly she is. Police said Paddock had used Danley's slot card to gamble in the hotel Gunman Stephen Paddock reportedly used her ID to check in to the lavish Mandalay Bay hotel alone, days before he opened fire from a vantage point in his suite. Ms Danley is originally from the Philippines but holds an Australian passport, it has been reported. 'I would never have thought she would be tied up in anything like this,' her friend, who lives in Robina, Queensland, told the Gold Coast Bulletin. The woman said she lived next door to Ms Danley in the Gold Coast suburb of Nerang around 30 years ago. But she has not seen her neighbour of nine years since attending Ms Danley's mother's funeral near Brisbane five or six years ago. 'She is bubbly, petite and full of life,' the 66-year-old woman said. 'She still looks the same.' She added that she visited Ms Danley, who has a daughter and a granddaughter, and stayed with her and her daughter in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2000. Other friends revealed that Ms Danley worked in the gaming industry and had an Australian husband, who has since died, before she moved to the US more than 20 years ago. She was previously married to Geary Danley, who now lives in Arkansas, the Reno Gazette-Journal. They married in Las Vegas in 1990, but jointly filed for divorce in February 2015, according to the Gazette-Journal. Ms Danley has lived in Nevada since 2003, according to records obtained by the One of her sisters, Liza Werner, who still lives in Australia, told the Bulletin: 'I can't comment at the moment. I can't say anything. I'm sorry, sorry.' Stephen Paddock (pictured) used her ID to check into the Mandalay Bay hotel alone Records show that Ms Danley (above) and Paddock lived together in the tiny desert community of Mesquite On her now deleted Facebook page, Ms Danley described herself as a 'proud mom and grandma who lives life to the fullest.' Her LinkedIn page says she is a 'gambling and casino professional' living in Reno. But it's understood that she was sharing a house near Las Vegas with Paddock. The gunman's girlfriend Marilou Danley (pictured) has been located and their home raided by police Records show she and Paddock lived together in a two-bedroom home on Babbling Brook Court in the tiny desert community of Mesquite, which is 80 miles north east of Las Vegas near the Arizona state border. The property cost $396,000 (297,554). The shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, told CBS News that Ms Danley was his brother's girlfriend and that he had met her 'three to four times.' 'They might have got married, but I don't think they're married. She's just his girlfriend,' he said. 'She's a nice lady, I've met her three or four times. She's got a Facebook page, she sends my mom cookies.' Paddock, a 64-year-old retiree from Mesquite, rained heavy fire down on a crowd of over 22,000 at an outdoor country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Concertgoers screamed and ran for their lives Sunday night outside the 44-story hotel after hearing what at first sounded like firecrackers but turned out to be dozens of bullets in rapid-fire bursts. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when the gunman apparently used a hammer-like device to smash out windows in his room and opened fire, the muzzle flashes visible in the dark, authorities said. Eric Paddock, brother of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, speaks to reporters near his home in Orlando, Florida The shooter appeared to fire unhindered for more than 10 minutes as Las Vegas police frantically tried to locate the man in one of the Mandalay Bay hotel towers, according to radio traffic. For several minutes, officers could not tell whether the fire was coming from Mandalay Bay or the neighboring Luxor hotel. SWAT teams using explosives stormed the gunman's hotel room in the gold-colored glass skyscraper and found he had killed himself. Paddock had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles, authorities said. The sheriff said a check of federal and state databases showed Paddock was not on law enforcement authorities' radar before the bloodbath. A broken window at the Mandalay Bay resort is seen in the aftermath of the massacre The Mandalay Bay is seen the morning after a gunmen fired on concert goers in Las Vegas Aaron Rouse, the FBI agent in charge in Las Vegas, said investigators saw no immediate evidence connecting the attack to an international terror organization, despite a claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. Before Sunday's attack, it was the June 2016 massacre, when a gunman who professed support for Muslim extremist groups opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49. Sunday's shooting came more than four months after a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. Almost 90 people were killed by gunmen inspired by ISIS at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris during a performance by Eagles of Death Metal in 2015. Federal investigators are scrutinizing new documents that reveal additional contacts between Russians and longtime Trump Organization attorney Michael Cohen an invitation to an economic conference in Russia during the 2016 campaign. Cohen and the Trump organization have handed over the documents, which reveal efforts by former Trump associate Felix Sater to reach out to Cohen to invite him to a June 2016 conference in St. Petersburg. Sater talked up the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, telling Cohen that Russian President Vladimir Putin might attend, as would top Russian financial leaders, the Washington Post reported. The Moscow-born Sater also told Cohen that Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov could work out a discussion, people familiar with the electronic exchange told the paper. Federal investigators are scrutinizing new documents that reveal additional contacts between Russians and longtime Trump Organization attorney Michael Cohen (left) Cohen had previously had discussions with Sater about a potential Trump Tower Moscow project in 2016. That project never came to fruition. Sater also told Cohen that during the conference he could get introduced to Dmitry Medvedev, the primer minister who stepped in to serve as president between Putin's terms in office. The paper did not obtain the documents, but had them described by people familair with them. Cohen declined the invitation by saying it came too close to the Republican National Convention The timing of the invite puts it within a period of great interest for investigators, including congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller. Donald Trump, then a possible 2012 presidential candidate, arrives at the Pease International Tradeport Wednesday, April 27, 2011 in Portsmouth, N.H. Pictured at far right is Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen June 3 of that year is when music publicist Rob Goldstone contacted Donald Trump Jr. with an offer of dirt on Hillary Clinton, setting in motion a meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer at Trump Tower. The documents also include an additional offer of a partnering with the Trump Organization on a Moscow real estate project although Trump said emphatically during the campaign he had no business dealings with Russia. The offer was from Russian billionaire Sergei Gordeev, to do a residential construction deal in Moscow, and got made in 2015. The discussions were between Cohen and another party, financier Giorgi Rtskhiladze, who told the paper he delivered a 13-page proposal for the Trump development in October 2015. Donald Trump, Tevfik Arif and Felix Sater attend the Trump Soho Launch Party on September 19, 2007 in New York Cohen reached out to Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in 2016 seeking assistance with a Trump Tower Moscow project. Peskov is also mentioned in an email urging Cohen to attend an economic conference The documents also mention a Moscow real estate project with Russian real estate mogul Sergei Gordeev Cohen said in a statement: ''I did not accept this invitation,' and added: 'I have never been to Russia.' In January 2016, Cohen wrote Peskov seeking 'assistance' with a Trump Tower Moscow project. '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,' he wrote the Putin spokesman. Michael Cohen, center, a personal attorney for President Trump, leaves Hart Building after his meeting with the Senate Intelligence Committee to discuss Russian interference in the 2016 election was postponed on September 19, 2017 'Without getting into lengthy specifics. the communication between our two sides has stalled,' Cohen went on, a person familiar with the email told the Washington Post, which reported on the exchange in August. Sater was involved in that deal as well. 'Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,' Sater wrote Cohen. 'I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process,' he wrote, the New York Times reported. The Trump Organization turned over documents being sought by congressional committees in August. Cohen appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee in September. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi asked Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday to convene a special Select Committee on Gun Violence. In a letter, Pelosi, the Democrats' leader in the House, demanded a mechanism in the wake of Sunday night's Las Vegas mass-shooting that would allow for the drafting of 'common sense legislation' to combat gun crime. President Donald Trump 'has been clear that he's a strong supporter of the Second Amendment,' White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Monday afternoon. Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, responded to Sunday's shooting massacre in Las Vegas by calling for a new congressional committee specifically to address gun violence The White House insisted that Monday wasn't the time for political reactions, but for healing At least 58 people were killed when a gunman opened fire Sunday night on a country music festival, shooting from the 32nd floor of a casino hotel Sanders batted away questions about the demand for new gun control measures, insisting that 'this isn't a time for us to go after individuals or organizations.' 'I think that we can have those policy conversations, but today is not that day,' she said. 'There's a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country.' Sanders also warned Congress against drafting 'laws that won't stop these types of things from happening.' She called Monday 'a day of reflection, a day of mourning, a day of gratefulness for those that were saved.' The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans the right to bear arms. Trump's opposition to gun control would be expected to translate into a veto of legislation that upsets the National Rifle Association and other like-minded groups. Still, Pelosi is looking for a platform to articulate liberals' view that restricting the availability of some firearms is a reasonable way to limit gun-related deaths. Democrats in Congress have consistently called for new gun control measures whenever a gunman sheds blood on a large scale Above, the type of weapons found in the Las Vegas shooter's hotel room. Unlike the AR-15 (bottom), the AK-47 (top) can be equipped either as a fully automatic machine gun, or as a semi-automatic rifle that fires one round at a time. The Las Vegas shooting claimed at least 58 lives, making it the worst such mass-murder in modern American history. 'As members of Congress, our words of comfort to the families of the victims of the Las Vegas massacre will ring hollow unless we take long overdue action to ensure that no other family is forced to endure such an unimaginable tragedy,' Pelosi, a California Democrat, wrote to Ryan. She also asked the GOP's House majority to move on a bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Peter King of New York and Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson of California. That legislation aims to expand America's pre-sale background check system to cover all commercial firearms. Monday wasn't Pelosi's first attempt to wish a congressional gun-violence committee into existence. She made an identical plea exactly two years ago, on October 2, 2015. Ryan's predecessor in the speakership, John Boehner, never acted on that request, which followed a shooting on a community college campus in Oregon. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a longtime advocate of gun control laws, said Monday in a statement that '[i]ts time for Congress to get off its a** and do something.' Sanders said hours later that she concurred with the sentiment in general, but not as it applies to firearms laws. 'I actually agree with him that Congress should get up and do something,' she said. 'I'm not sure that it's specific to that, but I think Congress has had several months of doing very little and we'd like to see some actual legislation come through.' Trump's legislative agenda, including an ambitious plan to repeal the Obamacare law, has stalled in Congress largely due to infighting among Republicans. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she believes no Australians have been killed or injured in the horrific Las Vegas shooting. Ms Bishop extended her sympathies on Tuesday to the 58 people killed and more than 500 injured in the worst mass shooting in US history. Stephen Paddock, 64, allegedly opened fire on a crowd of more than 22,000 concert goers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Village shortly after 10pm on Sunday local time. 'I am deeply shocked and saddened by this massacre in Las Vegas. We extend our sympathies to the families of the victims and our thoughts are with those who were injured,' Ms Bishop told Sunrise. 'I have been in contact through out the night with Australia's consul-general in Los Angeles and she has confirmed that at this stage no Australians have been identified as among the victims, either those killed or injured.' Scroll down for video Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she believes no Australians have been killed or injured in the horrific Las Vegas mass shooting on Sunday local time Ms Bishop extended her sympathies on Tuesday to the 58 people killed and more than 500 injured in the worst mass shooting in US history (pictured are concertgoers carrying a victim) Ms Bishop said despite the initial report, 'we are still making urgent inquiries of the local authorities and hospitals in the like' because of the large number of people involved. Las Vegas is a popular holiday destination for Australians and it is believed 365,000 Aussies headed to the city last year. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull tweeted in solidarity with victims on Monday night. When news of the attack broke in Australia, Mr Turnbull took to Twitter to say: 'Australia mourns with America tonight after shocking senseless attack in Las Vegas'. 'Australia mourns with America tonight after shocking senseless attack in Las Vegas,' Mr Turnbull posted on Twitter Monday Three people lie on the ground, one covered in blood, after the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Sunday His tweet followed President Donald Trump's first response on Monday morning. 'My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!' President Trump said. Officers said alleged shooter Paddock was shot and killed after they breached a room in the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where he had stashed an 'arsenal' of weapons used during the massacre. Investigators are now raiding the home Paddock shared with Marilou Danley, his 'companion', who was ruled out as a person of interest. Police located Danley early Monday morning, and after speaking with her, no longer believed she was involved in the shooting. 'LVMPD detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip,' the department said in a statement. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said investigations were still ongoing and police have not yet determined a motive. He was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Lombardo said. 'We have no idea what his belief system was,' he added. President Trump has sent his 'warmest condolences and sympathies' to the victims of the worst mass shooting in American history after at least 50 were killed and 200 wounded in Las Vegas At least 50 people are dead and 200 injured after the Sunday shooting at the Las Vegas music festival Police on guard on the streets outside the Mandalay Bay. The shooter was killed inside the hotel Stephen Paddock, 64, carried out the massacre after opening fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday night A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle during the shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino (left); people take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival (right) Festival-goers, crouch in cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire rained down on crowds People assist a wounded woman at the Tropicana hotel, which is located close to where the Route 91 festival was being held A body lies under a sheet on The Strip in Las Vegas as police secure the area after at least 50 people were killed on Sunday Police detained Marilou Danley, described as Paddock's 'companion' and his roommate, in the early hours of Monday morning. They say they don't believe she was involved in the shooting The gunman appeared to open fire on the Route 91 Harvest festival from the Mandalay Bay Casino. Unconfirmed reports were made of shots at the Bellagio. McCarran International Airport is now gradually reopening Terrifying footage from the scene shows concert-goers reacting with confusion and then panic as the festival turned into a bloodbath around them. Video from close to the stage shows people hitting the floor as others crawl to safety or run for their lives. Audio from further back in the crowd captured several bursts of sustained automatic gunfire. Witnesses said 'hundreds' of rounds of ammunition were emptied into the crowd, with Paddock stopping several times to reload as he carried out his massacre. Among those shot dead at the concert were two off-duty police officers. Attendees said a large number of law enforcement and military personnel had been attending the show. Two on-duty Las Vegas police officers who engaged the shooter have been hospitalized. One of the officers was critically injured, but is now in stable condition after undergoing surgery. The other officer suffered minor injuries. Neither have been identified. Two officers with the Las Angeles police were also injured in the shooting. One is in critical condition and the other is in stable condition. Their names have not been released either. All of the ambulances in the area were been deployed to the location, and victims taken to two hospitals. Danley, Paddock's 'companion,' is described as an Asian woman, around four feet 11 inchest tall and weighing 111lbs A wounded person is walked in on a wheelbarrow as Las Vegas police respond to the active shooter situation First responders and bystanders carry an injured person to an emergency station located at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave - one block north of the shooting People dive for cover at Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada This was the scene at the music festival before the assassin opened fire on the crowds of as many as 30,000 people THE WORLD MOURNS WITH LAS VEGAS JASON ALDEAN - COUNTRY SINGER WHO WAS PERFORMING DURING SHOOTING Singer Jason Aldean later posted on Instagram that he and his team escaped the shooting and were safe. 'It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night,' he wrote IVANKA TRUMP - FIRST DAUGHTER MIKE PENCE - VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. SADIQ KHAN - MAYOR OF LONDON THERESA MAY - PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM MALCOLM TURNBULL - PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA Advertisement An expert in how to handle active shooters struggled to keep his voice steady as he offered advice about how to survive a situation such as the mass attack in Las Vegas because his close friends son was one of the victims shot in the deadly spree. Marty Adcock, who became a police officer after serving in the Marines, is the program manager of the grant-funded Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) program out of Texas State University, which offers courses to teach police and other officials how to prepare regular citizens for unexpected gun attacks. ALERRT was created in 2002 and in 2013 was named the National Standard in Active Shooter Response Training by the FBI. I was called at 1.30 this morning, he told DailyMail.com. My best friend from the Marine Corps, his son whos a paramedic in Los Angeles was there in Vegas on vacation and was shot twice. This is a young man Ive known since the day he came to this earth, but theyve got him listed as a yellow which, in medical terms, you have greens, which is uninjured; yellows, who are what they call less severely injured; reds, who are immediate, who need surgery now; and then you have blacks, who are dead. So thats how they color code it. He was downgraded from a red to a yellow and awaiting surgery right now. He took a round through the chest and one through the abdomen. Hes a good kid, and hes gonna be all right, said Mr Adcock, who wished to keep the young mans name private. While he was trying to provide aid to someone else that was injured, he was shot. No one expects it to happen to them a deadly mass shooting interrupting their ordinary routine. But tragically, it does happen, as the world was reminded this week by the worst mass shooting in US history; gunman Stephen Paddock killed 59 and wounded hundreds more when he opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Gunman Stephen Paddock killed 59 people and injured 527 when he opened fire Sunday night from the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas The victims had been attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival; the shooting currently stands as the worst in United States history Retired NYPD Sgt Louis Rapoli and Lt Trent Lebo of Maryland State Police teach law enforcement officers how to train civilians to behave if faced with an active shooter ALERRT Program Manager Marty Adcock awoke early Monday morning to hear that his friend's son was shot and wounded in the Las Vegas attack Active shooters have taken aim at unsuspecting victims everywhere from offices and salons to schools and nightclubs. And the key to survival, experts say, is preparedness and awareness. Law enforcement officials across the United States are training civilians how to react in active shooter situations, which occur about once every three weeks, according to the FBI; courses such as the ALERRTs Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) are built around achieving that goal and offer an Avoid, Deny, Defend strategy. ALERRT has trained more than 86,500 civilians in the course. Were trying to program that hard drive in the brain, so when something does happen, people will have a response planned and have something to do should a critical incident happen, said instructor Louis Rapoli, who spent 25 years with the NYPD. While he was assigned to the School Counter-terrorism unit, he conducted threat assessments and investigations and trained law enforcement and civilians in active shooter response. Avoid, Deny, Defend may sound like common sense, but in a panic, people often arent thinking clearly; it helps, instructors insist, to have the strategy firmly embedded in their memories beforehand. What to do if faced with an active shooter AVOID: Whether in an indoor or outdoor setting, move away from the attacker as quickly as possible DENY: Lock and/or barricade yourself in a room away from the shooter, turn off the lights and silence phones; the shooter is unlikely to spend much time trying to gain entry and will move on DEFEND: Identify anything that can be used as a weapon and bring the fight to the shooter; if one person attempts to take on the attacker, others are likely to join in If faced with an active shooter who is firing from a height, try to find anything to provide 'hard cover ballistic protection' and put vehicles or other barriers - and as much distance as possible - between the shooter and yourself Learn to identify what gunshots sound like so you will react quickly and immediately put your survival plan into action Rather than play dead, actively move away, try to barricade yourself or fight Advertisement First, civilians stuck in an active shooter situation should attempt to get as far away from the attacker as possible: thats the avoid instruction. If thats not an option, however, they need to deny access to their location, ideally locking a door, creating a barricade and turning off the lights. Even a belt can be used to jam a doorway, for example. Most active shooters want to kill as many people as possible in the shortest space of time, Mr Rapoli said, and will often just move on if they encounter an obstacle that will slow them down. People that are in locked locations dont tend to get killed in active shooter events, he said, describing such attackers as looking for the path of least resistance theyre like water. Finally, if theres no way to avoid or deny the shooter, potential victims need to defend themselves using whatever means necessary and looking around for anything that could be used as a weapon. Retired Sgt Rapoli uses an example of how most police officers, when in a restaurant, will sit near the kitchen; not only does that offer access to a secondary exit, but the kitchen also offers weapons in the form of knives, pots, pans and other items. When he teaches the CRASE course around the country such as on a recent Tuesday morning at East Orange Campus High School in New Jersey, attended by about two dozen law enforcement officers he plays an audio tape of a 911 call from Columbines library, shows an instructional video and offers anecdotes from other infamous and tragic mass shootings in the US. The courses focus heavily on one thing: action. ALERRT never advises playing dead as a strategy and uses the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting as a case study to show that rooms that played dead had higher fatality rates. But tragedies such as the Las Vegas massacre offer their own unique challenges - particularly if victims cant locate the origin of the gunfire. The Avoid, Deny, Defend strategy still applies, Mr Adcock said, but its all about finding yourself in a position where you can look for something that would provide a hard cover ballistic protection to deny them access to you. Referring to the Las Vegas shooting, he said: Where they were at, you could see quite a few of the barricades are just lattice-type bar steelwork that really did not provide a solid barrier. So avoiding, trying to move out of the affected area, getting out of range of the affected area is going to be the biggest thing. So yes, Avoid, Deny Defend still applies, but how do you defend yourself against something like that? he said of the Vegas gunmans high location. He added: Being that its a very flat area out there and the overview of the concert venue from Mandalay Bay is unobstructed, theres real nothing so moving further away, outside the venue, putting vehicles or other barriers between you and the affected area, is going to be your only option on that one. Las Vegas police sweep through a convention center area during a lockdown at the Tropicana Las Vegas following the deadly shooting on the Las Vegas Strip Experts advise people to try to find 'hard cover ballistic protection' to deny an outdoor active shooter access; the Las Vegas gunman took aim from the 32nd floor Civilians are taught through the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) courses to 'Avoid, Deny, Defend' themselves from an active shooter If a gunman opens fire from the ground at such a crowded event, he said: If youre in very close proximity were talking, you know, arms distance, even small room distance or avoiding is not going to be an option, you may have to go, Avoiding or denying is not an option. You may have to go immediately to the defend mode and try to somewhat take the fight to the attacker, get your hands on the weapon. If its a firearm, try to get the weapon pointed to a direction where it cant cause you or anyone else harm. If one person begins to act in self-defense, he said, other potential victims also often step up in an effort overpower the attacker. Once you have started the defense process, normally youre going to see that other people will pile on and help you out so its an immediate trying to enlist others to save themselves, he told DailyMail.com. Civilians also need to learn what gunshots sound like, instructors said, even if that just means playing an audio file to groups being taught by law enforcement officials so that citizens dont attribute the noise to something such as a book falling or a car backfiring. Before the Vegas shooting, Mr Adcock told DailyMail.com there had already been a definite increase in interest from civilians and various community groups who want to receive training. ALERRT's Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events course does not advise people caught up in an active shooting to play dead and instead urges action Karen (51) and Derek Bernard (53) from Los Angeles react following the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday night I probably answer 30 emails a day from citizens around the country asking where can we get this training at so I try to connect them with someone in their local area thats been through the training, he said. Some specific events have spurred those queries, such as the June 2015 shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, he said. We have a huge interest from church communities; the religious communities are reaching out to us a great deal. Instructors urge vigilance and warn against the complacency that comes with routine. Dont think that nothing can happen, Mr Rapoli said. I think people need to go into this with an open mind and realize that anything can happen to be prepared, rather than to not be prepared. If youre not prepared, youre going to default to your training, which is nothing and then bad things are going to happen. So I would say everybody should open their minds and say, Hey, this can happen and be prepared. And despite the sad fact that theres a need for active shooter response training at all, ALERRTs Mr Adcock said it can foster relationships between law enforcement and the community. What I find with most of the officers that go out and teach it, most of them really enjoy going out and teaching it, said Mr Adcock. They look at it as their one opportunity to truly have a positive contact with a citizen because if you think of the contact we have with citizens, theyve been robbed, theyre just been beaten up, had their identify stolen, theyve been in a car wreck. Almost every interaction we have with our citizens is somewhat negative: theyre being pulled over, given a traffic ticket. A lot of the officers look at this as their opportunity to go out and show them we truly do care. Mr Rapoli added: Theres a lot of good work that people are doing in the community, whether its schoolteachers or business or law enforcement reporting things that are observable behaviors. And believe it or not, theres a lot of things that are prevented that you never even hear about. Gender terms like 'male' and 'female' could be stripped from Australian classrooms as a way to make transgender children more comfortable. In a move to make classrooms more gender neutral, body parts could be described by their function rather than their traditional names, according to The Australian. Terms including 'penis and vagina' could be swapped for 'sperm and eggs' and 'erectile tissue' could be used to describe the penis and clitoris if schools were to begin teaching sex education classes with a focus on gender neutrality. Gender term like 'male' and 'female' could be stripped from Australian classrooms as a way to make transgender children more comfortable (stock image) In a move to make classrooms more gender neutral during sex education classes, body parts could be described by their function rather than their traditional names (stock image) A report discussing sex education policies in New Zealand in the Journal of Sex Education has discussed how LGBQTI could influence sex education. The report by Damien Riggs and Clare Bartholomaeus of Flinders University in South Australia calls for gender neutrality that looks further than a 'male with a penis and female with a vagina'. It comes a month after two NSW catholic high school students, who identify as males, won the battle to wear boys' uniforms despite being born female. The Trinity Catholic College allowed the students to use unisex toilets and change their names on the school roll. A report is calling for terms including 'penis' and 'vagina' to be swapped for 'sperm and eggs' (stock image) The college is also reportedly considering a 'gender neutral uniform' for the entire school. As an associate professor in social work, Mr Riggs told the publication gender neutralising sex education could be difficult to understand but it opened up the discussion between parents and children without them getting 'tripped up with the language'. Mr Riggs said neutralising classrooms would reduce unwanted pregnancies and reduce children 'being coerced into having sex they didn't want to have, including transgender kids'. Xi Jinping and 47 other leaders of Communist Party of China membership have been elected as delegates to the Party's 19th National Congress, which opens on Oct 18. Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee as well as China's president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, was elected as a delegate by a unanimous vote at the 12th CPC Guizhou provincial congress in April. The announcement of Xi's election by more than 730 provincial congress delegates won long and warm applause. Other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central CommitteeLi Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoliwere elected delegates, respectively, in the Guangxi Zhuang, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions and Yunnan, Hunan and Shaanxi provinces. They were all nominated by the CPC Central Committee as candidates. These places are major battlefields in poverty alleviation, important places for the Belt and Road Initiative or ethnic minority regions. The choice of places or electoral units where Party and State leaders participate in elections is intended to strengthen Party governance, assist in implementing national development strategies and allow the voices of grassroots Party members to be heard. Party and State leaders did not participate in elections in places like their hometowns or where they have worked, except for holding concurrent posts as Party secretaries of electoral units. Leaders from ethnic minority regions can participate in autonomous regions, according to the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. The fact that Party and State leaders, especially members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, participate in elections in underdeveloped provinces and regions densely populated by ethnic minorities sets an example in the implementation of the Party's and State's major development strategies, said Professor Zhu Lingjun of the CPC Central Committee Party School. The arrangement is important to forming a sound political atmosphere and motivating cadres and citizens, said Professor Wang Yukai, with the Chinese Academy of Governance. "We will try to translate General Secretary Xi's concerns and the CPC Central Committee's poverty eradication policies into better lives that the people can see and enjoy," said Yang Bo, a provincial delegate and a village official in Guizhou. A total of 2,287 delegates have been elected to attend the national congress on behalf of more than 89 million Party members. Xinhua A group of diverse but like-minded individuals, the members of ARC have come together in their common desire to fight hatred, bigotry, intolerance and violence because of the harm these antisocial behaviors cause to our society. In that effort, we will not use or sanction the use of illegal actions (such as violence or intimidation) in pursuit of our desired aims and if we learn of anyone who does use these unethical methods we will report those individuals to the authorities. Instead, we will use the guarantees found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure freedom of legal speech and expression. A 17-year-old boy in Michigan pleaded guilty to the premeditated murder of his half-sister after he admitted to strangling the 18-year-old girl before dumping her body. As part of a plea deal, Savon Schmus admitted to killing his half-sister McKenna Hilton on August 18, 2016 inside their home at Lamberton Lake Apartments in northeast Grand Rapids, Michigan Live reported. Schmus, who was 16 years old at the time of the crime, dumped Hilton's body on Valentine Boulevard near Emerald Lake where a dog walker discovered it, authorities say. The pair lived in the apartment with their father and Hilton's mother. He pleaded guilty to first-degree premeditated murder on Monday in a Grand Rapids Circuit courtroom. As part of a plea deal, Savon Schmus (left) admitted to killing his half-sister McKenna Hilton (right) on August 18, 2016 inside their home at Lamberton Lake Apartments in northeast Grand Rapids. He pleaded guilty to first-degree premeditated murder on Monday In return for the plea, the prosecutors office agreed to not pursue a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The prosecution has recommended that he be sentenced to a minimum of 30 to 40 years in prison as part of the deal. The maximum sentence he could serve behind bars is 60 years. He will be sentenced by a judge on October 30 at 2pm. During the hearing, relatives of Schmus and Hilton gave each other dirty looks across the courtroom, as they are divided over the case, Michigan Live reported. As the court session was adjourned, Stacey Hilton shouted, 'Rot in Hell, Savon.' Schmus, who was 16 years old at the time of the crime, dumped Hilton's (above) body on Valentine Boulevard near Emerald Lake where a dog walker discovered it, authorities say. The pair lived in the apartment with their father and Hilton's mother The two divided families exited the courtroom and continued to exchange angry comments in the hallway. 'It feels like the victim has been lost in all of this,' Melissa Schneider, Hilton's aunt, told the newspaper of Scmus' plea deal. 'They're taking the rights of the criminal over the rights of the victim ... There's no closure for a lost child. It's just the next step, but there's no justice.' Stacey Hilton told the newspaper: 'If anyone deserves life in prison, it would be him. What he did was evil. ' It was heinous. (McKenna Hilton) is missed every day. He took our life and destroyed it. 'If it was 100 years, we would still be grieving.' The mysterious murder of mother-of-three Kath Bergamin 15 years ago could soon be solved after an anonymous letter detailing her abduction was handed into police. Detective Inspector Tim Day said that there were 'intimate details' about the case outlined in the anonymous note, the Herald Sun reports. 'We believe the letter writer's information is genuine. There is some material in the letter that suggests they have either been told what happened to Kath or they were there when she was taken. Kath Bergamin disappeared from her Melbourne home on August 18, 2002, and a coroner found she was murdered and her body dumped in a secret location after she was kidnapped Detective Inspector Tim Day said that there were 'intimate details' about the case contacted in the note, the Herald Sun reports (pictured is Kath Bergamin and estranged husband John) 'I am today appealing for that letter writer to contact us as the information they have could prove vital to us being able to lay murder charges,' he said on Monday. According to police the evidence suggests that more than one person may be involved in her death. To coincide with the letter, further DNA testing will be completed on a figure-eight piece of duct tape that was found in Ms Bergamin's backyard shortly after she was reported missing. Red fibres from a pair of Nike socks the 37-year-old was fond of wearing where found on the tape and its figure-eight formation suggests it might have been used to tie up her legs. There is hope that the $1 million reward announced last year may influence people who have been sitting on information for many years to come forward. 'We know there are people out there, particularly in the local community, who have heard rumours or have been told something by those involved,' Mr Day said. To coincide with the letter, further DNA testing will be completed on a figure-eight piece of duct tape that was found in Ms Bergamin's backyard shortly after she was reported missing (pictured) New evidence, including a piece of duct tape on her bedroom pillow and fibres from her pair of Nike socks, will also be re-tested (pictured above) 'Often you only get one chance to tell your story, and by the time police come knocking on your door it may be too late. 'Fifteen years is a long time to remain silent and we urge anyone involved in Ms Bergamin's disappearance to now consider their own individual position and use this chance to do the right thing and clear their conscience.' A coroner found Ms Bergamin was murdered and her body dumped in a secret location after she was kidnapped from her home on August 18, 2002. But he could not name her killer and the case has confounded police ever since they arrived at her husband's rural house in the rugged Victorian hills to investigate. Ms Bergamin's husband and their three children took no part in media appeals led by her mother and brother The 37-year-old's estranged husband John quickly became the prime suspect. 'She had enough and somehow, God knows how, she found the strength to leave,' Retired senior constable Mick Harvey told Sunday Night. 'That was the key to what she thought was her new life, her freedom.' But a 2006 murder case against him was dropped due to lack of evidence and no other suspects have been charged in the decade since. Mr Bergamin (right) claimed he got home by 6pm on the night of the murder then cooked dinner and watched TV with their eldest son Steven, then 19 (Kath Bergamin pictured left) Mr Bergamin claimed he got home by 6pm on the night of the murder then cooked dinner and watched TV with their eldest son Steven, then 19. However, his mobile phone bounced off a tower near Wangaratta, where Ms Bergamin was now living - 50km from his farm in Cheshunt. The next morning Steve's car was burned in what Mr Bergamin said was an accident caused by him setting the grass on fire with embers from a welder. 'No, I believe it was torched,' Senior Constable Harvey said - the the insurance company, police arson, and the coroner agreed. However, John's (left) mobile phone bounced off a tower near Wangaratta, where Ms Bergamin (pictured right) was now living - 50km from his farm in Cheshunt Police swarmed the farm, combing the property and nearby bushland for a body and even digging up the ground with earthmovers. Rumours circulated that she'd been fed to wild pigs, and her daughter Renee told friends her mother ran away with another man. Ms Bergamin's husband and their three children took no part in media appeals led by her mother and brother. Mr Bergamin answered 'I don't know' or 'no comment' 186 times in a police interview and he and Steven refused to give evidence at the inquest on grounds they might incriminate themselves. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have led international tributes to the victims of the Las Vegas massacre saying they were 'saddened' to hear of the shooting. In a message of condolence to US president Donald Trump, they described the atrocity as a 'terrible attack'. At least 58 people are dead and 515 injured after the 72-minute shooting by a gunman who was in a hotel room 1,200 feet away. Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, had as many as 10 guns, including rifles, when he opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino skyscraper. The Queen's message said: 'Prince Philip and I were saddened to learn of the terrible attack in Las Vegas. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and those who have been injured.' The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh have led international tributes to the victims of the Las Vegas massacre saying they were 'saddened' to hear of the shooting First responders and bystanders carry an injured person to an emergency station located at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave - one block north of the shooting People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after the shooting. One person can be seen with a shirt draped over their face; it's not clear if they are dead Speaking earlier, Theresa May branded the attack 'appalling' and added: 'The UK's thoughts are with the victims and the emergency services.' Meanwhile, Pope Francis said: 'Deeply saddened to learn of the shooting in Las Vegas, Pope Francis sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this senseless tragedy.' Russian President Vladimir Putin added: 'This crime which killed tens of peaceful citizens is shocking in its cruelty.' German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: 'I was shocked by the news from Las Vegas. Our sympathy and condolences go to the relatives and families of the victims.' Police say 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock used automatic weapons to rain down gunfire on a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival Sunday night, from his room across the street in the Mandalay Bay hotel. Headliner Jason Aldean was in the middle of his set just after 10pm when a rumble of gunfire rang out, the sounds of screams and stampeding humans cutting through the country music. The wounded were rushed to waiting ambulances on anything that concert-goers could find, including a wheelbarrow Hundreds of rounds of automatic gunfire were reported by witnesses on the scene; one woman in the Mandalay Bay said that there was a shooter on the 32nd floor, and that they had killed a security guard It took police an hour and 12 minutes from the first 911 call to locate Paddock in the building. They were able to figure out that the shots were coming from the Mandalay Bay, so they worked their way from the bottom up. Once they reached the 32nd floor, authorities say they knew they were in the right place. They used explosives to blow the door off his room, but by then it was too late - Paddock had shot himself dead. It's unclear how long after he first started shooting that Paddock committed suicide. Bystanders on the Las Vegas Strip come to terms with what they've seen after the brutal shooting Police run to cover at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay shooting Inside the room they found an 'arsenal' including 10 rifles. The following morning, pictures of the Mandalay Bay tower showed two windows on the 32nd floor were shattered. It's believed that Paddock was staying in a large suite or connected rooms, and used both to fire down on the crowd from both vantage points. Police say he used a hammer-like device to smash the windows. The mass shooting which left at least 58 dead and 515 injured in Las Vegas on Sunday night has reignited the debate over gun control in the United States. There are those who are in favor of Congress enacting stricter gun laws in the wake of the nation's deadliest mass shooting and those who are opposed to any new limitations on firearms. And then, there is Bill O'Reilly. The disgraced Fox News host weighed in on the national tragedy Monday with a blog post in which he commented on the massacre by stating: 'This is the price of freedom.' O'Reilly, 68, then went on to say that gunman Stephen Paddock and others who have perpetrated mass shootings in this country have every right to 'arm themselves' with weapons 'no matter how threatening they are.' Scroll down for video Speaking out: Bill O'Reilly (above) shared his thoughts on the mass shooting that took the lives of at least 58 people and injured 515 in Las Vegas on Sunday night Change in tune: In June 2016, O'Reilly made a strong call for stricter gun control laws after Muslim Omar Mateen (left) killed 49 people in Orlando (Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock on right) 'Once again, the big downside of American freedom is on gruesome display,' said O'Reilly at the top of his post before going on to describe Paddock as a 'psychotic gunman.' O'Reilly then tossed off a few facts about the case, including the number who were killed and injured as well as some personal details about Paddock and how the crime unfolded from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort. He glossed over the fact that Paddock had stockpiled 20 rifles however, and that these weapons may have been modified to fire off a steady stream of bullets into the helpless crowd of 22,000 people enjoying the Route 91 Harvest Festival. 'The murderer had a number of deadly weapons in his room and you can count on the gun control debate to ramp up,' wrote O'Reilly. 'But having covered scores of gun-related crimes over the years, I can tell you that government restrictions will not stop psychopaths from harming people.' O'Reilly then said that 'psychopaths' would always be able to 'find a way' to carry out horrible attacks like the one that unfolded Sunday, before adding that the 'polarizing' nature of the gun control debate made any chance of a compromise impossible as 'there is no common ground.' It was at that point in his piece that O'Reilly fired off the two lines that have enraged many of his detractors, a technique he has been putting to good use ever since he debuted on Fox News two decades ago. 'This is the price of freedom. Violent nuts are allowed to roam free until they do damage, no matter how threatening they are,' said O'Reilly. 'The Second Amendment is clear that Americans have a right to arm themselves for protection. Even the loons.' Twitter erupted with comments almost immediately after O'Reilly posted his piece, with some doing their best to not engage. '"Not today, Satan. Not today"' wrote columnist and author Charles M. Blow. Others were less successful in their attempt to ignore O'Reilly's opinion on the tragedy, with Justin G writing: 'Bill O'Reilly can eat s***. His sexually harassing opinion is worthless. He should be a registered sex offender.' Columnist and author David Rothkopf offered his own slant of O'Reilly's opinion, stating: 'No, Bill O'Reilly, having to listen to you is the (high) price of freedom. Gun massacres are the price of weak gun laws.' And, of course, there were those who referenced the sexual harassment scandal which led to O'Reilly's departure from Fox News back in April while going after the divorced father-of-two. After seeing that O'Reilly had said the shooting was 'the price of freedom,' writer Elon Green tweeted: 'by coincidence, bill o'reilly also feels that way about sexual harassment.' O'Reilly's slant on the mass shooting was a bit of a surprise, especially since he had begun stating his belief that there should be stricter gun control laws towards the end of his tenure at Fox News. 'There is too much gun crime in the USA, and high-powered weaponry is too easy to get,' O'Reilly said back in June of last year. 'That's the fact. So let's deal with it. We all have the right to bear arms, but we don't have the right to buy and maintain mortars. Even if you feel threatened by gangsters or a New World Order. No bazookas, no Sherman tanks, no hand grenades.' These comments came in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting, which was carried out by American-born Muslim Omar Mateen and had previously been the deadliest shooting in US history. His then-Fox News colleague Gretchen Carlson also had a change of heart in the wake of that tragedy as well, stating: 'Every time we have a mass shooting we talk about guns. Right? Yes. The Orlando massacre was terror. But there's no doubt that Omar Mateen was able to kill so many people because he was firing an AR-15, a military-style assault weapon, a weapon easier to buy in the state of Florida than buying a handgun.' O'Reilly ultimately declared that new laws were 'definitely needed.' That rhetoric was nowhere to be found however in his post on Monday. A Queensland woman has been charged after an 82-year-old man was allegedly stabbed in the back. Police were called to an address on Sportsground Street in Redcliffe just before 7.30pm Monday after reports of a stabbing. The Redcliffe man was taken to Royal Brisbane Hospital following the incident in a critical but stable condition. A Queensland woman has been charged after police were called to a Redcliffe property Monday night over the alleged stabbing of an 82-year-old man (stock image) Police have since charged a 52-year-old woman with one count of attempted murder. The woman is believed to have been known to the man and was found at the scene, officers said. She is expected to appear in Redcliffe Magistrates Court on October 3. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact police on 131 444 or provide information using the online form. A Queensland boy, 10, has become the latest victim of the country's disastrous flu season and is now fighting for his life in hospital, after suffering a mild cough a week prior. Jaymon Gaul was rushed to his local Chinchilla Hospital last Saturday as the virus took hold of his organs and rendered him unresponsive. He was then airlifted to Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane where he remains in the Intensive Care Unit on life support. His mother, Tash, says besides a mild cough her son had been healthy in the days leading up to him being struck down, but now she's just praying she'll hear his voice again. Jaymon Gaul, 10, (pictured) is fighting for his life in hospital after being struck down by Influenza last Saturday Jaymon Gaul was otherwise healthy besides a mild cough before being rushed to his local Chinchilla Hospital, then airlifted to Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane 'I keep talking to him, telling him "please keep fighting and let me hear your voice again",' she told Nine News. She refuses to believe the worst could happen: 'no matter what the doctors tell me, because they have to tell me what can happen, I keep telling them it wont happen,' she said. The young boy isn't only battling a severe case of influenza, he's also fighting a staph infection, a blood clot on his leg and a collapsed lung. He had injured his leg in a fall a few days prior to being admitted, which is believed to have made his condition worse. His mother, Tash, says besides a mild cough her son had been healthy in the days leading up to him being struck down The young boy isn't only battling a severe case of influenza, he's also fighting a staph infection, a blood clot on his leg and a collapsed lung Jaymon was airlifted to Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Brisbane where he remains in the Intensive Care Unit on life support The music-mad youngster must undergo daily blood transfusions as part of his treatment and will likely require months worth of round-the-clock care, including physiotherapy, to help his body recover. Ms Millar and the boy's father continue to commute back and fourth from Chinchilla hospital so his siblings can visit him. Experts from the Influenza Specialist Group estimate that influenza's various strains can cause more than 18,000 hospitalisations each year, with up to 20 per cent of the population becoming afflicted. Ms Millar (pictured) refuses to believe the worst could happen: 'no matter what the doctors tell me, because they have to tell me what can happen, I keep telling them it wont happen,' she said The music-mad youngster must undergo daily blood transfusions as part of his treatment and will likely require months worth of round-the-clock care This year the flu season is believed to have peaked mid-August, affecting double the number of people than it did last year, with more than 180,000 people falling ill. NSW recorded the highest number of flu cases with 288 flu related deaths, including three children, while in Victoria there were 95 flu related deaths. Nathan Brown, 19, died Friday morning following a battle against influenza A, which saw him admitted to hospital in August and put into a medically induced coma. New South Wales teen Nathan Brown (pictured) has become the latest victim of Australia's deadly flu outbreak after he died Friday morning He had been suffering complications including kidney failure, acute pneumonia, a staph infection and collapsed lungs, according to the Newcastle Herald . The 19-year-old death comes just days after a Canberra mother-of-two died as a result of influenza. Jennifer Thew died from acute respiratory distress syndrome after she and her seven-year-old daughter caught the flu. Australia has seen its worst flu season in years, with hundreds dying from the illness including Canberra mother-of-two Jennifer Thew (pictured) While a 30-year-old Victorian man also died from the illness on what was meant to be his first Father's Day as a parent. Ben Ihlow passed away on September 3 after a week-long battle with influenza, leaving behind his wife, Samantha, and 10-month-old son, Andrew. And 33-year-old Sarah Hawthorn is fighting for her life in The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, after delivering her son six weeks early to give herself a chance of survival. The new mother is in a critical condition after catching the flu in the late stages of pregnancy and is yet to hold her baby boy. Ben Ihlow (pictured) died on September 3 after a week-long battle with the flu, leaving behind his wife, Samantha, and 10-month-old son, Andrew Brussels threw its weight behind Spain in the Catalonia crisis yesterday and refused to condemn police for alleged brutality when they tried to stop Sundays independence referendum. The EU said the fall-out from the contentious poll was an internal matter. Its refusal to intervene came after a day of violence in the wealthy region where almost 900 voters and protesters were injured. One woman said her fingers were deliberately broken by national police officers who stormed polling stations. Spanish National Police clashes with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona over the unauthorised vote Video footage showed elderly independence supporters being hit in the face and women dragged by the hair as riot police enforced a Madrid decree to halt the vote. But officials yesterday said that more than two million people cast a vote, with 90 per cent backing independence. As the country faced its worst political crisis in decades, Catalonias president Carles Puigdemont yesterday urged Brussels to act as a mediator with Madrid. He said: The European Commission must encourage international mediation. It cannot look the other way any longer. His call was rebuffed when the European Commission reiterated its trust in Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy and refused to condemn the behaviour of Civil Guard officers. It cited a statement that violence can never be an instrument in politics. A spokesman for commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who spoke to Mr Rajoy yesterday, said: Under the Spanish constitution, yesterdays vote in Catalonia was not legal. For the European Commission, as president Juncker has reiterated repeatedly, this is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain. We call on all relevant players to move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. The commission also warned that any potential independence vote would see the state placed outside the EU. European Council president Donald Tusk urged Mr Rajoy to avoid further escalation and use of force yesterday. Police officers stand guard outside National Police station, in Barcelona, as protesters demonstrate against the state's response to the referendum Meanwhile, a UN official called for an investigation into claims of police brutality and Amnesty International said its observers in Catalonia witnessed excessive use of force. Marta Torrecillas was filmed being aggressively removed from a school used for voting in Barcelona. She said: They threw me down the stairs. They broke my fingers deliberately, one by one. They touched my breasts while they laughed and hit me. Spain said officers would stay in the region as long as they were needed amid fears of further protests. Foreign minister Alfonso Dastis denied police were heavy-handed. People crave national identity: STEPHEN GLOVER on the truth that Brussels cannot bear What happened in Catalonia on Sunday was shaming and shocking in a modern European state. Spanish police bludgeoned and assaulted defenceless civilians who were simply trying to exercise their democratic right. First and foremost, this is a terrible crisis for the wrong-headed, bully-boy government in Madrid. After the unedifying spectacle of police attacking blameless voters, the chances must surely have increased of Catalonia Spains most prosperous region with some 7.5million inhabitants seceding. The President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, had called for Brussels to act as a mediator with Madrid But it is also an enormous crisis for the European Union, which in recent weeks has said almost nothing as the Spanish authorities arrested officials arranging an independence referendum on behalf of the devolved Catalan government. While millions of European citizens were rubbing their eyes in disbelief at the state-inspired violence, the European Commission in the shape of Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday issued a short, bland statement reminding Catalans that if they left Spain they would also have to leave the EU. There were a few pious words about the inadvisability of violence. Otherwise a disgraceful silence has reigned. We may be pretty sure that if police in Right-wing Hungary (an EU member) had battered protesters demonstrating on behalf of migrants, Juncker would have expressed his outrage at voluminous length. One reason he did not do so in the case of Spain is that it is one of the most obedient pro-EU countries in Europe, which seldom defies the will of Brussels, or causes trouble for Juncker and his ilk. Catalonian police officers surround the General Direction of the National Police of Spain, offices of the Spanish National police But there is an even deeper reason for the Commissions silence. The events in Catalonia challenge at a deep level its project for ever closer union, about which both Juncker and President Emmanuel Macron of France have ventilated in recent weeks. For how can there be an amicable union between the EUs nation states if some of those nations are themselves deeply divided and fractious, as is plainly the case with Catalonia and Spain? Here is a region of largely Catalan-speaking people who regard themselves as culturally distinct. A sizeable proportion of them yearn to break free from Spain, even though Catalonia has been part of the country for hundreds of years. Sundays vote illuminates a truth which Brussels cannot bear. There are many people in Europe for whom the atavistic call of identity counts far more than any exhortation about forging a European superstate. That, after all, was one of the main messages of Brexit that the majority of voters in our own ancient nation resent the undemocratic control of Brussels, and have no wish to be sucked into a united Europe. For Brussels, the example of Britain was bad enough, and it has set about trying to punish us for having had the effrontery to want to leave. In a sense, the demonstration of Catalan nationalism is even more alarming to the federalists because this show of independence is happening inside one of the EUs nation states. Catalonia's government met Monday to discuss plans to declare independence after the results of the disputed referendum How is it possible, they wonder, for the pan-European project to proceed if some EU countries are in danger of fracturing? The terror in Brussels is that if Catalonia were allowed to break away, regions in other member states could follow suit. Instead of coalescing into an amorphous whole, some EU nations might fall apart. Belgium, whose capital, Brussels, is the seat of EU expansionism, is divided. The Flemish-speaking region of Flanders, which constitutes about 60 per cent of the countrys population, is at daggers drawn with the French-speaking minority. Many people in northern Italy long to be rid of the impoverished south, which is relatively unproductive and, in the view of northerners, consumes more than its fair share of government spending. The Right-wing Northern League has campaigned with some success for independence for the north, and imagines a separate country called Padania. France faces an independence movement in the island of Corsica. Meanwhile the cohesion of Spain is threatened not just by free-spirited Catalans but also by militant Basques, part of whose territory lies in France. Romania and Slovakia both have unhappy Hungarian minorities. Even in Polands region of Silesia, much of which used to be ruled by Germany until 1945, there are stirrings of an independence movement. All over Europe apparently unified countries are harried by breakaway groups which have a strong sense of separate identity. If Catalonia were allowed to go it alone, who knows what might come next? The problem for Brussels is that it is used to dealing with individual nation states but is powerless to intervene in unruly regions. That is why the Commission has remained so quiet in the case of Catalonia apart from expressing a few words of solidarity with Spain. Demonstrators protested against 'brutality' enforced by Spanish police attempting to shut down the independence referendum By the way, the British response has been regrettably supine. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stressed his support for the Spanish government in a tweet. As the leading Brexiteer he should surely have been more critical of Madrids use of violence. The Spanish government, it must be said, has behaved rashly and brutishly. Arguably some Catalan separatist political parties have been unwise in deliberately engineering a confrontation. But given that the Catalan government had made numerous requests to hold a referendum on independence after Spains constitutional court had controversially declared in 2010 that Catalonia was not a nation what was it to do having been rebuffed time and time again? If it had possessed a modicum of good sense, the Spanish government would have allowed the referendum to go ahead. Had the vote been in favour of independence, it could have then questioned its legal status. But to arrest Catalan officials, to close a large number of polling stations, and then to clobber innocent voters were acts of unbelievable stupidity as well as nastiness. It passes understanding how the prime minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, can say that democracy has prevailed. The opposite is true. Imagine if two or three years hence the Scottish National Partys Nicola Sturgeon were to hold a referendum without the approval of Westminster by no means an unthinkable eventuality. In fact, her case would be much weaker than that of the Catalan government since there has already been one legal referendum in Scotland in 2014, which was said by the SNP leader Alex Salmond at the time to be the last for a generation. Even so, it is inconceivable that a new unofficial referendum in Scotland would be met by the authorities in Westminster with police wielding batons and firing rubber bullets. Such a wild over-reaction would inevitably give a boost to Scottish nationalism as, I have no doubt, the cause of Catalan nationalism will have benefited from Sundays onslaught. The truth is that the Spanish state has a very restricted conception of democracy. We should know that already from its desire to shoehorn Gibraltar into Spain despite 99 per cent of its citizens having voted in a 2002 referendum to remain British. God alone knows what will happen now in Catalonia. Unless the Spanish government agrees to an official referendum an unlikely prospect there will probably be deadlock. I am afraid there is also the possibility of more violence on both sides. Justifying and supporting the Madrid government is the European Commission in all its absurdity, dreaming dreams of a union which the people of Europe do not want. It will do its utmost to ensure that Catalonia doesnt interfere with its grandiose scheme. Will Remainers look at Catalonia and reflect that we have a quieter and more civilised way of dealing with our differences in this country? I dont know. What I do know is that every day I am ever more relieved that we are leaving this misguided club. What happened in Catalonia on Sunday was shaming and shocking in a modern European state. Spanish police bludgeoned and assaulted defenceless civilians who were simply trying to exercise their democratic right. First and foremost, this is a terrible crisis for the wrong-headed, bully-boy government in Madrid. After the unedifying spectacle of police attacking blameless voters, the chances must surely have increased of Catalonia Spains most prosperous region with some 7.5million inhabitants seceding. But it is also an enormous crisis for the European Union, which in recent weeks has said almost nothing as the Spanish authorities arrested officials arranging an independence referendum on behalf of the devolved Catalan government. Spanish National Police clashes with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona over the unauthorised vote While millions of European citizens were rubbing their eyes in disbelief at the state-inspired violence, the European Commission in the shape of Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday issued a short, bland statement reminding Catalans that if they left Spain they would also have to leave the EU. There were a few pious words about the inadvisability of violence. Otherwise a disgraceful silence has reigned. We may be pretty sure that if police in Right-wing Hungary (an EU member) had battered protesters demonstrating on behalf of migrants, Juncker would have expressed his outrage at voluminous length. One reason he did not do so in the case of Spain is that it is one of the most obedient pro-EU countries in Europe, which seldom defies the will of Brussels, or causes trouble for Juncker and his ilk. But there is an even deeper reason for the Commissions silence. The events in Catalonia challenge at a deep level its project for ever closer union, about which both Juncker and President Emmanuel Macron of France have ventilated in recent weeks. For how can there be an amicable union between the EUs nation states if some of those nations are themselves deeply divided and fractious, as is plainly the case with Catalonia and Spain? Here is a region of largely Catalan-speaking people who regard themselves as culturally distinct. A sizeable proportion of them yearn to break free from Spain, even though Catalonia has been part of the country for hundreds of years. Sundays vote illuminates a truth which Brussels cannot bear. There are many people in Europe for whom the atavistic call of identity counts far more than any exhortation about forging a European superstate. Police officers stand guard outside National Police station, in Barcelona, as protesters demonstrate against the state's response to the referendum That, after all, was one of the main messages of Brexit that the majority of voters in our own ancient nation resent the undemocratic control of Brussels, and have no wish to be sucked into a united Europe. For Brussels, the example of Britain was bad enough, and it has set about trying to punish us for having had the effrontery to want to leave. In a sense, the demonstration of Catalan nationalism is even more alarming to the federalists because this show of independence is happening inside one of the EUs nation states. How is it possible, they wonder, for the pan-European project to proceed if some EU countries are in danger of fracturing? The terror in Brussels is that if Catalonia were allowed to break away, regions in other member states could follow suit. Instead of coalescing into an amorphous whole, some EU nations might fall apart. Belgium, whose capital, Brussels, is the seat of EU expansionism, is divided. The Flemish-speaking region of Flanders, which constitutes about 60 per cent of the countrys population, is at daggers drawn with the French-speaking minority. Many people in northern Italy long to be rid of the impoverished south, which is relatively unproductive and, in the view of northerners, consumes more than its fair share of government spending. The Right-wing Northern League has campaigned with some success for independence for the north, and imagines a separate country called Padania. France faces an independence movement in the island of Corsica. Meanwhile the cohesion of Spain is threatened not just by free-spirited Catalans but also by militant Basques, part of whose territory lies in France. Romania and Slovakia both have unhappy Hungarian minorities. Even in Polands region of Silesia, much of which used to be ruled by Germany until 1945, there are stirrings of an independence movement. All over Europe apparently unified countries are harried by breakaway groups which have a strong sense of separate identity. If Catalonia were allowed to go it alone, who knows what might come next? The President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, had called for Brussels to act as a mediator with Madrid The problem for Brussels is that it is used to dealing with individual nation states but is powerless to intervene in unruly regions. That is why the Commission has remained so quiet in the case of Catalonia apart from expressing a few words of solidarity with Spain. By the way, the British response has been regrettably supine. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stressed his support for the Spanish government in a tweet. As the leading Brexiteer he should surely have been more critical of Madrids use of violence. The Spanish government, it must be said, has behaved rashly and brutishly. Arguably some Catalan separatist political parties have been unwise in deliberately engineering a confrontation. But given that the Catalan government had made numerous requests to hold a referendum on independence after Spains constitutional court had controversially declared in 2010 that Catalonia was not a nation what was it to do having been rebuffed time and time again? If it had possessed a modicum of good sense, the Spanish government would have allowed the referendum to go ahead. Had the vote been in favour of independence, it could have then questioned its legal status. But to arrest Catalan officials, to close a large number of polling stations, and then to clobber innocent voters were acts of unbelievable stupidity as well as nastiness. It passes understanding how the prime minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, can say that democracy has prevailed. The opposite is true. Imagine if two or three years hence the Scottish National Partys Nicola Sturgeon were to hold a referendum without the approval of Westminster by no means an unthinkable eventuality. In fact, her case would be much weaker than that of the Catalan government since there has already been one legal referendum in Scotland in 2014, which was said by the SNP leader Alex Salmond at the time to be the last for a generation. Even so, it is inconceivable that a new unofficial referendum in Scotland would be met by the authorities in Westminster with police wielding batons and firing rubber bullets. Such a wild over-reaction would inevitably give a boost to Scottish nationalism as, I have no doubt, the cause of Catalan nationalism will have benefited from Sundays onslaught. The truth is that the Spanish state has a very restricted conception of democracy. We should know that already from its desire to shoehorn Gibraltar into Spain despite 99 per cent of its citizens having voted in a 2002 referendum to remain British. God alone knows what will happen now in Catalonia. Unless the Spanish government agrees to an official referendum an unlikely prospect there will probably be deadlock. I am afraid there is also the possibility of more violence on both sides. Justifying and supporting the Madrid government is the European Commission in all its absurdity, dreaming dreams of a union which the people of Europe do not want. It will do its utmost to ensure that Catalonia doesnt interfere with its grandiose scheme. Will Remainers look at Catalonia and reflect that we have a quieter and more civilised way of dealing with our differences in this country? I dont know. What I do know is that every day I am ever more relieved that we are leaving this misguided club. If Elon Musk has his way, in around 100 days, the world's largest battery will power South Australia. The Tesla founder says installation of the 100 megawatt (129MWh) lithium ion battery is now half-way complete. It will be more than three times larger than any existing power storage facility when it's finished. The project grew out of a Twitter bet between Musk and Australian software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes where Musk promised he could build the battery 'in 100 days or its free'. It comes a year on from South Australia's disastrous blackouts caused by a major storm, which devastated the state. Scroll down for video Elon Musk has announced the company is halfway done installing the 100 megawatt (129MWh) lithium ion battery near Jamestown, in South Australia's mid-north MEGAWATT LITHIUM ION BATTERY Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the company is halfway done installing the 100 megawatt lithium ion battery, which will be more than three times larger than any existing power storage facility. The battery is being built at a wind farm operated by France's Neoen that is located about 225 km (141 miles) from the South Australian capital of Adelaide and will supply power to the lithium-ion storage cells. Last year's state-wide blackout was blamed by opponents of renewable energy on the state's rush to embrace wind and solar, and fuelled a backlash that has split Australia's conservative federal government and led to renewed calls to support coal-fired power. Advertisement Musk says he's confident he can deliver on his promise but admits the project is not without risk as it seeks to go 'three times further than anyone has gone before'. Tesla won a bid in July to build a 129 megawatt hour (MWh) battery and the state is counting on it to be ready by the start of the southern summer in December when electricity demand begins to peak. Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk vowed to install it within 100 days of signing a grid connection agreement or give it to the state for free. The grid agreement was signed on Friday, triggering the countdown, a Tesla spokesperson said. At an event highlighting the construction progress on the battery, Musk once again spoke of the future he sees for renewable energy and batteries. 'This is just the beginning. What this serves as is a great example of what can be done,' Musk said at the event, which was powered entirely by battery packs. Musk was speaking from the construction site of the battery, which is being built at a wind farm operated by France's Neoen that is located about 225 km (141 miles) from the South Australian capital of Adelaide and will supply power to the lithium-ion storage cells. Last year's state-wide blackout was blamed by opponents of renewable energy on the state's rush to embrace wind and solar, and fuelled a backlash that has split Australia's conservative federal government and led to renewed calls to support coal-fired power. South Australia hopes the Tesla battery will forestall further blackouts, but Australia's Treasurer Scott Morrison says it is just a 'Hollywood solution' that is not solving the bigger problem of how to supply power when the wind isn't blowing. Elon Musk says he's confident he can deliver on his promise but admits the project is not without risk as it seeks to go 'three times further than anyone has gone before' Tesla won a bid in July to build a 129 megawatt hour (MWh) battery and the state is counting on it to be ready by the start of the southern summer in December 'The batteries are on track to be operational by December 1,' South Australia Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis told Reuters. Analysts have estimated the battery should cost around $750 (US $585/439) to $950 (US $741/556) per kilowatt, or up to $95 million (US $74 million/ 56 million). Musk said in July the cost to Tesla would be '$50 million [US $39 million/ 29 million] or more' if it failed to deliver the project on time. The Australian Energy Market Operator has warned the country faces a very tight power market this summer, following the closure of one Australia's biggest coal-fired power stations in the neighbouring state of Victoria. A Tesla representative (right) demonstrates the Tesla Powerwall battery storage device to potential customers at the Tesla store in Sydney. At the event, Musk once again spoke of the future he sees for renewable energy and batteries Mr Musk's company Tesla will partner with French renewable energy group Neoen to build the 100 megawatt lithium ion battery 'The battery has a very useful role to play in the South Australian electricity system at the moment,' said Sydney-based energy analyst David Leitch at ITK Services Australia, adding it was valuable insurance against the much heavier costs of another blackout. The state's biggest power user, global miner BHP's Olympic Dam copper mine, alone lost $105 million (US $82 million/ 62 million) last year when it was shut for two weeks by the blackout, wiping out the mine's annual profit. The battery has been designed to help cover temporary dips in wind power, say for 15 minutes, or help control frequency on the grid at times when natural gas-fired plants are unable to help balance generation and power demand. 'What they're trying to do is buy a little bit of time for other systems to respond to fluctuations,' said Bikal Pokharel, an analyst with energy consultants Wood Mackenzie in Singapore. Musk was speaking from the construction site of the battery, which is being built in Jamestown about 225 km (141 miles) from the South Australian capital of Adelaide A Tesla Powerwall unit sits inside a home in Monkton, Vermont, US. Musk said in July the cost to Tesla would be '$50 million [US $39 million/ 29 million] or more' if it failed to deliver the project on time The release of the iPhone 8 last month may have lacked some of the hysteria which normally accompanies Apple launches. But for one madcap YouTube star it provided an exciting opportunity to try and destroy the latest handset from the firm. Over the course of his career, the vlogger has used everything from boiling water to dynamite to put the iPhone through its paces. In his latest footage, an 799 ($799) iPhone 8 plus is placed inside a waffle iron for three minutes and surprisingly survives with relatively little damage. IPHONE OBSESSION? This is not the first time that Tech Rax has destroyed an iPhone 7 in one of his videos. In other videos he has: - Used a hammer and nail on one - Put an iPhone 7 in boiling water - Performed a drop test - Used a knife to test whether the new jet black version would scratch - Frozen an iPhone 7 in Coca-Cola - Drilled a hole in an iPhone 7 - Microwaved an iPhone 7 - Tested whether an iPhone 7 could survive in dry ice - Blown up an iPhone 7 (red) using 25 lbs (11 kg) of black powder - Dropped an iPhone 7 Plus off the world's tallest building Advertisement The stunt was the brainchild of Taras Maksimuk, known as TechRax, who is based in Rocklin, California. The Ukranian-born social media celebrity continues a long obsession with trying to destroy iPhones in new and increasingly extreme ways. The YouTube star, who has 5.7 million subscribers, can be seen cranking up the heat to maximum before placing the device inside the waffle maker. The lid is then closed for around 60 seconds, trapping the rose-gold gadget in the searing heat. Mr Maksimuk can then be seen removing the iPhone 8 Plus from the waffle iron with a fork, before grabbing it with a cloth. On first inspection, it becomes apparent that the phone has shutdown due to the heat, although the screen hasn't cracked and there is no sign of external damage. Despite a temperature warning, the iPhone 8 plus eventually switches back on only to be put through another round of heating, this time three minutes long. After this second exposure the screen shows visible signs of damage, including yellow marks around its edges. However, it does still charge, turn on, take photos and play music, although its performance is noticeably slower. Speaking on the video, Mr Maksimuk said: 'The life is still there, the phone is still living, still breathing. The release of the iPhone 8 last month may have lacked some of the hysteria which normally accompanies Apple launches. But for one madcap YouTube star it provided an exciting opportunity to try and destroy the latest handset from the firm In his latest footage, an 799 ($799) iPhone 8 plus is placed inside a waffle iron. YouTube star TechRax, real name Taras Maksimuk, can be seen cranking up the heat to maximum before placing the device inside Over the course of his career, the vlogger has used everything from boiling water to dynamite to put the iPhone through its paces. In his latest footage, an 799 ($799) iPhone 8 plus is tested for its heat endurance HOW IT COMPARES TO PREVIOUS MODELS Testing the physical limits of a product is a normal part of a company's safety procedures, but this information is not routinely made public. Apple's official advice says that normal operation for iPhones - dating back to the 3Gs, the oldest for which the company keeps records - can be assured between ambient temperatures of 0 C and 35 C (32 to 95 F). Anything above 45 C (113) or below -20 C (-4 F) 'might cause the device to change its behavior to regulate its temperature', according to the firm's website. Alongside the temperature warning screen, symptoms of overheating include the phone no longer charging, the display dimming and trouble obtaining reception. This is not the first time that TechRax has tested the heat resistance of an iPhone. In a video uploaded to YouTube in 2013, he put an iPhone 5 inside a toaster. The handset also comes out the other side unscathed. Temperatures inside a toaster usually exceed 150 C (310 F) and a waffle maker can exceed 200 C (400 F). Perhaps picking up on TechRax's popularity, others have attempted similar stunts with older models. In July 2016, the channel Everything Technology & More tested out the iPhone 3G's heat resistance. Using only a lighter, they were able to burn the surface of the phone as well as its screen. Advertisement 'It might experience a few issues, but that's normal.' 'Everything still works, it still pasts the test, and honestly I've got to say I'm pretty shocked.' Mr Maksimuk seems to take great pleasure in putting testing Apple technology to its limits in extreme and unexpected ways. In a series of clips uploaded to the video-sharing site, the Ukrainian-born prankster has dreamt up a whole host of unusual challenges. These have ranged from creating a hot tub from coca-cola and mentos to throwing an iPhone from the top of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, in Dubai. In a previous clip, released in April, a special edition (Red) iPhone 7 handset was pitted against the destructive force of 25 lbs (11 kg) of black powder - and surprisingly survived the encounter. And this was not the first time that TechRax destroyed an iPhone 7 in one of his videos, with his Instagram account proudly proclaiming 'Smashing iPhone's since 2011'. In the first round, the lid is then closed for around 60 seconds, trapping the rose-gold gadget in the searing heat. In a second round, it undergoes a gruelling three minutes The Ukrainian born social media celebrity can be seen removing the iPhone 8 Plus from the waffle iron with a fork, before grabbing it with a cloth Despite a temperature warning, it eventually switches back on and is able to charge, take photos and play music, although its performance is noticeably slower After the second exposure the screen also shows the first visible signs of damage, including yellow marks around its edges He previously put an iPhone 7 in liquid nitrogen, put one in the microwave and even hit one with a hammer. He was also behind a prank which encouraged users to drill a hole in their iPhone 7 as a headphone jack, which left viewers very angry. In total, he has used eight iPhone 7s in videos, and two iPhone 7 Pluses, which would cost an estimated total of 6,230 in the UK ($6,690 in the US). That does not include the cost of other models and brands of phones he has tested in the past. With the iPhone 8 now available and its more expensive iPhone X on the way, the cost of TechRax's destructive tendencies is likely to increase with future videos. PRAIRIE VILLAGE, KS I wont be running anything else from Stephen Moore. So says Miriam Pepper, editorial page editor of the Kansas City Starand not just because shes retiring this week. Peppers no-Moore stance comes after her paper discovered substantial factual errors in a recent guest op-ed by Moore, the chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation. The episode serves as a cautionary tale for editors navigating the disputes of rival policy advocatesand a case study in the delicate art of running a correction. It all began a month ago, when the Star ran a piece by the Nobel Prize-winning economist-turned- liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, as it does regularly. The column named Moore as one of the charlatans and cranks who have influenced policymakers at all levels to enact low-tax, supply-side economic policieswith ruinous effects, according to Krugman. The sweeping 2013 tax cut in Kansas is only the latest example, he wrote, citing unfavorable economic and fiscal news in the Sunflower State. After the column ran, Pepper told me, I was contacted by Moores people saying they wanted to run a response. In the interest of fairness, she agreed. Moore, formerly of The Wall Street Journal, submitted a version of a column that originally ran in Investors Business Daily. Contra Krugman, the column argued that Kansass tax-cut experiment needed more time to work, and cited statistics to show that states following Krugmans (and President Barack Obamas) economic strategy are getting clobbered by tax-cutting states. The Star ran Moores column on July 7. It wasnt until weeks later that Pepper realized there were problems with it. The bad news came from one of her own columnists, Yael Abouhalkah, who had taken another look at Moores op-ed while researching an editorial he was writing, and realized that one key paragraphthe one containing the most specific data in support of Moores claimdidnt check out. Moore had written: No-income-tax Texas gained 1 million jobs over the last five years; California, with its 13 percent tax rate, managed to lose jobs. Oops. Florida gained hundreds of thousands of jobs while New York lost jobs. Oops. The recurring oops, intended as a dig at Krugman, took on an unintended irony after Abouhalkah discovered that Moores numbers did not match those of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, Moore later acknowledged, he was using BLS numbers not from the last five years but from an earlier five-year period: December 2007 to December 2012. Focusing on that period is arguably dubious, because the span captures the depths of the Great Recession and the housing crash, which hit some states harder than othersand whose impact likely would have swamped any tax-rate effect. There are other issues with the quality of Moores argument, too, like its glancing-at-best treatment of how factors like housing costs shape population and job growth. In any case, Abouhalkah found, Moores numbers were wrong even for 2007-12, in ways that complicated the low taxes = more jobs message. As Abouhalkah wrote in a column this week: Texas did not gain 1 million jobs in the 2007-2012 period Moore measured. The correct figure was a gain of 497,400 jobs. Florida did not add hundreds of thousands of jobs in that span. It actually lost 461,500 jobs. New York, with [its] very high income tax rates, did not lose jobs during that time. It gained 75,900 jobs. Oops, indeed. In an email exchange, Pepper says, she presented Abouhalkahs findings to Moore, and he agreed to a detailed correction, which ran on page 2 of the paper in an edition last week. The Stars corrected version of the online column, published July 24, can be seen here. The corrections Moores piece, and the mistakes it included, did not appear only in the Star. When Abouhalkah discovered the errors, Pepper informed editors at the Wichita Eagle, the Stars sister McClatchy paper, which had also run the piece. The Eagle ran its own correction, somewhat different from the Stars. The original version published in Investors Business Daily remains uncorrected as of this writing. (IBD, which identifies Moore as part of its brain trust, did not respond to a request for comment.) I sent links for all of these versions to Craig Silverman, a former CJR contributor who now writes the Poynter Institutes Regret the Error blog. This is a great case study to show the lack of standardization with corrections from one news outlet to another, he replied. The Stars online correction is signaled at the top with an editors note, with detailed corrective material in-line. The offending passage now reads: Please see editors note at the top of this column. No-income-tax Texas gained 1 million jobs over the last five years, California, with its 13 percent tax rate, managed to lose jobs. Oops. Florida gained hundreds of thousands of jobs while New York lost jobs. NOTE: These figures are incorrect. The time period covered was December 2007 to December 2012. Over that time, Texas gained 497,400 jobs, California lost 491,200, Florida lost 461,500 and New York gained 75,900. Oops. The Eagle took a different approach with its online correction, leaving the problematic paragraph intact but noting the errors at the top of the page: Correction: The 5-year time period mentioned in this piece was December 2007 to December 2012. Over that time, Texas gained 497,400 jobs, California lost 491,200, Florida lost 461,500 and New York gained 75,900. The totals in this piece are incorrect. Silverman found negatives and positives in both examples: The Stars approach is good in that it makes it clear what was wrong within the text of the article, and it flags that something was wrong right at the top. The Eagle did well to put the correction at the top of the piece and to include the correct totals. However, in both cases there is a concern that leaving the original, incorrect numbers within the text itself may result in some people being confused, or even retaining the incorrect claims. When I presented this critique to Pepper, she said it was interesting and good advice but said she felt it was important to keep the original text alongside the correction, so there would be no confusion for readers about what had been written and what had been corrected. Theres also the larger question of what the corrections do to Moores overall point in the op-ed. As Silverman noted, the paragraph arguably contains the most important statistics in the piece, and the Florida/NY comparison now refutes his claim the whole thing reads very messy for anyone trying to decide whether his is a convincing argument. It would be good, he said, for the papers to get some comment from Moore about whether his errors undercut his argument. The Star did, eventually, get such a response. Abouhalkahs latest column, which appeared online Tuesday, quoted an email from Moore to the Star in which the Heritage economist said, I do regret the mistakes in my piece, but added, My point is that they dont change the conclusion that the no income tax states have substantially outperformed the high income tax states over every period since about 1970. Its not an especially full-throated reckoning, but Pepper says its more than Moore offered at the time of the original correction. As she tells it, the statement came only at the end of a snippy email exchange in which Moore complained about a July 25 Abouhalkah column further highlighting his errors. (That column was picked up by the liberal group Media Matters, and from there by Krugman himself.) After my own (non-snippy) email exchange with the press folks at Heritage, they sent me a corrective statement attributed to Moore: CORRECTION: One part of Moores column contained data that was incorrect, and we regret the error. The time period covered was December 2007 to December 2012. Over that time, Texas gained 497,400 jobs, California lost 491,200, Florida lost 461,500 and New York gained 75,900. The general point of the op-ed remains correct: state policy dramatically affects job opportunities and low tax policies have proven to lead to more job growth in the long term. As Moore accurately made clear in his original column: This does not mean all states that cut taxes have growth or that all states with high taxes dont have growth. It means there is a strong propensity for low-tax and tax-cutting states to grow. Period. The version of Moores op-ed at the Heritage site was corrected today to remove the incorrect material. The problematic New York/Florida data for 2007-2012 was dropped entirely, and replaced by numbers from a longer time period (1990-May 2014) that support Moores point. Paradoxically, its more persuasive than the original, even if there are still complicating factors he doesnt really address. Asked today to reply to Peppers comments, Heritage provided another statement that made the same points: One part of the column contained data that was incorrect, and we regret the error As noted in the correction, use of the correct data still supports the conclusion reached in the original column. A lesson learned Of course, the responsibility here is not Moores alone. As Silverman says, each of these outlets bear responsibility for the op-eds they publish. There are so few stats in this piece that it would seem reasonable to expect someone on the op-ed page to check them before accepting the column. That would have prevented this issue. Pepper acknowledges this responsibility. We did not factcheck his BLS figures that we found out later were incorrect, and that was a failure on our part, she says. As for the Wichita Eagle, opinion editor Phillip Brownlee told me in an email that the paper did vet the piece before publishing, but failed to catch the errors in question. Of course, both Pepper and Brownlee were republishing a piece that had appeared elsewhere firstit was in IBD before the Starand therefore should have been factchecked already. You assume Heritage has edited these pieces too, Pepper says. But, lesson learned. There will be no future Heritage pieces published that dont get thorough factchecking. And, hopefully, pieces from other guest writers will get the same treatment. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Deron Lee is CJR's correspondent for Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. A writer and copy editor who has spent nine years with the National Journal Group, he has also contributed to The Hotline and the Lawrence Journal-World. He lives in the Kansas City area. Follow him on Twitter at @deron_lee. The Nobel Prize for Medicine has been awarded to three American geneticists for discoveries about the body's daily rhythms. The laureates are Professors Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michal Young. Professor Robash is a researcher at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, Young at New York's Rockefeller University and Hall is at the University of Maine. Scroll down for video Pictured (from left to right) is Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young. The trio won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms that control our biological clocks THE NOBEL PRIZES Nobel prizes were initially awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. In 1969, another prize was added, The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Medicine is the first of the Nobel Prizes awarded each year. The Nobel Laureates are announced annually at the beginning of October. They are honoured in December, on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. Winners receive their prizes from the Swedish King. This includes a Nobel diploma, a medal, and 9 million Swedish crowns (830,000 / $1.1 million) per prize. All Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, except for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo, Norway. Advertisement The citation for the $1.1 million (0.83 million) prize, awarded today in Stockholm, Sweden, says the researchers isolated a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm. They 'were able to peek inside our biological clock and elucidate its inner workings,' the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute said in a statement. 'Their discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronised with the Earth's revolutions.' Life on Earth is adapted to the rotation of our planet. For many years, scientists have known that living organisms, including humans, have an internal 'clock' that helps them anticipate and adapt to the rhythm of the day. The clock influences key biological functions such as hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism. It is what causes jetlag - when our internal clock and external environment move out of sync when we change time zones. Using the fruit fly as a model organism, this year's laureates isolated a gene that controls the daily biological rhythm. Pictured (from left to right) Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young speaking during a lecture at Shaw College of the CUHK in Hong Kong. Their research explains how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythms WHAT DID THEY DO? Life on Earth is adapted to the rotation of our planet. For many years we have known that living organisms, including humans, have an internal, biological clock that helps them anticipate and adapt to the regular rhythm of the day. The research team were able to look inside our biological clock to examine its inner workings. Their discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronised with the Earth's revolutions. Life on Earth is adapted to the rotation of our planet. The leaves of the mimosa plant open towards the sun during day but close at dusk, for example Using fruit flies as a model organism, this year's Nobel laureates isolated a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night, and is then degraded during the day. Subsequently, they identified additional protein components of this machinery, exposing the mechanism governing the self-sustaining clockwork inside the cell. We now recognise that biological clocks function by the same principles in cells of other multicellular organisms, including humans. Our inner clock adapts our physiology to the dramatically different phases of the day. It helps to regulate sleep patterns, feeding behaviour, hormone release, blood pressure, and body temperature Our inner clock adapts our physiology to the dramatically different phases of the day. The clock regulates critical functions such as behaviour, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism. Our well-being is affected when there is a temporary mismatch between our external environment and this internal biological clock. One example of this is when we travel across several time zones and experience 'jet lag'. There are also indications that chronic misalignment between our lifestyle and the rhythm dictated by our inner timekeeper is associated with increased risk for various diseases. Advertisement Thomas Perlmann (shown right) chariman of the Nobel committee, announces the winners of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine during a press conference at the Nobel Forum in Stockholm, Sweden WHO ARE THE PRIZE WINNERS? Jeffrey Hall was born 1945 in New York. He received his doctoral degree in 1971 at the University of Washington in Seattle and was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena from 1971 to 1973. He joined the faculty at Brandeis University in Waltham in 1974. In 2002, he became associated with University of Maine. Michael Rosbash was born in 1944 in Kansas City. He received his doctoral degree in 1970 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. During the following three years, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Since 1974, he has been on faculty at Brandeis University in Waltham. Michael Young was born in 1949 in Miami. He received his doctoral degree at the University of Texas in Austin in 1975. Between 1975 and 1977, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University in Palo Alto. From 1978, he has been on faculty at the Rockefeller University in New York. Advertisement They showed how this gene encoded a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night and degrades during the day. 'The clock regulates critical functions such as behaviour, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism,' the Nobel Assembly said. Our inner clock adapts our physiology to the dramatically different phases of the day. Michael W. Young speaking during a lecture at Shaw College of the CUHK in Hong Kong, China. Using the fruit fly as a model organism, this year's laureates isolated a gene that controls the daily biological rhythm WHO WAS ALFRED NOBEL? Pictured is a statue of Swedish inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel Nobel prizes were initially awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. The prizes take their name from Swedish inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel. During his life, he started 87 companies all over the world and amassed an incredible fortune. At the time of his death on December 10, 1896, he had 355 patents globally, including one for dynamite. His will stipulated that the money should be used to establish prizes to award those who had done their best to benefit mankind. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, five years after Nobel's death. Advertisement The clock regulates critical functions such as behaviour, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism. Our well-being is affected when there is a temporary mismatch between our external environment and this internal biological clock. Thomas Perlmann, secretary at the Karolinska Institute Nobel Committee, described the reaction of Professor Rosbash when first informed of the award: 'He was silent and then he said "are you are kidding me?".' Pictured here are Michael Rosbash (left) and Jeffrey C. Hall. The researchers showed how a gene encoded a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night and degrades during the day, forming a key part of our body's daily rhythms Medicine is the first of the Nobel Prizes awarded each year. Last year, Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan won the prestigious prize for his work on autophagy - a process whereby cells 'eat themselves', which when disrupted can cause Parkinson's and diabetes. The prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were created in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and have been awarded since 1901. Nobel prizes were initially awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. A display showing an explanation about the work on the circadian rhythm 'biological clock' of the winners. The clock regulates critical functions such as behaviour, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism In 1969, another prize was added, The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Laureates are announced annually at the beginning of October, but are honoured in December, on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. Winners receive their prizes from the Swedish King, which includes a Nobel diploma, a medal, and 9 million Swedish crowns (900,000 / $1.1 million) per prize. All Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, except for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo, Norway. Nobel prizes (pictured) were initially awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. Medicine is the first of the Nobel Prizes awarded each year During his life, Alfred Nobel started 87 companies all over the world and amassed an incredible fortune. At the time of his death on December 10, 1896, he had 355 patents globally, including one for dynamite. His will stipulated that the money should be used to establish prizes to award those who had done their best to benefit mankind. An asteroid estimated to be up to 100 feet wide is set for a close shave with Earth next week, when it will soar past at a distance of just 27,000 miles above the surface or, as some scientists have put it, damn close. The space rock, dubbed asteroid 2012 TC4, is about 30-100 feet (10-30 meters) in size, and will fly by at just one-eighth of the distance between Earth and the moon on October 12. It first flitted past our planet in October 2012 at about double the distance of its next expected pass, before disappearing. But, after tracking it down last month, scientists now assure it will make a safe pass. Scroll down for video The asteroid the size of a house set to narrowly skim the Earth in October was spotted by scientists this summer for the first time in five years. ESA has tracked down the giant hunk of rock (circled) which is about 15 to 30 metres (49 to 98 feet) long NASA'S PLANETARY DEFENSE SYSTEM Nasa hopes to use its international network of observatories to recover, track and characterise asteroid 2012 TC4. As it starts to approach Earth in the coming months, large telescopes will be used to detect it and establish the asteroid's precise trajectory. The new observations are expected to help refine knowledge about its orbit, narrowing the uncertainty about how far it will be from Earth at its closest approach in October. Advertisement With this close approach, NASA will have the opportunity to test its network of observatories for its planetary defense system, in the event an asteroid did actually hit Earth. 'Scientists have always appreciated knowing when an asteroid will make a close approach to and safely pass the Earth because they can make preparations to collect data to characterize and learn as much as possible about it,' said Dr Michael Kelley, a scientist working on the NASA TC4 observation campaign. 'This time we are adding in another layer of effort, using this asteroid flyby to test the worldwide asteroid detection and tracking network, assessing our capability to work together in response to finding a potential real asteroid threat.' ESA scientists tracked the house-sized space rock using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile this summer. Scientists expected the asteroid to return for a near-Earth rendezvous this year, but did not know just how close it would come. The latest observations, made on July 27, 31, and then again on August 5, revealed 2012 TC4 will pass within one eighth of the moon's distance from the planet. They believe it will shave past Earth at a distance of around 44,000 kilometres (27,300 miles). That is far enough out to just miss our geostationary satellites, according to their calculations. 'It's damn close,' said Rolf Densing, who heads the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. The asteroid, dubbed 2012 TC4, first flitted past our planet in October 2012 at about double the distance of its next expected pass, before disappearing. In this tweet, the ESA announced they calculate it passing at a distance of around 44,000 kilometres (27,300 miles) 'The farthest satellites are 36,000 kilometres (22,400 miles) out, so this is indeed a close miss,' he told AFP. 'As close as it is right now, I think this prediction is pretty safe, meaning that it will miss.' The asteroid was still very far from Earth, about 35 million miles (56 million km) at the time of the observations. It is travelling at speeds of around 30,000 mph (14 km per second). ASTEROID 2012 TC4 The asteroid was first discovered in 2012, when it sped past Earth, but it has been too distant and faint to see over the last five years. If the asteroid is 30 meters wide (98 feet), it is almost the size of a Boeing 737-500 plane, which is usually 31 meters (101 feet) It is is estimated to be between 10 and 30 meters in size, or nearly the size of a Boeing-737. On October 12, the asteroid is set to make a 'close' flyby of Earth. It could pass just 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometers) from Earth for the first time since it went out of range in 2012, Nasa says. Based on predictions made at the agency's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies in Pasadena, California, it could also - and more likely will - pass much farther away, as far as 170,000 miles (270,000 kilometers). According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the asteroid's next 'close-approach' to Earth will take place on December 29, 2019 - although at a much further distance of more than 21 million miles (34 million kilometers). Advertisement Although still certain that it will not hit the planet, Nasa scientists previously calculated that 2012 TC4 could pass as close as 4,200 miles (6,800 km). If the asteroid did hit Earth, it could lead to a much more devastating level of impact than the 18 metre (59 foot) asteroid that hit the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013. That particular blast injured about 1,500 people, and damaged over 7,000 buildings, and experts now say 2012 TC4 is 'something to keep an eye on.' But Detleft Koschny, of the European Space Agency, said: 'We know for sure there is no possibility for this object to hit the earth.' According to Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the asteroid's next 'close-approach' to Earth will take place on December 29, 2019 - although at a much further distance of more than 21 million miles (34 million km). Nasa scientists previously calculated that 2012 TC4 could pass as close as 4,200 miles (6,800 km). The agency is using the opportunity to test its 'planetary defense system' If it were to make impact with Earth's atmosphere, scientists predict the space rock would burn up before hitting the surface. But, this could still cause damage and injuries at the ground level. 'It is something to keep an eye on,' Dr Judit Gyorgyey-Ries, an astronomer at the University of Texas' McDonald Observatory, told Astrowatch. 'We could see an airburst maybe broken windows, depending on where it hits.' Researchers however, are still uncertain of the asteroid's composition, which makes it difficult to predict what the effects of an impact on Earth would be. A spokesperson for Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory told the DailyMail.com: '2012 TC4 was observed only briefly when it was discovered before it was too faint to see. This animation depicts the safe flyby of asteroid 2012 TC4 as it passes under Earth on Oct. 12, 2017. While scientists can't yet predict exactly how close it will approach, they'ew certain it will come no closer than 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometers) from Earth. Credits: Nasa/JPL-Caltech THE CHELYABINSK IMPACT A meteor that blazed across southern Urals in February 2013 was the largest recorded meteor strike in more than a century. More than 1,500 people were injured by the shock wave from the explosion, estimated to be as strong as 20 Hiroshima atomic bombs, as it landed near the city of Chelyabinsk. The Chelyabinsk space rock smashed windows and damaged buildings for 58 miles around in 2013 when it exploded over Russia Officials can be seen standing next to a 20-foot (six-meter) hole in the ice of a frozen lake, thought to be the site of a meteor fall resulting from the space rock The fireball measuring 18 meters across, screamed into Earth's atmosphere at 41,600 mph. Much of the meteor landed in a local lake called Chebarkul. Scientists have uncovered more than 12 pieces from Lake Chebarkul since the incident. However, only five of them turned out being real meteorites. Advertisement 'The ongoing observation campaign and the data we collect during this flyby will provide more direct information on mineralogical composition, structure, size. 'Physical properties of an asteroid (composition, structure, size) and its velocity relative to the Earth will influence the effects on an impact. 'That is one of the reasons we perform follow-up observations to determine those physical properties.' NASA hopes to use its international network of observatories to recover, track and characterize 2012 TC4. 'This is the perfect target for such an exercise because while we know the orbit of 2012 TC4 well enough to be absolutely certain it will not impact Earth, we haven't established its exact path just yet,' said Paul Chodas, a manager working on the project. 'It will be incumbent upon the observatories to get a fix on the asteroid as it approaches, and work together to obtain follow-up observations than make more refined asteroid orbit determinations possible.' Researchers have observed signs of new life in some of the worst affected areas of coral bleaching of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The corals of the Great Barrier Reef have undergone two successive bleaching events, in 2016 and earlier this year, raising experts' concerns about the capacity for reefs to survive under global-warming induced events. But after a coral reef survey in September, researchers found tiny sacs of white eggs in bleached coral reefs, raising new hope for the reefs after the recent bleaching events, which affected close to two thirds of the Great Barrier Reef. Scroll down for video Researchers have observed signs of new life in some of the worst affected areas of coral bleaching of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Pictured are developing eggs (small white spheres) in a cross section of branch of a hard coral, Acropora millepora, off the coast of Townsville The tiny coral eggs were found in coral reefs between Townsville and Cairns, by researchers with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). Dr Neal Cantin and project leader Dr Line Bay, who are part of the coral bleaching response team, were surprised to discover early signs of new life. Dr Cantin says they'd returned to assess the mortality and survivorship from the central sector of the Great Barrier Reef. 'We travelled to 14 reefs between Townsville and Cairns, including Fitzroy Island where we saw surviving coral producing eggs, which was not expected at all,' Dr Cantin said. AIMS researchers taking biopsy samples from massive Porites corals at Rib Reef off Townsville to understand their susceptibility and recovery from bleaching 'Previous studies have shown a two to three year delay in reproduction after severe bleaching but at most of the reefs we are finding colonies of Acropora (branching hard coral) colonies with early signs of egg development in shallow waters, 3m to 6m deep.' Dr Bay said that the researchers took samples from six different coral species across inshore and offshore environments to help them understand how water quality may also affect bleaching susceptibility and recovery. Corals have a symbiotic relationship with a tiny marine algae called 'zooxanthellae' that live inside and nourish them. When sea surface temperatures rise, corals expel the colourful algae. The loss of the algae causes them to bleach and turn white While the researchers still have to analyze the data, the ream observed significant recovery, particularly on the inshore reefs. 'The majority of coral colonies on the inshore reefs have regained their color and the growth of some colonies was so good they had overgrown our original research tags,' Dr Bay said. Images from the Copernicus Sentinel-2A satellite captured on 8 June 2016 and 23 February 2017 show coral turning bright white in Adelaide Reef, Central Great Barrier Reef However, the news was not all good. 'Some of the more sensitive corals are now rare even in areas where they had been abundant in March,' Dr Bay said. Dr Cantin says that fertilization of the tiny eggs happens during the annual spawning event, which is due on the full moon of December 5, and the AIMS research team will test whether the eggs are able to be fertilized. 'There is concern the eggs may not be able to successfully fertilize and develop into coral larvae,' Dr Cantin said. 'The eggs are now white, and just before the spawning event they should turn pink when they are preparing for the spawning.' Dr Cantin says each coral could produce eight to 12 eggs per polyp in colonies of thousands of connected polyps. Microsoft is to discontinue its Groove Music Pass subscription service, allowing its existing customers to move their playlists and music collections to Spotify. The Groove Music app will no longer offer the option to stream, purchase, and download music after Dec. 31, the company said in a blog post. Microsoft introduced the service in October 2012 as Xbox Music, offering music streaming through subscription or purchase through the Windows Store. Private trades in Spotify shares are valuing the music streaming company at about $16 billion, according to people familiar with the deals, raising the prospect of a bumper flotation next year. SPOTIFY ON NYSE Spotify is pursuing a so-called direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), allowing existing investors to sell shares without raising money from new ones, sources have previously told Reuters. The move is also aimed at saving hundreds of millions of underwriting fees from investment banks. A successful listing could pave the way for others, with France-based rival Deezer saying it could consider going public if Spotify is well received. Vivendi's Universal Music Group, the world's largest recording label, is also considering a listing. Advertisement However, the company said it would continue to update the Groove Music app on all Windows devices to support playback and management of owned music. 'With the continued advancement of music streaming today, all the worlds music has become easily accessible across a variety of devices, unlocking new ways to discover and experience music,' Microsoft said. 'As we continue to listen to what our customers want in their music experience we know that access to the best streaming service, the largest catalog of music, and a variety of subscriptions is top of the list. 'Which is why were excited to announce that were expanding our partnership with Spotify to bring the worlds largest music streaming service to our Groove Music Pass customers.' It comes as private trades in Spotify shares are valuing the music streaming company at about $16 billion, according to people familiar with the deals, raising the prospect of a bumper flotation next year. That is around $3 billion higher than in similar trades up until June, the people said, adding strong demand for the shares and rising subscription numbers at the Swedish business meant it could be worth at least $20 billion when it goes public. Spotify declined to comment. The market for shares prior to their public listing allows employees and founders of big name private companies such as Spotify, Airbnb and Uber to cash in on some of their paper wealth, while letting other investors get a head start on the listing. Early investors tired of waiting for a payout are selling shares too. While this secondary market was hit by Facebook's chaotic listing in 2012, it has recently made a comeback. A $13 billion price tag would value Spotify, the world's biggest music streaming company with more than 140 million active users, at around four times its 2016 sales. But investors and sector bankers not involved with the company said Netflix's valuation of seven times expected 2017 sales was a more appropriate benchmark, supporting speculation of a price tag of at least $20 billion around listing. Spotify is aiming to file its intention to float with U.S. regulators towards the end of this year in order to list in the first or second quarter next year, one of the sources said. 'It's hard to speculate on Spotifys valuation since we only have historic results prior to the most recent renegotiation with the music majors,' said Louis Citroen, an analyst at Arete Research. 'But a $20 billion valuation sounds punchy as it implies both that Spotify can continue growing customers at a fast pace, and that it might achieve a double-digit margin. 'We can believe in the customer growth, but are less sure about profitability given high royalty costs and limited differentiation with rivals on content, price or technology'. Worldwide, music streaming revenue leapt 60.4 percent in 2016, lifting recorded music sales for the second consecutive year after 15 years of decline during which revenue dropped by nearly 40 percent, according to data compiled by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Google's Pixel 2 handsets have been leaked ahead if its unveiling on October 4th. Evan Blass, renowned for leaking handsets from almost every manufacturer ahead of their launch, posted the images to his Twitter account today. Two versions of the handset will be launched, a Pixel and a Pixel XL, and the images reveal a new homescreen Google has developed for Android phones. Scroll down for video Evan Blass, renowned for leaking handsets from almost every manufacturer ahead of their launch, posted the images to his Twitter account today Manufactured by HTC and LG, respectively, the handset are codenamed Walleye and Taimen, and Blass says according to a person familiar with Googles release plans, they will be released on October 19 for Pixel 2 and November 15 for Pixel 2 XL, both preceded by preorder periods. Droid Life recently also claimed to have images of the new handset, alongside a new mini wireless speaker, and images of an updated Daydream VR headset. The smaller Pixel 2 will be available in Kinda Blue, Just Black, and Clearly White, and will be sold with 64GB and 128GB of storage and priced at $649 and $749, respectively, according to the site. The larger LG-made Pixel 2 XL will come in a Black & White and Just Black colors and be available with 64GB or 128GB storage. The 64GB model will cost $849, while the 128GB model will jump to $949. Rumours have been swirling for months about Google's next Pixel smartphones and the tech firm uploaded a short 35 second teaser to YouTube earlier this month, offering eager fans the chance to sign up to receive more information. The next generation flagship handset will be officially unveiled on Wednesday, October 4 The minimalist video, while scant on images, makes some bold promises about some of the features fans can expect. It is themed around the Menlo Park, California's iconic search engine. The cryptic clip shows a user searching for various failings of their own smartphone. The smaller Pixel 2 will be available in Kinda Blue, Just Black, and Clearly White, and will be sold with 64GB and 128GB of storage and priced at $649 and $749, respectively, according to the site. The LG-made Pixel 2 XL will come in a 'Black & White' and 'Just Black' colors and be available with 64GB or 128GB storage, according to the latest leaks These range from 'what's wrong with my phone's battery?' and 'why is my phone always out of storage?' to 'why does my phone take so many blurry photos?' and even 'why doesn't my phone understand me'. Other search queries state their phone is 'slow, hot, fragile, annoying, broken, cruel, impersonal and ... dumb.' The marketing ploy suggests that all of these problems will be answered when the new Pixel handsets are finally revealed. If the video is to be believed, this suggests the smartphones, believed to be a Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, will feature a better battery, more storage and a better camera than its rivals. This is in line with rumours circulating online in the leadup to the launch about the Pixel's expected features and launch date. Droid Life also says Google will unveil a new mini smart speaker alongside its new Pixel handsets on October 4th, it is believed. Rumours have been swirling for months about Google's next Pixel smartphones and the long wait will soon be over thanks to a new trailer. The next generation flagship handset will be officially unveiled on Wednesday, October 4 According to Droid Life, the new Google Mini Home speaker, which will take on Amazon's tiny Echo Dot, will cost just $49 when it goes on sale - making the two the same price. It will use the same Google Assistant software as the larger Google home speaker, and be available in Chalk, Charcoal, and Coral colors. The Google Mini Home is expected to be unveiled on October 4th, and go on sale soon after. It is believed it will cost $49, and will have the same Google Assistant as the larger Home speaker 'The Google Home Mini will be powered rather than wireless, at least according to the images here,' Droid Life said. 'You have colored bases that match the color of the top, soft portion of the unit. 'The Google Home Mini will be powered rather than wireless, at least according to the images here,' Droid Life said. The new speaker will go head to head with the Amazon Echo Dot, shown here, and will even have the same $49 price 'So unlike the original Google Home that had swappable bases, it looks like the mini may not have that same luxury.' The images show lights on top of each unit, which are expected to work in the same multi colored way as the lights on the larger Home speaker. THE SMART SPEAKER WARS The mini home will take on Apple's HomePod, Amazon's Echo and Google's own, larger Home. Apple's speaker will have a higher price tag than the Amazon Echo range, which begins at $49 (49) for the Echo Dot. The speaker will provide a hub for appliances via Apple's HomeKit system and establish a centre inside the home to lock people in to using other Apple services, according to the report. Apple's $349 HomePod speaker will work with Apple Music and has several speakers and a built in woofer A speaker might help customers stay loyal to other services such as Apple Music, Apple Watch, Apple TV and AirPods. Google's $130 (105) Home speaker is triggered by the phrase 'Hey Google' while Amazon's Echo uses 'Alexa'. Amazon's smart speaker is available in two versions - the full sized $180 (145) Echo shown here, and a smaller, $50 (40) version called the Echo Dot. Amazon Echo uses Microsoft's Bing search engine to provide additional information, while Google Home uses the company's own Google Search. Both Home and Echo are continually listening for commands, though Google and Amazon say nothing gets passed back to them until the speakers hear a keyword 'OK, Google' for Home and 'Alexa' for Echo. Google's Assistant software is also able to answer follow-up questions on the same topic, in a near-conversation style, but Echo as yet cannot. Google's larger $129 Home speaker, which launched earlier this year However, Amazon's Alexa software has a wider range of skills on offer that enable it to link up with and control more third-party devices around the home. A light comes on to remind you that it's listening. You can turn off the microphone temporarily, too. Advertisement GOOGLE PIXEL 2 RUMOURS Leaked photos allegedly of the Google Pixel 2 give truth to some of the rumoured features. Via the photos or per the tipster, we know: The phone will have a curved screen. It has two LEDs in the camera flash. The back will be made of a glass panel. Google is ditching the headphone jack for the device. The source also reported a better in-hand feel than the original Pixel phone, The source said the device is 'sleek' and 'elegant.' It is also expected to feature a Snapdragon 836 processor. Advertisement The tech firm uploaded a short 35 second teaser to YouTube today, offering eager fans the chance to sign up to receive more information. The cryptic clip shows a user searching for various failings of their own smartphone Most notably, serial leaker Evan Blass from Philadelphia said in a tweet back on August 24th: 'Google's second-generation Pixel handsets, powered by Snapdragon 836 SoC's, will be unveiled on October 5th.' Mr Blass has a strong track record for predicting when new technology will be launched, as well as features on devices. The rumours follow leaked images earlier in August, which claim to show Google's Pixel 2 handset. Evan Blass, a tech-leaker from Philadelphia, tweeted this morning: 'Google's second-generation Pixel handsets, powered by Snapdragon 836 SoC's, will be unveiled on October 5th' According to the photos, it appears the upcoming device will, as previously predicted, have a curved screen and a glass back. However, one thing is missing - Google is planning to follow Apple and dump the headphone jack for the new device. Also shown in the leaked images is the presence of two LEDs in the flash and a glass panel on the back, which is smaller this time around. While previous leaks have suggested the phone will also be equipped with a Laser autofocus feature, that can't be seen here - although it may just be too difficult to spot. The photos, sent to Gsmarena by an unnamed tipster, show the front and back of what is clearly an early developer unit of the phone, as is indicated by the stickers on the back. Leaked images suggest that Google is planning to follow Apple and dump the headphone jack for the new device While the lack of headphone jack isn't seen in the photo, the source told Gsmarena the device doesn't include one. The source also reported a better in-hand feel than the original Pixel phone, saying it is 'sleek' and 'elegant.' The original Google Pixel phone was launched in October 2016, and the Pixel 2 is set to launch this autumn, which would make it in direct competition with Apple's iPhone 8 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. Leaked images allegedly of the Google Pixel 2 reveal some of the device's rumored features. According to the photos, it appears the upcoming device will indeed have a curved screen As the company prepares for the release, it's dropping the price on the original Pixel phone. As part of a back to school promotion, the Pixel's starting price is currently down to $524 (408) instead of $649 (506), while the Pixel XL is now priced at $569 (443) rather than $769 (600) - the company is also throwing in free Daydream View headsets for consumers who take advantage of the promotion. Insiders have long been suggesting the Google Pixel 2 could have a curved screen display like the Samsung Galaxy S8. Reports suggest the Google Pixel 2 phone, which is launching later this year, could have a curved screen display like the Samsung Galaxy S8 (pictured) Reports suggest Google is investing $880 million (709 million) in LG's flexible organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens. Increasingly curved screen are being adopted by smartphones and it seems Google want to move in this direction too, according to South Korea's Electronic Times. The report suggests that LG is yet to sign the massive investment offer proposed by Google. Reports suggest Google is investing $880 million (709 million) in LG's flexible organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens for their Pixel 2 handset (pictured is first-generation Pixel handsets) In March, the head of hardware at Google first confirmed that the firm is developing a second-generation Pixel for the 'premium smartphone market'. The confirmation came from Rick Osterloh during an interview with AndroidPT. 'There is an annual rhythm in the industry,' Osterloh said in the interview. 'So, you can count on us to follow it. You can count on a successor this year, even if you don't hear a date from me now.' Google debuted the first smartphones in its Pixel line during a conference in October 2016, a Pixel and the 5.5-inch Pixel XL. Although the Pixel 2 release would fall around the same time as the iPhone 8, Google is focusing on the upper price segment of the market. This may be tougher than imagined, if as speculated, the iPhone 8 turns out to cost over $1,000 (780). Osterloh stated that 'Pixel stays premium' and the firm will 'leave lower price segments to other manufacturers'. GOOGLE PIXEL SPECS The Pixel runs on a Snapdragon 821 2.15GHz processor. The handsets come in 32GB or 128GB models, with microSD card slots enabling an additional 256GB of storage. They have 12.3 and 8-megapixel cameras and a full HD AMOLED screen with Gorilla Glass protection. Fast charging gives 7 hours of use in 15 minutes Included is Google's AI assistant, Allo for messaging and Duo for video calls. Free online storage for pictures and video Is be available in US on Verizon and in an unlocked version from $649. Advertisement 'We believe the next big thing will be at the intersection of hardware and software,' Mr Osterloh said in October. He also took aim at Apple, saying the phone has 'no unsightly phone bump.' Brian Rakowski of Google said the phone was 'designed inside and out to be smart'. He said the Pixel's camera was better than the iPhone 7. 'It's the best smartphone camera anyone has made,' he said. Advertisement It's often considered the most photogenic season of the year. So it's perhaps not surprising that some of the UK's most impressive islands are exceptionally stunning during the autumn months of September, October and November. But, in case that wasn't clear, acclaimed photographer Chris Orange has captured five of the very best isles for a definitive Top 5 collection - complete with golden leaves, grey clouds and orange skies. Ranging from the Holy Island of Lindisfarne to the Isle of Tiree - which is the most westerly island of the Inner Hebridees - the images illustrate the natural wonders of each. Other locations include Lundy Island, which is the largest island in the Bristol Channel, and the Isle of Lewis. Chris, 43, from Haslemere, Surrey, said: 'It's incredible how the islands change over the year- the light in the sunsets lasts that much longer in Autumn than in other seasons. 'The islands are are unbelievable at this time of year, you must go, everyone really must go. With all of these islands, you feel like you're in some other world completely. It's hard to choose a favourite island because they are all varied.' Peak interest: The Isle fo Skye is known for its rugged landscapes, picturesque fishing villages and medieval castles Seasonal glow: The most westerly island of the Inner Hebrides is given an orange hue at sunset in late September Sail away: The Isle of Tiree, in the Inner Hebrides, is caught in a dramatic sunrise that's broken by clouds Nature's beauty: Lundy Island, which is the largest island in the Bristol Channel, boasts incredible views Remote control: A solitary home on the Isle of Tiree, which is the most westerly island of the Inner Hebrides Now that's a view! A stunning sunset casts an orange glow over the Isle of Lewis in Scotland Making waves in the wilds: Wild waters running over jagged rocks at Scotland's picturesque Isle of Skye A former prison in south-west Ireland has been crowned Europe's best tourist attraction. Despite being little-known to those outside of Cork, the historic Spike Island was declared the ultimate visitor experience at the World Travel Awards on Sunday. Given the accolade at a ceremony in St.Petersburg, Russia, the venue's unexpected win saw it triumph over Rome's Colosseum, Paris's Eiffel Tower and London's Buckingham Palace. Historic: Spike Island, which began life as a monastery, housed prisoners until as late as 2004 But, like them all, it has an intriguing history. Back in the sixth century it began life as a monastic site, before morphing into a military base in the 18th century. By the mid 1800s it was transformed into a 24 acre fortress for convicts who were destined for a banished life in Australia. Most recently, however, it served 2,300 domestic prisoners, who were housed there until 2004, when the star-shaped jail was eventually abandoned. More than a decade later, in 2016, it was re-opened following a major 4.8 million redevelopment after local officials deemed culturally historic. Dubbed the 'Alcatraz of Ireland', it's so-called because it can only be accessed by a boat from Cobh on Cork's Harbour. Banished: By the mid 1800s it was transformed into a 24 acre fortress for convicts who were destined for a banished life in Australia Brave: Today, the venue offers nocturnal tours to guests, who can sit in a solitary cell Remote: Dubbed the 'Alcatraz of Ireland', it's so-called because it can only be accessed by a boat from Cobh on Cork's Harbour Today, the venue offers nocturnal tours to brave guests, who can sit in a solitary cell and experience a specially-built punishment block once called 'Ireland's hell'. It consisted of twenty eight solitary confinement cells and housed the Penal Class, considered the most dangerous prisoners. They were heavily chained and clothed in black from head to toe, with a veil hiding all but their eyes. As it was: A military bastion under construction at Spike Island, Cork Harbour, in 1860 Heritage: An aerial view of the site when it was a military station for personnel based on Cobh Not that this is the first time Ireland has succeeded at the World Travel Awards. Dublin's Guinness Storehouse and the Titanic Belfast museum were named Best Tourist Attraction in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Meanwhile, this year's ceremony saw Portugal crowned Europes Leading Destination, Geneva branded Europes Leading City Break and the event's host city, St. Petersburg, named Europes Leading City Destination. Together, they will now compete in their respective categories at the WTA's Grand World Final in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, in December. If you're looking to pack light on your next holiday then this couple might convince you to shed an outfit or two. Nick and Lins, from Belgium, have been travelling around the world with just a smattering of clothes in a bid to explore nudism. Photos on their Instagram account, @nakedwanderings, show them enjoying a range of warm weather activities in the buff, from swimming in the sea to cartwheeling on the beach. Nick and Lins from Belgium have been travelling around the world with just a smattering of clothes in a bid to explore nudism. Above, they strike a pose in Croatia Photos on their Instagram account @nakedwanderings show them enjoying a range of warm weather activities in the buff, from swimming in the sea to cartwheeling on the beach And they've become online sensations as a result. The couple, in their early thirties, said they discovered nudism several years ago after accidentally booking into a naked sauna. Since then, they've never looked back. During a recent trip to Montenegro, they spent two weeks helping out at a clothing optional eco campground - and discovered people approach nudity in lots of different ways. They found the owner of the campground was what people call a '24/7 nudist'. Recounting the experience, they write on their website: 'He was literally naked all day and all night. 'Only when he had to leave the property, which didnt happen very often, he put on some pants but the first thing he did when returning to the gate was to take them off again. It was almost as if he had an allergy to textile.' The couple indulge in a spot of naked Rummikub while in Malta Lins soaks up some sun on the glistening shores of Croatia The couple say back in Belgium they are only naked when it is convenient. This is mostly when they are at home and aren't expecting any visitors. They say that it is 'liberating' to wear no clothes and it creates a 'relaxed atmosphere'. Some of their favourite activities include swimming without clothes and hanging-out among other non-clothed people. They also say that naked camping is another of their top pastimes because 'you get to learn natural sensations which youre not used to but which feel very good: The feeling of lying naked in the grass, the feeling of a gust of wind passing your body, the sun everywhere on your skin.' The couple spread the work with a help of a flag while camping in Croatia So far, Nick and Lins have visited an array of destinations on their nudist quest including Croatia, Malta and Greece. However, in Albania the pair had to be careful that no one saw them when they went for a skinny dip, as the practice is still frowned upon. They also open their website up to contributors, so people can share their different experiences of nudism in countries around the world. In one blog post Madushan, 23, from Sri Lanka, explains that nudism is completely outlawed in his country. Nils poses with a sign in Greece, encouraging her followers to get naked over the weekend He adds: 'There are no legal public nudist venues available anywhere here. 'For our people, nudism is something inherently sexual and they dont like to see it any other way. Its quite a shame because we used to tolerate nudism much more in our history.' 'Even art, like local films, rarely feature any nudity, and even when they do, they always become topics of strong controversy within the society.' Nick and Lins told Metro.co.uk that plan to continue globetrotting for as long as possible and they have loved meeting so many like-minded people. They concluded: Our main objective is to take naturism out of the shadows and to make nudity less sexualised and more accepted and to show people that its actually a fun thing to do and that a human body is nothing to be ashamed of. Air travel can be a long and arduous process. But, for residents of California, that doesn't have to be the case - thanks to the latest chartered route by United Airlines. The US carrier have recently launched America's shortest-ever commercial flight, which boasts a flying time of just sixteen minutes. Time flies! Departing from San Francisco to Santa Rosa, a small city in Sonoma County, it covers just over sixty miles Departing from San Francisco to Santa Rosa, a small city in Sonoma County, it covers just over sixty miles. Operating once a day, all year-round, it's listed with a total flight time of 45 minutes, but this includes tarmac time, such as taxiing after take-off and landing. This means that passengers completing the journey, via SkyWest, spend more time on the ground than they do in the friendly skies. Despite this, it's certainly not the world's quickest flight. Currently, that's held by Loganair's service from Westray to Papa Westray in Scotland's Orkney Islands. The 1.7 mile route lasts just 90 seconds. Meanwhile, People's Air Group recently operated a flight from Switzerland to Germany - the world's shortest international flight - which took just eight minutes. It was cancelled earlier this year due to lack of demand. Quick get-away: Operating once a day, all year-round, it's listed with a total flight time of 45 minutes, but this includes tarmac time, such as taxiing after take-off and landing However, proving there is demand for super short-haul travel, United's new Santa Rosa flight was announced along with a number of other, similar destinations from San Francisco: Hartford, Spokane and Kalispell. 'Every day in San Francisco we proudly welcome more than 30,000 customers aboard United Airlines and this announcement demonstrates our commitment to being the Bay Area's leading U.S. airline,' said Mike Hanna, United's vice president of its San Francisco International Airport hub. 'These additional flights and larger aircraft to new cities and those already part of our network will offer customers even more convenient flight options and easy connections to popular destinations around the U.S. and Canada'. She stole the hearts of the nation as the most beautiful girl at the tender age of six. And Thylane Blondeau showed off why she holds the beauty crown when she stormed the LOreal Paris show catwalk during Paris Fashion Week inFrance on Sunday. The golden-haired siren brought a vibrant energy to the runway in a colourful strapless gown, which featured a busy pattern of flowers. Scroll down for video Most beautiful girl in the world! Thylane Blondeau showed off why she holds the beauty crown when she stormed the L'Oreal Paris show catwalk during Paris Fashion Week in France on Sunday Thylane drew further attention to her lengthy legs in the thigh-skimming garment by slipping her feet into sky-scraper stilettos. The stunning shoes also featured a tassel embellishment tied at the ankle for the finishing touches of glamour. Picking out the pink in her frock, the beauty queen wore a dusting of eye-shadow in the very same cherry blossom colour to accentuate her features. Thylane truly dazzled, injecting sparkle into her runway ensemble with the extravagant drop earrings. Commanding attention with her quirky hairdo, the star styled her trademark golden locks into a quiff as she pulled off a vintage chic look. Wow: Thylane truly dazzled, injecting sparkle into her runway ensemble with the extravagant drop earrings Wow: Thylane was first catapulted into the limelight after her cover for Vogue Enfants captivated readers across the globe, with many hailing her the 'most beautiful girl in the world' aged six Leggy lady: Thylane drew further attention to her lengthy legs in the thigh-skimming garment by slipping her feet into sky-scraper high stilettos in a fuchsia colour How to accessorise: The stunning shoes also featured a tassel embellishment tied at the ankle for the finishing touches of glamour All about the hair: Commanding attention with her quirky hairdo, the star styled her trademark golden locks into a quiff as she pulled off a vintage chic look Earlier on in the day, the aspiring model had ditched her usual fashionista looks for a more low-key street style. Stripped of her glamorous gowns, the starlet embraced more casual ensemble for her outing in the city of love. The French born beauty swamped her slender frame in a bright tangerine sweatshirt as she pulled off an uncharacteristically casual look ahead of the runway. Killer looks: Winnie Harlow, 23, was also working her magic on the catwalk at the L'Oreal show Sexy vibes: Winnie cut a svelte figure in a slinky form-fitting frock which featured a fishtail skirt for a edgy effect Leggy lady: Meanwhile, 31-year-old Irina Shayk took to the runway in a thigh-skimming batwing dress which best showcased her lengthy legs Leggy lady: Meanwhile, 31-year-old Irina Shayk took to the runway in a thigh-skimming batwing dress which best showcased her lengthy legs Completing her looks, the catwalk beauty slipped her slim physique into trendy fog grey jeans which featured a frayed edges. Thylane proved on trend as ever when she sashayed through the picturesque city streets in chunky lace-up boots. Evidently pleased with her street style, the most beautiful girl in the world couldn't resist snapping a series of selfies while on the move. Centre of attention: First taking centre stage was Helen Mirren, who was effortlessly stunning in checked cigarette trousers and a traditional long-line coat as she pounded down the catwalk with ease Fierce: Proving her retro sense of style by adding patent loafers to her feet, the Calendar Girls star then made the look more quirky by carrying an old-fashioned cane in one hand, which she playfully positioned and posed with on the catwalk Check her out! Joining her on the catwalk was Cheryl - with the event marking her official working committment since becoming a mother, and falling almost a year since she first debuted her baby bump, at a L'Oreal party in the same city Leading lady: The singer could not contain her beaming smile as she paraded down the catwalk with the likes of Helen Mirren and Irina Shayk - showcasing her impressive post-baby body just six months after giving birth Windswept, the golden-haired beauty wore her locks in a poker straight fashion as she larked about in the bustling streets of Paris. Later in the afternoon, the youngster sat comfortably in the make-up chair as they worked their magic on her beautiful features ahead of the catwalk show. Causing a stir among the great and the good in the fashion world, she made her Fashion Month debut at the beginning of September when she walked in the catwalk for Michael Kors. Easy tiger! However, it was actress Jane Fonda who truly stole the show at the event - showing off her impressive physique in a slinky tiger print maxi dress, at the age of 79 Model material: Only adding to the star-studded affair, the actress was then seen planting a kiss on supermodel Naomi Campbell's cheek on her way back down the catwalk - proving her status as one of the most respected A-listers Impressive: The FROW were incredibly impressed as they got to their feet and applauded the catwalk stars Variety: Designers showcasing their work included Emanuel Ungaro, Balmain, Mulberry and Elley The rising star has been modelling since the tender age of four and had even walked for Jean Paul Gaultier. But it was her cover for Vogue Enfants at just six years old which won over the hearts of the nation. The blonde beauty was the youngest ever model to pose for French Vogue. Double take: Thylane opted for a low-key look when she prepared for the L'Oreal Spring/Summer 2018 fashion show Sensation: The youngster sat comfortably in the make-up chair as they worked their magic on her beautiful features ahead of the catwalk show Natural beauty! The golden-haired beauty wore her locks in a poker straight fashion Although some criticised the magazine publication for being too 'sexualised', she was hailed as the 'most beautiful girl in the world'. Her mother Veronika Loubry, a fashion designer, defended the cover at the time, telling a French newspaper, 'The only thing that shocks me about the photo is the necklace that she's wearing, which is worth 3 million Euros,' or about $4.3 million.' Thylane, meanwhile, has gone on to become a brand ambassador for L'Oreal, following in the star-studded steps of Eva Longoria, Cheryl and Blake Lively. Wow: The French born beauty, 16, swamped her slender frame in a bright tangerine sweatshirt as she pulled off an uncharacteristically casual look ahead of the runway The OSCE Parliamentary Assemblys Special Representative on the South Caucasus, Kristian Vigenin (MP, Bulgaria), on October 2 released a statement denying certain Azerbaijani media reports on his statement over the OSCE Minsk Group. October 2, 2017, 15:45 OSCE PAs Vigenin denies Azerbaijani media reports on Minsk Group STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 2, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: During my recent trip to Azerbaijan, I was misquoted in local news media. While an immediate correction was requested and implemented, other news sources had already made use of the inaccurate information. Therefore I have to reiterate that I have never suggested a recomposition of the OSCE Minsk Group. I support the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and the Co-Chairs, and will continue working at the parliamentary level to contribute to their efforts of finding a peaceful solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Vigenin said. Kristian Vigenin visited Armenia on September 29-30. Before arriving in Armenia, he visited Azerbaijan and Georgia. He will report on the results of the regional visit on October 4. She recently confirmed that her relationship with on-again-off-again beau Chris Hughes was back on after the pair suffered a massive bust-up. And Love Island's Olivia Attwood seemed out to please her man as she was spotted shopping for racy underwear in Central London on Wednesday. The blonde beauty kept it simple and stylish as she exited the lingerie store with her purchase. Scroll down for video Someone to please? Love Island's Olivia Attwood, 26, looked very pleased with herself as she shopped for racy underwear in central London on Wednesday Olivia went for a casual look with grey jeans, a white t-shirt and black ankle boots, smartening up the look with a simple black blazer. Wearing her signature black specs, Olivia kept her blonde tresses loose, with very natural makeup to showcase her tanned complexion. Olivia was beaming as she exited the shop with her purchases, excited to get home and show them to Chris. Stunning: Olivia kept it simple and stylish in jeans, ankle boots and a smart blazer as she made the purchases, donning her signature black specs and keeping her blonde tresses loose The pair recently reconciled after a nightclub bust-up caused Olivia to flee to Germany, with Chris accusing her of dancing with another man in the club. The proud GF will also appear on Chris' upcoming reality show with Love Island pal Kem Cetinay which is set to air on ITV2 this Sunday. Chris was spotted more loved-up than every with his beau as they attended the launch of Thorpe Park's Fright Night on Thursday. Rocking matching black padded jackets, the pair looked thrilled to be back together as they posed for snaps and even shared a cheeky kiss for the cameras. Chris also appeared on Loose Women on Friday after accusing model Katie Price of flirting with him over text message. Back on: Olivia recently confirmed her relationship with Love Island beau Chris Hughes is back on, as they attended the Thorpe Park Fright Night launch on Thursday Loved-up: The pair seemed happier than ever as they posed for snaps together in matching sporty outfits and padded jackets Cheeky kiss: The couple even shared a kiss as they posed for the cameras, putting their recent nightclub bust-up behind them Revealing all about the messages he allegedly received from her, Chris claimed mother-of-five Katie had 'repetitively' sent 'flirty' messages to him in the early hours of the morning. He said: 'Someone asked if they were flirty messages, I said yeah, in my opinion, they are flirty, I've got a girlfriend.' Chris also revealed he would have refused to appear on Loose Women if Katie had been on the panel He added: 'Like she said on Twitter, she's met me once, she doesn't know me, and to message at half three in the morning and to message someone repetitively when they've not responded and they've got a girlfriend, that's flirting.' 'Flirty': Chris recently revealed that Katie Price had been sending him 'flirtatious' text messages after his appearance on Loose Women Not subtle? Chris said: 'Someone asked if they were flirty messages, I said yeah, in my opinion, they are flirty, I've got a girlfriend' Her movie star boyfriend was by her side to help celebrate her recent Emmy win. But on Saturday, SNL producer Lindsay Shookus, 37, had to attend her show's after party at TAO restaurant in New York City without Ben Affleck, 45, by her side. But that didn't mean the celebration was without star power, with Beyonce, Jay Z, Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, and Scarlett Johansson all in attendance to ring in the comedy show's return to airwaves. Dinner for one: On Saturday, SNL producer Lindsay Shookus, 37, had to attend her show's after party at TAO restaurant in New York City without Ben Affleck, 45, by her side Sleek ensemble: The 30 Rock producer wore a blue feather print dress and covered her shoulders against the New York cold with a dark felt/leather jacket The 30 Rock producer wore a blue feather print dress and covered her shoulders against the New York cold with a dark felt/leather jacket. Her black heels added several inches to the natural beauty's already statuesque frame. She carried a large, black leather handbag and her wavy blonde tresses were untied and left to hang loose. Legs for miles: Her black heels added several inches to the natural beauty's already statuesque frame Blonde bombshell: Shookus carried a large, black leather handbag and her wavy blonde tresses were untied and left to hang loose Ben was recently seen supporting his new girlfriend at the Emmys as the producer collected an award for Saturday Night Live. When SNL won the Emmy, the actor and director 'jumped up and cheered,' an onlooker told UsWeekly. The insider said: 'He jumped up and cheered when SNL won. He's sitting with all of SNL in the centre of the theatre. He's clearly her plus-one.' Both Affleck and Shookus have children. Ben shares custody of daughters Violet, 11, Seraphina, eight and son Samuel, five, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. Shookus shares a four year old daughter with her ex Kevin Miller. Plus-one: Ben was recently seen supporting his new girlfriend at the Emmys as the producer collected an award for Saturday Night Live One possible reason for the Argo star's absence is his promotional duties for upcoming film Justice League. Ben will reprise his role as Batman in the film for the third time, following appearances in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Suicide Squad. The Gone Girl actor clearly relishes his role as The Dark Knight, recently posting a picture of himself to Instagram wearing the iconic cape and captioning it '#BatmanDay'. He's worth an estimated 400million, lives in a luxurious 10million London mansion and is known for his generous contributions to charity. But Simon Cowell showed he counts the pennies just as much as the rest of us when a photo revealed the contents of his car boot including a McDonald's meal, some Lucozade, empty Corona bottles - and even a Bag For Life from ASDA. The music mogul, 57, showed the frugal side to his personality despite his extensive wealth after he packed up his car outside the Shooting Star Chase charity ball held at London's Dorchester Hotel on Saturday night. Scroll down for video Frugal mogul: Simon Cowell showed he counts the pennies just as much as the rest of us when a photo revealed the contents of his car boot after a charity bash in London on Saturday night Cutting costs: The candid snap shows the music mogul is partial to McDonald's meals and Lucozade - while a Bag For Life from ASDA reveals he even loves a good supermarket shop The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent judge, whose estimated net worth is $550million or 410million, according to The Richest, had been attending the star-studded ball in his capacity as Vice President of the children's hospice charity when the thrifty contents was snapped. A bevy of other A-listers turned out for the good cause including patrons Dame Joan Collins and Sir Cliff Richard. Simon looked on typically good form as he smiled and joked around with fans when stepped outside the venue hand in hand with the charity's fundraising director, Karen Sugarman. Main man: The X Factor judge, 57, showed the frugal side to his personality - despite his estimate net worth of 400million - after he packed up his car outside the Shooting Star Chase charity ball held at the Dorchester Hotel Feeling good: Simon appeared to be in great spirits as he headed out of the bash with Karen later on If he was embarrassed by the contents of his car boot, the charmer certainly didn't let on, as he accepted people's well-wishes and requests for selfies outside the plush venue with grace. In among the mess of the discarded Maccy D's bag and empty Corona bottles, the music industry tycoon tucked away one thing that gave away his wealth. Simon made sure to fit into the boot a piece of valuable memorabilia he'd picked up in the ball's charity auction - a poster of the James Bond classic The Man with the Golden Gun, signed by the late Roger Moore. But the tell-tale sign of a bulging purse and generous attitude to money didn't detract from the gravity of the rare insight into the philanthropist's life - and X Factor fans from across the country can now enjoy the pleasure of imagining him washing down a Big Mac with a healthy slosh of Lucozade. Good cause: Simon (left, with fellow judge Louis Walsh, right) makes regular visits to both Shooting Star hospices to spend time with children and young people, according to the charity Playful: Simon looked in high spirits, laughing and joking with fellow guests outside the party Blac Chyna flaunted her surgically-enhanced behind in a fishnet maxi-frock while attending her BFF Amber Rose's SlutWalk Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday. The 29-year-old mother-of-two paired her see-through cover up with a black lacy bra, matching thong, and peep-toe platforms for the gathering at Pershing Square. Her outing came after it was reported by TMZ that she has finally settled her custody dispute with former fiance Rob Kardashian over their 10-month-old daughter Dream - with Rob agreeing to shell out $20,000 per month in child support. Scroll down for video Back it up! Blac Chyna flaunted her surgically-enhanced behind in a fishnet maxi-frock while attending her BFF Amber Rose's SlutWalk Festival in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday According to the website, the bitter custody battle was settled with the exes being granted 50/50 custody of their sole offspring together. However, Chyna appeared to have the acrimonious battle far at the back of her mind as she stepped out in decidedly eye-catching style for her pal Amber's annual feminist gathering. The Lashed salon owner rocked large bedazzled sunglasses with her diamond bracelets and she sported a lace-front ombre ponytail wig coiffed by hairstylist Kellon Deryck. Chyna's ex Rob famously claimed in July that he paid $100K for her to have a surgical 'mommy makeover' following the birth of their daughter Dream. Fresh catch! The 29-year-old mother-of-two paired her see-through cover up with a black lacy bra, thong, and peep-toe platforms for the exhibitionist celebration at Pershing Square Regardless, Chyna - whose real name is Angela White - has certainly transformed her 5ft2in figure since she attended last year's festivities while pregnant with her now 10-month-old princess. The former stripper shares a lot in common with the 33-year-old SlutWalk founder - four-year-old sons with rap star exes as well as a penchant for tattoos and scantily-clad attire. Rose (born Levonchuck) was literally a caped crusader for SlutWalk on Sunday covering her signature buzzcut 'do with a platinum curly wig and sporting a superhero ensemble. Still not asking for it: The Lashed salon owner rocked large bedazzled sunglasses and she sported a lace-front ombre ponytail wig coiffed by hairstylist Kellon Deryck Fit? Chyna's ex-fiance #2 Rob Kardashian famously claimed in July that he paid $100K for her to have a surgical 'mommy makeover' following the birth of their daughter Dream Joining the Flat Tummy spokesmodels onstage was none other than Blac's attorney Lisa Bloom wearing a 'feminist as f***' T-shirt to speak out 'against shaming, gender violence, and inequality.' On Wednesday, Rob and Kylie Jenner filed a lawsuit accusing Chyna of assault (including choking him with an iPhone charging cable), battery, and vandalism - according to TMZ. In response, the 56-year-old lawyer called the 30-year-old reality star's allegations 'false' at a press conference on Thursday. 2016: Regardless, Blac (born Angela White) has certainly transformed her 5ft2in figure since she attended last year's festivities while pregnant with her now 10-month-old princess Former strippers: Chyna shares a lot in common with the 33-year-old SlutWalk founder - four-year-old sons with rapper babydaddies as well as a penchant for tattoos 'Captain Save a H*e': Rose (born Levonchuck) was literally a caped crusader for SlutWalk on Sunday covering her buzzcut 'do with a platinum curly wig and sporting a superhero ensemble 'The language was very ugly and false,' Bloom said - according to People. 'As Chyna has said many times, she just wants to peacefully co-parent Dream and it would be nice if Mr. Kardashian had the same philosophy.' This, after the Rake It Up video vixen dropped her domestic violence allegations against the Arthur George sock designer, who's paying her $20K a month in child support. 'Feminist as f***' T-shirt: Joining the Flat Tummy spokesmodels onstage was none other than Blac's attorney Lisa Bloom speaking out 'against shaming, gender violence, and inequality' Legal war: On Wednesday, Rob and Kylie Jenner filed a lawsuit accusing Chyna of assault (including choking him with an iPhone charging cable), battery, and vandalism 'She just wants to peacefully co-parent Dream': In response, the 56-year-old lawyer called the 30-year-old reality star's allegations 'false' at a press conference on Thursday The RuPaul's Drag Race guest star - who's already moved on with rapper Mechie - is still seeking a 'seven-figure settlement' over Kardashian's revenge porn meltdown in July - according to TMZ. Blac and Rob officially ended their on/off 11-month romance in December, but they continue to share 50/50 joint custody of Dream. The Washington D.C.-born mompreneur - who boasts 15.9M social media followers - is now reportedly recording her debut album with Mally Mall. Selfie with a fan (L): This, after the Rake It Up video vixen dropped her domestic violence allegations against Rob, who's paying her $20K a month in child support Battle: The RuPaul's Drag Race guest star - who's already moved on with rapper Mechie - is still seeking a 'seven-figure settlement' over Kardashian's revenge porn meltdown in July They've been inseparable since becoming a couple last Christmas. And New Idea has now claimed that Jasmine Yarbrough and Karl Stefanovic's relationship is going so well that the blonde beauty is keen to welcome a child. Observing the 33-year-old at a private function, a source alleged to the publication: 'She seemed very clucky, like she was very at home with a baby in her arms.' Scroll down for video 'She was at home with a baby in her arms': New Idea magazine has claimed that Jasmine Yarbrough, 33, is 'very clucky' and keen to have a child with Karl Stefanovic, 43 Interacting with a baby at a private function recently, the insider was quoted as saying: 'Everyone who saw Jasmine holding that gorgeous baby thought she looked like a really natural mother, like she was totally in her element. 'She seemed very clucky, like she was very at home with a baby in her arms.' The source continued: 'She's been talking about babies a lot lately, she'd love to have one of her own one day.' Claims: Interacting with a baby at a private function recently, the insider was quoted as saying: 'Everyone who saw Jasmine holding that gorgeous baby thought she looked like a really natural mother, like she was totally in her element' Reported: However it's been alleged the high-profile couple are taking things a day at a time However it's been alleged the high-profile couple are taking things one day at a time. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Jasmine's management for comment. Meanwhile just last week, Karl, 43, showed off his nurturing side while filming the Today show in Queensland. The larrikin lad along with his co-presenters Lisa Wilkinson and Sylvia Jeffreys were pictured with adorable babies on their laps for a segment. Ready for another? Meanwhile just last week, Karl, 43, showed off his nurturing side while filming the Today show in Queensland Young guests: The larrikin lad along with his co-presenters Lisa Wilkinson (centre) and Sylvia Jeffreys (far left) were pictured with adorable babies on their laps for a segment Karl certainly has experience with parenting, a father to three children with ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn. The couple announced their shock separation in September last year, after 21 years of marriage. Speaking to The Herald Sun in February, Karl only had praise for his ex, labelling Cassandra as 'an amazing woman.' He also claimed the split had been 'a real burden emotionally for both people' and vowed the pair would work through it 'as best we can.' They've been happily engaged for over a year. And on Sunday, Jesse Metcalfe, 38, and Cara Santana, 33, were as loved-up as ever as they headed to Avenue Des Champs Elysees for Paris' annual week of fashion. The couple were rarely more than a few feet from each other as they cuddled, smooched and held hands on the red carpet. Cute couple: On Sunday, Jesse Metcalfe, 38, and Cara Santana, 33, were as loved-up as ever as they headed to Avenue Des Champs Elysees for Paris' annual week of fashion Trendsetter: Cara's comfy look featured a billowing white sweater paired with a pair of soft, shiny wide leg pants Jesse was dapper in a brown shirt under a heavy grey coat. The handsome John Tucker Must Die star added a pair of dark gray pants and black boots to his downtown look. The Carmel Valley, California native rocked a pair of dark-framed glasses and rugged facial hair. Style icons: The handsome John Tucker Must Die star added a pair of dark gray pants and black boots to his downtown look Man's man: The Carmel Valley, CA native rocked a pair of dark-framed glasses and rugged facial hair Cara's comfy look featured a billowing white sweater paired with a pair of soft, shiny wide leg pants. The 33-year-old stunner added a pair of silver heels to her look. The social media influencer wore her wavy brunette locks untied and flowing and, for make-up, paired bold dark eye shadow with subtle pink lipstick. Power couple: The social media influencer wore her wavy brunette locks untied and flowing and, for make-up, paired bold dark eye shadow with subtle pink lipstick Jesse and Cara became engaged last August, after nearly a decade of dating. In an interview with Today, Jesse revealed the date of their wedding. 'Next year, August, is the day. We've waited this long, why rushed to the altar?' he joked. In an interview with People in 2016, Glam App founder Cara shared a few key details of their impending nuptials. '[It's going to be] small, intimate, 80 people, Martha's Vineyard; call it a day,' she said. He's the Bachelorette star whose appearance on the show has led to fans labelling him a 'stage five clinger'. And now a former partner of Jarrod Woodgate has revealed what it is really like to date the vineyard manager. His ex-girlfriend - referred to only as 32-year-old Amy - said Jarrod's on-screen portrayal has been true to his personality. Scroll down for video The real deal! Jarrod Woodgate's ex-girlfriend says his on-screen portrayal has been true to his character despite being branded a 'stage five clinger' by fans She also said she believes he is appearing on the show with the genuine intention of finding love. 'He has seen something he wants and is going for it,' Amy told New Idea. 'He couldn't give a damn about fame and fortune. Everyone wants to fall in love and be happy with that special someone, and he deserves it.' The hairdresser began dating Jarrod in 2010 after meeting through his sister in their Victorian hometown, the publication reported. The right reasons: Amy also said she believes he is appearing on the show with the genuine intention of finding love 'He has seen something he wants and is going for it': Amy said Jarrod deserves his shot at happiness with Sophie 'He's a man, not a boy': She revealed dating the 31-year-old was a fun and romantic experience, and she was always felt looked after. She revealed dating the 31-year-old was a fun and romantic experience, and she was always felt looked after. 'He's a man, not a boy. He has his life set up and he's a catch,' Amy said. Amy's insight comes after Jarrod revealed that when it comes to matters of the heart, he tends to fall too hard too soon. Speaking to TV Week last week, the vineyard manager admitted that his last relationship ended because he was getting 'too clingy'. Clingy: Amy's insight comes after Jarrod revealed that when it comes to matters of the heart, he tends to fall too hard too soon Smitten: The Bachelorette's Jarrod revealed he was smitten with Sophie during an exchange with rival Sam Cochrane last week, leading some to joke on social media Jarrod added that while he was ready to make a commitment, his former flame was more career focused. 'She wasn't ready to settle down as she was very work-driven,' he said. As Jarrod confronted fellow competitor Sam Cochrane last week, a number of viewers took to Twitter to joke about the smitten star being Sophie's 'stage five clinger' and generally 'creepy.' One joked that Jarrod's infatuation with Sophie made him 'the type of guy that would slowly steal locks of your hair in your sleep and weave a life-sized human doll'. Social media: An enamoured Jarrod was the subject of a number of light hearted jokes on Twitter They are arch frenemies and their latest argument is about Bobby Norris' aspiration to become an author. Dramatic scenes on Sunday night's episode of TOWIE see Bobby storm off after he has another explosive row with Gemma Collins at a packed bar in London. Bobby was left insulted when the feisty blonde loudly slurped down her cocktail, burped and yawned in his face while he explained the narrative of his new book. Scroll down for video Shocking: Dramatic scenes on Sunday night's episode of TOWIE see Bobby storm off after he has another explosive row with Gemma Collins at a packed bar in London Talking openly with his friends, Bobby was sharing the intricate details of the novel he plans to pen about the adventures of his life. The TOWIE star's feelings are inevitably hurt when his co-star Gemma appears to be uninterested and disengaged. After Gemma yawns, Bobby prompted, 'Am I boring you darling?' To which she responded: 'No it's all the shopping Bob. Sorry I am listening. I'm not yawning on purpose.' Horrified: Bobby was left insulted after the feisty blonde loudly slurped down her cocktail, burped and yawned in his face as he explained the narrative of his new book Clearly not satisfied with her response, he said: 'It's been two in three minutes either Narcoleptic Gem is kicking in or you're bored out of your a****hole.' Bobby returned to talk about his book only to be further insulted when Gemma proceeds to slurp on her drink. The Essex born beauty's actions is enough to set him off as the budding author demanded she can't belch, burp and slurp while he is talking. Pain: The TOWIE star's feelings are inevitably hurt when his co-star Gemma appears to be uninterested and disengaged Too late to apologise: Gemma tried to say sorry but her pal is already outraged by her response Fellow TOWIE pals Tommy and Mike sat in disbelief and shock when the pair got at each other's throats. Bobby explained: 'You can't sit there belching and burping and slurping on an whole f***ing Long Island tea.' Gemma flashed her pearly white grin at her friend as she sat smiling like a Cheshire cat. She teased her co-star, saying: 'Alright I'll act interested.' Can't help it: The Essex born beauty's actions is enough to set him off again as the budding author demanded she can't belch, burp and slurp while he is talking A downcast Bobby responded: 'You shouldn't have to act interested.' Despite Gemma asking her friend not to take it personally, Bobby made his feelings known by storming out of the bar. It tickled TOWIE fans sense of humour when the writer revealed his plans to kill off the character based on his female pal in a meeting with publishers the next day. Detailing his revenge, he said: 'I'll be honest with you girls, up until yesterday it wasn't going to be Emma who was killed off. 'But real life events have kicked in. I've had a falling out with the girl Emma's going to be based on.' Not having it: Despite Gemma asking her friend not to take it personally, Bobby made his feelings known by storming out of the bar Fans of the show flooded social media with their amusement on the fall out. One follower wrote: 'Bobby just killed off Gemma in his whodunnit and is calling her Emma. I'm done.' Another added: 'Bobby and Gemma need their own show, they have me creasing.' Others professed their love for the pair as they described their dynamic friendship as hilarious. The Only Way Is Essex next airs on Wednesday at 10pm on ITVBe. She's searching for her happily ever after on dating reality series The Bachelorette. And as reported in Monday's TV WEEK, Sophie Monk sends one suitor packing PRIOR to the rose ceremony, upon hearing that he's not sure if he can fall in love with her. The 37-year-old is unimpressed and states: 'I want someone who loves me 100 per cent.' 'I want someone who loves me 100 per cent': As reported in TV WEEK, The Bachelorette's Sophie Monk, 37, sends contestant home BEFORE a rose ceremony, in an epic confrontation Sophie makes the decision to eliminate the contestant after hearing the male say: 'I've had a few private relationships and that's the way I like it. I don't think it's anyone else's business.' The former Bardot songstress becomes concerned that he's not in the competition purely to find love. 'I'm sure I want to be here and fall in love - you're not sure and there are guys here who definitely want to be with me. I want someone who loves me 100 per cent,' Sophie quips. Shock exit: Upon hearing that one contestant is unsure whether he can fall in love with her, Sophie says: 'I just think you should go off and meet the right girl. And I promise you, it's not me' Candid comments: Sophie told The Sunday Telegraph's Stellar last month that in past relationships she was 'very generous' and 'not confrontational' and would therefore end up getting walked all over Sending him home packing, the blonde beauty continues: 'I just think you should go off and meet the right girl. And I promise you, it's not me.' The personality is left angered, sharing to camera that Sophie's actions are 'bulls*t.' Sophie told The Sunday Telegraph's Stellar last month that in past relationships she was 'very generous' and 'not confrontational' and would therefore end up getting walked all over. She confessed: 'You lose yourself if you get walked over, and it becomes one-sided. My self-esteem with guys isn't good from all that' 'You lose yourself if you get walked over, and it becomes one-sided. My self-esteem with guys isn't good from all that,' she candidly told the publication. Insisting that she's ready to move onto a new chapter, Sophie said: 'I just had to be me, be a bit selfish and just think about what I want.' The Bachelorette Australia airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7.30pm on Network Ten Frame of mind: Insisting that she's ready to move onto a new chapter, Sophie continued: 'I just had to be me, be a bit selfish and just think about what I want' He's styled the hair of the world's most famous faces including royalty, film stars and pop icons. But celebrity hairdresser Nicky Clarke, 59, is juggling his 350 haircuts with a whopping increase in family duties since he became a grandfather and father in the space of just a few months. The new dad, who is also father to Harrison, 31, and Tellisa, 28, from his marriage to Lesley Clarke, welcomed Nico George with his girlfriend Kelly Simpkin, 35, in July. Scroll down for video New arrival: Nicky Clarke (right) welcomed son Nico (centre) with girlfriend Kelly Simpkin (left), in July - and spoke about third-time fatherhood to Hello! magazine on Monday And since Harrison became a father to Casper five months before Nico's arrival, Nicky is having to make sure he tends to both his baby and his grandson in equal measure. He told Hello! magazine: 'I'm getting used to seeing myself as a grandad, although I still feel young at heart. It helps that I'm in baby mode one way or another.' Nicky, whose clients across four decades of luxury hairdressing have included Princess Diana and the Duchess of Cambridge, added that his baby son with ex-City trader Kelly is already showing signs of taking after him. Despite a slew of scandals including an affair with a prostitute which ended his relationship with millionaire interior designer and Dragons' Den dragon Kelly Hoppen, Kelly Simpkin (right) set Nicky on the straight and narrow when she joined his salon as a trainee hairdresser Working hard: They struck up their romance more than four years ago - yet it hasn't all been plain sailing as both Nicky and Kelly have struggled with health problems over that time Bevy of celebs: One of Nicky's long term clients is TV presenter Selina Scott, pictured here with the hairdresser in the 1990s He said: 'He had so much hair. Nurses couldn't believe it!' The son of an electrical enigineer, Nicky worked flat-out from the age of 17 to make his Mayfair salon the success it is today. Despite a slew of scandals including an affair with a prostitute which ended his relationship with millionaire interior designer and Dragons' Den dragon Kelly Hoppen, Kelly Simpkin set him on the straight and narrow when she joined his salon as a trainee hairdress. They struck up their romance more than four years ago - yet it hasn't all been plain sailing as both Nicky and Kelly have struggled with health problems over that time. Chip off the old lock: Nicky, whose clients across four decades of luxury hairdressing have included Princess Diana (right) and the Duchess of Cambridge (left), said his baby son with ex-City trader Kelly is already showing signs of taking after him After recovering from an operation to remove a cyst on his liver, Nicky and Kelly were also hit with her diagnosis for the debilitating condition, lupus. But Kelly says her beau has been the picture of the doting dad since Nico was born. She told Hello!: 'He'll get up with me when I do the night feeds so I'm not doing them on my own. He's really hands-on and will make my breakfast. He does look after me.' The full interview is available in the current issue of Hello!, out now. However, when Basil was contacted to confirm or deny the rumour, he refused to comment saying, If anything [happens] we will call a media conference". In other words I wanted to hear his response his before I made mine. When contacted by the media about what had happened, I replied that the best person to answer that question was party leader Sam Basil and the members who supported the decision to move. The decision had been made at a secret meeting convened at the Lae International Hotel the previous day. Seven other members, including me, decided to remain with the opposition. LAE - On 1 September, I posted an article confirming rumours of a split in the Pangu Pati in which eight members, led by the party leader Sam Basil, made the decision to cross the floor of parliament to join prime minister Peter ONeills government. Sam Basil - once thought to be the incorruptible great hope, now waiting for Peter O'Neill to fail It wasnt until 10 days later on 11 September that Basil and ONeill staged a press conference at parliament house in Port Moresby confirming the move of 10 members of Pangu. So, if the decision was initially made on 31 August, why did it take Basil and O'Neill 10 days to formally announce it? What the public didnt know was that following the meeting in Lae these members all went to the bar at the Lae International to celebrate their decision and wait for ONeill to fly in from Port Moresby to stage a press conference. However ONeill did not show up. He said he would fly the next day. On the following day, Basil and company travelled to Nazab Airport to welcome ONeill. Again O'Neill was a no show. Why? It was rumoured through political grapevine that members of the government ranks opposed the plan for Basil to join the government. A deal had been cut between ONeill and Basil without their knowledge or consent. So how did this come about? Following the formation of the new government on 1 August, Basil and ONeill were in constant contact for Pangu to join government. A week later Basil flew to Singapore to secretly meet with ONeill where they cut a deal that Pangu would move to join the government and receive four senior ministries. It is alleged the deal also included a substantial financial incentive, an issue Im currently looking into. My view as to why ONeill would be keen for Pangu to join government is that he was concerned about William Duma, who held the balance of power with nine members in his United Resources Party (URP). After the recent election and before the split in Pangu, the opposition had 48 members, the governor of Eastern Highlands was on the middle bench and the ONeill government had 61 members. The majority needed to form government was 56 (being half of the 111 seats in parliament). URP was the second largest party in the government coalition second to O'Neill's People's National Congress Party. URP held the balance of power, meaning if it defected to the opposition 48 + 9 would equal 57 O'Neill would be removed as prime minister. This explains why URP was able to hold key ministries in government - state-owned enterprises, police and petroleum & energy. Having the balance of power means one can dictate terms. To neutralise Duma's influence and threat of defection, ONeill needed to bring a counterweight - a party with equal numbers to still maintain a majority in the event URP defected. ONeill initially approached his former friend and staunch ally, leader of the National Alliance Patrick Pruaitch. However Pruaitch refused, knowing too well O'Neill's word wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. Sadly the politically naive Basil over-ambitious to become prime minister - was easier to mislead. The problem ONeill faced was how to make available the four senior ministries promised to Basil, which included works held by Michael Nali and energy held by Fabian Pok, without dividing his own governing coalition. The answer was he couldnt, hence the 10 day delay in announcing the move. So why, in the end, did Basil cross without any ministries? After a third failed attempt to join government, I made it known to Basil through a third party that I would write an article exposing the plan and the embarrassing fact he was being rejected by a corrupt government. The very next day Basil and ONeill staged a press conference announcing that Basil and nine other Pangu members had joined ONeill government. I can only assume Basil and ONeill were concerned about both of them looking desperate and that this forced Basil to move without securing the ministries. It is important to note that Basil's decision had nothing to do with opposition leadership, or a power play over Pangu's leadership following Sir Mekere Morataus decision to join. It had to do with Basils ambition to be prime minister, confirmed in my own discussion with him. He made it clear he was sick of being in opposition and deciding who in the government would be prime minister. He emphasised he made Peter ONeill become prime minister, he made Belden Namah, and Don Polye become opposition leader and almost made William Duma prime minister on 1 August 2017. "The prime minister will always come from government side and not the opposition," Basil told me. This explains why he was keen to join the ONeill government. The irony is that, while Basil is right if there is a split in government, it is always the opposition who decides which candidate in the government will be the next prime minister. What he failed to understand is that the 27 members in opposition will decide and I can assure him it wont be him. Now I understand there will be a few members in both the government and opposition who will take issue with this article. What they need to understand is I didnt seek elected office for financial incentive, political convenience or the opportunity to one day be prime minister. It was to save this country from the corrupt people running it into the ground. The future of our great country lies in the next generation and I will be doing my part to ensure they are afforded a better foundation to succeed us. Just as I was able to overcome a corrupt electoral system and election rigging to finally get elected, I intend to share every experience and skill I have to help others who share the same passion, value and principles achieve the same. A bored military wife and the intense heat of the desert made for a heady, dangerous cocktail in The Last Post (BBC1 Sunday). The first of a six-part series, the drama focused on a group of Royal Military Police stationed in Aden, one of the last outposts of Empire, on the Arabian Peninsula in 1965. Captain Nick Page was being reassigned much to the disappointment of the troops who loved serving under him. He was brave and fearless on the battlefield and boozy and bawdy in the barracks. Lieutenant Ed Laithwaite (Stephen Campbell Moore with Alison Laithwaite (Jessica Raine) Particularly sorry to see him go was Alison Laithwaite. Her husband, Lt Ed Laithwaite, had been expected to land Captain Pages job but was overlooked due to her unbecoming conduct. Played by Call The Midwifes Jessica Raine, Alison spent most of the day with a glass of gin in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She teased the troops by hanging her frillies on the washing line and was openly having an affair with Captain Page, by whom she had become pregnant. Replacing Captain Page was Captain Martin, a wet-behind-the-ears officer who travelled to Aden with his drippy new wife. This isnt Aldershot, he observed as he gazed out at the scorched landscape. Meanwhile, Alisons cuckolded husband was trying to foil a plot by rebels to attack the base. He failed and later Captain Page was ambushed and killed on his way to the airport. With glamorous women, macho men and sordid secrets, The Last Post was a bit like Dynasty in the desert. Pictured: Captain Nick Page (Joseph Kennedy), Corporal Israel Orchover (Kevin Sutton) and Lance Corporal Tony Armstrong (Tom Glynn-Carney) With glamorous women, macho men and sordid secrets, The Last Post was a bit like Dynasty in the desert. Anyone hoping for a history lesson would have been disappointed, but for a piece of Sunday night escapism it did the job. Far more torturous to watch was The X Factor: Bootcamp (ITV Saturday). The hopefuls had been narrowed down to 124 and were sent off to bootcamp at Wembley for five days of humiliation before a third of them were packed off home. Now in its 13th year, The X Factor is struggling to attract viewers who have, no doubt, grown tired of the same old pantomime and fakery. KITCHEN SINK DRAMA OF THE WEEK The latest series of Cold Feet gets worse by the week. The storylines are ridiculous and the characters unlikeable. In fact the only reason to tune in is to admire Adam and Tinas fabulous designer kitchen. Advertisement Producers are left to scrabble around for ever more inventive ways of ramping up the drama. This year at bootcamp we had The Wall of Songs where contestants had to race towards a wall and grab a card containing the name of a song they wanted to perform. It was all over in 30 seconds and had about as much drama as doing a crossword. The contestants all sang in front of the judges, who looked like theyd rather be anywhere but Wembley listening to a bunch of people shouting into a microphone and mangling the lyrics to Let It Be. The problem with X Factor is that its now become so scripted and formulaic that nothing about the show seemed natural. Every year there is a contestant who is dismissed by the judges, only for them to regret their decision and bring them back. This year that contestant was Alisah, who messed up her audition, was told to go home and then belted out a song in protest. The judges gave her a stay of execution and then she brought the house down when she finally got to sing in front of a live audience. A mother and daughter act were told they could only move forward as a solo act if the mother stepped down. Would the mother agree to go? Oh the drama. Contestants all spoke of giving everything from 110 to 500 per cent and Simon declared it the toughest year ever. Its no wonder The X Factor is struggling in the ratings. Audiences are 110 per cent bored of this nonsense. They are acclaimed actresses who have made waves on stage and screen. And Sienna Miller and Liv Tyler looked over the moon to run into one another at the Saturday Night Fever with The OUTNET at The Electric Cinema event, in London on Sunday. Sienna, who was hosting the event, flashed a coy smile as she sweetly posed up with a radiant Liv, 40, with the pair placing their heads together for the snap Scroll down for video Pals: Sienna Miller and Liv Tyler looked over the moon to run into one another at the Saturday Night Fever with The OUTNET at The Electric Cinema event, in London on Sunday Sienna, who is currently lighting up the West End stage in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, showcased her slim physique in a slinky patterned Rouje jumpsuit at the special screening. The Layer Cake actress also teased a glimpse of her cleavage in the plunging neckline of the garment, drawing further attention to her chest with the decorative buttons. Proving accessories make an outfit, the style maven walked with poise in sky-scraper platform sandals complete with straps in the same pattern as her jumpsuit. Going for a different look, the fashion designer wore her golden locks in a single plait only letting a few wisps of her tresses fall out to frame her face. Glamorous: Sienna, who is currently lighting up the West End stage in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, showcased her slim physique in a slinky patterned Rouje jumpsuit at the special screening while Liv looked chic in a black sweater and cropped trousers Leading ladies: Sienna teased a glimpse of her cleavage in the plunging neckline of the garment while Liv highlighted her glossy tresses and sparkling eyes She's got style: Sienna shot the camera a coy pout as she playfully posed The star added an edgy feel to her evening ensemble, toting a glass mirrored style handbag. She styled drop earrings and a simple necklace for a hint of sparkle. While Lord of the Rings star Liv glowed in a chic black sweater, paired with slate grey cropped trousers and comfortable pumps. Her glossy chocolate tresses were styled into soft waves and she made her sparkling blue peepers pop with fluttery lashes, finishing the look with a glossy peach lip. How to accessorise: The style maven walked with poise in sky-scraper platform sandals complete with straps in the same pattern as her jumpsuit Sienna was joined by the great and the good of the showbiz world including the likes of Julien Macdonald. The special screening of Saturday Night Fever celebrated 15 years of GRAND CLASSICS. She had the time of her life as she took a night off her theatre duties to host the show. Great fun: She had the time of her life as she took a night off her theatre duties to host the show Different look: Sienna had tied her hair up at the start of the night in a loosely tousled plait but by the end of the night she let her golden locks down Good company: Sienna was joined by the great and the good of the showbiz world at the special screening including the likes of Kim Hersov who donned frayed jeans for the night Sienna is currently starring in Tennessee Williams' play Cat On The Tin Roof, alongside Skins actor Jack O'Connell. She has received rave reviews for her performance as Maggie in the drama, which runs until October 7. The Benedict Andrews' directed play centres around the sexual tension between her character and her alcoholic husband Brick, who some believe is in denial about his homosexuality. Racy lady! Lady Victoria Hervey oozed sex appeal in a raunchy top with a nude body emblazoned across it, teamed with a sexy scarlet blazer and fishnet tights Team work! Lady Victoria rubbed shoulders with dazzling Jelena Fahey at the event Vision in black: Julien Macdonald made a striking appearance head-to-toe in black for the occasion Let the bubbly flow: Brenda Meaney and Colm Meaney enjoyed catching up over a glass of red Cosy: Sienna Miller threw her arm around Linda Fulford, who donned a sparkly jacket, and wrapped her arm around her Katrina Pavlos Trio: Katie Barrington, Sheherazade Goldsmith and Laura Bailey got chatting at the event Sienna sparked false engagement rumours earlier this month after accidentally leaving a a piece of costume jewellery on while leaving the theatre. The sizeable ring set tongues wagging about potential wedding bells for her and her director boyfriend, Bennett Miller, 50, who she met on the set of the 2014 film Foxcatcher. However, a source close to Sienna later dismissed the claims as a 'silly mistake' and said there was no engagement. Sienna shares daughter Marlowe, five with her former fiance Tom Sturridge, whom she dated from 2011 to 2015. Kooky: Valeria Napoleone opted for an uncharacteristic attire made up of a rugby shirt and wellies while Meredith Ostrom went hell for leather in skintight PVC trousers Squad goals: Adi Cook, Jo Miller and Kelly Hoppen (L-R) enjoyed catching up behind the scenes at the special screening Keeping it simple: Melissa Odabash opted for an all-black ensemble to attend the event Idris Elba auditioned to play Gaston in the new live-action remake of Disney's Beauty And The Best - a role that ultimately went to Luke Evans. Actor and international sex symbol Idris dropped the bombshell to People this week, telling Jess Cagle: 'I honestly love musicals.' ''I called! I called. I said: "Listen, I want in." They were like: "Uh, you know, uh, wow. Okay." So, somewhere, they have a tape of me singing,' dished Idris, 45, of being up for the role of Belle's villainous suitor in the Disney movie. Scroll down for video The one that got away: Idris Elba auditioned to play Gaston in the new live-action remake of Disney's Beauty And The Best - a role that ultimately went to Luke Evans When Jess prodded him on whether the tape would ever go public, Idris vamped: 'No,' and when pressed again: 'Here's the thing: no,' getting a laugh both times. 'Wait, was it bad?' Jess asked, to which Idris pointed out: 'Well, I didn't get the part!' He joked: 'They were like: "I think youre a little old." "Oh." No, they didnt say that.' Asked whether he harbored any bitterness toward Luke for scooping up the role, Idris' voice leapt up an octave as he said: 'No, only a little bit.' Upshot: The role ultimately went to Luke Evans It went back down as he clarified that he was kidding again, saying: 'No, I love you, Luke. You know that. Great actor.' Idris, who was plugging his new survival movie The Mountain Between Us co-starring Kate Winslet, reminisced about his previous history with musicals. He looked back on his gig touring with Britain's National Youth Music Theatre in a production of the landmark Broadway show Guys And Dolls. Actor and international sex symbol Idris dropped the bombshell to People this week, telling Jess Cagle: 'I honestly love musicals' Idris had explained that 'the National Music Theatre is attached to the National Theatre, you know? And the standard in the National Theatres incredible.' He's recalled: 'So, I auditioned for it, got it, and I auditioned for a grant, because it was a touring play, so you needed some money to tour with the play, which took me to Japan. It was Guys And Dolls. I played Big Julie, Big Julie from Chicago.' Plus which, 'I understudied for Nathan Detroit' - one of the leading men, who in the musical's 1955 film adaptation was played by Frank Sinatra. Idris even treated Jess to his rendition of a bit of Frank Loesser's iconic score, singing from one of Nathan's numbers: 'Sue me. Sue me. What can you do me? I love you.' She is known for being one of the biggest animal lovers in Hollywood. And Paris Hilton seemed like she was enjoying her eventful day as she posted multiple snaps of herself cuddling with white baby cubs while visiting a wildlife sanctuary on Sunday. The heiress, 36, was joined by friends including boyfriend Chris Zylka and fashion designer Brandi Howes. Momma cub: Paris Hilton seemed like she was enjoying her eventful day as she posted multiple snaps of herself cuddling with white baby cubs while visiting a wild life sanctuary on Sunday Paris rocked a black tank top under an intricate red leather shirt from her friend Brandi's new Bowenero clothing line. The former reality star finished her ensemble with baggy red sweatpants, along with a black sweatshirt that she tied around her waist. The blonde heiress styled her hair in two French braids, while wearing gold glitter on her cheek bones. Paris proved she was a profession animal whisperer as she cradled the tiny cub to sleep in her arms. Precious: The heiress, 36, was joined by friends including boyfriend Chris Zylka and fashion designer Brandi Howes The Stars Are Blind songstress shared a video with herself and friend Brandi playfully cuddling the cute little felines. The blonde bombshell captioned the video: 'Cuddling cubs with my #GlitterSister @BrandiHowe.' Paris later shared an adorable video of boyfriend Chris and a tiny brown monkey. The video showed the loving couple sticking out their tongues, while they mimic their furry friend. She wrote: 'Monkeying around with my love.' Sweet kisses: Paris proved she was a profession animal whisperer as she cradled the tiny cub to sleep in her arms Animal whisperer: The Stars Are Blind songstress shared a video with herself and friend Brandi playfully cuddling the cute little felines Chris, 32, has been dating Paris since 2016 but has fully committed to their relationship by getting her name tattooed on his forearm. Paris is a mother to over 10 animals, where the four legged friends live in their own mini mansion at her Bel Air estate. The baby cubs might have been practice for the Simple Life alum, as she recently admitted she will soon be ready to become a mommy to someone other than her beloved pet pooches. She exclusively told DailyMail.com: 'Chris loves kids just like I do... I can't wait to have my own child one day and how special that feeling would be.' Furry friends: Paris is a mother to over 10 animals, where the four legged friends live in their own mini mansion at her Bel Air estate It was the popular television drama that ran for five years, between 2001 and 2005. With Logie winner Samuel Johnson as the lead, The Secret Life of Us followed the lives of a group of friends living in a block of flats in Melbourne's St Kilda. Not only did the series make Samuel, now 39, a household name, it also introduced actors who went on to enjoy international success - including Joel Edgerton and Ben Mendelsohn. But 12 years after the show's cancellation, what happened to cast members like Sibylla Budd, Spencer McLaren and Dan Spielman? Where are they now? With Logie winner Samuel Johnson as the lead, The Secret Life of Us followed the lives of a group of friends living in a block of flats in Melbourne 's St Kilda Samuel Johnson - Evan Wylde Lead performance: Samuel Johnson found his big break in acting after landing the role of scruffy, womanising writer Evan Wylde in The Secret Life of Us Samuel Johnson found his big break in acting after landing the role of scruffy, womanising writer Evan Wylde in The Secret Life of Us. After the series wrapped, the Victorian-based star had a series of smaller roles, as well as appearing on documentaries and talk shows. But it wasn't until he was cast as Molly Meldrum in the Channel Seven mini-series Molly (2016) that Samuel really made a career comeback. His portrayal of the veteran music critic was widely praised, and he was awarded the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality in 2017. During that acceptance speech, Molly himself took to the stage to deliver a rather bizarre anecdote - and Samuel graciously let him enjoy the spotlight. Tragedy: Samuel suffered heartache when his girlfriend Lainie Woodlands took her own life in February 2006. His beloved sister Connie also died of cancer only last month Who could forget? During his acceptance speech for his portrayal of Molly Meldrum in the mini-series Molly, Molly himself took to the stage to deliver a rather bizarre anecdote - and Samuel graciously let him enjoy the spotlight However, Samuel suffered heartache when his girlfriend Lainie Woodlands took her own life in February 2006, causing him to fall into a depression and seek counselling. And only last month, his beloved sister Connie died after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. Before her death, the siblings had raised significant funds through their cancer charity, Love Your Sister. Good cause: Before Connie's death, the siblings had raised significant funds through their cancer charity, Love Your Sister. Pictured: Samuel at the 2017 Logie Awards Sibylla Budd - Gabrielle Kovich Career highlights: Sibylla Budd, 39, starred as Gabrielle Kovich in The Secret Life of Us until late 2003, a year before it was axed. She later appeared in other theatre and TV productions Sibylla Budd, 39, starred as Gabrielle Kovich in The Secret Life of Us until late 2003, a year before it was axed. She went on to star in several theatre productions and landed a part in TV drama series Winners and Losers. She also appeared in one episode of both Redfern Now and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. However, after her departure from The Secret Life of Us, Sibylla found herself struggling to find regular acting jobs. 'Where is the next job going to come from?' However, after her departure from The Secret Life of Us, Sibylla admitted she found herself struggling to find regular acting jobs She told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2013: 'Everything flowed really organically for the first, I guess, three or four years. And then it was a bit of rude shock when it all stopped. 'I didn't get complacent, but you forget what it's like to be on the other side as an actor. Which is, "Oh my gosh, where is the next job going to come from?"' Sibylla lives with her filmmaker husband Peter Carstairs and their son Albie in Melbourne. Spencer McLaren - Richie Blake Character: Spencer McLaren, 44, played the role of Richie Blake during the first three seasons of The Secret Life of Us, before landing guest roles on Australian television Love story: Spencer's personal life made headlines, having exchanged vows with partner Chris Wright in February 2014 in Melbourne Spencer McLaren, 44, played the role of Richie Blake during the first three seasons of The Secret Life of Us, before landing guest roles on Australian television. His personal life has also made headlines, having exchanged vows with partner Chris Wright in February 2014 in Melbourne. Spencer, a supporter of same-sex marriage, said it was 'beautiful' to have the encouragement of family and friends on their special day. He previously said: 'We had some very wonderful words of support. We put it on our family and friends to protect our union for what it was, a wedding, and stand up for marriage equality.' Proud moment: Spencer, a supporter of same-sex marriage, said it was 'beautiful' to have the encouragement of family and friends on their special day Dan Spielman - Dr Patrick Dan Spielman starred as Dr Patrick, a.k.a Tidy, in The Secret Life of Us, before landing a role in popular Network Ten series Offspring. And following on, Dan has made a number of appearances in smaller television roles. However, it was his marriage to Orange Is The New Black star Yael Stone that made headlines in recent years. The couple's marriage fell apart, and they divorced in 2016 after four years. Split: Dan Spielman starred as Dr Patrick, a.k.a Tidy, in The Secret Life of Us, before landing a role in Offspring. He split with ex-wife Yael Stone (left) in 2016 after four years Joel Edgerton - Will McGill Joel Edgerton, 43, has no doubt come a long way since playing Will McGill on The Secret Life of Us. He has been a familiar face since the late '90s, but it wasn't until his role in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby that Hollywood took notice. Household name: Joel Edgerton, 43, has no doubt come a long way since playing Will McGill on The Secret Life of Us Following on from the acclaimed production, Joel went on to generate Oscar buzz for his role in historical drama Loving. However despite his high profile, Joel is not looking to be a 'movie star'. He told The WILD Magazine in 2014: 'Some people are really good at playing the movie star, they are really good at cultivating that mystique, but I'm not really into that.' Acclaimed: He has been a familiar face since the late '90s, but it wasn't until his role in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby that Hollywood took notice of Joel Claudia Karvan - Dr Alex Christensen Familiar face: Claudia Karvan, 45, portrayed Dr Alex Christensen in The Secret Life of Us. She later starred in Puberty Blues, The Time of Our Lives and, most recently, Newton's Law Claudia Karvan, 45, portrayed Dr Alex Christensen in The Secret Life of Us. Her career afterwards has seen her appear in numerous Australian productions - including Puberty Blues, The Time of Our Lives and, most recently, Newton's Law. Claudia is married to Jeremy Sparks. The couple share two children together. Proud mother: Claudia is married to Jeremy Sparks. The couple share two children together Ben Mendelsohn - Rob He starred in just five episodes of The Secret Life of Us as Rob, in series four. But despite his short-lived role, Ben Mendelsohn, 48, has gone on to enjoy a successful career in American film and television. He is a familiar face thanks to roles in Hollywood blockbusters, like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Dark Night Rises, and Mississippi Grind. Small part: Despite his short-lived role, Ben Mendelsohn, 48, has gone on to enjoy a successful career in American film and television Former issues: But while he is considered a respected character actor today, Ben previously battled drug problems But while he is considered a respected character actor today, Ben previously battled drug problems. At the afterparty of The Piano premiere in 1993, Ben was reportedly found in a 'comatose state'. He later told Fairfax Media he 'just gave way to excessive hedonism'. In the past, Ben has also enjoyed high-profile relationships - including a romance with James Packer's ex-fiancee Kate Fischer. He was most recently married to journalist Emma Forrest, but she filed for divorce in December after four years, citing 'irreconcilable differences'. Personal life: He was most recently married to journalist Emma Forrest, but she filed for divorce in December after four years, citing 'irreconcilable differences' Deborah Mailman - Kelly Lewis Starring role: Deborah Mailman, 45, played Kelly Lewis in The Secret Life of Us, before later starring as Cherie Butterfield in Network Ten drama Offspring Deborah Mailman, 45, played Kelly Lewis in The Secret Life of Us, before later starring as Cherie Butterfield in Network Ten drama Offspring. The actress has never been short of work opportunities, with her most recent projects including programs Wolf Creek and A Few Less Men in 2016. Deborah has received critical praise throughout her career, and was awarded the Logie for Most Outstanding Actress in Redfern Now: Promise Me, last year. The Queensland-born star shares two children with partner Matthew Coonan. If you, or someone you know, needs support please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au With two decades of modeling experience under her belt, she is something of a fashion veteran. But Alessandra Ambrosio proved that even top models suffer wardrobe malfunctions on Sunday, as she arrived at the star-studded Vogue party in Paris, in a dangerously revealing Ronald van der Kemp maxi dress. The Brazilian beauty, 36, was effortlessly glamorous in a trench coat-style dress, complete with a daring thigh-high split - which accidentally slipped to the side as she posed, threatening to give a flash of her underwear-free frame beneath. Whoops! Alessandra Ambrosio proved even top models suffer wardrobe malfunctions on Sunday, as she arrived at the Vogue party in Paris in a dangerously revealing maxi dress However despite the dress' minor slip, the Victoria's Secret beauty soon recovered from the mishap - bringing all eyes back to her show-stopping frock as she posed. The dress, patterned with sophisticated navy pinstripes all over, was styled like a classic trench coat, complete with chunky lapels and a ribbon tie waist, accentuating her enviably slender frame. Falling into a demure full-length skirt, the dress then upped the sex appeal by cutting into the saucy split - which, when avoiding mishap, served to display her famously long and lean legs underneath. Effortless! However despite the dress' minor slip, the Victoria's Secret beauty soon recovered from the mishap - bringing all eyes back to her show-stopping frock as she posed Come rain or shine: The dress was styled like a classic trench coat, complete with chunky lapels and a ribbon tie waist, accentuating her enviably slender frame Leggy lady: The dress then upped the sex appeal by cutting into the saucy split - which, when avoiding mishap, served to display her famously long and lean legs underneath Stunning: She swept her hair into a loose, chic up-do to draw attention to her naturally striking facial features and glowing complexion, as she posed for cameras outside the event Keeping co-ordinated from head to toe, she tied the look together with classic black court shoes, and a dainty box bag of black crocodile print. She swept her hair into a loose, chic up-do to draw attention to her naturally striking facial features and glowing complexion, as she posed for cameras outside the event. However in a further trendy touch, Ale, as fans affectionately call her, was later seen accessorising a baker boy cap as she headed to the bash with fiance Jamie Mazur. Vintage: However in a further trendy touch, Ale, as fans affectionately call her, was later seen accessorising a baker boy cap as she headed to the bash with fiance Jamie Mazur Right-hand man: Mazur was a gentlemen as he sheltered his love from the rain with a red umbrella Crocodile tears: The mother-of-two carried along a crocodile clutch and her phone Hat's off! The 5foot9 stunner protected her hair from the rain in the hat Mazur, 36, was ever the gentlemen as he sheltered his love from the rain with a firey red umbrella. As she found her way inside the event to the red carpet, the IMG repped beauty popped the collar of her frock with sass. Ale's chiseled cheekbones were accentuated by a chic contour while she lined her eyes with dark kohl. Collared! As she found her way inside the event to the red carpet, the IMG repped beauty popped the collar of her frock with sass C'est magnifique! Ale's chiseled cheekbones were accentuated by a chic contour while she lined her eyes with dark kohl Heels to you! Towering patent heels topped off the model/actress's look Proving she never misses the fashion mark, the model/actress appeared effortlessly chic in casuals earlier that day in the City Of Lights. Alessandra wowed in a chunky knit sweater she wore tucked into light denim to reveal a handsome Hermes belt. She accessorized with a Louis Vuitton bag, suede ankle boots, and rounds sunglasses for the perfectly understated ensemble. Casual or couture! Proving she never misses the fashion mark, the model/actress appeared effortlessly chic in casuals earlier that day in the City Of Lights H is for hot! Alessandra wowed in a chunky knit sweater she wore tucked into light denim to reveal a handsome Hermes belt Simple and chic: She accessorized with a Louis Vuitton bag, suede ankle boots, and rounds sunglasses for the perfectly understated ensemble Ambrosio's busy schedule has seen her jet from New York to London, Los Angeles, Milan and Paris all in the last month alone. Just the day before, the starlet made an appearance at the Zurich Film Festival for the premiere of Dyson in Switzerland. And on Friday she was on the catwalks of Paris Fashion Week, where she made a showstopping appearance on the Balmain runway. Busy bee! Ambrosio's busy schedule has seen her jet from New York to London, Los Angeles, Milan and Paris all in the last month alone Nina Dobrev poses for the new issue of Rogue magazine as she promotes new project Flatliners. The actress, 28, stars with Ellen Page and Diego Luna in the sci-fi reboot that's set for release later this month. She told Rogue that the reason she left Vampire Diaries was to take on other projects and not get typecast, saying: 'I wanted to prove everyone wrong who said I would play this one role my whole life or be stuck playing younger roles.' In the spotlight: Nina Dobrev poses for the new issue of Rogue magazine as she promotes her new project, a reboot of sci-fi film Flatliners She spent seven years in the fantasy television series. 'Ive always wanted to take big risks,' Dobrev explained in the magazine interview. 'I started Vampire Diaries when I was 20.... I grew with the show and I wanted to continue to grow outside of it. Mentally, it was a crazy time. I was 27 when I left the show. I was ready to do something different,' she said. Speaking out: The actress, 28, told the magazine she left Vampire Diaries 'to prove everyone wrong' who said she'd be typecast by the television show Moving on: 'I started Vampire Diaries when I was 20.... I was 27 when I left the show. I was ready to do something different,' she explained Artsy: The Bulgarian-born Dobrev posed for some funky pictures The Bulgarian-born actress gushed about being part of the re-envisioning of the cult 1990 film abut medical students experimenting with 'near death' experiences. 'Its such a unique concept, the idea of dying and coming back to life everybody at some point wonders what happens after we pass away where do we go?' Dobrev said. 'There are so many questions. Ive always wondered about it, so the fact that this film explores that concept was very intriguing to me.' Out now: 'Ive always wanted to take big risks,' Dobrev explained in the magazine interview Dicing with death: Dobrev stars with Ellen Page, Kiersey Clemons and Diego Luna in the sci-fi reboot that's set for release later this month Meanwhile, the actress unveiled a new look at the recent Los Angeles premiere for Flatliners. She revealed to ET that she chopped off her long locks a couple of hours before the event as she debuted a new sleek bob. 'It's for a new movie that I'm doing,' she explained. 'It's a movie called Lucky Day and I play a Parisian woman who's an artist. They wanted me to cut my hair and... I don't know. I couldn't have been more excited to do it.' The Outlander family tree grew another branch during Sunday's episode of the Starz series. The fourth episode of the show's third season featured Highland warrior Jamie Fraser, played by Sam Heughan, welcoming a baby boy in the 18th century with Geneva - who he was blackmailed into having sex with. Meanwhile Jamie's love Claire Fraser, played by Caitriona Balfe, was trying to track him down in 1968. Scroll down for video Steamy: The fourth episode saw Jamie Fraser, played by Sam Heughan, welcoming a baby boy in the 18th century with Geneva - who he was blackmailed to have sex with (above) Separated: Meanwhile Jamie's love Claire Fraser, played by Caitriona Balfe, was trying to track him down in 1968 The episode showed Jamie serving as a groomsman for Lord Dunsany at his English estate Helwater in 1756. Jamie, calling himself Alexander Mackenzie, escorted the lord's daughters Geneva [Hannah James] and Isobel [Tanya Reynolds] around town. Geneva was set to be married off to the older Earl of Ellesmere - however Jamie was later blackmailed to have sex with her, as she didn't want her elderly fiance to have her 'maidenhead'. Highland warrior: The episode showed Jamie serving as a groomsman for Lord Dunsany at his English estate Helwater in 1756 Do it for me: Geneva was set to be married off to the older Earl of Ellesmere - however Jamie was blackmailed to have sex with her Arranged wedding: She reasoned that she did not wanted her elderly fiance (L) to take her 'maidenhead' He consented after Geneva reveals that she knows his true identity and calls him 'Red Jamie'. Geneva gasped when she saw his back scars and sheepishly asked for Jamie to instruct her on how to have sex. However things soon got into full swing between the pair, as they passionately kissed and got hot and heavy under the sheets. In bed: Jamie later agreed to have sex with Geneva First time: He consented after Geneva reveals that she knows his true identity and calls him 'Red Jamie' Awkward: Geneva gasped when she saw his back scars and sheepishly asked for Jamie to instruct her on how to have sex Hotting up: However things soon got into full swing between the pair, as they passionately kissed and got hot and heavy under the sheets She declared her love for Jamie afterwards, but he dismissed it and explained that it was just a post-sex feeling. 'Love is when you give your heart and soul to another and they give theirs in return,' Jamie told her. The one-hour episode then jumped forward with pregnant Geneva and Ellesmere arriving at Helwater. Getting flirty: Geneva had already flirted with groomsman Jamie Out for a ride: Jamie and Geneva were out for a ride together as she flirted with im Good one: Geneva tricked Jamie and rolled in the mud Isobel later alerted Jamie that Geneva was struggling in childbirth. Geneva died after giving birth to a boy and Isobel slapped Jamie because Ellesmere never had sex with Geneva. Ellesmere called the baby a bastard and threatened to kill the baby but Jamie shot him to death. Baby on board: The episode then skipped ahead to Geneva being pregnant New addition: Geneva gave birth to a baby boy but died in childbirth Bar time: Meanwhile in 1968 over two hundred years later, Claire and daughter Brianna went to a bar for a drink and drew stares That look: Roger admitted that he was afraid of losing Brianna The Dunsanys brought the baby home and nameed him William and called him Willie. Time skipped forward again to 1764 with Willie age eight and 'Mac' teaching him how to ride. The strong resemblance between Willie and Jamie continued to grow and prompted Jamie to ask Lord Grey to watch over Willie. One shot: Ellesmere was gunned down by Jamie after he threatened to kill the baby Strong resemblance: Jamie and Willie shared a strong resemblance Jamie offered his body to Grey in exchange but he reluctantly declined the offer. Grey instead informed Jamie that he plans to marry Isobel and they will take care of Willie. Jamie then told Willie about Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost things. Time to go: Willie was sad as 'Mac' said he had to leave Tender moment: The boy ran after Jamie as he rode away 'Mac, I want to be like you,' Willie told Jamie. Jamie then baptized Willie and gave him the name William James as his Papist name. Willie chased after Jamie as he rode off to the Bob Dylan song A Hard Rain Is Gonna Fall with tears streaming down the Highland warrior's face. Claire and her daughter Brianna meanwhile made progress in Scotland in their search for Jamie with the help of historian Roger. Tough choice: Jamie asked Lord Grey to raise Willie for him Brianna admitted that she fears losing her mother if she finds Jamie and Roger revealed that he doesn't want Brianna to leave. Roger and Brianna then kissed. Claire drew stares while drinking at a pub with her daughter, but didn't care. 'To all of those we have lost. Its time to go home,' Claire said before she and Brianna sadly returned to Boston. Mother and daughter: Brianna was afraid of losing her mother to the pursuit He's the hunky ex-partner of The Bachelorette's Sam Frost who is tipped to feature in Channel Ten's new reality spin-off series Bachelor in Paradise. And last week, Sasha Mielczarek looked prepared for a possible appearance on the show as he was seen keeping his figure in shape. Sasha was spotted going for a run with personal trainer Jonathan Castano-Acero - whose previous clients include Matty 'J' Johnson and Keira Maguire, who has also been linked with the new series. Scroll down for video Paradise preparations? Sasha Mielczarek goes for a run with a celebrity personal trainer after being tipped as a contestant on new reality series Bachelor In Paradise The 31-year-old was seen in all-black gym attire, consisting of a tank top, shorts and sneakers - all of which were Nike. To his left was Jonathan who didn't miss an opportunity to whip his top off and display his incredibly muscular and toned physique. He appeared to put Sasha through his paces as the former Bachelorette winner went slightly red in the face and put on a pained expression. For weeks, rumours had circled about Bachelor In Paradise coming to Australia, but a local version wasn't confirmed by Network Ten until Monday. Putting him through his paces! Sasha was spotted going for a run with personal trainer Jonathan Castano-Acero - whose previous clients include Matty 'J' Johnson and Keira Maguire It's coming! Network Ten has confirmed an Australian version of Bachelor In Paradise is in production on the Bachelor's Instagram account In an official press release, the channel stated that Osher Gunsberg will host the show and that it will be 'set in a romantic tropical destination overseas.' Revealing more details of the show, Ten's statement also read: 'The exciting new short-run series will feature former fan favourites and stand-out characters from previous seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette Australia.' The media release was paired with a post on the Bachelor's Instagram account. The TV channel captioned the post: 'Announcing: Bachelor In Paradise is coming!' and tagged @bachelorinparadise, the new show's profile. Who will win at love this time? Rumoured contestant Elora Murger from The Bachelor 2017 Stand-out character: The Bachelor's 'former 'villain' Keira Maguire is one star rumoured to appear in the new show According to previous reports, the new reality-TV spinoff may include last year's Bachelor runner-up Nikki Gogan and former 'villain' Keira Maguire. Other potential stars include season three breakout star Zilda Williams, Sarah-Mae Amey, Elora Murger, Leah Costa and Michael Turnbull. Unlucky in love Nikki, 31, was allegedly seen filming a promotional campaign for the show in Sydney recently - but the project will likely be filmed in picturesque Fiji. Confirmed? The page @BachParadiseAU hit Twitter earlier this week, and Daily Mail Australia understands it was set up by a social media manager for Network Ten 'They were filming on Palm Beach, the same place (Nikki) was taken by helicopter to have a beach date with Richie Strahan,' a source previously told New Idea. 'If Sarah-Mae and Sasha both agree to go on the show, that will create an interesting dynamic and possible sparks given the fallout between Sasha and (ex-girlfriend) Sam Frost, who remains good friends with Sarah-Mae,' the insider added. At the time, a Network Ten spokesperson denied New Idea's claims to Daily Mail Australia, saying the article was 'not true'. She would fit right in! The Bachelor 2017's Simone Ormesher (pictured) would be a perfect candidate for Bachelor In Paradise, which is rumoured to be filmed in Fiji The page @BachParadiseAU hit Twitter earlier this week, and Daily Mail Australia understands it was set up by a social media manager for Ten. The handle @BachParadiseAU appears to be similar to Ten's official accounts for The Bachelor (@TheBachelorAU) and The Bachelorette (@BacheloretteAU). The account has not yet tweeted and has not followed any other Twitter users. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Network Ten for comment. Reality TV return: The Bachelorette's Sasha (pictured) has been tipped to appear on Bachelor In Paradise, following his split from Sam Frost last December Meanwhile it seems Channel Nine is set to announce they will commission an Australian version of Love Island, according to The Daily Telegraph. The British dating show was an enormous success with audiences this year. The ITV-produced program will see 12 couples live on a tropical in a romantic environment with the hope falling in love, while under constant surveillance. It is believed producers will seek non-celebrity candidates for the show, unlike it's competition on Network Ten who currently have Sophie Monk as their Bachelorette. The potential launch of this show could see Channel Nine cash in on the popularity of dating shows like First Dates, The Bachelor and Bachelorette franchises. As regular viewers of The Block would know, contestants Ronnie and Jason don't always see eye to eye. And this week on the Channel Nine reality show, the boys are coming to blows once again after Jason accuses Ronnie and Georgia of failing to meet the correct building standards with their outdoor shower. Speaking to TV WEEK on Monday, Ronnie said his rival was just looking for trouble. Scroll down for video 'He's very good at picking up faults': In this week's issue of TV WEEK, The Block's Ronnie (pictured with wife Georgia) complained about Jason stirring up trouble by accusing the couple of violating building codes during backyard week Ronnie told the magazine that he had informed his builder about the outdoor shower, which was yet to be installed to the right sewer drain, before Jason stuck his nose in. He explained he had tried to get on the front foot 'because Jason is very good at sabotaging. He's very good at picking up faults.' At one point in the yet-to-be-aired episodes, Jason even got the higher-ups involved, informing the Victoria Building Authority about the perceived violation. Sabotage? Jason (pictured with wife Sarah) accuses Ronnie and Georgia of failing to correctly install the right sewer drain to their outdoor shower 'Jason was in the wrong and it met all the regulations': Ronnie slammed his rival for getting the Victoria Building Authority involved in the perceived violation This move angered Ronnie, who along with partner Georgia, have been considered frontrunners throughout the competition. 'Jason was in the wrong and it met all the regulations,' Ronnie added. 'But I knew Jason was going to kick up a fuss about that, because tensions were very high. Done it before! Previously in the competition, Jason dobbed in Elyse (left) and Josh (right) for violating building and safety regulations as their gas stove top was too close to their Caesarstone splash back It's not the first time Jason has been overly concerned about whether his rivals were breaking rules. Earlier in the competition he caused Georgia to break down in tears after accusing her of 'copying' the styling for her kids' room from a website. He also dobbed in Josh and Elyse for having their gas stove top too close to their Caesarstone splash back, which violated building and safety regulations. Dance Theatre of Harlem legend Karen Brown was recently hired as Ballet Wichita's guest artistic director and immediately asked New York international producer and American choreographer Sean McLeod to join her in Wichita Kansas to direct, choreograph and set a newly commissioned "Nutcracker" this season. Showing value for each other, they have dedicated the most precious resource -- time -- to help Ballet Wichita, under Sandy Wolter's executive direction, take a new leap! Where will you place your value this #MTMonday? Rumours have been circulating for weeks that she will join the cast of the upcoming Bachelor spin-off, Bachelor in Paradise. But on Saturday, Zilda Williams seemed to have little interest in her fellow Bachelor rejects as she put on a very loved up display with her new beau. The 34-year-old reality star and the 27-year-old fitness and underwear model couldn't keep their hands off each other as they enjoyed an afternoon at the beach in Queensland. No Bachelor in Paradise for me! The Bachelor's Zilda Williams puts on VERY loved up display while at beach with her new beau... despite rumours she'll star in reality spin-off Cheeky! It's only been a week since the busty reality star confirmed she is in a relationship with chiseled tradie and devout Christian Keith Frazer, but the pair seem absolutely smitten Smitten: The 34-year-old reality star and the 27-year-old fitness and underwear model couldn't keep their hands off each other as they enjoyed an afternoon at the beach in Queensland It's only been a week since the busty reality star confirmed she is in a relationship with chiseled tradie and devout Christian Keith Frazer, but the pair seem absolutely smitten with each other. The pair looked blissfully happy as they splashed around in the surf and lay on the sand together. The curvy beauty covered her E-cup assets with a black halterneck bikini top, while her matching bottoms featured racy, strappy detail along the sides. Meanwhile, Keith flaunted his muscular physique in a pair of board shorts that featured a fun pizza pattern. Destiny: Keith and Zilda first met at a modelling competition that the busty Kiwi was hosting at Love Nightlife, where she works as the sales and events manager The chemistry between the two was palpable as they smooched and cuddled while lying on the sand. They looked very happy, with both smiling broadly and they shared a laugh together. Keith and Zilda first met at a modelling competition that the busty Kiwi was hosting at Love Nightlife, where she works as the sales and events manager. Electric! The chemistry between the two was palpable as they smooched and cuddled while lying on the sand After they wrapped their trip to the beach they continued their PDA at a local cafe. Keith works as a tradie, but is also an underwear and fitness model. On his Instagram profile, the 27-year-old hunk writes in his bio: 'I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.' The twosome have been seen looking loved-up together on social media for weeks, despite rumours that Zilda is one of the front-runners for the upcoming Australian version of Bachelor in Paradise. Cute couple alert! They looked very happy, with both smiling broadly and laughing together Couple selfie: The twosome have been seen looking loved-up together on social media for weeks, despite rumours that Zilda is one of the front-runners for Bachelor in Paradise Australia The racy reality series brings previous Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants together on a tropical island to hook up and party. Earlier this week, Daily Mail Australia exclusively reported that Cameron Cranley, Megan Marx, Michael Turnbull, and Jake Ellis have all been approached to star on the show. Zilda was previously contacted by producers to potentially star on season three of the American Bachelor in Paradise, but the show ultimately passed on casting foreign contestants for that season. Sophie Monk jetted to Thailand to avoid the media's prying eyes ahead of The Bachelorette finale. And one of the male suitors vying for her affections on the show , Luke McLeod, reminded onlookers of his appeal at Sydney's Manly Beach on Sunday. The 33-year-old business culture consultant revealed his bulging biceps and washboard abs in a pair of low-slung boardshorts. Are you sure you don't want to come back to Australia Sophie? The Bachelorette's Luke McLeod, 33, showed off his rippling physique at Sydney's Manly Beach on Sunday, as the songstress jetted off to Thailand Luke revealed his gym-honed frame as he waded in and out of the water. Donning a pair of low-slung, navy boardshorts, the Sydney-based star drew the eye to his defined chest and washboard stomach. Enjoying the sunny weather, Luke enjoyed a quick dip in the water, before returning to the sand for a spot of tanning. Looking every bit the good Samaritan, the business professional appeared to collect a piece of rubbish along the way. In fine form: The business culture consultant revealed his defined chest and washboard stomach, wearing just a pair of navy low-slung boardshorts Good deed: Luke appeared to collect a piece of rubbish as he walked along the shore Gaze fixed: The muscular hunk appeared deep in thought Laying on the sand, Luke covered his face from the sun with a khaki-hued muscle tank top. He later wore the shirt and added a black cap and pair of thongs to his ensemble. With a rolled-up towel placed under one arm, Luke carried his other belongings in a canvas tote bag. Details: A thin black bracelet was visible on Luke's left wrist Cooling off! The Channel Ten personality made the most of the sunny weather Making a splash: Luke raised his lean arms as he splashed about Rugged: Luke's beard added to his physical appeal Meanwhile, Sophie Monk arrived in Thailand later that night, after changing her flight to Mexico at the last minute. The change in travel plans comes after the 37-year-old's getaway was revealed by the media. Sophie shared to her Instagram Story a screenshot of her conversation exchange with best friend Oscar Gordon, saying that she had to leave the country to ensure her new man was kept a secret, as she's 'sh*t at lying'. Going solo: The outing was a solo one for the reality star Life's a beach: Luke later took to the sand to work on his tan Wanting some privacy? He covered his head with a khaki-hued muscle tank top 'Would u like to go to Thailand instead of Mexico??' asked Oscar. Both agreeing Phuket was the place to be, the former executive producer of KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O show convincingly said: 'Let's book now!!' With no hesitation Sophie seemed to be on the bandwagon, revealing she needed to 'evacuate' in order to keep her winner a secret. Light load: Luke took only a few belongings to the beach Caffeine hit: The Instagram star also looked to have enjoyed a hot beverage Casual: Luke later shielded his eyes with a pair of sunglasses and wore a black cap with a graphic on the front 'Done! I need to evacuate bcs people keep asking who won and I'm sh*t at lying,' she wrote. Earlier on Saturday, PS reported Sophie was also fleeing the country as her $1 million mansion had become 'unlivable' due to paparazzi staking out the premises. It's not the first time Sophie has spoken about heading abroad in the wake of The Bachelorette's grand finale. Covering up: Luke donned the same khaki top seen prior On the go: He quickly threw all his belongings, apart from his towel, into a canvas tote bag Getaway: Luke looked to be heading back home Speaking to Nova 100's Chrissie, Sam and Browny last month, the former fiancee of Benji Madden said she was leaving to avoid the temptation of seeing her new beau. 'I break all the rules. I can't do rules,' Sophie said. 'I will definitely try to see him and mess it all up for everyone. So I have to remove myself.' 'I know I've got no willpower, and so that I don't weaken, I'm going overseas,' the former Bardot songstress continued. Staying connected: The rugged personality carried his trusty iPhone in one hand He is one of the biggest names in Hollywood. But that did not stop Harrison Ford from having fun at Ryan Gosling's expense by pretending to forget this name three times during a hilarious talk show appearance. The thigh-slapping moment occurred when the 75-year-old appeared with the famed hunk to promote their science fiction film Blade Runner 2049. Scroll down for video Another unreliable Ford: Harrison pretended he could not remember Ryan Gosling's name on the Graham Norton Show After waxing lyrical on The Graham Norton Show about the screenplay, the OAP actor said: 'As I read it I read about the character that, um, uh, Ryan? Ryan?' Trying to be helpful, his 36-year-old co-star said: 'It's Ryan.' Trying to continue, the Indiana Jones star added: '(Ryan) Uh, came to play and I said, with great enthusiasm I called up the producers and I said this is great, can't wait, what a great part. 'Why don't we see if we can get, um, Br.. Brian Gosling.' Ryan then pretended to mishear, asking him, 'Did you say Brosling?' 'Why don't we see if we can get, um': The OAP actor's acted like his mind went blank The life of Ryan: After initially struggling he started calling his co-star 'Brian' Tickled pink: Graham Norton was loving every moment of the hilarity After much confusiion Harrison said, 'This is a great part for Br, er, Ryan Gosling.' He then completed his skit by saying, 'They said we'd been talking to him for months. Now wait a second - they'd only been speaking to me for weeks. 'So they probably would've gone ahead without me.' The star's antics had his fellow guests Reese Witherspoon and Margot Robbie in stitches, while Ryan awkwardly shuffled in his seat throughout. Harrison has literally used the young heartthrob as his punching bag, previously blaming the young pretender for walking into his fist and injuring his hand when he smacked him on the face while recording a fight scene. He added: 'My hand was slightly injured, but I didnt hold it against him.' His cheeky dig follows his co-star spilling the beans on the incident while promoting the forthcoming sequel. Did he say 'Brosling': Being one of the biggest names in Hollywood was not enough to jog Harrison's memory Blonde moment: Reese Witherspoon and Margot Robbie identified with the movie hunk Ryan said: 'We were just doing a fight scene and, you know, it just happened. But what was funny was, when it was over, they brought ice for my face, and Harrison pushed me out of the way and stuck his fist in the ice. 'He came by afterward with this bottle of scotch, and I thought, "Oh, I knew this was coming." 'And he pulled out a glass from his pocket, poured me a glass, and walked away with the rest of the bottle. 'So I guess he felt like he didnt connect enough to earn a whole bottle.' Blade Runner 2049 hits screens on Friday. Punching bag: Harrison previously mocked his co-star for 'walking' into his fist during a fight scene in Blade Runner 2049 It's the show that puts renovation rookies under extreme pressure to completely overhaul a house in a tight timeframe. And apparently it will be The Block's backyard week that pushes Georgia to the limit after weeks of physical labour as well as fights with other competitors finally catches up to her. Speaking in this week's issue of TV WEEK, husband Ronnie explained he acts as her rock when things get tough. Scroll down for video 'I have to be strong for the both of us and I calm her down': The Block's Ronnie (left) told TV WEEK this week that he supports Georgia when things get tough on the show 'This isn't the first time I'd seen Georgia cry on The Block,' Ronnie said of the gruelling backyard week. 'I have to be strong for the both of us and I calm her down,' he told the magazine. 'While we both have thick skin, Georgia does get affected.' Tears and tantrums! In a previousl episode of The Block, early frontrunners Ronnie and Georgia were on the brink of a meltdown as they struggled with hallway week Georgia has gone into meltdown mode after falling victim to the pressure in previous weeks. Hallway and laundry week had the couple shaking in their boots as they attempted to complete the allocated area in an excruciatingly tight time frame. Normally well ahead of the pack, the couple were running behind schedule, a point driven home by Keith who at one point informed Ronnie he had about 10 hours left of work to do with less than one hour left of power tool use to do it in. 'I'm really tired and I'm about to cry': A stressed-out Georgia broke down in tears The pressure and lack of sleep particularly got to Georgia and she broke down sobbing when she realised their renovation wasn't coming together as planned. In tears, she exclaimed: 'I'm really tired and I'm about to cry.' She added: 'I don't think I love my hallway. It's just not coming together as expected.' In the end, the couple weren't able to completely finish their room for the first time ever, leaving Sticks and Wombat to take out the number one spot after softening their styling. Meltdown mode! Georgia found it hard to handle the pressure of a tight time limit Kourtney Kardashian has been enjoying a romantic getaway to France with her toyboy lover Younes Bendjima. But on Sunday night the reality star, 38, left her 24-year-old beau behind in Europe as she arrived him in Los Angeles. The mother-of-three, though, couldn't help smiling as she made her way through the arrivals terminal at LA after her mini vacation. Scroll down for video Home: Kourtney Kardashian, 38, smiled as she walked through the arrivals terminal at LAX on Sunday after flying in from Paris where she'd been living it up with toyboy Younes Bendjima, 24 Kourtney wheeled a small case as she strolled through the airport. She was dressed head-to-toe in black pairing a skintight jumpsuit with heeled ankle boots. She wore her long raven hair loose and sported sunglasses. Jet set life: The reality star spent time with her younger man at Paris Fashion Week before returning home to her three children Reality star: The eldest of momager Kris Jenner's six offspring was dressed head-to-toe in black pairing a skintight jumpsuit with heeled ankle boots. She wore her long raven hair loose Traveling light: Kourtney, who sported sunglasses, wheeled a small case as she strolled through the airport Expanding fmaily: Kourtney, who shares three young children with ex Scott Disick, is set to become an aunt three times over with sisters Kim, Khloe and Kylie reportedly expecting babies The former partner of Scott Disick is heading back into a maelstrom of baby rumors. It's been reported that three of Kris Jenner's daughters are currently expecting babies. The momager's youngest child Kylie Jenner, 20,is said to be four months pregnant by her rapper boyfriend of five months Travis Scott. Khloe Kardashian, 33, is also reported to be four months along with her first child with her boyfriend of one year, Cleveland Cavaliers pro Tristan Thompson. Ad Kim Kardashian has confirmed int he season 14 premiere of Keeping Up With The Kardahsians that she and husband Kanye West are having a third child via a surrogate. Busting out: Kourtney has been pictured in a serie sfo sexy ensemble sin Paris as she spent time with her much younger boyfriend Kourtney and Younes have been linked since May, and have since been pictured on a slew of holidays, including a sun-soaked trip to Egypt and the Cannes Film Festival. While reports of romance surfaced in May, they are thought to have started dating as far back as last October. The reality star's long-term ex Scott was said to be 'devastated' by Kourtney's new romance when it began, having reportedly stopped drinking and partying in the hope of a reconciliation. The pair had split in 2015 when photos emerged of him canoodling with stylist Chloe Bartoli in Monaco. The incriminating photos abruptly ended their nine-year on and off relationship, which saw them welcome three children - seven-year-old Mason, Penelope, four, and two-year-old Reign. However Scott, 34, has since embarked on a romance with Sofia Richie, who is just 19 years old. Since her breakout appearance in Robin Thicke's racy Blurred Lines video, she has been turning heads wherever she goes. And Emily Ratajkowski ensured she was the centre of attention as she stepped out for a Vogue party in celebration of Paris Fashion Week on Sunday. The model, 26, kept little to the imagination as she bared her generous chest while arriving on the black carpet. Scroll down for video Taking the plunge: Emily Ratajkowski ensured she was the centre of attention as she stepped out for a Vogue party in celebration of Paris Fashion Week on Sunday Busty beauty: The model and actress threatened to spill out of her plunging shirtdress Emily flaunted her famous curves in an all-white ensemble that resembled the look of a classic white button-up shirt. The leggy brunette paired her dress with nude strap heels that featured interesting yellow spheres for heels. Emily accessorized her look with intricate gold earrings and a mini black handbag that she held in her hand. The We Are Your Friends actress wore her raven colored tresses in a low bun and rocked smokey-copper eye-shadow. Model behavior: The model, 26, kept little to the imagination as she bared her generous chest while arriving on the black carpet Chic from head-to-toe: The pin-up set off her look with a pair of nude heels Risque: The brunette beauty went braless in the menswear inspired number, teasing a glimpse of her cleavage Just the day before, Emily was spotted with long-time musician boyfriend Jeff Magid. Opting for a casually chic look in the French capital, the Gone Girl actress flaunted her slender legs in high-waisted jeans and completed her look with cream and black block heels. Her brunette tresses were styled sleek and straight and parted in the middle and she accentuated her pretty features with bronzer and a slick of baby pink lipstick. It's all in the details: She carried a smart, boxy handbag for her fashionable outing Funky footwear: The star's strappy sandals boasted yellow ball shaped heel detailing She slipped on some silver cat-eye shades and wore gold hoop earrings for a touch of European chic. Showing she was in the City of Love, Emily stared into her music producer beau's eyes as they sweetly wrapped their arms around each other. Revealing his unique sartorial style, Jeff donned what appeared to be a orange and blue dressing gown style sweater for his walk with his lady love. 80s chic: Emily set off her dark eyes with a sweep of retro pink eye shadow Golden girl: Emily set off her bronzed tan with a pair of geometric shaped earrings Look of love: Emily ensured she was the centre of attention as she stepped out with boyfriend Jeff Magid the previous day Close: The model flashed her taut midriff and tiny waist in a cropped dove grey checked shirt, with dramatic shoulder pads and flared sleeves as she strutted along with her beau, who she has been dating since 2014 Glam: Emily has been pulling off a series of sartorial triumphs since arriving in Paris He slipped on mustard coloured chinos and trainers while covering his head with a cap. The couple, who have been together since 2014, couldn't stop staring into one another's eyes as they walked along. Busy Emily is set to co-star star in four films in the coming months. The actress will join Natalie Dormer in the thriller In Darkness and take the lead in romance, Cruise, both of which have yet to set release dates. Fashionista: The star took to the runway for the Bottega Veneta Milan Fashion Week show last week Partying in style: Meanwhile, the star attended a lavish at Chez Away at Amastan on Friday night in celebration of PFW Famous faces: Guests at the fun-filled event included style icon Alexa Chung In 2018, she will join forces with Amy Schumer and Michelle Williams for the comedy, I Feel Pretty, due out June 29. Emily will also join Aaron Paul for the thriller, Welcome Home, about a couple's romantic trip to a cottage in the Italian countryside that turns into a nightmare. It's due out next year. Meanwhile, the star attended a lavish at Chez Away at Amastan on Friday night in celebration of PFW. Cocktails were served by Grey Goose, with Carin Silver providing complimentary tattoos. The night continued with DJ Hannah Bronfman playing late into the evening. Taking to the decks: The night continued with DJ Hannah Bronfman playing late into the evening Ink mad: Cocktails were served by Grey Goose, with Carin Silver providing complimentary tattoos Going under the needle: Guests were given custom made tattoos at the event He's been labelled the 'Model It Boy of the New Era' by Vogue. And on Monday, Australian fashion model Jordan Barrett showed why, while attending the Vogue party at Paris Fashion Week. The 20-year-old looked casual at the celebrated event, as he flaunted his dapper image before photographers. 'It Boy': Australian fashion model Jordan Barrett appeared at the Vogue party on Monday, as part of Paris Fashion Week in France Jordan sported a low-cut button up black blazer, staring fiercely at cameras as he placed his hands in his pockets. The collared shirt he wore underneath was also cut low, showing off a unique grey colour patterned with white stripes. Jordan's navy blue pants hugged his slender image, with the cuff stopping just short of his ankle. His black lace-up leather shoes appeared to be all shined up for the annual event, with Jordan opting for no socks. Dapper: Jordan sported a low-cut button up black blazer, staring fiercely at cameras as he placed his hands in his pockets Candid: His collared shirt he wore underneath was also cut low, showing off a unique grey colour patterned with white stripes Fierce: His beach blonde hair was styled into the model's trademark shaggy display, yet Jordan's facial hair was clean-cut His beach blonde hair was styled into the model's trademark shaggy display, yet Jordan's facial hair was clean-cut. Accessorising with a gold pendant necklace, Jordan also sported an expensive looking Rolex watch on his left wrist. The star mingled with guests at the event, staying close to an unknown female guest dressed in a low-cut white ensemble. Jordan, who started modelling at the mere age of 14, has become an international success featuring in campaigns for some of the world's biggest brands including Tom Ford, Versace and Moschino. Plus one: The star mingled with guests at the event, staying close to an unknown female guest dressed in a low-cut white ensemble She's the highly sought after former Victoria's Secret model. And on Sunday, Shanina Shaik reminded onlookers why she's one of the world's top models, while wearing a very daring black dress to an exclusive Paris Fashion Week bash. Held at the exclusive Grand Palais in France, the 26-year-old beauty flaunted her long lean legs and pert derriere while attending a VIP Vogue party. Shanina, is that you? On Sunday, Shanina Shaik reminded onlookers why she's one of the world's top models, wearing a lacy and racy dress to the Paris Fashion Week Vogue Party Shanina sported a lacy black gown for the evening event. Flaunting her ample cleavage, her lace dress donned a low v-neck and cinched in at the waist with a silk tie. With the tie holding the ensemble together, the rest of the gown was left open, showcasing Shanina's long and toned pins. Her outfit: Flaunting her ample cleavage, her lace dress donned a low v-neck and cinched in at the waist with a silk tie Stunner: Modestly appearing as a bodysuit, the sheer lace also flaunted the stunner's pert derriere Modestly appearing as a bodysuit, the sheer lace also flaunted the stunner's pert derriere. The stunner teamed her head-turning look with burgundy velvet pumps. Ensuring all attention was kept on her dress, the former Victoria's Sekept her hair and makeup minimal. Bringing the drama: Giving her look a bit more drama, Shanina donned a cat eye with a smokey bronze lid Giving her look a bit more drama, Shanina donned a cat eye with a smokey bronze lid. The remainder of her bronzed makeup was kept luminous and was completed with a glossy nude lip. Showcasing diamond studs, the brunette bombshell had her hair tightly slicked back into a low bun. Keeping warm with an oversized velvet jacket effortlessly placed over her shoulders, Shanina also found time to pose alongside Ralph & Russo co-founder, Michael Russo. Beauty: Showcasing diamond studs, the brunette bombshell had her hair tightly slicked back into a low bun She's still mourning the death of Playboy legend Hugh Hefner last week. And Pamela Anderson slipped into a little black dress to appear at Germany's Comic Con in Berlin over the weekend - a nod to the fact that she continues to grieve. The former Baywatch pin-up, 50, signed autographs for fans at the popular cult convention - looking a tad startled by the person next to her at once point. What's up, Pammy? Blonde bombshell Pamela Anderson, 50, seems startled as she signs autographs in a little black dress for fans at Comic Con Germany Despite her caught-off-guard moment, the blonde bombshell was seen smiling again within no time, clearly in good spirits and happy to be at the event. Her dress was sleeveless and clung to the contours of her sensational, toned physique. She wore her full mane of golden hair in slight twists, loosely around her pretty features. The ageless beauty only required a dusting of light make-up - keeping her look fresh and natural with some nude lipstick and a little mascara. In mourning: Pamela slipped into a little black dress to appear at Germany's Comic Con over the weekend - a nod to the fact that she continues to grieve for Hugh Hefner Bombshell: The blonde was seen smiling, clearly in good spirits and happy to be at the event She added a splash of colour to the look with bright red nail varnish. She was joined at the event by the likes of Lee Majors, Jack Gleeson, Hannah Spearritt and Michael Madsen. Late last week, Pamela attended Balmain's fashion show for Paris Fashion Week, but kept her eyes covered with a pair of sunglasses. In shock? The former Baywatch pin-up, 50, signed autographs for fans at the popular cult convention - looking a tad startled by the person next to her at once point Ain't no party like an S Club party: Hannah Spearritt of S Club 7 also turned up to see fans That's major: Lee Majors was at the event, thrilling fans aplenty The outing came after Pamela paid tribute to Hugh - who died of natural causes at the Playboy Mansion in the Holmby Hills neighbourhood of West Los Angeles on Thursday. The Baywatch star broke down in tears as she bid farewell to the media mogul in an emotional Instagram video, which she accompanied with a poignant poem. Pamela, who starred on the Playboy cover three times including her last nude shoot,, wrote in a poem: 'Mr Hefner, I have so many thoughts, I have no brain right now to edit. Happy to be there: Michael Madsen, star of Kill Bill and former Celebrity Big Brother contestant, signed pictures Flash: Flash Gordon star Sam J Jones gave the convention his seal of approval 'I am me because of you. You taught me everything important about freedom and respect. Outside of my family. You were the most important person in my life. You gave me my life. People tell me all the time. That I was your favourite.' She continued: 'I'm in such deep shock. But you were old, your back hurt you so much. Last time I saw you you were using a walker. 'You didn't want me to see. You couldn't hear. You had a piece of paper in your pocket you showed me - with my name Pamela with a heart around it.' Quite the event: Comic Con brings a mixture of comics, cosplay, actors and many attractions to fans Gleeful: Jack Gleeson happily met with fans Pleased to see you: Rusty Goffe was at the German Comic Con The former Playmate went on to write: 'Everything anyone loves about me is because you understood me. Accepted me and encouraged me to be myself. 'You loved my boys. You were always, always there for us. With your love, your crazy wisdom. I will miss your everything. Thank you for making the world a better place. 'A freeer and sexier place. You were a gentleman, charming, elegant, chivalrous And so much fun. Goodbye Hef ... Your Pamela.' She recently spoke of her nightmare flight to Ireland, where she filmed an episode of Postcards. And Rebecca Judd elaborated on the 'unbearable' experience on 'The 3pm Pickup' show on Monday. The mother-of-four claims she suffered excessive sweating and bad body odour after being forced to travel for a very long 34 hours. Nightmare flight: Rebecca Judd recently recalled her nightmare 34-hour flight to Ireland, which she claims left her sweating and smelly 'I was literally that person running through the airport,' Rebecca said. 'I stank, and I had to sit there for 34 hours in my own filth!' 'I was the last person on the flight and I sat down and I was wet with sweat, my hair was wet...I had sweaty armpits and sweat running down my back.' She added: 'I thought to myself ''I hate this, I hate travelling, I don't want to do it.'' 'I stank, and I had to sit there for 34 hours in my own filth!' The AFL WAG said the experience completely turned her off flying Feeling grubby: 'I was the last person on the flight and I sat down and I was wet with sweat, my hair was wet...I had sweaty armpits and sweat running down my back,' she said Although she claimed to feel grubby after the flight, she appeared flawlessly preened to perfection upon landing in Dublin. Taking to Instagram to share a glamorous selfie upon landing, Bec wrote: 'Going from 34 hours of travelling to get to Dublin (no joke) and straight into filming @9postcards.' 'Thank the lord for @kloraneau dry shampoo...you shoulda seen this hair half and hour ago.' Bec stunned in the candid selfie, showcasing her glowing complexion and flawless makeup. In a small blue house in Northern California, a mom surrounded by three children, three cats and a dog has quietly saved the lives of hundreds of people addicted to opioids, including heroin. On social media, Tracey Helton is known as the "heroine of heroin," as she mails out doses of the generic version of Narcan, the drug that revives people after an overdose, to those who ask for it. Helton knows that what she's doing is illegal, since she's shipping a prescription drug through the US Postal Service. She doesn't care. She's saving lives during an epidemic that kills tens of thousands of people in the United States each year. "I feel like the law is wrong, so it's an act of civil disobedience," she said. "Plus, I'm sort of an old punk rocker who doesn't like to follow the rules." 'Tracey saved my life' If Helton did follow the rules, Ryan Coleman would be dead. Coleman and Helton met in 2013 on a subreddit for opioid users. She mailed naloxone to his home in Augusta, Georgia. Coleman put the drug in his sock drawer and told his roommate, Brian Hamilton, where it was and how to use it. Less than a year later, he collapsed on the living room floor after shooting up heroin. Hamilton slapped him in the face, which had turned a bluish gray. Coleman didn't react. Remembering his friend's instructions, Hamilton ran to the bedroom, grabbed the naloxone and injected Coleman in the hip. Within seconds, he turned pink and was conscious again. "It scared the hell out of me, man," Hamilton told Coleman recently as they recounted the story. "You're like a brother to me." A few months later, Coleman and his friend Ryan Gillian were driving around Atlanta, looking to buy some heroin. They found some -- and it was particularly potent. Gillian passed out in the back seat of the car, and his lips turned blue. Coleman gave him a shot of naloxone, but it didn't work, and neither did a second one. Finally, after a third dose of the drug, Gillian was revived. All three doses came from Helton. Today, both men say they've stopped using drugs. Coleman, 36, says his life has turned around. He's in a 12-step program, has a full-time job and hopes to train next year to become a certified addiction recovery empowerment specialist. He's reached out to the community, recently teaching a group of Georgia correction officers about drug addiction. "Tracey saved my life," he said. "And I'm doing pretty awesome right now." On August 21, the day of the total solar eclipse, Coleman proposed to his girlfriend, Brittany Hokrein. They met on the streets and went through recovery together. "I was in serious, active addiction for 15 years. Everyone thought I was beyond hope for a long time," Coleman said. "I want everyone to know that if I can recover, anyone -- as long as they're still breathing -- can find recovery, too." Coleman said he wished he could share his success with Helton in person. That happened in August, when CNN flew Helton to Georgia. It was an emotional meeting. Coleman told Helton how much she had given him, how October 10 will mark one year of sobriety. "I'm assistant manager at my job, which is pretty crazy for me, because I was pretty unemployable for most of my life," Coleman told her. They hugged each other and cried. "Thanks for keeping me alive long enough to get to where I am today," he told her. "I definitely would have been dead that night. There's no doubt in my mind that I would have been dead." 'People all over the United States are dying unnecessarily' Helton gets embarrassed when people tell her that she saves lives -- by her count, at least 268 over the past four years. For her, it's just giving back. Helton struggled with opioid addiction from ages 18 to 28 and survived several overdoses. In her book, "The Big Fix," she chronicles her life on the streets, where she injected heroin into her feet and resorted to prostitution to support her habit. Now 47, she's a wife and mother of three, ages 10, 8 and 6. She has a master's degree in public administration and works as a manager of a public health program run by the city of San Francisco. The naloxone distribution, though, she does on her own. "I just felt like people all over the United States are dying unnecessarily, and if I had something that I could do to try to help them, then that's something that I wanted to try to do," she said. When people ask Helton for naloxone, she first tries to point them to a place where they can get it where they live, so they can receive in-person training on how to use it. If that's not possible, she mails them the drug. Over the past four years, she's sent out more than 500 doses. Two naloxone experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine say there's a real need to get naloxone into the hands of people who need it. The drug is available in many pharmacies, and in most states, a prescription isn't necessary. However, the cost can be prohibitive, especially if someone doesn't have insurance. Injectable naloxone costs about $35 to $50 for two doses, and Narcan nasal spray costs $120 to $150 for two doses, according to Hopkins researchers Suzanne Nesbit and Juliana Zschoche. Even though a prescription isn't usually required, you have to ask a pharmacist for naloxone. Many people suffering from addiction fear that they'll be stigmatized or even arrested if an authority figure finds out about their illness. "That's a very common concern that I hear from patients," said Nesbit, a clinical pharmacy specialist in pain management at Hopkins. "They want to seek other ways to get it so they're not known as a substance abuser." Helton is one of those other ways. "It may be easier to do this from behind a screen, and they may feel more comfortable getting it from someone who they can relate to as she experienced the problem herself," added Zschoche, a clinical pharmacy specialist in emergency medicine at Hopkins. 'Everyone is worth saving' Although Helton's glad to be saving lives, she's angry that more isn't being done to deliver naloxone on a larger scale. "I run such a small program. I'm just one person trying to make a difference," she said. "This is a program that should be fully funded, instead of me having to scrape together donations and keeping stuff underneath my bed." Helton won't say who gives her the naloxone doses she keeps under her bed. The US Postal Service doesn't allow lay people to ship prescription drugs, according to Scott Burris, a professor of law and public health at Temple University. But Helton doesn't care, because she's saving lives. She remembers her days of addiction, when some people told her that she should just die, that the world would be better off without her. "I really want to show that drug users are human beings, and they need to be safe," she said. "Everyone is worth saving." Fans have been eagerly awaiting the return of Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinay after the lovable duo won over the nation with their sweet 'bromance' and terrible rapping this summer. And they certainly weren't disappointed with the first episode of spin-off show Chris and Kem: Straight Outta Love Island when it debuted on ITVBe on Sunday night. Viewers took to Twitter to share their excitement at the jokers being given their own programme - but some weren't too impressed to see that Chris' girlfriend Olivia Atwood was still bickering with him. Scroll down for video They're back: Fans certainly weren't disappointed with the first episode of spin-off show Chris and Kem: Straight Outta Love Island when it debuted on ITVBe on Sunday night Dividing opinion: Viewers took to Twitter to share their excitement at the jokers being given their own programme - but some weren't too impressed to see that Chris' girlfriend Olivia Atwood was still bickering with him Social media reaction: The fan reaction for the show was largely positive, with fans enthusing about how funny the boys are The fan reaction for the show was largely positive, with one viewer posting, 'Watching chris and kem and I've genuinely not laughed this much since love island', and a second, joking 'Still think Chris and Kem should have won Love Island'. A third enthused: 'Catching up on chris & kem straight outta love island. @KemCetinay & @chrishughes_22 there little bromance is so cute'. However, some were less impressed, with one viewer scathingly tweeting, 'Chris and Kem obviously trying to stay relevant since love island ended. Get them off my TV theyre wannabes #chrisandkem. Cute: Chris and Kem won over the nation with their sweet 'bromance' and terrible rapping this summer Not fans: However, some were less impressed, with some posting scathing tweets The first episode focused on the duo making their rap dreams a reality, securing an important business meeting with Ministry Of Sound. The pair - who worried they looked like 'melts' in their matching denim jackets - were told they had one month to get their lyrical flow up to a high standard before performing at a club night for 12,000 people. Fans were irked when they saw Olivia's reaction to Chris' news, getting a glimpse into the reality of their domestic life since moving in together following the show. Furious: Olivia told her man she might be too 'busy' to attend his big club event, prompting outrage from some viewers at home Uh oh: Fans were irked when they saw Olivia's reaction to Chris' news, getting a glimpse into the reality of their domestic life since moving in together following the show Liv was seen moaning that Chris left wet towels on the floor and didn't put cups away in their new home. Chris lamented: 'It's only been a few weeks but already she's busting my b***s.' And when the blue-eyed hunk revealed the good news to her, she asked, 'Sorry what is my role in this. I'm not part of this. Do not shush me.' Firing back, Chris told her to calm down, saying, 'Just simmer a minute.' Aspiring rappers: The first episode focused on the duo making their rap dreams a reality, securing an important business meeting with Ministry Of Sound High profile pal: The pair also enjoyed a rap-off with Stormzy at V Festival earlier this summer Olivia then told her man she might be too 'busy' to attend the event, prompting outrage from some viewers at home. One posted: 'Im now watching that Chris and Kem programme after not even watching Love Island and Liv is already p**sing me off'. Another shared, 'Only watched half hour of this new chris & kem straight outta love island, and I hate olivia again, what a b***end she is.' They've spent the last 47 days in the Samoan jungle. And on Monday, former Olympian Ziggy was eliminated from Australian Survivor. Just missing out on a spot in the top 5, the 26-year-old was eliminated when Tara, 32, slyly went against her word and voted her out. Scroll down for video On Monday, former Olympian Ziggy was eliminated from Survivor Australia after ally Tara turned on her With all starting the day fighting for the immunity belt, the six remaining contestants were taken to the outdoor field and each set up with a ring and ball. Instructed by host Jonathan LaPaglia to place the ball into the ring and swing it around, the last contestant standing won immunity. With Michelle first to drop out, it wasn't long before the rain started bucketing down which quickly saw the remaining game-players fail the challenge. Challenge: With all starting the day fighting for the immunity belt, the six remaining contestants were taken to the outdoor field and each set up with a ring and ball Safe: And for a third consecutive time, biggest threat Locky took home the immunity belt And for a third consecutive time, biggest threat Locky took home the immunity belt. Heading into elimination with Tara, Ziggy and Luke on one side and Michelle, Pete and Jericho on the other, the teams plans for a deadlock between Michelle and Ziggy. However in a turn of events, Tara, who blatantly told the host she'd be voting out Michelle when asked, bailed on her team and formed an alternate alliance. Plan of attack: Heading into elimination with Tara, Ziggy and Luke on one side and Michelle, Pete and Jericho on the other, the teams plans for a deadlock between Michelle and Ziggy Sneaky: However in a turn of events, Tara, who blatantly told the host she'd be voting out Michelle when asked, bailed on her team and formed an alternate alliance Tara to Ziggy: 'I like to cause a little bit of drama at Tribal and you were always gonna go' With only two votes to NSW nanny Michelle and four votes to Ziggy, it was time for the athlete to go. 'I like to cause a little bit of drama at Tribal and you were always gonna go,' said Tara who's being referred to online as a 'snake'. But Twitter fans seemed to think there was another reason for Tara's unexpected switch. The real reason? Holding onto a secret stash of lollies with Ziggy the only other to know about, viewers speculated her sneaky decision was to ensure she could consume the rest of the treats herself Lollies before friends? 'Tara just wanted Ziggy out bc she was eating too many of her lollies' Holding onto a secret stash of lollies with Ziggy the only other to know about, viewers speculated her sneaky decision was to ensure she could consume the rest of the treats herself. 'Tara just wanted Ziggy out bc she was eating too many of her lollies,' wrote one clued in fan. With Locky the show's biggest threat, the remaining five who have a mere eight days left in the jungle all plan to vote the adventure guide out next. 'It's Locky versus the tribe. We all have a common goal and that is to get Locky out,' said Tara. Survivor continues Tuesday night at 7:30pm on Ten. The cast of the first film have been busy filming Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! in Croatia in recent weeks. And original cast-member Colin Firth finally joined the project on Sunday, as he was spotted enjoying lunch in the sun-soaked location with Pierce Brosnan, his wife Keely Shaye Smith, and a number of other co-stars. The British actor, 57, was seen happily greeting the James Bond star, 64, and drew his wife in for a hug, after travelling to the island of Vis to reprise his role of Harry Bright in the sequel. Scroll down for video Here he is! Colin Firth greeted Pierce Brosnan and his wife Keely Shaye Smith (above) on Sunday as he arrived in Croatia to film Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! Wine and dine: Colin joined Pierce and his wife (above) for an al fresco lunch, after landing on the island of Vis to embark on filming for the famous musical's sequel The Bridget Jones actor had been spotted landing at Split Airport earlier on Sunday, as he prepared to embark on filming the highly-anticipated flick. Clearly ready to get stuck in, Colin was immediately seen joining his co-stars, including Pierce and his wife Keely, for lunch that day. The Pride and Prejudice star looked in very high spirits as he drew Pierce's wife, 54, in for a tight hug on the island, before happily greeting his actor pal with another embrace at the table. Big arrival: The Bridget Jones actor had been spotted landing at Split Airport earlier on Sunday (above), as he prepared to embark on filming the highly-anticipated flick Hello old friend: Colin was immediately seen joining his co-stars, including Pierce who he greeted with a warm embrace (above), for lunch later that day Good to see you! The Pride and Prejudice star looked in very high spirits as he drew Pierce's wife, 54, in for a tight hug on the island (above) Colin slipped into a black T-shirt and jeans for the meal, to make the most of the sunny climes, before adding his trademark geek-chic glasses. Meanwhile the Irish actor opted for a smarter navy shirt and comfortable grey chinos as he arrived at the lunch hand-in-hand with his wife, who he married back in 2001. Upping the glamour of the outing, Keely stood out in a polka dot chiffon dress, layered beneath a stylish cape adorned with pom poms on the hem, as she joined the star-studded cast for an al fresco meal on the island. Summer vibes: Colin slipped into a black T-shirt and jeans for the meal, to make the most of the sunny climes, before adding his trademark geek-chic glasses Casual: Meanwhile the Irish actor opted for a smarter navy shirt and comfortable grey chinos Standing out: He arrived at the lunch hand-in-hand with his wife, who upped the glamour in a polka dot dress and striking pom-pom embellished cape The trio were seen happily chatting at the table and sharing funny tales over food and wine, along with co-stars Christine Baranski and Stellan Skarsgard. The 65-year-old actress, who plays protagonist Donna's pal Tanya in the flick, was casually chic in a grey roll neck and skinny jeans, paired with pastel blue suede loafers. Accessorising with dark, oval sunglasses and adding a slick of peach lipstick, the star looked typically glamorous as she happily chatted to her fellow cast over lunch, and a refreshing glass of wine. Catching up: The actors happily chatted at the table with co-star Stellan Skargard (right) Chilling out: Pierce was seen sharing funny tales as the group enjoyed food and a few glasses of wine Day off: The group appeared to be relaxing on the island, amid the busy stint of filming for Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! Let's hear it for the girls: The group were also joined by actress Christine Baranski, 65, who was casually chic in a grey roll neck and skinny jeans, paired with dark oversized oval sunglasses Stylish: The 65-year-old actress plays protagonist Donna's pal Tanya in the flick (pictured in the first film, right) Meanwhile Stellan, 66, sported a more formal camel jacket and shirt combo as he laughed and joked with his co-stars in the sunshine. The new film, entitled Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is due for release in summer 2018, a decade after the first film came out. Although the storyline remains a secret, it is believed that a number of ABBA hits that werent included in the first film such as Waterloo and Knowing Me, Knowing You - will be featured. Universal Pictures confirmed in July that the sequel will see the return of the film's original cast. Hello again! The actress was seen excitedly greeting both Colin and Stellan at the table (above) Co-ordinated: She tied her look together with pastel blue suede loafers as she mingled with friends at the lunch New project: The new film, entitled Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is due for release in summer 2018, a decade after the first film came out Main man: Pierce is reprising his original role of Sam Carmichael (pictured left in the original film), who was a possible father of Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried) Lucky dip! Pierce (centre) was one of three potential fathers - alongside Bill Anderson, played by Stellan Skarsgard (L) and Harry Bright, played by Colin Firth (R) Leading lady: Dominic Cooper and Amanda Seyfried (pictured above in the 2008 original) will both be reprising their roles as Sophie and Sky Pierce and Colin are reprising their original roles as Sam Carmichael and Harry Bright, who were two possible fathers of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried). As well as Pierce and Colin, the star-studded line-up also includes Meryl Streep, Dominic Cooper, Julie Walters, and Stellan Skarsgard, as well as newbies Lily James and Josh Dylan. Josh plays a younger version of Bill (Skarsgard), a Swedish sailor and travel writer who was the third possible father of Sophie. According to Deadline, the flick 'goes back and forth in time to show how relationships forged in the past resonate in the present.' She's been dating various eligible bachelors, whose ages range from 24 to 35. But things are about to change for Bachelorette Sophie Monk, 37, with four new intruders set to join the show and said to be 'much older' than the current contestants. In a new show promo on Monday, the blonde bombshell is seen greeting the bachelors, including a 'James Bond lookalike' and a father of five. Shocked! In the new Bachelor promo, Sophie is left shock to hear one of her four older intruders is a father of five with a grandchild 'I think some of the younger guys, they're not ready to settle down,' she says. Four intruders are then seen arriving on the scene via a helicopter and Sophie delightedly observes that one in particular 'looks a bit like James Bond.' One curly-haired suitor immediately revealed he's created quite the brood for himself. Revelation: 'I've got five sons, and I'm also a grandparent' Boys, meet your competition: And with four new love-seekers walking into the mansion, the network has revealed in a big week, four will be eliminated 'I've got five sons, and I'm also a grandparent,' he said while Sophie's jaw drops. And with four new love-seekers walking into the mansion, the network has revealed in a big week, four will be eliminated. But it doesn't seem to be the easiest of tasks for Sophie who's seen crying outside, with host Osher Gunsberg comforting her. What's wrong? But it doesn't seem to be the easiest of tasks for Sophie who's seen crying outside, with host Osher Gunsberg comforting her Finally! In the episode everyone's been waiting for, this week will also see Sophie's rumoured flame pub heir Stu Laundy make his appearance In the episode everyone's been waiting for, this week will also see Sophie's rumoured flame pub heir Stu Laundy make his appearance. In a promo released last week, she's seen saying: 'I think I recognise him from somewhere'. One of the four older suitors, as he exists the aircraft, the 44-year-old is seen giving her a kiss and appears to have his hand over a gift to the dismay of the other contestants. They're launching the second season of MTV's Just Tattoo Of Us. And having romanced each other while shooting the first season last year, Charlotte Crosby and Stephen Bear have insisted all's going well. Speaking to MailOnline however, the pair have slammed those who insinuate they'll be getting married any time soon - insisting that it would be 'stupid' to rush into such a commitment. Scroll down for video 'Are people thick?' Charlotte Crosby and Stephen Bear BLAST fans who pressure them about marriage... and insist it would be 'stupid' to rush their relationship 'Im always at her house in the pool or the cinema room. But not we dont live together. There are no joint bank accounts that would be silly!' Bear insisted. 'And if we split up, shed have most of the mortgage!' Over the weekend, fans spun themselves into a frenzy when Charlotte uploaded a photo of her lying on her bed displaying a sparkling ring. Despite the jewel clearly being on her middle finger, rather than her engagement finger, fans began to flood her with insinuations that she and Bear were engaged. 'That ring has been on the same finger all this time,' Charlotte said, despairingly. 'Its just one thing after another. Are people thick? Can you imagine us getting married this soon, less than a year together. It would be stupid.' Just the two of them: The pair now have both a working and a personal relationship with one another, which has taken its toll at times, but now seems normal to them Slightly more blase about it, Bear joked 'I better take back that engagement ring then' before adding: 'I just laugh it off and dont take it seriously. It will be someone new tomorrow, something else, you cant have it one way. 'Maybe the person [who first accused Charlotte of wearing an engagement ring] couldnt see properly. I feel sorry for them.' The pair now have both a working and a personal relationship with one another, which has taken its toll at times, but now seems normal to them. 'When we filmed for the first time, I wasnt confident, but we just got each other and now it flows and its just magical,' Bear said. 'We work together really well, were funny, Im very lucky.' Chiming in, Charlotte added: 'It has been hard dont get us wrong!' It's all good: The pair have plans for the future, including more TV work together and living the high life 'It started off a bit hard,' Bear agreed. 'But we are so used to it, its just normal, I cant imagine it without her now.' The pair have plans for the future, including more TV work together and living the high life. 'We want a condo in the Caribbean with a chef and a gym in it and I want a helicopter with a helipad that has an S on it,' Bear divulged. 'This is my six year plan. Watch this space.' He went on to reveal yet another ambition for the future: 'I want to be a big movie star, do big blockbuster films. Reality TV and presenting is fine but its not the dream. 'I would love to marry him!' Charlotte Crosby made it clear that she and Stephen Bear are stronger than ever on This Morning on Monday Ups and downs: They've supposedly had their relationship dramas this year, since getting together on Just Tattoo Of Us. But according to Charlotte she and Bear are stronger than ever - and that she sees herself marrying him one day 'I want people to go to the cinema and for the screen to say "starring Stephen Bear". Either that or game shows. I love a sparkling jacket!' While Bear looks forward, Charlotte agrees that it's never a good idea to look back. Referencing TV shows they have both done in the past [Ex On The Beach and Celebrity Big Brother], Charlotte retained that she doesn't watch the newer season of these shows. 'I'm not really interested. Back when I was on them years ago, they were trendy then. Now theyre not.' she said. 'I am obsessed with Love Island though.' Marriage material: 'Definitely, in the future, I would love to marry him,' she admitted to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on Monday's This Morning. 'I can't imagine having a normal boyfriend, it would be boring' Makeover: Charlotte was showing off her newly dyed brunette curls on This Morning Setting things straight: Charlotte, 27, weighed in on the engagement rumours that have flanked their relationship when they are not being accused, instead, of splitting up On the topic of the ITV2 show, Charlotte also added that she is desperate to see the now-notorious duo Chris and Kem, from the most recent season, on Just Tattoo Of Us. And Bear was in agreement: 'Theyd be great on the show, we could do a crossover with their new show and ours.' He added: 'I'd like the Queen to be on it. And then to say thanks shed give me all her diamonds and tiaras.' The reality couple teased that the new season of their show promises to be 'ten times bigger, better and crazier' than the first season; and that viewers can expect the likes of Charlotte Dawson, Olivia Buckland, Alex Bowen, Jamie O Hara 'and some non-famous people no-one cares about' to crop up on the show. Something to tell us? She delighted her Instagram followers with a snap of her newly dyed brunette curls on Sunday - but Charlotte Crosby left some fans questioning if she had revealed much bigger news in the post when they pointed out the huge ring on her hand Working it: The Geordie Shore star, 27, showed off her dark locks this weekend which she had opted for in favour of her previous blonde ombre - but commenters were more interested in the ring on her left hand which they mistook for an engagement ring from Stephen Bear 'This brother and sister came on and she had this big dark secret that only he knew, and he got it tattooed somewhere on her body. She attacked him when she found out,' Bear revealed, promising dramatics. He also claimed that Just Tattoo Of Us is 'the ninth wonder of the world'. On Monday morning, Charlotte had appeared on This Morning, talking about Bear and the show. And she gushed about taking part on the stalwart daytime show. Heartache: But the beauty was forced to share a Snapchat a few days later revealing the pair were back together 'It is my favourite favourite daytime TV show, Ive been going on it now for four years, they are all so lovely, and never rude,' she enthused. 'They never talk to you badly, the other shows could take a leaf out of their book.' 'Other shows' could well have been a reference to Loose Women, which Charlotte had a dicey experience on once, leading to her vowing never to appear on it again. 'I might have forgiven, but I havent forgotten,' she said of the female panel show. Shock split: They have weathered a rocky patch in their fiery romance after Charlotte uploaded a drunken Snapchat video revealing they had broken up Heartbreaking: Fans were left gobsmacked when Celebrity Big Brother winner Charlotte shared a Snapchat video while partying which revealed the couple had split in August As for Bear, he's revealed what's been keeping him busy in his downtime: 'Im currently reading the Kama Sutra. Ive just started it and want to try it out. Especially the sleeping cat.' On the aforementioned This Morning appearance, Charlotte said of the prospect of marrying Bear: 'Definitely, in the future, I would love to marry him.' She admitted to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that she 'can't imagine having a normal boyfriend, it would be boring'. Charlotte and Bear got together while she was seeing someone else - something that prompted Bear to tattoo a cheetah onto her as a joking nod to her supposed infidelity. In great spirits: Charlotte seemed perky as she appeared on the morning TV show 'It was series one, I had a boyfriend. I was only with [the boyfriend] for two months and I kissed Stephen on set,' she recalled. 'It was good job I like cheetahs. I think I got off lightly.' Speaking about arguing with Bear, Charlotte divulged: 'I'm trying to not do it. He's never been in a long-term relationship.' Charlotte was showing off her newly-dyed brunette curls on This Morning which she had previously uploaded a photo of to her Instagram - which was the catalyst for engagement rumours. Her followers pointed out the huge ring on her left hand, which was in fact a 'friendship ring' gifted to the reality star by her boyfriend Bear during a trip to the Dominican Republic. Just Tattoo Of Us starts on Monday at 10pm, only on MTV. She's won over critics on the big screen with performances in Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby winning her not one, but two Academy Awards. And it looks like Hilary Swank is taking her acting prowess to the small screen, as she was seen on set in Rome on Sunday for the upcoming crime anthology Trust. The 43-year-old sported a 70s inspired brown bobbed wig as she took a break from filming to tuck into an Italian lunch. Scroll down for video Delish! Actress Hilary Swank, 43, seemed to be enjoying her Italian lunch as she took a break from filming scenes for her new FX crime series in Rome on Sunday Hilary seemed to be enjoying her lunch, as she took a break from the gruelling filming schedule. The actress covered up her period costume with an oversized padded coat to keep warm in between scenes, but her dramatic disco-style flares could still be seen. The look was a far cry from her usual sleek style, with Hilary's long straight brunette locks transformed with a shorter, bouncier wig. Hilary is set to play the mother of John-Paul Getty in the series, who attempts to convince his grandfather and oil tycoon J. Paul Getty to pay the ransom after her son was kidnapped in 1973. Disco chic: Hilary sported a lighter bobbed wig for the scenes, as well as disco-style flares, covering up in a large padded jacket between scenes, a far cry from her usual sleeker style Suits you! The Oscar-winning actress was dressed smartly in a camel suit and printed terracotta shirt as she shot scenes in the Italian capital And... action! The screen star seemed to be deep in conversation as she got to work on set Hilary joins a star-studded cast in the series, including Hunger Games star Donald Sutherland, 81, who plays billionaire J. Paul Getty, and Peaky Blinders star Charlotte Riley. The miniseries will be directed by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, who also directed Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting, and it set to air on FX in January next year. The cast have been spotted filming scenes in the Italian capital as well as Littlebury in Essex since production started in June. Small screen star: Hilary's casting in the series was announced in April, as the distraught mother of kidnapped teen John Paul Getty III, grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty Head honcho: The miniseries will star Hunger Games star Donald Sutherland, seen here on set in Essex in June, as the billionaire J. Paul, who refused to pay his grandsons ransom Legend: Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle will direct the series, and was also spotted on set in June filming scenes Happy ending: John Paul was freed after six months in captivity and was found alive in a gas station on December 15 1973 (pictured with his mother Gail after his release) The series will have a tough act to follow as the same story has been adapted into a feature film starring Kevin Spacey and Michelle Williams. The Ridley Scott directed drama will be released in December, and is expected to be an awards contender. Hilary was recently seen on screen in the heist comedy Logan Lucky, opposite Channing Tatum and Adam Driver, as well as the legal drama 55 steps along with Helena Bonham Carter, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Frugal: The FX series tells the story of oil tycoon J.Paul Getty (pictured with fifth and last wife Teddy in 1939 in Rome) who refused to pay his grandson's kidnap ransom Advertisement She is due to welcome her first baby into the world next month. And Ferne McCann looked truly radiant in a red string bikini as she enjoyed the final weeks of her pregnancy on the beach in Majorca on Wednesday. The former The Only Way Is Essex star, 27, who is welcoming her baby with ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins, flaunted her beautiful baby bump and expectant mother glow in the skimpy scarlet two-piece. Scroll down for video Bumping along nicely: Ferne McCann looked truly radiant in a red string bikini as she enjoyed the final weeks of her pregnancy on the beach in Majorca on Wednesday Blooming: The former The Only Way Is Essex star, 27, who is welcoming her baby with ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins, flaunted her beautiful baby bump and expectant mother glow in the skimpy scarlet two-piece Clearly loving her time on the sunny Spanish Island and feeling the maternal instinct, the TV personality lovingly cradled her sizeable bump as she struck a serene pose while walking down the idyllic beach. Her halterneck bikini top, with double strap detail, showed off her ample assets and glowing tan, while the matching tie-side bottoms nestled neatly under her blooming bump. The brunette beauty swept her tresses up into a low-maintenance bun. Exciting times: Clearly loving her time on the sunny Spanish Island the TV personality struck a serene pose while walking down the idyllic beach with her bump proudly on show Love: Clearly feeling the maternal instinct an excited Ferne lovingly cradled her beautiful baby bump Out and a pout: Her halterneck bikini top, with double strap detail, showed off her ample assets and glowing tan, while the matching tie-side bottoms nestled neatly under her blooming bump Sizzling: Ferne looked healthy and glowing as she proudly showed off her bump on her last holiday before the baby arrives Radiant: The expectant mum proudly showed off her stunning pregnancy body as she flicked her hair around Her striking features were accentuated with minimal make-up include soft fluttery lashes, bronzer and a rose lipgloss on her plump pout. The star looked focused and pensive as she took a cool dip in the sea, letting her hair down and slicking it back from her face. Adding a touch of sparkle to her beach look, she accessorised with a medallion necklace, and stud earrings. Her nails were painted in a natural French manicure. New arrival: Her striking features were accentuated with minimal make-up include soft fluttery lashes, bronzer and a rose lipgloss on her plump pout Cooling off: The star braced herself for a quick dip in the crystalline waters of the Mediterranean sea Hot mama: Ferne looked serene and beautiful as she looked ahead to her baby's birth next month Maternal; Ferne couldn't stop cradling her baby bump as she took a brief dip and wet her locks Having announced her pregnancy in April, the star recently revealed she is planning to have a hypnobirth for her first child which is expected in mid-to-late November Ferne has been attending hypnobirth classes with her mother Gill - which involves simple but specific self-hypnosis, relaxation and breathing techniques for the big day. 'Moving out of my mum's was weird and a big step,' she told New! magazine. 'We're going through hypnobirthing and everything, which is really important to do with your birthing partner.' Expected soon: Having announced her pregnancy in April, the star recently revealed she is planning to have a hypnobirth for her first child which is expected in mid-to-late November Brunette beauty; Ferne split from the baby's father Arthur earlier this year, amid allegations that he carried out an acid attack at an east London club, leaving 22 people injured Ferne split from the baby's father Arthur earlier this year, amid allegations that he carried out an acid attack at an east London club, leaving 22 people injured. It was reported this summer that the former TOWIE star had gone to visit the 25-year-old scaffolder and businessman at HMP Thameside in south London - although they had no plans to get back together. A source instead stressed that Ferne was visiting Arthur to discuss matters surrounding their unborn child. The insider divulged to The Sun: 'They are most certainly not back together and she has no intentions of doing so. Talking it through: It was reported this summer that the former TOWIE star had gone to visit the 25-year-old scaffolder and businessman at HMP Thameside in south London - although they had no plans to get back together Focused; The star has been keeping her social media followers updated with every step of her pregnancy journey 'But she saw him to discuss certain matters, given she is carrying his unborn child. She clearly didn't want to be seen as she went in and kept a very low profile.' Arthur recently denied carrying out the acid attack which left two clubbers partially blinded and others disfigured. He pleaded not guilty in June to six counts of causing grevious bodily harm and 11 of actual bodily harm when he appeared at Wood Green Crown Court today via video link from HMP Thameside. A 24-year-old man and 22-year-old woman were each blinded in one eye, and up to 18 others were burnt after the attack outside the Mangle nightclub in Dalston, east London in April. She is a well-known screen star in the industry, having shot to fame as a child actress in the early 90s. But Kirsten Dunst let her best pal Cindy McGee take centre stage on Saturday, as she took on the role of bridesmaid at her lavish wedding to pharmaceutical executive John Manieri in Rome, Italy. The Drop Dead Gorgeous star, 35, was effortlessly elegant in a pastel pink gown as she excitedly walked down the aisle before the bride at the stunning monumental church of Sant'Ignazio, in the historical capital. Think pink: Kirsten Dunst was truly stunning in a pastel pink gown on Saturday, as she took on the role of bridesmaid at her best friend Cindy McGee's lavish wedding in Rome, Italy The actress was truly stunning in her pale pink bridesmaid's dress, which featured a gorgeous ruched V-neck bodice, secured with thin spaghetti straps. Cinching in at her slim waist, the gown then extended into a delicate tulle skirt, which softly skimmed the floor as she played her part in the ceremony, with a pretty bouquet of flowers in one hand. Leaving her hair in loose, tousled waves and adding a matching pink lip, the blonde drew attention to her glowing complexion and beaming smile, as she supported her friend on her big day. Congratulations! Leaving her hair in loose waves and adding a pink lip, the blonde drew attention to her radiant complexion and beaming smile, as she supported Cindy on her big day Say cheese! She was seen posing with her best friend and fellow bridesmaids for a number of stunning shots - with the bride stealing the show in her form-fitting white lace gown Pretty in pink: The Hollywood actress looked incredible in her tulle embellished dress Kirsten first walked down the aisle ahead of the bride with one of the groomsmen, clad in a suave navy suit, before she was seen excitedly clapping Cindy and her new husband John Manieri, as they departed the church after tying the knot. She then stood beside her best friend and fellow bridesmaids for a number of stunning shots - with the brunette stealing the show in her form-fitting white lace gown, as they posed against the city's historical backdrop. After the ceremony the guests, headed to the wedding party at the Villa Aurelia, which overlooks the beautiful Monte Mario view. Helping hand: Kirsten was at hand to reassure her friend on her big day Hugging it out: The pair shared a tender embrace inside the venue Beautiful ceremony: The happy couple wed in the beautiful church of Sant'Ignazio Beaming with joy: Kirsten couldn't contain her excitement as she watched Cindy walk down the aisle Kirsten's parents also attended the wedding, as the two girls have been close friends since they were young. In an interview with Elle earlier this month, the blonde admitted Cindy would pick her up every morning before school and give her breakfast, as she was afraid of driving in LA. Explaining how important female friendships are to her, she told the magazine: 'What I learned in high school is that female friendships are so much more important than worrying about having a boyfriend or looking good or things like that.' Touching on her close bond with Cindy, she added: 'I had such a good girlfriend growing up that we didnt need anything. We had such a creative world of our own imagination together.' Here comes the bride: The event no doubt got the actress even more excited for her own upcoming wedding, to fiance Jesse Plemons The event no doubt got the actress even more excited for her own upcoming wedding, to fiance Jesse Plemons. Kirsten met the actor, 29, while filming the second season of Fargo in 2015, and they became close friends - before embarking on a romance the following year. The pair then became engaged in January this year, with Kirsten confessing soon after that it had been one of the most nerve-wracking moments of her life. She told Jimmy Kimmel: 'I was a little sick when [he proposed], which was funny! But that's good. Sickness and in health, you know I was in sweats.' With wedding planning clearly in full-swing, the actress revealed earlier this month that she is currently designing her dress with her friends Laura and Kate Mulleavy - the founders of Rodarte. He's been missing his London-based family as he settles into student life in New York City. And Victoria Beckham sent a sweet message of encouragement to her eldest son Brooklyn, 18, on Wednesday, sharing a picture of them together alongside a heartwarming message from the whole Beckham brood. The 43-year-old fashionista can be seen posing next to the teenager in a sweet selfie taken on a family night out. 'Miss you': Victoria Beckham sent a sweet message of encouragement to her eldest son Brooklyn, 18, on Wednesday, sharing a picture of them together alongside a heartwarming message from the whole Beckham brood The former Spice Girl captioned the snapshot: 'We miss u! X @brooklynbeckham @davidbeckham @romeobeckham @cruzbeckham #harperbeckham X'. Meanwhile, Brooklyn was also feeling homesick, revealing he was missing his family and his girlfriend Chloe Moretz, with whom he recently rekindled his romance. He posted some rather forlorn Instgram stories, informing his followers he was 'Missing home :(' and 'Missing my girl :('. The photography-mad teen appeared to be struggling to cook for himself since he also posted a painful-looking snap of his bloodied finger. Ouch: The photography-mad teen appeared to be struggling to cook for himself since he also posted a painful-looking snap of his bloodied finger Feeling blue: He also posted some rather forlorn Instgram stories, informing his followers he was 'Missing home :(' and 'Missing my girl :(' in a post aimed at Chloe Moretz Discussing her eldest moving away from home, Victoria recently told YouTube make-up channel Pixiwoo: 'I'm still crying, Brooklyn's moved to New York, he's 18, and I haven't stopped crying. I miss him so much, so much'. The fashion designer, who was appearing on the show to promote her collaboration with Estee Lauder, has been seen visiting Brooklyn in the Big Apple, where he attends Parsons School of Design. When speaking about the host getting emotional at her daughter starting school Victoria said: I think its great, were blessed to have children, its a good thing, if youre sad your babys going off to school, youre a good mum' Loved-up: Brooklyn is missing his girlfriend Chloe Moretz, with whom he recently rekindled his romance Feeling bereft: Doting dad David has also shared a sweet tribute to his eldest son Taking to her Instagram account on Monday, the designer also posted a short clip of herself posing in the mirror while promoting her new Estee Lauder make-up range. Writing her initials on the mirror in lipstick, a dressing gown clad Victoria can then be seen planting a kiss on her reflection. Victoria captioned: 'Excited to be coming to @officialbrownthomas in Dublin this Wednesday the 4th! See you there!! x VB @esteelauder #VBxEsteeLauder'. New clip: Taking to her Instagram account on Monday, the designer also posted a short clip of herself posing in the mirror while promoting her new Estee Lauder make-up range Victoria recently said: 'I'm still crying, Brooklyn's moved to New York, he's 18, and I haven't stopped crying. I miss him so much, so much' Advertisement They took their relationship public when they were spotted smooching on the beach in Miami, Florida, last month. And Sofia Richie, 19, and Scott Disick, 34, couldn't keep their hands to themselves as they packed on the PDA while continuing their never-ending vacation in Mexico on Monday. The teen model flaunted her fabulous physique in rainbow-striped bikini bottoms and a skimpy yellow top, while father-of-three Scott matched her bright look in hot pink shorts. Endless summer! Sofia Richie, 19, and Scott Disick, 34, couldn't keep their hands to themselves while continuing their never-ending vacation in Mexico on Monday Kisses for the new couple: Here the blonde had on her sunglasses as she focused on her Lord Neon dream! The teen model flaunted her fabulous physique in rainbow-striped bikini bottoms and a skimpy yellow top, while father-of-three Scott matched her bright look in hot pink shorts Sofia threw her arms around Scott as they shared a passionate kiss in the ocean water. It seemed she only had eyes for the notorious womanizer, as she gazed at him with doe-eyed wonder. After heating up the waters, the duo splashed around the shallows, where the daughter of music legend Lionel Richie displayed her gravity defying derriere and a hearty dose of side-boob. Loving the new lady in his life: Disick looked very happy with the teenager who used to be friends with Kourtney Kardashian Steamy! Sofia threw her arms around Scott as they shared a passionate kiss in the ocean water while enjoying yet another romantic holiday The look of love! It seemed she only had eyes for the father-of-three, as she gazed at him with doe-eyed wonder Getting to know you: The odd couple appeared more than comfortable with each other, cuddling close and kissing in the water Him: Do you like Styx? Her: Who's the Styx?: Scott was born in 1983 when the hit songs were Mr Roboto by Styx and Too Shy by Kajagoogoo. Sofia was born in 1998 when the top tunes were Ray Of Light by Madonna and Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz Tickled pink! The couple - who have a 15-year age gap - seemed happy and relaxed with each other on their beach break Making a splash! The youngest daughter of music legend Lionel Richie displayed her gravity defying derriere and a hearty dose of side-boob in her skimpy swimwear Although Scott is 15 years older than his love, they smiled and played around like children. The pair then took to their lounge chairs to sunbathe. Sofia cuddled with her older man, draping herself over his chest while he sipped on a drink. After getting enough rays, the model tossed on a striped robe and stepped out of the sun. Mellow yellow! The teen model couldn't hide her fabulous figure while relaxing south of the border Bun in the sun! The teen tied her blonde tresses back into a practical bun while also offering a look at her peachy behind Rest and relaxation: Sofia cuddled with her older man, draping herself over his chest while he sipped on a small drink Getting that tan: After some time in the waters, the pair then took to their lounge chairs to sunbathe Wonder what they're talking about... The duo carried on a conversation while lavishing one another with affection Aw: After getting their fill of the sun, sand, and shoreline Sofia and Scott were seen walking back to their room hand-in-hand Years apart: Sofia and Scott first met through friends and later got close while partying together in Cannes Body of art! The Select managed model made it clear why she's a force to be reckoned with in the fashion world Shady lady: Sofia put on her robe with a cape-like flourish before walking into the shade for a moment The pair briefly chatted with the local lifeguards clad in neon yellow shirts. Later, she and Scott were seen walking back to their room hand-in-hand. Sofia also shared plenty of social media from their beach paradise. On Instagram, the blonde made a sassy display, only masking her bottom with a fish-shaped body board while gazing over her shoulder. Showing her stripes: After getting enough rays, she tosses on a striped robe and stepped out of the sun On guard! The pair briefly chatted with the local lifeguards clad in neon yellow shirts Paradise! On Instagram, the blonde made a sassy display, only masking her bottom with a fish-shaped body board while gazing over her shoulder Close as can be: Sofia also posted some casual snaps, which revealed she and the ex of Kourtney Kardashian tangling their legs together intimately She also posted some casual snaps which revealed she and the ex of Kourtney Kardashian tangling their legs together intimately. A black and white version of the shot was captioned 'off set', while 'Bubba' was written on the other. Back in June, Sofia claimed she and Scott were just 'homies' after they partied in Cannes together, however they were spotted getting much closer since then. The couple weren't shy about the PDAs when they flew to Miami together, and have been dining out regularly. More than friends: Back in June, Sofia claimed she and Scott were just 'homies' after they partied in Cannes together, however they were spotted getting much closer since then Piece of cake! The duo even seemed to make it official over the weekend, sharing a passionate kiss at a venue after being surprised with a 'congratulations' cake during a night out Doting dad: Scott shares three children with ex-girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian, 38; Mason, seven, Penelope, five, and Reign, two, two of whom are closer in age to their dad's girlfriend than he is The duo even seemed to make it official last month, sharing a passionate kiss at a venue after being surprised with a 'congratulations' cake during a night out; the snaps were posted to Scott's friend Alec Monopoly's Instagram story. Scott shares three children with ex-girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian, 38; Mason, seven, Penelope, five, and Reign, two, two of whom are closer in age to their dad's girlfriend than he is. Kourtney and Scott parted ways in summer 2015 after 10 years together; since then, Scott has been linked with a bevy of models as well as actress Bella Thorne, 19. Fresh: Ex Kourtney Kardashian has also moved on with a much younger other, now linked to model Younes Bendjima, 24 Ouch: Though Scott and Sofia's new romance appeared to be in full bloom, it's been said his ex Kourtney is 'heartbroken' over the duo's Mexico vacation The reality star has since moved on with male model Younes Bendjima, 24. Though Scott and Sofia's new romance appeared to be in full bloom, it's been said his ex Kourtney is 'heartbroken' over the duo's Mexico vacation, according to The Sun. It seems the Casa Aramara Villa, which is owned by Joe Francis, holds a special place in Kourt's heart. The getaway was where she and Scott first met all the way back in 2008. A special spot: Kourtney's said to be devastated that Scott took his new flame to the same place she and the father of her children first met all the way back in 2008. Thorne in his side: Scott and Kourtney parted ways in summer 2015 after 10 years together; since then, Scott has been linked with a bevy of models as well as actress Bella Thorne, 19 Getting munchy! After enjoying the sun, the couple had a bite to eat from the balcony of their room 'Kourtneys really upset about the whole thing,' a Kardashian insider told The Sun Online. 'Shes been affected by it as Joe's house is almost like a family place to them now - it's where they met,' explained the source. They continued: 'It's where they went back to all the time when they wanted to escape by themselves, it's their special place, and so she feels now that he's ruining all those memories by doing this.' Not happy: 'Kourtneys really upset about the whole thing,' a Kardashian insider told The Sun Online Home away from home: 'Shes been affected by it as Joe's house is almost like a family place to them now - it's where they met,' explained the source 'Friends and family are saying that if he were truly serious about Sofia then he would have taken her somewhere private with no association with the Kardashians. A fresh start. The source contends that Scott is trying to get a rise out of people with his series of head-turning flings. 'He's doing it to get a reaction, to get attention and to make sure that everyone is looking and talking about them by parading her around to these places.' Tarnishing memories: They continued: 'It's where they went back to all the time when they wanted to escape by themselves, it's their special place, and so she feels now that he's ruining all those memories by doing this' Later the couple were spotted again as they went jet skiing. Scott, who has been to rehab several times for painkiller addiction, was seen behind the wheel as his lady love was in front. They appeared to go at fast speeds as they plowed through the ocean waves. This time the Treats! magazine model wore the McDonald's colors - a red triangle bikini top and mustard colored bathing suit pants. Getting dry: Sofia was also seen soaking wet as she walked up the grass to her lounger to get her towel Busy bee: The star had her dyed blonde locks slicked back with the sea water and sunglasses on. It looked as if she was also carrying a pack of cigarettes. Walk this way: They were by each other's sides nonstop during the loved up vacation Sofia was also seen soaking wet as she walked up the grass to her lounger to get her towel. The star had her dyed blonde locks slicked back with the sea water and sunglasses on. It looked as if she was also carrying a pack of cigarettes. Though Richie was on a dream vacation, she didn't seem to smile much. Vroom: Later the couple were spotted again as they went jet skiing. Scott, who has been to rehab several times for painkiller addiction, was seen behind the wheel as his lady love was in front Their age difference has not made them sink: Though Scott has three children and Sofia is still a bit of a child, they seem to get on just find She does the chores? Sofia was seen getting the two life vests for the couple as Scott was already in the water A good laugh at last: Disick was seen chuckling as he walked toward his teen love in the ocean; a handler looked amused too LOS ANGELESJessa Rhodes has been one of the most searched for fantasies since the Fantasy Factory series launch on September 11th, according to the FuckingAwesome crew. Entries such as Jessa Rhodes Sitting on My Face," "Eat Jessa Rhodes Pussy," "Smash Jessa Rhodes, "Clean Jessa Rhodes' Kitchen" and "Talking to Aliens through Jessa Rhodes' Vagina" were some of the early fantasies submitted on Fucking Awesomes page. So the Fucking Awesome crew chose Rhodes to bring their second fantasy to life in the #FuckingAwesomeFantasyFactory series. While many porn stars were dreamt about among fans entries on the adult sites page, Jessa was by far and away one of the most asked for. Rhodes' scene with Alex Legend is live on FuckingAwesome.com now. Click here to view it. The Fantasy Factory is a portal designed to make fans dreams come true. We all know what we like, and we all have different taste in almost every aspect of our existence," said Brad John, CMO of Fucking Awesome. "Why settle for Porn? We want to satisfy your needs. While we have awesome content on our site, we know that sometimes youre looking for something a little bit extra, catered to your needs. The Fantasy Factory takes you away from your everyday life problems and brings you into our #FuckingAwesome world. Amber Rose reunited with her BFF Blac Chyna during her third annual SlutWalk Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday, and stressed the importance of her revenge-porn lawsuit against ex-fiance #2 Rob Kardashian. 'You know, it is extremely important,' the 33-year-old sex-positivity activist told People. 'All they are going to do is scrutinize you and tell you that you just want money. Look what they have been doing to Bill Cosby's victims! Me, [Chyna's attorney] Lisa Bloom, Blac Chyna, and everyone and every woman out here right now is now giving women a voice that they didn't have before.' Scroll down for video 'It is extremely important': Amber Rose (L) reunited with her BFF Blac Chyna (R) during her SlutWalk Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday, and stressed the importance of her revenge-porn lawsuit against ex-fiance #2 Rob Kardashian The 33-year-old sex-positivity activist told People: 'All they are going to do is scrutinize you and tell you that you just want money. Look what they have been doing to Bill Cosby's victims! Me, [Chyna's attorney] Lisa Bloom, Blac Chyna, and everyone and every woman out here right now is now giving women a voice that they didn't have before' The former strippers and Flat Tummy spokesmodels share a lot in common - four-year-old sons with rapper babydaddies as well as a penchant for tattoos and scantily-clad attire. The 56-year-old lawyer - who's representing the 29-year-old mother-of-two - proudly rocked a 'feminist as f***' T-shirt at the exhibitionist celebration at Pershing Square. 'Right there is the courthouse where I have fought and won several revenge porn cases,' Bloom - whose mother is Gloria Allred - told Hollywood Unlocked at SlutWalk. 'It's all about standing against slut shaming for Blac Chyna [and] for Mischa Barton and for other women. So to see this crowd is amazing. I'm going to visualize them the next time I'm in court.' Teamed up: The 56-year-old lawyer (R) - who's representing the 29-year-old mother-of-two - proudly rocked a 'feminist as f***' T-shirt at the exhibitionist celebration at Pershing Square Bloom told Hollywood Unlocked: 'Right there is the courthouse where I have fought and won several revenge porn cases. It's all about standing against slut shaming for Blac Chyna' 'I don't like when powerful people take advantage of victims': On Thursday, Lisa called Rob's most recent lawsuit accusing Chyna of assault, battery, and vandalism 'ugly and false' Scantily clad: Blac (born Angela White) is seeking a 'seven-figure settlement' for her case, and she's also receiving $20K a month in child support for their 10-month-old daughter Dream She continued: 'I don't like it when powerful people take advantage of other people...What about their victims? They deserve a voice and that's what I'm here for.' On Thursday, Lisa called Kardashian's most recent lawsuit accusing Chyna of assault, battery, and vandalism 'ugly and false.' Blac (born Angela White) is seeking a 'seven-figure settlement' for her case, and she's also receiving $20K a month in child support for their 10-month-old daughter Dream. The reality TV duo officially ended their on/off 11-month romance in December, but they continue to share 50/50 joint custody of their princess. As for the rumored expecting mothers Kylie Jenner (L) and Khloe Kardashian (R), Rose (born Levonchuck) gushed: 'We love the babies over here!' 'Not yet': The ex-girlfriend of Kanye West also denied that she was engaged to her boyfriend of four months, rapper 21 Savage, after sharing a diamond ring Instastory on Saturday night The buzzcut biracial beauty scoffed: 'That is not [my hand]! That was not me with the ring. A girl had a cartoon face of me on her nails, and I took a picture of her nail, and her ring was in the picture, and I swear to God I was like, "Oh your nail looks cool!"' As for the rumored expecting mothers Kylie Jenner and Khloe Kardashian, Rose (born Levonchuck) gushed: 'We love the babies over here!' The ex-girlfriend of Kanye West also denied that she was engaged to her boyfriend of four months, rapper 21 Savage, after sharing a diamond ring Instastory on Saturday night. 'That is not [my hand]! That was not me with the ring,' the buzzcut biracial beauty scoffed. 'Coming soon!' Amber will soon begin a mysterious Las Vegas residency hosting Chocolate Rose parties every Friday and Saturday at the Sugar Factory's Chocolate Lounge 'A girl had a cartoon face of me on her nails, and I took a picture of her nail, and her ring was in the picture, and I swear to God I was like, "Oh your nail looks cool!" And that was not me. I am not engaged. Not yet.' The 24-year-old father-of-three (born Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph) will next perform October 11 at Florida's FAMU Al Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center in Tallahassee. Amber will soon begin a mysterious Las Vegas residency hosting Chocolate Rose parties every Friday and Saturday at the Sugar Factory's Chocolate Lounge in Nevada. Terrence Howard has been ordered to pay his ex-wife spousal support after a California appeals court found the actor was not coerced into signing his divorce settlement. The ruling could allow the star's second wife Michelle Ghent to claim some of Howard's lucrative earnings from the hit Fox television series Empire. The three-justice panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles ruled unanimously in June to reinstate the judgment that was tossed out by a lower court in 2015. Ruling: Terrence Howard must pay spousal support to ex Michelle Ghent (pictured in 2011) after appeals court ruled Empire star wasn't 'under duress' when he signed divorce settlement The 2015 ruling found the Empire star was under duress when he agreed to pay Ghent generous spousal support because he feared she would leak embarrassing information about him. Howard claimed Ghent made the threat in a 2011 phone call. A year later, the couple agreed to a divorce settlement that paid her significant spousal support. Wednesday's ruling says the passage of time negates Howard's claim that he was forced to sign the agreement. The ruling also noted Howard's repeated attempts to reconcile with his ex-wife as showing he was not coerced into the agreement. Moved on: since the marriage ended Terrence has found success in the hit TV show Empire, and married for a third time The 2012 agreement called for Howard to pay Ghent monthly support of $5,800 and as much as $4million a year, depending on his earnings, including potential income from his role as Lucious Lyon on the Fox series Empire, which had not yet premiered. In a deposition, Ghent denied extorting the actor and argued that he didn't prove she had made threats in 2011 to force him to sign the agreement, her lawyers said. She was not allowed to testify during the 2015 hearing for procedural reasons. The hearing exposed the couple's tumultuous relationship and led Superior Court Judge Thomas Trent Lewis to say Howard had 'met his match' with Ghent and their relationship showed he was a bully and could be bullied. 'Mutual bullying does not describe a relationship in which one party's will is subsumed by the other's, and does not warrant setting aside a judgment as a matter of law,' the June ruling said. The ruling also calls for Howard to pay the costs of the appeal filed by his ex-wife. Ghent and Howard have no children together. The actor has three children from his first marriage, and two from his third marriage, to Mira Pak. She has been branded 'delusional' and 'tragic' by Love Island's Olivia Attwood after she sent flirty texts to her beau, Chris Hughes. But Katie Price was keen on putting the drama to one aside, as she headed for a relaxing facial at Crystal Clear in Liverpool on Sunday. Keen on looking and feeling her best, the former glamour model, 39, was clad in her signature skin-tight look as she headed for the beauty treatment - proving that she wasn't taking Olivia's criticism to heart. Scroll down for video De-stressing: Katie Price was keen on putting her drama with couple Chris Hughes and Olivia Attwood to one aside, as she headed for a relaxing facial in Liverpool on Sunday Katie was causally clad in her sleeveless Balmain Paris beige coloured top, which was slightly cropped to expose a peek of her stomach. The look was completed with a pair of skinny grey jeggings and comfortable fluffy shoes. Katie, who is currently seeing martial troubles with husband Kieran Hayler after he was caught cheating once again, opted for subtle slick of make-up and accessorised with a pair of black shades. With her four-year-old son Jett in tow, Katie was in her element as she headed to a beauty salon to top up her skin with a fresh facial. Drama: Katie's sighting comes after she was branded 'delusional' and 'tragic' by Love Island's Olivia Attwood after she sent flirty texts to her beau, Chris Hughes Relaxation: Keen on looking and feeling her best, the former glamour model, 39, was clad in her signature skin-tight look as she headed for the beauty treatment Her de-stressing day out comes after blonde bombshell Olivia Attwood admitted to OK! Magazine she would be too 'proud' to ever text a man more than once without a response - referencing Katie's early morning messages to her beau. 'He showed me the messages whenever he got them but it wasnt something we spent much time talking about,' she shared. 'It just had a bit of a tragic feel to it. Ive never double messaged a guy in my life, Im too proud for that.' 'Chris is the first guy Ive ever dated who I have no reason to be insecure with. Adding: 'Katie was a bit delusional to think Chris would fancy her or cheat on me. Shes the opposite of Chriss type. I am too. 'He doesnt usually like fake boobs, fake hair and loud girls. We only work because we were forced to get to know each other so well in the Love Island villa.' Sexy style: Katie was causally clad in her sleeveless Balmain Paris beige coloured top and accessorised with a pair of black shades Hitting back: Her de-stressing day out comes after blonde bombshell Olivia Attwood admitted she would be too 'proud' to ever text a man more than once without a response - referencing Katie's early morning messages to her beau The bickering began after Chris previously revealed that mother-of-five Katie had sent him 'flirty' messages in a recent interview. Hitting back at his comments, Katie appeared outrage and called the reality star out for the comment, denying that she had ever sent anything. Despite her claims, Chris then shared screenshots of the messages on his social media and now Olivia has said that her beau only revealed them after he was 'backed into a corner'. She explained: 'Im sure she was shocked. I cant imagine many people would show her up like that. 'Chris has had those messages on his phone for weeks and he had no intention of revealing them but he was backed into a corner when she said hed lied.' In the past: Chris appeared on Loose Women last week after accusing model Katie of flirting with him over text message (Pictured with Katie in August) 'They are flirty': He said: 'Someone asked if they were flirty messages, I said yeah, in my opinion, they are flirty, I've got a girlfriend' The Cheltenham native also appeared on Loose Women on Friday after accusing model Katie of flirting with him over text message. Revealing all about the messages he allegedly received from her, Chris claimed she had 'repetitively' sent 'flirty' messages to him in the early hours of the morning. He said: 'Someone asked if they were flirty messages, I said yeah, in my opinion, they are flirty, I've got a girlfriend.' Chris also revealed he would have refused to appear on Loose Women if Katie had been on the panel. Back on: The pair recently reconciled after a nightclub bust-up caused Olivia to flee to Germany, with Chris accusing her of dancing with another man in the club He added: 'Like she said on Twitter, she's met me once, she doesn't know me, and to message at half three in the morning and to message someone repetitively when they've not responded and they've got a girlfriend, that's flirting.' The pair recently reconciled after a nightclub bust-up caused Olivia to flee to Germany, with Chris accusing her of dancing with another man in the club. Chris was spotted more loved-up than every with his beau as they attended the launch of Thorpe Park's Fright Night on Thursday. Rocking matching black padded jackets, the pair looked thrilled to be back together as they posed for snaps and even shared a cheeky kiss for the cameras. She put on the runway of a lifetime with her latest Eighties-esque fashion parade. And proud Stella McCartney was supported by her youngest child Reiley Dilys when she was out in full force for Paris Fashion Week in France on Monday. The design icon, 46, looked like she was hot off the catwalk in a trendy beige raincoat when she left the venue affectionately holding the hand of her six-year-old daughter. Scroll down for video Mother like daughter: Stella McCartney was supported by her youngest child Reiley Dilys when she was out in full force for Paris Fashion Week in France on Monday Mixing up her shades, the London born beauty slipped her slim figure into caramel coloured wide-legged trousers. The daughter of Beatles' legend Paul McCartney proved prepared for the day's festivities with a stylish handbag, which featured two decorative golden buttons. Doting mum Stella married her loves of fashion and parenting when she headed out into the bustling streets of Paris holding her daughter's hand. It's all relative: The icon, 46, looked like she was hot off the catwalk in a trendy beige raincoat when she left the venue affectionately holding the hand of her six-year-old daughter Taking after her designer mother, little Reiley looked every inch the fashionista in her ivory woolly jacket. The child styled a blue and white diamond pattern top, teamed with dark blue jeans and gold trainers. No doubt the pair were buzzing after Stella's latest fashion line went down a storm in the city of Love. Fashionista Stella was joined by the great and the good of the showbiz world for her envy-inducing catwalk including the likes of Kylie Minogue and Ellie Goulding. Speaking about the collection, Can't Get You Out Of My Head hitmaker Kylie said: 'There were some throwbacks to me, to the '80s. 'Acid green and yellow denim. I'm sure I had a jacket that colour.' As for her personal life, Reiley is the youngest of the fashion designer's four-strong brood. Stella and her husband Alasdhair Willis also raise sons Miller, aged 12, and Beckett, aged nine, as well as their eldest daughter Bailey, aged 11. Taking after her designer mother: Little Reiley looked every inch the fashionista in her ivory woolly jacket Speaking about raising her two daughters in a recent interview, she told W magazine: 'I take it for granted that my daughters are pretty solid, strong girls. 'They're fearless. They can have an opinion and a voice. 'We have moments of mindful awareness. And then we talk absolute cr*p.' Stella married her British publisher husband in a romantic ceremony at Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute in August 2003. She walked down the aisle in the updated version of her mother's bridal gown from her 1969 marriage to Beatles' rocker Paul. Michael Douglas has said he heard angels singing when he almost drowned as a young student. The 73-year-old actor - who is married to Catherine Zeta-Jones - was swimming in the ocean when he was studying at the University of California when he got into serious trouble in the water and almost died. The Hollywood legend says before he was pulled to safety he saw a 'white light' as he 'faced death' and he could hear heavenly voices around him. Heaven's chorus: Michael Douglas (above as a young man) claimed he heard 'angels singing' and saw 'a white light' after he almost drowned when a college student Speaking to USA Today, he recalled: 'I did hear angels singing, saw a white light and then a relaxation came over me as I faced death.' Douglas made the confession whilst discussing his latest movie Flatliners. The reboot follows on from the cult 1990 horror movie of the same name, following a group of medical students who undertake clandestine experiments to produce near death experiences resulting in terrifying consequences for all. Music from above: Speaking to USA Today, the star (above Wednestday) recalled experiences unknown phenomena after he got into serious trouble in the water and almost died At peace: After getting over his head while swimming in the ocean, Douglas (above in Mexico in 2016) says 'a relaxation came over me as I faced death' Although he has had his own near-death experience, Douglas doesn't believe there is an after-life, as described by the world's main religions and instead believes the phenomenon he witnessed is a natural part of the process of dying. He said: 'I think we have a mechanism in our brain that takes over and makes it easier to accept the inevitable during the process of dying.' Douglas - who has beaten tongue cancer - produced the new remake, which stars Ellen Page, Nina Dobrev and Diego Luna, and sees Kiefer Sutherland reprise his role as Nelson Wright from the original film. Back from beyond: Douglas made the confession whilst discussing his latest movie Flatliners, which is about a group of medical students who flirt with death, yielding terrifying and unexpected consequences On Saturday, the Hollywood veteran gushed about his wife of 17-years on Extra. The leading man, who shares a September 25 birthday with his love, explained he'd give her the moon if possible. 'I'll give her anything she wants. I'm crazy about her, but I'm a few years older than her so I'm happy letting it pass,' said the Wall Street actor. Hugh Hefner died on Wednesday at the age of 91 in his famed Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, California. And on Monday his wife of five years, model Crystal Hefner, broke her silence about the passing of the legend. 'I havent been able to bring myself to write most people back to thank them for their condolences. I am heartbroken. I am still in disbelief,' she told People. Her husband is gone: Hugh Hefner died on Wednesday. And on Monday his wife five years, Crystal Hefner, broke her silence about the passing of the legend His home: Hefner passed away at his famed Playboy mansion in Holmby Hills, California at 91 The blonde beauty added: 'We laid him to rest Saturday. He is in the place he was always certain he wanted to spend eternity.' The Illinois native was buried at the cemetery near UCLA where Marilyn Monroe and Farrah Fawcett rest. His four children, wife Crystal and several Playboy staffers also paid their respects at LAs Westwood Village Memorial Park. Crystal, who TMZ claimed is getting a $7m home and $5m per their marital agreement, gave a touching tribute to the man known to friends as 'Hef.' Sad times: 'I havent been able to bring myself to write most people back to thank them for their condolences. I am heartbroken. I am still in disbelief,' she told People. Seen in 2011 His last home: The Illinois native was buried at the cemetery near UCLA where Marilyn Monroe and Farrah Fawcett rest 'He was an American hero. A pioneer. A kind and humble soul who opened up his life and home to the world,' she said. He left her this $7m home according to TMZ 'I felt how much he loved me. I loved him so much. I am so grateful. He gave me life. 'He gave me direction. He taught me kindness. I will feel eternally grateful to have been by his side, holding his hand, and telling him how much I love him.' She also talked about how much the magazine editor did for her. 'He changed my life, he saved my life. He made me feel loved every single day. He was a beacon to the world, a force unlike anything else. There never has and never will be another Hugh M. Hefner.' He placed her on the cover in 2011: Crystal Hefner was seen in a bra on the July 2011 issue Grateful: She also talked about how much the magazine editor did for her. 'He changed my life, he saved my life. He made me feel loved every single day.' Seen in 2011 She ended with: 'I join the world in mourning. I thank you for all of your condolences,' Crystal said. 'To the people leaving sentiments at the front gate, we see you and grieve with you.' She was his third wife. His first wife was Millie Williams, 91 - they were wed from 1949 until 1959. They had two children together, Christie and David. Next came Playboy cover girl Kimberley Conrad. They married in 1989 and split in 2010. They had two sons together: Cooper and Marston. Hef wed Crystal in 2012. Hand in hand: Hefner as a prisoner and Crystal at the annual Halloween Party in 2015 Also on Monday, it was revealed a vandal had painted a blue crown on Hefner's name on his Hollywood Walk Of Fame star with an oil pastel-like crayon. The crown could have been a tribute, but it is still considered vandalizing because the star is a registered state landmark. No arrests have been made. A spokesperson for the Walk of Fame told Page Six on Monday the vandal 'would have to pay restitution to have the star cleaned up and polished again.' Donald Trump's star on the Walk Of Fame has been vandalized several times since the reality TV star took office. He's one of the Bachelor's most controversial stars, who famously dumped fiancee Sam Frost for Louise Pillidge. And Blake Garvey has finally addressed speculation on whether he will appear on spin-off Bachelor in Paradise. The Perth-based real estate agent took to Facebook on Monday, after Network 10 confirmed the show was going ahead. Will he or won't he? Blake Garvey FINALLY addresses speculation on whether he will be on Bachelor in Paradise 'No way, no how, no chance am I going on Bachelors in Paradise. That is all,' Blake wrote on Facebook. Appearing as The Bachelor in 2014, Blake sparked a media storm when it emerged he had dumped series winner Sam Frost. The former male stripper took up with second runner-up Louise, however, the pair broke up 18 months later. Controversial: Appearing as The Bachelor in 2014, Blake sparked a media storm when it emerged he had dumped series winner Sam Frost Popped the question: Despite proposing to Sam, Blake brutally dumped her just weeks after the finale was filmed The reality TV couple announced their split in a cringeworthy photoshoot with New Idea, which was widely mocked at the time. After an attempt at a comeback on Celebrity Apprentice in 2015 failed, Blake has largely shunned the spotlight. He has deleted his public social media accounts and is not seen at red carpet events. Split: The former male stripper took up with second runner-up Louise Pillidge, however, the pair broke up 18 months later On Monday, Network 10 finally confirmed it was producing spin-off series Bachelor in Paradise. The series will follow former unlucky in love Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants trying to find romance in a tropical location, widely tipped to be Fiji. Rumoured to be appearing in the series are Keira Maguire, Sasha Mielczarek, Louise Pillidge, Elora Murger and Nikki Gogan. Rapper 50 Cent is facing a lawsuit from a snapper who alleges the star lifted his photos without permission and posted them on social media to promote his products. The accusation against Fifty, real name Curtis James Jackson III, comes from Christopher Pasatieri, who described himself as a professional photographer in documents seen by TMZ. On Monday, the website reported that Pasatieri submitted screenshots of his photo and the identical picture that the 42-year-old G-Unit rapper posted on Instagram. Under fire: Rapper 50 Cent, seen at an event last month, is facing a lawsuit from a snapper who alleges the rapper lifted his photos without permission and used them to promote his products. Seen in mid September In the caption, the Queens hip-hop star promoted his SMS headphones as well as his upcoming 50 Central show on BET. Pasatieri said the Jamaican-born rapper never licensed the photos or asked for permission to post them on Instagram. The photos were reportedly taken during Fifty's Citi Field performance in New York in June 2014, where he performed alongside G-Unit for their epic reunion. The rap group is also reportedly a part of Pasatieris lawsuit. No right: Christopher Pasatieri alleged the rapper used his photos from his Citi Field arena gig in New York in June 2014, seen here, to promote his SMS headphones and upcoming show Pasatieri is suing for damages but TMZ did not have details of the amount and 50 Cent had not replied to the website for comment. Meanwhile, the Get Rich Or Die Tryin' rapper has been keeping busy this year producing his upcoming 50 Central show, as well as Power for Starz. He is also working on three more series for the network after signing a hefty production deal with them last month. With the man: The 42-year-old posted this snap with Starz CEO Chris Albrecht last month to reveal a 'new deal' for his show, Power The delighted star posted two Instagrams on September 5 revealing the news, including one captioned: 'I just got off with Chris Albrecht, head of STARZ. 'New Deal More POWER coming your way, next season there will be less of a Wait. Thanks for supporting me, I can't believe how much money they just gave me.' He captioned the second selfie: 'LOL yo this shit is unbelievable, I have 3 new shows coming on STARZ. BMF, Tomorrow Today, and I GOT AWAY. TICK, TICK BOOM.' Network Ten confirmed a local version of Bachelor In Paradise is in production. And with rumours swirling as to which previous Bachelor and Bachelorette stars will join the cast, Nikki Gogan's name was thrown into the mix. However when contacted by The Daily Telegraph's Confidential, the 31-year-old stayed mum, stating that she's 'not going to comment.' Will she join? Nikki Gogan, 31, responded to speculation she's set to join Bachelor In Paradise, as Network Ten confirms spin-off Nikki refused to talk on the speculation, and would not discuss who she would like to see join the reality television spin-off. 'I am not going to comment,' the Western Australian told the publication. Rumours mounted that Nikki even flew to Sydney to meet with the production team. Silent: Nikki refused to talk on the speculation, and would not discuss who she would like to see join the reality television spin-off Potential? Other potential stars are said to include The Bachelorette's Michael Turnbull The fan favourite is one of many rumoured to join the cast of the Network Ten program. Other potential stars are said to include Michael Turnbull, 'villain' Keira Maguire, Jen Hawke and Jake Ellis. Network Ten recently released an official statement confirming production. 'The exciting new short-run series will feature former fan favourites and stand-out characters from previous seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette Australia,' the statement read. Set to shake things up? 'Villain' Keira Maguire is also said to be a firm contender Will she be cast? Busty brunette bombshell Jen Hawke of The Bachelor is also a rumoured prime candidate Another stint on reality TV? The Bachelorette's Jake Ellis, a regular on the social circuit, is also said to be in talks with production The media release was paired with a post on the Bachelor's Instagram account. The TV channel captioned the post: 'Announcing: Bachelor In Paradise is coming!' and tagged @bachelorinparadise, the new show's profile. Familiar face Osher Gunsberg is also confirmed as host. Confirmed! Network Ten recently released an official statement confirming production, that read: 'The exciting new short-run series will feature former fan favourites and stand-out characters from previous seasons of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette Australia' She is one of Australia's biggest acting exports. And on Monday, Cate Blanchett attended the opening of the new Louis Vuitton boutique in Paris, as part of fashion week festivities at the Place Vendome. The 48-year-old opted for a unique, blue and white pinstripe shirt under a green and black jacket, with a black leather belt to accentuate her figure. Fashion forward! Australian actress Cate Blanchett has attended the opening of the new Louis Vuitton boutique in Paris, as part of fashion week festivities at the Place Vendome Her look was paired with black trousers featuring white paneling on the side, similar to track pants and pointed heels. The actress kept her makeup simple with mascara, peach blush on her cheeks and pink-toned lipstick. Her blonde bob was styled simple and straight with a part to the side, after her hair was curled for the Givenchy's Spring/Summer 2018 show the night before. Simply stunning: The 48-year-old kept her makeup simple with mascara, peach blush on her cheeks and pink-toned lipstick Unique: The actress opted for a unique, blue and white pinstripe shirt under a green and black jacket, with a black leather belt to accentuate her figure Cate showed off the unique mismatched look for the cameras before posing alongside Louis Vuitton's creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere. He appeared to go for a minimalist ensemble in black bomber jacket, trousers, a white T-Shirt and combat boots. The Melbourne-born star will star in the highly anticipated Marvel film Thor: Ragnarok as villain Hela. Fashion friends: Cate showed off the unique mismatched look for the cameras before posing alongside Louis Vuitton's creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere 'Best Marvel villain ever': The Melbourne-born star will star in the highly anticipated Marvel film, Thor: Ragnarok as villain Hela Speaking at Comic Con in San Diego earlier this year about the role, she said it was a 'happy accident' that led her to the role. 'It's a universe that I've sort of been happily dragged into by my kids,' she said. Her performance is already being met with acclaim, with DigitalSpy calling her the 'best Marvel villain ever'. She's been posing up a storm in between photo shoots while on holiday in Ibiza. And Demi Rose Mawby looked to be enjoying her time on the island in the Mediterranean Sea as she shared a video of herself on Instagram dancing at a wild party on Sunday. The 22-year-old stunner could barely contain her ample assets in a tiny string bikini top as she writhed around the dance floor. Scroll down for video Sunday funday! Demi Rose looked to be enjoying her time on the island in the Mediterranean Sea with a female pal Her look: She shared a video of herself dancing at a wild party on Sunday The model's sensational form was on full display as she enjoyed the sights and sounds of the nightclub. Tyga's former girlfriend opted for a pink flower crown filter and rosy cheeks during a portion of the sexy video. Her long chocolate brown hair was worn in loose waves and cascaded past her shoulders to rest on her bountiful chest. Back in black: The 22-year-old stunner could barely contain her ample assets in a tiny string bikini top as she writhed around the dance floor String thing: The model's sensational form was on full display as she enjoyed the sights and sounds of the nightclub The model panned out to show a gaggle of friends laughing in an empty pool which was filled with large plastic black balls. She added a pair of luminous long lashes to her night time look and swiped her lips with a nude gloss. The Birmingham-born beauty has been traveling with friends and posting up a storm on her social media accounts. Pool party! The model panned out to show a gaggle of friends laughing in an empty pool which was filled with large plastic black balls Girl power: The Birmingham-born beauty has been traveling with friends and posting up a storm on her social media accounts Set in front of a glorious Es Vedra backdrop, the Instagram queen posed in a tiny bikini top and see-through pants while holding on to the waist of equally gorgeous gal pal Ashley Wolfe. Demi captioned the gorgeous clifftop sunset photo, 'Ibiza My favourite place in the world'. In another sexy showing of her worldly vacations, peeks of Rose's skin pop through a tight black strapless dress which featured strategically placed slashes throughout the fabric. Sight seeing: Set in front of a glorious Es Vedra backdrop, the Instagram queen posed in a tiny bikini top and see-through pants while holding on to the waist of an equally gorgeous gal pal The social media maven seemed to have forgotten her underwear in the sexy snap shared on Monday afternoon. Demi rose to prominence in May last year when she was spotted out with Rack City hitmaker Tyga, 27, in Cannes, during his a break from Keeping Up With The Kardashians star girlfriend Kyle Jenner. As they were frequently spotted on the town together, the British stunner became better known as her jaw-dropping curves caught the public's attention. Sharing a number of sexy snaps on social media, the brunette went on to scoop a modelling contract, following a link up with famed US publicity group Tazs Angels. She sparked controversy on Anzac Day this year after captioning an amorous photo of herself and then-boyfriend with the caption 'Lest We Forget'. And Skye Wheatley, 23, has left fans wondering whether she missed the mark again after sharing a rather bizarre tribute to the victims of this week's tragic Las Vegas massacre. Taking to her Instagram account, the busty glamour model shared a flirty photo of herself sitting with a mystery man at a Starbucks care in Los Angeles. 'And then he proposed to me': Skye Wheatley captions a flirty photo of herself and a mystery man with 'pray for Las Vegas'... after being slammed for 'tasteless' Anzac Day tribute 'And then he proposed to me....just like that. Good morning,' adding: 'My thoughts are with you Las Vegas #prayforlasvegas #lasvegas It appears the former Big Brother star's reference to a 'proposal' was made in jest. It comes just months after she appeared to enrage a few of her 355K Instagram followers by using a loved-up snap to show her support for Anzac Day. 'Show some respect or say nothing at all': Skye Wheatley received backlash after captioning a loved-up couple snap with 'Lest We Forget' in the caption on Anzac day this year 'How is this photo relevant?' Fans questioned why she used the 'Lest We Forget' caption on her loved-up snap Skye captioned a cute couple photo with 'Lest We Forget', with fans soon showing their distaste labelling her post as 'tasteless'. Pouting in the mirror shot, her boyfriend Cameron placed his tattooed arm around Skye's chest as they posed for the camera. 'Usually love your posts but this is tasteless. Thought you were better than this. Show some respect or say nothing at all,' one user wrote. Another outraged fan asked: 'How is this photo relevant to ANZAC Day?' Fashion-minded: Other fans were more concerned with where her blush pink tracksuit pants and jumper was from, which she had tagged in the picture Skye was quick to defend herself, tagging the user in her response: 'It's not....but it's my profile? I can post what I like and I'm still aware it's a Anzac Day as you can see in my caption.' Writing back to another, the former reality star said: 'My boyfriend has many friends/family who have put their lives on the line for this country and they have not taken offence to this. Claiming she meant no harm from the post, she added: 'And yeah you're insulted but this post isn't an insult my love.' 'My boyfriend has many friends/family who have put their lives on the line for this country': Skye defended herself by saying ACTUAL serviceman 'have not taken offence to this', with her boyfriend soon tagging his serviceman pals to weigh in The blonde bombshell's beau also took a stand against the backlash, tagging his mates to ask: 'Whats your thoughts you fellas offended by this post.' His friends soon started defending Skye in the comment section, singling out users who were offended by writing: 'As a veteran I reckon she can post whatever the f*** she wants! Until you've done something for this country zip it.' However, the confrontation only escalated, with the outraged user fighting back: 'She is literally posting a pic of herself for gratification and then putting a Anzac related caption on it... For God knows what reason. Tell me how this is okay in your mind? Could she not make it about her for once? Don't get me wrong I think she's incredible but cmon show a little respect.' 'Ok as long as you say it's ok. F*** those that died when this chick can get extra likes ay. Go f*** yourself you moronic twat,' the user said to the apparent serviceman. 'She is literally posting a pic of herself for gratification and then putting an ANZAC related caption on it': The tirade between the two users continued She recently showcased her sharp aim by firing off several rounds at a Californian shooting range. But this week Lara Worthington (nee Bingle), 30, advertised a very different message on social media, condemning the use of guns in America in the wake of Monday's Las Vegas massacre. Taking to her Instagram page on Tuesday, the former bikini model uploaded a photo taken from the film The Dreamers (2003) along with a quote from the movie's script: 'Books, not guns. Culture, not violence.' Gun shy? Lara Worthington (nee Bingle), 30, has condemned the use of guns following the Las Vegas massacre... weeks after sharing a video of herself firing rifles at a shooting range Just weeks earlier, the glamorous blonde shared a video of herself pulling the trigger of a very large gun. Taken at a Californian shooting range, the video proved the model is a great shot as she mowed through targets with ease. Lara was clad in black skinny jeans and a matching tight black shirt, making her look very much like another gun-toting Lara, namely Lara Croft. Shooter: It comes after Lara took to Instagram to share a video in which she is fired off several rounds from a rather large gun last month The character, played by Angelina Jolie in the Tom Raider films, wears a similar outfit consisting of a black sleeveless shirt and black shorts, and carries plenty of guns. Lara captioned the videos: 'First time!' and added a gun emoji. In the video she hit most of the paper targets set up for her. On the range: The video was taken at a Californian shooting range Video game style: Wearing black skinny jeans and a matching tight black shirt, Lara looked like another gun-toting Lara, namely Lara Croft, played by Angelina Jolie in the Tom Raider films The Aussie also tagged the gun store Taran Tactical Innovations and Ukrainian professional shooter, Jade Victria Struck in the videos. The rather energetic outing is a huge contrast to a different snap Lara recently shared of herself getting glammed up by renowned makeup artist Peter Philips. In a black and white image posted to Instagram, the beauty was seated in the makeup chair with the creative-and-image director of Christian Dior Makeup. Different look! The rather energetic outing is a huge contrast to a different snap Lara recently shared of herself getting glammed up by renowned makeup artist Peter Philips El Faro sank on October 1 2015, killing all 33 crew members on board A US Coast Guard report published Sunday blamed the sinking of the cargo ship El Faro off the coast of the Bahamas in October 2015 on the captain underestimating the threat of a powerful hurricane. The SS El Faro, built in 1975 and measuring 790 feet (240 meters) in length, was transporting containers and cars between Jacksonville, Florida, and Puerto Rican capital San Juan with 28 Americans and five Poles on board. In the early hours of October 1, trapped in the 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour) winds of Category Four Hurricane Joaquin, Captain Michael Davidson, 53, made contact with land to report a loss of propulsion and water entry -- but no further contact was made. The wreckage of the El Faro was later discovered 4,500 meters under the sea in November 2015, although the black box was not recovered for analysis until April 2016. Released on the second anniversary of the tragedy -- the most deadly maritime accident in the United States for over 30 years -- the Coast Guard's report proved damning for Davidson. "The Master failed to recognize the magnitude of the threat presented by the flooding into the hold combined with the heavy weather conditions," the 200-page document said. It added he "did not take appropriate action commensurate with the emergent nature of the situation onboard, including alerting the crew and making preparations for abandoning ship." The report also said the Coast Guard's search and rescue operation was impacted by Davidson's failure to make a "final distress notification to shore to update his earlier report... that they were not abandoning ship." It added TOTE Maritime, the owner of the vessel, did not monitor the progression of the hurricane properly -- while the lifeboats onboard would not have stood up to the extreme weather. The report recommended a fine for TOTE Maritime, but did not suggest criminal prosecution. A family member of one of the crew has filed a claim with a Jacksonville court seeking $100 million in damages for "negligence" on the part of Davidson and the operator. Many from the Caribbean island of 3.4 million fault Donald Trump for responding too slowly to the catastrophe Hurricane Maria's devastation in Puerto Rico looks likely to trigger a major wave of migration to Florida, which could push the politically important US state to the Democratic side, analysts said Sunday. That's how it look for Franchesca Rivera, a 32-year-old schoolteacher who teaches in Aibonito, a town in the center of Puerto Rico that has been destroyed by the hurricane. "If I do not start classes, I need income. So I'm going to go first with the kids and then my husband. If classes do not start, I'll leave in a month," says Rivera, whose house was among the few standing after the megastorm. Her three and seven year old sons run around amid what were the chicken farms and Easter flower farms key to Aibonito's economy. They were wiped off the map by Maria. She herself lost $ 80,000 in flowers, her husband's business. "We lost everything. And since it was the first year, we did not have insurance coverage, we had 7,000 baskets of flowers," she told AFP. "Who's going to buy an Easter flower at Christmas if we're in so much need," he says. She plans to go to Tampa, in central Florida, where she has family. And she does not know if she will come back -- certainly not in the short term. That's the case for many Puerto Ricans who have family or friends and a place to stay on the US mainland. After New York City, central Florida cities such as Orlando -- with its thousands of theme park jobs -- Tampa and St Petersburg are among the biggest draws. Yet in balmy Florida, Puerto Ricans feel a bit more on their home turf. Many from the Caribbean island of 3.4 million fault Donald Trump for responding too slowly to the catastrophe. Trump denies the claims and says local leaders mismanaged and politicized the situation. "He needs to come down here, see how this is," 57-year-old Aida Rosario said on her way out of mass. "He needs to see for himself, with his own two eyes, what we are going through." Conditions on the island are so difficult that those who can leave, leave. "Everyone is trying to get out. Everyone: middle class, upper class, lower class, everyone, either for a short time or for good," says Professor Astrid Arraras, from the Department of International Relations and Politics at Florida International University (FIU). "The Puerto Ricans of this crisis diaspora are bringing their parents," says the expert. - The political impact - "Everyone is trying to get out. Everyone: middle class, upper class, lower class, everyone, either for a short time or for good," says Professor Astrid Arraras, from the Department of International Relations and Politics at Florida International University (FIU) "It's going to be very widespread," adds Jorge Duany, an anthropologist specializing in migration at FIU. "It is not clear if they are people who are going to stay permanently. But it is quite clear that there will be an even greater exodus because of the hurricane." Puerto Rico is a US territory. Though Puerto Ricans are US citizens with US passports, they can only vote in presidential primaries. If they live on the island, they cannot vote in US presidential elections. If they are living on the mainland, they can register to vote including for president, in whichever state they live. Of the five million Puerto Ricans living in the United States mainland according to US Census figures for 2015, one million reside in Florida. Most have come since 2006 because of the financial crisis on the island, which went bankrupt with a $ 74 billion debt. And the Puerto Ricans, traditionally Democrats, will be arriving en masse to a state that gave the presidency to the Republican Trump. "Definitely an influx of Puerto Ricans could have a political impact in Florida," in that regard, says Duany. "And I think they could have an economic impact also in terms of businesses and businesses that have been created here," he adds. The new exodus will have a cultural impact, too. They may be Americans, but Puerto Ricans are Hispanic, salsa-dancing, Caribbean, Spanish-speaking and family-oriented. For a long time, northern Florida leaned rural, conservative and white. Now it is likely to help Florida become more Hispanic, and lean more Democratic. "Although some are bilingual, they maintain their Latino culture and all this will reinforce Florida's Latinization," says the expert. King Salman of Saudi Arabia will visit Russia on October 5, 2017, according to senior Kremlin aide King Salman of Saudi Arabia will visit Russia on Thursday, senior Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying. "We are awaiting the king's visit on Thursday," Ushakov said Monday, without elaborating. The visit comes a month before members of the OPEC oil cartel, of which Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer, are due to meet with the other nations that have joined them in cutting crude output, including Russia, to discuss extending the pact that has helped prop up prices. OPEC and its allies agreed from the beginning of 2017 to cut their production by around 1.8 million barrels per day for six months. It was subsequently extended through March 2018. The pact has helped reduce the glut of crude supplies on the market and the price to climb to around $55 per barrel currently. Saudi Arabia and Russia are heavily dependent on oil exports and the plunge of the price of crude that began in 2014 lashed both of their economies. While Russia and Saudi Arabia are now allies on the global oil market, they are on the opposite sides in the Syria conflict. Moscow supports the regime of President Bashar al-Assad while Riyadh supports the opposition. At least 3,000 people including 955 civilians were killed in September, the deadliest month of the conflict this year, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said on Sunday. A young Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by a group of higher-caste men for watching a traditional Navratri dance performance on Sunday night. Police said Jayesh Solanki, 21, and his cousin Prakash were attacked in Gujarat while watching garba, a folk dance celebrating the nine-day Hindu festival. 'We have arrested eight persons for allegedly beating to death one Jayesh Solanki in Borsad town of the district,' local police superintendent Anand Saurabh Singh told news agency AFP on Monday. Indian Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani speaks at a Dalit rally in Ahmedabad in 2016: the community faces widespread discrimination Police said they had received a complaint from the victim's cousin Prakash, who said one of the men demanded to know why they were watching the dance performance. The accused 'hurled caste-based abuses' before going away and returning with seven others who began beating the pair, police quoted Prakash as saying. The group first slapped Prakash and when Jayesh tried to stop the fight, he was shoved aside. 'They pushed him so hard that he banged his head on a wall and collapsed,' the complaint added. The man and his cousin were watching the Garba folk dance to celebrate the nine-day Hindu festival (picture for representation only) Jayesh was rushed to hospital where he was declared dead, police said. The attackers said Dalits 'do not have any right to watch garba', the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Dalits, formerly known as 'untouchables', are among the most marginalised groups in India, where caste discrimination is outlawed but remains widespread. The alleged attack is the latest incident of violence against those belonging to India's lowest caste. Last week two Dalits were allegedly beaten up by upper-caste Hindus in Gujarat for growing moustaches. Anger and protests erupted among the community last year after vigilantes wrongly accused four Dalit villagers of killing a cow - considered sacred by Hindus - and stripped and publicly thrashed them. Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since urged a halt to attacks on Dalits and an end to all caste discrimination. President appoints panel to examine class categorisation The government on Monday appointed a commission to work on the sub-categorisation of the other backward classes (OBC) and to allow more communities under the community to access benefit of reservation in education and government jobs. 'The President today in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 340 of the Constitution appointed a commission to examine the sub-categorisation of OBC. 'This decision, shows the government's efforts to achieve greater social justice and inclusion for all, specifically the members of OBC,' senior government sources said. President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed a commission to examine the class issue This exercise 'will ensure that the more backward among the OBC communities can also access the benefits of reservation for educational institutions and government jobs.' The commission would be headed by former Delhi High Court chief justice G Rohini and other members including the director, Anthropological Survey of India and Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. The terms of reference of the commission are to examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the different castes of OBC and also to work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation. The commission, sources said, has been asked by Kovind to submit a report within 12 weeks of the taking over of the commission chairperson. The government had announced its intent to set up a commission to examine the sub-categorisation of OBCs in August this year even as it has raised the OBC creamy layer criterion to Rs 8 lakh from Rs 6 lakh. At present states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have such sub-categorisation in place. However, bigger states like UP, MP and Rajasthan do not have the same Vanuatu lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity The mass evacuation of a volcano-threatened Vanuatu island is running ahead of schedule as a ramshackle armada of civilian boats ferries people to safety, officials said Monday. The entire 11,000 population of Ambae, in the north of the Pacific archipelago, has been ordered to leave after the Manaro Voui volcano rumbled to life and rained rock and ash on villages last week. The evacuation to nearby islands was scheduled for completion by this Friday but the Red Cross said it was likely to wrap up on Wednesday. It said villagers were exiting the island on a range of locally-commissioned boats -- from barges carrying hundreds of people to smaller ferries shipping dozens at a time. "You have got a huge range of boats that are transferring 11,000 people from Ambae to the three surrounding islands. For a country this size it is a very big operation," Red Cross spokesman Joe Cropp said. "It was orderly. People realised that they need to leave, there is a lot of patience among the community." Most of the island's residents have been sheltering in evacuation centres since the volcano first sent up a plume of steam and ash about a week ago. They are leaving from three coastal locations and the point on Ambae's western edge had already completed its evacuation on Monday. The Red Cross is delivering water to the island after ash from the volcano contaminated fresh supplies. While an orderly evacuation was still a priority for those remaining, attention was now turning to the strained resources at the islands to which people were being relocated, Cropp said. The relocation facilities on surrounding islands are "starting to handle" the situation, "but we need to step up quickly, we need to get the resources in to provide the shelter, water, food and sanitation that people need," he added. An Australian naval ship is expected to arrive on Wednesday, while New Zealand has sent a Hercules C-130 to airlift supplies into the area. Vanuatu lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. Crime scene tape surrounds the Mandalay Hotel after a gunman killed at least 58 people when he opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada At least 58 people were killed and 500 injured when a heavily armed "lone wolf" gunman opened fire from a 32-floor hotel room on an open-air concert on the Las Vegas Strip in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. The Islamic State group claimed the 64-year-old Nevada man behind the Sunday night massacre, Stephen Craig Paddock, was one of its "soldiers" but the FBI said it had found no such connection so far. Police said Paddock, a retired accountant, killed himself before a SWAT team breached his room in the Mandalay Bay hotel overlooking the venue for the country music concert. President Donald Trump denounced what he called "an act of pure evil" and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters at least eight rifles had been recovered from the gunman's hotel room. Las Vegas shooting Paddock was believed to be a "lone wolf" assailant who acted alone, Lombardo said, declining to speculate as to what may have motivated the attack. "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath at this point," he said. Lombardo said Paddock had apparently used a hammer to smash the window of his hotel room before opening fire on the crowd below. Police said around 22,000 people were attending the concert when bursts of automatic gunfire erupted shortly after 10:00 pm (0500 GMT). Concert-goers screamed and fled in panic as a steady stream of bullets rained down from the hotel. - 58 dead, 515 injured - Lombardo said 58 people had been confirmed dead and 515 injured and he said the toll could rise. The authorities issued an appeal for blood donors. US President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the Las Vegas shooting from the White House on October 2, 2017 The Islamic State said one of its "soldiers" who had "converted to Islam several months ago" was behind the shooting but provided no evidence to back up the claim. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it has found no such link so far. "As this event unfolds we have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group," said Aaron Rouse, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office of the FBI. Paddock, who photographs showed as greying with a trimmed beard and moustache, was a former accountant and a licensed private pilot with no criminal record, according to ABC News. Eric Paddock, the gunman's brother, said he was at a complete loss to understand what may have motivated the shooting. "This is an asteroid falling out of the sky," Eric Paddock told CBS News. He said his brother had "no religious affiliation, no political affiliation." "He was my brother. He was a guy. He gambled," Eric Paddock said. He said his brother had no history of mental illness and was "not an avid gun guy at all." Paddock resided in a new golf course development in the desert just outside Mesquite, Nevada, 80 miles northeast (130 kilometers) of Las Vegas. - 'Pretty much like a war scene' - A body appears to lie under a sheet as police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave after a shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, on October 2, 2017 Witnesses said Paddock opened fire with an initial long burst of gunfire, and then appeared to reload as he continued his spree. "We heard (what) sounded like a glass breaking, so you looked around to see what's going on and then heard a pop, pop, pop," Monique Dekerf told CNN. "You'd think for a moment okay we're fine, there's no more gunfire, then it starts again." Country music star Jason Aldean was on stage and near the end of his concert when the shooting began. Aldean initially carried on playing when the first crackle of gunfire could be heard but then hurried off the stage. Robert Hayes, a firefighter from Los Angeles who was in front of the stage, said he first thought the shots were some kind of equipment malfunction. A heavily armed policeman leaves the area around the Mandalay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 2, 2017 Once he realized what was going on, he joined the first responders, donning one of their vests. "Honestly I probably pronounced 15-20 people" dead, he told Fox News. "It was pretty much like a war scene inside." Emergency crews used anything to hand as makeshift stretchers, including tables and metal railings normally used to control the crowds, said Hayes. Asked if he thought it was an inexperienced gunman, he responded: "With 30,000 people in the arena area, it was kind of like shooting goldfish ... He didn't have to be good." - 'Beyond horrific' - The Las Vegas attack is the deadliest shooting in recent US history, exceeding the toll of 49 dead in an attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June 2016. It was also the latest in a series of recent deadly attacks at concert venues. Twenty-two people were killed while leaving an Ariana Grande concert in the northern English city of Manchester in May when a suicide bomber detonated a nail bomb in the foyer. Ninety people were killed in November 2015 at the Bataclan venue in Paris during a concert by US band the Eagles of Death Metal. A shocked Aldean told his fans via Instagram that he and his band was safe. "Tonight has been beyond horrific," the singer wrote. "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night." Pope Francis said he was "deeply saddened" by the "senseless tragedy" while Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May called it an "appalling attack." Syrian refugees wait outside a medical clinic in the makeshift Rukban camp in the no-man's-land between Syria and Jordan on March 1, 2017 Human Rights Watch on Monday accused Jordan of "summarily deporting" Syrian refugees despite possible risks of harm to them in their war-torn country. Jordan hosts hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled a six-year war in their home country. "Jordanian authorities have been summarily deporting Syrian refugees -- including collective expulsions of large families," HRW said. A new report quoted a 30-year-old mother of three who said her family was deported despite the United States examining their request for resettlement. "They never gave us a reason," she said. During the first five months of 2017, Jordanian authorities deported about 400 registered Syrian refugees each month, HRW said. Some 300 registered refugees appeared to return voluntarily each month, and another 500 returned "under circumstances that are unclear". "Jordan shouldn't be sending people back to Syria without making sure they wouldn't face a real risk of torture or serious harm and unless they have had a fair opportunity to plead their case for protection," said Bill Frelick, refugee rights director at HRW. The rights group called on other countries to support Jordan "to enable it to provide safe and decent asylum space for Syrian refugees and asylum seekers". The United Nations says Jordan is hosting more than 650,000 Syrian refugees, while the kingdom puts the actual number at 1.3 million. Government spokesman Mohamed Momani rejected HRW's findings, saying "the return of refugees is voluntary and not to any dangerous areas". He also said international organisations should do more to pressure other countries to host more refugees. HRW said group and individual expulsions peaked in mid-2016 and in early 2017 after armed attacks on the Syrian border and in the town of Karak. "Those suspected of posing threats should be given a fair opportunity to challenge the evidence against them and to have the authorities consider the risk of torture and other severe human rights abuse if returned," Frelick said. In June last year, a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed seven soldiers in a no-man's land near the Syrian border. In December 2016, another IS attack in Karak, home to one of the region's biggest Crusader castles, killed seven policemen, two Jordanian civilians and a female Canadian tourist. Jordan is part of the US-led international coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq. It also hosts coalition troops on its territory. Rohingya Muslim refugees who had just arrived wait for a place to stay at Bangladesh's Balukhali refugee camp on October 2, 2017 Myanmar has proposed taking back the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks, the Bangladeshi foreign minister said after talks Monday with a senior Myanmar representative. A.H Mahmood Ali said the representative of de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi had agreed to set up a working group to coordinate the repatriation. He gave no details. "The talks were held in a friendly atmosphere and Myanmar has made a proposal to take back the Rohingya refugees," the minister told reporters after meeting Kyaw Tint Swe in Dhaka. "The two sides have agreed to a proposal to set up a joint working group to coordinate the repatriation process." Suu Kyi, who has been severely criticised for her failure to intervene in a military crackdown on the Rohingya, said in a speech last month that Myanmar would take back "verified" refugees. This would be done according to the criteria set between the two countries in 1993, when tens of thousands of Rohingya were repatriated, she said. The Bangladesh minister gave no timeframe for repatriation. He said the refugees would be verified by the joint working group, with the United Nations not involved. There was no immediate comment from Suu Kyi's representative, who arrived in the country early Monday and is expected to leave later in the day. The Rohingya, a Muslim minority, do not qualify for Myanmar citizenship even though many have lived there for generations. The army insists they are interlopers from across the border in Bangladesh. India and Pakistan regularly exchange fire across the border in disputed Kashmir despite signing a ceasefire in 2003 Two children were killed Monday during an exchange of gunfire between Indian and Pakistani troops in disputed Kashmir, Indian authorities said. Twelve civilians, including two women and two teenage girls, were wounded on the Indian side of the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) that divides the restive Himalayan region. A police statement said firing from Pakistan had killed a 10-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. Indian army spokesman Colonel N.N. Joshi said soldiers retaliated after "unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars" from the Pakistan side in the Poonch sector at the southern end of the unofficial frontier. Later Monday, Pakistan's foreign ministry summoned the Indian envoy over the latest round of fighting. Senior official Mohammad Faisal condemned "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by India on Saturday and Monday, which authorities said left three civilians dead and five others wounded in the Rukh Chakri and Rawalakot sectors along the Line of Control. "This is the fifth ceasefire violation by the Indian forces in the past 12 days resulting in the shahadat (martyrdom) of 11 civilians, including five women, and injuries to 37 others," the ministry said in a statement. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both countries claim the territory in full. The nuclear-armed neighbours regularly exchange mortar fire across the border despite signing a ceasefire in 2003. Tensions reached dangerous levels in September last year, with each side blaming the other for cross-border raids. Gun battles on the border are frequent with deaths and injuries reported on both sides. Last month Pakistan said a five-year-old girl had been killed when she was hit by a bullet fired from the Indian side. New Delhi has said Pakistan initiates cross-border firing to help anti-India rebels cross into Indian-administered Kashmir to launch attacks. Islamabad has denied the allegation and said it provides only diplomatic support to the Kashmiri campaign for self-determination. Australia sends asylum-seekers who try to enter the country by boat to processing facilities on Nauru and on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, but conditions in the camps have been widely criticised An asylum-seeker being held on one of Australia's remote Pacific island camps was found dead Monday, rights groups said, in a suspected suicide that has once again thrown Canberra's treatment of refugees into the spotlight. Australia sends asylum-seekers who try to enter the country by boat to processing facilities on Nauru and on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, with those found to be refugees barred from resettling in Australia. Conditions in the camps have been widely criticised by refugee advocates and medical professionals, with reports of widespread abuse, self-harm and mental health problems. Sydney-based Refugee Action Coalition said Monday that a 32-year-old Tamil man from Sri Lanka took his own life at a hospital Manus Island, where he was being treated for self-harm. It is the second apparent suicide on the island in the last two months, with an Iranian man found dead in August. "Once again, such tragedy highlights the acute vulnerability of refugees and asylum-seekers under Australias 'offshore processing' approach, and the need for proper care," the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement Monday. A PNG court ruled last year that holding people on Manus was unconstitutional, and Canberra is set to shut the detention centre by the end of this month. It has tried with little success to relocate the detainees to third countries like Cambodia, or settle them elsewhere in PNG. Last week, a first wave of refugees departed from the Pacific camps for the US in a deal struck with Washington under former president Barack Obama. The pact has angered President Donald Trump who has begrudgingly agreed to accept an unspecified number of people who can fulfil rigorously-vetted requirements. But it remains unclear what will happen to those not taken by the United States. "UNHCR has long urged that the planned closure of the Manus Island `Regional Processing Centre must only take place in the context of continued critical services," the UN refugee body added. Australian immigration data as of July 31 said nearly 800 men were being held on Manus, in addition to 371 men, women and children on Nauru. Amnesty International said the latest death is the sixth related to Manus and the ninth overall attached to Australia's offshore processing. "This death proves, yet again, that offshore processing is untenable, and must end immediately," Amnesty Pacific researcher Kate Schuetze said in a statement. The Australian government Monday said it was aware of the death in Manus but directed any further queries to PNG authorities. South African fast bowler Morne Morkel is likely to be out of action for up to six weeks with an abdominal tear South African fast bowler Morne Morkel is likely to be out of action for up to six weeks with an abdominal tear, team manager and doctor Mohammed Moosajee said on Monday. Morkel's injury adds to a long list of injured South African fast bowlers, with Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Chris Morris already out of action for extended periods. Moosajee was speaking after South Africa wrapped up a 333-run victory in the first Test against Bangladesh, the first of a scheduled ten Tests during the home season. He said that a scan had revealed that Morkel suffered a grade two abdominal tear during the match and would be sidelined for between four and six weeks. Morkel left the field after bowling 5.2 overs on Sunday's fourth day of play, during which he took the first two of three Bangladesh wickets which fell before the close. Dane Paterson has replaced Morkel in the South African squad for the second Test against Bangladesh, starting in Bloemfontein on Friday. Paterson, 28, plays for the Cape Cobras and has played for South Africa in four Twenty20 internationals. He toured England with the South Africa A team earlier this year and took seven for 27 in a first-class match against Hampshire. South African bowler Keshav Maharaj (right) celebrates the dismissal of Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman during their Test match in Potchefstroom on October 2, 2017 The pace of Kagiso Rabada and the spin of Keshav Maharaj sent Bangladesh crashing to a 333-run defeat on the fifth day of the first Test against South Africa at Senwes Park on Monday. Bangladesh lost seven wickets for 41 runs in less than an hour and a half as they were bowled out for 90 after being set 424 to win. South Africa's victory was overshadowed by an injury to fast bowler Morne Morkel, who is expected to be out for six weeks. Rabada started the destruction by taking the first three wickets of the morning. He finished with three for 33, while left-arm spinner Maharaj took four for 25. Resuming on 49 for three, Bangladesh lost their captain, Mushfiqur Rahim, to the 12th ball of the morning when he pushed at a lifting delivery from Rabada and was well caught above his head by Hashim Amla at first slip for 16. Mahmudullah was bowled off an inside edge when he played a tentative defensive shot against the fast bowler and Liton Das offered no shot and was leg before wicket to a ball which slanted in to him. Sabbir Rahman and Taskin Ahmed were both leg before to Maharaj before Shafiul Islam was run out when he and Mehedy Hasan attempted a third run against the strong fielding arm of Rabada after a relay throw from twelfthman Wayne Parnell, who chased a ball to long-off. Hasan and last batsman Mustafizur Rahman shared the best partnership of the morning, putting on 15 before Mustafizur pushed back a return catch to Maharaj. Bangladesh's rapid demise meant that South Africa were hardly hampered by the absence of Morkel, who suffered a side strain after taking the first two wickets on Sunday. Team manager Mohammed Moosajee said Morkel required around six weeks rest, ruling him out of the second Test in Bloemfontein, starting on Friday. South Africa dominated the match after Rahm's surprising decision to send them in to bat on an easy-paced pitch, with Dean Elgar (199), new cap Aiden Markram (97) and Hashim Amla (137) enabling them to score 496 for three declared in the first innings. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had sought to loosen the nation's 70-year-old military alliance with the United States since assuming the presidency last year as he looked to forge stronger relations with China and Russia US and Philippine troops launched new joint counter-terrorism exercises on Monday, days after President Rodrigo Duterte, a fierce critic of Washington, reversed course in favour of pursuing one of Asia's oldest military alliances. Duterte vowed last week to be "friendly" with the United States, in contrast to comments he made a year ago calling joint military exercises a "humiliation" and threatening to sever defence ties forged after World War II. The week-long joint operation -- another turnaround from Duterte's initial stand -- involves live-fire training, rescues in combat situations, and mass-casualty situations aboard ships, according to the American side. The US embassy said the drills "will increase overall US and Philippine readiness, improve bilateral responsiveness to crises in the region, and further reinforce our illustrious decades-long alliance," in a statement on Monday. "(The operation) perpetuates a long and lasting partnership founded firmly on common heritage between freedom-loving countries," said Philippine Marines spokeswoman Captain Maria Rowena Dalmacio. About 900 US troops are taking part in the training, to be held in various locations in the northern Philippine region of Luzon, including the former US military base of Clark. The Filipino side did not disclose its numbers. Duterte, 72, had sought to loosen his nation's alliance with the United States since assuming the presidency last year as he looked to forge stronger relations with China and Russia. During a visit to China last October he announced his "separation from the United States" and later explained he was angry at then US president Barack Obama for criticising his centrepiece war on drugs which has since seen thousands killed. However Duterte said last week these comments were "water under the bridge" and thanked the US for helping the Philippines fight Islamic militants who occupied parts of the southern city of Marawi on May 23. The US provided intelligence, weapons and urban warfare training to Philippine forces trying to retake the city in fighting which has left more than 900 people dead. The continuing Marawi crisis has prompted Duterte to refocus the Philippine-US military alliance towards counter-terrorism. Last week, US and Philippine forces staged an exercise simulating the seizure of an American plane by IS and a hostage rescue. Palestinian premier Rami Hamdallah (C) surrounded by security as arrives at Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip on October 2, 2017 Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah visited Gaza for the first time in two years Monday, in a potential first step to ending a decade-long conflict between the two major Palestinian factions. Arriving in the impoverished enclave Hamdallah said the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority would resume control of Gaza's government in the coming days. Hamdallah met with the leaders of rival political movement Hamas, 10 years after they violently forced his allies out of Gaza in a near civil war. Washington gave a cautious welcome to the PA's return to Gaza, while stressing that any new Palestinian government would have to renounce violence and recognise Israel. "The United States welcomes efforts to create the conditions for the Palestinian Authority to fully assume its responsibilities in Gaza," White House special envoy Jason Greenblatt wrote on his Facebook page. "Any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the State of Israel, acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties and peaceful negotiations," he said. The UN said it was "carefully optimistic" of ending the split which is seen as a key complicating factor in potential peace talks with Israel. Al-Azhar, one of the world's leading Islamic seats of learning, also welcomed the steps taken towards national reconciliation. Hamdallah was welcomed by thousands of Gazans, with hopes that this reconciliation plan can avoid the problems that wrecked several previous attempts. The Islamists recently agreed to hand over civilian power to a unity government after Egyptian mediation and Hamdallah said they would get to work immediately. "The government began to exercise its roles in Gaza from today," Hamdallah said. "We return to Gaza again to end the division and achieve unity." Later he met with Hamas's overall leader Ismail Haniya and its Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, and is expected to chair a cabinet meeting. Hamas ousted the PA in 2007, but recently agreed to dissolve what has been seen as its rival administration and make way for a unity government. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's PA is the internationally recognised Palestinian government and supposed to steer its people to an independent state. - More pragmatic Hamas? - UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov said he was "carefully optimistic" about the reconciliation talks. "If the region stays engaged, if Egypt's role continues and if the political parties themselves continue to show the willingness they are currently showing to work with us on this process, then it can succeed," he told AFP. The United States and the European Union see Hamas as a terrorist organisation, complicating any potential involvement in a Palestinian government. The logistics of the three-day visit were themselves an indication of divisions and challenges. Arriving by road from Ramallah, about 70 kilometres (44 miles) away in the West Bank, Hamdallah's convoy crossed Israel and then transited the fortress-like Erez crossing into Gaza before passing a Hamas checkpoint. Hamas last month finally agreed to the PA's return to Gaza, under pressure from the enclave's powerful neighbour Egypt. The group was squeezed by Abbas, who stopped paying Israel for electricity it supplies to Gaza, resulting in devastating power cuts. And long-time Hamas ally Qatar's diplomatic isolation led to a fall in backing for the group. For Gaza's two million residents, the hope is to see an improvement in their miserable living conditions in the overcrowded territory. Battered by three wars with Israel since 2008, Gaza is under Israeli and Egyptian blockade and suffers from severe water and electricity shortages, an economic slump and unemployment of more than 40 percent. - Prospect of social unrest - Experts say the prospect of social unrest among disgruntled Gazans was a factor in Hamas's willingness to reconcile with Fatah, along with its growing isolation and perhaps a new pragmatism in its leadership. Hamas and Fatah, which dominates the PA, have both expressed confidence the latest unity initiative will fare better than in the past. But scepticism remains rife, with many observers suspecting Hamas of a tactical manoeuvre to improve its position. They doubt Hamas will cede its security control over the strip to the PA, and see major challenges for Abbas in finding a future for the thousands of public workers recruited by Hamas over the past decade. Particularly thorny issues include the potential future of Hamas's military wing. The Hamdallah delegation's visit is seen as largely symbolic and preparing the ground for further talks, probably in Cairo. The outcome will determine the Palestinians' acceptance on the international stage. The PA recognises Israel, but that appears to remain out of the question for Hamas. Israeli construction minister and former general Yoav Galant says everything depends on Hamas accepting Israel's existence and ending armed struggle. "If the answer is positive, we can talk about a lot of things," he says. "If it is negative, nothing has changed and all this is a deception." Advertisement This is the moment a mother wept for her son after he became the latest victim of the Philippines' war on drugs. Nanette Castillo can be seen grieving next to the dead body of her son Aldrin in Manila after he was killed by 'unidentified assailants' in the early hours of this morning. The circumstances of his death are not yet clear but it comes amid a brutal crackdown on drugs in the country in the last 15 months. Police have reported killing 3,850 suspected drug dealers who allegedly resisted arrest during a campaign waged in the name of President Rodrigo Duterte's vow to rid society of narcotics. It comes as it emerged that police officers who want to speak out about 'extrajudicial killings and summary executions' in the drug war have been offered sanctuary and legal help by the Catholic Church. Harrowing: The moment a mother wept for her son after he became the latest victim of the Philippines' war on drugs The dead man was an alleged drug user, killed by 'unidentified assailants' Nanette Castillo can be seen grieving next to the dead body of her son Aldrin in Manila today after he was killed by 'unidentified assailants' in the early hours of this morning The circumstances of his death are not yet clear but it comes amid a brutal crackdown on drugs in the last 15 months Human rights groups accuse Duterte of waging a crime against humanity as he seeks to eradicate illegal drugs in society in a crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives since he took office in the middle of last year. The Catholic Church, which counts 80 per cent of Filipinos as followers, has been one of the leading critics of the drug war and its offer to police on Monday was another step in its efforts to stop the killings. Unnamed 'law enforcers' with troubled consciences have approached the Church over the killings, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, said in a pastoral letter. 'They have expressed their desire to come out in the open about their participation in extrajudicial killings and summary executions,' he said without naming the officers or the victims. A police officer secures the crime scene as residents look on at the dead body of Aldrin Castillo, an alleged drug user killed by unidentified assailants, in Manila today Police have reported killing 3,850 suspected drug dealers who allegedly resisted arrest during a campaign waged in the name of President Rodrigo Duterte's vow to rid society of narcotics Relatives of Aldrin Castillo grieve inside an ambulance in Manila as the victim's body is taken away The Catholic Church, which counts 80 percent of Filipinos as followers, has been one of the leading critics of the drug war 'Within the bounds of Church and civil laws, we express our willingness to grant them accommodation, shelter and protection,' he said, adding that the offer will also be extended to independent lawyers. 'If such law-enforcers wish to testify, then the Catholic Church will see to it that they are in no way induced to speak, to disclose nor to make allegations by any member of the clergy or the hierarchy.' The Philippine police did not respond to AFP's requests for comment. Duterte's government has denied that killing drug suspects was state policy, but critics allege his frequent public pronouncements on the drug war were direct inducements to kill. Duterte, who remains popular, has said he was 'happy to slaughter' three million drug addicts and vowed no officer would go to jail for implementing his drug war. Villegas last month urged his flock to speak out against the 'systematic murders and spreading reign of terror' that he said were unleashed by the drug war. Catholic bishops played leading roles in peaceful street protests that led to the ousting of two Philippine presidents, Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and Joseph Estrada in 2001. African illegal immigrants in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on September 26, 2016, before being deported to Somalia Migrants making their way from the Horn of Africa to Yemen are frequently abducted and tortured by "criminal gangs", the UN Migration Agency warned on Monday. Despite a war that has killed thousands and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, some 6,000 migrants enter the country every month, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM). They often come from Ethiopia and Somalia, hoping to make their way overland to the more prosperous Gulf countries to find work. Many are abducted by criminal gangs upon arrival in Yemen and tortured for ransom, according to IOM. "A common technique is to call the migrant's family while allowing burning plastic from an empty water bottle (to) drip on a migrant's skin causing burns and excruciating pain," said IOM director general William Lacy Swing. "Families usually pay up quickly and the migrants continue their journey often to be extorted repeatedly by different gangs before reaching their destination." Dozens of migrants have died in the journey to Yemen this year alone. In August, at least 50 Somali and Ethiopian migrants were deliberately drowned off Yemen by smugglers who appeared to have spotted the coastguard stationed along the coast of Shabwa in the Arabian Sea, according to the United Nations. In March, a helicopter opened fire on a boat carrying more than 140 passengers off Yemen's Red Sea coast, killing 42 civilians and wounding 34. Unconfirmed reports say the majority of the passengers were migrants. The United Nations has said the attack was almost certainly carried out by the Saudi-led coalition, in an operation it said was a violation of international humanitarian law. The UN Human Rights Council last week agreed to send war crimes investigators to Yemen, where more than 8,500 people have been killed and nearly 49,000 wounded since 2015, when an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia joined the government's fight against rebels allied with Iran. At least 17 million Yemenis now face dire food shortages. Another 2,100 people have died in a cholera epidemic which erupted in April and could infect as many as 900,000 people this year, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. LAS VEGAS -- A family from Adams is thankful to be alive after what was supposed to be a three-day weekend getaway to Las Vegas turned to horror as a gunman opened fire on a country music festival. Jason Aldean was the last performer at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when the shots rang out. In the crowd of more than 22,000, approximately 50 yards from the stage, Travis Buhr, his wife Kelly and his twin 14-year-old girls were among the confused spectators, unsure if the initial bangs from behind them were part of the show. Then Aldean fled the stage as more shots followed. A machine gun just went off and 20-25 rounds shot over us into the pits, Travis Buhr recalled. Thats when everybody just scrambled. I grabbed my wife and kids and took off running. The family was staying at the MGM Grand, roughly a mile north of Mandalay Bay where 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor. The family fled to the north on foot to the Tropicana, which was between the concert area and their hotel. There, they hid behind large rocks at a swimming pool until it was safe to move on. We were running towards our hotel and you just couldnt get through, Buhr recalled. They were locking doors on hotels and everything just stopped. About halfway to our hotel, we took probably seven or eight people and climbed behind rocks. By then, the traffic was pretty much stopped. Taxis werent taking anybody. They told us to get to our rooms. Buhr said other people climbed trees, hid in cargo containers, anything possible to find cover. He recalled the incident Monday morning from their hotel room, where he said they were up all night watching the news. They posted on Facebook that the family was unharmed and waited to call friends and family until around 5 a.m. Monday, since it would have been after midnight in Nebraska before they had the opportunity. The family had planned to fly back to Nebraska Monday, but was debating renting a car and driving instead. I dont know what were going to do, he said. We just want to get out of here. Buhr said nobody in their immediate area was hit during the shooting, which has been reported as the most deadly mass shooting in modern American history, with at least 59 dead and an estimated 527 injured. We didnt see anybody injured and Im glad we didnt, he said. When we were cutting through the vendor area, there was a blood trail. I dont know if someone got cut while running or what. People were knocking each other over, jumping fences. It was complete chaos. SWAT teams using explosives stormed the gunman's hotel room and found the lone wolf attacker had killed himself. There was no immediate word on the gunman's motive for the bloodshed. Police shut down busy Las Vegas Boulevard, and federal and state authorities converged on the scene. Interstate 15 was briefly closed and flights at McCarran International Airport were suspended. Rohingya Muslim refugees race to collect food at Balukhali refugee camp in Bangladesh A Myanmar minister on Monday proposed taking back hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown, according to Dhaka's top diplomat. But no details of the planned repatriation were given by Bangladesh Foreign Minister A.H Mahmood Ali, and there was widespread scepticism over whether any of the more than 800,000 Muslim Rohingya now in Bangladesh would return. More than half a million have arrived over the last five weeks after militant attacks in Myanmar's Rakhine state sparked violent reprisals which the UN has said could amount to ethnic cleansing in the Buddhist-dominated country. The talks between Mahmood Ali and Myanmar's Minister of the Office of State Counselor Kyaw Tint Swe came as UN representatives were given their first access to Rakhine since the trouble erupted on August 25. UN officials, diplomats and aid groups were taken on a one-day visit organised by Myanmar authorities. They were flown by helicopter to Maungdaw, epicentre of the violence. Mahmood Ali held what he called "friendly" talks in Dhaka with the representative of Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "Myanmar has made a proposal to take back the Rohingya refugees," the minister told reporters. "The two sides have agreed to a proposal to set up a joint working group to coordinate the repatriation process." Suu Kyi, who has been severely criticised for her failure to curb the military crackdown, said last month that Myanmar would take back "verified" refugees. This would be done according to criteria agreed in 1993, when tens of thousands of Rohingya were repatriated, she said. The Bangladesh minister gave no timeframe for repatriation and did not say whether Myanmar would also take back 300,000 Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh during earlier violence. He said refugees would be verified by the joint working group, but without UN involvement. "Bangladesh has proposed a bilateral agreement (with Myanmar) to help implement the repatriation," he said. There was no immediate comment from Suu Kyi's representative, who was to return to his country on Monday. Myanmar denies the Rohingya minority citizenship even though many have lived there for generations. It considers the Muslims as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. - No papers, no state - Myanmar's insistence on verifying the Rohingya could prove a "stumbling block" to repatriation, according to Shahab Enam Khan, an international relations specialist at Jahangirnagar University. "Myanmar has shown good initiative but their proposal is not adequate, particularly the verification is a non-starter," he told AFP. "The Rohingya fled to Bangladesh without any legal documents and it is difficult to prove their identity." Mohammad Amin, who arrived in Bangladesh on Sunday with two neighbours in a rickety boat, said he would consider returning if their safety was guaranteed. "If they treat us as equals, we would go back," he told AFP in a coastal town near the border. Nurul Amin, a labourer who also arrived Sunday by boat with six of his family members, said they fled after Buddhist mobs threatened them with violence if they did not leave. "If they accept us as Rohingya, and said they would not harm us, we would return," he told AFP at a refugee registration booth. The refugees are packed into overcrowded UN and makeshift camps along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. Aid groups have warned that epidemics could easily spread in the desperate conditions. It remains unclear where the Rohingya would go if they were returned to Myanmar. Many of their villages have been burnt to the ground in the reprisal operations. In a speech to the UN General Assembly last month, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina proposed creating UN-supervised safe zones inside Myanmar. Hasina accused Myanmar authorities of laying landmines on the border to prevent the Rohingya from returning and said the UN must find a solution to the crisis. Hezbollah is a key force multiplier for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and has fought alongside his troops across the country against rebel forces A drone strike on Monday killed at least eight members of the powerful Hezbollah militia in Syria, where the Lebanese group is fighting alongside the regime, a Britain-based monitor said. An unidentified "drone hit a Hezbollah position near the town of Sukhna (in central Homs province) killing eight fighters, and injuring more than 20," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. A source on the ground confirmed the strike, giving a toll of seven dead from Hezbollah, and said it was still unclear who had carried out the attack. Hezbollah is a key force multiplier for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and has fought alongside his troops across the country against rebel forces. Assad's forces and allied fighters are currently waging a campaign in Syria's vast Badiya desert region against the Islamic State group. The campaign backed by Assad ally Russia has captured large swathes of territory from the jihadists, but they have launched deadly counterattacks on regime positions. On Sunday, IS fighters recaptured the town of Al-Qaryatain in Homs province, which regime forces took from the group in April 2016 after eight months of jihadist control. More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. King Salman, pictured in a handout from the Saudi Royal Palace, will be the first Saudi monarch to conduct an official visit to Russia King Salman of Saudi Arabia will arrive in Russia this week to conduct the first official visit to the country by a Saudi king, a senior Kremlin aide said Monday. "We are awaiting the king's visit on Thursday," President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, was quoted by the state TASS news agency as saying. Saudi Arabia's ministry of information called the visit by 81-year-old Salman "historic" as it would be the first official visit to Russia by a Saudi monarch. Putin visited Riyadh in 2007. The visit comes a month before members of the OPEC oil cartel, of which Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer, are due to meet with the other nations that have joined them in cutting crude output, including Russia, to discuss extending the pact that has helped prop up prices. King Salman is expected to ask Russia's support and commitment to ensure that the production cuts deal continues, following Saudi Arabia's cut of its output to around 10 million barrels per day to help control a glut in world oil supplies. OPEC and its allies agreed from the beginning of 2017 to cut their production by around 1.8 million barrels per day for six months. It was subsequently extended through March 2018. The pact has helped reduce crude supplies on the market and the price to climb to around $55 per barrel currently. "King Salman does not do courtesy calls so it can be reasonably assumed that his first official visit to the Russian capital is a serious event," wrote Chris Weafer, a senior partner at Macro-Advisory, a consultancy. "It is not too many years ago that such a visit would have been difficult, if not impossible. Today that has changed 180 degrees. Both countries now see political and economic advantages from a closer, albeit pragmatic, relationship." Saudi Arabia and Russia are heavily dependent on oil exports and the plunge of the price of crude that began in 2014 lashed both of their economies. While Russia and Saudi Arabia are now allies on the global oil market, they are on the opposite sides in the Syria conflict, with Moscow supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and Riyadh backing the opposition. Another potential point of disagreement between Riyadh and Moscow could be Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Huthi rebels since 2015, drawing criticism from Moscow. The Iraqi Kurdish vote for independence has sparked tensions with Baghdad, Turkey and Iran Iranian and Iraqi forces staged joint military exercises on Monday near the border with Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, a Kurdish official said, following tensions over the Kurds' independence vote. Iraqi Kurds voted 92.7 percent in favour of independence on September 25 in a non-binding referendum held in defiance of the central government, which quickly retaliated. Following the vote, Iraq, Iran and Turkey -- which all have sizeable Kurdish minorities -- took measures to isolate Iraqi Kurdistan, including suspending international flights to and from its two main airports. The measures included Iran announcing an indefinite ban on the transport of oil and energy products to and from Iraqi Kurdistan. An Iranian official said Monday that some 600 full fuel tankers were now blocked by Iranian customs from crossing the border. "Iraqi and Iranian units began exercises at 11:00 am (0800 GMT) with tanks and infantry only 250 metres (yards) from the border," said Shwan Abu Bakr, the Kurdish customs chief at the Bashmakh border post. "Iraqi forces are dressed in black and there is a large number of Iranian forces," he said, the black uniforms indicating that the Iraqi forces were from the country's elite Counter Terrorism Service. The Iranian military on its website announced joint military exercises with units of the Iraqi army involving armour and artillery units as well as drones and other air units. It appeared the manoeuvres were the first joint military exercises between Iran and Iraq since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. The two countries also fought a devastating war between 1980 and 1988. An Iranian military official had announced on Saturday that the joint exercise would be staged in response to the referendum. Baghdad declared the ballot illegal and suspended flights in retaliation. Turkey and Iran, which fear the vote will embolden their own sizeable Kurdish minorities, also threatened action against the Iraqi Kurds. - 'Provocations must stop': Baghdad - On Saturday, Iranian armed forces spokesman Masoud Jazayeri told reporters the exercises would be held "in the coming days along the shared border". The decision to carry out the exercises followed a high-level meeting of Iranian commanders where "the territorial integrity and unity of Iraq and the illegitimacy of the independence referendum in northern Iraq were stressed again", he said. Iraqi soldiers last week also took part in a Turkish military drill close to the Iraqi frontier. The referendum was held in the three provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan and in several disputed areas under Kurdish control. Iraqi authorities have demanded that Kurdish forces withdraw from disputed areas and that Kurdish authorities hand over control of the region's airports and border posts. The Iraqi government on Monday demanded that the Kurdish authorities stop "provocations" in disputed territories. Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi's office insisted that the Kurdistan region halt movements of its peshmerga security forces and return Baghdad's control over areas Arbil claimed after a 2014 advance by the Islamic State group. "The region must stop the escalation and provocation in areas seized by it," spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said in a statement. Hadithi told AFP that Kurdish forces had declared they would remain in several disputed areas and were continuing movements in Nineveh province that were meant to be "temporary". "These movements have to cease," he said. Officially comprising Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah provinces, Iraqi Kurdistan also claims other territory including oil-rich Kirkuk province -- a dispute that is a major source of contention with Baghdad. Hadithi demanded that Arbil "cancel the results of the referendum" and "engage in serious dialogue to strengthen the unity of Iraq". Concertgoers scramble for cover after a gunman opened fire from the Mandalay Bay hotel At least 59 people were killed and 527 injured when a gunman opened fire on concert-goers Sunday night in Las Vegas. Here's what we know about the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history: - What happened - A crowd of more than 22,000 people was listening to country music star Jason Aldean at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when bursts of automatic gunfire erupted around 10:08 pm (0508 GMT). Police said the lone shooter opened fire with multiple weapons on concert-goers from his 32nd floor room at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino across the street on the famed Las Vegas Strip. "People started grabbing their loved-ones and just strangers, and trying to help them get out of the way," said Ralph Rodriguez, IT consultant who was at the concert with a group of friends. - The gunman - Police identified the gunman as Stephen Craig Paddock, a wealthy retired former accountant from Mesquite, Nevada, around 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas. The sole suspect in the shooting, the 64-year-old Paddock killed himself in his hotel room as a police SWAT team was about to break in. Police recovered at least 16 rifles from his room, and later found a weapons cache including over 18 firearms, explosives and several thousand rounds of ammo at his home in Mesquite. A former accountant and a licensed private pilot, police said Paddock had had no known brushes with the law. Eric Paddock, the gunman's elder brother, told local media he could not fathom what motivated him. Stephen Paddock regularly played high-stakes video poker but was wealthy and had "no religious affiliation, no political affiliation," the brother said. - Deadliest US mass shooting ever - Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said 59 people had been confirmed dead and 527 wounded. The toll could yet rise but the Las Vegas Strip shooting is already the deadliest ever in the United States, exceeding the toll of 49 killed at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June 2016. - Motive - The Islamic State group, without providing evidence, claimed that Paddock was one of its "soldiers", who went by the nom de guerre Abu Abdel Bar al-Amriki -- "The American". He converted to Islam several months ago, the group said. The FBI said it had found no such connection so far, and the local sheriff described him as a lone "psychopath." - Political reaction - In a televised address, Trump described the massacre as an "act of pure evil" but said it would not shatter the nation's "unity." Trump refrained from addressing the unproven IS claim of responsibility, or calls for gun control and the White House said it would be "premature" to reopen the US debate on tighter gun restrictions. Trump led White House staff and senior US officials in a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House, and announced he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Debris lie on the ground at the site of a double suicide bomb attack which hit the Midan police station in Syria's capital Damascus, killing at least 16 people A double suicide bomb attack hit a police station in Syria's capital Damascus on Monday, state media said, with a monitor saying at least 16 people were killed. Damascus has been largely insulated from the worst of the violence during the country's brutal six-year war, but several bomb attacks have shaken the city. Syria's interior ministry said two suicide bombers had blown themselves up at the police station in the southern district of Midan, leading to the "deaths of a number of civilians and a number of policemen". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said at least 16 people were killed in the attack, among them eight police officers, revising an earlier death toll of 11. The monitor also reported that a car bomb had been detonated during the attack, but state media made no mention of a third blast. Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar told reporters that one of the attackers had managed to enter the police station and reach the first floor of the building. State television showed images of damage from inside the building, with a black police uniform shirt covered in dust lying in the rubble of partially collapsed walls. The entire front of one room on the first floor had been blown out by the explosion, and inside what remained, twisted bits of metal were scattered across the rubble. Policemen carried one body away from the scene wrapped inside a white tarpaulin. Manal, a 28-year-old teacher living in Midan, said she heard at least two blasts on Monday afternoon. "I was coming back from work when I heard the sound of an explosion, it was around 2:30 pm, I didn't know what it was, and then there was another explosion a few minutes later and buildings shook," she told AFP. "Afterwards I heard gunfire, which usually happens to get people to move out of the way and clear the road so ambulances can get through to retrieve the injured," she added. A general view of the Syrian capital where a double suicide bomb attack hit a police station on Monday, with a monitor saying at least 11 people were killed Damascus has also been rocked by occasional bomb blasts throughout the Syrian conflict, including previous attacks on Midan, a middle-class residential and shopping district. In December 2016, three police officers were wounded when a seven-year-old girl walked into the neighbourhood's police station wearing an explosive belt that was remotely detonated. Rebel groups have been gradually expelled from territory in the capital they once held, though they maintain a presence in a handful of positions, including the Jobar neighbourhood. They also hold territory in the Eastern Ghouta region outside the capital, and have regularly launched rockets into the city. More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since its conflict began with protests that were met with a harsh government crackdown. - 10 Hezbollah members killed - A wide array of international players have been drawn in on both sides, with the government relying on allies including Iran, Russia and the powerful Hezbollah militia from neighbouring Lebanon. Ten Hezbollah members were killed on Monday in a suspected drone strike in the Badiya desert region in the central province of Homs, the Observatory reported, revising an earlier toll of at least eight. The unidentified strike came near the town of Sukhna in a region where Syria's government and allied fighters are battling the Islamic State jihadist group. A Rohingya Muslim refugee walks through a Bangladesh refugee camp on October 2, 2017. Attacks by Rohingya militants in Myanmar's Rakhine state prompted an army kickback that sent 500,000 of the Muslim minority fleeing to Bangladesh The scale of the suffering inside Myanmar's Rakhine state is "unimaginable", the United Nations said Monday, after three of its members joined a belated government-steered visit for aid agencies and diplomats to the conflict-battered region. Myanmar has tightly controlled access to the state since last month when attacks by Rohingya militants prompted an army kickback that sent 500,000 of the Muslim minority fleeing to Bangladesh. Scores of Rohingya villages have been torched. A Myanmar official tally says hundreds of people died as violence consumed remote communities, including Rohingya. Hindus and ethnic Rakhine were also among the dead -- allegedly killed by Rohingya militants. Rights groups say the real death toll is likely to be much higher, especially among the Rohingya, while the UN has labelled army operations as "ethnic cleansing" against the Muslim group. Many inside Myanmar have accused the UN of having a pro-Rohingya bias, as hostility towards INGOs sky rockets, further limiting access. Monday's visit marks a thaw in the relationship, with the UN welcoming the trip as a "positive step" while reiterating "the need for greater humanitarian access". "The scale of the human suffering is unimaginable and the UN sends its deepest comndolences to all those affected," it said, calling for an end to the "cycle of violence". It also urged a "safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of refugees to their area of origin". Diplomats and other INGOs accompanied them on the trip, which was delayed from last week. But the limitations of the one-day visit were not immediately clear. The EU delegation to Myanmar also joined the whistle-stop trip, which took in Maungdaw and Rathedaung areas, explaining in a statement "this was not an investigation mission and could not be in the circumstances". "We saw villages that had been burned to the ground and emptied of inhabitants. The violence must stop," it said, calling for unimpeded humanitarian and media access. International aid groups fear tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who remain in northern parts of Rakhine are in urgent need of food, medicine and shelter after over a month of military operations. In a sign of ongoing tensions and mistrust, a few thousand Rohingya have massed on a beach awaiting boats to Bangladesh after receiving death threats. Myanmar had around 1.1 million Rohingya before August 25 attacks by militants from the minority group sparked a massive security crackdown. The number has halved since then. Rakhine has long been a cauldron of ethnic and religious tensions, but the last five years has seen communal relations plunge to their worst yet. Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steencamp, pictured here at an awards ceremony in 2012, were South Africa's glamour couple The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the model shot dead by Oscar Pistorius, expressed outrage Monday over an upcoming US film about how the Paralympic athlete gunned down their daughter. June and Barry Steenkamp said they were "horrified and upset" at reports that the film claimed to tell the story of the 2013 killing from the perspective of Reeva and June, her mother. The Steenkamps stressed they had not collaborated in the project or knew anything about it being made, and said they were still in mourning for their daughter. "Any impression that is created that this is June's view, or that the movie is endorsed by the Steenkamp family, is untrue and incorrect," they said in a statement. A trailer for the movie -- titled "Blade Runner Killer" -- was released on Monday, showing Pistorius and Steenkamp in bed, having arguments before her death and Pistorius opening fire. Parents' nightmare: June and Barry Steenkamp, seen here as the high court handed Pistorius a six-year term in 2016 for murdering their daughter Pistorius, 30, is serving a six-year jail term for murder over the killing of Steenkamp in his house in the South African capital Pretoria in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013. He has always maintained that he mistook her for an intruder when he fired four high-calibre bullets through a locked toilet cubicle. Pistorius became the first double-amputee to race at Olympic level when he appeared at the London 2012 games. In 2016, an appeals court upgraded his manslaughter conviction to murder. The South African state is pushing for a longer sentence, with the case due to be heard in court on November 3. Pistorius vomited in the dock as details of his girlfriend's death were examined during his seven-month trial in 2014 that attracted fevered global attention. The film, which stars German model Toni Garrn as Steenkamp, is due to have a TV premiere on the Lifetime network in the US on November 11. Her colour -- a Ford Mustang at the 17th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in April Ford has decided to present a Saudi Arabian activist with her dream car, after a landmark decree allowing women to drive for the first time in the ultra-conservative kingdom's history. Ford Middle East wrote on Twitter that it had a yellow Mustang waiting to be picked up by women's rights activist Sahar Nassif -- who had declared her love for the car in an interview shortly after the royal decree was issued on September 26. "We'd like to give you your dream car," Ford Middle East tweeted to Nassif on Friday, followed hours later by "Your Mustang awaits" with the picture of a yellow car speeding through a tunnel and the hashtag #MustangSahar. Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced it would allow women to drive from June 2018, ending a policy that for decades had severely curbed women's mobility. The decision has opened up a lucrative new market for carmakers, with major brands already stepping up efforts to attract customers. In recent years a number of women activists were detained for getting behind the wheel in Saudi Arabia. In a rare act of mass protest in the kingdom, 47 Saudi women formed a convoy and drove through the capital Riyadh in November 1990 to demonstrate against the ban on driving. They were taken into custody and only released after their male guardians guaranteed the act would not be repeated. The kingdom still has some of the world's tightest restrictions on women: under the state guardianship system, a male family member -- normally the father, husband or brother -- must grant permission for a woman's study, travel and other activities. Chenjiagou in Henan province is irresistible for many. It is the birthplace of tai chi, one of the most effective exercises for health of mind and body The birthplace of tai chi has transformed itself from a poor village into a pilgrimage and tourism hot spot. An ancient farmyard and old streets paved with black bricks greet us when we enter Chenjiagou in Henan province's Wenxian county in late August. Trees stand in a tortuous line along a river and shops with green tiles and crimson roofs wear consistently designed plaques. The shops offer catering, wine, clothes and martial arts training, all of which have elements related to Chen-styled tai chi, created by Chen Wangting in the 1600s. An old wooden doorway in Chenjiagou, a mute witness to the hardships of the people. Yang Feiyue / China Daily Tablets commemorating different styles of tai chi stand in an ancestor hall remodeled in 2004. Yang Feiyue / China Daily A local observes tourists coming to Chenjiagou, which has become a hot destination, as tai chi's popularity grows over the years. Yang Feiyue / China Daily A palace in an ancestor hall commemorating tai chi masters in Chenjiagou, Henan province. Yang Feiyue / China Daily The tai chi museum with stunning stone sculptures, tai chi's history and theory, as well as tai chi master's life stories opened to the pubic in 2009. Yang Feiyue / China Daily The martial art features the flexible use of soft and hard, slow and fast movements and lays a focus on a relaxed body and a calm mind. Teenagers do handsprings in a courtyard when we enter the gym owned by the family of Zhu Xianghua, who is a 40-year-old tai chi master. Zhu Xianghua's father Zhu Tiancai was one of the famed four masters in Chenjiagou who helped to popularize tai chi worldwide. "Almost everyone in the village knows tai chi," says Zhu. "Local children here have learned tai chi and some have become professional trainers," adds Zhu. However, one needs more than just skill to become a trainer. "You need to understand the meaning of tai chi culture and the theory and know how to explain them," says Zhu. Wenxian, of which Chenjiagou is a part, was named the cradle of Chinese tai chi by the China Martial Art Association in 2007. Recalling his link with the art, Zhu, who has practiced tai chi since he was a child, says: "There was nothing else to do but practicing tai chi after school." Zhu, who majored in tai chi in Henan University in 1996, then traveled at home and abroad to teach the art. "Foreigners are fascinated by our culture, in which tai chi is a significant symbol and name card," says Zhu, who has been to Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and northern Europe. "Once I do a few moves, people immediately recognize them and show an interest in learning." Once upon a time Chenjiagou faced severe hardships. Poverty and inaccessibility to the outside forced local tai chi practitioners to leave home in the 60s and the 70s. "They then had to make a living by teaching tai chi in the four corners of the world," says Zhu. But this helped its development. And as tai chi's popularity grew, Chenjiagou came to the notice of its enthusiasts. Now, an increasing number of tai chi masters have returned to the village and set up shops. A tai chi school was built in 1980 and has been running ever since. There are two arenas in the school gym - one is for wrestling, and the other for free combat, a local guide tells us. There are now roughly 40 private gyms offering tai chi education in Chenjiagou, and Zhu runs one of them. Zhu had his father's old house renovated in 2005 and began to take in students in 2007. Some come to learn tai chi to become masters, while others do it for health reasons or experience the culture, says Zhu. Typically, adult visitors spend between one week to a month in the village practicing tai chi, he says. Zhu's house can accommodate roughly 30 students and his class is usually fully booked over the May-November period with 500-800 students every year. Meanwhile, many of the 3,000 locals like Zhu have benefited from the tai chi culture, and some make a living from training. In addition, approximately 200 local trainers teach abroad making $100-$300 an hour. Besides teaching tai chi, many have seen their income increases by offering catering and accommodation and selling tai chi costumes. Zhu says that the village's prosperity is mainly due to government efforts. The Wenxian government began to tap into the significance of Chenjiagou back in 2004 when stone-paved roads were built and a grand stone gate was erected. The county then invested 33 million yuan ($5 million) remodeling an ancestor hall for tai chi masters. Now, well-manicured trees line the courtyard leading to the hall, with buildings on three sides. A sculpture of Chen tai chi founder Chen Wangting stands tall in the front and tablets commemorating other styles of tai chi are on the sides. To date, the hall has seen more than 1.1 million visits by tai chi enthusiasts from home and abroad. A tai chi museum covering an area of 2,800 square meters opened to the public in 2009. The museum sits in a grand plaza with stone sculptures showcasing tai chi moves. Visitors can access tai chi history and theory, as well as tai chi master's life stories in the museum. As we walk around the village, we see a lot of construction in progress. A water diversion canal, toilets and lighting are coming down the pike. Yuan Shuai, a local government official, says: "We plan to build Chenjiagou into a world-class place for tai chi." As part of the grand plan, a tai chi town will receive 60 million yuan in investment. Also, many national tai chi events, including competitions and seminars are being staged in the village. With these changes, Zhu says more visitors will come to sample tai chi in future. "Unlike physically demanding sports, tai chi is suitable for people of all ages," he says. Speaking about the benefits of tai chi, Zhu says that it has helped him to find inner peace. "The key to practicing tai chi is to find a balance of movements and the mind," says Zhu. "You get an insight into Chinese culture which really calms the mind and frees you from earthly worries," he says. Contact the writer at yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily 10/02/2017 page10) The Araki in London, opened by Japanese chef Mitsuhiro Araki (L), pictured in 2010, was awarded three Michelin stars A nine-seat sushi counter in central London has won three Michelin stars, joining a select group of British restaurants with the coveted top rating, the French gastronomic guide announced on Monday. The Araki -- where the set menu costs 300 (339 euros, $398) per person -- in London's upmarket Mayfair district is the first Japanese restaurant in the United Kingdom to be awarded three stars in the annual appraisal. It joins Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London, as well as The Fat Duck and The Waterside Inn, both in Bray, Berkshire as three-star rated. The Araki had previously won two Michelin stars before getting upgraded this year. Japanese chef Mitsuhiro Araki opened the sushi bar in 2014 after closing his three-starred restaurant in Tokyo and relocating to London. "With its nine-seater counter, The Araki has gone from strength to strength," said Michael Ellis, international director in charge of the Michelin guides. "When Mitsuhiro Araki moved to London... he set himself the challenge of using largely European fish and his sushi is now simply sublime." The 2018 guide for Great Britain and Ireland awarded two stars to 20 restaurants, including Claude Bosi at Bibendum, which opened in Michelin House in Chelsea, London, earlier this year. A further 150 restaurants were given a single star. These include The Wild Honey Inn, an Irish pub in Lisdoonvarna, and Loch Bay, a converted crofter's house on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. In total, the guide rated 2,067 restaurants and 1,115 hotels and guesthouses across Britain and Ireland. London has continued to cement itself as "a world-class destination for rich, varied eating experiences," according to a statement by the Michelin Guide. But it also noted "the offer across Great Britain and Ireland as a whole is developing, often based around exceptional regional ingredients." Iraqi forces and the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation units) hold a position as they advance towards the Islamic State group's stronghold of Hawija on September 30, 2017 Iraqi forces on Monday seized a strategic jihadist-held area southeast of the Islamic State group's bastion of Hawija, a senior commander said. Government forces and the Hashed al-Shaabi, an alliance mostly of Shiite militias, are fighting to retake the northern town of Hawija after expelling IS from large parts of the territory they seized in Iraq in 2014. "The Counter-Terrorism Service and Hashed al-Shaabi captured Rashad and 45 villages and hamlets around as part of the second phase to liberate Hawija," Lieutenant General Abdel Amir Yarallah said in a statement. The Hashed al-Shaabi said it had retaken five villages west of Rashad, which is 35 kilometres (20 miles) southeast of Hawija. Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition launched an offensive on September 21 to retake a jihadist enclave around Hawija, swiftly taking the town of Sharqat on its second day before pushing on towards Hawija itself. On Friday, they started the battle to retake the town itself, one of the last IS bastions in the country along with a stretch of the Euphrates Valley near the border with Syria. As Iraqi forces pushed the offensive against IS, retreating jihadists set light to three wells in the Allas oilfield some 85 kilometres to the south of Kirkuk, the Kurdish-controlled North Oil Company and local officials said. A Hawija region police colonel said that security forces were using bulldozers in an attempt to extinguish the fires started Saturday in a bid to block the advance by government forces. Palestinians gather at the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip as they wait to welcome the arrival of Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah and his government on October 2, 2017 Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah visited Gaza for the first time since 2015 on Monday as part of efforts towards reconciliation between the two largest Palestinian factions. After many previous failures, is there really justification for believing this time will be different? What is the history? The Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognised Palestinian government, has been at odds with Hamas for more than a decade, after the Islamists seized Gaza in a near civil war. The split is considered one of the main obstacles to the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and one of the causes of the suffering of Gazans -- who are blockaded by Israel and receive only a few hours of power a day. Why now? The reconciliation talks come after months when relations between the two have been at their worst. Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas has sought to punish Hamas for establishing what was seen as a rival government, reducing fuel payments for Gaza but harming the lives of ordinary citizens. A few weeks ago Hamas agreed to dissolve the shadow government and hand over power to a unity government. The punitive measures will be lifted as soon as this government takes power, according to Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior official in the Fatah movement that dominates the PA. New Egyptian interests? Egypt is the only country apart from Israel that borders Gaza and Cairo sees itself as a regional heavyweight. It is also one of only two Arab countries to have made peace with Israel and has long played a key role in Palestinian reconciliation efforts. The previous attempt broke down in 2015, with Hamas and Fatah exchanging blame. Egypt had been hostile to Hamas, accusing it of supporting jihadist rebels inside its borders, but relations between the two have improved in recent years. Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a political scientist in Gaza, said Egypt seems particularly interested in reconciliation this time, including "supervising its execution". Hamas' new pragmatism? Hamas has perhaps been forced towards pragmatism by isolation. In recent years a number of its allies have been weakened, including Qatar, while the growing suffering in Gaza had seen it face increasing dissatisfaction on the streets. In May the movement adopted a new charter toning down some of the most radical elements of its original. But it remains to be seen how far the Islamist movement, and particularly its armed wing, is willing to compromise. "There has never been any question" of dismantling the armed wing, said Moussa Abu Marzook, a prominent figure in the Islamist movement. However, the Palestinian Authority wants control of all government roles in Gaza, including security. Key sticking points Another key sticking point is tens of thousands of civil servants and officials recruited by Hamas after it assumed power in 2007. The PA is reluctant to take on these people, and their salaries, especially with ongoing financial shortages and already oversized bureaucracy. Similarly elections could be a problem. Hamas agreed last month to a longstanding PA demand for elections, which would be the first in the Palestinian Territories since 2006. Those elections helped precipitate the split that led to the current crisis. So are the two sides -- and the international community -- really ready to accept the potentially risky outcome of a poll? What role for the United States? The United States, Israel and others consider Hamas a terrorist group as it refuses to accept Israel's right to exist. This complicates any potential involvement in a Palestinian government, particularly as they provide financial support for the PA. But so far, said Abu Saada, they have not vetoed attempts towards better Hamas-Fatah relations, as they know the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "will not move without reconciliation and without Gaza". Police with riot equipment patrolled Buea's administrative quarter on Sunday Police maintained a tight grip in English-speaking Cameroon on Monday a day after the anglophone minority declared symbolic independence, as the toll from weekend clashes rose to at least 17 dead, according to an unofficial tally. Highways in the anglophone Southwest Region remained blocked or filtered by police checkpoints in the early morning, and in the city of Buea the streets were virtually deserted and heavily patrolled. Police and troops set up five roadblocks on the vital 70-kilometre (43-mile) road link between Cameroon's economic hub of Douala and Buea, Southwest Region's chief city, an AFP journalist saw. In the rundown Buea district of Mile 17 -- a reputed haven for separatists -- rocks, hurled in demonstrations on Sunday, were strewn in the streets. Police carried out overnight arrests in one of the city's districts, and left with individuals who were in handcuffs, an AFP journalist saw. On social media, pro-independence campaigners reported a wave of raids and arrests, but it was difficult to confirm their claim. Internet access in anglophone region was poor or cut off. - Rising toll - Amnesty International said "at least" 17 people had been killed by security forces in the country's two English-speaking regions, a figure that concurred with a toll given by official sources, who said two Nigerians were among the dead. An earlier tally compiled by AFP put the death toll at seven, who were shot dead by security forces On Sunday, separatists used the October 1 anniversary of the official unification of the English- and French-speaking parts of Cameroon to declare independence for "Ambazonia," the name of the state they want to create. The violence was the culmination of weeks of mounting tension in the Southwest and Northwest Regions -- home to anglophones who account for about a fifth of the West African nation's population of 22 million. English-speakers complain they have suffered decades of economic inequality and social injustice at the hands of the French-speaking majority, especially in education and the judiciary. Most anglophone campaigners want the country to resume a federalist system -- an approach that followed the 1961 unification but was later scrapped in favour of a centralised government run from the capital Yaounde. But a hardline minority is calling for secession. - 'No longer slaves' - The symbolic declaration of independence was made Sunday on social media by Sisiku Ayuk, who describes himself as the "president" of Ambazonia. "We are no longer slaves of Cameroon," he said. "Today we affirm the autonomy of our heritage and our territory." Both federalism and independence are opposed by the country's long-ruling president, 84-year-old Paul Biya. On Sunday, Biya said he condemned "all acts of violence, whatever their source" and urged "dialogue." The European Union has called on all side to refrain from violence and uphold the law, a position echoed on Monday by France, Cameroon's former colonial power. Amnesty International has called on the government to inquire into the deaths. Cameroon was a German colony from 1884 until 1919, when it was split into British- and French- run entities at the end of World War I. Today's anglophone-francophone rift dates back to 1961, when the British-administered Southern Cameroons united with Cameroon after its independence from France in 1960. Cameroon police officials walk with riot shields on a street in the administrative quarter of Buea some 60kms west of Douala on October 1, 2017 At least 17 people were killed over the weekend in clashes linked to a symbolic declaration of independence by Cameroon's anglophone minority, sources said on Monday. Amnesty International said "at least" 17 people were killed by security forces in the country's two English-speaking regions, a figure that concurred with a toll given by official sources, who added that two Nigerians were among the dead. Separately, the governor of the Northwest Region, which with the Southwest Region comprises the chief anglophone area, said on state radio that 11 had died in his region. An earlier tally compiled by AFP put the death toll at seven, who were shot dead by security forces. English-speakers, who comprise about a fifth of Cameroon's population of 22 million, say they suffer discrimination and inequality at the hands of the francophone majority -- a resentment that led to a symbolic declaration of independence on Sunday. President Paul Biya has opposed any secession or move to a federal state. Cameroon was a German colony from 1884 until 1919, when it was split into British- and French-run entities at the end of World War I. The anglophone-francophone rift of today dates back to 1961, when the British-administered Southern Cameroons united with Cameroon after it gained independence from France in 1960. US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet Thai Junta Chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha and his wife, Naraporn Chan-O-Cha, as they arrive at the South Lawn of the White House Donald Trump welcomed Thai junta leader chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha to the White House on Monday, trying to turn the page after coups rocked one of America's oldest alliances. Describing Prayut's visit as a "great honor," Trump offered a symbolic show of unity with the man behind a 2014 takeover that resulted in Washington cutting aid and cooling relations. "We've had a long and very storied history with Thailand," Trump said as the pair sat in the Oval Office. "We have a very strong relationship right now," he added. "And it's getting stronger in the last nine months." Relations between Bangkok and Washington date back more than 180 years. But Prayut -- who leads Thailand's most authoritarian government in a generation -- is the first Thai leader to visit the White House since 2005. Trump issued the White House invitation after taking office last January, in part because of growing concern over Thailand's closer military relations with China. US military officials are concerned about bumper Chinese weapons buys and losing access Thai military ports -- the only reliable harbor along a vast coastline running from northern China, through Vietnam to Malaysia. They also gripe that a generation of Thai generals who worked alongside US troops in Vietnam are now being replaced with younger, more Chinese-focused officials. "We were just mentioning that Andrew Jackson, who is on the wall, was the president when we first developed the big relationship," Trump said, referencing the Oval Office portrait of one of his favorite presidents. Wearing a black suit and tie -- in honor of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej who will be cremated later this month -- offered "solidarity with American people" after the massacre in Las Vegas and hurricane in Puerto Rico. "One Prayuth-Trump meeting likely will not heal all the bruised feelings among the Thai political elite," said Murray Hiebert of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But it can at least make it possible for the United States to compete again with China for influence in this strategically located country at the heart of mainland Southeast Asia." Beverly Hills Police Department said Romelu Lukaku was issued with a citation for excessive noise Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku entered a not guilty plea on Monday after being cited for holding a rowdy party at his rented Beverly Hills mansion in July. A lawyer for Lukaku, who was not required to be in court in Los Angeles, entered the plea on the player's behalf during a brief hearing before commissioner Jane Godfrey. The case was adjourned for a pre-trial hearing at Los Angeles Airport Courthouse on November 21. Lukaku can opt not to appear in court for the misdemeanor case. Beverly Hills Police Department said earlier this year Lukaku was issued with a citation for excessive noise. It came after police officers responded to five other noise complaints from the same location. The Belgian international -- who clinched a money-spinning transfer to Manchester United from Everton in July -- had been staying in Los Angeles with France and Manchester United star Paul Pogba on holiday. Lukaku is the Premier League's top scorer this season with seven goals. The United States had warned Egypt in August 2016 that a North Korean vessel named Jie Shun, under the Cambodian flag, was headed toward the Suez Canal The Egyptian government denied on Monday that a shipment of weapons from North Korea was destined for its military, as reported in The Washington Post. In a report published on Sunday, the US newspaper reported that the Egyptian military was the undisclosed buyer of $23 million worth of rocket-propelled grenades from North Korea in 2016. The Post cited US officials and Western diplomats familiar with the findings who remained anonymous. But the Egyptian foreign ministry denied the report on Monday. In a statement sent to AFP, spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid "categorically denied what the (Washington Post) report mentioned regarding Egypt being the destination for the shipment. "The sanctions committee report did not indicate that the shipment was destined for Egypt," he added, referring to a UN report mentioned in the Post story. The United States had warned Egypt in August 2016 that a North Korean vessel named Jie Shun, under the Cambodian flag, was headed toward the Suez Canal. The ship, the Post reported, was run by a North Korean crew and had "an unknown cargo shrouded by heavy tarps". When it reached the Suez Canal, customs agents boarded the ship and found more than 24,000 North Korean rocket-propelled grenades, the newspaper reported. The report said a UN investigation found that Egypt was the original buyer of the shipment, which Egypt denies. "The shipment that was confiscated was not destined for Egypt," said Abu Zeid. "Egyptian authorities indeed intercepted a ship flying the Cambodian flag before it entered the southern entrance of the Suez Canal, following information that it was carrying anti-tank rockets from North Korea in violation of (UN Security Council) sanctions. "Egyptian authorities indeed confiscated the shipment and destroyed it in the presence of a team of experts from the 1718 committee overseeing the UNSC sanctions on North Korea" said the foreign ministry spokesman. Abu Zeid added that "the head of the UNSC North Korea sanctions committee has lauded Egypt's efforts." The Post reported that the officials said the incident "was one of a series of clandestine deals" that led US President Donald Trump's administration to freeze or delay about $300 million in military aid to Egypt this year. Singer Lady Gaga at the press conference for "Gaga: Five Foot Two" during the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande urged US leaders Monday to act to tighten gun laws following the carnage in Las Vegas, as artists voiced shock at the deadliest shooting in modern US history. While most artists left their comments to general messages of sympathy after the assault on a country music festival, Gaga used her social media power to press politicians. "This is terrorism plain and simple. Terror bares (sic) no race, gender or religion. Democrats & Republicans please unite now," the pop star wrote to more than 71 million followers on Twitter, where her account is the seventh most popular. She took to task the call for prayers by House Speaker Paul Ryan, who like President Donald Trump and most other Republican leaders is a staunch opponent of regulations on guns. "Prayers are important but @SpeakerRyan @realDonaldTrump blood is on the hands of those who have power to legislate. #GunControl act quickly," she wrote. Gaga also invited fans to join her in a live-streamed 20 minutes of silent meditation or prayer "to connect us all through inner peace." Grande -- whose own concert in Manchester was attacked in May by a supporter of the Islamic State group, killing 22 people -- indicated that she saw little distinction with the assault in Las Vegas, where the gunman's motivations were not immediately clear. "My heart is breaking for Las Vegas. We need love, unity, peace, gun control & for people to look at this & call this what it is = terrorism," Grande tweeted. - Most artists avoid politics - Country turned pop superstar Taylor Swift, the fourth most followed person on Twitter, steered clear of politics as she wrote: "There are no words to express the helplessness and sorrow my broken heart feels for the victims in Vegas and their families." Rihanna similarly tweeted: "Saying a prayer for all the victims & their loved ones, also for the residents & visitors of Las Vegas! This was a horrific act of terror!!" At least 58 people were killed and 500 were injured when a heavily armed gunman opened fire from his hotel room onto an open-air country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Jason Aldean, who was playing the headlining set when bullets began raining down, called the attack "beyond horrific." "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," he wrote on Instagram. Maren Morris, who played the same Route 91 Harvest festival on Saturday, recalled that "we were all singing" the day before the tragedy. "I'm in shock over this. Heartbroken for all those lives taken too soon," she tweeted. US President Donald Trump addressed the nation following the Las Vegas shooting President Donald Trump condemned the massacre of at least 59 Las Vegas concert goers as an "act of pure evil" Monday, but refrained from addressing calls for gun control or the motives for the worst mass shooting in recent US history. Delivering televised remarks, Trump tried to offer consolation and called for unity -- an act that has become a grim rite of passage for modern US presidents. Barack Obama wept as he tried to soothe the nation after the 2012 Sandy Hook primary school shooting, George W. Bush told Americans that the "nation grieves" after a similar outrage at Virginia Tech university. Trump ordered that flags be flown at half-staff until sunset Friday, offered prayers for the victims and announced he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Later, he led White House staff on the South Lawn for a moment of silence. "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one -- and it always has," Trump said. Police have identified the gunman behind the Sunday night massacre -- which injured more than 500 people -- as a 64-year-old former accountant named Stephen Craig Paddock, who killed himself before a SWAT team breached his 32nd floor hotel room. Investigators recovered at least 16 guns, including assault rifles, from Paddock's room at the Mandalay Bay, and another 18 firearms along with bomb-making materials at one of his two homes. Officials have reacted cautiously to an Islamic State group claim that Paddock was a "soldier of the caliphate" but while his motive remained unclear, the shooting instantly rekindled the divisive national debate on gun control. - 'Right to bear arms' - White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that now was not the time for politics, a tactic frequently used by gun advocates to diffuse public outrage. "There's a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country," said Sanders. At least 58 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on an open-air country music concert in Las Vegas Trump insisted, "our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence." But in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, that unity was difficult to find. Trump's vanquished election rival Hillary Clinton hit out at the gun manufacturers lobby -- the National Rifle Association -- which has backed a congressional push to make it easier to obtain a gun silencer. "The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer," tweeted Clinton, whose Democratic Party has tried in vain to introduce lasting gun control measures. "Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again." There have already been over 270 mass shootings in the United States this year alone, according to www.massshootingtracker.org, although the exact definition is contested. Gun violence accounts for more than 33,000 deaths each year in the United States, and according to the latest Gallup poll, 55 percent of American voters would like to see stricter rules for buying guns. But the issue is highly sensitive and Trump's own views have changed markedly over his years in public life. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where 20 six and seven-year old children and six adults were mowed down by a disturbed 20-year-old, Trump appeared to favor stricter rules. Back then, his predecessor Obama -- who often called Sandy Hook the worst moment of his eight year presidency -- called for the deadlock to be broken and for Congress to act. At that time Trump tweeted: "President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in #Newtown Connecticut." But since then Trump -- whose White House bid was endorsed by the NRA -- has positioned himself as a defender of the constitutional "right to keep and bear arms." The NRA donated an estimated $30 million to Trump's campaign in 2016, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. US Senator Chris Murphy, who was the congressman for Sandy Hook, renewed a call for action in the wake of the Las Vegas attack. "This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren't public policy responses to this epidemic," he said. Islamic State claimed credit for the mass shooting in Las Vegas by 64 year old Stephen Paddock that left 58 dead, saying Paddock had coverted to Islam recently. But experts say that without other proof, its claim should be viewed with caution. The Islamic State group claimed Monday that the shooting massacre in Las Vegas was carried out by one of its "soldiers" who had "converted to Islam" months ago. "The executor of the Las Vegas attack is a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried out the operation as a response" to calls to target countries fighting the jihadists, Islamic State's propaganda outlet Amaq said on the Telegram online messaging service. It dubbed 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, who shot dead at least 58 people from a high-rise hotel window on the Las Vegas Strip, a "soldier of the caliphate" with the nom de guerre Abu Abdel Bar al-Amriki. "The author of the Las Vegas attack converted to Islam a few months ago," Amaq said in a series of messages. "From a hotel overlooking a music concert, [Paddock] opened fire on one of the groups, leaving 600 dead or injured, until using up his ammunition and becoming a martyr." The group provided no evidence to back up its claims, and US security officials remained cautious amid no other signs to connect Paddock to the jihadists. Early in their investigation police said they had no information to link him with international terror groups. In response to a query, Central Intelligence Agency spokesman Jonathan Liu said they were aware of the Islamic state claim. "We advise caution on jumping to conclusions before the facts are in," Liu said. - False claims - Islamic State has moved quickly to claim credit for a number of recent attacks around the world, suggesting the "soldiers" were acting under their inspiration. However, said Lorenzo Vidino, director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, they have also made a number of false claims, including that they were behind a robbery in a Manila casino in June, and what turned out to be a neo-Nazi attack on a Russian FSB intelligence service office in Khabarovsk in April. "Especially recently, they have claimed responsibility for very random stuff that they had nothing to do with," Vidino said. "For a long time they have embellished real events. They twist the foundation of truth." - Under pressure in Iraq, Syria - Such claims have gained pace as Islamic State finds its hold on its "caliphate" territory in Iraq and Syria greatly shrunk in the face of US-guided coalition assaults. Almost fully expelled from their one-time bastion in Raqa, Syria, coalition leaders say they are preparing for a final siege against the remnants of the jihadist army in the Middle Euphrates River Valley spanning Syria and Iraq. On Friday Islamic State released an audio recording of what it said was its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calling on jihadists in Syria and Iraq to "resist" their enemies. That was seen as a move to boost the morale of its fighters in Syria and Iraq. Even if the group is defeated in its base area, anti-terror experts say they do not expect that will end its global reach. Despite their battlefield losses, "the ISIS ability to reach globally is still largely intact," Nick Rasmussen, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, said last week. On Sunday the group claimed responsibility for an attack in Marseille, France where a young man stabbed two women to death before he was shot by security officials. But by Monday afternoon it had not claimed the attack in Edmonton, Canada, in which a Somali refugee attacked a policeman on Saturday with a knife and then hit four people with a truck. A plaque commemorating US ambassador Christopher Stevens and three of his staff killed in Benghazi in 2012, an attack which Libyan Ahmed Abu Khattala denied plotting A Libyan man accused of masterminding the 2012 attack in Benghazi that killed a US ambassador and three of his staff went on trial in Washington on Monday, although his lawyers said he was simply a witness to the deadly events. Sporting a white shirt and a long beard, Ahmed Abu Khattala, 46, sat beside his lawyers in court listening to an Arabic translation of the proceedings through a headset. The surprise attack on the US diplomatic mission in the eastern Libyan port city on September 11, 2012, and the mortar attack on a nearby CIA annex that followed shortly after, left four Americans dead, including Christopher Stevens, the first US ambassador to be killed in the line of duty since 1979. "John Christopher Stevens choked to death by thick black smoke," said John Crabb, representing the US government as he related the events of that evening in Benghazi: around 20 armed men attacked the US diplomatic mission, setting fire to the building where Stevens and a foreign service officer, Sean Smith, had taken refuge. Both men died of asphyxiation. The group later fired mortar rounds at a building used by the CIA, killing Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, two former members of the elite Navy Seals. - 'Out of Libya' - Addressing the jury that is expected to hear the case over a course of several weeks, Crabb accused Abu Khattala of masterminding the attack out of a burning hatred for America. "This is a case about Abu Khattala hating America so much and wanting America out of Libya so badly," the prosecutor said. "Abu Khattala didn't do the killing by himself, he didn't light the fire and he didn't fire the mortars," Crabb said, pointing to a plan of the compound and showing surveillance photos and film in which the accused appeared but was not seen firing weapons or acting in a hostile manner. "Abu Khattala planned the attack, set the attack in motion," Crabb said. The Libyan submitted a plea of not guilty to 18 charges that included murder and providing material support to terrorists, and which could see him facing life behind bars. "It was a tragedy: four Americans died in the service of their country," said defense counsel Jeffrey Robinson. "But Abu Khattala is not the person responsible for this tragedy." Robinson categorically denied the charges, calling his client a "Libyan patriot" who had "fought on the side of America" during the uprising the previous year against longtime Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi. On the day of the attacks, he said Abu Khattala heard about the attack on the US mission and "went to see what was going on." With the stricken Americans already having evacuated the building, "he walked in and he walked out. The gate was open, the Americans had left," the lawyer said. - Test trial - Just a few years ago, a man like Abu Khattala would likely have been transferred directly to the US base at Guantanamo Bay where he would have faced a military tribunal. His trial will act as a test case for foreign suspects captured by US commandos in combat conditions and brought back to face civil courts in the United States. After the attack, Abu Khattala did not hide from public view, but continued living in Benghazi, even giving press interviews in which he admitted to being present at the US mission the night of the attack. He was captured in 2014 when US special forces carried out a commando raid based on intelligence provided by a friend of the accused, who received a $7 million reward from the US government. Abu Khattala, who had allegedly commanded an Islamist militia called Ansar al-Sharia, was whisked off to a US Navy ship where he was first subjected to a CIA-style interrogation -- in secret, and with the contents classified -- before being questioned by FBI agents who informed him of his legal rights. The ship took 13 days to return to the United States, its slow progress being blamed on engine problems. The defense team said the return had been delayed for as long as possible to prevent their client having access to an attorney. Robinson said the FBI "deliberately chose not to record these statements" made during the passage back to the US. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attends a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Now is not the time to talk to North Korea, the White House declared Monday, as President Donald Trump appeared to undermine efforts to force Pyongyang to the table. Until this weekend, Washington's plan to counter Kim Jong-Un's increasingly sophisticated nuclear arsenal seemed to be to employ sanctions and diplomatic pressure to convince him to talk. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed this on Saturday in Beijing when he told reporters Washington is using diplomatic channels to probe Kim's willingness to discuss disarmament. But then Trump tweeted, telling his "wonderful" chief diplomat that he was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with Kim's regime. Many commentators and former diplomats in Washington saw this as a snub -- even a humiliation -- for Tillerson, and rumors that the secretary might resign surfaced once again. Tillerson's aides dismissed such talk, insisting that Trump's tweets were a message to Kim that time was running out for him to respond to Tillerson's overture or face tougher action. Then on Monday, Trump's spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated bluntly: "We've been clear that now is not the time to talk." Sanders told reporters the only reason to talk with Kim's regime would be to seek the release of three Americans held in North Korean jails. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shakes hands with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People "There is a difference between talking and putting diplomatic pressure -- and we strongly support putting diplomatic pressure on North Korea which we're continuing to do -- but now is not the time simply to have conversations with North Korea," she said. This would seem to contradict what Tillerson had said on Saturday, when he was asked how he would know if and when North Korea is prepared to discuss denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. "We are probing, so stay tuned," he said. "We ask. We have lines of communications to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a black out," he added. "We can talk to them, we do talk to them." The State Department was quick to point out that these overtures had not revealed any sign that Kim is in fact ready for dialogue, but Tillerson had at least confirmed that channels are open. This had been widely suspected in Washington policy circles, but by making it front-page news Tillerson seems to have irked Trump. "The main channel is the so-called New York channel, the connection to North Korea's diplomatic mission to the UN," explained Jim Schoff, a former head of North Korea strategy at the Pentagon. - 'Multiple attempts' - Washington's chief envoy for dealing with the North Korea crisis, Ambassador Joseph Yun, used this channel to Pyongyang's diplomats in New York to negotiate the release of US student Otto Warmbier -- who died after his return. "There have been, as I understand, multiple attempts for several months by that channel to try to initiate general dialogue both on the remaining Americans held there and expressing openness to talk about denuclearization," Schoff told AFP. Schoff, now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said those connections had indeed proved "unfruitful" but warned that Trump's dismissive tweets had weakened Tillerson's hand. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People "It does hurt the secretary's credibility," he said. "They agreed upon a North Korean policy and strategy, and it contains an openness to dialogue. That's a policy that President Trump has endorsed." "And it's mostly Trump's tweets that undermine it." Tillerson's senior adviser on public affairs, R.C. Hammond, was quick to dismiss any suggestion the weekend's remarks had revealed any split between the White House and State Department. "I think the president is demonstrating skepticism on whether the North Koreans will change behavior, since there has been zero indication during the summer they will do so," he said. "He isn't demonstrating skepticism on Secretary Tillerson's statements and strategy." According to Hammond, the small number of channels of communication that are open with the North that Tillerson spoke of are being used to seek the release of the US prisoners. "Everybody in the administration agrees with this strategy," he said. "There's no crisis between the president and Secretary Tillerson". If that is the case -- that the channels deal only with the situation of the captives, and not with the broader issue of the nuclear standoff -- some observers will be disappointed. - Devastating war - Whatever tough talk sometimes comes from the administration, many senior US officials admit privately that there is no credible military option to disarm North Korea without provoking a devastating regional war. In which case, Tillerson's back channels might be the best hope of a resolution. "I certainly hope that there's some secret channel going on because I do think that there need to be discussion and understanding," said former secretary of state Madeleine Albright. Albright is the most senior US official ever to visit North Korea. But, as Trump recalled in another tweet, US efforts to halt the North's nuclear plans have always failed. "It's really important to lower the temperature because I'm kind of concerned about an accident of some kind that might happen and so we need to be very clear about what's going on," she said. PARIS (AP) - Parisians and tourists were encouraged to stroll through the City of Light on Sunday as officials banned cars from its streets for a day. Paris has experimented with car-free days in the past, but Sunday marked the first time the entire city was handed over to ramblers, cyclists and roller-bladers. Only emergency vehicles, buses and taxis were allowed on the streets from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. Paris time. "It's nice for the air quality, for enjoying the city, walking around without any noise, without any risk to be run over by a car," Maxime Denis said as he strolled near Place de la Republique in the city center. "But it should be a real no car day. There are still a few so we are careful." Another resident, Francois Boillat, noted that "as a Parisian, I only use public transport all the time, even though I have a car buried in a sixth basement car park and I barely use it. It is a bit stupid. I should sell it." Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo was elected on a promise to curb air pollution and reduce car traffic in the French capital, where vehicle emissions are often high. The car-free day created a potential headache for the organizers of Paris fashion week, who rely on trucks to install and remove lavish, sky's-the-limit shows. Worried fashion houses like Valentino sent out numerous email reminders to guests who planned to arrive by car, reminding them to organize alternative transport. The Paris couture federation, which supports the initiative, spent months working with police and local authorities to ensure events ran smoothly. MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippine president says he will not cooperate in an investigation being done by a key anti-graft agency on his alleged undeclared wealth and warned he will personally bring one of its top officials to investigators for illegally disclosing confidential information about him. In an expletives-laden outburst, President Rodrigo Duterte warned in a speech late Saturday of a "stalemate," as he collides with the Ombudsman, an independent state agency that investigates officials facing corruption allegations. The Ombudsman said Friday it will continue an investigation involving the president and cannot be intimidated by him. Duterte accused the anti-graft body of using "fabricated" documents in its investigation of his alleged unexplained wealth concealed in past bank accounts and of being plagued by corruption and said he would not submit to the Ombudsman's jurisdiction. "I won't submit to the jurisdiction because it's a lousy thing," Duterte said. He asked Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang, who told reporters last week of his agency's investigation involving Duterte, "to pray." "Carandang, you are holding a fabricated (document), to your sorrow, you will realize that," the president said. "I can summon him because he committed a crime ... he has to answer for this or else, I will go there and bring him to the NBI." Duterte was referring to the National Bureau of Investigation, Manila's version of the FBI. Duterte's remarks differ from his spokesman, Ernesto Abella, who said last week that the president "respects the internal processes of the Office of the Ombudsman as an independent body and trusts its impartiality in the conduct of its fact-finding duty." Duterte has denied any wrongdoing and publicly vowed to resign if anybody can prove he or any of his children were involved in corruption. He won the presidency last year with a large margin on a vow to eradicate crime and corruption. Duterte dared the chief of the Ombudsman and the Supreme Court chief justice, who is facing an impeachment bid by lawmakers, including the president's allies in Congress, to resign simultaneously with him. The ABS-CBN TV network cited Carandang as saying that his agency has received Duterte's bank records from before he became president from 2006 to 2016 and that they show millions of pesos (millions of dollars) being transacted in joint accounts with his children. Duterte's bank records were provided by the government's Anti-Money Laundering Council, ABS-CBN quoted Carandang as saying. The council is a financial intelligence agency that safeguards the privacy of bank accounts and aims to fight money laundering. "We can confirm that we received bank transactions from AMLC," Carandang was quoted by ABS-CBN as saying. "There were P40 millions ... P50 million ... there were many." Duterte read a statement saying Carandang has asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council to help investigate the allegations against him but stressed that the council has not provided the bank transaction records cited by Carandang as a basis for the investigation against the president. Still reading the unspecified document, Duterte said his alleged bank accounts' "outflows and inflows of funds were added together thus making the result total amounts wrong and misleading." The president's most vocal critic, opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, first alleged that Duterte had unexplained wealth during the presidential campaign last year. In February, he raised the issue again, saying Duterte had not yet revealed details of more than 2 billion pesos ($39 million) he allegedly kept in bank accounts as a former city mayor. Duterte inadvertently brought the issue back into public focus recently when he alleged Trillanes has several undeclared joint bank accounts with unidentified Chinese men in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia and the United States. Trillanes denied it and signed about a dozen waivers for authorities to look into the alleged accounts and demanded that Duterte do the same. Duterte came under renewed criticism, however, when he publicly acknowledged that he just made up a bank account number supposedly belonging to Trillanes. Duterte said the total worth of money in his bank accounts would not surpass 40 million pesos ($784,000), which includes funds from assets he inherited from his parents. His family also once operated a profitable ice plant and was involved in logging, Duterte said, adding that his wife had businesses to supplement his salary as Davao city mayor. "I die with a bad reputation, fine. I die with a good (reputation), fine. But not corruption, I don't have any of that," he said. NEW YORK (AP) - He came to Congress with the law-and-order image of a former FBI agent and left as an admitted tax evader headed for prison. His tenure was shadowed by a campaign fundraising investigation and punctuated by a threat to hurl a reporter off a Capitol balcony. But former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm says voters want him back in Washington, and on Sunday, he announced he's going for his old job. Grimm told a crowd of about 100 supporters: "Together we'll go to Washington and have our president's back." He attacked the man he's trying to unseat for the Republican nomination, Dan Donovan, a former prosecutor who won the Staten Island-based district after Grimm resigned in 2015. FILE- In this July 17, 2015 file photo, former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, center, leaves following his sentencing at federal court in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Grimm, who went to prison for tax fraud and once threatened to throw a TV reporter off a balcony, is set to announce Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, that he will try to reclaim his old seat in Congress. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen, File) Grimm chastised Donovan, saying, "The swamp still needs to be drained. Let's start right here with my opponent." In a country with a history of political comebacks, Grimm isn't following the script of asking for second chances. He's all but challenging anyone to stop him. "I'm gonna win," Grimm, 47, recently told Fox News. "When I go out and I shake these hands, and people hug me, and they tell me in my ear, 'You have no idea how many people are behind you,' I just know it." A Marine and Gulf War veteran, Grimm has long styled himself as a scrappy fighter for New York City's "forgotten borough." The thrice-elected congressman says his prosecution and eight-month prison term were politically driven and unfair. He casts himself as a political warrior ready to defend President Donald Trump's agenda against congressional Republicans with a "weak spine." And he counts the support of Staten Island political patriarch Guy Molinari, a Republican former congressman and borough president. But Grimm would face an incumbent with a long history in Staten Island politics, including 12 years as district attorney (his office didn't prosecute Grimm). Donovan has the backing of the local and state Republican parties and a $300,000 campaign war chest; Grimm's old campaign coffer has $52,000 but bears $420,000 in legal debt, according to the latest filings in July. Both camps claim the other candidate is too liberal. "We're not really worried about a challenge from a felon," Donovan campaign spokeswoman Jessica Proud says. "The voters won't be duped by him again." A half-dozen Democrats have signaled plans to run in the swing district encompassing Staten Island and a bit of Brooklyn. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Evan Lukaske said Grimm's candidacy "demonstrates the serious harm that this do-nothing Congress is inflicting on vulnerable Republican incumbents." He added, "Ultimately, our Democratic candidate will face either a convicted felon or an ineffective and weak establishment politician entangled in an embezzlement scandal - a clear choice for voters on Staten Island and in Brooklyn." Grimm was an attorney and former undercover FBI agent on Mafia and Wall Street investigations before he unseated Democratic Rep. Michael McMahon in 2010. In Congress, Grimm played a visible role in securing $60 billion in disaster relief after 2012's Superstorm Sandy, and he co-wrote a 2014 law that rolled back federal flood insurance rate hikes. But he also faced an FBI probe into unproven allegations that he solicited and accepted illegal campaign contributions from followers of an influential Israeli rabbi. Some said they'd contributed tens of thousands of dollars more than legally allowed, sometimes by funneling money through straw donors. A top Grimm fundraiser pleaded guilty in a related visa fraud case. A woman romantically linked to Grimm eventually pleaded guilty to lining up straw donors but insisted the congressman was unaware. Grimm denied knowledge of any improprieties. And when a New York cable news station reporter broached the investigation during an interview about the 2014 State of the Union address, the congressman threatened him on camera. "You ever do that to me again, I'll throw you off this (expletive) balcony," Grimm said. "You're not man enough. I'll break you in half. Like a boy." Grimm initially said he'd felt the reporter was disrespectful but later apologized, explaining that "as a Staten Islander, sometimes I get my Italian up." Grimm was never charged with any campaign-related offenses. But prosecutors said the inquiry exposed that Grimm, while running a Manhattan health food restaurant before taking office, hid more than $1 million in sales and wages, partly through off-the-books cash payments to workers in the country illegally. Declaring the case "a political witch hunt," Grimm was re-elected in 2014, then pleaded guilty within two months. Grimm says what he did was wrong but commonplace and would have been handled with a civil fine instead of a criminal prosecution if not for his political stature. There have been some similar prosecutions, though prison time isn't common. In arguing for it, prosecutors noted that Grimm was a lawyer and a former FBI agent. American voters have occasionally put convicted politicians back in office since 1798, when Rep. Matthew Lyon, of Vermont, was re-elected while in jail on a conviction of violating the now-long-gone Sedition Act, which restricted criticism of the government. In the letters pages of the local Staten Island Advance, some writers say they've had enough of Grimm, but others argue he was unjustly brought down. Political experts, too, are split on Grimm's chances. ___ Associated Press writer William Mathis contributed to this report. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - At least 10 Afghan security forces were killed after the Afghan Air Force mistakenly dropped bombs on their checkpoint in southern Helmand province, officials confirmed. Gul Agha Muslim, a member of the Gareshk district's local council, said another 11 were wounded in the incident Sunday. The victims were from both the Afghan police and intelligence agency, added Muslim. Afghan Defense Ministry Spokesman General Dawlat Waziri confirmed the airstrike, without providing further details. The district has witnessed heavy fighting in recent weeks between security forces and Taliban insurgents. Separately, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met with Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa during his visit to Kabul Sunday, according to a statement issued by the presidential palace. "Both sides discussed regional security, bilateral relations, the fight against terrorism, and trade and transit," the statement added. The statement quoted Ghani as saying that the time has come to take practical steps toward creating an atmosphere of trust between the two countries. Pakistan is ready to cooperate in tackling the terrorism threating both countries and supports the Afghan-led peace process, it added. A ban on gummy bears and other edible marijuana products shaped like animals, people and fruit takes effect this month in Colorado (stock) A ban on gummy bears and other edible marijuana products shaped like animals, people and fruit takes effect this month in Colorado - a change aimed at decreasing the likelihood small children will mistake them for a favorite treat. The switch is less dramatic for Colorado's cannabis companies than adapting to last fall's rollout of exhaustive requirements for labeling, packaging and stamps on individual edible marijuana products. But it's motivated by the same concerns about children popping tasty-looking products into their mouths and getting sick, or adults accidentally overdoing it when they consume edible pot. The marijuana industry isn't alone in trying to anticipate what will catch a grabby toddler's eye. People call Colorado's poison control hotline thousands of times each year when kids swallow household cleaners and prescription medications - far more often than they call about marijuana products, said Larry Wolk, the state health agency's executive director. 'Anything that can look like candy is more enticing to kids,' Wolk said. It's motivated by concerns that children will put tasty-looking products into their mouths and getting sick (stock) But as part of an ongoing effort to avoid a federal crackdown on its marijuana experiment, Colorado has made cutting the number of accidental ingestion reports a priority. In an August letter responding to Attorney General Jeff Sessions' request for information on marijuana legalization, Colorado's governor highlighted the state's progressively stricter packaging and labeling requirements as a key part of its efforts to minimize retail pot's appeal to kids. Colorado lawmakers approved the ban on some edible shapes in 2016. At one hearing on the issue, lawmakers shown packages of gummy candies that contained pot and typical gummy bears couldn't tell the difference, said Mike Hartman, director of Colorado's Department of Revenue Colorado lawmakers approved the ban on some edible shapes in 2016. At one hearing on the issue, lawmakers shown packages of gummy candies that contained pot and typical gummy bears couldn't tell the difference, said Mike Hartman, director of Colorado's Department of Revenue. 'That really highlighted that we need to take some action here and make sure these products are not to be mistaken, particularly anyone under the age of 21,' Hartman said. Other states where marijuana is legal have similar restrictions, including Washington. California also may join in; lawmakers approved shape restrictions this year. In Colorado, retailers aren't allowed to sell the banned shapes after October 1, but manufacturers had more than a year to prepare and say it wasn't a difficult switch. At Colorado Harvest Company, a Denver dispensary, CEO Tim Cullen displays the result: a chocolate bar wrapped in a paper sleeve that's difficult for even an adult to slide off; cookies stamped with 'T-H-C' in edible dye; and colorful gem-shaped lozenges sold in a white vial capped with a childproof top. Colorado Harvest Company, a Denver dispensary displays a chocolate bar wrapped in a paper sleeve that's difficult for even an adult to slide off; cookies stamped with 'T-H-C' in edible dye; and colorful gem-shaped lozenges sold in a white vial capped with a childproof top 'The same rules that apply to alcohol or prescription medication have to apply to marijuana,' Cullen said. 'Realizing that you have an adult product in your house and making sure your children can't get it is the ultimate line of defense.' Customers in Colorado pot shops also will notice a bolder disclosure on product labels for the amount of THC - the compound in marijuana that creates users' 'high' feeling. In Colorado, retailers aren't allowed to sell the shapes after October 1, but manufacturers had more than a year to prepare (stock) Researchers don't know much about the impact higher potency products have on consumers, but one study at the University of Mississippi found the potency of marijuana confiscated by federal authorities has steadily increased since the 1990s. A team at the University of Colorado Boulder is several months into a study on what that means for users. The team assigns people products ranging from 65 to 90 percent THC, said Cinnamon Bidwell, assistant research professor at the school's Institute of Cognitive Science. Federal law prevents researchers from providing cannabis, so study participants buy the products themselves. After they consume the products, Bidwell's team monitors them in driving simulators and takes blood tests. Right now, Bidwell said, marijuana users have to figure out what level of THC they can handle 'with little science to base that on.' 'Is it comparable to drinking vodka versus a beer, or something totally different?' she said. 'Adults in our state are able to purchase this product, so there are a lot of questions about how it affects them.' DOVER, Del. (AP) - Wyclef Jean had a song named in his honor and worked with producers on his new album who were just kids when he released his debut solo album, "The Carnival." At 47, tributes from today's hip-hop stars and a surge of young producers had Jean deciding to call it a day on "The Carnival" saga. "Carnival III: The Rise and Fall of a Refugee," is the last one under that banner. "This is the trilogy. This is it," Jean said. FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2016 file photo, Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean talks to the press upon arrival to vote during elections in the Petion-Ville suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Jean, a three-time Grammy winner, gave the command for drivers to start their engines at a NASCAR race at Dover International Speedway in Delaware, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo, File) Jean's first full-length album in eight years was released Sept. 12 by Legacy Recording, and coincides with the 20-year anniversary celebration of the Grammy winning "Carnival." Jean would collaborate with Santana, cover Bob Marley and snagged a cameo from Bob Dylan over the years, a thrill for him to work with and honor some of his musical heroes. These days, hip-hop stars pay homage simply by naming a song after The Fugees co-founder. "When I first heard the record (I heard) new music, Wyclef Jean. I was like, this is not my song," Jean said, laughing. "It was like, no the song's named after you." Young Thug indeed named a song "Wyclef Jean" that included the line, "Okay, my money way longer than a NASCAR race." Jean, a three-time Grammy winner, wore a NASCAR jacket Sunday inside a motorhome for an interview with The Associated Press at Dover International Speedway. Jean, a NASCAR fan who is friends with former driver Brian Vickers, gave the command for drivers to start their engines. It was a short drive to the Delaware track for Jean. He still lives in New Jersey, where his family moved from Haiti when he was just a young child. "I feel like the Haitian Bruce Springsteen," Jean said. In an interview with the AP, Jean, talked his future, The Fugees, protests and "Carnival III," shortly before he bellowed to the crowd it was time to start the NASCAR race. ___ AP: What does the new album mean to you? Jean: "The best way to explain this album is, it seems like a tastemakers album right now. The buzz of it is building internally and in the underground. That's a beautiful thing. It's been like nine years, I think, since the last one. I think the theme of the entire album is, I call it global gumbo. The playlist is a playlist of unity and of culture. We could go from hip hop to gospel to salsa. I guess it's the thing that reminds us of unification through music. That's how I know that an album will be called Carnival and this will be the final chapter." ___ AP: The last one? Is there more music ahead? Jean: "There was an album done before Carnival which is still not finished. That album was the winter of Stockholm when I got back from Haiti. Me and Avicii got together and the energy was so strong that we ended up doing 20, 25 songs. It's not finished yet. We were just talking about it on the phone the other day before he went to Burning Man. He was like, 'Yo, it would be a shame for the world not to hear this.' I was like, 'Yo, they're going to hear it. We've got to figure it out.' As we move to the future, there are like two albums past this Carnival." ___ AP: What does mean to be held in such reverence by today's generation of hip-hop stars? Jean: "This album celebrates the younger producers like Supah Mario, the Knocks, the Wavy Gang. It's sort of the generation movement of this album. When I worked with Santana, you could feel that Wyclef/Fugee generation and the Santana generation merging into one things." ___ AP: You worked with your musical heroes. What does it mean after 25 years to be in demand by the new generation? Jean: "The kids are making records about you. Even "Wild Thoughts" is "Maria, Maria" sampled. So when (DJ) Khaled and them called and was like, yo, you've got to clear the sample for me. A lot of people don't like it. Santana don't clear samples. But I'm from a different generation. The idea of digging into the crates and discovery was very important. I'm always like, when I sampled the Bee Gees, my whole thing was, don't forget if you take a piece of someone's material, they're going to listen it. When I create something in my brain, it's my creation. So who the hell is going to make it better? That's always in my brain. That's why a lot of times it's hard to clear it. But "Wild Thoughts" is amazing. Khaled's amazing, Rihanna's amazing. We called Santana and it was a 1-2-3." ___ AP: Do you think you're going to run for president of Haiti again? Jean: "We ran for the urgency. I felt like the government was absent. We don't feel like government is absent right now. As the country moves forward, as a social entrepreneur, I'm hoping in the future there's some form of a school we can build. As a social entrepreneur, my true position with Haiti is to work with the private sector and help to bring jobs." ___ AP: How much do you try and get political when you play live music? Jean: "It's the same as Jimi Hendrix. It's like Vietnam. We knew what was going on in Vietnam. At the end of the day, Dylan and different people had different ways that they're going to protest. For me, I stand in a position of Jimi Hendrix. I would play the "Star Spangled Banner" and parts of it would be distorted. It's self expression to just let people know that maybe there's parts of America right now through rhetoric that's distorted. But don't forget who we are." ___ AP: What's up with The Fugees? Jean: "You know Paul McCartney, where's the Beatles? It's still a beautiful thing that people care and that's the most important thing." LONDON (AP) - British authorities are scrambling to bring home 110,000 travelers after Monarch Airlines collapsed Monday, cancelling all flights by what had been Britain's fifth biggest carrier. The Civil Aviation Authority said it has leased 30 aircraft to transport Monarch customers scattered around holiday destinations ranging from Turkey to Spain and Sweden. Flights will be provided at no additional cost to passengers. "This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad, and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK," Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said in a statement. "That is why I have immediately ordered the country's biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded." In this image provided by Simon Stirrat, Monarch Airlines passengers are directed to the airline desk at London's Gatwick Airport, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Troubled British carrier Monarch Airlines has suspended flights after failing to resolve its financial woes. The airline, the country's fifth largest, stopped trading on Monday, warning travelers it had ceased operations. (Simon Stirrat via AP) Monarch ceased operations after failing to reach a deal with regulators to extend the company's license to sell package holidays to overseas destinations. Monarch Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield said the airline's troubles stemmed from recent terror attacks in Egypt and Tunisia and the "decimation" of the tourist trade in Turkey. The airline had tried to pivot from short-haul flights to long-haul travel to reduce losses as consumers shied away from Middle Eastern and North African destinations after the June 2015 attack on tourists at a resort in Tunisia, the bombing of a Russian airliner that had taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, a few months later and the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016. The CAA is advising Monarch customers who are trying to get home from abroad to visit the agency's website for information about their flights. Passengers who were preparing to leave the U.K. on Monarch flights should not go to the airport. The first repatriation flight carrying 165 passengers from the Spanish resort island of Ibiza has already arrived at London's Gatwick Airport, the aviation authority said. "The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable," agency CEO Andrew Haines said. "We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home." Monarch's collapse represents the biggest ever failure of a British airline. The Unite union, which represents around 1,800 engineers and cabin crew working for Monarch, claimed that the government rebuffed requests to provide a bridging loan that would have helped the airline keep operating. The airline said companies affected by its failure include Monarch Airlines, Ltd., Monarch Holidays, Ltd., First Aviation, Ltd., Avro, Ltd. and Somewhere2stay, Ltd. "All future holidays and flights provided by these companies have been cancelled and are no longer operating," the company said. Greybull Capital LLP, which owns The Monarch Group, issued a statement saying it was "deeply saddened" by the airline's failure. It said it was working with regulators to minimize disruptions. ___ Monarch Airlines: https://monarch.caa.co.uk/customers/i-am-currently-abroad/ In this image provided by Simon Stirrat, a notice for Monarch Airlines passengers is seen at London's Gatwick Airport, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Troubled British carrier Monarch Airlines has suspended flights after failing to resolve its financial woes. The airline, the country's fifth largest, stopped trading on Monday, warning travelers it had ceased operations. (Simon Stirrat via AP) In this image provided by Simon Stirrat, a notice for Monarch Airlines passengers is seen at London's Gatwick Airport, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Troubled British carrier Monarch Airlines has suspended flights after failing to resolve its financial woes. The airline, the country's fifth largest, stopped trading on Monday, warning travelers it had ceased operations. (Simon Stirrat via AP) Blair Nimmo of the accountants KPMG who has been appointed Administrator of Monarch airlines, talks to the media outside the Monarch headquarters at Luton Airport in Luton, England, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Troubled British carrier Monarch Airlines has suspended flights after failing to resolve its financial woes, and authorities have launched a major operation to bring home 110,000 stranded travelers. The airline, the country's fifth largest, stopped trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Tail fins of the now suspended Monarch Airlines of two planes, right, next to a TUI plane at Luton Airport in Luton, England, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Troubled British carrier Monarch Airlines has suspended flights after failing to resolve its financial woes, and authorities have launched a major operation to bring home 110,000 stranded travelers. The airline, the country's fifth largest, stopped trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) A general view of the headquarters of the now suspended Monarch airlines at Luton Airport in Luton, England, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Troubled British carrier Monarch Airlines has suspended flights after failing to resolve its financial woes, and authorities have launched a major operation to bring home 110,000 stranded travelers. The airline, the country's fifth largest, stopped trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) A general view of the front desk at headquarters of the now suspended Monarch airlines at Luton Airport in Luton, England, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Troubled British carrier Monarch Airlines has suspended flights after failing to resolve its financial woes, and authorities have launched a major operation to bring home 110,000 stranded travelers. The airline, the country's fifth largest, stopped trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) A Monarch Airlines plane, on the tarmac at Luton Airport in Luton, England, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Troubled British carrier Monarch Airlines has suspended flights after failing to resolve its financial woes, and authorities have launched a major operation to bring home 110,000 stranded travelers. The airline, the country's fifth largest, stopped trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) A Monarch Airlines plane, on the tarmac at Luton Airport in Luton, England, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Troubled British carrier Monarch Airlines has suspended flights after failing to resolve its financial woes, and authorities have launched a major operation to bring home 110,000 stranded travelers. The airline, the country's fifth largest, stopped trading on Monday. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) WASHINGTON (AP) - A diplomatic security agent testified Monday that after militants stormed the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, he turned to U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, who was hiding in a safe room, and said, "When I die, you need to pick up my gun and keep fighting." Agent Scott Wickland was the government's first witness in a trial of Ahmed Abu Khattala, a Libyan suspected of orchestrating the attack that killed the ambassador and three other Americans. Wickland took the stand and gave a harrowing account of how he tried without success to save the ambassador and Sean Patrick Smith, a State Department information management officer. The smoke from weapons' fire and explosions was so thick and black that it blinded the three. They dropped to the floor and crawled on their bellies, gasping for air. Wickland said he was trying to lead them to a bathroom where he could close the door and open a window. FILE - This June 28, 2014, file courtroom sketch, United States Magistrate, Judge John Facciola, swearing in the defendant, Libyan militant Ahmed Abu Khattala, wearing a headphone, as his attorney Michelle Peterson watches during a hearing at the federal U.S. District Court in Washington. The trial of Khattala, the Libyan militant accused of being the mastermind of the 2012 Benghazi attacks is scheduled to begin on Oct. 2, 2017. (Dana Verkouteren via AP, File) "I was breathing through the last centimeter of air on the ground," Wickland said. "I'm yelling, 'Come on. We can make it. We're going to the bathroom.' Within 8 meters, they disappeared." Wickland kept yelling for them. He was feeling around on the floor through the toxic smoke, which made the lighted room darker than night. "To this day, I don't even know where they went. I was right next to them, and then that's it," Wickland said. "I had my hand on Ambassador Stevens. I could hear Sean shuffling." Twelve jurors and three alternates assembled for the opening day of one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years. Abu Khattala is being tried in U.S. District Court, a civilian court, at a time when the Trump administration has said terror suspects are better sent to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During Wickland's testimony, Abu Khattala hung an arm over his chair and held his chin, covered in a long, grayish white beard. He listened through earphones to an Arabic translation of the proceedings. The opening testimony was aimed at turning the jury against the defendant, but his name was never mentioned throughout Wickland's nearly three hours on the stand. He is expected to retake the stand on Tuesday. An 18-count indictment against Abu Khattala arises from a burst of violence that began the night of Sept. 11, 2012. Stevens and Smith were killed in the first attack at the U.S. mission. Nearly eight hours later, two more Americans, contract security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, died in a mortar attack on a CIA complex nearby Abu Khattala, who appeared in court wearing a white shirt and dark pants, has pleaded not guilty to his charges, including murder of an internationally protected person, providing material support to terrorists and destroying U.S. property while causing death. In his opening statement, defense attorney Jeffrey Robinson called Abu Khattala a "Libyan patriot" who fought on America's side in the war against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. He said Abu Khattala didn't mastermind the attack. The lawyer said the defendant simply went to the attack site because he heard there was a protest and wanted to see what was happening. "He didn't shoot anyone. He didn't set any fires. He did not participate in the attacks," Robinson said. Robinson also said Abu Khattala was a deeply religious man who believes in conservative sharia law as outlined in the Quran. He reminded jurors that in America, people are not prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. The prosecution gave a starkly different portrayal of the defendant. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb said that when Abu Khattala's hatred of America boiled over, he orchestrated the attacks and then triumphantly strode around the attack site carrying an AK-47. Crabb said that later, the defendant told someone at his apartment: "I attacked the American Embassy" and would have killed more Americans that night if others had not intervened. He said Abu Khattala "hates America with a vengeance." "He killed Ambassador Stevens - a man of peace." The trial is expected to last for weeks. Crabb said the prosecution would show the jury videos of the attack site and Abu Khattala's phone records, which he said showed a spike in activity during the attacks. He said witnesses would include weapons and fire experts and a man named Ali, who was paid $7 million to befriend Abu Khattala and help U.S. forces capture him in Libya. After he was captured, he was taken to a U.S. Navy ship that transported him to the United States. During the 12-day journey, he was first interrogated by intelligence personnel and then by FBI agents. Crabb said Abu Khattala told FBI agents that America was the "root of all the world's problems." His defense lawyer said Abu Khattala cooperated aboard the ship and he "continued to deny, as he denies today, any participation in planning or masterminding the attack." WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump hosts Thailand's junta leader at the White House on Monday - a rare instance of a military ruler being feted in Washington before even a nominal return to civilian rule. The visit of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha comes three years after he seized power in a military coup, and days after the elected leader whose government he ousted was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison. Human rights groups are outraged, but it gives a shot in the arm to U.S. relations with its oldest ally in Asia, which has moved more into China's orbit since Washington scaled back ties because of the military takeover. FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2017, file photo, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha attends the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China. President Donald Trump hosts the Thailand's junta leader at the White House on Oct. 2, a rare instance of a military ruler being feted in Washington before even a nominal return to civilian rule. (Wu Hong/Pool Photo via AP) The Trump administration, like the Obama administration before it, maintains that relations with Thailand will only be fully restored when democracy returns. But rolling out the red carpet for Prayuth reflects a shift in U.S. foreign policy priorities. Trump espouses a doctrine of "America First," prioritizing U.S. trade and strategic interests. He's more willing to engage with anti-democratic leaders and less troubled by their human rights records. That's not been lost on observers in Thailand, whose diplomatic relations with Washington date back to 1833. Deep military ties were forged in the fires of the Vietnam War. In an editorial, The Nation, a Thai newspaper, said the junta views the invite to Washington "as a nod to legitimacy in the absence of an electoral mandate." It contrasted that with President Barack Obama's disapproval of the coup, which "soured relations between our countries and forced the generals to lean heavily on China." It's not that unusual for U.S. presidents to meet autocrats in the Oval Office, but coup leaders are more contentious. Perhaps the closest recent comparison to Prayuth would be former Pakistani army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who emerged as a close ally of President George W. Bush in the war on terror. Musharraf first visited the White House in 2002, three years after he seized power from an elected leader and before he'd rammed through a national referendum to endorse his presidency. Trump has barreled through criticism about outreach to authoritarian foreign leaders as he looks to shore up America's long-standing alliances. He praised Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for his deadly war on drugs that has left thousands dead, according a leaked transcript of an April phone call. In the same month, Trump welcomed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to the White House - something that Obama avoided. El-Sissi had taken power in a 2013 coup and later was elected president. Like el-Sissi, Prayuth has given up his military uniform. But he's still the head of a junta. The military took power in 2014 to restore order after violent political turmoil in Thailand. The unrest has abated, but human rights groups say that's come at a heavy price in what used to be one of the most vibrant democracies in Asia. "Civil society, human rights and good governance in Thailand are under attack," said T. Kumar, Amnesty International USA's advocacy director for Asia. "The military government has restricted freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, creating an environment where people risk arrest and persecution for exercising their basic human rights. If these laws are not repealed, fear and repression could become the new normal in Thailand." A new constitution that critics say was tailor-made for the military to retain effective control has been approved by popular referendum although without open debate. Elections have been repeatedly pushed back and are not expected before 2018. All political parties are restricted. Prayuth's White House visit comes less than a week after a Thai court sentenced former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose government was ousted in the coup, to five years in prison for alleged negligence in a money-losing rice subsidy program. Yingluck fled the country before the verdict. She says she is innocent, and her supporters call the charges against her politically motivated. A U.S. National Security Council spokesman, who was not authorized to speak publicly on planning for the visit and requested anonymity, said the U.S. will continue to urge Thailand to return to participatory democracy and restore civil liberties. He declined to say whether those points would be raised by Trump, but said the president could discuss how to strengthen U.S.-Thai relations. After the coup, the United States stopped military assistance and training programs - a largely symbolic step but one that has gone down badly with Bangkok. Under Trump, the U.S. has authorized more arms sales. John Sifton of Human Rights Watch predicted there wouldn't be substantial discussion on human rights on Monday. "Trump praises autocratic leaders the world over with little comment on their abuses," Sifton said. Walter Lohman at the right-leaning Heritage Foundation said if Trump did raise democracy with Prayuth it would be behind the scenes, which he argued would be most effective with a country sensitive to foreign criticism. "We need to be concerned about human rights and democracy, but it can't dictate our relationships with our allies," Lohman said. WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump stuck to a somber script Monday after at least 59 people were shot dead in Las Vegas, condemning the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history as an "act of pure evil" and declaring the nation would unite behind the survivors. He refused to get into a new debate over gun control. Faced with the sad and familiar ritual of a president offering consolation after horrific violence, Trump spoke slowly and carefully from the White House Diplomatic Room, focusing not on the identity or possible motive of the shooter but on the nation's efforts to heal. The remarks were the prelude to a two-part test of whether Trump, a leader who excels at political provocation, can also deliver solace. Trump is slated to visit Puerto Rico Tuesday to survey devastation from Hurricane Maria, before going to Las Vegas Wednesday to meet with families of the dead. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk from the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, to the South Lawn for a moment of silence to remember the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence," the president said. "We call upon the bonds that unite us: our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity." Trump spoke hours after a gunman on the 32nd floor of a Vegas Strip casino opened fire on people at an outdoor country music festival below. The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, killed at least 59 people as tens of thousands of concertgoers screamed and ran for their lives. More than 500 people were hurt. In a measured statement that was revised by aides until moments before he spoke, Trump did not describe the gunman in any way or suggest what might have been behind his actions. He praised the first responders who he said prevented further loss of life and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. He offered condolences to the families of those killed, saying, "We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss." Trump, who owns a hotel in Las Vegas, told associates that he feels deep ties to the city. He said in public that his visit would be "a very, very sad moment for me ... for everybody no matter where you are, no matter what your thought process." The president was informed of the shooting early Monday by chief of staff John Kelly, according to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He received periodic briefings from Kelly and homeland security adviser Tom Bossert while also monitoring the coverage on cable news. On Twitter, he avoided the kind of inflammatory statements he has issued after some previous tragedies, such as last year's Orlando nightclub shooting, instead offering "warmest condolences" to victims and their families. "There's a difference between being a candidate and being the president," Sanders said when asked to explain the change in tone. Trump's visit to Las Vegas will come a day after he travels to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, where many have accused the federal government of an inadequate response. Aides have worried about the response he will receive there, as Trump spent the weekend attacking the mayor of San Juan while consistently painting a rosier picture of the recovery effort than what has been described by those on the ground. The back-to-back trips to Puerto Rico and Nevada will also place Trump into the role of consoler-in-chief - a considerable change from his usual persona as a firebrand feeding off division. The weight of the violence hung heavy at the White House on Monday. Conversations were hushed throughout the West Wing, and Sanders choked up during the press briefing as she read news accounts of heroism displayed at the scene. Like presidents before him, Trump marked the events by ordering the American flags at all public buildings across the nation flown at half-staff, and he observed a moment of silence on the White House lawn. Unlike his predecessor, Barack Obama, who responded to mass shootings by calling for stricter gun control measures, Trump made no mention of firearms restrictions. Sanders repeatedly rebuffed questions about whether laws need to be stricter, saying the day after the mass shooting was not the "time and place for a political debate." But the familiar discourse did ignite Monday, once again breaking along party lines. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said it was time for Congress to end the inaction that followed other major shootings, including the one in Orlando and the 2012 school shooting in his home state. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called for the creation of a committee on gun violence and increased background checks. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said he would not participate in a moment of silence for those lost because it "becomes an excuse for inaction." Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded in an assassination attempt six years ago, appeared at the Capitol and said she knew "this feeling of heartbreak and horror too well." She called for Congress to pass stricter gun control laws, turning to the Capitol building, raising her fist and saying, "The nation is counting on you." But Republicans largely avoided the subject. Both House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell offered sympathetic tweets for those who lost their lives but made no mention of gun policy. Before he was a candidate, Trump at one point favored some gun restrictions. He has more recently cast himself as an ardent protector of the Second Amendment. Though Sanders did not dismiss a question about the potential for a bipartisan effort on guns, raising the possibility that Trump might be willing to cross the aisle and work with Democratic leaders, the president has proclaimed that if more "good guys" were armed with firearms, there would be fewer gun tragedies. He told the National Rifle Association this year that it had a "true friend" in the White House, and he signed a resolution passed by the GOP-led Congress blocking an Obama-era rule designed to keep guns out of the hands of certain mentally disabled people. This was not the first time Trump offered a somber response to a tragedy: In June, he was measured in his response to a shooting at a congressional baseball practice that wounded five, including Republican Rep. Steve Scalise. But Trump has drawn criticism for more inflammatory and self-referential reactions to other acts of violence. After the Orlando shootings at a gay nightclub that left 49 dead, he tweeted, "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism." In the wake of a deadly terror attack in London in June, he went after the city's mayor on Twitter, suggesting he wasn't taking the attacks seriously enough. ___ Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Matthew Daly and Kevin Freking contributed reporting. ___ Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Lucey at http://twitter.com/@Catherine_Lucey President Donald Trump makes a statement about the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., right, shakes her fist at the United States Capitol as she and her husband Mark Kelly, left, speak on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Giffords raised her fist at the Capitol and said "the nation is counting on you" after the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, about the mass shooting in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) JONESBORO, Ga. (AP) - A man shot by police responding to a report of a domestic disturbance outside Atlanta has been hospitalized. Clayton County police tell news outlets that a man went to his ex-girlfriend's Jonesboro apartment Sunday night and demanded to be let in, said he had a gun and threatened to commit suicide. Maj. Bryant Danekes says the man pulled a gun when police arrived and wouldn't comply with their request to put it down, leading to the shooting. The man's name hasn't been released. He was last listed in stable condition, but his exact condition is unknown. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has taken over the case, and the officers involved will be placed on administrative leave per protocol. BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest on the Syrian conflict (all times local): 4:30 p.m. Syria's Interior Ministry says several police officers and civilians were killed in a suicide attack on a police station in central Damascus. State-affiliated al-Ikhbariyeh TV reported earlier Monday that an attacker detonated a car bomb in front of a police station in the city's al-Midan neighborhood, before two more suicide bombers blew themselves up. The station's reporter later said he was not sure if a car bomb was used. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said seven state officials and four civilians were killed. The director of the nearby al-Mujtahed Hospital was quoted by local media as saying that seven people were killed. Firefighters arrived at the scene within hours to inspect the damage, according to al-Ikhbariyeh's on location report. The blasts damaged the lower floors of the building and shattered the windows on one side. Ambulances rushed to the scene and security agents cordoned off the area. ___ 3:30 p.m. Syrian state media says a suicide car bomber has struck a police station in the capital, Damascus. The Al-Ikhbariyeh TV station says the bomber detonated his vehicle in front of a police station in the capital's al-Midan neighborhood. It says two attackers blew themselves up in the same place, with one managing to enter the station. The station says several people were killed or wounded. Ambulances rushed to the scene and security agents cordoned off the area. ___ 2 p.m. A Syrian war monitoring group says at least eight Hezbollah fighters have been killed in a drone strike in the eastern Syrian desert. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday a drone of unknown affiliation struck a position of the Lebanese militant group, which is fighting alongside government forces. A Hezbollah official confirmed the attack but could not confirm the toll. The official was not authorized to speak to the media so spoke on condition of anonymity. Hezbollah and other pro-government forces are battling the Islamic State group in eastern Syria. At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 wounded when a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Authorities have identified the suspected gunman in the Sunday night shooting as Stephen Paddock. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said officers confronted Paddock on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street from the concert. Paddock is dead. Previously, the deadliest mass shooting had been an attack at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub that killed 49. Before that, the deadliest shooting in the U.S. was the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, in which a student killed 32 people before killing himself. Police officers stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher) Here's a look at some of the nation's deadliest rampages since 2012: - Oct. 1, 2017: A gunman identified by authorities as Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip from the 32nd floor of casino, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 200. He died at the scene after officers went into the hotel room he was using. - June 12, 2016: Gunman Omar Mateen opened fire at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub, killing 49 people. Mateen was later killed in a shootout with police. - Feb. 25, 2016: Cedric Ford, 38, killed three people and wounded 14 others at a lawnmower factory where he worked in the central Kansas community of Hesston. The local police chief killed him during a shootout with 200 to 300 workers still in the building, authorities said. - Feb. 20, 2016: Jason Dalton, 45, is accused of randomly shooting and killing six people and severely wounding two others during a series of attacks over several hours in the Kalamazoo, Michigan, area. Authorities say he paused between shootings to make money as an Uber driver. He faces murder and attempted murder charges. - Dec. 2, 2015: Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, opened fire at a social services center in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding more than 20. They fled the scene but died hours later in a shootout with police. - Oct. 1, 2015: A shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, left 10 people dead and seven wounded. Shooter Christopher Harper-Mercer, 26, exchanged gunfire with police, then killed himself. - June 17, 2015: Dylann Roof, 21, shot and killed nine African-American church members during a Bible study group inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Police contend the attack was racially motivated. Roof has been sentenced to death in the shootings. - May 23, 2014: A community college student, Elliot Rodger, 22, killed six people and wounded 13 in shooting and stabbing attacks in the area near the University of California, Santa Barbara, campus. Authorities said he apparently shot himself to death after a gunbattle with deputies. - Sept. 16, 2013: Aaron Alexis, a mentally disturbed civilian contractor, shot 12 people to death at the Washington Navy Yard before he was killed in a police shootout. - July 26, 2013: Pedro Vargas, 42, went on a shooting rampage at his Hialeah, Florida, apartment building, gunning down six people before officers fatally shot him. - Dec. 14, 2012: In Newtown, Connecticut, an armed 20-year-old man entered Sandy Hook Elementary School and used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 26 people, including 20 first graders and six adult school staff members. He then killed himself. - Sept. 27, 2012: In Minnesota's deadliest workplace rampage, Andrew Engeldinger, who had just been fired, pulled a gun and fatally shot six people, including the company's founder. He also wounded two others at Accent Signage Systems in Minneapolis before taking his own life. - Aug. 5, 2012: In Oak Creek, Wisconsin, 40-year-old gunman Wade Michael Page killed six worshippers at a Sikh Temple before killing himself. - July 20, 2012: James Holmes, 27, fatally shot 12 people and injured 70 in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. - April 2, 2012: Seven people were killed and three were wounded when a 43-year-old former student opened fire at Oikos University in Oakland, California. One Goh was charged with seven counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, but psychiatric evaluations concluded he suffered from long-term paranoid schizophrenia and was unfit to stand trial. WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) - State troopers fatally shot a Pennsylvania man who reportedly had a knife and was threatening neighbors, but relatives say the man was merely suicidal. Troopers from the Washington barracks planned a news conference Monday on the shooting of 34-year-old Anthony Gallo. Gallo's family says he had been acting strangely since injuring his head in a May car accident. They called 911 Sunday afternoon, hoping troopers would help get him a mental health commitment. Police encountered Gallo at the trailer park in Canton Township where he'd been staying with his grandmother. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco says troopers fired when Gallo refused to drop the knife and aggressively moved toward police. Police haven't said how many shots were fired or how many troopers shot Gallo. The district attorney is reviewing the shooting, which is standard. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting with the president of Turkmenistan on a rare visit to the gas-rich Central Asian nation. Putin on Monday arrived in the capital, Ashgabat, for talks expected to focus on the energy ties between the two former Soviet republics. Putin's visit to Turkmenistan came amid a dispute between Russia's largest mobile provider and local authorities. The mobile company MTS said last week it had to suspend operations in Turkmenistan after a state telecommunications company cut its access to services. MTS said it is continuing talks with authorities in order to extend the permission it needs to use frequencies and other resources to provide services in the ex-Soviet nation. Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Turkmenistan's President, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, during their talks in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Russian President Putin is meeting with the president of Turkmenistan on a rare visit to the gas-rich Central Asian nation. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Pool Photo via AP) Neither Putin nor Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov mentioned the row in their opening remarks on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaks to Turkmenistan's President, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, back to a camera, during their talks in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. Russian President Putin is meeting with the president of Turkmenistan on a rare visit to the gas-rich Central Asian nation. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Pool Photo via AP) 16-year-old Deonte Green allegedly kidnapped and robbed an older couple before going shooting and killing a father Police have arrested a 16-year-old boy accused of kidnapping and robbing an elderly couple in Oklahoma, then fatally shooting a 44-year-old man at his home. Tulsa Police Sgt. Dave Walker says the teenager forced the elderly couple to drive to an ATM and withdraw cash Sunday, then forced the couple back to their home where he sexually assaulted the woman. Walker says the teen, identified as 16-year-old Deonte Green then ran to a nearby home, where a woman and her two daughters were in the garage and preparing to leave. Police say the Green forced the woman and children back into the home, where he encountered and fatally shot the woman's 44-year-old husband, Broken Arrow Public Schools geography teacher Shane Anderson. Police say Green kidnapped an elderly couple from their home and forced them to drive to an ATM and withdraw cash Green then forced the couple back to their home where he sexually assaulted the woman Geography teacher Shane Anderson was shot dead in front of his family including two daughters 'The husband fought with Green, and Green shot the husband,' Walker said in a news release. 'The husband continued to struggle with Green before collapsing inside the house.' Green allegedly sexually assaulted the woman during the robbery and robbed the couple of cash and a handgun. He then fled on foot away from the home where the killing took place. Walker says 16-year-old was arrested late Sunday on complaints of murder, armed robbery and sexual assault. Broken Arrow Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Janet Dunlop said she is devastated by Anderson's death. 'Our hearts are breaking for his family, and we will support them every way possible during this unimaginable time,' she told TulsaWorld.com. Deonte Green, 16, was later caught by police and taken off in a police patrol car WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the trial of the suspected mastermind of the 2012 Benghazi attacks (all times local): 5 p.m. A diplomatic security agent says that after militants stormed the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, he turned to ambassador Chris Stevens and said, "When I die, you need to pick up my gun and keep fighting." FILE - This June 28, 2014, file courtroom sketch, United States Magistrate, Judge John Facciola, swearing in the defendant, Libyan militant Ahmed Abu Khattala, wearing a headphone, as his attorney Michelle Peterson watches during a hearing at the federal U.S. District Court in Washington. The trial of Khattala, the Libyan militant accused of being the mastermind of the 2012 Benghazi attacks is scheduled to begin on Oct. 2, 2017. (Dana Verkouteren via AP, File) The agent, Scott Wickland, lived to tell the harrowing tale of how he tried to save the ambassador who died along with three other Americans in the 2012 attack. He gave an impassioned account of crawling on his belly through choking black smoke, trying to get Stevens to safety. Wickland was the government's first witness Monday in a trial for the suspected mastermind of the attacks. During the testimony, the defendant, Ahmed Abu Khattala, listened through headphones to an Arabic translation and rubbed his long, white beard. Wickland has not testified about what role Abu Khattala might have played in the attack, but he is expected to be on the stand again Tuesday. ___ 10:40 a.m. The trial for the suspected mastermind of the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attacks has begun in a federal courtroom in Washington The trial comes three years after Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured by U.S. special forces in Libya and brought to the U.S. on a 13-day trip aboard a Navy ship. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb says Abu Khattala "hates America with a vengeance." Crabb told the jury that the defendant's "hatred simmered until it boiled over" and he organized the attack on the American diplomatic outpost. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed along with Sean Patrick Smith, a State Department information management officer. Nearly eight hours later at a CIA complex nearby, two more Americans, contract security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, died in a mortar attack. ___ 3:30 a.m. A trial of the suspected mastermind of the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attacks is unfolding in a federal courtroom in Washington. Opening statements will take place Monday, three years after Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured in Libya and brought to the U.S. on a 13-day trip aboard a Navy ship. Four Americans were killed in the attacks, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Prosecutors say the attacks aimed at killing personnel and plundering maps, documents and other property from the post. The attacks became a political flashpoint given its timing weeks before President Barack Obama's re-election. The Abu Khattala trial is one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years in a civilian court. The Trump administration has said terror suspects are better sent to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. CAIRO (AP) - Without providing any evidence to support the claim, the Islamic State group on Monday said the gunman in the mass shooting in Las Vegas was "a soldier" from its ranks who had converted to Islam months ago. Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting, and said initially there was no evidence of any connection to international terrorism. The extremist group has a history of exaggerated or false claims, including earlier this year, when it claimed an attack on a casino in the Philippines that turned out to have been a botched robbery carried out by a heavily indebted gambling addict. People load into buses destined to different Strip Casinos following a mass shooting at the Route 91 music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center was opened as a place of refuge. (Yasmina Chavez/Las Vegas Sun via AP) The group's Aamaq news agency released two brief statements hours after the shooting at a country music concert that killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 500. The group later released Spanish language versions of these statements. In a third statement released hours later, IS name the purported attacker as "Abu Abd el-Bar al-Amriki (the American)," saying he responded to calls by the group's top leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to "target the countries of the Crusader coalition" battling the extremist group in Iraq and Syria. It added that he caused 600 casualties before he exhausted his supply of ammunition and "martyred" himself. Police have identified the shooter as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, and have said he killed himself after the shooting. Authorities have not commented on his religious background or said what might have motivated the attack. Most IS attacks have been carried out by much younger men. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said authorities believe it was a "lone wolf" attack, and the U.S. Homeland Security Department said there was no "specific credible threat" involving other public venues in the U.S. The extremist organization has suffered a string of major setbacks in Iraq and Syria, where it has lost much of the territory it once claimed as part of a self-styled Islamic caliphate. However, the group remains active in recruiting followers on social media, and has repeatedly called on its supporters to carry out attacks in Western nations. The IS group often claims attacks by individuals inspired by its message but with no known links to the group. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. The shooter, Omar Mateen, had pledged allegiance to IS and it claimed the attack. IS claimed the attack on a casino in the Philippines that killed dozens of people, but police later identified the attacker as a Filipino gambling addict who was $80,000 in debt, saying it was a botched robbery that was not terrorism-related. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump and the shootings in Las Vegas (all times local): 6 p.m. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has offered condolences to President Donald Trump after the shooting massacre in Las Vegas. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump stand during a moment of silence to remember the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) A gunman killed at least 59 people Sunday night at an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas. The White House says Trump also expressed solidarity with the people of Canada following an attack in Edmonton, Alberta, over the weekend. In Edmonton, a police officer was injured in a car and knife attack outside a football game, and a high-speed chase of a moving van left four people injured The White House says the leaders also "reiterated the close ties between the United States and Canada, commended the resilience of our communities, and offered to cooperate in the ongoing investigations." ___ 3:20 p.m. The Senate has observed a moment of silence to honor victims of Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says "this is a moment of national mourning." He says the mass shooting is shocking and tragic and devastating for the families of the victims. McConnell says, "It's hard to even imagine their pain." The Senate's tribute followed a moment of silence at the White House, where President Donald Trump paused on the South Lawn as a bell tolled three times. At least 58 people were killed and hundreds others wounded in the shooting. __ 3:03 p.m. A bell tolled three times as a solemn President Donald Trump paused on the White House South Lawn for a moment of silence in honor of the victims of Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas. Flanked by first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, Trump walked out onto the lawn for the memorial moment Monday afternoon. The White House's flag stood at half-staff overhead. They were honoring the 58 people killed night when a gunman opened fire on a concert crowd in Las Vegas. Police say Stephen Craig Paddock was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel tower Sunday night when he fired into Route 91 Harvest festival. More than 500 people were wounded. __ 2:25 p.m. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the day after the deadliest mass shooting in the nation's history is not the time to renew a debate over gun control. Sanders was asked Monday during the press briefing that there is a "time and place" for a debate but that is "not the place we're in at this moment." She said President Donald Trump was focused on the victims and stressed that it was a "time to unite the country." Trump's predecessor Barack Obama frequently used mass shootings to call for stricter gun control laws. Trump did not mention firearms during his remarks earlier Monday after a gunman in Las Vegas and killed 58 people and injured at least 515 others. The Republican president has cast himself as a friend to firearms owners and the powerful National Rifle Association lobby. __ 2:10 p.m. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords raised her fist at the Capitol and said "the nation is counting on you" after the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas. Giffords, who was grievously wounded in 2011, and her husband Mark Kelly were at the Capitol on Monday. They said the nation's thoughts and prayers are not enough and Congress must pass legislation to keep deadly weapons out of the wrong hands. Kelly and Giffords had planned to campaign for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam, but instead they went to the Capitol to comment on the shooting. Citing President Donald Trump, Kelly said "Americans need more than our president's prayers. We need his plans." Kelly is calling for a commission to work on solutions to gun violence. He says it's the only acceptable moral course for the country. __ 1:05 p.m. President Donald Trump and the first lady will lead a moment of silence on Monday afternoon on the White House South Lawn to honor the victims of the deadly Las Vegas shooting. Trump also spoke Monday with British Prime Minister Theresa May about the shooting. The White House says May conveyed her condolences after more than 50 people were killed and hundreds injured at an outdoor country music festival. The White House says the president thanked May and praised the first responders in Las Vegas who responded to the shooting. __ 12:20 p.m. The CIA is advising caution on "jumping to conclusions" after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Las Vegas shooting. Agency spokesman Jonathan Liu says U.S. intelligence agencies are aware of the claim of responsibility. But he says people shouldn't rush to judgment "before the facts are in." The CIA is deferring to law enforcement on the status of the investigation. Without providing any evidence, the Islamic State group on Monday said the gunman in the mass shooting in Las Vegas was "a soldier" from its ranks who had converted to Islam months ago. ___ 11:45 a.m. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise says he agrees with President Donald Trump that the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed more than 50 people was "an act of pure evil." Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, returned to the Capitol last week after he was shot and critically wounded in June as he and fellow Republicans practiced for a congressional baseball game. Scalise said he prays for the victims of the shooting and that the whole nation grieves with their loved ones. Scalise encouraged people across America to stand together in solidarity to support the Las Vegas community, "especially by giving blood and encouraging others to do the same. In the face of unspeakable evil, our whole nation must respond with countless acts of kindness, warmth and generosity." __ 11:50 a.m. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut says it's time for Congress to do something about mass shootings after more than 50 people were gunned down in Las Vegas. Murphy, a leading gun-control proponent, said mass shootings had become an "epidemic" in America. He said "it is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren't public policy responses to this epidemic." Other Democrats condemned the shooting but did not specifically urge gun-control legislation. Action in the Republican-controlled Congress is unlikely. House Speaker Paul Ryan ordered flags over the Capitol lowered to half-staff and said "the whole country stands united in our shock, in our condolences and in our prayers." __ 11:33 a.m. The White House says that President Donald Trump has spoken to the Nevada governor, the Las Vegas mayor and the Las Vegas sheriff about the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas. The president called the attack on a Las Vegas concert an "act of pure evil" during remarks Monday. The shooting left more than 50 people dead and hundreds injured. __ 11:13 a.m. President Donald Trump has ordered that flags be flown at half-staff to honor the victims of a mass shooting in Las Vegas. At least 50 people were killed and hundreds injured in the shooting Sunday night at a country music concert. Trump issued a proclamation Monday ordering flags be flown at half-staff until sunset Oct. 6. The proclamation covers flags at the White House and all public buildings, military posts, naval stations and naval vessels throughout the United States and all territories. It also extends to embassies, military facilities and other sites overseas. In the proclamation, Trump says the nation "is heartbroken." __ 11:07 a.m. President Donald Trump is delivering a message of unity in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history. Trump says in a somber White House address that: "in moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has." He says that "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil" and "our bonds cannot be broken by violence." At least 50 people are dead and more than 400 injured after a gunman opened fire on a Las Vegas country music festival. Trump says he and first lady Melania Trump are praying for those who have been lost and wounded. He says they are praying "for the entire nation to find unity and peace." __ 11:03 a.m. President Donald Trump says he will travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday. He spoke Monday morning, hours after the shooting at a country music festival late Sunday killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 400. It is the worst mass shooting in American history. Trump said the nation must stay unified. He said that although "feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that binds us today and always will." __ 10:55 a.m. President Donald Trump is calling the mass shooting attack in Las Vegas "an act of pure evil." Trump says the nation is joined together today in sadness, shock and grief. Trump is addressing the attack on a country music festival Sunday night that left at least 50 people dead and more than 400 injured. Trump tweeted his "warmest condolences and sympathies" earlier Monday morning. The gunman opened fire from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Authorities say 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock killed himself after the shooting. Police have yet to determine a motive. __ 7:25 a.m. President Donald Trump is extending condolences to the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas and their families. In a tweet Monday, Trump offered "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump was "briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas." Sanders said that "we are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers." A gunman's attack on the Sunday night country music concert killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 200. President Donald Trump makes a statement about the mass shooting in Las Vegas, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) MESQUITE, Nev. (AP) - Stephen Paddock lived in a tidy Nevada retirement community where the amenities include golf, tennis and bocce. He was a wealthy real-estate investor, recently shipped his 90-year-old mother a walker and liked to play high-stakes video poker in Las Vegas. Nothing in his background suggests why he would have been on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino with at least 17 guns on Sunday night, raining an unparalleled slaughter upon an outdoor country music festival below. Law enforcement and family members could not explain what would motivate a one-time accountant with no known criminal record to inflict so much carnage. Paddock had apparently planned the attack in great detail, including showing up at the hotel with at least 10 suitcases. This undated photo provided by Eric Paddock shows his brother, Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock. On Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Festival killing dozens and wounding hundreds. (Courtesy of Eric Paddock via AP) "I can't even make something up," his bewildered brother, Eric Paddock, told reporters Monday. "There's just nothing." At least 59 people were killed and nearly 530 injured in Paddock's attack on the Route 91 Harvest Festival, where country music star Jason Aldean was performing for more than 22,000 fans. It was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The 64-year-old gunman killed himself in the hotel room before authorities arrived. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility, without offering evidence, but Aaron Rouse, the FBI agent in charge in Las Vegas, said investigators saw no connection to international terrorism. Asked about a potential motive, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said he could not "get into the mind of a psychopath at this point." Public records offered no hint of financial distress or criminal history, though multiple people who knew him said he was a big gambler. "No affiliation, no religion, no politics. He never cared about any of that stuff," Eric Paddock said as he alternately wept and shouted. "He was a guy who had money. He went on cruises and gambled." Eric Paddock also told The Associated Press that he had not talked to his brother in six months and last heard from him when Stephen checked in briefly by text message after Hurricane Irma. Their mother spoke with him about two weeks ago, and when he found out recently that she needed a walker, he sent her one, Eric Paddock said. Eric Paddock recalled receiving a recent text from his brother showing "a picture that he won $40,000 on a slot machine. But that's the way he played." He described his brother as a multimillionaire and said they had business dealings and owned property together. He said he was not aware that his brother had gambling debts. "He had substantial wealth. He'd tell me when he'd win. He'd grouse when he'd lost. He never said he'd lost $4 million or something. I think he would have told me." Heavily armed police searched Paddock's home Monday in Mesquite, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas near the Arizona border, looking for clues. Paddock lived there with his 62-year-old girlfriend, who authorities said was out of the country when the shooting happened. Eric Paddock described her as kindly and said she sometimes sent cookies to his mother. Police also searched a two-bedroom home Paddock owned in a retirement community in Reno, 500 miles from Mesquite. So far, Paddock doesn't seem like a typical mass murderer, said Clint Van Zandt, a former FBI hostage negotiator and supervisor in the bureau's behavioral science unit. Paddock is much older than the typical shooter and was not known to be suffering from a mental illness. "My challenge is, I don't see any of the classic indicators, so far, that would suggest, 'OK, he's on the road either to suicide or homicide or both," Van Zandt said. Nevertheless, his actions suggest that he had planned the attacks for at least a period of days. Some of the rifles had scopes, the sheriff said. And authorities found two gun stocks that could have let him modify weapons to make them fully automatic, according to two U.S. officials briefed by law enforcement who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still unfolding. "He knew what he wanted to do. He knew how he was going to do it, and it doesn't seem like he had any kind of escape plan at all," Van Zandt said. While Stephen Paddock appeared to have no criminal history, his father was a notorious bank robber, Eric Paddock confirmed to The Orlando Sentinel. Benjamin Hoskins Paddock tried to run down an FBI agent with his car in Las Vegas in 1960 and wound up on the agency's most wanted list after escaping from a federal prison in Texas in 1968, when Stephen Paddock was a teen. The oldest of four children, Paddock was 7 when his father was arrested for the robberies. A neighbor, Eva Price, took him swimming while FBI agents searched the family home. She told the Tucson Citizen at the time: "We're trying to keep Steve from knowing his father is held as a bank robber. I hardly know the family, but Steve is a nice boy. It's a terrible thing." An FBI poster issued after the escape said Benjamin Hoskins Paddock had been "diagnosed as psychopathic" and should be considered "armed and very dangerous." He'd been serving a 20-year sentence for a string of bank robberies in Phoenix. The elder Paddock remained on the lam for nearly a decade, living under an assumed name in Oregon. Investigators found him in 1978 after he attracted publicity for opening the state's first licensed bingo parlor. He died in 1998. Stephen Paddock bought his one-story, three-bedroom home in a newly built Mesquite subdivision for $369,000, in 2015, property records show. Past court filings and recorded deeds in California and Texas suggest he co-owned rental property. He previously lived in another Mesquite - the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, Texas - from 2004 to 2012, according to Mesquite, Texas, police Lt. Brian Parrish. Paddock owned at least three separate rental properties, Parrish said, and there was no indication the police department had any contact with him over that time. He has been divorced at least twice, including marriages that ended in 1980 and 1990. One of the ex-wives lives in Southern California, where a large gathering of reporters congregated in her neighborhood. Los Angeles police Sgt. Cort Bishop said she did not want to speak with journalists. He relayed that the two had not been in contact for a long time and did not have children. In 2012, Paddock sued the Cosmopolitan Hotel & Resorts in Nevada, saying he slipped and fell on a wet floor there. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed by a judge and settled by arbitration. Reached by telephone, Paddock's lawyer at the time, Jared R. Richards, said he could not comment because of client confidentiality concerns. ___ Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writers Terrance Harris and Tamara Lush in Orlando, Florida; Jennifer Kay in Miami; Florida; Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C.; David Warren in Dallas; Michael Sisak in Philadelphia; Lindsay Whitehurst in Salt Lake City; Jeff Donn in Plymouth, Massachusetts; Sadie Gurman and Eric Tucker in Washington; and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report. ___ For complete coverage of the Las Vegas shooting, click here: https://apnews.com/tag/LasVegasmassshooting Eric Paddock, brother of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, speaks to reporters near his home, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. Paddock told the Orlando Sentinel: "We are completely dumbfounded. We can't understand what happened." (AP Photo/John Raoux) Eric Paddock, brother of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, speaks to reporters near his home, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. Paddock told the Orlando Sentinel: "We are completely dumbfounded. We can't understand what happened." (AP Photo/John Raoux) Eric Paddock, brother of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, speaks to members of the media near his home, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. Paddock told the Orlando Sentinel: "We are completely dumbfounded. We can't understand what happened." (AP Photo/John Raoux) Eric Paddock, brother of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, orders a television reporter off his property at his home, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. Paddock told the Orlando Sentinel: "We are completely dumbfounded. We can't understand what happened." (AP Photo/John Raoux) In this photo provided by the Mesquite, Nev., Police Department, police personnel stand outside the home of Stephen Paddock on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Mesquite. Police identified Paddock as the gunman at a music festival Sunday evening. (Mesquite Police via AP) FILE - This photo combination shows an image from a 1960s FBI wanted poster of Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, left, and a 1977 file photo of Paddock, who went by the name Bruce Ericksen, when he was on the lam in Lane County, Oregon, following his escape from a federal prison in Texas, where he had been serving time for a string of bank robberies. Paddock's son, Stephen Paddock, was the gunman who opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, killing dozens and wounding hundreds. (FBI and Wayne Eastburn/The Register-Guard via AP, File) This 1979 photo shows Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, the father of Stephen Paddock, the gunman who killed dozens of people and injured hundreds at a music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. The elder Paddock, who went by the name Bruce Ericksen during his time in Lane County, Oregon, was on the lam when he settled there in the 1970s. He had escaped from a federal prison in Texas in 1969, following a conviction for a string of bank robberies in Arizona. (Charlie Nye/The Register-Guard via AP) BRUSSELS (AP) - The European Union and its private sector will commit about 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) to better protect marine life during the global Our Ocean conference this week. EU Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella told the Associated Press that figure from the EU, its 28 member states and the private sector could be a conservative estimate, saying "it might be even a bit over." The Our Ocean conference has turned into an annual marine governance event and has accumulated some 8.7 billion euros ($10.2 billion) since it started in 2014. Vella said "we are keeping up the pace with the previous three conferences." FILE - In this July 22, 2017 file photo, Narwhals swim between sea ice floating in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Known as the unicorns of the ocean because of the male's long single tusk, narwhals are among the species that stand to lose out if climate change turns the frozen waters into a shipping highway. The European Union will commit about one billion euros to better protect marine life during the global Our Ocean conference in the coming week in Malta. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) Vella is also looking for donations from the United States. Many private companies contribute to the 2-day event, which starts Thursday in Malta. Two of its previous annual meetings have been held in the United States, and then-Secretary of State John Kerry took a special interest in it. It's not clear to what extent President Donald Trump's Republican administration will be committed to the meeting's environmental cause. Vella remained upbeat, saying "so far, the United States is still on board, very much on board." "The U.S. will be coming round to Malta with commitments as well," he said. "The only question is the amount of support they will be giving." The conference focuses on funding and leading projects as varied at combating plastics pollution to countering illegal fishing and looking at the effects of climate change. Its mission is urgent, Vella said, pointing to the rapid decay of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. "Scientists were thinking that they would start feeling the negative impact of climate change and temperatures rising by 2050," Vella said. "We are still even before 2020 and we have already declared the Great Barrier Reef dead. So things are moving faster than we were hoping." A drone that sneaked contraband into a Michigan prison in May went undetected for nearly two months, a state police report said (stock image) A drone sneaked contraband into a Michigan prison in May and went undetected for nearly two months, according to a state police report. Video surveillance shows that inmates at Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia received two packages dropped by a drone May 29, according to Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz. Prison officials suspect the packages contained Alcatel-brand cellphones that were found inside the prison in July. A third package containing phones, tobacco and marijuana was delivered the same day, but prison officials recovered it. Information about the drops comes from a report obtained by the Detroit News through a Freedom of Information Act request. The prison had two more attempted drone drops on August 17. Prison officials apprehended the packages containing cellphones, razors and marijuana in those attempts. Patrick Corey Seaton Jr., Jonathan Larawn Roundtree and Daryl Steven Marshall face felony smuggling charges for those packages. Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan, has seen at least five packages dropped via drone since late May. Two were successful and three were intercepted by officials Jonathan Larawn Roundtree, Patrick Corey Seaton Jr. and Daryl Steven Marshall are pictured from left to right. They each face felony smuggling charges for the August 17 packages The names of the prisoners caught with the phones in July have not be revealed the investigation is ongoing and no one has been charged yet. Gautz said the Corrections Department didn't previously disclose the successful drone drops because they 'don't discuss all introductions of contraband.' He also said officials weren't certain the confiscated phones were delivered by a drone. 'A source inside the prison informed MDOC staff that it was the result of an unsuccessful drone delivery,' according to the report by State Police Detective Sgt. Christian Clute. 'It was later learned that two packages were successfully delivered (confirmed through video) to prisoners via drone. After the successful drone delivery, two phones were found inside the facility on prisoners.' The drone drops come as security experts nationwide warn that drones pose a serious threat to prison security. 'We are very concerned about drones being used for smuggling, and we have implemented ... certain detection and safety precautions so that hopefully in the future any drone delivery will be detected,' Clute said. He declined to reveal what the new security measures are. WASHINGTON (AP) - Facebook says ads that ran on the company's social media platform and have been linked to a Russian internet agency were seen by an estimated 10 million people before and after the 2016 election. The company turned 3,000 ads over to three congressional committees Monday as part of their investigations into Russian influence in the 2016 election. In a new company blog post, Facebook's Elliot Schrage said the ads appeared to focus on divisive social and political messages, including LGBT issues, immigration and gun rights. In many cases, the ads encouraged people to follow pages on those issues. Fewer than half of the ads - which ran between 2015 and 2017 - were seen before the election, with 56 percent of them seen after the election. Some of the ads were paid for in Russian currency. FILE - This July 16, 2013, file photo shows a sign at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. Social media giant Facebook is expected to provide Congress on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, with more than 3,000 ads that ran around the time of the 2016 presidential election and are linked to a Russian ad agency. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File) Congressional investigators have recently focused on the spread of false news stories and propaganda on social media and have pressured Facebook, along with Twitter and Google, to release any Russia-linked ads. Facebook's ads were turned over to the House and Senate intelligence committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The company already has given similar material to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Russian meddling. Facebook said last month that the ads appear to have come from accounts associated with a Russian entity called the Internet Research Agency. The company said it found 450 accounts and about $100,000 was spent on the ads. Schrage, Facebook vice president for policy and communications, said in the blog post that the ads included "political messages across the ideological spectrum." He said for 99 percent of the ads, less than $1,000 was spent. The company said some of the ads were paid for in Russian currency, but that isn't always a way of identifying suspicious activity. Schrage defended the site's ability to target certain demographic groups, but said "ads containing certain types of targeting will now require additional human review and approval." The company is also making clear that it takes the right to free speech seriously and will never be able to remove all objectionable content. "Even when we have taken all steps to control abuse, there will be political and social content that will appear on our platform that people will find objectionable, and that we will find objectionable," Schrage writes. Another Facebook official, Joel Kaplan, the company's vice president of global policy, said in a blog post Monday morning that the company is planning to hire more than 1,000 people to staff teams that review advertisements globally. Facebook will also update its policies to require better documentation from advertisers who want to run ads related to the U.S. election, including a requirement that the advertisers will have to confirm the business or organization they represent. Kaplan said the company's policies already prohibit "shocking" content, direct threats and the promotion of the sale or use of weapons, but said "going forward, we are expanding these policies to prevent ads that use even more subtle expressions of violence." Twitter has said it found postings linked to the same Facebook accounts, and the House and Senate intelligence panels have asked both companies, along with Google, to testify publicly in the coming weeks. None of the companies has yet said whether it will accept the invitations. It is unclear whether the Facebook ads turned over to Congress will eventually be released publicly. Several lawmakers - including Virginia Sen. Mark Warner and California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence panels - have said they believe the American public should see them. Schiff said he hopes to release a sampling of the ads at a public hearing with the firms. He said he is committed to making all of these ads public "as soon as possible," while working with Facebook on privacy considerations. "We will continue to work with Facebook and other tech companies to determine the full extent of Russia's use of online platforms, including paid advertising, since what we now know may only scratch the surface," Schiff said. Twitter said last week that it had suspended 22 accounts corresponding to the 450 Facebook accounts that were likely operated out of Russia. Warner criticized Twitter for not sharing more information with Congress, saying the company's findings were merely "derivative" of Facebook's work. The company's presentations to staff last week "showed an enormous lack of understanding from the Twitter team of how serious this issue is, the threat it poses to democratic institutions," he said. ___ Associated Press writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this report. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the Supreme Court's new term (all times local): 12 p.m. The Supreme Court has begun its new term with an argument about the rights of employees to complain about pay and conditions in the workplace. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is greeted by a member of the clergy as he leave St. Mathews Cathedral, after the Red Mass in Washington on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. The Supreme Court's new term starts Monday, Oct. 2. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Justice Neil Gorsuch and his eight colleagues took the bench just after 10 a.m. Gorsuch is starting his first full term as a justice following his confirmation in April. The justices immediately confronted a case that could affect up to an estimated 25 million non-union workers. The issue is whether their employers can force them to individually use arbitration to resolve disputes. The case pits labor laws intended to allow workers to band together against an older law encouraging the use of arbitration, instead of the courts. Gorsuch said nothing during the hour-long argument and the court seemed otherwise closely divided about the outcome. ___ 3:15 a.m. The Supreme Court is starting its new year, with Justice Neil Gorsuch on board for his first full term. The nine justices are taking up several high-profile, difficult cases. This follows a term in which they were mostly shorthanded after Justice Antonin Scalia's death, and the justices avoided controversial issues. President Donald Trump tapped Gorsuch for Scalia's seat. He joined the court in April. The term's first argument Monday is a major clash between businesses and their employees, focused on how workers can complain about pay, conditions and other issues. Employers want to be able to enforce a provision of millions of contracts that forces workers with complaints to go to arbitration individually, not in groups. The employees say going it alone is too costly and opens them up to retaliation. SPARTA, Wis. (AP) - The State Patrol says three women from Germany died after the vehicle they were traveling in struck a deer in western Wisconsin. Officials say a vehicle carrying the women was driving westbound on Interstate 90 near Sparta about 7:30 p.m. Sunday when the collision occurred. Then a semi crashed into the back of the vehicle which had slowed down on the interstate, pushing it into a ditch. The semi overturned. The State Patrol says two of the victims were 20 and the third woman was 22. The patrol has not provided the women's names, hometowns and other details. The driver of the semi was treated a Sparta hospital for injuries that did not appear life-threatening. LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - A 28-year-old man is accused of killing a Louisiana police officer and trying to kill three other people, including a second officer, authorities said Monday. Ian Paul Howard of Lafayette was arrested on several charges including first-degree murder of a police officer, Louisiana State Police said in a news release. First-degree murder charges have only two possible sentences: life in prison or death. Neither Master Trooper Brooks David, a state police spokesman, nor Lafayette police spokesman Cpl. Karl Ratcliff immediately responded to a query about whether Howard has a previous police record. This photo provided by the Lafayette Police Department shows Cpl. Michael Paul Middlebrook, a nine-year patrol veteran who was shot and killed in the line of duty late Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Louisiana State Police say he was killed late Sunday after responding to a call about a shooting at a Big Boy convenience store. (Lafayette Police Department via AP) Ratcliff identified the slain officer as Cpl. Michael Paul Middlebrook, a nine-year patrol veteran. He's survived by his wife, their 3-year-old daughter, two stepdaughters and his parents. State police said he was killed late Sunday while answering a call about a shooting at a Big Boy convenience store in Lafayette, a city-parish of about 125,000, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) west of New Orleans. The Big Boy sits in front of a federally subsidized apartment complex in a neighborhood of stores and apartments. David said Howard started a shootout and ran, but was quickly arrested by Lafayette police. He said Howard is accused of trying to kill a second officer, who was not wounded, and of shooting two people in the store. A witness, Avery Cross, 29, of Lafayette, told The Advocate that the shootout took place inside the store. He said that apparently nobody realized the gunman who had shot a cashier was still inside when the officer entered the store and was killed. Cross said he'd gone to the 24-hour store late Sunday, only to find it locked. An employee came to the door and told him a cashier had been shot, pointing out bullet holes in the window, Cross said. He said two officers showed up and one went inside, apparently unaware that the gunman was inside. "So when he walked in, the guy popped out and started shooting," Cross said. He said he heard at least five shots, then the gunman then came out and fired into the air, yelling for people to back up. "I heard the shooting and I just started running," Cross said. "When it was happening, the only thought was just to make it home." The Montana Department of Corrections could be forced to make budget cuts it says would impact every aspect of its operations and cost the agency more money in the long run. These are absolutely going to substantially cost the department more, Adrianne Cotton, government relations director, said. The Department of Corrections, one of the three agencies that make up 85 percent of the state budget, is bracing to make $40 million in cuts over the next two years and eliminate 45 full-time employees, with potential to replace eight in other positions. The proposal cuts deeply into the departments essential services and would likely impede its ability to provide legally mandated services for youth, comply with national standards on overcrowding, encourage lawsuits and ultimately risk the safety of both employees and the public. State agencies were asked to recommend 10 percent cuts in response to lower-than-expected state tax revenue. Legislative estimates over-projected income taxes by $70 million and a devastating fire season overran fire budgets, causing Gov. Steve Bullock to dip into other state funds. Because the Montana Constitution requires a balanced budget, the governor must either make mid-year budget cuts or call a special session and pass taxes to soften the blow. Many Democrats have vocalized support for a special session but no Republicans have publicly said they would be willing to consider raising taxes. The law requires the budget cuts to be considered by the Legislative Finance Committee, which meets on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is the earliest Gov. Steve Bullock could call a special session. *** Where will cuts come from? Under proposed cuts to Corrections, several facilities in small communities will eliminate employees and could force families to relocate. Other facilities close entirely under the proposal. At Pine Hills, a youth correctional facility in Miles City, 10 of 115 full-time employees will lose their jobs. It is questionable whether the small, rural community will be able to provide jobs that pay a comparable salary for the 10 individuals affected, the Corrections proposal states. The Pine Hills budget also drops by nearly $500,000, which could impact the facilitys ability to provide a safe and legal place for youth in its custody to live and provide food, education and medical care. Those services are mandated by state law. The Youth Transition Center in Great Falls, which provides safe housing for youth who often need a structured environment after being released from Pine Hills, will close. Under the proposal, 11 employees lose their jobs and the closure eliminates one of the few housing options in the state for youth who need sex offender treatment. Those inmates would be placed in a separate section away from secure inmates at Pine Hills, Cotton said. The proposal calls for closing the Lewistown Infirmary, which provides beds for 25 inmates in need of nursing home care. Those inmates would transfer to the Montana State Prison, which would add to the prisons existing overcrowding problems. Reduced care may lead to increased liability for the state, the proposal says. But Cotton said the department is unsure if the same level of care could be provided and is looking for other options. The infirmary is always full, with ever-increasing demand due to Montanas aging prison population. The eight employees could be relocated while the remaining contract employees would lose their jobs, Cotton said. A rush to save money during dire budgetary times could also hinder several efforts to save the department money in the long term. Corrections was in the process of moving offenders through the system by putting extra resources into backlogged cases and providing more treatment options to inmates, but steep reductions will halt several projects. The cuts mean cancelation of a project to turn the boot camp on the Montana State Prison campus into a 60-bed chemical treatment unit. While intended to relieve a backlog of inmates waiting for chemical dependency treatment before being released, the scrapped project will fuel an already overcrowded prison with fewer inmates moving through the system. This situation would compound itself and lead to more inmates in secure care, and more offenders in county jails awaiting placements, which has a significant detrimental effect on DOCs budget, the proposal says. The 2017 Legislature approved six new full-time employees to write pre-sentence investigation reports and established a new law requiring completion in 30 days. Corrections could not afford the hires putting the department in violation of the new state law. In addition, the department would maintain its backlog of reports, delaying cases and keeping offenders in county jails longer. The cuts also eliminate more than $550,000 supporting parolees transitioning into the community, meaning longer stays in secure facilities. Contracts with pre-release centers would drop by 5 percent, which could force the centers to take fewer inmates to minimize costs. Offenders would spend more time in county jails waiting for an opening. *** Litigation and safety concerns Rep. Kim Dudik, D-Missoula, who worked to pass a package of criminal justice reform bills last session, said the cuts make the state vulnerable to a lawsuit and could reverse the progress legislators made over the past several years. Dudik said the state underwent an expensive lawsuit when it was sued in 2002 for not providing sufficient indigent defense services. While the Office of the State Public Defender was created as a compromise after the case was settled, Dudik said it kept the state from being the only party crafting a solution. She expects that kind of legal intervention to happen again if the state were sued for something like overcrowding. Dudik said the 2017 Legislature worked hard to pass bipartisan legislation that provided resources and guidance to mitigate problems like overcrowding and eventually lower the departments exorbitant costs. We did substantial reforms in the way this state hasnt seen for years, she said. I would hope that we would not lose all these reforms because we are in a tight budget situation. Some reductions could jeopardize the safety of department employees. Corrections would eliminate funding used to replace batteries in staff radios. As a result, some guards could be left without a means of communication. A fund used to install new network based security cameras at the Montana State Prison will be eliminated. Only a quarter of the cameras have been installed so far and broken cameras could go without replacement for months, the proposal says. The department didnt respond to questions about whether employees were in situations with similar safety risks in the past. A report from the Legislative Fiscal Division released Friday says some proposed cuts are illegal, which could force the governor to call a special session and if the Legislature chooses not to pass new taxes, would require lawmakers to make statutory changes to approve cuts. The proposed cuts call for reduced payments to regional prisons in Glendive and Great Falls; the Crossroads Correctional Center, Montanas only private prison; and the Missoula Assessment and Sanction Center. Reducing the amount Corrections pays county facilities for holding its offenders is illegal, the report says. Under the best case scenario, this would reduce or eliminate programming in the facilities, threaten officer and inmate safety, dramatically slow inmate movement through the correctional system, compound overcrowding, and put the state at greater risk of being sued, the department wrote in its budget note. Under the worst case scenario, the facilities could opt to end their contracts with the state, forcing the department to find new placements for 1,037 inmates. Tom Green, warden at Dawson County Correctional Facility, said county officials would consider ending their contract with the state to free up bed space for jail commitments from Dawson County or any other county willing to pay for the bed space. We will not ask our taxpayers to subsidize the state of Montana in their shortcomings, Green said. Its just not going to happen. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump and the prime minister of Thailand (all times local): 12:55 p.m. President Donald Trump says it is a great honor to welcome Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to the White House. FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2017, file photo, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha attends the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China. President Donald Trump hosts the Thailand's junta leader at the White House on Oct. 2, a rare instance of a military ruler being feted in Washington before even a nominal return to civilian rule. (Wu Hong/Pool Photo via AP) Trump says the U.S. has a long and storied history with Thailand as the two meet in the Oval office. He says the two countries have a very strong relationship, especially when it comes to trade, that is only getting stronger. Chan-ocha is offering his condolence to the victims of the mass shooting attack in Las Vegas as well as those in Puerto Rica devastated by Hurricane Maria. The visit is a rare instance of a military ruler being honored in Washington before even a nominal return to civilian rule and has outraged human rights groups. The prime minister seized power in a military coup three years ago. __ 12:35 p.m. President Donald Trump is welcoming Thailand's junta leader to the White House. Trump and first lady Melania Trump greeted Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his wife at the White House south portico Monday. The visit was a rare instance of a military ruler being greeted in Washington before even a nominal return to civilian rule. It comes three years after the prime minister seized power in a military coup, and days after the elected leader whose government he ousted was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison. Human rights groups are outraged, but it gives a shot in the arm to U.S. relations with its oldest ally in Asia. Thailand has moved more into China's orbit since Washington scaled back ties because of the military takeover. __ 4:43 a.m. President Donald Trump hosts Thailand's junta leader at the White House on Monday. It's a rare instance of a military ruler being feted in Washington before even a nominal return to civilian rule. The visit of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (prah-YOOT chahn oh-CHAH) comes three years after he seized power in a military coup, and days after the elected leader whose government he ousted was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison. Human rights groups are outraged, but it gives a shot in the arm to U.S. relations with its oldest ally in Asia, which has moved more into China's orbit since Washington scaled back ties because of the military takeover. WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court is leaving in place a ruling by New Jersey's highest court that helped prompt new legislation prohibiting mandatory life without parole for juveniles in the state. The court declined Monday to take up the case involving Ricky Zuber and James Comer, both of whom were convicted of serious crimes as juveniles and sentenced to lengthy prison terms for multiple offenses. The sentencing of Zuber and Comer prompted New Jersey's highest court to rule earlier this year that judges need to take additional care in sentencing juveniles to long prison terms, and said Zuber and Comer should be re-sentenced. Responding to the ruling, state lawmakers passed legislation barring life without parole for juvenile offenders. The legislation means that juveniles convicted of murder in New Jersey now face a minimum of 30 years up to a life sentence, but even those who receive the maximum would be eligible for parole after serving 30 years. New Jersey wanted the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the issue of lengthy sentences that are the equivalent of life without parole. Alexander Shalom, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's New Jersey chapter, said that Monday's decision brings finality to the case and confirms that the men will get re-sentencing hearings. Comer was convicted of participating in four armed robberies in 2000 when he was 17, one of which led to the killing of a victim by an accomplice. He was sentenced to 75 years with no parole eligibility for about 68 years. "He will have an opportunity to show that the person he was when he was 17 is a lot different than the man he is 17 years later," Shalom said of Comer, who the ACLU represents. Zuber is represented by a public defender. Zuber was sentenced for his role in two gang rapes in 1981 when he was 17 to 110 years in prison with 55 years of parole ineligibility. In the state Supreme Court ruling, the New Jersey justices wrote that juveniles should be considered differently than adults at sentencing, particularly if the length of parole ineligibility amounts to a de facto life-without-parole sentence, as in the Zuber and Comer cases. Comer would be 85 before he would be eligible for parole, and Zuber would be in his early 70s. The mass shooting in Las Vegas is the deadliest in modern U.S. history, but is it terrorism? While much will hinge on the motives of a white gunman attacking a mostly-white country music crowd, that uncomfortable question also hits at some of America's most divisive issues: race, religion and politics. The FBI said Monday that the 64-year-old shooter, identified as U.S. citizen Stephen Paddock, had no connection to an international terrorist group. The Islamic State group earlier claimed responsibility, saying Paddock was a recent convert. But beyond the claim, which offered no proof, the shooter's motives are unclear and little was known immediately beyond his name and his choice of target. A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher) "Just because we rush to ascribe motive when the shooter is Muslim doesn't mean we should rush to ascribe motive when the shooter is white," Shadi Hamid, a fellow at the Brookings Institute think tank and author of "Islamic Exceptionalism," wrote in a tweet Monday. Paddock, from Mesquite, Nevada, apparently killed himself as police closed in on his hotel room. The lack of known motive so far clouds whether the shooting meets traditional definitions of terrorism. Those generally include having a political, economic, religious or social goal; and using violence to convey a message to a broader audience than just the victims. The absence of information leaves many to fall back on a debate that has roiled the United States since even before Timothy McVeigh used a truck bomb against a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. McVeigh was convicted not of terrorism, but of using a weapon of mass destruction and of murder for the deaths of eight federal law enforcement officers who died in the blast, which killed a total of 168 people. At well over 50 dead, Sunday's toll surpassed that of the June 2016 shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub, which killed 49 people. The Orlando shooting was carried out by Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old U.S. citizen who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group and was killed by police. Then-President Barack Obama called it "an act of terror and an act of hate." Within hours of the Pulse shooting, then-candidate Donald Trump send a self-congratulatory tweet "for being right on radical Islamic terrorism." On Monday, as president, Trump offered condolences to victims and their families and called the shooting "an act of pure evil." Outside the U.S., recent attacks that have resulted in terrorism charges include the November 2015 Islamic State attacks in Paris, which killed 130, and the 2011 rampage by Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik, a neo-Nazi who gunned down 77 people in 2011. Ahead of Monday's shootings, Randall Law, who wrote "Terrorism: A History," said he believed there is a racial component to the United States' reluctance to clarify or prosecute with domestic terror laws. Many Americans, he said, think only "people with foreign names ... and people with dark skin funding foreign ideologies" would commit such horrific acts. He adds that different branches in the U.S. federal government - from Homeland Security to the FBI to the State Department - have "multiple definitions of terrorism." ''It's a truism that nobody can quite agree on how to define terrorism," he said. Law said there are complex arguments against drawing up a comprehensive definition of domestic terrorism in law. First Amendment concerns arise in legal discussions about making domestic terrorism a crime. Many worry the federal government would criminalize speech, religion or ideology. Regardless, Nevada law has a clear definition of terrorism: "The use or attempted use of sabotage, coercion or violence which is intended to cause great bodily harm or death to the general population." The mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn Goodman, made no reference to that on Monday, simply describing the shooter as "a crazed lunatic, full of hate." Whether a crime is called terrorism has important practical implications, as Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, whose state endured the mass killing at Sandy Hook elementary school, in 2012, pointed out. "Now we're obsessing over whether the (Nevada) carnage was 'terrorism'," he wrote in a tweet. "If we decide it is, we'll mobilize untold resources. If not, nothing." People load into buses destined to different Strip Casinos following a mass shooting at the Route 91 music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center was opened as a place of refuge. (Yasmina Chavez/Las Vegas Sun via AP) Drapes billow out of a broken window at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, on the Las Vegas Strip following a deadly shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. A gunman was found dead inside a hotel room. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill) People walk near the Las Vegas Strip shortly after sunrise Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A deadly shooting occurred Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill) Police vehicles block a street corner after a deadly shooting at a music festival Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill) NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez reacted angrily and threatened to use his position on the Senate finance committee when his entreaties about changing Medicare reimbursement policy were rejected, a former Medicare official testified Monday at Menendez's bribery trial. The New Jersey Democrat didn't mention co-defendant Salomon Melgen in either a 2009 phone call or a 2012 meeting about the dispute, former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services official Jonathan Blum testified. But Blum said it was clear the Florida eye doctor's billing dispute was the issue. An indictment charges Menendez with accepting private jet flights and luxury hotel stays from Melgen in exchange for political influence. Both men have denied the charges and say the gifts stem from their longtime friendship, which extends back to the early 1990s. While Menendez has claimed in court filings that he sought out then-Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius - who attended the 2012 meeting - because of inconsistencies in Medicare billing practices, prosecutors allege he was acting solely on Melgen's behalf. According to Blum, the 2009 phone call started off cordially, but soon turned icy. "As I did not yield on his statement that the agency wasn't being consistent, his tone became more hostile," Blum said. "It was definitely a call that stands out to me. The tone was very angry. I could tell he was not happy with my answers." On cross-examination by Melgen's attorney, Blum added, "I think both of us were frustrated with the call." After the 2012 meeting with Sebelius, Blum said, Menendez said he "was going to use the authority he had as a member of the Senate finance committee" to continue to press the issue. Menendez didn't mention Melgen by name either time, Blum testified, though then-Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid mentioned at the 2012 meeting that he had become familiar with the billing issue after talking to Melgen. Blum added that unlike other queries from members of Congress, no other doctors or other potentially affected stakeholders were mentioned in the conversations. Last week, former Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, who led a Senate health committee at the time, testified Menendez set up a meeting between him and Melgen about the Medicare billing issue in 2011 but that he didn't offer assistance. Melgen eventually paid back $8.9 million to Medicare in the dispute. In a separate case not involving Menendez, Melgen was convicted in Florida in April on multiple counts of health care fraud, submitting false claims and falsifying patients' records. Sentencing in that case was postponed until after the current trial concludes. BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Russia on Monday started delivering six MiG-29 fighter jets to Serbia, part of Moscow's promised military hardware that could worsen tensions in the war-weary Balkans. Two of the warplanes were transported, disassembled, on a Russian cargo plane that landed at a military airport near Belgrade on Monday afternoon. All six are to arrive by Oct. 20, when Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is expected in the Serbian capital. Moscow is handing over the MiGs for free, but it's estimated the overhaul of the secondhand aircraft will cost Serbia some 200 million euros ($235 million.) FILE - In this April 6, 2016 file photo, Yugoslav-made Galeb-4 (Seagull-4) multi-purpose jet stands on the tarmac at the military airport Batajnica, near Belgrade, Serbia. Russia has started the delivery of six MiG-29 fighter jets to Serbia in what could worsen tensions with neighboring states and trigger an arms race in the war-weary Balkan region. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File) Russia has also promised the delivery of 30 battle tanks and 30 armored vehicles to Serbia, which was at war with its neighbors Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s during the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Monday that in addition to the jets, the country will boost its anti-aircraft defense. It has been negotiating the purchase of the Russian-made S-300 systems. "We will continue to protect our freedom and independence," Vucic said. Serbia has been on the path to join the European Union, but under political and propaganda pressure from Moscow it has steadily slid toward the Kremlin and its goal of keeping Balkan countries out of NATO and other Western bodies. Serbia is a member of the Western military alliance's Partnership for Peace program. A NATO official, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity, said "the defense equipment which NATO's partners procure is a sovereign choice for those countries. There are no restrictions imposed by NATO." Serbia's archrival, NATO-member Croatia, is shopping for a new fighter to replace the nation's aging MiG-21s. The two leading contenders for the planned contract reportedly include Israeli version of American Lockheed Martin's F-16 and Swedish Saab's JAS-39 Gripen. ___ AP Writer Lorne Cook contributed from Brussels. FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2010 file photo, a Serbian army Gazelle helicopter flies as a MiG 29 fighter pass overhead during exercise at a ceremony marking Statehood Day and Army Day, in Belgrade, Serbia. Russia has started the delivery of six MiG-29 fighter jets to Serbia in what could worsen tensions with neighboring states and trigger an arms race in the war-weary Balkan region. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, File) DAKAR, Senegal (AP) - Cameroon's military is heavily deployed in the country's English-speaking regions and few people are on the streets after 17 people were killed over the weekend in protests in support of independence for some Anglophone regions. Tens of thousands of English-speaking Cameroonians hoisted flags Sunday to show they want independence from the country's French-speaking majority, defying security forces and bans for gathering in some areas. Security forces shot dead 17 people in Cameroon during gatherings on the 56th anniversary of the incorporation of Anglophone regions into Cameroon, according to Amnesty International. The group expressed worry over the government's "ongoing campaign to silence any form of dissent." The Northwest province on Friday banned meetings and travel for 72 hours. The rights group called on security forces to cease unnecessary violence and called on protesters to be peaceful. "The worrying escalation witnessed over the weekend has now reached a crisis point. The use of excessive force to silence protests in the west and southwest regions of Cameroon is not the solution," said Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International's Lake Chad researcher. "All deaths related to these protests must be promptly and effectively investigated." Local media had reported at least a dozen people killed in the English-speaking northwest and southwest regions, some shot by military helicopters, while at least 40 others were arrested, according to local media. Six soldiers were attacked and severely wounded, reports said. No declarations were made by separatists, but protests have been ongoing since late last year with the country's English-speaking population saying it is discriminated against by the majority French-speaking population. Social media platforms such as WhatsApp have been blocked in the English-speaking regions and residents express fear about restrictions imposed by the government. In Yaounde and all major towns in the French-speaking regions, political parties, lawmakers and the government organized rallies denouncing the separatist groups. Lawmaker Tabe Tando from Cameroon's English-speaking southwest region read a declaration at a mass rally organized by Cameroon's senate and national assembly in Yaounde. "The members of parliament condemn outright any action aimed at destabilizing our beloved and beautiful country. Reaffirm their attachment to a Cameroon which is one and indivisible as enshrined in the constitution. Express their brotherly solidarity to the populations of the northwest and southwest regions, victims of the unscrupulous acts of enemies of the fatherland and peace," it said. Some experts called for dialogue to avoid ongoing tensions. Schools have been closed in the northwest and southwest since November when lawyers and teachers called for a strike to stop what they believe is the overuse of the French language. Violence erupted when separatists joined in and started asking for complete independence. President Paul Biya has made clear he is not open for any negotiations on separate states. NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A Haitian man who federal prosecutors say was the ringleader of an auto insurance scam involving as many as 50 staged car crashes in southeastern Connecticut has been sentenced to four years in prison. Mackenzy Noze was sentenced Monday in federal court in New Haven. A jury convicted him of nine fraud charges in June. Officials say Noze is a lawful permanent U.S. resident who had been living in Norwich and will face immigration proceedings after serving his prison time. Authorities say the 33-year-old Noze and a handful of other people staged the crashes in several towns between 2011 and 2014. After each accident, they fraudulently collected $6,500 to $30,000 in insurance payouts. Noze's lawyer did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Six other people involved in the scam were convicted. COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A man serving a 112-year prison sentence for raping an Ohio college student will be resentenced after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to decide whether the sentence was too long. Defendant Brandon Moore was tried as an adult and convicted by a jury in the 2001 armed kidnapping, robbery and gang rape of a 22-year-old Youngstown State University student. The 31-year-old Moore was 15 at the time of the crime. The Ohio Supreme Court overturned the sentence in December, saying it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the state's appeal. Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Ralph Rivera called the ruling disappointing. Rachel Bloomekatz, Moore's attorney, said the state Supreme Court properly determined children should be given a chance for release based on rehabilitation. CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) - A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general on Monday called on Congress to allow Medicaid funding to flow to larger drug treatment centers, potentially expanding the number of addicts who can get help as the nation grapples with an overdose crisis. The government lawyers for 38 states and Washington, D.C., sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting the change. They say it's needed to help fight the opioid abuse and overdose epidemic, which continues to claim tens of thousands of lives a year. "If we have any hope of reversing this terrible trend, we need every treatment option at our disposal," said the letter, which was spearheaded by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican, and Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro, a Democrat. They noted that people "often develop opioid addiction through prescribed medical usage, with no intent by the patient to engage in abusive behavior, simply because of the addictive properties of opioid drugs." One study found that drug overdoses killed up to 65,000 Americans last year. The majority of them involved opioids such as prescription painkillers and heroin, as well as related synthetic drugs such as fentanyl. The attorneys general want Congress to allow Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for low-income people, to pay for drug treatment in centers with more than 16 beds. Only smaller facilities qualify for payments under a 1965 law that was intended to break up large, state-run mental asylums. The change would allow Medicaid-covered addiction treatment at larger centers, which the attorneys general say would open up more beds. The proposed change would retain the cap on the size of mental health institutions that can qualify for payments. Monday's letter was the latest step taken by attorneys general from both parties in response to the opioid epidemic. In September, several announced subpoenas and other requests for information in an investigation of companies that make and distribute powerful prescription opioid painkillers, possibly setting the stage for a major nationwide settlement. They also called on health insurers to cover an array of pain treatments other than opioids. Several states and cities, including Washington and Seattle, have sued drug companies, blaming the opioid epidemic for ravaging communities. 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 NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Monday: Nordstrom Inc., down $2.97 to $44.18 The New York Post said a deal to sell the department store to the Nordstrom family is in trouble. Halliburton Co., down 50 cents to $45.53 Energy companies slumped as oil prices fell sharply. General Motors Co., up $1.77 to $42.15 The Detroit automaker is promising more than 20 electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2023. Dentsply Sirona Inc., down $3.48 to $56.33 The dental equipment company replaced its top three executives. Synchronoss Technologies Inc., up $1.36 to $10.69 The mobile services company said it is still exploring options and talking to potential buyers after negotiations with Siris Capital ended. MGM Resorts International Inc., down $1.82 to $30.77 At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 were injured at a shooting at MGM's Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Trinity Industries Inc., up $3.41 to $35.31 The industrial manufacturer said an appeals court reversed a $682 million fraud judgment against it. American International Group Inc., up 47 cents to $61.86 Federal regulators voted to ease oversight of the insurer, which was subjected to tougher regulation after its near collapse in 2008. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let it proceed with an execution of a man convicted of killing his estranged wife and father-in-law in 1993. The Alabama attorney general asked the nation's high court to overturn an injunction blocking Thursday's execution of Jeffery Lynn Borden, 56. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday stayed Borden's execution through Oct. 19. Borden is challenging the humaneness of Alabama's three-drug lethal injection combination that begins with the use of the sedative midazolam. The three-judge panel ruled that there should be time to let Borden's challenge play out in court. This undated photo provided by Alabama Department of Corrections shows Alabama inmate Jeffery Borden in Atmore, Ala. Borden is facing execution by lethal injection after being convicted of killing his wife and father-in-law during a 1993 Christmas Eve gathering. The Alabama attorney general on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, asked the nation's high court to overturn an injunction blocking Thursday's execution of Borden. (Alabama Department of Corrections, via AP) "We recently held that there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether Alabama's current method of execution violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment and remanded for further proceedings," the panel wrote. State lawyers argued that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed several executions to proceed using the same drug protocol, and that Borden "presents nothing new that would justify a stay." "Alabama has already carried out four executions using this protocol," lawyers for the state wrote in the Monday court filing. "Any questions concerning three-drug midazolam protocols have effectively been answered." Borden was convicted of killing his wife, Cheryl Borden, and her father, Roland Harris, during a Christmas Eve gathering in Jefferson County in 1993. The state attorney general's office wrote that trial testimony showed Borden, who was separated from his wife, brought their three children to the gathering at Harris' house after a weeklong visit. As his estranged wife was helping to move the children's belongings, Jeffrey Borden shot her in thehe back of the head in front of their kids, state attorneys said. An attorney for Borden said previously that the Alabama inmate is mentally ill after a head injury and had a diminished ability to control himself or understand the full implications of his actions. WASHINGTON (AP) - If President Donald Trump and his top diplomat are playing "good cop, bad cop" with North Korea, it doesn't appear to be working: Entreaties of diplomacy aren't yielding meaningful talks, and military threats aren't scaring Pyongyang into halting its nuclear advance. Instead, America's mixed messaging may be increasing the risk of miscalculation by the isolated, communist government, which lacks insight into the Trump administration's thinking and could mistake brinkmanship for an overt threat of war. Although American military action could invite devastating consequences for its South Korean ally, Trump has threatened to use military options and offered sometimes apocalyptic visions of the North unless it ends its nuclear and missile testing. North Korea has launched intercontinental ballistic missiles that can potentially strike the U.S. mainland and a month ago conducted its largest ever underground nuclear explosion. It has threatened to explode another nuclear bomb above the Pacific. FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2017, file photoSecretary of State Rex Tillerson pauses at the State Department in Washington. If President Donald Trump and hTillerson are playing "good cop, bad cop" with North Korea, it doesn't appear to be working: Entreaties of diplomacy aren't yielding meaningful talks and military threats aren't scaring Pyongyang into halting its nuclear advance. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Amid all the threats, however, some level of U.S.-North Korean diplomacy has survived. Speaking last weekend in China, which wants Washington to resume a full dialogue with Pyongyang, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson fueled speculation of a new diplomatic effort, acknowledging open channels of communications between the two countries. Hours later, Trump chimed in. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump tweeted Sunday, once again deploying his pet name for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" The jarring tweet fueled a narrative that Trump was undermining his chief interlocutor with the world. But officials close to Tillerson insisted that the pair were on the same page, and that Trump was merely sending a message to North Korea that it would have to show up in serious negotiating mood to any diplomatic talks. Whatever the intent, confusion was the result. And on Monday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders compounded the impression that the White House views diplomacy as a dead end. The only conversations the U.S. is willing to have with North Korea are about the fate of the three Americans being held there, she said. Back-channel talks in the spring led to the release of college student Otto Warmbier, who returned home with brain damage and died days later. "Beyond that there will be no conversations with North Korea at this time," Sanders said. While the episode represents the latest example of the president appearing to step on his top diplomat's toes, even if advertently, perhaps more concerning for the United States is the lack of results Trump's hardnosed approach or Tillerson's softer tack have produced. Trump's "bad cop" may have galvanized action by China, the North's traditional diplomatic protector and main trading partner, which has agreed to tough new U.N. sanctions on its ally's primary sources of revenue for weapons development. The measures include banning imports of North Korean coal, iron ore and textiles, and new limits on crucial oil and petroleum supplies. But none of the economic pressure has forced Kim's government to even slow down a nuclear acceleration that could soon put the entire United States within range. Tillerson's "good cop" has hardly fared better. The North professes to not even be interested in diplomacy unless the U.S. abandons its "hostile policy." During his meetings in Beijing, the Chinese assured Tillerson they would implement the U.N. sanctions and press their local authorities near North Korea's border to stamp out banned activity, according to a State Department official familiar with the talks. China wants the North to halt its nuclear and missile tests, however remote the goal, and is eyeing the winter months when there are no U.S.-South Korean military exercises that often exacerbate tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity. Even that appears a remote possibility. Analysts and even governments in between say Trump is making it increasingly difficult for the North to have confidence in any diplomatic effort with the United States, given his threats to demolish a 2-year-old arms control pact with Iran. And back-channel diplomacy between senior U.S. and North Korean diplomats - primarily aimed at freeing detained Americans - hasn't helped repair any trust. In fact, the two sides have barely communicated for the last couple of weeks and there is no sign North Korean wants to re-engage, according to officials with knowledge of the discussions. The "good cop, bad cop" ploy is unlikely to work, said Evans Revere, a former State Department official who took part in unofficial talks in Switzerland with North Korean officials last month. The North, he said, wants only to speak to Washington as "one nuclear power to another." WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission despite Democratic complaints that Ajit Pai will undermine net neutrality. The vote was 52-41 on Monday for Pai, who has served as a commissioner at the FCC since 2012. The nomination turned into a proxy fight over Obama-era net neutrality rules established in 2015. Those rules mean service providers such as Verizon, AT&T and Comcast must treat all content the same and not favor their own websites and apps over others, such as a movie streaming service. Pai has tried to roll the rules back, drawing more than 22 million comments and ire from Democrats. FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2015, file photo, Federal Communication Commission commissioner Ajit Pai speaks during an open hearing and vote on net neutrality in Washington. The Senate has confirmed Pai, President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, despite Democratic complaints that he will undermine net neutrality. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., warned that Pai "will do an enormous amount of damage to one of the foundational principles of the internet - net neutrality." "'Net neutrality' means that after you have paid your internet access fee, you get to go where you want, when you want, and how you want," Wyden said. "We are not going to have some kind of information aristocracy in our society whereby the affluent have access to some kind of technological treasure trove, and folks who do not have much are kind of stuck with what almost resembles dial-up." The rules, opposed by Republicans and telecom companies and supported by consumer advocacy groups in Washington and internet companies, were upheld by a federal appeals court in 2016. In defense of Pai, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi said he is "working to establish the light-touch regulatory framework that allowed the internet to become the marvel of the modern age, keeping it free and open for consumers, innovators and providers. Internet technology will continue to thrive if we keep the heavy hand of government away from the controls." Democrats also are wary of Pai loosening media regulations that cap how many TV stations one company can own, especially as the agency evaluates conservative-leaning broadcaster Sinclair's proposed takeover of Tribune Media. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., praised Pai as an "important partner in my quest to bring rural America in much of my state online." Four Democrats joined Republicans in backing the nomination - Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Gary Peters of Michigan, Jon Tester of Montana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. ___ Associated Press writer Tali Arbel in New York contributed to this report. LAS VEGAS (AP) - It was a night of music that turned to chaos and horror. There were 22,000 country music fans at the outdoor Las Vegas concert when the shooting started. Police said 59 people died and 527 were injured when a shooter rained gunfire down on them from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino hotel. Here are the accounts of survivors and their loved ones, interviewed by The Associated Press. 'THEY'RE SHOOTING AT US' James Cabrera, said he and his wife, Sonia Pena, were at home in La Habra, California, when their 21-year-old daughter Jessica called them from the musical festival shortly after 10 p.m. desperately recounting her horror as gunfire rang out in the background. Sean Bean, of Livermore, Calif., hugs his girlfriend Katie Kavetski, of San Leandro, Calif., left, as Travis Reed, of Mexico, Ind., right, comforts his girlfriend Anna Travnicek, second from right, on Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. All attended a concert where a mass shooting occurred on Sunday. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) "We could hear everything that was going on there, the gunfire, the people yelling," Cabrera said Monday morning as he sat at a slot machine in the Mandalay Bay Hotel. "We knew we had to get there right away." "She was screaming into the phone," said Cabrera of his daughter. She yelled, 'They're shooting at us, people are falling, I love you!'" Their hearts racing, the couple jumped in their car and got to Las Vegas as fast as they could, in less than four hours, Cabrera said. "That was the fastest drive in history from California to Vegas," he said. Later, the couple learned that their daughter and a friend she went with who went with to the festival had escaped unharmed and hid inside a bathroom at the MGM Hotel until morning. "But the people right next to them who they made friends with were shot," the father said. Cabrera said he knew few other details because his daughter remained too upset to talk about what happened. The couple said they would stay until they were sure their daughter was calm enough to drive back home. CRACKING NOISE "I'm OK, Grandma," Brandon Clack said into his cellphone Monday, seeking to reassure relatives who knew he had planned to attend the country music festival in Las Vegas that was targeted by a gunman the night before. Clack said he looked forward to the event, buying tickets and booking his hotel months in advance with a group of about 30 people from his Orange County community of La Palma, California, including his girlfriend, his brother, his mother and her boyfriend. He and his relatives escaped injury, but Clack said he learned later that a young man traveling with his group had been shot and killed. Clack, a 21-year-old community college student, said he and his 20-year-old girlfriend Leslie Reynoso were sitting up near the front facing the stage when the shooting started, a kind of "cracking noise" off to the right. "We thought it was some kind of fireworks," Clack said. But the performers rushed off the stage, "and we could tell it was multiple, multiple rounds. It went on for a long time, like 10 minutes." As the gunfire kept up, he said, hundreds of people rushed toward the doors. Soon rivers of screaming people were running in horror, searching for safety in the towering hotels around them, Clack said. "People started running over to the Tropicana, so we decided to run over to the MGM," he said. Members of the group, including Clack's mother and brother, were staying at a number of hotels near the concert venue. Clack and Reynoso said they hunkered down with family friends at a room at the MGM for about four hours until authorities declared the situation clear. WHEN THE MUSIC STOPPED, SHE KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG Marie Langer, 16, of Las Vegas, got to the concert early so she could get to the very front of the venue, closest to the stage. When the shooting started, she thought it was fireworks at first. But after the performance was suddenly halted, she realized there was something wrong. "A few seconds after that (Jason Aldean) just ran off the stage, and that is when everyone realized that it wasn't fireworks," she said. "That's when everyone started yelling, 'get down, get down!' " She said that one of the crew members for the event went onto the stage and tapped on several different microphones in an effort to warn the crowd to evacuate, but none of them worked. "He would tap on it and would try to talk. But it didn't work," she said. Langer said she was among the last people out of the venue because she was so close to the front stage. She could hear shots ringing out and people screaming the entire time she was trying to flee the scene. When she finally reached a back fence, there were police that told her she had to get to the other side. But the fence had points on the top of metal bars designed to prevent people from getting over it. Her and her friends climbed over the fence anyway. "We had no other option," she said. Langer said she had some scrapes and bruises but was not seriously injured. CHAOS IN THE DARK Like many people attending the musical festival, 33-year-old Jason Sorenson said he initially thought the shooter's gunfire was the sound of fireworks from another venue nearby. "We couldn't tell where it was coming from," said Sorenson of Newport Beach, California, who had traveled to Las Vegas with his girlfriend for the event. But it became clear that someone was firing at the crowd after singer Jason Aldean abruptly dropped his guitar and fled the stage in terror. "It was horrific, we just starting running and we saw people with blood all over their shirts," he said. "I was bracing himself to be hit by a bullet any second." Sorenson said the couple had initially been sitting down on the ground in the middle facing the stage. But by coincidence had moved up to a safer VIP area they had access to before the shooting began. "If we had stayed in the front we would have been in the direct line of fire," said Sorenson. Between each round of gunfire, he said, the crowd surged, everyone running as far as they could get until a gun was reloaded or replaced with another weapon and the shooting resumed. "We ran and ducked, ran and ducked until we got as far away as we could," he said. Sorenson ended up in an elevator with a young woman who had been separated from her fiance. She invited people to stay in her room until the danger had subsided. "It wasn't clear how it bad it was, however, (until) this morning when we walked through the hotel lobby and saw the news on the TVs saying that more than 50 people had died," said Sorenson. MOMENTS OF KINDNESS Amid the terror, one couple found moments of kindness, and possibly a guardian angel. Andrew Akiyoshi, who captured the gunfire on a cellphone video he provided to The Associated Press, attended the concert with friend Loreli Sakach. The couple from Orange County, California, recalled the panic and masses of people fleeing in fear but also the humanity of bystanders. "We ended up in the MGM, and a couple was nice enough to buy us some drinks," Akiyoshi said. Then a rumor swept the crowd at the MGM of another shooter. It turned out to be false. But "all of a sudden a mass of people, probably a hundred people are running again," Sakach said. They sought refuge in a restaurant where "they were kind and gave us tablecloths to wear and food and everybody was so nice and kind." As they exited one of the hotels, Sakach spotted a penny and picked it up. "You know, angels must have been looking out over us," said Akiyoshi, whose late father always believed in picking up pennies for good luck. Sakach said she handed the penny to Akiyoshi, and he said, "Thanks Dad." ___ For complete coverage of the Las Vegas shooting, click here: -https://apnews.com/tag/LasVegasmassshooting Two women embrace outside of a family assistance center Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. The makeshift center was set up to help families and others reconnect after the mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher) Ruth Davidson has attacked the Tory psychodrama surrounding speculation over Theresa Mays leadership. The Scottish Conservative leader who has support within the party as a potential rival to Boris Johnson in any contest to replace Mrs May insisted she was not standing for the role. Her comments came as Cabinet minister David Mundell mocked Foreign Secretary Mr Johnsons electoral appeal in Scotland. Scottish Secretary David Mundell At a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Ms Davidson was asked to rule out standing as leader of the UK party and was pushed on whether the Prime Minister should be prepared to sack Mr Johnson over his interventions on Brexit. Im not standing to be the leader of the party, Ms Davidson said. I dont sit in the House of Commons, lets get back to why we are here to talk about the real issues and not about the Tory psychodrama. The revival of the Scottish Tories under Ms Davidsons leadership has made her a popular figure, with activists queuing to get into the event. Packed @ScotTories fringe event with @RuthDavidsonMSP at #CPC17, corridor room only for @PM4EastRen speech pic.twitter.com/WxZtvEtn0n CFoI (@CFoI) October 1, 2017 Party grandee Lord Heseltine used a Sky News interview to praise Ms Davidson and attack Mr Johnson, while former minister Edwina Currie stood up at the fringe event and urged the Scottish leadership to take over Conservative Central Office. Asked about Mr Johnsons potential appeal to young voters, Scottish Secretary Mr Mundell poked fun at his fellow Cabinet minister, saying: Im sure none of my colleagues indulge in hypothetical questions although I do recall Boris Johnson once stood for rector of Edinburgh University and you can look at the result of that. In the 2006 vote, Mr Johnson finished third in the race for the Edinburgh University post. Ms Davidson said the Scottish party was in great heart after boosting the number of Tory MPs from one to 13 at the election. Everything from apprenticeships to taxation to young people's mental health services discussed. Vibrant Q&A from activists and media. pic.twitter.com/S2iwbZODkI Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonPC) October 1, 2017 That meant the Conservatives faced down the SNPs threat of a second referendum adding: We are a party on the up in Scotland, we have got a clear purpose and that is to use the next three years to show that we can be the next government in Scotland. Mr Mundell said it was the Tory success in Scotland that ensured Jeremy Corbyn is not prime minister right now. Those 12 gains ensured that the Conservatives are still in government in the UK, thats why that result was so important for everyone across the UK, he said. East Renfrewshire MP Paul Masterton warned that the party needed to change to attract younger voters. Great speech at @ScotTories Conference fringe by @PM4EastRen nailing the need to talk positively about aspiration #CPC17 pic.twitter.com/5PHShVEzIv Callum Laidlaw (@CLaidlaw) October 1, 2017 One of the reasons that young people abandoned us south of the border more so than north of the border is that people now think that they will be more prosperous and more secure under a hard-left Labour government than under a Conservative government, he said. That shouldnt worry us, that should shame us and we have to have really serious discussions as a party about how we got to this point. Abuse aimed at Prince Harry and a tolerance of anti-Semitism shows Labour is Britains nasty party, Damian Green has claimed. The First Secretary of State also told Labours Twitter trolls to stick in their timeline details about Tory successes as he attempted to rally Conservative members following their general election woes. His criticism came after the Labour Party conference where a row over anti-Semitism emerged and Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad also reportedly questioned Harrys ability to fly a helicopter, when addressing a fringe event. Prince Harry's ability to fly a helicopter was questioned by Labour MP Emma Dent Coad (Nathan Denette/AP) Speaking at the Conservative conference in Manchester, Mr Green said the party must make a positive difference in peoples daily lives alongside dealing with Brexit. He also pointed to the devastating Grenfell Tower fire as an example of a community which had been let down over the years by state institutions, and highlighting the need to tackle injustice and discrimination. Mr Green claimed his partys policies showed they care and act, adding: Thats why were in government today and thats why we need to remain in government. Green: We have a purpose & a mission to bring to British people the Conservative principles of fairness, opportunity, pride...& openness CCHQ Press (@CCHQPress) October 1, 2017 Not just for the good but negative reason that the alternative is a front operation for the hard left a Labour party with MPs that abuse Prince Harry for his service in Afghanistan, and that tolerates an undercurrent of anti-Semitism. There was a time when we needed to be warned about sounding nasty. To applause, Mr Green added: I tell you, there is still a nasty party in Britain in 2017 and its called the Labour Party. .@DamianGreen: When Labour tries to paint us as unfeeling and hard-hearted, they are Britains biggest purveyor of fake news #CPC17 CCHQ Press (@CCHQPress) October 1, 2017 Mr Green earlier took aim at Labour leader Jeremy Corbyns stance on Brexit, saying he was in favour of staying in the EU on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He also said: Lets be clear that when the Labour Party tries to paint us as unfeeling and hard-hearted, they are Britains biggest purveyor of fake news. .@DamianGreen: We remain the only party committed to home ownership for the many, and we will demonstrate that in the coming years #CPC17 CCHQ Press (@CCHQPress) October 1, 2017 We are helping more people into work than ever, allowing more mental health trained professionals to treat patients than ever, seeing more children from disadvantaged backgrounds go to university than ever. Thats modern compassionate Conservatism in action, and Labours Twitter trolls can go and stick that in their timeline. Pope Francis urged Europeans not to fear unity and to put aside nationalistic and other self-interests. Francis did not mention the police violence during Catalonias independence referendum Sunday on his visit to Bologna in Italy. But in a speech to university students, Francis recalled that the European Union was borne out of the ashes of war to guarantee peace. Pope Francis urges Europeans not to be afraid of unity In our times we need to pray so much Christians, Jews, and Muslims for peace. Pope Francis (@Pontifex) September 30, 2017 He warned that conflicts and other interests were now threatening those founding ideals. Francis said: Dont be afraid of unity! May special interests and nationalism not render the courageous dreams of the founders of the European Union in vain. The Vatican has indicated it does not support the independence effort in Catalonia, denying a Catalan clerics claim earlier that it would immediately recognise an independent Catalonia. Spains bishops have urged dialogue in the dispute. Enable became the latest champion racehorse to carry the colours of owner Khalid Abdullah after the likes of Dancing Brave and Frankel when she blitzed the opposition in the Qatar Prix de lArc de Triomphe at Chantilly. No British-trained filly had previously won Europes premier middle-distance prize, but the John Gosden-trained Enable showed she is something very special by making racing history as she took her Group One haul to five. The winner of the English, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks and the King George, Enable saved her best performance of the year for the last, with her tactical speed meaning Frankie Dettori could place her just where he wanted and make his move at the right time for him. Enable storms clear under Frankie Dettori at Chantilly Leading inside the two-furlong marker, Enable pulled away to score by two and a half lengths from Cloth Of Stars, with Ulysses third. She's done it! Enable wins the 2017 Prix de l'Arc De Triomphe - Watch all the reaction on @ITV right now pic.twitter.com/eJ1NMaqe36 ITV Racing (@itvracing) October 1, 2017 Dettori, winning the Arc for an unprecedented fifth time, said: I was very confident all weekshe is a tremendous filly. I said to John last week she is the best she has ever been. To keep this filly at 100 per cent all year is fantastic. Gosden said: Shes very special and she was well positioned by Frankie in order to show her sheer class and brilliance. I think it would be wrong to run her again this year. I think to go to the Breeders Cup would be wrong, too hard on the filly. If shes in great form we should consider next year. She has only raced for 10 months of her life. There would be every reason to keep her in training next year as a four-year-old, particularly with the new Longchamp opening. That would be exciting to try to win the Arc on two different tracks. Aidan OBrien was out of luck in the Arc after saddling the first three home 12 months ago, but still took his Group One tally for the year to 22 with a double through Happily in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Rhododendron in the Prix de lOpera. Charlie Hills Battaash bounced back from defeat in the Nunthorpe Stakes to lead his rivals a merry dance in the Prix de lAbbaye, romping home by four lengths from last years winner Marsha in the Prix de lAbbaye. Aclaim capped an unforgettable weekend for trainer Martyn Meade, lifting the Prix de la Foret the day after Dolphin Vista took the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket. In doing so he ensured all six Group One events on the card went to British- or Irish-trained runners. Oisin Murphy gives Foret hero Aclaim a kiss @fgchantilly - a first Group One winner for @MMeadeRacing #QPAT pic.twitter.com/U6xdHgm7j2 PA Racing (@PAracing) October 1, 2017 Performance of the day Enable had to put up a career-best performance to win the Prix de lArc de Triomphe, despite having carried all before her this season, and she did just that, assuring her place as one of the best fillies ever to grace a racecourse. Ride of the day Jim Crowley had arguably the toughest job of the day in keeping a lid on Battaash and trying to ensure the brilliant but quirky sprinter conserved his energy for the Prix de lAbbaye, after he blew it in the preliminaries in the Nunthorpe at York. Quote of the day Frankie Dettori after winning his fifth Arc on Enable: Shes amazing and is an absolute freak. I love her. Police investigating the murder of detective Leanne McKie have appealed for anyone who saw her car the day before her death to come forward. Ms McKie, a 39-year-old serving officer from Wilmslow, was found dead in a lake in Poynton Park, Cheshire, on Friday. Anyone who saw the mother-of-threes car in the area that day or the day before is asked to contact Cheshire Police. Plea for information over car owned by murdered detective Detective Inspector Adam Waller said: As part of our ongoing inquiries Im appealing for information from the public to help establish Leannes movements in the hours leading up to her death. Im keen to hear from anyone who believes that that may have seen Leannes red Mini. Id like to hear from anyone with any information, and particularly anyone with any dashcam footage. Police are looking for information about her red Mini, registration number DA12 DFO, during the afternoon of Thursday September 28 into the early hours of Friday September 29. Detectives believe the car may have been driving along the A523 between Poynton and Poynton Park or the A5149, Chester Road, toward Wilmslow between the hours of 11.30pm on Thursday 28 September and 3.30am on Friday September 29 2017. Id also urge anyone who was in the area around Poynton Park during this time period and believe that they may have witnessed anything suspicious or unusual, no matter how small, to get in touch, Mr Waller added. Ms McKie was described as a popular figure who worked tirelessly to provide support and seek justice for victims of sexual crimes. Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, of Greater Manchester Police, said: I would like to offer my most sincere condolences to Leannes family and friends at this devastating time. Rest in peace Leanne McKie "Our thoughts at this difficult time are with Leanne's family, friends and colleagues" pic.twitter.com/WkHnKmbSWO Police Alerts UK (@PoliceAlertsUk) September 29, 2017 My heart particularly goes out to her three young children, who she adored. He added that her colleagues have been left devastated by the news of her tragic death and said she will be sorely missed by everyone she worked with. A 43-year-old man, from Wilmslow, has been arrested in relation to the incident and remains in police custody. Anyone with any information which could assist the investigation is asked to contact Cheshire Police on 101 quoting 93 of 29/9/2017. Information can also be reported anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111. Members of the public with any dashcam or video footage can upload it to the Cheshire Police website via the following link and reference incident 93 of 29/09/17: https://cheshire.police.uk/advice-and-support/roads-and-vehicle-safety/submit-dashcam-footage/ Twelve years ago, my niece, Madison Faith Chatten, died in Glasgow. She was just over a year old. Her father, Aaron (my brother) and her mother, Sheena, were devastated. I was too. I remember Aaron calling me to let me know that his daughter, my niece, had been backed over by another parent at her daycare facility. But it may have been prevented, if only the other parent had been able to see what was behind her vehicle. She was driving a large SUV with a blind zone of more than 20 feet more than enough to hide tiny Madison. Aaron turned his grief into action, working with KidsAndCars.org, a nonprofit that advocates for consumer protections that promote child safety in or around cars. For more than two decades, they have waded through miles of red tape to get our government to act and address dangerous engineering oversights in everything from power windows to gearshifts that cause preventable deaths, to a rear visibility standard. Aaron was proud to work with them, traveling across the country, educating people and our government about the dangers children face in and around motor vehicles and fighting to increase rear visibility to prevent small children, like Madison, from being backed over. He began every speech with I dont want to be here, and everyone knew why. He honored the memory of Madison by working to ensure no other family has to go through with what his did. His work paid off: In 2008, Congress passed a bill requiring a rear visibility standard so people no longer had to back up blindly which would help prevent children from being backed over. This was a tremendous victory that Aaron would have been proud to see implemented. Unfortunately, he died before the law took effect, but it never would have become a reality without him. Working on this issue gave Aaron an inside view into how Washington works. He learned that protecting our children requires working long after a law is passed to ensure that federal agencies implement the law. In the case of the rear visibility law, the government just kept delaying action, forcing KidsAndCars.org to sue the Department of Transportation to release the standard. The government is already far too sluggish to make even basic safety updates. It took 16 years for the government to finally require seat belts, and a full 21 years to require airbags. A new bill in Congress would slow the government to a standstill, preventing the kind of safety measure that Aaron fought for from ever becoming a reality. Under the guise of reform, a bill called the Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA) would add a tangled web of red tape to implementing lifesaving protections. It will, quite simply, make it much more difficult to protect our health and safety. It puts consumer protections across the board at risk, from vehicle safety to bans on dangerous chemicals, to workers protections and food safety. Aarons legacy was to protect other children and families from unimaginable tragedy, but this bill could undo the protections he worked for. I urge Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines to reject the RAA. Congress should be doing whatever we can to protect our kids not paralyzing the process with red tape. Madison and Aarons memories deserve better. Cleaners on rail operator Southeastern are to stage a 24-hour strike in a dispute over pay and working conditions. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union employed by contractor Wettons will walk out from 8.30pm on Thursday October 19. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: Rail companies who are making a fortune out of Britains privatised railways think nothing of treating their cleaning staff like dirt. It is disgusting and the travelling public will know full well just what an essential service the cleaning team plays on Southeastern. Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT (Jonathan Brady/PA) Southeastern and Wettons want to lock in low pay levels for cleaners and continue to refusal to upgrade working conditions to a humane and acceptable level. Britain will be able to export more pigs ears after Brexit, the Environment Secretary has claimed. Michael Gove said leaving the European Union would enable UK farmers to do away with ear tags and introduce their own traceability methods on livestock. He told a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester that sales of unpierced pigs ears could increase following Brexit, meaning there would be more bacon, pork and ham for British consumers. Michael Gove said sales of unpierced pigs' ears could increase following Brexit (Owen Humphreys/PA) Mr Gove said exporting was part of making sure that we can provide more for our home market, and that he had been talking to farmers in Northern Ireland about tastes for different cuts of pig. There are some cuts of the animal that are hugely popular with the British consumer, others a little less. But some of those cuts are hugely popular elsewhere, say, for example, pigs ears are a delicacy in China. He said one of the reasons why Britain has not been as successful as we might have been at selling pigs ears to China is that EU rules dictate that pigs, like all livestock, have ear tags. Mr Gove, who had a bacon sandwich at the breakfast discussion, said Britain could have its own traceability methods outside the EU, and said: And as a result we can have pigs ears that dont need to be pierced. Brexit could mean more bacon, pork and ham for British consumers, says Michael Gove (Ben Birchall/PA) Unpierced pigs ears are worth more. We will have a fair, competitive advantage we can sell more pigs ears to China and that means there can be more bacon and pork and ham from the other joints of the animal that are popularly sold here. So by selling more sows ears to China we can buy more silk purses for British farmers. Britains economic future will remain closely linked with the EU following Brexit, Chancellor Philip Hammond has declared. In his keynote speech to the Conservative conference in Manchester, Mr Hammond stressed the need for careful and cautious negotiation of Britains EU withdrawal in order to ensure that it does not reduce trade with European neighbours. His comments put him at odds with hardline Brexiteers who have urged Theresa May to be ready to take the UK out of the EU without a divorce deal, and expose his differences with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who has stressed the importance of a clean break with the remaining 27-nation bloc. (Peter Byrne/PA) Mr Hammond acknowledged that the process of negotiating Brexit had created uncertainty and slowed business investment and economic growth. And he accepted that the Government needs to tackle the problem of low pay and listen to the concerns expressed by many young voters who have turned to Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party. .@PhilipHammondUK: We will deliver on our promise to the next generation. We will do it together. And we will do it for Britain #CPC17 CCHQ Press (@CCHQPress) October 2, 2017 But he delivered a stern broadside against Mr Corbyns Marxist policies, warning they threatened not only our economic progress but our freedom as well. .@PhilipHammondUK: The hard-left proclaim their ambition to demolish our successful modern market economy 1/2 #CPC17 CCHQ Press (@CCHQPress) October 2, 2017 .@PhilipHammondUK: And replace it with a back-to-the-future socialist fantasy with extra debt for the next generation to pay off 2/2 #CPC17 CCHQ Press (@CCHQPress) October 2, 2017 .@PhilipHammondUK: Jeremy Corbyn is a clear and present threat to our prosperity #CPC17 CCHQ Press (@CCHQPress) October 2, 2017 Denouncing the Labour leader as a clear and present danger to our economic prosperity, he said he relished the coming debate with dinosaurs who he branded a political version of Jurassic Park, telling Mr Corbyn: Bring it on. A wicked and cynical Mr Corbyn was offering superficially simple solutions to complex challenges, but his policies would inevitably lead us back to where Britain was in the late 1970s when tax rates reached as high as 98%, the Chancellor warned. He urged Conservative activists to take on the argument voiced at Labours conference in Brighton last week that the capitalist economic model which has held sway since the time of Margaret Thatcher had failed. Contrary to the claims of shadow chancellor John McDonnell, the free market economy remained the best system yet designed for making people steadily better off and Britains economy was fundamentally strong, said Mr Hammond. Philip Hammond talks about history, but Tories have borrowed more than any Labour gov and created a low-wage economy. #failingthemany #CPC17 pic.twitter.com/PzY3RzaQQm Labour Press (@labourpress) October 2, 2017 But he acknowledged the damage inflicted by the tortuous process of Brexit. We face an immediate challenge as we move ahead, he told Tory activists. The process of negotiating our exit from the EU has created uncertainty, so investment has slowed as businesses wait for clarity. So before we can reap the benefits of our strong economic fundamentals and the investment we are making in the future, we must remove this uncertainty. (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Mr Hammond, who campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum, said he respected the result and accepted the Governments job was now to implement the decision of the voters. But he added: They didnt vote to get poorer or to reduce trade with our closest neighbours and biggest trading partners. The British people have chosen independence over integration and as we implement their decision, we must use that independence in our nations best interest to protect our jobs, to strengthen our economy and to safeguard our prosperity. Philip Hammond The Chancellor said: Our economic future will remain closely linked with the EU for many good reasons, but our political future will be our own. Our EU partners can go their way, we wish them well. But we will not join them on a voyage to ever closer union. Ubers northern Europe chief has quit her post for a new and exciting role elsewhere, as the company is locked in a licensing battle with Transport for London. Jo Bertram announced on Monday that she will be leaving the taxi app after four years with the company. She said in a statement: Since I became regional general manager for northern Europe, Ive been proud to lead what is now a team of 300 people across 10 countries. Jo Bertram, the Regional General Manager for Uber Northern Europe. (Laura Dale/PA) Ive learned a lot during this rapid expansion and, in every market we entered, you could quickly see the impact we had on the way people travelled and lived their lives. She added: Over the course of this year, Ive been reflecting on these incredible last four years and what might come next for me. Ive also discussed this with Pierre (Gore-Coty, Ubers Europe, Middle East and Africa chief) and Im proud that weve built this business into more than we ever thought possible. And Ive realised that taking a nascent company and helping it scale into a major international operation is what Ive enjoyed most. An exciting new opportunity has arisen that will allow me to apply what Ive learnt here and Ill be able to share more details with you soon. Providing an innovative service must not be at the expense of Londoners safety. My response to @TfL's Uber decision. https://t.co/iEUal9VLU3 pic.twitter.com/B9V0mEKrWr Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) September 22, 2017 A spokesman for the company denied the move was driven by Ubers current licensing issues, but Ms Bertram said: Given some of our current challenges, Im also convinced that now is the right time to have a change of face, and to hand over to someone who will be here for the long haul and take us into the next phase. A Companies House filing showed that Ms Bertram resigned her post on August 30, three weeks before the surprise decision by TfL not to renew its private hire licence. The news comes the day before Ubers chief executive is due to visit the capital for a meeting with the transport commissioner to discuss the companys future in London. Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of the taxi app, will meet Mike Brown of Transport for London (TfL) as Uber seeks to continue operating in the city. Thank you to the over 720K people who have asked London to keep Uber by signing the petition: https://t.co/ZwJjFonQjD Uber (@Uber) September 24, 2017 Mr Khosrowshahi vowed to make things right with London after the decision not to renew its licence over public safety and security implications. Issues flagged by TfL include Ubers approach to reporting serious criminal offences, how drivers medical certificates are obtained and how criminal record checks are carried out. It also criticised the company for its use of technology which allegedly helps it to evade law enforcement officials. Uber has said it will launch an appeal against the decision. It can continue to operate during that process. You have my commitment that @Uber will work with #London to make things right and keep this great global city moving safely. pic.twitter.com/MZbDS6fYQL dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) September 25, 2017 Mr Khosrowshahi took over at Uber last month after predecessor Travis Kalanick resigned following a series of scandals. In an open letter published after TfLs decision he apologised for the mistakes weve made and accepted that the company had got things wrong. Uber enables users to book cars using their smartphones and is available in more than 40 towns and cities across the UK. Some 3.5 million passengers and 40,000 drivers use the app in London. Here is what we know so far about the Las Vegas music festival shooting: :: A gunman, named by police as Stephen Paddock, opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Festival during a performance by country music star Jason Aldean on Sunday night. :: At least 59 people were killed and more than 527 injured in the deadliest gun massacre in modern US history. :: An off-duty police officer was among those killed, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. Shooting timeline :: Paddock, 64, sent bullets raining into the crowd of more than 22,000 concert-goers, from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. :: Swat teams who stormed the gunmans room found he had killed himself and discovered as many as 23 firearms. :: Islamic State, which has been known to exaggerate and make false declarations, claimed responsibility for the attack. A graphic released Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 by Amaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, claiming responsibility for the mass shooting in Las Vegas :: But the FBI said authorities investigating the shooting had found no connection with an international terrorist group. :: The killers brother Eric Paddock told reporters he was completely dumbfounded by the shooting and he could not understand what had happened. :: He said Paddock was a multi-millionaire property developer and gambling fan with no political or religious affiliation. The killer's brother Eric Paddock :: US records show gunman Paddock lived in a three-year-old, 396,000 US dollar (297,554) two-bedroom home in the tiny desert community of Mesquite, 80 miles (129km) north-east of Las Vegas, near the Arizona state border with Marilou Danley, 62. Stephen Paddock's home :: He is the son of Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, a bank robber who was once on the FBIs ten most wanted list. :: Police say they believe Paddock was a lone wolf. :: US President Donald Trump described the mass shooting as an act of pure evil and said he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet emergency services and relatives of the victims. :: Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the completely senseless and cowardly attack and said UK authorities were working to establish whether any British nationals were victims. The UKs thoughts are with the victims and the emergency services responding to the appalling attack in Las Vegas. Theresa May (@theresa_may) October 2, 2017 :: The Queen said she and the Duke of Edinburgh were saddened to hear of the atrocity, adding: Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and those who have been injured. A message from Her Majesty The Queen to the President of the United States of America. https://t.co/3IYaXyW93m The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) October 2, 2017 :: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department assistant sheriff Todd Fasulo told a media briefing that officers had recovered 19 firearms at Paddocks home in Mesquite, Nevada. :: He said there was no information or evidence to support theories there was more than one assailant, saying: We believe there was one shooter and that was Stephen Paddock. :: The assistant sheriff revealed one security guard was shot on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. By Ana Nicolaci da Costa WELLINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The New Zealand First Party, which emerged as a kingmaker after New Zealand's election in September, will begin preliminary talks with both the ruling National Party and separately with the Labour Party this week, according to a media release. The statement comes after Prime Minister Bill English told media on Monday that he had called New Zealand First leader Winston Peters but he had not picked up. Both parties have since said the two leaders had spoken by telephone. While English's National Party won a 10-point lead over the opposition Labour Party in the Sept. 23 election, neither won enough seats to govern alone and both have been left courting the outspoken Peters to form a government. English's National Party secured 58 seats, only just short of the 61 seats needed to form a government in New Zealand's proportional representation system. Labour won 45 seats, New Zealand First won nine and the Green Party seven. "Preliminary talks will proceed this week when arrangements suitable to both parties are concluded," the New Zealand First Party said on its website. It is a familiar situation for Peters. The veteran politician is holding the balance of power for a third time, having previously joined coalitions led by both National and Labour. While his policies are thought to have more in common with those of Labour - both want to curb immigration - some analysts say he could opt for National as it would be a simpler coalition of just two parties. Labour, however, would have to form a three-way coalition which would include the Green Party, with which it already has a working agreement. There was speculation over the weekend that the National Party could sound out the Greens, but English said he was undecided. "I think the Greens would need to show that there is a serious possibility of negotiation," English told local media. "So far Mr. Peters has indicated that he is willing and able to negotiate, including with National, the Greens haven't indicated that so far...the Greens are pretty committed to working with Labour alone." James Shaw, the leader of the Green Party, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Labour leader Jacinda Ardern, who boosted her party's chances after taking over as leader in August, said she had spoken to Peters earlier and confirmed that their teams were looking to meet this week. "We will look to hold a meeting between our respective teams later this week, while we wait for special votes to be counted," Ardern said in an emailed statement. A final tally of the results is due on Oct. 7, when "special votes", which make up 15 percent of the total and include overseas votes, are released. (Reporting by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) By Anna Pujol-Mazzini YEREVAN, Oct 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When she was 14, Lilit Martirosyan decided she wanted to start earning money for herself. But finding a normal job was complicated - employers didn't like the way she looked. So, like many transgender women in Armenia, she started selling her body to older men instead. During her years as a sex worker, Martirosyan, 26, was beaten and threatened with a knife several times. Eventually, after eleven years of sex work, she decided to stop selling herself and start helping people like her instead. "Transgender persons face discrimination and violence in the family, at school; they usually leave school at a very early stage," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in her office in Armenia's capital, Yerevan. "Those who are very strong continue their studies at university, but there is more discrimination there - so they leave university as well," she added, revealing tattoos on her arms as she fiddled with her long, blonde hair. "That's why they are engaged in sex work: they don't have enough education to work and be competent in the labour market." To curb that trend, activists are organising workshops to teach transgender people sewing and makeup, and help them find employment in the fashion industry, which they say is one of the most inclusive in the Armenian job market. NIGHT OWLS Armenia is one of the least LGBT-friendly countries in Europe, with only Russia and Azerbaijan ranked worse for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, according to advocacy group ILGA-Europe. In a 2015 survey by PINK Armenia, an NGO that helps the LGBT community, 91 percent of Armenians said they did not know anyone who was gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex. Politicians have repeatedly come out against LGBT people, saying they threaten Armenia's cultural identity. After Yerevan's only LGBT-friendly bar was burnt down in 2012, Eduard Sharmazanov, a spokesman for Armenia's ruling party, called the attack "right and justified" as supporters of LGBT rights were "defaming the Armenian national identity". While gay, lesbian and bisexual people can hide their sexual orientation, transgender Armenians say their physical appearance makes them recognisable and more likely to encounter discrimination, bullying and physical attacks. Many are afraid to go out by day and cannot find education or work. So they rely on sex work in the evenings to survive. Drawing on her experience, Martirosyan founded Right Side last year, which she says is the only organisation in the Caucasus region focusing on transgender issues. The group campaigns for equal rights for people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, it says. STITCHES AND LIPSTICK In one corner of the organisation's large community space in Yerevan, fashion designer Agnes Malkhasyan is showing her pupils how to sew stitches on a piece of red material using a machine. Armed with measuring tape and white chalk, she draws patterns on the fabric, marking the spots she will have to sew over, as her pupils look on attentively. Malkhasyan is keen to help fellow transgender people learn sewing - a job where one can easily make money without having to leave the house and risk abuse. She says attitudes are improving. "Years ago, if they saw a transgender person on the streets people would scream: 'he's a boy,' would discriminate or beat them. Now they are a little more indifferent, more accepting." Still, she admits she is sometimes scared of going outside, and has not told her employer about her gender identity. Over a period of three months, pupils will learn how to make their own clothes. At the end of the course, they will be briefed on how to handle job interviews and put in touch with transgender-friendly employers. The sewing classes - along with makeup and IT courses - are the first of their kind in the country. Martirosyan, who heads Right Side, is working on a map of potential future employers for her trainees. So far, only two beauty and fashion companies have agreed to employ transgender people. While the employment prospects might be bleak, trainees say the workshops provide a safe space. "It was one of my dreams to be able to sew and now I feel that it's getting real," Kira Schwarz, who identifies as gender-queer, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation after finishing her stitches. "Here, people can be free as they are and no one will judge or criticise. Here you can be yourself." (Reporting by Anna Pujol-Mazzini @annapmzn, Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org) MANCHESTER, England, Oct 2 (Reuters) - British transport minister Chris Grayling said on Monday he had spoken to other airlines about hiring those employees who are losing their jobs after Monarch Airlines went into administration overnight. Describing it as a very difficult day for employees, Grayling told BBC television that he had "already spoken to other airlines who think they are a first rate team of people working for Monarch and are looking to try and hire some of them." "This is a really difficult day for all those people (customers). My heart goes out to all those who are going to be disappointed this morning. This is obviously something that is beyond the control of government, we are doing our best to make sure that those people who are stranded and can't get back otherwise will be able to do so." (Reporting by William James, writing by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Kate Holton) LISBON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Portugal's ruling Socialists emerged as the winners in Sunday's local elections, raising their national share of the vote in a strong endorsement of Prime Minister Antonio Costa. The Socialists grabbed the most town halls in their history in a triumph for Costa, who grabbed power two years ago together with the hard left Communists and Left Bloc and has delivered an increasingly robust economy after Portugal's 2011-14 debt crisis. Many of the austerity policies of the previous government have been turned around, mainly by reversing tax hikes for lower salaries to give the Portuguese more disposable income. The Socialists have also continued to reduce the budget deficit through tight public spending. They won 39 percent of the national vote, up from 32.4 percent at the national election in 2015. The Social Democrats obtained 28 percent of the vote on Sunday. "The Socialist Party has had the best result in its history," Costa told supporters on Sunday night. The Socialists won 158 town halls. The Social Democrats, who ran together with their rightist CDS-PP allies in some town halls, won around 100. The Socialists formed a governing alliance in 2015 with the Communists and Left Bloc, breaking with Portuguese political tradition to use their combined parliamentary majority to oust the Social Democrats who won the most votes at the election. Analysts warned at the time that the government could be unstable because of policy differences with the two left-wing parties. But Sunday's national result showed both the Communists and Left Bloc losing votes, putting the Socialists close to obtaining a majority without those parties. The poor showing for the Social Democrats could lead former prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho to step down from his party's leadership. He said he would "carefully reflect" whether to stand as a candidate for party leader early next year. (Reporting by Axel Bugge, editing by Ed Osmond) By George Obulutsa NAIROBI, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Police fired teargas at opposition supporters who rallied in Kenya's capital Nairobi on Monday calling for the sacking of election board officials they blame for August's botched presidential vote. Officers also clashed with crowds and fired teargas in the western opposition stronghold of Kisumu, forcing businesses to close, a Reuters witness said. Local media reported scattered protests in other western towns and the port city of Mombasa. Kenya's Supreme Court voided the Aug. 8 election citing irregularities, without finding any individual at the election board responsible. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who won the August vote only to have his victory annulled, has accused the Supreme Court of bringing the country close to "judicial chaos". Opposition leader Raila Odinga and his supporters have turned their ire on the election board, accusing it of wrongly handing the August vote to Kenyatta. Supporters from both sides have traded insults and accusations, raising fears tensions could boil over into ethnic violence, as in 2007 when 1,200 people were killed after a disputed election. In the capital of the East African economic powerhouse, police fired rounds of teargas at small groups over several hours in at least three locations in the downtown business district, a Reuters witness said. After a meeting with the election board, British and U.S. diplomats condemned "inflammatory rhetoric" by politicians and said it undermined the voting authorities' preparations for the new election. In the first signal that Western governments might take concrete action against hate speech, a British diplomat told reporters: "Anyone who is found to be inciting or engaging in violence must be held accountable ... the UK reserves right to take appropriate action which may include refusing or revoking visas." Kenyatta and Odinga have been sparring over proposed changes to the election system to prevent the Supreme Court from annulling the results again, raising doubts about the date of the re-run, currently scheduled for Oct. 26. Kenyatta said on Monday opposition supporters should accept the Supreme Court's timeline for the new poll. "You can't have your cake and eat it," he said at an event in Nairobi. "If you celebrated the court's decision to repeat the election you must also respect the court's decision to have (the election board) preside over the repeat election within 60 days." (Additional reporting by Katharine Houreld and John Ndiso in Nairobi; Writing by Maggie Fick and Clement Uwiringiyimana; Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Heavens) When St. Vincent de Paul Society moved three blocks west and two blocks south in downtown Billings, the charity office brought along all its services to the poor of our community: Rent, utility and transportation assistance, vouchers to shop in the thrift store, an open door for anyone who needs to get out of the weather, have lunch, use the restroom, do a load of laundry or receive spiritual counseling. The Catholic charity also refurbishes computers for needy students, gives baby clothing to new parents, and provides a representative payee program to help people with disabilities pay their bills on time. The new charity office at 3005 First Ave. S., still partners with RiverStones Health Care for the Homeless, Job Service and the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Work Detail for nonviolent offenders. We can alter our services to meet the needs of people coming in for services, Executive Director Vicki Massie told The Gazette. Its all about helping your fellow man. We hire the unhirable, we hire the homeless, Massie said. We hope they use this as a stepping stone to something better. Whats new at St. Vincent de Paul is having twice as much space to welcome those in need. The brick, two-story, 98-year-old Crane Building was remodeled with private donations and a city grant of $350,000 in downtown Tax Increment Financing District funds. With elevators serving the entire building, the first-floor charity office and the future second-floor thrift store will be easy to access and parking will be easier with 70 off-street spaces. The City Council and downtown businesses recognize St. Vincent de Paul Society as a long-time contributor to community health and wellbeing. That fact was evident at the grand opening event last week, where the crowd included city and county officials, downtown business leaders and leaders of Montana Rescue Mission and Family Service Inc. I want to end the perception that charity agencies dont work together, Massie told The Gazette while greeting guests. We dont duplicate services. I dont want anyone to fall through the cracks. Massie said St. Vincent de Paul works with Montana Rescue Mission. Family Service Inc. and St. Vincent de Paul will soon be setting up the annual Christmas store with gifts donated to the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots campaign. This years store for parents of needy kids will be in the MetraPark Expo Center, and many volunteers will be required. Massie herself started with St. Vincent de Paul as a volunteer. A professional graphic artist, she volunteered to redesign the organizations website. Five years ago, she was hired as the volunteer coordinator, and recently, she was named executive director. For information on volunteering at the Christmas toy store or for other St. Vincent de Paul projects, call 252-1855. Another way to help is by donating goods to the thrift store and shopping there. Store proceeds help support the charity office, which receives no government funds for its operations. Thrift store hours are 9-5 Monday through Friday and 9-4 on Saturday. The store on Montana Avenue remains open, but the plan is to move it by November to the new building on First Avenue South. As St. Vincent de Paul puts a large, long-vacant building to good use for the community, its properties on Montana Avenue are being sold. New owners and business will move into those spots on a street that boasts art galleries, fine dining and microbreweries. Congratulations to St. Vincent de Paul Society, its staff, leadership and the many people who made it possible to enhance services to needy folks while also making way for new downtown development. o Projects from across five continents each to receive up to USD 100,000 in funding o Grant recipients may also get chance to showcase solutions at Expo 2020 Dubai o Third cycle of the grant programme open for submissions until 2 December 2017 DUBAI, 2 October 2017 - Creative solutions such as apps to help mothers in disadvantaged areas get health guidance quickly for their children and kites that generate electricity in remote locations are among the latest projects to have received Expo Live grants from organisers of the next World Expo, held in Dubai in 2020. A total of 16 Global Innovators from 14 countries are to receive funding from Expo Lives flagship Innovation Impact Grant Programme after pitching their solutions to an evaluation committee in Dubai in August. The recipients - from five continents - operate in an array of fields, including healthcare, education, renewable energy, fintech, waste management and sustainability, and join Expo Lives community of other Global Innovators who have already received support from the programme. Among the latest recipients is a Nigerian doctor who co-launched a mobile app and website, OMOMI, to help save childrens lives after watching a baby unnecessarily die in an emergency room. The OMOMI application helps expectant mothers and parents of under-five-year-olds monitor the wellbeing of their children from home, which can be life-saving for families living in remote areas or those who cannot afford to attend a medical facility. Since it was launched in Benin City in 2015, more than 30,000 parents have used the platform. The grant from the Expo Live programme will help it reach even more families. Expo 2020 Dubais Expo Live programme has an allocation of USD 100 million to back projects such as OMOMI that offer creative solutions to pressing challenges that impact peoples lives, or help preserve the world - or both. Organisers are looking for projects that would not reach their full potential without its support. The programme will grant up to USD 100,000 per initiative to be made available incrementally depending on progress and results. Yousuf Caires, Vice President, Expo Live, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: "We see innovation not as the process of generating ideas, but as the relentless commitment to solving a problem worth solving. "It is the Global Innovators character, their drive and their reasons for choosing this path - the path of a change-maker - that earns them a place in our Expo Live family and the opportunity to inspire millions at Expo 2020 Dubai. "I would like to congratulate all the recipients and we look forward to working with them to develop their innovative solutions further." World Expos, which trace their origins back to the 1851 Great Exhibition in London, have always celebrated the latest in innovation and technology, from the x-ray machine to television and the Eiffel Tower. The Expo Live programme was launched in January 2017, following a pilot phase last year. It aims to stimulate innovation that has a social benefit by supporting projects with funding, business guidance and promotion. Successful applicants will also have the chance to showcase their work to many millions of visitors to Expo 2020 Dubai. To date, the programme has attracted more than 1,100 applicants from 107 countries around the world. Following a rigorous evaluation process, 16 grantees from 14 countries have joined Expo Lives community of Global Innovators. With these new members from the second cycle, the community now comprises 45 Expo Live Global Innovators from 30 countries. The third cycle of the programme is now open and will receive creative and innovative solutions to real life challenges by 2 December. Yousuf Caires added: "We want to prove that innovation can come from anywhere, to everyone. If you have a solution that improves lives, we are here to listen and we are here to welcome you to our community of innovators." Among the other latest grant recipients is the Afghan Institute of Learning, an initiative that is using mobile phones in the classroom to educate and empower illiterate women in Afghanistan. The course teaches women and older girls how to read and write with the help of mobile phones rather than pen and paper, as well as education on topics such as health and hygiene, values and human rights. Expo Lives grant will help the institute hold more literacy classes in rural and urban areas. Dr Sakena Yacoobi, founder and CEO of the Afghan Institute of Learning, said: "My mandate is to make sure there is no girl without education in Afghanistan. Even after 25 years, its still not easy to persuade people that a little investment into education goes a long way. Despite the difficulty, I remain convinced and committed to this cause, especially because now many of the students have grown to become valuable members of society. "Through the Expo Live grant, I hope to reach more women and communities, and I want to change peoples perception about women and education." The full list of the latest Innovation Impact Grant Programme recipients are: o Afghan Institute of Learning (Afghanistan) The institute is using mobile phones in the classroom to educate and empower illiterate women. The course teaches women and older girls how to read and write with the help of mobile phones rather than pen and paper, as well as education on topics such as health and hygiene, values and human rights. Expo Lives grant will help the institute hold more literacy classes in rural and urban areas. www.afghaninstituteoflearning.org o Atollo (Canada) The firm produces Talking Stickers, an initiative that has taken a generations-old activity and turned it into a `smart early language development tool for children in locations where it is difficult to access education. The project currently runs in India, however Atollo will use the Expo Live grant to test and develop business and distribution models further, before expanding to other countries - including Lebanon, Mozambique, Afghanistan and Chile. www.attollose.com o The Plastic Bank (Canada) The Plastic Bank has established convenience stores in Haiti that accept plastic waste as currency, turning the product into what it calls Social Plastic. The plastic is then sorted, recycled and sold to companies to use in their manufacturing instead of new plastics. The Expo Live grant will help promote the concept in other parts of the world. https://plasticbank.org o Be My Eyes (Denmark) This start-up uses mobile technology to make the world more accessible for the blind and visually impaired. The Be My Eyes app connects a blind person with a sighted volunteer, who describes what they see through live streamed video. Through the Expo Live grant, Be My Eyes plans to increase the number of users and volunteers, and expand the complexity and diversity of features. http://bemyeyes.com o GoRaymi (Ecuador) GoRaymi is a digital platform that connects tourists with off-the-beaten-track experiences in Ecuador, helping less prominent, regional destinations to benefit from the countrys tourism industry. Expo Lives grant will help GoRaymi to improve technical aspects of the platform, as well as create enticing content about the destinations to attract a larger user base. www.goraymi.com o Paptic (Finland) Finnish start-up Paptic Ltd impressed the Expo Live team with its innovative, wood-based alternative - PAPTIC - to plastic packaging and bags, which aims to reduce the amount of plastic waste that reaches the oceans. The funding will allow the firm to develop new applications for PAPTIC beyond its use in carrier bags, and it will also help it take the product to other markets. www.paptic.com o CoolCrop (India) CoolCrop has developed a prototype low-cost cold room for the storage of perishables, powered by solar energy that can be easily deployed to small-hold farmer cooperatives. It allows farmers to store produce for up to six months, depending on the item, allowing them to sell their goods at the best price and to build a more sustainable livelihood. The grant will help CoolCrop develop more cold rooms and make it available in more locations across India. https://twitter.com/coolcroptech o Kabadiwalla Connect (India) The mission of Kabadiwalla Connect is to divert urban India's waste away from landfill, helping to cut CO2 emissions as well as increase income opportunities for small scrap dealers (kabadiwallas). It uses technology to link key individuals that make up the informal waste ecosystem in Chennai, such as small waste pickers, small aggregators and material recovery facilities. The Expo Live grant will help fund the schemes and support more kabadiwallas. www.kabadiwallaconnect.in o Kitenergy Srl (Italy) The firm is using kites to capture `high altitude wind to provide low-cost power in remote areas that have limited or no access to electricity. Expo Lives grant will allow Kitenergy to conduct field tests on a remote island in Cape Verde, giving 200 residents access to electricity and powering a desalination plant. www.kitenergy.net o CheeksUp (Latvia) The CheeksUp face motion game combines 3D recognition with real-time motion tracking to motivate patients to learn to use their tongue and lips correctly for speech, as well as gamification to ensure the programme is enjoyable. It can be used by speech therapists, myofunctional therapists and physiotherapists. The funding will allow CheeksUp to help more children fast-track their therapy, as well as develop and implement new game elements, animations and graphics. www.cheeksup.com o MOBicure (Nigeria) The companys OMOMI application helps expectant mothers and parents of under-five-year-olds monitor the wellbeing of their children from home, which can be life-saving for families living in remote areas or who cannot afford to attend a medical facility. Since it was launched in Benin City in 2015, more than 30,000 parents have used the platform. The funding from Expo Live will help it reach even more families. http://mobicure.biz o Liter of Light (Philippines) My Shelter Foundation Inc has developed the `Liter of Light - an efficient and cost-effective solar lamp that uses immediately available materials, including plastic bottles and inexpensive, basic electrical components, to produce a reliable source of light. Expo Lives support means that 20 permanent training centres can be built in the Philippines to boost production of the lamps. www.LiterofLight.org o CaribePay (St Kitts and Nevis) This fintech start-up provides a 100 percent cashless payment service that allows transactions anywhere, anytime, without electrical power or internet access. It utilises cashcards, payment terminals and apps and is designed so that neither the seller nor the buyer needs a bank account. Funding from Expo Live will allow CaribePay to expand into other Caribbean countries, and later into Africa, the Middle East and Asia. www.caribepay.com o NOW Money (UAE) NOW Money provides a mobile app for low income workers who struggle to access banking services. The app allows them to manage their finances as well as send remittances home with the touch of a button. Thanks to a grant from Expo Live, NOW Money will be able to expand its scheme to help low-income workers in other Gulf countries. www.nowmoney.me o Ideabatic (UK) The firm has developed a low-cost, battery-powered carrier that provides constant, cool storage for vaccines to prevent them from being damaged due to heat exposure in transit. Expo Lives grant will help Ideabatic to fine tune prototypes and test them in the field. www.ideabatic.com o KinTrans Inc (U.S.) KinTrans Inc is using technology to translate sign language accents between deaf and hearing people in real-time to help them better communicate. The funding will allow KinTrans to regionalise American sign language in the U.S. and the UAE, and Arabic sign language in the UAE by collecting user data. www.kintrans.com Those interested in applying for funding for a project that generates social or environmental value and is in line with Expo 2020 Dubais subthemes of Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability can find out more about Expo Live and apply at www.expo2020dubai.ae/expo-live. -ENDS- Content provided by Expo2020 Dubai, via Reuters. COLOMBO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - A Sri Lankan court remanded a Buddhist monk in custody on Monday after charging him with leading hardline nationalists in a protest against 31 Rohingya Muslim asylum seekers last week, forcing the refugees to flee a U.N. safe house, police said. The police have so far remanded seven people on several charges including creating communal disharmony, attacking police and damaging property, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara told Reuters. The monk, Akmeemana Dayarathana, and colleagues are accused of storming into the safe house chanting "Rohingyas are terrorists". President Maithripala Sirisena's government condemned the attack on the refugees as "shameful" and urged police to hunt down those responsible. The refugees, who were arrested in April along with two suspected Indian traffickers in a boat in Sri Lankan seas, were taken into protective custody and then to a detention centre outside Colombo following the protest on Tuesday. Tension between Myanmar's majority Buddhists and the Rohingya, most of whom are denied citizenship, has exploded several times over the past few years as old enmities, and Buddhist nationalism, surfaced with the end of decades of harsh military rule. There has been an exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine state since Aug. 25, when attacks by Rohingya militants triggered a military crackdown that the United Nations has branded "ethnic cleansing". (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Writing by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Nick Macfie) BEIRUT, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers attacked a police station in the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, killing a number of civilians and policemen, state television said, citing the interior ministry. The pro-Damascus al-Mayadeen TV channel said four militants carried out the attack, killing more than 10 people. Sate media said earlier that a "terrorist explosion" struck the al-Midan neighbourhood in Damascus. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. (Reporting by Ellen Francis; Editing by Robin Pomeroy) By Katie Paul and Stephen Kalin RIYADH, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian women were given the right to drive last week after nearly three decades of campaigning, but some activists say that breakthrough has come with a price: their silence. While the royal decree ending the ban on women driving has been hailed as proof of a new progressive trend in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom, some women say they have been cowed into not speaking about it - a charge the government denies. Four women who previously participated in protests against the ban told Reuters they had received phone calls instructing them not to comment on the decree. Two women said around 25 activists had received such calls. As Saudi Arabia pushes through reforms over the objections of conservatives, the leadership is trying to modernise without losing the support of its traditional base. Some Islamist clerics seen by the government as dabbling in politics have been detained after an apparent crackdown on potential opponents of the kingdom's rulers last month which now appears to have paved the way for lifting the driving ban. Activists and analysts say the government is also keen to avoid rewarding activism, which is forbidden in the absolute monarchy, and seems determined not to antagonise religious sensitivities. But seemingly inviolable Saudi norms are being turned on their head, with some religious clerics who supported policies such as bans on women driving and gender mixing now apparently changing their minds. The changes suggest a possible shift in the power balance towards the Al Saud ruling family away from the Wahhabi clerical establishment. WHAT MATTERS IS THE WIN In the first protest against the driving ban, in 1990, 47 women drove around central Riyadh for nearly an hour until they were detained by the religious police, then fired from their jobs and barred from travelling. One participant, a university professor now in her 60s, recalls that act of defiance which sparked a new era in the Saudi women's rights movement. "On the first loop, we were not caught. But the second time, we were caught. I think somebody called. I remember one man, he was in front of us in his car. He went like this," she said, wagging her finger. "That meant he didn't want us to drive." More protests followed, but the government has not acknowledged the activists' efforts since ending the ban. Activists who said they had received phone calls ordering them to remain silent spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals. "He was very straightforward. He said you are ordered not to comment on the women driving issue or procedures will be taken against you. You are held accountable for anything posted after this call," one of the callers said. Another woman, Tamador al-Yami, apologised on Twitter for being unable to comment "for reasons beyond my control". "Everybody knows.. everybody who follows.. we don't need to say it out loud :)" she wrote. "& it doesn't matter, what matters is the win, and we won". The government says the allegations are false and cites women who have spoken out, with op-eds in the New York Times and CNN. "No one has been censored or warned about expressing their views," an Information Ministry statement said. "Saudi Arabia welcomes both the enormous interest and contributions to the debate, especially those from our own citizens." THE KING WINS Ending the driving ban is part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 reform programme aimed at diversifying the economy away from oil and opening up Saudis' cloistered lifestyles. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 32, is the face of that change. Many young Saudis regard his recent ascent to power as proof their generation is taking a central place in running a country whose patriarchal traditions have for decades made power the province of the old and blocked women's progress. Yet the crown prince has been noticeably absent from the rollout of the new driving policy, which was presented to the media in Washington rather than Riyadh. That may reflect the riskiness of the move, which was welcomed by many but met with confusion and outrage by others. Saudi media has tagged news about the ban: "The king wins with women driving". Police however issued two arrest warrants over the weekend for men who posted threats against women drivers. Activist Hala al-Dosari, who lives in Boston, said lifting the ban had also been intended to silence women activists. "The monarchy wants to be central for the Saudi state inside and outside as the owners of any reform. They are not willing to have their position contested," she said. "How can they convince the world they are the patrons of modernisation when the women of Saudi Arabia are challenging those notions?" Eman al-Nafjan, who participated in a driving protest in 2011, said she was relieved the ban had been lifted but frustrated that the role of women activists had been overlooked. "Were our efforts the reason the ban was lifted? Or was it a decision that had been made regardless of our struggles?" she wrote the day after the royal decree. The professor who took part in the 1990 protest said her family had not expressed strong opinions about her activism all those years ago, but one relative now thinks she is a celebrity. "My niece thinks I'm someone special," she said. "She says, 'Oh, auntie! What you did!'" (Writing by Stephen Kalin; editing by Giles Elgood) LUSAKA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Zambia has awarded Austria's Kapsch TrafficCom AG a joint venture contract to design, install and operate a road traffic surveillance system to curb accidents, the company said on Monday. The number of vehicles on Zambia's roads almost tripled to 700,000 in the 10 years to 2016, increasing road fatalities in the southern African nation, it said in a statement. "In 2016 alone, 2,206 people died in traffic related accidents," the statement said, prompting the government to significantly increase road safety and traffic management. The 50:50 joint venture with Zambia's Lamise Trading Ltd would also be responsible for motor vehicle speed enforcement, vehicle inspection and vehicle registration, it said. "This scope of service will be realized step by step during a ramp-up phase as a part of a 17-year contract," Kapsch said. The project was expected to create 500 jobs and boost the economy through improved transportation, it said. Revenues in the first three years of operation were projected to be in the range of 90 million euros ($106 million)to 110 million euros, it said. The contract starts immediately. ($1 = 0.8519 euros) (Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Mark Potter) By Victoria Bryan BERLIN, Oct 2 (Reuters) - First Alitalia, then Air Berlin and now Monarch Airlines: Europe's struggling carriers are falling like dominoes and the region's biggest airlines are set to chalk up bigger profits. The collapse of airlines gives rivals a chance to snap up planes, prized airport slots and much-needed pilots. It takes airplane seats out of the market, allowing airlines still flying to nudge prices higher and lift some of the pressure on yields that has plagued the industry for several years. The shake-out this year is also seen as the start of more far-reaching industry consolidation that is expected to whittle the number of European airlines down to numbers more on a par with North America - putting the survivors in a position to boost profitability to levels seen across the Atlantic. "The rationalisation of financially inefficient capacity is good for the industry as a whole," Liberum analyst Gerald Khoo said. Expectations that the challenging environment for large, traditional European airlines is starting to ease has helped their shares outperform rivals and other sectors. So far in 2017, shares in Germany's Lufthansa shares are up 98 percent, Air France-KLM has surged 163 percent and British Airways parent IAG is 38 percent higher. Those airlines have started to talk about a turnaround in ticket price trends as fewer seats are added to the market, and the collapse of a third carrier this year is likely to help even more. HSBC analyst Andrew Lobbenberg said the European short-haul market would grow just 3.2 percent this winter after stripping out Monarch, Air Berlin, Alitalia and Ryanair's cancelled flights. Previously, growth had been expected to be 7.3 percent. "The present circumstances will be trying for Monarch staff, management and passengers, let alone former shareholders. Yet its exit will be supportive for industry unit revenues," Lobbenberg wrote in a note. MARKET SHARE Despite efforts by Brussels to liberalise Europe's airline industry 25 years ago it has lagged North America in terms of consolidation, where nine major airlines became five in the decade to 2015. While Lufthansa and IAG have driven some consolidation, the top four airlines in Europe only account for 49 percent of the short-haul market whereas the top four in North America control 70 percent. The different market dynamic is reflected in profitability. North American carriers are expected to post a net profit margin of 7.2 percent this year compared with 3.7 percent in Europe, industry body IATA said in June. European rules restricting non-EU investors to owning less than 50 percent of carriers have limited the pool of investors willing to take part in consolidation. Lower oil prices since the collapse in crude in 2014 have also helped shield some financially weaker airlines in Europe. Still, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary predicts there will only be only four or five airline groups in Europe in five years - Ryanair, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, IAG, and possibly easyJet . "Europe will consolidate in the same way as the North American market has. That's partly what the whole Air Berlin thing is," he told Reuters after the German carrier filed for insolvency in August. Even before Monarch collapsed, ratings agency Moody's predicted that the removal of Air Berlin and Alitalia would be positive for the credit of Europe's five largest airlines - Lufthansa, IAG, Air France-KLM, Ryanair and easyJet. Europe's traditional carriers have also been given some relief by problems at long-haul rivals in the Gulf, where Emirates and Etihad are grappling with lower demand at home because of low oil prices. Etihad's new CEO also faces the task of deciding what to do with its investments in other airlines, including Air Serbia in Europe, having already pulled out of Alitalia and Air Berlin. ASSETS UP FOR GRABS In the short term, Monarch's collapse benefits airlines flying from the United Kingdom to tourist destinations - carriers such as easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2.com, said Liberum's Khoo. Like Air Berlin, Monarch suffered from increased competition on routes to Spain and Portugal as rivals shifted flights from Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia when security concerns prompted tourists to take holidays closer to home. Europe's larger carriers are now moving in on the assets left by their toppled rivals. Lufthansa is bidding for the lion's share of Air Berlin's assets, hoping to shore up its position in the German market. EasyJet is bidding for up to 30 Air Berlin planes, including their crews and airport slots mainly at Berlin's Tegel airport. While Ryanair did not take part in the Air Berlin sale and has dropped a bid for Alitalia, Goodbody analysts say it may want the Boeing 737 MAX jets Monarch had on order. Along with its planes and crew, Monarch's slots at British airports such as Gatwick, Luton, Birmingham will also be of interest to others, with IAG, Wizz and Norwegian reportedly interested before Monarch collapsed. "Longer term, and not withstanding the current Ryanair pilot shortage, the winners will be Ryanair, easyJet and perhaps (IAG's) Vueling who may see this as a chance to expand their UK operations to Spain from a few regional markets," said John Grant of JG Aviation Consultants. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; additional reporting by Alistair Smout in London; editing by David Clarke) Oct 2 (Reuters) - Everest Re Group Ltd has said its Dublin-based unit has received approval from the Central Bank of Ireland to become a non-life insurer, joining a growing list of insurers setting up regulated EU operations in case Britain does not have access to the single market after Brexit. Below are insurers' plans for EU subsidiaries (in alphabetical order): ADMIRAL British motor insurer Admiral Group said last year that it could move its European business to Ireland or another country and said in March that it was looking at a large number of locations. AIG U.S. insurer AIG will set up a European subsidiary in Luxembourg, in addition to its European headquarters in London, it said in March. AVIVA Aviva is converting its Irish life and general insurance branches to regulated subsidiaries to meet the needs of its Irish insurance customers after Brexit. BEAZLEY Specialist insurer Beazley said it had received approval to convert its Dublin-based reinsurance company into an insurance company. The firm had said in February that it would hire additional staff in Ireland. CHAUCER Specialist insurance group Chaucer, part of Hanover Insurance Group, said the Central Bank of Ireland has approved the formation of a Dublin-based company that will trade as Chaucer Dublin to write international speciality insurance and reinsurance business. (http://bit.ly/2tXaJ2i) CHESNARA UK insurer Chesnara could move its headquarters to the Netherlands or Sweden if required, depending on the regulatory situation after Britain leaves the European Union, the company said. CHUBB U.S. insurer Chubb plans to put its European Union headquarters in Paris if Britain leaves the EU as expected in March 2019, it said on Sept. 11. CNA HARDY CNA Hardy, part of CNA Financial Corp, will set up a new European subsidiary in Luxembourg to allow it to operate across the EU after Britain leaves the bloc, the specialist commercial insurer said. EVEREST RE Everest Re Group Ltd said its Dublin-based unit had received approval from the Central Bank of Ireland to become a non-life insurer, allowing it to operate in the European Union under a single regulatory framework. FM GLOBAL U.S. commercial property insurer FM Global is planning a European hub in Luxembourg following Britain's decision to leave the bloc, it said in April. GLOBAL AEROSPACE UK insurer Global Aerospace is setting up a European Union subsidiary in Paris to make sure it can continue to serve customers after Britain leaves the bloc, the firm's chief executive told Reuters. HISCOX Lloyd's of London underwriter Hiscox will establish a new subsidiary in Luxembourg to underwrite its retail business in Europe, it said in May. JLT Insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group said it would continue to invest and expand on the ground in Europe so that it remains fully equipped to serve its clients. LANCASHIRE Lancashire said in May that it has options to write EU business out of its Bermuda headquarters or via Lloyd's of London's Brussels base. The insurer added it was in no hurry to set up an EU base and saw itself staying in Britain for the foreseeable future. LEGAL & GENERAL British insurer Legal & General said in May that it would move some of its investment management operations to Ireland to ensure it can continue to serve its customers after Brexit. LLOYD'S OF LONDON Lloyd's of London, an integral part of the British business scene since the 17th century, has chosen Brussels as the site for its EU subsidiary, it said in March. MARKEL U.S. insurer Markel plans to apply for regulatory approval to set up a European Union subsidiary in Munich, it said in May. MS AMLIN Japanese-owned insurer and reinsurer MS Amlin said it would move its European business to Belgium to make sure it can continue to serve customers after Britain leaves the European Union. NEON Neon Underwriting could set up a Dublin business to sell insurance policies throughout the EU if Britain loses access to the single market, chief executive of the specialist Lloyd's of London insurer said in December. QBE QBE Insurance Group will set up a subsidiary in Brussels to preserve its ability to operate across the EU, the Australian business insurer said. ROYAL LONDON British life insurer Royal London Mutual Insurance Society plans to turn its Irish business into a regulated subsidiary, it said in March. RSA RSA is planning a subsidiary in Luxembourg to act as the headquarters of its EU operations after Britain's decision to leave the bloc. It said it chose Luxembourg because it has "multinational expertise", is "strategically located within RSAs existing EU branch network" and has an experienced regulator. STANDARD LIFE British insurer and asset manager Standard Life said in May that it was likely to choose Dublin for its EU hub. TOKIO MARINE Tokio Marine is applying for regulatory approval to set up an insurance company in Luxembourg to continue servicing European clients after Brexit, it said on Sept. 6. XL GROUP Bermuda-domiciled insurer XL Group said it would move its European Union insurance company from Britain to Ireland in 2018. (Compiled by Noor Zainab Hussain and Carolyn Cohn; Editing by David Goodman, Louise Heavens and Mark Potter) Oct 2 (Reuters) - A Las Vegas off-duty police officer, a nurse from Tennessee and commercial fisherman from Alaska were among at least 59 people killed by a gunman who opened fire on a Las Vegas country music festival before killing himself. The following describes some of the victims: CHARLESTON HARTFIELD Charleston Hartfield, 34, was the off-duty Las Vegas police officer among those killed, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing people who knew the officer. "He was probably busy helping others," Hartfield's friend Troy Rhett told the newspaper. "I don't know a better man than Charles." The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which did not identify the fallen officer, reported the death on Twitter. SONNY MELTON Sonny Melton, 29, of Big Sandy, Tennessee, saved his wife, Heather Melton, just before he was shot dead, she told WSMV-TV in Nashville. "He grabbed me and started running when I felt him get shot in the back," she told the NBC affiliate. Sonny Melton worked as a registered nurse, media reports said. ADRIAN MURFITT Adrian Murfitt, 35, was a commercial fisherman in Anchorage, Alaska, the Alaska Dispatch News reported, which said he was at the concert with his best friend, Brian MacKinnon. The pair was taking a picture and a bullet went through Murfitt's neck, MacKinnon told the paper. DENISE BURDITUS Denise Burditus, 50, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, attended the concert with her husband, Tony, WVVA TV in West Virginia reported. She posted a photograph on Facebook just minutes before the gunman opened fire, the NBC affiliate said. JOHN PHIPPEN John Phippen, of Santa Clarita, California, was a father of five, grandfather of one and owned a remodeling and repair company, KHTS AM 1220 radio station reported. He attended the concert with his son Travis, who was shot in the arm, the station said. "If you didn't know John you surely missed out. He had a heart that was larger than life and a personality to match," a GoFundMe page said. "Even if you were someone he had never met before but were in need, he was there for you." SANDY CASEY Sandy Casey was a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School in California, KGTV in San Diego said. Casey was among a group of Manhattan Beach Unified School District staff, the ABC affiliate reported. CHRIS ROYBAL Chris Roybal, 28, of Southern California, was a Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan, ABC News said. Roybal was shot in the chest, ABC said. THOMAS DAY JR. Thomas Day Jr., 54, of Riverside, California, a home builder, went to the festival with his four children, who are in their 20s and 30s, the Los Angeles Times reported. "He was the best dad. That's why the kids were with him," his father, Thomas Day Sr., told the newspaper. "They're crushed." HANNAH AHLERS Hannah Ahlers, a 35-year-old mother of three from Murrieta, California, was shot in the head and died, ABC News reported. ANGIE GOMEZ Angie Gomez was a 2015 alumna of Riverside Polytechnic High School PTSA in Riverside, California, the school said on Facebook. "She will always be loved and endeared by our Poly Family," the school said. DANA GARDNER Dana Gardner was an employee for California's San Bernardino County for 26 years and most recently worked as a deputy recorder, the San Bernardino Sun reported. JENNIFER TOPAZ IRVINE Jennifer Topaz Irvine was a family law attorney based in San Diego, according to CBS News. A co-worker and friend identified Irvine as a victim to a CBS correspondent. JESSICA KLYMCHUK Jessica Klymchuk, 28, of Valleyview, Alberta, was a librarian and the single mother of four children, Canada's Globe and Mail reported. It said she was visiting Las Vegas with her fiance. "She's a very good mother. She's raised four beautiful children," Klymchuk's grandmother Margaret told the paper. RHONDA LEROCQUE Rhonda LeRocque, of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, was a wife and mother, devout Jehovah's Witness and worked for a Cambridge design firm, the Boston Globe reported. LeRocque attended the concert with her husband, Jason and their 7-year-old daughter, who were not injured, the newspaper said. "Rhonda would do everything to be the best mom and the best wife she could be," LeRocque's sister, Jennifer Zelenski, told the paper. JORDAN MCILDOON Jordan McIldoon, 23, of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, was also killed, said the premier of British Columbia, John Horgan. McIldoon was a heavy-duty mechanic apprentice and about to start trade school, CBC News reported, which said he was attending the festival with his girlfriend. McIldoon died in the arms of a woman named Heather Gooze, CBC said. RACHAEL PARKER Rachael Parker was a records technician with the Manhattan Beach Police Department in California, where she worked for 10 years, the police department said in a statement. Parker attended the concert with three other off-duty police department employees, police said. JENNY PARKS Jenny Parks was a teacher with Westside Union School District in California, KABC-TV in Los Angeles said. "She touched many lives," a GoFundMe page set up for her said. "She leaves behind her husband, Bobby and young children, Bryce and Leah." QUINTON ROBBINS Quinton Robbins, 20, of Henderson, Nevada, studied at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and worked in local government, Newsweek reported. His aunt, Kilee Wells Sanders, confirmed his death in a Facebook post: "He was the most kind and loving soul. Everyone who met him loved him. His contagious laugh and smile. He was truly an amazing person. He will be missed by so many." LISA ROMERO-MUNIZ Lisa Romero-Muniz was a secretary at Miyamura High School in Gallup, New Mexico, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. In her most recent role, Romero-Muniz offered encouragement and support to students during disciplinary proceedings, the newspaper said. She was described as outgoing, kind and considerate, it said. BAILEY SCHWEITZER Bailey Schweitzer, 20, was from Bakersfield, California, her brother told the Bakersfield Californian newspaper. SUSAN SMITH Susan Smith, 53, was a school office manager in Simi Valley, California, the Ventura County Star reported, citing a school district representative. Smith was an ardent country music fan and worked at an elementary school for three years, the newspaper said. NEYSA TONKS Neysa Tonks, of Las Vegas, who worked at Technologent, an Irvine, California-based technology company, was also among the victims, the Los Angeles Times said. She was the mother of three boys, according to a GoFundMe campaign created by Technologent. "Neysa brought joy, happiness, fun and laughter to so many of us. The senseless tragedy in Las Vegas Sunday has unnessarily (sic) taken her from our community," the GoFundMe page said. (Compiled by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago and Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Andrew Hay and Peter Cooney) WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The Trump administration will not hold any talks with North Korea at this time, except for possible conversations about freeing U.S. citizens who have been detained there, the White House said on Monday. "We've been clear that now is not the time to talk," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters, amplifying on a tweet from President Donald Trump over the weekend that had been seen as undercutting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. "The only conversations that have taken place, or that would, would be on bringing back Americans who have been detained," Sanders said. "Beyond that, there will be no conversations with North Korea at this time." (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by David Alexander) DUBAI, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Five Bahraini policemen were lightly injured in a "terrorist explosion" outside the capital Manama on Monday, the state news agency reported. The agency said the blast occurred in the village of Daih on Budaiya road while the policemen were guarding a procession by Shi'ite Muslims marking the annual Ashura festival, which commemorates the death of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein some 1400 years ago. The agency quoted the interior ministry as saying on its Twitter account that "the necessary steps" were being taken, without giving any details. The explosion was the latest in a series of attacks targeting policemen in the Western-allied country, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based. The government blames the attacks on Shi'ite militants it says are backed by Iran to destabilise the country, a charge Tehran denies. In June, a member of Bahrain's security forces was killed in an explosion in the village of Diraz, the hometown of the spiritual leader of the country's Shi'ite community Ayatollah Isa Qassim. The interior ministry blamed "terrorists" for the attack. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Catherine Evans) Last November, thousands of American farmers cast their vote for Donald Trump in hopes that he would make agriculture great again and boost the drastically low crop prices. However, over nine months in and it has become painfully clear that Trump has forgotten about farmers. While half of Montana burned and the other half suffered from extreme drought, Trump denied funding from the state he won by 20 percent, damaging farmers and ranchers across the state. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the TPP, a trade deal that would have greatly helped farmers as 80 percent of Montana wheat is sold to TPP nations. The presidents anti-trade and isolationist stance will continue to hamstring an industry where 96 percent of consumers live outside the U.S. If that wasnt enough, Trump has also decided he would try to slash funding for agriculture in his fy2018 budget proposal. The president proposed a 20-percent budget cut to the USDA which would annihilate crucial ag research and evaporate the safety net for producers who have an unlucky year. If this budget goes through it would be disastrous for Montanas farmers; gutting the industry and leaving farmers with no options if hail, drought or any other disaster ruins their harvest. American farmers helped put Donald Trump in the White House, in return Trump has left farmers out in the cold. Cody McCracken Billings By Steve Holland WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The White House on Monday ruled out talks with North Korea except to discuss the fate of Americans held there, again appearing to rebuke Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who said Washington was directly communicating with Pyongyang on its nuclear and missile programs. "We've been clear that now is not the time to talk," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters, reiterating a tweet from President Donald Trump at the weekend that was seen as undercutting Tillerson. "The only conversations that have taken place were that ... would be on bringing back Americans who have been detained," Sanders said. "Beyond that, there will be no conversations with North Korea at this time." Tillerson said on Saturday during a trip to China that the United States was directly communicating with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programs but that Pyongyang had shown no interest in dialogue. Trump, who has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks, later dismissed any prospect of talks with North Korea as a waste of time. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump wrote on Twitter, using his sarcastic nickname for Kim. "Save your energy, Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Trump wrote. It was not the first time the White House and State Department have seemed at odds on policy issues, but when asked if Trump still had confidence in Tillerson as secretary of state, Sanders said: "He does." A senior administration official said Tillerson misspoke. "I think it was just him misspeaking. He was just acknowledging the fact that we do have channels and we might have reason to talk if North Koreas behavior changes sometime down the road," the official said. DIALOGUE WITH NORTH? Tillerson said in Beijing that the United States had multiple direct channels of communication with Pyongyang and that it was probing North Korea to see if it was interested in dialogue. The top U.S. diplomat expressed hope for reducing tensions with North Korea, which is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. "We are probing, so stay tuned," Tillerson told a small group of reporters. "We ask: 'Would you like to talk?'" He said the United States had "a couple of, three, channels, open to Pyongyang." Another U.S. official said Tillerson may have overstated the status of U.S. lines of communication with North Korea for the benefit of his Chinese hosts, who have been pushing the Trump administration to do more to lure Pyongyang to the negotiating table. Trump has vowed to halt North Korea's nuclear ambitions and tensions have escalated in recent months, with Pyongyang conducting its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3. It has also threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific. The fate of Americans held in North Korea is also a bone of contention. The Trump administration has demanded North Korea release three U.S. citizens it has detained: missionary Kim Dong Chul and academics Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song. The Trump White House and State Department have taken to divergent stances on other foreign policy issues. When a dispute over Qatar erupted this year, Trump strongly backed Gulf Arab leaders who accuse Qatar of supporting Iran as well as Islamist militants. Trump accused Qatar of being a "high-level" funder of terrorism even as the Pentagon and Tillerson cautioned against the military, commercial and humanitarian effects of a boycott imposed by Arab states. Months into the dispute, Trump adopted a position more in line with that of the State Department. (Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington; Additional reporting by David Alexander and Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by James Dalgleish) TIRANA, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Albania should push ahead with reforms to encourage investment, a staff mission of the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, but it told the Albanian government its 1 billion-euro public investment plan posed "substantial risks". "Policies should seek to address challenges arising from high public debt, low credit, and weak institutions that deter investment," the IMF staffers said in a statement at the end of a 10-day visit to Albania. The IMF loaned Albania 330 million euros to help it straighten out its finances, in a programme that ran from February 2014 until February 2017. "Under the recently concluded Fund-supported programme, the authorities lowered fiscal and financial vulnerabilities, but further efforts are needed to cement these gains," it said. The Socialist government of Prime Minister Edi Rama plans to spend about a billion euros on infrastructure projects over the next four years. The IMF staff said the government should use the Finance Ministrys expanded legal powers to monitor public-private partnerships. "The authorities ambitious agenda for public investment through PPPs poses substantial fiscal risks. Contrary to current practice, the impact of PPPs on the fiscal accounts and public debt should be reflected transparently and in line with international norms," the IMF staff statement added. The IMF worries the government will incur growing debt, as it predecessor did, forcing the Socialists to begin their first term by covering arrears of up to $720 million. Public debt, including arrears, is projected to decline from 73.3 percent of gross domestic product at the end of 2016 to 71.5 percent of GDP at the end of this year, the IMF said. Without tax policy measures, that should fall to around 63.5 percent of GDP by 2021, it said. (Reporting by Benet Koleka, editing by Larry King) By Luciano Costa SAO PAULO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Italy's Enel SpA is looking for opportunities to expand in Brazil's power sector through acquisitions after winning a license last week to operate a large hydropower dam, the head of local operations told Reuters. The Italian utility was weighing whether to bid for some regional distribution firms that are up for sale, said Carlo Zorzoli, Enel's senior country officer in Brazil. "Of course we are going to look at these concessions, because they are growth opportunities, and we are in a stage where we are weighing all opportunities to expand," he said in an interview late on Friday. State-controlled Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA , known as Eletrobras, wants to sell six of its power distribution companies later this year or early next year for what sources have said will be a token amount. "We are active in the market, choosing the opportunities that best fit our strategy," Zorzoli said. Brazil's power sector is going through a process of consolidation, with many local players putting assets up for sale to cut debt at a time of tight credit. Enel spent 1.49 billion reais ($473 million) last week for a license to operate the Volta Grande hydroelectric dam, a 380-megawatt plant located in Minas Gerais state. It was the second large acquisition in the sector in two years for Enel, which in recent years has focused on fast-growing Latin American investments to counterbalance sluggish European markets. Last year, it won the privatization auction for Celg-D, a power distribution firm in Brazil's center-west state of Goias. "Power distribution is one sector going through consolidation. The number of operators currently is too large," said Zorzoli, adding that the Eletrobras auction looked to be attractive for investors. Brazil's government has tried to attract foreign capital to help boost the economy after the country's worst recession on record. Enel was also considering bidding for wind and solar power project licenses in Brazil this year, Zorzoli said, without elaborating. A controlling stake in Rio de Janeiro power utility Light SA that is up for sale by Centrais Eletricas de Minas Gerais SA (Cemig) may also be of interest, he said. "We are looking at all opportunities ... it depends on the conditions," he said. "On the one hand it could offer synergies, on the other it could overload us with problems." ($1 = 3.1518 reais) (Reporting by Luciano Costa; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Matthew Lewis) On a Wednesday night in September (20th), around 7.30 pm, I boarded a bus (No 3344), from Pettah, which was taking passengers on the highway, to Negombo. The big Bus was full and I got a seat about 5 or 6 rows down from the entrance in the middle row. People who sit on these seats have to get up and make way for the passengers who get off after Katunayake. As there were a whole lot of passengers I got busy with my phone just like the others. Suddenly someone prodded me. When I looked up it was the conductor. He didnt say buy your tickets and instead prodded me with his finger! He didnt give me a ticket and I demanded one, upon which he gave me two. This helped me later on. A couple of minutes later, I heard the conductor shouting Four Hundred! Four Hundred! nastily and someone from behind shouting back No, I wont give!. When I looked behind, in the row behind me, there was a young foreign couple and it was the girl who was retorting. I then inquired form her whether she bought the ticket and she said she paid RS 300. I told her a ticket cost Rs.130 and they should receive a balance of Rs.40. I asked her as to why the conductor was demanding another Rs.400. She then looked behind and indicated that it was for their baggage two medium sized suitcases kept standing upright just behind the last row of passenger seats. I was shocked! As the suitcases werent on two seats- in which instance some conductors charge for the seats taken- being charged Rs.200 each per bag meant that they were being charged more than the fee for a one way ticket to Negombo! I asked her as to why the conductor was demanding another Rs.400. She then looked behind and indicated that it was for their baggage two medium sized suitcases Then the conductor was shouting nastily at them saying, get down! get down!. By now we were passing Technical College. I was alarmed, wondering as to how they could get off with their bags etc. in the middle of the journey, mainly because this was a foreign couple and also given that it was now night. I inquired form the conductor as to why he was charging for the baggage. He didnt answer me. When the young man next to me advised me, let the bus conductor and the tourist sort it out, I protested. The girl next to him said Now when we go abroad, we dont have to pay for our baggage. I agreed with her and we continued discussing the rude behaviour of the conductor. The guy kept quiet. When such an attitude is showcased in public by males like this, no wonder commuters are harassed. Not only conductors there are occasions when the bus drivers are nasty too! Commuting by private buses, especially in Sri Lanka, with the deafening music that blares, one has a memorable experience to say the least! Then there was this wonderful young man from Kochchikade who protested aloud and sternly demanded that he cant make them get down like that in the middle of the journey. I was also able to mumble something in protest. Thereafter the conductor returned to the area near the door of the vehicle. Mind you, 95% were male passengers in that bus and not a single passenger protested except this young man! It was just this young man who stood up and I salute him! 8.30 pm or so, I intended to get off just one halt before the main Negombo bus terminal in order to get a taxi to get home. But as the tourists didnt get down, I thought I should disembark at the terminal itself, lest these two are harassed once again. To my surprise, a big made lady ( I am a teeny weeny by the way) too intended to get down, but she was too stayed on. We started discussing the rude behaviour of the conductor. The boy, who stood up for them, got off with another boy and remained looking up at the bus without going his way, until the tourists got down. All other passengers dispersed! The young tourist couple got off last as they had to collect their bags. And before we could get to them taxi drivers surrounded them to obtain the fare for the hire. When we went towards the couple these taxi drivers became very hostile. They were just as vicious with us as we were when dealing with the bus conductor! We told them that these two had some problem in the bus and thats why we want to talk to them to know whether anything untoward happened when disembarking from the bus. But the taxi drivers were shouting and waving their hands saying What happened in the bus is over, now you let us handle them. We were horrified! However, we managed to ask the foreigners whether they were forced to pay the Rs. 400 the conductor was demanding. The girl said No, I didnt give them very emphatically. The Russian girl was clad in a Saree and the couples concern now was to get a room and they didnt know where to go and were concerned about the prices too. I suggested to them to go to Ethukala where there are plenty of guest houses. The taxi drivers were still shouting and waving their hands disturbing us. Then the other lady took the phone and said she would call the police (she was actually dialing the police), they quietened. The young tourist couple got off last as they had to collect their bags. And before we could get to them taxi drivers surrounded them to obtain the fare for the hire This lady told the young couple that she would go to the police and also find a place for them to stay overnight. She took them away quickly and they too went happily with her. She would have mentioned the word Police to drive fear into the taxi drivers. We were quite concerned because we were near the taxi drivers stand. I managed to thank the young man for being so civic minded, but unfortunately could not ask his name nor the name of the lady, who was so concerned. But the boy told me that he was from Kochchikade when I asked him and we parted our ways quite shaken. When I returned home I promptly called the Ethukala Tourist Police who asked me to contact the Negombo Police in turn and I did. There was a very courteous police officer named Sargent Gamage at the Special Unit to take down such complaints by tourists. He took down all details and promised me that he will contact the conductor and take appropriate action and thanked me for bringing this incident to his notice. When I followed it up the next day he said he had already notified the Negombo Bus Depot about the conductor and the driver. They had been told to report to the Negombo Police Station. Then on September 22nd when I called Sergent Gamage, he said that this bus belonged to the Katunayake Depot and that he had instructed them to told the conductor and the driver to report to the Negombo Police Station. He old me that this would take 2-3 days, but told me not to worry and that he would certainly follow up the incident. It then occurred to me that since they ply on the Colombo-Katunayake Airport route, they probably fleece the tourists for their baggage, otherwise this conductor could not have brazenly asked, before all of us, for Rs.400 from a bus that plies from Colombo to Negombo. Could we, the Sri Lankans of this so called paradise isle, who are full of love and compassion, allow tourists to experience such a difficult situation? No wonder there are warnings given to tourists through the internet they they shouldnt travel to Sri Lanka. These warnings suggest they might be murdered, raped or gang raped, fleeced of their precious money and belongings and be abused! I hope the Russian couple, despite experiencing this unpleasant incident, realizes that there are also people in this Paradise Isle who care! The Ministry of Tourism, the Tourist police and the Private/Public Transport Ministry should take note of this and afford these tourists the necessary courtesy, security and whatever that goes to make their stay in this country pleasant and memorable. On September 23, in the morning, I received a call from Sergent Gamage. He said that the conductor and the driver had reported to the Negombo Police Station and an inquiry was in progress. I reminded him that since they ply the Colombo-Katunayake Airport route, they are probably used to fleecing the tourists for their baggage and he said may be. I salute Sergent Gamage for following up on this complaint quickly and reprimanding them for highway thuggery. I am so thankful and proud that there are still such fine police officers such as Sargent Gamage in the police department and wish him an unblemished career in his chosen profession. Ms. N. Wickramasinghe. Negombo. A donation ceremony took place at the Cancer Care Association of Sri Lanka on 22nd September. Chinese Ambassador Yi Xianliang and Speaker Karu Jayasuriya attended the ceremony. Ambassador Yi handed over a donation of Rs. 13 million to Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa, Chairman of the Cancer Care Trust of Sri Lanka, to assist the foundation to help cancer patients throughout the island. Ambassador Yi said that China is one of the largest donation provider to Sri Lanka while health area is the key field, accounting for one-third of the such donation every year.zThe Chinese assistance to Sri Lanka is inclusive and mainly focuses on the area of peoples livelihood. In 2017 only, the total worth of Chinese aid in the area of peoples livelihood is around Rs. 23.68 billion, including the construction of the Outpatient Building of National Hospital and the Kidney Disease Hospital as well as emergency humanitarian aid of relief supplies. China hopes assistance from other foreign countries could also focus more on the Sri Lankan ordinary public instead of being used as a tool to interfere in Sri Lankas internal affairs. Speaker Jayasuriya expressed his gratitude and said that it is a donation given to the Sri Lanka people, reflecting the profound friendship of the Chinese people. The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) today threatened that it would launch a 24 hour islandwide strike on Friday if the Post Internship appointment list is not withdraw by Thursday (5). Addressing a press conference in Colombo, GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said the list had been issued without the transfer boards consent where GMOA is also part of and it was published in the social media without uploading it to the Official website which is also a violation. Dr. Aluthge said the matter had been discussed at the GMOA executive committee meeting and the membership expressed their objection towards the commenced Post internship appointment list due to its illegality. He said the list had been prepared by the Director of the Medical Service Dr. Priyantha Athapaththu without advicing the transfer committee, was based on a arbitrary decision. He also charged the list was prepared disregarding peripheral hospitals of the country therefore could pose a threat to the services provided by such hospitals. The GMOA urged the authorities to withdraw the alleged illegal Post internship appointment list and prepare a new list with the consent of the transfer committee to safe guard the countrys health services. Also the GMOA said it would lodge a written complaint along with the Public Service Commission against the issued list seeking an immediate inquiry over Medical Service Director Dr. Priyantha Athapaththu for his arbitrary decisions. (Thilanka Kanakarathna) Video by Sanjeewa The Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella, in an interview with the , said that amendments were incorporated into the Provincial Councils Elections act in keeping with the Standing Orders after consulting the Attorney General. Kiriella, who is also the Highways and Higher Education Minister, said that there is nothing wrong in the procedure adopted by the Government as a result. Following are excerpts of the interview. QThere is a serious allegation that the Government smuggled in provisions to the original draft of the Provincial Councils Election (Amendment) Act to postpone the elections. As the Leader of the House, what is your view? That is well within the Standing Orders. We havent done anything going against the Standing Orders. There is a provision in the Standing Orders that amendments could be brought in at the Committee Stage. When those amendments are made, there is a senior official of the Attorney Generals Department in Parliament. He is there to go through the amendments and state whether they are within the framework of the bill or not. QThe allegation is that the amendments brought in are against the core of the original legislation presented before Parliament. How do you respond? That is what I told you. There is an official from the Attorney Generals Department. He is there to determine whether amendments are in line with core proposals of the original Bill or not. You may recall how the previous Government brought in the 18th Amendment within one day. They brought it in the morning and passed it in the evening. The opposition wasnt consulted at all. Those who talk about abiding by the law sacked the Chief Justice within 24 hours. It seems that they have forgotten their past so early. QThey say the Government fears facing the public at an election. Is that the reason to seek an indefinite postponement of the elections? No, you must realize that ours isnt a single party Government. There are several parties in it. We work with consensus. It takes time to reach consensus. We took some time to reach consensus even on the amendments to the Bill concerned. We achieved it. We dont fear elections. What we want is to have the same system for all forms of elections. That is a mixed system. That is 60-40 for local government elections and 50-50 for provincial council elections. For parliamentary elections, it will be 60-40. We want one system and to do away with the preferential voting system. QHow soon can you complete the evolution of new system to the provincial council elections? We can do it before the end of the year. There is modern technology. You can demarcate the electorates using google map without much effort. QAs for the local Government, it took more than ten years to complete the evolution of a new electoral system. As for the elections to the provincial councils, how do you expect to complete it in such a short time? The Elections Commission is confident that it can be done. When the previous Government brought the local Government election law, the opposition wasnt consulted at all. Even the Elections Commissioner wasnt consulted as revealed by him regarding the creation of electoral wards. When we did it, we informed him of every step. We are working closely with him. QAre you planning to contest the elections alone or in alliance with Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)? It is too early to say. It will depend on the situation at that time. The President was also nominated as the candidate just a couple of months before the elections. QWhat about the local Government elections? We are ready for it. We want it. At village level, most of our activists remain without political authority to work. They are also very keen on an early election. The United National Party (UNP) will win a vast majority of electorates. I am confident of it. QWhen will the election be conducted? We have set January 20 as the deadline. It will be conducted on or around January 20. QHave you taken a concrete decision in this regard? Yes. This is the date we have in mind. We are getting ready for it. In fact, we had a meeting in Kandy District. Each district was asked to provide provisional lists of candidates. Those lists will be vetted by the party office. There is no doubt about the UNP winning. The UNP is the only party with a vision for the country. QThe MoU with the SLFP will have ended by that time. What is the vision after that? The MoU will be extended for the remaining period of the Government. QThere is fear in society that the Government will enact the new Constitution in the same way circumventing the procedure stipulated for it. What is your view? For the first time even, all the parties are in the Steering Committee. The Tamil parties didnt take part when the first Republican Constitution was brought by the Government of Prime Minister the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike. When late President J.R.Jayewardene introduced the 1978 Constitution, the same happened. Today, a lot of parties have come to the middle position making compromises. Most parties have discarded their extreme views. Unlike on previous occasions, the enactment of this constitution wont take place in a hall. It will be done in the Well of the Parliament. Now, the interim report has been presented. We have allocated three days for the debate. We will take section by section. We will be doing it in the presence of the media. Nothing will be done in secrecy. QWhen are you planning to draft it into law? Once the debate concludes, we will put it into the final form. It will be drafted into a Bill around the end of the year. QIt means, early next year, you will seek enactment? Most probably. QAlso, there is a lot of talk about a referendum regarding the constitution. Are you going for it? Why should we fear going before people? If we are doing the right thing, why should we be scared? The Government is sure that it is doing the right thing. When we received independence in 1948, Sri Lanka was looked upon as a model. We were called the Switzerland of the East. In fact, Singapore and Malaysia wanted to emulate Sri Lanka. Where are we today? Where are they now? These countries managed their ethnic problems by passing laws and constitutional reforms. What did we do? We used caste, religion and race to gain power. We ended up with a 30-year-old war. We must have a new beginning. The new Constitution will be the new beginning. QIt means you are planning for it? Yes. We are planning for it. I have no doubt about winning it if the UNP, SLFP, SLMC and TNA get together. A constitution without the support of people will not stand the test of time. QThere are a whole lot of allegations regarding wrongdoings involving road projects under your ministry. These are made by none other than COPE Chairman JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti. What is your response? The COPE isnt the CID. It is a committee of the Parliament. Under the Standing Order concerned, the COPE Chairman can raise questions where the Auditor General has made observations. When you build a road, the Auditor General can raise queries about overestimation, underestimation or siphoning off of money. Then, the COPE Chairman can raise his questions from the relevant officials based on that. He cant ask questions based on what was given to him by his party cadre. This is what has been happening in the COPE for the past two years. Our MPs have also been looking the other way. As far as my ministry is concerned, we are willing to answer any question raised by the Auditor General. None of the COPE members has skills nor knowledge to assess costs. We arent bound to answer questions based on rumour, gossip and political slander. QToday, the state medical education is in jeopardy because of the SAITM issue. Medical students boycott lectures because of SAITM. This allegation is made by your Cabinet colleague Susil Premajayantha. What is your response to him as the subject minister? SAITM was started by the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government in 2011. Susil Premajayantha was a minister in that Cabinet. He should have stopped it then. He didnt raise any concern then. There was a medical faculty started at the Defence Academy. No one objected. Mahinda Rajapaksa gave financial assistance worth Rs.600 million to SAITM. No doctor or lecturer objected. However, the first batch passed out during our time. Now the matter is before court. We are awaiting the court decision. QActually, I am referring to the crisis at state medical faculties. Students have been boycotting lectures for months on end. What is your view? The crisis wasnt created by us. First of all, people should be law abiding. The Court of Appeal gave a ruling in favour of SAITM. Yet, it isnt accepted by some. In the good old days, university lecturers and dons gave leadership to students. They guided the students in the right direction. Today, students are giving leadership to students. QWhat is your stand on private medical education? My stand is the stand taken by many countries in the world today. Every country accepts private higher education institutions. In Sri Lanka, there are private institutions for engineering, management etc. Why are they trying to exclude medicine? There are over 100 institutions sending students abroad for higher education. We are doping a survey. We have got responses from 27 institutions. They transfer Rs.17 billion as expenses for these students for a period. JVPs six seats made the difference in ensuring two-thirds for the Govt. What was presented isnt what was enacted Adoption of this technique means the abandoning of all constitutional safeguards in relation to legislative process That is completely against the Standing Orders and the Constitution Its likely that a similar exercise will be done related to the constitutional process What will happen to the fundamental rights in the Constitution then? JVP, TNA are integral parts of Govt. We are now exploring appropriate modalities to take this matter again to the Supreme Court In the wake of the enactment of the new Act postponing Provincial Council Elections, former External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris of the Joint Opposition spoke about its implications. Following are excerpts of the interview. Q How do you view the procedure adopted in the enactment of this legislation? We are today in the throes of a constitutional crisis. This goes far beyond party politics. It strikes at the very root of our constitutional system. It involves franchise. It doesnt stop there. What we are dealing with here is a total subversion of the legislative process. The Constitution contains clear provisions in relation to the passage of legislation. There is a certain procedure that is mandatory with regard to the enactment of laws. Article 78(II) declares that the passing of a Bill or a resolution by Parliament shall be in accordance with the Constitution and Standing Orders of Parliament. Between the publication of a Bill in the gazette and the presentation of that Bill in Parliament, there must be a minimum of two weeks. After its presentation in Parliament, it cant be proceeded with yet for another week. All of this serves a very important purpose. This is to enable the public to be informed of the contents of legislation. The public is given the opportunity of challenging those Bills in the Supreme Court on the basis that proposed legislation isnt consistent with the Constitution. This is the principle now repeatedly violated by this Government. The latest example of that has very far reaching consequences. Q Why do you say so? The Bill that was brought before Parliament was for the purpose of increasing women representation in the Provincial Councils. What was presented to Parliament was a simple, straightforward uncontroversial piece of legislation. It provided for the point that, at the time of nomination, 30 percent of slots must be reserved for woman candidates. Nobody had any problem with that. The bill originally consisted of one and half pages. The amendments, proposed during the committee stage, ran into 32 pages. The effect of those committee stage amendments was to transform the whole character of the Bill and make it a completely different Bill. That is to change the whole electoral system with regard to the provincial council elections. That is to introduce a constituency system. A member of the public lost the opportunity to have it scrutinized by the Supreme Court. The consequences are dire as one can imagine. Lets say a Bill is presented to increase the number of High Court judges from 75 to 85. Then, a committee stage amendment is introduced to say that the judges whose names proposed should be approved by Parliament. The latter provision, if it were there in the original Bill, would have been challenged. It is smuggled in at the committee stage. This violates the constitutional procedure and the Standing Orders. The bill originally consisted of one and half pages. The amendments, proposed during the committee stage, ran into 32 pages. The effect of those committee stage amendments was to transform the whole character of the Bill and make it a completely different Bill The committee stage amendments are meant for clarifying and the clearance of doubts. It has to be within the framework of the original Bill. What makes it even more ominous is that this thought occurred to the Government in a particular context. The Government brought the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. The stated purpose of the 20th Amendment was to require all elections of the provincial councils to be held on the same day. The provincial councils have been in existence since 1987. There have been six Presidents. No President has made provisions for all the provincial council elections to be held on the same day. It never happened in Sri Lanka. It doesnt happen anywhere in the world. All regional elections cant be telescoped into one day. The real purpose is the Governments fear of facing the people. What the Government was determined to do was to postpone the Provincial Council Elections. Q However, the Government states the elections will be conducted under a new system before March, next year. What is your view? Article 154(E) declares that when five years have elapsed, the Provincial Councils stand dissolved. Then, the Provincial Councils Elections Act will come into play. The 20th Amendment sought to extend the lives of the provincial councils standing after the initial terms expires. It was challenged in the Supreme Court. I submitted a petition to the Supreme Court for the first time in my life. The Supreme Court held that this couldnt be done by a mere two-thirds in Parliament, and a referendum was needed. The Government wasnt ready for a referendum. Again, it couldnt face the people. Therefore, the 20th Amendment wasnt proceeded with. But, the Government was determined to achieve its objective of postponing the elections. Then, they considered other methods. It interfered significantly with the franchise of the people. The people elected these councils for five years. At the end of their terms, they have the right to cast their ballots again to elect new councils. If that right is to be withheld, that must be done only through a referendum. There was an infringement of suffrage of people. In that sense, Parliament also threw into the dustbin a decision of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruling was that the Elections Commission should conduct elections in those three areas. The commission had said the elections could be conducted on December 9 if the 20th Amendment werent enacted. It wasnt enacted. What the Government did was to change the system at the 11th hour. There is clear provision in the 13th Amendment that where any legislation has an impact on the provincial council functions, it has to be sent to the provincial councils. The electoral system is changed totally. The elections cant be held. Nevertheless, the Attorney General advises no reference to the provincial council is necessary. That is to tell the Elections Commission that the elections cant be conducted under the old system. The new system needs a re-demarcation of all the boundaries. Until that is done, these elections cant be done. That is the argument. That is an indefinite postponement. That is open-ended. The re-demarcation of boundaries in the case of the local authorities has taken more than two and half years. There is no likelihood at all that the similar exercise in relation to the provincial councils can be completed in a shorter period of time. The net result is the indefinite postponement of the provincial council elections. Though they say the elections will be conducted before March, next year, it will not be practical at all. This is the only democratic country in the world where there is no functioning local authority elected by people of that area for two and half years. Q In this manner, do you see any possibility for the Government to enact even the new Constitution? Now, there is a very well-founded fear in the minds of the public that the same procedure was going to be adopted in relation to the new Constitution. Now, the interim report of the Steering Committee is available. It is a very wishy-washy document. It contains some unique features. The English version describing the character of the Constitution doesnt say the unitary state. It uses the Sinhala word EkiyaRajya. How can you have that word in the English version? It is described as undivided and indivisible. That is also the definition of a Federal State. It is exercising deception. The idea is to present to people something which is palatable. Then, its to put obnoxious elements at the committee stage. It has been done in relation to the Inland Revenue Act and the Provincial Councils Election Act. It is likely that the similar exercise will be done related to the constitutional process. The adoption of this technique means the abandoning of all constitutional safeguards in relation to the legislative process. There are other very serious constitutional implications. There is clear provision in the 13th Amendment that where any legislation has an impact on the provincial council functions, it has to be sent to the provincial councils. The electoral system is changed totally. The elections cant be held. Nevertheless, the Attorney General advises no reference to the provincial council is necessary. The Attorney General has to examine every bill and give his certification. It is in conformity with the Constitution. The Attorney General gave that certification with regard to the amendments moved at the committee stage. That is completely wrong. That is completely against the Standing Orders and the Constitution. In Parliament, on that day, there was a list of speakers. The list was exhausted. At that time, the Government didnt have a two-thirds majority. Then, the Government told its MPs to go on speaking to kill time until the Government was able to cobble together two-thirds majority. Despite all that, there was no two-thirds still. Then, something unique happened. The House was adjourned. The vote wasnt taken. When the last speaker finishes, the vote has to be taken. The House was adjourned until a vote was taken. Then, the leaders like Rauff Hakeem, Mano Ganeshan and Rishad Bathiudeen said they werent prepared to vote in the present form. Without their support, the two-thirds couldnt have been obtained. They demanded a certain amendment. They demanded the 60-40 formula to be changed to 50-50. All of this was done in a rush. Minister Faizer Mustapha has admitted that there are significant errors with English and Sinhala versions being different from each other. The result is a picture of total confusion. Q The Bill has been passed and signed into law. What can you do now? This is certainly a matter that warrants the attention of the Supreme Court. Leading counsel in Colombo argued this case and won it. We are now exploring appropriate modalities to take this matter again to the Supreme Court. If this is left alone without any form of intervention, this will continue happening. What will happen to the fundamental rights in the Constitution? With regard to certain provisions of the Constitution, a referendum is needed. That is Article 83. That can be circumvented completely by adopting this procedure. What the Attorney General has allowed is an implied amendment of the Constitution by means of committee stage amendments of a Bill. That is simply not possible. The provincial councils have been in existence since 1987. There have been six Presidents. No President has made provisions for all the provincial council elections to be held on the same day This will continue happening if this dishonest method of enacting legislation is allowed to stand. It means, in future, these protections mean nothing. The Bill that is presented isnt what is finally enacted. Then, there is no remedy if there is no recourse to the Supreme Court. Casualties are the fundamental rights provisions in the Constitution. That is the gravity of crisis we are speaking about. Q Now, the Speaker has certified it into Act. How is it possible for you to reverse it? We will reveal the strategies we are going to use. We believe our arguments will be answered for intervention by the Supreme Court. Without that, constitutional provisions will become total nullity. It isnt surprising that civil society organizations connected with elections like CaFFE, PAFFREL and Sri Lanka Bar Association have registered their strong protest regarding this matter. It is a horrendous precedent. If that is allowed to stand, there will be no rule of law in this country. Q The Joint Opposition was unable to deny two-thirds for the Government. Doesnt it amount to their failure? It isnt a failure on the part of the Joint Opposition. Upholding of the Constitution and the protection of peoples rights isnt exclusively the business of the Joint Opposition. The Joint Opposition has consistently been denied of the proper opportunities in Parliament. It hasnt been given the opportunity to perform in Parliament. At the moment, there are 54 people in the Joint Opposition. But, the position of the Leader of the Opposition isnt conceded to that group. The position belongs to a group that has only 16 seats in Parliament. The post of Chief Opposition goes to a party that has only six seats in Parliament. The JVP and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) are very much a part and parcel of this Government. They are an integral part of this Government. The JVP can be very vocal in its criticism of the Government. But, when it comes to something that really matters, the JVP always protects the Government. The six seats of the JVP made all the difference. Without them, two-thirds is impossible. Q In that situation, the Government can proceed with the enactment of the new Constitution. How can you block it? That is a very different matter. In this case, SLMC General Secretary Nizam Kariapper said Muslims have been grievously affected. They had lost the Eastern Provincial Council. When it comes to the Constitution, quite a lot of members belonging to President Maithripala Sirisenas group will find it impossible to raise their hands. If they raise their hands, it will be political hara-kiri for them. Intex South Asia 2017 will showcase around 250 exhibitors from 15 countries and regions from 15-17 November at the Sri Lanka Exhibition & Convention Centre (SLECC), Colombo-10. Today, Sri Lankas growth, its reputation for quality manufacturing and value addition is attracting manufacturers and investors from across the globe. Sri Lanka plays a pivotal role for intra-regional integration due to its politically neutral status, creating a positive business environment for entrepreneurs from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to meet and do business together. At the same time, Sri Lanka is also transforming into a regional business hub attracting international interest as the optimum location to conduct business with South Asian countries in one central location. Sri Lanka has all the advantages to be developed as the economic hub of South Asia, thus making it the gateway to the huge South Asian market. The GSP-Plus awarded to Sri Lanka will greatly boost Sri Lankan industry which will now be able to export over 6,000 products duty free to the European Union (EU). The additional tariff concession gained by the apparel categories will see duties cut from 9.6 percent to 0 percent. More EU customers are now expected to change their sourcing strategy (favouring duty free countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia) in favour of Sri Lanka. GSP Plus will enhance Sri Lankas apparel exports, comprising 61% of total exports to the EU. The reduction of tariffs is estimated to be valued at around US$ 60 million. Apparel exporters anticipate a 10-15 percent boost in export earnings in 12 months following regaining of GSP Plus, and will particularly accrue to the smaller players. Arti Bhagat, Director, Worldex India, organiser of Intex South Asia said, GSP-Plus is a positive development for Sri Lankas economic progress. Intex South Asia takes this development to the next level by enabling Sri Lankan exporters and manufacturers to come together and take advantage of common synergies towards quicker lead times, faster sourcing of quality fabrics and trims to create superior offerings. Last weeks extremist monks-led mob attack on a safe house for Rohingya refugees in Mount Lavinia marked a dangerous new low in Buddhist extremism in Sri Lanka. Some government ministers had the guts to condemn it. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, the former foreign minister, described the attackers as a group of thugs in robes. Co-Cabinet Spokesman and Health Minister, Rajitha Seneratne denounced the monks who carried out the attack as animals. The JVP in a statement called it an attack on humanity. But where is former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, the self-proclaimed appachchi of the nation? His many acolytes who regularly flood the media with press releases, more for self-aggrandizement than for public consumption, seem to have thought this one was not worth enough bothering about. Mr. Rajapaksa does not denounce Buddhist extremism for he thinks it offers a glimmer of hope for him to crawl back to power. Behind the curtains, he has done much to keep this poisonous pot boiling. To give the man his due, Mr Rajapaksa is not a racist, but just like many other politicians in this part of the world, he is not a principled politician. He is a selfish operator of power. Even when he was firmly in power, he equivocated on the Bodu Bala Sena and the attacks on Muslims. The reason being he valued his electoral prospects more than security of ethnic minorities or ethnic peace in the country. He was a victim of his miscalculations (he lost the election for that), but diehard habits and thinking live long. Now, he is dreaming about a wave of raging Sinhala nationalism that would wash away the proposed new Constitution. For him, this is the time to cozy up to bigots, why slam them? There is also the noticeable silence by the Mahanayakes and this is rather disturbing since those like the Ven. Maha Nayaka of Asgiri Chapter has recently been hyper active in defending Buddhist rights, including the foremost place granted to Buddhism in the Constitution. That provision, this writer himself agrees is worth retaining, taking into account the demographic reality of this country, and the sensitivities of the Sinhala-Buddhist majority, for any Constitution making exercise to be practical. However, defending Buddhist rights also means defending it from being smeared by bigotry of a few who claim they represent Buddhist interests. A few saffron-clad racists who regularly spew forth bigotry against religious minorities, instigate attacks on Muslims, and last week terrorizing of hapless pregnant women and children who were in a UN safe house in Mount Lavinia have done more damage to the image of Buddhism than Velupillai Prabhakaran could manage to do during his three decades of a nihilistic campaign. Temples destroyed by terrorists could be rebuilt, though some could still be irreplaceable, but when a religion is hijacked by bigots to advance their sinister ends, it cannot easily be redeemed. You have seen it in graphic detail in the Middle East. This is however not a problem unique to Sri Lanka. All faiths and their chief interlocutors have failed to a varying degree to keep up with the upsurge of modernization and enlightenment in the post-modern world; and in some cases, they try to block that progress and have found receptive retrograde elements in their respective societies. What is important for the government and of course for the religious elites is not to let those fringe elements to blackmail the State or the religion. That the Police have arrested five suspects in connection with the attack on refugees is a sign that the government has the political will to confront the bigots who masquerade as the defenders of Sinhala-Buddhist interests. However, that the monks who were seen instigating the attack have not yet been arrested smacks of a degree of vacillation in the part of the police and probably the government. Those individuals are known peddlers of racism and need to be locked up by any sensible government that values ethnic harmony and national security. What is important for the government and of course for the religious elites is not to let those fringe elements to blackmail the State or the religion. That the Police have arrested five suspects in connection with the attack on refugees is a sign that the government has the political will to confront the bigots who masquerade as the defenders of Sinhala-Buddhist interests Sri Lanka should not differentiate between Buddhist extremism and Tamil separatist extremism, which ravaged this country in the past. Extremism by any community is evil and socially destabilizing, and begets extremism in the other communities, since other communities would not submit to it lying down. What could have been the public reaction had last Tuesdays attack been committed, say for instance, by the Eelam loving Tamil fringe on Sinhala interests and broadcast live on social media for several thousands of its followers (which the attackers did last week)? Such an incident should have mandated any proactive government to double its security measures, monitor these groups, arrest them, and probably lock them up in preventive detention under counter terror laws and adopt a long-haul strategy to quash any long-term threat. Human right champions may have a different take on things, but a government that fails to provide security and stability (and in our case to maintain that hard won security) is not worth to be in power. The same criteria should apply here, because the last weeks attack was not an isolated incident. It was the latest in a long sequence of attacks perpetrated by these groups. A dispassionate take on events suggest that this particular branch of Buddhist extremism pose an emerging threat to ethnic harmony and by extension to long term national security. In the absence of any other significant domestic and external risks, counter measures on this particular threat should be prioritized. It is often argued that the police and criminal justice system is better equipped to confront such threats. But, it has been proved to be a lie, now in the West and long before in Sri Lanka. Both Tamil insurgency and the JVP in the 80s grew in numbers and strength while the police were trying to catch the troublemakers. Finally, Rohana Wijeweera was dragged out of his hideout in Ulapane by the Armys Rapid Deployment Force, a precursor to the Special Force, and during the height of LTTE terrorism, security in the South was ensured by a combination of a hardened military intelligence apparatus. Of course, Sri Lanka should not use a sledgehammer to kill a fly. Security measures should be proportionate. But, it should also not under react, because, if you do so, terrorists and extremists would prevail and at one point, a future government, though grudgingly will be forced to induct all those unsavoury elements, its predecessors had to use in the South and the North in the past. At that point, such measures become a necessary evil, if the country is to be salvaged, even at the expense of a bout of brutality. A series of past attacks by Buddhist extremists highlight the need for these groups to be confronted with available security and legal means. They also need to be regularly monitored. Police have their hands full of law and order issues. Terrorism Investigation Division and military intelligence units can do a far more effective work in monitoring extremism in this country. They raise the stakes for extremists. The government should not mollycoddle Buddhist extremism; there is no guarantee that it would be different from other forms of extremism. Follow @RangaJayasuriya on Twitter Sri Lankan hotels are attempting to improve the data analysis and segmentation of tourists, according to Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, which is a subsidiary of the countrys largest leisure sector operator John Keels Holdings PLC. Were starting to do it, but we havent done it the way it should have been used, he added. He noted that Cinnamons situation is like many other Sri Lankan hotel groups, which so far has only collected basic demographic data. Segmentation is only done for demographics as well as the nationality and that is mainly the actionable data from the current year that we have, Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts Vice President Dileep Mudadeniya said at the Cinnamon Future of Tourism Summit 2017 held recently. The governments research, analytics and segmentation efforts too have been basic, which was highlighted in the Tourism Strategic Plan 2017-2020, which called for improvement of the situation. The informal sector in Sri Lanka has more research access than large hotels, since services such as Airbnb provide insights to accommodation providers based on data collected from customers. WASHINGTON AFP Oct1, 2017-- A Libyan militant accused of leading the September 11, 2012 attack on an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi that left the US ambassador and three others dead goes on trial Monday. Ahmed Abu Khattala is charged with 18 counts of murder, supporting terrorists and related charges in the trial in the federal district court in Washington, three years after he was captured in a commando raid and sent by ship to the United States. Khattala, around 46, was the commander of an Islamist militia in Benghazi, Ansar al-Sharia, which undertook the deadly raid on the US compound in the eastern port city. According to the indictment, he led a group of about 20 militants storming the compound. They set buildings on fire, including one in which ambassador Christopher Stevens and a foreign service officers were, killing them. Shortly afterward they killed two US security contractors in an attack on a CIA outpost near the mission compound. Facts underlying the mass grave of 45 Hindus found in the township of Fakirabazar in Maungdaw in the troubled Rakhine State of Myanmar late last month, are shrouded mystery. Were the killers Rohingya Muslim militants, as alleged by the Myanmar government, or are they troops of the Myanmar army and their henchmen? Hindu refugees who had fled to Bangladesh and are lodged in Coxs Bazaar, are blowing hot and cold on this matter. At first, they blamed the Myanmar armys agents or Rakhine Buddhists or a combination of the two. Then they changed the tune the very next week or ten days after saying that Rohingya Muslims and the Islamic terrorist Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) were the hooded men in black dress who attacked and murdered Hindus in villages like Fakirabazar. Meanwhile, the Myanmar army and the government launched a propaganda offensive portraying the dead as Hindus and placing the blame for the carnage at the door of the ARSA. ARSA is accused of fomenting large scale violence, killing, and arson which had led to the displacement of 800,000 Rohingya Muslims and Hindus to Bangladesh in a little over a month. The Myanmar government took a party of journalists to the mass grave, when aid workers and independent individual journalists remained barred from the troubled parts of the Rakhine State including Fakirabazar. Rohingya refugees from the Hindu colony in Fakirabazar told newspersons at a Coxs Bazaar refugees camp, as to how masked assailants clad in black (called the Kala Party) had shot and stabbed people and dumped their bodies in pits. The Myanmar military and Buddhists killed my husband for not participating in killing and ousting Rohingya Muslims, the Dhaka daily New Age quoted Anika Dhar, a pregnant Hindu housewife, as saying. Dhar told Reuters Television that she had taken shelter in a Muslim village after her husband was killed and that she came to Bangladesh with the Muslims of that village. Padma Bala, who arrived in Bangladesh on August 30, told New Age: The Moghs (Rakhine Buddhists) were cutting us up. Many Rohingya Hindus said they received support from Muslim neighbours when they were escaping from the Myanmar army. The Kala Party with arms, bombs and lethal weapons confined us to our houses for five consecutive days. We managed to escape the confinement with a Muslim neighbours help, Arimahan Rudra told Dhaka Tribune. Changing Version But Dhaka Tribune subsequently noted that after a week or so, the statements had begun to change. The Hindus, put up in a separate camp in Ukhiya in Coxs Bazaar, have started blaming militant Muslims for the attacks on them, the paper observed. A group of Rohingya Hindus told AFP, that they were brought forcibly to the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh by a group of men and told to convert to Islam. India Today also reported women saying that Muslim militants had forced them to perform namaz and don burqas. Reuters reported that in late August, a group of Hindu Rohingya women had told them that Rakhine Buddhists attacked them. But three of them changed their statement later to say that the attackers were Rohingya Muslims who brought them here and told them to blame the Buddhists. Muslims Ire Though it is not possible to come to a quick conclusion about the perpetrators of the crime, it is undeniable that there has been a Hindu-Muslim divide in Rakhine. It has been over resident rights. According to the Hindu refugees, the Rohingya Muslims are jealous of Hindus. While the Muslims have no citizenship rights of any kind, the Hindus have at least second class citizenship in the form of a Green Card which gives them greater privileges. Muslim terrorists have become desperate and have started resenting the Hindus who have green cards, Dhaka Tribune quotes Puja Malik, a young Hindu woman whose husband was killed by masked men clad in black on August 25, as saying. . The government is willing to give Muslims the second class green card like we have, but they do not want that. They demand first class Red Cards that the Moghs [Rakhine Buddhists] have, Mallik said. Hierarchy of Residency Permits Myanmar has three tiers of residency permits. The green card is for naturalized citizens, ie: bona fide immigrants. Green card holders can study in universities, get jobs and medical treatment in government hospitals, travel freely and vote. On the other hand, Rohingya Muslims are not entitled to the green card as they are allegedly illegal immigrant Bengalis. They only have White Cards which entitle them to nothing. The Hindus, put up in a separate camp in Ukhiya in Coxs Bazaar, have started blaming militant Muslims for the attacks on them The Rohingyas demand full-fledged citizenship, being long time residents of Rakhine; acknowledged as Rohingya and not as Bengali; and the removal of multiple state-decreed restrictions on them. Invidious Distinction While saying that Rohingyas will not be taken back unless they have proper Myamarese documents, Myanmar is now urging Hindu refugees who fled to Bangladesh to return, promising that they will be put up in Sittwe, a port town in Rakhine State. Commenting on this Dhaka Tribune said: Many Rohingya Muslims think this is Myanmars long-term plan, a classic divide and rule strategy, to create anger and hatred between the two religious groups among the Rohingyas. ARSA and Muslims Deny Some Muslims deny that they have any animosity towards the Hindus while others say that a divide was not there previously, but has emerged recently. Hindus and Muslims have been living together for more than a hundred years in our village. The differences in our religious faiths did not create any trouble all these years, Hashu Mia, a Muslim refugee from Fakirabazaar village told Dhaka Tribune. However, some Rohingya Muslims say that a section of Hindus had sided with the army and Rakhine militia since the recent violence. The Hindus are collaborating with the army and Moghs in Muslim killings. They helped them in looting and torching Muslim houses as they know the localities well, said Abdus Salam, another Rohingya refugee from Fakirabazaar. The relation between Hindus and Muslims has significantly deteriorated over a month, he told the Dhaka Tribune. Divide and Rule The Rohingya insurgent group ARSA has strongly denounced the allegations levelled by the Myanmar Army and said in a statement published in the international media that the Myanmar government is deliberately dividing the two communities in order to rule over both. ARSA categorically denies that any of its member of combatants perpetrated murder, sexual violence, or forcible recruitment in the village of Fakirabazar, Riktapur and Chikonchhari in Maungdaw on or about August 25, 2017, the statement issued last Wednesday said. The Army is playing a game. The Buddhists and government agents attacked the Hindu villages so that they can justify the military crackdown targeted on Muslim eradication, Mohammad Ayes, who enrolled himself in ARSA in August, told Dhaka Tribune. If Hindus were really attacked by Muslims, would they not be afraid to escape with the Muslims to get shelter in Bangladesh a Muslim country? he asked. However, it cannot be denied that the Hindu refugees are wanting to find refuge in Hindu-majority India, ultimately. Indonesian Ambassador Gusti Ardiyasa along with the Head of Chancery and Commercial Secretary addressed the business community at the Meet the Ambassador programme on bilateral trade between Sri Lanka and Indonesia at the National Chamber recently. Here the Indonesian ambassador is presented with a token of appreciation by President of National Chamber of Commerce Sujeeve Samaraweera BY Dr. C.S. Weeraratna According to a news item in Mirror Business of Daily Mirror on September 15, Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama has emphasized the need to increase our exports. At the recently held symposium on Sri Lankas National Export Strategy (NES), the same minister and his deputy too indicated the need to increase our exports. The prime minister, at several meeting highlighted the importance of increasing exports. Our trade deficit has continued to increase during the last few years to almost Rs.1400 billion in 2016. The contribution of exports as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) has decreased from 33 percent in 2000 to 12.7 percent in 2016. Hence, it is obvious that our exports have to be increased. Newspaper reports indicate that the quantity of most of our exports has dwindled during the last few years. Production of tea, our main export product, has continued to decrease from 340 million kilogrammes in 2013 to 292 million kilogrammes in 2016. However, the global tea production has increased bringing the Sri Lanka share in world tea production to 6 percent from 10.5 percent in the year 2000. Rubber production too has decreased from 152 million kilogrammes in 2012 to 79 kilogrammes in 2016. Exports of other crops do not show any substantial increase during the last few years. In fact, production of some of these crops has decreased. Earnings from industrial exports, which account for around three-fourths of total export earnings too has contracted by 1.0 percent. According to the 2016 Central Bank annual report, our trade deficit has continued to increase from Rs.1,196 billion in 2012 to Rs.1,325 billion in 2016. All these data indicate that our exports are dwindling and it is sine qua nun that an effective plan is implemented to increase our exports. With the European Unions (EU) Foreign Affairs Council deciding to grant additional trade preferences to Sri Lanka under its GSP Plus initiative, around 1200 Sri Lankan products would be benefited. In 2016, Sri Lanka exported Rs.3.1 billion worth exports to the EU. It is important that the relevant programmes are implemented early to promote the production of those products which have a potential for exports. Around two million hectares of the country remain uncultivated/partly cultivated. Sri Lanka has a wide variation in soil and climate with 46 agro-ecological zones, each characterized by specific climate and soils making it possible the cultivation of a number of different types of crops such as tuberous crops, horticultural and floricultural crops, medicinal herbs, cane, bamboo, sunflower, castor, etc., which have a considerable export potential. Although there are many organisations such as the Industry and Commerce Ministry, Export Development Board, Industrial Development Board, etc. there appears to be no proper long-term plan to develop agro-industries, except for some ad hoc projects. The Industry and Agriculture Ministry should implement an effective agro-industrial development programme, which undoubtedly would increase our exports, improve employment opportunities and incomes in the rural areas. Products of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have a high export potential and play a very important role in Sri Lankas economic development because they have the capacity to achieve rapid economic growth, while generating a considerable extent of employment opportunities. Promotion of SMEs would result in increasing the industrial output of the country leading to more exports. However, not much emphasis appears to have been placed on improving SMEs except providing loans by banks. A main factor that limits the SME sector is inadequate raw materials. For example, cane is not available for those in this sub-sector. It is so in the other sub-sectors too. Reducing imports While we take action to increase our exports it is essential that expenditure on imports is reduced. Among the food items imported in 2015 are sugar (Rs.34 billion) milk (Rs.34 billion), lentils (Rs.20 billion) onion (Rs.16 billion), maize (Rs.10 billion), herbs such as katuwelbatu, thippili used for ayurvedic drugs, etc. Most of these can be locally produced and expenditure on imports of these items can be thus reduced. For example, sugar production in the country has not increased by any appreciable amounts during the present decade. The Kanthale sugar factory remains closed while a plan to cultivate sugarcane in Bibile remains shelved. With regard to milk production, we have around one million cattle consisting of mostly indigenous cattle. Their productivity is low (one to three litres/day) mainly due to the poor nature of the breeds and inadequate low-quality feed supply. The dairy industry has a potential to contribute considerably to Sri Lankas economic development. Milk production also plays an important role in alleviating nutritional poverty and it is a source of extensive employment opportunities. If milk production can be increased, an appreciable amount of foreign exchange spent on milk imports can be reduced and improve the nutrition status of the people. Although we say that we are self-sufficient in rice (a carbohydrate) a large amounts of wheat flour (another carbohydrate) is imported at a cost of around Rs.45 billion. The annual wheat consumption in the country has increased from 38 kg/per person to nearly 80 kg/per person. There are many tuberous crops such as innala, sweet potato, yams, which can replace a part of the wheat flour we import. There has been rhetoric on promoting exports. It is meaningful and effective actions that are necessary. Giving talks at numerous seminars, etc. will not increase exports unless there is a realistic plan implemented effectively. (Dr. C.S. Weeraratna was a Professor of Agronomy at Ruhuna University and Professor of Soils and Water Resources at Rajarata University. He can be contacted at csweera@sltnet.lk) Climate change the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating Leonardo DiCaprio The alarming 42% drop in rice production in the past six months compared to that of last year, the death of nearly two hundred thousand coconut trees and the failure of a slew of other crops during the same season, have put countrys food security in jeopardy. The onslaught by climate change no doubt is playing havoc with the sustenance of Sri Lankas population. The jacking up of coconut prices to Rs.100 and the steep rise in rice prices are just the tip of the iceberg. Agriculture no doubt is one of most vulnerable sectors to be hit by climate change. It goes without saying that unless a comprehensive adaptation programme is put forward by the government a bigger crisis is likely to hit the country next year onward because the effects are only going to be worsened in the years to come. Besides, the projected drying up of ground water resources from 2020 onward threatening water security is going to exacerbate the crisis. Globally too the fate of agriculture is poised on a precipice. Climate scientists have projected that the entire Nile region which includes large swathes of irrigated land covering Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt, is expected to become a desert in 2040 due to scarcity of water. Besides, 2.4 billion people living in the Himalayan river basins which include India, Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar are expected to experience flash floods and severe drought spells in the years to come. On the other hand the rising temperatures are stunting the production of wheat, the global staple. Generally corn crops are unable to pollinate when temperatures rise above 93F. As such Europe, US, Australia, France, Germany, Canada, China, India, Pakistan and many others are comparing their notes and calling urgent conferences to discuss measures to arrest the trend. However unfortunately it seems that Sri Lanka has so far not shown such urgency in addressing the issues pertaining to the crisis here. It is learnt that a set of proposals has already been presented to the government by the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development to make the agriculture sector climate resilient and also to ensure water security in areas which do not have water resources right now. The setting up of a River Basin Authority (RBA) to control and develop the countrys 103 river basins is the key proposal of the plan which is aimed at the multi-purpose development of rivers. This will include creating reservoirs, diverting waters in wet zone rivers to dry zone, controlling floods and many other purposes. However this blue print is yet to get off the ground as it awaits the green light. It is estimated that annually some 5.5 billion cubic metres of water from the Kelani River flows to the sea. Diverting part of the flood waters to Kurunegala and Puttalam and those of Attanagalu Oya and Gin Ganga to the South and Moneragala are among the proposals of the ministry. It should be noted that after Ambatale not a single reservoir has been build to supply water to Colombo despite the sharp rise in the demand for fresh drinking water. The ministry plan drives home the point that theres an urgent need to create at least two more tanks for Colombo in view of the demand. While the rest of the world is busy discussing means and measures to face the effects of global warming Sri Lanka has so far failed to come up with a single, solid back-up plan. It is high time we rose up to the challenge and implement what needs to be done before it is too late. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 21 runs in the first Test of the 2-Test series as Pakistan failed to chase down a meagre 136-run target and were all out for 114. Sri Lanka lead the series 1-0 now. Pakistan were 67 for 5 at Tea and with skipper Sarfraz Ahmad and Haris Sohail still at the crease, there was some hope still in the Test for the hosts. However, Pakistan kept losing wickets after the Tea break. Sarfraz got out after scoring 19 runs while Haris Sohail scored 34 runs, highest in the innings. Pakistan were fighting to overhaul a modest but tricky 136-run target as they reached tea at 67-5 on the fifth and final day of the first Test in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed was unbeaten on 13 and Haris Sohail 19 as Pakistan still need another 69 runs in the final session to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Earlier, leg-spinner Yasir Shah took 5-51 -- his 32nd five wicket haul in Tests -- to dismiss Sri Lanka for 138 in their second innings. With the ball taking spin on a difficult Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch, Pakistani batsmen struggled against veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath (2-19) and off-spinner Dilruwan Perera (2-25). Herath dismissed opener Sami Aslam for two before accounting for Asad Shafiq who made a fighting 20, reaching within four wickets of the 400-wicket milestone in his 84th Test. Perera then had Shan Masood (seven) and a shaky Babar Azam for three to leave Pakistan struggling at 32-4. In between fast bowler Suranga Lakmal had Azhar Ali caught behind for nought. Pakistan, led by Shah, bowled well in the morning. Sri Lanka, who resumed at 69-4, lost their last six wickets for 69 runs. Niroshan Dickwella fought hard during his unbeaten knock of 40 studded with four boundaries. The second Test -- a day-night match -- starts in Dubai from Friday. (Dunya News) Spanish police have responded with unjustified and unjustifiable brutality, even with rubber bullets, to Catalonias unauthorized independence referendum, the regions secessionist leader said Sunday. Carles Puigdemont spoke after riot-gear officers stormed schools and other public buildings designated as polling stations. Catalans had occupied them in the past 72 hours in attempt to keep them open for voting. Police responded to ballot boxes, ballot papers and schools with batons and rubber bullets, Puigdemont charged in a press conference. Such police brutality will forever shame the Spanish state, he added. Social media was filled with images of officers in tense stand-offs with crowds. Some people could be seen dragged away by officers wearing helmets and carrying batons; others were injured and were carried out of schools in stretchers. Catalan regional health authorities wrote on Twitter that 38 people were injured following Spanish police charges, including nine who were hospitalized. Most of the others were treated for bruises, dizziness and panic attacks. The Spanish government said it was necessary to enforce the rule of law and stop a vote banned by the Constitutional Court. We were forced to do what we did not wish to do, the Madrid government delegate for Catalonia, Enric Millo, said. They cannot silence the voice of the people. We will vote and we will win, pro-independence campaigner Jordi Sanchez, leader of the Catalan National Assembly, wrote on Twitter -Barcelona (dpa), 01 Oct 2017 A Sri Lankan asylum seeker has died while being held in Australian immigration detention on Manus Island, Australian media reported. The man was a Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seeker, and was reportedly in Lorengau Hospital receiving treatment for mental illness. The Manus Island police chief, David Yapu, told Fairfax , We had a suicide of a refugee at the Lorengau hospital in the early hours of this morning. This man is the second refugee to die by suicide on Manus Island in the past two months. The death is one of a handful of tragic and preventable deaths (including six on Manus Island alone) that have occurred in the detention centres in the past few years. The latest has happened against the backdrop of Turnbull shutting down the facility on Manus Island. The Manus Island detention centre is being closed after Papua New Guinea ruled that the detention centre which is run by PNG government and law-enforcement officials but sponsored by the Australian Federal Government was in violation of human rights. In 2016 the PNG Supreme Court ruled in a landmark decision that the centre breached the PNG constitutional right to personal liberty. Additionally, the Prime Minister of PNG, Peter ONeill, somewhat ominously said to reporters, We did not anticipate the asylum seekers to be kept as long as they have at the Manus centre. The recent death on Manus Island is said to have exponentially increased anxiety and distress for other detainees, the majority of whom are suffering from depression, Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The head of the Refugeee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul, has told reporters, The death has increased the anxiety and distress among all the refugees and asylum seekers on Manus as they struggle with their own circumstances. There are two other extremely mentally distressed people who urgently need assistance. Last year a review into mental health conditions in Australian offshore detention revealed that around 215 of the 400 people who completed a 2014 Harvard Trauma Questionaire exhibited signs of severe mental distress. Those refugees who have been interned for more than two years are at increased risk of suffering mental illness, and children (who are still interred in Australian-sponsored offshore camps despite frequent government protests to the contrary) are said to be at the most extreme risk. This latest death has happened just days after Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Duttons bizarre rant about Armani refugees sunning themselves on the beaches of Nauru and Manus Island, which anyone with half a brain knows is not the situation at all. Building on the successful campaign held in October 2016, The Kingsbury will embark on another breast cancer awareness campaign under Building on the successful campaign held in October 2016, The Kingsbury will embark on another breast cancer awareness campaign under The Kingsbury Nurtures the CSR arm of The Kingsbury in collaboration with the Cancer Care Association of Sri Lanka. This years programme is to conduct 4 breast cancer consultation and screening clinics The Kingsbury, Winchester Ballroom on; Friday 6th Oct 2017 10am 2pm Thursday 12th Oct 2017 4pm 8pm Friday 20th Oct 2017 10am 2pm Wednesday 25th Oct 2017 - 4pm -8pm The month of October is declared as Breast Cancer Awareness Month internationally and The Kingsburyscommitment to on an annual basis will certainly increase awareness of the deadly threat to women. While most people are aware of breast cancer, many do not to take the steps to get themselves tested. If in the event breast cancer is detectedit its early stages, the patients stand a better chance of successful recovery. The Cancer Care Association of Sri Lanka (CCA) is an organization founded by Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa with a compassionate motive and immense dedication to ensure the physical, mental, social and spiritualwellbeing of those who are affected from cancer and their families in dealing with this condition. The 2016 campaign jointly conducted by The Kingsbury Nurturescreated the much needed awareness on the disease and the importance of early detection as well asfunding for the various initiatives of the CCA. According to World Cancer Research Fund International, 1.7million new cases were diagnosed worldwide in the year 2012 alone. World Health Organizations 2014 data indicated 3955 cases of Breast Cancer among females making it the most common cancer diagnosed in Sri Lanka with the 34years and above age category being at the greatest risk. There is no update official statics available to indicate the growing threat to society but what we know is that available facilities are not adequate to cope with the growing number of cases that require treatment. Out of all forms of cancer that affect the female population, breast cancer is the most prevalent. Figure 1 - Cancer Incidence Sri Lanka 2014 (Source- WHO) In todays society women are faced with many challenges; the biggest being the ability to balance the multiple roles they play in todays society. In this context what really happens is that they tend to neglect themselves and their health due to time constraints, especially the working women. Therefore, our intention is to give these ladies who contribute so much to our economy as well as their families the opportunity to get themselves tested for breast cancer whilst they are at work. To this extent we appeal to all employers to please facilitate this screening by giving them a little time during work to pop into The Kingsburysaid Dinithi Somaratne, Group Director Communications for The Kingsbury and Amaya Resorts & Spas. For the second year running, we have partnered with The Kingsburyfor another campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The 4 clinics organized at The Kingsburyare a great opportunity for those who have concerns to get a free consultation and breast examination. Early detection saves lives;therefore please make your way to The Kingsbury and get yourself checked out Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa, President Cancer Care Association Sri Lanka. Alexandre Diaz Albo, General Manager at The Kingsbury comment The KingsburyNurtures will continue build on these efforts and play a responsible role in assisting all our stakeholders by sharing the fruits of our labour with senior citizens, working ladies, orphaned children as well as the environment to ensure the brand is one with the people of Sri Lanka. Given below are the details for those of would like to contribute to the purchase of mobile mammography machines: Cheques in favour of The Cancer Care Association can be posted to No.55, MunasinghaMawatha, Galawilawatta, Homagama, Sri Lanka or their accounts at the following banks: Commercial Bank (Homagama) - 1290025562 Bank of Ceylon (Maharagama) - 75181082 Sampath Bank (Gangodawila) - 113561000289 Hatton National Bank (Nugegoda) - 027020516593 Peoples Bank (Gangodawila) - 097200180012126 National Savings Bank(Navinna) - 101190157473 call Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa 0773409787 A meditation and sharing support group that brings together the practice of meditation, Buddhist teachings and the 12 steps of recovery integrating the basic sanity of the Dharma and the basic goodness of meditation. The Heart of Recovery is a meditation and sharing support group with the purpose of bringing together the practice of meditation, the Shambhala and Buddhist teachings, and the Twelve Steps of Recovery with the goal of integrating the basic sanity of the Dharma and the basic goodness of meditation with our commitment to abstinence. We welcome all those who wish to share in these common interests. There are no requirements to attend our meetings. Suggested donation: $5 The Heart of Recovery is a meditation and sharing support group with the purpose of bringing together the practice of meditation, the Shambhala and Buddhist teachings, and the Twelve Steps of Recovery with the goal of integrating the basic sanity of the Dharma and the basic goodness of meditation with our commitment to abstinence. We welcome all those who wish to share in these common interests. There are no requirements to attend our meetings. Suggested donation: $5 REUTERS, 1 October, 2017- The United States said on Saturday it was directly communicating with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programmes but Pyongyang had shown no interest in dialogue. The disclosure by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during a trip to China represented the first time he has spoken to such an extent about U.S. outreach to North Korea over its pursuit of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile. We are probing so stay tuned, Tillerson told a group of reporters in Beijing. We ask: Would you like to talk? We have lines of communications to Pyongyang. Were not in a dark situation, a blackout. He said that communication was happening directly and cited two or three U.S. channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them. We do talk to them, he said, without elaborating about which Americans were involved in those contacts or how frequent or substantive they were. The goal of any initial dialogue would be simple: finding out directly from North Korea what it wants to discuss. We havent even gotten that far yet, he said. The incremental economic value of conserving the wetlands, need to be closely looked at. Substantial funds are required to address threats, pressures, and to enforce controls on land and resource uses as well as manage the Wetlands and its valuable resources. The Institute of Environment Professionals Sri Lanka (IEPSL) is holding its Annual General Meeting today (October 3) at the SLLRDC managed Bio Diversity Park, which is located closer to Thalawathugoda, behind Parliament. At this AGM the selected theme of the IEPSL is Rescuing Wetlands For Economic Development. This article is published to highlight the values of wetlands and contribution towards economy in Sri Lanka. In considering the economic development of the country, it is also essential to pay an attention on the contribution towards national economy provided by component of wetlands and thereby conduct an assessment on those components of wetlands which forms vitally important, but often neglected. It is very clear that very little work has been carried out on developing and applying economic assessment process to wetlands. An understanding of the economic status of wetlands is however critical for planning for their wise use and sustainable management. If at all a proper valuation and assessment need to be carried out, biological, ecological and hydrological contribution to the economy as well as to the environment that could be relatively well-established. In that sense wetlands typically have a high economic value. However, economic forces underlie wetland degradation and loss, and wetland conservation often requires a range of economic management responses with greater interventions. The incremental economic value of conserving the wetlands, need to be closely looked at. An understanding of the economic status of wetlands is however critical for planning for their wise use and sustainable management. If at all a proper valuation and assessment need to be carried out, biological, ecological and hydrological contribution to the economy as well as to the environment that could be relatively well-established. In that sense wetlands typically have a high economic value. Initially, let us think of the effect that the assessment methodology to compare with wetland and without wetland a scenario, indicating what wetland conservation adds to economic output and welfare as compared to the next most likely alternative land use (Reclamation for settlement and industry).Within the context of wise use principles, wetland conservation is considered to include the uses of wetland and resources to generate for economic benefits. Since there are no proper attention to assess functions of wetlands, limited information is however available as to the sustainability of current resource uses, and the ability of the wetland to continue natural process of filtering and cleaning the existing waste loads. In considering the other aspects in view of the economic valuation, that the wetlands are currently able to effectively attenuate flooding, providing firewood, fisheries and limited agricultural production are also a valuable natural resources need to be considered and essentially to be kept within sustainable levels. Accordingly wetland benefits could be categorized as: Direct benefits: Economic values yielded by the physical use of wetland resources and ecosystems for production and consumption (For example fishery, tourism, firewood). Economic benefits associated with the direct use of wetland resources such as fishing and tourism are most prominent values. Most of the wetlands are provided or facilitated for popular recreational destination for urban dwellers and foreign tourists. Indirect benefits: Economic values yielded by wetland environmental services and eco system functions and services (Example nutrient retention, micro-climate regulation, flood attenuation, wastewater treatment, water supply and ground water recharge, fish breeding and nursery, landscape value, carbon sink). Mangroves provide nursery habitat for many wildlife species, including commercial fish and crustaceans, and thus contribute to sustaining the local abundance of fish and shellfish populations. There are hundreds of fauna and flora species recorded in many wetlands showing the valuable diversity. Optional benefits: The economic valuation placed on maintaining wetland species and ecosystems for future possible economic uses, some of which may not be known now (Example development for pharmaceutical (medicinal plants), industrial (minerals), agricultural, innovative and value addition) applications, values placed on possible future uses and applications such as: Future tourism development, future commercial applications of wild plants, species and genes). Existing benefits: Intrinsic values attached to the existence of wetland species and ecosystems, regardless of actual use (For example, aesthetic, national heritage, cultural significance, leisure, recreation and education and research significance). The simplest and most straightforward way of valuing wetland goods and services is to look at their market prices - what they cost to buy or what they are worth to sell. For example, Muthurajawela/ Negombo lagoon, market price-based valuation techniques could be applied to the economic benefits associated with annual fish production worth of some billions of Rupees, agricultural and plant-based handicraft production activities in the marsh area worth of another millions of rupees based on the calculation on livelihood of the people living in the vicinity of wetlands. (These valuations are estimated many studies such as Muthurajawela and Negombo lagoon, Madu Ganga etc.) However, often the case with environmental goods and services, many of the economic benefits associated with wetlands have no market price, or are subject to prices that are highly distorted. In these cases a range of alternative valuation techniques could, in principle, be applied: Effects on production: The life support provided as inputs by those wetlands ecosystem and other economic processes often rely on wetland resources have to be given much concerns. Where they have a market, it is possible to value wetland goods and services in terms of their contribution to the output or income of those other production and consumption opportunities. For the case of effects on production techniques could be used to assess the economic value of wetland wastewater treatment services and provision of fish breeding and nursery habitat functions in terms of their contribution to downstream fisheries- in the lagoon system specially, where there are sea grasses as well as mangroves. Replacement costs: Even where wetland goods and services have no market themselves, they often have alternatives or substitutes that can be bought and sold. This replacement costs can be used as a proxy for the value of wetland goods and services, although usually represent only partial estimates, or under-estimates. For the case of all wetlands replacement costs could be used to assess the value of flood retention in terms of artificial infrastructure required to provide a similar level of services. Wetlands also have a function in mitigating, reducing or avoiding damages to the environment during adverse situations, such as Tsunami and other ad worse environmental impacts. If closely monitor or assess the value where situation to avoid damage costs due to carbon sequestration in terms of climate change-related damage costs which could be avoided in view of the services of Wetlands. Mangroves roots support to purify effluent and retain sediments and are functionally linked to neighbouring coastal ecosystems safeguarding coral reefs. On the other hand what are other scenarios to be considered as Mitigative or avertive expenditures? It is almost always necessary to take action to mitigate or avert the negative effects of the loss to the environment goods and services, so as to avoid economic costs. For example, the value of wastewater treatment and ground water recharge services, value of fresh water storage etc. in terms of alternative expenditures could be avoided with the wetland natural functions. Ensuring that wetland conservation generates tangible economic benefits to both national income and people in the local areas through uses of its valuable resources: There are numerous threats to wetland considering it as a waste lands and try to utilise or exploit as place for dumping or reclamation, discharging waste and waste water and chemicals with many harmful substances. Substantial funds are required to address threats, pressures, and to enforce controls on land and resource uses as well as manage the Wetlands and its valuable resources. Currently there are few funds or no funds available to undertake that tasks or to extend an adequate level of protection to the wetland. To ensure that the public sector agencies and private individuals who profit from wetland goods and services and are able to pay for those use are charged fair prices. If they are retained and allocated at the site level, such revenues can provide an important source of funding for the conservation of this valuable natural asset. Also it is necessary to mention that modern marketing strategies along with sustainable management and conservation strategies based biodiversity park concept can be implemented in generating funds which is called Wise use of Wetlands. Protect Wetlands for future generations. Elphinstone Railway Bridge stampede. Tragedy. 23 dead. Hundreds maimed. Happy Dussehra. What's new? Well, the usual suspects across the political divide have mouthed partisan comments. Of course, the Maharashtra government has announced a generous compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the dead. Mainstream media and the social media, in particular, is full of taunts, barbs and tirades - depending on your political affiliation or leaning. It is shocking that there is not even one story on why there is no law/legislation of meaning to take care of such calamities. No matter how hard we try, we are unlikely to see the cessation of such manmade disasters. Then, should not the executive and legislature come up with a statute to provide succour and relief of a lasting kind, to enable the victims to get over the trauma and, possibly, the loss of an earning member of their family? The judiciary has done its best and, despite its repeated clarion calls, it is frustrating to see the executive and Parliament turning a blind eye to status quo. That, Mitron, adds to the agony in such moments of madness. How many of us know or are even remotely aware that the pursuit of compensation for the victims, as a civil remedy, against the entity(s) responsible for the mishap can be traced to the antiquated Britsh-era legislation, Fatal Accidents Act, 1846? The faultlines in that statute are far too many - too nuanced to recount in a non-academic piece like mine - whose purport is to nudge a response from the powers that be. Surely, I am not looking to see this article go viral, touching the conscience of our representatives to goad them into action. Far from it. The expectation is not esoteric but grounded in reality: to inform the uninformed and, maybe just maybe, that it catches the eye of a "leader" who may take it up as a cause - even founded on his self-interest in public space, to build/consolidate a career. Imagine, Right To Information Act, 2000 also had small beginnings. FA Act, 1846 is desperately seeking an overhaul to align with the times we live in. In a series of decisions, notable among them being Bhopal Gas tragedy, Delhi Oleum gas leak, Uphaar fire tragedy, Gujarat Municipal boat capsize et al, the Supreme Court has been agonisingly seeking a response from executive/legislature - and even requesting the law commission of India to come up with a "repealed and replaced" version the FA Act, 1846. Alas, it is all lying in tomes in volumes without a concern. The Elphinstone stampede is only the latest in a series of such manmade disasters. Surely, we seem so immune that after outraging for a brief while, We The People would be back to the business of political acrimony as we have no dearth of issues to indulge in. Parliamentarians need to accept their total apathy and indifference to the need of the hour. Photo: PTI More importantly, Elphinstone will occupy the physical and metaphysical space only of the ephemeral kind. We would not even know how the victims coped with the tragedy and whether the State actually played a role in assisting them. Truth is, that FA Act, 1846 is too old and near-obsolete and hopelessly inadequate to meet the ends of justice. It's time the political class realised the futility of its divisions. Parliamentarians need to accept their total apathy and indifference to the need of the hour. The executive has to treat this as another Nirbhaya moment, and act to envision a "repealed and replaced" FA Act, 1846. Surely, it is not the Obamacare kind to be trumped by one side or the other. It would be simple and easy to build a consensus, for no politician worth his salt would even remotely dare any dissent for a new legislation which should meet the just compensation for victims - as a matter of legal right, not "solatium", at the whim and fancy of the State. Legally, while doing away with the glaring limitations under FA Act, 1846, flagged off by the top court on many an occasion, the executive/legislature could innovatively tweak the provisions to provide for a mandatory insurance cover with a "no fault minimum" as well. If only there is will, there could be a way to mobilise the premium in many an innovative way - and there should be no shortfall at all. A simple illustration on where the funding" could come from: as per Section 194-A of Income Tax Act, 1961, tax deduction at source is compulsory on interest liability to a victim over and above Rs 50,000 (10 per cent if a PAN card holder and 20 per cent to others), followed since 2001. Hundreds of crores have accumulated - mostly from accident victims belonging to poor and underprivileged sections - that are refundable, but lying unclaimed with the State. This could be tapped into to create a meaningful corpus to repeal and replace the act with a mandatory insurance cover to provide for rightful, just compensation during such calamities, and even natural disasters, instead of looking to the State for a paltry "solatium". India is all set to become a major stakeholder in Afghanistan as per Trump administrations new South Asia strategy. The new policy envisages more pressure on Pakistan to forsake its "strategic assets" and no US troop withdrawal deadline from war-torn Afghanistan. Although the Modi government conveyed to US defence secretary James Mattis (during the latter's recent visit to New Delhi) that India would not send its combat troops to Afghanistan, the expanded scale and scope of Indias security, economic and developmental involvement in Kabul will mark a significant shift in South Asian geopolitics. Mattis, who endorsed India as a major defence partner of the US, is the senior-most official from the US administration to visit India since Donald Trump became the US president. He is also seen as one of the few key US officials who drew up the new South Asia policy. Since the start of asymmetric warfare in Afghanistan following the Soviet intervention in 1979, the Afghan theatre has decisively shaped the geopolitics of Indian subcontinent. The US-financed Afghan war championing the cause of "jihad" against the "infidel" USSR witnessed Washington deepen its strategic partnership with Pakistan, much to New Delhis discomfiture. When the departure of the Soviet troops threw Afghanistan back to medieval times and brought the fundamentalist Taliban to power, the US chose to ignore the realities on the ground. Until 9/11 happened, only a handful of US policymakers were willing to acknowledge that choices made under the umbrella of the Cold War radically transformed the course of history in the South Asian region. Image: Twitter/@IndianEmbassyUS Since the early 2000s, as the US began warming up to India, Afghanistan still remained a bone of contention even as Pentagon discouraged India from either providing military assistance or sending troops to Afghanistan. However, things are going to change sooner than later as New Delhi seeks to scale up the level of its engagement in Afghanistan with strong support from the Trump administration, which seems convinced that the status quo on the Afghan front would only encourage chaos and disorder. The pivotal point here is that the current American strategy sharply differs from the past in terms of addressing concerns regarding Pakistans role in Afghanistan. Also, for the first time in the history of Indo-US relations, India is being perceived as a part of the solution to the Afghan problem. The US president has uncompromisingly demanded that Pakistan must immediately terminate its plans aimed at the destabilisation of Afghanistan by providing safe havens to Afghan Taliban, while singling out India to play a larger role. The emphasis of his policy speech has been on India increasing its economic and developmental assistance to Afghanistan. The visit of Mattis must have given a concrete shape to Indo-US discussions on how to achieve that policy objective. Both the countries are not oblivious to the bitter truth that without stronger security assistance to the Ashraf Ghani-led government, the ascent of the Taliban could not be reversed. And all talks of development in Afghanistan could become more fruitless. India strongly believes that true peace and meaningful stability in Afghanistan cannot be achieved without total and unconditional dismantling of all terrorist networks as well as sustained counter-extremism campaigns across Pakistan. As India is considering the contours of its security involvement in Afghanistan, the focus has been on the issue of India putting boots on the ground. Now, when the Modi government has clearly ruled out sending combat troops to Afghanistan, the US is not likely to press India further for this role. Still, there is much that India is capable of doing militarily to bail out the fragile Kabul government, which has been bearing the brunt of Taliban onslaught. It must be recalled that the landmark October 2011 strategic partnership agreement between India and Afghanistan unmistakably called for security cooperation between the countries. In fact, India was the first country to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan. Then why did India avoid fulfilling this role despite repeated requests from the Afghan government? One of the primary reasons for Indias unwillingness stemmed from its concerns regarding Pakistans sensitivities in this regard. Pakistans "deep state" remains terrified of an imaginary Kabul-Delhi axis that would "encircle" Pakistan, with the Indian Army along a contested eastern border and Afghans on its disputed western border, known as the Durand Line. The previous US administrations accommodated Pakistans insistence that if the Taliban are to be "persuaded" to enter into peace negotiations and the supply lines through Pakistan to the NATO troops are not to be disrupted, India must not be allowed to have any kind of security presence in Afghanistan. However, New Delhis marked restraint in Afghanistan has not yielded any positive response from Islamabad. Still functioning within its own ivory tower, isolated from the changing strategic realities of South Asia, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has just underlined Islamabad's concerns in his recent address to the UN that Pakistan is against India having any kind of role in Afghanistan. Although Pakistans foreign minister Khawaja Asif has spoken with remarkable candidness about his country's need to reflect on its faulty security policy choices and to put their house in order, there is no indication yet of Islamabad willing to try and correct the errors of the past. Since India has not received any strategic or political benefit from its restraint in Afghanistan, the Modi government is on the brink of abandoning Indias hesitant stance. Another factor that was considered a hindrance in Indias military role in Afghanistan is lack of geographical access between India and Afghanistan. That is why India has been content to confine its assistance to Afghanistan in the realm of reconstruction and development, and the training of Afghan security forces. However, this very physical distance magnifies the range of soft power that India projects in Afghanistan and strengthens the bonds of friendship between the two people who rarely meet. With the Modi government coming to power, India has pursued a much more vigorous foreign policy with New Delhi gradually discarding its traditional reluctance, as reflected in the supply of four combat helicopters to Afghanistan. Moreover, the Trump administrations active encouragement to India to take greater responsibilities in Afghanistan has also been a decisive factor in removing whatever inhibitions New Delhi had for a larger footprint in Afghanistan. As Indias foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and her Afghan counterpart, Salahuddin Rabbani, have announced in New Delhi in the second week of September, New Delhi and Kabul would strengthen security cooperation, and India would provide more assistance to the Afghan armed forces. Training and supply of equipment for the Afghan security forces is critical to enable their government to maintain peace in the country. And India is well placed to perform that role. Whether Pakistan acquiesces or not to Indias role in Afghanistan, it would not alter the situation much. The fast-changing scenario following Trumps Af-Pak policy "bombshell" is undoubtedly a watershed moment not only for Indo-US relations, but also for Indias South Asia policy. Since Islamabads relentless outbursts do not seem to sway the current occupant of the White House who has always resented this impression that it is Pakistan that holds the initiative in Afghanistan, the US is merely the ringmaster. Besides rebuking Pakistan for harbouring "agents of chaos, violence and terror", Trump rubbed salt into the self-inflicted wounds of Pakistan by not holding a formal meeting with the Pakistani prime minister recently at the United Nations while meeting the Afghan president. Echoing Trumps harsh words against Pakistan, Mattis noted in New Delhi that there "can be no tolerance of terrorist safe havens". How is this message going to be interpreted in Pakistan, is not much of a mystery. An enhanced Indo-US strategic coordination in Afghanistan coupled with Pakistans manifestly hostile reaction is going to change the international relations in South Asia. The basic tenets of Indias approach a strong and democratic Afghanistan able to decide its own future remain unchanged. However, as a regional power with high stakes in ensuring peace and stability in its northern frontiers, India can no longer avoid taking greater responsibility in Afghanistan. The message from the Modi government is unmistakable: India will do what it has planned in Afghanistan, and it would not seek Pakistans approval. Despite the daringly new beginning, questions remain in terms of policy substance of Trump administrations diplomatic approach towards South Asia. A towns airport is often its gateway, a visitors first impression. And a fixed base operator that offers needed services plays a major role in getting a pilot to land in a community, according to Kyle Wanner, director of the State Aeronautics Commission. One North Dakota company is aiming to help those small fixed base operators in the state and across the country attract those planes to their towns. Father and son pair, Lynn and Mitch Hartman, operate Lav Air Portasystems Inc. in Dickinson. They make a cart for emptying a planes waste tank and replacing clean water. Were trying to make it affordable, Lynn Hartman said. Fixed base operators operate on a pretty slim margin. (Lavatory service) is often a service they would like to offer but it has to be affordable. The company operates on the premise that, if fixed base operators are able to offer lavatory service they may be able to get more planes landing. They ultimately make more money on fuel and repair services, but, if it brings in more aircraft, it builds their business. Wanner said, while not essential, lavatory service can definitely be an attractant, particularly for business jets, which typically want multiple services done when they land. Watford City and Tioga did not have fixed base operators until air traffic to those towns increased with oil development. And with a runway long enough for jets, Tioga did invest in one of the Hartmans carts. Enhanced services at smaller airports is always a good thing, Wanner said. If we can find better ways to allow small communities to have better services, its definitely a good thing. Lav Air Portasystems has been around for a while, started by a friend of Mitch Hartman five or six years ago. The friend had worked as an aircraft mechanic in Denver and saw the need for these carts for smaller aircraft. When he moved back to Dickinson, he opened the business and Mitch Hartman helped him. Now, with the help of the North Dakota Department of Commerce's Innovate ND program for entrepreneurs, the Hartmans are aiming to revamp the business and take it to the next level. They have the equipment now to build tanks for the cart, rather than having them manufactured elsewhere, and theyre able to offer more customization. Theyre also prototyping a cart for drinking water. Lynn Hartman said they sell 12 to 15 carts per year. With their revamped marketing efforts, theyre targeting the Dakotas, Montana and Minnesota. But they have sold carts in Reno, Nev., Arizona, California, Minnesota, Michigan and the northeastern United States. There are smaller airports all around the county with the runway length for jet traffic and Lynn Hartman said they consider every one of the more than 3,000 fixed base operators nationwide as potential customers. Executive Air in Bismarck is one of them, having bought one of the carts a number of years ago, said COO Paul Vetter of the new service. When private jets fly in many times they need lavatory services A lot come from a long distance, Vetter said. It provides another business opportunity When we get phone calls, they often ask if we have lavatory service available, so it is important Were a small company, so the price was a definite factor, and this unit is economical enough it makes it affordable. And it allows Executive Air to service its own jets. Im actually thrilled theres a North Dakota company making these, Vetter said of the close proximity to allow for good support when repairs are needed. On October 1, 2017, the second referendum in three years to vote for an independent Catalonia, a region with unique history, culture and language in the northeastern part of Spain, was undertaken. Despite a low turnout, reports have hinted at almost 90 per cent of the votes going in for a "yes", dashing Spain's hope that it wouldn't see a Brexit moment by carefully upholding the Constitution, and overdoing the policing. But the referendum, the actual results of which will be declared on Sunday, might drastically alter the course of history, perhaps giving a decisive push towards an independent Catalonia. There's humungous confusion and reports of violent clashes between the Spanish police and the Catalan separatists, with images of bloodied protesters flooding the internet. Has the government of Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy acted in a high-handed manner, or was it simply trying to prevent what it has deemed an "illegal referendum", along with the Spanish Constitutional Court? Voy a comparecer en el @Congreso_Es y convocare a las fuerzas politicas para reflexionar sobre un futuro que tenemos que afrontar juntos pic.twitter.com/Y4mSnEjAWB Mariano Rajoy Brey (@marianorajoy) October 1, 2017 Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy ordered police crackdown against Catalan separatists. Reuters The ground reality refuses to cater to any black and white analysis, given the deep fissures within Spain and the decades of yearning for an independent, and not just an autonomous Catalonia, fomenting the crisis. Brief history of Catalonian nationalism Catalonia became a part of Spain in the late 15th century, when the modern borders of the then kingdom were determined, though it maintained its own laws and customs. Through the 17th century, a number of wars were fought, and Catalonians also revolted to seek independence, but were crushed. The autonomy of the Crown of Aragon, and Catalonia, ended on September 11, 1714, when Barcelona surrendered to the Bourbon force, leading to the Nueva Planta decrees, which led to the centralisation of Spanish rule, custom and laws on the entire region. Protesters gather at Madrid's Puerta del Sol in support of Catalans' right to decide to vote #CatalanReferedendum pic.twitter.com/6S5MyQuRs6 Sara Houlison (@SaraHoulison) October 1, 2017 While the 19th century saw Catalonian cultural renaissance, this led to political parties of the Catalan kind gaining ground. While Catalonia was granted autonomy when Spain became a republic, the Spanish Civil War of 1932-38 changed the scene again. General Francisco Franco abolished the statues of autonomy and generalitat for Catalonia in 1938, and that remained so until his death in 1975 during which period Spain remained a military dictatorship. After Franco's death, Spain restored democracy and adopted the Constitution in 1978, granting Catalonia autonomy once again in 1979. However, in the 21st century, politics picked up pace and cultural nationalism of the Catalonian kind began gaining ground, in accordance with the rising identity politics the world over. After a host of aborted or lost or symbolic attempts, a referendum, deemed illegal, was held in 2014. It saw a resounding yes, although the turnout was just over 35 per cent. The president of the autonomous Catalan government, Carles Puigdemont, has been equated by some to Nigel Farage, the man responsible for Brexit. Reuters The new president of the autonomous Catalan government, Carles Puigdemont, took over in January 2016, and omitted the oath of loyalty to the king and the Spanish Constitution. Puidgemont has been equated by some observers to Nigel Farage of the UKIP in Britain, the man responsible for making Brexit happen. 2017 referendum and violence Spain's political crisis has spiralled with the October 1 referendum in which ballot papers were printed at home or bought from Catalan nationalist sympathiser companies, because the Spanish government deemed it illegal and sealed off polling booths. The referendum, therefore, is a purely civilian- and Catalonian-driven development, and any citizen could cast his/her vote in any polling booth in the region, making it what an observer has called the a "made for rigging" referendum. Spanish National Police strike with batons Catalonian fire fighters trying to protect voters in today's referendum. #referendumCAT #o1 pic.twitter.com/OcbAhXctTI WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 1, 2017 Catalan response to Rajoy's repression (censorship, arrests, raids) is impressive--and strategic. Catalans "keep it light" with humor and calm, insuring people are not afraid to vote and directing reactive energy into growing their institutions and away from fear & violence. pic.twitter.com/KxYsUKOSgy Julian Assange ?? (@JulianAssange) September 29, 2017 A hard road ahead, but I pay homage to:1. Catalonia's people, engineers & leaders who with courage and adaptability preserved their voting system against a ferocious onslaught2. Catalonia's civil society for turning anger into organization3. @Mossos for walking a 155 tightrope Julian Assange ?? (@JulianAssange) October 2, 2017 The pro-Spanish media has called it a joke, because of its ad hoc nature. But Europe and Anglophone media across the world are watching this carefully, too divided and confused to take a position, while reporting on the violence on the streets of Catalonia caused by clashing protesters with the police. Dear media: The word for armed police beating and shooting entirely peaceful voters is not "clashes". https://t.co/9mqqy4PmBb pic.twitter.com/PWSZIiSKq9 Julian Assange ???? (@JulianAssange) October 2, 2017 Look at these fascist thugs. The people are peaceful. #CatalanReferedendum pic.twitter.com/1pYRsmhWa2 Gissur Simonarson (@GissiSim) October 1, 2017 This is Spain, in 2017. The EU commission HAVE to get involved here. This is not democracy. #CatalanReferedendum pic.twitter.com/313d0x1Lej Maximus (@maxgarniss) October 1, 2017 Carles Puigdemont said: "Today, on this day of hope and also suffering, citizens of Catalonia have won the right to have an independent Catalonian state." However, the fact that he said it before the results have been declared, has forced many to say that the possibility of a rigged referendum doesn't entirely go away. My father is the one who is recording. Please share. #CatalanReferedendum pic.twitter.com/dmCuR00kg1 Mixergraph (@mixergraph) October 1, 2017 BREAKING: Israeli PM Netanyahu says Spain has a right to defend itself against revolting grannies.#CatalanReferendum#CatalanReferedendum pic.twitter.com/DooRsKd3w0 Amir (@AmirAminiMD) October 1, 2017 The outcome of the 2014 referendum, often termed illegal, was a resounding yes, although the turnout was just over 35 per cent. Reuters/file The police atrocity and images of them beating up the jubilant, but politically single-minded Catalans have divided social media. While Spanish foreign minister Dastis has said that the police response was "proportionate", media reports and social media posts have refuted the claim. Criticism against Catalan referendum/s Only Charles Michel, the prime minister of Belgium, the country known for both its heart-warming approach to refugees and becoming the target of terrorist attacks, has called for dialogue as a way forward, while other prominent members of the European Union have resorted to ambiguity or silence on the issue. Violence can never be the answer! We condemn all forms of violence and reaffirm our call for political dialogue #CatalanReferendum #Spain Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) October 1, 2017 However, what has got ignored in the political rigmarole of developments is that Catalan pacifists, or those who want to stick to Spain, have been either ignored, or have suffered crackdown. The pacifists have a substantial representation which is evident in the repeated low turnout of the voters in the referendums. Moreover, there's the likelihood of the Catalan parts of France rising to rebellion in case Spain agrees to what some have called this "self-amputation", and might make the whole of southern Europe unstable, threatening the idea of EU itself. The separatist wildfire isn't limited to Europe alone, given Kurds are also voting to seek independence from Iraq, after decades of persecution. However, the case of Catalonia is both different and disturbing because this means that cultural nationalism has now the power to trump the idea of a constitutionally-bound republic, held together by laws and treaties, rather than bloodlines, thickly shared pasts, despite similar culture, language and other mores. So often, Indian governance moves to the darker side. This is when it inspires hate and not humanity. Amidst all its triumphs, India falls prey to communalism, violence, anger and distrust. As if time bombs lacerate the pathology of Indian life. The nation goes tick-tock-tick-tock. So much of this is made by our prejudices for which some will fight the "other" to the bitter end. A small but poignant example of this is the case of Rohingyas, 44,000 of whom have crossed into India. The government wants to throw them out because they are "terrorists". They are prepared to send food supplies for them in Myanmar. The INS Gharial carried 700 tonnes for Rohingyas and airlifts of 55 tonnes were made earlier this year to induce Rohingyas to return. Myanmar deal Despite empty promises, their safety in Myanmar cannot be guaranteed. A deal is being worked with Myanmar for their return. Indo-Myanmar policies are being rewritten. The "free movement" of 16km on either side may be revised. Meanwhile, China has investments in Myanmar's Rakhine state and doesn't want this crisis to be internationalised. Manipur is taking preventive measures. All border states are supported by the Union Home ministry as if India is at war with these people. These Rohingyas are Muslims. The BJP targets Muslims as terrorists. The unwritten bias is Muslims are not welcome in this country. In the BJP, there is only one sane voice that has spoken with clarity. That is Varun Gandhi pleading humanity for refuges: "As far as the Rohingyas are concerned, I've called for empathy, leading potentially to asylum while vetting each applicant for national security concerns." For his sanity, Varun was ticked off by the high command and especially MoS home Hansraj Ahir. So much for democratic voices in the BJP. In Myanmar, the Rohingyas are beaten, tortured killed by the army and police along with civil forces. This is well documented. It is certain that if these 44,000 Rohingyas return, they will be harassed mentally and physically. If India denies asylum they will be in limbo. People with nowhere to go. Refugee policy Although, India has housed a large number of refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tibet, Afghanistan and her own from Sri Lanka, its refugee policy is unclear. The universal refugee policy is contained in the Refugee Convention of 1951 and the Protocol of 1967 which most nations follow. In 1953, RK Nehru justified India's ambivalence because the convention was perceived as anti-communist. India did not want to take sides during the Cold War. But that is no longer the case. These Rohingyas are Muslims. The BJP targets Muslims as terrorists. Ironically, India following Pakistan is a member of the executive committee of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) but not a member! This is escapism. Varun Gandhi, like many of us long before him, has demanded a refugee policy. The convention defines "refugee" as a person who has a "well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, sex, nationality, ethnic identity membership of a social group or political opinion" and extends to victims of external aggression, public order breakdown and the like. India has no reason for not signing the convention especially because it (i) is a member of the executive committee (ii) has a UNHCR in Delhi. This contrasts with its enviable record to admit refugees in trouble into India. Its policy is erratic and absurd. Indian courts have, nevertheless, provided succour to refugees. In the Arunachal v Khudiram Chakma case (1994), the court allowed a pushback of Chakmas to allotted areas. In the NHRC vs Arunachal case (1996), the court recognised a constitutional obligation to protect Chakmas. In the Malavika Karlekar case, the Supreme Court injuncted the deportation of 21 Burma refugees. It has also allowed refugees to get the status determined by UNHCR in Delhi. This has been followed by courts in Gujarat and Guwahati. The UNHCR determination is respected but not determinative. Thus, Indian courts rely on Article 14 (equality) and Article 21 (life and liberty) to build inchoate but distinct rights for refugees. In this context, any argument of terrorism will dissipate. The procedure of giving refugee status is very rigorous. One of its obvious consequences is that a person who is a terrorist can never be a refugee. UNHCR determination shows many are not accepted. The terrorist problem cannot be resolved on a hunch but by a process that separates terrorists from refugees. The former are a threat to India, the latter deserving benevolence. An Indian refugee policy, which is possible under our present law, will support anti-terrorism. Ambiguities Foreigners are controlled by the Foreigners Act 1946 which allows governments to behave arbitrarily towards foreigners they don't like. The Supreme Court was wary of this. Justice Bhagwati created a Model Refugee Law for SAARC nations. This had to be revised by a new Bhagwati Committee which I helped re-draft. But parliamentary consensus on a new law is doubtful. The other way is to introduce "rules" which will differentiate between various classes of foreigners: the refugees being a distinct class. Section 14 of the Act of 1946 can be used by the Union Government to induce (a) a proper definition of refugee and (b) a rigorous process for refugees determination. All they have to do is to instruct immigration officers to sift refugees from others. Refugees in, terrorists out. Recently, a popular English TV news channel reported that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has survived an assassination attempt in Dhaka amid suspicions that it was the work of insiders, including her own security personnel. The report was based on a story filed by a prominent journalist believed to be an authority on Bangladesh. However, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was quick to deny the news, clarifying that the report was fabricated and there was no truth in the story. The denial notwithstanding, the veteran journalist and the noted Bangladesh watcher, however, maintained that there was truth in the news of the assassination attempt and stood by his story. While one can't arrive at conclusions, this "development" calls for a quick scrutiny as Hasina's life is not only precious to India's geopolitical and security interests, but equally to the stability of Bangladesh. Hasina today is pursued by jihadis and anti-liberation and fundamentalist forces as targeting her would mean a field day for the Islamic radicals whose very existence stands imperilled by Hasina's uncompromising stand against war criminals, terrorist and fundamentalist outfits, including Jumatul Mujahdeen (JMB), Hefazat e Islam and their affiliates. So, a whole bunch of enemies has sprung up continuously, trying to assert its presence by launching terror attacks as notoriously seen on July 1, 2016 at the Holy Artesan bakery and followed by sporadic suicide attacks in different parts of the country. Hasina today is pursued by jihadis and anti-liberation and fundamentalist forces as targeting her would mean a field day for the Islamic radicals. Photo: Reuters The influx of Rohingyas has added to the security threat to Hasina. Recent reports said their number stood at 4,51,000 and it is incremental. Hasina is wisely addressing the refugee problem with a humanitarian approach, perhaps to be on board with the international community. Yet, a large number of Rohingyas have been or are being radicalised. There are credible reports that Pakistan ISI, with its fixed agenda to destabilise Hasina, is persistently trying to use the terror outfit Lashkar e Toiba (LeT) to train a segment of Rohingyas for massive indoctrination and eventually harm the prime minister. ISI activities are well-known on the soil of Dhaka. The Pakistani High Commission has been very proactive in the last couple of years, Islamabad saw the expulsion of many Pakistani diplomats and staffers from Dhaka on account of incompatible conduct. There were also reports that one undercover Pakistani High Commision had openly provided money to JMB for terrorist activities. Material support in terms of Fake Indian Foreign Currency (FICN) was also given to operatives to carry out destructive activities in India. These nefarious designs are part of the bigger plot to harm Hasina. Getting rid of her would help rightist, reactionary and fundamentalist forces usurp power and, once she is gone, there will be no leader in sight who can hold the reins and control the country. Not even her son or daughter. Even if it is assumed that the reported assassination attempt is false, Hasina can't afford to take chances with her life and her country. Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and many members of his family were slain on August 15, 1975 by the military. Informed sources confirm that there were specific intelligence inputs to the effect that Mujib's life was in danger and a conspiracy was being hatched to kill him. This information was shared by Indian external agency R&AW directly with Mujib, but went unheeded. Even a chopper from the Indian side was on stand by to aid Mujib, but nothing helped in the end, probably because early warnings were not taken seriously and Bangladesh paid dearly. The Hasina assassination attempt news in question also speaks about the theory that her personal security personnel have been allegedly won over exactly as witnessed in the Indira Gandhi assassination case. We are yet to get an authentic report, but there is no harm in taking precautions. Intelligence must be hard, well-corroborated and since it has implications for India, it needs to be addressed with all the seriousness it deserves. August 15 can't be repeated nor can October 31, 1984, when Indira Gandhi was slain. Caution holds well for both the friendly countries. Meanwhile, reports indicate that outfits like Aqua Mul Mujahdeen (AMM) have surfaced with the active collaboration of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) under the stewardship of one Hafiz Tohar, and the group is suspected to be working hand in glove with the ISI-backed LeT trying to cause trouble in Bangladesh. Any attempt to harm Hasina cannot be ruled out in the present, turbulent scenario when a section of the Rohingyas has gone berserk and multiple forces are at work to rattle the stable government. Therefore, the Rohingya factor must not be ignored at any cost. Waiting in the wings, with the support of Pakistan, is Hasina's Opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia, whose son Tareq Rahman sheltered in London remains in touch with the Pakistan military and ISI and it's very likely that all the inimical forces may join hands to embark on a misadventure. The immediate solution to the problem is to launch a vigorous joint intelligence drive with India thrown in. A senior intelligence officer from India can be positioned in Dhaka for some time for stock-taking. Hobbes, the Eastgate family's pet schnauzer, used to lay on the bottom step of their home. Even after he died, Bob Eastgate, still found himself watching that step on the stairs so as not to trample the dog. Theyre just always there, Bob Eastgate said of pets and how hard it often is to get used to the fact that theyre gone. For some people, their pets are their families, and, with that in mind, Bob Eastgate, the owner and operator of Eastgate Funeral & Cremation Services, wanted to give residents a place to grieve, memorialize and lay their pets to rest. Thats when Bob Eastgate started Summerfield Pet Memorial Park, bringing his expertise in the grief and funeral industry to local pet owners. Located on six acres of the Fairview Cemetery property, there is a family of deer that live in the colorful fall trees at Summerfield, named after Bob Eastgates pet-loving father, and a pond with turtles and Hay Creek running near by. Bob Eastgate worked on the property all summer, clearing downed trees and landscaping an acres worth of plots for pet owners. He said the property has been surveyed, laid out like a paw print, and those who purchase lots will receive a deed for their pets burial area. There are 1,300 lots on the one acre with the option for owners to bury multiple pets on a lot. When Hobbes died, Bob Eastgate remembers it taking almost a week to receive the ashes and not knowing with certainty about the process. With that in mind, Summerfield, which is being operated as its own division of the funeral home, has a crematorium at the cemetery and ashes are returned to families within three days. Customers can purchase urns or other memorabilia, participate in a pet loss support group and post tributes to their pets on the Summerfield website, www.summerfieldpetmemorialpark.com/. Daniel Eastgate, who will serve as director of pet services, said he is proud of the funeral service business his father and grandfather built and theyre well acquainted with what loss feels like and helping to heal that loss. Were in the people business, caring for the people in their time of need, Daniel Eastgate said. We understand theres grief when people lose a pet too. The Eastgates bought Hobbes as a companion for their youngest son, Tom, after his older siblings had moved out of the house. Hobbes had diabetes and had to receive two shots a day, but he was the kind of dog you want to give every chance you could, Bob Eastgate said. Daniel Eastgate said he can remember the scurry of Hobbes feet around the house and the fact that the dog would never allow himself to be put on a leash. It was like the leash was beneath him, Daniel Eastgate said with a laugh. He trained his owners well. Now, Daniel Eastgate has a golden retriever puppy, Lulu, for his three young sons and theyre quickly making their own memories. Its these happy memories, his fathers enthusiasm and seeing the need within the area that led him to get involved with Summerfield. Other pet cemeteries in Bismarck have closed, leaving pet owners without many options for their furry friends. I think the community will be pleased theres something there, Bob Eastgate said. The Eastgates started selling lots in September and received 10 calls within two weeks from interested people referred to them by area veterinarians. The aviation technology instructor for Bismarck Public Schools is showing students it's possible to get their pilot's wings. Brad Stangeland teaches Aviation I and II courses at the BPS Career and Technical Education Center, which offers courses to high school students to help them jump-start their careers in areas such as welding, auto collision, health professions and STEM fields. Last school year, Stangeland met then-Bismarck High School sophomore Nevin Fetzer, who took both of Stangeland's aviation classes. Over the summer, Stangeland trained Fetzer to help him earn his private pilot's license. Earlier this month, the flight training paid off: Fetzer has become Stangeland's first high school student thats gone through the Career Academy's aviation program and gotten a private pilot's license. Fetzer, now a junior, said it was no small feat. The pair logged more than 40 hours of flying together, as well as on-the-ground instruction and solo flying time. Now, Stangeland aims to expand the program and help more students get their pilot's licenses. In fact, he's already got three students lined up. "Once Nevin got his license, they saw that it actually can happen," said Stangeland, a third-year teacher. "That was my goal: to start making pilots." Flight training can cost thousands of dollars. To make flight training more accessible, Stangeland said he hopes in the future to find scholarships or other ways to make it a minimal cost to students. Fetzer has also started the Bismarck Career Academy Flight Club, which offers students the ability to get their sport pilot license for free. He set up a tier of achievement systems in the club, where students can earn rewards. Stangeland has a RV-12 airplane in the back of his classroom that students are helping to build, and Fetzer says, if they help build it, they have the option to get their sport pilot license, worth about $5,000. The club is open to all BPS high school students, and even eighth-graders, said Fetzer, who is current president of the club. From July to early September, Fetzer and Stangeland, his certified flight instructor, flew a Piper Cherokee 140 airplane an older aircraft they purposefully chose so he could learn how to fly with old-school steam gauges rather than a glass cockpit. They rented the plane from First Class Aviation in Jamestown and stored it at Clear Skies Aviation in Mandan. Fetzer also studied for a written Federal Aviation Administration test, which he completed at the Fargo Jet Center. According to the FAA's website, you must be at least 17 years old and have a medical certificate in order to become a private pilot. You must also get at least 70 percent on the written test; Fetzer said he got an 85 percent. "He did very, very well," Stangeland said. "I'm very impressed with him." The FAA U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics estimated there were 174,517 private pilots as of December 31, 2016, 3,482 of whom were in the 16 to 19 age range. "People complain about how there's no pilots out there, well, we've got to start investing in the youth," Strangeland said. Fetzer said being a certified private pilot will help boost his credibility in the aviation industry. He's also developed a noble purpose for his newly obtained license: helping other students in his flight club. "Being a private pilot allows me to teach them the concepts that I've learned during my training," said Fetzer, adding that he hopes to one day work for the FAA or National Transportation Service Board. From coast to coast and across the world, comments have streamed into the North Dakota Supreme Court Clerk's Office, almost all opposing a judges' petition to end legal provisions for out-of-state attorneys assisting cases related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Supreme Court Clerk Penny Miller said her office had received 244 comments by Monday morning, hours before the comment period closed. Almost all of them oppose the petition by South Central District judges. Many wrote from states around the Union and as far away as Germany and the United Kingdom. In their comments, most petition opponents referenced the needs of defendants lacking counsel, the benefits of services, such as those provided by the Water Protector Legal Collective, and constitutional rights, including the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth amendments. Many also asked to leave the relaxed pro hac vice rules in place until the DAPL cases are resolved. Notable commenters include representatives of the Standing Rock and Spirit Lake tribes and the National Congress of American Indians. "The significant number of qualified attorneys from other jurisdictions who have assisted with defense representation have filled an unmet need while minimizing indigent defense costs to North Dakota taxpayers," Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II wrote. "To discontinue the special provisions at this juncture would do a great disservice to justice as it would undoubtedly result in disruption of legal representation in active cases and higher rates of unrepresented individuals," Spirit Lake Tribal Chairwoman Myra Pearson wrote. "NCAI believes the provision is crucial and was created to protect the constitutional rights of criminal defendants, to supplement capacity of the local bar in addressing this overwhelming need and to save state taxpayer money," wrote NCAI president Brian Cladoosby. Two non-opposing comments stand in contrast, including a Fargo attorney who said he takes no stance and the North Dakota Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigents, which handled 435 DAPL case assignments and voted to support the judges' petition. "The DAPL case assignments added significant work volume and contributed to a record-breaking year," wrote H. Jean Delaney, the commission's executive director. "However, the protests appear to have concluded, and there haven't been any additional assignments since July." Other commenters include attorneys, news consumers and a handful of defendants aided by the provisions adopted in January. "My charges have now been dismissed, but I do not believe that this would have been the case had I stayed with my court-appointed counsel," wrote Katriona Auerbach, who was arrested in October 2016. "Fortunately, I was able to attain an unbiased, out-of-state lawyer to defend me, and I couldn't be more grateful for this." Miller said "we do not usually receive that many comments" as this petition had from Sept. 20-29. "Like comments on all petitions, they have been distributed to the court for whatever consideration the court deems appropriate," Miller said. "I expect the court will take the matter up for discussion and consideration within a week or two of the deadline for comments." In the petition filed Sept. 11, Presiding Judge Gail Hagerty wrote that the legal provisions are no longer justified as no new cases have been filed and only active attorneys of record should continue. About 830 criminal cases were filed in connection to the DAPL protests. More than 400 have closed, most of them with dismissed charges. Out-of-state attorneys have been able to assist DAPL-related cases while sponsored by a North Dakota attorney. When Kate Brovold left her 16-year career in state corrections and human services, she took her first steps toward a longtime goal. "I've always had a dream about opening a shelter," she said. "Working with individuals experiencing homelessness has always been my passion." In mid-September, Brovold announced Austin's Mission, a planned shelter for homeless individuals with behavioral health issues and substance use disorders. As executive director, she named the effort after her late great-uncle, a longtime addiction counselor. "I felt like he was really my mentor and the driving force of really working with this population," Brovold said. As a nonprofit with no capital, Brovold said her effort would like to fundraise $1 million to buy, renovate and outfit a building. Much of that sum is one-time costs. For now, she's working with other entities to meet similar needs and spread awareness. She's part of an intoxication and withdrawal management work group, which is a subcommittee of the Mayors' Gold Star Community Task Force, a Bismarck-Mandan-Lincoln collaboration to identify current issues of need, such as addiction and treatment. Bismarck Police Chief Dan Donlin said Brovold's effort would help curb a cycle of intoxicated individuals who go to jail because they have no one to care for them. "To have a facility where we can avoid taking an individual to jail who really has not broken any laws, an individual that highly probably has alcohol or drug addiction issues and is not getting any resources other than eight hours in the jail and then out they go, would hopefully stop that revolving door," Donlin said. Police see about 300 to 500 intoxicated individuals a year who go to jail for detoxification management, he added. Treatment and medication are difficult when someone's most basic needs, such as a place to sleep, aren't met, according to Brovold, who said she'd like to see Austin's Mission serve 35 males and females. She has a seven-member board in place with a 501(c)(3) application pending and the North Dakota Coalition for Homeless People as her fiscal agent. Twila Johnson, who works with the F5 Project in Fargo helping felons re-enter society, joined Brovold's board after the two met at Recovery Reinvented last week. "I'm a nurse of 23-plus years, I've seen recidivism in ERs and the need for social detox concepts she's talked of, and she asked me and I said sign me up," Johnson said. Austin's Mission and the F5 Project share a common theme of helping people looking for a place to go, depending on their needs, she added. Brovold said Ruth Meiers Hospitality House has filled a need locally, but its men's emergency shelter is closing and up for sale. Working with the city of Bismarck and the Missouri Valley Coalition for Homeless People, Brovold said their goal is to find a solution for winter residents. "We're working very hard to figure out a short-term plan at this point," she said. "The hope is Austin's Mission may be that long-term plan once winter's over and everyone is safe." Steve Neu, Ruth Meiers' interim executive director, said there have been conversations with potential buyers but no decision as yet. Ruth Meiers remains active in the community with its transitional living services and broader focus on families, he added. "Our mission hasn't changed; it's just the program has grown," Neu said. "We're still going to be engaged in the community." The Gladys Ray Shelter in Fargo most closely resembles what Austin's Mission will look like, according to Brovold, who added she's reached out to other nonprofits for mentoring and plans to connect with local businesses who see the clients she plans to serve. She said Austin's Mission could ultimately reduce use of public resources so other areas of need can be served. "Our efforts really are to help take that piece away so that the law enforcement and hospitals can focus on the high-intense needs and their efforts," she said. "We're really looking for all the community support." BEACH, N.D. Some farmers and ranchers view hunters, other outdoor enthusiasts and wildlife groups as enemies. Not Byron Richard. The Beach, N.D., rancher considers them potential allies. We have a lot in common. When we can find ways to work together, we all win, he says of cooperation between agricultural landowners and outdoor/wildlife groups. Richard has put the sentiment into practice on his sprawling Richard Angus Ranch north of Beach. He and his wife, Kathy, bought the roughly 22,000-acre Beaver Creek Ranch in 2015, hoping to make it both a working ranch and a wildlife legacy that future generations could enjoy. The Beaver Creek, surrounded by buttes, bluffs and open range, winds through the bottom of the ranch, which is home to mule deer, whitetail deer, elk, birds, beaver and prairie dogs. The working ranch also has 800 cattle. What were really trying to do here is having the economics of the ranching operation, and also the benefit of the wildlife and to share it with the public, Byron Richard said. After buying it, the Richards enrolled their renamed Richard Angus Ranch in Private Lands Open to Sportsmen, or PLOTS. In the longstanding program, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department works with private landowners to enhance habitat development and hunting access. More information is available here: https://gf.nd.gov/plots/guide. Its a fantastic opportunity for sportsmen. Its drawn a lot of praise from everyone Ive talked with whos hunted out there, Nate Harling, private lands field operations coordinator for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department said of the Richard ranch project. Just about every kind of wildlife found in North Dakota is on this ranch, and hunters have really made good use of it. Hunting and wildlife groups often lament what they see as inadequate public access to privately owned farmland. So some of the groups have made concerted efforts to work with ag landowners across Agweek country. The Beaver Creek project is an unusually big example. Also involved in it are the Mule Deer Foundation, Pheasants Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and National Wild Turkey Foundation. This is only possible because of the partner contributions, Harling said. Richard signed a 10-year deal in which he received PLOTS payments and other wildlife contributions totaling $664,000, as well as volunteer labor on the ranch from outdoor enthusiasts. In return, hunters and other fans of the outdoors have access to the land. Richard is a longtime Belfield farmer and rancher. But his children, a son and daughter, have a passion for cattle. So, with the next generation in mind, Byron and Kathy decided to focus primarily on cattle and bought the Beaver Creek Ranch. But cattle didnt come with the ranch. To buy cattle and to finance necessary improvements to the ranch would require additional funding, Byron Richard knew. This (the partnership with wildlife groups) was the opportunity to get that, he said. Marshall Johnson, North Dakota and South Dakota director for the Mule Deer Foundation, said his organization was excited to get involved. It was a home-run pitch from Byron, Johnson said of the project, the largest his organization has been involved with. The opportunity to enhance elk habitat and create more public access was too good to pass up, said Shawn Kelley, regional director of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its the largest such project in which his organization has been involved in North Dakota. Both organizations are interested in working with other ag landowners in areas where mule deer and elk are established, Johnson and Kelley said. Payments from wildlife groups can supplement what farmers and ranchers earn from their crops and livestock, Kelley said. The additional income can be especially important for ag landowners looking to upgrade or improve their property, Richard said. Most other Midwest states offer similar projects in which state wildlife/fishing/outdoor agencies work with landowners to enhance public hunting access on private land, Harling said. Improved ranch Richard visited with Agweek while he drove through parts of the ranch on a hot, late-summer afternoon. An indication of how big it is: Just one of its multiple pastures consists of about 6,000 acres. Apart from a few prairie dogs, no wildlife was visible on the day of Agweeks visit. Animals, other than the cows, were deep in ravines, sheltered by trees and brush from the unseasonably warm sun. As he drove, Richard pointed to improvements, many of them accomplished with volunteer labor. The long list includes cleaning up the property, tearing out old fence and and putting in new fence and water systems. New wells and pipelines are particularly important. In the past, before the Richards bought the ranch, cattle often overgrazed land along the creek, where they had quick, easy access to water. Pasture further from the creek had poor access to water, discouraging cattle from grazing there. Now, cattle can drink piped-in water at tanks throughout the ranch. That helps to restore the once-overgrazed areas and make better use of what had been undergrazed areas. All these improvements we just couldnt have done it ourselves, Richard said. Volunteers, many of them from urban areas, relish the chance to get out in the country and work on the ranch, Johnson and Kelley said. They also say, and Richard agrees, that the volunteers gain better understanding of the challenges faced by ranchers. A small percentage A common concern among ag landowners is that their property might be damaged if they allow hunters or other outdoor enthusiasts on it. Richard said problems on his property have been minimal. Its only a small percentage (of visitors), 2 or 3 percent, that have been an issue. Most of them have been great to work with, he said. Johnson and Kelley say their organizations continually educate their members about the importance of treating land respectfully. They also point to self-policing among hunters, the vast majority of whom are responsible, to prevent damage to landowners property. People with guns, but not licenses, sometimes are responsible for much of the damage to ag property, and legitimate hunters shouldnt be blamed when that happens, Harling said. Illegal activity might not be done by a hunter. Just because they have a gun doesnt mean theyre a hunter, he said. Gun ownership goes behind hunters. The 10-year agreement is off to strong start, and Byron Richard is confident that will continue. Hes optimistic his children will decide to renew it after it expires, he said. In the meantime, I really encourage people in agriculture to consider these kind of partnerships as a way to bring more income into their operation, Richard said. It can be a win for farmers and ranchers, and it can be a win for people who enjoy wildlife and the outdoors. Next week's ballot offers some intrigue for North Dakotans from late congressional entries by independent candidates to term limits and marijuana legalization. Voters will decide whether to endorse changing the state constitution to limit the terms of the governor and state legislators. Another citizen-led initiative also will put the question of marijuana legalization before voters, who rejected the idea four years ago. Ninety-eight of the Legislatures 141 seats are on the ballot. All but one Democrat is up for reelection this year. Contests for secretary of state, attorney general and other state offices Also will appear on the ballot. Gov. Doug Burgum today directed all government agencies to fly the United States and North Dakota flags at half-staff until sunset on Friday and encouraged North Dakotans to do the same at their homes and businesses, as a mark of respect for the victims of Sundays tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas. The governors directive is in accordance with a proclamation issued today by President Donald Trump. Kathryn and I extend our deepest sympathies to all those affected by this horrific act of violence in Las Vegas, Burgum said. With heavy hearts, we grieve the victims of this tragedy, send our thoughts and prayers to their families and friends and express our gratitude to the first responders and law enforcement officers for their swift action. Sen. John Hoeven today issued the following statement on the shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday night: Mikey and I are praying for the victims of this senseless act of violence, especially for North Dakotan Andrew Gudmunson who was injured in the shooting. We are grateful for the law enforcement and first responders who bravely ran to assist those in need. Also we must keep all of the families of the victims in our hearts and prayers. Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., issued the following statement: "Kris and I offer our prayers and deepest condolences to the victims and their families of the Las Vegas attack - and specifically the victims in attendance from North Dakota. After witnessing unexplainable acts of evil, it's easy to only see hatred in this world. Images of pain and anguish online and in the media strike at our very core, and we rightfully grieve for our fellow citizens affected by this tragedy. But for all the wickedness on display today, take heart in knowing the unwavering goodness by most will never be overshadowed by the evil of the very few." A number of North Dakotans witnessed the mass shooting at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas: Andrew Gudmunson, a real estate agent from Minot, was shot and has survived his first surgery. Beau and Adrianne Flom, of Fargo, were physically unharmed. Matt and Chris Myrvold, of Fargo, were physically unharmed. Jon and Lisa Hanson, of Fargo, were physically unharmed. Brian Schmidt, of Bismarck, was physically unharmed. Hallie and Kris Johnsrud, of Watford City, no injuries Kayla Koch and Brett Wold, of Watford City, no injuries Michelle Slaughter, of Hebron, no injuries Heidi Barman, of Dickinson, no injuries Three of the four Democratic candidates seeking the nomination for next years 5th District congressional race will come together at a forum Sunday. Leslie Cockburn from Rappahannock County, Albemarle County resident Ben Cullop and Andrew Sneathern of Charlottesville will all attend the Indivisible Charlottesville event, which will be held at the Haven from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Charlottesville resident Roger Dean Huffstetler is unable to attend the forum. RD has been traveling around the district, talking to voters of all stripes about the direction of our country. Prior to entering the race, he promised his wife a much-needed vacation to celebrate their anniversary, according to a statement from Huffstetlers campaign. All four candidates are hoping to unseat Republican Rep. Tom Garrett, who was elected to represent the 5th District which spans from the North Carolina border to Northern Virginia in 2016. Those who cannot make it to the forum can submit their questions via Facebook to Indivisible Charlottesvilles page. PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) FARGO -- Confronted with demands by American Indian tribes across North Dakota to do more to address what has been called an epidemic of missing and murdered Native American women, two members of the states Congressional delegation are introducing bills in Congress to address the issue. Public awareness of the issue has risen dramatically since the disappearance and murder of Fargos Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a case that has drawn media attention from across the nation and around the world. LaFontaine-Greywind, 22, a member of the Spirit Lake tribe living in Fargo, vanished Aug. 19, while eight months pregnant. Her body was found eight days later in the Red River. Police said her death was caused by homicidal violence. Her baby, alive and healthy, was found in the possession of one of the suspects in the case. The legislation comes on the heels of a letter sent last week by the United Tribes of North Dakota to the states Congressional delegation, urging them to take action to combat the issue and making several recommendations. The United Tribes of North Dakota is an organization composed of the states five tribes: Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, the Spirit Lake Tribe, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. Republican Sen. John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, introduced a bill this week that would create a tribal grant program within the Department of Justices Office for Victims of Crime. The bill would require five percent of a federal crime victims fund be allocated to Indian tribes. One of the recommendations in the United Tribes letter was that tribes be given greater access to money in the crime victims fund. Hoevens office said that currently only about 0.7 percent of those funds are provided to tribes despite the fact that American Indian and Alaska Native communities are victimized at much higher rates than other groups. It is critical for tribal communities, which experience some of the highest crime rates in the country, to have greater access to victim resources, Hoeven said. Hoevens legislation has bipartisan support. It has seven co-sponsors, four of them Democrats. One of those is North Dakota Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp. Heitkamp, meanwhile, is planning to introduce a bill of her own this week that would address several other issues related to missing and murdered Native American women. She plans to name the bill for Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind. Although Heitkamps bill is still being drafted, she said it would include three main elements: Establishment of standard protocols for responding to cases of missing and murdered Native Americans, in consultation with tribes, and increase inter-jurisdictional cooperation among tribal, federal, state, and local law enforcement. Improving tribal access to federal crime information databases, and revising those databases to make them more relevant to American Indians. It would require the U.S. attorney general to consult with tribes on how those databases can be improved. Require that the Department of Justice submit an annual report to Congress containing statistics on missing and murdered Native American women, and recommendations on how to improve data collection. One of the recommendations in the United Tribes letter was that the Department of Justice collect and provide statistics on missing and murdered Native American women. The letter stated that American Indian women are the only population group for whom such data is not collected. We dont have the data, Heitkamp said. When we dont have the data, (the issue) gets forgotten. Heitkamp said that she had begun drafting the bill even before the United Tribes letter. She said the proposals are built on other work she has done, such as efforts to combat human trafficking, the extension of the Amber Alert system to Indian reservations, and the vagueness of law enforcement jurisdiction on American Indian lands. The Hoeven and Heitkamp legislation does not address several concerns expressed in the United Tribes letter. The letter, sent to North Dakotas Congressional delegation last week, also called on the U.S. government to create a federal-local law enforcement task force to oversee the LaFontaine-Greywind case to ensure that justice is served and appropriate resources are provided to her family and child. It recommended the U.S. Department of Justice commission a cross-jurisdictional task force to reopen closed cases of missing and murdered Native American woman. It also called on the federal government to provide tribal governments additional funding to develop protocols for investigating missing persons cases. The murder of Savanna illustrates a much larger problem of epic proportions, wrote Dave Flute, chairman of the Sisseton Wahpeton Tribe and chairman of the United Tribes of North Dakota. In some locations, Native American women are murdered at more than ten times the national average, and one in three experiences sexual violence. New Delhi: Reliance Communications, which is reeling under a debt of about Rs 46,000 crore, on Sunday called off merger talks with Aircel, citing "legal and regulatory" delays and outlined an alternative plan for debt reduction by selling real estate as well as tower and fibre business. "Merger of mobile business of RCom and Aircel lapses with mutual consent," the Anil Ambani-led firm said in a statement. RCom and Aircel had signed binding agreements in September 2016 for the merger of mobile business. "Legal and regulatory uncertainties, and various interventions by vested interests, have caused inordinate delays in receipt of relevant approvals for the proposed transaction," it said. RCom also blamed high level of competition as one of the reasons for termination of the merger talks. "Unprecedented competitive intensity in the Indian telecom sector together with fresh policy directives, adversely impacting bank financing for this sector, have also seriously affected industry dynamics. As a result of the various factors aforesaid, the merger agreement has lapsed," RCom said. The company said that unlimited free voice offers and "irrational pricing" by all industry participants have destroyed profitability of traditional 2G and 3G mobile business. It was claimed that with the deal the debt of RCom will come down to around Rs 20,000 crore, while that of Aircel to around Rs 4,000 crore. RCom now plans to monetise prime real estate in Mumbai and Delhi as well as telecom tower and optic fibre assets by December to avoid lenders converting a part of their debt into equity. The company, however, also said that the combination of the mobile business of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) into RCom will be completed this month. This merger would bring to the company SSTL's valuable spectrum holdings in the 800-850 MHz band, strengthening RCom's spectrum portfolio by 30 Mhz as well as extend its spectrum validity period in 8 important circles by another 16 years to 2033. RCom said that its Board of Directors at a meeting held on Sunday in Mumbai reviewed the ongoing strategic transformation programme and considered alternative plans for debt reduction. The board decided that RCom will evaluate an alternative plan for its mobile business, through optimisation of its spectrum portfolio and adoption of a 4G focused mobile strategy. "RCom already has the unique advantage of capital light access to India's most extensive world class nationwide 4G mobile network through spectrum sharing and ICR (intra-circle roaming) Agreements with Reliance Jio," it said. It has spectrum across 800, 900,1800 and 2100 Mhz spectrum bands aggregating 200 Mhz, valued at over Rs 19,000 crore for the balance of validity period, based on last auction pricing. "The company will evaluate opportunities for monetisation of the same through trading and sharing arrangements," the statement said. RCom had defaulted on some of its debt obligation and has been given additional time to service its debt by lenders. "The company continues to be under a standstill period till December 2018 and expects to complete the SDR process as per applicable guidelines," it said. Shareholders of the company at the annual general meeting held on September 26, 2017 have already approved issuance of equity shares to lenders by conversion of loans. RCom said that it will focus on domestic and overseas B2B business. "These B2B businesses generate equal revenues from domestic and overseas operations. As part of the ongoing transformation and in order to enhance value for all stakeholders, the RCom board reaffirmed the focus on these stable, capital light B2B businesses which have sustained and predictable revenues and profits, with immense growth potential," the company said. It also claimed that the firm has made progress on steps to monetise real estate which includes nearly 125 acres of land at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai with development rights of potentially over 17 million square feet and another around central Delhi measuring nearly 4 acres. "Indications of interest from leading developers, and independent third party valuations, have established significantly higher present value monetisation potential of Rs 10,000 crore for the DAKC Complex alone," RCom said. The company also expects to realise Rs 11,000 crore from sale of its tower business. Its merger with Aircel and tower sale was expected to bring down RComs debt by more than half New Delhi: Anil Ambani-led telecom operator Reliance Communications (RCom) on Sunday called off its merger talk with Aircel over legal and regulatory uncertainties. Its merger with Aircel and tower sale was expected to bring down RComs debt by more than half. RCom said that its board on Sunday considered alternate plans for debt reduction. RCom and Aircel had signed binding agreements in September 2016 for the merger of RComs mobile businesses with Aircel. Legal and regulatory uncertainties, and various interventions by vested interests, have caused inordinate delays in receipt of relevant approvals for the proposed transaction, RCom said. Unprecedented competitive intensity in the Indian telecom sector, together with fresh policy directives adversely impacting bank financing for this sector, have also seriously affected the industry dynamics. As a result of the various factors aforesaid, the merger agreement has lapsed. The Board approved the same, said RCom. CBI is also probing alleged irregularities in the FIPB clearance in the Aircel-Maxis deal. The agency has already sort clarification from then finance minister P. Chidambaram and has now summoned his son Karti Chidambaram for questioning on October 4. RCom said that board of directors reviewed the ongoing strategic transformation programme, and considered alternate plans for debt reduction. It said that RCom will continue to implement its plans for monetisation of its Tower and Fiber assets, as already announced. RCom is undergoing strategic debt restructuring under which banks have stopped collecting interest for 210 days that end in December and after which they have right to convert debt into equity. Lender banks received shareholders approval to convert debt into equity at the companys 13th annual general meeting on September 26. The company continues to be under a standstill period till December 2018 and expects to complete the SDR process as per applicable guidelines. Shareholders of the company at the annual general meeting held on September 26, 2017 have already approved issuance of equity shares to lenders by conversion of loans, said the company. India's ambitions to become a smartphone-making powerhouse are foundering over a lack of skilled labour. Photo: PTI New Delhi: India's ambitions to become a smartphone-making powerhouse are foundering over a lack of skilled labour and part suppliers along with a complex tax regime, industry executives say. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has championed a manufacturing drive, under the slogan "Make in India", to boost the sluggish economy and create millions of jobs. Among the headline-grabbing details was a plan to eventually make Apple iPhones in India. Three years on, India has managed only to assemble phones from imported components. While contract manufacturers such as iPhone-maker Foxconn Technology Co and Flextronics Corp have set up base in India, one of the world's fastest-growing smartphone markets, almost none of the higher value chip sets, cameras and other high-end components are made domestically. Plans for Taiwan-based Foxconn to build an electronics plant in Maharashtra, which local officials said in 2015 could employ some 50,000 people, have gone quiet. According to tech research firm Counterpoint, while phones are assembled domestically because of taxes on imported phones, locally made content in those phones is usually restricted to headphones and chargers - about 5 percent of a device's cost. "Rather than feeling that India is a place where I should be making mobile phones, it's more like this is the place I need to(assemble) phones because there is lower duty if I import components and assemble here," a senior executive with a Chinese smartphone maker said. He declined to be named for fear of harming business. TAX DISPUTES Others listed the lack of skilled engineers and a sparse network of local component makers. They also cited high-profile tax disputes between India and foreign companies such as Nokia. Nokia eventually suspended mobile handset production at its southern India facility. "The Nokia escapade is in people's memory when they try to come here," a second industry source told Reuters at the first Indian Mobile Congress in capital New Delhi, which ended on Friday. India's nationwide sales tax (GST), which kicked in this year to replace a string of different levies, is also fraught with its own challenges, such as a lengthy tax-refund process that delays payments to suppliers, the source added. Last week, India rattled investors after publicly musing about possible changes in a $2.6 billion 2015 diesel locomotive contract with General Electric. The government has since said it would not take any hasty decisions. PHASED PROGRAMME The government says it has a phased programme to manufacture phones, aiming to step up value added locally every year. "While we have made a start with getting in mobile assembling, we want to move up the value chain," India's telecoms secretary Aruna Sundarajan told reporters. "A lot of investors have shown very significant interest in this area." The Phased Manufacturing Programme began in 2016 with the manufacture of phone chargers and batteries and envisages the production of higher-end components by 2020. Sundarajan said the government was also trying to give investors "a reasonable degree of certainty", while also dealing with constant disruption to the industry. But for smartphone makers used to China's predictability, India may need to do more, executives warn. A third senior source at a Chinese smartphone maker in India said some Chinese players were rattled by labour unrest, including suspended operations at a facility belonging to smartphone maker Oppo earlier this year, after a foreign employee was reported to have torn a picture of the Indian flag. Oppo said at the time it regretted the incident. "Labour laws are lax, there's little effort to build a component ecosystem and logistics, and transport remains a big problem," the third source said. "No one seems to be investing in skilled labour that will build the phones." Mumbai: Mahatma Gandhiji was not just the biggest leader of Indian independence movement but also a face of it to the rest of the world. His philosophy of non-violence is still being preached all over the world. Many filmmakers have captured the greatness of this incredible soul on the celluloid. The complex and layered personality of Gandhiji is seen as a great deal for any artist to portray. On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti (also International Day of Non-Violence), we share a list of five actors who took the challenge of playing his character and pulled it off with great conviction. Sir Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982): Gandhi was a dream project of iconic British filmmaker Richard Attenborough. This film made a little known Indian-origin British actor Ben Kingsley one of the renowned actors in the world. Various actors were considered over the years for the all-important title role, but the actor who was finally chosen, Ben Kingsley, made the role so completely his own that there is a genuine feeling that the spirit of Gandhi is on the screen. Kingsley's performance is powerful without being loud or histrionic; he is almost always quiet, observant, and soft-spoken on the screen, and yet his performance comes across with such might that we realize, afterward, that the sheer moral force of Gandhi must have been behind the words. Gandhi was first serious project attempted on the great man. The film along with Kingsleys terrific performance won many accolades that year. Sir Ben Kingsley in and as Gandhi. Dilip Prabhavalkar in Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006): This Rajkumar Hirani directed film made Gandhijis philosophy and values palatable to everyone, especially, youngsters. This film termed the teachings of Gandhijis as Gandhigiri which became immensely popular. Dilip Prabhavalkar as Gandhiji, who appears as the result of hallucinations to the lead actor, played the part with a great charm. Dilip Prabhvalkar as Gandhi in Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Naseeruddin Shah in Hey Ram (2000): Hey Ram starred Haasan and Shah Rukh Khan, two of the biggest superstars in Indian cinema. A remarkable actor, Naseeruddin Shah portrayed Gandhi and it was an amazing performance. He portrayed all the required nuances of the character with great poise and ease. The title of the film derives from the words spoken by Mahatma Gandhi in his dying moments. A still from Hey Ram. Neeraj Kabi in Viceroys House (2017): Gurinder Chaddha directed Viceroys Hopuse which was based on parition of India, Neeraj Kabi played a rather small but important appearnce as Gandhiji. The actor was fantastic as Mahatama. His body language, voice and overall look were uncannily similar to Gandhiji, which is enough to say how outstanding Kabi was in the film. Neeraj Kabi as mahatma Gandhi. Rajit Kapur in The Making of the Mahatma (1996): In this Shyam Benegal film, the narrative is based on Mahatma Gandhis time in South Africa where he had a practice as a barrister. The time was before he came to India and joined the Independence movement. Rajit Kapur, better known as the original Byomkesh Bakshi, starred as Gandhi in this movie and bagged a National Award for his exceptional performance. The film also won the National Award for Best Feature Film in English. Shyam Benegal's The Making of the Mahatma. Mumbai: Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut has always been vocal about pay disparity in Bollywood. She was recently featured in an AIB video that highlighted many relevant things that especially actresses have to go through in Bollywood. The video took jibe at the pay disparity amongst male and female actors in the film industry. The actrerss has started prepping up for Teju, a film that will mark her debut as a director. Kangana who is regarded as a voice of unadulterated truth, has a powerful stance this time around too. Kangana said that she will charge for acting, directing and even share profits as a producer for her directorial debut. In an interview with Filmfare magazine, the actress said,"I will be sharing the profits. (Smiles) Ill be charging as an actor, as a director and will be sharing profits as the producer. Kangana, who is currently filming her next Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi had talked with The Indian Express about her directorial debut. She said, It is a childrens film, and I have a lot of ideas and excitement for it. But it will be a difficult project to pull off, and I am looking forward to it. It will be a light-hearted film, I cant call it comedy, but most definitely a nice film. This is what I wanted to do. As reported before, the actor would be playing an 80-year-old grandmother in Teju and will undergo an extensive makeover. Teju will be filmed in Kanganas home state Himachal Pradesh and it is expected to release later in 2018. Mumbai: The Baahubali fame actor Prabhas is currently busy shooting for his upcoming mega budget action film Saaho. Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor will be seen playing his romantic interest in the film. In the latest news, another Bollywood actor Neil Nitin Mukesh has been roped in to play antagonist in the film opposite Prabhas. The actor recently posted a picture on his Instagram stating about the same. He said, Enroute Hyderabad. SAAHO full power #ShootingforSaaho. Enroute Hyderabad. SAAHO full power #ShootingforSaaho. A post shared by Neil Nitin Mukesh (@neilnitinmukesh) on Oct 1, 2017 at 3:30am PDT Neil is flying in from London and will join Shraddha and Prabhas for the shoot from today (Monday, October 2nd). As per the sources, the actors will start with a few scenes where they are talking, post which they will kick off the intense action sequences. We are informed that Saaho will have some insane stunts, for which top American stunt directors have been taken on board. The budget for this action sequences alone is around 25 crores. Saaho is directed by Sujith, and produced by Vamsi and Pramod, under their banner UV Creations. It is expected to be released some time in next year. by Wilfred Vaz KUWAIT, OCT 2, 2017: To fortify the spiritual growth of parishioners who are actively involved in the various ministries of the Church of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Kuwait, Father Francisco Pereira conducted a recollection which was attended by 93 parishioners - on September 23. Several issues were touched up on during the recollection. They included strategies for personal prayer, overcoming personal and family problems through the power of prayer, experiencing improved and renewed relationship with loved ones, interceding for family members and others, and praying for the situations that the Holy Spirit reveals when we are in prayer. The recollection commenced with the screening of the movie - The War Room. It gave a startling revelation that 'prayer room' is actually a 'war room' where each one has to battle their worldly desires, spiritual frailties and sinfulness with prayer as the weapon complemented with holy Scripture. The movie helped the participants identify themselves with the characters and resolved to implement a change in their personal lives. "The Recollection explicitly brought out the power of prayer as a weapon, defence and energiser," Virgilio Rangel of the Choirs Ministry, said. The participants were then put into groups to discuss the questions that were based on the movie. The members shared the wealth of learning that was received. After the group-discussion, the recollection venue was converted into a 'war room' where the participants deeply introspected, meditated and prayed in silence. The participants were also instructed that petitions and intercessions could be written on post-it slips and pasted on the board that was kept for the purpose. Prayers and intercessions were then offered up to God at the Offertory during holy Mass. "My learning from the recollection is that we need to intercede for others and spend more time in reading the Bible," Basil Lobo of the Eucharistic Minsters, said. Father Pereira then explained how to read the Scripture meaningfully. He mentioned that when one reads the Holy Bible, there has to be a 'revelation'; the Word of God should reveal a unique message to the reader. The revealed message should trigger a 'revolution' in the reader, that is a thirst and desire to change one's life in tune with the will of God. Lastly, a firm 'resolution' should be made to stay committed to the change despite circumstances that may compel one to return to their former way of life. The culmination of the recollection was the celebration of the Holy Eucharist; during the homily, Father Pereira spoke on the teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Prayer. Prayer Cards were given to all the participants as a personal gift from Father Pereira. "It was truly a beautiful and enriching experience, I am blessed to be a part of this parish," Pamela Viegas from the Liturgical Ministry, said. The actor was last seen in 'Bank Chor'. Mumbai: Riteish Deshmukh has always come across one of the most approachable and grounded stars and has stayed true to his roots. The actor, who was last seen in 'Bank Chor' took to his Twitter to share his experience spending time at a sugarcane farm. Watch the video here: Son of a farmer at work. #JaiKisan Tribute to former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri ji on his birth anniversary. #JaiJawanJaiKisan pic.twitter.com/XSLW4AK19x Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) October 2, 2017 The actor posted the video to commemorate late Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The actor, son of late Congressman Vilasrao Deshmukh, also wished everyone on Gandhi Jayanti. Humble tribute to the father of our nation. His core values are as relevant today as they were during our freedom struggle. #GandhiJayanti pic.twitter.com/yCEWvkG4Ou Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) October 2, 2017 The actor will next be seen in 'Mauli,' a Marathi film, and 'Total Dhamaal'. Versatile actor Mohan Babu will be honoured with a doctorate by MGR University in Chennai on October 4. Mohan Babu has acted in over 500 films and also runs an educational institution, which is why the University chose to award him this year. Earlier in 2007, the actor was awarded with a doctorate by the University of California for his contribution to cinema and education. The 67-year-old actor is presently busy with the shooting of his upcoming film Gayatri in Tirupathi. The governor of Maharashtra, Ch Vidyasagara Rao will be the chief guest at the event on Wednesday. The beauty of photography lies in the way in which an artist can capture a moment in time freeze ittill eternity and in the process turn the subject immortal. That one fleeting moment in time that renders a moment of timelessness to a subject is what makes clicking imageries both magical and poignant. Satyajit Ray with the vintage 1930 Chrysler used in Abhijan, Calcutta, 1963-64. Photo shoot for Filmfare, January 25, 1965 (Photo: Jitendra Arya/ Jitendra Arya Foundation) With a career which spanned fifty years, Jitendra Arya did not only click celebrities but was a celebrity in his own right. A journey that saw him photographing Jawaharlal Nehru, Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, Bertnard Russell, Lord and Lady Mountbatten among others, he would also go on to photograph on the sets of the Hollywood movie Mogambo in Kenya. His career would see photographs of film stars appearing in almost every publication in India till his death in 2011. An ongoing exhibition, Light Works - Jitendra Arya - A Retrospective, that continues till Sunday October 8 at NGMA, Kalaghoda is showcasing Arya's vintage prints and a first glimpse into his restored archives. Presented by The Jitendra Arya Foundation, the exhibition is a journey into the photographs by Arya, a celebrated photographer, whose subjects was garbed in a play of lights and shades and mostly featured those who had been spiralled into fame and eminence. Dev Anand with son Suneil, Bombay, Late 1950s (Photo: Jitendra Arya/ Jitendra Arya Foundation) Speaking about the exhibition, curator Sabeena Ghadioke says that Light works chronicles the art of photography that Jitendra Arya (JA) had mastered. There is a huge blow up of a photograph taken by him in the early 1950s at the entrance of the show at the NGMA. In the picture Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur poses with Pietro Annigoni, the famous painter to the queen of England with a canvas between them. Annigoni had just completed a painted portrait of her. According to Ghadioke, the picture taken by JA is a reflection on another layer of representation through the medium of photography and it gestures towards JAs mastery over an art which is about a play between light and silver. Jitendra Arya and Dev Anand on the location shoot of Manzil, Simla, 1959 (Photo: Jitendra Arya/ Jitendra Arya Foundation) Elaborating upon the man behind the lens that captured some of the most poignant moments during his time, Ghadioke says that Arya was a master of both the staged as well as the candid photograph. For historians of cinema, his work represents a huge visual archive that stretched over five decades, says Ghadioke, adding. He photographed almost all of the progressive artists, dancers, musicians and creative writers of his generation. You also see people shot at different moments of their lives like Dev Anand who was a friend. People he knew from his London days-V.S Naipaul, Krishna Menon, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Maharani Gayatri Devi and others also became a subject of his lens." Pandit Ravi Shankar, Studio portrait in Chiswick, London, 1955 (Photo: Jitendra Arya/ Jitendra Arya Foundation) Ghadioke says that for her his black and white photography-the work in London and his early work in India in the 1960s represents his best. I also believe that his covers for magazines created an archive of cultural life-of people and events of his times. One of Arya's most renowned subjects had been Jawaharlala Nehru. Speaking about his tryst with Nehru, Ghadioke elaborates that Arya had photographed Nehru only four times. Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi - a candid moment in 1953 (Photo: Jitendra Arya/ Jitendra Arya Foundation) But was never satisfied with the portrait, she says, adding, He kept looking for an image that defined Nehru (for him). The last one he took shortly before Nehrus death is the one that JA felt did justice to his subject. It was taken in minutes with minimal technology and paraphernalia. According to the curator for JA, good photographs were born of the synergy between the imagination and technology and he gave importance to the former. After Nehrus death this portrait was published as a pull out hand coloured poster in the Illustrated Weekly of India. It was so much in demand that the Weekly had to re print it twice in subsequent issues! His son Kavi Arya adds, "Arya first encountered Nehru when he visited India for the first time in 1956 with his mentor, Michael Peto, to do a documentary film on Jawaharlal Nehru. At this time he grew close to the Nehru family and was to meet them on many occasions documenting the family over time. We believe that in the early days Vijayalakshmi Pandit had introduced her young niece, Indira Gandhi, in London to Arya urging that he have her meet other artists and friends about town as well." Kamini Kaushal with two pics taken in late fifties and Mala Sinha on side (Photo: Jitendra Arya Foundation) According to Kavi Arya, the exhibition has been almost two years in the making. From going through endless boxes full of envelopes containing precious negatives and transparencies to picking what appeared to be negatives in reasonable condition, doing low resolution scans to discover what they had in them and finally making a selection and initiating the process of high-resolution scanning and restoration of vintage negatives. We decided to stick to his portraits of well-known personalities form the 50's to the 2000's almost five decades of work. We focussed on the b/w and colour portraits to finally arrive at the current exhibited works. Raj Kapoor and Nargis outside Stratford Court Hotel in Oxford Street (now the Edwardian Berkshire Hotel), London, 1956. (Photo: Jitendra Arya/ Jitendra Arya Foundation) Kavi says that while the treasure of images that they have found surpass what they believed they had in their collection, the work of indexing, restoration and archival has only begun with this, Jitendra Arya's first exhibition. There will be more, he concludes. London: There have been a lot of discussions over banning digitally-enhanced photos used in various advertisements. However, France has decided to ban the use of photoshopped models in advertisements, reports The Independent. According to the new rulings, French advertisers will now be fined for editing model's bodies without indicating that the image has been digitally-altered. Those who refuse to include the indicative "photographie retouchee" warning label on their edited images could be fined a hefty amount. The government believes that image-doctoring is a public health issue and hopes that the new ruling will tackle the issue of seeing very thin-looking models in fashion campaigns, who promote an unhealthy and fundamentally unrealistic body image, given that these photographs are typically altered on the computer. In May, Health Minister Marisol Touraine, explained, "Exposing young people to normative and unrealistic images of bodies leads to a sense of self-depreciation and poor self-esteem that can impact health-related behaviour." The new law only prohibits the alteration of body shape and will not be applied to retouched hair or skin. The ruling comes into place just months after it was revealed that France would also ban the employment of unhealthily thin models, requiring them to provide a doctor's certificate to prove that they have been deemed fit to work. Recently it was also announced that French retail giants LVMH and Kering - who own Dior, Louis Vuitton and Gucci between them - will ban the employment of size zero models. Washington: A silent epidemic of dream loss may be at the root of many of the illnesses attributed to sleep deprivation, say scientists, suggesting that the unrecognised public health hazard may contribute to depression, a study claims. Researchers detailed the various factors that cause rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and dream loss. Typical sleep follows a pattern in which deeper, non-REM sleep is prioritised by the body. Only later in the night and into the early morning do people experience dreaming, during REM sleep. "We are at least as dream-deprived as we are sleep- deprived. Many of our health concerns attributed to sleep loss actually result from REM sleep deprivation," said Rubin Naiman, assistant professor at University of Arizona in the US. He sees REM/dream loss as an unrecognised public health hazard that silently wreaks havoc by contributing to illness, depression and an erosion of consciousness. The review, published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, examines data about the causes and extent of REM/dream loss associated with medications, substance use disorders, sleep disorders and behavioural and lifestyle factors. Naiman further reviews the consequences of REM/dream loss and concludes with recommendations for restoring healthy REM sleep and dreaming. Among more than 450,000 first-time mothers in Denmark with no prior bouts of depression, less than 1 percent had postpartum depression after giving birth. (Photo: Pexels) Depression after giving birth is rare among women with no history of psychiatric disorders, but once postpartum depression occurs, the odds are much higher that it will happen again after subsequent births, researchers say. Among more than 450,000 first-time mothers in Denmark with no prior bouts of depression, less than 1 percent had postpartum depression after giving birth. But those who did were 27 to 46 times more likely to experience it again after later births, researchers found. Overall, about 5 percent to 15 percent of all mothers are diagnosed with depression after giving birth, the study team notes in PLoS Medicine. A history of psychiatric disorders before giving birth increases the risk of postpartum depression significantly. The risk of postpartum affective disorder (AD) among women with no previous psychiatric disease is low, lead study author Marie-Louise Rasmussen told Reuters Health in an email. But for women who do develop postpartum depression, the risk of a later affective disorder is increased and the risk of a recurrent postpartum affective disorder episode is relatively high, said Rasmussen, a researcher with Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen. The researchers analyzed data on 457,317 Danish women who had their first babies between 1996 and 2013 and had no history of hospital visits for psychiatric problems or use of antidepressants. During the study, the women had a total of 789,068 births. Just 0.6 percent of the births were associated with treatment for postpartum depression. The treatment was relatively short in most cases. Compared to women who didnt have postpartum depression after their first childbirth, those who did and were treated with antidepressants were 27 times more likely to have postpartum depression after giving birth again. Women hospitalized for a first episode of postpartum depression were 46 times more likely to experience postpartum depression after a subsequent birth. The findings underline the seriousness of first-time postpartum depression and the need for both primary and secondary preventive measures, Rasmussen said. As for all women contemplating to have more children, social support from the spouse and surroundings is very important - probably even more so for women with a previous history of postpartum AD, she said. In some women, preventive medication or psychotherapy might be relevant, Rasmussen added. The report is both reassuring and concerning, said Dr. Jonathan Alpert, chair of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences department at Montefiore Health System in New York, who was not part of the study. It is reassuring in finding that for fewer than 1 in 100 women does postpartum depression serious enough to require antidepressant medications and/or hospital admission represent their first psychiatric episode. Its also reassuring that the risks are relatively low for women without a prior psychiatric history, he said. On the other hand, the report also underscores the importance of postpartum depression as a predictor of future episodes of mood disorder symptoms or postpartum depression. Any woman with a psychiatric history should be monitored closely for postpartum depression and any woman with postpartum depression after a first childbirth should be followed closely in later years for risk of depression in general and of postpartum depression after following pregnancies in particular, Alpert said. Although postpartum blues or transient moodiness and tearfulness after delivery are common occurrences, persistent depressed mood, severe mood swings, or distorted thinking are signs of needing help right away, he said. Women should contact their obstetrician right away for an evaluation and possible treatment such as antidepressants or psychotherapy Alpert said. Any woman who has thoughts of harming herself or her baby should seek emergency help immediately. Reliable sources of online information about postpartum depression and related topics such as risks of antidepressants during pregnancy include postpartum.net, sponsored by Postpartum Support International, and womensmentalhealth.org, sponsored by the MGH Center for Womens Mental Health, Alpert said. The Bibi-ka-Alam procession which was taken out in the Old City on Sunday. Thousands participated in the procession (Photo: DC) Hyderabad: A tense situation prevailed when the elephant Rajani became restless during the procession of the Bibi-ka-Alam on Sunday. The mahout managed to calm her down. No one was injured in the incident. Rajani was uneasy ever since her arrival at Purani Haveli from the Nehru zoo at about 12.30 pm. South Zone DCP V. Satyanarayana said, We informed the organisers of the procession about the elephant. They assured us that they would clear the area in front of the Bibi-ka-Alawa. We also made announcements through a public address system, asking the people to vacate the narrow lane demarcated for the procession.The elephant arrived at the Bibi-ka-Alawa at around 1.20 pm. The alam was brought out of the ashoorkhana and handed over to the alambardar to be mounted atop the elephant. At that point, the elephant began trumpeting and started walking forward. We immediately used mild force to disperse the people who had gathered in the lane outside the Bibi-ka-Alawa. There would have been no escape route for them had the elephant run wild, said Mr Satyanarayana. . A similar incident had occurred outside the Bibi-ka-Alawa two years ago, when a restless elephant marched into the crowd before being restrained by its handlers. On Sunday, the procession continued peacefully after the animal was brought under control. It proceeded through Shaik Faiz Kaman, Yakutpura road, Etebar Chowk, Alijah Kotla, Charminar, Gulzar Houz, Panjesha, Mandi Mir Alam, Darulshifa and Chaderghat. Along the procession route, members of the Shia community performed matam. Sherbat, juices and food were distributed along the way. Religious gatherings were held at various Sunni mosques in the city. Hyderabad police commissioner M. Mahender Reddy, Mr Satyanarayana, officials of the GHMC and the Water Board offered dhatti to the alam. Here's to the one's who dream... of sheep. (Photo: Pexels) Clad in a sparkling ball gown and tuxedo, the stars of the latest film to premiere in Londons Leicester Square walked the red carpet in a rather unusual manner - on four legs. The stars in question were a group of sheep who feature in a new eight-hour, dialogue-free film Baa Baa Land - billed by its makers as the dullest movie ever made. Its not so much watching the grass grow as watching it be eaten. The film - whose title plays on Hollywood hit La La Land -- features no actors, words or narrative and consists entirely of slow-motion shots of sheep in a field in Essex, England. It was made as a tongue-in-cheek insomnia cure, by Calm.com, one of the companies vying for a piece of the fast-growing mindfulness industry, part of what the Global Wellness Institute estimates is a $3.7 trillion global wellness market. Mindfulness is essentially meditation of the kind practised in East Asia for thousands of years. It is recommended by Britains National Health Service to help deal with stress and anxiety and has been embraced by companies ranging from Google to Goldman Sachs. Apps like Calm and Headspace, which claims to have six million users, offer users guided meditation, while others help users ensure they are sleeping well. There are at least 1,300 mindfulness apps in an increasingly crowded market, according to research firm Sensor Tower. With many of the leading smartphone apps scoring 4.5 and 5 star reviews from tens of thousands of users in app stores, the technology does appear to be meeting with a positive reception from many users. Whether taking contemplative breaks at the behest of your smartphone, or using it to assist you in getting a good nights sleep has tangible benefits has some experts are sceptical. The idea of using an app on a digital platform to get to sleep - regardless of whether they work or not seems to be a complete negation of what youre meant to be doing, which is avoiding stimulation, interaction and thinking, sleep expert Dr. Neil Stanley told Reuters. Research suggests that many health apps struggle to deliver on their promised benefits. A 2015 study of mental health apps by researchers at the University of Liverpool found that many digital mental health products suffered from a lack of scientific credibility and limited clinical effectiveness, though noted that some did produce significant patient benefits. Other experts feel that while not a panacea, apps are a positive starting point for many people. Its much more about understanding how to use digital as a tool and not the driver of our lives, said Orianna Fielding, founder of the Digital Detox company, which runs workshops on wellbeing in peoples digital lives. I think any app that gets you to have a look and understand your digital dependence habits, that can identify the psychological and emotional triggers that lead you to get overloaded and dependent is good. Geneva prosecutors are investigating after toilets in a bank and three restaurants were blocked by about $100,000. (Photo: Facebook/ Showbizlikes.com) Geneva prosecutors are investigating after toilets in a bank and three restaurants were blocked by about $100,000 in high-denomination euro banknotes, they said on Monday. We are not so interested in the motive but we want to be sure of the origin of the money, spokesman Vincent Derouand said, adding that neither throwing money away nor blocking a toilet was a crime. The Tribune de Geneve newspaper, which first reported the unusual deposit, said the first blockage occurred in the toilet serving the vault at UBS bank (UBSG.S) in Genevas financial district, and three nearby bistros found their facilities bunged up with 500-euro notes a few days later. Derouand said two people had agreed to compensate the restaurants for the costs of the blockage, and the restaurants had withdrawn a complaint that they made when the incident happened in May. The cash was confiscated during the investigation and it was unclear who would get it if it was found to be lawful. There was no immediate reason to think it was dirty money, Derouand said. The European Central Bank said last year it had decided to discontinue the 500-euro note because of concerns that it was being used too often for illicit activities including money laundering. A UBS spokesman declined to comment. Bengaluru: A 32-year-old man who objected to smoking by a few drunk men in front of his house was fatally attacked with lethal weapons in Ashok Nagar police limits early Sunday. The incident took place in Ashok Nagar B Street around 2 am when a procession was passing through the area. The deceased has been identified as Harish. As the procession passed by, Harish woke up and came out of his house to catch a glimpse of it. He saw some drunk men hanging out in front of his house and smoking. When Harish objected, the men got angry and left in a huff. They later returned along with a gang of armed men, while Harish was still outside his house. They attacked him with machetes and Harish sustained grievous injuries. He was rushed to a private hospital by his family members, from where he was shifted to Mallya Hospital where he died. Ashok Nagar police have registered a case and are looking for the accused. Voters who took part in yesterdays national 1-0 referendum overwhelmingly supported Catalonias independence from Spain, and images of the Spanish National Police brutally suppressing the election have flooded the international media. But any honest accounting of the 1-0 referendum requires a deeper nuance that leaves no party looking heroic. The 1-0 referendum On October 1, Catalonia held an election asking voters, Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic? Catalonia, which has seen its autonomy wax and wane since the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile united in the mid-to-late fifteenth century, already enjoys considerable autonomy. Some 90 percent of the 2.2 million people who cast a ballot on Sunday voted for independence, according to Jordi Turull, a spokesman for the Catalan government. Officials say 770,000 votes were seized by Spanish police or otherwise lost. Police closed 79 of the 2,315 polling stations nationwide. Although the vote produced a lopsided majority, several issues keep the results from being as definitive as portrayed. By any measure, the referendum was illegal The Spanish government is correct to say that the 1-0 referendum lacked legal authority. Section 2 of the Spanish Constitution, which 90 percent of Catalans approved, states: The Constitution is based on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards; it recognizes and guarantees the right to self-government of the nationalities and regions of which it is composed and the solidarity among them all. Section 92 adds that [p]olitical decisions of special importance may be submitted to all citizens in a consultative referendum called by the president (or king) and authorized by Congress. The 1-0 referendum had no such authorization. Early last month the Spanish Constitutional Court suspended Sundays election, pending a full decision on its constitutionality. Nonetheless, Catalonias regional president, Carles Puigdemont, pressed forward and he stopped complying with a law to determine whether he was using national taxpayer funds to agitate for independence. As a result, the prime minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, and others have treated the vote as a non-entity. Today there was no referendum on self-determination in Catalonia, Rajoy said. European Commission agreed the aborted vote was not legal, in a statement delivered by chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas. Procedural issues aside, 90 percent would be a clear mandate for independence if that total represented the entire region. The 1-0 referendums results were inconclusive despite the 90 percent figure While 90 percent of 1-0 voters backed Catalan independence, they represent only 42 percent of the regions registered voters. The vast majority did not participate. That tracks with previous polling results, which found only 48 percent of Catalans supported holding a referendum if it were declared illegal. In all, 41 percent said they would vote for independence according to the regions official polling firm, the Centre for Opinion Studies. Pro-independence sentiment has only inched up since the last vote in November 2014. At that time, 80 percent voted to leave Spain but only half of all registered voters took part. The 1-0 referendum drew motivated pro-independence voters to the polls, but they did not speak for most Catalans. Polls in July showed support for independence slipping, with a majority opposing it at least, before Madrids response on Sunday. Worthy of Venezuela: How Spains free market leaders reacted International television captured Spanish National Police breaking up the election by firing rubber bullets, swinging batons, and dragging voters out of polling stations by their hair. As of this writing, 893 people have been injured by their aggressive tactics. Yet Prime Minister Rajoy placed the full blame for the National Polices actions solely and exclusively on those who promoted the rupture of legality. And foreign minister Alfonso Datsis dismissed many of the photos as fake. Pro-free market leaders in Spain condemned the police violence, without upholding the legality of the referendum. Today, we have lost the international image of a civilized country, wrote Roxana Nicula, the president of the Fundacion para el Avance de la Libertad, a Spanish free market think tank. Rajoy will be remembered in history books as the politician who permanently expelled Catalonia from Spain. I do not want to live in a country where my government sends the anti-riot forces against a civilian population, she wrote. It is disgusting, worthy of the Venezuela of Maduro. Partido Liberatrio wrote in a press release that it is evident that the referendum held today [lacked] the minimum international standards and, therefore, has no legal value whatsoever. Precisely because of this, it was not necessary and counterproductive to prevent it by force. Whats next? President Carles Puigdemont has always said that, if the referendum passed, Catalonia could declare independence within 48 hours. Catalonias citizens have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic, he said on television after the vote. Meanwhile, more than 40 unions and civic organizations have called for a nationwide strike on Tuesday. Severing Catalonias 500-year-long tie with the rest of Spain could have negative repercussions for both regions. What would the economic impact of independence be? Catalonias economic output of nearly $250 billion (U.S.) last year weighs heavily in the decision. Its largely industrialized economy accounts for 20 percent of Spains total GDP. More jobs are created in Catalonia, and its citizens have a higher GDP-per-person than other regions of Spain. However, Catalonia is also among the most indebted regions, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 35 percent. Its economic balance with the national government is not as bad as it is portrayed. And, as in Scotland, independence would not necessarily bring Catalonia its desired ends of prosperity and EU membership. Independence could harm both Spain and Catalonias fiscal outlook. In January, Fitch Ratings gave Catalonia a BB credit rating, with a negative outlook. On Friday, S&P Global Ratings confirmed Spain had a BBB+ ratingbut threatened to revise the outlook if the current tensions between the central government and the regional government of Catalonia escalated and started weighing on business confidence and investment, leading to less predictable future policy responses. An independent Catalonia would not automatically accede to EU membership. If Catalonia declares independence from an EU member, the territory leaving would find itself outside of the European Union, Schinas said. Like Scotland, it would have to go through the normal application process for membership. As harmful as the economic impact would be, it is hard to overstate the damage done by the Spanish governments harsh crackdown against voters. WWAD: What Would (St.) Augustine Do? The Western tradition has held that laws should be implemented fairly, impartially, and with the minimum of force required. Christian emperors, wrote St. Augustine, often choose to grant pardons [to guilty parties] in the hope of reform. If they must act harshly, they compensate with felicity for those affected. As often as they are forced to make harsh decrees, they compensate with the gentleness of mercy and an abundance of kindness, he wrote. Such rulers are divinely-favored. Imagine that Prime Minister Rajoy allowed Catalan officials to hold their illegal election, and then announce its underwhelming outcome. Seizing control of the regions finances punitively, instead of preemptively, would draw less international outrage and galvanize public sentiment against Puigdemont. Politicians dedicated to separatism enjoy fragile support, win or lose. Continuing to pursue independence like the white whale after failing to deliver undercuts secessionists as it has in Scotland, where the nationalist first minister saw her Scottish Nationalist Party decimated in Junes UKs snap election. But affection, as St. Augustine saw, creates stronger bonds of unity than intimidation. Few people pledge allegiance to the government swinging the baton. (Photo credit: Popicino. This photo has been cropped. CC BY-SA 2.0.) Pakistan violated ceasefire in Keri and Digwar areas of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir. (Photo: ANI) Srinagar: A nine-year-old boy and a girl were killed, and five other civilians were injured on Monday in heavy shelling and firing by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. The deceased boy has been identified as Israr Ahmad of Karni sector, PTI quoted an official as saying. The girl died in the ceasefire violation in Digwar sector of Poonch district, ANI reported. The injured civilians have been rushed to a hospital. #Visuals Five civilians injured during ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch admitted to district hospital. pic.twitter.com/4GXkF4waXG ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 The Pakistani troops violated ceasefire in Shahpur, Kirni and Qasba sectors. They targeted dozens of villages and forward posts along the LoC around 6:50 am. Indian troops fired in retaliation and the exchange of fire between the two sides was underway when last reports came in. #Visuals: Army vehicle damaged in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch. Five injured admitted to district hospital. pic.twitter.com/gAfdprjzQh ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 BJP leaders slammed Pakistan for Mondays ceasefire violation. It just clears the fact that there is no place for peace in Pakistan, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said. Pak is a country of cowards, on one side they show white flags and on other target civilians, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Kumar Singh. Meanwhile, in Keran sector, security forces have foiled an infiltration bid. They have killed one infiltrator and are conducting a search operation at the site. Chennai: In a subtle dig at his friend and actor Kamal Haasan, who is carefully choreographing his launch into politics, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth on Sunday said one needs something beyond celebrity status to succeed in politics. To make his point, rajini cited the example of late Sivaji Ganesans failure in politics despite being a top-notch actor. Rajinikanth, who is still keeping his cards close to the chest on whether he would take the plunge into politics, used the dais at the opening of late actor Sivaji Ganesans memorial on the banks of the Adyar here to talk about politics and Kamal, who was also seated on the dais on Sunday. A legend of our times, Sivaji Ganesan has left us a lesson not just in cinema but also in politics. He launched his own political party and lost elections, including from his own seat. This was not an insult to him, but the people of that constituency. So, the message is that fame and clout (earned in cinema) is not enough to succeed in politics. There should be something beyond that, Rajinikanth said. I dont know what it is. But I think Kamal Haasan would know and even if he knows the secret, he would not tell me. Maybe he would have told me if I had asked him two months back. When I say you (Haasan) are senior to me in cinema, and are like an elder brother and ask him to share that with me, he says come with me and I will tell, he said. Rajinikanth was obviously referring to Kamal Haasans major political statement in July asking people to send complaints to Ministers about corruption in their departments. Political observers see the comments as Rajinikanth avenging Kamal Hassans indirect dig at him at the 75th anniversary celebrations of DMK mouthpiece Murasoli in August. At that event, Kamal had said, self-respect is more important than self-protection in what was seen as an indirect reference to Rajinikanth who did not share the dais with DMK leaders and senior journalists but instead sat in the audience. They also said Rajinikanths comments are also seen as a symbol of his taking a few steps backward as he may have decided already against active politics. Rajini jokes about Kamal Kamal Haasan, who was seated on the dais on Sunday, chuckled as Rajinikanth spoke about him and his inevitable entry into politics. Rajini's speech assumes significance since it comes close on the heels of Kamal setting a January deadline for the launch of his new political party. In his speech, Kamal confined himself only to praise Sivaji Ganesan and termed him as an actor who transcended state, national and continental boundaries. If I had not been in cinema, I would have been a fan and even if I was not allowed entry here, I would have been waiting (outside). None could have stopped me, he said. Sivaji Ganesan, one of the legends of the Tamil cinema, could not taste success in politics despite achieving tremendous name and fame in tinsel town. His political venture failed and he himself lost from his own seat when he contested the Assembly elections in 1980s. The upper caste men allegedly thrashed the Dalits and banged the victim's head against a wall, the officer said. (Photo: ANI/Twitter) Ahmedabad: A 21-year-old Dalit man was beaten to death allegedly by a group of men belonging to the upper caste Patel community for attending a garba event in Gujarat's Anand district on Sunday, police said. Jayesh Solanki, his cousin Prakash Solanki and two other Dalit men were sitting near a house at 4 in the morning, adjacent to a temple in Bhadrania village when a person made "derogatory remarks about their caste", police said quoting a complaint. The accused said Dalits "do not have any right to watch garba. He made casteist remarks and asked some men to come to the spot," an officer at Bhadran police station said. Gujarat: Dalit man beaten to death on #Dussehra, allegedly for attending a Garba event in Anand. pic.twitter.com/i80ChYxjyi ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 The upper caste men allegedly thrashed the Dalits and banged Jayesh's head against a wall, the officer said. He was taken to a hospital in Karamsad, where he died later in the morning. The officer said a police complaint has been filed. Senior police officer AM Patel said it did not appear to be a pre-planned attack. "Jayesh was killed in the heat of the moment, as there was no rivalry between him and the accused. We are probing the case from all angles. The accused will be arrested soon," the officer said. Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi is at the centre of the controversy over handling of the recent violence in the BHU campus. (Photo: ANI | File) Varanasi: Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi has gone on "indefinite leave" citing personal reasons. Quoting BHU officials, news agency PTI said, Tripathi, who was scheduled to retire on November 30, has gone on "indefinite leave". Last week, the vice chancellor said that he will resign if he is asked to proceed on leave. Tripathi however, maintained that the HRD ministry had not told him to do so. Read: Will resign if asked to go on leave: BHU VC Girish Chandra Tripathi His tenure ends on November 30. The vice chancellor is at the centre of the controversy over handling of the recent violence in the BHU campus. A number of students, including women, and two journalists were injured in a baton-charge by the police after a protest against an alleged eve-teasing incident turned violent in BHU, one of the 43 central universities in the country. The vice chancellor had earlier said that it would be insulting to go on leave two months before my tenure comes to end and he would rather prefer to quit. The HRD ministry officials said the process for appointing his successor has been initiated, but maintained that the timing of violence in the BHU campus and steps for appointment of a new VC is completely "coincidental". Even if the unrest would not have happened, appointment process would have been initiated, a senior HRD official said on the condition of anonymity. Tripathi had earlier said that the violence was fanned by "rumour mongering" and "outsiders". With inputs from agencies. Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran accused the Tamil Nadu government of trying to use 'the doubts over Amma's (Jayalalithaa) death' to 'divert' the attention from its misgovernance. (Photo: File) Chennai: Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran on Monday pressed for a CBI probe into the death of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa. "I want a CBI probe," was his reply when asked if the party faction led by him was ready to cooperate with the government-constituted Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry to probe the death of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016. "Only when there is a CBI probe, can the ministers, who are making contradictory remarks (on meeting Jayalalithaa when she was hospitalised), be questioned," he said. Tamil Nadu Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan had recently said nobody had met the former AIADMK supremo after she was admitted to the Apollo Hospital last year and that they "lied" that she ate idly, among others, out of fear of her close aide and now party chief VK Sasikala. However, Cooperation Minister Sellur Raju had contradicted Srinivasan saying, "All the ministers had met her." On September 25, the Tamil Nadu government constituted an inquiry commission headed by Justice A Arumughaswamy to look into the circumstances leading up to the death of the former chief minister. Initiating such a probe was a key pre-condition of former rebel AIADMK leader and now Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for merging the party faction led by him with the one led by chief minister Palanisamy. The two factions had merged on August 21. Dhinakaran accused the state government of trying to use "the doubts over Amma's (Jayalalithaa) death" to "divert" the attention from its misgovernance. "To divert the people's attention from the misgovernance, doubts are being raised over Amma's death," he said, adding that the Palanisamy government would be sent home soon. Palanisamy and Dhinakaran are engaged in a tussle for power, with the latter accusing the chief minister of "betraying" Sasikala, who had nominated him to the top party post in February, following a revolt by Panneerselvam. Dhinakaran asserted that the disqualification of the 18 AIADMK MLAs loyal to him from the state Assembly was only "temporary" and vowed to take legal recourse and "send this government home and once again usher in Amma's rule". He also lashed out at the government on the spread of dengue, saying "their words and action show they are only bothered about the government. We can't expect any action from them". On the appointment of Banwarilal Purohit as the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Dhinakaran said, "We expect at least the new governor to work in a non-partisan manner." Earlier, Dhinakaran had met former governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and sought for the removal of Palanisamy from the post of chief minister. In August, 19 MLAs supporting Dhinakaran had met Rao and pressed for a similar demand, saying they had lost confidence in the chief minister. However, one of those MLAs subsequently switched over to the Palanisamy camp. Srinagar: A Jammu and Kashmir police official was shot dead from point blank range by suspected militants in southern Pulwama district on Monday night. The officials and witnesses said that two unidentified gunmen appeared at a marriage ceremony in Pulwamas Padgampora village and opened fire at Head-Constable Ashiq Hussein. The victim, working as munshi at Pulwamas Awantipora police station, was on leave to attend the marriage of a close relative when targeted. The incident took place barely a week after a Border Security Force (BSF) official Muhammad Ramzan Parray was killed and four of his family members were injured in a militant attack in Hajin area of northern Bandipore district. Parray, an official of the BSFs 73rd Battalion, was posted in Singhpora area of neighbouring Baramulla district and had come home on holiday a few days ago when the militants attacked him with a knife before shooting him dead. His father Ghulam Ahmad Parray, brothers Muhammad Afzal and Javaid Ahmed and paternal aunt Habla Begum were injured in the attack. On June 15, a J&K policeman Shabir Ahmed Dar was shot dead from point blank range by assailants in Bogund village of southern Kulgam district. On May 9, Ummer Fayaz Parray, a 22-year-old officer with Armys 2 Rajputana Rifles was also on leave when abducted by two masked gunmen from the wedding of his (maternal) cousin in Batpora village of Kulgam district. Next morning, his bullet-riddled corpse was found in Harmain area of neighbouring Shopian district. In March and April this year, the Valley had witnessed a series of militant attacks at policemen and their families following which the police department had issued an advisory asking its field personnel to avoid visiting their homes for the next few months. It had while referring to the unfortunate incidents wherein militants and anti-national and anti-social elements have caused damage to the life and property of police personnel, asked them to exercise extreme caution while visiting their homes. They should preferably avoid visiting their homes for the next few months as their personal security is of paramount importance," the advisory had said. It also asked all the heads of various formations to brief their officers and men regarding the threat so the life and property of police personnel were secured. Mysuru: After the mega fast on Saturday, the Dasara elephants took a break at the Mysuru palace premises on Sunday. With the city littered all over, Mysuru city corporation has begun a mammoth cleaning process. Meanwhile on Sunday, Mysureans were treated to an aeromodeling show at Lalitmahal helipad. With Dasara being more attractive this year, the number of tourists who watched the Dasara procession on Saturday increased by atleast 10 percent according to tourism stake holders. Visitors to Mysuru Zoo on Saturday was the highest in the past four years. According to Mysuru hotel owners association head Mr Narayangowda, the occupancy of tourists was 100% on Friday, Saturday and Sunday Fifty percent of the tourists are from outside the state especially from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. But there was a slight decline in the number of tourists to the zoo on all ten days of the Dasara festivities from September 21 to 30. As for the number of foreign tourists during Dasara, it has been on the decline in the past four years. According to Mysuru Zoo director Mr C Ravishankar, 1.23 lakh tourists visited the Zoo this year from September 21 to 30 apart from 10,662 villagers brought from Mysuru,Kodagu, Mandya, Hassan and Chamarajnagar districts for the Dasara darshan trip. Last year 1.24 lakh tourists visited the zoo. Mysuru DC Mr D Randeep said 586 foreigners visited the palace for ten days during Dasara. S.J. Ashok of Mysuru travel agents association said there were 8-10 groups from France, Holland, USA and Italy. Last year there were 921 foreign visitors to the palace. Chennai: As the failing economy debate takes centrestage, DMK Working President MK Stalin on Sunday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the economic slowdown and cited implementation of demonetisation and GST as reasons. Referring to former Union finance minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinhas criticism in this regard, Stalin called for corrective measures from the central government and accused it of doing nothing on the economic front despite majority in Parliament. Even many in the BJP, who had initially voiced support to the move, were now saying demonetisation did affect the economy, he claimed and blamed the Modi Government for implementing GST even before the people could come out of the impact of the currency ban. The GST has reduced the growth rate from eight per cent during the UPA times to 5.7 per cent. When a party man (Yashwant Sinha) is saying such things, which is akin to self-assessment of the three-year-old government, BJP leaders are criticising him for penning the article, Stalin said. State was also suffering due to the slowdown, the opposition leader said, citing the textile and leather industries in Tirupur and Dindigul respectively. The NDA government launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, to make people aware about the advantages of cleanliness. (Photo: ANI) New Delhi: Not 1,000 Mahatma Gandhis, 1 lakh Narendra Modis, but the 125 crore Indians will realise the dream of Swachh Bharat, the Prime Minister said at an event in Delhi to mark the third anniversary of the Clean India Mission. India faces challenges but that does not mean we run away from them. We will face them and work to overcome them, Modi said at the event at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan. Swachh India wont come true even if 1,000 Mahatma Gandhis, 1 lakh Narendra Modis, all chief ministers and governments come together, it'll be done by 125cr Indians, the prime minister said. Positive competitive environment created due to Swachh Bharat Mission. We see it in cleanliness rankings, how orgs work on cleanliness, he added. After coming to power in 2014, the NDA government launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, to make people aware about the advantages of cleanliness. Batra was officiating as Ryan school's principal in Bhondsi branch and was also an in-charge of the school. (Photo: ANI/Twitter) New Delhi: Neerja Batra, suspended principal of Ryan International School (Bhondsi), where a seven-year-old student was murdered, has now joined Gurugram's Sector-40 branch as a teacher. Batra was suspended for negligence in delivering her duties. Batra was officiating as Ryan school's principal in Bhondsi branch and was also an in-charge of the school. She has been working with the Ryan school for approximately 20 years. On September 28, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the arrest of the Pinto family, the owners and trustees of Ryan International School in connection with murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur. The Pinto family Augustine F Pinto, his wife Grace and their son Ryan had moved the High Court seeking anticipatory bail in the matter. The court will hear the matter next on October 7. On September 8, the body of the class II student Pradyuman Thakur was found inside the toilet of the school, with his throat slit. The Lincoln Elementary School community invites all students, families and Lakewood residence to participate in the 2nd Annual Lincoln Fun Run. The event will be held Saturday October 7, 2017 at Kauffman Park starting at 1 p.m. Each student will receive a numbered bib just like in regular races. Then as they run, pledge sponsors will donate money for each lap run by students. The Lincoln Elementary PTA, who is organizing the event, hopes to raise enough money to buy new gym mats for Lincoln Elementary, stock the school's art room, update musical instruments and props for their music classes, and funding the purchasing of additional furniture for the school's outdoor learning space. A DJ will be on hand during the event to help entertain the students while they run laps around the park. Students will be competing by grade level for the special prizes for the most laps run, and a special raffle during the event will also take place. Refreshments like pizza and other foods will be hon hand for purchase. Throughout the school year the Lincoln Elementary PTA sponsors several community activities, such as family socials, clubs, educational assemblies, field trips, and the book fair. They also support Lincoln teachers by providing classroom grants, serving meals during conferences, and hosting a weekly school drop-in for parents to work on projects. In 2016, the PTA purchased a dozen Chromebooks for the school. All proceeds from the Fun Run will directly impact the 300+ students who attend Lincoln Elementary. More information about the event, as well as forms to participate can be found at: The doctors are going on a hunger-strike from October 2 as their demands have not been met by the government (Photo: Representational Image) Hyderabad: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sought strict laws to prevent violence against doctors and urged the Centre to protect doctors and healthcare workers. The doctors are going on a hunger-strike from October 2 as their demands have not been met by the government. Dr K.K. Aggarwal, the president of the IMA, said, Will our government wake up and bring a Central law against violence? There are many medical professionals in Parliament and they should come forward to help the medical fraternity. Doctors are upset over the increasing incidences of violence against them. Currently, there is no strict law against the perpetrators. Dr Roy Abraham Kallivayali, vice-president, IMA, said, Is the delay caused since doctors are protesting in a democratic way? The government should work towards enacting a law to protect doctors.Violence against doctors in Australia results in six- months jail and a penalty. Dr R.N. Tandon, general secretary, IMA, said, A tough law shows the governments commitment towards doctors. This empowers the police to take action against offenders. Currently, there is no specific norm to book the accused. We want clear laws. Speaking at 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' in Porbandar BJP Chief Amit Shah said, 'Rahul always questions what Prime Minister Narendra Modi did in past three years, but I want to ask what UPA did in 10 years.' (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Porbandar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah on Sunday launched a fresh salvo on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi saying that the latter need to wear Gujarati spectacles to see the development of Gujarat and not the one made in Italy. "If Rahul dreams about Gujarat then he should visit Porbandar, not Italy for fulfilling those dreams. He should wear Gujarati spectacles and not the one made in Italy, only then he will see the development in Gujarat," Shah said while speaking at 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' in Porbandar. He said the Congress Party opposing Gujarati should know that Gujarat used to get 43,345 crore under United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and is not getting 1,22,453 crore under National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government. "Rahul always questions what Prime Minister Narendra Modi did in past three years, but I want to ask what UPA did in 10 years," Shah asked. He said the 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' has been started as Gujarat is proud of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Prime Minister Modi who were born in this land. He added that the party is taking pride of making Gujarat a curfew-free state and providing 24 hours electricity in the state. Shah on Sunday kicked off the 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birthplace, Karamsad. The yatra will go on till October 15. It will be held on two routes simultaneously. Electricity minister P. Thangamani (third from left), higher education minister K. P. Anbhazhagan and environment minister K. C. Karupannan at the opening of water from Mettur dam near Salem on Monday. (Photo: DC) METTUR: Around 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water gushed out of the Stanley Reservoir here on Monday as the Tamil Nadu Government released water for Samba paddy cultivation in delta districts the state. At a simple ceremony, Electricity Minister P Thangamani and Environment Minister KC Karupannan opened the sluice gates of the reservoir at 9.30 am. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had ordered release of water from the dam from October 2 for irrigation purposes in the Cauvery delta. After the ceremony, Thangamani said 15,000 cusecs of water will be released from the reservoir everyday and the quantum of water to be released would be further increased in the coming days based on the requirement in the delta regions. The Tamil Nadu Government decided to release water from the reservoir, which was getting steady inflow of water following heavy rains in the catchment areas of Cauvery river in Karnataka for the past couple of weeks. Water released from the dam here would reach Cauvery delta region in the next couple of days. Cauvery water is the lifeline of farmers in the delta region as they are solely dependent on the water released from the reservoir for irrigation purposes. Officials said crops in 16.04 lakh acres of land across the delta region would benefit from the release of water from the dam. The release of water from the dam, usually opened on June 12 annually for irrigation, had been delayed for the fourth straight year in view of poor storage due to scanty rainfall and refusal by Karnataka to release Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery waters. The dam was opened since its water level had crossed 90 feet of its storage capacity of 120 feet. Hyderabad: TD working president A. Revanth Reddy on Monday in an open letter to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao stated that the Centre had still not recognised the new districts that were recognised a year ago. The Centre was still continuing fund allocation as per the old districts, he said in the letter one year after the Chief Minister re-organised the districts and increased their number from 10 to 31. The Centre had announced tax relief to nine old backward districts till March 1, 2020. As part of the subsidy, 15 per cent subsidy on investment will be provided by Centre, he said. He said the Centre on December 20, 2016, had released Rs 900 crore as special relief to these nine districts. Mr Revanth Reddy said that though the state government had made a request to Centre seeking extension of the special relief to the remaining 21 districts, the Centre had not taken any decision. He said the Centre had not notified the new districts so far in its official gazette, with the result that the new districts were unable to get the subsidies. He said for enrolment of PAN card, addresses conmentioning the new districts were being refused. He said even for zonal recruitments, the Centre was objecting to including the names of new districts as they are not found in the 1975 Presidential Order. He said without a proper exercise on legal issues the Chief Minister had executed the district re-organisation and failed to provide any infrastructure like staff and buildings at the new collectorates. Hyderabad: The T-Prime scheme Telangana Programme for Rapid Incubation of Minority Entrepreneurs aimed at encouraging entrepreneurs from the minority sections to set up industries, has failed to take off. The scheme was announced last year to extend industrial subsidies to minorities on par with Dalit entrepreneurs under T-Pride. The government asked officials to prepare guidelines for implementation of T-Prime last year. While the deadline was March 2017, they are yet to see the light of the day. The industries department is awaiting the proposals from minority welfare department. Industries minister K.T. Rama Rao has been inquiring about T-Prime guidelines during department meetings every time only to find that they were not submitted so far. Under T-Prime, the government offers up to 75 per cent subsidy in power tariff, stamp duty, tax reimbursement and other incentives to minority business entrepreneurs besides providing land at subsidised cost to set up industries. Outsiders hijack SCheme meant for Dalit welfare The schemes meant for welfare and development of Dalits are being misused by others. Apart from 3-acre free land, the government is providing subsidy to Dalits to purchase cars, jeeps, tractors to eke out a livelihood by hiring them under T-Pride, Telangana Programme for Rapid Incubation of Dalit Entrepreneurs. These vehicles are to be registered under commercial category to help the beneficiaries to rent them out. The industries department, which implements T-Pride is flooded with complaints over non-dalits availing the benefit through benamis. The complaints are more against non-dalit government staff. Minis-ter K.T. Rama Rao has ordered an inquiry. The complaints came mostly from Karimna-gar, Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural, Jan-goan, Bhupalapally, Nizamabad districts. We are waiting for the inquiry reports. Collec-tors have been asked to monitor the inquiry, Mr Rao said. Lucknow: Taj Mahal is no longer a place of tourist interest for the Yogi Adityanath government. The monument of love, which is among the Seven Wonders of the World, has been left out of the tourism booklet published by the state government on World Tourism Day. The booklet, Uttar Pradesh Paryatan Apaar Sambhavnayen, published by the UP tourism department, covers almost all major tourist destinations in the state except Taj Mahal. The Yogi government has now clarified that they would include a picture of the Taj Mahal in the booklet soon. In June this year, Yogi Adityanath had said that according to him, the Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita represent the Indian culture and not the Taj Mahal. The Yogi governments first state budget for 2017-18 had also made no mention of the Taj Mahal in its special section Hamari Sanskritik Virasat (Our Cultural Heritage) that was incorporated in the finance ministers speech. The cover of this booklet carries a picture of a Ganga Aarti ceremony, along with the photos of tourism minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Yogi Adityanath. The booklet explains the importance and significance of the Ganga Aarti of Varanasi, Gorakhpurs Gorakh Peeth, Mathura-Vrindavan, Ayodhya and all major religious places in UP. Former minister Yashwant Sinha interacts with Jus-tice J. Chalameswar of the Supreme Court on the sidelines of Manthan Samvad in Hyderabad. (Photo: DC) Hyderabad: Urgent and time-bound dialogue is needed with our own people of Kashmir who are alienated and are suffering for 70 years, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha said on Monday. Speaking on the topic Kashmir Now and Way Forward at the Manthan Samvaad series of talks here, Mr Sinha said that the agenda of the BJP-PDP alliance was encouraging when it was formed in 2015, but the promised dialogue process has not begun. He called for a two-track approach political and military to deal with the Kashmir issue. Constructive dialogue requires a specific invitation to the identified stakeholders, with a clear agenda and time framework. He said there was a strong constituency for peace and the possibility of engaging in dialogue. He suggested that the dialogue must first begin with our own people in Jammu and Kashmir and then the dialogue with Pakistan must commence. Jammu and Kashmir can become the bridge between India and Pak-istan and the Line of Control (LoC) can be-come the line of peace. India will have to involve Pakistan also in talks over Kashmir at some future date. Mr Sinha spoke of the stifling atmosphere in which at least four generations of Kashmiris have lived, under the shadow of the security forces. Army comman-ders have talked about how political engagement needs to supplement military action. The CRPF should take over internal security in Kashmir and the Army should be at the LoC, he said. Pakistan must be held to the promise it made to former Prime Minister A.B Vajpayee that it will not export terror and violence to India from its territory, he said. Sinha: Note ban and GST were ill-timed Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha told mediapersons that his partys two major policies. demonetisation and GST, were ill-timed. Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of Manthan Samvad, Mr Singh said, GST is an excellent idea and I was in support of the GST and I myself promoted its implementation. The way GST has been implemented, it has created more problems and it gave another blow after demonetisation. It shouldnt have been introduced at a time when the economy was already in a poor state. Bengaluru: Still without clues a month after the shocking murder of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, the Special Investigation Team is focusing on Vijayapura and its adjoining areas after it got information that the country-made revolver which the killer used to shoot down Gauri was smuggled from Vijayapura or its adjoining areas. Sources said that the police do not have any definite clues that the country-made revolver was brought from Vijayapura, but they have information that the bike-borne men who opened fire on Bengaluru APMC president K. Srinivas in February this year had used revolvers which were supplied from Vijayapura. But the police sources did not disclose any information on the ongoing investigation in Vijayapura, but said that the police team is trying to catch some suspects. In the past, country-made revolvers smuggled to Vijayapura from North India were allegedly used by gangster to carry out attacks on their rivals in Vijayapura and surrounding areas. Sources said that many gangsters in the region were smuggling revolvers into Vijayapura from other areas, but the gang clashes have virtually stopped in Vijayapura in recent times after the brutal killing of Fayaz Mushrif, a nephew of former mayor Sajjadepeer Mushrif in November 2014. Prior to that, several gangs in Kalaburagi and Vijayapura were clashing at regular intervals and allegedly used country-made revolvers during those attacks. Sources said that two people in Vijayapura were taken into custody for interrogation by the SIT team, but police sources did not confirm it. Gauri murder probe unsatisfactory: Forum Pressurising the government to intensify the investigation into the assassination of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, writer K. Neela on Monday said that the probe into the murder of Gauri is unsatisfactory as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has not made any breakthrough in the case almost a month after the murder. At a press meet organised by the Forum Against the Assassination of Gauri Lankesh, Neela demanded that the government should not only catch the killers of Gauri, but also expose the sponsors and organisation behind the act and ban such organisations. She condemned the celebration of Gauris murder on social media platforms and asked the police to take stern action against perpetrators. We have already submitted a list of such trolls to the police. But so far, only one or two have been detained, she said. She said, The killing of M.M. Kalburgi had already created a sense of fear in the state. But, two years have passed and his killers are still on the prowl. Now, the assassins of Gauri have created an atmosphere of terror. I am afraid that this case too will meet the same fate as Kalburgis, if the SIT does not speed up the investigation. The forum demanded that the governments should term killings of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh as acts of terror. Though forum members did not directly point at the involvement of any organisation, they said that the people celebrating her death endorse the Sangh Parivar ideology. CHENNAI: Sacked AIADMK interim general secretary VK Sasikala, currently serving her four-year jail term in the disproportionate assets (DA) case, has applied for a 15-day parole to be with her ailing husband M Natarajan, suffering from kidney and liver failure and admitted to a private hospital in the city, according to her nephew TTV Dhinakaran who talked to the press. However, amid reports that she has applied for parole, officials at the Bengaluru Central Prison clarified on Monday that she has not applied for parole, but has discussed about the procedure to visit her ailing husband. A senior official of the central prison at Parappana Agrahara said that it is true that she is contemplating to apply for parole. She has discussed with the officials that she needs to visit her ailing husband and has enquired about the procedures to be followed. We have explained to her the procedures and its left for her to apply for it. She may apply for parole in the next 2-3 days, the official said. Sources said Sasikalas application seeking parole for 15 days is likely to be processed on Tuesday. Since Monday is a holiday on account of Gandhi Jayanthi, the application may be taken into consideration on Tuesday, a top source said. Natarajan, who has been receiving treatment at the Global Hospital in Chennai for the last nine months, is awaiting liver and kidney transplantation and his condition is said to be critical. The hospital, in its health bulletin released last week, said his critical condition has been conveyed to his family members. "We have applied for parole for our General Secretary (Sasikala). She will get permission for sure. The (Karnataka) Prisons Department will decide on the number of days she will be released on parole. That decision is left to them", Dhinakaran said. Though Natarajan and Sasikala had been living separately since 1990s, he had accompanied her when she surrendered before the prison authorities on February 15 after she was convicted in the DA case and sentenced to four years in prison. Natarajan, who is currently receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of Global Hospital, is still awaiting liver and kidney transplantation. Banaras Hindu University Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi maintained that the HRD ministry had not told him to do so. (Photo: File | ANI) New Delhi: Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi said on Thursday that he will "resign" if he is asked to proceed on leave and maintained that the HRD ministry had not told him to do so. The ministry has, meanwhile, initiated a routine process to shortlist the successor of Tripathi, who is at the centre of the controversy over handling of the recent violence in the BHU campus. His tenure ends on November 30. "So far, nothing of this sort has been communicated to me. I have been in touch with the HRD Minister (Prakash Javadekar) right from the day of the incident and have briefed him about the situation as well as the measures taken. But if am I asked to go on leave, I will resign," he said. The Vice Chancellor further said that he has contributed a lot to improve the functioning of the university. "Having done so much, it will be insulting to go on leave two months before my tenure comes to end. I will prefer quitting," he asserted. The ministry officials said the process for appointing his successor has been initiated, but maintained that the timing of violence in the BHU campus and steps for appointment of a new VC is completely "coincidental". Even if the unrest would not have happened, appointment process would have been initiated, a senior HRD official said on the condition of anonymity. Last week, a number of students, including women, and two journalists were injured in a baton-charge by the police after a protest against an alleged eve-teasing incident turned violent in BHU, one of the 43 central universities in the country. Tripathi had earlier this week said that the violence was fanned by "rumour mongering" and "outsiders". The varsity's Chief Proctor O N Singh has already resigned, taking "moral responsibility" for the campus violence. Parents who opted their children out of state exams in recent years became the focal point of major education debates in the country about the proper roles of testing, the federal government, and achievement gaps. Now, under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states have a chance to rethink how they handle testing opt-outs. So how are states responding in their ESSA plans they submitted to the federal government? In short, its all over the place, an Education Week review of the ESSA plans shows. Keep this in mind: ESSA requires that students who opt out of those mandatory state tests must be marked as not proficient on those tests. Those not-proficient scores will in turn, obviously, impact accountability indicators. So while some states highlight this as their approach to handling testing opt-outs, its really no more than what the law requires. But theres also this touchy issue: Whether states will lower a schools final rating directly because it missed the laws threshold of testing 95 percent of eligible students. (Remember, not all states are assigning final, summative scores to schools separate from ESSAs mandatory categories.) Here are the states where there would be a direct impact on final school scores due to missing that 95 percent threshold: Alaska Connecticut Iowa Massachusetts Mississippi New Mexico Ohio Oklahoma Rhode Island Vermont Wyoming Even within that group, theres some variation. Alabama, for example, wouldnt lower a schools overall rating the first year that it missed the 95 percent threshold. New Mexicos approach, meanwhile, is pretty direct: Any school missing the threshold would have its A-F letter grade knocked down by one letter. A few states warn about increasing penalties of some kind if a school misses the 95 percent participation rate for several years, although its not always clear what those penalties would be. Many states would require schools with lower-than-required participation rates due to opt-out to be flagged in some way and to come up with a plan for addressing the issue. Finally, lets look at the opt-out plans in Colorado, New Jersey, and New York. Those are three states where opt-out has attracted a relatively notable following in recent years. Colorado schools that miss the 95 percent participation threshold must create a plan to address low participation rates. They also have to distribute information to the public about the tests. New Jersey schools missing the mark would have all students who opted out scored as nonproficient. Again, thats what ESSA requires. New York schools missing the mark would have to come up with a plan to address the situation. More specifically, schools in the bottom would not only have to come up with plans, but those plans would have to get approved by the state. In addition, the states N"-size (wonk speak for the minimum number of students at a school for that subgroup of students to be included in accountability measures) for test participation is 40, while for all other indicators the N-size is 30. Remember that ESSA technically requires all eligible students to take state exams in English/language arts and math. But sanctions are supposed to kick in when the 95 percent threshold isnt met by schools. Well update this post as the few states that havent yet submitted their ESSA plans do so. If you think we missed something about any states plan, let us know. Photo: Meredith Barber, a Penn Valley, Penn., psychologist, decided in 2015 that her 10-year-old daughter Gabrielle Schwager would not take the state assessments that year. (Matt Slocum/AP) Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 . Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced a 25 per cent bonus for workers at Singareni Collieries for 2016-17. He directed the collieries management to pay the money, totalling Rs 98.94 crore, on Friday, a day ahead of Dasara. Mr Rao directed the collieries to pay Rs 57,000 as Diwali bonus in advance also on Friday. The Diwali advance, amounting to Rs 336 crore, is usually paid in mid-October. Collieries CMD N. Sridhar told the finance department deposit the money in the bank accounts of the staff. Together, the bonus and Diwali advance will amount to Rs 72,000 to `77,000 per employee. The management had paid Rs 2,5000 to each worker on September 22 as Dasara advance. Hyderabad: A decision on whether or not to go in for a bypoll to the Nalgonda Lok Sabha seat will depend on the outcome of the October 5 Singareni Collieries union elections. If the TRS-backed Telangana Boggu Gani Karmikula Sangam wins against the combined Op-position, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is most likely to ask Nal-gonda MP Gutta Sukhen-der Reddy to resign and cause a byelection. Mr Sukhender Reddy was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 on a Congress ticket but defected to the TRS, Mr Sukhender Reddy told this newspaper: It is for the Chief Minister to decide whether or not there should be a byelection. I am prepared to resign provided he asks me to. Senior Congress MLA and former minister from Nalgonda Komatireddy Venkat Reddy spoke about a possible bypoll at an event on Thursday, stating, It is certain that Nalgonda will have a byelection in the next few weeks. If the Congress high command asks, I will contest and defeat the TRS nominee. He said that it was good for the people of Nal-gonda as funds would be pumped into the region by the government, just like the Telugu Desam did for the Nandyal bypoll in AP. Voters will get so much money from the ruling party that they can repay their loans, he said. The idea of holding the election now in the Congress citadel of Nalgonda is to prove that the TRS is able to win the election despite the Opposition criticism al-leging lack of development and welfare in the state after three-and-a-half years of the TRS being in power. In 2014, Mr Sukhender Reddy won by over two lakh votes; the Congress and the CPI won six of the seven Assembly segments in the Nalgonda Lok Sabha constituency. Sources said Mr Chan-drasekhar Rao was determined to cause the bypoll for the Nalgonda LS seat to show to the world that the TRS could win from any part of the state. It is believed Mr Rao firmed up the plan after the Telugu Desam won the Nandyal Assembly bypoll last month in AP. As per Section 151A of the Representation of Peoples Act (RPA), the Election Commission is not under any obligation to hold a bypoll to any seat that is declared vacant when the rest of the term of the House is less than a year. Mr Sukhender Reddy first has to get his resignation accepted by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan after convincing her that he has tendered it voluntarily. If the resignation is accepted, the Lok Sabha Secretariat will need to declare the seat vacant. The Election Commission will need to hold the bypoll within six months after the vacancy is declared. But this should not run afoul of RPA Section 151A. Llynnon Mill is grinding, Pant y Gydd is answering, Cefn-Coch and Adda Mill, Llanerch-y-medd grinds best of all', is the English translation of a Welsh verse celebrating the windmills of Anglesey, in Wales. Anglesey is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. With an area of 715 square KM's, it is the largest island in Wales and the seventh largest in the British Isles. Two bridges span the Menai Strait, connecting the island to the mainland - the Menai Suspension Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford in 1826, and the Britannia Bridge. It is this beautiful island that soothed our frayed nerves and provided a healing touch for my wife and me, as we saw our daughter walk into her new life in the University of Bangor. The winds of Anglesey, while comforting me and my wife, has also been spinning windmills for many centuries. Anglesey, being an island, can sometimes be a very windy place, and the abundance of wind provided a useful source of energy and during the 18th and 19th century, when numerous windmills were built around the island. Many of the existing windmills were built during periods of drought in the 1740s when water mills were running at less than peak efficiency. The population of the island also increased at this time and the Corn Laws led to increase in grain prices, so more grain was grown and needed to be ground. The late 18th and early 19th centuries were the boom times of windmill building. However, increasing imports of foreign grain in mid 19th century led to price decreases, so many farmers converted their land to pasture for cattle and pigs, thus reducing the amount of grain that needed to be ground. Steam-powered milling on an industrial scale put further pressure on the ability of the local mills to compete and continue working. By the early 20th centuries only a handful of mills were still limping along, many powered by more reliable diesel engines rather than wind. While the last working mill, Melin y Gof, closed in 1936, the story of modern windmills just opened. Anglesey has moved into using windmills for electricity generation and now three wind farms have been built on the island. They are all in the northwest near the Irish Sea. Not only is it windy, but there is also a major existing power line in the area linking Wylfa nuclear power plant to the national grid. The first 24 turbines were built in Rhyd-y-Groes in 1992 producing 7.2MW of power, enough for around 4000 homes. In 1996 the Trysglwyn wind farm was opened with 14 turbines producing 5.6MW to power 3000 homes, followed closely in 1997 by the 34 turbines of the Llyn Alaw site, producing a massive 20.4MW for 11,000 homes, preventing about 43,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Not to stop here, in June 2015, the world's second largest offshore wind farm opened off the coast of Wales. The Gwynt y Mor wind farm generates enough power for 400,000 homes from its 160 turbines, powering a third of all the homes in Wales, supporting 2450 jobs. The Gwynt y Mor project is a result of a shared investment of more than 2bn, between RWE Innogy (60%); Stadtwerke Munchen GmbH (30%); and Siemens (10%). First Minister Carwyn Jones during the inauguration said "Local companies have been among those to benefit during construction and the site will bring high quality employment and opportunities for years to come. With young people receiving training as part of the wind turbine apprenticeship scheme at Grwp Llandrillo Menai and the courses offered at the college's Energy Centre in Llangefni, North Wales is the go-to place for those looking for a workforce skilled in the field of energy." Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity is the direct cause for global warming resulting in extreme climate events. The efforts in Anglesey and Wales, reiterates the established fact that renewable energy in general and wind energy in particular is the way to go. It provides clean energy, creates jobs, and is great for the economy. While I wait for my daughter to complete this phase of her education, I also will wait for more governments around the world to do what Wales is doing. All this will put a smile into the hearts of parents like me and and anxious Planet Earth! Given chief minister Devendra Fadnavis strong opposition to ex-Congress leader Narayan Rane being inducted into the BJP, rumours had that the latter was likely to form his own party, Swabhiman, on October 1. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Mumbai: Former senior congress leader Narayan Rane, on Sunday, said that he will float a new party, which will be called Maharashtra Swabhimaan Paksh. Given chief minister Devendra Fadnavis strong opposition to ex-Congress leader Narayan Rane being inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), rumours had it that the latter was likely to form his own party, Swabhiman, on October 1. Senior BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari and Chandrakant Patil number two in state Cabinet had been lobbying for Ranes induction. Earlier, there were talks of Rane joining the BJP. Mr Rane has a track record of attacking people in coveted positions in a few days. He has done this wherever he went. We have seen this in the Congress. Mr Fadnavis opposed his induction to avoid that embarrassment, said close confidant of the chief minister. Rane along with state BJP chief Raosaheb Danve, Chandrakant Patil and Fadnavis met BJP national president Amit Shah in Delhi on Monday. It is being said that Shah went along with Fadnavis plan (not to allow Rane into the party) in the meeting. Given the cordial relation between Patil and Shah, it was expected that Shah would go for Ranes induction. But, Fadnavis proved his position in party by surpassing two strong leaders in state. (With agency inputs) Bengaluru: The state BJP has sought the dismissal of Social Welfare Minister Mr H Anjaneya, who reportedly objected to the celebration of Vijaya Dashami and Ayudha Pooja. Speaking before participating in the BJP Vistharak Workshop near Devanahalli, Mr Yeddyurappa said that it was the state tradition to celebrate Vijaya Dashami and Ayudha Pooja. If the Minister had any objection to celebrating traditional festivals, he should be dismissed from the Cabinet, he said. Refusing to react to a statement made by Chief Minister Mr Siddaramaiah that he would inaugurate the Dasara next year too (after the polls), Mr Yeddyurappa said people would decide who should inaugurate Dasara.I have faith in god and I have the people's support. I have confidence that I will manage Dasara as CM next year,'' Mr Yeddyurappa said. Earlier, inaugurating the Vistarak Workshop, former Deputy CM Mr R Ashok said the Congress was turning out to be an anti-Hindu party and was exhibiting a stepmotherly attitude towards Hindus. Referring to the arrest of Hindu Jagarana Vedike leader Jagadish Karanth, he said the government was arresting whoever spoke in favour of Hindus and added that people would teach them a lesson in the next election. Earlier, when Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi started his Man Ki Baat programme on radio, Congress leaders in the state criticised it dubbing it Vangi Bath and Kesari Bath. Now, they were copying the same theme and had started Kaam Ki Baath. Copying is neither appreciated in education, nor in politics, said Mr Ashiok adding that people would ensure Siddaramaiahs exit. Later, after inducting two-time Congress MLA N.L. Narendra Babu into the party, Mr Yeddyurappa said the party will kickstart its election campaign from November 2, through Parivarthana Yathra. Six volunteers from every polling booth would come to Bengaluru and a major rally would be organised on January 15, he said. The poll code of conduct will come into effect from February and the election commission will not allow huge rallies after that. After December, post the elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, all senior BJP leaders would descend on Karnataka. By then, the party should be ready and send a signal to people that it would win at least 150 of the 224 Assembly seats, Mr Yeddyurappa added. CHENNAI: The changed political scenario in Tamil Nadu has charged up the saffron party here, which envisages bright prospects for the lotus to bloom in the state. The BJP is likely to revive poll ties with old ally, in the process, to face the next Assembly election. For the record, party chief Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan has asserted that the days for BJP to capture power in the State is not far away. BJP has the guts to take on DMK and eclipse it, she said. Party seniors like Union Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan who are keen to see BJP members occupy the Treasury Benches in the Assembly, insist that the party does not construe opposition parties including DMK as a threat. The state government's decision to introduce Yoga in schools, its categorical support to the Central programmes like the Clean India Campaign have come as blessing in disguise for BJP to take Prime Minister Narendra Modi's name to the nook and corners of the state. Non-corrupt governance will be a major plank for BJP to ride its way to victory in the elections, a party senior expressed. Expressing in similar vein, BJP senior M. Chakravarthy says the changed political atmosphere may lead to BJP reviving its poll ties with the AIADMK. If 'superstar' Rajinikanth lends support, the BJP will become a formidable force and it will keep away DMK. Dr Soundararajan told a huge gathering at Villupuram on the eve of Gandhi Jayanthi that DMK working president M. K. Stalin's dream of coming to power by topping the AIADMK government will not materialise. Parties like DMK and VCK lack effective political issues and hence resort to politicising Neet, she said and added that the court verdict in 2G spectrum case on Oct. 25 will seal the fate of DMK. Thiruvananthapuram: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's comments about Kerala government supporting anti-nationals for narrow political gains and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayans sharp response to it have prompted opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan to join the issue. While Mr Chennithala said Mr Pinarayi had failed to take any action against Sangh Parivar and the RSS for fanning communalism, Mr Kummanam claimed that Mr Pinarayis comments came out of remorse. Mr Chennithala said the LDF government had not taken any action against Mr Mohan Bhagwat for defying the rules and hoisting the national flag in a school in Palakkad on Independence Day. No action was taken against either Kummanam Rajasekharan who circulated a fake video to create tension among the people, or K. P. Sasikala, Hindu Aikya Vedhi president, who made a hate speech, said Mr Chennithala. He added that the CM must stop putting up Facebook posts against the Sangh Parivar and act against them. Kerala will stand united if the government works for an RSS-free Kerala, he said. Kummanam Rajasekharan on Monday alleged that the state was a safe haven for terrorists and both the UDF and the LDF were promoting anti-national forces for political gains. RSS state secretary P. Gopalankutty Master had also come down heavily on the Chief Minister, alleging that he was defending and supporting violence in the state. Thiruvananthapuram: CPM on Monday mocked at Kummanam Rajashkeharans janaraksha yathra which will be flagged off by BJP national president in Kannur on Tuesday saying that other than blowing away a couple of crores of rupees collected through alleged commission received through demonetised notes, the march will not achieve anything. The party believes that the yatra is a deliberate attempt to create trouble in the sensitive Kannur district. The party suspects the motive behind the campaign especially when the law and order situation in the state as well as the district was normal. Kannur has not reported any major violence since the chief minister took the peace initiative. Party cadres have been asked to maintain an alert during the yatra and not to fall prey to the provocative actions of Sangh Parivar elements Like any party, the BJP also has the freedom to carry out its political campaign. But the BJP is only a mask. The real face is RSS which is organising the march with the motive of fomenting trouble in the state, said CPM Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan. He alleged that the BJP was pumping crores janaraksha yathra and demanded a probe into the source of funds. CPM leaders said the yathra was an attempt to divert peoples attention from Narendra Modi governments utter failure. Whatever they may say about CPM but the things that immediately come to peoples mind about Modi government are price rise, hike in prices of petrol, diesel, LPG gas and essential commodities. The party said Amit Shah should take out padayatra in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajashtahn and Madhyar Pradesh where the law and order situation was worse compared to Kerala. New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah attacked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi for questioning development in poll-bound Gujarat and asked him to wear Gujarati glasses and not the ones made in Italy, if he wants to see development. The BJP president is campaigning in Gujarat after the Congress vice-president recently visited the states Saurashtra region. The Congress is asking us what the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has given Gujarat in these three years. I want to remind them that the Modi government appro-ved AIIMS for Gujarat, an international airport for Rajkot, approved raising the height of the Narmada dam and allocated homes to six lakh urban poor, Mr Shah said on Monday at a gathering in Porbandar during the launch of the second phase of his Gujarat Gaurav Yatra that was kicked off on Sunday from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patels birthplace Karamsad. Congress hurting Gujarat: Shah However, Rahul could not see any of this. He still asks what we have done in these three years. Rahul can't see it because he is wearing Italian glasses. To be able to see the development, he needs to remove those spectacles and wear Gujarati glasses, Mr Shah added. Taking a dig at Mr Gandhi, Mr Shah accused the Congress of inflicting injustice on Gujarat, generation after generation. Those who mock the Gujarat development model will be made fun of by the people of Gujarat, Mr Shah said, claiming that elections in the state will be held in the first week of December. The Congress V-P is expected to make three more short visits to Gujarat before the election dates are officially announced. The Congress, that is going all out to encash anti-incumbency sentiment in the BJP-ruled state, plans to use all-women campaign teams. There should be little surprise that Indian troops deployed on the Line of Actual Control werent invited by Chinas Peoples Liberation Army to celebratory jamborees on the LAC on October 1, Chinas national say, a practice instituted since 2005 as a confidence-building measure between the armed forces of the two nations. This is a fallout of the eyeball-to-eyeball standoff at Doklam, at the tri-junction of India (Sikkim)-China-Bhutan, which saw a let-up on August 28 after 73 days when, after a protracted diplomatic manoeuvre, the forces of both nations pulled back days before China was to host a Brics summit, in order not to jeopardise the summit if India did not attend. The PLA not extending an invitation to the Indian Army is a reminder, if one was needed, that issues that underlay the Doklam imbroglio are far from resolved, notwithstanding chest-thumping on the part of top leaders of the government, the BJP and the RSS. Our security professionals dont harbour any illusions on this score. They are aware that China has refurbished its military position on the Tibetan plateau adding infantry, armour, and bolstering air capabilities. India has done likewise, and is in the process of enhancing infrastructure, where needed, along the 4,000-km border regions. Beijing has also done exactly this. On Sunday it opened a new 409-km expressway linking Tibets capital Lhasa to Nyingchi, close to Arunachal Pradesh, much of which Beijing has actively claimed at various times. Not only did the PLA not invite India to a celebratory Border Personnel Management meeting at designated points on the LAC on October 1, it didnt respond to an Indian invitation for such meetings on Indias Independence Day. In light of this, it is unrealistic - even somewhat foolish - to be surprised by the Chinese military not extending an invitation to the Indian Army. Some observers are surprised by the PLAs action when, at the diplomatic level, the Chinese approach has been friendlier, post-Dolkam. Just last week, Chinas ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said: We should turn the old page and start a new chapter with the same pace and direction. We should dance together. We should make one plus one eleven (invoking the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi). China is the largest trading partner of India. We have made a lot of progress at the bilateral level, as well as in international and regional affairs. These are sweeping, declaratory observations. On the eve of the Chinese Communist Partys 19th national congress, that will set the guidelines for governance for five years, President Xi Jinping, who also heads the military, is expected to back the PLA and keep a tentative balance on the diplomatic side, awaiting the congress outcomes. The White House has renewed the charters for three long-standing presidential commissions designed to expand educational opportunities for non-white students. The renewal came Friday, the day before the charters for the commissions on educational excellence for black, Hispanic, and Asian-American and Pacific Islander students were set to expire. Amid concerns that the White House would let the charters expire, members of the commissions for black and Hispanic students say theyve reached out to Trumps staff, but havent heard back since the Trump administration took office in January. As of last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had not met with the respective chairpersons to discuss the future of the commissions since taking office in February. The lack of communication with the White House has left some commissioners wondering if their voices are valued in the administration . Guidance from the White House and the Education Department has also lapsed with a fourth group, the National Advisory Council on Indian Education, members report. For Further Reading Trumps Ignoring Us, Says White House Advisory Groups for Students of Color Presidential Advisers on Black, Latino, and Asian Students Say Trump Admin. Ignoring Them As the Indian Air Force completes 85 years next Sunday, October 8, it is time to take stock and look to the future. It is remarkable that for the past eight years, since 2009, things seem to changed very little for our warriors in the air. In 2009, the IAFs combat inventory comprised two types of fighters the twin-engine MiG-29B Fulcrum and single-power plant MiG-21FL and twin-engine fighter-ground-attack Sukhoi-30 MKI Flanker, various versions of the single-engine Mirage-2000, single-engine Mig-27ML Flogger, the two-engine Jaguar, and various types of vintage single-engine MiG-21 Bis-93. But not a single indigenous aircraft was in the IAF fleet eight years ago. This single factor the absence of indigenous combat aircraft should be the sole focus and future concern for the country, its government, the Air Force and all political parties, irrespective of their ideology. Else, stark bankruptcy stares at India owing to its extravagant shopping spree for the best and latest technology in combat aircraft imported from the West. To make matters worse, India must also face a rising, aggressive Chinas growing strength in the air, backed by an exhaustive production line of indigenous fighters. Chinas looming overwhelming superiority in the number of indigenous combat aircraft may lead to a potential conflict situation, perhaps even without any shorts being fired. We must face the stark reality that despite five decades of efforts to develop a capable domestic arms industry, India still heavily depends on the import of several categories of weapons, the foremost of which are combat aircraft. France, Russia and the United States are the mainstay of our aircraft imports. Why? SIPRI 2016, by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, spells it out: Indias attempts to design, develop and produce its own advanced major weapons remain beset with delays, spiralling costs and quality problems. A key reason for Indias high level of imports is the failure of its industry to consistently produce indigenously-designed weapons that are capable of becoming real alternatives to the equivalent designs from other countries. The words real alternatives to equivalent designs from other countries is the crux. In a way, it implicitly concedes that India is capable, but incapacitated, in producing capable aircraft for long. Why? Successive political parties that have been in power since 1947 need to answer that question. Military Balance 2017 notes that the IAF inventory now includes the MiG-29 Fulcrum; fighter-ground attack Jaguar IB/IS; MiG-21 Bison and M/MF; MiG-27 ML Flogger; Mirage-2000 and Sukhoi-30 MKI Flanker and a few Tejas the last produced by HAL Bengaluru. Some consolation prize at last, and perhaps not even that. The influential Janes Defence Weekly recently reported that HAL aims to double the production of light combat aircraft (LCA) over next three years. That is doubtless good news, but there are still doubters and naysayers and also the powerful import lobby pushing the latest and the best. HAL at present produces eight platforms per year, which will go up to 16 from 2019-2020. It is, however, interesting to note that HAL is involving private entrepreneurs in a partnership programme, in line with Western and Japanese systems of collective development of industrial capacity. Thus, for the first time in Indias defence industry, there will be a local aerospace ecosystem around the LCA. The cacophony, however, refuses to die down. A Western analyst noted that envisaged as a replacement for the IAFs ageing fleet of Soviet-era MiG-21 fighters, Indias LCA has been handicapped by technological challenges, cost overruns and delays over a decade since the programme began in 1983. But what some tend to forget is that cost and time overruns have afflicted many other well-known projects too, including a few in the West. It is undeniable of course that the LCA was beset by delays in formulating the aircrafts flight manuals and other essential documentation (which) further deferred its induction into squadron service until January 2015, 32 years after the LCA programme began. Lets now examine the best fighter programmes of the West the time taken from conception to commission, and the teething problems and glitches faced. There was a time of course when the US could do things in record time. The twin-engine Boeing F-15 Eagle took four years, 10 month and 10 days from the official go-ahead on February 24, 1984 to entering service on December 28, 1988. The twin-engine Boeing F-18 Hornet too took eight years from the requirement issued in 1991 to being inducted into service on November 17, 1999. But the times have changed, with quite un-Western performance at times these days. Consider the single-engine Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning multi-role fighter, which is yet to stabilise its performance and the cost and time overruns thereof, along with recurring technical glitches, have caused embarrassment to the manufacturer. Thus, from the requirement issued in November 1994 to the IOC (initial operational capability) of the F-35B on July 31, 2015 has been 21 years, and the legendary Lockheed Corporation is still struggling. Should novice India then be castigated so sharply 24/7? No one knows better than the West on what it takes to manufacture the latest and best fighters. China too has of course managed to do it, but the methods adopted by Beijing have always been dubious, questionable, unethical, corrupt. Even the Chinese are reported to concede now, when they approach the West to obtain technology, that we have improved now. Today, in Indias case, the main challenge is fighter engine development. First, engine-fuselage interfacing, and second, the power of the engine. There are, at present, five prominent single-engine fighters in the world. Two American (F-16 and F-35); one Chinese (J-10); one Swedish (Saab JAAS 39 Gripen) and Indias Tejas. The bottomline is: no single-engine fighter can be less than 25,000 pounds in static thrust to be effective in operations. The US F-16 has 29,100 pounds thrust; the F-35 power plant is 28,800 pounds static and 43,000 pounds thrust with full afterburner; the Swedish Saab 39 Grippen is 18,100 pounds static and 22,000 pounds afterburning thrust; Chinas J-10 stands at 17,857 pounds static and 27,558 pounds afterburning thrust. In comparison, the Tejas needs to enhance from its 19,100 pounds afterburning several notches higher. In short, the more the engine power, the better are speed, service ceiling, range, endurance, combat radius, armament payload, avionics and systems. It is time to concentrate fully on developing a suitable fighter engine in India for the Air Force. Start indigenisation and look for import substitutes, else the nation is looking straight at penury. Our prayers in Vedic tradition end with; Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti hi - we pray and seek for peace in material, spiritual and divine spheres of life, is what Didi Talwalkar of the Swadhyaya Movement explained at the Paths of Peace Inter-religious Conference, held in Germany two weeks ago under the aegis of the Community of Sant Egidio. Despite sporadic wars and massive refugee movements, like of the Rohingyas currently, resulting in killings of human beings, there is no let up in peace efforts that continue all over the world by people of good will. Last week, 21st September was observed as the International Day of Peace, presently focusing on, Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for all. According to the UN and I believe providentially so, this year, The Day will highlight solidarity with refugees and migrants and showcase the shared benefits of migration to economies and nations, while also acknowledging legitimate concerns of host communities. Ultimately, it will be about bringing people together and reminding them of their common humanity. The pertinent question, however, being asked by many but mostly by bitter and pessimists amongst us is, if peace is at all possible in our lifes time? Seeing the current world scenario, one can easily lose hope. Andrea Ricardi, the founder of the Community of St. Egidio, speaking to us at the concluding ceremony of Paths of Peace, hence reminded the world, In prayer, in the depth of our faiths, we discover that peace is not impossible, because it is a gift of God Peace must always be possible. It must always be sought For this reason, religions kindle a hope of peace as we do today: they drive believers to get rid of indifference, and compel them to turn into artisans of peace. But again religion is often considered the cause of conflicts, wars and killings of innocents. It is important for those engaged in peace building mission to differntiate between what religions actually teach and how certain followers of those teachings misinterpret them to bring about conflict. It is said that the reason why Guru Nanakji stated that he was neither a Hindu nor a Muslim was because he could not find anyone leading their life in consonance with the tenets of those religions. And that applies equally to people of all religions. The commandement, to love ones neighbour as oneself, though articulated by Jesus, need not be restricted to any one religion. It should be the foundation on which to build and preserve peace. That more and more people, like the recent Karwan e Mohabbat, led by Harsh Mander and John Dayal, are becoming part of peace initiatives gives us the hope that Peace is indeed possible and that in the end Peace will be victorious. Google is trying o revolutionise the way we authenticate payments or account logins with new hardware options. The Search giant will start offering a service by the name of Advanced Protection Program that will place some new features into email accounts, which is intended to block third-party apps from accessing data easily. The feature, which is reported by Bloomberg, has been designed keeping in mind to effectively replace the need to use two-factor authentication by using physical security keys. The report says that Google plans to market the product to corporate executives, politicians and others with heightened security concerns. Google has been trying to revamp and secure two-factor authentication processes for a long time. Two-factor authentication involves the use of a second code or password for verification the likes of which you see in making online transactions from your bank account. With the new service, users will be required to use a physical USB key in addition to a second physical key for enhanced protection. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. In this Samsung AI Lab, the researchers dispatched from Korea work with local professors and students including Prof. Bengio to develop key algorithms and components for artificial intelligence such as voice/image recognition, translation, autonomous driving, and robots. Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) established an AI Lab at University of Montreal, Canada. The AI Lab will be used to strengthen collaborative research with world-leading scholars in the AI field. SAIT has been collaborating with Professor Yoshua Bengio of University of Montreal, a known authority on deep learning, machine learning and artificial intelligence, since 2014, with other partners in University of Toronto, McGill University and NYU. There is a long-standing and fruitful research collaboration between us and Samsung and we are glad to see Samsung open a research lab here and join the amazing momentum which is turning Montreal into an international hub for AI, both academically and industrially, commented Prof. Bengio regarding this event. In this Samsung AI Lab, the researchers dispatched from Korea work with local professors and students including Prof. Bengio to develop key algorithms and components for artificial intelligence such as voice/image recognition, translation, autonomous driving, and robots. It will also contribute to acquiring global talents and strengthening Samsungs AI technology. Eunsoo Shim, VP and Head of S/W Solution Lab at SAIT, said, The joint research with Professor Bengio has been a foundation for the development of artificial intelligence in Samsung Electronics, and Samsung AI Lab will be a momentous step for us to leap forward. In addition, he added that SAIT plans to establish and operate a Neural Processing Research Center with local universities such as Seoul National University during the year to accelerate its research in the field of AI processor. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. Police officers advise people to take cover near the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday (Photo: AP) Las Vegas: Nevada police on Monday revealed the name of Las Vegas shooting perpetrator as Stephen Paddock, 64, believed to be a grandfather lived in the remote desert home, UK based daily The Telegraph reported. Over 50 people were killed and 406 people were rushed to hospital after a shooting during a music concert which was on at Route 91on the eastern side of Mandalay Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. Paddock fired the three rounds of machine gun shoots from the 32nd floor room of Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casion. The Nevada police busted into the hotel and killed the assailant, which had possessed at least eight guns that were later taken into custody by police. The report said, the gunman had lived in retirement community in Mesquite village, Nevada since June 2016. Mesquite, a desert village is located about 80 miles away from Las Vegas, along Nevadas border with Arizona. The report further said, Paddock had earlier lived in Reno, Nevada from 2011 to 2016, and also had an address in Melbourne, Florida, from 2013 to 2015. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo described Paddock as a "lone wolf". Lambardo said, the shooter had been travelling companion, Marilou Danley, who is believed to have been his roommate. Despite this being a mass shooting, the sheriff denied this act of violence to be terrorism. He said, at this stage Paddock does not have any known ties to terrorist organisation and no motive have been put forward. When asked if this was an act of terrorism, Sheriff Lombardo said: No, not at this point. We believe it was a local individual. He resides here locally. Unaware about the motive of assailant, the Sherif said, He was not believed to be connected to any militant group. We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. He added: "We've located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied." US President Donald Trump warned Sunday that negotiating with North Korea over its nuclear program would be a waste of time. (Photo: AFP) Washington: US President Donald Trump warned Sunday that negotiating with North Korea over its nuclear program would be a waste of time, after it emerged that Washington has channels of contact with Pyongyang. Only hours after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed that US officials are in exploratory contact with their North Korean counterparts, Trump appeared to undercut his top diplomat by declaring on Twitter that any talks would be futile. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump said, using the insulting nickname he has tried to pin on North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Speaking on Saturday after talks with China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Tillerson said that US officials have open channels of communication with North Korea despite an escalating war of words between their respective leaders. 'Stay tuned' Asked how he could know whether the North would even contemplate coming to the table to negotiate away its growing nuclear arsenal, Tillerson told reporters in Beijing: "We are probing, so stay tuned." "We have lines of communication with Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout, we have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang," he said. "We can talk to them, we do talk to them." But later, after the secretary began his flight home, the State Department issued a statement to clarify that North Korea has "shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization." And on Sunday, the department's spokeswoman Heather Nauert and Tillerson's chief public affairs adviser R.C. Hammond launched their own series of tweets in what appeared to be an attempt to harmonize the mixed messages. "DPRK will not obtain a nuclear capability. Whether through diplomacy or force is up to the regime," Nauert wrote, before tagging the president in her second message: "Diplomatic channels are open for #KimJongUn for now. They won't be open forever @StateDept @potus." Hammond, meanwhile, said Trump's tweets should be interpreted not as a rebuke to Tillerson but as a message to Kim that time is running out for a diplomatic solution. "Channels have been open for months. They've been unused and cooling for months," he said in one tweet. "The president just sent a clear message to NK: show up at the diplomatic table before the invitation gets cold," he added in another. 'Suicide mission' In a recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea if it threatens the US or any of its allies, deriding Kim as "Rocket Man" and warning he is on a "suicide mission." Kim responded by calling Trump a "mentally deranged dotard." Trump's administration has also been at the forefront of a drive to impose a series of sanctions against North Korea in response to its sixth nuclear test -- the largest yet -- and the firing of two missiles over Japan. North Korea's main economic partner China has signed up to the sanctions, including restrictions on imports, as has Russia. But, uneasy over Trump's bellicose tone, both countries have appealed to the United States to have talks with North Korea, and Tillerson's revelation was welcomed on Sunday by Germany. "This is exactly the right course and a courageous step," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said. "North Korea would be well advised to take this offer of talks seriously." Gabriel also urged the US to have dialogue with Iran over a nuclear accord which Trump appears on the verge of scrapping, adding that such a move "would undermine the credibility of the offer to North Korea." Trump has previously kept the door open to possible talks with North Korea. In a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the UN meeting last month, Trump responded "Why not?" when asked whether there could be talks. But his administration has also been urging allies to ratchet up the pressure on Kim's regime by isolating it diplomatically. It emerged on Sunday that Italy has ordered North Korea's incoming new ambassador to leave the country in a protest over Kim's missile launches and nuclear tests. "We have taken the firm decision to interrupt the accreditation procedure. The ambassador will have to leave the country," Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said in an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica. "We want to make Pyongyang understand that isolation is inevitable if it does not change course." The Nevada sheriff said they believe this was a "lone wolf" attack but said they are looking for a roommate of the dead suspect as a person of interest. (Photo: AP) Washington: US President Donald Trump sent his "warmest condolences" on early Monday to the victims and families of a shooting at a concert in Las Vegas which has killed at least 50 people. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Trump wrote on Twitter in response to what is the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said separately that the president had been briefed on "the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas" on Sunday night. "We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials," she said."All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers." Over 50 people were killed and at least 200 got injured on Sunday night when a 64-year-old gunman called Stephen Paddock opened fire on fans at a US country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip, police said. The gunman, who police said was a local resident was killed after being "engaged" by officers who responded to report of gunfire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, a hotel-casino next to the concert venue. The Nevada sheriff said they believe this was a "lone wolf" attack but said they are looking for a roommate of the dead suspect as a person of interest. Revellers screamed and fled in panic as a steady stream of automatic gunfire rang out at the venue shortly after 10:00pm local time, footage captured on smart phones showed. Thousands of fans were attending the concert next to the Mandalay Bay which was part of a three-day country music festival known as Route 91. The most recent poll commissioned by the regional government in July showed 41.1 percent in favour of seceding, and 49.4 percent against. (Photo: AP) Catalan: Spanish riot police stormed voting stations Sunday as they moved to stop Catalonia's independence referendum after it was banned by the central government in Madrid. At least 92 people were confirmed injured as hundreds tried to prevent the polling stations from being closed, Catalan officials said. A total of 465 people were treated at hospitals and health centres, while Spain's interior ministry said 12 police officers were injured. The regional government, which had planned to open about 2,300 polling stations, said 319 had been sealed off by security forces, while the Spanish government said 92 stations had been closed across the region as of 1500 GMT. The vote was called by regional leader Carles Puigdemont, who was emboldened after separatists won a narrow majority in the regional parliament in 2015. - The referendum - Catalans were being asked: "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?" The Spanish government is refusing to recognise its legality, deeming it unconstitutional. The Catalan authorities have vowed to declare independence within 48 hours in case of a "Yes" victory, though it is far from clear they will do so. Roughly 5.3 million people were eligible to vote, and most of the region's 948 municipalities agreed to provide voting facilities. But the Spanish government says police closed most of the 2,315 polling stations on the eve of the vote. - The response - Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria described the referendum as a "farce" and demanded it be called off. It has been ruled unconstitutional by both the Madrid government and the courts, with judicial officials ordering police to seize millions of ballot papers, detain organisers and shut down websites promoting the vote. Riot police in helmets and armed with batons fired rubber bullets and stormed polling stations, many of which had been occupied by activists trying to keep them open. Madrid sent an additional 10,000 agents to the region, including the majority of its riot police, according to El Pais newspaper. Barcelona played their match against Las Palmas behind closed doors in what club president said was a protest against he violent clashes. Police also raided the Catalan government's communications hub in Barcelona on Saturday, cutting its connections with polling stations and access to software that could have allowed an online vote. Several left-wing Spanish politicians demanded Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy resign after over the use of force by police. - The region - Catalonia, a region of 7.5 million people bordered by the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees, is about the size of Belgium, accounting for 6.3 percent of Spain's territory and 16 percent of its population. Its thriving economy, buoyed by industry, research and tourism, generates one-fifth of the economic output of the eurozone's fourth-biggest economy. But it is also one of Spain's most indebted regions with a debt mountain of 75.4 billion euros ($90 billion) at the end of March, equivalent to 35.2 percent of its GDP. Catalonia regularly taps into a credit line run by Spain's central government that provides extra cash to regional governments. - Why independence? - With its own regional parliament, Catalonia already enjoys significant powers over matters such as education, healthcare and welfare. Spain's economic woes, coupled with resentment that the region pays billions of euros more in taxes than it receives from Madrid, have pushed secession from the fringes of Catalan politics to centre stage. The regional government argues that an independent Catalonia would be richer and better able to protect its language and culture. It had already defied Madrid in November 2014 by holding a symbolic independence vote where more than 80 percent -- 1.8 million people -- of voters chose independence, though turnout was just 37 percent. The most recent poll commissioned by the regional government in July showed 41.1 percent in favour of seceding, and 49.4 percent against. Dubai: A quick-thinking Muslim woman saved the life of an Indian truck driver in the UAE when she saw him in flames following a horrific road accident, media reports said. Jawaher Saif Al Kumaiti, 22, was driving home after visiting a friend in a hospital when she saw two trucks burst into flames in Ras al-Khaimah, a city in the UAE - and heard the victim shouting for someone to save him, Gulf News reported. She bravely saved the Indian driver from a fire by putting out the flames with an abaya cloak - a robe-like dress worn by some Muslim women. Al Kumaiti said that she was at first taken aback when she saw the two trucks on fire following the accident. She also saw a man on fire screaming in pain and fear shouting for help, the report said. The truck driver, an Indian-origin, is called as Harkirit Singh, police said. Al Kumaiti persuaded her friend who was a passenger to take off her abaya cloak then leaped out of the car and used it to put out the flames, it said. "He was lying down. He was on fire... I took out my friends abaya, asked her to stay inside and left the car. I went to cover the guy because there were no clothes on him. He looked at me and said, Im dying. Im afraid to die," she said, adding that she tried to talk to him and calm him down telling him that he would survive as the rescue teams will arrive soon." "I just thought about saving the mans life," said Al Kumaiti, who works at Adnoc Oasis in Sharjah. "The police patrols, ambulance and paramedics shortly arrived. They swung into action, provided first aid to the driver, and rushed him to the hospital," it said. "All thanks and praise to Almighty Allah who gave me the power and courage to act and intervene into the situation at the right time and rescue the mans life." Both the drivers suffered "40 to 50 per cent burns." Both were first taken to a hospital and then to the Saqr Hospital, said Major Tariq Mohamed Al Sharhan, head of the ambulance and rescue section at the Ras Al Khaimah police. Al Sharhan said they want to honour the bravery of the "abaya woman", the report said. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi will also honour Al Kumaiti, Navdeep Singh Suri, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, was quoted as saying by the report. Shockingly, she said there were other people at the scene in before she was but they did not help and simply stared at the man as flames burnt his body. Asked if this national level politics of RSS and BJP could have affects on state politics in the near future, Bhat said, "PDP will cross the bridge when the time comes." BJPs state general secretary, Ashok Kaul said the government will be governed by the 'Agenda of Alliance.' We have already stated our position. We are not going to disrespect the 'Agenda of Alliance' that we have signed with the PDP at the time of formation of the government, Kaul said. Asked about his party's stand over scraping of Article 35-A, which allows the state legislature to define "permanent residents", he said that the matter is pending before the Supreme Court and the party would respect the final verdict as and when it is delivered. Pro-independence JKLF chief Yasin Malik while reacting to Baghwats statement said, "Integrating JK with India through constitutional measures and military operation and oppression, can only be termed as daydreaming and illogical." "Trampling state subject law, giving permanent citizenship to West Pakistan refugees or any other tactics to change the demography and Muslim character of this land will meet a stiff resistance from the people of Jammu Kashmir. We will even not shy away from spilling our blood while defending our identity and freedom, he warned. A day after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat demanded "necessary constitutional amendments to completely assimilate" Kashmir with the rest of the country, opposition parties warned that any such move would be fraught with "dangerous consequences" while alliance partners PDP and BJP were guarded in their reaction.In his more than an hour-long address on Vijayadashmi, Bhagwat said, "Necessary constitutional amendments will have to be made and old provisions will have to be changed. Then and then only, the residents of Jammu and Kashmir can be completely assimilated with rest of Bharat."While reacting to RSS chief's assertions, opposition National Conference (NC) spokesperson Junaid Mattu said Jammu and Kashmir's special status was the only constitutional bridge that connects the state to the rest of the country. "The RSS chief should stop misleading the people to stoke passions in the face of growing criticism over the drastic economic slowdown in the country," he said.State Congress spokesperson termed Bhagwat's remarks about the need for constitutional amendments as "unfortunate and unacceptable." "Any kind of tinkering with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir is fraught with dangerous consequences," he said and blamed the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) for a "complete sell-out to the BJP-RSS for the sake of remaining in power."Senior CPM leader and MLA Kulgam, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, said the RSS chief's statement was an eye opener for those "who still have illusions about the intentions of the RSS and its affiliates."Both PDP and BJP were guarded in their reaction to RSS chief's statement. PDP general secretary Nizamudin Bhat said his party's stand on article 370 and other such political issues is "abundantly clear."They (BJP and RSS) have their own politics at the national level, so they do it (issue such statements, he said. Last Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos visited Harvard University to speak on school choice. She delivered a strong speech (a fact easily lost amidst the reflexive caterwauling ). She articulated points that arent made often or forcefully enough. This was noteworthy because DeVos has not always been an especially effective advocate for her cause, tending to lean on unfortunate talking points and failing to explain the practical, intuitive case for choice as part of a broader educational vision. While the speech was far from perfect (it couldve done without the whole food truck analogy), its worth highlighting four passages which deserve particular notice for their themes and welcome tenor. DeVos pushed back on those who insist that support for school choice is necessarily an attack on public education and argued that choice can be wholly consonant with the historic mission of public education : Defenders of the "system" . . . have done a mighty fine job setting the scene for that house of horrors in the press. They did so by trying to paint an indelible line, forcing a false dichotomy: if you support giving parents any optionany sayyou must therefore be diametrically opposed to public schools, public school teachers and public school students. Being for equal access and opportunitybeing for choiceis not being against anything . . . I'm not for any type of school over another. But the definitions we have traditionally worked from have become tools that divide us. Isn't "the public" made up of students and parents? Isn't "public money" really their moneythe taxpayer's money? And doesn't every school aim to serve the public good? A school that prepares its students to lead successful lives is a benefit to all of us. She used her Ivy League setting to make the case that private provision need not clash with notions of public good: The definition of public education should be to educate the public. That's why we should fight less about the word that comes before "school." I suspect all of you here at Harvard, a private school, will take your education and contribute to the public good. When you chose to attend Harvard, did anyone suggest you were against public universities? No, you and your family sat down and figured out which education environment would be the best fit for you. You compared options, and made an informed decision . . . Instead of dividing the public when it comes to education, the focus should be on the ends, not the means. She suggested that expanded educational options can benefit everyone, and not just children stuck in struggling inner-city schools: I recently went on a tour of the heartland to visit the teachers, parents, and students who are shaping their own futures . . . What I saw was encouraging. Traditional public schools, charter public schools, independent private schools, parochial schools, homeschoolseven a high school at a zoo! They were all different, all with unique approaches. But what they all had in common was just that: a deliberate focus on serving their studentsand students and parents chose them. What worked in those schools, for those students, might not work everywhere. And it might not work for you. But it worked for them. And she emphasized that efforts to expand choice ought not be driven by Washington: States are different, families are dynamic and children are unique. Each should be free to pursue different avenues that lead each child to his or her fullest future. That's why I wholeheartedly believe the future of choice does not begin with a new federal mandate from Washington! That might sound counterintuitive to some, coming from the U.S. Secretary of Education, but after eight months in Washingtonand three decades working in statesI know if Washington tries to mandate "choice," all we'll end up with is a mountain of mediocrity, a surge of spending and a bloat of bureaucracy to go along with it. I found that last bit particularly reassuring . Of course, it seems to reflect a big shift from how DeVos talked about school choice during the first half of 2017. This is notable. Why? The rights divide over whether Congress should craft a big school-choice initiative reflected a split between those with a choice-centric view of education policy and those who tend to see things through the lens of oft-bitter experience with Washington. The choice-firsters saw Trump/DeVos as their chance for a big win, and judged any risks to be minimal compared to the payoff. Those who spend more time focused on Washington were more concerned about all that could go wrong, and skeptical the potential payoff was worth the risk. Nine months on, DeVos remarks were much more tread carefully than go for it. That seems a healthy evolution. Now, if DeVos can marry that restraint with the kind of articulate and unflinching rhetoric on display last Thursday, she just may start to get the hang of this bully pulpit thing. Five unidentified militants were killed as army foiled multiple infiltration bids along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir districts of Baramulla and Kupwara on Tuesday. Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said that an infiltration bid was foiled in Rampur sector of Baramulla district along the LoC in which two militants were killed. Two weapons were recovered and the search operation is in progress," he said. Earlier in the day, three unidentified militants were killed along the LoC in Tanghdar sector of Kupwara district on Monday morning. A senior police officer said that a joint team of army's 20 Rashtriya Rifles and 6-Garwal battalion manning the Balthania post along the LoC noticed some suspicious movement of infiltrators during the wee hours. The group of the infiltrators believed to be four to five in number entered few meters inside Indian territory and on noticing the movement the army fired which was retaliated, triggering off an encounter," he said and added three militants have been killed in the gunfight so far and the operation was going on. Reports said additional security forces were rushed to the area and a massive hunt was launched in the dense forest to nab the other militants. Army sources said that militants from across the LoC were making desperate attempts to ensure maximum infiltration before the traditional routes close due to snow. "Army expects infiltration and coming months would be tough from the security point of view. Terrorist infrastructure across the LoC is intact on the LoC and in the hinterland, they said. Surveillance of LoC is no mean job. There are mountains, rivers, streams, ridges, ravines and gorges along the LoC. It is not a cut and dried area that army has to guard. Despite the three-tier fencing, army needs highly sophisticated surveillance equipment to keep the enemy at bay, sources added. Meanwhile, militants riding a motorcycle on Monday evening hurled a grenade at a police party in Baramulla district, leaving two cops injured. An official said at about 6:50 pm one motorcycle approached from opposite side and while seeing the security forces party made an about turn. "While being challenged to stop one among the two militants riding the motor cycle hurled a grenade towards the naka party, a police spokesperson said and added two policemen received minor injuries. Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajans and quotes today resonated in the sprawling Chaoyang Park in central Beijing where people from all walks of life gathered to commemorate his 148th birth anniversary. While a cultural team from the Indian Embassy here sung Vaishana Jana, the famous bhajan included in Gandhi's daily prayer, a batch of Chinese school children dressed in green and white with red scarfs recited some of his most popular quotes of Gandhi compiled by their school. Some of the Gandhian quotes read by the Chinese school children included "the weak never forgive: Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong", "Strength does not come from your physic but from indomitable will", "Greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated". The statue of Gandhi carved by China's acclaimed sculptor and artist Yuan Xikun was installed in the park in 2005, providing an opportunity for all his admirers to pay homage to him. Besides Gandhi, Yuan had also sculpted the bust of Rabindranath Tagore which is displayed in the museum attached to the park. A large gathering of Indian diplomats, including Charge d'affaires B Wilson Babu and Chinese admirers of Gandhi and Indian expats attended today's event. In his speech, Babu said Gandhi's novel advocating for non-violent actions brought down colonialism, greatly influenced freedom struggle and inspired several world leaders such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela in their fight. In due recognition of Gandhi's enduring legacy, October 2 has been designated as the International Day of Non-Violence by UN, he said. While Gandhi's philosophy and ideals are all the more relevant in today's world filled with strife, the values espoused by him provided a way forward to build a just and equitable world, Babu said. To commemorate the Gandhi Jayanthi and International Day of Non-Violence, the Centre for Gandhian and Indian Studies (CGIS), Fudan University on September 28 conducted a lecture and a round-table conference on the theme - 'Gandhian Thought and International Relations Today'. Estranged AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, convicted in an disproportionate assets case, has not applied for parole, despite claims by her nephew T T V Dhinakaran. According to prisons department officials, Sasikala, lodged in Bengaluru jail, is not eligible for the parole leave as criminal cases against her are still pending. However, Dhinakaran on Monday said his aunt had applied for the parole to meet her ailing husband M Natarajan, who is suffering from liver disease. We have formally applied for the parole with the jail authorities. She might even come out on parole tomorrow (Tuesday) itself, he said. According to him, Sasikalas advocates have sought 15 days parole for her. Her husband Natarajan, who has been admitted to the Gleneagles Global Health City, has a history of chronic liver disease and has been receiving treatment for the past six months. Kansas State Supreme Court Monday described as unconstitutional the legislatures attempt this year to overhaul the states school funding formula. The court said in a much-anticipated ruling that the states $293 million spending increase after an earlier ruling failed to provide its students with an adequate public education. The states legislature now has until July 2018 to come up with a new funding formula, according to the ruling. The state is spending close to $4.3 billion on K-12 in the current fiscal year. The legislature, already dealing with a series of spending cuts after a years-long revenue shortfall, will now have to figure out how to raise more money to spend on its public schools. Legislators have been reluctant to raise taxes, though a growing chorus of teachers and parents in the state have pushed for more spending on schools. The states latest school funding formula, approved in the waning days of the legislatures session this year, more closely dictated how schools should spend their money, cracked down on academically-wayward schools, and expanded the use of all-day kindergarten and vouchers. The states attorney general said the spending methods would dramatically improve educational outcomes and that the court should be patient to see how effective the funding formula was. But lawyers for the four districts that originally sued the state said districts should be given more flexibility in spending and that nothing less than $893 milliona number based on an earlier ruling by the states high court would satisfy the courts earlier ruling or help districts close its achievement gap. Almost a quarter of the states students dont meet basic reading and writing standards. The ruling will likely amp up an ongoing and closely-watched battle between the states ultra-conservative legislature and the appointed supreme court over who should decide how to spend money on public schools and how to close an achievement gap between the states wealthier, white students and its poor and minority students. Earlier last year, the court said the states distribution methods between rich and poor schools was inequitable and that the court would shut down the schools if the legislature didnt make timely changes. That led to dramatic changes in the distribution methods. The states legislature has said in the past that the court is out of its lane to tell legislatures how to spend. As in previous rulings, the court Monday ruled the funding formula unconstitutional, but did not tell the state how much to spend or what to spend the money on. It also did not give much clues as to how the state should work to improve its schools. A political effort to unseat the judges and change the language of the states constitution in 2016 failed. Dont miss another State EdWatch post. Sign up here to get news alerts in your email inbox. And make sure to follow @StateEdWatch on Twitter for the latest news from state K-12 policy and politics. Amethi district magistrate Yogesh Kumar said the authorities "never said no" to Gandhi's visit to his Lok Sabha constituency, but suggested a postponement taking into account his security concerns. "Rahul had proposed to visit Amethi from October 4-6. We never said no (to his visit)," the district magistrate told journalists. Kumar said the request was made in the wake of Muharram and Dusshera celebrations in the district. "We had just sent a confidential letter to the district Congress chief suggesting that the visit be postponed by 24-48 hours in view of the fact that the security personnel would be busy with the Durga idol immersion and Muharram processions," the district magistrate told journalists. The permission for Rahul's tour comes two days after the district magistrate and Superintendent of Police Poonam, who goes by one name, had asked him to reschedule his visit on the grounds of law and order. The administration was ready for his visit on the original dates as the Congress MP wanted to stick to his schedule, Kumar said. "The immersion of idols will be taking place in Musafirkhana tehsil and Tiloi tehsil, and the Amethi MP plans to visit both the areas. We are making efforts to ensure that proper arrangements are made. Earlier too, we never said 'no'. We just sought time to make arrangements," he said. Kumar added that his request was not considered but the authorities would ensure all-around security for the Congress leader. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar termed the attempt to postpone Rahul's visit by the district administration an act of "cowardice and fear". He said the BJP government in the state was apprehensive that the Congress MP might overshadow the proposed visit of BJP chief Amit Shah and Union ministers Smriti Irani and Nitin Gadkari to Amethi on October 10. Echoing similar sentiments, district Congress chief Yogendra Mishra said Rahul was coming to meet the people of his constituency and he cannot be stopped. "He (Rahul) will be arriving here as per his schedule on October 4 and the administration will be responsible for his security," Mishra said. Facing criticism from the Congress for asking Rahul Gandhi to postpone his visit to Amethi, the district administration today said it was ready for the party vice-president's three-day tour beginning Wednesday. Bharatiya Janata Party national President Amit Shah on Monday again took potshots at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi saying that he was not able to see development in Gujarat as he was wearing Italian spectacles. I would tell him that change your Italian spectacles for Gujarati spectacles and only then would you be able to see the development all around, Amit Shah said while flagging off the second phase of Gujarat Gaurav Yatra from Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. Amit Shah, who had flagged off the first phase from Karamsad, the birthplace of Sardar Patel, on Sunday, was equally scathing in his attack on Rahul and Congress for the second consecutive day. Rahulji has been asking us what have we done in three years but he would not be able to tell us what has his three generations done?...They ask us what are we proud of? We are proud of Mahatma Gandhi, of Sardar Patel and of Narendra Modi, of making Gujarat developed, peaceful and curfew free, of making Gujarat drought-free by bringing Narmada waters to parched areas. Shah told the gathering of party workers. Shah, like Sunday, rattled out series of statistics the corner Congress and said that it was Narendra Modi who had developed Gujarat into a peaceful and curfew free Gujarat. During Congress rule, the moment you reached the periphery of Porbandar, it would have hoardings saying that limit of Porbandar begins and that of law ends! You have only seen the rise of the mafia as Latif, Ijju Sheikh, Ibla sheth, Mammu Miyan, Panju miyan...The way hooligans nurtured by Congress disappeared from Porbandar and other parts of the state, so did the oldest political party. Shah also did not stop from reminding Rahul of dismal performances of his party in the state elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, J&K, Assam, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh since Modi took over as PM in 2014. Elections cannot be won by spending vacations in America but one must come here and work hard at the ground level, he said. Nine days after the police lathi charge on the girls, who were protesting rising incidents of eve-teasing on the campus, triggering a nationwide outrage, controversial Banaras Hindu University (BHU) vice-chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi on Monday proceeded on ''indefinite leave''. According to the varsity officials Tripathi, whose term as VC is scheduled to end on November 27, has cited ''personal reasons'' for proceeding on leave. Tripathi's decision to proceed on leave comes within days of the union HRD ministry coming out with a notification inviting applications for appointment of a new VC for the prestigious central university in prime minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi. Tripathi, who was under ''tremendous pressure'' to go on leave, had earlier said that he would prefer to resign rather than going on leave. The VC had been under all-round attack over the use of force against the girl students by male cops and his remarks criticising the girls' agitation. Tripathi, who had been appointed the VC of the varsity in 2014, had courted controversy during his tenure earlier also. He had earlier hit the headlines after removing Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey as guest faculty from the varsity. Though Tripathi sought to make amends by appointing a woman as the varsity's chief proctor, the first in its history, following the violence on the campus, his reported remarks during a meeting with the girls that they should not have gone public with their demands came as a huge embarrassment to the centre. The appointment of a woman as the chief proctor was also viewed as a damage control exercise after the varsity administration drew flak from various quarters over the treatment of girls living in the hostels. Violence had flared up in the campus last month after police lathi-charged a group of girls, who were protesting rising incidents of eve-teasing on the campus and demanding better security arrangements. A preliminary probe held the varsity administration responsible for the violence and criticised its handling of the situation. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, however, claimed that ''anti-social'' elements were behind the violence The CBI officer, SK Malik, who was heading the investigation into the Rs 1500 crore-Srijan scam in Bihars Bhagalpur district, has been transferred. He has been asked to join the CBI headquarters in New Delhi. Malik will be replaced by another CBI official N Mahto. Malik, as the CBI Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), headed the 20-member probe team. Last week, he had requested the CBI court to issue arrest warrants against certain bureaucrats and politicians, alleged to be involved in the scam, which appears to be bigger than the infamous fodder scam. Of the four politicians believed to be under CBI scanner, one is a Union Minister, while the other is a BJP Lok Sabha member from Jharkhand. The third leader under the lens is a former BJP MP, while the fourth one is a JD (U) leader, now suspended from the party after his name cropped up in the scam. Similarly, at least five IAS officers are said to be under CBI radar. All these officers had earlier served as district magistrate of Bhagalpur. One of these officials, after taking VRS, had even unsuccessfully contested 2014 Lok Sabha elections as the JD (U) candidate. Srijan scam came to light on August 3 when it was detected by Bhagalpur District Magistrate Adesh Titarmare that there has been pilferage of government fund to the tune of around Rs 500 crore by a Bhagalpur-based NGO, Srijan. An investigation by Bihar top cops indicated that around Rs 355.7 crore were fraudulently transferred from three heads land acquisition (Rs 270 crore), urban development schemes (Rs 70.7 crore) and district administration (Rs 15 crore) into the account of the NGO, Srijan Sahyog Mahila Samiti. Srijan was run by a social worker Manorama Devi, who reportedly flaunted her connections with politicians and bureaucrats and helped Srijan spread its tentacles. Altogether 17 persons, including Prem Kumar, the personal assistant (PA) of Bhagalpur District Magistrate, were arrested after nine FIRs were lodged by the police. Later, when it was found that the embezzled fund had crossed Rs 1000 crore, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a CBI probe into the scam. One of those arrested, Mahesh Mandal, a clerk in the district welfare department, died last month suffering from a kidney ailment. Though the government claimed Mandal died while undergoing treatment at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Bhagalpur, his brother Dinesh Mandal alleged that the incarcerated kin was allowed to die as he could have revealed the names of much big fish involved in the scam. Meanwhile, the CBI has sought remand of all the 17 accused, most of them are clerks in treasuries and bank officials, lodged in Bhagalpur jail. The investigating agency has urged the court that since it wanted to interrogate the accused, they should be shifted to Patnas Beur Jail. It was only two years ago that researchers found the first ancient human genome in Africa: a skeleton in a cave in Ethiopia yielded DNA that turned out to be 4,500 years old. Recently, a team of scientists reported that they had recovered far older genes from bone fragments in Malawi dating back 8,100 years. The researchers also retrieved DNA from 15 other ancient people in eastern and southern Africa, and compared the genes with those of living Africans. Their analysis, published in the journal Cell, reveals important clues to Africas mysterious prehistory, including details of massive migrations that shaped the populations we know today. Europe was the first place where scientists were able to use ancient DNA to illuminate the deep past. Huge archaeological collections in museums held DNA that, once reconstructed, shed light on the genetic prehistory of the continent as far back as 40,000 years. Africa proved to be a bigger challenge. There were fewer skeletons in museums, and most searches for genetic material failed. The environment was partly to blame: DNA is more likely to survive in colder places. Its been mad, watching all the advances in what we understand about European prehistory, said Jessica C Thompson, an archaeologist at Emory University, USA. Jessica was heartened by the discovery of ancient DNA in Ethiopia in 2015. Those scientists succeeded for two reasons: the skeleton they discovered had been lying for thousands of years in a cool cave in the Ethiopian highlands, and the researchers developed new technological methods increasing the odds of finding even tiny bits of DNA. More recently, Jessica teamed up with experts in ancient DNA and began searching for skeletons in Malawi. Much of the country comprises tropical lowlands, but it also includes high-elevation plateaus where nighttime temperatures can plunge below freezing. Eventually, she and her colleagues discovered DNA-bearing skeletons as old as 6,000 years in caves in the highlands. David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, USA and co-author of the new study, and his colleagues analysed DNA from 16 of these fossils, along with the one previously found in Ethiopia, comparing the genetic material with that of living people throughout Africa and on other continents. This analysis allowed them to determine how living Africans descended from ancient populations, which are older in Africa than anywhere else on Earth. Africa is now going to be fully included in the ancient genomics revolution, David said. Were going to be able to do a lot of things in Africa that weve been able to do in Europe and elsewhere. Africa is where our species evolved at least 3,00,000 years ago. Previous genetic analysis of living Africans had suggested that their ancestors began splitting into distinct groups more than 2,00,000 years ago. Roughly 70,000 years ago some Africans moved out of Africa, becoming the ancestors of non-Africans. The new study also sheds light on exactly which Africans spread to other continents. Little flow of genes Once humans expanded out of Africa, there was little or no flow of genes between Africans and non-Africans for tens of thousands of years, the new study indicates. But David and his colleagues discovered that a 3,100-year-old girl in Tanzania was profoundly different from the older East Africans. A third of her ancestry could be traced to early farmers in the Near East. Previous studies of living East Africans had hinted at some Near Eastern ancestry. But the new analysis shows that people from the Near East spread into East Africa at least 3,100 years ago. Near Eastern genes were also found in a skeleton from South Africa about 1,200 years old. In all, these genetic patterns suggest that early farmers or herders from the Near East swept down through Egypt into East Africa several thousand years ago. They then kept expanding over the centuries until their descendants reached the southern edge of the continent. Around the same time, another expansion driven by agriculture was taking place in West Africa. A people known as the Bantu spread from the region around present-day Cameroon and Nigeria. They left a trail of distinctive iron tools that archaeologists have used to trace their migration into southern and eastern Africa about 2,000 years ago. Its possible, Jessica said, that Bantu farmers drove hunter-gatherers out of places like Malawi. The surviving hunter-gatherers ended up in deserts and other places that werent good for crops and livestock. In East Africa, the transition may not have been so stark. There, modern people can trace much of their ancestry to the Bantu, suggesting a blending of populations. The brilliant, intricate patterns on butterfly wings from haunting eye spots to iridescent splashes of blue look as if they were painted on by teams of artists. Researchers thought that a complex collection of genes might be responsible, interacting to build up the final pattern. But two studies now suggest that two genes play an outsize role in determining the wings lines and colours. Turning off these master genes disrupts the canvas, dulling the colours or turning the insects monochromatic. The studies, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenge the old paradigm of wing pattern development, says Bob Reed, an evolutionary developmental biologist at Cornell University, USA, and lead author of one of the papers and a co-author on the other. Understanding how wing patterns are controlled gives scientists greater insight into the evolution of traits that help the insects to avoid predation and attract mates. The two different genes are complementary. They are painting genes specialised, in a way, for making patterns, says Arnaud Martin, a developmental biologist at George Washington University, USA, and lead author of one of the studies. Previous studies that used conventional genetic mapping and knockout genes showed that WntA and optix are involved in wing pattern development. The work showed that the two genes are adaptive hot spots because they are linked to physical changes in the organism that appear to be adaptations to their environment. The researchers used the CRISPRCas9 technique to tinker with WntA and optix in several butterfly species. Scientists switched each of the genes on and off to demonstrate how much influence they had over what appeared on the butterflies wings. The new WntA study involved seven species of butterfly, including the charismatic monarch butterfly. In most species, when WntA was switched off, colours bled, patterns faded or markings disappeared. In the monarchs, for example, deep-black contouring at the wings edges lightened to grey. WntA sets borders and boundaries, says Arnaud. The optix study showed that this paintbrush gene, as Bob calls it, has a large role in pigmentation. Previous work had suggested that it was involved in red and orange colour patterns, but it took CRISPR to finally confirm that, says Bob. He and his colleagues knocked out optix in four butterfly species. Parts of the wings as well as other areas of the butterflies bodies turned black or grey. One went entirely jet black, says Bob, citing an example of an individual Gulf fritillary. Most surprising, Bob says, in the common buckeye, its wings also developed spots of bright, iridescent blue, an indication of structural change beyond pigmentation. The results indicate that optix affects colouring in a way that goes beyond simple pigmentation. Iridescence is created by certain microscopic structural features of the wing scales, so optix seems to be influencing both the pigment and the architecture of butterfly wings. Prospective students and parents learn about the tuition-free art high school that offers programs in dance, music, theatre and visual arts. What: New Mexico School for the Arts Open House Where: 275 East Alameda Santa Fe, NM 87501 When: October 2nd, 6:30pm Contact: Carla Lehmeier-Tatum- 505-321-7997 Explore New Mexico School for the Arts during its fall open house on October 2nd at 6:30 pm. Prospective students and parents will have the opportunity to learn about the tuition free art high school offering programs in Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts. An affordable residential program is available for students who live outside a reasonable, daily commuting distance to NMSA. At NMSA, the focus is on both academic and artistic excellence. With equal emphasis on arts and academics, NMSA prepares students to apply to a wide range of colleges, universities, conservatories, art schools, and professional training programs. U.S. News and World Report ranked NMSA 10th in the state of New Mexico for outstanding student performance. NMSA has been awarded an A grade by the New Mexico Public Education Department for the 6th consecutive year. 100% of the forty-eight graduates in 2017 were accepted into college earning a total of $6.5 million in scholarships to some of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Los Angeles Approves Rules for Marijuana Dispensaries California's recreational pot law goes into effect in January, and the state's largest metropolitan area wants to be ready. On Monday, the Los Angeles city council approved new cannabis industry rules and regulations for growers, manufacturers and sellers of marijuana, including licensing requirements, operating hours, record-keeping, and security measures. And as with any new industry or new regulation, there are going to be some growing pains. Here's what L.A.'s legalized pot industry may look like. Marijuana Maps L.A. recently unveiled a series of maps detailing exactly where pot shops can exist, given the city's proposed buffer-zone rules that mandate that dispensaries must be 800 feet distance from schools, parks, libraries, churches, and other dispensaries. As LA Weekly pointed out, 800 feet is longer than your average city block, so the buffer will make dispensary space scarce within city limits. That distance exceeds the state-mandated 600-foot buffer, and cannabiz advocates aren't too pleased. Ruben Honig, executive director of the Los Angeles Cannabis Task Force, told LA Weekly the buffer is a "a bad idea" that "will reinforce the illicit market and make it a lot harder for disadvantaged communities to participate in this industry." Licensing Laws There is also concern regarding a regulation that will require current dispensaries (selling medical marijuana) to shut down on the January first and wait for a retail license to be granted, a wait that could be permanent. While there has been talk about an exception for those dispensaries, operators are worried the closure will either force them to leave the Los Angeles or shut down permanently. Puffing in Public And then there are existing restrictions on smoking in public, some of the harshest in the nation. There are already limits on smoking in public, smoking in bars or restaurants, and smoking in hotels, and landlords may even bar tenants from smoking in rental units. Proving that anti-drug legislation isn't the only hurdle to getting your pot shop up and running. Related Resources: Extinction threat Snow leopard is still at risk The snow leopard is no longer an endangered species, but its population in the wild is still at risk because of poaching and habitat loss, conservationists said recently. The International Union for Conservation of Nature said new data taken through 2016 prompted the reclassification of the snow leopard from the endangered list to the vulnerable category. The difference means that the animals have gone from very high risk to high risk of extinction in the wild. The global population of the snow leopard is estimated at 2,500 to 10,000 mature animals. But the leopard could still face a population decline of 10% or more over the next three generations in its habitats, which are mostly mountainous areas of Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan. It still faces a high risk of extinction, International Union for Conservation of Nature said, due to habitat loss and degradation, decline in prey populations, and poaching for illegal wildlife trade, among other reasons. Snow leopards range across 12 countries in Central Asia in remote and rugged terrain. Silvered rice Harvesting silver alongside rice Could farmers be looking at harvesting the precious metal silver alongside paddy from their crop fields? Yes, if they cultivate the rice variety Garib-sal, scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) report. While screening 505 native varieties of rice for different heavy metals, the team led by chemistry professor Thalappil Pradeep noticed that nine of them were capable of absorbing silver, which occurs naturally in soil. Among these, Garib-sal, a landrace from West Bengal was found to accumulate silver at an exceptionally high concentration. The researchers claim that this is the first investigation of the deposition of silver in rice grains. Debal Deb, one of the authors and head of the Basudha farm, located in Odishas Rayagada district, where the rice varieties were grown, says the discovery will be patented. Presently, Garib-sal is not very popular among farmers because it is not high yielding. But the finding that silver comes as a bonus may change that, he said. Ancient behaviour The jellyfish can sleep Worms and fish do it. Birds and bees do it. But do jellyfish fall asleep? Answering the question required a multi-step investigation by a trio of California Institute of Technology graduate students. Their answer, published in Current Biology, is that at least one group of jellyfish called Cassiopea, or the upside-down jellyfish, does snooze. The finding is the first documented example of sleep in an animal with a diffuse nerve net, a system of neurons that are spread throughout an organism and not organised around the brain. It challenges the common notion that sleep requires brain. It also suggests sleep could be an ancient behaviour because the group that includes jellyfish branched off from the last common ancestor of most living animals early on in evolution. Reducing precipitation The wind sublimates snowflakes Researchers have observed and characterised a weather process that was not previously known to occur in Antarcticas coastal regions. It turns out that the katabatic winds that blow from the interior to the margins of the continent reduce the amount of precipitation. By forming a very dry layer of air in the first kilometre or so of atmosphere, the winds turn the falling snowflakes during their fall directly from their solid state into water vapour. The authors of this study used new data collected at the coast of Adelie Land over a year. They estimated that, across the continent, cumulative precipitation near the ground was 17% lower than its maximum level higher in altitude. Their measurements indicate that precipitation may be as much as 35% lower in the region around East Antarctica. Their study has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Robust toes How horses got their hooves All four-limbed, land-based vertebrates came from a common ancestor with legs that ended in five toes. Over time, many animals lost some of their digits: hippos, rhinos and camels have four, three and two toes on each leg. But only one living group of animals ended up with a single toe per foot: the group containing horses. A study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, lends support to existing hypotheses about the dramatic transformation in horses hooves. As horses evolved and got larger from their ancestral, dog-sized form, it was better to have one very robust toe to support their increased body mass. Also, having just one toe reduced the weight horses had to carry at the end of each leg, making it easier for them to run and manoeuvre. Documentary Blackfish Blackfish, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, details the mistreatment of orca whales at SeaWorld, particularly in Orlando, Florida, where killer whale Tilikum was involved in three deaths. It also sends out a powerful message that there is a heavy price to pay for removing whales from their natural habitat, where they are used to swimming 100 miles a day, and forcing them to swim round and round a man-made pool. To watch the movie, visit www.blackfishmovie.com/watch. Indian companies raised a record close to Rs 27,000 crore through initial public offerings in the first half of the current fiscal and an impressive pipeline is already in place for coming months. Besides, over a dozen firms, including New India Assurance Company, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management and HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, have lined up their IPOs to raise funds totalling Rs 35,000 crore in coming months, Dinesh Rohira, founder and CEO at 5nance.com, said. Adding to the depth of the IPO market, companies from diverse sectors like insurance, healthcare, education, bank, cable TV and shipping have made their way to the IPO space during the period under review. According to the latest data compiled from stock exchanges, 19 companies garnered over Rs 26,720 crore through their respective IPOs in April-September of the ongoing financial year, much higher than Rs 16,535 crore raised by 15 firms in the year-ago period. Prior to that, companies had raised a record Rs 21,244 crore from initial public offers (IPOs) in the first half of 2007-08. Proceeds of the IPO were used to fund business expansion plans, pay debt, meet working capital requirements and for other general corporate purposes. One of the big reasons why we are seeing so many IPOs hitting stock markets is the uplift in investor sentiment, which is also reflected in the returns that the Nifty gave in the first half of the year, Rohira added. Further, Sebis proactive regulations and Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led governments pro-business policies have helped both companies and investors shrug off fears and lap up opportunities to become part of the India growth story, he noted. The IPO chart in the first half of the current fiscal was led by SBI Life Insurance (Rs 8,400 crore), followed by ICICI Lombard General Insurance (5,700 crore), AU Small Finance Bank (Rs 1,912 crore), Eris Lifesciences (Rs 1,741 crore), among others. President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday appointed a commission under former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court G Rohini to examine subcategorization of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). This decision, taken on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, reinforces, in the spirit of his teachings, the Government's efforts to achieve greater social justice and inclusion for all and specifical members of the OBC, the Government said in a statement. The move comes ahead of the Assembly polls in Gujarat, amid demand for giving reservation benefits to Marathas in Maharashtra, Jats in Haryana and Patidars in Gujarat. The Commission is required to present their report to the President within a period of twelve weeks of assumption of charge by the Chairperson of the Commission, the Government said. Union Cabinet approved a proposal for constitution of the commission on August 23. The stratification of the OBC quota could lead to a quota within quota in OBC reservations, in a move that may have far-reaching impact in national politics. This could affect educationally and socially advanced communities within the backward classes like Yadavas who have benefited from the policy of positive discrimination brought by the Mandal Commission recommendation over the past three decades, official sources said. As per terms of reference, the five-member commission will examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of the Other Backward Classes with reference to such classes included in the Central List. It will also work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs and take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of the OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories. Subcategorization of the OBCs will ensure that the more backward among the OBC communities can also access the benefits of reservation for educational institutions and government jobs, the Government said over a month. On receipt of the report of the Commission, the Central Government will consider ways and means for equitable distribution of the benefits of the reservation in Central Government jobs and admission in the Central Government run educational institutions amongst all strata of the OBC. The five-member commission comprised social scientist JK Bajaj as its member. While a joint secretary level officer of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will serve as the secretary of the commission, the director of the Anthropological Survey of India and Registrar General and Census Commissioner will be ex-officio members of the panel. Foreign Secretary's tour to Thimphu is the first public visit by a top official of Government of India to Bhutan after Doklam Plateau in the western region of Himalayan Kingdom turned into the scene of a 72-day-long stand-off between Indian Army and Chinese People's Liberation Army. Sudhakar Dalela, Joint Secretary (North) in the Ministry of External Affairs, is accompanying Foreign Secretary on his visit to Bhutan. Dalela heads the Ministry of External Affairs division that looks after India's relations with Nepal and Bhutan. Foreign Secretary's visit to Bhutan comes at a time when reports indicated that although the stand-off in Doklam Plateau had ended on August 28, the Chinese People's Liberation Army had deployed more troops in the forward posts it maintained in the vicinity. New Delhi, however, did not officially acknowledge that Foreign Secretary's visit had anything to do with Chinese PLA's activities near India-China-Bhutan tri-junction boundary points. The Chinese PLA personnel also purportedly intruded into the territory claimed by Thimphu at three points along the disputed border between Bhutan and China, even when the stand-off in Doklam Plateau drew global attention. Though China withdrew its troops from Doklam Plateau on August 28 to end the military stand-off with India, both New Delhi and Thimphu are worried over the PLA's move to deploy more troops in the vicinity and repeated intrusions into the territory claimed by Bhutan. The issue is likely to be discussed when Foreign Secretary will call on Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bhutan and meet top officials of Bhutanese Government, sources said. Jaishankar, according to the sources, is also likely to discuss with senior officials of Bhutanese Government a proposal for a trilateral mechanism, involving representatives of India, China and Bhutan, to settle the tri-junction boundary point. New Delhi is keen to have a trilateral arrangement led by senior officials of India, China and Bhutan for settling the dispute over the tri-junction boundary point. Apart from Bhutan, India and China share tri-junction boundary points with Myanmar and Nepal at Diphu Pass and Lipulekh Pass respectively. New Delhi and Beijing had in 2012 agreed that the tri-junction boundary points among India, China and third countries would be finalized in consultation with the third countries. Thimphu is of late also worried about Beijing's dilly-dallying on scheduling the next round of negotiations to settle China-Bhutan boundary dispute. Bhutan and China in August 2016 held the 24th round of negotiations to resolve the boundary dispute between the two nations. Though the 25th round was to be held this year, Beijing so far showed no interest in scheduling it, prompting Thimphu to fear that China might suspend the negotiations and continue to occupy the territory of Bhutan bit by bit through low-profile incursions by the PLA troops, sources told the DH. Beijing is upset with Thimphu as Bhutan's position during the stand-off in Doklam Plateau was in sync with India's. The Chinese PLA personnel had come to Doklam Plateau a disputed territory on Bhutan-China border on June 16 and started building a road, brushing off protests by Royal Bhutan Army soldiers camping nearby. The Indian Army personnel from nearby Doka La post in Sikkim had intervened two days later, leading to the stand-off. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Monday reached Thimphu, amidst reports about Chinese People's Liberation Army deploying more troops near India-Bhutan-China trijunction boundary point weeks after the stand-off in Doklam Plateau ended.Jaishankar will meet top officials of Bhutanese Government during his stay in Thimphu. He is likely to call on Foreign Minister Damcho Dorjee and Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, sources told the DH in New Delhi. The 148th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation - Mahatma Gandhi was celebrated in a grand manner by various institutes, organisation, educational institutions, government agencies, district administration, semi-government agencies, political parties in Belagavi City and across the district, on Monday. Blood donation camps, cleanliness drive, voluntery labour services marked the occasion wherein members of various organisation engaged in labour works, donated blood in remembrance of father of nation. Floral tributes were also paid to former prime minister later Lal Bahaddur Shastri. KLE University celebrated the 148th birth anniversary of the Mahatma as International Non-Violence Day at a programme held at Anatomy lecture hall at JN Medical College. Principal Dr N S Mahantashetti who presided over administered the oath wherein participants pleaded for non-violence and peace. Visvesvaraya Technological University celebrated 148th birth anniversary of Mahatama Gandhi and also remembered former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 114th birth anniversary. Varsity Vice-Chancellor Karisiddappa recalled the relentless work of the father of nation who through non-violence movement, satyagraha ensured us freedom. Gandhiji has been given the title of Father of the Nation for his relentless hard work that helped India to attain freedom through non-violence. By remembering him on this day, we have to pay tribute to this great leader. He called upon youngsters to pledge to adopt his way of life and principles of empathy, humbleness, honesty and sincerity. Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanti is also celebrated on October 2 every year. Today, it is fit to mention that both the two great heroes born on this day dedicated their lives to the larger cause of the nation. Principal Dipti Ingley and the staff of KLES International School, on this auspicious day, contributed in a cleanliness drive around the school premises. Krantiveer Sangolli Rayanna High School Head Master B P Lamani paid tributes to the two towering icons on their birth anniversary during the celebration at the school. Siddarameshwar School Vice principal K B Hiremath called upon the students to extensively read about Gandhi during the celebration at the school. NCC cadets of Kittur Rani Channamma Residential Sainik School for Girls, under the aegis of the 5 Kar Bn NCC Dharwad , organized a massive cleaning drive at Kittur to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatama Gandhi. The event involved around 50 SW cadets who took up sweeping of the corridors and key areas of the historic Kittur fort. Cadets went about collection and disposal of the garbage in various public areas. Rich tributes were paid to Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary celebrated at the district administration in Dharwad on Monday. District In-charge Minister Vinay Kulkarni, who was the chief guest of the programme offered floral tributes to the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi and later offered a special puja. Recalling the ideologies of Mahatma, Mr Vinay stated that truth and non-violence were two major gifts preached by mahatma Gandhi and helped to gain freedom. In the days wherein the moral values are declining, the preaching of Mahatma Gandhi holds more relevant. The youth by inculcating the precious messages of Gandhi should tread the path of non-violence, he said. This apart, Gandhiji had advocated for maintaining cleanliness. People should be educated on sanitation and stop littering in public places. This apart, the Gandhian model of development was inclusive and is much needed for todays life. people should spread love and affection and help their fellowmen, the minister said. Gandhiji has contributed immensely for the national integrity of the country and one should tread his path to uphold the dignity and integrity of the country, he added. The dedication and commitment shown by Mahatma Gandhi to end the British rule in India, should be the model for the youths to fight against corrupt practices, he added. On the occasion, the minister released a souvenir March of Karnataka brought out by the Information Department. On the occasion, bhajans were rendered by Gayatri Tonapi and A B Vijapur. Deputy Commissioner S B Bommanahalli, Police Commissioner M N Nagaraj, ZP CEO Snehal Rayamane, ADC Ibrahim Maigur, Assistant Commissioner Mahesh Karjagi and others were present. Join hands with govt Speaking at the Swacchata Abhiyaan launched by the NWKRTC on the occasion of Gandhi jayanti at the new bus stand in Dharwad on Monday, Minister Vinay appealed the citizens to maintain cleanliness in public places. The government to realise the dream of Mahatma Gandhi, has been conducting cleanliness drive and toilet construction. These programmes will not record success without active participation of the public, he added. He said, it is a novel initiative that Association of Consulting Civil Engineers Association has come forward to adopt the new bus stand for one year in maintaining cleanliness. NWKRTC director Manoj Karjagi and others were present. Noted historian and thinker Ramachandra Guha opined that though Gandhi and Amedkar had ideological differences, it is possible to find some sort of uniformity between the two as the final goal of the two was upliftment of dalits. Delivering a lecture on Gandhis interaction with generations organised by Ninansam in its annual culture camp at Heggodu near here on Monday, he said thought Gandhi and Ambedkar had disagreements over the methods of upliftment of Dalits, there was no difference between the two in terms of the goal. According to Gandhi, practicing untouchability is a sin and people belonging to upper castes must clean their minds and strive for the eradication of such social evil. But Ambedkar had believed that dalits, who faced insult and embarrassment by upper castes people, had to annihilate social discrimination by themselves. So, it is not necessary to separate Gandhi and Ambedkar as far as the issue related upliftment of dalits is concerned, he viewed. Referring to Gandhis link with Veer Savarkar, strong believer in Hindutva, Mr Guha said Gandhi had interacted with Savarkar also. Savarkar wanted to make India as the country of Hindus and people belonging to other religions to be treated as second class citizens. But Gandhi had aspired to build India on the basis of multi-religious and multi-cultural society. So, it is not possible to find uniformity between the two under any circumstance. Noted writer D S Nagabhushana, theater director K V Akshara and others participated in the interaction. Later, Artistes of Ninasam enacted drama titled Su bitrebanna, ba bitresunna under the direction of Iqbal Ahmed. Multi-lingual actor Prakash Rai on Monday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being silent on journalist-activist Gauri Lankeshs murder and called him a good actor. Rai said that he will not hesitate to return the national award conferred on him, as a mark of displeasure over the attitude of the Central government towards Gauris murder. He was given the national award for best actor for the Tamil film Kanchivaram in 2009. He was speaking at the inauguration of the 63rd Wildlife Week walkathon- Walk for Conservation of Wildlife. Rai said that though some people on social media were making foul comments on Gauri and her murder, the chief minister and the prime minister are silent on the issue. Referring to the comments made by some RSS workers, Rai said: Nobody knows who the killer is, but everybody knows who celebrated her death. Though Modi has all the information on the issue, he is pretending and this shows that he is a good actor. It has been a month since Gauri was murdered and yet not much progress has happened in the case. Also, till date Modi has not reacted on the issue. Convention in Delhi A convention would be held at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on October 5, demanding the immediate arrest of assailants of Gauri, protection to writers and journalists and action against the elements curbing freedom of speech and expression. The convention has been organised by Gauri Lankesh Hathya Virodi Vedike as it will be one month since Gauri Lankesh was shot dead at her Rajarajeshwari Nagar residence in Bengaluru. Progressive thinkers, intellectuals, writers and journalists from across India would participate in the convention. We demand that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement on Gauris brutal murder during the event, Neela K, social activist and the Vedike convenor, told reporters here on Monday. The Vedike members werent happy with the progress made in the investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The SIT should speed up the investigation and arrest the assailants and their sponsors. The police should take action against those who celebrated Gauris murder on social media, besides making derogatory remarks about her, she added. The Vedike members demanded the state government declare Gauris murder an act of terrorism, guarantee the freedom of speech and expression and action against fundamental organisations. Residents of Hettappanahatti, a village in Tumakuru, have access to bus service thanks to a concern raised by a young girl at a Makkala Gram Sabha held in the village. Every year, hundreds of children from villages across Karnataka take part in meetings organised by their respective gram panchayats for discussing and solving issues related to children and their communities. The concept was introduced by the state government in 2006 to bring greater understanding of democracy and governance in children and help them become responsible citizens. The childrens gram sabha holds child rights fortnight in the third and fourth week of November every year. Makkala Grama Sabha is organised on one of these days. Childrens Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA), a Bengaluru-based organisation, has been facilitating childrens gram sabhas in all villages of Chikkaballapur and Tumakuru districts. The meeting provides a platform for children to discuss issues faced by them and facilitates their direct engagement with the respective officials and stakeholders of the community. The Childrens Gram Sabha is attended by representatives of the government, anganwadi workers, officials of the Women and Child Development Department, schoolteachers, police officers, school development monitoring committees, local NGOs among others. The participating officers are responsible for collating statistics with respect to children in their jurisdiction. The responsible stakeholders are required to take immediate action on the issues raised by children at the gram sabha, said Marulappa P R, of CMCA, who coordinates the regional school programme. The CMCA has organised over 40 Makkala Gram Sabhas in the past seven years in Chikkaballapur and Tumakuru districts. In 2016, as many as 2,928 children from 105 schools participated in the meetings. Out of the 397 problems reported by children in 2016, half of them have been solved so far, said Marulappa, who is responsible for coordinating the regional school programme at CMCA. The children have been able to drive various positive changes by their active engagement in the gram sabhas. These include stopping vandalism in a school at Jangamanakote, helping revamp the infrastructure of schools and highlighting pressing civic issues in their villages. A 13-year-old boy fell into and drowned in an abandoned well while running away from stray dogs. The shocking incident occurred at Bethlehem Colony, Mangalpet, here around 9.30 am on Monday. Vincent Raj, a class 7 student, was returning to his home in Bethlehem Colony after attending a tuition class when stray dogs chased him. The frightened boy took to his heels and ended up falling into the 50-foot-deep well that has no safety wall. He sustained grievous head injuries. Hearing his screams, passersby called the emergency services personnel who rushed to the spot and pulled him out of the well. The boy was then taken to the government general hospital where he died later. A case in this regard was registered by the jurisdictional Market police station. District Fire Safety Officer Muzamil Patel, Police Sub-inspector Khwaja Hussain and other officials visited the spot. Bidar Youth Empowerment Association, a local NGO, had recently written to the Bidar City Municipal Council (CMC), urging it to take the necessary steps to curb the menace of stray dogs. Its president Shaheed Ali even met officials of the urban local body and councillors to draw their attention to the problem. No action was, however, taken, Ali said. Leave it to Tennessee Williams to pack more taboo topics into a single movie than anyone else. The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, who penned such classic and important dramas as The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, never shrank from exploring provocative themes and forcing audiences to face difficult truths. Yet in Suddenly, Last Summer, a one-act play that director Joseph L. Mankiewicz expanded into a feature film, Williams tackles a plethora of hot-button issues, including homosexuality, incest, rape, lobotomy, mental illness, and most shocking of all, cannibalism. That's quite a menu for any motion picture, let alone one made back in 1959, but Williams and screenwriter Gore Vidal seamlessly tie all those sensational subjects together. The delicious (no pun intended) result is a highly disturbing, occasionally grotesque, yet absolutely riveting production that still leaves audiences breathless almost six decades later. Hollywood censors always watered down the screen adaptations of Williams' plays, altering key plot points and shrouding much of the drama's meat in innuendo, yet luckily for us, a special dispensation was granted to Suddenly, Last Summer (I have no idea why) so it could address homosexuality more directly. Maybe that's one reason why the film holds up so well, because instead of being forced to read between the lines, we can follow exactly what's going on and more completely absorb the impact. Even today, it's hard to watch this movie without squirming a bit, but the uncomfortable moments are well worth enduring. Just hearing the lyrical, often poetic dialogue, which is laced with vivid imagery, and watching the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and especially Katharine Hepburn recite it is a rare privilege. Factor in Mankiewicz's marvelous direction, and you've got a cinema classic that deserves far more respect than it's gotten over the years. Maybe the lurid subject matter has tarnished the reputation and colored the perception of the film, which presents a negative, often horrific view of life on Earth. The cannibalism depicted and alluded to is more metaphoric than actual, evoking a primitive dog-eat-dog society in which only the fittest survive and the rest are grossly chewed up and spit out. In often stark terms, Williams shows us how man devours man socially, morally, economically, professionally, and sexually, and how the human appetite for power and domination at any cost is voracious and insatiable. And if that isn't enough, such familiar Williams themes as greed, family dynamics, dark secrets, and the conflict between illusion and reality percolate within that provocative framework. The story takes place in New Orleans in 1937, around the time a revolutionary brain procedure known as lobotomy begins gaining favor in the psychiatric community. For a time, the operation was a favored treatment for mental illness, especially for patients who exhibited violent tendencies or were prone to unexpected outbursts. Dr. Cukrowicz (Clift), one of the pioneering surgeons in the field, has recently joined the staff of a Louisiana state hospital that's badly in need of funding to improve its deplorable conditions. The city's richest woman, Violet Venable (Hepburn), pledges to sponsor the hospital if - and only if - Dr. Cukrowicz agrees to perform a lobotomy on her troubled niece, Catherine Holly (Taylor), who, Violet says, suffers from ghastly delusions following a traumatic European trip with her beloved and recently deceased son, Sebastian, who died "suddenly, last summer." Violet and Sebastian were abnormally close, and she speaks of him with a reverence bordering on idolatry. The two would travel together overseas each summer, but this past season, Violet was too ill to go, so he took cousin Catherine in her place. Catherine witnessed his death, supposedly from a heart attack, and soon after suffered a complete mental collapse. According to Violet, her erratic behavior includes delirious ravings (many of which involve Sebastian), angry outbursts, and sexual promiscuity. The hospitals can't handle her, so Violet believes a lobotomy is the only answer, and hopes the procedure will forever calm her niece, tame her vicious tongue (which she worries will desecrate Sebastian's legacy), and erase from her infected brain the fractured memories of that fateful summer. Yet Catherine believes she isn't that sick, and accuses Aunt Vi of purposely committing her to an awful asylum from which she cannot escape. Though tortured by Sebastian's death, Catherine has blocked out the circumstances surrounding it, and when she learns Violet has promised her mother (Mercedes McCambridge) and brother (Gary Raymond) $100,000 each from Sebastian's estate if they convince her to sign the consent papers for the lobotomy, she realizes Violet - for whatever reason - doesn't want her to remember. Dr. Cukrowicz believes Catherine's memory holds the key to a horrific mystery, and if he can unlock it, he might be able to save her from Violet, her family, and herself. Williams was quite familiar with his material. Shockingly, his mother authorized a lobotomy for his beloved sister because she was offended by her daughter's obscene speech (the incident reportedly haunted Williams for the rest of his life), and the violence Williams experienced in his own early homosexual encounters found its way into the story as well. Such intimate connections somehow make the nefarious goings-on more plausible, if not palatable, and add more meaning to the fascinating themes. Williams' fearlessness in examing such unpleasant events is admirable, but his eloquence is often awe-inspiring. If you love language, you will love this film. And if you love great acting, it's impossible not to appreciate the performances of Hepburn and Taylor, both of whom nabbed nominations for Best Actress Oscars. (Typical of such situations, the two of them most likely split the vote, and the award ended up going to Simone Signoret in Room at the Top.) Hepburn owns the first third of the movie, and her electrifying portrayal of obsessive love, abject disgust, and dreamy delusion is mesmerizing. Mankiewicz believes Taylor's turn as Catherine was "the best screen performance [she] ever gave," and he may well be right. Bold, sassy, and ultimately heartbreaking, Taylor runs the gamut of emotions, and her lengthy, fraught monologue that details Catherine's tragic trip with Sebastian crescendoes to a shattering climax. (Though a bit zaftig, Taylor still looks ravishing throughout, and caused quite a stir in a revealing white bathing suit that plays a significant part in the story and incited a firestorm of controversy at the time of the movie's release.) Clift's role is rather passive, but he projects palpable sensitivity as the doctor who helps Catherine cleanse her conscience, and McCambridge brightens up the dour doings as Catherine's simpering mother. Mankiewicz, who often coaxed first-class performances from the actors with whom he worked, weaves his magic here, too, but the real surprise is his direction. Many Mankiewicz films lack panache due to their static presentation, but an elegant fluidity pervades Suddenly, Last Summer, especially during Catherine's climactic monologue, which juxtaposes extreme close-ups of Taylor on the right side of the screen with the enactment of her memories on the left. It's quite an effect, and Mankiewicz flawlessly executes it. Suddenly, Last Summer is far from Williams' best play, but it's one of the better screen adaptations of his work. Casting an often mesmerizing spell as it embraces both beauty and horror, the film provides us with much to chew upon (this time, the pun is intended). You might not want to discuss it over dinner (especially if you're having fava beans with a nice Chianti), but it certainly merits reflection, as well as appreciation for the direction, performances, and most importantly, the writing. Bon appetit! Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray Suddenly, Last Summer arrives on Blu-ray in a limited to 3,000 edition packaged in a standard case. An eight-page booklet featuring an essay by writer Julie Kirgo, a few black-and-white scene stills, and a reproduction of the movie's poster art is tucked inside the front cover. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it. Karnataka will become free from open defecation by March 2018, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Monday. Speaking at the "Gandhi Gram Puraskar" award function in the city, the chief minister said that Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Bengaluru Rural districts and Bengaluru have already been declared free from open defecation. As many as 1,937 gram panchayats were declared free from open defecation at the programme held at the Palace Grounds. This year Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Kolar, Shivamogga, Mandya and Ramanagara have been added to the list of open defecation free districts. This includes 51 taluks, 1,937 gram panchayats and 10,340 villages," Siddaramaiah said. He said zilla panchayat presidents and officials should shoulder the responsibility making Karnataka free from open defecation by March next year. "The post of the zilla panchayat president is now equivalent to that of a Cabinet minister. Moreover, honorarium has also been fixed for them." Gandhi Gram Puraskar was conferred on 176 gram panchayats which have successfully executed rural development rojects. The award carries a purse of Rs 5 lakh. This year, an additional 25,000 students who passed the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations have enrolled for pre-university in the state. According to data with the Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE), 25,864 more students have enrolled for first PU in the 2017-18 academic year, compared to the previous year. A total of 6,38,306 students have taken admission this year in government, private, aided, bifurcated and corporation colleges. Last year, this number was at 6,12,442. Government PU colleges have the highest share in the increase, with nearly 10,000 more students. Students admitted in first PU in government colleges has increased from 1,72,619 to 1,81,443. The PU department expects these numbers to increase further as about 500 of 5,000 colleges have not submitted their admission reports, yet. This year we had an enrollment drive which is the main reason for the increase in admission to government colleges. We had an extensive advertisement campaign and we also tried to educate parents on why their children should not drop out after class X, said C Shikha, Director, DPEU. They expect the numbers to go up by 5 to 10% once all the data is obtained from the remaining colleges. After the announcement of the SSLC results, the principals of government colleges were urged to find students in their locality who had passed but not taken admission to PU colleges. Advertisement campaigns were also made to showcase the facilities available in government PU colleges and schemes offered by the government. Principals went from door-to-door with the list of students to convince parents to send their children. There were many parents who did not know about the benefits available from the government, especially for girl students, one government PU college principal said. Though the SSLC pass percentage this year was 67.87, the lowest since 2010, more students cleared the supplementary exams held in June. Compared to 26.07% in 2016, the pass percentage was 50.81 in these exams this year. The last date for admission to PU colleges without fine was extended to accommodate the students. Some officials attributed this as a reason for the increase in enrollment. Admissions data Total 2016-17: 6,12,442 2017-18: 6,38,306 Government colleges 2016-17: 1,72,619 2017-18: 1,81,443 Private colleges 2016-17: 2,55,405 2017-18: 2,72,605 The city police have intensified the search for Geethavishnu, grandson of businessman-cum-politician Audikeshavulu, who escaped from the ICU of Mallya Hospital on September 29. The police are also on the lookout for his sister Chaitanya Naidu and his friend Vinay, who helped him escape. Speaking to reporters, Police Commissioner T Sunil Kumar expressed confidence that Geethavishnu and his sister would be arrested soon. Geethavishnu, Chaitanya and Vinay went to Hyderabad from their Whitefield flat and stayed at a relatives house. The police left for Hyderabad by flight to apprehend them, after receiving information from Chaitanyas husband Rajesh Naidu. As the trio were tipped off about Rajesh Naidus arrest in Bengaluru, Vinay and Geethavishnu travelled to Tamil Nadu, while Chaitanya went in another direction. They were not at their relatives house when we went there, said a senior police officer. A police team headed to Tamil Nadu as there are leads that Geethavishnu is hiding there. Meanwhile, the police have obtained statements from six people, including actor Devarajs son Pranav Devaraj. The police had slapped notices on Pranav, Junaid, Adinarayan, Shashank, Kaiser and Faizal. The notice issued to Pranav directs him to appear before the police for questioning as he was said to be at the spot when the accident occurred. The police have issued a notice seeking explanation. We all had dinner together on September 26 and departed to our houses. I went to a friends house. Some time later, I received a message that Geethavishnu had met with an accident at South End Circle. I rushed there, he said. Was not drunk: Pranav Pranav denied that he was with Geethavishnu in the latters car. We had partied, but I had consumed neither alcohol nor ganja, he claimed. A few people spotted me with Geethavishnu. They concluded I was with him in the car, he said. The police sought details about what actually happened and he had shared the information, he said. Regarding reports that actor Prajwal Devaraj was with Geethavishnu in the car at the time of the accident, Prajwals father Devaraj said he was away in Goa for shooting. A few eye-witnesses mistook Pranav for Prajwal and spread rumours on social media that Prajwal was in the car, he said. Pranav told the police that Geethavishnus parents came to the spot and took him to Mallya Hospital for treatment. Yediyur corporator N R Ramesh has lodged separate complaints with the Jayanagar traffic, law and order police, seeking compensation for the damage caused to the pavement in the accident. Film aficionados can look forward to watching Kannada classics from 1934 when Sati Sulochana, the first talkie in the language, released. The Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy (KCA) has taken up the initiative to preserve cinematic heritage to preserve the Kannada culture. We are planning to digitally restore over 2,000 Kannada movies that are damaged or lost, S V Rajendra Singh Babu, president, KCA, told DH. The KCA decided to take up the project as the states cinematic legacy is highly endangered, as Babu put it. Original prints of several rare classics have been lost while others continue to disintegrate every day. Most of these films were damaged over the years due to poor preservation. The quality of many films has deteriorated due to clicks, hums, buzzing and broadband noise. Babu wants to use the services of thespian Kamal Haasan and ace director Shyam Benegal for the digital restoration of the classics of South India. The meeting will take place on October 7 in Chennai. Babu wants to have a similar meeting with stakeholders in Bengaluru in November to preserve old Kannada films and then submit a proposal to the state government. Each film requires between Rs 30 and Rs 40 lakh for digital restoration. Apart from government grants, the KCA plans to get Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds. Many Kannada films have stood the test of time in terms of audience reception and nostalgia. But many films face extinction owing to durability issues. Sati Sulochana (1934), the first talkie in Kannada has been lost. There is no trace of another classic Bedara Kannappa (1954) either. The KCA had to retrieve Samskara (1970) from a lab in Germany. Over 50 films produced by Mahatma Pictures, founded by Babus father D Shankar Singh in 1946, have been lost. There is no trace of the films produced by masters like B R Panthulu, B R Ranga and Hunsur Krishnamurthy. In the past, many producers borrowed money by pledging negative rights. Many negatives are in labs or with relatives of producers or financiers or with television channels. Tracing them is the real challenge, Babu said. Even as organisations and individuals picked up brooms, wore gloves and participated in the Swachh Bharath campaign at some places on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, garbage piled up at many other locations of the city. On one hand, the government is promoting Swachh Bharat. On the other, the city stinks and piles of garbage can be seen everywhere. It seems most pourakarmikas are on an extended weekend, said Umakanth, a resident of Magadi Road. The Bengaluru division of South Western Railway conducted a cleanliness campaign to mark Gandhi Jayanti and the finale of the Swachhta Hi Seva fortnight being observed by the Indian Railways. Officers, staff members, Scouts and Guides took out a rally from the railway station, carrying banners and placards with slogans on cleanliness. Volunteers from Eco-Watch of the Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development also took part in the campaign. Many Bengalureans joined hands with Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrashekars Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF) in the Swachch Bharat drive. In about 72 wards and nine lakes, citizens cleaned the garbage dumping yards and painted the walls at these places. Volunteers in Nagarabhavi were not allowed to participate in the cleanathon organised by the police as it was claimed that permission was not obtained from the BBMP, said an NBF member. To inculcate the culture of personal hygiene and cleanliness among children, especially the 16.6 lakh children who get mid-day meals, Akshaya Patra Foundation launched Swachh Vidyarthi, Swachh Vidyalaya and Swachh Griha initiatives. A cleanliness drive was organised as part of the campaign. Clean Metro The BMRCL, in association with Iskcon, conducted a cleanliness drive at 21 Metro stations. About 1,000 volunteers took part in the event to clean Metro stations as well as the surrounding areas. Volunteers, carrying brooms, walked from the Iskcon temple to RMC yard, Yeshwantpur market and other areas. They took a ride on the Metro to places like KR Market, Chickpet, Sultanpet and Banashankari. Volunteers from VMWare, an IT company, painted the JP Nagar Metro station, in association with Ugly Indians. The CPM once again failed to reach a consensus on its approach towards the Congress in a stormy polit bureau meeting on Monday to decide on the outline for draft political resolution for next years Party Congress. As there was no common ground on having truck with the Congress, sources said, the pro-Congress and anti-Congress viewpoints would now be placed before the three-day Central Committee meeting scheduled to begin on October 14. The meeting saw supporters of general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who are in a minority in the polit bureau and wants a change in partys political tactical line to accommodate the Congress, and Prakash Karat vociferously putting their point. This was the second meeting of the polit bureau within a month to finalise the outline. The factional feud in the CPM is likely to intensify in the run up to the Party Congress in Hyderabad in April next year and a section led by Karat may object to giving Yechury a second term as general secretary. With S Ramachandran Pillai crossing the 80-year-old mark, the Karat faction may toy with the idea of replacing Yechury with Brinda Karat or B V Raghavulu. Yechury was made the general secretary in 2015 though Karat, the then general secretary, and his camp were in favour of Pillai. Sources said the battle has now moved to the Central Committee that would see the Bengal unit, who is for a pro-Congress approach, and Kerala unit, which is vehemently against any tie-up with the main opposition party, fighting for supremacy. Yechury has the support of Bengal unit while Kerala unit backs Karat. While Yechury camp is arguing that the political situation has changed drastically after the 2015 Party Congress and there is a need for reviewing the line, Karat faction is of the view that all these possible changes were factored in while finalising the political line three years ago. The draft resolution will be finalised by the Central Committee in January next year and put in public domain for discussions before the Party Congress finalises it. After a delay of more than three months, Tamil Nadu government on Monday released water from Mettur dam for delta farmers to begin cultivation of Samba crops. Ministers gathered at the Stanley reservoir showered flowers as the gates opened at 9 am and water gushed forth. The dam had reached 94.84 feet against its total capacity of 120 feet when the sluice gates were opened. The dam should contain a minimum of 90 feet and 45 tmc/ft storage level for the government to open the shutters for farm activities down at the delta region. State electricity minister P Thangamani said about 2,000 cusecs has been opened initially and the amount of water released would increase to 15,000cusecs by Sunday evening. The government has already announced Rs 41 crore package for growing Samba crops, besides which the delta farmers would get subsidy for 10 Kg seeds, fertilizers and other farm implements to begin work on the crop season. The minister said the amount of water released would be increased according to the demands of the farmers. The water would help thousands of farmers in Trichy, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Pudukkotai, Ariyalur and Karur districts. Heavy rains in the catchment area for the last two weeks increased the inflow to the dam, where the storage levels reached 90 feet a few days ago. The state missed the scheduled opening of the dam on June 12, since water levels were low at 24 feet back then. As a result, the delta farmers have to entirely forego Kuruvai cultivation. Indian Air Force will have three more women fighter pilots, who are set to join the service in December 2017. The trio of Rashi Raina, Shivangi Singh and Pratibha are currently undergoing the second phase of their training at an IAF flying establishment at Hikimpet, on the completion of which they would be commissioned, sources told DH. Post-commissioning the last phase of their flight training would begin in Bidar in north Karnataka. They join the force in June 2017 after two previous rounds of searches by the IAF in 2016 to find out more women pilots for fighter flying remained futile. Rashi, Shivangi and Pratibha learn their basic flying with Pilatus PC-7 aircraft at the Air Force Academy, Dundigal after which they went to Hakimpet for the intermediate training with Kiran Mark-II aircraft. The final part of the training would happen with Hawk advanced jet trainer early next year. The commissioning of the three new girls is likely to happen weeks after the first batch of three IAF women pilots are set to create history to become part of IAF fighter squadrons following successful completion of the three phases of their training. The last part of their advanced training took place at Bidar and Kalaikunda. Their training schedule was delayed by nearly three months. The trio of Bhawna Kanth, Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh graduated from the IAF academy in Dundigal in December 2016 and subsequently proceeded to specialised fighter training. Their training is now complete. They are likely to be commissioned by December 31, 2017. Most likely they will fly the Su-30 MKI, said a source. Bhawna, Avani and Mohana volunteered for the fighter stream after the NDA government ended a gender-based combat exclusion policy in October 2015. For the first time, women were permitted in a combat role in any branches of the military in India. IAF inducted women as pilots way back in 1991 but limited the opportunity only to transport aircraft and helicopter streams. The doors of the fighter flying branch were closed for decades before the government decided to open it. Prior to the government decision, former IAF chief Arup Raha stated that women were not fit for the fighter stream as they were not strong enough. Several years ago, an IAF vice chief ran into a controversy when he stated that women should not be made fighter pilots as the money spent on training them would be wasted once they are married and get pregnant. The Navy and Army are yet to induct a woman in a combat role. Narayan Rane, who floated the new outfit Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha, has placed himself firmly behind the BJP, as he came out in all praises for Prime Minister Modis bullet train project. The veteran politician took on the Thackeray cousins, Sena chief Uddhav and MNS leader Raj, rebutting their criticism of the bullet train project. Rane had his political tutelage under late Balasaheb Thackeray and is familiar with the rank and file of both the Shiv Sena and MNS. He is also acquainted with the Congress style of politics as he spent close to 12 years in the grand old party. Despite forming his own outfit and staying silent about his future course of action, Rane said he stands for all-round development. The veteran leader quit the Congress on September 21 and resigned from the states Legislative Council. His exit led to several issues. If he wants to join the BJP-Sena government, there would be a severe backlash from the Shiv Sena, pointed out a veteran political analyst. He should also get elected to the House within six months of his swearing-in. As of now, no election is scheduled for the Council, except for the seat vacated by Rane himself. Elections for the seat will be declared in due course of time, the analyst added. Should Rane put up himself as a candidate for the vacant Council seat, he cannot expect the Congress or the Sena to support him, the analyst added. The NCP did not make its stand clear on the emerging development. Rane had claimed that he has the support of several corporators. At a time when the BJP and Sena are separated by a very thin margin in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, a few corporators joining the MSP would shift the balance of power in the city body. The Congress, by virtue of having a couple of more seats than the NCP, is the main Opposition in the state Assembly. If Ranes son Nitesh Rane quits as an MLA, the Congress and NCP would be equal and if his close aide Kalidas Kolambkar, too, steps down, the NCP would be one up and they would claim the post of Leader of the Opposition, political observers said. The BJP has 122 members in the 288-strong state Assembly, followed by the Shiv Sena with 63, the Congress 42 and NCP 41. A number of smaller parties are also represented in the Assembly. The MNS has one representative, Hitendra Thakur-led Bahujan Vikas Aghadi has three, All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen two, Peasants and Workers Party three, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha one, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh one, CPM one, Samajwadi Party one and others/independents seven. We have started distributing electricity from 5:30pm today [October 1]. We are currently providing [electricity] to nine wards in Myebon, said U Win Hlaing, Myebon townships electricity officer. A total of 1,166 meter boxes have been connected to the national power grid in Myebon, according to the township electricity office. However, the roll out has not been without some reported glitches. The power lines are not stable at the moment so some places are still in the dark. It [the electricity] began being distributed late [in the evening] so its too dark for them to do the repair, U Indasara, the chief monk of Aung Mingalar Monastery in Myebon told Narinjara News. Myebon Townships electricity office is planning to hook up the five villages within Myebon township by the end of this year. Rakhines Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Pauktaw, Ramree, and Manaung townships still lack reliable access to electricity. For the family of a seven-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered last week at Kulathupuzha in Kollam district, the ordeal appears to have only started. Three days after the childs body was found in a rubber estate in Kulathupuzha, her mother and other family members have been reportedly forced out of their home at Eroor in Anchal taluk, by local residents. The villagers claimed that the women in the family were engaged in immoral activities that led to the childs murder. Police have arrested Rajesh (38), who was in a relationship with the childs aunt and was living with the family, in connection with the murder. Facing criticism for reportedly choosing to watch public outrage from the sidelines, the police refuted reports of apathy. While confirming that there were protests against the family over the way they lived, the police said their (the familys) decision to shift to Kilimanoor in Thiruvananthapuram was a voluntary one. There were protests but the decision to temporarily relocate was the familys. They will come back; their statements have to be recorded as part of the investigation, Kollam Rural District Police chief B Asokan told DH. The childs mother and grandparents, aunt and her two children were forced to leave their home by protesting neighbours. The victims mother told reporters that she was not allowed to even have a look at her childs body. Following the protests, the girls body was shifted to her estranged fathers home, where she was buried. The mother said some of the villagers also assaulted the family. The Kerala Womens Commission initiated action in connection with the incident. The commission said security for the family would be ensured. San Diego County Crime Stoppers and investigators from the San Diego Metro Arson Strike Team (MAST) are asking for the publics help in identifying and locating an unknown suspect(s) wanted for intentionally setting two separate fires at schools in the Carmel Valley area. On Aug. 9, 2017 at approximately 9:53 p.m., an unknown suspect(s) lit a storage container on fire on the campus of Ocean Air Elementary School located at 11444 Canter Heights Drive, in San Diego. The storage container was positioned next to the exterior wall of one of the classrooms. As the fire increased in size and intensity, it traveled from the storage container into the wall of a classroom and caused an estimated $25,000 in damage. On Aug. 13, 2017, at approximately 10:23 p.m., an unknown suspect(s) lit a storage container on fire on the campus of Sage Canyon Elementary School located at 5290 Harvest Run Drive, in San Diego. The storage container was positioned next to an exterior wall of one of the school buildings. The fire sprinklers were activated and controlled the fire until firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze. A witness walking his dog in the park next to the school saw three unknown race males running towards a dark colored sedan and drove away southbound on Harvest Run Drive at a high rate of speed. Due to the nature of the fires, the close proximity of the two schools, and the times of occurrence, investigators believe the two incidents are related. Anyone with information about these arson cases is asked to call the San Diego Metro Arson Strike Team at (619) 236-6815 or the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477. Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to an arrest in this case. Visit the Crime Stoppers website at www.sdcrimestoppers.org for more information on how to send anonymous web and mobile app tips. Submitted press release By Robin McKie 2 September 2017 (The Observer) Britain must prepare itself for invasions of growing numbers of foreign sea creatures attracted by our warming waters, a new report has warned. Some newcomers could have devastating effects, others could be beneficial, say the researchers. Examples provided by the team include slipper limpets that could destroy mussel and oyster beds. By contrast, new arrivals such as the American razor clam and Pacific oyster could become the bases of profitable industries for British fishermen.The teams research also stresses that Britons will have to change their ideas about the seafood they eat as favourites will disappear from UK waters. Haddock and cod are being forced polewards as ocean temperatures rise, while flatfish like sole and plaice have nowhere suitable to go. At the same time, cuttlefish and sardines are being caught in rising numbers and are destined to become the fish of the future for Britain.The latest report, published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, provides a crystal ball that could highlight which parts of our coastlines will be most vulnerable to climate change triggered by rising atmospheric levels of greenhouse gas emissions produced by cars, factories and power plants. Sea temperatures around Britain have already risen by more than 1.5C in the past 30 years because of these changes, and scientists have warned this trend could continue for much of the rest of the century.In a few decades the temperature of our seas is likely to be roughly the same as those found in the waters around Portugal at the turn of the last century so we can expect to find the kind of marine life that existed there in British seas in the near future, said marine biologist Professor Stephen Simpson, of Exeter University. Apart from cuttlefish and sardines which are already moving into our waters we can expect fish like red mullet and john dory to be more common. By contrast the haddock is already disappearing from the southern North Sea, while plaice and sole are also becoming less and less prevalent. Fortunately, cod appears to be more resilient. [more] 22 September 2017 (United Nations) Like many other countries, Ethiopia is dealing almost every day with the adverse impacts of climate change, its Prime Minister told the United Nations General Assembly today, urging decisive action by the international community. Now is not the time to doubt the devastating impacts of climate change while millions of our fellow humans are losing their lives and their hard-won development achievements, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said during the annual high-level debate. This is high time to act and act urgently and decisively to combat the adverse impacts of climate change, particularly its disproportionate adverse effect on the most vulnerable countries, which as it has been repeatedly stated bear almost no responsibility in causing climate change, he added. He noted that Ethiopia successfully dealt with the El Nino-induced drought in 2015, but is again facing the adverse impact of climate change. While expressing appreciation to bilateral and multilateral partners for support, he said Ethiopia will continue to implement its national strategy of building a green and resilient economy. As the President of the Security Council this month, he said, Ethiopia welcomed the unanimous adoption of the draft resolution it tabled on Wednesday. Through the resolution, the 15-member body reaffirmed its determination to pursue more prioritisation when evaluating, mandating and reviewing peacekeeping operations. As one of the leading troop contributing countries, Ethiopia attaches great importance to strengthening the role of United Nations peacekeeping to address challenges to international peace and security, he said. A model has been developed which predicts the number of years of life without cardiovascular disease (CVD) people with type 2 diabetes may benefit from should they take certain medications. This prediction algorithm has been developed by the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, and could help to facilitate personalised treatment regimens. With easy-to-measure patient characteristics, we can estimate 10-year CVD risk and CVD-free life expectancy for patients with type 2 diabetes, said Gijs Berkelmans, MD, at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2017 Annual Meeting. Now, the effects of aspiri, blood pressure-lowering and lipid-lowering medication, all preventative therapies against CVD, can be analysed for individual patients to assess their risk of CVD. Our developed algorithm is able to estimate median life expectancy free of CVD and the treatment effects of lifelong preventive treatment in years/months gained without CVD for patients between 30 and 95, added Berkelmans. Because people with type 2 diabetes have a higher risk of CVD, the researchers developed the algorithm to see what extent patients gained from preventative therapies. A total of 389,366 people with type 2 diabetes were involved, with model inputs including gender, HbA1c, smoking status and blood pressure. The CVD events logged were stroke, myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke. The model used data from 75 per cent of the cohort, with treatment decision-support validated in the remaining patients. Berkelmans explained that one patient, a 55-year-old man with high blood pressure and cholesterol who was taking aspirin and statins, was estimated to have a 10-year risk of CVD of 27.1%. Following intensified treatment the patient had a 9.9% reduction in his 10-year CVD risk. The manuscript for the decision-support tool and algorithm is set to be published later this year. Berkelmans is optimistic that further research could see the tool developed to include other preventative type 2 diabetes drugs such as SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 agonists. Over 100 people attended the September 30 fundraiser in Mae Sot, which brought together artists, musicians, and Karen culture organizations. International donor funding for the Ei Tu Hta Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp came to an end last month. Camp officials have said there is enough food stored in the warehouse to last until November, after that, the approximately 2,000 camp residents do not know what they will eat. The residents have refused to return home unless the Karen Nation Union (KNU) can guarantee their relocation into an area under the armed groups control, as opposed to a return to their original villages where the Tatmadaw continues to operate outposts. Chi Suwichan, a Karen artist based in Thailand who helped organize the Tears of Ei Tu Hta fundraising drive, called the program an emergency event. We aim to find a solution to help our refugee brothers, he said. The organizers of the fundraiser said all rations and funds collected will be donated to the Ei Tu Hta camps supporting committee. No matter where one lives, a Karen has the duty to help if another Karen is having difficulties, said Naw Knyaw Paw, secretary of the Karen Womens Organization, who attended the fundraiser. Around 2,000 people are currently living at the Ei Tu Hta camp on the shoreline of the Salween River in Hpapun district, Kayin (Karen) State. The camp was established in 2006 amid fighting between the Tatmadaw and the KNU. At the beginning of September, the Ei Tu Hta IDP camps supporting committee submitted letters to international donors requesting that financial support be extended beyond the planned September cut-off date. The committee told KIC last week that no reply was received. The Australian Karen Organization also held a separate fundraiser for the Ei Tu Hta camp in Sydney, Australia on September 30. 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. Subscriber content preview The new legislation includes money to build housing and policies to speed up stalled construction. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) With one of the nation's most expensive cities as his backdrop, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday aimed at tackling California's growing affordable housing crisis. More than a dozen bills make up the package Brown signed outside a San Francisco affordable housing complex. They include money to build more affordable housing and policies to speed up stalled construction. Lawmakers and advocates cheer the package as the most significant housing policy to come out of Sacramento in years. . . . Subscriber content preview SEATTLE (AP) A judge has certified a lawsuit against Honey Bucket as a class action, allowing residents in Pacific who have complained of odors to join the case. The Seattle Times reports that initially, four neighbors filed a lawsuit against Northwest Cascade and its Honey Bucket and FloHawks divisions, stating that odors, gases and fumes exacerbated their asthma, caused headaches and devalued their properties. . . . Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web Subscriber content preview LONDON (AP) Getting anywhere on the planet in under an hour one of the more intriguing possibilities that Elon Musk, the billionaire innovator, raised as he unveiled plans for a new rocket. Musk said the vessel would both take off and land vertically, like a space rocket. It would fly most routes New York to Tokyo, for example in about 30 minutes, and anywhere in under an hour. . . . Subscriber content preview Only twice during the quarter did investors have to stomach a day where the fund lost more than 1 percent. By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK Utopia is still in effect for fund investors. Funds of all types again powered higher in the third quarter, as stocks and bonds around the world rose in unison. Not only did investors get strong returns from their funds, they also got them with remarkably few headaches along the way. . . . Subscriber content preview SEATTLE A warehouse-distribution building at 13537 Aurora Ave. N. sold for $7.2 million, according to King County records. The seller was the nonprofit John Volken Foundation, which acquired the property in 2000 for almost $1.6 million. The buyer was Summer Aurora LLC, which is associated with a private investor in North Seattle. . . . Subscriber content preview BURIEN Irvine, California-based REIT Sabra Health Care has bought its third local nursing home. Burien Nursing and Rehabilitation, at 1031 SW 130th St., sold for $17.8 million, according to King County records. The seller was Burien Health Care Realty LLC, which acquired the property for almost $5 million in 2008. . . . Architecture in Abu Dhabi, business in Beijing and content creation in Cambodia these are just some of the incredible #DMUglobal opportunities available from today.Almost 50 trips have gone live on the # DMUglobal website for students at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) the single largest launch of trips yet. Phnom Penh, Cambodia An incredible variety of experiences and countries have been put together by DMUglobal, set up to bring a new dimension to studies as well as enriching personal experiences. Students from all years can choose from opportunities in locations as wide-ranging as China, Guatemala, India, Prague, Paris and Florida. Trips have been put together to benefit students across all four of DMU's faculties, Health and Life Sciences, Business and Law, Technology and Arts, Design and Humanities as well as volunteering trips run by DMU Square Mile. It includes a flagship mass trip to New York in January but there is plenty more besides which will add value, enrich student experience and capture the imagination.Each trip has been put together by course leaders and lecturers to underpin materials studied, core modules or develop key themes on degree courses at DMU.John Coster, lecturer in the Faculty of Technology, is leading a trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for Media Production students.Students will help compile an oral history of the country including the experiences of people living under the Khymer regime of the 1970s. He said: "The #DMUglobal trip to Cambodia is truly a unique opportunity for our students. Working alongside students from one of South-East Asia's newest universities, we shall be capturing the stories of women from a period in Cambodia's history that is still shapes the world we live in today. Beijing, China This trip offers the chance to experience this beautiful country alongside students who are determined to shape there future going into the 21st century." Business students can travel to Italy to study the ways in which SMEs and big business work together to thrive in Trieste, which has become a centre for creative businesses. Students from the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences have the opportunity to deconstruct the American Dream as they examine health inequalities and poverty in Florida, and the responses of communities to those issues. Architecture students have the chance to look at sustainable urban planning in Abu Dhabi, while politics students can visit Washington DC as part of their examination of American politics. All fee-paying students who accept their place onto an overseas #DMUglobal experience will be eligible for a bursary - 150 for a European visit, and 400 for an opportunity outside of Europe. The Film Studies visit to Wonder Con in Los Angeles has been a fixture in the #DMUglobal calendar for three years and is led by Associate Professor Matt Jones. It is tied into the Audiences and Fandom module taught to second year students. Matt said: The students get so much from taking part in this. It develops their thinking about fan cultures and how it relates to peoples lives and its a fun experience. The Donegal Democrat has been informed of the following deaths: - Moya Gallagher, Gortahork - Patrick Joseph Jordan, The Port, Inver - Anna Stewart, Brambles, Ramelton - Hughie McCloskey, Listillion, Letterkenny - John McCafferty, Ernedale Heights, Ballyshannon - Howard Rutherford, Main Street, Kilmacrenan - Michael James Pat Gallagher, Cleendara, Dungloe - Michael Hugh McGauran, Rossmore, Belleek, Co. Fermanagh Moya Gallagher, Gortahork The death has occurred of Moya Gallagher, late of Gortahork. Her remains are reposing at her late residence. Removal today, Monday, October 2nd, going to Christ the King Church, Gortahork for 11am requiem Mass with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only, donations in lieu if desired to Portnablagh nursing home comfort fund c/o any family member or McClafferty Funeral Directors Gortahork. House private with friends and neighbours welcome. Patrick Joseph Jordan, The Port, Inver The death has occurred of Patrick Joseph Jordan, late of The Port, Inver. His remains will be reposing at Gallaghers Funeral Home, Station Road, Mountcharles tomorrow, Monday, October 2, from 3.30pm with removal to St. Nauls Church, Ardaghey to arrive at 8pm. Funeral Mass is on Tuesday morning at 11am with burial afterwards in the local cemetery. Family flowers only, donations in lieu if so desired to Donegal Community Hospital, Donegal Town c/o Gallaghers Funeral Home Mountcharles. Anna Stewart, Brambles, Ramelton The death has taken place of Anna Stewart, late of Brambles, Ramelton. Her remains reposing at her late residence. Funeral service on Monday, October 2nd, at 1.30pm in Ramelton Presbyterian Church with burial afterwards in Bank Cemetery. House private please. Neighbours, family and friends welcome. Family time from 10pm until 10am . Family flowers only, donations in lieu if desired to Ramelton Presbyterian Church. Hughie McCloskey, Listillion, Letterkenny The death has taken place at Letterkenny University Hospital of Hughie McCloskey, late of Listillion, Letterkenny. His remains reposing at his home. Funeral from there on Monday 2nd October at 10.15am going to Church of the Irish Martyrs for Requiem Mass at 11am. Interment afterwards to New Leck Cemetery. Family time between 11pm to 10am and on the morning of the funeral John McCafferty, Ernedale Heights, Ballyshannon The deaths has taken place at the Rock Nursing Home, Ballyshannon of John McCafferty, late of 36 Ernedale Heights, Ballyshannon, and Killeem , Ballyshannon. Reposing at his son Billy McCaffertys Home, Killeem , Ballyshannon. Funeral from there going to St Patricks church on Monday for 11am requiem mass with burial afterwards in the Abbey Cemetery,. House private on the morning of the funeral please , family flowers only, donations if desired to the Rock Nursing Unit, Ballyshannon, C/O John McGee Funeral Director or any family member. Howard Rutherford, Main Street, Kilmacrenan The deaths has occurred of Howard Rutherford, late of Main Street, Kilmacrenan, Reposing at the residence of his Son Trevor and Ruth Rutherford, at Cashleenan , Kilmacrenan.. Funeral from there on Monday, October 2, at 1.15pm going to Kilmacrenan Church of Ireland for Service at 2pm. Burial afterwards in the adjoining Cemetery. Family time from 10pm until 10am . Family flowers only please. Donations if desired to Kilmacrenan Church of Ireland c/o any family member. People are asked to park at the Church of Ireland Car Park, Kilmacrenan, bus will be provided from there. Michael James Pat Gallagher, Cleendara, Dungloe The death has occurred in Letterkenny University Hospital of Michael James Pat Gallagher, late of Cleendara, Dungloe. His remains are reposing in McGlynns Funeral Home. Viewing today, Monday October 2nd, from 1pm with removal at 6pm going to St Patricks Church, Meenacross, for 6:30pm to repose overnight. Funeral mass on Tuesday at 11am with interment afterwards in Dungloe cemetery. Michael Hugh McGauran, Rossmore, Belleek, Co. Fermanagh The death has taken place of Michael Hugh McGauran at the Grann Abbey nursing home. Removal from the nursing home on Monday at 5.45pm to arrive at Saint Michaels Church, Mulleek, for 7pm. Mass of the Resurrection on Tuesday at 11am followed by Interment in adjoining cemetery. Family home Private please. If you wish to have a death notice included here, email us at editorial@donegaldemocrat.com. Please include a telephone number for verification. RESIDENTS in Louth are being urged to nominate local heroes for the People of the Year Awards 2017. Celebrities and former winners are calling on members of the public to nominate family, friends and colleagues - ordinary people who have done extraordinary things in the county. The awards, which are organised by Rehab Group, will be broadcast on RTE One on Saturday, March 3. Now in its 43rd year, Miriam OCallaghan will present the hit show at The Round Room in the Mansion House. Miriam described the awards as a "prestigious opportunity" to nominate somebody who deserves recognition. "If you know somebody who has gone above and beyond the call of duty, the People of the Year Awards is the ideal way to honour them," said Miriam. "Throughout my career Ive travelled all over Ireland and the globe, and have witnessed the amazing work and sacrifices that people make. The Awards reveal Irelands courageous spirit and remarkable achievements." Miriam added: Its such a fantastic national celebration which recognises some truly amazing people across Ireland, from all communities and backgrounds. "We all known people who deserve recognition, so I hope people get nominating their hero." The winners, who are all nominated by the Irish public, are finalised by a panel of adjudicators. In being selected for Cedar-Sinai Medical Centres health tech accelerator, CancerAid has become the first-ever Australian startup to participate in the Los Angeles-based, Techstars-powered boot camp. Founded in August 2015 by doctors Nikhil Pooviah and Raghav Murali-Ganesh from the Chris OBrien Lifehouse cancer hospital in Sydney, CancerAid is a cancer support app that helps patients and their caregivers navigate through each stage of their cancer experience, receive care remotely and reduce the isolation that comes with a diagnosis. It has become the number one cancer app on the Apple Store in Australia, the UK and the USA, with more than 40,000 users across 24 countries. In June, the founding team appeared on Channel Tens Shark Tank, securing a $500,000 investment from entrepreneurs Andrew Banks and Dr Glen Richards, with more than $1.3 million in capital raised by startup within the last year. Throughout the three-month Cedar-Sinai accelerator, CancerAid will receive mentoring from the medical centres physicians and executive as well as executives from global entrepreneur network Techstars. The startup, which joins nine other participants, will also receive an initial investment of USD $120,000 in exchange for equity and access to Techstars worldwide network of investors, mentors, alumni and corporate partners. Doctors Pooviah (CEO) and Murali-Ganesh (COO) spoke to Dynamic Business about the opportunity to participate in the Cedar-Sinai Accelerator. DB: What growth will the accelerator help unlock? Pooviah: The growth opportunities are the real reason we are participating and the deployment of CancerAid in one of the most reputable US hospitals, Cedars-Sinai, affords us important recognition. The network of both Techstars and Cedars-Sinai are huge and having the ability to leverage this is very valuable to us. The accelerator offers us an opportunity to expand our operations into the US market whilst leveraging the wider Techstars network helps us scale our growth. The learnings from the program help us understand the US healthcare landscape, which is crucial to entering a new market. DB: What sort of validation does being selected provide? Murali-Ganesh: The validation is great especially receiving it from leading institutions (both Techstars and Cedars-Sinai). It also shows the potential for health tech startups from Australia garnering interest from overseas markets and hopefully, it will bring further opportunities for us in the US and back in Australia. DB: Why was it important to venture outside Australia? Pooviah: One of the reasons we started CancerAid was to help as many cancer patients that we can. Expanding our operations into the US allows us the opportunity to reach millions of patients and their families. Our user base in the US had grown significantly over the past few months, so it was only natural that our operations would as well. We are a global business with our HQ in Australia, so whilst we are still looking for opportunities in Australia and will continue to do so, it is great to showcase an Australian innovation on a global scale though and this was a driver for us to participate in this program. DB: Will you both remain in the US following the boot camp? Murali-Ganesh: As CancerAid is a global business, we will both have to travel. At present, the US and Australia are where we see the opportunities for CancerAid and so will continue to explore them. Bowalley Road Rules The blogosphere tends to be a very noisy, and all-too-often a very abusive, place. I intend Bowalley Road to be a much quieter, and certainly a more respectful, place. So, if you wish your comments to survive the moderation process, you will have to follow the Bowalley Road Rules. These are based on two very simple principles: Courtesy and Respect. Comments which are defamatory, vituperative, snide or hurtful will be removed, and the commentators responsible permanently banned. Anonymous comments will not be published. Real names are preferred. If this is not possible, however, commentators are asked to use a consistent pseudonym. Comments which are thoughtful, witty, creative and stimulating will be most welcome, becoming a permanent part of the Bowalley Road discourse. However, I do add this warning. If the blog seems in danger of being over-run by the usual far-Right suspects, I reserve the right to simply disable the Comments function, and will keep it that way until the perpetrators find somewhere more appropriate to vent their collective spleen. What can you do in one minute? One minute every month is all it takes to save yourself from breast cancer. Do the self-breast exam once a month seven days after menstruation or every first week of the month. Male and female alike should be doing it as men are not spared from breast cancer as well. If you see something unusual like discharge or lump go and get help. In the Philippines, once you find yourself needing an examination call these numbers Globe 0917155PINK (7465)or SMART 0928524PINK (7465) . Its absolutely #FREE! Dont let your fears stop you from getting help. The less time you waste procrastinating on taking your health for granted the more you save yourself and your family from breast cancer. Did you know that breast cancer is the number 1 cancer killer in the Philippines all because we shove doing the self-breast exam. One minute is all it takes to do it. You can do it lying down or standing up. Google for ways how to. This year, Avon Philippines Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer campaign focuses on the importance of taking a Pink Minute to make breast self-examination a part of every womans habits. Join the Avon #PinkMinute Advocates in the fight against breast cancer this #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth by following Avon PH KGBC on Facebook. An Avon Pink Minute bus will also roam around EDSA which you can get on and have a test. Avail of it while in traffic and use the pink minute for a worthy cause. If you need anything else let me know via DM or the comment section below. Here are the 10 Facts You Need to Know About Breast Cancer. Stay gorgeous everyone! READ THE SPEECH DELIVERED BY SIR SUMA CHAKRABARTI President Chakrabarti visits Helsinki for talks with government and businesses EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti has used a visit to Helsinki to express the Banks gratitude for the support it enjoys from Finland and to appeal to the government and business representatives to intensify the cooperation. During his one-day stay in the Finnish capital President Chakrabarti met Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo, delivered a keynote speech at a seminar about Building successful economic transition and participated in a business development event with local companies. He gave interviews to the daily Helsingin Sanomat and the public broadcaster Yle. Finland is a founding member of the EBRD and the Banks joint investment with Finnish companies stood at 4.7 billion at the end of 2016. The country is also a longstanding donor and to date has provided 75 million to the Bank for donor-supported projects and activities. One area of special importance for Finland is support for small businesses and Helsinki has contributed almost 2 million to more than 100 advisory projects. President Chakrabarti said: I am very pleased to visit Helsinki for the second time since assuming my role as head of the EBRD. The country has always pursued goals that are also priorities for the Bank, such as private sector development, support for the green economy, gender equality and inclusion. The visit provided me with an excellent opportunity to encourage our Finnish partners to further intensify our excellent cooperation along our shared values and goals. During his visit to Helsinki the EBRD President was accompanied by a delegation of senior management, which included the Banks Chief Economist, Sergei Guriev, the Director of Donor Co-Financing, Camilla Otto, and the Director of Business Development, Philip ter Woort. The delegation had additional business meetings to deepen the cooperation between the Bank and Finland. In his speech at the transition seminar at the University of Helsinki, EBRD President Chakrabarti paid tribute to the achievements of Finland, which celebrates 100 years of independence this year, by saying: I want to acknowledge Finlands very special status as a source of inspiration for many of the countries where the EBRD invests. As the EBRDs work to promote the transition to market-oriented economies continues, we look to Finland for support, for ideas and for inspiration. Delivered by: Sir Suma Chakrabarti, EBRD President Venue: University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Event: Seminar: Building successful economic transition Ladies and gentlemen It is an honour to be invited to speak about transition amidst some genuine experts in the field. On my travels around the EBRD regions, when appropriate, I preface my public remarks with warm words about the host country being a founding shareholder of the Bank. And pay tribute to its generosity as a donor supporting our work. This is most definitely the case with Finland. However, today I want to salute your country for some rather different reasons. I want to acknowledge Finlands very special status as a source of inspiration for many of the countries where the EBRD invests. This is true of the Finland of today at the end of 2017 a country at the political, if not the geographical, heart of Europe. It is true of the Finland of history, the country which is this year celebrating the 100th anniversary of its independence. And it is also true of the Finland of yesteryear, the Finland which suffered so deep a recession at the start of the 1990s. It is that Finland whose real GDP declined by 11 percent and where unemployment quadrupled over three years. The Finland that then recovered and came out the other side stronger, building an economy that is today both inclusive and knowledge-based. It is that Finland too which inspires your neighbours, many of whom now stand alongside you within the European Union, and countries further afield which dream of EU accession at some point in the future. That period of the early 1990s is of special significance to the EBRD as well. It coincided with our birth, itself the consequence of the extraordinary events that precipitated what is now known as the Finnish Great Depression. This was the era in which the EBRD was set up as a multilateral financial institution of a new kind, one which was supposed to serve as a unique structure of co-operation. The EBRD was devoted then, as it is still today, to the goal of transition, transition towards sustainable market-oriented economies. Or, to put it another way, to help the countries where we work become more like Finland. To achieve those goals we invest in changing lives and delivering economic opportunities for all. Note the proviso for all. We want no groups left behind on this, our common journey. Of course, just like you in Finland, we have not stood still in our understanding of what makes for a successful market-oriented economy. The years since our creation have deepened, broadened and refined our appreciation of what that success might look like and how to promote its development. We have also learnt lessons from the experience of countries which were not able to follow Finlands example and became, to borrow the title of one of the EBRDs recent annual Transition Reports, Stuck in Transition. This was not just an academic exercise, although it was of considerable interest to academic economists. For the EBRD, updating the way we define transition is a basis for action, for better defining what our objectives are whenever we invest in or offer advice to our clients and partners. I am going to do a quick run through of five of what we now call our transition qualities. And then spend rather more time on number six. The countries where we work have to be more competitive because greater competition means lower prices, more innovation, and better value for consumers, as well as more growth. They need to be better governed because good governance and the rule of law promote trust, fairness and cohesion, and the political legitimacy of the market economy. Good governance also encourages investment. They must be greener because a genuinely sustainable economy should protect natural resources and the environment in the interest of all, including generations to come. They have to be more resilient because, with progress vulnerable to reversals, sustainable economies need to withstand turbulence and shocks. And their economies need to be more integrated because integration, within and across borders, empowers both entrepreneurs and consumers. Thats five so called transition qualities. Last but not least comes the sixth, Inclusion. A modern market economy also needs to be more inclusive because growth should benefit entire societies. This is the quality that I want to dwell on. And it is one about which Finland has a lot to teach our EBRD countries of operation and many others. Globalisation and the shift to market economies in our regions have resulted in huge benefits, with countries on average becoming much more prosperous over the last quarter of a century. But not everyone has benefited equally from this transformation. Some have even lost out. Yes, our regions have enjoyed impressive growth and have in fact converged with the West. But some people have benefited less than others. Those who lack opportunities due to their gender, age, place of birth or other circumstances, tend to live shorter and less healthy lives. They are unfortunately unable to break the vicious circle of poor education, low skills and limited employment prospects. Their children also have fewer chances to prosper in the future. The result is a rising perception of inequality and unfairness, which in turn undermines faith in the market economy and indeed democracy itself. It has also created the paradox whereby countries which decisively rejected the enforced equality that was a defining characteristic of the old command economies are now turning against its opposite. They are reacting, sometimes vehemently, against what they see as the excesses of inequality. They still believe that talent and hard work should be rewarded. But they object to the situation whereby success is driven by political connections, place of birth, gender, ethnicity or family wealth. To counter all this, our vision of an inclusive market economy promises anyone, regardless of their gender, place of birth, family background, age or any other circumstances over which they have no control, full and fair access to labour markets, finance and entrepreneurship and, more generally, economic opportunity. In the future, we will also explore ways of broadening this approach to include other groups that encounter obstacles to their development, such as ageing populations, refugees or minority communities. Our vision is about far more than economic efficiency on its own. Beyond its role in creating well functioning markets, fair and equitable access to economic opportunity is essential for encouraging broad support for market reforms and, ultimately, sustainable market economies. If everyone has a real chance to succeed in life, they are more far likely to join the workforce, pursue education or contribute to economic growth in other ways. This, in turn, will strengthen the transition towards market-oriented economies as a whole. I could cite any number of EBRD projects which are promoting these very goals. They create pathways into jobs and training for young people, women and rural populations. At the same time, they also address the challenges businesses face due to skills shortages, lack of workforce diversity or poor access to new markets. They also include projects which provide women entrepreneurs with credit lines and business advisory services. Or projects which improve access to water supplies, and thus enhance economic opportunities for men and women in remote regions. That is what we are already doing to promote Inclusion in the more than three dozen countries, across three continents, where we work. But there is another approach open to us in our efforts to further the cause of Inclusion. We can point to those countries whose achievements in this field are themselves exemplary. Countries where regional inequality is very low. Where education outcomes are very high. Where the gender pay gap and the gender labour force participation gap are low. Where womens attendance in science and technology programmes is high even compared to that of its progressive neighbours. Countries such as Finland. I realise that the people of Finland, especially young people, still face challenges, in finding rewarding jobs, for example. And I also accept that many of the EBRD countries will not be able to turn themselves into a new Finland, at least not immediately. But a few have all but managed it and within the last 25 years as well. Others and I include the EBRD in this category have a lot to learn from Finlands success in the field of Inclusion and some of the other transition qualities I listed earlier. Ladies and gentlemen, our work to promote the transition to market-oriented economies in the EBRD regions continues. And, as you can see, we look to Finland for support, for ideas and for inspiration. Thank you very much. News / National by Stephen Jakes People's Democratic Party Midlands South Province have congratulated the new interim leader Licia Matibenga for assuming the Presidency after the faction led by Godern Moyo purportedly fired the party leader Tendai Biti and his strong men and women over the arbitrary signing of the MDC Alliance.Midlands said they were congratulating Her Excellence Madam President Lucia Matibenga on her elevation to the position of President of the People's Democratic Party."Matibenga's elevation is the greatest democratic action ever taken in the political history of Zimbabwe. As PDP Midlands South, we stand guided by the Party's constitution that we will remain loyal to the principles of social democracy. We believe that whatever is done for the people, should be done with the people," said the party structure!"The party's resolution of the 28 September 2017 General Council was a milestone in the orange family as it reassures the people of Zimbabwe of how committed we are to the values of social democracy in line with our constitution. The resolutions of just ended General Council (28/09/2017) were not reached out of hatred of anyone, regionalism, tribalism or anti-convergence, as some comrades would want to put it."The structure said they were born out of disciplined cadreship and loyalty to their party's founding principles."As the PDP Midlands South Provincial Assembly we want to make it clear that no one was fired from the party but the General Council just acknowledged the departure of some comrades from the orange family. As a Province, we hope that the comrades who left the party for the MDC Alliance will sobber up some day and get to appreciate the principles of social democracy which should always underpin our actions/behaviour. The rebellious comrades will always be welcome back to the orange family, should they show sufficient cause for readmission. PDP Midlands South Provincial Assembly congratulates our patriotic leadership for the courage to be different and commitment to build a powerful political institution," said the structure. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made headlines this week at Harvard University. Im still confused as to why Harvard invited her to speak at an event allegedly focused on public educationshe never attended a public school, never sent her own children to a public school, never studied education, and has never taught anyone anythingand the reaction to her talk suggests that a lot of folks agree with me. Perhaps because Betsy doesnt know much about schoolsor studentsor teachersor education, she tends to reach for analogies for what schools are like that just dont make much sense. Her last tortured analogy was that schools should be run like Uber How many of you got here today in an Uber, or Lyft, or another ridesharing service? Did you choose that because it was more convenient than hoping a taxi would drive by? Even if you didnt use a ridesharing service, Im sure most of you at least have the app on your phone. Just as the traditional taxi system revolted against ridesharing, so too does the education establishment feel threatened by the rise of school choice. In both cases, the entrenched status quo has resisted models that empower individuals. Nobody mandates that you take an Uber over a taxi, nor should they. But if you think ridesharing is the best option for you, the government shouldnt get in your way. Betsys analogy here conveniently ignores the fact that taxi companies are not remotely like public schools. Taxi companies are not publicly owned or operated; they are not funded by taxpayer dollars; they are not governed by elected school boards; they are not responsible for serving all of a communitys residents. Her analogy also omits the inconvenient truth that ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft have competed unfairly with taxi companies in many major metropolitan areas by relying upon unqualified and uncertified drivers, and paying those drivers at rates that are much lower than the prevailing wage for cab drivers in that region. Further, due to a lack of regulations, there have been many reported incidents of Uber drivers behaving inappropriately, including sexually assaulting their passengers. Recently, Ubers CEO, Travis Kalanick, was forced to resign amidst allegations of harassment, discrimination and an aggressive culture, suggesting that the ride sharing companys corporate culture, management style, and lax oversight procedures (Neither Uber nor Lyft uses fingerprints or law enforcement to background-check their drivers. And Uber doesnt even bother to meet with drivers in person before allowing them to ferry passengers.) were rotting from the head. Hmmmcomplete lack of regulatory guidelineshiring unqualified employeesunderpaying and overworking their employeesrefusing to let their employees unionizeCEO scandals and predatory business practicesmaybe Betsy was thinking that Ubers model reminded her of how charter schools are run? But I digress Ms. DeVos most recent fractured fairy tale about schools is that they are likeget ready for this onefood trucks! Near the Department of Education, there arent many restaurants. But you know what food trucks started lining the streets to provide options, DeVos said. Some are better than others, and some are even local restaurants that have added food trucks to their businesses to better meet their customers needs. Now, if you visit one of those food trucks instead of a restaurant, do you hate restaurants? Or are you trying to put grocery stores out of business? she asked. No. You are simply making the right choice for you based on your individual needs at the time. Peter Greene (aka Curmudgucation) points out why this is such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea Note that DeVos continues to drift further and further away from any interest in accountability for quality in this analogy we pick the choice that tastes good, and if it happens to be unhealthy or toxic or laced with fried dog meat, none of that matters. Taste is not a bad guide for matters of food, but with schools, what tastes good today is not necessarily what will best serve the student, the family, the community and the nation over the coming decades. Tastes good this moment and provides a solid education for a lifetime are two entirely different metrics. Like every other commercial enterprise, the food trucks of DC are not geared to handle all customers. There are many reasons that comparing schools to businesses is a huge fail, but this is one of the hugestthere is no business sector in this country built on the idea of serving every single person in the country. Each food truck operates on the idea that some people will eat there and other people wont, and as long as enough people eat there, the food truck is good. But if there are people who dont eat at any of the food trucks, some people who dont eat at allwell, that is not the food truck operators problem. At the risk of being pedantic (sorry, occupational hazard), let me join Mr. Greene in helping Ms. DeVos understand why comparing public schools to food trucks, or even to restaurants, makes so little sense Restaurants and food trucks serve very different purposes. If Im looking to celebrate a special occasion, like a birthday, anniversary, or promotion, I make a reservation at a favorite restaurant, not a food truck. If I think of a meal as an opportunity to engage in thoughtful conversation with special friends, savor delicious food and drink, and linger in a beautiful atmosphere, I seek out a fantastic restaurantnot a food truck. On the other hand, if Im in a hurry and need to grab a quick bite to eat, the food truck beats most restaurants hands down. The point is that, in spite of what Ms. DeVos is suggesting here, food trucks cant replace restaurants. Even if they may be more convenient at times, or cheaper, food trucks are not a substitute for a full-service restaurantin much the same way that charter schools are not a substitute for traditional public schools. And pretending that they are is either naive or ignorant. Or both. Food trucks do not offer, and are not required to provide, the same range of services as restaurants, and are therefore competing on an uneven playing field. Restaurants in most places are required to provide rest rooms for their patronsnot so for food trucks, where a stack of napkins and the occasional wet nap is all youre going to get. This difference in what constitutes the overhead costs for restaurants vs. food trucks means that the initial investment to get in to the food truck arena is usually just a fraction of what it takes to open a full-service restaurant. Restaurants are also subject to regular inspections for food safety and cleanlinessregulations that have posed a significant hurdle for many in the food truck business. Similar discrepancies are present in the education sector, where charter schools in states like Michigan are held to only the most perfunctory of regulatory oversight, while the public schools in the state are subjected to much higher levels of accountability and scrutiny. Another advantage for food trucks is that they do not have to pay property taxes, unlike brick-and-mortar restaurants. Charter schools that co-locate in public school buildings often reap similar advantages in terms of facilities costs, further skewing the playing field in their favor. The result? Like playing billiards on a slanted surface. The most successful restaurants offer a full menu, provide options for all customers (from gluten free, to vegan, to lactose intolerant), and become a part of their local community. Food trucks, on the other hand, tend to focus on one narrow cuisine or style of food (tacos, Jamaican food, , rarely offer a variety of menu options for those with food allergies or preferences, and are less tied to a specific location or customer base. In fact, this transportability is lauded as a feature, not a bug, by the food truck industry (If one site isnt profitable, youve got wheels! Just move to where the paying customers are located.) If school choice cheerleaders like Betsy DeVos really want to run our countrys educational system like a business, then lets at least even the playing field. Lets hold charter schools to the same accountability metrics that we expect of traditional public schools. Lets require charters to provide the same range of services, such as special education and arts programs, as traditional public schools are required to offer. Lets require charter schools to accept all students that apply, like real public schools are required to donot hold lotteries for seats, as though a child education was something youre lucky to win, and not a constitutional right. Lets require charters to hire teachers that are fully qualified and certified in their content areasand no, a 5 week stint at a summer camp doesnt count, Teach for Americaeven if you call it an institute. And if those teachers decide that belonging to a union would be a good idea, dont allow the charter management company to respond by locking the doors and closing the school 2 weeks before the beginning of the school year. (Yes, this really did happen.) Lets make sure that all public schools, including charters, are fully integrated into their local communities, and accountable to those communities by virtue of local governancenot run by authorizers and charter management corporations that are more concerned with turning a profit than with educating and nurturing that communitys children. And lets start leveling this playing field by requiring that our countrys Secretary of Education have the qualifications to really lead our public schoolsand not be committed to an agenda of choice, competition, and privatization that is designed to destabilize the very schools she is sworn to support. By the way, I hear theres an opening in Trumps Cabinet for a Secretary of Health and Human Servicesthe agency thats in charge of the Food and Drug Administrationwhich is one of the federal entities responsible for regulating food safety Betsys dream of running the nations food trucks is finally within reach! [CC food truck photo credit: Edsel Little | Flickr] Neither the El Musel regasification plant nor the rest of the gas infrastructure proposed for our country will be necessary in the coming decades, under any of the scenarios studied in a report recently published by the European Commission. Neither the El Musel regasification plant nor the rest of the gas infrastructure proposed for our country will be necessary in the coming decades, under any of the scenarios studied in a report recently published by the European Commission. This is the conclusion of the Follow-up study to the LNG and storage strategy [1] published by the Directorate General for Energy and Transport of the European Commission. The study affirms that, under the scenarios which have been considered, the existing European infrastructure can satisfy the requirements of the gas system even under the most extreme conditions, given that usage is not forecast to increase in either Spain or Italy. The document indicates that use of LNG terminals [2] in Europe is very diverse, but was generally low in 2016 (0 %-36 %), with Italian and Greek terminals showing the highest figures. As for future projections, a substantial increase is expected in usage from 2020 to 2025, with Lithuanian, Polish and Portuguese terminals doubling their usage and Turkish terminals tripling it. Terminals in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom would also start to see usage increase if global LNG supply were to increase, and in this case only, the Dutch terminal would also see more significant usage (25 %) [3]. A scenario in which LNG supply was at a high level would also be beneficial to Turkish, Polish and Croatian LNG terminals. However, Spain, along with Greece, Portugal, Italy and Malta would not be implicated in this scenario, and so would continue with a LNG usage level of 20 % until 2020, or even less by 2025. Given that such scenarios do not include the El Musel regasification plant, putting the plant into operation is unjustified. Additionally, it would incur extra costs, increasing the new tariff deficit for gas. With reference to the usage of subterranean storage facilities, although the document recognises the important part they play in offering seasonal flexibility to the European market, the study shows that their usage is decreasing over time (7 % in the EU28) despite current storage obligations in many countries. It also indicates that according to the results of the models, an optimistic future is not forecast for these storage facilities, given that there has been a general fall in their use. In the case of Spanish subterranean storage facilities, the projected fall is from 100 % at present to 89 % in 2025. This calls into question the necessity of new projects such as the Donana natural gas storage facilities, even without considering their geological, social and environmental impacts. In relation to gas pipeline projects on the Iberian Peninsula, none of the scenarios examined suggested good results. There was no scenario under which the third Portugal-Spain Interconnection Point had no flows, except the scenario EUCO30 [4], with a low global LNG supply, and with the France-Spain Interconnection (Midcat) seeing no flow by 2025 under the scenario of high LNG supply, and used only in the direction from France to Spain in January under the scenario of low LNG supply, and in the 7-day peak (should the cash LNG market not be available to Spain for one week). Given all these considerations, Ecologists in Action of Asturias condemns the continued insistence on launching unnecessary projects, and also argues that the El Musel Regasification Plant is illegal. The development of this plant represents an attempt by the energy industry, aided by disastrous governmental energy policies, to obstruct the development of renewable energies, which have great potential to generate employment as well as promoting energy self-sufficiency. Notas [1] Follow-up study to the LNG and storage strategy by Borbala Takacsne Toth (REKK ), Adrienn Selei (REKK), Peter Kotek (REKK), Akos Beothy (REKK) David Layton (Tractebel ) Peter Cameron (Energy Markets Global), Abdul Jalil Jumriany (Energy Markets Global) [2] This refers to any structure created to store liquefied natural gas. These may include special tanks, ships or even built structures. Port infrastructure and pipelines also form part of LNG terminals. Liquefied natural gas terminals can be divided into two types: liquefaction terminals and regasification or reception terminals. [3] Currently, it is the terminal which has the lowest usage rate in Europe, at about 9,4 %. North Korea is behaving as if it were a servant of the long-run foreign policy of China. Hitler and Kim Jong-un are the two heads of state in living memory who look most likely to be stark raving mad. Hitler was a grand master of using Germany to the service of his ambitions, but he was unable to adjust to the behaviour of other peoples whom he usually misjudged. He wrote in Mein Kampf that Germany must never fight against both the West and the East, but should find an enemy on one side and a friend on the other. It should be a friend of England and go and conquer Russia, or on the contrary be peaceful to the Russians and try and have colonises in Africa and Asia, at the expense of England. After the surrender of France in 1930, Hitler should have done everything possible to make peace with England but he never made a serious effort to do so. This failure, though perhaps success would not even have been possible, ultimately lost him the war both in West and East, and led him to suicide in 1945 as the soldiers of Marshals Konev and Zhukov took possession of the ruins of Berlin. There is nothing to allow us to foresee the end of Kim Jong-un, but President Donald Trump in his most recent speech to the United Nations has said that Mr. Kim is on a suicide mission for himself. In a speech whose audience was the United Nations and Pyongyang, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have prophesy amabilities for each other. In his speech, Trump called Kim Jong-un a Rocket Man who is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. Trump also asserted, The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. In reply, Mr. Kim said he would tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire. The historical background of the current situation is relatively simple. After World War II and the separation of Korea along the 38th parallel, the communists emerged dominant in the Northern half of Korea and subsequently undertook the conquest of the South in 1950. Chinese volunteers assisted them. This civil war brought success for the communists until US and other NATO forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur intervened and reversed the rapport of forces. General MacArthur was in fact pushing the Chinese forces back to China. President Harry Truman did not wish to make a war with the Chinese, and ordered MacArthur back to the interior of the country. The Mutual Defense Treaty in 1953 cut Korea in two, with the North for the communists and the South for a democratic republic and close alliance with America. The republican part of the country turned to ordinary capitalism and with double-digit economic growth for the succeeding years became quite rich indeed. The North, by contrast, opted for a communist regime, and remained poor to such an extent that the population was only saved from near starvation by American humanitarian relief shipments of wheat. The American reliefs were from time to time coupled with initiatives of bringing North and South together for the purpose of some agreements for the unification of the two Koreas. The North never really intended unification; the more the South was getting richer than the North, the more the latter was reluctant, because it felt in a unified Korea, the South would inevitably have the upper hand and eat the North for breakfast. The North, governed by a dynasty that owed its power to the Chinese, kept the population in near slave conditions, and had money to spend only for armaments. The North Korean nuclear culture in fact began somewhere fairly early in the reign of this dynasty. There were periodic attempts by the West to reach agreements with the North Koreans to halt their nuclear development in return for partial disarmament and American armed withdrawal from the South. The North always broke these attempts almost as soon as they were signed. Much the same sort was suffered by sanctions to hinder nuclear armaments, with the Chinese providing the necessary supplies via officially tolerated black market sources. This story has not only Korean background, but also a Chinese one. China as a country and its Han people have felt themselves superior to every other for nearly 2000 years, with the foreign Mongol and Manchu dynasties being absorbed in the greater Chinese people. Western opium traders first broke this self-confidence in the late 19th century and was further diminished by a second and more painful Japanese occupation that started in the mid-1900s. The Chinese regained their sense of superiority only after the reign of Mao Zedong when the country turned to a quasi-capitalist system and started to become rich. The predecessors of the current President Xi Jinping were mostly concerned with economic development and not so much with the place of country in the hierarchy of nations. Xi Jinping, who is likely to be elected for a third five-year term this October, has less of a preoccupation with the economy (he sees it doing quite well, thank you). He is more concerned with the place of China compared with the place of America, which is still ahead but which will likely be replaced by China in a generation or less. The attention of Xi Jinping is very closely bound up with the discipline of the Chinese Communist Party, which wants to distinguish China in the hegemony of the world and distinguish China from free-trading capitalist America. It is with the ambition of China to regain its hegemonic place that it used to have for two millennia that the North Korean dictatorship is finding its subordinate place. North Korea has now reached a point where most of the basic skills of nuclear armament have become an open secret to North Korean technicians, some of whom have great expertise comparable to those of American and European scientists. There are only a few things that their nuclear armaments are not yet fully able to do. One involves the very long distance nuclear missile that would reliably carry a warhead from Korea to the west coast of the United States. The other is the re-entry mechanism that carries the nuclear warhead from its ballistic missile to the ground. The North Koreans are now letting it be known that these new tricks have been mastered and the hypothetical nuclear attack from Korea to the West coast of the United States is now within their reach. American experts believe that the Koreans are not quite at the point where they could successfully destroy a West coast city, but they are not far from that point in the next year or so. The stage is now about to be set for intensified joint action between China and North Korea, with each playing its role in what may be a coordinated plan. The stage is now about to be set for intensified joint action between China and North Korea, with each playing its role in what may be a coordinated plan. The Chinese will first learn to manage the new and really quite severe sanctions imposed against North Korea by the United Nations and separately by the United States. The Chinese will do what they have always done, that is to comply with the sanction on paper but do in secret what is needed for the North Korean regime to function, at least with regard to its military and internal security needs. Oil will continue to be secured, and what the population will find to eat will as usual take care of itself. What is probably more important, China will say even more emphatically than before that it will not tolerate substantial armed action against North Korea, any such action been regarded as an attack on China itself. Kin Jong-un will feel safe under the Chinese umbrella. China will continue to advocate talks. The North Korean role in this plan is to maintain or increase the nervous tension that its nuclear exercises are generating in the Pacific Ocean. The whole area between Southeast Asia and America will be inspired with more or less justified fear of what North Korean ballistic missiles will do tomorrow. For generating fear and nervousness, the North Koreans will only have to do what they have done in the recent past, that is to say to behave as the irresponsible spoiled child that the Chinese will not wish to discipline. Much of this area are allies of the United States, while most of the rest is an area of U.S. interest at least in an informal sense. One of the constructive measures of the Obama administration was to conclude the Pacific Alliance Trade Treaty, which formalized this U.S. interest in the field of trade and its regulation. It has not yet been ratified by the United States, and one of the most urgent measures of President Donald Trump was to tear it apart, as it was not representative of America First. This, of course, makes it easier for China to let it be known to the countries of Southeast Asia, notably South Korea, the Philippines, the former French colonies of Indo-China, Thailand, Burma and finally yet importantly, Japan that their security would be more reliable if they were under a Chinese than under an American umbrella. It may be the role of a nuclear North Korea to generate such a feeling. It may be the decisive change from what is an American hegemony to a Chinese one, which may well be the long-term policy aim of Beijing. Military history tells us that defensive armaments are usually developed in response to offensive ones, but there is sometimes a time lag before the defensive methods catch up with the offensives one. We may be in the centre of this time lag, with nuclear missiles being in the offensive, and the defensive arm still missing. We can only pray that American engineers will finish the work of developing reliable defensive nuclear missiles, a piece of work that they are probably near to complete. Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o... After a 2016-17 term with major decisions affecting special education, private schools, and government aid to religion, the new U.S. Supreme Court term that opened Oct. 2 was looking like it would start off pretty slow for education issues. But that changed dramatically late last week when the justices agreed to again take up the issue of public-employee union fees to their docket. The court could finally be ready to overrule a 40-year-old precedent that allows teachers unions to charge fees for collective bargaining from those who dont wish to join the union. And more big education issues could yet join the courts docket this term, including cases on prayer at school board meetings, and transgender student rights. Meanwhile, the courts docket of accepted cases includes major ones about religious objections to same-sex marriage, voting rights, andpotentially stillpresidential power over immigration, all of which could be of interest to educators. There is only one prediction that is safe about the upcoming term, and that is it will be momentous, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said on Sept. 20 in an appearance at Georgetown University Law Center. (That was before the court pulled a pair of cases from the docket until further notice after President Donald Trump issued a revised version of that so-called travel ban Sept. 24. The dispute may yet re-emerge as an issue before the high court.) Accepted Cases Public-Employee Union Fees The justices have agreed to plunge back into the issue that divided an eight-member court in 2016: whether public-employee unions, including the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, may continue to charge fees to non-members for collective bargaining. In that 2016 case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, the justices deadlocked 4-4 in a case in which nonunion teachers asked it to overrule Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, the 1977 Supreme Court case that authorized public employee unions to charge service fees to employees in the bargaining unit who refuse to join. Cake, Same-Sex Marriage, Religion, and Speech One of the courts most-anticipated cases is Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (No. 16-111). The case has implications for education in the sense that it deals with the clash between religious objections to gay rights and the reach of state civil rights protections. This case involves a Colorado baker, Jack Phillips, who declined to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Phillips, who describes himself as a cake artist, asserts a First Amendment free speech right to not be compelled to create a cake when he has deeply held religious convictions against same-sex marriage. He cites West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the 1943 Supreme Court decision holding that students could not be compelled to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school. The state of Colorado, and the American Civil Liberties Union lawyers representing the same-sex couple, Charlie Craig and David Mullins, will argue that the states civil rights laws, which protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation, bar Phillipss conduct in refusing to serve customers based on their status. They cite a different education-related Supreme Court precedent, Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, a 2006 decision in which the high court held that a federal statute requiring colleges to treat military recruiters the same as non-military ones was not compelling a group of law schools to speak in a way that conflicted with their objections to the then federal policy barring gays and lesbians to openly serve in the military. The case is expected to be argued in late November or early December. Voting Rights, Gerrymandering In Gill v. Whitford (No. 16-1161), the court will tackle the question of whether it can set a standard for when partisan gerrymanderingthe politically motivated drawing of voting districts for federal, state, and local offices including school boardsviolates the U.S. Constitution. Although few school boards are elected by political party, the case could have a major impact on state legislatures and thus on education as a state legislative issue. Trumps Travel Ban The dispute involving the restriction on travel to those from some Muslim countries has been of interest particularly in higher education, with the challenges to the so-called travel ban stressing that scholars and students from those countries would be affected. Also, it raises questions about whether the presidents statements about Muslims violate the First Amendments prohibition against government establishment of religion. Bias-based harassment and discrimination against children who are Muslim or perceived to be Muslim has significant negative consequences, says a friend-of-the-court brief filed against the administration by the National Education Association. Pending Appeals The justices could decide to add these education cases to their docket for this term. School Board Prayers In 2014, the Supreme Court upheld a New York state towns practice of opening its municipal meetings with prayers. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court in Town of Greece v. Galloway that the town does not violate the First Amendments prohibition of government establishment of religion by having a prayer that comports with our tradition and does not coerce participation by nonadherents. The big question since that decision has been whether school boards that open their meetings with prayers are just like more general municipal bodies like town councils and county boards, or whether their involvement as part of the educational process, with students frequently present at such meetings, make school boards similar to schools, implicating a separate line of church-state decisions. The appeal in American Humanist Association v. Birdville Independent School District (No. 17-178) gives the justices the opportunity to clarify that question. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans, upheld a Texas school districts policy of permitting students to lead prayers before board meetings. In their appeal, a former student from the district and the American Humanist Association say the federal appeals courts are split on whether school board prayers should be viewed the same as prayers in state legislatures and more general bodies such as town councils. This case presents a recurring question of exceptional constitutional importance, affecting millions of students nationwide, that is ripe for this courts review, says the appeal. The Birdville district has until Oct. 16 to file a response to the appeal. Transgender Student Rights Last term, the justices agreed to hear the appeal of a Virginia school district in a case involving a transgender high school students lawsuit seeking to use the school restroom that corresponded to his gender identity. But the court sent it back to the lower courts after the Trump administration withdrew informal U.S. Department of Education guidance telling schools to respect the rights of transgender students. Now a Wisconsin school district is asking the high court to settle the issue of whether a policy requiring transgender students to use facilities corresponding to their biological gender violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in Chicago, upheld an injunction requiring the Kenosha school district to allow a transgender high school student named Ashton Whitaker to use the boys restroom. The appeals court said the districts policy likely violated the students rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the 14th Amendments equal-protection clause. The ruling was not dependent on the Education Departments informal policy letters, as the Virginia case had been. In its appeal in Kenosha Unified School District v. Whitaker (No. 17-301), the district says its case presents a clean vehicle for the court to clarify whether requiring boys and girls to use school bathrooms that correspond with their biological sex, rather than their gender identity, is sex-based discrimination under Title IX and whether this classification is entitled to heightened scrutiny in an equal-protection analysis. Lawyers for Whitaker, who graduated from high school last spring but is seeking damages that would seem to keep his lawsuit alive, have until Oct. 27 to file a response to the school districts appeal. The school year may be well underway and teachers are already plastering their hallways with Halloween decorations, but the real fright for district superintendents in those states is whether legislative infighting will lead to midyear cuts. A handful of states legislatures, including in Connecticut and Wisconsin, are still bickering over how to distribute millions of dollars in education money this year. Connecticut has gone three months without a budget and Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy last week vetoed a proposed $40 billion budget that included $1.9 billion for education. The states cities and towns typically get information on how much state money they can spend on schools by Oct. 1, but without a state budget, local school officials are now braced for waves of cuts. Meanwhile, the states supreme court heard arguments last week on whether the states school funding formula is constitutional. Wisconsins Republican Gov. Scott Walker recently vetoed several portions of a proposed budget passed in a special session including a section that would have provided millions more dollars to the states schools. The vetoes, done for very different reasons, sent legislatures in both states back to the drawing board and left school officials there in the lurch. School Funding Showdowns This years legislative season was an especially contentious one when it came to school funding. More than half of states missed their fiscal projections, and a robust and politically powerful Republican partywhich controls 32 legislatures and 34 governorshipssearched for more ways to slash state spending in order to cut taxes. With all but a handful of states having wrapped up their legislative sessions, at least 10 statesan unusually high number, experts sayhave already made significant steps toward upending their school funding formulas when the next legislative cycle begins after the turn of the year. Others arent able to wait. Kansas and Washington, for example, both put in place new funding formulas this year, but their respective supreme courts havent yet ruled on the constitutionality of those distribution methods, enacted to satisfy judicial rulings. Oklahoma is dealing with a $215 million midyear deficit in a special session this month, and its legislators are debating, among other things, whether to give their beleaguered teaching force a pay raise. (The teachers havent gotten a salary increase in more than a decade.) Oklahomas budget woes, fueled by a downturn in oil prices, has sparked a political clash between the states education community and its state politicians. Connecticut and Wisconsin are in especially unusualand desperatesituations. Connecticuts woes have lasted for years. The state, with some of the highest income disparities in the country, faces a $3.5 billion deficit due to pension debt and a shrinking and aging tax base. This years budget fights have pitted political representatives of the states mostly poor cities against the states suburban politicians. In addition, a lower court in a wide-ranging judgment earlier this year, called for the state to fix a school funding system the judge said led to an abysmal education for the states poor and minority students. The states supreme court heard testimony in the case Thursday and could rule soon on the case. Gov. Malloy started out the legislative session this year saying in his State of the State address that 2017 would be the year that Connecticut finally put to rest years of political instability. Malloy asked the state supreme court to hold off on ruling on the states funding formula in the hopes he and the legislature could come up with a satisfactory, and constitutional, one by this fiscal year. Budget a Hot Mess The legislature now is months past the July 1 start of its fiscal year. Earlier this month, it sent the governor a two-year, $40 billion budget that canceled funding from several programs aimed at improving the states worst-performing schools. But Malloy wasnt satisfied, describing the budget during a press conference at one of the states prized schools as a hot mess. Their proposal shifts critical aid away from those that need it the most and directs it to school systems that are in a far better position to handle their challenges, he said in vetoing the budget. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, the Republican governor vetoed more than 99 line items of the budget his GOP-controlled legislature sent him last week in a special session. That includes a provision that would have allowed for school districts to raise more money from property taxes. Members of the states legislature have been at odds over whether state or local officials should pay for school costs and how to close a $1 billion deficit. Gov. Walker said on Twitter he vetoed the property tax item in order to protect taxpayers. By allowing local officials to raise taxes, districts would be provided with up to $300 more per student within two years. Walkers veto unleashed a flurry of accusations that he doesnt care about the states schools. These vetoes demonstrate why Wisconsin residents feel like theyre being left behind by a Republican Party that continues to favor the wealthy over working families, said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, referring to a tax change that primarily benefits the states wealthy. The legislatures Republican leaders now must decide whether they have enough votes to override Walkers vetoes. Philippines' Aboitiz completes acquisition of 70% of Vietnamese feeds firm The Philippines' Aboitiz Group, through Pilmico International Pte. Ltd. (Pilmico International), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., has finalised its acquisition of a 70% stake in the Vietnam-based animal feeds company Europe Nutrition Joint Stock Company, or Eurofeed. The acquisition, at the price of US$3.2 million based on 70% of equity value, further pushes the Group's hold on the Vietnamese feeds market. "We are celebrating another milestone for the Aboitiz Group, particularly for Pilmico, as it embarks on another international venture. Despite foreseen market challenges, Vietnam remains to be a strategic country for Pilmico, given its strong economy, a promising livestock industry and access to potential export markets", said Sabin M. Aboitiz, Pilmico president and chief executive officer. During the turnover ceremony, which completed the acquisition, on Sept. 27 at the Majestic Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Aboitiz officially announced that the company has changed its name from Eurofeed Joint Stock Company to Pilmico Animal Nutrition Joint Stock Company. In July 2014, Pilmico acquired a 70% stake in leading Vietnamese aqua feed firm Vinh Hoan Feeds, a leading supplier of aqua feed based in Dong Thap, Vietnam. Founded in 2007, it operates a 130,000-tonne-per-year aqua feed facility producing primarily pangasius feed. Vietnam in discussion with Dutch company to export chicken meat to EU Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vu Van Tam, has met with Dutch company Jan Zandbergen to discuss the exporting of Vietnamese chicken meat to the EU, Viet Nam News reported. Once a Vietnam-EU free trade agreement comes into force, no tariff or quota will be required of Vietnam's chicken meat exports entering the EU market. However, a Jan Zandbergen's representative said that Vietnamese firms have to fulfill all quarantine-related requirements, especially food safety regulations, origin and disease tracking rules. In response, Vietnam has enacted the Animal Health Law and 13 legal documents pertaining to this matter. In addition, the country could fully meet all requirements of more stringent markets like Japan, Pham Van ong, head of the Department of Animal Health, said. During the meeting in Hanoi, the Jan Zandbergen representative revealed that the EU has a high demand for chicken meat, with most of these imports originating from Brazil, Thailand and Ukraine. This year, the region has demand for 950,000 tonnes of chicken meat, 85% of which is chicken breast. Jan Zandbergen plans to import 85,000 tonnes of poultry, pork and beef worth EUR400 million (US$471 million). To help meet demand, ong proposed that Jan Zandbergen could invest in the setup of a processing facility in Vietnam, which would operate with accordance to EU standards. Tam also hoped that Vietnam will be able to export chicken to the EU soon, along with other potential but more challenging markets. - Viet Nam News To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020. 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Howard Quayle will be joined by Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan and Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer at the event. The Manx Government claims the visit will strengthen relations with UK Government figures and raise awareness of the Island's value to the British economy. Mr Quayle also hopes the trip will allow the Manx delegates to gain further insight into the Tories plans for the UK after leaving the European Union. The Chief Minister and Policy and Reform Minister Chris Thomas had planned to be at the Labour conference in Brighton last week, but weather disrupted their travel plans. Drain the swamp By Dr. Robert Owens In America today most people choose their favorite brand of the ABCCBSNBCCNNMSNBCPBSNPR Cartel based on the charisma of the news reader, and dont waste their time tuning into other news options. What are the criteria for their choice of a news outlet? Does the news reader look or sound authoritative? Are they better looking? Do they have a more pleasing voice? Are they a Male? Are they a female? Are they Gay? Are we not sure? Whatever the reason, it isnt because they say anything different. It often sounds like they all have the same writers and story selectors. The content is no different. Do you want to hear the story about how the Republicrat Elite is going to stop the Trump agenda before or after you hear the story about how the Donald is not fit for the highest office in the land or after? Do you want to learn about the latest polls that show everyone hates Trump before or after you hear how Trump the Traitor colluded with the Russians before or after you hear about the insane proposals of the racist homophobe misogynist Trump to build a wall, stop the terrorists from moving next door, or starve the poor? Perhaps the line-up of the stories is slightly changed from one news clone to another but thats about it. All hate Trump all the time. When I have a chance encounter and what passes for conversation with so many Kool-Aid drinking low information voters i.e progressive induhviduals the conversation usually goes like this: Me: What do you think about _______ (fill in the blank)? Progressive Induhvidual: Repeat what ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, etc. has said recently stated as if this was their independently arrived at personal opinion. Or if theyre a Conservative Induhvidual: Repeat what Fox, the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, National Review, etc. has recently said. Its almost impossible to find anyone who has actually read any books on topics of importance such as economics, politics, sociology, or the History that ties them all together. Several times a year I attend meetings that are filled with nothing but PhDs, professors, and university administrators. All content experts in these very subjects as well as many others. The results are basically the same. The death of critical thinking has led to a deafening silence in the area of actual personal opinion, a dearth of dialogue, and a collapse of conversation. The American people, who at the time of the Founding saw blacksmiths discussing with candle makers the pros and cons of constitutions and the meaning of liberty or carpenters debating with plumbers the need for a free economy versus the need for public works. Just read the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist Papers, look at the level of thought and speech and ask yourself, How do the public debate, and newspaper articles of contemporary America match up? Today the public debate takes place at about a 3rd grade level compared to the graduate school of those earlier days. What happened? Back then there werent public schools. Churches and families educated their own. Today after generations of highly funded and severely structured public education weve successfully dumbed ourselves down to the lowest common denominator. Look at the late great Bernie Sanders revolt which was short circuited and contained by the ballot fixing elite in the Democrat Party. Or look at the Trump Revolution which overwhelmed the elite in the Republican Party. Either way its obvious that we tax paying entities who inhabit flyover country whether of the right or left have had enough of the bi-coastal elite thats driving us over the cliff into the third world. Since their favorite empty pantsuit blew the election and she cant carry the water for the donor class all the way to the bank obviously the elite controlled media has dropped their camouflage of objectivity and is all in to make sure Trump is destroyed. At least there was one pseudo surprise in the Hollywood scripted replay of Primary Colors the Distaff Edition. After all of the frothing at the mouth Bernie supporters did. After his highly motivated supporters were so brave they booed or turned their backs at the Democrat Party Spectacle in Philadelphia on their anointed queen. Low and behold their fearless leader fell into line and surprise, surprise, surprise supported the mistress of manipulation. Then just as evidence surfaced that yes, the entire primary exercise was rigged from the beginning the mind-numb robots of the left who chanted and cheered for Bernie stood in line to cast their rationally considered and highly principled vote for the very person who engineered the fix, took her money and marching orders from the crony capitalists, and is arguably the most corrupt person to ever run for the presidency. After the election, Bernie, the man of the people bought his third house and settled in a well feathered bed until next time hes needed to attack his fellow millionaires and billionaires. Who could have seen this coming except a blind man in a dark room with no media access? The pre-programmed electorate combined with the usual fraud, imported voters and all the dead people who never leave the voting rolls of the corrupt Democrat City fiefdoms, marched in lockstep to the polls to hand America lock-stock-and-barrel to the Clinton Crime Family. However the November Miracle happened and instead of the Sleazy Don following the totally corrupt Donna back into the White House the Donald won. Enough people swallowed the red pill and were willing to at least take a shot at shaking things up before were swept away by the unregulated immigration invasion and state sponsored outsourcing that low and behold we didnt end up with another perpetually re-elected hack. An old saying goes, There are only two things that are certain in this life, death and taxes. Weve all been programmed to accept this as an inevitable truism. Death to be sure is natural and inevitable. If you were born youll die. Taxes however arent a natural thing. Theyre in actuality the forced expropriation of funds from the productive taken through the use of the states monopoly on the use of coercive force. And so, though they arent natural and they arent inevitable like death or gravity they may in realistic terms given the overwhelming preponderance of government power be unavoidable. Our country refused to follow the dictates of the elite controlled media. America refused to become the turf of the Sleazy Donna from Chappaqua whose word parsing motto should be the Bart Simpson anthem, I didn't do it! Nobody saw me do it! You can't prove anything. We chose not to let the White House once again become Bills love nest. We refused to let the George Soros puppet in heels moves into the Oval Office with her rolodex of contributors both foreign and domestic. So what do we have now? The Cartel and the politicians that follow them around like a childrens pull toy on a string are screeching day and night the Russians! The Russians! They have Comeys BFF installed as the Special Counsel because of Comeys leaks. The stage is set for a sequel to the Progressives favorite thriller, The Witch Hunt of Watergate. Whats a freedom loving constitutionalist to do? How about every time the Progressives issue a subpoena for one of the Presidents followers we issue one for a Debbie Wasserman Schultz, or her Pakistani IT money launderer, or Bill Clinton, or Loretta Lynch, or any of the shady characters who actually tried to fix the election. How about a Special Counsel to investigate all the scandals of the Obummer nightmare, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, Lois Lerner and the IRS, or the serial unmasking of American citizens for political purposes? Why should we just roll over and take it? Why not take it and roll on instead? We won lets act like it! If we dont stand up after the Miracle in November and demand that the swamp is drained when will it happen? When Chelsea gets elected? If we cant drain the swamp now the swamp is going to drain us right into the sewer of history. Dr. Robert Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion. He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com 2017 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens Home Iran and Hamas reconnect By Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh with Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei With an eye to Syrias postwar period, Iran is working to unite the ranks of the resistance camp to continue the struggle against Israel and deepen the dissension in the Arab world. Iran views Hamas, despite its independent path, as an important element of this camp that challenges not only Israel but also the main members of the moderate Arab camp, and hence contributes to bolstering its influence in the region. On June 15, 2007, the Hamas movement took decisive control of the Gaza Strip and expelled the Fatah movement and the Palestinian Authority. Today, amid Hamas ongoing distress, the changes in its leadership both within and outside of Gaza, and the dwindling of its funding, political, and civil support, the movement is seeking to warm its ties with Tehran once again. Iran Plays a Central Role in the Liberation of Palestine At the end of August 2017, Yahya al-Sinwar, who was elected in February 2017 as head of Hamas Political Bureau in Gaza said that after years of tension between Iran and Hamas since the war began in Syria, relations between the two had been restored and termed them excellent. According to al-Sinwar, this would affect the efforts of the resistance to liberate Palestine and destroy Israel. Al-Sinwar stressed that Hamas was continuing to prepare its members for the task of liberating Palestineand the Islamic Republic of Iran is playing a central role toward achieving this objective with financial and military assistance and the training of Hamas military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. He described Irans assistance strategic in fighting the Israeli occupation, but added that Hamas is not interested (at present) in a war with Israel and is even acting to prevent one so that the Palestinians will be able to rest. However, al-Sinwar stressed, Hamas does not fear a war and is prepared for it. Al-Sinwar who was freed in the 2011 Shalit prisoner release deal, is one of the leading and founding figures of the movements military wing. At the beginning of August 2017, a senior delegation from Hamas Political Bureau visited Tehran. It was led by Ezzat al-Resheq, Saleh Arouri, Zaher Jabarin, and Osama Hamdan. The delegation was responding to an Iranian invitation to the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, to take part in the inauguration ceremony for the second term of President Hassan Rouhani. The group met with senior Iranian figures including Majlis Chairman Ali Larjani; Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif; Ali Akbar Velayati, the special political adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on foreign relations; and with officials of the Revolutionary Guard. At the beginning of 2017, Hamas had sent condolences to Iran on the death of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The Only State that Provides Weapons and Money On August 6, 2017, Ali Baraka, Hamas representative in Lebanon, said against the backdrop of the Tehran visit that Iranian-Hamas relations had been restored and that the two sides had agreed not to delve into past issues that had clouded their relations. Instead, they would look ahead and cooperate on behalf of the Palestinian interest so as to prevent the negation of the Palestinian problem amid the regional circumstances. Baraka added that Iran is aware that the steadfastness of the resistance [Hamas] is vital to it, just as Hamas recognizes that relations with Iran strengthen the Palestinian resistance, especially [because] Iran is the only country that supports the resistance with money and weapons. The Hamas representative added that Ismail Haniyeh would soon be visiting Iran. Israeli intelligence has recently called attention to the fact that Hamas is increasing its presence in Lebanon under the patronage of Iran and the Shiite axis that it leads. A statement issued by Hamas says that the high-level delegations participation signifies appreciation for the tremendous Iranian role in assisting the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, supporting its rights and the right to resist, and underlines Hamas desire to strengthen and develop the relationship with Iran on the way to solving the Palestinian problem. Another meeting with Iranian officials took place on September 6, 2017, between the chairman of the Iran-Palestine (and Lebanon) Parliamentary Friendship Group, Amir Khojasteh, and representative in Tehran, Khaled Qadoumi. Khojasteh termed Palestine as the most important issue to the Muslim world and urged Palestinian groups to realize that armed resistance and unity are the only way to fight the Zionist regime and that peace negotiations are futile. He promised that the friendship group would provide all the needed assistance to the Palestinian people and their resistance. He also conveyed Majlis Chairman Ali Larijanis greetings to Hamas and its newly elected head of the political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh. The Terrorist Hamas Leadership Arab social networks reacted harshly to the participation of the treasonous Hamas leadership in the inauguration ceremony of Rouhani the terrorist. The delegation was accused of brazenly betraying the Sunni ummah [people] and of indifference to the Arab blood that Iran continues to spill in Syria and Iraq. Before the visit, the Saudi newspaper Al-Riyadh posted on its Twitter account that a delegation from the terrorist Hamas leadership will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Rouhani and has prompted much talk in the network along with reactions by Hamas. Although the tweet was eventually removed from the site, screenshots of it inundated the network. A History of Ups and Downs The relations between Iran and Hamas, which had already known ups and downs in the past, turned frosty when Hamas refused to support the efforts of Tehran and Hizbullah to ensure the survival of Bashar Assads regime. Hamas had to leave its headquarters in Damascus from which it had run its activities in the West Bank and Gaza, and the then-chief of the political bureau, Khaled Mashal, was exiled to Doha. Hamas warming of ties with Qatar and attempt to rehabilitate its relations with the Gulf States reached a peak with Mashals visit to Saudi Arabia in 2015, to the chagrin of the Hamas military wing and Tehran. The election of al-Sinwar, one of the top figures in the military wing and a hawk, marked a turning point in the movements relations with Tehran. Al-Sinwar and previous Hamas military head, Muhammad Deif, favored sustaining the relationship with Iran even during the period when the political wing opposed it, and it appears that the new Hamas leadership is taking a more hawkish line. Tehran hastened to welcome the al-Sinwar appointment, assuming that it would bolster the hawkish elements in Hamas who want to keep the armed struggle against Israel. Thus, Irans influence and involvement in Gaza will grow, both in preparing for and conducting a further round of escalation with Israel. In addition, Hamas own center of power has moved to Gaza since Haniyehs election in May as head of the political bureau in place of Khaled Mashal (who was based outside of Gaza). Iran has an interest in augmenting this new balance, which distances Hamas from the so-called Arab moderate camp, in general, and from the Gulf States, in particular. The issue also has major implications for the Palestinian population in Gaza. Whereas Irans assistance to Hamas concentrates on its military infrastructure missiles, rockets, and tunnels the aid from the Gulf States, primarily Qatar, and Egypt, even if it trickled into Hamas hands, was aimed at the rehabilitation of the Strip and the welfare of its population. Over time, this new situation could well aggravate the distress in Gaza and even lead to another round of military escalation. At the same time, over the years, Iran has had difficulty imposing its influence on Hamas, which retains a large degree of independence. Whether Hamas warms or cools its ties with Iran reflects its internal state of affairs, its status in the changing regional arena, the situation in Gaza, and its relations with the Sunni Arab states. The criticism leveled at the Hamas delegation that visited Iran for Rouhanis inauguration certainly indicates the great complexity and limited room to maneuver entailed in Hamas relations with Iran, as Iran strives to impose Shiite hegemony on the Sunni Arab domain. In this case, it was Saudi Arabia, which leads the struggle against Irans attempts to achieve regional hegemony, which chose to attack Hamas as part of that struggle. Hamas is well aware of the price it pays in the Arab arena for its rapprochement with Iran. However, its economic and diplomatic distress, along with the extremist nature of its new leadership, have left it no choice. Iran, for its part, takes great pride in its ties with Hamas (and with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is completely subordinate to it and dependent on its aid). Iran is committed to spearheading the resistance camp and the ongoing struggle against Israel and its rejection of any diplomatic solution to the Palestinian issue, as it strives to gain a foothold and future influence in both the West Bank and Gaza. Distress Is Pushing Hamas toward Tehran Behind Hamas thaw with Iran in recent months is its domestic distress. The fraying of Hamas relations with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who kept cutting back the PAs aid to Gaza as part of his power struggle to control it, has fostered a deteriorating economic and civic reality in Gaza marked by electricity, water, and health crises, as well as salary cuts. The Gaza residents pin the blame for the worsening state of affairs on Hamas, along with the PA, Egypt, and Israel. In the regional arena, Hamas relations with the moderate Arab camp, led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, remain fraught with tension. Cairo demands that Hamas cut its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and stop benignly neglecting and even assisting terror groups operating against Egypt, even though a change in Hamas conduct would mean the Rafah crossing could be regularly opened. Frictions between Hamas and Qatar, one of the main donors to the Strip, have also come to the fore. The rift continues with Damascus, which until 2012, acted as the traditional headquarters of Hamas external leadership. Hamas leaders today are having trouble finding Arab states to host them. As noted, the improvement in Irans relations with Hamas will also lead to a thaw with Damascus as Iran and Hizbullah seek to rebuild the northern front. Even Moscow heavily involved in Syria along with Iran sometimes shows interest in Hamas and in promoting a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation to promote its regional prestige as a regional crisis solver. In the military sphere, Israel is building an underground barrier along the Gaza border that threatens one of Hamas strategic offensive assets: the attack tunnels leading into Israeli territory. Senior figures of the Hamas military wing will turn to Iran for help in finding a way to circumvent this threat, just as Iran proved willing to help Hamas in developing its rocket array, its drones, and other weapons such as antitank missiles and sniper rifles, along with help in constructing advanced explosive devices. Iran can also assist Hamas with the knowledge and operational experience it has accrued in combat arenas in Iraq, Yemen, and Syria, as well as maritime activities, particularly its experience gained assisting the Houthis in Yemen. In this regard, Brigadier General Hamid Abazari, the deputy commander of Imam Hossein University and affiliated with the IRGC, said that the IRGC sends its commanders and trainers to proxy battlefields and resistance fronts to gain battlefield experience in asymmetric warfare tactics and strategies. The thaw with Iran will probably also harden Hamas position on a possible deal for the Israeli civilians and the bodies of Israeli soldiers that it is holding. The Arab Spring indeed passed over the Palestinian entities in the West Bank and Gaza; there was no overthrow of regimes or serious destabilization. However, the continuing upheavals in the Arab world have removed the Palestinian issue far from the spotlight. The Palestinian factions no longer influence the Arab agenda; instead, the factions are influenced by the agenda and sometimes play the part of a currency, or even a tool in the hands of the main regional power brokers Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt as these states struggle to define their interests in the complex reality of the changing Middle East landscape. The Palestinian issue in general and Hamas in particular, are becoming part of the cardinal intra-Arab disputes and of the rival camps forming in the Middle East along the Sunni Shia divide, as Tehrans shadow lengthens. Iran is exploiting the Sunni Arab weakness and division as it strives for regional hegemony. Under these circumstances, the Sunni Hamas movement, which has proved itself by launching thousands of rockets some of them Iranian-made at Israel, constitutes a good investment for the long run in light of what Tehran continues to regard as the weakness of the Sunni Arab world. For Hamas, the thaw in relations with Iran is also likely to pave the way to a reconciliation with the Assad regime, to position the movement on the Shiite axis that extends from Iran to Lebanon, and to intensify its disputes with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States. Iran, for its part, will not have a hard time convincing Damascus to welcome the Hamas leadership and reopen the movements headquarters in Damascus in the aftermath of the war. IDF Lt.-Col. (ret.) Michael (Mickey) Segall, an expert on strategic issues with a focus on Iran, terrorism, and the Middle East, is a senior analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and at Alcyon Risk Advisors. Home What natural disasters should teach us By Steven Lyazi I express my deepest sympathies to the people in the Caribbean and United States who have been impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. The loss of life was tragic but has thankfully been much lower than in many previous storms. Buildings are stronger, people get warned in time to get out, and they have vehicles to get to safer places until the storms pass. I also send my sincere sympathies to my fellow Ugandans who have been affected by terrible landslides in eastern Uganda, near Kenya. Natural disasters often strike us hard. Sometimes it is long droughts that dry up our crops and kill many cattle. This year it is torrential rains and landslides. This time we were lucky. The collapsing hillsides destroyed three villages, but thankfully it was daytime and people were outside. They lost their homes, cattle and ripened crops, but not their families. A horrendous mudslide in the same mountainous area in 2010 buried 350 parents and children under 40 feet of mud and rock. People there have been cutting down trees for decades for fuel, lumber and to grow crops. Now no roots hold the hills together when it rains. More cracks have appeared in the hills, so more slides are likely. But people dont want to leave their lands, and theyre not planting new trees either. Some people are ignoring all this history and the human roles in causing these natural disasters. They are blaming the rains and mudslides on global warming, climate change and the fossil fuels that modern industrialized countries burn to provide modern homes, travels and living standards. These false claims are intended to divert us from real problems. They are intended to justify demands and campaigns that Ugandans and other Africans should rely on a few wind turbines and solar panels and should never use oil, natural gas or coal to provide cheap, reliable and plentiful energy so that we can live more like Americans or Europeans. These people want to become our Jesus, and save us from global warming disasters, by keeping us poor and at the mercy of Mother Nature. Former vice president Mr. Al Gore said manmade global warming has increased the number and strength of tornadoes and hurricanes, Mount Kilimanjaros glacier would disappear by 2016, and Arctic summers would be ice-free as soon as 2014. None of this happened. So he just changed the year when the disasters will hit. Mr. Gore declares in his film that it is right to save humanity. Yes, it is and I support that with no argument. But I would suggest that he and his friends begin by injecting their own billions of dollars into fossil fuels and nuclear energy to create jobs around the world, help us build modern homes, uplift economies so that people can live a self-sustainable life, and get rid of the diseases that are killing us. He needs to stop trying to scare us by spreading false gospels about mankind and fossil fuels. He needs to stop trying to save humanity from movie disasters, when we face real disasters. He needs to stop making us rely on renewable energy, while he continues to have many big homes, drive around in big cars and fly in private jets all over the world. Just in the last 25 years, fossil fuels have helped over 1.5 billion people in developing nations get electricity and escape deprivation, starvation, and lung and intestinal diseases that used to kill them and their children. But Africa, India and Asia still have vast regions that need to be electrified. More than a billion people in those regions still do not enjoy the wonderful blessings that electricity brings. These places need more coal, gas and nuclear power plants. Thankfully they are building them, no matter what Mr. Gore and his radical friends say. Mr. Gore and his friends have fancy homes with every modern technology that electricity can bring. They have cars and modern hospitals. My family in Kampala has a few of these things a few lights and a radio, small stove and not even a little refrigerator. I just got a used computer that a friend sent me from the United States. Someday we would like a television and a normal sized refrigerator, like what we see in Europe and the States. Can we dream that someday we will have air conditioning? Can the people in eastern Uganda dream of a time when they can rebuild their homes with more than mud and sticks? And actually have electricity, lights, refrigerators and stoves? Radical Al Gore, renewable energy cheerleaders and climate activists have sweet homes and nice cars, jets and trains to take them anywhere they want to go 24/7. They cannot even come close to understanding how it feels to live in darkness, drink dirty water, and have no medicine except herbs and the grace of God when they get sick from malaria and other diseases they have never even heard of. They cannot imagine not being able to have a cold drink or hot coffee when they want one. But they tell us we should be happy to enjoy the tiny improvements we might get from wind and solar power, as an acceptable and preferred and sustainable alternative to really better lives. I have said this in my past articles, and I will still say it again. In Sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 700 million people still cook with wood, charcoal and animal dung, Hundreds of millions get horribly sick every year and thousands die every year from lung and intestinal diseases, because we have to breathe smoke from open fires and dont have refrigeration, clean water and safe food. Hundreds of millions are starving and malnourished, and try to survive on a few dollars a day. Mr. Al Gore, how many dollars do you survive on per day? How many homes and refrigerators do you have? Can your refrigerators hold more than a few vegetables and a few bottles of milk or water? To use the words of Rabbi Daniel Lapin, our impoverished masses simply want to take their rightful, God-given places among Earths healthy and prosperous people. Instead, we are being told that wouldnt be sustainable. We are being told that improving our health, living standards and life spans is less important than avoiding the forthcoming climate cataclysm that Mr. Gore and his movies and computer models say will happen if we Africans modernize with fossil fuels. These claims and the false solutions to make-believe problems sometime in our future ignore the real disasters and deaths that face us right now, every day of the year. They are intended to divert us from the better lives and sweet homes we dream of. They are intended to make Mr. Gore and his friends and the radical cheerleaders feel like they are saving Africans and our planet, while in reality they are killing millions of us every year. Right this very minute, climate alarmists are blaming hurricanes and landside on fossil fuels. While they enjoy fancy homes, cozy beds and sofas, heating and air conditioning that keep them comfortable all year round, televisions and Alexa music, air travel whenever they want to go somewhere they tell us Africans we should be happy and content with our simple lives. They tell us we should keep our oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy underground and untouched. This is disgraceful. It is unacceptable. We will no longer tolerate it. Alexander King was the co-founder of the Club of Rome, which wrote The Limits to Growth book. During World War II, he organized production of a new insecticide and gave it the name DDT. The chemical saved the lives of thousands of Allied troops in the Far East. It was also used to stop typhus epidemics in Europe after the war. But later on he said: My own doubts came when DDT was introduced for civilian use. In Guyana, within two years, it had almost eliminated malaria, but at the same time the birth rate had doubled. So my chief quarrel with DDT, in hindsight, is that it has greatly added to the population problem. Of course, I cant play God on that one. But King and his followers did play God. They got DDT banned and even blocked its use in preventing malaria for decades. Millions of African parents and children died. Now his descendants want to keep us from using fossil fuels. Where is the justice and humanity in any of this? Steven Lyazi is a student and worker in Kampala, Uganda. He served as special assistant to Congress of Racial Equality-Uganda director Cyril Boynes, until Mr. Boynes death in January 2015. He plans to attend college and help his country and Africa get the energy and other modern technologies they need. Home Working round the clock in shifts of 8 hours, the ESRF users have diligently collected every bit of useful data that could help them to solve a problem or to better understand materials or living matter. They have a new record with 30,000 publications being reached in September 2017. The users of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility have published 30,000 publications in peer-reviewed journals since the facility first opened its doors in 1994. The publications included many breakthroughs that were achieved with ESRF data, such as the discovery of the structure of the ribosome that led to a Nobel prize shared by two of our users. These 30,000 publications reflect the scientific vibrancy of our user community. Since 1994, ESRF users from all over the world, from different cultures and disciplines, have worked together to push back the frontiers of science, unlocking the secrets of materials and living matter. All the inventive research carried out at the ESRF propagates to society and boosts the scientific cultures, the economies and the competitiveness of the ESRF member states and beyond. Such progress has been made possible through a continuous and dynamic research and development programme that focuses on constantly improving the instrumentation and technology of the X-ray source and beamlines, and has placed the ESRF as one of the leaders in the field of synchrotron and accelerator physics and technology. At a moment when the ESRF is preparing the future with a new storage ring, the ESRF-EBS, the 30,000 publications is symbolic of the dynamism and impact of the facility. Founded in 1988, the ESRF began operations in 1994 and has since exceeded all initial objectives. The number of publications has increased linearly with the number of beamlines available to users. During the last decade, with the number of beamlines stabilising around 42, ESRF users have produced around 1800 publications per year. These publications arise from roughly 1600 experimental sessions per year, each session representing one or more 8-hour shift at a beamline. Publications in peer-reviewed journals per year 1994 to 09/2017. High-impact publications Over the last decade, around 16% of the 1800 publications per year have been published in high-impact-factor journals such as Nature, Science and Cell. Publications in peer-reviewed journals with Impact Factor > 7, 2008 to 09/2017. Two examples of the latest publications in high-impact journals have been selected to demonstrate the variety of disciplines, the collaborative nature and, for the second in particular, the multi-cultural aspect of research at a synchrotron facility. Although from different fields, both are linked to sustainability, one of the pillars of research at the ESRF. The first, published in Science, could open doors to alternative fuel sources, using algae to make hydrocarbons. The authors are scientists from four French institutes, with lead author Frederic Besson from the Biosciences and Biotechnologies Institute of Aix-Marseille (BIAM). In their publication, Besson and colleagues describe an algal enzyme that produces hydrocarbons from fatty acids using sunlight. The authors have identified the enzyme in algae, and then proved its mode of action in an assay for the conversion of fatty acids, which proceeded only when illuminated. They obtained the 3D structure of the enzyme following data collection at beamline MASSIF-1 (ID30A-1). The structure consisted of the enzyme with a cofactor (FAD) and the fatty acid palmitate. From the structure, the authors were able to infer a mechanism for the light driven catalysis. The second, published in Angewandte Chemie, comes from an international team of scientists from the UK, Norway, France and Italy. Lead authors are David Wragg from the University of Oslo, Norway, and Serena Margadonna, from Swansea University, UK. Their research bridges the domains of chemistry and materials science. They studied components inside an operating sodium battery using beamline ID15A while the battery was charging and discharging. This time-resolved study combined chemical analysis and tomographic imaging and provided an insight into both the chemical and structural changes in the battery during charging cycles. Their results have revealed the mechanism of a promising anode material. These studies should help to improve the capacity and stability of batteries during many cycles of charge and discharge. References An algal photoenzyme converts fatty acids to hydrocarbons, D. Sorigue, B. Legeret, S. Cuine, S. Blangy, S. Moulin, E. Billon, P. Richaud, S. Brugiere, Y. Coute, D. Nurizzo, P. Muller, K. Brettel, D. Pignol, P. Arnoux, Y. Li-Beisson, G. Peltier, F. Beisson, Science 357, 903-907 (2017); doi: 10.1126/science.aan6349. Chemical structures of specific sodium ion battery components determined by operando pair distribution function and X-ray diffraction computed tomography, J. Sottmann, M. Di Michiel, H. Fjellvag, L. Malavasi, S. Margadonna, P. Vajeeston, G.B.M. Vaughan, and D.S. Wragg, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 56, 11385-11389 (2017); doi: 10.1002/anie.201704271. Text by Gary Admans These Photos Show The Diverse Beauty Of Women Around The World Romanian photographer Mihaela Noroc has spent the past four years traveling around the world with a backpack and a camera, searching for beauty in unexpected places. She has collected striking photographs of women from over 55 countries, which she documents on her Instagram account, and has now released a book titled The Atlas of Beauty. Norocs photos are a testament to the many definitions and perceptions of beauty, and give a brief insight into womens lives all over the globe. ADVERTISEMENT Her project started when she escaped from an unfulfilling job in Bucharest to Ethiopia on a backpacking trip. Almost immediately, she was struck by the women she saw in the streets of Addis Ababa, and the idea for The Atlas of Beauty began to form. She had always wanted to be a photographer, but had given up on her dream in favour of a more practical career in television. Soon after that trip, she quit her job and embarked on an adventure that has taken her further than she could have imagined, earning the trust of hundreds of woman who allowed her, often through pantomime due to a language barrier, to take their photo. Mihaela Noroc Norocs definition of beauty is much more complex than the mainstream portrayal of celebrities and supermodels. When I say beauty, she writes, I mean a different aspect of beauty than we often see today, which is usually about sexual attractiveness, in the service of selling something I want to show the serene, kind, calm facet of beauty: The mouth is closed, the eyes are connecting, not seducing, and the woman is wearing what makes her comfortable, even proud, not exposed and vulnerable. AMAZON RAINFOREST, ECUADOR "More and more tribes of Amazonia are starting to adopt modern clothes for everyday life. But they are still keeping their traditional clothes for important events. I photographed this young woman in her wedding outfit." WAKHAN CORRIDOR, AFGHANISTAN "She was working in the fields in one of the most remote places in the world. The people and the natural surroundings are beautiful, but life is so harsh. The violent conflicts that have plagued Afghanistan for the past forty years never reached her village but were never far away, and made it impossible for her to improve her life." NAMPAN, MYANMAR "I met this lovely lady at a local market." MEXICO CITY, MEXICO "Captain Berenice Torres is a helicopter pilot for the Mexican Federal Police. This brave woman, who is also a mother, is part of a special forces unit to fight drug cartels, or to rescue people from natural disasters. When she talks about her work, the passion in her eyes is impressive." OMO VALLEY, ETHIOPIA "With the high temperatures here, nudity is not unusual. Her tribe is called the Daasanach and they have lived in isolation for generations." ADVERTISEMENT CHICHICASTENANGO, GUATEMALA "Many women of the world carry great burdens every day, either literally or figuratively. And they do it with so much tenderness and positivity." ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA "She's wearing a deel, which is a traditional outfit commonly seen in Mongolia." BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN "This photo was taken just before her performance in a traditional dance." BUCHAREST, ROMANIA "In 2005, Magda was a passenger in a terrible car accident. Something I noticed traveling the world is how, in so many places, people in wheelchairs are often hidden away from the public, condemned to a life of isolation. Sometimes it is because getting outside is too difficult, due to a lack of accessible housing. Magda wants to change the way people in wheelchairs are treated, at least in her country, through some amazing initiatives. She regularly organizes fashion shows in which the models are ordinary women who use wheelchairs. These events show that a disability does not mean a woman is not talented, capable, and beautiful. She has given confidence to many women who, since working with her, have started families and became mothers. Magda herself is the mother of a six-year-old daughter. I feel privileged when I meet people like her. Through their passion, strength, and generosity, they bring so much joy and support to others." The Atlas of Beauty is available here. All photographs and quotations used with permission, (c) 2017 by Mihaela Noroc from The Atlas of Beauty, Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. More from BUST Photographer Jackie Dives Tells Stories That Need To Be Told: Lady Shooters These Gorgeous Photographs Send A Powerful Message About Women's Right To Sexual Expression This Trailblazing Artist Redefines The Erotic Nude Molly McLaughlin is a travel and culture writer currently based in Mexico City. Her work has appeared in publications including Lonely Planet, Refinery29 and Ms. Magazine. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @mollysgmcl. Italy has prepared a draft proposal to resettle about 1,000 migrants who are currently stranded in Libya around the world. Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano presented a pilot scheme with 1,000 migrants and several countries around the world welcoming these people before flying to Tripoli for an official visit. Mr. Alfano called the plan revolutionary as it would have to provide details about these individuals for those host countries, which are not able to have interviews themselves if they had closed their embassies in the conflict-torn North African country. Rome is actively looking into ways to discourage migrants from crossing the Mediterranean including incentivizing for a voluntary return home. Since 2014, Italy has seen the arrival of more than 600,000 people on its shores. The EUs relocation plan that was proposed at the peak of migration crises has wrapped up only recently after it had been legally challenged, mostly by Central European countries. The scheme has, however, so far seen less than a fifth of the planned 160,000 Syrians and other asylum-seekers relocated around the EU. The new trend is to shift from mandatory relocation to voluntary settlement, which means taking candidates from outside the bloc on an optional basis. The scheme is the first step after which follows a proposal to admit at least 50,000 of the most vulnerable individuals in need of protection to Europe over the next two years. The Commission seeks to encourage member states to set up private sponsorship schemes and launch projects for legal migrations with third countries. Bahrain is the best country for expats settling in and for career satisfaction, according to one of the biggest global surveys of expat life.The Gulf nation has leapt from 19th in to top place for making expats welcome in the 2017 Expat Insider survey from InterNations and has seen education and childcare improve substantially.Bahrain excels in making expats feel at home and also comes first for being able to get by without learning the local language. Bahrainis are very friendly and welcoming. Everyone speaks English, said one respondent.Some 25% of expats in Bahrain said they started feeling at home almost straight away and the survey report suggests that this is particularly impressive given that 33% of expats in the county who took part in the research has never lived abroad before.Expats in Bahrain are also happy with their careers. It came third globally in the working abroad index, second in the jobs and career index and in the work life/balance sub category.However, expats are less confident about the state of the economy with Bahrain ranking at 25 and at 18 in the job security subcategory.Bahrain ranked 28 in the cost of living index, unchanged from last year, and rose 13 places in the personal finance index to 13th. In terms of their financial situation some 68% of expats said they are generally satisfied and 41% said they earn a lot more than they would be able to at home.Expats also rated the country highly in terms of families and it ranked 10th for this category, up from 34th place last year. It came first for family life in general and fourth for a friendly attitude towards families with children.Compared to the 2016 survey there was a significant in the quality of education, with Bahrain rising from 22nd to sixth place, and for the availability of childcare and education, from 32nd place to 11th.An American expat described Bahrain as a beautiful melting pot of many different cultures. Another expat from the Philippines said it was their home away from home.Some 32% of expats said they intend to stay in Bahrain for more than five years and 11% indicated they wanted to stay forever. Good Afternoon members...I have few questions if there any answers1- interviewed by Adnoc group on JUNE 2017...2- job offer on JULY 2017...3- As per HR officer update ( Security check Approved ) on August ...4- management approval still under process (almost more than 40 days now )last, follow-up (still under process)is the final step normal or what? pls advise Taxes form the backbone of the relationship between government and the governed, revealing most starkly what we value as a society. Spoiler alert: We value business owners and investors over individual taxpayers. That was plain in the Unified Framework For Fixing Our Broken Tax Code announced Wednesday by GOP leaders in Congress and President Donald Trump, which proposes to cut corporate taxes from 35 percent to 20 percent. Other provisions to encourage more investment and business growth include: A one-time low-tax incentive for corporations to transfer money held offshore back to the U.S. The opportunity to accelerate expensing capital investments over the next five years to encourage further investment. A smaller tax rate on small businesses organized as limited liability companies or limited partnerships which are generally taxed at the personal income tax rate through their owner from 35 percent to 25 percent. The net effect of this sweeping tax reform would dramatically lower the burden of taxes on businesses. Initial estimates place the cost at $5 trillion less in revenue, and possibly $1.5 trillion in increased federal debt, over the next 10 years. Do not get overly distracted by proposals regarding household or individual taxation, because the frameworks central bet is the following: If businesses are the job creators and businesses make most investments in this country, then businesses will be the engine of economic growth and national economic strength. Treat businesses well, and plentiful jobs, higher salaries, increased investment and national prosperity will follow. Thats the guiding theory of this tax reform. If that theory turns out to be true, this reform will be hailed by future generations as a smashing success. On the individual and household side, the proposal would reduce the need for most itemization on a tax return by doubling standard household deductions, and it proposes three individual and household tax brackets, with an option for a fourth bracket targeted at higher earners. Also on the individual side, the proposal would eliminate the alternative minimum tax and the estate tax, which affects only 0.2 percent of estates. These two proposals would only benefit high earners (subject to the AMT) and the very wealthy (subject to the estate tax), respectively. So what to think about this proposal? First, lets talk about simplification, a stated goal of reformers. Simplicity in a new tax code doesnt derive from a smaller number of tax brackets but rather from eliminating itemized deductions, loopholes and abolishing the AMT. Perhaps cleverly, but ominously, the framework does not specify whether and how certain deductions popular with businesses and households will survive. We know many targeted tax breaks (aka loopholes) must be eliminated, however, to make up revenue lost by lower corporate and household tax rates overall. That is left, as of now, to the future sausage-making congressional committee process. The basic problem is that everybody likes to keep their own loopholes (which are job-creating and fair, naturally) while eliminating everybody elses loopholes (which are unfair and benefit special interests, naturally). Theres a fight to be had there. The more sweeping the loophole elimination, the closer we get to the Shangri-La of tax reform: tax filing on one single page, prepared in less than an hour, without hiring a tax specialist. But its politically challenging to eliminate loopholes to which specific powerful constituencies have become attached. Getting to simplicity, therefore, wont be simple. Next, lets talk politics. The political stakes of tax reform could not be higher for the Trump presidency. This is his legacy moment, as well as the legacy moment for House and Senate GOP leadership (other than repealing and replacing Obamacare.) For many, President Ronald Reagans signature triumph was the Tax Reform Act of 1986, forged in compromise with a Democratic House led by Speaker Tip ONeill. Top tax rates came down, the code was simplified, the stock market roared. We remember Reagans presidency as a time of increasing national prosperity. Could Trump make this his legacy, too? 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 political body language between the president and the Republican leadership of Mitch McConnell in the Senate and Paul Ryan in the House has always been one of mutual wariness and uncomfortable tolerance, at best. The calculation for the fiscally oriented wing of the Republican Party, led by Ryan, is that all of it will have been worth it if they can accomplish comprehensive tax reform in 2017. If they can pull it off, the historic legacies of Ryan, McConnell and Trump are dramatically bolstered. Finally, how to react personally to upcoming tax reform? If you are already a business owner, this is a thrilling tax reform proposal. Like seriously, chills and fist bumps all around. By now youve probably already posted on Twitter and Instagram with LOLOLOL OMG <3 <3 <3 Paul Ryan 4-Eva written in red lipstick font over a selfie of you in a bro hug with your investors. But if you are a salaried employee, whats in this reform for you? Consider this: If you are a wage earner, rather than a business owner, the framework suggests you are basically doing it wrong. The current proposal to change so-called pass-through taxation of small businesses like LLCs and LPs from top rates of around 35 percent to a top rate of 25 percent means that everybody (and their mother!) should earn money only through a business like an LLC or an LP, not through a salary paid by someone else. I, for example, need to stop charging personally for my writing and quickly open The Smart Money Business Columnist Thing LLC, a financial opinions consultancy business, and sell my columns to the newspaper as a business service. My income tax rate could be a lot lower that way under the latest proposal. You need to do the same. The framework says vaguely that it contemplates that the committees will adopt measures to prevent the recharacterization of personal income into business income, but, well, well see. In the meantime, wage earners, open up your LLC and become a business owner. Michael Taylor is a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News and a former Goldman Sachs bond salesman. michael@michaelthesmartmoney.com or @Michael_Taylor This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate He liked to bet big, wagering tens of thousands of dollars in a sitting. He owned homes in four states but preferred staying in casino hotels, sometimes for weeks at a time, as he worked the gambling machines. He grew up the son of a convicted bank robber who was constantly running from the law. But in his own life, Stephen Paddock, 64, had kept his nose clean until Sunday night, when he suddenly unleashed a firestorm of bullets from his casino hotel room, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500 more on the Las Vegas Strip. "If you told me an asteroid fell into Earth, it would mean the same to me. There's absolutely no sense, no reason he did this," his brother Eric Paddock said in an interview outside his home in Orlando, Florida. "He's just a guy who played video poker and took cruises and ate burritos at Taco Bell. There's no political affiliation that we know of. There's no religious affiliation that we know of." After the shooting, officers found Stephen Paddock dead with 17 guns on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where he had arrived Thursday. Police believe Paddock acted alone in executing the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Now Playing: 59 dead, 400+ hospitalized in attack at Vegas music fest Video: San Antonio Express-News More for you Sandy Hook groups react to Las Vegas shooting Eric Paddock said he knew of five guns his brother kept in his safe but was shocked that a rapid-fire weapon was used in Sunday's shooting. He said Stephen Paddock didn't hunt and barely shot his guns, once taking Eric's children on a skeet-shooting trip paid for by the casinos. In the final years of his life, Stephen Paddock was living out his retirement in quiet obscurity. He liked country music, relatives said, and went to concerts like the Route 91 Harvest festival where he killed so many Sunday night. He was worth more than $2 million, relatives said. Before retiring, he made a small fortune from real estate deals and a business that he and Eric Paddock sold off. He traveled a lot and had millions of free airline miles. At various points of his life, Stephen Paddock worked for defense contractor Lockheed Martin and as an accountant and property manager. As a retiree, he had no children and plenty of money to play with. So he took up gambling. "It's like a job for him. It's a job where you make money," said Eric Paddock, adding that his brother could lose $1 million and still have enough to live on. "He was at the hotel for four months one time. It was like a second home." He recalled one time when the entire family took over the top floor of the Atlantis at the casino's expense. His brother was very particular about the games he played. "It had to be the right machine with double points, and there has to be a contest going on. He won a car one time," Eric Paddock said. "He's known. He's a top player. He's the small end of the big fish." Over the past two decades, Stephen Paddock had bought and sold properties in several states, including California, Nevada, Florida and Texas, where for a time, neighbors said, he lived with his mother. Public records show Paddock at one point owned two planes and was a licensed pilot. He also had a fishing license from Alaska. He told neighbors he was a professional gambler and a prospector, and he appeared to favor buying homes in retirement communities. At one point, he and his longtime girlfriend, Marilou Danley, were living in at least three retirement communities, property records show. Neighbors said the couple seemed almost itinerant, leaving the properties empty for long stretches as Paddock visited his casinos. Donald Judy, who was his next-door neighbor in Florida until two years ago, said the inside of Paddock's home "looked like a college freshman lived there." There was no art on the walls and no car in the driveway. Just a dining chair, a bed and two recliners. Paddock was constantly on the move, carrying a suitcase and driving a rental car whenever he stayed at the community near Cocoa Beach. "It looked like he'd be ready to move at a moment's notice," Judy said. Judy said he never flashed his wealth, often wearing khaki cotton pants, with a polo or other collared shirt, and never driving anything nicer than a standard rental car. A little while after living there, Paddock left Judy a key and asked him to keep an eye on the rarely used house and to borrow any tools he might want. Judy said there were no drugs or parties, nothing unusual except for Paddock's gambling. "They did seem to always stay up till midnight and sleep in till noon," Judy said. "They always seemed to stay on Vegas time." Then, as quickly as he had appeared, Paddock put up a for-sale sign, Judy said. "He never said much about it, just said they were moving back to Vegas." Police in Texas and towns Paddock lived in in Nevada said they could find no records of run-ins with the law involving him. California records show that Paddock married a woman named Peggy Okamoto in 1985. They divorced in 1990 citing "irreconcilable differences." In recent years, Danley had become his girlfriend, relatives said. Authorities said Danley was out of the country at the time of the shooting and was located in Tokyo. She is not considered a suspect. At one point, Danley worked as a high-limit hostess for Club Paradise, a rewards program in the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, Nevada, according to her LinkedIn profile. In a statement, Atlantis officials said she has not worked for the casino for several years. Diane McKay lived next door to Paddock and Danley at their Reno home until July, when McKay moved away. Danley wasn't forthcoming about her life, and Paddock was unfriendly, McKay recalled. She only saw him in the mornings, when he went to the clubhouse to work out. "He was weird. Kept to himself," said McKay, 79. "It was like living next to nothing. . . . You can at least be grumpy, something. He was just nothing, quiet." The couple kept their blinds closed, but sometimes Paddock would open the garage door, revealing an enormous safe the size of a refrigerator. Paddock's father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, described on a 1969 wanted poster as "psychopathic'' with suicidal tendencies. He escaped from prison that year and, according to news accounts, was not captured until 1978, when he was nabbed while running a bingo parlor in Oregon. Stephen Paddock was the oldest of four boys. Eric, eight years his junior, was the youngest, with two in between: Bruce and Patrick. Their father died a few years ago, but Eric Paddock grew up thinking their father was already dead. He found out otherwise when Patrick went to the Air Force Academy and was told his father was a decorated veteran and still alive. "We didn't grow up under his influence," Eric Paddock said. "I was born on the run in Tucson. My dad was about to be arrested for robbing banks." FBI agents interviewed relatives Monday, including Stephen Paddock's mother, who is in her 90s and spoke with him two weeks ago, Eric Paddock said. Five days after Hurricane Irma hit Orlando, Stephen Paddock texted his brother to see whether relatives had been affected. Eric Paddock said he did not know of any mental illness, alcohol or drug problems in his brother's life. He said he had no clue whether Stephen had gambling debts or was financially troubled. By Monday night, after an entire day dealing with FBI investigators and reporters camped outside his house, Eric Paddock said he and other relatives were still struggling to process the atrocity carried out by his brother. "When we talked about a month ago, I can't believe he was planning this," he said, squeezing his eyes closed. "But he must have. It takes time." What he knows about his brother doesn't fit with Sunday's massacre of innocents. "Something broke in his head is the only thing possible. Did he have a stroke?" he said. "I'm hoping they cut open his brain and find something. There's a data point missing." - - - Julie Tate and Mark Berman in Washington; Ally Gravina in Reno, Nev.; Heather Long in Mesquite, Nev.; William Dauber in Los Angeles; and Justin Glawe in Dallas contributed to this report. MISSION Before Erick Lugo, 25, was admitted to the program that shields undocumented immigrants from deportation, his life had been confined to the border. That changed with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, which gives recipients work permits and, for immigrants like Lugo, permission to travel beyond immigration checkpoints in South Texas. Yet in the weeks since President Donald Trump said he would phase out the five-year program, numerous DACA recipients, including Lugo and his sister, have been temporarily detained at immigration checkpoints. Lugo lost a job opportunity because of his hours-long confinement. His sister was compelled to give the Border Patrol the names of their mother and father, he said. Border Patrol told her, It will be easier, and faster, if you give us your parents names, Lugo said of his sisters experience at the immigration checkpoint in Falfurrias. What do you do when they ask you something like that? Residents of the U.S. border with Mexico must pass through interior immigration checkpoints to gain access to the rest of the United States. These checkpoints are located along highways miles north of the international line, and DACA permit holders have been allowed to pass through. Since the programs inception, about 800,000 undocumented immigrants have become beneficiaries of DACA, which gives two-year renewable work permits to qualifying young people who were brought to the country illegally as children. Nearly 690,000 are enrolled in the program, including around 124,000 in Texas and 10,000 in the McAllen area, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The number of DACA recipients who have been detained is not available. Trump gave Congress until March 5 to pass legislation to help the suddenly vulnerable immigrants. Though the government has stopped accepting new DACA applications, those whose work permits expire before the March deadline have until Thursday to submit renewal applications. Despite Trumps assurances that DACA recipients have nothing to worry about, within days of announcing that he would end the Obama-era policy there were reports of so-called Dreamers being detained at the immigration checkpoint in Falfurrias. With the future of Dreamers cast in doubt, La Union del Pueblo Entero, an immigrant advocacy organization based in Alamo, launched a series of information sessions. These sessions were really critical in telling DACA recipients you also should know what to do if you have an encounter with law enforcement, said John-Michael Torres, spokesman for LUPE. The situation is alarming enough for us that we wanted to put out a travel advisory. Late last month, the organization sent out a travel alert that warned DACA recipients against unnecessary travel to the border region. LUPE has received reports of DACA recipients suffering mental and emotional abuse and being threatened with deportation. The organization is urging those who are detained to memorize phone numbers of family members so they can call for help and to avoid signing paperwork without consulting an immigration lawyer. Reports of checkpoint detentions also drew sharp censure from Rio Grande Valley leaders. Among the more vocal has been U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen. The freshman congressman penned a letter to Trump, demanding clarity of the apparent policy shift within the Border Patrol regarding the young immigrants. This incident signals a troubling shift in policing of these young people, Gonzalez said. How far are we from rounding up these young people for deportation? The Border Patrol has said that when DACA recipients present themselves for immigration inspection, they will temporarily be detained for accuracy and verification of status. Once substantiated, the DACA recipient will be processed and released accordingly. The checkpoint detentions began shortly after Trump announced the end of DACA in early September. A group of nine recipients was held in Falfurrias, and among them was Eduardo, a 19-year-old immigrant whose parents brought him from Reynosa, Mexico, when he was a few months old. Eduardo, who declined to give his last name; his brother, who is also a DACA recipient; and two uncles, who are legal permanent residents, left their homes in Edinburg en route to Corpus Christi, where they had lined up roofing work. They arrived at the checkpoint at 8 a.m., expecting to be waved through, as had been routine ever since the brothers received the DACA permits. But this time was different. Border agents asked the brothers to step out of their pickup and into the office. Over a period of six hours, they were joined by seven other DACA recipients, including a young woman who was taken off a northbound bus, which departed without her, Eduardo said. One agent told us we were going to be deported, he said. I kept thinking, If they deport us, I have nowhere to go. Eventually, they were released. After the ordeal, Eduardo returned to his pregnant wife and baby girl waiting for him in Edinburg. Although he earned up to $90 a day north of the checkpoint, nearly double what he can make in the Valley, he said he wont be making a trip to the checkpoint anytime soon. I cant leave my family alone, he said. For me, they are everything. For Lugo, the experience was similarly jarring. He had been traveling with his wife and 4-month-old son, who are both U.S. citizens. Border agents asked him where his family was from, and where they had crossed the border. Lugo told the agents that his parents brought him to the Valley from Mexico when he was just 4 years old, but the memory of that time is vague. Lugo received his first DACA card in 2012, and he sent in his renewal application in September. The permission has enabled him to obtain a technical degree and land well-paid work as an industrial electrician in Dallas and Houston. A few days ago, Lugo received another job offer, which will require traveling through the Falfurrias immigration checkpoint. Im planning to leave really early, Lugo said, in case I get detained again. anelsen@express-news.net | Twitter: @amnelsen The man who opened fire on a concert crowd of about 22,000 from the 32nd floor of a hotel about a quarter-mile away still managed to kill more than 50 people and injure over 500. Mandalay Bay, the hotel from which Stephen Craig Paddock fired, sits across Las Vegas Boulevard from Las Vegas Village, the Harvest 91 festival convert venue. Country music star Jason Aldean was seen fleeing from the front of the stage as shots rang out around 10:08 p.m., when authorities say that Paddock fired through a broken window toward the venue. Just after midnight, Las Vegas police had shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and announced that the suspect in the incident was down, the Associated Press reported. McCarran International Airport halted all flights temporarily, not to resume until roughly 1 a.m. The death toll rose throughout the morning to 58, where it remained after 3 p.m. Mandalay Bay is slightly south of the middle of the strip. By the middle of the afternoon, the resort and casino had launched a message on its home page which reads "Our Prayers for the Victims. Our Gratitude for the Brave First Responders." Paddock, 64, is from Mesquite, Nevada, according to The Wrap. He had previously lived in Texas and California. NBC News reported that Paddock's father, Benjamin Paddock was on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted list in the 1970s for robbing banks. Paddock's brother, Bruce, said Paddock earned money owning and managing apartment buildings with his mother, who lives in Florida. Though the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the massacre, law enforcement have said there's no indication that it was an act of terrorism. If you could write a eulogy for yourself, what would it say?This probably isnt something youve spent a lot of time considering, but eulogies are important for any funeral or memorial service. Theyre an opportunity for people to express fond things about the dearly departed. Eulogies briefly shift our focus from feelings of loss to fond reflections about the friend or family member that has just passed away.Occasionally, giving a eulogy is problematic when its a stretch to think of anything positive to say about the one deceased.Speaker James McDonald noted this recently, recalling times when he presided over services for people that werent well-liked. At such occasions, giving a eulogy being truthful at the same time can be difficult.One might say in all candor, He sure was different, or she was one of a kind. Beyond that, finding something good to say might be challengeing. You dont want those assembled wondering, Who in the world are they talking about? At the same time, we dont want to kick a man when hes down literally.What about eulogies for people who arent dead? Eulogy is derived from the Greek eulogia, meaning praise or blessing. In that sense, we neednt wait until a persons last breath to bless them. Everyone appreciates sincere compliments and encouragement, so why wait until theyre gone?You might be thinking, Okay, thanks for the reminder. Ill try to remember to say something nice to my spouse (or best friend, or business partner, or pastor). However, what about eulogizing people very much alive that you dont like?Why would I want to do that? you ask. As the classic childrens song says, How do I know? The Bible tells me so. In 1 Peter, the apostle writes about a variety of relationships including ones we wish we didnt have. He starts, Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble (1 Peter 3:8). Another version translates the last part, humble in spirit. This sounds easy enough regarding people we care about. But then the admonition gets more complicated:Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing (1 Peter 3:9). Theres that eulogy word again. Even when people treat us badly, or say nasty things to us, were instructed not to bless them out, but to eulogize them with words of kindness, not ones that match their wickedness.This teaching clearly runs counter to the spirit of our age, when factions seek peace by spewing hatred toward those with opposing views. Conversation and debate are anything but civil. Why should we respond to insults or evil with blessings? That makes no sense, right?Perhaps, but Romans 12:20 makes clear Peter wasnt some Pollyanna-minded apostle. Another apostle, Paul, concurred when he wrote, On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. He was quoting Psalm 25:21-22, showing this blessing principle spans testaments Old and New.This is neither easily done nor said. With so many people eagerly shouting epithets toward anyone that disagrees with them, the last thing we want to do is bless them with words of kindness, affirmation or sentiments that could foster harmony and unity.Thats the amazing thing about the Bible. So often God asks of us things diametrically opposed to the culture and norms of our time. But as Jesus taught His followers, our behavior should make us stand out, revealing us as radically distinctive from the non-believing world around us. Thats where being humble in spirit comes in.Jesus said, If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. But love your enemies, do good to them. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:33-36).Although He didnt specifically refer to our speech in this passage, the principle is clear. Its not unusual to feel vindictive and spiteful, to return evil in kind. Demonstrating Christs presence in our lives, however, calls for something totally different.What about that family member youve been feuding with, a colleague at work set on being a thorn in your side, or an unreasonable neighbor unable to engage in a calm, reasonable discussion?Rather than adding fuel to the fire, maybe we can douse the blaze with counter-intuitive responses. As Proverbs 15:1 says, A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Were not responsible for the fiery behavior of others but dont need to fan the flames.----Robert J. Tamasy is a veteran journalist, former newspaper editor and magazine editor. Bob has written hundreds of magazine articles, and authored, co-authored and edited more than 15 books. These include the newly re-published, Business At Its Best, Tufting Legacies, The Heart of Mentoring, and Pursuing Life With a Shepherds Heart. He edits a weekly business meditation, Monday Manna, which is translated into more than 20 languages and distributed via email around the world by CBMC International. To read more of Bob Tamasys writings, you can visit his blog, www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com, or his website (now being completed), www.bobtamasy-readywriterink.com. He can be emailed at btamasy@comcast.net. Kinney County Attorney Todd Durden won the first round of his legal wrangle with the county commissioners under a court ruling that they acted improperly in slashing his salary last month. Following a three-hour hearing last week, State District Judge Enrique Fernandez ruled this weekend that the commission, led by County Judge Tully Shahan, erred on Sept. 11, when they voted to cut Durdens wages by 20 percent. In deciding that the commissioners did not comply with the Local Government Code or the Open Meetings Act, Fernandez granted Durden the injunction he had sought to keep the county from cutting his wages. The case will now go to trial unless a settlement is reached. The judge had a lot of legal filings to review and he was very thorough. He understood the facts and the legal issues raised by the parties and he worked hard to get a prompt ruling, said Durden. Durden, who took office Jan. 9 after being elected without opposition, has had a bumpy start as county attorney, butting heads with Shahan for months. Shahan, who was the county attorney for 32 years, has criticized Durden as being ineffective, ill-prepared and often absent from his job. He did not return a call Monday seeking comment. Austin lawyer Robert Bass, who was hired by the county commissioner to represent them in the Durden matter, said the county will comply with the judges decision. We are awaiting an actual final order. Once that is done, we will determine if we want to pursue an appeal, said Bass, adding, There are concerns obviously about the level of service the taxpayers are getting from that office. Durden was set to be paid $40,731 plus a state supplement of $23,333 before the commissioners trimmed his income by $8,000 on Sept. 11 without posting the matter on the meeting agenda. They acted shortly before approving the 2017-18 county budget. Earlier, the commissioners had tried to cut Durdens secretarys salary by the same amount but that money was later restored. Durden, 56, who moved to Brackettville late last year, said he is winding down his private practice near Fort Worth. He describes the county attorney position is a part-time job and said he needs additional outside legal work to pay his bills. Fewer than 4,000 people live in the sparsely populated rural county between Del Rio and Uvalde on U.S. 90, and some local citizens are unhappy about the improbable legal tussle. "Regardless of the alleged reasons, the action taken by commissioners court was procedurally flawed. You don't need a degree in law to figure that out, just some common sense, said Wes Robinson, who is also unhappy about taxpayer money being spent to hire an outside lawyer to litigate the matter. jmaccormack@express-news.net AUSTIN A trio of attorneys tasked with building a case against Attorney General Ken Paxton havent been paid in 18 months and they convinced the states highest criminal court there could be a problem with that. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals last week agreed to look into whether three special prosecutors in Paxtons criminal trial should be paid $205,000 in back pay despite a ruling by a lower court that found another judge busted a local cap on how much money the attorneys can make. If the high court agrees, it could hamper or kill the criminal case against Paxton, an embattled Republican attorney general facing a trifecta of felony securities fraud and registration charges that have overshadowed his first term as the states top lawyer. Legal experts say theres much more at risk for Texas criminal justice system: whether qualified lawyers will be willing to take time-consuming appointments as special prosecutors or defense attorneys in complicated cases for little pay. Were really talking here about trying to make sure justice is done, said Geary Reamey, a criminal law professor at St. Marys University School of Law. The way to best ensure that justice is done is to have lawyers on both sides who are equally resourced, equally experienced, equally capable. At issue is whether lower-level judges can pay the special prosecutors more than locally approved caps allow. Three special prosecutors were assigned to Paxtons case after Greg Willis, Collin Countys district attorney and a friend of Paxtons, recused himself from the case. Houston attorneys Brian Wice, Kent Schaffer and Nicole DeBorde were later appointed special prosecutors in the case. Collin County Local Administrative Judge Scott Becker agreed to pay the new appointees $300 an hour, tapping a rule that gives him discretion to set higher fees in special cases. Paxtons allies challenged their pay in court, arguing taxpayers shouldnt be on the hook for hefty attorneys fees that exceed the countys caps. They argue the judge busted a Collin County limit of $1,000 for first-degree felony pleas, $500 for third-degree pleas, $1,000 for pretrial work and $500 for each one-half day of trial. The Dallas-based 5th Court of Appeals agreed last month, saying judges lack discretion to set higher fee schedules. The court voided an order for the payment, which dates to January 2016. On an appeal by Wice, one of Paxtons three special prosecutors, the Court of Criminal Appeals decided last Monday night that it was interested in the case and stayed further proceedings while it weighs the issue. The court, which is essentially the supreme court for criminal cases, is now soliciting responses from the 5th Court of Appeals and other interested parties for the next month. Left unchecked, the court of appeals decision divesting trial judges of the discretion to control their dockets will have a chilling effect on their ability to appoint competent advocates willing to take on the most complex criminal cases, Wice said in a petition for a writ of mandamus against the 5th Court of Appeals, adding attorneys willing to take on complex prosecutions against public officials will have to do so on shoe-string budgets. In his filing, he said two-thirds of all Texas counties 168 out of 254 passed rules that allow judges discretion to set a higher pay in special circumstances. Most of the members of the high court were prosecutors at some point, said Reamy, who used to practice law in the Dallas area, and have some understanding of the time and expertise it takes to be a special prosecutor in a case like Paxtons. He said the members are likely interested what this case might do in the administration of criminal justice. Its going to be extremely hard in the future to find people who are willing to be special prosecutors and that doesnt serve the interests of justice in Texas at all, he said. He said the Dallas courts decision could undermine confidence the courts are trying to instill in the public that the criminal system generally works the way its supposed to without favoritism to the powerful or the wealthy. Paxton, who maintains his innocence, has employed a team of lawyers to defend him against the criminal charges and civil charges that were thrown out earlier this year. He has raised more than half of $1 million for his legal defense since 2015. Last year, he raised nearly $218,000 to pay his lawyers, spokesman and others building his defense strategy. In 2015, Paxton raised $329,000. Paxtons spokesman and legal defense team declined to comment for this story, citing a gag order on the criminal case. Should the court let the 5th Court of Appeals decision stand, the three attorneys would not be paid for the last 18 months working on the Paxton case. Asked for comment on this story, including whether the attorneys would work for free, Wice declined to comment. The Collin County Commissioners Court is also mulling whether to claw back some of the money it paid the special prosecutors late last year. If thats the case, it wont be worth it for high-quality lawyers to take on appointments to complicated cases, said Quinton Dwight McDonald, an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University. A high-quality attorney shouldnt have to think about whether they will have to battle county commissioners or unhappy defense attorneys in separate lawsuits to ensure theyre paid what they were promised, said McDonald, who spent more than two decades practicing criminal law. That, in turn, could lead to fewer seasoned attorneys taking on appointments and a weakening of the judicial system. If you set that precedent, trust me, that does come up again, he said. If youre not getting the best representation that you can on both sides, then this system does not work the way our forefathers wanted it to work. The State Bar of Texas and the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, which represent lawyers across the state, declined to comment for this story. The cases rise to the states highest criminal court is the latest twist in Paxtons criminal case, now more than two years in the making, and will likely delay it further. The court has reset his trial date twice and he is now scheduled to face trial in December. Paxton is accused of securities fraud by persuading people in his investment group to invest in Servergy Inc., a North Texas tech company, without disclosing that he would make a commission from the sales. He sold $840,000 in investments in the company and was paid 100,000 shares of stock worth $1 each. The transactions took place while Paxton was a member of the House of Representatives and are not entwined with his public service. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission launched similar charges against the attorney general in federal civil court. A federal court judge tossed out those charges in March. Conservative groups and publications have come to Paxtons aid in recent weeks, offering up editorials calling the case against him dubious, a waste of taxpayer money and a political witch hunt. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The seven monks lined up in a row behind their mandala sand painting, a complex display of colors and shapes formed by millions of individual sand grains. Clad in maroon and gold robes, they let out a coordinated chant, emitting a range of deep pitches. At times they sounded two long, thin trumpets called dhungchens. A crowd of about 300 looked on Sunday afternoon in a dimly lit room at the Institute of Texan Cultures, many pointing phones and cameras toward the ritualistic ceremony. It was the culmination of about 24 hours of meticulous work by the monks, who came from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in southern India to create a detailed sand mandala. The monks began the painting Thursday morning, working several hours each day until they finished the painting around 1:30 Sunday. At the end of the ceremony, one of the monks, Geshe Loden, placed a pink flower at the center of the painting, where the Buddha was depicted. Another monk stepped forward and carefully swept a small brush over the sand, repeating a series of strokes until the board was a pinwheel of indistinct colors. After days of work, the painting was gone. The destruction of the painting symbolizes what Loden called "impermanence of all the phenomena." It became a mixture of red, green, white, yellow and blue, the colors that represent the five elements of nature, Loden said. "Its very peaceful," said Barbara Zhao, who runs a meditation store selling Buddhist arts and crafts. "My husband has been to Tibet, so this is something I wanted to see for myself." The ceremony elicited a range of emotions from viewers, many of whom viewed a mandala painting for the first time. "Its inspiring," said Richard Briggs, a San Antonio resident. "The care and intricacy, it makes me want to carry out daily life with as much care as they did." Briggs, 56, wore a white T-shirt displaying the words "Free Tibet" to show his opposition to Chinas occupation of the area. On a table behind the sand painting sat a photo of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism who was exiled to India in 1959. A colorful array of incense, flowers and other objects, described by Loden as "offerings," surrounded the portrait on the long, narrow table. The sand used to create the mandala is actually crushed marble, Loden said. Its much denser than ordinary sand, making the grains less likely to blow away. "It not the sand you find on beaches," he said. According to Loden, monks take about two years to learn how to make mandalas, as they must develop a steady enough hand to form such intricate shapes and designs. "Its a long process of training," Loden said. "We have to memorize the scripture text and understand it, and actually [learn] how to draw the colors and shapes." The monks are coming to the tail end of a nearly yearlong tour around the United States, undertaken to expose Americans to sacred Tibetan arts. The tour, dubbed the Mystical Arts of Tibet, started more than 25 years ago and is endorsed by the Dalai Lama. Loden estimated the monks had created mandala paintings in about 30 cities on their current tour, spanning eight months so far. After the ceremony, the monks cleared away the sand, placing it in hundreds of small plastic bags that were distributed to viewers. They then walked to the nearby San Antonio River, depositing the remaining sand in the water, where it flowed downstream and disappeared. jscherer@express-news.net | Twitter: @jaspscherer Shortly before a 64-year-old man with no history of violence unloaded hundreds of bullets into a crowd of concertgoers, Seguin Deputy Police Chief Bruce Ures Las Vegas vacation was coming to a close. Last day at the festival. Great time! Ure posted on Facebook with a crowd photo of the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a three-day country music event that included shows by dozens of performers. Moments later, Ure would be among the more than 500 people wounded and nearly 60 killed by the attack, the deadliest mass shooting in recent U.S. history that Ure described as a war zone. I caught a piece of bullet shrapnel on my hand but minor, he wrote in a Facebook post before dawn Monday. The shooter was 22 floors directly above our room. Rounds hitting the ground all around us. I am guessing 400-500 rounds. Maybe more. Sounded like a war zone. Police said Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on thousands of people at the festival from the 32nd floor of a nearby casino. Paddock killed himself just before a police SWAT team burst into his room, according to police. A local businesswoman, Sandra Gomez Obregon, wasnt at the concert but was staying at a nearby hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. She and her son were leaving their hotel, the MGM Grand, on their way to dinner, when they heard the barrage of gunshots. At first, Obregon thought it was fireworks, but when she scanned the Las Vegas sky, there werent any colorful bursts to be found. She said that when the next round of loud shots echoed along the Strip, she slowly realized that the sounds were gunfire. The noise was followed by people fleeing the concert. Obregon said that at first, about 20 people ran their way. Then they saw 100 or so running frantically toward them. Obregon said they ran back into the hotel lobby, with hundreds more running behind them. Outside, she said, people were carrying bodies into the Tropicana hotel. Ure could not be reached for comment Monday, but Morgan Ash, spokeswoman for the city of Seguin, said texts that she exchanged with Ure overnight indicated that despite his injury, he was able to use his training as a firefighter/EMT to assist others. He texted that he was able to help other injured concertgoers by commandeering a car and driving them to the hospital, Ash said. Were so thankful that he is all right, and we are praying for the victims and their families. Ash said Ure also recounted using a tourniquet to stem the bleeding from a severed artery in one persons limb. Ure, hired in Seguin in 2015, was Victorias police chief from 2007 to early 2011, according to published reports. He had been expected to arrive back in Seguin on Monday morning but had to delay his travel plans because he was unable to get back into his room to get his belongings. Obregon said she was impressed with how fast police had everything under control. Speaking by phone Monday afternoon, she and her son were preparing to board a plane for a flight back to San Antonio. She said the memory of the horrific sights and sounds are ones she wont soon forget. The hardest part was seeing people running for their lives, she said, and the horror on their faces. zeke@express-news.net Staff Writer Kelsey Bradshow contributed to this report. A federal judge Monday rejected state Sen. Carlos Urestis request to dismiss one of the 22 charges against him in a case involving a now-defunct oil field services company. One of the San Antonio Democrats lawyers, Tab Turner, told Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra that prosecutors failed to include enough facts to meet federal requirements for charging Uresti with acting as an unregistered securities broker. Uresti was charged in May in a 22-page indictment, and the charges also include securities fraud and wire fraud. He has denied the charges. Also charged in the case are former FourWinds Logistics CEO Stan Bates and company consultant Gary Cain. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Blackwell argued that there is enough in the indictment to let the charge remain. This is a very detailed indictment, Blackwell told the judge. We allege Sen. Uresti was a security broker for FourWinds and received a commission from FourWinds. Ezra sided with prosecutors and reiterated that the trial is set for Oct. 23 for Uresti, Bates and Cain. A separate, unrelated bribery case Uresti is charged in is set for trial early next year. FourWinds was formed to buy and sell sand, which is used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to produce oil and gas. FourWinds entered bankruptcy in August 2015 amid allegations from a handful of investors that they were defrauded. The feds say it was a Ponzi scheme. Uresti served as FourWinds lawyer from about June or July 2014 until January 2015. Uresti testified in a bankruptcy hearing in September that he originally was introduced to Bates as a potential investor, though he didnt have the $1.4 million required to invest with FourWinds. Uresti said he sought to bring in investors for FourWinds. Former Uresti law client Denise Cantu of Harlingen invested $900,000, earning Uresti a $27,000 commission. Cantu lost all but about $100,00 and is suing Uresti, FourWinds and Bates for fraud. Uresti previously had represented Cantu in a wrongful-death case involving two of her children. Also Monday, San Antonio criminal defense lawyer Mike McCrum told Ezra that he may join Urestis legal team. In addition, Bates lawyer, Karl A. Basile, filed a motion Monday to postpone his clients trial date. Basiles motion cites a number of other cases hes involved in that make it difficult to adequately prepare for Bates trial. gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN - Texas officials joined in mourning those killed in Las Vegas, sending prayers and expressing shock at the massacre of more than 50 people and injuries to hundreds more. The news of this senseless act of violence in Las Vegas overnight is heartbreaking, Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. He said that he and his wife, Cecilia, are beyond saddened by the tremendous loss of life. Texas mourns and prays for the victims of this tragedy, and the entire Las Vegas community, in this time of unimaginable pain." Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had been scheduled to give a speech on regulatory reform. But the Texas Public Policy Foundation, sponsor of the event, canceled it due to the shooting. Thoughts and prayers are with those killed and injured in the deadly shooting in Las Vegas last night, Patrick said on Twitter. Attorney General Ken Paxton also addressed the tragedy on Twitter on behalf of himself and his wife, Angela, a candidate for Texas Senate. Please join Angela and I was we pray for the victims and their loved ones in the cowardly Las Vegas shooting, Paxton said. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio said on Twitter that he is praying for all affected by the devastating, senseless mass shooting in Las Vegas. My heart goes out to the victims and their families. 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. Their voices joined prayers and concern lifted across the United States. We are joined together today in sadness, shock, and grief, President Donald Trump said Monday. It was an act of pure evil. Former President Barack Obama said on Twitter that he and his wife, Michelle, are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy. pfikac@express-news.net | Twitter: @pfikac The man police said killed at least 50 and injured 400 people at a concert in Las Vegas Sunday night previously lived in Texas, public records obtained by mySA.com show. Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, moved from place to place, including parts of Texas, California and Nevada, according to public records. In Texas, Paddock is registered as living in Mesquite, just outside of Dallas, and working in Houston. Mesquite Police said Paddock lived there from 2004 to 2012. Lt. Brian Parish says property records show Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, indicated he lived there during the period but that public records suggested he may have lived in the suburb longer. Parrish said Monday that Paddock owned at least three rental properties. Parrish also says Mesquite police have found no indications that officers had contact with Paddock. UPDATED: At least 50 killed as gunman opens fire at Las Vegas concert He worked as a manager for Central Park Apartments in Mesquite and Houston, records show. Paddock's Texas identification card was issued to him in October 2007, according to records. Now Playing: 59 dead, 400+ hospitalized in attack at Vegas music fest Video: San Antonio Express-News At least 27 addresses were found belonging to Paddock in public records, and at one point he moved to Mesquite, Nevada. Nevada police have said Parrish was most recently living in that state's city of Mesquite near the state line with Arizona. Paddock opened fire on thousands of concertgoers in Las Vegas Sunday night from the 32nd floor of a casino. It is the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. SWAT officers found Paddock had killed himself upon entering his hotel room. Staff writer Guillermo Contreras and staff researcher Misty Harris, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. kbradshaw@express-news.net | Twitter: @kbrad5 For all that she has faced since arriving at her newest diplomatic post in April, Consul General Reyna Torres Mendivil of Mexico has shown those whove met her that shes a diplomat in the truest sense of the word. Even fellow diplomats say that. Last week she met with a handful of San Antonio- and Austin-based honorary representatives of various foreign governments to brief them on whats going on in her homeland since a series of deadly earthquakes hit. She spoke not only of the international response but of the courageous work by her own countrymen and women, who filled-in where emergency personnel could not. The images of Mexicans helping Mexicans, who formed bucket brigades to remove rubble to unearth those trapped under it, inspired people around the world. Their response, determination and resilience illustrated the Mexican people as many Texans know them to be, vividly clashing with the hateful rhetoric about Mexico and Mexicans from President Donald Trump and others on the far right. Ask a rancher, a restauranteur, a college administrator, they see how lucky the United States is to have Mexico as a neighbor. For Torres, months in office may already feel like years given the set of circumstances she was handed. Perhaps this is why shes considered such a rock star. These are difficult times, she said at the diplomats breakfast in response to a question about the political climate. Our duty is to adapt to the times. She has found in San Antonio amazing connections, she said, and relationships on which she can build. Thats whats permanent. Those ties are also centuries-old, reminding us that a city celebrating its 300th anniversary next year was once Mexico. The relationship isnt only cultural, historical and based on trade but perhaps, more importantly, familial. The diplomats shared stories about the U.S. visa policy, and how much more difficult it has become for their countrymen; San Antonios international outlook, which was called significant for a city its size; and the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement, especially given the Trump administrations threats to dismantle it. They also talked about the cause of Dreamers, those immigrants brought to the United States as children and have known no other country as their own. Her consulate has been busy. It became central command this summer for the tragic case of Mexicans transported to San Antonio inside a suffocating trailer, resulting in many deaths. Torres has had to reconstruct ties, she said, as Mexico left her post unfilled for some time before appointing a consul general whose stay only lasted a year. So, on top of immigration and Trumps attacks on her country, her focus will be on promoting tourism, investment and energy ties, she said. Theres a lot of potential we havent developed. She spoke of Ambassador Carlos Sada, well-known in San Antonio for his instrumental leadership in helping found several entities such as the U.S. Mexico Friendship Council, that continue to this day. He was a visionary and institution builder, Torres said. While Washington continues to sidestep the workforce needs of U.S. industry, agriculture in particular, Reyna said, We have to figure out how to talk. There are possibilities that could be viable in the short term. About NAFTA, she and others in the room wistfully noted how politicians eventually validate whats already happening on the ground. Most of the time governments run after realities, she said. When NAFTA went into effect in 1994, the United States, Mexico and Canada were merely catching up with it. But she hopes new negotiations will include e-commerce, for example. Its a no-brainer, she said. NAFTA has many border champions. We just have to make it easier and update the agreement, she said. Shes confident not only that it will be successful but has the potential of creating the most competitive region in the world. She trusts the power that policy has to catch up with reality. No matter how much Trump continues to talk about the building of a wall between Mexico and the United States, building divisiveness instead, Torres said the rhetoric contradicts sharply with the images her country sent out into the world. As they set out into the streets of Mexico City and other places where quakes killed and destroyed, the world saw the true Mexico. Instead of criminals and rapists, we saw brothers and sisters in solidarity rescuing their neighbors from the rubble. They acted. They were agents, self-appointed, armed with little but their own hands. Rock by rock, they started to rebuild. The honorary ambassador corps who invited Torres to break bread had their own agenda. They hope to create a group of diplomats from around the world who live and work in South Texas. And they already know they want Reyna to be the groups president, representing honorary representatives of a host of countries, including Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Belgium. While many of them have day jobs, shes recognized for her status as a career diplomat, one said. Shes our leader. Besides, another said, Her French is excellent. eayala@express-news.net | Twitter: @ElaineAyala New vehicle sales in Hamilton County fell to 1,139 in September and used vehicle sales rose to 3,537 according to figures from the County Clerk's office. That compares to 1,184 new vehicles sold and 3,680 used vehicles sold in September 2016. Totals for September included 404 new cars and 735 new trucks sold. They included 1,717 used cars and 1,820 used trucks sold. During the third calendar quarter, Swedens Telia reached a blockbuster resolution with the DOJ and SEC, landing on top of our Top Ten list. There were two other corporate enforcement actions. In one, the SEC resolved civil actions with Halliburton and its former vice president. In the other, the SEC fined Alere for anti-bribery offenses and accounting fraud. Two FCPA defendants a Russian citizen and a French citizen were sentenced to new prison terms. A German citizen from Brazil who was extradited from Panama was sentenced to time served. In federal court in Manhattan, a jury convicted an FCPA defendant from Macau of UN bribes. Five companies four from the United States and one from South Africa reported declinations. Heres what happened: DOJ / SEC Enforcement Resolutions Halliburton Company (July 27) paid the SEC $29.2 million in disgorgement and penalties for violating the FCPAs books and records and internal accounting controls provisions. In the settlement, Halliburton paid $14 million in disgorgement plus $1.2 million in prejudgment interest, and a $14 million penalty. Jeannot Lorenz (July 27), Halliburtons former vice president, paid the SEC a $75,000 penalty for causing the companys FCPA violations, circumventing internal accounting controls, and falsifying books and records. Telia Company AB (September 21) agreed with the DOJ and SEC to pay $965 million to resolve FCPA violations in Uzbekistan. An Uzbek subsidiary, Coscom LLC, agreed to plead guilty. Some of the penalties and disgorgement ordered by the DOJ and SEC will be paid to Dutch and Swedish authorities. Alere Inc. (September 28) agreed to pay the SEC more than $13 million to settle charges that it bribed foreign officials and committed accounting fraud. Alere subsidiaries in India and Colombia used distributors and consultants to make improper payments to officials of government agencies or entities under government control. Convicted Ng Lap Seng (July 27), 69, of Macau, was found guilty by a federal jury in Manhattan of bribing two United Nations officials in exchange for help promoting development of a conference center. He was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, one count of paying illegal bribes and gratuities (domestic bribery), two counts of violating the FCPA, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one count of money laundering. Sentencing is pending. Setenced Dmitrij Harder (July 18), 42, a Russian national living in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court in Philadelphia to 60 months in prison for bribing an officer at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He pleaded guilty in 2016 to two counts of violating the FCPA. He was also ordered to forfeit $1.9 million. Amadeus Richers (September 25), 66, a German citizen living in Brazil, was sentenced to time served plus three years of supervised released. He pleaded guilty in July in federal court in Miami to one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA. He admitted that from 2001 until 2004, he and his co-conspirators paid $3 million in bribes to officials at Telecommunications DHaiti. He had been a fugitive until his extradition from Panama ealier this year. Frederic Pierucci (September 25), 49, a French citizen, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for bribing officials in Indonesia. Pierucci was vice president of global sales for an Alstom SA subsidiary in Windsor, Connecticut. He was also fined $20,000 by the federal court in New Haven, Connecticut. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to an FCPA conspiracy and a substantive FCPA offense. Charged Joseph Baptiste (August 29), 64, of Fulton, Maryland, a retired U.S. Army colonel, was charged for his alleged role in a foreign bribery and money laundering scheme in connection with a planned $84 million port development project in Haiti. Baptiste was arrested on a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Boston. He was charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and to launder money. Declinations International Business Machines Corporation (July 25) or IBM said it received notices in June 2017 from the DOJ and the SEC that, based on the information to date, the agencies closed their respective investigations into allegations related to Poland, Argentina, Bangladesh and Ukraine without pursuing any enforcement action against the company. Newmont Mining (July 26) said the DOJ is closing its FCPA investigation of the company. Newmont disclosed earlier in 2017 that it received a declination letter from the SEC for the same matter. Newmont disclosed in 2016 that it was investigating some business activities outside the United States. The investigation included a review of compliance with the FCPA by Newmont and its affiliates and contractors. Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. (July 27) based in Johannesburg, South Africa said its legal counsel received a letter from the DOJ that it has closed its investigation concerning possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The DOJ investigation commenced in November 2012. In June 2015, the SEC sent a letter to Net1 stating that it had concluded its investigation and that it did not intend to recommend an enforcement action. Company disclosure published on FCPA Tracker. MTS Systems Corporation (August 7) said it was notified by the DOJ and SEC in August 2017 that their respective investigations were closed as to the company without further action. MTS said the investigation confirmed that former China managers violated the conflict of interest provisions of the MTS Code of Conduct through their involvement with an independent business that competed with MTS in the China market. Company disclosure published on FCPA Tracker. Vantage Drilling International (August 16) said it received a letter from the DOJ indicating that the agency has closed its investigation without any action. The investigation arose in 2015 from allegations of improper payments to former officials of Petrobras in connection with the contracting of a drillship to Petrobras. Vantage said a parallel investigation by the SEC remains open. Company disclosure published on FCPA Tracker. * * * The FCPA enforcement report for Q1 2017 is here and for Q2 2017 is here. Here are prior full-year enforcement reports: 2016 FCPA Enforcement Index 2015 FCPA Enforcement Index 2014 FCPA Enforcement Index 2013 FCPA Enforcement Index 2012 FCPA Enforcement Index 2011 FCPA Enforcement Index 2010 FCPA Enforcement Index 2009 FCPA Enforcement Index 2008 FCPA Enforcement Index _______ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. A federal judge in Philadelphia Friday dismissed a civil complaint against UK-based GlaxoSmithKline brought by a British private investigator and his American wife and their China-based company. Peter Humphrey and Yu Yingzeng, his wife and business partner, sued GSK a year ago. They alleged they spent months in Chinese jails after GSK duped them into investigating an innocent internal whistleblower who the company had fired and wanted to silence. Judge Nitza Quinones Alejandro granted GSKs motion to dismiss. He said the RICO statute doesnt cover harm suffered outside the United States. He also said the federal court didnt have jurisdiction to hear the other claims. Judge Alejandros memorandum opinion is here (pdf). Humphrey and Yu were arrested in China in 2013. They were charged in a Shanghai court with illegally obtaining private information. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, and Yu received a two-year sentence. GlaxoSmithKline had hired their Shanghai-based firm, ChinaWhys, to investigate e-mails from a former employee that alleged widespread bribery at the British drugmaker. The ex-employee was also suspected of circulating a sex tape of former GSK China head Mark Reilly with his girlfriend. Humphrey appeared on China Central Television two months after his arrest and said he was sorry for illegally selling personal information. In a second appearance on CCTV, Humphrey said he and his wife deeply regret breaking any Chinese law. He said ChinaWhys would not have worked with GSK if the drugmaker had informed him about the full details of the whistleblower emails. Humphrey previously worked for Reuters as a journalist in the 1980s and 90s. The couple were released early from prison in June 2015. China police arrested Reilly in 2014. He and two China nationals who worked for GSK were charged with offering bribes to hospital personnel and doctors to boost GSKs sales. Reilly was given a three-year prison sentence. The sentence was suspended and he was deported. In September 2014, a court in Changsha, China fined GSK $490 million following a conviction for bribery. Chinas Ministry of Public Security said in 2013 that GSK had used 700 travel agents to deliver the illegal payments since 2007. In 2016, GSK paid the SEC a $20 million civil penalty to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The SEC said China-based subsidiaries spent millions of dollars on pay-to-prescribe schemes for several years to pump up sales. In their U.S. lawsuit (pdf) against GSK, Humphrey and Yu alleged the drugmaker violated federal racketeering and conspiracy laws under 18 USC 1962 and were liable under state law for fraud, negligence, and civil conspiracy. They said GSKs actions inflicted emotional distress on them and destroyed their investigation business. The judge dismissed their entire complaint. They were represented in their claims against GSK by lawyers from Boies Schiller (New York) and Philadelphias Gallagher & Turchi. GSK was represented by Paul Hastings (New York) and DLA Piper (Philadelphia). ____ Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. The Paula McDaniel Group is asking for help raising $12,000 for the ongoing medical treatment for seven-year-old Shafer Daves. Shafer was born in 2009 with an extremely rare medical condition of which there have been only 200 diagnosed cases in the world. The syndrome is caused by a genetic mutation that includes chronic kidney disease leading to failure by age three, kidney cancer (known as Wilms Tumor) in many cases, and other difficulties. Shafer's kidney function declined rapidly due to End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) in October 2010 resulting in a double nephrectomy (full kidney removal surgery). Shafer's medical team approved his mother to be the living donor for her son, as she was a 6 antigen perfect match. Jada and Shafer were successfully transplanted on June 22, 2011 at the Rascal Flatts Surgery Center at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville. Shafer has already had five major surgeries, and knowing that transplant is a treatment, not a cure, he has a future of medical uncertainties ahead. While Shafer has been blessed with six years of improved health, his kidney function has now declined to about 40% as he continues to be on a nightly feeding tube and receives multiple doses of medications and boluses daily. The cost for a kidney transplant often exceeds $500,000, which can be overwhelming for a family. While insurance covers some of the cost, the expected out-of-pocket costs are estimated to be $75,000. Even with insurance, the months and years leading up to and following a transplant require thousands of dollars of continuing medication and treatment costs. The making of a special bond Ms. McDaniel said, "I was at a Christmas party several years ago and I had the privilege of meeting this amazing lady, Jada, that adored her family and told me the story of her son, Shafer. She gave me a picture of Shafer and asked that I pray for him. Shafer was probably two or three at the time, and I told her that I would start praying and I did. Last year, my husband and I were attending a funeral and while we were sitting in the church pew watching all the people going through the line (now keep in mind I have never meet Shafer), I saw Jada and her beautiful family. I leaned over to George and I said, 'That is Shafer, the boy I have been praying for,' and at that moment, Shafer looked right into my eyes and waved at me, and I said, 'George, he knows that I have been praying for him!' "George saw what I saw in that amazing moment. We talked and met the entire family, and it was love at first sight. We invited them to spend time with us in the Fall at the lake, and from then on, the special bond with this family was created. We have continued to grow more in love with this family, and we would greatly appreciate your support in helping Shafer. "Please consider making a monetary donation to the Childrens Organ Transplant Association (COTA), which is a national 501(c)3 charity. Donations can be made to COTA in honor of Shafer D. 100% of the funds raised will go toward medical and/or transplant-related expenses. The journey is long, but with your support, we can make a difference! "Please visit www.COTAForShaferD.com t o see a video of his life story and for information on how you can donate today. Help us help him!" HOW YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE: The goal is to raise at least $12,000. Make a secure online donation go to http://www.cotaforshaferd.c om/WaysToHelp Or you can send a check, payable to COTA (include for ShaferD on the memo line), to: Children's Organ Transplant Association 2501 COTA Drive Bloomington, Indiana 47403 All donations are tax-deductible. Monetary gifts of $75.00 or more will receive a statement of giving from COTA. Bethenny Frankel has chartered three planes filled with cash, food and medical supplies to Puerto Rico to help those affected by Hurricane Maria. Bethenny Frankel's chartered planes (c) Instagram/Bethenny Frankel The 46-year-old reality TV star has packed the jets full of cash cards, hygiene products, and paediatric supplies for the Caribbean island, which has been rocked by the natural disaster, leaving all 3.5 million residents without power. For the return journey, she plans to fill the empty airplanes full of Puerto Rico cancer patients to bring them back to the US for treatment. In a caption attached to a number of pictures of the donations, she wrote: "Here we are at our headquarters organizing and loading the truck for the planes heading to PR from Miami, Fort Lauderdale and NYC. Filling 3 planes with supplies, suitcases full of cash cards, pediatric supplies, insulin, hygiene products, medics, non perishable food, Rescue Warrior nurses, EMTs, combat medics. We will return these planes full of PR cancer patients, diabetics and people that are dying. Please donate to bstrongdelivergood.org to help me with these efforts. #alwayswithbdb #PR911 #100percent #globalempowermentmission (sic)" Bethenny also posted images of the planes she has chartered being readied for their journeys today (02.10.17). She wrote: "Paying my own way for Puerto Rico. Filling this B up w supplies. #BStrong #thisisacrisis #100percent #workingforpuertorico Donate at http://www.bstrongdeliveringgood.org/bstrong/ @michaelcapponi @nicoledustin #alwayswithbdb #globalempowermentmission (sic)" She captioned another image: "We call this PR911 (plane 2). Loading this B up for Puerto Rico @steelpartners #workingforpuertorico #Bstrong #guardiansofrescue #thisisacrisis #globalempowermentmission #100percent (sic)" Pitbull recently lent his private jet to cancer patients in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. He said: "Thank God we're blessed to help. Just doing my part." Last week, Beyonce announced she would donate the proceeds from her new song, a remix of J Balvin and Willy William's hit 'Mi Gente' - to those affected by a spate of recent natural disasters in the Caribbean, Mexico and the US. She wrote: "I am donating my proceeds from this song to hurricane relief charities for Puerto Rico, Mexico and the other affected Caribbean islands. To help go to Beyonce.com/reliefefforts. (sic)" What's more, a 'Country Rising' benefit concert will take place next month in Nashville, Tennessee, to raise money for those affected by recent natural disasters. Cami Li has been left devastated after a waiter who served her in Las Vegas last week was shot in Sunday's (01.10.17) mass shooting. Cami Li The 30-year-old model was in the city celebrating her engagement to mortgage banker fiance Brent with her maid of honour over the weekend, but missed the horrific incident when a gunman opened fire near the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, which has left more than 50 dead and 200 injured. She tweeted: "Won't be sleeping tonight. My heart goes out to all those affected. Our server from Friday has been shot. This is a scary world we live in. (sic)" Cami - who competed in reality TV series 'Celebrity Big Brother' - didn't reveal the condition of the waiter, but admitted she was left "shaking" while watching the footage unfold. In a series of tweets, she wrote: "We got back this morning. I can't believe it. We were there the whole weekend. "I'm shaking. I can't believe it. My f***ing heart. #LasVegas "At least 20 dead. WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?! "Omg. I can stop crying. #Route91 (sic)" The gunman opened fire at the Route 91 music festival, and Cami has claimed there was a person walking around the event saying "we're all gonna die tonight". She tweeted: "A woman was going around the festival telling people "we're all gonna die tonight" 45 mins before the incident & was then escorted out.(sic)" Country music star Jason Aldean was singing on stage at the time of the attack. by Charlotte Hough for www.femalefirst.co.uk Hugh Hefner's widow Crystal has spoken of her "heartbreak" as she broke her silence following he sad news of his death aged 91. Hugh Hefner and Crystal The 31-year-old model - who was married to the 'Playboy' magazine mogul from December 2012 until he passed away on Wednesday (27.09.17) - has admitted she has struggled to thank everyone for their kind words over the last few days. In a statement made to E! News, Crystal said: "I haven't been able to bring myself to write most people back to thank them for their condolences. I am heartbroken. I am still in disbelief." Crystal confirmed Hugh was laid to rest on Saturday (30.09.17), and added he is now "in the place he was always certain he wanted to spend eternity". Continuing her statement, she said: "He was an American hero. A pioneer. A kind and humble soul who opened up his life and home to the world. I felt how much he loved me. I loved him so much. "I am so grateful. He gave me life. He gave me direction. He taught me kindness. I will feel eternally grateful to have been by his side, holding his hand, and telling him how much I love him." The family and close friends of the Playboy magazine founder remembered him fondly in an intimate ceremony held at Los Angeles' Westwood Village Memorial Park at noon. Hefner's four children, his wife Crystal Harris and some of the closest staff were there to pay tribute to the late media personality, TMZ reports. Hugh's son Cooper Hefner, who is the chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, praised his father for living an "exceptional and impactful life". He said in a statement: "My father lived an exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer and a leading voice behind some of the most significant social and cultural movements of our time in advocating free speech, civil rights and sexual freedom." Jeff Brazier and Kate Dwyer are engaged. Jeff Brazier The 38-year-old television presenter got down on one knee to ask his long-term girlfriend for her hand in marriage whilst the sun was rising over Ibiza. Sharing details about the moment he proposed, Jeff revealed: "We walked out to the end of a jetty and sat on a wall that formed a harbour for the local fishing boats. Kate talked about how special the moment was, how relaxed and happy she felt, and I thought, 'Let's do it now.' I told her I loved her, and had been thinking about this for a while. I pulled the box with the ring out from my back pocket and asked if she would marry me. It was a very special moment." But before he asked Kate, Jeff wanted to get the approval of his sons Bobby, 14, and Freddie, 13, who he has with his late partner Jade Goody. He added: "Both boys were intrigued by how it would work, how I'd do it. They said, 'What will you do, Dad, if she says no?' I said, 'I don't want to be complacent, but I think we're alright. The boys will be my best men [at the wedding]. It means a lot to me, for them to be such a huge part of the wedding." And Kate admits it was a complete shock when he got down on one knee. She told HELLO! magazine: "He was very good at putting me off the scent. Every time I mentioned it, he'd say, 'Nah, that's a few years off.' So when it came to it, it was all a bit of a blur. He gave me a kiss, and as soon as I saw the box I lost it. I've thought about this moment my whole life and you don't know how you'll react. But I was overwhelmed." John Carpenter approves "every creative turn" in the new 'Halloween' movie. John Carpenter The 69-year-old horror legend helmed and scored the 1978 original and is officially serving as an executive producer on the upcoming new movie by director David Gordon Green, who co-wrote the script with 'Eastbound & Down' star Danny McBride. However, producer John Blum has admitted Carpenter's role and influence goes much wider than was previously thought. He explained to ComingSoon.net: "We don't take any big steps without his approval, so for instance hiring David and Danny he approved. "He approved their pitch, he approved their first script. He approving bring back Jamie Lee Curtis. "So anytime we make a big creative turn he's involved with that and we don't do it without his blessing. "We went to him and asked him to be involved. There was no contractual, financial or any other obligation to have him on this movie. We went back and asked him to join us again." The original movie saw six-year-old Michael Myers murder his 17-year-old sister and, after being locked away for 15 years, escaped and returned to his hometown to find his next victims, targeting babysitters on Halloween evening. But the white-masked killer met his match when Laurie Strode (Curtis) fought to protect herself and the two children she is babysitting. In September, Curtis revealed she will be reprising her role for one final battle with the psychopathic killer. The 58-year-old actress is coming back to the movie series, which kicked off her big screen career back in 1978, making her Hollywood's horror "scream queen". Curtis has reprised her famous role three times since Carpenter's original, in 1981's 'Halloween II', 1998's 'Halloween H20: 20 Years Later' and 2002's 'Halloween: Resurrection' but the new film from Blumhouse Productions and Universal Pictures is being billed as the "final" Halloween. McBride has previously stated that he wants his movie to act like a direct sequel to the first two films and he is going to be faithful to Carpenter's original idea for Myers. Doughlicious (www.doughlicious.co.uk) is an award-winning British and modern gourmet, ready-to-bake, cookie dough brand. It uses the finest ingredients and natural and unrefined sugars to produce a diverse range of delicious cookies, from the traditionally indulgent, to the gluten-free and vegan. Doughlicious These cookies are always made with quality, natural ingredients (with no additives or preservatives) and never compromise on taste. The range is produced with fresh British butter, locally milled Glebe Farm oats, the finest Japanese matcha green tea, Saigon cinnamon, rich coconut sugars, Belgian dark chocolate, whole pumpkin seeds, and dates. Every bite is delicious, down to the last crumb! Doughlicious provides the power to bake the flavours and the quantities people want, without waste, mess and without the temptation of eating too much at one time. The scrumptious spheres of raw dough are pre-sized in each pack, ready-to-bake the exact amount conveniently at home, whenever a cookie craving strikes. The product delivers perfect, warm cookies every time: from freezer to table in just 10 minutes. The dough is easily stored in the freezer - the most natural way to preserve both nutrients and flavours and ready-to-bake from frozen. There are six editions in the collection: Early Bird, Envy, Crave, Nutty, Classic and Addiction. The first four are gluten-free and Early Bird is completely vegan and sweetened only with Maple Syrup. The following three are available at Ocado: Early Bird Pumpkin Seed Oat & Carrot (gluten-free and vegan): A vegan and gluten-free option, this cookie is packed full of fresh carrots, flax seeds, locally milled oats, whole pumpkin seeds and dates combined with cinnamon and ginger. Each ingredient is chosen with care, from the gluten-free oats, sourced and milled locally at Glebe Farms, to the Saigon cinnamon, renowned for its robust flavour and the fresh carrots, flash frozen to retain nutrients. It contains no sugar, but is sweetened only with Maple Syrup so is ideal for breakfast, tea time or as a healthy snack. Envy Matcha & White Chocolate Chip (gluten-free): Opposites attract in the unique pairing of flavours. Earthy Japanese matcha green tea is combined with creamy, melted white chocolate chunks, local British butter, and deliciously rich coconut sugar. Its a matcha made in heaven! 100 percent gluten-free, the cookies are made from a unique blend of oats, rice and tapioca flours. Crave Chocolate Chip (gluten-free): Undetectably gluten-free, this melt-in-the-mouth cookie is made with Belgian dark chocolate chips, local British butter, eggs, unrefined dark brown sugar and Madagascan vanilla. It features Callebaut finest Belgian chocolate. Chosen to appeal to all ages, the blend is not too dark for the younger ones, but dark enough to appeal to adult palates. 100 percent gluten-free, the cookies are made from a unique blend of oats, rice and tapioca flours. The cookies are highly versatile and can be whipped up in minutes. They are perfect post-workout fuel served with a spoonful of almond butter and sliced banana. They can be served on their own as a healthy after-school or at-desk snack or smothered in ice cream for indulgent, warm cookie sandwich desserts. The Envy cookie can also be eaten for breakfast. With a variety of flavours available, the cookies are a dinner party essential, providing an ideal after dinner treat for guests, freshly baked from the oven. Doughlicious is available in Ocado (with the Early Bird, Envy and Crave editions) and independent retailers nationwide. RRP 5.29 per 340g pack. Actors Christopher Plummer and Elaine Taylor celebrate their 47th Wedding anniversary today so we take a look back over their marriage with some things you might not know about them as a couple. Christopher Plummer and Elaine Taylor (Credit: Famous) Taylor is Plummers third wife. He was previously married to actress Tammy Grimes and journalist Patricia Lewis. They met while they were filming Lock Up Your Daughters In Ireland in 1969. It was rumoured that Taylors red hair appealed to Plummer, which she had tinted for the role. The pair started dating in the same year. They got married on October 2nd 1970 in Montreal, Quebec. Plummers best man was his childhood friend Toby Johnson and his wife Alice was bridesmaid for Taylor. They now own a 100 year-old converted farm house in Weston, Connecticut. There is a thirteen year age gap between the couple. In 2012, Plummer said the key to a lasting marriage was staying out of each others hair. He admitted that he argued a lot with Taylor they always end up in laughter which saves the day. (Wikipedia) He has commented on the positive influence Taylor has had on his life: a combination of Edith Cavell and Julia Child ... a nurse and a cook. I feel guilty sometimes that I denied her a wonderful life, that she's wasted it on some terrible old ham. She could have married a duke or a prince! And she knows it. But being British, you see, she never complains. She's very well trained. (Wikipedia) Happy Wedding Anniversary Christopher and Elaine! by Lucy Moore for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on Rieter, a leading supplier of systems for short-staple fibre spinning, will focus on the development of machines and provision of technical support for the after sales business in Ingolstadt, Germany. Rieter has agreed with the Works Council at the Ingolstadt location on a package of measures for employees affected by the planned reduction in the workforce. The offers submitted by Rieter to some 220 employees include termination contracts or a switch to a transfer company. "To prepare the employees for the requirements of the job market, consultancy and mediation services as well as qualification measures are essential components of the transfer company," the company said in a press release. Production will be transferred to Rieters Usti site in the Czech Republic. Once the measures are complete, a cost reduction of over CHF 15 million is expected from 2019. For 2017, Rieter anticipates a negative impact on earnings of CHF 36 million. This includes provisions for restructuring costs of CHF 30 million and a one-time impairment of CHF 6 million. (RR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India The International Apparel Federation (IAF) opened its first regional office recently at the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA) House in Sialkot. It will extend support to Pakistani apparel firms in exports, capacity building and compliance. This pilot initiative may lead to similar regional offices in other countries.This office, inaugurated on September 27, will form an active link between PRGMEAs member companies and IAFs global network and knowledge, IAF said in a press release. The International Apparel Federation (IAF) opened its first regional office recently at the Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PRGMEA) House in Sialkot. It will extend support to Pakistani apparel firms in exports, capacity building and compliance. This pilot initiative may lead to similar regional offices in other countries. # PRGMEA also signed an agreement with the Dutch National Fashion & Textile Association Netherlands (MODINT) on the occasion to support Pakistani apparel industry. Both sides will exchange information on policies and regulations on trade and investment and updates on apparel production.The inaugural event was attended by Pakistans state minister for textiles and commerce Haji Akram Ansari, Dutch ambassador to Pakistan Ardi Stoios-Braken and IAF president Han Bekke.The IAF office will open new avenues for the textile industry for liaison with international buyers and leading brands, PRGMEA central chairman Ijaz Khokhar said. (DS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India present their Nativity Rising Artists series at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22 during their morning worship service. Performing will be Josue Loyola-Roncal on violin and Kristopher Schwinn on organ. Nativity Rising Artists presents Josue Loyola-Roncal playing works for violin including Bachs 2nd Partita, Rachmaninoffs Vocalise and the finale of Bachs Cantata 75, with the sanctuary choir on Oct. 22 at 10:30 a.m. during the worship service of The Episcopal Church of the Nativity, 1201 Cross St. in Fort Oglethorpe. "This performance is part of Nativitys monthly Rising Artists series that features Chattanoogas most accomplished young musicians playing works for solo instruments and organ," officials said. Nativity also presents a Mini-Concert series with organist and music director Kristopher Schwinn. The performance is free and childcare is provided. Bio on Josue Loyola-Roncal: Josue Loyola-Roncal, 22, is heard across the Chattanooga area throughout the week as head announcer for Classical 90.5 WSMC-FM. Born in Madrid, Spain, Josue attended the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Fl. where his family is now based. This year, he graduates from Southern Adventist University with a degree in global policy and service. Josue is co-concertmaster of the SAU Symphony Orchestra and studies violin with Mark Reneau, concertmaster emeritus of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and member of the CSO. With six months for the 20edition of Domotex asia/CHINAFLOOR, 80 per cent of the exhibition space has already been booked by the exhibitors from across the flooring industry. The shows internationality is increasing year on year with even more world renowned brands joining the largest flooring show in Asia Pacific in its upcoming editions. The exhibition is scheduled to be held during March 20-22, 2018 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. The exhibition ground will comprise of 12 halls among which five are dedicated to carpet and rugs, four to wood, laminate, cork, bamboo, other hard floors and FloorTech and three halls are dedicated to resilient floorings for commercial, industrial and residential purposes along with more than 15,000sqm of outdoor exhibiting space. The exhibition will host luxury brands carpet shows which will focus on handmade rugs as well as brand new designers. The 2018 edition marking 20 years of DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR in the region is expected to become a unique point of reference for all flooring professionals from around the world as it continues its successful route offering the flooring world a unique platform to access and do business in Asia Pacific, the biggest flooring market in the world. International brands, up to date, have registered for more than 21 per cent of the total confirmed exhibiting space. Some of the worlds leading brands that will be part of this DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR include Armstrong, Gerflor, KCC, KDF, LG Hausys, Nox, US FLOORS, HanWha, Tarkett, Toli, Meijer, Elegant and Kingdom showing resilient flooring, Alsapan, Classen, French Timber Association, Haro, Swiss Krono Group, Parador, Kaindl, Egger, Faus, Giant, Weitzer Parkett, Edelholz, Balterio, Alloc, Unilin, Homelegend, Lamett, Power Dekor, Arte Mundi, A&W and Valinge displaying wood flooring, Balta, Boyteks, Nishaburi, Oriental Weavers, Farrahi, Shanhua, Haima, SanLi, Beaulieu, Mannington, Best Wool Carpets and Suminoe exhibiting carpets, and Homag, Osmo, Dynea, Klumpp, Winters-teiger, Hawk, Banfert and Azumi showing floor technology. (RR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India An improvement has been observed in the cotton sustainability performance of leading international brands, said a recent research. Retailers including Tchibo GmbH, C&A, H&M and M&S have joined Ikea as frontrunners in the 2017 sustainable cotton ranking. However, it has been noticed that overall, big brand progress on cotton sustainability is insufficient. The performance of 75 of the largest cotton-using companies was assessed, up from 37 in 2016, and including several of the largest in emerging markets in Brazil, China, India and South Africa. The research has pointed out that sustainability efforts are driven by five companies who lead the way scoring 50-100 points, eight companies scored between 25-50 points and 18 more have started the journey scoring 5-25 points, while the remaining 44 have scored less than 5 points. An improvement has been observed in the cotton sustainability performance of leading international brands, said a recent research. Retailers including Tchibo GmbH, C&A, H&M and M&S have joined Ikea as frontrunners in the 2017 sustainable cotton ranking. However, it has been noticed that overall, big brand progress on cotton sustainability is insufficient.# Commissioned by PAN UK, Solidaridad and WWF in order to highlight opportunities for companies to accelerate transformation of the cotton market to sustainability through sourcing, the research was conducted independently by Aidenvironment, who scored company performance across three areas: policy, uptake, and traceability. "There is no reason why all large companies cant match C&A, H&M, M&S, Tchibo GmbH and Ikea on cotton sustainability," said Richard Holland of WWF International. There is now sufficient information, experience and advice about sourcing more sustainable cotton available through credible programmes such as the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)." Of the 25 companies assessed in both 2016 and 2017, 18 improved their performance with most increasing their sourcing of more sustainable cotton. The top five companies from 2016 (Ikea, C&A, H&M, Adidas and Nike) all increased uptake as a percentage of total volumes used by approximately 20 per cent in 2017, with C&A making the biggest advance and almost doubling its score. In addition, 13 companies have significantly strengthened their policies compared with 2016, with GAP Inc, Ikea and M&S making the biggest advances. "Uptake of more sustainable cotton is our best chance of protecting workers' health and the environment from pesticide pollution, said Keith Tyrell, executive director, Pesticides Action Network UK. "Despite overall policy progress, its disappointing that none of the companies have adopted policies to completely eliminate highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) in the cultivation of the cotton they use." "There are still too many companies doing little or nothing about sustainable cotton," said Isabelle Roger, global cotton programme manager, Solidaridad. "Public commitments by CEOs to sourcing are critical to sector change and making sustainable cotton the norm." (RR) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) chairman Ujwal Lahoti has urged the government to address the issue of embedded central and state levies, which have not been subsumed under the goods and services tax (GST) regime and add to exporters costs even after refunds are claimed. He was addressing the councils annual general meeting in Mumbai.The inordinate delay in the refund of GST on exports and bond or letter of undertaking (LUT) for merchant exporters needs to be addressed, a TEXPROCIL press release said quoting Lahoti. Trade is now witnessing a paradigm shift from an exemption regime to a refund regime in claiming export benefits, thereby leading to working capital and liquidity crunch, he added. Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) chairman Ujwal Lahoti has urged the government to address the issue of embedded central and state levies, which have not been subsumed under the goods and services tax (GST) regime and add to exporters' costs even after refunds are claimed. He was addressing the council's annual general meeting in Mumbai.# He also urged the government to expedite the free trade agreement with the European Union (EU) as exporters face stiff competition from countries that have preferential duties with the EU and are losing market share to them. (DS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/02/17 -- GT Gold Corp. ("GT Gold" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: GTT) is pleased to announce the appointment of: -- Mr. Ashwath Mehra as Executive Chairman. Mr. Mehra will assume the position of Executive Chairman immediately. Mr. Mehra previously served as Non-Executive Chairman of GT Gold and has done so since the Company's inception in November 2016. He is co-founder of the Company and currently the Company's largest shareholder; and -- Mr. Mark Santarossa as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Corporate Development. Mr. Santarossa will join GT Gold on the 16th of October. -- In connection with this and with good governance practices in mind, Mr. Taj Singh, Board Member and Chairman of the Audit Committee, will now act as the Company's Lead Independent Director. Ashwath Mehra, Executive Chairman of the Company, stated: "We are delighted to welcome Mark to the management team of GT Gold. Mark's significant capital markets experience, both at bank-owned and independent Canadian investment dealers, and experience as a strategic advisor to mining companies, will serve GT Gold well. He will play a key role as GT Gold looks to continue its growth following the significant discovery at our Tatogga project this summer. The Company would like to thank out-going CFO Tracy Albert for her contribution to the Company over the past year and wishes her well in her future endeavours." In connection with Mr. Santarossa's appointment, the Company has agreed to issue to him, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, 250,000 common share purchase options at a strike price calculated in accordance with applicable securities laws, to vest in thirds on those dates that are six, 12 and 18 months following the date of grant, respectively. Ashwath Mehra, B.Sc. Mr. Mehra is a senior executive and entrepreneur who has founded and managed numerous companies. He has close to 30 years of experience in mining and metals, including significant experience in debt and equity capital markets and, while maintaining a focus on mining, is a large investor in a spectrum of businesses spanning real estate to technology. Mr. Mehra commenced his career trading commodities with Philipp Brothers in London, England. From 1990 to 2000, he served as a Senior Partner at Glencore International AG (and its predecessor) where he ran the nickel and cobalt businesses and was responsible for establishing Glencore's operations in India. He also served as Chief Executive Officer of MRI Trading AG (formerly Marc Rich + Co Investment AG) from 2001 to 2011 and was its Co-Owner, and successfully sold the firm in 2011. Mr. Mehra holds a BSc Philosophy and Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Mark Santarossa CPA, CA, MBA Mr. Santarossa is a financial and capital markets professional with over 20 years of experience, predominantly in the mining sector. Most recently he was Director at Origin Merchant Partners, an independent mergers and acquisitions advisory firm based in Toronto, where he advised on a number of transactions. His experience also includes mining institutional equity sales at PI Financial, Macquarie Capital Markets Canada, CIBC World Markets and Haywood Securities, and mining equity research at National Bank Financial. Prior to entering the capital markets sector, Mr. Santarossa worked at PwC LLP and KPMG LLP. He holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business (York University) and both a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Accountant (CA) designation. The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contacts: GT Gold Corp. Kevin M. Keough President and Chief Executive Officer (613) 832-4592 www.gtgoldcorp.ca WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Genworth Financial, Inc. (GNW) and China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co., Ltd. announced they have withdrawn their joint voluntary notice with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, with an intent to refile the transaction with additional mitigation approaches, including potentially working with a U.S. third- party service provider. 'We continue to work diligently to secure all required regulatory approvals necessary to complete the transaction. At the same time, we are evaluating options to address our upcoming debt maturities and preserve the value of our businesses in the event the transaction with Oceanwide cannot be completed,' said Tom McInerney, CEO of Genworth. Genworth Financial noted that the options to address the 2018 debt maturity in the absence of a transaction with Oceanwide include potential refinancing alternatives, current holding company cash, and/or potential asset sales. The company is also evaluating options to insulate its U.S. mortgage insurance business from additional ratings pressure in the absence of a transaction with Oceanwide. 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. Ensurem, LLC, a Largo, FL-based insurtech technology and digital marketing platform, received a $12.25m investment from an affiliate of A-CAP, a New York City-based insurance holding company specializing in life and health insurance and related services. The investment will enable the company to expand its capabilities in four main areas: Digital storefront where consumers can research, shop and purchase life insurance policies, supplemental health coverage, living insurance, and other insurance-related products. Digital customer acquisition technology and expertise. Proprietary product platform used in the development of new insurance products for direct-to-consumer sales. Third-party administrative services specializing in straight-through processing, providing insurance companies full back-office support in collaboration with Secure Administrative Solutions (SAS). Led by David Rich, CEO and founder, Ensurem is an innovative technology and digital marketing platform dedicated to simplifying the process of buying insurance via consumer products and offers features such as a library of product guides and resources, and the Life Optimized Risk Assessment (LORA) tool. This funding follows an angel round of $1.7m led by AngelRush. FinSMEs 03/10/2017 Tespack, a Helsinki, Finland-based mobile energy and wearable technology company, raised 2m in funding. The round was led by WOW Ventures Saudi Arabia with participation from Neal Dempsey of Bay Partners. The company will use the funds to expand operations and its development focus on IoT, UFS charging technology while creating mobile energy solutions for the consumer market as well as for the military. Founded in 2013 and led by CEO Mario Aguilera, Tespack combines technology, solar and connectivity to create and offers mobile energy products for different activities. Its first product line, Tespack Smartpacks, enables users to collect energy from the sun, store it in one mobile chargers and charge all the devices, even laptops, on the move. Now, the company has developed a new, innovative ultra-fast charging technology to charge new power bank full in 12 minutes (to be launched in 2017). Smart Wear products are already available for the consumers and customers include Intersport, Vodafone, Scandinavian Outdoor Store as well as rescue forces. Tespack also works with governments, NGOs and local cities (including city of Helsinki and Valencia) and partners including TomTom, GE and Austrian Space Forum to develop a solar smartpack for a Mars mission. FinSMEs 02/10/2017 San Francisco: Uber Technologies Inc co-founder Travis Kalanick said he had appointed two new directors, a surprise move that publicly reignited a board battle over the role of the ousted former chief executive. Kalanicks move on Friday sought to pre-empt a move by new Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi to restructure the board and gain greater control, a person familiar with the co-founders decision said. Uber said in a statement on Friday the company was surprised by Kalanicks action. Company investors are divided over whether Kalanick should remain on the board and whether he should be allowed to name two other directors. Benchmark Capital, which had pressured Kalanick to resign as CEO in the wake of several governance scandals, did not respond to a request for comment. Khosrowshahi is scrambling to portray Uber as a reformed company that is turning a page on concerns including sexual harassment claims and a US bribery probe. Investors have described diluting Kalanicks power as a necessary step on the path to making amends. Kalanick, still one of the largest shareholders, said in a statement he had appointed former Xerox Chief Executive Ursula Burns and former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain as directors. I am appointing these seats now in light of a recent board proposal to dramatically restructure the board and significantly alter the companys voting rights. It is therefore essential that the full board be in place for proper deliberation to occur, especially with such experienced board members as Ursula and John, he said. He did not specify the proposals he opposed. Uber had nine directors before Kalanicks Friday appointments. The person familiar with the matter said that Kalanick acted after Khosrowshahi had outlined a plan to directors, which is scheduled to be voted on 3 October, that would give him control of four board seats in addition to his own on a panel that now has 11 directors. Khosrowshahis plan calls for transferring one of the two Kalanick-controlled positions to SoftBank Group Corp, which is considering an investment in Uber, the source said. Khosrowshahi effectively could put a person of his choosing in the other seat, as well as three other existing ones, according to the source. A third of directors also would be elected each year under the plan. Uber did not respond on Saturday to a request to comment about the Khosrowshahi plan. But the company said earlier in a statement that Kalanicks appointments were a complete surprise to Uber and its board. That is precisely why we are working to put in place world-class governance to ensure that we are building a company every employee and shareholder can be proud of, the statement said. Yucaipa Companies managing partner Ron Burkle, an investor who has supported Kalanick, praised Burns and Thain as smart, high-quality people. Division among Uber investors exploded in public in August, when Benchmark Capital filed a lawsuit to force Kalanick off the board and rescind his ability to fill two other seats on the panel, accusing him of concealing a range of misdeeds. Yucaipa and other Uber investors defended Kalanick and asked Benchmark to divest its own shares and step down from the board. A Delaware judge later that month stayed the Benchmark lawsuit and sent it to arbitration, pushing the dispute out of public view and delivering Kalanick a victory. Kalanicks action on Friday could be subject to a new legal challenge. Benchmark or other Uber investors could attempt to block the appointments by asking the Delaware judge to issue a so-called status-quo order. The judge last month did not grant such a request. Kalanicks lawyer at the time told the court that Kalanick had not rushed to fill the seats. The New York Times also quoted Kalanicks lawyer as telling the court Kalanick had the power to fill the seats under the pre-arbitration status quo. Mahatma, Bapu, The Father of the Nation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi earned many names over the course of his life. His contributions to India's freedom struggle are well known, as is his outlook on non-violence, nationhood and dissent. He was also a much-debated about personality; not everyone agreed with his ideologies and not everyone venerated him. Still, his mark on history remains indelible, and his life has served as the subject of books and plays for roughly a century. Many films, too, have immortalised his teachings and personality, and here are some of the most significant ones. Gandhi Despite being made by a non-Indian, this is perhaps the most iconic film made on Gandhi. Directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Ben Kingsley in one of the roles that he is best remembered for, it told the story of how Gandhi would become the leader of India's non-violence, non-cooperation movement, and begins with the humiliation and discrimination he faced in South Africa when he boarded a whites-only train compartment. Gandhi went on to win eight Oscars in the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor categories, among others. Lage Raho Munna Bhai The first Munna Bhai film, starring Sanjay Dutt and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, focused on a man from Mumbai's underworld who has a heart of gold. In this second installment, he surprisingly gives up his violent tendencies for a more peaceful approach after "meeting" Mahatma Gandhi. While preparing to give a lecture on Gandhi, he studies his life for three days straight, as consequently starts having hallucinations where Bapu begins offering non-violent, thoughtful solutions to his problems. Apart from the rib-tickling humour about Dutt's 'chemical locha' in the film, what stayed with the audience was Dilip Prabhavalkar's nuanced portrayal of Gandhi, and Munna Bhai's adoption of 'Bhaigiri' to deal with enemies. Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara Interesting, one more film explored Gandhi's identity and the subject of psychological disorders Jahnu Barua's Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, which starred Anupam Kher and Urmila Matondkar in the lead roles. It told the story of a Hindi professor suffering from dementia, who was consumed by the thought that he had killed Gandhi. His thoughts are triggered when someone places an ash tray on top of a photograph of Bapu. Wracked by guilt and inconsolable, he is finally taken to a doctor and gun expert to convince him of the truth. Apart from Kher's acting, the film was also lauded for shedding light on the disappearance and erosion of Gandhian beliefs and ideals at the cost of greed and conscience. Gandhi, My Father Feroz Abbas Khan's biographical drama explored the troubled relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his son Harilal. While Harilal wished to pursue an education abroad and become a barrister like this father, Bapu wished that he would join the freedom struggle and does not allow his son to fulfill his wishes. A distraught Harilal decides to get a diploma anyway, and moves with his wife to South Africa. From this point onward, his life is a downward spiral and he is neither successful in becoming a lawyer, nor does he manage to run a successful business. Poor, deserted by his wife and lonely, he finally meets his father on the latter's deathbed. The film starred Darshan Jariwala, Akshaye Khanna, Bhumika Chawla and Shefali Shah, and went on to win three National Film Awards. The Making of the Mahatma A cinematic collaboration of India and South Africa, this film directed by Shyam Benegal chronicled Gandhi's early life in South Africa. It is based on the book The Apprenticeship of a Mahatma by Fatima Meer and starred Rajit Kapur and Pallavi Joshi in the lead roles. It won two National Film awards in the Best Feature Film in English and Best Actor categories. Sardar Though he was a supporting character, Gandhi's presence in the film and in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was considerable. Directed by Ketan Mehta and based on a script by Vijay Tendulkar, it tells the story of how Patel went from making fun of the Mahatma to following in his footsteps. It starred Paresh Rawal in the titular role and Annu Kapoor as Gandhi. I saw Indian (1996) repeatedly in the theatre upon release; not as a critic, but as a fan of Kamal Haasan. Growing up in the 1990s in Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu with no exposure to world cinema, I was able to idolise Kamal in a way no longer possible for me. I was just 10 when Nayakan was released, but 19 when Indian hit the screens. The movies grip on my youthful imagination was unparalleled. I remember walking out of the hall that first time, my heart racing, convinced that they would never ever make a better commercial movie in Tamil. I was wrong, of course. That said, I remember telling my younger brother that the older Kamals acting was brilliant; he shot back saying both roles of father and son had been played by the same actor. I guess that goes to show the success of the illusion. Director Shankar, who helmed Indian, was already casting a spell on the masses when AM Rathnam signed him. Shankars debut Gentleman, and then later Kadhalan, had gained him a huge following among the 18-25 crowd. Kamal, who had earlier turned down the lead role in Gentleman, was now aboard for Shankars third. The actor didnt regret it; he ended up winning his last national award till date for his dual roles in the movie. Now, after 21 years, Shankar and Kamal will be back together to recreate the magic. On Saturday, it was announced that Indian 2 will be hitting the floors after 2.0 is released in January 2018. The film, produced by Dil Raju, will be a bilingual in Tamil and Telugu. Indian runs to just over three hours and includes two flashbacks, one set in the pre-Independence era and another in modern times. The film, spanning several decades, deals with corruption in the country as told through the tale of a family. An extremist, who fights for Independence by joining the Indian National Army, returns to weed out corruption after his daughter meets an untimely death. When his son turns corrupt, he shows no mercy. The terrorist father and corrupt son are both played by Kamal. The movie may have been much better if both characters had negative shades, but no such luck; Shankar has us rooting for the father. The film begins with a low angle shot of heavy machinery being used to clean streets, a shot that has an obvious metaphor thrown in. A torn page of a newspaper gets caught up in the gate of the corporation office, the headline referring to the war in Jaffna. Seventy-year-old Senapathy, played by Kamal, confronts the commissioner in his office and stabs him to death. During the investigation by Crime Branch officer Krishnaswamy, played with a cool head and sharp wits by Malayalam actor Nedumudi Venu, we learn that this is the third murder of a government officer using the same modus operandi. Interspersed with the story of Senapathy is the tale his unscrupulous son Chandra Bose (named after Subhash Chandra Bose), also played by Kamal. Kamals makeup, especially for the part of the father, was designed by Academy award winner Michael Westmore. Kamal had to sit through hours of painstaking makeup ahead of every sequence featuring Senapathy as a vigilante. The other big news when Indian was released was that it had Kamal dancing again; he hadnt done so in a while. This killed the rumour that he was getting old. As the younger Chandru, Kamal is handsome and charming. The rest of the ensemble was impressive Manisha Koirala, Urmila Matondkar as the other girl, Sukanya, Kasturi and Manorama, apart from the comedy pair of Goundamani and Senthil. The success of Bombay and Rangeela, both released in 1995, had landed a part for its female leads in Indian. The two gorgeous women are even in a catfight of sorts in a shot, before one concedes the romantic space to the other. AR Rahman scored the music; the songs including Telephone Mani Pol, were all that one heard for months, blaring from tea shops no less. The special effects for the songs were a new benchmark back then, with S T Venky winning a national award for his efforts. Thotta Tharani too won a national award for his art direction. Kamal Haasan was in his element in many a scene. The thrilling minutes set at a TV station where Senapathy stabs to death a hospital dean, played by Nizhalgal Ravi, is superbly enacted by Kamal. But what also stand out are the dialogues; the late writer Sujatha making his mark felt in this scene. The faceoff between father and son during the minutes preceding the climax is also a sharply written play on words. At other times, Sujatha delights in making throwaway references to 1955s Seven Year Itch and Schindler's List. Shankars direction is a standout effort. The black and white flashback portion set during the Quit India movement has a disturbing scene in which women are molested by the British, forcing them to jump off a cliff and kill themselves. The way Shankar cuts this scene is an exercise in kinetics. Also note, Kamals bone-chilling glare around the room as his stabs Balasinghs character to death by pushing the knife further into his torso, again and again. The props the knife in a belt (it furthers the story too) and the ancient wristwatch are put to apt use. (Just watch Kamal with the watch when Venu confronts him for the first time). Shankar is also a commanding director of large crowds, especially during song and fight sequences. Some credit for making songs into lavish set pieces or on-locale extravaganzas, keeping audiences from stepping out for a smoke, must go to Shankar. There is always a fantasy element at work in Shankars movies. Can corruption be ended by murdering a few corrupt babus? Not likely. But Shankar makes the commercial elements work in a way you dont care too much for hard logic. The director has us believe that the Indian thatha (grandpa) begins an anti-corruption wave; even his dressing style is all the rage among the young. These sequences barely seconds long are quite weak. The bits about Varma Kalai work well commercially, but I found it difficult to swallow these sequences hook, line and sinker. Some of the special effects dont work at all as well. Kamal saluting Subhash Chandra Bose, just a similar scene in Forrest Gump, didnt work. The sequence where he is jumping over cars at the GoKarting place were abysmal. Also, the songs take up 30 minutes of the movie; Maya Machindra, though imaginatively composed and shot, slows down the post-interval phase considerably. In the last scene, Senapathy (now sporting a mustache that he took off so that he could kiss his son as child without hurting him) makes a promise to Krishnaswamy. I will be back whenever evil returns, he says. He sounded a bit like Lord Krishna in the Gita then, but now will that be the take off point for the sequel? Renowned actor Prakash Raj has issued a clarification on his remark of returning his five National Awards in protest of journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's subsequent silence on the tragedy. In a video he shared on Twitter, Raj clarified that his remark of returning the National Awards was in good humour and was blown out of proportion. He added does not intend to do so. However, he also said that he is firm on his stand of criticising Modi for not speaking a word against all those who are celebrating the murder of journalists like Lankesh. "We do not know who killed them (slain journalists). But we do know who is celebrating the murders. When you see that the prime minister of the country is following (on Twitter) those who are celebrating the murders, when he is not taking a stand against it, when he has maintained silence on the issue, that silence hurts," said Raj. He also clarified that his remarks should not be read in a political context. "For me, he (Modi) is not the leader of any other party. I do not belong to any political party. As a citizen of this country, I think I have the right to speak against the silence of my prime minister," he said in the video on his Twitter page. What's said...n what's not said. For all out there .. thank you pic.twitter.com/zIT7rnkFxb Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) October 2, 2017 The National Award-winning actor made his initial comments on the PM while delivering a speech at the 11th State meet of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, as per The News Minute. Saying that years of experience has enabled him to recognise when a person's "acting", the actor suggested that Modi is a "bigger actor" than him. He went on to express his desire to give his National awards to 'actors' masquerading as politicians. While the murder of Gauri Lankesh, who was a vocal critic of right-wing extremism, shocked the nation, the Prime Minister has so far been silent about it. Offering to give his National Awards to Yogi Adityanath, Raj also criticised the Uttar Pradesh chief minister for his inefficiency. Raj is known to be a close friend of Lankesh. Watch the video here: Indian and Pakistani troops traded heavy fire on Monday on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. Quoting the police, media reported that a ten-year-old boy and a teenage girl were killed while nine other civilians were injured as Pakistani troops opened fire and lobbed mortars at dozens of villages and posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. The deceased have been identified as 10-year-old Israr Ahmed of Kerni and Yasmeen Akhtar of Kerma village of Dighwar. The injured include Reshma Bi, 55, and her son Mohammad Rafiq, 31, both residents of Kerni. The spokesman said Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked and heavy firing and shelling from across the border in Dhigwar, Kerni and Shahpur sectors around 0650 hours. A ten-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl were killed and nine other civilians were injured in the Pakistani firing targeting different villages, he said. The condition of three of the injured was stated to be critical. The critically injured persons were referred to the Government Medical College Hospital here for specialised treatment, the spokesman said. The firing and shelling by Pakistan sparked panic among border residents. #Visuals Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Keri and Digwar areas of Poonch district (J&K), three civilians injured. pic.twitter.com/LOPXLVoNOc ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 The official said that Pakistani troops targetted dozens of villages and posts in Shahpur, Kirni and Qasba sectors in the early hours, resulting in the death of a boy and injuries to five other civilians. The casualties occurred as some of the shells fell in Kerni village. Reports also said that the Indian security forces neutralised one infiltrator even as search operations are underway. The official said the heavy cross-border firing started around 0650 hours, triggering panic among border residents. He said the injured civilians have been rushed to a hospital. #UPDATE | One infiltrator killed by security forces in J&K's Keran sector. Search operation continues (ANI) Times of India (@timesofindia) October 2, 2017 "After the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked shelling and firing at Indian positions, Indian military retaliated strongly and effectively. "Shelling and firing exchanges are going on," the sources added. The year 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Till 1 August, there were 285 violations by Pakistani forces while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, according to Army figures. Police sources said heavy shelling and firing started between the two armies in Kerni area. More details are awaited. With inputs from agencies While security grid celebrated the killing of Abdul Qayoom Najar, one of the longest serving militant in nearly three decade old turmoil, his death also exposed the leadership vacuum faced by the Hizbul-Mujahideen in Kashmir where foreign militants are slowly outnumbering their local counterparts. According to Jammu and Kashmir Police, the Hizbul had reconciled with Najar and he was dispatched to take over the reins of the militant outfit in Kashmir. A senior security officer told Firstpost that after the killing of Hizb chief Yasin Yatoo on 13 August, the outfit has been handicapped in Kashmir. "Hizb finds itself in a crisis," the officer said. "It barely poses a challenge to security forces." That could well explain the confidence of BS Raju, General Officer Commanding, Victor Force, a counter-insurgency force which plans and executes operations in south Kashmir. Raju said the militants' backs were virtually broken and that the time was ripe to deal with Kashmir through "political sagacity" and find a lasting solution. "Militants or separatists control no space. Terrorists are in self-preservation mode," Raju said. Jammu and Kashmir Police second that opinion. They said a dearth of experienced leadership on the ground has created a crisis in the Hizb, which forced Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin to reconcile with Najar, whom he expelled from the group over growing differences in 2015. The biggest setback to the Hizbul Mujahideen was the killing of Yasin Yatoo alias Mehmood Ghaznavi in Awneera village. He was no ordinary militant. He'd been part of the outfit for years, had been in and out of militancy, was a great orator, a hardcore Jama'at-e-Islami activist who motivated youth and also provided trained new recruits, a senior police officer said. Muneer Khan, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, described the operation in which Yatoo was killed, as a very difficult one but a very big success. The policy is to hit militants where it hurts: Their leadership. We prepared a list of 20 people we wanted to target. Of them, only five or six are left, Khan said. Yatoos killing left Hizb without an operational head who could have prepared a strategy for the outfit in the Valley, which explains the sharp decline in militant attacks over the past months, barring a few incidents. Soon after Yatoo was killed, on 4 September, security forces killed the two top Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including a divisional commander of north Kashmir, in an encounter. Salahuddin knew that his top commanders in north Kashmir and south Kashmir had been killed so it became necessary for Najar to assume command of Hizb, said Imtiyaz Hussain, Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla. Najar's killing is hardly the first setback the Hizb have had this year. After Yatoos killing, security forces launched Operation All Out against the militants in south Kashmir, where most of the Hizb cadre operated. Nitish Kumar, Inspector General of Police, north Kashmir, told Firstpost that the outfit, which comprises mostly local youth, have been left leaderless and no one is capable of taking on the leadership. All they have left are kids who have never been to Pakistan for arms training," Kumar, who served in Kashmir for many years said. "They've been trained here." Kumar said Hizb has only eight or nine militants operating in north Kashmir, most of them in Handwara and Sopore. "Now, they have a big problem. Because to lead an outfit like Hizb you need to have knowledge of the command structure and experience," Kumar added. In July 2016, after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, Sabzar Ahmad Bhat was given the charge of the Hizb. Bhat was killed a mere 11 months later in an anti-militancy operation in south Kashmir. According to security forces, Bhat was likely to be succeeded by Riyaz Naikoo, a 30-year-old tech-savvy militant who has been responsible for many youth joining the militancy. Naikoo, who hails from Durbug in Awantipora, Pulwama district is rated as an 'A++' category terrorist, and Rs 12 lakh is being offered for information leading to his arrest. Now, with Hizb in crisis, police believe Naikoo has gone underground or may have crossed over to the other side. The outfit is in disarray," Hussain said. "The Hizb may want him to lay low, but we will get him." Adhering to her promise of stepping up efforts to maintain a strong vigil on Banaras Hindu University's campus, newly-appointed chief proctor Royona Singh recently took rounds of the institution's premises on a bicycle. She was escorted by her guards as she patrolled the area in the dark, as seen in the video. Royona has also constituted a quick response team (QRT) to ensure security on the campus, which would include three security guards and a driver. This team will move throughout the campus to ensure the safety of its students. Among other measures Royona has taken after the controversy broke out last week are trimming of trees and installing lights in dark areas, and renovating the barricade near the women's hostel. A number of students, including women and two journalists, were injured in a baton charge by the police on 23 September at BHU, where a protest turned violent. Two days after the resignation of former chief proctor ON Singh, the 101-year-old institution which has come under the scanner over the issue of women's safety decided to appoint Royona as his successor. The video comes at a time when BHU Vice-Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi is at the receiving end of severe criticism for a bunch of reasons, one of them being viral footage of him berating the girl students of BHU for staging protests. Royona, an assistant professor at the Institute of Medical Science (anatomy department), is the first woman in the university's history to hold the post of chief proctor. She also heads the women's grievance cell of the university. After taking charge as the chief proctor, Royona had assured that she would keep safety and security as the first priority. "We're here because of the students. The women come first, but everybody's safety is my main concern," she had said. She had also promised that BHU would impose no restrictions on the student over a dress code or for consumption of alcohol. With inputs from 101Reporters Banaras Hindu University (BHU) vice-chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi went on leave on Monday citing personal reasons, according to sources from the university. The BHU vice-chancellor was supposed to preside over a college event organised to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti on Monday. This news has come just days after Tripathi said that he would resign if the human resources development ministry asked him to go on leave. Though reports said he was not answering his calls or messages, Times Now reported that he could be in New Delhi at Lal Bahadur Shastri guest house. Tripathi had been at the receiving end for his mishandling of a girl students protest seeking women's safety inside the campus that turned violent. "I have been in touch with the HRD minister (Prakash Javadekar) right from the day of the incident and have briefed him about the situation as well as the measures taken. But if am I asked to go on leave, I will resign," he had told PTI. Tripathi had also said: "Having done so much, it will be insulting to go on leave two months before my tenure comes to end. I will prefer quitting." Tripathi's exit from BHU, however, is more or less confirmed, as officials at the HRD ministry said that the process for appointing his successor has been initiated. However, the ministry officials maintained that the timing of violence in the BHU campus and steps for appointment of a new VC are completely "coincidental". "Even if the unrest would not have happened, appointment process would have been initiated," a senior HRD official said on the condition of anonymity. Last week, a number of students, including women, and two journalists were injured in a baton-charge by the police after a protest against an alleged eve-teasing incident turned violent in BHU, one of the 43 central universities in the country. Tripathi had earlier this week said that the violence was fanned by "rumour mongering" and "outsiders". After the incident, he was criticised for trying to shift the blame on protestors for ruining the university's image. In a video that went viral, Tripathi can be heard asking students, "Why did you protest and bring dishonour to the university?""Koi bhi dharam ki baat karne ka adhikaar usi ko hai jo khud dharam par chale. Tum ye bataao ki ladkiyon ne dharm ka paalan kiya, ki ek ladki ki asmita ko lekar bazar me pahunchin? (Those who are righteous themselves have the right to talk about righteousness. You tell me whether the girls did the right thing by raking up the issue of modesty of a fellow girl student in public like this?)." With inputs from agencies Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya's commitment to "empower the nation through education" laid the foundation for an institution dedicated to engineering and technology education through the establishment of Banaras Engineering College (BENCO) in 1919 at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU). BENCO was the seed that germinated into the mammoth tree we know as IIT (BHU) today. Notably, Malaviya's vision also acknowledged the importance of empowering women through education. The Mahila Mahavidyalaya (MMV) came into existence in 1929 at a time when the education of women had not even taken baby steps in the country. In that light, the recent turn of events at BHU presents a sad irony; where the molestation of a girl student and violence against female protestors has pitchforked BHU into the national spotlight. Has Malaviya's dream turned into a nightmare? Are the cynics correct in saying that the facade of tranquillity of Malaviya's "sarva vidya ki Rajdhani" (capital of knowledge) is just a hoax? The truth lies in shades of grey rather than the extremes of black or white. Shrill and prejudiced debates on TV channels and in print reflect all the traits of a media trial, where the accused is not even allowed an opportunity to defend himself. For someone whose heart lies in the university, it is distressing to note that after the disastrous appearance of its vice-chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi on TV channels, BHU is left with no spokesperson to defend it. Fact remains that in the period from the mid-1970s through the 1980s, the university saw worse violence and countless sine dies (indefinite closures). It was only during the late 1980s, when Prof RP Rastogi was the V-C, that the rot in BHU was stopped. There is, however, no denying the fact that the present V-C has messed up badly in his responsibilities. The crisis confronting BHU is not one of physical existence but is closer to an ethical and moral existence, which was the core of Malaviya's stress on education being the centre of character and nation-building. It is this concern that compels me to write this piece. The background The prime responsibility of the shameful molestation and irresponsible response lies at the door of BHU's proctorial board (PB), which manages security on campus. The PB has gradually been converted from a student-friendly body into one which indulges in arrogant muscle flexing and has become the den of corruption with even funds meant for fuel for its patrolling vehicles being pilfered brazenly. Its members, all teaching faculty, exploit the security personnel sub-contracted from outsourcing agencies to run personal errands and serve as domestic help. Questioning the girl's intent and her reason for staying out after 6 pm was representative of the regressive mindset the PB seems to firmly believe in. Just a few days ago, the grapevine was rife with an incident where a proctor, a new entrant to the university but an old hand in the internal politics, had launched a diatribe against a fellow proctor using the choicest of expletives in the presence of other female proctors during a routine meeting. This gentleman is rumoured to have since resigned from the PB citing threats to his life. But the grapevine suggests that failure to get his wife appointed as a faculty member resulted in the fallout. Also, he has never taken his allotted classes from the day he became a proctor. So much for character building. Reverting to the main story, an intervention by senior administration officials resulted in the grave situation being contained by late in the night. The victim, naturally distressed, agreed to submit a FIR, which was to be forwarded to the police, the next morning. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the city scheduled for the next day, an unwritten agreement was arrived at which included the university administration coming back with an update on the demands of the girls, pertaining to security on campus. What actually transpired during the night will never be known. Whether the girls decided to stand up to protest against eve teasing, which has seen a spike during the past few months, or whether, as per rumours doing the rounds go, a local politician father and son duo managed to instigate them to settle their personal grouse against the V-C, will perhaps never be known. Despite the nonstop venom being spewed against the BHU administration in general and the V-C in particular, there is no denying the truth that the agitators cannot be absolved of their role in the violence. After an initial delay in reacting to the dharna, the V-C was willing to talk to selected agitators. The venue remained the only sticking point as both sides gradually refused to budge. Officials involved in the prolonged discussions over the dharna spot vouch for the fact that the girls had agreed to go to the V-C lodge for negotiations, but were forcibly prevented by male students who were apparently not from the university. Thanks to social media, umpteen evidence is available that Left Wing students from other universities had infiltrated the agitation with the sole purpose of shaming BHU and disrupting Modi's visit. The city police failed to respond in a timely manner to the escalating violence, which forced the V-C to beat a hasty retreat as he made a last-ditch attempt to meet the students at the Triveni hostel on the night of 23 September in an attempt to placate them. Officials privy to the events confirm that innumerable attempts by the V-C to solicit police support went in vain. It was only after an intervention from Lucknow that the police forces entered the scene hastily and resorted to unwarranted violence. That the police botch up is being white-washed through an administrative report bodes ill for the future. In a nutshell; a vacillating and arrogant V-C surrounded by a self-serving coterie, ham-handed city police and students who allowed their genuine cause to be hijacked by vested interests, combined to sully Malaviya's legacy. So, as the media's shrill debate goes, will sacking V-C, as some hashtags suggest, restore BHUs pride? Since I have made it incumbent upon myself to be politically incorrect, let me stick my neck out. The answer is a big NO. Expecting BHU to recover by sacking the V-C is like performing cosmetic surgery on a terminally ill patient, hoping it will result in his recovery. To blame the present V-C alone for a faltering university would not only be unjust to him but would also be a great disservice to BHU. What ails BHU? We need to travel back in time to understand that the genesis of the present day problems plaguing BHU lies at the door of late Arjun Singh, the HRD minister in UPA-1. Although it is the President of India who, in his capacity as Visitor to the university, appoints the V-C it is no secret that the appointment is influenced by the HRD minister. It was Singh's short-sightedness which ensured that locals hailing from Varanasi or nearby regions were installed in the university. So, a position held by giants like Malaviya, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Trigun Sen passed on to incompetent people who began using BHU for their selfish interests. These V-Cs, in turn, ensured that casteism, the bane of the region, which had till then been secondary in managing university affairs soon became prominent. Caste became the primary criteria for appointments in the university. Some of the pedestrian appointments however also raise suspicions for factors other than caste playing a critical role. Merit fell by the wayside as anyone with the correct caste credentials got appointed. Ironically, Malaviya, the visionary that he was, had roamed the country inviting the best talent, irrespective of their caste credentials to join BHU. The university boasted of educationists like Jadunath Sarkar, Hazariprasad Dwivedi, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar to name a few. When I joined BHU for my masters in the late 1990s and then during my PhD, one could hear innumerable languages being spoken on campus. This national character was BHUs strength. Rampant casteism and regionalism indulged in by successive V-Cs since 2005 has now resulted in the catchment area for students and teachers being restricted to eastern Uttar Pradesh and western Bihar. Any unfortunate soul fortuitously breaking these restrictions is hounded out ruthlessly. Recently, two teachers in the English department reportedly scampered to the safety of their home state of West Bengal after continuous harassment by their colleagues. I consider myself fortunate to have become a faculty member before this downturn started. I shudder to think of the fate of unaffiliated people like myself in these caste affiliating times. Those who criticise the present V-C for casteism need to look into the appointments from 2005-2014 before doing so. It was perhaps a realisation of these sub-standard appointments that forced the V-C to appear on TV channels baying for blood. The university PRO, famous for sycophancy across regimes, prefers Bhojpuri as the language of communication. Unfortunately for the university, this caste pool in recent times has been further reduced to the appointments of progenies of faculty. Recently, it was rumoured that a husband-wife duo serving in the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) managed to get four of their family members appointed at IMS. The villain of the entire molestation fiasco, BHU's chief proctor, since resigned, is reputed to have managed three appointments for the family. The list of such familial appointments is long and tedious. Incidentally, the appointment of the wife of Registrar a few years ago was under a cloud for breaking of norms of appointment. The villain of the entire molestation fiasco, the chief proctor, has since resigned and is reputed to have managed three appointments for the family. The list of such familial appointments is long and tedious. Incidentally, the appointment of the registrar's wife a few years ago was under a cloud for breaking of norms of appointment. Resultantly, the university has become a promoter of mediocrity. The famed law faculty which at any given point in time had famed national academicians is now home to teachers busy in forming cliques of students and disrupting the academic atmosphere by 'utilising' these students in exchange for absence from classes and good numbers. A professor of the faculty, known for his proximity to the V-C and member of the erstwhile PB, is famous for 'teaching' by projecting his handwritten notes. Let's admit it, Malaviya's dream is turning sour. And all of us, the teaching faculty at BHU, are accountable for our failure to maintain the high standards set by the great man. We need to introspect. Why are we busy indulging in petty politics, hanging around the central office, pampering the bloated ego of administrators for a place in some useless committee which only allows us the leverage to stay away from the classes? How many have even bothered to visit the central library and read up? Why has the library remained without a permanent librarian for decades and why is it in shambles? Why do doctors in IMS unashamedly take non-practising allowance and then run private practices at home? Where are our morals? Why do we pay only lip service to Malaviya's vision? Higher education is in a mess, be it BHU, AMU, JNU or DU. It requires a herculean task to clean the Augean stables. Otherwise, the demographic dividend Modi keeps referring to will backfire on the nation. Uneducated and moral-less youth are a recipe for disaster. The time to start mending is now. How about starting with BHU? The author wishes to remain anonymous 'F**K Yr Coffee': Vandals Tag Little Village Cafe Amid Gentrification Anxieties By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 2, 2017 9:59PM A storefront in Little Village that is being made into a cafe was tagged with graffiti over the weekend. The vandalismwhich read "F**K YR COFFEE G.T.F.O.L.V.," presumably meaning "Get the F**k Out of Little Village"was scrawled as anxieties over gentrification continue to remain an issue in the neighborhood. The vandalism was spotted over the weekend at 2909 W. Cermak Rd. A corner storefront features signage for Sip 22, though the coffee shop has yet to debut. Photos of the tagging were also circulated on social media. A user who posted about it on Reddit said the graffiti was reported to Streets and Sanitation at around 11 a.m. on Sunday. Via Facebook Aside from the retail storefront, the building also includes residential units. Justin Tate lives above Sip 22 and said the coffee shop will "hands down" be an accelerant of gentrification in the historically Mexican enclave and criticized how the property manager, Paul Tsakiris, president of First Western Properties, has interacted with community members. "I'm sure he will face a lot more resistance when he opens for business and the people will have had a chance to interact with him," Tate told Chicagoist. Elissa Marcus, who said she served as building manager until Sept. 30, said she was not surprised that the cafe-to-be was the target of vandalism. There is already a significant anti-gentrification sentiment in the neighborhood, and Tsakiris should use the incident as an opportunity to more directly engage those who live in the area, Marcus told Chicagoist. Tsakiris however insisted that he had not encountered any negative criticism or tension ahead of this weekend's graffiti. "Weve got nothing but positive feedback," he told Chicagoist, describing the incident as "a one-off." Tsakiris said that there's already work going on with the community, including attending CAPS meetings and engaging local artists and said that the "nice, neutral use" provided by a cafe is an amenity lacking in the immediate area. In 2015, the now-shuttered Bow Truss coffee shop in nearby Pilsena neighborhood that has undergone rapid redevelopment in recent yearswas targeted by anti-gentrification vandals. Further north, the historically Puerto Rican neighborhood Humboldt Park saw similar episodes carried out against the now-closed Grandma J's that same year. Sip 22 will likely open in November or December, Tsakiris said. New Delhi: A commandant of the BSF has been booked by the CBI for allegedly aiding the force personnel get private arms licenses from sensitive Rajouri and Shopian districts in Jammu and Kashmir by using fake documents. The agency has registered an FIR against the then commandant of the 131 battalion Sukhwinder Singh, owner of Nav Durga Gun House in Jammu, PK Sharma, and a retired district magistrate of Rajouri, Faquir Chand Bhagat, for conspiracy, cheating, violation of the Arms Act and corruption. The FIR has been registered after a three-year-long preliminary enquiry initiated on the 2014 complaint of the then additional director general (operations) KK Sharma, now the chief of the BSF. It is alleged that Singh abused his official position and arranged the meeting of Sharma, an ex-BSF constable, with jawans of the BSF and persuaded them to get private licenses in lieu of Rs 12,000 each from nine jawans in 2013. None of these license applicants posted at the frontier head quarter, Gandhinagar, in Gujarat belonged to Rajouri and Shopian from where the licenses were issued, the FIR alleged. These licenses were allegedly issued on the basis of false and forged documents knowingly using them as genuine, the FIR alleged. "In furtherance of the conspiracy, Faquir Chand Bhagat, the then district magistrate, Rajouri by misusing his official position issued all the questioned arms licenses in violation of existing rules and procedure and without due verification prior to issuance of arms license on the basis of false and forged documents," it alleged Mana (Uttarakhand): The Centre is mulling setting up a study group to analyse the security and development issues along the China border, with a special focus on involving the frontier population in the mainstream of the country. The study group or the committee will also interact with the state governments and other representative groups of the states whose borders run with China, before they submit their report to the Union home ministry. Home minister Rajnath Singh, during his recent forward area tour to the China border areas along Uttarakhand, told PTI that the group will be soon constituted to conduct a wholesome study on various aspects that pose a challenge and need improvement on the about 4,000 kilometre border spread across five eastern states of the country. Singh, after interacting with ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) troops at their border post in the Chamoli district, said the group will also look at ways to further expedite the work of completing border roads in these states. The minister underlined the need to enhance the government support system in these areas in a recent speech in Joshimath when he called the border population as "strategic assets" of the country who need to be given due importance. He urged border guarding forces, such as the ITBP, to ensure that the locals living in these areas do not migrate. "The local population are the eyes and ears of the country and its security mechanism. If they are not there, then it is a worrisome situation," a senior official of the ITBP said. "The study group, apart from studying these issues, will also analyse what more needs to be done to enhance the overall security and defence systems along the China border," the official said. The home ministry had recently set up an expert committee of a similar nature to examine the rules which allow free movement of Indian and Myanmarese citizens within 16 kilometre of the border, but are exploited by militants for smuggling arms, drugs, and fake Indian currency. Addressing locals and ITBP troops at Joshimath on 30 September, Singh had said the border population should be given more importance as the government has "full faith and trust" in the people living in these remote areas. "People living along the India-China border should not be made to migrate at any cost. They are our strategic assets. They should be given more importance. The day they will migrate...that will not be good for our border security," he had said. The minister said the border population is considered important by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. "The prime minister has said special attention should be given to the well-being of the people living on the borders. I will request ITBP (personnel) to make friends with the local population in the area of their border deployment," he said. The minister asked the border force to hold special camps to help the locals and assist them in redressing their problems. The 3,488 kilometre-long India-China border stretches through Jammu and Kashmir (1,597 km), Himachal Pradesh (200 km), Uttarakhand (345 km), Sikkim (220 km) and Arunachal Pradesh (1,126 km). Recently, Chinese and Indian troops were in a face-off situation for more than two months in the Dokalam area of the Sikkim sector after Indians stopped the construction of a road by China's Army. The Sino-India border is not fully demarcated and the process of clarifying and confirming the Line of Actual Control is in progress. The area is characterised by high-altitude terrain and thick habitation which have resulted in inadequate development of infrastructure in these regions. To redress the situation arising out of lack of infrastructure along border with China, the government has decided to undertake construction of 73 roads of operational significance. Of these, 27 roads involving 804.93 kilometres are being constructed by the home ministry in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 1,937 crore. The morning of 29 September started off as any other day for daily commuters at Mumbai's Elphinstone Road station, but little did they know that it would turn into an ordeal they would never forget. A stampede had ensued on a foot over bridge during the early morning rush on Friday at the Elphinstone Road station killing 23 people and injuring dozens. The incident had taken place while it was raining and several commuters had gathered at the bridge waiting for the rain to subside. Syed Arif, 28, on Friday, as usual, boarded a local from Govandi station and got off at Parel station. When Arif was crossing the bridge, suddenly a sea of commuters started rushing for the exit, believing that the bridge was about to collapse, according to The Quint. "The bridge was so overcrowded that it was shaking. While we were trying to get off the bridge it was raining heavily. Because of the rain, the stairs were slippery and people started falling on the stairs but no one stopped moving," Arif was quoted as saying by The Quint. The report adds that people got pushed into the railings on the side and died of suffocation. Police suspect a short-circuit with a loud sound near the foot over bridge led to panic, resulting into the stampede. According to The Indian Express report, many of those who died were buried under at least four or five other people for over 30 minutes. The report added that one Rohit had come to Parel market with his elder brother Akash Parab (19) to buy flowers. During the stampede, the duo got separated and Akash survived with a leg and femur fracture. Tushar Patil was one of the survivors who escaped the stampede narrowly on Friday morning. The Times of India report says that, when it started raining, Patil instead of waiting at the foot over bridge for the rain to subside, decided to rush to office. Minutes after he reached office he got to know that a stampede had broken out at the very same FOB. "I am lucky to have escaped. This disaster was waiting to happen," Patil was quoted as saying by The Times of India. The 23-year-old Ghatkopar resident Piyush Thakker's family believes that he survived only due to fate. Piyush was found buried under several others after the stampede and has little recollection of how he landed in KEM Hospital, says an Indiatimes report. "I possibly survived because I could still breathe air as my face was near the open railings,'' Piyush was quoted as saying. Shruti Lokre, who escaped the stampede, in a series of tweets described how she kept herself calm amid chaos. Stampede at Parel Station. I survived. I don't knw hw. Before I realised, I was a part of that stampede. Saw bodies being taken out. #Bombay (@angryoungwoman) September 29, 2017 Still can't believe I am out. The only way to not give up on hope was to give hope to someone else. It's gonna be alright, we will make it. (@angryoungwoman) September 29, 2017 Breathe, keep breathing, look that guy is helping us. Don't worry, I am here. We are in it together. Just few more minutes. This! (@angryoungwoman) September 29, 2017 You don't realise when the mob turns into a stampede. It happens in front of you, you become a part of it. Panic and chaos and insane crowd. (@angryoungwoman) September 29, 2017 Twenty-five-year-old Shraddha Varpe met with a tragic fate that day. "Papa, you go ahead. I will come, let the crowd thin out," she told her father as the two tried to make their way out of the deadly crush at the Parel railway on Friday morning. Those were her last words. Kishore Varpe (57), her father, managed to cross the footbridge connecting the Parel and Elphinstone Road railway stations when the deadly stampede began. He searched for her frantically, only to find that she was among the victims, said a tearful Bhimrao Dhulap, Varpe's close relative who accompanied him to the mortuary of KEM Hospital. With inputs from PTI Auto refresh feeds On this Gandhi Jayanti, in the name of the Father of the Nation, symbol of peace, icon of non-violence, we might well be moving towards a humanitarian crises of the nature we have never seen before. Our aim is to remove millions of aliens we allowed in and nurtured and send them back to their original homes decades after they found sanctuary in India to countries that do not recognise them. If we don't know how to accomplish this are we creating homemade enemies? "Intolerance in the name of religion is a deep betrayal and perversion of authentic religion. In short, intolerance is unacceptable and is a sign of weakness and not of strength," he had written. "Intolerance is a failure of intelligence. It acts upon conclusions without acknowledging the process which produced the conclusions. The Truth taught by the various religions of the world are conclusions. They have been arrived at and transmitted through human experience. The intolerant person neglects the process and proclaims his or her view as the only Truth. But in reality all Truths are products of inductive reasoning," the Mahatma had said. Tolerance accepts reality. Intolerance rejects reality. Tolerance is strong. Intolerance in weak. Tolerance is strong because it has total confidence in its conviction that there is nothing so safe as truth nor so persuasive as honesty. A person of a strong conviction is not afraid of differences. The truth is secure amidst all the differences in thinking and behaving. Intolerance breeds psychological disorder. An intolerant person intentionally closes his mind. Thus he loses the stimulation, challenges, and benefits gained from interacting with persons holding differing views. Intolerance leads to a hardening of the psychological arteries which need the lifeblood of diversity, believed Gandhi. "Intolerance is a failure because it does not work. Intolerance breeds resentment. It breeds opposition. If there is anything certain in life, it is that intolerance ultimately fails. Human history is a record of failed attempts of political and religious tyrants to establish their own systems as absolute authority for everyone. The most effective way to achieve respect and authority is the way of tolerance," Gandhi wrote. The central fact of Hinduism is cow protection. Cow protection to me is one of the most wonderful phenomena in human evolution. It takes the human being beyond this species. The cow to me means the entire sub-human world. Man through the cow is enjoined to realize his identity with all that lives. Why the cow was selected for apotheosis is obvious to me. The cow was in India the best companion. She was the giver of plenty. Not only did she give milk, but she also made agriculture possible. Cow protection is the gift of Hinduism to the world. "I would not kill a human being for protecting a cow, as I will not kill a cow for saving a human life, be it ever so precious," Gandhi wrote in Young Indian (1921). "My religion teaches me that I should by personal conduct instill into the minds of those who might hold different views, the conviction that cow-killing is a sin and that, therefore, it ought to be abandoned," Gandhi had written in Young India in 1921. "Cow slaughter can never be stopped by law. Knowledge, education, and the spirit of kindliness towards her alone can put and end to it. It will not be possible to save those animals that are a burden on the land or, perhaps, even man if he is a burden," wrote Gandhi in 1946. "Preservation of cattle is a vital part of Gau Seva. It is a vital question for India. There is urgent need for deep study and the spirit of sacrifice. To amass money and dole out charity does not connote real business capacity. To know how to preserve cattle, to impart this knowledge to the millions, to live up to the ideal oneself, and to spend money on this endeavor is real business." Here is what the Father of the Nation had said about preservation of cattle in India. The intolerant person ignores what has been called the law of the forgotten breakthrough. This refers to the fact that religious movements begin with a founder who breaks through the accepted ways of thinking and behaving. But eventually the movement which the founder inspired becomes rigid and institutionalized itself. The intolerant person is often focused on matters which are far from the spiritual centre of the original founders example and teachings. He desires that every person conform to his way of thinking and acting. Intolerance is not a sign of the strength of ones conviction but rather it is a sign of weakness of personal character. "We cannot save the cows by killing Muslims. We should act only through love. Thus alone shall we succeed. So long as we do not have unshakeble faith in truth, love and non-violence, we can make no progress," Gandhi wrote in 1915. Despite being made by a non-Indian, this is perhaps the most iconic film made on Gandhi. Directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Ben Kingsley in one of the roles that he is best remembered for, it told the story of how Gandhi would become the leader of India's non-violence, non-cooperation movement, and begins with the humiliation and discrimination he faced in South Africa when he boarded a whites-only train compartment. Gandhi went on to win eight Oscars in the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor categories, among others. "Mother cow is in many ways better than the mother who gave us birth. Our mother gives us milk for a couple of years and then expects us to serve her when we grow up. Mother cow expects from us nothing but grass and grain. Our mother often falls ill and expects service from us. Mother cow rarely falls ill. Here is an unbroken record of service which does not end with her death. Our mother, when she dies, means expenses of burial or cremation. Mother cow is as useful dead as when she is alive. We can make use of every part of her body-her flesh, her bones, her intestines, her horns and her skin. Well, I say this not to disparage the mother who gives us birth, but in order to show you the substantial reasons for my worshipping the cow," the Father of the Nation wrote in 1946. Nonviolence is the law of the human race and is infinitely greater than and superior to brute force. In the last resort it does not avail to those who do not possess a living faith in the God of Love. Nonviolence affords the fullest protection to one's self-respect and sense of honour, but not always to possession of land or movable property, though its habitual practice does prove a better bulwark than the possession of armed men to defend them. Nonviolence, in the very nature of things, is of no assistance in the defence of ill-gotten gains and immoral acts. Mahatma Gandhi often spoke about how his life was altered by a single book John Ruskin's 'Unto This Last'. It was this book that reaffirmed Gandhi's intuitive feeling that true civilisation is not the ability to build elaborate structures or design complex technology. True civilisation, for Gandhi, is that which enables human beings to tap the higher faculties of love, compassion and brotherhood. And these qualities depend not so much on knowledge stored in books but in how the living practise of these values manifests itself generation after generation. "Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress, He is inescapable. We may ignore Him at our own risk." ~ Dr. king #GandhiJayanti (1956) pic.twitter.com/lScjldneBd The intolerant person ignores what has been called the law of the forgotten breakthrough. This refers to the fact that religious movements begin with a founder who breaks through the accepted ways of thinking and behaving. But eventually the movement which the founder inspired becomes rigid and institutionalized itself. The intolerant person is often focused on matters which are far from the spiritual centre of the original founders example and teachings. He desires that every person conform to his way of thinking and acting. Intolerance is not a sign of the strength of ones conviction but rather it is a sign of weakness of personal character. "We cannot save the cows by killing Muslims. We should act only through love. Thus alone shall we succeed. So long as we do not have unshakeble faith in truth, love and non-violence, we can make no progress," Gandhi wrote in 1915. Despite being made by a non-Indian, this is perhaps the most iconic film made on Gandhi. Directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Ben Kingsley in one of the roles that he is best remembered for, it told the story of how Gandhi would become the leader of India's non-violence, non-cooperation movement, and begins with the humiliation and discrimination he faced in South Africa when he boarded a whites-only train compartment. Gandhi went on to win eight Oscars in the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor categories, among others. "Mother cow is in many ways better than the mother who gave us birth. Our mother gives us milk for a couple of years and then expects us to serve her when we grow up. Mother cow expects from us nothing but grass and grain. Our mother often falls ill and expects service from us. Mother cow rarely falls ill. Here is an unbroken record of service which does not end with her death. Our mother, when she dies, means expenses of burial or cremation. Mother cow is as useful dead as when she is alive. We can make use of every part of her body-her flesh, her bones, her intestines, her horns and her skin. Well, I say this not to disparage the mother who gives us birth, but in order to show you the substantial reasons for my worshipping the cow," the Father of the Nation wrote in 1946. "If you dont take broom in your hands you can't make your towns & cities clean" #MahatmaGandhi Lets pledge #SwachhBharat on #GandhiJayanti pic.twitter.com/7UB15v67D5 Nonviolence is the law of the human race and is infinitely greater than and superior to brute force. In the last resort it does not avail to those who do not possess a living faith in the God of Love. Nonviolence affords the fullest protection to one's self-respect and sense of honour, but not always to possession of land or movable property, though its habitual practice does prove a better bulwark than the possession of armed men to defend them. Nonviolence, in the very nature of things, is of no assistance in the defence of ill-gotten gains and immoral acts. Mahatma Gandhi often spoke about how his life was altered by a single book John Ruskin's 'Unto This Last'. It was this book that reaffirmed Gandhi's intuitive feeling that true civilisation is not the ability to build elaborate structures or design complex technology. True civilisation, for Gandhi, is that which enables human beings to tap the higher faculties of love, compassion and brotherhood. And these qualities depend not so much on knowledge stored in books but in how the living practise of these values manifests itself generation after generation. Creativity and inspiration are the two defining factors for most writers and their craft. But while creativity is largely the process of generating original ideas, inspiration is random. Sometimes it comes from the simplest of things. Like the life of Mahatma Gandhi. Poetry, prose or drama; fiction or nonfiction Gandhi is everywhere. There are indeed only a handful of iconic personalities who have caught the imaginations of as many writers as Gandhi has. And one is wonderstruck at the diverse set of books that have been written on him or are inspired by him. Even 70 years after his death, the process has not stopped, but only gained momentum. From Mulk Raj Anand to Sarojini Naidu, Dominique Lapierre to George Orwell and Khuswant Singh to VS Naipaul, almost all "during-Gandhi", "post-Gandhi" and contemporary writers have somewhere referred to the life of "Bapu" in their works. Thus, they have brought different interpretations to his sayings, sketched fictional characters on his principles and composed verses on his thoughts. Sarojini Naidu, in her sonnet on Gandhi, describes him as an eternal lotus who is a source of guidance and strength for billions: "O mystic Lotus, sacred and sublime/ In myriad-petalled grace inviolate/ Supreme o'er transient storms of tragic Fate/ Deep-rooted in the waters of all Time..." But Indian writing on Gandhi and Gandhism has also undergone tremendous change during this process. From the almost mystical being of the during-Gandhi era to a historical being with human vulnerabilities. Gandhian scholar Vashist Bhardwaj finds the works of RK Narayan critical for his exploration of Gandhi as subject. "Known for his direct approach in handling his subjects, in Gandhi's case too, Narayan has used his wit at its best to 'demahatmise' Gandhism. For instance, Gandhi is seen as an oblivious yet dominating character in 'Waiting for Mahatma' with eyes closed to what is around and busy playing the dynamics of 'self'. In Narayan's 'The Vendor of Sweets' too, Jagan, the protagonist, comes across a hypocrite Gandhian, symbolising Gandhi's failure to reach the masses," Bhardwaj noted. The post-1990s' writings have seen greater concentration on Gandhian politics in writings on him. If BR Nanda is all praise for Gandhi's politics, Sunil Khilnani is just the opposite. Early foreign writings on Gandhi include the works of French writer Rolland Romain, Danish writer Ellen Horrup, American and English writers like George Orwell and Edmud Jones, among others. Romain, in "The Man who Became One with the Universal Being", saw Gandhi as an ideal nationalist and called upon him to enlighten the youth of Europe. Similarly, Pearl S. Buck warned: "Oh, India, dare to be worthy of your Gandhi." On the other hand, George Orwell puts Gandhi to trial, describing him as a "humble, naked old saint sitting on a prayer mat, attempting to shake the British Empire by utter spiritual power". Orwell refers to him as the "shrewd person beneath the saint" and asserts that his ideals of spirituality, spinning wheel and vegetarianism had narcissist undertones. However, Orwell also recognises the praiseworthy elements in Gandhi and writes: "Even Gandhi's worst enemies would admit that he was an interesting and unusual man who enriched the world simply by being alive." In poetry, it is Herrymon Maurer's reflections that have attracted most attention. "During a second period of pause/Gandhi went on with his teaching/East and West looked at him/Followed him, and yet misunderstood him," Maurer famously wrote to summarise Gandhi's life. To note the rising presence of Mahatma Gandhi in the world of words, an extensive literary survey titled "Gandhi in Creative and Critical Imagination" was conducted in 2012 and published in the International Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities by Sandhya Saxena, vice-principal of Bikaner's Jain Girls College. "India in contemporary times is a stage set for Gandhi and Gandhigiri. Mahatma Gandhi permeates fiction as well as non-fiction in Indian writings, both in English and other languages. Gandhi is redefined in ways that are quite contemporary. Whereas in some cases there is an attempt to grapple with Gandhi and ultimately accommodate him, in other instances nothing of Gandhism remains unchallenged. Whatever be the case, in creative writings there is a sense of strong involvement as the writers pen Gandhi and Gandhism," Saxena maintained. At a time when a considerable part of Bapu's presence is contrary to what he stood for roads named after him serve as begging tracks for starving men, women and children while his fabric and quotes are mere means to woo votes it is perhaps in these pages of Gandhian literature that Bapu and his ideals are still alive. Seventy years on, it seems hardly credible that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was so beloved, indeed venerated, across India that almost no political speech could neglect a reference to him even until the 1977 elections. There are many 'national' leaders in the world, who are celebrated in their countries for having led their people to independence. But Gandhi's power over the hearts and minds of countless millions went beyond the fact that he led India's freedom movement. In fact, the true measure of his power is that he was able to suspend the movement, despite great public enthusiasm for it, after the violence in which policemen were killed at Chauri Chaura. Gandhi represented an ethic, a way of life, a set of values. That is what made people flock to him. And it is largely for those values that he is so reviled among so many today those who celebrate aggression and worship authority. Identifying with the marginal Gandhi's name was already iconic among well-informed Indians while he was still in South Africa, but he became an unparalleled mass leader during the Champaran agitation, three years after he returned. The key to his magnetism was his decision to identify with the poorest, the most exploited and marginal, in the most remote parts of the vast country. The clothes he chose-plain dhoti, rough chappals, and walking staff-made that identification ring true. The flip side of that was that he did not bother in the slightest about grooming. He wore his broken front teeth, weathered skin, child-like smile, and spindly frame without a trace of self-consciousness. Nothing was put on. There was no persona beyond the person. That was an aspect of the other characteristic that gave him such power over hearts and minds-his adherence to truth. He introspected publicly, and laid his life and his foibles bare before the world. This fearlessness was manifest in other ways too-his insistent non-violence, acceptance of abuse and malice, and calmness in the face of life-threatening situations. And, he had overcome greed. He craved no worldly pleasures or positions of authority. Resisting hate Inclusion, and resistance to hate and contempt, were key markers of Gandhi's life and message. To be sure, this inclusiveness developed gradually as Gandhi matured and responded to ideas. But, in his later years, he staked his life for inclusion across divisions of faith and caste. He lived with scavenging communities during those later years, and particularly insisted that his followers clean their surroundings and their toilets. Another facet of this asceticism was his care for nature, his nurture of all things living and non-living. He urged people to use only what was locally available, to conserve, to clean, and to labour. One could well ask how the foremost ascetic conservationist of the twentieth century got reduced to a bank note-for that is probably the best light in which many young people know him. Historical parallels Gandhi's asceticism did not demand that his followers punish themselves. Rather, compassion, inclusion, and forgiveness went hand in hand with his asceticism, renunciation, and conservation. Boiled down, all these traits have been described as spirituality. Perhaps the key to understanding Gandhi's hold over hearts and minds is this ephemeral word, spirituality, to the extent that it expresses asceticism, renunciation, conservation, inclusion, non-violence, equanimity. It was not the first time this sort of spirituality had won over the peoples of this vast and complex land. At least twice before in history, a similar sort of ascetic-inclusive-compassionate spirituality had sent ripples of admiration and inspiration across large parts of the subcontinent. One period of this sort of spirituality was the age of the 'nastika' leaders, including Gautam Buddha and Mahavira. Another period was the age of Kabir, Nanak, and a host of other poet-teacher-seers who identified with the most oppressed, teaching frugality and inclusion. Each such age of spiritual revitalisation led to social entropy and inclusion, and to trade and travel. Political consolidation and strength followed each time. Perhaps Gandhi's spirituality touched a chord among a people, echoing age-old memories to spark recognition of the sources of collective inspiration and united purpose the sort that could revitalise men and women across this vast land with simple but robust messages embedded literally in the salt of the earth. New Delhi: Hundreds of journalists on Monday formed human chains at various places across the country to protest intimidation of the media and the killings of scribes, including the murders of Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru and Shantanu Bhowmick in Tripura, and to draw attention towards "increasing intolerance against criticism". Scores of scribes turned up at the Press Club of India (PCI) in Delhi and formed a human chain to express their solidarity with their colleagues who were killed in the line of duty. The protests on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti were organised by various media associations, including the Press Club of India, Federation of Press Clubs in India, Indian Women's Press Corps, Press Association, Kerala Union of Working Journalists and Indian Journalists Union. The trigger for the protests were the killings last month of Lankesh, the editor of Karnataka-based Lankesh Patrike, who was shot dead at her own doorstep, and Bhowmick, who was abducted and later hacked to death by a tribal group in Tripura while he was covering a fight between two local factions. According to data compiled by an independent non-profit organisation 'Committee to Protect Journalists', at least 10 journalists have been killed in India since 2014 for various reasons. "Silent protests, meetings and human chains were organised in various state capitals and cities under the aegis of press clubs in the country to draw attention to the killings, threats and intimidation of journalists," a joint statement from the media associations said. "Expressing concern at the growing incidents of attacks on sections of the media fraternity across the country the symbolic protests on 2 October sent out one single message violence against journalists in any form will not be tolerated in the land that preaches non violence." The protests were held to draw attention to the "increasingly unsafe environment for journalists, the misogynistic and abusive targeting of media persons for their views on online forums, covert and overt threats to physically harm journalists for holding different opinions and increasing intolerance against criticism". They resolved that journalistic freedoms and the right to dissent needed to be protected and the right to freedom of expression needed to be upheld in the interests of India's liberal secular democracy. The protesting journalists later signed a memorandum to be given to Union home minister Rajnath Singh "requesting his intervention for a status report on attacks against journalists in various states and action in this regard". New Delhi: The movement of Rohingya refugees, smuggling of fake Indian currency notes and narcotics are among a host of issues that will be discussed at the bi-annual talks between the chiefs of the border guarding forces of India and Bangladesh beginning Tuesday. A 24-member delegation of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) led by director general Maj General Abul Hossain will hold talks with a Border Security Force (BSF) team led by its chief K K Sharma. The DG-level talks, the 45th between the two sides, will be held at a BSF camp in New Delhi and end on 5 October . Officials said both the sides are expected to bring on table the recent incidents of movement of Rohingya Muslims across the border they share. The Indian side is also expected to take up the issue of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) being smuggled from the other side. The two sides are also expected to discuss trans-border crimes, including cattle smuggling, activities of Indian insurgent groups based in Bangladesh, prevention of illegal migration, joint efforts for effective implementation of common agenda programmes and other confidence building measures, they said. "The two sides will also take up issues that were discussed when a BSF delegation visited Bangladesh in February this year. "The relations between the two forces are very cordial and the aim of these talks is to take them forward," they said. The two sides will also review the progress of the single-row fence they are erecting to secure over 250 villages ahead of the existing barbed-wire fence along the International Border to curb cross-border crimes and instill a sense of security among the people living in the area. India shares a 4,09 kilometre long border with Bangladesh. A month after the end of the 73-day military stand-off in the Doka La region, the relations between the troops of India and China does not seem to have reverted to normal as Beijing failed to invite New Delhi for a ceremonial border personnel meeting (BPM) to mark its 68th National Day. China was supposed to host the meeting on Sunday at the five designated BPM locations across the 3,488 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). The points include Daulat Beg Oldie in northern Ladakh, Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh, Chusul in Ladakh, Bum-La near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and Nathu La in Sikkim. "The People's Liberation Army did not send us an invite for the ceremonial meeting at the five BPM points on October 1," The Times of India quoted a source as saying. The 28 August disengagement of armies from the disputed area in Doka La had given way to optimism over the then strained ties between the two neighbouring countries. China's decision makes it the first time since 2005 that no BPM was held on the India-China border. The BPM was launched by the two countries to sort out local issues and ensure peace and tranquillity along the sensitive border. Both the sides had agreed to two ceremonial meetings every year, starting from 2005, after the signing of the 'Protocol on Modalities for the Implementation of Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field Along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas'. According to The Indian Express, these ceremonial meetings are attended by officers, soldiers and families from both sides, and are different from flag-meetings, which are convened to discuss border issues. Due to the standoff, there was no ceremonial meeting between officers of the two armies on the on 15 August. However, personnel from the two sides had taken part in the informal exchange of sweets at Nathu La. With inputs from PTI Don't Talk About Gun Control, Because It Doesn't Work In Chicago, Says White House Press Secretary By Stephen Gossett in News on Oct 2, 2017 7:55PM White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sept. 11, 2017 / Getty Images / Photo: Win McNamee In the wake of the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders cited the city of Chicago on Monday as an example of how gun-control legislation can fail, claiming dubiously that Chicago has "the strictest gun laws in the country." "One of the things that we dont want to do, is try to create laws that wont stop these types of things from happening," Sanders said at a press conference. "I think if you look to Chicago where you had over 4,000 victims of gun-related crimes, they have the strictest gun laws in the country and that certainly hasnt helped there. Sanders had said that Monday was a day of reflection and mourning and not a time for policy discussion. Sarah Sanders: We don't want to create gun laws that won't help. For example, look at all the murders in tough-on-guns Chicago. Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 2, 2017 "Theres a time and place for political debate. But now is the time to unite as a country... It would be premature for us to discuss policy when we dont know all the facts or what took place last night, Sanders said. The debate over gun control ramped up on Monday after at least 58 people were killed and 500 were injured when suspected gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire at a country-music festival in Las Vegas. The attack is the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Gun-control opponents and skeptics often point to Chicago, given its strict gun legislation, yet recent stretch of violent crime. But as many, including CNN's Jake Tapper, referenced, experts have noted that Indiana's lax gun laws allows for a steady flow of illegal firearm trafficking into Chicago: (Please note how Chicago gangs get guns from Indiana:)https://t.co/M9bscyv6M6 Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 2, 2017 "In six years, 3,824 guns taken off Chicago gang bangers that were used in crimes came from our next door neighbor: Indiana," the Tribune reported. About 60 percent of firearms recovered in connection with an arrest between 2009 and 2013 came from out of state, according to a study conducted by Philip Cook, of the University of Chicago Crime Lab. Rep. Robin Kelly said on Twitter that more than half of the guns used in Chicago crimes come from out of state. And the perception that Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the country is something of a canard as well. Roseanna Ander, executive director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, told DNAinfo in 2015 that Chicago's gun-control legislation is comparable to other major cities, including New York and Los Angeles. Sanders in June attracted criticism in June when she said that crime in Chicago is "probably driven by morality more than anything else." The Trump administration has of course made frequent damning reference to Chicago crime, from Attorney General Jeff Sessions' ongoing back-and-forth in Chicago's legal battle against the Department of Justice, which sought to withhold federal grants from sanctuary jurisdictions, to the Commander in Chief himself, who has rephrased the question "What the hell is going on in Chicago?" myriad ways, from the magic cop narrative to his preferred Twitter blasts. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) was among the Illinois legislators who called for increased gun control on Monday. "Back home in Chicago, our city has seen close to 500 people murdered by guns so far in 2017," she said in a statement. "As a country, we cannot accept this as the new normal. Gun violence is a scourge and an epidemic, and it requires bold legislative action. We cannot continue to make excuses. Federal comprehensive gun safety legislation must be a national priority. After months of thorough investigations and interrogations into the Jammu and Kashmir terror funding case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) may have finally built a "watertight" case against the Hurriyat leaders involved. According to a Times of India report, as many as five accused and witnesses in the case have recording statements under Section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code, detailing the transfer of funds sourced from Pakistan to top separatist leaders. The statements, as per law, are admissible as evidence in court. The NIA, reportedly, did not want to rush through things and approached the investigation in a thorough, step-by-step manner. "In the past, the rush has cost investigators dear and cases had to be closed. This time around, the evidence is rock solid and there is no political interference what so ever," an NIA officer said. In addition to the recorded statements, the NIA has also gathered documentary proof seized during NIA raids on the premises of one of the arrested persons. The documents uncover payments made by the Kashmiri conduit to the who's who of Hurriyat, from funds received from Pakistan-based sources via the hawala route, the Times of India report added. A source quoted in the report said that the statements and documentary evidence could help nail the role of Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umer Farooq as well as JKLF boss Yasin Malik in funding violent protests in the Valley at the behest of Pakistan-based masterminds. 'Water-tight case' Though the NIA has looked into terror funding in the past, the probe this time saw an elevation in seriousness. A similar probe had to be dropped back in 2016 for the lack of evidence and the premier investigation agency did not want to repeat the same mistake. This time around, the amount of evidence gathered documents seized and the huge number of arrests suggests that the NIA is going for a 'water-tight' approach to hail the Hurriyat leaders. Through the course of its investigation, NIA conducted several raids in the residences of Hurriyat leaders and made several arrests. In June this year, NIA had carried out searches at 14 places in Kashmir and eight places in the national capital in connection with terror funding. Around eight hawala dealers and traders in the national capital were also raided. Six Hurriyat members were arrested from Srinagar and one was nabbed from Delhi. Among those arrested, six of them including Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Ahmed Shah (also known as Altaf Fantoosh), Geelani's close aides Naeem Khan, Merazuddin Kalwal and Pir Saifulla, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar, and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq's close aide and spokesperson Shahid-ul-Islam were arrested in Srinagar. Farooq Ahmed Dar alias 'Bitta Karate' was arrested in Delhi. Geelani's sons questioned In August, the NIA, while tightening its noose around separatist leaders, questioned Geelani's sons, Naeem and Naseem two times within a fortnight. The brothers were being questioned in the terror funding case which named Saeed, leader of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa and banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, as an accused, sources said. The elder son Nayeem is a surgeon by profession, while Naseem is an employee of the Jammu and Kashmir government. According to officials, the two were asked to bring certain documents related to financial transactions that have come under the scanner of the NIA. Watali connection NIA officials also conducted searches at 12 locations in Srinagar, Baramulla Kupwara, Pulwama and Handwara, which included the residence of a relative of a ruling PDP MLC. The locations raided included properties of relatives of Zahoor Watali, a prominent businessman in the Valley and a known Hurriyat supporter. Following the raid, NIA arrested Watali, who is considered to be one of Geelani's top aides. After the search, a senior NIA official said that a lot of incriminating material, suspect financial records, property-related documents and electronic devices including mobile phones, pen drives and hard drives were seized during the searches. He added that some of the seized documents related to the receipt of money from suspect foreign sources and its subsequent distribution to "certain persons" in the Kashmir Valley. Earlier in June, Watali's residences in Gurugram, Delhi and Srinagar were also raided as part of the investigation. Watali was questioned further by the NIA regarding "incriminating" financial transaction details and property-related records seized during the searches. NIA also asked Income Tax authorities to carry out a detailed study of the accounts of the businessman, comparing them with his tax returns. Crackdown on hawala dealers Swooping down on traders and alleged hawala dealers, the NIA on 6 September carried out searches at 27 places in various parts of the Valley and Delhi and seized nearly Rs 2.20 crore in cash in raids. Diaries pertaining to contacts of hawala operators/traders, ledger books containing accounts of cross-border LOC trade of various trading companies have been recovered. Some details of bank accounts of Jammu and Kashmir were also recovered, a NIA spokesman said. These raids came just a day after the NIA arrested two persons, including a freelance photo-journalist, who allegedly indulged in stone-pelting and mobilising support against the security personnel through social media. Confessional statements as evidence On 19 September, the NIA managed to secure recorded confessional statements on the flow of money, especially from Pakistan, from two persons, officials said. The statements made before a judicial magistrate helped tighten the case against separatists. One of them was arrested on 24 July after his house was raided by the central probe agency. He gave a detailed account of how funds were sent from Pakistan-based terror organisations as well as its external snooping agency ISI to separatists based in the Valley, the officials said. The other person who has recorded his confessional statement is a close aide of Geelani. Recently, the NIA had issued summons to a Kashmir university PhD student, the head of a traders body and two Hurriyat leaders to appear before it in connection with the case. Yaseen Khan of Kashmir Traders and Marketing Federation, Aala Fazil, pursuing a doctorate from Kashmir University, and leaders of pro-Pakistan Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference, Abdul Hameed Magrey and Wali Mohammed, were asked to appear at the NIA headquarters in New Delhi. Rashid Engineer summoned Independent Jammu and Kashmir MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Rashid Engineer, was summoned by the NIA for questioning on 28 September. Rashid, who is expected to appear for questioning this Tuesday, is the first mainstream politician to be summoned in the case, NIA officials said. His name had cropped up during the interrogation of Watali. Rashid, an independent MLA from Lagate in North Kashmir, has been denying any involvement in the case and has appealed to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly speaker to initiate an inquiry. This is for the first time since the rise of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in the early 1990s that a central probe agency has conducted raids in connection with the funding of terrorist and separatist groups. The searches were also part of NIA probe into the alleged irregularities in cross-LoC trade. In this connection, the NIA had carried out searches on traders at trade facilitation centres at Salamabad in Kashmir region's North Kashmir's Baramulla district and Chakan-da-bagh in Poonch district of the Jammu region. During its probe, the NIA found that after clothes and 'dupattas', California almonds has emerged as the new product in cross-LoC trade in Jammu and Kashmir that is being used a mode of terror-funding. According to the cross-LoC trade agreement between India and Pakistan, products grown on both sides of Jammu and Kashmir will be exchanged under a barter system. The products included 'badam giri' that is grown in parts of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK). The traders from PoK were sending and receiving California Almonds and it is alleged that the money was used for funding of terror groups in the state. With inputs from PTI Social activist Anna Hazare will sit on a one-day satyagraha on Monday at Rajghat in Delhi against corruption, according to media reports. #BREAKING -- Anna Hazare to sit on one day Satyagraha today at Rajghat against corruption (File Image) pic.twitter.com/gxf03NRWK1 News18 (@CNNnews18) October 2, 2017 Hazare has said that he will later speak to mediapersons at Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi on Monday evening, according to News18. #GandhiJayanti - I will speak afterwards on Lokpal. I don't have any demands. A poor person doesn't have any demands: Anna Hazare pic.twitter.com/5KLyQvA1iM News18 (@CNNnews18) October 2, 2017 After paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Hazare said that the country was moving away from Gandhi's vision, according to a report in India Today. "Today is 2 October, Gandhi Jayanti. It's been 70 years since our country gained independence, but we have moved away from the vision he had for India. It is for this reason that I am going to launch my satyagraha from Gandhiji's samadhi," Hazare was quoted as saying by India Today. Hazare has said that he is not satisfied with Prime Minister Narendra Modis work and is therefore going on a hunger strike, said The Financial Express report. On 30 August, Hazare, who led the India Against Corruption Movement, had written a letter to Modi declaring another round of agitation in Delhi against government's apathy in appointing a Lokpal, Lokayuktas and for farmers' rights as the Prime Minister was "not serious about rooting out corruption". Hazare had said that despite the Centre passing the Lokpal bill in 2013 and BJP leaders supporting it then, the fact that the law could not be implemented in three years showed Modi's apathy. "In the last three years, I wrote to you several letters regarding appointment of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas. You did not even reply," Hazare had said in a four-page letter. "This shows you are not serious about rooting out corruption." He added that the apex court had also slammed the Centre for its apathetic attitude towards it and asked how the country would become "corruption free" if the Prime Minister does not act. "Interestingly, even the states with your party's government have not yet appointed Lokayukta. It clearly shows the difference between your words and actions. Is this not the insult of the President who signed the Lokpal Bill into a law, and of the apex court?" On farmers' issues, Hazare said that many farmers in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Telangana, Maharashtra and other states had been demonstrating over their demands, but the government was not serious. With inputs from IANS Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Swachh Bharat campaign has become a "mass movement". "India has accepted the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan (Clean India campaign) and it has become a people's movement due to the 'Siddhi' of Swachhagrahis (cleaniness seekers)," Modi said. The prime minister was addressing an event at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi to mark three years of the Centre's Swachh Bharat Mission, coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary. Modi said the target of a 'Clean India' can be achieved only if 125 crore people come together, as it has now become their collective dream. "We cannot achieve the target (of a Clean India) even if 1,000 Mahatma Gandhis, one lakh Narendra Modis, chief ministers and all governments come together. We can achieve it (only) when all 125 crore countrymen come together," Modi told the gathering. Modi said that Clean India Mission is about both 'Vyavastha' (systems) as well as 'Vichar' (thought process and mindset). The prime minister also said that the "success of the Clean India Campaign is the success of the people of the country and not to his government". Modi said that while India had come a long way since the campaign began, still a lot remained to be done before the Clean India target could be achieved. A positive spirit of competition has been created due to @swachhbharat Mission. We see this in the cleanliness rankings, how organisations are working on cleanliness: PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) October 2, 2017 The prime minister said that we got independence through Swarajya, and to become the best country we have to use cleanliness as its biggest weapon. "India faces challenges but that does not mean we run away from them. We will face them and work to overcome them," he said. Modi also said that the children are the biggest ambassadors of the Clean India Mission. The prime minister noted that the media and members of civil society had played a key role in propagating the importance of cleanliness. There was need for introspection if the programme had not gained the desired momentum notwithstanding the support from these sections, he stressed. Modi said the issue of cleanliness should be looked at from the prism of women, who face difficulties due to lack of toilets, and lauded children for being the ambassador of the key programme. Modi also thanked people of the country for supporting the Clean India Mission and said, "I keep saying: This is the start. We should continue the momentum built by the movement." Stating that cleanliness was very crucial in India's bid to become a better country, Modi urged against politicisation of the issue. The prime minister also asked people to not discourage those who were practicing cleanliness if the government was telling them to do so. "There are several other issues to criticise Modi. (Some) people will give you thousand issues to do so...But do not discourage those who are maintaining cleanliness," Modi said. With inputs from agencies On this Gandhi Jayanti, in the name of the Father of the Nation, symbol of peace, icon of non-violence, we might well be moving towards a humanitarian crises of the nature we have never seen before. Our aim is to remove millions of aliens we allowed in and nurtured and send them back to their original homes decades after they found sanctuary in India to countries that do not recognise them. If we don't know how to accomplish this are we creating homemade enemies? Mohammad Azmal Hoque, served in Indian Army for 30 years, retired as a Junior Commissioned Officer. He is now accused of being an illegal immigrant by Assam Police and although he handed over all the relevant papers when asked in 2012 this harassment has been ongoing for over 5 years and there is no end to it. What is the big problem? Granted that the police check was conducted as per rules but once the papers confirming his bona fides have been submitted, the case should have been closed. Even the message by the Eastern Command Headquarters in Fort William Kolkata, after this story hit the nation in the solar plexus, is mystifying. It says, "The JCO has been contacted and necessary assistance will be provided till the issue is resolved." What is there to resolve and why is there even another day's delay. The army has his dossier, all the proof they need that he has served three decades in uniform and a sheaf of papers indicating his parents were registered well before the 1971 deadline for creating the 'doubtful foreigner' category. The GOC-in-C of Eastern Command should just call the home ministry and end this ordeal. Come to think of it why can't the home ministry unilaterally order the Assam police to back off and restore this retired soldier's dignity. It is also necessary to spell out in these border states exactly what constitutes the doubt and how has this categorization been done. In the case of Hoque, surely there was a check completed on his background before he was sent for military service. That should suffice and the foot dragging on this man's status now that it has been proven legitimate should be ended forthwith. Perhaps it is ignorance but when in India did these progroms start and what exactly is their purpose. We seem to be concentrating on the eastern states even though the alien 'diaspora' (for lack of a more expressive word) in India is now nationwide. Yet, no one has asked its state police to conduct these checks and last heard there were no tribunals (what an intimidating set up, reminiscent of the worst of world history) so why this arbitrary concentration only on the North East? Just like the 40,000 Rohingya Muslims, these millions of faux Indians are everywhere and if what has happened with Hoque is an indicator clearly the system isn't functioning particularly well. Activated in this clumsy fashion all it ends up being is an excuse to hassle people and cause them needless agony. Most of India has not really registered this but Assam is being targeted because there are now an estimated 20 million illegal Bangladeshis in the country and the Assamese culture it is feared is being lost to the 'invasion.' That it finally boils down to the religious denomination cannot be ignored and this sudden 'enlightenment' to save the Assamese traditions seems a bit dubious seeing as how it has been nearly 50 years since the influx began and nothing was done then to control the refugees. Certainly, the sons of the soil can feel threatened to an extent and the 'detect, delete, deport' operation, as it is called, is again an exercise in futility. You can find them, intimidate them by deleting them from the voting lists and rolls but you cannot deport them. India and Bangladesh have no treaty that allows for any sort of 'repatriation.' So far, Dhaka has only taken back 10 of its people in one specific case. Third generation Indians, now many of them holding legal Indian papers and having no possibility of proving they were here before 1971 (who keeps papers when you are crossing a border illegally?) what exactly will be the next step for them? It is also a faint hope that these illegals are not all over the country and not just in Assam. How on earth are you going to round them up? Are we going to create internment camps for these people after you have located them or shackle them in their homes. We cannot even find the 40,000 Rohingya Muslims that we wish to return to Myanmar, how will we find 20 million Bangladeshis? There is no master plan or any genuine idea what the next step will be in tackling this very real problem and the more they are hassled the more this beleaguered youth will find being recruited by the terror groups attractive. We need to be a lot more sensitive and circumspect rather than heavy-handed and aggressive. Editor's Note: Rajni Bakshi, a former Gandhi Peace Fellow at Gateway House and the author of Bapu Kuti, spoke on the Mahatma and the perils of non-violence at the The Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Cairo on 1 October, 2017. Here is the full text of her lecture. *** It is truly an honour to be with you here today at an institution that commemorates an ancient centre of learning and also serves as a reminder of the fragility of knowledge that remains in books and scrolls. Mahatma Gandhi often spoke about how his life was altered by a single book John Ruskin's 'Unto This Last'. It was this book that reaffirmed Gandhi's intuitive feeling that true civilisation is not the ability to build elaborate structures or design complex technology. True civilisation, for Gandhi, is that which enables human beings to tap the higher faculties of love, compassion and brotherhood. And these qualities depend not so much on knowledge stored in books but in how the living practise of these values manifests itself generation after generation. What then are the current generations to make of Gandhi's deeply intense experiments with non-violence? What indeed is Gandhian non-violence and how is it different from passive resistance? For the real peril of our times is not that Gandhian non-violence may be impractical but that we, however inadvertently, reduce it and equate it with merely the rejection of physical violence. *** If Mahatma Gandhi was still alive, tomorrow would be his 148th birthday! I mention this impossibility merely to highlight that there was a time when Gandhi actually wanted to live to be at least 125 years old he felt he had so much still to do. But by 1946, as the toll of horrific ethnic violence ripped through communities in different parts of India, this zest for life had drained out of Gandhi. In 1947 as the situation worsened, leading eventually to the Partition of India, Gandhi often used his daily evening prayer meetings to declare that he no longer wanted to live, he wanted freedom from this mortal coil. Sometimes, Gandhi would actually ask those who came to his daily prayer meeting to pray that he may soon die. This voice of despair arose from Gandhi being heart-broken because his most fond hope of a united India was shattered and he was unable to stop the carnage which accompanied the Partition. At the prayer meeting on his first and only birthday in Independent India, Gandhi said there was nothing to celebrate, instead he called his birthday "a day of mourning" because he was still alive to see his ideals and striving reduced to ashes. Surrounded by an impenetrable darkness Gandhi confronted, and openly spoke about, the failure of his practise of ahimsa, the Sanskrit word for non-violence. As the noted scholar Sudhir Chandra has written in his recent book, never before had Gandhi's mind been so unsteady or hazy. He spoke of his thinking failing him. At the heart of this sorrow was Gandhi's bewilderment as to how satyagraha, the appeal to truth, had brought forth so bitter a fruit. At the evening prayer meeting on 14 July, 1947 Gandhi declared that: 'The struggle we waged over the last 30 years was not based on the strength of ahimsa. It was merely passive resistance and such resistance is a weapon of the weak." If Gandhi himself concluded that his practise of ahimsa failed then is non-violence at all possible? Gandhi's answer even amid abject despair was an emphatic 'Yes!' To the bitter end Gandhi was adamant, that 'ahimsa can never suffer bankruptcy'. He remained immovably confident that even if millions of people are unable to validate the truth of ahimsa in their own lives that would be their failure not that of ahimsa. What saves this conviction from being a personal dream, and makes it viable in the real world, is Gandhi's equally emphatic acknowledgement that ahimsa cannot work if it is entirely one-sided. In other words, if the civility of the advocates of ahimsa fails to improve the conduct of others and violence persists then even the presence of a 100 Gandhis cannot stem the tide of violence. Let us now move to our present times and look at how this basic faith, so passionately and painfully lived by Gandhi, keeps manifesting itself in societies across the world. *** In October 2001, shortly after the tragedy of 9/11, I happened to be in New York. As I walked through a neighbourhood in lower Manhattan I was struck by a laminated cutting from a newspaper, that had been stuck on the gate of a small local park. The text on that page was a letter written by a woman who had lost her husband in the terrorist strike on the World Trade Centre a month earlier. Please, let there be no more killing, the widow pleaded in her letter which had been published by the Chicago Tribune. Even in that moment of deep personal loss, this woman seemed to be equally anguished by the claim that bombing another country, even one which served as a base for the terrorists, would serve as justice. She was echoing the elementary truth of Gandhi's famous quote: "An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind." It does not matter whether this was a stray personal appeal or whether large numbers of people in societies across the world share this sentiment. Yes, numbers are important in the political arena. But in the amorphous cross-currents that make up society, what in Hindi we call samaj, numbers are not everything. History is replete with incidents involving a single individual that have a cascading effect on societies be it the 19th century incident of a young Gandhi being forcibly evicted from a whites-only railway compartment in South Africa, or the 21st century incident of the vendor in Tunisia whose humiliation by a police officer triggered a revolution. Perhaps the most famous such single individual incident of the 20th century is that of Rosa Parks an African American woman who refused to give up her bus seat in the "coloured section" to a white person, even though 'ordered' to do so by the bus driver. To understand the power of what Rosa Parks did, I strongly recommend that you see the three hour documentary film 'A Force More Powerful'. Based on archival footage of the Montgomery civil rights movement this film shows the calm courage of the African Americans who sat quietly at lunch counters even though they were being heckled and threatened by those who wanted to keep colour-based segregation in place. That struggle half way across the world from India was a reaffirmation of Gandhi's conviction that true non-violence is a "more active and more real way of fighting against wickedness than retaliation whose very nature is to increase wickedness." At this point, you could well challenge me and say that all these struggles did not work - look at the open expression of racism today in American society! This question is valid if you believe that human beings are so easily and rapidly changeable. If however, you recognize that meaningful and sustainable change tends to be excruciatingly slow - then you can admire the ground gained by the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and see the present as a new phase of struggle not as a backward movement. Above all, Gandhi's experiments in India and the struggle led by Martin Luther King Jr. in America are vital to the present because they manifest the power of non-violence over mere passive resistance. Passive resistance is easily reduced to mere tactics. It is often chosen simply as a way of out-smarting the powers-that-be, on the assumption that it more difficult to fire upon unarmed protestors or challengers. In the absence of sustained training some who join a passive resistance movement can slip into violence either out of fear or more often out of hatred for those they oppose. Sure enough even passive resistance requires a great deal of courage. But it is a less ambitious endeavour if freedom from hating the 'other' is not at the core. Above all, if passive resistance is no more than a way of out-smarting the authorities, then its votaries may not share Gandhi and King's core insight - namely that it is non-violence rather than violence that has been central to the journey of society formation. As Gandhi often pointed out if violence had been our dominant trait the species would have self-destructed long ago. Over the last half century this conviction, this insight, has been validated both by multi-disciplinary research and the living practise of those who have worked for social and political change through non-violence. This research has shown that while violence is a powerful human impulse it is not our most dominant impulse. It is not the case that to be human is to be violent. On the contrary empathy, compassion and cooperation have been the essential building blocks of our evolutionary journey. How does any of this help us in the immediate situations that we face when non-violence seems like an attractive but difficult or impractical choice? How might one journey along this path? I will attempt to answer this question by drawing on the insights of not only Gandhi but also Thomas Merton, a Christian monk and anti-war activist; and of course Martin Luther King Jr. To be non-violent means that I cannot feel superior to my opponent. I must at last try not to see the adversary as being totally wicked and utterly incapable of being reasonable or well-intentioned. Such an attitude, as Merton wrote, would defeat the very purpose of non-violence openness, communication, dialogue. It is when these core values are undermined that some acts of civil disobedience or passive resistance become self-defeating because they end up antagonizing the adversary, making him or her more un-willing to communicate through anything but bullets and batons. The purpose is not to humiliate or destroy the opponent but to win his or her friendship and understanding. The focus is sharply on the wrong doing not on the wrong doer. Action is rooted in the belief that the universe is on the side of justice. And most important of all, there is a willingness to suffer without retaliation. In contrast to this, Gene Sharp, perhaps the most famous advocate of strategic unarmed resistance, has argued that the spiritual and heavily moral variety of non-violence makes it less accessible to large numbers of people. It is indeed Sharp's manuals and tool-kits that have been deployed by struggles across the world - perhaps most famously here in Egypt. In some cases those methods have indeed succeeded in bringing about regime change. And yet, across the world, there is an intense longing for something more, something far deeper, than mere change of rulers. And if it is a transformation of society - in favour of compassion and cooperation and brotherhood, that we long for then there is no escape from looking more closely at the experiments of Gandhi, King and many others who are not as well known. For this to be possible you may have to see non-violence as a work-in-progress, as a process and not as a destination. This is why Gandhi remained confident even in a time of darkness and despair - because to him ahimsa was a science. Thus, he argued: 'The word 'failure' has no place in the vocabulary of science. Failure to obtain the expected result is often the precursor to further discoveries." I will close with these words that Gandhi wrote just 20 days before he was assassinated: "I must not flatter myself with the belief - nor allow friends to entertain the belief that I have exhibited any heroic and demonstrable non-violence in myself. All I can claim is that I am sailing in that direction without a moment's stop." Thank you for listening and this opportunity to be here with you. Pune: Advocating the need for reservation for Dalits in the defence forces, Union minister Ramdas Athawale quipped that instead of consuming country-made liquor the youth from the Dalit community should join the army, where "rum" is available. Athawale, the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment, was addressing a press conference. "We have been demanding reservations for the Dalit youth in army, navy and air force because the community are fighters and are ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the nation," he said. The Republican Party of India (RPI-A) leader, however, said that not all those who join the military get martyred. "In fact, more people lose their lives in road accidents and due to heart attack, so the Dalit youth should not think that going to the army is equal to getting martyred," he said. In the same breath, Athawale quipped: "Instead of consuming country-made liquor, the Dalit youth should join the army where rum is available and they will also get good food to eat." Athawale said the demand for the reservation for Dalits has been his party's demand for a long time and he would soon speak to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about it. "I feel that maximum number of youth from the Dalit community should join the forces," he said. Speaking about the stampede at Elphinstone railway station in Mumbai in which 23 people died, Athawale sought action against the guilty railway officials. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday announced a reward of Rs one lakh for helping Geeta, the deaf and mute Indian girl who returned home in 2015 after being stranded in Pakistan for over a decade, in uniting with her parents. In a video appeal, Swaraj said there cannot be a better deed than helping a girl find her parents and urged those people, who know about any family which had a mute and deaf girl who went missing around 12 years back, to come forward. "We will give Rs one lakh to anyone who helps Geeta find her parents," Swaraj said in her appeal. Geeta, who had returned to India in October 2015, has been staying at an institution for hearing and speech impaired people run by an NGO in Indore. "At times she becomes very emotional and starts crying. My appeal to her parents, "Please come forward and take your daughter. I am assuring that we will not let her become a burden on you," Swaraj said with Geeta by her side. "We will take care of her including her marriage and studies. Your daughter is desperate to meet you," she said. Swaraj said Geeta could be from Bihar or Jharkhand and requested chief ministers of both the states to ensure that her appeal is shown by all cable TV networks for the next seven days so that people come forward to help her. #WATCH EAM Sushma Swaraj appeals people to help Geeta (Indian girl brought back from Pakistan in 2015 ) in finding her parents. pic.twitter.com/aQpg3CSL5Y ANI (@ANI) October 1, 2017 The external affairs minister, who had played a key role in ensuring the girl's return from Pakistan, said she had indicated that her real name is Guddi and that the name Geeta was given to her by the Edhi foundation in Pakistan which had taken care of her. After her return from Pakistan, a family from Bihar had come forward claiming that Geeta was their daughter after she felt that they were her parents. However, DNA tests conducted on her proved otherwise. She had failed to recognise the Mahato family after arriving in India though, after seeing their photographs in Pakistan, she had indicated that they could be her family. Geeta was reportedly just seven or eight-years-old when she was found sitting alone on the Samjhauta Express by the Pakistan Rangers at the Lahore railway station. Her story came to light after the release of Salman Khan-starrer 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' in which the hero unites a mute Pakistani girl with her mother in the neighbouring country. With inputs from PTI Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage site, has failed to feature in Uttar Pradesh's recent tourism booklet namely 'Uttar Pradesh Paryatan-Apaar Sambhavnayen' . The booklet, published to mark six months of the Yogi Adityanath government in the state, was released on World Tourism Day on 27 September. The revelation took many by surprise as all tourist spots in Uttar Pradesh were listed on the booklet except for the world-renowned Taj Mahal. News18 reports that the Taj Mahal, which attracts many tourists from around the world, failed to find a spot in UP's tourism guide. It also cited that earlier in June this year, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister had said that Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita represent the Indian culture and not the Taj Mahal. The Scroll dubbed the move as not a surprise and suggested that with this, the Adityanath government has made it clear that Taj Mahal does not reflect Indian culture. Taj Mahal, which means the Crown of the Palace, is an ivory-white mausoleum built in the memory of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan's favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal in 1632 on the bank of Yamuna river in Agra. The monument was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being 'the jewel of Muslim art in India' and is one of the universally admired masterpieces. Yet, this iconic monument did not fit into the booklet. Meantime, Uttar Pradesh health minister Sidharth Nath Singh told NDTV that there has been a miscommunication that undermined the Taj Mahal. "We are even thinking of constructing an international airport at Agra for the convenience of passengers," he said. Hindustan Times's reports from July suggests the Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh, had not included Taj Mahal as a part of Uttar Pradeshs cultural heritage including its first state budget for 2017-18 which had no mention of Taj Mahal in its special section Hamari Sanskritik Virasat (our cultural heritage). The exclusion of Taj Mahal from the state tourism booklet is definitely going to attract some serious criticism, however, the state's tourism department told the NDTV that the booklet was released only for the purpose of the press conferences and not as a guide to Uttar Pradesh's tourism spots. It mentions new and upcoming projects of the Uttar Pradesh tourism department and new focus areas," said Avanish Awasthi. Left: Chinese and Irish laborers lay tracks near Humboldt River in northern Nevada in the summer of 1868. (Photo by Alfred Hart, courtesy of Li Ju) Right: Same location in July 2017. (Photo by Li Ju) In 2010, Li Ju was looking for a trail to cross North America during a trip to the U.S., not knowing one was blazed by his Chinese ancestors almost 150 years ago. Following their footsteps, the freelance photographer captured scenes along the railroad built by Chinese laborers as well as memories from that silent generation that helped to jumpstart the U.S.s rise as a global superpower. Along the trail If the Chinese could build the Great Wall of China, they should be quite useful in building a railroad. So begins an article titled Quiet Movers of Mountains from the May 8, 1969, issue of the Sacramento Union. The newspaper was one of many artifacts Li collected on his journey along the First Transcontinental Railroad. Photographer Li Ju carries his camera and equipment as he searches the Sierra Nevada mountains for the locations captured by Alfred Hart. (Photo courtesy of Li Ju) To trace the 1,110 kilometer length of the railroad from Sacramento, California, to Promontory, Utah, Li took six separate trips between 2012 and 2017. His main project was to photograph the same locations along the railroad as the ones that appear in a collection of historical photographs by Alfred Hart, taken in the 1860s. The two sets of historical and modern photos, along with various artifacts and documents, are currently on display at the Overseas Chinese History Museum of China in Beijing. The exhibition will last until Oct. 8. To find the exact locations where Hart may once have stood and match the angles and framing of his photos, Li drove miles off road and climbed rocky inclines. In doing so, he got a taste firsthand of the tough conditions the Chinese workers labored in. I climbed to this spot three times for this photo, because the first two times there was too much snow, and you couldnt tell it is the same location as in Harts photo, Li said, pointing to a photo overlooking two tunnel entrances in the rocky Sierra Nevada mountains. Left: Tunnels No. 6 and No. 7 being drilled in the snowy Sierra Nevada mountains in the fall of 1866. (Photo by Alfred Hart, courtesy of Li Ju) Right: Same location, taken from atop Tunnel No. 8 on May 2, 2015. (Photo by Li Ju) For another photo, deep within an unlit tunnel, Li carefully examined the surfaces of the interior walls with a flashlight while holding up Harts photo to compare the rocky edges and features. Left: Summit tunnel in the Sierra Nevada mountains. (Photo by Alfred Hart, courtesy of Li Ju) Right: Same location, May 24, 2015. (Photo by Li Ju) Huang Annian, professor of the School of History at Beijing Normal University, said Lis work offers great value to the academic community and is on the same level as research work done by professional historians in the U.S. and China. The images would not be possible without [Lis] dedication and hard work, Huang said. These photos tell the important story of the Chinese railroad workers 150 years ago who raised a historical monument for the relationship between China and the U.S. The silent generation One of the most well-known photos of the First Transcontinental Railroad was from its May 1969 completion ceremony. The Central Pacific Railroad section, coming from the west, met in Promontory with the Union Pacific Railroad section, coming from the east. Curiously, one can hardly spot any Chinese workers in the photo. At the ceremony for the driving of the last spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1969. (Photo courtesy of Li Ju) Contrary to the common assumption that they were intentionally left out, Li believed it probably had more to do with the workers own superstitions. They were afraid that photography could steal their souls. Li said that according to Central Pacifics records, eight Chinese workers who laid the railroads final track were honored at the post-ceremony feast. The railroad company did not always respect the Chinese workers, who were seen as too physically weak for hard labor due to their small stature. However, when Central Pacific began to lose more and more white laborers as it faced the increasingly daunting task of laying tracks through mountain terrains, the company was forced to try out 50 Chinese workers. The company heads were surprised. In a statement made by Central Pacific president Leland Stanford to the U.S. government, he said Chinese laborers were quiet, peaceable, patient, industrious and economicalready and apt to learn all the different kinds of work required in railroad building, they soon [became] as efficient as white laborers. To compete against the Union Pacific Railroad company for a larger part of the government contract, Central Pacific began recruiting droves of Chinese workers in 1865. During the four years until the railroads completion, the company at one time employed as many as 12,000 Chinese laborers. They mostly came from Southern China around todays Guangdong and Fujian provinces, a region with a long tradition of emigrant workers to overseas areas. Some went to America to escape poverty and unrest, but most just wanted to make good wages to bring home to their families in China, Huang said. Still, their pay was lower than their white counterparts, and eventually they comprised as much as 90 percent of Central Pacifics labor force. Using simple tools and methods, the Chinese laborers blasted through 15 tunnels and laid tracks over terrains that rose over 2,000 meters. Many perished in the harsh winters and dangerous conditions, and more died from a smallpox outbreak in the work camps. The exact death count was lost to a fire that destroyed Central Pacifics records. Through it all, the Chinese laborers endured, and the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed seven years ahead of schedule. A Chinese laborer works outside Tunnel No. 8. (Photo by Alfred Hart, courtesy of Li Ju) Huang said it was regrettable that unlike in other notable events linking China and the U.S. since establishing formal trade 1784, the Chinese railroad workers did not have among them a well-known historical figure. Thus, the importance they played in the relationship between the two countries was left out of the history books. Even worse, following the financial crisis in 1873, Chinese laborers were blamed for depressed wages, eventually resulting in the infamous 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Those who once helped to build up America became black marks in the countrys history of racial discrimination, their achievement overshadowed and forgotten. They were the silent generation, Huang said. Paving the way for the future In recounting the significance of the First Continental Railroad, Huang said it expedited the westward migration and settlement of Americans while integrating the U.S. economy and industry from coast to coast. It also allowed the country to stabilize and secure its western territories after acquiring California from Mexico and ending the Civil War. The completion of this railroad was one of the major events that marked the beginning of Americas rise as a superpower, Huang said. Today, while small sections have been rerouted and the tunnels reinforced, the main railroad continues to operate as built, serving as the backbone of the countrys overland freight industry. The First Transcontinental Railroad, now part of the Union Pacific Railroad, continues to serve as the backbone of Americas overland freight industry today. (Photo by Li Ju) One of the biggest surprises during my trips was how friendly local Americans were toward us, Li said. Much of the land the railroad runs through is private, but when residents and even railroad security saw Lis camera and learned about his project, they gave Li access and even pointed him to places he might have missed. Many of the century-old train stations in towns along the railroad have been turned into small museums, and they were usually Lis first stops. Li learned about the Chinese cemetery at one such museum in the town of Lovelock, Nevada. The cemetery was being cared for by Larry DeLeeuw, the owner of a local motel, who raised fences and built a gate for the cemetery after learning about the railroads history. Li said he was especially moved when he found that DeLeeuw bought ads in the regional newspapers inviting local Chinese Americans to come and pay respect every year on Qingming, Chinas traditional tomb-sweeping festival. In Lovelock, Nevada, motel owner Larry DeLeeuw serves as caretaker of the local Chinese cemetery to honor the history of the Chinese railroad workers. (Photo by Li Ju) Li said he hoped more Americans would learn about contributions by Chinese laborers to the U.S., as it would not only elevate the status of Chinese Americans in the country, but also improve U.S.-China relations. Huang agreed. He said the First Transcontinental Railroad was an example of a successful collaboration between China and the U.S. in infrastructure construction. If Chinese laborers could build that railroad under those harsh conditions a century and a half ago, why cant [similar things] happen today? Two policemen were injured in Juhama area in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district after a grenade was lobbed towards a checkpost on Monday. After the incident, a case was registered, ANI reported. #FLASH: Grenade lobbed towards a joint police/army naka party in Baramulla's Juhama in J&K, 2 policemen injured. Case registered. ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 A joint checkpost was set up by police and the army at Juhama in Baramulla for routine area domination, a police officer told IANS. Shortly after 6 pm, a motorcycle which was coming from the opposite side made an about turn on seeing the checkpost and as they were asked to stop, "one of the two militants riding the motorcycle hurled a grenade" towards the deployed security personnel. The policemen received minor injuries in the blast, the official said, adding that the area has been cordoned off for searches. According to media reports, two militants were gunned down earlier on Monday as an infiltration bid was foiled by security forces at Rampur sector in Baramulla district. In another incident on Monday, Indian and Pakistani troops traded heavy fire on Monday along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. Quoting the police, media reported that a ten-year-old boy and a teenage girl were killed while nine other civilians were injured as Pakistani troops opened fire and lobbed mortars at dozens of villages and posts along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. The spokesman said Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked and heavy firing and shelling from across the border in Dhigwar, Kerni and Shahpur sectors. With inputs from agencies New Delhi: BJP chief Amit Shah will launch a 15-day march in Kerala on Tuesday to target the state's CPM government with the BJP accusing the Left party of being on a "killing spree" against its workers. Making the announcement, Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday accused the CPM of "murder politics", claiming that it had become desperate due to the saffron party's growing popularity and had started state-sponsored violence against its workers. Shah will kick off the 'jan raksha yatra' (people's protection march) from Payyannur in Kannur, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's home town, and it will wind through the state before ending in Thiruvananthapuram on 17 October. Several Union ministers will also participate in the march. "The CPM is desperate and on a killing spree. It is doing murder politics in its desperation and people, including from the CPM, are joining the BJP. We will use democratic means to answer its violence," Javadekar told a press conference. As many as 120 BJP workers, 84 in Kannur alone, have been killed in the state since 2001 with 14 of them in the chief minister's hometown since he took the reigns last year, he alleged. The CPM has, in turn, accused the BJP and the RSS of resorting to violence and denied the involvement of its government and leadership in political killings. The 'M' in CPM now stands for "Maoists" and not "Marxists", he claimed, accusing the party of using violence as a tool to suppress the saffron party. At least one Union minister would be present on each day of the march and some BJP chief ministers might also turn up. Union ministers Ananth Kumar, Smriti Irani, Giriraj Singh, VK Singh, Dharmendra Pradhan besides Javadekar among others would attend the march. "We are getting huge public support. It will be a historic march," he said. Noting that it was Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on Monday, he said his party would use democratic means to protest the Left's violence in the same manner Gandhi used non-violence to oppose the British. The march, which would be part on foot and part in vehicles, is being seen as the saffron party's push to emerge as a potent force in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha poll in 2019. Always a marginal force in the southern state, the BJP has steadily gained in strength there since 2014 Lok Sabha poll, when it fetched over 10 percent votes, and got close to 15 percent of vote share in the Assembly poll in 2016. It won only one seat but it was its maiden entry into the Assembly. With the CPM-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF being two entrenched political forces in the state, the BJP believes it can surprise its rivals in a triangular contest if it manages to push its vote share beyond a threshold. It has already allied with some smaller outfits in the state. Javadekar claimed even the Congress workers have been victims of the CPI(M)'s violence but the party could not raise the issue much due to its proximity to the Left in central politics. Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday attacked Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath over his recent visit to the Gorakhnath temple where he performed some rituals as a mahant (priest). Dubbing Adityanath a "failed administrator", Owaisi alleged that his visit to the temple in Gorakhpur, of which he is the chief priest, was at the cost of the state exchequer. "Chief Minister's Office is a Constitutional post. Adityanath has failed as an administrator so far, and unfortunately Yogi Adityanath as a mahant is overshadowing," he told reporters. Adityanath recently stayed in Gorakhnath temple for five days to perform the rituals as the temple head priest. Owaisi said the act of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister to leave his Lucknow office for five days is a "violation" of a Supreme Court order. "The Uttar Pradesh chief minister staying away from his Lucknow office with all security to perform (rituals) as a mahant for the five days is a violation of the recent Supreme Court order stating that public money cannot be used for religious purposes. "So, the chief minister going there (Gorakhnath temple) and staying there for five days with all arrangements for his stay in place...whose money is being used? It is the public exchequer which is burdened with the Chief Minister's stay of five days to perform his duties as the mahant," Owaisi said. The AIMIM chief clarified that he didn't have any issues whatsoever with anyone performing his religious functions and duties. "There is a thin line separating the Constitutional duty and public beliefs. Unfortunately, the present UP CM has blurred that line. I would say that in the interest of propriety and in the interest of general public, the chief minister should not engage himself in any such activities which leads to the direct conflict with his Constitutional duties," Owaisi said. He termed as the "travesty of justice" the notice sent by the Foreigners' Tribunal to an Assam-based retired JCO, asking him to prove his Indian citizenship. "Mohd Azmal Hoque retired as a JCO from Indian Army after serving for 30 years...Now he is being asked to prove whether he is a citizen of this country or not. This is a travesty of justice. It cannot be more painful for any army personnel who has served this country honourably that after 30 years of service he is being asked by the BJP government in Assam to prove his nationality," he said. Referring to Hoque's case, Owaisi said the BJP government in the north-eastern state has taken a "deliberate" step to "demean" people by asking them to prove their nationality. "I hope common sense will prevail on the Assam government and they will stop doing this kind of activity, which is nothing but targeting Indian citizens who are living peacefully in Assam," he added. New Delhi: The Delhi BJP on Sunday accused the Kejriwal government of evading its responsibility on the issue of metro fare hike and trying to mislead the people by playing "dirty politics". Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari and Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Vijender Gupta, in a statement, said that the Delhi government has a 50 per cent stake in DMRC and there can be no fare hike without its consent. However, the Kejriwal government has taken the stand that it had opposed any hike in fares in the Fare Fixation Committee meeting held in September last year. The Delhi CM has said that the committee ought not to have overlooked the Delhi government's objections to the hike in metro fares. Tiwari and Gupta have said they will meet DMRC chief Mangu Singh to demand withdrawal of the hike which is proposed to come into effect from 10 October. They have also said that the proposed hike be put on hold till the completion of the third phase of Delhi metro. Both claimed that with the prior consent of the Delhi government, its chief secretary, finance secretary and the transport commissioner joined the DMRC's Fare Fixation Committee meeting and approved a 50 per cent raise in fares to be implemented in two phases May and October 2017. They alleged that the implementation date was postponed to May as the Delhi municipal polls were scheduled in April 2017. Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot, meanwhile, has said in a statement that the Delhi Chief Secretary and transport commissioner were not present in the DMRC board meeting of 8 May when the decision to hike fares was taken. The Delhi Metro fares were last revised in May. If the hike is effected, the fares will go up by a maximum of Rs 10 from 10 October. The existing fare structure is: up to 2 kms-Rs 10, 2-5 kms-Rs 15, 5-12 kms-Rs 20, 12-21 kms-Rs 30, 21-32 kms-Rs 40 and for journeys beyond 32 kms-Rs 50. From 10 October, for a distance of up to two kilometres, the fare will remain Rs 10, but for a distance between two and five kilometres, it will go up from Rs 15 to Rs 20. For the subsequent slabs, it will go up by Rs 10 each, which means the maximum fare will be Rs 60. The Delhi Metro, on its part, has been maintaining that it has a "huge loan liability" and a rapidly rising operating ratio, which means its expenditure as against every rupee earned is going up. Srinagar: Opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir reacted sharply Monday to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remarks that constitutional amendments on Kashmir were needed, saying any move to tamper with Article 370 would be fraught with "dangerous consequences". Bhagwat, in his more than an hour-long address on Vijayadashmi in Nagpur Sunday, had said "necessary" constitutional amendments will have to be made for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to be "completely assimilated" with the rest of the country. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has long demanded abrogation of the Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, but Bhagwat did not make any reference to it in his speech. Opposition parties in the state slammed the RSS chief's remarks with the Congress and the National Conference (NC) asserting that any tampering with the special status of the state would be dangerous. Reacting to the Sangh leader's demand, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), in a statement, said, "Bhagwat's remarks about the need for constitutional amendments....are unfortunate and unacceptable. Any kind of tinkering with the special status of J-K is fraught with dangerous consequences." The Congress blamed the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) for a "complete sell-out to the BJP-RSS for the sake of remaining in power". The statement alleged that both the coalition partners, from the day they assumed power, were bent upon repealing the special status, which works as a bridge between the Centre and the state. Criticising the RSS chief's comments, NC state spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu said Jammu and Kashmir's special status was the only constitutional bridge that connected the state to the rest of the country. The RSS chief "should stop misleading the people to stoke passions in the face of growing criticism over the drastic economic slowdown in the country", Mattu said. "While the RSS and the BJP have repeatedly made their intentions absolutely clear with regard to Article 35-A and Article 370, it is the PDP's apologetic silence that is a matter of grave concern and is indicative of a complete sell- out that could have dangerous and far-reaching implications for the state and its people," he alleged. Article 35A allows the state legislature to define "permanent residents". Senior CPM leader and MLA Kulgam, MY Tarigami, said the RSS chief's statement was an eye opener for those "who still have illusions about the intentions of the RSS and its affiliates". "It is not surprising because RSS and its political affiliates Bhartiya Jan Sangh and BJP have a consistent position about the Article 370. The special status of Jammu and Kashmir was always an eyesore for them," he said. Mumbai: At the age of 65, when most leaders work to establish their heirs in politics, former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane is opening a new page in his political career, and getting ready for a tightrope walk with his new party in the state. Within days of quitting the Congress, Rane on Sunday floated his party called 'Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksh', and indicated it might align with the BJP. Earlier, speculation was rife that the Maratha strongman would join the BJP, a plan which did not go down well with sections of the saffron party in the state. "I have just launched the party. I am waiting for some people to join. Then I will decide the future course (of action)," Rane said on Sunday, refusing to comment when reporters pressed him about his next move. He, however, hinted his front might veer towards the BJP. Rane, who still has pockets of influence in the coastal Konkan region of the state, served as the chief minister in 1999 when he was in the Shiv Sena. Ever since he joined the Congress, he has been a bitter critic of the Sena, especially its chief Uddhav Thackeray. "Now Rane will have to prove his mettle. The general elections are one-and-a-half years away, while the Assembly polls are two years down the line," said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified. The real issue, he said, was what role Rane could play for the BJP. "It all depends on how he takes his next step and who benefits from it," he said. Rane started his career as a supporter of the Sena, launched as a social outfit to voice regional aspirations in the late 70s, before it became a political party and a force to reckon with in Maharashtra. Rane, who was in his 20s at the time, was spotted by the late Vamanrao Mahadik, a leader who had worked for the Shiv Sena since its inception. Mahadik brought him into the party, and Rane got easily drawn into the party's aggressive style, inspired by the fiery rhetoric of Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray. He scaled the political ladder and as a corporator in Mumbai, he was among the first to realise that ensuring and controlling the flow of funds for urban amenities would help empower any ambitious leader. His influence was evident on the streets those days, but it was his efforts to master administrative procedures, understand legal issues and the ability to move crowds that ultimately catapulted him to the post of Maharashtra's chief minister, when he was serving his second term as an MLA. In 1999, when Manohar Joshi stepped down from the post of state chief minister, Rane succeeded him. He, however, held the post for less than a year as the five-year term of the then Shiv Sena-BJP government came to an end. In the election that followed, the saffron alliance conceded power to the Congress and the NCP. An ambitious Rane faced his first major challenge from within the Sena with the rise of Balasaheb's son Uddhav. Uddhav was anointed executive president of the Shiv Sena, and Rane, who was the leader of opposition in the state Assembly, read the signs when the BJP-led NDA was routed in the 2004 general elections. In July 2005, Rane was expelled from the Sena by Balasaheb Thackeray, which led to his joining the Congress. He won a hard-fought byelection from Sindhudurg district in his native Konkan and was appointed revenue minister under then Congress chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Rane continued to claim that Congress leaders had promised to make him the chief minister a pledge that was never met. In 2014, the Congress lost power and Rane himself failed to make it to the Assembly. He also lost the byelection in 2015 from Bandra in Mumbai where no Congress leader came to campaign for him. Though Rane was elected as an MLC on a Congress ticket, he was moving away from the Congress, and increasingly growing closer to the BJP. Speculation that Rane may join the BJP was fuelled by reports suggesting that he had met party president Amit Shah in Ahmedabad a few months ago and later in New Delhi. However, a section in the BJP was learnt to be not in favour of Rane's induction into the party. But Rane said on Sunday that he had "friends there" and had "no issues" with the party. "Let me first make new friends for my party, and then I will be able to announce my next move," Rane said. Asked if he aspired to become the chief minister, he said, "I still have an ambition... It never dies. I will wait for the right time to come". He said he or his new party would never oppose any development work, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious bullet train project. Significantly, no Congress leader or any sitting MLA has so far openly supported Rane. He also faces a challenge on his home turf in Sindhudurg, from where his younger son Nitesh is a Congress MLA. Though the saffron party is not inclined to roll out the red carpet for him, political observers think that he would support the BJP and try to gain proximity to its leaders. But, they say, it is going to be a tightrope walk for the veteran leader in the coming days. Mumbai: Former Congress leader Narayan Rane seems to have passed the first BJP exam. After the Elphinstone Road stampede which killed 23 people, not even one BJP leader came out in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream project, the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train. But, without having even joined the NDA, Rane openly supported the bullet train and the development agenda of BJP while also attacking the BJP ally Shiv Sena. Rane spoke like an NDA ally even without being part of the ruling group. It remains to be seen how much of it will please the top BJP leadership, but Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis can definitely relax as his new friend Rane seems more than willing to take on his opponents in Shiv Sena, Congress, as well as the MNS. Rane, who resigned from Congress party last month, announced the formation of his political party, Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha (MSP), on Sunday in Mumbai. He showed several signs of his new political affiliation as he took on Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, as well as the Congress. Speaking at his newly-formed party's first press conference, Rane showed the future course for his party by openly supporting Modi's Bullet train project. His indiscriminate support for the prime minister despite the anti-bullet train sentiments among Mumbaikars shows that Rane is all set to enter the NDA fold. A close aide of Rane even told Firstpost that after the announcement of MSP, BJP top leadership contacted Rane and asked him to join the NDA. "Rane will make an official announcement of joining the NDA this week," he added. Apart from the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train, Rane also supported Modi govt's development agenda. "We need development. I always support development work. Twenty years back, when I was in Shiv Sena, we first introduced toll policy. So, due to toll, the state was able to build many chains of roads across the state," he added. "The bullet train will be seen in next three to four years. It's a good sign. We should welcome the decision rather than oppose it," he said. Some years from now, the bullet train will be a necessity just like mobile phones, he added. Senior journalist and state political commentator Uday Tanpathak says that with his unequivocal support, Rane may have handed a new tool to the BJP to keep a check on Opposition parties as well as bitter ally Shiv Sena. "After the Elphinstone Road stampede, no one from BJP even supported the bullet train. Even BJP's partner in state government, the Shiv Sena, is openly opposing the bullet train. So, Ranes stand indicates that whatever issue the BJP is not willing to openly commenting on, expect Rane to say that. He will speak like their spokesperson," he added. Congress seems to agree as well. "This is a plan to weaken Shiv Sena. Rane's MSP is actually team B of BJP," Ashok Chavan, senior Congress leader, and former Maharashtra chief minister told Firstpost. And Rane did just that as he took a jibe at Shiv Sena chief Uddav. "Dont you (Uddhav) want development? Balasaheb (Thackeray) said a Marathi manoos (man) should be rich at heart. But his (Uddhavs) heart is rotten," Rane said However, given the fact that Uddhav's cousin and MNS leader Raj has also opposed the bullet train, it will be interesting to see how Rane will play his role as the unofficial BJP spokesperson. "I shall not allow even a brick for the bullet train project to be laid. First, resolve all the basic problems of Mumbai commuters, warned MNS chief Raj Thackeray in a press conference. If Modi wants, let him construct it in Gujarat. If they use force, we shall also retaliate forcefully," Raj said on Saturday. Rane, tough took a hardened stand on MNS chief as well when he said, "His party (MNS) is alive only in newspapers and TV channels news". The real challenge for the former Congress leader would be when MNS sets out on a morcha to the Western Railway headquarters on 5 October. Despite that, it seems clear that when it comes to the bullet train project, it's going to be Shiv Sena and MNS on one side and BJP and Ranes MSP on the other. But, does Rane have the backing to become an effective BJP ally? Rane had resigned from the Congress and MLC post last month while accusing the party of reneging on the promise to make him a chief minister repeatedly. Rane had joined Congress in 2005 after leaving Shiv Sena. With Rane, more than 12 sitting MLAs of Shiv Sena and some two dozens corporators had switched loyalty. But after 12 years, not a single MLA is openly supporting Rane. In fact, his younger son and MLA Nitesh Rane as well as a close supporter for two decades MLA Kalidas Kolambkar were also not present with him on the dais. A prominent leader from the Maratha community, Rane was the chief minister in 1999 while the Shiv Sena was in power. Rane had earlier claimed that more than 25 MLAs from Shiv Sena and Congress would join him in the future at an appropriate time. But after announcing his party, the former Congress leader said: "After setting up the party organisation, we shall decide on our future course including allying with NDA. I have just launched the party, I am waiting for some people to join, then I will decide the future course," Rane said. Here, it's important to remember that Rane's decision to launch a new political outfit comes in the backdrop of BJP's cold response to his induction in the party fold. So, if Rane's raised ante against the MNS, Congress and the Shiv Sena may just be a part of new plan to enter the NDA fold (which is also his only option left). Either way, Fandnavis may as well now relax and let Rane take care of all his opponents be it Shiv Sena, Congress or MNS. New Delhi: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan lashed out at RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, saying that Keralites did not need any advice on nationalism from those who had turned their back towards the freedom struggle and served the colonial rulers. Vijayan, inaugurating the 2017-19 Delhi Union of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), said that the RSS considered religious minorities as an "internal threat" to the country. He also said that the RSS chief's allegation that the state government was supporting anti-national elements was a challenge to each Keralite and to Kerala society as a whole. Bhagwat, at a Vijayadashmi celebration in Nagpur in Maharashtra yesterday, said that in the Left-ruled Kerala and the Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal, "jihadi and anti-national" forces were at work and the governments there were not only indifferent but at times lending a helping hand to them to "appease" a section of the voters for "petty political interests". Rejecting the RSS chief's remarks, the Kerala chief minister has said, "It is a known fact that communal forces play a major role in disturbing the political atmosphere of Kerala. But certain media houses hide this fact and blame the progressive movements and organisations of the state." "The RSS chief has said that the state government was supporting anti-national elements that are perpetrating the violence. But we treat communal forces as communal forces, terrorists as terrorists and criminal acts as criminal acts. "The gentleman and his organisation consider religious minorities as an internal threat to the country. This is the code of principle of RSS," the chief minister said, adding that his government and the Kerala society were in favour of protecting the minorities. Vijayan, who was in Delhi to attend the CPM Politburo meeting, also took a dig at certain media houses. "They say that Kerala is inhospitable and is a killing field. They also say that Kerala lacks press freedom and we kill political opponents. Those who have no idea about Kerala might believe this. "Senior media persons from Delhi came to Kerala to cross-check these facts and they even tweeted that Kerala is completely different from what is being propagated in the national capital," Vijayan said. The Kerala chief minister also said that his government was providing and would continue to provide security to minorities in the state. While referring to the death of Haryana-resident Junaid Khan on a train recently, Vijayan said that communal forces have created such a situation in the country that just because they are Muslims, they can be attacked. "Where are we heading? We don't agree with this. We don't support such acts," he said. He also said that certain corporate-led media houses were trying to malign the image of Kerala. "A recently-formed media house has been spreading derogatory statements against the state. This is against media ethics," Vijayan added. He also referred to the latest report on World Press Freedom Index in which India was ranked at 136 among 180 countries in the world press freedom rankings. "The present media scenario of the country is worrisome. The report also says that extreme right-wing has imposed censorship on media. This is alarming," he said. He also spoke about the killings of senior journalists Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru and Shantanu Bhowmick in Agartala. "It's the intolerance that we can see here," he said and asked the journalists from Kerala who are working here to act as "unofficial ambassadors of the state". Later in a Facebook post, Vijayan said, "In the freedom struggle, Keralites and the state have made memorable contributions. The RSS leader need not impart lessons on patriotism to Keralites." Vijayan alleged that in BJP-ruled states, murders in the name of cow protection and communal polarisation were being justified and efforts were being made to malign Kerala. That will be a journey in the wrong direction, he said. "However big the communal force is, if attempts are made to disrupt the lives of people, the LDF government will not compromise and will not show any leniency towards those who come in between the Constitution and its values," he added. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has been widely recognised to have striking resemblances with his uncle Bal Thackeray. One of the traits the MNS supremo and Bal Thackeray have in common is their affinity for irreverent doodling. In a cartoon released on Gandhi Jayanti, Thackeray took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, comparing him with the Mahatma. The cartoon titled 'Two of the same soil', showed the Mahatma holding his autobiography 'My Experiments with Truth' and alongside stood Modi holding a book titled 'My Experiments with Lies.' Thackeray has lashed out at the Modi government on several occasions recently. Shortly after the stampede at Elphinstone Road station, he questioned the ambitious bullet train project and said that it should not be pushed when existing rail infrastructure is inadequate. "While people are struggling to survive in the cities, Modi is asking them to do yoga and campaign for Swachh Bharat," he said. He, further, called Modi a 'liar' who changed all his statements before and after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Thackeray had recently drawn a caricature of Modi being dragged into India by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Thackeray has alleged that Dawood Ibrahim, believed to be in Pakistan, is negotiating terms with the Modi government to return to India. However, Raj Thackeray has not always shown hostility towards Narendra Modi. In 2011, the MNS chief had visited Gujarat when Modi was its chief minister to understand how it had addressed the issues of electricity supply and corruption. At the time, he had showered praises on Modi for his development work, as reported by DNA. New Delhi: The Rajasthan unit of the Congress is all set to launch a state-level farmers' rally on Tuesday to demand a blanket crop loan waiver. The "Kisan Nyaya Padyatra", which will traverse 100 kilometres, will commence from Baran on Tuesday and culminate in Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's constituency of Jhalawar. "The Raje government wants to take political mileage out of the farm loan waiver issue. There should be no politics on it. We will put pressure on the government for immediate announcement of a complete farm loan waiver," Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot told PTI in an interview. He alleged Raje and her ministers were "insensitive" towards the issue of farmers' suicides and that none of them visited any of the families of the farmers who ended their lives. He said there had been a pressing need to alleviate agrarian distress and the state government had announced it would form a committee to see if it can grant a waiver of up to Rs 50,000. "This is completely unacceptable. We will put pressure on the anti-farmer BJP government of Vasundhara Raje to announce a complete farm loan waiver," the former Union minister said. Pilot accused the BJP government of "betraying" farmers, common people and the youth, and said the Congress will not only expose the BJP for failing to keep its promises but it's preparing a "better alternative governance model". The model will focus on "handling issues relating to education, labour, sanitation among others". "And, we will not renege on our promises. The Congress will present itself as a better alternative in the upcoming assembly elections," he said. Asked if he was ready to contest the Ajmer Lok Sabha bypoll, necessitated following the demise of the sitting BJP MP, he said: "I am ready if the party decided to field me. The final decision rests with the AICC." AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran faces arrest after a person filed an FIR accusing him and his 16 supporters of sedition under Section 124A a pamphlet for terming the current EK Palaniswamy and O Panneerselvam government in Tamil Nadu, a "killer government. The FIR was filed by one KRS Saravanan in Annadanapatty Police Station in Salem on Monday, media reports said. TTV Dinakaran charged with sedition for speaking against the state pic.twitter.com/DYhGNoC8J4 News18 (@CNNnews18) October 2, 2017 Hindustan Times reported about the arrest of former MLA Venkatachalam and local AIADMK functionary Saravanan among the 10 who were booked. According to News 18, the pamphlets said the current EK Palaniswamy and O Panneerselvam government in Tamil Nadu is a "killer government". The pamphlets, Saravanan said, carried misleading information about medical entrance examination NEET and instigated the people to protest against the government. He also alleged that when he confronted the group, they threatened him. According to India Today, there were no details in the FIR regarding which part of the poster was seditious. Dhinakaran was nowhere in Salem at the time when the pamphlet was distributed. Section 124-A in the Indian Penal Code says, "Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India shall be punished with life imprisonment." It also mentions that comments that express strong disapproval of "the measures of the government, with a view to obtain their desired modifications by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section". The Hindustan Times report mentioned how Dhinakaran and his loyalists P Vetrivel, one of the 18 AIADMK MLAs were recently disqualified from the Tamil Nadu Assembly under the anti-defection law, and V Pugazhenthi have also been named as accused in the case, the police said. This is the second time a case was slapped against the AIADMK leader. Earlier, the sidelined Dhinakaran, along with Tamil actor and party functionary Senthil, had been booked for allegedly making defamatory comments against P Kumar, AIADMK MP from Tiruchirappalli. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had prevented the Tiruchirappalli police from arresting them. Earlier, the sidelined Dhinakaran, along with Tamil actor and party functionary Senthil, had been booked for allegedly making defamatory comments against P Kumar, AIADMK MP from Tiruchirappalli. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court had prevented the Tiruchirappalli police from arresting them. Thiruvananthapuram: By-election in a state Assembly constituency is seldom considered as an evaluation of the government at the Centre. But the electoral battle in the Vengara Assembly constituency in Malappuram district of Kerala is increasingly veering around the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The focus of the campaign turned towards the nearly three-and-a-half-year-old Modi dispensation after senior BJP leaders Subramanian Swamy and Yashwant Sinha came out openly against the economic policies of the government. Following this, national issues like economic slowdown, rising petroleum and cooking gas prices, GST and Rohingya Muslim refugees have taken centre stage of the campaign in the Muslim-dominated constituency. The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of sitting legislator and senior Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader PK Kunhalikutty following his election to the Lok Sabha from Malappuram in April this year. Kunhalikutty had won the Assembly seat in the 2016 assembly poll by a margin of over 38,000 votes. The margin in the segment went up to over 40,000 votes in the Lok Sabha by-election. Though there are six candidates in the fray, the contest, as usual, is expected to be between the traditional rivals-Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The BJP is vying for the third position. The three major candidates in the fray are LDF's PP Basheer, UDF's KNA Khader and BJP's K Janachandran. Political analysts have no doubt about the outcome of the poll as Vengara and the Malappuram district had been the citadel of the IUML. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnans refusal to consider the by-election as an evaluation of the government headed by Pinarayi Vijayan is viewed as an open admission of defeat. The focus of the candidates, therefore, is to increase their vote share. The additional votes for the rival fronts will have to come from the BJP since there is no significant increase in the electorate since the April Lok Sabha by-election. Therefore, the two parties are trying to cash in on the growing discontent against the Modi government among the people for increasing their vote share. The BJP has the onerous task of defending their government at the Centre. The party can do this only by increasing its vote share. Even though the party had more than doubled its votes from 3,417 in 2011 to 7,055 in 2016, it came down to 5,952 votes in the Lok Sabha by-election. The task is considered stupendous in the current political situation, which is filled with fears of an impending economic crisis. The BJP had increased its share in the state from a mere 6.3 percent in 2011 to over 14 percent in 2016 mainly on the strength of the Modi wave that swept the North in 2014. But senior leaders admit that the Modi effect is on the wane now and it may not help the BJP in the state anymore. Reports from Vengara show that the BJP leaders were finding it difficult to defend their governments policies with both the LDF and the UDF subjecting the warnings sounded by Swamy and Sinha to threadbare discussions in their meetings across the constituency. The two have conveyed the mounting protests the rising prices of petrol and other essential commodities to the people effectively through parodies of a popular Malayalam song from Mohanlal's film Velipadinte Pusthakam directed by Lal Jose. The parody of the hit song Entammede Jimikki Kamal that takes a dig at Modi and his government has got everyone in the constituency grooving. The parody that was viewed about a million times on social networking sites by now has also not spared newly appointed Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam, who justified the hike in petroleum prices, and partys state president Kummanam Rajasekharan. Kunhalikutty, who leads the IUML campaign at Vengara, is confident that the peoples dissatisfaction with the BJP-led Central government as well as the LDF government in the state will reflect in the by-poll in the form of a higher victory margin for the UDF than in previous elections. "There are no two opinions among people now that their life has become miserable. The Centre is choking people with a serial hike in fuel prices while the state government is taking it as an opportunity to make a kill. People are also reeling under GST," he said. He added that people across the country have started discussing the ill-effects of currency demonetisation and GST and the sufferings in store for the economy as predicted by former prime minister Manmohan Singh when demonetisation got underway. "The slide has started for the Modi government. People are sensible enough to judge the goings on. They have started realising that things were better when UPA held power at the Centre and when UDF ruled the state. The Vengara by-poll outcome will be a verdict of the people against the anti-people policies of the two governments," he said. Interestingly, the BJP leaders are not harping on the Modi dispensation anymore. Instead, the party is trying to woo the Hindu voters in the constituency by highlighting dangers of the jihadi elements gaining strength among the Muslim community. Former BJP state president and national executive council member V Muraleedharan said that the victory of IUML will strengthen the jihadi forces. He has also accused the LDF and the UDF of promoting this by giving political patronage to the IUML and other Muslim outfits. The BJPs attempt is to consolidate the Hindu votes. The party has already reached a rapprochement with its new ally, the Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), which had kept off the initial poll conventions, by promising accommodation to its leaders in the government-run corporations. Party president Amit Shah himself invited BDJS chief Thushar Vellappally to New Delhi and the gave the assurances. However, his father and patron of the party Vellappally Natesan is not convinced. He has rejected Shah's offers and is trying to chart a new course by building a bridge to the LDF. Natesan, who heads the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP), the social arm of the Ezhava community, has asked his son not to associate with the 'Janaraksha Yatra' of Kummanam Rajashekharan that Shah will flag off from Payannur on Tuesday. Ezhavas account for more than 50 percent of Hindu population in the state. The BJP has also launched an intensive campaign to woo Dalit voters, who number between 12,000 to 15,000 in Vengara. The party workers have been visiting the Dalit colonies and holding one-to-one discussions with the residents regarding the problems they face. The party candidate himself has visited a dozen such colonies after he filed his papers. There are 40 such colonies in the constituency. Janachandran will visit as many colonies as possible, said the partys campaign managers at Vengara. Though the campaign managers are not expecting any surprise in the election, they claim that the party will re-write the record in the Muslim bastion. tech2 News Staff US states have confirmed the political interference by entities associated with or originating from Russia in the 2016 US presidential election, in an effort to game the polls in Trump's favour. Russia has officially denied any meddling, and Trump has denied colluding with Russia, although admitting that Facebook and Twitter did help him win the election. Amid growing pressure, social media platforms are now scrutinising and regulating political advertisements on their platforms. Executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter have been asked to testify to the US Congress about Russian political interference in the presidential election. Google has initiated a probe into how its services could have helped Russian agents. Twitter has disclosed that it has banned close to 200 accounts related to Russia, based on 450 accounts that Facebook had disclosed information on. Facebook is also sharing information about Russia operated profiles discovered on Facebook according to a report in ReCode. According to Facebook, a Russia related operation spent more than $100,000 in politically motivated ads on the platform during the 2016 US presidential election. 3,000 advertisements generated by accounts controlled by entities in Russia have gone under the scanner, and Facebook has promised increased transparency on political ads in the future. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has also indicated that Facebook will put more human reviewers in the loop in its ad-buying system after advertisers were able to target people interested in anti-semitic groups. Soon after the surprise victory by Donald Trump last year, Zuckerberg called it a "crazy" idea that fake news and political information spread through the social network was responsible for Trump winning. After Zuckerberg dismissed the influence of Facebook on the election, then US President Barack Obama had asked Zuckerberg to take the threat of fake news and political disinformation seriously. Last week, Donald Trump tweeted out allegations of Facebook being anti-Trump and colluding with news agencies to spread disinformation. Mark Zuckerberg responded by denying the allegations, and pointing out that while Trump accused Facebook of being anti-Trump, liberals had accused Facebook of helping Trump win. After Yom Kippur, a holy day for Jews, Zuckerberg asked for forgiveness for the divisions created because of the activity on his platform, and committed to do better. PTI Just a few years ago, Facebook and Twitter were hailed as tools for democracy activists, enabling movements like the Arab Spring to flourish. Today, the tables have turned as fears grow over how social media may have been manipulated to disrupt the US election, and over how authoritarian governments are using the networks to clamp down on dissent. The latest revelations from Facebook and Twitter, which acknowledged that Russian-backed entities used their network to spread disinformation and sow political discord, have heightened concerns about the impact of social networks on democracy. "Both services are ripe for abuse and manipulation by all sorts of problematic people, including hostile intelligence services," says Andrew Weisburd, a non-resident fellow with the Alliance for Securing Democracy. The Alliance, a project created this year to counter what it claims are efforts by Russia undermine democracy and democratic institutions, includes US and European researchers worried about Moscow's efforts. "What we have seen from the Kremlin in recent years is a direct by-product of what they have done to the Russian people in order to keep (President Vladimir) Putin and his cronies in power," Weisburd said. Researcher Tim Chambers writes in a paper for the left-leaning New Policy Institute that the proliferation of political "bots" or automated accounts to make topics go "viral" such as those employed in 2016 are dangerous for elections and democracy "They fake petition signatures. They skew poll results and recommendation engines," Chambers said. "Deceptive bots create the impression that there is grassroots, positive, sustained, human support for a certain candidate, cause, policy or idea. In doing so, they pose a real danger to the political and social fabric of our country." Oxford University researchers said in a June report that social networks like Facebook and Twitter, which were intended to be a platform for free expression, "have also become tools for social control" in many countries. Governments employ large numbers of people "to generate content, direct opinion and engage with both foreign and domestic audiences," said the report by the university's Project on Computational Propaganda. The researchers, who studied social media in 28 countries, concluded that "every authoritarian regime has social media campaigns targeting their own populations." In Turkey, for example, that has led to targeting of opposition leaders' social media accounts so that others can launch a smear campaign. In other countries, governments create "bots" which amplify some voices to create an artificial sense of popularity, the researchers said. Some regimes employ "cyber troops" or private contractors for this purpose. Zeynep Tufekci, a North Carolina University sociologist who studies social networks and activist movements, said the platforms which helped enable the Arab Spring are now being used against dissenters. "This is not necessarily Orwell's 1984," she writes in her 2017 book, "Twitter and Tear Gas: How Social Media Changed Protest Forever." "Rather than a complete totalitarianism based on fear and the blocking of information, the newer methods include demonizing online media and mobilizing armies of supporters or paid employees who muddy the online waters with misinformation, information overload, doubt, confusion, harassment, and distraction." In the United States, the disclosures by Facebook and Twitter-fueled concerns that disinformation campaigns, likely from Russian entities, sought to manipulate public opinion and polarize the electorate ahead of the November election. Twitter shared data with congressional investigators about ads from Russia Today, a television group with links to the Moscow government and which has been accused by US intelligence services of meddling in the election. Twitter said RT spent $274,000 in 2016 on ads on its site that may have been used to try to influence the US election. Facebook also acknowledged foreign entities linked to Russia paid to promote political messages on the leading social network, potentially violating US election laws. The Oxford researchers said in a report Thursday that the campaign to spread "junk news" during the 2016 presidential election via Twitter appeared to target key states which could sway the Electoral College results. The researchers said that in the days leading up to the election, "Twitter users got more misinformation, polarizing and conspiratorial content than professionally produced news." IANS After Twitter deleted over 200 fake Russian accounts used to meddle the 2016 US presidential election, Google has now launched a probe into the role its services could have played in the Russian interference, reports said. "Google is conducting a broad internal investigation to determine whether Russian-linked entities used its ads or services to try to manipulate voters ahead of the US election," The Wall Street Journal reported late on Friday. Facebook has also started probing how Russian agents could have misused its advertising platform to influence the campaign. The social media giant is facing intense fake news scrutiny after disclosing details about the presence of Russian political ads worth $100,000 on its platform during the presidential election. The three tech giants have been reportedly asked to testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee panel on November 1 to examine how foreign actors may have used the social media to interfere with the US presidential election. Twitter on Friday announced that it has deleted over 200 fake Russian accounts and identified Russia Today of buying bought ads targeted at American users' accounts. "This is an ongoing process and we will continue to collaborate with investigators. Twitter is in dialogue with congressional committees with respect to investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 US election," the micro-blogging platform said in a blog post. The company also shared with committee staff ads that three Russia Today (RT) accounts targeted to the US market in 2016. AFP Google announced new steps to help struggling news organizations Monday including an end to a longstanding "first click free" policy to generate fresh revenues for publishers hurt by the shift from print to digital. The moves come amid mounting criticism that online platforms are siphoning off the majority of revenues as more readers turn to digital platforms for news. "I truly believe that Google and news publishers actually share a common cause," said Google Vice President Philipp Schindler. "Our users truly value high quality journalism." Google announced a series of measures, the most significant of which would be to replace the decade-old policy of requiring news organizations to provide one article discovered in a news search without subscribing a standard known as "first click free." This will be replaced by a "flexible sampling" model that will allow publishers to require a subscription if they choose at any time. "We realize that one size does not fit all," said Richard Gingras, Google's vice president for news. This will allow news organizations to decide whether to show articles at no cost or to implement a "paywall" for some or all content. Gingras said the new policy, effective Monday, will be in place worldwide. He said it was not clear how many publishers would start implementing an immediate paywall as a result. "The reaction to our efforts has been positive," he told a conference call announcing the new policy. "This is not a silver bullet to the subscription market. It is a very competitive market for information. And people buy subscriptions when they have a perception of value." Google said it is recommending a "metering" system allowing 10 free articles per month as the best way to encourage subscriptions. One Click Subscriptions The California tech giant also said it would work with publishers to make subscriptions easier, including allowing readers to pay with their Google or Android account to avoid a cumbersome registration process. "We think we can get it down to one click, that would be superb," Gingras said. He explained people are becoming more accustomed to paying for news, but that a "sometimes painful process of signing up for a subscription can be a turn off. That's not great for users or for news publishers who see subscriptions as an increasingly important source of revenue." Google would share data with the news organizations to enable them to keep up the customer relationship, he added. "We're not looking to own the customer," he said. "We will provide the name of user, the email and if necessary the address." Gingras said Google is also exploring ways "to use machine learning to help publishers recognize potential subscribers," employing the internet giant's technology to help news organizations. He added that Google was not implementing the changes to generate revenues for itself, but that some financial details had not been worked out. Google does not intend to take a slice of subscription revenues, he noted. "Our intent is to be as generous as possible," he said. Research firm eMarketer estimates that Google and Facebook will take in 63 percent of digital advertising revenues in 2017 making it harder for news organizations to compete online. Facebook is widely believed to be working on a similar effort to help news organizations drive more subscriptions. Google created a "Digital News Initiative" in Europe in 2015 which provides funding for innovative journalism projects. Reuters Hewlett Packard Enterprise allowed a Russian defense agency to review the inner workings of cyber defense software used by the Pentagon to guard its computer networks, according to Russian regulatory records and interviews with people with direct knowledge of the issue. The HPE system, called ArcSight, serves as a cybersecurity nerve center for much of the US military, alerting analysts when it detects that computer systems may have come under attack. ArcSight is also widely used in the private sector. The Russian review of ArcSights source code, the closely guarded internal instructions of the software, was part of HPEs effort to win the certification required to sell the product to Russias public sector, according to the regulatory records seen by Reuters and confirmed by a company spokeswoman. Six former US intelligence officials, as well as former ArcSight employees and independent security experts, said the source code review could help Moscow discover weaknesses in the software, potentially helping attackers to blind the US military to a cyber attack. Its a huge security vulnerability, said Greg Martin, a former security architect for ArcSight. You are definitely giving inner access and potential exploits to an adversary. Despite the potential risks to the Pentagon, no one Reuters spoke with was aware of any hacks or cyber espionage that were made possible by the review process. The ArcSight review took place last year, at a time when Washington was accusing Moscow of an increasing number of cyberattacks against American companies, US politicians and government agencies, including the Pentagon. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations. The case highlights a growing tension for US technology companies that must weigh their role as protectors of US cybersecurity while continuing to pursue business with Washingtons adversaries such as Russia and China, say security experts. tech2 News Staff Google is yet to announce its next version of Android which may be safely referred to as Android P. HMD Global, the owners of the Nokia brand have announced that all of its 2017 smartphones will be receiving the Android P update as well once it arrives. While this may sound like a bit optimistic since Google just recently announced Android 8.0 Oreo, it surely would come across as good news for Nokia fans across the world. According to a report by Trusted Reviews, the announcement came at a launch event in the Philippines where Country Manager, HMD Global, Shannon Mead, stated that all existing Nokia 8, 6, 5, as well as the Nokia 3, will be upgraded to Android P. HMD Global had earlier announced that the Nokia 3, 5, 6 and 8 smartphones would receive an Android 8.0 Oreo update which has been forthcoming but is confirmed to arrive on all the devices by the end of the year. The confirmation would essentially confirm Android updates for all Nokia users for at least another two years. The announcement will also work as a major incentive for the Nokia brand with most major smartphone manufacturers offering updates for up to two years only on higher-end devices. HMD Global recently launched its flagship Nokia 8 smartphone in India for a price of Rs 36,999. The phone features a Nokia's 'Bothie', which uses both the front and rear cameras to record an image or a video. tech2 News Staff Huawei recently teased its upcoming flagship, the Huawei Mate 10 on Twitter, confirming 16 October as the launch date. A new report now states that the Shenzen-based Chinese smartphone maker may add a Samsung DeX-like dock along with its upcoming flagship. GizmoChina in a report spoke to the CEO of Miraxess CEO Yanis Anteur where he claimed that Huawei's Mate 10 would likely come with PC-style functionality courtesy of a dock. The dock will allow the smartphone to be connected to a Miracast-supporting display, allowing wireless access to a range of Android applications. Anteur said, "For now on we recommend to use the Mirabook with the Galaxy S8 for DeX and Windows Phones for Continuum. I also have a secret news for you (sic), the new Huawei smartphones announced on 16 October will have a DeX-like feature and should be compatible with the Mirabook." The report also adds that compatibility with smart TVs will not be an issue for Huawei Mate 10 since Miracast is supported by most smart TVs. Samsung introduced DeX earlier this year along with its Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus allowing its users to connect their phones to a larger display using a dock. Reuters North Korea has opened a new internet connection with the outside world, this time via Russia, a move which cybersecurity experts say would strengthen the countrys internet and its ability to conduct cyber attacks. North Korea has been blamed for several major cyber attacks in recent years, including against banks and Sony Pictures, as well as the WannaCry ransomware attack. Pyongyang has routinely denied any involvement. Dyn Research, a company which monitors internet connectivity, said it had seen Russian telecommunications company TransTeleCom routing North Korean traffic since about 0900 GMT (5.00 am ET) on Sunday. Previous traffic was handled via China Unicom. TransTeleCom could not be immediately reached to comment on the report. North Koreas internet is limited to a few hundred connections. But these connections are vital for coordinating the countrys cyber attacks, said Bryce Boland, FireEyes chief technology office for the Asia-Pacific region. Boland also confirmed the new connection, which was first reported by 38 North, a project of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Boland said the Russian connection would enhance North Koreas ability to command future cyberattacks. Many of the cyber attacks conducted on behalf of Pyongyang came from outside North Korea, using hijacked computers, he said, while those ordering and controlling the attacks remained inside, communicating to hackers and hijacked computers from computers within North Korea. This will improve the resiliency of their network and increase their ability to conduct command and control over those activities, Boland said. The Washington Post reported earlier that the US Cyber Command has been carrying out denial of service attacks against hackers from North Korea. The operation was due to end at the weekend. Flash British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined new proposals Sunday to win support from younger voters after many backed the rival Labour Party. People take part in a demonstration in central Manchester, Britain, on Oct. 1, 2017. Tens of thousands of protestors gathered in Manchester on Sunday, with a number of rallies organized by anti-Brexit groups and activists demanding an end to the Conservative austerity measures. The Conservative Party's annual conference is held here from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4. (Xinhua/Han Yan) May's bid to woo thousands of disaffected students came on the first day of the Conservative party's annual conference in Manchester. Tens of thousands of protestors converged on the northern England city, with a number of rallies organized by anti-Brexit groups and activists demanding an end to the Conservative austerity measures. Local media in Manchester reported that 50,000 people were expected at the various rallies during the day. Around 1,000 police officers were on duty forming a security shield around Manchester Central, the one-time railway terminal where the conference is taking place over the next four days. A heavy presence of armed police were on duty outside the nearby baroque-style four-star Midland Hotel which has become May's conference headquarters. This year's terror bombing at the nearby Manchester Arena, in which 22 people were killed by suicide bomber Salman Abedi, has heightened security precautions around the conference. The security operation is costing police almost 2.7 million U.S. dollars. In a major interview in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, May announced the freezing of university tuition fees at 9,250 pounds (12,400 U.S. dollars) a year. She also plans to raise the threshold so students won't start paying back their debt until they earn over 33,500 U.S. dollars a year. With Labour saying they would scrap university tuition fees altogether, political commentators were asking whether May's carrot would win back younger voters. May also plans to spend 10 billion British pounds (13.4 billion U.S. dollars) helping thousands of first-time house buyers get onto the property-owning ladder. In the interview May said she wanted to lead her party into the next general election, due in 2022, saying: "I'm not a quitter. I'm in it for the long-term and I believe there is a long-term job to do." May's first full day in Manchester Sunday, her 61st birthday, was met with the kind of greetings she would not have welcomed. The Sunday Observer newspaper's main story was headlined "May in battle for survival as Tories sharpen knives". The Sunday Times said foreign secretary Boris Johnson planned one last bid for the top job at 10 Downing Street. Their headline read "Johnson believes she will be gone in a year". The Sunday Express in a flag-waving story in support of May, welcomed her pledges to overhaul student fees with the headline "That's more like it Mrs May". PTI Reliance Communications, which is reeling under a debt of about Rs 46,000 crore, today called off merger talks with Aircel, citing "legal and regulatory" delays and outlined an alternative plan for debt reduction by selling real estate as well as tower and fibre business. "Merger of mobile business of RCom and Aircel lapses with mutual consent," the Anil Ambani-led firm said in a statement. RCom and Aircel had signed binding agreements in September 2016 for the merger of mobile business. "Legal and regulatory uncertainties, and various interventions by vested interests, have caused inordinate delays in receipt of relevant approvals for the proposed transaction," it said. RCom also blamed high level of competition as one of the reasons for termination of the merger talks. "Unprecedented competitive intensity in the Indian telecom sector together with fresh policy directives, adversely impacting bank financing for this sector, have also seriously affected industry dynamics. As a result of the various factors aforesaid, the merger agreement has lapsed," RCom said. The company said that unlimited free voice offers and "irrational pricing" by all industry participants have destroyed profitability of traditional 2G and 3G mobile business. It was claimed that with the deal the debt of RCom will come down to around Rs 20,000 crore, while that of Aircel to around Rs 4,000 crore. RCom now plans to monetise prime real estate in Mumbai and Delhi as well as telecom tower and optic fibre assets by December to avoid lenders converting a part of their debt into equity. The company, however, also said that the combination of the mobile business of Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd (SSTL) into RCom will be completed this month. This merger would bring to the company SSTLs valuable spectrum holdings in the 800-850 MHz band, strengthening RComs spectrum portfolio by 30 Mhz as well as extend its spectrum validity period in 8 important circles by another 16 years to 2033. RCom said that its Board of Directors at a meeting held today in Mumbai reviewed the ongoing strategic transformation programme and considered alternative plans for debt reduction. The board decided that RCom will evaluate an alternative plan for its mobile business, through optimisation of its spectrum portfolio and adoption of a 4G focused mobile strategy. "RCom already has the unique advantage of capital light access to Indias most extensive world class nationwide 4G mobile network through spectrum sharing and ICR (intra-circle roaming) Agreements with Reliance Jio," it said. It has spectrum across 800, 900,1800 and 2100 Mhz spectrum bands aggregating 200 Mhz, valued at over Rs 19,000 crore for the balance of validity period, based on last auction pricing. "The company will evaluate opportunities for monetisation of the same through trading and sharing arrangements," the statement said. RCom had defaulted on some of its debt obligation and has been given additional time to service its debt by lenders. "The company continues to be under a standstill period till December 2018 and expects to complete the SDR process as per applicable guidelines," it said. Shareholders of the company at the annual general meeting held on September 26, 2017 have already approved issuance of equity shares to lenders by conversion of loans. RCom said that it will focus on domestic and overseas B2B business. "These B2B businesses generate equal revenues from domestic and overseas operations. As part of the ongoing transformation and in order to enhance value for all stakeholders, the RCom board reaffirmed the focus on these stable, capital light B2B businesses which have sustained and predictable revenues and profits, with immense growth potential," the company said. It also claimed that the firm has made progress on steps to monetise real estate which includes nearly 125 acres of land at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) in Navi Mumbai with development rights of potentially over 17 million square feet and another around central Delhi measuring nearly 4 acres. "Indications of interest from leading developers, and independent third party valuations, have established significantly higher present value monetisation potential of Rs 10,000 crore for the DAKC Complex alone," RCom said. The company also expects to realise Rs 11,000 crore from sale of its tower business. Indo-Asian News Service Air-conditioning your building without electricity? Researchers at Stanford University in the US report it is potentially possible through the technology of "radiative sky cooling" using a new coating material they have developed. "Radiative sky cooling exploits a natural property of our atmosphere," Mumbai-born Aaswath Raman, co-lead author of the paper, told this IANS correspondent in an email. "If you can dissipate heat as infrared radiation into something that is very cold -- like outer space -- you can cool a building without any electricity. This then provides a completely passive, non-evaporative way to cool below the ambient air temperature." The heart of the invention is an ultra-thin multi-layered material Raman and co-workers Eli Goldstein and Shanhui Fan had developed and first tested in 2014. The material, made of seven layers of silicon dioxide and hafnium oxide on top of a thin layer of silver, does two things at the same time. It beams invisible infrared heat from within a building into the cold outer space (using it as a heat sink), while simultaneously reflecting virtually all of the incoming sunlight that would otherwise warm up the building. According to the authors, the material thus acts both "as a radiator and an excellent mirror" and the net result is cooler buildings that require less air conditioning. "The internal structure of the material is tuned to radiate infrared rays at a frequency that lets them pass into space without warming the air near the building." "In 2014, we showed that optical surfaces could be designed to enable this cooling effect even on a sunny day," Raman said. In the recent work, the researchers tested a system -- with panels coated with the specialised material laid atop pipes of running water -- on the roof of a Stanford University building. They found the panels were able to consistently reduce the temperature of the water three to five degrees Celsius below ambient air temperature over a period of three days. "When connected to refrigeration or air conditioning systems, they can improve efficiency 20 per cent or more. We are now commercialising the technology as a start-up, SkyCool Systems, and have a pilot demonstration active in California," said Raman, who has already partnered with a manufacturer that can produce large sheets of the cooling material for further development. "For Indian buildings, our fluid cooling panels can have a major impact in commercial refrigeration in supermarkets, cold storage facilities, data centres, office buildings, malls and other commercial buildings," Raman said. "Also, there is the remarkable opportunity to use this technology to enable completely electricity-free, low-grade cooling in rural scenarios." At least two technical problems remain to be solved before the technology is put to practical use. The engineers must first figure out how to efficiently deliver the building's heat to the coating material and then create fabrication facilities that can make the panels on the scales needed. Reuters Uber Technologies Inc co-founder Travis Kalanick said he had appointed two new directors, a surprise move that publicly reignited a board battle over the role of the ousted former chief executive. Kalanicks move on Friday sought to pre-empt a move by new Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi to restructure the board and gain greater control, a person familiar with the co-founders decision said. Uber said in a statement on Friday the company was surprised by Kalanicks action. Company investors are divided over whether Kalanick should remain on the board and whether he should be allowed to name two other directors. Benchmark Capital, which had pressured Kalanick to resign as CEO in the wake of several governance scandals, did not respond to a request for comment. Khosrowshahi is scrambling to portray Uber as a reformed company that is turning a page on concerns including sexual harassment claims and a US bribery probe. Investors have described diluting Kalanicks power as a necessary step on the path to making amends. Kalanick, still one of the largest shareholders, said in a statement he had appointed former Xerox Chief Executive Ursula Burns and former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain as directors. I am appointing these seats now in light of a recent board proposal to dramatically restructure the board and significantly alter the companys voting rights. It is therefore essential that the full board be in place for proper deliberation to occur, especially with such experienced board members as Ursula and John, he said. He did not specify the proposals he opposed. Uber had nine directors before Kalanicks Friday appointments. The person familiar with the matter said that Kalanick acted after Khosrowshahi had outlined a plan to directors, which is scheduled to be voted on 3 October, that would give him control of four board seats in addition to his own on a panel that now has 11 directors. Khosrowshahis plan calls for transferring one of the two Kalanick-controlled positions to SoftBank Group Corp, which is considering an investment in Uber, the source said. Khosrowshahi effectively could put a person of his choosing in the other seat, as well as three other existing ones, according to the source. A third of directors also would be elected each year under the plan. Uber did not respond on Saturday to a request to comment about the Khosrowshahi plan. But the company said earlier in a statement that Kalanicks appointments were a complete surprise to Uber and its board. That is precisely why we are working to put in place world-class governance to ensure that we are building a company every employee and shareholder can be proud of, the statement said. Yucaipa Companies managing partner Ron Burkle, an investor who has supported Kalanick, praised Burns and Thain as smart, high-quality people. Division among Uber investors exploded in public in August, when Benchmark Capital filed a lawsuit to force Kalanick off the board and rescind his ability to fill two other seats on the panel, accusing him of concealing a range of misdeeds. Yucaipa and other Uber investors defended Kalanick and asked Benchmark to divest its own shares and step down from the board. A Delaware judge later that month stayed the Benchmark lawsuit and sent it to arbitration, pushing the dispute out of public view and delivering Kalanick a victory. Kalanicks action on Friday could be subject to a new legal challenge. Benchmark or other Uber investors could attempt to block the appointments by asking the Delaware judge to issue a so-called status-quo order. The judge last month did not grant such a request. Kalanicks lawyer at the time told the court that Kalanick had not rushed to fill the seats. The New York Times also quoted Kalanicks lawyer as telling the court Kalanick had the power to fill the seats under the pre-arbitration status quo. Reuters The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a bid by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to force customers who have filed proposed class-action lawsuits against the company to arbitrate their claims instead of bringing them to court. The justices left intact a lower courts ruling that purchasers of certain Galaxy smartphones made by the South Korean electronics company were not bound by a warranty provision that compelled arbitration of customer complaints. Warranties with arbitration clauses have become common in consumer electronics and other industries. Courts and regulatory agencies increasingly are scrutinizing arbitration agreements that seek to limit options for resolution of future disputes. Japanese electronics and smartphone maker Panasonic launched its Eluga A3 and A3 Pro at a launch event in New Delhi back in September. The company priced the A3 and A3 Pro at a competitive price of Rs 11,290 and Rs 12,790 respectively. This means that these smartphones were competing against the likes of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, Xiaomi Redmi 4, Moto G5, Honor 6X and Lenovo K6 Power. The device is available on sale on Panasonic brand shops and other offline and online retail channels across the country. We got the Eluga A3 Pro, more powerful and expensive of the two devices for review. The smartphone looks decent and packs a 4,000 mAh battery. The company claims that it comes with the first AI-based smart assistant called Arbo. I used it as my daily driver for 10 days. I pushed the smartphone to its limits in terms of usage. So let's get into the review. Build and Design: 7.5/10 The Panasonic Eluga A3 Pro comes with a metal back with plastic caps on the top and bottom. The company has added a brushed metallic finish on the sides, but the frame is plastic. The device looks sturdy and solid in hand without any squeaking parts. It looks decent and does not feel heavy despite the 161 gm heft. The weight, along with the metal block on the back gives the smartphone a more balanced feeling ensuring that the user feels confident while holding the device. The device comes with 148 x 72.4 x 9.1 mm dimensions making it similar to most budget Android-powered smartphones out there. One thing to note here is that the edges of the smartphone felt a little sharp hinting at a slight lack of refinement. However, it is alright for budget smartphones to not come with a refined design that is present in more premium smartphones. Though, competition like the Moto G5S and Redmi Note 4 do come with comparatively better design and refined built quality. The front of the device packs a fingerprint sensor on the bottom with an embedded home button. There are no navigation keys on the sides of the fingerprint sensor. Instead, Panasonic has opted for virtual navigation keys. This looks like a waste of space available on the bottom bezel. The company has packed the front camera module, speaker grill and the proximity sensor on the top bezel. Users will find the rear camera at the top-middle portion of the smartphone on the back along with the LED light module below the camera module. The back includes the Panasonic and Eluga branding in the middle along with a speaker grill on the bottom plastic cap of the smartphone. The volume rocker and the power button are present on the right side of the smartphone along with the SIM tray on the left side of the device. Users will find the microUSB at the right side on the bottom of the smartphone while the 3.5mm headphone jack is present on the top of the smartphone. Features: 6.5/10 The Eluga A3 Pro packs a 5.2-inch HD display with 'Asahi Dragontrail' glass. The device runs Android Nougat 7.0 out of the box with Arbo AI assistant, more on the AI assistant in the Software section. The Eluga A3 Pro is powered by an octa-core MediaTek MTK6753 processor clocked at 1.3 GHz along with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage that can be expanded to up to 128 GB microSD card. The company has added a 4G-enabled nano-SIM slot and another 4G-enabled hybrid slot along with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0, 3.5 mm headphone jack and micro USB 2.0 port for connectivity. It features a fingerprint sensor on the front, ambient light, proximity, accelerometer sensors, and FM Radio support to improve the feature-set of the device. Moving to the camera section, the Eluga A3 Pro comes with a 13 MP camera sensor on the back and an 8 MP camera sensor on the front for better selfies. Panasonic has added a 4,000 mAh battery to ensure long battery life. The device will come in three colour variants that are Mocha Gold, Gold and Grey. Display: 7/10 Panasonic A3 Pro packs a 5.2-inch HD IPS LCD panel with 1280 x 720 resolution with 'Asahi Dragontrail' glass for protection. The display panel comes with 282 PPI pixel density and 69.2 percent screen-to-body ratio. The display looks bright and colourful along with good viewing angles. The colour and brightness do take a hit if viewed from extreme angles. But considering that it is an HD display, the display performs well. However, Panasonic needs to improve the light-reflectivity of the screen. The display does not perform as desired in direct sunlight as there is a lot of reflection making it difficult to read the contents on the screen. Software: 6.5/10 The company has opted for stock Android Nougat 7.0 with the Eluga A3 Pro to ensure snappy performance. The operating system comes with Android 5 June security patch level out of the box. The device did not receive any update at the time of testing. Despite the presence of stock Android, the device does not perform as snappily as I was expecting it to be. There was a slight yet noticeable lag while navigating the operating system, be it while normal actions like opening the app drawer or little more demanding like opening apps. One thing to note here is that the operating system does not come clean as you would expect from a stock Android installation. Instead, Panasonic has added a number of pre-installed apps. The pre-installed apps include Amazon Shopping, Amazon Prime Video, Dailyhunt, Cupcake Dreamland, PhonePe, Xender, DataBack, K-Gallery, Uber, and V-PayQwik. Panasonic has changed the camera interface to a custom-designed interface, more about that in the camera section. The operating system also comes with Arbo, one of the key highlights for the company with Eluga A3 Pro and A3. The company claims that Arbo is an AI-powered smart assistant that helps users to track their daily usage and make suggestions to them accordingly. The company has pushed the Arbo AI Smart Assistant as one of the key features of Eluga A3 Pro. The way this Smart Assistant works is that it keeps a track of all the apps that you use on a daily basis along with the time. After a few days of using, the Arbo smart sssistant learns your app using habits and then starts suggesting apps to you according to the time in the day. The assistant is not really smart or intuitive in terms of the interface when compared to its competition, Google Assistant, Microsofts Cortana, Amazon Alexa, or Apples Siri. Last but not the least, Google Assistant is also supported on the device in addition to Arbo. Performance: 6.5/10 The performance of Eluga A3 Pro was underwhelming at best as there was a slight, yet noticeable lag across the system and everything was not as smooth as one would expect from a stock Android installation. I ran the smartphone through a number of benchmark tests and the scores reflected the comparatively weak performance by the MediaTek MTK6753. Almost all the apps that I used displayed the lag at launch. Extended gaming sessions of heavy duty games like Modern Combat 5 ran alright with somewhat choppy performance in complex scenes. I encountered similar performance levels were seen in games like Asphalt 8: Airborne and Dead Trigger 2 as well. The phone did heat up moderately during extended gaming sessions. There was no issue while placing cellular or internet calls using the Eluga A3 Pro as the connectivity and voice clarity was spot on. The bundled earphones with the device did not pose any problems as the sound was clear with decent noise cancellation. Camera: 5.5/10 The Eluga A3 Pro comes with a 13 MP camera sensor on the back along with phase detection autofocus and LED flash and an 8 MP camera sensor on the front for better selfies. Users can shoot 1080p video at 30 fps from the back camera in the video department. The camera interface comes with three modes, the first mode is a panorama mode where the camera guides you to take multiple photos and then stitches them into one large picture. The second mode is the PiP (Picture-in-Picture) mode where the camera takes a photo from the back camera and a photo from the front camera. It takes the back camera image as the background and overlays the image taken from the front camera on the background with Polaroid-like borders to mimic a PiP-like final image. The third mode is the normal photo mode. Users dont have to change the screen to shoot video as the video recording and image capture button are present on the same screen, just above the fingerprint scanner on the front. The pictures shot from the camera were not the best with noise creeping in photos along with a hit or miss focussing system. The camera takes considerably longer to focus than usual with a significant 0.5~0.75 second lag from the time the shutter button was pressed and the final shot was taken. The pictures turned into a grainy mess in low light or dimly-lit conditions. The quality of photos marginally improved in bright daylight but it was still lacking the crisp noise-free photos. Moving away from the image clarity and focus issues, the camera sensor has a dismal dynamic range with photos coming underwhelming and dark in most situations. HDR mode did help the camera capture the scene better and bring out the details. But it also came with increased sharpening in the images giving it an artificial look. Last but not the least, final pictures lacked any texture or details and looked like flat paintings. Again, this is not limited to photos shot in low light but extends to the photos shot in sufficient daylight. To its credit, the HDR mode is good-enough to bring a lot of detail and colours in the scene when compared to a normal shot. Battery: 8/10 Panasonic has added a massive 4,000 mAh battery to ensure that the phone has an impressive battery life. The smartphone lasted a day for me on moderate usage, which included gaming for an hour or so, three email accounts syncing, constant emailing, WhatsApp messages, 10-20 photos and listening to music for 30-45 minutes at a stretch. The device lasted 9 hours and 45 minutes during the PCMark for Android Work 2.0 battery test, reaffirming that the battery performance in the device is good. Verdict and Price in India Panasonic has created a decent phone which needs improvement in camera department. The performance is not up to the same level as competition in this price range. However, despite its attempt to compete in the price-segment, the competition simply offers much better hardware with better software optimisation. The company needs to improve its offering to figure as a real competitor and improve its stand-out features like Arbo because Google Assistant beats it hands-down when it comes to smarts. If you are looking for a good smartphone in this range, you can look at Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 if you like a forked Android experience, otherwise, you can look for Xiaomi Mi A1. If you want to look for other companies than Xiaomi then you can look at Moto G5S Plus or Moto G5 Plus. Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison. Washington: US president Donald Trump has warned his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that negotiations with North Korea were a "waste of time" and said he "won't fail" on a front where three of his predecessors Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama failed. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man. Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Trump said in a series of tweets. "Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail," Trump said. Trump had earlier also referred to the North Korean leader as 'Rocket Man'. In his tweets, Trump went public in differing with Tillerson on having talks with North Korea. Tillerson who is in China had said that the US was in direct communication with North Korea as part of their effort to reduce tension. "The whole situation is a bit overheated right now. If North Korea would stop firing its missiles, that would calm things down a lot," Tillerson had said on Saturday. Soon his spokesperson Heather Nauert said North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearisation. In the past few weeks, Trump has said that he is open to military option, even though it is not his preferred choice. Following Trump's tweets, mainstream American media prominently displayed the differences between the president and his secretary of state. "Trump undercuts Tillerson," said a headline by The Washington Post. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that "President Trump seemed to undercut Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, belittling the prospect of a diplomatic resolution to the crisis with North Korea". "Trump rejects dialogue with North Korea," reported The Wall Street Journal. In an interview to NBC News, Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee favoured stepping up against North Korea. "I mean, we should step it up. I mean, you know, we're moving to a place where we're going to end up with a binary choice soon," he said. "I don't think we're cornering ourselves. But if we don't ramp up the diplomatic side, it's possible that we end up cornered," he added. Brussels, Belgium: The EU on Monday urged all sides in the crisis over Catalonia's banned independence referendum to "move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue" and said violence should not be part of politics. In its first reaction a day after scores were hurt in clashes in Catalonia, the European Commission said the referendum was "not legal" under Spanish law and was an "internal matter" for Spain. An independent Catalonia would also have to leave the EU if it did vote for independence in a legal referendum, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said. "Beyond the purely legal aspects of this matter, the commission believes that these are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation," Schinas said in a statement to reporters. "We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics. "We trust the leadership of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process in full respect of the Spanish constitution and of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined therein." Spain said Monday it will do "everything within the law" to prevent Catalonia from declaring independence, a day after Catalonia's regional government declared victory in the referendum. "Under the Spanish Constitution, yesterday's (Sunday) vote in Catalonia was not legal," Schinas added. "For the European Commission, as President (Jean-Claude) Juncker has reiterated repeatedly, this is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain. "We also reiterate the legal position held by this commission as well as by its predecessors if a referendum were to be organised in line with the Spanish constitution it would mean that the territory leaving would find itself outside of the European Union." Beijing: Preparing to hold its key Congress, China's ruling Communist Party (CPC) is reflecting on the collapse of the Soviet Union to avert a similar fate, state media reports said. The CPC is set to hold its once in a five year, Congress from 18 October which was expected to confirm a second term for it most powerful leader, Xi Jinping who heads the party, Presidency and the military. The 19th Congress of 96-year-old party is also expected to formulate a new Constitution with sweeping reforms of its functioning after a five-year massive anti-corruption campaign by Xi in which thousands of officials have been purged. On the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik-led October Revolution has prompted the CPC to reflect on the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and triggered a surge of "red tours" to Russia to study the reasons, state run Global Times reported. The great October Revolution in 1917 has spurred Communist movements worldwide, including inspiring leaders like Mao Zedong, the founder of the CPC which came to power in 1949 after a bloody revolution which was aided and abetted by the then Soviet Union. Mao and the CPC later parted company from the Soviet Communist Party and after his death in 1976, the CPC opted for massive economic reforms under the reformist leader Deng Xiaoping, emerging as the second largest economy of the world in the last four decades. Beset with economic slowdown and weighed down by rising expectations of the people, the CPC, which is the world's longest Communist Party in power since 1949 has made the collapse of the Soviet Union as a major lesson in all its party schools. At the "October Revolution and Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" workshop held in Beijing last Tuesday, Liu Qibao, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC and head of the Party's Publicity Department virtually ruled his party meeting the same fate. The Soviet failure from socialist path has multiple reasons including conservativeness and rigidity, but the most fundamental reason is the deviation from the path of Marxism- Leninism and the socialist path started by the October Revolution, Liu said. The failure of the Soviet economy was caused by its conservative political system which refused to reform and distributed too many resources to the military. "When problems could not be hidden in the 1980s, it started to reform without adhering to the Party's principles. But it was too late and this directly caused the collapse," Su Wei, a professor at the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee's Party School told the daily. A 100 year ago China was a weak, poor, easily bullied and invaded country, he said but now China has "more confidence and capability than at any stage in our history to achieve this goal," he said. The root cause of this huge change was that though the CPC chose the path of the October Revolution, it discovered a path suitable for China's national conditions that lead to the "great rejuvenation in China", Liu said. The daily said in view of the significance of Soviet collapse Chinas tourism authorities are planning and preparing for "red-themed" tours for the Chinese tourists to visit Russia to get first experience. Washington: US president Donald Trump said Sunday that negotiating with North Korea over its nuclear programme would be a waste of time after it emerged that Washington had channels of contact with Pyongyang. Only hours after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed that US officials were in touch with North Korean counterparts, Trump undercut his top diplomat by declaring on Twitter that any talks would be futile. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," he said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Speaking Saturday after talks with China's president Xi Jinping, Tillerson said that US officials had "two or three" channels of communication with North Korea despite an escalating war of words between their respective leaders. Asked how he could know whether the North would even contemplate coming to the table, Tillerson told reporters in Beijing: "We are probing, so stay tuned." "We have lines of communication with Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout, we have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them," he said. But the state department later said in a statement that North Korea "have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearisation." In a recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea in the event of an attack on the US or any of its allies, deriding Kim as a "Rocket Man" who was on a "suicide mission." Kim responded by calling Trump a "mentally deranged dotard." His administration has also been at the forefront of a drive to impose a series of sanctions against North Korea in response to its sixth nuclear testthe largest yetand the firing of two missiles over Japan. Uneasy over Trump's bellicose tone, China and Russia have both appealed to the US to have talks with North Korea, and Tillerson's revelation was welcomed today by Germany. "This is exactly the right course and a courageous step," German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said in a statement. "North Korea would be well advised to take this offer of talks seriously." Gabriel also urged the US to have dialogue with Iran over a nuclear accord which Trump appears on the verge of scrapping, adding that such a move "would undermine the credibility of the offer to North Korea." Trump has previously kept the door open to possible talks with North Korea. In a meeting with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean president Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the UN, Trump responded "Why not?" when asked whether there could be talks. Auto refresh feeds Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, according to media reports. The final night of the Route 91 Harvest music festival was taking place near Mandalay Bay when the reported shooting took place, NBC reported. Associated Press reports that at least two people have died and 24 are injured after shooting at music festival. Of the 24 injured, 12 are critical, The Associated Press reported. Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15. Some flights destined for the McCarran International Airport were diverted due to incident. Dozens of patrol vehicles descended on the Strip after authorities received reports of an active shooter near the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Some officers took cover behind their vehicles while others carrying assault rifles ran into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said 26 people were admitted to the hospital, according to a report in The Associated Press. A hospital spokeswoman says two people are dead and dozens wounded. The bursts of pops would start and stop for more than five minutes. He says he saw dozens of ambulances as he ran for safety. He later got a Lyft driver to take him home to suburban Henderson. Las Vegas police say one suspect is down. Thirty-six-year-old Kodiak Yazzi said the music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. As the 40,000 fans in the crowd began to flee, Yazzi took cover and said he saw flashes of light coming from the Mandalay Bay hotel tower high above. A concert-goer says he heard what sounded like fireworks while he was watching Jason Aldeans performance at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Sunday night, Associated Press reported. University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said 26 people were admitted to the hospital after the incident. Two people are dead and dozens wounded after someone opened fire late Sunday on a music festival. Las Vegas police say one suspect is down but did not give any other details. All planes have been grounded at the Las Vegas airport after the deadly shooting at an outdoor concert on the Strip, Associated Press reports. McCarran International Airport says all flights in and out have been temporarily halted in response to the shooting. WATCH: Harrowing footage with sound of gunshots from music concert at Las Vegas Casino The Guardian reported that several off-duty policemen from Bakersfield, California, were at the concert. One was shot in the shoulder, according to a statement published by the KGET News reporter Danny Freeman. Flights at McCarran International airport have resumed after all flights in and out of Las Vegas were temporarily halted. As Jason Aldean concert was going on, multiple gunshots were heard. The performance stopped and revellers fled as gunfire continued. "Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night." Metro police is looking for a MariLou Dandley she was with suspected shooter, reports said. More than 20 were shot dead and over 100 have been injured, Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told a press gathering at Las Vegas. Addressing the media, Sheriff Lombardo said that according to preliminary investigation there was just a sole shooter who was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Casino and he was shot dead. A three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival performance was underway across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Mandalay Bay hotel when the shooting erupted. According to Sheriff Lombardo, the shooter was on the 32nd floor which was the reason behind the heavy casualty. "The primary aggressor is dead ... the scene is static," Lombardo confirmed. Sheriff added that the dead man lived locally and his motives are not known. "There were no explosives involved in the attack. But police used a controlled explosion to get to the suspect," he said. According to Sheriff Joesph Lombardo, shooter's companion Marilou Danley is still at large. Lombardo did not give a name for the dead shooter but confirmed he open fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. Las Vegas Metro Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo called for the public's help in searching for two vehicles registered to the suspect: a Hyandai Tucson with a Nevada license plate, 114B40, and a Chrysler Pacifica Touring, also with a Nevada license plate, 19D401. LVMPD asks for public help in searching for two vehicles registered to the suspect Las Vegas Police confirmed that their was no explosion at the site of the tragedy, however, the police said that they did use a controlled explosion to neutralise the shooter. The companion of the shooter is still at large. Police used controlled explosion to get to the shooter Las Vegas shooting: What is known so far The 62-year-old is a person of interest in the incident, even as the police said that there are no more live shooters. She is an Asian female, approximately 4ft 11in, weight of 111lbs. We have not located her at this time and we are interested in talking to her for follow up, the police said. Police is looking for Marilou Danley as a person of interest Some flights have resumed at the citys McCarran International airport after all planes were temporarily grounded on Sunday evening, The Guardian reported. According to CNN, the hospital treating the injured in Las Vegas shooting has said that at least 12 injured are in a critical condition. Mandalay Bay Resort still in lockdown; hotel owners thank first responders Las Vegas schools to open normally; students/ staff affected from the incident to be excused NBC news has named the killer as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. However, an official statement is yet to come on this. The police has, so far, confirmed that the shooter was a Las Vegas resident but had refused to give out any more details. Death toll touches 50, over 200 injured in shooting incident at music festival in Las Vegas The Las Vegas police, in a press briefing confirmed that that death toll in the Las Vegas shooting incident has touched 50 and over 200 people have been injured. The police termed the incident the deadliest mass shooting in US history. The death toll in the last such incident at the Pulse nightclub in June 2016 was 49. The Nevada Police said they are confidentthey have located Marilou Danley, the 61-year-old, female of Asian Origin who was believed to have known the shooter. However, Sherrif Lombard added that they are not 100 percent sure of Danley's identity and the probe is still underway. Nevada Police say they have located Marilou Danley, the female person of interets in shooting incident President Trump offers condolence to victims of deadliest ever mass shooting in US 'My first instinct was to go home and kiss my little girl,' says singer who performed just before shooting incident Stephen Paddock (64) was identified as the 'lone wolf' attacker behind the deadly attack in Las Vegas. Several rifles were found in his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. Paddock's residence in Mesquite, Nevada is also being searched, according to The Guardia n. However, his motives still remain unknown. According to CNN , police had no previous contact with suspect. What we know about the shooter so far? "Our hearts and prayers are with the victims & the people of Edmonton & we condemn the cowardly terror attacks that occurred late last night. To victims, families & loved ones affected by this senseless violence in Las Vegas, Karen & I are praying for you & offering our love," Pence tweeted. He also thanked the first responders for their prompt response. US official say incident not connected to overseas terrorism "He was shot. I cannot tell you that it was the police that shot him. He may have self-inflicted that gun shot wound. Those details are still emerging, he said. Las Vegas undersheriff Kevin McMahil told The Guardian , Paddock may have shot himself. Stephen Paddock (64), the oldest shooter to be involved in mass firing in US was killed after he opened indiscriminate fire at concert goers, just across the street from his hotel room in Las Vegas. Paddock's wounds, however, may have been self-inflicted. "The Clark County Fire Department estimated that approximately 406 people were transported to area hospitals and 50 are dead following Sunday evenings shooting," the statement read. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, in a press release said that the number of people being treated after the shooting incident has now crossed 400. Boris Johnson tweets on 'horrible' Las Vegas attack, says UK govt urgently establishing if British nationals are hurt He said: 'He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something'. Stephen Paddock's brother, Eric Paddock, told Daily Mail , there was 'absolutely no indication he could do something like this' and said that Stephen had no political or religious affiliation. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions is in a meeting with the FBI right now, according to CNN. Sessions had earlir spoken to Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo and offered all support. No reports of any Indian national being hurt: MEA Donald Trump to speak shortly on one of the worst incidents of domestic crimes in his presidency His life is an open book, there's nothing on him: Shooter's brother US President thanks first respondents for 'saving lot's of lives', calls Las Vegas massacre an 'act of pure evil' Donald Trump offers condolence to the victims of tragedy, says he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday Our unity cannot be shattered by evil; our love will define us today and forever, says Doald Trump on Las Vegas shooting We pray for America's unity and peace and that evil is banished: Donald Trump Donald Trump to visit Las Vegas on Wednesday, orders US flags to be flown at half mast Trump said that he and Melania are constantly praying for the victims and America's unity and peace. The US president termed the attack as an act of pure evil. Donald Trump, on Monday announced that he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday after one of the deadlieast mass shootings incidents in US history. He will be joined by his wife Melania Trump on the visit. First Lady Melania Trump to accompany US President on his visit to Las Vegas Trump said that he and Melania are constantly praying for the victims and America's unity and peace. The US president termed the attack as an act of pure evil. Donald Trump, on Monday announced that he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday after one of the deadlieast mass shootings incidents in US history. He will be joined by his wife Melania Trump on the visit. First Lady Melania Trump to accompany US President on his visit to Las Vegas Security personnel have lifted all restrictions on access to Mandalay Bay and other MGM Resorts. Guests may return to their rooms. The FBI says the shooter who killed 58 people and injured more than 500 others at a Las Vegas concert had no connection to an international terrorist group.The announcement from Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse at a news conference Monday comes after the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack without providing evidence. The extremist group claimed that the shooter was "a soldier" who had converted to Islam months ago. It has made exaggerated or false claims in the past. Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting but say they believe 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock acted alone. He killed himself after the shooting. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Michelle & I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy. . @BrianSandoval : Shooting an "unprecedented event in our nation's history, we're going to have to learn from this" https://t.co/FzpjiAVqoq Guns, bread and butter in America - a piece from our archives on gun violence in America and the patterns that don't change. http://www.firstpost.com/world/california-shooting-guns-bread-and-butter-in-america-3378264.html Investigators have so far found "no connection" between international terrorist groups and a mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500, an FBI special agent said Monday. The Islamic State group, through its propaganda arm, had earlier claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming the shooter was a recently converted "soldier." Police said the attack was carried out by Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old retired accountant. President Donald Trump decried the massacre of at least 58 Las Vegas concert goers as an "act of pure evil" Monday, but refrained from addressing calls for gun control or an unproven claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group. At least two people were killed and more than 20 wounded when a gunman went on a shooting spree on the Las Vegas Strip, police and US media reports said. Police said that the shooter was taken "down" after officers swarmed over the famous boulevard following reports of multiple shots being fired from the Mandalay Bay casino. "At this time we do have a suspect down," Las Vegas police officer Steve Gomez told reporters, without elaborating. "We have numerous victims right now," he added. While police did not immediately give a figure for the number of dead, CNN reported that at least two people had been killed in the shooting while several local news outlets put the number of injured at up to 24. Pictures taken at the scene showed revelers cowering in the street or running in terror, as well what appeared to be several bodies lying prone on the ground. A local hospital was taking in "several" people with gunshot wounds, University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen told the local Sun newspaper. Video footage circulating on social media purportedly of the Mandalay Bay showed a crowd enjoying a country music concert before what sounded like volleys of automatic gunfire halted the performance. A witness told local TV news station KLAS he saw someone several stories high firing hundreds of shots into a crowd of people. Police however denied reports of multiple shooters. "At this time we do not believe there are any more shooters," the department wrote on Twitter. At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 wounded when a gunman opened fire on a concert in Las Vegas, police said on Monday, making it the deadliest mass shooting in US history. At least 58 people confirmed dead and 515 injured after #LasVegas shooting, police sayhttps://t.co/riGzMAKqiz pic.twitter.com/1nozF0QnDx BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) October 2, 2017 "We are looking at in excess of 50 individuals dead and of 200 individuals injured at this point," Las Vegas Metro Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said after Sunday night's shooting at a country music concert in the Nevada gambling hub. Lombardo also told a press conference that the gunman, who was killed after armed police responded to the shooting, had been identified as a local man called Stephen Paddock, 64. Police also believed that they had located his female companion, Marilou Danley, who had been earlier named as a person of interest. The Nevada Police said they are confident they have located Danley, the 61-year-old, female of Asian origin who was believed to have known the shooter. However, Sherrif Lombard added that they are not 100 percent sure of Danley's identity and the probe is still underway. Revelers screamed and fled in panic as a steady stream of automatic gunfire rang out at the venue shortly after 10.00 pm local time (0500 GMT Monday), footage captured on smart phones showed. Two of those killed are believed to be off-duty police officers, said Lombardo. The attack has been termed as the deadliest shooting in the United States since 49 people were killed at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June 2016. It was also the latest in a series of recent deadly attacks at concert venues. Twenty-two people were killed while leaving a concert in the northern English city of Manchester in May when a suicide bomber detonated a nail bomb in the foyer. Ninety people were killed in November 2015 at the Bataclan venue in Paris during a concert by the US band the Eagles of Death Metal. According to earlier updates, authorities shut down a part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15 after receiving reports of an active shooter around Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Officer Aden Ocampo-Gomez said that the officials were heading to the scene near Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino as multiple victims were being transported to hospitals. We're investigating reports of an active shooter near/around Mandalay Bay Casino. Asking everyone to please avoid the area. #LVMPDnews LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen told AP that the Las Vegas hospital is taking in "several" people with gunshot wounds. The final night of the Route 91 Harvest music festival was taking place near Mandalay Bay when the reported shooting took place, NBC reported. Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across Las Vegas Boulevard from the country music festival and the sound of what they described as automatic gun fire. Artists performing at the music festival tweeted they heard gunshots. Witnesses say country singer Jason Aldean was playing near the end of the concert when gunfire rang out. Active shooter at @Route91Harvest in Vegas. We're safe. Love you guys. Luke Combs (@LukeCombsMusic) October 2, 2017 Gun shots!!! Vegas. Pray to god. Love you guys. Love you Pearl. Jake Owen (@jakeowen) October 2, 2017 Some flights destined for the McCarran International Airport were diverted due to the shooting. Mandalay Bay is located on the south end of the Vegas strip on Las Vegas Boulevard and across from McCarran Inernational Airport. With inputs from agencies Marseille: The man who stabbed two young women to death in Marseille in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group used seven different identities and had been arrested just days earlier, French prosecutors said on Monday. Authorities said the man, who was shot dead by anti- terror troops after Sunday's attack outside the southern city's main train station, had previously used a Tunisian passport under the name Ahmed H, 29. But investigators are seeking to confirm his identity as the attacker who had a history of petty crime but was not on a jihadist watch list used seven aliases, anti-terror prosecutor told reporters. "The method of the attacker, a knife attack at a train station, responded to a permanent call from the terrorist group Daesh," Molins said, using another name for Islamic State. The jihadist group's propaganda agency Amaq claimed the killer was one of its "soldiers", while a source close to the investigation told AFP no solid evidence linked him to Islamic State. The attack in France's second biggest city followed a string of stabbings around Europe claimed by or blamed on Islamist radicals. The man killed two 20-year-old cousins from the eastern city of Lyon. One was studying in Marseille and the other was visiting her for the weekend. Molins confirmed that witnesses heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) as he lunged at the women with a 20-centimetre (eight-inch) knife before threatening soldiers, who shot him dead. The attacker's fingerprints showed he had had seven brushes with the law since 2005 most recently when he was arrested last week in Lyon. He presented the Tunisian passport to police, saying he was divorced, used "hard drugs", and had no fixed address. The shoplifting charges were dropped for lack of evidence, and local authorities "were not able to take a decision to deport him," Molins added. Police evacuated Marseille's ornate Saint Charles station after the attack, temporarily halting all train traffic on some of France's busiest lines. "I was on the esplanade just in front of the station," Melanie Petit, an 18-year-old student, told AFP. "I heard someone shout 'Allahu Akbar' and I saw a man who seemed to be dressed all in black." French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted Sunday that he was "deeply angered by this barbaric act". Deeply outraged by this barbaric act, in pain with the families and relatives of the victims of Marseille. I salute the military Sentinel and the police officers who responded with cold blood and efficiency. Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 1, 2017 The attack comes as parliament prepares Tuesday to vote on a controversial anti-terror bill that transfers some of the exceptional powers granted to police under a 22-month-old state of emergency into national law. France has been under a state of emergency since the Islamic State gun and bomb attacks in Paris in November 2015 part of a string of jihadist assaults that have left more than 240 people dead over the past two years. But rights groups warn that making parts of the state of emergency permanent would give police too much free rein in handling terrorism suspects. Knives have been the weapon of choice in a string of smaller-scale attacks in recent months, mainly targeting troops from the 7,000-strong Sentinelle anti-terror force set up to patrol the streets and vulnerable sites such as stations and tourist attractions. In most cases, the attackers were shot dead at the start of their rampage, before they could kill others. The Marseille attack came only days after Islamic State released recording of what it said was its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urging his followers to strike their enemies in the West. The French government has deployed troops and its air force to the Middle East and is a leading partner in the US led international coalition fighting Islamic State and Syria. Islamabad: An anti-corruption court in Pakistan on Monday postponed the indictment of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on charges of corruption in the Panama Papers scandal. Sharif, 67, arrived at the accountability court amid tight security for the court hearing in three graft cases against him and his family. During the hearing, his lawyer Khawaja Haris argued that all of the accused in the case have to appear in court before an indictment can take place. Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, a leader of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), told the media after the hearing that last for more than an hour that the indictment has been postponed. "The indictment is still pending and it would be discussed at the next hearing on Monday (9 October)," he said. The court also issued non-bailable arrest warrants of Sharif's daughter Maryam, sons Hussain and Hasan and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar and summoned them for the next hearing. Sharif had earlier appeared before the accountability court on 26 September in connection with the case. The Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif on 28 July in the Panama Papers case and ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file corruption and money laundering charges against the Sharif family and finance minister Ishaq Dar. The NAB has filed cases of corruption and money laundering against Sharif, his family members and finance minister Ishaq Dar in the accountability court in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The anti-graft body also froze the bank accounts and seized properties of Sharif and his family members to put pressure on them to appear before the court. Sharif's family has alleged that the cases are politically motivated. Yangon: Myanmar authorities took foreign diplomats and United Nations representatives on a tour on Monday of conflict-torn northern Rakhine state, where a security crackdown has led to an exodus of more than 5,00,000 Rohingya Muslims. Three groups of diplomats were taken to three different areas, said Ye Htut, district administrator of Maungdaw in Rakhine. He did not provide details on the diplomats' nationalities. Myanmar has come under international criticism for barring aid groups, journalists and other outsiders from independently travelling to the region to see the situation there. A previous guided visit for diplomats scheduled for last week was abruptly cancelled. More than half a million Rohingya have fled from the region to Bangladesh in just over a month, the largest refugee crisis to hit Asia in decades. The current exodus is in addition to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled prior violence in Myanmar, where the Muslim ethnic group has faced decades of persecution and discrimination in the Buddhist-majority nation. Bangladesh's foreign minister said Monday that Myanmar "has made proposals for taking back Rohingya refugees." AH Mahmood Ali made the remarks after meeting in Bangladesh's capital with a Myanmar delegation led by Kyaw Tint Swe, a minister in the State Counsellor's Office. Ali told reporters that the counties had agreed to form a joint working group to start work on repatriation. "Both countries want to settle the issue peacefully," he said. It was unclear whether Myanmar would place restrictions on which refugees would be allowed to return home. Most Rohingya have been denied citizenship in Myanmar, although many families have lived in the country for generations. The Myanmar delegation did not speak to the media. "I see today's development very positively, but we know Myanmar's previous behaviour when it comes to Rohingya and their repatriation," said Delwar Hossain, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University. "Myanmar did not keep their word in the past, they stopped cooperating with Bangladesh for their repatriation." The latest violence began when a Rohingya insurgent group launched deadly attacks on security posts 25 August, prompting Myanmar's military to launch "clearance operations." Those fleeing have described indiscriminate attacks by security forces and Buddhist mobs. The government has blamed the Rohingya, saying they set fire to their own homes, but the UN and others accuse it of ethnic cleansing. Local officials in Rakhine said Monday's tour includes meetings with relatives of victims allegedly killed by militants during violence against Hindu, Mro and Daignets minority communities in Maungdaw township. In the morning, the diplomats were taken to Anaut Pyin village of Rathedaung township, a community of Rohingya Muslims who have not fled, said local police officer Moe Zaw. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Myanmar has proposed taking back the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks, the Bangladeshi foreign minister said after talks Monday with a senior Myanmar representative. AH Mahmood Ali said the representative of de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi had agreed to set up a working group to coordinate the repatriation. He gave no details. "The talks were held in a friendly atmosphere, and Myanmar has made a proposal to take back the Rohingya refugees," the minister told reporters after meeting Kyaw Tint Swe in Dhaka. "The two sides have agreed to a proposal to set up a joint working group to coordinate the repatriation process." Suu Kyi, who has been severely criticised for her failure to intervene in a military crackdown on the Rohingya, said in a speech in September that Myanmar would take back "verified" refugees. This would be done according to the criteria set between the two countries in 1993, when tens of thousands of Rohingya were repatriated, she said. He said the refugees would be verified by the joint working group, with the United Nations not involved. There was no immediate comment from Suu Kyi's representative, who arrived in the country early Monday and is expected to leave later in the day. The Rohingya, a Muslim minority, do not qualify for Myanmar citizenship even though many have lived there for generations. The army insists they are interlopers from across the border in Bangladesh. Brands, producers and consumers are wrestling with rising costs and greater instabilities within F&B sectors. Value has taken on a whole new meaning to many... Read More Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Monday afternoon that his team has activated its safety check feature in response to Sundays Las Vegas massacre that has killed 58 and injured more than 500 people, in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. It's hard to imagine the loss from the shooting in Las Vegas. It's hard to imagine why we don't make it much harder for anyone to do this. Our community has activated Safety Check so you can check on anyone who was in the area or mark yourself safe, Zuckerberg said in Facebook posting Monday. Facebooks safety check feature was first introduced in 2014 and was widely implemented during the 2015 Nepal earthquake. The feature allows Facebook users to check in and identify themselves as safe during tragedy events or natural disasters. LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: TECH EXECS, INCLUDING TIM COOK, EXPRESS CONDOLENCES Zuckerbergs chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, also expressed her thoughts about Sundays massacre on her personal Facebook page. "I just woke up to the terrible news out of Las Vegas. Death is an inevitable part of life and happens for so many reasons that we can't avoid," writes Sandberg, whose husband unexpectedly passed away in 2015. "But for people to be killed so senselessly, for lives to be lost so unnecessarily, is devastating for all of these families and for all of us." Last year, Zuckerberg announced at the social networks first Social Good Forum event, that he is on a mission to turn Facebook into a relief response center for users in need. In recent years, it has become clear that a core part of helping to grow a community is helping to keep you safe. That is a fundamental responsibility and something that we take very seriously, Zuckerberg said in March of 2016. During the event, the company also revealed a new "Community Help" tool, which will allow users to ask for or offer aid to others in the wake of a natural disaster. In this Market Foolery podcast segment, host Chris Hill and Motley Fool Asset Management's Bill Barker discuss the news that Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) has brought celebrity chef Richard Blais in to give some sparkle to Tasty Made's extremely limited menu. Now, it's a bit premature to call Tasty Made a chain, since there's only one in existence -- which might explain why Chris thinks this is not where Chipotle management ought to be focused just now. A full transcript follows the video. 10 stocks we like better than Chipotle Mexican GrillWhen 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 Chipotle Mexican Grill 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 September 5, 2017 This video was recorded on Sept. 27, 2017. Bill Barker: Chipotle is, according to CNBC, which we found this on -- Chris Hill: We trust them. Barker: They're hiring Richard Blais. Friend of yours? Hill: Richard Blais, not a friend of mine, but someone I've watched on the show Top Chef. I've seen him before. Barker: He's been hired to spiff up its burger concept. For those who didn't know, Chipotle has a concept. They don't actually have a burger establishment, but they have a name -- Hill: No, they -- Barker: Do they? Hill: I think they have a couple of locations. Barker: Oh, do they? Hill: Yeah. And by a couple, I mean a couple. So you shared this news, and as much as I like Richard Blais, at least the reality-television version of him -- I rooted for him on Top Chef because he seemed like a decent guy and a good chef and talented and all that sort of thing -- as a Chipotle shareholder, this is yet another hair-ripping moment. If they're focused on the couple of burger locations that they have and not on the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of namesake Chipotle locations that they have, then they're just wasting everyone's time. Barker: So they have one location, according to this article. This is Tasty Made. For those who are traveling through Lancaster, Ohio, or live there, or live nearby, they can go there and see what's going on. It's a pretty inventive concept. They've got burgers, fries, and shakes. Hill: Wow. All three? Barker: All three. Hill: That's amazing. That's amazing! Barker: The triple crown. Hill: That's amazing, for a company that somehow appears to be the only restaurant in America that can't pull off breakfast before creating lunch and dinner. Actually, one of our listeners in Ohio went to that location when it opened up. I remember, there were lines out the door, but the actual burger itself was actually pretty uninspiring, according to this one listener. So that speaks to why they're bringing in a celebrity chef, to help spiff it up. But again, this is not even one-tenth of 1% of their overall business. So you know what? Get Richard Blais in there to maybe work on the namesake menu. Or someone else. Barker: You're a little bitter about Chipotle, aren't you? Hill: I just ... yeah. It's time for Steve Ells to go. Barker: Is it being a shareholder of it? Hill: That's a big part of it, yeah. I mean, I'm certainly frustrated at other companies and other company management that I don't have any sort of financial stake in. But yeah, being a shareholder of Chipotle and watching the last two years play out the way they have, it's like, it's fine -- people have heard me vent about this before. [laughs] I could go for another 20 minutes, and I'm not going to do that. But again, good luck on the Tasty Made. Maybe if that's a hit, start rolling those out, start expanding those. Maybe that can succeed where ShopHouse didn't. Barker: No, it was disappointing, what happened with every concept other than the original one. And the original one hasn't exactly been firing on all cylinders, either. Hill: Do you know why ShopHouse didn't succeed? Barker: I do not know. Hill: Because no one likes Chinese food. Barker: Ah. Hill: Oh, no, wait, that's not true. Everyone loves Chinese food. They just couldn't manage to pull it off. Bill Barker has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Chris Hill owns shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. It was a busy 2018 for Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ), with the alcoholic beverage giant riding strong demand for its premium imported beers to deliver market share gains and another increase in profitability. The owner of the Corona and Pacifico franchises also made an aggressive bet in the marijuana space that started small but grew into a massive $4 billion investment in Canopy Growth (NYSE: CGC). Investors have lately found more reasons to be cautious about Constellation Brands' business, though, as rising marketing costs appear set to push profit growth below 20% for the first time in five years. Those contrasting trends set shareholders up for an important earnings announcement on Jan. 9, one that could set the stage for a better year ahead for this high-flying stock. With that backdrop in mind, let's take a closer look at the major metrics that will shape Constellation Brands' fiscal third quarter. Market share Beer sales have been the main engine powering Constellation Brands' business growth since 2013, when the company acquired the U.S. selling rights to imported brands like Corona. That trend has held up in 2018, too, with consumption rising by 10% over the past six months while giants like Anheuser-Busch InBev have reported flat or slightly declining results in the U.S. This upcoming report will include an important update on that market share fight. It will also show whether Corona Premier, the first national addition to the franchise in 25 years, is still meeting management's expectations. Executives have been saying since the start that beer sales should grow by about 10% this fiscal year, and any shift to that target would reflect slower or faster-than-expected growth over the last few months. Profitability and spending CEO Rob Sands and his team are predicting that profitability will rise again in fiscal 2019 to continue an impressive streak that's seen operating margin jump to 30% from 22% five years ago. This rally has been helped along by robust demand and rising selling prices. That's just one of the benefits of Constellation Brands' premium positioning. Profit gains are slowing, though, for a few reasons. The main one is accelerated marketing spending in support of key brands and the launch of Corona Premier. Constellation is also allocating lots of cash toward expanding and upgrading its Mexican brewery network. Management has sought to assure investors that these spending programs will be temporary and will generate high returns, but Wall Street will be looking for the company to back up those words by forecasting a slowdown in expense growth perhaps as soon as 2019. Marijuana updates Executives warned back in early October that their equity investment in Canopy Growth, which closed a few weeks later, might produce earnings volatility due to potential charges tied to shifts in the value of the marijuana specialist's stock. Shareholders will get a quick look at that risk since Canopy Growth's shares are down about 40% over the last three months. Any accounting charge that Constellation Brands takes isn't likely to affect its outlook for the business, though, and it might in fact produce a more attractive purchase price for company to boost its stake. Their partnership gives Constellation a 35% ownership level that management can increase to above 50% if the markets in Canada and in the U.S. develop as quickly as they're hoping they will. 10 stocks we like better than Constellation BrandsWhen 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 quadrupled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Constellation Brands 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 November 14, 2018 Demitrios Kalogeropoulos has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and Constellation Brands. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Alaska marijuana grower Mike Emers has been losing sleep with a vote fast approaching that he says could shutter his family's business and financially ruin them. The statewide initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in 2014 allows local governments to ban pot businesses within their borders. And on Tuesday, voters in two of Alaska's major marijuana-growing areas - including the Fairbanks area, where Emers operates Rosie Creek Farm - will decide whether to do so. If the proposed bans on marijuana growing, manufacturing, selling and testing are successful, several dozen businesses would be forced to close. And, some in the industry worry, besides creating a bottleneck in the cannabis supply chain, it could embolden other communities to pursue bans or cause state lawmakers to look at whether to roll back legalization. "I think this is a pivotal moment for the course we're setting here," said Cary Carrigan, executive director of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association. Carrigan said he felt good about the work the industry has put in to fight the bans but wouldn't hazard a guess as to how the votes might go. Emers, who turned to growing cannabis after financially struggling as an organic fruit and vegetable farmer, understood the risks when he poured his life savings into the business. While the vote is legally allowed, "on a moral basis, it's disingenuous," he said. "To have the rug pulled out from under us once the ball is rolling seems incredibly unfair," he said. The opt-out provision for local governments isn't unique to Alaska, but it's unusual to see it exercised so long after a legalization vote, said Chris Lindsey, senior legislative counsel with the national, pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project. Following Oregon's 2014 legalization vote, there was a rush by rural communities in the eastern part of that state to enact bans, he said. In Colorado, at least 69 communities have embraced marijuana businesses, most along the heavily populated Front Range, in Rocky Mountain resort areas or near borders with neighboring states. More than twice as many have opted out, according to the Colorado Municipal League. However, some communities that banned the drug in legal pot states have revisited the decision in light of tax revenues from sales. For example, the City Council in Yakima, Washington, last year lifted a ban on recreational pot businesses. Supporters of the proposed bans in and around Fairbanks, the largest city in Alaska's Interior with about 32,000 people, and in rural parts of the Kenai Peninsula Borough initially hoped to bring the issue to voters last fall but failed to meet deadlines to do so. The Kenai Peninsula Borough is about 65 air miles (104 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage. Ban supporters contend it is one thing to support legalization statewide but another to support it in your community. "The voters have a right to decide important questions like this, and when they get ignored and the neighborhoods aren't being protected by their local government, whose job it is to do that, someone needs to step up and say, 'Listen, this is wrong, and we need to fix it,'" said James Ostlind, chairman of the initiative group supporting bans in Fairbanks and surrounding unincorporated communities. Ostlind and others cite frustration with local zoning rules they see as too lax and allowing marijuana businesses near homes. Christine Nelson, director of community planning for the Fairbanks North Star Borough, which encompasses the city and nearby communities, said much of the borough is zoned as general use, allowing for nearly any type of use. Many subdivisions and neighborhoods have gone up in these zones, creating a rub when other types of property owners want to come in, she said. Local officials have encouraged homeowners in general use areas who don't want legal pot farms or retail shops nearby to petition to have their areas rezoned as residential, a designation that restricts cannabis businesses. The trick, though, is getting enough homeowners to sign on, since some may have bought their property because they could use it for a range of purposes and don't want to lose that, Nelson said. Lance Roberts, a member of the Fairbanks North Star Borough assembly who supports the Fairbanks-area bans, expects a large voter turnout and a tight vote. Many of the communities that have barred or limited pot businesses in Alaska so far are smaller or fairly conservative, such as North Pole, just outside Fairbanks, and Sarah Palin's hometown of Wasilla. Blaine Gilman, a leading voice in the effort to bar marijuana businesses in parts of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, does not believe the commercialization of pot has been good for the community. He cites health concerns and fears it could lead to use of harder drugs, issues the industry has challenged. Gilman, a former borough assembly member, said that during the debate over legalization, marijuana advocates, as part of their pitch, made clear that communities would have the right to opt out. But, "when people try to opt out, there is a huge reaction," he said. Leif Abel, whose Greatland Ganja growing operation based in the peninsula town of Kasilof would be affected, said if the measures succeed, they could have a chilling effect on the industry and "embolden the prohibitionist stance." He feels confident in the industry's efforts to defeat the measure on the peninsula and said he's as calm as he can be about it. "This is the last dying throes of prohibition," he said, adding later: "Even if some of these folks don't admit it to themselves ... the real reason that they still want to prohibit marijuana is they don't want to accept a certain segment of society in the mainstream." At least 50 people were killed and more than 400 injured when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, raining down bullets from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before he was shot dead by police. The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary, would make the attack the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, eclipsing last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club. Some 22,000 people were in the crowd when the man opened fire, sending panicked people fleeing the scene, in some cases trampling one another, as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concert goers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack. At least 406 people were taken to area hospitals with injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said. Police identified the gunman as area resident Stephen Paddock, 64, and said they had no information yet about his motive. He was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. "We've located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied." Authorities had earlier regarded Paddock's roommate, Marilou Danley, as a person of interest, but later on Monday said they no longer regarded her as related to the case, CNN and Fox News reported, citing police sources. Police had located two cars that belonged to the suspect. The dead included one off-duty police officer, Lombardo said. Two on-duty officers were injured, including one who was in stable condition after surgery and one who sustained minor injuries, Lombardo said. Police warned the death toll may rise. 'JUST KEPT GOING ON' Video taken of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. "It sounded like fireworks. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on," said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. "Probably 100 shots at a time. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again," Smith said. "People were shot and trying to get out. A lot of people were shot." Las Vegas's casinos, nightclubs and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out shortly after 10 p.m. local time (0400 GMT). Mike McGarry, a 53-year-old financial adviser from Philadelphia, was at the concert when he heard hundreds of shots ring out. "It was crazy - I laid on top of the kids. They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life," McGarry said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks, after people ran over him in the panicked crowd. The shooting broke out on the final night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival, a sold-out event attended by thousands and featuring top acts such as Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean. "Tonight has been beyond horrific," Aldean said in a statement on Instagram. "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night." 'WE'RE HORRIFIED' The suspected shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news. "We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims," Eric Paddock said in a brief telephone interview, his voice trembling. "We have no idea in the world." U.S. President Donald Trump offered his condolences to the victims via a post on Twitter early Monday. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Trump said. The rampage was reminiscent of a mass shooting at a Paris rock concert in November 2015 that killed 89 people, part of a wave of coordinated attacks by Islamist militants that left 130 dead. The concert venue was in an outdoor area known as Las Vegas Village, across the Strip from the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor hotels. "Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night's tragic events," the Mandalay Bay said on Twitter. Shares of U.S. casino operators fell in premarket trading on Wall Street, with MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, down 5 percent. Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, Wynn Resorts Ltd and Las Vegas Sands Corp each fell 1 to 2 percent. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen, Chris Michaud and Frank McGurty in New York and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Alison Williams and Bernadette Baum) Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. FAQ - New Privacy Policy Creditors approached Puerto Rico's government with offers surrounding the U.S. territory's bankruptcy after Hurricane Maria tore through the island last month, but federal aid remains the top priority, a Puerto Rico official said on Monday. "Any offer well review it, and well discuss it with the oversight board and their advisers," said Christian Sobrino, Governor Ricardo Rossello's official liaison to the federally appointed Financial Oversight and Management Board. The board is charged with helping Puerto Rico craft and follow a blueprint for the financial recovery from its massive debt crisis. No offers by creditors have been put in place and the government has not met with creditor groups on the proposals, Sobrino said, adding that communications remain a challenge on the island. Creditors of Puerto Rico's bankrupt power utility PREPA already offered a $1 billion loan and a discount on existing debt last week after Maria knocked out power to Puerto Rico's 3.4 million residents, but the government shut down the proposal, calling it a "publicity stunt." Puerto Rico, which declared bankruptcy in May, is weighed down by nearly $72 billion in debt. Last month Puerto Rico's government requested a four-week extension to meet key deadlines in its bankruptcy case after Maria. Sobrino said there are hearings regarding the bankruptcy scheduled for late October and November. Puerto Rico is in danger of running out of cash in a matter of weeks because the economy has come to a halt in the hurricanes aftermath, Rossello told local newspaper El Nuevo Dia in an interview published on Monday. "There is no cash on hand. We have made a huge effort to get $2 billion in cash," Rossello said. "But let me tell you what $2 billion means when you have zero collection: it's basically a month governments payroll, a little bit more." BOARD'S REASSESSMENT OF FISCAL PLAN Earlier on Monday, oversight board member Andrew Biggs told Reuters that the board will assess how damage from Maria will alter the U.S. territory's "economic picture." Puerto Rico's certified fiscal plan continues to be in place without changes, Sobrino said. The hurricane's impact on the island - including the amount of funds the government must expend, in addition to revenue collections - still needs to be determined before decisions can be made, he said. "What we are working on and paying a lot of attention to is the liquidity of the government, especially considering you have a change in how revenue is being collected, how businesses are operating," he said. "In that, were keeping close attention to how we manage liquidity in the upcoming weeks." (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Daniel Bases and Leslie Adler) The man identified as the shooter responsible for killing and wounding hundreds in Las Vegas, Stephen Paddock, previously worked for a company that later become Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT). Lockheed Martin, the worlds largest defense contractor, said the retired Paddock was employed by a predecessor company about 30 years ago. Stephen Paddock worked for a predecessor company of Lockheed Martin from 1985 until 1988. Were cooperating with authorities to answer questions they may have about Mr. Paddock and his time with the company, Lockheed Martin said in a statement. Lockheed Martin did not disclose which company employed Paddock. The Bethesda, Maryland-based defense contractor was created through the merger of Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta in 1995. A report from ABC News said Paddock worked as an accountant or auditor. Paddock, 64, is the suspect behind the attack that killed an estimated 58 people and wounded another 515. Law enforcement officials said Paddock fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino during an outdoor concert. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as police officers forced their way into the hotel room. Shares of MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) and other casino operators dropped in early trading Monday after a gunman killed at least 50 people and injured hundreds more at an outdoor concert near Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. MGM Resorts, which owns Mandalay Bay and several other Las Vegas casinos, fell more than 4%. Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) fell more than 1%, while Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) shares were roughly flat. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of last nights shooting, their families, and those still fighting for their lives. We are working with law enforcement and will continue to do all we can to help all of those involved," MGM Chairman and CEO Jim Murren said in a statement. A gunman fired down on attendees at a concert for country music star Jason Aldean from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Fox News reported. Police identified Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man from Mesquite, Nevada, as a suspect in the shooting. Paddock died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene. Authorities did not immediately reveal a suspected motive. Hundreds of people were treated at local hospitals after the incident, which was identified as the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. This story has been updated Nissan is recalling 1.2 million vehicles in Japan that were produced between October 2014 and September this year to re-inspect them because they had not gone through the proper final checks. Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. said Monday that a team, including an independent third party, was investigating the cause of the oversight and promised to prevent a recurrence. The problem does not affect Nissan vehicles sold outside Japan. The failure is not believed to have affected vehicle safety as they were final-stage checks, according to the Yokohama-based maker of the March subcompact, Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models. Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa told reporters the oversight occurred at all six Nissan plants in Japan. He acknowledged not enough had been done to ensure inspection staff were aware of inspection requirements. He estimated the recalls and re-inspections would cost Nissan about 25 billion yen ($222 million), but stressed final costs were still unclear. The inspection oversight is an embarrassment for Nissan. Nissan temporarily stopped registering new vehicles in Japan last week, after the government notified the company it had noticed inspection irregularities. The auto industry has been hit by a series of recent scandals. Volkswagen AG of Germany acknowledged in 2015 that it had equipped its diesel cars with illegal software that enabled cheating on U.S. emissions tests. Volkswagen has agreed to more than $20 billion in fines and civil settlements over the scandal. The Supreme Court opened a high-profile term Monday with a case about employees' rights that could affect an estimated 25 million workers. Justice Neil Gorsuch, in his first full term on the bench, was silent during an otherwise lively argument in which the justices seemed closely divided. The case is of considerable importance to employers and their workers because it involves how employees can complain about pay and conditions in the workplace. The issue is whether businesses can force employees to individually use arbitration to resolve disputes. The case pits labor laws intended to allow workers to band together against an older law encouraging the use of arbitration, instead of the courts. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, seeming to speak for the court's liberal wing, said the importance of collective action is "there is strength in numbers. You have to protect the individual worker in a situation where he can't protect himself." The conservative justices appeared to have a different view of the case. Chief Justice John Roberts sounded concerned about a ruling for the workers, which he said "would invalidate contracts for 25 million employees." That's the estimated number of non-union workers who have contracts with the individual arbitration provision that is at the heart of the case. One of the term's biggest cases, about partisan advantage in drawing electoral districts, is set for argument Tuesday. It has the potential to reshape American politics, if the court for the first time rules that political maps can be excessively partisan. The justices took their seats just after 10 o'clock on the first Monday in October, the day prescribed in federal law as the start of the high court term. Roberts quickly declared the last term over and the new one, begun. Then he welcomed the nation's new solicitor general, Noel Francisco, who was confirmed by the Senate last month as the Trump administration's top Supreme Court lawyer. Francisco's appearance was one of several signs of changes at or involving the court since Donald Trump's election as president. Trump appointed Gorsuch to fill the seat that had been vacant since Justice Antonin Scalia's death. President Barack Obama had nominated Judge Merrick Garland for the vacancy, but Senate Republicans refused to act on Garland's nomination. Another marker of change was in the administration's position in the employer-employee dispute. The Obama administration had sided with the workers, but Trump's Justice Department reversed that position. The result was the rare appearance of two lawyers for governmental agencies on opposite sides of the same case. While the Justice Department contended the businesses should win, the National Labor Relations Board argued that the workers should be protected. A decision is expected by the spring. A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week: MORE HURRICANE FALLOUT? Automakers release their September U.S. sales figures on Tuesday. Sales of new cars and trucks fell 2 percent in August, reflecting weaker demand after Hurricane Harvey slammed into parts of Texas and Louisiana. The deadly storm hurt demand in the Houston area, the ninth-largest vehicle market in the nation. Hurricane Irma swept through Florida in early September. Did that storm continue to weigh on auto sales in September? SERVING UP GAINS Pricier snacks and drinks have helped lift sales in North America for PepsiCo this year. The packaged food and beverage company has also cut costs and taken steps to transform its product lineup to better reflect shifting tastes. Its rollout of pricier bottled water has also done well. That's one reason Wall Street expects that PepsiCo's latest quarterly results improved from a year ago. The company releases its fiscal third-quarter earnings on Wednesday. ALL ABOUT JOBS Economists predict hiring in the U.S. slowed in September for the third consecutive month. They expect the Labor Department will report Friday that nonfarm employers added 110,000 jobs in September. That would represent a drop from August, when the economy added 156,000 jobs. While the economy is still steadily generating jobs, it's doing so more slowly than it did earlier in its recovery from the Great Recession. With unemployment at a near 16-year low, fewer people are looking for work and fewer jobs are being filled. Nonfarm payrolls, monthly change, seasonally adjusted: April 207,000 May 145,000 June 210,000 July 189,000 Aug. 156,000 Sept. (est.) 110,000 Source: FactSet British authorities are scrambling to bring home 110,000 travelers after Monarch Airlines collapsed Monday, cancelling all flights by what had been Britain's fifth biggest carrier with 2,100 employees. The Civil Aviation Authority said it has leased 30 aircraft to transport Monarch customers scattered around holiday destinations ranging from Turkey to Spain and Sweden. Flights will be provided at no additional cost to passengers. "This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad, and my first priority is to help them get back to the U.K.," Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said in a statement. "That is why I have immediately ordered the country's biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded." Some 860,000 customers in all are affected, with 750,000 with future bookings. Monarch ceased operations after failing to reach a deal with regulators to extend the company's license to sell package holidays to overseas destinations. Monarch Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield said the airline's troubles stemmed from recent terror attacks in Egypt and Tunisia and the "decimation" of the tourist trade in Turkey. The airline had tried to pivot from short-haul flights to long-haul travel to reduce losses as consumers shied away from Middle Eastern and North African destinations after the June 2015 attack on tourists at a resort in Tunisia, the bombing of a Russian airliner that had taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, a few months later and the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016. The CAA is advising Monarch customers who are trying to get home from abroad to visit the agency's website for information about their flights. Passengers who were preparing to leave the U.K. on Monarch flights should not go to the airport. The first repatriation flight carrying 165 passengers from the Spanish resort island of Ibiza has already arrived at London's Gatwick Airport, the aviation authority said. "The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable," agency CEO Andrew Haines said. "We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home." Monarch's collapse represents the biggest ever failure of a British airline. KPMG partner Blair Nimmo said administrators are now considering breaking up the company as no buyer has been found to purchase Monarch in its entirety. Counting the airline and tour operator business, the company had 2,100 employees. The airline said companies affected by its failure include Monarch Airlines, Ltd., Monarch Holidays, Ltd., First Aviation, Ltd., Avro, Ltd. and Somewhere2stay, Ltd. "All future holidays and flights provided by these companies have been cancelled and are no longer operating," the company said. Among those affected was a British couple who had intended to fly to Gran Canaria with their family to get married. Bricklayer Alan Jee, 42, was five minutes away from his scheduled flight time when he learned the news. The flights for 30 of his friends and family including fiancee Donna Smith were also affected. "My missus just burst straight into tears, and my mother-in-law, and my mum," he said. "They (Monarch) are doing absolutely nothing about it whatsoever, they've palmed us off." Greybull Capital LLP, which owns The Monarch Group, said it was "deeply saddened" by the airline's failure. ___ Kurtenbach reported from Tokyo. ___ Monarch Airlines: https://monarch.caa.co.uk/customers/i-am-currently-abroad/ President Donald Trump has set out to upend some of President Barack Obama's regulations, which he says circumvented Congress in the first place and cost American businesses and the economy billions of dollars. Without any major legislative accomplishments to point to despite the advantage of a Republican-controlled Congress, Trump on Monday is giving a speech highlighting his own directives to agencies, which have been ordered to cut two regulations for every new one imposed. There's plenty for him to talk about, including dozens of executive orders and other scaling-back on a range of issues, from immigration policy to campus sexual assault. Executive orders are less enduring than legislation because a president can overturn a predecessor's policy. Obama reversed some of President George W. Bush's executive orders, and Trump's will be reviewed by his successor. Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, estimated that Trump's regulations will save about $300 million annually, but she did not explain how Office of Management and Budget analysts came up with that number. Critics of the effort say regulations exist to ensure safety and fairness in the workplace and elsewhere. Public Citizen, a watchdog group, says the rollback of government guidelines are Trump and the Republican Party's "craven attempt at self-enrichment and payback to corporate donors. In fact, robust regulation and enforcement are essential to economic prosperity." Some of the major changes Trump has made since taking office in January: ___ YOUNG IMMIGRANTS The latest Obama policy to fall is the program shielding from deportation hundreds of thousands of young people brought into the country as children and living here illegally. The Trump administration in September said the government would stop issuing new work permits while lawmakers debate whether the protections should be enshrined in law. In explaining his decision, Trump accused Obama of making "an end run around Congress" to protect those commonly referred to as "Dreamers." Obama retorted that Trump's action was a "cruel" and "self-defeating" decision tinged with politics. Democratic leaders and Trump said they have reached a deal to protect the immigrants, but Congress has since turned its focus to overhauling the tax code. ___ CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT Trump has vowed to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate agreement through which nearly 200 countries have committed to combat global warming by reducing polluting emissions. He's scrapped an Obama administration policy that let national parks ban the sale of bottled water to fight littering. He's moved to rip up Obama's Clean Power Plan, regulations that sought to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants. His executive order on regulatory reform has been cited by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt as a reason to delay or roll back a raft of Obama-era environmental regulations, from cleaning up water pollution from coal mines to blunting limits on emissions of toxic mercury from power plant smokestacks. The EPA is not among the 10 agencies expected to hold public briefings after Trump's speech on Monday. ___ EDUCATION The Trump administration in September scrapped Obama-era guidance on investigating campus sexual assault, replacing it with new instructions that allow universities to require higher standards of evidence when handling complaints. His administration also annulled Obama's accountability rules that were used to identify and help troubled schools and to evaluate teachers. ___ TRANSGENDER ISSUES Trump's Education Department has lifted the Obama-era guidance to schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. The president also tweeted out word that transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve openly in the military, reversing an Obama administration provision and sending the Pentagon scrambling to draft new rules. In the meantime, any transgender troops now serving in the military can re-enlist in the next several months, the Pentagon said in September. ___ MUSLIM TRAVEL His initial executive order temporarily banning travel to the U.S. from several Muslim-majority countries and suspending the U.S. refugee program hit roadblocks in the courts. On his second attempt, the Supreme Court allowed only a sharply scaled-back version of the order to go forward pending arguments scheduled for October. When that order expired on Sept. 24, Trump signed a measure imposing new restrictions on travelers from citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and North Korea. The Supreme Court then canceled the arguments and gave both sides time to explain whether the matter was now moot. ___ MILITARY HARDWARE FOR POLICE In an executive order signed in August, Trump told state and local police they could once again have access to grenade launchers, armored vehicles, bayonets and other gear cast off from the U.S. military. Obama had sharply curtailed the Pentagon program in 2015 amid an outcry over police use of military equipment in confronting protesters after several police killings of black men. ___ By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press President Donald Trump and the Republican Party unveiled the framework for their long-awaited tax overhaul last week, and on Monday, Moodys Investors Service said the plan would likely be a negative credit event for the United States government, though positive for most sectors of the economy. Moodys determination that the tax reform package would be credit negative for the country is predicated on spending and deficit concerns. The framework is broadly in line with our assumption that tax cuts would not be offset by equivalent cuts to spending, which would put upward pressure on the federal budget deficit and debt, the company said, adding that the increase in taxable income from higher economic growth would not be sufficient to cover the costs of tax cuts. However, some sectors are poised to get a bump from lower rates, Moodys said, including banks and insurers. Broadening the tax base through deduction eliminations would also be positive for U.S. credit. Moodys did acknowledge that the plan is light on specific details, as it will serve as negotiating framework for lawmakers in Congress. The White House and Republican leadership have yet to address how they plan to offset the cost of tax cuts, although administration officials have said in the past that the tax cuts would pay for themselves. GOP lawmakers expect tax reform to be completed by the end of the year. The White House said on Monday it was premature to discuss policies on gun control less than a day after a gunman killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 500 at a Las Vegas country music festival. "Today is a day for consoling the survivors and mourning those we lost," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters at a news briefing. "It would be premature for us to discuss policy when we don't fully know all the facts or what took place last night." (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) In wake of the mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival Sunday that that claimed the lives of 58 people and left more than 500 injured, celebrities took to Twitter to push for increased gun control laws. Lady Gaga tweeted Monday, "Prayers are important but @SpeakerRyan @realDonaldTrump blood is on the hands of those who have power to legislate. #GunControl act quickly." "Star Trek" actor William Shatner tweeted to his fans, "Why would you need an automatic weapon for self protection? If that many people were coming after you then you have much bigger problems." Actor Michael Ian Black called the NRA a "terrorist organization." Alyssa Milano called for "sensible gun control NOW." Bill Eichner tweeted, "GUN CONTROL NOW. ENOUGH ALREADY. GROW THE F--K UP. THE AVERAGE PERSON DOESN'T NEED A F--KING MACHINE GUN. ENOUGH ALREADY. ENOUGH. ENOUGH." Other stars like Joshua Malina, Elizabeth Banks, Russell Simmons and more expressed their political views on Twitter. Tom Petty reportedly was taken off life support after he was found unconscious in his California home on Sunday. According to TMZ, the 66-year-old star was found in cardiac arrest, not breathing. His personal appearances manager told Fox News on Monday afternoon the office had "no comment at this time." Several news outlets briefly reported the singer had died, citing the LAPD and causing confusion. The LAPD told Fox News it had no information regarding Pettys condition. The Los Angeles County Coroners Office told Fox News no incident involving the singer had been reported to the office. The LAPD later explained "initial information was inadvertently provided to some media sources." A rep for Petty has not responded to multiple requests for comment. The Florida native, who rose to fame in the 70s as the lead of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, has had a busy year. Hes been touring to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his band. Last week, he wrapped up a long leg of the tour with three sold-out shows at the Hollywood Bowl, according to Forbes. The "Free Fallin'" rocker recently said this tour would be his "last big one" during a chat with Rolling Stone. He described the hectic nature of a country-wide tour during the June interview and said he hopes to record again. "It's still a wild pace," Petty told Rolling Stone. CBS has parted ways with one of the companys top lawyers after she said she was not even sympathetic to victims of the Las Vegas shooting because country music fans often are Republican, when discussing the mass shooting that unfolded in Las Vegas late Sunday night. Monday night she issued a statement of apology. Hayley Geftman-Gold, the network's now-former vice president and senior counsel, said, Earlier today I posted an indefensible post in a Facebook discussion thread concerning the tragic Las Vegas shooting, a statement I sincerely regret. I am deeply sorry for diminishing the significance of every life affected by Stephen Paddocks terrorism last night and for the pain my words have inflicted on the loved ones of the victims. My shameful comments do not reflect the beliefs of my former employer, colleagues, family, and friends. Nor do they reflect my actual beliefs this senseless violence warrants the deepest empathy. I understand and accept all consequences that my words have incurred. A CBS spokeswoman told Fox News that Geftman-Gold, who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS. Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS. Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families. Geftman-Gold took to Facebook after a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, killing at least 59 people and sending more than 510 others to hospitals. If they wouldnt do anything when children were murdered I have no hope that Repugs [sic] will ever do the right thing, Geftman-Gold wrote in a now-deleted message that was first reported and captured by The Daily Caller. Geftman-Gold continued: Im actually not even sympathetic bc [sic] country music fans often are Republican gun toters [sic]. Geftman-Gold is presumably referring to Sandy Hook, which occurred in Newtown, Conn. back in 2012. A 20-year-old gunman, Adam Lanza, killed 20 children and six adults during the tragic event that sparked intense political debates regarding gun control. Her attorney, Carrie A. Goldberg, responded: In the last few hours my client, her family and friends have been bombarded by online death unimaginable in quantity and detail. We beg people to show love and support to survivors and loved ones in Las Vegas and their own lives instead of creating more violence. Geftman-Gold did not work directly with the networks news division. According to her LinkedIn bio, Geftman-Gold worked at CBS since September 2016 and graduated from the prestigious Columbia University law school in 2000. Around 1 million unvaccinated Venezuelan children are susceptible to measles, a highly contagious disease that has re-emerged in the crisis-stricken South American nation, a group of doctors estimated on Friday. A crippling shortage of medicines and vaccines, as well as decaying hospitals and an exodus of doctors has thrown Venezuela's health sector into a tailspin. Amid the crisis, once-controlled diseases like diphtheria and measles have returned to the fore, putting Venezuela's 30 million people at risk and raising the threat of contagion beyond its borders. NATIONAL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH: KEY TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW Measles, caused by a virus usually passed through direct contact and the air, is a top cause of death for young children although a vaccine is available. The World Health Organization warns it can be especially lethal in countries that have suffered violent conflict and whose health infrastructure is deteriorated. Venezuelan health associations first raised the alarm about the return of measles in the rough southern mining state of Bolivar in August. Since then, the WHO has reported 84 suspected cases, with 34 confirmed cases. "Preliminary data indicates it is evolving rapidly," two Venezuelan public health organizations said of the measles outbreak in a report on Friday. "We've identified a suboptimal vaccination coverage, and on a national level we estimate that at least 1,150,000 children under the age of 1 were not vaccinated... over the last 10 years," the report added. Ana Carvajal, a doctor and one of the authors of the report, told Reuters the estimate is based on data obtained through sources at the Health Ministry and WHO figures. Still, an ongoing vaccination drive in Bolivar has likely lowered the risk. WHITE HOUSE TO GLOW PINK FOR NATIONAL BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH The WHO has said it is helping with the purchase and delivery of some 7.2 million vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in Venezuela and hopes to spread the drive across the country. As Venezuela's medical crisis has worsened, the Health Ministry has largely kept mum and no longer publishes a weekly bulletin that includes data on infant mortality or mosquito-borne diseases like malaria. The government did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Measles deaths dropped around 79 percent between 2000 and 2015 globally thanks to vaccinations, according to the WHO. But gaps in coverage have lead to several measles outbreaks in Europe in the past year, officials said in April, with lack of trust leading people to turn down potentially life-saving vaccines. As a former counter-terrorism expert who has spent years at war overseas, I never thought I would have to see the day that we are at war with ourselves back on American soil. The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history is a horrific attack by one of our very own. Waking up and hearing the fear in peoples voices, listening to the gun shots, it took me back to a war zone. Striking locations such as concerts, schools, churches, are typically things I see in third world countries that are under a constant state of attack. We call these types of locations soft targets -- vulnerable areas with high occupancy, limited protection, and easily accessible by the public. Still within hours of the aftermath of Vegas, I worry the horrifying repeat of Orlando, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech shows how vulnerable we are as a nation, both on our soil and now at a global level. How are we working to protect ourselves on the home front? Are we making valuable legislative changes that will make these horrific events impossible to take place again? Unfortunately, there is no escaping it any longer. Other countries who have lived this pattern before will tell us that this attack wont be the last. Events like what happened in Vegas will continue as the new normal unless we take actual action to do something about it. In countries that are under constant threat from terrorist attacks, the citizens have bred a culture of security collectively. For too long we have been reactive to these types of events, defending ourselves only when its too late, instead of being pro-active and taking the necessary steps to get ahead of it. Dont distance yourself from this terrible act and the emotions happening with those involved. We need to absorb what has happened and not de-sensitize ourselves as a nation. Even our very own stock market on Monday was unaffected, in fact its higher than normal. If that isnt an indicator of this trend of desensitizing ourselves with each new attack on our soil, then I dont know what is. We simply cant settle for this new reality that we are soft targets anywhere we visit or go. This wont happen to me is not the mentality to have at this point. Every one of us has the responsibility to do something about it. What we need is a security overhaul. What we need is to create a greater culture of security as American citizens. Security personnel should look at the way events are planned in the future, a lot like the Secret Service may look at the threats of where the president stands. Making every building a fortress is not an option, but there are more aggressive steps we can take to reduce future attacks. Making these soft targets appear hardened is one way. Areas where events are held not only need to consider on-ground security options such as metal detectors but also elevated position and anti-sniper teams. Citizens need to accept and be patient with stronger security measures and encourage them. We will most likely start seeing more now in hotels and public buildings. Its also not enough to just look to our security and law enforcement personnel. Everyone has a responsibility to be more vigilant. Everyday citizens have the ability to help create a greater culture of security. We cant sit back any longer. Its not too late for us as a nation. Its time to defend ourselves before its too late. On this day, I will not only be praying for the victims of Vegas, but also praying that our countrys leader takes the necessary actions to do something about stopping future ones. The recent retirement of Equifax CEO Richard Smith after a data breach at the credit reporting bureau put the personal information of as many as 143 million Americans at risk is just the latest development in an ongoing story that represents an urgent call for cybersecurity action. Our critical infrastructure centers are at grave risk for technological or digital disruption, more commonly known as hacks. A single hack on any one of these targets could severely imperil the health, financial well-being and security of the American people. Members of Congress, state attorneys general, security experts and citizens need to strive to understand and mitigate the terrible impacts of the hack, because these impacts could last for years. The privacy of Social Security, drivers license and credit card numbers were all endangered by the Equifax hack. So were home addresses and dates of birth of roughly half the U.S. population. Experts have been quick to identify what has been labeled the Equi-hack as a Level 10 (the highest number on a scale of 1 to 10) threat to identity and information security. The depth and breadth of the Equi-hack underscores the urgent need for private sector leaders including those at my company, Parsons to confront and prevent cyberattacks across a wide spectrum of vulnerabilities. While credit cards numbers, dates of birth and addresses were the target of the Equi-hack, imagine a devastating cyberattack on Americas critical infrastructure. Electric grids, dams, mass transit systems and air traffic control centers are all vulnerable. While credit cards numbers, dates of birth and addresses were the target of the Equi-hack, imagine a devastating cyberattack on Americas critical infrastructure. Electric grids, dams, mass transit systems and air traffic control centers are all vulnerable. And these are just some infrastructure centers where the Internet of Things, blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning now play a major role in the management and delivery of critical services. These new innovations create new digital weak points to be exploited by bad actors. A simple network connection and a single swipe on a touchpad can be entry points to an infrastructure attack. For example, a 2016 U.S. Justice Department indictment revealed that a hacker loyal to the Iranian government allegedly gained access to the control system of Bowman Avenue Dam in upstate New York through an inexpensive cellular modem. At the federal level, the U.S. Senate recently took a step in the right direction when it passed the $700 billion National Defense Authorization Act with several amendments that address cybersecurity issues including critical infrastructure. But the stakes here are enormous and its up to the private and public sectors to work together to maintain the momentum. The vast control systems of infrastructure throughout America are often outdated, having been installed long before cybersecurity was an urgent threat to our small towns and big cities alike. Updating these systems is a proverbial race against the clock and there must be greater collaboration between the private and public sectors to get the job done. The pace with which the infrastructure industry and government agencies embrace security innovation must rapidly increase. State and municipal agency partnerships with private companies can offer government entities vastly expanded access to the new technologies and cutting edge know-how required to ensure that Americas critical infrastructure is ready and resilient should cyberattacks take place. For instance, new technologies and algorithms allow engineers and cybersecurity professionals to address vulnerabilities within critical infrastructure facilities and systems. Cybersecurity solutions such as vulnerability and penetration testing can identify digital weak points in a facility or system. By identifying, then assessing and ultimately exploiting critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, cybersecurity experts can design, test and implement security for critical networks and infrastructure not just in response to immediate dangers but to future threats as well. That means access will be denied to hackers. A little-known bit of World War II history tells us that Nazi spies plotted to blow up the Hoover Dam. Today, it is not alarmist to say that a lack of partnership between the private sector and state and municipal agencies, leading to a lack of investment in infrastructure cybersecurity, could result in a catastrophic hack of a pipeline, dam or nuclear power plant. The time is now to join forces and work together to ensure Americas security. Following the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas, there have been calls from leading politicians for immediate action. Joe Biden tweeted How long do we let gun violence tear families apart? Enough. Congress & the WH should act now to save lives. There's no excuse for inaction. Hillary Clinton tweeted: Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut (D) said "The thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference. It's time for Congress to get off its ass and do something." There were similar beliefs expressed by several of his colleagues, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Tim Kaine of Virginia. And over in the House, Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts (D) said on a Facebook Video "I will not be standing with my colleagues in a moment of silence that just becomes an excuse for inaction in the House of Representatives today. I will work to do something about this problem so that it doesnt happen again. Its understandable that such an event would be followed by demands for swift action. But sometimes, when youre most sure something must be done--and done right now--thats a signal to slow things down. While some circumstances, such as natural disasters, do call for the quickest relief possible, most legislation should be passed after serious deliberation, not in the heat of the moment. We cant help but be affected by events of the day. They mold our opinions. But events are over quickly, while legislation lasts. And while some circumstances, such as natural disasters, do call for the quickest relief possible, most legislation should be passed after serious deliberation, not in the heat of the moment. Rahm Emanuel, when he was President Obamas incoming Chief of Staff, famously (or infamously) said You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before. All too true. But that should be taken as a warning, not a promise. This time its the Democrats who are calling for action, to get things done theyve always wanted to do but werent able to before. Tomorrow, it could be the Republicans who see some crisis they believe they can exploit politically. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail. Ironically, here is where the highly condemned special interest groups are most needed. Such groups can help prevent a legislature from being steamrolled, slowing down the process and forcing politicians to make their case. This is not to say the calls for legislation were hearing are foolish. Gun control advocates make serious points that cant be discounted. But any good arguments they have should be just as good a week from now when passions have at least somewhat cooled. The saying goes marry in haste, repent at leisure. Thats just as true for legislation. So yes, lets do something. But lets also take our time. With the Supreme Court starting its 2017 term on the first Monday in October, well soon be getting a good idea of how the Trump Court, with the Presidents pick Neil Gorsuch, operates. And one of the most closely watched cases this term will be Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Two of the most precious rights Americans possess are the right to express themselves freely and the right to practice their religion as they see fit. Both are enshrined in the First Amendment. But these rights are not absolute, and sometimes may clash with a duty toward others. Masterpiece Cakeshop is a case that will test these limits. It started in July 2012. Charlie Craig and David Mullins asked Jack Phillips, who owned the Masterpiece Cakeshop, to create a custom wedding cake to celebrate their same-sex marriage. Phillips refused, saying he didnt want to promote a same-sex wedding due to his religious beliefs. Court experts believe the decision could go either way, and during oral argument theyll be watching Justice Kennedy. If its a close case, they think hell most likely be the one to cast the deciding vote. Craig and Mullins filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The Commission decided against Phillips, declaring he had discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation. The Commission ordered the cakeshop to change its policies, give its staff training on discrimination, and provide quarterly reports for two years regarding steps taken to comply with the order. The Colorado Court of Appeals upheld the decision and the Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear the case. Last year, Phillips petitioned the Supreme Court, claiming the Colorado ruling violates the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. The Court agreed to hear his case. Dr. John Eastman, a professor and former dean at Chapman Universitys school of law, believes the free speech argument is strong, because Phillips work involved expressive conduct. Whether its a photographer, or a cake maker, or a t-shirt designer, he notes, theyre engaged in expressive activity which is covered by the First Amendment. In fact, in the case of t-shirts or language on a cake, its actual speech. But Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UCI School of Law, counters that the expressive activity comes from the customers. If I choose the words on my cake, Im engaging in expression. The baker is simply putting my words on a cake. Further, Chemerinsky notes that even if this is about speech that doesnt mean the government cant intercede. And in this case, the interest in preventing discrimination outweighs other interests. For instance, the baker would lose in court if he were against interracial marriage and wont bake a cake for an interracial couple. Eastman suggests we shift the facts and imagine a white racist who wants an African-American baker to bake a cake celebrating the Ku Klux Klan. If the courts tried to claim creating the cake doesnt implicate free speech rights, people would be howling. Phillips was willing to serve homosexuals in his shop, he just didnt want to be forced to support their beliefs. As for the related free exercise of religion argument, Chemerinsky says that under the Supreme Court decision Employment Division v. Smith (1990), state lawsuch as Colorados anti-discrimination lawsmay limit what people claim is their religious right as long as the statutes are neutral laws of general applicability and not aimed at religion. Eastman agrees that the Smith ruling makes the free exercise argument a tougher sell, though he does wonder, with Justice Scaliawho authored the opinionno longer on the Court, if it isnt time to revisit this precedent. Court experts believe the decision could go either way, and during oral argument theyll be watching Justice Kennedy. If its a close case, they think hell most likely be the one to cast the deciding vote. One thing is for sureno matter how its decided, the case will be a blockbuster. Eastman believes it could be bigger than the Hobby Lobby opinion a few years back, which allowed a company to be exempt from a contraceptive mandate due to religious objections. That case was limited in scope, but if the Court found for Phillips, it could mean theres a constitutional right that would trump numerous statutes across the nation. Federal prosecutors told jurors Monday that alleged Benghazi mastermind Ahmed Abu Khattala hates America with a vengeance, as the long-awaited trial began for the only suspect held in connection with the 2012 attack. Both sides delivered opening statements at a Washington federal courthouse. Khattala faces 18 federal charges, including murder. Four Americans were killed in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack: Ambassador Christopher Stevens, State Department official Sean Smith and security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, both former Navy SEALs. Ambassador Christopher Stevens was choked to death by thick black smoke. Glen Doherty was blown apart by a mortar attack. Why? Because they were Americans. And that defendant, right there, hates America with a vengeance, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb said while motioning at Khattala, dressed in a white shirt and sitting expressionless at the defense table. 'Ambassador Christopher Stevens was choked to death by thick black smoke. Glen Doherty was blown apart by a mortar attack. Why? Because they were Americans.' Prosecutor John Crabb Crabb, in the prosecutions 60-plus minute opening statement, said Khattala believed the State Department compound, where Stevens and Smith died, and the nearby CIA annex were U.S. spy operations. Both posts came under attack. And that concern and that desire drove Abu Khattala to kill, Crabb said. Defense lawyers, in their opening statement, argued they have evidence that will show Khattala is not guilty and was not the so-called mastermind behind the attacks. They said their client was, in fact, someone the United States and Libya decided could be readily blamed. He was a soft target, defense attorney Jeffrey Robinson said, calling Khatalla a Libyan patriot. He didnt have anything to do with it. Thats why he talked to reporters and answered questions about it. He wasnt in hiding from anything. Stevens and Smith died at the compound from the smoke of a fire started by the attackers, whom Crabb said were associates of Khattala. Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty died nearly eight hours later at the CIA annex during the mortar attack. Crabb showed a video that appeared to show Khattala outside the State compound during the first attack, then entering after the Americans left so he could ransack a room in which top-secret U.S. documents including maps were kept. Abu Khattala didn't do the killings by himself. He didnt set the fire. He didnt fire the mortar, Crabb said. "But Abu Khattala planned the attack. ... He got others to do his dirty work." The defense team said Khattala went to the State Department compound to see what was going on and never stopped anyone from trying to rescue the Americans. He didn't attack or shoot anyone, nor go to the CIA annex. They have no evidence, said the defense lawyer, further arguing government witnesses are in fact political enemies of Khattala. The 2012 attack became instant political fodder, with Republicans accusing the Obama administration of intentionally misleading the public and stonewalling congressional investigators, though officials denied wrongdoing. It continued to be a problem for Hillary Clinton during her failed 2016 White House bid, as critics accused her of pushing a false narrative linking the attack to protests over an anti-Islam video -- and her State Department of neglecting security needs of the team on the ground before the attack. The case is one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years in a U.S. civilian court. It comes at a time when the Trump administration has said terror suspects are better sent to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Khattala has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which also include providing material support to terrorists and destroying U.S. property while causing death. Khattala, who has a long, gray beard, entered the courtroom and shook hands with members of his legal team. Before the opening statements, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper gave the jury 30 minutes of instructions. "This is a criminal case, he told the 15 jurors, including three alternates. "You and only you are the ultimate deciders of fact in this case." Khattala was captured three years ago by U.S. Special Forces in Libya and brought to the U.S. on a 13-day trip aboard a Navy ship. The defendants lawyers have argued U.S. interrogation strategies on the trip were illegal. During his trans-Atlantic trip, Khattala faced days of questioning from separate teams of American interrogators, part of a two-step process designed to obtain both national security intelligence and evidence usable in a criminal prosecution. He was questioned for days about national security matters before being advised of his rights. A new team of FBI investigators then pressed him some more, this time to produce evidence prosecutors could present at trial. Abu Khattala waived his rights, but his attorneys argued that the trip was so coercive, the waiver shouldn't count. The judge rejected that, and is allowing the statements to be used as evidence. Fox News' Jason Donner and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Facebook announced stricter policies Monday for ad buys on the social media mega-platform, as the tech giant handed Congress more than 3,000 ads linked to a Russian entity. The company said last month that it had discovered ads linked to Facebook accounts that likely operated out of Russia and pushed divisive issues during the U.S. presidential election. The company said it found 450 accounts and about $100,000 was spent on the ads. Joel Kaplan, vice president of global policy, said in a new statement that those ads were being delivered Monday to congressional investigators. Meanwhile, he outlined several other steps being taken by the company, including the hiring of more than 1,000 people to staff global ad review teams. Facebook will also require better documentation from advertisers who want to run ads related to the U.S. election. Potential advertisers will have to confirm the business or organization they represent before they can buy ads, Kaplan wrote. As for the hiring surge, he said, Enforcement is never perfect, but we will get better at finding and removing improper ads. The moves come as the company is under pressure from multiple congressional committees that are investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Congress has recently focused on the spread of false news stories and propaganda on social media, putting pressure on Facebook and other social media companies to turn over more information and release any Russia-linked ads. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg first announced on Sept. 21 that the company would hand over the ads to Congress and take measures to ensure that political ads that appear on the site are more transparent. Although Facebook has not confirmed the nature of the ads, new reports suggest they are related to issues dealing with religion, race, and gun ownership, The New York Times reported. Twitter has said it found similar postings linked to those same accounts and that it suspended 22 accounts because of it. House and Senate intelligence panels have asked both companies, along with Google, to testify publicly in the coming weeks but none of the companies have said whether they will accept the invitations. It is unclear whether the ads will eventually be released publicly. Several lawmakers including Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel have said they believe the American public should see them. "As a general rule, we are limited in what we can discuss publicly about law enforcement investigations, so we may not always be able to share our findings publicly," Zuckerberg said. "But we support Congress in deciding how to best use this information to inform the public, and we expect the government to publish its findings when their investigation is complete." Facebook officials will also meet with the Senate Judiciary Committee in addition to working with Special Counsel Bob Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the election. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Federal Election Commission officials have fined a federal contractor on Thursday for donating $200,000 to a Hillary Clinton super PAC, setting a historic precedent. Federal contractors are prohibited from donating to political groups under the federal laws. A Massachusetts-based company, Suffolk Construction, was fined $34,000 for making two $100,000 donations in 2015 to a pro-Clinton Priorities USA Action group while having a million-dollar government contract. The company has been awarded more than $168 million in government contracts since 2008 and held a contract with the Department of Defense worth more than $1.2 million between at the time of the donations, according to an FEC letter published by the Campaign Legal Center. Priorities USA Action is known as one of the Democratic Party's most powerful PACs that supported Barack Obama in 2012, and was the leading pro-Clinton group during the 2016 presidential elections, spending more than $126 million against now-President Donald Trump. Suffolk Construction argued that the government contracts they hold represent only a small fraction of their work and the PAC refunded the donation in June 2016. FEC officials did not accept the companys justification, noting that the donations were not refunded urgently. While Suffolk may consider its federal contract work a de minimis portion of its overall work, its $200,000 contributions to the Committee are not de minimis, FEC wrote in the letter. The complaint against the federal contractor was brought by the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 in 2016 pointing out the illegal donations. They celebrated the penalty, hoping the example will deter companies from donating to political groups. Hopefully this decision by the FEC deters companies with business before the government from attempting to buy influence in the future, Democracy 21 general counsel Donald Simon said in a statement. Brett Kappel, a political campaign finance expert, told the Boston Herald There had been no precedent for the FEC decision to fine the federal contractor. This is actually similar to other issues with pay-to-play laws, the expert said. If you make a contribution (as a contractor), its a violation of the law. It doesnt matter how small a portion of your business it is. The fined federal contractor has since implemented new internal controls to ensure no other illegal donations will occur in the future. The FEC claims the company did not knowingly break the laws. Hillary Clinton took heat Monday for issuing what critics called an ignorant and irrelevant statement going after the NRA and silencers in the hours after the Las Vegas mass shooting. As details were still emerging about the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history which killed at least 58 people the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee took to Twitter to imagine how much deadlier the massacre might have been if silencers had been used. The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get, she tweeted, adding: Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again. It was an apparent reference to the NRAs push to ease federal rules for silencers. But conservative critics quickly hit back, saying silencers probably would only moderately dampen the sound of gunfire in this kind of attack especially from what was described as a high-powered weapon. Suppressors only reduce by a few decibels, still same decibel level as a jackhammer, tweeted Dana Loesch, a talk radio host and NRA spokeswoman. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, editor in chief of The Daily Wire, blasted Clintons tweets as Ignorant, irrelevant and exploitative. Radio host and CIA veteran Buck Sexton had a similar take: Appallingly stupid, and entirely irrelevant, Mrs Clinton She knows nothing about firearms, and even worse, she doesn't care. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders also pushed back when asked about Clintons statements at Mondays briefing. I think before we start trying to talk about the preventions of what took place last night, we need to know more facts, and right now were simply not at that point, Sanders said. It is very easy for Mrs. Clinton to criticize and to come out, but I think we need to remember the only person with blood on their hands is that of the shooter, and this isnt a time for us to go after individuals or organizations. I think we can have those policy conversations but today is not that day. Its unclear what weapons the shooter, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, was using. Witnesses described the sound of rapid automatic gunfire which many believed to be firecrackers ringing out as thousands ran for cover. One vendor told Fox News that it sounded like a machine gun. Authorities said the shooter had more than 10 rifles in the hotel room where he fired on concert-goers below. The casualties in the attack exceeded those of the Pulse nightclub tragedy in Florida more than a year ago. As with the Pulse attack, the Las Vegas shooting led to prompt calls from Democrats not just Clinton for gun legislation, though the party has struggled to tighten laws even when the Obama administration was in power. Connecticuts senators, who have been especially outspoken on gun control ever since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, were among the first to issue statements Monday. Nowhere but America do horrific large-scale mass shootings happen with this degree of regularity, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in a statement. This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren't public policy responses to this epidemic. There are, and the thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference. It's time for Congress to get off its ass and do something." Connecticuts other Democratic senator, Richard Blumenthal, issued a similar statement. It has been barely a year since what was previously the largest mass shooting in American history the deadly attack at Pulse nightclub. In the interim, thousands more have been lost to the daily, ruthless toll of gun violence. Still, Congress refuses to act. I am more than frustrated, I am furious, he said. As the lawmakers seemed to acknowledge, gun legislation stands little chance of passing under a Republican-controlled Congress and White House. After the Pulse shooting, Senate Democrats launched a 15-hour filibuster followed by a Democratic sit-in on the House floor in a high-profile push for gun control legislation. But the divided Senate ultimately rejected all four gun measures put on the floor for a vote. The battle over gun restrictions has, meanwhile, played out in a more substantive fashion on the state level and at the courts. Most recently, a federal appeals court last week delivered a win for gun rights activists by keeping in place another courts ruling that it was unconstitutional for the District of Columbia to require gun owners to provide a good reason for legally carrying a concealed weapon in the nations capital. The dispute could be on a path to the Supreme Court. Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, in an interview Sunday hinted that he would consider leaving the Republican Party if its members dont get their act together. Kasich, who ran against President Trump in 2016, was the last man standing in Trumps path for the presidency. He announced his decision to end his bid in May. Kasich is widely seen as a Republican moderate. If the party cant be fixed, Jake, then Im not going to be able to support the party, he told CNNs Jake Tapper. Period. Thats the end of it. Kasich made it clear that, in his opinion, the Democratic Party may not be a viable alternative. He said he has no idea what the Democrats are for. 'What I'm trying to do is struggle for the soul of the Republican Party the way that I see it,' Kasich said. 'And I have a right to define it, but I'm not going to support people who are dividers.' Kasich failed to gain traction with GOP voters in a race dominated by Trumps ability to seize on the electorates anger and disdain of political insiders. Although Kasich tried to pitch himself as the best Republican to take on Hillary Clinton, the weight of the anti-Trump faction never got behind him. Viewed widely as a longshot candidate from the start, Kasichs popularity shot up after his strong second-place finish in New Hampshires primary in early February. But from the South to the Midwest, many voters were captivated by his boisterous rivals, and his efforts to cast himself as a nicer alternative fell short. The spirit, the essence of America lies in the hearts and souls of us, he said. Some missed this message. It wasnt sexy, it wasnt a great soundbite. The Associated Press contributed to this report Nevada lawmakers and other officials condemned the "senseless" and "horrifying" mass shooting on the Las Vegas strip Sunday night, which left at least 50 dead and more than 400 hospitalized. "Our communities are all in mourning as we try to understand this senseless massacre on the Strip, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller said in a statement. The tragedy unfolded when a gunman in a high-rise hotel room of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino opened fire on concert-goers below. To victims, families & loved ones affected by this senseless violence in Las Vegas, Karen & I are praying for you & offering our love, Vice President Pence said in a series of tweets. The hearts & prayers of the American people are with you. You have our condolences and sympathies. The suspected gunman was killed by police. He has been identified as local resident Stephen Paddock, 64. Heller, a Republican, tweeted that the killings were a senseless, horrifying act of violence. Praying for all the victims & those impacted by the tragedy, he tweeted. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., tweeted out information for those who want to donate blood for victims. "Praying for all those affected by this senseless tragedy. Thank you to all the first responders. I will continue to monitor the situation," she wrote. Pence and Heller also thanked police and first responders. To the courageous first responders, thank you for your acts of bravery, Pence tweeted. Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., vowed Monday to help support the "federal role in investigating this attack and protecting against further threats." "As Americans we must unite to defeat threats to our nation's security both foreign and domestic," he said in a statement. Heres a roundup of how other politicians have reacted. White House My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting, President Trump tweeted Monday morning. God bless you! Press secretary Sarah Sanders also tweeted her support Monday morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the senseless tragedy in Las Vegas, Sanders said. We are with you. Former President Barack Obama Barack Obama said he and wife, Michelle, "are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy." Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman expressed her appreciation for first responders in a tweet early Monday morning. Pray for Las Vegas. Thank you to all our first responders out there now, she said. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval A tragic & heinous act of violence has shaken the #Nevada family. Our prayers are w/ the victims & all affected by this act of cowardice, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval tweeted Monday morning. Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt said on Twitter that he and his wife are praying for the victims, their families and the first responders. Reporter Michelle Rindels said Laxalt was expected to announce his bid for governor on Monday but has postponed it. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Terrible to wake up to the horrific news from Las Vegas, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said. Our community stands with Las Vegas during this difficult time. Orlando was the site of what had been the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history after a gunman killed 49 people in the Pulse nightclub in 2016. Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Giffords, who was shot in the head during an assasination attempt in 2012, said in a series of tweets that the Las Vegas shooting is a "grave tragedy for our nation." At least 58 people were killed and 515 injured when a gunman perched in a high hotel room rained down shots on outdoor concertgoers in Las Vegas in what is the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Police identified 64-year-old Stephen Paddock as the suspected gunman, who was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Paddock was confronted by police and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The shooting began during what was reportedly the final song on the last night of the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert series Sunday night. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing when the gunfire erupted. President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences to the victims on Monday morning. Heres a roundup of how politicians have reacted. White House My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting, Trump tweeted Monday morning. God bless you! Press secretary Sarah Sanders also tweeted her support Monday morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the senseless tragedy in Las Vegas, Sanders said. We are with you. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn G. Goodman expressed her appreciation for first responders in a tweet early Monday morning. She followed up with a second tweet that said, "The act and insanity of a madman shall not define us or keep us from living whole and meaningful lives with pride in our shared humanity." Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval A tragic & heinous act of violence has shaken the #Nevada family. Our prayers are w/ the victims & all affected by this act of cowardice, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval tweeted Monday morning. Nevada Attorney Gen. Adam Paul Laxalt Nevada Attorney Gen. Adam Paul Laxalt said on Twitter that he and his wife are praying for the victims, their families and the first responders. Reporter Michelle Rindels said Laxalt was expected to announce his bid for governor on Monday but has postponed it. Nevada Sen. Dean Heller Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., said Monday that hes monitoring the situation and has been in contact with Gov. Brian Sandoval and Attorney Gen. Adam Paul Laxalt. Senseless, horrifying act of violence in Las Vegas tonight. Praying for all the victims & those impacted by the tragedy, Heller said. Thankful for police and first-responders on the scene. Former President Barack Obama President Obama said he and wife, Michelle, are "are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy." Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer Terrible to wake up to the horrific news from Las Vegas, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said. Our community stands with Las Vegas during this difficult time. Orlando was the site of what was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history after a gunman killed 49 people in the Pulse nightclub in 2016. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said he was praying for the victims and first responders. Im praying for all the victims, their families, and our first responders in the #LasVegas #MandalayBay shooting, Rubio said in a tweet. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer Schumer, the U.S. Senate minority leader, said he was "deeply saddened for the people of Las Vegas and the country." New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio No words can possibly describe what happened in Las Vegas last night, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said. New York City's prayers are with the victims and the first responders. Ohio Gov. John Kasich Our hearts are heavy for the victims of the terrible attack in Las Vegas, their families and for all who have been affected, Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, tweeted Monday. Former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Giffords, who was shot in the head during an assasination attempt in 2012, said in a series of tweets that the Las Vegas shooting is a "grave tragedy for our nation." London Mayor Sadiq Khan A deeply sad day for the city of Las Vegas. London sends our condolences to the victims and their families, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Trudeau posted a message of support that said "Words fail this morning. The friendship & support of Canadians is with the victims in Las Vegas & the people of the US." Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton In a series of tweets Monday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on people to stand up to the National Rifle Association in the wake of the deadly shooting. She also alluded that the death toll could have been higher if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get. Our grief isnt enough. We can and must put our politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again, Clinton said. Former Vice President Joe Biden Biden said he and wife, Jill, were "appalled by the senseless loss of life in Las Vegas," and called for Congress and the White House to address gun violence. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Romney said he and wife, Ann, are praying for the dead and injured, and gane thanks to the "heroes who risked their lives to help the innocent." White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Monday chided congressional Democrats -- and Hillary Clinton -- for sounding the call for gun control within hours of the Las Vegas massacre. There is a time and a place for political debate but now is the time for the country to come together, Sanders said at the daily briefing. This is an unspeakable tragedy. Today is a day for consoling survivors and mourning those who were lost. Sanders noted that the investigation into Sunday's attack is still ongoing, and a motive is yet to be determined. It is premature to discuss policy when we dont know all the facts, Sanders said. Nevertheless, Clinton was out early Monday with a series of tweets going after the NRA and silencers -- questioning how much worse the massacre might have been if silencers had been used. The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer which the NRA wants to make easier to get, she tweeted. Our grief isnt enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again. TRUMP, IN A SOMBER ADDRESS, CALLS LAS VEGAS SHOOTING AN 'ACT OF PURE EVIL' Clintons comments seemed to reference the NRAs push to ease federal rules for silencers. She soon took heat from critics who called her remarks ignorant and irrelevant -- noting silencers in this case probably would not been dampened the sound very much. Asked about Clinton's tweets, Sanders told reporters she hadnt spoken with the president on the issue, but underscored that the investigation into the massacre is ongoing. I think before we start trying to talk about the preventions of what took place last night, we need to know more facts, and right now were simply not at that point, Sanders said. It is very easy for Mrs. Clinton to criticize and to come out, but I think we need to remember the only person with blood on their hands is that of the shooter, and this isnt a time for us to go after individuals or organizations. I think we can have those policy conversations, but today is not that day. The shooting at a country concert outside Las Vegas Mandalay Bay resort left 58 people dead and more than 500 people hospitalized, making the horrific tragedy the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The shooter was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. Sanders told reporters that the president was briefed on the attack early Monday morning by his Chief of Staff John Kelly and has been updated regularly and constantly throughout the day. Ive seen him today and I think he, like most of America, is saddened and certainly his heart and compassion goes out to those who are affected, Sanders said. Today is more a day of reflection, mourning, and gratefulness for those that were saved. But Sanders underscored the presidents commitment to the Second Amendment, saying hes been clear that he is a supporter, and that likely has not changed. HILLARY CLINTON SLAMMED FOR 'IGNORANT' STATEMENT ON GUNS AFTER LAS VEGAS SHOOTING The shooting prompted swift calls from Democratic lawmakers for tighter gun legislation. Connecticuts Democratic senators, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both issued statements calling for tighter gun laws on Monday. Its time for Congress to get off its ass and do something, Murphy said in a statement. When asked about Murphys comments in the briefing, Sanders said she agreed that Congress should get up and do something, taking a shot at the legislative branch for having several months of doing very little. We dont want to try to create laws that wont stop these types of things from happening, Sanders said, citing the example of Chicago, a city with some of the strictest gun laws in the country and some of the highest murder rates. When that time comes, we have to look at things that may have real impact. Sanders on Monday also tackled the thorny subject of North Korea, backing up the president after he tweeted over the weekend telling his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to stop wasting time negotiating with Kim Jong Un's regime. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man, Trump tweeted Sunday. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done! TRUMP: TALKING TO KIM JONG UN A WASTE, 'WILL DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE' Sanders echoed the statements, saying they have put "diplomatic pressure" on the rogue nation, but "now is not the time to have conversations with North Korea." In his newly published book, The Corrupt Classroom, Lance Izumi of the Pacific Research Institute illustrates how the public school classroom has become increasingly politicized, with liberal teachers indoctrinating students with an anti-Trump and leftist agenda. Izumi makes the case that while many school choice supporters rely on academic school performance data to show that public schools are failing, there are many other equally important reasons to support it. "Many parents, for example, are rightly concerned about the growing politicization of the classroom," Izumi explains. "Far from being mere anecdotal incidentsand there are lot of thosepolitical bias is becoming systemic in public school systems and has turned many public schools into indoctrination centers for progressive ideologies and causes." For example, the United Educators of San Francisco, a teachers' union, created an anti-Trump lesson plan and distributed it to 6,000 members. In the lesson plan, Trump was labeled a "racist and sexist man" and included only reports from left-wing sources such as Mother Jones. Teachers were instructed to tell students, "we will keep fighting" and "we must and will fight for justice against an unjust system and an unjust people." Izumi also cites the example of Yvette Felarca, a teacher at a middle school in Berkeley, Calif., who is the leader of By Any Means Necessary, which was described as a militant, radical group that uses violence to spread its message. Click for more from The Washington Free Beacon. The Supreme Court kicked off its new session Monday morning, with Justice Neil Gorsuch on the bench for his first full term and the justices immediately diving into a hot-button labor dispute. Numerous other challenges are on the docket for this term, covering everything from religious liberty to union dues to voter redistricting. Consideration of President Trumps controversial travel ban is on hold, though the issue nevertheless looms over arguments. But first up Monday was a clash between businesses and employees, focused on how workers can complain about pay, conditions and other issues. In a rare split, the dispute pitted Justice Department lawyers against those from the National Labor Relations Board. At issue are contracts employers want to enforce that prevent workers from pursuing group claims in court. The case involves workers who tried to sue a Murphy Oil USA gas station in Calera, Alabama, but had contracts requiring any dispute be settled in individual arbitration. Employees say going it alone is too costly and makes it impossible to pool resources for a lawyer. Lower courts have split over whether the agreements are enforceable. And so have federal agencies. The NLRB originally had found the requirement violates federal labor laws. But the Trump administration reversed the Obama administration's position in support of the NLRB. The result is that government lawyers representing the Justice Department and the NLRB opposed each other in court Monday. While the Justice Department contended the businesses should win, the NLRB argued the workers should be protected. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said earlier she's never seen such a split in nearly 25 years on the high court. During arguments Monday, Ginsburg seemed to speak for the court's liberal wing, saying the importance of collective action is "there is strength in numbers. You have to protect the individual worker in a situation where he can't protect himself." But Chief Justice John Roberts sounded concerned about a ruling for the workers, which he said "would invalidate contracts for 25 million employees." That's the estimated number of non-union workers who have contracts with the individual arbitration provision. Unlike last October, the justices convened Monday with a full bench, after Trump earlier this year installed Gorsuch to fill the vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalias death. One high-profile case could disappear, at least for now. The court canceled the Oct. 10 argument over Trump's travel ban after the president announced a new policy last week that differs from the one the justices had decided to review. Still, many important cases remain that touch on gay rights and religious freedoms, the polarized American electorate, the government's ability to track people without search warrants, states' rights to allow betting on professional and college sporting events and the ability of labor unions that represent government employees to collect "fair share" fees for contract negotiations from workers who don't support the unions. And speculation has not receded over another possible vacancy in the near future. Sources close to Justice Anthony Kennedy say he has been seriously considering retirement and may not stay on the bench for Trump's entire first term. Rumors were at a blustery pitch that he would step down last June, but the new term begins with the 81-year-old justice on board, his unique power base intact. His influence as the court's "swing" member -- the deciding vote on a range of high-profile cases from gay marriage to immigration to abortion -- has left his seat coveted by those on the right and left. Replacing him would launch an epic political fight, and could prove a boost to the Trump presidency itself. For now, Kennedy's moderating presence could blunt the Trump agenda and that of fellow conservative Republicans. Other court watchers wonder about the plans of the liberal Ginsburg, at 84 the oldest member of the court. Fox News Bill Mears and The Associated Press contributed to this report. President Trump called the Las Vegas attack an "act of pure evil" Monday morning, in a somber address to the American people following the mass shooting now considered the deadliest in modern U.S. history. The attack left 58 people dead and 515 hospitalized. The president announced he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with law enforcement, first responders and families of victims. He also ordered the flag be flown at half-staff at the White House and other federal buildings to honor those who died. It was an act of pure evil, Trump said. In a unifying, faith-focused speech from the Diplomatic Room at the White House, the president offered his prayers through this very dark period. To the families of the victims, we are praying for you and we are here for you and we ask God to help see you through this very dark period, the president said. Scripture teaches us the Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. We seek comfort in those words for we know that God lives in the hearts of those who grieve. The president called upon the bonds that unite us, including faith, family and shared values. Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence, Trump said. In times such as these, I know we are searching for some kind of meaning in the chaos, light in the darkness. The answers do not come easy. 'Our unity cannot be shattered by evil.' President Donald Trump He added: But we can take solace knowing that even the darkest space can be illuminated by a single ray of hope. Trump said that he and the first lady pray for the entire nation. We pray for the day when evil is banished and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear, Trump said. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Monday that the president has spoken with the Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Sheriff Joe Lombardo. The president first addressed the deadly attack early Monday morning on Twitter. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Trump tweeted. The suspect, who was killed, was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a local resident. Authorities also said they were confident Paddocks roommate, Marilou Danley, had been located. Officials previously described Danley as a person of interest. Authorities said one on-duty officer was in critical condition and another was wounded in the shooting. Two off-duty police officers attending the concert were killed. This was obviously well-planned, they waited for a major, open air event, and obtained a room facing it, retired FBI special agent and former national FBI spokesman John Iannarelli, who drove past the scene of the event just moments before the shooting took place, told Fox News. I can see the flashing blue police lights from my hotel window. They were well-trained, Iannarelli said, noting the use of automatic weapons. Thats not an easy task. Iannarelli also said it is too early to tell what the motive was. Is this a lone wolf inspired by others? This is exactly the type of attack the U.S. has been fearing would come to our shores. Officials did not immediately reveal a motive. First lady Melania Trump also offered her condolences on Twitter Monday morning. "My heart and prayers goes out to victims, families & loved ones! #PrayForLasVegas," she tweeted. Fox News' Kristin Brown and The Associated Press contributed to this report. President Trump led a moment of silence at the White House on Monday afternoon to honor the victims of the Las Vegas massacre, as flags were ordered lowered to half-staff at government buildings across the country. The attack, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, killed at least 58 and left more than 500 hospitalized. The president was joined by first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Pence and second lady Karen Pence for the moment of silence. The Senate held a similar tribute minutes later. Trump earlier in the day also ordered flags lowered to half-staff. Our nation is heartbroken. We mourn with all whose loved ones were murdered and injured in last nights horrible tragedy in Las Vegas, Nevada, the president said in a statement. As we grieve, we pray that God may provide comfort and relief to all those suffering." His proclamation ordered flags lowered at the White House and all public buildings, military posts and naval stations, and "vessels" of the federal government across the U.S. and its territories until sunset on Oct. 6. The president also directed flags to be flown at half-staff at U.S. embassies and facilities abroad. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff on Capitol Hill. America woke up this morning to heartbreaking news, Ryan said in a statement Monday. This evil tragedy horrifies us all. To the people of Las Vegas and to the families of the victims, we are with you during this time. He added: The whole country stands united in our shock, in our condolences, and in our prayers. NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft now has some nice photos of home to look at during its long flight to a distant asteroid. OSIRIS-REx took a picture of the Earth-moon system on Monday (Sept. 25), a few days after performing a "gravity-assist" flyby of our planet that boosted its speed and helped set its course toward the 1,640-foot-wide (500 meters) asteroid Bennu. The probe was 804,000 miles (1.297 million kilometers) from Earth and 735,000 miles (1.185 million km) from the moon when it captured the black-and-white image, NASA officials wrote in a description Thursday (Sept. 28). [OSIRIS-REx: NASA's Asteroid Sample-Return Mission in Pictures] Also on Thursday, the agency released a shot of Earth that OSIRIS-REx took Sept. 22 the day of the flyby from a distance of 69,000 miles (110,000 km). "The image has been rotated so that Earth's north pole is located at the top, and the Baja Peninsula is visible above and to the right of center," NASA officials wrote in an image description . "Cloud cover and the Pacific Ocean dominate most of the image, but Hurricane Maria and the remnants of Hurricane Jose can be seen in the far upper-right portion of the image, off the east coast of the United States." OSIRIS-Rex took both of the newly released photos with its navigation camera. On Tuesday (Sept. 26), NASA released a color image of Earth that the spacecraft captured on flyby day using its MapCam camera. During the flyby, OSIRIS-Rex zoomed a mere 10,711 miles (17,237 km) above Antarctica. The maneuver increased the probe's speed by 8,451 mph (13,601 km/h), NASA officials said. The $800 million OSIRIS-REx mission whose name is short for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer launched in September 2016. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will rendezvous with Bennu in late 2018, then study the asteroid from orbit for more than 18 months. In July 2020, the probe will snag at least 2.1 ounces (60 grams) of material from the asteroid's surface; a return capsule containing this sample will come back to Earth, making a parachute-aided landing in the Utah desert in September 2023. Scientists around the world will then study this asteroid material, analyzing it for clues about the solar system's early days and the role that dark, primitive asteroids such as Bennu may have played in seeding Earth with the carbon-containing building blocks of life. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+ . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook or Google+ . Originally published on Space.com. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has asked for forgiveness for the ways his work was used to divide people rather than bring us together. The Facebook co-founder posted the message on the social network Saturday to mark the end of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is the holiest day in the Jewish year. Tonight concludes Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews when we reflect on the past year and ask forgiveness for our mistakes, he wrote. For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better. For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better. May we all be better in the year ahead, and may you all be inscribed in the book of life. FACEBOOK UNCOVERS $100G IN FAKE AD SPENDING TIED TO RUSSIAN OPERATIVES DURING 2016 ELECTION The post, which has been shared more than 7,000 times, did not cite any specific examples of division. Facebook is in the spotlight as it attempts to tackle fake news on the social network. The companys battle comes amid investigations into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which Russia allegations. Nine days after the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, Zuckerberg described the notion that fake news influenced the outcome of the election as crazy. PRESIDENT OBAMA WARNED MARK ZUCKERBERG ABOUT FAKE NEWS ON FACEBOOK, REPORT SAYS Last month, however, Facebook announced that it uncovered $100,000 in fake ad spending tied to Russian operatives during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, associated with around 3,000 ads. The ads were connected to about 470 inauthentic accounts and Pages, Facebook said. While the vast majority of ads didnt reference the election, voting, or a particular candidate, they did focus on amplifying divisive social and political messages such as LGBT matters, race, immigration and gun rights, according to Facebook. The social media giant is expected to turn over the ads to Congress on Monday. Company officials will meet with the House and Senate intelligence committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee to hand over the ads, a Facebook official said. The official requested anonymity because the meetings are private. TWITTER UNCOVERS $274K IN AD SPENDING BY RUSSIAN OPERATIVES TIED TO 2016 ELECTION During a Facebook Live Chat last month, Zuckerberg said that the company would strengthen its ad review process for political ads. Twitter recently announced it has uncovered several accounts linked to the same alleged Russian activity on Facebook, as well as $274,000 spent on ads by state-owned TV network Russia Today in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Twitters move prompted a scathing response from Russia Today. As the probe into Russian election meddling continues, the House and Senate intelligence panels have asked Facebook, Twitter, and Google to testify publicly in the coming weeks. None of the companies have said whether they will accept the invitations. The Associated Press and Fox News Chris Ciaccia contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers Facebook said it would hire 1,000 people to help review and remove ads and make the advertising it sells more transparent after $100,000 in Russian-backed ads were purchased in an attempt to influence the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. In a blog post, Joel Kaplan, Facebook's VP Global Public Policy, added details to the steps CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined last week. Kaplan wrote that while Facebook uses "both automated and manual review," the company is taking "aggressive steps to strengthen both" review processes. FACEBOOK CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS FOR WAYS HIS WORK 'WAS USED TO DIVIDE PEOPLE' "Reviewing ads means assessing not just the content of an ad, but the context in which it was bought and the intended audience so were changing our ads review system to pay more attention to these signals," Kaplan wrote. "Were also adding more than 1,000 people to our global ads review teams over the next year and investing more in machine learning to better understand when to flag and take down ads. Enforcement is never perfect, but we will get better at finding and removing improper ads." Kaplan added that Facebook would also tighten the restrictions it places on advertiser content, writing that Facebook would "prevent ads that use even more subtle expressions of violence." He said the company's policies "already prohibit shocking content, direct threats and the promotion of the sale or use of weapons." Facebook is also going to update its policies to require better documentation from advertisers who want to run ads related to the U.S. election, including a requirement that the advertisers will have to confirm the business or organization they represent. FACEBOOK WILL RELEASE RUSSIAN-LINKED ADS TO CONGRESS, MARK ZUCKERBERG SAYS Last month, Zuckerberg said Facebook would release the more than 3,000 ads that it believes are linked to Russian operatives to Congress. Many of the ads, which totaled upwards of $100,000, tried to amplify racial and social divisions. The ads are being sent to congressional investigators today, Kaplan added in the post. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia Tech executives took to social media to express their condolences over the mass shooting in Las Vegas that has left at least 50 people dead and more than 400 injured. Apple's CEO Tim Cook wrote, "Our hearts are with the victims in Las Vegas, their families and loved ones who are grieving this morning." Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also expressed his condolences to the victims of the horrific incident. Nadella wrote, "My heart & thoughts are with all the people, families & responders in Las Vegas impacted by this horrific & senseless violence." Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote on her Facebook page that her "heart goes out to the people of Las Vegas, to the friends and families of those we lost today and to everyone around the world who has lost someone to hate and violence." Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who recently asked for forgiveness for ways his "work was used to divide people," expressed regret at the incident. Zillow COO Amy Bohutinsky also tweeted her condolences. "Woke up early today to work on a speech in Las Vegas this week, then read about LV," she wrote. "Grieving for victims, their families, the responders." A gunman turned a Las Vegas concert into a killing field Sunday night, murdering at least 50 people and injuring more than 400 others in the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history. TECH EXECS CONDEMN CHARLOTTESVILLE VIOLENCE AS TRUMP DENOUNCES KKK, WHITE SUPREMACISTS The suspect, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite. Police initially sought a woman believed to be Paddock's roommate, Marilou Danley, as "person of interest." Detectives later made contact with her, and "do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip." Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said said an "excess of 10 rifles" were found in the room, but did not immediately reveal a motive. Paddock had been in the hotel room since September 28, according to Lombardo. President Donald Trump also tweeted his condolences to the victims of the Las Vegas massacre, saying "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" The President is also slated to hold a news conference at 10:30 a.m. EST to discuss the shooting. Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia. Fox News' Adam Housley, Jake Gibson, Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story has been updated to include comments from Zuckerberg, Sandberg and Bohutisnky. Las Vegas McCarran International Airport resumed 'limited' flights Monday after it temporarily halted the flights following the gunfire near the Mandalay Bay casino during a country music festival that killed at least 2 people and left two dozen injured. McCarran Airport first advised its passengers that some flights will be affected and said delays are to be expected. It later tweeted saying all flights in and out of the airport have been temporarily halted following the reported shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. The official Twitter account of the airport now claims "limited flight activity has resumed" - but warned of possible delays. A University Medical Center spokesman said that there were at least two dead and 24 injured. A gunman opened fire on a Las Vegas concert Sunday night from his perch on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Suspect Stephen Paddock used at least 10 guns to rain down a steady stream of fire on the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival, killing at least 58 people and injuring more than 500 others in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Paddock, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, had been staying at the hotel since Sept. 28, according to Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo. While its uncertain how Paddock got the weapons into the hotel, former Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend told CBS News its likely he simply brought them in his luggage. Nevada law allows a person to carry a concealed weapon with a permit; it does not restrict the number of weapons a person may own. Semi-automatic weapons are also not prohibited in the state as long as they are registered and are possessed in adherence to federal law, and neither are machine guns, according to the National Rifle Association. LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: MANDALAY BAY, MGM HOTELS ON LOCKDOWN AFTER CONCERT MASSACRE UCLA Professor Adam Winkler, a gun law expert whos been cited in landmark Supreme Court cases, told SWNS that the lack of security at hotels means weapons could easily be taken into the building. "Most hotels in the United States do not have metal detectors. Anyone can walk into a hotel with firearms without being detected. Firearms in a suitcase would also easily get past any hotel security, he said. Townsend recalled that in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Taj Hotel, among others, put higher security measures into place, including screening visitors and their luggage. But she suggests similar measures wouldnt be as easily implemented in Las Vegas. Heres the problem in particular with the Mandalay Bay its also connected to the convention center and a shopping mall, which means youve got multiple points of entry and exit. It would be very difficult to control that, which essentially makes it a soft target, she said. While its unclear whether the hotel will reconsider its security after Sunday nights shooting, Townsend says that local officials, including the Las Vegas Police Department and Sherriffs Department, practice for scenarios like this, running active shooter drills regularly. She believes the benefit of those drills was evident Sunday, lessening the impact of the shooting. Law enforcement and security expert Paul Viollis told CBS News that, while there needs to be a conversation about possible increased security measures, he doesnt believe the same can be done in the U.S. that was done in Mumbai. LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: MGM RESORTS ORGANIZING CRISIS COUNSELING FOR GUESTS, EMPLOYEES I dont think [theres a] balance [between making] a guest feel welcome and wanding you at the same time. We saw a change in Mumbai, but we have a different culture in the United States, he said. Townsend says there might need to be a compromise, possibly doing luggage screening on guests, which wouldve picked up the weapons Paddock brought into Mandalay Bay. "We could have metal detectors at the hotel entrances, but that is impractical. In a country with 320 million guns, gun violence cant be avoided in the U.S., said Winkler. Las Vegas law enforcement experts have previously expressed concern that the city is a potential terror target, although Sunday nights deadly shooting hasnt been labeled a terror attack. "Terrorism is very much in the forefront of every casino owner's mind," said retired Lt. Randy Sutton to 13 Action News last fall. Steve Wynn, CEO of Wynn Resorts, had also called Las Vegas a "target city," and previously revealed the security measures his resort has in place. "Las Vegas is a target city. We have hardened the target at the Wynn, Wynn told 13 Action News. This is the first time Ive ever revealed this publicly theres a division in the Marine Corps of special people that are specially trained to guard the embassies. Thats a whole division with separate base, separate training. There are almost 40 of them at every opening of my building, plain clothes, armed, on the look-out, changing shift and being relieved every two hours so they dont get bored. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Wynn also said he implemented new covert security measures that became operational last summer. "We have another group of a half a dozen seals team six guys and CIA guys who are a counterterrorism unit that ... relate on a daily basis to Homeland Security, the FBI and Metro," he said. "My company has metal detectors and devices at every entrance of the building for employees and guests that are non-visible to the public. We have done extraordinary things to make that sure we protect our employees and our guests at the hotel." At the time, other properties 13 Action News reached out to were not ready to discuss the security measures they were using to identify potential threats. Representatives for Mandalay Bay were not immediately available for comment in light of recent events. The president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is calling Sunday nights massacre horrific, but vows that Vegas will pull together to work through this tragic incident. The thoughts and prayers of all of Las Vegas go out to the victims and their families, said Rossi Ralenkotter in a statement to Fox News. This was a horrific, yet isolated, incident. At this time, it is important to allow the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police to conclude their investigation into the incident and to attend to the needs of the victims and their families. MGM RESORTS OFFERING CRISIS COUNSELING FOR GUESTS, EMPLOYEES IN WAKE OF SHOOTING Las Vegas is a strong community that will work through this tragic incident, he added. We are grateful beyond words to our incomparable law enforcement, first responders and everyone who continues to help victims and their families. Sunday nights massacre has so far claimed the lives of 58 concert-goers who attended the Route 91 Harvest Festival across the street from Mandalay Bay, where shooting suspect, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, fired down from the 32nd floor. More than 500 others were reported injured. Paddock was already dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound when authorities burst into his room, Las Vegas police reported. LAS VEGAS STRIP HOTELS PUT ON 'LOCKDOWN' AFTER CONCERT MASSACRE The LVCVA, according to its website, is the official destination marketing organization of Southern Nevada, and serves both Las Vegas and Clark County. The groups objective is to promote and facilitate tourism, conventions, meetings and special events. The LVCVA also operates the Las Vegas Convention Center and Cashman Center, and VegasMeansBusiness.com. According to LVCVAs tourism statistics, Las Vegas hosted just under 43 million visitors in 2016 alone, and just over 28.5 million from Jan. 2017 through the end of August. More than 110,000 passengers are stranded around Europe and the Middle East after a British airline ceased operations suddenly. Monarch Airlines declared bankruptcy on Monday, immediately halting flights and canceling service. The collapse came with little warning: Monarch employees showed up to work only to be informed that their airline was no longer in operation. An estimated 860,000 people have lost future travel bookings because of the airlines collapse. The government is calling it the biggest ever U.K. airline failure. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has commissioned special flights to bring stranded Monarch customers back to the UK at no additional cost over the next two weeks. The British transportation secretary called the mission the biggest ever peacetime repatriation. This is the biggest U.K. airline ever to cease trading, so the Government has asked the CAA to support Monarch customers currently abroad to get back to the U.K. at the end of their holiday at no extra cost, CAA chief executive Andrew Haines told The Telegraph. We know that Monarchs decision to stop trading will be very distressing for all of its customers and employees. Passengers who booked future flights with Monarch Airlines should not head to the airport. The CAA will refund flights for those who are protected under an act called the Air Travel Organizers License (ATOL). Travelers who are protected estimated only to be about 50 percent, according to The Guardian received an ATOL Certificate when they booked. More information about ATOL is available from the CAA. Those who are not protected can seek a refund through their credit card company. Over the past few weeks, Monarch had been negotiating with the CAA to extend its Air Travel Organizers License. On Sunday, after a 24-hour extension, the license expired and Monarch could no longer operate flights. Analysts are blaming the failure on traveler and financial uncertainty. Terrorist attacks in the Middle East (including Turkey, one of the airlines destinations) and the aftermath of Brexit are both being cited as contributing factors. Monarch is not the only European airline with financial difficulties. Earlier this year, Alitalia went into administration, a European state similar to bankruptcy protection, and Air Berlin puts its assets up for sale. Las Vegas is reeling from a horrifying shooting during a country music concert at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino last night. The shooting has left 59 dead and more than 500 injured. The devastation has affected the whole strip and fellow hotels and casinos are reaching out to help. MGM RESORTS ORGANIZING CRISIS COUNSELING FOR GUESTS, EMPLOYEES Golden Nugget hotel and casino owner Tilman Fertitta said in an interview with Fox News that he and his staff are doing as much as we can do. Fertitta has been on the phone with his management at Golden Nugget to coordinate free meals for first responders and organize blood drives. The night of the shooting, the hotel and casino opened its doors to those who were unable to get down to their hotels at the other end of the strip Golden Nugget is about 6 miles north of Mandalay Bay. HOTEL SECURITY A CONCERN, EXPERT SAYS MANDALAY BAY WAS 'SOFT TARGET' The mass shooting has "hit home," Fertitta says. A 31-year-old employee was killed at the concert, he said, adding that the employee left behind four young kids. So well do an internal company wide fundraiser to help her family, in addition to doing everything we can do for Mandalay Bay and first responders. Fertitta said the hotel has reached out to Mandalay Bay to offer help and rooms if needed since Mandalay Bay may still "be an active crime scene." As for how the tragedy has impacted tourism in Las Vegas, Fertitta said the hotel is not getting as many cancellations as you would expect. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS It appears that this is one mentally ill gentleman, not a terrorist attack with a cause, he said. The U.S. Navy said it was investigating reports of a military jet that crashed near Tellico Plains, Tennessee, on Sunday evening, as it appeared unlikely that the crew survived. The Navy told reporters a T-45 jet was missing after it took off from Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi with an instructor and student pilot on board. The Monroe County Sheriffs Office said the jet crashed in the Cherokee National Forest near a fish hatchery. The Navy tweeted Sunday night that it was investigating reports of crash as well as noting #USNavy T-45C was training near area. The Navy grounded all 197 training jets indefinitely in April, following an exclusive Fox News report that pilots were refusing to fly the T-45s. In the last five years, physiological episodes, caused in part by problems with the oxygen system, nearly quadrupled on the T-45 training jet, according to Capitol Hill testimony in April by senior naval aviators. The T-45 is used to train all U.S. Navy student pilots in jet aircraft. Fox News Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report. Judicial Watch: Court Hearing on Tuesday, October 3 in Taxpayer Lawsuit to Prevent DC Government from Illegally Spending Taxpayer Money through Budget Autonomy Act Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5172 WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch today announced that a hearing will be held on Tuesday, October 3, 2017, in a lawsuit against the Mayor and Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia. Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on behalf of Clarice Feldman, a longtime taxpayer and resident of the District of Columbia, to prevent the DC government from expending taxpayer money from a budget that was not appropriated by Congress and presented to the president for signing. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Clarice Feldman v. Muriel Bowser and Jeffrey S. DeWitt (No. 1:15-cv-01967)). Date: Tuesday, October 3, 2017 Time: 10:30 a.m. Location: Courtroom 17 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 333 Constitution Ave NW Washington, DC 20001 At issue is the DC government's attempt to dismiss a November 6, 2015, lawsuit. The U.S. House of Representatives filed an amicus curiae brief in March 2016 urging the court to deny the DC government's efforts. In its amicus in support of the Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss the House declared: The Local Budget Act is a naked and unabashed effort to strip Congress of powers vested in it by Article I of the Constitution, and to circumvent the constitutionally-prescribed legislative process that the District and its supporters previously and repeatedly have acknowledged is the one constitutionally-appropriate way to proceed. In other words, the Local Budget Act turns the Appropriations Clause upside down, and is inconsistent with Congress's plenary authority over all District appropriations. The only constitutionally permissible manner by which the District may achieve budget autonomy with respect to locally-derived funds is for Congress to convey that authority to the District by way of the normal legislative process and Congress has not yet done that. In Feldman's Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss, Judicial Watch takes strong issue with the District of Columbia's continued attempts to circumvent federal law, arguing: Regardless of whether it is sound policy for the District of Columbia to have budget autonomy, [the defendants] cannot ignore the law. Yet, they do. Since October 1, 2015, Defendants have been illegally incurring obligations and expending local taxpayer funds pursuant to the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request Act of 2015 ("FY16 Budget Request") that have not been appropriated by Congress and presented to the President for signing. As a District taxpayer since 1979, Plaintiff challenges Defendants' lawlessness. Federal law requires that DC's annual budget be approved by a majority or two-thirds vote of the DC Council and have affirmative appropriation passed by both Houses of Congress and presented to the president for signing. In 2013, DC passed the Budget Autonomy Act of 2012, which "purportedly grants the District authority to incur obligations and expend local tax and fee revenue without an appropriation passed by both Houses of Congress and presented to the President for signing." In other words, DC has sought to remove appropriation authority from Congress and grant it to itself. MORE: www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-court-hearing-tuesday-october-3-taxpayer-lawsuit-prevent-dc-government-illegally-spending-taxpayer-money-budget-autonomy-act/ The person of interest sought in the death of a beloved Florida nanny was apprehended Sunday in a motel. Scott Edward Nelson, 53, reportedly a homeless ex-convict, was taken into custody in Jacksonville after 56-year-old Jennifer Lynn Fulford's body was found Saturday in a wooded area in Orange County, Fox 35 Orlando reported. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office took to Twitter to report that Nelson, who was captured on surveillance footage using Fulford's ATM card on Thursday, was apprehended at a motel. Orlando Crimeline had offered a reward of up to $20,000 for those with information leading authorities to Nelson. Fulford was last seen Wednesday morning leaving a dental office in Winter Park. Her husband, Robert, posted on Facebook that his wife's purse was found on the floor of a home where she worked as a nanny, and she didn't pick up her boss's son from school, prompting concern. Robert called Jennifer a "very trusting and caring person," before adding, "I feel like someone took advantage of that." "It's unbelievable that something like that could happen to someone that just exhibits joy all the time," Robert said Friday. A friend of the family, Lacy Taylor, set up a GoFundMe for the Fulfords. "When we did find out the news [Saturday] that she'd been murdered, it was horrible," Taylor said. "We love her, that we're here - whatever we can do." Winter Park police did not release information on exactly how Fulford died, Fox 35 reported. A history buff in Texas shelled out some $600,000 for a fully functional World War II tank -- but now that it's parked outside his multimillion-dollar home, it's ruffling feathers in his neighborhood. Attorney Tony Buzbee of River Oaks said he bought the tank overseas last year. Took a year to get here, but now its on River Oaks Boulevard, Buzbee told KHOU Houston. This particular tank landed at Normandy. It liberated Paris, and ultimately went all the way to Berlin. Theres a lot of history here. However, the homeowners association sent him a letter saying the tank impedes traffic and causes a safety issue and serious concerns for neighbors, according to the report. Its not violating any ordinance, but for some people it makes the homeowners association uncomfortable, Buzbee said. He added that he'll move the tank to his ranch in east Texas before long. The problem is there is no action they can take, Buzbee told KHOU. They can ticket it or they can try to tow it, but the truth is unless I decide to move it, its not going anywhere. After each massacre, survivors and witnesses have echoed the words no more yet mass shootings have continued to plague the U.S. In fact, shootings only have continued to increase over the past few years. Wednesdays shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is the third deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history to take place within the past five months. Its also the 25th fatal shooting at a U.S. elementary, middle or high school since and including Columbine in 1999. Heres a look back at the 10 deadliest shootings that the country ever has seen as the nation mourns yet another tragedy. Las Vegas, Nev. Route 91 Festival, 58 killed Authorities say gunman Stephen Paddock fired at the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert on the Las Vegas Strip from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on Oct. 1, 2017, killing 58 people and wounding more than 520 others. It was the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history, police said. Twenty-one victims were shot in the head, 36 died with chest and back wounds and one died of a gunshot to a leg, according to a coroners report. SWAT teams who stormed Paddocks room discovered the 64-year-old dead of a self-inflicted gunshot to the mouth, the report adds. Orlando, Fla. Pulse nightclub, 49 killed Omar Seddique Mateen killed at least 49 people and wounded more than 50 others when he opened fire in Pulse, a gay Orlando nightclub, on June 12, 2016. Mateen eventually was killed by police after a standoff. That was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history prior to the Las Vegas attack. Blacksburg, Va. Virginia Tech, 32 killed Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho fatally shot 32 people in two locations of the schools Blacksburg, Va., campus in April 2007, before killing himself with a bullet to the head. Many of the victims had defensive wounds, indicating they tried to shield themselves from the gunfire, but there was no evidence that Cho struggled with any of the people he killed. Virginia Techs response to the shootings by the mentally ill student caused schools nationwide to review security protocols. Newtown, Conn. Sandy Hook, 26 killed On Dec. 14, 2012, Adam Lanza, 20, shot his mother dead in her home, then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School and fatally shot 20 children, between the ages of 6 and 7. Lanza also murdered school personnel, killing a total of 26 people, before committing suicide. In fewer than 11 minutes, twenty first-grade pupils and six adults had lost their lives, a police report released after the massacre reads. Sutherland Springs, Texas First Baptist Church, 26 killed On Nov. 5, 2017, gunman Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. He killed 26 people, including an unborn baby, and injured another 20. Kelley, 26, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was shot and chased by two men who heard the gunfire at the church and chased after him in a vehicle. Investigators said the attack appeared to stem from a domestic dispute involving Kelley and his mother-in-law, Michelle Shields, who sometimes attended services at the church. Kelly sent several disturbing text messages to Shields prior to the shooting. I suggest you dont test my resolve, read one of several texts. That wasnt the first time Kelley became violent. In New Mexico, he was kicked out of the Air Force following a court-martial in 2012 for abusing his first wife and reportedly hitting her child hard enough to fracture his skull. In Colorado, he was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty after someone saw him punch a dog several times. And in Texas, sheriffs deputies were called to his parents house after his girlfriend told a friend he was abusing her. You had to walk on eggshells around him all the time because youre afraid of saying something to upset him, Shields told the San Antonio Express-News months after the attack. Killeen, Texas Lubys Cafeteria shooting, 23 killed George Jo-Jo Hennard, an unemployed merchant seaman, shot and killed 23 people and wounded 27 others during the lunchtime rush at Lubys Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, on Oct. 16, 1991. Hennard killed himself shortly after the rampage. During the attack, Hennard reportedly targeted women, whom he called vipers. San Ysidro, Calif. McDonalds, 21 killed On July 18, 1984, James Huberty, 41, fatally shot 21 people and injured 19 others in and around a McDonalds restaurant in San Ysidro, Calif. Among the dead were children and teenagers. Huberty later was killed by a SWAT sniper. Parkland, Fla. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 17 killed A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, left at least 17 people dead and 15 wounded on Feb. 14, officials said. The shooting suspect, who was identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, had been expelled for disciplinary reasons. The alleged gunman carried an AR-15 rifle and had countless magazines, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said. An Instagram page apparently belonging to Cruz showed pictures of guns and knives. One student told WJXT that everyone predicted the shooting and some teachers acknowledged there were warning signs. However, Superintendent Robert Runcie said he was not aware of any specific warnings the school district had received regarding the shooter. San Bernardino, Calif., 14 killed On Dec. 2, 2015, husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire at a holiday party in San Bernardino, Calif., killing 14 people and wounding 22 others. After the shooting, the couple was shot by more than two dozen police officers more than 40 times combined, and killed. Autopsies found that Farook was shot 27 times, and Malik was shot at least 15 times. Austin, Texas University of Texas, 14 killed On Aug. 1, 1966, University of Texas engineering student Charles Whitman climbed to the schools iconic clock tower and opened fire. Whitman, a former Marine who had earlier murdered his mother and wife, killed 14 and wounded 31 before he was gunned down by police. Whitman fired at people from his perch on the tower for more than an hour. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Faculty at Harvard University on Tuesday will discuss whether or not to ban fraternities and single-gender clubs on campus. The recommendation to ban the clubs was first floated last July after a proposal that was published in response to alleged rampant alcohol abuse and sexual assault. The proposal included phasing out all social clubs like fraternities and sororities. Any student who joined one would be suspended or expelled. Officials at the school, last year, tried to curb these clubs The final edited version of the report was published Friday. Instead of suggesting an outright ban on all social clubs, the university committee responsible for the report provides several options to reshape the campus life, the Boston Globe reported. The College must take action to address the detrimental impact of the unrecognized single-gender social organizations, the report read. At the same time, as a committee, we did not reach consensus about the path forward. The proposal now offers the university three options to deal with social clubs: maintain penalties for students participating on single-gender social clubs, ban unrecognized single-gender social groups, or consider some other possible solutions, local student paper The Harvard Crimson reported. Camille NDiaye-Muller, a senior and undergraduate president of the Delta Gamma sorority, told the Globe that the final report offers a glimpse of hope that Harvard wont completely crack down on single-gender clubs. At least they are starting to listen to their students, she said. I am cautiously optimistic for now. The University president will ultimately make the final decision about the issue. At least 59 people were killed when a gunman opened fire late Sunday at a Las Vegas concert. Families and loved ones of those killed, or of the more than 520 injured, have spoken to media outlets or taken to social media to express their condolences. Lisa Romero-Muniz and Sonny Melton were among the victims. Melton, of Big Sandy, Tenn., was protecting his wife when a gunman aiming from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel-casino unleashed a hail of bullets on an outdoor country music festival below, his family told Fox affiliate WZTV. "At this point, I'm in complete disbelief and despair," the man's wife, Heather Gulish Melton, told the station in a statement Monday. "I don't know what to say. Sonny was the most kind-hearted, loving man I have ever met," Melton said. "He saved my life and lost his." Melton, 29, was a registered nurse who worked at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tenn., according to his Facebook profile. On Friday night, Melton posted on the social media site that he was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas with his wife, an orthopaedic surgeon. The couple worked at the same hospital and married in 2016. "We were the couple that never should have met, fallen in love or had a future together....but life is funny and we believe God brought us together as soul mates," read their wedding page on the website The Knot. "We have shared amazing times together and nearly unbearable heartaches but through it all we have grown stronger in our love for each other and our families." Lisa Romero-Muniz, who also was killed in the shooting, worked as a secretary at Miyamura High School in Gallup, N.M. A school official confirmed to Fox News that Romero died at the concert. A Canadian man, identified as 23-year-old Jordan McIldoon, also died in the shooting, according to multiple media reports. He was days away from his 24th birthday. A fellow concertgoer, Heather Gooze, wrote on her Facebook page that McIldoon died in her arms, CBC News reported Monday. The man's parents, who confirmed their son's death to the news outlet, said McIldoon attended the concert with his girlfriend and had planned to return home on Monday. "We only had one child," they said. "We just don't know what to do." Alaska native Adrian Murfitt, 35, died during the concert, a family member said Monday. Murfitt worked as a fisherman, and went to Vegas to attend the concert to "treat himself to something nice and fun," his sister told The Associated Press. Here are the names of other victims identified in the shooting: Quinton Robbins, 20, of Henderson, Nev., studied at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and worked in the city government of his hometown. He was described in a posting on his aunt's Facebook page as "the most kind and loving soul." Jessica Klymchuk, 28, a Canadian single mother of four who was visiting Las Vegas with her fiance, was an educational assistant, librarian and bus driver for St. Stephen's School. She got engaged in April. Rachael Parker, a 10-year employee with the Manhattan Beach Police Department in Manhattan Beach, Calif. The police department confirmed her death in a news release and said Parker will be "greatly missed." Sandy Casey, 35, worked as a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School, and got engaged to her boyfriend five months ago in New Zealand. Susan Smith, 53, of Simi Valley, Calif., who worked as a teacher at Vista Elementary School for 16 years, "was the hub of everything that happened at the school ... she was always smiling." Charleston "Chuck" Hartfield, 34, was an off-duty Las Vegas police officer, military veteran and youth football coach, who recently wrote a book titled, "Memoirs of a Public Servant." Angie Gomez, a 2015 graduate of Riverside Polytechnic High School PTSA in Riverside, Calif. Rhonda LeRocque, 41, an "amazing" mother from Tewksbury, Mass., who "did everything for her family." Denise Burditus, a wife of 32 years, a mother of two, and soon-to-be grandmother, of Martinsburg, W.Va., was in attendance at the festival for the second consecutive year with her husband Tony, described by a family member as Denise's high school sweetheart. Jennifer Irvine, a family law and criminal defense lawyer was a "bubbly, vivacious, pint-sized, aggressive attorney" who "was going to do good things in her career." Jenny Parks, whose husband was also shot by the shooter but survived, was a kindergarten teacher for the Lancaster School District in California and "was truly one of the most loving people you could ever hope to meet." John Phippen, a father from Santa Clarita, Calif., whose son remains hospitalized after being shot, died Monday morning. He reportedly operated a home remodeling company called JP Specialties. Thomas Day Jr., 54, of the Las Vegas area, was at the festival with his four children. He reportedly worked as a home builder. Neysa Tonks, 46, of Utah, moved to Las Vegas 10 years ago. Her brother said "she was pretty much a single mother who raised three boys. She was a great mom and a great sister and a great friend," who worked at the IT firm Technologent. Bailey Schweitzer, 20, of Bakersfield, Calif. Jack Beaton, of Bakersfield, Calif., was killed while covering his wife from gunfire. Victor Link, of San Clemente, Calif. To those looking to get in contact with their loved ones: please call 1-800-536-9488. Fox News' Nicole Darrah and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A gunman perched high above thousands of concertgoers in Las Vegas killed at least 59 people and injured more than 520 when he rained down gunfire on the crowd Sunday night. Police said 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, the suspected gunman, stocked his Las Vegas hotel room with as many as 10 rifles. Paddock fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel tower on the Las Vegas Strip on some 22,000 people attending the outdoor Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, authorities said. Paddock killed himself prior to law enforcement officials entering the hotel room, police said. A motive for the massacre has not yet been revealed. Witnesses described the sound of rapid automatic gunfire which many believed to be firecrackers ringing out as thousands ran for cover. One vendor told Fox News that it sounded like a machine gun. Heres what the federal and Nevada state laws say about machine guns and rifles. U.S. laws The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives defines a rifle as a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger. The ATF defines a machine gun as: Any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. FULL COVERAGE OF LAS VEGAS MASSACRE Enacted in 1934, the National Firearms Act imposed taxes and regulations on certain firearms. A 1986 amendment prohibited the transfer or possession of machine guns made after 1986 with government agencies an exception. The law also regulates the possession of rifles with a barrel of less than 16 inches in length or shotguns with a barrel of less than 18 inches. Nevada laws Nevadans are allowed to purchase, possess or sell a machine gun as long as it is legally registered and complies with federal regulations, according to the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association. The NRAs Institute for Legislative Action said the state does not require a permit to purchase or possess a rifle, shotgun or handgun. Some states have additional requirements or bans on the possession of machine guns. A gunman turned a Las Vegas concert into a killing field Sunday night from his perch on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, using at least 10 guns to rain down a steady stream of fire, murdering at least 59 people and injuring more than 520 others in the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history. The suspect, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nevada. Police initially sought a woman believed to be Paddock's roommate, Marilou Danley, as a "person of interest." Detectives later made contact with her, and "do not believe she is involved with the shooting on The Strip." Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said an "excess of 10 rifles" were found in the room, but did not immediately reveal a motive, saying "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath at this point." Paddock reportedly had about 23 guns in his hotel room, according to police in an evening press conference. Fully automatic weapons produced after the mid-1980s are illegal in the U.S. Those made before can still be purchased, however, buying one requires heavy regulation, including a background check by ATF and law enforcement notification. In recent years, however, some criminals have illegally converted semi-automatic weapons into automatic ones. Chris Michel, owner of Dixie GunWorx, said Paddock visited his store in St. George, Utah, several times and purchased a shotgun in February after passing a federal gun background check. "There were no red flags," Michel told The Associated Press. "I had no idea he would be capable of this." Paddock had been in the hotel room since September 28, according to Lombardo. The sheriff said a check of federal and state databases showed Paddock was not on law enforcement authorities' radar before the bloodbath. Authorities said two on-duty Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers were injured during the shooting. One is in stable condition after surgery, and the other sustained minor injuries. Two off-duty police officers attending the concert were killed. President Trump said the mass shooting "was an act of pure evil," and praised first responders in an address to the nation. "To the families of the victims, we are praying for you and we are here for you," Trump said, adding that he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with first responders and families. The gunman, who fired down on the Route 91 Harvest Festival from a room in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound just as police made entry to the room, according to LVMPD undersheriff Kevin McMahill. At this time, federal officials do not see any connection to international terrorism and little is known about Paddock's motivation, federal law enforcement sources said. The Islamic State terror group took credit for the Las Vegas shooting, saying the gunman converted to Islam months ago, but provided no evidence to back up the claim. FBI Special agent-in-charge Aaron Rouse said at a news conference the agency has "determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group." Clark County Commission Chair Steve Sisola told the Nevada Independent that Paddock rented two hotel rooms, one facing north and one facing east, and had previously visited the hotel two other times. Paddock was using Danleys slot machine card, which is how police got ahold of her name although she was in the Philippines at the time of the incident, Sisolak said. The gunman's brother, Eric Paddock, told reporters outside his Central Florida home early Monday "an asteroid just fell on us," and said Stephen Paddock has no history of mental illness. Paddock said his brother is "just a guy" and he "freaked," and had retired to Vegas because he liked gambling. The shooter's brother said Paddock didn't care about religion or politics. He later told reporters that his brother was a multimillionaire who made money investing in real estate, in addition to working as an accountant for a number of years. The Department of Homeland Security said Monday morning that the department is "closely monitoring" and helping partners investigate the tragedy, but at this time has "no information to indicate a specific credible threat involving other public venues in the country." Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke with Sheriff Lombardo offering his full support, Department of Justice officials told Fox News. Sessions said in a statement he met with FBI Director Christopher Wray early Monday morning. "To the many families whose lives have been changed forever by this heinous act, we offer you our prayers and our promise that we will do everything in our power to get justice for your loved ones," Sessions said in a statement. Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval called the massacre a cowardly, despicable act and praised first responders, saying they saved scores of lives. "We're angry, we're grieving, we're confused, people are hurting," he said. Authorities first received calls about an active shooting at about 10:08 p.m. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when the gunfire erupted. Aldean was performing his last song of the night. Initially, those in attendance said they thought the sound was firecrackers. But as the shots continued, Aldean stopped singing and some concertgoers could be heard yelling to each other to get down. One witness told a local television station that he heard hundreds of shots. The gunfire was rapid and reportedly confused with firecrackers. "It sounded like a machine gun," one vendor told Fox News. "It sounded like more than one machine gun." Firearms experts hesitated Monday to attribute the shooters rapid fire from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino to an automatic weapons fire. Automatic weapons, sometimes referred to as machine guns, fire a stream of bullets when the trigger is pulled once and held down. They differ from semiautomatic weapons, which require one trigger pull for each round fired. Ryan Cleckner, a former U.S. Army Ranger sniper and author of Long Range Shooting Handbook, said the seemingly inconsistent rate of Paddocks shooting may indicate he was using a device to mimic full-auto fire. These devices, such as a Slide Fire stock, are legal and can be bought for about $300. "These devices take advantage of a firearms natural recoil to bump-fire the firearm thereby mimicking a machine gun without meeting the legal definition, Cleckner told Fox News. Equipping an AR-15, for example, with a Slide Fire stock would be far cheaper and easier than buying a machine gun. Machine guns in the U.S. can cost upwards of $15,000 and require the buyer to undergo a personally intrusive and months-long application process with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Country singer Jake Owen, who performed before Aldean, told Fox News the gunfire was "non-stop." "You couldn't tell where it was coming from. It was loud and non-stop," he said. Some concertgoers stayed behind to offer help to those around them. Everybody I saw breathing, I helped, a concertgoer told Fox News. The wife of a Tennessee man killed by the Las Vegas shooter said her husband died because he saved her from being shot. Heather Gulish Melton told Fox affiliate WZTV that her husband, Sonny Melton of Paris, Tennessee, was among the 50 killed Sunday night. Kodiak Yazzie, 36, said the music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," Yazzie told the Associated Press. "You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash- flash- flash- flash." As the thousands of fans in the crowd began to flee, Yazzie took cover and said he saw flashes of light coming from the Mandalay Bay hotel tower high above. Another concertgoer told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the shots sounded like fireworks, and she hid in a sewer. It was a horror show, Ivetta Saldana told the newspaper. People were standing around, then they hit the floor. Retired FBI special agent and former national FBI spokesman John Iannarelli, who drove past the scene of the event just moments before the shooting took place, told Fox News the massacre was "obviously well-planned." Iannarelli added the gunman used expensive guns and ammunition. Iannarelli noted that FBI and police are going to speak with every friend and relative, and are conducting forensic review of the suspect's computers and phones. The shooting at the sold-out Route 91 Harvest festival was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Forty-nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 2016. Sunday's shooting came more than four months after a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. Almost 90 people were killed by gunmen inspired by the Islamic State terror group at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris during a performance by Eagles of Death Metal in November 2015. Fox News' Adam Housley, William La Jeunesse, Jake Gibson, Catherine Herridge, Mike Arroyo, Brooke Singman, Travis Fedschun and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Las Vegas Shooting: Billy Graham Rapid Response Team Chaplains Provide Hope and Comfort Following Deadly Attack Contact: Erik Ogren, 704-401-2117, eogren@bgea.org; Lisa Moseley, 704-401-2116, lmoseley@bgea.org CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 2, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team has deployed chaplains to Las Vegas following last night's horrific mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. The attack, which took place at a country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, is now the deadliest mass shooting on American soil in modern history. "We mourn for the families that lost loved ones, especially in such an evil and violent manner. We grieve for the survivors who will carry the emotional and physical scars the rest of their lives. The terror that took place last night in Las Vegas will forever be etched in the minds of those who were present," said Jack Munday, international director of the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team. "We will be there to talk with and pray with the hurting, offering the hope and comfort of Jesus Christ in these dark days." Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, posted to his Facebook page: "This morning we awoke to the tragic news that at least 50 people were killed and over 200 wounded last night in a mass shooting at a Las Vegas outdoor concert. Please join me in praying for the families of those killed and for all the injured." An initial group of chaplains will arrive today and tomorrow to minister at memorial sites. Additional chaplains will be on stand-by to respond as warranted. The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team has a long history of offering hope and comfort following shootings and terror attacks both domestically and internationally. Thus far in 2017, the ministry has dispatched chaplains in response to terror attacks in Quebec, Canada; London, England (March and June); Manchester, England; and Barcelona, Spain. In 2016, the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team brought hope following terror attacks in Belgium, France and Germany (Munich in July and Berlin in December). In June of 2016, 40 crisis-trained chaplains prayed with and comforted more than 1,600 mourners in Orlando, Fla., following the attack at the Pulse night club. The organization has also responded to mass shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., (2016); Umpqua Community College in Oregon (2016); Newtown, Conn., (2012); Aurora, Colo., (2012); Northern Illinois University (2008) and Virginia Tech University (2007), among others. For more information on the ministry, including videos, photos, news articles and an interactive map of former and current deployments, visit www.billygraham.org/rrt. Updates can also be found at www.facebook.com/RRTChaplains. About the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team: The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team was developed by Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It has since grown into an international network of chaplains in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia who are specifically trained to deal with crisis situations. They have deployed to more than 270 disaster sites, including shootings, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes. Share Tweet A gunman inside a Las Vegas casino killed at least 58 people at a nearby country music festival in a late Sunday night shooting, officials said. More than 480 others were hurt in the massacre, called the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, according to police. Here's a look at how the incident unfolded - and what authorities are currently investigating. Thursday, September 28 Suspected gunman Stephen Paddock checks into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Sunday, October 1 9:40 p.m. Country music star Jason Aldean starts his performance at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in front of a crowd of more than 22,000 in Las Vegas. 10:05 p.m. This is when Paddock begins to fire, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department says Wednesday. 10:08 p.m. I see the shots coming from Mandalay Bay, halfway up! someone says in police scanner audio published by Broadcastify. 10:12 p.m. Two officers reach the 31st floor of the casino "and announce the gunfire is coming from directly above them," Las Vegas police later say on Wednesday. 10:15 p.m. Paddock fires his final shots, police say Wednesday. 10:17 p.m. This is when two officers get to the 32nd floor, where Paddock was, according to the police timeline. 10:18 p.m A security guard says he's been shot and tells them where Paddock's room is, police say Wednesday. 10:20 p.m. It's been awhile since we've heard any shots," someone says in a transmission, The New York Times reports. "Does anybody have eyes on the shooter? 10:26 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. This, police later say, is when eight more officers show up "and begin to move systematically down the hallway, clearing every room and looking for any injured people." 10:38 p.m. We're investigating reports of an active shooter near/around Mandalay Bay Casino, police tweet. Asking everyone to please avoid the area. 11 p.m. Part of the Las Vegas Strip is shut down, authorities tweet. 11:20 p.m. Authorities use a device to breach a Mandalay Bay room. "They observed the suspect down on the ground and also saw a second door that could be not accessed from their position," police later say Wednesday. 11:27 p.m. A second breach goes off. "Officers quickly realized there was no one else in the rooms and announced over the radio that the suspect was down," according to authorities. 11:58 p.m. Confirming that one suspect is down, Las Vegas police tweet. This is an active investigation. Again, please do not head down to the Strip at this time. Monday, October 2 12:21 a.m. "At this time we do not believe there are any more shooters," Las Vegas police tweet. 1:40 a.m. Officers confronted the suspect on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, Lombardo says early Monday morning. Authorities say the man is dead. They don't release the suspect's name but say he is a local resident. The death toll stands at more than 20 dead and 100 injured. 1:57 a.m. Las Vegas authorities tweet they are looking for two vehicles associated with the gunman. 2:22 a.m. Las Vegas police tweet a photo of Marilou Danley, believed to be Paddock's partner, saying that they are looking for her. 3:30 a.m. At least 50 people are said to be dead, with more than 200 injured. Authorities have identified Paddock as the suspected shooter. They also say they have located Danley. "We have located the vehicles in question, and we are confident we have located the female person of interest," Las Vegas police tweet at 3:37 a.m. "Marilou Danley is no longer being sought out as a person of interest," the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report published later Monday morning. "LVMPD detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip." 4:11 a.m. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting," President Donald Trump tweets. "God bless you!" 4:30 a.m. "Two on-duty LVMPD officers were injured during the shooting," police tweet. "One is in stable condition after surgery and the other sustained minor injuries." 5:33 a.m. Las Vegas police tweet a press release which says a SWAT team found Paddock dead in a hotel room at the Mandalay Bay. They say that 50 people are dead and 406 others are hurt. Police say in the release that an off-duty officer is among the dead. 8:44 a.m. The death toll reaches 58 with 515 others hurt, Lombardo says. 3:05 p.m. The death toll moves to 59 including the shooter with 527 others injured, law enforcement officials say at an afternoon press conference. 8:50 p.m. The estimated number of people injured is reduced to 516, according to a news release by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The death toll remains at 59. 10:00 p.m. During a news conference, officials say the number of those injured was 527, despite a previous press release. Tuesday, October 3 Tuesday afternoon During a 1 p.m. news conference, authorities say Paddock set up cameras inside and outside the hotel room where he opened fire. They also say that Paddock put a camera in a food service cart outside his hotel room. Lombardo also says that Danley is once again a person of interest. Late Tuesday evening Danley, who had been in the Philippines, comes back to the United States. Wednesday, October 4 Wednesday morning Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive in Las Vegas, where they meet with Lombardo and others. Later in the morning, they go to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where they meet with victims. Wednesday afternoon Trump speaks at Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Headquarters, and tells law enforcement that they should be proud of the way they responded to the mass shooting. Wednesday evening The number of those injured was 489, Lombardo says. "Of that 489, 317 have been discharged from the hospital," he says. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Louisiana man is accused of shooting a cashier and then killing the police officer who was sent to investigate, authorities said Monday. Ian Paul Howard, 28, of Lafayette also is accused of wounding a second person and attempting to kill a second police officer, officials said. Howard was arrested Sunday on several charges including first-degree murder of a police officer, Louisiana State Police said in a news release. First-degree murder charges have only two possible sentences: life in prison or death. Lafayette police spokesman Cpl. Karl Ratcliff identified the slain officer as Cpl. Michael Paul Middlebrook, a nine-year patrol veteran. He's survived by his wife, their 3-year-old daughter, two stepdaughters and his parents. Neither Ratliff nor Master Trooper Brooks David, a state police spokesman, immediately responded to a query about whether Howard has a previous police record. Howard's father, Edwin Howard, said "the family is in deepest shock" and had no comment about the allegations against his son. He added, "The Howard family would like to extend the deepest sympathy to the family of Cpl. Michael Middlebrook and their friends and everyone on the force, and they'll be in our prayers." State police said Middlebrook was killed late Sunday while answering a call about a shooting at a Big Boy convenience store in Lafayette, a city-parish of about 125,000, about 120 miles (190 kilometers) west of New Orleans. The Big Boy sits in front of a federally subsidized apartment complex in a neighborhood of stores and apartments. David said Howard started a shootout and ran, but was quickly arrested by Lafayette police. He said Howard is accused of trying to kill a second officer, who was not wounded, and of shooting two people in the store. A witness, Avery Cross, 29, of Lafayette, told The Advocate that the shootout took place inside the store. He said that apparently nobody realized the gunman who had shot a cashier was still inside when the officer entered the store and was killed. Cross said he'd gone to the 24-hour store late Sunday, only to find it locked. An employee came to the door and told him a cashier had been shot, pointing out bullet holes in the window, Cross said. He said two officers showed up and one went inside, apparently unaware that the gunman was inside. "So when he walked in, the guy popped out and started shooting," Cross said. He said he heard at least five shots, then the gunman then came out and fired into the air, yelling for people to back up. "I heard the shooting and I just started running," Cross said. "When it was happening, the only thought was just to make it home." A significant snowstorm is set to unfold across the northwestern United States early this week. Temperatures are expected to run 20 to as much as 35 degrees Fahrenheit below normal, with record-low temperatures likely in many locations across the northern Rockies through midweek, said AccuWeather meteorologist Kyle Elliott. Cool air has been in place throughout and west of the Rockies for over a week now, but precipitation has been limited to mainly the highest elevations. A powerful storm expected to dip into the interior Northwest on Monday will bring measurable snowfall to much of Montana and parts of Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. Snow levels will dip to below 5,000 feet, meaning that cities such as Great Falls and Helena, Montana, may receive 6 to as much as 12 inches of snow from the storm, said Elliott. Cities such as Billings, Bozeman and Missoula, Montana, are expected to remain warm enough to allow any snow to melt on contact with the ground. Outdoor adventurers visiting the impacted area will need to be prepared for the wintry conditions. Yellowstone National Park and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, are popular tourist destinations that will be impacted by potentially dangerous winter weather. Residents in areas targeted by the snowstorm should winterize their vehicles now and make sure to have winter tires in place before venturing out early this week, Elliott said. Motorists traveling on Interstate 15 from the U.S./Canadian border southward through Helena and Butte, Montana, should be prepared for major delays, slippery travel and snow-packed roadways. While the snow will taper off on Tuesday morning, the wintry conditions will persist. AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures may plummet as low as the single digits in Great Falls, Montana, on both Monday and Tuesday night, compliments of a fresh snow pack and howling northwesterly winds, Elliott said. Farther north the storm was hitting southern Alberta hard with snow. "Heavy snow will fall over the Plains and eastern slopes of the Rockies in southern Alberta into Monday night," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. "More than 25 cm of snow will fall in some areas and the snow can be accompanied by thunder and lightning." Motorists should be prepared for slippery travel and delays over the Trans-Canada Highway in southern Alberta and the southeastern corner of British Columbia. "The combination of gusty winds and heavy snowfall rates will result in poor visibility at times," Sosnowski said. Dry weather is then expected to prevail through the remainder of the week as temperatures slowly return to normal. The gunman behind the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history was a 64-year-old Nevada resident who fired out of his room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino before turning his gun on himself, police said. Las Vegas Police said Stephen Paddock was found dead when a SWAT team breached his room on the 32nd floor of the resort and casino, located across the street from the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound just as police burst their way into the room, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Undersheriff Kevin McMahill told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. At least 59 people were killed and more than 520 injured in the incident, according to a news release from police. Paddock checked in as a hotel guest on Thursday, Sept. 28 before the attack, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: DOZENS DEAD, HUNDREDS SENT TO HOSPITALS IN MASSACRE Lombardo added that police are investigating how Paddock got the weapons into the hotel and if he had been hiding them. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. "Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor and the scene is static." Responding officers used an explosive device to force the door open into Paddock's room, law enforcement officials told Fox News. Eric Paddock, the shooter's brother, said that his family was caught off guard by the attack, The Washington Post reported. "We know nothing. If you told me an asteroid just fell, it would mean the same to me. There's absolutely no sense, no reason he did this," he said. He also told The Post he wasn't aware of any mental illness, alchohol or drug problems in his brother's life. Eric Paddock said his brother was a multimillionaire who made much of his money investing in real estate, according to the Associated Press. He also said his brother had been an accountant for many years and was unaware of any financial difficulties he may have been having recently. He also noted that his brother had collected coins as a child. The last time Stephen contacted the family was when he wanted to check in on them following the passage of Hurricane Irma, Eric said, adding that Stephen had asked how their 90-year-old mother was doing, according to The Washington Post. In an interview, Eric described his brother as "not a normal guy" who frequently "played high stakes video poker," the Associated Press reported. He added that his brother once "texted me a picture that he won $40,000 on a slot machine." Eric said he knew his brother owned a few guns but barely used them and was shocked to find out the type of weapons used in the deadly attack. "He's just a guy who played video poker and took cruises and ate burritos at Taco Bell. There's no political affiliation that we know of. There's no religious affiliation that we know of," Eric said, according to The Washington Post. Federal law enforcement sources told Fox News that Paddock "was known to local authorities," in Las Vegas. But police in Mesquite, where Paddock lived in a $369,000 home he purchased in 2015, said he never had any run-ins with officers, the Desert Valley Times reported. Police initially sought a woman believed to be Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, as a "person of interest." Detectives later made contact with her, and "do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip." TRUMP OFFERS 'CONDOLENCES' TO VICTIMS OF 'TERRIBLE' ATTACK Paddock was carrying some of Danley's identification when he was found dead in the hotel room, Lombardo said. Paddock and Danley reportedly lived together in Mesquite, Nev., The Washington Post reported. They also reportedly lived in Reno, Nev. for many years. Some of their neighbors described Paddock as "extremely standoffish" and "aggressively unfriendly," the report said. One reportedly described him as "weird," and said he "kept to himself." Other neighbors said they noticed that the couple disappeared for long stretches of time, but Danley had reportedly explained that Paddock was a professional gambler, The Washington Post reported. A search of Paddock's home there uncovered some weapons and ammunition, Mesquite police told KTNV. Neighbors in the community were shocked when they heard the news that Paddock was the shooter. Its unbelievable, Ken Heinly, 73, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. This place is just so quiet. Property records show Stephen Paddock once owned a home in Viera, Fla., from 2013-2015, the Orlando Sentinel reported. He had also worked for a predecessor of Lockheed Martin in the late 1980s, and the company is assisting authorities in the investigation, 8 News Now reported. Fox News' Jake Gibson and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Steven Lorenzo, accused in a pair of grisly killings in which he and another man allegedly endeavored to make two men their "sex slaves," told Florida judges last week he plans to represent himself in court. Lorenzo, 57, was indicted 14 years ago for the murders of Jason Galehouse and Michael Waccholtz. Pam Williams, Galehouses mother, said the murder of her son has changed her. Im not the same person I was years ago, Williams told FOX13. I cant feel. I have no emotions. Williams is convinced of Lorenzos guilt and said he deserves the death penalty. He killed Jason and I want him dead, she said. He doesnt deserve to be on this earth for what hes done. Scott Schweickert, 49, pleaded guilty to his part in the murders in June. Schweickert met Lorenzo online in 2003 and the two developed a plan to make single gay men their permanent slaves, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Prosecutors believe the pair lured Galehouse and Waccholtz into Lorenzos home, using the men as sex slaves before torturing and murdering them. They allegedly discarded the two dismembered bodies in dumpsters around town. Williams was emotional when she faced Schweickert. I hope youre satisfied and I hope you rot in hell, Williams told Schweickert. She says shes ready to face Lorenzo, too, if hes convicted. Im like a bubble, ready to bust, and when I get in there its going to bust, Williams said. Students at one Texas middle school will no longer be able to call themselves "Rebels" after the Corpus Christi Independent School District removed the logo and mascot in response to concerns from parents. The district's actions come amid a nationwide trend to remove or add context to public displays that celebrate the Confederacy. At least 25 cities across the country, including Dallas and Austin, have decided to remove Confederate monuments or relocate them to spaces that are less controversial, such as cemeteries. The CCISD decision prompted a range of reactions, with some parents saying they didn't know there was an issue with the "Rebel" nickname, and others commenting on social media that they are against the change. "It doesn't really matter to me cause i didn't see it as controversial, but people make it controversial," parent John De La Paz told KHOU. "If it was a confederacy and people have a problem with that then we just learn from it. It's history." But others supported the change. "What people don't think about is what it might be for an African American child who's mascot is a confederate rebel," Ralph Perez told KHOU. The school asked members of the community to be involved in naming a new mascot. They will design concept logos and let students, parents and staff vote for their favorite, which will be presented for final approval to the board of trustees. Two Bakersfield, California officers were gun-down last Wednesday after responding to a report of a man with a gun. Authorities said the two police officers were sent to respond to a report of sounds of a disturbance and shortly after arriving they came in contact with the armed suspect. A short time later, officers reported that an officer-involved shooting had occurred, and the suspect and officers had been struck by gunfire, Sgt. Ryan Kroeker, spokesman for the Bakersfield Police Department said, according to the Los Angeles Times. The identity of the shooter remains unknown, but he was pronounced dead. The two officers, although being shot, are expected to survive. The sergeant said the officers will be placed on a routine administrative leave. The incident occurred just hours before the shooting at a Sacramento hotel that killed a Sacramento County Sheriff deputy and injured two other police officers, Fox News reported. Deputy Robert French, 52, was fatally shot on Saturday. Two California Highway Patrol officers are expected to survive the injuries. The officers were part of an investigative team going after a missing car. They found the stolen vehicle near a hotel. Sacramento County Sheriff's Department spokesman Tony Turnbull a man ran out onto the hotels balcony and traded gunfire with the deputy sheriff and two patrol officers. The suspect was injured and detained after a brief chase. 'Divergent Theology' is a Clarion Call to the Church and Might Even Ruffle Some Feathers Richard P. Moore's New Book Uncovers Some Perplexing New Developments Creeping Into Evangelical Christendom Contact: Richard P. Moore, +49 (0) 160 3125806 KANDERN, Germany, Oct. 2, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Richard P. Moore, a missionary serving in Germany, released his first book on September 24, 2017. The book is called "Divergent Theology: An Inquiry into the Theological Characteristics of the Word of Faith Third Wave Movement & the New Apostolic Reformation." Richard asks the questions "are all so called Christian Movements, leaders, pastors, and churches really Christian? Are they all practicing historically accepted Christian teaching? What is really Orthodox Christian Theology anyway?" So many movements are growing and developing in modern Christendom. In Divergent Theology Richard P. Moore addresses many of the new theological streams of thought that are appearing in the new Christian landscape. Do you have the tools to discern between Biblical truth and Divergent or incorrect theology? In Moore's first book he deals with the Teaching, Theology and Practice of the Word of Faith, Third Wave Movement and the New Apostolic Reformation. He compares their theological underpinnings to historical creedal Christianity, what he finds may surprise you. "Divergent Theology" is available now at US Amazon and European Amazon stores, Kindle, and Createspace.com So what? What's the big deal? You may ask. If the New Apostolic Reformation does not affect you yet, it probably soon will. It is the fastest growing non-Catholic movement in the world. Some researchers have estimated that 369 million people worldwide are connected to, and or affected by the movement that has come to be known as the New Apostolic Reformation. Some authors have written about what the New Apostolic Reformation is, but there is very little by way of theological critique. Richard Moore hopes to chart a new course in which the New Apostolic Reformation and its leaders are held up to the lens of scripture and Creedal Christendom. Richard is available for interview or other media appearance upon request. Here is what people are saying about "Divergent Theology" "Richard Moore has identified and clearly explained a major doctrinal departure from the Bible. He has researched it well and written this important work warning of its effect upon evangelical churches today." -- Dr. Daniel E. Woodhead, President, Scofield Biblical Institute and Author of The Book of Zechariah: God Remembers Israel's Future "Divergent Theology" short advertisement: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir0isvygz-s&t=3s Share Tweet A Russian woman accused of blackmailing former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer won't have to face trial on the allegations. A judge sentenced Svetlana Travis Zakharova to 90 days in jail after she pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor larceny charge involving a different man. She already has served more than that while awaiting trial. The plea bargain also resolves an indictment in which Zakharova had been accused of extorting Spitzer by threatening to reveal details of their sexual relationship, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said. Zakharova's lawyer, Joseph Murray, said she denies blackmailing Spitzer, a Democrat who resigned in 2008 amid revelations that he had sex with prostitutes. "She's had a long-term relationship with (Spitzer) and to be accused of extorting him was absolutely not true. She would never admit to that," Murray said. Zakharova pleaded guilty to signing a New Jersey man's name to a lease, costing him $18,000 when she didn't pay rent. In 2015, the Russian woman brought Spitzer back into the tabloid headlines when she accused him of assaulting her in a Manhattan hotel room. Spitzer acknowledged having been with the woman but said through his attorney that the assault allegations were false and created by someone with "emotional difficulties." He was never charged. Months later, he filed a lawsuit against the woman, saying he had been paying her money to keep their relationship quiet. In the suit, which was later withdrawn, he claimed she had demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars and trips to Paris, or she would "ruin his life." Two women accused of fatally poisoning the estranged half brother of North Korea's ruler pleaded not guilty as their trial began Monday in Malaysia's High Court, nearly eight months after the brazen airport assassination. Siti Aisyah of Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam are suspected of smearing Kim Jong Nam's face with the banned VX nerve agent on Feb. 13 at a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur, killing him within about 20 minutes. The women say they thought they were playing a harmless prank for a hidden-camera show. After asking for the charges to be read in their native languages, the women shook their heads when asked if they were guilty. The women are the only suspects in custody in a killing that South Korea's spy agency said was part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to kill a brother he reportedly never met. Police say several North Koreans suspected of involvement left the country on the day of the attack and others were allowed to leave later in a diplomatic deal with Pyongyang. Lawyers for two women, who face the death penalty if convicted, asked the court to compel prosecutors to identify four people still at large mentioned in the charge sheet as having a common intention to kill Kim. "A fair trial must include the right to know," Gooi Soon Seng, Aisyah's lawyer, told the court. "The charge must be clear, not ambiguous." Prosecutors will now start to call their witnesses, with the first few likely to be medical experts to establish the cause of death. The trial is expected to last for about two months, after which the judge will decide if there is a strong case for the women to have to mount their defense, said Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, Huong's lawyer. Kim, who was 45 or 46, was the eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since its founding, yet he reportedly fell out of favor in 2001 when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport, saying he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He had been living abroad for years and at the time of his death was traveling on a North Korean diplomatic passport under the name "Kim Chol." North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime, though Kim was not thought to be seeking influence over his younger brother. He had, however, spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the reclusive, nuclear-armed nation. Pyongyang has denied any role in the killing and has not even acknowledged the dead man was Kim Jong Nam. It has suggested the victim died of a heart attack and accused Malaysia of working with South Korean and other "hostile forces" in blaming Pyongyang. The trial will be closely watched by the Indonesian and Vietnamese governments, which have hired lawyers to defend the women. Aisyah's core defense will be that she didn't know she had poison on her hand when she smeared Kim's face and was instead the victim of an elaborate trick, her lawyer Gooi said before the trial began. The 25-year-old was at a pub in Kuala Lumpur in early January when she was recruited by a North Korean man to star in what he said were video prank shows, Gooi said. Over the course of several days, the North Korean, who went by the name James, had Aisyah go out to malls, hotels and airports and rub oil or pepper sauce on strangers, which he would film on his phone, the lawyer said. Aisyah was paid $100-$200 for each prank and hoped the income would allow her to stop working as an escort, Gooi said. In late January, Aisyah flew to Cambodia, where James introduced her to a man called Chang, who said he was the producer of video prank shows for the Chinese market, the lawyer said. Back in Malaysia, Chang asked Aisyah to do several more pranks at the Kuala Lumpur airport a few days before Kim was attacked. At the airport on the day of Kim's death, Chang pointed him out to Aisyah as the next target and put the poison on her hand, the lawyer said. Police say neither Chang nor James were who they say they were. Chang was actually Hong Song Hac, one of four North Korean suspects who left Malaysia on the day of the killing, while James was Ri Ji U, one of another three North Koreans who hid inside their country's embassy in Kuala Lumpur to avoid questioning. Those three were later allowed to fly home in exchange for nine Malaysians allowed to leave Pyongyang in a deal easing the countries' diplomatic tensions. Gooi said James was key to Aisyah's defense and that his absence could weaken her case. Aisyah, who has a son, has wrote to her family and told them to pray for her "so that the case will be over soon and I can go back home." The 29-year-old Vietnamese suspect Huong was caught on airport security surveillance camera wearing a white sweatshirt emblazoned with the big black letters "LOL" -- the acronym for laughing out loud. Little is known about her. Raised in a rice farm in northern Vietnam, her family said they had hardly heard from her since she left home a decade ago. She made postings on a Facebook page under the name Ruby Ruby, according to her niece, Dinh Thi Quyen. Photos on the page show Huong wearing a white shirt that says "LOL," like the one seen during the attack. It shows her posing for selfies in January in Cambodia and in Kuala Lumpur a few days before the attack. Her last post was on the morning of Feb. 11, two days before the attack, from an area near the airport. As President Donald Trump considers whether to certify to Congress the controversial 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, word that the United Nations nuclear watchdog cant verify a crucial part of the agreement could tip the scales with time running out by the middle of next month. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley indicated Thursday that Russia was shielding Iran by blocking the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from verifying part of the deal. The IAEA initially revealed the news to a reporter in a Q&A. Meanwhile, under a requirement from Congress, Trump must choose whether to certify the deal by October 15. Yukiya Amano, the IAEA Director General, told Reuters that his agencys tools are limited, regarding verification of section T in the nuclear deal. Section T of the Iran nuclear deal, which is also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), prohibits activities related to design and development of a nuclear weapon. Amano told Reuters that the Russians dont believe the IAEA has a mandate for that particular section of the agreement. In response to his admission, Haley, not referring to Russia by name in her statement, said that for the deal to have meaning, the parties must have a common understanding of its terms. Now it appears that some countries are attempting to shield Iran from even more inspections. Without inspections, the Iran deal is an empty promise, she said in the statement released Thursday. The United States Mission to the U.N. when asked for further comment on Haleys views on certification and on whether the deal is failing because of Iranian noncompliance referred Fox News to Haleys latest statement and a speech she made to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington, D.C. in September. Haleys AEI speech was broadly interpreted as laying out the administrations case for not certifying the Iran Nuclear deal. Congress requires the president to certify the Iran deal every 90 days under the terms of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) also known as the Corker-Cardin bill that was passed in 2015, paving the way for the Iran nuclear deal, a cornerstone of the Obama administrations foreign policy legacy. David Albright, who has advised the IAEA in the past, is the founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington D.C. He told Fox News that Russias not wanting to let the IAEA verify section T could be problematic. Amano basically said that the IAEA is not implementing the verification of section T and is unsure how to proceed. He wants guidance from the Joint Commission. However, Russia has said it does not want the IAEA to verify section T. If it sticks to that position in the Joint Commission and blocks instructions to the IAEA to proceed with verifying Section T, and the IAEA does not act on its own to verify Section T or find a work around, then the verification of the JCPOA is incomplete and the deal is not fully implemented, he said. Full implementation is a requirement for the President to certify under INARA (Corker-Cardin). Lack of verification of Section T would also demonstrate that the deal does not deliver like promised and promoted by deal supporters, Albright told Fox News. Omri Ceren, a veteran Middle East expert and a leading critic of the Iran deal, said the IAEAs inability to verify this part of it should make the presidents decision on certification simple. Theres no wiggle room here. The law requires the president to tell Congress yes or no, do we know if Iran has fully implemented the deal? The U.N.s nuclear watchdog just said they dont know if Iran has implemented the section of the deal about nuclear weapons work, because Iran wont let them into military bases where that work is likely to occur. Advocates of the Iran deal are saying the president should certify anyway. Theyre asking him to lie to Congress on behalf of the deal, Ceren said. Trump recently hinted that he might not certify when the 90 days is up on October 15. Since taking office he has twice certified the deal as required by Congress. A U.S. service member was killed and another was wounded in a roadside explosion on Sunday, the military said. Both of the soldiers' names were being withheld pending next of kin notification. Officials are refusing to say where in Iraq the attack took place. So far, seven American servicemen have been killed in Iraq in the fight against ISIS. Two U.S. soldiers were recently killed in the battle to retake the northern city of Mosul. Additionally, a French paratrooper was killed in the fight against ISIS last month, though officials did not specify if the individual died in Iraq or Syria. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said in August that more than 1,200 Iraqi forces were killed in the battle for Mosul and more than 6,000 were wounded. Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and the Associated Press contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 The only reason Egypt has even existed from ancient times until today is because of the Nile River, which provides a thin, richly fertile stretch of green through the desert. Now, for the first time, the country fears a potential threat to that lifeline, and it seems to have no idea what to do about it. Ethiopia is finalizing construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, its first major dam on the Blue Nile, and then will eventually start filling the giant reservoir behind it to power the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa. Egypt fears that will cut into its water supply, destroying parts of its precious farmland and squeezing its population of 93 million people, who already face water shortages. Dam construction on international rivers often causes disputes over the downstream impact. But the Nile is different: few nations rely so completely on a single river as much as Egypt does. The Nile provides over 90 percent of Egypt's water supply. Almost the entire population lives cramped in the sliver of the Nile Valley. Around 60 percent of Egypt's Nile water originates in Ethiopia from the Blue Nile, one of two main tributaries. Egypt hardly gets by with the water it does have. It has one of the lowest per capita shares of water in the world, some 660 cubic meters a person. The strain is worsened by inefficiency and waste. With the population expected to double in 50 years, shortages are predicted to become severe even sooner, by 2025. Egypt already receives the lion's share of Nile waters: more than 55 billion of the around 88 billion cubic meters of water that flow down the river each year. It is promised that amount under agreements from 1929 and 1959 that other Nile nations say are unfair and ignore the needs of their own large populations. Complicating the situation, no one has a clear idea what impact Ethiopia's dam will actually have. Addis Ababa insists it will not cause significant harm to Egypt or Sudan downstream. Much depends on the management of the flow and how fast Ethiopia fills its reservoir, which can hold 74 billion cubic meters of water. A faster fill means blocking more water, while doing it slowly would mean less reduction downstream. Once the fill is completed, the flow would in theory return to normal. Egypt, where agriculture employs a quarter of the work force, is worried that the damage could be long-lasting. One study by a Cairo University agriculture professor estimated Egypt would lose a staggering 51 percent of its farmland if the fill is done in three years. A slower, six-year fill would cost Egypt 17 percent of its cultivated land, the study claimed. Internal government studies estimate that for every reduction of 1 billion cubic meters of water, 200,000 acres of farmland would be lost and livelihoods of 1 million people affected, since an average of five people live off each acre, a senior Irrigation Ministry official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the figures. Other experts say the impact will be far smaller, even minimal. They say Egypt could suffer no damage at all if it and Ethiopia work together and exchange information, adjusting the rate of filling the reservoir to ensure that Egypt's own massive reservoir on the Nile, Lake Nasser, stays full enough to meet its needs during the fill. Unfortunately, that isn't happening so far. "To my knowledge, this situation is unique, particularly at this scale," said Kevin Wheeler at the Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute. "I just can't think of another case that has two large reservoirs in series without a plan on how to operate them together." Originating in Ethiopia, the Blue Nile flows into Sudan, where it joins with the White Nile, whose source is Lake Victoria in east Africa. From there it flows through Egypt to the Mediterranean. For Ethiopia, the $5 billion dam is the realization of a long-delayed dream. Ethiopia's infrastructure is among the least developed in the world, leaving most of its 95 million people without access to electricity. The hydroelectric dam is to have a capacity to generate over 6,400 Megawatts, a massive boost to the current production of 4,000 Megawatts. The dam, around 60 percent complete, is likely to be finished this year or early next. Ethiopia has given little information on when it will start the fill or at what rate. "We have taken into account (the dam's) probable effects on countries like Egypt and Sudan," Ethiopia's water, irrigation and electricity minister, Sileshi Bekele, told journalists. He added that plans for the fills could be adjusted. In a 2015 Declaration of Principles agreement, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agreed to contract an independent study of the dam's impact and abide by it as they agree on a plan for filling the reservoir and operating the dam. But the deadline to complete the study has passed, and it has hardly begun, held up by differences over information sharing and transparency despite multiple rounds of negotiations among the three. Frustration among Egyptian officials is starting to show. In June, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri spoke of "difficult talks" and complained of delays in the impact study. A high-ranking government official acknowledged there's little Egypt can do. "We can't stop it and in all cases, it will be harmful to Egypt," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Egyptian leaders in the past have rumbled about military action to stop any dam, but that option seems less likely after Egypt signed the Declaration of Principles. Salman Salman, a Sudanese water expert, said Egypt has long had an attitude of "this is our river and no one can touch it." Now, he said, "Egypt is no longer the dominant force along the Nile. Ethiopia is replacing it." ___ Associated Press writers Sam Magdy in Cairo and Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Jordan hopes a cease-fire it helped negotiate for a southern region in neighboring Syria will eventually lead to a secure border, the reopening of a vital trade crossing and a gradual return home for Syrian war refugees who sought asylum in the kingdom. But for now, these goals seem out of reach as key security concerns remain unanswered. Fighting has decreased significantly in southern Syria a patchwork of areas under government or rebel control since the truce was negotiated by Russia, the United States and Jordan in July. But pro-Western Jordan still seeks guarantees from Syrian President Bashar Assad and his backers, Russia and Iran, that moderate Syrian opposition fighters and civilians will not be harmed as Assad's forces continue to advance in the southeast, despite the truce. A man who fatally stabbed two young female cousins Sunday while reportedly shouting "Allahu Akbar" outside Marseille's train station had been detained for shoplifting and released the day before the attack, French authorities said. The man also had seven fake identities, used in previous encounters with police, officials said Monday. One such identity named him as Ahmed H, born in 1987 in Tunisia. French authorities are studying the suspect's cellphone and working to determine his true identity and whether he had direct links to ISIS, which claimed responsibility for Sunday's stabbing. The assailant was killed by soldiers immediately after the attack, the latest of several targeting France. The suspect was identified by his fingerprints, which matched those taken during seven previous incidents registered by police since 2005, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters. The attacker didn't have any past convictions in France, Molins said. He did not elaborate on the previous police incidents, but noted the man's most recent arrest occurred in the Lyon area Friday just two days before the train station stabbing. ISIS CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR KNIFE ATTACK AT MARSEILLE TRAIN STATION The man was held overnight for shoplifting, and then released Saturday and the charges dropped, Molins said. Molins said local authorities had no reason to hold him further based on the ID he gave them, a Tunisian passport. He told Lyon authorities that he did odd jobs, used hard drugs and was divorced. It's not clear if the attacker had any connection to the victims, two cousins meeting for a birthday celebration in Lyon, Molins said. Some witnesses reported hearing the assailant shout "Allahu Akbar!" Arabic for "God is great" and Molins said that's one of the reasons prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation. He said video surveillance of the site showed the man arrived at the station in the early afternoon and sat for a few minutes on a bench outside. He then suddenly jumped up and stabbed one woman several times, then ran away, then came back and attacked the second woman. 4 AMERICAN TOURISTS ATTACKED WITH ACID IN MARSEILLE'S TRAIN STATION A woman passer-by tried to intervene, Molins said. The man then tried to attack soldiers patrolling the site, but they shot him dead with two bullets. The suspect was found with two knives and a telephone, but no identity papers, according to Molins. The man's multiple pseudonyms made it difficult to even find a house to search for more clues, said Yves Lefebvre of the Unite SGP Police union. "While it could shock the public, unfortunately it doesn't shock us, the police," that the suspect was released the day before carrying out a deadly attack, he said. He said shoplifting usually results in a quick police report and a court summons for a later date, and the suspect is released. "Nothing allowed us to suspect there was a threat of radicalization during the [Lyon] arrest," Lefebvre told The Associated Press. The ISIS-linked Aamaq propaganda outlet said the assailant was acting in response to the extremist group's calls to target countries in the U.S.-led coalition fighting militants in Syria and Iraq. France has been part of the anti-ISIS coalition since 2014. The Aamaq statement didn't provide evidence of a direct link to the attacker, and it's unclear if the claim is merely opportunistic. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Palestinian prime minister has arrived in Gaza for the most ambitious attempt yet to reconcile the rival Palestinian factions. Rami Hamdallah drove through the Erez Crossing on Monday, heading a large delegation of Fatah officials from the West Bank trying to end a 10-year rift with Gaza's Hamas rulers. In a significant concession, Hamas has offered to turn over all governing responsibilities to Hamdallah. But key sticking points, primarily Hamas' refusal to disarm its powerful military wing, are likely to complicate or even derail the reconciliation efforts in the coming weeks. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 after overrunning the Fatah-led forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas' Palestinian Authority has since governed only in autonomous enclaves of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Repeated attempts to reconcile have failed. President Donald Trump's latest tweets on North Korea have received a muted response in South Korea, where media focused more on U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's acknowledgement that the U.S. is keeping open direct communication channels with the North. South Korea's largest daily newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, warned Monday that any U.S.-North Korea talks should not recognize the North as a nuclear state, or the South would be forced to seek nuclear arms too. Tillerson made headlines on Saturday when he said in Beijing that the Trump administration is probing North Korea's willingness to talk. On Sunday, Trump tweeted that he told Tillerson "he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Elder Ricardo Graham, President, Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Responds to Las Vegas Shooting Contact: Kevin Lampe, 312 617-7280 LAS VEGAS, Oct. 2, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- As a church, Seventh-day Adventists reject violence and we are appalled at the tragic loss of life last night in Las Vegas. We grieve with those who have lost family and friends, and add our voice in mourning and sorrow. We stand against anyone who causes death and injury, and are heartbroken for those who are suffering such pain and anguish. The scriptures condemn those who use violence, saying that "those who love violence, he hates with a passion" (Psalm 11:5 NIV). He says very clearly, "Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right" (Ezekiel 45:9 NIV). As believers, we are called to stand for what is good and true and right, and most of all to show the love of God in the way we live. We will help those affected in their suffering, and continue to pray for all those who mourn. Instead of returning evil, we stand with all those who wish to do good. "Do not repay anyone evil for evil...Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:17-21 NIV). We believe that "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18 NIV). May this be true for all those grieving and saddened at this time of loss. Elder Ricardo Graham, D. Min, president Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists October 2, 2017 Las Vegas is located in the Pacific Union Conference Share Tweet A man who shot a police dog and fired at two Spotsylvania County deputies during an incident a year ago was ordered Monday to serve 45 1/2 years in prison. Joseph Elliott Conway, 35, of King George County was sentenced in Spotsylvania Circuit Court to a total of 124 1/2 years with all but 45 1/2 years suspended. The judge could not have ordered Conway to serve less than 43 1/2 years, the mandatory minimum on the charges he was convicted of. On Oct. 2 of last year, Conway was a passenger in a car that was stopped by Spotsylvania Deputy Matt Jones in the area of the Sheetz off Lafayette Boulevard. After stopping the car for a minor equipment infraction, Jones learned that the driver, Derek Williams, was wanted in Fredericksburg. Deputies Chris Lee and Kory Kelley came to assist and Conway was directed to get out of the car. While patting him down, Lee felt a handgun. Conway punched Lee and took off running. Kelley warned Conway twice to stop running or he would release his police dog, Dux. Conway continued sprinting toward a townhouse complex and Dux was within a five to 10 feet when Conway fired two shots. Dux suffered a large wound on his back and a wound to the neck. He received emergency surgery and has since recovered and returned to duty. Conway then fired shots at Lee and Kelley, who were in pursuit. Jones remained at the original stop with the driver. The deputies returned fire and Conway had a gunshot wound to his leg when he was apprehended at a Henrico County motel two days later. Conway left behind a number of items during his brief escape, including cocaine, heroin and a designer drug known as ethylone. Among his convictions in this case were several drug offenses that carried substantial mandatory time; he has now been convicted of eight distribution charges. Following his arrest, Conway told police he was shooting at Williams because he thought he'd been set up. Deputies said the shots were clearly fired at them and were nowhere near Williams. Among Conway's 11 convictions stemming from this incident were two counts of attempted capital murder, malicious wounding of a police dog, assault on a law-enforcement officer and multiple firearm and drug charges. Commonwealth's Attorney Travis Bird said Conway deserved more time. He noted that the charges involving shooting at the deputies and Dux resulted in only two years of active prison time. "He's a career armed drug dealer who tried to kill our police officers," Bird said. "He's the poster child for someone who is a menace to society." Attorney Wendy Harris represented Conway, who is still facing the possibility of serving 10 years of previously suspended time for violating his probation in Fredericksburg. A trial in the city is scheduled for Oct. 27. Someone recently vandalized the flagpole that flies the controversial Confederate flag that towers above Interstate 95 on private property in the Falmouth area, authorities said. Stafford County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Amanda Vicinanzo said Deputy George Motley was called to the property Sunday afternoon and found "take it down" and "racist" spray-painted on the base of the pole. The rope used to hoist the flag was also damaged, Vicinanzo said, and there was an apparent attempt to remove the plaque on the pole that reads, "Virginia." The huge flag has been especially controversial of late and a number of speakers at several recent meetings have urged the county Board of Supervisors to take a stand against it. They said it reflects poorly on Stafford to have the flag so prominently displayed. Suggestions have included things from outlawing the flag altogether to issuing a proclamation denouncing the Confederate flag, which some believe is a symbol of racism and white supremacy. In addition, a lawyer in the county recently filed a complaint to the county zoning department, contending that the flag is an illegal sign that should come down. The flag was raised in 2014 on private property near the intersection of Interstate 95 and U.S. 17. It can be seen by motorists on the interstate. County Attorney Charles Shumate has said because the flag is on private property, the county has no legal authority to force the property owners to take it down. Vicinanzo said the landowner, Hubert Cash, informed Motley that the pole is owned by the Virginia Flaggers and that he agreed to have the flag and pole on his property. There are a number of no-trespassing signs around the pole and property line. Cash told the deputy that he noticed the damage about 3 p.m. Sunday and had last seen the pole undamaged on Sept. 24. Vicinanzo said Cash told police he doesn't know who caused the damage, "but knows there are a lot of people who do not like the flag." One vocal opponent of the flag on the Cash property, however, says she condemns the vandalism. Susan Kosior recently got a permit to erect her own 80-foot pole on which to fly a Black Lives Matter flag at her home in Ferry Farm in opposition to the Confederate flag. I have worked tirelessly the last seven weeks to use the system to legally combat the I-95 flag in our community, Kosior wrote in an email. This type of behavior only sets back our work for justice and our cause for peace. I have never advocated violating the Cashes property rights using any means, including trespass and vandalism. I remain steadfast in that conviction. A Stafford man was ordered Friday to serve 21 months in federal prison for cheating the federal government out of nearly $200,000. Gennaro Mattiaccio, 55, a former federal law-enforcement officer with the U.S. Armys Criminal Investigation Command, was convicted of three felonies in federal court in Alexandria in February. The charges included fraud and making false statements. According to a release from the Department of Justice, Mattiaccio received more than $75,000 in Social Security disability benefits from April 2014 through September of 2016 that he was not entitled to. He owned a commercial beekeeping business in Stafford, Rock Hill Honey Bee Farms, and that employment disqualified him from SSA benefits, court documents state. He also received disability benefits from the Department of Veteran Affairs totaling $120,000 from 2008 through 2016, according to the evidence. He submitted fraudulent documents regarding his inability to work as part of that scheme. In trying to cover up the deceit, prosecutors said Mattiaccio submitted a fake tax return to the SSA and tried to back date the signature card to his business bank account, among other things. One document submitted by Mattiaccio to SSA indicated that he was earning about $400 a month when in fact he was making more than $25,000 some months. The beautiful fall weather brought huge crowds to the State Fair of Virginia this weekend. And while many attended the fair for the rides galore, live music and seemingly endless offerings of classic fair food favorites, others entered the gates of Meadow Event Park in Caroline County prepared for some friendly competition. Nowhere was the competitive spirit more alive than at the giant pumpkin and watermelon weigh-ina contest that embraces and preserves the agricultural roots of the state fair. Spotsylvania County resident Hank Houston won the coveted first-place ribbon in the giant watermelon competition. His watermelon weighed in at 226 pounds. He also entered a 268-pound pumpkin, which took seventh place. Houston holds the state record for the largest pumpkin, which weighed in at a whopping 1,340.7 pounds in 2015. This year, Ricky Atkins of Southampton County claimed the largest pumpkin, which weighed 972.6 pounds. Fairgoers flooded into the Horticulture Pavilion throughout the weekend to catch a glimpse of the massive winning pumpkin. The giant pumpkin competition was just one among many at the state fair. Several competitions drew people from both near and far. Megan Comstock traveled from Raleigh, N.C., with her quarter horse, Bee, to participate in the cowboy mounted shooting competition on Sunday. Dressed in cowboy attire, the competitors mounted their horses and sped through a course while shooting at balloons with handguns. Comstocks love of horses began as a child. She recalls begging to take horseback riding lessons practically from the moment she learned to talk. At 7 years old, her wish was granted and she began taking lessons. Over time, her love for the equestrian sport grew stronger and she experimented with both Western and English riding disciplines. She stumbled upon cowboy mounted shooting while attending an event several years ago. The combination of horsemanship and speed required for mounted shooting immediately appealed to her and she decided to give it a shot. Once she did, she was hooked. I had thought about getting involved with barrel racing, but worried Id get bored, Comstock said. When I found this, I was intriguedit looked fun and I liked the speed part. I have a book with about 60 patterns for mounted shooting courses, so I knew itd never get boring. Comstock and Bee completed the course at the fair in a little over 13 seconds. Comstock typically finishes these courses in 11 or 12 seconds, but Bee is new to these competitions. This is only my fifth shoot with Bee, so I just wanted to get through, Comstock said. Not far away, competitors in the 4-H Dog Agility competition crowded into the holding area before the start of the event. While some dogs barked or anxiously paced through the sawdust, others stood calmly at the feet of their handlers, peering at the spectators through the bars of the rusty blue fence lining the holding area. Nineteen-year-old Jacqueline Dorset explained that dogs and their handler work as a team to complete an obstacle course in a certain amount of time. Dogs jump over hurdles, ascend and descend an A-shaped platform, speed through tunnels, weave around poles and leap through a tire hoopjust to name a few. Dorset and her 3-year-old hound mix named Sundance competed in the Gamblers course where handlers design their own course. Regardless of the course type, a tremendous amount of training is involved in preparing for the yearly 4-H dog agility shows at the fair. We train constantly, Dorset said. Some of the training is basic obedience like getting the dog to sit, come and stay. But, there is also the competitive, agility training on the obstacles. Dorset and her four-legged companion attend monthly Lending a Paw Dog Club meetings in Chesterfield as well as training sessions, classes and other events. But, nothing quite tops the state fair. Weve been looking forward to this for a while, she said. I already cant wait till next year. A student at George Mason University died Saturday after he reportedly took a hallucinogenic drug and then crashed through a fifth-floor dormitory window, university officials said Sunday. Campus police said they were concerned that other students may have the same drug. The student, whose name was not released, was a 19-year-old sophomore, according to GMU spokesman Michael Sandler. Sandler declined to say what type of hallucinogen the student is believed to have taken. A toxicology exam by the medical examiner is pending. The incident occurred at the Potomac Heights residence hall about 4:40 p.m. Saturday. Witnesses told police that the student was on a hallucinogenic substance, Sandler said, when he ran through a window on the fifth floor and fell to the ground. When police arrived, he was alive but unresponsive, according to the spokesman. Police and paramedics performed CPR, and the student was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Sandler said. Campus police chief Carl Rowan Jr. said in an email to GMU students and staff Saturday night that no foul play was suspected but that other students may have the same hallucinogenic drug and could be at risk. The chief encouraged anyone who possesses or has taken the drug to call campus police, noting that the university has a medical amnesty program and will not prosecute anyone who reports illegal drug activity in the interest of safety. Located in Fairfax County, George Mason is the largest public research university in Virginia, with an enrollment of more than 33,000. The university has greatly expanded its on-campus housing in recent years, attempting to shed its reputation as a commuter school, and the dorm where the incident occurred, at the corner of Braddock and Roberts roads, is one of many newer dorms there. Rowan was not available for comment Sunday, a police dispatcher said. Three students who live in Potomac Heights said they saw paramedics trying to revive the student after he fell. A fifth-floor window at the rear of the large dormitory for sophomores, juniors and seniors was boarded up Sunday. Govind Virdy, a sophomore from Lansdowne, said the student who fell was a close friend from [the Fredericksburg area]. He said he was a 19-year-old sophomore who had not yet decided on a major. He was a really great guy, Virdy said. He had a tough life. We were all trying to help him out. We all loved him. We all care about him. Hopefully hes where he wanted to be. This domain was recently registered at Namecheap.com. Please check back later! 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. Police in Cumbria have carried out a three-day operation to tackle sheep theft, following a series of rustling incidents on farms. According to Cumbria Constabulary, 328 sheep and lambs have been stolen across the county since the start of the year, costing farmers an estimated 40,000. In an attempt to crack down on this crime, officers from Cumbria, along with staff from Trading Standards, targeted auction marts in Kirkby Stephen, Cockermouth and Longtown. See also: Fleeced police failure to tackle sheep rustling exposed They stopped almost 200 vehicles and inspected more than 5,400 sheep to identify stolen animals, as part of the crackdown termed Operation Meadow. Ear tags and documentation required to move sheep to and from the auctions were checked. Sheep trailers were also checked against stolen trailer databases, and staff from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) were present to check the safety of the vehicles transporting the livestock. Big issue PC Sarah Rolland, wildlife crime officer for Cumbria Constabulary, said sheep theft was a big issue for the farming community in Cumbria. She added: The financial impact to farmers when their livestock is stolen is hugely significant, not only due to the need to replace the stock stolen, but also because of insurance premiums. According to police, farmers welcomed police efforts to tackle sheep rustling. PC Rolland said officers would continue to carry out similar operations in future. An investigation by Farmers Weekly earlier this year found serious deficiencies in how police forces across the UK tackle sheep thefts. Our research found that despite hundreds of sheep rustling incidents reported across the UK, just nine of these cases resulted in a conviction. The conviction rate is just 0.75%. Recent incident Police are investigating the theft of sheep from a field between Great Strickland and Little Strickland. Rustlers stole 10 in-lamb Suffolk Cross ewes some time between 22 and 27 September. The sheep had yellow tags in their ears and a red dot marked on their fleece between their shoulders. Anyone with information should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. The governments commitment to British farmers has been called into question after the Conservative party allowed a major sugar importer to sponsor its conference. Lanyards holding delegate passes to the four-day conference in Manchester, which runs from 1-4 October, are being sponsored by Tate & Lyle Sugars. Tate & Lyles UK business is based on refining imported sugar cane in direct competition to British farmers who grow sugar beet rather than sugar cane. See also: Farmer anger as Tesco ditches British sugar The companys sponsorship of the conference means Tory party members including government ministers will be advertising a brand which is a major competitor to British Sugar. Early off to Manchester to help man NFU stand. First job, change the lanyard on the pass. You won't build a country on imports @theresa_may pic.twitter.com/OqQXdl54nH Guy Smith (@essexpeasant) October 2, 2017 NFU vice-president Guy Smith, who is attending the event to lobby for a fair Brexit deal for British farmers, has scrawled out the words Tate & Lyle on his lanyard. You wont build a country on imports, he said. Mr Smith posted before and after photos of his defaced lanyard on Twitter prompting a flurry of responses from farmers. Lincolnshire grower Andrew Ward described the decision to allow Tate & Lyle to sponsor the conference as disgraceful. So much for supporting British agriculture, he said. Meanwhile, NFU director general Terry Jones has swapped his lanyard for one bearing a farmer-friendly British Sugar branding and a #BackBritishSugar hashtag. Louth and Horncastle MP Victoria Atkins, who is married to British Sugar managing director Paul Kenward, is also wearing a British Sugar lanyard at the conference. Louth and Horncastle MP Victoria Atkins is #backing British Farming once again! pic.twitter.com/5yJt3Uoh3R NFU Political (@NFUPolitical) October 2, 2017 Mr Kenward said the only way consumers could guarantee they were buying British retail sugar was by looking for the Silver Spoon brand or Red Tractor logo. The conference comes just days after Defra secretary Michael Gove visited British Sugars factory at Newark to mark the end of the EU sugar regime. British Sugar wants to increase its output by 40% now the regime has ended and quotas limiting EU sugar production have been lifted. Defra said the visit was being held to celebrate our world-class farming industry and discuss new opportunities for British growers. Today @michaelgove is at @BritishSugar to celebrate our world-class farming industry and discuss new opportunities for British growers pic.twitter.com/5AsORfRHlp Defra UK (@DefraGovUK) September 27, 2017 Mr Gove is due to speak at an NFU fringe meeting later on Monday (2 October). City council holding special called meeting for final vote on returning to committees For some reason, Gaffney City Council is in a hurry to make the citys 10 standing committees in good standing again. After approving first reading of an ordinance at its... POLICE REPORTS Its my birthday and I need a haircut Just because its your birthday, doesnt mean you get a free pass to take merchandise from stores. According to a report on file at the City of Gaffney Police Department,... Challenges facing healthcare in rural areas discussed at summit Community access to mental health services and health care providers loom as two of the major rural health challenges facing Cherokee County. The Cherokee County School District has seen an... Hospital CEO serves on board Becky Pape, CEO of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, was elected an at-large delegate and member of the American Hospital Associations Regional Policy Board 9. Pape is serving a two-year term that started last Jan. 1, and meets with the board throughout the year to discuss policy issues and alternatives. The boards recommendations and analyses are used by the American Hospital Association Board in its policy deliberations. The Regional Policy Board serves as an ad hoc policy development committee when appropriate, identifies needs unique to the region and assists in developing programs to meet those needs. Physician joins pulmonary unit Griffith Liang recently joined The Corvallis Clinic Pulmonary Medicine Department. Liang is seeing patients by referral at the Asbury Building in Corvallis, and at The Clinic at North Albany Village. Liang provides pulmonary and critical care with the goal of diagnosing and treating lung diseases with less-invasive procedures, such as navigation bronchoscopy, endobronchial ultrasound and argon plasma coagulation. Graduating in 1997, Liang earned a Doctor of Medicine degree at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He then continued to complete his residency in internal medicine in 2001, while teaching as an assistant professor at St. Louis University. He finished his fellowship in pulmonary medicine and critical care in 2004. From 2004 to 2009, Liang was a pulmonologist at The Vancouver Clinic, and then was a pulmonary and critical care physician at PeaceHealth Medical Group in Vancouver, Washington, and director of the Fundamental Critical Care Support Course from 2009 to last year. Liang is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine and critical care. For an appointment, call 541-754-1272 or visit www.corvallisclinic.com/Liang. Benton County third for health According to the annual Oregon County Health Rankings released last March by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, available at www.countyhealthrankings.org, Benton County ranks third in overall health outcomes and first in overall health factors. Washington and Clackamas counties ranked first and second for overall health outcomes, and Washington and Hood River counties ranked second and third for overall health factors. The health outcomes ranking is based upon length and quality of life measures, including premature death, poor physical and mental health and birthweight data. The health factors ranking is based upon health behaviors, clinical care, socioeconomic factors and physical environment. Within these categories, Benton County ranks No. 1 in clinical care and socioeconomic factors, No. 3 in health behaviors and No. 16 in physical environment. The physical environment category includes air pollution, drinking water violations, housing problems and driving alone. Benton County is listed in the top five counties in Oregon with severe housing problems. Research demonstrates direct correlations between safe, affordable housing and better health. Local officers in police class The Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training announced the graduation of its 366th Basic Police Class on May 12. Graduating members of BP366 included Police Officer Bryan Alvarez of the Corvallis Police Department, Police Officer Lance Armstrong of CPD, Deputy Sheriff Daniel Ball of the Benton County Sheriff's Office, Police Officer Ryan Bell of CPD, Police Officer Brittany Hughes of CPD and Deputy Sheriff Caleb Riley of BCSO. The Basic Police Class is 16 weeks long and includes training areas such as survival skills, firearms, emergency vehicle operations, ethics, cultural diversity, problem solving, community policing, elder abuse, drug recognition and dozens of other subjects. Sheriff Bruce Riley of the Linn County Sheriff's Office was the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony. The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training operates the Oregon Public Safety Academy, which spans more than 235 acres in Salem. The academy is nationally recognized for its innovative training programs and active stakeholder involvement. Counseling center changes name The Pastoral Counseling Center Board of Directors recently announced a decision to change the PCCs name to Hope and Wholeness Counseling. Board members decided that to carry out the agencys mission to the fullest extent, they needed to remove what they believed had become a barrier to providing this care: the Pastoral Counseling Center name. Over the past several years, it became apparent to staff and board members and referral sources that some individuals eschewed PCC services due to widespread misunderstanding about the role of spirituality in its work. The agency plans to continue to serve all individuals in the community at individualized, reduced fees, and offer spiritually integrated care only when requested. It is hoped the change will enable Hope and Wholeness Counseling to fulfill its mission to provide competent, compassionate counseling services to individuals and families in Benton and Linn Counties. March 23, 1932 September 24, 2017 Joan passed away peacefully in her sleep on September 24, after a short illness from cancer. She was 85. Joan and her twin sister Jean were born on March 23, 1932 in Salem to Ruth Gillmore and John Reining Baines. She was raised in Portland and Albany and graduated from Albany Union High School in 1950. Joan then attended Oregon State College where she and Jean were majorettes for the marching band. Joan met her future husband, Forrest "Spike" Gathercoal in a music theory class at OSC where she was impressed by his big booming voice. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in business in 1955. Joan married Spike in a double ceremony with her twin sister Jean on April 25, 1953. Shortly after their marriage, Joan and Spike moved to Amarillo, Texas where Spike was a member of the United States Air Force band. Joan first began to give piano lessons in Amarillo, which she would continue as a lifelong career. In 1957, Joan and Spike moved to Junction City. Joan was the accompanist at the Lutheran Church and continued to teach piano lessons. In 1961, they helped organize the Scandinavian Festival. After moving to Corvallis, in addition to teaching piano, Joan and her sister opened a bakery called JeanJoan Homemade Desserts where they tempted Corvallis with their shortbread cookies, Good For You Cookies, and ice cream cookie pies for four years. Joan and Spikes home was a gathering place and home to many, and was filled with the tinkling of piano keys, wafting smell of cookies, a roaring fire, and hundreds of Mickey Mouses. Her kitchen was always open and her cookie jars always full. She loved to cook for her family, friends, and students and never made one batch of anything when she could make ten. Joan estimated she taught thousands of piano students over the course of her 63 year career. She was a loving teacher and mentor who truly cared about her students and gave them the confidence to succeed. Joan inspired in her students a love of music and served as an example of a life lived joyfully to the fullest, dedicated to loving and serving others. Joan was a highly respected leader within the piano teacher community. She was a member of the National Music Teachers Association and a lifetime member of Oregon Music Teachers Association. She was also a past president of OMTA and in 2016 received the OMTA Nellie Tholen Excellence in Teaching award. Joan traveled to Khabarovsk, Russia in 1998 with other OMTA members and again in 2001 with her student, Amy Wu, who performed a piano concerto with the Khabarovsk Symphony Orchestra. Joan will be dearly missed by her students, colleagues, friends, and large extended family. Joan is survived by her daughter Susan Jean Gathercoal Thayer; sister Judy Uchytil of Beaverton; brothers Jack Baines of Green Valley, Arizona, Art Baines of Corvallis, and Matt Baines of Portland; as well as 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Forrest Gathercoal; son Bob Gathercoal; and sister Jean Proctor. A celebration of life will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 14, at the First United Methodist Church in Corvallis. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in the name of Joan Gathercoal be sent to the OSU Foundation, 850 S.W. 35th St., Corvallis, OR 97333-4014, for the OSU Memorial Fund for Piano Activities. Please leave your thoughts and memories at www.mchenryfuneralhome.com. The Northwest landscape attracts nature lovers and travelers from around the world, but the rain-soaked coast range, snow-covered volcanoes and expansive high desert didnt appear overnight. At the Corvallis Science Pub on Monday, Oct. 9, Marli Miller, author of Roadside Geology of Oregon," will describe what we can learn by traveling the states roadways about the forces that put the Northwest together. Science Pub begins at 6 p.m. in the Old World Deli, 341 Second St. in Corvallis, and is free. Miller will describe the process of continental growth that forms the underlying but diverse basement of the region and is readily visible in the Coast Range, North Cascades, Okanogan, Klamath and Blue Mountains. Miller is a senior instructor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oregon. Copies of her books will be available at the event from Grass Roots Books in Corvallis. The Linn County Sheriffs Office Search and Rescue Team saved a 16-year-old girl who became lost in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness near Marion Lake on Saturday night and was suffering from mild hypothermia due to near freezing temperatures. Four team members hiked about seven miles in the dark and found the hiker at 4:19 a.m. on Sunday. They provided her with first aid, food, liquids and dry clothing and built a warming fire to prepare her for the hike out after daybreak. The first report of the missing hiker came at 8:27 p.m. on Saturday. A friend called 911 and said that the girl was lost in the wilderness, and that the girls parents did not know she had gone to hike alone to Marion Lake. At 8:35 p.m., the hiker herself called 911 and reported that she had taken a wrong turn on a trail, became lost and was not prepared for the weather. The overnight temperature was near freezing, with rain and snow predicted above the 5,500-foot elevation level. Marion Lake is at roughly 4,300 feet in elevation. Search and Rescue Team members responded to the Pine Ridge Trailhead and located the teens vehicle. From there, they hiked to the Eight Lakes Basin area, and they found the girl on the Blue Lake Trail, about three miles south of Marion Lake. At about 10:46 a.m. on Sunday, Search and Rescue Team members, including members of the Linn County Sheriffs Office Mounted Posse, were able to escort the female to the Marion Lake Trailhead where she was later reunited with her mother. The Marion County Sheriffs Office and the Oregon State Police assisted with the search and rescue efforts. Lebanon resident Mica Smith said he was prepared when he pulled his concealed sidearm to stop an attacker with a knife Thursday. He also said he was scared. He's had his concealed carry permit for five years, and the incident marked the first time he has ever gone to his gun. But his training as a licensed concealed handgun carrier added the layer of discipline required to prevent the situation from flying off the rails. Smith, a bartender at Conversion Brewing on Main Street in Lebanon, was having a pint and a burger with his wife, Kylee, and some friends at the brewpub Thursday evening when he noticed a confrontation between Michael Ryan VanGelder, 30, and Elizah Bullock, 39. Bullock was sitting in his car when Smith said he heard VanGelder shout, "What the (expletive) did you say to me?" while rushing toward Bullock. Smith said he next heard a loud sound he described as a "tang" and then saw VanGelder pulling out a knife and holding it out as if he would attack Bullock. The U.S. Army veteran reacted to the threat, leaping from the patio and pulling his Glock 42 .380 on VanGelder, shouting at him drop the knife. VanGelder then tried to run, and both Bullock and Smith chased and tackled VanGelder. Bullock was injured in the commotion. Once they got the knife from VanGelder, Smith holstered his weapon while his wife sat on VanGelder to subdue him until the police arrived. They arrested VanGelder for unlawful use of a weapon, menacing, fourth-degree assault and second-degree disorderly conduct. The incident amplifies the value of trained and responsible citizens carrying concealed weapons, said Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley. "That's a good example of what concealed carry permits are intended to do," said Riley, who added that the county has just around 11,000 people licensed to carry concealed weapons. Riley added that, unlike an untrained citizen who may have the right to carry a gun, the permit brings training and awareness that adds discipline to a threat situation. Smith echoed that sentiment when he described how he used his weapon during the incident. "I did not put my finger on the trigger," said Smith. "I do not put my finger on the trigger unless I'm going to fire." Smith added that as a concealed carry license holder, he assumes great responsibility if he fires his gun. "I knew that somebody's life was in danger, and that others could be threatened too," he said. Smith also said he believes Bullock would have been killed had he not intervened. As far as the training required for the license, Smith feels it needs to be more intensive. "The five-hour training is not enough," he said. "It's also important to go to the gun range to practice trigger discipline and develop muscle memory." Smith said he'll never carry a gun that he has not fired between 50 and 100 rounds through. This is important, he said, to be able to know the weapon and how best to fire it. Still, the last thing Smith said he wants to do is to fire his weapon outside the range, but he maintains a philosophy that always having his gun is important. "Its better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it," he said. But he advocates concealed carry not just for the training and responsibility it includes, but because he believes open carry can invite confrontation. "I think with open carry, you could end up with someone picking a fight just to see if you're a badass," he said. Smith also spoke about VanGelder, who suffers from mental illness, according to his family. "The state needs a way to better take care of people with mental issues," Smith said. "So the two things I take away from the situation are these: The Second Amendment and concealed carry are a good thing, and mental instability is something that needs to be addressed." Smith's son, Michael, a sophomore at Lebanon High School, said he's proud of his dad and happy nothing bad happened that night. He said his dad was a little shaken after the incident, but that it shows the value of responsible gun ownership in the community. And according to his dad, people at Conversion Brewing converted to believing in concealed carry that night. "There were people there that were against concealed carry, " said Smith. "But after what happened, they've changed their minds." BROWNSVILLE Winnie Barrons Christmas shopping list must be a mile long. After all, nearly 1,500 children call her Mum. Well, she loves and embraces in her heart at least that many youngsters served by the Makindu Childrens Center, located about 170 miles southeast of Nairobi and 221 miles northwest of Mombasa, Kenya. Barron who's also a physician assistant at Samaritan Urgent Care in Lebanon founded the center 19 years ago. In November, she'll be honored for her decades of service to African children who live in extreme poverty as this years humanitarian award winner as selected by the World of Children, a philanthropic organization based in New York, City. And while the willowy Barron almost blushes while trying to deflect attention from herself calling it a group-based award she appreciates its importance and prestige. She also values the nearly $90,000 that comes with it, which will benefit several aspects of the Makindu program over the next three years. I am truly astonished we won, Barron said. This is a we win for sure, but there is no doubt this is a prestigious honor. It is compared to the Nobel Peace Prize, but for programs directed at improving the lives of children around the world. Barron said the award comes with a $55,000 base grant. But organizations can then raise funds, which are double-matched by World of Children. We set a goal of $10,000 to raise in six weeks. We raised it in four days and donations are still coming in, Barron said. The award will be presented on Nov. 2 in New York City, following a week-long celebration of child advocacy. Other award winners will be recognized in the areas of education, health and protection. Over the last 20 years, the World of Children has had 26,000 nominations and only 117 award recipients. Since 1998 the program founded by Harry and Kay Leibowitz has dedicated more than $11.5 million to programs operated by 112 honorees in 50 countries in 2016. Eight more recipients, including Barron, will be recognized in November. From 'Emergency!' to a calling It's 9,000 miles from affluent Black Forest, Colorado, where Barron and her six brothers and sisters grew up to the block building in Makindu, Kenya, a truck stop on the main tourist highway between Nairobi and Mombasa. Scattered about the region are some 20,000 residents, virtually all living in extreme poverty. Most of the children are orphans whose parents have died of a variety of diseases, including HIV/AIDS. The infection rate in Kenya (children and adults) was about 16 percent when the program started in 1998, and is currently approximately 6 percent. Many of the children live on the streets or have been placed with foster families, even though they too are subsisting economically. Had it not been for the 1970s television show "Emergency!," there may not be a Makindu Childrens Center. I had a teenage crush with Cage (actor Randolph Mantooth) and Roy (actor Kevin Tighe) from that show, and thats when I decided I wanted to be a paramedic, Barron said. I didnt think I was smart enough to become a doctor. Barron went on to study medicine at Colorado College, the University of Edinburgh and the Duke University School of Medicine. Her kind heart came from generous, caring parents, especially her mother, who taught her children that they needed to give back to the world for what they had been given. Barron followed her brother Pete to Brownsville after completing her paramedics training. She has for decades worked for Samaritan Health Services or its predecessors. Pete is retired now and lives in Eugene, but he has five volunteer jobs, all helping people, Barron said. Her first venture to Africa was in 1994, when she traveled to Rwanda with Northwest Medical Teams. That's where she saw the impact of extreme poverty on children. From April to June 1994, more than 800,000 Tutsis were killed by members of the majority Hutus. The genocide created some 2 million refugees. Three years later, Barron returned to Africa where she was arrested several times trying to cross the border into Rwanda and wound up waiting for three months in Nairobi for the border to open. I decided to volunteer and was told a rural hospital at Makindu could use me, she said. There was one doctor, and while I was there, I could monitor the radio and newspapers to see if the Rwanda border had opened. Barron was overwhelmed by the plight of the children she saw in Makindu. I met hundreds of children and although each had a different story, their stories were similar ones of desperate hearts, she said. We had no virtually resources at the hospital. Each day a boy named Madona would gather kids off the street who needed medical attention but couldn't afford the care, and bring them to me. Barron said she would venture into the village at night and meet the children where they lived. I had a very 'Pollyanna' attitude that I could make a big difference in three months and that stretched into six months, then a year, and eventually four-plus years, she said. I came back to the United States in 1997, sat on my living-room floor and told friends my story. They raised $10,000 and I went back to Makindu and in August 1998, and we formed the Center." Brownsville City Councilor Mandy Cole is of those friends and has remained a Makindu supporter since its inception. She calls Barron, Awesome one of the best. Winnie is one of the most compassionate people I know. Her work in Rwanda during the genocide and in Makindu, Kenya on behalf of the orphaned and vulnerable children there has been driven by her heart. She has seen real suffering in the world and is determined to bring relief and hope to those who have nowhere to turn. Barron's plan to develop the facility was scrapped in two weeks. I quickly realized this had to be supported by local leaders and elders, she said. All too often, Barron said, well-meaning organizations donate to programs to help in Africa, but dont fully understand the culture or its poverty level. One German group donated 16 brand new incubators to us, she said. But we didnt have electricity to operate them. Eventually, I got them to places that could use them. Another time, a company donated truckloads of shoes, but most of them were high heels. They just wouldnt work in Africa. One of the earliest projects supported by the Makindu Childrens Center working cooperatively with local leaders at the Kenyan Ministry of Water was to develop a potable water reservoir. Families had been pulling water from a river, but there was a high rate of parasites that are especially threatening to children and the elderly. The Oregon Community Foundation provided funding and local donations of materials and labor met about 15 percent of the total cost. The project now provides ample potable water for the community and for the local hospital. Barron said the grant funds provided by World of Children will be used to add about 80 children to the program for 3 years, help pay for tuition, purchase uniforms and other necessary items to attend school, get medical care, provide nutrition, hire another staff social worker and train many community outreach health workers. 'The kids are my family' Barron spent more than four years living in Makindu while developing the program. She now leaves her home on 80 acres east of Brownsville which she shares with 11-year-old Australian shepherd rescue dog, Rafiki (Swahali for "friend") two to three times per year for about two weeks at a time. She pays her own travel expenses and takes time off work. She often bunks at the local Sikh temple. Its always a celebration when I return, Barron said. The kids are my family. They and the community guardians take good care of me. Some of our graduates meet me at the airport in Nairobi. When we get to Makindu hundreds of children line up and walk with me. It is amazing. Every day is different. I truly never know what to expect, she said. Its incredible. But just as there is joy in rekindling relationships with their guardian angel, the children also learn about the sadness of death early in life. Often a mother will walk to the hospital with a couple of children and die, Barron said. The children are so young they cant tell anyone who they are or where they are from. Thats how the children become neglected, abandoned, orphaned or street kids. Barron said 75 percent of the children who get services at the center from birth to age 18 are affected in some way by HIV/AIDS. Either they have the infection or their parents or guardians are HIV positive or have died from AIDS. A recent Makindu Childrens Center newsletter noted that 1 in 2 Kenyan girls will never go to school; that 1 in 8 schoolgirls will become pregnant before they turn 14 years of age; about 13,000 girls leave school forever due to pregnancy; 90 percent of the teenage mothers become prostitutes. Barron measures the Centers success in small increments. The smiles on the kids faces. Seeing them get enough food and energy to thrive. To get them off the streets and into schools, Barron said. We have seen many children go on to post high school education. One is a lawyer. Others have missed so much school, we support them go get vocational training to become welders, hair dressers, seamstresses, electricians, mechanics or heavy equipment operators. Barron said her hope is that the center will never close and that it will be operated completely by area residents. It operates on a shoestring budget of about $150,000 per year with a staff of 11. The community must be invested, Barron said. And Barron said that although daily life at Makindu may appear to be stepping back decades, the health care and other services the Center provides is very real and rewarding. Its a pleasure to be there and to provide medical care at this level. Although the years have been good to Barron and her project, a nearly 10-year battle with muscular dystrophy has made her work a bit more challenging. Although she uses crutches while in the United States, she switches to a walking stick in Africa, more in keeping with what the locals use. She keeps her paramedic skills honed as the lead EMT captain for the Brownsville Rural Fire District. Working 8 to 5 just doesnt fit my lifestyle, Barron said. I love the work I do with Samaritan and with my patients, but Makindu feeds my soul. Where to begin? I was raised in an almost exclusively African-American neighborhood in Seattle. But I dont know what its like to be a black American. \As a child I was often harassed and threatened by black kids, as well as honored and befriended by others. The first time I saw the movie The Wiz with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson was in a theater in downtown Seattle. The theater held 750 people, eight of whom were white; me, my date, two others in another row, and four white police officers walking up and down the aisles during the film. Fifty years later, not much is changed. I spent most of my academic career studying the African slave trade to America and its continuing impact on American culture. Even the pope in the 17th century thought it was morally good. Jefferson had several children by his slave, Sally Hemings. When John Adams ran against Jefferson in 1800, he published an anonymous broadside to the tune of Yankee Doodle, outing Jeffersons relationship with Heming, including words like though by her glands she does secrete. The latter referred to the scientific fact held at the time that slaves smelled differently because they urinated out of their sweat glands. Slavery didnt end with Lincoln. Racism didnt end with the Civil War. Honestly, the Civil War has not ended yet. The book Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II should be required reading in every high school. It wont be, though. Its a difficult book with big words and bigger sorrows. Not the sort of reading a large proportion of white Americans are comfortable digesting. Its much easier just to have an opinion, not matter how ignorant and uninformed that opinion is. When I read letters to the editor condemning the kneeling protests by athletes of the NFL, I want to yell at them for being so ignorant and crypto-racist. I want to point out that, originally, the proper way to salute the American flag was to place your hand over your heart and then raise your arm to salute the flag. It was called the Bellamy salute. When Hitler and Mussolini adopted the Bellamy salute (requiring people to stand and perform it to their flags), America responded by abandoning it in 1942, replacing it with the hand over the heart. There are a lot of white Americans, even in Corvallis, who would love to go back to the Bellamy salute. I was drinking coffee when I read that the owners of NASCAR wouldnt let that kind of protest occur in their sport. Coffee stains now grace my daily planner. Really? NASCAR? Is the PGA next, followed by the PBA? Of course the Professional Bowlers Association does have a Hall of Fame for Black Bowlers. As Trumps minister of propaganda, Sarah H. Sanders, accidentally admitted, the issue is one of black and white. Duh! In Puerto Ricos recent calamity, the reticence to respond quickly was an issue both of race and language. How many Americans even blinked when Mr. Trump claimed that it was their own fault? Folks, the American flag has flown over centuries of ... oh my God, why should I have to provide a list of perfidies committed by white America against its African-American citizens? As far as this white American is concerned, African-American athletes, writers, actors, whatever have every damn right in the world to kneel, turn their backs, hold up a fist or whatever they want during the national anthem. If you dont understand what they are protesting, why they are protesting, nothing I or anybody else can say will change your mind. And for that, I say Shame. Shame. Shame on you. Recent terrorist killings involved two events by our own U.S. citizens that have me greatly concerned on the immigration ban issue. The first event; two males stepped in to stop the hate talk by a white male supremacist of two young women dressed in Muslim attire on a train in Portland. The supremacist told the two young women to go back to Saudi Arabia and get out of his country. The supremacist fatally stabbed the two intervening males. The second terrorist attack was a white supremacist (once again a U.S. citizen) in Charlottesville, Virginia, who drove a car into a crowd of protesters, killing a woman and injuring others. We have a long history of white supremacy over the Native Americans, the Asian immigrants, the blacks sold into slavery then freed. We need to look at our tainted past before we can move out of the hate and terrorism being committed by our own natural born citizens that label outsiders of different color and beliefs as terrorists. So is building walls and keeping out immigrants going to stop the terrorism in the good old USA? I believe we need to have little Donnie rethink this whole immigration issue as it relates to terrorism on our turf by our own citizens. Fred E. Shaub Corvallis (Oct. 1) Islam and careers : Bonn Seminar on headscarves for Muslim women Bonn Muslim women starting their careers learn about the current legal situation at a seminar and prepare themselves for questions about their religious faith after a court decision allowing companies to ban headscarves in the workplace. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Ill go my own way with a headscarf was the title of a two-day workshop in Haus Vielinbusch targeted at Muslim women wanting to apply for training positions. The main aim of the event, chaired by Mona Kheir El Din, was to convey knowledge about the current legal situation in professional life for openly practising Muslim women. After the decision of the European Court of Justice on 14 March 2017, companies are allowed to ban headscarves in the workplace, provided there are good grounds and ideological symbols are generally banned. In Germany, while the Central Council of Muslims expressed disappointed with the judgement, numerous employment lawyers reacted differently. In their view, the legal position is now clearer. Even before the Brussels decision, the Federal Constitutional Court had set the bar high for state employers. The judges in Karlsruhe ruled in their decision on teachers and nursery teachers that an abstract danger to school peace or national neutrality was not sufficient for a ban. It was necessary to prove a concrete danger, such as attempts to convert. Nevertheless, German judges have approved isolated bans on headscarves time and again such as in the case of a Berlin school in 2016. In principle, an employer may stipulate a particular form of clothing as part of his right to direct and instruct. However, the clothing rules must be measured and reasonable. If, for example, a company stipulates a uniform, it is reasonable that the employees should do their best to adapt their appearance accordingly. Thus, an employer can require that a headscarf worn for religious reasons must match the colour of the uniform. Appropriate clothing including a matching headscarf was discussed at length in the seminar. As well as knowledge of the current legal situation, the young women also developed application strategies so that any disadvantages that may arise through their headscarf could be compensated by a good application. For 16-year-old secondary school pupil Sarah, the headscarf debate is superfluous and exaggerated. For me, the headscarf is part of my religion and my personality and not some sort of provocation. Of course I tolerate Christians wearing a necklace with a cross. What is all the fuss about? A job should be all about qualifications. One injured after dispute in Arcadia Passage : Investigations continue after shooting in Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg The Bonn Homicide Division is investigating after a 36-year-old man was injured in a shooting in the Arcadia Passage in Bad Godesberg late on Saturday evening. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Police were alerted at around 11pm after witnesses heard shots and reported an injured man lying on the floor of the Arcadia Passage. Several patrol cars then rushed to the scene where paramedics and police found a 36-year-old man with injuries to his lower body and legs. He was taken to hospital after receiving emergency first aid. His injuries are not life-threatening. At the same time, a 23-year-old man turned himself in at Bad Godesberg police station. He claimed he had shot the 36-year-old with a handgun during a fight and had injured him. The suspect was arrested. Eye witnesses said two perpetrators had reportedly fired several shots after an argument. A short time later a 27-year-old man, who may also have been involved in the incident, was arrested near the scene. As the background to the shooting is still completely unclear, the victim was put under police protection in hospital. The police cordoned off the scene at Villichgasse and forensic officers examined it during the evening. A Mercedes, possibly belonging to the victim, was impounded. There is as yet no precise information about the identity of the victim or the shooter. The Homicide Division of the Bonn police, headed by Chief Criminal Police Commissioner Werner Jussen, has taken over the investigations, in close cooperation with the Bonn public prosecutors office. The background, the exact course of events and the actions of the detainees need to be clarified. The question whether the shooting has anything to do with previous violent incidents will also play a role. The Arcadia Passage has been considered a problem area in Bad Godesberg city centre for some time. On the one hand, the passage between Koblenzer Strae, Villichgasse and Aennchenplatz has suffered from permanent vacancies and being rundown; on the other, the predominantly Arab clientele in the surrounding bars and shops especially in the evenings makes many residents uncomfortable, especially as police intervention is repeatedly necessary. A temporary low was reached a year ago, when there were several violent clashes, including some in which a knife and an axe were used. Police and the public order office reacted with a raid after which a Shisha bar, a supermarket and two real estate agencies were temporarily closed. Police are looking for further witnesses. Anyone who was in Bad Godesberg town centre, particularly in the Villichgasse and the adjacent Arcadia Passage area between 10.30pm and 11pm on Saturday evening, and who saw anything suspicious which may be related to the incident is asked to contact the Homicide Squad on 0228/150. An opportunity for foodies and beer lovers to get lost in a world of food and drink from a hand-selected range of food trucks and breweries from around New Zealand. nametalkam at 2-10-2017 11:55 AM (5 years ago) (m) I recently ran a story on Kiran Matharoo getting arrested in Venice's Marco Polo Airport in Italy on an international arrest warrant held by the interpol over a "sextortion" case in Lagos, a warrant which is widely believed to have been sponsored by the forbes-recognized Nigerian billionaire, Femi Otedola who whilst married dated one of the sisters for 2 years (2011 - 2013). You might be wondering who are these Matharoo sisters, or why are we even talking about them?? Wonder no more, the sisters named, Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo are Canadians of Indian ancestry, their parents moved to Canada in the late 80s before they were birthed, they are both 31 and 32 years old respectively and have an exciting combination of pretty faces with banging hot bodies, one enough to trap any billionaire into finding out who their parents were! The Matharoo sisters are very fine, extremely attractive and they love to show off all of their beauty for the world to see - perhaps one of the issue that led them into the current troubles they are facing! How did the Matharoo sisters end up on the wrong side of the Notorious billionaire, Femi Otedola (and other Nigerian billionaires?) A particular very indepth interview was granted the "Toronto Life", an online platform by the duo, very very recently that chronicled their lives and how it was totally turned around after meeting with a Nigerian businessman in 2008, when Kiran the younger sibling was just 21. I recently ran a story on Kiran Matharoo getting arrested in Venice's Marco Polo Airport in Italy on an international arrest warrant held by the interpol over a "sextortion" case in Lagos, a warrant which is widely believed to have been sponsored by the forbes-recognized Nigerian billionaire, Femi Otedola who whilst married dated one of the sisters for 2 years (2011 - 2013). You might be wondering who are these Matharoo sisters, or why are we even talking about them?? Wonder no more, the sisters named, Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo are Canadians of Indian ancestry, their parents moved to Canada in the late 80s before they were birthed, they are both 31 and 32 years old respectively and have an exciting combination of pretty faces with banging hot bodies, one enough to trap any billionaire into finding out who their parents were! The Matharoo sisters are very fine, extremely attractive and they love to show off all of their beauty for the world to see - perhaps one of the issue that led them into the current troubles they are facing!A particular very indepth interview was granted the "Toronto Life", an online platform by the duo, very very recently that chronicled their lives and how it was totally turned around after meeting with a Nigerian businessman in 2008, when Kiran the younger sibling was just 21. That singular meeting became the single most important meeting ever in the lives of the sisters. Kiran's man later introduced Jyoti the elder sister to SD, a Northerner owner of a Oil and Gas Company, who was also a renowned Polo buff. 2008- was their first trip on a Private Jet (PJ) and they were invited on one singular trip that spanned "France, Greece, Nigeria, Singapore and the Maldives". For a duo who had only been to Canada and the USA to visit family, after relocating from India, whose highest aspiration was to either be a waitress etc, it was an entirely new world!!!! Fun! Fun!! Fun!!! Galore. That 2008 meeting changed everything for the super best for Jyoti and Kiran, apart from getting numerous extremely valuable gifts-wrist watches, designer bags and shoes etc, Jyoti even got a Condo in Toronto from SD and also a brand spanking new Mercedes Benz to replace a dead Acura. 2011- According to Kiran she met Femi Otedola in 2011 and they were friends till 2013 before they parted ways "somewhat" amicably. Femi Otedola is the certified Forbes rated Nigerian billionaire, whose daughter is the famous Cuppy. That singular meeting became the single most important meeting ever in the lives of the sisters. Kiran's man later introduced Jyoti the elder sister to SD, a Northerner owner of a Oil and Gas Company, who was also a renowned Polo buff.2008- was their first trip on a Private Jet (PJ) and they were invited on one singular trip that spanned "France, Greece, Nigeria, Singapore and the Maldives".For a duo who had only been to Canada and the USA to visit family, after relocating from India, whose highest aspiration was to either be a waitress etc, it was an entirely new world!!!! Fun! Fun!! Fun!!! Galore.That 2008 meeting changed everything for the super best for Jyoti and Kiran, apart from getting numerous extremely valuable gifts-wrist watches, designer bags and shoes etc, Jyoti even got a Condo in Toronto from SD and also a brand spanking new Mercedes Benz to replace a dead Acura. Quote In 2011, Kiran met the oil tycoon Femi Otedola. Hes an imposing-looking man in his 50s: balding and portly, with thick-framed glasses, and usually dressed in the traditional Yoruba outfit of a loose-fitting shirt and slim-cut pants. Born in Ibadan in 1962 to a well-known Yoruba political family, Otedola got his start at his familys printing business. In 2003, he founded Zenon, a petroleum and gas company that went on to control a major share of the national market. It provided fuel for the majority of foreign companies in Nigeria, including Coca-Cola, Nestle, Cadbury and Guinness. In 2007, he became the chairman of the publicly traded African Petroleum and was the second Nigerian to appear on Forbes list of billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion (U.S.). In interviews, Otedola appears calm and thoughtful, almost cerebral. He is a proud fatherhis daughter is a well-known DJ who goes by the name DJ Cuppyand a generous philanthropist. His lifestyle, however, is flashy. Among his possessions: several estates in Nigeria, a house in England, a fleet of Mercedes and Rolls Royces, a private jet, and a $12-million yacht, where he hosts extravagant parties. When his daughter graduated from the University of London in 2014, Otedola threw her a French Revolutionthemed bash in the ballroom of the five-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge; she dressed as Marie Antoinette, and guests were served by footmen in 18th-century attire. In October 2016, the sisters read that police investigators had traced NaijaGistLive to a web designer and aspiring rapper named Babatunde Oyebode. He was arrested on charges of extortion and making threatsand Femi Otedola was named as one of the victims. NaijaGistLive had published an item earlier in the year claiming, among other things, that he was running a brothel on his private yacht. They were explosive, unverified claims, and Kiran suspected that Otedola might have led the charge on Oyebode; he had always been sensitive to gossip. They figured Oyebode was guilty and thought the panic over the blog was over. At 6 p.m. on December 14, Kiran and Jyoti were unwinding in their suite at the Eko Signature Hotel when they heard a pounding on their door. When Kiran opened it, six plainclothes police officers clomped in. You need to come in for questioning, one said. The women asked to see their badges. The men refused. The sisters asked to see paperwork authorizing them to take them away. Again, the men refused. Confused and panicked, Jyoti googled the number for the Canadian high commission in Lagos. But when she started dialling the number, one of the officers grabbed the phone from her hand. Another officer gripped Kiran by the wrist. If you dont get dressed, were going to take you like this, in your bathrobe, he said. Crying, the sisters went into the bedroom to get dressed. The police loaded Kiran and Jyoti into a white van and transported them to the police station in nearby Bar Beach. In a dim room furnished with broken chairs, they met another plainclothes officer, who began rattling off questions about their knowledge of computers and the Internet: Do you have a blog? Are you good at making websites? How did you learn how to do it? When the officers revealed that they were questioning the Matharoos about NaijaGistLive, the sisters were relieved. They assumed that they were being questioned as witnesses, or even as victims. After the officer finished his interview, Kiran and Jyoti were led back to the white van. They looked forward to getting back to their hotel room. But the van drove past their hotel, toward the Lagos airport. Finally, it stopped in a dirt driveway leading to another police station: the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, an arm of the Nigeria Police Force devoted to serious crimes. The police led the women up a flight of stairs to another dingy office, where a police officer was sitting at a desk. Which popular men do you know in Nigeria, and what is their contact information? he asked. When they refused to answer, he separated them and asked them to write statements describing what they knew about NaijaGistLive. Kiran wrote a long, pleading appeal about how she was only in Nigeria to visit friends. Jyoti simply wrote that they had no involvement in the site. The police told them that they would have to spend the night in prison. Jyoti begged to be let go, explaining that she was menstruating and didnt have any tampons, but the officers just pushed them in, past a cell full of male prisoners who leered as they passed. Get in the cell, one officer screamed. He raised his hand as if to hit them. Dont make me use force on you. SARS is one of the most notorious human rights violators in Nigeria. According to a 2016 Amnesty International report, detainees are regularly subjected to torture, including severe beatings, starvation, shootings, mock executions and threats of execution. The womens cell looked like an agricultural pen, with a concrete floor and pieces of foam along the walls for beds. There were buckets of water strewn about for bathing and, behind a curtain, a hole in the floor that served as a toilet. Eleven other women were sitting and lying around on the makeshift mattresses, in various states of anger and distress. They saw one woman beat another, berating her for stealing a cellphone. The Matharoos didnt know what their cellmates had done, or how long theyd been locked up. Eventually, a fellow prisoner allowed them to share a piece of foam with her and some other women. They tried to sleep, but the sound of skittering rats kept them up, as did their aching -bladdersno matter what, they decided, they wouldnt pee into that hole. At 8 a.m., an officer came to escort them out. How did these two oyinbo women get in here? he asked a colleague. (Oyinbo means white in Nigerian pidgin; to some in Nigeria, the light-skinned Indian-Canadian sisters appeared to be white.) He brought the Matharoos back to the upstairs office, where they were informed that they were being taken back to their hotel for a room and property search. The men believed that the Matharoos owned NaijaGistLive, and they wanted to prove it. Back at Eko, Kiran and Jyoti watched while the officers rifled through their suitcases and drawers, stuffing their passports and a shared laptop into a plastic bag. It says blog here, one officer said while searching the notebook that Kiran used to brainstorm ideas for her website. The police were taking information about their social media accounts and personal website, Matropolitan, as evidence that they ran the site. After a few hours, the sisters found a Nigerian friend who agreed to act as surety. When they called the Canadian Embassy on their friends phone, they were told that the embassys general policy is not to interfere when Canadian citizens are going through another countrys legal system. All they could do was email the sisters a list of lawyers who might be able to help. By this point, Kiran suspected that Otedola might have been responsible for the charge against them. She believed hed led the petition that led to Oyebodes arrest, and figured he had recognized the Matharoos names in the online speculation of who owned the site and focused on them as the culprits. If he was paying the officers to detain them and hold their passports, theyd remain captive as long as he kept giving them money. On December 18, the officers knocked on their door again. They led the sisters into a car and drove them to Otedolas estate in Iyoki, the most affluent neighbourhood in Lagos. Kiran and Jyoti had been to Otedolas home for parties many times, but when they entered the all-white living room, the house was dark and the mood was sombre. They sat on a long L-shaped couch facing Otedola as he explained to them that he was speaking to them as an interested third partyall he wanted to do was help. If investigators identified them as owners of NaijaGistLive, they would have to co-operate. The sooner the websites owner was identified, the sooner theyd be set free. We dont know who the owner is. Weve given all the information we have, pleaded Kiran. You know, he answered, Marilyn was killed because she knew too much about a Kennedy. Before they left, Otedola promised hed call the police commissioner and have their passports released. They believed him. But the call never came. The Matharoos werent going anywhere. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wieXYp0oJO4 You can read the full version of the gist here: https://torontolife.com/city/life/untold-story-canadian-kardashians/ At 6 p.m. on December 14, Kiran and Jyoti were unwinding in their suite at the Eko Signature Hotel when they heard a pounding on their door. When Kiran opened it, six plainclothes police officers clomped in. You need to come in for questioning, one said. The women asked to see their badges. The men refused. The sisters asked to see paperwork authorizing them to take them away. Again, the men refused.Confused and panicked, Jyoti googled the number for the Canadian high commission in Lagos. But when she started dialling the number, one of the officers grabbed the phone from her hand. Another officer gripped Kiran by the wrist. If you dont get dressed, were going to take you like this, in your bathrobe, he said. Crying, the sisters went into the bedroom to get dressed.The police loaded Kiran and Jyoti into a white van and transported them to the police station in nearby Bar Beach. In a dim room furnished with broken chairs, they met another plainclothes officer, who began rattling off questions about their knowledge of computers and the Internet: Do you have a blog? Are you good at making websites? How did you learn how to do it?When the officers revealed that they were questioning the Matharoos about NaijaGistLive, the sisters were relieved. They assumed that they were being questioned as witnesses, or even as victims. After the officer finished his interview, Kiran and Jyoti were led back to the white van. They looked forward to getting back to their hotel room.But the van drove past their hotel, toward the Lagos airport. Finally, it stopped in a dirt driveway leading to another police station: the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, an arm of the Nigeria Police Force devoted to serious crimes. The police led the women up a flight of stairs to another dingy office, where a police officer was sitting at a desk. Which popular men do you know in Nigeria, and what is their contact information? he asked. When they refused to answer, he separated them and asked them to write statements describing what they knew about NaijaGistLive. Kiran wrote a long, pleading appeal about how she was only in Nigeria to visit friends. Jyoti simply wrote that they had no involvement in the site.The police told them that they would have to spend the night in prison. Jyoti begged to be let go, explaining that she was menstruating and didnt have any tampons, but the officers just pushed them in, past a cell full of male prisoners who leered as they passed. Get in the cell, one officer screamed. He raised his hand as if to hit them. Dont make me use force on you.SARS is one of the most notorious human rights violators in Nigeria. According to a 2016 Amnesty International report, detainees are regularly subjected to torture, including severe beatings, starvation, shootings, mock executions and threats of execution. The womens cell looked like an agricultural pen, with a concrete floor and pieces of foam along the walls for beds. There were buckets of water strewn about for bathing and, behind a curtain, a hole in the floor that served as a toilet. Eleven other women were sitting and lying around on the makeshift mattresses, in various states of anger and distress. They saw one woman beat another, berating her for stealing a cellphone. The Matharoos didnt know what their cellmates had done, or how long theyd been locked up.Eventually, a fellow prisoner allowed them to share a piece of foam with her and some other women. They tried to sleep, but the sound of skittering rats kept them up, as did their aching -bladdersno matter what, they decided, they wouldnt pee into that hole.At 8 a.m., an officer came to escort them out. How did these two oyinbo women get in here? he asked a colleague. (Oyinbo means white in Nigerian pidgin; to some in Nigeria, the light-skinned Indian-Canadian sisters appeared to be white.) He brought the Matharoos back to the upstairs office, where they were informed that they were being taken back to their hotel for a room and property search. The men believed that the Matharoos owned NaijaGistLive, and they wanted to prove it.Back at Eko, Kiran and Jyoti watched while the officers rifled through their suitcases and drawers, stuffing their passports and a shared laptop into a plastic bag. It says blog here, one officer said while searching the notebook that Kiran used to brainstorm ideas for her website. The police were taking information about their social media accounts and personal website, Matropolitan, as evidence that they ran the site.After a few hours, the sisters found a Nigerian friend who agreed to act as surety. When they called the Canadian Embassy on their friends phone, they were told that the embassys general policy is not to interfere when Canadian citizens are going through another countrys legal system. All they could do was email the sisters a list of lawyers who might be able to help.By this point, Kiran suspected that Otedola might have been responsible for the charge against them. She believed hed led the petition that led to Oyebodes arrest, and figured he had recognized the Matharoos names in the online speculation of who owned the site and focused on them as the culprits. If he was paying the officers to detain them and hold their passports, theyd remain captive as long as he kept giving them money.On December 18, the officers knocked on their door again. They led the sisters into a car and drove them to Otedolas estate in Iyoki, the most affluent neighbourhood in Lagos. Kiran and Jyoti had been to Otedolas home for parties many times, but when they entered the all-white living room, the house was dark and the mood was sombre. They sat on a long L-shaped couch facing Otedola as he explained to them that he was speaking to them as an interested third partyall he wanted to do was help. If investigators identified them as owners of NaijaGistLive, they would have to co-operate. The sooner the websites owner was identified, the sooner theyd be set free. We dont know who the owner is. Weve given all the information we have, pleaded Kiran. You know, he answered, Marilyn was killed because she knew too much about a Kennedy.Before they left, Otedola promised hed call the police commissioner and have their passports released. They believed him. But the call never came. The Matharoos werent going anywhere.https://torontolife.com/city/life/untold-story-canadian-kardashians/ Post Reply I specialize in investigative reportage across several subject matter and sectors but mainly focus on metro events and investigation. Do leave your thoughts and opinion on my reports to let me know what you think about them. Thank you Posted: at 2-10-2017 11:55 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero Violence Erupts In Cameroon As Anglophones Declare Independence kacylee at 2-10-2017 03:18 PM (5 years ago) (f) Witnesses say Soldiers shot dead at least eight people and wounded others in Cameroons restless English-speaking regions on Sunday during protests by activists calling for its independence from the majority Francophone nation..... The separatists chose October 1, the anniversary of the official reunification of the anglophone and francophone parts of Cameroon, to declare independence for "Ambazonia", the name of the state they want to create. Since Last year, the anglophone minority has been protesting against perceived discrimination. Authorities had banned all gatherings of more than four people, ordered bus stations, eateries and shops to shut and forbade movement between different parts of the English-speaking regions ahead of the protests. The government also ordered Cameroons border with Nigeria closed for the weekend. Witnesses say Soldiers shot dead at least eight people and wounded others in Cameroons restless English-speaking regions on Sunday during protests by activists calling for its independence from the majority Francophone nation..... The separatists chose October 1, the anniversary of the official reunification of the anglophone and francophone parts of Cameroon, to declare independence for "Ambazonia", the name of the state they want to create. Since Last year, the anglophone minority has been protesting against perceived discrimination.Authorities had banned all gatherings of more than four people, ordered bus stations, eateries and shops to shut and forbade movement between different parts of the English-speaking regions ahead of the protests. The government also ordered Cameroons border with Nigeria closed for the weekend. The military, which is supposed to protect lives and property, has turned into our greatest nightmare, said one Buea resident, who asked not to be identified out of fear of reprisal. The military, which is supposed to protect lives and property, has turned into our greatest nightmare, said one Buea resident, who asked not to be identified out of fear of reprisal. 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 2-10-2017 03:18 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero BournIdentity at 2-10-2017 03:23 PM (5 years ago) (m) I just dey observe Posted: at 2-10-2017 03:23 PM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero I just dey observe Reply gogoman at 2-10-2017 04:01 PM (5 years ago) (m) UNA GO SEE PEPE Posted: at 2-10-2017 04:01 PM (5 years ago) | Grande Master UNA GO SEE PEPE Reply freethinker at 2-10-2017 04:17 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: gogoman on 2-10-2017 04:01 PM UNA GO SEE PEPE PIG, WHAT DO U KNOW? IS IT A CRIME FOR ONE TO BE INDENDENT? Posted: at 2-10-2017 04:17 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac PIG, WHAT DO U KNOW?IS IT A CRIME FOR ONE TO BE INDENDENT? Reply benosky4 at 2-10-2017 04:23 PM (5 years ago) (m) Freedom fighters springing up everywhere. The oppressor must not have peace #MyVerdict. Posted: at 2-10-2017 04:23 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac Freedom fighters springing up everywhere.The oppressor must not have peace Reply james987 at 2-10-2017 04:35 PM (5 years ago) (m) E be like them dey motivated by naija's Independence day Posted: at 2-10-2017 04:35 PM (5 years ago) | Hero E be like them dey motivated by naija's Independence day Reply crocatum at 2-10-2017 06:01 PM (5 years ago) (m) why must we find something to cause fight, wish them peaceful resolution Posted: at 2-10-2017 06:01 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac why must we find something to cause fight, wish them peaceful resolution Reply officynero at 2-10-2017 07:08 PM (5 years ago) (m) its not easy to be independent Posted: at 2-10-2017 07:08 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac its not easy to be independent Reply willyking at 2-10-2017 07:53 PM (5 years ago) (m) African all over the world want to be free...freedom from the bondage their colonial master kept them in name of creating a country, only God can create a nation freedom must come to Africa including the continent called nigeria. Posted: at 2-10-2017 07:53 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac African all over the world want to be free...freedom from the bondage their colonial master kept them in name of creating a country, only God can create a nation freedom must come to Africa including the continent called nigeria. Reply fineboy77 at 2-10-2017 08:02 PM (5 years ago) (m) i wish them the best What is the color beneath your skin? Posted: at 2-10-2017 08:02 PM (5 years ago) | Hero i wish them the best Reply dareper at 2-10-2017 09:29 PM (5 years ago) (m) Biafra broda. we all must get therw soon. good luck. Posted: at 2-10-2017 09:29 PM (5 years ago) | Hero Biafra broda. we all must get therw soon. good luck. Reply WhaleDog at 2-10-2017 11:36 PM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: freethinker on 2-10-2017 04:17 PM PIG, WHAT DO U KNOW? IS IT A CRIME FOR ONE TO BE INDENDENT? It's a crime to challenge the sovereignty of a sovereign nation .The attempt to seek breakaway can't be tolerated in present modern world .If every ethnicity around the world chooses to do same wouldn't this world turned to a chaotic one ? Moreover ,every streets may be clamouring or advocating for self rule .Any attempt to advocate for self rule in Nigeria must be met with real violence response to those agitating for nonsense .I hope they catch that bastard name Kanu and make him a living example for whoever want to thread on Nigeria sovereignty.Animals in human skin .Biafra my A*#S Spare me Posted: at 2-10-2017 11:36 PM (5 years ago) | Gistmaniac It's a crime to challenge the sovereignty of a sovereign nation .The attempt to seek breakaway can't be tolerated in present modern world .If every ethnicity around the world chooses to do same wouldn't this world turned to a chaotic one ? Moreover ,every streets may be clamouring or advocating for self rule .Any attempt to advocate for self rule in Nigeria must be met with real violence response to those agitating for nonsense .I hope they catch that bastard name Kanu and make him a living example for whoever want to thread on Nigeria sovereignty.Animals in human skin .Biafra my A*#S Reply wahleysage at 3-10-2017 12:37 AM (5 years ago) (m) Quote from: WhaleDog on 2-10-2017 11:36 PM It's a crime to challenge the sovereignty of a sovereign nation .The attempt to seek breakaway can't be tolerated in present modern world .If every ethnicity around the world chooses to do same wouldn't this world turned to a chaotic one ? Moreover ,every streets may be clamouring or advocating for self rule .Any attempt to advocate for self rule in Nigeria must be met with real violence response to those agitating for nonsense .I hope they catch that bastard name Kanu and make him a living example for whoever want to thread on Nigeria sovereignty.Animals in human skin .Biafra my A*#S Story, story! Upholding the basic, most fundamental human right to self-determination in the face of tyrannical misrule, genocidal and oppressive ethnic marginalization commands a higher prerogative than the need for the maintenance of a similitude of nationhood built on corporate lies! If Britons could be seeking their Brexit despite being a self-sustaining unit of the EU; how constrained do you think these Angophone Cameroonians will be? Oppression is hard bro, it never tastes good for one to be on its receiving end! Posted: at 3-10-2017 12:37 AM (5 years ago) | Newbie Story, story!Upholding the basic, most fundamental human right to self-determination in the face of tyrannical misrule, genocidal and oppressive ethnic marginalization commands a higher prerogative than the need for the maintenance of a similitude of nationhood built on corporate lies!If Britons could be seeking their Brexit despite being a self-sustaining unit of the EU; how constrained do you think these Angophone Cameroonians will be? Oppression is hard bro, it never tastes good for one to be on its receiving end! Reply ruthie at 3-10-2017 09:18 AM (5 years ago) (f) Quote from: freethinker on 2-10-2017 04:17 PM PIG, WHAT DO U KNOW? IS IT A CRIME FOR ONE TO BE INDENDENT? SHUT UP! PERSON CANNOT COMMENT AGAIN WITHOUT YOUR INTERFERENCE..THE ONE WHEN WE DEAL WITH KANU NEVER MAKE YOU KEEP QUIET ABI? Posted: at 3-10-2017 09:18 AM (5 years ago) | Hero SHUT UP! PERSON CANNOT COMMENT AGAIN WITHOUT YOUR INTERFERENCE..THE ONE WHEN WE DEAL WITH KANU NEVER MAKE YOU KEEP QUIET ABI? Reply ruthie at 3-10-2017 09:25 AM (5 years ago) (f) VIOLENCE IS NOT THE WAY..AFRICANS AND THEIR DEAD BRAINS SHA..... Posted: at 3-10-2017 09:25 AM (5 years ago) | Hero VIOLENCE IS NOT THE WAY..AFRICANS AND THEIR DEAD BRAINS SHA..... Reply VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - October 02, 2017) - East Africa Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: EAM) ("East Africa" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the signing of a binding memorandum of understanding ("MOU") with Luck Winner Investment Limited ("LW") providing for project development financing of up to US$250 million and a private placement of 52,100,000 units at a price of $0.26 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$13,550,000. LW has also agreed to provide an unsecured loan to the Company in the amount of C$2,000,000. Project Development / Joint Venture The MOU with LW contemplates that a joint venture company ("JVCo") will be formed, with 70% owned by LW and 30% owned by East Africa. LW will invest up to US$250 million into development of East Africa's projects in Ethiopia. East Africa will contribute a proportionate amount of gold valued with a cost price of US$70/oz, of up to 1.5 million ouncesAuEquiv for an aggregate value of US$110 million (See EAM News Release dated July 13, 2016 and resource information below). The parties intend to expeditiously negotiate, finalize and execute a comprehensive joint venture agreement respecting JVCo and the development of East Africa's Ethiopian projects. Private Placement Under the MOU, LW has committed to purchase, on a private placement basis, 52,100,000 units at a price of $0.26 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$13,550,000. Each unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for $0.45 and expiring 24 months from closing. The securities issued under the private placement will be subject to a hold period of four months. The proceeds will be used to continue exploration programs on the Company's projects in Ethiopia and general working capital. Upon completion of the private placement and conversion of the C$2,000,000 loan described below, LW will own approximately 28.8% of the Company's outstanding shares (37.8% on a diluted basis). Also upon completion of the private placement, the Company will cause three of its directors to resign and appoint three LW nominees to fill those vacancies, and the Company may make certain changes to management positions. $2 Million Loan LW and East Africa also entered into a loan agreement pursuant to which LW has agreed to lend C$2,000,000 to East Africa. The loan will be repayable in six months and will accrue interest of 2% per annum. Under the loan agreement, East Africa is required to restructure its existing cooperation agreement with respect to the Magambazi project within 30 days. Upon completion of the restructure, LW has the right to require the establishment of a joint venture for the development of the Magambazi project, which joint venture will be 70% owned by LW and 30% owned by East Africa. The C$2,000,000 loan proceeds will be deemed to be LW's cash consideration payable to East Africa for the joint venture, and any accrued interest would be forgiven. If the loan is not allocated and the interest forgiven in connection with the formation of a joint venture for the Magambazi project, at any time following 30 days after the execution of the loan agreement, LW shall have the right to convert the C$2,000,000 loan principal and accrued interest into units of East Africa at a deemed price of $0.26 per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for $0.45 and expiring six months from issuance. The securities issued under the loan will be subject to a hold period of four months. Until the loan is allocated for the Magambazi joint venture or is converted into units, East Africa is restricted to use the proceeds of the loan for East Africa's Harvest project's mining license application, the negotiation of an agreement respecting the Harvest project development stage, the restructure of the existing cooperation agreement respecting the Magambazi project, and the renewals of the Magambazi mining licenses if required. Subject Conditions The project development funding and private placement are subject to certain conditions, including but not limited to, the establishment of JVCo, receipt of mining license for the Harvest project, Harvest agreement to develop the project, completion of satisfactory due diligence reviews by both parties, execution of definitive agreements, East Africa's shareholder approval of the creation of a new control person and any transactions as required by the TSX Venture Exchange, and receipt of approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company intends to call a shareholders meeting upon completion of East Africa's and LW's satisfactory due diligence review. More information on the Company can be viewed at the Company's website: www.eastafricametals.com. About Luck Winner Luck Winner, incorporated in Hong Kong Special Administrative region in 2017, is an international mining development and investment company currently seeking to expand its investments throughout Africa. Andrew Smith, P. Geol. and Jeff Heidema, P.Geol., Qualified Persons under the definitions of National Instrument 43-101, have reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. On behalf of the Board of Directors: Andrew Lee Smith, P.Geo., CEO East Africa's Mineral Resources at Harvest and Adyabo. Project Ownership Resource Summary Adyabo 3(Indicated) 100% 446K Ounces AuEquiv Adyabo 3(Inferred) 100% 434K Ounces AuEquiv Terakimti Oxide Update 1 (Indicated) 70% (Permit Pending) 132K Ounces AuEquiv Terakimti Sulphide 2 (Indicated) 70% 348K Ounces AuEquiv Terakimti Sulphide 2 (Inferred) 70% 426K Ounces AuEquiv The resources stated above have been previously disclosed in News Releases. 1Terakimti Oxide Resource update disclosed October 27, 2015; effective date October 18, 2015. Full mineral resource estimate disclosure can be found in the company's press release dated October 27, 2015, available at www.eastafricametals.com or at www.sedar.com. Subsequent to the release of the Oxide Resource update, a review by the resource QP identified an error in the tabulation of mineral resources. The corrected resource information was disclosed via press release on January 11, 2016. Metal prices for gold and silver are $1,300/oz and $17.50/oz, respectively. 2Terakimti Initial Resource Estimate as disclosed in the 43-101 Technical Report dated February 14, 2014; effective date January 17, 2014. Full mineral resource estimate disclosure can be found on the company's website or at www.sedar.com. Metal prices for gold, silver, copper, and zinc are $1,400/oz, $25.00/oz, $3.50/lb, and $0.90/lb, respectively. 3Adyabo project updated mineral resource estimate disclosed via press release dated June 14, 2016; effective date May 31, 2016. Metal prices for gold, silver, and copper are $1,400/oz, $20.00/oz, and $3.20/lb, respectively. Metallurgical recoveries of 97% for gold, 72% for copper, and 50% for silver were applied at Da Tambuk. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "forecast", "project", "budget", "schedule", "may", "will", "could", "might", "should" or variations of such words or similar words or expressions. Forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions that have been made by East Africa as at the date of such information and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of East Africa to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: early exploration; the closing of the agreement with the exploration and development company to advance the Magambazi Project or identify any other corporate opportunities for the Company; mineral exploration and development; metal and mineral prices; availability of capital; accuracy of East Africa's projections and estimates, including the initial mineral resource for the Adyabo, Harvest and Magambazi Projects; estimated timing of receipt of the Terakimti Oxide Gold mining licence and/or exploration licence extensions, interest and exchange rates; competition; stock price fluctuations; availability of drilling equipment and access; actual results of current exploration activities; government regulation; political or economic developments; foreign taxation risks; environmental risks; insurance risks; capital expenditures; operating or technical difficulties in connection with development activities; the speculative nature of strategic metal exploration and development including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves; contests over title to properties; and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, as well as those risk factors set out in East Africa's management's discussion and analysis for the year end December 31, 2016, management's discussion and analysis for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and East Africa's listing application dated July 8, 2013. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to the timely closing of the financing; the timely closing of the Handeni Property definitive agreement; the ability of the Company to repay the loan by the required date; the price of gold, silver, copper and zinc; the demand for gold, silver, copper and zinc; the ability to carry on exploration and development activities; the timely receipt of any required approvals; the ability to obtain qualified personnel, equipment and services in a timely and cost-efficient manner; the ability to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner; and the regulatory framework regarding environmental matters, the renewal or extension of exploration licences, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although East Africa has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. The Company does not update or revise forward looking information even if new information becomes available unless legislation requires the Company do so. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Great Atlantic Resources Corp. (TSXV.GR) (the Company or Great Atlantic) is pleased to announce it has begun a diamond drilling program at its Keymet Precious Base Metal Property, located in northeast New Brunswick. The Keymet property, located approximately 20 kilometres northwest of Bathurst, hosts multiple gold, silver, zinc, lead and copper occurrences. Drilling is being conducted in the northwest region of the property, northwest of the historic Keymet Mine which is situated on the property. Drill holes will test continuation of zinc, copper and silver bearing veins intersected by Great Atlantic during 2015 diamond drilling (16.7% zinc, 1.1% copper and 152 grams per tonne silver over 1.8-meter core length and 8.7% zinc over 4.28-meter core length) and the continuation of a gold bearing zone discovered by Great Atlantic during 2015 trenching (1.1 g/t gold over 4.9 meters in channel samples). To view the graphic in its original size, please click here Multiple base metal and silver bearing vein occurrences are reported in this region, including the past producing Keymet Mine which operated during the 1950s. Gold bearing boulders and gold bearing bedrock in trenches have been discovered by Great Atlantic in this area. Great Atlantic drilled two holes in 2015 (Ky-15-3 and Ky-15-4), approximately 1.4 kilometers north west of the historic Keymet Mine in an area referred to as the Elmtree 12 occurrence. The 2015 holes intersected base metal and silver bearing veins and a gold bearing interval. Drilling will test the continuation of this base and precious metal mineralization. Both Ky-15-3 and Ky-15-4 were drilled from the same set-up to the northeast approximately under a mineralized vein exposed in a previous 2015 trench. Ky-15-3 was drilled at a 45-degree angle and intersected sphalerite rich veins at 60.80 62.60 metres (returning 16.68% zinc, 1.11% copper and 152.0 g/t silver over a 1.80 metre core length). Ky-15-4 was drilled at a 60-degree dip on the same azimuth to intersect the veins deeper. Multiple sphalerite bearing veins were intersected in this hole at 90.07 94.35 metres (returning 8.68% zinc and 44.8 g/t silver over 4.28 metre core length), approximately 35 metres vertically under the main vein intersected in Ky-15-3. Hole Ky-15-3 also intersected a gold bearing interval, with a sample at 30.10 32.20 meters (2.1-meter core length) returning 3.28 g/t gold. The true width of these initial 2015 drill intersections is unknown at this time. Drill holes are planned on either side of holes Ky-15-3 and Ky-15-4 to test the continuation of the zinc, copper and silver bearing veins along strike and to test the continuation of the gold bearing zone intersected in Ky-15-3. To view the graphic in its original size, please click here Historic Keymet Mine (1950s) To view the graphic in its original size, please click here Drilling will also be conducted at a gold bearing zone exposed in a 2015 trench southwest of holes Ky-15-3 and Ky-15-4. Channel samples from a zone of altered sediments returned 1.11 g/t gold over a 4.9 metre total length. The channel samples were orientated east-west parallel to the trench direction. The orientation of this gold bearing zone has not been determined. This zone is approximately 80 metres southwest of the collars of holes Ky-15-3 and Ky-15-4. The Company had previously discovered gold bearing silicified sedimentary boulders in this area during 2011 and 2012 programs (boulder samples returned up to 51 grams per tonne Au). To view the graphic in its original size, please click here Zinc (sphalerite) bearing carbonate vein in Ky-15-4. The Elmtree 12 base metal and silver bearing vein occurrence is located approximately 1.4 kilometres northwest of the Keymet Mine. Closed-spaced 1980s diamond drill holes (Brunswick Mining and Smelting and Aurtec Inc.) intersected near-surface mineralized veins in this area. A 0.88 metre core length interval from a 1981 drill hole was reported to grade 7.72% Cu, 11.36% Zn and 13.6 ounces per ton Ag. A 1.22 metre core length sample from a near-by 1989 drill hole was reported to assay 16.4% Cu, 10.11% Zn and 31.0 ounces per ton Ag. The true width of these intersections is unknown. These drill intersections are within a 50 metre vertical depth. Great Atlantic 2015 trenches and drill holes Ky-15-3 and Ky-15-4 are in the vicinity of these 1980s drill holes. Access to the property is excellent with paved roads transecting the property, including a provincial highway. The property covers an area of approximately 3,400 hectares. Zinc, copper and silver bearing vein in 2015 Trench at Elmtree 12 Vein Occurrence To view the graphic in its original size, please click here The Company is also pleased to announce it has arranged a non-brokered private placement of 2,777,777 million flow through units at a price of $0.18 cents per unit for gross proceeds of $500,000. Each Flow-Through Unit consists of one common share that qualifies as a flow-through share as defined in subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act and one (non) transferable common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase, for a period of 60 months from the date of issue, one additional non-flow-through common share of the Issuer at an exercise price of Cdn$0.22 per share. The term of the warrants may be accelerated in the event that the issuer's shares trade at or above a price of $0.35 cents per share for a period of 10 consecutive days. In such case of accelerated warrants, the issuer may give notice, in writing or by way of news release, to the subscribers that the warrants will expire 30 days from the date of providing such notice. Directors, officers or other insiders of the Company may participate in the foregoing offerings, and such parties may sell securities of the Company owned or controlled by them personally through the facilities of the TSX Venture Exchange to finance participation in such offerings. A finder's fee may be paid to eligible finders in accordance to the TSX-V policies. All securities issued pursuant to the offering will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of closing. The offering and payment of finders' fees are both subject to approval by the TSX-V. Readers are warned that historical records referred to in this News Release have been examined but not verified by a qualified person. Further work is required to verify that historical assays referred to in this News Release are accurate. David Martin, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, is responsible for the technical information contained in this News Release. About Great Atlantic Resources Corp.: Great Atlantic Resources Corp. is a Canadian exploration company focused on the discovery and development of mineral assets in the resource-rich and sovereign risk-free realm of Atlantic Canada, one of the number one mining regions of the world. Great Atlantic is currently surging forward building the company utilizing a Project Generation model, with a special focus on the most critical elements on the planet that are prominent in Atlantic Canada, Antimony, Tungsten and Gold. On Behalf of the board of directors Lorne Mann 604-488-3900 Office@GreatAtlanticResources.com Investor Relations Please contact Kaye Wynn Consulting Inc. 604-558-2630 info@KayeWynn.com This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. www. GreatAtlanticResources.com Great Atlantic Resource Corp 888 Dunsmuir Street - Suite 888, Vancouver, B.C., V6C 3K4 To view this press release as a PDF file, click onto the following link:public://news_release_pdf/greatatlantic10022017.pdfSource: Great Atlantic Resources Corp. (TSX Venture:GR) To follow Great Atlantic Resources Corp. 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. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct 2, 2017) - Medgold Resources Corp. (TSX VENTURE:MED) (the "Company" or "Medgold") is pleased to announce results for the Karamanica Prospect, which is part of the Tlamino Project and located 8 km to the west of Medgold's flagship Barje Prospect. Assays from a recent soil sampling campaign define two large anomalies with consistent soil geochemistry with > 50 ppb Au-in-soil, within which are significant linear zones of >100 ppb Au. The highly anomalous soil geochemistry and favourable lithological units and fault structures demonstrate the high prospectivity of the Karamanica Prospect. Dan James, President of Medgold, commented: "We are very pleased with these recent results as they help demonstrate the potential of the emerging district-scale exploration play in southeast Serbia. Previous work at Tlamino has already demonstrated high-grade mineralization at Barje, which appears to be associated with a large-scale detachment fault. Our recent soil sampling at Karamanica, as well as regional-scale reconnaissance and stream sediment sampling, is now proving that our exploration strategy is working and delivering results." Karamanica Prospect The Karamanica prospect is part of the Tlamino Project, currently under an Option Agreement with Fortuna Silver Mines, and is located approximately 8 km to the west of Barje, where recent work has identified high-grade mineralization and a best channel sample of 84 m at 5.6 g/t Au (see Medgold news release of July 18, 2017). Karamanica is dominated by a series of large-scale northwest-trending faults, which cut packages of schists, calc-schists, and quartz-feldspar porphyry dykes. Medgold has completed a program of detailed mapping and rock sampling, plus grid-soil sampling,at Karamanica, with samples collected on a 200m by 50m grid. Initial reconnaissance work has identified strongly altered and brecciated felsic volcanics, locally significant calcareous schists, graphitic schists, and limestones, and zones of galena-sphalerite and pyrite-silica mineralization. Despite poor outcrop exposure in the area, a total of 129 rock chip samples have been collected to date on the prospect, with 14 returning assays greater than 1 g/t Au. The rock chip samples returned highs of 11.1 g/t Au, 7.1 g/t Au and 5.5 g/t Au, typically associated with the pyrite-silica mineralization. Results from the soil sampling program highlight two large gold-in-soil anomalies. The first extends over an area of approximately 1 km by 1 km, and is associated with a regional northwest-trending fault, which offsets felsic volcanic rocks from basement schists and calcareous schists. The second, located approximately 1 km north of the first anomaly, extends over approximately 800 m by 600 m. Mineralization appears to be associated with of the presence of disseminated to massive sulphides within the host calcareous schists. The same fault structure hosts blind massive carbonate-replacement Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization. With the impending arrival of the first snows on the high slopes, our exploration planning is now focussed on 2018. In the spring we expect to complete a ground geophysical survey over the main prospective zones of anomalous soil and rock chip geochemistry, with the aim of drill testing Karamanica later in 2018. Barje Update At Barje, preparations continue for the commencement of a 2,000 m diamond drilling program. This has involved establishing a drill-camp in the village of Tlamino, and seeking landholder permissions for drill access and drill pad creation. This process has taken longer than expected, as one of the larger landholders in the area is a state company in receivership. Accordingly, permission to use these land parcels needs to be sought from the federal government. The government is working with the Company, and it is expected that the required permissions will be granted in the coming weeks, but the result is an overall delay in the commencement of drilling. As the winter season is approaching and the area usually receives significant snowfall, the completion of the drill program prior to the snow arrival in November is highly unlikely. Medgold and its partner on the Tlamino Project, Fortuna Silver Mines ("Fortuna"), have taken the decision to delay the start of drilling until the spring of 2018. Accordingly, Medgold and Fortuna have amended the Tlamino Project Option Agreement to remove the requirement that Fortuna spend US$1 million by the first anniversary. As a result, Fortuna has 3 years to spend US$3 million to acquire a 51% interest in the Project. Regional Exploration Medgold holds five granted exploration licences in the southeast corner of Serbia covering an area of approximately 500 sqkm. Two of these licences, Donje Tlamino and Surlica-Dukat, comprise the Tlamino Project currently under option to Fortuna. Exploration work at the other licences is being funded via the Company's strategic alliance with Fortuna. Over the summer, Medgold has completed licence-wide reconnaissance over all licences, which has included a fine-fraction stream sediment sampling program. Geologically, the area is dominated by the central Crnook Dome (a metamorphic core complex measuring approximately 20 km across), which forms a topographically high central core to the region. The dome is ringed by a major detachment fault, which at Barje is likely a principal control on mineralization. The regional stream sediment program has also highlighted a series of gold anomalies in the north and northwest of the dome-flanks, at the contact with the regional low-grade schists. These anomalous areas will now be the focus of follow-up work to determine the anomaly sources, via targeted ridge-and-spur soil geochemistry campaigns, and to document whether the Crnook Dome is bound here by a mineralization-associated detachment fault, as it is on the southern flanks of the complex at the Barje, Liska and Karamanica Prospects. About Medgold Medgold is a European-focused, TSX-V listed, exploration and development company targeting gold properties in Serbia. Run by a highly experienced management team with a successful track record of building value in resource companies, Medgold is aiming to become a leading European gold exploration company. Qualified Person Mr. David Clark, M.Sc., P.Geo., is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Clark prepared the technical information contained in this news release and has approved its disclosure. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Medgold follows industry best practices for its prospecting and geochemical sampling campaigns. Samples are delivered by Medgold personnel directly to the assay laboratory facilities in Bor, Serbia. Rock chip samples are analysed by ALS Chemex using analytical method codes Au-ICP21 and ME-MS61, with overlimits for gold and silver analysed by GRA21, and for Ag, Pb, and Zn by OG62. Stream sediment samples are sieved and dried, and analysed for gold and multi-elements using analytical method code Au-ICP21 and ME-MS61. Soil samples are sieved and dried and analysed for gold and multi-elements using analytical method code Au-TL43. Medgold routinely inserts appropriate multi-element geochemical standards and blanks into its rock chip sample stream, and inserts regular field duplicate samples into the sample stream. For stream sediment and soil samples, regular field duplicates are collected to monitor laboratory performance. Additional information on Medgold can be found on the Company's website at www.medgoldresources.com and by reviewing the Company's page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Daniel P. James, President & Director Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking statements Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and include, without limitation, statements about the exploration plans for the Tlamino Project. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "estimate", "estimates", "estimated", "potential", "open", "future", "assumed", "projected", "used", "detailed", "has been", "gain", "upgraded", "offset", "limited", "contained", "reflecting", "containing", "remaining", "to be", "periodically", or statements that events, "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, the exploration plans for the Tlamino Project; changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the proposed exploration of the Tlamimo Project will proceed as intended; that the Company's stated goals and planned exploration and development activities will be achieved; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its properties; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 2, 2017) - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES Further to Revival Gold Inc.'s (TSX VENTURE:RVG) ("Revival" or the "Company") press release dated September 7, 2017, the Company announces TSX Venture Exchange approval for Revival's earn-in and related stock purchase agreement (the "Agreement") with Meridian Gold Company ("Meridian"), a subsidiary of Yamana Gold Inc., by which Revival may acquire a 100% interest in Meridian Beartrack Co. ("Meridian Beartrack"), owner of the Beartrack Gold Project ("Beartrack" or, the "Project") located in Lemhi County, Idaho. Pursuant to the Agreement, Revival paid US$250,000 and issued 1,000,000 common shares of the Company to Meridian. As a result, the Agreement has become effective and the Company's earn-in obligations have commenced. Further details regarding the Agreement are provided in the September 7, 2017 press release. Exploration Underway Revival is pleased to advise that it has obtained all necessary approvals to start drilling at Beartrack. The firsts of two drill rigs has been mobilized to the Project and Revival has initiated the 2017 portion of the Company's planned 11,000-meter drill program. The 2017 portion of the program will consist of 3,000 meters of core drilling. Two rigs will be required in order to complete the 2017 portion of the Beartrack program by early November when winter conditions make drilling costlier. The first rig will target deep mineralization in the Ward's Gulch area identified by Meridian Beartrack during their 2012 and 2013 drilling program. The focus in 2017 will be around diamond drill hole BT12-175D, which intersected 71.0 g/t Au over 9.75 meters drilled width (estimated true width of 4.88 meters). Two holes, totalling approximately 1,100 meters, are planned to intersect this mineralization at slightly shallower depths. Although the intersection encountered in BT12-175D is approximately 480 meters vertically below the surface, mineralization is oxidized. The second rig will target shallower oxide and mixed oxide-sulphide mineralization in the Ward's Gulch and South Pit areas. Approximately 1,900 meters of diamond drilling will confirm historic drilling completed by Meridian Beartrack and lay the groundwork for additional drilling in 2018. Ward's Gulch is located between the North and Mason-Dixon pits, both of which were mined by Meridian Beartrack. At Revival's Arnett Creek Project, located six kilometers west of Beartrack, field work is in progress. To date, ninety-two rock chip samples have been collected and submitted to ALS Minerals for geochemical analysis. Results are pending. The focus of this initial stage of exploration is to better understand mineralization at several known exploration targets on the Property and to prospect the claims staked by Revival in July of 2017. Known targets have received varying amounts of historic exploration ranging from rock or soil sampling to reverse circulation drilling. Current geologic mapping and rock chip sampling will be integrated with historic data, drill sites chosen and a plan of operations submitted to permit drilling in 2018. Financing Update Revival's previously announced Brokered and Non-Brokered Financings for gross proceeds of up to C$9.6 million are now expected to close in mid-October, 2017. Proceeds of the financing will be used to fund approximately 11,000 meters of core drilling, geological analysis, metallurgical testing and project management over the next two field seasons at Beartrack. Beartrack Technical Report Filed In conjunction with the approval of the Agreement by the TSX Venture Exchange, Revival has filed a technical report entitled, "Beartrack Property - Lemhi County, Idaho, United States Technical Report" dated August 31, 2017 (the "Report"), on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and on Company's website at www.revival-gold.com. The Report was prepared by Resource Evaluation Inc. and authored by Donald F. Earnest, P.Geol., a consultant to the Company and an independent Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101. Steven T. Priesmeyer, B.Sc., M.Sc., C.P.G., Vice-President Exploration, Revival Gold Inc., is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has reviewed and approved its scientific and technical content. About Revival Gold Inc. Revival Gold Inc. is a growth focused gold exploration and development company. The Company has the right to acquire a 100% interest in Meridian Beartrack Co., owner of the Beartrack Gold Project located in Lemhi County, Idaho. Revival also owns rights to a 100% interest in the neighbouring Arnett Creek Gold Project. In addition to its interests in Beartrack and Arnett Creek, the Company is pursuing other gold exploration and development opportunities and holds a 51% interest in the Diamond Mountain Phosphate Project located in Uintah County, Utah. Additional disclosure of the Company's financial statements, technical reports, material change reports, news releases and other information can be obtained at www.revival-gold.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Cautionary Statement 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. This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements". These statements are based on information currently available to the Company and the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward- looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, the ability to complete the brokered and non-brokered financings, results of exploration, project development, reclamation and capital costs of the Company's mineral properties, and the Company's financial condition and prospects, could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: the inability to complete the brokered and non-brokered financings on the terms as announced or at all; changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with the activities of the Company; and other matters discussed in this news release. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Current Drilling program at the Cuye Zone reflects high grade Copper and Zinc mineralization which continue and remain open to depth Drilling program now suggests that the Cuye and Catas zones appear to merge at depth creating one larger zone ___________________________________________________________________ Average Grade of Wide Intercepts: (Total sulfide potential in these holes is on a total length basis and demonstrate the sulfide mineralization encountered in the Cuye zone) Hole Width (m) Ag g/t Pb % Cu % Zn % Au g/t CUY 17-17-01 41.2 15.5 0.06 1.00 3.86 0.58 CUY 17-17-02 49.0 41.0 0.06 1.34 4.75 0.66 CUY 17-17-03 9.5 13.5 0.04 0.93 1.16 0.49 CUY 17-17-04 39.6 22.0 0.40 1.51 2.46 1.64 Drill Hole Highlights Include: Hole No. From To Width Ag g/t Pb % Cu % Zn % Au g/t CUY 17-17-01 252.5 258.9 over 6.0 m 39 0.18 0.35 21.66 0.33 CUY 17-17-02 229.0 238.0 over 9.0 m 82 0.16 0.94 9.55 0.24 245.0 258.0 over 13.0 m 27 0.00 3.37 0.02 1.85 CUY 17-17-04 197.5 207.0 over 9.5 m 47 1.63 0.49 10.12 0.62 207.0 212.0 over 5.0 m 35 0.03 3.79 0.11 1.41 TORONTO, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Sierra Metals Inc. (TSX: SMT) (BVL: SMT) (NYSE American: SMTS) ("Sierra Metals" or "the Company") today announced positive drilling results from the Cuye zone located within the Central Mine area of the Yauricocha Mine. To date, 4 holes have been executed from the 870 level of the Yauricocha Mine. These holes have intercepted polymetallic sulphide mineralization containing high grade zinc and copper zones over significant widths. These results demonstrate the potential for high grade mineralization within the reported area, and more importantly indicate the continued existence of extensive mineralization at depth. Further, it appears that the Cuye and Catas orebodies unite and become one orebody at depth. The Cuye zone remains open at depth and there is a strong likelihood of expanding this zone with further exploration programs. These results come as part of an ongoing brownfield drilling program testing priority targets at the Yauricocha Mine, which is located 150 kilometers east-southeast of Lima in the Yauricocha Mining District (Cordillera Occidental), Peru. These exploration drill hole results have not been included in the recently reported mineral resource estimate for the Yauricocha Mine (please see press release dated September 29, 2017) as they were received after the cut-off date for the report. Management expects that they will provide further potential resource growth when the next mineral resource estimate is calculated. Igor Gonzales, President and CEO of Sierra Metals stated: "Today's results represent the existence of high grade polymetallic mineralization at Cuye, and suggest the possibility of even further mineralization to depth. Additionally, these results represent some of the widest sulfide intercepts drilled at Yauricocha since the discovery of the Esperanza Zone in 2016." He continued, "The Company has made a strong commitment to brownfield exploration in 2017 and results such as the ones released today continue to demonstrate that this investment is paying off with the potential to further grow our mineral resources." Alonso Lujan, VP Exploration of Sierra Metals commented: "These results from Cuye demonstrate the existence of mineralized sectors containing high grade sulphides consisting of mainly Copper and Zinc as shown in Table 1 below. Additional potential still exists as the Cuye zone remains open to depth. Additionally, it appears that the Cuye and Catas zones unite at depth and management believes that beyond the 1120 level the orebodies will be more continuous in the longitudinal extension of the mine. The Company plans to continue exploring this area from the 1070 level." He concluded, "The historic Cuye copper orebody used to be one of the largest cashflow generators 10 years ago at Yauricocha. It's rediscovery in late 2016 (see press release dated November 17, 2016) seemed to have found the Cuye orebody extensions at depth. Today's results confirm the connection of these orebodies at higher elevations and suggest that Cuye may merge with the Catas polymetallic orebody. This is very significant since Catas is the one of the largest contributors to the mine's current production." All reported intercepts are core length as further drilling is required to determine true thicknesses. A plan view map of Yauricocha Mine is shown in Figure 1. Level 920 shows the Cuye and Catas areas. Figure 1 and 2 show the cross sections of the holes drilled: Table 1. Hole No. From To Width (m) Ag g/t Pb % Cu % Zn % Au g/t Description CUY 17-17-01 252.50 258.95 6.45 39 0.18 0.35 21.66 0.33 Poly 258.95 261.80 2.85 15 0.14 0.18 1.29 0.10 Pyrite 261.80 266.00 4.20 22 0.12 0.42 2.40 0.32 Poly 267.30 285.00 17.70 7 0.00 1.64 0.16 0.9 Copper 285.00 293.00 8.00 10 0.03 0.57 0.32 0.48 Pyrite 293.00 295.00 2.00 24 0.00 1.49 0.01 0.09 Copper CUY17-17-02 209.00 211.00 2.00 149 0.13 2.04 0.04 0.61 Copper 211.00 218.90 7.90 58 0.10 0.22 16.96 0.14 Poly 218.90 229.00 10.10 3 0.02 0.01 0.55 0.13 Skarn 229.00 238.00 9.00 82 0.16 0.99 9.55 0.24 Poly 238.00 239.00 1.00 27 0.02 2.4 1.65 0.26 Copper 239.00 244.00 5.00 15 0.02 0.62 0.56 0.36 Pyrite 244.00 245.00 1.00 33 0.03 1.67 2.42 0.46 Poly 245.00 258.00 13.00 27 0.00 3.37 0.02 1.85 Copper CUY 17-17-03 196.50 196.80 0.30 12 0.04 0.31 3.29 0.47 Poly 196.80 202.40 5.60 9 0.05 0.25 0.98 0.26 Pyrite 202.40 203.00 0.60 19 0.06 0.98 2.90 0.28 Poly 203.00 206.00 3.00 21 0.01 2.25 0.94 0.97 Copper CUY 17-17-04 129.00 130.90 1.90 10 0.03 0.08 5.37 0.06 Poly 130.90 195.75 66.80 4 0.03 0.11 0.12 0.03 Pyrite 197.50 207.00 9.50 47 1.63 0.49 10.12 0.62 Poly 207.00 212.00 5.00 35 0.03 3.79 0.11 1.41 Copper 212.00 220.50 8.50 6 0.00 0.84 0.05 4.58 Copper 220.50 225.80 5.30 18 0.00 1.52 0.01 1.55 Poly 225.80 237.05 11.25 8.77 0.00 1.86 0.01 0.42 Copper Qualified Persons The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gordon Babcock P.Eng., Chief Operating Officer and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Americo Zuzunaga, MAusIMM CP(Mining Engineer) and Vice President of Corporate Planning is a Qualified Person and chartered professional qualifying as a Competent Person under the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Augusto Chung, FAusIMM CP(Metallurgist) and Consultant to Sierra Metals is a Qualified Person and chartered professional qualifying as a Competent Person on metallurgical processes. About Sierra Metals Sierra Metals Inc. is Canadian based growing polymetallic mining company with production from its Yauricocha Mine in Peru, and its Bolivar and Cusi Mines in Mexico. The Company is focused on increasing production volume and growing mineral resources. Sierra Metals has recently had several new key discoveries and still has many more exciting brownfield exploration opportunities at all three Mines in Peru and Mexico that are within close proximity to the existing mines. Additionally, the Company also has large land packages at all three mines with several prospective regional targets providing longer term exploration upside and mineral resource growth potential. The Company's Common Shares trade on the Bolsa de Valores de Lima and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SMT" and on the NYSE American Exchange under the symbol "SMTS". Continue to Follow, Like and Watch our progress: Web: www.sierrametals.com | Twitter: sierrametals | Facebook: SierraMetalsInc | LinkedIn: Sierra Metals Inc. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian and U.S. securities laws related to the Company (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Company's operations, including anticipated developments in the Company's operations in future periods, the Company's planned exploration activities, the adequacy of the Company's financial resources, and other events or conditions that may occur in the future. Statements concerning mineral reserve and resource estimates may also be considered to constitute forward-looking statements to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if and when the properties are developed or further developed. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives", "potential" or variations thereof, or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the mining industry including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected geological formations, floods, labour disruptions, explosions, cave-ins, weather conditions and criminal activity; commodity price fluctuations; higher operating and/or capital costs; lack of available infrastructure; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks associated with the estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits and the inability to replace reserves; fluctuations in the price of commodities used in the Company's operations; risks related to foreign operations; changes in laws or policies, foreign taxation, delays or the inability to obtain necessary governmental permits; risks relating to outstanding borrowings; issues regarding title to the Company's properties; risks related to environmental regulation; litigation risks; risks related to uninsured hazards; the impact of competition; volatility in the price of the Company's securities; global financial risks; inability to attract or retain qualified employees; potential conflicts of interest; risks related to a controlling group of shareholders; dependence on third parties; differences in U.S. and Canadian reporting of mineral reserves and resources; potential dilutive transactions; foreign currency risks; risks related to business cycles; liquidity risks; reliance on internal control systems; credit risks, including risks related to the Company's compliance with covenants with respect to its BCP Facility; uncertainty of production and cost estimates for the Yauricocha Mine, the Bolivar Mine and the Cusi Mine; and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which filings are available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. Forward looking information includes statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and the Company's actual achievements or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. The Company's statements containing forward-looking information are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, one should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. SOURCE Sierra Metals Inc. VANCOUVER, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Tinka Resources Limited ("Tinka" or the "Company") (TSXV: TK) (OTCPK: TKRFF) is pleased to announce assay results for three additional drill holes from the South Ayawilca zinc discovery in central Peru. Hole A17-096 intersected high-grade zinc mineralization in two intercepts of over 40 metres each, and is one of the best drill holes of this year's 15,000 metre drill campaign. The zinc intercepts in A17-096 indicate continuity of the two high-grade zinc zones intersected in hole A17-056 (63.9 metres grading 5.6% zinc from 126 metres depth & 51.9 metres grading 10.1 % zinc from 242 metres depth) separated by 50 to 100 metres. Also at South Ayawilca, hole A17-093 intersected zinc-lead-silver mineralization in an infill hole between two holes separated by 250 metres (A17-075 and A17-078), and connects South Ayawilca with the Central Ayawilca resource zone. Hole A17-094 intercepted a narrow high-grade silver-zinc-lead zone in a 200 metre step out hole. Mineralization at South Ayawilca remains open to the southeast, east and south. Two drill rigs continue to turn at South Ayawilca. Drill data for a zinc resource update is being finalized, with the new resource expected by early November. Drilling is planned to continue until December, testing new targets and continuing with step out holes at South Ayawilca. Key Highlights of the latest South Ayawilca drill holes Hole A17-096: 45.5 metres at 7.8 % zinc & 111 g/t indium from 241.5 metres depth, including 10.6 metres at 15.5 % zinc & 320 g/t indium from 250.8 metres depth; and 3.8 metres at 8.3 % zinc & 82 g/t indium from 304.8 metres depth; and 40.8 metres at 9.4 % zinc, 15 g/t silver & 145 g/t indium from 315.2 metres depth, including 5.0 metres at 17.2 % zinc, 28 g/t silver & 591 g/t indium from 319.0 metres depth, and 11.9 metres at 17.4 % zinc, 20 g/t silver & 80 g/t indium from 342.6 metres depth; Hole A17-094: 1.2 metres at 1.6 % zinc, 2.1 % lead & 193 g/t silver from 394.0 metres depth; Hole A17-093: 9.0 metres** at 2.7 % zinc, 0.7 % lead & 51 g/t silver from 382.0 metres depth, including 2.7 metres at 6.8 % zinc, 1.1 % lead & 108 g/t silver from 388.3 metres depth; (** includes 1.3 metres of no recovery assumed zero grade) Dr. Graham Carman, Tinkas President and CEO, stated: "We are thrilled with the intersections in hole A17-096 as they confirm the continuity of thick and high-grade zinc mineralization previously encountered in hole A17-056. South Ayawilca continues to surprise us with its high zinc grades. As we enter the final quarter of 2017, our busiest year at the project with more than 15,000 metres drilled to date, we look forward to updating our resource estimate by November. In addition, tin assays are being compiled and will be released once our geological interpretations are completed. Also, closed-cycle metallurgical flotation tests for zinc composite samples from South, West, and Central Ayawilca are in progress with results expected before year end." Drill progress Six drill holes from South and Central Ayawilca have assays pending or are in progress (A17-095 and A17-097, 098, 099, 100, 101). Approximately five additional holes are planned at South and Central Ayawilca this year. Assays are also pending for two holes from the Valley area (A17-090 and 092). See Table 1 for a summary of all significant zinc (lead, indium, silver) intercepts in the 2017 drill program to date. Maps attached are: Figure 1 - Ayawilca drill hole location map. Figure 2 - Longitudinal section of South Ayawilca showing hole A17-096. True thicknesses of the zinc intersections are estimated to be at least 85% of the downhole thickness, except where otherwise noted in footnotes to Table 1. All significant results of the 2017 program are summarized in Table 1 with the strongest intercepts in bold text. Table 2 summarizes all drill collar information to date. NI 43-101 Technical Report: On June 29, 2016, Tinka filed an independent National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report (the "NI 43-101 Technical Report") on the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Ayawilca Property, Department of Pasco, Peru in support of the Company's news release dated May 25, 2016. The NI 43-101 Technical Report was authored by Mr. David Ross. P.Geo., of Roscoe Postle Associates Inc., who is an independent "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The NI 43-101 Technical Report may be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.tinkaresources.com The qualified person, Dr. Graham Carman, Tinka's President and CEO, and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has reviewed and verified the technical contents of this release. Table 1. Summary of 2017 Drill Results from Ayawilca by Area and Date of Release Drill hole From m To m Interval m Zn % Pb % Ag g/t Indium g/t Area Ayawilca Reported A17-0561 90.30 90.65 0.35 29.0 0.4 82 443 South April 3 '17 and 113.00 113.40 0.40 31.2 0.0 85 759 April 3 '17 and 126.00 189.90 63.90 5.6 0.1 17 29 March 6 '17 including 127.50 145.40 17.90 11.6 0.2 36 20 March 6 '17 including 127.50 133.30 5.80 22.5 0.3 77 50 March 6 '17 and 199.20 204.70 5.50 5.8 0.1 6 38 April 3 '17 and 228.50 233.70 5.20 12.9 0.0 11 162 March 6 '17 and 242.00 293.90 51.90 10.1 0.1 624 233 April 3 '17 including 279.00 293.90 14.90 20.6 0.2 1524 441 April 3 '17 including 279.00 285.40 6.40 37.5 0.4 301 916 April 3 '17 A17-056A 286.50 296.00 9.50 9.3 0.3 19 88 South May 3'17 and 309.00 313.10 4.10 18.6 0.1 27 224 May 3'17 including 310.50 313.10 2.60 27.3 0.1 38 336 May 3'17 A17-057 84.90 86.35 1.45 24.8 0.0 62 157 South April 3 '17 and 143.70 144.50 0.80 40.4 0.1 138 261 April 3 '17 and 157.60 197.70 40.10 9.1 0.2 22 168 April 3 '17 including 168.20 177.80 9.60 16.8 0.1 22 299 April 3 '17 and 227.15 234.90 7.75 3.5 0.2 21 85 April 3 '17 and 264.00 279.30 15.30 20.0 2.5 102 263 April 3 '17 including 265.75 269.00 3.25 34.5 2.1 96 196 April 3 '17 including 272.50 277.70 5.20 32.5 1.3 69 639 April 3 '17 A17-058 103.50 107.70 4.205 20.2 4.2 3294 15 West May 3'17 and 133.25 134.35 1.105 30.3 3.2 500 61 May 3'17 A17-058 did not reach target, lost at 301 metres in sandstone A17-059 50.30 51.10 0.80 37.5 0.5 69 70 South June 8'17 58.00 60.00 2.00 6.3 0.0 12 30 June 8'17 A17-060 262.40 264.40 2.00 14.8 0.0 35 1178 South May 3'17 and 275.00 279.50 4.50 15.0 0.0 20 383 May 3'17 and 298.00 328.50 30.52 3.4 0.2 10 38 May 3'17 including 303.40 312.00 8.60 5.1 0.1 11 6 May 3'17 A17-061 122.70 150.50 27.80 4.4 0.1 18 24 South May 3'17 including 145.70 147.50 1.805 27.2 0.0 32 157 May 3'17 and 184.00 202.60 18.603 10.4 0.5 52 59 May 3'17 including 196.20 198.80 2.60 23.6 2.4 192 19 May 3'17 including 201.90 202.60 0.70 28.7 3.6 202 41 May 3'17 and 220.00 233.40 13.40 18.7 0.9 57 463 May 3'17 including 224.10 230.00 7.90 29.3 0.8 71 719 May 3'17 and 265.00 266.80 1.80 37.0 0.2 85 808 May 3'17 A17-062 152.40 153.05 0.655 33.6 0.3 166 42 South June 28'17 A17-062 was lost prior to target depth in a fault zone at 313 metres Drill hole From m To m Interval m Zn % Pb % Ag g/t Indium g/t Area Ayawilca Reported A17-063 302.20 349.90 47.70 11.3 0.0 18 313 South June 8'17 including 303.30 313.10 9.80 17.4 0.0 28 587 June 8'17 including 327.40 339.60 12.20 17.1 0.0 26 495 June 8'17 A17-064 269.90 270.40 0.50 15.6 0.0 11 304 South June 8'17 and 277.20 277.60 0.40 14.5 0.0 17 39 June 8'17 A17-065 119.00 119.75 0.75 36.6 0.1 88 157 South June 8'17 and 204.00 210.00 6.00 4.0 0.0 4 9 June 8'17 and 219.50 238.80 19.30 4.7 0.0 7 93 June 8'17 including 236.20 238.80 2.60 20.6 0.0 23 529 June 8'17 and 266.40 293.00 26.60 3.6 0.0 4 46 June 8'17 and 307.30 332.00 24.70 3.8 0.0 5 51 June 8'17 and 340.00 346.00 6.00 2.6 0.1 7 16 June 8'17 A17-066 185.20 185.50 0.30 37.8 0.0 40 1330 South June 8'17 and 330.90 334.40 3.50 7.4 0.1 24 111 June 8'17 and 345.00 350.00 5.00 11.3 0.1 37 270 June 8'17 A17-067 256.40 265.00 8.60 2.7 0.2 39 0 South June 28'17 A17-068 343.55 344.30 0.75 6.1 11.6 210 7 Central June 28'17 and 382.00 388.00 6.00 4.0 0.1 46 47 June 28'17 A17-069 182.00 190.00 8.00 3.0 0.5 13 17 South June 28'17 and 261.60 262.30 0.70 17.8 0.0 14 73 June 28'17 and 271.40 300.70 29.30 10.4 0.1 17 278 June 28'17 including 287.30 299.40 12.10 19.1 0.1 25 440 June 28'17 A17-070 100.00 105.10 5.10 6.3 0.6 127 82 South June 28'17 and 306.80 308.40 1.60 15.4 0.1 40 529 June 28'17 and 317.50 356.80 39.306 7.1 0.1 13 100 June 28'17 including 340.00 356.80 16.80 12.9 0.1 19 183 June 28'17 including 340.00 348.00 8.00 20.9 0.1 19 265 June 28'17 A17-071 327.20 350.00 22.80 8.4 0.8 35 17 South July 7'17 including 332.40 345.00 12.60 11.6 0.9 35 30 July 7'17 A17-072 104.80 105.60 0.80 27.0 0.3 73 125 South July 7'17 and 294.50 306.00 11.50 2.9 2.3 781 0 July 7'17 including 302.00 304.00 2.00 5.6 5.5 3167 0 July 7'17 A17-073 no significant results Zone 3 July 7'17 A17-074 71.40 73.60 2.205 31.0 0.1 138 23 West July 7'17 and 148.00 148.70 0.705 18.3 0.3 38 0 July 7'17 A17-075 359.00 379.87 20.80 5.0 0.0 11 44 South July 7'17 including 376.30 379.80 3.50 10.2 0.0 17 96 July 7'17 A17-076 196.70 199.50 2.80 4.5 0.4 54 43 South Aug 15 '17 and 264.00 269.90 5.90 1.2 1.0 58 0 Aug 15 '17 and 368.00 373.70 5.70 2.4 1.9 55 0 Aug 15 '17 A17-077 265.10 268.00 2.90 2.9 2.8 84 0 Central Aug 15 '17 and 337.30 339.60 2.30 9.2 0.0 11 79 Aug 15 '17 and 348.60 359.60 11.00 2.6 0.7 86 1 Aug 15 '17 A17-078 190.00 191.20 1.20 8.9 0.3 380 32 Central Aug 15 '17 and 400.10 404.40 4.30 7.8 0.1 4 57 Aug 15 '17 A17-079 209.30 225.15 15.85 2.4 1.2 25 0 West Aug 15 '17 and 254.40 270.00 15.60 2.4 0.1 5 16 Aug 15 '17 and 273.25 309.50 36.25 5.2 0.2 10 65 Aug 15 '17 including 304.00 309.50 5.50 12.5 0.0 8 103 Aug 15 '17 A17-080 171.70 174.00 2.30 3.5 2.2 58 0 West Aug 15 '17 and 291.30 306.50 15.20 6.0 0.0 7 184 Aug 15 '17 including 304.70 306.50 1.80 28.4 0.0 34 1400 Aug 15 '17 A17-081 no significant results Zone 3 Sep 18 '17 A17-082 not sampled - did not reach target depth Chaucha Sep 18 '17 A17-083 81.60 84.50 2.90 8.0 0.6 61 133 West Sep 18 '17 and 175.80 178.70 2.90 2.9 1.3 46 0 Sep 18 '17 and 268.00 278.20 10.20 3.0 0.7 15 3 Sep 18 '17 Drill hole From m To m Interval m Zn % Pb % Ag g/t Indium g/t Area Ayawilca Reported A17-084 no significant results Chaucha Sep 18 '17 A17-085 100.00 102.00 2.00 8.3 0.0 10 28 West Sep 18 '17 and 292.30 294.10 1.80 9.6 0.1 4 2 Sep 18 '17 and 303.10 305.50 2.40 14.3 0.2 18 20 Sep 18 '17 A17-086 no significant results Chaucha Sep 18 '17 A17-087 133.50 134.40 0.90 9.6 0.1 472 15 South Sep 18 '17 and 148.00 150.00 2.00 3.9 0.1 166 9 Sep 18 '17 and 242.00 242.80 0.80 7.4 3.3 607 26 Sep 18 '17 and 262.90 264.55 1.65 5.4 0.2 84 1 Sep 18 '17 A17-088 no significant results Valley Sep 18 '17 A17-089 218.60 229.40 10.80 16.7 0.0 33 681 South Sep 18 '17 including 218.60 220.40 1.80 35.9 0.0 40 1248 Sep 18 '17 including 222.50 225.20 2.70 33.6 0.1 68 1800 Sep 18 '17 and 241.00 250.20 9.20 7.9 0.0 18 60 Sep 18 '17 including 245.70 246.80 1.10 25.7 0.1 49 355 Sep 18 '17 including 249.40 250.20 0.80 35.6 0.1 51 103 Sep 18 '17 A17-090 Results pending Valley Pending A17-091 Results pending Zone 3 Pending A17-092 Results pending Valley Pending A17-093 331.50 336.00 4.50 1.4 1.2 59 3 South Here and 382.00 391.008 9.00 2.7 0.7 51 13 Here including 388.30 391.00 2.70 6.8 1.1 108 26 A17-094 394.00 395.20 1.20 1.6 2.1 193 0 South Here A17-095 Results pending South Here A17-096 241.50 287.00 45.50 7.8 0.0 8 111 South Here including 250.80 261.40 10.60 15.5 0.1 23 320 Here and 298.40 300.10 1.70 7.3 0.0 7 46 Here and 304.80 308.60 3.80 8.3 0.0 6 82 Here and 315.20 356.00 40.80 9.4 0.1 15 145 Here including 319.00 324.00 5.00 17.2 0.0 28 591 Here including 342.60 354.50 11.90 17.4 0.1 20 80 Here 1 hole lost at 293.9 metres; wedged and completed as A17-056A to 376 metres depth 2 includes 0.6 m with no core recovery from 315.2 to 315.8 m; this interval was given a zero grade 3 includes 3.1 m with no core recovery from 198.8 to 201.9 m; this interval was given a zero grade 4 includes a silver assay cut at 1000 g/t; actual assay in A17-056 was 0.2 m at 16,490 g/t Ag, 7.0% Zn & 6.9 % Cu from 287.1 m. 5 high grade vein intercepts with variable true thicknesses 6 includes 4.3 m of no recovery assumed zero grade 7 includes 1.7 m of no recovery assumed zero grade 8 includes 1.3 m of no recovery assumed zero grade Note: Assays are calculated using a zinc only cut-off grade of 2% over 6 metres Notes on sampling and assaying Drill holes are diamond HQ or NQ size core holes with recoveries generally above 80% and often close to 100%. The drill core is marked up, logged, and photographed on site. The cores are cut in half at the Company's core storage facility, with half-cores stored as a future reference. Half-core is bagged on average over 1 to 2 metre composite intervals and sent to ALS or SGS laboratories in Lima for assay in batches. Standards and blanks are inserted into each batch prior to departure from Tinka's core storage facilities. At the laboratory samples are dried, crushed to 100% passing 2mm, then 500 grams pulverized for multi-element analysis by ICP using multi-acid digestion. Samples assaying over 1% zinc, lead, or copper and over 100 g/t silver are re-assayed using precise ore-grade AAS techniques. Table 2. Summary of Drill Collar Information (coordinates are in UTM Zone 18S WGS84 datum) Drill Hole Easting Northing Total depth (m) Elevation (m) Azimuth Dip A17-056 333046 8845062 293.9 4202 300 -75 A17-056A 333046 8845062 376.4 4202 300 -75 A17-057 333046 8845062 477.0 4202 300 -55 A17-058 332557 8845657 301.0 4299 040 -82 A17-059 332840 8845192 248.9 4209 120 -85 A17-060 333174 8845005 358.4 4218 300 -70 A17-061 333058 8844996 326.9 4191 290 -67 A17-062 333175 8845004 309.0 4218 000 -90 A17-063 333241 8845118 416.6 4229 310 -70 A17-064 333062 8844993 369.1 4191 290 -50 A17-065 333174 8845090 366.3 4225 300 -75 A17-066 333345 8845193 371.6 4211 310 -70 A17-067 333059 8844996 302.8 4190 120 -85 A17-068 333552 8845279 419.7 4185 310 -75 A17-069 333114 8845103 374.3 4210 300 -65 A17-070 333152 8845150 367.8 4230 310 -75 A17-071 333328 8845044 383.3 4202 310 -70 A17-072 333114 8845103 445.9 4233 300 -53 A17-073 334458 8846616 710.0 4024 210 -75 A17-074 332666 8845491 429.6 4124 015 -75 A17-075 333434 8845121 395.3 4201 310 -70 A17-076 333155 8845153 420.7 4230 310 -55 A17-077 332966 8845460 416.2 4243 130 -70 A17-078 333656 8845227 477.2 4174 310 -75 A17-079 332919 8845717 322.6 4223 310 -65 A17-080 332915 8845805 335.4 4220 310 -70 A17-081 334696 8846099 506.8 4151 190 -70 A17-082 333774 8847585 67.2 3922 290 -65 A17-083 332968 8845607 317.6 4216 310 -70 A17-084 333694 8847613 123.1 3938 300 -75 A17-085 332903 8845938 346.6 4250 310 -70 A17-086 333693 8847613 217.9 3938 300 -50 A17-087 333005 8844940 316.8 4160 290 -72 A17-088 332689 8846884 224.6 4163 170 -65 A17-089 333003 8844943 330.1 4160 325 -60 A17-090 333099 8846807 213.9 4135 240 -60 A17-091 334043 8846140 480.6 4093 35 -70 A17-092 333101 8846805 270.6 4134 240 -45 A17-093 333551 8845146 408.0 4179 310 -75 A17-094 333678 8845009 418.6 4157 310 -80 A17-095 332840 8845199 362.1 4203 120 -75 A17-096 333174 8845088 366.3 4218 270 -65 A17-097 333331 8845046 370.0 4203 130 -85 A17-098 333172 8845090 352.7 4218 140 -80 A17-099 333435 8845122 400.7 4191 130 -85 A17-100 333810 8845256 450.0 4161 130 -85 A17-101 333346 8845194 450.0 4208 250 -75 On behalf of the Board, "Graham Carman" Dr. Graham Carman, President & CEO About Tinka Resources Limited Tinka is an exploration and development company with its flagship property being the 100%-owned Ayawilca carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) in the zinc-lead-silver belt of central Peru, 200 kilometres northeast of Lima. The Ayawilca Zinc Zone has an Inferred Mineral Resource of 18.8 Mt at 5.9 % zinc, 0.2 % lead, 15 g/t silver & 74 g/t indium, and a Tin Zone Inferred Mineral Resource of 5.4 Mt at 0.76 % tin, 0.31 % copper & 18 g/t silver (May 25, 2016). A significant resource expansion drill program began in February 2017 and is ongoing. Forward Looking Statements: Certain information in this news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively "forward-looking statements"). All statements, other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs and expectations of Tinka as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Tinka's management. Such statements reflect the current risks, uncertainties and assumptions related to certain factors including, without limitations, drilling results, the Company's expectations regarding mineral resource calculations, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, production rates varying from estimates, changes in world metal markets, changes in equity markets, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, equipment failure, unexpected geological conditions, imprecision in resource estimates or metal recoveries, success of future development initiatives, competition, operating performance, environmental and safety risks, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain necessary permits and approvals from local authorities, community agreements and relations, and other development and operating risks. Should any one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein. Although Tinka believes that assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Tinka disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release SOURCE Tinka Resources Ltd. Vancouver, October 2, 2017 - Southern Silver Exploration Corp. (TSXV: SSV) (OTCQB: SSVFF) (FSE: SEG1) ("Southern Silver" or the "Company") has closed the final tranche of its previously reported private placement by issuing 1,254,500 units at a price of $0.40 per unit for gross proceeds of $501,800. Each unit consists of one common share and one share purchase warrant exercisable to purchase one additional common share for a period of three years at an exercise price of $0.55 per common share. Securities issued pursuant to this tranche of the private placement, including common shares and share purchase warrants, carry a legend restricting trading of the securities until January 30, 2018. In total, the Company has now closed 8,797,000 Units in three tranches for total gross proceeds of $3,581,800. The final closing is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Net proceeds from this private placement are intended to be used to contribute to the Company's proportionate share (40%) of the costs associated with continuing exploration on the Cerro Las Minitas property near Durango, Mexico together with the Joint Venture partner of the Company, Electrum Global Holdings L.P. (60%). Further exploration work on the Cerro Las Minitas property in 2017 and 2018 is to be funded by the two Joint Venture partners and is expected to consist of detailed surface sampling and core and RC drilling in order to: Extend the known mineralization at the North Skarn and Las Victorias target areas in order to increase the current mineral resource estimate; and Explore for accumulations of potential new mineralization elsewhere in the larger area of the Cerro Las Minitas property. Portions of the net proceeds will also be added to general working capital and to fund an exploration program on the Company's 100% owned Oro property in New Mexico, USA, consisting of surface work and a 1250 metre, eight to ten hole RC drilling program targeting sediment-hosted gold mineralization at the Stock Pond target area at an approximate cost of $300,000. Drilling is expected to begin in mid-October 2017. The Company also reports that it has granted incentive stock options to directors, officers and consultants to purchase 2,750,000 common shares. The options are exercisable at a price of $0.34 per share for a period of five years and are subject to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. About Southern Silver Exploration Southern Silver Exploration Corp. is a precious metal exploration and development company with a focus on the discovery of world-class mineral deposits in north-central Mexico and the southern USA. Our specific emphasis is the Cerro Las Minitas silver-lead-zinc project located in the heart of Mexico's Faja de Plata, which hosts multiple world-class mineral deposits such as Penasquito, San Martin, Naica and Pitarrilla. We have assembled a team of highly experienced technical, operational and transactional professionals to support our exploration efforts in developing, along with our partner, Electrum Global Holdings LP, the Cerro Las Minitas project into a premier, high-grade, silver-lead-zinc mine. The Company engages in the acquisition, exploration and development either directly or through joint-venture relationships in mineral properties in major jurisdictions. Our property portfolio also includes the Oro porphyry copper-gold project located in southern New Mexico, USA. The Oro property consists of patented land, State leases and BLM located mineral claims which cover a highly prospective quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration zone, interpreted to overlie an unexposed porphyry center and distal sediment-hosted, oxide-gold target. Robert Macdonald, MSc. P.Geo, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and responsible for the supervision of the exploration on the Cerro Las Minitas Project and for the preparation of the technical information in this disclosure. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Lawrence Page" Lawrence Page, Q.C. President & Director, Southern Silver Exploration Corp. For further information, please visit Southern Silver's website at southernsilverexploration.com or contact us at 604.641.2759 or by email at ir@mnxltd.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Southern Silver Exploration Corp. does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law. This news release is intended for distribution in Canada only and is not intended for distribution to United States newswire services or dissemination in the United States. - Making cash payments to CPC totaling CDN$2.5 million over a 24-month period, with CDN$375,000 due by October 29, 2017; CDN$375,000 due by December 28, 2017; CDN$750,000 due by September 29, 2018 and CDN$1,000,000 due by September 29, 2019; - Issuing 8.75 million common shares of AEMC, or its assignee, a publicly-traded entity, by October 29, 2017; and - Granting CPC a 5% Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR") on production from the property. Saskatoon, October 2nd, 2017 - Canadian Platinum Corp. ("CPC" or the "Company"-TSXV:CPC) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement (the "Agreement") to sell its 100%-owned Peter Lake property in northern Saskatchewan. Further to the news release dated July 13, 2017, the terms outlined in the original Letter of Intent have been revised through ongoing negotiation resulting in the final Agreement. The purchaser is American Energy Metals Corp. ("AEMC" or the "Purchaser"), and the terms of the Agreement allow AEMC to purchase a 100% working interest in the Peter Lake property by: The Peter Lake property is located in northern Saskatchewan and hosts significant Cu-Ni-PGE-Co mineralization (see news release dated April 5th, 2017). Closing of the transaction is expected to occur on, or before, October 29, 2017. Gary Billingsley, President states, "The Company is pleased to have signed a formal agreement for the sale of the Peter Lake property. The transaction allows CPC to participate in what we certainly see as the significant upside potential of the project, through the NSR and through share ownership of the company developing the project. Perhaps more significantly, the deal allows us to begin exploration work on our Nevada gold project (see news release dated June 29, 2017) which will become our focus in the near term." About Canadian Platinum Corp. Canadian Platinum Corp. is a Canadian-based resource exploration and development company with its head office in Saskatoon, SK. CPC is focused on the acquisition and development of a diversified portfolio of resource properties including precious metals, base metals, platinum group elements and strategic metals. CANADIAN PLATINUM TRADES ON THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE UNDER THE SYMBOL "CPC". For more information, including news releases and technical reports providing more detail on the contents of this news release, please visit our website at www.canplats.ca. For further information: Canadian Platinum Corp. Gary Billingsley, President Phone: 306-242-7363 Facsimile: 306-992-0729 www.canplats.ca To receive information by email go to www.canplats.ca and click "Contact Information". 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. CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain statements contained herein constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this release and except as required by law, the Corporation does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state in the United States in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This press release may contain statements within the meaning of safe harbour provisions as defined under United States Securities Laws and Regulations. The above statements are based on the current expectations and beliefs of the management of Canadian Platinum and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those described above. Copyright (c) 2017 TheNewswire - All rights reserved. TORONTO, Oct. 2, 2017 - Richmont Mines Inc. (TSX: RIC) (NYSE: RIC) ("Richmont" or the "Corporation") announces that it has acquired 40,348,203 common shares ("Common Shares") of Monarques Gold Corp. ("Monarques"), representing approximately 19.9% of the outstanding Common Shares. Prior to such acquisition, the Corporation did not own any Common Shares of Monarques.On October 2, 2017, Richmont acquired 34,633,203 Common Shares of Monarques as consideration for the sale of certain assets of Richmont to Monarques (the "Transaction"). In addition, in connection with the Transaction, Richmont acquired 5,715,000 Common Shares of Monarques through the conversion of 5,715,000 subscription receipts of Monarques that Richmont had previously subscribed for at a price of $0.35 per subscription receipt.Richmont holds its interest in the Common Shares for investment purposes and will continue to monitor the business, prospects, financial condition and potential capital requirements of Monarques. Depending on its evaluation of these and other factors, Richmont may from time to time in the future increase or decrease its direct or indirect ownership, control or direction over the Common Shares or other securities of Monarques through market transactions, private agreements, subscriptions from treasury or otherwise. Richmont has agreed with Monarques that it will not sell the 5,715,000 shares acquired through subscription receipts for a period of one year, subject to certain exceptions.The registered office of Richmont is located at 161 avenue Principale, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, J9X 4P6.AbRichmont Mines currently produces gold from the Island Gold Mine in Ontario, where it is also advancing development of the significant high-grade resource extension at depth. With more than 35 years of experience in gold production, exploration and development, and prudent financial management, the Corporation is well-positioned to cost-effectively build its Canadian reserve base and to successfully enter its next phase of growth.This news release contains forward-looking statements that include risks and uncertainties. When used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "believe", "hope", "may", "objective" and similar expressions, as well as "will", "shall" and other indications of future tense, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and apply only as of the date on which they were made. Except as may be required by law or regulation, the Corporation undertakes no obligation and disclaims any responsibility to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements include changes in the prevailing price of gold, the Canadian-United States exchange rate, grade of ore mined and unforeseen difficulties in mining operations that could affect revenue and production costs. Other risks may be set out in Richmont Mines' Annual Information Form, Annual Reports and periodic reports. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release. SOURCE Richmont Mines Inc. including a copy of the corresponding report filed with Canadian securities regulators, please contact: Renaud Adams, President and CEO, Phone: 416 368-0291 ext. 101; Anne Day, Senior Vice-President, Investor Relations, Phone: 416 368-0291 ext. 105 Vancouver, October 2, 2017 - Alset Minerals Corp. (TSXV: ION) ("Alset" or "the Company") is pleased to report further results from sampling of the Company's 100% owned salars located in the states of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi, Mexico. All of these salars returned positive lithium and potassium results. Upon completing the drilling at the La Salada salar (see Company news release dated: 2017-08-09), a reconnaissance auger sampling program was initiated on 13 additional salars to investigate mineralization of soils in the first 1 metre layer. The Company is very encouraged by the results with all the salars being mineralized including some with very promising grades of lithium and potassium. Discussion of Analytical Results Of the 13 salars sampled, 9 had average lithium grades exceeding 200ppm, with 4 salars averaging lithium grades of around 400ppm and higher (Table 1). Santa Clara, the largest salar, had an average lithium grade of 392ppm with a high of 890ppm. At Chapala salar, lithium grades reached a high of 530ppm with an average of 416ppm. Hernandez salar returned a high of 670ppm and average of 556ppm. The highest maximum and average lithium grades came from the Caliguey salar with a high of 1820ppm and an average of 769ppm. Sampling also returned encouraging results for potassium (K). The average potassium grade for all 13 salars range from 1.20% to 3.38% K, with 9 of the salars exceeding an average grade of 2.00% K. At Caliguey, Santa Clara and El Salitral the average grade exceeded 3.38% K. Caliguey returned a maximum grade of 5.29% K, with an average grade of 3.38% K. Santa Clara, returned a maximum grade of 4.60% K. El Salitral returned a maximum grade of 4.28% K and an average grade of 3.78% K. It is important to note that these samples were taken using a coarse grid, for example, at Santa Clara 59 samples were taken on a 500-metre grid. The reconnaissance auger sampling program was designed to obtain a series of near-surface samples from all of the salars to help with prioritizing future exploration. President and chief executive officer Allan Barry Laboucan said: "I am impressed that things are shaping up nicely with the positive chemical analysis across our various salars, our story is really starting to tell itself. Key points I would highlight are the mineralization at all of the salars, plus the average and high-grades at several of them. Equally important is that these salars are all found in close proximity to each other and could benefit from a centralized plant for mining if proven viable. When looking for a mine, regardless of the commodities, it all comes down to how much material one has, the grade, and how much it would cost to get the values out of the ground. We are answering some of these questions, and when it comes to location of our salars, we couldn't ask for a better place concerning road access and power to the salars. We have recovered a lot of samples at 14 of our 15 salars. Our next goal is to carry out leaching tests on samples recovered from the drill and auger program conducted at La Salada. We also plan to carry out leaching tests on samples from the other salars. Once the leaching characteristics are determined, we plan to start mineralogical work." Tables showing the soil results mentioned in this news release are given below. The complete data set for this work and our past laboratory work can be found on Alset's corporate website in the laboratory results section. Table 1: Summary of Soils Data Salar No. of Samples Li (ppm) K (%) Avg Min Max Avg Min Max Caliguey 36 769 210 1,820 3.38 1.73 5.29 Santa Clara 59 392 70 890 3.55 1.69 4.60 Colorada 30 234 80 310 2.34 1.80 2.73 Saldivar 28 139 80 200 2.22 1.83 2.67 Hernandez 5 556 440 670 1.62 1.46 2.02 Chapala 7 416 190 530 1.20 0.59 1.65 El Salitral 5 284 150 590 3.78 3.33 4.28 La Prietta 1 250 - - 2.56 - - Las Casas 5 234 190 260 2.51 2.22 3.47 El Agrito 5 224 120 320 2.79 2.54 3.27 El Cristalillo 2 160 130 190 2.00 1.50 2.50 La Doncella 1 130 - - 1.68 - - Laguna Larga 2 75 70 80 1.93 1.88 1.97 Discussion of Program Soil samples were collected using a hand-held motorized auger or a hammer and hollow-tube sampling method. Material recovered from the top portion of each hole was discarded and composite samples were collected from the 0.5m down to a maximum of 1.0m using the auger, and from 0.3 or 0.4 down to 0.7m in the case of the tube sampler. Reconnaissance-scale grids were completed at the Caliguey, Santa Clara, Colorada and Saldivar salars (Table 2). Due to flooding, only a small portion of the planned grid was completed at Chapala. 1 to 5 samples were collected from the other salars (Table 1). Based on the results of this program, follow up work will include acid leach testing for lithium and potassium liberation. Further drilling and sampling to investigate the lithium and potassium potential of the soils at depth and to test for brines will also be planned for a number of the salars. Table 2: Sample Grid Sizes Salar Grid Size (m) No. of Samples Caliguey 200 x 400 36 Santa Clara 500 x 500 59 Colorada 200 x 200 30 Saldivar 200 x 200 28 Chapala 400 x 400 7 Quality Assurance and Quality Control Some 186 soil samples were submitted to ALS Global, Zacatecas for sample preparation and then shipped to ALS Global, Vancouver for analysis. Soils were analyzed for geochemistry with an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) procedure following a four-acid digestion. 19 QA/QC sample were also submitted to the laboratory for analysis with the soil samples. The QA/QC samples included 10 duplicate samples collected in the field, 5 blanks, and 4 standards with two different lithium ranges (796ppm and 1,712ppm). The blanks and standards were obtained from MEG Inc, Nevada. Blank and standard results were within acceptable ranges. The duplicate samples were all within an acceptable 95% regression range for both potassium and lithium. Emily Hanson, PGeo, Vice-President of exploration for Alset Minerals Corp., is the qualified person responsible for this release and has prepared, supervised and approved the preparation of the scientific and technical disclosure contained within the release. About Alset Minerals Corp. Alset Minerals Corp. is a TSX-V listed junior exploration company focused on exploring and development of a group of high-grade lithium and potassium projects in the Central Mexican Plateau. The Company is actively exploring in Mexico and has a growing portfolio of 100% mineralized lithium-SO4-potassium salars in the states of San Luis Potosi and Zacatecas, two prolific mining jurisdictions. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Alset Minerals Corp., "Allan Barry Laboucan" Allan Barry Laboucan, President and CEO THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections For further information contact Allan Barry Laboucan @: Phone (604) 505-4753 www.alsetminerals.com MIRAMICHI, Oct. 2, 2017 - SLAM Exploration Ltd. (TSXV: SXL) ("SLAM" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement to acquire the Ramsay Brook cobalt property (the "Property") from local prospectors. The 2 claim property comprises 18 claim units covering 392 hectares that straddle Highway 180 approximately 25 km west of the Caribou mine operated by Trevali Mining Corp. in the Bathurst Mining Camp ("BMC") of New Brunswick, Canada. The history of cobalt on the Property began with a trenching program in 1992 followed by a diamond drilling program in 2004 all by previous workers. This historic program included 3 holes located within the Ramsay Brook Property. The first hole numbered M04-01 produced a 0.9 m core interval grading 0.37% cobalt and 0.17% copper within a 3 m interval grading 0.19% cobalt and 0.21% copper. Hole M04-02 hole collared 100m to the northeast cut 0.25% cobalt and 0.16% copper over 0.5m. The third hole, M04-03 was collared 110m to the southeast but did not intersect significant mineralization. The above results are drill core intervals and true widths were not reported. The 2004 drilling program was a follow-up to a series of events dating back to 1989 when a prospector discovered mineralized rubble along a logging road. Subsequent work led to a field investigation by Noranda Exploration in 1991. Fourteen samples were collected from a breccia zone that produced grab samples grading up to 0.86% copper with no record of cobalt analysis. The following year a mineralized boulder with a reported grade of 5.77% copper was discovered by a prospector (1992). Subsequent trenching confirmed the presence of mineralization but no assays were published. It should be noted that boulders and grab samples indicate the presence of copper mineralization but may not be representative of the overall grade of these mineral occurrences. The signed option agreement gives SLAM the right to earn 100% interest in return for 400,000 shares and $100,000 in cash payable in stages over a 3 year period. The Vendors retain a royalty of 2% Net Smelter return. The Company can buy back half the royalty for $500,000. The agreement and share issuance remains subject to approval by the TSXV. The Company has launched a preliminary prospecting and trenching program to verify the locations of previous drill holes and determine the scope of this cobalt occurrence. QA-QC Procedures: The technical information referenced in this news release derive from an assessment report written by a qualified person in 2004. The report documents the sawing of core and sampling procedures and includes copies of the assay certificates for the drilling program. The assays were done using the ICP70 method by SGS Canada Inc. of Toronto, Ontario. Other BMC Properties: The Company owns 12 projects covering 20,000 hectares of mineral land acquired for volcanogenic massive sulphide potential in the BMC. These include the Lower 44, Connector, North Rim, Satellite and LBM projects along with others selected for acquisition based on a database that covers the entire BMC district. The database includes airborne and ground geotechnical surveys as well as previous drilling results compiled from previous exploration workers and government sources. The Company continues with exploration activities to identify drilling targets associated with historic occurrences and intends to focus on the zinc, lead, copper and silver potential of this mineral producing region. Joint Venture/Earn-In Opportunity: SLAM has a portfolio of zinc-lead-silver properties available for joint venture or earn-in agreements in the Bathurst Mining Camp of New Brunswick. These include the properties described above as well as Costigan and other properties with mineral potential demonstrated by previous drilling results. For additional information, call Mike Taylor 506-623-8960. About SLAM Exploration Ltd: SLAM is a project generating resource company that holds an NSR royalty on the Superjack and Nash Creek zinc?lead?copper?silver deposits and owns a portfolio of base metal properties in the Bathurst Mining Camp ("BMC") of New Brunswick. The Company intends to utilize its extensive BMC mineral database to explore and develop properties in this historic region of mineral potential. Other projects include the Menneval gold project and the Reserve Creek and Miminiska gold projects in Ontario. Additional information about SLAM and its projects is available at www.slamexploration.com or from SEDAR filings at www.sedar.com. Follow us on twitter @SLAMGold. Qualifying Statements: Mike Taylor, P.Geo. President and CEO of SLAM Exploration Ltd., as the Qualified Person, approves the scientific and technical disclosure in the news release. Certain information in this press release may constitute forward-looking information, including statements that address the Private Placement, the closing of the Private Placement, future production, reserve potential, exploration and development activities and events or developments that the Company expects. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. There are a number of risk factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those described herein. Information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contact SLAM Exploration Ltd. Mike Taylor, President & CEO 506-623-8960 mike@slamexploration.com Eugene Beukman, CFO 604-687-2038 ebeukman@pendergroup.ca VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct 2, 2017) - Mundoro Capital Inc. (TSX VENTURE:MUN)(www.mundoro.com) ("Mundoro" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the Company has been notified by the Ministry of Energy that Bulgaria Alpha EOD, a 100% subsidiary of the Company, has won the tenders for the Svoboda permit ("Svoboda") and the Pesnopoy permit ("Pesnopoy") in Bulgaria. Teo Dechev, CEO and President of Mundoro commented, "We are pleased to have been named the winner of the Svoboda and Pesnopoy tenders. Before exploration can begin on these two projects, further procedural steps are required before the exploration contracts are signed with the local government which we estimate may be completed by mid-2018. Part of capital to be raised through the Company's current C$1.5 million financing will be used to fund project acquisition and exploration of these projects." Dechev adds "Mundoro continues to advance projects both through direct exploration and strategic partners in joint ventures. Mundoro completed Q2-2017 with C$3.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and short term investments and no debt. We are pleased to be working with our joint venture partner in Serbia, JOGMEC, who is funding the drilling at the Borsko and Zeleznik projects in H2/2017. As well, Mundoro has a portfolio of four projects covering 400 sq.km of the southern half of the Timok magmatic complex in Serbia and a growing package of exploration contracts in Bulgaria. " 1. Svoboda Project Overview Svoboda is located in the Panagyurishte Region which is approximately 100 km south-east of Sofia, see Figure 1: Location Map of Projects. Svoboda covers 189 sq.km. (18,900 hectares) of the south-eastern portion of the Panagyurishte Metallogenic Zone ("Panagyurishte"). The Panagyurishte Belt is the most prospective belt for copper and gold porphyry and epithermal high sulphidation deposits in Bulgaria. It is part of the upper Cretaceous Banat-Timok-Srednogorie Belt which hosts a number of economically viable porphyry and epithermal copper and gold deposits such as the: Moldova Nova, Majdanpek, Bor and Chelopech. Figure 1: Location Map of Projects To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1103043_fig1.jpg Within Svoboda, there are two identified prospects to date: the Radka high sulphidation copper and gold deposit ("Radka") and the Red Hill copper and gold prospect ("Red Hill"). Radka The Radka mine was in operation from 1928 to 1993 with total production of 6.4 million tonnes at 1.06% Cu and 3 g/t Au, according to historical records in the Bulgarian National Geological Fund. The Radka deposit is reported to host a historical mineral resource estimates, calculated under the Bulgarian classification system, consisting of 2.02 million tonnes at 0.60% Cu and 0.57 g/t gold (category 221) and 0.27 million tonnes at 0.60% Cu and 0.53 g/t Au (category 222). Red Hill Red Hill is a high sulphidation gold-silver prospect with reported outcropping mineralisation of 2.98 g/t Au and 59 g/t Ag over 20 m hosted in a wider 61.5 m interval averaging 0.59 g/t Au and 10 g/t Ag. The Red Hill deposit is reported to host historical mineral resource estimates, calculated under the Bulgarian classification system, as follows: 50,000 tonnes at 1.42% Cu and 0.60 g/t Au (category 331) and 0.6 million tonnes at 0.76 % Cu and 4.5 g/t Au (category 333). The historical mineral resource estimates at Radka and Red Hill are derived from prior data and reports prepared by the National Geological Survey and held in the Bulgarian National Geological Fund. The company is not currently able to confirm the dates of the estimates or the key assumptions, methods and parameters used to prepare them. At this time, Mundoro is not able to determine the reliability of the resource estimates with reference to the standards applicable to CIM-compliant resource estimates, although expects that additional exploration work will be required to enable Mundoro to report some or all of the mineralized material in conformity with CIM resource estimate categories. A Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves and the issuer is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. Around Red Hill and Radka, there is pervasive argillic-phyllic altered andesite volcanics containing numerous other copper and gold mineral occurrences. Figure 2: Svoboda Geology, Alteration and Occurrences To view Figure 2, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/1103043_fig2.jpg 1.1 Location, Access and Infrastructure Svoboda is easily accessible by a network of asphalt roads from various directions. It is approximately 110 km or 1.5 hours drive from Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. There are small towns in the immediate area where local labour could be readily obtained for general exploration activities, and there are relatively modern facilities available. Power could be supplied from the Bulgarian national transmission and distribution system which is close to site. 1.2 Historical Exploration and Exploration Targets Svoboda is situated in the south-eastern part of Panagyurishte which is the most mineralised region of Bulgaria with much evidence of ancient and modern mining activity. The area was actively explored in Soviet style from the 1950's to 1990's. More than 150 mineral occurrences have been documented in Panagyurishte, approximately 50 of which fall within Svoboda. There are two exploited mines within the area: Radka, which is a high sulphidation copper and gold deposit and Tsar Assen copper porphyry deposit, which is not part of Svoboda. The Red Hill prospect was explored in the past with 43 drill holes which intersected mineralization from 250 m to 375 m. None of the drill holes were assayed for gold. In 1992-1993, exploration continued with trenching along profile lines at 100 m and 5 additional drill holes were drilled totaling 1,400 meters, which proved the gold potential at Red Hill. Previous exploration activity includes ancient workings, excavation of trenches and exploratory adits, diamond drilling and bulk sampling. The Red Hill prospect and the Radka deposit are the primary targets for exploration. Red Hill The Red Hill prospect has prior trenching and drilling. Although a historical government drilling program did not assay for gold, later exploration proved the high grade gold, silver and copper content which now requires further systematic exploration with trenching and drilling to assess economic potential. Radka The Radka high sulphidation copper and gold deposit has been exploited in the past however significant resources remain which need to be systematically explored to assess economic potential. Other areas Additional around-mine and along-strike potential exists for discovery of new ore bodies of similar type to Radka. The large area of pervasive hydrothermal alteration between the known deposits containing numerous documented copper and gold occurrences adds significantly to the overall prospectivity of Svoboda. 1.3 District Geology Svoboda is located within the south-eastern portion of Panagyurishte within the Apuseni-Banat-Timok-Srednogorie belt ("ABTS Belt"), Europe's most extensive belt of calc-alkaline magmatism and copper and gold mineralisation. The ABTS Belt is related to the subduction of the Tethys ocean beneath the European continental margin during the Late Cretaceous phase of the Alpine-Himalayan orogeny. To date, economic deposits appear to be restricted to certain segments along the belt, and all major porphyry-style and high-sulphidation ore deposits in Bulgaria are aligned on the Panagyurishte corridor, a narrow zone obliquely crossing the ABTS Belt (Albrecht von Quadt et al., 2005). 1.4 Property Geology The geology of the property is dominated by Upper Cretaceous volcanic and intrusive rocks. The Upper cretaceous volcanics are predominantly represented by andesite-dacite and andesite-basalt lava flow, volcanic breccias and tuff, alternated with narrow siltstone beds. Diorite and granodiorite porphyry stocks are largely exposed in the southern portion of the property. 1.5 Mineralization and Alteration High sulphidation epithermal copper-gold and gold-silver mineralisation is the most important style in the property. It is hosted in andesite-dacite volcanics which are intensely phyllic-argillic altered. Radka The Radka deposit consists of lens-like massive sulphides and stockwork hosted copper and gold mineralisation made up of chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, covellite and tennantite. Red Hill Red Hill is hosted in a large zone of of advance argillic and phyllic alteration covering at least 3 square kilometers. This alteration zone is host to a number of small vuggy silica-enargite bodies and quartz-stockworks related to a large breccia body. The breccia is host of massive silica-barite replacement lenses up to 50 m x 15 m in size with reported grades up to 2.5 g/t Au and 59 g/t Ag from rock samples. Porphyry copper-gold mineralization has been the primary target for historic exploration efforts. This resulted in the discovery and mining of the Tsar Assen copper porphyry deposit. 2. Pesnopoy Project Area Pesnopoy is located in the Tertiary Eastern Rhodopean Metallogenic Region of Bulgaria and is approximately 200 km south-east of Sofia, see Figure 1: Location Map of Projects. The East Rhodopean Belt is host to at least 10 documented low sulphidation epithermal occurrences and deposits with Ada Tepe, Chala and Rosino being the most important and the most thoroughly investigated. The mining activity in the region dates back to prehistoric times. Pesnopoy covers 35.95 sq.km (3595 hectares) of the north-western portion of the Tertiary East Rhodopean Belt. Within Pesnopoy there is one known gold occurrence, Rusalsko, which was partly explored by a local private company in the past. 2.1 Historical Exploration and Exploration Targets Pesnopoy has not been actively explored in the past. Several state run mapping campaigns were carried out in the region. The main target for initial exploration will be the Rusalsko gold occurrence on Pesnopoy. The Rusalsko gold occurrence is located in the center of Pesnopoy and is described as epithermal low sulphidation. It covers a wide area of alteration more than 500 m long and 300 m wide, elongated in a NW direction. Central part of the altered zone is completely silicified and brecciated at some parts containing pyrite, arseno-pyrite and hematite. It reportedly contains up to 1 g/t Au in single rock samples. West of Rusalsko is an area of advanced argillic alteration which is reported at 1000 m long and 400 m wide and related to brecciated latite volcanics. 2.2 Location, Access and Infrastructure Pesnopoy is located 25 km from the town of Kardjali. Local labour could be readily obtained for general exploration activities, and there are relatively modern facilities available from which to conduct field programs. Local towns are connected with a network of asphalt roads and can be reached by highway from Sofia with approximately 3 hours driving. 2.3 Regional Geology Pesnopoy region is part of the East Rhodopean Belt and consists of Tertiary volcanics superimposed on crystalline basement composed of Proterozoic metamorphics. Structurally it falls at the southern edge of the Borovitsa caldera which is a major regional structure with north-east trending axis extending for approximately 20 km. On behalf of the Company, Teo Dechev, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director Qualified Person Technical information contained in this Press Release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. G. Magaranov, P. Geo., Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Mundoro Capital Inc. Mundoro is a Canadian mineral exploration and development public company focused on building value for its shareholders through directly investing in mineral projects that have the ability to generate future returns for shareholders. The Company currently holds a diverse portfolio of projects in two European countries as well as an investment in a producing gold mine in Bulgaria and a feasibility stage gold project in China. The Company holds eight 100% owned projects in Serbia, the four Timok North Projects are in option to JOGMEC, and the four Timok South Projects are being advanced by Mundoro. Mundoro's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "MUN". Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This News Release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "will", "would", "could", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe" or "continue" or similar words or the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements in this news release include (i) the completion of the transfer of the Svoboda and Pesnopoy properties to Mundoro; (ii) the potential for historical resource estimates to be calculated under CIM guidelines in a manner consistent with that identified in the historical estimates; and (iii) the results of prospective exploration work on these properties. The material assumptions that were applied in making the forward looking statements in this News Release include expectations as to the mineral potential of the targets, prospects and properties, the Company's future strategy and business plan and execution of the Company's existing plans. We caution readers of this News Release not to place undue reliance on forward looking statements contained in this News Release, as there can be no assurance that they will occur and they are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include general economic and market conditions, exploration results, commodity prices, changes in law, regulatory processes, the status of Mundoro's assets and financial condition, actions of competitors and the ability to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities. The forward-looking statements contained in this News Release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this News Release are made as of the date of this News Release and Mundoro undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Shareholders are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and for a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to the Company's filings with the Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. During this devastating hurricane season, with storm after storm battering the southern United States and Puerto Rico, some people have risen heroically to the occasion.As Hurricane Harvey bore down on Texas in late August, corrections officers safely evacuated roughly 4,500 inmates from three prisons without a single incident. Cory Marshall, who works in maintenance for a water treatment plant in Houston, used a dump truck to rescue a pregnant woman, getting her to the hospital for the delivery of a healthy baby. Also in Houston, nurses at the county hospital worked for days in a row with minimal breaks. They didn't want to leave their patients even though they were worried about the safety of their own homes and families.When Irma slammed into south Florida in September, a Miami 311 operator named Lorraine Brown fielded calls throughout the weekend, talking to anxious people and making sure their requests were routed appropriately. "I'm not leaving until maybe Monday at the earliest," Brown said. With access to showers and food, she and her colleagues didn't see the need to go home. "We can sleep later," she added.Puerto Rico now must dig out from the damage of two storms that struck just two weeks apart, Irma and Hurricane Maria. But the island is lucky to have people like Joseph L. Cortes Lugo on the job. Cortes Lugo, who works for the territory's Department of the Family, spent his birthday rounding up families for evacuation and preparing an emergency shelter to receive people seeking refuge from Irma.All of these dedicated women and men work for government. They do tough jobs, for modest compensation and little recognition, which call on them to excel under often-difficult circumstances. Despite the challenges, they never quit. When disaster strikes, when property is damaged and lives hang in the balance, we all lean on public-service workers -- we lean on-- to help our communities recover.And yet, back in Washington and in too many state capitols, politicians are tripping over themselves to declare government the bogeyman. For the last decade or so, the politics of austerity has too often ruled the day. Lawmakers, faced with difficult budget decisions, make deep cuts to public services -- schools, libraries, road maintenance, law enforcement and more -- instead of looking to generate more revenue.Often, they push to outsource some of these important, community-sustaining functions to private contractors. In addition to elevating corporate profits over the public interest, outsourcing leads to cost overruns, less efficiency and poorer-quality services. Prison privatization is legendarily corrupt and a menace to public safety -- a cancer on the criminal-justice system.Making matters worse, all too often the same politicians who embrace austerity for government are zealous about reducing tax rates for corporations and the wealthiest Americans. The income inequality this exacerbates is bad enough, but it also tightens the squeeze on government budgets, leading to additional cuts in public services. In Kansas, the radical tax-cutting agenda of Gov. Sam Brownback (he called it the "march to zero"), combined with painful spending cuts to education, health care, highways and more, ran the state's economy into the ground.The Trump administration and Congress are now attempting to follow this script on the federal level. They want to ease the tax burden on CEOs, millionaires and billionaires to the tune of several trillion dollars; meanwhile, the budget passed by the House in September would eliminate, among many other things, $2.1 billion in teacher funding, $671 million in job-training grants and approximately $2 billion in infrastructure investments -- everything from mass transit to public housing to clean-water funds.As an abstraction, government is an all-too-convenient scapegoat. But hostility toward government is hostility toward government employees like Cory Marshall, Lorraine Brown and Joseph L. Cortes Lugo. They're not the cause of any fiscal crisis; they're theto crises in their communities. They are on the front lines, selflessly and courageously, when things are at their very worst.And they're not just there for rescue and relief after major weather events. Even on the brightest and clearest days, public-service workers are there to pick up the trash, drive school buses and respond to medical emergencies. They make America happen.Government is not the politicians in Washington. It's not capitol domes or imposing buildings with marble halls. Government is hardworking people who believe in service and sacrifice, who have devoted careers to helping their neighbors. They deserve respect, not contempt. They deserve the resources to do their job much more than a billionaire deserves a tax giveaway. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Friday said he would withdraw a proposed property tax rate hike after Gov. Greg Abbott handed him a check for $50 million to help fund the city's recovery from Hurricane Harvey.The exchange came as the mayor and governor held a joint City Hall news conference, a sharp departure from the last several days when the pair had traded letters and criticism over each other's response to the historic storm.Turner had tried to pin his proposed tax hike on the state's unwillingness to tap its $10 billion savings account, while state officials viewed the city as seeking a blank check rather than targeting requests for specific emergency funds.Ultimately, Abbott said he would draw upon a disaster fund within the discretion of his office, producing the $50 million amount Turner had intended to collect from raising residents' property taxes. That fund is one of several the state will replenish using its so-called Rainy Day Fund when the Legislature next convenes in 2019, the governor said."The city of Houston has some urgent needs they need to have addressed and part of it is debris and some other things, and it totaled $50 million," Abbott said of his talks with Turner. "And I said, 'This is what the state of Texas is for and what we can do. We are here to help you and help you rebuild because we are one team together.' This is what you call a common-sense case of helping a flooded town."It was unclear whether the amount was based on a specific tally of needs, but both men noted needed repairs to public infrastructure and the city's need to reinstate its exhausted flood insurance policy, in addition to the costly removal of millions of cubic yards of debris.Turner listed the liabilities the city has projected thus far: An estimated $26 million for debris removal, a $15 million insurance deductible, $75 million in damage to city buildings beyond what insurance will cover, and $9.7 million to reinstate flood insurance coverage."I want to thank you for this check of $50 million because it does address some of those immediate concerns that I would have been asking people in this city -- many of whom have been directly impacted and are having now to get back into their homes or to purchase furniture -- to assume some of the sacrifice in order to rebuild this city," Turner said to Abbott. "Because of what you've given today, let me say there will be no need for me to do that."Turner initially had announced plans to enact an 8.9 percent tax rate hike, noting that a voter-imposed cap on property tax collections allowed him to propose a one-year exemption in the event of a federally declared disaster. Such a hike would produce about $113 million in additional revenue. On Wednesday, he cut that proposal roughly in half after federal officials agreed to increase their contribution to the Harvey recovery.Friday's announcement eliminated the proposal, as well as a political headache.Some council members opposed to the increase said they believed the mayor lacked the votes to pass it. Before the mayor and governor spoke, William-Paul Thomas, the mayoral aide charged with counting votes, had smiled and said he was "prayerful" that the governor would produce a check and make his life a bit easier.Passage of Turner's proposed rate hike could have threatened the city's plans to issue $495 million in general obligation bonds in November, in addition to $1 billion in bonds tied to Turner's landmark pension reform plan. Rejection of the pension bonds could unravel the complicated reform plan and thrust the city back into a fiscal crisis leaders had spent years trying to fix.Councilman Dave Martin, who opposed the tax increase, said he always thought the state should step up with of its own funds, rather than simply funnel federal money to the city."I think they showed they're doing the right thing," Martin said of state officials. "I still believe we could have found the money, I didn't think you needed to go to the taxpayers, but it would have been tough. This is a better solution."Councilman David Robinson, who had said he was open to a supporting the rate hike, also cheered Friday's announcement."We're grateful for the governor to come home anytime he wants," Robinson said. "Today was a great day for the unifying forces of -- as he said and the mayor said -- our state, our local and, we're hoping, our federal partners in relief."Both Turner and Abbott made oblique references to their public spat earlier in the week, speaking at length about unity and teamwork.Asked why he had made funds available after appearing reluctant to do so earlier in the week, Abbott said, "After looking at all the options, this looked like the best solution at this point in time."Achieving such costly goals as building a coastal spine to protect against storm surge, a third local reservoir or other flood mitigation projects, Turner noted, is going to require "wearing the same jersey, running the same direction, tackling others and not ourselves," a comment that prompted smiles from both. "Plus," the mayor added, "he found out this was my birthday week."Abbott stressed that state officials always have known they will tap the Rainy Day Fund, but would do so after drawing on flexible emergency funds first.If recovery needs deplete those funds before the Legislature's next scheduled gathering in 2019, Abbott said, it is possible he could call the body into a special session. Another reason to do so would be if a state role in contributing to large flood mitigation projects comes into focus, he added. Its commonly said that you dont go into government for the money. But according to former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, thats exactly why people should go into it.More precisely, she says having experience in public service is the best way to climb the private-sector ladder -- especially if you're a woman.Swift points to people like Sheryl Sandberg, who worked for former Treasury Secretary Larry Summer and is now the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. What made Sandberg stand out more than the average Harvard MBA graduate? Swift says it was that time spent shaping public policy.Swift -- who served as governor from 2001 to 2003 -- taught leadership courses for several years at Williams College. There, she noticed her students had an aversion to seeking positions in government. It's a mentality she tried to break and not just for their own benefit."We need smart, young people now more than ever to spend some part of their career either running for office -- which was a successful career strategy for me -- or serving as a staffer," she says. "As the world gets more complicated, the technical expertise we need requires more skill."chatted with her about this theory and how young people can make their first break into public service. The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.In my time as a lecturer at Williams College, I found that a lot of these millennials are really engaged in wanting to make a difference in the world. But they shy away from politics and public service because they have this perception that its somehow going to be either not good for their career, or they wont be inspired. My experience was exactly the opposite.Some of the most exciting work Ive ever done in my life was in government. Some of the biggest leaps in my life in terms of climbing the ladder were the result of entering public service.Ive spoken to dozens of students over the years and brought in guest speakers on the topic, and Ive seen them have this a-ha moment, especially women, who often feel that there are certain paths that are harder for climbing in the corporate sector.Patrick Riccards was my opponent'spress secretary when I ran for Congress in 1996. He also did communications for politicians for many years. Now hes running the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation out of Princeton University.David Shipley, executive editor ofHe was a special assistant and speechwriter for the Clinton administration. He has risen to some of the highest levels in media since then.George Stephanopoulous, who also worked in the Clinton administration, is now the host of "Good Morning America."Kathleen Shanahan worked for Dick Cheneys campaign during the first election and was chief of staff for Jeb Bush when he was governor of Florida. Shes since been the CEO of several construction companies and is routinely named one of the most influential businesswomen in the Tampa area. Shes not as high-profile but a good example.When I left the governor's office, I really wanted to continue working on public education. But frankly, I wanted to make money. I had three children.Ive been able to serve on education boards. Im the CEO of a really interesting, successful joint venture between Middlebury College and K-12 Inc., an education tech company. Not many women have had the opportunity to run tech-driven companies in the U.S. On the boards I serve on, most of my fellow members are white men. I got to serve on the board on Sally Ride Science, which aims to get girls excited about science. Would I ever have gotten that opportunity if I hadnt worked in high-profile public service? Probably not.The great thing about public service is that there are so many different entrance points -- but thats also the hard part. You need to be a little industrious. You first need to figure out what youre passionate about, then youre going to have to use some initiative. Find someone you respect who is doing good work in that area -- whether its an elected or appointed person. Call and ask if there are internship opportunities, and thats particularly good advice for college students. More and more colleges will offer a stipend if an internship is unpaid.One of the things thats a great equalizer about public service is theres lots of work to be done. You dont necessarily need to know somebody like you would for an investment banking internship opportunity -- you know, where you need to know somebodys father in order to land a spot. Pick up the phone. Volunteer. Be persistent. The organization dedicated to electing Republican attorneys general is expanding in preparation for a huge slate of 2018 elections for the influential state positions.Zack Roday, who has been the press secretary and spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryans political operation, will become the Republican Attorneys General Association's first-ever communications director. The group is looking to protect and even grow the GOPs foothold in the offices, which play a key consumer protection role and have the ability to derail presidential policy in court and have often been stepping stones for future senators and governors.There will be 31 state attorney general elections around the country over the next year. Republicans currently hold a majority of the prosecutor roles, and RAGA will take an even bigger role in the next year's campaigns by attacking sitting Democratic attorneys general for the first time, after years of informal agreement between the parties to work only in open-seat races.The first clash comes next month in Virginia, where Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring is running for a second term. RAGA has transferred $1.15 million to the campaign of Herrings Republican opponent, John Adams, accounting for nearly half of Adams reported fundraising.Roday will help Republican attorney general candidates set strategy and campaign messages in the 2017 and 2018 elections, when the Democratic Attorneys General Association is also expected to go after GOP incumbents for the first time. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of Minnesota's treatment system for sex offenders, another setback to a long-standing series of efforts to reform the program.The Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), which confines about 720 offenders at secure treatment centers in Moose Lake and St. Peter, has been the target of repeated legal challenges for its practice of confining offenders indefinitely after they have already completed their prison terms.Civil rights attorneys and some state legislators have been pushing for changes that would put offenders on a faster path toward release.A class of sex offenders sued the state in 2011, arguing during a six-week trial that Minnesota's system violated their due-process rights under the U.S. Constitution by depriving them of access to the courts and other basic safeguards found in the criminal justice system.In June 2015, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank in St. Paul declared the MSOP unconstitutional, citing the program's low rate of release and lack of regular risk evaluations of offenders. But after reviewing the program, a three-judge panel of the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis concluded earlier this year that Minnesota provided adequate constitutional protections, including the right to petition for release.The U.S. Supreme Court decision not to hear the case, announced Monday morning, effectively upholds the appellate panel's decision.Dan Gustafson, the lead attorney for the class of sex offenders who sued over the program, expressed disappointment Monday that justices wouldn't review an appellate opinion that he said "essentially removes the possibility of federal court review of state action dealing with fundamental rights."Gustafson said that remaining challenges to the MSOP now are limited to state court litigation or changes imposed by the Legislature. For now, however, he said his clients "continue to face the prospect of lifetime commitment at MSOP that admittedly fails to safeguard their rights."The Supreme Court's decision "should concern everyone who believes that the federal courts should jealously guard the constitutional rights of groups of unpopular citizens threatened by popular political decisions," Gustafson said in a statement."Without federal court intervention, issues such as a woman's right to choose, access to higher education and school desegregation, the protection of voting rights, immigration rights, and the right for all citizens to marry could not have been achieved."Gov. Mark Dayton, in a statement Monday, pushed for a legislative solution to MSOP reform. Dayton proposed $18.4 million last session in new funding for "facilities improvements" and staffing."Importantly, this ruling does not mean that we abandon our ongoing reforms, to prioritize the safety and well-being of all Minnesotans," Dayton said. "Rather, this ruling will allow us to continue the reforms we have begun, rather than operate under a federal directive."To date, just one offender has been fully discharged from the MSOP in its more than 20-year history, while 15 have been conditionally discharged. Of those, eight are now living in the community. As of Friday, 89 people were living in a private residence on the St. Peter campus that is outside of the secure facility. An additional 21 offenders are waiting for beds to open there, according to the state.Eric Janus, a professor at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul and author of a book on sex offender commitment laws, also pointed to the state courts for the possible next challenge to the MSOP, citing the roughly 80 community residency restrictions across Minnesota that could hold up the placement of some sex offenders scheduled for release.But on Monday, Emily Piper, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, struck a triumphant tone, describing the Supreme Court's decision as validating, "given the criticism the Minnesota Sex Offender Program has faced.""I have always believed this program is constitutional and important for public safety in Minnesota," Piper said. "I am proud of our program staff who have weathered criticism and continued to serve the people of Minnesota in the face of the uncertainty created by this litigation." Description GIS 02 October 2017: We are the bearer of an Indianoceanie identity and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) is looking resolutely ahead towards the future. We share a common destiny and have to seize our organisations assets to reach new development heights and we have to be innovative, said the Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, today in Flic en Flac. The Prime Minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of the IOCs Extraordinary Council Meeting being held over two days at the Hilton Mauritius Resort and Spa. On that occasion, two Cooperation Agreements in the fields of education and security were signed, at Ministerial level, between Mauritius and the Union of Comoros. In his opening address, the Prime Minister stated that IOC is again at a crossroad and all Member States have to make the organisation resilient so as to bring dynamism for the development of the Indian Ocean region to benefit its 26 million-strong population as well as become a reference in terms of regional cooperation not only in the area but even beyond. For Mr Jugnauth, the IOC is called upon to do even more to face new challenges and respond to exigencies with regard to projects and emerging poles that are the vectors for a promising future. These include: blue and green growth and their economic valorisation, sustainable development, valorisation of human and natural resources, political, socioeconomic stability, reinforcement of economic space, infrastructural capacity, climate change and environmental-related challenges and peace and security of the region. Speaking about the history of the IOC, the Prime Minister recalled that since its creation, the IOC has travelled a long way, and all Member States have together surmounted several structural challenges and ensured the development of many projects of common interest and created solid ties with other institutions such as the European Union. He also spoke of the necessity for the Commission to work at the best of its capacities and operate by respecting best practices, good governance, and stand as an exemplary model as the IOC is the showcase of what Member States can do and is the reflection of who they are. Moreover, the Prime Minister announced that Mauritius would host two meetings pertaining to the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking, and agriculture. Thus, Mauritius will host in November 2017 an IOC Meeting for Home Affairs Ministers to define a roadmap and action plan pertaining to maritime safety. This meeting will also examine transnational crimes such as drug, weapon and human trafficking, piracy and illegal fishing. The Agriculture Ministerial Meeting would be organised in collaboration with Reunion Island, and will focus on the elaboration of a food security programme for the region. In his speech, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, and chairperson of the IOCs Council, Mr Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, said that the IOC has the enormous responsibility to carry forward the ambition of the region and of course it depends on Member States to define what they want. He also emphasised the importance of connectivity and free movement of citizens with regard to the process of regional integration. For his part, IOCs Secretary General, Mr Hamada Madi Bolero, observed that IOCs Extraordinary Council Meeting is coming together to evoke the future of the Commission and that of the region. The world has changed and our islands find themselves on their own in a changed, violent and unpredictable environment, he stated. Therefore, the present meeting will give a new boost to the IOC at a time when we are celebrating the 35 years of the Port Louis Declaration and will represent a new step of maturity, he added. IOC The IOC is an intergovernmental organisation set up on 1982 and institutionalised in 1984 by the Victoria Agreement. It brings together, to endorse cooperation, the following Member States: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, France/Reunion and the Seychelles. The main objectives of the IOC are to promote diplomatic cooperation and to strengthen economic and commercial ties among the Indian Ocean islands. The IOC has elaborated some 48 cooperation projects, to the tune of 250 million Euros, since its creation and is engaged in priority intervention areas. Description GIS - 02 October, 2017: The Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the fields of Renewable Energy, Construction Energy Efficiency, and Climate Change with the Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea of the Republic of Italy. The MoU aims at encouraging cooperation between the relevant agencies, enterprises or other entities of both countries in various fields namely renewable energy technology and energy, electricity grid strengthening efficiency and improvement of water resources management including rainwater harvesting and desalination. The fields of cooperation also comprise: developing standards for solar panels; promotion of joint ventures for manufacturing of renewable energy and energy efficiency related products; and improvement of the waste water treatment system. Description GIS - 02 October, 2017: The sacrifices, care and support of our elders are highly laudable as these have enabled us as a country to stand on our own. The community, in particular, our youths, should reconsider their attitudes, mindset and actions regarding them. It is imperative that we recognise their worth, their contribution and bestow them the respect and dignity they deserve. The sacrifices, care and support of our elders are highly laudable as these have enabled us as a country to stand on our own.The community, in particular, our youths, should reconsider their attitudes, mindset and actions regarding them. It is imperative that we recognise their worth, their contribution and bestow them the respect and dignity they deserve. The Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, made this statement yesterday at the J&J Auditorium in Phoenix. He was speaking at an event held in the context of the United Nations International Day of Older Persons. The Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity, and Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr Etienne Sinatambou, and other eminent personalities were also present. Prime Minister Jugnauth underlined that it is an opportune time to take stock of the contribution of our elders in the development and stability of the country as well as their evolution in the society. On that note, he reiterated his pledge to assure the well-being, protection, rights and improve the quality of life of this vulnerable group. Government has designed innovative policies and public services specifically targeted to improve the quality of life of elderly persons and a budget of Rs 14.3 Billion has been allocated for the old age pension programme, highlighted the Prime Minister. Other initiatives include: the setting up of two modern homes; improving health care; adapting infrastructure, and strengthening social protection, he added. He stated that Mauritius currently has a population of some 205,000 aged 60 plus and that is set to increase over the years. While population ageing is poised to be a challenge, we deem it is important to consider them as a pool of knowledgeable contributors, he underscored. According to him, their long life journey can be an asset to the countrys development goals as they will act as anchors, guides and advisors. On his part, Minister Sinatambou announced the setting up of a fourth recreational centre at Riambel, for which Rs 200 millions has been earmarked, as part of Governments mission to ensure that the elderlies live and age in dignity. This will enable our seniors to keep fit, active and healthy and lead a dynamic life, he added. He further urged the community to discard prevalent stereotypes and prejudicial attitudes towards the old age group. The society should provide them with enabling environments where they are no longer marginalised. International Day of Older Persons The theme of the 2017 International Day of Older Persons, Stepping into the Future: Tapping the talents, contributions and participations of older persons in society, is about enabling and expanding the contributions of older people in their families, communities and societies at large. It focuses on the pathways that support full and effective participation in old age, in accordance with old persons basic rights, needs and preferences. This years theme underscores the link between tapping the talents and contributions of older persons and achieving the implementation of the 2030 Agenda . Puerto Rico is teaching some hard lessons and we should be paying attention to them and how they apply to us as emergency managers to those who serve cities, counties, states and other types of organizations, like businesses and utilities.The first lesson is about logistics. There is a "time-space continuum" that cannot be bridged. Puerto Rico is just making logistics harder because there is 1,000 miles of ocean to be crossed before it even arrives on the island. The next logistic issue is that there are interdependencies in logistics and shipping. The harbor has to be cleared of debris; cranes must have electrical power to operate (generator cannot power cranes that unload containers); you might have all the hardware and supplies (like diesel), but if you don't have staff to operate "the system," you are still not functional. Lastly, that last mile, getting the supplies delivered to where they are needed, can be the hardest part once the system is working. Food was still being rationed and grocery store shelves are bare 10 days after storm landfall. Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Russel Honore who has been in the news lately had the best quote (back in Katrina days) that I've used over and over again, "Logistics, if it was easy, it would be called taxes."Drilling down a bit on the staffing issue. Almost everyone's home was impacted by the storm. That means the breadwinners are at home and families are in "survival mode" trying to get the food, water and fuel that they need to live. This applies to people in the government and private sectors. They were not going to work, because their first duty is to their family.Which brings me to Continuity of Government Planning (COOP) and Continuity of Government (COG) planning. If you wonder why you need such plans look at Puerto Rico. The COOP plan will help identify the essential functions of government that need to be performed and, it is NOT everything you were doing before.The COG plan will identify the various lines of succession for who is in charge of what, when people are either killed, injured or just not available in a disaster. Sometimes you should mix up that list by geographical distance or just the buildings that they work in every day. When I was King County Emergency Management director, we worked with the county executive to establish his list. Then I realized every person worked in the County Courthouse, which was an unreinforced masonry building (URM). Upon our recommendation the executive added a department director who worked elsewhere in a modern building.President Trump's tweets and comments are totally inappropriate for the situation that Puerto Rico finds itself in. They were punched in the nose by Hurricane Maria and they are clawing their way back to become functional. Any jurisdiction, even New York City that suffered the level and extent of damages as Puerto Rico, would be brought to its knees (no, 9/11 was not that event and neither was Hurricane Sandy).As for us emergency managers, remember, "There but for the Grace of God go I." (TNS) - Las Vegas police have long feared an attack by a shooter, said former Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, who touched down in the city last night ahead of a crisis-planning meeting today with hotel security chiefs, before a sniper carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history from his 32nd-floor Mandalay Bay Resort hotel room."There's always been a fear - not so much among the security chiefs, but by the police out here - that there would be an attack. It is is their worst fear coming true," Davis told the Herald in a phone interview from Vegas this morning."This is, just on its face, a big glaring target for Islamic terrorists. And now you've got a yahoo with a machine gun firing at people from a hotel window. It's terrible times," he said."Working on presidential visits and with the Secret Service, snipers are a concern for them, but you don't think about it around a concert. I can tell you I don't have a solution," he said.Authorities have identified the suspect as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old white resident of Mesquite, Nev., with no immediately apparent link to any extremist groups. He began opening fire on 22,000 concert-goers at 10:08 p.m.Davis, who does private security consulting, said he'd grabbed a quick dinner with a colleague last night and was headed back to his room a couple miles up the strip from the Mandalay as "police, fire and EMS were just ripping by the hotel. There was clearly something going on," he said. "At the Mandalay Bay hotel there were people coming downstairs to take shelter, but they couldn't be let outside. What do you do with a whole hotel of people in that situation? So they were sent back to their rooms."The 50 people pronounced dead so far include an off-duty Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer, his department confirmed this morning. Two on-duty officers are among the more than 405 injured people rushed to area hospitals from the scene.The FBI is this morning appealing to anyone who was at or near the concert when the gunfire erupted during country superstar Jason Aldean's set to share their videos and photographs with federal investigators.While there may ultimately be solutions implemented for deterring future attacks of this type, including bag checks of anyone entering hotels, Davis noted of the options, "none of them are good."The fully automatic weapon Paddock is suspected of using is easily broken down into small pieces that could fit in luggage, he said.Last night's massacre eclipsed the carnage of last year's terrorist attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., which claimed 49 lives and injured 58.2017 the Boston HeraldVisit the Boston Herald at www.bostonherald.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (TNS) -- Officials with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation are touting their efforts to use drones as a part of their environmental management and emergency response efforts.The departments 22-drone fleet is used for a variety of purposes across the state, including the north country.The use of drone technology will help us do our jobs better and faster while saving taxpayer dollars, said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos, in a provided statement. We live in a changing world with technological advances being made at an exponential rate, and (unmanned aerial vehicles) give us a safe and efficient way to collect and analyze data, assess threats to the environment and quickly respond to emergencies.In St. Lawrence County, drones are used for mapping of phragmites, an exotic invasive plant, at the Wilson Hill Wildlife Management Area.The DEC said its drones have helped ensure existing stands of phragmites are identified, preventing new infestations and habitat loss.Drones were also used to map a two-mile stretch of eroded coastline on Lake Ontario, assessing damage and confirming properties on a dune system were safe.The department said the drones allowed them to avoid weeks of on-the-ground surveys.Other uses for drones touted by the DEC include oil spill monitoring, bat cave surveying, traffic monitoring at the state fair and conducting search and rescue following natural disasters in Texas and Puerto Rico.The DEC had its 14 drone pilots train for months with the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research team and with SkyOp, a private drone company, at Griffiss International Airport in Rome. The airport is one of only six national test sites in the nation.The drones are equipped with both standard and thermal infrared cameras and can legally fly at heights below 400 feet.The DEC said they are in the early stages of determining what kind of public drone use will or will not be allowed on most state land. However, they said drones will not be allowed on lands classified as wilderness in the Adirondack and Catskill parks and areas classified as primitive and canoe in the Adirondack Park.They said the proposed policies will be subject to a robust public comment period in the coming months. Few would consider forms a particularly exciting area of opportunity for government innovation. And yet, heres a solution that would probably spark the interest of anyone whos ever waited in line at the DMV: Lets get rid of them.Recently, many governments have made efforts to redesign their forms in order to make them less time-consuming and confusing, and more likely to elicit honest responses from residents. Washington, D.C., for example, this summer hosted a Form-a-Palooza, an event that invited residents to collaborate on projects like making limited-purpose drivers license forms easier for non-English speakers. New Mexico redesigned its unemployment insurance application process to include behavioral nudges that encourage residents to report their unemployment status and work search activities more honestly. And Indianapolis is broadly re-engineering its forms as part of a Web redesign.However, perhaps these types of initiatives are asking the wrong question: Maybe we should not be asking how we can make forms better, easier, even more consolidated, but rather if we need forms at all.Estonia known as one of the most tech-savvy public administrations in the world has moved toward a form-free system. The government operates under an ask once, use twice model, meaning that the government can only ask a resident for a particular piece of information once, but must use that information for at least two services. And almost every government service, ranging from filing taxes to voting, is available online. This means that if you input information for one service for instance, submitting your address in order to apply for a license applying for another requiring the same data like registering to vote is only a click away.A number of American cities have taken steps in this direction, attempting to reuse resident data to limit the amount of required paperwork. For example, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and many others have allowed residents to complete their voter registration at the same time they renew their drivers license without filling out a separate form.It seems, though, that governments could take these measures one step further. Cities, states and the federal government possess immense amounts of resident data; why should they not share this data across agencies and with each other in order to solve problems for citizens before they even ask? When low-income parents submit income, family size and other information to apply for reduced-fare transit, why should the state not automatically enroll them in earned-income tax credits? Of course, residents should maintain the ability to opt out of municipal services, but automatic enrollment could help those who do not know about such services or find the application process too complicated.And as governments become increasingly connected with the private sector, opportunities to use existing resident data to offer services will become more and more ubiquitous. For example, under the current unemployment insurance process, recipients must document their work search activities on a weekly basis. However, if governments partnered with companies to access their human resources data, they could automatically verify work search activities and continue to provide insurance without time-consuming paperwork for claimants.Reusing resident data where possible could greatly reduce the burdens of applying for many services and free up municipal workers to manage tasks more complicated than processing paperwork. This means shorter lines at the DMV and more residents receiving the benefits they need. Thats something to get excited about. AUSTIN, Texas Teamwork and fellowship were among the key themes as more than 700 attendees gathered for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) annual conference in Austin this morning.At the events opening keynote session, NASCIO President Mark Raymond, CIO of Connecticut, highlighted the value that state IT leaders find in networking opportunities available across the conferences four days.New features of this years event include increased emphasis on getting state CIOs and other public-sector tech leaders together to share ideas and create new relationships.Scheduled events like speed-networking and popup talks help leaders come together to explore the landscape and climate in which CIOs work, Raymond said.That spirit of collaboration was reflected in the keynote speech from Adam Steltzner, NASA scientist and the leader of the team that successfully designed and executed the sky crane that put the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars in 2012.Just as NASCIO this year is encouraging networking and connection, Steltzner emphasized the importance of teamwork at NASAs Jet Propulsion laboratory. The product of our team is a direct reflection of our teamwork, he said. While people may have brilliant ideas as individuals, he added, the most successful work happens when individuals come together.Like NASA scientists, Steltzner said, public CIOs must put old pieces of tech together in new ways to expand what were capable of. (TNS) -- West Chester Twp. police will be sporting a new piece of equipment soon, now that trustees approved the purchase of 50 body cameras.Trustees approved spending $151,999 over five years in a contract with Axon Enterprises, Inc.The township has studied use of the implements for five years of study and even tested out several models during a pilot program. During a budget presentation earlier this year Chief Joel Herzog explained why it has taken so long to implement the program.We are exploring the implementation of body worn cameras to meet the community expectations for transparency and to serve as a critical training tool, he said. I appreciate the patience the board has shown during this process. The acquisition and implementation of body worn cameras has continually been studied while we waited for the courts to consider their application from a public records and enforcement standpoint.Before the trustees granted their approval Herzog showed them various videos traffic stops, in alleys, in peoples homes, during daylight that were created with the cameras. In one, he said the ability to collect audio was key, because it was dark and visibility was low but a viewer can hear the suspect struggling, trying to get the officers gun and at one point kicking him in the groin. Kevin Magnussen's boss has defended the under-fire Danish driver. In Hungary, Haas driver Magnussen famously told Nico Hulkenberg to "suck my b-lls", after the German called him "unsporting" following an on-track clash. And Fernando Alonso agreed after Sunday's Malaysian grand prix: "Hulkenberg was right." Alonso called Magnussen an "idiot" after their wheel-to-wheel clash at Sepang. "More or less the drivers agree. It's 19-1 (against Magnussen)," the McLaren-Honda driver added. But Magnussen's Haas team boss Gunther Steiner has hit back, defending his driver on the basis that fans want to see a hard wheel-to-wheel battle. "Alonso is a very charismatic and skilled driver," he told Ekstra Bladet newspaper. "And if someone confronts him, then that's how he reacts. "I think both of them pushed it to the limit, which is what people want to see," Steiner added. He said Magnussen is right to be pushing hard on the track, tipping him to eventually emerge from his reputation as the 'bad boy' of F1. "You have to go through tough periods and earn respect," said Steiner. "If you always move out of the way, people think they can walk over you. So you have your battles as long as you don't overdo them or become a bully. "So even if he gets a little of a bad reputation now, it can turn around later," he added. (GMM) At least 515 others were injured at outdoor concert WINSTON-SALEM Wake Forest University has received about $70 million the largest single gift in university history from the late Porter Byrum of Charlotte. The university said Monday it will use the money for student scholarships. Byrum was an attorney, businessman and philanthropist who died March 27 at age 96. In Charlotte, Byrum was perhaps best known as the owner and manager of the Park Road Shopping Center, the citys first open-air shopping mall that for a time was the largest shopping center between Washington and Atlanta. At Wake Forest, Byrum was known as an alumnus and the universitys greatest benefactor. The son of a minister from eastern North Carolina, Byrum attended the law school tuition-free and graduated in 1942. Including this latest gift, Byrum gave about $120 million to Wake Forest. In a statement, Wake Forest University President Nathan O. Hatch said Byrum loved to spot potential a college student, an employee, a business deal and give it a chance to grow. He never forgot the gift of a Wake Forest education he was offered, Hatch said. In his gratitude, he made it possible for others to experience what he did. Numerous Wake Forest scholarships for law students, undergraduates and student-athletes bear Byrums name. The university said more than 350 Wake Forest students have received these grants over the years. Byrum won the law school's top award as well as a Distinguished Alumni Award from the university. In 2011, Wake Forest named its new admissions building for Byrum. The gift to Wake Forest is half of a bequest from Byrums estate. The remaining $70 million will be split between Queens University in Charlotte and Wingate University and used for scholarships. Byrum made a similar three-way donation in 2011 when he gave the Park Road Shopping Center to the three universities. The schools split about $80 million from the subsequent sale of the property. CAIRO (AP) Without providing any evidence to support the claim, the Islamic State group on Monday said the gunman in the mass shooting in Las Vegas was "a soldier" from its ranks who had converted to Islam months ago. Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting, and said initially there was no evidence of any connection to international terrorism. The extremist group has a history of exaggerated or false claims, including earlier this year, when it claimed an attack on a casino in the Philippines that turned out to have been a botched robbery carried out by a heavily indebted gambling addict. The group's Aamaq news agency released two brief statements hours after the shooting at a country music concert that killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 500. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. IS did not name the suspected shooter, but said he had "executed the operation in response to calls to target countries of the coalition" batting the extremist group in Iraq and Syria. The group later released Spanish language versions of the statements. Police have identified the shooter as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, and have said he killed himself after the shooting. Authorities have not commented on his religious background or said what might have motivated the attack. Most IS attacks have been carried out by much younger men. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said authorities believe it was a "lone wolf" attack, and the U.S. Homeland Security Department said there was no "specific credible threat" involving other public venues in the U.S. The extremist organization has suffered a string of major setbacks in Iraq and Syria, where it has lost much of the territory it once claimed as part of a self-styled Islamic caliphate. However, the group remains active in recruiting followers on social media, and has repeatedly called on its supporters to carry out attacks in Western nations. The IS group often claims attacks by individuals inspired by its message but with no known links to the group. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. The shooter, Omar Mateen, had pledged allegiance to IS and it claimed the attack. IS claimed the attack on a casino in the Philippines that killed dozens of people, but police later identified the attacker as a Filipino gambling addict who was $80,000 in debt, saying it was a botched robbery that was not terrorism-related. House Bill 205 began its life in February as an act to amend workers compensation rules for prisoners. By the time it received its final votes on June 28, it carried political payback planted by Sen. Trudy Wade. Its central feature had become a provision allowing local governments in Guilford County to post legal notices on their websites instead of buying space in newspapers. Wade, a Republican from Greensboro, said this change would save taxpayers money. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, saw another motive when he vetoed the bill in July. Legislation that enacts retribution on the media threatens a free and open press, which is fundamental to our democracy, he wrote. The House lacks the votes to override the veto. So Wade plans to introduce a new, local bill not subject to a veto to accomplish the same purpose when the legislature meets for an extra session this week. That is irregular, to say the least. If, as a matter of public policy, its good for local governments to advertise required legal notices on their websites rather than in general-circulation newspapers, then it should be good for local governments all across the state. A local bill would not be necessary or sufficient. But its not good public policy. Legal notices that appear only on a city or county website will be seen by far fewer people than notices published by newspapers, in print and online. These are called legal notices because they contain important information that needs to be noticed by the public. The cost of advertising is the price of serving the people. Governments that are allowed exclusive control of this information can make it less visible, and thats a threat to open government. They wont even save money if they have to upgrade and better maintain their websites, as they likely would. Yes, the News & Record and other newspapers in Guilford County the High Point Enterprise, Jamestown News and Carolina Peacemaker stand to lose revenue. We think that is Wades real purpose, despite her denials. Our editorials have criticized Wade since she was a member of the Greensboro City Council and led efforts to reopen the White Street Landfill. After she was elected to the Senate, we objected when she imposed partisan elections on the Guilford County school board. We opposed her effort to alter City Council elections. We dont like her actions as a sponsor of anti-environmental legislation. We believe, as some Democratic legislators have said, that this bill is retribution against the News & Record. It may hurt the countys smaller newspapers more, but Wade wants to punish one newspaper just as she tried to punish the City Council after her bitter experiences there. Its disturbing that she would use her power as a senator to carry out a vendetta against a business in her home county. Maybe the target could be a billboard company that carried a political message she didnt like. Maybe it could be an auto dealer she thought gave her a bad deal. It happens to be a newspaper. So she is willing to craft a local bill to exact economic harm on a specific target. That is not how elected officials should fulfill the public trust they hold. And fellow lawmakers should not allow her to do it. The press and politicians often have an adversarial relationship. In the American tradition, thats how it should be. Its why the founders guaranteed freedom of the press. Maybe politicians feel unfairly treated at times. But theyre the ones who wield the power of government. If they use that power to threaten or punish the press, important voices will be muted or silenced. Furthermore, they can use that same power against anyone. We encourage readers to contact Sen. Wade and urge her to drop this effort: 919-733-5856; Trudy.Wade@ncleg.net. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH Domestic violence is the most frequently reported violent crime in Greenwich. Town officials on Monday joined with the YWCA Greenwich to renew their commitment to serving sufferers and reducing the frequency of the problem. Domestic violence doesnt discriminate, YWCA Greenwich President and CEO Mary Lee Kiernan said at a Town Hall ceremony to mark the start of Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. It affects people of all races, genders, religions and income levels, even in Greenwich. First Selectman Peter Tesei, Police Chief James Heavey and Fire Chief Peter Siecienski took part in the program, pledging support to the YWCA, the only licensed provider of domestic abuse services in town, offering a 24/7 emergency hotline, a shelter, counseling and court services, all confidential and free. The YWCA fielded 4,100 calls to its hotline in 2016 from victims and their families from all walks of life, Kiernan said. According to the YWCAs statistics, one in four women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime. Kiernan told everyone in attendance it was likely they know someone who has experienced abuse. A crowd of close to 30 gathered outside Town Hall for the ceremony, many wearing purple ribbons. A large, wooden purple purse was on display, a symbol for the month of observation. Kiernan said the purse was a metaphor for womans power and purple is the official color of domestic violence awareness. The purse will travel throughout town in October, Kiernan said, to raise awareness and money. YWCA Greenwich is part of the national Purple Purse Challenge in which organizations will compete to raise the most funds for domestic violence services. The winner will get a $100,000 matching grant from the Allstate Foundation. More information about how to donate to the YWCA is online at www.ywcagreenwich.org/purplepurse. We need the community to help us raise funds and, importantly, provide hope and a way out for people experiencing domestic violence, Kiernan said. Tesei read a proclamation on Monday declaring Greenwichs observation of Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. He thanked YWCA for its work and noted the town has provided funding for programs in Greenwichs schools to stop teen dating violence. Home should be a place of warmth and unconditional love, tranquility and security and for most of us home and family can indeed be counted among our greatest blessings, Tesei said in the proclamation. Tragically for many Americans these are blessings that are tarnished by violence and fear. Greenwich police officers and firefighters will wear purple lapel pins throughout October and GPD vehicles will have a purple ribbon magnet logo on them. YWCA representatives spoke about their strong partnership with the police. So far in 2017, Greenwich officers have responded to 214 domestic violence calls, Heavey said, after 307 in 2016. Thats way too many and only the tip of the iceberg as to how many people are assisted by the YWCA on an annual basis, Heavey said. And there are ones that probably go unreported to both of us. It really is something important that we remove the stigma of reporting it and make sure that victims get assistance. Several events will be held through the month, including the YWCAs annual candlelight vigil on Oct. 11. Then, Oct. 16 through Oct. 20 will be declared a week without violence to focus awareness of how incidents of domestic abuse increase when there is a firearm in the home. Meredith Gold, head of domestic violence services for YWCA Greenwich, stressed the importance of education and awareness. She said domestic violence must no longer be thought of as a private matter. By taking a stand publicly we are letting abusers know their behavior is unacceptable and we will not stand for it, Gold said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH Four new recruits are set to join the ranks of the Greenwich Police Department. The new hires Anthony DArco, Sean Beattie, Ryan Daly and Timothy MacDonald all have family members who have served in law enforcement. You already know a little about the sacrifices that police families make, Police Chief James Heavey told the new recruits before they were sworn in Monday at Town Hall. First Selectman Peter Tesei held a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the shooting rampage in Las Vegas Sunday evening. Noting the dangers of police work, Tesei said of the new officers, They will be joining a law-enforcement family that is always willing and ready to respond and provide the same compassionate assistance that their brethren in Las Vegas did. DArco has a degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and he attended the Hartford Police Academy for a short period before signing on with the Greenwich department. He has a cousin in the Stamford Police Department. Ive always wanted to do this, since forever, said DArco. And Greenwich, this was always my number-one choice. Beattie has already worked as police officer in Warwick, N.Y. A graduate of Dominican College, the new GPD officer said he thrived doing police work. Its something I love doing, he said. Its something different every day, and its having a front-row seat on the greatest show on earth. His brother is a GPD officer, Ryan Beattie. Ryan Daly graduated from Thomas Aquinas College, and worked as an English tutor and logistics coordinator. His grandfather and uncle served with the New York City Police Department. Daly said it was a lifelong ambition to be a police officer. Im immensely proud, he said after taking the oath. Finally here. MacDonald is a graduate of Fordham University, and he worked previously in the accounts receivable department at a law firm. His father is a retired NYPD detective. MacDonald said he liked the idea of working on a job that has real-world consequences. Im very interested in making a difference, having a tangible impact on people, he said. The new hires are set to train at the State Police Academy in Meriden. They will also undergo field training when they return to Greenwich. The department has a staff of 154 personnel. Come back and be excellent police officers, the chief told them at the end of the ceremony. Editor's Note: Some graphic images in the above gallery may not be suitable for all audiences. Hours after a gunman fired shots into the crowd of an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 100, Country music star Jason Aldean, who was performing at the time, posted to social media to let fans know he and his crew are safe. Another blow to cashiers. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images New Yorkers patiently awaiting a Shake Shack between midtown and Manhattans southern tip will get another surprise when the chains next location opens in the East Village. CNBC reports today that theyll be ordering their inaugural Shack Burgers from the chains first-ever cashless kiosks. Instead of cashiers taking money like they do at every other Shack, guests will order from touchscreens or on their mobile phones. If they need assistance, a new worker called a hospitality champ will be within earshot to lend a very gung hosounding hand. CEO Randy Garutti tells CNBC that the kitchen at this location in redesigned Astor Place has been optimally arranged to eliminate friction time, which is apparently this stores big selling point. In fact, it wont accept cash at all Garutti says they think an all-digital payment system will streamline customers dining experiences and help back-of-house operations run more smoothly. No buzzer alerts to pick up orders, either youll simply receive a text letting you know its waiting, a potential plus because it allows you to wander out of range while foods being prepared. The whole Astor Place location is being viewed as a testing ground for the chains crazier ideas. For instance, Garutti adds that theyre going to try out new ways of packaging food for delivery, and employees at this location will start out making $15 an hour right off the bat. With the minimum wage constantly climbing in New York, D.C., and California places with lots of Shacks the plan is to transition to a living wage nationwide. But Garutti explains that starting at just Astor Place gives them a chance to work out the kinks first. In the meantime, lets hope the HR team is ready for a bunch of transfer requests. The Facebook Messenger Lite app for Android is now available in the US, UK, Canada, and Ireland. This will be very good news for those who are annoyed at the sheer number of features packed into the 'normal' Messenger app, but still need to use this platform for communication. Messenger Lite started off as a project meant to be released in a handful of developing (and mobile data-starved) countries. Hence, it was built with a focus on operating with as few resources as possible, including on the phone hardware side. But it caught on with people from across the world, who started installing it from unofficial sources. The unique selling point here? Probably something along the lines of 'it's Messenger, but with no bloat'. The Lite app went out to 150 additional countries back in April, including some developed ones, and it now looks like it will soon be available everywhere, serving as a less heavy alternative to the original app. The tradeoff with Messenger Lite involves giving up on features such as Messenger Day, camera effects, as well as the third party developer platform. Source Published on 2017/10/02 Traditional markets come alive ahead of the country's biggest national holiday, the curious case of "Costco kimchi", make lemon and cucumber pickles at home with My Korean Kitchen, and Ro Hyo-sun takes the nation's favourite street dish to the next level. Advertisement "Costco stores in South Korea offer chopped onions for hot dogs. Koreans have a different idea" Have South Koreans, as Matt Stiles suggests here, "invented their own, indigenous Costco side dish"? Aptly called 'Costco kimchi', Korean customers are pilling on the onions (and sauces) and making a dish out of it: "Some prefer a large, clean mound of onions, with sauces placed in careful circles on the side. Some decorate the onions with sauce. Others still mix it all together into a red-orange mass". Some believe that locals need something to balance out their meals, and Costco's onions, which are usually reserved for hot dogs, is unintentionally filling that gap. ...READ ON THE LOS ANGELES TIMES "EASY LEMON AND CUCUMBER PICKLES" Sue's lemon and cucumber pickles contain the "right balance of sweetness, tanginess and the crunchiness". These "refreshing and invigorating" pickles, writes Sue on her popular blog, My Korean Kitchen, are easy to prepare at any time of the year. Cucumber pickles are quite popular in Korea; interestingly, one place they appear regularly is at western-style pizza restaurants, as somewhat of a palate cleanser. As always, Sue includes beautiful photographs of her creations to tempt us into trying, and there's a printable recipe card for your records when things go well. ...READ ON MY KOREAN KITCHEN "[Korean Bapsang] Seafood cheese tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cake)" The Korea Herald has a regular series in their Life & Style section that features recipes from Korean Bapsang (a food blog by Ro Hyo-sun: "A Korean Mom's Home Cooking"). This week Ro shows us how to take one of Korea's most popular street dishes to the next level with seafood and cheese. "All the contrasting flavours work so well together to create something incredibly flavorful and comforting", says Ro. Head over to Korean Bapsang (http://www.koreanbapsang.com) for more Korean deliciousness you can make at home. ...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD "[Photo News] Traditional markets busy ahead of Chuseok" South Korea's biggest national holiday, Chuseok, is upon us, and you can expect the country's traditional markets to be buzzing during this festive time of year. There will be sweet deals at every turn as traditional treats are shared and enjoyed with family and friends. Interestingly, "Traditional markets offer products at prices that are 32 percent cheaper than corporate-run supermarkets". In this photo series on The Korea Herald, you will catch a glimpse of a few of Korea's traditional markets as they prepare for the Chuseok crowds. ...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD Published on 2017/10/02 Autumn is in the air at Sangam Sky Park, 10 Magazine has three great suggestions for an interactive art experience in Seoul, artists and filmmakers seek to deepen the probe into the country's blacklisting of artists, and see how one tattooist is combining traditional aesthetics with modern art to create something special. Advertisement "[Eye Plus] Take in the autumn breeze at Sangam Sky Park" Enjoy these great images by photographer Park Hyun-koo of the change of season at the beautiful Sangam Sky Park in Seoul. "It is [the] right time to enjoy the scenic beauty because autumn is the most beautiful season of the year". South Korea is well known for having four distinct seasons, but spring and fall are arguably the most popular. At Sangam, "Silver grass that also welcomes hikers adds to the picturesque beauty of the 1-kilometer-long path from the entrance to the park". Enjoy... ...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD "INTERACTIVE ART EXHIBITS IN KOREA" In July, Alice Best curated this short list of interactive art exhibitions around Korea for 10 Magazine. South Korea has a number of grand traditional museums that always come highly recommended, but the country is also one of the world leaders when it comes to innovation and technology. Here you'll discover three unique places to experience something new in The Land of the Morning Calm, like TeamLab World, which was named one of the Top 19 art exhibitions in 2015. "Ready to change how you experience art? At these 3 locations, you can transform into your own work of art or leave your mark for the world to see and hear". ...READ ON 10 MAGAZINE "South Korean Filmmakers Accuse Two Former Presidents of Blacklisting" Former South Korean President Park Gun-hye was lambasted for her part in the 'blacklist' scandal that rocked the country earlier this year, but local creatives and artists want to push the probe further by investigating back to 2009, bringing former heads of state back into the spotlight. Industry players want an "investigation into whether the former Lee administration indeed ordered the national spy agency to blackball [industries] during the time it was in power from 2008 until 2013". ...READ ON THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER "Classic Paintings Reimagined as Tattoos Infused with Korean Art Techniques" South Korean tattoo artist Pitta KKM combines traditional Korean aesthetics with other artistic influences from around the world to create some truly original pieces. "I mix everything I can with Korean aesthetics", says Pitta, "And every time I succeed in changing a famous element into an oriental design, I have so much fun!" Click on through to My Modern Met to see some of his colourful works of art. What do you think of Pitta's style? Would you get a tattoo from him? Let us know in the comment section below. ...READ ON MY MODERN MET Published on 2017/10/01 | Source "The Fortress" Advertisement Running Time: 140 min. Directed by: Hwang Dong-hyuk Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Kim Yun-seok Synopsis: During the Qing Invasion of Korea, the king and the court take refuge in a mountain fortress, where they find themselves stranded in the cold and surrounded by the enemy. The king's dilemma deepens as his people in the fortress start dying from cold and hunger. Adjust and plan Dont assume that just because someone has mental health issues, they shouldnt be at work. On the contrary, work provides purpose and meaning a sense of achievement. See if you can slightly adjust their tasks or working hours to help them remain at work. Involve them while you plan this. Use non-judgemental language and stay calm Keep your language supportive and positive. Be sensitive. If someone feels judged about their mental health, this may stop them from getting help so try and. So lower your voice, listen and stay calm. Focus on strengths People who live with mental health symptoms have the potential to be effective and productive members of their family, community, and workplace. Recognise your team members for what they contribute and the strengths they bring to their role at work. We are unsure if the regional government reform would even be in the best interests of small municipalities, they argue in a guest contribution published in Helsingin Sanomat on Saturday . Lauri Lyly (SDP), the Mayor of Tampere, and Jan Vapaavuori (NCP), the Mayor of Helsinki, have urged the government to proceed with the social and health care reform but abandon the regional government reform. Lyly and Vapaavuori estimate that the social, health care and regional government reform is unnecessary for the largest cities in Finland. Tampere, they highlight, has a larger population than 12 of the 18 counties to be established in the reform to take over a number of responsibilities from municipalities. The reform would alleviate the investment needs of cities hardly at all but would restrict their investment capacity: municipal tax revenues would shrink to a third, while the debt burden would stay unchanged, they write. We should be improving the capabilities of cities. The regional government reform, however, would limit the tools available to cities. Their assessment was shot down almost immediately by the Centre Party. Katri Kulmuni, one of the deputy chairpersons of the party, argued in a press release that the regional government reform is a means to guarantee the equal availability of services and a more balanced development of regions all across the country. The social, health care and regional government reform will simplify the administrative system of Finland and reduce bureaucracy, she stated. The Centre Party has been the most vocal advocate of the much-discussed regional government reform. The reform is currently scheduled for implementation as of the beginning of 2020. Lyly estimated last month that the reform proposal fails to take into account the global megatrend of urbanisation and the role of large cities as the drivers of growth in Finland. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Martti Kainulainen Lehtikuva Source:Uusi Suomi Itd be like using a bandage for a heart attack, she stated to Uusi Suomi on Saturday. Turning asylum seekers away at the border is an inexplicable solution to a situation caused by conflicts and climate change, Katja Mannerstrom, the chairperson of the Green Womens Association, comments in response to the asylum policy views of the Centre Party. Migration caused by conflicts and climate change cant be eradicated by turning people away at the border between Finland and Sweden. Thats really an emergency solution thatd only see us shut down inside our borders. Itd definitely not be in the best interests of Finland. The Centre on Friday urged Finland to turn away asylum applicants arriving at its borders from safe countries without delay. The Green Leagues views on the so-called expedited return could not be further away from those of the Centre Party, tells Mannerstrom. The Dublin Regulations return system should in our opinion be abandoned entirely, she states. It has proven utterly dysfunctional and places too big a burden on certain countries. It isnt sustainable for the EU. The Green League, she adds, instead encourages the union to adopt a common asylum policy and establish a new system of burden-sharing to ensure that all member states, including Finland, take greater responsibility for settling asylum seekers and that no disproportionate burden is placed on countries such as Italy and Greece. Mannerstrom explains that stepping up returns to these countries would be counter-intuitive as they are already grappling to come to terms with a massive influx of asylum applicants. If the Dublin Regulation was interpreted as rigorously as possible, she adds, Finland would effectively not be required to settle any asylum seekers due to its location in the north-eastern corner of Europe. Coming here is so difficult. You have to travel through many countries, she says. I dont think we should take advantage of this but be a country that also shoulders its responsibility. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Markku Ulander Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi 'Majella Flynn (58) is accused of assaulting the 17-year-old student after shouting in her face as she walked home from school in the south city centre' (stock photo) A Dublin woman pulled a Muslim schoolgirl's veil from her face and slapped her glasses off as she roared abuse at her in an attack on a city street, it has been alleged. Majella Flynn (58) is accused of assaulting the 17-year-old student after shouting in her face as she walked home from school in the south city centre. The girl suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following the alleged attack, a court heard. The case against Ms Flynn was adjourned for more medical evidence on the alleged victim to be presented. Ms Flynn, of South Richmond Street, Portobello, is charged with assault causing harm to the girl on May 24. Outlining the prosecution's case, Garda Sergeant Niall Murphy told Dublin District Court the girl was coming home from school on South Richmond Street when Ms Flynn began shouting abuse into her face. It was alleged the accused slapped the girl in the face, which knocked her glasses off, and pulled off a veil she was wearing at the time. The glasses were knocked out into traffic on the street and were never recovered. Anxious The court heard the alleged victim suffered from an inflamed temple and was anxious afterwards, aggravating an existing condition. A medical report was presented to the court. Judge Grainne O'Neill remarked that the report referred to post-traumatic stress disorder and "it's a very recent report so obviously that hasn't abated yet". Ms Flynn's solicitor said perhaps the doctor in question was being "hyper-vigilant" and it may be that some of the issues in the report "may subside". Judge O'Neill said she understood there may be some underlying issues but she still wanted to see what was referable to "previous issues" and what could be put down to the assault. She asked for a further report to "shed some light" on this before jurisdiction to determine the court venue for the case can be considered. The accused's solicitor said there would also be a forensic psychiatry team report in relation to Ms Flynn. Judge O'Neill noted there "may be some issues in relation to fitness" and adjourned the case to a date in November. Ms Flynn has not yet indicated how she intends to plead to the charge. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has been defended by a minister after he was labelled a "tosser" by an American band for declining to pose for a photograph in front of a "repeal" flag. Members of LCD Soundsystem launched a scathing attack on Mr Varadkar over the issue of abortion, saying they hoped he enjoyed his "free concert and taco". The Taoiseach was among a group of Fine Gael figures who attended the gig at Dublin's Olympia Theatre on Friday night, including Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, European Affairs Minister Helen McEntee and Limerick TD Tom Neville. Following the show, the group went backstage and met the band. Protesting During the meeting, guitarist Al Doyle said he wore a "repeal" tote bag around his neck as a means of protesting Ireland's stance on abortion. The musician later took to Twitter to slam the Taoiseach. "Irish PM Leo Varadkar came backstage," he wrote. "Wore a 'repeal' tote bag around my neck in front of him, he walked away. Tosser." Fellow band member Nancy Whang then waded into the fray, claiming Mr Varadkar "won't stand up for #reproductiverights", adding: "Hope you enjoyed your free concert and taco." A spokesman for Mr Varadkar refused to say whether the Taoiseach had got a free ticket or free Mexican food. However, it is understood he had been invited to attend. "Leo Varadkar attended the concert with some friends," the spokesman said. "He was invited backstage afterwards to meet the band. He was delighted to do so. It was a private evening and a social event." Pose It is understood Mr Varadkar was asked to pose for a photograph in front of a "repeal" flag and declined to do so. Speaking on RTE's The Week In Politics, Junior Trade Minister Pat Breen said: "I understand that he spoke to a number of the members [of LCD Soundsystem] in relation to the referendum itself as well. "Then somebody wanted him to pose for a picture with a repeal flag behind him. "Honestly, the Taoiseach would not do that. He's in the middle of a debate. He is not going to take sides at the moment." Later, Doyle tweeted: "It's totally just my opinion that Leo Varadkar is a tosser. "He just seemed like a bit of a tosser in the limited time I spent with him." Dr Norah Patten (left) has always dreamt of blasting into space The sky's the limit for an Irish woman who's on course to become the country's first ever person in space. Dr Norah Patten (34), from Ballina, Co Mayo, is one of 12 participants from around the world chosen to take part in a unique scientist-astronaut training programme in Florida this month. Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere) is des-igned to teach candidates the skills required to effectively conduct research on the next generation of space vehicles. Goal "I've met astronauts over the years and I'm aware this is a long road," said Dr Patten. "But I've spent my life focused on this goal of getting to space and for me, the journey has always been as important as the destination." Her interest in space was initially sparked after a family trip to Nasa at the age of 11. Since then, she has done everything in her power to develop her own career in space. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss two thematic reports, namely the report on women's empowerment in the Mediterranean region (rapporteur Ms Mary Freehill) and the report on the role of the sub-national authorities from the Mediterranean region in addressing radicalisation and violent extremism of young people (rapporteur Mr Mohamed Kamal El Daly). Convicted child predator Eamon 'Cookie Monster' Cooke left an estate of just 600, according to relatives who want his assets investigated so his victims can be paid compensation. Cooke, the former owner of pirate station Radio Dublin, was jailed for 10 years in 2007 for sexually assaulting young girls at his home 30 years earlier. Millions The paedophile was found guilty of 42 charges of sexual assault. He is believed to have abused hundreds of children before he was jailed. Cooke died aged 79 in St Francis Hospice in Raheny, Dublin, in June last year. Now a member of his family has called for an investigation into his estate, after a mere 600 was found a year after his death - despite him having a property portfolio worth millions. The female relative, who divulged details of a large number of properties Cooke owned in his lifetime, also told of how he stole 101,000 from a joint account he held with his third wife while in prison. "Cooke died a wealthy man, but what he did with that money is a complete mystery," the relative said. "My family suffered at his hands, as did his many victims, and that money needs to be found and used to compensate them for the harm he did in his life. "I went to the probate office to ask them whether the estate had gone to probate but they said no application had been received. "I couldn't believe it. My fear is he died without leaving a will and the fact is no one knows how much money or what property he had when he died. Hateful "He was so hateful - that's just the way he would have wanted it. He wouldn't have wanted anyone to get their hands on his money." Cooke died weeks after a woman came forward claiming she witnessed schoolboy Philip Cairns in his pirate radio station on October 23, 1986 - the day of his disappearance. Cooke's family member said some of the money he amassed should be recovered and distributed to victims. "The possibility that all this money has just disappeared doesn't really make sense," she said. UPDATE WEBER CITY, Va. A Coeburn man wanted in the Sunday morning shooting death of his wife took his own life Sunday night. Todd Allen Richardson, 44, was found dead inside the cab of his 2015 Toyota Tacoma pickup just before 8 p.m. Sunday night near a Burger King restaurant off U.S. Route 23 in Weber City, according to Wise County Commonwealths Attorney Chuck Slemp. Police from multiple agencies surrounded the vehicle after Richardson led them on a high speed chase at speeds of 90 to 100 mph, ending a daylong manhunt. Officers attempted to make contact with Mr. Richardson multiple times to get him out of the vehicle safely. He stopped in the middle of U.S. 23. At about 7:53 p.m., officers approached the vehicle and found he was deceased of a self-inclicted gunshot wound, Slemp said during a hastily called Sunday nightnews conference. A first-degree murder warrant was issued for Richardson Sunday, after authorities found his wife Veronica Richardson, age unknown, shot to death outside the couples Grace Point Road home shortly before 11 a.m. Between 10:30 and 11, Wise central dispatch received a 911 call that Todd Allen Richardson had shot a female at his residence, Slemp said. A short time later Mr. Richardson called Wise County dispatch and said that he had shot his estranged wife and a neighbor was doing CPR. Slemp said investigators believe the couple had recently separated and that Richardson contacted his wife and told her to come to their home on Grace Point Road to get her belongings that he wouldnt be there. She took a family member and, at some point, the back door opened, he produced a weapon and fired, Slemp said, adding the crime appeared to be pre-meditated. A neighbor heard the shot and confronted Richardson, Slemp said, and he ran back into the home. Police from a dozen different agencies participated in the manhunt and received multiple tips from the public. Authorities developed information Richardson might be on Anglers Way in Scott County, near Speers Ferry. Col. Grant Kilgore of the Wise County Sheriffs Office, said they sent unmarked units to that area, spotted Richardsons truck, notified Scott County authorities and followed him to U.S. 23, where they attempted to stop the vehicle. Multiple units participated in the pursuit and a Scott County deputy placed a spike strip in the roadway, which blew out one of Richardsons tires and slowed his speed to about 50 mph, Kilgore said. Slemp couldnt confirm if the couple had a history of domestic violence. He called it a tragic situation and noted that Sunday was Oct. 1 and the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. UPDATE WEBER CITY, Va. A Coeburn man wanted in the shooting death of his wife reportedly took his own life Sunday night. Todd Allen Richardson, 44, was found dead inside the cab of his Toyota pickup around 8 p.m. Sunday night near a Burger King restaurant off U.S. Route 23 in Weber City, according to authorities. Police from multiple agencies surrounded the vehicle after Richardson apparently led them on a high speed chase from Wise County, ending a daylong manhunt. Traffic was delayed and diverted along that section of roadway, which includes a bridge construction zone. The Wise County Sheriffs Office issued a first-degree murder warrant for Richardson, after authorities found his wife Veronica Richardson shot to death inside the couples Grace Point Road home Sunday morning. Police went there to investigate a domestic incident. UPDATE COEBURN, Va. Law enforcement officials spent Sunday searching for a Coeburn man they say gunned down his wife. A first-degree murder warrant has been issued for Todd Allen Richardson, 44. The Wise County Sheriffs Office said he is wanted for the murder of his wife Veronica Richardson. Authorities were called to a home on Grace Point Road in Wise County on Sunday morning to investigate a domestic incident. Todd Allen Richardson is described as white, 5-feet, 5-inches tall, 240 pounds with black hair, a mustache and goatee. Richardson is believed to be driving a black Toyota Tacoma pickup with American and Confederate flags on the rear window. He is considered armed and dangerous and authorities say anyone who sees him should call 911. Anyone with information is asked to call the Wise County Sheriff's Office at 1-276-328-3756 or your local law enforcement agency. UPDATE: Wise County authorities have issued a warrant for first-degree murder against Todd Allen Richardson of Coeburn. He is accused of killing his wife earlier today. He is believed to be armed and dangerous. Anyone who sees him is urged to call 911 or the Wise County Sheriff's Office. EARLIER The Wise County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies are searching for a man suspected in an incident today in Coeburn. A woman is dead and officers are conducting a manhunt for the suspect. The University of Virginia-Wise has issued an alert about the shooting: "Suspect on the run and possibly headed to Wise. Stay alert and use caution." Few details are available and this story will be updated. Page Content The upcoming European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 is a great opportunity to bring communities together and diversify and strengthen our local economies, representatives of EU institutions and Europe's regions and cities highlighted in Timisoara, Romania, on 29 September. The conference was organised in the future European Capital of Culture (2021) by the SEDEC commission of the European Committee of the Regions at the initiative of Alin Nica (RO/EPP), Mayor of Dudestii Noi. Mr Nica, newly elected as first vice-chair of the SEDEC commission, said: "EU is a worldwide leader in cultural heritage, but we need to capitalise on this huge heritage and turn it into economic advantage. Tourism and creative industries can help culture become a driver for economic growth." Jose Ignacio Ceniceros (ES/EPP), new chair of the SEDEC commission, noted that the European Year of Cultural Heritage is a celebration for Europe's cultural diversity. "In La Rioja we have built our cultural identity on two pillars: the Spanish language, which was born in written form in our region over 1000 years ago, and the wine that forms part of the tradition of our villages and that we export to all continents. As we are building a European Union for its citizens and communities, our conference is reflecting the interinstitutional focus of the European Year", the President of La Rioja said. Timisoara, Romania's third largest city, was recently designated as European Capital of Culture 2021. Mayor Nicolae Robu said: "Cultural tourism has been an important part of our development in the past few years. We offer our visitors a rich cultural agenda. Our city hosts a variety of cultural institutions and over 100 cultural events are organised by the local authorities every year. We have managed to unite our efforts in the field of culture and that has helped us to win the title against 13 other cities in Romania, including Bucharest and Cluj." The President of Timis County Council Calin-Ionel Dobra emphasized the multicultural character of the city of Timisoara and the surrounding Banat region, which has, among others, visible German, Hungarian, Serbian, Bulgarian and Roma minorities. "Multilinguism here brings people together. We support cultural projects and events through civil society to promote cultural identities of our different communities", he said. Apostolos Tzitzikostas (EL/EPP), rapporteur of the CoR opinion on an EU strategy for culture, pointed out that better understanding of cultures and origins is crucial for the integration of minorities and migrants. He also noted that "investing in cultural policy will provide significant benefits to local communities in many fields. Therefore local and regional authorities and CoR should play a strategic role in the design and development of an EU policy for culture and the EYCH 2018." MEP Mircea Diaconu (RO/ALDE), Vice-President of the European Parliament's CULT committee and Parliament's rapporteur on the European Year of Cultural Heritage, concluded: "The cultural year can be the cure for many diseases, such as populism and xenophobia, and help to improve relations with migrants." In a video message, Victor Negrescu, Minister-Delegate for European Affairs of Romania, emphasised that cultural policy will also be a key priority during the Romanian presidency of the Council in the first half of 2019. BRISTOL, Tenn. The Tennessee High School Mighty Viking Band brought home numerous trophies from the Land of the Skies Band Competition in Enka, North Carolina. Out of 31 bands that competed the Mighty Viking Band won 1st place in the drum major, auxiliary and color Guard, visual performance and music categories. They also received a 1st in class placement, percussion won third place, Drum Major Max Fleming won 3rd place overall and the band received the third highest rating of any band the day. The color guard won the highest rating of the day in their category. Band Director David Semones said he is extremely proud of the band students. We have had two great competitions in a row and our young and talented band continues to refine their skills and technique. The band will compete again in Maryville, Tennessee on Oct. 21. More information about MITC can be found at http://www.themightyvikingband.com/competitions/music-in-the-castle/index.html. 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/ Every year on October 2, India celebrates the birth of its iconic leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He has been given the title of Father of the Nation for his relentless hard work that helped India attain freedom. By remembering him on this day, celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti, we pay tribute to this great leader. Born on October 2, 1869, Gandhiji (as he was fondly called) belonged to a merchant class family. At the age of 24, he went to South Africa to pursue law. Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and joined the Indian National Congress as a member and became its president soon. He fought against social evils, such as untouchability, casteism and helped the poor and the needy. All his life, he favoured the path of truth and non-violence. The United Nations General Assembly announced on 15 June 2007 that October 2 will be celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence. Why do we celebrate Gandhi Jayanti? Mahatma Gandhi is considered as one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian Independence struggle. People, irrespective of their religion and caste, celebrate his birth by organising peaceful events in schools and colleges. Some even pay a visit to the Sabarmati Ashram, where he spent a considerable amount of time. By celebrating the greatness of the Mahatma, we pledge to adopt his way of life and principles of empathy, humbleness, honesty and sincerity. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more Illegal traders of tiger parts near Madhya Pradeshs Kanha Tiger Reserve were looking for a buyer specifically a tantric priest known as panda, as the parts are used in rituals in the region. And they chanced upon one, only to be betrayed in Bollywood style, for the panda turned out to be a forest official. Kanha park superintendent, Sudhir Mishra had posed as a panda after he got information on the illegal trade, and lured the five Chhattisgarh natives into holding a meeting in the reserves buffer zone in Mandla district, over 380 kms from Bhopal. The meeting was fixed through phone calls. Finally, when I met them in the Baihar area of the buffer, we immediately arrested them, he said, adding that they were sent to judicial custody by a court. Four tiger nails, a tooth and two bikes, used in the crime, were seized. They culprits, belonging to Baiga and Gond tribal communities, were trying to sell the tiger body parts for use in tantric rituals as pandas have spread superstitions that using claws, paws, teeth, bones and whiskers of tigers and leopards could make villagers rich, give them location of buried treasure, make them successful in gambling and so on. According to forest officials, the trend of using tiger and leopard paws, claws and whiskers for tantric rituals has also picked up in MP, especially in and around Kanha and Pench tiger reserves. Last year, Madhya Pradesh lost 30 tigers, the highest in the country, with Pench and Kanha reserves alone accounting for over 20 deaths. In December, busting a major poaching network in Pench-Kanha corridor, forest departments Special Task Force (STF) arrested 39 people for poaching of three tigers and four leopards. The accused included four tantric priests, 14 middlemen and 21 poachers who admitted to poaching tigers and leopards for tantric purposes in Seoni and Balaghat districts. In November, a tiger was killed and its paws are taken away in Balaghat near Pench for a tantric ritual. Many such incidents have been reported from the area. Apart from parts of tigers, parts of other animals being used for tantric rituals in the state include Siyaar Singhis (jackals horn, a boney cone-shaped protuberance on the skulls of jackals), Hatha Jodis (dried sexual organs of monitor lizards), Billi ki Jer (cats umbilical cords) and so on. In June this year, a temple priest and four traders were arrested in MP for selling animal body parts including sexual organs of Monitor lizards for tantric rituals through websites to customers in India and foreign countries. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Tribals and villagers in 575 villages in Madhya Pradeshs Mandla district are up in arms against the proposed nuclear power plant at Chutka. On Monday, Gandhi Jayanti, the protesters, under the aegis of Chutka Parmanu Sangarsh Samiti (CPSS), held a rally in one of the villages. CPSS will hold a series of rallies and protests till the first week of December to oppose the project, which they say could endanger the lives of the people in case of a mishap or a radiation leak. In 2015, the state cabinet had approved allotment of 41 acres of land for the Chutka project. The 1,400 MW project is being set up by Nuclear Power Corporation of India in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Company. About 400-600 families will be displaced by the project. In July this year, tribals refused to allow drilling for soil samples for the proposed nuclear power plant. CPSS secretary Navrattan Dubey told HT said tribals in 575 villages were against the project. The protesters are mostly tribals from villages within 30 km perimeter of the nuclear power plant in Mandla, Jabalpur and Seoni districts. We are starting series of protest rallies from today in the 500-plus villages in the three districts. The rallies will continue till December, he said. Dubey said people of the four villages in Mandla district, predominantly tribals, have been protesting against the project since it was cleared by Centre in 2009. Most of the project-affected people are displaced by the Bargi Dam in 1984, he said, adding that the gram sabhas of three of the four affected villages have given consent for the project. ...the gram sabha of Kunda village has not given its approval. The government has also provided Rs 6 lakh compensation per family to nearly 600 families. The state government wants to rehabilitate us at Potla, 17-18 km from Chutka, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor Hema Malinis popularity transcends all boundaries. Not just India, she has fans all over the world, and this was evident when she was honoured at the 4th Indian Film Festival of Russia (IFFR). Hema was pleasantly surprised to see that people are still crazy about her films in Russia, especially her 1972 double-role film Seeta Aur Geeta. Hema with a fan in Russia. Responding to the immense love she received, the 68-year old actor says, People in Russia are still crazy about this film. They pronounce it Zeeta Aur Geeta as they cannot pronounce Seeta Aur Geeta! (laughs). I assume that if I make a sequel of the film even after all these 40 years, my Russian fans will be the first ones to go and watch it. The Russian troupe dancing to a medley of her popular songs. Director Madhur Bhandarkar was present at the occasion too. While a troupe of Russian dancers danced to a medley of her film songs, Hema was also interviewed by Russias top television channel Russia-1. She says, The troupe dancers performed on my popular film tracks. I also met filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar at the event and he shared his views on my films. I thank everyone for showering such love on me. Follow @htshowbiz for more Creativity and inspiration are the two defining factors for most writers and their craft. But while creativity is largely the process of generating original ideas, inspiration is random. Sometimes it comes from the simplest of things. Like the life of Mahatma Gandhi. Poetry, prose or drama; fiction or nonfiction Gandhi is everywhere. There are indeed only a handful of iconic personalities who have caught the imagination of as many writers as Gandhi has. And one is struck by the diverse set of books that have been written on him or are inspired by him. Even 70 years after his death, the process has not stopped, but only gained momentum. From Mulk Raj Anand to Sarojini Naidu, Dominique Lapierre to George Orwell and Khuswant Singh to VS Naipaul, almost all during-Gandhi, post-Gandhi and contemporary writers have somewhere referred to the life of Bapu in their works. In doing so, they have brought different interpretations to his sayings, sketched fictional characters on his principles and composed verses on his thoughts. Sarojini Naidu, in her sonnet on Gandhi, describes him as an eternal lotus who is a source of guidance and strength for billions: O mystic Lotus, sacred and sublime/ In myriad-petalled grace inviolate/ Supreme oer transient storms of tragic Fate/ Deep-rooted in the waters of all Time... In his books, RK Narayan has been critical in his exploration of Gandhi as a subject. But Indian writing on Gandhi and Gandhism has also undergone tremendous change during this process. From the almost mystical being of the during-Gandhi era to a historical being with human vulnerabilities. Gandhian scholar Vashist Bhardwaj finds the works of RK Narayan critical for his exploration of Gandhi as subject. Known for his direct approach in handling his subjects, in Gandhis case too, Narayan has used his wit at its best to demahatmise Gandhism. For instance, Gandhi is seen as an oblivious yet dominating character in Waiting for Mahatma with eyes closed to what is around and busy playing the dynamics of self. In Narayans The Vendor of Sweets, too, Jagan, the protagonist, comes across a hypocrite Gandhian, symbolising Gandhis failure to reach the masses, Bhardwaj noted. Post 1990s, there has been a greater concentration on Gandhian politics in the writings about him. If BR Nanda is all praise for Gandhis politics, Sunil Khilnani is just the opposite. Early foreign writings on Gandhi include the works of French writer Rolland Romain, Danish writer Ellen Horrup, American and English writers like George Orwell and Edmud Jones, among others. Romain, in The Man who Became One with the Universal Being, saw Gandhi as an ideal nationalist and called upon him to enlighten the youth of Europe. Similarly, Pearl S. Buck warned: Oh, India, dare to be worthy of your Gandhi. Post 1990s, there has been a greater concentration on Gandhian politics in the writings about him. (Wikimedia Commons) On the other hand, George Orwell puts Gandhi to trial, describing him as a humble, naked old saint sitting on a prayer mat, attempting to shake the British Empire by utter spiritual power. Orwell refers to him as the shrewd person beneath the saint and asserts that his ideals of spirituality, spinning wheel and vegetarianism had narcissist undertones. However, Orwell also recognises the praiseworthy elements in Gandhi and writes: Even Gandhis worst enemies would admit that he was an interesting and unusual man who enriched the world simply by being alive. In poetry, it is Herrymon Maurers reflections that have attracted most attention. During a second period of pause/Gandhi went on with his teaching/East and West looked at him/Followed him, and yet misunderstood him, Maurer famously wrote to summarise Gandhis life. To note the rising presence of Mahatma Gandhi in the world of words, an extensive literary survey titled Gandhi in Creative and Critical Imagination was conducted in 2012 and published in the International Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities by Sandhya Saxena, vice-principal of Bikaners Jain Girls College. India in contemporary times is a stage set for Gandhi and Gandhigiri. Mahatma Gandhi permeates fiction as well as non-fiction in Indian writings, both in English and other languages. Gandhi is redefined in ways that are quite contemporary. Whereas in some cases there is an attempt to grapple with Gandhi and ultimately accommodate him, in other instances nothing of Gandhism remains unchallenged. Whatever be the case, in creative writings there is a sense of strong involvement as the writers pen Gandhi and Gandhism, Saxena maintained. At a time when a considerable part of Bapus presence is contrary to what he stood for -- roads named after him serve as begging tracks for starving men, women and children while his fabric and quotes are mere means to woo votes -- it is perhaps in these pages of Gandhian literature that Bapu and his ideals are still alive. Unidentified thieves on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday targeted the Naamcharcha Ghar of the Dera Sacha Sauda located in Daboda village in Jhajjar and decamped with several electronic items besides the dress and shoes of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim. The premises was abandoned by the Dera followers after Ram Rahims conviction in two separate rape cases on August 25. The police said that a security guard who used to be deployed at the premises had stopped performing his duty after conviction as he would no longer get his salary but still he would take a round of the premises every evening and morning out of courtesy. On Sunday morning, he spotted broken windows and checked inside to find many things missing. The police said that the thieves decamped with an inverter, two batteries, one computer monitor, four CCTV cameras, an amplifier and mattresses besides the dress and shoes of Ram Rahim that were kept as his idol for his followers to pray. The police have registered a case against unknown persons under Sections 380 (theft) and 457 (house-trespass) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Rohtak range inspector general of police (IG) Navdeep Virk had earlier claimed that the police have sealed all Naamcharcha ghars of the Dera in Rohtak range. However, local police said this one was not sealed. The local police said that they had instructed Dera supporters to not gather here anymore and not organise any type of functions. Nikki Sharma, 16, was prescribed glasses last December, but despite her struggle to read the blackboard in class, it took eight more months of blurry vision before she finally got a pair of specs. "First it was demonetisation, and then it was the GST," said her father, Lavkush Sharma, who earns between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 a month as a carpenter. "It was impossible to find any work for months after she was diagnosed." Glasses cost only Rs 500, but Nikki didn't get a pair until her family found some for free. Her mother, Rekha Sharma, was running errands when she bumped into a local charity giving glasses away. "I went home, grabbed Nikki's prescription and ran back to the camp," Rekha said. "I wanted to get her spectacles before the exams." The long delay was torturous: Nikki's glasses represent to her parents not their child's comfort so much as the whole family's high-stakes bet on her future success. Exam season, which starts in a few months, determines where kids go to college. College, in turn, determines careers. Nikki has her heart set on attending Lady Shri Ram College, one of the city's best liberal arts institutions. But none of that will be possible if she can't read the blackboard. It's a story you hear again and again in Sangam Vihar how poverty and illness reinforce each other. The aspirations of disadvantaged families are often a single sickness away from vanishing. Poverty, health, and education intersect in different ways. For Nikki Sharma, demonetisation disrupted her father, Lavkush's livelihood, which in turn meant, it took him eight months to get her a pair of spectacles so she could read the blackboard in class. Expensive illnesses Sangam Vihar is a sprawling, unplanned settlement on the city's southern flank, the first port of call for rural families seeking a toehold in the national capital. The intersection of poverty and health found here is a national phenomenon. From 2004 to 2014, healthcare expenses pushed an estimated 7% of India's population, or about 80 million individuals, below the poverty line, according to a Brookings Institute analysis of data gathered by the National Sample Survey Office. By 2014, health costs accounted for 10% of annual expenditure for one in four Indian homes, up from one in five in 2004. According to Samik Chowdhury, an assistant professor at the Institute for Economic Growth who has written extensively on poverty and healthcare, chronic underfunding had crippled India's public health system from primary health centres all the way to super-specialty institutes like the All India Institute of Medical Science. Government spending accounts for only a third of healthcare expenses in India, according to the National Sample Survey Office. The rest is paid by individuals unable to access the public health system. "Study after study shows that poor households are disproportionately affected by healthcare costs," said Chowdhury. "High healthcare costs may act as a deterrent to treatment, meaning that poor households may delay seeking medical care, which in turn may aggravate the ailment and push up medical costs." Illnesses force poor families to burn through money intended for private school fees, extra tuitions, and expensive guidebooks, all necessities for success in India's fearsomely competitive exam system. When Reena's father, Govardhan Jha was struck down by a brain haemorrhage, his healthcare costs meant she had to forego maths tuitions and is reconsidering her future plans of becoming a chartered accountant. One of Nikki's classmates, Reena Jha, 17, has had to face an extreme form of this predicament. Three years ago her father, Govardhan Jha, 52, who worked as an assistant at a printing press, collapsed unconscious at home with a brain haemorrhage. "He fell ill on a Sunday morning, we took him to the Safdarjung government hospital, but the senior doctor wasn't in," said Lalita Devi, Reena's mother. Govardhan lay unconscious on a hospital bed for a whole day without medical attention before a nurse told the family to take him to a private hospital for treatment. "It cost two lakhs to treat him," Lalita said. "We are still in debt to friends and family." Govardhan didn't start working again until this past June. Reena and Lalita say he hasn't fully recovered and falls ill easily. Meanwhile, even though she's in her crucial board year, Reena has had to forego math tuitions since the summer because of the cost of treating her father's debilitating medical problems. At the beginning of the school year, Reena said she wanted to go to college and become a chartered accountant. This is a well-paying profession: though wages for an entry-level position range from only Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 a month, they rise to Rs 40,000 a month after just two years, accordingly to a survey by Teamlease, one of India's largest labour contractors. But mid-way through the year, Reena's plans changed. "Now I think I should just get a job and do college through correspondence," Reena said as her eyes welled up. "I need to think of our financial condition." Activists blamed the BJP and the Congress for not bringing to book the officials responsible for the police firing in which scores of statehood activists were killed in Muzaffarnagar on October 2, 1994. The two parties have been alternately ruling Uttarakhand since its formation in 2000. Security personnel fired at the agitationists when a convoy of buses, carrying them to Delhi for a rally, reached Rampur Ka Tiraha in Uttar Pradeshs Muzaffarnagar, killing scores and leaving many grievously injured and handicapped for life. Many women activists were reportedly molested by the security men. Many of them took shelter in nearby fields and villages. A total of 42 statehood activists were killed and several injured in police firing in different areas in Uttarakhand and at Rampur Ka Tiraha that year (1994), said Kamla Pant, a statehood activist who was part of a group who travelled to Delhi in a separate fleet of buses through a different route. Scores of women activists were molested by the police at Rampur Ka Tiraha after being forcibly de-boarded from buses at the dead of night. Pant said all officials and politicians responsible for the killing were at large even 23 years after the incident. All officials who ordered police firing on statehood activists continue to hold high positions in the UP government, she said. The politicians of the BJP and Congress share the responsibility because they didnt mount pressure on the CBI, which investigated the Rampur Ka Tiraha incident, to bring the perpetrators to book. Sarita Negi, another activist, said the politicians of the BJP and the Congress ruled the state because of the sacrifices of the martyred activists. Yet, they chose not to bring their (statehood activists) killers to book shows they are hand in glove with the latter. Veteran statehood activist Sushila Baluni agreed. The perpetrators of the Rampur Ka Tiraha incident will continue to be at large until the politicians of those two parties do not realise that they have been ruling the state owing to the sacrifices made by the statehood activists, she said. Pant accused the state governments of trying to placate the statehood activists with temptations, such as pensions and monetary compensations. Such temptations are given so that statehood activists do not question the politicians for failing to resolve the issues for which they (activists) carried out such a long-drawn agitation. The BJP and the Congress denied the allegations. We did our best to ensure that the perpetrators of the firing were brought to book, but legal glitches came in the way, state BJP general secretary Naresh Bansal said. Congress leader Surendra Kumar said his party took steps for the benefit of statehood activists whenever it was in power. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Activists have lashed out at the state government for naming a scheme launched on Uttarakhand icon Veer Chandra Singh Garhwalis death anniversary after Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, an ideologue of the ruling BJP. Calling it disrespect of Uttarakhandi sentiments, they have demanded that the government renames the scheme after Garhwali, the famous Peshawar revolt hero and freedom fighter. Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched the ambitious Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya cooperative farmers welfare scheme at Peethsain, Garhwalis native place in Pauri district, on his death anniversary on October 1. The scheme promises to offer easy loans of up to 1 lakh at barely 2% interest to small farmers. The move, however, has not gone down well with activists working for hill cultures promotion. What was the contribution of Pt Deen Dayal ji to our pahad (hills)? It is ironical that the scheme not named after Garhwali, even though the CM launched it on his death anniversary and from his native place, activist Amit Gusain Pahadi said, alleging that the anti-hill move was nothing but a move to politicize a scheme meant for farmers benefits. Indresh Maikhuri, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation), also criticised the government on the issue through a social media post. CMs media coordinator Darshan Singh Rawat, however, said that the schemes name had nothing to do with politics. Its a very important scheme whose government order had already been issued in the past - it was just that it was launched from Garhwalis village. There are already many schemes running on the names of Garhwali and other eminent Uttarakhand icons. It (not naming the scheme on Garhwali) does not mean disrespect to him, in fact, CM Sir laid the foundation stone of a memorial to be built on Garhwali, he told HT. It is not the first time activists have protested against the governments anti-hill move. During the rule of the erstwhile Congress government, they had opposed then chief minister Harish Rawats move to announce holidays for festivals celebrated by communities that are originally not native to Uttarakhand. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Yamuna choked on debris and waste materials on Sunday, a day after idols from nearly 200 Durga Pujas pandals in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and surrounding areas made way to the designated ghats for immersions. According to a revenue department official, though the government had helped identify seven designated ghats for immersions, it was the duty of the flood and irrigation department and the municipal corporations to help clean the river. A child sits on a heap of debris on Yamuna bank after Durga Puja celebrations. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO) Raveendra Kumar, executive engineer at the department of irrigation and flood control, said that they had built enclosures on the banks of the river for the devotees to drop their insoluble wastes, and the waters had enclosures too, to avoid the flow of debris into the river. He added that during the immersions, they had JCBs on standby to help pull out the idols as when they were immersed. The river was littered with flowers, plastic bags and puja material after the festival ended. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO) The National Green Tribunal in 2015 had banned immersion of idols made from non-biodegradable material, such as quick-setting gypsum plaster, also known as Plaster of Paris, or plastic in the Yamuna. It had said that idol immersion should be done from a designated place so that the river doesnt get polluted. The bench, in an earlier order, prohibited throwing of puja material from anywhere but the designated ghats. Two days after Durga Puja came to an end with much fanfare in Delhi, piles of debris have left the Yamuna choked. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO) However, many people do not dispose of insoluble materials before the immersion, and there is no real testing of the materials used to build the idols. Compliance is very poor. I dont think anybody has been fined for not using biodegradable materials since the order, said CR Babu, an ecologist who is part of the seven member committee appointed by the NGT. Locals sift through the Durga Puja debris in Yamuna to salvage waste for reuse. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO) We dont really know what materials have been used to build the idols, and we cant really stop people from immersing any idol (as it would hurt sentiments), added Kumar, which was echoed by a DDA official. A man hunts for coins thrown in the river during the idol immersion. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO) Every year after the idol immersions, the condition of the Yamuna, already considered as one of the most polluted rivers in the country, worsens. Last year, the levels of Total Suspended Solids, Biochemical oxygen demand and Dissolved oxygen deteriorated significantly at the six designated ghats. Like each year, this time too, the river was seen to be choking with flowers, debris and plastic containers floating within the designated areas. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO) Many people do not throw these [non-biodegradable] things away before immersing the idol, said Anand Mathur, one of the many who go to the banks after the puja to scavenge for wood and other scrap that they can either sell or use to build makeshift household items like rooftops and furniture. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A CISF officer had to fire in the air at Azadpur Metro station in north Delhi late Monday evening when a group of people allegedly barged into the station premises and allegedly thrashed a constable, senior officials said. About 20 people reached the station following a quarrel between two passengers. One of them, a 17-year-old, had called up his friends and family after the scuffle, the CISF officer said. The incident took place around 7.30 pm. Two passengers began fighting at the Metro station. The CISF personnel deployed there brought them to the unpaid area of the station. However, one of the passengers, a minor boy, made a call to his friends and family, said the officer. CCTV footage of Azadpur metro station where @CISFHQrs had to fire in open to control crowd. @htTweets @htdelhi pic.twitter.com/fsFm8L9ITt Faizan Haidar (@FaiHaider) October 4, 2017 Soon, a group of people allegedly barged into the Metro station premises and began creating nuisance. They beat up the rival passenger and a CISF constable. When the CISF personnel tried to control them, they manhandled them and threatened to harm them, said the officer. An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) had to pull out his service pistol and fire in the air to scare the miscreants, said CISF. No one was hurt in the firing. The Metro police were soon informed about the situation and a team reached the station. The firing was done to save the life of the CISF constable being attacked by the mob. His life was under threat, said the officer, justifying the firing. The police had detained the two passengers as well as some persons. The reason behind the quarrel was also being ascertained, a police officer said. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday asked the chief secretary MM Kutty to explain why he was not present at the birth anniversary celebrations of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at Vijay Ghat in the national capital. The event was attended by the President Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia. Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal summons Chief Secretary for being absent from Vijay Ghat programme attended by Honble President and Prime Minister, media adviser to the chief minister, Nagendar Sharma, tweeted. Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal summons Chief Secy for being absent from Vijay Ghat programme attended by Hon'ble President and Prime Minister Nagendar Sharma (@sharmanagendar) October 2, 2017 A senior government official said that Kejriwal was not happy over Kuttys absence at such a national-level event, which was organised by the Delhi governments art, culture and language department. Other than Kutty, several bureaucrats also remained absent from the programme, the official claimed. This is not the first time that the Aam Aadmi Party government has locked horns with its bureaucrats.Last month, the AAP had accused PWD secretary of corruption saying he was favouring private companies and affecting development works. Kutty remained unavailable for remarks on Mondays development and several calls and message to him by Hindustan Times went unanswered. The environment ministry launched its third wildlife action plan, which shapes the management of wildlife across the country for the next 15 years, at the start of Wildlife Week celebrated every year in the first week of October . For the first time the plan incorporates areas like the impact of climate change on wildlife and habitats, and landscape management. The plan is landscape rather than sanctuary or national park-based, environment minister Harsh Vardhan, said. One of the controversial aspects of the new plan is development of a protocol for euthanasia and mercy killing of animals by 2019. The former is understood as the killing of an animal that is suffering, while the latter refers to killing off healthy animals for population management. Focus areas of the 3rd wildlife action plan Integrated Wildlife Management Climate Change Adaptation Ecotourism and Participatory Management Wildlife Research and Enabling Policies Though it is a management tool, people will not accept such practices, Tito Joseph programme manager at Wildlife Protection Society of India, said. Participatory management is another thrust area for the plan. Five crore Indians are directly or indirectly participating in the conservation of forests, the environment minister said. There has been confusion over implementation of laws that come into play in the protection of wildlife in the absence of an updated forest policy Managing NWAP 2017-2031 would be an essential process and tool for achieving Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Vinod B Mathur, director of the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India, said. Environmentalists said it was time to review the extent to which the objectives laid down in the last action plan were achieved. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Alwar police on Monday arrested the brother of Geeta Tomar, the prime accused in the Sohna triple murder case. According to police, Samardeep Chauhan is suspected to be involved with his sister and her domestic help in the killing of her in-laws a 65-year-old man, his 60-year-old wife, and their 38-year-old disabled son in Thakurwada village on Thursday night. Chauhan, who was arrested by Alwar police from his house in Dehradun, is being questioned in connection with the murders, and his role in the entire incident, said inspector Ajit Singh, SHO Ramgarh police station, Alwar. The murder is apparently a fallout of a property dispute between Geeta, whose husband Vipin Tomar committed suicide 6 months ago, and her in-laws. The accused strangulated the bodies and then burned them. Chauhan alleged in his confession that the accused had used 12 litres of petrol to burn the bodies, said Singh. Chauhan said that his sister had been allegedly forced to take the extreme step because she was being repeatedly humiliated and physically tortured by her in-laws, who, did not want to give her any share in the property and wanted her to leave the house, added Singh. The murdered trio have been identified as Geetas father-in-law Satpal Tomar, mother-in-law Pushpa Tomar, and brother-in-law Pankaj Kumar. Chauhan also alleged that Geeta was sexually harassed by her brother-in-law, said Singh. Sources said that on the day of the murder, Geeta had a fight with her in-laws, which might have pushed her to commit the ghastly crime. They also alleged that the murders had been carried out at Geetas behest who had promised large amount of money to Chauhan and her domestic help Vikas. Alwar police had arrested Geeta and Vikas from Sohna on Friday night. The body of Pankaj was burnt in Nagina area of Mewat and the other two bodies were burnt in Naugaon, Alwar. The locals spotted the half-burnt bodies and informed the police, who, scanned the footage of the CCTV cameras at the toll plazas to identify the vehicles that entered the district, and managed to spot the car used by the accused. The car had been borrowed by Geeta from her neighbour, said Singh. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As many as 49.62 million more households in India have toiletsrising from 38.7% in 2014 to 69.04% in 2017and 250,000 of Indias 649,481 villages have been declared free of open defecation, but the claims of 150,000 (63%) of these villages have not been verified and there is no way of knowing if the rest are using the new toilets. These are the conclusions of an IndiaSpend analysisof government dataof the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2014, with the aim to make India free of open defecation by October 2, 2019. The World Bank has termed the schemes implementation as moderately unsatisfactory. However, a August 2017 survey conducted by an autonomous government bodySwacch Sarvekshan 2017found that nine in 10 (91.29%) rural households having access to a toilet are using it. Toilets for the dignity of our mothers and sisters It was on August 15, 2014, during his Independence Day speech, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), with these words: Brother and Sisters, we are living in 21st century. Has it ever pained us that our mothers and sisters have to defecate in open? Whether dignity of women is not our collective responsibility? The poor womenfolk of the village wait for the night; until darkness descends, they cant go out to defecate. What bodily torture they must be feeling, how many diseases that act might engender. Cant we just make arrangements for toilets for the dignity of our mothers and sisters? The mission is divided into two components: Gramin (rural) and urban Swacch Bharat Mission (Gramin) 38.7% of rural households had individual household latrines (IHHL) on October 2, 2014, the day SBM was launched; 249,811 villages were open-defecation free (ODF) in 2017, of which 63% (157,935) were verified officially; 207 districts are ODF, of which 62% (127) were verified officially. Villages are considered open defecation-free when no faeces are visible and every household and public/community institution uses safe technology to dispose of faeces in such a way that there is no contamination of surface soil, groundwater or surface water; excreta is inaccessible to flies or animals, with no manual handling of fresh excreta; and there are no odour and unsightly conditions, as the ministry of drinking water & sanitation ( MoDWS) website explains. As of 2016, 36.7% of rural households used improved sanitation facilities, according to data from the National Family Health Survey 4, conducted between January 2015 and December 2016. A majority (51.6%) did not, IndiaSpend reported on May 24, 2017. The current statistics on the construction of toilets, ODF villages and districts and states are indeed a positive development. I believe that even if we do not achieve the target of 100% toilet coverage and usage by October 2, 2019, and have 70-80% full coverage and usage compliance, that would be a big achievement in itself, said Avinash Kumar, director- policy & programmes at WaterAid India, an advocacy. Construction of toilets, however, needs to be context specific. For instance, in several villages, the faulty design of toilets leads to contamination of groundwater. Behind the governments data, unverified details While the governments data reveal substantial progress over three years, experts pointed out much of these claims were not verified. It is important to remember that ODF declarations are self-reported, said Avani Kapur, fellow, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), a think tank, and director of the Accountability Initiative, a CPR programme. If we look at the numbers, as of today (September 29, 2017), while 252,430 villages have been declared ODF, only 1.5 lakh have been verified meaning that nearly 40% have not been verified as yet. States are allowed to define their own verification process, Kapur said, which does not help standardised verification. Ideally, there should be regular, third party evaluations which conduct their own independent surveys to ensure actual ODF, said Kapur. What we have seen on the ground is that declarations often follow presence of toilets rather than actual ODF. Worryingly still, once a village has been declared as ODF, most monitoring efforts come to a stop and there isnt a concerted effort to maintain the ODF status. The World Bank, which had promised a loan of $1.5 billion (Rs 10,500 crore) for SBM-Gramin, did not release the first instalment due in July 2016 because India did not fulfill a condition of conducting and announcing results of an independent verification survey, The Economic Times reported in January 2017. The World Banks current ranking of the overall implementation progress of the project is moderately unsatisfactory. Swacch Bharat Mission (Urban) As on September 29, 2017, this is what data from the ministry of drinking water and sanitation show: 44,650 wards (of 82,725) have 100% door-to-door waste collection; 12,526 community toilets built in three years; 11,806 public toilets constructed. This is slow progress, said Kapur of CPR. No more than 53% of wards have 100% door-to- door collection of garbage, and only 23% of trash is processed. Until the solid waste management issue is resolved, even achieving 100% ODF declarations will do nothing for our public health crisis and could, in fact, worsen it, said Kapur. Six states and union territories, including Gujarat, Assam and Kerala, had not received funds for solid waste management since the programme started on October 2, 2014, according to this January 2017 brief from the Accountability Initiative, which Kapur co-authored. The central government had also not released 46% of funds set aside to build toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), according to this reply to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) on July 26, 2017, as IndiaSpend reported. Is constructing toilets = using toilets? The SBM rhetoric has moved from constructing toilets to using them, as it should. At every levelstate, district, block or even gram panchayat (village council)the common phrases you will hear are triggering, demand driven and behavior change, said Kapur. Unfortunately, I dont think the actions follow the language. In 2016, the budget for information, education and communication (IEC) indicates that no more than 10% of the money set aside to change behaviour was spent. Till January 2017, no more than 12% of the IEC budget was spent. The argument now seems to be build toilets first and then people will use them, which is the exact opposite of the community-led sanitation (CLTS) model and what SBM itself had envisaged in its guidelines, said Kapur. However, the CLTS model may not be effective in India due to the prevalence of casteism, according to American scholars Dean Spears and Diane Coffey, sanitation researchers and authors of the 2017 book, Where India Goes: Abandoned Toilets, Stunted Development, and the Costs of Caste. Once the pits fill, likely Dalits will have to empty them In CLTS, people are supposed to come together as a community against open defecation. In most places, community means local area, my town or my village but in India, it means religion or caste, Spears and Coffey told IndiaSpend in an interview on August 13, 2017. The whole idea of CLTS is to get the whole village to cooperate, but people in villages in India unfortunately dont cooperate, especially ones where open defecation is common. Exactly the places where casteism is important, those are the places where open defecation is common and those are the places where there is a lot of conflict among castes. Imagine if SBM was successful and magically everyone is using the latrines. In a few years, they are going to fill up and who is going to empty them? It is going to set back progress in social liberalism because, one way of the other, Dalits will be the people who have to empty the latrine pits. I dont think there is a solution to the problem and I think it is problem that we should all be thinking about. The SBM targets appear to be in conflict with the imperative of behaviour change: Government officials have little choice but to focus on deadlines. This means that every stakeholder, especially government officials, is under pressure to achieve targets, said Kumar of WaterAid, an advocacy. This leads them to use questionable tactics such as public shaming and taking away public welfare services. He cited the example of Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for a fourth of open defecation in India. UP has set a goal to be ODF by December 2018. He said A state, which has limited resources and capacity, will then use questionable tactics to achieve their targets,Kumar said. Coercion has been reported in Rajasthan, where the poorest people in a village were threatened with withdrawal of public services, and in Jharkhand, where officials confiscated lungis from violators. From the government, empirical evidence that toilets are being used The Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017 surveycovering 140,000 households and 700 districtsconducted by the Quality Control of India (QCI), an autonomous government body, is more optimistic than those who have watched the SBM unfold. In the criticism of the Swachh Bharat Mission, many have cited anecdotal evidence about toilets being used to store grains, but there is empirical evidence of a dramatic improvement in both coverage and usage of toilets, wrote Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, QCI, in an op-ed for Indian Express on September 28, 2017. Three years after the launch of the mission, a behavioural change is discernible, especially in rural India. More than nine in 10 (91.29%) rural households with access to a toilet use it, said the QCI survey. The results are similar for urban areas. Of 73 cities that participated in Swachh Survekshan 2016, 54 cities have improved their score in overall municipal solid waste management in 2017. These findings have shortcomings, according to this August 10, 2017, analysis of the QCI survey by Down To Earth, an environment magazine. Though 34.6% villages in India have declared themselves ODF, but factors like availability of water, sensitisation, long-term affordability (based on soil type and groundwater level), cleanliness and maintenance may deter toilet usage, said the analysis. The Swachh Survekshan Gramin ignores employed toilet technology, solid and liquid waste management, adaptability and acceptance by villagers in its method of study. QCI surveyed 1.4 lakh rural households from 4,626 villages, a miniscule 0.72% of the total villages in India. (Saha is an MA Gender and Development student at Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.) Indiaspend.org is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit/FactChecker.in is fact-checking initiative, scrutinising for veracity and context statements made by individuals and organisations in public life. Can a child be made to fast, are the parents responsible for her death are questions that remain unanswered a year after 13-year old Jain girl Aradhana Samdariya died after 68 days of fasting at her Secunderabad residence. While the police closed the case citing lack of evidence against her parents, who remain mum on the issue, the Andhra Pradesh child rights association is bent on taking the case to its logical conclusion. Aradhana, a class 8 student, died in the late hours of October 2 last year, less than three days after ending her 68-day fast under the tapasya ritual practised by her community. She was declared brought dead at a private hospital and doctors said she had died of cardiac arrest, caused probably by an imbalance in salts. The incident sparked nation-wide outrage. On a complaint from the child rights association, the Secunderabad Market police registered an FIR on October 9 last year against Aradhanas parents under Section 304(2) of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), besides section 75 of the juvenile justice act. However, after four months of investigation, the Hyderabad police dropped the case against the parents in February. A report was submitted to the court stating that the case filed by the child rights association was false, non-cognisable, mistake of fact, undetected and lacked evidence. The case is still pending before the 10 additional chief metropolitan magistrates court since the police submitted the closure report. We challenged the police report, stating that the police had not submitted any charge sheet in the case, which was supposed to be done within 90 days of filing the FIR. The case has been getting postponed since then. The next hearing is on October 9, child rights association president P Achyuta Rao told HT. The family members of Aradhana, too, seem to have conveniently forgotten the tragic incident and are refusing to talk about it even on her first death anniversary. I am very busy right now. I cant talk anything on the issue, was what her father Lakshmichand Samdariya, a jewellery merchant in Pot Market in Secunderabad, had to say. Hyderabad deputy commissioner of police (north zone), B Sumathi told HT that there was nothing to probe further into the case. We have submitted everything to the court along with evidences, including the report obtained from the hospital authorities on how the girl died, the second opinion given by a team of doctors from the Government Gandhi Hospital, Secunderabad, on what could have led to her death and our inquiries with various people involved in the incident. Since we could not find any evidence to prove that her parents had forced her to do tapasya, we told the court that we were dropping the case, Sumathi said. Achyuta Rao, however, said the association would pursue the case to get justice to the departed soul of Aradhana, stating that he was ready to move the Hyderabad high court. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ammee, mubarak ho, aap ko satra damaad mila hain (Congrats mother. You have now got the 17th son-in-law). This stark message from 18-year-old Rehana Begum to her mother Moin Begum sums up the plight of the Hyderabads child brides. Rehana, from Nasheman Nagar in the in the Old City of Hyderabad, is the eldest of four sisters in the family of Sirajuddin Ahmed, an auto driver. She was only 14 when she was first married to a 55-year-old Arab Sheikh from Dubai in 2004. After a simple marriage ceremony at a hotel in Mumbai, the parents left Rehana with her husband. A month later, he deserted her at a Mumbai railway station. A crest fallen Rehana, who was pregnant by then, returned home only to undergo the same ordeal after a few months. Rehanas parents, who made huge money by selling her to the Dubai-based Sheikh, got her aborted and married her off to another Sheikh. This time a 70-year-old from Qatar. Her groom took her to his country, only to sell her off to another Sheikh a few months later. In the next four years, she had changed another 14 hands, said Sultana, an NGO activist. Rehanas case is not an isolated incident. In the last four decades, old city of Hyderabad witnessed thousands of such Muslim child brides falling victims to the sexual desires of cash-rich Arab Sheiks from the Middle East countries. But their plights were mostly overlooked as the victims rarely came forward to lodge a complaint. To change the scenario, NGOs like Shaheen with the help of the Hyderabad police for the past few years have been trying to prevent selling of minor Muslims girls to ageing Arab Sheiks. Earlier there was no data of such child marriage. In the last 10 years, we could gather information about 500 such cases, but our estimate is that the actual number would be at least 10 times more. Last year alone, as many as 100 cases came to our notice, says Jamila Nishat, chairperson of Shaheen. Child bride racket Number of Muslim child bride marriages recorded by NGOs: Over 500 in the last 10 years, but its estimated to be at least 10 times more. In 2016 alone, over 100 cases were recorded. Number of arrests made in the last 10 days: 11 sheiks, four qazis including two chief qazis of Mumbai and Hyderabad, four lodge owners and eight brokers. The total number of brokers identified: 50 brokers 15 from the Gulf and 35 from Hyderabad, including 25 women. Local brokers divide the sheiks into three categories: Auto wallas (who move in ordinary transport) staying at local lodges, Ambassador wallas (who move in Ambassador cars) staying in middle-range hotels and Innova wallas (who move in luxury cars), staying at star hotels. Rate of a bride depends on the financial status of the Sheiks from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh. Brides family gets only one-fourth of the amount and the remaining is shared by brokers, Qazis and other local contacts. Hyderabad deputy commissioner of police (South Zone) V Satyanarayana said only nine such cases have been registered by the police since 2010. It was only after our intense campaign among the poor Muslim families by organising counselling with the help of the NGOs and other activists, the victims have started coming forward to complain to the police, the DCP said. In the last few weeks, the police also launched a crackdown on the network of brokers who bring Arab Sheiks to Hyderabad, local contacts who make arrangements for the marriages with child brides and Qazis, who perform Nikahs. On September 20, police arrested eight Sheiks from Qatar, a Mumbai-based Qazi and scores of brokers, besides hotel owners. A week later, the cops arrested the chief Qazi of Hyderabad, who was the kingpin in the racket. Thriving Market For the last four decades, Hyderabad has been the place to go for the Sheiks looking for virgin brides in the age group of 12-14 years. The poor Muslim parents were lured by the money these Sheiks are willing to pay for the stopgap marriage. The old city has links with Arab countries for ages. Many of Yemen nationals have settled in Barkas area. Through them, Arab Sheiks have started showing interest in Hyderabadi girls, columnist and Muslim intellectual Mir Ayub Ali Khan said. The Sheikhs preferred Hyderabadi girls for their pretty look and good physique. Besides, they can also do a lot of household works. And most parents are eager to get their daughters married off at a young age because they believe having menstruating girls in the home for long is a sin, says Jamila. But Khan says more than the superstition, it was the poverty which is driving many Muslim families to the menace. According to the police, the bridegrooms come from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Sudan and Somalia to Hyderabad in search of girls. They usually come to Hyderabad on visitors visa or sometimes on medical grounds. They have local contacts to help them arrange visas and hotel stay, the DCP said. Not all of them are rich. Many of them are actually from lower middle class, who thrive on the royalty paid to them by their governments in lieu of the land taken for oil exploration. With the Arab Sheiks evincing interest in purchasing the child brides, it has become a virtual trade and has witnessed emergence of marriage brokers, who exploit the poverty of the Muslims having many female children and make a quick buck by arranging Nikha of young girls with ageing Sheiks. These Sheiks pay handsome money to the families from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh, apart from good clothes, gold and sometimes even houses. The bounty is shared by the families, marriage brokers and Qazis. In most of the cases, the amount the brides family ultimately gets is very meager, but they are happy with that as they dont have to spend anything on the marriage, Jamila said. In a way, it is a legalised prostitution, observed Ayub Ali Khan. Take for instance, the case of Waseem, now 27, who got married to a 70-year-old Dubai Sheik when she was 12-year old. I had no idea about Nikah, leave alone physical pleasures. But I was forced to sleep with him just for a week and I became pregnant. Thereafter, he left for Dubai for good and never came back. I gave birth to his daughter. To eke out livelihood, I am learning tailoring and zari work, Waseem said. Same is the case with Muneera Fathima,18, of Mangalghat area. Her step father got her married to a 75-year-old Omani national in 2011. That man spent two months with me at a resort, far away from my house. He used to torture me for sex every day. After I became pregnant, he quietly left for his country with all the marriage papers. From there, he uttered triple talaq over phone, she said. The NGOs are now focusing on the education of the girl child, while police are trying to break the broker-Qazi-Arab nexus to bust the bride selling racket. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Banaras Hindu University vice chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi has gone home for personal reasons, triggering a campus buzz that his leave could be indefinite but the administration said he will be back when the institute reopens after the Dussehra break on Tuesday. The beleaguered vice chancellors leave activated the grapevine as the BHU has been on the edge since the September 23 police crackdown on protesters demanding action on a complaint of molestation by a hosteller. Several students, mostly women, were wounded in the campus unrest that threatened to spread to other universities. The BHU advanced the Dussehra holidays by three days from September 25. Tripathi is accused of mishandling the situation and his annual leave around this time of the year triggered talks that he might not return. The VC left for his home in Allahabad on Sunday morning. After fasting for nine days during Navratra, he breaks his fast at his home. He is most likely to return by late Monday night, BHU public relation officer Rajesh Singh said. University registrar Neeraj Tripathi led the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations on the campus in the vice chancellors absence on Sunday. A cleanliness drive was part of the programme. New chief proctor Royana Singh and other officials participated in the drive with brooms in their hands. The administration has stepped up security on the campus before classes resume on Tuesday. Three quick response teams of university guards will patrol the premises and district police will also provide security to prevent untoward incidents. Policemen will guard the entry points. We will keep an eye on each visitor, police officer Sanjiv Mishra said. As many as 30 surveillance cameras were installed as part of the drill. Officer Mishra said halogen lamps were installed at 15 locations on roads leading to hostels for girls on the campus. More are likely to be fixed soon. A team of UP police detectives visited on Monday the hostel in which the molestation complainant is a boarder. She had alleged that men on motorcycles molested her on the way back to the hostel after dusk on September 21. The previous proctor allegedly ignored her complaint and the vice chancellor drew flak later, saying woman students shouldnt be out at night. Police officers also met the complainant for details about the culprits but she apparently told them that it wont be possible to identify the two suspects. The police in Muzaffarpur district of north Bihar have constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to nab four youths, who are accused of gang rape of a minor girl in the Katra police station area, on Friday, making a video clip of the act and posting it on the web. Police said the incident took place after the 14-year-old girl was abducted by the four youths when she was returning from a Dussehra fair. Thereafter, they pounced upon her, shot the crime on their mobile phones and uploaded the video clip on internet sites. The police have registered an FIR on the basis of the statement of the victims family, against seven persons, including four youths. Bihar director general of police (DGP) PK Thakur said Manju Jha, IG (weaker sections), under the crime investigation department, would monitor the case. The culprits will be caught soon, he added. Sources said a meeting of the panchayat of the village at which the the incident occurred, around 70 km from the district headquarters town of Muzaffarpur, was convened on Saturday allegedly to hush up the matter. But the meeting, instead, ended up revealing the identity of the culprits. The girl, as well as, her family members and the four accused were also called to the meeting to negotiate a settlement and bury the matter after handing out minor punishment to the accused. The victim had no idea about the identity of the persons who had forced themselves upon her but she immediately recognized them at the panchayat meeting, to which the culprits were called to negotiate a settlement. As such, the identities of the rapists were revealed, said a source familiar with the developments. Unhappy with the way a sensitive issue such as rape was being handled in a trivial manner, I person present at the meeting informed the police. But before the police could arrive, the panchayat meeting was abruptly called off and the participants including the four accused fled. It was a classic case of a move backfiring. The panchayat meeting had been called to suppress the matter, but it ended up exposing the real perpetrators without any effort of the police, said a police officer, who was hopeful of an early arrest of the culprits. Muzaffarpur senior SP Vivek Kumar said the medical examination of the girl had been conducted by a five member medical board and its report was awaited. Her statement under section 164 of CrPC has also been recorded before a judicial magistrate, he added. The police SIT is headed by Gaurav Pandey, DSP (east) and search is on for the culprits, the SSP said, adding, that six persons related to the accused had been detained to ascertain their whereabouts. National commission for women member Sushma Sahu said the police should act promptly in the case to ensure justice for the victim. Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi said the accused must be arrested immediately and steps taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A BSF jawan was on Monday injured in sniper firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control in the Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. A sniping attempt took place around 6.15 pm from the Pakistanis Mohra OP, an intelligence officer said. Two shots were fired at the Indian post which hit BSF constable S Ramachari who sustained injuries to his forearm and abdomen . His condition is reportedly stable and he has been taken to a garrison hospital. On a high after its better-than-expected performance in the recently concluded Rajasthan students union polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is all set to test waters in the states assembly polls next year. Led by Kumar Vishwas, who took over the reins of the state unit four months ago as a trade-off for not quitting the party, AAP will start campaigning for 100 of the 200 assembly seats. We (AAP Rajasthan) were being written off as a dumping yard. But our students wing, contesting for the first time in Rajasthan, won presidents posts in 12 colleges... Vishwas said Monday. The poet-politician was in Delhi to preside over a meeting with 500 AAP poll observers who would be part of the Rajasthan campaign. Having fielded 83 candidates, the partys student wing Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS) won presidents posts in eight colleges in the union elections last month. In all, 50 candidates won posts in colleges, though it could win any post in the universities. Vishwas, however, said that instead of aiming at the number of seats, AAP, as it has been doing, wants to practice vikalp ki rajneeti (alternative politics). To begin with, the observers who were present in the meeting have been assigned 100 assembly seats that they have to work on. In next six months, we would also constitute committees that would select the candidates, Vishwas said. On issues that the party wants to highlight, Vishwas said focus would be primarily on farmers, students and women. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Sidelined AIADMK leader T T V Dinakaran was on Monday booked and 10 of his supporters were held in connection with distribution of pamphlets allegedly containing defamatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami here. Former MLA Venkatachalam and local AIADMK functionary Saravanan were among the 10 arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by one Vinayakam, alleging that the accused were found distributing the pamphlets among the public outside a hall, where Palaniswami was holding a meeting with senior officials on Sunday. The pamphlets contained derogatory remarks against the prime minister and the chief minister, the police said. Dinakaran and his loyalists P Vetrivel, one of the 18 AIADMK MLAs recently disqualified from the Tamil Nadu Assembly under the anti-defection law, and V Pugazhenthi have also been named as accused in the case, the police said. This is the second case slapped against Dinakaran, who is engaged in a tussle for power with Palaniswami, by the state police. Earlier, the sidelined AIADMK leader, along with Tamil actor and party functionary Senthil, had been booked for allegedly making defamatory remarks against P Kumar, the party MP from Tiruchirappalli. The Madurai Bench of the Madras high court had restrained the Tiruchirappalli police from arresting them. Responding to the latest case against him, Dinakaran alleged that it was filed since his rival Palaniswami is the police minister. The chief minister also holds the Home portfolio, under which comes the police department. This government is anyway going to fall. They are doing such these things since he (Palaniswami) is the police minister...Let them do what they want. The AIADMK supporters and the people are going to send them home, Dinakaran told reporters in Chennai. The first shipment of US crude oil in over four decades reached Indian shores on Monday, reaffirming the energy commitment between the two countries that includes importing American liquefied natural gas (LNG). MT New Prosperity, a ship with a capacity to haul 2 million barrels of crude, left the US Gulf Coast on August 19 and arrived at Paradip port in Odisha. The shipment is for the state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), which will process the crude at its refineries located at Paradip, Haldia, Barauni and Bongaigaon, the company said in a statement. MT New Prosperity, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC, capacity 2 million barrels), brought crude from US Gulf Coast in 40 days. pic.twitter.com/YbF8zrUYdw Indian Oil Corp Ltd (@IndianOilcl) October 2, 2017 The Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) have also placed orders for about 3.95 million barrels of US crude for their Kochi and Vizag refineries. Sunjay Sudhir, the oil ministrys joint secretary (international cooperation), Katherine B Hadda, the US consul general in Hyderabad, senior officials of the foreign ministry and IOC were present at the welcome ceremony for the cargo. Sudhir said crude oil import from the US by Indias largest refiner will go a long way in mitigating risks arising out of geo-political disruptions. He said the new arrangement would usher in price stability and energy security for India, which is witnessing robust growth in demand for petroleum products. This is one of the first shipments to India since the US stopped oil exports in 1975, and follows recent commitments to US oil purchases by IOC and BPCL, a US embassy statement said. Besides, crude oil imports have the potential to boost bilateral trade by up to $2 billion. Indian companies, both public and private, have also made a total investment of about US $5 billion in US shale gas assets. The first shipment of LNG is expected to reach India next January. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump expanding bilateral energy cooperation through a strategic energy partnership during the Indian leaders June visit to Washington. The arrival of the crude is hailed as a significant milestone in the growing partnership between the US and India. The US and India are elevating our cooperation in the field of energy, including plans for cleaner fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear, and cutting-edge storage and energy efficiency technologies, said MaryKay Carlson, charge daffaires at the US embassy in New Delhi. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Karnataka home minister Ramalinga Reddy on Monday claimed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the killing of senior Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh has got clues and is in the process of gathering evidence. Gauri Lankesh, known to be an anti-establishment voice with strident anti-right wing views, was shot dead at close range by unknown assailants at her home here on the night of September 5. We have got clues, but we cannot tell things to the media for now, because we should have correct evidence for the clues we have got, he told reporters at Chikkaballapura. He said: If there are no proper evidence when we file a charge sheet at the court, it wont stand. So we are trying to collect the evidence correctly... Our SIT is working towards gathering evidence. The minister had on September 9 made similar claims about SIT having gathered some clues in connection with the case, as he expressed hopes about nabbing the culprits soon. The Karnataka government, which has constituted the SIT headed by IGP (Intelligence) B K Singh, has announced a Rs 10 lakh reward to anyone who gives clues about the killing that led to outrage and protests. As a political slug fest broke out over the killing, her family had pleaded against giving a political colour to it. The family had said the investigators should look into all angles behind Gauris killing, whether it was right wing or Naxals, as reports have emerged about a possible Naxal hand, other than suspected involvement of right-wing extremists, the ideology Gauri opposed. Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran on Saturday pressed for a CBI probe into the death of late Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa. I want a CBI probe, was his reply when asked if the party faction led by him was ready to cooperate with the government-constituted Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry to probe the death of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016. Only when there is a CBI probe, can the ministers, who are making contradictory remarks (on meeting Jayalalithaa when she was hospitalised), be questioned, he said. Tamil Nadu forest minister Dindigul C Srinivasan had recently said nobody had met the former AIADMK supremo after she was admitted to the Apollo Hospital last year and that they lied that she ate idly, among others, out of fear of her close aide and now party chief V K Sasikala. However, cooperation minister Sellur Raju had contradicted Srinivasan saying, All the ministers had met her. On September 25, the Tamil Nadu government constituted an inquiry commission headed by Justice A Arumughaswamy to look into the circumstances leading up to the death of the former chief minister. Initiating such a probe was a key pre-condition of former rebel AIADMK leader and now Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for merging the party faction led by him with the one led by chief minister E K Palaniswami. The two factions had merged on August 21. Dhinakaran accused the state government of trying to use the doubts over Ammas (Jayalalithaa) death to divert the attention from its misgovernance. To divert the peoples attention from the misgovernance, doubts are being raised over Ammas death, he said, adding that the Palaniswami government would be sent home soon. Palaniswami and Dhinakaran are engaged in a tussle for power, with the latter accusing the chief minister of betraying Sasikala, who had nominated him to the top party post in February, following a revolt by Panneerselvam. Dhinakaran asserted that the disqualification of the 18 AIADMK MLAs loyal to him from the state Assembly was only temporary and vowed to take legal recourse and send this government home and once again usher in Ammas rule. He also lashed out at the government on the spread of dengue, saying their words and action show they are only bothered about the government. We cant expect any action from them. On the appointment of Banwarilal Purohit as the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Dhinakaran said, We expect at least the new governor to work in a non-partisan manner. Earlier, Dhinakaran had met former governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and sought for the removal of Palaniswami from the post of chief minister. In August, 19 MLAs supporting Dhinakaran had met Rao and pressed for a similar demand, saying they had lost confidence in the chief minister. However, one of those MLAs subsequently switched over to the Palaniswami camp. PTI SA APR RC The Emir of Kuwait has freed 22 Indian prisoners and commuted the sentences of 97 others lodged in the Arab countrys jails, according to Indias Embassy in Kuwait City. The list containing the names of 119 Indians is addition to the 15 Indian prisoners whose death sentences were recently commuted to life imprisonment. The Indian prisoners in Kuwait covered by the Amiri pardon include 22 people who have been ordered to be released immediately, Embassy of India in Kuwait City said in a statement. Sentences of 53 Indians have been reduced from life imprisonment to 20 years, it said. The Emir of Kuwait has ordered a reduction of three quarters of the sentence of 18 Indians, a reduction of half period of the sentences of 25 and one quarter of the sentence of one, the statement said. The charges in most of the cases involved narcotics, drugs trading or consumption, theft, robbery and fraud among others. All the 15 prisoners whose death sentences have been converted to life imprisonment were convicted in drug-related charges, said the statement. The Indian mission said that it would provide all possible assistance for their travel to India after their release or completion of sentences. Efforts were also being made to help those Indian prisoners who have given their consent to spend rest of their sentence period in India. On Saturday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj thanked the Emir of Kuwait after the death sentences of 15 Indians, lodged in Kuwaiti jails, were commuted to life imprisonment. A broom manufacturer of Kota has been waiting for an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the last two years to present him a pair of brooms. Inspired by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a flagship programme of the Modi government, Rahul Jain (35) prepared two brooms -- 8 feet 6 inch tall and 3 inch wide as a gift for the Prime Minister. Jain called them NaMo (Narendra Modi) brooms, each of which, he said, was priced Rs 850. Modis slogans -- Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas -- are written on either side of the brooms, which Jain claimed to be the tallest in the world. He has staked a claim before the Limca Book of Records. I made a telephone call to the PMO in April 2015, seeking an appointment with PM Modi for gifting him NaMo brooms; officials told me to send an email to the appointment section of the PMO, said Jain, who runs Nakoda Enterprises that produces brooms. I sent the email that was acknowledged by the appointment section, but I did not get an acceptance or denial about an appointment. Jain said he had sent four emails to the PMO between April and August in 2015 and made telephone calls, but had not got a positive reply about an appointment. I prepared NaMo brooms to express my gratitude to the PM for the cleanliness drive; I am now disappointed over the PMOs poor response to my request for an appointment, Jain said. Even if an appointment with the PM is not possible, the PMO should at least ask me to send the brooms. Jain said he would file a right to information (RTI) application to know the status of his request. The NaMo brooms have been made from coconut leaves brought from Pollaichi (Tamil Nadu) and bamboo from Assam. Jain said eight workers, mostly Dalits from Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh, and some from a minority community prepared the brooms. Jains family is in the business of broom manufacturing for the last two decades. Kota brooms are sold in many states and the business is worth around Rs 5 crore per annum, he said. A wheelchair-bound disability rights activist was allegedly heckled and called a Pakistani at a movie multiplex in Guwahati as he couldnt stand when the national anthem was played before the show began. Arman Ali, the executive director of Shishu Sarothi, a non-profit organisation, had gone with relatives to watch Lucknow Central last Thursday when the public humiliation happened. Born with cerebral palsy, the 36-year-old Ali cant stand on his legs and has been using a wheelchair since 2010. As the Jana Gana Mana was played, the audience stood up and I sat straight in my chair and sang along, Ali said. But a moviegoer seated behind him allegedly commented: Samney ek Pakistani baitha hai (a Pakistani is seating in the front). Ali chose to stay quiet and the other man left the theatre 10 minutes before the film ended. I chose not to confront him because of the current situation in the country. With cases of lynching happening in India from the slightest of provocations, the crowd inside the hall could have turned against me if they came to know I am a Muslim, he said. But Ali took to social media to broadcast his ordeal and his posts were widely shared and discussed. Ali has been working actively for rights of the disabled people, especially children, in the Northeast. The Supreme Court ruled last November that all cinemas must play the anthem before a film is screened and moviegoers should stand up and remain still through the length of the 52-second-long Jana Gana Mana. The court modified its order on December 9, exempting people with physical disabilities from standing up. Government guidelines for those with disabilities say people on crutches and in wheelchairs should remain still and maintain maximum possible alertness physically when the anthem is played in movie halls or public functions. Prior to the top courts order, the anthem was played before movies in some states such as Maharashtra but the measure is often controversial, with instances of people beaten up for not standing up for the anthem. Last October, a couple assaulted award-winning writer Salil Chaturvedi at a cinema in Goa for not rising during the anthem only to discover he was paralytic and in a wheelchair. The anthem was last ordered to be played in cinemas in India after the countrys 1962 war with China but the practice was discontinued in 1975 as most moviegoers ignored it. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mahant Ram Vilas Vedanti, a former Bharatiya Janata Party legislator and ex-chair of the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, on Monday turned down a suggestion to construct a mosque on the 67-acre plot of land near the makeshift Ram Temple in Uttar Pradeshs Ayodhya. Vedanti, who claims he played a pivotal role in bringing down the Mughal-era mosque on December 6, 1992, was speaking at a conference organised by Punes MIT World Peace University to discuss ways of finding an amicable solution to the long-standing religious dispute. While members of the conference pitched the idea of constructing places of worship to all religions, including a mosque, within the 67-acre campus, Vedanti was adamant about the construction of a temple on the 2.7 acre where the structure stands. The disputed 2.7-acre piece of land remains Indias most potent religious flashpoint. Many Hindus believe that god Ram was born where Babur, the first Mughal emperor, built the mosque. More than 3000 people were killed in the communal violence that followed the demolition of the mosque by a Hindu mob in 1992. Vedanti is among the 13 people, including senior BJP leader LK Advani, who has been accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation of conspiring to bring down the 16th-century mosque. He pointed out that the mosque should be built in Muslim-dominated areas of Faizabad - the twin city of Ayodhya. We want an amicable settlement of the issue. The mosque, however, cannot come up at the 67-acre campus. That land belonged to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and was taken over by the Union government headed by [former PM] Narasimha Rao. We demand that land is restored to the Nyas, he told the Hindustan Times on the sidelines of the conference. Nyas is a trust that is committed to building a Ram temple at a disputed religious site. He was, however, open to the suggestion of building boarding, educational, and health facilities within the campus. Even as the Supreme Court has suggested an amicable solution to the dispute that has been the source of simmering communal tension in the region, Vedanti said he is hopeful that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who managed to get a temple constructed in the orthodox Saudi Arabia, will find a way for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. We are hopeful that the construction will begin before the 2019 Lok Sabha poll My assessment is that it will begin after December 6, 2018, he said. He also asserted that the structure that was brought down in 1992 was not a mosque as it had no minaret, but idols and remnants of a temple. Only some Sunnis, who are acting on the instruction of terrorists, dont want this to be solved. Mir Baqi, the lieutenant of Babar (Mughal ruler), who was sent to demolish the temple was a Shia; his community now wants a temple at the site. Recently, some Shia groups sent trucks of construction materials for the temple, he said. The Shia Waqf Board filed a 30-page affidavit in the Supreme Court in August, saying a mosque can be built in a Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the most revered place of birth of Ram in Ayodhya. Last week, Uttar Pradesh health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said he is confident that the Ram Temple will be constructed before 2019. The BJP leader told reporters that the situation in the country is changing and people who were earlier opposing it now want a grand temple. The demand for the RamTemple has been pivotal to the BJPs rise. The saffron party has said in its manifesto that it is committed to explore all possibilities within the framework of the constitution to make that happen. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON There is competition for Chinese-made Lakshmi-Ganesh idols this Diwali. Idols made in Arunachal Pradesh by a group of students campaigning for Swadeshi (locally made) are being presented as an alternative to the Chinese-made models. The idols, being sold with the tagline, Arunachal Laxmi Ghar Lao- Jyada Dhan Milega (Bring Home Arunachal Laxmi-Get Wealthier) have also found political endorsement. Chief minister Pema Khandu and union minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju who also hails from the state are promoting the product that will be unveiled by the minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office Jitender Singh on Tuesday. A member of Arunachal Swadeshi group which is spearheading the campaign, told HT that the initiative is an attempt to promote locally manufactured goods and to dissuade people from buying Chinese idols. The idea was to bring Arunachal Pradesh into focus. Its an attempt to mainline the state and its people with the rest of the country, because a lot of people dont know about our culture, Akash Likha, president of the group said. Offshoots of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) such as the Swadeshi Jagran Manch have also been campaigning for a ban on Chinese products. The significance of pushing Arunachal Pradesh to counter the Chinese goods however, seems to signal a political message. The neighbour has been referring to Arunachal Pradesh as a disputed part of the Sino-Indian border and has not accepted it as part of India. Next in line are Christmas decorations, followed by crafts from the state for the New Year, Likha said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The army gunned down five militants trying to enter Jammu and Kashmir through the disputed border, where heavy and unprovoked Pakistani shelling and gunfire killed two children and wounded a dozen frontier villagers on Monday. A police officer in Poonch district said firing from Pakistan killed nine-year-old Israr Ahmed and a 15-year-old girl, Yasmin Akhtar. Five children were among the wounded, the youngest being five-year-old Zobia Kousar who was airlifted to a hospital in Jammu. Army spokesperson Colonel NN Joshi said soldiers retaliated after unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from the Pakistan side in the Poonch sector that began around 7.15am and continued till afternoon. State chief minister expressed anguish over the killing of children, saying it is unfortunate that these teenagers became victims of fire power when they were yet to understand the nuances of politics. A BSF soldier was wounded in Pakistani sniper fire along the Line of Control, the de-facto border between the two countries, in the states Rajouri sector. Bullets hit constable S Ramacharis forearm and abdomen. There has been a spike in ceasefire violations this year, forcing hundreds of people living along the border to flee their villages and take shelter at camps set up by the government. The two countries had agreed in 2003 to maintain peace along the border, but violations intensified after bilateral relations plummeted in 2016. Civilian injured in Pakistan shelling being treated at Poonch district hospital on Monday October 2, 2017. (HT Photo) Pakistani troops repeatedly target Indian villages and posts with heavy gunfire and mortar shells, which the military experts say is a strategy to provide cover for militants to enter the restive state fighting a decades-long insurgency. Gunbattles on the border are frequent with deaths and injuries reported on both sides. Pakistans foreign ministry summoned the Indian high commissioner over the latest round of fighting. Senior official Mohammad Faisal condemned unprovoked ceasefire violations by India on Saturday and Monday, which authorities said left three people dead and five wounded in border areas of Pakistan. The Indian military has stepped up its offensive against cross-border militancy and foiled two attempts by militant groups to enter Kashmir in Baramulla and Kupwara districts on Monday. An army spokesperson said five men were killed in operations to check infiltrations by militants from Pakistan. Weapons and large quantities of ammunition were found on the slain militants. Search operations are going on, the spokesman said. The gunfights came just days after defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited Kashmirs forward posts and reviewed the security situation. She was briefed about the robust counter-infiltration stand along the Line of Control. Kashmir recorded an increase in anti-insurgency operations after a rise in militant attacks following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July last year. Security forces have been able to track and kill a number of Hizbul and Lashkar-e-Taiba commanders in the past months. (with agency inputs) A police constable and his friend allegedly raped a three-year-old girl after abducting her from the vicinity of a Durga Puja fair at Barta village in Chatra district on Saturday evening. Local residents led by the girls father nabbed the co-accused even as he was sexually assaulting the unconscious child on a neighbourhood river bank. While the man identified as Vijay Bhuiyan was handed over to police, the minor was rushed to the Hazaribagh Sadar Hospital in a critical state. The constable, Mukesh Dangi, is still at large. Police have lodged a case against the duo, and a manhunt has been launched to arrest the absconder. Chatra superintendent of police Anjani Kumar Jha said bloodstains found on Bhuiyans clothes confirmed his involvement in the crime. We interrogated him thoroughly. He seems to have committed the crime under the influence of alcohol, he added. Dangi serves as a constable with the Ranchi police, but was home for the Puja holidays. The victim, who regained consciousness at the hospital, told police that she had gone to the Durga Puja fair with her father. She was abducted by the duo when he left her behind on his motorcycle to make purchases from a nearby shop. The father returned a little later, only to find his daughter missing. I ran around the place looking for my child, but in vain. Finally, I decided to head back home hoping to find her there. It was on my way there that I found Bhuiyan trying to force himself on my child. I raised the alarm, and some passersby rushed to help me. We nabbed Bhuiyan and handed him to the police, he said. Gidhour police station in-charge Ajay Kumar Panjikar said the child was responding well to treatment at the hospital. Once she is out of danger, we will subject her to a medical check-up to confirm rape, he added. Incidentally, both the accused hail from Barta and are well-acquainted with the victims family. U.S. regulators have approved the first continuous blood sugar monitor for diabetics that doesnt need backup finger prick tests. Current models require users to test a drop of blood twice daily to calibrate, or adjust, the monitor. The pain of finger sticks and the cost of testing supplies discourage many people from keeping close tabs on their blood sugar, which is needed to manage insulin use and adjust what they eat. Abbotts new FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System, approved Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration, uses a small sensor attached to the upper arm. Patients wave a reader device over it to see the current blood sugar level and changes over the past eight hours. Most of the 30 million Americans with diabetes use standard glucose meters, which require multiple finger pricks each day and only show current sugar level. More-accurate continuous glucose monitoring devices are used by about 345,000 Americans. But most dont do the finger pricks to calibrate them and may get inaccurate readings, said Dr. Timothy Bailey, who helped test FreeStyle Libre. Were able to lower blood sugar safely with this technology, said Bailey, director of the Advanced Metabolic Care and Research Institute in California. He receives consulting fees from various diabetes device makers. Too-high blood sugar levels can damage organs and lead to heart attacks, strokes, blindness and amputations. Very low blood sugar can cause seizures, confusion and loss of consciousness. Abbotts device was approved for adults with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes and should be available in pharmacies within months. The company, based near Chicago, did not disclose the price of the reader or the sensors. Abbotts system cant be used with an insulin pump, a device worn against the skin that allows users to inject insulin as needed, but the company is planning improvements to eventually enable that. Rival Medtronic this spring launched a device in which the insulin pump automatically responds to blood sugar changes recorded by the sensor and either withholds or injects insulin as needed. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is all set to formally close the probe into the alleged recovery of explosives in the Uttar Pradesh assembly. We will file a closure report in the designated court this week, said a senior NIA official on the condition of anonymity. The NIA decided to close the case after a Hyderabad laboratory concluded that the alleged explosive was silica powder (silicon oxide), which is mainly used as a filler in glass work. But that was not all. We also recorded statements of more than 70 witnesses, reviewed the video footage of close circuit cameras installed in UP assembly, and also went through the register of maintenance work taken up in the building in the last few years to see how the powder reached inside the assembly complex, added the official. Around 100-150 gram of white powder was recovered under the chairs designated for members of the assembly on July 12. A probe was immediately launched by the state government . The NIA took over after a Lucknow forensic lab reported the material was explosive PETN or Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate. We dont know yet when the powder was left in the assembly complex as maintenance work keeps taking place in the complex round the year. It was almost impossible to find out which maintenance party left the powder, said the official. NIA officials believe if the Lucknow laboratory had shown some caution before concluding the powder to be PETN, the agency would have saved precious time of its investigators. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Ramnath Kovind on Monday appointed a new panel to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for a more equitable distribution of quota benefits. To be headed by former justice G Rohini, the panel includes Dr JK Bajaj of the Centre for Policy Studies as a member; director of the Anthropological Survey of India and Registrar General and Census Commissioner as ex-officio members; and a joint secretary in the ministry of social justice and empowerment as secretary of the Commission. The decision to appoint the panel was cleared by the Union cabinet in August. The panel, which has to submit its report within 12 weeks from the date of its appointment, has the mandate to examine the extent of inequitable distribution of reservation benefits among castes and communities and work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for the sub-categorisation within such OBCs. It will also take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories. The move to assess sub-categorisation is perceived as a political move ahead of the next round of state elections, including those for Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan. Even as the government on its part asserts that the exercise reinforces its efforts to achieve greater social justice and inclusion for all, the move is expected to lead to political realignments in states, to bring together a coalition of non-dominant castes among OBCs to upstage regional leaders from dominant caste groups such as Yadavs in the Hindi heartland and Jats in Rajasthan. The now-scrapped National Commission for Backward Classes in 2015 had recommended three categories for OBCs extremely backward classes, more backward classes, and backward classes. It proposed a division of the 27% quota for the OBCs according to the population and the degree of backwardness. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday paid rich tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his birthplace Kirti Mandir in Gujarats Porbandar, and stressed that cleanliness was a multi-stakeholder national movement. On the occasion of the 148th birth anniversary of the Mahatma, the president declared rural Gujarat open defecation free (ODF) and said this is the true homage to Gandhiji. He also launched a solid waste management and rural comprehensive cleanliness programme for 3,300 gram panchayats in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi where elections are due later this year. Addressing a function at Kirti Mandir, the president said that by becoming open defecation free, Gujarat has paid a true homage to Gandhiji. He congratulated Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani for achieving the feat, a government release said. Rupani and state Governor O P Kohli accompanied the president to Porbandar. On the occasion, Kovind unveiled a certificate declaring 14,060 gram panchayats across 347 blocks in 33 districts in Gujarat open defecation free. Cleanliness is a multi-stakeholder national movement and not just the responsibility of the sanitation personnel and government departments, the president said. He said achieving the goals of Swachh Bharat Mission by October 2, 2019, will be an appropriate tribute to the Father of the Nation. Gujarat Rural Development Commissioner Mona Khandhar said the state qualified all the parameters and completed a three- tier verification process required for achieving the ODF status for rural Gujarat. President Kovind unveiled a certificate declaring rural Gujarat ODF. This includes 14,060 gram panchayat across 347 blocks in 33 districts in the state. The president also launched solid waste management and rural comprehensive cleanliness programme for 3,300 gram panchayats, she said. As many as 32,43,000 toilets have been constructed as part of the ODF programme in rural Gujarat, she said. Kovind later visited coastal town Mangrol in Junagadh district where he laid the foundation of the Phase-III of Mangro fishing harbour and inaugurated a rural water supply scheme for 45 villages. Addressing a gathering, Kovind said the state governments programmes would expand the capacity of fishing harbours as well as the landing centres by 300 per cent to accommodate 1,400 boats, which will improve the lives of people. Earlier in the day, BJP president Amit Shah visited Kirti Mandir before flagging off Gujarat Gaurav Yatra from the town. The message that Gandhiji has given from his life and thoughts is probably more relevant today than it was during his time. Even today Gandhijis thoughts have the power to solve the problems facing the country and the world, Shah told reporters. At Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, the Mahatmas residence for 12 years from where he led the Dandi Yatra in 1930, people paid tribute by organising an all-faith prayer meeting. Hundreds of people from the city and elsewhere thronged the ashram to mark the occasion. Rahul Gandhi cannot see the progress Gujarat has made under BJP rule as his vision is being blocked by his Italian eyewear, party chief Amit Shah said on Monday as he countered the Congress vice presidents criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modis fake MoU model in the poll-bound western state. Rahul should wear Gujarati spectacles and not the one made in Italy, then he will see the development in Gujarat, Shah was quoted as saying by ANI as he flagged off the second leg of his partys mass outreach initiative, Gujarat Gaurav Yatra, from Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. The BJP had broadcast Shahs speech on Facebook. Gandhi called Modi-promoted Gujarat model of development a failure during his three-day Navsarjan Yatra and raised the issue of unemployment and farmers plight in the farm-rich belt of the state, which is dominated by Patidars who have been demanding reservation in government jobs and education under the other backward classes (OBC) category. Gandhi completed the first phase of his statewide yatra last week as he toured Saurashtra region for three days. He is likely to start the second phase from central Gujarat next week. The BJP has begun the march with a new phrase - I am Vikas, I am Gujarat - after a social media campaign Vikas has gone crazy that has gone viral on the internet under the Gujarati title vikas gando thai gayo che put the saffron party on the back foot. Hailing Modi as Gujarats pride, Shah alleged that Congress did not care for the state for generations. First Sardar Patel, then Morarji Desai (former prime minister) and then Modi, for three generations the Congress has ignored the state and caused injustice, said Shah. The end of Congress in Gujarat in mid-nineties spelt the end of gundaraj (rule of goons). The BJP finished Ijju Shaikh, Latif, and Mammu Miyan Panju Miyan to give a peaceful Gujarat, Shah said while referring to gangsters based in Gujarat. The BJP chief also indicated that the assembly elections are likely to be held in the first week of December. The BJP faces anti-incumbency and anger from the powerful Patidar community, which is also being wooed by the Congress that has been out of power in the state since 1995, seeking quota in colleges and jobs. The party had to face the ire of the Patidars during the march, especially in pockets dominated by the community. Several men were detained on Sunday from a venue in Karamsad after they tried to disrupt Shahs speech by shouting slogans like Jai Sardar, Jai Patidar. The slogan has become the trademark of their agitation which began in 2015 during which 15 men from the community were killed in violent clashes with the police. While the detained Patidar men were released by the police early on Monday, the community circulated photographs on social media indicating that the BJPs march has generated a poor response from the people. The BJP government announced the formation of non-reserved category educational and economic development commission as well as board a week before its Gaurav Yatra in a bid to reach out to the Patidars. However, it failed to cut any ice with Hardik Patel - the face of the Patidar agitation - who has vowed to continue the stir until their quota demand is met. Shah kicked off the march from Indias first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patels hometown Karamsad in central Gujarat on Sunday to highlight the achievements of the BJP-led governments in the state during the two decades its rule. Two motorised raths have been prepared to facilitate party state president Jitu Vaghani and deputy chief minister Nitin Patels trip through the state and several SUVs painted in the colour of the party will travel along with them during the march. Travelling through various parts of the states, both the legs will culminate on October 16 in the presence of Prime Minister Modi. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hundreds of people flock to watch the Ramleela organised by the municipal council in Rajasthans Sirohi town on Dussehra, a Hindu festival that marks the victory of good over evil, every year. This year, however, there was a twist in the tale. The actor portraying the role of Lord Ram refused to shoot the arrow to burn the effigy of Ravana during Ramleela, the popular drama that enacts the Hindu deitys battle to kill the 10-headed demon king to rescue his wife Sita. Instead, Manoj Kumar Mali, the actor portraying the Hindu god, called the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) mandal president in Sirohi, Suresh Sagarvanshi, the demon king. The actual Ravana is sitting on the stage, politicising every issue. Given this scenario, Lord Ram has to return disappointed, said Mali. He alleged that the committee presided over by Sagarvanshi gets more money as a grant from the municipal council than all the other committees. Sagarvanshi is known to do politics over trivial issues. In Sirohi there are around 20 Garba committees that organise cultural programmes during Navratri, Mali told the Hindustan Times. All the other committees get Rs 11,000 as grant while the one where Sagarvanshi is involved gets Rs 31,000. Moreover, even though the Dussehra programme was organised by the municipal council, most of the councillors were not present which again suggested petty politics at play, he added. The organisers and politicians were left in a tough spot after Mali along with around 100 people from his group, portraying the roles of various gods, goddesses and the Vanar Sena or the army of monkeys, walked out of the show shouting slogans against the organisers. The organisers had to dress a child sitting among the audience as Ram, who finally fired the arrow to burn the effigy. Sagarvanshi denied the allegations levelled against him. The incident was incited by a handful of people to create ruckus at the celebrations. The Garba celebrations with which I am associated is the biggest in the city and therefore the expenses are also more than other such events which explain the more grant money, he told HT. Sagarvanshi added the committee will not accept the grant from the civic body from next year. We have given it in writing that we dont want the grant from next year. The total expense is around Rs 8 lakh and we can organise the celebrations even without the grant, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Four persons were killed and 27 injured when high tension electric wires snapped and fell on Muharram processions after coming in contact with Tazias (replica of tomb of Husain, the martyred son of Prophet Muhammad,carried during the procession) at two villages of Bhagalpur district in east Bihar late on Sunday evening. Two persons were killed and 20 injured in the first incident at Machipur village in Lodhipur police station area on the outskirts of Bhagalpur, 190 km east of Patna. The deceased have been identified as Mohammad Kamran and Mohammad Anzar. Two other persons - Mahmood and Imtiyaz - died and seven others suffered burn injuries in the second incident at Milki village in Naugachia subdivision of the district. All the injured are undergoing treatment at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital (JLNMCH), Bhagalpur. Eight of them had sustained serious burn injuries, JLNMCH sources said. Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manoj Kumar said criminal negligence of electricity department employees had led to the Machipur incident. Three employees posted at the power substation of the area were arrested late on Sunday night. The SSP said the powermen had ignored instructions to discontinue power supply during the Muharram procession. Superintendent of police (SP), Naugachia (a police district within Bhagalpur), Pankaj Kumar Sinha, also blamed the mishap at Milki village on failure of power officials to discontinue electricity supply. The erring employees fled from the substation after the incident, he said, adding that FIR would be lodged against them. The family members of those killed at Machipur have been paid a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each by the electricity department. The process to pay compensation to victims of Milki village was underway. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON An assistant sub inspector of police in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh was sent to prison for an alleged rape attempt on a 7-year-old girl inside a police post. The incident took place on Saturday night and the accused was sent to prison on Sunday. The accused, Tejveer Singh, was posted at a police post under Kemri police station. He was suspended after preliminary investigation and eventually sent to prison, said Rampur superintendent of police (SP) Vipin Tada. We have also registered and FIR and initiated investigation, he added. According to a police complaint filed by family members of the girl, she was playing near the police post when the accused lured her inside the police post. Tejveer forcefully undressed the girl and tried to force himself on her, reads the complaint. Based on the complaint, police have charged Singh under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty). However, they have not charged him under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act. Reportedly, an alert police constable posted at the site of the incident alerted the villagers who surrounded the post. The SP and circle inspector of the area reached the post after the incident and detained Singh. A team from Kemri police station interrogated Tejveer in the presence of a senior official today (Sunday) before he was sent to prison, said the SP. I have asked the team to complete the investigation at the earliest, he added. From funny to autocratic to downright bizarre, the orders passed by the officials in Rajasthan to prevent people from defecating in the open have often triggered extreme reactions. Sample these: At least six villagers were arrested in Bhilwara for relieving themselves in the open. Orders were issued to stop giving subsidised ration under public distribution system (PDS) to families with no toilets in a block under Jhalawar district. In Jahazpur sub-division, orders were issued to disconnect the power supply to a village where only 19 per cent households had toilets. In Karauli, women teachers at government schools have been told to mark their attendance with an early morning selfie clicked with men defecating in the open. These are among some of the orders and directives passed and penalties imposed by the Rajasthan government, which is leaving no stone unturned to completely stop open defecation by 2019, the target set under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), a flagship campaign of the Centre. As the SBM completes three years on October 2, one thing is clear: Rajasthan has a long way to go before it is completely open defecation free (ODF). And denying work under MGNREGS, putting people behind bars or stopping the subsidized ration are just some of the unprecedented measure that the officials are adopting to make sure that people fall in line, build toilet at their home, and most importantly, use it. Bhilwaras Jahazpur tehsil hit the headline in August this year when six people were arrested and charged under section 151 of CrPC for defecating in the open. Law books say that under Section 151, an arrest is made, without orders from a magistrate and without a warrant, to prevent the commission of a cognizable offence. The person so arrested shall be detained in custody only for 24 hours. The six people arrested in Jahazpur, thus, spent several hours in lock-up before being produced before a court that released them on bail after they furnished a bond of Rs 10,000 each and on condition that they would build a toilet within 15 days. Jahazpur again hit the headlines after its sub-divisional officer, Kartar Singh, issued orders to disconnect the power supply to Gangithala village. Reason: the toilet construction in the village was abysmally low --- only 19% of the villagers, 322 of 1,556 households, had constructed toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The district collector withdrew the order after widespread protests. Women government school teachers in Karauli district of state were given the unenviable task of visiting fields near their village to stop people, most of them men, from defecating in the open. If they fail to mark attendance by clicking selfies in the fields, with the villagers out to relieve themselves, teachers will face disciplinary action from the department. Although we have been asked to stop women from defecating in the open, it is not necessary that we will only encounter women. Every day we see men defecating in the open and find ourselves in a very awkward situation, Anita, a school teacher, told Hindustan Times. The drive, initiated by the Karauli district administration, involves teachers, anganwadi workers, auxiliary nurses, midwives and other stakeholders to promote Swachh Bharat Mission. We dont know what to do upon encountering men defecating in the open as its embarrassing. Its expected from us that we will blow the whistle and stop them from relieving themselves in the open but practically its difficult, added Anita. Officials justify such moves. At present out of 191 cities, such drives have taken place at more than 100 places, said Pawan Arora, director, directorate of local bodies. In Jhalarapatan in Jahalwar, households without toilets were denied ration that they were eligible for under the PDS. Jhalarapatan BDO Jitendra Singh claimed that ration was denied to a couple of villages to motivate them (to build toilet). Similar incidents were reported from Rajsamand district where PDS ration was denied to some beneficiaries. Some people were also denied work under MGNREGS in the districts Bhim tehsil and were asked to build toilets in their home first. However, the order was later withdrawn. Under the SBM, the central and the state governments provide subsidy to rural households for construction of individual toilets. Households under the below poverty line (BPL) category, or scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the above poverty line (APL) category, small and marginal farmers, and households headed by women can avail of the subsidy. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) completes three years on October 2, Rajasthan is racing against time to make its rural area open defecation free (ODF) in another 365 days --- a target that once seemed both unrealistic and unachievable. Sixty-seven per cent of the gram panchayats in the state have been declared ODF. In terms of toilets in rural households, the state stands at 10th position in India. On urban front, however, the progress is a little slow with 6% of the cities being declared ODF Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched SBM on October 2, 2014 with an aim to eliminate open defecation by 2019. The mission works in two components: rural and urban. In the rural areas, focus is on construction and use of toilets, and in the urban, apart from toilets, the objective is also to collect and dispose of waste. In last three years in Rajasthan, 1,93,447 toilets have been constructed in 191 cities and 66,28,849 in villages. In urban areas, 4,640 community and public toilets were constructed, 11 cities were declared ODF, and 3885 wards achieved 100% door-to-door waste collection. In rural areas 6,597 gram panchayat and 27,720 villages self declared ODF. Six districts in state Pali, Jhunjhunu, Churu, Chittorgarh, Hanumangarh, and Ajmer have been declared ODF after having achieved 100% coverage. The bottom five districts with lowest household toilet coverage are Karauli, Pratapgarh, Tonk, Bharatpur and Barmer. To achieve SBM targets, the state government has introduced policy interventions such as by amending the Panchayati Raj Act through an ordinance in December 2014 and making mandatory the use of household toilet by all family members of aspiring candidates of panchayat elections. Similarly, the state also made it mandatory for all government employees, including those working on honorarium and contract basis, to have and use toilets at home. State panchayati raj minister Rajendra Rathore said Rajasthan is making fast progress towards achieving the ODF targets six districts has so far been declared ODF, while 10 more would be given the status by December this year. Of the 9,891 gram panchayats in the state, 6,375 have been declared ODF, Rathore said, adding that in 2014 budget, chief minister Vasundhara Raje had set the target to put the state on the top of the table in sanitation by 2018. Speaking during an event this month, UNICEFs Chief Field Officer Dr Isabelle Bardem had said that sanitation was not just related to cleanliness but to womens dignity also. Rajasthan has made major progress in under five mortality rate, education and sanitation. I have worked in many countries, but has never seen such rapid progress in sanitation, like in Rajasthan, she had said. Bardem said the baseline survey of 2012 showed that only 27.3% rural population in state had access to toilets, which has increased to 87% now. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Health minister Kali Charan Saraf on Monday flagged off seven mobile dental vans at a state-level health promotion programme. He said that these dental mobile vans will be placed in seven divisional headquarters Ajmer, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur. In the last three years, under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), more than 1.43 lakh children were found to have dental problems, which was 20% of the total children suffering from various ailments. These children were referred to the district hospitals, as in many primary and community health centres, there are no dentists and even if a dentist is present often there are no chairs and other equipment. The mobile vans were planned keeping in mind these problems. Dental problems require frequent follow-up and it is difficult for these children to go to district hospitals from their villages. Saraf said that these mobile dental vans will go to various areas and treat children with dental problems. GVK Telangana will maintain mobile dental vans at Bharatpur, Bikaner and Udaipur divisions, while Maharaja Dental College will maintain the van at Jaipur division, Vyas Dental College at Jodhpur division and Santokba Durlabji hospital will maintain the vans at Ajmer and Kota divisions. The health minister also launched e-nirman software and released its logo. The software will help monitor construction works done under national health mission (NHM), including its implementation, progress and even payment to the contractors made in a transparent manner. He said this software will prove helpful for the civil engineering wing of NHM. Saraf also felicitated 33 mothers, three from each of 11 milk banks the first donor, mothers who had donated milk for the maximum number of times and mothers who had donated maximum milk. He said seven new milk banks will be started soon. People who have done commendable work in Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana (BSBY) were also felicitated at the function. Saraf said that BSBY was started in the state on December 13, 2015, in which one crore families under National Food Security Act and Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana were provided health insurance cover for select diseases 30,000 for general diseases and up to 3 lakh for serious diseases. Private doctors extending their services to the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matratva Abhiya were also felicitated at the event. Principal secretary health Veenu Gupta, National Health Mission chief Naveen, director public health Dr VK Mathur, director reproductive and child health Dr SM Mittal, state advisor to mother milk bank Devendra Agarwal and others were present on this occasion. The festive season has begun and Vimla Devis 22-year-old daughter Mina has come visiting. Mina is married in Jaipur. Convincing her husband Suresh to take the trip to her parental house at a village in Jhothwara, a suburban area of Jaipur, was a tough task Even Vimla was not very hopeful that Suresh, a private employee in the state capital, would let Mina visit her. No, there are no differences between the two families. Suresh loves and respects his in-laws. It is just that he hates the fact that Mina, when she visits her parental house, has to go out in the open to relieve herself. Vimlas house has a toilet, built months ago under Swacch Bharat Mission (SBM), but it is not functional. Situated in a corner of the courtyard, the toilet has no doors. The pot has been put under cover, using a plastic sack. The 3ft X5ft room itself is now a store housing brooms, firewood, cans and other such knickknack. The routine is fixed for Vimla, her daughter-in-law and Mina, whenever she come visiting: Wake up early in the morning, preferably before 4 am, shuffle to the farthest green cover or field, attend to the natures call in the natures lap, and shuffle back --- all before the first rays of sun start filtering in. Why wouldnt Vimla use the toilet at her home that was constructed around a year ago? We will start using it soon after the pit is constructed and the door is put up, Vimla says. Her family hasnt set deadlines for any of the two tasks. As this correspondent interacts with several others, a narrative develops. For most, it is a case of old habits dying hard. We have no problems (defecating in open), says Pushpa Devi. The toilet at her house has been turned into a store-room with a trunk being firmly parked atop the pot. This toilet at a village in the outskirts of Jaipur is being used to store fodder. (Himanshu Vyas/HT Photo) Nathu, a tea stall owner at Jhotwaras Manda village explains. Men here prefer defecating in the open, though women have started using toilets. Few days ago, the block development officer (BDO) and other panchayat members caught 10-15 people during a routine morning inspection. They counselled the villagers, but people do not understand, says Nathu Several locals also cite water shortage. We are facing water shortage and have to depend on the water tankers. Water tankers cost around Rs 500 per trip. When drinking water is such an issue, from where shall we manage water for toilets, asks Babulal, another Manda village resident. Harji Bunkar, a labourer has a different story to tell. He lives in a bamboo house but has a concrete toilet. It has been one year since he constructed the toilet and is still waiting for Rs 12,000 promised by the government under Swachh Bharat Mission. I want to use the toilet, but I do not have the money to install a water tank atop the toilet. I can do so only after I get the government funds, Bunkar says. Jhotwara, an assembly constituency, has 18 gram panchayats and 65 revenue villages all declared open defecation free (ODF) in October 2016. BDO Pinky Sharma accepts that the constituency is ODF, but adds that people need to change their habits. We are making all efforts and have initiated many programmes such as street plays, rath yatra and ratri chaupal to convince them to use the toilets. In addition, regular morning inspections are conducted, the BDO says. The BDO says that they even conducted an election at schools where children cast their vote on whether to use toilet at home or not. Children were then motivated to counsel their parents against defecating in the open. Sharma says it has taken some time but the mindset of the people is now changing. On water crisis, the BDO accepts that Jhotwara falls in the dark zone but adds that it cannot be an excuse for not using toilets. We will identify areas with such problems and if required, with the help of gram panchayats, well provide water tankers and simultaneously also look for a permanent solution, she adds. (Some names changed on request to protect identity.) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON At a time when administrators were losing sleep to pre-empt trouble between communities by demarcating separate routes for Durga immersion and Muharram processions and planning elaborate police deployments, the residents of a remote village in West Bengal could well set an example in the state and beyond. On Sunday, at Sunur, a village about 125 km from Kolkata, drummers of a local Durga puja beat the drums for a Muharram procession, when those hired for the tazia procession did not turn up. Read: Tragedy strikes Muharram processions, 4 electrocuted, 27 hurt as Tazias hit power cables This was the lone community Durga puja in the village and the procession passed in front of the pandal. Sunur is a small village where most of the residents are dependent on agriculture for a living. The village has about 800 inhabitants, and most are Hindus. However, some of the surrounding villages are dominated by Muslims. For the past couple of decades women of the village observe fast till the Muharram procession passes through. The women also offer puja when the processions are held and break their fast only after the ritual. The procession was supposed to start on Sunday afternoon. But when the organisers could not find drummers and the event was getting late, the Hindu drummers hired for Durga puja came to the rescue. Read: Communal clashes erupt in Kanpur during Tazia procession, 30 injured This is the first year when Hindus beat the drums of Muharram processions in the village, said locals. In our village we celebrate all religious programmes together. Members of the Muslim community join us in Durga puja. The women folk of Hindu households also observe a fast on Muharram till they offer puja after the procession. There is nothing wrong for us to beat drums for tazia processions. If needed, we will so again in future, said Dilip Ganguly, secretary of the Sunur Ghugia Sarbajanin Durga Puja Committee. We are not interested in petty politics centering religion. We live here unitedly, said Sheikh Israil, a village, who is also a member of the Durga puja committee, told HT. Every year Muslims participate in the Durga puja and also raise subscriptions for the festivities. This year, several Muharram committees in a few districts such as East Midnapore and Birbhum decided to organise the processions without sharp weapons to ensure communal harmony is not disturbed during the festive season. Dashami and Muharram fell on successive days on September 30 and October. A judicial committee constituted by Banaras Hindu University to probe the violence and baton-charging on students on varsity premises, started probe on Monday. Anyone wishing to provide any evidence or information to committee headed by justice (retd) VK Dikshit may do so at LD guest house at 11 am on Tuesday, BHU spokesperson Dr Rajesh Singh said. Electronic evidence or of any other sort may be presented before the committee, he said. The varsity administration constituted the committee after a police crackdown on protesters demanding action on a complaint of molestation by a hosteller. Several students, mostly women, were wounded in the unrest. BHU administration also created a right to administration portal for students to register complaints. Complaints registered on the portal will be addressed quickly, BHU spokesperson Dr Rajesh Singh said. Girl students may register their complaints on 8004922000 and 0542-2369134, besides contacting the chief proctor on her mobile. The university administration has taken a number of steps to step up security of the girls on the premises. District administration officials, including district magistrate Yogeshwar Ram Mishra, senior superintendent of police RK Bhardwaj held a meeting with the varsity officials, including Neeraj Tripathi, chief proctor Prof Royana Singh and dean students welfare Prof MK Singh to draw a security plan on campus on Tuesday. SSP Singh said cops in plain clothes will remain deployed at the gates. Besides, female security personnel and intelligence sleuths will be present on the premises. Random checking of vehicles would also be carried out. Moreover, BHU vice chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi has gone home for personal reasons, triggering a buzz that his leave could be indefinite, but the administration said he will be back when the institute reopens after the Dussehra break on Tuesday. Tripathi is accused of mishandling the situation and his annual leave around this time of the year triggered talks that he might not return. The VC left for his home in Allahabad on Sunday morning. After fasting for nine days during Navratra, he breaks his fast at his home. He is most likely to return by late Monday night, spokesperson Singh said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A man tried to set himself afire near Padma Shri intersection, in the vicinity of Prime Minister Narendra Modis public relations office at Varanasi, to demand reservations for the poor on Monday. Police foiled his bid and took him into custody on charges of attempted suicide. Sources identified the man as Avinash Anand, a former student union leader who believes in quota based on economic status instead of caste. He leads a group of likeminded youngsters in the district, called the Arthik Adharit Arakashan Samaj. Police said it began when Anand and a number of other protesters launched a march from Ravidas Gate in Lanka area. However, police stopped them at Padma Shri intersection and tried convincing them to halt their march. Even as they were conversing, Anand suddenly doused himself with fuel and lit a match. However, police promptly extinguished the flames managing to limit the damage to a burn on his right hand. Anand was then rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was declared out of danger. Four other youngsters were also arrested on charges of violating the prohibitory orders imposed under section 144 of the CrPC in the district. They were identified as Gaurish Singh, Devendra Singh, Ashu and Harendra Kumar. Gaurish Singh said they had taken out the protest march in an attempt to make the government implement reservations based on economic status. However, some anti-social elements tried to disrupt their peaceful exercise by throwing stones, he added. VARANASI: Six people were injured and four two wheelers set on fire when people of two communities clashed following rumours of stone pelting on a Tazia procession brought out during Muharram in Uttar Pradeshs Ballia on Sunday evening, police said. According to police the communal clash erupted when Tazias were passing from Jalpa Chowk near Rasidia Masjid at the districts Sikandarpur town. As the rumour of stone pelting on the procession spread, two communities confronted each other and hurled brickbats. In the muddle, unidentified anti-social elements attacked people with sharp-edged weapons, injuring six. They also set on fire two bikes and two bicycles. Sikandarpur is the second UP town after Kanpur tio witness violence during Tazia procession taken out on the occasion of Muharram, commemorating the death of Imam Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of prophet Muhammad. Clashes in Kanpur left nearly 30 people, including five policemen, injured while nearly 10 vehicles and four shops were either set afire or ransacked. Police resorted to mild cane charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. Commissioner Ravindra Naik and deputy inspector general of police Vijay Bhushan along with heavy police force also rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control. Section 144 has been imposed in the town and heavy police force has been deployed, to prevent any further flare-ups. Injured were rushed to a nearby government hospital. The DIG said efforts were being made to track down the rumour mongers, and strict action would be taken against those who tried to breach the peace. Situation is completely under control. Heavy police force has been deployed in the town. Cops on duty have been instructed to keep a strict vigil in the area during night, the DIG added. Nabbing a man who was acting suspiciously at Borivli station helped the police discover a gang who travels from Meerut to Mumbai every Monday only to snatch phones from railway commuters. The Borivli government railway police (GRP) arrested Mohammed Shahbad Khan, 26, when they saw him putting his arm into a commuters pocket during the peak hour on Friday. He could not provide a satisfactory explanation for his behaviour, said police. On searching him, police found two more mobile phones. During interrogation, Khan told the police he was part of a four-member gang. He led the police to his Vasai house, where they found 39 phones that the gang had robbed. Police said the gang would take advantage of crowded trains and snatch phones from people who were alighting or walking towards foot over bridges. The police are now on the hunt for the other three gang members. Earlier, the Mumbai Central GRP had arrested three men who robbed commuters by pretending to be devotees returning from Siddhivinayak temple. On August 1, Sunil Bhaskar Gavkar, 29, who is a supervisor at a private company living at Dadar railway rest house, was travelling in the luggage compartment with his colleague, Sushant Das. The two boarded the Mahim-bound train at Matunga. As the train left the station, the three attacked Gavkar and began bullying him. They assaulted him and snatched his mobile phone and wallet that had Rs16,800. When Gavkar resisted, the three pushed him off the train. As it had slowed down while entering Mahim station, Gavkar was not seriously injured even though he fell on the tracks, said a GRP official. In the first six months on 2017, around 3,450 cases of mobile phone thefts were reported in the citys suburban trains. This is alarming compared 939 cases of mobile phone thefts reported between Churchgate and Dahanu Road during the same period last year. GRP officials said they were patrolling all major platforms with loudspeakers to spread awareness. They have also instructed commuters to hold their bags close to the chest. More 6 lakh people commute by trains daily, of which 90% carry a hand bag, purse or backpack. Police said a theft is most likely to occur if the commuters bag is on his back rather than close to his chest. After a two-night-long journey from Nepal to Mumbai, family members of Tilakram Teli , who died in the Elphinstone bridge stampede on September 29, reached KEM Hospital on Monday morning to claim his body. His was the last of the 23 bodies to be claimed by the family members, said officials at the hospitals mortuary. For the past 15 years, Teli, 37, lived in Dadar and worked as a porter on the Virar-Churchgate route. Elphinstone Road station was his regular stop, said a co-worker while waiting outside the hospitals mortuary as Telis family completed formalities to claim his body. Last rites were performed on Teli at Bhoiwada crematorium on Monday evening. A day earlier, Teli had spoken to his 35-year-old wife over the phone. He told me that he had a lot of work, so we couldnt talk much, said Bindrawati. She added that the family has been experiencing financial woes over the past few years. I sometimes do farming to make some money. But we mainly survived on the money Teli earned in Mumbai. His nephew Dilip Teli said, He would come home to Nepal once or twice a year to ensure that the family had enough ration until his next visit. Teli had returned to the city from Nepal 20 days before the incident, said his sister-in-law. His children two daughters and two sons are all under the age of 10 and are in Nepal. They still dont know about their fathers death, Bindrawati said. While many of the injured were discharged from the hospital on Monday, 19 are still undergoing treatment at the hospital. Dr Harish Pathak, head of forensic medicine, KEM hospital, said the autopsy revealed that most victims died of traumatic asphyxia, a condition in which the body is deprived of oxygen because of the compression of the chest. The Gamdevi police station in south Mumbai completes 100 years this year. Right from the Quit India movement to several recent cases of theft and murder, the police station has seen it all. The officials posted at the police station, which was established in 1917 at Grant Road (East), now are tracing information and people who were associated with its long standing history. We are trying to track some of the revolutionaries who had been imprisoned in our lock up during the independence struggle, said an official. They plan to host a function at the station premises to celebrate the historic movement. The Gamdevi police station was one of the most important stations during the pre-independence period, because senior imperial officers of the British era lived in their jurisdiction which covered the Malabar hill area and Chowpatty. Currently, the areas under the jurisdiction of Gamdevi police station include Bandstand, Grant Road Railway station, the area around Breach Candy and the Altamount Road area - all of which are considered to be up market SoBo. The historic Mani Bhavan, which was the focal point of Mahatma Gandhis political activities, is barely a 100 meters away from the station. The officials of Gamdevi police station were part of the force that had lathi charged and used tear gas on the revolutionaries at August Kranti Maidan , where Gandhi had delivered the Quit India speech in August 1942. Historian Deepak Rao, 68, said, As part of the Police Accommodation Scheme for modern Bombay 1909, the station was among the first police stations to have accommodation for its men behind the police station, so that in case of an emergency, officials can reach the station quickly. Hours before President Ram Nath Kovind declared urban Maharashtra open defecation free (ODF) at an event in Worli on Sunday, HT photographers found evidence to the contrary at Mankhurd, Shanti Nagar in Wadala, the Mahim railway track, Antop Hill, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mahim Causeway, and Somaiya Ground in Sion. HT photographers visited these spots between 6.43 am and 8.20 am and found that it was business as usual. Scores of men could be seen defecating in the open, some carried cans of water. Earlier too such claims had been exposed. Then the BMC had claimed that the areas under its jurisdiction were free of open defecation and that it happened only on Railway and central government land. But on Sunday morning, open defecation was on even in areas under the BMC. Heres what HT photographers saw at Versova Beach at 6.34am on Sunday. (Shashi S Kashyap/HT) At Sundays function, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was at pains to clarify that the state could become free of open defecation only when people changed their habits. Why is the state government in hurry to declare its ODF status? Even a simple walk around the city, without any expert surveyors, will be enough to refute this claim. The declaration is a PR exercise, said GR Vora, member, F/North citizen Federation. The Centre revalidated Mumbais status as an ODF city on Thursday. Earlier, the Quality Council of India (QCI), a government regulator, certified the financial capital as ODF in 2016 and 2017, leading to objections from activists and residents, who said the city has a long way to go. They added that incidents of open defecation are neither rare, nor limited to certain areas. This scene, captured at Mahim causeway at 7.40 am on Sunday is not uncommon (Vijayanand Gupta/HT) While activists said the toilets being built do not have any obvious shortcomings, a lot more needs to be done. Things have improved over the past year, but the city is nowhere close to being ODF. In addition to building new toilets in slums, the civic body also needs to audit the old public toilets, as many in the areas such as Mankhurd and Govandi are in a precarious condition, said Mumtaz Shaikh, activist from Right to Pee. However, civic officials maintain that the city deserves its status, saying they have adhered to all the guidelines specified by the QCI. Opposition members in the civic body, however, criticised the government over the issue. QCI guidelines All households that have space to construct a toilet must have one All occupants of households that do not have space to construct toilets have access to a community toilet within 500 meters. All commercial areas have public toilets within 1 km. City has a mechanism in place through which fines are imposed on people found defecating in the open This revalidation shows how frivolous this exercise is. The Maharashtra government should tell us whether they really want all the cities to be ODF, or whether this status is only undertaken to boost Swachh Bharat Abhiyan statistics and earn praise for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government? asked Ravi Raja, Opposition leader in BMC. There are currently 7,415 toilets across Mumbai, in addition 4,000-plus new public toilets are being constructed in the city. The civic body also installed 800 mobile toilet seats at 95 locations, for which it spent Rs3 crore in April. The state governments Swachh Bharat mission report, however, shows the BMC in the bottom five civic corporations, in terms of building toilets. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A four-year-old boy in Kandivli died on Saturday night after he accidentally swallowed a toy that came free in a packet of chips. The boys parents said they could not reach the nearest hospital in time owing to the traffic jams cause by Durga procession in the area. Forensic experts who investigated the case said the toy got stuck in Piyush Khushwahas windpipe, which obstructed airflow and resulted in asphyxiation. We found the toy stuck inside the trachea (windpipe) of the child, with complete obstruction of the airflow to the lungs, said the expert. Piyushs father Birju said his son would have turned five in December. He had a lot of fun because we took him to local fairs and Durga Puja pandals. We were returning from one such fair on Saturday when he asked for a packet of chips, said Birju. He said Piyush was unattended only for ten minutes. It was a spring toy, which went off and got stuck inside his throat. He couldnt speak at all. For five minutes, we tried everything we could to help him cough out the toy. However, we rushed to the nursing home after our attempts failed, Birju added. But the Khushwahas could not find an autorickshaw owing to the Durga procession at Kurar village, Kandivli. Birju said the nearest nursing home was 3km away from their home. I carried him [Piyush] in my arms and ran through the traffic. It took us 20 minutes to reach the nursing home. The doctors, after checking him, referred us to Sanjivani Hospital. Doctors there told us he wasnt breathing. But we had not our hope and took him to Shatabdi Hospital, Birju said. A doctor from Shatabdi Hospital said they could not do much, as Piyushs windpipe was completely blocked and caused suffocation. In such cases, many a time there is a partial obstruction or the foreign object enters the intestine. Unfortunately, in Piyushs case, there was a complete obstruction of the airway, which needed immediate paramedic assistance within 5-10 minutes of the incident, the doctor said. Toys can kill How to protect children from dangerous toys/ parts: Always read the age-specifications on the packaging while buying a toy Children between the age of six months and three years are more likely to swallow objects/toys/parts Do not handover toys with small, removable parts to the children or ensure they are supervised while playing If a packet of chips is offering small toys, temporary tattoos and so on, first remove the object before handing over the packet to the child If the child is coughing, but is still able to breathe and make noise, let him or her try to cough out the object on its own Dont interfere by raising arms or patting the back If the child is unable to expel the object, do not try home remedies Immediately take him to a doctor or a trained paramedic What is asphyxiation? Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from abnormal breathing. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalised hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can induce asphyxia, all of which are characterised by an inability of an individual to acquire sufficient oxygen through breathing for an extended period of time. Asphyxia can cause coma or death. PHILADELPHIA Federal immigration officials say 107 people were arrested in Philadelphia as part of a nationwide sweep focusing on what they called "sanctuary" jurisdictions, which limit local authorities' cooperation in immigration investigations. In a news release Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said that the four-day operation netted 498 people wanted for immigration violations. Of those, 317 had criminal convictions. The release says a citizen of the Dominican Republic who entered the country illegally and had been convicted on firearms charges was among those arrested in Philadelphia. Officials say he had previously been arrested by local police, but was released before ICE could take custody. ICE acting Director Tom Homan said local policies of noncooperation create magnets for illegal immigration, forcing the agency to use more resources in those communities. As a student of biotechnology, Rupesh Gawde, 26, would spend most of his time in Devbagh, a biodiversity park in Kandivli created by the husband-wife team of Afzal and Nusrat Khatri, documenting species of birds and butterflies. Now a junior research fellow at National Institute of Advanced Studies, Gawde has studied about 33 species of birds and 37 butterflies present in the park as a part of his bachelors and masters course. The number of butterflies and birds is a bio indicator when one wants to understand the conservation of biodiversity in an area, said Gawde. The park, developed by the Khatris, had around 60 species of birds and butterflies in 2013, when Gawde started his study there. While I was studying in Chinai College (Andheri) during my bachelors, I came across this initiative by the Khatris, and I was quite keen to conduct a study, said Gawde. The passion for documentation of species in the park would get him to Mumbai from Pune every weekend. At that point of time, he was studying the mutual relationship between ants and plants. He had learnt that an ant protects plants and receives nectar in return. However, he noticed a contradictory pattern in case of Clerodendrum chimense (Hazari mogra) in the park. He says that his research paper was later selected by a university in France, but he couldnt attend the seminar. While he was carrying out his study, he also came across the once-endangered Glory lily, which is one of the costliest flowers in the black market. Gawde also added that the space is rich in flora and fauna because the area was once a part of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). I documented some of the birds such as the Indian pitta, orange-headed thrush and green bee-eater, which can be only found in forests, said Gawde. However, he is saddened by the fact that the residents around are not really concerned about conserving the biodiversity in the area. Speaking about the park, Nusrat said that when they started clearing the area in 2007, they didnt expect that a junkyard would house various rare species such the wood spider, signature spider, atlas mot, owl mot and vailed fungi, among others. She also went on to add that they have now managed to conserve around 2,000 different species. It is because the biodiversity in the park is protected, that you notice that the temperature in this area is four-five degrees lower than other areas, Nusrat said. Siddharth college at Hutatma Chowk has complained that its building has been damaged by the ongoing construction of the underground Metro-3 [Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ]. The college management has written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, asking him to stop the work on the Metro line which passes in front of the college building on DN Road, Fort. The letter, which was sent to Fadnavis along with signatures of more than 100 staff, mentions fissures in the walls and pillars, crumbling plaster on ceilings and cracks in the basement. Life of thousands of students and staff is in danger here and despite repeated complaints about this problem to the authorities, no action has been taken as yet. My last resort was to reach out to the CM, said Umaji Maske, principal of the college. The letter also mentions how the college building, known as Anand Bhavan, is a Grade II heritage structure and work on the underground Metro line has affected the foundation of the building. The college was founded in 1956 by Peoples Education Society, a trust founded by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution. Apart from the damage to the building, teachers have y complained about constant noise of drilling that affects regular classes. How are we to conduct classes when theres so much noise through the day. On some days even the ground vibrates because of the drilling work which is when we have vacated classrooms to avoid any untoward incidents, added Maske. The letter has also been marked to other authorities, including the Ministry of Urban Development, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), BMC as well as the city mayor. This is not the first time that the institute complained to authorities. Previously, following complaints by the institute, a team of experts were sent to the institute to check for structural damage to the college building if any, and the report was always clear. They never checked classrooms in our basement and ignored the cracks on the walls completely. We cannot endanger the lives of thousands of students and staff because of the apathy of officials, said Maske. Vibration levels are substantially lower than permissible levels and construction activities are carried out following requisite safety norms and no building at DN road is at risk. Further, we havent received any such notification from the college authorities. The college authorities can reach out to us for any clarifications, said spokesperson from MMRC. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A college identity card left behind at the scene of the crime helped the Bandra government railway police (GRP) nab a 26-year-old man for allegedly molesting a 21-year-old woman on Friday. The woman is an intern at a private firm in Bandra (East). She told police she alighted from a fast train on platform 4 and was walking on the foot over bridge around 8.45 pm when a man grabbed her from behind. I turned around in shock, and saw him staring at me. I slapped him hard, following which he fled, reads the FIR filed under section 354 A (punishment for sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code. While fleeing, the man dropped his bag, which the woman picked up. She gave it to the police. We found his college ID in his bag and used it to track him down, an official from the Bandra GRP. The accused, Mohammad Nadeem Shaikh, 26, is a resident of Anandnagar in Mahim. Police laid a trap outside his house and arrested him around 9 pm on Saturday. Two people died and one was injured in an accident on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway on Sunday morning. The victims, Swapna Vivek Markande, 62, and her son, Suyog Markande, 32, died while Suyogs father, Vivek Markande, 65, suffered a head injury and is admitted in Kasa government hospital. The car, which was driven by Suyog, was overspeeding and feel 25m into the Surya river after colliding with the divider on the bridge. At 6.30am on Sunday, the car was going towards Kopar Khairane from Surat, when Suyog lost control of the vehicle. The car crashed into a divider and fell into the Surya river flowing under the bridge, said API Jayprakash Gute from Kasa police station. Since was little traffic on that particular stretch, Suyog was speeding. There is a three lane bridge which narrows down to a two lane, but the driver misjudged the diversion, which led to the accident, he added. A case has been registered against Suyog under Section 304 (a) (negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Recently, India branded Pakistan Terroristan. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj told the UN that Pakistan, as the worlds pre-eminent terror export factory, has just one national accomplishment to boast of. Yet New Delhi is loath to back its words with even modest action, such as downsizing Pakistans bloated, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)-infested high commission in New Delhi, withdrawing the unilaterally granted Most Favoured Nation status, leveraging the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), or halting the barter trade across the Line of Control (LoC) that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has identified as financing terrorism. Despite playing to the gallery at home, India has done nothing to treat Pakistan as a terrorist nation. Indeed, behind its rhetoric, India pursues a cautious approach. Successive governments have shied away from slapping sanctions of any kind on Pakistan, yet not been coy to press other powers and the United Nations for sanctions. India seems reluctant not just to back words with action but also to back words with just words on some issues. Take Balochistan, Pakistans Achilles heel which is becoming the new East Pakistan because of military killings and mass graves. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised Balochistan in his Independence Day speech in 2016, it seemed to signal an important policy shift. Yet India has remained conspicuously silent on the Balochistan issue. Even as Pakistan uses fake photographs to peddle a false narrative on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India is unwilling to spotlight the brutal Pakistani campaign against the Baloch people. Another example is Indias rhetorical stance that the only outstanding issue on J&K relates to the part occupied by Pakistan. Other than slamming Chinas One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative for infringing its sovereignty, India has said precious little to show that it is serious about its claim to that occupied region. It has actually kept quiet on matters of substance, including Chinas new dam and other strategic projects in Pakistan-held J&K. Had China been in Indias place, it would have raised a hue and cry over each and every project. As for lack of Indian action, look no further than the IWT issue. Modi vowed that blood and water cannot flow together. But instead of action, what has followed is visible backsliding from reviving the suspended Permanent Indus Commission to allowing the partisan World Bank to insert itself as a mediator between India and Pakistan. The IWT grants the World Bank no mediatory role. Such mediation, besides setting a dangerous precedent, breaches Indias traditional policy of not allowing a third party to intercede in bilateral disputes. Worse still, the Modi-appointed committee of secretaries on the Indus waters has fallen by the wayside, with not a single new project launched. On the issue of cross-border terrorism, Modi, after the deadly attacks that followed his surprise Lahore visit, sought to salvage his credibility by launching a cross-LoC surgical strike on militant launch pads. But it was always clear that such a limited, one-off operation by itself would not be able to tame Pakistan. The surgical strike was followed by a terror attack on yet another military base. India must mount sustained pressure to keep Pakistan off balance and deny it room to pursue its strategy of seeking to inflict death by a thousand cuts. The battle against Pakistans State terrorism is Indias fight alone. Why would the United States designate Pakistan a terrorist State when the main victim of Pakistan-scripted terror, India, is reluctant to impose any sanctions on its scofflaw neighbour? Indeed, the NDA government persuaded Rajeev Chandrasekhar to withdraw his private members bill in Rajya Sabha for declaring Pakistan a terrorism sponsor. New Delhi is even unwilling to declare the rogue ISI a terrorist organisation. Actually, in a stunning display of naivete, India hosted an ISI-linked Pakistani team at Pathankot so that it could probe the attack ISI orchestrated there. The plain fact is that India is all talk when it comes to imposing costs on Terroristan next door. India is not the UN that can remain content with all talk and no action. Words not backed by action carry unquantifiable costs. They not only affect Indias credibility but also undermine its deterrent posture. Isnt it telling that Pakistan continues to gore India although it is seven times smaller demographically, eight times lesser in terms of GDP, and militarily weaker? Such aggression is the bitter fruit of Indias all-talk-no-action approach under successive governments. It is still not late to reverse course. The best actions to deter a congenitally hostile foe will be those that speak for themselves. Brahma Chellaney is a geostrategist and author The views expressed are personal The plight of women theyre women, not girls, not children (bacche), theyre adult women in universities across the country, like in Banaras Hindu University, is becoming increasingly worrying. Purportedly for their own safety, they must stay indoors after 6 pm, not be seen talking on the phone, not eat non-vegetarian food, not go to the library at night, and never ever meet boys who are not related to them. (...Unless, of course, a male related to the woman decides that she must marry and know intimately some random stranger, in which case she will immediately have been assumed to have consented to ceding ownership of her body and her life! to this random stranger.) In Jamia Millia Islamia, if a woman wants to stay out of her hostel at night, her father, because mothers are easily manipulated (Im not being sarcastic. This is the actual reason given!) must send a text message to the hostel warden giving his consent for his daughters night out. Unsurprisingly, this rule does not apply to men. This is, of course, for the safety of the girls. By this logic, prisoners in jails are the best taken care of people in the country. Because theyre constantly under surveillance, are not allowed to roam around freely in public spaces, must wear the stipulated uniform, meet people only by express permission of the warden (is it a coincidence that prisons and hostels are both cared for by people known as wardens?) and do exactly as they are told or face punishments. The vice-chancellor of BHU, while paternalistically talking down to female students who thought it was terrible that they were being sexually harassed on campus, said indignantly that by talking openly about sexual harassment, they have put their modesty in the market. This understanding of what the modesty of a woman should be is deeply problematic, and a classic example of victim shaming. By focussing on the modesty of the woman, she has been forced into a position of defence, where she must now explain how she isnt putting her modesty in the market (whatever that might mean). The point has now successfully been diverted from what the man did to what the woman should have done. The harasser, the criminal is no longer the subject of the conversation. Soon, he will vanish from our consciousness and all that will remain will be the noise this immodest woman made. That this is an accepted discourse in the public sphere should not come as a surprise. It is only a continuation of that which is happening inside homes. The way female students are treated in universities is what women are treated like inside their homes as well. They have curfews, are not allowed the same freedoms as their male counterparts, must dress with modesty, sit properly, eat like a lady, not be loud, not chat with boys,...... This is why parents are not protesting against the locking up of their daughters in hostels. In fact, they appreciate it. Because of the safety angle. This is the angle that encourages a paternalistic university system where the administration is more a patriarchal father figure rather than a facilitator of learning and experimentation. We arent sending our youth to college to learn; we are sending them there simply because it is what is expected of us or we hope it could help them earn money. This restrictive atmosphere in universities wont help build an enlightened and forward thinking next generation. It will only lead to a society of unthinking rule-followers who will not question authority and challenge the status quo. A university must necessarily be a space of freedom in thought and action a space in which students, irrespective of gender, are free to meet, interact, and figure out things for themselves. Administrators should be encouraging students to be politically conscious and to take an interest in the way things are run in their immediate environments, and not the opposite. What sort of democratic society can we expect to live in if we discourage our students from taking part in democratic institutions? Freedom, democracy, and equality must be the cornerstones of education. Imprisoning a set of students in hostels with oppressive rules and clamping down violently on their right to protest cannot be allowed to become normalised. Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high/ Where knowledge is free... wrote Rabindranath Tagore, ...Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. That is all that the women of our universities seek. @vidyathinks SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Even as concerns are being raised by commuters about the chaotic situation on the existing pedestrian bridge at Pune railway station, particularly against the backdrop of the tragedy at Elphinstone railway station, there are no signs that a new bridge will be ready soon. According to railway officials, the new foot overbridge (FOB) being constructed on the Raja Bahadur Mill road side will be ready only by the next financial year, as lack of funds has delayed the work. According to the Railway Construction Department, the new bridge will be parallel to the old bridge and six metres wide. The stampede at the FOB at Elphinstone station in Mumbai on Friday claimed 23 lives and injured 38. Following the tragedy, commuters in Pune also raised their concerned about the bridge. The main foot overbridge (FOB) at the Pune junction, built in 1856 and extended in 1926, sees an average of one lakh of commuters using it per day. This FOB begins at the main entrance and is the only FOB connecting the six platforms, as well as to the exit on the rear end of the station, near the Raja Rao Bahadur Mills road. The Pune junction has 160 regular trains, as well as weekly trains arriving and departing throughout the day. To help facilitate commuters, the Railways built two FOBS - one (connecting parcel office on platform number one to all the stations, 10 metres wide) in 2007 and the other, in 2015 (connecting platform number one to platform number two and three, 10 metres wide), but both remain under-utilised. People should use all the three FOBs. We find that a lot of people tend to wait on the old FOB, some even squat with their luggage which causes maximum crowd on the bridge. We have observed that during the 3.30 pm to 7 pm slot, there is a lot of crowd, so as a precautionary measure, we have two railway protection force personnel (RPF) who make sure that no one waits on the bridge, public relations officer, (Pune division), Manoj Jhawar, says. He adds, We frequently announce about the other FOBs and we have indicators showing where these FOBs are. We already have a plan and we have installed CCTVs in 2015 where the RPF man these operations, carefully, round the clock. We have RPF constables who control the crowd as well. One of the links of the CCTV is also monitored by the additional divisional regional manager, who is well aware of what is happening on the platforms. A new Skywalk will also be built to connect the existing three FOBs. We are also planning to build a new escalator leading to the new FOB on the Raja Rao Bahadur Mills side, near the divisional managers office. Also platform numbers two, three, four, five and six will also soon see a new elevator in place in next seven months. We understand that senior citizens find it difficult to walk the length of the railway platform and we intend to make it more commuter friendly, Jhawar says. Have you ever wondered what happens to syringes or blood-soaked cotton swabs? Where do amputated human parts, used blood bags and other infectious biomedical waste go? Daily, over 1,680kg biomedical waste that goes into incinerators is produced in the citys health centres; all of it is destroyed in the two incinerators installed at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16. However, over two decades old, these incinerators are way past their shelf lives and can stop functioning any time. Two were installed at PGIMER in 1997; one at GMSH-16 in 2000. They have a shelf life of 10 years. At PGIMER, only one works at a time along with the incinerator at GMSH-16. But those installed at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, and Manimajra civil hospital do not work anymore. How waster is segregated The waste that goes into these incinerators is the most infectious and harmful among all the four categories of biomedical waste. It includes human and animal remains such as amputated parts, foetuses, items contaminated with blood or bodily fluids and chemical waste. Over 1.4 lakh kg of biomedical waste is generated at PGIMER on a monthly basis. Of this, nearly 23,032kg is packed into yellow bags. The waste is segregated at the source into four categories. Highly infectious waste such as human flesh and other blood-soaked items go into yellow bags. Glass and sharp-edged material is put into blue bags. Plastic material such as vials, glucose bottles and blood packets are packed into red bags and non- infectious waste such as paper and dust is collected in black bags. The waste packed into yellow bags is so dangerous that even workers are not allowed to open them and these are thrown directly into incinerators and burnt to ashes. No one is stopping PGIMER from upgrading the incinerators. They should go ahead. Who is stopping them? If they want to dismantle the old one and install a new one at the same place, where is the problem? I think they are just making excuses. Incinerators running on jugaad In 1996, PGIMER got consent from CPCC (Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee) to install two incinerators for 15 years. These two were purchased in 1997. Their shelf life was only 10 years which ended in 2007, said a PGIMER official. The official added, We have spent lakhs on its maintenance in the past 10 years, but we cannot run them like this any longer as technical glitches come up too often. The official further said they were running the incinerators on a jugaad. With time, even their capacity has come down from 150kg of waste per hour to 100kg. The biggest drawback is that they are manually operated; this means workers throw nearly 150 yellow bags into the furnace that burn at 1,000 degrees Celsius. Every 15 minutes, they have to rotate the waste inside the incinerator which is risky, said the official. One incinerator functions seven to eight hours daily and burns nearly 800kg of waste. The ash is also collected manually by workers and put into black bags that are transported to Nimbua village in Dera Bassi. PGI denied permission to upgrade Another PGIMER official said they were trying to upgrade the incinerators since 2012, but were being denied environmental clearance. In 2016, we got a letter from CPCC denying permission. They mentioned that there can be only one common biomedical waste plant in the 75-km radius of the city, said the official. The official added that with environmental clearance, they could have upgraded the incinerators. They will be fully automated, will have ozone gas system that is attached to a chimney that converts black smoke into white and will have affluent treatment plant and other latest technology, said the official. The official added that the update was must for the safety of workers and to make them environment friendly. The machines are so old, that no matter how much we fix them, they can stop functioning anytime, said the official. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Four days after he was booked on charges of raping a woman constable, Akali ex-minister Sucha Singh Langah who has been on the run since dramatically surrendered at a local court in Chandigarh on Monday but the duty magistrate rejected his bid and asked him to go and surrender in Gurdaspur. Clad in a spotless white kurta-pyjama and blue turban, the tainted minister was accompanied by his son Sukhjinder Singh Sonu and his sons Chandigarh- based close friend Gunraj Singh when he arrived at the district courts complex. Since the complex was closed on Monday on account of Gandhi Jayanti, he appeared before duty magistrate Hirdejit Singh. Curiously, Punjab Police, which had been claiming that it was conducting raids across the state for the past three days, did not reach the court complex to arrest Langah even though he remained there for a few hours. We got the information (regarding Langahs arrival at the court) bit late. By the time our teams reached the court to arrest him, the accused had already left. Our teams are still camping in Chandigarh, said Gurdaspur senior superintendent of police harcharan Singh Bhullar. Chandigarh SSP Nilambari Vijay Jagdale said since there was no communication from Gurdaspur police, and the court had also not ordered the ministers arrest, the role of city police was restricted to just providing the Akali leader security in court. Langah was booked by Gurdaspur police on September 28 under sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC on the complaint of lady police employee who alleged that the Akali leader had raped her repeatedly since 2009. The lady constable has also submitted a 20 -minute video to cops. Earlier, listening to Langahs surrender plea, the duty magistrate cited a recent Supreme Court judgment showing his inability to accept surrender as the case pertains to Gurdaspur. Langahs counsel HS Brar told the court that this client apprehends danger from the state machinery in Punjab. The failure of Punjab Police to nab the former minister is seen by many as a ploy by the Congress government to cash in on the opportunity to target the Akalis in the wake of Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll slated on October 11. All news channels were showing Langah at Chandigarh court. How it is possible that Punjab Police, with a huge intelligence network, had no information on Langah who remained in court for over two hours? said a senior cop. Langah had termed the complaint as a classic example of political vendetta perpetuated at the most political opportune moment when the by-election is underway. The Congress has rubbished the charges. The Akal Takht, highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, is set to excommunicate Sucha Singh Langah, the now-former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader, from the panth (religion) in light of the rape case registered against him last week. A meeting of the clergy scheduled for October 5 is expected to issue the punishment for Langah, whose acts have hurt Sikh sentiments, said Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh on Monday. A baptised Sikh, Langah was a member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), considered the mini-parliament of Sikhs, until he resigned after the case was registered at Gurdaspur on a complaint by a police constable, who said she was being exploited by the former SAD minister over eight years. A grey past Known to have been a militant once, Sucha Singh Langah was close to Wassan Singh Zafarwal, who remained chief of Khalistan Commando Force. So much so that Wassans sister is married to Langahs brother and, in 2001, Langah managed Wassans (a proclaimed offender) entry into India, from Switzerland, during the Akali regime. His father owned three acres of farmland and had four sons, including him. Now, Langah owns a number of properties, grain godowns, and huge land across the border fencing adjoing Pakistani territory in Chamkra Marara village in Gurdaspur. His name was also linked to the since-dismissed superintendent of police Salwinder Singh, who is accused of sexual offences too. After entering the mainstream, Langah was effective in dealing with terror outfits on behalf of the Akali leadership. This led to his upward movement in the party and, in 1997 he was given the ticket to contest from Dhariwal and became minister as a first-time MLA. He is no stranger to cases, as he is already convicted and out on bail in a case of disproportionate assets. Now, however, the rape case is being seen by many as the end of the political road for him. The woman submitted a video as evidence, which went viral online over the weekend, showing Langah purportedly in a sexual act. In it, he is also seen wearing the kirpan, a ceremonial dagger worn by baptised Sikhs. Actions of Langah are against the Sikh tenants and it (Takht) will give suitable punishment (to Langah) for hurting religious sentiments Referring to the video, the jathedar condemned Langah for indulging in an immoral, disgraceful and blasphemous act. Actions of Langah are against the Sikh tenants and it (Takht) will give suitable punishment (to Langah) for hurting religious sentiments, a statement by the jathedar said. Sources in the SGPC told HT that he could be given the toughest punishment, of excommunication. The alacrity with which the clergy is moving against Langah seems, in fact, part of a political damage-control exercise of the SAD, which controls the SGPC that appoints the jathedras of the three temporal seats in Punjab. Poll connection The sex scandal also comes just ahead of the October 11 Lok Sabha bypoll in Gurdaspur , and hectic campaigning on the issue by the ruling Congress in particular has damaged the Akalis, whose ally BJP is seeking to retain the seat. The SAD had made Langah in-charge of Dera Baba Nanak assembly constituency for the bypoll, but former revenue minister Bikram Singh Majithia has now replaced him. The SAD, after maintaining silence for nearly a week, spoke up against him on Monday. The party is not with him; we disassociate ourselves, SAD spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema told HT. I condemn his act. Its not acceptable for anyone in Akali Dal to indulge in such an act, particularly a leader of his stature. We are very clear. What is wrong is wrong! However, off the record, some in the Akali Dal said it was a case of honey trap, and blamed Langah for becoming a victim in an act in which he was an equal partner, knowingly. Was in contention for SGPC chief Owing to his seniority, Langah was in the race to become SGPC president when Kirpal Singh Badungar was eventually chosen. Langah was member of the SAD core committee and the district unit president of Gurdaspur. Langah, who remained a cabinet minister in the SAD-BJP governments of 1997-2002 and 2007-2012, appeared for surrender in a Chandigarh court on Monday, after he was asked by the party to follow the law, but the court told him to surrender in Gurdaspur instead. He remains to be arrested. Riding high on the success of Jai Lava Kusa, actor Jr. NTR is all set for his next project with Trivikram. The star is likely to play a military operative in the film which is slated to go on the floors soon. While an official announcement is awaited from the makers, reliable sources close to Tarak have confirmed the news. However, it wont be a patriotic as speculated by a section of media. Itll fall in the Trivikram brand of commercial entertainers but Taraks role will be the biggest highlight. Having registering three back-to-back hits, NTR is making interesting career choices and is not quite keen on taking a wrong step. There are rumours that his film with Trivikram might be released in Tamil as well. However, unless such reports are confirmed from the makers end, they cant be taken seriously. Anu Emmanuel, who is currently shooting for Pawan Kalyans yet-untitled film with Trivikram, is said to have been signed for this project as well. The Jalsa director really liked her commitment and decided to sign her on for his next film too. He was really impressed with her work. Besides great looks, she is also highly talented which is a rare combination. In principal, she has been finalised for NTRs project. Meanwhile, NTRs Jai Lava Kusa, in which he played a triple role, has emerged as a blockbuster. Despite mixed reviews, the film has gone on to stir a box-office storm. In the US, it has breached into $1.5 million club, making it his third consecutive film to achieve that feat. It is inching closer to gross over Rs. 150 crore Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Actor Prakash Raj, who had threatened to return his National Awards, has offered clarifications on his early statements. He had condemned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on certain sections celebrating the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh on social media. Raj posted a clarification on Twitter after the story had gained significant attention. I am not a fool to give back my National Awards, which have been given to me for my body of work, and which Im very proud of, he said. But yes, coming to the point, I would like to own up to certain things. What's said...n what's not said. For all out there .. thank you pic.twitter.com/zIT7rnkFxb Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) October 2, 2017 We dont know who has killed them (the slain journalists), but we do know who is celebrating, he said, and I am pained, I am taken aback by the celebrations of an inhuman killing, and for the very fact that I have vented out my pain and my anguish towards those people who are celebrating, I have been trolled. But if such people are being followed by the Prime Minister, and Prime Minister is not taking a stand on them and not commenting on them, as a citizen of this country, I am disturbed, hurt and afraid by the silence of the Prime Minister, he said. I am talking to my Prime Minister, and I say your silence is chilling, he continued, and I have a right to say this. He had earlier said Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, is a better actor than him. Gauris killers have not been caught yet. But what is more disappointing is people celebrating her murder over social media spreading hatred, Raj said on Sunday speaking at the 11th state meet of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) held in Bengaluru. Some of these people who celebrated her (Gauris) murder are followed by our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) on Twitter. We have a PM who shuts his eyes to this, he said. Immediately hitting out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Raj said, When you look at the kind of statements he (Adityanath) makes, you dont understand whether hes a Chief Minister or a priest. He (Adityanath) is a better actor than me. I think I must give out all my five national awards to him. Clarifying Rajs statement, Muneer Katipalla, the state president of DYFI said, It was only a satirical comment that Prakash Raj made referring to how Adityanath was trying to act like a Chief Minister. Raj, however, did not respond to attempts by IANS to contact him to verify if he really plans to return his national awards. Raj had voiced his opinion after Lankeshs murder too. I knew Gauri for 30 years. In a sense, we were all children of (P) Lankesh, his ideologies and way of life. I never dreamt that this day would come. We were taught to be honest citizens, who would never seize to raise ones voice. In fact, I dont think anyone voiced their opinion more than P Lankesh himself. This was how we were taught to be. It is astonishing to see where we have come to today, he had told Times of India. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop The creator of an artificial intelligence (AI) sex doll has recently claimed that having regular 5-minute orgasms with his life-like androids spiced up his marriage. Dr Sergi Santos, developer behind Samantha, confessed to regularly having sex with his cyborgs to improve his performance in the bedroom, the Daily Star reported. The 39-year-old leading sex robot creator, who is selling plastic babes programmed to get sexy to customers across the world through his company Synthea Amatus, said, Its improved my relationship. You can ask my wife. Im really having sex with her now. Im not rushing anymore and I dont last five minutes. I enjoy sex with my wife a lot more because I dont have to rush, he revealed. Claiming that sex with Samantha, whose brain memory is stored on an SD card, is as good as a real woman, Dr Santos explained that the fembots are programmed to feel it when you penetrate them, know when you ejaculate and synchronise sexually with you. He explained, For example, I have sex for about 15-20 minutes. So if I have sex with her, in a month she will synchronise with my orgasm. If I have sex with the doll only, its more like five minutes because Im just doing it to get rid of this feeling. But if I actually have sex when shes active, I want to make her reach orgasm. You want that psychologically. So its a mutual thing, when you penetrate her, she gives you feedback and that feedback excites you. However, Dr Santos wife Maritsa said that she does not see anything abnormal about her husbands relationship with his sex robots. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more. Catalonias regional government declared a landslide win for the yes side in a disputed referendum on independence from Spain that degenerated into mayhem Sunday, with more than 800 people injured as riot police attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians trying to cast their ballots. Catalonia has won the right to become an independent state, Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said after the polls closed, adding that he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally if the yes side wins. Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia, Puigdemont added, saying he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote. Catalan regional government spokesperson Jordi Turull told reporters early Monday that 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted chose the yes side in favour of Catalonias independence. He said nearly 8% of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. He said 15,000 votes were still being counted. The region has 5.3 million registered voters, and Turull said the number of ballots didnt include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids that aimed to stop the vote. The response In a televised address after the majority of polls closed Sunday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy thanked the Spanish police, saying they had acted with firmness and serenity comments sure to anger Catalans. Deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria described the referendum as a farce and demanded it be called off. It has been ruled unconstitutional by both the Madrid government and the courts, with judicial officials ordering police to seize millions of ballot papers, detain organisers and shut down websites promoting the vote. Hundreds of police armed with truncheons and rubber bullets were sent in from other regions to confiscate ballots and stop the voting, and amateur video showed some officers dragging people out of polling stations by the hair, throwing some down stairs, kicking them and pushing them to the ground. Anguished, frightened screams could be heard. Protestors perform a fascist salute during a demonstration called by far-right groups against a referendum on independence for Catalonia, in Barcelona. (AFP Photo) People clash with Spanish Guardia Civil guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis, where Catalan president was supposed to vote. (AFP Photo) Madrid sent an additional 10,000 agents to the region, including the majority of its riot police, according to El Pais newspaper. Barcelona played their match against Las Palmas behind closed doors in what club president said was a protest against the violent clashes. Police also raided the Catalan governments communications hub in Barcelona on Saturday, cutting its connections with polling stations and access to software that could have allowed an online vote. Several left-wing Spanish politicians demanded Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy resign after over the use of force by police. The region Catalonia, a region of 7.5 million people bordered by the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees, is about the size of Belgium, accounting for 6.3% of Spains territory and 16% of its population. Its thriving economy, buoyed by industry, research and tourism, generates one-fifth of the economic output of the eurozones fourth-biggest economy. But it is also one of Spains most indebted regions with a debt mountain of 75.4 billion euros ($90 billion) at the end of March, equivalent to 35.2% of its GDP. Catalonia regularly taps into a credit line run by Spains central government that provides extra cash to regional governments. Why independence? With its own regional parliament, Catalonia already enjoys significant powers over matters such as education, healthcare and welfare. Spains economic woes, coupled with resentment that the region pays billions of euros more in taxes than it receives from Madrid, have pushed secession from the fringes of Catalan politics to centre stage. The regional government argues that an independent Catalonia would be richer and better able to protect its language and culture. Catalans favouring a break with Spain have long wanted more than the limited autonomy they now have, arguing that they contribute far more than they receive from the central government, which controls key areas including taxes and infrastructure. A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Llado, on October 01, 2017, during a referendum on independence for Catalonia banned by Madrid. (AFP Photo) It had already defied Madrid in November 2014 by holding a symbolic independence vote where more than 80% -- 1.8 million people -- of voters chose independence, though turnout was just 37%. The most recent poll commissioned by the regional government in July showed 41.1% in favour of seceding, and 49.4% against. What next for Spain and Catalonia? The police aggression on Sunday was likely to only fuel the passion for independence, and the main separatist group urged the regional government to declare independence after the violent crackdown. No one knows what will happen if Catalan officials follow through on their pledge to use the vote as a basis for declaring independence, a provocation that would possible remove from Spain one of its most prosperous regions, including the coastal city of Barcelona, the regional capital. Independence supporters gather in Barcelona's main square, Spain. (AP Photo) The US is infamous for its love of guns, and that often gets translated to mass shootings. More often than not, the shooter uses weapons that he (the perpetrator is usually a male) bought legally. The love Americans have for their guns comes from the Second Amendment of their Constitution, which reads: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. Gun advocates, such as the National Rifle Association, use this to promote the sale of weapons and have fiercely resisted all attempts to remove this amendment. A mass shooting is when three or more people are shot. On Sunday, more than 50 people were killed and 200 wounded when a gunman opened fire on a concert in Las Vegas, making it the deadliest mass shooting in US history. Here are some of the most famous such incidents in the country. June 12, 2016 Omar Saddiqui Mateen, who pledged himself to Islamic State, opened fire inside a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and took hostages before he was gunned down by police, A total of 49 people were killed. April 16, 2007 Student Seung-Hui Cho went on a shooting spree in two locations at Virginia Tech, killing 32 people before committing suicide. December 14, 2012 Adam Lanza, 20, gunned down children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut, and killed 27 people before turning the gun on himself. October 16, 1991 George Hennard crashed his pickup truck through the wall of a cafeteria in Texas. He then opened fire, killing 23 people, before committing suicide. July 18, 1984 James Huberty opened fire at a McDonalds in California, killing 21 people, before being killed by a police sharpshooter. The worst mass shooting in the world took place on July 22, 2011, when right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik set off a car bomb in Oslo, Norway. Hours later, he opened fire at a summer camp, killing a total of 77 people. Vanuatu has launched a Dunkirk-style evacuation on the northern island of Ambae as a flotilla of boats rescues islanders from an erupting volcano that has polluted many of the islands sources of drinking water. Crowds of islanders from at least three evacuation points on the island have begun boarding ferries, canoes and commercial vessels for the safety of surrounding islands Maewo, Pentecost and Santo. Reuters reporter Ben Bohane, on location in Ambae, said he saw people camping on a hillside at the town of Lolowai waiting calmly for ships to ferry them to safety. There were big sacks of rice and boxes of tinned fish, he said. Residents carrying their possessions board a boat at Lolowai Port as they evacuate due to the Manaro Voui volcano continuing to emanate smoke and ash on Vanuatu's northern island of Ambae in the South Pacific. (Reuters Photo) Residents carry possessions as they board a boat at Lolowai Port. (Reuters Photo) The eruption has polluted many of the islands water sources leaving thousands of people in need of safe drinking water, Red Cross delegate Joe Cropp told Reuters by phone on Sunday. Water is crucial, he said. Its important to get on top of it right away. The Manaro Voui volcano, the nations largest, was seen hurling steam and rocks into the air by New Zealand vulcanologist Brad Scott who flew over the volcano on Saturday. Elderly people being evacuated from Vanuatu's Ambae island, where the Manaro Voui volcano is threatening a major eruption. (AFP Photo) Maybe about every 8 to 10 seconds there was an explosion, throwing lava bombs up maybe 50 to 100 metres above the crater and theres also two small lava flows that are flowing across the island into the lake as well, he said in an interview with Radio NZ published on Sunday. About 1000 people were moved off the island over the 24 hours to Sunday evening with another 900 expected to leave tomorrow, Vanuatus National Disaster Management Office told Reuters in Ambae. Members of the Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF) assist residents carrying their possessions as they prepare to board a boat at Lolowai Port as they evacuate. (Reuters Photo) The Vanuatu Government wants all 11,000 islanders evacuated by October 6. Australia sent amphibious Bay Class landing ship HMAS Choules on Saturday to help move the population, and it is expected to arrive by the middle of the week. Some islanders are flying out while others have already moved to stay with friends or relatives in the capital, Port Vila. A member of the Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF) gives instructions to residents carrying their possessions as they prepare to board a boat at Lolowai Port. (Reuters Photo) The Manaro Voui volcano on Vanuatu's Ambae island. (AFP Photo) More than 6000 people have gone to emergency shelters on the South Pacific island in preparation for the total evacuation. Manaro Voui stirred to life in September, threatening island residents with burning ash, toxic gas and acid rain. The volcano is crowned by crater lakes. One of them, Lake Voui, is directly on top of the eruption making it dangerously explosive and posing the deadly threat of a lahar: a boiling mud flow down the side of the mountain, Macquarie University vulcanologist Christopher Firth told Reuters by telephone on Saturday. Thirty-eight-year-old lawyer Jagmeet Singh made history on Sunday as he became the first person belonging to a visible minority group, and obviously the first of Indian and Sikh heritage, to be elected leader of one of Canadas three largest national political parties. It was a whopping win, and a landslide. As the first ballot results were announced at the Metropolitan Ballroom in the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto, Jagmeet Singh easily garnered votes, surpassing the 50% required to win the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada. He will now captain the NDP in the next federal election to be held in October 2019. In his acceptance speech, Singh described his win as an incredibly profound honour. He also announced the beginning of the 2019 race to lead Canada, as he said, Canadians deserve a government that understands the struggles that people are facing right now. Most importantly, Canadians deserve a government that gets the job done. Thats why today Im officially launching my campaign to be the next prime minister of Canada. Cheers and applause broke out among NDP members who had gathered at the venue for the announcement of the result. Four candidates were in the race for the leadership, but as the numbers for the first three were announced, it became obvious Singh had managed to gather well over the percentage needed to prevent another round of balloting, which was scheduled for October 8. In the end, of the nearly 66,000 votes cast, Singh tallied more than 35,000, almost three times the total for the runner-up, Ontario MP Charlie Angus, who had 12,705 votes. Jagmeet Singh with his mother Harmeet Kaur (centre) and father Jagtaran Singh (left) during the announcement of the leader of the leftist New Democratic Party in Toronto on Sunday. (AP Photo) Singh, who was denied a visa by India in December 2013 and has been critical of the Narendra Modi government, is a member of the Ontario provincial parliament, representing Bramalea-Gore-Malton. This was his maiden foray into federal politics. Since his constituency lies in a suburb of Toronto, the majority of those packing the hall appeared to be his supporters, who waved the orange placards bearing the slogan, Love & Courage, the theme of his campaign. He reiterated it while speaking after winning the vote, as he said his vision offered the courage to fight the politics of fear, a politics of love to fight the growing politics of division. Singh attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, talking about job insecurity and accusing him of being someone who had only looked at employment as a hobby. He also spoke of prevalent racism, underscoring exactly how momentous this victory was: Growing up with brown skin, long hair and a funny sounding name meant I faced some challenges. Ive been stopped by the police multiple times for no other reason than the colour of my skin. Singhs supporters were understandably ecstatic. His brother, Gurratan Singh, who played a key role in the campaign, told the Hindustan Times this was the accumulation of all our work and the real hard work starts right now. Among those who were in the hall was 18-year-old Harman Kaur, a student at the University of Ottawa, who had traveled from the Canadian capital to Toronto specially for this event. Im so excited, I just had to be here, she said. Another supporter Sukhminder Singh Hansra was delighted, declaring, It is an historic day for diversity, multiculturalism and especially for the Sikh community in Canada. Gurmeet Kaur said the community would need to work hard to ensure Singh became the next prime minister of Canada, while her husband Manjeet Singh Bhinder pointed out he had been 101% certain even before the results were declared that Singh would emerge on top. Singh, who was born in Scarborough in Toronto, was joined on the stage by his family, including his parents Harmeet and Jagtaran Singh, sister Manjot Kaur and brother Gurratan Singh. Singh will be in Ottawa on Monday as he meets with party MPs and the NDP leadership to chart out the course for the national campaign. He will face the challenge of making the NDP, the third party in Canadian politics, a credible choice for 2019. But he noted his campaign had achieved this win in the few months since he announced his leadership run, and added, Imagine what we can build together in two years. Among the challenges he faces is having people pronounce his name correctly, as he told one person, Jag as in hug. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Social media giant Facebook is expected to provide Congress on Monday with more than 3,000 ads that ran around the time of the 2016 presidential election and are linked to a Russian ad agency. Company officials will meet with the House and Senate intelligence committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee to hand over the ads, a Facebook official said. The official requested anonymity because the meetings are private. Facebook said last month that it had found thousands of ads linked to Facebook accounts that likely operated out of Russia and pushed divisive social and political issues during the US presidential election. The company said it found 450 accounts and about $100,000 was spent on the ads. Twitter has said it found postings linked to those same accounts, and the House and Senate intelligence panels have asked both companies, along with Google, to testify publicly in the coming weeks. None of the companies have said whether they will accept the invitations. The three committees are investigating Russian meddling in the election and whether there are any links to President Donald Trumps campaign. They have recently focused on the spread of false news stories and propaganda on social media, putting pressure on the companies to turn over more information and release any Russia-linked ads. It is unclear whether the ads will eventually be released publicly. Several lawmakers including Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel have said they believe the American public should see them. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Sept. 21 that the company would provide the ads to Congress and also make changes to ensure the political ads on its platform are more transparent. The company is also working with Special Counsel Bob Muellers investigation into the Russian meddling at the Justice Department. As a general rule, we are limited in what we can discuss publicly about law enforcement investigations, so we may not always be able to share our findings publicly, Zuckerberg said. But we support Congress in deciding how to best use this information to inform the public, and we expect the government to publish its findings when their investigation is complete. Facebook said the ads addressed social and political issues and ran in the United States between 2015 and 2017. The company said the ads appear to have come from accounts associated with a Russian entity called the Internet Research Agency. Twitter said last week that it had suspended 22 accounts corresponding to the 450 Facebook accounts that were likely operated out of Russia. Warner criticized Twitter for not sharing more information with Congress, saying the companys findings were merely derivative of Facebooks work. The companys presentations to staff last week showed an enormous lack of understanding from the Twitter team of how serious this issue is, the threat it poses to democratic institutions. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a shooting that killed at least 50 people and wounded over 400 in Las Vegas early on Monday, and said the attacker had converted to Islam a few months ago. The Las Vegas attack was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried it out in response to calls to target states of the coalition, the groups news agency Amaq said in reference to the US-led coalition fighting the group in the Middle East. The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam a few months ago, Amaq added. There may be much to celebrate in Jagmeet Singhs rise in Canadian politics, but there will be plenty of concern in New Delhi after his election as leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Singh was denied a visa by the Indian government in December 2013. At that time, he was (as he is now) a member of the provincial parliament (MPP) in Ontario. This made him perhaps the first sitting member of a Western legislature to have been barred from travelling to India. In 2016, he moved a motion in the Ontario assembly seeking to describe the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India as genocide. A similar motion, brought by a Liberal Party MPP, succeeded this summer and Singh was among those who spoke during the debate, severely criticising the Indian government. This year, as his leadership campaign progressed, he accused Indian diplomats of trying to sabotage the campaign by exerting pressure on members of the community. For many of these reasons, he has attracted plenty of support, particularly in his home turf in the Greater Toronto Area, from pro-Khalistan elements. A leading figure among the separatists, Sukhminder Singh Hansra, was present at the hotel ballroom where the NDP leadership race results were announced on Sunday. New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh shakes hands with a woman at a meet and greet event in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on July 17, 2017. (Reuters) Singhs start in Canadian politics may well be due to these forces. As a publication for his alma mater, York University, noted in a profile on him: He offered pro bono support to a group protesting a visit to Canada by an Indian trade minister who had persecuted Sikhs. He was then a young attorney and the minister concerned was Congress leader Kamal Nath. Those groups were disappointed with the lack of concern among Canadian politicians and impressed on Singh the need to have representation. Singh was initially reluctant to pursue politics but eventually capitulated and joined the NDP. That journey has now led him to a position where he is a potential prime minister of Canada. And thats a scenario that will make many in India uncomfortable. A gunman opened fire at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday night, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 100 others before the shooter was killed by police. Police described the suspect as being a local Las Vegas man who acted alone and was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. We have no idea what his belief system was, he said. Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor and the scene is static. Authorities were seeking a woman they named as Marilou Danley, he said. He gave no details of whether she was suspected of involvement in the attack but described her as an associate. Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! pic.twitter.com/Z83XvcHejH LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 He said rumors of other shootings or explosives such as car bombs in the area were false. Las Vegas is a major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping and nightlife, which would have been packed at time the shooting broke out shortly after 10 p.m. (0400 GMT). And police said the toll may yet rise: I dont want to give you an accurate number because I dont have it yet, Lombardo said Briefing with @Sheriff_LVMPD regarding the Strip shooting. At least 20 dead, 100 injured. The shooter was local. pic.twitter.com/CzxRl9Oagw LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 The shooting broke out on the last night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival, a sold-out event attended by thousands and featuring top acts such as Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean. U.S. media, including Fox News, reported that Aldean was performing when the rampage began but that he had been bundled safely off stage at the event outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in the Nevada gambling mecca. CNN reported all the artists were safe. Lombardo said the gunfire came from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, where the gunman was killed. Police have disclosed no information that would suggest a motive for the shooting or revealed the identify of the suspect. Even so, the rampage was reminiscent of a mass shooting at a Paris rock concert in November 2015 that killed 89 people, part of a coordinated attack by Islamist militants that left 130 dead. People assist a wounded woman at the Tropicana during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Stirp in Las Vegas Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP) A witness named Christine told CNN both she and her husband had separately taken shooting victims to two hospitals, the University Medical Center and the Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center. The shots just kept coming, she said. Everyone was telling us run, run as fast as you can. Off-duty police were believe to be among the victims, the sheriff said. The concert venue was in an outdoor area known as Las Vegas Village, across the Strip from the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor hotels. A body appears to lie under a sheet as police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (AFP) The Mandalay Bay hotel is near McCarran International Airport, which said on Twitter it had temporarily halted flights after the shooting. Later, the airport said that some flights had resumed. Myanmar on Monday proposed to take back over half a million of its Rohingyas from Bangladesh as the two countries agreed to set up a working group to coordinate the repatriation of the minority Muslims who have fled across the border after a military crackdown. More than half a million Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh over the last five weeks after militant attacks on police checkposts in the Buddhist majority country sparked violent reprisals. Bangladesh has repeatedly urged Myanmar to repatriate them. Bangladeshs Foreign minister A H Mahmood Ali today held talks here with a senior representative of Myanmars civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar has proposed to take back the Rohingyas from Bangladesh, Ali told newsmen emerging from an over one hour long meeting with Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor of Myanmar Kyaw Tint Swe. The two sides agreed on forming a joint working group to oversee the repatriation process but its composition would be decided later by both the countries, he said. Ali said the meeting was held in a peaceful manner and Bangladesh handed over the Myanmar representative a proposed agreement for smooth refugee repatriation and suggested implementation of Annan Commission report for peaceful resolution of the crisis. Fruitful discussion was also held on security cooperation (in the meeting) when Bangladesh reiterated its zero tolerance policy against all sorts of terrorism, Ali said. Asked if there was any timeframe fixed for forming the joint working group, the minister evaded a direct answer saying the process has started but said Bangladeshs Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan would soon visit Myanmar to discuss the issue. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier called for an end to the violence and for safe zones to be set up in Myanmar to enable refugees to return. She asked the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar and for Myanmar to implement recommendations drawn up by a former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan-led team on solving problems in Rakhine. Khan and senior Bangladesh officials joined the meeting, which came after the overnight arrival of Kyaw Tint Swe. There was no immediate comment from Suu Kyis representative, who arrived last night amid mounting global pressures on the country over exodus of its ethnic minority Rohingya nationals to Bangladesh. The latest influx of refugees began on August 25 when Myanmars military launched a crackdown in the northern Rakhine State over alleged terrorist attacks on its police outposts. With the latest influx, there are now more than 800,000 refugees living near Bangladeshs border with Myanmar. The refugees claimed the Myanmar security forces were shooting at civilians, setting fire to their homes and raping Rohingya women. Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, who has been severely criticised for her failure to curb the military crackdown on the Rohingya, said in a speech last month that Myanmar would take back verified refugees. She said Myanmar was ready to start a verification process under a 1993 agreement with Bangladesh and refugees from this country will be accepted without any problem. Rohingyas, a Muslim minority, do not qualify for Myanmar citizenship even though many have lived there for generations while its army insists they are interlopers from across the border in Bangladesh. Investigators have so far found no connection between international terrorist groups and a mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500, an FBI special agent said on Monday. The Islamic State group, through its propaganda arm, had earlier claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming the shooter was a recently converted soldier. Police said the attack was carried out by Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old retired accountant. As this event unfolds we have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group, said Aaron Rouse, the special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office of the FBI. Pakistans interior minister Ahsan Iqbal on Monday threatened to resign after he and other leaders of the ruling PML-N party were barred from entering an anti-corruption court trying deposed premier Nawaz Sharif. Is this a democracy or banana republic? he asked the media as he tried to make his way through the cordon set up by paramilitary Pakistan Rangers personnel around the court compound. There cant be a state within state, Iqbal said while adding that it is Sharifs right to go inside the courtroom with his lawyers and aides. The Rangers said they were under instructions to not allow anyone but former premier Sharif to enter the court. Instructions from whom? replied Iqbal, who added that as interior minister, your force reports to me. Later, speaking to reporters outside the court, Iqbal said, This morning, the chief commissioner (of Islamabad) informed me the Rangers have taken control of the command and barred entry to anyone except Nawaz Sharif. Upholding the view that trials behind closed doors were held only during martial law, Iqbal announced that strict action would be taken against those who challenged the writ of the government. He said, The Rangers is a force under the interior ministry and they are supposed to work under the command of the civil administration. He added, I will resign as interior minister if it is not established who deployed the Rangers as theyre supposed to be taking orders from me. He said he could not function as a puppet interior minister. While PML-N leaders were accompanying Sharif for his second appearance before the National Accountability Board (NAB) court, only the deposed premier was allowed into the courtroom. Sharif had briefly appeared before the judge on September 26, a day after returning from London, where his wife Kulsoom is being treated for lymphoma. On Monday, the anti-corruption court postponed the indictment of Sharif, his two sons, daughter and son-in-law for a week as his children, who are co-defendants in the case, failed to appear before the Judge Mohammad Bashir. The Sharifs are facing trial following orders by the Supreme Court after an investigation into the Panama Papers leaks that indicated Sharifs children owned offshore assets worth millions of dollars. The Supreme Court disqualified Sharif in July, forcing him to step down, for dishonesty in declaring his assets. Sharif has denied any wrongdoing. A Buddhist monk was on Monday arrested in Sri Lanka for leading a mob that allegedly attacked a group of Rohingya Muslim refugees, including 16 children, in a UN- run safe house and demanded their deportation to Myanmar. Akmeemana Dayarathana was arrested after he reported this morning to record his statement at the polices Colombo Crime Division. He and another monk was asked to report to the police on Sunday following the arrests of four others. They were accused of storming a house of Rohingya refugees in a suburb here last week. Dayarathana was later produced before the court which remanded him into custody till October 9. Dozens of monks from Sri Lankas majority Buddhist community led a mob that barged into a UN-run safe house for Rohingya Muslims and attacked them, claiming that they were terrorists and should be sent back to Myanmar. The attack on the refugee centre, which housed 31 Rohingya refugees, was led by Dayarathanas radical Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa (Sinhalese National Force), which uploaded videos of the attack on their Facebook page. The police had to relocate the Rohingya Muslims to a safe location in Boossa in the south of the country following the attack. The arrests came after the government ordered a crackdown on the mob following the attack. The refugees had arrived in Sri Lanka five months ago after the Navy found them drifting in a boat off the countrys north coast. Earlier, a woman was among two persons arrested in Sri Lanka for allegedly attacking a group of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. In 2008 and 2012, two groups of Rohingya refugees had been rescued from the seas and accorded UNHCR facilities before being repatriated. Nearly 500,000 refugees have crossed the border from Myanmars Rakhine State since August 25 when a military crackdown was launched following attacks on security forces allegedly by Rohingya militants. US President Donald Trump called the carnage in Las Vegas an act of pure evil and said he had ordered the national flag to fly at half-mast in the memory of the victims with at least 58 dead and more than 500 injured, this was the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Last night, a gunman opened fire on a large crowd at a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, Trump said in nationally televised remarks from the White House. He brutally murdered more than 50 people, and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil. In a tone noted for being measured and being pitch-perfect, he called for unity and said, Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence. And though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today and always will, forever. However Trump, who is a supporter of the right to carry arms and is opposed to any dilution to the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, steered clear of questions regarding gun law reforms. The White House had earlier said that Trump had been briefed about the shooting and that the situation was being monitored closely. Trump had also conveyed his condolences to the victims via Twitter: My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! In January, Trump had come to power after winning a bitterly fought election with Hillary Clinton. During his campaign, he had expressed strong support for gun-rights and had warned the country that those rights were in danger of being withdrawn if his Democratic rival were to win. Clinton, meanwhile, had long supported reforms of gun-rights to prevent weapons especially military-style assault rifles from falling into wrong hands. On Monday, she tweeted: The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get, referring to the National Rifle Association, which leads the powerful gun lobby. Our grief isnt enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again, she added. Former vice president Joe Biden also called for reforms, tweeting: How long do we let gun violence tear families apart? Enough. Congress & the WH (White House) should act now to save lives. Theres no excuse for inaction. Democratic senator Chris Murphy said in a statement, This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there arent public policy responses to this epidemic. Murphy is from Connecticut, where 27 kids and adults were shot dead down by a lone gunman at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2002. President Donald Trump will on Monday address the nation after a shooting massacre in Las Vegas -- the most deadly in modern US history . Trump will deliver televised remarks from the Diplomatic Room of the White House at 10:30 am (1430 GMT), aides said, in what has become a grim rite of passage for modern US presidents. Trump will be tasked with uniting a nation which is already angrily rehashing stridently held views on the vexed question of gun control. A gunman killed 50 concert-goers and wounded around 400 more when he poured automatic fire down on an outdoor Las Vegas venue late on Sunday night. Through a series of national crises Trump has sometimes struggled make his empathy felt. Earlier on Monday he offered warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims in a tweet. The issue of gun control is highly sensitive in the United States and Trumps views on the issue have changed markedly over his years in public life. After the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where 20 six and seven-year old children and six adults were mowed down by a disturbed 20-year-old, Trump appeared to favor stricter rules. Back then, president Barack Obama -- who often called Sandy Hook the worst moment of his eight year presidency and recalls even his Secret Service detail in tears -- called for the deadlock to be broken and for Congress to act. At that time Trump tweeted: President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in #Newtown Connecticut. US Senator Chris Murphy, who was the congressman for Sandy Hook, echoed that call in the wake of the Las Vegas attack. Nowhere but America do horrific large-scale mass shootings happen with this degree of regularity, he said. This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there arent public policy responses to this epidemic. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. The Farmington High School Jobs for Americas Graduates program has grown by leaps and bounds to become one of the premiere programs in the state. JAG, as it is commonly known, is a national, non-profit school-to-work programs that focuses on transitioning students to life after graduation - whether it be into the workforce or continuing with their education. What started at Farmington High School with only around 35 students is now the largest chapter in the state. In our first year, the program was still new and we were trying to promote it and get students interested, so I maybe had 35 to 40 students, said Erica Dement, the schools JAG specialist. This past year, our program manager, Paul Kinkade, spoke to our principal, Dr. Hostetler and I, and we agreed we were under-serving our schools population. He gave the school permission to expand to 80 students, making us the largest program in the state. In addition, the district was also able to begin a JAG program in the middle school which presently has 29 students enrolled. The source of the program's success, according to Dement, has been rather surprising. It has been mostly word of mouth, but our students love being in this class, Dement said. I had kids coming to me and asking Miss Dement, can I do JAG next year? and then they want me to sign off on it so they can get it added to their schedule. Dement thinks part of the success can be attributed to the success rate the program has and letting people know the program is working. As Dement explained, the program is designed to assist students with post-graduate planning which may include entering the workforce, continuing their education, or joining the military. During class time, we determine what their career goals are and then we work on how we are going to get in that direction, Dement said. Some of these kids dont know if they want to go to college or join the workforce. This class helps them with that. According to Dement, students arent forgotten about once they graduate. In fact, as the JAG specialist, she stays in contact with them during the first year after graduation. One of the unique things about JAG, which I really think makes the program, is after they graduate, I have to follow up with them, Dement said. From May of the year they graduate to the May of the following year, I contact them on a monthly basis. I ask if they are working or in school. If they are not, it is my goal to get them doing something. Besides becoming the largest program in the state, Farmington JAG is also a national award-winning program. We received the '5 of 5 Award,' which is a prestigious national award for JAG, Dement said. It takes into consideration your graduation rate, how many kids are employed full-time, your placement rate, (if) you have kids in the military. We met all of our standards, so we received the award." In addition to helping student devise a post-graduation plan, JAG also cultivates leaders. Every year, JAG students from across the country have the opportunity to attend the National Student Leadership Academy in Washington D.C. During their time at the academy, students participate in leadership development, compete in a variety of events and meet government and business leaders. This year, the Farmington JAG program would like to send eight students to the conference so they can experience this opportunity. The program is looking for sponsors who would like to assist these students with getting the appropriate attire for the events. In return, the students will wear T-shirts when they travel with the name of the sponsor on the back. If interested in becoming a sponsor, contact Dement at 573-701-1310 ext. 2110 or at edement@farmington.k12.mo.us. I KEA introduced functionality and style to low cost home furnishings when it launched in Britain in 1987. Little wonder, then, that the Scandinavian furniture giant has become a ubiquitous presence in our homes over the past 30 years. Now the superstore has revealed its most iconic products released to the UK market in the past three decades. How many do you have in your home? Ikea's most iconic products from the last 30 years 1 /16 Ikea's most iconic products from the last 30 years Klippan 159 Introduced to the UK in 1987, this simple sofa was designed by an IKEA product developer who was tired of his sofa being worn out by his children. To cope with messy kids, removable, washable covers were a top priority as well as a durable frame. Buy it here Lack 9 The design of the simple table has not altered much since its introduction to the UK in 1987. Over the last 30 years, IKEA have slimmed down and increased production of the LACK coffee table due to high demand. Buy it here Billy 95 Originally designed by Gilles Lundgren in 1979, Billy was one of Ikeas first ever flat-pack product. One Billy bookcase is sold every 10 seconds somewhere in the world. Although the design has not changed much over the last 30 years, it costs 30% less today due to tiny tweaks in both product and production method. Buy it here PS 1995 Clock 29 Standing for Post Scriptum, this range was launched at the same time as the Furniture Fair in Milan in 1995. This quirky design includes the original built-in liquor cabinet. Buy it here Ivar 77 Similarly to the Lack table, the Ivar hasn't altered much since its introduction but it has remained popular due to the facts its modular and customisable design. Buy it here PS Maskos 90 Designed by in-house designer Marcus Arvonen in 2009, inspired by a dandelion ready to be scattered by the wind, the PS range is now on its ninth collection. Buy it here Stockholm bowl 15 Inspired by Chestnut leaves, the first Stockholm range was introduced in 1984 and each range aims to provide high quality and luxury design, functionality and materials but with the usual affordable IKEA prices. Buy it here Poang 95 The Poang was first introduced to Ikea in 1973 under the name of Poem. Japanese designer Noboru Nakamura collaborated with Lars Engman on a chair that would use plywood veneer construction. Buy it here Lovbacken 40 The 1956 Lovet table was the first ever piece of flat-pack furniture, created when designer Gillis Lundgren was forced to saw the legs off to fit it into his car. IKEA launched the Lovbacken in 2013 in homage to the Fifties original. Buy it here Gulliver 59 The Gulliver cot is another product which has been in the UK for the full 30 years and is part of an affordable range designed with families in mind. Buy it here Malm 169 This simple, minimalist bedroom series has been very popular in the UK since its launch thanks to its affordable price range. Buy it here Patrull safety range From 1.50 Ikea has supplied the British public with household safety essentials since 1987. Buy it here Designed in 1979, the Billy was IKEA's first ever item of flat-pack furniture and it has been causing heated debates between couples who struggle to put it together ever since. It even costs 30 per cent less than it did 30 years ago thanks to ingenious product tweaks. With one Billy sold every 10 seconds somewhere in the world, Bloomberg even use the bookcase to compare purchasing power across the world. Designed with families in mind, the Klippan sofa range became an instant hit thanks to the introduction of removable, washable covers. Costing just 9, the Lack table is a favourite with students, renters and first-time buyers on a budget. Brought to British shores in 1987, the square table now comes in more colours than ever and the size has been adapted to make it easier to carry and assemble. One of the newest products to make the list is the PS (Post Scriptum) pendant light. Designed in 2009, the collection was inspired by 'a dandelion ready to be scattered by the wind'. Demand for the PS collection is showing no signs of slowing down with the ninth range launched in February this year. Take a look through the gallery to view the full list of IKEA icons. News, events, history, and other mid-week tidbits. Tuesday, October 25, 4:30 7 p.m. Orr Area EMS Open House Brats and burgers will be served. Event includes a new ambulance tour and blood pressure screenings. For more info: 218-780-3798. Orr Fire Hall 4540 Lake St., Orr Tuesday, October 25, 12 6 p.m. Essentia Health Job Fair Talent recruiters and department managers will be on-site at Essentia Health-Virginia. Candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to attendnurses, nursing and clinical assistants, surgery technicians, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, human resource professionals, and those interested in environmental services or nutrition services. Essentia staff will greet candidates, conduct an initial screening and filter them to appropriate hiring managers for interviews. Select candidates will be verbally offered a position before leaving. Candidates are asked to bring a resume, but its not required. Attire is business casual. For more info: www.essentiacareers.org. 901 9th St. N., Virginia Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan has retracted his previous statement on the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination, by admitting "I was not fully informed" as to the actual effects of the vaccine. Cullinan issued an apology for his comments after being requested to do so by the Association of Catholic Priests, who called his remarks, "ill-informed and dangerous." The Bishop of Waterford and Lismore had stated previously taht the HPV vaccine could increase the promiscuity of girls, because it "changes the mentality," while also adding that the vaccine is only "70% safe" in protecting women against cervical cancer. Writing on Irish Catholic Bishop's Conference , Cullinan said, "I wish to apologise for contributing to any misinformation, or indeed for causing upset to anyone, concerning use of the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines." Advertisement "My intervention was in response to concerns which I had received about HPV vaccines from parents wishing to make the best health decision on behalf of their children, and from young people alike. My intention was solely motivated to protect people from the HPV." "I was not fully informed about the vaccination programme and I can see now how HPV vaccines can contribute greatly to lowering the rate of cervical cancer. As I have learnt, possession of full information is paramount on this vital health issue." 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Support is being provided by James Blake. The big gig news to start the week is that Kendrick Lamar is bringing his The Damn. Tour to Dublins 3Arena on February 7. Support is being provided by kindred spirit James Blake. Its the first of 15 dates that Kendrick is performing in eleven countries in support of his fourth album, DAMN, which topped the US charts and has sold over 2.3 million copies worldwide. Tickets priced 62 go on sale on Friday October 6. As anyone who caught his 2016 Longitude headliner will be aware, the multiple Grammy Award-winner is at his best in front of an audience. Yesterday, AvStar Aviation Group, Inc. ( In a day, AAVG shares jumped 31.10% up on a dignified for a demanded pink sheets stock volume. Yesterday, AvStar Aviation Group, Inc. ( PINK:AAVG ) stock flew up on a stock promotion and became a star.In a day, AAVG shares jumped 31.10% up on a dignified for a demanded pink sheets stock volume. The volume was actually skyrocketing, as in the hot battle for gains more than 16 million shares changed hands. Though the price decline of 4% in the session, AAVG closed at $0.0215 with the buyers winning the battle. The main reason for the huge AAVG demand were not the company's future plans, announced yesterday. Those, who did their own due diligence about the company should know that it is difficult realize such huge projects with the reported by AAVG at the end of June $25 thousand dollars in cash and fixed assets amounting $233 thousand. The huge plans seem impossible, even with the existence of potential lenders. Maybe, the announced in addition to them management expansion grabbed more investor attention. The skyrocketing volume of AAVG suggests that the stock alerts and the stock promotion had the most valuable input in AAVG's stir from yesterday. The promotional season for the stock opened in May and the natural continuation of the August campaign was the last promotional disclosure from yesterday. These days, two stock promoters were involved in the flight of AAVG. The total budget for conducting that kind of investor relations services was fifty five thousand dollars. Referring to the above mentioned cash positions of AAVG, a "kind" third party will compensate both stock promoters, in order not to let the company drop into a liquidity crisis. Now remains to warn investors that such share price flights normally happen during a stock promotion. Bu it is also normal that the share price is then rapidly landing down. The latest notable example of that was at the beginning of this August, when AAVG stock was again in a stock promotion. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Tiffany Rogers rented a safe-deposit box nearly a decade ago, and has paid $250 each year since to store her family's birth certificates, passports and other possessions inside a 15-by-17-inch metal box in the vault of a Bear Creek-area Chase bank. "I thought I could keep them safe if my house burned down," Rogers, the Copperfield mother said last week. "I never thought of floods." But like so much else Houstonians took for granted, that all changed when Hurricane Harvey came to town. The storm's epic rainfall flooded hundreds of safe-deposit boxes while also causing enough damage to shut down more than 30 local bank branches across the Houston area. Customers have been directed elsewhere, and temporary mobile banking units have set up shop in the parking lot of several branches. To accommodate affected customers, Chase physically removed thousands of safe-deposit boxes and transported them - via a fleet of armored cars guarded by security officers - to a nondescript building north of Houston. Customers could make appointments to retrieve their belongings. That included folks like Rogers, who kept a box at a westside Chase branch that was inundated with water from the overflowing Addicks reservoir. Rogers drove to temporary collection site Wednesday afternoon to find her items undamaged. She emerged with a green shopping cart loaded down with documents and other possessions. She placed the items in her black SUV to take to another bank branch. More Information Safekeeping Appropriate items for a safe-deposit box: Property deeds, car titles, U.S. savings bonds and other items that do not require immediate access and would be costly, difficult or impossible to replace. Things not to keep in a safe-deposit box: An original "power of attorney," passports, identification cards and other items that might be needed in an emergency. Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Harvey's impact on banks Chase, largest Houston-area bank by deposits Market share: 38 percent Area branches: 210 Closed after Harvey: 12 branches Wells Fargo, second largest Market share: 11 percent Area branches: 348 in disaster area from Corpus Christi to San Antonio Closed after Harvey: 10 branches Bank of America, third largest Market share: 9 percent Area branches: 114 Closed after Harvey: 3 branches BBVA Compass, fourth largest Market share: 7 percent Area branches: 156 branches in South Texas Closed after Harvey: 7 branches See More Collapse Others weren't as lucky. A Kingwood woman who had the appointment following Rogers' reported that floodwaters had soiled her husband's mint-condition coin collection held at a nearby Chase bank. The woman, who asked not to be identified because of the nature of her items, said she plans to rent a box at another bank for her valuables. "I don't have that much confidence in them anymore," said the woman, whose home was spared from flooding. "But it's harder to get into a safe-deposit box at a bank than a safe at home." About 400 of Chase's 80,000 safe-deposit boxes in the Houston area flooded. The banking giant offered ultrasonic machines and cleaning solutions to help customers salvage coins and jewelry, free of charge. It's also reimbursing customers for the cost of replacing passports, birth certificates and such documents. Chase and BBVA Compass are also waiving safe-deposit box fees. Rent for a Chase box typically runs $45 to $165 a year, depending on the size. Nationally, the average rent for a 3-inch-by-5-inch box is about $50 a year, according to BBVA Compass. Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp. and BBVA Compass did not disclose how many safe-deposit boxes were damaged, but each bank said it is allowing affected customers to collect their belongings. Bank of America, which has about 2,000 safe-deposit boxes at three Houston-area branches closed due to flooding, said it is providing information to customers about restoration and replacement services. Collectively, these four banks - largest in the Houston area in terms of deposits - reported that 32 branches in the Harvey-affected area remain closed due to storm damage. U.S. firearms manufacturers stock price surged Monday morning after a gunman fatally shot at least 59 concertgoers in Las Vegas late Sunday. Shares in American Outdoor Brands Corp. the Springfield, Massachusetts-based parent company of Smith & Wesson and Thompson/Center Arms and Sturm Ruger Co. climbed as high as 8.2 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, in morning trading Monday. Both stocks, however, lost some of those gains. American Outdoor Brands Corp. stock closed up 3.2 percent from Fridays closing price of $15.25 a share at $15.74 a share Monday. Sturm Ruger Co. shares closed at $53.50 a share, a 3.5 percent jump from $51.70 at close Friday. The shooter 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada fired on a crowd of more than 22,000 concertgoers Sunday at Route 91 Harvest Festival while perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street. As of Monday, at least 59 people are dead and more than 500 people were injured. Gun manufacturers typically see a spike in their stock price and in sales following a mass shooting event, prompted by buyers who fear tougher regulations on firearms are coming down the pike or that they need to protect themselves against mass shooters. jfechter@express-news.net | Twitter: @JFreports | The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Show More Show Less Authorities are investigating the in-custody death of an inmate at the Montgomery County Jail. Phillip Carl Tucker, 34, was in the jail facing a felony forgery charge after being arrested Sept. 25 by deputies with the Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable's Office. Jailers with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office were conducting routine security check rounds when they found Tucker unresponsive in his cell around Thursday night, according to a press release. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Pura Vida Tequila Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Pura Vida Tequila Show More Show Less Is it too early to start thinking about Halloween? Not when our store shelves already are full of trick-or-treat candy, costumes, fake fangs and endless variations of pumpkin-spice flavors. Pura Vida Tequila, the Houston-based premium tequila brand, has had Halloween on the brain for months. And why not? The goblins' holiday, on the eve of All Saints' Day, is an opportunity for adults to cut loose with creative cocktails. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Ryan Amor is just 4 years old, but he's put nearly every piece of furniture in his parents' new home to the test. He's smeared crayons, spilled food coloring and dropped messy burritos on chairs, rugs and the sofa. When his parents, Karrie and Courtney Amor, bought their Bunker Hill home in May 2016, they considered it a fresh start after living in the Pearland home they'd shared since they were in their medical residencies here. Karrie already knew her two sons, Ryan and his 9-year-old brother, Kyle, were messy kids. But she wanted nice furniture in her new home and knew she'd need an interior designer who understood children. She Googled "kid-friendly designer" and found Karen Davis, who owns the Marker Girl interior design firm. She knows messy kids - she was one herself. Now, as a mom of two, she has a daughter who's just as messy as she was. The Davis-Amor collaboration happened in two phases. The first began when they bought the house and included the study, kitchen, family room and breakfast room in the design plans. They finished it up in September of that year, then picked up again in January 2017, spending a few months finishing off the dining room, music room and master bedroom. Kid-friendly decorating tips 1. Kids will put fabric to the test. If you're investing in nice furniture, invest in better fabric. It will resist stains, stand up to harsh light and will resist water, too. 2. Decide which furniture is most important and spend more on it. Then fill in with less expensive things to keep you on budget. Don't be afraid to find things like lamps, mirrors or other accessories at places like Target, Home Goods or other retail chain stores. 3. One great hack on rugs is to find a carpet you like, then have a piece cut and bound to fit the size you need. 4. For artwork, try budget-friendly prints that can be sized to fit the scale you need. If you use inexpensive pre-made frames, give them an upgrade with better mattes and glass. 5. Love a piece but hate its drawer knobs or pulls? Swap them out with updated styles you can find in hardware and specialty stores. 6. If any room needs a makeover and you don't know where to start, break it down into these steps: furniture, windows, rugs, paint color, lighting, art and accessories. Sources: Karen Davis, Marker Girl interior design firm See More Collapse Kid-friendly design meant putting cabinets in the places where kids do homework and play, so toys and games can come out when needed and be put away when the rooms need to look tidy. Most important, though, was fabric. It had to hold up to all of those spills, be UV protected and also tolerate water and chlorine from the backyard pool. "I didn't want to be yelling at them all of the time," Karrie said of her sons. "The nice thing about this fabric, you get a wet sponge and it wipes right off." Her designer agreed. "Be adamant about the better fabric; it's worth the upcharge," Davis said. The home's main hub is the family room, breakfast area and kitchen. A dark backsplash in the kitchen was replaced with Cararra marble tile that looked good with the black granite counters already in the room. Satin-nickel, lantern-style pendants over one counter lighten up the room, too. Barstools that came with the house were dark and rustic, the opposite look the California natives wanted. They were all about light and soft, coastal cool colors - soft whites, blue-green and grays. They lightened up the frames and swapped out upholstery and nailhead trim for light vinyl and a clean finish. That same vinyl covers a long bench on the boys' side of the breakfast table. Karrie Amor calls her family "couch people," so a sturdy sectional sofa in the family room works for them. Instead of a hard coffee table, they opted for a vinyl ottoman, which the kids can climb on; it will hold up to anything. Just behind the sofa is a console in a light-gray wood with antiqued mirror fronts. While it looks perfect aesthetically, it does some heavy lifting functionally, packed with puzzles, coloring books and games the boys likes to play. And two highback chairs were created for Karrie's parents, who visit from California frequently. Her father has had knee and hip replacements, so the chair needed to be protective and also easy for him to get in and out of. The Amors hadn't started collecting art, but they wanted pieces throughout the home. To stay on budget, they opted for prints and other pieces created in the size they wanted by Unique Arts. One piece that Davis created for their foyer is a unique work of fiber art placed on fabric and framed. It's beautiful and unique, and budget friendly. That was another big factor: the budget. The family needed to fill a whole house but couldn't overspend. They put more money into good furniture and saved on art and accessories. One example is the music room. Davis encouraged them to buy an upright piano because it would leave room for seating. Two gray chairs sit on top of a blue rug, created by binding a piece of Stainmaster carpet. It was an easy and affordable way to get just the rug they wanted. They did the same thing - bound carpet for rugs - in the family room and study, too, where the Amors do occasional work and the boys sit around a big square table to do homework or play games. While they spent more on chairs and the piano, they saved on accessories: old sheet music was framed in panels of glass for art; mirrors, candlesticks and other items were found at great prices at stores like Pier 1, Kirklands, Target and HomeGoods. A big, custom cabinet in the study was an investment piece, where they display old family photos and mementoes. One wall of the room is dedicated to Karrie and Courtney's accomplishments: their college and medical school diplomas - she's a dermatologist and he's an orthopedic surgeon. Another lesson - repurposing - came into play in the dining room. The Amors bought the dining table and chairs from the home's previous owner but knew the lovely velvet slipcovered chairs would not pass the kid test. They were reupholstered in Crypton fabric that holds up to any spill. While the table and chairs were custom pieces, everything else that finishes the room was more affordable. Two table lamps on a buffet were just $50 from Lowe's, but look remarkably like Robert Abbey pieces that cost $300 or more. In homes with active children, Davis said, those choices are smart choices. She shopped all over for accessories, then showed them to the Amors without telling them what they cost or where they were from. Her only question: Do you like it? "I tell people, trust me, it will look good," she said. Accessories don't have to come with big price tags. "When you have a child who's 4 and he knocks over a $10 vase I don't want them stressing that the kids can't run in the house. " This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two men accused of intentionally setting fire to their home near Magnolia earlier in June were indicted Tuesday. One firefighter was injured battling the blaze when he fell through a hole in the second floor. Jeffery Dontrell Townsend, 31, and Demetrius Nellum, 33, were arrested June 27. They are charged with first-degree felony arson and felony insurance fraud. MYSTERY: 2 men sought after body found in trash can day after fire The fire was reported by a passing driver around 4 a.m. July 17 in the 2100 block of Coe Lane hours after Townsend and Nellum packed up their personal items from the home and checked into a hotel, investigators said. Firefighters with the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire and noticed a vehicle in the driveway but nobody standing outside the home. Montgomery County Fire Marshal Jimmy Williams previously said that only means one thing to firefighters. "At 4 a.m. in the morning," Williams said, "firefighters have to assume that there are victims trapped in the home since no one was in the yard when they arrived." But as firefighters navigated their way through the smoke-filled house, they found no victims. Instead, they encountered thick smoke that hid a giant hole in the second floor, causing one MVFD firefighter to fall through to the ground floor. The firefighter was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and has since returned to the job. Investigators later found evidence they believe shows the fire was intentionally set. A judge signed arrest warrants Wednesday for Townsend and Nellum, who were later arrested at a gas station in the 32500 block of FM 2978 near Egypt Lane with the help of a Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission officer and deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. Both are facing up to life in prison, if convicted. Montgomery County grand jury indictments for Sept. 26 & 28: Sarah Lena Olson, possession of controlled substance Jason Lynn Bush, possession of controlled substance Gary Wayne Sutton, theft Matthew Sickler, assault family strangulation Bernard J. Russian, aggregate theft Olon Reece Miller, possession with intent to deliver/manufacture controlled substance Muguel Rubio-Garcia, DWI third or more Chad Haynes, robbery Abraham Almazan-Echeverria, assault family strangulation Catherine Lynn Williams-White, DWI third or more Nicholas Georgi Stuart, possession of controlled substance Conley Fay Stagg, theft Darien Scott Guenther, possession of controlled substance Matthew Parker Quantz, DWI third or more Jason Michael Schulz, possession with intent to deliver/manufacture controlled substance Keith Lindell Barrentine, DWI third or more Trey Glenn Askew, possession of controlled substance Maria Estella Contreras, robbery Kevin Wyatt Anderson, possession of controlled substance Angelixa Renee Gonzales, possession of controlled substance Sean Carter Sanders, assault family strangulation Donald Ray Cain, boating while intoxicated third or more Raul Alvarez-Marichal, fraudulent possession of identifying items Ryan Austin Griffin, money laundering and engaging in organized criminal activity Justin Kirk Griffin, engaging in organized criminal activity Devin Lee Gann, engaging in organized criminal activity Leodegario Ibarra Ramirez, DWI third or more Dylan Ray Price, theft of firearm Tyler Michael Biggs, evading arrest detention with vehicle Lonnie Lee Lamb, failure to report online identifiers sex offender Kristin Lashel Shoemaker, possession of controlled substance Cory Dushea Snoddy, unlawful possession of firearm by felon (x2) Joshua Aaron Thompson, possession of controlled substance Anna Michelle Youngblood, possession of controlled substance Christopher Ryan Hypolite, possession of marijuana and possession of controlled substance Robert Lavern Whiteside, retaliation Julio Zapeta, assault causing bodily injury family enhanced Delbert Ray Clark Jr., evading arrest detention with vehicle and possession of controlled substance Bernard Wilkerson, unlawful possession of firearm by felon Audrey Ramirez, deadly conduct discharge firearm Daquan J. Hubbard, burglary of habitation (x2) Adrien Gail Sibley-Lewis, theft (x2) Vicki Kelley Curry, possession of controlled substance The woman who injured a family of three in a January crash while driving drunk was handed a 30-year prison sentence Friday. Caryn Lee Stucky, 54, had just left a local bar when she started swerving in the 1300 block of South FM 3083, nearly hitting two vehicles that were able to dodge her car. She then slammed another car head-on, sending the car's three occupants to the hospital. The car was occupied by a married couple and their granddaughter, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. The grandmother suffered abdominal bleeding, while the granddaughter was put in the intensive care unit with a brain bleed and traumatic brain injury. INTOXICATION ASSAULT CASE: Elderly man accused of running over police officer The grandfather had a collapsed lung and torn stomach, the DA's Office said. Stucky was admitted but soon released, into police custody, after suffering some bruising. She was charged with three third-degree felony counts of intoxication assault, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison on each count. A jury convicted Stucky on all three counts Friday and sentenced her to the maximum punishment. Judge Lisa Michalk, in the 221st state District Court, stacked the sentences, meaning Stucky will likely serve one decade for each of the victims. "(Stucky) had demonstrated herself to be a danger to our community time and time again," Prosecutor Monica Cooper said. "The jury knew they had to keep her locked away as long as possible." Stucky was arrested on six prior occasions for driving while intoxicated in Colorado and was convicted on three of those arrests, according to prosecutors. Law enforcement officers from her Colorado arrests also testified during her trial. The jury also heard evidence about her history of alcohol abuse over the years as well as use of cocaine and marijuana. "The victims in this case feel safer knowing that, after so many chances, she is finally off our roadways and unable to put anyone else through the nightmare they have had to endure," Prosecutor Brittany Litaker said. On the night of her arrest, Stucky's blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit, prosecutors said. Vehicular Crimes Chief Andrew James thanked the Conroe Police Department, first responders and the officers from Colorado for their work in the case. He also thanked the work of the doctors at Conroe Regional Medical Center, who worked on the three crash victims. "Without their exceptional work, three lives would have been lost," James said. Stucky will be eligible for parole in 2032. Now Playing: Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock is not the only criminal in his family. According to a tweet from who had been behind bares in 1960 for robbing an Arizona bank. He escaped in 1968 and fled from police over a three-year period. He was eventually apprehended in Las Vegas in 1971, after attempting to run down an agent with his vehicle. "[he]has been diagnosed as being psychopathic, [Benjamin] Paddock should be considered extremely dangerous." Palmer M. Baken Jr., Phoenix FBI office (Tucson Daily Citizen) Video: Wibbitz Decades before authorities say Stephen Paddock opened fire Sunday evening from a high-rise hotel near the Las Vegas Strip, leading to the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history - his father was one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives. Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, a convicted bank robber and con man described in a wanted poster as "psychopathic'' with suicidal tendencies, had escaped from prison in 1969, earning him a spot on the FBI's list of most-sought-after and dangerous criminals. According to news accounts, he was not captured until 1978, when he was nabbed while running a bingo parlor in Oregon. A Bucyrus man is held on $500,000 bond in the Texas County Jail after being charged with two counts of first-degree child molestation. Dale L. Miller, 57, of 14266 Miller Road at Bucyrus, is charged after a Texas County Sheriffs Department investigation that began July 18. According to a probable cause statement submitted to the county prosecutor by an investigating deputy, a Missouri Department of Social Services representative from Hannibal contacted the TCSD to report that two young girls had been taken to the Hannibal Police Department to state that Miller had been inappropriately touching them while they had been at his residence. Miller was already on the registered sex offenders list after a conviction in 1999. The following are excerpts from reports generated by the Texas County Sheriffs Department: A deputy responded at about 6:50 a.m. Sept. 30 after 55-year-old Licking man called 911 to report an incident involving a 26-year-old man living in an apartment in the garage of his Concord Road residence. The man told the officer he woke up to smoke and fire in the apartment, and the tenant was barricaded in a bathroom and wouldnt come out. The man said the tenant seemed delusional and disoriented and might have been on drugs. The officer observed a pile of burned clothes and other items and a burn spot on the bottom of the bathroom door, and water about an inch deep covering the floor and spilling out through the door. Upon entering the bathroom, the officer observed the tenant man standing in the running shower with his hands up. The tenant was given clothes to put on, and while he was getting dressed the officer retrieved a .22-caliber rifle from the shower and a hunting knife from a shelf. An ambulance arrived on the scene, and the tenant was taken to Phelp County Regional Medical Center for evaluation and observation. A deputy was dispatched at about 7:45 p.m. Sept. 29 after a woman reported gunfire at a Highway H location at Tyrone. The officer was unable to hear gunshots and didnt observe anything suspicious. A 34-year-old Houston man reported on Sept. 29 that his 35-year old wife had taken a carton of Winston cigarettes out of his truck without permission at their U.S. 63 residence. An investigating officer advised the man that the cigarettes were considered marital property and the incident wasnt a theft. A deputy investigated a report burglary Sept. 27 at a Highway C residence at Licking. A 65-year-old man who lives there told the officer several tools and two guns had been swiped, with a total value of $2,297. There are no suspects. An officer responded at about 7:45 p.m. Sept. 28 to a report of a drunk man causing a disturbance at an Airport Road residence at Cabool. A man who lives there told the officer a 52-year-old man who lives nearby had driven though his yard and threatened to kill his son and one of Texas Countys commissioners. The officer made contact with the suspect, and he told the officer he hadnt driven the truck and hadnt threatened to kill anyone. But the deputy reported hearing him threaten to kill the commissioner and make many other threats, and observed he was intoxicated. The suspect was arrested and taken to the Texas County Jail for a 12-hour safekeeping period. Texas County Jail admissions Sept. 24 Robert L. Cowling stealing motor vehicle Amanda M. Stokes possession of controlled substance Sept. 25 Jackie Firestine 48-hour commitment Sheyla D. Chase 48-hour commitment Vernon Carman possession of controlled substance, driving while revoked Levi C. Johnson drug charge John D. Johnston sex offender within 500 feet of park Sept. 26 Kyle A. Buell DWI, driving while revoked Jamie E. Lane driving while suspended Brandy Dewolfe failure to appear (resisting arrest) Carl E. Hutsell 5-day shock Christopher J. Gruber 60-day shock Anthony D. Christopher 48-hour shock Billy R. Bailey neglect of child Joshua S. Miller writ Bobbie M. Crawford burglary, neglect of child Sept. 27 Samantha J. Flieger 5-day hold Lucas L. McGaugh 72-hour commitment Sheyla D. Chase possession of drug paraphernalia Tony A. Beltz possession of controlled substance Robert D. Lane possession of controlled substance Clayton R. Taylor first-degree sodomy Sept. 28 Dale L. Miller child molestation Joseph L. Hamby DWI Troy A. Cromey passing bad check Jeffrey A. Sodders resisting Robert H. Wilson distribution of controlled substance Sept. 29 Robin D. Labbee writ Michael D. Deardorf leaving scene of an accident Ronnie K. Bell 48-hour commitment Thomas B. Porter driving while revoked, speeding Sept. 30 Tina Turner 48-hour commitment John S. Richards drug charge Dawn M. Prater DWI Oct. 1 Samuel J. Rogers receiving stolen property Illusion Walker minor in possession of alcohol Jeremy L. Bartlett stealing under $750 Christina J. Maddox 24-hour commitment Oct. 2 Samantha J. Flieger unlawful use of weapon Two representatives from Texas County Memorial Hospital were among those making an advocacy visit to federal representatives in Washington, D.C. At last weeks monthly meeting, board members heard Wes Murray, TCMH chief executive officer, and Omanez Fockler, hospital board member, joined other rural hospital leaders with the Missouri Hospital Association in the two-day effort. They met with Senators Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill as well as Missouri House Representatives Jason Smith and Vicky Hartzler. We talked with them about the issues that were of the biggest concern to TCMH low-volume adjustment payments, 340b pharmaceutical program and National Health Service Corps loan-repayment and scholarship programs, Murray said. Murray said the whirlwind trip included a group dinner with Missouris senators and meetings in the offices of the Missouri representatives. Several programs from which TCMH receives funding expired Sept. 30, but congressional representatives that Murray and Fockler spoke with were positive that the extenders would be renewed by Congress in 2017. Murray complimented Fockler on engaging Smiths legislative aide, showing him photos of homes in Texas County to demonstrate the lives of all types of people in rural America at stake in the healthcare debate. I had an equal mix of good homes and bad homes that are located right here in Texas County, Fockler said. While they are in Washington making political moves, this is how people are living here. Fockler noted the importance of talking with the legislative aides due to their day-to-day work on behalf of the legislators. Missouri presents a unique set of challenges for our lawmakers, since this is a state that did not expand Medicaid as the Affordable Care Act intended, Murray said. Murray said 19 states that did not expand Medicaid are seeking extra considerations from Congress due to the disparity created by not expanding Medicaid. Everything so far shows that Missouri would have been better to expand Medicaid than to wait for changes to the Affordable Healthcare Act, Murray said. Dr. Jim Perry, OD, TCMH board chairperson, reiterated the importance of federal legislators understanding of the differences in providing healthcare services in rural America versus urban or suburban America. An urban area might be able to live without certain funding or provisions, but it could mean a loss of services here, Perry said. Perry asked Murray to extend an invitation to Smith to visit TCMH and to meet with the board of trustees when Smith returns to the Ozarks. SURGERY DEPARTMENT CONSTRUCTION Also at the meeting, board members unanimously agreed to sign a resolution to use US Communities, a national cooperative purchasing program, to procure bids for the surgery department construction currently underway on the TCMH campus. US Communities provides procurement resources and solutions for local and state government agencies, K-12 school districts, higher education institutions, and non-profit agencies seeking the best overall supplier government pricing. TCMH is eligible for the program as a county-owned hospital. Other county hospitals in Missouri utilize the cooperative. Texas County and other agencies in Texas County are also members. We learned of this program in the process of looking for specific HVAC equipment for the surgery department, Murray said. We have been told that we can save a significant amount on certain items by using US Communities to help in the procurement process. Construction work on the surgery department is being done by members of the TCMH maintenance department. The new department, located between the Jayson Gentry Community Safe Room and the east wing of the hospital, will have two operating rooms, an endoscopy suite and seven private pre-surgical and post-surgical rooms for patients. The area is 6,091 square feet in size. Linda Milholen, MD, is currently the only full-time general surgeon at TCMH. Jason Loden, DO, will join TCMH as a full-time general surgeon next summer. Christopher Baldwin, MD, an OB-GYN, and the other obstetrics physicians that do Cesarean-sections at TCMH utilize the surgery department. Jonathan Beers, DO, internal medicine physician, does colonoscopies in the surgery department as part of his practice. Other ancillary physicians that visit TCMH also use the department for services such as ophthalmologic and podiatric surgery. Construction work on the surgery department should be complete in 2018. FINANCIAL UPDATE Linda Pamperien, TCMH chief financial officer, said August inpatient volumes and outpatient revenues were up. Expenses were down for the month of August leaving the hospital with a positive bottom line of $72,669.16 and a negative year to date balance of $331,651.58. We are up 92 admissions for 2017 in comparison to the same time last year, Pamperien said. Present at the meeting were: Murray; Pamperien; Doretta Todd-Willis, chief nursing officer; Joleen Senter Durham, director of public relations; Amanda Turpin, quality management director; Dr. Beers, TCMH chief of staff; and board members, Fockler, Perry and Jay Loveland. TCMH board members Mark Hampton and Janet Wiseman were not present. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. 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Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. ingapore logistics firm has been hit with a five-figure fine after one of its employees was seriously injured in a workplace accident.Chua Kiang Lik an employee at THT Logistics was unloading cargo from a container when he was knocked over by a reversing forklift.The forklift's left rear wheel ran over Chuas legs, resulting in a closed ankle fracture Chua was quickly taken to Alexandra Hospital where he had to undergo multiple procedures.A subsequent investigation found that the forklift driver had checked both the right and left sides of before reversing but his view had been blocked by a structural column.Chan Yew Khong MOMs director of Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate said THT Logistics had a role to play in the incident.[THT Logistics] did not carry out proper risk assessment and failed to implement adequate control measures for the safe operation of forklifts at its workplace, said Chan.He also noted that there were no clearly marked pathways for workers and no designated routes for forklifts both of which would have significantly reduced the risks of being injured.Ultimately, the firm was fined $80,000 for health and safety breaches.Its an issue thats particularly pressing for Singapore workplaces as vehicular-related incidents have been the leading cause of workplace deaths in the past three years.Last year, 22 workers were hit and killed by moving vehicles and there have already been at least 379 injuries and seven fatalities this year due to moving vehicles. nk New Zealand is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms implementing D&I initiatives? Think again.New research suggests that leadership teams in New Zealand and Australia are ahead of the curve when it comes to D&I, according to Aimee Williamson, executive director at Russell Reynolds Associates.In Australia and New Zealand, CEOs are taking a much more active role in setting their organisations strategy than the rest of the globe, Williamson told HRD.Williamson cited the finding that Australia and New Zealand organisations saw that 61 per cent of executives report their CEO sets the D&I strategy in ANZ, versus just 49 per cent globally.What we know about D&I is that the standard is set from the top and the CEOs active engagement is much more likely to deliver outcomes, said Williamson.The results came from Russell Reynolds Associates recent D&I Report which surveyed more than 2,000 senior executives globally.The results also found that Aus/NZ companies are almost twice as likely to set diversity goals when it comes to appointing senior leadership (56 per cent ANZ v just 38 per cent globally).Moreover, Aus/NZ companies place a higher priority on retaining diverse talent than the rest of the globe (60 per cent of ANZ v just 47 per cent globally).Anthony Armstrong, country manager Australia, at Russell Reynolds Associates, added that there is still considerable work to done at both board and especially executive level.I think we have made good progress in Australia on boards but there is still work to be done, he told HRD.Armstrong said its important to note that in terms of talking about diversity, it is not just about male/female.Increasingly, companies are talking about race, ethnicity, LGBTI, etc, and I think that is extremely healthy, he said.I think that programs such as Male Champions of Change at both board level and executive level have been really impressive in terms of highlighting the importance of diversity. lic and private organisations must channel their compassion and intent to make a measurable difference.This was the message of Community and Voluntary Sector Minster Alfred Ngaro to more than 100 delegates to the Social Enterprise World Forum 2017 last week.Philanthropy alone is not the answer, said Peter Holbrook, CEO of Social Enterprise UK Holbrook, as he pointed out how the world is entering a time of great acceleration across all areas population, GDP, water use, ozone depletion, species extinction, CO2 concentration.The solution to these wide-scale issues cannot be more aid, he said.The one-day forum in Christchurch was organized by SAP and Akina Foundation, bringing together corporate leaders, social enterprise practitioners, social entrepreneurs, policy makers, community leaders, investors, activists, academics and more from all across the globe.The participant discussed opportunities in social procurement, skilled volunteering and social impact measurement.Ben Redwine, General Manager for SAP Ariba Asia Pacific Japan said, You can outsource services, but you cant outsource responsibility.Holbrook added that these days, not-for-profits are becoming more business-like, governments are becoming more entrepreneurial, and the private sector is very strongly considering the social impacts of their actions. HECTOR RETAMAL via Getty Images No one can deny that the UK government had ample warning that hurricane Irma, a Caribbean storm of unprecedented force, was heading for British territories. Comments by Mrs May and her cabinet, scapegoating rules on aid, are an unedifying attempt to distract from the government's inadequate preparedness. They were like deer caught in headlights; their belated efforts as the full tragedy played out put this country to shame. When compared with France and the Netherlands' rapid responses, it is clear that the UK has no excuse for the lack of ready support to the British Oversea Territories (BOTs). Advertisement The situation on the ground is desperate and urgent help must be given to all those affected. These are British territories. We are responsible both for their security and military defence, which means it is incumbent upon us to use our domestic budgets to provide the help and support so desperately needed. To attempt to use the plight of the BOTS as a politically convenient opportunity to those who seek to undermine our government's laudable commitment to the 0.7% aid budget to help the poorest people on the planet is morally reprehensible. OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) definitions regarding what constitutes foreign aid have taken decades to develop. For the Conservative government to suggest that they are no longer fit for purpose and threaten unilateral action to abandon them if they are unsuccessful in reforming them to their satisfaction will be tantamount to an act of careless vandalism. At a time when Britain's place in the world is already in a state of uncertainty and flux, ripping apart OECD DAC definitions would risk further diminishing our voice on the international stage. Instead, we should use every platform available to us to magnify it to ensure that the UN Sustainable Development Goals are met and that no people or places are left behind. We must use it to tackle climate change; a key part of this will be to bring the USA back into the Paris Agreement. We must use it to leverage BOT support from our international partners, including the World Bank. Until this devastating hurricane season is over, the UK government must provide consistent support to the BOTs. This should include increased UK presence in the Caribbean through the reinstatement of UK navy patrols. For future hurricane seasons, it is essential that the UK and BOTs' governments ensure a comprehensive plan of action. Advertisement In the long-term, this must include a framework whereby BOT governments use receipts from tourism and banking to invest in preparedness for more frequent and more violent hurricanes. This investment should support infrastructure reconstruction commensurate with surviving future force 5 hurricanes for all the inhabitants of the islands - the gap between the haves and the have nots has been starkly exposed. The Conservative government must learn from this devastating season. They must ensure that the impact on BOTs of all UK policy is given due consideration. This includes Brexit. The government must acknowledge that BOTs are economically reliant on tourism and therefore curtailed freedom of movement will affect them adversely. They are also reliant on essential supplies and trade with the French and Dutch island of St Martin and therefore a hard border and free trade restrictions will be damaging. They are also reliant on EU development funding, which is at risk. Yet, despite potential Brexit repercussions, the BOTs were not given a vote in the EU referendum. As such, it is vital that thought be given to all these factors and more: altering them in any way could have a devastating impact on BOTs. Source: Flickr The decision taken by Transport for London (TfL) not to renew ride-hailing giant Uber's operating licence is the result of the accumulation of poor public relations. With a lack of corporate responsibility cited as the catalyst for the decision, one of the darlings of Silicon Valley's age of disruption has committed the cardinal reputation management sin. It has allowed a PR crisis to degenerate into a business one. Advertisement But Uber is by no means an isolated example of the lasting impacts a media storm can have on a firm's bottom line. Global business advisory firm FTI Consulting recently examined 100 high-profile corporate PR disasters spanning the last 20 years, in a report entitled Anatomy of a Crisis. It revealed that 23% of those companies never recovered their pre-crisis share levels, and 14% ceased to exist due to the crisis' crippling effects. In 2017, not much has changed. Big brands across the board continue to fall prey to crises of reputation including United Airlines, British Airways and Bell Pottinger to name just a few from this unenviable list. These incidents all represent failures to contain media explosions. But Uber has been a slow-burner, a perfect example of lack of attention to detail and company-wide complacency over time, progressively chipping away at its brand. Advertisement The firm is certainly no stranger to PR woes. And, despite the public, government and driver outcry in response to the TfL decision, it's fair to say that an announcement of this scale had been a long time coming. A litany of scandals including sexual harassment, macho culture, senior team departures, ongoing customer incidents, and driver legal challenges eventually proved too much for founder and former-CEO Travis Kalanick, who resigned in June as the public relations turmoil came to a head. Kalanick's resignation closely followed the departure of PR guru Rachel Whetstone in April, just two years into her tenure. Having lost its licence not only in a landmark global city but also a European innovation and technology hub, the moral of this story is that no scalp is too big, nor rise too great, to avoid a reputational disaster. Advertisement Kalanick's aggressive pursuit of success no matter the cost only served to erode the firm's political capital, just as it was expanding into new markets and territories at an uncontrollable rate. In an open letter to Londoners last week, Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber's new chief, publicly apologised for the firm's mistakes and accepted that it had to change. A far cry from the methods of his predecessor, highlighting just how fortunate Uber has been to secure such an emotionally adept crisis communicator as its figurehead - paramount to the firm's survival. Khosrowshahi's response was an act of strategic communications genius, positioning himself as the new man at the helm trying to put things right, and leaving TfL exposed to accusations of bullyboy tactics. Most importantly, he has put Uber firmly back in the driving seat. I recently wrote for PR Week on how Khosrowshahi can repair Uber's tarnished corporate image, stressing the need for the firm, as one of the most prominent in this new gig economy, to openly collaborate and cooperate with regulators and legislators alike, enabling a peaceful coexistence. Policy-makers have been playing catch up since Uber's inception eight years ago, struggling to establish what is deemed to be regulatory best practice for the firm and this new wave of companies. Advertisement By being seen to have extended the olive branch, Khosrowshahi's first landmark intervention has already worked wonders. But though the embattled firm's resolve will have refortified, a winter of discontent looms large. Questions will need to be answered over the future of drivers' jobs, what this means for Uber's operations in other cities, and whether competitors like Lyft will use this opportunity to steal a march on the firm. Whatever Uber's fate, now, more than ever, the firm must dissect how it can claw its way back from this major dent in credibility, and pile its extensive PR resource into a full-scale reputational overhaul. Germany is celebrating the 27th anniversary of her reunification on Tuesday. After the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, the East and the West merged into one country on October 3, 1990. Ever since, October 3 is Germany's national holiday, German Unity Day. As most Germans have a day off work, there's time to contemplate and recapitulate. A look from the outside could make you think everything was fine and dandy in prosperous Germany. Yes, Germany as a whole is doing well economically and her standing in the world seems to be good. Steadfast Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to begin another four years in office after the general election on September 24. Advertisement However, the vote also put a dampener on the general mood: For the first time since the Second World War, a right-wing party will be sitting in parliament in force, some of it's members having openly aired racist and historically revisionist views. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) got 12.6 percent of the national vote and now is the third strongest party in parliament (94 0f 709 seats), after the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) both lost many voters. You will find more statistics at Statista Alexander Gauland, one of the AfD's leading figures, argued Germans should be able to be proud of the achievements of German soldiers in two world wars. He has also said a German politician with Turkish roots would be "disposed of" in Anatolia. The electoral outcome can also be read as an indicator that, even after a quarter of a century, German reunification still hasn't been completed. While the AfD was also voted for in the West, it got its best results by far in Eastern Germany. Advertisement While former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who oversaw the initial reunification process, had promised there would soon be "flourishing landscapes" in the East, the reality after more than 25 years looks different. Most eastern federal states are doing less well economically than the western ones. There's a German word for those who haven't profited from reunification, they're somewhat patronisingly called "Wendeverlierer", those left out by the transition. Now, those left behind have thrown a spanner in the works, just like the disgruntled did voting for Brexit in Britain and Donald Trump in the United States in 2016. On the other hand, some observers put the AfD's success in the East down to this part of Germany directly transitioning from one authoritarian regime, under the Nazis, to the next non-democratic rule, under state socialism from 1945 to 1990. East Germany has a quarter of a century less democratic culture to show for than the western part of the country, so the argument goes. Under the socialist regime in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) Nazism was an outright evil, just like in the West. However, Germany's darkest history was rather put away with by command of the state than really dealt with by the people themselves. Advertisement In the West, the bad past was suppressed too. But then there were the student revolts of 1968, a counter-culture emerged that openly challenged the views and ways of the older generations. The young wanted them to be held accountable for the horrors of World War Two. Germany saw reunification in 1990 and for a long time everybody was overwhelmed by the peaceful revolution that brought down the regime in the East. However, it quickly became clear that Kohl's "flourishing landscapes" were utopian. Resentment started festering underneath the surface. Then came 2015 and the refugee crisis. Chancellor Merkel did what she had to do to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and Germany took in more than a million refugees. While some Germans cheered on refugees arriving at train stations others grew frightened and frustrated. Protest movements, such as the self-proclaimed Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (PEGIDA), marched through German towns. The refugee crisis also turned the AfD from what was originally an Eurosceptic party into a vessel for those who feared the new times and ages. There are underlying reasons for the AfD moving into parliament, such as the remnants of authoritarianism. There are also immediate causes, such as many people feeling left behind. And there are culminating points, such as the refugee crisis. These factors help to explain the emergence of Germany's own brand of far-right populism. Advertisement While some are up in arms because of the AfD's success, integrating fringe parties into mainstream politics is the best method of moderation. The alternative to the AfD would be having resentment further fester in the dark and then exploding onto the scene in other more violent ways. Populists who talk loud and provokative during election campaigns often seem rather toothless when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of everyday politics. Just like Donald Trump was good at talking the talk but now looks incapable of switching from loudmouthed showmanship to really getting things done. The AfD's success hints at the belated pains of reunification. The process almost seemed too easy to be true. Then again, the AfD is not a purely East German phenomenon either. People in the West also voted for the AfD, albeit in fewer numbers. To comment on what Gauland said about feeling proud of German soldiers in two world wars: It's much more satisfying being proud of Germany's achievements since this country started to pursue its goals by peaceful means, as a respected part of the international community. There's so much more strength and courage in that. Aggressive nationalism is the ideology of the weak and fearful. And, after all, 87.4 percent of Germans, with the election turnout standing at more than 75 percent, didn't vote for the AfD. Advertisement vchal via Getty Images In recent weeks the British media has been full of stories about how we need to be ready for a 'no deal' Brexit. With the talks stuttering along, at best, one senior Conservative politician after another has emerged to intone solemnly on the subject and prepare us all for the worst. On the one hand this seems like a wise precaution. On the other, it seems breathtakingly, painfully, bleeding obvious. This, after all, is Negotiation 101. Nobody should ever enter into a discussion about a deal that they are not prepared to walk away from - otherwise you will lose, every time. Having established what you think is the worst that can happen, and having estimated what the other side thinks is the least good possible outcome, you then try to reach an amicable compromise in the middle. This is simple stuff, something that most people do pretty much reflexively every day: when they are agreeing a new job contract, arguing with their broadband provider, signing up a new client at work, all the time. Why are politicians acting like this is so different? Advertisement Many of the British political class have plenty to say about what a 'good' Brexit looks like: like Norway, like Switzerland, like Canada, like something else. But far too few have much to say about the 'no deal' scenario. In fairness, the most head-banging Brexiteers have talked about this from the start, in large part because a lot of them see it as the preferred option. In their eyes, let's just get on with it: a dose of unbridled freedom would be a tonic to the economy. Their ideological certainty means they have nothing to fear from crashing out of the Union. Yet these are not the people negotiating with Barnier et al. The Government is filled with pragmatists and sensible people, many of whom were at best lukewarm about leaving - or adopted Eurosceptic positions not out of conviction but out of a desire for petty political advantage. The lack of true believers puts us at a huge weakness. The Europeans know that the Government - despite the 'no deal is better than a bad deal' mantra - really can't imagine walking away. British dithering is then magnified by two other failures to follow Negotiation 101. First, never let the other side see you are divided. Second, agree what you're asking for and stick to it, come what may. And the Tories can't do either of these really basic things. https://pixabay.com/en/robot-technology-modern-white-2587571/ The idea that we could hold meaningful conversations with computers creates a strong and diverse set of reactions. For some, being able to talk with a chat bot is an exciting idea, opening up a whole range of business and personal opportunities from customer service and tech support to fashion, healthcare and legal advice. For others, particularly parts of the mainstream media, a computer that can chat is a portent of a Terminator-style AI armageddon of the human race. When Facebook discussed some of its recent chat bot developments, where the bots apparently developed their own language, it was described by one national newspaper as 'controversial' and 'unsupervised'. A side bar in The Mail's coverage of the story offered a frightening picture of 'The AI Warnings' that come with such developments. Advertisement Many more outlets incorrectly reported that the experiment was shut down because Facebook 'were afraid of the results', when in fact the bots were just not working as intended. This fearful perspective will no doubt return whenever the next big chat bot story emerges, but it takes the emphasis away from much more useful discussion on where chat bots might be of greatest benefit in the future - or even if they have a future at all. The view of many is perhaps summed up by a recent piece in leading tech website The Register who argue that, "the jury is still out" on chat bots. Yet, the idea that we can hold meaningful and useful conversations with a computer has been fascinating AI experts for decades. The following is part of a 'conversation' between two bots - one called ELIZA, created to assume the role of a psychotherapist and one called PARRY, who was programmed at act paranoid. ELIZA: Good Evening. Tell me your problems. Please terminate input with a period or a question mark. PARRY: People get on my nerves sometimes. ELIZA: I am not sure I understand you fully. PARRY: You should pay more attention. ELIZA: Suppose you should pay more attention. PARRY: You're entitled to your own opinion. ELIZA: What makes you think I am entitled to my own opinion? PARRY: It bothers me just to be around people in general. ELIZA: Please go on. PARRY: I went to the track at Bay Meadows a while back. ELIZA: What does that suggest to you? PARRY: I went to the races. The conversation went on for some time, with PARRY becoming increasingly 'frustrated' with ELIZA's seemingly unhelpful responses. Advertisement It's quite different and much more meaningful in human terms to the language 'invented' by the two Facebook bots. It's also interesting to consider when you put it into a historical context - that AI conversation took place in 1972. Originally, ELIZA (created in 1964) and Parry (created in 1972) were intended to act as Turing Test candidates to see whether a computer could convince a human it was real on the basis of a conversation between the two. Given the 'personas' created for ELIZA and PARRY, someone came up with the idea of hooking them up and that friendly chat was the result. Passing a Turing Test is supposed to show that a machine is displaying human levels of intelligence. Whether it does or not has been debated since Alan Turing created the test back in 1950, and for the past ten years has been the objective for an annual chat bot competition, The Loebner Prize. Each year, the winner of the $100,000 prize is the bot which the human judges decide can hold the most convincing conversation. The current champion, a bot called Mitsuki, has even beaten an unofficial version of Apple's Siri technology into a distant 14th place. The sea is full of hearts and minds. But it is a sad and often overlooked truth that our activities, especially those that are currently considered standard fishing practices, are terribly impacting many of the highly intelligent, sensitive and social marine animals found there, such as whales and dolphins. There is an urgent need to speak out on this issue in Europe right now because the European Union is revising key fisheries legislation and the European Parliament will vote on it in October. This legislation must contain strong protective measures for dolphins, whales and porpoises as a priority. Meanwhile, the UK, as it prepares to leave the EU, is redefining its own fishing standards, including how to address the unwanted 'bycatch' of cetaceans, seals and other animals caught in fishing gear. Surprisingly large numbers of dolphins, porpoises and even whales are unintentionally caught in fishing operations. They are not, of course, the target species. The fishers don't want them in their nets, but this is still a predictable consequence that needs to be addressed with comprehensive mitigation efforts. Advertisement Fisheries bycatch of dolphins and their kin is typically discussed in government and scientific circles in terms of its sustainability; in other words, how many can be killed without driving a population to extinction. This leads to difficult debates around how big the distinct dolphin populations are in the first place. The basic argument being that the larger the population, the more animals can be 'safely' removed. These issues are complex and there is an argument that some of the resources that go into developing 'sustainable' removal rates might be better used to develop methods to reduce or stop removals, especially given that if the European public were asked, they would probably not want to see any dolphins killed. The deaths of air-breathing, breath-holding, big-brained mammals in nets also raise significant welfare concerns. This aspect is little talked about but it is clear that an animal who has evolved to come to the sea surface to breathe every few minutes will violently fight to escape being entangled. Some may indeed escape, although they may still be wounded, but many do not. Studies of their bodies show broken teeth, bones, bruising, torn muscles and other wounding. Typically, they also clamp their blow-holes closed, so eventually they suffocate rather than drown as a result of being trapped underwater. This process can clearly take many undoubtedly stressful and painful minutes. This is not a humane death and may be witnessed by others in their social group or family, also causing them distress. Getting some idea of the numbers involved is difficult. However, this summer, hundreds of dead dolphin bodies are reported to have washed ashore on French coasts, many more than usual. Worldwide, more than 300,000 cetaceans have been estimated to be unintentionally caught in fishing operations annually. The scale of this will be surprising to many and it underpins the need to address this matter better and to urgently find answers. Advertisement The current EU legislation review, includes worrying proposals that would weaken the bycatch-related elements, including a proposal to allow the reintroduction of drift nets into the Baltic Sea. This indiscriminate fishing method would threaten a distinct and critically endangered population of harbour porpoises (estimated at less than 250 mature individuals) that live in the Baltic. This is very surprising and, clearly, should be opposed. More positively, the UK Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, George Eustice MP, at a reception in London hosted by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation this month committed to make greater effort. He stated that he wants to see the UK be a global leader, inspiring others to protect cetaceans. This is very welcome and we can be hopeful that suitable actions will follow, including adding appropriate language to the legislation that will define how the UK moves forward in managing its own fisheries as it leaves the EU. The fate of Europe's cetaceans lies in the balance. Humane Society International has been working closely with other NGOs in recent months to try to positively influence this process. I woke up on Mothers' Day with a terrible headache, thinking it was the start of a migraine. But this was different, the pain wouldn't go, no matter the pain relief I took! I tried to play it down as my children Ellie and Riley were trying to spoil me as it was Mothers' Day but I just couldn't move from my bed. I went to bed early that night and woke at 5am with the worst pain I have ever felt in my head. I instantly knew something was wrong and my husband Dale called for an ambulance. Advertisement By the time the ambulance had arrived the pain was unbearable. I collapsed in my mum's arms and then started being violently sick once I came around. My neck was stiff and I had pain going down my back. Pain was unbearable My husband and mum had to carry me to the ambulance with scarves around my eyes as the light was making my eyes hurt and the head pain was so unbearable. Once in hospital I was so dehydrated the doctors had problems getting a drip into me as they couldn't get a vein. Eventually they did and started treating me for bacterial meningitis. The hospital was very quick in sending me for a CT scan. They treated me with antibiotics and also sent me for eye scans and blood cultures. We soon knew it wasn't bacterial but strongly suspected viral meningitis. Pointing to viral meningitis By then I was so poorly the doctors said they didn't want to put me through a lumbar puncture as there was no cure for viral meningitis and they could tell from some of my results that everything was pointing to it being viral meningitis. Advertisement I was in hospital for a week. I have never been so ill! It took me a good six months before I started to feel fully well again, still suffering from neck aches. It was the most frightening experience. The only thing I didn't have was the rash, which I knew would have meant bacterial meningitis. Wonderful care and support I feel so lucky to have had such wonderful care from the nurses and doctors at the hospital and my family and friends were amazing with their love and support. Always go with your gut instinct. For me, I know the signs of meningitis so I had a feeling I knew what was happening but if you don't, please familiarise yourself with the symptoms because this can happen to anyone. Know the signs; it could save yours or a loved one's life! Having meningitis has made me realise how lucky I am as it could have been so much worse. My husband had to take over my role for a good month while I recovered and it has made him appreciate me and everything I do for him and our children. tntemerson via Getty Images Many ongoing free speech controversies are about what may be expressed in private realms. How do we stop fake news spreading on social media? Who should be granted a platform at a student union? When it is appropriate for a political party to suspend one of its members because of something they said? These are undeniably important issues with which the Labour party must engage, but they are not problems for a government to fix with legislation. Yet there do exist free speech issues - mostly relating to security - where the exercise of government power can profoundly affect people's lives. A timid Labour party might be tempted to adopt illiberal policies in these areas, in the hope of appeasing the right-wing media. But a confident Labour party, secure in its values, can persuade the electorate directly that policies that protect freedom of expression and privacy rights will actually make our democracy stronger and our people safer. Advertisement The first challenge is that of mass surveillance. The Snowden leaks of 2013 revealed that GCHQ had been illegally retaining communications data on a mass scale. Exposed as doing something to which parliament had never consented, David Cameron's government rushed the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act (DRIP) through parliament in just two days. This was a profoundly anti-democratic act. The DRIP Act had a sunset clause, and so in 2016 the newly installed prime minister Theresa May bulldozed through the more permanent Investigatory Powers Act 2016. This was a marginally better law, with enhanced oversight provisions, but the central power to collect and retain the communications data of everyone was included in the final bill. It was, and remains, a fundamental invasion of privacy. It is analogous to the government taking a record of every book, newspaper article we read, and taking a photocopy of every letter we send and receive, 'just in case' one of us turns out to be a criminal. It is surveillance without suspicion, without even the partial shield afforded by anonymity. It has a significant effect on the work of investigative journalists, whose sources often speak out only on condition of anonymity. Advertisement The awareness that the authorities are always looking over your shoulder as you type, text and tweet is also chilling for political organising. Anyone who campaigns to radically change government policy, or who simply questions the behaviour of our institutions, faces the very real possibility that they will be placed under surveillance That Labour acquiesced to the Investigatory Powers Act makes it seem as though mass surveillance is now a settled consensus. But that is not so. A legal action at the European Court of Human Rights will be heard in late 2017 and will open the issue for debate once again. Should the ECHR rule against the United Kingdom and declare mass surveillance to be a human rights violation, Labour must resist the temptation to bash the court (as Theresa May's Conservatives surely will). Instead, the party should be poised to announce an alternative policy--one that abides by international human rights standards. Counter-extremism policy is another area where defenders of free speech must be vigilant. The existing PREVENT strategy is inherently problematic, because it is the part of the CONTEST framework that seeks to make interventions before anyone actually joins a conspiracy or commits a crime. Of course everyone in society must work together to change attitudes, and many people believe that it is right for the government to fund interventions that steer vulnerable people away from the purveyors of Islamist and far-right hate. Nevertheless, such upstream counter-extremism work finds itself flirting with assumption, extrapolation and prediction, with ideas that speculative fiction writers might call 'thought-crime' or 'pre-crime'. The government's most recent proposals for counter-extremism legislation are extremely worrying. Among the suggestions were a set of new civil orders, that would have allowed the police to prevent people from assembling with others or from speaking in public: a serious curb on free speech. Advertisement Thankfully, Labour politicians have led the opposition to these ill-conceived Extremism Disruption Orders. The Joint Committee on Human Rights, chaired by Harriet Harman, effectively skewered the civil orders in its report published in 2016. The report pointed out that such orders 'could be used in a profoundly illiberal way. For reasons historical and cultural, Britain's human rights laws set an example to the rest of the world. When the UK fails to live up to the high standards expected of us, other countries notice. How can FCO diplomats credibly oppose the sinister monitoring of online discussion in China, when GCHQ is running a comparable mass data collection programme in the UK? How can NGOs credibly protest the prosecution of Cumhuriyet journalists Can Dundar and Erdem Gul in Turkey for 'revealing state secrets' when our own Law Commission has proposed that the UK adopt a similar law? And how can activists effectively protest the treatment of writers like Raif Badawi in Saudi Arabia, imprisoned for merely imagining a new political system, when the UK Home Office is cooking up mechanisms to shut up our own radicals? Post-Brexit, the UK will be making dozens of new trade deals and will take on full responsibility for declaring what can be exported where. A Labour government can ensure that those trade deals are tied to support for free speech and human rights. Such a foreign policy will benefit everyone. But to make it work we need to get our own house in order first. There aren't many people my age who are lucky enough to be celebrating a 30th birthday. Yes, the River Cafe is 30 years old. And I started thinking, what does it mean, to turn 30? 30 is a fantastic time. It is when you are in the prime of your looks, you are less vulnerable to peer pressure. People take you more seriously and you are finally confident in yourself. Basically you know your way around the menu. But at 30, most importantly, you know who your true friends are. The River Cafe has always been a family affair since my husband Richard Rogers, business partner Rose Gray and I opened the doors in 1987. Over the past 30 years, those first chefs and customers and waiters have had babies, and now those babies have had babies. We are on to the second, even the third River Cafe generations of children. And I like to think we send these River Cafe children out there into the world with not just a deep understanding of first pressed olive oil, how to cut a piece of parmesan, or clean an anchovy, but with our values. And like good cooking, those values aren't complicated. They are to be patient, to be kind, to be fair, to be compassionate and tolerant. Advertisement We broke the rules and gave chefs more days off, took our team on trips to Italy, things that felt eccentric at the time - but for us were core values: staying simple - coming full circle back to that simplicity with a deeper understanding of what we do best. But the really amazing thing is that all these hours of experience have taken place on the same spot. There is so much history in the fabric of our building besides the Thames; people talk about the buzz of the restaurant when it is full but I like the early mornings when it is empty and silent, and you can feel all the dramas, the deals, the tantrums and the marriage proposals that have taken place here. The waiter who told a customer she looked just like Linda Evangelista, to be told 'I am Linda Evangelista'; The customer who asked a waiter where the ladies were, to be told they were in Italy, he only realised later she meant the bathrooms. The time the staff got excited that Jim Carrey was coming in, only to be disappointed it was actually secretary of state, John Kerry. The night the canary flew into the restaurant and silenced everyone with its song. Advertisement It is incredible to think that whole life of the River Cafe has been lived out in the same building it started out in. Because by the time you turn 30, you have usually left home. There was a time two years ago when it looked like we might have to leave home. But we didn't want to leave, our customers didn't want us to leave, and so we stayed. I think the River Cafe is many things. You might come here after a triumph, or to console yourself or to celebrate. But most of all I hope that the River Cafe is like coming home. Once you walk through the door, you are ours. We look after you. You are surrounded by friends. You feel welcome, you feel safe. And now we've reached this landmark, 30 years. At 30 you look back, assess what you've done, you ask yourself if you've achieved what you wanted to achieve: and when you can say yes, or almost yes, you look forward, to the future, to what you're going to do next. We will look at our new cook book, RIVER CAFE 30. We will sing, we will dance. We will toast our fabulous Rose. But most importantly, we will all continue to work. Advertisement We will switch on the coffee machine, check the bookings, make the caramel ice cream, light the fire in our wood oven. Ready to welcome the first of you to come through our door. Ready to welcome you to the River Cafe. Ready to welcome you... home. Right now, there is a mental health crisis among children and young people in the UK. According to new polling by HuffPost UK, a third of young people aged 18-24 say that they have had a mental health problem over the last year, while the recent Millennium Cohort Survey suggested that almost a quarter of girls and one in ten boys show signs of depression at the age of 14. Sadly, there is evidence that problems are getting worse. The number of under-18s arriving in A&E with a psychiatric issue has more than doubled since 2010, while 90% of school leaders say that they've seen an increase in anxiety, depression and low mood over the last five years. Mental health problems in university are also on the rise, with the rate of students disclosing mental health conditions having increased almost five-fold in ten years, alongside an alarming rise in suicides. Advertisement Everything around us can influence our mental health. We know that young people face a huge range of pressures, including stress at school, college or university, bullying, body image issues and the pressures created by social media. Difficult experiences in childhood - like neglect, bereavement or domestic violence - can also have a serious impact, sometimes several years down the line. While there is greater awareness today than in the past about mental health, it can still be extremely hard to reach out for help. To make matters worse, when children and young people do seek support, specialist services are often overstretched. Because it's so difficult to get treatment in some areas, problems can escalate. All too often, we hear from young people who have started to self-harm or dropped out of school during the long wait for treatment. At YoungMinds, we work with young activists and families to campaign on mental health. Together we call for political change, we work to improve services, and we spread the message in schools, at events and online about how to look after yourself. We also run a parents' helpline, which provides a lifeline to parents and carers who are worried about a child or young person. Advertisement But we need your help. Having a mental health problem can be an incredibly isolating experience, and we want you to help us spread the message that, if you're struggling to cope, you're not alone. On World Mental Health Day - Tuesday 10th October - we are calling on people up and down the country to take part in our #HelloYellow day. We want as many people as possible to wear something yellow, and to share a message of support for children and young people who are struggling with their mental health. Across the country, hundreds of schools and businesses, as well as thousands of people of all ages, have already signed up. Together we hope to share more than 10,000 messages on the day, and to raise much needed funds to support our work. We'd be delighted if you are able to join us and take part. And, if you're struggling with your own mental health, don't suffer in silence. Talk to someone you can trust - it could be a friend, a family member, a teacher, a doctor, a counsellor or a helpline - or go to the YoungMinds website for more information about how to find support. BEN STANSALL via Getty Images With reports of Cabinet infighting increasing, and speculation of a potential leadership challenge mounting, the pressure facing the Prime Minister ahead of her key note speech to party conference this Wednesday is reaching fever pitch. To address these issues, and to help remedy the discontent surrounding her Premiership, May first needs to address the perception of her administration as a zombie government, stumbling from one crisis to another. She needs to set out a vision. A vision for her Government. True, we've seen recent token gestures. Her bid to stem the tide of young people switching to Labour represented a vague attempt at this. But, the belief that by pledging to freeze the upper rate of tuition fees at 9,250 will somehow win her favour with young people and stem the tide of the youth vote bolstering Labour is laughable. By seeking to emulate the Labour Party and their reputation as the political Santa Clause, dolling out free goodies, serves only to highlight how ill-suited this administration is to Government. Rather than being led by Labour, the Conservatives need to tread their own path and roll out a truly Conservative vision for the future. Advertisement The second urgent priority is to get tough with Brussels on Brexit. May's speech in Florence hit the right note needed for polite diplomatic circles. Yet, like so many speeches written for Britain's recent Prime Ministers, it lacked that essential clause that will make EU leadership stand up and worry. It lacked the language of sheer, bloody determination that we will stand up for Britain's interest. The language EU politicos know is a character of the British and makes them finally understand we mean business. EU negotiators make Machiavelli look like the basket-holder at a guillotine convention. They believe there is no other way other than the EU way. You must obey EU principles because they are the only right principles. If you don't show solidarity, that much abused word of consensus, then the EU will use all its weapons to hurt you. This is the message the Greeks got when an elected, radical government thought in times of strife the EU would be its friend and guide it to safety. Advertisement Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has warned: "Britain will be made an example of, any recalcitrant government who steps outside of the modus vivendi will be crushed". That is why Theresa May needs to stand firm this Wednesday and not waiver in her commitment to leaving the EU and in doing so must again act on Varoufakis' advice: "Simple logic dictates of you are not willing to leave the negotiation don't enter one." She must commit to her Lancaster house speech and make clear that Britain will not be held to ransom, as Greece, Ireland and Cyprus were, and accept any duff deal. She must emphasise that any more EU posturing, delay and threats will be met by the UK leaving without a deal and trading on WTO rules. We shouldn't be scared of exiting the negotiations without a trade deal. It would be right to be scared 40 years ago when trade tariffs were high, but now the global landscape could not be more different. Dozens of countries trade with the EU under WTO rules, including the USA. We will still continue to trade with the EU outside of the Single Market, yet have the freedom to penetrate new global markets. This is a view uttered by some of our leading business leaders such as Sir James Dyson. In fact, I'd argue that we would actually be in a far better position to negotiate a trade deal with the EU once we have completely severed ties with them. Advertisement Theresa May is now in favour of a transitional phase - beginning almost three years after 17.2million people voted to leave. This would leave us in the worse of all positions. We would still be paying into the EU budget, still have free movement for EU citizens, still be abiding by EU law and regulation without having an internal representation, still be subject to the European Court of Justice and will be prevented from signing new trade deals. This would leave us still chained to the crippling EU, while not being able to peruse the immense opportunities that Brexit presents. This would be a true Zombie Brexit. No sane patriot would want this. The hard-core remainers want it, because they don't want us to leave full stop. They only have their own interests at heart, not the pride of our nation. They are doing the EU's dirty work for them. Looking at the current political climate, I and every other Brexiteer reserve the right to be concerned. 'Strong and Stable' are hardly by-words for Theresa May's government right now. Tie in that with the next General Election date of 2022, this is seriously worrying. What happens if Theresa May resigns or is pushed out? What happens if the transition period takes us through to the next General Election? With the traitorous Labour Party now softening its tone since its manifesto, the door to the UK abandoning the referendum mandate is opening wider. Advertisement Since we joined the EU decades ago, we have been net contributors to the EU budget. We have put in hundreds of billions of pounds, why should the British tax payer fork out more money, when we have no legal obligation to do so? Of course at home there are plenty of critics of the prime minister. They seek to isolate and pick off the main players and sow mistrust between them. It is tough to stand up and fight a just cause when the enemy circles in their last stand, are throwing all they have before they fall exhausted, extirpated and defeated. Hannah Mckay / Reuters As the PM stood on the podium inside the Iglesia Novella last Friday with the slogan "shared history, shared challenges and shared future" in the background, one would have been excused for thinking that Theresa May was about to announce that we were staying in the EU after all. Indeed the symbolism of Florence, one of Europe's most striking and stirring cities, at the heart of Europe and birthplace of the Renaissance could not have been more powerful. Advertisement However, I'm sorry to break it to her, but with a year to go before the Government present a deal to Parliament, the time for fluffy charm offensives and warm words is over. It was telling that during her speech Theresa May proudly stated that the Government's publication of no less than 14 policy papers in less than three months was a great example of the "concrete progress" made in the Brexit negotiations. Pointing in different, often contradictory directions and published in what appears to be a random order, the papers demonstrate the opposite. It's painfully obvious that these papers, meant to outline the Government's desired outcome, offer no further clarity on a never-ending and breeding list of unanswered questions. How will we avoid a physical border in Northern Ireland if we are leaving the Customs Union? What will it cost to leave the EU? Will the acquired rights of EU nationals living in the UK be guaranteed in perpetuity? Nor do the papers set out a concrete and cohesive negotiating position for the remainder of the Brexit process. Instead, the papers seem to be a piece of hastily cobbled together camouflage to cover up the fact that the Government's deep divisions continue to hijack any chance of real progress. Indeed the outcome of the recent election has only served to expose the disunity inside Tory ranks and the fragility of a Government forced to stick to meaningless slogans and platitudes to keep everyone on board. Advertisement This leads me to the question: Why are the Government unable to break the deadlock in these negotiations? Could it be because the Government would finally have to be honest with the British people and explain that Brexit will not deliver on the lies trumpeted by the Leave Campaign? Lies like an extra 350million a week for the NHS, a fury of new trade deals ready to be signed on the day of departure, the ability to keep the exact same benefits as the UK currently has inside of the Single Market and Customs Union and Brexit presents no threat to the Ireland - Northern Ireland border. The refusal to publish the 50 'secret' sector studies commissioned by the Government on the impact of Brexit is just the most recent example of how far the Government are willing to go to conceal the true implications of our departure from the EU. It might also be because the Government have spent the last fifteen months giving the false impression that in a negotiation you can have your cake and eat it, that you can tell your opposite number to "go whistle" and that "no deal is better than a bad deal". Negotiations are about compromise, 'give and take' and accepting that to strike a deal that is acceptable to both sides, you need to build trust and understand you won't always get what you want. Unfortunately, as so many times before, the Tories are putting the Conservative Party's interest in papering over the Euro chasm ahead of the national interest. As the true implications of Brexit continue to unfold, I am convinced that more and more people will question why we are committing economic harakiri. There is some evidence that the tide may already be turning, after weeks of deadlock in the negotiations, a brand new survey for The Independent showed that a majority of the British people now believe that the UK should stay in the EU. For the Liberal Democrats, there is no doubt; by the end of the negotiations, the British people will deserve a choice; to either accept the Government's deal or to vote for an "Exit from Brexit" and remain in the EU. We are calling this a "Vote on the Facts". We welcome Sadiq Khan, London's Labour Mayor, to our cause and hope that more grown-up politicians on all sides will join us. Advertisement With only one year to go for a UK-EU deal to be reached (when incorporating the time it takes for the deal to be ratified by the EU Parliament and the EU27), it's time the Government got real and made some constructive offers such as to ring-fence citizens' rights. This is their only real chance of breaking the deadlock. We can all hear the clock ticking away... 59 Dead, 518+ Injured At Las Vegas Concert Shooting [UPDATE 3] [UPDATE 3] The death toll has now risen to 59 dead and more than 518 injured during a shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas, Nevada strip late on Sunday night. Police say they killed the alleged sole gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, at a hotel overlooking the concert. This was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. ___________________________________________ Are you safe? Let your loved ones know you're ok by marking yourself safe on Facebook. To do that, click here: https://t.co/W4LzB6yV37 pic.twitter.com/X7iCerUzHR FOX5 Las Vegas (@FOX5Vegas) October 2, 2017 Country superstar Jason Aldean was on stage before a sold out crowd for the final concert at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas strip Sunday night when automatic gunfire rang out from a nearby hotel window. The attack left at least 59 dead and 518 injured, according to Las Vegas authorities. No Obvious Motive The alleged gunman, Stephen Paddock, age 64, apparently took his own life as police closed. No motive for the shooting has be shared by authorities. He had no criminal record and was not affiliated to with any terrorist organization or hate group. Now in its fourth year, the Route 91 Harvest Festival is a joint promotion of Live Nation and MGM Grand Resorts. All 25,000 tickets had been sold for the three day event held across Las Vegas Boulevard from MGM's Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. The shooter opened fire from the 32nd floor of that hotel. Aldean, his band and crew escaped injury during the attack. The country superstar took to social media calling for prayers for those involved. "Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still don't know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe," he wrote on instagram. "My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night." Some chilling live footage. EYEWITNESS: Chilling footage of moment active shooter opened fire on concert goers near Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/7OfAwg0ReO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017 Share on: The 32-year-old St. Joseph Central High School graduate penned his first children's book. St. Joe Graduate Pens Inspirational Children's Book PITTSFIELD, Mass. Dan Sadlowski started on a career in health care and shadowed at Children's Hospital in Boston. He was in awe. He saw sick children fighting day in and day out. He saw them as real-life superheroes. And when his time there ended, he promised himself he'd come back and be an inspiration, a role model, to help them be resilient in the face of adversity. But his career didn't bring him back to Boston. It took a detour and he is now a teacher at Richmond Consolidated School, teaching technology and physical education to the elementary pupils. So he had to come up with a new idea to still be that inspiration without being at the hospital day in and day out. So he wrote a children's book with a message of resilience. "I was strongly influenced to become a child life specialists. They work one on one with the children to make sure pretty much that their spirits are up. I told myself I'd be back there, I promised myself I'd be back there to do that. I went to teaching and I am extremely happy with teaching," Sadlowski said. "But I wanted to find a roundabout way to get back there and my idea would be to come up with a story that somebody going through a tough time can relate to." Finding Brooklyn " was published last October, culminating eight years of work. He started with ideas, expanded it to become a full out graphic novel, edited it, then cut it back down to a children's book, and edited again. "I have this big long story. I was encouraged by an editor to do a graphic novel. My vision for this is a children's book but it was too long. It took time from pouring my heart out to getting it back to what I envisioned it as," he said. The story is of a young girl named Brooklyn who wants to be a superhero and finding out that being one happens in real life, not just comic books. Sadlowski sees it as an uplifting and inspiring story that he hopes will find the right person at the right time. "I wanted to create a story that had resilience in it. I think if I can teach kids, or anybody, one thing in life it would be resilience. I wanted to put that in the book along with the theme of superheroes," Sadlowski said. Later he added, "There came a time in my life when you could give up, that superheroes are in the made-up world. Or you can look for real-life superheroes. I wanted to create a story that had a little bit of fantasy superhero but also real life. The main character battles what I believe are real-life superhero situations and overcome them." Sadlowski dates his own inspiration from the book back to when he was just a young boy. He loved to draw and his grandmother told him he could write a book. She grabbed a stack of pictures he drew and asked about each one. "One day she stapled it all together and I was just blown away," the 32-year-old Pittsfield native said. Since then storytelling has been a motivating factor in his life. He believes "stories can change people's lives." Eight years ago he started dreaming up ideas for a book, and he admits much of that time was "daydreaming" and jotting down ideas. It was five years ago he moved to teaching and took his time off in the summer to focus on turning those dreams into a reality. He finally got the story line down, next was finding an illustrator. Sadlowski had exactly what he envisioned for the artwork in his head, so he needed to find an illustrator who could exactly tranlsate what he envisioned. He was picky. He worked with his sister, Emily Sadlowski, for graphic design work and eventually found Allison Pierce. Sadlowski said Pierce's previous work didn't quite match the style he wanted but when he met with her, showed her examples of what he wanted, she drew exactly what he envisioned. Right then, he knew he found the right illustrator. "I didn't feel like it was going to be what I wanted unless I was able to be part of that process," Sadlowski said of his time looking for an illustrator. As the book progressed, he sought out help in publishing it. And he got mixed advice. He was to self-publish. He was told not to self-publish. Ultimately, he decided that he had the right team in place and, frankly, he didn't want to bring in a publisher to change what they created. He opted to go the self-publishing route. "I think there are pluses and minuses to both. But once I found a team with Alison and Emily, I knew we could get it done on our own. I didn't need, or want, anybody else's input," Sadlowski said. Without a publisher, that left marketing and getting the books into people's hands on his shoulders. That's when the book turned into not just an inspiration for others, but for himself. "I think this book has strangely pushed me toward being out of my comfort zone," Sadlowski said. It was somewhat of a snowball effect for him. He crafted a lesson plan and asked on social media if any teachers would welcome him into the classroom to share the book. Both local teachers and in eastern Massachusetts and even New York City brought him in. And it sort of took off from there. "I came up with a few fun lesson plans. I wanted to make them a lot of fun. I wanted to make them creative. I wanted the students to be empowered and feel like they are creating almost their own story and not just talking about my story," Sadlowski said. Sadlowski said he has a reading comprehension piece to it and the children all understand the themes. The book is intended for students between kindergarten and fifth grade, but those outside of that demographic have enjoyed it as well. "It easily translates through the K through 5 area but I feel like a good story has no age restriction. I tried to make it for everybody," Sadlowski said. He started walking into bookstores and speaking to managers about getting it on the shelf. He brought the lesson to book signing in stores, including overseas. The film buff ended up finding himself talking about the book to Travis Knight, the CEO of Laika Films. Knight invited him to see the studio and Sadlowski is now daydreaming that one day Laika Films would turn his book into a movie. He partnered with Moments House on a super hero day. He brought the book to the Ronald McDonald House in New York City. He has donated copies to toy drives and charity efforts, trying to get the story out there. And he met Lola, a child who is battling cancer in Malden. This October, he's organizing a superhero theme party for her. Sadlowski's life path may not have led him back to Boston Children's Hospital but he's still trying to do that work - just in a different way. "I think often older kids, and even adults, are turning away the negativity. We don't want that. But I think there are a lot of great examples of great people out there who learn to take that negativity as one of their strong motivation," he said. Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. You asked for it, and were bringing it back! Samsungs Curved TV Sale is returning from September 21 to October 15. You can get up to 30% off the Samsung 49 or 65-inch Curved Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV and the Samsung Curved Soundbar Sound+. With the Curved UHD TVs sleek curved screen design, watching TV has never been a more immersive experience. Its full 360 degree viewing angle and 4K resolution picture quality bring you closer to your favorite shows and movies. Its UHD Up-scaling engine seamlessly enhances any low-resolution content on-screen to a higher level of clarity, all the way to Ultra High Definition. Elevate it even more with the Samsung Curved Soundbar Sound+, which perfectly fits your new Curved UHD TV. It boasts of 9 built-in speakers with 6 subwoofers, a multi-speaker control technology, and wide range tweeters. Its always HD Audio ready, designed to produce high audio frequencies. To know more about this promo and the Samsung Curved UHD TVs and Curved Soundbar, visit Samsung Electronics Philippines official Facebook page or samsung.com.ph. Bahrain Surface Force Staffs Merge, Provides Better Support to 14 Ships Manama, Bahrain - Rear Adm. Jesse A. Wilson, Jr., commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic (COMNAVSURFLANT), participated in a ceremony to recognize the establishment of commander, Naval Surface Squadron (CNSS) 5 at Naval Support Activity Bahrain, today. Patrol Coastal Squadron (PCRON) 1 was renamed to reflect the expanded responsibilities and mission of the squadron. Since 2013, PCRON 1 has exercised administrative and operational control of 10 Cyclone-class coastal patrol (PC) ships forward-deployed to Bahrain. In an initiative to execute administrative control over forces assigned to oversee the Title 10 "man, train, equip, and maintain" functions for the PC and mine countermeasure (MCM) ships in Bahrain, PCRON 1 was merged with Mine Countermeasures Squadron (MCMRON) 3 Maintenance Detachment and officially renamed. As CNSS 5, the organization will have administrative control of not only the 10 PC ships, but four Avenger-class MCM ships operating out of Bahrain. Additionally, CNSS 5 will provide support to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron (LCSRON) ships when they arrive in Bahrain. Wilson explained the importance of today's ceremony and its impact in the region. "Today, we welcome Naval Surface Squadron Five into the force and expand our responsibilities to better support our Sailors, our ships and our enduring mission here in Bahrain. Naval Surface Squadron 5 will increase efficiency and safety, and better align Bahrain-based ships with commander, U.S. 5th Fleet/U.S. Naval Forces Central Command," said Wilson. "Your dedication and leadership will ensure our Bahrain-based Surface Forces are manned, trained and equipped and that our Navy is able to assure, deter and win." Commanded by Cmdr. Kendall G. Bridgewater, CNSS 5 will serve as the surface type commander's executive agent in Manama, Bahrain. "While our name and the scope of our responsibilities is changing, our mission is not," said Bridgewater. "Our mission has just expanded to ensure the same level of support we have historically provided to the PCs is also provided to the MCMs, a unique platform that provides vital capabilities to our surface fleet, and to U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations." Additionally, CNSS 5 will provide direct support to LCS forces as supporting commander to LCSRON and U.S. 5th Fleet task force commanders. This organizational change marks the first time in U.S. naval history that SURFLANT will have administrative responsibility for MCM ships. CNSS-5 will be responsible for: USS Tempest (PC 2), USS Hurricane (PC 3), USS Monsoon (PC 4), USS Typhoon (PC 5), USS Sirocco (PC 6), USS Squall (PC 7), USS Chinook (PC 9), USS Firebolt (PC 10), USS Whirlwind (PC 11), USS Thunderbolt (PC 12), USS Sentry (MCM 3), USS Devastator (MCM 6), USS Gladiator (MCM 11) and USS Dextrous (MCM 13). Contractor sought to provide food safety training for California produce growers Sacramento, California - The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is seeking a contractor to provide food safety training for California produce growers. Interested parties can learn more and submit proposals through a Request for Proposals (RFP) that has been posted by the Department on the Cal eProcure website. Proposals are due October 16, 2017. The Department has received funding for 2018 in the amount of $450,000 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), explained Natalie Krout-Greenberg, Director of CDFAs Inspection Services Division. The funds are meant to provide farmers with affordable access to food safety training courses required under new FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) laws. The Division is working with the FDA to bring produce farmers in California into compliance with FSMA, which becomes effective January 2018. More than 20,000 produce farms in California are expected to be covered under what is called the Produce Safety Rule, one of several sections of the new law. As part of this Rule, each of these 20,000 farms must employ at least one individual who has completed an approved food safety training course. To facilitate the training, CDFA has divided the state into four regions. Contractors who submit proposals must provide a plan to conduct classes in each region. Classes must be open to any grower who wishes to attend and the course curriculum must be accredited by the Produce Safety Alliance, located at Cornell University. Much more detailed information is available in the official RFP, which can be accessed by registering at www.caleprocure.ca.gov and searching for bids under Department Number 8570. The official RFP title is Environmental Auditing Unit, Standardized Grower Training and there are four different RFPs one for each training region. A hard copy of the RFPs can also be accessed by contacting Valerie Roberts, Contract Analyst at (916) 403-6518. Energy Department Announces Fourth Round of Entrepreneurship Program at Berkeley National Laboratory Washington, DC - The Energy Department today announced the opening of the application period for innovators to join the fourth cohort of the Cyclotron Road program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Cyclotron Road, one of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs, embeds top technical talent with new ideas within Berkeley Lab as entrepreneurial researchers to address fundamental energy and manufacturing challenges identified by industry. Energy and manufacturing drive economic growth and job creation, and innovation in these key sectors is critical to U.S. competitiveness. Critical gaps in today's research ecosystem limit innovators' access to training, scientific tools, and research funding needed to develop new concepts and advance ideas into application. The Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs, with a combined focus on both early-stage R&D and entrepreneurial development, enable researchers to ready breakthrough ideas for adoption by the private sector and fill a critical gap in human capital development. Cyclotron Road, a two-year post-doctoral research program, supports scientists developing energy technologies that have potential for broad impact on the national, economic, and energy security of the United States. At Berkeley, the innovators will receive access to world-class research facilities and expertise, intensive training, mentorship, and networking from the program team and network of advisors. Each innovator will also be exposed to a wide range of leaders from academia, industry, government, and finance that can serve as advisors or partners in support of their effort. By leveraging the unique strengths and capabilities of their respective host national lab and regional innovation ecosystem, the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs are ensuring that federal investments in R&D advance U.S. innovation in manufacturing and energy technologies while contributing to the development of regional economies across the country. Funded with up to $2.5 million, which is subject to appropriations, DOE plans to select up to six post-doctoral innovators to work at Berkeley Lab. Applicants may apply to this merit based opportunity either individually or as a team. However, successful applicants will be selected based on their individual merits. View the solicitation and submission instructions to apply. EERE's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) supports early-stage applied research and development of new materials, information, and processes that improve American manufacturing's energy efficiency, as well as platform technologies for manufacturing clean energy products. The Cyber Threat is Real Washington, DC - Throughout National Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October, and in subsequent articles, the Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare (N2N6) will describe the things you can do, at home and at work, to protect yourself and the Navy from cyber threats. Few people today need to be convinced that our networks, computers and smart phones are at risk of compromise. We've grown accustomed to the news of computer hacks. The confidential information of 143 million Americans was potentially compromised in the recent Equifax breech. In May 2017, the WannaCry ransomware attack infected 150,000-plus computers in over 150 countries within the first 24 hours. If you keep up with the news, you know of Russia's election-focused data thefts and disclosures. More distant high profile attacks, such as the 2015 Office of Personnel Management hack that resulted in the theft of 21.5 million personnel records, are memorable because they affected many of us in the Navy. From these example hacks, you can safely assume anything connected to the internet is at risk. In fact, any electronic device for storing and processing data - a computer - is at risk, regardless of whether it's connected to the internet or whether it looks like the desktop or laptop computers we use at home and at work. Disconnected systems are also vulnerable as attackers have employed innovative tactics to reach systems not connected to the internet. For example, thumb drives loaded with damaging software were picked up by unsuspecting technicians and used to spread the Stuxnet virus to centrifuges in an underground Iranian nuclear research facility. Although the compromise of Iran's nuclear facility was well publicized, less well known are other news reports that also demonstrate physical systems controlled by computers (control systems) are at risk. In 2016, hackers who were thought to be from Russia compromised a Ukrainian power company, knocking out power to part of Kiev for over an hour. A 2015 breech of a Ukrainian energy company, which resulted in a power outage to 80,000 customers, may have been related to the 2016 attack. Closer to home, in 2016 "...the Justice Department claimed Iran had attacked U.S. infrastructure online, by infiltrating the computerized controls of a small dam 25 miles north of New York City." The control systems that manage the Navy's critical infrastructure and other services at Navy bases and facilities are commercial products that have known weaknesses. Like the Ukrainian control systems and the systems controlling the New York dam, Navy control systems and networks used by operational forces could also be at risk of compromise. During June 2017, a commercial ship off the Russian coast discovered its GPS navigation system erroneously located the ship at an airport 32 kilometers inland. At least 20 other ships in the area had similar problems with their Automatic Identification System, which U.S. Navy ships also use. "Experts think this is the first documented use of GPS misdirection - a spoofing attack that has long been warned of but never seen in the wild." Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral John Richardson sums up the current cyber threat environment, "The threats reach well beyond what you would consider a traditional computer or information technology network into the control systems and indeed almost every aspect of our lives and of our Navy mission." These cyber threats can come from nations with highly sophisticated cyber programs, countries with lesser technical capabilities but possibly more disruptive intent, ideologically motivated hackers or extremists and/or insiders within our organizations, with a variety of motivations. Even cyber criminals threaten the Navy because they sell malicious software to state and non-state actors, thereby increasing the number of potential threat actors. Vigilance and ensuring a robust defense-in-depth framework that incorporates people, processes and technology to assure our networks are safe is key. The threat will continue to increase as adversaries look for potential vulnerabilities and increase their level of sophistication for cyber-attacks. In Congressional testimony, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described the threat saying, "Cyber threats to US national and economic security are increasing in frequency, scale, sophistication and severity of impact. The ranges of cyber threat actors, methods of attack, targeted systems and victims are also expanding." But you can make a difference. By adhering to cybersecurity policies, directives and best practices you can help keep the Navy secure and also protect yourself and your families while online, outside of work. It's an all hands effort, like damage control on a ship. Knowing adversaries are actively seeking to penetrate our systems, steal our data and disrupt operations should help you understand the CNO's perspective: "Wherever you are, whatever system you're operating, every time you log in, you are in the cyber battlespace." Be vigilant. Be safe. 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 }} The Killers have achieved their first US No.1 album with Wonderful Wonderful. The record is the Las Vegas band's first to top the album charts in America, after their second album Sam's Town reached No. 2 in 2006, and fourth album Battle Born reached No. 3. The Killers released Wonderful Wonderful, their fifth record, on 22 September. Nielsen Music reports that it sold 118,000 equivelent units in the week ending 28 September - 111,000 of those were reportedly from traditional album sales. In the UK the album made music history as the band's fifth No.1 record, making them the first ever international act to achieve five UK No.1s in a row. British acts Oasis, Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys are the only bands to have equalled or bettered the feat. The Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers now has seven UK No.1 albums, including his two solo records Flamingo and The Desired Effect. The Independent gave Wonderful Wonderful 3/5 stars, commenting that it felt like the "call to the final gunfight in an old Western". "There's a cynicism on ["The Man"], where a nod to Bowie seems to ask where the innovation is in modern rock music... "Wonderful Wonderful is an album that doesn't let the artist look forward to the next track, beacase the album is restlessly glancing over its shoulder, haunted by past successes of The Killers, and the great artists who came before them". Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for the latest news, music and features 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 }} When bride-to-be Jordyn Cleverly was deciding on her something borrowed to wear on her wedding day, she seized the chance to surprise her widowed grandmother. So, she chose to secretly sport the gown her grandmother Penny Jensen wore to marry her high school sweetheart in 1962. The 23-year-old bride from Boise, Idaho, married Dakota Cleverly - who she met aged 14 - in the elegant long-sleeved, lace gown her 74-year-old grandmother wore 55 years before. And photographer Kortney Peterson was there to capture the moment when Penny first saw her granddaughter in her dress. Jordyn didnt tell her grandmother, whose husband passed away before she was born, that she was wearing the gown until the rehearsal dinner that night. Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Show all 12 1 /12 Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress Bride surprises grandmother by wearing her wedding dress I didnt want her to see it for the first time walking down the aisle and just start sobbing and all those memories come back to her Jordyn told Inside Edition. Jordyn snapped up the gown after her grandmother said she planned on donating it to charity. [My grandma] had zero idea; she had no idea it was even in my possession, she said. Peterson shared the image of the moment Penny saw Jordyn in her dress on the Love What Matters Facebook page. Recommended What to wear to an autumn wedding A first look unlike any other I've done before....Between this sweet bride and her grandma. The bride secretly got her widowed grandma's dress from 1962, and is wearing it for her big day. Grandma had zero idea! Yes. You guessed it. I bawled'," she wrote on the page. We got her grandmother to step outside and we showed her the old photo of her in the dress that was going to be displayed at the wedding, Peterson told the Huffington Post. Tears streamed from guests faces as they stood in stunned silence, she added. Jordyn described the moment as an emotional rollercoaster. After being speechless for a moment, Penny whispered in her granddaughters ear: I married my high school sweetheart in this dress and so will you. 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 }} As if the murky waters of online dating werent tarnished enough by zombies, ghosts and breadcrumbersnow were faced with an entirely new sex-starved beast: the Tindstagrammer. Far creepier than its buzzword predecessors, Tindstagramming (coined by New York Magazine) is the act of sneaking into someones Instagram direct messages after failing to match with them on Tinder. In other words, its the modern day definition of desperation. Since Tinder got into cyber bed with Instagram in 2015, its been possible to link your two profiles together meaning you can choose for your Insta username to appear on your profile. Therefore, all an eager Tindstagrammer needs to launch into their very own James Bond stalking mission is a good memory and a perverse understanding of dating culture. After all, nothing screams sexy like tracking someone down and getting in touch with them against their will, right? It has happened to me about 13 times in the last few months, 23-year-old Lola told The Independent. I dont even use Tinder anymore, but I constantly get messages from guys Ive never met telling me theyve seen me on it, which might not even be true. Not only does Tindstagramming undermine the entire premise of Tinder, which operates on a swipe-by-swipe basis that conditions conversations with mutual interest (both parties must swipe right), but it completely subverts the consensual element that constitutes dating IRL. Its basically 2017s version of approaching someone in a bar, being politely told to go away and returning 10 minutes later with a spare martini and a knock-knock joke. Plus, the fundamental motive of a Tindstagrammer doesnt even really make sense. (Instagram (Instagram) If youve already been rejected on Tinder, what makes the Tindstagrammer think that anyone would be less discerning on Instagram? Does a stream of selfies and wry captions boost ones appeal in todays hashtag-saturated society? With the overwhelming amount of dating apps today, "Tindstagramming" is happening more and more as people go to great lengths to capture one anothers attention. (Instagram (Instagram) When it comes to dating, persistence is most certainly not key. 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 }} A mother-of-three has shared a candid snap of her body just hours after giving birth to show how a post-pregnancy body really looks. Elise Raquel, from west Australia, posted the picture of herself on Instagram in a bid to show her 30,000 followers what a real post-pregnancy body looks like in its rawest and most vulnerable state. Describing how she had felt the need to cover up after her previous births, Raquel said that despite the joy of welcoming a new baby, it always felt strange to look down and still see a bump. Pregnant TV weather presenter on online criticism: Your body is not for anyone to talk about However, after giving birth to daughter Willa, she admits she has finally learned to be proud of her body including the extra kilos and stretch marks that came with each new arrival. It's not easy to go home with a baby and still have to wear maternity clothes. With my first I was adamant I would just bounce back. But you know what, I didn't, I never have in fact, she wrote. It's taken me three babies, but I've finally realised this postpartum body isn't something to hide! I am beyond proud for what this body has given and sacralised. The inspirational mum called on other women to celebrate their post-pregnancy bodies too adding, I am NOT ashamed of my (many) new stripes and my postpartum body. And neither should you! Let's celebrate postpartum bodies, in all their glory. Social media users quickly flooded the post with heartwarming messages, thanking Raquel for being so upfront and honest. I've gained some pretty mammoth stretch marks and quite a bit of weight this second pregnancy and i'm not going to lie, I've hated looking at them at seeing my body get bigger, one person wrote. However, after reading this you've made me think about everything in a whole new light and helped me to accept that every change is natural and beautiful. Despite the influx of positive messages, Raquel notices that many people questioned her decision to share such a personal photo publicly on the internet. Tackling the subject in a recent post she wrote, No one told me the reality of the fourth trimester. I had no idea you could still look so pregnant even after giving birth. Just like many women do, I too used to look up to the media, celebrities who would show off their supermodel like post baby bodies just weeks after giving birth! I thought that's how it would be for me too. This post baby picture that was painted in my head just wasn't realistic! I posted that photo because I wish someone had posted a photo just like mine when I was pregnant. I wish that someone had told me what realistically might happen to my body and to my mind. The fourth trimester is such a taboo topic. I want other mums also walking in my shoes to know that they're not alone. 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 }} You buzz the doorbell upon arrival, wait for the door to open then climb a narrow set of stairs before reaching a formidable security door. A guy watching several CCTV screens lets you in. If its your first time theyll check out your ID and jot your name down, perhaps in case theres a fire drill, but most likely to remind you that they know who you are. Teens slouch in corners speaking in hushed tones as others play FIFA against each other on a widescreen TV. Mos Defs debut album Black on Both Sides blares out on the stereo while Mists Aint The Same gets played off someones phone. Because above an outlet of a popular brand, on a busy high street, sits a cafe where you can buy cannabis and then sit, chill and smoke it. Thick fumes escaping from the tips of countless lit joints quickly dissipate and escape through a solitary ventilation shaft. The windows are blacked out and kept shut. This is a place where a cross-section of young adults can meet and bond over common concerns. Recommended Netflix releases its own strains of weed Obviously its illegal and thats what gives it a prohibitionist current. We all know that what were doing is, by-the-book, wrong but it shouldnt be. Its probably safe to say cannabis cafe culture wont remain underground in the UK forever. But, unlike women in Saudi Arabia getting the right to drive, it wont happen overnight. Nonetheless, the tailwinds of drug reform globally have an unmistakably cannabis-infused aroma: the smoke is blowing in the right direction for marijuana advocates. In Uruguay you can now smoke anywhere, states and provinces in the US and Canada are decriminalising and legalising at some pace and in Holland and Jamaica its been cool for a while. There is bipartisan support for legalisation among MPs in the UK. However, the only pro-legalisation party, the Liberal Democrats, failed to increase their share of the vote this year while Labour remain opposed to legalisation although Corbyn has said hes in favour of decriminalisation for medicinal use. A woman smokes cannabis in Amsterdam, where the city council recently voted to ban smoking marijuana in public areas (Getty) As for the Tories, well, they say there is clear scientific and medical evidence that cannabis is a harmful drug. This leaves the 6.8bn marijuana industry in the hands of people like the trailblazing entrepreneurs behind this business, along with street dealers and home growers. It is these people who cater to the demand of hundreds of thousands of pot-smoking Londoners. There are reportedly at least six clandestine smoking hot-spots in and around the City and its a growing trend, although places like this have existed across the UK for years. This particular cafe bears a certain resemblance to its cousins in Amsterdam although the choice of products isnt exactly overwhelming. They sell two strains of weed and one of hash, along with various edibles. Unlike other actual cafes, they do not sell hot beverages but the products are of a high standard and the weightage is fair at 10 per gram. Where the goods are sourced from is unknown. Cannabis farms have recently been discovered in Darlington and Liverpool but the weed is probably imported from Holland and the hash from the Middle East. Canned drinks and Capri-Suns are also on sale, sold for a pound apiece, along with other confectionery items such as Snickers and Skittles. Speaking to the cafes predominantly male patrons you get the sense that visiting the cafe is part of their routine, since buying stuff on the street or even from dealers who visit your house can be risky and stressful. I drop into the cafe occasionally because its way safer than picking up off the street for many reasons, says one customer matter-of-factly, after asking for a Rizla. Usually street dealers overcharge and try to upsell you on coke or stronger stuff. Even with someone good you cant be guaranteed youll get good stuff, he adds. I find a lot of them give you good, high quality bags when you havent bought in a while, then they give you crap after that. Here, though, he says, youre occasionally given a big discount for being a regular customer. Plus, a bottle of beer is 2. You cant go wrong. Another pot-smoker echoed his remarks; the biggest pull is the reliability factor. Its somewhere relaxed and safe to buy and consume good quality hashish, he said, fiddling with a bandana. Dealers on the street are notoriously unreliable and deceitful but the guys who run the cafe are friendly and make it a cool spot to hang out in. Its not quite a home away from home. Uncomfortable benches which meet the wall at perpendicular angles sit where sofas ought to; an expanse of floor sits empty, crying out for a beanbag or two. Nonetheless, its certainly a fun place to hang out and meet people that you might not have met otherwise, had it not been for your shared penchant. But how did we all end up in the same flat? A student smokes marijuana at a cafe in Sofia, Bulgaria. Smoking in public is not uncommon in the nations capital (Getty) The cafe surreptitiously advertises their new products on social media and communicates on encrypted messaging portals. Its probably more difficult to police than you would think though. Plenty of flats have a constant stream of people coming in and out: most people wouldnt think anything of it. Many cannabis clubs openly advertise the fact that they sell weed over-the-counter but because they do not attract any trouble, theyre often left alone by the law. This may also be down to changing attitudes towards the herb. The NHS recently prescribed cannabis oil for the first time ever, to a young boy who was suffering in excess of 100 life-threatening epileptic fits a day. A daily dose of the plants extract has made his condition manageable. Next month, the UK will host what is reportedly its first medical cannabis conference as pharmaceutical companies jockey to be front of the queue if and when the UK beckons them to help build what is a huge-growth industry elsewhere. The Adam Smith Institute argues that the Government cannot just put its head in the sand over calls to legalise cannabis. The main harms of criminalisation come from putting it into the black market, and in the knock-on effect on the criminal justice system, said Daniel Pryor, education manager at the institute, to the Telegraph last month. In the medium term we see decriminalisation as a possibility. If the Conservatives want to reconnect with young voters it would be a very good way of demonstrating theyre in tune with their concerns. For many stoners, though, their daily habits are already much the same as other smokers in countries that have legalised. Durham Police announced earlier this year that they have no interest in pursuing low-level cannabis offenders and, reportedly, a slew of other forces have followed suit and downgraded policing the private consumption of marijuana in their priorities. By the letter of the law, due to weeds class B status, a user can face possession charges of a mandatory 28 days for 3 offences of possession. But given the light touch police seem to now adopt with indoor cannabis smokers, its unlikely that will be enforced consistently. In the cafe at least, the fear of anything disturbing the serenity seems a far-flung thought. Recently however, after prolonged complaints from the restaurateur downstairs, it was moved to a different location. The previous ones single air vent caused the marijuana smell to linger and cloud the aroma of the cuisine. A note stapled onto the door says: Premises upstairs is closed. Please dont come back. Its being monitored by the police. I text the contact number I had from before, get the address for the new spot around the corner and head off. As ever in the war on drugs, the authorities are in a game of cat and mouse and theyre increasingly losing the argument. 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 }} A hard Brexit could be a lot more painful for the UK than for the European Union. Britains car, technology, health-care and consumer goods sectors may lose 17bn ($22.8bn) a year in export revenues when the UK leaves the single market and customs union, according to a report released Monday by Chicago-based law firm Baker & McKenzie and consultancy Oxford Economics. The sectors account for 42 per cent of the UKs manufacturing GDP. The report highlights that the UK-EU trading relationship is sometimes heavily tilted in Europes favour. EU countries buy about half of the UKs exports, while the UK accounts for just 9 per cent of EU goods. That means if British goods become relatively more expensive, because of tariffs or other regulatory costs proposed as part of a hard Brexit, Europeans could switch to cheaper alternatives and deliver an intense blow to UK exporters. You can understand why there is now mounting pressure for the UK to negotiate new customs arrangements for post-Brexit trade with the EU, Jenny Revis, a Baker & McKenzie lawyer, said in an emailed statement. And for companies to work with their industry groups to help shape future trading relations with the EU. Carmakers would be the most affected, according to the report. The industry would lose 7.9bn in annual export revenue due to tariffs that add 8 per cent to the cost of exporting a vehicle to Europe. An additional 5 per cent would be added for non-tariff measures, such as compliance paperwork. 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. The consumer goods industry would be the second-hardest hit, possibly losing 5.2bn a year. The category includes food and drink manufacturers as well as tobacco, clothing and leather product companies. The report also says rising costs and a possible skills shortage may motivate companies to leave the UK. Over half the businesses in the UK car sector are owned by non-EU parent corporations while 44 per cent of the healthcare industry is made of non-UK owned companies. 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 }} Lloyds of London underwriter Hiscox Ltd estimated on Monday that it would face net claims totalling about $225m (170m) from Harvey and Irma, as insurers and reinsurers count the cost of the hurricanes. The company said that despite continuing uncertainty around the losses from Harvey and Irma, the estimates were within its modelled range of claims for events of this nature and that it still had depth of cover in its reinsurance business. Hiscox had previously estimated that it would see net claims of about $150m from Hurricane Harvey. Recommended UK insurer Hiscox to set up new EU unit in Luxembourg due to Brexit Harvey lashed Texas causing flooding that put it on the scale of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, ravaged several islands in the northern Caribbean, before moving into Floridas Gulf Coast. The Lloyds of London insurance market has forecast that it expects net losses for the market of $4.5bn from the two hurricanes. Hiscox Chief Executive Bronek Masojada said the storms meant insurance and reinsurance rates were on an uptrend, impacting rates in affected areas and specific sectors. After a number of years of rate reductions, we are starting to see price corrections, most acutely in affected lines such as large property insurance and catastrophe reinsurance, which we expect to spread to non-affected lines, he said. Industry experts have said that some big reinsurers could be tipped into the red this year, following Hurricane Maria, the third major hurricane of the past few weeks, which caused an island-wide power outage in Puerto Rico. 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. The outage will mean a surge in insurance claims for lost business income that will increase the already high cost of damage caused by Maria. Last week, rival Lloyds insurer Beazley said it reckoned that its losses from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in the Caribbean and southern United States and a series of earthquakes in Mexico would reduce its 2017 earnings by about $150m. Hiscox is set to publish its third-quarter interim trading statement on 7 November. 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 }} Growing up in the capital city of Nigeria, Roye Okupe didnt have many super-powered role models. Comic books were few and far between in Lagos, and those that he did see imports from the US didnt have many black main characters. He loved animation, and from being a small boy had an ambition to work on his own cartoons. I always thought it would be cool to do a superhero story based on a Nigerian character, says Okupe. In 2002, Okupe moved to the United States to study computer science at the George Washington University, and after graduating with both a Bachelors and a Masters degree, he started work as a web developer. But the dream of creating his own superheroes never left him. Okupe, now 32, recalls, One morning when I clocked into work for the day, I sat down at my computer and stared at the screen for about one hour doing nothing. Instead of working, I was daydreaming about the different stories and compelling characters that would be the genesis of what I would eventually title the YouNeek YouNiverse. It was then I knew that I had to take a risk. I had to bet on myself no matter how scary the path that lies ahead was. So in June 2015, I quit my full-time job and started YouNeek Studios. A company that would allow me to create comics, graphic novels and animated stories featuring characters that were inspired by my culture. Initially inspired by the beginnings of the movie superhero craze this was about the time of the Spider-Man movies, starring Tobey Maguire Okupe wanted to create his own animated series, but found it tough to get into the industry. It was then that he hit on the idea of transferring his characters to the comic-book format. His first outing was E X O The Legend of Wale Williams. The first chapter featuring this Iron Man-esque power-suited hero, set in a near-future Lagos of 2025, was initially released as a free internet download in early 2015. The teaser chapter got Okupe a lot of interest, and he used the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to raise $10,000 (7,500) to finance a physical graphic novel of the entire story of E X O. It was important for me to create stories in which African readers could see themselves, he says. But I think thats important for every kind of reader, no matter where youre from. Africa is so rich in culture. So for me, while its important to create stories that people of African descent can see themselves in, I also see a tremendous opportunity to insert fresh and highly compelling stories and ideas into an industry thats in desperate need of some. And this goes for Hollywood as well. Okupe isnt a lone voice in the burgeoning Nigerian comics industry. In 2013, the publishing company Comic Republic was set up in Lagos. Its CEO Jide Martin says: There was a moral vacuum in the present generation, a general lack of icons. People stopped believing in the institutions of old. To fill this gap, I went back to my childhood and I remembered that I used to reflect on what Superman or Batman would do when I wanted to make decisions. So I decided to use the same medium to give this and the next generation something to believe in. Like Okupe, Martin was disappointed in the lack of positive portrayal of Africans in comics at the time. I dont think Africa and Africans are well represented in mainstream Western comics, he says. That is why we are here... to give us a place in this genre and to show the world what Africans are capable of. Comic Republic publishes a range of titles including Guardian Prime, a Superman-style champion and a team of heroes who have been dubbed The African Avengers. The diversity of life in Africa informs the characters, and YouNeek and Comic Republic both mine the rich history and myth of the continent as well as look forward to the future. Okupe says: Ive published three graphic novels: E X O The Legend of Wale Williams, parts one and two, and the first part of Malika Warrior Queen, a historical fantasy epic set in a 15th-century West Africa. Ive also published an art book titled WindMaker The History of Atala. It serves as a companion book to Malika Warrior Queen Part One and its inspired by West African mythology. These are stories that you wouldnt regularly see in comics. They stand out completely. And thats a good thing. At the end of October, Okupe is launching a Kickstarter appeal to fund the second volume of Malika, and says that the way comics are taking off in Nigeria is crazy. He adds: Lagos Comic Con, probably the biggest geek event in Africa, just wrapped up its 6th year. That event in itself is proof of the enormous potential of comics in Africa. Its a growing industry yes, but boy is it growing at a remarkable rate. Another thing to watch out for in African comics is the talent. 95 per cent of the artists that work on all our books, prints and concept art live in Nigeria. And if you take a look at our stuff, you can tell that these guys are amazing. Part of our mission here at YouNeek Studios is to showcase African talent on a global scale. And so far, mission accomplished. The Nigerian comics explosion isnt just contained in Lagos, though. The ripples are being felt all the way back in New York, home of Marvel Comics. It was announced last month that the publisher is bringing out a title in its Spider-Man-based Venomverse world, which will feature a number of shorter stories one written by Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor, and set in Lagos. Although Marvel has long had its African superhero Black Panther, shortly to come to the big screen as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that characters home country of Wakanda is entirely fictional. Okorafors new super-powered character Ngozi is a teenage girl, and her story is inspired by the abduction of 220 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in the Chibok region of Nigeria in 2014. Okorafor, more well-known for her science fiction novels and short stories, told Reuters about her story Blessing in Disguise, which was released this month: It was an important decision for me to base Ngozi on the one of the Chibok girls. They were normal girls who suddenly had to deal with a huge change in their lives ... and their story of perseverance is so powerful. Like many Nigerian girls, Ngozi comes in a small package but is strong-willed and determined. Thanks to the home-grown industry and Marvels recognition of a wider Africa beyond the one usually portrayed in Western comic books, Lagos is well and truly on the map for comic fans and beyond the comics world. Roye Okupe was recently named as one of the 100 most influential Africans by NewAfrican magazine for his comics work. I almost collapsed when I heard it! he says. It is undoubtedly one of the greatest honours that have been bestowed upon me and I do not take it lightly at all. I can only hope my journey to this point can inspire others who just like me have a dream, that burning desire inside them to do something, to add something to this world, to take a leap of faith. My goal is to inspire people to chase their dreams while I live mine. Just like, in fact, the best superheroes Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Life on Earth began up to 4.5 billion years ago as carbon-rich meteors bombarded the planet and leached the essential elements into warm little ponds, according to new research. It was in this nutrient-rich broth that the first self-replicating molecules, with the first genetic code for life, were born. While the idea we are descended from something that emerged in warm little ponds was suggested by Charles Darwin in the 19th century, it has been challenged by claims it all started around hydrothermal vents in the ocean. But, in a new paper in the journal Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers described how they had constructed a comprehensive model proving Darwins idea was plausible. The earliest genetic material is believed to have been ribonucleic acid or RNA, which every human has along with DNA. While DNA is like the blueprint of a cell, the RNA is involved in translating this code into proteins and has a number of other tasks in regulating processes in cells, including growth, ageing and death. In the PNAS paper, the scientists wrote: One of the most fundamental questions in science is how life first emerged on Earth. Given its ubiquity in living cells and its ability to both store genetic information and catalyse its own replication, RNA probably formed the basis of first life. They pointed to fossil evidence of life dated to more than 3.7 billion years ago. Thus the RNA world would have developed on a violent early Earth undergoing meteoritic bombardment, the researchers wrote. At that time, the atmosphere was dominated by volcanic gases, and dry land was scarce as continents were rising out of the global ocean. Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary Their model suggested the first RNA polymers likely appeared before 4.17 billion years ago and possibly as long ago as 4.5 billion years. Planet Earth itself is thought to be about 4.54 billion years old. If life is truly as old as this, it suggests a number of things. One is that simple life is likely to be common in the universe as it can survive in hostile conditions. At the time, the Earth was not shielded by a protective layer of ozone to filter out harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun in addition to meteor bombardment. But it also could be a sign that intelligent life takes a long time to develop and is therefore likely to be rare. The universe, at about 13.8 billion years, is only three times older than Earth. The researchers drew on astrophysics, geology, chemistry, biology and other fields to develop their model of the creation of life. One of the authors of the paper, Professor Ralph Pudritz, of McMaster University in Canada, said the evidence seemed to be pointing in one direction. Because there are so many inputs from so many different fields, its kind of amazing that it all hangs together, he said. Each step led very naturally to the next. To have them all lead to a clear picture in the end is saying theres something right about this. Were thrilled that we can put together a theoretical paper that combines all these threads, makes clear predictions and offers clear ideas that we can take to the laboratory. He said it seemed clear that RNA would have evolved before DNA. DNA is too complex to have been the first aspect of life to emerge, Professor Pudritz said. It had to start with something else, and that is RNA. Ben Pearce, a graduate student at McMaster who co-wrote the paper, said this was the first time all the evidence had been put into a model. No ones actually run the calculation before. This is a pretty big beginning. Its pretty exciting, he said. It is thought the first molecules replicated themselves the most basic definition of life by folding over and drawing in similar material from the environment. This simple process began the process of evolution as molecules that were better suited to their environment became more numerous and those that were not died out. Understanding this process, Mr Pearce said, was the Holy Grail of experimental origins-of-life chemistry. 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 }} Priti Patel, the Secretary of State for International Development, has backed the Independent and Evening Standard special investigation into modern slavery. In an exclusive interview, the cabinet minister stressed the urgency of the investigation as she pledged to commit millions of pounds to tackle the problems exposed by this campaign. Men and women trafficked from countries all over the world end up in modern slavery in the UK. The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner believes there are at least 13,000 in total in this country, while others have estimated the total to be in tens of thousands. "[Modern slavery] is like terrorism," said Patel. "If we don't tackle the root causes, the victims will come to Europe via Libya and Italy, and those problems will manifest themselves on the streets of London." "It's why the Independent and Evening Standard special investigation into modern slavery is absolutely vital. We have to give a voice to people who don't have voices." Ms Patels promise to back the objectives campaigned for by this newspaper is particularly to be celebrated as she has the responsibility for British government efforts in some of the key source countries for victims of human trafficking. During a recent a trip to Nigeria she saw first-hand some of the conditions that lead to men, women and children, some as young as seven, being trafficked to Europe. Nigeria is the third most common origin country for victims of modern slavery in the UK. "I hadn't appreciated the scale of it, the sheer numbers, the brutality," said Ms Patel. "What these victims go through is harrowing. There are 46 million victims of modern slavery around the world in modern slavery, and the profits are on a par with the drugs trade." She told the Independent 7m of extra funding would be focused on Nigeria to prevent modern slavery. Worries about corruption mean that DfID does not give money directly to the Nigerian government. Instead it supports alternative local institutions, raising awareness among young women and helping to create alternative job prospects, especially in Edo State, where most trafficked women come from. "We need to get the word out, so that these young girls know the full facts. If they knew more about the rape and starvation and prostitution, they might not be so likely to think the grass is greener." But Britain cannot go it alone, she said. Slavery is a globalised problem, and a lack of cooperation between different countries creates loopholes in which criminals can operate. Patel said that modern slavery is a subject on which Britain is taking the lead. Speaking before the UN General Assembly two weeks ago, the Prime Minister called on the world to step up and join Britains efforts. "The Prime Minister deserves credit for putting the Modern Slavery Act legislation in place," Patel says. "She speaks very firmly about the great injustices of our time, and this is one of them. She has given voice to the issue." And intervention on the ground, whether in Nigeria, Albania, Vietnam or any other origin country, is only part of the battle, she continued. The message needs to also get through on the ground to Londoners, too. "We have to intervene, and tell the British public that this is organised criminality," says Patel. "It's not just the prostitution rackets, but what happens to the girls, the processes by which they're brought to UK. "Your readers need to be aware of these young girls, and think of them and their futures. These are the people we're trying to help. We all need to get our finger out and stop this." Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Chinese energy company planning to build a nuclear power station in the UK refused to disclose security information to British authorities about another of its plants, it has been revealed. The state-owned China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) has applied for permission to build a plant in Bradwell, Essex, which would be its first in a western country. However, staff from the UKs Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) were reportedly denied access to security details when they visited the company in Shenzhen, China, earlier this year. The trip was part of a four-year process that the company must pass before it is granted a licence to build a nuclear reactor at Bradwell. Following the visit, UK inspectors praised the high level of expertise and commitment at CGN. However, they said they had been refused security information about the CGN plant in Fangchenggang, China, which could be a model for the Bradwell facility. The inspectors report was released to The Guardian in response to a freedom of information request. In it, they said: With regard to the sharing of information, such as the security plans for FCG [Fangchenggang] Unit 3, CGN stated that these were protected documents under Chinese regulations. It is common procedure for other countries not to share sensitive security details during the approval process, the ONR said. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters 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 The regulators Chief Operating Officer, Robert Davies, said: As you would expect, all nuclear companies around the world protect sensitive information concerning the security of their own national nuclear sites, and regulators understand and support such essential precautions. CGN is pushing ahead with plans for the power station at Bradwell in addition to its involvement in a new nuclear facility at Hinkley Point C in Somerset. That project was previously delayed because of fears over Chinese involvement. While the plant is mostly being built by French company EDF, a third of the investment is coming from CGN. Theresa May announced a review of the project in July 2016 amid concerns that Chinese involvement in such a sensitive industry could leave Britain open to energy blackmail. It was given the go-ahead last September after ministers said they had agreed significant new safeguards. 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 first female president of the Supreme Court has hailed a historic day while being sworn in as the UKs most senior judge. Baroness Hale of Richmond pledged to do right to all manner of people while saying her oaths, which were met with applause from fellow judges, international visitors and family and friends. She sparked a rare outburst of laughter in courtroom one after appearing to bow under the weight of the red box containing her letters patent. Donning ceremonial robes, Lady Hale said it was a historic day for the court, which she played a key part in founding in 2009. Lord Mance, who was sworn in as her deputy, said the appointment was a first in many ways. She was not only one of the first justices of the Supreme Court and its first female justice, but today she becomes our first female president - indeed, the first female to head the UKs highest court in any of its manifestations at any time, he added. She has been and is role model for many, as well as a tireless promoter of women as well as other under-represented groups in the judiciary and among lawyers. Lady Hale (centre) poses with other new justices after she was sworn in as the first female president of the UK's highest court, the Supreme Court (PA) I have no doubt that Lady Hale will continue to make a very significant contribution to the jurisprudence of this court. The historic appointment was announced in a statement from Downing Street and approved by the Queen in July, when Lady Hale welcomed the honour and challenge of succeeding Lord Neuberger. The 72-year-old grew up in Yorkshire, attending a state grammar school in Richmond, before attending Cambridge University and teaching law at Manchester University. She qualified as a barrister and practiced at the Manchester Bar, where she specialised in family and social welfare law and founded the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, becoming the first woman to be appointed to the Law Commission in 1984. Five years later, Lady Hale became a High Court judge - the first to have made her career as an academic and public servant rather than a practising barrister and was the second woman ever promoted to the Court of Appeal and first female Law Lord. She served as the first female Justice of the Supreme Court from its opening in 2009 and took up the post of deputy president four years later. When her appointment as President was announced, Lady Hale said she planned to use the role to develop closer links with each part of the United Kingdom, for example by sitting outside London, and improving the ways in which we communicate our work to the public. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters 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 She added: Recent high-profile cases mean that more people than ever before have heard of the Supreme Court, and we hope that this will help to create a broader understanding of how the judiciary serves society. During her time as deputy president of the Supreme Court, she ruled on prominent cases including the Brexit appeal that saw the Government forced to hold a parliamentary vote on Article 50. Most recently she was on the panel of justices who ruled in favour of John Walker, the gay ex-cavalry officer who won a landmark pensions ruling to secure his husband the same rights as a wife. Lord Mance said Lady Hales original specialisms in family and mental health law had widened to enormous contributions in other areas. At the same ceremony, he was sworn in as deputy president and three new judges took their oaths, including a second female justice, Lady Black. Figures released earlier this year showed that women and ethnic minorities remain severely under-represented in the judiciary, which has outlined efforts from the Judicial Appointments Commission, universities and professional bodies to improve diversity. Women make up 28 per cent of court judges and 45 per cent of tribunal judges, while the proportion of BAME judges stands at just 7 per cent. Although access to the ceremony itself was by invitation only, the Supreme Court remained open to the public for the first time in its history during proceedings, which were also live streamed online. The new Lord Chief Justice, Sir Ian Burnett, at the Royal Courts of Justice (PA) At a separate ceremony at London's Royal Courts of Justice, Lord Justice Burnett was sworn in as the new Lord Chief Justice. The 59-year-old Court of Appeal judge takes over as head of the judiciary of England and Wales from Lord Thomas, who held the position from 2013 until his retirement on Sunday. Sir Ian Burnett, who lives in Essex with his wife and children, has been involved in many high-profile cases during his career, including serving as counsel to the inquests into the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi al-Fayed. As well as being head of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice is also president of the courts of England and Wales and is responsible for representing the views judges to Parliament and the Government. At times of great change the central role of the judiciary upholding the rule of law remains a constant, as do our impartiality and independence, Lord Justice Burnett said. These features are embedded in the oath I have taken. They are fundamental to our justice system and underpin the effective and smooth functioning of our society. I believe we should be better at explaining our role and the vital importance of our independence and impartiality. 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 }} Andrea Leadsom had thrown her weight behind Boris Johnson, branding the Foreign Secretary fantastic despite a growing backlash against his supposed leadership ambitions. Senior Tories raised opposition to Mr Johnsons repeated Brexit interventions during the Conservatives annual conference, with one ex-cabinet minister calling his behaviour extremely disloyal. Ms Leadsom, an ardent Brexiteer, told a fringe event she would remain in the cabinet as long as the Prime Minister wants after she diverged from Tory policy by saying the UK would take back control of its money, borders, laws by its official exit from the bloc in 2019. The comments appeared to contradict Theresa Mays major Brexit speech in Florence where she conceded the UK could stick to EU rules over a two-year transition period. Speaking at a fringe event on Brexit, the Commons leader said: In terms of myself and can I stay in the cabinet, its absolutely clear I shall be in the cabinet just as long as the Prime Minister wants me to be. I can also assure you that the same is true of Boris. I think he is fantastic but I would love him to go to the parliamentary hairdresser. Tory MP Vicky Ford, a former MEP, told the same event that one of the biggest risks to a successful Brexit would be a leadership contest. Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson called for an end to the leadership psychodrama, Ms Mays deputy Damian Green demanded cabinet discussions take place in private and Scottish Secretary David Mundell mocked Mr Johnsons electoral appeal. Tory conference 2017 in pictures Show all 23 1 /23 Tory conference 2017 in pictures Tory conference 2017 in pictures Comedian Simon Brodkin hands Theresa May a p45 during her conference speech @simonbrodkin/Twitter screengrab Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May struggles with her water after she suffered a coughing fit whilst addressing the Conservative Party conference in Manchester Reuters Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson delivers his speech on the third day of the Conservative Party annual conference Tory conference 2017 in pictures Bear Grylls at the Conservative party conference at the Manchester Central Convention Complex PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's International Development Secretary Priti Patel gestures after delivering her speech on the third day of the Conservative Party conference Paul Ellis/AFP Tory conference 2017 in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond visit a home in Manchester during the Conservative Party conference in the city Phil Noble/PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson returns from a morning run on the second day of the Conservative Party Conference, in Manchester Reuters/Phil Noble Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates view a display board showing the history of the Conservative Party as they arrive for the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates carry pro-Brexit bags as they arrive for the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates listen to Justine Greening's speech on the first day of conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip applaud a speaker on the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson speaks at the Conservative Party Conference at the Manchester Central Convention Complex PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, speaks on the first day of the conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Chairman of the Conservative Party, Patrick McLoughlin, speaks at the opening of the first day of the Tory party conference Tory conference 2017 in pictures Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, arrives for the first day of Tory party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon, arrives at conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Home Secretary, Amber Rudd (C), attends the first day of the Conservative Party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, attends the first day of the Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Former Conservative minister, Edwina Currie, at the first day of conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox, arrives at conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, arrives at the conference hotel for the Conservative Party Conference Reuters/Darren Staples Tory conference 2017 in pictures The anti-Tory march makes its way to the Conservative party conference in Manchester Peter Byrne/PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures A demonstrator walks a dog wearing a European Union flag during a protest on the opening day of the Conservative Party Conference, in Manchester Reuters/Darren Staples Ms May attempted to dismiss questions about the leadership in interviews but failed to quash the issue as Mr Johnsons antics continued to dominate the conference in Manchester. 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 }} Younger voters are rejecting the Tories because they believe Brexit is as bad as Trumps wall, a Government minister has warned Theresa May. Phillip Lee described EU withdrawal as toxic to young people, because it involved putting up barriers which meant they would not accept it, even if trade links were protected. He warned the Prime Minister she did not have a public mandate for the hard Brexit she set out a year ago, after her general election setback. Dr Lee a justice minister, as well as a practising GP - also described the state of the NHS, social care and state pensions as a Ponzi scheme thats about to collapse. Speaking at a conference fringe meeting, hosted by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) think-tank, he said: The problem with Brexit for young people is not an economic, it's not a trade thing. It's about the virtual signalling of essentially being closed off to the world, because for most young people the world is just 'Amazon', it's just 'there', and it seems retrograde to being seen to be putting up barriers. It's like Trump's wall. So, single market access or not, I don't think is what young people are talking about. I think what this is about is closing off, turning away from Europe, and also having controls on migration. Dr Lee said under-45s believed the countrys social contract was fraying and no longer works for them and could consider fleeing Britain. They're either going to just leave or start voting for some socialist utopia and we obviously don't want that, he added. On the impact of the Conservatives losing their Commons majority, the minister said: We don't have a public mandate for the type of Brexit we were talking about in that initial six to nine months, twelve month period. The result of not having that mandate was the election, Ok? And I think it's inescapable. Dr Lee also dismissed any shallow attempts to win back the youth vote by trying to be cool as Tories, admitting: We know that's not possible. He warned the message to younger voters appeared to be we're also going to tax you even more because this Ponzi scheme that we've had in play for pensions and for healthcare and for social care for the past 30 years is about to collapse. And he raised the alarm over older Tory voters dying, saying: I wonder actually, in ten years time, because of natural wastage, whether were going to be in a similar losing position. Highlighting the Conservatives had a real trust problem, he added: I say this as a practising doctor. I need to have their trust in order to be able to do anything with them and I think Conservative politicians, and the Conservative government, has to have the trust from the public to think our intentions are good. Jon Ashworth, Labours Shadow Health Secretary, seized on Dr Lees comments about the NHS, saying: The cat is out of the bag. Away from the dreary conference hall, Tory ministers are openly conceding that years of Tory underfunding has pushed our NHS and social care sector to the brink. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Tory former minister has suggested legalising cannabis could help the party to woo young voters as he called for all drugs to be regulated by the Government. Ex-prisons minister Crispin Blunt said prohibiting drugs was "about as intelligent as the prohibition of alcohol in the United States" and urged the Government to "take back control" of drug regulation by appointing a Royal Commission to look at decriminalisation. He said successive governments had "ceded total control of a significant public health issue to organised crime" and said he would apply the policy to all drugs. Recommended May vows to help millennials after youth vote made her lose majority Senior Tories have identified a need to appeal to younger voters with Theresa May promising to freeze tuition fees and moves to bring back the party's youth wing. Speaking at a conference fringe event on street cannabis hosted by the Adam Smith Institute, Mr Blunt said: I think our leadership is now seized of the fact that we have a problem with the youth vote and it might be an idea to get into an intelligent place, both in policy making and in terms of the presentation of our values around freedom and responsibility. We can finesse the sum and the conduct of the debate by getting this to a Royal Commission, thats how we should advance. We depoliticise this. After the event, he told The Independent he would push for age restrictions on the class B drug - similar to cigarettes and alcohol - which could be available from high street pharmacies. Mr Blunt said: You would go a pharmacy and the pharmacist is going to tell you, do you really want this? You should know what this is going to do to you and that could be the point of education - at the point of sale. You can get it but you wont be able to sell it to children. So if the pharmacist tries to sell it to a 17-year-old then hes going to have a problem with his entire business. Tory conference 2017 in pictures Show all 23 1 /23 Tory conference 2017 in pictures Tory conference 2017 in pictures Comedian Simon Brodkin hands Theresa May a p45 during her conference speech @simonbrodkin/Twitter screengrab Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May struggles with her water after she suffered a coughing fit whilst addressing the Conservative Party conference in Manchester Reuters Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson delivers his speech on the third day of the Conservative Party annual conference Tory conference 2017 in pictures Bear Grylls at the Conservative party conference at the Manchester Central Convention Complex PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's International Development Secretary Priti Patel gestures after delivering her speech on the third day of the Conservative Party conference Paul Ellis/AFP Tory conference 2017 in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond visit a home in Manchester during the Conservative Party conference in the city Phil Noble/PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson returns from a morning run on the second day of the Conservative Party Conference, in Manchester Reuters/Phil Noble Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates view a display board showing the history of the Conservative Party as they arrive for the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates carry pro-Brexit bags as they arrive for the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates listen to Justine Greening's speech on the first day of conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip applaud a speaker on the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson speaks at the Conservative Party Conference at the Manchester Central Convention Complex PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, speaks on the first day of the conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Chairman of the Conservative Party, Patrick McLoughlin, speaks at the opening of the first day of the Tory party conference Tory conference 2017 in pictures Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, arrives for the first day of Tory party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon, arrives at conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Home Secretary, Amber Rudd (C), attends the first day of the Conservative Party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, attends the first day of the Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Former Conservative minister, Edwina Currie, at the first day of conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox, arrives at conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, arrives at the conference hotel for the Conservative Party Conference Reuters/Darren Staples Tory conference 2017 in pictures The anti-Tory march makes its way to the Conservative party conference in Manchester Peter Byrne/PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures A demonstrator walks a dog wearing a European Union flag during a protest on the opening day of the Conservative Party Conference, in Manchester Reuters/Darren Staples He admitted there was limited support in the party for reform and described rowing with some of his gobbier colleagues about the merits of legalisation. When he was at the Ministry of Justice, Mr Blunt said he had to resort to asking his Labour counterpart Bob Ainsworth to table parliamentary questions on the cost of drug policy as he could not get the information himself. 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 }} Welcome to The Independents live coverage of the second day of the Conservative party conference in Manchester. During his keynote speech Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, claimed Britain risks Cuba and Venezuela-style food shortages if Jeremy Corbyn wins power at the next election. Raising the spectre of failed socialist states, he branded Labours economic plans a political version of Jurassic Park. It comes after the Chancellor warned Boris Johnson he could be fired if he keeps trying to push Theresa May towards a harder Brexit, saying: Everyone is sackable. And he warned Cabinet divisions were damaging the chances of success in the Brexit talks, saying: The more we can show unity, the stronger our negotiating position. Mr Hammond insisted the Cabinet had agreed a united position that the transition now being sought by the Prime Minister should last around two years while admitting he had pushed for up to four years. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters 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 The Chancellors comments come after senior Tories rounded on Mr Johnsons open challenge to Brexit policy. One told The Independent he was incredibly disloyal. Meanwhile, the British Chambers of Commerce launched an outspoken attack on the Cabinet squabbling, demanding the Tories pull themselves together and show competence and coherence 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 }} Scottish Tory Leader Ruth Davidson has urged her party to get over its current nervous breakdown and man up. Ms Davidson said that Jeremy Corbyns popularity would not last and that the Conservatives need to start the fight, offering to do it herself. Addressing the row over whether Boris Johnson should have been sacked for his repeated media interventions on Brexit, she said she would sack anyone from her party in Scotland who openly contradicted the agreed line on a policy. Recommended Chancellor warns Johnson he could be fired over hard Brexit push Ms Davidson is becoming seen as the politician who can ensure the Conservatives reach out to voters, especially young people, who they are not currently engaging. In front of a room of 300 people she was asked if she is the person to save her party, responding: I dont think the party needs saving. I think it needs to get over its current nervous breakdown and man up a little bit. It comes as the Tories are still coming to terms with losing their majority and working out how Mr Corbyns Labour has come to be seen as the party offering a vision to which the UK is responding. Ms Davidson said it is right her party explores the reasons its offering at the election did not chime enough with voters, but added: There is a point at which you have to lift your eyes to the horizons as well. Tory conference 2017 in pictures Show all 23 1 /23 Tory conference 2017 in pictures Tory conference 2017 in pictures Comedian Simon Brodkin hands Theresa May a p45 during her conference speech @simonbrodkin/Twitter screengrab Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May struggles with her water after she suffered a coughing fit whilst addressing the Conservative Party conference in Manchester Reuters Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson delivers his speech on the third day of the Conservative Party annual conference Tory conference 2017 in pictures Bear Grylls at the Conservative party conference at the Manchester Central Convention Complex PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's International Development Secretary Priti Patel gestures after delivering her speech on the third day of the Conservative Party conference Paul Ellis/AFP Tory conference 2017 in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond visit a home in Manchester during the Conservative Party conference in the city Phil Noble/PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson returns from a morning run on the second day of the Conservative Party Conference, in Manchester Reuters/Phil Noble Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates view a display board showing the history of the Conservative Party as they arrive for the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates carry pro-Brexit bags as they arrive for the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates listen to Justine Greening's speech on the first day of conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip applaud a speaker on the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson speaks at the Conservative Party Conference at the Manchester Central Convention Complex PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, speaks on the first day of the conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Chairman of the Conservative Party, Patrick McLoughlin, speaks at the opening of the first day of the Tory party conference Tory conference 2017 in pictures Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, arrives for the first day of Tory party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon, arrives at conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Home Secretary, Amber Rudd (C), attends the first day of the Conservative Party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, attends the first day of the Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Former Conservative minister, Edwina Currie, at the first day of conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox, arrives at conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, arrives at the conference hotel for the Conservative Party Conference Reuters/Darren Staples Tory conference 2017 in pictures The anti-Tory march makes its way to the Conservative party conference in Manchester Peter Byrne/PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures A demonstrator walks a dog wearing a European Union flag during a protest on the opening day of the Conservative Party Conference, in Manchester Reuters/Darren Staples She went on: What Im saying is, just because people are chanting Oh Jeremy Corbyn, lets not be faint-hearted about this, we are on the right side of the argument on the economy. We know that we need to ensure that we adapt to a changing world, that we are supporting our public services, that we are looking after the younger generation. But we dont just pack up and go home because they have got a bit of a spring in their step. We get stuck in, like I say, show me them, Ill start the fight. Her appearance comes amid the ongoing row over Mr Johnsons position, with some MPs calling for him to be sacked after he conducted an interview at the weekend in which he made Brexit demands that went further than Ms May had in her recent speech in Florence. Ms Davidson sidestepped several questions about Mr Johnson, and whether he should have been sacked. She said, however, that she had told her MSPs: If any of you think of writing anything, without telling me, that is counter to current Scottish Conservative policy; you are out on your ear because nobody is unsackable. Ms Davidson said she could not see herself wanting to become leader, branding it the loneliest job in the world, but underlined the importance of blocking Mr Corbyns path to Downing Street. She added: I do want the job of being first minister of Scotland and thats what Im working towards in 2021. But asked what was more important, being first minister or stopping Mr Corbyn, she underlined how she thought the Labour leader was a threat to the union. 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 }} Jacob Rees-Mogg has claimed Theresa Mays assertion that her Government will not be defined by Brexit is absurd and every area of Whitehall should be concentrating on the Britains exit from the EU. Mr Rees Mogg touted as a favourite in the summer months to replace the Prime Minister in Downing Street also said he believed Ms May put the cart before the horse at her speech in Florence on payments to the EU. Speaking at an event hosted by the think-tank Politeia during the Conservative party conference, the eccentric MP said: It [Brexit] is the defining political issue of our time and and to pretend otherwise you hear statements saying the Government doesnt want to be defined by Brexit. This is absurd. Its got to be defined by Brexit. This is a fundamental shift in how the country is governed on the same order of magnitude of the Glorious Revolution or the Great Reform Bill. It is transformative constitutionally and consequences will knock on every area of our lives, he added. His comments come after the Prime Minister said ahead of her first Cabinet meeting last year that her Government will not be defined by Brexit - a line she has repeatedly stood by as she hopes to also concentrate on the domestic agenda in Britain. Mr Rees-Mogg also claimed there is no obligation under UK, EU or international law to pay any money to the bloc in the form of a divorce bill, adding: That should be our starting point in the negotiations. And we should certainly not be saying we will make payments in the event we dont get an entirely satisfactory deal, he said. Asserting that the best deal would be a free trade deal replicating the one currently in place with the bloc, Mr Rees-Mogg continued: I wouldnt have said what the Prime Minister said in the Florence speech because I thought it was putting the cart before the horse but as she has said it I will confess that I dont particularly disagree with continuing to contribute during the multi and financial framework on condition that we have exactly the deal that we want. But otherwise I would not be willing to do that and we must be absolutely ready to say that we will not pay anything. Tory conference 2017 in pictures Show all 23 1 /23 Tory conference 2017 in pictures Tory conference 2017 in pictures Comedian Simon Brodkin hands Theresa May a p45 during her conference speech @simonbrodkin/Twitter screengrab Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May struggles with her water after she suffered a coughing fit whilst addressing the Conservative Party conference in Manchester Reuters Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson delivers his speech on the third day of the Conservative Party annual conference Tory conference 2017 in pictures Bear Grylls at the Conservative party conference at the Manchester Central Convention Complex PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's International Development Secretary Priti Patel gestures after delivering her speech on the third day of the Conservative Party conference Paul Ellis/AFP Tory conference 2017 in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond visit a home in Manchester during the Conservative Party conference in the city Phil Noble/PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson returns from a morning run on the second day of the Conservative Party Conference, in Manchester Reuters/Phil Noble Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates view a display board showing the history of the Conservative Party as they arrive for the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates carry pro-Brexit bags as they arrive for the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Delegates listen to Justine Greening's speech on the first day of conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip applaud a speaker on the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson speaks at the Conservative Party Conference at the Manchester Central Convention Complex PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, speaks on the first day of the conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Chairman of the Conservative Party, Patrick McLoughlin, speaks at the opening of the first day of the Tory party conference Tory conference 2017 in pictures Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, arrives for the first day of Tory party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Fallon, arrives at conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Home Secretary, Amber Rudd (C), attends the first day of the Conservative Party conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, attends the first day of the Conservative Party conference Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Former Conservative minister, Edwina Currie, at the first day of conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox, arrives at conference Carl Court/Getty Tory conference 2017 in pictures Britain's Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, arrives at the conference hotel for the Conservative Party Conference Reuters/Darren Staples Tory conference 2017 in pictures The anti-Tory march makes its way to the Conservative party conference in Manchester Peter Byrne/PA Tory conference 2017 in pictures A demonstrator walks a dog wearing a European Union flag during a protest on the opening day of the Conservative Party Conference, in Manchester Reuters/Darren Staples Earlier on Monday, the MP urged his colleagues to stop faffing about over Ms Mays leadership and back her to deliver Brexit. At a packed rally meeting, the North East Somerset MP told Brexit-backers: Be of good cheer, we won, it's happening. Now what have we got to do? We have got to back Theresa May, her position needs to remain solid and well-supported by all Conservatives to get the Brexit deal done. No more faffing around about alternatives to Mrs May - she is our leader, she needs our support, she deserves our support. The good cheer we get from the Foreign Secretary is fantastic. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Tory MP who led a backbench rebellion against the Government's flagship welfare reform has issued a last-ditch plea to ministers to halt the rollout. Heidi Allen, who sits on the Work and Pensions Select Committee, said offering advance cash payments to Universal Credit claimants was like an "Elastoplast being stuck on" and revealed flaws in the design of the system, which will eventually merge six existing benefits into one monthly payment. Critics of the benefits overhaul warn that desperate claimants could be waiting up to six weeks or longer for their initial payment while transferring over from the old system. However Work and Pensions Secretary David Gauke said he intends to press on with the rollout, ahead of an address to the second day of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. Ms Allen told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: Getting some money to people of course is welcome but if we are essentially celebrating the fact that advance payments are increasing and will increase, that means that the fundamental design of the system, which is a minimum six weeks to wait, doesn't work. It feels like an Elastoplast being stuck on because six weeks is just too long for the majority of people to wait. Ms Allen, who led a group of 12 MPs to urge Mr Gauke to halt the rollout, called for a delay of months not years to fix problems with UC and said one in four claimants have already had to wait longer than six weeks in the initial stages. She appealed to the Prime Minister to stick to the principles she outlined in the first speech of her premiership, adding: She showed to me a really clear understanding of people who are struggling to make ends meet and she said very clearly, Every decision I make will be for you and theses are the people we are talking about So to me it doesn't really fit with the belief in that inner moral compass, if you like, that these are the vulnerable people with no recourse to savings that we should be supporting. So far the Government has been rolling out the new benefit to new claimants at a rate of five job centres a month, but in July they completed 29. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters 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 With officials having deemed the increase over the summer a success, the rollout will be increased to 50 job centres a month for new claimants up to January, potentially going up to 60 after that. Mr Gauke said he hoped that by the autumn 2018 all new claimants would be on the new benefit and the Government would begin to convert longer term clamaints. 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 three main suspects arrested for the brutal murder of a transgender teenager will not be facing hate crime charges. Eighteen-year-olds Andrew Vrba and Isis Schauer, along with 24-year-old Briana Calderas have been charged with the first-degree murder of 17-year-old Ally Lee Steinfeld, but not for hate crimes. Vrba claimed he stabbed the victims genitals repeatedly and gouged her eyes out in Cabool, Texas Country, Missouri.The teenager's parents reported her missing in September. Recommended Model Teddy Quinlivan reveals she is a transgender woman Investigators later found her charred remains in a bag dumped in a chicken coop near the mobile home she shared with the three attackers. Violent details of the attack prompted calls for the trio to be charged with committing a hate crime; however the prosecution has decided it will not be pursuing those charges, CNN reports. Prosecutor Parke Stevens Jr did not immediately return a request for comment, but he told news agency AP: I would say the murder in the first-degree is all that matters. That is a hate crime in its self. Human Rights Campaign spokesperson Chris Sgro disagreed, stating that Steinfeld was the twenty first transgender person to be killed this year in the US. He told AP: This violence, often motivated by hatred, must come to an end. We will continue to mourn Ally and fight back against transphobia and anti-trans violence. A first degree murder charge in the state of Missouri carries either a death sentence or life imprisonment and according to CNN and HLN analyst Joey Jackson, a hate crime charge cannot therefore be applied to a murder. Steinfeld had been in a physical altercation with Vrba almost two weeks prior to her death. 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 Later in a police interview Vrba stated that he had to kill Steinfeldand he planned to do so by poisoning himbut Steinfeld would not drink the poison so he used a knife instead," a police report states. Despite Missouri being one of 17 states with hate crime laws that include offences against people on the basis of their gender identity, they have led to few prosecutions, according to 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 }} Donald Trump has responded to an attack on festival-goers in Las Vegas in which at least 50 people have died, making it the deadliest mass shooting in US history. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" he wrote. The shooting, late on Sunday evening at a country music festival close to the city's casino strip, left more than 200 injured. The US President tweeted his condolences around five hours later, at just gone 7am, Washington DC time. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr Trump had been "briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas". Ms Sanders said that "we are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers". Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Mr Trump is due to visit the storm-ravaged US territory of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, having engaged in a public spat with officials on the island after they accused him of inaction following devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. There has been no comment from the White House on whether that trip will be rearranged in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre. Recommended Las Vegas gunman named in US media as Stephen Paddock Following the attempted bombing of a Tube train at Parsons Green station in London last month, Mr Trump tweeted that it was an attack by a loser terrorist and called on authorities to be proactive. Police in Las Vegas have said they are not treating the mass shooting as an act of terrorism, despite Nevada state law defining terror as any act that involves the use or attempted use of sabotage, coercion or violence which is intended to cause great bodily harm or death to the general population. Theresa May and Boris Johnson were among the first world leaders to respond to the killing. The Prime Minister said her thoughts were with the victims and emergency services following the "appalling attack". The Foreign Secretary said he was "horrified" by the shooting, adding: "The United Kingdom stands with the American people against this indiscriminate violence. My thoughts are with all those caught up in it. "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in contact with Las Vegas authorities to establish whether any British people were caught up in the attack and we are ready to help however we can." 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 }} Geary Danley was not the gunman in Las Vegas who killed at least 50 people late Sunday. But for hours on the far-right Internet, would-be sleuths scoured Danley's Facebook likes, family photographs and marital history to try to "prove" that he was. Danley, according to an archived version of a Facebook page bearing that name, might have been married to a Marilou Danley. Police were looking for a woman by that name in the hours after the shooting, but later said they did not think she was involved. To name someone as a mass murderer based on that evidence would be irresponsible and dangerous. But that's exactly what a portion of the far-right Internet did overnight. The briefest look at the viral threads and tweets falsely naming Geary Danley as the attacker makes it easy to guess why a bunch of right-wing trolls latched on to him: His Facebook profile indicated that he might be a liberal. Recommended Las Vegas gunman armed with at least ten guns during mass shooting Authorities have since identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, 64, who was later found dead in a hotel room on the Strip. His motives remain unknown. But the fake Danley story presented a complete, desirable package to the elements of the far-right Internet that spread it. That phony story quickly embedded itself into the algorithms of Google and Facebook, where sites promoting the rumor remained at the top of the results for anyone searching for Danley's name. In excited all-caps, one anonymous user on 4chan's /pol/ board posted that Danley was a "REGISTERED DEMOCRAT!" The thread spread quickly, as did a crowdsourced wiki page about Danley on Everipedia that, according to its edit history, once said that "Geary opened fired [sic] on the 34th floor of the Mandalay Bay toward a concert happening across the street." The Everipedia article dedicated an entire section to what it alleged were Danley's political views: Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA This narrative, backed by no evidence or confirmation of Danley's involvement in the Las Vegas shooting, spread quickly. That Everipedia post had 77,000 views as of Monday morning, just hours after it was created. It has since been edited and no longer names Danley as the shooter. His personal photos, taken from Facebook, were still plastered all over the page. But even as those rumors were thoroughly, conclusively debunked, this false narrative was picked up in the algorithms that, increasingly, have come to define a person's public-facing identities. During a search I ran about 9 a.m. Monday, hours after the real shooting suspect -- a different person -- was identified, the entire first page of Google results for a search for Geary Danley's full name were links to news sites, YouTube videos, message boards and even several /pol/ threads repeating the rumor about him. There was one exception: a link to Danley's personal Facebook page. There were no links to debunkings or to any mainstream news outlets that had identified Paddock as the attacker. And for a time on Monday morning, one of those 4chan threads falsely naming Danley as the shooter was promoted by Google as a "top story" for searches for his name, as one BuzzFeed reporter noticed. The right-wing news site Gateway Pundit also picked up these rumors as fact in a now-deleted article. That article's URL was still the top result for Danley's name on Google in the early hours of Monday morning. The headline, still visible in search results, and remaining on the first page of results for Danley when I ran my 9 a.m. search, read, "Las Vegas Shooter Reportedly a Democrat Who Liked Rachel Maddow, MoveOn.org and Associated with anti-Trump Army." And on Facebook, a search for articles about Geary Danley promoted seven links leading to inaccurate stories about him. The eighth result is a debunking. 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 }} Isiss news agency Amaq has released a statement claiming that Sundays mass shooting in Las Vegas was carried out by a soldier of the caliphate. Stephen Paddock, who lived within driving distance of the city, has been identified by police as the suspect responsible for the deaths of at least 58 people at a country music event after he fired on the crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino. The shooting is believed to be the deadliest in modern US history. Police initially said the incident was not being investigated as a terrorist act. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA The Las Vegas attacker is a soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to appeals targeting coalition countries, a short statement from Amaq said on Monday afternoon, followed by a second in which Isis claimed 64-year-old Paddock had converted to Islam several months ago. The claim of responsibility for the bloodshed, which cannot be verified, is an unusual one for Isis. Paddock is believed to have killed himself before police managed to enter the room and act which in jihadist teachings, unlike martyrdom in battle, is not prized. A social media profile, which supposedly belonged to the suspect shows him taking a shot of alcohol, has caused consternation among Islamist extremist sympathisers online. The suspects brother, Eric Paddock, told media he was dumbfounded by Sunday's events, not mentioning whether his brothers behaviour had changed in recent months or whether he had converted to Islam. While it is rare for Isis to claim an incident in which it appears to have no direct connection to a suspect, the organisation has made several inflated or demonstrably false claims for incidents around the world as pressure on its crumbling self-styled caliphate increases. Las Vegas shooting witness recounts woman telling crowd "they were all going to die" before attack Senior US officials told Reuters they had no reason to believe Isis was linked to the Las Vegas attack. The claim that Paddock was a soldier of the caliphate comes, however, after a rare public statement from the organisations secretive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who called for followers to intensify one attack after another against the infidels in countries involved in the US-led anti-Isis coalition, squeezing the group out of its territory in Syria and Iraq. The 46-minute-long recording is the first audio of Baghdadi in almost a year. Analysts believe it was released in an attempt to shore up supporters morale with the fight for the jihadists capital of Raqqa in Syria reaching its endgame. In the same 24-hour period as the Las Vegas incident, two women were stabbed to death in an attack also claimed by the extremist organisation at a train station in Marseille, France, and four injured in Edmonton, Alberta in two separate attacks carried out by a man suspected of links to extremist ideology. Isis often waits for an attacker to be killed before making claims it inspired or directed the incident. The France attack, in which the unidentified assailant was shot dead at the scene, was quickly claimed by the group again as an incident inspired by Baghdadis renewed call for terror attacks. In Edmonton, an unnamed Somali national was taken into custody after hitting a police officer with his car and later ramming a truck into four pedestrians. Police said that an Isis flag was found on the dashboard of one of the suspects vehicles. No one was killed in the incident. Isiss official channels have not made any reference to it. Despite its news agencys claims, there is no supporting evidence yet that Isis is directly connected to either the Las Vegas or the Marseille attacks. Police investigations in all three cases are still underway. 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 mass shooting in Las Vegas has become the deadliest in US history, and some say the states gun laws are to blame, with New York's Police Commissioner Brill Bratton calling them "a reflection of insanity". A lone gunman recently opened fire on a concert in a Las Vegas casino, killing 50 and injuring more than 400. Police say the gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, had at least 10 weapons inside his room at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Witnesses say the gun used in the shooting sounded like an automatic, possibly military-grade, assault rifle. Nevada capitalises heavily on machine gun tourism, and was ranked the 22nd-best state for gun owners by Guns & Ammo magazine. Below is an overview of the states gun control laws. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Who can buy guns in Nevada? Nevada law does not require gun owners to have a permit to purchase or carry rifles and shotguns, according to the National Rifle Association. Carrying a handgun, however, does require a permit. The state of Nevada does not require weapons to be licenced, although Clark County, in which Las Vegas is located, does. The state requires background checks through a licenced dealer for all gun sales, including those completed privately and online. Convicted felons, drug users, people deemed mentally ill, and those convicted of domestic abuse are prohibited from buying guns. Where can you buy guns in Nevada? Nevada residents can buy guns from a dealer, a private citizen, or website. There is no mandated waiting period for sales. Las Vegas shooting witness recounts woman telling crowd "they were all going to die" before attack Where can you carry guns in Nevada? Nevada is an open-carry state, meaning residents are allowed to carry firearms openly in public. It is legal to carry a gun into a bar, restaurant, or casino even while consuming alcohol. Many casinos have no gun policies, but these do not carry the weight of law. It is illegal to openly carry weapons into a government building, airport, school, or childcare facility. Is there a limit on what kind of guns you can buy? Fully automatic weapons are illegal across the US, unless they were purchased and registered prior to 1986. Semi-automatic weapons, however, are legal in Nevada. Automatic weapons fire until the ammunition is used up; semi-automatic weapons require the trigger to be pulled for each shot. There is no limit on magazine capacity, or the number of bullets a gun can hold, in Nevada. Police and medical workers on Las Vegas Boulevard South after the shooting (REUTERS) Is there a limit on how many guns you can buy? No. Why are Nevada's gun laws so permissive? Semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines were banned across the US in 1994. But that law expired in 2004, and attempts to renew it have failed. Congress introduced more than 100 gun control proposals between 2011 and 2016, according to CBS News. All of them failed. In Nevada, attempts to restrict gun sales have been similarly ineffective. The state passed a law last year requiring background checks for all gun sales, including those completed privately or online. But the state attorney general ruled that the law is unenforceable, since it requires the FBI to run the checks and the FBI refuses to do so. 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 }} Isis has claimed responsibility for the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history as it continues to lose territory in its self-declared caliphate. Police said at least 58 people were killed and 500 victims wounded when a gunman opened fire on dense crowds at a concert in Las Vegas. Officials have identified the shooter as Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old white American who had multiple weapons on the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel, where he is believed to have killed himself. A statement published by the group's Amaq propaganda agency claimed the attacker was a soldier of the Islamic State. The Las Vegas attacker is a soldier of the Islamic State in response to calls to target coalition countries, it said. Isis also claimed the gunman converted to Islam several months ago, without providing more details. Paddock's religion and lifestyle have not yet emerged elsewhere. The wording of the release is similar to other attacks that have been inspired, rather than directed, by Isis. But Paddock's alleged suicide would differ from the actions of the vast majority of Isis attackers, who seek to be martyred in bombings or by security forces, suggesting he had little, if any, guidance from the group. Shiraz Maher, deputy director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), said the statement was authentic but it was too early to confirm Isis involvement. We can say the message is definitely coming from Isis, but whether Isis is just doing this as psychological warfare against the US remains to be seen, he told The Independent. The more we learn about the history of the gunman, the more we will know. If he had converted, somebody somewhere would know. If its true he would have had to have some contact with Isis [and] it would strike me that this guy would have had some sort of contact, some sort of electronic signals that authorities will dig into over the coming days. A spokesperson for the FBI said no link to Isis had yet been found in the ongoing investigation, with analysis of Paddocks phone and electronic devices incomplete. As this event unfolds we have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group, he added. As this investigation continues we will continue to work with our partners. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Isis claim, which cannot be independently verified, came days after it released a speech purporting to be from the group's leader. A 46-minute audio recording appeared to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi praise the jihadis killed in the battle to retake Mosul and other former Isis territories. He urged followers to intensify one attack after another against the infidels, following a spike in global terror attacks. Isis has released several rounds of detailed guidance on how to carry out mass casualty terror attacks, including how to obtain guns and naming concerts as a prime target. An issue of its English-language propaganda magazine released in May said it was very simple to obtain firearms in the US, directing followers to gun shows and online dealers. The same issue named concert halls and entertainment venues among target locations because of the density of contained crowds, citing the blessed massacres at the Bataclan during the Paris attacks and Omar Mateens shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando as outstanding examples. Security officials and experts have long warned that Isis will seek to maintain momentum and legitimacy through terror as its so-called caliphate dwindles in Iraq and Syria. The group's claims can be difficult to confirm or deny, with one alleging that explosives were planted at Charles de Gaulle airport recently disproved after being published in its al-Naba propaganda newspaper. A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer stands near the scene of a mass shooting at a country music festival (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Conversely, Isis has also failed to claim responsibility for several attacks carried out by potential supporters, including a deadly knife rampage in Hamburg and terrorist stabbing in Finland. Raffaello Pantucci, the director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) think-tank said nothing could be discounted in Las Vegas. Theres always that dilemma when you look at individuals who launch attacks, he told The Independent. How do we know hes not just excising his own personal demons and using this method of attack to attract attention? It may be impossible to ever know. Mr Pantucci said an unbalanced individual already attracted to committing a violent act may latch onto Islamist ideology for meaning and resonance, as well as the infamy that the association provides. And from the groups perspective its a win for them, he added. The public conversation is about Isis and thats what they want. There was initial scepticism over Paddocks supposed affiliation following revelations that he had been a gambler and was not known for extremism by relatives. His brother claimed he was not an avid gun guy at all, with no religious affiliation, no political affiliation or history of mental illness. Eric Paddock told CBS his brother was a gambler, saying: The fact that he had those kinds of weapons is just...where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that. "He's a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite and drove down and gambled in Las Vegas." Paddock is believed to have killed himself before a police Swat team burst into his room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, where at least 10 rifles were found, police said. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police in front of a sign for the Route 91 Harvest festival (EPA) "We have no investigative information or background associated with this individual that is derogatory, Clark County sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "The only thing we can tell is he received a citation several years ago, and that citation was handled as a matter of normal practice in the court system. Guns and ammunition were found in a search of Paddock's two-bedroom home, where he had lived with girlfriend Marilou Danley, 62. Mr Paddock said the family was shocked, dumbfounded by what happened, adding: He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something. Dr Maher said there was absolutely no profile for an Isis terrorist, with the known examples in Britain alone coming from different background ranging from criminals to graduates, the unemployed and the affluent. Mr Pantucci said too little was known about Paddock to speculate on his motivations, but that there was a possibility that he had viewed Isis propaganda and communication with the group could not be dismissed offhand. He added that some Muslim converts are drawn in by radical individuals, with a growing body of research indicating that those with lower levels of religious knowledge are more easily convinced by Isis ideology. The shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival started shortly after 10pm local time, with footage showing concert-goers throwing themselves to the ground and running as several extended rounds of automatic gunfire rang out. It came after the group claimed responsibility for a stabbing attack that left two young women dead in the French city of Marseille earlier on Sunday. Isis was also linked to a car and knife attack in Edmonton, Canada, where a police officer found a flag used by the group in the perpetrator's car. 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 }} Hundreds of people in Nevada have turned out to donate blood to those injured in a mass shooting in Las Vegas. Officials put out a call for blood donations the morning after the attack, when a lone gunman killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500. By that afternoon, social media teemed with photos of the long lines at blood drive centres across the state. A Red Cross blood drive at the Las Vegas Convention Centre had to turn away donors because it was too full, local reporters said. Other locations had a six to eight hour wait, and were asking donors to schedule appointments for Thursday or Friday. Witnesses reported between 600 and 1,000 people waiting in line at various United Blood Services locations. The organisation is running the blood donation operation for University Medical Centre (UMC) the hospital where many of the shooting victims are being treated. A UMC spokesperson told The Independent she could see a line out the door of the Blood Services location across the street on Monday afternoon. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Nevada resident Michelle White arrived at the at UMCs Delta Point blood drive at 7:30 am with her husband, a state assemblyman. After dropping off coffee with doctors and nurses, the two put out a call for donors on social media. Within an hour, Ms White said, the location was flooded. More than 500 people turned up to that location alone. It was unbelievable, Ms White told The Independent. This little parking lot just became a massive crowd of people willing to donate. Local businesses donated food and water, and labour groups came to set up tents. The mood, Ms White said, was resilient. A spokesperson from the United Blood Services told USA Today the organisation had sent nearly 200 units of blood to local hospitals. The Red Cross said it had sent more than 250 more. The United Blood Services thanked those who had donated in a statement on Facebook. Already the local Las Vegas community has come forward in solidarity to support and honour those impacted by this senseless shooting, the statement read. Its the blood on the shelf that saves lives when tragedy strikes. The donations would be available to hospitals in 24 to 36 hours, the organisation said. The state is still reeling from the shooting at Mandalay Bay Resort in Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday, deemed the deadliest in modern US history. Police have identified 64-year-old Stephen Paddock as the shooter, and are still looking for a motive. Congresswoman Dina Titus, who represents Nevada's first congressional district, praised the community for coming together in the wake of the tragedy. Thats the kind of people we have here in Las Vegas, who are willing to reach out and help one another," she 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 }} Isis has claimed that the gunman who killed more than 50 people in Las Vegas converted to Islam several months ago. The group did not name Stephen Paddock, the man identified by police as the shooter, in a statement released via its Amaq propaganda agency. The Las Vegas attacker is a soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to appeals targeting coalition countries, it said. The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam several months ago. The claim was prefaced with the phrase a security source to Amaq Agency a phrase frequently used after attacks that were not directed by Isis. Its latest claim could not immediately be verified and Paddocks supposed conversion to Islam has not been confirmed. Paddocks apparent suicide also conflicts with jihadi ideals of martyrdom, which normally sees Isis-inspired attackers kill themselves in suicide bombings or by forcing security forces to shoot them dead. Police said the 64-year-old white American opened fire from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel, where he had multiple weapons and is believed to have killed himself. More than 50 people have been confirmed dead and 200 injured in the shooting, making it the deadliest in US history. The shooting started shortly after 10pm local time, with footage showing concert-goers throwing themselves to the ground and running as several extended rounds of automatic gunfire rang out. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Police initially said the shooting was not being treated as a terror attack but no updated statement has been made since Isis released its claim. It came days after Isis released a speech purporting to be from the group's leader. A 46-minute audio recording appeared to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi praise the jihadis killed in the battle to retake Mosul and other former Isis territories. He urged followers to intensify one attack after another against the infidels, following a spike in global terror attacks. Security officials and experts have long warned that Isis will seek to maintain momentum and legitimacy through terror as its so-called caliphate dwindles in Iraq and Syria. It came after the group claimed responsibility for a stabbing attack that left two young women dead in the French city of Marseille earlier on Sunday. Isis was also linked to a car and knife attack in Edmonton, Canada, where a police officer found a flag used by the group in the perpetrator's car. 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 suspected gunman in a Las Vegas shooting that saw more than 50 people killed is thought to have killed himself before police Swat team officers breached the room he was in. Some 22,000 people were in the crowd when the man - identified as Stephen Paddock - opened fire, sending panicked people fleeing the scene, in some cases trampling one another, as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack. Paddock opened fire from his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel on Sunday evening at approximately 10:08pm The victims were across the street attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert when bullets rang out. LVMPD SWAT responded to the call, breached the hotel room and found the suspect dead, police said in a statement. Recommended Las Vegas gunman armed with at least ten guns during mass shooting At least 406 people were taken to area hospitals with injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said. Paddock was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. We have no idea what his belief system was, Mr Lombardo said. We've located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Swat teams quickly descended on the concert and the casino after the attack started, and officers used explosives to get into the hotel room where the suspect was inside, authorities said. What we are going to try to do as best we can is to get our first responders back on their feet and responding and conducting a proper investigation to ensure that we have the safety of this community at heart, Sheriff Lombardo said. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing Sunday night at the end of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival in front of a crowd of 22,000 when the gunman opened fire from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Aldean was in the middle of a song when the shots came rapidly: Pop-pop-pop-pop. Video of the shooting then showed Aldean stopping and the crowd getting quiet as if it were unsure of what had just happened. The gunman paused and then fired another volley, the muzzle flashes visible from the casino, as more victims fell to the ground while others fled in panic. Some hid behind concession stands, while others crawled under parked cars. In addition to Paddock, police said they located a woman who may have been his roommate Marilou Danley, 62. Lombardo said they believe this was a lone wolf attack. It's a devastating time, Sheriff Lombardo said. President Donald Trump has extended condolences to the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas and their families. In a tweet, Mr Trump offered My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! The White House said Mr Trump was expected to make remarks Monday morning, though details were not finalised. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr Trump was briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas. Ms Sanders said that we are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers." Agencies contributed to this report 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 }} Las Vegas police are investigating reports of shooting incidents at other venues on the strip, after at least one gunman opened fire on a music festival next to the Mandalay Bay casino. Police said a suspect was shot dead and they did not believe there was another shooter "at this time". At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the mass shooting at the country music event. Apparent automatic gunfire rang out in footage of the incident, which showed terrified concert-goers fleeing the scene. Kodiak Yazzie, a 36-year-old attending the Route 91 festival, told Associated Press he heard what sounded like fireworks while he was watching US country musician Jason Aldean's performancee. He said the music stopped, but then started up again before another round of pops prompted the performers to duck for cover and flee the stage. As the 40,000 fans in the crowd began to run away, Mr Yazzie took cover and said he saw flashes of light coming from the Mandalay Bay hotel tower. The bursts of pops would start and stop for more than five minutes. 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 Flights at McCarran International Airport were temporarily halted, the airport said on Twitter. Agencies contributed to this report 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 }} Update: police have identified the gunman as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock The gunman who opened fire at a music festival next to Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas was a local man, police have said. They said they knew the identity of the suspect, who they shot dead, but would not yet name him. According to unverified reports by NBC news, the suspect was 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, of Mesquite, Nevada. Recommended Las Vegas police search for female roommate of Las Vegas gunman At least 50 were killed and more than 200 injured at the country music event. A police hunt was underway for a 62-year-old female companion of the shooter called Marilou Danley, who officials said lived with him. They said she was around 4"11 (125cm), weighed 111 pounds (50kg) and was of Asian appearance. Yet Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told a news conference the shooter was a "lone wolf type". "Right now we believe he is the sole aggressor at this point and the scene is static," he said. Authorities do not believe the gunman was connected to any militant groups and the motives of the shooter are unknown. The suspect was believed to have been shooting down at crowds of concert-goers from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. Witnesses described seeing flashes of light high up in the tower. Footage shows sounds of gunfire at Las Vegas concert A Swot team used a controlled explosion to enter the hotel room, where the shot the suspect dead. Police were also looking for two vehicles in connection with the incident. 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 }} At least 58 people have been killed after a "lone wolf" gunman opened fire at crowds at a Las Vegas music festival from a hotel window. At least 500 others were injured as Stephen Paddock, 64, sprayed bullets at the Route 91 Harvest event with an automatic weapon from the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. He killed himself before police entered his room, where officers found more than 10 firearms. Here's a timeline of how the deadliest shooting in American history unfolded. 9.40pm local time (5.40am BST) Country music star Jason Aldean takes to the stage for his set at the Route 91 Harvest music festival, an outdoor event on the Las Vegas Strip. More than 22,000 people are at the sold-out concert. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police in front of a sign for the Route 91 Harvest festival (EPA) 10.08pm Gunman with an automatic weapon opens fire on festival crowds. Concert-goers flee in terror and hide behind barriers, food stalls and cars as hail of bullets rains down from nearby hotel. Some attendees are trampled on as panicked crowds attempt to escape. 10.38pm Las Vegas police confirm they are "investigating reports of an active shooter" near to Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. They urge people to avoid the area. 11pm Police shut parts of Las Vegas Boulevard, a major road famous for its strip of casinos, and place the area on lockdown. 11.15pm University Medical Centre in Las Vegas says it is treating "several" people with gunshot wounds. 11.30pm McCarran International Airport, two miles from the scene of the shooting, says it has grounded planes and diverted incoming flights in response to the shooting. 11.58pm University Medical says at least two people are dead and 24 others are injured, 12 of them critically. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirms "one suspect is down". Reports on social media, citing police scanners, suggest gunman was located on 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Police warn people to avoid the area amid fears of other gunmen. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA 12.30am Police say they "do not believe there are any more shooters". 1.34am Death toll rises to 20. Las Vegas Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo tells press conference shooter was local man. He says search is underway for two vehicles and 62-year-old female "person of interest" who lives with gunman and is "sought for questioning". 2.30am Jason Aldean, who was performing on stage when shooting began, confirms he and crew are safe. He describes the attack as "beyond horrific" in an Instagram post. 3.30am Police say death toll has risen to 50, making it the deadliest mass shooting in US history. Another 200 people have been injured. Sheriff Lombardo says female person of interest has been located, as well as two vehicles. 4.11am US President Donald Trump tweets his "warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families" of the shooting. 5.30am Police identify suspect as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old white man from Mesquite, Nevada. They confirm SWAT officers found him dead in his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. An off-duty Las Vegas police officer who had attended the festival is confirmed to be among the dead. Another was critically wounded, say police. The Clark County Fire Department estimates 406 people were taken to hospital with injuries following the shooting. 6am Police say Paddock killed himself before officers forced their way into his hotel room. 7.15am Isis claims responsibility for the massacre. A statement issued through its propaganda agency describes Paddock as a soldier of the Islamic State and claims he converted to Islam "several months ago". Recommended Isis claims responsibility for deadliest shooting in US history 7.50am Donald Trump delivers televised statement describing shooting as "an act of pure evil" and praising first responders. He says he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. 8.40am Death toll rises to 58 with number of injured up to 515. FBI says Las Vegas shooter had no connection to any international terrorist group. 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 }} It was a hail of bullets that marked the start of what was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, and again left America confronting the toxic and ever-emotional issue of how to regulate the right to bear arms. Police have not yet revealed how many bullets Stephen Paddock, a so-called lone wolf, used when he opened fire from a Las Vegas hotel room, equipped with at least 23 weapons and two tripods, set up and with two rifles aimed out of two different windows. But by the time he was finished the 64-year-old killed himself before police stormed his room he had taken the lives of at least 59 people and wounded another 527. As the nation was left reeling from the massacre, carried out in one of the worlds most iconic cities, Donald Trump sought to offer solace and condolence, first on Twitter and later in a sombre, televised address. Paddock's family said they were stunned to learn he was responsible (AP) In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has, he said, speaking from the White House. As his officials said the President would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday, a day after he visits Puerto Rico, he added: Our unity cannot be shattered by evil and our bonds cannot be broken by violence. Later, Mr Trump and the First Lady held a minutes silence on the White Houses South Lawn to honour those who were killed, the sound of a bell ringing out and the flag flying at half-mast. Police said Paddock, a divorced accountant who lived in Mesquite, 80 miles to the northeast of Las Vegas, had checked into a room on the 32nd Floor of the Mandalay Bay casino resort on Thursday. Over the next few days staff entered his room several times in the normal course of their duties and saw nothing untoward. At 10.06pm on Sunday he started shooting at the Route 91 Harvest music festival where 22,000 people had gathered to watch country stars from across the nation. At the moment he began shooting, Jason Aldean, a star from Nashville was performing. Video footage posted online showed him running for cover as the sound of automatic fire sounded out across the open air festival, nicknamed the neon sleepover and located on the Las Vegas Strip. Las Vegas shooting: Police radio communication during the attack is released Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that me and my crew are safe, Aldean later wrote on his Instagram account. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. As Las Vegas woke up to the news, people in the the usually humming gambling and leisure capital were on Monday stunned and horrified. Austin Wayne, of Tulsa Oklahoma, said he had been in a casino opposite where the shooting took place. He struggled to find words to sum up the experience. It was gunshots and everyone was running. You didnt know what to do or where it was coming from, he told The Independent. Everybody was scared, running, getting down. Words cant even explain it. Hundreds of people have lined up at United Blood Services and University Medical Centre in Las Vegas to donate blood, shortly after officials announced a blood drive. The authorities have yet to confirm the identities of any of the 59 killed, but details have emerged of a several victims. Jordan McIldoon, 23, from British Columbia in Canada, has been identified by CBC News, while a nurse, Sonny Melton, of Big Sandy, Tennessee, was also reported to have been killed. Officials said an off-duty Las Vegas police officer was another of those who died. Also among those who lost their lives were commercial fisherman Adrian Murfitt, 35, of Anchorage, Alaska, Denise Burditus from Martinsburg, West Virginia, Danae Gibbs of Cedar Park, Texas, and Lisa Romero, from Gallup, New Mexico, according to the Associated Press. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Mr Trump, who received millions of dollars for his 2016 presidential campaign from the powerful National Rifle Association, the countrys major gun-rights lobbying organisation, did not mention the issue of gun control when he spoke to the nation. Later, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed it was was too soon to begin a debate on the issue. Theres a time and place for a political debate but now is the time to unite as a country, she told reporters. Theres currently an open and ongoing law enforcement investigation a motive has yet to be determined and it would be premature for us to discuss policy when we dont know all the facts or what took place last night. Others believed Monday was precisely the correct time to start the conversation. Mr Trumps challenger in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, said it was essential that America confronted the NRA and demanded the regulation of weapons. The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots, she wrote on Twitter. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get. She added: Our grief isnt enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again. It took 72 minutes from the first 911 call being placed to when police eventually stormed Paddock's room, where he was found dead. Officers initially sought to determine where the gunfire was coming from, and upon identifying the Mandalay Bay Hotel as the place the shooting was coming from, started searches on the 29th floor and worked their way up to the 32nd floor. Mr Lombardo told reporters Paddock fired at officers through his hotel room door, hitting a security guard in the leg. A Swat team then used explosives to get into the gunman's room. The security guard is expected to survive. Police said they believed Paddock, who moved to Nevada two years ago, from Florida, acted alone and dismissed suggestions he had any links to international terror. In addition to the 16 guns they discovered in his hotel room, they said a search of the property in Mesquite uncovered another 19, along with explosives and several thousand rounds of ammunition. That made 42 weapons in total. Also, several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be turned into explosives such as those used in the 1995 Oklahoma bombing, were in his car, authorities said. It emerged that Paddock had bought weapons from two different Nevada gunshops within the last year, one in Mesquite and the second in Las Vegas. In both cases, he passed all the required background checks, the storeowners said. Right now, we believe its a sole actor, a lone-wolf-type actor, Las Vegas sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters, saying he was a psychopath. We have no idea what his belief system was. Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor. In Mesquite and in Florida, where Paddocks family lived, people offered few insights into the man or what may have motivated him. We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group, FBI special agent in charge Aaron Rouse, told reporters. Paddocks brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news.Were still just completely befuddled. Dumbstruck, Mr Paddock said outside his home in Orlando, Florida. He described his brother, a retired accountant, as a wealthy guy. He liked to play video poker. He went on cruises. Police said that there were four active crime scenes - the hotel room, the concert site, the retirement home in Mesquite where Mr Paddock was a resident and a property in Reno in northern Nevada, also owned by the gunman. 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 }} Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson says that the shooter in the deadly massacre in Las Vegas used a "weapon of mass destruction". "This is a weapon, and a man, of mass destruction," Mr Wolfson said during a press briefing. "This was a classic WMD. This was a weapon and a man of mass destruction, he said. This doesnt involve politics. All of us are Nevadans. Were working to get through this. Recommended Hillary Clinton launches blistering attack on NRA over Las Vegas At least 58 people were killed and 515 more injured after a gunman shot an automatic rifle at concert-goers Sunday night, according to Las Vegas police. Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo said that police believe the suspected gunman had used a "device similar to a hammer" to break the windows in the 32nd floor hotel room from which the shooter targeted victims below. Police have identified 64-year-old Stephen Paddock as the gunman, and have said that he took his own life before police were able to apprehend him. Paddock lived northeast of the city in Mesquite, where he owned a home in a retirement community. It wasn't immediately clear what may have motivated Paddock to open fire on the concert-goers. "This is a crazed lunatic full of hate. We dont know much about his background," Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said. "But its certainly not an extension about what we believe in." Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Las Vegas police dispatch first began receiving emergency calls reporting gunfire at the hotel just after 10 pm local time. Paddock was able to shoot at his victims down below at a country music concert for several minutes, according ot reports. He had at least eight guns in his hotel room. Nevada has some of the loosest gun laws in the United States, and has no limitation on the number of guns that can be purchased at one time. It is legal to own, purchase, or sell machine guns there if the weapon was manufactured before 1986. The state has no law regulating large-capacity ammunition magazines, according to the Law Centre to Prevent Gun Violence. 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 }} As Heather Gooze was standing outside of the festival grounds, she posted on Facebook about the young man she did not know previously who died in her arms during the deadliest shooting in US history. In a public post she wrote: "I am ok. I am right outside of the festival grounds. We are not allowed to go anywhere. I am with a young man who died in my arms! RIP Jordan mcildoon from British Columbia. I cant believe this just happened!!!" Jordan McIldoon, from British Columbia, Canada, was just 23 and one of 59 dead after a gunman opened fire on the crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Recommended Timeline of deadliest mass shooting in US history The alleged shooter, Stephen Paddock, shot several rounds of bullets from the window of his 32nd floor room in the adjacent Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. More than 500 people were injured in the shooting as well. Mr McIldoon was attending the concert of country music star Jason Aldean with his girlfriend. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA The man's parents have confirmed their only childs death. A registered nurse from Big Sandy, Tennessee, Sonny Melton, was the first official victim to be named. Mr Melton was reportedly at the festival with his wife Heather, who survived the shooting. Mr Melton's brother-in-law confirmed his death. Two victims, a 28-year-old woman from Alberta, Canada and an off-duty police officer, are believed to be among the victims but have not been publicly named. Local hospital officials said emergency rooms have been packed with injured patients with a wide range of injuries from gunshot wounds to injuries sustained in the ensuing rush to get out of the area where bullets were being fired, CNN reported. A moment of silence was held for all the victims on Capitol Hill and the White House. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a statement that "the identification process of all of the injured and the deceased will take time, so authorities are asking the public for patience. People worried about missing friends and family who may have been at the festival can call the police department at 1-866-535-5654 for more information. 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 }} More than 50 people have been killed and at least 200 injured in a mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival, police said. An off-duty police officer was among the dead after a gunman opened fire on crowds at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on the Nevada's city's famous strip. Dozens of police vehicles descended on the strip after authorities received reports of an active gunman. Las Vegas police later killed a suspect on 32nd floor of a hotel next to the concert. They said they did not believe there were any other attackers. Thousands of people fled after the "lone wolf" shooter sprayed bullets at a crowd watching country star Jason Aldean. Festival-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, across Las Vegas Boulevard from the music festival. They heard the sound of what they described as automatic gunfire. People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival (Getty Images) A woman who was attending the concert with her husband told CNN: Everyone was literally lying on top of each other and trying to get out of the way, and the shots just kept coming. When we got down, there was a man shot right there. One of my friends was helping him out. They got him out, and we ran, and everybody is hiding everywhere. They were hiding under the bleachers [seats], and the stanchions, and anywhere they could. And everybody is telling us to run, run as fast as you can. My husband and I ran out towards our car, and there were people hiding underneath my car for cover. There was a gentleman who was shot, and he said can you help me? So I put him in my car. I had, like, six people in my car. The suspect was a Las Vegas man who acted alone, said Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. But authorities were seeking an Asian female roommate of the suspect as person of interest, he added. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Marilou Danley was "sought for questioning" over the shooting and urged anyone who saw her to call 911. Police were also looking for two vehicles. Aldean confirmed he and his crew were safe and described the shooting as "beyond horrific". 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 }} Las Vegas police have said there are "in excess of 50 dead" and more than 200 injured after a mass shooting at a music festival. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo also confirmed the main suspect in the attack, the deadliest shooting in US history, was 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. The gunman opened fire on crowds at Route 91 Harvest country music festival on the Nevada city's famous strip from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel. He was later shot dead by police and officers used explosives to burst into his hotel room and confront him. The death toll, which police warned could rise, surpassed the 49 people shot dead at an Orlando nightclub in June last year. Mr Lombardo said several firearms were found in Paddock's hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, across the street from the festival. Officers are also set to begin searching his home address. The gunman's motive was unclear, added Mr Lombardo. He added police were "confident" they have located a woman who lived with Paddock who authorities had said was a "person of interest". Stephen Paddock: Las Vegas gunman identified by police as 64-year-old white male Police earlier said said Marilou Danley, 62, was "sought for questioning" in connection to the shooting. Thousands of panicked festival-goers fled as hundreds of shots rained down upon the crowd, with some people trampled on amid the chaos. Two off-duty police officers who had attended to concert were believed to be among the dead. Las Vegas's casinos and nightlife draw 3.5 million visitors a year from around the world the strip was packed with people when shooting broke out during a performance by country star Jason Aldean. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Shocked concert-goers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack. Some were trampled on in the panic to escape the festival venue. The suspect was a local Las Vegas man who acted alone and was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Sheriff Lombardo said. "We have no idea what his belief system was," he added. "Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor and the scene is static." Video of the shooting showed Aldean stopping mid-song after gunfire could was heard. The gunman then fired another volley, with muzzle flashes visible at the hotel as more victims fell to the ground and others fled in panic. Some festival-goers hid behind merchandise and food stands and other crawled under parked cars. Marilou Danley: Las Vegas police statement on female roommate of gunman Stephen Paddock Jake Owen, a country music star who played the set before Aldean, said "gun shots were ringing off of the stage rigging and road cases. No one knew where to go." Witness Kodiak Yazzie, 36, said the music stopped temporarily when the first shots began. He said the song resumed, before the second round of pops sent performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," Mr Yazzie said. "You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash, flash, flash, flash." British tennis player Laura Robson was among those attending the concert. She shared two pictures of herself at the event, wearing a cowboy hat with an American flag emblazoned on it. Asked by a Twitter follower if she was all right, she wrote: "I'm okay. We were right there... sounded like fireworks at first then everyone started running." She described the scenes as "scary". Witnesses said the gunfire lasted for about five months. "It sounded like fireworks. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on," said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He added: "Probably 100 shots at a time. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again. People were shot and trying to get out. A lot of people were shot." Mike McGarry, 53, from Philadelphia, was at the concert with his children. He attempted to shield them from gunfire and and was trampled on as people fled in panic. "It was crazy. I laid on top of the kids. They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life," he said. The shooting broke out on the final night of the three-day festival, a sold-out event attended by thousands and featuring top country acts such as Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean. "Tonight has been beyond horrific," Aldean said in a statement on Instagram. "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night." 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 }} Survivors of the Las Vegas strip shooting spoke of bullets flying everywhere as the gunman unloaded clip after clip after clip. They told of screaming country music festival-goers crawling for shelter, seeking whatever scrap of cover they could find as the bullets rained down on them. With terrified civilians still hiding out in backstreets, the first of the wounded were driven away in whatever vehicles could be found, with one victim being given CPR in the back of a truck. When the first shot was fired, said one festival-goer, it sounded like a firecracker. And then it ended up not sounding like a firecracker at all. Speaking five minutes after the shooting, the witness told KSNV-TV that the gunman fired clip after clip after clip. Bullets flying everywhere, he said. Everybody running. It was really bad. The bullets, he added, were ricocheting everywhere ... They were firing from somewhere high, and they were unloading clip after clip after clip after clip. The sheer volume of fire was so great, it left the witness convinced erroneously, it is now believed that more than one gunman had been involved. It was hundreds of shots, he stressed. It wasnt sounded like. It was hundreds of shots. The shots just kept coming, said Christine, a middle-aged woman, who had been attending the Route 91 Harvest festival with her husband. She told CNN: Everyone was literally lying on top of each other and trying to get out of the way. When we got down [from our seats], there was a man shot right there. He was all bloody and he was unconscious. We ran, and everybody is hiding everywhere. They were hiding under the bleachers [seats], and the stanchions, and anywhere they could. And everybody is telling us to run, run as fast as you can. Taylor Benge, a 21-year-old concert-goer, told reporters of seeing bodies of people just lying in pools of blood. About five feet to the left of me, he said, there was a man with a bullet wound to his chin. He was just lifeless on the ground. Amid what he described as a relentless onslaught of 200 to 300 shots, Mr Benge said he and his sister threw themselves to the ground, before eventually running for an exit. They escaped unhurt, but covered in the blood of others who had been less lucky. My jeans are covered in someones blood, said Mr Benge. My T-shirt is covered in someones blood, my sisters whole leg was covered in blood. Professional poker player Dan Bilzerian filmed himself running from the festival and gave a graphic description of how he saw a young woman shot in the head in front of him. With the sound of continuous shooting clearly audible behind him in the video, he said: Holy f***, this girl just got shot in the f***ing head. This is so f***ing crazy. After escaping unharmed, Bilzerian filmed himself claiming he had armed himself with a gun and was now returning to the scene of the shooting. So I had to go grab a gun, he said. I am heading back. This is so f***ing crazy. Some kind of mass shooting, heavy calibre weapon for sure. Saw a girl f***ing get shot in the face right next to me, her brains f***ing hanging out. While some applauded him, one twitter user claimed: People will do anything for likes and internet fame. From his vantage point of the nearby Delano Hotels 64th floor Skyfall bar, Jake Freedman could see people getting massacred right in front of us. We could see hundreds of people running out of the festival, he said. I asked my friend, Are those bodies hitting the floor? Sure enough, there were bodies hitting the ground. We saw people getting shot. We saw everybody running out, and people getting gunned down. [We were] watching people run, and bodies hitting the floor as people were running. People were getting massacred right in front of us. When he glanced towards the concert stage, Mr Freedman was confronted by yet more horror. Right in front of the stage, he told Sky News, it was so well lit with the lights of a professional concert ... you could clearly see dozens and dozens of bodies on the ground. Just piled up on the ground. By now, said witnesses, there was mass chaos. No one knew whose advice to trust, or where to run. People were hysterical, said one vendor who had a stall at the festival. We didnt know where to go, where to run. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA She told Fox News, the wounded were bundled into whatever vehicles could be found and driven to hospital. Festival-goers ran to assist. Some ended up covered in the blood of the victims they were trying to help. We saw a lot of injuries, said the stall owner. People helping other people, carrying people out who looked like they were pretty bloody. The ambulances hadnt arrived yet, so they were just putting people into vehicles, whatever vehicles. We saw one person get into a car. He had an IV [intravenous drip] going. Then a guy came up to us. He looked like he had been hurt pretty badly, but he said no, he had just dragged somebody out but he was covered in blood. Eventually, she said, she was told to take shelter in the Tropicana hotel. But shortly after getting there, she saw people screaming, running down the hall. Somebody [incorrectly] said a guy is on the roof. There were all these rumours. Another vendor, who abandoned her stall and spent 30 minutes hiding in a Budweiser truck said: It was mass chaos. You couldnt tell the difference between people who knew what was going on and people who were adding more to the confusion. We didnt know what to do. Her voice cracking with emotion, she added: We saw people that were hurt thrown inside trucks, SUVs. One festival-goer, himself shot three times, was part of a group who tried to get the wounded away in a truck. We had four people in the back of the truck, he told ABC News. We finally got to an ambulance and got two of the guys in. But one guy basically ended up dying in my arms, because he was bleeding [so much]. As casualties mounted, the festivals first aid station became completely flooded with wounded. One first responder told Sky News: The area for medics that was set up for the event was completely flooded with people multiple people hit, a lot of people shot. I myself, with others, carried at least four or five people to the area. Two people, I know for sure, had been trampled [in the rush to escape]. One gentleman was hit in the top of the head, another gentleman shot in the leg. One lady shot in her side, another lady got a round to the side of the head. It was an ugly scene. Elsewhere, Jose Baggett, 31, a Las Vegas resident, said he and a friend were in the lobby of the Luxor hotel-casino directly north of the festival when people began running. He said people were crying and as he and his friend walked away, they encountered police checkpoints where officers were carrying shotguns and assault rifles. There were armoured personnel vehicles, Swat vehicles, ambulances, and at least a half-mile of police cars, Mr Baggett said. As more and more victims got to the citys hospitals, emergency rooms became packed with the wounded. After visiting one hospital, Congressman Ruben Kihuen, a Democrat whose congressional district includes a portion of Las Vegas, reported: Literally, every single bed was being used, every single hallway was being used. Every single person there was trying to save a life. By evening UK time, the provisional casualty toll was at least 58 people killed and a further 515 injured, with the numbers expected to rise still higher. It had become the most deadly mass shooting in US history. 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 man who says he was in the room next door to the Las Vegas shooter has described the horror of the attack. Brian Hodge, a concert producer from Australia, described the night as "hardcore" and "like a scene from a movie" as he ran to escape the shootings that left more than 50 people dead. The gunman Stephen Paddock sprayed shots from his Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino hotel room down into a concert that was taking place below. Paddock, who was shot dead by police, was thought to be staying in a room on the 32nd floor from which he fired into the crowd, injuring more than 100 and killing at least 50 people in the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history. Las Vegas shooting: What we know so far Mr Hodge believes that he was staying in the next hotel room along in Mandalay Bay, and was on his way back his room when the shooting began. "It was hardcore, like it was full machineguns for 20 seconds and then it stopped for five seconds then it just went again it," Mr Hodge told The Age. Recommended Las Vegas gunman named in US media as Stephen Paddock "There were so many shots fired, I couldn't tell you how many. A woman came right up to my face and she said 'you've got to turn back there is a shooter' and we all just started running." "When we got to the ground floor of the casino it was just utter chaos," he said. He hid in the bushes outside for hours until he believed it was safe, he posted on Twitter. "We could just hear bullets being fired and then we could see the bright lights of helicopters flying over the top of us," he told The Age. Las Vegas shooting in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas shooting in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA "I was just laying on the ground. It was like a scene from a movie. The shooter was up above, we didn't know where they were... I didn't want anyone to know where I was so I just curled up and hid. It was the most terrifying moment of my life." Mr Hodge had been staying in room 32134 of the hotel. Numerous reports suggest that Paddock had been staying next door, and Mr Hodge said he was "so glad" he hadn't made it back to his room already when the shooting broke out. He has now posted on Instagram to say that he is safe, apparently staying in another hotel in Las Vegas. 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 }} Up to their ankles in mud, hundreds of Rohingya refugees fought to the front of the crowd outside of their makeshift camp. An open-bed truck full of Bangladeshi volunteers was passing by, tossing out donated goods at random: small bags of rice, a faded SpongeBob SquarePants T-shirt, a cluster of dirty forks. Entire families sloshed through the rain hoping to grab whatever they could. One boy, no older than six, squeezed his way to an opening where a pair of oversize mens jeans came hurtling off a truck. He had to fight off an older boy before he could run off with the prize. There were already more than 200,000 ethnic Rohingya migrants stuck in camps like this one, Balukhali, in southern Bangladesh. But over the past month, at least 500,000 more more than half of the Rohingya population thought to have been living in Burma are reported to have fled over the border to take refuge, surpassing even the worst month of the Syrian wars refugee tide. As international leaders squabble over whether to punish Burma for the militarys methodical killing and uprooting of Rohingya civilians, the recent arrivals are living in abjectly desperate conditions. This is not so much a defined camp as a dense collection of bamboo and tarp stacks. When I visited, children were wandering in the mud looking for food and clothes. There are worries about cholera and tuberculosis. With no toilets, whats left of the forest has become a vast, improvised bathroom. While the flow of refugees has greatly slowed in the past week, aid organisations are still overwhelmed. Its on a scale that we couldnt imagine, said Kate White, the Doctors Without Borders medical emergency manager in Bangladesh. This is a small piece of land, and everyone is condensed into it. We just cant scale up fast enough. For decades, the Muslim Rohingya of Burma, a minority concentrated in the western state of Rakhine, have faced systemic repression by the countrys Buddhist majority, and particularly by the military. But what happened in August, when the military and allied mobs began burning whole Rohingya villages, was so much worse that the United Nations (UN) is calling it ethnic cleansing. Across the camps, the escaped all have accounts of fire and cruelty. Anwar Begum, 73, sat on the ground, her arm limp below the elbow. She was in constant pain and could hardly focus her eyes. The army, she told me, set fire to her village in Burma and cleared the people out. As the civilians fled, one soldier singled her out, saying, Youre not welcome in Burma, and smashing her elbow with the butt of his rifle. As her family dragged her away, the soldier had one last thing to say: Bring that to Bangladesh. Recommended Campaign launched to hold Burma leaders to account for Rohingya crisis What was once a loose network of camps has become a sprawl. Acres upon acres of forest have been razed to make way for small cities of huts, made from cheap black tarps covered in mud. Across the camp, men are building them as fast as they can. Every medical treatment post here has a line that snakes nearly around the camp. Local doctors and foreign aid organisations like Doctors Without Borders are scrambling to set up more clinics but can hardly keep pace. With just one main road connecting most of the district, aid groups are struggling to reach the most remote camps. In Taink Khali, a nearly 30-minute hike off the main road, an Australian aid agency called Disaster Response Group was setting up a mobile clinic in a tiny shack. Dozens of women and children were waiting quietly in the hot sun. Were the first aid these people have seen, said Brad Stewart, operations manager for the aid group, a small medical assistance organisation that most often serves backpackers in Nepal. His team of four ex-military Australians were taping a bottle of hand sanitizer to a tree. The immediate attention is going to the more established camps, he said. Out here, were just a drop in a very large bucket. The hundreds still coming face a dangerous boat ride across the river border into Bangladesh. On Thursday, dozens of Rohingya, many of them children, were killed as a trawler carrying them capsized in the Bay of Bengal. Their bodies washed up on the bay alongside some survivors. The women and children couldnt swim, said Nuru Salam, 22. He had tried to cross with his entire family when the boat tipped in the sea. His son had died and he was waiting to find his wifes body. There are still many more bodies to come. The physical challenges here are steep enough. But the Rohingya crisis has shaken the entire region, exacerbating already severe sectarian and political strains and worsening the relationship between Bangladesh and Burma, in particular. This is not the first wave of Rohingya that Bangladesh has had to absorb. In 1978, around 200,000 Rohingya fled into the country. Most returned to Burma after the two governments hammered out a repatriation deal. Another influx came in the early 1990s, as well as in 2012 and in October 2016. Even before this latest exodus from Burma, the stresses being placed on this already poor country were considerable. Yet some of the locals have shown remarkable kindness. I see that the host community here has been incredibly positive, said Karim Elguindi, head of the World Food Programmes office in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh. Im still surprised by the humanitarian response of the government and the community. Elguindi has worked in Darfur, the strife-torn region of western Sudan, and he noted that while the sheer concentration of arriving Rohingya was unprecedented and the terrain challenging for aid distribution, the Rohingya could at least count on basic security once they made it to Bangladesh. Compared with Darfur, here they speak the same language, he said. The refugees in Darfur were in IDP camps, referring to internally displaced persons. They were still among enemies. Here, they are relatively safe. With existing camps beyond their capacity, the Bangladeshi government is racing to convert an additional 2,000 acres of land into settlements for the new arrivals. But a report from a network of UN agencies warned that Rohingya refugees had already arrived at the site before adequate infrastructure and services had been set up. Local authorities have begun limiting Rohingya refugees to the camps, setting up police checkpoints to prevent them from leaving. On Sunday, a Bangladeshi Cabinet minister said that the government did not plan to give refugee status to the newly arrived Rohingya a stance that is complicating efforts to get them more aid. The Bangladeshi government has said it hopes that Burma will eventually take back the Rohingya. The Burmese government, however, has said that it will only repatriate those with the correct documentation to prove they are from Rakhine. It is unlikely that most of the Rohingya who recently fled to Bangladesh brought such papers with them, if they ever possessed them at all. So far, the bulk of the aid effort has fallen to groups of Bangladeshi volunteers. Touched by the stories they have seen on local television, many across the nation have started donation campaigns and driven long distances to give what they can to struggling refugees. We couldnt just sit at home, said Abul Hossain, a volunteer who lives six hours north of the camps. Last week we asked everyone in our village to donate. We drove all night to bring it here. Hossain and his neighbours had hoped to hand the goods over to government workers or foreign aid organisations like the UN, but they say they have not been able to find any. Weve been driving around since the morning looking for anyone to take this, he said. So now, were just handing it out ourselves. This has proved a dangerous method. Last week, CNN reported that a woman and two children were killed in a stampede as a group of Bangladeshis threw food from a truck. Since then, assistance has improved significantly. Food distribution points have been set up by the Bangladeshi government to try to lessen the need for the volunteer truck visits. But it is still a challenge. There are no roads. Weve been carrying our equipment in the heavy rain, said White, from Doctors Without Borders. Rohingya refugees in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Rohingya refugees in pictures Rohingya refugees in pictures A young girl and a baby wade through mud after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh from Burma on 10 September Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees in pictures Rohingya refugees walk through a camp in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh after arriving from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees in pictures A young Rohingya refugee gathers firewood after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees in pictures Rohingya refugees wait for sacks of rice to be distributed in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees arrive on a boat in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh after crossing from Burma on 8 September Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees react after being re-united with each other after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh on a boat from Burma Getty Rohingya refugees in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees walk along the remains of a road after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh on a boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees wade through water after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees wade through water after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Myanmar Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees stand in the rain after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees in pictures Indian children hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the alleged persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma EPA/Raminder Pal Singh Rohingya refugees in pictures Supporters of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC), an Islamic organisation, listen to their leaders' speeches against Burma's persecution of Rohingya Muslims, during a demonstration in Karachi Reuters/Akhtar Soomro Rohingya refugees in pictures Hundreds of Iranians take part in a protest against violence in Myanmar after weekly Friday prayers, in Tehran EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh Rohingya refugees in pictures Indonesian Muslim activists hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the alleged persecution of the Rohingya minority in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia EPA/Ali Lutfi Rohingya refugees in pictures Members of an Islamic organisation shout slogans against the Burma government during a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh EPA Near his truck at the entrance to the camp, Hossain unloaded some of his goods as the lines grew around him. We expect these people will return home one day. For now we will help them they are our brothers and sisters. Then his index finger went up. But maybe not forever. The New York Times 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 }} Catalonia has overwhelmingly voted for independence from Spain, with 90 per cent of over two million votes counted saying "yes", the regional government has said. According to voting figures issued early on Monday morning, 90.9 per cent of the votes now counted, or 2,020,144 were in favour of independence, and 7.87 per cent, just 176,565, were against. The regional government spokesman, Jordi Turull, said 15,000 votes were still due to be counted and that total voting figures remain incomplete and provisional because a much larger number, an estimated 770,000, are either inaccessible or lost after some polling stations were closed and ballot boxes were seized by police. There have been enormous difficulties, but the vote has happened and weve gone from votarem [we will vote] to hem votat [voting has happened.]; Mr Turull said. We will respect the mandate which the citizens have given us, regional Vice President Oriol Junqueras said. Even before the figures were made public, Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont had already hinted strongly at a potential unilateral declaration of independence when he promised the results of the referendum will be sent to Catalonias parliament within the next few days. As the results of town after town in Catalonia came through, the pro-independence vote in the referendum looked on track for a landslide victory. Catalan firefighters protect public against police in Barcelona In Girona, a nationalist stronghold and the first of Catalonias four provincial capitals to declare its vote, the pro-independence vote was 27, 786 votes in favour of secession out of a total of 29, 717 votes cast, whilst only 1,086 voted to remain in Spain. With a narrow separatist majority in power in the regional parliament, it is hard to see how Mr Puigdemonts promise to act on these results would not increase the possibility of a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). A UDI has already been promised by several nationalist politicians should the referendum deliver a majority in favour of secession. Catalonias referendum law also foresees a UDI by the regional parliament of Catalonia if there is a majority. With this day of hope and suffering, Catalonia has earned the right to be an independent state, Mr Puigdemont insisted in a televised speech on Sunday night. However, the Spanish government has said repeatedly it does not recognise the referendum, let alone its results. Outside Catalonia in the rest of Spain, some segments of the media and politicians argue that the referendum infringed basic electoral regulations, whilst the countrys constitutional court already declared it illegal. On Sunday Socialist Party leader Pedro Sanchez echoed Spanish Premier Marianos Rajoys rejection of the referendum, and Mr Rajoy stated categorically that there was no referendum, just a pretext of one. But the Catalan nationalists were having none of that on Sunday night, with Mr Puigdemont arguing that millions of people have spoken loud and clear, and we have the right to decide our future. Late into the night huge crowds formed in the Plaza de Catalunya in Barcelona, spreading into sidestreets to listen to Mr Puigdemonts speech on a giant TV screen. In central squares across smaller cities in Catalonia many pro-referendum supporters followed the results and speeches, cheering as the votes in favour of secession came through, while cars adorned with Catalan flags weaved through the streets honking their horns. Meanwhile Catalan government figures say the total number of people requiring hospital treatment following violent clashes with police has now risen to 844. Two people are seriously injured, one a 70-year-old man who suffered a heart attack, and the other a young person who was hit in the eye by a rubber bullet. Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News New Ministry of Interior figures have also raised the number of police hurt in the standoffs and clashes to 33. In Madrid, Mariano Rajoy has called for an all-party meeting to discuss Catalonia on Monday, while a general strike has been called by trade unions in Catalonia from Tuesday onwards. Much media attention, too, both in Spain and abroad, will now focus on how the Catalan parliament handles the referendum results. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The European Commission has confirmed that the Catalan independence referendum was not legal under Spanish law. It described the vote, which saw police beat protesters and shut down polling stations, as an internal matter and suggested it would not heed calls to intervene. This is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain, a spokesperson said. If a referendum were to be organised in line with the Spanish constitution it would mean that the territory leaving would find itself outside of the European Union. Beyond the purely legal aspects of this matter, the Commission believes that these are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation. The European Commission, which is the executive of the EU, called for all sides to move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Pro-Catalan protesters gather in Madrid square In what appeared to be a reference to police brutality against voters, a statement said violence can never be an instrument in politics, adding: We trust the leadership of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process in full respect of the Spanish constitution and of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined therein. The referendum has no legal status after being blocked by the Madrid government and Constitutional Court for being at odds with the 1978 constitution, which states that Spain cannot be broken up, and there is little sign of support for Catalan independence in any other part of Spain. Catalan leaders had called for the EU to intervene following clashes that injured almost 900 people on Sunday, including two in a serious condition. The United Nations had called on Spanish authorities to respect the Catalan peoples rights to freedom of expression, assembly and participation in the vote, and to exercise the utmost restraint. But footage showed voters being beaten with batons and dragged away from polling stations as dozens were shut down. Riot police fired rubber bullets as they smashed their way into centres and confiscated ballot boxes in footage that sparked widespread condemnation. Nicola Sturgeon said she was concerned by the images, adding: Regardless of views on independence, we should all condemn the scenes being witnessed and call on Spain to change course before someone is seriously hurt. Pro-independence protesters clash with the Civil Guard outside a sports centre doubling as a polling station in Girona (EPA) The Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, tweeted: Violence can never be the answer! We condemn all forms of violence and reaffirm our call for political dialogue. We urge all parties to exercise the utmost restraint and avoid violence of any kind. Catalan officials said 90 per cent of voters had chosen to leave Spain, but Madrid disregarded the result after declaring the referendum illegal and repeatedly vetoing independence. Jordi Turull, the Catalan governments spokesman, accused police of breaking agreements struck with the local security council but said the heavy-handed response had encouraged us even more. The State has tried to crack down on democracy, he added. It was like holding a referendum in the middle of a dictatorship. The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, hailed a moment of great importance for the region and praised the courage and bravery of voters. Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News The leader accused Spanish authorities of an absolute denial of realityand evident hostility towards Catalonias long-standing aspirations of independence. Oriol Junqueras, the Catalan Vice President, said Catalonia had won its right to be a new Republic, if this is what the Parliament decides, with the local government counting more than 2 million yes votes and 176,500no out of 2.26 million counted ballots. Mr Rajoy, the Spanish Prime Minister, is facing the countrys biggest constitutional crisis in decades if Catalonia moves for secession. He offered to call all-party political talks to reflect on the future of Catalonia, but maintained his outright rejection of independence as an option I propose that all political parties with parliamentary representation meet and, together, reflect on the future we all face, the Prime Minister said in a televised address. He has the constitutional power to sack the regional government and put Catalonia under central control pending fresh elections. Mr Puigdemont has called an emergency meeting of the Catalan regional government, while Mr Rajoy planned to coordinate next steps in a meeting with Pedro Sanchez, leader of the opposition Socialists. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The leader of the Catalan government has said the region has won the "right to statehood" following its referendum on independence which was marred by violent clashes. Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan President, said Catalonia "has won the right to become an independent state." Speaking on television from Barcelona after polling stations had closed in the northeastern region in Spain, Mr Puigdemont said "today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia." Meanwhile, the main grassroots separatist group in Catalonia is urging the regional government to declare independence from Spain after the violent police crackdown on Sunday's independence referendum. Jordi Sanchez, leader of secessionist group ANC, tells a large crowd in Barcelona's main square he hopes that "very soon we will see the birth of a new Catalan state." Mr Sanchez warns local leaders "Now, don't let us down ...The moment of truth has arrived." "What the police are doing is simply savage," he said. "It's an international scandal." He said Spain has become "the shame of Europe" with its iron-fist tactics. Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Demonstrators block a Guardia Civil vehicle as they try to leave the Department of External Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency of the Catalan Government office in Barcelona AP/Emilio Morenatti Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Demonstrators react as they try to stop the car carrying Xavier Puig, a senior at the Department of External Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency of the Catalan Government office, after he was arrested by Guardia Civil officers in Barcelona AP/Emilio Morenatti Catalonia referendum protests in pictures A demonstrator reacts as he tries with others to stop the car carrying Xavier Puig, a senior at the Department of External Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency of the Catalan Government office, after he was arrested by Guardia Civil officers in Barcelona AP/Emilio Morenatti Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Spokeswoman of the Catalan pro-independence anticapitalist party "Candidatura d'Unitat Popular - CUP" (Popular Unity Candidacy), Ana Gabriel, talks to the media in Barcelona Josep Lago/AFP Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Republican Left of Catalonia party's (ERC) Member of Parliament Joan Tarda (C) attends a demonstration outside the regional Economy Ministry in Catalonia during a police search for documents connected with the organisation of the Catalan independence referendum, in Barcelona EPA/Alejandro Garcia Catalonia referendum protests in pictures A man holds pro-referendum poster next to a Spanish Civil Guard who stands in front of the Economy headquarters of Catalonia's regional government in Barcelona. The operation comes amid mounting tensions as Catalan leaders press ahead with preparations for an independence referendum on October 1 despite Madrid's ban and a court ruling deeming it illegal Josep Lago/AFP Catalonia referendum protests in pictures People hold placards reading "Democracy" as they protest in front of the Economy headquarters of Catalonia's regional government in Barcelona AFP Catalonia referendum protests in pictures A crowd of protesters gather outside the Catalan region's economy ministry after junior economy minister Josep Maria Jove was arrested by Spanish police during a raid on several government offices, in Barcelona Reuters/Albert Gea Catalonia referendum protests in pictures People holding 'Esteladas' (Catalan pro-independence flags) attend a protest near the Economy headquarters of Catalonia's regional government Lluis Gene/AFP Catalonia referendum protests in pictures People demonstrate on a Spanish Civil Guard Police car outside the Catalan Vice-President and Economy office as police officers holds a searching operation inside David Ramos/Getty Images Mr Puigdemont had vowed to declare independence with 48 hours if the "Yes" side wins Sunday's disputed vote. But there was no campaign for the "No" side before the vote was suspended by Spain's Constitutional Court. Authorities say 844 people and 33 police were injured Sunday in Spanish police raids to halt the vote. The Spanish Interior Ministry says 19 members of the National Police and 14 Civil Guard were hurt when police smashed their way into polling stations on Sunday. Catalan health services say 761 people were injured, two seriously, by police who used batons and rubber bullets against voters. Police closed 319 polling stations out of some 2,300, according to Catalan authorities. Spain's Constitutional court had suspended the vote but separatist leaders in Catalonia went ahead with the vote anyway. The controversial poll was pushed through the Catalan parliament in June but the court in Madrid said is violated the Spanish Constitution which refers to "the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards" in September. Additional reporting by agencies 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 }} Spains foreign minister has argued police violence during Catalonias independence vote was not extraordinary and claimed fake photos of brutality have been circulating on social media. Violent scenes erupted across Catalonia on Sunday as riot police beat protesters and stormed polling stations in an eleventh-hour attempt to prevent the vote on independence from Spain going ahead. Catalan officials said at least 844 people and 33 police were hurt. Foreign minister Alfonso Dastis sought to downplay the violence which saw police fire rubber bullets despite them being illegal in Catalonia, use batons and drag peaceful protesters from the ground. Clashing with Sky News Europe correspondent Mark Stone live on air, Mr Dastis claimed some of the photos he had spotted online dated back to 2012 and he was keen to await pieces of information that are not disputable. He said: Im sure you have seen what you have seen, but I have seen fake photos that date back to 2012. So, I think we have got to be patient, and look at the situation, and really work out a way to find an appropriate solution within the law. Mr Stone hit back: You talk about fake news. Think it is pretty hard to fake things that actually happen in front of you. So, there may well be fake photos on the internet, I dont know about that, but clearly what we saw today was unfolding in front of us. After Mr Stone described the brazen displays of violence he witnessed first-hand, Mr Dastis said he had not seen the violence you seem to have seen and claimed the police had tried to be proportionate in their response. He said: "I don't agree with you that this is an extraordinary level of violence. You may think people were peacefully exercising their right to vote but the problem is this so-called referendum had been held to be illegal by the constitutional court." Emergency services said most of the wounded people had minor injuries such as "bruises, dizziness and anxiety attacks" but there were also said to be some serious injuries. On Sunday morning, the regional government tweeted 73 per cent of polling stations (4,561) were open but by the middle of the afternoon, Spain's Interior Ministry said 92 polling stations had been closed. The regional government said Catalonia had overwhelmingly voted for independence from Spain, with 90 per cent of over two million votes counted saying "yes. According to the Catalan government, preliminary results from the vote showed 90 per cent of people cast their ballots in favour of independence. A spokesman said 2.26 million Catalans 43 per cent of the regions 5.3 million eligible voters had participated in the referendum despite the police forcibly preventing some from casting their ballot. The Catalan government did not establish a threshold for minimum turnout in the election, claiming the vote would be binding irrespective of participation levels. The regional president, Carles Puigdemont, has pledged to declare unilateral independence from Spain within 48 hours of a victory for the yes campaign. 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 Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insisted that no independence referendum had taken place in Catalonia and that those who participated had been "fooled" into taking part in an illegal vote. He thanked the police for their heavy-handed response, saying they had acted with "firmness and serenity" in clashes with voters. Today there has not been a self-determination referendum in Catalonia, he said on Sunday night. The rule of law remains in force with all its strength. We are the government of Spain and I am the head of the government of Spain and I accepted my responsibility. We have done what was required of us. We have acted, as I have said from the beginning, according to the law and only according to the law. And we have shown that our democratic state has the resources to defend itself from an attack as serious as the one that was perpetrated with this illegal referendum. Today, democracy has prevailed because we have obeyed the constitution. Footage shows riot police brutally eject Catalans from polling station The Spanish governments insistence the referendum is illegal is supported by the countrys constitutional court and the Catalan high court. UK politicians condemned the police violence - Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats all spoke out. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "I urge Theresa May to appeal directly to Rajoy to end police violence in Catalonia and find a political solution to this constitutional crisis." The British Foreign Office appeared to give tentative support to the Spanish Government's position. A spokesperson said: "The referendum is a matter for the Spanish Government and People. We want to see Spanish law and the Spanish constitution respected and the rule of law upheld." Catalan Referendum: Spanish police fire rubber projectiles at protesters in Barcelona They added: "Spain is a close ally and a good friend, whose strength and unity matters to us." On Monday, the European Commission confirmed the independence referendum in Catalonia was not legal under Spanish law but also urged the Spanish government to start a dialogue, arguing brutality could not be a political instrument. The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, has accused Spanish authorities of using unjustified, disproportionate and irresponsible violence in its crackdown on the region's independence referendum. "With this day of hope and suffering, the citizens of Catalonia have won the right to an independent state in the form a republic," he said in a televised announcement after polls closed. 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 }} On Monday morning, pupils and parents returned to the Escola Verd primary school in central Girona under a light drizzle, with only some broken metal meshing on a playground wall remaining as evidence of the chillingly brutal police action witnessed here against voters in Sundays banned referendum on Catalonias future. Used as a polling station, the school was broken into when riot police attempted to break, enter and seize a ballot box. They then trapped would-be voters in the building and lashed out with their truncheons if anyone tried to escape. My legs are still shaking, said one witness some hours afterwards. Although the police have gone and voting is over, Girona and the wider region of Catalonia are bracing for some more political tension to come this week, as its government prepares to make a unilateral declaration of independence, while workers will express their anger towards the Madrid government in a general strike starting on Tuesday. With more than 90 per cent of votes in the banned referendum in favour of secession, Catalan Premier Carles Puigdemont promised the results would be sent to the regional parliament. Catalonias referendum law states that within 48 hours of a vote being definitive a declaration of independence has to take place. This may take some time to happen, though, given a small number of postal votes are still coming in and an estimated 770,00 votes went missing during the police raids. Mr Puigdemont did not refer to the declaration again in a Monday press conference. But for political analysts like Germa Capdevila, head of the editorial board at naciodigital.cat, Sundays violence has increased the likelihood of Catalonia making the unilateral declaration. He believes that Mr Puigdemonts hands are tied as a consequence of the heavy-handed Spanish state police tactics in Sundays referendum. He told The Independent: 2.3 million Catalans voted but more than 850 were injured, two of them seriously, so its impossible for him to argue now that the referendum has no value. How can you tell the people who braved the police charges that their vote doesnt count because in some polling stations the votes were seized? Rajoy and Puigdemont are both victims, in a sense, of their previous stances on the referendum, but after Sundays events it is much more likely Puigdemont will make a declaration of independence. The earliest most likely date for such a declaration is Wednesday, when the Catalan parliament is next due to be in full session. Recommended How the Catalan crisis could cause the collapse of Spain Outside Spain, the European Commission went further than it had previously when a spokesperson said violence can never be an instrument in politics. But the bloc has consistently stated that a separate Catalonia would be out of the Union and that it would not intervene in the crisis, a position which remains unchanged despite Sundays events. The institutions in Europe will continue to support Rajoy, Mr Capdevila predicted. I wouldnt rule out a situation similar to Lithuania [in the early 1990s] where they were initially in limbo after declaring independence and they werent recognised internationally. Youd reach the airport, that would be run by the Soviet Union and then five kilometres outside thered be another passport control with the Lithuanian police. Tuesdays general strike was due to run indefinitely this week and was backed by pro-independence organisations and nearly all of Catalonias trade unions including the regional branches of two of Spains biggest unions, Comisiones Obreras and UGT. It could prove to be crucial in avoiding such dramatic scenarios as Lithuanias. A brief mass protest at the police violence at midday on Monday, lasting 10 minutes, received widespread support and a high attendance is expected in the series of walk-outs at schools and factories across the region. It is one thing to stop a lot of people voting, but another when companies, particularly the foreign ones, see their business getting hurt, argued Mr Capdevila. More pressure from the outside, and that means Europe, business, the trade unions and the multinationals and there are 4,000 of those in Catalonia could force Madrid to the negotiating table. So far, though, Madrid has flatly refused to contemplate a fully legal, binding referendum and the right wing of Mr Rajoys ruling PP would regard such an action as a sell-out, although Pedro Sanchez, leader of the Spanish Socialist Party, did try to convince Mr Rajoy on Monday evening to open a fresh round of talks with the nationalists. This dialogue is more necessary than ever, a Socialist Party press release said. Among the Spanish establishment it is not just the politicians who are anticipating a difficult week. Even before the referendum King Felipe who has called for Spanish unity was reported to have cleared his agenda of prior appointments and will remain in Spain. Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Demonstrators block a Guardia Civil vehicle as they try to leave the Department of External Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency of the Catalan Government office in Barcelona AP/Emilio Morenatti Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Demonstrators react as they try to stop the car carrying Xavier Puig, a senior at the Department of External Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency of the Catalan Government office, after he was arrested by Guardia Civil officers in Barcelona AP/Emilio Morenatti Catalonia referendum protests in pictures A demonstrator reacts as he tries with others to stop the car carrying Xavier Puig, a senior at the Department of External Affairs, Institutional Relations and Transparency of the Catalan Government office, after he was arrested by Guardia Civil officers in Barcelona AP/Emilio Morenatti Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Spokeswoman of the Catalan pro-independence anticapitalist party "Candidatura d'Unitat Popular - CUP" (Popular Unity Candidacy), Ana Gabriel, talks to the media in Barcelona Josep Lago/AFP Catalonia referendum protests in pictures Republican Left of Catalonia party's (ERC) Member of Parliament Joan Tarda (C) attends a demonstration outside the regional Economy Ministry in Catalonia during a police search for documents connected with the organisation of the Catalan independence referendum, in Barcelona EPA/Alejandro Garcia Catalonia referendum protests in pictures A man holds pro-referendum poster next to a Spanish Civil Guard who stands in front of the Economy headquarters of Catalonia's regional government in Barcelona. The operation comes amid mounting tensions as Catalan leaders press ahead with preparations for an independence referendum on October 1 despite Madrid's ban and a court ruling deeming it illegal Josep Lago/AFP Catalonia referendum protests in pictures People hold placards reading "Democracy" as they protest in front of the Economy headquarters of Catalonia's regional government in Barcelona AFP Catalonia referendum protests in pictures A crowd of protesters gather outside the Catalan region's economy ministry after junior economy minister Josep Maria Jove was arrested by Spanish police during a raid on several government offices, in Barcelona Reuters/Albert Gea Catalonia referendum protests in pictures People holding 'Esteladas' (Catalan pro-independence flags) attend a protest near the Economy headquarters of Catalonia's regional government Lluis Gene/AFP Catalonia referendum protests in pictures People demonstrate on a Spanish Civil Guard Police car outside the Catalan Vice-President and Economy office as police officers holds a searching operation inside David Ramos/Getty Images Meanwhile in Catalonia, there is a growing sense of anticipation, but also fear at outrage, as to what the short-term future may bring. I felt and still feel very angry and indignant after what I saw in the polling station on Sunday, police attacking unarmed voters, old people and children, but now theres worry mixed with hope, too, said Ferran Oto, a Catalan computer technician in his 40s who voted for independence. Im very worried about how the state will react, and whether well be abandoned by Europe. But theres lots of desire to become an independent state and I think were a little bit closer than we were 48 hours ago. 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 }} Almost 900 people were injured in clashes during an independence referendum banned by the Spanish government, Catalan authorities have said. The regions department of health said four people remained in hospital, including two in a serious condition. Most of those injured more than 380 were being treated in Barcelona, followed by Girona, Lleida, Terres de l'Ebre and other regions of Catalonia. The figures were released after Catalan politicians condemned a police operation to shut down the referendum, which saw voters beaten with batons and dragged away from polling stations. Riot police fired rubber bullets as they smashed their way into centres and confiscated ballot boxes in footage that sparked widespread condemnation. Nicola Sturgeon said she was concerned by the images, adding: Regardless of views on independence, we should all condemn the scenes being witnessed and call on Spain to change course before someone is seriously hurt. Catalonia referendum: Hundreds injured as police fire rubber bullets at protesters Jeremy Corbyn and the Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable also condemend the "shocking" police response but there was silence from the Conservative Government. The Belgian Prime Minister, Charles Michel, tweeted: Violence can never be the answer! We condemn all forms of violence and reaffirm our call for political dialogue. The UN had called on the Spanish authorities not to interfere with the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, assembly, association, and public participation. Regardless of the lawfulness of the referendum, the Spanish authorities have a responsibility to respect those rights that are essential to democratic societies, a statement from the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights warned. We urge all parties to exercise the utmost restraint and avoid violence of any kind. Catalan officials said 90 per cent of voters had chosen to leave Spain, but Madrid disregarded the result after declaring the referendum illegal and repeatedly vetoing independence. Jordi Turull, the Catalan governments spokesman, accused police of breaking agreements struck with the local security council but said the heavy-handed response had encouraged us even more. (EPA) The State has tried to crack down on democracy, he added. It was like holding a referendum in the middle of a dictatorship. The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, hailed a moment of great importance for the region and praised the courage and bravery of voters. He said the world was shocked by the unjustified, abusive and severe police violence committed by the Spanish government, noting that several world leaders had expressed concern over the brutal repression. Recommended Catalonia firefighters form human shield to protect voters from police Addressing those injured in clashes with police, Mr Puigdemont added: Some of you have suffered serious injuries, humiliation and clear human rights violations that cannot go unpunished. The leader accused Spanish authorities of an absolute denial of realityand evident hostility towards Catalonias long-standing aspirations of independence. Oriol Junqueras, the Catalan Vice President, said Catalonia had won its right to be a new Republic, if this is what the Parliament decides, with the local government counting more than 2 million yes votes and 176,500no out of 2.26 million counted ballots. The referendum has no legal status after being blocked by the Madrid government and Constitutional Court for being at odds with the 1978 constitution, which states that Spain cannot be broken up, and there is little sign of support for Catalan independence in any other part of Spain. Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News But it has left Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish Prime Minister, facing the countrys biggest constitutional crisis in decades if Catalonia moves for secession. Mr Rajoy offered to call all-party political talks to reflect on the future of Catalonia, but maintained his outright rejection of independence as an option I propose that all political parties with parliamentary representation meet and, together, reflect on the future we all face, the Prime Minister said in a televised address. He has the constitutional power to sack the regional government and put Catalonia under central control pending fresh elections. Mr Puigdemont has called an emergency meeting of the Catalan regional government, while Mr Rajoy planned to coordinate next steps in a meeting with Pedro Sanchez, leader of the opposition Socialists. The region is a centre of industry and tourism accounting for a fifth of Spain's economy, a production base for major multi-nationals from Volkswagen to Nestle, and home to Europe's fastest-growing sea port. Although it already has extensive autonomy, its tax revenues are crucial to Spain's state budget. That would raise tensions further in the region of 7.5 million people, a former principality with its own language and culture, and potentially hurt the resurgent Spanish economy. Additional reporting by 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 }} Some 150 members of the Civil Guard were forced to quit their hotel accommodation in the coastal town of Calella, Catalonia on Monday morning after a protest by locals against police brutality in the banned referendum in the region mutated into a demonstration demanding the police forces leave. According to Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia, the mayor of the coastal town, Monserrat Candini told a group of 500 protestors on Sunday evening We dont want the hotels in Calella to be a barracks. The protestors repeatedly chanted Youre not welcome at the Civil Guard. On Sunday evening, during the standoff, the Civil Guard reportedly charged the demonstrators, breaking through a line of local police, the Mossos dEsquadra, in order to reach the protestors. There were no reports of injuries. According to agency reports, this morning Civil Guard have now moved on, apparently following a phone call from the mayor to the hotel owners insisting they leave, and the hotel itself has now closed its doors to the public. Another group of Spanish state police, staying in a different hotel also in Calella have remained unaffected by the incidents, but some local bars have apparently put up signs refusing to serve them as customers. Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News Over 10,000 police from outside Catalonia were drafted in specially during the two weeks before the referendum. A first group of 40 Civil Guard arrived at the hotel in Calella three weeks ago, but their number increased to around 150 by the time of the vote itself. Around 850 people were injured during the banned referendum on Sunday as Spanish state police and the Guardia Civil smashed their way into polling stations and charged would-be voters. 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 top Spanish opposition party has called on Spains Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, to implement article 155 of the countrys constitution in Catalonia, which allows for direct rule from Madrid in Spains autonomous regions. Albert Rivera, head of the business-friendly Ciudadanos party and which considered Sundays referendum to be illegal, told various Spanish media channels on Monday he believed using article 155, which suspends home rule, was necessary to block a possible unilateral declaration of independence and to enable fresh regional elections to be called in Catalonia. Article 155 of the Spanish constitution describes itself in the legislation as being for exceptional cases only such as when a regions failure to obey laws gravely damage Spains general interest. It has never been invoked before. Applying article 155, even if it is only for a few hours, to call elections is the most straightforward and most democratic solution, said Mr Rivera, who was born in Barcelona. That way all the Catalans would get to vote, not just a part. Until now, Mr Rajoy and the ruling Partido Popular PP have not discussed article 155 publicly but this week, as Catalan leaders eye a possible declaration of independence, it is likely to be a difficult subject to avoid. Nationalist leaders in Catalonia, headed by regional premier Carles Puigdemont, have said that the results of Sundays banned referendum will be sent to the regional parliament shortly. Catalonias laws allow for a unilateral declaration of independence should it be supported by a referendum vote. In yesterdays poll, just over two million people, roughly 90 percent of votes cast, backed breaking away from Spain. However the question of how votes either lost or seized by police during Sundays turbulent referendum, estimated at around 800,000, will be treated and if this makes that result provisional remains unclear. Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News Mr Rivera and Socialist party leader Pedro Sanchez, the head of Spains opposition parties, will meet Mr Rajoy this afternoon to discuss a possible unilateral declaration of independence by Catalonia. Today Mr Rajoy, having met with top-level PP leaders this morning, is also expected formally to request a parliamentary debate on Catalonia. Both the Socialists and Ciudadanos have backed Mr Rajoy on his opposition to the referendum, albeit with reservations. 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 }} Pro-independence groups and trade unions in Catalonia have called for a countrywide general strike to take place Tuesday October 3, following a weekend of violence after Catalonians voted to break from Spain in an independence referendum. The La Vanguardia newspaper cited Jordi Cuixart, the head of Omnium Cultural - an independent organisation which promotes Catalan culture - as the person who is calling for the strike, according to Reuters. Catalonias regional government say that 844 people were injured during polling day after police fired rubber bullets and controlled people trying to vote with force. Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan President, lambasted the Spanish government for the way it dealt with the vote, saying the unjustified, disproportionate and irresponsible violence of the Spanish state today has not only failed to stop Catalans' desire to vote but has helped to clarify all the doubts we had to resolve today. The region has won the right to become an independent state, he continued. Over two million people from Catalonia 90 per cent have voted saying yes for independence from Spain. However, the Spanish government have repeatedly stated that they do not recognise the vote; much less the results and Premier Mariano Rajoy stated that there was no referendum, just a pretext of one. He accused the Catalan government of using the referendum as a tactic against legality and democratic harmony. A path, he says, which will lead to nowhere. Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News The controversial poll was pushed through the Catalan parliament in June but the court in Madrid said it violated the Spanish Constitution which refers to "the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation, the common and indivisible homeland of all Spaniards" in September. 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 man has been severely injured after being shot in the eye with a rubber bullet during the confrontation between police and voters over the Catalan independence referendum. The Civil Guard opened fire on citizens trying to vote in the referendum, which Madrid deemed illegal, using rubber bullets something the local Catalan police force banned in 2014. Officers were seen beating and dragging people down the stairs of polling stations. At least 861 people were injured, according to the Catalan authorities. The man was reportedly injured during a stand-off between police and voters outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona around 10:30am on Sunday. He was taken to the Hospital de Sant Pau for surgery, El Periodico reported. The use of rubber bullets by local police was banned in the region following a number of controversies surrounding their use by the Mossos dEsquadra, the Catalan police force, after numerous reports of serious injuries. In 2012, a local woman named Ester Quintana lost an eye after being shot with a rubber bullet during a strike. The local parliament passed a law in late 2013 which forbade the Mossos from using them from April 2014. Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News But this ruling does not apply to the Civil Guard, which is a centralised police answerable to Madrid, who were brought in to stop the referendum. A total of 861 people were reportedly injured in the violence which was condemned by Catalan separatists and the international community. But Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy remained defiant saying there had been no independence referendum and the Catalan people had been tricked into taking part in an illegal action. Recommended How the Catalan crisis could cause the collapse of Spain As the results of the ballot came in, Catalan President Carles Puigdemont declared that 90 per cent of the votes which were not seized had been in favour of independence. He previously said if a simple majority of voters were in favour of independence he would announce Catalonias unilateral secession from Spain within 48 hours prompting the biggest constitutional crisis in Spain since the restoration of democracy in the 1970s. Mr Rajoy is reportedly considering whether to enact Article 155 of the Spanish constitution which enacts direct rule of Catalonia from Madrid. The act, which has never been invoked, describes itself as being for exception cases only such as when a regions actions gravely damage Spains general interest. 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 refugees are facing a severe lack of sanitation and police brutality on the border between Italy and France, in what experts say is a situation worse than the Jungle, The Independent can reveal. An estimated 700 displaced people, including scores of unaccompanied children, are currently in the Italian city of Ventimiglia. Many of them are living in conditions that are wholly inadequate, with an acute lack of clean drinking water or sanitation facilities. New research seen exclusively by The Independent reveals that intensified brutality from Italian and French police and a lack of accessible healthcare means young refugees also face an alarming level of danger coupled with dwindling levels of physical and mental health, with the majority of people unable to access medical care. Researchers from the Refugee Rights Data Project (RRDP), who carried out the study, said Ventimiglia was one of the worst refugee locations they had been to, describing the situation as terrifying and urging that more must be done to improve the inhumane situation. The in-depth study surveyed 150 male refugees in the area, one-in-five respondents of whom was under the age of 18, and 90 per cent were there alone without friends or family members. The majority (73 per cent) had been in Ventimiglia for between one and three months at the time of the study, after arriving in Libya and travelling through Italy. The largest country group were from Sudan, followed by individuals from Chad, Ethiopia and Eritrea. The absence of women and girls reflects the very small number of female refugees, which researchers said could be attributed to the extent of sex trafficking in southern Italy and North Africa. Sometimes dubbed the Italian Calais, Ventimiglia is a well-known transit point for refugees and displaced people trying to enter France. A bottleneck has developed there in recent years since France declared a state of emergency and closed its borders in 2015, making passage more difficult. The closed border means displaced people are making fewer attempts to reach France by train, instead taking their chances with the so called Pass of Death through the mountains, or walking through motorway tunnels. Six-in-10 respondents said they had experienced health problems since arriving in Italy, with 44 per cent believing it is due to living conditions Samer Mustafa (Refugee Rights Data Project) While 400 to 500 displaced people were hosted in a refugee camp run by the Red Cross camp, an estimated 200 to 300 individuals were destitute at the time of the study, sleeping rough under bridges and by the riverbank, researchers said. When questioned about the sanitation in Ventimiglia, the majority of respondents 85 per cent said they would use the water in the river, where many go to the toilet, to wash themselves, as well as to drink when desperate. Six-in-10 respondents said they had experienced health problems since arriving in Italy, with 44 per cent of those believing the health problem had started due to the unhealthy living conditions. Local health care professionals reported a large number of dermatological conditions, including scabies, were widespread due to the unhealthy living conditions. Despite the scale of both physical and mental health problems among refugees in Venitimiglia, researchers found that only 15 per cent of those with health problems had been able to access medical care despite efforts by groups such as Medecins Sans Frontieres. Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Show all 7 1 /7 Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The Solidarity With Refugees group said Saturdays protest aimed to show our Government and the world that Britain is ready to welcome more refugees. Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis People march through central London as they take part in a protest rally organised by Solidarity with Refugees in a bid to urge the Government to take more action on the migrant crisis Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The protest comes days before world leaders meet to discuss crisis at UN General Assembly Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Demonstrators made their way from Park Lane to Parliament Square in London on Saturday afternoon Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis Marchers chanted refugees are welcome here and waved banners reading no-one is illegal and lets help people Press Association Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis The march was supported by charities and groups including the Red Cross, Asylum Aid, Save the Children, Hope Not Hate, Oxfam and the UN Refugee Agency Rex Features Refugees welcome here: Protesters demand UK resettle more migrants in response to refugee crisis In the wake of Alans death, David Cameron pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK over the coming five years but there have been additional calls to re-home those who have already reached Europe, as well as asylum seekers coming from other conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan Rex Features Nearly one-in-five (17 per cent) respondents described their health problem as a mental health issue rather than a physical ailment. The vast majority of sufferers had travelled through Libya, and many recounted highly alarming experiences, while others were left with physical injuries that they could not get treated. One Sudanese man explained that he had lost his brother at sea when their vessel sank, and that he witnessed an infant being shot by Libyans while in his mothers arms in the boat. Another man said he was feeling unwell because he had bad memories seeing hundreds of fellow refugees shot dead in Libya. There had been some 450 of them to begin with but only himself and 70 others managed to survive. While all of the Red Cross camp residents interviewed said they had access to food every day, just 41 per cent of the destitute refugees said they had food every day. Seventy per cent of those with access to food said they could only have one meal per day. In terms of safety, the study found that seven-in-10 respondents said they didnt feel safe at all in the region. Researchers put this sense of being in danger down to the absence of security measures, as well as detrimental living conditions on the border. Others said they feared being robbed or attacked by other displaced people due to the precarious context, while almost one in 10 cited the risk of violence or sexual abuse by police or Europeans. Recommended Refugees in Calais suffering trench foot from squalid conditions When asked about the biggest risks faced by people passing through Ventimiglia, the vast majority cited dangers related to border crossings (75 per cent), followed by the risk of not having access to sufficient food and water (63 per cent) or medical help (51 per cent). Alarmingly, 43 per cent of respondents knew of at least one refugee who had died in Italy or at the French border. The researchers state that while it should be acknowledged that many of these respondents were referring to the same incidents, it is worrying that seven in 10 of these respondents said the persons in question had died by falling down a cliff or mountain when trying to cross the border. Thirty-seven per cent cited road accidents as the reason for death, while some 10 per cent of respondents cited health problems as the cause, eight per cent said the death had occurred as a result of violence by the police and three per cent said the death was caused by suicide. The report found that as well as the physical dangers of crossing the border, police brutality was a major danger to refugees, with more than half (53 per cent) of respondents having experienced violence by French police at the border. Young refugees also face an alarming level of danger coupled with poor physical and mental health, with the majority unable to access medical care Samer Mustafa (Refugee Rights Data Project) Most of this was in the form of verbal abuse but 40 per cent of people had also been subjected to physical violence, 36 per cent tear gas, and eight individuals said they had been subject to some form of sexual abuse. Many respondents recalled being exposed to tear gas at the border. One 18-year-old from Sudan told researchers: When I was crossing the border they caught me and they beat me and they sprayed tear gas. It was the worst thing in the border. Another Sudanese 18-year-old said: My right shoulder was broken and my neck was injured by French police at the border. There was French army deporting people as well. In Ventimiglia my nose was broken by Italian police at the train station. I was sent back many times to Taranto, I dont feel safe in Italy at all. Many respondents also said they were subject to regular racial verbal abuse from local people, were facing discrimination for being black and were told they were not welcome. Several refugees reported, on separate occasions, that citizens had thrown buckets of water onto them from their balconies as they walked past on the pavement, while others recounted being denied drinking water in the city centre because they were refugees. The report stated that French CRS riot police are present at Ventimiglia train station on a daily basis, searching trains and carrying out detentions. Recently imposed anti-terror protocols give French police the power to conduct searches up to 20km inside Italy, and to deport individuals across the border. Marta Welander, executive director of the RRDP, who has carried out a large number of refugee research projects, told The Independent the accumulation of issues facing refugees in Ventimiglia was terrifying, and said it was one of the worst research locations she had been to. Of course the Greek islands are also horrendous and at breaking point but whats so alarming about this situation is the lack of available services, she said. Its really trapping people in this bottleneck scenario but without any access to the services they need. There are charities there, and they are doing what they can, but theres such a lack of resources and theyre being restrained by the authorities. Ms Welander accused the authorities of resisting providing help for refugees, and said the French police had been acting illegally by sending children out of the country, despite it being a legal obligation for the state to care for them. The French authorities are breaking European directives and are sending kids back from French soil. Once theyve already arrived, they should become the responsibility of the French state. This is illegal as far as all of us understand, she said. We overheard the French police giving children false information. They told them absolute nonsense. They asked if they were European and when they said no they said, Well then you cant stay in France, dont you know the rules. The French are a huge part of this problem. They are abusing state-of-emergency powers laws by sending back these kids. No one wants to take responsibility for minors. She also said the Italian authorities had put many refugee families in danger by closing down a church in the city that could host women and children, which she said led to many women and children simply disappearing. This is infuriating. That was a safe space for women and children. The local authorities wanted to move them to the Red Cross camp, where there are about 400 men and no security and known for its precarity, she said. So a lot of them fled and no one knows where they went. The authorities really dont have the best interests of these people at heart. Ms Welander went on to say that the dangers and health risks for refugees on the Italian border was more severe than they were in the Jungle camp before it was demolished by the authorities in October last year Its worse than the Jungle. All the positive elements that people could draw from that camp, such as support networks, makeshift health services and a sense of community, simply arent there, she said. Its much like the way the French authorities are now dealing with the situation in Calais. Theyre constantly trying to make sure that people dont set up camp and stabilise themselves there. People are arriving straight from Libya and a lot of them have experiences of horrendous things there, and then they find themselves in destitution. I got the sense that people are not entirely informed as to why the border is closed and why they cant choose where they apply for asylum. It seems quite clear that the current policies are not doing anything to address the situation in a meaningful or long-term way. Theyre just shifting people around. These are people who are highly likely to be developing post-traumatic stress disorder because of what they lived through in Libya. Its in everyones interest to provide support or medical care. Whether theyre staying in Italy or not, there need to be better services. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty In light of the findings, Livio Amigoni, of refugee charity Eufemia Infopoint Ventimiglia, said: After the French declaration of a state of emergency and the tightening of the border in 2015, passage to France has become more difficult but has not discouraged people to try to cross. Instead, it has driven individuals to try dangerous mountain passes and lethal motorways routes, and the situation also puts many people at the mercy of smugglers and traffickers. Moreover, France holds responsibility for the minors who arrive on French soil. Despite this, French police have been sending minors back on trains from France to Ventimiglia, denying them their right to protection. The Italian authorities have been contacted for comment but had not responded 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 Muslim women has been forcibly made to remove her facial coverings after a new law banning the face veil came into force in Austria. The government say the new integration policy, which makes it illegal to wear clothes that obscure ones face in public, has been implemented to protect Austrian values. Those who defy the ban will be liable to a fine of 150 (132) and must take off the garment on the spot if police instruct them to do so. The government say faces must be visible from the hairline to the skin under the new ban. Recommended Morocco has brought in its strange own version of the burka ban On Saturday, a woman wearing a niqab facial veil, which only leaves the eyes uncovered, was witnessed being instructed to remove her veil by two police officers in Zell am See, a city south of Saltzburg. The new law not only bans Muslim veils such as the burka or niqab but also puts restrictions on the use of medical face masks and clown makeup. Only an estimated 150 women wear the full burka in Austria but tourism officials have voiced concerns the measures will discourage visitors from the Gulf. Austrias parliament approved the ban in May in spite of protests from Muslim groups and resistance from lawyers and even the countrys own president. The ban comes just before the general election later this month which could result in the far-right Freedom Party making headway. Austrian parties espousing anti-migrant rhetoric are predicted to win and establish a coalition government. This signifies a lurch away from the centrist governments Austria has had since World War II. 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 Polls this week showed the Freedom Party on 25 per cent, the hardline Peoples Party on 34 per cent and the centrist Social Democrats, who are the majority party in the current coalition government, slipping behind with just 27 per cent. France and Belgium implemented a burka ban in 2011 and a similar measure is currently going through the Dutch parliament. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has previously voiced her support for a similar law in Germany, saying: "Our law takes precedence over codes of honour, tribal or family rules, and over sharia law." Last week, the Austrian government issued posters and leaflets threatening Muslim women with fines for wearing face veils ahead of the introduction of the controversial ban. The law also requires any immigrants to sign an integration contract and take part in compulsory courses that teach the German language and educate on so-called Austrian values. 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 Indian policeman has been been arrested on suspicion of raping a seven-year-old girl, according to a senior officer. Local media reported the little girl was found naked in the officers quarters in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Police Superintendent Vipin Tada told AFP: We sent her for a medical examination and are awaiting a final report. The policeman will be undergoing medical tests to confirm whether he was consuming alcohol inside his quarters. The Press Trust of India reported that angry locals tried to attack the local police in protest, but were apparently pacified when they learned the suspect had been arrested. India has an endemic problem with sexual assaults against children, with more than 10,000 cases reported in 2015, according to government statistics with convictions in only a few dozen such cases. Despite strengthening its laws on sexual violence after the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi in 2012 caused global outrage, rape against women and children remain commonplace in the country. There have also been reports of Indian doctors being afraid to help child rape victims obtain abortions for fear of criminal prosecution. Delhi's Commissioner for Women, Swati Maliwal, has called for better policing to help bring the perpetrators to justice but has also pointed out that poverty appears to be a major factor in rape and incest cases. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 14 November 2022 Members of the hospitality sector demonstrate outside parliament in London. The head of the Confederation of British Industry is urging the UK government to relax immigration rules to help British companies with severe staff shortages, ahead of the chancellors autumn statement EPA UK news in pictures 13 November 2022 England celebrate winning the mens T20 World Cup in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia AAP Image/Reuters 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 In almost all cases of incest, where we see that family is poor, these kind of questions are coming and they are very, very real questions, she said. They need to be addressed, there needs to be systems, there needs to be protection of the child. The country is also ranked as the seventh worst country in the world for child sex trafficking, according to the Maplecroft organisation. Rape is punishable by the death penalty in India only if injuries result in the death of the victim, and in practice capital punishment is very rarely used. 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 }} Isis has claimed responsibility for an attack at Marseille Saint Charles train station in which two women were killed by a knife-wielding attacker reportedly shouting Allahu akbar! One of the two women, whom have been identified as cousins aged between 17 - 21, died after her throat was slit and the other was stabbed in the abdomen before police shot and killed the unidentified assailant at the scene on Sunday. Isis was quick to claim the incident via its Amaq news agency, putting out a statement which said the soldier of the caliphate was acting in response to leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadis call last week for renewed attacks on countries which are part of the US-led coalitions assault on Isis remaining territory across Syria and Iraq. Two women killed in knife attack in Marseille France has been involved in the coalition to drive the militants out of their Middle Eastern strongholds since 2014. Amaq did not provide evidence that the Marseille attack had been directly ordered by Isis commanders in Syria and Iraq. The French authorities are working to establish whether the assailant had accomplices or other links to the organisation or was an opportunistic attacker, as has been the case in many recent terror incidents in France. Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told reporters on Monday that the suspect had been detained by police for shoplifting the day before, and was known to have used a series of fake identities during previous arrests for petty crime. He was not previously on Frances extremist watch list, officials told the Associated Press. The mans phone is now being searched for further evidence of his true identity and motives. It is believed he was not a French national or legal resident. Saint Charles station reopened for the rush hour commute as normal on Monday. The station was previously the site of an attack in September in which four US students had acid thrown at them by a female assailant whom police said had a history of mental illness. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was deeply outraged by Sunday's barbarous knife attack. In a tweet, he paid tribute to the French soldiers who responded with cool heads and efficiency. The incident is the latest in a wave of deadly attacks on civilians in France since 2015. Most have been claimed by Islamic extremists. 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 }} Passengers booked on the first wave of Monarch flights were already at five UK airports, baffled at being unable to check in, when a brief text arrived announcing their holidays had been wrecked: Important! Monarch has stopped operating, read the message sent out by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Please do not go to the airport. After 49 years of flying tens of millions of passengers to Europe and beyond, one of the proudest names in travel has collapsed costing the jobs of 2,750 staff and the holiday plans of hundreds of thousands of travellers. Monarch: Simon Calder talks to CAA's Chair, Dame Deirdre Hutton Simultaneously, the UKs biggest-ever peacetime airlift got under way to bring 110,000 holidaymakers home more or less as scheduled, with chartered jets despatched to airports across Europe. But even though many of the planes began their journeys at UK airports, they are flying out empty leaving 300,000 heartbroken holidaymakers to try to figure out some way of rescuing their long-planned trips, as fares soared for alternative flights. The CAA said: Everyone due to fly in the next fortnight will be brought back to the UK at no cost to them. There is no need to cut short your stay. The authoritys chief executive, Andrew Haines, Chief Executive of the CAA, said: We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UKs largest airlines to manage this task. The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home. The authority has chartered more than 30 aircraft to bring back Monarch passengers, some of them from Qatar Airways. It aims to fly a schedule as close as possible to the original Monarch plans, though this will not be straightforward because the replacement planes have different capacities. The Airbuses used by Qatar have around 50 fewer seats than most Monarch planes. The CAA has set up a dedicated website monarch.caa.co.uk, which it says is the best source of advice and information for affected customers, as well as a 24 hour helpline: 0300 303 2800 from the UK, +44 1753 330330 from overseas. Andrew Swaffield, Monarchs chief executive, blamed the collapse on the effects of terrorism. The root cause is the closure, due to terrorism, of Sharm-El- Sheikh and Tunisia and the decimation of Turkey, he said in a letter to staff. Since 2015 weve seen yields collapse by a quarter, resulting in 160m less revenue. This has especially affected Spain and Portugal which is 80 per cent of our business. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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 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 This year the airline is carrying 14 per cent more passengers than last year for 100m less revenue. Many of you have spent years working for this company and I want to thank you again for your service and loyalty. I am truly sorry that it has ended like this. Click here to compare flight options with Skyscanner 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 }} Following a mass shooting near Las Vegas Mandalay Bay casino that has reportedly left two dead and at least 24 injured, McCarran International Airport suspended all flights. The airport tweeted the following: UPDATE: Flights in and out of @LASairport have been temporarily halted in response to reported shooting incident on Las Vegas Strip. It first advised passengers that delays were expected and that some flights would be affected, before announcing the temporary suspension of all flights. The latest news from the airport is that Limited flight activity has resumed. It recommends that those due to fly monitor flight status with your airline. Expect on going delays. Footage shows terror of fleeing crowd at Las Vegas shooting This comes after at least one gunman was reported to have opened fire on crowds at a music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night, discharging hundreds of bullets. Video online appeared to show the moment the gunfire broke out during a song, stopping the performance and sending the crowd running. Police say one suspected shooter is "down", and that "at this time we do not believe there are any more shooters". One woman, who was attending the concert with her husband, told CNN: Everyone was literally lying on top of each other and trying to get out of the way, and the shots just kept coming. When we got down, there was a man shot right there. One of my friends was helping him out. They got him out, and we ran, and everybody is hiding everywhere. They were hiding under the bleachers [seats], and the stanchions, and anywhere they could. And everybody is telling us to run, run as fast as you can. 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 }} Just in my lifetime, Spain has been ruled by a military dictator, restored a monarchy, restored democracy, experienced a military coup, had a terrorist separatist organisation kill innocent civilians, joined the EU, joined the euro, just escaped a near financial collapse, and had a king abdicate. Read with this historic context, Spain is in a much more perilous shape than you may think. And with this past weekends Catalonian referendum, Spain became just a little more fragile. It may not be a basket case of a country, but nor is it an island of stability. Catalonia sits in the north-east of Spain, bordering France, and includes one of Spains tourist gems: Barcelona. Catalonia has its own history, language and culture and is granted both nationality status and autonomy within the Spanish Constitution. It is also a region with a long history of nationalist politics. I was best man at my good friend Marcs wedding in the rural areas of Catalonia 15 years ago, and I came to understand Catalonian nationalism firsthand. I remember fondly trying to talk with Marcs father, who refused to speak Spanish, only Catalan and a bit of French. He didnt speak English, I didnt speak Catalan and my French was pretty poor but, with copious amounts of Catalan red wine and cava, we found a way to communicate. He was and remains still a proud Catalonian. His son Marc represented Spain in swimming and also represented Catalonia in national competitions. Catalonia declares win for 'yes' side in independence vote marred by violence Over this past weekend, the regional government held a referendum on Catalonian Independence, yet the Spanish government declared the vote unlawful. This past weekend I have been in touch with Marc as he, along with several of his friends, volunteered to guard polling stations. They were guarding them not from thugs or criminals, but from the Spanish police. Marc has sent me and social media has been full of images that appear to depict Spanish police kicking non-violent protesters, throwing them down stairs and breaking into buildings. On video, it looks like Spanish police are holding back Catalonian police who have sought to intervene to help Catalonian voters. Can you ever imagine a scenario were Australian Federal Police and Victorian State Police were in a stand-off against each other? How frightening that would feel. And this is what is happening in Spain right now. Under the Spanish governments direction, and following a Spanish courts ruling that the vote was illegal, Spanish riot police managed to forcibly close 93 out of around 2,000 polling stations. The Spanish minister responsible for policing said that the national police acted within their powers. Regardless of what one thinks of either the legality of the vote, the rights and wrongs of separation, or even the rights and wrongs of the actions of the Spanish police, one does not convince a people to stay within a country by beating them into silence. Catalonian police officer moved to tears as he protects protesters It may well be true that on a strict reading of the Spanish constitution, dissolution and a referendum are unlawful. It may be true that in one reading of Spanish law, all Spaniards would have to vote on a regions independence, not just Catalonia. However, Australia has an indissoluble Commonwealth, yet we allowed a referendum in Western Australia, not all of Australia, for their independence in 1933. Even though the vote passed, WA stayed within the country. In 1995, the Canadians allowed Quebec to vote to secede, not all of Canada. Quebec voted to stay, albeit just. In 2014, the British allowed Scotland to vote on independence, not all of the UK. Scotland voted to stay. After the events in Kosovo in 1999, the EU, including Spain, declared that only Kosovo had to vote on their independence, not all of Serbia. So even if the Spanish government is legally correct, is the current action either politically smart or even consistent with the majority of international practice? It is hard to mount an argument that in a democracy people should be forced by police to stay away from polling stations and not exercise their free will. It is hard to see how the weekends actions will result in a lower demand for independence and a strengthened Spanish state. Quite the reverse. Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News In my discussions with Catalonian people, I found in the past that many dont want independence, but they do support the right to vote. Yet some I have spoken to over the past 36 hours have changed their view. If the central government is too afraid to hear our voices, said one formerly pro-Spain voice, I no longer want to part of this country. Over on the north-west coast, in Spains Basque Country, other independence-minded people are watching closely. ETA, the Basque terrorist group, has been respecting a ceasefire for many years. But will they now? Successful modern democracies are built on governments respecting the will of the people. Successful modern unions, like Canada, Australia and the present-day UK, are built on ensuring that the regions want to stay part of the country, not that they will be forced to stay part of that country. Spain should have gone the persuasion route, not the force route. When a government needs to resort to violence that pitches a central government police force against a regional government police force, things can get very ugly very quickly indeed. 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 }} One cannot fail to have been moved by the scenes of violence in Catalonia. Whatever the view on Catalonias right to hold such a vote or not, the response by the Spanish police was brutal and excessive. The sight of people being dragged from polling stations by baton-wielding police has no place in a modern democracy. One cannot praise highly enough the calmness, humanity and bravery of the Catalan people when faced with such acts of violence. What is deeply disappointing is the muted response from the international community, which, bar a few exceptions such as Angela Merkel, the Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and Nicola Sturgeon, has been largely silent. While the European Union may argue that this is a domestic situation, in the past it has been willing to act in such matters. In 2000, for example, it imposed diplomatic sanctions on Austria when Joerg Haiders extreme right-wing Austrian Freedom Party entered the government. The Tory Government is so morally bankrupt that little more was to be expected than the pathetic response from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office when it referred to Spain as a close ally and a good friend, whose strength and unity matters to us. There was no condemnation of the violence, but the UK Government is so weakened due to Brexit that it requires every scrap of support it can gather, even if it means turning a blind eye to such obvious brutality. One suspects that if there was any doubt previously over Catalonias desire for independence, the actions of the Spanish state have pushed it well and truly down this road. Alex Orr Edinburgh The violence committed by police in Catalonia reminds me of the miners strike, Wapping, and many other UK disputes. There was no need for such gratuitous violence. There could well be long-lasting repercussions from this. The government based in Madrid should face EU fury, and Theresa May should condemn this. Gary Martin London E17 Another view on Scottish independence Martin Redfern is naive to say, in his letter yesterday, that moving jobs north (its insecure up north) would have any relevance for Scotland. Remember this is the Government that planned to rejuvenate the North by a railway line between Liverpool and Hull. Joanna Pallister Durham Interesting that in the letters Martin Redfern refers to independence for Scotland as a threat. Many in Scotland would see independence as freedom for our nation and a blessed relief from Westminster shackles and the abhorrent, punishing social legislation of a shambolic Tory administration. CA Milne West Linton Banning the veil isnt freedom I was greatly grieved to hear of the full-face veil ban being criminalised in Austria. It is estimated that of the nearly 9 million people of Austria, this will actually apply to a mere 150 women. Certainly forcefully removing the garment from these 150 women will not solve Austrias problems. If this cannot be called a publicity stunt, what can? Everyone has a right to freedom of expression. When it comes to the printing of derogatory caricatures of holy religious figures and deeply hurting the sentiments of millions of people, the flag of freedom is flown high and projected aloud. However, when the table is turned and it comes to protecting the freedom of these women, suddenly freedom is quietly brushed under the carpet. We live in difficult times with increasing divisions and hostility between communities, races and religions. It is a time when governments should be seeking to enact such policies that bring the world together, to unite us. As the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad has repeatedly advised: People should not object unnecessarily to religious differences that may exist between people because that will foster division and needlessly provoke the sentiments of people. Maleeha Mansur London SW20 Keep our public services properly public After reading David Wrigleys frightening piece about private patients jumping queues, Im compelled to ask: would someone please reassure me that our freely given blood donations are not given to anyone who has taken the place of my fellow citizens because of their happy financial situation? And if our donations are used for private procedures, would someone again explain how bean-counters manage to price a donation? Mike Flisher Blyth I am a psychiatric nurse retired early on health grounds with two children diagnosed with a mild learning difficulty called dyspraxia. This does inevitably mean making use of the NHS and local schools. I am working toward starting up my own business but this is often put on hold by the need to manage the services myself and my children receive, and managing these often irrational, micromanaged, target-driven services has become for myself a full-time, high-pressure damage-limitation exercise, even when for the most part my first reaction is to opt out or carefully chose my battles. I have my boundaries and only challenge the system when issues reach a point where I feel my children are at risk and I cannot meet their needs by providing a service myself. So I home-school my youngest, and treat my own thyroid and pernicious anaemia issues just to avoid the fight involved in getting needs met through services I have for most of my life paid for and have currently no say in how they are provided. My elder child who never experienced any disciplinary action in school or even a warning, a child who is not able to keep up with his peers in so many skill areas but has worked hard consistently and quietly, trying to meet school targets inappropriate for his needs in so many ways has just received the biggest slap in the face of his life when on his third day at senior school he is given a detention for being two minutes late (clarity about according to which clock or whose watch I have yet to ascertain). Apparently the school and others like it have a zero-tolerance policy which seems to mean zero tolerance of mistakes, lack of perfection, humanity, kindness, being unwell and young people generally. I shudder to think what sort of workplace theyre preparing them for. I have given these issues a thought and I have come up with a solution that will cut out a huge number of complaints, hours of email ping pong, endless needless debates, conversations, petition signing and contacting hardworking MPs. Lets make these services accountable to the people they serve and the people who have worked hard to pay for them! This can be implemented effectively by asking for feedback and satisfaction ratings that can then be used to reward or otherwise with increased funding. Joy Etheridge Address supplied The Government finds money when it wants to The Government often claims, albeit falsely, that there is no more money for essential services. Despite this shameful lie, if the completely avoidable tensions with the West and North Korea or any other self-inflicted crisis escalated into a major war, we can be sure that untold billions of pounds of taxpayers money would instantly appear to finance Britains inevitable part in it. If it became a nuclear conflict, of which Britain somehow survived, billions more would suddenly materialise to pay for, among other things, international aid needed for the millions of sick and dying, the accommodating of thousands of refugees arriving in the UK, a costly widespread decontamination operation over many years and the cynical replacement of the military hardware and bombs used in the genocide. Why not spend these hidden billions now, on vital public services, so that when the time comes for this countrys next mindless conflict, the Governments refreshingly truthful announcement of no more money left for war will be warmly received by all? James Hayes-Carter Cardiff A step toward solving the housing crisis Surely the most important thing that can happen in the housing debate is to stop the sale of council housing stock immediately. While there is a crisis in the private renting market and lists upon lists of people waiting for council house accommodation, it seems incredible that politicians havent thought that the sale of council property has made the situation much worse for people who need to rent decent affordable housing. Lynne Lord Lancashire The importance of letters Patrick Cosgrove (who wrote in his 100th letter yesterday) questions the value of writing letters to The Independent. I can assure him that he performs a very useful function in writing as he does. He saves me, and presumably many others, the trouble of writing ourselves, because he invariably writes the letter that I would have written had I had the time. Thank you, Patrick. Elizabeth Wilkins Clun Archbishop Martin also warned about the 'violence of homelessness' and said public policy 'must always have a special focus on those who are poorest' The Archbishop of Dublin has urged the public to reject a "culture of violence". Speaking at the annual Michaelmas New Law Term Service in St Michan's Church, Dublin, on Monday, Diarmuid Martin referred to the violence of drug cartels, gangland criminals and moneylenders. He also warned about the "violence of homelessness" and stressed that public policy "must always have a special focus on those who are poorest". "We need unequivocally to reject a culture of violence: the violence of criminal drug gangs, the exploitation by gangland criminals of fragile young people who have fallen victim to their business of death," Archbishop Martin said in his homily. "We have to overcome the violence of moneylenders." He warned that "violence in the home, violence against children, sexual violence and violence against people because of their sexuality, violence and hate talk about immigrants" must also be addressed openly . Archbishop Martin also referred to "violence and character assassination perpetrated under the anonymity of social media", saying violence was not just physical. There was also "violence of exclusion and the frustration of not being able to exercise one's basic rights and achieve basic aspirations and hopes", he said. "There is the violence of homelessness and the violence against the hopes of those who seek asylum from violence," he said. Archbishop Martin also used his homily to stress that public policy must always focus on the poorest. "A special focus on the needs of those who live in poverty and are victims of exploitation is a foundational dimension of the administration of justice. "The formulation and the application of principles of law must always be focused on curbing the arrogance of the powerful and protecting and fostering the rights of those who are on the margins of society and cannot speak for themselves," he added. Dr Laurence Graham, president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, took the opportunity in his sermon to give thanks that the country has "proper law" where "anyone can have a hearing, where anyone can have the opportunity to defend themselves". "Let us thank God that we live in a country where no one can be told you have no right to speak in your defence," he said. "We all know that in some places around the world that is not the case and large numbers of people are voiceless with little or no chance to defend themselves," he said. Dr Graham added: "Law is crucial for the proper functioning of any society and for the protection of the rights of everyone, especially the weakest in society. "Let us give thanks for law as we remind ourselves that it is crucial for the proper functioning of a society and for the defence of people's rights." Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney condemned the shootings at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas Irish officials have not received any reports of citizens being killed or injured in the Las Vegas gun attack. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney condemned the shootings at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival and expressed condolences on behalf of Ireland. "This was a savage and brutal attack targeting innocent festival-goers," he said. "I wish to express my heartfelt condolences and those of the Irish people to the families of the victims, those who were injured and to the people and the authorities of the United States on this tragic day." The Sheriff's Office in Las Vegas said more than 20 people were killed and at least 100 others injured in the concert attack just off the Strip. Mr Coveney said that by mid-morning there were no indications of Irish citizens being affected. "I am conscious, however, that it will take time before all of the casualties are identified," he added. Irish diplomats in the consulate general in San Francisco and the honorary consulate in Las Vegas are monitoring the situation. The department issued a contact number for families in Ireland who have concerns about relatives to ring the consular assistance unit on 01 408 2527. The number of young people out of work is causing concern, according to a report Youth unemployment remains "stubbornly high", according to the latest labour market report. Despite a continuing fall in overall unemployment rates to 6.3% in August, the number of young people out of work is causing concern. Youth unemployment stands at 12.7% - more than double the overall unemployment rate, the quarterly labour market report released on Monday by national recruitment and HR services group Collins McNicholas states. The report stresses the need for the creation of a new internship programme for young people to tackle youth unemployment. "Despite laudable progress in reducing unemployment over the last three years, the level of youth unemployment remains stubbornly high," said Niall Murray, managing director of Collins McNicholas. "The longer this segment of the population remains out of work, the greater the long-term impact on their career and quality of life. "It is crucial for young people to quickly gain a foothold in the employment market so that they can acquire as much experience as possible and develop a strong set of hard and soft skills that will make them more employable in their careers." The report also said a new apprenticeship model should have a clear focus on areas of skills shortages so that young people could be equipped with employable skills and satisfy demand in the job market. Mr Murray added: "A new internship programme needs to be put in place at the earliest opportunity. "It is essential that the new programme is properly monitored, with appropriate remuneration and training provided." The report also warns that Dublin's housing market is placing job creation in the capital at risk. It said that while Dublin has thrived in recent years, the capital was "at risk of being a victim of its own success". According to the report, the housing crisis is making it increasingly difficult for people to find suitable accommodation. It warns that if professionals are unable to source affordable housing, it will make job openings more difficult to fill. Mr Murray added: "Dublin has a fantastic opportunity to lure companies from London that are interested in relocating due to Brexit. "But if they cannot source sufficient talent to work in these companies, because people cannot afford to live in Dublin, they will miss out on an opportunity that will not come along again. "Job creation will slow if the cost of living makes it too difficult for companies to source talent." The report noted that one option to overcome the cost pressures of the Dublin market was for companies to locate their business in a regional city. The number of UK-based professionals seeking finance roles in Ireland has risen beyond the initial post-Brexit surge following the June 2016 vote, according to data from international job site Indeed. The new research also shows that interest in Ireland from other European countries has accelerated since the Brexit vote, suggesting that the lure of London as Europes traditional financial hub could be diminishing. There has been a 39pc increase in searches for finance related roles in Ireland from UK residents in the three months to the end of August 2017, compared to the three months in the lead up to the Brexit vote. Read more: Irish tops world chart for high-value FDI but UK hit by Brexit This is an increase on the 37pc jump observed in the three months immediately after the Brexit vote. From other European countries, searches for finance roles in Ireland are up 32pc in recent months, compared to 21pc immediately after Brexit, suggesting that Irelands attractiveness as a location has increased. "Ireland is seen as a natural alternative to the UK by jobseekers, because it is an English-speaking country, with a flexible labour market and has one of the strongest growing economies in Europe," Mariano Mamertino, economist at Indeed, said. In recent weeks, insurer XL Group and credit rating agency KBRA confirmed their plans for Dublin to be their European base, while over the summer banking giants including JP Morgan, Citigroup and Bank of America all indicated their plans for Irish expansion. The City of London has long been a magnet for finance professionals from continental Europe, and in July 2015 they accounted for 7pc of people looking for banking jobs in London. However by July 2017 this figure had fallen to 4.3pc, according to the research from Indeed. "Not only are growing numbers of British people searching for Irish jobs, so too are jobseekers from elsewhere in the EU," Mr Mamertino said. However the job site warned that addressing bottlenecks in housing, commercial space and infrastructure was essential to ensure Ireland remained competitive and maintained its comparative advantage as an attractive destination for skilled professionals. A powerful new Dail committee has told Government it should dramatically change its Budget calculations to free an additional 1bn for tax cuts and spending. A draft report by the Budget Oversight Committee, which has been seen by the Sunday Independent, tells Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe he can increase the amount of revenue available to him by changing his calculations. The committee, chaired by Fine Gael TD Josepha Madigan, reported that the Government can expand the so-called 'fiscal space' while staying inside the strict European Union rules. The committee was set up for the first time by the Government last year to advise ahead of the Budget. It has access to the recently established Parliamentary Budget Office. The landmark report found that in calculating the available fiscal space for 2018 and beyond, the Department of Finance excludes the 2015 GDP growth rate of 26pc and instead uses a growth rate of 5.5pc for that year. "This decision significantly reduces the GDP reference rate and therefore the permissible increase in public expenditure," it stated. The move was recommended to the committee by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) and Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). But a source close to Minister Donohoe said the Government would not be able to change the calculations this year as the Exchequer has not received enough tax revenue to redefine the fiscal space. The Budget Oversight Committee's report also urges the Government to protect the 12.5pc corporation tax rate due to the potential economic threats posed by Brexit and fight off any attempt by the EU to make changes to tax codes that could result in a loss of business. Concerns were also raised in the report over the 9pc VAT rate offered to the tourism sector. The committee recommended the Department of Finance review the current rate to establish the impact it has had on job creation. The report also specifically suggests a 'city tax' in some regions where the tourism industry has rebounded. "The committee also notes the discrepancy between the comparatively high cost of hotel rooms in some areas of the country, coupled with one of the lowest VAT rates, and this may indicate that the vat rate could be subsidising areas in little need of a subsidy," it stated. Elsewhere, the committee recommends that all available Budget resources should be used to alleviate the cost of childcare. It also suggests expanding the primary school system to include pre-primary care and education. It has also emerged that the Government will use the Budget to extend maternity leave and benefits in the cases of premature births. Once legislation is implemented, the State will pay benefits to mothers for the period of time between the actual birth of a baby and when the statutory maternity leave would have commenced. There are approximately 4,500 premature births annually. The Government is also planning to introduce state-funded fertility treatment for couples who cannot afford services from private clinics. Such services can cost would-be parents around 4,000 to 4,500 per course. The measure was first announced in early 2016 by Leo Varadkar when he was Minister for Health. "We want to make life easier for new families and those who are struggling to become a family," a government source said. Glanbia warned the industry must be certain that the move towards GM-free dairy is a long-term trend rather than a fad as it involves significant cost. There have been moves on the German market which is a key buyer of Kerrygold butter towards Genetically Modified free labelling. Sean Molloy, Glanbia Ireland's director of strategy, said GM-free was becoming quite apparent as a "requirement" in some continental European markets, particularly Germany. He said it was being studied carefully by Glanbia and at industry level. "It is very complex in the supply chain to achieve the level of tolerance that would be required for GM-free," he said. Mr Molloy stressed they were keen to be able to respond to customer requirements. It follows their move towards the marketing of their Truly Grass Fed brand in the US which operates to different standards of GM-free. Mr Molloy said they would not be "found wanting" if GM-free dairy is what is required to satisfy key markets. "Ornua have a significant presence in Germany with the Kerrygold brand and they'll be acutely aware of the trend within that market there. "Ornua are a very significant outlet for Glanbia as we have a 25pc shareholding in Ornua. "We manufacture a lot of butter that goes into the German Kerrygold product, so for us it is very important that we closely, and in partnership with Ornua, address any challenge that they may have in the market," he said. "One thing we have to be very sure of is that the trend is not just a fad and it would last for a period of time that would warrant the significant change that we require to deliver on it," he said. He pointed out the GM-free levels that are required for the German market mean that the whole supply chain must be subject to rigorous audit. "From the ships that bring that feed in to the storage, to the manufacture and distribution, it all has to be very open to audit and has to be perfectly within the tolerance required. That is complex." He said it would also be complex on dairy farms that were carrying other stock. "To understand if we are going to go this direction that there is value for all elements of the supply chain, including the farmers, if we require this. "To be able to demonstrate to our customers that we have clarity in terms of all of the inputs on our farm allows us to have long-term transactions," he said. "Our customers are happy we have that visibility." New Zealand said on Monday a fourth dairy farm has been hit by a bacterial cattle disease that can seriously affect animal health but was becoming confident that the outbreak has been contained. All four farms where cows have been infected by the disease, mycoplasma bovis, are owned by the Van Leeuwen Dairy Group. Matthieu Seguin, Managing Director, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland with some of the youths participating in the #YouthEmpowered programme Jennifer Collins, Yvonne OSullivan, Arkadiusz Gaik and Matthew Power Credit: Pic Julien Behal Photography A new initiative aimed at tackling youth unemployment here has been launched by Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (HBC) Ireland & Northern Ireland. According to the firm, the Youth Empowered (#YouthEmpowered) programme is set to help 400 young people get on the path to meaningful employment by equipping them with life skills, business skills and mentors. ` According to recent CSO figures, there were 32,237 young people under 25 signing on the live register in July, up by 505 since June 2017, with 2,512 more when compared with April 2017. Some 11,000 of these are in long-term unemployment. Coca-Cola HBC's bespoke programme, which is being delivered in partnership with Fastrack to IT (FIT), specifically targets young people not currently in employment, training or education. Deputy Alan Farrell, Chair of Oireachtas Children and Youth Affairs Committee said that, as a country, "we need to ensure our young people are provided with every opportunity to be successful in their lives, and in their chosen career paths". "Everyone, when growing up, needs a bit of guidance and support. Programmes like Youth Empowered, which go back to basics, are important as they provide our young people with the opportunity to avail of life skills which will better equip them with knowledge and experience that will undoubtedly benefit them in their futures." The Youth Empowered curriculum is designed to help remove the barriers that exist for young people between the ages of 18 and 30 who have left the formal education system but who have been unable to secure or retain employment. Matthieu Seguin, Managing Director, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland said that the firm has a responsibility "to ensure that the society in which we operate is sustainable and prosperous for all." "Young people suffered more than most during the recent recession with a lack of employment opportunities leaving them drifting for a number of years," he said. "While many young people leaving school and university today are well placed to secure employment, many require further support to help them transition from the education arena to the working world. We have identified some basic life skills that will help build back confidence and self-esteem in this group of young people, help them to understand the value that they bring to society and can bring to the workplace." Young people interested in participating in the programme can log on to www.fit.ie or www.ie.Coca-ColaHellenic.com for more information. Troubled gold exploration and development company Conroy Gold has issued a statement advising investors to vote against proposed resolutions at its Emergency General Meeting which takes place this Friday. The statement, released to the Irish Stock Exchange, advises investors to vote against resolutions to remove Professor Richard Conroy, chairman of Conroy Gold, and Maureen Jones, managing director of the company, from the board. In addition, investors are advised to vote against the appointment of Paul Johnson, Gervaise Heddle and Patrick OSullivan to the board, with Conroy Gold stating that the resolutions are "not in the best interests of the company and shareholders as a whole". Read more: Six directors removed from troubled Conroy Gold The EGM, which takes place this Friday at the Davenport Hotel in Dublin, comes after what has been a turbulent few months for the company. Last week, Patrick OSullivan a minority shareholder in the company, failed in a bid to have the High Court declare that he and his two nominees had been wrongfully stopped from becoming members of the board of directors at the companys last EGM in August. The Judge found that Mr OSullivan did not comply with the notification requirements under the companys Articles of Association in advance of the EGM. At said EGM, which was convened at the behest of Mr OSullivan, six of the nine Conroy Gold were removed from their position. The company, which is currently looking to develop a commercial gold mine at Clontibret in Co Monaghan, said last year that it had found five new gold zones at Clontibret following a drilling programme. However, some shareholders have grown impatient at what they believe is a very slow and cautious approach to development of the mine and bringing gold to market. Since 2000 shares in the company have fallen by more than 99pc. This morning shares opened at 0.35 Greencore, the Dublin-based convenience food giant, is voluntarily recalling egg salad sandwiches, ham salad sandwiches, and seafood stuffing in the United States. The products are being recalled because listeria monocytogenes was found in environmental sampling conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "No finished products have been found to have listeria present and no confirmed illnesses have been reported," the FDA said. A spokesperson for Greencore told Independent.ie that no products have found to be contaminated, it is purely a precautionary measure. In addition none of the products are available for sale in Ireland. Greencore is recalling lots distributed between 24 and 27 September. Sandwiches in the recall were distributed to American Food and Vending, Hannaford Brothers, Target, and Turkey Hill in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. Greencore, which is the biggest sandwich maker in the UK, said that it has not received any reports of confirmed illnesses associated with the recalled sandwiches. As of 29 September, all customers have been instructed to remove and destroy impacted product. Customers who have purchased this sandwich are urged to not consume the product and should dispose of the recalled sandwich," the FDA said. Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. The infection can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women. If healthy individuals are affected by the infection, they may suffer short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Greencore, which in August announced that it had agreed a timetable to phase out its contract with US coffee behemoth Starbucks, saw its shares fall by as much as 6pc on the news. Edmond Scanlon has officially succeeded Stan McCarthy as chief executive of Kerry Group. McCarthy had been chief executive of Kerry Group for the past decade and stepped down from the role at the end of September. The company, with a market capitalisation of almost 13bn, announced that its Asia-Pacific chief executive, Edmond Scanlon, succeeded Mr McCarthy on October 1. Mr Scanlon joined Kerry Group in 1996 after graduating from University College, Cork. He has held a number of senior roles at the company. Expand Close Stan McCarthy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stan McCarthy At the appointment announcement earlier this year, he said he was "honoured and privileged" to take over as chief executive of the company, which employs more than 24,000 people around the world. Meanwhile, Mr McCarthy has joined the board of Ryanair in a non executive role. In May, Ryanairs chairman David Bonderman said: "Given Stans outstanding record as chief executive of Kerry Group Plc he will, I believe, be a significant and valuable addition to our board." International companies looking to Ireland post-Brexit are more interested in the Government's long-term vision for how our cities and towns will evolve than the tax offering, a senior IDA official has said. They're asking about building heights, urban amenities and quality of design, because they want to both persuade workers to come and settle here, and to ensure those they recruit will want to stay, said Kieran Donoghue, the IDA's head of international financial services. He said firms are looking at locations around the country. "They want a view of what those places are going to look and feel like, five, 10, 15 years from now," Mr Donoghue said. Dublin has long been tipped as a potential contender for post-Brexit spoils, not only by investors from London, but businesses that have chosen to bypass the UK because of its EU departure. Access to EU markets, the quality of our workforce and, of course, the 12.5pc corporate tax offering have been the cornerstone of the country's sales pitch. But Mr Donoghue said firms want also to know "how Ireland is likely to evolve from an infrastructure perspective". "Many of our critics would tend to reduce our proposition to tax. But increasingly it's not," he said. "What clients are saying to us, their ability to hire people in Ireland, and to attract people from elsewhere to come and work in Ireland, is fundamental to their business. And that leads directly to the issue of housing." Mr Donoghue said companies that have made inquires about shifting some of their operations here as a result of Brexit have asked questions about both infrastructure and housing. But he said they understand the infrastructure challenges the country faces, and the fiscal constraints. "But their view of housing is more nuanced," Mr Donoghue added. "They don't necessarily want us just to build more housing to a conventional, say housing estate, model. "They're asking us for our views on the direction our cities and our city regions are going to take. They're asking about heights of buildings. They're asking about urban amenity, quality of design etc, because they're planning on trying to attract and maintain a multinational, multicultural workforce." The Government has had a number of Brexit-related wins in financial services. These include JP Morgan, Bank of America, Barclays, insurers Legal & General, XL Group and Beazley. Dublin has, however, lost out to Luxembourg, Brussels and Frankfurt after big-name insurers AIG, Lloyd's and Standard Chartered revealed their plans. Addressing last week's All-Island Civic Forum on Brexit, Mr Donoghue said the agency is redoubling its efforts to win foreign investment in a bid to compensate for any job losses that may arise here as a consequence of Brexit. He said global companies are "not abandoning Britain", but they are actively looking to move the "EU facing piece of their UK-based business". "This presents an opportunity for Ireland," he said. He said the IDA has engaged with "scores of multinationals", both at home and abroad, and that companies are looking at locations across the country. It comes amid weekend reports Amazon had warned the Government that while it was considering doubling or trebling its workforce in Ireland over the coming years, it had concerns around planning permission, energy supply timelines and graduate skills. In what could also turn out to be a blow for the Government, 'The Sunday Times' reported that a survey of staff at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) found that 45pc of them would be unlikely to want to relocate to Ireland. The Government has made a bid for both the EMA and the European Banking Authority (EBA). Three Irish charities will be awarded total funding of 13,500 as part of a financial inclusion programme from PayPal. Groups working to break down financial barriers for individuals and small businesses can apply for the firm's Financial Inclusion Charity Grant. The successful applicants will be awarded bursaries valued at 8,000, 4,000 and 1,500 respectively. According to PayPal, the initiative is aimed at assisting those with poor credit histories or fine motor skill challenges, in addition to ambitious start-ups and SMEs struggling to secure affordable financial services. Junior Achievement Ireland - which encourages young people to remain in education - and Young Social Innovators - which encourages young people to use their creativity to tackle social issues - are both previous beneficiaries. "Poor access to basic financial services is still a significant issue in Ireland, which were determined to tackle," Maeve Dorman, PayPals Vice President of Merchant Operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said. "By supporting local charities across the country, we hope to have a positive impact on the lives of people who feel excluded from traditional financial services." Applications are now open to registered Irish charities, with a deadline of October 13. For further information and an application form, contact giveireland@paypal.com. The deal runs over five years and involves use of IdentiGEN's DNA-TraceBack system to guarantee the integrity of Swiss beef (stock photo) Irish food safety company IdentiGEN has secured a 17m contract in Switzerland, which will see it provide DNA-based traceability for all Swiss beef. The deal runs over five years and involves use of IdentiGEN's DNA-TraceBack system to guarantee the integrity of Swiss beef. The service is being introduced this year for beef and veal and may be expanded to include pork and poultry. IdentiGEN, based in Blackrock, Co Dublin, has established a new dedicated laboratory in Zurich and will be working with Proviande, which oversees the Swiss meat industry. "Swiss meat enjoys great trust among consumers, commanding a significant premium," said IdentiGEN Switzerland ceo and group VP for business and strategy development Europe, Thomas Struckmeyer. "IdentiGEN's DNA-TraceBack technology will provide proof that meat products with a Swiss origin certificate are indeed Swiss, particularly for more processed meat products such as meatballs and hamburgers. "This deal demonstrates that DNA identification technology is increasingly scalable and can ensure the integrity of national meat brands." I am a retired newspaperman. I am 69 and live in Poca, WV, with my wife of 45 years, Lou Ann. We grew up in Cleveland. Three kids. Grandfather. More on who I am is here. Report all errors to DonSurber@GMail.com Veritas Technologies, a multi-cloud data management company, has announced the creation 250 jobs in North-West Dublin. The positions, which are being filled over the next two years, will be located at the new Veritas R&D centre which was opened today by the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. The R&D centre will contribute to the companys expansion in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Read more: Irish tech firm to create 40 new jobs Announcing the news Veritas said that its recruitment drive, which is being carried out with the help of IDA Ireland, is focusing on development roles from new graduates to senior-level executives, as well as multi-cloud engineering and product and programme management positions. The roles will largely support new products, services and applications for Veritas. As part of the recruitment drive the company will also focus on creating close links with universities across Ireland, and it intends to launch an internship graduate programme in 2018. "Were thrilled to announce that were actively recruiting innovative talent at all levels in Ireland to help us transform how customers can harness the power of their data in a multi-cloud world," said Bill Coleman, CEO of Veritas, said. Describing the news as a "great boost" for Ballycoolin and North-West Dublin, the Taoiseach said that the Government was prioritising research and development, innovation and enterprise, to ensure companies like Veritas can grow their operations in Ireland, "Ireland has developed a very strong reputation as being a hub for cloud-based technology companies and the latest jobs announcement confirms that this sector of the economy is continuing to grow strongly and contribute to our jobs recovery," Mr Varadkar said. Currently Veritas helps 86pc of the Fortune 500 companies reveal insights about their data. Using the Veritas platform, customers can accelerate their digital transformation and solve pressing IT and business challenges including multi-cloud data management, data protection, storage optimisation, compliance readiness and workload portabilitywith no cloud vendor lock-in. "The Dublin expansion builds on the companys existing presence [in Dublin] and attests to the citys thriving tech culture. We welcome Veritas continued investment and expansion in Ireland," Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland, said. Vladimir Putin is doing his part to keep the upswing in gold alive. Since the Russian president went on a geopolitical offensive in Ukraine in 2014, the haven asset had its first annual gain in four years in 2016 and is on track for another in 2017. A beneficiary of economic and political perils from North Korea to Brexit, it's among the top-performing commodities this year. Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia has more than doubled the pace of gold purchases, bringing the share of bullion in its international reserves to the highest of Mr Putin's 17 years in power, according to World Gold Council data. In the second quarter alone, it accounted for 38pc of all gold purchased by central banks. The gold rush is allowing the Bank of Russia to continue growing its reserves while abstaining from purchases of foreign currency for more than two years. It's one of a handful of central banks to keep the faith as global demand for the precious metal fell to a two-year low in the second quarter. But what may matter most is that gold is as geopolitics-proof an investment as any in the age of sanctions and a deepening rift with the US. "Gold is an asset that is independent of any government and, in effect, given what is usually held in reserves, any Western government," said Matthew Turner, metals analyst at Macquarie Group in London. "This might appeal given Russia has faced financial sanctions." Besides being the largest official buyer of gold, Russia is also among the world's three biggest producers, with the central bank purchasing from domestic miners through commercial banks and not in the open market. Since starting to accelerate bullion purchases in 2007, Russia's holdings have more than quadrupled to 1,556 tonnes at the end of June, just behind China and more than Turkey, India and Mexico combined, bringing its share in Russia's $427bn (361bn) reserves to near 17pc. If buying continues at a similar pace, the World Gold Council said the full-year increase in 2017 "could closely match" 2015 and 2016. Sod Sgt. Pepper. Van Morrison's 1968 album Astral Weeks is a finer album than The Beatles' piece de resistance from 1967. That was The Guardian's assessment in 2008. However contentious that view was, there is a certain sense to labelling Astral Weeks possibly one of the greatest, most seminal, albums of all time. Here Van is, the sacred wanderer, the spiritual seeker, the wise-man full of improvisational transcendence, seeking out some sort of mystic deliverance. Down the years, many a person listening to Astral Weeks doubtless did so under the illusion that it would unlock the key to this mystic deliverance for themselves. I am still waiting for the lock to turn. Be that as it may, listening to Van sing Sweet Thing, Ballerina and Madame George is never less than beautiful, always like you are listening to those songs for the very first time. As Greil Marcus wrote in his masterful 2010 biography When That Rough God Goes Riding: "You put a man next to a microphone, hand him a sheet of words, and soul comes out." He's the grandmaster. The king. The dark knight of soul. No one comes close to him at times. And other times, he is banal, repeating himself, sounding bored, being a full-on cliche, a sourpuss, a tired curmudgeon. Happily, there are more moments in Van's work when he is closer to the transcendent than to the tired to make buying another CD of Van doing old soul and blues chestnuts worth the effort. That said, his new release, Roll With The Punches is hardly revelatory fare. With the Belfast Buddha ably assisted with contributions from Jeff Beck, Paul Jones, Georgie Fame, among others, throughout, Roll With The Punches, his 37th studio album features some fine fare, albeit: Van's reinterpretations of everything from Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home To Me to Lightnin' Hopkins's Automobile Blues to Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing's Goin' To Chicago to Sister Rosetta Tharpe's How Far From God, and Stormy Monday/Lonely Avenue from T-Bone Walker/Doc Pomus. I love it, love it, but I have a gripe. As much as I love Van Morrison - and as much as I realise it is heresy punishable by being burned at the stake on a pile of old vinyl copies of Hard Nose The Highway to say anything critical of him - I can't help but thinking: do we really need to listen to Van singing Stormy Monday/Lonely Avenue and Bring It On Home To Me for the apparently umpteenth time? (Stormy Monday was on A Night In San Francisco, the live album from 1994 - as was Lonely Avenue - and on Too Long In Exile from 1993; Bring It On Home To Me was on Van's 1974 double live album It's Too Late To Stop Now). Depending on our mood, most of us would stand out in the rain to hear Van sing these songs again and again. But right this second, I am not so sure. I'd much rather hear more of Van's new work as a clue to what is going on in his head in his eight decade, as he nears - hopefully not too quickly - his last waltz. There are five new compositions from the great man here. Transformation, Too Much Trouble and the title track Roll With The Punches are good insights into where Van the Man is at in 2017. Even though I'm sure it is pretty much the same as it was in 1968 when he issued Astral Weeks, not least when he sang on the title track about being "nothing but a stranger in this world". I'm pretty sure, too, that 72-year-old Van is still the same as he was in 2005 when he said: "I don't really suit the music business. Or, indeed, any business. I'm incompatible with the way things are done. It's not easy doing what I do. It's not easy being able to fight the fight with these people." Sod the music biz. Keep on fighting, Van. Eoghan Flynn (11) and Abigale Bates (10), both from fifth class at Birdhill NS, find a slug at their schools nature garden. Photo: Frank McGrath The rain came down in sheets - Biblical, incessant rain, not of the 'soft' variety - and the leaden clouds hanging low over the Shannon just promised more of the same. Yet, even in the midst of a miserable day, there is no mistaking just how beautiful Birdhill is. Newly crowned Ireland's Tidiest Town, the tiny hamlet on the Limerick/Tipperary border is more than just picture postcard attractive, with heaving flowerbeds and neatly trimmed lawns. The community is at the beating heart of this village. "We're a little gem. You can say we're in the middle of nowhere. But we're a big cog in the wheel here," explained Anne Barry, a "blow-in" originally from Kenmare who has made Birdhill her home for the last 40 years. Anne is a member of the Birdhill Tidy Town committee. In a village with just 45 inhabitants and another 300 in the surrounding area, the committee has no fewer than 17 members, with another 30 or 40 who chip in when needed. Birdhill is blink-and-you'll-miss-it small, two pubs - The Coopers and Matt The Thresher - and no shop or post office. But it does boast a Barista Training Academy, housed in what was once the Garda station, and its former telephone box has been transformed into an information office and mini-library. Meanwhile, newcomers get a 'Welcome to Birdhill' card in their letterbox wishing them happiness in their new home and community. Expand Close Members of the hard-working Birdhill Tidy Towns committee, Anne and Paddy Barry, with chairman Denis Floyd and Michael Kelly. Photo: Frank McGrath / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Members of the hard-working Birdhill Tidy Towns committee, Anne and Paddy Barry, with chairman Denis Floyd and Michael Kelly. Photo: Frank McGrath Arguably the village's defining moment came in 2010 with the opening of the M7 motorway. While some communities bemoan a bypass, for Birdhill it returned the village to its inhabitants. Where once it could take 10 minutes to find a break in the speeding Limerick to Dublin traffic to cross the road, now it is serene. Retired school principal Denis Floyd can trace his family's roots in Birdhill back 200 years. "Most people travel to Limerick, Nenagh or Shannon for work. We used to have heavy traffic years ago but now it is quiet," said Denis who is chairman of the local Tidy Towns committee. The village railway station, 150 years old, is on the Limerick-Ballybrophy line and has three services a day in each direction and allows for connections to Dublin. However, locals worry that this important service may be axed by Irish Rail in its cost-cutting plans. But unlike other rural villages, this place is thriving, a key indicator being the steadily rising enrolment in the local primary school. "When I began here in 2004 there was just the principal and two teachers. With every year our numbers have just gone up and up. We now have 160 pupils and there are nine on our staff," said acting principal of Birdhill National School Miriam Kennedy. "The one thing I'll say about Birdhill is it's all about the community spirit." Things are also looking up for business in the village, with hopes for a tourism boost thanks to last week's Tidy Towns win. Nine months ago Charlotte Lyons and her husband Jimmy took over the ownership of Matt The Thresher from her parents Ted and Kay Moynihan, who retired after 32 years running the popular pub. She splits her time between Dublin, where she also owns the Matt The Thresher on Lower Pembroke Street, and Birdhill, two more different locations you cannot find. The pub has gone through some tough times - the opening of the motorway saw the family lose "50pc of the business overnight". However, Charlotte is confident about the future and business is up 30pc since the start of the year. "I think this is very nostalgic for me...I adore coming down here and the locals have been amazing," she said. Convicted child predator Eamon 'Cookie Monster' Cooke left an estate of just 600, according to relatives who want his assets investigated so his victims can be paid compensation. Cooke, the former owner of pirate station Radio Dublin, was jailed for 10 years in 2007 for sexually assaulting young girls at his home 30 years earlier. The paedophile was found guilty of 42 charges of sexual assault. He is believed to have abused hundreds of children before he was jailed. Cooke died aged 79 in St Francis Hospice in Raheny, Dublin, in June last year. Now a member of his family has called for an investigation into his estate, after a mere 600 was found a year after his death - despite him having a property portfolio worth millions. The female relative, who divulged details of a large number of properties Cooke owned in his lifetime, also told of how he stole 101,000 from a joint account he held with his third wife while in prison. "Cooke died a wealthy man, but what he did with that money is a complete mystery," the relative said. "My family suffered at his hands, as did his many victims, and that money needs to be found and used to compensate them for the harm he did in his life. "I went to the probate office to ask them whether the estate had gone to probate but they said no application had been received. "I couldn't believe it. My fear is he died without leaving a will and the fact is no one knows how much money or what property he had when he died. "He was so hateful - that's just the way he would have wanted it. He wouldn't have wanted anyone to get their hands on his money." Cooke died weeks after a woman came forward claiming she witnessed schoolboy Philip Cairns in his pirate radio station on October 23, 1986 - the day of his disappearance. Cooke's family member said some of the money he amassed should be recovered and distributed to victims. "The possibility that all this money has just disappeared doesn't really make sense," she said. A father-of-two has been refused bail after being charged with possessing a handgun, a silencer and nine rounds of ammunition at his home in Dublin. Martin Whelan (52) from Cairn Court, Poppentree, in Ballymun appeared at Dublin District Court on Monday charged with three offences under the Firearms Act. He is accused of unlawfully possessing a Makarov 9mm pistol, a silencer and nine rounds of ammunition at his home address on Sept. 28 last. He was remanded in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Wednesday; a decision has yet to be made as to whether he will be granted legal aid. Garda John Pirollo told Judge Gerard Jones that Mr Whelan, gave no reply when he was charged with the offences. The garda also furnished the court to a list of objections to bail. The court also heard that approximately 300,000 was allegedly seized during the operation. Dressed in jeans and blue jumper, the accused did not address the court. Defence solicitor Anarine McAllister pleaded for bail to be granted to her client who has not yet indicated how he will plead. Several of his family members were in court and there was a proposal that 3,000 could be lodged as bail. However, Judge Jones noted the seriousness of the charge, evidence that he was caught red-handed and had handed keys to a cabinet to gardai. He also noted that the case related to firearms and a large quantity of cash. Despite the accused having no warrant history or evidence that he was a flight risk, the Judge said he was refusing bail. The garda must also set out his objections to legal aid being granted, the judge ordered. In a follow up operation a second man was arrested on Friday in the Ballymun area and was detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 at a Dublin Garda Station. He was subsequently was released without charge and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. A Monaghan food producer is facing trial accused of unlawfully importing 8.5kilos of a powerful hallucinogenic drug which he claims is a legal substance. Marcus McCabe (56) with an address of Burdautien, in Clones, appeared at Dublin District Court to face a charge under the Misuse of Drugs Act. He is accused of unlawfully importing a substance called N,N-Dimethyltryptamine at Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport on November 13, 2014. The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) had directed summary disposal meaning the case should remain in the district court which can impose a 12-month sentence for the offence. Judge Conal Gibbons asked to hear an outline of the prosecution evidence. Garda Brian Fahy told the court it was alleged that Mr McCabe was stopped at Dublin Airports Terminal 2 carrying 8.5 kilos of the brown liquid substance. Defence solicitor Michael French told the court that his client would be contesting the charge adding, he believes that the substance is in fact legal. Mr French said it was a hallucinogenic substance and Mr McCabe thinks it was legal and he had brought to court sworn affidavits in relation to the drug. He is adamant that he will be contesting the case, the solicitor also said. Judge Gibbons said while the DPP had directed summary disposal he was of the opinion that the district court was not suitable to deal with this type of matter. Judge Gibbons said there was a considerable amount and given its substantial quantity he was refusing jurisdiction. This means he will have to face trial before a jury in a circuit court which can impose a two-year sentence for this offence. Judge Gibbons adjourned the case until date in November for further directions to be obtained from the DPP. A book of evidence has yet to be prepared. At an earlier stage, Mr McCabe was granted legal aid. He had told the court he ran a small business which was supplied by a farm he owned. No evidence was given as to the value of the substance seized. The partner of a garda who says he was targeted for making a protected disclosure has told the Charleton Tribunal that Garda Keith Harrison did not want "the fame of being a whistleblower". Mark Harty SC, representing Garda Keith Harrison, asked Ms Marisa Simms what she made of suggestions that her partner Garda Harrison was motivated by "attention seeking, jumping on the bandwagon and looking for fame in making a protected disclosure in May 2014". Ms Simms said anyone who would suggest this was "not in possession of the full facts". In the current module, the tribunal, chaired by Mr Justice Peter Charlton, is looking at contacts between gardai and the HSE/Tusla relating to Garda Harrison, which he alleges amount to an abuse of power. The tribunal has not yet heard details relating to the protected disclosure. "This, Tusla, is not even a snippet of what we have endured," Ms Simms said today. Ms Simms claimed that she had been followed into Dunnes Stores by garda cars flashing blue lights, that garda cars drove by her home slowly, and that she and Garda Harrison had received death threats. Expand Close Garda Keith Harrison during the Disclosures Tribunal / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Garda Keith Harrison during the Disclosures Tribunal "Absolutely no way was this for fame. No way," Ms Simms said. Tribunal chairman Mr Justice Peter Charleton said the Tribunal was looking at how a statement was taken from Ms Simms in October 2013, and was not interested in "prurient exploration of anybody's private life". "I don't believe that anybody giving evidence here has been in any way mistreated," the chairman said. Ms Simms said that she first became aware a complaint had been forwarded to GSOC, the Garda Ombudsman Commission, on her behalf on October 8, 2013, when she received a telephone call from GSOC case officer George O'Doherty. Ms Simms said she was in hospital at the time, and GSOC was the furthest thing from her mind. Ms Simms denied she changed her mind about the complaint she had made in a garda statement on October 6, after she spoke with her partner. "There was never any serious threat to begin with. There was never any sea change," Ms Simms said. Ms Simms denied she was pressurised into changing her mind by Garda Harrison. She said the statement she made to gardai was intended "for the chief's eyes only". Garda Harrison told the tribunal that he believed the referral to GSOC was motivated by malice towards him. He said this stemmed from activities while he was stationed previously in Athlone, and because he was in a relationship with Marisa Simms, whose brother was charged with the manslaughter of Buncrana garda, Gary McLoughlin, following a car collision. Read More Expand Close 02/10/2017 Una Coll during the Disclosures Tribunal at Dublin Castle, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp 02/10/2017 Una Coll during the Disclosures Tribunal at Dublin Castle, Dublin. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins The tribunal also heard evidence from social worker Una Coll, who, it heard received an anonymous letter regarding the Simms family in 2012. She then contacted Sergeant Brigid McGowan to get an accurate postal address for Ms Simms as she did not recognise the address in the anonymous letter. She said that she had given Sergeant McGowan a copy of the anonymous letter when it was requested. She said Sergeant McGowan was the Garda children's welfare liaison and not some random person. She told the inquiry she was at a strategy meeting in October 2013, and she was told afterwards by Sergeant McGowan that a referral had been sent for the Simms children. The tribunal chairman asked Ms Coll how she would feel about gardai "directing" an investigation should be carried out. "That had never been something I have come across in my work with the gardai," Ms Coll said. Ms Coll said the welfare services consulted with gardai, but "they do not direct us". "I wouldn't accept that any member of An Garda Siochana would see fit to direct how we carry out our job." Read More Expand Close Gerry Hone / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Gerry Hone Principal social worker Gerry Hone told the tribunal he received a notification from Superintendent Eugene McGovern about the Simms children on October 10, 2013. The notification identified Sergeant McGowan as the point of contact on the case. Mr Hone said the form "provides a mechanism to ensure there's a way to inform the HSE about any concern that emerges about a child's welfare". Mr Hone said a letter on October 16 from the HSE to gardai updating them on the status of the case meant social workers needed more information before they could do anything, not that the case was closed. "A box had been ticked on the form, indicating emotional abuse, but that was all," Mr Hone said. "Further information needed to be shared between the agencies if any action was to take place." The tribunal has previously heard that social worker Donna McTeague met with Ms Simms and Garda Harrison in February 2014, after which the case was closed. Asked by the tribunal chairman about the possibility that garda officers would direct social workers to look at a particular case, Mr Hone said he had "never heard of that happening and I would be extremely concerned if I heard of it happening". "I would never have experience of an outside agency trying to direct us in how to do something," Mr Hone said "We make our own decisions." Mr Hone said that it would be "highly inappropriate" and he would bring up any attempt to direct an investigation with gardai". An Irish traveller who attempted to smuggle a cup made of endangered rhinocerous horn from Miami to London faces up to 10 years in prison. Michael Hegarty (40), a member of the notorious Rathkeale Rovers, concealed the rhino horn, which can sell for up to $50,000 per kilo on the black market, in his luggage because it was carved into a Chinese libation cup. But the Miami Herald is reporting that Hegarty, who is currently in custody, was nabbed as part of Operation Crash, an effort by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Justice to detect, deter and prosecute those engaged in the illegal killing of rhinoceros and the unlawful smuggling of rhinoceros horns. Trafficking rhino horn is a violent of the endangered species act and faces up to 10 years in prison followed by up to three years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000, or up to twice the gross gain. The Irish man will be sentenced on November 14. According to Federal authorities Hegarty and co-conspirator and fellow Rathkeale Rover Richard Sheridan, travelled from London to Miami where, with a Florida resident, they bought the libation cup for $57,500 (48,947). The pair traveled back to London with the horn to fix some flaws before trying to resell it for a profit. About a month later, Sheridan was arrested by Metropolitan Police in Wandsworth, London, while attempting to sell the same rhinoceros horn libation cup to a Hong Kong native, authorities said. Hegarty was arrested in Belgium shortly after on the charges on an Interpol Red Notice. He was then extradited to the United States. By trafficking in wildlife products, such as items made from a rhinoceros horn, smugglers are fueling the illegal trade in endangered wildlife, which may ultimately lead to the species extinction, said Ed Grace, acting assistant director of Law Enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Minister for Justice has again refused to revoke a deportation order against an Algerian man with alleged links to Islamic terrorism, the High Court heard. Last July, the Supreme Court unanimously quashed the Minister's refusal to revoke the deportation order issued in December 2016. The Supreme Court remitted the man's case back to the Minister for further reconsideration. The Supreme Court's ruling came after the man appealed an earlier High Court order which found the Minister's decision that there were no substantial grounds to find that the man would be at real risk of ill treatment if deported to his home country was lawful. The State had opposed the appeal. The man's case returned before Mr Justice Richard Humphreys at the High Court on Monday. David Leonard Bl, for the man, said the Minister, after reconsidering the matter, had informed his client late last month that he was refusing to revoke the deportation order. Counsel said his client wishes to bring proceedings challenging the Minister's decision. Counsel for the State, Sinead McGrath Bl, said the man's challenge will be opposed. The State wanted the matter to be heard as soon as possible, she said. The judge adjourned the matter for two weeks. The State claims the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is involved with Islamic terrorism and was convicted of terrorism offences in Algeria and France. The Minister issued a deportation order after gardai informed the Department of Justice the activities of the man and his associates were of serious concern and contrary to the States security. The man, aged in his 50s and living in Ireland for several years, denies being involved in terrorism or being involved in groups such as Al-Qaeda. He claims that if deported he is at risk of being tortured and subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment due to his political views. During the 1990s, he was convicted of several offences in Algeria and received three life sentences and two death sentences, which are no longer carried out. Those offences include forming an armed terrorist group intending to spread murder, sabotage, possession of prohibited war weapons assassination, theft intending to harm the security of his home country. He was also convicted and jailed for eight years following his arrested in France in 2002. A French court found him guilty of charges including membership of a criminal organisation preparing an Act of Terrorism. A man has received an apology from publishers Penguin and the authors of a book about the Kinahan crime cartel. The apology was made before the High Court to Derek Cervi. Mr Cervi had sued publisher Penguin Random House Ireland and the authors - journalists Owen Conlon and Stephen Breen -for defamation over the book entitled "The Cartel - The Shocking true story of the rise of the Kinahan crime cartel and its deadly feud with the Hutch gang." Mr Cervi, of Russell Avenue, East Wall, Dublin, said the book had wrongly stated he was arrested and later released without charge by the gardai. He said he was not arrested at any stage. He claimed the book, which was published in May, also wrongly linked him to criminality. Mr Cervi said he has never been involved in criminality. He also said the book has brought him unwanted attention and is concerned for his and his family's safety. As well as seeking damages, Mr Cervi also sought orders correcting what he claims are defamatory statements and that all unsold copies of the book be recalled. When the case was called before Mr Justice Richard Humphreys on Monday, the court was informed by Martin Hayden SC, for Mr Cervi, that the proceedings have been resolved. As part of the settlement, an apology to Mr Cervi was read to the court by Cian Ferritter SC on behalf the publishers and the authors. It stated the defendants "acknowledge and accept that there was an erroneous reference to Mr Cervi having been arrested" in the book. "This was incorrect and the defendants accept that Mr Cervi was not arrested and that he has no association with the Hutch or Kinahan gangs." "Penguin have agreed to correct this error in all forthcoming publications of the book," counsel said. The defendants also apologised for the "upset and distress that this has caused to Mr Cervi and his family," the apology concluded. Mr Justice Humphreys welcomed the resolution of the proceedings. A 23-year-old woman developed a blood clot and died weeks after commencing the contraceptive pill, an inquest heard. Friends concerned for Lauren Johnson from Castle Grove in Swords, Co Dublin found her semi-conscious in bed at home on September 3 2015. She died due to a blood clot and associated hemorrhage in the brain at Beaumont Hospital four days later. Miss Johnson, known to her friends and family as Rosy had spent a year in Japan and was working as a Japanese translator in Dublin. She had been suffering from persistent headaches in the weeks leading up to her death, Dublin Coroners Court heard. Her parents were away in Portugal when she became ill. She visited her local GP in Swords on September 1 2015, two days before she was hospitalised, complaining of headache and visual disturbance. She complained a lot about this headache that wouldnt go away, her best friend, Kevin Gannon said. He became concerned when he got no reply to his texts and calls. We talked every day, he said. On September 3 he found Miss Johnson in bed at her house. She was groggy and couldnt string a sentence together, Mr Gannon said. An ambulance was called. They asked her if she had taken tablets before and she replied yes, but she had never done that before, he said. There was a packet of paracetamol with 16 tablets missing at the house. Family members said she had been taking paracetamol for her headaches. Paramedics rushed the woman to the Beaumont Hospital. On a handover sheet for hospital staff they wrote query overdose. She was admitted with a suspected paracetamol overdose at 1.35pm on September 3. She was triaged as a category 2 patient meaning she had to be seen by a doctor within 15 minutes. Dr Farah Mustafa saw Miss Johnson at 1.50pm and said the patient was tearful and drowsy but her vital signs were normal. She ordered a blood test and a review by a psychiatrist. At 6.50pm, the psychiatrist approached the doctor, having spoken to Miss Johnsons friends waiting in the ED. When he expressed concern that she hadnt seen psychiatric services in Beaumont before, that made me concerned, Dr Mustafa said. A CT scan and further tests revealed a blood clot in the brain. Miss Johnson's parents, Brian and Sandra Johnson were called to return to Dublin. We saw Lauren in the ICU. She was weak and uncoordinated. They were doing more tests, Brian Johnson told the court. Despite efforts to save her life, Miss Johnson died on September 7. The condition she developed, a blood clot that entered the brain through the jugular vein and associated hemorrhaging, is very rare according to Consultant Neurologist at Beaumont Hospital Dr Lisa Costello, who said she sees only two or three cases a year. Miss Johnsons GP records revealed she had started taking the contraceptive pill in July 2015. Blood clots in the veins are a known risk factor for the contraceptive pill. The womans mother, Sandra Johnson said there was a higher risk associated to the particular brand her daughter was taking and asked for further evidence. Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane adjourned the inquest for additional pharmacological evidence. The passage of time does not make your loss any easier, but you want to leave this court feeling that the issues you raised were dealt with, Dr Cullinane said. The inquest will resume at a date yet to be scheduled. Breaking down in tears will soon be able to light up a room thanks to a team of Irish scientists. Researchers from the University of Limerick (UL) found that applying pressure to a protein found in tears can actually generate electricity. However, it is not only tears that may someday charge your phone The protein is also found in the egg whites of birds, saliva and milk. The ability to generate electricity by applying pressure is known as direct piezoelectricity. It is a property of materials that can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa. These materials are already used in a variety of applications ranging from mobile phones to deep ocean sonars and ultrasound imaging. Bone, tendon and wood are long known to possess piezoelectricity. While piezoelectricity is used all around us, the capacity to generate electricity from this particular protein had not been explored," said the study's lead author Aimee Stapleton. "However, because it is a biological material, it is non-toxic so it could have many innovative applications such as electroactive anti-microbial coatings for medical implants. The electricity-making protein, known as 'crystals of lysozyme', are said to be easy to make from natural sources. The high precision structure of lysozyme crystals has been known since 1965, said co-author Professor Tewfik Soulimane. In fact, it is the second protein structure and the first enzyme structure that was ever solved, he added, but we are the first to use these crystals to show the evidence of piezoelectricity. The discovery may have wide reaching applications and could lead to further research in the area of energy harvesting and flexible electronics for biomedical devices. Future applications of the discovery may include controlling the release of drugs in the body by using lysozyme as a physiologically mediated pump that scavenges energy from its surroundings. Being naturally biocompatible and piezoelectric, lysozyme may present an alternative to conventional piezoelectric energy harvesters, many of which contain toxic elements such as lead. Professor Luuk van der Wielen, Director of Bernal Institute and Bernal Professor of Biosystems Engineering and Design expressed his delight at this breakthrough by UL scientists. The Bernal Institute has the ambition to impact the world on the basis of top science in an increasingly international context. The impact of this discovery in the field of biological piezoelectricity will be huge and Bernal scientists are leading from the front the progress in this field, he said. WOMAN killers Graham Dwyer and Gerald Barry have become close friends in prison, the Herald can reveal. The two murderers have been described as being as thick as thieves while locked up in the Midlands Prison. Both Dwyer and Barry cruelly murdered their female victims and prison officers have noted how close they have become recently. Dwyer has no problem with these sickos, he was mates with serial killer Mark Nash and now hes pals with Barry, a source said. The pair hang around all the time. Dwyer (45), who has few prison pals because he caused a massive security clampdown on contraband after being caught with extreme pornography on USB sticks, stabbed Dublin woman Elaine OHara (36) to death in August 2012. The childcare workers skeletal remains were found on Killakee Mountain, Rathfarnham, Dublin, on September 13, 2013. Dwyer was found guilty of murdering Ms OHara in May 2015. Parts of her body were never discovered, including her skull, making it impossible to say precisely how she had died. He has appealed against his conviction, claiming the evidence against him is circumstantial. Barry is serving life for strangling Swiss student Manuela Riedo (17) in Galway in 2007, as well as the rape of a French student. Barry (38) strangled Ms Riedo on a pedestrian walkway known as The Line, close to the Lough Atalia area of Galway city. She had only arrived in Ireland three days prior to that to study English at a language school in Galway. Dwyer is currently being housed on G Wing of the Midlands Prison after being moved from E Wing as punishment for possession of five USB memory sticks containing the Star Wars Rogue One film and pornography that sources say is extreme in nature, and contains footage of BDSM (bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism) scenes. It was pretty awful stuff, not run-of-the-mill pornography. It was extreme, said one source. During his trial, it was reported that Dwyer participated in BDSM sessions and had met vulnerable Ms OHara through a shared interest in the BDSM sexual subculture. Dwyer has kept himself to himself in prison, but sources say he loves the publicity he generates and that he scans the newspapers daily to see if his name or picture appears. He has previously been friendly with murderer Nash, the only man in the prison system serving time for two double murders. Nash has been in prison since August 17, 1997 the day after he killed Catherine Doyle (28) and Carl Doyle (29) at their home in Ballintober, Castlerea, Co Roscommon. Read More Dwyer has had many privileges stopped after being caught with the contraband, but he is still allowed to attend music classes on a Monday, where he plays his bass guitar. Its like hes reliving his college days, the source said of the qualified architect. Dwyer is also convinced that his appeal of his conviction, which is to be heard early next year, will be successful. His case against his life sentence for the murder will not proceed until his High Court action against the State over alleged privacy breaches is concluded. The architect, originally from Bandon, Co Cork, is suing the State, alleging breach of privacy over the manner in which personal information about him was accessed from mobile phones. That action is understood to be critical to his appeal against his conviction and life sentence. Medics treat the wounded as Las Vegas police respond during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Stirp in Las Vegas. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) People react at gunshots heard at music festival in Las Vegas, U.S. in this picture obtained from social media. @RTBLECKvia REUTERS Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Ave. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) An Irishman has described his panic as a gunman opened fire on a concert at a Las Vegas Strip hotel. Dylan Walsh, from North Dublin, is in Las Vegas with a group of friends and in an interview with Independent.ie he revealed that they originally thought it was a crash. More than 50 people have died 200 people were injured after a gunman opened fire from a room at the Mandalay Bay hotel on a concert by country music artist Jason Aldean at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Read More Mr Walsh (21), who is staying at nearby Planet Hollywood, said they were sitting outside having a beer on the Strip when the drama unfolded. "We saw loads of ambulances going up the Strip and I looked at the lads said 'f**k that's a serious crash'. Little did we know at the time." He continued: "Then all the bars and restaurants start closing down. "The next thing I know someone shouted 'gunman' near enough to us so we ran. Everyone scattered, casino chips and all still on the table. "Waiters dropped everything. It was scary looking back now." The Dubliner, who works as a security officer, explained that they raced to his hotel and there are currently six people inside his room. "I'm okay now but it is totally surreal." Dublin woman Christine OHanlon was at the nearby Aria hotel when the shooting took place. All of a sudden there was a bit of a commotion and people started to run. At first, we werent really sure what was happening but I could hear popping sounds and obviously that was gunfire, but we didnt realise it at the time, she said. Then people were running, it was like a stampede. We werent sure what was going on. Ms OHanlon told Newstalk all the people working in the casino bent down behind the tables. Because there was such confusion, no one knew what was happening. The reception area cleared out - people lay down on the floor. There was no alarm, she said. One of the staff said it was unusual, normally an alarm would sound, thats why they were confused as well. Because it happened so quickly. We ran out to the front of the hotel, people were talking, said there was shooting at the Mandalay Bay hotel, which wasnt too far from us because we could hear the gunfire. We thought then we have to get back inside. We managed to speak to one of the pit bosses, asked whats going on, because the casino had cleared out quite a bit, but there were still people on the slot machines. We then went to security who recommended we go to our rooms. Ms OHanlon said she and other guests were currently on lock down in their hotel rooms. People were unsure, we helped one little old lady to her room to her family, she was very shaken, her family were oblivious, she said. On our way to our room met other people who were going downstairs, we told them what was happening, there was a lot of confusion. Sheer collective panic, we knew something wasnt right, but the not knowing was frightening. When we walked back through the casino to get to lifts to the room, there were no staff to say what was happening other than pit boss - it was eerie. Omagh woman Kathy Ewing said she was at the concert when the gun fire broke out. She said she and her three friends were able to escape unharmed. "Terrifying," she said in a tweet. Belfast woman Frances McCullough, has been in the city since last Monday. She described the shooting as "absolute chaos". She was close to the concert when the shooting began: "At first I thought it was fireworks.... then we heard screaming and shouting and the police were running toward us telling us to run for cover. "I haven't experienced fear like it. I was all excited and buzzing to get here and now I can honestly say I can't wait to get home," she told the BBC. Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney condemned the attack. "This was a savage and brutal attack targeting innocent festival-goers. I wish to express my heartfelt condolences and those of the Irish people to the families of the victims, those who were injured and to the people and the authorities of the United States on this tragic day. As of now, we have no indications to suggest that any Irish citizens have been affected. I am conscious, however, that it will take time before all of the casualties are identified. My Department, through our Consulate General in San Francisco and the Honorary Consulate in Las Vegas, is continuing to monitor the situation." Any families in Ireland who have concerns about relatives can contact the Departments Consular Assistance Unit on 01 4082527. Johannes, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations will visit Armenia on 2 October in order to prepare for the Eastern Partnership Summit taking place on 24 November in Brussels. Commissioner Hahn will meet with the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, Minister for Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian, to discuss the priorities of the Eastern Partnership Summit and the deepening of EU-Armenia relations. This is reflected in the new EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and Partnership Priorities which will set the joint policy priorities for the coming years. Accompanied by the Armenian Minister of Education, he will also meet young Armenian students and discuss future areas of cooperation between the EU and Armenia which will focus, among others, on innovation and skills development. Ahead of the mission, Commissionersaid: "This is a very important year for EU-Armenia relations as we broaden and deepen our cooperation based on mutual interests. The EU is ready to sign the new Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with Armenia. This, together with the agreed Partnership Priorities will shape our cooperation where we plan to invest, among other areas, in education and innovation, as skills development will be key for Armenia's future. My visit will also prepare for the next Eastern Partnership Summit by discussing our joint progress on the "20 deliverables for 2020", which aim to bring tangible benefits to the daily lives of Armenian citizens. In the scope of the visit Commissioner Johannes Hahn and Minister for Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian will make press statements, Delegation of the European Union to Armenia reports. Under-fire Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has refused a request to appear in front of an Oireachtas committee to discuss the controversy surrounding flight cancellations. In a letter to TDs and senators today, Mr O'Leary claims that he cannot attend because he is too busy trying to minimise the impact the cancellations have had on customers. And he claims that neither he or Ryanair will be taking on any speaking engagements over the coming weeks and months. "I regret to advise that I will not be available to take up your invitation to meet with the committee on Wed 4 October, as all of our management time and attention will be devoted to minimising the impact of our recently announced flight cancellations upon our customers," Mr O'Leary wrote. He added that Ryanair also intends to repair the "management failure within our pilot rostering department which caused these deeply regretted disruptions to our customers and their travel plans." In the letter , sent to the Transport Committee and seen by Independent.ie, Mr O'Leary adds: "Neither I nor Ryanair will be taking on any speaking or outside engagements over the coming weeks and months while we devote all of our time and attention to repairing this pilot rostering failure and to ensure it never recurs." He concludes that customers' needs must be prioritised over appearing at an Oireachtas committee. Ryanair has been under fire following last Wednesday's cancellation of an extra 18,000 flights, affecting potentially 400,000 passengers. Staying at home for a parent, be it mother or father, is not an option that is encouraged or supported by Government policy, despite the fact that it is currently enshrined in the Constitution that a woman should not be obliged to work outside the home due to economic necessity. Society has obviously changed utterly since this clause was written but our political framework has not changed with us; it does little to support parents who wish to combine working outside the home with parenting and it is working against those who wish to work inside the home. Minister Katherine Zappone's speech at the opening of the Kennedy School in New Ross earlier this month gives further insight into her thoughts on early childcare. As the working parent of a little girl who has just started school, I have been following the minister's attempts to fix what she describes as 'one of the most expensive childcare systems in the world' with interest. Zappone has form in the field of early childcare, having set up one of Ireland's first creches in Jobstown 30 years ago in the course of developing An Cosan, so many in the sector were no doubt pleased when she was appointed Minister for Children and Youth Affairs last year. Expectations were high and she started off well. She invested further in the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme (ECCE), a universal scheme introduced in 2010 that gives all children a free year of preschool, and has committed to making it more accessible and inclusive to those with disabilities. I am a big fan of the ECCE - I like the fact that it is available to families who choose to have a parent stay at home as well as those who work outside the home. I personally enjoyed the significant reduction in creche fees for the last year of my daughter's four years in full-time childcare. I am less a fan of Zappone's own 'affordable' childcare scheme whereby all parents with a child attending a Tusla-registered childcare service will receive a subsidy of up to 87 a month towards their childcare costs. Firstly, the word affordable in this context really annoys me. On a literal and an ideological level. Literally, an 87 reduction does not make the 1,200 monthly cost for a baby under 12 months in full-time childcare more affordable. The very idea is laughable. Ideologically, approaching childcare - or any societal issue like healthcare, social welfare, education, housing and the arts for that matter - as a purely financial issue is unimaginative and damaging and it isn't working. It shouldn't be a predominately private sector. It is an essential function of any community and it should be the responsibility of the State. Secondly, the scheme excludes those who have made the decision to stay at home and care for their kids. Forgoing a second income is a significant economic sacrifice. Shouldn't rearing children at home also be more 'affordable'? Particularly given that we have it enshrined in the Constitution that a parent in the home is important for society. A tax credit to all families would have been fairer and more appropriate. A tax credit would also have been fairer to the childcare providers. Like the ECCE scheme, I believe this scheme puts an unnecessary burden on the already stretched and under-supported early childhood sector. It is also indicative of the regard in which the early childhood sector is viewed by the Government. Did the GPs have to do all the paperwork when the Government introduced free GP care for the under sixes? No - the parent registers online. Do the property developers have to do the paperwork when the Government introduces budget measures that boost their industry by making property more 'affordable'? Hardly. But the childcare providers are expected to take on all this extra work without complaint and for very little compensation. And not only that, they are insulted by the Minister who warned them in this paper that if they raise their fees and fumble in the greasy till, she will scrap the scheme and the whole thing will be ruined for everyone. Her comments at the Kennedy School referring to the poor pay and conditions in the sector and urging workers to form a union can only have poured salt in the wound. I have seen first-hand the care, the dedication and the passion with which childcare providers execute their roles over the last four years as my child attended a Montessori nursery run by the most amazing women. Yes, creche fees do hover around the 1,000 mark depending on the age of the child, but to me, they are worth every penny. The fact that we can't afford them is not down to greed on the part of the childcare sector, it is because we have had successive governments that failed to understand that the first years of a child's life are the most important in terms of determining who they will become. It is a sector that should be embraced by the Government and supported entirely, as are our national and secondary schools. It should be respected and revered, and not spoken about like it were a rogue bank or a vulture fund. Sure, in any privatised sector you will always get the odd operator who cuts corners and takes any opportunity to boost profits, but I believe the rhetoric of the Minister has been very unfair. Private childcare providers stepped into the chasm created by successive inept governments that failed to change with the people and provide the facilities we required. So really, it's not the childcare sector's fault that we can't afford their fees, Minister Zappone, it's yours. 'The cheapest counties to buy are currently Leitrim, Longford, Sligo and Roscommon, where prices range from an average of 124,000 to 133,000' Stock photo: PA Property values have bounced back to within 25pc of peak levels in some areas of Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork, according to new data from property website Daft.ie. But other parts of the country, including Donegal, Leitrim and Mayo, have experienced very little recovery in percentage terms since their lowest point. Commenting on the dramatic peaks and troughs of the current property market, economist at Trinity College and author of the Daft.ie House Price Report, Ronan Lyons, says, "You can think of it as a two-tier, three-tier or even a 400-tier market." "There are places like the IFSC, Grand Canal Dock and Sandycove where prices will be back at peak levels certainly within 24 months. And then places like Terenure, Templeogue, Smithfield and Stoneybatter that are not that far off - say, two to three years." Sandycove tops the list of districts experiencing the fastest rebound effect, having returned to close to 90pc of its 2007 values. Raheny, Limerick North, Castleknock and Glenageary in Co Dublin have also experienced high returns towards near peak levels. Read More For a complete list of the 24 micro-markets, compiled exclusively for the Sunday Independent, showing where prices have regained 75pc or more of their boomtime levels, see 'Return to the Celtic Tiger?', in the graphic below. Expand Close Click here to view full-size graphic / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Click here to view full-size graphic "At the other end of the spectrum," says Lyons, "there are places that are still more than 50pc below peak values. Donegal, for example, and particularly Bundoran, and the northwest, it's unlikely they are going to see peak levels anytime in the next 10 years." The cheapest counties to buy are currently Leitrim, Longford, Sligo and Roscommon, where prices range from an average of 124,000 to 133,000. But there are anomalies: Longford shows a jump of 23.5pc for the third quarter, and the border county of Monaghan registers 12.4pc. This, explains Lyons, makes sense when you take the longer view and look at how far their prices have increased since the lowest point of the crash - 55pc for Longford, bringing it to an average price of 131,092 and 43.4pc for Monaghan, bringing it up to 163,719, as local markets catch-up with the national averages. A closer look at the Daft.ie figures, compiled quarterly from list prices on its website, reveals the complexity of the market. Cork city, for example, saw an increase of 5.1pc over the previous year, increasing prices from their lowest point by 58.5pc, to an average price of 260,181. The surrounding county, however, saw prices rise by 8.8pc for the same period, to an average price of 206,596, or 46.3pc up from their lowest point. The difference can be explained, says Lyons, by the fact that as prices in Cork city soared in 2015 and 2016, there is probably some spill-over of buyers out to the city's commuter belt in search of more affordable housing. Galway city saw average prices rise to 271,797, up 9pc on the previous year, and an increase of 47.7pc from its lowest point. Both Limerick and Waterford showed similar increases year on year of 8.6pc and 8.5pc respectively, bringing average house prices up to 177,771 and 159,992. In fact, there is good news for house hunters. Prices nationally have seen only modest increases of 0.3pc over the period for the quarter June to September, compared to increases of 4.3pc for the first two quarters of 2017. Prices overall were 8.9pc higher than for the previous year, with the rate in Dublin (9.9pc), higher than elsewhere (8.2pc) for the second consecutive quarter. According to Lyons, list prices tend to ease back slightly in the final three months of the year, having fallen in the final quarters of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Excluding that quarter, however, the increase for June to September is the smallest increase nationally we've seen since the market bottomed-out in late 2013. So has the market finally stabilised? Lyons believes that while the Help to Buy scheme has been blamed for much of the jump in prices in the first half of the year, in the easing of the Central Bank's rules has been more significant. "The Help to Buy (HTB) scheme is only aimed at first-time buyers of new-built homes," points out Lyons, "while the Central Bank rules on minimum deposits is for all first-time buyers - and obviously there are lots of those. "In particular, the HTB scheme is capped, and thus would be expected to have a far greater impact in cheaper markets than in expensive ones. The opposite trend was seen in the market, which is exactly what the relaxation of the Central Bank rules would be expected to do." "Since June though," he adds, "prices have largely been stable, suggesting the change has largely run its course." While the average Dublin price increase was 9.9pc, a number of postcodes bucked the trend, particularly in the upper tier of the market for four- and five-bed homes. In Dublin 7 and 8, for example, price increases year on year were 25.2pc and 23.6pc respectively. Dublin 4 and 6, however, are still the most expensive addresses for would-be purchasers at 650,000 and 607,000 for three-bed semis. For apartments, Dublin 2, 4 and 6 remain the highest priced areas, followed by south county Dublin which has seen a slight fall in prices of -0.8pc. But there are encouraging signs in the Daft.ie report that supply is beginning to if not increase, then at least fall more slowly. There were an average of 24,000 properties for sale from June to September, 4pc lower than in 2016, but the smallest fall in availability since early 2012. However, says Lyons, "with a shortage in supply, largely due to the lack of new homes being built, there is little to suggest that house prices will fall in the months and years ahead." 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." So begins Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier's most famous novel. These are also the words that begin many of the countless articles and essays written about her. Rebecca haunted du Maurier, these nine words in many ways overshadowed the words that made up the prolific author's output of nearly 30 works of fiction comprising novels, plays and short stories and nine works of non-fiction. "The critics will never forgive you for writing Rebecca," her friend, author Arthur Quiller-Couch warned her. Perhaps by the end of her life, she'd begun to despair of her greatest success a little also. And some success it was. In the first month of publication in 1938, it sold 40,000 copies, nearly twice its initial print run. In the early 1990s, some 50 years later, US publishers Avon estimated ongoing monthly sales at about 4,000 copies. When it was released to popular adoration yet scathing critical reception, du Maurier was just 30, an army wife and mother of two. Despite having published four previous novels and two books of non-fiction, her aversion to publicity meant that many still did not know who this Daphne du Maurier was. She is often identified with Rebecca's narrator, the mousy second Mrs De Winter, an unnamed woman consumed by the spectre of her beautiful predecessor, fitting for a woman who remained opaque to her fans, friends and even family. Du Maurier was endlessly misunderstood and miscast; her mother called her a brute for her lack of maternal instinct, her father wished she was a boy, her critics called her a romance writer, and she herself vehemently denied her nature as a bisexual. Biographers have mined her saga of a life to answer this question. The most recent effort by French novelist, Tatiana De Rosnay published this year fittingly distils the sweeping narrative into a novelistic form and the effect is immersive, as thrilling as any of du Maurier's plot. Many writers create their fictional worlds to escape their reality, however for du Maurier the world she grew up in was as theatrical and dramatic as the universe her characters inhabited. The daughter of former actress Muriel Beaumont and actor Gerald du Maurier (a Hugh Grant of his day), the stage of her parents' marriage was a tumultuous scene for the young du Maurier sisters to play on. Daphne, born in 1907, was the dreamy middle child, Angela her older sister had aspirations to act though she too became a (largely frustrated) writer, while the baby, Jeanne became a painter. The family lived an impossibly bohemian and privileged life, first in London's Mayfair and later Cannon Hall, an estate in Hampstead. Aware her actor-father inhabited the lives of others, du Maurier became enthralled to the idea. "I was always pretending to be someone else historical characters, all those I invented for myself," she told Cliff Michelmore in a 1977 interview. "I act even to this day," she continued. "It's the old imagination working, a kind of make believe." The du Maurier sisters were forever staging home productions, in which Daphne would enthusiastically take the male lead. As a child she cultivated a male identity, Eric Avon, and lamented the constraints of her sex. This being the du Maurier household, the audience was not doting, doddery relatives but the writers, artists and stars of the day. A precocious young du Maurier was said to have bestowed high praise on the actress Tallulah Bankhead upon meeting her, pronouncing her a "beautiful creature". It was an unorthodox household. The young du Maurier sisters often found themselves the reluctant confidantes of their wayward and flirtatious father who was known to have a 'stable' of young actresses whom their distant mother chose to ignore. There was much of her husband's behaviour that Muriel studiously overlooked, not least his fixation on their middle daughter. As Daphne became known in society circles, he would subject her to aggressive, almost jealous, interrogations on the parties she was attending and the company she was keeping. Though their relationship never went beyond the boundaries of familial love, it was uncomfortably enmeshed and the protagonist of her third novel, Progress of Julius, bears more than a passing resemblance to her father. Even more troubling, the character has an incestuous obsession with his only daughter. The du Mauriers unanimously hated the violent book, only Gerald, ironically enough, wasn't vocal on the disturbing novel. Soon after it was published, the patriarch succumbed to cancer of the colon leaving his wife and daughters utterly devastated. After his death, du Maurier even wrote a frank and uncompromising account of her father that explored his myriad flaws and celebrated his achievements. In the du Maurier veins there seems to have been a hereditary blurring of the real and the fictional. Gerald's father George turned to writing late in life after a career as a cartoonist for the Victorian satirical magazine Punch. He wrote in his debut novel, Peter Ibbetson, of a practice of 'dreaming true' whereby his characters would only have to imagine something to make it so. His grandchild was to inherit this gift, as seemingly whatever Daphne sought, came to her: a first novel published by a prestigious publishing house which was an instant commercial hit. A handsome husband, Lieutenant General (and later Sir) Frederick Browning, three children and a house she worshipped, Menabilly - a Cornish Mansion that inspired the eerie Manderley in du Maurier's Rebecca. Places fascinated du Maurier; when her father purchased an old Cornish boathouse, Daphne was to begin one of her most enduring love affairs with the wild Cornish coast. Her new abode lead her, with all the portent of a du Maurier plot, to the man who would become her husband. Du Maurier had completed her first novel, The Loving Spirit aged just 22. Frederick (Boy) Browning was so enthralled by the tale, he set off in his yacht to find the author. They met after a rather formal note: "Dear Miss Du Maurier, I believe my late father, Freddie Browning, used to know yours I wondered if you would care to come out in my boat?" He signed it Boy Browning. He was a celebrated war hero and in the late 1920s had even competed in the Winter Olympics as a part of the bobsled team. After a three-month courtship, the Major, 10 years her senior, proposed. The couple were married, eschewing an extravagant London wedding in favour of a small ceremony in Cornwall. They had a child, Tessa and so began what du Maurier thought of as her double life, that of a devoted wife and mother and her "disembodied spirit" as she described her masculine energy. It was this energy that had been awakened when she was finishing her schooling in France and, as De Rosnay suggests in her lyrical biography, encouraged her to pursue an affair with the headmistress Fernande Yvon. Du Maurier was probably bisexual though she never confirmed this. Her older sister, Angela was gay. The lack of resolution around du Maurier's sexuality has echoes of the persistent ambiguity of her plots and characters. The relationship with Fernande Yvon certainly proved that du Maurier was not a woman who would ever conform to societal convention. The relationship ended, though the speculation about du Maurier's sexuality did not. Later in life, there were rumours of trysts with other women, including the wife of her American publisher, though this was unrequited. She did, in the late forties, have an affair with an actress and, most intriguingly, her father's former girlfriend, Gertrude Lawrence. By the time her husband was called to Egypt in 1936, the couple had their young toddler Tessa in tow. Du Maurier resented having to follow her husband to Alexandria and was finding motherhood and the life of a military wife demanding on her time. She was struggling with ill health when she discovered she was pregnant for a second time. According to De Rosnay, this news provoked tears in du Maurier who then consoled herself with that fact that at least now she would be able to return to England, if only for the birth. After the birth, the Brownings returned to Egypt leaving Tessa and virtually newborn, Flavia in the care of a nanny and their grandmothers. It was during this reprieve from motherhood that du Maurier began her opus, Rebecca. If she had been a man nothing would be made of this tendency to prioritise work over family, du Maurier once famously wrote, "I am not one of those mothers who live for having their brats with them all the time." Six months later du Maurier returned and caused consternation when instead of rushing to her daughters, she instead hightailed it to Cornwall to complete work on the novel. According to du Maurier's last child, Kits, the seed of Rebecca had germinated when she found love letters between her husband and a former fiancee, Jan Ricardo. Ricardo later threw herself under a train - though not, Browning says, due to his parents marriage. Still, it is said that Daphne was haunted by the suspicion that her husband remained attracted to Ricardo. The marriage was ultimately not harmonious. Browning was away for long stretches of the war while Daphne was engrossed in her novels and her beloved home, Menabilly which she leased from the Rashleigh family for 20 years. Both were unfaithful at different points though they maintained a united, if somewhat passionless front until the end when Browning died tragically in the late 1960s after a nervous breakdown exacerbated by alcoholism. Boy Browning had become a man haunted by war and addiction and though Du Maurier tried to help him convalesce, the "slow wreckage" of her marriage, as described by De Rosnay, proved unsalvageable. Du Maurier lived on for two more decades. Though she enjoyed a close relationship with her children, especially her beloved son Kits, and continued a steady output with some late hits like the House on the Strand and Not After Midnight - a collection of short stories, her verve and vigour were sapped by grief and eventually age. She died in 1989, described as the "grand dame of popular literature" and "skilful purveyor of romance and melodrama", phrases that would have enraged du Maurier. She was never regarded with esteem by the critical establishment. Of her 1957 novel The Scapegoat, she joked to a friend if "this book has sold no copies the critics would be nice for once!" Even Hitchcock, whose success was cemented with the imagination of du Maurier - he adapted Rebecca and The Birds to wide acclaim - rarely accorded the author much credit. To date there have been more than 40 television and 13 film adaptations of her work, the latest being Roger Michell's My Cousin Rachel starring Rachel Weisz released earlier this summer. Du Maurier's drive and imagination has given us a body of work that few auteurs can touch in terms of volume, popularity and commercial success - at one time in the 1940s, her book advances were the equivalent of 18 months salary for her high ranking army husband. An estimated 30 million copies of Rebecca have sold worldwide. So many pages have been given over to cracking Daphne du Maurier: her personas, her lovers and her marriage. It's apt that one edition of Rebecca was allegedly used by the Germans during World War Two as a key to a book code. The Germans could not have known that Daphne had her own code to communicate with her sisters and closest confidants. The final pages of De Rosnay's brilliant memoir cum novel are given to a glossary of these terms, The Du Maurier Code. One translation stands out, the explanation for the word 'menacing' is 'attractive' - this chimes neatly with du Maurier's many dark loves: Menabilly a crumbling haunted relic; Boy Browning, a powerful man who was ultimately doomed; her unrequited love for her publisher's wife; her affair with her father's former lover; her volatile fictional worlds; and Du Maurier herself a beautiful, menacing talent. Manderley Forever - The Life Of Daphne Du Maurier; Tatiana De Rosnay; Published 5 October 2017 by Allen & Unwin UK, 18.99 The Browning Boy and the Irish beauty Expand Close Kits Browning and Olive White / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kits Browning and Olive White Kits Browning still lives in the Cornish cottage purchased by his grandfather, where his father came to woo his mother in the 1920s. He was the golden boy in the eyes of du Maurier and his famous charm eventually won over his wife Olive White, the Irish beauty queen and TV presenter who he married in 1964 (the pair are pictured above). Du Maurier seemed amused that their Dublin nuptials were mobbed by crowds more interested in Olive than the son of Daphne du Maurier. "It was like waiting for The Beatles," wrote du Maurier. Apparently two people were injured and the melee even inspired this headline in the Chigago Tribune 'TV Fans Riot At The Wedding Of Ex-Miss Ireland'. "She is not a fool and reads Yeats!" Kits wrote to his mother, who became a big fan of the beautiful Olive - whom she nicknamed Hacker after Kits announced she looked like a goat named Hacker from a children's television show. Icelandair will launch a new, six-times weekly service between Dublin and Reykjavik, Dublin Airport has announced. The service, to commence in May 2018, will also offer connections to and from the airline's 20 gateways in North America. We are excited to provide a service to Dublin, also known as one of the friendliest cities in Europe, said, Icelandair Chief Executive Birkir Holm Gudnason. The service will be operated with a Boeing 757-200 aircraft, departing Keflavik Airport at 07.30am with return flights from Dublin departing at 11.50am. Return flights will start from 230, including checked luggage. Dublin already offers several weekly flights to Reykjavik with budget carrier WOW air, which has been connecting the two destinations since 2015. Expand Close Icelandair. Photo: Deposit / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Icelandair. Photo: Deposit Despite launching direct flights between Cork and Reykjavik this summer, however, WOW will be suspending that service this month. Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison welcomed Icelandairs service. Iceland is a very popular destination for short breaks and is on many peoples bucket list and Dublin Airport warmly welcomes todays announcement from Icelandair, which further strengthens the connection between the two countries, he said. The new service will also provide new options for North American visitors coming to Ireland - a market segment that has grown by 17.9pc from January to August of this year, according to the latest CSO overseas travel data. Read more: Ireland's natural resources could power the country, but the State ploughs around 250,000 every 15 minutes buying "polluting" power from abroad, an expert has said. Dr Brian Motherway, from the International Energy Agency, told the Citizens' Assembly in Malahide yesterday that during the time it took him to give a talk on green energy, Ireland had paid a quarter-of-a-million euro just to power the country with foreign fossil fuel energy. "We are very dependent on other people's expensive polluting energy and by the time I finish this talk, we will have sent a quarter-of-a-million euro abroad to buy other people's polluting energy. "We are saying use our money to make your lives better," he said. Dr Motherway was addressing the assembly during discussions on Ireland becoming a leader in tackling climate change. He said Ireland is in possession of some of the "best natural resources," including wind and offshore waves. But he said due to lack of political will or pressure from the public, the State chooses to continue spending enormous amounts on buying foreign and environmentally damaging energy. "We have the best resources you could hope for in the wind and sea and there's a lot of energy in the sea - if we can find a way to use it, it's clean and it's our own," he said. Paul Kenny, from Tipperary Energy Action, said the Department of Environment should be held "accountable" on climate change. The non-profit organisation has supported Tipperary in becoming green by retrofitting homes and installing advanced ventilation. Heat and hot water is provided by renewable energy such as solar panels and heat pumps. The average investment by homeowners is 18,000. But they make a financial saving of 1,000 to 1,500 per annum on bills, the group says. "You make up to a 70pc reduction in bills. And when I see people saying 'my daughter doesn't need her asthma inhaler anymore because there's lovely air quality' it brings it home to you," Mr Kenny said. On Saturday, the director general of the Environmental Protection Agency, Laura Burke, said there is a proven link between Ireland's growing economy and greenhouse gas emissions. "In 2008 there was a very big decline (in emissions) followed by a flatline - it mirrors the economic recession," Ms Burke said. "If the economy is going well, emissions are going up as well." The assembly will meet again on November 4 and 5 to continue its discussions. The older generation of Catalans are more keen on maintaining the link with Spain. Photo: Reuters/Jon Nazca There is a strong imperative among the 7.5 million Catalans in Spain that they take control of their own destiny. But that view causes widespread distress elsewhere in the country which has a total of 17 autonomous regions. The highly contentious referendum had been denounced by Madrid as illegal amid central government's strong insistence that Spain is indivisible. The federal Spanish authorities tried hard to frustrate the holding of the plebiscite organised by the regional government in Barcelona. There was the spectre of violent clashes and widespread pacifist opposition by the Catalans. What happens next remained unclear last night as polls closed. Catalonia is a well developed economy that contributes considerably to the Spanish central coffers. The area enjoys a high level of autonomy, but separatists say it is not enough and that they pay too much to Madrid. The older generation of Catalans are more keen on maintaining the link with Spain. But a rising generation is more impatient and wants fuller control of their own affairs. There are understandable fears that success in this endeavour could inspire similar moves in the Basque country and elsewhere. But some of what happened in Catalonia over the weekend harked back to darker days in Spain's recent history. It is clear that dialogue is the only remedy here as confrontation and violence achieve nothing. One of the 14 finalists in the NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards Dairy farmer Patrick Crotty farms Irelands most westerly dairy farm on the Loop Head Peninsula in Co. Clare. Hes passionate about his product and is one of 14 finalists shortlisted for this years National Dairy Council and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards which sets out to find and celebrate the top quality milk farmers in Ireland. Irish milk has a unique heritage like no other that is now recognised worldwide. This years awards celebrate the heritage that makes Irish milk unique and each finalist has been described as a leader in their industry. Irish farming is more than just a business. Its a way of life. Irish farmers learn their craft from their parents and grandparents before them just like Patrick Crotty continues to do and his son, who now also loves spending time on the farm. Fourteen finalists have now been shortlisted for the top award recognising excellence in dairy farming. The farms span the country and represent 11 co-ops and 10 counties. Expand Close NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards Patrick and Shona Crotty with their son Conor Crotty, Crotty Family Farm, Loop Head, Kilbaha South, Co. Clare. Picture Clare Keogh / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards Patrick and Shona Crotty with their son Conor Crotty, Crotty Family Farm, Loop Head, Kilbaha South, Co. Clare. Picture Clare Keogh Irelands most westerly dairy farm in Ireland is one of those shortlisted for the award this year. Patrick Crotty and his wife Shona farm here on the Loop Head peninsula on the Wild Atlantic Way. The welfare of the dairy cow is where the great product starts, explains Patrick. He points out that attention to detail is always his main priority. We take great pride in being the most Westerly dairy farm overlooking the Wild Atlantic Way. The Crottys farm 40 hectares at Kilbaha South, Kilrush, with a herd of 70 with an average herd yield of 6,346 and average monthly milk supply of 37,062. Their butterfat percentage is 4.04% with protein percentage of 3.49 and lactose percentage of 4.82. Expand Close NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards Martin Crotty and his grandson Conor Crotty, Crotty Family Farm, Loop Head, Kilbaha South, Co. Clare. Picture Clare Keogh / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards Martin Crotty and his grandson Conor Crotty, Crotty Family Farm, Loop Head, Kilbaha South, Co. Clare. Picture Clare Keogh Next Generation Coming Through The next generation is already coming through with son Conor, who loves spending a lot of time with his grandfather Martin on the farm. When it comes to farming, it is really important to support rural communities and keep younger generations involved as much as possible Each of the finalists have been visited by the judges over the past two months and have undergone a rigorous 12-month scrutiny. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony in Dublin on October 4th. The judging panel for the 2017 awards are Professor Pat Wall from UCD; Dr. David Gleeson from Teagasc and Dr. Jack Kennedy, Dairy Editor of the Irish Farmers Journal. Irish chef and food writer Clodagh McKenna is Quality Milk Awards Ambassador. Expand Close NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards Patrick Crotty, Crotty Family Farm, Loop Head, Kilbaha South, Co. Clare. Picture Clare Keogh / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards Patrick Crotty, Crotty Family Farm, Loop Head, Kilbaha South, Co. Clare. Picture Clare Keogh Who will take the top prize this year? So where is the best milk in Ireland produced? Who will take the prize this year? In addition to the Crotty farm the other finalists include David and Kathleen Boland from Horseleap, Moate, Co. Westmeath; Michael and Marguerite Crowley, Bauraville Upper, Skibbereen, Co. Cork; Gerard and Kathleen Doyle and family Tullahought, Piltown Co Kilkenny.; Declan and Alison Finn, Newtown, Charleville, Co. Cork; Sean and Mary Hegarty, Whites Cross, Co. Cork; Padraig, John and Gertrude Keane, Kilcormac, Co. Offaly; Sean and Marie Lynch, Moville, Co. Donegal; John, Niall and Carol Mason, Ballyseedy, Tralee, Co. Kerry; Eamonn and Patricia McMahon, Stranooden, Co. Monaghan; Norman and Elma Perrott, Bandon, Co. Cork; Robert and Shirley Shannon, Clonakilty, Co. Cork; Philip, Nicky and Dolores Thornton, Cashel, Co. Tipperary and John and Maria Walsh, Cahir, Co. Tipperary. Dairy co-operatives throughout the country were invited to nominate their top suppliers for the awards. The farms nominated for the annual awards had a detailed assessment by an expert judging panel based on milk quality test results and technical reports spanning a full 12 month period in order to select a short-list of finalists. The shortlisted farms were put through intensive scrutiny. This involved a rigorous analysis of milk quality reports plus technical data which spanned 12 months. This included an inspection of their farms by the judges, explains Professor Pat Wall. This gave us insights in to the farms practices in areas such as milking routine, animal welfare and sustainability. All finalists demonstrated excellent standards in food production. They are leaders in their industry and showcase the utmost standards in sustainability, hygiene, animal welfare and quality. Go to www.qualitymilkawards.ie to meet the 2017 National Dairy Council and Kerrygold Finalists and to find out more about the awards and read more about each finalist. Sponsored by: UCOM HAS INTRODUCED FUTURE NETWORK WI-FI 6E ROUTERS 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 Google Ad Todays Shushi, Occupied and Cleared of Armenians, is a Real Example of Turkish-Azerbaijani Policy of Ethnic Cleansing of Artsakh 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 Google Ad I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General 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 French police outside the apartment of terrorist Mohamed Merah in Toulouse (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, FILE) The first trial in the new era of home-grown jihadi attacks in France has opened in a Paris court under tight security. The main defendant is a brother of Islamic radical Mohammed Merah, who killed seven people in attacks on a Jewish school and soldiers in the Toulouse region of southern France in 2012. Mohammed Merah was killed in a shootout with police, and the trial of his brother Abdelkader is the first time a French court is publicly examining the attacks. Abdelkader Merah, who is accused of complicity in terrorist murders, entered the courtroom on Monday dressed all in white, with a long beard and ponytail. He faces life in prison if convicted. He denies any wrongdoing. A verdict is expected in early November. Three Jewish children, a teacher and three paratroopers, including two Muslims, were killed over nine days in the attacks, rocking France. Similar jihadi attacks followed in subsequent years. People react as they gather at Plaza Catalunya after voting ended for the banned independence referendum, in Barcelona, Spain. REUTERS/Susana Vera The Spanish government needs to realise that violence against its citizens leads to further disunity before anybody gets seriously injured or killed, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said. Responding to the violent scenes in the Catalonia region over the weekend, Mr Varadkar said his government does not accept the legitimacy of the independence referendum. The Irish government respects the constitution of Spain and the territorial unity of Spain. Read More But Id also like to say that violence is never justified. We know from history all over the world that when State actors, State police and the army, use violence against civilians that doesnt work. It causes further division, further disunity and also causes radicalisation, Mr Varadkar said. He said the less than half of the population of Catalonia participated in the vote although admittedly it wasnt easy for people to participate. Mr Varadkar said Spain is a friend and ally but violence is never the solution. I was distressed to see the scenes on television last night. To see this was happening in a European country. We know from history all over the world that when governments use violence against unarmed civilians it doesnt work. It leads to radicalisation, it leads to further disunity and I sincerely hope the Spanish government will bear that in mind before anybody gets serious injured or killed, the Taoiseach said. Marseille's main train station was cordoned off following a knife attack that left two dead (AP Photo/Claude Paris) A man who fatally stabbed two women outside Marseille's main train station had been detained for shoplifting and released the day before the attack, and used multiple fake identities in a series of previous arrests, authorities said. French officials are studying the suspect's mobile phone and working to determine whether he had accomplices or direct links to Islamic State (IS), which claimed responsibility for Sunday's stabbings at the Saint Charles station. The assailant was killed by soldiers immediately after the attack, the latest of several to target France. The suspect was identified by his fingerprints, which matched those taken during previous arrests, according to two police officials. He was not on France's extremist watch list. The man did not appear to have French residency papers and was detained for suspected shoplifting at a department store in Lyon on Saturday before being released, according to police union official Yves Lefebvre. He added that "while it could shock the public, unfortunately it doesn't shock us, the police" that the suspect was released the day before carrying out a deadly attack. Mr Lefebvre said shoplifting usually results in a quick police report and a court summons for a later date, and the suspect is released. "Nothing allowed us to suspect there was a threat of radicalisation during the (Lyon) arrest," he said. The man used multiple pseudonyms and identity papers, making it difficult to determine his true identity - or even to find a house to search. Mr Lefebvre said authorities are pinning hopes on an iPhone found on the suspect for clues to his true identity and motives. The victims were cousins between 17 and 21 years old, according to three police and judicial officials. It is unclear if they had any link to the attacker. Authorities opened a terrorism investigation, and the Paris prosecutor is giving a news conference about the attack later today. Interior minister Gerard Collomb said police have obtained video that shows the man attacking a woman and running away, then coming back and attacking a second woman. Some witnesses reported hearing the assailant shout "Allahu akbar" - Arabic for "God is great". The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said that the assailant was acting in response to the extremist group's calls to target countries in the US-led coalition fighting militants in Syria and Iraq. France has been part of the anti-IS coalition since 2014. The Aamaq statement did not provide evidence of a direct link to the attacker, and it is unclear if the claim is merely opportunistic. Marseille's Saint Charles station reopened as usual on Monday. Last month, four American college students were attacked with acid at the same station. French authorities said the female assailant who doused the four Boston College students was suffering from mental illness. AP The businessman had been held for six months A businessman held by kidnappers for six months on the Greek island of Crete has been rescued by police. Authorities said 54-year-old Michalis Lebidakis was freed in a raid on Monday at an industrial site outside the city of Rethymno. Eight people were arrested. Public order minister Nikos Toskas said Mr Lebidakis was "tired and shaken but in good health," adding that no ransom payment had been made. Mr Lebidakis, who runs a local plastics company, was snatched at gunpoint on March 30. Kidnappings are rare in Greece. In 2009, shipping magnate Pericles Panagopoulos was kidnapped in Athens and released after his family paid a ransom. The kidnappers were later arrested. UCOM HAS INTRODUCED FUTURE NETWORK WI-FI 6E ROUTERS 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 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 Google Ad I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General 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 Mr Trump said US secretary of state Rex Tillerson was "wasting his time" in his negotiations with Pyongyang (AP) US president Donald Trump's latest tweets on North Korea have received a muted response in South Korea, where media focused more on US secretary of state Rex Tillerson's acknowledgement that the US is keeping communication channels open with the Pyongyang. South Korea's largest daily newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, warned in an editorial that any US-North Korea talks should not recognise the North as a nuclear state, or the South would be also be forced to seek nuclear arms. Monday also marks the start of a week-long national holiday in South Korea, so many people were focused on traffic conditions for getting away. Mr Tillerson made headlines on Saturday when he said in Beijing that the Trump administration is probing North Korea's willingness to talk, though his spokeswoman later said that North Korea has shown no interest in talks on denuclearisation. On Sunday, Mr Trump tweeted that he had told Mr Tillerson "he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man", referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The South Korean president's office declined to comment. A small progressive online newspaper, Voice of People, said in an editorial that Mr Trump's comments are signs of confusion in US policy toward North Korea, though it said the tweet is unlikely to cause a major change in Mr Tillerson's position. "Such unstable US policy toward North Korea is entirely a burden on us," the editorial read. It has been previously established that Mr Trump and Mr Tillerson have differing opinions on foreign policy, said Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor at Renmin University's School of International Studies. He said: "In my view, Trump hopes both North Korea and China hear what he said on Twitter. "His Twitter comments put greater pressure on North Korea, which is at a critical road crossing now, so it must make a choice. In the meantime, the US hopes China will continue to put pressure on North Korea." Zhang Lifan, an independent commentator in China, said he believes Mr Trump's latest tweets show that the US president is losing patience with North Korea. He said that China and the US need to find a way to resolve the nuclear issue, because past experience shows that negotiations with the North are useless. AP A pair of cowboy boots is shown in the street outside the concert venue after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas StripY A massacre that killed at least 59 people and injured more than 500 others has been "shocked people all over the world", president Michael D Higgins has said. Gunman Stephen Craig Paddock (64), of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from a hotel balcony at revellers who were at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. President Higgins has led Irish tributes following the deadliest mass-shooting in US history. He said: The appalling massacre of music lovers of different generations, at a public event in Las Vegas will have shocked people all over the world. Expand Close President Michael D Higgins. Photo: Collins Dublin, Gareth Chaney / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Michael D Higgins. Photo: Collins Dublin, Gareth Chaney On behalf of the people of Ireland, may I express my deepest sympathies to all those bereaved and affected by this brutal tragedy. Our thoughts in Ireland, and of the Irish in the United States, are with the people of Nevada and the United States at this tragic time. Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01: People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after an apparent shooting on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) A pair of cowboy boots is shown in the street outside the concert venue after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas StripY Police vehicles block a street corner after a deadly shooting at a music festival (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill) A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip Blurred image of heavily armed police officers running LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01 People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People react at gunshots heard at music festival in Las Vegas, U.S., October 1, 2017 in this picture obtained from social media. @RTBLECKvia REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT.NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES Police officers advise people to take cover near the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Las Vegas Shooting Las Vegas Shooting Las Vegas Shooting / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Read More Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has also extended condolences and sympathies to the people affected by the Las Vegas shooting. He said: I think everyone is horrified by the attacks. As things stand we are not aware of any Irish casualties or injuries. But obviously the Irish consulate in Las Vegas and also in San Francisco is keeping in touch and is available to assist if needed. Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney condemned the attack and said he doesn't believe that any Irish citizens were injured. He said: "This was a savage and brutal attack targeting innocent festival-goers. I wish to express my heartfelt condolences and those of the Irish people to the families of the victims, those who were injured and to the people and the authorities of the United States on this tragic day. As of now, we have no indications to suggest that any Irish citizens have been affected. I am conscious, however, that it will take time before all of the casualties are identified. Expand Close Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney condemned the shootings at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney condemned the shootings at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas "My Department, through our Consulate General in San Francisco and the Honorary Consulate in Las Vegas, is continuing to monitor the situation." Read More Paddock was found dead in a room in the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on Las Vegas Strip with as many as 10 firearms. SWAT officers who stormed the gunman's room found that he had killed himself. An FBI spokesman has confirmed that there is nothing to link the attack to any international terrorist organisation. People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after an apparent shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) A gunman killed at least 50 people and wounded 406 at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip overnight, raining down rapid fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before he was shot dead by police. The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary and tentative, would make the attack the deadliest mass shooting in US history, eclipsing last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club. Thousands of panicked people fled the scene, in some cases trampling one another as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack. A police spokesman confirmed that a lone gunman, named by police as Stephen Paddock (64), opened fire while country music artist Jason Aldean was playing a concert at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Police said they had no information about Paddock's motive, and that he had no criminal record and was not believed to be connected to any militant group. Paddock killed himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. Expand Close People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) "We believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry," Lombardo told a news conference. Earlier reports indicated Paddock had been shot by police. 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 Lombardo said there were more than 10 rifles in the room where Paddock killed himself after checking into the hotel on Thursday. Paddock was not known to law enforcement, Lombardo said. The dead included one off-duty police officer, Lombardo said. Two on-duty officers were injured, including one who was in stable condition after surgery and one who sustained minor injuries, Lombardo said. Police warned the death toll may rise. Police are still finding people who had taken cover during the attack, Lombardo said. "It's going to take time for us to get through the evacuation phase," Lombardo said. Authorities believed they had located Paddock's roommate, who they identified as Marilou Danley. He gave no details of whether she was suspected of involvement in the attack but described her as an "associate." Expand Close Marilou Danley was being sought by police after a gunman opened fire on the Las Vegas strip / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Marilou Danley was being sought by police after a gunman opened fire on the Las Vegas strip Expand Close People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was hear on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was hear on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) Police had located two cars that belonged to the suspect and also believed they had located the woman. Lombardo said rumours of other shootings or explosives such as car bombs in the area were false. Video taken of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. "It sounded like fireworks. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on," said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. "Probably 100 shots at a time. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again," Smith said. "People were shot and trying to get out. A lot of people were shot." The suspected shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news. "We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims," Eric Paddock said in a brief telephone interview, his voice trembling. "We have no idea in the world." US President Donald Trump offered his condolences to the victims via a post on Twitter early Monday. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Trump said. Las Vegas's casinos, nightclubs and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out shortly after 4am Irish time. Mike McGarry, a 53-year-old financial adviser from Philadelphia, said he was at the concert when he heard hundreds of shots ring out. "It was crazy - I laid on top of the kids. They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life," McGarry said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks, after people ran over him in the panicked crowd. The suspect, who police say is a local man, was apprehended on the 32nd floor of the hotel where he died. Giving an update on the situation, Joseph Lombardo, the sheriff said: There was a shooter on the 32nd floor. Officers responded and engaged a suspect at that location. He is dead currently. He is a local resident." Witnesses heard numerous gunshots at the casino hotel, where police tactical teams were searching for the attacker. Kodiak Yazzie (36) said he and his girlfriend were watching country star Jason Aldean's performance when he heard what sounded like fireworks. The music stopped temporarily and then started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. Thousands fled as bursts of gunfire could be heard for more than five minutes, Mr Yazzie said. A video posted online shows a concert taking place before machine gun fire can be heard. Separate videos show panicked concert-goers fleeing the scene. Video courtesy of Drew Akioshi. He was attending the concert at mandalay bay when shooting started. pic.twitter.com/mbyh9Y387q David Sakach (@davidsakach) October 2, 2017 One man told reporters that the area they had set aside for medics was "completely flooded". Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across Las Vegas Boulevard from the country music festival and the sound of what they described as automatic gunfire. Many casinos in the area locked their doors during the incident to keep out any potential attackers, some using handcuffs to do so, according to witnesses. "Caesar's Palace had locked their doors. They wouldn't let you in," said Adam Mitchell, a 31-year-old tourist visiting from Britain. The shooting broke out on the last night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival, a sold-out event attended by thousands and featuring top acts such as Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean. "Tonight has been beyond horrific," Aldean said in a statement on Instagram. "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night." The rampage was reminiscent of a mass shooting at a Paris rock concert in November 2015 that killed 89 people, part of a coordinated attack by Islamist militants that left 130 dead. The concert venue was in an outdoor area known as Las Vegas Village, across the Strip from the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor hotels. "Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night's tragic events," the Mandalay Bay said on Twitter. Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney condemned the attack. "This was a savage and brutal attack targeting innocent festival-goers. I wish to express my heartfelt condolences and those of the Irish people to the families of the victims, those who were injured and to the people and the authorities of the United States on this tragic day. As of now, we have no indications to suggest that any Irish citizens have been affected. I am conscious, however, that it will take time before all of the casualties are identified. My Department, through our Consulate General in San Francisco and the Honorary Consulate in Las Vegas, is continuing to monitor the situation." Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has extended condolences and sympathies to the people affected by the Las Vegas shooting. He said: I think everyone is horrified by the attacks. As things stand we are not aware of any Irish casualties or injuries. But obviously the Irish consulate in Las Vegas and also in San Francisco is keeping in touch and is available to assist if needed. Four people from Northern Ireland were among those caught up in the terror. It's understood Omagh woman Kathy Ewing and her three friends were attending the concert when the gunfire began. She tweeted Downtown Country to say it was a terrifying experience, but they were able to run and made it back to their hotel safely. Any families in Ireland who have concerns about relatives can contact the Departments Consular Assistance Unit on 01 4082527. The Mandalay Bay Resort has issued a statement in the wake of the shooting thanking emergency responders. 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 United States has seen a series of deadly mass shootings in recent years. Prior to Orlando, the deadliest occurred in April 2007 when a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech university and in December 2012 a man killed 26 young children and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Donald Trump has condemned an attack in Las Vegas that killed at least 59 people and injured 515 as an "act of pure evil" but failed to mention gun control. President Trump was speaking this afternoon from the White House just hours after gunman Stephan Paddock fired shots at concert-goers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. He said: "We are joined together today in sadness, shock, and grief. Last night, a gunman opened fire on a large crowd at a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. "He brutally murdered more than 50 people, and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil... "I want to thank the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and all of the first responders for their courageous efforts, and for helping to save the lives of so many. "The speed with which they acted is miraculous, and prevented further loss of life. "I couldn't be more dumbfounded" - brother of #LasVegas gunman, Stephen Paddock, speaks of shock https://t.co/riGzMAsOTZ pic.twitter.com/of2jYfbhTv BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) October 2, 2017 "To have found the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired is something for which we will always be thankful and grateful. It shows what true professionalism is all about." Trump has also offered his condolences to the families of those killed. He said: "Hundreds of our fellow citizens are now mourning the sudden loss of a loved one -- a parent, a child, a brother or sister. "We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss. "To the families of the victims: We are praying for you and we are here for you, and we ask God to help see you through this very dark period." Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01: People tend to the wounded outside the festival ground after an apparent shooting on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) A pair of cowboy boots is shown in the street outside the concert venue after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas StripY Police vehicles block a street corner after a deadly shooting at a music festival (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill) A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip Blurred image of heavily armed police officers running LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 01 People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) People react at gunshots heard at music festival in Las Vegas, U.S., October 1, 2017 in this picture obtained from social media. @RTBLECKvia REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT.NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES Police officers advise people to take cover near the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) Las Vegas Shooting Las Vegas Shooting Las Vegas Shooting / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Read More Gunman Stephen Paddock (64) opened fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel before he killed himself, at least ten firearms were found in the room where he died. According to the Gunviolence Archive, there have been 46,595 gun incidents in US so far this year. Approximately 11,652 people have died in these incidents and a further 23,516 have been injured. There are an estimated 22,000 deaths in the US through suicide each year using guns. Trump failed to mention gun control during his speech. He said that he has instructed the US flag to be flown at half-mast until Friday as a mark of respect for the dead and injured. He also confirmed that he will travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday to visit the victims of the attack and their families. Expand Close People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Read More Trump continued to say that people must stand together after the massacre. He said: "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one -- and it always has. We call upon the bonds that unite us -- our faith, our family, and our shared values. "We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity. "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence. "And though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today -- and always will, forever. "In times such as these, I know we are searching for some kind of meaning in the chaos, some kind of light in the darkness. The answers do not come easy. Expand Close Marilou Danley was being sought by police after a gunman opened fire on the Las Vegas strip / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Marilou Danley was being sought by police after a gunman opened fire on the Las Vegas strip "But we can take solace knowing that even the darkest space can be brightened by a single light, and even the most terrible despair can be illuminated by a single ray of hope." An FBI spokesman has said there is "no connection" between the massacre and any international terrorist group. The human rights body said security forces had opened fire on demonstrators Several people have been shot dead by security forces during protests in Cameroon, Amnesty International said. The group said some demonstrations had turned violent in Cameroon's English-speaking regions on Sunday as people gathered on the 56th anniversary of the incorporation of those areas. Amnesty also expressed worry over the government's "ongoing campaign to silence any form of dissent in the West and South-West regions of Cameroon". On Friday, t he north-west province banned meetings and travel for 72 hours. The rights group called on security forces to cease unnecessary violence and urged protesters to be peaceful. Cameroon has areas which were colonies of France and Britain until the early 1960s. The West African country's English-speaking population started protests last year against alleged discrimination by the majority French-speaking population. US President Donald Trump hosts Thailand's junta leader at the White House on Monday, a rare instance of a military ruler being feted in Washington before even a nominal return to civilian rule. The visit of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha comes three years after he seized power in a military coup, and days after the elected leader whose government he ousted was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison. Human rights groups are outraged, but it gives a shot in the arm to US relations with its oldest ally in Asia, which has moved more into China's orbit since Washington scaled back ties because of the military takeover. The Trump administration, like the Obama administration before it, maintains that relations with Thailand will only be fully restored when democracy returns. But rolling out the red carpet for Mr Prayuth reflects a shift in US foreign policy priorities. Mr Trump espouses a doctrine of "America First," prioritising US trade and strategic interests. He is more willing to engage with anti-democratic leaders and less troubled by their human rights records. That has not been lost on observers in Thailand, whose diplomatic relations with Washington date back to 1833. Deep military ties were forged in the fires of the Vietnam War. In an editorial, The Nation, a Thai newspaper, said the junta views the invitation to Washington "as a nod to legitimacy in the absence of an electoral mandate". It contrasted that with president Barack Obama's disapproval of the coup, which "soured relations between our countries and forced the generals to lean heavily on China". It is not that unusual for US presidents to meet autocrats in the Oval Office, but coup leaders are more contentious. Perhaps the closest recent comparison to Mr Prayuth would be former Pakistani army chief Pervez Musharraf, who emerged as a close ally of President George W. Bush in the war on terror. Mr Musharraf first visited the White House in 2002, three years after he seized power from an elected leader and before he had rammed through a national referendum to endorse his presidency. Mr Trump has barrelled through criticism about outreach to authoritarian foreign leaders as he looks to shore up America's long-standing alliances. He praised Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte for his deadly war on drugs that has left thousands dead, according to a leaked transcript of an April phone call. In the same month, Mr Trump welcomed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi to the White House, something that Mr Obama avoided. Mr el-Sisi had taken power in a 2013 coup and later was elected president. Like Mr el-Sisi, Mr Prayuth has given up his military uniform. But he is still the head of a junta. The military took power in 2014 to restore order after violent political turmoil in Thailand. The unrest has abated, but human rights groups say that has come at a heavy price in what used to be one of the most vibrant democracies in Asia. AP Keystone Realtors IPO Day 1 subscription Live status Keystone Realtors IPO with an issue size of Rs 635 Crore shows restrained response today. The offer is subscribed only 6% on the day one with 5,82,309 total bids received against 86,47,858 bids... November 14, 2022 | 14-11-2022 4:11 pm Inox Green Energy Services IPO of Rs 740 crore receives mild response from investors on day 2. The issue was subscribed 46% on Day 1. According to BSE data, investors made 4,67,21,280 bids out ... November 14, 2022 | 14-11-2022 3:55 pm Markets end the day in red Indian markets had a range-bound day today. Markets ended the day in red. Nifty 50 ended, down by 20.55 points. Sensex ended, down by 170.89 points. Top Gainers today were Hindalco,... November 14, 2022 | 14-11-2022 3:45 pm Fusion Microfinance IPO to list tomorrow Following the allotment, The IPO of Fusion Microfinance will list on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. The response to the public issues worth Rs. 1,104 crores has been relatively moderate with 2.95 ... November 14, 2022 | 14-11-2022 3:27 pm Vascon Engineers inks JV agreement for commercial project in Kharadi, Pune Vascon Engineers Limited has entered into a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) on Monday. Vascon has signed the JDA with Landowner to develop a commercial project at Kharadi a well-es... November 14, 2022 | 14-11-2022 3:04 pm National Award winner and actor Prakash Raj on Monday spoke about Gauri Lankesh's murder and made some comments on Narendra Modi over his silence. Saying that Prime Minister Modi is a bigger actor than him, he has also threatened to return his five National Awards. Condemning the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and how unfortunate it has been that certain sections of the society have been celebrating the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh on social media, Prakash Raj expressed his anger. BCCL Speaking at the 11th state meet of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) held in Bengaluru, Prakash Raj said, "Gauris killers have not been caught yet. But what is more disappointing is people celebrating her murder over social media spreading hatred. Some of these people who celebrated her (Gauris) murder are followed by our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) on Twitter. We have a PM who shuts his eyes to this." Right after the murder of his close friend Gauri, he had spoken to TOI and said, BCCL I knew Gauri for 30 years. In a sense, we were all children of (P) Lankesh, her ideologies, and way of life. I never dreamt that this day would come. We were taught to be honest citizens, who would never seize to raise ones voice. In fact, I dont think anyone voiced their opinion more than P Lankesh himself. This was how we were taught to be. It is astonishing to see where we have come to today." He went on to slamming Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He added, When you look at the kind of statements he (Adityanath) makes, you dont understand whether hes a Chief Minister or a priest. He (Adityanath) is a better actor than me. I think I must give out all my five national awards to him. Twitter Clarifying Rajs statement, Muneer Katipalla, the state president of DYFI said, In what is regarded as the deadliest attack on humanity post 9/11, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard who was born in New York to Afghan parents fired inside 'Pulse', a crowded gay bar and dance club in Orlando early Sunday, leaving 50 people dead and 53 injured. "We're dealing with something we never imagined and is unimaginable," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer who declared a state of emergency in the city. Father gave no indication that he was tied to Radical Islam Mir Seddique, the father of gunman Mateen told that his son became angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami a couple of months ago, which comes out to be the reason of targeting the LGBT community's club. The father also said that he this has nothing to do with religion. He said that he was not aware of what his son had been planning, adding that the family was shocked at what had happened. Seddique said: "We are saying we are apologising for the whole incident... We are in shock like the whole country." His father is known to run a non-profit company, ''The Durand Jirga, Inc.''. The videos on his YouTube channel have highlighted of his strong and opinionated political views where he talks about Afghan Taliban, Pakistani Government, Afghan Presidency and the like. Ex-wife alleges him to be mentally ill The shooter's ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, held a press conference on Sunday and talked about her relationship with him, "In the beginning he was a normal being that cared about family, loved to joke, loved to have fun, but then a few months after we were married I saw his instability. I saw that he was bipolar and he would get mad out of nowhere. That's when I started worrying about my safety.'' She has pointed out that the Omar was emotionally and mentally ill and unstable. She denied him of having radical views or someone who is inclined towards the ideologies of his religion. Sitora Yusufiy, Orlando suspect's ex-wife, speaks to media (1 of 2) Youtube.com : 2016-06-13T00:57:18.000Z Pledged allegiance to ISIS After his initial assault at the club, he phoned 911 and pledged alliance to the leader of the Islamic state, ISIS according to the Federal Law Enforcement Officials. However, FBI is investigating and are yet to unfold the accurate and credible information. The ISIS have repeatedly executed gay people and released videos showing their gruesome executions. The Islamic State's news agency ''Amaq'' described him as a ''fighter''. Investigated twice by FBI previously He was also on the FBI's radar and had been investigated twice and came out clear. The first investigation was carried after he made comments to his colleagues which alleged possible ties to terrorist. The second investigation was to ascertain the possible ties between Moner Mohammad Abusalha, the first American to carry out a suicide attack in Syria. However, investigations turned out inconclusive. Victims Victims have revealed that the shooter randomly shot people and wreaked havoc. They have described scenes of horrific carnage. They were seen at local hospitals with gunshots wounding their chests, legs and arms. A mother whose son was trapped inside the nightclub shared the heartbreaking texts she received from her son during the event. Homophobia As details have emerged, the LGBTQ community worldwide has been reminded that they are not safe. Instead of accepting the harsh reality of the security of LGBTQ hate crimes, people will have the same Islamaphobic outbreak as soon as they figure out that the shooter was a ''Muslim''. This incident points out to the victimization of the LGBTQ more than anything else. This range of negative attitudes and hatred towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgenders community has to come to an end. Islamophobia, Donald Trump Aftermath of this tragedy is also the prejudice against the Muslim community. Donald J. Trump praised himself for being correct on radical Islamic Terrorism and mocked at President Obama for being weak. Catering to the racist, xenophobic voters, Donald Trump left no stone unturned to take advantage of the situation. This incident again propagated the hatred which the Muslim community gets to face in the wake of such incidents. The shooter happened to be Muslim does not mean that the entire community has to be held responsible for the event. At the mosque frequented by Omar, a community gathered to offer prayers. There were prayers to mark the breaking of the Ramadan fast and others too, for the killings of Orlando by a man they knew, albeit not well. Gun control loopholes The Orlando shooting was the 173rd US mass shooting of 2016, according to the website MassShootingTracker.org. Last year, Mr Obama said his failure to pass "common sense gun safety laws" was the greatest frustration of his presidency. Be it Cebric Ford who killed 3 on February 25, 2016 or Syed Rizwan Farook who killed 14 and wounded more than 20 on December 2, 2015, these incidents point to the fallacy in the gun laws and how easily can these weapons of destruction be procured. Florida has some of the friendliest laws for gun owners in the nation. While every state allows concealed carrying of guns in some form, Florida is one of more than two dozen in which authorities must grant concealed-carry licenses for applicants, as long as they have no disqualifying criminal convictions. A state database shows Mr. Mateen was a licensed security officer and had a license to carry a handgun in the performance of his security duties. "Florida's approach to gun laws does nothing to prevent these types of tragedies--in fact, quite the opposite--and makes it all too easy for people intent on doing harm, from terrorists to domestic abusers to violent felons, to get guns," said Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. This incident which is a resultant of terror and hatred shouln't perpetuate hate, particularly towards the Muslim community. As soon as the shooter was revealed to be a Muslim, the typical Islamophobic cries from the Political fraternity could be seen coming up, especially from Donald Trump who calls for a ban on Muslims from the US. With Ramadan and LGBTQ Pride Month underway, it calls upon to celebrate and accept the diversity and not spread hatred towards any community. (Image Courtesy : AP) On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and marking the third anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for launching a cleanliness drive or Swachhta Abhiyan across the nation. Responding to PM's call, the Indian Army spent the last fortnight carrying out special cleanliness drive in various cantonments across the country. Twitter While speaking at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan, PM Narendra Modi said, "Swachh India won't come true even if 1000 Mahatma Gandhi, 1 lakh Narendra Modis, all the CM and the government come together, it can only be done by 125 crore Indians." Today it is the 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation, and Swachhta or cleanliness being celebrated with community runs and other programmes, the armed forces have remained consistent in pursuing cleanliness over the three years since the call for the movement was given by the prime minister. The most significant step that has been was the cleanliness drive on the Indian side of the Siachen Glacier, where more than 60 tonnes of waste has been removed The positive effect of this in an ecologically sensitive area has been tremendous. Cleanliness has been intrinsic to the culture and tradition of the armed forces. Military cantonments are an oasis of cleanliness and the green lungs of the cities. This is made possible only by a wide participation. Maintenance is done not only by the composite staff but all residents and families. The residents look after their own areas, particularly when it comes to preservation of trees and the ecology Children studying in army schools are particularly sensitised to the need of maintaining clean surroundings. Interactive sessions are organised to create awareness and generate motivation to voluntarily take on the responsibility. Twitter Army units deployed in remote areas that have a particularly sensitive ecological balance join with the locals to maintain the same. In case there us degradation happening, they attempt to contain the same. There are innumerable instances where the degradation has been reversed due to efforts of the armed forces. The army has raised the Territorial Army Ecological Task Forces (ETF) more than three decades ago and it has made a sterling contribution in afforestation and ecological restoration in Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and a few other places. It is now proposed to extend this highly successful initiative onto the Nirmal Ganges project also. The active participation of the armed forces in the Swachhta movement is of great value since the country looks upon its soldiers as role models and follow their example. In cleanliness, none can give a better example than the armed forces of the country and this needs to be leveraged for the success of the Abhiyan. Groups of citizens and Swachhta volunteers should be facilitated visits to cantonments to see the models of cleanliness being applied there and to emulate the same. Burning the effigy of demon king Ravana by an actor playing Lord Ram is a regular scene at Ramleela during the culmination of the Dussehra festivals across the country. BCCL/ Representational Image But this year in Rajasthan's Sirohi town, the Ramleela had a twist. Lord Ram refused to kill Ravana, accusing Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) leader in Sirohi, Suresh Sagarvanshi of corruption, calling him Ravana. "Ravana is sitting on the stage, who does corruption in development work. So today Ram is returning frustrated," the actor who played Lord Ram, Manoj Kumar Mali said. Representational Image Mali accused Sagarvanshi and others of corruption and pocketing Municipality's money meant for Ramleela committees. After making the allegations Mali along with his team, playing various characters from Ramayana walked out of the programme. The organizers were left with no choice, but to dress up a child from the crowd as Lord Ram and to fire the arrow at the Ravana effigy. The world has turned into a goblet of terror, owing to the past few attacks that claimed hundreds of lives. It's almost as if there's nowhere in the world that can be called a 'safe haven'. REUTERS Last night at least 6 people lost their lives in an attack which was declared as "terrorist incidents" by the UK Metropolitan Police. This attack wasn't alone in an attempt to jolt the reverence of the streets. Earlier, minutes after a van mowed down a number of pedestrians on the London Bridge, injuring several, it was reported that two other simultaneous terror attacks took place at the Borough Market and Vauxhall here. However, Amid all the rampant Islamophobia in Europe, Muslims are coming forward to help the attack victims and standing by them in the need of the hour. 1. After an hour of being stuck in the #londonbridge area and told to run by police, Muslim shopkeepers offered me food and a place to stay. jared (@gxyred) June 4, 2017 2. I have just had a Muslim taxi driver take me home and he has cried on me over the attacks tonight,terrorism has no religion #LondonBridge J E S S (@JessSmith97) June 4, 2017 The help poured from all the directions, and places. 1. If anyone in the LB area needs a safe place to stay our flat is open. It's 10 mins away, we have a spare bed & hot drinks #LondonBridge Alex Cheng (@alexrz_cheng) June 4, 2017 2. If anybody is still stranded in #LondonBridge area we have tea, beer and shelter just outside the police cordon. All welcome Ben Frew (@bfrew14) June 4, 2017 Not just food, but these people offered help to random strangers by giving them a place to stay, a free ride and comfort. REUTERS Not so far from the idea, President Trump is demanding that his controversial 'Muslim travel ban' be restored following this attack. We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017 But there's only so much that one can do in a world full of hatred. There will be Muslim doctors and police officers working through the night to save lives tonight, just remember that #LondonBridge Jakb (@jakebluereal) June 4, 2017 The terror organisation said that the attacker followed a call to attack civilians and security forces in countries allied to the US-led coalition bombing the ISIS territories in Syria and Iraq. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that India cannot succeed in its mission for a clean country until people's mindset and attitudes toward 'swachhta' (cleanliness) don't change. "The Swachh Bharat Mission is about both 'vyavastha' (preparation) and 'vichar' (thought process and mindset)," said Modi in a speech on the third anniversary of the Mission at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan. Read more Army Responds To PM's Call, Removes 60 Tonnes Of Siachen Waste On Swachch Bharat's Anniversary On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and marking the third anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for launching a cleanliness drive or Swachhta Abhiyan across the nation. Responding to PM's call, the Indian Army spent the last fortnight carrying out special cleanliness drive in various cantonments across the country. Read more At Least 50 Killed, More Than 200 Injured In Shootout At Las Vegas Casino, Gunman Shot Dead At least 50 people died early on Monday and 200 were hospitalised with suspected gunshot wounds in Las Vegas, a local hospital spokesman said. The shooting happened during a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, raining down rapid fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before he was shot dead by police. Read more Beating Tirupati & Taj Mahal, Madurai's Meenakshi Temple Is 'Best Swachh Iconic Place' In India The Swachhta Hi Seva (cleanliness is service) programme has rated the Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai as the cleanest place. The temple earned the top slot among 10 iconic places selected under the Swachh Bharat Mission in the country. Read more Three Minors Killed, Eight Injured In Ceasefire Violation By Pakistan In Poonch A 10-year-old boy and two others have been killed and eight others were injured in indiscriminate firing by Pakistan near Poonch sector in the Line of Control (LoC) on Monday morning. According to the Indian Army, Pakistani troops resorted to mortar shelling besides also firing small and automatic weapons on various places along the LoC, including army posts and civilian areas. Read more Army Kills 2 Terrorists In Failed Infiltration Bid In Baramulla, 70 Militants Waiting To Cross Two militants were killed along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rampur Sector in north Kashmirs Baramulla district Monday. The infiltration bid was foiled after soldiers noticed the movement of armed militants resulting in a gunfight. Read more A young couple in Pune has set a great example by planting 101 saplings, including 51 young trees for local school students, at a cost of Rs 50,000, to celebrate the birth of their daughter. Pune based Ranjeet and Neha Naik decided to take up the cause of a better future for the next generation, as part of the naming ceremony of their 1.5-month-old daughter Alisha. NIKHIL GHORPADE On Sunday at the baby's naming ceremony, the new parents decided to ignore the usual social norms of an ostentatious party, and instead planted 101 trees at the Malshiras village near Bhuleshwar temple in Yavat, an area known to have faced droughts for some years now. According to the Naiks - who were joined by friends and family for a simple ceremony - they were celebrating the auspicious occasion by committing to a social and environmental cause; they also donated 51 more saplings to students of a local village school to improve their grasp on conservation. Ranjeet, who runs an AutoCad software training institute in Kothrud, and Neha, a professor at a Symbiosis institute in Viman Nagar, were blessed with a baby girl on August 18 this year. Thereafter, the usual expectations swirled in the air for her naming ceremony -an extravagant soiree at an exclusive venue, hundreds of guests, and a huge budget to garner the appreciation of attendees. But, the young couple decided to spend their money differently. NIKHIL GHORPADE On Sunday, scores of friends and family members braved the heat and milled around the village plot around 55 km from Pune to plant a variety of flora, including neem, mango, chiku, bamboo, coconut palm, gulmohar, banyan, Java plum, sacred fig, tamarind, etc. Sticks and netting were also put around the plants as a safeguard against animals; later, a cake was cut and the baby's new name -Alisha -celebrated by the revellers. Explaining why they came up with this innovative plan, Ranjeet said: "Nature gives us so much, and it is high time we returned the favour. Our primary hope was to forge a new tradition for our generation - a more holistic one, to be followed by many more people. When I first mentioned this tree plantation idea to my kith and kin, they were enthused. Luckily for us, a friend suggested this spot in Malshiras, where he owns some agricultural land that happens to be open for plantation.This gave us 3.5 acres of land to plant new trees; there was no water problem either, as there is a pond in the area and we plan to deploy a water tanker.Planting may be easy, but it is more important to maintain the trees." "The decline of females in India's sex ratio has been unstoppable. Women are one half of society, and equals in every respect to men. To bring about social equilibrium, it is necessary to raise awareness about saving the girl child. Ecological awareness is equally important. We felt an effort for both should start from our home, and we hope our child's generation follows this trend. We look forward to seeing the trees grow with her," Neha added. At least 50 people died early on Monday and 200 were hospitalised with suspected gunshot wounds in Las Vegas, a local hospital spokesman said. The shooting happened during a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip, raining down rapid fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before he was shot dead by police. AFP Massive amounts of gunfire & many casualties in #LasVegas @MandalayBay concert tonight. Feels like I'm watching a repeat of Bataclan attack. pic.twitter.com/nAeFdWr20K Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 2, 2017 The reports emanated from the Mandalay Bay Casino on the city's famous strip. AFP "We're investigating reports of an active shooter near/around Mandalay Bay Casino," police said on Twitter. Several people including a police officer had been shot at a nearby outdoor concert. AFP Witnesses heard numerous gunshots at the casino hotel, where police tactical teams were searching for the attacker, according to reports on CNN and in the New York Times. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. "Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor and the scene is static." LISTEN TO THIS! Im so scared for everyone on the #LasVegas Strip... pic.twitter.com/5tH9NQCK3o James Wagner (@JamesWagnerTW) October 2, 2017 The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary and tentative, would make the attack the deadliest mass shooting in US history, eclipsing last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club. Thousands of panicked people fled the scene, in some cases trampling one another as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack. The suspect was a local Las Vegas man who acted alone and was not believed to be connected to any terrorist group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. Even while the authorities in US are still maintaining that the Las Vegas shooting which killed over 50 people and left over 500 others injured had not terror links, the Islamic State terrorist group has apparently taken responsibility of the carnage. AFP Amaq news agency, the official media arm of ISIS in multiple posts on messaging service telegram has hinted at their involvement in the killings. Calling the 63-year-old attacker Stephen Paddock as its soldier, ISIS said he had converted to Islam months ago. "The attacker was responding to a call to target coalition countries," the message adds. AFP Uncharacteristic of ISIS and Amaq, the agency has gone to details and used multiple languages to put out the claims. Despite the claim of responsibility by ISIS, many analysts have expressed reservations on its authenticity. If it turns out to be true, the attack in Las Vegas will be the biggest and the deadliest carried out by ISIS in the US. Reuters At least 50 people were killed and more than 400 injured when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas Strip, raining down bullets from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes. The body of the lone shooter was found in his hotel room from where authorities recovered at least 10 guns. A stabilizing political situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM) in tandem with the pending privatization of the Thessaloniki Port Authority loom as substantive factors for boosting bilateral trade between Greece and its northern neighbor, participants at a business forum in Skopje emphasized over the weekend Las Vegas Shooting Kills More Than 50 People Worst Mass Shooting in US History Leaves More Than 50 Dead, 400 Injured in Las Vegas At least eight firearms, along with several long rifles, were reportedly found in the gunman's hotel room By Jake Johnson October 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - A gunman opened fire on a music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada late Sunday, injuring more than 400 people and killing at least 50the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Law enforcement identified the lone suspected shooter as Stephen Paddock , a 64 year-old white male. Paddock was later found dead in the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, located across the street from the concert grounds. According to Sheriff Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Paddock opened fire at the thousands of concertgoers from the 32nd floor of the hotel at around 10:15pm local time. At least eight firearms , along with several long rifles, were reportedly found in Paddock's room. The Washington Post reports : The gunman was previously known to local police for past run-ins with law enforcement, according to people familiar with the investigation. Recordings of the attack suggest the suspect used an automatic weapon. The shooting occurred at the end of the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a three-day country music concert held over the weekend that reportedly drew 30,000 attendees. The concert grounds are adjacent to Mandalay Bay. The shots began as Jason Aldean, one of the final performers, was playing. Videos of the horrifying scene quickly spread on social media. One witness told the local television station KLAS that "the shots just kept coming." "Everybody's hiding everywhere, they're hiding under the bleachers, and the stanchions, and anywhere they could," she said. Several videos caught the moment the first shots were fired. Warning, the following videos are disturbing. Dramatic video shows people scrambling for cover as gunfire rings out in Las Vegas. "I have to stay on top of you." https://t.co/k2WTD6gM6A pic.twitter.com/5SL3GnhUCQ ABC News (@ABC) October 2, 2017 This article was originally Published by Common Dreams - No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter VIDEO: Sheriff says Las Vegas mass shooting suspect killed himself in his hotel room. https://t.co/KDrGqmfmuK The Associated Press (@AP) October 2, 2017 At least 50 people are dead after a mass shooting in Las Vegas the deadliest in modern U.S. history pic.twitter.com/1Xcwcu985S NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 2, 2017 Donald Trump Speech After Las Vegas Shooting The obvious hypocrisy of president Trump "It is our love, which defines us today and always will" - "Melania and I are praying for every "American" that has been hurt, wounded or lost the ones they loved" See also - Toll in mass shooting has climbed to 58 killed and more than 500 injured Islamic State claims Las Vegas mass shooting : The Islamic State said the gunman in the mass shooting in Las Vegas was a soldier from its ranks who had converted to Islam months ago. FBI says Las Vegas shooter had no connection to international terrorist group Las Vegas Shooter: Stephen Paddock: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know Are You Ready to Die? By Paul Craig Roberts October 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept exposes the fake news put out by the US Department of Homeland Security (an euphemistic name for a Big Brother operation that spies on US citizens) that Russia hacked 21 US state elections, news that was instantly spread around the world by the presstitute media. The propagandists running Homeland Security were contradicted by the state governments, forcing Homeland Security to retract its fake news claims. The unasked/unanswered question is why did Homeland Security put out a FAKE NEWS story? Greenwald explains that the US media is so conditioned by the National Security State to see Russian President Putin lurking behind and masterminding attacks on America that it is now religious dogmaa requirementto find Russian perfidy everywhere. The result Greenwald correctly says is that an incredibly reckless, anything-goes climate prevails when it comes to claims about Russia. Media outlets will publish literally any official assertion as Truth without the slightest regard for evidentiary standards. In other words, the United States no longer has a media. It has a propaganda ministry for the military/security complex, the neoconservatives, and the Israel Lobby. And the idiot Americans sit in front of the TV and absorb the propaganda, and they read the New York Times and think that they are sophisticated and in the know. What Greenwald doesnt address is the effect of the massive amount of fake news on Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. Russia knows that Washington knows that the accusations against Russia are false. So why is Washington making false accusations against Russia? This is a serious question , not only for Russia but for the entire world. All previous false accusations from the Clinton regime criminals, the Bush/Cheney regime criminals, and the Obama regime criminals ended in miiltary attacks on the falsely demonized targets. Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea would be within reason to wonder if the false news propaganda attack on them is a prelude to military attack. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Iran and North Korea cannot attack the US and its European vassals, but Russia and China can. I have written about the Operational Command of the Russian armed forces conclusion that Washington is preparing a surprise nuclear attack on Russia. Instead of reassuring the Russians that no such planning is in the works, Washington has instead pushed further the fake news Russiagate story with the false report that Russia had hacked the elections of 21 states. What is the point of US security agencies such as Homeland Security, CIA, FBI, NSA constantly filling the propaganda machine known as the American Media with lies about Russia? Russia must wonder as well. Russia knows that they are lies. Russia knows that it does no good to refute the lies because the West has a Propanganda Ministry instead of a media. Russia knows that Washington told lies about the Taliban, Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi, Assad, Iran. What does Russia conclude from the constant stream of lies about Russia that flow out of Washington and are presented as truth by the Western presstitutes? If you were the Russian government, would you conclude that your country was the next to be attacked militarily by Washington? If you were the Russian government, you would know that Washington/NATO cannot possibly attack Russia except by surprise nuclear strike. Knowing this, if you were the Russian government, would you sit there and wait on the strike? Imagine yourself the Russian government listening day in, day out, to endless wild improbable charges against Russia. What can Russia possibly conclude other than this is preparation of Western peoples for a nuclear attack on Russia? Russia is not going to be hung like Saddan Hussein or murdered like Gaddafi. I have written many times that provoking nuclear powers such as Russia and China is the most extreme form of recklessness and irresponsibility. The crazed morons in Washington are risking the life of the planet. The presstitutes are worse than the whores that they are. They never question the path to war; they only amplify it. Washingtons craven, cowardly, moranic vassel states in UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, and the rest of the EU/NATO idiots are, by their cooperation with Washington, begging for their own destruction. Nowhere in the West is there a sign of intelligence. Will Washington follow Adolf Hitlers folly and march into Russia? Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order . Another Day, Another U.S. Mass Shooting By Moon Of Alabama "Turn down the music. You know uncle Stephen goes berserk when one disturbs his sleep." /snark October 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - One Stephen Paddock rented a room on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel. Over three days, he brought some ten guns into it. The room was chosen to overlook the space of on upcoming open air concert. Last night Paddock waited for the concert to start and then fired his automatic weapons into the crowd. At least fifty-eight people died and some 400 were wounded. The murderer later killed himself. Paddock is portrait as a reclusive, well-off retiree and is thought to be a professional gambler. There is no hint yet of the mans motive. He is white and has a Christian name. Thus, according to U.S. standards, his killing spree was not terrorism. The state of Nevada allows about anyone to buy and own automatic rifles. With these one can fire off a full 30 round magazine within a few seconds. The use of such machine guns leave the victims in an attack like this no time to escape. With a bit of training a change of magazines takes less than five seconds. The man must have had more than a thousand rounds to cause such a number of casualties. The statistics paint a horrible picture of gun violence in the U.S. There is now one mass shooting, with more than four victims, per day: First 9 months of 2017: -11,572 gun deaths -23,365 gun injuries -271 mass shootings -1,508 unintentional shootings -2,971 kids/teens shot The Onion headlined: No Way To Prevent This, Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens . It was the fifths time in the last three years that the Onion used the same headline and story. They only switched the photo, the name of the city and the body count. The gun lobby will again say, "Let's not politicize this tragedy by talking gun control." Sure, let's wait a few months, at which time there will be another mass shooting. Every gun massacre is an advertisement for guns. The stocks of gun manufacturers soared today, casino stocks fell. This article was originally Published by Moon Of Alabama - See also - Nevada Senator voted against limits on magazine size, assault weapons, background checks When Will Politicians Start Offering More Than Their 'Thoughts and Prayers'? : There have been 11,572 gun deaths on U.S. soil in 9 months. When Did Congress Vote to Aid the Saudis Yemen War? Lawmakers use War Powers Act to finally question legality of U.S. involvement. By Gareth Porter October 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The bill introduced by a bipartisan group of House members last week to end the direct U.S. military role in the Saudi coalition war in Yemen guarantees that the House of Representatives will vote for the first time on the single most important element of U.S. involvement in the warthe refueling of Saudi coalition planes systematically bombing Yemeni civilian targets. In doing so, moreover, the bipartisan bill, H. Con. Res. 81 , will provide a major test of Congressional will to uphold the War Powers Act of 1973, which reasserted a Congressional role in restraining presidential power to enter into wars without its approval in the wake of the Vietnam War debacle. Since the Obama administration gave the green light to the Saudi war of destruction in Yemen in March 2015, it has been widely recognized by both Congress and the news media that U.S. military personnel have been supplying the bombs used by Saudi coalition planes. But what has seldom been openly discussed is that the U.S. Air Force has been providing the mid-air refueling for every Saudi coalition bombing sortie in Yemen, without which the war would quickly grind to a halt. The Obama administration, and especially the Pentagon and the U.S. military, became nervous about public statements about that direct U.S. military role in the Saudi war after some legal experts began to raise the issue internally of potential U.S. legal responsibility for apparent war crimes in Yemen. Refueling Saudi coalition bombing missions not only makes the U.S. a party to the Yemen conflict, but could also lead to U.S. personnel being found complicit in coalition war crimes, Kristine Beckerle, Yemen and UAE researcher at Human Rights Watch, has observed. The political sensitivity of that direct and vital U.S. military role in the Saudi coalition airstrikes was so great in the last year of the Obama administration that U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power, in an interview with a New Zealand journalist twice declared , deceptively, We are not involved in carrying out airstrikes in Yemen. The bill introduced by Democratic Representatives Ro Khanna of California and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, and Republican Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Walter Jones of North Carolina, calls for Congress to direct the president to remove U.S. military personnel from their role in the Saudi air war against the forces of the Houthi-Saleh alliance in Yemen. It would give the President 30 days in which to end the U.S. military role in support of the Saudi-led war in Yemen unless and until Congress has enacted either a declaration of war or an authorization of those activities. The co-sponsors believe members will support it because U.S. direct involvement in the Saudi war of destruction in Yemen has enmeshed the United States in the worlds worst man-made humanitarian crisis in many years. Some 542,000 Yemenis, already weakened by starvation, have now succumbed to a cholera epidemic that is far worse than any in the world for the past fifty years, as the New York Times reported in August. The starvation and cholera epidemic are the consequences of a multi-faceted strategy aimed at creating such civilian suffering as to finally break the resistance of the Houthi-Saleh forces. The Saudi strategy has included: Targeting of hospitals, markets and agricultural infrastructure. Destruction of cranes necessary to offload any large-scale humanitarian assistance at the main port of Hodeida and refusal to replace them with new cranes. A naval blockade that has strictly limited shipping of food, fuel and other necessities to Hodeida port. Closing down the civilian airport to prevent delivery of humanitarian aid. Destruction of roads and bridges necessary for delivery of humanitarian aid. Closing down the Central Bank of Yemen the only institution in Yemen that was providing liquidity to millions of Yemenis. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Another selling point for H. Con Res. 81 is that it is based explicitly on the language of the War Powers Act of 1973, passed by a two-thirds majority in the House overriding a veto by President Richard M. Nixon. The War Powers Act includes a provision that, [A]t any time that United States Armed Forces are engaged in hostilities outside the territory of the United States, its possessions and territories without a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization, such forces shall be removed by the President if the Congress so directs by concurrent resolution. The proposed bill argues that the direct U.S. military involvement in the Saudi Yemen war has never been authorized by Congress, and that the provision in the wars powers act is therefore applicable. It specifically exempts U.S. forces operating in Yemen against al Qaeda, which were authorized under the 2001 Authorization for Military Force (AUMF) and which have not generated critical public and Congressional reactions. Con. Res. 81 applies a provision of the War Powers Act to ensure that opponents in the Foreign Affairs Committee or the majority leadership wont be able to keep it bottled up without a vote. The War Powers Act puts any proposed Congressional resolution for action regarding an unauthorized use of force on a fast track for an early floor vote, making it a priority resolution. Once the measure is referred to the House or Senate foreign affairs committee, the War Powers Act requires that the committee report out a resolution within fifteen days, and that the resolution must then come to a vote within three days. Aides say the co-sponsors will present the measure as a response to a policy initiated and carried out for nearly two years by the Obama administration.They say a number of Republican offices are now seriously considering co-sponsorship of H. Con. Res. 81. In addition to the humanitarian disaster and war powers issues linked to the direct U.S. military role in Saudi airstrikes, the co-sponsors will be pointing to multiple ways the U.S. role in the war makes the American people less secure, according to Congressional aides. One of the effects of the war has been to enormously strengthen the position of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), considered the biggest single foreign threat to carry out terrorist actions against the United States after two failed efforts in recent years. Saudi-backed Yemeni forces have been fighting alongside AQAP against the Houthis-Saleh forces. And the war has given AQAP much greater territorial control, political legitimacy and access to money and arms than it ever had before. Yet another argument is the longer-term hatred of the United States that the U.S. direct involvement in the Saudi bombing campaign and starvation strategy is creating. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CNNs Jake Tapper in June 2016, If you talk to Yemenis, they will tell you, this is not perceived to be a Saudi bombing campaign. This is perceived to be a U.S. bombing campaign. Whats happening is that we are helping to radicalize the Yemeni population against the United States. Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, has been meeting with Republican House members to urge them to support the bill. The war being waged in Saudi Arabia with U.S. assistance is brutal and vicious, and it is a losing one for both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia but a boon for AQAP, Wilkerson said in an interview with TAC. It should cease immediately. But sponsors and advocates of H. Con. Res. 81 may have to refute arguments about Iran that the Saudis and the Obama administration have used to justify the Saudi war in Yemen. Wilkerson noted Republican members who cited Irans alleged role in the Houthi war effort and the common U.S.-Saudi opposition to it. They argue that the Saudis are doing our work for us, so weve got to hold our nose and support them, said Wilkerson. But that argument reflects a false narrative created by the Obama administration that Iran has been arming the Houthis for years. Administration officials used a UN panel obviously set up at Washingtons behest to recycle old and demonstrably fabricated claims of Iranian arms shipments to the Houthis. The Houthis have undoubtedly obtained missiles and other weapons from Iran, but the UN panel of experts on Yemen reported in January 2017 that it did not have sufficient evidence to confirm any direct large-scale supply of arms from Iran to the Houthis. More importantly, the modest military assistance from Iran came in response to the Saudi coalition air assault on Yemennot the other way around. And contrary to the official Pentagon myth of a proxy war against Iran in Yemen, the Houthis are fighting the Saudis for Yemeni interests not to serve Iranian interests. Gareth Porter is an independent journalist and winner of the 2012 Gellhorn Prize for journalism. He is the author of numerous books, including Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare (Just World Books, 2014). Follow him on Twitter @GarethPorter This article was originally published by The American Conservative - See also - Bipartisan Group To Force Vote on U.S. Involvement in Yemen War : The United States has been providing support for a Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen that has cost the lives of over 10,000 civilians The Future of the EU at Stake in Catalonia A new paradigm has been coined right inside the lofty European Union: 'In the name of democracy, refrain from voting, or else' By Pepe Escobar October 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Fascist Franco may have been dead for more than four decades, but Spain is still encumbered with his dictatorial corpse. A new paradigm has been coined right inside the lofty European Union, self-described home/patronizing dispenser of human rights to lesser regions across the planet: In the name of democracy, refrain from voting, or else. Call it democracy nano-Franco style. Nano-Franco is Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, whose heroic shock troops were redeployed from a serious nationwide terrorist alert to hammer with batons and fire rubber bullets not against jihadis but voters. At least six schools became the terrain of what was correctly called The Battle of Barcelona. Extreme right-wingers even held a demonstration inside Barcelona. Yet this was not shown on Spanish TV because it contradicted the official Madrid narrative. The Catalan government beat the fascist goons with two very simple codes as revealed by La Vanguardia. Ive got the Tupperware. Where do we meet? was the code on a prepaid mobile phone for people to collect and protect ballot boxes. Im the paper traveler was the code to protect the actual paper ballots. Julian Assange/WikiLeaks had warned about the worlds first Internet war as deployed by Madrid to smash the electronic voting system. The counterpunch was literally on paper. The US National Security Agency must have learned a few lessons. So we had techno power combined with cowardly Francoist repression tactics countered by people power, as in parents conducting sit-ins in schools to make sure they were functional on referendum day. Some 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who made it to the polls ended up voting in favor of independence from Spain, according to preliminary results. Catalonia has 5.3 million registered voters. Roughly 770,000 votes were lost because of raids by Spanish police. Turnout at around 42% may not be high but its certainly not low. As the day went by, there was a growing feeling, all across Catalonia, all social classes involved, that this was not about independence any more; it was about fighting a new brand of fascism. Whats certain is theres a Perfect Storm coming. No pasaran The institutional declaration of overwhelming mediocrity nano-Franco Rajoy, right after the polls were closed, invited disbelief. The highlight was a mediocre take on Magritte: Ceci nest pas un referendum. This referendum never took place. And it could never take place because Spain is a mature and advanced democracy, friendly and tolerant. The days events proved it a lie. Rajoy said the great majority of Catalan people did not want to participate in the secessionist script. Another lie. Even before the non-existent referendum, between 70% and 80% of Catalans said they wanted to vote, yes or no, after an informed debate about their future. Crucially, Rajoy extolled the unwavering support of the EU and the international community. Of course; unelected EU elites in Brussels and the main European capitals are absolutely terrorized when EU citizens express themselves. Yet the top nano-Franco lie was that democracy prevailed because the constitution was respected. Rajoy spent weeks defending his repression of the referendum by invoking the rule of law such as ours. Its their law, indeed. The heart of the matter are Articles 116 and 155 of a retrograde Spanish constitution, the first one describing how states of alarm, exception and siege work in Spain, and the latter applied in order to compel the [autonomous community] forcibly to meet obligations, or in order to protect the general interests. Well, these obligations and general interests are defined by who else, Madrid and Madrid only. The Spanish Constitutional Court is a joke it couldnt care less about the principle of separation of powers. The court congregates a bunch of legalistic Mafiosi/patsies working for the two parties of the establishment, the so-called socialists of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party) and the medieval right-wingers of Rajoys Peoples Party (PP). Few outside Spain may remember the failed coup of February 23, 1981 when there was an attempt to hurl Spain back into the long dark Francoist night. Well, I was in Barcelona when it happened and that vividly reminded me of the South American military coups in the 1960s and 1970s. Since the coup, what passes for justice in Spain never ceased to be a mere lackey to these two political parties. The Constitutional Court actually suspended the Catalan referendum law, arguing that it was violating the medieval Spanish constitution. This disgraceful collusion is crystal-clear for most people in Catalonia. What Madrid is essentially up to amounts to a coup as well against the Catalan government and, of course, against democracy. So no wonder the immortal civil-war mantra was back in the streets of Catalonia: No pasaran! They shall not pass. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Brussels does demophobia Rajoy, thuggish, mediocre and corrupt (thats another long story), lied even more when he said he keeps the door open to dialogue. He never wanted any dialogue with Catalonia always refusing a referendum in any shape or form or transferring any powers to the Catalan regional government. Catalonias regional president, Carles Puigdemont, insists he had to call the referendum because this is what separatist parties promised when they won regional elections two years ago. And of course no one is an angel in this hardcore power play. The PDeCaT (the Democratic Party of Catalonia), the main force behind the referendum, has also been mired in corruption. Catalonia in itself is as economically powerful as Denmark; 7.5 million people, around 16% of Spains population, but responsible for 20% of gross domestic product, attracting one-third of foreign investment and producing one-third of exports. In a country where unemployment is at a horribly high 30%, losing Catalonia would be the ultimate disaster. Madrid in effect subscribes to only two priorities: dutifully obey EU austerity diktats, and crush by all means any regional push for autonomy. Catalan historian Josep Fontana, in a wide-ranging, enlightening interview , has identified the heart of the matter: What, for me, is scandalous is that the PP is whipping up public opinion by saying that holding the referendum means the secession of Catalonia afterwards, when it knows that secession is impossible. It is impossible because it would mean that the Generalitat would have to ask the Madrid government to be so kind as to withdraw its army, Guardia Civil and National Police from Catalonia, and to meekly renounce a territory that provides 20% of its GDP so why are they using this excuse to stir up a climate reminiscent of a civil war? Beyond the specter of civil war, the Big Picture is even more incandescent. The Scottish National Party is sort of blood cousins with Catalan separatists in its rejection of a perceived illegitimate central authority, with all the accompanying negative litany. SNP members complain they are forced to cope with different languages; political diktats from above; unfair taxes; and what is felt as outright economic exploitation. This phenomenon has absolutely nothing to do with the EU-wide rise of extreme right-wing nationalism, populism and xenophobia as Madrid insists. And then theres the silence of the wolves. It would be easy to picture the EUs reaction if the drama in Catalonia were happening in distant, barbarian Eurasian lands. The peaceful referendum in Crimea was condemned as illegal and dictatorial while a violent attack against freedom of expression of millions of people living inside the EU gets a pass. The demophobia of Brussels elites knows no bounds; the historical record shows EU citizens are not allowed to express themselves freely, especially by using democratic practices in questions related to self-determination. Whatever torrent of spin may come ahead, the silence of the EU betrays the fact Brussels is puling the strings behind Madrid. After all the Brave New Euroland project implies the destruction of European nations to the profit of a centralized Brussels eurocracy. Referenda are untamable animals. Kosovo was a by-product of the amputation/bombing into democracy of Serbia by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; a gangster/narco mini-state useful as the host of Camp Bondsteel, the largest Pentagon base outside of the US. Crimea was part of a legitimate reunification drive to rectify Nikita Khrushchevs idiocy of separating it from Russia. London did not send goons to prevent the referendum in Scotland; an amicable negotiation is in effect. No set rules apply. Neocons screamed in vain when Crimea was reunited with Russia after shedding tears of joy when Kosovo was carved out of Serbia. As for Madrid, a lesson should be learned from Ireland in 1916. In the beginning the majority of the population was against an uprising. But brutal British repression led to the war of independence and the rest is history. After this historic, (relatively) bloody Sunday, more and more Catalans will be asking: If Slovenia and Croatia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the tiny Baltic republics, not to mention even tinier Luxembourg, Cyprus and Malta, can be EU members, why not us? And a stampede might be ahead; Flanders and Wallonia, the Basque country and Galicia, Wales and Northern Ireland. All across the EU, the centralized Eurocrat dream is splintering. Its Catalonia that may be pointing toward a not so brave, but more realistic, new world. This article was originally published by The Asia Times - How Syrias Victory Reshapes Mideast The failure of the U.S.-Israeli-Saudi regime change project in Syria changes the future of the Mideast, possibly ushering in an era of greater secularism and tolerance, writes ex-British diplomat Alastair Crooke. By Alastair Crooke October 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Plainly, Syrias success notwithstanding the caution of President Bashar al-Assad in saying that signs of success are not success itself in resisting, against the odds, all attempts to fell the state suggest that a tipping point in the geopolitics of the region has occurred. We have written before how the Syria outcome dwarfs that of Israels 2006 war against Hezbollah, significant though the result of that war was, too. Both events taken together have brought Americas unipolar moment in the Middle East to an end (though not globally, since the U.S. still retains its necklace of military bases across the region). The successes have corroded badly the reputation of the Gulf States and have discredited fired-up Sunni jihadism as a go-to political tool for Saudi Arabia and its Western backers. But, aside from the geopolitics, the Syria outcome has created a physical connectivity and contiguity that has not existed for some years: the border between Iraq and Iran is open; the border between Syria and Iraq is opening; and the border between Lebanon and Syria, too, is open. This constitutes a critical mass both of land, resources and population of real weight. The region will listen intently to what these victors will have to say about their future vision for the region and for Islam. In particular, how Syria articulates the lessons for Middle Eastern societies in light of its war experience will have a profound import. This discussion has barely begun in Syria, and has not reached a conclusion and may not, for some time; but we can speculate a little. At present, talk is divided between Levantism, which is based in the idea of cultural diversity, such as has existed alongside periodic acute tensions in Lebanon and Syria, and Arab nationalism. The framework for both concepts being understood to be a non-assertive secularism within a state structure, encompassing equality before the law. Arab nationalism looks toward a wide Arab cultural unity, rooted primarily in the Arabic language. Levantism essentially was an Ottoman inheritance. Then (in Ottoman times), there was no Syria (in the sense of a nationstate), but viliyat (Ottoman provinces), which were more like city-states that were permitted a large quota of self-administration and discretion for diverse societies and sects to live in their own cultural and spiritual ways, including the right to speak their individual languages. (Syrian diversity historically represented the legacy of many foreign occupations, with each leaving behind something of their DNA, their cultures and religion). Colonial Strategies Under the subsequent French colonial rule, the colonizers first created separate mini-statelets of these Syrian minorities, but when that policy failed, they reversed into forced unification of Syrias diverse parts (apart from Lebanon), through a stratagem of imposing the French language instead of Arabic; French law instead of the Ottoman law and mores; and of promoting Christianity in order to undercut Islam. Inevitably, this created the pushback that gave Syria its characteristic suspicion of foreign intervention and its determination to recover a vision of what it was to be Syrian. (The French regime-changed Damascus in 1920, 1925, 1926, and 1945, and imposed martial law during most of the pauses in between the coups). But the nationalism, which the French repression had provoked into life, pulled in two different directions: the Muslim Brotherhood, the major Islamic movement, wanted to grasp Syria as a Sunni Islamic state, while, in contrast, the more Westernized urban elites wanted to take Syria as not exactly a separate nation-state but more a part of the whole Arab world, and to be domestically organized as a unified, secular, and at least partly Westernized state. As Patrick Seale noted in The Struggle for Syria: Above all, [for the secular nationalists], disunity had to be overcome. Their answer was to try to bridge the gaps between rich and poor through a modified version of socialism, and between Muslims and minorities through a modified concept of Islam. Islam, in their view, needed to be considered politically not as a religion but as a manifestation of the Arab nation. Thus, the society they wished to create, they proclaimed, should be modern (with, among other things, equality for women), secular (with faith relegated to personal affairs), and defined by a culture of Arabism overriding the traditional concepts of ethnicity. In short, what they sought was the very antithesis of the objectives of the already strong and growing Muslim Brotherhood. And by 1973, in an attempt to square the circle between conservative, assertive Sunnism and the nationalist soft Islam, the fatwa (by a Shii cleric) asserting Hafez al-Assad to be Shii Muslim (rather than heretic as Sunnis viewed all Alawites to be), exploded the situation. (The French brokered constitution required that the head of state be Muslim). A Cycle of Violence The Muslim Brotherhood was beside itself in anger at the designation of then President Hafez Assad as Muslim, and thus began a cycle of bloody violence with organized terrorist attacks on the government, and on al-Assads inner circle and retaliatory attacks by the government which, in effect, is only now coming to a conclusion with the defeat of militant, jihadi Sunnisms attempt to seize the state and to oust the heretic Alawite. The outcome of this iconic struggle has profound regional implications (even if we cannot, now, see how the deliberations about the vision for the future of the Levant will finally conclude). We can say, firstly, Islamism generally is the major loser in the struggle for the Levant. Both in Syria and Iraq, ordinary Levantine Sunnis have been sickened by intolerant, puritan Islam. This orientation of Islam (Wahhabism) that demanded (on pain of death) a linear singularity of meaning to Islam, which asserts its truth from the certainty conveyed from a mechanical, procedural, approach to validating selected sayings of the Prophet Mohammad (known as scientific Salafism), has failed. Armed jihadism has failed to leverage this linear singularity as the idea with which to crush the polyvalent Levantine model and replace it with a rigid, monovalent literalism. Just to be clear, it is not just the non-Muslims and the minority Sunni and Shii sects who have had enough of it: Sunni Syrians and Iraqis, more generally, have too (especially after the experience of Raqaa and Mosul). The public reaction to the Wahhabi interventions in both nations is likely to push Sunni Islam firstly to embrace polyvalence in Islam more tightly (even to the extent, possibly, of looking to Iran and its mode of being as a possible model); and secondly, to embrace further the Arab secular way, too. In short, one fallout may be a more secular style of Islam, in contrast to the Muslim Brotherhoods emphasis on external, visible, exclusionary, identity politics. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter But, if the Syrian and Iraqi nationalist Islamic impulse is over, what of the other double aspect to Syria its legacy of Levantine diversity and polyvalence versus the secular nationalist perspective that diversity constitutes a primary cause of national weakness. And which sees its primary task as that of integrating the population into a single political and social structure. Israels New Scheme Well, much in this latter respect will hang on Washington: the French colonists leveraged the Syrian minorities against the Syrian majority (in the French interest). And now America seems intent with Israel pushing hard from behind to leverage the Kurds against the Syrian State (in the interest of limiting the extent of Iranian presence within Syria, and even to try to break the contiguity between Iraq and Syria). That latter prospect seems unlikely. The U.S.-Israeli Kurdish project in Syria may fail, as Kurds (much less concentrated in northeastern Syria than they are in northern Iraq), conclude that it would be better and wiser to come to terms with Moscow (and therefore find some modus vivendi with Damascus), rather than trusting to the constancy of American promises of autonomy amid the almost universal regional hostility to this high-risk independence project. Ultimately, it must be obvious to the Kurds that it is Russia (and Iran) that represent the incoming tide into the northern tier states. The Syrian Kurds never were in the Masoud Barzani camp and long have had working relations with the Syrian army and Russian forces (versus ISIS), during the conflict. It seems, in any event, that the U.S. main focus is shifting away from Syria to Iraq, as the locus in which they hope to push back against Iran. Again, the prospects there for the U.S. to achieve this aim are poor (Iran is well dug in) and if mishandled, the Kurdish independence project easily could spin into violence and region-wide instability. Barzanis leadership is not secure (the Turks are livid at his double-cross of pretending that the referendum was only to strengthen his negotiating hand with Baghdad). And the risk of wider conflict, were Barzani to be removed from power, would be contingent on who ultimately succeeded to the leadership. In sum, the U.S.-Israeli Kurdish project seems paradoxically more likely forcefully to strengthen the nationalist impulse across the Levant, Turkey and Iran and to make it more assertive but not in the old way: there is no going back to the status quo ante in Syria. The processes of de-escalation and reconciliation facilitated by Russia in and of themselves will change fundamentally the politics of Syria. A Shift Toward Diversity If in the past, politics was top-down, it will now be bottom-up. This is where we see something of a synthesis taking place between Levantism and nationalism. The needs of local politics, in all its diversity, will be much more the future drivers of politics. One can see already that this shift to bottom-up politics is already becoming apparent in Iraq, too. (Again, it has been accelerated by the war against the extreme jihadism of ISIS, but now may become further energized by Kurdish claims to disputed Iraqi territories.) In some respects, the ground in Iraq the mobilization of the people against these reactionary armed movements is running ahead of, and away from the Iraqi political leadership, be it political or religious. The unrest may grow, and the government any government will have to bend to pressures from their base. The Western leveraging of minorities against the state now the Kurds has already had a major geostrategic impact: that of bringing Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran into close political and military alliance in order to stop this Kurdish project from materializing and dissolving the outlines of major states, precisely at their most sensitive juncture. Essentially, this represents another case where the interests of Israel do not coincide with those of Europe or America. The pursuit of this Kurdish project is empowering an alliance including a major NATO state that will be explicitly hostile to these American aims (though this does not imply any increase of hostility to the Kurds as a people though that too may result). The alienation of these states would hardly seem to be in the Western interest, but nonetheless, this is what is occurring. And finally, the fallout from the Syria conflict has prompted the northern tier states to Look East as President Assad recently instructed his diplomats so to do. For Iran it may be primarily to China (as well as to Russia), but for Syria, it is more likely to be Russia in a predominantly cultural way, with China seeing Syria as an important node in its Belt & Road Initiative. This represents a historic shift in the Middle East. Western officials may imagine that they have a hold over Syria by holding reconstruction funding hostage to having their way with Syrias future: if this is so, they will as wrong about this as they have been on almost everything pertaining to Syria. Alastair Crooke is a former British diplomat who was a senior figure in British intelligence and in European Union diplomacy. He is the founder and director of the Conflicts Forum. This article was originally published by Consortium News - Ron Paul: Anti-Russia Campaign Stems From Bias and Desire to Limit Free Speech Watch The people who promote this witch hunt do not care about what [the former US presidential candidate] Hillary [Clinton] was doing and they are very biased against the Trump campaign, Paul said, adding that he believes that the real problem lies precisely in this bias. October 02, 2017 He also said that the Washington lawmakers involved in Russia-bashing close their eyes to repeated meddling by the US in the internal affairs and electoral processes in many other countries. I would like our government to talk about our involvement in campaigns, most recently in Ukraine, [where] we participated in a coup, the former Congressman said. So far, they have not shown me the ad that was pro-Trump and was paid for by the Russian government, the politician said, referring to the fact that, after 10 months of investigating, the US authorities still failed to find any solid evidence of collusion with Moscow by Donald Trump or his campaign team. The anti-Russian hysteria was stirred up in the US to draw peoples attention away from real problems, Paul said, adding that he is more concerned about a crisis in US relations with Russia as well as US actions in Syria. He also denounced the anti-Russian campaign as fearmongering. The former politician said the hundreds of thousands of dollars that Russia allegedly spent on social media ads to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election are just a small amount of money in comparison to the billions that are usually spent on the campaigns."He added that control over the media eventually plays a more important role than money. Trump infuriated US media outlets because he switched to Twitter, breaking their information monopoly in the process as well as the ability to portray anyone, who does not play into the hands of the establishment, as someone who has to be stopped, Paul said. Turning to the accusations leveled against RT by some US officials, Paul said CNN [also] has access to other countries and they do things similar to [what RT does], and they are involved in other countries [public life]. That is what happens when the empires feel that they are challenged, the politician pointed out, adding that the authorities in the US are very determined to control the information. Paul (R-Texas) served in the US House of Representatives for over 20 years, and ran three times for the GOP's presidential nomination, most recently in 2012. Reprinted with permission from RT America . No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter North Korea Would Be Stupid to Trust the U.S. By Jacob G. Hornberger October 02, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - To many mainstream pundits, the solution to the crisis in Korea is for U.S. officials to sit down and talk to North Korea in the hopes of negotiating a mutually beneficial agreement. While it wont guarantee that a deal will be worked out, they say, talking is the only chance there is to resolve the crisis. They ignore an important point: Any deal that would be reached would involve trusting the U.S. government to keep its end of the bargain. And trusting the U.S. government would be the stupidest thing North Korea could ever do. Thats because as soon as U.S. officials found it advantageous, they would break the deal and pounce on North Korea, with the aim of achieving the regime change they have sought ever since the dawn of the Cold War more than 70 years ago. Look at what U.S. officials did to Libya. Its dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, agreed to give up his nuclear-weapons program in return for regime security. That turned out to be stupid move. As soon as U.S. officials saw an opening, they pounced with a regime-change operation. Today, Qaddafi is dead and Libya is in perpetual crisis and turmoil. That wouldnt have happened if Qaddafi had a nuclear deterrent to a U.S. regime-change operation. Look at what U.S. officials are doing to Iran. They entered into a deal in which the U.S. government agreed to lift its brutal system of sanctions, which has brought untold suffering to the Iranian people, in return for Irans abandoning its nuclear-weapons program. After the deal was reached and Iran had complied, U.S. officials broke their side of the deal by refusing to lift their brutal system of sanctions and even imposing more sanctions. U.S. officials also now looking for any excuse or justification for getting out of the deal to which they agreed. Even longtime partners and allies of the U.S. government can never be certain that the Empire wont suddenly turn against them. Look at what happened to the U.S. governments loyal partner and ally Saddam Hussein. U.S. officials worked closely with him during the 1980s to kill Iranians. But when Saddam invaded Kuwait to settle a oil-drilling dispute, U.S. officials went after him with a vengeance, and notwithstanding the fact that, prior to Iraqs invasion of Kuwait, they had falsely indicated to Saddam their indifference to his dispute with Kuwait. Result? Today Saddam is dead, and the U.S. government succeeded in achieving regime change in Iraq. Look at Syria, which for a time served as a loyal partner and ally of the U.S. government, as reflected by the secret agreement to torture Canadian citizen Mahar Arar on behalf of U.S. officials and report their findings back to the CIA. Later, U.S. officials turned on Assads ruler, Bashar al-Assad, in a regime-change operation. Unfortunately, this is not a new phenomenon. Recall the countless agreements that U.S. officials made in the 1800s with Native Americans. U.S. officials were notorious for breaking them once it became advantageous to do so. Native Americans were entirely justified in accusing U.S. officials of speaking with a forked tongue. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter If you were a North Korean, would you trust U.S. officials? Would you give up the one thing that is deterring a U.S. regime-change operation in return for a promise from U.S. officials that they would not initiate a regime-change operation? That would really be a really stupid thing to do, from the standpoint of North Korea. As soon as the U.S. government found it advantageous to break the deal and invade North Korea, engage in another state-sponsored assassination, or impose a new round of regime-change sanctions, they would do it. Talking to North Korea will do no good because North Korea will never trust the United States to fulfill its part of any deal that is worked out. There is but one solution to the crisis in Korea: withdraw all U.S. forces from that part of the world immediately and bring them home. Anything less will only continue the crisis or, even worse, result in a very deadly and destructive war. Jacob G. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University of Texas. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. This article was originally published by Future of Freedom Foundation - It was all round tears, for residents of Bola Oyewo Street, Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos State, on Sunday after two siblings identified as Olawale Akingbesote aged 4 and his brother, A desire, aged 2. were killed in a fire incident. According to an eye-witness reports, the deceased, their elder brother and their mother were together around 9 pm on Saturday, the mother went out to buy some items in the neighbourhood after the children had gone to sleep. She was said to have lit a candle to illuminate the apartment before leaving as there was the power outage. It was told that while the mother was away, the candle burnt down and consumed a table it was placed on. It later spread to the clothes beside the table. It was learnt that firefighters from the Lagos State Fire Service, officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and policemen from the Iju Police Division responded to distress calls from residents, but the two kids had died before help could come their way. The unnamed elder brother was, however, rescued with the support of the residents, while the fire was eventually put out. A resident, Moshood Ibrahim, said the fire had spread to other parts of the room before a neighbour became aware and raised the alarm. He stated that the distraught mother and the survivor had temporarily relocated to a relatives house. He said, Their mother went out that evening to quickly get some items on the street, but she returned late. The candle had burnt to some level before she left home. Her thinking was that she would come back early. She did not put out the candle fire because she did not want the children to sleep in a dark room. Their father was not around. Two of the children were suffocated by the fumes, but their elder brother was rescued and rushed to a hospital. Everybody was devastated by the incident. An emergency official, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the survivor was rescued behind the apartment door. He should be about eight years old. He managed to force his way from the fire into the back of the door, where we rescued him, he added. The Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Mr Rasaq Fadipe, confirmed the fire and the deaths. He said, When we arrived at the scene, the fire was still on in the room where the kids lost their lives. The information we gathered was that the mother went out and the father was not around as well. The two kids were inside the room and the candle was alight. It was the candle that caused the inferno. We were able to rescue one of the children and saved other rooms from being affected by the fire. It happened around 9.30pm and our fire station at Agege responded to the emergency. Fadipe stated that the agency also responded to fire incidents at a one-storeyed building on Wole Bamiduro Street in the Ahmadiyya area of the state, as well as a bungalow on Oseni Liadi Street, in the Okota area of the state. No casualty was recorded in the two incidents. We urge residents to discontinue the use of candles at homes. It is very delicate and has been consuming lives. There are rechargeable lamps and torches that are cheap and risk-free. I want to admonish politicians, who have been carrying out series of empowerment programme, to include torches and rechargeable lamps in the materials they have been providing for the populace. This will go a long way in preventing loss of lives and property. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) Troops of the Nigerian military were advised by President Muhammadu Buhari that they would be the biggest losers if Nigeria should disintegrate as being canvassed by some groups and individuals. He, therefore, asked the military men to stand firm because the countrys security was in their hands and the hands of God. This was confirmed in a statement According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke when he marked the National Independence Day in Maiduguri, Borno State, the epicentre of the Boko Haram terrorism and insurgency, to honour the courage and sacrifices of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The ceremony, which was said to be marked with a display of military hardware and a show of air power by the Nigerian Air Force, took place at the Maimalari Military Cantonment which houses the headquarters of the Theatre Command, Operation Lafiya Dole. You must stand firm for your country. The centre is determined to hold. You must be loyal to the centre. If Nigeria breaks, you are the first line of losers; so you must stand firm for yourselves and for the country. The security of the country is in your hands and in the hands of God, the President said. Speaking after inspecting the military guard of honour, Buhari praised the gallantry of the Armed Forces for the successes recorded in defeating terrorism in the North-East and lawlessness in the Niger Delta and gave assurances that the countrys Armed Forces would be equipped with the best the country could afford. Under his leadership, there will be resources as much as the country can afford to support your operations. As long as you live and are in service, your rights will be guarded jealousy, the President said. He asked members of the three arms of the military to return the gesture by being steadfast and loyal. The President reiterated an earlier warning in his Independence Day broadcast that the country would not break up under his watch and dismissed those agitating for its division as dreamers who were not born when the country went through a debilitating civil war in which two million lives were lost. Those who are making noise were not born, so they dont know what we went through. They dont know. I like to remind you that whatever happens, you are at the front line of the defence of the citizens wherever they live. This administration is prepared to protect all citizens residing in all parts of the country, he added. Buhari also commended the fortitude of the wounded-in-action soldiers who were receiving treatment. He wished them quick recovery when he met them in a special tent. He also inspected newly-acquired military equipment and those refurbished put on display as well as some of the new acquisitions of the Nigerian Air Force that included night-vision Mi 35 attack helicopters. In his welcome speech at the ceremony, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, commended the President for showing a lot of care for the Armed Forces. He assured Buhari that the countrys military would continue to be loyal to the administration and expressed their readiness to guarantee the sovereignty of the nation and the security of its people. The CDS said the visit by the President would boost the spirit of the Armed Forces, assuring him that with better morale, they would fight better. The President was joined in cutting the anniversary cake by the Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari; Olonisakin; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadiq; Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas; Theatre Commander, Gen. Ibrahim Attahir; and the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Umar Garbai el-Kanemi. Sunday was the first time such ceremonies will take place outside the nations capital. Meanwhile, the usual Presidential Change of Guard Parade that the Federal Government had been organising since 2011 to mark the nations Independence anniversary did not hold on Sunday. The parade featuring soldiers attached to the Brigade of Guards normally holds at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The event usually features a military parade, change of guard, 21-gun salute, signing of anniversary register, the release of pigeons and cutting of anniversary cake. Members of the diplomatic corps and captains of industry always join top government officials at such event. Although there was no official reason for not holding the event this year, Buhari joined the nations service chiefs in Maiduguri, Borno State to celebrate the anniversary with troops fighting terrorists in the area. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) The Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ) has urged Nigerians to continue to live together in peace, bearing in mind, the sacrifices of past leaders aiming at keeping the country together must not be in vain. This was said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday to commemorate the 57 years of Nigerias independence from the British. The spokesperson for the PDP, Dayo Adeyeye, who signed the statement, called on Nigerians to always reflect on the pillars that unite them together. He said, The Peoples Democratic Party rejoices with Nigerians as the nation clocks 57 years of gaining her independence in 1960 from the British colonial rule. As we celebrate 57 years of nationhood today, being October 1, 2017, we must all as a people pay tributes to the sacrifices of our past heroes and urge our government, traditional, religious, political and opinion leaders at different levels to continue working for the unity, peace and progress of this great country. This is indeed the clarion call for Nigerians to obey. Irrespective of the First Republic taken off on an unstable ground due to some political exigencies that consequently led to the Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970, Nigeria had in the recent past recorded giant strides in her efforts to stand among the comity of nations on social, economic, political and democratic governance. We, therefore, call on all Nigerians to use this occasion of the 57th Independence anniversary to reflect deeply on the pillars that brought us together and work for the growth, unity and stability of our dear country for our general good. Finally, we want to use this opportunity to call on governments at all levels to engage citizens in peaceful and progressive national issues because there is no country we can call our own except the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) Four lecturers of the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, who were abducted by Boko Haram in the Magumeri area of Borno State during an oil exploration have spent 69 days in captivity. This is just as the Defence Heaquarters, Abuja, said the military was still making efforts to rescue the lecturers. The Director, Defence Information, Maj. Gen. John Enenche, said on Sunday that intelligence was still being processed to bring the victims back and alive. The lecturers had been abducted on Tuesday, July 25. No fewer than 48 persons were killed by Boko Haram during the exploration to the Lake Chad Basin area on that Tuesday. Sources at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, where the corpses were brought, had revealed that the deceased included 18 soldiers, 15 civilian Joint Task Force members, five workers of the university and four drivers with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. One of the abducted lecturers, identified as Dr Solomon Yusuf, had on September 5, reportedly written a letter to his wife, Hannatu, from the terrorists den which was obtained by an online medium, Sahara Reporters. He lamented their anguish in captivity and urged the Federal Government to free them from the terrorists. But the DHQ spokesman, Enenche, said the military was being careful, saying Boko Haram might use the lecturers as human shields. He said, Efforts are on. When we get information, we convert it to intelligence. The ultimate is that the Federal Government and the military are doing as much as possible to ensure that these people come out alive. Source: ( Punch Newspaper) Over 20 people were confirmed dead in a shooting that outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino after a gunman unloaded hundreds of rounds of ammo on a Las Vegas country music festival on Sunday night. Eye witnesses said shots were fired from an elevated hotel position. More than 100 people were wounded, there were 30,000 people in attendance at the event. The Strip has been completely shut down after the sniper opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay resort and casino, located across a junction from the event. Police confirmed that one suspect had been killed, and said at 12:38 am that they believed there were no more shooters. Its not clear how many shooters there had been. Those listening to police scanners reported that the shooter was killed after cops breached a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay. SWAT teams were seen heading towards the resort in armoured vehicles earlier. Police said they are also seeking a woman they named as Marilou Danley, described as a companion of the suspect. According to LVMPD Sheriff Joe Lombardo, Off-duty police officers are among the dead. Their identities have not been released. Two police officers are also being treated for injuries with one officer in critical condition and the other has minor injuries. There had been reports of other incidents at different locations along the Las Vegas strip, but police say they believe the dead suspect acted alone. University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said the Las Vegas hospital is taking in several people with gunshot wounds, adding that 14 of the wounded were in a critical condition. Many hotels on the Las Vegas strip close to the scene remain on lockdown. Parts of Las Vegas Boulevard were shut as armed police arrived at the scene of the attack. People have been sheltering in hotels, restaurants and at Las Vegas McCarran airport. Some flights were diverted after news of the incident. Source: ( Linda Ikeji ) Former governor of Kaduna State, Mouktar Muhammed, is dead, the deceased who was a retired air vice marshal, died on Sunday evening. The news of the death was announced by the younger brother of the deceased, Faruk Dalhatu. Mr. Dalhatu, who described the deceased as patriarch of the Dalhatu family gave the cause of his death as cancer. The retired military officer was the first governor of Kaduna State after its creation in 1977 by the military administration of Olusegun Obasanjo. He had earlier served as the Minister of Housing, Urban Development and Environment from 1976 to 1977, following the coup that brought Murtala Mohammed to power, in which he played a role. Mr. Muhammed was famously head of one of the military tribunals that tried second republic politicians suspected of corruption under the military administration of Muhammadu Buhari, from1983 to 1985. Many of those politicians were sentenced to decades in prison. On toppling Mr. Buhari in 1985, Mr. Muhammed had a short-lived stay in the coming Ibrahim Babangida regime, due to his disagreement with the palace coup that ousted Mr. Buhari. From 2002, he spearheaded activities of The Buhari Organisation, TBO, a political group that championed the aspiration of Mr. Buhari to become Nigerias civilian president. He was, last year, named as chairman of the governing council of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Until his death, Mr. Muhammed, who held the title of Wazirin Dutse was deputy chairman of the Board of Trustees of Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF. Source: ( Premium Times ) A suspected leader of a cult group terrorising residents of the Iyana Ipaja area of the state has been arrested by operatives of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental and Special Offences (Enforcement The suspect identified as, Franklin Anyawu of Oremeji Street, Iyana Ipaja, was also reportedly caught with bags of cannabis. PUNCH Metro learnt that Anyawu was arrested along with 75 miscreants during raids on black spots in the Iyana Ipaja and Oshodi areas on Saturday. Anyawu was said to have confessed to the police that he was the ringleader of a cult, Omije Boys. The Head, Public Affairs Unit of the agency, Mr Taofiq Adebayo, said the gang was notorious for dispossessing members of the public of their items. He (Anyawu) confessed to selling illicit drugs to miscreants and hoodlums around Oshodi, Fadeyi, Idi-Oro (Mushin) and Bariga. Another suspect, Olumide Sanni, 19, who specialises in snatching bags and phones from innocent members around Railway lines at Oshodi, was arrested. Operatives of the agency had arrested him three times for criminal activities around Oshodi. He has made a confessional statement. The two suspects are among the 76 miscreants and hoodlums arrested by the agency during an enforcement operation tagged, Eradication of Criminal Hideouts, carried out at midnight, he said. Adebayo explained that the Chairman of the agency, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi, had been directed by the state Commissioner of Police, Legal Imohimi, to crack down on criminal hideouts and black spots in the state. He said, The chairman listed areas to be raided, as directed by the CP, to include Egbe-Idimu, Iyana-Ipaja (Abule-Oki and Car Wash), Ikotun, Mushin, Bariga, Apapa, Orile-Agege, Ajegunle, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, Oshodi, Pen-Cinema, Berger, Oyingbo, Mile 2, Fadeyi and Ojuelegba. SP Egbeyemi stated that government would not fold its arms and watch criminals destroying huge investment already expended on infrastructural development across the state. He said the Commissioner of Police had warned parents to always monitor their wards particularly during and after the ember months as anyone caught engaging in any criminal act such as selling or smoking illicit drugs, rape, robbery, cultism or any other nefarious activities would be prosecuted in accordance with the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Law. The chairman enjoined criminal elements to turn a new leaf and get themselves meaningfully engaged in vocational skills such as tailoring, carpentry, shoe-making and bead-making at any of the government established vocational centres in the state. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) Harrison Okri, aka Harrysong, has had a really busy year. From releasing hit songs to leaving his former record label, he has also been a staple in the news. Some days ago, a former producer signed to Five Star Music, Dr. Amir, went on social media to claim that he had filed a lawsuit against Harrysong for stealing his song, Samankwe. He also claimed that Kcee illegally released a song he produced, Afro Shake. In a chat with Sunday Scoop, Harrysong, dismissed and described Dr. Amirs claims as a mere publicity stunt. Dr. Amir is just looking for relevance, but he is going about it in the wrong way. Earlier in the week, he called me and said he wanted to stir up controversy with my name. Immediately, I sounded a word of caution but he didnt listen. He claims to have sued me, but as I speak, I have not been served with any court papers. I do not even want to dignify whatever he is doing, but I just have to set the record straight. I even have a screenshot of the text message he sent to me, in which he was begging, as proof. I think he should go for a proper brain scan. With what he has done, he has betrayed our friendship, and I am also going to take him to court, he said. On his part, Dr. Amir maintained that he had a pending case in court against Harrysong. Is that what Harrysong told you? If that was his response, then you should go ahead and publish it. All I can say is that Im not joking about this matter at all; it is not a publicity stunt. If he has not received any court papers, maybe his management has not given it to him. And I dont even know whether he is saying the truth, or lying that he has not gotten the court papers. Source: Punch A blazing fire has broken out inside a hostel, leaving as many as five farm workers lying dead in its devastating wake. As many as five persons identified as vegetable market and farm workers have been killed Monday on when a fire swept through their hostel. The regional emergency service said the sad incident occurred in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia. According to Agence France Presse, AFP, four other residents, including an eight-year-old child, were rescued and taken to hospital. This building was once a bakery complex. It was decommissioned in 2011 and not used again until 2016, when the owner turned it into an unregistered hostel for local workers, said Yuliya Barysheva, a spokeswoman for the regional emergencies service. Barysheva told AFP that the building was located near a vegetable market. All the hostel residents worked either in the market or on nearby farms. Barysheva said it remained unclear how many people were inside the building at the time of the fire or what sparked the deadly accident, adding that an investigation was underway. Zaporizhia is located some 150 kilometres (95 miles) west of an area that has seen Russian-backed forces wage war against government forces for over three years. The conflict has claimed more than 10,000 lives. Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has urged Nigerians to remain as one big family, adding that there was more to gain in being together as one nation. Ambode, at a special thanksgiving service to commemorate Nigerias 57th Independence Day anniversary at Lagos House Chapel in Alausa, Ikeja, said the countrys diversity made it a special place. The governor said, That we still have a country we can call Nigeria today is a proof of the divine hands of God in our being together as one. We have more to gain as one nation than as different independent entities. While noting the prosperity and growth that Lagos had witnessed, the governor said he was concerned that most of the states of the federation were struggling to survive. He said, We cannot, however, be satisfied in a situation where many other states are struggling to survive. It is in our interest that the wind of prosperity blows across the length and breadth of our nation. In his sermon, the pastor in charge of Province 36 of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Tunde Netufo, spoke on the theme, Gods Greatness in Our Land, urging Nigerians to love like never before and eschew bitterness, corruption and every form of evil. Source: ( Punch Neewspaper ) Former Governor of Abia State, Uzor Orji Kalu has stated that leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu rejected the advice he (Kalu) gave him (Kanu) while he was in Kuje prison. The former governor said instead of heeding his advice to shun the struggle and embrace peace, the IPOB leader kept on organizing boys who raped girls, and establishing secret cults. This is part of an interview Kanu, now a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, had with Punch. He said, I spoke with Nnamdi Kanu in the prison and gave him quality advice. I counselled him to embrace peace and agree with whatever terms that will set him free. I also warned him against allowing his boys to be displaying Biafra flags, coat of arms, organising parades, establishing secret security service, and mounting a guard of honour. I told him that by doing all these, his group had subdued the sovereignty of Nigeria and are therefore looking for trouble. No government on earth including the United States will allow any group to be championing the cause of dividing their country. I believe most sincerely that with the situation on ground today, majority of the Igbo do not agree on the issue of Biafra as a separate country. I have heard some elite, including professors who are saying that they want Biafra but they should know that there is no way such agitation can be achieved under the law. There is no section of the Nigerian constitution where you have restructuring. There is no section that spells out the process for dividing the country. All those things are alien to the constitution. If willingly, we want to talk about constitutional amendment, then people can bring up various issues. Today, the creation of Biafra Republic is not feasible. The (Indigenous People of Biafra) boys have the right to express themselves but they do not have any right to engage in destruction of property, raping women or setting up a Biafran intelligence service. No country will allow that to happen. I am an Igbo man before being a Nigerian and I have no regrets being an Igbo man. I have lived outside Igbo land so I understand Nigeria. I sincerely want to say and maintain what I have said earlier that Biafra as a country is not an issue now. The issue is for the Nigerian government to give us justice and fairness. When some Igbo people cry of marginalisation, I tell them that if they go to other parts of the country, the people there are also crying because the story is the same. There is a wall between the rich and the poor. We dont have any war of dialect or language. The rich people should start having a human face so that we can move the nation forward. I will not tell you a lie. Nnamdi Kanu did not agree with me at all on my views about his activities. I did most of the talking throughout the two hours and ten minutes that I stayed with him. I told him many stories about life especially some of the stories that the Ikemba Nnewi (Odimegwu Ojukwu) told me when he was alive and also explained lot of things to him based on my experience in life but didnt agree with me. I had to cut short my journey when I heard what was happening between his boys and the military. I returned to the country on September 14 and came straight to Abia State on the 15th to make sure that we talked to the IPOB boys so that they would stop what they were doing and allow peace to reign. Source PUNCH The Indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) have responded to former Abia state governor, Orji Uzor Kalus recent interview where he made claims about their leader, Nnamdi Kanu. The Abia State governor had claimed in the interview that the IPOB Leader fled to London via Malaysia over fear of his safety during the Operation Python Dance exercise recently carried out by the Nigerian Military in Abia state. He also claimed he spoke to Nnamdi Kanus family members who revealed to him that the outspoken IPOB leader was safe and sound in London, also saying he advised Kanu to quit his secessionist movement while he was in prison and the Igbos should rather work to bring out an Igbo president rather than create their own country. Now the IPOB group have in a powerful statement by its publicity secretary, Emma Powerful, doubted Orji Uzor Kalus paternity, saying he never spoke to any of Kanus relatives while also threatening to drag the former Abia governor alongside the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai to court over the disappearance of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. The statement read: It has come to the knowledge of the worldwide family of IPOB and its leadership concerning the wild and widely reported comments of Orji Uzor Kalu regarding the whereabouts of our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. This man Orji Uzor Kalu have again made claims that could only classify him as either mentally unstable or beholden to the Fulani caliphate interest, to the extent that he has almost lost his senses. IPOB through her lawyers will compel Orji Uzor Kalu to appear in court alongside Buratai on the October 17, 2017 to tell the world, under oath, what he claims to know about the whereabouts of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. His laughable assertion that the IPOB leader is in London is confirmation that all along he has been working in tandem with Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, Willie Obiano, Rochas Okprocha and others to slaughter as many IPOB family members as possible in order to please the core North. In the second republic, men like Orji Uzor Kalu would only be found useful as a political thug. That a man that have spent his entire fraudulent life lying, deceiving and running errands for his Hausa Fulani Islamic caliphate masters made this laughable outburst is not entirely unexpected. We expect many more compromised Efulefus to follow suit in the coming days. After all selling collective Igbo interest and by extension that of Biafra has been their hallmark all their political lives. It didnt start today but their era is coming to an end. Biafrans are now well accustomed to Hausa Fulani errand boys euphemistically referred to as Igbo leaders coming out once in a while to condemn what is in the collective interest of the people. They have no qualms about conniving with Hausa Fulani Islamic soldiers to kill and maim their own people as long as their meaningless and fake status of Igbo leader is left intact. Only a man without honour, a clearly definable paternal lineage as tradition demands and devoid of honour will spout such unfounded uncorroborated nonsense in the hope of letting Buratai off the hook for the abominable atrocities his soldiers committed in connection with the disappearance of our leader when his home was raided on the 14th of September 2017. Both the United Kingdom and Malaysia are civilised countries and not as corrupt as Nigeria, where there is no accurate record of migration in and out of the country. What Orji Uzor Kalu is saying in essence is that United Kingdom government officials are lying when they rightfully demanded the whereabouts of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. For the information of those who may have fallen for the bare faced lies of Orji Uzor Kalu, United Kingdom is an island nation surrounded by water and near impossible to enter without being documented. If our leader is in the UK their government will not bother demanding he be produced by the Buhari regime. Lying it seems runs deep in APC. It is not right to apportion blame to Orji Uzor Kalu alone but to the entire people of South East and Abia State in particular for allowing such a shamelessly proud Hausa Fulani slave to rise to political prominence. There is no other more humiliating indictment of the an entire race than that of a man who in traditional Igbo setting would not be allowed to speak in public, suddenly rose to political prominence in a land brimming with academic brilliance and excellence in every field of human endeavor. There seems to be an ongoing battle among so-called political leaders in Biafraland as to who will emerge the anointed son of the Fulani caliphate. Any right thinking person, aware of the dubious upbringing of Orji Uzor Kalu and his fraudulent paternity claim against the famous businessman Nnanna Kalu, a man that publicly denied him, should dismiss his latest antics as another calculated attempt to endear himself more to his Hausa Fulani Islamic handlers. The question Orji Uzor Kalu must answer is this, if indeed you are Nnanna Kalus son, why do you tell people you come from Igbere when the man you fraudulently claim is your father is not from there. Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before his abduction by Nigerian Army has brought an end to the era of cash and carry politics politics of subservience to Hausa Fulani to the detriment of Biafra. That was why he flatly rejected your monetary offer to him to compromise his uncompromising stance on Biafra restoration. Thankfully today you have told the world that Nnamdi Kanu cannot be bought. The politics of selling the interest of the East to the North is why all Hausa Fulani stooges in government houses across the South East ganged up with their Hausa Fulani masters to kill Nnamdi Kanu and proscribe IPOB. Their wish having come through, they are now lining up to exonerate the military because they know their names will be mentioned as accomplices to mass murder of IPOB family members. Orji Uzor Kalu and his co-conspirators must await the fury of the people which is slowly building up. The same way Romans rose against the murderous Brutus and his gang that slayed the popular Julius Ceasar, so will the mob in Biafraland descend on all traitors in no distant time. Planning and executing the mass murder of IPOB members including our leader and looking to cover up your complicity with bare faced lies, will expose and render Orji Uzor Kalu inconsequential and expose him for the Hausa Fulani slave he truly is. The masses will set an example with the likes of Orji Uzor Kalu, Okezie Ikpeazu and Willie Obiano in no distant time that other quislings like them may learn. We have formally instructed our attorneys to add the name of Orji Uzor Kalu as one of those who might help in locating of our leader. He should be prepared to present his evidence in a court of law and be cross examined under oath. The surviving members of Kanu family have all denied ever talking to the lying Orji Uzor Kalu about the whereabouts of our leader, so he should be prepared to mount the witness box because his lies have gone on for far too long. The police in Cross Rivers State have aressted one Micheal Edet who raped a female serving corp member in the State. According to reports the suspect broke into the victims home in Ekpri-Obutong in the Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State. Southern City News learnt that the incident happened on Friday at about 11pm at Block A6, Obutong Estate in Ekpri-Obutong when the residents were fast asleep. One of the victims neighbours, who craved anonymity, said the suspect broke into the house of the corps member at about 11pm on Friday and allegedly raped her before carting away her valuables, including phones and cash. She said; As you can see, these houses dont have burglar-proof bars. It is just the glass and anyone can enter at any time. We live in a very dangerous environment and we have been facing serious security challenges in this estate. This is not the first time they are raping women in this place. It is quite unfortunate that this time, it is a visitor (corps member) that was the victim. We learnt that she had been moved to Calabar because as we speak, she is still in shock. But we are also happy that the police did a good job by apprehending the culprit. We believe that justice will be served. Also, another corps member, who did not want his name mentioned, told Southern City News that his colleague recognised the suspect because he stayed for close to 30 minutes in her house. She told us that she recognised the suspects voice and the shoes he wore, but she is still in shock about what happened to her. She was glad he has been arrested, he said. A police source said the suspect went into hiding after recognising that he had been recognised, adding that he was eventually apprehended at Akpabuyo. The police said the suspect was a popular petroleum dealer in the area with a wife who recently put to bed. When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, confirmed the incident, adding that the suspect had been arrested and was already in the police custody. She said, It is true. We have arrested the suspect and he has been identified by his victim as the person who broke into his house that fateful night. Also, the PRO in charge of the state NYSC, Abdullahi Yuguda, said, We applaud the role played by security agencies in Bakassi, which led to the arrest of the culprit. The NYSC will not relent until justice is done. -Southern City News Constitutional Lawyer and Human Rights Activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome says that the 57th Independence day speech given by President Buhari in a Nationwide broadcast yesterday October 1st, showed his fixated perceived hatred for the Igbos. In a statement released yesterday, Ozekhome said he listened to the speech given by President Buhari and he found no emotions towards the Igbo race. According to him, President Buharis speech was un-presidential and un-reconciliatory. He said President Buhari failed to condemn the activities of the herdsmen in his speech. His statement which he titled President Muhammadu Buharis National Day Broadcast: Yet Another Golden Opportunity Lost, reads; The entire national day broadcast by PMB on the occasion of Nigerias 57th independence is quite disappointing in all ramifications. It was very un-presidential and un-reconciliatory. PMB left the real issues and pursued trifles. The speech was bereft of nobility of statesmanship and devoid of a calm grasp and appraisals of the dire straits Nigeria is currently in. The broadcast was rabidly narcissist, parochial, nepotic and clannish, as it failed to see anything wrong with the blatant and well-reported threats by the Arewa youths to quit fellow Nigerians from their domains. The speech followed his now well worn out fixation of perceived hatred for the Igbo race, whose leadership he needlessly scurilized and lampooned, for allegedly being behind IPOB and other agitations. I doubt and didnt hear him mention anything about gun-wielding herdsmen that literally vanquish citizens in their own homesteads across Nigeria. The President celebrated mediocrity and edified his governments non-performance two and half years down the line. I genuinely wondered if he was discussing the same country, Nigeria, that I am in, or another utopian planet Mars. The beautiful picture of a peaceful country he painted so glowingly and artistically with the paintbrush of breathless satisfaction is quite different from the stark reality on the ground, which every beleaguered Nigerian labours under. His speech writers either wallowed in utopian mystic of redemptive messianism, or in crass fraud and grand deception. But, Nigerians are no fools. Did I hear PMB say this is the first time a government at the Centre is losing the governorship, senatorial and Houses of Assemblys elections to the opposite at the state level? No sir, wrong. Whoever gave Mr. President this false electoral history has done him incalculable disservice and great damage and ridicule. Few examples: Remember Ondo state (Labour Party), Osun and Edo states (AC), Anambra (APGA), etc? Not only did the ruling PDP party lose the elections to those opposition parties, the then President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan actually rolled out the drums and congratulated the new governors, Senators and House members. Peter Obi won the Anambra state governorship election in 2010 for the second time on the platform of APGA. Obasanjo was President at the Centre under the PDP party, just as Bola Tinubu won the Lagos state governorship seat twice under AD and ACN, with Obasanjo as president under PDP at the Centre. Buhari lost yet another golden opportunity to balm bruised nationalities ego and cement Nigerias yawning cleavages, hate and divisiveness. Must everything be predicated on falsehood, force, threats and gunboat diplomacy, viet armis? It didnt ever work. When he applied such excessive force and threats to the Niger Delta militants, I counseled then it would not work. The marginalized youth picked up the gauntlet, serially blew up oil pipelines, tore up Nigerias oil jugular into smithereens. Crude oil output plummeted to about 700 thousand barrels per day from 1.5m barrels. It took the then Acting President Yemi Osibanjos shuttle diplomacy to the Niger Delta region to quell the strife. It was Napoleon Bonarparte, a French General and Emperor (1769-1821), who famously declared: do you know what amazes me more than anything else? The impotence of force to organize anything. PMB sir, allow Nigerians enjoy the full bloom of democracy and its inbuilt mechanisms for conflict resolution. Source: ( Linda Ikeji ) Another Boko Haram leader, identified as Mohammed Basha, was arrested by the Ondo State Police Command in the Isua Akoko area of the Akoko South-East Local Government Area of Ondo State on Sunday. This came six days after one of the leaders of the deadly sect, Idris Babawo, aka Dikko, was arrested in the same location by the state police command. The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr Femi Joseph, said the suspect was arrested by the men of the Anti-Crime Unit of the command while loitering along the Isua-Ifira Akoko Road. He said, When the suspect was interrogated, he confessed that he was a member of Boko Haram. He said his father is from the Niger Republic, while his mother is from Maiduguri in Borno State. He said when Maiduguri was hot for him, he ran to Nasarawa State last month and he left Nasarawa yesterday (Saturday) and came down to the South-West to hide here. He also confessed that one Daffo is his team leader, while Shekau is still the overall leader of the group. Joseph said some items suspected to charm were recovered from the suspect, adding that Basha was still in the protective custody of the command. Source: ( Punch Newspaper ) One of the popular up and coming musicians in Ibadan, Timothy Ekele, aka Zimo Beat, is fast becoming a household name among the local folks. To him, hitting the limelight like his hero, Tu Face, is just a matter of time and focus. Our correspondent caught up with him at a concert where he featured as a supporting artiste in Ibadan lately. According to the music graduate from The Polytechnic, Ibadan, although Nigeria is blessed with talented young artistes, reaching the top is a major challenge. Music has always been what I wanted to do. In Nigeria, I listen to Tu Face songs and I am always impressed with the amount of energy and passion he puts into his production. His composition and delivery are sources of inspiration to young artistes. Nigeria is blessed with many talented musicians but in the past, the up and coming ones seemed not to be getting the chance to reach the top. Things are a little different now because many young artistes now have the opportunity to work with the established ones and learn from them. We have many young artistes who co-produce hit songs with established musicians and from there, they become household names in the industry, said Zimo Beat. His latest music, Na your Grace, which was recently released, was recorded and produced by the young artiste, who said he was already working on his next song. He said, I produce and record my song to reduce financial implication and to get what I want. Whatever I make from concert, I put it back into my music. I have written more than 50 songs that are yet to be fine-tuned into complete work. Right now, I am working on another song already. A few months ago, I released a track titled, Na your Grace and I am thrilled with the reception it enjoyed. I did the recording and production by myself. Its tough for young artistes especially when you dont have sponsor but it is important to remain focussed. My mandate as a musician is to reach a wide audience that cuts across mankind. Source: Punch For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser Greedy bosses pocketing excessive pay and excluding wider society in business decisions will damage economic prosperity when the U.K. leaves the European Union, according to an asset management executive. Sir Gerry Grimstone, chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen, is set to discuss the issue with politicians Margot James and Jonathan Djanogly at a fringe event to the Conservative Partys conference in Manchester on Monday. The Financial Reporting Council is also beginning consultations with businesses and investors about changes to the U.K. Corporate Governance Code after government recommendations in August. The government paper made a series of recommendations including the suggestion that companies to report a chief executive to wider workforce pay ratio. In a statement ahead of Mondays event, Grimstone singled out banks and the collapse of British retailer BHS as examples that had undermined public trust and confidence in big business. He said the newly merged Standard Life Aberdeen would be using its even bigger voice to urge strong corporate governance values. Grimstones promise comes as asset managers globally become increasingly involved in the affairs of the businesses in which they invest. BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street, Hermes, Aviva Investors, and Schroders have all been in the headlines over the past 12 months for expressing their views of company policies at annual general meetings. Last week, 12 U.K. consultants released a joint statement pledging to steer pension investors to give greater consideration to governance and sustainability in their investment decisions. [II Deep Dive: Fund Firms Turn Up the Heat on Executive Pay and It's Working] Corporate stewardship and governance are hot topics for investors beyond the U.K., with the European Union scheduled to bring in a shareholder rights directive over the next two years. It is vital to our economic prosperity, particularly in the wake of Brexit, to restore trust, Grimstone said in a statement ahead of Mondays event. As one of the largest financial services firms in Europe following our recent merger, it is a responsibility we feel particularly keenly, he continued. Firms must lead the way by operating and behaving in line with the values expected by stakeholders, including wider society. Institutional investors and shareholders more widely also have a critical part to play. After more than a decade, Carol McFate is stepping down with no clear successor. Xerox Corp.s chief investment officer is retiring after more than a decade overseeing the companys retirement assets in North America and the U.K. Carol McFate, whose last day as CIO is today, has led Xeroxs defined benefit and defined contribution plans since November 2006, according to a company spokesperson. While confirming her retirement, the spokesperson did not reply to an emailed question on whether Xerox has found a replacement to oversee its more than $12 billion of retirement assets. Over the past 10 years, we built a team to manage retirement assets in the U.S. and Canada, and instilled a liability and risk focus throughout, McFate said when reached by phone for comment. Im proud to say that our participants benefits are now more secure than when we started. When McFate arrived at the Norwalk, Connecticut-based Fortune 500 company, a third-party outsourcer managed its pension plan an arrangement shed been told to reexamine. By June 2009, her eight-person investment team was managing the assets in-house under a liability-driven program aimed at driving Xeroxs defined benefit plan to full funding. Seven years ago what I was doing was outside the norm, McFate said in 2014, the year Institutional Investor named her Top Small Corporate Pension Investor. The race were trying to win now is against liabilities. [II Deep Dive: Carol McFate Is Out to Win the Race Against Pension Liabilities] Prior to her role at Xerox, McFate spent decades in corporate treasury departments, according to her LinkedIn profile. She worked her way up to treasurer of American International Group during the 1990s, and departed in late 2002 to become a global treasurer at insurer XL Group. McFate had less experience as an investor and much more in corporate finance than was typical of pension fund CIOs. She engaged with the tight-knit, private-sector pension community through the Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets, or CEIBA, and continued to be involved with the industry group throughout her Xerox career. The CEIBA community was instrumental in helping me get up to speed in this business, said McFate. Ive made some very good friends among these are incredibly bright, principled people. "These measures can help to lessen the impact," says Andrew Hall Social media is quickly gaining ubiquity as insurance agencies use the platforms to support their sales and customer engagement initiatives. Insurance Technologies Corporation president Laird Rixford notes that social media platforms have evolved into a powerful sales and service tool because they allow insurers to be where their customers are. However, Rixford emphasizes the need for agencies to deliver a consistent experience across all platforms they use to interact with their clients.A consumer should feel they are talking to the same person or the same group of people, no matter what kind of channel they are speaking on, Rixford says. They talk to you in your office, they call you on the phone, they interact with you over email, or they interact with you over social media. You need to make sure they have a consistent experience throughout. You dont have a short, unfriendly experience when they are on social media, then have a long-winded relationship over the phone. It needs to be cohesive so that they work together.Rixford adds that the current technology climate has its limitations, making agents and brokers as necessary a part of the sales and service equation as the social media tools they use. He explains that when AI and social media channels fail, which they tend to do at some of the most inopportune moments, policyholders are still inclined make a phone or video call to engage in an interactive, realtime conversation with their insurance agent. Rixford also cautions brokers and agents to recognize the limitations of the security infrastructure supporting these platforms,and refrain from using them to transmit and exchange sensitive data, especially relating to policy information.The picture might be different five years down the line, Rixford adds, highlighting the fact that technologies such as machine learning take time to deliver the kind of support needed to enable customer service representatives and producers to focus on doing what they do best, which is cultivating long-term relationships with the insurance market. Considering whats happening around them and reflect on what they are seeing and hearing, and therefore what action should be taken Challenging assumptions they and others may have to ensure they are making a good decision and are being open to dissenting views and outlier opinions Checking their facts and interpretations of those facts as they are on the lookout for bias, which may adversely impact their thought processes and decisions. Clarify their understanding Help to seek out different ideas Ensure that outlier opinions and diverse views are heard Make sure the trade-offs from decisions are clearly articulated Uncover elements that may be missing from the conversation Ensure the discussion has examined the issue from multiple perspectives Challenge their own thinking processes, and that of those around them In todays frantic paced world, theres often an expectation that leaders need to have answers at their fingertips, and thats its not OK to say I dont know or Im not sure.However, in a world of increasing complexity and ambiguity, there are lots of unknowns. Its not possible for leaders to have all the answers all the time.Additionally, we are surrounded by more information than ever and its becoming harder to know which sources to trust. We are bombarded with information, disinformation and loads and loads of data.Discernment and good judgement is critical particularly because in a complex, ambiguous and inter-connected world everything may not be what it seems. When we take something on face value we may be missing key pieces of information or overlooking unseen options.And when leaders hold dogmatic views and are certain about their opinion they open ourselves to decision failures.History is littered with stories of leaders who thought they had the answers, ignored advice and consequently, made poor decisions. From the failure of Kodak, to AOLs disastrous purchase of Time Warner, to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the demise of Arrium Steel.Brian Cox, Advanced Fellow in Particle Physics at the University of Manchester said: Being dogmatic is not a positive attribute. Being certain about things is actually not a positive thing. And so I think somehow our societies have got into this position where people feel that certainty and strength and this kind of 'I make decisions', that that is a trait to be valued.When leaders are certain they are right, they are close themselves off to other ideas and different opinions. This can lead to myopic and poor decision making, because of the bias we all have in how we process information and make decisions.Stanford Academic, Carol Dweck, confirmed this in her research on fixed and growth mindsets.She found that people who have a fixed mindset see intelligence as static a fixed trait. As a result, they want to always look smart and appear as though they have all the answers. They believe that success is based on talent alone not work. This means they will avoid challenges and give up more easily. They also ignore feedback, which they see as criticism, and feel threatened by the success of others.In contrast, people with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed through hard work and effort. Consequently, they are more eager to embrace learning, take on challenges and persist, despite setbacks. They love learning and usually display higher resilience. They are also more willing to learn from others and receive feedback.In her book, Mindset : Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential, she highlights companies that have failed because of their leaders fixed mindset.In contrast, leaders who are comfortable with uncertainty have a growth mindset and are more willing to embrace the art of curiosity. They recognise that good decision making comes from asking lots of questions, not finding the one right answer.And thats where scepticism plays its part.According to the dictionary, to be sceptical is to be not easily convinced or to have doubts or reservations. Its easy to paint the sceptic in a negative light as the person whos cynical and therefore to be dismissed.When in fact being sceptical means you are curious. It means you recognise you dont have all the answers and so are open to challenge and debate, rather than having a fixed idea or opinion. Sceptics question. They critically think and ponder ideas. They reflect on what is really happening.In doing this, they take the time to ensure they are:Core to this is being able to ask a good question.This isnt about asking a question to get the answer they want. Instead leaders need to ask questions that:By asking questions a leader shows they are interested in the ideas being shared and open to new information and thoughts. They are also welcoming divergent views and encouraging debate and discussion. All characteristics that are critical for successful leadership.So instead of encouraging leaders to find the answers, encourage them to ask the right question.It was the French anthropologist, Claude Levi-Strauss, who said: The wise man doesnt give the right answers, he poses the right questions.Being open to asking the right question is a hallmark of influential leadership. So, what question will you ask next?Michelle Gibbings is a change leadership and career expert and founder of Change Meridian. Michelle works with global leaders and teams to help them accelerate progress. She is the Author of Step Up: How to Build Your Influence at Work. For more information: www.michellegibbings.com or contact [email protected] A Mississippi funeral home owner has been arrested for defrauding his customers in relation to the collection of life insurance premiums. Kimredell Dotson, 42, has been indicted on four counts of fraud. Dotson is accused of collecting premiums on two separate life insurance policies and failing to forward them to the insurance company. Celebrate excellence in insurance. Join us at the Insurance Business Awards in Chicago on October 26. Prosecutors said that Dotson collected premiums from his customers, telling them he was forwarding their payments to Security National Life Insurance Company. However, Dotson didnt turn the money over to Security National, according to the Mississippi attorney generals office. The alleged fraud was discovered during an investigation by the secretary of states office and the Mississippi Insurance Department. The case was then referred to the AGs Insurance Integrity Enforcement Bureau. Dotson faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted. Related stories: New Jersey chiropractor charged in sweeping insurance fraud scheme More guilty pleas in massive health-benefits scam Insurers who have undertaken significant mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are underperforming according to a new report for only the second time this decade.Analysing data from Thomson Reuters on deals worth at least US$50 million conducted in the insurance sector, the Willis Towers Watson Insurance M&A Performance Tracker found that acquirers lagged the index by 6.4 percentage points in the period six months before announcement to the point six months after the deal closed.It was a different story in previous years particularly from 2008 onwards in which insurance companies carrying out an acquisition outperformed peers by three percentage points. More recently, from 2012, acquisitive insurers have traded 4.4 percentage points above their sub-industry index.Factors contributing to the weaker performance of late include political volatility, a strong equity market, as well as a high-value and low-volume M&A environment. Willis Towers Watson noted that there were only 19 insurance deals tracked in 2016, with the average deal value almost double compared to that in 2015. Pretty much the same could be said for 2010 the previous underperforming year.The market tends to be nervous around big, transformational transactions and more comfortable when most activity involves smaller incremental bolt-ons, explained Brendan McMaster, senior consultant at Willis Towers Watson. All other things being equal, big transactions are generally deemed to be riskier for the acquiring company.Fergal OShea, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) life insurance M&A leader at Willis Towers Watson, commented that with equity markets doing well, firms do not need to acquire as shareholders are rewarding those focussing on organic growth.Geopolitical uncertainty and the surprise poll results in the UKs Brexit referendum and US Presidential elections could also have been factors in shareholders cautious reactions to big ticket transactions, added Willis Towers Watson.As for M&A activity across all sectors, it was found that a similar trend exists outside the cover industry acquirers underperforming firms that did not do deals. For Willis Towers Watson, this could indicate a risk-off mode for investors, especially amid higher-than-normal deal values.M&A is still beneficial, and it will be interesting to see what the data for 2017 shows, said OShea. As Michigan legislators push for a no-fault auto insurance system in the state, various interest groups in the region have taken sides on whether the proposal should be passed. While healthcare services and trial attorneys in the region that serve car crash victims have stood up against the proposal which they believe could drastically reduce how much they can charge - the auto insurance industry and the state Chamber of Commerce have praised House Bill 5013, which was proposed by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and House Speaker Tom Leonard. The Duggan-Leonard plan suggests the creation of a three-tier system of coverage for personal injury protection. The first tier retains Michigans current unlimited medical benefits, while the second tier allows drivers to purchase a lower level of coverage capped at $250,000 or $500,000. Purchases exceeding the caps would be shifted to the third tier private or government health insurance. Hearings are set to begin tomorrow in the House Insurance Committee on the bipartisan plan proposed last week. The plan was put forward as a way to moderate Michigans high auto insurance rates. At $250,000, youre never going to touch the health carrier, Insurance Institute of Michigan executive director Pete Kuhnmuench told Crains Detroit Business. . . . There would be a cost shift, but youre paying that health care premium anyways. The $250,000 cap is further divided into two coverage caps $225,000 for an emergency medical condition and related emergency medical care only, and $25,000 for all other personal injury benefits, the bill stated. There is no such thing as a $250,000 lower cap its really just $25,000, commented Michigan Auto Law attorney Steven Gursten. For Duggan, that is going to kill his constituents. Gursten believes that once the House Bill is passed, it would result in an enormous cost shift to employer-provided health insurance plans and Medicaid. If you dont have great health insurance, which many people dont, then youre going to be blowing through personal savings, declaring personal bankruptcy and ending up on Medicaid, he explained. Duggan stated that the cost-containment measures in the bill will lower expenses, which should lead to a minimal impact on employer-provided plans. He then cited other states, wherein auto accidents are a very small piece of any employers overall health care cost. HB 5013 also sets a Medicare fee schedule for auto insurance, which could considerably lower costs in the system it could achieve as much as 20% in cost reductions. This plan to set medical expenses at the Medicare payment level seeks to rectify Michigans lack of government-mandated and health insurer-negotiated pricing within its healthcare system. Under the current system, a neck MRI in Detroit can cost auto insurers $3,258 the same medical procedure claimed under the workers compensation system costs $770 and Medicare pays $484, the Insurance Institute of Michigan said. Why should an X-ray for a broken arm be any different if you got it from falling off your roof compared to an auto accident? Kuhnmuench said. The Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA), however, begs to differ on the matter. The industrys lobbying arm opposes the bill, reasoning that medical providers would be paid substantially less for treating auto accident victims. Duggan pointed out that Michigan is the only state that does not legally allow seniors to use the Medicare health insurance to cover the costs of their auto accident-related injuries. Youre forcing them to buy medical coverage they dont need at $800 to $1,000 a year, he said. The plan Duggan and Leonard are proposing will allow Medicare recipients or retirees over 62 years of age with lifetime retirement health insurance to drop personal injury protection coverage. Appel warned that swapping no-fault coverage for Medicare is not a fair trade. If youre in a serious auto accident ... Medicare is not going to pay for your family to take care of you, Appel pointed out. If Medicare paid for long-term care, we wouldnt need Medicaid the way we do. Related stories: The major acquisition of Novae Group by AXIS Capital has taken another step forward today.It was announced earlier that AXIS has acquired the shares of Novae at a price of 715 pence per share and now AXIS expects to complete management control of the insurance group no later than October 18, pending approval from the European Commission.The original scheme of arrangement was revealed back in July, with AXIS to acquire all of the shares of Novae as it forms a combined business. It was revealed in August that Novaes shareholders had approved the deal and that came into effect today.Already the transaction has had regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority, Lloyds of London, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Bermuda Monetary Authority Related stories: AXIS bids more than $600 million for Novae Group Want to get a grip on the full economic impact of hurricanes Harvey and Irma? Look no further than specialist insurer Hiscox The company has today revealed its first estimate of the combined impact of the two hurricanes due to the interrelated nature of reinsurance recoveries for the two events. According to an insured market loss of US$35 billion for Irma and US$25 billion for Harvey, it places its new claims at approximately US$225 million.Group CEO Bronek Masojada highlighted that this should be within the groups modelled range for events of this nature pointing to the depth of its reinsurance programme.Paying claims from devastating events like these is precisely what we are here for. Our focus is to get our customers back on their feet as quickly as we can, Masojada said.These events are already having an impact on rates in the global insurance market, particularly in affected areas and specific sectors. After a number of years of rate reductions, we are starting to see price corrections, most acutely in affected lines such as large property insurance and catastrophe reinsurance, which we expect to spread to non-affected lines. Although these are huge insured events, sadly, they also highlight the lack of cover in places. Industry experts say that the numerous business interruption claims being filed in Puerto Rico due to the hurricane-induced power outage could be the figurative last straw that breaks the camels back, overwhelming reinsurers that are already neck-deep in other Hurricane Maria-related expenses. According to some estimates, claims from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria could push 2017s total global catastrophe losses as high as $190 billion making this year the costliest on record for the insurance and reinsurance industries. Experts believe the high costs could be too much for reinsurers and lead to ratings downgrades. Fitch Ratings last week warned that the high levels of losses caused by the three hurricane events could trigger a capital event, wherein catastrophe losses exceed earnings and lead to net losses for the year, forcing reinsurers to fall back on their capital reserves and risking ratings downgrades. [Hurricane Maria] is a major insured loss that is likely a pretty major negative surprise to the industry, JLT Re North America head told Reuters. According to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, the top reinsurers of Puerto Ricos insurers are Mapfre SA, QBE Insurance Group Ltd, Lloyds of London, and AIG Mapfre is expecting recent natural disasters to diminish its full-year profit by $175 million, it stated last week. Puerto Rico continues to suffer from widespread power outages after Hurricane Maria knocked out its electrical grid. Some experts believe this blackout would lead to more companies and shops filing for business interruption claims. The longer the power stays out, the more youre going to have business interruption claims, Fitch Ratings analyst Keith Buckley explained. Estimates of when the US territory regains power, range from three to six months. Related stories: Pyotr Svitalski: Agreement with EU will bring investments (video) The Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, who was present at the annual "European Heritage Days" event, which was titled "Heritage and Nature" this year, said that Armenians could be proud of their contribution to the European culture and heritage. He said that the events of European Heritage Days were a good opportunity to demonstrate how rich Armenias contribution to the common European heritage was. For example, future architects of European higher institutions should study Zvartnots temple, and Conservatory students Komitas creations. The opening was at Sochut Dendropark after Leonevich, Stepanavan, which was symbolic for Polish Pyotr Svitalski. Dendropark founded the Polish engineer-forestry expert Edmon Leonovich in 1931 and he was the director until 1984. His son Vitaly Leonovich continued with his work, who is the current director of the Dendropark About 2,500 trees were brought from different corners of the globe, and only 500 of them remain today. Dendropark used to be a center of scientific research, and there were more than 40 people working there. Today the Dendropark (35hectares) is a special protected area; it has only a dozen workers whose efforts are aimed at keeping the park clean and well-kept. This year, 20-25000 people have visited the Dendropark. Many countries currently work to detect different air purification filters, but the best filter is a tree, said Vitaly Leonovich. Pyotor Svitalsky also visited Lori Historical and Cultural Reserve-Museum. Today we speak only about the nature and culture. When the Comprehensive and Extended Partnership Framework Agreement with the EU is signed, we will boost both deeper cooperation and investment in both the culture and the environment. We work with our Armenian counterparts to strengthen ties between Armenia and Europe. Today is a wonderful day, I am very impressed, "said the Ambassador. He also said that those events had shown that the bridge between Armenia and Europe was really strong. In its latest report, cybersecurity company McAfee found that the healthcare industry was the most-data breached industry in North America for the second quarter of this year. The companys researchers prepared the report by analyzing cybersecurity incidents from Q2 2017 to identify specific malware trends for various industries. According to its findings, there were 311 publicly-disclosed cybersecurity incidents for Q2 2017, up 3% from the first quarter of this year. For the last six quarters, it was the public sector that represented the most-breached North American industry, but healthcare which comprised 26% of cybersecurity incidents surpassed the sector this quarter, McAfee observed. The report also found that, on a global scale, the health, public and education sectors together comprised over 50% of all cybersecurity incidents. McAfee also noted that most of the cybersecurity incidents reported globally (78%) took place in the Americas. The latest major cybersecurity incident to affect the country was the Equifax data breach, which potentially exposed the credit details of more than 143 million US consumers. Related stories: Health Care Service Corporation, the countrys largest customer-owned health insurer, has announced changes to its leadership team. The company has appointed Rob Hitchcock as senior vice president and president of its Government-Sponsored and Consumer Solutions division. Celebrate excellence in insurance. Join us at the Insurance Business Awards in Chicago on October 26. Hitchcock will join HCSC on October 01. An industry veteran with more than 20 years of governmentprograms and retail experience, he will focus on continuing to expand access to Medicare and Medicaid products. Prior to joining HCSC, Hitchcock led Medicare Advantage programs in 14 states for Humana and Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and exchange programs in 20 states for Centene. Robs expertise will help us navigate our geographically unique opportunities to expand access through government programs and retail products, said Paula Steiner, HCSC president and CEO. He has built a career starting and growing those lines of business, and has first-hand knowledge of many of the markets in which we operate today. HCSC has also announced that its executive vice president of plan operations, Colleen Reitan, will retire in the spring of 2018. Meanwhile, Reitan will oversee employer group operations and help launch a new employment solutions division, which will service about 80% of HCSCs membership. Reitan has worked at HCSC for almost a decade, and during that time has led almost every one of the companys operating divisions, as well as most of its subsidiaries. Colleens leadership and knowledge of our industry was critical in charting our future course when we launched our entry into government programs, joined together with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana and entered new health insurance marketplaces, Steiner said. Colleens leadership will be missed within the Blue Cross and Blue Shield family, as will her strong mentorship within our organization. Related stories: Integro names UK CFO AIG to tap Marsh CEO as deputy to Duperreault report The Massachusetts attorney general is investigating a wide-ranging insurance scam that recruited drug users to go to treatment centers in other states and exploit their benefit payments.A spokesperson for state Attorney General Maura Healey confirmed that the office is investigating the alleged addiction treatment scams that have appeared in the midst of a national opioid crisis.The AGs investigation follows recent reports by STAT and the Boston Globe on a nationwide insurance fraud scam that preyed on people trying to overcome their opioid addiction. Many people struggling with addiction were sent to treatment centers hundreds of miles from their homes, according to STAT. There, they received expensive and often worthless treatment paid for by insurance benefits.It is critical that people struggling with addiction can safely access treatment services, Healey said. Unfortunately, those seeking to make a profit off of this epidemic are targeting vulnerable patients with illegal treatment and recovery scams.Healey urged anyone victimized in an addiction-treatment scam to call her offices healthcare hotline at 888-830-6277 or visit www.eform.ago.state.ma.us to file a complaint online. This year, the beginning of September marked a critical implementation deadline for some of the toughest new cybersecurity regulations in the country the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) 23NYCRR 500. This set of regulations mandates that businesses supervised by the NYDFS including banks, trusts, budget planners, check cashers, credit unions, money transmitters, licensed lenders, mortgage brokers or bankers, and insurance companies protect consumers and trading partners from cyber attacks and data breaches. This is because New York, arguably the pre- and post-Brexit financial center of the world, is implementing these regulations as a direct response to the increasing number of cyber attacks on insurers and financial institutions, observes the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation. Cyber attack examples include the 2015 attack on Anthem Inc., in which 78 million unencrypted records containing personal information were stolen, and the 2016 cyber attack on the central bank of Bangladesh, in which stolen SWIFT banking credentials and malware were used to illegally transfer $81 million of funds held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The value of personal records, such as a name paired with a social security number and a birth date, is nearly limitless on the dark web. Regulations like this are a response to the growing problem of identity theft and online fraud schemes. In practical terms, as of this fall, the regulated businesses in New York are required to: Run a cybersecurity program aimed at protecting consumers Name a designated chief information security officer (CISO) Utilize multifactor authentication Implement and maintain an approved written policy Report hacking attempts to the state within 72 hours Many states could expect similar legislation in the near future, and this mandate represents a meaningful shift in the way that businesses must not only protect their own technical infrastructure, but also that of third-party trading partners. Businesses must assume responsibility for IT security around shared customer information, even if they dont manage that information themselves. Whats more, strict reporting requirements will become the norm, and businesses should expect to provide reports on penetration testing, secure development, risk assessment, multifactor authentication and encryption. The challenges of 23NYCRR and other regulations can certainly be daunting, especially for smaller businesses that may be impacted, but tackling the seemingly insurmountable task of compliance can be achieved if businesses establish and execute against a solid cybersecurity plan. The first steps include designating a CISO and other parties within the organization who are responsible for the security plan and its implementation. Typically, the CISO will work with the chief information officer (CIO) and report to the CEO and board. Once a chain of command is established, the process typically begins with an audit designed to reveal gaps in the security infrastructure and areas that require attention for compliance. This can be as simple as documenting existing security processes and controls that are already in place or implementing new procedures and/or hardware and software solutions for physical, network and endpoint security. Organizations that have a solid security posture only need to validate, document and fine tune many of their existing policies and procedures for regulatory compliance. Some companies and their IT teams have worked with consulting firms to achieve compliance, and leveraging consulting firms and outsourcers has helped many companies avoid going it alone and reinventing the wheel when it comes to implementation deadlines. The same can be said for fixes that may need to be made to physical, device and network security. An ample number of turnkey, cloud-based solutions can be used for point-to-point network security, as well as device and laptop encryption. These solutions enable rapid compliance with the regulations and allow IT departments to outsource the hard and often tedious work associated with securing every machine and network connection in the organization. Having a reliable outsourced security partner is particularly useful when it comes to third parties, which represent a big security challenge because, while they are critical business partners, there is often very little visibility into their security practices and how they handle personal and financial data. An example is insurance brokers, which usually represent multiple companies. An outside security vendor can prevent internal IT teams from getting overtaxed by chasing down issues created by those third parties. At AlertSec, we call this the trust but verify policy; it serves a critical role in the overall security posture for many financial and insurance firms, because we specialize in owning the problem to ensure that third-party systems and data are secure and compliant. It is clear that the price of implementing a sound IT security chain is insignificant when compared to the cost of a data breach, and we see security as much more than just an IT department issue. We view it as a board-level concern that has gone from a cost of doing business to a cost of staying in business. After all, data breaches can be much more than the hard dollar cost of any losses incurred. Not only is there damage to a companys reputation, but security breaches take away a companys focus on its core business, resulting in revenue loss and diluted shareholder value over time. This is why companies whether facing a deadline or not must make IT security a top priority, not only to ensure compliance, but to also ensure long-term business continuity. Topics Legislation Cyber New York Talent Human Resources As homeowners file insurance claims in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, many could find their level of protection depends on the state where their damaged home is located, according to a research report released by the Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility at the Rutgers Law School in Camden, N.J. The report, State Rankings of Homeowners Insurance Protections: Consumer Remedies, examines what claimants are surprised or disappointed by, and how some of the best states are protecting insurance consumers, said Jay Feinman, co-director of the Rutgers center and a professor at the law school. The report is part of the Essential Protections for Policyholders legislative reform project, an initiative of the Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility in cooperation with United Policyholders, an advocacy organization and information resource for insurance consumers. The two-year project focuses much of its research on consumers who file ordinary claims, with the goal to identify and expand on essential protections to strengthen what can be a complicated and challenging process. There is a significant knowledge gap in how homeowners coverage varies nationally, according to Feinman. The project focuses on state legislation and regulation concerning the relationship between homeowners and insurance companies. Protections found as essential for homeowners were selected by importance based on United Policyholders and Feinmans experience in the insurance industry. Feinman and Amy Bach, executive director at United Policyholders, advocates for the revision of state insurance laws to better protect disaster victims. This comes at a time when Florida and Texas have felt the effects of two major hurricanes. Hurricane Harvey made landfall on August 25 as a category 3 hurricane with 130 mile-per-hour winds, just east of Corpus Christi, Texas, in the Rockport/Port Aransas communities. Harveys winds caused extensive damage in the area and farther inland, resulting in 70 deaths. The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) has placed the insured losses from Harvey at $19 billion, including an estimated $11 billion in flood losses insured by the National Flood Insurance Program. Reuters also reported that Florida policyholders so far have filed nearly $2 billion in claims to insurers for damage from Hurricane Irma, according to the states insurance regulator. According to Reuters reports, Irma was ranked as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record before striking the U.S. mainland as a Category 4 hurricane on September 10. The storm killed at least 33 in Florida. Insurance Protection Feinmans research says half of the states in the U.S. allow policyholders to sue insurance companies only if they have intentionally or recklessly denied a claim. Nearly 15 states give consumers no remedy if insurers act wrongfully, making recovery from a natural disaster difficult. Insurance funds are make or break for an individuals ability to rebound after a disaster, Bach said. History tells us that those funds dont always flow as they should, and many have to fight to get the protection theyve paid for. Feinman added that for an insurance policy to provide the protection and security it promises, the policyholder must have access to a fair and efficient process for resolving disputes and remedying improper conduct. Homeowners who do not receive prompt payment may have additional expenses due to being out of their homes, and may suffer extreme aggravation and distress, Feinman says. If policyholders have to pay attorneys and incur other litigation expenses to get what they are entitled to, they are never fully compensated for their losses. The report suggests that disaster victims should have flexibility in coverage provisions and the claims process; clear rules about causes of loss to avoid unfair gaps in coverage; and protection against sudden dislocations in the insurance market. It outlines current state laws and calls for updated statutory language to provide more certainty for insurance companies and better protection for policyholders. Consumer Remedies The project also issued a series of rankings by state on what it identified as key issues in insurance regulation. The latest state rankings for the project are based on the protection and security that a homeowners policy provides when a policyholder files a claim, and what the project sees as key elements in providing policyholders with effective remedies for disputed claims. Five stars served as the highest ranking in the report, and one star was the lowest. Hawaii and South Carolina ranked the best for consumer remedies, while New York, Wyoming, Washington, D.C., and Virginia ranked lowest. In Hawaii, which received a five-star ranking, the Insurance Division at the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs protects consumers by maintaining a 13-month freeze for insurers from exiting the homeowners insurance market and allowing the states commissioner to reactivate the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund to ensure access to coverage should a large event occur. Hawaii residents mostly understand the susceptibility and isolation of the state during hurricane season, which leads to a generally more knowledgeable and prepared public, Commissioner Gordon Ito said. We will continue our efforts to better inform and protect consumers through appropriate platforms, outlets, methods and legislation. For South Carolina, our statutes regarding homeowners insurance are certainly adequate. However, its not necessarily what the statute says; its how insurance companies serve their policyholders, and we are ever mindful of that, South Carolina Department of Insurance Director Ray Farmer said. Generally, the insurance industry does a fantastic job. Its our time to shine, and its their time to shine after a natural disaster, and they do. When a state of emergency is declared by the Governor in the wake of a storm, it gives Farmer extra authority to issue an emergency regulation to allow adjusters to come in to the state and puts a moratorium on cancellation/ nonrenewals. A spokesperson for the Virginia Bureau of Insurance, a state that ranked the lowest in the report, said the Bureau has an obligation to ensure licensed insurance companies comply with Virginia insurance law and applicable regulations. The Bureau of Insurance assists thousands of consumers each year by responding to inquiries and complaints regarding an insurance policy, the spokesperson said. Between January and August 2017, its staff has handled 1,589 complaints and re-covered more than $1,219,752 for consumers. In addition, they have assisted 4,862 consumers who called the section for help. In the future, the Rutgers project is advocating for more states to adopt a mediation program for property insurance disputes and an appraisal process providing neutral parties to assess aspects of a claim. It also calls for states to prohibit companies from including clauses in insurance policies that force policyholders to arbitrate claims instead of giving them a chance to have their case heard in court. We have been doing as much work as possible with the states, Feinman said. Were in this for the long-term, and every little bit helps. Topics Carriers Catastrophe Natural Disasters Florida Legislation Texas Hurricane Market Homeowners Virginia South Carolina Its no easy feat to survive as a small business let alone to survive and thrive after 132 years in operation. Thats what Morris & Garritano (M&G) winner of Insurance Journals 2017 Best Agencies to Work For 2017 Overall Award has accomplished all while creating a workplace where employees feel appreciated and satisfied. This third-generation family owned business has held the same values throughout the decades and their employees stand behind them. Always be improving, love what you do, do the right thing, build collaborative relationships, go the extra mile these are the core values of M&G and they really do live and die by these values, one employee told Insurance Journal in an anonymous survey. Doing the right thing for customers, employees and the community has always been at the heart of M&G, but about three years ago, Brendan Morris, principal and CEO, along with partners, Kerry Morris (Brendans sister), Gene Garritano and Dan Troy, set out to better define principal values held by its owners for more than 100 years. Even though we redefined our core values, our agency and our people have been living these for many, many years, Morris said. I think its what sets us apart. Our culture, our values, and our employees who without a doubt get behind them every day. M&Gs roots began in 1885 with Archibald McAlister who first opened the Lands, Loans, Rents & Insurance office in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Over the decades the agencys name changed a few times as new generations took over leadership of the firm, including the entry of the Morris family in 1935 with Brendans grandfather Harry Morris, followed by Greg Morris (Brendans father) in 1964. One employee noted: They are family owned and operated. They treat the employees well, they are always looking for ways to improve. Doing the right thing by the clients is important to them and that provides a very encouraging work environment. M&Gs track record as a stable, integral part of the community is especially encouraging today as consolidation within the insurance industry remains at an all-time high. In our industry, theres a lot of consolidation but weve always been passionate about remaining independent and privately owned, Morris said. That strategy has worked, Morris said. During the past three years M&G has experienced more than 62 percent growth in agency revenue, which placed the agency on the Inc. 5000s Fastest Growing Private Companies in America (ranked at No. 4,243) in August 2017. M&G will end the year with close to $18 million in total revenue with about 130 employees. Morris doesnt shy away from crediting the M&G team for the agencys success now and in the future. We look at our team as our family and its a great place to work because of our team, Morris said. Thats what makes M&G a great place to work, he said. When asked what he would tell other agency owners about how to make their agency a best place to work, Morris didnt hesitate: I really think that its about hiring the right people. And always try to improve for yourself and the agency. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer says charter bus companies should be graded for safety and the grades should be posted the way New York City posts restaurant letter grades. The New York Democrat says letter grades for bus safety are needed after last months deadly crash in Queens. A charter bus operated by Dahlia Group crashed into a city bus, killing three. Records show Dahlia has been inspected 35 times since 2015 with 11 violations found. One person was killed when a bus operated by the company crashed in Connecticut in 2016. Schumer says that with such a poor safety record its shocking that Dahlia was allowed to continue operating. He is asking federal transportation officials to move forward with a system for posting charter bus safety grades. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics New York Britains regulators could grant interim permission for European Union investment and trading firms to continue operating in the UK after the country leaves the bloc in 2019. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority said giving interim permission may be one solution for dealing initially with a wave of firms from the EU who need to continue offering services in Britain. We want what is practical and can be done, he told think tank OMFIF on Friday [Sept. 29]. The FCA is responsible for authorizing investment and trading firms, and has said there are 8,008 passports that allow firms from elsewhere in the EU to offer services in Britain, mainly insurance, trading and investment. It gives you a pretty good measure of the scale of the task if some proportion of them want authorisation, Bailey told reporters after the event. Reauthorising a big number of firms would not be practical with only 18 months to go before Britain leaves the bloc, and Bailey said a precedent for granting interim permission on a large scale had already been set. The FCA did this for up to 30,000 thousand consumer credit firms in Britain when it took over responsibility for them. It would require a little bit of secondary legislation. But we very much take the view that you have got to have options. The Bank of England, which authorizes banks and insurers, told Reuters this week it expects up to 130 license applications from such inbound firms, a huge administrative task with just 18 months to go before Brexit. Bailey reiterated his plea to keep cross-border markets open and avoid protectionism after Brexit, saying that any agreement on market access should be clear and sustainable, and based on the principle of non-discrimination. Regulators must work together to protect how markets function through greater information sharing in colleges of regulators from different countries, he added. (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Alexander Smith) Topics Europe Heffernan Insurance Brokers, the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based independent insurance broker, announced it has opened a London brokerage, Heffernan Brokers UK Ltd., led by Nick Murrell as executive vice president. Murrell joins Heffernan to establish its London office and expand operations further into the Lloyds and UK markets. His career to date has focused on listed multinationals, large United States, Europe and Caribbean corporate programs, as well as specialty facilities for industry associations based in the United States. Murrell comes to Heffernan from JLT, having supported the Heffernan program for over a decade, and brings a strong network developed while working at top-tier broking houses including Aon and Arthur J. Gallagher, Heffernan said in a statement. Im excited about this evolution as it consolidates and strengthens the marketing of the Heffernan Group programs, improving bargaining power and creating opportunities for bespoke solutions, said Murrell. The response from the Lloyd markets is equally positive as they are keen to support new entrants to the London market and are enthusiastic to develop new offerings across multiple classes of business, he added. This development is a great opportunity for all clients and Im looking forward to building new relationships within the group. About Heffernan Insurance Brokers Employee-owned Heffernan Insurance Brokers was formed in 1988 and provides insurance and financial services products to a range of businesses and individuals. Its U.S. offices are located in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Irvine, Calif.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Portland, Ore.; and St. Louis, Mo. www.heffins.com Source: Heffernan Insurance Brokers Topics USA Agencies London Puerto Ricos island-wide power outage will mean a surge in insurance claims for lost business income that will increase the already high cost of damage caused by Hurricane Maria, likely tipping some big reinsurers into the red this year, according to industry experts. Claims from Maria, on top of two other major Caribbean hurricanes this season, could push total global catastrophe losses for the year as high as $190 billion, according to some estimates, which would make it the most costly year on record for the insurance and reinsurance industries. That will cut deeply into some reinsurers capital reserves and could lead to ratings downgrades. It (Maria) is a major insured loss that is likely a pretty major negative surprise to the industry, said Ed Hochberg, North America head of reinsurance broker JLT Re. Insurers pay reinsurance companies to take on a portion of their risks or to cover their losses once they reach a certain level, effectively shielding them from spikes in claims. While that helps spread the cost of disasters, it means certain reinsurers are hit hard when big claims come in, depending on where they take on business. Top reinsurers of Puerto Rico insurance companies which tend to rely heavily on reinsurance include Mapfre SA , QBE Insurance Group Ltd., Lloyds of London and American International Group Inc., according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Mapfre, which also acts as an insurer in Puerto Rico, expects recent natural disasters to cut its full-year profit by between 150 million and 200 million euros ($175 million and $235 million), the Spanish company said this week. Lloyds of London said on Thursday it expects net losses of $4.5 billion from hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Inga Beale, the chief executive of Lloyds, said it was too early to assess losses from Maria. AIG and QBE declined to comment. NO POWER, MORE CLAIMS The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico remains almost completely without power more than a week after Maria destroyed its electrical grid. That means most companies and shops cannot operate, and will likely file claims for business interruption, which is covered in most commercial policies. The longer the power stays out, the more youre going to have business interruption claims, said Keith Buckley, an analyst at Fitch Ratings. Estimates of when Puerto Rico will regain power range from three to six months. Generally, business interruption clauses require actual physical damage to be sustained and coverage only lasts a set period of time, but the losses could mount up quickly. For example, British packaging products company Essentra Plc said this week that stalled operations at two of its plants in Puerto Rico would cost it 500,000 pounds to 750,000 pounds ($670,000 to $1 million) a week, with a significant part of that covered by insurance. Puerto Rico is home to many manufacturing sites, including for large pharmaceutical companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Eli Lilly and Co., Pfizer Inc., Amgen Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc. Drug companies generally build hurricane-resistant facilities, said Duncan Ellis, U.S. property practice leader for insurance broker Marsh. But getting a factory running again after a disaster typically requires re-certification by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a process that can cost millions of dollars, depending on the facilitys size and the time for which it was closed, Ellis said. It can be a little more tricky than if you were making stainless steel nuts and bolts, Ellis said. Most pharmaceutical companies contacted by Reuters this week said their facilities had minimal damage and that they had stockpiled enough medicines to avoid supply disruptions. Amgen is using generators to power its Puerto Rico site, the company said. RATINGS AT RISK? Hurricane Maria alone could ultimately cause $15 billion to $30 billion in insured losses, including business interruption, according to risk modeling firm RMS. AIR Worldwide put the number even higher, from $40 billion to $85 billion. With another two months of the Atlantic hurricane season to go, 2017 could end up as the most expensive year ever for insurers and reinsurers, if the final tally exceeds the $143 billion in losses from 2011, the year a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. Those levels of losses could trigger a capital event, Fitch Ratings warned this week, meaning catastrophe losses might exceed earnings and produce a net loss for the year, forcing reinsurers to dip into their capital reserves. That could lead to rating downgrades, Fitch said, which would make it more costly for companies to raise debt. In extreme cases, reinsurers may choose not to pay dividends in order to use those funds to replenish capital, said Buckley. Profits, rather than capital, are most at risk, said A.M. Best reinsurance analyst Robert De Rose. The series of events does not represent a capital issue; however, earnings will be negatively impacted, and for some, the earnings impact could be material, he said. The upside for reinsurers is that big losses usually mean they have power to raise rates the following year. We could begin to see some firming of reinsurance pricing going forward, said Hochberg. Given the scale of the losses projected from Maria, on top of the other storms and two recent earthquakes in Mexico, reinsurance prices could rise materially, said Jefferies International analyst Philip Kett. ($1 = 0.8488 euros) ($1 = 0.7441 pounds) (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn in New York and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London; Editing by Bill Rigby) Topics Catastrophe USA Claims Profit Loss Reinsurance Hurricane London An insurance industry lender is among those touting a new association for insurance agency networks. The lender, Live Oak Bancshares Inc., says it will not have ownership in the new group, Insurance Networks Alliance (INA), but will be an ongoing sponsor. Live Oak said the association is meant to represent and strengthen insurance agency networks as part of the independent agency distribution channel. Exact membership criteria and other rules are still being worked out. Kelly Drouillard, general manager of Live Oaks insurance lending business, told Insurance Journal that the idea for INA but came about after she and Michael Strakhov, executive director of Live Oaks insurance lending, wondered what existing industry groups were meeting the needs of agency networks, aggregators and clusters. We thought, Where do these guys hang out?' she said. They dont go to the Big I [independent agents] events. They dont go to AAMGA [American Association of Managing General Agents]. They arent really part of the state association of agents. There really isnt a platform or group in the insurance industry that addresses the opportunities and needs of that particular distribution model. INAs mission is to create a forum to collaborate with industry partners. Our goal is to work together for productive relationships with carriers, associations, channel partners and peers to evolve the collective value of insurance networks, the group says on its website (www.networksalliance.com). Drouillard and Strakhov set up a think tank meeting in September 2016 at Live Oaks headquarters in Wilmington, N.C., where five agency network CEOs brainstormed for a day and half. We did a couple surveys, one to carriers and another to networks, to identify places where there may be gaps in understanding of the business model and opportunities to improve, she said. Then in January 2017, Live Oak sponsored a meeting with 11 networks and as many carriers to determine what type of support Live Oak Bank could provide this industry segment. The feedback was very clear: some type of forum to represent the specific needs of this growing segment of distribution in the industry was needed, Strakhov said. Texas-based TWFG is one organization that was at the early meetings and agrees there is a need for an association. The critical issues discussed during our initial meeting of data gathering, technology, carrier relationships and agency perpetuation are areas that all networks wrestle with, Gordy Bunch, CEO of TWFG, said in a statement announcing the formation. A group specifically focused on supporting networks can provide significant solutions here. Not every agency network is convinced that INA is the right place for them. As of yet I do not see the need, at least for ISU, said T.J. Ryan, III, chief executive of the ISU Group, based in San Francisco, Calif., We are established and a leader in the space and have few to no barriers to accessing carriers or others, Ryan said. ISU Group has 200 agency members in its agency network with $401.5 million in total P/C revenue for 2017, and is ranked the second largest agency partnership in the country, according to Insurance Journals 2017 Top 100 Agencies and Top 20 Agency Partnership lists, which ranks networks, aggregators and franchise groups. Ryan said agency networks have been around since 1978 and many are mature and thriving and ISU is a well established as critical components of the distribution system. Bruce Cochrane, president/CEO of Renaissance Alliance based in Wellesley, Mass., number 7 in Insurance Journals agency partnership rankings, sees potential value in an alliance of networks but is also uncertain that INA is the right fit for his organization. Renaissance Alliance was asked to participate in the formative stages of this alliance, Cochrane said. We declined because we dont believe this is an organization representative of independent agency networks. Cochrane agrees there might be a need for networks to come together in an association environment especially as the number of networks increases. But he also believes regional differences and varied operational models among networks make that a challenge. Most of these organizations are very locally focused except for maybe half a dozen, Cochrane said. The problem is you have such a spectrum of entities and business models among this greater conceptual umbrella of aggregators that makes it very difficult to compare us to them. Cochrane said that Renaissance Alliance already participates in an network group for this reason. We have been part of a small group of seven aggregators from various parts of the country. We have met four or five times (so far) to explore this possibility of being able to work together in some fashion. The difference, Cochrane says, is that the seven aggregators in this group are more aligned in terms of structure and purpose. Cochrane also questions INAs relationship with carriers. If you are talking about groups of independent agencies, why do you include the companies in the group that is counter-intuitive, he said. Not that I want to put a wall between agencies and carriers but going down the line theres going to be huge disruptions and a lot of it will be at the carrier level, Cochrane said. I dont think its appropriate for aggregation entities to get together and form a formal alliance with companies (carriers). According to Cochrane, association members should be able to sit down and talk about issues related to carriers. It doesnt make for a fruitful dialogue when the big elephant is in the room and you cant talk about it, he said. Drouillard said that INA hasnt formally decided on what kind of entity would be a member going forward. As far as potential members, the INA has a broad framework but we are still very open minded; theres no real specific rule (on who should be a member), she said. Jane Koppenheffer, president of the The Insurance Alliance of Central Pennsylvania (ranked 19th by Insurance Journal) sees value in an association for networks. I do believe that an alliance group such as this is needed for agency networks and partnerships because of the unique role these organizations play in the insurance industry, she said. While there is a great deal of diversity in the structure, ownership, services and size of these networks, we have a number of common objectives, as well. Koppenheffer said that commonality of objectives makes it natural to consider the creation of a group like INA. Like Renaissance Alliance, Koppenheffers group also has informal relationships with executives of several other agency networks where they meet for lunch or at a carrier meeting to discuss common issues. The newly formed INA is planning a January 2018 meeting in Tempe, Ariz., to further develop its plans. The meeting is open to owners and senior management of insurance agency networks, insurance carriers, wholesalers and program administrators, and service providers. Others in Insurance Journals 2017 agency partnership rankings include number one, SIAA Inc., and Keystone Insurers Group, SecurRisk, The Iroquois Group and Combined Agents of America. Topics Carriers Agencies Market American International Group Inc. is no longer too big to fail. That was the ruling Friday from the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which said AIG, whose collapse in 2008 reverberated throughout the U.S. economy, was no longer a systemically important financial institution. This action demonstrates our commitment to act decisively to remove any designation if a company does not pose a threat to financial stability, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, a member of the FSOC, said in the statement. The risk council voted 6-3 to make the change, with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen supporting it alongside several of the newer regulators appointed by President Donald Trump. The decision frees the New York-based insurer from the threat of more-stringent capital rules. The firm was at the center of the crisis, when its investing blunders led to a government bailout of $182.3 billion. AIG repaid the rescue, turning away from its infamous derivatives portfolio that contributed to the carnage. The ruling for AIG was a win for activist investor Carl Icahn, who has pushed for ending the designation since taking a stake in the insurer two years ago, and for Brian Duperreault, who took over as chief executive officer in May. Icahn announced his departure as a special regulatory adviser to Trump in August after questions were raised about potential conflicts of interest with his business dealings. A Strong AIG The councils decision reflects the substantial and successful de-risking that AIGs employees have achieved since 2008, Duperreault said Friday in a statement. The company is committed to continued vigilant risk management and to working closely with our numerous regulators to enable a strong AIG to continue to serve our clients. AIG, which climbed about 0.7 percent to $61.39 Friday in New York, jumped an additional 48 cents in extended trading after the statement was released. Bloomberg reported late Thursday that the FSOC would remove the label, according to people familiar with the plan. The shares are down about 6 percent this year. AIG had privately told the FSOC that its not a SIFI, partly because the unit with soured investments wasnt an insurance entity, people familiar with the discussions said. Duperreault, 70, has been working to reshape the company, and said in August that AIG didnt deserve the SIFI tag after years of slimming down. The stance was a departure from that of former CEO Peter Hancock, Duperreaults predecessor, who had said getting out from under the SIFI designation wasnt among his top 10 priorities. The insurer didnt publicly fight the risk tag under Hancock partly because of perception, and because executives acknowledged that the firm really was a sprawling operation, the people said. Duperreaults view aligned with Icahns, who called the regulation a tax on size. In 2015, Icahn urged Hancock to break up the company, arguing that AIGs businesses would be more valuable if they werent part of a too-big-to-fail insurer. Icahn, 81, is the fourth-largest shareholder in AIG, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. AIG was named a SIFI in 2013 in a step by U.S. regulators to protect the financial system from companies seen as posing a potential risk. The designation brought an extra layer of scrutiny and compliance requirements for a company already overseen by myriad state regulators. Trumps Impact The oversight council is led by Mnuchin and its members, including Yellen, are a mix of Trumps appointees and holdovers from former President Barack Obamas administration. Trump directed Mnuchin in April to review the designation process. AIG is the third non-bank SIFI to lose the tag. General Electric Co.s finance arm asked regulators to drop it from the list after the industrial giant sold more than $200 billion in lending assets. The panel agreed in 2016. MetLife Inc. won a court case last year in which the presiding judge struck down its designation. The government is appealing, in a case that was put on hold while the Treasury Department works on a report. Prudential Financial Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer by assets, is also deemed too big to fail. The company is laying the groundwork to escape the label, people familiar with the matter said in August. Leaving one nonbank firm under SIFI status means an unbalanced playing field, according to a statement from Prudential, and it underscores the need for FSOC to re-examine its process and rescind our designation. The insurer said it takes encouragement from the AIG decision and will consider its own options for contesting its designation. Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics USA Trends Trinity Industries Inc. wont have to pay a $663 million judgment that was awarded in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the company defrauded the U.S. government with a faulty highway guardrail safety system. A federal appeals court in New Orleans Friday overturned the 2015 judgment that followed a Texas jurys finding that the company cheated the U.S. by selling its ET Plus guardrail system without disclosing changes made in 2005. Trinity shares jumped about 11 percent in after-hours trading. The appellate judges said while it is unfortunate that guardrails cannot protect from all collisions at all angles and all speeds by all vehicles, the U.S. government has never declared the challenged Trinity design unsafe. In fact, the federal government has paid to install the guardrails throughout the country and refused to remove them, the panel pointed out. When the government, at appropriate levels, repeatedly concludes that it has not been defrauded, it is not forgiving a found fraud rather it is concluding that there was no fraud at all, Circuit Judge Patrick Higginbotham wrote in a unanimous 42-page decision reversing the jurys findings. Trinity competitor Joshua Harman and plaintiffs in other lawsuits claimed the changes made the system less safe. The jury verdict set off a flurry of states removing Trinitys ET Plus guardrail from their qualified-products list. The U.S. Justice Department also started a criminal investigation, which has since been abandoned. The Texas jury awarded $175 million in damages. That was tripled under federal whistleblower law. U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap upheld the verdict and added $138 million in penalties. Gilstrap set Harmans share at $199 million. Trinity Appeal Trinity appealed, denying any fraud and disputing the damages. The changes werent material and the revised guardrail wasnt unsafe, the company argued. We are pleased the court overturned the verdict, Jeff Eller, a Trinity spokesman, said in an email. As this court has previously noted, the federal government has consistently reaffirmed the ET Plus System meets all federal safety performance standards. This ruling affirms our longstanding belief that the ET Plus System is safe and no fraud was committed. We are proud of standing strong and fighting for our beliefs. The whistle-blower action is one of a series of claims filed over the guardrail, including multiple lawsuits contending injuries caused by the product, class actions alleging deceptive practices, and investor suits. Harman also has filed false-claims cases on behalf of nine states. We believe the jury properly assessed the evidence in this case and reached the right verdict, said Karen Dyer, an attorney for Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, which represented Harman. Were disappointed with the decision of the appellate court and were assessing the options. Whistleblower Crusade Harman alleged that the Trinitys ET Plus System, meant to turn the end of a guardrail into a de facto shock absorber, was instead locking up when hit, spearing cars and their occupants. Safety concerns werent at the center of his claim, however. The heart of his whistleblower suit was the more technical allegation that Trinity knowingly made false certifications of U.S. approval of the new guardrail design to its customers and state departments of transportation and concealed modifications from the Federal Highway Administration, resulting in improper claims for federal-aid reimbursement. Following the Texas verdict, FHWA ordered a review of the ET Plus System. The system passed all crash tests and continues to be eligible for federal-aid reimbursement, the agency said in a report. Trinity modified the guardrail in 2005 by reducing the width of the guide channels from five inches to four inches. The modification wasnt significant and didnt require notification, the company said in court papers. The change had no effect on how well the rail performed, Trinity said following the U.S. crash tests. The companys shares may continue to rise in coming days, Matt Elkott, an analyst with Cowen, said in a note to clients following the ruling. The stock is up materially after the close, and we think the momentum should continue in the coming days as investors who may have been compelled by the companys and industrys fundamentals but shunned the shares due to the legal battle could begin taking another look at the stock, Elkott wrote. The case is Harman v. Trinity Industries, 15-41172, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (New Orleans). Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics USA Texas Fraud The U.S. Supreme Court kicks off its new nine-month term on Monday with a major employment case that could deprive workers of the ability to join together to file lawsuits when taking on companies over a wide range of labor disputes. The Trump administration will argue alongside companies that agreements requiring workers to arbitrate disputes with their employers individually, rather than bringing class-action lawsuits collectively with their co-workers, are valid. Class-action litigation can result in large damages awards by juries and is harder for businesses to fight than cases brought by individual plaintiffs. In an unusual twist, the administration will face off against an independent agency of the federal government, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Republican President Donald Trumps Justice Department in June reversed the governments stance in the case taken under Democratic former President Barack and said it would not defend the NLRBs position that employment agreements requiring workers to waive their rights to bring class action claims are invalid. The NLRB argues that those agreements violate federal labor law and let companies evade their responsibilities under workplace statutes. The three consolidated cases coming before the justices involve professional services firm Ernst & Young LLP, gas station operator Murphy Oil USA Inc and healthcare software company Epic Systems Corporation. It is one of the biggest cases that the Supreme Court, with a 5-4 conservative majority since Trumps appointee Neil Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate in April, will tackle during a term that runs until the end of June. Other major cases involve voting rights, religious liberty and union funding. At stake is the future of so-called class-action waivers, which employers have increasingly required employees to sign as part of their arbitration agreements to guard against a rising tide of worker lawsuits seeking unpaid wages. The case against Murphy Oil arose in 2010 when Sheila Hobson who had worked for the prior two years at a facility in Calera, Alabama and three other employees, complained that they were not being paid for overtime and other work-related activities, including driving to competitors fuel stations to check their prices and signage. It just hit me. This is not right. Im working off the clock, Hobson said. Her lawyer, former NLRB member Craig Becker, said people like Hobson might not file individual claims because of the fear of retaliation from their bosses. QUICK AND FAIR Many attorneys representing businesses say that resolving workplace disputes through arbitration with individual employees is a speedy and cost-effective alternative to class-action litigation. Unlike class actions, which can drag on forever, an individual worker in a properly constructed arbitration program can get a quick and fair resolution to their case, and most employers will pick up almost all of the cost, said Steven Suflas, a lawyer who has represented companies in similar cases. About one in four private-sector non-union employees nearly 25 million workers have signed arbitration agreements with class-action waivers, according to a study by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute think tank. Workers have fought back against the waivers, arguing that the cost of pursuing their cases individually in arbitration is prohibitively expensive. The prospect of winning a large damages award in a class action can be the only way for workers to find lawyers to take their cases, they argue. The NLRB has invalidated dozens of class-action waivers for violating workers legal right to band together to improve the workplace. Regional federal appeals courts, however, have split on the issue. Three have ruled that class-action waivers in workers arbitration agreements are binding. Another three have decided that they are unenforceable. Although two Trump administration nominees recently joined the NLRB, giving the five-member board a Republican majority for the first time in nearly a decade, the agencys general counsel is an Obama-era holdover who will argue the case about a month before his term expires. The Trump administrations choice for NLRB general counsel still needs to go through the Senate confirmation process. It is possible the NLRB will change its legal position on the issue before the justices rule on the case, according to legal experts. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley and Robert Iafolla; Editing by Will Dunham) Topics Lawsuits Trends Commercial Lines Business Insurance A Kentucky jury has awarded $21.7 million to the families of three people who died in a June 2013 medical helicopter crash. A jury in Clay County decided the award Thursday after a three-week trial and five hours of deliberation, according to local media outlets. Four years ago, the helicopter crashed in an elementary school parking lot 750 feet (225 meters) from a helipad, killing pilot and retired sheriffs deputy Eddy Sizemore, 61; paramedic Herman Lee Dobbs, 40; and Jesse Jones, 28. Eight family members sued Bell Helicopter Textron Inc., the helicopters manufacturer. A report by the National Transportation Safety Board said the crash probably occurred because the pilot became disoriented and lost control in foggy nighttime conditions. But Gary C. Robb, an attorney who represented the families, said there was a main rotor blade defect, and the tail broom and roof broke off, leaving the crew helpless. Witnesses saw the helicopter flying lower than normal and spinning before it crashed, according to the NTSB report. Robb said Bell Helicopter executives have admitted knowledge of this defect in their main rotor blade manufacturing for more than two decades. He said the families are demanding the Federal Aviation Administration investigate the company. Bell said he will also file a complaint with the agency. The favorable ruling for the families meant jurors decided that the company manufactured the helicopter component in a defective condition, unreasonably dangerous to the user, and that the problem factored significantly in the crash, jury instructions said. Bell Helicopter spokeswoman Lindsey Hughes said the company will appeal, adding that the NTSB found no design or manufacturing flaws with the helicopter or its parts. The jury awards varied for different family members. The highest amount was $7.5 million to the son of Jesse Jones. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Manufacturing Kentucky A 12th patient has died after being taken from an overheated Florida nursing home that lost its air conditioning during Hurricane Irma, officials confirmed on Friday. Dolores Biamonte, 57, died Thursday night, according to a statement from the Broward County Medical Examiners Office. Hollywood police are treating all 12 deaths from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills as part of a criminal investigation, spokeswoman Miranda Grossman said in a statement. Eight patients died Sept. 13, three days after the storm knocked out the nursing homes air conditioning. Others died in the following days. Some who died had body temperatures as high as 109.9 degrees Fahrenheit (48 Celsius). Investigators want to know why the patients died after the storm even though a fully functioning hospital sits just across the street from the nursing home, Grossman said. Since the storm, Gov. Rick Scott gave nursing homes and assisted living facilities 60 days to comply with new rules that require them to have generators capable of providing backup power for four days. The home has been shut down. Biamontes niece, Roberta Biamonte of Fort Lauderdale, told the Sun Sentinel she spent time with her aunt and said her goodbyes late Thursday, just before the woman died. Its sad, but shes not suffering anymore, Roberta Biamonte said. Shes missed deeply. She said her aunt suffered from a lifelong disease that affected her vision and ability to walk. She had been at the Hollywood facility for more than three years and had been in hospice care since the nursing home evacuation. The dead range in age from 57 to 99. No one has been charged. The death toll, while large, is exceeded by some other deadly incidents at nursing homes in the U.S. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005, 34 elderly patients drowned in floodwaters after the owners of the St. Ritas nursing home failed to heed warning to evacuate the facility. Husband and wife owners Salvador and Mable Mangano were acquitted in 2007 on charges of negligent homicide and cruelty. Other deadly nursing home incidents in the United States include the deaths of 63 patients at the Golden Age Nursing Home in Fitchville, Ohio, on the same day President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and the deaths of 31 patients in a Marietta, Ohio, convalescent home in 1970. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Hurricane Dicembre nero per le vendite al dettaglio. Lo rivela l'Istat, secondo cui a dicembre 2017 le vendite al dettaglio hanno registrato una diminuzione, rispetto al mese precedente, dello 0,3% sia in valore sia in volume. In particolare, rivela lo studio, sono diminuite sia le vendite di beni alimentari sia quelle di beni non alimentari (rispettivamente dello 0,2% e dello 0,3%, in valore e in volume). Andamento trimestrale alterno Considerando l'andamento trimestrale, nel periodo ottobre-dicembre l'indice complessivo registra, rispetto al trimestre precedente, una variazione positiva dello 0,1% in valore e una flessione dello 0,2% in volume. Nello stesso periodo, per le vendite di beni alimentari si rileva un incremento dello 0,2% in valore e una diminuzione dello 0,5% in volume; sostanzialmente stabile l'andamento dei beni non alimentari (-0,1% in valore, invariato il volume). Meno del 2016 Rispetto a dicembre 2016, prosegue Istat, le vendite al dettaglio registrano una flessione dello 0,1% in valore e dello 0,9% in volume. Nello stesso periodo quelle di prodotti alimentari aumentano dell'1,2% in valore e diminuiscono dello 0,4% in volume, mentre le vendite di prodotti non alimentari registrano una diminuzione per entrambi gli aggregati (rispettivamente -0,7% e -1,1%). Crescita modesta Il 2017 si chiude quindi con una crescita delle vendite modesta (+0,2%), sintesi di un aumento dell'1,4% per la grande distribuzione (all'interno della quale emerge la crescita del 3,2% dei discount di alimentari) e una diminuzione dello 0,8% delle vendite delle imprese operanti su piccole superfici. Esport in crescita Buone notizie sul fronte esportazioni. In un quadro di forte espansione del commercio mondiale, prosegue l'Istat, continua l'andamento positivo delle esportazioni Italiane in tutti i settori eccetto quello manifatturiero, che ha registrato invece qualche segnale di rallentamento. In presenza di un aumento del potere di acquisto delle famiglie, e aumentata la propensione al risparmio. L'inflazione si conferma moderata e in ripiegamento. What Is Financial Engineering? Financial engineering is the use of mathematical techniques to solve financial problems. Financial engineering uses tools and knowledge from the fields of computer science, statistics, economics, and applied mathematics to address current financial issues as well as to devise new and innovative financial products. Financial engineering is sometimes referred to as quantitative analysis and is used by regular commercial banks, investment banks, insurance agencies, and hedge funds. Key Takeaways Financial engineering is the use of mathematical techniques to solve financial problems. Financial engineers test and issue new investment tools and methods of analysis. They work with insurance companies, asset management firms, hedge funds, and banks. Financial engineering led to an explosion in derivatives trading and speculation in the financial markets. It has revolutionized financial markets, but it also played a role in the 2008 financial crisis. How Financial Engineering Is Used The financial industry is always coming up with new and innovative investment tools and products for investors and companies. Most of the products have been developed through techniques in the field of financial engineering. Using mathematical modeling and computer science, financial engineers are able to test and issue new tools such as new methods of investment analysis, new debt offerings, new investments, new trading strategies, new financial models, etc. Financial engineers run quantitative risk models to predict how an investment tool will perform and whether a new offering in the financial sector would be viable and profitable in the long run, and what types of risks are presented in each product offering given the volatility of the markets. Financial engineers work with insurance companies, asset management firms, hedge funds, and banks. Within these companies, financial engineers work in proprietary trading, risk management, portfolio management, derivatives and options pricing, structured products, and corporate finance departments. Types of Financial Engineering Derivatives Trading While financial engineering uses stochastics, simulations and analytics to design and implement new financial processes to solve problems in finance, the field also creates new strategies that companies can take advantage of to maximize corporate profits. For example, financial engineering has led to the explosion of derivative trading in the financial markets. Since the Cboe Options Exchange was formed in 1973 and two of the first financial engineers, Fischer Black and Myron Scholes, published their option pricing model, trading in options and other derivatives has grown dramatically. Through the regular options strategy where one can either buy a call or put depending on whether they are bullish or bearish, financial engineering has created new strategies within the options spectrum, providing more possibilities to hedge or make profits. Examples of options strategies born out of financial engineering efforts include Married Put, Protective Collar, Long Straddle, Short Strangles, Butterfly Spreads, etc. Speculation The field of financial engineering has also introduced speculative vehicles in the markets. For example, instruments such as the Credit Default Swap (CDS) were initially created in the late 90s to provide insurance against defaults on bond payments, such as municipal bonds. However, these derivative products drew the attention of investment banks and speculators who realized they could make money from the monthly premium payments associated with CDS by betting with them. In effect, the seller or issuer of a CDS, usually a bank, would receive monthly premium payments from the buyers of the swap. The value of a CDS is based on the survival of a companythe swap buyers are betting on the company going bankrupt and the sellers are insuring the buyers against any negative event. As long as the company remains in good financial standing, the issuing bank will keep getting paid monthly. If the company goes under, the CDS buyers will cash in on the credit event. Criticism of Financial Engineering Although financial engineering has revolutionized the financial markets, it played a role in the 2008 financial crisis. As the number of defaults on subprime mortgage payments increased, more credit events were triggered. Credit Default Swap (CDS) issuers, that is banks, could not make the payments on these swaps since the defaults were happening almost at the same time. Many corporate buyers that had taken out CDSs on mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that they were heavily invested in, soon realized that the CDSs held were worthless. To reflect the loss of value, they reduced the value of assets on their balance sheets, which led to more failures on a corporate level, and a subsequent economic recession. Due to the 2008 global recession brought on by engineered structured products, financial engineering is considered to be a controversial field. However, it is apparent that this quantitative study has greatly improved the financial markets and processes by introducing innovation, rigor, and efficiency to the markets and industry. 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 Fashion News - Investor Idea New Fashion Designer Launches this Holiday Season in Kelowna and Online; Sweet Dees Creations Fun, Flirty and Affordable Kelowna B.C. - November 14, 2022 (Investorideas.com Newswire) A local fashion designer is launching a new women's line at Kelowna markets and online this Holiday Season that will make heads turn with her whimsical and colourful choices 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. Check out our Podcasts for great investor ideas: Get new posts by email: Subscribe Powered by Investorideas.com Newswire: Subscribe to Investor Ideas Newswire A comprehensive approach Guaranteeing the right to abortion isnt enough. We know that economic, cultural, religious, and systemic barriers prevent many people from accessing abortion care even where its legal and available. Our solution: We work across institutions and communities to build sustainable abortion ecosystems. In such an ecosystem, people have the information they need to make decisions about reproductive health, theres community and health-system support for human rights and abortion access, and laws and policies support full bodily autonomy. While asking prices for Dublin homes have continued to rise, the asking price around the country decreased nationally in Q3, according to the latest house price report from MyHome.ie The price of newly listed properties in Dublin rose by 1.6% in Q3 and is up 11.8% this year. Nationally prices rose by 0.4% and are up 8.9% year on year. The asking price for new sales in Dublin is now 366k, an increase of 39K on this time last year. The corresponding figure nationally is 253k, an increase of 21k. Newly listed properties are seen as the most reliable indicator of future price movements. For the entire stock of properties listed for sale on the website, prices rose 1.7% in Dublin and 1.6% nationally. The national mix adjusted figure is now 228k while in Dublin it is a higher 319k. The author of the report, Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist at Davy, said the acceleration in asking prices which began in late 2016 has continued through 2017 and is likely to continue through 2018. At the start of the year we predicted double digit growth in house prices for 2017 but due to the strength of asking price inflation in Q3 we are predicting that double digit inflation is also likely to persist through 2018, he said. There are a number of reasons why house prices are rising so strongly; these include the lack of supply, the economic recovery and the fact household incomes are now rising by 2-3% per annum. However the key factor driving house prices higher has been the mortgage market. The average loan drawn down by first time buyers in the last quarter was up 9.4% in the year to 200k from 183k in mid 2016. This has meant that leverage on new mortgage loans has increased and with ever more desperate buyers seeking larger loans as they compete for the few properties listed for sale, this trend is set to continue and to ensure inflation remains at double digit level, he continued. These figures provided a challenging backdrop for the Government heading into Budget 2018. House prices in Dublin rise 1.6% in Q3, marginal increase around the country Strength of demand means double digit house price inflation likely through 2018 Asking prices for newly listed properties in Dublin have jumped almost 40K in the last year Around the country the corresponding figure is 21K Stock on MyHome site down 6.5% year on year to 21,424 Measures to boost supply have had limited results so far. Neither will the crisis be solved by tax incentives or subsidies for the construction sector that will almost inevitably lead to higher land prices. With limited progress on planning, inadequate land supply and inappropriate constraints on building heights, Irelands housing crisis clearly will not be solved in the near future Mr MacCoille said. The Managing Director of MyHome.ie, Angela Keegan, said the lack of supply would underpin rising prices for the medium term. At the end of Q3 2017 there were just 21,424 properties listed for sale on the MyHome website. This total is down 6.5% on last year and represents just 1.1% of the total housing stock of two million homes. The situation improved slightly in Dublin where the number of properties for sale rose by 3.3% to 4,275. However this is represents an even smaller total of 0.9% of the housing stock in the capital, she said. The lack of supply is also reflected in the time it takes to sell a house. The average time for an agreed sale in Q3 was four months. Ms Keegan said, Despite the tightness in the market, transaction volumes are currently running 10% ahead of where they were last year and at this rate will be close to 55,000 transactions. This is a positive development but we are still some way off the 90,000 or so transactions which one would expect to see in a properly functioning market. Full details of the report can be found on the MyHome.ie website. The Irish Government will not recognise the result of the Catalan independence referendum. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar earlier came down on the side of the Spanish Government in the dispute. However he condemned the violence seen in the region after police officers clashed with voters. Leo Varadkar says they will not recognise the result, which was 90% in favour of Catalonia leaving Spain. "No we won't. We accept and respect the laws of Spain, the constitution of Spain and the territorial unity of Spain, and in this referendum it would appear less than half of the population participated in, although admittedly it wasn't easy for people to participate, but that's a seperate issue. We respect, of course, the laws and constitution of Spain, which is a friend and ally of ours," he said. The Department of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement saying it is up to Spanish citizens to determine their preferred constitutional and political arrangements in keeping with the rule of law. "With regard to the political context, it is the Government's view that it is for Spanish citizens to determine for themselves their preferred constitutional and political arrangements through their own democratic institutions and in keeping with the rule of law," the Department said. "The reports and images of clashes, violence and injuries are of concern. There are strong historic ties between the people of Ireland and Spain. "Upholding the constitution and the rule of law in all its aspects is a key underpinning of a modern democracy. It is important now that steps are taken to reduce tensions and to find a way forward together. "In this context, we note that the Spanish Prime Minister has indicated that he will discuss the issues with all of the parliamentary political parties." Preliminary results in Catalonia show 90% in favour of independence in a vote opposed by Spain, a Catalan official said. Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters that 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted on Sunday chose the 'yes' side in favour of independence. In partnership with awards sponsor JCD, event partner AIB, and media partners the Irish Examiner, the awards recognise the outstanding contribution of businesses and individuals across varied sectors of business. There are 10 categories, including best new business, best hotel, best Cork family business, best Cork cafe or restaurant, best Cork VFI pub, best Cork retail business, best professional services business, and best tourism art event. There is also the Cork Business of the Year awards for large and medium-sized businesses, both sponsored by the Irish Examiner and JCD. CBA chief executive Lawrence Owens said: I think what separates our awards from others is that it doesnt matter whether you are a large business with a fleet of staff or a one man band multi-tasking to provide a great product or service. There are certainly plenty of stars out there on the Cork business scene. The CBA, along with our sponsors and partners, seek to recognise the hard work and good business acumen demonstrated in Cork in 2017. Mr Owens said the many benefits of being part of the awards process include recognition, plus marketing and networking opportunities. To enter the Cork Business of the Year Awards 2017, a business must be based in the greater Cork city area or be a member of the CBA. Nominations are now open and entries for all award categories should be completed online at www.corkbusiness.ie/cba-awards no later than November 6. Shortlisted finalists will be contacted via email on November 20. The awards ceremony will take place at a black tie dinner in Pairc Ui Chaoimh conference centre on Saturday, January 20. Tickets are priced at 110 or 1,000 for a table of 10 (plus booking fee) and are available to purchase through Eventbrite or direct from the CBA office by calling 021 4278295. For more information on Cork Business Association and the 2017 Cork Business of the Year Awards, see www.corkbusiness.ie/cba-cork-business-of-the-year-awards-2017 In the 1940s the tribute to Her Majesty was unceremoniously dumped as too much for republican sensibilities by the colleges president, Alfred ORahilly. It might also have been payback from ORahilly as he had been twice held at the Sovereigns Pleasure. Her likeness now lies adjacent to the staff common room, which, of course, means that the staff can enjoy tea with the queen whenever they like. A photograph on UCCs website shows Victoria taking a back seat to the Liam McCarthy Cup. But if the staff want to enjoy the real thing with the current British monarch, it might be considered appropriate not to leave Queen Vic out in a dusty hallway. Another statue of Queen Victoria sculpted by Irishman John Hughes was erected in front of Leinster House in Dublin in 1924 and removed in 1947 after years of criticism that it was inappropriate to have the queens likeness stand in front of the parliament of the Irish Free State. After years in storage the statue was given by the Republic of Ireland to Australia and re-commemorated in December 1987 to stand outside the Queen Victoria Building in the centre of Sydney. Ever since Queen Victoria planted her royal rear on Lord Kenmares overstuffed carver, Killarney has been subject to an array of superlatives. Heavens Reflex... Beautys Home..., The place that God made when he was in good humour... have all sought to reflect the beauty and majesty of what is still Irelands premier tourist destination. The queen went there with her husband, Prince Albert, in 1861, along with their two children, Alice and Helena, and a posse of ladies-in-waiting. She was, by all accounts, so struck by its beauty that she couldnt stop talking about it. Although the queen had visited Ireland on two previous occasions, in 1849 and 1853, this was the first time that Kerry was included in her itinerary. The royal party stayed the night of Monday, August 26, 1861, at Killarney House, home of the Earl of Kenmare. They then travelled on to Muckross, home of the Herbert family, where they spent the following two nights. The queens visit to Killarney House was very much a state occasion. However, her stay at Muckross was a more private affair. The genuflecting local press reported that Her Majesty had declared her intention of being very quiet while at Muckross. (The Kerry Evening Post, August 28, 1861). As every schoolgirl knows, Queen Victoria was not easily amused. She was particularly enchanted, though, by a stunning view across the lakes and declared that such was its beauty it should only be gazed upon by ladies. Ever since, it has become known as Ladies View. Queen Victoria was the last British queen to visit Ireland. She developed a great gra for the country, particularly during her early reign, and is credited with having put Killarney and its lakes on the tourist map. Her love of the country was matched by initial Irish warmth towards the young queen but things began to go pear-shaped during the Great Famine. The queen is said to have personally donated 2,000 for famine relief. However, when Sultan Abdulmecid of the Ottoman Empire declared that he would send 10,000 in aid, Queen Victoria requested that he send only 1,000, to save her blushes. The Sultan sent the 1,000 but also secretly sent three ships full of food. British courts tried to block the ships, but the food arrived at Drogheda harbour and was left there by Ottoman sailors. Victorias first official visit to Ireland, in 1849, was specifically arranged by Lord Clarendon, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland the head of the British administration to try to both draw attention from the famine and alert British politicians through the queens presence to the seriousness of the crisis in Ireland. Despite the negative impact of the famine on the queens popularity she remained popular enough for many Irish nationalists at party meetings to finish by singing God Save the Queen. In 1853 she attended the Great Industrial Exhibition in Dublin. More than one million people attended and Victoria knighted the architect of the exhibition, John Benson. However, by the 1870s and 1880s the monarchys appeal in Ireland had diminished substantially, partly because Victoria refused to visit Ireland in protest at the Dublin Corporations decision not to congratulate her son, the Prince of Wales on either his marriage to Princess Alexandra of Denmark or the birth of the royal couples oldest son, Prince Albert Victor. Queen Victoria had also felt deeply hurt after Dublin Corporation had returned a bust of her beloved late husband Albert, which she sent as a gift to the people of Dublin. In addition, she had felt hurt by the indignation at the suggestion to place a statue of Albert on St Stephens Green in Dublin, and to rename it Albert Green. It has been theorised that these perceived insults to her darling Alberts memory hardened her views of the Irish people. Now that the best of enemies have become the best of friends, the visit of Elizabeth II will doubtless be welcomed by closet royalists and liberal republicans or, as President McAleese puts it, the visit of the Queen will show to the world how old enemies can become good neighbours. As a 500,000 fund to encourage more partnership between third-level staff is announced by the Government today, representatives of English-language colleges have been touring China to try and boost numbers coming here to study. Education Minister Richard Bruton and Mary Mitchell OConnor, Minister of State for Higher Education, said the International Academic Mobility Programme would allow between 100 and 150 academics from universities, institutes of technology, and other colleges a chance to collaborate with strategic partner institutions around the world. The Higher Education Authority will invite proposals to access the fund from teaching, technical, management, and administrative staff, with a view to awarding supports by the end of the year. It could be used, for example, to allow prospective international research funding applicants meet with collaborators in another country; or to facilitate direct meetings and discussions on developing student exchange programmes, innovative ways of teaching or improving student supports. Ms Mitchell OConnor said the programme is the latest in a number of strategic actions driven by the Department of Education, in conjunction with the international education sector, to implement elements of the Governments strategy on international education. It follows on from the implementation of a trebling of the number of Government of Ireland scholarships for international students, the introduction of greater supports by Government to assist with the diversification of international education markets, she said. The minister of state said it also further supports the higher education sector as it prepares for the challenges and opportunities of Brexit. Mr Bruton said working closely with international institutions is key to the sectors success, especially in light of global challenges and uncertainties facing the country, including the departure of the UK from the EU. One of the opportunities that may arise from Brexit is the potential to attract more students wishing to learn English in a country where it is in everyday use. Education in Ireland, managed by Enterprise Ireland, is supporting the three-city trade mission to China by a group representing 66 regulated language schools and colleges. Although numbers coming here to study from China jumped from 495 to 1,148 between 2014 and 2015, they fell to 843 last year. The visa requirements associated with studying in the English language training sector mean a much higher spend than EU students arriving here. A Chinese student typically spend around 20 weeks in Ireland, compared to just three for someone coming from Spain or Italy, according to Marketing English in Ireland chief executive David OGrady. The events in Beijing, Dalian, and Shenyang are part of an ongoing strategy to grow our market share in China for students wishing to travel abroad to learn English, he said. Ireland continues to receive the largest number of English language students from EU countries such as Spain, Italy and France, Mr OGrady said. Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane said more transparency is needed after the council refused to explain how it has addressed the issue, declined to provide any details on how the mistake happened, and if the taxpayer has been left with an unnecessary cost. In a letter to the Public Accounts Committee , TDs were told that at the start of this year the council bought 63 Volkswagen vans for 1.5m. It said management told officials in May the vans were not needed and would be sent back within three weeks. However, the councilchose to keep the vehicles, with the vans left unused on the authoritys premises. The Irish Examiner has learned that legal advisers on the stalled 6,000-seat venue, where costs have soared to almost 73m, have prepared advice on how much extra funding the State can commit to the project before the entire process is open to legal challenge. Following a competitive tender process almost three years ago, the State sanctioned 20m in public funding. Former taoiseach Enda Kenny turned the sod on the former Beamish and Crawford brewery site on South Main St almost two years ago but construction has yet to start. Following a complete redesign of the original venue last year, to ensure it would be commercially viable, the developers asked earlier this year for another 18m in state support for a larger venue. They said the costs had increased by 12m and that a 6m contingency fund was also needed. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said following weeks of legal scrutiny on that additional funding request, a draft recommendation on the figures is now ready. But he refused to be drawn on how much of the additional 18m the Government can sanction before the original competitive tender process is open to challenge. It is understood that the legal and financial situation will be outlined to BAM and Live Nation, this week, who will then have to make a decision on whether to proceed on that basis or not. Mr Coveney defended the latest delay and said the State had to go through a lengthy process to test the legal implications of the additional funding request. Im happy now that we have a recommendation from the legal team in terms of what Government can and cant do, he said. It will be so much, and our legal advice says we cant go anymore without actually looking at the (competitive tender) process all over again which we certainly dont want to do. It has taken a long time to get us this far we are not starting again. Weve got a site, weve got planing permission, weve got a developer ready to go, weve got an event manager whos the best in the world at doing what they do. We want to make this happen now, and we need to finalise the financial package that will give BAM and Live Nation the support they need to make it happen. We are trying to finalise that now to make sure we dont have a legal challenge to the process, that the competitive process still stands up and that the financing of this project isnt so fundamentally changed that the process is called into question. Mr Coveney said once the legal situation is outlined to BAM and Live Nation, talks to find a way forward will then have to involve the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and the department of Public Expenditure. Ive offered timelines in the past, but this is a project I have a huge personal connection with, and one Ive taken a lot of grief on, and thats fine, he said. Im happy to do that as long as we make this happen in the end. We are really at the end-game point at this stage. I thought weve been there on a number of occasions to date, but to be clear, the ask has come to me to find more funding. We dont want to build a mediocre events centre. This will be a really special piece of infrastructure for the city thats going to be there for the next 50-80 years. The island beat off the challenge of the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, and the Colosseum in Rome to win the prestigious award. More than 6m has so far been spent on upgrading facilities on Spike Island, which is owned by Cork County Council. A portion of that was funded by the tourism body. However, further major work stalled on the project after Failte Ireland declined to help fund a 7.1m county council plan which proposed additional restoration work, new exhibition centres, a visitor centre and themed train connection to and from from the island pier. Chairman of the Cobh municipal district council Cllr Padraig OSullivan said he would introduce an emergency motion at its meeting today to ask Failte Ireland to financially support phase two of the project. Spike Island is now considered to be of international importance. The value of this win cant be underestimated and Failte Ireland has to realise that and invest in it now, he said. The Port of Cork and Cobh and Harbour Chamber both want a meeting called with all stakeholders to put a clear roadmap in place for further development on the island. Port of Cork commercial manager Captain Michael McCarthy said the port authority is planning to build a multipurpose berth at Lynch Quay, Cobh, that will provide a year-round sea-bus terminal to service Spike Island. From left: Declan Daly, division manager, John Crotty, Spike Island manager, County Mayor Cllr Declan Hurley, and David Keane, former county engineer, with the Top European Attraction award. He said waterbus transport was being planned for tourists to access Fort Camden, Monkstown, Ringaskiddy and Cork City which could also be used by cruise liner passengers. Declan Daly, the county councils deputy chief executive, said the local authority can fund some short-term, low-cost projects itself. He said they are also finalising a tender for additional ferry services to and from the island which he aims to have in place for the start of next season. Needless to say, given Titanic Belfasts experience of winning the same award, numbers and demand will grow significantly next year and in subsequent years, Mr Daly said. Fortress Spike Island will now go forward to represent Europe at the Grand World Final in Vietnam on December 10. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission called on the Government to implement a UN protocol against torture, which it signed 10 years ago, which would oblige it to set up such a system. A report, conducted by human rights experts from the University of Bristol for the commission, said the most significant gap in Ireland on the monitoring of places of detention was garda stations. The research said other areas included: transport and transit between prisons and court; military detention; detention of people awaiting deportation; detection facilities at airports and ports and on flights and de facto detention in voluntary settings. The UN Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture was signed on October 2, 2007, but has still not been ratified into Irish law. It requires states to set up or designate National Preventative Mechanisms independent visiting bodies with unfettered access to places of detection. The report said there were a number of gaps in Ireland where places are not covered by independent monitors, the most significant being garda stations. The transport of inmates between prisons and courts, and court cells, were also not monitored. The report said it was not clear the extent to which there were military detention facilities in Ireland although some interviewees said there might be in the Curragh camp. It said there were currently no immigration detention facilities, although the report noted proposals to build such a facility in the Thorton Hall site owned by the Prison Service. The report heard that Direct Provision centres, not currently monitored, could be seen as de facto detention facilities. It said detention facilities at airports and ports are not covered, nor were facilities used by Customs to arrest and detain people. The authors said it would be pragmatic to build on the existing mechanisms by expanding their mandates. It suggests a number of options, including expanding the power and resources of the Inspector of Prisons to include garda facilities and court cells or designating a co-ordinating body, such as the commission, for all the inspection and ombudsman bodies. The talks follow the rejection yesterday of proposals by An Post on the future of post offices where 400 postmasters heard that their contracts have been threatened by the company. At a special national meeting in Athlone, members of the Irish Postmasters Union (IPU) called on Mr Naughten to support an investment programme in the network which financially recognises the social value of post offices. There were heated exchanges at the meeting, as postmasters, staff and their families, gathered at the Sheraton Hotel in the town to discuss the crisis affecting the postal network. IPU general secretary, Ned OHara, said An Post had contacted all postmasters over the past two weeks threatening their contracts over members non-co-operation with training on the new An Post Current Account. IPU members had withheld taking part in the training pending an overall plan being agreed between An Post and postmasters. Mr OHara said following the threat and concern raised among members, they will now engage with An Post on the account. However, the new postmasters contract proposal, which An Post made to the IPU in recent weeks, was rejected. The proposed new contract is for each post office to operate on a stand-alone commercial basis and places no value on post offices social function. The post office network is under huge pressure as postmasters incomes are falling dramatically. The IPUs aim is to keep as many offices as possible open, to introduce new services and to develop the networks social function within communities. We need to agree and introduce a mechanism of payment to postmasters for the core social services they provide. Minister Naughten needs to address this issue. A much better plan is possible, and is required, if we are to keep post offices open, Mr OHara said. The IPU is meeting with Mr Naughten on Thursday and will demand he invest in the network. As hundreds of mainly rural post offices face closure, Mr OHara said his unions members were annoyed at the suggestion by the head of An Post, David McRedmond, that it is not the company that is closing post offices but postmasters. A lot of postmasters were upset by that, he said. The mood of the meeting was one of annoyance, he told Sean ORourke on RTE radio. He also rejected an assertion made on the same programme by independent TD Michael Healy-Rae that IPU members were more interested in exit packages than in saving the postal network. The union did not vote to accept exit packages, Mr OHara said. We want to protect as many post offices as possible. The low-cost airline does not recognise unions and instead deal with staff issues through their own Employee Representative Councils (ERCs). Yesterday, a letter was circulated among Ryanair pilots stating that one centralised committee was being formed. The letter said the single committee was being established to oppose the long-standing strategy of divide and conquer that Ryanair has applied in its dealing with pilots. It also stated the pilots would need to employ immense will in order to overcome the alleged tactic. To overthrow this structure will require immense force of will, stamina and commitment from every pilot, the letter read. It is entirely possible that things will get worse before they get any better. Expect management to fight any change by all means available to them. There will be casualties, it continued. The letter, which was reported by British media, ended with a reference to Winston Churchill. To paraphrase Churchill: Let us make sure future colleagues look back and say: This was their finest hour, it read. The letter emerged on the same day as Monarch Airlines and Monarch Travel Group were placed into administration, leaving 110,000 holidaymakers stranded overseas and resulting in the cancellation of 300,000 future bookings. Monarch, which is one of Britains largest ever airlines to enter into administration, has approximately 200 pilots which Michael OLeary was reportedly trying to poach in order to reduce the number of flight cancellations at Ryanair. The Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) stated Monarch had no flights scheduled to depart from Irish airports. KPMG was appointed as the administrators for Monarch Airlines and several factors were listed as the reason behind the action. Mounting cost pressures and increasingly competitive market conditions in the European short-haul market have contributed to the Monarch Group experiencing a sustained period of trading losses, said KPMGs Blair Nimmo. Meanwhile, Ryanair CEO Mr OLeary had been invited to appear before the Oireachtas committee on transport to discuss the airlines recent flight cancellations. However, he said yesterday that he will not be able to attend the meeting, scheduled for tomorrow. On Thursday, High Court judge Mr Justice Charles Meenan will give his decision on whether Ryanair is entitled to certain documents for its legal action against Channel 4 and a production company behind an allegedly defamatory TV programme. The Dispatches Secrets from the Cockpit programme, broadcast in August 2013, dealt with Ryanairs fuel policy, passenger safety, and pilot working conditions. Ryanair says it was defamatory because it wrongly meant the airline endangered passenger safety. The claims are denied. In September 1995, the Censorship of Publications Appeal Board lifted the ban on Playboy magazine in the Republic of Ireland, a ban that was first imposed in 1959 six years after the magazine was launched in the USA. Two years after the scrapping of ban, a number of Playboy executives accompanied Victoria Silvstedt, the 1997 Playmate of the Year, to Dublin as part of the preparations for an edition featuring The Girls of the Emerald Isle. I interviewed the former model who had won the Miss Sweden title in 1993 in a Dublin hotel. She was charming, funny and very articulate (and liked Guinness), and very quickly dismissed the notion that by posing for and promoting the magazine she was associating with sleaze. In a comment that was echoed at the weekend by Jenny McCarthy (the 1995 Playmate of the Year), following the death of Hugh Hefner, the magazines founder, at the age of 91, Ms Silvstedt said: My association with Hugh Hefner and Playboy magazine has had a transforming effect on my life. Im so glad he contacted me after winning the Miss Sweden competition. She was very frank about her assessment of Playboy, seeing it as a publication that helped to usher in the sexual revolution, and one that was clearly ahead of its time. Hefner she saw as someone who promoted rather than exploited women. You could say we used the magazine as much as it used us. Many other women, especially feminists, take a very different view. They are scornful of Hefners self-depiction as a liberator, accusing him of objectifying women. One of the most scathing criticisms of the hedonistic lifestyle championed by Hefner and Playboy came from Gloria Steinem, who would go on to establish the groundbreaking feminist Ms magazine in 1972. In January 1963, she accepted as a 28-year-old an assignment from Show magazine to work as a Playboy Bunny in order to write an expose. Her two-part series A Bunnys Tale appeared in the May and June issues of Show magazine, surfacing in the same year as Betty Friedans The Feminine Mystique. At the core of A Bunnys Tale was Ms Steinems belief that the sexual revolution would fail if men were the only ones to define it. Much later she said that one of the long-term results of the article was years of occasional phone calls from past and present Bunnies with revelations about their working conditions and the sexual demands made on them. On the other hand, Camille Paglia, who is professor of humanities at University of Philadelphia, has been a staunch defender of Hefners magazine. I have gone out of my way to publish in and endorse Playboy, which has been vilified by both mainstream and anti-porn feminists, she wrote in Vamps & Tramps, a provocative collection of essays. Among those to pay tribute to Hefner on his death was former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, who has appeared on 14 of the magazines covers more than any other supermodel, film actress or rock star. I am me because of you, she said. You taught me everything important about freedom and respect. But the Guardian columnist, Suzanne Moore is contemptuous of the view that Hefner was an icon for sexual liberation. Describing him as a libertine and a disgusting old sleaze, she says the fantasy that Hefner sold was not a fantasy of freedom for women, but for men. While she admits that Playboy used some fantastic writers among them Gore Vidal, Ian Fleming, Norman Mailer, John Updike, Ray Bradbury, Joseph Heller and Margaret Atwood (author of The Handmaids Tale) she says it is ridiculous that Hefner, following his death, is being hailed in some quarters as a womens rights hero. Nevertheless, the fact remains that by publishing a magazine with female breasts on its cover, Hefner started a revolution. The magazine reflected hip, urban dissatisfaction with the stodgy conformism of the Eisenhower era, wrote Steven Watts in the biography Mr Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream. Hefner launched Playboy with a naked centrefold of Marilyn Monroe (she was also its first cover girl), taken years earlier and bought for $500. The future superstar was a struggling actress at the time and desperate for money. The first issue, produced from his kitchen and financed with $8,000 from friends and investors, sold more than 50,000 copies. It is easy to see why the publication of a magazine featuring female nudity and articles dealing explicit with sex, especially premarital sex, contraception, abortion and pornography in the America of the 1950s would generate such controversy. Public discourse didnt extend to such topics in a society that in some respects mirrored our own. The influence of conservative Christianity was very pervasive. The Christian Right has always been influential in the US, not least in the corridors of power in Washington DC. Sex was not openly talked about, and Hollywood still operated under a strict censorship regime. Even in 1971, a movie such as Carnal Knowledge was being prosecuted for obscenity, despite being described as pure Hollywood e stablishment and having no explicit sex. Indeed, the actress Ann-Margret had been nominated for an Oscar for her role. The Korean War had ended in July 1953, the White House was occupied by Eisenhower since the start of the year, the country was still in thrall to McCarthyism and the fall-out from the notorious communist witch-hunts instigated by the Republican politician Joseph McCarthy, while religious leaders like Rev Billy Graham and Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York were enormously powerful. In launching Playboy in December 1953, Hefner was reacting against what he regarded as a stultifying culture, and one that was particularly repressive in the sphere of sexuality. Although he had been born into a strict Methodist family in Chicago in 1926, he came to hold and develop very liberal views on sex. In high school he had written an essay criticising the USA for avoiding frank discussions about sex, and in his college newspaper he had written approvingly of the 1948 Kinsey Report based on research by Alfred Kinsey, which shocked many Americans by its frank treatment of topics such as the frequency of marital sex, homosexuality and sadomasochism. Playboy was a response to my own puritan upbringing, he said afterwards. By 1960, Playboy was reaching a million readers a month. And the list of those who featured in The Playboy Interview slot reads like a Whos Who of American culture, sport, entertainment and politics. The great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis was the first to fill the interview slot, and among others to be interviewed were Fidel Castro, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and presidential candidate Jimmy Carter. Others on the long list include Princess Grace, Dr Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, John Lennon, Paul Newman, and Bernadette Devlin. Asked by the New York Times in 1992 what he was most proud of, Hefner said: That I changed attitudes towards sex. That I decontaminated the notion of premarital sex. That gives me great satisfaction. In October 2015, the magazine announced that it was to stop publishing pictures of naked women, saying easy access to such images online meant they were passe. However, in February 2017 that decision was reversed, with Playboy saying it was bringing back nudes. At the time Hefner said: Today were reclaiming who we are. DEAR Bishop Cullinan, Unlike most of what youve experienced in the last few days, this isnt an attack. Its a free gift of professional advice, because I figure you may not have access to a good media trainer. The Catholic Hierarchy, which once embraced media training, backed away from it over the last 30 years. Which is a pity, because the church veers between two choices: 1) being absent or 2) face-planting through lack of applicable skills. In the absence of objective professional analysis of your media outings in the last week, the chances are that the feedback youve received has been wildly contrasting. At one end, youve had the minister being restrained in his condemnation of what you said and the HSEs Paul Connors rather less restrained in his. At the other end of the continuum, no doubt individual members of the faithful have come up to you, shaken you warmly by the hand and told you that youre SO right about Gardasil. No doubt youve also received emails and texts along the same lines, with many of them adding the advice that youre not to pay any attention to commentary in mass media. The temptation for you will be to dismiss the former and cleave to the latter. Not a good idea. Some media reaction was hostile because youre a Catholic bishop, but most of it was because reporters and columnists genuinely believe you endangered young women. And the people reaching you to praise you for what you said are mostly the people who approved of you in advance of your saying anything and likewise disapproved of the HPV vaccine. First principle of good communications: Dont preach to the converted. Waste of energy. If youre going to come out again on media on the HPV vaccine or another issue in the future, a little research would come in handy. What you chose to talk about last week was a life and death issue. Any 13- or 14-year-old girl whose parents, based on your input, decide against having her vaccinated, is more likely to die of a preventable virus. No, no. Hold on. Listen to me. I know you said that these girls shouldnt be having random promiscuous sex and I appreciate you didnt use such judgmental terms, but that was the burden of your tune, correct? Now, just think about this. Lets say a mother and father, listening to you this week, decided not to vaccinate their daughter. Lets say that girl lives a life of Victorian chastity. Lets say she gets married, without knowing that her husband, even once in his past, had sex with someone who was HPV infected. The girl who marries him may die because shes not vaccinated. Cervical cancer isnt a good death. Now, I know youll say that smear tests are important, and youre right. But if shes never had sex with anybody but her husband, she may believe she neednt bother having a smear test? Youd need to have interesting reliable data on the real risk, not what you personally think is the risk. The fact is that, in every county in Ireland, this week, women are dying from cervical cancer. Women with families. Women who are suffering enough without having their suffering weighted by implicit judgments of their behaviour long years ago. The writer Terry Pratchett, writing about the Alzheimers disease from which he suffered before his death, took issue with the idea that affliction is somehow a penance for an unknown transgression. Bishop, you need to be careful that youre not understood as saying that the affliction of cervical cancer is a penance for sexual transgression. I know you didnt actually say that, but its a logical inference from what you did say. By the way, you also left the impression abroad that Gardasil is only 70% safe. Now, the worst that can be said against the vaccine is that it isnt 100% effective. But thats crucially different from saying its not safe. Of course its your right to promulgate chastity. The key thing, though, if you want to interest young teenagers in avoiding sexual activity, is this. Research has established that programmes promoting chastity and waiting until later for sex do not work. They just dont. Passionate purity pledges dont deliver the outcomes sought, and they protect poorly against cancer-causing viruses. So you might look at that again. On the topic of doing your research, one of the things you said when you were on The Tonight Show with Matt Cooper and Ivan Yates was that Japan had given up Gardasil. This isnt true. The Japanese Government, pressured by the anti-Vaxx movement, has stopped recommending Gardasil, but it would seem that the vaccination is still available in Japan to anyone who wants it. However, picking one country thats not enthusiastic about a vaccine and presenting that as proving the vaccine is flawed is like staying that because Saudi Arabia isnt gone on Catholicism, Catholicism must be a bad religion. Now, if youd undergone good media training, one of the essential points theyd have raised with you is picking the programmes that best reach your chosen audience. If, for example, you want to reach 13- and 14-year-olds to tell them to be chaste, The Tonight Show is not your preferred showcase, honestly. Nothing against Ivan and Matt, but they wouldnt attract that many viewers in their early teens. Why you decided to go on this programme, as distinct from a dozen others, is mystifying, particularly when any half decent media watcher would have told you that Matt Cooper has a rake of female mini Coopers in his family for whom he has protective instincts that make the average lion king look parentally apathetic. He was inevitably going to bellow long accusatory sentences at you. And where were you, anyway? God love you, you were somewhere else entirely. You were present only in a stilted picture and your voice making conciliatory noises in Coopers direction while he rolled over you like a Panzer. HERES another piece of good media advice for free. Its just about OK, if youre a media pro with good landline, ideally an ISDN line, to do an interview by phone with a TV programme. Its not even nearly OK if youre a newcomer to media advancing a controversial viewpoint, to go on a TV programme by phone. You should have been in studio doing a face-to-face interview, presenting and defending your data. You will remember the old Catholic system of the devils advocate? Thats what media interviewers do; probe your thesis robustly. Before you subject yourself to them again, could I suggest you re-examine your thesis that girls who know vaccination will prevent them from getting cervical cancer are likely to become promiscuous. If you have evidence, that would be great. If you dont, how about you hold off from insulting a whole generation of 12-year-olds? Yours sincerely, Terry. POLICE are investigating an alleged assault and attempted kidnap following an incident in Sandown on Friday which resulted in two women receiving minor injuries. The alleged incident took place between 12.10am and 12.40am on Friday, September 29 at the car park in Stower Place. GREENSBORO Minerva Cisneros Garcia walked out the front door of Congregational United Church of Christ to cheers and to freedom for the first time in 100 days. The Winston-Salem woman last stood before so many cameras in June, working through her nervousness to say she had taken refuge at the church as a last resort against deportation for being in the country illegally. It means a lot to me to have my freedom back, said a teary Cisneros through a wide smile, while greeting her many supporters. I can go home and live a normal life. Sometimes, I used to feel like I was never going to get out of here. Roses awaited Cisneros, just outside the front steps of the church, as supporters stood applauding. Earlier Monday her attorney opened the mail The kind with a stamp, said immigration attorney Helen Parsonage and called Cisneros with the news. An immigration judge had vacated the deportation order and told her she was free to go. I cant remember what else we said because we were both screaming, Parsonage said. Parsonage declined to comment further on the process but said the two are now working on Cisneros citizenship papers. This is an amazing moment, said the Rev. Julie Peeples, the churchs pastor, who pledged to carry on the fight for others in Cisneros position. Cisneros, who does not have a criminal record, illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico in 2000, looking to escape her violence-plagued community and for better educational opportunities for her son, 21-year-old Eduardo, who is blind. In 2013, Cisneros was given a stay of removal by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency due to Eduardos needs, which had been granted each year since. But at her annual check-in with ICE on May 25, she was ordered to leave the country by June 30. In the days before she was scheduled to leave, Cisneros became the second person in North Carolina to take shelter at a house of worship in order to avoid deportation. As a policy, ICE does not enter churches or schools. She had been at the Greensboro church for the past three months with her two other young sons, who are American citizens. Eduardo, the eldest son, received permission to be here through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program begun by President Barack Obama. The wheels of justice turn slow, but they still turn, said the Rev. Lamonte Williams of the Ministers Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity, which first took up her case. Among those who gathered to see her off on Monday included many of the people who took turns dropping off food, taking the younger boys to soccer practice and sitting at the church to make sure she felt safe. On Monday afternoon, they joked they were all coming to dinner at the same time. I often get involved in hopeless causes that dont work out, said Roger Seel, who does not go to the church but was compelled to help. But this one did. Cisneros first stop after leaving the church was to visit Juana Luz Tobar Ortega, a grandmother and seamstress from Asheboro who took sanctuary at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Greensboro the month before her. Ortega, 45, has been in the U.S. more than 20 years and has never had legal status. The two women embraced when she got there. Juana is very happy for Minerva, said the Rev. Randall Keeney, the churchs senior pastor. Shes hoping desperately that the same thing can happen for her. Ortega remains among about 20 known cases across the country of individuals who moved into churches or schools, according to a broad network of faith groups known as The Sanctuary Movement. Every case is different, said Parsonage, the attorney, as Cisneros gathered her things, but I hope this gives them hope. Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson expressed condolences to the shooting victims in Las Vegas Monday and spoke to the authorities there. Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nev., killed 58 people and injured more than 500 others at a concert Sunday night in Las Vegas. Paddock killed himself before officers confronted him in his hotel room. Thompson also indicated that Winston-Salem police "will have sufficient police presence in place" Monday night at the Dixie Classic Fair to ensure the security of the fairgoers. "The Winston-Salem Police Department is aware of the terrible act of violence that unfolded last night in Las Vegas, near the end of the concert at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino," police said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved, especially to those who lost their lives and their families in this unncessarily tragic situation." Thompson spoke with Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lambardo and told him that he, his department and Las Vegas community are in "our thoughts and prayers," the statement said. The police department will have a sufficient number of officers on duty Monday night to protect fairgoers and the people who attend the William Michael Morgan concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday night at the fair's Grand Strand. In addition, the police department will deploy its typical force of officers to maintain "a strong presence" across Winston-Salem to handle 911 calls and other calls for service, the statement said. The police department is reviewing its protocols for future upcoming events to ensure public safety, the events' patrons and anyone involved with these events is paramount, the statement said. COROLLA Officials on North Carolina's Outer Banks want to outlaw digging deep holes on the beach that can cave in or pose a peril for drivers. The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Virginia, reported reports Currituck County's Board of Commissioners on Monday will consider an ordinance banning anyone from leaving a deep pit on the beach. Violators could be issued $50 citations. Currituck Commissioner Paul Beaumont says he saw people playing in holes 4 feet deep on Corolla's beach, then the next day saw those abandoned and new ones excavated. He says an ambulance on a rescue call nearly backed into a hole on Corolla's beach this summer. A Maryland man died three years ago on Hatteras Island when a hole he was digging collapsed. WASHINGTON The political resurrection of Alabamas Roy Moore the Moses of the South and the mortal end of Hugh Hefner are not entirely unrelated. Its not a straight line, mind you. But if Hefners recent death the day after Moore won Alabamas Senate Republican primary runoff reminded us of how much American culture has changed in a couple of generations, then Moore represents the antithesis of those alterations and a mechanism for reversing them. Hefner, who validated the objectification of women by embedding their sexualized bodies between the more-respectable pages of first-rate writing, embraced and championed libertinism and materialism. Bad boy behavior philandering, licentiousness and exploitation was re-imagined and sold as freedom, a philosophy as distant from the Testaments as Moore is from the zeitgeist. That Hefner was rarely seen except in pajamas surrounded by Playmates dressed like inflated bunny rabbits was kitschy and self-parodying. To the fan base of the latter, whom most will remember as the judge who fought the ACLU to keep a Ten Commandments plaque and pre-session prayer in his courtroom, Hefner might as well have been an agent of Satan. Perpetually stalled in adolescence, he was an early advocate of the socially debased trends Moore saw as having led to the unraveling of the American family. Never coy about his moral positions, Moore liked to keep The Ten Commandments post in his courtroom so that guests would understand that the tablets were the basis for our legal system. Among his more controversial and unwavering beliefs is that homosexuality isnt only a sin but also a crime. Needless to say, this makes Moore an object of scorn among a majority of Americans, who see gays and lesbians as, well, human beings deserving of equal rights and protections. Adding piquancy to Moores history, the case before his court that attracted the ACLUs attention involved two gay strippers, Silk and Satin, who were accused of murdering a drug addict. Moore, who later became chief justice of Alabamas Supreme Court, won re-election to his circuit court seat in 1999 by defeating none other than the prosecutor in the stripper/murder case. Moore argued then that Christianitys decline in influence corresponded directly with school violence, homosexuality, and crime. His tune hasnt changed a note. Though Moore has never singled out Hefner for criticisms (that I know of), Playboys cultural influence surely ran counter to the values Moore hoped then and his constituents hope now to restore. Meanwhile, one notes that the current president of the United States may be Hefners most sterling achievement. Donald Trump, who has surrounded himself with material excess and women worthy of male admiration, is both protege and prototype, the essential playboy who has acquired wealth and glamour and boasts that he can do whatever he wants to women. Last week, it was Trump whom Moore ultimately defeated. The runoffs outcome may suggest that Trumps political capital is in decline but, more important, it proves that the Republican base is still wedded to the biblical philosophy expounded by Moore and endorsed by Trumps former chief adviser, Steve Bannon. Thus, the Alabama contest came down to a battle of former allies representing two very different worldviews. If many have doubted Trumps Republican bona fides, there can have been little confusion over his professed Christian faith. Donald Trump lives his life as Christ did, no one ever said. For the president, religion is a convenience until its not. Bannon, though no saint, is a Catholic who respects church doctrine, by his own admission, and is a street fighter for the hard-right. In Alabama, he, too, defeated Trump. Although incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, whom Trump enthusiastically endorsed, wasnt so far removed from Moore in his positions, he was viewed, nonetheless, as part of the Republican establishment. Alabama isnt usually considered a bellwether state. But the standoff between Bannon and Trump via Moore and Strange may foretell the future of the GOP, which cant survive without its Southern Christian base. Ironically, Hefner, who put Trump on his magazines cover in 1990, penned an essay when the thrice-married reality TV star secured the GOP presidential nomination. To Hefner, this victory signified massive changes in the family values party and was proof of ... a sexual revolution in the Republican Party. Not so fast, Mr. Hefner, not so fast. WASHINGTON -- Shortly after Bob Corker was elected to the Senate in 2006, I found myself seated next to the Tennessee Republican at a dinner. Corker's race against Harold Ford Jr. had included a Republican National Committee ad with ugly racial overtones, and I asked the new senator what he had learned about running against an African-American opponent. I can't recall what Corker said, but I do remember what happened after: The next afternoon, my office phone rang. It was Corker on the line, no aide placing the call, saying he had been thinking about my question and felt he hadn't given me a full enough answer. This was, as it turned out, quintessential Corker, unassuming, thoughtful, decent and diligent. Which is why Corker's announcement Tuesday that he would not seek a third term, while not exactly a surprise, was such a disappointment -- especially coming, as it did, hours before racist homophobe and disgraced judge Roy Moore won the Alabama Senate primary. The Senate -- and the Republican Party -- needs more Corkers, fewer Roy Moores. The trend line is not promising. Certainly, Corker is no liberal squish -- he is not even a moderate along the lines of Maine Sen. Susan Collins. You're not going to find him casting a vote against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos or to save the Affordable Care Act or to expand background checks for gun buyers. Yet in an era of virulent partisanship, he has been unwilling to cede the possibility of bipartisan cooperation, whether with Virginia Democrat Mark Warner on housing finance reform or with Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin to ensure a Senate role in approving the Iran nuclear deal. Voluntarily relinquishing power is an alien concept in Washington, so Corker's retirement announcement felt particularly jarring; he is not only an incumbent senator, but chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Yet Corker, 65, is not a traditional Washington creature. He came here saying he expected to serve just two terms, and flirted with leaving after one. "I have always felt like I was a free agent," he told me in a phone interview Thursday. "I have never felt particularly tied to electoral outcomes because I never expected to be here that long." So it is possible to misread or overinterpret Corker's decision as a sign of the poisonous times, of frustration with the gridlocked legislative environment (although Corker freely admits to being as frustrated as the next senator) or about having to fend off a primary challenge (a notion that Corker summarily dismisses, noting that he had ample cash and had faced only "third tier" challengers). But to talk to Corker is also to get a glimmer of the excitement -- perhaps even relief -- he feels at being entirely liberated from political concerns, and of the role that he can play in his remaining 15 months. Speaking of the environment today where any incumbent who dares seek bipartisan compromise is in danger of being primaried from the party's extreme flank, Corker said: "No matter what anybody says, you're kind of held hostage, aren't you? You get in a tough, tough primary and as principled as you are, it's in the back of your mind." At "the peak of my producing time here," Corker said, "I didn't want to do anything that would in any way take away from me making the most difference possible." One of those differences could involve the fate of tax reform, Republicans' last best hope for a legislative win. Corker voted to proceed with a budget framework that allows for $1.5 trillion in tax cuts -- but insists that he won't agree to a final deal that adds to the deficit. "Once the election occurred in November, it's like a light switch went off and we went from caring about deficits to it being party time," Corker said of fellow Republicans. "At the end of the day, if I think it adds one penny to the deficit, I'm not going to vote for it. ... I'm going to lay on the railroad tracks and keep it from happening." The Senate will be worse off for Corker's eventual departure. But his decision to leave may have the paradoxical effect of making it a better place over the 15 months that remain. The Washington Post 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 Bangladesh and Myanmar officials agreed on Monday to a plan for the repatriation of more than half a million Rohingya Muslim refugees who have fled across the border to Bangladesh. Under the agreement [Myanmar Times report], refugees would have the option to return to Rakhine State and will only return under safe conditions. According to the UN, Myanmar has engaged in ethnic cleaning [JURIST report] against Rohingya Muslims, causing many of them to flee to safety. Myanmar officials, however, deny such accusations, arguing that their efforts have been to battle against Rohingya terrorists who continually attack security forces. Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi addressed human rights violations concerns in the Rakhine state in September, pledging [JURIST report] that [a]ction will be taken against all people, regardless of their religion, race and political position, who go against the law of the land and violate human rights. However, Myanmar government refuse to allow UN investigators into the country to conduct an investigation into the situation. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres acknowledged [statement] Suu Kyis speech and Myanmars intention to implement the recommendations of the advisory committee for Rakhine state. In early September a reported 270,000 Rohingya had fled [press release] to Bangladesh since late August as a result of alleged human right violations. A working group is being composed to begin drawing up the plans. Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev [official website] signed [RFE/RL report] an agreement Monday demarcating 85 percent of the 1,280 kilometer Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. The Kyrgyzstan parliament [official website] had already approved the legislation early in September, but the president signing the Draft Law on Ratification of the Agreement between the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Uzbekistan on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek State Border is a sign that the neighboring countries may be calming relations. The meeting of the two countries in early September was hailed as a joint effort to end violence over the contested border, which have plagued both countries since the fall of the Soviet Union. Atambayev welcomed the delegation stating [IWPR report], This is an event our people have been waiting for for more than 20 years. The change in relations has been credited to Atambayev and the change in leadership. With elections set for October, the countries could once again become combative. Though Kyrgyzstans Supreme Court in August upheld the rejection [JURIST report] of a petition to put opposition leader Omurbek Tekebaev on the ballot for the October presidential election. The difficulties of transitional justice were illustrated this week in countries as diverse as Tunisia, Burundi, Myanmar and Nepal. In Tunisia, a JusticeInfo investigation showed how abuses by the President of the Truth and Dignity Commission, Sihem Bensedrine, has herself weakened an already weak and vulnerable institution. Bensedrine, nicknamed Araissa (the boss) is accused of squandering public funds and recruiting staff in an anarchic and opaque way, so as to set up a parallel administration totally subservient to her orders, writes our correspondent Olfa Belhassine. Sihem Bensedrine claims there is a plot against the Commission and the transitional justice process in Tunisia, but four Commissioners have resigned in protest at the Presidents methods. This does not make it any less true that the authorities have done everything to sabotage and block the Truth Commissions work, explains JusticeInfo. Crimes against humanity in Myanmar A big setback for transitional justice in Myanmar too, where the authorities -- dominated by the army which is conducting a terrible crackdown against the Rohingya minority -- remains deaf to the pressure and protests of the international community. The icon of the transition, Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is accused of passivity and not opposing the armys action. But Matthias Huber, a Swiss expert on Myanmar, thinks the world is being too hard on Suu Kyi. She is a political leader whose hands are tied, he said in an interview with JusticeInfo. When she did not go to the UN General Assembly in New York last week, it was probably because she was afraid she would be ousted by the army in her absence. He adds that the army continues to control the country, including economically and through corruption. And its agenda is not the same as that of the democrats. This week some 90 non-governmental organizations including HRW, Amnesty International, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN), Coalition for Justice and Accountability (COJA), Genocide Watch and International Campaign for the Rohingya said that "crimes against humanity" were being perpetrated against the Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar, and called for the UN to consider an arms embargo. Setbacks in Nepal too, where, as our columnist and human rights activist Ram Bhandari explains, victims of the civil war are still waiting for justice and information on the disappeared. Bhandari, whose own father disappeared at the hands of the police in 2001, is urging the international community to put pressure on the government of his country, which he says is destroying evidence, promoting suspects and blocking the transitional justice process. Burundi And finally to crisis-ridden Burundi, which was the subject of heated debate in the UN Human Rights Council this week. Bujumbura backed an African resolution to send a group of experts to the country to fact-find in cooperation with the government and "forward to the judicial authorities of Burundi information in order to establish the truth and to ensure that the perpetrators of deplorable crimes are all accountable to the judicial authorities of Burundi". This was seen especially by Western countries as a move to exculpate Bujumbura from accusations of massive human rights abuses especially given the fact that the Burundian judicial system is subservient to President Pierre Nkurunziza and an attempt to undermine the UNs international probe into atrocities in Burundi. The Human Rights Council approved the African proposal. But it also approved a European Union-sponsored resolution to extend the mandate of the UNs international inquiry by one year, putting Burundi in the unusual situation of being subject to two potentially conflicting probes, both approved by the Council. The UN panel, which has not been allowed to go to the country, has accused Burundi and its security forces of egregious human rights abuses. Republish this article ARE YOU A JOURNALIST OR MEDIA REPRESENTATIVE? Did you know that our original articles and videos can be republished free of charge? You can take advantage of our Creative Commons licence and easily publish journalistic content produced by international justice experts, with no payment necessary. Just click on the yellow "REPUBLISH" button below this article. You can also contact us for more details or to negotiate exclusivity. Five civilians were killed and eight wounded Monday in an air raid on a rebel-held town in south Yemen, an official said, days after the UN agreed to investigate war crimes in the country. Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, the government official said the raid targeted the Barh district in the southern province of Taez, which is largely controlled by Yemen's Saudi-backed government. Barh, however, is held by the country's Shiite Huthi rebels, who are allied with Iran. The rebel-run Saba news agency said Saudi Arabia was behind the raid. Saudi officials did not comment on the news Monday. Allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Huthis for years have been locked in a war with the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, in turn supported by an Arab military coalition led by Saudi Arabia. More than 8,500 people have been killed and nearly 49,000 wounded since the Saudi-led coalition joined the Yemen war in 2015. The UN Human Rights Council last week agreed to send war crimes investigators to Yemen, overcoming strong resistance from Saudi Arabia. The United Nations has warned more than 17 million Yemenis now face dire food shortages. Another 2,100 people have died in a cholera epidemic which erupted in April and could infect as many as 900,000 people by the end of 2017, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Trumpian tirades against immigrants and refugees are part of a very American tradition. But they also violate this nations basic moral values and economic self-interest. How can both be true? Easily. Trump is only the latest in a long line of nativist demagogues who periodically predict that the next wave of newcomers Irish and Italians, Germans and Jews, Chinese and Japanese will degrade and demean the American culture. History has proved them all wrong. Each of those groups is a highly productive and patriotic part of American society today. History will prove Trump wrong, too, and we will look back on his demonization of Hispanics and Muslims as a dark stain on our national narrative. Meanwhile, however, hes doing a great deal of damage. President Obama set the annual cap for refugees at 110,000; Trump slashed that number this year to 50,000, the lowest in 30 years, and next year the limit will drop again to 45,000, the Wall Street Journal reports. Trumps war on refugees is a disastrous mistake and a totally self-inflicted wound. Rather than making America great again, editorialized the Washington Post, it would do the very opposite by making the country small, peevish, inward-looking and heedless of its role on the global stage. One Trumpian trope is that refugees are costly to the country, a drain on public resources, so the president ordered a government study to prove his point. But the research showed exactly the opposite. Refugees because they are often young, hard-working taxpayers brought in $63 billion more in government revenue over the last 10 years than they cost in services. The Ministry of Alternative Facts in the Trump White House was horrified and killed the report, according to The New York Times. This is not just intellectually dishonest but economically self-defeating. All immigrants, including refugees, are a strong net plus for the economy, and that is especially true in the aging heartland that delivered Trump his victory. A study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs concludes that the Midwest depends on immigration as an economic lifeline to replenish departing young people and retiring baby boomers. As the studys author told The Atlantic: For the cities of the Midwest, restricting current immigration levels is the last thing they need. The second argument advanced by the anti-refugee crowd is protecting national security, but again, this is full of non-facts. Since 9/11, not a single American has been killed in a terrorist attack perpetrated by a refugee, and thats because refugees are subjected to exhaustive scrutiny before they are allowed to resettle here. Moreover, few refugees are young men of military age. Michael Chertoff, who was Secretary of Homeland Security under President Bush 43, wrote in the Post: Only the most vulnerable those whose safety cannot be assured in their countries of first refuge are selected for resettlement. The deepest damage inflicted by Trumps refugee policy is to our national honor and reputation. How can we ask other national leaders to shoulder the burden of a worldwide refugee crisis ? The verdict of history is certain. This president dishonors the country and defaces the flag he professes to love so much. Questions about Nebraska Cooperative Republican Platte Enhancement Projects (NCORPE) ownership of property have recently been raised by some Lincoln County residents who would like the property to be in private hands. We believe they and others who share their concerns deserve a response. First, the NCORPE board is comprised of four board members representing the four NRDs that make up NCORPE: There are three farmers, one of whom is a water resources engineer, and a farm manager/realtor. As land owners and managers, the NCORPE board members have little to no desire for government ownership of land. Rather, they want to ensure that the multimillion dollar project paid for solely by irrigators via the occupation tax can continue to be operated to prevent large scale irrigation shutdowns and severe regulations to meet obligations on the Republican and Platte rivers. They also feel obligated to obtain the lowest possible cost of financing for the project. Ownership of the property achieves both objectives in the following ways. First, Nebraska common law has established a connection between the amount of land one owns and the amount of groundwater one can access. Theres not been much interest in legislation to disconnect the two because of the problems and questions associated with doing so. For instance, would severing land ownership from access to groundwater allow entities outside Nebraska, such as cities on the Colorado Front Range, to obtain easements or ownership of small tracts of land to access large amounts of Nebraskas water? How would disconnecting ownership and water access affect creditors who made loans based on the total value of property including value associated with access to groundwater? In the case of NCORPE, a bill before the Legislature attempting to force us to sell the land would possibly allow the new land owner(s) to eventually obtain the water rights. But they wouldnt have to pay for them. Why would the irrigators in 16 counties who are paying for the project agree to give away the asset that contributes the most value to the land? The common law connection between ownership and water access is established by court precedent, not statute, so a court decision could potentially decouple the two. We believe it would be a disservice both to those paying for the project, and taxpayers across the state who would be liable for financial penalties associated with noncompliance with the Republican River Compact if the project couldnt be operated for NCORPE to expose itself to a possible lawsuit and risk not being able to operate the project if we lost. The second primary reason we have decided to own the land is to lower financing costs for the benefit of those paying for the project: Irrigators in the Twin Platte, Upper Republican, Middle Republican, and Lower Republican NRDs. This is not so much a decision as a requirement. A mortgage on the land secures the debt issued in 2013 to finance the project. The occupation tax on irrigated land pays the debt, but the mortgage provides additional assurance the debt will be repaid. The added security the mortgage offers helped us obtain the lowest financing costs available. Also, selling the land was not contemplated when the debt was issued to finance NCORPE. This means that if the land was sold, it could be viewed as impairing the contract rights of those who purchased NCORPE bonds. The reason stated by some arguing NCORPE should sell the land is to guarantee property taxes are generated from the property. Unfortunately, there is not a legal mechanism for NCORPE to pay taxes. Yet Lincoln County has assessed them and we have paid all taxes charged to us. Recently, the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission agreed with NCORPE that our uses of the land are for public purposes and therefore exempt from taxes. Lincoln County unsuccessfully argued that for tax purposes our surface use of the land wasnt for public purposes and could be separated from our use of the water. The county has appealed the TERC decision. Meanwhile, Lincoln County exempts government entities besides NCORPE from property taxes despite similarities they share with our project. The village of Sutherland, for example, owns approximately 100 acres that holds wells that provide the villages water, just as NCORPE owns land that hold the wells that augment stream flow. Sutherland also leases the land for haying; just as NCORPE leases some of its land for grazing. Yet, Lincoln County does not attempt to assess taxes on Sutherlands wellfield. Our board is very aware of property tax issues, and in large part implemented the project to help protect property values. By meeting Republican and Platte River obligations, the project prevents a potentially widespread devaluation of irrigated land caused by shutdowns/regulations that we believe would dwarf property tax impacts caused by NCORPEs continued ownership of the property. Jeopardizing the project by selling the land and potentially causing impacts it was designed to prevent would be irresponsible at this time. NCORPE Board, North Platte FILE - This Tuesday, July 19, 2016, file photo shows the Google logo at the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Google said Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, it is ending its so-called "first click free," a policy loathed by many publishers and media because it required a limited amount of free content from them before readers could be subjected to a paywall. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) Train driver Thomas Harding, left, leaves the courtroom during a break on the first day of the Lac Megantic trial in Sherbrooke, Que., on Monday, October 2, 2017. Three ex-railway employees, train driver Thomas Harding, traffic controller Richard Labrie and manager of train operations Jean Demaitre face one count of criminal negligence causing the death of 47 people stemming from the 2013 railway crash in Lac Megantic, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form In this Sept. 24, 2017 photo, mainland Chinese singer Li Wa sings on stage as a Taiwanese pro-independence protester holds up a banner calling for Taiwan Independence during a Chinese-organized concert at the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. Taiwanese police are looking for a final suspect involved in clashes at the Chinese-organized concert in Taipei between Taiwanese pro-independence protesters and Beijing supporters that's revealed divisions over China's influence on the self-ruled island. (AP Photo) Kelly Hall a cabin crew member for Monarch Airlines wipes away a tear as she give an interview to the media as she reacts to news she has lost her job with the airline, at Luton Airport in Luton, England, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017. British authorities are scrambling to bring home 110,000 travelers after Monarch Airlines collapsed Monday, cancelling all flights by what had been Britain's fifth biggest carrier. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Two women embrace outside of a family assistance center Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. The makeshift center was set up to help families and others reconnect after the mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher) 204 Shares Share An eleventh nursing home resident has died after an air conditioning failure following last weeks Hurricane Irma. The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, located outside of Fort Lauderdale, was one of 160 nursing homes that had no electricity and no air conditioning, as power lines across the state were decimated by the storm. Yet, it was the only nursing home facility in the state of Florida where multiple deaths occurred as a result of power loss. Overcome by heat as temperatures swelled, residents were forced to remain inside the facility for three days, despite being located directly across the street from the air-conditioned Regional Memorial Hospital. Body temperatures creeped upwards of 110 degrees by the time they were rescued by firemen and rushed to the hospital just steps away. Representatives from the nursing home say they requested help from state and county officials, as well as the power company, but their calls went unanswered. Still, the electrical failure was surely foreseeable, as the entire peninsula had been declared a state of emergency. Florida Governor Rick Scott commented to the news media that it is the responsibility of the private nursing home and every health professional, clinical or otherwise, that it employs to have a plan in place and always maintain a state of readiness for emergency response. The governor is absolutely correct, having an emergency preparedness plan is a necessity because it provides guidance on a variety of threats, from bioterrorism to natural disasters. Continuing education on emergency preparedness is equally important, for example, participating in emergency drills, and having a communication and accountability strategy that is accessible to the entire team. At Hollywood Hills, however, the official emergency plan was greatly lacking in detail. The most updated version from June 2017 appeared to have been copied and pasted from a previous year. Furthermore, the plan did not provide any details or guidance on what to do in the event of a power outage, which is both negligent and careless. A criminal investigation is currently underway, and the homes license to operate has been revoked. As the saying goes: Where there is smoke, there is fire. The rehab center, which was sold to Hollywood Property Investments two years ago, had received a rating of two stars, far below average, and below average from Medicare. Past inspections found that residents had not been bathed or groomed, there was evidence of improper food handling and storage, and a faulty call system in the patients rooms were just a few of the complaints. Furthermore, the previous owner, former CEO Karen Kallen-Zury, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined $40 million for running a Medicare fraud scheme. The preventable, unfortunate and tragic loss of lives at Hollywood Hills is a classic example of the long-lasting effects of poor leadership and disastrous decision-making. Whether these are symptoms of the nursing homes transition in management, a deeper corporate culture problem that exists at the leadership level, or both, is worth examining. For health care entities, successful ethical turnarounds require changing policies, structure, behaviors, and beliefs. Strategies for leaders include clearly communicating ethical expectations, being present and visible to your team, offering ethics training to all employees that reinforces standards of conduct, focusing on skill building and problem solving, rewarding ethical behavior, punishing unethical behavior, and providing a system of support so that employees are comfortable addressing ethical dilemmas and reporting incidents without fear of reprimand or retaliation. Changing the ethical culture of an organization is not impossible, but in this case, it was already too late. Krysten Clark Wilkes is a nursing student and former health care manager. Image credit: Shutterstock.com 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. The crowds flocked to Inistioge in their hundreds on Saturday for a special day which saw the village's unique ten-arch bridge lit up gold as part of events to raise funds and awareness about childhood cancer. Local businesses and the whole community came together for a range of activities during the afternoon and evening. There was outdoor music, children's activities and more. Everyone got involved - from schools to sport clubs, scouts and cubs, Tidy Towns and the vintage rally. Then, as the light closed out on the evening, Mayor of Kilkenny and Inistioge native Michael Doyle plugged in the lights and lit the bridge up gold. Afterwards, the live music and craic continued in local pubs. The event was part of the Light It Up Gold campaign, which has seen other famous buildings and landmarks lit up around the globe. Inistioges bridge, dating to the 18th Century, is the only one of its kind still standing in Europe, and Inistioge is the first village to get behind the campaign. Organisers are now encouraging others to do the same, and hope to run the event again next year. They would like to thank James Fenlon Photography, Kerry Bannon, Digital Outputs, and Michael Croke. Childhood Cancer Foundation was founded in 2013 by parents and family members of children with cancer. To donate, text GOLD to 50300 to donate 4. For more pictures, see this week's Kilkenny People. A Kilkenny man who claimed he was in a consensual sexual relationship with his younger cousin must wait to hear the outcome of an appeal against his conviction for rape and sexual assault of the then 14-year-old. The 49-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his now 33-year-old cousin, was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury of 15 counts of rape and oral rape and one charge of sexual assault following a trial. He had pleaded not guilty to 35 counts, the balance of which were the subject of directed verdicts of not guilty by the trial judge. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with the final year suspended by Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy on February 8, 2016. The man moved to appeal his conviction on grounds of alleged new material. His barrister, Aidan Doyle SC, said the age of consent was crucial in the case. It was the defence's case that anything that happened between the parties was consensual and, the court heard, the complainant was legally incapable of consenting before his 15th birthday. The relatives had been living in a property before moving to another premises. When they moved into this other premises was 'very important', Mr Doyle said. Mr Doyle said they couldn't have moved into the relevant premises until the very end of 1998 around the time the complainant turned 15. However, fresh material related to rent supplement allowance tended to show the man and the complainant did not move into the relevant premises until the middle of 1999. The court heard that the high water mark of the prosecution's case was that the relatives lived at that particular address for the final quarter of the complainant's 14th year because the trial judge directed not guilty verdicts in respect of counts related to the first three-quarters of the complainant's 14th year. Post conviction, Mr Doyle said the man's solicitor wrote to the Department of Social Protection. It transpired there was more material with the Department's 'small' local office than had been disclosed prior to the trial. Mr Doyle said the material would have been 'very relevant' to the issue of whether offences occurred before 1999 and the whole question of when they moved into the particular address. If the man did not live in that address in 1998 then the offences could not have happened as alleged, Mr Doyle said. Had the judge directed not guilty verdict on anything that happened before 1999, it would have put a very different complexion on the case, he submitted. Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Michael Delaney SC, said the alleged new material raised more questions than it answered and that the man had not addressed them. Mr Delaney said there were anomalies in the records. In particular, the man said he subsequently moved address in 2003 but that wasn't recorded 'at all' in the records. It was a serious problem for the man, Mr Delaney said adding that the records were not a reliable reflection of occupation of property at particular times. Mr Justice George Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Alan Mahon and Mr Justice John Hedigan, said the court would reserve judgment and deliver it as soon as possible. Hoteliers and guesthouse owners in Kilkenny and across the country are reporting a continued fall in business levels from the UK this summer, according to the results of the latest quarterly barometer from the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF). While business levels overall were up nationally across the summer months, most (69%) reported a fall in business from Great Britain, with over half saying Northern Ireland business levels had dropped too. The results of the industry barometer echo the latest CSO figures, which show that Brexit is already having a significant impact on Irish tourism. Visitor numbers from Britain have decreased by 7.1% for the first eight months, compared to the same period last year. The UK, Irelands largest source of inbound tourists, accounts for over 40% of all visitors, providing the widest regional and seasonal spread. For now, strong performances by the US and domestic markets are helping to offset the significant fall-off in business from the UK. The majority of hoteliers reported an increase in US business this summer, while almost six in ten said domestic levels are up. Business levels from these markets look set to remain buoyant for the remainder of the year with many hoteliers (52%) saying advance bookings from the domestic market are up with increases from the US (43%) as well as Germany (26%) and France (19%). However, over half say future bookings from Northern Ireland are down, while nearly two thirds see a drop in advance bookings from Britain. The general outlook for industry over the next 12 months remains positive, according to the survey, although hoteliers optimism has been dented. Most say the weakened value of sterling is already affecting their business and Aidan Quirke, Chair of the IHFs south-east branch says the uncertainty around Brexit poses a real threat to the tourism industry, with regional tourism likely to be hit hardest. Tourism currently supports 3,000 jobs in Kilkenny and contributes some 83 million to the local economy annually. Many of the consequences of Brexit are largely outside our control, so it is imperative that we mitigate the risks and potential damage where we can," he said. "We are calling on the Government to take the necessary steps to protect Irish tourism and to avoid any changes in policy that would weaken our sectors ability to deal with the risks it faces due to Brexit. The 9% VAT rate for tourism, in particular, continues to deliver enormous benefits to the exchequer by making us more attractive as a tourism destination." COPENHAGEN, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Chinese automotive group Geely will increase its stake in Denmark's Saxo Bank to 51.5 percent while Finland's Sampo Oyj will take a stake of 19.9 percent, Saxo said on Monday. Sampo said in a separate announcement that it would pay 265 million euros ($311 million) for its stake. Saxo Bank said Geely would pay the same price. Geely, which owns carmaker Volvo , said in May it would take a 30 percent stake in Saxo Bank. Saxo Bank derives most of its income from its online trading platform, and Geely said on Monday that it believed the Danish firm's technologies could be expanded across Asia. Current Saxo Bank shareholders TPG Capital and SinarMas have accepted the offers from Geely and Sampo and will sell all of their shares, while co-founder and CEO Kim Fournais' stake of 25.71 percent will remain unchanged, Saxo Bank said. ($1 = 0.8522 euros) (Reporting by Teis Jensen; editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Jason Neely) TBILISI, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Georgia's economy expanded by 4.7 percent year on year in the first eight months of 2017, official data showed on Monday, up from 2.7 percent in the same period of 2016, trailing higher exports and remittances from abroad. The former Soviet republic, through which pipelines carry Caspian oil and gas to Europe, is recovering from a fall in exports and a plunge in the currencies of its main trading partners, which have depressed economic growth in recent years. Georgia's economy expanded by 2.2 percent last year and the government in Tbilisi expects it to grow 4 percent in 2017. Economy Minister Giorgi Gakharia told Reuters in June that Georgia's economy had a good chance of exceeding that forecast thanks to private sector developments and government spending on infrastructure projects. (Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov) (Kitco News) - Gold neared seven-week lows on Monday after the Institute for Supply Management said that its headline manufacturing index rose to the highest level in more than ten years, advancing by 2.0 percentage points to 60.8% in September. The reading came in above consensus estimates compiled by news organizations, which called for the index to drop down to 58.0%. The August reading was at 58.8%. Immediately after the release, gold prices fell. December Comex gold was last seen trading at $1,275.90 an ounce, down 0.69% on the day. Prior to this, the yellow metal already hit a six-week low, pressured by the rising U.S. dollar. 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. The employment index rose to 60.3% in September from 59.9% the prior month, while the prices index surged to 71.5% from 62.0%. Also, the index for new orders increased to 64.6% from 60.3% and the production index climbed to 62.2% from 61%. Economists were excited by the unexpected numbers. According to the ISM, the manufacturing sector is on fire, said Royce Mendes, senior economist at CIBC Captial Markets. At 60.8, the index now stands at its highest level in more than ten years. Part of that was, however, the result of hurricanes which delayed suppliers' delivery times. Longer lead times usually indicate higher demand, which is why it feeds into the overall index. However, other components of the headline index, such as new orders and production also made gains, suggesting that the sector is continuing to actually strengthen, Mendes added. (Kitco News) - Gold Prices are down and have slumped to a six-week low in early U.S. trading Monday. Silver prices have dropped to a seven-week low. The appreciating U.S. dollar on the foreign exchange market and little risk aversion in the marketplace are bearish elements for the gold and silver markets. December Comex gold was last down $9.30 an ounce at $1,275.50.December Comex silver prices were last down $0.071 at $16.605 an ounce. World stock markets were mostly firmer overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward firmer openings when the New York day session begins. The S&P 500 index scored another record high overnight, to accentuate the upbeat trader/investor risk attitudes at present. The war of words between the U.S. and North Korea flared up again over the weekend. After the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested there is some dialogue taking place with North Korea regarding its nuclear missiles, President Trump then tweeted save your energy Rex. So far, the world markets are not reacting strongly to the weekend developments on the geopolitical front. A shooting spree in Las Vegas late Sunday that left over 50 people dead and over 200 wounded is not believed to be a terrorist attack and has not impacted markets. In other overnight news, the Spanish referendum on Catalonia splitting from Spain passed easily. This put some more downside pressure on the Euro currency. The U.S. dollar index is solidly higher in early U.S trading Monday. Greenback bulls have momentum. A bullish head-and-shoulders bottom reversal pattern has formed on the daily bar chart for the USDX, which is a technical clue that a market bottom is in place. The other key outside market on Monday morning sees Nymex crude oil futures lower. Prices last week hit a five-month high. While the oil bulls still have the overall near-term technical advantage, there are stiff chart resistance layers just above present price levels. U.S. economic data due for release Monday includes the U.S. manufacturing PMI, construction spending, the ISM report on business, and the global manufacturing PMI. Technically,December gold futures bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a three-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls next upside technical objective is pushing and closing prices above chart resistance at $1,300.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is closing prices below solid technical support at $1,250.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of 1,282.80 and then at $1,293.20. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,273.70 and then at $1,270.00. Wyckoffs Market Rating: 4.0 December silver bears also have the overall near-term technical advantage. Prices have been trending lower for three weeks. The next upside price breakout objective is closing futures prices above solid technical resistance at last weeks high of $17.295 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $16.00. First resistance is seen at $16.75 and then at $16.90. Next support is seen at $16.50 and then at $16.25. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.0. BAGHDAD, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Islamic State militants set fire to three oil wells near Hawija, west of the oil city of Kirkuk, one of two areas of Iraq still under their control, military and oil officials said on Monday. Iraqi security forces were using bulldozers to control the fires started by the militants in the early hours of Saturday to slow the advance of U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militia groups toward Hawija town, military officials said. The Allas oilfield, 35 km (20 miles) south of Hawija, was one of the main sources of revenue for Islamic State, which in 2014 declared a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq. "Terrorists are trying to use the rising smoke to avert air strikes while retreating from the area towards Hawija," said army Colonel Mohammed al-Jabouri. Military officials said the fire had been brought under control at one of the wells, while the other two were still burning. They said it would take about three days to put out the fires. Oil officials from the state-run North Oil Company said it was still too risky to send its crews in to assess damage at the wells as militants may have left bombs and landmines. Iraq launched an offensive on Sept. 21 to dislodge Islamic State from Hawija. Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim group, has lost control of all the oilfields it once controlled in the north of Iraq. (Reporting by Ghazwan Hassan and Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Janet Lawrence) * Lead marks 10-month high * Aluminium touches two-week low * LME/ShFE arb: (Recasts, adds comments, updates with closing prices) By Eric Onstad LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Zinc prices hit their highest in over 10 years on Monday as speculators bet environmental inspections would hit output in China and as one party kept a tight grip on London Metal Exchange inventories. About 60 percent of lead-zinc mines were undergoing month-long shutdowns during environment inspections in Sichuan province. "Further smelter closures during the upcoming winter months cannot be ruled out," analyst Edward Meir at INTL FCStone said in a note. "Prices have acted perkier ...(and) kept fund money pretty much committed to the long side." Zinc was the top performer on the LME on Monday with three month futures touching a high of $3,248 a tonne, the strongest since August 2007. It pared gains to $3,236 by the close, a gain of 2.3 percent. * ZINC STOCKS: Available LME zinc inventories fell by 16,950 tonnes on Monday, bringing the decline so far this year to 64 percent. One party controlled 50-80 percent of those stocks , LME data showed. * ZINC TIGHTNESS: The premium of cash zinc over three months was $37 a tonne, down from a peak of $66 last week, but still strong compared with a high of $11 during the year until mid-September. * LEAD: Benchmark LME lead hit a high of $2,548 a tonne, the highest since late November 2016. It pulled back from the peak to finish the day at $2,518, a rise of 1.3 percent. Lead smelters were also hit by the Chinese inspections while United Nations sanctions on North Korea has hit China's No. 2 lead ore and concentrate supplier. * LEAD BACKWARDATION: Cash lead moved to a $7 premium against the three-month contract , the highest since April. A backwardation, when a nearby contract is higher than a forward one, usually indicates lack of supply. * ALUMINIUM: Benchmark LME aluminium finished down 0.1 percent at $2,101 a tonne after touching $2,082, the lowest since Sept. 18, as investors locked in profits while they waited for evidence that an environmental crackdown in China would cut output. "While there's been talk of the cuts, we really haven't seen them yet. I do think they're still coming, but people are looking for a little bit more evidence," said Colin Hamilton, director of commodities research at BMO Capital Markets in London. * COPPER: LME copper rose 0.2 percent to end at $6,493 a tonne, with gains capped after news that Indonesia's giant Grasberg mine can continue to export copper concentrate even if permit talks are not resolved this month. * CHINA FACTORIES: Some metals were supported by data showing the manufacturing sector in top metals consumer China expanded at the fastest clip in more than five years and after Beijing reduced bank reserve requirements to boost lending. * PRICES: LME nickel gave up 1.1 percent to close at $10,390 a tonne, while tin was unchanged at $20,675. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Top base and precious metals analysis - GFMS LME/ShFE arb ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr. in Manila; Editing by Jane Merriman and David Evans) Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Monday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours): PMI Poland's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for September to be released at 0700. PARTY POLL Forty-three percent of voters is ready to vote on the ruling party Law and Justice (PiS), while the biggest opposition party Civic Platform enjoys a 21 percent support, a party poll conducted by KantarTNS pollster for Fakt tabloid showed. PGNiG Deputy head of Polish gas firm PGNiG told the state-run PAP news agency over the weekend that the company has nearly 3 billion cubic metres of gas stored in its warehouses, which makes up 96 percent of its capacity. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT Poland is considering three scenarios for financing construction of its first nuclear power plant, including the one in which country's biggest financial institutions such as PKO BP, Pekao SA, and PZU are engaged, Rzeczpospolita daily said. ****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.**** For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau) Oct 2 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Under intense scrutiny from federal investigators and the public, Facebook Inc said on Sunday that it planned to turn over more than 3,000 Russian-linked advertisements to congressional investigators on Monday. - S. I. Newhouse Jr., who as the owner of magazines like the New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair and Architectural Digest wielded vast influence over American culture, fashion and social taste, died on Sunday at his home in Manhattan at the age of 89. - U.S. President Donald Trump undercut his own secretary of state on Sunday, calling his effort to open lines of communication with North Korea a waste of time, and seeming to rule out a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear-edged confrontation with Pyongyang. - The Chinese government has been clamping down on virtual currency activity at the same time that hundreds of thousands of Japanese have thrown themselves into Bitcoin trading, making Japan's main Bitcoin exchange, bitFlyer, the largest in the world in recent weeks by some methods of counting. - Alphabet Inc's Google is working on new tools that could help news organizations bolster their subscription businesses. (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom) BUCHAREST, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Romania's finance ministry aims to sell 2.44 billion lei ($624.74 million) worth of leu currency bills and bonds in October, including 240 million lei at non-competitive rounds of auctions, it said on Monday. Debt managers sold debt worth 3.68 billion lei in September. In October, they have scheduled five bond tenders with residual maturities ranging from 1.4 to 6.6 years, and one auction worth 600 million lei for 364-day paper. So far this year, Romania has sold 37.3 billion lei and 340 million euros of domestic bills and bonds. It has tapped foreign markets for 1.75 billion euros of 2027 and 2035 Eurobonds. ($1 = 3.9056 lei) (Reporting by Radu Marinas) (Adds quotes throughout, details of MoUs to be reached) KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Russia plan to set up a $1 billion fund to invest in energy projects, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in a interview broadcast by Al Arabiya TV on Monday. The fund, to be finalised during this week's visit by Saudi King Salman to Moscow, was part of efforts by two of the world's biggest oil producers to expand cooperation, he said. "Our focus is not just on strengthening our cooperation within the framework of the OPEC and non-OPEC (agreement) but also the strengthening of cooperation in oil, gas, electricity renewable energy and other projects for oil and gas equipment," he told the television channel regarding the fund's activities. Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and Russia helped forge a deal between OPEC and other producers to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day from January to lift crude prices. Oil prices, which slumped in the past three years, have climbed to about $56 a barrel but are still around half the level they were in mid-2014. "We are working on a number of agreements and we will announce them during the visit," Novak said of the Saudi-Russian efforts to expand their cooperation in the energy industry. Novak said Russian firms were discussing deals with energy giant Saudi Aramco, such as providing drilling services in Saudi Arabia and Rosneft's interest in crude trading. Saudi partners were considering joining Russia's Novatek in producing gas in Russia, he added. A Russian energy source told Reuters that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was expected to be signed between Novatek and Saudi Arabia on a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, known as Arctic LNG-2, that aims to start up in the 2020s. It is Novatek's second LNG project. He said details were still being discussed. Russia would like Saudi Arabia to become a shareholder in the project but the source said there were also other roles the kingdom could take. Saudi Aramco and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) is expected to sign an MoU with Russia's biggest petrochemical firm Sibur to examine opportunities for building petrochemical plants in the two countries. On Russian-Saudi cooperation in the oil market, Novak said: "I would like to reaffirm that we are satisfied with our cooperation with Saudi Arabia." Novak said he saw oil prices stabilising around $50 to $60 a barrel, a level he described as "suitable". (Reporting by Reem Shamseddine; Additional reporting by Darya Korsunskaya in Moscow; Editing by Rania El Gamal and Edmund Blair) (Recasts, add shares) Oct 2 (Reuters) - British financial trading technology company NEX Group Plc said increased spending at its post-trade and information services operations would dent the division's profitability, sending its stock lower on Monday. Shares in NEX, which was known as ICAP before it sold its voice broking business to TP ICAP in 2016, were down 5.3 percent at 0755 GMT, making them second biggest faller on FTSE Mid-cap index. The company said it expects NEX Optimisation's operating profit margin to come in at 20 percent in the first half, down from the 29 percent in the prior year. The division accounts for around 44 percent of NEX's annual revenue. The company benefited last year from increased market volatility after unexpected outcomes in global politics, such as Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election and Britain's decision to leave the European Union. However, the wider sector has long struggled with declining volumes, hit by regulation designed to rein in the riskier trading activities of traditional investment bank clients. NEX, which matches buyers and sellers of bonds, swaps and currencies, said the effect of the increased investment on its profit margin is seen returning to normal in the second half of the year. Revenue for the period rose 7 percent in the first half. "We remain committed to the financial aspirations we set out earlier in the year to achieve compound revenue growth of 7-10 percent and divisional operating margin for NEX Optimisation and NEX Markets of more than 40 percent by 2019/2020," Chief Executive Michael Spencer said. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru, editing by Louise Heavens) Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Snow this evening will transition to snow showers late. Low 24F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 100%. About one inch of snow expected.. Tonight Snow this evening will transition to snow showers late. Low 24F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 100%. About one inch of snow expected. Members of authorities inspect a potential nest of fire ant at a harbor in the southern port city of Busan. / Yonhap By Bahk Eun-ji Poisonous stinging fire ants have been found in the southern port city of Busan the first time the species has been detected in Korea. The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency carried out an emergency inspection on Monday and sterilized the container wharfs where the ants were found. Authorities said they had yet to find a queen ant. Workers at a harbor found 25 fire ants on a paved road inside the wharf area on Thursday, reports say. Quarantine authorities also found 1,000 ants near what appeared to be a nest, which was removed. The species, native to South America, is notorious for inflicting painful, stinging bites that can lead to anaphylactic shock and death. The "killer ants," have also been found in Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan and the U.S. In North America, more than 100 deaths have been attributed to the ants. Early Sunday Waco and Baylor University Officers arrested a suspect in a robbery at the 7-11 on University Parks Drive. The suspect was located and after a short foot chase he was taken into custody and charged with that Aggravated Robbery. Dispatchers received the call of a robbery in progress. Baylor and Waco Officers surrounded the area looking for the suspect. As dispatchers began relaying information from the victims, the suspect was spotted in the parking lot several blocks away. The suspect began running and jumped a fence into the Abbey Glen Apartment complex where officers were able to capture and arrest 53-year-old Mack Johnson. Johnson allegedly entered the store wearing a mask and acted as if he had a gun. the suspect went behind the register where he ordered the clerk to open the register and demanded money. The suspect also took two packs of cigarettes while behind the counter. During the robbery, Baylor officers entered the store . That's when the suspect ran out the back door and the chase began. There were two clerks inside the store at the time, neither of which was harmed during the incident. Police say it is possible Johnson may be involved in previous robberies in the Waco area. PRESS RELEASE Failed EU Economists Call for Bail-In To Avoid a Crash Sept. 30, 2017 (EIRNS)Fifteen leading German and French economist, including the heads of the Berlin-based DIW and the Munich-based IFO Institute (the two largest German economic think tanks), published a call on the German and French government to urgently move to prevent coming "pressure" on the Eurozone (read: collapse). The call was published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Le Monde. The reforms boil down to more European integration and a strict implementation of the bail-in. These failed economistsnone of whom was able to forecast the 2008 crashare calling for a criminal act to steal depositors money, which, however, wont be able to save the system. Germany and France should each "abandon their traditional standpoints" and converge on an agenda, they write. "Germany should accept a higher degree of risk-sharing in the Eurozone and at the same time demand that the stimulus for reforms is kept and the no-bailout clause for states and the bail-in rules for banks become more credible. "France in turn should accept more market disciplinebut in such a form as not to endanger financial stability. A restructuring of state debt should be allowed as a last resort. Both sides should push for a simplification of budget rules and for less fine tuning from Brussels." Signers: Agnes Benassy-Quere (Paris School of Economics, University Paris 1, and French Council of economic analysis), Markus Brunnermeier (Princeton University), Henrik Enderlein (Hertie School of Governance and Jacques Delors Institute, Berlin), Emmanuel Farhi (Harvard University), Lars Feld (University of Freiburg, Institut Walter Eucken, and German Council of Economic Experts), Marcel Fratzscher (DIW Berlin and Humboldt University), Clemens Fuest (Ifo Institute and University of Munich), Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas (University of California, Berkeley), Philippe Martin (Sciences Po, and French Council of Economic Analysis), Jean Pisani-Ferry (Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, and Sciences Po, Paris), Helene Rey (London Business School), Isabel Schnabel (University of Bonn, and German Council of Economic Experts), Nicolas Veron (Bruegel, and Peterson Institute of International Economics), Beatrice Weder di Mauro (Instead and University of Mainz) and Jeromin Zettelmeyer (Peterson Institute of International Economics) Reporting about the call, the Tageszeitung puts it in the context of Deutsche Banks recent report on the coming financial collapse. The most serious problem is that central banks "print money like crazy" and this is creating social problems, feeding "right-wing populists," TAZ writes. However, the solution proposed by the 15 economists means: "less social assistance, lower wages, fewer workers rights." It is an opportunity for the German Social Democrats, now in the opposition, to ride the protest. PRESS RELEASE Former Chancellor Schroder Advocates Lifting Sanctions on Russia Sept. 30, 2017 (EIRNS)Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder was elected chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, the Russian oil and gas company yesterday. On the occasion he said he believes anti-Russian sanctions should be lifted and that a new German government would support the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. "I think that the [German] Federal government still supports the Nord Stream 2 project due to its own well-calculated interests. I think that the new government will demonstrate that Germany is interested in implementation of the Nord Stream 2," he said. On the sanctions, Schroder said, PRESS RELEASE Tillerson: U.S. Is Talking Directly to North Korea Sept. 30, 2017 (EIRNS)During a press briefing in Beijing, following meetings with Chinese officials, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson indicated that the U.S. government has two or three direct lines to Pyongyang. "We are probing, so stay tuned," Tillerson said. "We can talk to them, we do talk to them directly, through our own channels," saying that the United States has "a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang." According to Bloomberg News, the U.S. is testing Pyongyangs appetite for negotiations. One of the channels that Tillerson was referring to may have been the back-channel that U.S. Special Envoy Joseph Yun is conducting through the North Korean embassy at the United Nations in New York. Another could be what is called "Track 1.5," made up of former U.S. officials on the one side and North Korea diplomats on the other. UPI, citing Japans Asahi Shimbun as its source, reported on Sept. 28, that there would soon be a Track 1.5 meeting and that the former U.S. officials participating could include Robert Gallucci, a diplomatic troubleshooter during the Clinton Administration; Leon Sigal, a North Korea specialist; and former U.S. special envoy for North Korea Joseph DeTrani. PRESS RELEASE Trump May Kick Wall Street to the Curb, But Needs Belt and Road Sept. 30, 2017 (EIRNS)Under intense pressure to solve problems of missing economic infrastructure in Puerto Ricowhich has come to stand for other disaster-struck locations as wellPresident Trump has dropped plans to rely on Wall Street, as is now widely known. "Trumps Pivot on Infrastructure May Kick Wall Street To the Curb," headlined a Sept. 29 analysis on Fox Business News. Economic Advisor Gary Cohn had made D.J. Gribben, fresh from chief of government relations at MacQuarie Corp.notorious for privatized and failing infrastructure schemesthe Presidents Special Assistant for Infrastructure Policy. This Wall Street/City of London scheming is what Fox Business means Trump may now be "kicking to the curb." "Trump is completely committed to a large-scale infrastructure building program; hes not a free trader or austerity doctrinaire like many members of the House," one person with two years ties to the Trump Campaign and the White House told EIR. "He has swung very strongly away from the PPP model. The President is mindful of a good number of PPPs which have not worked. VP Pence could not get success in Indiana with this approach. So he is really not thinking of this now. He wants to think through the public funding approach and develop a plan. Puerto Rico may be part of this, although it has to be planned immediately." For lack of a financing idea, he said, infrastructure bank legislation had faded in the Presidents priorities behind first healthcare "reform" and then tax reform. Now the President finds himself heatedly and publicly debating infrastructure funding. In a speech to the National Association of Manufacturers Friday he said, "Weve never seen a situation like this. Ultimately, the government of Puerto Rico will have to work with us to determine how this massive rebuilding effortit will end up being one of the biggest everwill be funded and organized, and what we will do with the tremendous amount of existing debt already on the island." Showing the wild abandon of the campaign against him, NBC News headlined its report of this statement, "Trump Administration Wont Promise To Fix PRs Infrastructure." In fact, only the President is discussing the fatal debt burden of Puerto Rico, equal per capita to that of Greece, which has subjected the territory to economic and human destruction like Greece in recent yearsbefore Hurricane Maria. All those involved in making that burden worse, particularly President Obama and his backers, were silent about Puerto Ricos suffering until, after Maria, they found an opportunity to try to blame Trump for it. The "financing idea" Trump has to find is that of a Hamiltonian national credit institution. And he will have to link the United States to the Belt and Road Initiative of China. Its leaders would have particular reason to cooperate in building a new infrastructure in Puerto Rico: It lies directly on the Maritime Silk Road, on the "Mona Route" straight from Gibraltar to the Panama Canal. America is reeling from the mass shooting at a country music concert in Las Vegas on Sunday night, which left at least 58 people dead and more than 500 others injured. The massacre is the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, and much remains unknown at this point, including the motive of the shooter, Stephen Paddock, who committed suicide after the attack. Read the latest news on the Las Vegas shooting and its victims Advertisement In times of tragedies like these, readers often look to literature for answers, even when they know that some things are beyond explanation. Here are nine books, both fiction and nonfiction, about the victims and perpetrators of mass shootings in North America. Columbine by Dave Cullen (Twelve). Journalist Cullens detailed nonfiction account of the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, published in 2009, shows how much the news reports immediately following the shooting got wrong. The book takes a deep look at the victims of the shooting as well as the perpetrators, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. Gabby: A Story of Courage, Love and Resilience, by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly with Jeffrey Zaslow (Scribner). The former Arizona congresswoman, who survived an attack in 2011 that left six others dead, writes about her long recovery after being shot in the head by Jared Lee Loughner. The memoir is co-written by her husband, Kelly, the retired astronaut and Naval officer. A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles Whitman Murders by Gary M. Lavergne (University of North Texas Press). First published 20 years ago, Lavergnes book remains the definitive account of the 1966 University of Texas tower shooting in Austin, in which sniper Charles Whitman killed 16 people and an unborn child before being shot dead by police officers. Choosing Hope: How I Moved Forward from Lifes Darkest Hour by Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis with Robin Gaby Fisher (G.P. Putnams Sons). The 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., killed 20 children and six adults. First-grade teacher Roig-DeBellis memoir describes how she saved the lives of her students and how she dealt with the aftermath of the tragedy. No Right to Remain Silent: What Weve Learned from the Tragedy at Virginia Tech by Lucinda Roy (Broadway). Roy was the chair of Virginia Techs English department when she sought counseling for a troubled student named Seung-Hui Cho. Cho went on to murder 32 people at the university; Roys book urges changes in the way potentially dangerous students are handled by college administrators. Vernon God Little by D.B.C. Pierre (Grove). The controversial debut novel from Pierre, an Australian author raised in Mexico, deals with a teenage boy in Texas who runs from the law after his best friend kills several of their classmates. The book won the prestigious Man Booker prize in 2003. Project X by Jim Shepard (Knopf). Shepards slim 2004 novel follows Edwin and Flake, two unpopular eighth-grade students whose alienation from their classmates leads to a horrible act of revenge. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (Counterpoint). Shrivers 2003 Orange Prize-winning novel, adapted into a 2011 film starring Tilda Swinton, tells the story of a mother coming to grips with the actions of her teenage son, who killed several students and staff members at his New York high school. A Mothers Reckoning by Sue Klebold (Crown). Twenty-five years after the Columbine killings, Dylan Klebolds mother, Sue, published a memoir about the son she knew, the son she didnt know, her own regret and terrible guilt, and what she as a parent might have done to prevent the tragedy. The answers do not come easy, President Trump said Monday in the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in American history, with at least 58 dead in a massacre on the Las Vegas Strip. Hes wrong. Every other civilized country has found answers to gun violence, and none of them faces the daily toll of the United States. What doesnt come easy is the political will to respond to the publics call for tighter gun laws. Nevada is virtually a laboratory for what can happen when gun laws are loosened, not tightened. Clark County, the scene of Sunday nights calamity, used to be the only county in Nevada that had the authority to require registration of handguns. They had to be registered within 60 days of moving into the county of 72 hours of purchase or transfer. Private sales had to be completed at a police station. Some cities required a three-day waiting period for some purchases. Advertisement Banning this or that gun would not have prevented this. Even carrying for self-defense would not make a difference. Those poor people were sitting ducks. Nevadacarry.org Clark Countys authority to enforce those local laws was revoked by the state legislature in 2015. The countys registration records were all destroyed under the state law by the following June. Mesquite, Nev., where the apparent shooter, Stephen Paddock, lived, is in Clark County. None of this means that Paddock would have been unable to perpetrate his crime if not for the 2015 law, since he seems to have relied on a high-caliber automatic weapon in his attack, not handguns. But its a window into the lax approach to firearms throughout Nevada, one of the more gun-friendly states in the union. In Nevada, concealed weapon permits are shall-issue, according to Nevadacarry.org, a pro-gun group. That means that sheriffs must hand them out to any qualified person, meaning anyone who is not a felon, drug addict or illegal immigrant or has never been judged mentally ill or committed of been convicted of a crime of domestic violence. Open carry is legal without a permit. Nevadacarry.org reports that the state doesnt ban assault weapons or impose a magazine capacity limit. No purchase permits, gun registration, waiting period or owner licensing is required. Private gun sales are legal and, as Clark County knows, Local gun laws are banned. Its legal to carry a gun openly in Nevada anywhere except in federal buildings and schools. You can carry a gun openly even on private property where no gun signs are posted; they dont have the force of law. You can carry a gun openly or (with a permit) concealed even in bars while drinking alcohol. You can carry a gun openly or concealed in a casino. Most casinos will ask you to leave or disarm if they observe you carrying firearms, according to Nevadacarry, but all that can happen if you refuse to leave to comply is that you can be charged with trespassing. It appears that the tide of public opinion may turning in Nevada. Question 1, a ballot measure that required that all firearm transfers except for those between members of an immediate family go through a licensed dealer and be subject to background checks, passed narrowly in the November election. Clark County, which as the home of Las Vegas is the states most populous and cosmopolitan county, put the measure over the top with 56.7% of voters in favor, but it trailed in Reno and lost badly in the states rural districts. The measure was supported by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a vociferous gun-control advocate, who contributed $3.5 million directly to the election campaign. It was opposed by the National Rifle Association, which contributed $6.5 million to defeat it. Gov. Brian Sandoval and Atty. Gen. Adam Laxalt, both Republicans, opposed Question 1. After the election, Laxalt ruled the measure invalid. The measure required that gun dealers were required to perform their background checks directly through an FBI database; but the FBI has refused to make the database available to private parties. As a result, Laxalt ruled, the measure cant be enforced. Nevada rated a C-minus score this year from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a San Francisco nonprofit dedicated to tightening firearms restrictions. The center ranked the states laws the 18th strongest in the nation, but that was only because of the passage of Question 1; before that vote, the center placed Nevada 27th. The center calculated the states gun death rate at 14.9 per 100,000 residents, or 14th highest among the 50 states. The Las Vegas massacre will again occasion the kind of political hand-wringing that presages an utter lack of legislative action. A surfeit of thoughts and prayers already is emanating from Washington, with Trumps early-morning tweet offering his warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting leading the way. Trump followed the gun lobby playbook for the aftermath of a mass shooting, declaring it an act of pure evil, as though to absolve policy-makers and legislators of any responsibility. On its website, Nevadacarry took up the task of defending the states legislative laxity, branding the attack a terrorist act. Banning this or that gun would not have prevented this, the organization said. Even carrying for self-defense would not make a difference. Those poor people were sitting ducks. The event will underscore the biggest vacuum in American firearms policythe lack of hard research about the causes and consequences of gun violence, the product of the NRAs 20-year blockade of research. But the carnage will underscore a few aspects of mass shootings that we do know. One is that, even though they comprise a small percentage of all gun deaths in America (and the toll from Las Vegas wont change that much), they have an outsized effect on public opinion because the victims are so random. Unlike most gun deaths, mass shootings can happen to anyone, anywhere, heightening anxieties about life in our public spaces. As UC Davis gun policy expert Garen Wintemute told me this summer, For large segments of the population, firearm violence occurs to people who arent like them and in places they know not to be. Mass shootings happen not to people who arent like me, but to people just like me who are doing just the kind of things I do, wherever I happen to be. The Las Vegas shootings fit that pattern to a Tthe victims were attending a crowded open-air concert in a Las Vegas park when the gunman opened fire from a high floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Hotel. Wintemute also pointed to one possible warning sign suggested by an examination of mass shootings in California: Aberrant patterns of firearm purchases prior to an attack, such as the rapid acquisition of lots of guns in a short period of time. The chronology of Paddocks gun purchases hasnt yet been publicly disclosed, but hes reported to have had an arsenal of automatic weapons in his Mandalay Bay room. Research such as that being conducted by Wintemutes newly-established program at UC Davis may help explain what drives an individual to cause the death and destruction seen in Las Vegas. But one cant assume that a lax approach to gun sales and gun possession, such as Nevadas, has nothing to do with it. It seems as though the voters of Clark County almost had a premonition that something bad was coming. Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Return to Michael Hiltziks blog. Technology firms and advertisers for years have been trying to figure out how to use cloud technology and digital data to curate programming tailored to individual viewers. Zone TV, which has offices in Santa Monica and Toronto, on Monday announced the latest experiment in that pursuit. The company plans to launch a group of 14 subscription video-on-demand television channels, including Foodies, Great Outdoors, Motors, Stylers, Mancave and Playground for children. Advertisement The twist: rather than employing TV executives to program the channels, Zone TV said it uses artificial intelligence to select and serve videos to individual viewers. Zone TV said it has secured license agreements with various content owners, including NASA, the production firm behind the childrens show Bob the Builder, and traditional magazine publishers including Field & Stream and Outdoor Life to construct a small library of programming. It has been in talks with pay-TV providers to add its so-called dynamic channel streams to the pay-TV bundles offered consumers. The company hopes to market the package of channels at around $6 a month. However, it would be up to the pay-TV companies to set the price. Zone TV is hoping to sign deals with major pay-TV operators by offering a share of the revenue generated by the streams, but it declined to disclose the companies it has been working with. We are bringing content not available on TV, Jeff Weber, chief executive of Zone TV, said in an interview. We are putting it into a better consumer experience that allows personalization and we are also changing the business model. Efforts such as Zone TVs dynamic channels could benefit small independent content creators by helping them distribute their videos to television viewers. Executives of the privately held firm including company founder and executive chairman Douglas Edwards have been refining the technology for more than a decade. The company was previously known as ES3. Viewers would discover the channels because they would be listed in the pay-TV operators digital program guides. They also would have the capability to create their own my zone channel, which would be filled with programming specific to their tastes from the various Zone TV channels. meg.james@latimes.com @MegJamesLAT The former chief executive of Equifax Inc. plans to apologize for the credit reporting companys massive data breach when he testifies Tuesday before a congressional committee. He also will detail the missteps before and after the hack, which exposed the Social Security numbers and birthdates of as many as 145.5 million U.S. customers. The company on Monday revised up the total from an initial estimate of 143 million following the completion of a review by an outside cybersecurity firm. Equifax was entrusted with Americans private data and we let them down, Richard Smith said in written testimony for the hearing that the House Energy and Commerce Committee released Monday. To each and every person affected by this breach, I am deeply sorry that this occurred. Advertisement Smith stepped down last week in the wake of the breach, which has sparked numerous federal and state investigations as well as outrage from lawmakers. His appearance Tuesday before the House panel will be the first of three before congressional committees this week. In his written testimony, Smith blamed the breach on human error and technology failures and said the company was a victim of a massive theft. The company failed to prevent sensitive information from falling into the hands of wrongdoers, he said. The people affected by this are not numbers in a database. They are my friends, my family, members of my church, the members of my community, my neighbors, Smith said. This breach has impacted all of them. It has impacted all of us. Smith also said Equifax was disappointed with the rollout of a special website and call centers to deal with the fallout from the breach. The company struggled with the initial effort to help consumers, he said. Equifax has been criticized for waiting nearly six weeks to notify the public after learning of the hack July 29, and then initially making consumers give up their right to sue if they wanted free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Equifax later backtracked on that requirement. Smith said in his testimony that regrettably, mistakes were made in the companys effort to help millions of consumers deal with the data breach. The arbitration provision had simply been inadvertently included in the terms of conditions for the credit monitoring after someone essentially cut and pasted the wording from a different Equifax product, he said. In response to criticism of its efforts, Equifax said last week it would stop charging customers to freeze access to their credit records so that no data would be released to scammers. In his testimony, Smith called for such free credit freezes to be the industry standard and that the nation should consider replacing Social Security numbers as the touchstone for identity verification. We believe redirecting the debate in this manner is a big positive for the firm, wrote Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with brokerage and investment bank Cowen & Co., in a research report. This is a way to give members of Congress a way to react to the crisis where Equifax is part of the solution rather than the target of attack. But Seiberg noted that Smiths prepared testimony failed to address the controversy regarding possible insider trading by some Equifax executives before the data breach became public. On Aug. 1, three Equifax executives sold thousands of shares of stock. All the shares sold for about $146 each. The companys stock sharply declined after the data breach was announced. Shares closed at $107.81 Monday, up about 1.7% but still down about 24% since the hack. Equifaxs board of directors has formed a special committee and is conducting a thorough review of the trading at issue, Theodore M. Hester, an attorney retained by Equifax, said in a letter Friday to Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Equifax takes these matters seriously, Hester wrote. The stock sales were among several questions about the data breach that the lawmakers had asked Smith about in a Sept. 12 letter. Smith said the data breach problems started March 8 when the Department of Homeland Securitys Computer Emergency Readiness Team sent a notice to Equifax and other companies about the need to patch a vulnerability in software known as Apache Struts. Equifax sent emails about the federal warning to workers responsible for the software, which is used in the companys consumer online disputes portal. But the vulnerable versions of the software were not identified or patched, Smith said. Equifaxs efforts undertaken in March 2017 did not identify any versions of Apache Struts that were subject to this vulnerability, and the vulnerability remained in an Equifax web application much longer than it should have, Smith said. The company is investigating why. Hackers appear to have first used the software vulnerability to access sensitive information May 13 and continued to do so for weeks before Equifaxs security team identified suspicious network traffic July 29. The next day, Equifax took the web portal offline. Smith said he learned about the problem July 31 from the companys chief information officer. A full response began Aug. 2, including contacting the FBI, Smith said. Equifax and an independent cybersecurity forensic consulting firm, Mandiant, worked literally around the clock to figure out what happened, Smith said. But despite numerous internal discussions, Equifax did not publicly announce the breach until Sept. 7. Smith said one reason for the delay was that experts had told company executives that notifying the public would provoke copycat attempts and other criminal activity. Equifax said Monday that Mandiant had completed the forensic portion of its review and found that as many as 2.5 million more U.S. customers might have been affected. The review also has concluded that there is no evidence the attackers accessed databases located outside of the United States, the company said. Equifax is trying to help consumers while also fixing its security systems, he said. The companys vulnerability scanning and patch management processes and procedures have been enhanced, Smith said. Smith noted that in addition to his departure, the companys chief information officer and chief security officer also left the company after the breach. jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com Twitter: @JimPuzzanghera ALSO At Senate hearing, Wells Fargo CEO to vow reforms well underway following accounts scandal GM promises more than 20 electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2023 FBI doesnt have to say who unlocked San Bernardino shooters iPhone, judge rules UPDATES: 2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with information about an additional 2.5 million U.S. customers who might have been affected by the hack, as well as with Equifaxs closing stock price. 12:10 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information about credit freezes and reaction from Jaret Seiberg of Cowen & Co. 9:25 a.m.: This article was updated with information about questionable stock sales by Equifax executives and the companys review of them. This article was originally published at 8:50 a.m. Wells Fargo Chief Executive Timothy Sloan is expected to tell a Senate committee Tuesday that the San Francisco bank has made substantial progress in reforming itself following its accounts scandal. Sloan will testify before the Banking Committee following the one-year anniversary of the disclosure that bank employees, trying to meet onerous sales goals, created millions of accounts without customer permission. The past year has been a time of great disappointment and transition at Wells Fargo because we recognized too late the full scope and seriousness of the problems in our Community Bank, Sloan says, according to a transcript of his prepared testimony released by Wells Fargo. Advertisement I also want to be clear about another thing: Wells Fargo is a better bank today than it was a year ago. And next year, Wells Fargo will be a better bank than it is today, the transcript goes on to state. The committee has asked Sloan to appear before it to give a progress report on what actions the bank has taken since it was announced on Sept. 9, 2016, that Wells Fargo would pay $185 million to regulators after admitting as many as 2.1 million unauthorized checking, savings, credit card and other accounts were created. Then-CEO John Stumpf appeared before the Senate committee and its House counterpart within a few weeks, during which his leadership and the bank were denounced. He was ousted shortly thereafter and Sloan assumed the post on Oct. 13. The initial estimate of possible unauthorized accounts was based on a review from 2011 to 2015. Since then, Wells Fargo expanded its review to 2009 through last year and has upped its estimate to 3.5 million. It also has agreed to settle several class action lawsuits over the scandal for $142 million, and, according to the testimony, is paying $6.1 million in direct refunds for charges and fees related to the unwanted accounts. Much of Sloans prepared remarks highlight actions and changes at the bank that have been previously reported or disclosed, including the adoption of a new employee incentive program based on customer service performance and the elimination of product sales goals for retail bankers. Sloan says that the bank is on pace to have its retail branches visited 16,000 times by employees posing as customers so called mystery shoppers. Sloan added that he and other senior executive have visited more than 100 branch offices as part of the reform effort. The bank reported last year it fired 5,300 employees over the sales practices, and the bank has since rehired 1,780 employees who left the bank during those years, according to the transcript. Despite its reform effort, the scandal has taken a toll on the banks image. Wells Fargo has reported a decline in new retail account openings since last year. There also has been a steady stream of new disclosures that have further tarnished it. In July, the bank said it would pay $80 million in refunds to hundreds of thousands of auto-loan borrowers who were forced to pay for bank-purchased auto insurance policies despite having coverage of their own. Other suits filed over the last year allege a bevvy of additional problems, including improperly changing the terms of mortgage loans for bankrupt borrowers, signing up customers for unauthorized life insurance policies and overcharging small businesses for credit- and debit-card processing services. The banks sales practices were first disclosed in a 2013 Los Angeles Times report. Ted Shackelford of Knots Landing fame has bought a Toluca Lake home for $1,566,500. The property previously sold in 2002 for $751,000, public records show. The Georgian-style cottage retains its 1940s charm. A brick sidewalk leads to the red front door. Details include stained-glass, wainscoting, exposed beams and vaulted wood ceilings. Advertisement There are four bedrooms, three bathrooms and 2,632 square feet of living space. A swimming pool and patio sit in the backyard. Dense hedges, lawn, flowers and mature trees surround the well-kept house. Shackelford, 71, was on Knots Landing from 1979 to 1993 playing oil baron son Gary Ewing. He had a recurring role on The Young and the Restless from 2006 to 2015. Craig Strong of John Aaroe Group was the listing agent. Joan Duffy of John Aaroe Group represented the buyer. lauren.beale2@latimes.com Twitter: @laurenebeale More Hot Property: A Red Hot spot comes up for sale in Topanga Singer-songwriter Milow gives up his hip surf spot in Venice Actress Katherine Moennig sells her Laurel Canyon cool digs Wearing a dark suit jacket and mismatched pants, holding a cigarette in one hand and a cup of beer in the other, lead barker and could-be middle-manager Joe Casey of Detroit band Protomartyr wasnt about to let the Pacific breeze soften his message on the first day of the Music Tastes Good food and music festival in Long Beach. As seagulls shot past a drone humming overhead, Protomartyr, performing in support of its excellent new record, Relatives in Descent, triggered hardened post-punk frequencies that seemed to penetrate the wind like bullets through feathers. Casey sang of vomit and rage spewing forth in the drive-thru, of fussing and fighting eternally and of false news beamed right in male plague! With the deadpan misanthropy of American Splendor writer Harvey Pekar or Charles Bukowski, Protomartyrs Casey looked at the modest crowd during this second installment of Music Tastes Good and uttered, False happiness is piled high as the band distorted guitar, looping bass and minimalist, snare-heavy drum patterns crafted punk tones that echoed with jagged remnants of Joy Division and Interpol. (Across town, Interpol was stirring turn-of-the-century nostalgia with a full-album live set of 2002s Turn on the Bright Lights.) Advertisement It was indeed a lovely day for tunes near the ocean, where Long Beach- and Torrance- born punk band Joyce Manor, joke rock iconoclasts Ween, Cameroonian expat Laetitia Tamko (who records as Vagabon), Argentine experimental pop artist and actress Juana Molina and glam-fueled L.A. outfit Diane Coffee performed Saturday. (Sundays roster included Sleater-Kinney, Dr. Octagon, Los Lobos, Peaches and Rhye.) This years Music Tastes Good was a tribute to the festivals fallen and Ween-loving co-founder, Josh Fischel, who envisioned a tiny-but-mighty two-day event that celebrated the art of noise. Fischel died unexpectedly in 2016, mere days after the inaugural installment. A symbol of his efforts was apparent in one particular sculpture on the grounds: a cassette tape the size of a queen bed upon which was written, Joshs Mix. Corey Wolford, 27, of Long Beach, stands next to a sculpture installed at Music Tastes Good in honor of the festivals late co-founder, Josh Fischel. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) The most memorable moments on that would-be tape were indeed forward looking, but what artists spied often belied the picturesque view along the Long Beach oceanfront. Saturdays draw was hardly massive. Lines at food trucks and stalls were minimal, and a center tent booked with successful area chefs drew solid if not overwhelming attendance. Which is to say, the people who were there seemed giddy at both the spot and the vibe, to say nothing of being so close to bands like Ween, Ride and Slaves. Like Casey except shirtless, with six-pack abs and a thick British accent Slaves drumming screamer Isaac Holman wasnt about to let ocean mist dilute his message. Neck veins popping as he stood and pounded on his kit during The Hunter, Holman railed against world leaders. The feeling is mutual / You dont like what we do / Because we say what we are thinking / And that shocks and frightens you, he bellowed, echoing the spirit of outrage of British anarchist punk band Crass. Heaven 17, which in its hit-making prime helped carry synthesizer-driven pop music to the masses alongside the Human League and Depeche Mode, was sonically the polar opposite of Slaves. But it too focused on a society addled with issues. The streets, deserted and cold, theyre not paved in gold, sang Heaven 17 co-founder Glenn Gregory in We Live So Fast, which 35 years ago bemoaned the relentless pace of contemporary life. We live so fast / No time to waste. Electric guitar fans standing equidistant from the opposing stages while bands Ride and Built to Spill were competing for ears might have found salvation in that sweet spot. Mark Gardener of Ride performs at the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Ride, the reunited 1990s British guitar band aligned with the so-called shoegaze movement, harnessed jangled electric guitars to create sheets of distorted riffs that suggested the Byrds on steroids. Later, hometown heroes Joyce Manor performed its first Long Beach set in six years. The band, which is signed to the storied L.A. punk label Epitaph, presented catchy, hardened songs from its most recent album, Cody, including the slice-of-life song Fake I.D., about a tryst with a stranger that references Kanye West, Phil Hartman and John Steinbeck. Then there was Ween, whose presence at the festival seemed both incongruous and ingenious. With a devoted fan base that came out in full force, the formerly drug-crazed duo from Pennsylvania recently reunited. The band appeared at the festival as a symbol of Fischels legacy. Expert parodists able to mimic 1970s funk, 60s country and 80s rock with equal skill, Ween presented songs from throughout its career. On Dont Sweat It, Gene Ween (a.k.a. Aaron Freeman) offered a gentle and incredibly creepy song that suggested British glam king Marc Bolan. Aaron Freeman, a.k.a. Gene Ween, at the Music Tastes Good festival in Long Beach. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Voodoo Lady harnessed cheesy 1970s boogie rock in an ode to a woman shakin that stick and driving me crazy. Fan favorite Up a Rope used Nashville country music as a means to parody twangy kiss-off songs. Filled with expletives, its lyrics are too vulgar to reprint, but rest assured the song was filled with invective. That shouldnt have come as a surprise, given some of the themes coming from the vocalists. Not that the fans seemed bothered. It was a beautiful day not too hot or too crowded filled with pleasantly behaved music and food devotees. Or, as Protomartyrs Casey observed as he was thanking the crowd for the applause: You stood around in the field very nice. Members of Long Beachs Garage Theatre team up with the Sea Funk Band during a parade at the Music Tastes Good festival. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) ALSO Interpol makes an emotional return to Bright Lights and 9/11-era anxiety Josh Fischel, founder of Music Tastes Good, dies at 47 With gourmet food and adventurous music, Long Beachs Music Tastes Good survives after a personal tragedy This week, in the continuing saga of too many shows to watch, a grown man moves back in with his doting parents after a failed marriage, while another young man seeks fame as a rapper, but becomes his citys mayor instead. Neither commands dragons or an army of Whitewalkers, but they do sail the perilous waters of trying to make binge-weary audiences laugh. Pilot episodes for the new network comedy series The Mayor (ABC) and 9JKL (CBS) premiere this week, kicking off month two of a crowded, but not incredibly creative, fall TV season. Advertisement They arrive among a plethora of reboots, military shows and spinoffs that have been criticized for not being as innovative or as good as other recent broadcast offerings (last year alone gave us The Good Place, Pitch, Speechless and This Is Us.) The Mayor, which premieres Tuesday, is one of the shows in this new lineup that has inspired hope and the pilot doesnt disappoint. The comedy features a timely premise full of playful political sendups, light social commentary and plenty of sharp, funny millennial-skewing pop-culture references. Amateur rapper Courtney Rose (played by Brandon Micheal Hall of Search Party) wants to be famous, so he runs for mayor in his neglected, fictional city of Fort Grey, Calif. The publicity stunt goes awry when during a debate he wins over the mainly black, working-class voters who are fed up with the usual rhetoric of local politicians. Now Rose must decide whether hes out to truly help the community, or use the post to advance his career as an entertainer. Nope, no parallels here. But Rose is a charismatic leader, and the playful energy between him and his friends/sidekicks Jermaine (Bernard David Jones) and T.K. (Marcel Spears) makes this administration a delight to watch. Valentina (Lea Michele), a small-time political strategist and former classmate of Roses, appoints herself as an aide to the new accidental mayor, and its frustrating for a by-the-book climber like her. His mother, Dina (Yvette Nicole Brown), provides moral guidance and heart and theres a lot of heart here. The show, executive produced by Hamilton Tony-winner Daveed Diggs (he appears briefly in the pilot), is also spot-on in its race- and music-related dialogue. When Rose talks to a younger kid about all the great rappers from back in the day, the kid answers You mean like Eminem, Macklemore and Iggy Azalea? If the rest of the series is anything like The Mayor pilot, expect a fresh show with likable but green talent, a lot of charm and plenty of political references turned inside-out to reflect the frustrations and hopes of a truly disenfranchised community. 9JKL, which premieres Monday, takes us to Manhattan, where the series isnt breaking any comedic boundaries, but it does entertain. The show revolves around Josh Roberts (Mark Feuerstein). Hes an actor who just returned to New York from Los Angeles after his TV series and marriage ended prematurely. His rebound apartment is nestled between his parents (played by Elliott Gould and Linda Lavin) and his brother and sister-in-laws place (David Walton and Liza Lapira), thus the confusing name of the show. Didnt anyone at CBS note that it sounds more like a reset password than the title of a family sitcom? His parents smother him with unwanted attention, his brother, a wealthy surgeon whos staying in the building while his home is being renovated, competes with him. And theres also a wacky doorman and precocious 12-year-old neighbor who hang out in the lobby, commenting on Joshs pathetic work and love life. The series, created by Feuerstein and spouse Dana Klein, is somewhat autobiographical, based on Feuersteins own life experience of when he was working on Royal Pains and wound up living in an Upper Eastside apartment building next to his parents and brother. Theres some fabulous talent here in Gould, Lavin and Feuerstein, enough to bury some of the tired old-people jokes (they shop at Costco a lot, mom cant stop talking about people Josh doesnt care about, and dad walks around in his underpants half the time). The pilot promises a competent if familiar sitcom comedy thats more comfortable than daring and thats OK. Where: ABC When: 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays Rating: TV-14 Where: CBS When: 8:30 p.m. Mondays Rating: TV-14-D (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14 with an advisory for suggestive dialogue) lorraine.ali@latimes.com @lorraineali With the recent hurricanes, the flooding in Texas and the earthquakes in Mexico, many Los Angeles chefs have organized events and dinners to raise money for the thousands affected. Heres a shortlist of whats happening around town, and how you can help: Some of the most lauded chefs in Los Angeles are coming together to host an event called L.A. Chefs Unite on the front lawn of Hotel Bel-Air on Wednesday to benefit the Global Giving Fund. The fund provides relief for those affected by the earthquake in Mexico and from hurricanes Irma, Harvey and Maria. Wolfgang Puck is hosting the benefit dinner alongside chefs Josef Centeno of Baco Mercat, P.Y.T. and Orsa and Winston; Jeremy Fox of Rustic Canyon; Josiah Citrin of Melisse; Roy Choi of POT; Suzanne Goin of Lucques; Nancy Silverton of Mozza; Michael Voltaggio of Inkwell; Pawan Mahendro of Badmaash and more. With the recent tragedies happening across the globe, it was important to my team and I that we give back in a meaningful and impactful way, said Puck in a release. My chef at Hotel Bel-Air, Hugo Bolanos, had the great idea of bringing the L.A. chef community together to cook a benefit dinner, so we are doing exactly that. Advertisement The cost to attend is $500, with all proceeds going to the Global Giving Fund. The event will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online at wolfgangpuckbelair.tocktix.com/experience/12910. 701 Stone Canyon Rd., Los Angeles, (310) 472-1211. More than 50 restaurants, bars and food trucks will donate proceeds from certain specials to Unidos Por Puerto Rico during the week of Oct. 7 to Oct. 14. The organization works to provide aid and support to those affected by the hurricanes in Puerto Rico. Some of the participating restaurants include 71 Above, P.Y.T., Trois Mec and Lucques. The full list of restaurants and bars can be found at www.LALovesPR.com. Superba Food + Bread in Venice is hosting a hurricane relief dinner on Oct. 13. Proceeds from the six-course meal, cooked by chef Anthony Goodwin, will be donated to the Hurricane Harvey and Irma Hospitality Fund and the Banco de Alimentos Food Bank of Puerto Rico. The dinner will be served from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets are $125 and available for purchase online at www.superbafoodandbread.com/hurricane-event. 1900 S. Lincoln Blvd., Venice, (310) 907-5075. Jenn.Harris@latimes.com @Jenn_Harris_ ALSO: The Mexican drink michelada is beer with benefits How to make the Filipino dessert halo-halo like a world-class pastry chef Four food events you should know about, including a cheese festival called Oozefest Immigrants detained by authorities must be offered affordable bond for their release, a federal appeals court decided Monday. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said immigration judges should consider a non-citizens ability to pay when setting a bond. The governments discretion to incarcerate non-citizens is always constrained by the requirements of due process, Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote for the panel. No person may be imprisoned merely on account of his poverty. Advertisement The decision upheld a district judges ruling in a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of immigrants, including asylum seekers, arrested in Southern and Central California because of unauthorized entry to the U.S. The immigrants were determined to be neither dangerous nor enough of a flight risk to make them ineligible for bonds, the 9th Circuit noted. But they remained in detention, sometimes for years, because they could not afford to pay the bond amounts set by immigration officials. Mondays ruling upheld a preliminary injunction requiring immigration officials to consider both an immigrants financial ability and alternative forms of release, such as the use of ankle monitors. The decision requires the government to hold new bond hearings within 45 days for those who are detained and to consult with the immigrants lawyers about establishing new guidelines for release. maura.dolan@latimes.com Twitter: @mauradolan Fire authorities say they anticipate full containment Monday of the week-old Canyon fire in Corona, while the Rucker fire near Lompoc should be contained by Wednesday. The Orange County Fire Authority announced on Twitter on Sunday morning that the fire, which had burned 2,662 acres and damaged six structures, was 95% contained. The fast-moving fire, driven by temperatures in the 90s and strong winds, forced as many as 1,500 Corona residents to evacuate last week as it exploded to 2,000 acres in the Santa Ana Mountains near the Anaheim-Corona border, threatening homes. Advertisement Authorities ordered residents of all homes south of Green River Road from the 91 Freeway to Trudy Lane, including the Orchard Glen Tract, to leave as more than 300 firefighters trudged through steep, rugged terrain to battle the blaze. Sgt. Daron Wyatt, a spokesman for the Anaheim police and fire departments, said the blaze began about 1 p.m. on Sept. 25. The fire had spread into a small section of Chino Hills State Park about 3 p.m., he said. Meanwhile, firefighters battling the Rucker fire near Lompoc called in aircraft Sunday when gusty winds touched off spot fires outside the containment area. Aerial drops quickly extinguished the 2- to 4-acre fires, Santa Barbara County Fire Department public information officer Mike Eliason said Monday. #RuckerFire-UPDATE-An MD-87 makes a drop to help contain a wind carried ember that jumped contain line near La Purisima Mission. < 2 acres. pic.twitter.com/OvaEFXRbPA SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) October 1, 2017 Eliason said the fire, which burned 441 acres, was 90% contained, but the expected time of full containment was pushed back to Wednesday evening. Authorities had ordered evacuation of about 900 homes after the fire broke out Friday. Eliason said all evacuations were lifted and all roads opened Monday with the fire 60% contained. Investigators had determined that the fire was caused by a malfunctioning vehicle, and that several pieces of a catalytic converter had been found. doug.smith@latimes.com @LATDoug UPDATES: 10:20 a.m.: This article was updated with details on the Rucker fire. This article was originally published at 9:20 a.m. Two Southern California school districts were giving conflicting messages over the weekend as they attempted to guide parents through a scare touched off last week by a state and federal investigation of a music specialist suspected of contaminating musical instruments with semen. Responding to the probe, the Saugus Union School District in Los Angeles County sought help from parents to collect evidence in the investigation, which it said is focusing on workshops where students made flutes out of PVC pipe with a specific individual. The message, signed by Supt. Joan Lucid, included a list of seven locations where the specialist, whose identity has not been disclosed, gave workshops and assemblies. Advertisement Parents whose children brought home the instruments were advised to place the flute in a paper bag, not a plastic one, and call the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriffs Station. Paper was considered less likely to damage evidence. Sheriffs Sgt. Mike Konecny said Sunday that deputies were dispatched on at least one or two calls to pick up flutes. The district said locations where a different specialist gave the same workshop were not listed because they were not part of the investigation. A message posted by the Fullerton School District in Orange County advised parents not to collect flutes. Our district has checked with our Chief of Police, from Fullerton, and the flutes from the program do not need to be tested or collected for the Police Department or Department of Justice, a message posted Saturday morning said. Fullerton police spokesman Sgt. Jon Radus declined to comment further Sunday, saying the investigation is being conducted by the California Dept. of Justice. The state attorney generals office told the Los Angeles Times in a statement Saturday that it was supporting an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, in part by working with local police and the schools to collect the instruments. It was not clear why the Postal Inspection Service was involved. Calls to the agency from The Times were not immediately returned. Messages from The Times to officials in the school districts were also not immediately returned. The press office for the California attorney general elaborated on the statement Sunday, only to say that school districts and local law enforcement will be providing further information to parents regarding the collection process of the instruments. The investigation was disclosed Saturday by the Orange County Register, which reported that the instructor, representing an organization called Flutes Across the World, worked with students in at least four school districts. The groups website had been disabled Sunday. An archived version of the groups website describes it as a tax-exempt organization based in Ojai, Calif. It shows pictures of children holding up brightly decorated flutes and describes the groups activities as educational and school programs, national and international music missions, community and family night events and summer camps and festivals. A solicitation says every $10 donated buys 30 mouthpieces for a whole class. A message left at the phone number on the site was not immediately returned. The Register said the Fountain Valley School District and Newport-Mesa and Capistrano Unified districts had also sent messages to parents. But no notice was readily apparent on either districts website Sunday. The investigation prompted a flurry of comments on the Santa Clarita Community Facebook page. My daughter participated last year at North Park Elementary! wrote Erica Pena Socarras. This is disturbing! My daughter had this class! Michael Smith posted. The district needs to have the kids tested immediately!!! Both the Saugus and Fullerton districts emphasized in their messages that the sessions with students were all supervised by district personnel. doug.smith@latimes.com @LATDoug ALSO Southern California police officer and deputy among wounded in Las Vegas mass shooting UC Berkeley student beaten unconscious outside campus dorm Man loses both legs when Metrolink train hits him in Chinatown Marking the latest legal challenge to the Trump administrations crackdown on sanctuary cities, Los Angeles is suing the U.S. Department of Justice over its policy of conditioning federal funds on cooperation with immigration agents. In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court, City Atty. Mike Feuer alleges that the Justice Department decision to tie federal grants to immigration enforcement is unconstitutional. The lawsuit cites the Community Oriented Policing Services program, which is administered by the federal government and designed to bolster community policing. Advertisement L.A. routinely applies for funds through the program and received $3.125 million last year, which helped hire 25 officers, according to Feuers office. Now, the Justice Department has changed the terms for cities seeking the funds, the lawsuit alleges. For example, jurisdictions that agree to focus the use of grant funds on illegal immigration are given bonus points during the application process, according to the lawsuit. That amounts to preferential treatment to those cities, the lawsuit suggests. A central argument in L.A.s lawsuit is that the Department of Justices new policy violates the separation of powers laid out in the countrys Constitution, which gives Congress, not the executive branch, control of government purse strings. L.A.s lawsuit states that the Justice Department puts the city of Los Angeles and other state and local government entities to an untenable choice: Commit to participating in federal civil immigration investigation and enforcement efforts, or sacrifice funds for public safety and community policing. Department of Justice spokesman Devin OMalley cited a recent trend of rising violent crime in Los Angeles and said it was baffling that the city would challenge policies he said are designed to keep residents safe. Reversing sanctuary city policies is about more than enforcing federal immigration law by detaining criminals here illegally its about reestablishing a culture of law and order, where crimes are punished and people are deterred from committing them, OMalley said in a statement. Feuers lawsuit comes after repeated efforts by the Department of Justice to punish sanctuary cities over their immigration enforcement policies. In January, President Trump issued an executive order stating that sanctuary cities will not be eligible to receive funds from the U.S. attorney general and Homeland Security secretary. A federal judge in April blocked that order, siding with San Francisco and Santa Clara County, which had filed lawsuits over the policy. In July, U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions launched another attempt to target sanctuary jurisdictions by announcing new rules for cities that receive funds for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants program. Sessions announcement directly affected Los Angeles, which has received more than $1 million in Justice Assistance Grants each year, including $1.8 million for the 2016 fiscal year, according to the city. Specifically, Sessions said police would be required to allow immigration enforcement officers access to local jails and provide 48 hours notice before releasing from their jail someone tagged by federal authorities as possibly being in the country illegally. Los Angeles police officers object to such requirements. It would extend the time inmates would otherwise remain behind bars, a policy that several courts have ruled unconstitutional. A federal judge in Chicago last month found that Sessions exceeded his authority in imposing those new standards and issued a preliminary injunction. Feuers suit also challenges the unconstitutional conditions placed by the Department of Justice on the allocation of the Justice Assistance Grants program used by the city. Feuer originally sought to join a San Francisco lawsuit filed in August over Sessions new rules for the Justice Assistance Grants program. However, a San Francisco court asked L.A. to refile its lawsuit in Los Angeles. That action now is part of the citys broader suit filed Friday. dakota.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @dakotacdsmith UPDATES: Oct. 3, 2:25 p.m.: The article was updated with a response from the Department of Justice to the citys lawsuit. Oct. 2, 6:50 p.m.: The article was updated with more details about the lawsuit. This article was originally published at 1:05 p.m. The former head of South Koreas earthquake research center was sentenced Monday to 14 months behind bars for laundering more than $1 million in bribes from two seismological companies, including one based in Pasadena, that paid him in exchange for insider information. Heon-Cheol Chi, a 59-year-old resident of South Korea, was also ordered to pay a fine of $15,000 and serve a year of supervised release after he gets out of prison. Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge John F. Walter to impose a five-year prison term, while the defense argued for a six-month sentence that would include time served. Advertisement Defense attorney Marilyn E. Bednarski said Chi would return to South Korea upon release from custody. The sentence reflected the judges view of how to balance the seriousness of the offense with Mr. Chis extraordinary characteristics, she said outside court. Chi was convicted in July of one federal count of transacting in criminally derived property. The jury in downtown Los Angeles failed to reach a unanimous verdict on five other counts of money laundering. This is precisely the kind of corruption and abuse of the U.S. banking system that the U.S. money laundering statutes seek to prohibit and prevent, federal prosecutors wrote in sentencing papers. Chi headed the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources Earthquake Research Center, where he tested seismological equipment, offered technical certifications for equipment used in government-funded projects and developed an early-warning earthquake system. According to evidence presented at trial, Chi laundered funds that were the proceeds of bribes he accepted in violation of South Korea law. The American financial system is not to be used as a storehouse for the proceeds of corrupt activity, acting U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Brown said following the trial. This defendant used a bank account here in Southern California to conceal over $1 million in bribe money obtained through the abuse of his public position. This conviction sends a message that should be heard around the world. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, Chi abused his senior position at the earthquake center from at least 2009 through 2015, demanding more than $1 million in bribes from Pasadena-based Kinemetrics and United Kingdom-based Guralp Systems Ltd., which both produce seismic equipment. In exchange for the bribes, Chi gave the companies inside information on open contracts and advocated for the earthquake center and others to buy their equipment. In addition to his use of cash payments and the U.S. banking system, evidence showed that Chi took a number of steps to conceal his bribery scheme, including instructing representatives of the companies to delete or not respond to his emails, requesting that company representatives not inform his colleagues at the center of his illegal arrangements with those companies, and by sending fictitious invoices listing a false address in New Jersey. doug.smith@latimes.com @LATDoug ResourcesVictims Oct. 5, 2017, 9:45 a.m. California residents can apply for aid for medical bills, funeral expenses after Las Vegas attacks Carmen Alegria recounts her harrowing experience surviving the mass shooting in Las Vegas. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Californians who were injured in the Las Vegas attack may be able to get some monetary relief. The California Victim Compensation Board, a state program that offers monetary support for victims of violent crimes, has released a single application process to allow people to apply for compensation from California as well as from Nevadas program, said Julie Nauman, the boards executive director. A gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night, injuring almost 500 people and killing 58. Help is available for survivors of those who were killed, anyone who was injured and those in attendance at the concert, as well as their immediate family members, according to a statement the board released Wednesday. The funds can help pay for various costs, including funeral expenses, medical bills, mental health treatment, lost wages. Theres a limit of $70,000 per victim in the California program, but officials from California and Nevada are working together to maximize resources for families, Nauman said. We want victims to know that this help is available, she said. California residents can apply at https://victims.ca.gov/lasvegas/ or can call 1-800-777- 9229. Staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report. Oct. 5, 2017, 8:27 a.m. Las Vegas Vegas shooter booked room overlooking Lollapalooza in Chicago, official says Fans watch as Charli XCX performs at Lollapalooza in Chicagos Grant Park on Aug 6. (Rob Grabowski / Invision/AP) Police said Thursday they are examining reports that the gunman who fired on a country music festival in Las Vegas also booked rooms in a Chicago hotel overlooking the massive Lollapalooza music festival, the latest new line of inquiry as investigators try to retrace the killers steps in the days and weeks before the attack. TMZ reported that Stephen Paddock, 64, booked two rooms facing Grant Park, where the festival was held from Aug. 3 to Aug. 6, at the Blackstone Hotel, an upscale downtown hotel across the street, but he never showed. We can confirm that a reservation was made under the name Stephen Paddock, however authorities have not confirmed that this is the same person as the Las Vegas shooter, said hotel spokeswoman Emmy Carragher, adding that the guest never arrived. We are cooperating with the authorities on this matter. Lollapalooza draws hundreds of thousands of music fans every year, and this summer the shows attendees included Malia Obama, the daughter of former President Obama. Read more Suspect Oct. 4, 2017, 10:47 p.m. Las Vegas These are the video poker machines Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock frequented Video poker machines at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino (Ruben Vives/Los Angeles Times) At the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, the video poker machines stand at the north end of the casino, near an open court across from the black jack tables. Stephen Paddock, the gunman responsible for Sundays mass shootings at a music festival opposite the hotel, liked to play this bank of machines. Hotel staff said hed come to the Mandalay Bay up to twice a month. A real estate investor who also made regular money on gambling, Paddock is said to have preferred video poker. He gambled for 20-plus years, successfully, his brother, Eric Paddock, told reporters on Wednesday. Hed often play $100,000 at a time, he said. "$100,000 isnt that much money.... He gambled that much through a machine in hours.... Hes got the highest level of membership card at a lot of these [casino] hotels. If a lot of these hotels say they dont know Steve, theyre lying. It was from a room 32 floors above the Mandalay Bay casino that Paddock launched his deadly attack, killing 58 people and wounding nearly 500 others. On the casino floor Wednesday night, though, there was little sign of the tragedy three nights earlier. It was business as usual. Oct. 4, 2017, 8:34 p.m. Why did it take police so long to breach Las Vegas gunmans room? Heres a new timeline How long did it take Las Vegas police officers to storm into the room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino where gunman Stephen Paddock was laying down fire on a crowd of 22,000 helpless concertgoers below? Initial reports suggested it was 72 minutes. Actually, it was 75 minutes, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Wednesday, as authorities released their first complete timeline of the Sunday night shooting that left 58 people dead and nearly 500 injured. There was a reason for the delay, Lombardo said. Officers actually reached Paddocks hotel room door on the 32nd floor within 12 minutes of the first shots being fired, which is phenomenal, the sheriff said. The shots had stopped 10 minutes after they started, according to the new timeline, which factors in information recorded on police officers body cameras and closed-circuit television footage from the concert venue. The shooting apparently halted when Paddock detected the security guards approach at his hotel room door and turned to shoot the guard, Lombardo said. The first police officers arrived about two minutes after that, the new account suggests. When they saw what had happened, they evacuated nearby rooms and waited for backup from a SWAT team to enter the room. That ended up happening 75 minutes after the first shots were fired. Paddock was already dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Here is the timeline the sheriffs department released: 10:05 p.m.: First shots fired by the suspect. This was seen on closed-circuit television from the concert venue. 10:12 p.m.: First two officers arrive on the 31st floor and announce the gunfire is coming from directly above them. 10:15 p.m.: The last shots are fired from the suspect per body-worn cameras. 10:17 p.m.: The first two officers arrive on the 32nd floor. 10:18 p.m.: Security officer tells LVMPD officers he was shot and gives exact location of the suspects room. 10:26-10:30 p.m.: Eight additional officers arrive on the 32nd floor and begin to move systematically down the hallway, clearing every room and looking for any injured people. They move this way because they no longer hear the gunfire of an active shooter. 10:55 p.m.: Eight officers arrive in the stairwell at the opposite end of the hallway nearest to the suspects room. 11:20 p.m.: The first breach is set off and officers enter the room. They observe the suspect down on the ground and also see a second door that could not be accessed from their position. 11:27 p.m.: The second breach is set off, allowing officers to access the second room. Officers quickly realize there is no one else in the rooms and announce over the radio that the suspect is down. ALSO Vegas shooter booked room overlooking Lollapalooza in Chicago, official says Shooting shows how hard it is to stop a sniper Las Vegas shooting victims: Portraits of the fallen Heres what we know (and dont know) about the Las Vegas shooting Oct. 4, 2017, 7:20 p.m. Gunmans brother: If a lot of these hotels say they dont know Steve, theyre lying Eric Paddock, left, brother of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, speaks to members of the media outside his home Monday in Orlando, Fla. (John Raoux / Associated Press) The interview started with Eric Paddock crying. And then in a rambling, televised interview that stretched for half a hour in Florida on Wednesday Paddock held court on his brother Stephen, the gunman who attacked a Las Vegas country music festival. He was now one of Americas foremost experts on one of its worst mass killers, and he was trying to explain reports that Stephen Paddock had gambled heavily in Las Vegas in recent months, sometimes with at least $100,000. Were wealthy people, Eric Paddock said. "$100,000 isnt that much money.... He gambled that much through a machine in hours.... Hes got the highest level of membership card at a lot of these [casino] hotels. If a lot of these hotels say they dont know Steve, theyre lying. But his brother also didnt love the casino, Paddock said. The casino was a means to an end. The casino to him was like a job in Toyota in Japan, where you live in the Toyota apartments across the street, and then you go to the Toyota factory to work. Thats what the casino was. Its a place where you lived and they were nice to you, and you could get it paid for by playing slots. Paddock remembered his brother as a man who used his money to take care of his family financially. He helped make me and my family wealthy. I mean, hes the reason I was able to retire three years ago when I got really burned out doing the job I did, Eric Paddock said. He didnt have a lot of friends, Paddock continued. He was a private person. Theres a story about that hes, ohhhh, he kept his shades closed, and he didnt talk to me for the first three times he saw me walking in the neighborhood. Wow. That makes him really weird, doesnt it? He was a private guy. Thats why you cant find out anything about him, thats why theres no pictures. Is he such a weirdo because he didnt have a Facebook page and posted 50,000 damn pictures of himself every day? Whos weird? He said that his heart went out to the victims and that he began crying when his son had called him that day, also crying. I woke up this morning, crying, Paddock said. But, of his brothers attack, Paddock said: This is 100% Steve, did this by himself. People cant seem to cope with that either. But Steve is a was a highly intelligent, highly successful person. He could have done anything he wanted to do. And he did. He made himself wealthy. He made us wealthy. He was a very successful person. He gambled for 20-plus years, successfully. Its like a job to him. He did it mathematically. Stephen Paddock loved his girlfriend, Marilou Danley, who flew to the Philippines before the attack, Eric Paddock said. He also wired Danley money. Thats the Steve I know, Eric Paddock said. Thats something that makes sense. Steve would have wanted to take care of Marilou. The couple seem to have met at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, where Danely was a hostess and Stephen Paddock was a big fish, Eric Paddock said. They were adorable, he said. Steves this big, shes this tiny thing. He loved her. He doted on her. He added of his brother: It was fun to hang out with Steve, because he was a rich guy who hung out in the hotels. OK? ... Him getting on a plane and flying somewhere is like you going to Publix. Its something he does every week. The attack was so baffling that I hope to hell they find, when they do the autopsy, that theres a tumor in his head, or something, because if they dont, were all in trouble, Eric Paddock said, adding, Im praying for at least some data points. Because otherwise, the bug in Men In Black put on a Steve suit and went and did this. Theres no other rationalization. Oct. 4, 2017, 6:15 p.m. Las Vegas gunman may have wanted to survive and escape, sheriff says Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo (KVUU) The gunman who opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas may have wanted to survive and escape his attack, but a hotel security guard who approached his door and attracted the shooters gunfire appears to have stopped the massacre, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Wednesday. His bravery was amazing, Lombardo said of the Mandalay Bay hotel security guard, who continued to help police clear guests from the 32nd floor of the hotel even after being shot in the leg by the gunman through the door of the gunmans suite. Investigators also confirmed that Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite had also rented a room at the Ogden condo building earlier in September overlooking an even larger Vegas music event, the Life is Beautiful festival, featuring Gorillaz, Lorde, Chance the Rapper and other artists. Lombardo declined to say what evidence had led him to believe that Paddock might have hoped to escape after the attack, though he confirmed no suicide note was discovered in the room. Investigators were still trying to understand what drove Paddock and whether something triggered him in October 2016, when he began buying dozens of guns. Officials also declined to release details of their interviews with the gunmans girlfriend, but Lombardo said he questioned whether Paddock had managed to amass an arsenal and prepare for an attack on his own. He had to have some help at some point, Lombardo said. Maybe hes a superguy. maybe hes a super yahoo, was working out all this on his own, but it would be hard for me to believe that. Oct. 4, 2017, 4:17 p.m. Shooters girlfriend: No warning that something horrible like this would happen The girlfriend of the Las Vegas shooter told FBI agents Wednesday that she had no explanation for what motivated the massacre. Her interview with agents dashed any immediate hope that she could help unlock the mysteries of a shooting that left 59 dead and more than 500 injured. I knew Stephen Paddock as a kind, caring, quiet man, Marilou Danley said in a statement read by her attorney, Matt Lombard, after she was interviewed by FBI agents for several hours in Los Angeles. He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this would happen, Lombard read. According to the statement, Paddock announced to Danley two weeks ago that he had bought her a plane ticket so that she could visit family in the Philippines. While she was there, Danley said in the statement, Paddock wired money to her, saying it was for her to buy a house for her and her family. The trip and money suddenly appeared to Danley to be an attempt by Paddock to break off the relationship, but she said she had no inclination he was planning to carry out the massacre. Danley returned to the United States late Tuesday and was met by federal agents after landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Oct. 4, 2017, 4:05 p.m. Online fundraisers collect millions for Las Vegas shooting victims and give people spaces to grieve (Los Angeles Times) In the midst of mass tragedy, a new normal for collective mourning has emerged. Its not uncommon for family, friends and strangers to grieve together on Facebook, on Twitter and even in the comments of online fundraising campaigns. Thats been true after many recent tragedies and certainly the case in the days since the Las Vegas shooting left 59 dead and more than 500 wounded. Dozens of campaigns on the Go Fund Me website have raised millions for victims and their families, while serving as virtual memorials and tributes. May we all remember you smiling and laughing. You dont know me but I was standing behind you in a group of moms. This is a young woman who loves with all her heart. A devoted aunt, a group of childhood friends, a sister, a brother, a fellow officer, a gubernatorial candidate -- all have launched campaigns for someone hurt or killed during the shooting on the Vegas Strip. The fundraisers have been shared widely on social media. A dip into the comments sections shows just how near and far. I was there at the festival and left unharmed. My heart breaks for all the victims. You are a true jewel. RIP Sending you love, strength and well wishes from Australia. I dont know you, but I hope you get well soon. Weve known each other a long time my friend. From 6th grade to high school. I am so happy you are well. Oct. 4, 2017, 12:45 p.m. Trump thanks doctors and police who aided Las Vegas shooting victims President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited doctors and patients Wednesday at a Las Vegas hospital that treated more than 100 victims from this weeks mass shooting. It makes you very proud to be an American when you see the job theyve done, the president said. Flanked by medical staff from University Medical Center, the regions only Level 1 trauma facility, Trump applauded the emergency response to the massacre. I just want to congratulate everybody, its incredible work, incredible work youve done, he said. Victims who might have died will instead be released from the hospital in the days or weeks ahead, Trump said. Trump characterized the gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, as a very sick man, he was a very demented person. Of Paddocks motive, Trump said, You will know very soon if we find something, were looking very, very hard. Trump also praised the incredible job done by police responding to Sunday nights shooting at a country-music festival, crediting officers with stopping the gunfire from the Mandalay Bay hotel within 11 minutes. The professionalism has just been amazing, Trump said. Shortly after, the president and the first lady arrived at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, where they were greeted by law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting, and where Trump again praised their response. The couple was scheduled to return to Washington after meeting with police. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, who runs the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, showed Trump the departments operations center, where police coordinated the response to the shooting. Trump said the first responders to the shooting had been a real inspiration, adding this has been a rough time, but the shooting could have been a lot worse without the help of emergency officials. Trump said he had seen professionalism like you rarely see and thanked them, drawing applause. Gun Control Oct. 4, 2017, 12:22 p.m. Reporting from Washington Sen. Dianne Feinstein proposes ban of bump stock gun modifications Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) hold a news conference to introduce legislation to ban the sale and possession of gun bump stocks. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday proposed legislation that would ban gun bump stocks, which police said were used by a Las Vegas shooter this week to make semi-automatic weapons work more like automatic weapons. The only reason to modify a gun is to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible, the Califormnia Democrat told reporters. After the shooting , many Republicans said it wasnt the right time to talk about gun laws. Its premature to be discussing legislative solutions, if there are any, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. But several prominent Republicans appear open to the idea of banning the modifiers. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told Bloomberg News on Wednesday that Congress should hold hearings on whether to ban bump stocks, and North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows of the powerful House Freedom Caucus told reporters that if the modification goes around limits on automatic weapons, its something that we obviously need to look at in the future. Read more Oct. 4, 2017, 12:20 p.m. Watch live: President Trump delivers remarks in Las Vegas Oct. 4, 2017, 12:10 p.m. Concertgoer commandeered truck to take Vegas victims to hospital People take cover from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gunfire Sunday night in Las Vegas. The shooter was firing from the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Getty Images) As people fell to the ground, wounded in the sprays of gunfire, Taylor Winston knew he had to do something. People were bleeding everywhere, Winston said. Gunshot wounds were everywhere. Legs, torsos, necks, chests, arms just dozens of people. The 29-year-old San Diego man said he realized he needed to help fellow concertgoers get to the hospital. Along with a friend, Winston ran to a parking lot adjacent to the fairgrounds where the Route 91 Harvest festival was staged, looking for a car or truck he could commandeer. He said he knew that festival employees often left keys in work vehicles. The first one we opened had keys inside, Winston said. Over the next 40 minutes, Winston and a friend, Jenn Lewis, would transport 20 to 30 critically injured people to a hospital in the commandeered truck. It was a lot of chaos, but within the chaos, there was a lot of good being done and a lot of people rising to the occasion and helping others, he said. Read more Oct. 4, 2017, 11:13 a.m. Las Vegas A roundup of the latest on the Las Vegas shooting: Most of gunmans weapons were purchased since October (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times) The gunman responsible for the massacre in Las Vegas first began buying guns two decades ago, a federal source said Wednesday, but the majority of the 47 guns he owned had been purchased since October 2016. Stephen Paddock brought at least 23 weapons, mostly rifles, to the Mandalay Bay hotel room from which he opened fire on a country music concert across the street Sunday night, an attack which left 59 people dead and more than 500 injured. Twelve of the guns were modified with bump-fire stocks, which are legal accessories that allow guns to fire at nearly fully automatic speed, officials said. Meanwhile, FBI agents were slated to interview Paddocks girlfriend, Marilou Danley, in Los Angeles. Read more Music FestivalOfficersSuspectVictims Oct. 4, 2017, 11:09 a.m. From the police scanner, a tale emerges of 72 minutes of terror (Eugene Garcia / EPA-EFE) The first call came across the Las Vegas radio channel in a burst of static. We got shots fired, the police officer said, in a breathless voice. Sounded like an automatic firearm. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Departments scanner traffic, and body camera video released Tuesday, captured officers frantic efforts to find and stop the gunman firing into a crowd of 22,000 people from a perch high above the fairgrounds at a music festival. From the first reports of gunshots at 10:08 p.m. Sunday, it would be 72 chaotic minutes until a SWAT team crept down a carpeted hallway on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and blew open the hotel room occupied by gunman Stephen Paddock. By then, the gunfire had long since ceased and Paddock was dead. Read more Oct. 4, 2017, 10:58 a.m. Girlfriend of Las Vegas shooter is being interviewed by FBI in Los Angeles The girlfriend of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock was slated to be interviewed by investigators at the Los Angeles headquarters of the FBI on Wednesday morning, an official said. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters meeting President Trumps plane in Nevada that the interview was to be conducted shortly. FBI officials would not confirm the interview timing but acknowledged that the woman, Marilou Danley, was expected to consent to be interviewed by investigators. Matthew Lombard, a Los Angeles attorney hired by relatives to represent Danley, declined to comment. He said he expected to release a statement Wednesday afternoon. Oct. 4, 2017, 10:03 a.m. President Trump lands in Las Vegas to meet with victims of the attack at music festival President Trump arrived in Las Vegas on Wednesday morning to meet with law enforcement officials and victims of Sunday nights massacre at a country-music festival on the Strip. Air Force 1 landed at McCarran International Airport at 9:37 a.m., and Trump walked out of the plane with Melania, the first lady. They were greeted on the tarmac by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo and other dignitaries, which were scheduled to include Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, an independent. The president and first lady were scheduled to meet with patients and medical staff at a local hospital at 10 a.m. and then meet with civilian heroes and first responders to the attack at 11:50 a.m., before an expected departure back to Washington at 1:10 p.m. Oct. 4, 2017, 9:01 a.m. Las Vegas President Trump visiting Las Vegas to meet with mass shooting victims and first responders Mark Rumpeler (Ruven Vives/Los Angeles Times) President Trumps visit to Las Vegas on Wednesday is his second trip in two days aimed at comforting the victims of tragedy: In Puerto Rico on Tuesday, it was victims of Hurricane Maria; in Nevada, its the families and survivors of a mass shooting opposite the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Trump was scheduled to arrive at 9:30 a.m. PDT and meet with patients and doctors at a hospital treating the more than 500 people injured in Sundays shooting. Later, the White House said, he was to meet with civilian heroes and first responders who were at the scene when Stephen Paddock , a 64-year-old gambler and real estate investor, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the hotel at a country music festival going on below. Well, Its a very sad thing, Trump told reporters Wednesday as he was preparing to leave Washington. Were going to pay our respects and to see the police who have done really a fantastic job in a very short time. As for the investigation into the shooting, he said: Yeah, theyre learning a lot more. And thatll be announced at the appropriate time. Its a very, very sad day for me, personally. In Las Vegas, some seemed skeptical that the presidents visit would bring much comfort. Mekhaly Rassavong, 50, was at McCarran International Airport, where Trump was to land, to light a candle at a memorial for victims of the shooting. Standing by her silver truck, she said she was worried about Trumps visit. She said she doesnt think Trump is a compassionate person. His abrasive tweets and the comments he made Tuesday while visiting Puerto Rico, she said, made her think he may fail to show genuine compassion for Las Vegas. Puerto Rico lost 16 people and hes saying their losses arent as bad as Katrina and that theyre messing with the budget, she said, shaking her head. If hes not genuinely going to show compassion here, its almost like you shouldnt be here because its just going to make people more upset. Mark Rumpeler, 58, who is a reverend and impersonates Elvis, disagrees. Hes going to salute the first responders and Americans who helped as he should, he said. Rumpeler said hes happy that the president is visiting the city because it takes someone of his caliber to address what has happened. He represents all Americans, whether you voted for him or not, he said. I think he will strengthen America and remind us to keep rowing our boat in one direction. Oct. 4, 2017, 3:00 a.m. The trigonometry of terror: Why the Las Vegas shooting was so deadly Arthur B. Alphin is well acquainted with the trigonometry of terror. The retired Army lieutenant colonel and West Point graduate, who has a mechanical engineering degree and specialized in ballistics, has testified in many multiple-shooting cases. What he sees so far about Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock is a patient, well-trained gunner who did not pick and choose his targets, but held to a steady kill zone centered in the middle of thousands of concertgoers. Once the trigger was pulled, simple laws of physics and trigonometry sealed the fate of more than 500 people who would fall wounded in the ensuing fracas 59 of them fatally. He had a huge area of three, four or five football fields with people standing shoulder to shoulder, Alphin said. He was not aiming at any individual person. He was just throwing bullets in a huge beaten zone. Beaten zone is an infantry term dating to World War I. Shaped like the area a searchlight casts across a flat surface, it represents the area where bullets can strike, and moves substantially with tiny changes in the tilt of the gun. If the shooter shifted by about 1 degree, or the width of two fingers held at arms length, Alphin said, the beaten zone would fall outside the crowd. Thats all the distance you have to move and you arent hitting anybody, Alphin said. So he had to be pointing or aiming at the very center of mass and then bouncing all over with the recoil. > Readers show how they would rewrite the Second Amendment From a perch 320 feet above ground in a hotel whose base was about 1,050 feet from the concert venue, Paddock was firing down the 1,098-foot hypotenuse of a right triangle and would have to adjust his aim for the arc of the bullet over that distance. Alphin said there was no way the shooter maintained such a steady kill zone by dumb luck. Steady nerves and planning are a better explanation for the casualty rate, he said. How did this guy get trained that well? Where did it come from? At least one of the 23 rapid-firing weapons authorities found in the hotel room had a bipod stand to hold it steady, according to law enforcement authorities. Paddock also may have fitted weapons with a device to make it cycle rounds more quickly into the chamber for firing, or converted some to fully automatic firing, potentially adding as many as eight rounds per second, Alphin said. There may also be expertise at work in deciding when to switch rifles, Alphin said. Gun barrels expand as they heat up, and the bullet can lose contact with the grooves that spin it and keep it point-forward. Without the spin, it will tumble. A bullet tumbling like that, good God, it will land on planet Earth but you dont know where, Alphin said. Oct. 3, 2017, 9:32 p.m. Girlfriend of Las Vegas gunman, a person of interest in mass shooting, has landed in Los Angeles Marilou Danley, the girlfriend of the gunman who shot and killed 59 people at a country music concert in Las Vegas, returned Tuesday night to the United States from the Philippines, according to multiple law enforcement sources. Danley was met by federal agents at Los Angeles International Airport, said the officials, who were not authorized to discuss the case publicly. Danley was not placed under arrest and it was not known when, or if, she would agree to be interviewed about Stephen Paddock, who killed himself in the Las Vegas hotel room from which he launched his deadly attack. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, whose department is leading the investigation into the shooting, on Tuesday called Danley a person of interest and said authorities hoped that talking with her would shed light on why Paddock carried out the rampage. The mass shooting Sunday night on the Las Vegas Strip temporarily shut down nearby McCarran International Airport. The airport said flights were diverted to other airports during the police action around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Just before 1 a.m., the airport said limited operations were beginning again but that passengers should expect delays. Advertisement I count 20 flights diverted from Las Vegas McCarren airport since 10:50 pm local time, presumably due to the shooting incident: pic.twitter.com/pFDANnDKLp streebs (@streebs) October 2, 2017 At least 50 people are reported dead and 200 others injured after the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay. Freeways have been reopened for thru traffic. However the OFF RAMPS heading eastbound are CLOSED from Sahara Ave. to Russell Rd. LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 Police reported that the suspected gunman was killed in a clash with officers. Las Vegas shooting alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com Twitter: @AleneTchek MORE ON THE SHOOTING More than 20 dead and 100 injured in shooting on Las Vegas Strip; police say one suspect is down and there are no more shooters With gunman dead, Las Vegas police make urgent appeal for suspects companion and 2 vehicles Videos capture moments of terror as gunfire rings out at end of Las Vegas concerns Country artists who performed at Route 91 Harvest festival react to mass shooting At least 59 people were killed and 527 others injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at an outdoor country music festival near the Las Vegas Strip the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The first shots came at 10:08 p.m., about 20 minutes into a performance by country music star Jason Aldean. More than 22,000 concertgoers sought cover as a barrage of what sounded like automatic weapons fire ripped through the crowd, fired from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel across the street. Police said the suspect, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nev., had smashed the windows with a hammer-like tool before opening fire. By the time a SWAT team burst into the room, Paddock had killed himself leaving in the hotel room at least 23 weapons, mostly military-style rifles. At least one of them had been modified with a legal bump stock-style device that enables the shooter to rapidly fire off rounds without actually converting the rifle to a fully automatic weapon, one federal law enforcement source said. Other weapons may have been converted to fully automatic fire and were still being examined. Advertisement A total of 19 more weapons were found in Paddocks home, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition. At least six of the firearms had been purchased at a gun store in Verdi, Nev., and several others at a gun store in Mesquite and at a discount firearms store a few blocks from the Strip, the federal law enforcement source said. Ammonium nitrate, sometimes used in manufacturing explosive devices, was found in Paddocks vehicle, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. Authorities believe the gunman used multiple rifles during the attack, Lombardo said. They also think he used about 10 suitcases to move the weapons to the hotel room, which the sheriff described as a large suite with two rooms. Investigators are also looking into whether Paddock attended another music festival in Las Vegas last weekend, Life Is Beautiful. Right now we believe its a solo act, a lone-wolf attacker, Lombardo said. We are pretty confident there is no longer a threat. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is a city-county force headed by the sheriff. Lombardo said authorities had no evidence of a motive. We dont know what his belief system was at this time, he said. U.S. Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-Nev.), who received a briefing from the multi-agency anti-terrorism center, said no new clues have emerged so far in their search of Paddocks home. Law enforcement were looking through his computer. They couldnt find a motive. As of a couple of hours ago, there was no motive. Thats all we know, he said. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders grew emotional as she read a statement praising the people who aided victims in the middle of the gunfire. What these people did for each other says far more about who we are as Americans than the cowardly acts of a killer ever could, Sanders said. She then quoted from the Bibles Gospel of John: There is no greater love than to lay down ones life for a friend. The militant group Islamic State issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, saying the gunman had converted to Islam months ago, though it provided no proof; almost immediately, the special agent in charge of the FBIs field office in Las Vegas, Aaron Rouse, said federal authorities had found no such evidence. We have determined, to this point, no connection to an international terrorist group, Rouse said. It was an act of pure evil, President Trump said in a televised statement from Washington. The president did not refer to the shootings as an act of terrorism, but said he would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday a day after he visits victims of another tragedy, this one the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico to meet with first responders and families of the victims. We cannot fathom their pain, we cannot imagine their loss. To the families of the victims, we are praying for you, and we are here for you, and we ask God to see you through this very dark period, Trump said. Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence, Trump added, saying that while Americans may be angry, it is our love that defines us today and always will forever. Trump, accompanied by his wife, Melania, Vice President Mike Pence and a military honor guard, later led a somber moment of silence on the White House lawn for the massacre victims. Not an avid gun guy at all...where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background, gunmans brother says pic.twitter.com/EMSKLQGYFM CBS News (@CBSNews) October 2, 2017 Clark County officials declared a state of emergency as investigators undertook the massive task of identifying all the dead and wounded while trying to learn what motivated Paddock, a real estate investor, gambler and licensed pilot who appears to have had no previous run-ins with the law. Police raided the home where Paddock lived with his girlfriend, Marilou Danley, in a small retirement community called Sun City Mesquite, tucked among meandering roads and single-story homes about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Mesquite police said theyd had no prior contact with the gunman no traffic stops, no citations, no arrests, nothing, Mesquite Police Department spokesman Quinn Averett said. Its a newer home, a newer subdivision, a nice clean home, nothing out of the ordinary. Danley was out of the country when the attack happened but is a person of interest in the investigation, Lombardo said. Officials have contacted her and plan to question her when she returns to the U.S. Steve had nothing to do with political organizations, religious organizations, said his brother Eric Paddock, who lives in Orlando, Fla. No white supremacist organizations. Nothing as far as I know, and Ive known him for 57 years. Something just incredibly wrong happened to my brother. Eric Paddock said he helped move his brother from Florida to Mesquite a couple of years ago. He said Stephen Paddock wanted to get away from the heat and humidity of Florida and be closer to Las Vegas, where he liked to gamble. Hes just a guy who played video poker and took cruises and ate burritos at Del Taco, Eric Paddock said. Their father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, had been wanted on bank robbery charges and was arrested in Las Vegas in 1960, Eric Paddock said in an interview. He tried to run an FBI agent over with his car before he was captured, according to news accounts from the time. The elder Paddock, who had a wife and four children in Arizona, was placed on the most-wanted list after escaping from a federal prison in La Tuna, Texas, on Dec. 31, 1968, having served eight years of a 20-year sentence. He was captured in Springfield, Ore., in 1978, having opened a bingo parlor for a nonprofit organization in Eugene, Ore., during his time on the lam. He died in 1998. Paddocks former brother-in-law, Scott Brunoehler, remembers the gunman as a smart, fun-loving person. Paddock was a young man thriving in Southern California when he was married to Brunoehlers sister, Sharon, in the 1970s and early 1980s, Brunoehler said in an interview. Oh, he was a smart guy, like an accountant or something. He had a good job, he was a great guy actually, Brunoehler said. We used to go water skiing together. Brunoehler, 62, said he hasnt spoken to Paddock since he divorced his sister. It was pretty mutual, they just kind of grew apart, Brunoehler said. When they were in their 20s and 30s, Paddock would take them out on his boat at Castaic Lake or Buena Vista Lake in Kern County, Brunoehler said. He seemed like a normal, good guy. I dont remember anything bad back then at all, he said. Im still in shock. Public records suggest that Paddock also owned or co-owned real estate in California and Texas, according to the Associated Press. Previously, the worst mass shooting in modern American history was the June 12, 2016, massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. That gunman, Omar Mateen, had pledged his allegiance to Islamic State. With the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007 where 32 people were killed by a mentally disturbed student the three deadliest shootings in nearly a century have all happened within the past 10 years. The fact that the gunman was positioned on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay resort and casino overlooking the outdoor concert site made victims particularly vulnerable, law enforcement experts said. It is so so challenging when you have shooter in a very, very high position, said retired Los Angeles Police Dept. commander Rick Webb, an expert on active shooter scenarios. It was very well-thought-out on his part, it is a horrible tragedy. Webb said it takes time to locate a shooter and that Las Vegas is a very challenging backdrop, even for the experienced Las Vegas Metro Police. The three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival was underway across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Mandalay Bay when the shooting erupted about four or five songs into Aldeans performance. Single shot. Single shot, then a lot of shots, concert attendee Frank Allard said. Many concertgoers didnt initially realize what was going on. I thought it was like bottle rockets going off, said Seth Bayles, of West Hollywood, who was about 50 feet from the stage. Then we saw people dropping. We saw someone get hit and then we started running. Dozens of people dropped to the ground, screaming, while others ran, some in pairs or in groups with their arms linked. The shooting went on for more than 30 seconds before the music stopped, and another burst was heard later. Aldean and the band were pulled off stage. Get down, stay down, one woman shouted in a video posted to social media. Lets go, another voice said. Another wave of gunshots followed soon after. Allard said the crowd began to stampede and he grabbed a nearby fence, stretched both arms wide and tried to shield his wife from the danger. Then they ran. We followed the crowd out, said his wife, Bernice Allard. Two men near Mandalay Bay said they heard someone in a helicopter with a bullhorn yelling, Go! Go! Go! as the incident unfolded. The scene was one of pandemonium. Thirty-five years, and I have never seen that many ambulances [as] I saw last night. Dozens. Dozens and dozens, Clark County Fire Chief Greg Cassell said. Dispatch audio revealed that police were dealing with a chaotic scene as they received erroneous reports of active shooters all over the place supposedly at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino, the Tropicana Las Vegas Casino Hotel Resort and the Aria Resort and Casino. In the end, there was only one gunman in one location, police said. Some officers loaded multiple victims into the backs of their squad cars to take them to area hospitals. Were going to have a lot of people self-transporting in pickup trucks, one officer radioed. Police and SWAT teams streamed into the Mandalay Bay hotel, where police said they coordinated with hotel security to narrow down what floor the gunman was on, after which his room was easy to find. We need to pop this and see if weve got any kind of response from this guy, one officer whispered into his radio from near Paddocks room as he and other officers prepared an explosive charge for the door. All units move back, all units move back, a dispatcher said. Breach, breach, breach! one of the officers said, a transmission that was followed by the sound of an explosion. Paddock had killed himself, officials said later. We have one suspect down inside the room, one official radioed. Some of those shot were off-duty law enforcement officers. One of the dead was an off-duty officer who was attending the concert, Lombardo said. Several other officers from Nevada and California, both on and off duty, were wounded by gunfire, officials said. Several off-duty Bakersfield police officers were among those attending the concert when the gunfire began. Bakersfield Police Lt. Jeff Burdick said they were not in a position to return fire. One Bakersfield officer was wounded by the gunfire and was taken to a hospital for treatment, but is expected to survive, Burdick said. Two young prosecutors were near the stage when the shooting happened and remained pretty shaken up, said Clark County Dist. Atty. Steve Wolfson. This is a classic WMD: a weapon, and a man, of mass destruction. A tragic and heinous act of violence has shaken the Nevada family, Gov. Brian Sandoval said on Twitter. Our prayers are with the victims and all affected by this act of cowardice. Both Trump and California Gov. Jerry Brown ordered flags flown at half-staff. Our prayers and deepest sympathies are with the families and loved ones of those killed and injured in last nights tragic and senseless shooting and we stand with the people of Nevada in this difficult time, he said in a statement. At University Medical Center early Monday, Mason Van Houweling, the hospitals CEO, stood outside with the officers, his face weary. Hed been there since just after the shooting. There was blood everywhere, he said, all near the entrance. People were coming in ambulances, in taxis. Some drove strangers with bullet wounds. Some, wounded, drove themselves. Hospital staff started doing triage in the parking lot and the entrances to the hospital. Our team has done miraculous work in a very tense situation, Van Houweling said. Hospital staff just started showing up to work, unasked, he said. Medical professionals who were in town visiting showed up. There were two anesthesiologists from Florida. A number of nurses were from out of state. His eyes grew cloudy. Its like a bad dream, Van Houweling said. This happened to so many nice people. It was a country music festival so many people who are so warm. Authorities established a command post and triage center, and shut down parts of the Strip in the hours after the shooting. Hotel guests blocked from returning to their hotels were shuttled to a center equipped with metal detectors. Police initially investigated reports of a suspicious device down the street, outside the Luxor Hotel, but said later there appeared to be no explosive devices related to the incident, other than that used by the SWAT team breaching the room where the suspect was. Officials at McCarran International Airport reported that some flights were diverted in the immediate aftermath of the shootings. Expect delays, the airport said on Twitter. Parts of Interstate 15 near the Strip were also shut down, and hotel guests across the city were being ordered to shelter in place. The freeway reopened later, but offramps near the Strip remained closed through much of the night. Aldean was the final act of the Route 91 Harvest festival, while dozens of others had played over the course of the weekend, including Church, Hunt and Maren Morris. In numerous tweets, artists communicated with fans and followers, expressing their sorrow and prayers for anyone injured and telling loved ones that they were safe. Jake Owen, who played the main stage before Aldean, tweeted: Praying for everyone here in Vegas. I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Others arent. Please pray. Aldean responded on Instagram: Tonight has been beyond horrific, he wrote. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate. Inside the Tropicana and outside Mandalay Bay on Monday afternoon, signs broadcasted the phone number people could call about their loved ones and about blood donations. Electric signs outside Mandalay rotated messages. Our prayers for the victims, one says. Our gratitude for the brave first responders. Time staff writer Branson-Potts reported from Las Vegas and Winton and Pearce from Los Angeles. Times staff writers David Montero and Ruben Vives in Mesquite, Nev., Hailey Branson-Potts and Kate Mather in Las Vegas, Joseph Tanfani in Washington, Ben Oreskes, Laura Nelson and Joseph Serna in Los Angeles, along with Orlando Sentinel reporters David Harris and Michael Williams, contributed to this report. matt.pearce@latimes.com Matt Pearce is a national reporter for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @mattdpearce. More national headlines UPDATES: 3:25 p.m.: The story was updated with a revised death toll, additional interviews about law enforcement actions against the shooter, and other details. 11:50 a.m.: The story was updated with additional witness interviews and an interview with the gunmans brother. 8:55 a.m.: The story was updated with a revised death toll, comments from the governor of Nevada and an interview with a relative of the gunman. 8:20 a.m.: The story was updated with President Trumps remarks and a claim of responsibility from Islamic State. This story was originally published at 6:50 a.m. More than 50 people were killed and at least 400 others injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said. Police released the updated death toll in the early morning hours after a horrific night of violence that turned a concert into a scene of carnage. Though initial reports put the death toll at 20, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police tweeted later that at least 50 were dead. UPDATE: FBI says no evidence that Las Vegas massacre is act of international terrorism Advertisement Police said the suspect, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nev., was killed after a SWAT team burst into the hotel room from which he was firing at the crowd. Right now we believe its a solo act, a lone wolf attacker, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. We are pretty confident there is no longer a threat. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is a joint city-county force headed by the sheriff. Authorities said the gunman appeared to have begun firing at 10:08 p.m. from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel toward the concert venue across the street. Officers entered the room and engaged the suspect and he is dead, currently, Lombardo said, adding that authorities have no evidence of a motive. We dont know what his belief system was at this time. Police said they have succeeded in locating a woman, identified as Marilou Danley, who was believed to be traveling with Paddock and is listed as living at his address in Mesquite, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. We are confident we have located the female person of interest, the department said on Twitter. Mesquite Police Officer Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the department, said about 10 Mesquite officers were at the home early Monday morning, holding a perimeter. Authorities found several firearms in the suspects hotel room, Lombardo said. One of the dead is an off-duty police officer who was attending the concert, Lombardo said. Several other officers from Nevada and California, both on and off duty, were wounded by gunfire, officials said. A tragic and heinous act of violence has shaken the Nevada family, Gov. Brian Sandoval said on Twitter. Our prayers are with the victims and all affected by this act of cowardice. President Trump tweeted his warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and their families. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said the hospital was treating many patients with gunshot wounds in the wake of the shooting. There were so many that citizens were arriving at the emergency room with gunshot victims loaded into their cars, local media reported. The Clark County Fire Department estimated that approximately 406 people were transported to area hospitals. Authorities established a command post and triage center, and shut down parts of the Strip in the hours after the shooting. Hotel guests blocked from returning to their hotels were shuttled to a center equipped with metal detectors. Police initially investigated reports of a suspicious device down the street, outside the Luxor Hotel, but said later there appeared to be no explosive devices related to the incident, other than that used by the SWAT team breaching the room where the suspect was. The three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival was underway across Las Vegas Boulevard from the Mandalay Bay when the shooting erupted. Concertgoers reported a burst of weapons fire as a Jason Aldean performance was underway. The shots appeared to be coming from an upper floor of the hotel, some witnesses said. Video posted on social media showed the open-air concert fully underway when bursts of automatic gunfire rang out in rapid succession. Dozens of people dropped to the ground, screaming, while others ran, some in pairs or in groups with their arms linked. The shooting went on for more than 30 seconds before the music stopped, and another burst was heard later. Get down, stay down, one woman shouted. Lets go, another voice said. Another wave of gunshots followed soon after. Seth Bayles, of West Hollywood, said Aldean had been performing for about 20 minutes when he heard shots. I thought it was like bottle rockets going off, Bayles said. Then we saw people dropping. We saw someone get hit and then we started running. Bayles said he was probably 50 feet from the stage when he heard the shots. We saw people down all over the place. Bayles said Aldean was quickly pulled off stage, and soon after the band was brought off as well. EDITORIAL: The slaughter in Las Vegas is all too familiar, yet Americans refuse to stop it Two men near Mandalay Bay said they heard someone in a helicopter with a bullhorn yelling, Go! Go! Go! as the incident unfolded. Others said they saw police and SWAT teams streaming into the hotel. Bernice Allard, who came to the concert with her husband, Frank Allard, said there was screaming when the shooting began. Single shot. Single shot, then a lot of shots, Frank Allard said. He said he had come to see Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Aldean, who was into his fourth or fifth song when the shooting began. Allard said the crowd began to stampede and that he grabbed a nearby fence, stretched both arms wide and tried to shield his wife from the danger. Then they ran. We followed the crowd out, Bernice Allard said. Alarm spread up and down the Strip as news of the shootings spread. Alfonzo Ewing said he had arrived shortly before midnight for an overnight shift as a cook at the White Castle at the Best Western Plus Casino Royale on the northern side of the Strip, a little more than two miles from Mandalay Bay. We heard reports of gunshots and customers rushed to jump the counter for safety. Everyone just took off running from the White Castle and the hotel, said Ewing, 37. Employees and customers went downstairs to hide in the break room. Were here now, 15 of us, with customers. Were safe but we dont know whats happening. Kevin Daly, 58, of Long Beach, said he had been playing pai gow at the MGM Grand Hotel, down the street from the concert venue, and left to see if he could play a Game of Thrones game near the entry when chaos erupted. All these people started running and screaming, and then that stopped for about a minute, and then more people started coming in the other way and ran through where I was, he said. There were so many people walking and running and people crying and people saying theres an active shooter on the street, so I finally asked one of the waitresses whats going on and she said the shooter is outside of the casino. Daly said the entire area was put on lockdown so he went upstairs to his room. Out the windows, we can see Mandalay Bay, we can see all the police cars and all the lights and there are helicopters all over the place. Several off-duty Bakersfield police officers were attending the concert when the gunfire began, officials said. Bakersfield Police Lt. Jeff Burdick said they were not in a position to return fire. One Bakersfield officer was wounded the gunfire and was taken to a hospital for treatment, but is expected to survive, Burdick said. Our officers were actually attending the concert as civilians, Burdick said, adding that the agency has accounted for every officer known to be there. Officials at McCarran International Airport reported that some flights were diverted in the immediate aftermath of the shootings. Expect delays, the airport said on Twitter. Hospital personnel across Las Vegas were paged to work, local media reported. Parts of Interstate 15 near the Strip were also shut down, and hotel guests across the city were being ordered to shelter in place. The freeway reopened later, but offramps near the Strip remained closed through much of the night. Aldean was the final act of the Route 91 Harvest festival, while dozens of others had played over the course of the weekend, including Church, Hunt and Maren Morris. In numerous tweets, artists communicated with fans and followers, expressing their sorrow and prayers for anyone injured and telling loved ones that they were safe. Jake Owen, who played the main stage before Aldean, tweeted: Praying for everyone here in Vegas. I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Others arent. Please pray. Aldean himself responded on Instagram: Tonight has been beyond horrific, he wrote. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate. Former broadcast journalist Dan Ball, 42, of Palm Desert, had been backstage as a friend of the country duo Big & Rich when they performed, then went to John Richs bar Redneck Riviera nearby as Aldean took the stage. The tour manager came over to us and said shots were fired and people were down. We were locked down in the bar and hunkered down, Ball said. When he had been backstage during the performance, he said, he had marveled as he looked at the crowd and thought, Isnt it great to look out there? We saw white, black, straight, gay, males, females, everyone out there having a good time. Moments later, these cowards commit a heinous act like this. Its unbelievable. Unbelievable. Montero reported from Las Vegas and Tchekmedyian from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Jaweed Kaleem, Seema Mehta and Jevon Phillips in Los Angeles and Rong Gong Lin II in San Francisco contributed. david.montero@latimes.com Twitter: @davemontero MORE: Police officers, both on and off duty, among those killed, injured in deadly Vegas shooting We saw people dropping: This is what eyewitnesses saw as a gunman opened fire on Las Vegas concert Videos capture moments of terror as gunfire rings out at Las Vegas concert UPDATES: 5:40 a.m.: This article was updated to add that 406 people were sent to local hospitals, per fire department estimates. 5 a.m.: This story was updated to reflect that multiple police officers were killed or injured in the shooting. 4:15 a.m.: The story was updated with a tweet from President Trump responding to the shooting. 3:40 a.m.: The story was updated with the identity of the suspect and information about a search warrant at his home, as well as an updated death toll. 3:30 a.m.: The story was updated with a report from local police on the shooting suspect and a comment from Jason Aldean. 2:50 a.m.: The story was updated with an interview with a concertgoer. 1:40 a.m.: The story was updated with information from a sheriffs briefing, including an updated death toll. 1:10 a.m.: The story was updated with additional witness accounts. 12:25 a.m.: The story was updated with an additional witness report. 12:10 a.m.: This story was updated with news that one suspect is down. 12:05 a.m.: The story was updated with a witness interview and also reports of a suspicious device at the Luxor Hotel. 11:40 p.m.: This story was updated with reports of at least two deaths. 11:30 p.m.: This story was updated with additional details from witnesses. This story was originally published at 10:55 p.m. Las Vegas shooting victims: Portraits of the fallen At least 58 people were killed and almost 500 were injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday night at a country music festival opposite the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said. These are the names and stories of those whose identities have been made public: Hannah Ahlers, 35 Murrieta Hannah Ahlers could be daring. The Murrieta, Calif., resident was part of a tightknit community of skydivers and enjoyed the outdoors. But a friend, Sunni Almond, said Ahlers also enjoyed simpler pleasures. She savored spending weekends lounging by the pool with friends and family. She was possibly one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen, with a heart to match, Almond said. She never came across with the diva mentality she easily could have had. She was a devoted mother and wife. Ahlers studied at Crafton Hills College and went to Redlands East Valley High School, according to her Facebook page. She is survived by her husband of 16 years, Brian, and three children. Melissa Etehad Heather Alvarado, 35 Cedar City, Utah A mother of three and the wife of a firefighter, Heather Alvarado was someone who liked to see the good in others. Alvarado enjoyed going on vacations and spending time outdoors with her husband, Albert, and their children. She would do anything for [her children]. She spent her whole life serving others in her family and community, her husband said in a statement. Albert Alvarado is a firefighter in Cedar City, Utah, where the family lives. The Cedar City Fire Department is selling cookbooks to raise money to help support the family. Melissa Etehad Dorene Anderson, second from right. (Courtesy of Cowbell Crew) Dorene Anderson, 49 Anchorage Stefanie Anderson posted a photograph of her family on Facebook with a sorrowful caption. The Andersons were attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival. This is one of the last family photos we will take, Stefanie Anderson wrote. Sadly, my mom was one of the victims that did not make it. Dorene Anderson was a hockey booster in Anchorage and a self-described stay-at-home wife and mother. She had traveled to Las Vegas with her husband, John, and daughters Stefanie and Jessika, according to a friend. She was the only one shot. Anderson had served as treasurer of the Cowbell Crew, a nonprofit organization based in Anchorage that supports local hockey teams. Dorene was ... a wonderful, generous person who was a friend to many, said friend Marie English, who was also involved with the nonprofit group. Anderson attended Tigard High School in Tigard, Ore., according to her social media profile. On Monday, Stefanie Anderson updated her Facebook profile with a photo of her and Dorene at a hockey game. You lit up her world, Gayle Simmons White commented on the photo. There was no end to her love for you and your sister and dad. She was by far the best person I've ever known. Ben Poston (Courtesy of Nicole Johnson) Carrie Barnette, 34 Riverside Carrie Barnette was celebrating a friends 30th birthday in Las Vegas when she was shot in the chest. She died before reaching the hospital, her mother said. She was the oldest of three children, and family was her priority, said her mother, Mavis Barnette. Beautiful child; she was my firstborn, Mavis Barnette said. She was always generous and helping everybody in every way. She loved her nieces and nephews and her sister and brother. Carrie, of Riverside, Calif., had worked at Disneyland for 11 years in food services and she loved it there, her mother said. Mavis Barnette was almost asleep on Sunday night when she received a phone call around 11:30 from her daughters friend. She had told me shed been shot. I said, What are you talking about? I said, Where? When? What? And she told me she was shot in the chest. As of Monday evening, Mavis Barnette still had not received confirmation of her daughters death because shes been unable to reach officials, despite repeated calls. Nobody has any idea where shes at, she said. Still, based on what her daughters friend said, she is convinced her daughter is dead. Carrie was also close to her grandparents, and had a hummingbird tattoo their favorite bird in their memory. Her Facebook wall is covered with messages of love from friends and family who say they take solace in her reunion with them. She was the kind of friend that everybody would want in their life. She was vivacious, caring, funny, sweet, energetic, creative, loyal, thoughtful, giving and full of life, Carries friend Nicole Johnson wrote in an email. Johnson remembers the laughter she and Carrie always shared, whether at the Stage Coach music festival two years ago, or on a roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I am going to miss her greatly, she wrote. Sonali Kohli (Courtesy of Lauraine Cook) Jack Beaton, 54 Bakersfield Jack Beaton and his wife, Laurie, had been with friends celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary, which fell on Sunday, the final day of the Route 91 Harvest Festival. That evening, Jack posted a picture of the group on Facebook, all smiles as they sipped beers and sprawled on the grass with the stage in the background. Laurie later posted that she was with her best friend and soul mate. Heres to 23 wonderful years and looking forward to 23 more, she wrote. Less than an hour later, the shooting began. Jack tried to shield his wife with his body, according to Lauries parents. Jack got on top of Laurie to protect her. He laid on top of her and said, Laurie, I love you. She said, I love you too, and boom he got hit. I dont know how many times, said Jerry Cook, Lauries father. The group separated as they sought shelter, and later tried to find Jack. But his body was gone. Laurie Beaton did not learn until Monday afternoon that her husband had been identified among the casualties. Later Monday, Laurie Beaton flew to Phoenix to pick up daughter Delaney, a freshman at Arizona State University , and returned home to Bakersfield, where her son Jake attends college. Lost my best friend. I love you so much more then you could ever imagine, Jake Beaton posted on Facebook, along with a collage of pictures of his father, mother, sister and himself. Please watch over our family. You will forever be remembered as our hero! #atruehero Jack worked in construction and Laurie in human resources at an energy company. But their lives centered around their children, watching their daughter cheerleading or taking their son dirt-bike riding in rural areas near Bakersfield. He had a heart of gold, he would do anything for those who he loved, his family, his friends, even for strangers, she said. Seema Mehta Candace Bowers, second from right, with her three children. (Courtesy of Candace Bowers family) Candace Bowers, 40 Garden Grove Candace Bowers, 40, overcame many challenges in her life. Her mother died when she was a young girl. She raised two children as a single mother. Nevertheless, when a relative experienced her own life problems, Bowers took in the womans baby and officially adopted her in May. Family members say the act of kindness showed the Garden Grove womans character, always placing the needs of others above her own. Bowers worked as a waitress at Mimis Cafe, had a wide circle of friends and enjoyed spending time with her children, 16-year-old Katie, 20-year-old Kurtis, and the recently adopted Ariel, 2. Everybody loved her. She always had a smile on her face and would help anybody, Vicki Jeffries, Bowers aunt, said in a phone interview before breaking down in tears over Bowers death. She had a big heart. She was just a sweetheart. She would do anything for anybody. There has been an enormous outpouring of community support. The football team at Pacifica High School, which Katie attends, plans to wear decals on their helmets honoring Bowers during their next game. The Posse Bar in Westminster, where Bowers socialized, is holding a fundraiser Oct. 21. And a fundraising website for Bowers memorial costs and children had raised more than $30,000 by Wednesday afternoon. Bowers loved country music and spending time outdoors, so a trip with a girlfriend to the Route 91 Harvest Festival combined both. When the shooting broke out, the women huddled under a table but decided to seek safety by running. In the chaos, they got separated. The last time Bowers friend saw her, she was running behind her holding her phone in the air, Jeffries said. Nobody could find Bowers on Sunday night, so her uncle, a retired Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy, drove to Las Vegas on Monday. Late that night, the family received the confirmation that Bowers was among the fatalities. Katie called her great-grandfather, Robert Lacayo, and asked him if he was sitting down. The worst day of my life was on Monday, Lacayo said. Katie called me and she tells me, Pop, Moms gone. She started crying. She said, Pop, what am I going to do without Mom? It was the worst feeling you can ever have. I cant even express it. I would have preferred death myself. Lacayo, a 78-year-old veteran who served in the Korean War, wants to use his granddaughters death to try to decrease the availability of assault weapons. Everyone else might forget this in six months, but we will never forget about it. I wont and her daughter wont and her little daughter wont and her son will never forget about it, he said, thinking ahead to Thanksgivings and Christmases where there will be an empty seat at the dinner table. Thoughts and prayers are just not going to do it, he said. People tell me God works in mysterious ways, and Think of the good times. That doesnt work when youre hurting. Seema Mehta Denise Burditus Martinsburg, W.Va. Denise Burditus and her husband, Tony, held each other close and grinned big for a photo at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the Mandalay Bay hotel in the background. The West Virginia resident posted the picture on Facebook, not long before the shooting broke out. She later died in her husbands arms. It saddens me to say that I lost my wife of 32 years, a mother of two, soon to be grandmother of five this evening in the Las Vegas shooting, Tony later wrote in his own post. Denise passed in my arms. I LOVE YOU BABE. The two lived in Martinsburg and loved to travel and spend time with their grandchildren. She was a Seattle Seahawks fan and described herself on Facebook as semi-retired. In photos, shes often surrounded by family, acting goofy, planting kisses on Tony. Most recent posts on social media showed them poolside and out to dinner in Sin City. Oh Tony, Tammy Petersen Hacker wrote on Facebook. I just keep looking at the cool, beautiful pictures both you and Denise have been sharing of all the fun you were having your loss is unfathomable. Esmeralda Bermudez (Manhattan Beach Unified School District) Sandy Casey Manhattan Beach Sandy Casey was a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School for nine years. She is loved by students and colleagues alike and will be remembered for her sense of humor, her passion for her work, her devotion to her students, and her commitment to continuing her own learning and to taking on whatever new projects came her way, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District said in a statement. She has made a tremendous difference in the lives of her students and their families, many of whom worked with her over multiple years. On Facebook on Monday, Sarah Kapusta called Casey her best friend during childhood. Your loving spirit will always be a part of me. RIP, Kapusta wrote. The school district is offering counseling for students and staff. We lost a spectacular teacher who devoted her life to helping some of our most needy students, Supt. Michael Matthews said in a statement. Melissa Etehad Thomas Day Jr., 54 Riverside Thomas Day Jr.s four children all in their 20s and 30s were with him at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. He was the best dad. Thats why the kids were with him, said his father, Thomas Day Sr. Day lived in Riverside and worked as a home builder. His father, who lives in the Las Vegas area, said he received a phone call about 11 p.m. Sunday telling him that his son was among those killed at the concert. Now he and his grandchildren grieve together. The elder Day struggled to put words together to do his sons memory justice. His kids are with me right now. Theyre crushed. Benjamin Oreskes Austin Davis , 29 Riverside Austin Davis was a proud union man. The 29-year-old Riverside resident was a pipefitter for UA Local 364, which covers San Bernardino and Riverside counties, along with Edwards Air Force Base. On Facebook he posted photos of himself at work and of the local union outfits insignia: A skull with an American flag do-rag with combustion lines running through the eyes. Two large wrenches cross behind the skull and below are the words Union Til I Die. His girlfriend of nine years, Aubree Hennigan, commented on the photo: Love your dedication baby! In May 2015, Davis became a journeyman pipefitter after years of training. He posted the news on Facebook and highlighted the increase in his pay that came with the promotion. One friend commented: Congratulations to you my good man! Davis played softball and enjoyed fishing and skiing with his friends. He joined friends to attend the Route 91 Harvest festival. Davis last called Hennigan around 8 p.m. Sunday. The gunfire started about two hours later. He just told me that Big & Rich was playing and he didnt really care for them but they threw one hell of a concert, Hennigan said. Thats all he told me. When Davis couldnt be reached, Hennigan traveled to Nevada to search for him. She eventually learned of his death, and Monday evening she wrote on Facebook: Austin, my love, I can't believe this happened. You didn't deserve this. Benjamin Oreskes (Courtesy of Nannette Meyers) Christiana Duarte, 22 Redondo Beach native Christiana Duarte known as Chrissy came from a family of baseball players. Her father, Michael, always took her to Dodgers games. Her brother Mikey played shortstop at UC Irvine and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox . Her cousins Gerald and Brandon Laird have played pro ball as well. Brandon got the news of his cousins death in Japan, where he plays for the Nippon-Ham Fighters. Duarte followed her family into sports not on the field, but in the front office. Before she graduated from the University of Arizona in the spring, Duarte interned for the Tucson Roadrunners, the Arizona Diamondbacks and then the Los Angeles Rams. She started her first full-time job in September as a fan services associate with the Los Angeles Kings hockey team. She wanted to be in marketing in those organizations and probably run a sports team, said Los Angeles County Deputy District Atty. Danette Meyers, who has worked with Duartes father for decades in the prosecutors office. She had those aspirations, and she wouldve made it. Chrissy was at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival with Mikeys girlfriend, Ariel Romero, a law student at Chapman University, Meyers said. Mikey was supposed to be there too, but the White Sox needed him in Arizona. As they stood at the concert Sunday, Romero watched Duarte fall to the ground. She jumped on Duarte and was shot in the face. Someone scooped up Romero, treated her wound and carried her to a paramedic leaving Duarte behind. Romero had surgery Tuesday and is expected to survive. Duartes death was confirmed late Monday, after her family spent a desperate day searching for her. On Monday, Mikey Duarte tweeted a photo of his sister and girlfriend with an emoji of a broken heart. Benjamin Oreskes (Associated Press) Stacee Etcheber, 50 Novato, Calif. Stacee Etcheber was as likely to be seen cheering on her kids sports games as starting a fire on their school camping trips, or helping someone change the oil in their car. The hairstylist, mother of two and wife of San Francisco Police Officer Vinnie Etcheber died in the Las Vegas massacre. Stacee was taken in a senseless act of violence as her husband, SFPD Officer Vinnie Etcheber, heroically rushed to aid shooting victims in Las Vegas on Sunday, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said in a statement. Stacee was a beloved mother of two young children and a well-loved hairstylist in Marin County. She lived around the corner from San Ramon Elementary School, said Principal Amanda Langford. Both her children attended the school, and her youngest is in fifth grade. Stacee was a really intelligent, beautiful and caring mother, Langford said. She was well-known for her involvement in the school and PTA , always making herself available to help students and families, or to chaperone field trips. Her brother-in-law, Al Etcheber, announced her death on Facebook on Tuesday morning, after posting Monday that she was missing. It's with a heavy heart and deep sorrow, Stacee Etcheber has passed away, he wrote. We will dearly miss you. Sonali Kohli Keri Galvan, 31 Thousand Oaks Keri Galvan had three children under the age of 10, and her devotion to them wasnt difficult to spot. In one Facebook photo, she wears Mickey Mouse ears and holds her daughter as Minnie Mouse shakes the childs hand. In a selfie, Galvan tenderly kisses her daughter, who has big brown eyes and a pink bow around her head. In her profile photo, her children walk hand in hand on a school track. In a post on a GoFundMe page established in Galvans memory, her sister Lindsey Poole said Galvan attended the Route 91 Harvest festival with her husband and friends. The 31-year-old worked as a waitress at Mastros Steakhouse in Thousand Oaks Galvans days started and ended with doing everything in her power to be a wonderful mother, Poole wrote. Stefanie Reines, a friend, wrote on Twitter that Galvan was a beautiful, amazing, kind and generous person who made everyone smile. Benjamin Oreskes (Courtesy of San Bernardino County) Dana Gardner, 52 Grand Terrace When Bob Dutton became the San Bernardino County assessor-recorder-clerk, he knew a strong and experienced deputy would be essential to do the job. Dana Gardner was just that person. As the deputy recorder-county clerk, she was one of my go-to people, Dutton said. If you needed advice or questions came up, she had the answer. She was my go-to person. Gardner, of Grand Terrace, had traveled to Las Vegas with one of her daughters to attend the Route 91 Harvest Festival. After Gardner was wounded in the gunfire unleashed on the crowd, the daughter rode with her in the ambulance to the trauma center. The daughter, who was unharmed, contacted Duttons office and said she and her mother had become separated. About 7:30 a.m. Monday, one of Duttons colleagues received the news. Gardner was dead. You never think its going to be someone you know until it is, Dutton said. San Bernardino was the site of the terrorist attack that left 14 dead and 22 wounded in 2015. On Monday, getting through the day was particularly difficult because Dutton said they couldn't just close the clerk's office. Everyone kept working, he said, even after they got received the horrid news. Benjamin Oreskes (Courtesy of Lupe Avila) Angela Gomez, 20 Riverside Angela Gomez was a Riverside native who left a lasting impact on her high school classmates and teachers. She graduated from Riverside Polytechnic High School in 2015 and attended classes at Riverside Community College. "Angie was a fun-loving, sweet young lady with a great sense of humor," her former cheer coach, Lupe Avila, said in an email. "Angie was a loyal friend who loved her family and will be forever missed by all those who knew her." She challenged herself academically, enrolling in Advanced Placement classes, and "loved the stage" she was involved in cheer, choir and the Riverside Children's Theatre, Avila said. Sonali Kohli Charleston Hartfield, 34 Las Vegas Las Vegas Police Officer Charleston Hartfield was off duty when he attended the Route 91 Harvest Festival, one of many law enforcement officers who went to the country music concert. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hartfield was a military veteran and coached youth football. Hartfield posted a picture from the concert on Facebook before the gunfire broke out. As news of the massacre spread, friends began posting on Hartfields page, urging him to let them know he was OK. He never responded, and then friends started posting messages grieving his death. I dont know a better man than Charles. They say its always the good ones we lose early. Theres no truer statement than that with Charles, Hartfields friend Troy Rhett told the Review-Journal. Our hearts have just been very heavy since hearing the news. Hartfield enlisted in the Army in July 2000 and became a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, ultimately rising to the rank of sergeant first class. He deployed to Iraq during the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and served in a task force that was awarded a presidential unit citation for extraordinary heroism. He was also awarded several individual commendations and achievement medals throughout his uniformed career, according to Army records. By all accounts he was a special human being, someone who carried the best virtues and characteristics from this division with him beyond his service here, the 82nd Airborne said in a statement. Hartfield joined the Nevada Army National Guard in June 2006 and continued serving until his death. Seema Mehta Chris Hazencomb, 44 Camarillo Colleagues and relatives described Chris Hazencomb as a kind and selfless man, a friend and co-worker who loved talking sports. Tim Wong was among those who wrote about Hazencomb on social media. He said he worked with Hazencomb for eight years and enjoyed his humor, love of sports, but most of all, love for his friends. Hazencombs aunt Carolyn Hazencomb said she and her nephew lived in the same mobile estate park in Camarillo Carolyn on her own, and Chris with his mother. Chris was 6-feet-5, so he would often reach to top shelves at grocery stores to get what his aunt needed, or help people around the park with different tasks, she said. "He was the nicest person youd ever want to meet," Carolyn Hazencomb said. He was at the country music festival Sunday with a friend who has two children, she said. He gave his life for the person that he was with at the show, at the concert. He covered her so that she wouldnt get shot," Carolyn Hazencomb said. "It was fortunate that he saved her life...so that her kids are ok to have a mom. Chris Hazencomb graduated from Thousand Oaks High School in 1991, said Principal Lou Lichtl. He had worked as a self-checkout host at the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Camarillo since 2013, said Walmart spokesman Charles Crowson. We are deeply saddened that one of our associates, Chris Hazencomb, was among those killed in Las Vegas, Crowson said in an email statement. Our hearts and prayers are with his family, and with all who have lost family members and loved ones in this attack. Sonali Kohli (Associated Press) Jennifer Topaz Irvine, 42 San Diego To Kyle Kraska, Jennifer Topaz Irvine was a smart woman who enjoyed life and brought joy to others. She was like a little sister, he told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Irvine was a family-law attorney in San Diego who did her undergraduate work at the University of San Diego and later the California Western School of Law, according to the Union-Tribune. As news spread of her death at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, friends and family went on Facebook to offer condolences and share memories of Irvine, whose interests outside the courtroom learned toward the athletic yoga, snowboarding and taekwondo. Thomas Slattery, a fellow attorney, wrote on his Facebook page: My good friend, colleague, and business partner Jennifer Irvine was killed by a madman at the festival in Las Vegas. A tragic loss of a kind, generous, and beautiful lady. She will be greatly missed, he wrote. Rest in peace Topaz. Seema Mehta Jessica Klymchuk, 34 Valleyview, Canada Jessica Klymchuk was a librarian and a bus driver who was raising four children on her own. Then she found someone to love. His name was Brent Irla, and in April Irla announced on Facebook that the two were engaged. Since meeting Brent my world has changed, Klymchuk wrote. His smile is something I cant live without. The couple were together in Las Vegas when the hail of bullets rained down on the crowd. Klymchuk died Monday morning with Irla by her side, according to a family friend. Klymchuk was a resident of Valleyview, a tight-knit town of about 2,000 people in central Alberta, Canada. Her death was confirmed by Rachel Notley, the premier of Alberta. She worked at St. Stephens School, northwest of Edmonton. Her children attended the school. She was loved by the kids, the Rev. Abraham Joseph told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. He said when staff and students heard the news Monday, the teachers were in tears and the children in shock. Betty Turpin, superintendent of the Holy Family Catholic Regional Division, said in a statement: Our thoughts and prayers are with the family. As well as all the families affected by this unimaginable attack. Esmeralda Bermudez (Associated Press) Rhonda LeRocque, 42 Tewksbury, Mass. Rhonda LeRocque of Tewksbury, Mass., was an active member of the Jehovahs Witnesses and worked at a Cambridge design firm. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she and her husband, Jason, helped rebuild homes in Louisiana. All I know is someone started shooting and people are running and she got shot in the head, Carol Marquis, LeRocques grandmother, told the Boston Globe. And we lost a dear, close, good person one of the nicest people you will ever meet in your life. Her husband and her daughter were unharmed in the shooting, according to multiple media reports. LeRocques family struggled to understand the violence that broke out at the country music festival. It makes no sense. Why would he do this? LeRocques sister Jennifer Zeleneski told the Boston Herald. My sister didn't do anything. She never hurt people. She was the [kindest] person that I know. Seema Mehta Jordan McIldoon, 23 Maple Ridge, Canada When Jordan McIldoons parents confirmed their sons death to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., they summed up their pain and loss in 12 words. We had only one child, Al and Angela said in a statement. We just dont know what to do. They described their son, a heavy-duty mechanic apprentice who was about to start a trade school, as a self-described cowboy boot, tattoo-covered redneck who loved the outdoors. He grew up on his familys land in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Photos of McIldoon on social media show him in cowboy boots and on snowmobiles and motorcycles, often smiling big with an arm around his girlfriend, Amber Bereza. Las Vegas had become an annual tradition for the couple, according to the Global News, and Sundays concert at the Route 91 Harvest Festival was a few days before his birthday. When McIldoon was among the hundreds struck by bullets at the concert, a bartender named Heather Gooze stepped in to help. I felt his fingers, like tighten and then loosen, Gooze told the CBC. When McIldoons phone rang in his pocket, she told the news agency, she answered and found out his name from the friend on the line. Gooze wrote McIldoons name on his arm, then searched for his family on Facebook. She eventually reached Bereza, who was on lockdown nearby. Please be honest with me, Bereza asked. Whats going on? I didnt want to be the one to tell you this, but he didnt make it, Gooze said she told her. McIldoons mother soon called and Gooze promised she would stay with McIldoon. She did for five hours. Esmeralda Bermudez Kelsey Breanne Meadows, 28 Taft, Calif. Kelsey Breanne Meadows stayed close to home, growing up to become a substitute teacher at her alma mater, Taft Union High School. There she got to work close to her mother, Stacy Lynn Meadows, an IT manager for the district. My family and I want to take a minute and thank everyone that has been trying to help us locate my sister, her brother, Brad Meadows, wrote Tuesday on Facebook. So it is with an absolutely shattered heart that I let everyone know that Kelsey did not survive this tragic event. Meadows graduated from the high school in 2007 and earned a bachelors degree from Cal State Fresno before joining the school district as a substitute teacher in 2012, according to the school district. The school district made counselors available for grieving students and staff, and planned a vigil in honor of Meadows at the high school Wednesday evening. Kelsey was smart, compassionate and kind, Principal Mary Alice Finn said in a statement. She had a sweet spirit and a love for children. Sonali Kohli Calla Medig, 28 Edmonton, Canada Calla Medig was going to become a manager at Moxie's restaurant in Edmonton. But before reaching that professional milestone Thursday, Medig was going to spend some time in Las Vegas. She had gone to the Route 91 Music festival for three straight years. She and a friend decided to go again this year. Her boss at Moxies, Scott Collingwood, grew concerned Monday morning when he couldnt reach Medig. No texts were answered. Facebook messages went unread. Finally, the friend who was with Medig at the festival called back and told Collingwood the news. Shes left a huge hole in our hearts, Collingwood said of Medig. She was an absolute fantastic lady. Now, Medigs father is in Las Vegas arranging for her body to be returned to Canada. Benjamin Oreskes (Associated Press) Sonny Melton, 29 Tennessee Sonny Melton was a nurse from Tennessee who saved his wifes life before losing his own. He grabbed me from behind and started running when I felt him get shot in the back, his wife, Heather Melton, told USA Today. The couple worked at the Henry County Medical Center she an orthopedic surgeon, he a nurse. The thoughts and prayers of the entire HCMC family are with Sonny and Heathers families, Thomas Gee, CEO of Henry County Medical Center, said in a statement. Melton was the president of his nursing class at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., according to a Facebook post from the college. You know how when you met someone and you just know that theyre good and kind? That was Sonny, Christy Davis, an assistant nursing professor, said in the colleges statement. He just had a sweet, kind spirit about him. A co-worker also posted her memories of Sonny Melton on Facebook. Sonny was such an amazing person and an amazing nurse, Victoria Peyton Dowd wrote. I'm thankful I had the pleasure of knowing such an awesome man. Sonali Kohli (Associated Press) Adrian Murfitt, 35 Anchorage Born and raised in Anchorage, Adrian Murfitt worked as a commercial fisherman. A fan of country music, Murfitt decided to travel with longtime friend Brian MacKinnon to Las Vegas to attend Sundays concert. MacKinnon, 33, described his childhood friend as an animal lover and goofball. He made me laugh. He was like an Alaskan cowboy, but when he saw a dog hed turn into a 10-year-old kid, MacKinnon said. MacKinnon was with Murfitt when gunfire raked the crowd and said his friend died in his arms. Other people described Murfitt as a caring person who went out of his way to help friends. Cant describe in words how thankful and grateful I am to have you show me what a real true gentleman you are, Christine Young said of Murfitt on Facebook. Ill keep the advice you gave me and I promise to take it as I go through life moving forward youll be kept in a special place in my heart. Melissa Etehad Rachael Parker, 33 Manhattan Beach Rachael Parker, a records technician at the Manhattan Beach Police Department, was among four off-duty department employees who attended the concert Sunday night. Two were shot Parker and a sworn officer. Parker died at a hospital, authorities said. The sworn officer suffered minor injuries. Parker worked for the Police Department for 10 years. She was just a great, great worker, always happy definitely had her whole future ahead of her," said Manhattan Beach police spokeswoman Kristi Colombo. "Im heartbroken and speechless. Sonali Kohli (Courtesy of Anaverde Hills School) Jennifer Parks, 35 Lancaster Jennifer Parks had just started her third year of teaching kindergarten at Anaverde Hills School in Palmdale. She was attending the Sunday night concert with her husband, who was injured in the shooting, Westside Union School District Supt. Regina Rossall said, and she has two children: one in the elementary school where she taught and one in high school. Parks was the kind of teacher everybody wants their children to have. Rossall said. Every child in her class was the most important child to her. She just has a zest for life, Rossall said before correcting herself. Or, had a zest for life. I cant even say it that way. The school district learned of Parks death Monday morning, and the schools principal asked parents to talk to their children. Obviously [in] kindergarten thats a hard concept to grasp, Rossall said. A crisis counselor who is familiar with the school is also in the classroom Tuesday, she said. Parks was a blessing to our school district and our students, Rossall said. It is just unfortunate that she will not get to share her joy of learning with more students. Sonali Kohli Carrie Parsons, 31 Seattle Carrie Parsons was a huge fan of country music singer Eric Church and, as he played at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday night, she stood near the stage and took a selfie. She posted the photograph on Facebook, adding the message: Night made! #ericchurch #vegas #rt91harvest. The next day, a friend of Parsons sent a note to the singer on Facebook. My good friend Carrie Parsons lost her life in the route 91 harvest shooting Sunday. She loved your music, Carolyn Parker wrote. I think she had been to about 10 of your concerts, including when you played at tractor tavern in Seattle before you got big. Thought I should share the photo below! It was her last post. I feel peace knowing she was living life until her last moments, loving country music. Church hasnt yet responded, but his fans have, including one who wrote: Prayers for her, her family and friends, and all the people directly affected by this tragic and cowardly act of evil. Country music Artists and Fans are one big family and we hurt and mourn with you. Parsons brother Jeff Parsons announced her death via Facebook on Monday. My sister Carrie has passed away due to her wounds as part of the shooting in Vegas, Jeff Parsons wrote. We have no more news, as we are not yet permitted to see her. A manager at the Seattle staffing and recruiting firm Ajilon, Parsons grew up across Puget Sound on Bainbridge Island. A 2004 graduate of Bainbridge High, she played on the schools volleyball and fast-pitch softball teams and earned a college arts scholarship awarded by Bainbridge Arts & Crafts, according to her LinkedIn page. She graduated in 2008 from Arizona State University with an arts degree and spent a year studying at the Seattle Art Institute. She was an advisor at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Seattle and a volunteer for numerous causes including Toys for Tots, the Girl Scouts and Food Lifeline. Neither I, nor my family will be available to talk for some time, Jeff Parsons said in his post. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and space. Rick Anderson John Phippen, 56 Santa Clarita John Phippen of Santa Clarita was born in New York and later moved to California. He was the owner of JP Specialties, a home remodeling company in Santa Clarita. He was dancing next to his son, Travis, at the country music festival in Las Vegas when he was struck by a bullet in the lower back. Travis, an emergency medical technician, carried his father to a car that took them to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, where the elder Phippen died from his injuries. He was my best friend, Travis said. He never did anything wrong to anybody. He was always kind and gentle. He was the biggest teddy bear I knew. In the chaotic scene, Travis had been shot in the arm but didnt realize it until he arrived at the hospital. He is staying with family in the Las Vegas area until the Clark County coroner releases his fathers body. We are all kind of in disbelief that it would happen to someone so gentle, Travis said. Ben Poston Jordyn Rivera, 21 Jordyn Rivera was a fourth-year student at Cal State San Bernardino and had spend the summer studying abroad in London. We will remember and treasure her for her warmth, optimism, energy, and kindness, university President Tomas D. Morales wrote in a letter to the campus community. He said he had spent time with Rivera when she was studying abroad. Rivera was a member of the national health education honors society Eta Sigma Gamma and graduated from Bonita High School in La Verne, where she grew up. This is a devastating loss for the entire CSUSB family. In this time of grief, our thoughts and prayers are with Jordyns family, friends and all who knew her, Morales wrote on the universitys website. On Facebook, friends mourned Rivera. She was a beautiful person with a welcoming smile and so young, Denise Gutierrez wrote. I still cant believe it. We were just with her last week. Sonali Kohli Quinton Robbins Henderson, Nev. Quinton Robbins was a recreation employee for the city of Henderson, near Las Vegas. In a Facebook post early Monday, his aunt, Kilee Wells Sanders, announced Robbins' death. My sweetest nephew has passed away. He was the most kind and loving soul. Everyone who met him, loved him. His contagious laugh and smile. He was truly an amazing person, she wrote. He will be missed by so many, he is loved by so many. On Monday afternoon, his Facebook profile had been switched to a memorialized account a virtual gathering place for friends and family to remember a person who has died. One friend wrote on Twitter: "You set such a good example to me of how to love life and live it to the fullest every day." Sonali Kohli (Courtesy of Brad Jerbic) Cameron Robinson, 28 St. George, Utah Cameron Robinson was known for being spontaneous, smart and the life of any space he entered. On Sunday night, he lost his life while listening to country music. On Tuesday, Las Vegas officials confirmed that Robinson, a management analyst in the city attorneys office, had been killed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival across from the Mandalay Bay hotel. Robinson grew up in Henderson, Nev., and moved to St. George, Utah, recently to live with his partner, said Las Vegas City Atty. Brad Jerbic, his boss and friend. Jerbic, who said Robinson would drive two hours to work each morning, met him about seven years ago and was immediately impressed. I thought, Hes 21 years old and already has his bachelors, Jerbic said. Despite a 30-year age difference, the two became friends, embarking on adventures together whenever Robinson got bored with the status quo, which was often, Jerbic said. He would call and say, Were going hiking in the mountains, Jerbic said. He was just spontaneous, fun, really, really smart. Jerbic remembered one trip in particular, when the pair drove from San Diego to Laguna, where they went boogie-boarding. Suddenly, Robinson called out to Jerbic that he saw fins in the water; as Jerbic swam closer he saw dolphins, so close that he and Robinson could touch them. About four years ago Jerbic had the opportunity to hire a records specialist and brought Robinson into the city attorneys office. If there was a heart and soul of the office it was Cameron, Jerbic said. He constantly brought in dishes hed tried to perfect, and was the resident party planner he was supposed to plan the Christmas party this year. At 5 a.m. Monday, Jerbics son called him to make sure he was OK and told him about the shooting at the festival. As soon as Jerbic realized there had been an attack, he called to check on Robinson. It rang and rang and rang, Jerbic said. He texted too. No response. Sonali Kohli (Courtesy of Vanessa Pineda Rocha) Rocio Guillen Rocha, 40 Eastvale, Calif. Rocio Guillen Rocha would want to be remembered as a supermom. Her greatest accomplishment in life was being a mom, said close friend Shannon Dahl. Rocha had two teenagers, a 1-year-old and her fourth child, a boy, who was born seven weeks ago. Rocha was still on maternity leave when she traveled to Las Vegas last weekend, according to NPR. She and her fiance, Chris Jaksha, were fans of country music and were celebrating a friends birthday. Rocha was shot in the thigh and Jaksha, with the help of police, got her to the hospital, where she died. Rocha, a manager at the California Pizza Kitchen in Santa Ana, grew up in Anaheim and went to Katella High School. She worked hard at the restaurant, said Dahl, but still found time to attend her older boys sporting events. She did whatever she could not to miss out on her childrens lives. She was a great friend, said Nicole Hill, who would exchange texts with Rocha each day with pictures of their children. We were always joking about who would get pregnant next. She and Jaksha lived in Eastvale and planned on getting married in May, Hill said. But Rocha wanted to wait until after she had the baby. She evoked a spirit and light about her that made you feel better in life, Dahl said. She was a light that shined super bright and had an amazing personality. She just lifted you up. A family friend and relatives are caring for Rochas children, and two GoFundMe pages have been established to help support the family. Thomas Curwen Lisa Romero Gallup, N.M. Lisa Romero worked as a secretary for Gallup-McKinley County Schools in Gallup, N.M., where colleagues remembered her as a loving person who went out of her way to give advice to students. Romero was an incredible loving and sincere friend, mentor and advocate for students in many of our schools, Mike Hyatt, interim superintendent of Gallup-McKinley, said in a statement. As a colleague, she was also outgoing, kind and considerate of all those she worked with, and we will miss all of these great attributes she shared with students, staff and parents in our community. Teachers and administrators at the Miyamura High School, where she was based, visited students in their classrooms Monday to offer support. In an interview via Facebook, Ryan Gomito, a history teacher at Miyamura, said the entire school was mourning her death. In a public post about Romero, Gomito wrote that he could not believe what had happened: Ms. Lisa Romero, you have touched so many lives, he wrote. Rest easy, Maam. Melissa Etehad (Courtesy of Debbie Allen) Christopher Roybal, 28 Denver U.S. Navy veteran Christopher Roybal had survived firefights with armed militants in the outer reaches of Afghanistan, and was one week shy of turning 29 when he traveled with his mother, Debbie Allen, to celebrate his birthday. They checked into their room Sept. 28 and stayed on the 32nd floor at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino the same floor where gunman Stephen Paddock had been staying, Allen said. The Denver resident had a special relationship with his mother. He was never ashamed to go out with me. We would go to bars together and concerts together, Allen said. They often had date nights where they would watch chick flicks. Our favorites were The Notebook and The Story of Us, Allen said. On Sunday, Allen and Roybal spent the day lounging by the pool and drinking. Later they went to the hotel room to take a quick nap before the concert. That was the last time she saw her son. They had gone to the concert separately and were trying to meet up before gunfire erupted, Allen said. About four to five songs into Jason Aldeans performance the shooting started and the girl to my left was shot, Allen said. I started running toward the street, but I turned around and tried to go against the crowd. I kept thinking that my baby is in there. A stranger grabbed Allen. He said, You cant go back in there; youll get shot, Allen recalled. She learned that her son was shot from a firefighter who had been trying to save his life amid the gunfire. The fireman told me he tried to give my son first aid, but the life went out of him, she said. Roybal, who grew up in Corona, Calif., served five years in the Navy after enlisting in 2007, a period in which he earned a Combat Action Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, according to Navy records. Having served in combat, he wrote a lengthy Facebook post July 18 to describe the nerve-racking experience a message that now eerily reads like an epitaph. What's it like to be shot at? It's a nightmare no amount of drugs, no amount of therapy and no amount of drunk talks with your war veteran buddies will ever be able to escape, he wrote. Cheers boys. Melissa Etehad and W.J. Hennigan (Courtesy of Infinity Communications and Consulting) Bailey Schweitzer, 20 Bakersfield Bailey Schweitzer started work seven months ago as a receptionist at Infinity Communications and Consulting, a software company in Bakersfield. She quickly made an impression. Bailey was always the ray of sunshine in our office on a cloudy day, said Chief Executive Fred Brakeman. No one could possibly have a bad day when Bailey was around. If you have ever called or visited our office, she was the perky one that helped direct you to the staff member you needed. Friends and colleagues decided to hold a candlelight vigil Monday evening at the office where she worked. Melissa Etehad (Courtesy of Jay Purves) Erick Silva, 22 Las Vegas Erick Silva was the type of guy who bought hamburgers for elderly people who found themselves homeless and without supper last Christmas. Just a week ago, the 22-year-old helped a neighbor haul an old sofa to the dump, refusing to accept money in exchange. He regularly gave friends rides in his car to tend to errands. He had a hard time saying no, his stepfather, Gregorio de la Rosa, said. He was very generous. He liked to help other people. So it was only fitting that Silva, a security guard stationed near the front of the Route 91 Harvest music festival, would spend the last moments of his life helping others, his mother, Angelica Cervantes, said during a vigil Tuesday at the familys home in Las Vegas. Silva lifted concertgoers over a barricade and to safety near the front of the stage where he was stationed Sunday night, said Jay Purves, vice president for the Las Vegas branch of Contemporary Services Corp. He was a hero, Purves told Cervantes. He was saving lives. Purves said Silva, who had been with the company for about three years, was shot several times, including once in the face. Purves said he and others carried Silvas body away from the shooting zone. He was breathing but unresponsive, Purves said. He was fighting for his life, he told Cervantes. Purves put his hand on the mothers shoulder, as the familys living room filled with mourners. A large photo of Silva in uniform decorated a wall nearby. I know he was. That was my son, Cervantes replied. Always doing something for someone else. He should have saved himself. Purves shook his head. That was not Erick, he told her. He helped others first. Gina Argento, an office manager at the security company who worked closely with Silva, embraced Cervantes. Silva was never late to work and did everything that was asked of him and more, Argento said. He was so stellar at his job that hed been told hed be promoted soon to a supervisory role, she said. He went above and beyond for everyone, Argento told the mother. I trusted him. Cervantes eyes swelled with tears. Thank you, she said. But I want my son back. Cindy Carcamo Laura Shipp, left. (Courtesy of Steve Shipp) Laura Shipp, 50 Las Vegas Laura Shipp had such a close bond with her 23-year-old son, Corey, that they lived together in Las Vegas and were looking to buy a house. It was just the two of them, Laura Shipps brother, Steve Shipp of Thousand Oaks, said in a phone interview. He looked out for her and she looked out for him. Laura Shipp, who moved from Thousand Oaks to Las Vegas five years ago, worked for a heating and air condition company. She had many friends and was loved, Steve Shipp said. And she was talkative, he said. She would dominate most conversations. The devoted Dodgers fan returned to California a few times a year to visit friends. On Sunday, she was attending the concert in Las Vegas with her son and friends when bullets started flying. Amid the chaos, Laura Shipp got separated from the group. By early morning Monday, Steve Shipp had found out she was among the missing. He jumped on the first plane he could get to Las Vegas. Other family members also headed there. We spent 24 hours trying to find her. We were hoping she was missing and injured because she had given her ID to Corey, he said. By late Monday, the family learned she had been among those killed. We dont have a big family, but we are tightly knit, her brother said. Melissa Etehad Susan Smith, 53 Simi Valley For most students and visitors to Vista Fundamental Elementary School in Simi Valley, Susan Smith was usually the first person they would see when they walked into the school. She was the office manager, which means she was the hub of the school. She was the center of it. Everyone who came through those doors she knew. She knew the children, she knew the staff, she knew the parents, said Jake Finch, a spokeswoman for the Simi Valley Unified School District. She was married with children, but Finch did not have details about the family. Smith had worked for the district for 16 years. She was great with the children, patient and kind. Her loss is huge to us, Finch said. Finch said administrators learned about Smiths death overnight, and mobilized their crisis counseling team. Substitutes were brought in to staff every classroom at Vista so that the teachers could be gathered and told about Smiths death. Counselors went to every classroom and told the children in an age-appropriate manner. Seema Mehta Brennan Stewart, 30 Las Vegas It was Brennan Stewarts love of music that drew him and his girlfriend to the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in his hometown. But on Sunday, as Stewart and Gia Capri Iantuono listened to an early evening performance, the shooting broke out and the two eventually became separated. Iantuono recounted the chaotic scene in a Facebook post: He was hit last night, I am not sure where, everything was happening too fast. I dislocated my knee and as I was holding onto Brennan a man took action to protect me and pulled me away from him, hiding me under a table. I was unable to get back to Brennan and this man carried me, running me to safety, she wrote Monday. Stewarts family said he had tried to protect his girlfriend and help other concert-goers. Brennan made close friends quickly; was loved and will be missed greatly by family and friends, but his memory will live on, the familys statement said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. By Monday afternoon, Stewarts Facebook page had been transformed into a memorial page where friends posted pictures and tributes. A GoFundMe campaign was set up to honor Stewarts love of music. I love you man. You were always a brother to me. You will never be forgotten, wrote Justin Todd Hunter, a friend. Several people shared a 2016 video of Stewart playing guitar and singing "You Should Be Here" by Cole Swindell. The song is about loss, and its lyrics are haunting in light of Stewarts own death. Seema Mehta (Courtesy of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) Lt. Derrick Bo Taylor, 56 Oxnard Lt. Derrick Bo Taylor's career as a California corrections officer spanned 29 years. The 56-year-old Taylor got started with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in 1988 at the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center in Galt, Calif. In 1994, he started working at the Wasco State Prison as an officer and transferred a year later to the High Desert State Prison. By 1997, Taylor was promoted to correctional sergeant at Pleasant Valley State Prison and four years later to correctional lieutenant. In 2004, Taylor began working as a camp commander for the La Cima Conservation Camp one of 43 camps in California that houses inmates who fight wildfires. He stayed there for 10 years before transferring to Ventura Conservation Camp. Its a job that requires interpersonal skills with inmates, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Bill Sessa said in a phone interview Wednesday. He was very well thought of throughout the department and was approachable. Taylors colleagues were stunned by news of his death at the country music festival in Las Vegas. There are no words to express the feeling of loss and sadness regarding Bos passing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends, Warden Joel Martinez wrote in a memo to staff, according to a newsletter by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Martinez said Taylors loss will be felt throughout the prison, conservation camps and department. Taylor, of Oxnard, had attended the music festival with his girlfriend, Denise Cohen, who also died. He is survived by two sons. Melissa Etehad Neysa Tonks Las Vegas Neysa Tonks worked at Technologent, a technology company based in Irvine, and was the mother of three boys. Tonks known to her niece as Aunt Ne-Ne had over the years shared dozens of photos of her children on Facebook, showing them hurtling down snowy hills on sleds, displaying gap-toothed grins at Boy Scout ceremonies, and years later, and feet taller standing with their mother on the beach. After word of her death spread, a GoFundMe page was created to raise funds for her three sons. Tonks brought joy, happiness, fun and laughter to so many of us, a coworker wrote on GoFundMe. She has always been there for her community in time of need, and now we would like to do the same for her. Friends flooded the fundraising page with photos, showing her grinning at parties. She lived in Las Vegas, and other photos showed her flashing a broad smile with friends at the Bellagio pool. "Always smiling! Always living!" one friend wrote. Laura J. Nelson Michelle Vo, 32 Michelle Vo, a Los Angeles-area insurance agent, was described by her sister as a sparkling and adventurous person who relished life. She was my baby sister who had an infectious smile. She made you feel like you've known her for a lifetime when she spoke to you, Diane Vo Hawkins wrote on Facebook. She spread joy and laughter everywhere she went. She gave everything 150% including her career and was very successful at it. She loved people. She loved sports and will try anything. She was kind and charismatic. She was full of life, Vo Hawkins wrote. Words cannot begin to describe the pain, utter sadness, and void our family feels as this young angel was abruptly taken from us. Vo graduated from UC Davis, studied abroad and was employed in the Bay Area before moving to Southern California, according to her profile on LinkedIn. She worked at New York Life Insurance Co. and had recently become a member of the LAX Coastal Chamber of Commerce. Seema Mehta Kurt von Tillow, 55 Cameron Park, Calif. Kurt von Tillow was described as a great husband and friend, but it might be his laugh that some people will miss most. I will always remember him for his big belly laughs and smiles and tremendous friendship, Mark Baca said in a Facebook post. Everyone was his friend. Steve Marchi, another friend, also recalled Von Tillows deep and affectionate laugh. Kurt von Tillow was a dear friend who lit up the room with his famous belly laugh, Marchi said in a Facebook post. If Kurt was ... at your dinner table, or in the bar with you, you knew you were in for a good time. Von Tillow lived in Cameron Park, outside Sacramento, and had a truck company. On Monday night, friends, family and neighbors gathered at Cameron Park Country Club to mourn him. Melissa Etehad Bill Wolfe Jr., 42 Shippensburg, Pa. Bill Wolfe Jr. was a father of two who happily gave up his free time to coach Little League baseball and youth wrestling, friends said. Wolfe and his wife, Robyn , went together to the Route 91 Harvest festival. She was not injured, authorities said. But he was killed. He encouraged his kids to do their best, said Wanda Neil Davenport, whose grandson wrestled with one of Wolfes sons. The world has lost another good man, good father and husband. We all mourn with his family. He is in heaven and will watch down upon all of you. Heartbreaking from our family of wrestlers to his. God be with you. As a youth wrestling coach for the Shippensburg Greyhound wrestling team, Wolfe was the kind of coach to pull the child aside and tell them what they did right and how proud he was of them and then follow it with a few tips on how to improve, the aunt of a young wrestler posted on a GoFundMe page set up on behalf of the Wolfe family. He is survived by his wife and two sons. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf released a statement about Wolfe on Tuesday. On behalf of our family and all Pennsylvanians, our hearts go out to the Wolfe family and the entire Shippensburg community, the governor said on Facebook. Ben Poston UPDATES: Oct. 4, 6:45 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Chris Hazencomb and a new injury count according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Oct. 4, 5:55 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Candace Bowers, Lt. Derrick Bo Taylor and Charleston Hartfield. Oct. 4, 4:20 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Carrie Parsons and Erick Silva. Oct. 4, 2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Heather Alvarado, Christiana Duarte, Keri Galvan, Kelsey Breanne Meadows, Jordyn Rivera, Laura Shipp, Brennan Stewart, Michelle Vo and Kurt von Tillow. Oct. 3, 8:45 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Dorene Anderson. Oct. 3, 8:30 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Cameron Robinson and Rocio Guillen Rocha. Oct. 3, 7 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Stacee Etcheber. Oct. 3, 5:15 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Jack Beaton. Oct. 3, 4 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Christopher Roybal. Oct. 3, 2:25 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Calla Medig and Bill Wolfe Jr. Oct. 3, 1:25 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Austin Davis. Oct. 3, 11:50 a.m.: This article was updated with information about Jennifer Parks. Oct. 2, 10:15 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Hannah Ahlers, Jordan McIldoon and Jennifer Topaz Irvine. Oct. 2, 7:44 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Dana Gardner. Oct. 2, 7:05 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Carrie Barnette and Jessica Klymchuk. Oct. 2, 6:02 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Rhonda LeRocque and Lisa Romero. Oct. 2, 5:15 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Quinton Robbins and Bailey Schweitzer. Oct. 2, 4:50 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Thomas Day Jr. and Angela Gomez. Oct. 2, 3:40 p.m.: This article was updated with information about John Phippen. Oct. 2, 3:20 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Charleston Hartfield and Adrian Murfitt. Oct. 2, 2:50 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Denise Burditus. Oct. 2, 2:10 p.m.: This article was updated with information about Neysa Tonks and with comment about Rachael Parker from a Manhattan Beach police spokeswoman. This article was originally published Oct. 2 at 12:45 p.m. Ahmad Khan Rahimi thought of himself as soldier in a holy war, a federal prosecutor told jurors Monday in the opening of Rahimis trial on charges of planting pipe bombs in New York. The 29-year-old Rahimi, who moved to the United States from Afghanistan as a young child, is accused of building and planting two bombs in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan on Sept. 17, 2016. One exploded in a dumpster and injured 35 people walking by on a warm Saturday night. The other did not detonate. Assistant U.S. Atty. Shawn Crowley told jurors that Rahimi taught himself how to make bombs by watching videos on the internet. Advertisement He designed it. He built it, Crowley said. He filled it with explosives and deadly shrapnel and he planted it on the street. Rahimi was briefly escorted out of the court for trying to speak while the prosecutor was starting his opening statements. He later apologized to U.S. District Judge Richard Berman and said he was asking for permission to see his wife and children. Described as a misfit who did poorly in school, Rahimi was the subject of a highly publicized manhunt that ended when he was found asleep in the doorway of a tavern near his home. He was injured in a shootout with police before being arrested. In New Jersey, Rahimi faces separate charges of shooting at police and detonating a bomb that exploded earlier that day in a trash can near the finish line of a 5K charity race in Seaside Heights, N.J., but caused no injuries. Rahimi grew up in Elizabeth, N.J., above his parents fried chicken restaurant. He is believed to have become radicalized during a trip to Afghanistan. Reportedly, his father notified authorities of his concern about his son being involved in terrorism. According to a list of exhibits filed by the U.S. attorneys office in advance of the trial, the prosecution has extensive videos of Rahimis travels, text messages, a cellphone video showing him testing bomb components in his backyard, various Jihad-related documents and a pamphlet published by the Islamic State that was seized from his laptop. And in a blood-stained journal seized at the time of his arrest was a letter he was writing to the U.S. government. [God willing] the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets, it says. Gunshots to your police. Death to your OPPRESSION. Before the trial, the defense succeeded in barring prosecutors from using allegedly incriminating statements Rahimi made to investigators, arguing that he was barely conscious as a result of his injuries. barbara.demick@latimes.com Twitter: @BarbaraDemick The shooter who opened fire Sunday night at a country music concert is dead and he was the lone gunman, Las Vegas authorities said. Authorities said shooter, who was not named but was identified as a local resident, fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort on the Las Vegas Strip. They confronted him there and he was killed. Still, officials issued an urgent bulletin to the public in search of the following: Advertisement Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! pic.twitter.com/Z83XvcHejH LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 Authorities said they are looking for the following vehicles that are associated with the gunman: Hyundai Tucson | Nevada license plate 114B40 Chrysler Pacifica | Nevada license plate 19D401 Authorities are searching for a female companion believed to have been traveling with the gunman. They said they are eager to interview her. Marilou Danley | 4 feet, 11 inches and 111 pounds | Asian We are interested in talking to her for follow up, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. Lombardo asked the public to provide his office with any videos of the shooting scene. Las Vegas shooting alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com Twitter: @AleneTchek MORE ON THE SHOOTING More than 20 dead and 100 injured in shooting on Las Vegas Strip; police say one suspect is down and there are no more shooters Videos capture moments of terror as gunfire rings out at end of Las Vegas concerns Las Vegas airport temporary closed by mass shooting; delays continue Country artists who performed at Route 91 Harvest festival react to mass shooting The nation awakened Monday morning to yet another pointless, blood-filled tragedy that stupefied, saddened and appalled us all. But if history is any guide, it will not propel us to meaningful action. Once again a man and its almost always a man has committed what by now is the most American of acts, in this case wielding fully automatic military-style firearms to mow down a staggering number of innocent people. Not in self-defense, not in the heat of battle, not, as far as we can tell, in pursuit of any clearly defined objective, but simply to satisfy some inchoate rage, frustration or alienation. As of now, 58 are dead and more than 500 are wounded in Las Vegas, where police say 64-year-old Stephen Paddock rained bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people attending an outdoor country music festival. No motivation can possibly make such a barbaric act comprehensible, nor can it lessen the pain and grief that will be shared by hundreds of families. Our hearts go out to them. Advertisement But lets be honest with ourselves: This has become an almost Pavlovian national ritual. In the days ahead, some will argue indeed, some have already argued that this is not the right time to talk about gun control or our armed-to-the-teeth culture, that it is too soon to dilute our grief with tawdry politics. But this is exactly the right time to denounce the scourge of gun violence. As it will be tomorrow, next week, next month and, most important, on election day. It was stunning to read the flash news updates when the death toll reached 50 that the Vegas mass shooting had broken an American record, out-slaughtering the Pulse nightclub rampage last year in Orlando, Fla. Does Las Vegas get a medal for that? Is this a challenge to the deranged in other cities to do even better? The National Rifle Assn., which has spent decades fighting to put more guns into the hands of Americans with as few restrictions as possible, is as bloodstained today as the concert grounds in Las Vegas. As are the self-serving politicians who cynically support that organization, in thrall to its massive campaign contributions and its unrivaled political influence. The NRAs undue sway over Congress, along with delusions on the part of some lawmakers about what the 2nd Amendment really means, have landed us in these straits. The gun lobby argues that military-style weapons are necessary for hunting, and for sport shooting. But on Sunday night, we saw such weapons used for their real purpose to kill large numbers of people in a very short time. Anyone who watched the videos of the shootings and heard the rat-tat-tat of rapid-fire guns will recognize immediately that these are weapons of war, not of sport, and that to argue otherwise is to either lie, or to not understand the difference. Neither is acceptable. As our Pavlovian ritual plays out in the days ahead, we will again hear the canard that if the people who showed up to dance to country music under the stars Sunday had been carrying firearms themselves, the death toll would have been smaller. But even had more of them been armed, how would they have fought back against a man shooting a much more powerful weapon out of a distant 32nd floor window? They couldnt have. One of the questions police will try to answer, and which will frame the ensuing debate, is whether Paddock obtained his firearms legally. But the question that really needs addressing is why we allow such weapons in the hands of civilians in the first place. The simple answer is that we lack the political will to stop it. Our nation is awash in firearms by some estimates, the U.S. has more guns than people, and Wall Street investors on Monday drove up the stock prices of gunmakers. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 273 mass shootings defined as four or more people shot in one incident, not including the shooter in the last 275 days. According to a BBC report last year, the number of gun murders per capita in the U.S. in 2012 the most recent year for comparable statistics was nearly 30 times that in the U.K., at 2.9 per 100,000 compared with just 0.1. We may not be able to control the violent impulses of our fellow Americans, but we must limit the weapons available to them and we must better enforce the controls that we have. Failing to do so is political cowardice, moral abdication. That we have continued to accept such weapons among us for so long means that this is who we, as a nation, have chosen to be: armed and dangerous. Las Vegas shooting Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook UPDATES: 3:40 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details. In the aftermath of Sundays massacre in Las Vegas, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, the House of Representatives will soon pass a bill that would make mass shootings easier. Thats an unfair way to frame the issue, but its not inaccurate. The House is preparing to take up the Sportsmen Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act, which not only loosens restrictions on hunting and shooting on public lands, but also includes two provisions that dont exactly seem essential to sport shooters. One would legalize the sale of armor-piercing bullets as long as the manufacturer declares that the ammunition is intended for sporting purposes. The other would loosen longstanding federal regulations on silencers. There is little question that the bill, strongly supported by the National Rifle Assn., will pass in the Republican-majority House. After that, the House will take up a separate bill that would allow people whose states permit them to carry concealed weapons to take their guns into other states, regardless of local regulations. Advertisement And thats where we are on federal gun control legislation: not paralyzed, but worse. Congress is moving to make powerful weapons and ammunition easier to obtain, transport and use as quickly as the NRA can find regulations to undo. The carnage in Las Vegas wont change that. The last time Congress came close to passing tougher restrictions on gun sales was after Sandy Hook in 2012, when the Senate had a Democratic majority. The effort failed, however. If it couldnt happen after Sandy Hook, the Connecticut elementary school where 20 children died, its not going to happen now. Instead, gun control has become just another tool to mobilize partisans on each side. As recently as 2007, gun control was a bipartisan issue. In that year, a Pew Research poll found that 45% of Republicans thought it was more important to regulate guns than protect gun owernship. This year, that number has fallen to 17%. In 2013, two gun-owning senators, Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, collaborated on legislation that sought to tighten the leaky federal requirements for background checks on gun buyers. Now, gun control is a bright line dividing one party from the other: Democrats for, Republicans against, with only a very few impotent exceptions. In raw electoral terms, the GOPs ownership of the gun issue has turned out to be a disadvantage for Democrats. Many gun owners in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin once voted Democratic; all four states went for Barack Obama in 2008. In 2016, with the two parties difference on gun issues sharper than ever, all four went for Donald Trump. Guns arent the only reason for the shift, but one lesson to Republicans is: Dont even think about defying the NRA. In his brief remarks Tuesday, Trump called the Las Vegas shooting an act of pure evil. Thats what opponents of gun control often say when this happens, as it does with tragic frequency. Their real message is: The problem of evil is insoluble, so dont expect the government to solve it. Its Gods problem, not ours. That logic is flawed, of course. Yes, evil exists in the world, and it cannot be eliminated. But the first duty of any government is to protect its citizens from evil as best it can. Thats why we have laws, and police departments that enforce them. In his inaugural address, Trump decried the violent crimes that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. But the carnage hasnt stopped. When it comes to mass shootings, the presidents party hasnt done anything to stop it. doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com Twitter: @DoyleMcManus Las Vegas shooting Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook To the editor: My family has now been touched twice by mass shootings. (The slaughter in Las Vegas is all too familiar, yet Americans refuse to stop it, editorial, Oct. 2) My daughter lived in a sorority house and was on the floor in the middle of the 2014 Isla Vista shooting, fortunately unhurt physically. My niece was at the country concert in Las Vegas on Sunday night. A bullet grazed her leg, and her friend standing right next to her was shot in the back. Advertisement We are ordinary Americans who could have lost two of our loved ones from indiscriminate gunfire, but we have been lucky, so far. Today I keep wondering why we cant get assault rifles, weapons of war, off our streets? How can reasonable minds even differ on this issue? Their only purpose is the mass killing of human beings. Surely we can all come together and at long last ban the sale and possession of assault rifles and ammunition. There is no other right in our country that comes with almost no limits. How many more innocent lives must be lost before we act? Jean Burke-Martinez, Los Angeles .. To the editor: Its time to take a knee against all those supporters of the 2nd Amendment and loose gun ownership laws. But we all know what will happen. First, we will give prayers and condolences. Second, we will be told, Now is not the time to discuss political issues. Third, there is no third because nothing will happen to prevent a similar future event. If the bodies of children from Sandy Hook couldnt do it, why should 50-plus corpses on the Las Vegas Strip change anything? Stephen Saks, Santa Monica .. To the editor: To the sorrow of many, the American Killing Machine, i.e., a citizen armed with an assault weapon, arrived in Las Vegas on October 1 , 2017, and murdered at least 50 people and injured over 400. This occurrence in unique to the United States as our nation is burdened by the NRA and its wholly owned subsidiary, the Republican Party. All other Western countries are not so burdened and consequently do not have citizens showing up at events with assault weapons, murdering fellow citizens. Now we have a president who supports the notion that everyone has the right to go anywhere armed with whatever weapon of mass destruction is available . God help us. Frank Ferrone, El Cajon .. To the editor: We dont need gun control in this country; we need no guns in this country. These mass shootings are occurring with disturbing frequency. We deflect these murders by blaming the mentally ill, terrorists or religious zealots. Who cares why this happens? Do we really think we can monitor every insane person, religious zealot or would-be terrorist? Lets stop hiding behind the Constitution and grow up to the realities of today. For those people who feel they need a gun to overpower an intruder, get an alarm system. Or better yet, a dog. Paula Petrotta, Rancho Palos Verdes .. To the editor: Please issue my standard heartfelt response to the latest mass shooting: 1. Begin all public comment with, Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. 2. Now is not the time to discuss guns in America. 3. Observe a moment of silence at all public events this week. 4.Repeat Nos. 1-3 over the next few days. 5. Ultimately do nothing. Jon Merritt, Los Angeles Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook To the editor: As we lament the latest gun-massacre tragedy and mourn for its victims, let us send a message to the apparently tone-deaf National Rifle Assn., which insists that guns themselves do not kill. (White House says too soon to talk gun limits or other policy responses to shooting, Oct. 2) As has been proved time and again in our country, guns kill. And in the hands of Americans, they kill with much greater frequency than almost any country in the world that is not engaged in a war. So as we search for answers to this new tragedy and as we seek to place blame on those who might be responsible, let us consider the NRA and its fervid support of unbridled gun ownership. Also, let us stop misinterpreting the Constitution in regards to gun ownership. Americans who favor gun control are in the majority. Why then do our laws not reflect the will of the majority? Is it that we are not being listened to? Or, and shame on us if this is the case, is it that we arent speaking up? Advertisement I suggest now is the time to speak up and now is the time to use the loudest voice we have: our vote. Maria Elena Dunlap, Rancho Palos Verdes .. To the editor: I know that we have a 2nd Amendment right. I also know that we have the right to life. Where those two rights intersect, as they most vividly did in Las Vegas and elsewhere, why are we not employing better sense? And by sense, I mean a sense that is appropriate to circumstances in 21st century America, rather than that in the 13 colonies. We need adequate gun control now. If we cant trust all of the states to be sensible, then the federal government ought to take action. A presidential platitude that our unity will not be shattered by evil is meaningless if we can be shattered by our own stupidity. Gregory Hach, Torrance .. To the editor: Until our elected representatives develop some collective spine and can stand up to the gun lobby, then such mass murders will continue to occur indefinitely. I behold this truth to be self-evident: Military-style, rapid-fire assault weapons do not belong in the hands of civilians in a modern society. They should be outlawed at once. Guy Brown, Santa Barbara .. To the editor: You can restrict the purchase and sale of firearms and ammunition all you like, but it actually would not make much of a difference to would-be shooters. If people have a desire to do bad things, theyre going to do them. If somebody has an inclination to do something terrible to a person, or in this case, a large group of people, gun control wont stop him. Unfortunately, the age-old saying of if theres a will, theres a way applies here. Its a hard idea to follow, but its true. Gun control is a double-edged sword. On one hand, yes, it could reduce the chance of someone producing another horrible mass shooting. On the other hand, gun control also makes it difficult for a person to have the means to defend himself in a situation like this, and that is something that definitely needs to be considered. George Zuniga, Long Beach Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Orange County at center of fundraising in Californias most contested races By Sarah D. Wire More than half of the money raised for the most contested House races in California is going to candidates in Orange County, another indication of its starring role in the Democratic effort to win back control of the House next year. Of the 80 or so challengers in California, 27 are running in Orange County. A Los Angeles Times analysis of this years campaign finance filings found it is also where the cash is going to: About $15 million of the nearly $28.5 million raised this year for 13 key races went to candidates in just four Orange County districts: Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Jerry Brown plans climate trip to Vatican, Belgium, Norway and Germany By Chris Megerian (Eric Risberg / Associated Press) Gov. Jerry Brown has mapped out a busy European travel schedule that includes attending the next United Nations conference on climate change in Bonn, Germany. While the White House declares war on climate science and retreats from the Paris Agreement, California is doing the opposite and taking action, Brown said in a statement. We are joining with our partners from every part of the world to do what needs to be done to prevent irreversible climate change. Roughly two dozen public events are planned over 10 days, starting with a speech at a Vatican symposium on Saturday. Brown wont be the only California politician at the conference. Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) is speaking later that day, and state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) is scheduled to appear Friday. After the Vatican, the governor is bouncing between Germany and Belgium, plus a stop in Norway to meet with scientists. Hes holding press conferences with the president of the European Parliament and the minister-president of Baden-Wurttemberg, a German state that has collaborated with California on an international climate pact. Once the Bonn conference begins, much of Browns focus will be on how states, provinces and other local governments can tackle climate change absent stronger action from national leaders. He was named a special advisor to the U.N. conference for states and regions earlier this year. Brown is scheduled to appear with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Nov. 11 and speak at numerous other events, a packed itinerary much like the one he kept at the Paris climate conference two years ago. His last event is expected to take place Nov. 14. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California business tax incentive program should end, legislative analyst says By Liam Dillon California no longer should give specific tax incentives to businesses and instead should provide broad-based tax relief, the states nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office said in a new report. The analysts office examined California Competes, a program that began four years ago to give tax credits to businesses looking to move to the state or remain here, and found it puts existing companies that dont receive the awards at a disadvantage without clear benefits to the overall economy. Picking winners and losers inevitably leads to problems. In the case of California Competes, we are struck by how awarding benefits to a select group of businesses harms their competitors in California, the report said. We also think the resources consumed by the program are not as focused as they should be on winning economic development competitions with other states to attract major employers that sell to customers around the country and the world. California Competes has allowed the awarding of nearly $800 million in tax credits. The legislative analyst found that more than a third of the credits awarded through California Competes resulted in no change to the overall economy and put the states existing businesses at a competitive disadvantage. The analyst couldnt assess the value of the remainder of the credits because its impossible to know how businesses would have reacted had they not received them. California Competes is scheduled to end next year. The analysts office recommends replacing it by lowering business taxes overall or, should lawmakers want to keep it, tailor the program more narrowly to focus on attracting and retaining high-value companies. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Electric companies found at fault in North Bay fires wont be able to pass costs onto residents under proposed bill By Liam Dillon Jason Miller, 45, plants an American flag on the charred remains of his house in Coffey Park. He had lived in the Santa Rosa neighborhood for 23 years. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) If electric utilities are found at fault in the recent wildfires in the North Bay, a group of state lawmakers want to ensure they dont pass along their costs to residents. Victims of devastating fires and other customers should not be forced to pay for the mistakes made by utilities, state Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) said in a release. Hill is one of four Bay Area legislators who said they plan to introduce a bill when lawmakers return to the Capitol in January to block any effort by utilities found at fault to recoup any costs from ratepayers. Investigators have not identified the cause of the wildfires that ripped across Northern California this month that left more than 40 people dead and thousands of homes destroyed. But the lawmakers said their legislation is motivated by San Diego Gas & Electrics efforts to recover costs from wildfires in that region a decade ago. Co-authoring the bill with Hill is Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael). Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Proposed initiative would end early release for some crimes, allow more DNA collection By Patrick McGreevy (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) A coalition including police officers and prosecutors on Monday proposed a California state initiative that would end early release of rapists and child traffickers and expand the number of crimes for which authorities could collect DNA samples from those convicted. The ballot measure is sponsored by the California Public Safety Partnership, and would reverse some elements of Proposition 47, which was approved by voters in 2014 and reduced some crimes deemed nonviolent from a felony to a misdemeanor. The proposed initiative would add 15 crimes to the list of violent crimes for which early release is not an option, including child abuse, rape of an unconscious person, trafficking a child for sex, domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon. These reforms make sure that truly violent criminals stay in jail and dont get out early, said Sacramento County Dist. Atty. Anne Marie Schubert, a leader of the coalition. The initiative would also allow DNA collection for certain crimes, including drug offenses, that were reduced to misdemeanors under Proposition 47. Assemblyman Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) said there have been 2,000 fewer hits matching DNA to cold cases annually in recent years. He cited one case from 1989 involving the murder of two young girls in Sacramento that was solved last year by DNA taken from a man in a drug case before those were excluded from DNA collection. If that case happens today, right now, it does not get solved, said Cooper, a former sheriffs captain. Changes in law also made theft of goods valued at less than $950 a misdemeanor, so some criminals are committing serial thefts and keeping each one to $949 or less, Cooper said. The initiative would make serial theft a felony. The measure also mandates a parole revocation hearing for anyone who violates the terms of their parole three times. A Whittier police officer was recently murdered by a parolee who had violated parole five times, said Los Angeles Police Protective League President Craig Lally, who supports the initiative. A representative of the group behind Proposition 47 said it was not reasonable to blame the ballot measure for an uptick in some crimes in some parts of the state. Fluctuations in crime have much more to do with economic and social policies and practices, said Tom Hoffman, a spokesman for the group Californians for Safety and Justice. Its so much more complicated than one piece of legislation as an issue. The proponents of the initiative need to collect signatures from 365,880 voters by the end of April to qualify the initiative for the November 2018 election. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement When men with power go too far: After years of whispers, women speak out about harassment in Californias Capitol By Chris Megerian Tina McKinnor, left, Sadalia King, Amy Thoma Tan, Jodi Hicks and Sabrina Lockhart have come forward to talk about their experiences with sexual harassment at the Capitol. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) It started with a dinner invitation from a former assemblyman more than twice her age. He had offered his services as a mentor, but his hand reaching for her knee under the table revealed other intentions. Then came the late-night phone calls and unexpected appearances at events she had to attend for her job in the Capitol. Fresh out of college, Amy Brown did what she thought women were supposed to do in these situations she reported him. The former assemblyman accused her of slander, an experience that left her so humiliated that she left Sacramento for a new job in San Jose. I immediately got the hell out of town, Brown said. I felt like the people the person I was relying on for advancement in my career was preying on me. Stories like these have taken many forms through the years. Sometimes its a professional meeting that turned inappropriately sexual, or its a groping hand on a backside. In one case, a woman said a lawmaker masturbated in front of her in a bar bathroom. No matter the details, each story involves a man with power the kind of power bestowed by voters, an influential lobbying client or a supply of campaign cash. And instead of wielding that power to shape politics or public policy, the man used it to proposition women or to touch them inappropriately. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Big jump in the number of House challengers isnt great news for California Republicans By Christine Mai-Duc So far this year, 80 challengers have reported raising money across California for the 2018 midterm elections, more than triple the number who had done so at this point in the 2016 election. Collectively, theyve raised more than $14.9 million, and 70% of that has gone to the four Republican-held districts in Orange County that Democrats consider key to their chances. There havent been this many congressional challengers in Californias House races this early in the game since at least 2003, and that could be bad news for Republican incumbents. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias Senate culture doesnt encourage women to file complaints. Heres how that could change By Melanie Mason Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), shown in September, acknowledged that the Senate could improve its procedures for reporting misconduct. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) In 2014, reeling from scandals that led to the suspension of three Democratic senators, Californias state Senate changed its policies to make it easier for employees, members and the public to sound the alarm about misconduct. A Times analysis of those rule changes shows a lack of follow-through to make reporting complaints more accessible. And the lawmaker who worked on changes in the Senates operations after that scandal says more could have been done. Then-Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) suggested at the time that the move would lead to positive cultural change and strengthen the integrity of this great institution. But as the Capitol now soul-searches over allegations of widespread sexual harassment, the current legislative leaders acknowledge the culture still does not encourage women to file complaints. The Senates effort to reform itself three years ago and how it fell short is instructive as both legislative houses embark on a new round of self-improvement. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Have you experienced sexual harassment in government or politics? Tell us your story If you work in government or politics and have experienced sexual harassment, wed like to hear from you. Please tell us your story using the form below. We will not share your personal contact information. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Assembly Speaker applauds Capitol staffers bravery in going public with complaint against assemblyman By Melanie Mason Gyore spoke publicly for the first time about a 2009 complaint she filed against Bocanegra. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) said Friday that the experience of a staffer who filed a complaint eight years ago against now-Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra illustrates why the Capitol culture must change. Elise Flynn Gyore told The Times about her experience filing a complaint against Bocanegra, who was then a legislative staffer, after she said he groped her and followed her in a manner she found threatening at a 2009 after-work event in a Sacramento bar. The Friday morning story in The Times was the first time she had spoken publicly of the incident and the complaint, which resulted in Bocanegra being disciplined. I appreciate Ms. Gyores bravery in bringing this incident forward. We have to change the culture in the Capitol and in society and her experience shows why, Rendon said in a statement Friday afternoon. How incidents of harassment were handled in the past can inform our current efforts to improve the system and to build a future where these injustices are prevented before they happen and no employee has to fear harassment or abuse. Bocanegra, who was first elected in 2012, is part of Rendons leadership team, serving in the position of majority whip. A top lieutenant to Rendon, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), also chimed in with support for Gyore on Friday. I dont know Elise Gyore. But, I believe her & Im grateful for her bravery. This is unacceptable. Lorena (@LorenaSGonzalez) October 27, 2017 Former Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles), who led the Assembly from 2010 to 2014, said he was unaware of the complaints existence until The Times report. He said he had never heard of any complaints formal or informal against Bocanegra, nor had he witnessed any inappropriate behavior from the Pacoima Democrat. Also on Friday, the organizers of We Said Enough, a recently launched campaign against harassment, thanked Gyore for sharing her story. This is an act of true courage and we support every woman who chooses to do so. Sadly, this story is just one example of how the existing system fails victims and survivors. We are resolute in our call for action, the group said in a statement. The groups organizers added that they are calling for an overhaul to the complaint process such as confidential reporting, an independent oversight body and whistleblower protections to better guard against harassment. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Jerry Brown says California Republicans have slavish adherence to their partys tax plan By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli/AP) Gov. Jerry Brown took aim at the sweeping tax overhaul plan in Congress and Californias Republican delegation on Thursday, saying their support of the plan is wrong economically and morally. Brown, who joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on a conference call with reporters, aimed most of his fire at the provision to cancel deducting local and state taxes paid from federal taxes. Both governors said it could have a profound impact on their states bottom lines. Brown criticized Californias 14 Republican House members for their Thursday budget vote, which allows for a $1.5-trillion deficit to help finance tax cuts. I know there is a lot of slavish adherence to the Republican leadership, Brown said. Its bad for California. Theyre doing a disservice. California and New York taxpayers have long been able to deduct the cost of paying local and state taxes from their federal tax liability. Both governors said Thursday they believed the effort by President Trump and Republicans to be at least somewhat motivated by their states voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump last November. Its using a handful of states to finance the tax cuts for their states, Cuomo said. Brown, who sent personal letters to all California GOP members of the House urging them not to go along, said the proposal was particularly unfair in light of how it would not apply equally to corporations. Its a gross manipulation of our tax code, he said. Its a Hail Mary pass by the Republicans. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Heres why Republicans could help send Dianne Feinstein back to Washington even if they cant stand her By Mark Z. Barabak Its the voters like Republican Larry Ward conservatives who feel voiceless and adrift, bobbing like red specks in a blue sea who could help usher the 84-year-old Dianne Feinstein back to Washington with a new lease on her Senate seat. Like most voters here in El Dorado County, Ward supported President Trump. He cant understand why Democrats and the media pile on and keep him from cutting taxes and fulfilling a campaign pledge to repeal Obamacare. He certainly doesnt think Feinsteins been too kind to Trump the argument made by her newly announced challenger, Kevin de Leon. The state senator from Los Angeles and others on the left were spitting fire a few weeks back when Feinstein allowed as how she hoped, given time and a radical transformation, Trump might end up being a good president. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Car runs into immigration protesters outside Rep. Ed Royces district office By Sarah D. Wire A vehicle drove into a group of protesters outside of GOP Rep. Ed Royces office in Brea on Thursday afternoon, but no injuries have been reported to police so far. (Tony Mendoza / Unite Here) A vehicle drove into a group of protesters outside GOP Rep. Ed Royces office in Brea on Thursday afternoon, but no injuries have been reported to police so far. The alleged driver, 56-year-old Daniel Wenzek of Brea, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was booked and released pending further investigation, according to Lt. Kelly Carpenter of the Brea Police Department. Organizers say several hundred people were protesting outside Royces office, many of them arriving on buses after a morning news conference with elected officials and labor leaders in Los Angeles MacArthur Park. They were trying to deliver letters to Royce (R-Fullerton) about what losing temporary protected immigration status would mean to them, said Andrew Cohen, a communications specialist with the organization Unite Here. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California Secretary of State Alex Padilla backs Gavin Newsom for governor over former colleague Antonio Villaraigosa By Seema Mehta California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, left, and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the highest-ranking Latino in a statewide elected position in California, endorsed Gavin Newsom for governor on Thursday. Padilla said he had known Newsom for more than a decade and admired his track record as mayor of San Francisco and now lieutenant governor. Its always important to [have] leaders that are committed and get it done, and thats what Ive seen in Gavin Newsom over and over and over again, Padilla said, speaking to dozens of Newsom supporters at a union hall in downtown Los Angeles. The endorsement was seen as a slap at former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is one of Newsoms top rivals in the governors race. Padilla was president of the Los Angeles City Council during the two years Villaraigosa was a member of the body, and for the first six months of Villaraigosas tenure as mayor. But the two men have never been viewed as close allies. They come from different power bases for Latino politicians in Los Angeles Villaraigosa from the Eastside and Padilla from the San Fernando Valley. They also have not supported each others political pursuits. In 2001, Padilla backed James Hahn over Villaraigosa in the mayoral race. In 2006, Villaraigosa backed Cindy Montanez in a state Senate race over Padilla. Padilla said he has a relationship with all of the top Democrats running for governor. This is a tough one because I do know Antonio Villaraigosa and I know John Chiang and I know Gavin Newsom, but I think that because of whats happening in the political environment at this time, this isnt one where we can sit back, Yeah. OK. Cool, lets see who wins and well work with whoever, Padilla said. If there is a candidate I believe is best for the future of California, Im compelled to weigh in and thats what Im doing today. Luis Vizcaino, a Vilaraigosa spokesman, said the announcement was to be expected and noted that Padilla had a leadership role in Newsoms short-lived 2009 gubernatorial campaign. The only surprise here is we thought Alex had endorsed Gavin months ago considering he was Gavins Campaign Chair the first time he ran for governor, Vizcaino said in an email. Villaraigosa and Chiang, the state treasurer, have also received key endorsements from Latino politicians. Villaraigosa has the backing of the Latino Caucus in the state Legislature, former Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina and Lucille Roybal-Allard. Chiang has won the support of Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar. Updated at 2:07 p.m.: This post was updated to add a comment from Villaraigosas campaign. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Californias Rep. Paul Cook picked to lead Foreign Affairs subcommittee By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) has been named chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) made the announcement in a news release Thursday morning following the former subcommittee chairman Rep. Jeff Duncans (R-S.C.) departure from the committee this week. As a former Marine Corps colonel, Rep. Cook is deeply committed to defending U.S. interests worldwide. I look forward to working with him to continue holding the [Raul] Castro and [Nicolas] Maduro regimes [of Cuba and Venezuela, respectively] accountable for their brutal repression, while increasing U.S. commercial opportunities throughout the hemisphere, Royce said in a statement. California holds several leadership positions on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) is the chairman of the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats subcommittee. Rep. Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks is the highest ranking Democrat on the Asia and the Pacific subcommittee and Rep. Karen Bass of Los Angeles is the highest ranking Democrat on the Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations subcommittee. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print GOP tightens restrictions on Rep. Dana Rohrabachers subcommittee because of scrutiny over his Russia connections By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Dana Rohrabacher speaks to Russian lawmakers at a meeting in the Russian parliaments lower house in Moscow in 2013. (Misha Japaridze / Associated Press) The congressional subcommittee led by California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) is being heavily monitored by GOP leaders because of allegations the Orange County congressman has been overly influenced by his connections to Russia. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) will be more involved in guiding the direction of the subcommittee that is in part responsible for examining U.S. policy in Russia, said a senior congressional aide who asked not to be identified in order to discuss internal committee matters. Rohrabacher has long said that the United States needs a better relationship with Russia, puzzling colleagues who have speculated privately about why hes willing to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Connections between Rohrabacher and Russian officials have been newly highlighted as Congress investigates Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Californias GOP members vote in favor of Republican budget, paving way for tax overhaul By Sarah D. Wire All 14 California House Republicans on Thursday voted in favor of the GOPs budget, which paves the way for overhauling the U.S. tax system. The budget, which allows for a $1.5-trillion deficit increase that sets the stage for President Trumps tax cuts, passed 216 to 212, with 20 Republicans joining Democrats in opposing it. At the root of their objection is the potential repeal of the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which would hit especially hard in wealthier states like New York and California. Gov. Jerry Brown had implored the GOP members not to support the budget, saying there hasnt been enough time to fully understand what it will mean to the estimated 1 in 3 Californians who claim the deduction. Democrats are targeting nine of the states 14 Republican-held districts, and have said theyll make the elimination of the tax deduction an issue in the campaign. Rep. Steve Knight of Palmdale said he voted for the budget because hes been assured that a fix will be made to the tax plan that will address or offset the potential tax increase caused by the elimination of the tax deduction. The tax plan is scheduled to be unveiled next week. Still worried about it, still working on it, Knight said after the vote. I am confident [it will be fixed], but Ive also said that is my No. 1 priority, so if we cant get it fixed then were going to have problems. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Jerry Brown urges California GOP House members to vote no on budget bill: First lets get the facts By Sarah D. Wire Gov. Jerry Brown implores each GOP member of California delegation to vote no on budget today over end of state and local tax deduction. pic.twitter.com/bkCihAtvFG Sarah D. Wire (@sarahdwire) October 26, 2017 Gov. Jerry Brown implored Californias GOP House members to oppose their partys budget bill over a provision that will end a deduction for state and local taxes used by one in three Californians. In letters to each Republican member of the California congressional delegation, Brown asked the members to at least ask for more time to learn the specifics of the plan. First lets get the facts. Then, debate the issue. And then we can decide whats the right thing to do, Brown says in his letter. The potential repeal of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes paid would hit especially hard in wealthier areas. The vote is scheduled to take place Thursday morning. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Six female California lawmakers back Dianne Feinstein in Senate race By Sarah D. Wire Assemblywomen Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, right, and Susan Talamantes-Eggman in May. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Six California Assembly committee chairwomen endorsed Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday over their state Capitol colleague, Senate leader Kevin de Leon. In a statement released by Feinsteins campaign, Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), Blanca E. Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) and Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) said the state needs Feinstein in these uncertain and difficult times. We are proud to endorse Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has been an inspiration for all of us. The first woman to serve on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Feinstein is now the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. In that position, she is defending California against the Republicans and the Trump administration on critical issues like immigration, womens rights, federal judicial appointments, LGBT rights, civil rights, and gun control, they said. De Leon is the highest-profile Democrat to announce plans to challenge Feinstein in her bid for a fifth full term. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Kevin de Leon vows to back Medicare for all, signaling key issue in 2018 Senate campaign By Sarah D. Wire State Senate leader Kevin de Leons opening salvo in the U.S. Senate race against Sen. Dianne Feinstein takes on one of the main frustrations progressives have voiced with her, a refusal to support single-payer health care. I believe that every family, it doesnt make a difference who you are or where you come from, deserves to have quality healthcare. It is a universal right, De Leon says in a video released by his campaign Wednesday. Its not the exclusive privilege of the elite and the wealthy. The concept of single-payer healthcare has grown in popularity among Democrats since the 2016 election, with some members of the so-called Sanders wing of the party urging Democrats to use support for it as a litmus test in 2018. Such a program is unlikely to become law while Republicans control both chambers of Congress. Feinstein has said she doesnt support expanding Medicare to the entire population at this stage and has cited the cost of doing so as a reason. If he were elected, De Leon would join Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and 15 other Democratic Senators as co-sponsors of the bill proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sen. Kamala Harris wont back federal spending bill without DACA fix By Sarah D. Wire Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that she wont back a bill that allows the federal government to spend money unless Congress has a legislative fix to address the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people brought to the country illegally as children. I will not vote for an end-of-year spending bill until we are clear about what we are going to do to protect and take care of our DACA young people in this country, Harris said. Each day in the life of these young people is a very long time, and weve got to stop playing politics with their lives. President Trump announced in September that he was giving Congress until March before the program would shutter and recipients would begin losing work permits and protection from deportation. An estimated 200,000 of the nearly 800,000 recipients of the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals program live in California, giving the Golden State an outsized stake in resolving their legal status. Harris spoke at a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday with other members of the California delegation to urge quick action on the issue. It is absolutely urgent that we pass the legislation, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said. We are determined that the Dream Act will be the law of the land before the year is out. Democrats and Republicans are negotiating the details of a fix, and when something could pass. Pelosi has hinted that if Republicans dont have the votes within their party to pass the end-of-year spending bill, which Congress has to pass to keep the government open, Democrats will offer their votes for a price. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rep. Dana Rohrabacher gets a second Republican challenger By Christine Mai-Duc A second Republican is jumping in to challenge GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, and hes pitching himself as an alternative for conservatives who are fed up with Rohrabachers controversial antics. Paul Martin, 52, is a freelance writer and self-proclaimed Reagan Republican who lives in Costa Mesa. Rohrabacher is himself a former speechwriter for Reagan. Martin grew up in Anaheim with an Italian immigrant mother and a Mexican American father, and says hes opposed to many of the policies coming out of the Trump administration. Ive had enormous struggle with the rhetoric thats coming out of Washington, D.C., and even more so with the rhetoric that comes out of Dana Rohrabachers mouth, Martin said in an interview. Its just not in the spirit that I grew up with. Following President Trumps travel ban announcement, Martin started the Christian-Muslim Alliance, a campaign aimed at fostering dialogue between people of different faiths. He describes himself as a raging centrist on a personal blog, where hes criticized Trumps response to white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va., and Rohrabacher for taking money from the National Rifle Assn. Still, Martin says hes a true conservative who wants to focus on issues of human dignity and bring better-paying jobs to the district. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gov. Jerry Brown, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott send a message with their World Series bet By John Myers (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) As governors of states hit hard by natural disasters, the leaders of California and Texas hope to send a message with their wager on the outcome of the World Series. The winner will receive food or drink from either Californias wine country or Houstons best barbecue joints. The bet, made Tuesday before the start of the first World Series game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros, came with a request from both Gov. Jerry Brown and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for tourists to come back to those regions as soon as possible. While we dont expect to have to send any vino to Texas, we hope travelers from all over the world yes, even the Lone Star State will continue to visit California, said Brown in a written statement. If the Dodgers win, Abbott will send Brown Texas-style barbecue and a six-pack of Houston-brewed beer. Should the Astros prevail, Brown has promised wine from the Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino regions. Texas and California are recovering from some of the worst natural disasters our states have ever encountered, Abbott said in a joint statement from the two governors. As we work to overcome these challenges, our two states are united by Americas pastime as we cheer on our home teams in the World Series. Go Astros! Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California Assembly to hold public hearings to address sexual harassment By Melanie Mason Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, right. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) The California Assembly will hold public hearings next month to address sexual harassment in the Capitol, Democratic lawmakers announced Tuesday, as allegations of pervasive mistreatment continue to ripple through Sacramento. The announcement comes one day after the California Senate announced it has hired lawyers and human resources consultants to investigate allegations of widespread sexual harassment and evaluate Senate procedures. In a joint statement, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) and Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) said that sexual harassment of any kind is intolerable. The lawmakers say a three-pronged approach is necessary to confront the issue: changing a climate that has been permissive to sexual harassment, offering victims have a safe place to discuss complaints and ensuring that sexual harassment is dealt with expeditiously and that the seriousness of consequences match the violations committed, they said in a statement. Vowing a comprehensive effort to address these issues, lawmakers said there will be public hearings in November to discuss how the Legislature can tackle the issue. The panel, tasked to discuss harassment, discrimination and retaliation prevention and response, is chaired by Friedman and was formed in June, though it has not yet met. The panel is a subcommittee of the powerful Rules committee, chaired by Cooley, which functions as the chambers de facto human resources department. As we move forward, we must remember that the bottom line is harassers need to stop their abusive actions, the statement said. The rest of us need to call out harassment and abuse by its name and stigmatize this behavior each and every single time we see it. Adama Iwu, who helped organize the public letter published last week decrying an atmosphere of sexual harassment in the Capitol, said she and some of the women who signed the letter were concerned if any victim would be asked to testify with no legal guarantee against retaliation. Furthermore, we are concerned about the divergent paths of the Assembly and Senate, Iwu said in a statement. It is imperative that we work with outside experts, as part of a public independent review with whistleblower protections, to address the pervasive culture of sexual harassment in the Capitol community. Meanwhile, the trade association representing lobbyists, the Institute of Governmental Advocates, said in a statement Tuesday that it unequivocally supports [the women who signed the letter] and any other person in our Capitol community who has suffered harassment. Dates for the hearings, which are expected in late November, have not been set. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Recall effort against Sen. Josh Newman still on track after too few voters request to remove their names from petitions By Patrick McGreevy State Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), left, listens to debate in June on a measure to change the rules governing recall elections. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Of the more than 70,600 voters who signed petitions to hold a recall vote on state Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton, only 849 asked that their signatures be withdrawn by the deadline, clearing a major hurdle for an election on whether to oust the Democratic lawmaker, officials said Tuesday. Opponents of the recall needed to get more than 7,000 voters to withdraw their signatures to deprive supporters of the 63,593 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot, under a new system approved recently by the Democratic-controlled Legislature that slows down the process. Sen. Josh Newman has spent months lying to his constituents by claiming people were duped into signing the recall petition against him, and with todays tally, he has been unmasked again as a pathological liar who is unfit to hold office, said Carl DeMaio, a Republican activist heading the recall drive. We eagerly look forward to voters having a chance to vote him out for his lies and his decision to increase the gas tax. Newman won a close contest last November in a district formerly represented by a Republican. He was targeted for recall by Republican activists for voting in April for a $52-billion transportation plan that raises gas taxes and imposes a new annual vehicle fee. A successful recall would deprive Democrats of a supermajority in the Senate. Once Secretary of State Alex Padilla certifies that there are sufficient valid signatures based on the data collected Tuesday, the new process calls for him to notify the state Department of Finance, which will be given 30 business days to prepare a cost estimate for the recall election. Once the estimate is prepared, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee will have 30 calendar days to review and comment on the estimate, said Sam Mahood, a spokesman for Padilla. On the following business day, the secretary of State will certify to the governor that the recall has qualified for the ballot. That could happen as late as Jan. 11 if the reviews take all the time allotted. Gov. Jerry Brown must then call an election to be held 60 to 80 days later, or within 180 days if there is a regularly scheduled election within Senate District 29 during that period. There will be a June 2018 primary election for the Assembly districts that make up the Senate District, so Brown could consolidate the Senate recall vote with that state primary. However, the new, longer process could end up being abandoned if supporters of the recall are successful in a lawsuit alleging the new rules are improper. At the same time, opponents of the recall have filed a lawsuit to block the recall, alleging petition circulators misled voters by saying their signatures would help repeal the gas tax. The underhanded methods used to qualify this recall likely represent one of the worst cases of voter fraud in California history, said Derek Humphrey, a consultant for the Newman campaign. Now, millions of tax dollars will be wasted to redo an election the Sacramento special interests lost barely a year ago. Its a shameful waste of money that voters will soundly reject and vote to keep Josh Newman fighting for them in the state Senate. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rep. Devin Nunes announces investigation into Obama-era uranium deal By David S. Cloud House Republicans are opening investigations of the Obama administrations 2010 decision to approve the sale of American uranium mines to a Russian-backed company, and California Rep. Devin Nunes is at the forefront. Nunes (R-Tulare), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said at a news conference that his panel and the House Oversight Committee would jointly probe the deal, which President Trump has called the real Russia story. Nunes and other Trump supporters have raised the 7-year-old uranium deal while four congressional committees and Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III are looking into Russia interference the 2016 election and whether Moscow had any direct links to the Trump campaign. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Former deputy director of California tax agency says he was fired for whistleblowing By Patrick McGreevy The state Capitol (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A former deputy director of the state Board of Equalization said Tuesday he was improperly fired this month after cooperating with a state Department of Justice investigation into allegations that agency officials improperly used public resources. Mark DeSio was fired Oct. 12 as the director for external affairs of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, which recently was split off from the board in an agency shakeup. He has filed a whistleblower complaint and appeal to the state Personnel Board seeking reinstatement to his position. He alleges the agency before its split up was rife with nepotism and that there is improper hiring and use of employees from one fund to instead help elected board members in field offices. For more than a year, DeSio gave information about the BOE to the Department of Justice and several state agencies and auditors, right up until the time of his firing, said a press release from his attorney, Mary-Alice Coleman. Despite being pressured, DeSio refused to engage in certain activities. DeSios job was threatened multiple times during the course of his employment. In April, Gov. Jerry Brown called for a Justice Department probe of allegations that employees of the state Board of Equalization misused state resources assigning high-paid tax auditors to tasks such as directing traffic for community events promoting elected board members. Brown also set in motion steps that broke up the agency in June, putting the five-member board in one office, and tax collection and appeal system in two other offices. At the time, Brown cited serious problems of mismanagement identified in a Department of Finance audit of the agency, which is responsible for collecting $60 billion in tax revenue annually. DeSio said he has also provided information on alleged improprieties to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which investigates political wrongdoing. Days before he was notified of his termination, DeSio said he told Department of Justice investigators that the board had misused 30 information officer positions as personal staff for board members. He also said supervisors overruled him when he refused to hire 10 new call center employees from funds not set aside for that purpose. He said 10 people were hired even after Brown had revoked the agencys hiring power. DeSios complaint alleges that in August 2016, board member Jerome Horton pressured DeSio to promote a particular employee who was funded by DeSios office, but actually worked in Hortons office. When DeSio refused, saying the employee was not the top-scoring candidate, the complaint says Horton became angry and his chief of staff threatened DeSio. Board Executive Director David Gau, the complaint alleges, contacted Desio and told him to either do what Horton wanted or be fired. After meeting with Department of Finance auditors, DeSio said he was contacted by Horton in November 2016. Horton demanded to know what DOF had asked and what documentation Desio had provided in response. DeSio said he refused to disclose what he gave the auditor. Horton threatened DeSio, saying, I only need one more vote to take you out, the complaint alleges. Horton disputed the allegations. If he has filed a complaint, the facts will show that I had an excellent professional relationship with Mr. DeSio and the allegations are not true, I had nothing to do with his termination, Horton said in a statement. Gau did not immediately respond to requests for comment. DeSio also alleged multiple cases of nepotism in the agency. In one example, he alleges agency officials improperly orchestrated the hiring of the man whose wife worked for a top manager at the agency. Updated at 3 pm to include comment from Board member Jerome Horton. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Want the Sierra Clubs endorsement? Here are its standards By Chris Megerian The Sierra Club is setting some ground rules for California gubernatorial candidates that may want its endorsement. No. 1 on the list is independence from the oil industry, which has been a fault line in the Capitol during debates over climate change policies. This year, given how important Californias role has become to the nation for leadership on the environment, it made sense to lay out in advance what some of the overall characteristics that the endorsement committee will be looking for in candidates, said Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California. Other requirements include independence from the tobacco and e-cigarette industry and a commitment to public health, environmental equity and transparency. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement California Senate hires investigators to look into sexual harassment allegations By Melanie Mason California Senate leader Kevin de Leon will hire two outside firms to look into allegations of a widespread culture of sexual harassment in the state Capitol. De Leon announced Monday he has hired the law office of Amy Oppenheimer to conduct an external investigation into harassment and assault allegations, and the consulting firm CPS HR Consulting to review Senate policies on harassment, discrimination and retaliation. De Leon also sent letters to lobbyists in the Capitol community detailing how existing rules protect non-employees. Theres always more employers can do to protect their employees, De Leon said in a statement. Everyone deserves a workplace free of fear, harassment and sexual misbehavior and I applaud the courage of women working in and around the Capitol who are coming forward and making their voices heard. The women behind an open letter sent last week calling out a pervasive culture of mistreatment in the political industry said that De Leons actions were insufficient. More than 140 women, including legislators, Capitol staff, political consultants and lobbyists, signed the letter. To find the truth and rebuild trust, we need a truly independent investigation, not a secretly hand-picked self-investigation, said Adama Iwu, a government affairs director for Visa who spearheaded the campaign. We need full transparency. How was this firm selected? Who will they report their findings to? What exactly are they investigating? Is the Assembly involved? Meanwhile, the women who have signed the letter, who have coalesced into a group called We Said Enough, announced they were formalizing their advocacy efforts on Monday by launching a nonprofit organization. The group plans to hold forums to outline a plan of action for improving how harassment and abuse complaints are reported, investigated and addressed. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kevin de Leon has millions in state campaign accounts that cant be rolled over to his Senate race By Patrick McGreevy State Senate leader Kevin De Leon has millions of dollars socked away in state campaign accounts, but federal law prohibits him from rolling over the money into his federal campaign for the U.S. Senate. So what options does the Los Angeles legislator have as he puts together a campaign to unseat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat, in next years election? Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Jerry Brown heads to Washington to talk about the threat of nuclear war Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Politics Podcast: What happens next in Sacramentos discussion of sexual harassment is important By John Myers Theres a big, challenging question beyond the initial shock of sexual harassment stories told by women working in California politics: What happens next? On this weeks California Politics Podcast, we discuss the allegations that have emerged from an open letter first reported by The Times on Tuesday. And a key part of the next chapter is how legislative leaders and the states major political parties respond to the concerns raised in the letter signed by more than 140 women. We also take a closer look at the new effort by wealthy activist Tom Steyer to demand impeachment proceedings against President Trump, and whether the San Francisco Democrat is thinking seriously about jumping into the U.S. Senate race. And with Gov. Jerry Browns action on hundreds of bills complete, we offer up a few notable decisions in those final signings and vetoes. Im joined by Times staff writer Melanie Mason and Marisa Lagos of KQED. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sen. Tom Cotton chides Californians: Your sanctuary cities werent enough, you had to have a sanctuary state instead By Phil Willon Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton addresses the California Republican Party at its fall convention in Anaheim. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton told California Republicans they should expect better days ahead, in part, because of liberal overreach by California Democrats on taxes, immigration and other issues affecting the daily lives of working-class Americans. Cotton invoked the memory of former president and California governor Ronald Reagan as a guiding light, and ridiculed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) as a harbinger of doom. All it takes is a little new thinking applied with old principles. The principles of Ronald Reagan, Cotton told a packed ballroom at the California Republican Partys fall convention in Anaheim on Saturday. Cottons keynote address hewed toward traditional conservative themes and was peppered with light moments and witty jabs about the Democrats grip on California politics. When Jerry Brown has to veto your legislation because its too liberal, you might have to take a look in the mirror, Cotton told the crowd. It was a big departure from the speech the night before by GOP firebrand Steve Bannon, President Trumps former political strategist. Bannon unleased attacks on former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). He told Republicans they needed to rise up in California or else the progressive left and lords of the Silicon Valley would try to secede from the union in 10 to 15 years. Cotton, who at 40 is the youngest member of the U.S. Senate, is widely believed to be eyeing a run for higher office. During the 2016 Republican National Convention, he was the most active politician on the breakfast circuit, visiting the South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and California delegations. California, of course, is home to more than 5 million Republican voters and has been a wellspring of political cash for GOP presidential candidates. Cottons message of hope has been a running theme throughout the three-day GOP gathering as the state party tries once again to turn things around in left-leaning California. The partys share of the state electorate has fallen to 26% and no Republican has been elected to statewide office since 2006. Cotton, however, told the party faithful to remain upbeat. Californias Republican members of Congress play a pivotal role in Washington, and there are ample opportunities to rekindle the partys presence in Sacramento and throughout the state. Cotton zeroed in on the new gas tax and vehicle fee hike in the state, which would raise $5.2 billion annually for transportation and mass transit improvements, saying it would hurt ordinary Californians. If you live in West L.A. or San Francisco and you have the money to afford a Tesla, maybe youll be OK, Cotton said. What about the farmer in the Central Valley who has a pickup truck and needs to fill it up three times a week? He also took shots at the so-called sanctuary state law signed this month by Gov. Jerry Brown, which will limit law enforcement agencies from questioning and detaining people for immigration violations. Your sanctuary cities werent enough, you had to have a sanctuary state instead, Cotton said. So all your citizens will face greater danger no matter where they live. Before he took the stage, the state GOP played a short video introduction of the Arkansas senator, focused on his experiences serving as an Army officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Washington, Cotton was a harsh critic of President Obama and is considered a hawk on national defense. During a hearing in June, Cotton also openly mocked the idea of the Trump administration colluding with Russia. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy criticizes Gov. Brown, lauds Trump at California GOP convention By Seema Mehta McCarthy is lauding Trump for his "character and vision and understanding," compares him to Reagan. #cagop17 pic.twitter.com/AlyvgOvQWF Seema (@LATSeema) October 21, 2017 House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) on Saturday blasted Gov. Jerry Brown over Democrats positioning the state as the liberal resistance to President Trump and for legislative efforts to circumvent the presidents policies. Brown, he warned, could be viewed similarly to southern governors who sought to pick and choose which federal laws to uphold during the civil rights era. He focused on Browns recent signing of a bill to make California a so-called sanctuary state, which will limit law enforcement agencies from questioning and detaining people for immigration violations. I dont think history will be very kind to Gov. Brown, McCarthy told a few hundred delegates and guests at a luncheon at the California Republican Party convention in Anaheim. California is a critical part of Democrats efforts to retake the House of Representatives, with a focus on seven Republican-held districts that Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Only one of the Republican representatives of those targeted districts had appeared at the convention as of Saturday afternoon, Rep. Mimi Walters of Irvine. McCarthy said Vice President Mike Pence raised $5 million for the efforts to protect the seats during a recent three-day fundraising trip through California, but he did not otherwise go into detail about the congressional battle expected in 2018. He instead lashed out at Republican members of the state Legislature who voted for Democratic policies. My advice to those Assembly members in Sacramento: You will not win a majority by thinking youll be Democrat-light. You will win the majority by showing the differences in the party, McCarthy said. You will not win the majority by voting against your own principles on a Democratic policy, and let Democratic targets vote no. You will not win the majority if youre concerned about being able to stand behind a podium with a Democratic governor instead of giving the freedom to Californians across this entire state. McCarthy did not name the members he was speaking about, but it was clear he was referring to Assemblyman Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) and other Republicans who voted for an extension of the states cap-and-trade program this year. Mayes stepped down as Assembly Republican leader under pressure from others in his party who were upset over his vote for the climate change program, which requires companies to purchase permits to release greenhouse gases. McCarthy spoke a day after former Trump White House advisor Stephen K. Bannon addressed the group. Bannon has declared war on the GOP establishment, of which McCarthy is a member. McCarthy did not push back at Bannons remarks, which included criticism of former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Rather, McCarthy lauded Trumps vision, compared him to former President Reagan and pointed to economic gains and regulatory reform since Trump took office. What a difference nine months and one election makes, McCarthy said. What a difference: A man who ran for president on issues and keeps his word and actually enacts the things he promised to do. Trump has tried to enact many of his campaign promises but has been unsuccessful on several priorities, including a travel ban on citizens from Muslim-majority countries and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Tax reform is the latest priority on the Republicans agenda, and McCarthy promised that Congress would push a package by Thanksgiving that includes lowering rates for small businesses and corporations, and simplifying the tax code from seven income tax brackets to three. He also spoke out in support of one of the more controversial parts of the proposal: eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes. I dont think its fair for somebody else to subsidize poor management in California, McCarthy said. Look at the entire [tax reform] bill when it comes out, you will pay less. But no longer can Sacramento say, Im going to raise the rates just because Ill have the federal government subsidize it. They will have to be held accountable for when they want to raise taxes. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who clashed with Trump during the election, goes after him again in California By Phil Willon Khizr Khan at the National Union of Healthcare Workers conference in Anaheim on Saturday. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq who feuded with Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, on Saturday criticized the Trump White House for its clash with a widow of a fallen soldier this week. Khan, speaking to reporters after addressing a National Union of Healthcare Workers conference in Anaheim, said the families of all military members killed in combat deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, especially in the days and weeks immediately following the death of their loved one. It was disappointing to see the behavior of [the White House], Khan said, before criticizing Trump administration officials for standing in front of the cameras and providing a defense for the indefensible behavior. Khans comments came just days after the uproar over Trumps call to the widow of Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson of Florida, one of four U.S. soldiers who died in an Oct. 4 ambush in Niger. Rep. Frederica S. Wilson of Florida was with Johnsons wife, Myeshia Johnson, in a car when the widow took Trumps call on speakerphone. Wilson publicly described Trumps comments as insensitive, saying he suggested that the sergeant knew what he was getting into when he joined the Army. White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, whose son was killed in combat, defended the presidents comments, saying that he advised Trump on what to say and that the president was trying to praise Johnsons unselfish military service as well as offer words of comfort to his widow. Khan avoided attacking Trump directly or expanding on his remarks, saying he will address the controversy in more detail after Johnsons memorial services. The clash between Khan and Trump ignited after Khans speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. There, Khan ripped into Trump, then the Republican nominee for president. Hillary Clinton was right when she called my son the best of America. If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America, Khan said at the convention. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country. Trump responded by questioning whether Khans wife, who stood by her husbands side during the couples high-profile appearance, was silent because of her Muslim faith. The controversy ignited by Trumps jabs at a Gold Star family dragged on for days, and he drew rebukes from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). During his speech to the healthcare union Saturday, Khan lamented the loss of civility in national political discourse and pointed squarely at the president. He said the current White House has sown division by attacking immigrants and belittling political rivals. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Teachers Assn. votes to endorse Gavin Newsom for governor By Seema Mehta Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with participants of a march in Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide in April. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) The politically influential California Teachers Assn. on Saturday endorsed Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for governor, praising his support for public schools and his promise to hold charter schools more accountable. Gavin has long supported increased funding for education and is committed to making investing in students a top priority as governor, CTA President Eric Heins said in a written statement Saturday. He supports a public education system that attracts, not attacks, teachers, universal preschool and affordable college for all. The move is not entirely surprising given the antagonism between one of Newsoms top Democratic rivals, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and teachers unions in California. Villaraigosa launched his career as a union organizer, including for United Teachers Los Angeles, and labor played a critical role in getting him elected to office. But after he tried to gain control of Los Angeles schools, he questioned policies fiercely guarded by teachers unions, such as seniority protections that resulted in regular layoff notices to younger teachers who tend to staff the most challenging schools. He grew to support using student test scores to evaluate teachers and other overhauls opposed by union leaders. Villaraigosa, who eventually gained control of more than a dozen struggling city schools through a nonprofit, ultimately blasted the citys teachers union where he once worked as the largest obstacle to creating quality schools. The teachers association also passed over Democrat Delaine Eastin, a long-shot candidate who jumped into the 2018 governors race last year. Eastin, who served as Californias state superintendent of public instruction, has vowed to put education at the forefront of her campaign. The key question going forward is how much CTA plans to invest in the governors race and how it plans to spend it. In 2014, the union spent $12 million to defeat Marshall Tuck, a huge sum in an obscure race to be state superintendent of public instruction. A Democrat and former charter school leader, Tuck was hired by Villaraigosa to run the nonprofit that oversaw his schools. Tuck, who narrowly lost his race in 2014 against an incumbent, is running for state superintendent again in 2018. CTA on Saturday also endorsed his opponent, Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond). Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Bannons mention of Sen. John McCain, George W. Bush draws boos at California GOP convention By Seema Mehta Former Trump White House advisor Stephen K. Bannon ripped into former President George W. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain Friday night at the California Republican Party Convention in Anaheim, saying there has not been a more destructive presiden Mere mentions of former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) drew loud boos and catcalls as former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon derided the GOP leaders in his address to California Republicans on Friday night at their fall convention in Anaheim. Bannon, who runs the far-right website Breitbart News, blasted Bush for his harsh assessment of Trump and his policies, which the former president delivered at a policy seminar in New York on Thursday. Bush suggested that Trump has promoted bigotry and falsehoods, violating this countrys values. President Bush to me embarrassed himself. Speech writers wrote a highfalutin speech, Bannon said. Its clear he didnt understand anything he was talking about. Just like it was when he was president of the United States. Bannon, who was ousted from the White House in August but said he considers himself Trumps wingman, didnt stop there. He ripped into Bush, saying he allowed China to grow as a world power under the premise that global engagement might shepherd the county toward democracy. Theres not been a more destructive presidency than George Bushs, Bannon said. Bannon also had no love for McCain, who has openly clashed with Trump and helped torpedo Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The crowd at #CAGOP17 just booed George W. Bush and John McCain. "Hang him!" one man yelled about McCain. Seema (@LATSeema) October 21, 2017 He praised McCains military service, but said as a politician, Hes just another senator from Arizona. The boos from the crowd of Republican donors and activists show how much the state party has changed as its influence has waned and its numbers have dwindled in California. The brand of conservatism belonging to Bush and McCain resonated with Californias GOP voters during their presidential campaigns. Both men forged deep ties with the states Republican elected leaders and donors, raising tens of millions of dollars here for their political campaigns. In California, Bush received 1.1 million more votes in the November 2004 presidential election than Trump did last November. McCain received almost 600,000 more votes in the November 2008 presidential election than Trump received in the state in 2016. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print College journalists say covering Bannon at GOP convention prepares them for Yiannopoulos on campus By Anh Do Student journos Amy Wells + Brandon Pho of #CalSrateFullerton say peers are interested in party politics, esp info collected by young ppl. pic.twitter.com/b2MikBGnQD ANH DO (@newsterrier) October 21, 2017 Student journalists Amy Wells and Brandon Pho from Cal State Fullerton teamed up outside Anaheims Marriott Hotel as night descended, assigned to cover Stephen K. Bannons speech and protesters targeting him. We dont underestimate how movements can pull in more youth, especially if they hear other youth pushing it on social media, said Pho, a sophomore majoring in journalism. Were always on the lookout for more policy to dig into because we have a lot of undocumented students on our campus and theyre way aware of national issues, added Wells, a senior pursuing a journalism degree. Pho and Wells said reporting on the small crowd of protesters will prepare them for much larger turnouts when provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos visits their campus at the end of this month. While Bannon is more provocative, he doesnt have the reach of someone like Milo who knows how to engage an online audience, said Pho, 19. We learn from watching how different public figures do outreach. Wells, 22, described the nights gathering as having the feel of a college campus protest. And of course, that feels familiar, with people here maybe figuring out what to do next. Small steps. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Indivisible members rally ahead of Stephen K. Bannons speech to California Republicans By Anh Do Michelle Fowle, founder of The Resistance - Northridge, Indivisible, along w 100 supporters, launch protest vs. #SteveBannon in #Anaheim. pic.twitter.com/1yEdrUm9Si ANH DO (@newsterrier) October 21, 2017 Growing up as a Republican in Southern California, Michelle Fowle said she automatically registered to join the party because her parents were also members. I didnt know the right civics, recalled the Northridge activist, 50. I didnt really know women died for the right to vote. I just voted for whoever I saw on signs, or whose names I remembered. Now Fowle is the founder of The Resistance - Northridge, Indivisible, which united supporters outside the California GOP convention in Anaheim on Friday to protest an appearance by Stephen K. Bannon. She joined a crowd of about 50 people across the street from the Anaheim Marriott on Friday night as they denounced President Trumps former advisor. They were separated from conventiongoers by metal barriers and a cordon of private security guards while police officers observed from nearby. Information and exposure and understanding show us that he is dangerous. Hes a very, very good manipulator, Fowle said of Bannon. His goal is to try and get rid of established Republicans and bring in more extreme people. Bannon is using whatever base Trump has left to recruit. Carolyn Criss, a retired film industry researcher, drove from Sherman Oaks to protest. Bannon is a clear danger to our democracy, she said. Criss said Trumps election awoke her dormant activist tendencies, and she now regularly attends protests against the president. She said she thought Bannons visit was an effort to amplify his voice while also helping the GOP raise money. I really hope the GOP just wants to make some money off him and doesnt believe what he says, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California lawmaker plans to introduce legislation to protect workers who exercise right to free speech By Mina Corpuz San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, left, take a knee during the national anthem in a 2016 game against the Rams. (Daniel Gluskoter / Associated Press Images for Panini) A California lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that would help protect workers from employer retribution for exercising their right to free speech. Sen. Henry Stern (D-Canoga Park) said Friday that the state should be a sanctuary for free speech, including the kind that some might find offensive. He said he will introduce a measure when the Legislature is back in session in January. It doesnt matter if youre Ben Shapiro speaking at UC Berkeley, a brave female employee standing up to misogyny in her workplace through the #MeToo movement, or a Dallas Cowboy playing in California this Sunday, he said in a statement. The Constitution does not limit speech based on value judgments so long as it doesnt harm others. Stern said the presidents attempt to urge NFL owners to fire players who kneel during the National Anthem is a troubling attack on the 1st Amendment. The Constitution trumps Trump, he said. Americans of all political stripes ought to stand up and defend it. The legislation would also help public institutions fund security for events that could include offensive speech. Public institutions and law enforcement shouldnt have to bear the cost of ensuring constitutional protections for such events, Stern said. Stern, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is part of the ongoing work to define hate speech and find a way to address it while upholding the Constitution. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom fights NRA over gun control law in federal court By Patrick McGreevy Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Tim Berger / Times Community News) Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has asked the courts to lift an order that blocks Californias ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines, which was approved in November by voters when they passed Proposition 63. In June, a federal judge in San Diego ruled in favor of a request by the National Rifle Assn. to temporarily delay the magazine ban until the court could make a final decision on the law. U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez wrote then: If this injunction does not issue, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of otherwise law-abiding citizens will have an untenable choice: become an outlaw or dispossess ones self of lawfully acquired property. In a friend-of-the-court filing, Newsom and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence argued the ban on large-capacity magazines is needed to help prevent the occurrence of high-fatality gun massacres, and to reduce the bloodshed when these tragedies occur. Newsom, a candidate for governor, sponsored Proposition 63 with the law center. Its a tragic reality that as time passes, we are presented with more and more evidence on the devastating power of large-capacity magazines, which are consistently the accessory of choice in mass shootings for mass murderers, Newsom said Friday in a statement, predicting the federal courts would uphold the ban. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print State GOP leader says the new gas tax and high poverty rate make Democrats vulnerable in California By Phil Willon California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte, center, addresses GOP delegates at the state partys convention in Anaheim on Friday. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) California Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte kicked off the state GOPs fall convention with a speech to delegates that outlined why he thinks Democrats will be vulnerable in the upcoming 2018 elections. Brulte zeroed in on the new gas tax and policy declaring California a sanctuary state both approved by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic-controlled Legislature and both, he said, unpopular with California voters. He said Democrats have tried to deflect voter attention from these issues, as well as Californias high poverty rate and an uptick in crime, by continually attacking President Trump. Here in California, the reason they want to talk about Donald Trump is because they dont want to talk about the record they created, Brulte said. They broke it. They own it. If Donald Trump were not president, we would still have 22% of Californians living below the poverty line. Thats not Donald Trumps fault. Thats the Democrats who control California. The state GOPs three-day convention at the Anaheim Marriott will kick off in earnest Friday night when Trumps former political strategist, Steve Bannon, takes the stage for a keynote address to delegates. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Far-right blogger Chuck C. Johnson gave bitcoin donation to Dana Rohrabacher By Christine Mai-Duc Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) speaks to Russian lawmakers at a meeting in Moscow in May 2013. (Misha Japaridze / Associated Press) Right-wing blogger and provocateur Chuck C. Johnson gave Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) a $5,400 campaign contribution weeks after he said he helped arrange a meeting between the Orange County congressman and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The donation, the maximum amount allowed by law, came in the form of bitcoin, a virtual currency. Johnson, who previously was banned from Twitter after soliciting donations toward taking out a prominent black activist, is listed on campaign finance forms as a self-employed investor who lives in Rosemead. Rohrabacher campaign spokesman Jason Pitkin confirmed the donor was the same person who helped arrange the Assange meeting. Johnson also recently sat in on a meeting between Rohrabacher and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in the Capitol. Pitkin said they discussed Assanges legal situation and cannabis policy, among other things. Rohrabacher previously said Assange had emphatically stated that the Russians were not involved in hacking the 2016 elections but claimed his plans to bring the information directly to President Trump have been thwarted by White House staffers. Pitkin said Johnson approached the Rohrabacher campaign shortly after his trip to London and said he wanted to donate. He said, Do you take bitcoin? and I said, I think we can, Pitkin recalled. The campaign then set up a bitcoin wallet to receive the funds, Pitkin said. Rohrabacher is not the only California House candidate this cycle who has accepted contributions in bitcoin. Democrat Brian Forde, who is challenging GOP Rep. Mimi Walters of Irvine, reported raising more than $59,000 in bitcoin donations between July 1 and Sept. 30. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Government needs more women, Nancy Pelosi says By Colleen Shalby Nancy Pelosi has 30 years worth of insight for women starting out in politics. Shes run into plenty of naysayers over the years, but said she hasnt let other peoples doubt stop her. Her advice for those at the beginning of their career is simple. Know your purpose, she said in an interview Wednesday night before a Summit event hosted by the Los Angeles Times and the Berggruen Institute. The House minority leader said she hopes more women will run for office, calling their participation a necessity for government and the future. Whether its education, the environment, equal rights, womens health whatever it is. Master your subject. Have a plan on how you will implement your ideas and you will attract support. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print This Los Angeles representative spent $105,500 on Hamilton tickets By Sarah D. Wire Rep. Tony Cardenas asks a question of Lin-Manuel Miranda during a town hall at Panorama High School in Panorama City. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Hamilton fever has caught at least two Los Angeles area members of Congress whove used campaign funds to purchase tickets to the hit musicals run at the Hollywood Pantages. Rep. Tony Cardenas campaign and his political action committee Victory by Investing, Building and Empowering PAC spent $105,500 in April buying tickets to the show, which is playing in L.A. until Dec. 30. Two fundraisers using the approximately 400 tickets have raised more than $300,000, a spokesman for the congressmans campaign said. For both Cardenas campaign and the PAC, the tickets were the single most costly expense of the year. Basically they saw this as an opportunity to have a nice fundraising opportunity and go to a show that celebrates American democracy, campaign spokesman Josh Pulliam said. The Los Angeles Democrat is friends with the father of Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning creator of Hamilton. When the show opened in Los Angeles in mid-August, Miranda spoke to nearly 1,000 students in Cardenas largely Latino San Fernando Valley district . He raffled off some tickets to the show as an online fundraiser in September. Miranda has a history of supporting Democrats, and Hamilton has been used as a fundraiser before. In July 2016, Hillary Clintons presidential campaign hosted a special showing of the musical for donors, with a starting ticket price of $2,700. Cardenas held two fundraisers tied to the show. Miranda did not attend either event, Pulliam said. Pulliam said a few dozen tickets went to people in the community as gifts. He also raffled off some tickets to the show as an online fundraiser in September. Cardenas isnt in a particularly tough race for 2018. A Democrat and a Green Party member have filed to run in his district, but neither have raised or spent enough to require them to file campaign finance reports. Cardenas most recent report, which covers what he raised and spent in the last three months, shows he raised $232,389 and had $481,049 in the bank as of Sept. 30. Its fairly common for lawmakers or candidates to use sports events or concerts as major fundraising opportunities, especially when big names such as Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen play concerts in Washington. Rep. Maxine Waters campaign spent just under $11,000 on tickets to Hamilton in August. Reached by phone, the Los Angeles Democrat seemed surprised reporters were asking about the tickets. She said her campaign made $110,000 at a fundraiser using the tickets. Everybody does it, whether its a concert or a baseball game, she said. Several conservative groups have targeted Waters, an outspoken critic of President Trump, for the 2018 election. She won in 2016 with 76% of the vote over Republican Omar Navarro, who is challenging her again. In a statement released by her campaign, Waters stressed that fundraising at an event means the campaign doesnt have to rent space or buy food. These fundraising activities are similar and sometimes less expensive than the amount of money a candidate would spend to host a fundraising dinner within a private room at a restaurant or hotel once you factor in associated catering costs, she said. The price for the Hamilton tickets was similar to what one would have to pay at these venues. There was nothing improper or unusual about the expenditure. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California Republicans increase security at state convention ahead of Steve Bannon speech By Seema Mehta (Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press) The California Republican Party is ramping up security at its weekend convention in anticipation of protests at the Friday night keynote speech by Steve Bannon, a former advisor to President Trump and the executive chairman of Breitbart News. Part of providing a good experience for our convention goers is assuring your safety, state party Executive Director Cynthia Bryant wrote in an email to attendees on Thursday describing the security measures. Attendees will pass through metal detectors and their property is subject to be searched before they are allowed to enter the ballroom at the Anaheim Marriott, where the speech and dinner are taking place. Weapons, noisemakers and signs are prohibited. We did not make the decision for the additional security lightly and we know that it does impact your convention going experience, Bryant wrote. I sincerely regret that. Its a level of security rarely seen at political party gatherings in California. Convention attendees were also screened when Donald Trump, then a candidate seeking the GOP presidential nomination, appeared at the spring 2015 convention in Burlingame. That decision was made in consultation with the Secret Service, which had already begun protecting Trump. That convention attracted large-scale protests that at times turned into tense stand-offs between activists and police officers. Bannons speech is also expected to draw protests. Bannon, a conservative media leader, promoted Breitbart as a platform of the alt-right and needled establishment Republicans when Trump selected him to be the chief executive of his 2016 presidential campaign. His views as a nationalist, economic populist and nativist indelibly shaped Trumps message to voters. Once Trump was sworn in as president, Bannon was named White House chief strategist. He was a divisive figure in the administration, disparaging his colleagues to the media before he left the White House in August. He has since declared war on the GOP establishment, including supporting challengers to incumbents and other candidates backed by Trump. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement L.A. County Supervisors unanimously back Sen. Feinstein for reelection By Sarah D. Wire L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times) The five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have all endorsed Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the senators campaign announced Thursday. The announcement comes as factions of California Democrats begin weighing in on the Senate race between Feinstein and state Senate leader Kevin de Leon next year. Its a snub for De Leon, a native Angeleno who has represented part of the city for more than a decade in the Assembly and state Senate. Sen. Feinstein has been our strong partner on the critical issues confronting L.A. County homelessness, healthcare, and transportation. Her support for our county hospitals, including her commitment to our new Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, has been essential to our countys healthcare system, Board Chairman and 2nd District Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said in a statement. Ridley-Thomas said the board members support Feinstein -- including the lone Republican on the board, 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who said in a statement that California needs Feinstein in the Senate. Ive worked with Sen. Feinstein for many years. Shes extremely knowledgeable and always prepared on the tough issues we confront. Shes a problem solver we can count on now and in the future, Barger said. Feinstein already has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which traditionally backs incumbents. Soon after he announced a challenge, De Leon was endorsed by Democracy for America, the progressive political action committee formed by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in 2004. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Northern California wildfires mean thousands of families will flood the regions already strained housing market By Liam Dillon Tom and Shelly Lanning, from left, talk with Lannings mother, Jeannie Anderson, on Oct.17, 2017. The Lannings have been staying with Anderson since they lost their home in wildfires. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Even before devastating wildfires struck Northern California last week, the regions housing market was in crisis. Home values and rents already were at or near record highs, and decades of slow construction has left few homes available for the thousands of displaced residents. The number of new families flooding the market is giving rise to fears of widespread displacement and even higher costs. The scope and magnitude of the rehousing is unfathomable, said Larry Florin, chief executive of the nonprofit Burbank Housing, one of Santa Rosas largest low-income housing providers. If you take 3,000 units being demolished in a market that was already dramatically constrained, its hard to imagine whats going to happen, where people are going to go. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print California lawmaker wants to ban secret settlements in sexual harassment cases after Weinstein scandal By Melanie Mason State Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino), shown speaking at a 2016 news conference for ending the statute of limitations for rape, wants to ban confidentiality provisions from sexual harassment settlements. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) A California state senator says she intends to introduce a bill next year to ban confidentiality provisions in monetary settlements stemming from sexual harassment, assault and discrimination cases. Secret settlements in sexual assault and related cases can jeopardize the public including other potential victims and allow perpetrators to escape justice just because they have the money to pay the cost of the settlements, Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) said in a statement Thursday. This bill will ensure that sexual predators can be held accountable for their actions and ideally prevent them from victimizing others. The measure comes after revelations of decades-long alleged sexual misconduct by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Some of those incidents were obscured from public view thanks to monetary settlements whose terms required confidentiality. The issue has a renewed resonance in Sacramento after scores of women working in state politics renounced a pervasive culture of harassment and abuse in the Capitol in a public letter this week. Leyva told the Times she intends for her proposed settlement ban to include both private employers and public ones, such as the Legislature. 9:41 a.m.: This post was updated to specify Leyvas proposal would apply to private and public employers. This post was originally published at 8:54 a.m. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Nancy Pelosi: Its your problem if you dont recognize that women are ready to do any job By Colleen Shalby Nancy Pelosi knows what it feels like to have to prove herself in politics simply because shes a woman. She says she experiences the pressure every day. But its your problem if you dont recognize that women are ready to do any job, the House minority leader said in an interview before a Summit event hosted by the Los Angeles Times and the Berggruen Institute on Wednesday night. When she decided to run for a leadership position in Congress, Pelosi said a man questioned her move. As if a woman had to be told she could run, she recalled. We just laughed and said poor babies. In the midst of a growing sexual misconduct scandal centered on Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein, many women are sharing their stories of sexual harassment and assault. No industry has been spared women at Californias Capitol signed an open letter Tuesday outlining pervasive harassment in Sacramento. Pelosi said she wasnt prepared to share a so-called me too moment, but she thanked the women who have. The sheer numbers speak eloquently to the fact that we should get to zero tolerance, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Watch: The View from California political panel with John Myers Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers hosted a panel discussion about the view from California as part of our L.A. Times and Berggruen Institute Summit series. Joining him were state Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), Republican strategist Luis Alvarado, UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck and Alma Hernandez, executive director of SEIU California. We also had a conversation with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Watch that here. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi talks to the L.A. Times House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) spoke Wednesday about her view of national news, working with the Trump White House and the future of the Democratic Party. The event was co-hosted by The L.A. Times and the Berggruen Institute. Following that conversation, Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers hosted a panel discussion about the view from California. Joining him were state Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys), Republican strategist Luis Alvarado, UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck and Alma Hernandez, executive director of SEIU California. Watch that here. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kevin de Leon: My whole life, Ive been told to wait my turn and know my place You know, my whole life, Ive been told to wait my turn and know my place. Well, its Californias turn to lead. And Californias place to be a shining example for the world and a stark contrast to the failures of Washington. State Senate leader Kevin de Leon, kicking off his U.S. Senate campaign Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Pelosi, in Los Angeles visit, calls on Congress to pass Dream Act By Makeda Easter Rep. Nancy Pelosi meets with young immigrants protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in downtown Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday called on the GOP-controlled Congress to pass the Dream Act by years end. Pelosi appeared at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights with community leaders and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients in Los Angeles. The San Francisco Democrat said she has confidence Republicans and Democrats will be able to work together to pass the Dream Act. President Trump said we had shared values when we spoke to him, Pelosi said. I trust that he will honor that commitment because the American people want him to do so. The Democratic leader had conversations with Trump about continuing DACA after his heartless decision to end the program. Pelosi said that President Reagan was great on immigration and noted his immigration agenda protected a larger percentage of people than President Obama did with his executive order regarding DACA. She added the last three Republican presidents strongly acknowledged the value of immigration to America. A majority of the estimated 800,000 immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children live in California. These newcomers make America more American, Pelosi said. She noted there have been a handful of Republicans who support forcing a Dream Act vote via a procedural move. Still, her party is in the minority. You can have all the conversation in the world that you want, but youve got to have the votes, she said, encouraging moderate Republicans to support the Dream Act. She was joined by Democratic Reps. Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles, Judy Chu of Monterey Park and Lucille Roybal-Allard of Downey, the first Mexican American woman elected to Congress and original co-author of the Dream Act. Roybal-Allard said the so-called Dreamers have lived in this country, they have grown up here, they have pledged allegiance to our flag. To do anything else but to protect them by passing the Dream The terrorism trial of the man accused of directing the deadly Benghazi attacks opened Monday with federal prosecutors showing dramatic security camera videos and portraying Ahmed Abu Khatallah as an Islamic extremist who hated Americans with a vengeance. Khatallah is charged with 18 criminal counts, including murder and providing support to terrorists. He is accused of helping plan or incite the militia attacks that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, on Sept. 11, 2012. The attacks became a focal point for Republican anger at then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She subsequently took responsibility for security lapses at the lightly guarded diplomatic compound where Stevens was killed. Advertisement Assistant U.S. Atty. John Crabb Jr. began the jury trial by reciting the names of the four dead Americans, saying that Stevens and the embassys information officer, Sean Smith, were choked to death by thick black smoke after they were trapped by a fire set by the militants. Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, both former Navy SEALs working as CIA contractors, were killed several hours later in a mortar attack on a CIA annex a mile away. Why? Because they were Americans, and that man right there, the defendant, Abu Khatallah, hates Americans with a vengeance, Crabb said. He played security camera videos recovered from the compound that showed militants running in with automatic weapons and a gas can that was used to set fire to several buildings. The gray-haired Khatallah, 46, with a chest-length beard and a white dress shirt, sat quietly at the defense table. If convicted, he faces a maximum of life in prison. Prosecutors acknowledged that Khatallah did not set the fires or fire the mortars. They said he helped plan the attacks, however, and was motivated by a radical Islamist ideology and anger at America. Youll hear that Abu Khatallah thinks that America is the root of all the worlds problems, Crabb said. Before the attacks, Khatallah stood at a meeting at a mosque and said the mission was being used by American spies, Crabb said. He challenged the other extremists. He said How can this be? He said, How can we allow spies among us? After the attacks, Crabb said, Khatallah bragged he would have killed all the Americans that night if others had not stopped me. Khatallahs defense lawyer argued that his client was more of a fall guy than a mastermind, saying that he arrived at the U.S. compound after the battle was over. By the time he got there, the gates were open, the guards were gone, the Americans had left, said attorney Jeffrey D. Robinson. He didnt attack anyone, he added. He didnt shoot anyone. He did not set any fires. He did not participate in the attack. Robinson said a cooperating witness who led Khatallah to the villa where he was captured by U.S. special forces, identified only as Ali, was paid $7 million by the U.S. government. He said Khatallah was simply a soft target, unlike other extremists who went into hiding after carrying out the attacks. There are people who werent Ahmed Abu Khatallah who were the brains behind the attack, Robinson said. He added that he cant say much about them because the information is classified. Khatallah was a leader of the Ansar al Sharia militia, which was formed to oppose Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi, and he was imprisoned for part of the dictators rule. After the 2012 attack on the U.S. compounds, Khatallah lived openly in Benghazi and even gave media interviews. A joint U.S. military and FBI team grabbed him in June 2014 and took him to a Navy transport ship offshore, where he was questioned by two teams of investigators. A team of intelligence agents first asked about his knowledge of militia groups and possible plots. The FBI then conducted a second interrogation, after Khatallah had waived his right to keep silent. The ship took nearly two weeks to arrive in Virginia after developing engine trouble at sea, according to pretrial testimony. The defense tried to have Khatallahs statements thrown out of court, saying he was kept in isolation during the long voyage and that the two-step interrogation was an improper way to evade rules of criminal evidence. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper denied those requests, saying Khatallah was well treated aboard the ship and that the two-step process did not abuse his rights. The trial is expected to take about five weeks. It is the first major terrorism trial under President Trump, who had vowed during the campaign last year to send terrorism suspects to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The Trump administration has not said whether it plans to try new terrorist captives in civilian courts, or resume sending them to Guantanamo, which now holds just 41 detainees. joseph.tanfani@latimes.com Twitter: @jtanfani ALSO Two women plead not guilty in death of North Korean leaders estranged half brother Amid scenes of chaos and violence, Catalonia independence vote is projected to pass overwhelmingly Islamic State releases purported new audio message from top leader vowing to continue fight The Supreme Court justices returned to the bench Monday ready to argue and disagree sharply along usual ideological lines on a basic question of workers rights in the 21st century. Can employees join together to argue their company is violating the law by denying them overtime pay or minimum wages or by discriminating against women or minorities? To the courts four liberal justices, this looked like a case of back to the future. Early in the 20th century, companies often required workers to waive their rights to join a union or take collective action. Those agreements were referred to as yellow dog contracts, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted. In 1935, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Congress adopted the National Labor Relations Act, which guaranteed workers a right to join a union and to take other concerted activities to protect their interests. The yellow dog contract became a thing of the past. Advertisement In the last decade, however, a growing number of companies have started to require employees to waive their rights to sue in court or join class action cases and agree instead to arbitrate disputes as individuals. Under these rules, employees are barred from joining co-workers to seek overtime pay or other benefits promised by law. About 60 million non-unionized private sector worker are bound by arbitration clauses thats about half the private-sector labor force and 25 million of them must bring their claims as individuals. Companies say arbitration is more efficient and less costly than going to court, and that a worker retains the right to bring an individual claim. Workers rights advocates say that as a practical matter, an employee will not contest the legality of a company policy if he or she must do so alone. As a legal matter, the case involves a conflict between two major laws the National Labor Relations Act and the Federal Arbitration Act, passed in 1925, which generally encourages the use of arbitration as a substitute for lawsuits. In Mondays case, a top Trump administration lawyer and a former Bush administration attorney, now representing private companies, made a joint appearance, urging the court to uphold the individual arbitration rule and bar workers from joining together to bring legal claims. If the two laws conflict, the arbitration rules should be upheld, they said. The tie goes to arbitration, said Paul Clement, former U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush. Jeffrey B. Wall, the new deputy solicitor general, agreed, pointing to the Federal Arbitration Act. The arbitration law makes it clear that these agreements ought to be enforced, he said. The liberal justices strongly disagreed. What you are saying is overturning labor law that goes back to FDR at least, the entire heart of the New Deal, said Justice Stephen G. Breyer. Ginsburg said the 1925 arbitration law concerned merchants who were making commercial deals. By contrast, for employees today, there is no true bargaining. Its the employer who says that if you want to work here, you sign this, she said. This is truly a situation where there is strength in numbers, she added. That was the core idea of the NLRA. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan also insisted the 1930s-era laws make clear employers cannot require workers to waive their rights to bring joint claims. But as soon as the general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board rose to the lectern to argue in favor of the labor law, the courts conservative justices pounced. Richard Griffin Jr., an Obama appointee, said the labor board was right to reject employment contracts that forbid employees from bringing joint claims. Im not sure I fully understand your position, said Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. If arbitration is legal for employees, why should they be able to ignore the rule requiring disputes be resolved individually, he asked. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the court had upheld arbitration agreements in a variety of contexts. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy suggested a middle-ground solution. Disgruntled workers could hire the same lawyer, who could then file a series of individual arbitration claims on their behalf. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch sat silently, but their votes could create a conservative majority to uphold company rules that bar workers from joining together in legal claims. The justices agreed to decide three separate cases, all of which involved claims for overtime pay. NLRB vs. Murphy Oil USA came from gas station workers in Alabama; Ernest & Young vs. Morris came from several accountants in northern California; and Epic Systems vs. Lewis came from technical writers in Wisconsin. david.savage@latimes.com On Twitter: DavidGSavage In a drying time, Mars may have been kept warm enough for liquid water to remain stable on the surface thanks to explosive bursts of methane gas, a new study finds. The simulations, described in the journal Nature Geoscience, could explain how Mars managed to sustain a series of lakes in a climate that at first glance seems too cold and arid to have done so. Since landing on the Red Planet in August 2012, NASAs rover Curiosity has discovered that 96-mile-wide Gale Crater held a series of lakes around 3.5 billion years ago. The rocks it has drilled and X-rayed and lasered have also revealed environments that would have been potentially habitable for Earth-like life. Advertisement Keep in mind, however, that Mars wettest period was likely the first billion years of its 4.6-billion-year life, the Noachian period, when it had a thicker atmosphere that would have been better able to keep liquid water stable on the planets surface. Although the climate was relatively cold compared to Earth, there is evidence that liquid water flowed in streams and rivers, formed alluvial fans and deltas, and ponded in big lakes and possibly seas, Alberto Fairen of the Centro de Astrobiologia in Spain and Cornell University, who was not involved in the paper, wrote in a commentary. Then came the 600-million-year Hesperian period, when the Red Planet began to transform from a cold, wet world to a cold, icy one, as the protective atmosphere thinned and the planets interior cooled. The next 3 billion years until now are known as the Amazonian period, during which Mars solidified its reputation as the cold, dry planet we see today. So heres the thing thats puzzled planetary scientists: Gale Craters rocks bear evidence of liquid water on Mars during the Hesperian period, including lakes (perhaps protected by a layer of surface ice) and deltas. But that means these lakes and deltas persisted during a period that was markedly drier, with a thinner atmosphere less capable of sustaining liquid water. How do these two facts square up? Previous hypotheses have struggled to explain lake-forming climates that are both rare and long-lasting, Fairen wrote. For example, volcanism and impacts can produce episodes of climate warming, but not of sufficiently long duration. Now, lead author Edwin Kite, a planetary scientist the University of Chicago, and his colleagues say that after running climate models theyve come up with an explanation: explosive bursts of methane. Heres how it works. The Red Planets obliquity, or tilt on its axis, can vary far more dramatically than Earths does. The researchers think that occasional dramatic shifts in that tilt (perhaps around 10 to 20 degrees) would have exposed ice-covered parts of the Martian surface to the sun, causing that cover to shrink fairly quickly. The ices retreat would have exposed clathrates filled with pockets of methane, allowing the methane to burst out of the ground and into the atmosphere. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas about 25 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. So if enough of it were to emerge from the ground at the same time, it could actually result in a significant amount of warming, the thinking goes. Now, eventually, methane gets broken down by sunlight. But in the meantime, Kite and his colleagues found that it could lead to warming lasting hundreds of thousands of years long enough to explain the extended presence of liquid water during this otherwise dry time in Martian history, scientists say. What does this mean for the possibility that life could have emerged on Mars? Kite was quick to point out that if any microbes ever lived on the Red Planet, they would likely have done so during its earliest days, when water was far more abundant. If life ever established itself on Mars, then it would have probably done so before the relatively young (less than 3.6 billion years ago) features modeled in our paper, Kite wrote in an email. Regardless, the study reveals an increasingly complex portrait of a planet in transition, scientists said. The methane burst scenario proposed by Kite et al. contributes to an emerging view that the existence of liquid water on early Mars arose from a combination of diverse astronomical, geochemical and geological factors, Fairen wrote. Although it seems unlikely that a single mechanism can explain not only the presence of liquid water, but its recurrence and persistence, the methane burst hypothesis provides a means to episodically tip the Hesperian climate over the edge. amina.khan@latimes.com Follow @aminawrite on Twitter for more science news and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook. MORE IN SCIENCE Once harmless, the Zika virus became lethal after a single genetic mutation took hold around 2013 Watch these transformer robots fold themselves into boats, wheels and other useful shapes Three detectors, two black holes and one really big collision: Gravitational waves found again An off-duty Newport Beach police officer and a city staff member were among more than 500 people injured when a gunman opened fire Sunday night at an outdoor country music festival near the Las Vegas Strip, local authorities said. Afterward, a Newport Beach resident who traveled to the festival with his girlfriend recounted the harrowing violence in an interview with the Associated Press. And a Huntington Beach resident described blood everywhere. More than 22,000 concert-goers sought cover or fled as a barrage of what sounded like machine-gun fire ripped through the crowd beginning at 10:08 p.m. At least 59 people were killed. The injuries suffered by the Newport Beach staff member and police officer are not life-threatening, according to Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella. Their names have not been released. Our thoughts are with everyone involved in [the] incident, including the family and loved ones affected by this tragedy, and law enforcement, other first-responders and medical staff who work tirelessly to preserve life, Manzella said in a statement. Newport Beach resident Jason Sorenson, 33, told AP that he initially thought the shooters gunfire was the sound of fireworks from a nearby venue, but the situation became clear when singer Jason Aldean dropped his guitar and ran off the stage. It was horrific, Sorenson said. We just starting running and we saw people with blood all over their shirts. I was bracing to be hit by a bullet any second. People tried to flee between rounds of gunfire, he said. We ran and ducked, ran and ducked until we got as far away as we could, he said. Candace LaRosa, 48, of Huntington Beach told the Las Vegas Sun: We were all dancing, we were having a good time; all of a sudden I heard all these shots. It was just mass, mass blood everywhere. Authorities have called the tragedy the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. hannah.fry@latimes.com Twitter: @HannahFryTCN UPDATES: 5 p.m. Oct. 3: This article was updated with Candace LaRosas comments. 3:50 p.m. Oct. 3: This article was updated with comments from Jason Sorenson. This article was originally published at 10:15 a.m. Oct. 2. Recently the round-trip airfare from LAX to Phoenix clocked in at $162, including all taxes and fees. Meanwhile, the airfare from Ontario International Airport to Phoenix came in at wait for it $162. Whats going on here? Some kind of airline duplicity (perish the thought)? Has the world as we know it rotated off its axis? Advertisement We wondered because fares from Ontario have almost always been higher, sometimes much higher. Welcome to the world of Ontario Airport under local control, where things appear to be looking up for fliers in the Inland Empire as well as refugees from LAX. Ontario Airport used to be part of Los Angeles World Airports, but in November ownership was turned over to the city of Ontario. There was much backing-and-forthing as the change was being effected, but most of the squabbles and struggles dont affect consumers directly. Here are some things that do: You may pay less to fly out of Ontario. Using data from the airfare chart published in the Los Angeles Times Travel section, we looked at round-trip fares from Ontario to Las Vegas, Phoenix and Honolulu for the six months of Sundays before and after the handover. The results:Round-trip fares from Ontario to Las Vegas had dropped from an average of $194 to $134. Average fares to Phoenix? $167, down from $205. The fares to Honolulu went up by $3 on average, partly because of a six-week stretch when those fares hit $1,065. If you factor out those weeks, the fare dropped to an average of $738, down from $824. You cant credit local control for all this. Airline competition, lower fuel prices, consumer demand and the mystery/science of yield management, in which airlines try to get consumers to pay top dollar if conditions warrant it, are all in play. But changes at the airport also figure into the fare joy, said Alan Wapner, president of the Ontario Airport Authority and mayor pro tem of Ontario. Among the airport authoritys goals, Wapner said: Decrease expenses and increase non-aviation revenue from parking and other sources. Those two things will bring down the cost of doing business and translate into lower fares, Wapner said. Besides decreasing the size of airport staff, parking fees were increased and parking lots automated. Food and beverage and other concessionaire contracts were renegotiated, Wapner said. Add to that an increase in number of flights and ... You have more company at Ontario. Passenger traffic is up after a sharp decline. In 2007, Ontario served 7.2 million passengers. Then that number plummeted, partly because of the recession, to a little less than 4 million by 2013. As with any business, the airport needs customers. And although anyone who uses a horrendously busy over-capacity airport wouldnt complain about fewer passengers, a drop like that hurts, especially when you think about revenue thats not related to airlines. Nearly 4.3 million passengers used Ontario in 2016. That uptick began in 2014, before local control resumed. Other factors also influence the choice of airport, of course, including fares, schedules and convenience. The trend continues. Recently released figures for August show that traffic was up again year over year by almost 40,000 domestic and international passengers. You like Ontario airport, which is good because happier fliers are more apt to be repeat fliers. Take Karen Rosenthal of Claremont, who is enthusiastic about the airport. It takes us 30 minutes, front door to gate, when flying to [the] Bay Area or Sacramento or Seattle et al, she said in an email. Lots of parking, curb unloading space, quick check-in and efficient [Transportation Security Administration] with increased flights and additional airlines now that [Ontario] is under local control. It may be worth the drive from L.A.! A recent J.D. Power airport survey suggests that Rosenthal has plenty of company. Ontario scored 782 out of 1,000 points among medium-size airports among travelers in a satisfaction survey conducted from January through August. The results factor in terminal facilities, airport access, security check, baggage claim, baggage check-in and food, beverage and retail. The average was 781, so we can say Ontario is above average. Albuquerque, Cleveland and San Antonio cannot. Meanwhile, beleaguered LAX, at 712, was second to last in the mega-airport satisfaction category, above Newark, N.J. If there is a downside to the Ontario love and a lesson from LAX, its this: Success begets success. LAX set a record for number of passengers in 2000, at 63.7 million. Last year, that passenger number was nearly 71 million, according to an L.A. Times article based on a Southern California Assn. of Governments report. Even more frightening, LAX could top 100 million passengers by 2040, the association predicted. If that sounds like the distant future, the math pencils out to just 23 years. Ontario, meanwhile, has room to grow. It can handle 12 million passengers, Wapner said, so for now, its using only about a third of its capacity. He recognizes that one of the challenges will be whether the airport can maintain that level of convenience once we meet 12 million passengers or more. Always a good idea to keep an eye on today and tomorrow, if LAX is any indication. But for now, we can sit back and enjoy the ride. Have a travel question or dilemma? Write to travel@latimes.com. We regret we cannot answer every inquiry. travel@latimes.com @latimestravel A man who fatally stabbed two women outside the main train station in Marseille, France, had been detained on suspicion of shoplifting and released the day before the attack, officials said Monday. French authorities are studying the suspects cellphone and working to determine his true identity and whether he had direct links to the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for Sundays stabbing. The suspect was killed by soldiers immediately after the attack, the latest of several targeting France. The suspect was identified by his fingerprints, which matched those taken during seven previous incidents registered by police since 2005, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters. Advertisement The suspect didnt have any past convictions in France, Molins said. The mans most recent arrest occurred in the Lyon area Friday just two days before the train station stabbing. The man was held overnight on suspicion of shoplifting, then released Saturday and the charges dropped, Molins said. He said that local authorities had no reason to hold him further based on the ID he gave them a Tunisian passport. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, apparently not satisfied with the explanation, on Monday ordered a probe of the circumstances that led police to free the man, who police say attacked and killed the young women a day later. The report is due by weeks end, a ministry statement said. While being held in Lyon, the man told police that he did odd jobs, used hard drugs and was divorced, according to Molins, the prosecutor. Its not clear if the attacker had any connection to the victims two cousins who had met for a birthday celebration. Some witnesses reported hearing the suspect shout Allahu akbar! Arabic for God is great and Molins said thats one of the reasons prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation. But no firm evidence has surfaced linking the man to Islamic extremism. The suspect was found with two knives and a phone, but no identity papers, according to Molins. The small town of Eguilles in southern France held a memorial gathering Monday evening for the victims, a medical student from Eguilles, identified as 20-year-old Mauranne, and her cousin, Laura. Villagers gathered to sign a book of condolences. Officials have withheld the young womens last names. Marseilles Saint Charles station reopened Monday under heavy security. Last month, four American college students were attacked with acid at the same station by a woman authorities said was suffering from mental illness. Many Catalans huddled over their cellphones Monday on Barcelonas metro, replaying videos of Spanish police raids on polling stations a day earlier. Some people wondered aloud whether such scenes, and a 90% referendum result in Spains northeast region of Catalonia in favor of independence, might shock Europe into mediating the crisis between the countrys government and the regions separatists. The regional president of Catalonia, which borders France, called for the immediate withdrawal of Spanish forces, and for European intervention. Advertisement He got neither. European leaders, aside from a few who called for dialogue, mostly fell in line Monday in supporting the government of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who sent 5,000 extra troops to Catalonia to try to halt Sundays vote on secession. Spanish courts had ruled the referendum unconstitutional. With 7.5 million residents, Catalonia has its own language and culture, which were repressed during the nearly 40-year dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco, who died in 1975. Since then the region has grown into Spains economic powerhouse, making up 20% of the Spanish economy, with the tourist hub Barcelona as its capital. Some Catalans resent having their taxes subsidize poorer parts of Spain, and have long lobbied for more fiscal autonomy from Madrid. Health authorities in Catalonia said 893 people were injured when Spanish police smashed their way into polling stations Sunday, dragging voters out by the hair in at least one case, and confiscating dozens of ballot boxes. Some police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. In a statement Monday, Spains Interior Ministry said 431 officers were lightly injured. Amnesty International condemned excessive use of force by Spanish police against voters the human rights group said were passively resisting them. Catalans said they would walk off the job en masse Tuesday in a regionwide general strike to protest their predicament. I would say that psychologically, a lot of the Catalan people have already left the Spanish state, said Neus Valls, who voted for independence. The 28-nation European Union should stop looking the other way and send mediators to Catalonia, said the regions president, Carles Puigdemont. This is not a domestic issue. The need for mediation is evident. Puigdemont said the Catalan parliament planned within days to formally declare independence from Spain, but he urged Rajoy to discuss matters before that happens. If he calls me this very day, Ill reply, Puigdemont told reporters. Well arrange a meeting right away, without conditions. Rajoy did not call Monday. Spains interior minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido, told Catalan TV that national police would remain in Catalonia as long as needed. Late Monday, about 350 protesters blocked passage of several national police vehicles in downtown Barcelona, chanting at them to go home! Spanish media reported 400 national police and Civil Guards were evicted from hotels in the town of Calella, on the Mediterranean coast north of Barcelona, apparently on orders from the towns separatist mayor. In Brussels, a spokesman for the EUs executive branch said its policy was unchanged, and that Catalan separatism remained an internal Spanish matter. The main consequence of a unilateral declaration of independence would be to invite an even more forceful reaction on the part of the central government, said Federico Santi, a political analyst at the London-based Eurasia Group. A part of Spains Constitution, Article 155, allows the national government to suspend all powers of a regional government if it acts in a manner that gravely attacked the general interest of Spain. It has never been invoked. On Sunday, 90.9% of votes cast in the banned referendum were in favor of Catalan independence, and 7.87% were against, according to Puigdemonts regional administration. It was impossible to verify whether the numbers were accurate. The vote tally was done by separatist officials, not independent analysts. Officials said 2.26 million ballots were cast, out of 5.3 million registered voters. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Rajoy by phone Monday, according to a statement from Macrons office. It said the French president noted his attachment to Spains constitutional unity. Frayer is a special correspondent. UPDATE: Death toll rises in Las Vegas massacre As home to multiple open-air festivals that draw millions of people each year to the Lehigh Valley, local authorities have prepared for the worst before Sunday's horrific attack at a Las Vegas music festival. Active shooter and mass casualty training for police departments, fire departments and EMS keep in mind events like Musikfest in Bethlehem, the Great Allentown Fair and Bacon Fest in Easton. This weekend, there is the Easton Garlic Fest and the 12th annual Harvest Festival in Bethlehem, both in the respective cities' downtowns. Bethlehem's also hosting Oktoberfest this weekend. Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said the city plans with police, fire and emergency services, in some ways that people can see and in others that officials don't publicly talk about. "We prepare for the worst, hope for the best," he said. Preparation means training. In Allentown, police Chief Glen Dorney said the department has trained at a number of locations where there would be a large amount of people with limited means to get in and out easily. That includes Coca-Cola Park, the PPL Center, and Dorney Park, as well as using the vacant Allentown State Hospital. "If you look at target-rich environments, we have several," Dorney said. Officials said local departments often train with Pennsylvania State Police, as well as local hospitals. Dorney said his department has not trained specifically with the Allentown Fair in mind, in part because most officers are familiar with the location and layout. "We might have to look at some different strategies for next year, without a doubt," he said. Easton police Captain of Administrative Services Matthew Lohenitz said the department tries to train in any environment it can find in the city -- or elsewhere in the county. The city's Special Response Team has responded in recent years to incidents outside the city limits, including a standoff in a Palmer Township home and a drug raid in Freemansburg, he said. "The main thing is we use this opportunity -- sad and tragic as it is -- to evaluate the things we do and see if we measure up," Lohenitz said. "We have just about every kind of investigative ability and response ability that any other large agency would have. We're as ready as we can be." In terms of the logistics of what happened in Las Vegas, Dorney said he can only imagine how emergency responders handled treating hundreds of injured people and evacuating an open-air field, while checking every floor of nearby hotels and pinpointing the shooter's location. One thing Allentown police have added are tools to be able to quickly get into buildings and rooms. After the Virginia Tech shooting, where the gunman used chains to lock entrances, Allentown police vehicles were outfitted with things like bolt cutters and sledgehammers, Dorney said. "The last thing we want to do is get to scene and not get in," he added. Panto said Easton has done a number of things as its outdoor festivals have grown. Bacon Fest, slated for Nov. 4-5, is anticipated to bring 80,000 to 90,000 people total to the city's Centre Square over the two days. One of the goals is to keep traffic away, and the festival grounds will be expanded down Ferry Street to Second Street to Northampton Street, Panto said. All the festival entrances will be blocked with 10-ton dump trucks, and the city is in the process of purchasing, with county grant money, water barriers that can be easily unplugged to move vehicles through. "We have used police spotters on roofs," the mayor said, and the city police department has a drone. People can also prepare for the worst. David Dalrymple, Northampton County's sheriff and a former New Jersey State Police major, said in a mass shooting, civilians should run, hide and fight. "Be aware that this can happen. It shouldn't happen, but it can. There are trained people that are going to respond to the incident," he said. "Get yourself in that mindset that if it does happen, you're going to take action. You can't be paralyzed by fear...you just have to make that decision. If you are unfortunate enough to be involved, you have to realize that person has to be stopped." The U.S. government defines an active shooter incident as an individual -- or individuals -- actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area. The good thing about active shooters -- they're not that common. There were 200 active-shooter incidents from 2000 to 2015 in the U.S., according to the FBI. That figure does not encompass all gun-related situations. On those incidents, 98 percent involved a single shooter acting alone. When time could be ascertained -- 70 percent of time the incidents ended in 5 minutes or less. Active shooter incidents, although relatively few, have a huge impact on people's lives and their minds, Dalrymple said. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. With state legislators set to return Monday to Harrisburg, the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. has warned of a "job-killing" proposed warehouse tax in the current budget battle. The Pennsylvania Senate and General Assembly passed the 2017-18 $32 billion spending plan on June 30, the day before the start of the state's new fiscal year, but did not decide how to cover revenues to meet expenses. What has followed is three-month stalemate between Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, and the Republican-controlled Senate and General Assembly over the more than $2 billion deficit. Wolf's plan would seek $1 billion in tax increases, including a 6 percent tax on commercial storage, including warehouses. On Friday, LVEDC President Don Cunningham issued a letter saying the group strongly opposed taxing industrial storage. The proposed tax "could have an extremely negative effect on the fastest-growing sector of the Lehigh Valley economy." Transportation and warehousing businesses currently employ about 29,000 people in Lehigh and Northampton counties, and warehousing and storage make up 16,000 of those jobs, according to Cunningham. In February, Corey Rosenbusch, president and CEO of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses President, wrote state legislators that if the tax is passed, it would push warehouse business into cheaper, surrounding states. "The result will be lost jobs and negative impacts on the state's economy," Rosenbusch wrote. The International Warehouse Logistics Association followed in April, sending a letter warning the new tax would be harmful to Pennsylvania, and downplaying the governor's estimated revenue from the tax. Democratic legislators from the Lehigh Valley said they've gotten no details from their Republican counterparts so far, but expect more information in the next few days. "We don't know what the particulars are, or that they are even talking about that tax," said state Sen. Lisa Boscola. "The Republican party can't pass any type of tax without the Democrats." Boscola said she heard senate and house Republicans are fighting a natural gas severance tax, and they told Wolf as much. "To me, if there is any tax that makes sense, it's that one," Boscola said. Republican state Sen. Pat Browne did not immediately return a message asking about the warehouse tax. State Reps. Mike Schlossberg and Pete Schweyer, both Democrats, said they've heard from colleagues the warehouse tax proposal is not as broad as LVEDC believes. Schweyer said the focus may be record storage, concerning to Schweyer because records management and storage business Iron Mountain is based in his district in Allentown. A similar records storage tax was implemented in 1991, and then repealed three months later, Schweyer said. "The information right now is very sketchy," Schlossberg said of the budget plan, adding commercial storage "is in the mix" of proposals. "I would have huge problem with any tax that would detrimentally affect jobs in the Lehigh Valley." "This is a terrible way to budget, and I hope it never goes like this again," Schlossberg added. Boscola pointed to the movement to raise the minimum wage, and said warehouse jobs in the Valley pay $14 or more per hour, due in part to the competitive nature of the business in our region. "Why would we want to place the state at a disadvantage?" she asked, noting a warehouse tax would disproportionately affect the Valley and eastern Pennsylvania because of the I-78, 80 and 81 corridors. "There are other taxes that hit more broadly." Schweyer noted warehouse jobs allow residents without college degrees to make a reasonable living for their families. Any tax on that industry would be hard to swallow, Schweyer said. "We're scrambling and really throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks," he said, adding Republicans are negotiating amongst themselves. "Politics is absolutely getting in the way of governing." Republican state Rep. Gary Day called the warehouse tax "an interesting concept." Day's district includes parts of Lehigh and Berks counties, where warehouses are a growing economic engine. That includes strain on government services and local infrastructure -- roads, bridges and interchanges. Day said he would like to hear from warehouse operators. If the state did go down this path, Day said he would like to earmark the revenue for the services the businesses strain, namely transportation. Asked about the Democrats complaints about the current budgeting process, Day said Democrats have been "pretty lockstep together." "I think with the mechanics of negotiation, there's enough blame to go around with how everyone operates," he added. In 2010, Gov. Ed Rendell proposed lifting the sales tax exemption on warehouses and implementing a 4 percent tax for the 2010-11 budget. But the industry balked, and the proposal didn't go forward. As for the "predicament" the state house and senate are facing now, Boscola said she plans to propose a bill requiring the legislature pass revenue and spending at the same time. "We can't help what happened this year, but you can't do it in the future," she said. "We have a predicament here." Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A plan for a major extension at Lawlors Hotel in Naas has been given the green light by the planning appeals board. The proposal for 72 new bedrooms will bring the number of bedrooms at the hotel to 132. It is also planned to provide 111 car park spaces. The original planning application sought to create more bedrooms and parking spaces. It is also planned to build an 18 square metre courtyard and to demolish a two storey house, sheds and walls, a basement car park, reception lounge, bars and a conference room. A number of local residents, mostly those living in the nearby Gleann na Greine, objected to the plans as did the Congregation of Christian Brothers, which has a sizeable residence on Friary Road and which is close to the hotel premises. Allan Shine CEO of County Kildare Chamber welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanala as great news for Naas and County Kildare. Mr. Shine said the there is a major shortage of hotel rooms servicing the county. there are 2,655 hotel rooms in County Kildare. He added the hotel will employ a further 90 people after the extension is built. Postmasters have voted to reject an An Post proposal on the future of Post Offices after their contracts have been threatened by the Company. At a special National Meeting in Athlone yesterday (Sunday), members of the Irish Postmasters Union (IPU) called on the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten to support an investment programme in the Network which financially recognises the social value of Post Offices. IPU General Secretary, Ned OHara, said An Post had contacted all Postmasters over the past two weeks threatening their Contracts over Members non co-operation with training on the new An Post Current Account. IPU members had withheld taking part in the training pending an overall plan being agreed between An Post and Postmasters. Mr OHara said following the threat and concern raised among Members, they will now engage with An Post on the Account. However, the new Postmasters Contract proposal which An Post made to the IPU in recent weeks was rejected. IPU Executive member and Western spokesperson Padraig McNamara said: The proposed new Contract is for each Post Office to operate on a stand-alone commercial basis and places no value on Post Offices social function. The Post Office Network is under huge pressure as Postmasters incomes are falling dramatically. The IPUs aim is to keep as many Offices as possible open, to introduce new services and to develop the Networks social function within communities. We need to agree and introduce a mechanism of payment to Postmasters for the core social services they provide. Minister Naughten needs to address this issue. A much better plan is possible, and is required, if we are to keep Post Offices open in communities, Mr McNamara said. The IPU is meeting with Minister for Communications Denis Naughten this Thursday and say they will be demanding the Minister to intervene and invest in the Network. Martin Kenny TD has called on the HSE to provide eight additional trained paramedics to the ambulance service in the South Leitrim, North Roscommon area, to staff an extra ambulance to remain focused on call outs in that area. Highlighting the way in which ambulances based in Carrick-on-Shannon and Boyle are being used to cover the entire West and Midlands, which he claims is leaving this area with no cover more than half the time. The Sinn Fein Deputy for Sligo/Leitrim said, The issue of ambulance cover in rural areas has been highlighted regularly over the past number of years. The fact that the optimum time, of less than 19 minutes, for an ambulance to get to a call out, is not possible in many rural areas is well recognised. This is due to the large geographical areas being covered by the ambulance bases, South Leitrim and North Roscommon are examples of this, where people can wait up to, or over an hour, for the ambulance to arrive at the scene of an incident. Even in a case where the ambulance is at the base ready to go the instant the call comes in, the journey time on rural roads makes it difficult. However, over half the time, there is no ambulance at the base when the call comes in, because it is out covering other call outs in other parts of the country and could be a hundred miles away; this is under the Ambulance Services, management model called Dynamic Deployment. Deputy Kenny said, at present, there is one staffed ambulance on twenty four hour call, based in Carrick-on-Shannon and one based in Boyle. However he noted "the reality is that these two ambulances are not just at the service of South Leitrim and North Roscommon, but are covering the entire West and Midlands and are seldom at the base, or even in the area". The Sinn Fein Deputy went on to point out that pressure was being felt on the ambulance service across the country and this "is impacting badly on what is perceived as the quieter areas, as ambulances are constantly being called away to Galway, Mayo, Monaghan or Dublin, leaving no real cover for the area in the catchment of the bases in Carrick and Boyle". "It is bad management of an under staffed service. There have been many incidents where the delay in arrival of the ambulance has caused great concern and if the issue of proper cover is not addressed a fatality could be the consequence," warned Deputy Kenny. The Sligo/Leitrim Deputy insisted the best short term solution to this problem is to staff another full-time ambulance in Carrick-on-Shannon or Boyle to ensure the availability of an ambulance in the area. This, he said, would require the inclusion of eight additional trained paramedics on the rota in the base in either Carrick-on-Shannon or Boyle. "Personnel is the only obstacle, as I understand a vehicle is already available. I believe the additional ambulance needs to be dedicated to focus on call outs in the area of South Leitrim and North Roscommon. There are individuals from the area already trained and being trained for the Ambulance Service at present, but they are all being sent to the East and Midlands for work placement," he noted. Deputy Kenny has written to the National Director of the Ambulance Service requesting the additional staff to establish another full-time ambulance based in the South Leitrim, North Roscommon area. "I also intend to raise this issue with the Minister for Health in the coming days as it is an urgent situation that cannot be allowed to continue without intervention," concluded Deputy Kenny. Few presentations have challenged my thinking more than Roger Liddles talk at the meeting of the Social Democrat Group, reported earlier on LDV. Delivered with an almost Churchillian eloquence, it set out why a long term perspective may pay off in the end. The clever thing about the two year transition period requested by Theresa May, he points out, is that it renders the exit itself painless. By means of this Brexit now, pay later ploy, the huge cost is kicked well into the future and the electorate robbed of an immediate reason to protest. But the good news, Liddle believes, is that rejoining the EU should be a feasible proposition when the country finally wakes up. But we must stop Brexit now! That was the reaction of subsequent speakers. And indeed, I myself have emphasised the urgency for a second vote. We have nothing to lose, have we? Yes we have, says Liddle, because if we lost two referendums in a row, our long term prospects would be even worse. And there is a high risk of such a defeat because referendums are inherently treacherous. Furthermore we are severely outgunned. Much has been made of encouraging signs that the tide is turning, but the significant statistic about Brexit is that despite being unmitigated twaddle and a piece of criminal insanity, almost half the population still believe in it. That is, in large measure, testament to the success of the Brextremist propaganda machine our rightwing press. They were emboldened by their win last time, and are now cruising smugly along, so we are apt to forget their power. But the minute they sniff a referendum brewing you can bet they will go into overdrive. And who do we have on our side? A few publications with a relatively small and select readership; the Guardian, the Independent. A public broadcaster totally obsessed with balance. Captains of industry that remain silent when they should be speaking out. Members of parliament who should be doing what they know is right but who cower instead like frightened rabbits before the will of the people. All we have in terms of real fighters is a few heroic individuals like Gina Miller, and members of Britain for Europe and suchlike groups, which is why I say we are outgunned. A march here, a protest there, but nothing to match the enormous influence of the Brexit press cartel and rightwing media. It is truly a David and Goliath struggle that we face. Theres a second reason why playing a waiting game may have some merit. If we can step back and stop thinking about Britain for a moment, we might acknowledge that it may be best for Europe. Our country is badly infected with Euroscepticism, chronically poisoned by decades of lies. Is it not fair and just that we should be quarantined for the greater good of the European project, poised as it is for renaissance? With time, if we are patient, our malaise may burn itself out. The older generation will pass on, and with them the curse they have placed on the younger generation. Even Jeremy Corbyn may retire some day and a new Government elected on an unambiguously pro-European ticket. When we eventually rejoin or find a place again as Macron puts it we will do so in the spirit of a more sober and genuine appreciation of the European continent. So much for long term views and altruism. The problem is, I dont share Liddles confidence that we can hop back into the EU so easily. My sympathy is with the marchers and protesters demanding an immediate end to this calamity. Weve debated and pontificated enough, and frankly, my patience is running out. * John King is a retired doctor and Remain campaigner. Have you ever heard the following? The government should stop subsidising exploitation wages. I work hard for my money. Families on child tax credits need to get up off their backsides. If youve canvassed on council estates you probably have. And, no doubt, the #labservatives have too, which is why both of them supported massive cuts to welfare There are good reasons for continuing with in-work benefits. The policy of both Labour and the Conservatives is to raise the minimum wage and cut benefits. This will result in employers replacing lower paid employees with automation; reorganising their business to employ fewer, more highly paid, staff; and moving jobs overseas. They may also find ways to avoid the minimum wage by subcontracting to the self-employed. All this could be very bad for the employment prospects of those with low skills. Far better to pay in-work benefits. At the last election, the Liberal Democrats championed the cause of benefits. Both Labour and the Conservatives proposed cutting them . There was strong support for Liberal Democrat policy from experts such as the Resolution Foundation, the IFS and the Economist. However, we failed to sell this to the electorate. When budgets are tight, if a policy does not have public support, perhaps we should consider other policies which bring similar, perhaps greater benefits, and which will have wider support in the community. Vince Cable has already proposed lifelong learning accounts . A good policy, though I suggest we re-name them lifelong training accounts. But with an existing deficit, an ageing population adding to budget pressures, and so many other priorities, will the electorate believe it could happen? Diverting money from Tax Credits to lifelong learning would be controversial. Existing Conservative and Labour policy of cutting benefits will reduce the standard of living for those on low incomes. So, in the short term, would this policy. However, it would also focus resources on addressing the underlying cause of low incomes. For too many, the school system has not given them the skills they need to thrive in the modern work place. We often hear that we need to invest in lifelong learning, to keep our skills up-to-date, and so ensure that we have good jobs all the way through to retirement. Unfortunately, in the main, it is the high-skilled who do this, and the low skilled do not. This policy would be a way to prioritise the real reason for stagnant living standards. It would not just be about providing the funds, but also about changing behaviour and attitudes. It might work as follows: 1) Money would be explicitly redirected from tax credits to these accounts. Some of the Governments existing reductions in benefits would continue, but the money would then be shifted to lifelong training. The controversy surrounding this could be useful in itself, in raising awareness of the new accounts, and sending a powerful signal of the importance of raising skills 2) The accounts would have the appearance of a bank account, in the name of the individual, so that they would feel a sense of ownership 3) The money could be spent on any approved training course which the individual wanted. This might be numeracy or literacy lessons, information technology training, languages, or indeed anything else that is currently taught at school or in college. It would also be used for training which is more directly related to work. I think the options should be as wide as possible, as long as the training would help employment directly: courses in brick-laying, book-keeping, perhaps even how to be a tattoo artist. It could be different from the approach of the Singapore government , which tightly defines what courses are supported with public money. Giving people more freedom to choose their own training should increase motivation and take-up 4) The training courses themselves would have to be regulated. The reputation of this initiative would soon be damaged if bogus courses were created, as a way to siphon off training funds for other purposes, or if the courses were of very low quality, and so brought no meaningful benefit to those attending 5) The money directed into the accounts would have to be spent within a fixed period of time, perhaps five or ten years. If it were not spent, the funds would be reclaimed by the state. This would then free up more funds for future funding of lifelong learning, but mostly it would be to encourage take-up. The policy would actively encourage people to use the funds. Reminders would be sent to those with unspent training funds, to remind them that they must use it or lose it 6) The initiative would also encourage people to use their own money for training, by encouraging employers to match fund those of their workers who were willing to partly pay for their own training, and by match funding from the state itself 7) It could also allow employers to use the funds for company-specific training. Someone with unspent lifelong learning money could even mention this in a job application, as a way to increase their chance of employment 8) As this money would be redirected from some income-related benefits, it would be targeted at those on low wages, the very people who are most losing out to globalisation The initiative would aim to foster a national culture of lifelong learning help people to make the modern world work for them, especially those who fear globalisation and new technology provide skills that modern business needs give support for those on low incomes in a way that has more support in the wider population provide support in a way that respects the dignity of the individual, rather than tell them what it can be spent on Many people feel trapped in dead-end jobs; that they have no way of improving their options. As a country, we need to stop just talking about lifelong learning. This needs to be a priority not just for the highly skilled, but for everyone. In the Social Democrat Group , we dont form policy. The above idea will have faults, so I hope others will give feedback on how it can be improved. I already know that some other members of the Social Democrat Group committee disagree with parts of it. But thats fine. We all need to start putting out our ideas, debating and disagreeing with each other, within the Lib Dems and beyond; and so help the wider centre-left to develop a programme to tackle the alienation of so many in our society. * George Kendall is the acting chair of the Social Democrat Group. He writes in a personal capacity. This is the second of my posts based on a recent tour of the eastern half of the USA. I visited a number of sites relevant to African American history. To mark Black History Month, I am relating some of the things I saw, in the order I saw them. Back Bay metro station in Boston, Massachusetts, is a very prominent and large underground railway station, serving a particular busy and affluent part of the city. As I moved through it, I couldnt help noticing that the passenger transit area is dominated by a very large statue of a man (photo above). There were several panels explaining the statue, with much praise for its subject, A. Philip Randolph. One panel read: On October 8, 1988, a group of retired Pullman car porters and dining car waiters gathered in Bostons Back Bay Station for the unveiling of a larger-than-life statue of A. Philip Randolph. During the 1920s and 1930s, Randolph was a pioneering black labor leader who led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. He came to be considered the father of the modern civil rights movement as a result of his efforts to desegregate World War II defense jobs and the military services. Randolphs importance as a militant leader is highlighted by a quote inscribed on the base of the statue which reads, in part: Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted. Mr Randolph originally envisioned, with others, a March on Washington in 1941 to, as Wikipedia puts it, protest racial discrimination in war industries, an end to segregation, access to defense employment, the proposal of an anti-lynching law and of the desegregation of the American Armed forces. Due to action by President Roosevelt at that time, the march was postponed. It came to fruition in 1963, when A.Philip Randolph organised the famous March on Washington for jobs and freedom attracting 200,000-300,000 to the nations capital and featuring Dr Martin Luther King Juniors famous I have a dream speech. * Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings. ST PATRICKS Villas in Castleconnell has a hard act to follow in the IPB Pride of Place competition as nearby Scanlan Park finished runner-up in 2015 but their neighbours hope to go one better. The all-island event acknowledges the work that communities are doing all over Ireland. St Patricks Villas and Northside Youth Space in Ballynanty were the two projects selected by Limerick City and County Council to be the countys representatives this year. The red carpet was rolled out for two judges Donal Connolly, Waterford and William Beattie, Tyrone on their visit. They began in Castleconnell with a presentation in the ACM Centre by members of the St Patricks Villas Residents Association followed by a tour of the housing estate. Mr Beattie praised the warm welcome which they received in the village and complimented residents in maintaining the estate to such a high standard. After lunch the judges visited the second of the local entrants - Northside Youth Space in Ballynanty. They were given a very informative presentation by Damian Landy, manager of the Northside Youth Space, and Stacey Lyons, Limerick Youth Service and members of the youth club. This was followed by a tour of the building displaying the vast array of services being provided in the centre - Ballynanty Youth Club, Youth Mental Health Project and Garda Youth Diversion Programme. Mr Connolly said: Northside Youth Service are providing an excellent service and nothing was more important than providing a good service for the youth in order to instil a sense of civic pride and a spirit of volunteerism. He also complimented Limerick Youth Service on the building and stated that it was a fantastic asset to the area. St Patricks Villas will fly the flag in the housing estates category, with Northside Youth Space selected in community based youth initiative. The focus of Pride of Place is people coming together to shape, change and improve daily lives in their communities. Run in conjunction with local authorities North and South, it aims to recognise and celebrate the vital contributions that communities make to society along with generating awareness, respect and inclusion for every facet of society. The winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony in Donegal in December. Limerick has an impressive track record with Broadford, Kilteely and Castleview Estate in Newcastle West winning in recent years. LIMERICK council officials accompanied by a strong garda force have visited as many as 35 families living in caravans in Rathkeale, warning them they must move on. The visits began about 7am early last Thursday morning, sources told the Limerick Leader, and the occupants, members of the Travelling community, were told they would be facing court proceedings. They started knocking on caravans around seven oclock, telling people to move their caravans and trying to get the names, one man said. People were told they were going to get notices. The occupants were mainly young families with children but those visited also included single parents and widows. Some of the caravans were parked on Roches Road or on private sites. Others were parked in yards of private houses and some were parked in the yards of houses leased from the council. The move has given rise to considerable upset and anger among members of the Traveller community in the town. On Friday, 60 members of the Traveller community held a meeting in the town to discuss the situation. There was anger that the visits had taken place so early in the morning, catching people unawares and in their bed. There was also anger that so many gardai were brought along to confront widows and young families and people who had no criminal records. People thought that a murder or something must have happened, said a man who attended the meeting. He added that there was a lot of anger over the effect of the visits on young children. They were, he said, traumatised. At least two caravan owners reported that they have been refused entry to the council-owned halting site, where there are nine empty bays but where the facilities are poor. The council has indicated that renovation works are being carried out on the site. The families affected are now hoping to contact the local authority and the gardai to discuss the matter. Among those affected is one couple with one child and another due within a month. Their new house is expected to be ready within six weeks. Another couple has lived on the site for 22 years while one woman, living alone, is expecting a child. Four families with two children are affected, three families with three children and three with four children. Three of the single parent families are widows. A TEAM of scientists based at the University of Limerick has discovered that applying pressure to a protein found in egg whites and tears can generate electricity. The researchers from the Bernal Institute observed that crystals of lysozyme can generate electricity when pressed. Their report has just been published in the journal, Applied Physics Letters. The ability to generate electricity by applying pressure, known as direct piezoelectricity, is a property of materials such as quartz that can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa. Such materials are used in a variety of applications ranging from resonators and vibrators in mobile phones to deep ocean sonars and ultrasound imaging. While piezoelectricity is used all around us, the capacity to generate electricity from this particular protein had not been explored. The extent of the piezoelectricity in lysozyme crystals is significant. It is of the same order of magnitude found in quartz, explained Aimee Stapleton, the lead author of the report. Crystals of lysozyme are easy to make from natural sources. The high precision structure of lysozyme crystals has been known since 1965, said structural biologist at UL and co-author of the report Professor Tewfik Soulimane. The discovery by the UL researchers may have wide reaching applications and could lead to further research in the area of energy harvesting and flexible electronics for biomedical devices. Professor Luuk van der Wielen, director of Bernal Institute and Bernal Professor of Biosystems Engineering and Design, expressed his delight at this breakthrough by scientists at the University of Limerick. The Bernal Institute has the ambition to impact the world on the basis of top science in an increasingly international context. The impact of this discovery in the field of biological piezoelectricity will be huge and Bernal scientists are leading from the front the progress in this field, he said. 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. The views expressed here are personal; official LMS announcements are described as such. 'the English Latin Mass champion Joseph Shaw' (Ross Douthat) 'a Catholic academic with strong views not for those of a sensitive disposition ' (Tim Stanley) 'Shaw is an intellectual giant among the Tridentine rite communities.' (Mike Lewis) Follow me on Twitter: @LMSChairman Oxford Mass listings. 'Shaw is an intellectual giant among the Tridentine rite communities.' (Mike Lewis) Some of my author pages: In the hours after a killer unleashed gunfire from a Las Vegas hotel window on fans at a country-western music festival Sunday night, thousands of people, including several Bay Area residents, ran for their lives, sheltering under bleachers, concession stands and liquor carts. The pop-pop-pop of bullets sounded like firecrackers during headliner Jason Aldeans set. But the noise was too consistent and too close. His band members looked confused by the noise. Then the stage lights flickered off, and Aldean sprinted off the stage. The crowd pulsed as thousands ran for cover, leaving behind cell phones, purses, shoes and plastic drink cups. It sounded like malfunctioning fireworks, like those popping things you throw on the ground, said Nadine Reyes, a Santa Rosa realtor who attended the concert with a friend and their daughters. The 64-year-old gunman, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock of Mesquite, Nev., fired on the crowd of 22,000 gathered at the outdoor Route 91 Harvest Festival from the 32nd floor of nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, police said. At least 58 people were killed and 515 others were injured, many critically, in what officials described as the deadliest mass shooting in the nations recent history. Thousands of other concert-goers hid on the festivals grounds or were evacuated. Rumors that there was a second gunman went rampant. Everyone was looking around trying to figure out what was happening, said Tiffany Farris, an elementary school principal in Riverside, who was at the concert with her mother and friends. Everyone was dropping to the ground. We thought it was fireworks. I remember thinking, Wow, those are really close to us. Farris and her mother who lost her flip-flops in the mayhem and went barefoot ran to a nearby concession building to hide. She said she saw one woman receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and another woman bleeding and screaming that she had been shot. I lost my friends, and it was scary to think that we just didnt know what had happened to them, Farris said. We all went in different directions. We didnt know what to do. No one knew what to do. But some didnt hesitate. In the immediate chaos of the massacre, Reyes said a man threw himself on top of her and Rebecca, her 28-year-old daughter. The stranger protected them until there was a break in the gunfire, and then told them to get out. He laid literally on top of my daughter and I, Reyes said. I dont know whatever happened to him. I wish I could. They ran, and the sound of gunfire seeming to come from every direction. When the escape route was blocked by a perimeter fence at the McCarran International Airport, next to the concert venue and less than a mile from the Mandalay Bay, a stranger with a four-wheel drive truck came out of nowhere and pulled the fence down. The crowd of terrified survivors ran onto the airports tarmac, Reyes said. She said the driver of the pickup truck held up the fence to allow more people to run through. The couple hid behind an air conditioning unit until police came and took them to a private hangar. People with injuries scattered the runway, she said. Reyes friend, a registered nurse from Santa Rosa, treated a man with a gunshot wound to the leg. There were some incredible people who helped a lot of people, Reyes said. Reyes and her daughter were later taken to another holding area at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, before finding a hotel room in Henderson, Nev., at 3:30 a.m. The two are waiting for the Las Vegas Strip to reopen so they can return to their original room at the Luxor Resort & Casino and head home on a rescheduled flight Monday afternoon. Weve come to this festival almost every year except last year, Reyes said. Theres no other word than just terrifying. Lizzie Johnson and Annie Ma are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com, ama@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn @anniema15 David Bowie: A Life By Dylan Jones Crown Archetype. 521 pp. $28 --- Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. Or so David Bowie seemed to believe. His appetites for sex and cocaine were so insatiable that he was considered addicted to both - and the two addictions fed each other. Remarkably, he recorded one of his finest albums, "Station to Station" (1976), while in that delirium. "It's not the side-effects of the cocaine," he sings in the title track, introducing his Thin White Duke persona, the successor to Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and others. "I'm thinking that it must be love." When you're addicted, it can be difficult to distinguish between the two. With his capacity for excess, Bowie might have appreciated this overstuffed oral history by Dylan Jones. In "David Bowie: A Life," so many people have so much to say about Bowie that, as a biography, it never settles on an overarching interpretation of the man. Oh, there are revelations and confirmations, like all the testimony about sex and drugs. There's one instance - probably included just so it would be cited - about someone calling Bowie's room in New York with an offer of a still-warm corpse. "The town had never seen anything like David before," says onetime groupie Josette Caruso. "And he obviously looked like such a freak that some sick people thought he might be into necrophilia." (He wasn't.) So, yes, the salacious parts are there, but so is exhaustive testimony about what it was like to grow up near Bowie, go to school with him, go on tour with him, shoot photos of him, design clothes or stage sets for him, fetch cigarettes for him or lose your virginity to him. Jones, the editor of British GQ and a veteran cultural journalist, interviewed more than 180 sources, in order, he writes "to cast the net as wide as possible." Like others included here, Jones maintains that Bowie changed the world, that he was to the 1970s what the Beatles were to the '60s, and that his ability to combine artistic daring with commercial success is pretty much unparalleled. Here is where some distinctions blur. It's difficult to write about Bowie's artistic legacy as something separate from his flamboyant sexuality. It's equally difficult to separate the marketing from the art because David Bowie was the greatest creation of David Bowie (or David Jones, as he was previously known). Like Bob Dylan, a formative influence, Bowie assumed and shed so many skins that change seemed his only constant. And, for a while at least, every one of his changes seemed to alter the cutting edge of popular music. Jones' biography takes awhile to generate momentum, mirroring Bowie's early career, but it offers the discerning reader clues as to how all the pieces fit together, how the Starman eventually morphed into the whiter-than-white soul man of "Young Americans" and anticipated his own death as "Lazarus." Whatever Bowie you want is here, from genius to opportunist. If your Bowie is a visionary artist, you'll find him. If your Bowie is a magpie, a plagiarist, a vampire sucking the creative blood of others, he's here as well. So is the saintly Bowie, the one who resurrected the careers of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Mott the Hoople. And the Cracked Actor, haunted by his brother's schizophrenia. The hermit, the club hopper, the aristocratic art collector - they're all here. Martin Scorsese compares him to Gershwin and Astaire (and says the latter saw in him a kindred spirit). It helps if the reader has a comprehensive recall of Bowie's recorded output. Much of his music since his commercial peak with "Let's Dance" (1983) has been little heard and long forgotten. Until the climactic last act, the highlights of Bowie's final decades (and the book's second half) are pretty much limited to kicking his habits and marrying the love of his life, the model Iman. His skyrocket trajectory found him burning through crucial collaborators. The book's unsung musical hero is guitarist Mick Ronson, a genuinely nice man who had the sound to match Ziggy's vision. Jones also illuminates the key role played by first wife Angie Bowie. In their open marriage of convenience and calculation, she was the "brash" American who could offset Bowie's British reserve and push him toward notoriety. Bowie's final piece of performance art returned him to center stage. In 2016, "Blackstar," made with a jazzier band, sounded like nothing he had done before and was stronger than anything he had released in years. It received rave reviews, in confirmation that Bowie was back. But then, two days after the album's release, he was gone. He knew he was dying as he was recording it. Every song needed to be reinterpreted as an intimation of mortality. Elton John, with whom he'd once had a falling out, said, "Bowie couldn't have staged a better death. It was classy." --- McLeese is a journalism professor at the University of Iowa and a critic of music, books and popular culture. Winter Warning: An Isaac Sidel Novel By Jerome Charyn Pegasus. 256 pp. $25.95 --- Trumpery has been good to Jerome Charyn's new crime novel, the 12th and last in a series featuring a New York City cop named Isaac Sidel. Isaac has become president of the United States - a development made far less improbable by the real-life rise of a perpetually irate reality-TV star to the same slot. In his introduction, Charyn admits to imbuing his protagonist with "the cosmic sadness" of his childhood. And what more cosmically sad job could Isaac have fallen into than president of the United States? The winter of "Winter Warning" is 1989, and the Soviet Union is imploding. Isaac first made a name for himself as a law-and-order cop with a heart, a crime-stopping champion of rent control who rose to police commissioner and then mayor - New Yorkers still refer to him as the "Pink Commish." Hoping to out-law-and-order the Republicans, the Democratic Party chose Mayor Sidel as running mate for its presidential nominee. The ticket won, but the president had to resign because of his involvement in crooked real estate deals, and the gun-toting Isaac entered an office nobody wanted him in, least of all himself. "He'd Glocked his way to the White House." (Students of American history will recall that a similar fate befell another New York City police commissioner: Theodore Roosevelt.) Charyn excels at sketching the presidency's effect on a reluctant incumbent. Aside from the monumental difficulty of the job, Isaac resents the constraints. Thanks to the Secret Service, he can never be alone. (He and his wife are separated, and his daughter - married to a cop - is a minor presence in the novel.) Thanks to the high stakes of the decisions he must make, he can't trust anyone not to be using him. And thanks to geopolitics, he can't stray far from "a black briefcase which held the doomsday codes that would allow the president to launch a nuclear counterstrike." His popularity is dropping fast, and his rise to power has been so fluky that he wonders how long he can hang on - an uneasiness compounded when he learns that European bankers are placing wagers on when he will die. Isaac is a cultured man. He attended Columbia University (but didn't graduate). He admires Balanchine. Being tethered to the black briefcase makes him feel "like a character in one of Gogol's surreal tales." On a trip to Czechoslovakia (as the country was still known at the time), he displays a familiarity with all things Franz Kafka, including the great writer's sister Ottilie "Ottla" Kafka, who was murdered in Auschwitz. Shaken by an assassination attempt, he vows to change his presidential ways. He will emulate one of his heroes: Franklin D. Roosevelt, who "turned the White House into a Washington resort hotel." It's not long before the mansion is crawling with friends and political exiles. Charyn's feisty style is as strong as ever. This is American prose at its punchiest. Lamenting the number of near-misses of which he is the target, Isaac refers to his Secret Service handlers as "always a few paces behind someone else's curve." A character who recovered from a boyhood case of polio has since developed a slight limp, "as if his own body had become a haunted house." With regard to the multitudes who want him dead, Isaac complains of having "a ghoul on my back wherever I go." The plot of "Winter Warning" may be too byzantine for some tastes. It has to do with counterfeit U.S. currency, bets on Isaac's life and the loyalty (or lack thereof) of Isaac's vice president. But luckily, the plot is rather beside the point in an Isaac Sidel novel. We read these books to encounter the gaudy characters who flit in and out of the hero's life. My favorite this time is a zaftig blonde who reminds Isaac of the primordial TV star Dagmar and who, disguised as a housekeeper, tries to finish him off with death by ironing. "Winter Warning" brings a bravura series to a fitting end. --- Drabelle is a former mysteries editor of The Washington Post Book World. The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine By Mark Twain and Philip Stead. Illustrated by Erin Stead Doubleday. 152 pp. $24.99. Ages 8-12 --- If Huck Finn were to review this book, he might begin something like this: (BEGIN ITAL)For a fellow who told his share of stretchers, Mr. Mark Twain weren't no great shakes in the home stretch. Some of his books begin with a roar and end with a squeak. Take "Roughing It," a prancing memwire of his early times as a miner and reporter in Nevada, which pulls up lame at the end with a yawnsome account of a Sandwich Islands holiday. (In case you're wondering, nobody ate the Sandwiches. They're still out there in the Pacific, going by the vowelly name "Hawaii.") Or take the exceedingly well-named "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," a giant of a book until the last chapters, when it shrinks to a midget. Other Twain stories didn't end at all. And still others barely got off the ground.(END ITAL) But Huck is unavailable, so you're stuck with me. Among the Twain products left at the starting gate was "The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine." Late in the afternoon, when Twain had written himself out for the day, his children were apt to ambush him in the parlor, where little Clara would pick up a magazine, point at a picture and demand a story about it. One day, the nod went to a figure drawing, which Twain brought to life as a boy named Johnny. So well received was the first installment of Johnny's history that Twain found himself obliged to pull what he called "a brand-new story out of that barren text during the next five ensuing evenings." A portion of one Johnny tale was saved as notes on paper. These pages eventually landed in a vault at the University of California at Berkeley, where their growth was stunted for well over a century. Recently, a college professor stumbled on the notes. Soon, the Mark Twain studies crowd was leaping for joy - and for money. When everyone was back on terra firma, Caldecott Medal winners Philip Stead and Erin Stead were hired to turn the notes into a book, which is now available for the first time. The wording of "The Purloining" fell to Philip, who makes a dandy Mark Twain Jr., especially when imitating Senior's fresh slants on everyday things. To wit: "Parades are not for everyone. They are, rather, for people who like to wake up very, very early and make a lot of noise from the start. These qualities were not present in Johnny. Or in his chicken. So both now found themselves experiencing the kind of discomfort foreign to anyone accustomed to living life at enormous volumes." Erin's illustrations use woodblocks, oil inks and pencils to create a gauzy, dreamy look - just the thing for a story that involves talking animals and a kidnapped royal. One thing about "The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine" won me over right away. As imagined by the illustrator, Johnny could be the grandson of Jim, the escaped slave from "Huck Finn." He's the kind of sojourner who's content with animals as traveling companions - a chicken, a lion, a skunk and so on. Those animals have a lot to do with freeing the snatched prince. "The Purloining" should inspire readers young and old to seek further adventures with Twain. --- Drabelle is a former contributing editor of The Washington Post Book World. Sense of Occasion By Harold Prince Applause. 343 pp. $29.99 --- Looking back on his astonishing seven-decade career, Harold Prince sums it up in nine words: "Putting unlikely shows on Broadway that ultimately made history." Why should he be modest? The man who produced "West Side Story" and "Fiddler on the Roof" and then directed "Cabaret" and six game-changing Stephen Sondheim shows can be justifiably proud of the leading role he played in making the contemporary musical more adult and more ambitious. "Prince of Broadway," which runs through Oct. 29 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in New York, celebrates the scope of his achievement in a revue containing dozens of numbers from his iconic productions. If you can't catch that show, don't despair. Prince's new memoir, "Sense of Occasion," ranges even more widely, covering virtually every show Prince has done since his apprenticeship under George Abbott in the 1950s. To accomplish that, he takes the unconventional step of incorporating into this book the entire text of his 1974 memoir, "Contradictions." It's a good idea, actually. Written in the heady middle of his historic collaboration with Sondheim, "Contradictions" is worth reprinting simply for its vivid behind-the-scenes portrait of the creation of "Company," "Follies" and "A Little Night Music." What makes it an indispensable prelude to the 19 new chapters on Prince's career since 1974, however, is the producer/director's savvy assessment of the challenges of doing artistically meaningful work in the commercial theater. Those challenges have grown exponentially greater, Prince reminds us in the present-day "reflections" that he appends to each chapter from "Contradictions." For instance, Chapter 2, on the first two shows he produced, is followed by this rueful elaboration: "(BEGIN ITAL)The Pajama Game(END ITAL) cost $169,000, and (BEGIN ITAL)Damn Yankees(END ITAL) cost $162,000. This is somewhere in the neighborhood of the budget for shoes and wigs on a current Broadway production." Those higher stakes are evident as the new material in "Sense of Occasion" begins with "Pacific Overtures," the fourth Prince-Sondheim collaboration. It lost its entire capitalization. But Prince's warm recollections of that musical about Western imperialism reveals no diminution in his appetite for risk-taking. He does, however, reveal a weariness with Broadway's increasingly insane economics, which eventually prompted him to give up his dual role as producer/director. The loyal investors who had stuck with Prince since "The Pajama Game" were just not capable of covering the $3.5 million budget of "Sweeney Todd." ("Pacific Overtures," only three years earlier, cost $650,000.) He decided just to direct and leave the money-raising to a team of five producers, who had to wait 11 years to recoup the cost of the greatest of the Sondheim-Prince shows. The painful failure of "Merrily We Roll Along" in 1981 ended his partnership with Sondheim, and Prince describes his reaction in characteristically terse terms: "Of course I still miss the creative sessions," he writes. "We both went alternative routes successfully; still. ... " He's not one for delving into his or anyone else's personal emotions, and readers looking for juicy gossip will have to look elsewhere. A mildly critical account of Madeline Kahn's unprofessional behavior in "On the Twentieth Century" is as catty as he gets. Instead, he offers a show-by-show narrative that devotes as much attention to short-lived pieces like "Parade" and "LoveMusik" as to commercial hits such as "Evita," "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and the international mega-smash "The Phantom of the Opera." At the same time, although he focuses on his work as a director, he seldom fails to mention how long the show ran and whether it had subsequent productions. Prince has never chosen projects with their profitability in mind, but he understands that in the commercial theater you can't make art if you don't make a profit at least some of the time. Prince's accomplishments as a director are well served by his cogent snapshots of the creative process, in particular his intriguing discussion of "metaphor as the spine of a musical book" and his appreciative tributes to his designers and choreographers. But it's telling that his most passionate statement of faith, in the book's closing pages, is directed at the corporate investors and producers who now dominate Broadway, whom he urges to "think in terms of (BEGIN ITAL)art(END ITAL)" as a winning business strategy. The record-smashing success of "Hamilton," with its hip-hop-inflected score and multiracial cast, would seem to bear out Prince's assertion that "there are greater profits to be realized in courageous, ground-breaking projects." But the endless procession of jukebox musicals and revamped Disney movies suggests that there's plenty of money to be made in cloning yesterday's hits as well. Broadway continues to view innovation with a wary eye, and its economic bloat has left no room for producer/directors of the sort Prince once was. "Sense of Occasion" is a determinedly un-nostalgic book. On the eve of his 90th birthday, Prince is still planning new productions. Nonetheless, his forthright account of a lifetime spent defying theatrical odds will leave longtime theatergoers wistful for the days when individual taste, guts and faith in a personal vision were occasionally enough to get a show to Broadway. --- Smith is the author of "Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America, 1931-1940." Holley's Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar, the high-end Midtown restaurant opened by chef Mark Holley in July 2014, has closed an apparent casualty of Hurricane Harvey. Holley's posted its closing on Facebook Sunday night: "Holley's Seafood Restaurant and Oyster Bar is now permanently closed. We sincerely appreciate all of our fans, customers, family and employees who made this restaurant into a top competing and award winning force in the Houston restaurant market. It is with a heavy heart that we announce this, and we are truly grateful for each and every one of you and your contribution to the restaurant." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The U.S. Supreme Court slapped down a Houston serial killer's bid for life Monday, propelling "Tourniquet Killer" Anthony Shore one step closer to his Oct. 18 date with death. Now, the 55-year-old murderer's hope hangs on last-ditch efforts in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. "We are disappointed," said Knox Nunnally, the Houston attorney representing Shore through the federal appeals process. Currently the only Houston killer with a scheduled execution date, Shore was convicted of one count of capital murder in 2004 - even after he confessed to three others. His brutal killing streak started at least as far back as 1986, when he slaughtered 14-year-old Laurie Tremblay. Six years later, he raped and murdered 21-year-old Maria del Carmen Estrada then ditched her naked body outside a Spring Branch Dairy Queen. In 1994, he killed his youngest victim, 9-year-old Diana Rebollar. A year later, he murdered 16-year-old Dana Sanchez, who disappeared while hitchhiking to her boyfriend's house in north Houston. DATE SET: Houston serial murderer known as 'Tourniquet Killer' gets October date with death But the cases turned cold and the crimes went unsolved for nearly two decades, until Shore was arrested for molesting family members. As a convicted sex offender, the former telephone technician's DNA went on file and eventually investigators matched it to the Estrada case. When police confronted him, he calmly confessed to Estrada's brutal murder along with the three others. After he was convicted the following year, he stunned onlookers in court by asking for the death penalty. But ever since then, his lawyers have filed appeal after appeal, hoping a deluge of paperwork can save their condemned client. When state District Judge Maria T. Jackson in July gave a green light to prosecutors' request for an execution date, Nunnally had already filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. The filing, which rested on a claim that Shore suffered brain damage before the slayings, would have required a lower court to reconsider a request for appeal. It was always a long shot. "I would certainly say that the odds are not in our favor," Nunnally said at the time. The court refused the petition without comment. NEW NUMBERS: Executions on decline in Texas, nation The Court also denied without comment a petition for Robert Pruett, who is set for execution on Oct. 12. The 38-year-old has spent 15 years on death row for the 1999 slaying of a prison guard in Bee County, where he was already serving a 99-year sentence for a murder in Harris County. Two other prisoners with Houston ties lost out in their legal battles Monday as well. The Supreme Court denied petitions from Jaime Cole - an Ecuadorian immigrant who killed his estranged wife and her teenage daughter in 2010 - and Garcia White, a fry cook who fatally stabbed twin girls in 1989. Meanwhile, Shore's counsel continues fighting his case. There's a request for clemency pending with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which Nunnally described as "highly unlikely," as well as a final trial court appeal. As in previous filings, the September appeal in Harris County court hinges on previously unrecognized brain injury that trial lawyers failed to identify. "I think it's a long shot," Nunnally said. "However, we always try to keep a positive view." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate UISD administration has proposed that two high school students who were caught manipulating grades be expelled. The students have appealed the proposed expulsion. It's unclear how long the expulsion would last. When public school students in Webb County are expelled from school, they attend the Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program. The United Independent School District board of trustees will hear the students' appeal during a special-called meeting Tuesday. The discussions will happen in closed session. READ MORE: United HS students face possible expulsion, criminal charges after caught changing grades, district says When they reconvene in open session, trustees are set to take action regarding the expulsion appeal hearing of "L.C." and "T.B." The two United High School juniors faced disciplinary action after accessing teacher files and electronic gradebooks to manipulate grades this semester. The incident was discovered in August and brought to the attention of administration, spurring an investigation, said Gloria Rendon, UISD assistant superintendent for administration, in September. The investigation concluded that a recording device was installed at the United High main campus in May. RELATED: Las Maquinitas: While permit fees rise, game rooms have been overlooked in Laredo since 2014 "The students used the recorded information to retrieve passwords and electronic gradebooks to manipulate grades," Rendon said. The original grades were reinstated, according to United ISD. "This did not affect students that have already graduated, or that will graduate in 2018. This only involved the class of 2019, the junior class. We assure the public, the community and the parents this did not affect classes that already graduated," Rendon said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two juniors at United High School are facing disciplinary action after accessing teacher files and electronic gradebooks to manipulate grades this semester, United ISD announced Monday. The incident was discovered in August and brought to the attention of the district administration, spurring an investigation, said Gloria Rendon, UISD assistant superintendent for administration. The investigation concluded that a recording device was installed at the United High School main campus in May. "The students used the recorded information to retrieve passwords and electronic gradebooks to manipulate grades," Rendon said. The district is withholding the students' names due to their status as juveniles and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. READ MORE: Laredo city officials consider adding HOV lane to Mines Road to alleviate traffic The original grades have been reinstated, according to United ISD. The two involved students are now facing possible expulsion and criminal charges. "We will follow the district's Code of Student Conduct and the students will face the necessary consequences," Rendon said. United ISD is working with the Webb County Attorney's Office to prosecute the responsible parties "to the fullest extent of the law," she said. The district stressed that this was an isolated incident and at no time was its student information system compromised. Rendon said this was the first time she has seen such a situation occur. MORE FROM LMTonline: Fire at church-owned warehouse in Pueblo Nuevo caused $85,000 worth of damages, officials say "This did not affect students that have already graduated, or that will graduate in 2018. This only involved the class of 2019, the junior class. We assure the public, the community and the parents this did not affect classes that already graduated," Rendon said. Teachers have already been informed of the incident. It was due to the teachers' "diligence and immaculate record keeping" that the discovery of the manipulated files was made, according to Rendon. United ISD is now working to inform parents of the situation through its school messenger, an email platform that sends messages to parents. Parents who do not have an email account will be notified by mail. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A grand jury in the 49th District Court recently returned an indictment against a 32-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl, court records state. An indictment filed Sept. 20 charges Nicolas Pena with sexual assault of a child, a second-degree felony, and prohibited sexual conduct, a third-degree felony. The case dates back to March 7, when a woman reported to police that her 16-year-old daughter had run away and had been gone for four days. The woman believed her daughter was having sex with Pena. Police later arrested the girl at United High School on a runaway charge. Her mother stated she found a love letter in her backpack and noticed the handwriting was similar to Pena's. She stated that Pena would write to her during his time serving in the U.S. Army from February 2010 to July 2013, according to the arrest affidavit. READ MORE: Expulsion proposed for United High School students caught changing grades "The letter was sexually explicit but was not signed by the sender," states the affidavit. Her mother later found out that her daughter was staying with Pena when she ran away from home. The girl denied any sexual relationship with Pena. Police confronted him with the love letter found in the girl's backpack. He denied writing the letter and denied any sexual relationship with the girl, according to police. On March 10, investigators found out about two previous police reports concerning a possible sexual relationship. The first report was filed in October 2013. That month, police responded to Washington Middle School for a sexual assault report. A young boy stated the girl had told him she was having sex with Pena. MORE FROM LMTonline: At least 50 killed as gunman opens fire at Las Vegas concert The second case was reported in January 2014. Some students were talking in the classroom about Pena impregnating the girl. She denied the allegations. School officials took statements from students who said Pena impregnated the girl, according to court documents. Records state the girl is the mother to a 1-year-old girl. A paternity test determined Pena is the father, according to the affidavit. Police secured warrants for Pena's arrest and took him into custody June 17 in the 2300 block of East Locust Street. He is scheduled to appear Oct. 13 before 49th District Court Judge Jose A. Lopez for a consultation hearing, records state. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On Sept. 1, hundreds of bills from Texas' 85th Legislature officially went into effect, including 33 that were authored by Laredo's lawmakers, Rep. Tracy King, Rep. Richard Pena Raymond and Sen. Judith Zaffirini. However, this group also passed many bills that were filed without Gov. Greg Abbott's signature, and went into effect immediately once they passed through both chambers in the spring. All in all, Laredo's legislators authored, joint-authored and sponsored 144 bills in the regular 85th session that are now Texas law. Zaffirini The majority of this total belongs to Zaffirini, who passed 109 bills this year. Fifty of the 162 bills she authored are now law, plus one that was signed by the governor but becomes effective at a later date. She was also an additional primary author to four more Senate bills that are now law, and she sponsored 54 House bills that are now on the books. Zaffirini passed more bills than any other legislator and beat her personal record this year, she said. The senator who passed the second-highest number of bills this year had 77, Zaffirini said. Plus, she holds the record for the most bills passed ever by any legislator in Texas: 1,024 over the course of her 30 years in office. Zaffirini attributes her success to simple hard work. "I'm not a workaholic, but I work hard," she said. She and her staff are already working on bills for the next legislative session and reviewing bills that didn't pass this year. No bill is too small or too big to take on, Zaffirini said. "I will carry bills that other people will not. They're important to a tiny segment of the population but they're meaningful," she said. One of the senator's focuses in her legislation this year was guardianship; she authored at least 10 bills on the subject, six of which passed, and one, Zaffirini's favorite, that was vetoed by the governor. READ MORE: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton visits Laredo for first time since taking office Senate Bill 667 was a cornerstone bill to her guardianship bundle that would establish a guardianship compliance program in courts across the state. This would provide guardianship specialists and other resources to these courts. Abbott wrote that he vetoed this bill because the Legislature passed so many other guardianship bills this session, and SB 667 would cost the state $5 million every two years. "We should give the new statutory reforms a chance to work, and we should continue to look for cost-effective ways to address this challenge. The creation of a new state bureaucracy should be a last resort," he wrote. Zaffirini said she was beyond disappointed by this news she was angered. The Texas Judicial Council unanimously recommended this legislation, and there were nine co-authors to the bill, all members of the Senate State Affairs Committee. She imagines the governor and his staff were looking through the budget and found an easy opportunity to place a line-item veto. She will be filing this bill again for the 86th session, she said. Another favorite bill of her's was SB 1913, which did pass. Thousands of people in Texas last year were jailed for their inability to pay fines, which Zaffirini calls debtors prison, which is illegal. If someone cannot pay a $200 speeding ticket, judges used to be able to send them to jail for four days to pay it off, $50 a day, she said. Under SB 1913, judges now have the authority to waive these fines, assign community service or set up a payment plan for Texans who cannot afford to pay their fine. It costs the state $80 a day to keep someone in jail, so this bill saves Texas money, Zaffirini said. Zaffirini was also the sponsor to House Bill 62, which bans texting and driving across the state. This was her fifth attempt in trying to pass this legislation, which she was inspired to work on when she saw two of her young staffers texting at the wheel while she was in the car. Zaffirini cannot attribute her legislative success to one particular factor. It's a matter of work ethic, keeping a good staff, and fostering good relationships with other members of the Legislature, regardless of party affiliation, she said. Plus, the senator loves to bake. Every session she will send each senator a small heart-shaped tin full of praline pecans, and then a second round with party mix. "They are never a please, always a thank you," Zaffirini said. This year Sen. Don Huffines tried to pass a bill that would strip the power of municipalities' texting and driving ordinances if the language was stronger than the state's. Huffines asked Zaffirini if he would still be receiving her praline pecans, and she said absolutely not. As a proponent of texting and driving legislation, Zaffirini was not pleased by this bill, which did not end up passing. She sent Huffines an empty heart-shaped tin. Raymond Raymond authored 44 bills this year, four of which are now law, plus 12 that he joint-authored and 11 that he sponsored or joint-sponsored. One of his greatest accomplishments of the session, however, is not included in this tally. He, along with King and Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, authored HB 141, which removes the toll from the Camino Colombia. This bill was one of over 100 that the House Freedom Caucus killed in mid-May in retaliation for not seeing their own priority items being brought to the floor. So on the Monday following the mass kill, Raymond worked to amend the Texas Department of Transportation's sunset legislation to include the language in HB 141, which was accepted and eventually passed. This legislation was a priority for the county, city and private sector, Raymond said. "(I'm) very proud that when you look at the whole state of Texas, there was only one toll road that was removed, and that was the Camino Colombia," he said. He is also especially proud of Senate Joint Resolution 60, which he co-sponsored. This resolution proposes a state constitutional amendment that reforms the home equity loan process and would lower expenses for borrowers. This needs to be approved by voters in the upcoming November election before it can go into effect. Raymond said he introduced a bill two years ago to address home equity reform. There was a long, drawn out hearing on the subject, but it didn't pass. Raymond said he knew he needed to get the discussion going, though. This session, there was broad-based support for the resolution, he said, and it did pass. MORE FROM LMTonline: Laredo city officials proposing monthly street maintenance fees Also, as a member of the Texas Sunset Commission, Raymond said he was able to help pass sunset legislation for the Texas Medical Board, the Texas Railroad Commission and TxDOT. "Those are sunset bills that have been looked at over 10 years. We could never get consensus on passing those bills, and we were finally able to do that. I was very proud of that," Raymond said. Raymond passed several major bills concerning oversight of Child Protective Services, an explicit priority of Abbott's. Raymond said he spent many hours with the governor and his staff, Democrats and Republics, and worked really hard to get strong bi-partisan consensus. Next session, Raymond will re-address the $3 billion property tax relief bill he authored for the special session this summer. HB 190 would temporarily increase the number of residences exempt from paying school property taxes and cover the districts' loss of revenue with money from the state's Rainy Day Fund. When the state has a surplus of over $10 billion, it should be used for property tax relief, Raymond said. King Six of the 22 bills King authored this year are now law, plus two that he joint-authored and one that he sponsored. He also authored two bills that passed through both chambers but were vetoed by the governor. King said he screens his legislation, and if it doesn't merit filing, or if it would be impossible to pass, he won't file it. But he still authored a few bills that he knew would be difficult, like HB 2560 and HB 3466, which deal with the appraisal of heavy equipment, a very complex taxation issue, King said. He's worked on this for several sessions and will work on it again. "It's tough, but we'll keep working on it, because it's a real issue," King said. He also worked on several bills that affect Webb County and Laredo specifically, and another that impacts Frio County, a county in his district. Local bills are sometimes the ones people care most about, King said. For instance, HB 1584 was a Webb County legislative priority. The county had been collecting trash outside city limits, and there was a question if they could legally do this in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city. HB 1584 makes that explicitly lawful in Webb County. "I was proud to help them with that," King said. LISD also asked King to to help with a parental complaint process that had become a large expense for the school. King authored HB 1669, which did not pass, but also would have affected school districts throughout the state. RELATED: Contentious Webb County budget passed for 2018 fiscal year School districts' board of trustees must maintain a mechanism to address complaints. King said parents at LISD had been erroneously using this form to voice complaints about the way their kids were being treated in extracurricular activities, which costs the district a significant amount of money. This measure passed through the House but was left pending in the Senate's Education Committee. King said he always likes to work on issues regarding teachers and retired teachers, and worked on a good number of bills this year that had to do with the Teacher Retirement Center of Texas. One of the bills King authored that Abbott vetoed was HB 3025, which has to do with ground water and deteriorated wells. King does a lot of work on groundwater law because he serves on the Natural Resources Committee, and this bill would simply reinforce the laws already on the books, he said. "With all due respect to the governor, I don't think he understands ground water law and what that bill was going to do," King said. All in all, King said he is very proud of his ability to work with locals and interest groups to make Texas a better place. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Which Houston-area suburbs have the most violent crime by population? New data released by the FBI shows how prevalent violent crime is in most of Houston's suburban cities. The 2016 data lists the population for each city, plus the number of murders, manslaughters, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults for last year. This data released last week contains the most up-to-date stats for each community. DANGEROUS CAMPUSES: Texas colleges with the most violent crime, according to the FBI Now Playing: Texas News & Crime Video: Houston Chronicle Those five crimes account for the FBI's annual violent crime statistic, which is broken down in this report by incidences per 1,000 in population. The Houston area's suburbs, none of which surpassed the City of Houston in violent crime rates, are ranked from most violent crimes per 1,000 to least. See where your city falls on the list, and get a look at how many violent crimes occurred in your community last year. Chile's President Michelle Bachelet announced larger than expected spending plans for next year as she looks to ensure a legacy of improved education and health care, even if that comes at the cost of higher debt. Fiscal expenditure will rise 3.9 percent, Bachelet said late Sunday, more than the 3 percent many had expected. Still, the budget deficit will narrow to 1.9 percent of gross domestic product from 2.7 percent this year as revenue jumps 7.5 percent, Finance Minister Nicolas Eyzaguirre told lawmakers on Monday. "We can be optimistic because there are already better prospects for the economy," Bachelet said in a televised address. "More growth, more productivity and greater wellbeing for every family, community and region." Echoing Bachelet, Eyzaguirre said growth could double to 3 percent in 2018 from 1.5 percent this year after copper prices rallied, exports rose and consumer and business confidence improved. The extra revenue will enable Bachelet to extend pledges for free higher education to 60 percent of students, raise teachers' pay and step up the construction of hospitals. Still, with S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings both downgrading the country in the past two months because of rising debt levels, many had expected her to keep a tighter rein on expenditure. "We are going to hand over an economy in a clear state of recovery to the next administration with well ordered fiscal accounts," Eyzaguirre said today. The structural fiscal deficit, which excludes cyclical factors, will narrow to 1.5 percent of GDP from 1.7 percent, as previously pledged by the government, the finance minister said. The comments contrasted with the emphasis on fiscal prudence that the finance minister insisted on during an interview last month. Copper at a three-year high wouldn't lead to a jump in spending ahead of November's presidential election, he said on Sept. 8. "It has to be an austere budget," Eyzaguirre said last month. "Being more fiscally conservative in an election year isn't going to be easy, but that is why we are here." Chile's credibility "is one of the most important assets we have." When it cut Chile's credit rating in August, Fitch forecast that outstanding general government debt will rise to 25 percent of GDP this year and to about 30 percent in 2019. Bachelet didn't concentrate on fiscal debt in her speech, focusing instead on the achievements of her government. The former doctor cited the completion of 20 hospitals, with another 29 under construction and 18 in the planning and design phase. But pride of place goes to education spending, with 380,000 students set to benefit from free university places next year. "With their hand on their heart, who can continue to deny families that must get themselves into debt or dedicate the main part of their income to pay university quotas," Bachelet said. Some of those funds will come from the metal that was known for many years as "Chile's wage." Copper, which accounts for about half of exports, rose as high as $3.18 per pound last month, up 44 percent in the past year. Every one cent increase in the average copper price for the year represents $50 million extra revenue for the government. The metal was trading at almost $3.00 per pound Monday. The main facilitators of the 2015 accord on Iran's nuclear program, slammed as the worst deal ever by U.S. President Donald Trump, could be among the top contenders for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, according to researchers who predict potential winners. Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, are the best candidates because they convened the process that ended with the easing of sanctions against Tehran in return for nuclear restrictions, according to Henrik Urdal, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, which makes a shortlist each year with mixed results. "The threat of the use of nuclear-arm force is more real than it has been, with North Korea being in play as well," Urdal said to reporters last week in Oslo. "It's important to support initiatives that prevent the development and proliferation of nuclear arms." Leaving John Kerry out was no criticism of the former secretary of state's role in the deal, the PRIO director said, but could be a way of highlighting to Trump -- who has said he's made a decision on whether the U.S. will continue to abide by the deal -- that it has broad international support. Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, won the award in his first year in office in 2009. The current U.S. president has also been nominated this time, according to PRIO. Nominations, which include over 200 names every year, are open to academics, lawmakers and non-governmental agencies worldwide. Trump's odds were 101/1 at William Hill, which estimated Obama's chance of winning again to be higher, at 20/1. PRIO's shortlist also included the White Helmets, formally called the Syrian Civil Defense, and its leader Raed al Saleh, for its efforts to help civilians in the war-torn country. The White Helmets were 4/1 to win the prize at both William Hill and Unibet. The main bookmakers didn't provide odds for the Iran-deal parties, or for PRIO's second and third picks: - UNHCR and High Commissioner Filippo Grandi, amid a record number of displaced people globally and crises spanning from Syria and Afghanistan to the Rohingyas in Myanmar; and - Turkey's Cumhuriyet newspaper and its former editor Can Dundar, who symbolize president Recept Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown on the freedom of the press. Pope Francis was favorite to win at William Hill with 2/1, followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at 3.5/1. The American Civil Liberties Union had the lowest odds at Unibet with 3/1, followed by the Pope at 4/1. Other candidates cited by PRIO, Nobel historian Asle Sveen, or bookmakers: - The Economic Community of West African States; - Saudi writer Raif Badawi; - U.S. leaker Edward Snowden; - Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper, and human rights group Memorial. The prize, along with literature, physics and medicine honors, was created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel and first awarded in 1901. Past winners also include civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the late Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, last year's recipient. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, based in Oslo, selects the peace prize recipient. The Physiology or Medicine Prize was on Monday awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for discoveries that explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the earth's revolutions. Prizes in chemistry, physics and literature will be awarded this week in Stockholm while the economics prize will be handed next Monday. The peace prize winner will be announced on Friday at 11 a.m. An annual event to celebrate the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of India's independence movement, was held at the Indian Embassy in Tokyo on Monday. Oct. 2 is also designated as the International Day of Non-Violence by the United Nations, which calls Gandhi the "pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of nonviolence." Coming after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to India in September, the event included a photo exhibition that shows scenes from when Abe visited a Gandhi residence in Ahmedabad, escorted by his Indian counterpart. JERUSALEM - In a symbolic step toward ending a decade-long rift with Hamas, the Palestinian prime minister visited the Gaza Strip on Monday, though major obstacles still lie in the way of rapprochement. A crowd of hundreds welcomed Rami Hamdallah, a representative of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, after he passed through the Erez border crossing from Israel to enter Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. Footage of the event showed well-wishers cramming rooftops and balconies, and some waving yellow Fatah flags, as he made his through packed streets. "We came back to Gaza to end all signs of division and rebuild," Hamdallah said in a televised news conference. "There will be no Palestinian state without Gaza." Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 after bloody street fighting began when Fatah refused to recognize Hamas's election win and give up control. Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority, has been responsible for administering areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In recent months, Egypt has brokered talks aimed at bringing the two sides together. In what was seen as a gesture of goodwill, Hamas invited Hamdallah's unity government, led by Fatah, to take control of administrating Gaza last month. Hamas also dissolved its own administrative committee and said it was ready to hold elections. "Hamas now isn't interested in ruling Gaza alone," said Ghazi Hamad, a de facto foreign minister for Hamas in Gaza. "We want to stop bleeding and have one political system and save our power and energy to struggle against Israel." Hamas has struggled to rule under years of blockade by Israel, but Fatah also has imposed punitive measures against the militant group in recent months, requesting that Israel cut its electricity supply and ceasing payments to government employees in the strip. Husam Zomlot, the chief representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Washington office, said the meetings in Gaza mark a milestone in the Palestinian quest for an independent state. The PLO is recognized by more than 100 states as the representative of the Palestinian people. "We have declared war on the division," he told reporters on Monday. "We intend to go all the way to make sure that Gaza is back to the central authority, that Gaza is back as an integral part of our occupied territories and a future state." Gaza and the West Bank are divided geographically by Israel, which also controls movement between the two Palestinian territories. Hamdallah met with Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yehiyeh Sinwar and is expected to head a cabinet meeting in Gaza on Tuesday. U.S. Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt said that the United States would be "watching these developments closely." "The United States stresses that any Palestinian government must explicitly and unambiguously commit to nonviolence, recognition of the State of Israel, acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties, and peaceful negotiations," he said in a statement. Past efforts at reconciliation have been derailed over issues including the dismantling of the Hamas armed wing, which still remains a major obstacle. The two sides would also have to agree on what happens to tens of thousands of employees of Hamas' shadow administration in Gaza. "We've tried before, but we've failed, despite hundreds of attempts at reconciliation," said Hamad, citing security and Hamas's desire to join the PLO. Hamad said he expected Israel to oppose efforts at unity, and attempt to disrupt them. In the past, Israel has denounced negotiations with a group that does not recognize it. Israel and the United States classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. But Israeli officials have recently said that improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza is in Israel's security interests. Israel has waged three wars with Hamas since it took control of Gaza, retaliating against rocket attacks and other violence by the militant group. "We will judge any kind of conversation between Hamas and the Fatah organization according to specific parameters: First of all, are they willing to accept the existence of Israel in this area? Second, are they going to stop shooting and creating terror actions in Israel? And third, do they look to a future of living side by side?" said Yoav Galant, an Israeli cabinet member and former Israel Defense Forces commander responsible for Gaza. "If the answer to these questions is positive, there is a lot to talk about," he said. "If the answers to these questions are negative, nothing has changed." --- The Washington Post's Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report. After the fifth low-tech terrorist attack this year alone in the U.K. -- not to mention a spate of attacks across Europe since 2014, and earlier -- it is time for governments to reevaluate their approach. At the core of this self-assessment should be a simple recognition, which itself requires separating facts from appearances when it comes to terrorism. Terrorist attacks in Europe have occurred at such a pace in the last few months that we are in danger of treating them as the new normal. No sooner had the attack on Barcelona's La Rambla district disappeared from the headlines than the Parsons Green London tube station was targeted in an improvised explosive device attack claimed by the Islamic State. Worse, without time to pause, analyze the case facts, or think strategically, law enforcement across Europe and elsewhere run the risk of getting stuck in a reactive rather than proactive stance. Yet careful analysis exposes common themes across these attacks, which are useful in a strategic response to the hard-to-predict acts of low-tech terror. Although this analysis will focus on the brotherly ties that many analysts missed in the recent Barcelona terror attacks, readers will readily see elements echoed in Parsons Green, in other recent U.K. attacks (Westminster, London Bridge, and Manchester), and beyond. In many cases, the attackers' networks were held together by family ties. The suspects in Parsons Green, for instance, were foster brothers, young men with recent immigrant backgrounds, who used low-tech terror tactics in busy, unguarded public places; and they appear to have responded to calls from a parent terror organization (in the case of London, by Inspire, an al Qaeda magazine) to attack trains. -- In the three incidents associated with the recent August Barcelona terror attacks, nine of the 12 attackers were brothers. Only leader Abdelbaki Es Satty and two additional recruits, Mohamed Houli Chemlal and Salh El Karib, did not possess family ties in the group. The operatives were young (with the exception of Es Satty) and shared Moroccan nationality or heritage. This kinship element was often glossed over in discussions of the Catalonia attacks, as well as others in which cell members were often related in other ways (for examples, cousins, via families in marriage, etc.). Although undertheorized, the subject of kinship in terrorism research reveals the utility of social network theory in underscoring how interpersonal relationships -- the ties that bind -- structure both groups and commitment levels. In low-tech terror attacks in Belgium, France, the U.K., and elsewhere, these bonds -- literal or constructed -- help operationalize "brothers in arms" willing to sacrifice themselves for transcendent aims. (Literal bonds involve biological, kinship relations in families, brothers and cousins, while constructed bonds involve the close friendships.) So what role can identifying kinship ties play in government responses to repeated low-tech terrorist attacks, and can it help to deter such attacks? -- Any discussion of preventive and countermeasures must begin with case facts and to contemplate the details of this now familiar style of low-tech, small-cell attack in urban settings. The Aug. 17, 2017, La Rambla van attack was executed by an Islamic State cell and involved three related incidents, all linked back to a central figure, Es Satty. He was incarcerated between 2010 and 2014 for drug smuggling from North Africa, had established ties with al Qaeda jihadis from the 2004 train attack, and successfully appealed his deportation order in 2015 after his release from prison. He was also the subject of recent Belgian intelligence warnings to Catalan authorities. The Alcanar explosion: The night before the Barcelona attack -- Wednesday, Aug. 16 -- in the town of Alcanar, several members of the Islamic State cell accidentally blew up their house, killing two members: Es Satty, who rented a room in the house, and 22-year-old Youssef Aallaa, born in Naour, Morocco, and affiliated with the Ripoll mosque, where Es Satty worked as an imam. A third member was injured in the attack -- a 21-year-old Spanish national from Melilla, Chemlal, reported to be the bomb maker, who is currently under arrest. Like Aallaa and his two brothers, Mohamad and Said, Chemlal was recruited by Es Satty via the Moroccan immigrant community in Ripoll. Authorities discovered more than 100 gas canisters stored at the location, and supplies of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) indicated that the group was planning a spectacular bombing of the Sagrada Familia basilica. Es Satty had communicated to his roommate -- internet cafe owner el Karib, who bought tickets for both Es Satty and Moroccan national Driss Oukabir -- that he was soon leaving for Morocco, where he had already sent his wife and children. Attack I -- La Rambla van attack: On Thursday, Aug. 17, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub, born in M'rirt, Morocco, drove a van (leased using his credit card) into crowds at La Rambla, a popular pedestrian mall, killing 14 people and injuring more than 140 from 34 countries. Fleeing on foot, he then hijacked a car and stabbed the driver, the 15th fatality. He was finally apprehended on August 21 in Subirats, outside Barcelona. When killed by law enforcement, he was wearing a fake suicide vest and shouting "Allahu Akbar." Attack II -- Cambrils car attack: Nine hours later in the early morning hours of Friday, August 18, five members of the cell drove another vehicle into a crowd in Cambrils. The attackers, all Moroccans, included 19-year-old Houssaine Abouyaaqoub; brothers Omar Hichamy, 21, and Mohamed Hichamy, 22; 17-year-old Moussa Oukabir; and 19-year-old Said Aalla. Upon exiting their overturned vehicle, blocked by pedestrian barriers, they began attacking bystanders with knives and axes, killing one elderly woman and injuring six others. All attackers -- again wearing fake suicide vests -- were shot and killed on site by two law enforcement officers, one woman who was a former military servicemember. Four remaining suspects who were not killed during the attacks are under supervision or arrest: Driss Oukabir (who turned himself in, saying he was innocent); 27-year-old Mohamed Aalla (the registered owner of the Audi A3 used in the Cambrils car attack); el Karib (the internet cafe manager in Ripoll); and 21-year-old Chemlal. It is worth noting by way of context that Spain has remained largely quiet in recent years, thus, containing this form of terrorist threat since its early exposure in the 2004 Atocha al Qaeda train attacks in which terrorists killed more than 190 people. Afterward, the Spanish government prioritized -- often leading the pack -- aggressive terrorist-related law enforcement measures, including surveillance, detentions and arrests. Spain's National Police and National Intelligence Center forces proactively monitor persons of interest and foil plots, including those linked to Spain's rarely discussed North African enclave cities of Ceuta and Melilla. This forward-leaning posture is no small achievement given rising EU attacks, longstanding North African immigration into Catalonia, the high density of Salafist mosques there, and the broader migration crisis across Europe, in which savvy Islamic State operators target refugee flows and traffickers (and Syrian passports) to achieve goals. -- In planning Barcelona, Es Satty -- much like the loose Belgian-French cell responsible for coordinated, recent Brussels and Paris attacks -- appears to have tapped into adaptive jihadist alliances and networks in and beyond the Islamic State. In recruiting, planning, and tactics, these incidents are designed to be "low-tech" -- low-cost and high impact, with low barriers to entry for recruits. The reference points analysts too often use are "lone wolves," when we should be thinking about asymmetric battlefield tactics: IEDs, suiciders, small military units, attacks against soft targets for large strategic effects, commercial technology repurposed for military capabilities, and the use of geographic or human terrain as force multipliers. Such structured, small group radicalization dynamics are a strategic alternative to al Qaeda-style, large-scale attacks and "lone-wolf terrorism." In Europe and beyond, the similarities of the attacks -- often down to minute details -- are not accidental. Explicit instructions on vehicular ramming attacks to achieve maximum carnage are evident as early as al Qaeda's 2010 article, "The Ultimate Mowing Machine," in the second issue of Inspire. Cars and heavy trucks have been used as weapons repeatedly in France, Israel, Germany, Sweden, Canada, the U.K., the United States and elsewhere -- with more than 100 innocents killed in the EU since 2015 alone. While these are not the only examples of the Islamic States's signature attacks, the group has been explicit in advocating low-tech tools and tactics, especially vehicles, knives, and, more recently ,attacks on trains. Abu Mohammad al-Adnani's audio message in 2014 told recruits to target "disbelievers ... with your car." Rumiyah 3 in "Just Terror Tactics 2: Vehicle Attacks" lays out specific rationales for "the just terror mujahid" stationed "behind enemy lines." When initiating an attack, the authors write, "it is important to define the objective. One's attack may be to harvest a large kill count. It may be aimed at disrupting the financial stability of a specific nation. It may simply be aimed at terrorizing the enemies of Allah and depriving them of a peaceful sleep," as "the mujahid must choose a method that best suits the operation at hand." The Islamic State is still getting mileage -- and willing recruits -- out of its open advocacy for singling out "soft targets" in glossy online magazines in the West. We must recognize these tactics for what they are: irregular, military-style attacks against civilian populations who remain in too many cases unaware and unprotected from them. -- So, given the possibility of more low-tech terror attacks carried out by low-skill terror cells, what can governments do? In addition to keeping an eye on family members (especially young males) in cases known to security services, other practical, policy, and strategic measures for further discussion and research include, firstly, immediate and practical measures to lessen the effects of vehicles in terror attacks, such as erecting pedestrian barriers in high-density public spaces. Similarly, law enforcement should continue to regulate the current "low-tech" weapons-of-choice with regulations or background checks. In Barcelona, for instance, perpetrators couldn't use heavier trucks (as they did in Nice) without proper permits. Secondly, nations should take intelligence-sharing seriously. Spain has a forward-leaning posture on intelligence sharing. Unlike the U.K. -- where the MI5 security service was warned five times about Salman Abedi before the Manchester attacks -- Catalan security forces arrested four suspects in April who were linked to the Brussels terror attacks using information provided by the public. But if CIA did warn of the Barcelona threat, then a better preparedness process is needed. Thirdly, governments should respond strategically to what the Islamic State and other actors are telling us in what amount to public statements of military strategy. Earlier this year, the Islamic State pronounced that it would target Spanish tourist hot spots, called vehicles "weapons of mass destruction" and vehicle attacks a "just terror" tactic, and identified in detail whom to target, which trucks to use, how to procure them, how to deploy them, etc. In fact, the Islamic State -- even more than al Qaeda or Lashkar-e-Taiba (behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks) -- is chatty about its terror strategy. So let's pay heed to what terrorists are saying to us and each other and be prepared. Recently, Inspire issue 17 told recruits to go after trains -- and they appear to have been listening, in the case of the recent Sept. 15, 2017, London Tube train attack -- as well as an attack at a French metro train station, which has barely received news coverage. Lastly, we must take politics, emotions, and ideologies out of the equation now that we are faced with difficult public safety, public security,and logistics issues in pluralist societies. This stance will mean coming to grips with EU immigration policies that missed fraudulent passports used by foreign fighters, or the demonstrated cross-border mobility of terrorist actors, or immigrant integration issues arising from home-grown attacks involving European nationals with Mideast or North African heritage. In short, uncomfortable facts must be integrated into a planned preventive response, especially as law enforcement agencies prepare for future attacks. WASHINGTON - In the face of the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, President Donald Trump appeared Monday at something of a loss for words. "I know we are searching for some kind of meaning in the chaos, some kind of light in the darkness," Trump said in morning remarks from the Diplomatic Room of the White House. "The answers do not come easy." Trump somberly followed the practiced script of past presidents in times of crisis. He called the massacre "an act of pure evil," praised the first responders, promised support for the wounded, pledged to visit some of the families of 59 dead and quoted Scripture. Out of the Las Vegas carnage, however, Trump identified no clear villain. He issued no call to action. A president typically quick to make black-and-white declarations spoke instead in shades of gray. Trump long ago conditioned both his supporters and detractors to expect him to do the unexpected in the face of tragedy - and time and again, he has capitalized on terror to advance his own agenda. After a bomb attack on a train in London in September, Trump called for a "far larger, tougher and more specific" travel ban and condemned the person responsible as a "loser terrorist," well before London authorities had declared that terrorism was the cause. When an indebted gambler assaulted a Manila casino in June, killing dozens by starting a fire, Trump called the event "terrorism" at the White House, even though local police later said the attack was a robbery attempt unconnected to terrorism. During his campaign, Trump made the shooting in San Bernardino, California, which was carried out by Islamic radicals, a centerpiece of his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the nation. "I would handle it so tough, you don't want to hear," he boasted days after the attack. And Trump reacted to the shooting at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub with self-praise, suggesting that it was a symptom of weak Democratic policies. "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism," he tweeted the day after. But the Las Vegas massacre was different, both because investigators have found no evidence linking the shooter to a terrorist organization and because he was a white American, as opposed to a Muslim immigrant. The emerging facts prevented Trump from following his typical playbook - to rally his supporters against Islamic extremism while speaking and tweeting in a combative, even belligerent tone to try to project strength and resolve. Rather, Trump uttered just 574 words on Monday and tried to play the role of uniter. "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one, and it always has," the president said. "We call upon the bonds that unite us: our faith, our family and our shared values; we call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity." The one constant in all of Trump's responses is heavy praise for law enforcement and first responders. Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary to former president George W. Bush, said Trump was "pitch perfect." "He spoke of human suffering. He thanked the first responders. He cited Scripture. He called for national unity. That's what presidents do," Fleischer said. "But the ultimate test is yet to come, and that's when he's on the ground in Las Vegas. That's spontaneous, it's emotional and it's not off the teleprompter." Trump will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to visit with families of the fallen, recovering survivors and first responders. A day earlier, on Tuesday, the president will jet to Puerto Rico to survey the devastation of Hurricane Maria after publicly criticizing and demeaning some of the U.S. territory's elected leaders, who have begged for help amid a slow and fractured response by his administration. At moments of crisis, Trump likes to demonstrate action and insert himself in the scene, as he did in Texas only a few days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall last month. But Trump has struggled with hitting the right notes, and was criticized during his first visit to Texas for not interacting with storm victims or witnessing devastation firsthand. He did so on a second trip to the state a few days later. "You compare Trump to other presidents when they've seen tragedies in this country, be it from natural phenomenon or from disturbed or troubled people, and he just seems so remote and removed from the suffering," presidential historian Robert Dallek said. "He just demonstrates such a lack of compassion and understanding for the troubles of those who are in greatest need and are limited by their circumstances." Trump's response to the Las Vegas massacre created a clear contrast to the way former President Barack Obama responded to mass shootings in his second term. Trump made no reference to the preponderance of such mass slayings in recent years, nor to the roiling debate over gun restrictions. Pressed later by reporters about the president's position on gun laws, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders largely demurred. "There's a time and place for a political debate," she said, "but now is the time to unite as a country." By contrast, Obama said after the Oct. 1, 2015 shooting at a community college in Roseburg, Oregon, which killed 10 people, including the 26-year-old shooter, "This is something we should politicize." For Obama, that meant trying to channel the grief over the tragedy to change gun laws. "Each time this happens I am going to say that we can actually do something about it, but we're going to have to change our laws," Obama said. Cody Keenan, who wrote speeches for Obama, said that his boss became more convinced over the course of his tenure that the traditional response to tragedy - offering thoughts and prayers - was insufficient in the face of such frequent mass shootings. "We know what the debate is, and we shouldn't be starting from scratch," Keenan said. "If it's just thoughts and prayers, it kind of suggests that you are not going to do anything about it." As a candidate, Trump had reacted to that same Oregon shooting with less specificity. "It sounds like another mental health problem," he told The Washington Post that day. "We really have to get to the bottom of it." Back in 2012, Trump seemed more open to gun control in response to mass shootings. After Obama gave a speech pledging to "use whatever power this office holds" to stop future massacres after 26 school children were killed in Newtown, Conn., Trump tweeted, "President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in #Newtown Connecticut." Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has written a history of the gun debate, said, "Many presidents have tried to use mass shootings to spur gun reforms. We can go back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt." Gang shootings in Chicago lead to a push to outlaw machine guns in 1934, and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy lead to further regulations in 1968. But this time, the president declined to make the killings in Las Vegas into a call for specific action. Instead, he scripted a ceremony that distanced him from the vocal calls for change of his predecessor. On Monday afternoon, Trump walked from the White House with his wife, Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence. For nearly a minute, they hung their heads in a moment of silence for the victims in Las Vegas. - - - Embed code for video: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Sandra Gomez Obregon remembers hearing the rapid pop of fireworks, but when she scanned the Las Vegas sky, there werent any colorful bursts to be found. When the next round of loud shots echoed along the strip she slowly realized the sounds were gunfire, said the San Antonio woman who was near the scene of a mass shooting on the Las Vegas strip Sunday night. When the noise stopped, more than 500 people had been wounded and 58 killed by the gunman who fired repeated rounds of ammunition from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino upon concert goers at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, across from the hotel. Police found the suspected gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, dead in his hotel room on the 32nd floor. Obregon, a local businesswoman, was with her son, Johnathon-Joshua Mendoza in the resort city Sunday night after a business trip in Los Angeles. They were leaving their hotel, the MGM Grand, on their way to have a Sushi dinner, when they heard the barrage of gunshots. The noise was followed by people fleeing the outdoor concert. Obregon said first, about 20 people ran their way, then they saw another 100 or so running frantically toward them. I cant even imagine what those poor people saw, she said. Thank God, we were blessed. It was just that scary part of making sure that your family was with you, having a nice time, then this. Its just that feeling of hopelessness. Obregon said they ran back into the hotel lobby, with hundreds running behind them. Outside, she said, people were carrying bodies into the Tropicana Hotel. She said hundreds of people were bussed away from the area for shelter. Obregon and her son went back to their room on the 21st floor. Her son got online and monitored the updates and unfolding events. She said they were impressed with how fast the police had everything under control. Speaking by phone Monday afternoon, they were preparing to board a plane for a flight back to San Antonio. She said the memory of the horrific sights and sounds are ones she wont soon forget. The hardest part was seeing people running for their lives, she said, and the horror on their faces. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A day after a gunman opened fire on a crowd of Las Vegas concert-goers, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus sought to quell anxieties among city residents and said officials here are satisfied with security at local festivals and concerts. McManus' comments come weeks before Mala Luna is set to bring attendees to the city's West Side for a two-day music festival on Oct. 28-29. "I'm stunned," San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus said Monday morning on the San Antonio River Walk, during a press conference previously scheduled to discuss National Night Out. READ MORE: S.A.-area deputy police chief hit in Las Vegas shooting posted photo shortly before shots rang out Authorities in Las Vegas said Stephen Paddock, 64, fired on the crowd from the 32nd floor of a casino hotel. Victims were at a Jason Aldean concert, which was part of Route 91 Harvest, three-day country music festival in town. Police found Paddock dead in his hotel room. At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 were wounded. McManus said security at any concert in San Antonio is usually tight and officers watch for abandoned backpacks and other suspicious behavior. In the event of a shooting in a public space, McManus advised people "get small." RELATED: Records show Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock lived and worked in Texas "Get really small and run for the exit if you can," he said. Home to dozens of hotels, McManus said San Antonio would not increase security at such buildings. The shooting in Las Vegas did not have to do with hotel security, he said. When asked by a reporter if he thought gun control policies would have "done anything whatsoever to stop this," McManus said: "I don't." "I do not," he said, adding that shootings of this nature are only preventable if law enforcement officials have intelligence information prior to an event. kbradshaw@express-news.net | Twitter: @kbrad5 Among the many Las Vegas concert attendees injured in the Sunday night attack was Seguin Deputy Police Chief Bruce Ure, who was hit in the hand with shrapnel, according to Morgan Ash, city spokeswoman. Were so thankful that he is all right and we are praying for the victims and their families, she said Monday morning. Ure could not immediately be reached for comment, but on a Facebook posted before dawn Monday, he wrote, I caught a piece of bullet shrapnel on my hand but minor. The shooter was 22 floors directly above our room. Rounds hitting the ground all around us. I am guessing 400-500 rounds. Maybe more. Sounded like a war zone. Ash said texts that she exchanged with Ure overnight indicated that despite his injury, he was able to utilize his past training as a firefighter/EMT to assist other wounded. He texted that he was able to help other injured concert goers by commandeering a car and driving them to the hospital, Ash said. Ash said Ure also recounted using a tourniquet to stem the bleeding from a severed artery in one persons limb, which was not identified. Ure was expected to arrive back home later Monday. He was supposed to be flying back to Seguin this morning but he isnt able to get his belongings out of his hotel room, so he is taking a later flight, Ash said. Ure, hired in Seguin in 2015, was Victoria's police chief from 2007 to early 2011, according to published reports. zeke@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON Within hours of the Las Vegas shooting rampage that killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 500 others, calls for stricter gun control could be heard from the halls of Congress. The debate has become part of the ritual of American mass shootings. But with Republicans in control of the White House and both houses of Congress, the chances of any new gun regulations are practically nil. More likely, Congress watchers say, would be legislation loosening gun laws in the wake of the nation's latest mass shooting. Two such bills, both championed by Texas Republicans, are likely to get additional scrutiny as lawmakers come to grips with the carnage at a country music show outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The Hearing Protection Act, co-sponsored last January by U.S. Rep. John Carter of Round Rock, would make it easier for gun enthusiasts to affix silencers to their firearms. The bill would remove silencers from the Internal Revenue Code's definition of "firearms," which could make it easier for individuals to get them without the background checks required for many legal firearm buyers. It also would cancel a $200 tax on the devices. The bill was singled out Monday by former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. "The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get," Clinton wrote on Twitter. She added: "Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again." Democratic House members also took aim at the silencer bill Monday, demanding in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan that he pull it from consideration. The letter, signed by Michigan Democrat John Conyers and Raul Grijalva of Arizona, said "It is not enough to simply hold a moment of silence, or place U.S. flags at half-staff; rather we believe that, in the wake of the horrific shootings last evening in Las Vegas, you must clearly state that the House will not seek to make matters worse by passing this legislation." Carter and his supporters argue that silencers are merely intended to protect the hearing of gun owners. Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn accused Democrats of playing politics with the silencer issue, a charge Republicans frequently make in the gun control debate when Democrats call for new gun restrictions in response to mass shootings. "I just think politicizing this terrible tragedy is beyond disgusting," he told reporters Monday. "And I think we ought to wait a respectful period of time... before we start getting into the push and shove of politics." Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, is championing another piece of gun legislation that would allow permitted gun owners to carry concealed firearms across state lines. Cornyn's Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, introduced in February, would require states to recognize gun permits from law-abiding citizens in other states. The bill faces likely opposition from Democrats, who have enough votes in the Senate to block it. That opposition is likely to grow more resolute after Sunday's massacre, the biggest in the nation's history. Meanwhile, the Las Vegas shooting already has spilled into presidential politics, with Houston Democrat Al Green announcing Monday that he would hold off on his promised motion to impeach President Donald Trump. "There is a right time for all things," Green wrote on Twitter. "This is a time to mourn and a time to heal. Impeachment is postponed." Others in the Texas delegation remained largely silent. If they did speak, they mostly shied away from the gun debate, limiting their remarks to customary dispatch of "thoughts and prayers." "As Americans, we remain committed to helping one another through this difficult time period and we all remember that what unites us is always stronger than what divides us," said Texas U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo. Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas made a vague plea to address the root causes of gun violence. "This is an important time to mourn the loss of our loved ones," she said. "However, it is also an important time to act. I will work with my colleagues in Congress to consider preventive measures to alleviate tensions throughout our society and stop such egregious attacks on innocent people before they happen." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN If everything works out like Texas Democrats hope, 2018 could be a throwback to 1990, the last time they won the governor's office. That was a midterm election, and a sharp-tongued rising star named Ann Richards came from behind to beat the expected shoo-in Republican Clayton Williams, leveraging a disgust among women over his legendary gaffe about rape and a lackluster economy that had left Texans yearning for change. This year, with Donald Trump in the White House and Texas Republicans fighting each other in a nasty intraparty civil war, top Democrats believe the time is ripe for a comeback. They had their best Texas showing in 20 years in last year's presidential election, when Hillary Clinton came within nine points of Trump in the state and urban areas like Houston and Dallas turned blue. They're confident they'll find a showcase candidate to run for governor against Greg Abbott, the well-liked Republican incumbent who has a whopping $41 million campaign war chest in a Red State where the party of Lyndon Johnson has lost 123 consecutive statewide races since 1996. "We will have a candidate who can connect with Texas and voters and energize our base," said Manny Garcia, the party's deputy executive director. "We are in for an amazing midterm election for Democrats." So far, that top-of-the-ticket candidate has not signed on. Two Democrats have announced they will run: Dallas businessman Jeffrey Payne, the openly gay owner of a noted leather bar, among other interests, and San Antonio businessman Tom Wakely, who fashions himself as Bernie Sanders in a cowboy hat. Tough race for Dems A long list of possible candidates has surfaced in recent months among them San Antonio congressman Joaquin Castro and twin brother Julian, the former federal housing secretary; "Desperate Housewives" star and Corpus Christi native Eva Longoria, a keynote speaker at the 2016 Democratic National Convention; and Dallas lawmaker Rafael Anchia, considered an up-and-comer in the state party. All have said no. The name most frequently mentioned as a possible surprise contender is Michael Sorrell, the innovative president of Dallas' Paul Quinn College who party insiders said could bring new energy and diversity, as an African-American, to the race. Like the others, Sorrell has not commented publicly. While Republicans and even some Democrats say that a serious opponent to Abbott should have gotten started with fundraising and field organization months ago, the Democratic faithful insist this campaign will be different. Political scientists and consultants of both parties are unconvinced, noting Abbott, at this point, looks nearly unbeatable. "It would take a conflation of unlikely events, with a credible, well-known candidate coming forward, and a complete collapse of the Republican, for a Democrat to beat Abbott," said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University who has studied Texas politics for decades. "I don't see that happening." Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political scientist, agrees. "This may be the toughest governor's race for a Democrat in the nation," he said. Democratic Party leaders are not buying that line, insisting that Abbott could be defeated in an Ann Richards-style upset in 1990. And while former Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, one of the last two Democrats who held statewide office in Texas, suggested that the party should focus much of its effort on other Republicans besides a popular GOP governor, even Mauro says he thinks Democrats will fare well when the ballots are counted in November 2018. "I think this will be a great year for Democrats," said Mauro, who served as a Texas point man for Clinton's unsuccessful presidential campaign last year. "We have a popular governor, but we have a very unpopular U.S. senator (Ted Cruz), a very unpopular lieutenant governor, an indicted attorney general and a bunch of no-name Republicans in the other (statewide) offices. I think it's a golden opportunity for Democrats to move ahead if we focus on those races." Counties turned blue Early this year, top party leaders huddled privately in Austin to chart a course for Democratic victories in the midterm state races. The consensus, according to people who attended, was that Trump would be their biggest asset, as his increasing unpopularity has tarnished the GOP brand, even in a Republican stronghold like Texas. In the months since, though, various polls have shown that Trump is not having much, if any, effect on the fortunes of Republican officials in Texas, including Abbott. In fact, after Hurricane Harvey devastated a wide swath of the Texas coast, most political consultants say the disaster could help the GOP incumbents, short of a meltdown in the recovery effort. "If things go pretty well, disasters generally tend to benefit incumbents," Rottinghaus said. Nonetheless, Garcia and Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa insist that victories in 2018 appear to be in the cards. They note that Hillary Clinton won by more than 162,000 votes in Harris County, which has a population larger than half the other states. There and in neighboring Fort Bend County, Texas' fastest-growing area and the most diverse in America, voters turned county and local offices blue in what both parties saw as a sign of a political shift. "What we see so far is that the Republican side is not energized," Garcia said. "There is no confidence in Trump ... Republicans are fighting each other ... The Republican Party brand is being destroyed in Texas." By contrast, Republican Party officials from Abbott on down shrug off any suggestions that 2018 could be the year for a Democratic Party surprise. "This is not a presidential election year, when Democrats often turn out more, and it's not a year when anyone seems to be thinking about a big change especially voting for the liberal left," said James Carter, 71, a Houston GOP activist. "It's wishful, but delusional, thinking by the Democrats." Shrinking fortunes At best, cracking the Republicans' hold on state government in 2018 will be a steep climb. In a staunch conservative state where most Texans view Democrats as liberal, where Democrats have not done well among most suburban and rural voters in years, and where their national party is viewed as too far left, the party's fortunes have continued to shrink. Historically, Texas Democrats took 40 years to lose their hold on power to the Republicans, and most political observers think it could take well over a decade for them to get it back. "It could take then a couple of decades," Jillson said. But Mauro and Mike Collier, a Democrat who is running against Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in what has, so far, been a low-budget, low-profile campaign, say that return could start with wins in November 2018 by Democrats in races for local posts and in statehouse races. "A strong candidate at the top of the ticket would help us all and I think we will have one very soon," said Collier, who lost a bid four years ago when he ran as a Democrat for state comptroller. "I have a year and a month, a Ford F-150 and a Rolodex to keep Dan Patrick from getting re-elected. I think I can do it." Just as Collier is focusing on Patrick, a well-funded Republican incumbent who is hugely popular with the GOP's ultra-conservative grassroots, so, too, are Democratic Party stalwarts intent on unseating U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who is being challenged by the El Paso Congressman Beto O'Rourke. As in other races, Republican Cruz remains the odds-on favorite. Then, too, they are targeting the indicted Paxton, whose criminal trial is scheduled to begin on the same day as the filing period opens in December, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, whose official missteps have left even many diehard Republicans wishing he belonged to another party. Said Garcia: "We think this will be the year." mike.ward@chron.com twitter.com/ChronicleMike California politicians and other leaders expressed condolences and some called for a renewed examination of gun laws Monday after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. At least 59 people were killed and more than 500 were injured in the Las Vegas attack. A gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel-casino on an outdoor country music festival where thousands of concertgoers had gathered. The flags at the California Capitol will be flown at half-staff in recognition of the victims and their families, Gov. Jerry Brown said. The following are excerpts from statements officials have made. The Chronicle will update this with additional statements: Gov. Brown: Our prayers and deepest sympathies are with the families and loved ones of those killed and injured in last nights tragic and senseless shooting and we stand with the people of Nevada in this difficult time. Now Playing: 59 dead, 400+ hospitalized in attack at Vegas music fest Video: San Antonio Express-News Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom: We are heartbroken by the lives lost. We are heartbroken for their families and loved ones. We are heartbroken that we cant pass commonsense gun laws in our nation. If the Republican leadership of Congress and this President continue with their moral and intellectual abandon, California has and must continue to chart the path of rationality. I urge statehouses across the nation to look closely at the work weve accomplished here, through the legislature and the ballot box, and act. Secretary of State Alex Padilla: Angela and I were stunned and heartbroken upon learning of last nights horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas. It is tragic to learn that several California law enforcement officers were among the wounded. Our hearts are with the victims of this senseless and cowardly act, as well as their families and loved ones. As Californians we stand ready to help our neighbors in Nevada in any way possible. State Senate President Kevin de Leon: Mass shootings have become regular occurrences and yet, nationally, after every tragedy, we remain paralyzed by inaction. We are a nation of laws that makes it far too easy for any individual to acquire weapons designed for hostile battlefields. Those weapons of mass death have turned our great nation into a shooting gallery and Congress must act to stop it. State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon: The police say the shooter appeared to have acted alone. Thats not true. Every gun lobbyist and the politicians who do their bidding were all in that room with him. We have to make this stop, and we can with courage and political will. State Senate Republican leader Patricia Bates: Words cant truly convey the horrific nature of what happened last night in Las Vegas. As we await further details, I grieve for those killed and pray for the recovery of those wounded. I also thank the first responders who came to the scene to save the lives of many people. State Assemblyman David Chiu: Our hearts ache for the victims and their loved ones of last nights horrific shooting in Las Vegas... Let us come together as a country to end the madness of gun violence. State Senator Scott Wiener: Our prayers are with the Las Vegas victims and their loved ones. This act of extreme violence is yet another tragic example of why this country needs to pull its head out of the sand regarding gun policy... The Trump Administration is wrong: Now is absolutely the time to talk about guns and the real damage these killing machines are doing to our society. State Senator Jim Nielsen: We are fervently praying for the victims and their families. We are all grieving about this tragedy from the bottom of our hearts. This individual's behavior does not speak for America or what we stand for. U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: Congress has a moral duty to address this horrific and heartbreaking epidemic. Charged with the solemn duty to protect and defend the American people, we must respond to these tragedies with courage, unity and decisive action. Pelosi also urged House Speaker Paul Ryan to create a Select Committee on Gun Violence. U.S. Senator Kamala Harris: This kind of tragedy has become too routine in America. As a nation, we are weary. Weve lost far too many of our classmates, friends, family members, and children to gun violence. Thats why as we pray for those recovering, we also must commit ourselves to action. Another moment of silence wont suffice. Ninety Americans are killed, on average, every day by guns. We cannot simply throw up our hands or continue to justify the presence of weapons of war whose primary purpose is to kill the largest number of human beings in the shortest amount of time possible. We must honestly acknowledge the epidemic of gun violence and work together, now, to curb it. U.S. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy: These are times when we turn to God trying to understand how such inhuman acts can happen. Our nation prays for those who died and for those still fighting to live. Las Vegas is a place that people from around the country and the world go to visit. Communities across America will feel the pain of this violence personallyincluding my home town of Bakersfield, as several off-duty police officers attended the concert, one of whom was wounded. U.S. Rep. Eric Swallwell: My heart beats for every victim. This does not have to be us. We are not helpless. We can be louder than these bullets. #LasVegas. San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon: We may never know why this man chose to take life, but weve known for years what enabled him to commit one of the vilest acts in our nations history. A willingness to stand by and bend to special interests, an indifference to the scores of innocent men, women and children that have been gunned down, and the absolute absence of meaningful leadership on gun control hangs over our nations capital much like the despair that has descended over the city of Las Vegas. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Matakana poet Ashley Chan has been shortlisted for the 2017 Montreal International Poetry Prize. His poem Windchime Meadows Spring has been selected as one of the 50 best poems from over 2200 entries, from 70 countries around the world. The poem describes llama and alpaca shearing on the family lifestyle block at Matakana. Its a real honour to represent New Zealand and showcase the Matakana and Mahurangi lifestyle in literature on the world stage, Ashley says. Ashley, who is currently based in Perth in West Australia, only recently started composing poems. I was working for an energy company down in Wellington and ended up sharing a house with the American poet Alan Felsenthal, who was the visiting poetry lecturer at Victoria University. This inspired me to pick up the pen and give writing poetry a shot in my spare time. The winner, who will be awarded C$20,000, was due to be announced when Mahurangi Matters went to print. All the shortlisted poems will be published in the 2017 Global Poetry Anthology by Vehicule Press. Windchime Meadows Spring By Ashley Chan The first dry weekend in December Our shearer calls by Saluting the spring air Clippers at the ready Blades oiled and sharpened Shearing table trestled Llamas and alpacas marshalled The shed commandeered A division of labourers family and friends Corrals the woolly herd The first alpaca Frothing green spittle at the mouth A trail of reluctance dragged into the dirt Is tightly trussed A rising moan of imagined woe Drowning the electric buzz At each shear stroke Young Tarin gently strokes her neck Cupping his hand to ruffle her head Mum, to planned avail Grasps in turn each hoof To clip, grout, file and mend The doctor, Andrew, plays vet Injecting this years medicinal The needle pricks A camelid wails The shorn and kempt Now leaking at all three ends The chirocatharophiles those lovers of clean hands Keep an intended safe distance Ignoring the commotion Muck in to sort and grade Discarding the prickly guard hair Weeding out soiled fibre Bagging premium fleece with care Resisting the childlike urge To gheegle the unshorn stud Waiting his turn in the pen By mid-afternoon, the last of twenty-odd done A glass of wine deservedly in hand, to drink in the spring sun A deputation to last months Rodney Local Board meeting urged the board to ban all rodeo events on Council land, on animal welfare grounds. Lynn Charlton, of Anti-Rodeo Action, told the Board that the group was speaking up for animals terrorised at rodeos, specifically at Warkworth Rodeo. She said the Warkworth Rodeo Club had failed to comply with the Rodeo Code of Welfare this year and had also failed to do so in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, Anti-Rodeo Action requested that that the Board make complying with the code a condition for holding future events on Council land. Ms Charlton said rodeos are a form of travelling circus. While some animals are owned by clubs, many are brought in for rodeos from around the country. She said in Warkworth, bulls have been brought in from Fielding, steers from Huntly, and horses from elsewhere in the Waikato. Travelling long distances on hot summer days causes stress for animals. In addition, electric shocks are used to control animals getting in to and out of trucks and pens. We have filmed handlers lying on top of trucks issuing electric shocks to bulls from above in Warkworth, she said. Ms Charlton said rodeo has had its day and has no place in a progressive society. Among its numerous offences, Ms Charlton drew attention to the throttling of baby calves at the end of a rope, ramming metal spurs into the shoulders of horses, tail pulling to wind up animals, and spurring bulls and horses to drive them wild with fear and pain. But Gary Jackson, the arena director for Warkworth Rodeo, said Ms Charltons claims were nonsense. He said while the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) had investigated minor breaches of the Rodeo Code of Welfare at different rodeos around the country, they had never upheld any complaint at Warkworth Rodeo. Moreover, the New Zealand Rodeo Cowboys Association, to which Warkworth Rodeo is affiliated, has even stricter regulations than the Rodeo Code of Welfare. We have the tightest and the best and the strongest animal welfare regulations of any country in the world, Mr Jackson said. He said a vet was always in attendance at Warkworth Rodeo events and records going back about 30 years showed no significant harm to participating animals. Rodney Local Board chair Beth Houlbrooke said every year Warkworth Rodeo sought approval from the Board to stage a rodeo on Council land. Before granting approval, the Board looked closely to see if any complaints had been upheld by MPI. She said Board members were not in a position to judge whether rodeos were cruel or not and relied on the information from MPI in making a decision on whether to grant permission. The Warkworth Rodeo is held on New Years Day at the arena, adjacent to the A&P showgrounds. As Mahurangi Matters went to press it tried to clarify with MPI whether it had any concerns about Warkworth Rodeo. MPI failed to respond before deadline, however, Ms Charlton produced letters from MPI that showed Warkworth Rodeo had breached the Rodeo Code of Welfare in 2015 and 2016. Both letters said the rodeo had been subject to educational outcomes. The 2015 letter said the breaches were relatively minor and an educational outcome was deemed most appropriate. An election that New Zealand First MP Tracey Martin described as one like no other has seen four candidates from Rodney enter Parliament. National MP Mark Mitchell returned for a third term with 24,905 votes or 64 per cent of the total votes. At an election, people send you a message about your work, so Im very proud of the result, Mr Mitchell says. He says his priority is to deliver Hill Street and Penlink, and he is looking forward to Warkworth Police Station going 24/7 next year. After being Minister of Defence and Land Information and Associate Minister for Justice, he says. I have enjoyed my portfolios and have been heavily immersed in defence with whats currently going on around the world. Despite failing to win a seat in Tamaki, Matakana resident Jenny Marcroft is in Parliament for the first time as the ninth and final seat on the NZ First list. It was nerve-racking watching the results, Ms Marcroft says. Ms Marcroft has lived around Matakana for 14 years and has a daughter who attends Mahurangi College. She has been a newsreader on both TV3 and Radio Live. Having spent 30 years in the media, this campaign was a big career change for me, she says. As a Parliamentarian, I want to focus on developing education and broadcasting. Despite the fact that the final results, after special votes are counted, wont be announced until October 7 at 2pm, she believes mathematically she cannot lose her seat. A mentor for Jenny is NZ First MP Tracey Martin, who retained her seat in Parliament for the second time through the party vote. This election drove people back to their first-past-the-post habits and decimated some smaller parties so were pleased to still be here, Mrs Martin says. She is keen to address education and gender pay issues, as well as Hill Street and access to medical care in Rodney. Marja Lubeck is the fourth MP from Rodney and she is believed to be the first ever Labour candidate from the electorate to enter Parliament. Ms Lubeck polled 7227 votes, but at 32 on her party list, gained one of Labours 45 seats. I never thought I would make it into Parliament on the party vote, but Jacinda came in and really turned things around, Ms Lubeck says. Having four MPs from Rodney is a fabulous opportunity to push local issues with the voice we have. Her priorities are mental health, emergency care, Hill Street and Penlink, with clean waterways and housing affordability also on her agenda. After three years working in Beijing, Ben Lupton is delighted to return to New Zealand and become the new partner at Warkworth law firm Insight Legal. He says he is glad to be back among close friends and family, and enjoying the fresh air and outdoor spaces. Plus he is glad to escape Chinas nightmare traffic congestion. Everyone complains about the Hill Street intersection, but traffic here is infinitely better than what it is in Beijing, he says. Hes also glad to be returning to practising law in Warkworth after spending time helping New Zealand businesses in China. Ben has also practiced law in Hong Kong and London. He describes himself as a generalist and will assist clients with typical legal concerns such as conveyancing, drafting wills and granting powers of attorney. But he also has a special interest in resource management and local government law, and has acted for clients involved in disputes with councils and council controlled organisations. In addition, Ben has expertise in dispute resolution and utilising the various means available to resolve differences without the need to resort to litigation. People are finding the traditional court process is not only time consuming but also very expensive. There are a number of alternative dispute resolution methods that are faster, cheaper and more user-friendly, he says. Ben says another way to keep legal costs down is to seek advice early. It can be more cost-effective in the long run and generally leads to more favourable outcomes for the client. Ben says the secret of being a good lawyer is to listen and allow the client to tell their side of the story, without being quick to jump in with a trite solution. Its all about building a relationship with the client, he says. For this reason, hes especially happy to join Insight Legal. We have a really great team of motivated and caring staff, he says. Readers are being encouraged to get their creative juices flowing and consider entering the 2015 Mahurangi Matters Short Story Competition. It has been several years since the competition was last held, but interest from the community has prompted its return. Mahurangi Matters editor Jannette Thompson says the introduction of a teen section this year will be an opportunity for young people to get involved. There will be cash prizes for the best general fiction and best teen-fiction (written by a teenager) entries, and the two best runners up in each category will receive book vouchers sponsored by The Village Bookshop in Matakana. The winners will be published in our December and January issues. Childrens author Lorraine Orman and Warkworth librarian Lisa Outwin will judge the stories. In past competitions, the judges have been impressed by the calibre of the stories and are looking forward to an equally diverse range of topics this year. To enter, you must submit an original unpublished short story with a Mahurangi/Kaipara connection. The length of the stories should be no more than 1400 words. The competition will open in July and authors will have until October 30 to submit their entries. Full entry details including terms and conditions will be available on our website from July onwards. Charlotte and Harry Burt are on a mission to bring some cool to the Coast. Changing the culture on the Hibiscus Coast to make it more attractive to young people is the challenge that has been taken on by a couple calling themselves Coast Collective. Charlotte and Harrison Burt recently moved to the Coast, and Charlotte, who grew up here, says she found nothing much had changed since she was a teenager. I left the Coast when I turned 18 because there wasnt much happening for people my age, Charlotte says. After living in the city for eight years I convinced my husband Harrison, who grew up in the city, that we should try living back on the Coast and we moved here three months ago. This place has so much potential, and we love living here. But what weve found is that the culture for young people still hasnt changed and there is nothing to do here but get drunk. We decided to do something about that. Between them, the couple have a background in youth work, social media and event management, and their first step was to create the Coast Collective blog to showcase cafes, shops and recreational activities that the area has to offer. The Collective also set up a launch party for a locally made video (see story below) and a new market for young people. Charlotte says that the Coast Collective Market, which was first held last week, May 16, at the Sea Scouts Hall in Orewa, creates a platform for young people to use their skills, talents and strengths locally. The market began with 12 stalls offering jewellery, clothes, art, as well as food, coffee and music. Charlotte says it received a positive response that will allow it to grow. All the stall-holders are aged 1530. She says the Collective would love to hear from anyone who has great ideas for the Hibiscus Coast, and needs some support or encouragement to turn their dreams into reality. I would love to see a more creative culture for young Coasties, Charlotte says. We need more businesses, events, cafes, organisations, art galleries and shows run by young people, for young people. Latvian Education and Science Minister Karlis Sadurskis has said that the provisions of the language article of the new Ukrainian law on education are well grounded, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported on September 29. "Ukraine's steps to ensure prerequisites for the learning of the state language in the education system are clear," Sadurskis said at a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who briefed him on the main provisions of the law. Based on Latvia's experience, Sadurskis noted the importance of creating prerequisites for schoolchildren to acquire the necessary knowledge of the state language and not be discriminated in the labor market of their country. Klimkin, in turn, noted the interest of Ukraine in borrowing Latvia's experience of the functioning of the education system using the languages of national minorities. As reported, the law on education was published on September 27 and came into force on September 28. Among other things, the law stipulates that the state language is a language of learning at educational institutions, but one or several subjects in two or more languages, namely, the state language, English and other European Union official languages can be taught in compliance with the educational program. People, who belong to ethnic minorities, are guaranteed the right for learning in the native language along with the Ukrainian language in separate groups of municipal pre-school and primary school institutions. On September 26, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry said that the country intended to block rapprochement between Ukraine and the EU because of the law on education. The Ukrainian Education and Science Ministry sent a letter to the Council of Europe stating its intention to submit the language article of the education law for examination by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission). The South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) is concerned about the fact that the Ukrainian government could halve financing for public broadcasting in Ukraine for 2018, UA:Pershy TV Channel has reported, with reference to the statement of the organization. "This is a serious attack on public broadcasting. The organization calls on the government of Ukraine to provide independent and fair funding for public broadcasters," SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said. The organization is also concerned and dissatisfied with the draft budget of Ukraine for 2018 and called on the representatives of the Ukrainian authorities to review this draft and propose a new one that will not violate freedom of speech and the press. The SEEMO consists of editors and the leading journalists of publications in southern, eastern and central Europe. The draft budget of Ukraine for 2018 provides for the allocation of UAH 776.563 million for the development of public broadcasting, which is almost half less than the sum stipulated in the law on public television and radio broadcasting of Ukraine. The next person to be appointed will be the thirteenth to hold the role in 12 years and the third in just two months The full Focus is available to read online (no subscription required). Hard copies will be sent to Managing IP subscribers and will be available from our booths at upcoming conferences. Contents We have two contributions from China. In the first, Kang Quan of DEQI Intellectual Property Law Corporation discusses modifications and measures affecting computer programs in the Chinese Patent Examination Guidelines. The second looks at trade secrets. China does not have a trade secret law as such, but that does not mean that trade secrets cannot be protected, as Ran Wang and Xiaojing Wang of Liu Shen explain. In recent times, India has become a battle field for standard essential patents (SEP) litigation. Several SEP holders (Philips, Ericsson, Dolby and Vringo) have chosen Indian courts, specifically the Delhi High Court, as the forum to litigate their SEPs. Pravin Anand and Abhilasha Nautiyal of Anand and Anand explain why. Masayuki Ogura of Shiga International Patent Office compares Japans opposition system to that of other countries, and provides tips for opponents and patent owners Finally, Hyoun Ja Park and Hyun Sil Lee of FirstLaw P.C. provide a Q&A guide to protecting, challenging and enforcing various IP rights in South Korea. Context As we discuss in the introduction to the Focus, Asia is increasingly leading the filing of international IP rights as is clear from filing data published by WIPO. Much of this growth is driven by domestic applicants in China. This trend is likely to continue, driven by government initiatives as well as demand from businesses and consumers. In Japan, for example, the JPO has set out an ambitious list of goals, under three headings, to be achieved in fiscal year 2017 (available on the JPO website in English and Japanese). Over the coming decade, trends in Asia will become more important for IP practitioners worldwide, and our free Asia-Pacific Focus is a great place to start reading about them. Finance Ministry believes UAH 55 bln is enough to pay subsidies in 2018 Finance Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Danyliuk believes that UAH 55 billion stipulated in the draft national budget for 2018 will be enough to pay subsidies. "It should be enough," he said in an interview with the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia, a Kyiv-based weekly newspaper. Speaking about the amount of funds for subsidies in 2017, the minister specified additional money was allocated." "Yes, we allocated additional funds, about UAH 14 billion. And we plan to meet the allocated amount," he said. Danyliuk also commented on the situation with the beginning of process to introduce monetization of subsidies for heat and energy companies. "The government draft resolution introducing monetization of subsidies has already been drafted by the Ministry of Finance. We planned to manage by the start of the heating season, but it took time to coordinate this step with other ministries, because this is a serious, we might say, revolutionary change," he explained. According to the minister, monetization is a step when "real funds are moving in the system, not pieces of paper, it's already very difficult to hide something." He also noted that "it will take time" to start this process. LAS VEGAS-A gunman opened fire on concertgoers at a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday night, killing at least 20 people and injuring "in excess of 100" before being killed by authorities, police said. Witnesses told the Associated Press that they could see muzzle flashes coming from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino's high floors and described the sound of automatic gunfire. Police said they confronted the gunman on the hotel's 32nd floor. Police said the gunman was a local resident, identifying him as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, originally from Texas. As of 6am, police were searching for Paddock's roommate, 60-year-old Marilou Danley, for questioning. By 6:44am, police officials said they believed they had located her. The shooting appeared to take place near the Route 91 Harvest Festival, a three-day country music concert held over the weekend that reportedly drew 30,000 attendees. The concert grounds are adjacent to Mandalay Bay. The shots began as Jason Aldean, one of the final performers, was playing. One witness, Ivetta Saldana, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Aldean was rushed off stage when the shots rang out. "It was a horror show," she said. "People were standing around, then they hit the floor." Videos posted to Twitter from people claiming to be witnesses showed people screaming and running for cover amid the sound of gunshots. The shooting continued intermittently for more than five minutes, according to the Associated Press. "The gunfire never ended, it seemed like," concert attendee Rachel Dekerf told CNN. "It just went on and on and on." Police converged on the area and blocked off roads. Some officers could be seen taking cover behind squad cars as other officers ran into the casino, the Associated Press reported. Some of those with gunshot wounds were taken to University Medical Center, a spokeswoman told the Associated Press. Police urged everyone to avoid the south end of the Strip. One of the victims was an officer with the Bakersfield Police Department in Southern California, according to a statement from the department. Several of the department's officers were off-duty and attending the concert when the gunfire erupted. One of them was struck by a bullet and was taken to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, police said. His name was not released. "I understand the people of Las Vegas want to help," Sgt Jeff Clark said in a news briefing early Monday. "I see a lot of people out here that are coming down wanting to help. Please, steer clear of the area Please, stay away from the area." Multiple flights bound for the McCarran International Airport were diverted because of the shooting, the airport tweeted. All other planes were temporarily grounded, with a few flights resuming Monday morning. The Route 91 Harvest Festival has been held for the past four years on a 15-acre lot across an intersection from Mandalay Bay. The concert's main stage is situated near the northeastern side of the gold-colored hotel-casino, which towers more than 400 feet above the Strip. You don't make a new purchase until all your bills have been taken care of. That's how we were raised and a concept we've taken into our adult years. That should be a rule even moreso for governments on every level, as taxpayers trust elected officials to spend their money wisely. That's why we have a problem with the discussions currently going on in Richmond over the brand new building the General Assembly wants built for themselves. The commonwealth's Art and Architectural Review Board gave unanimous approval to the schematic design earlier this month. It would be a new 15-story facility with money set aside to help restore the original entrance to the Life Insurance Company of Virginia Building facing Capitol Square. That's a 105-year-old structure and for those of us on the Editorial Board that are history buffs, it's very cool to see something that old restored. But then we learn about the DMV's problems and wonder why this couldn't be set aside for a bit. Yes, the DMV. As we reported earlier this month, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles is facing a $16.4 million shortfall. It's not just a one year problem. In fact, DMV officials estimated this month that the shortfall could total $66.5 million through 2022. Why is there a shortfall? Because the DMV doesn't get to keep the majority of fees it collects. Every year, all of us pay $40.75 to renew our vehicle license but out of that, the DMV gets $4 each time. The remainder gets distributed to other state agencies. This year however, the department had additional expenses, with the raise handed out to state employees. While the salaries were increased, the amount the DMV receives from each fee wasn't, creating a problem for this year and moving forward. Let's do the math. According to DMV officials, their expenses for the last fiscal year came out to $243.4 million. They collected $2.7 billion in fees from the 8.121 million vehicles in the commonwealth. So the department's expenses are only 9 percent of the total revenue it collects, but because of state laws, it's suffering a shortfall. That just seems ridiculous. Where does the rest of the money go? Well according to the Virginia Code, the Department of Transportation, State Police, Department of Education, Department of Health, Emergency Medical Services, Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, the Department of Aviation, State Corporation Commission and the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board all receive a piece of the pie. In a very real way, the DMV is subsidizing most of the state agencies. Aside from the fact that seems to be a bad business model, it also just doesn't seem like something that's sustainable long-term. If, for some reason, the number of vehicles registered in Virginia were to suddenly drop, then all of those departments we just named would lose funding, putting their own projects and operations into question. But instead, state officials feel the solution is to simply charge more for their product. Right now, the DMV looks to fix their shortfall by increasing fees. The title fee would go from $10 to $20. The driver's license fee would increase by $1.25 per year to $33.25 and the registration fee would rise by $3. Here is a department that generates billions of dollars for the state and it's being asked to increase fees, to get more money, rather than simply being allowed to keep more of what it pulls in now. We would suggest another option. How about we let the DMV keep more of the money it pulls in and work to make those other departments self-sustaining? What would it take to make that change? Likely a lot of work by the General Assembly, first to come up with a funding plan and second, to actually amend the Virginia Code. There will also no doubt be plenty of blowback, as departments scramble to keep the funding plan in place that they're used to. However, the answer to every problem simply can't be a decision to increase taxes. At some point, residents will be taxed more than they can afford. Until that change happens, it seems like a General Assembly that claims to be fiscally responsible should also put projects like their new building on hold, using that money instead to plug the DMV shortfall. We know the counter-argument will be that this building facelift is in another part of the budget, that the money has already been allocated. And that's fine, but it shouldn't matter. Even if it takes a special session, the General Assembly should shift money around and take care of shortfalls in its departments, before spending on new projects. This is just Budgeting 101. And for the future, before another raise of any kind gets approved, the General Assembly needs to take the time and figure out how every single department is going to pay for it. The Bulletin Editorial Board consists of Brian Carlton, Ben Williams and Trisha Long The 22nd meeting of the Ukrainian National Commission for UNESCO, which was held at the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on September 28, was devoted primarily to the situation in Russia-occupied Crimea, the ministry's press service reported on September 29. "In our work at UNESCO, we must always remember that part of the territory of Ukraine is occupied and draw the attention of our partners to it. We will do everything we can to prevent any attempts to use UNESCO to legitimize the illegal annexation of Crimea," Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Ukrainian National Commission for UNESCO Serhiy Kyslytsia said. The commission's members paid special attention to the monitoring of the state of cultural heritage sites in Crimea, the preparation of the register of moveable and immovable sights and objects of Ukraine located in museum funds on Crimean territory, as well as Ukraine's accession to the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflicts. WESTFIELD -- When State Rep. John W. Scibak asked a group of nearly two dozen Westfield State University students Monday who among them was worried about paying for college, every hand shot up. The South Hadley Democrat was met with a smaller show of hands when he asked whether any of those students had a good idea for generating the revenue the state would need to help close the gap between what students can afford and what college costs. That's the dilemma for the state's Joint Committee on Higher Education, which held a hearing at the university's Dever Stage Auditorium. Monday's hearing followed similar sessions at the statehouse and in Leominster. The committee has before it nine proposed bills, each with a slightly different plan of action -- from free tuition, to free tuition only for community colleges, to programs that would pay for only the last year of a degree once the student has proven success in the classroom. "That was my first thought when I saw all of this," said Scibak, the committee's chairman. "How are we going to pay for it?" It's his job to help direct all the proposals into a single piece of legislation. Cost estimates are difficult to arrive at now because lawmakers don't know what model they will follow. Examples include a Connecticut program that offers in-state community college rates to out-of-state students. New York's Excelsior Scholarship is another example. It is designed to close gaps left by federal programs or the GI Bill to students who qualify, get good grades and go on to live and work in New York following graduation. "That's something I support, actually -- you should be required to live and work in Massachusetts under these programs," Scibak said in an interview. Westfield State University junior Mickey Prout, of Chicopee, said the average student at a public college or university in Massachusetts graduates with $30,000 in debt. "That's a tremendous burden to face right out of college," said Prout, an organizer with the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts who started his college education at Springfield Technical Community College to save money. And the costs are more than just tuition. Buying books for courses can also be a burden, adding up to about $1,000 a semester. "And the cost goes up if you are taking math and science courses," said the junior, who is majoring in political science and economics. Patricia A. Gentile, president or North Shore Community College in Danvers, told the committee that research into students who applied and were accepted at her school but didn't attend showed many couldn't afford the opportunity cost of attending. That is, they couldn't give up wages they would lose if they chose to study instead of working. Westfield State President Ramon S. Torrecilha said Massachusetts is getting passed by other states. Kentucky, a state with fewer people than the Bay State, spends $300 million a year on public colleges. Massachusetts spend $95 million a year. Tennessee offers free community college, he said. The annual cost of attending Westfield State University is $23,111 for in-state students with on- or off-campus housing, according to the university. The in-state cost if a student lives with parents is $15,060. Other speakers included Christina Royal, president of Holyoke Community College, and John B. Cook, president of Springfield Technical Community College. One of the best things about the craft beer community is how charitable and community-minded it is. There are numerous examples of this locally, from how the Northampton Brewery is celebrating its 30th anniversary by raising money for the Literacy Project, to the People's Pint recent fundraiser for Franklin County Community Meals, and many more. On Saturday, another great beer fundraiser will take place, as the Riverside Blues, Brews, & BBQ Festival returns to Greenfield for its seventh year. This edition will be at at a new location, the Franklin County Fairgrounds. festival features a Northeast Barbecue Society Grilling Contest, Kansas City Barbeque Society BBQ Contest, Lefty's Brewing Company Brew Tent, live blues music, People's Choice BBQ Samplin' Pit, vendors, contests, and more. The festival is a fundraising event for the Greenfield Recreation Department. Funds help support programs and events for families within the Greenfield community. Starting with the beer, of course, Greenfield's Lefty's Brewing Co. will be on tap from noon-5 p.m. Pints ($5) and half pints ($3) will be available for purchase. Lefty's will have all of its brews available, along with an exclusive Riverside Blues, Brews, & BBQ Ale, brewed especially for the festival. As far as the barbecue, the cook-off is sanctioned by the Northeast Barbecue Society and Kansas City Barbeque Society. KCBS is the world's largest organization of barbeque and grilling enthusiasts with more than 10,000 members worldwide. KCBS sanctions almost 300 barbeque contests in the country and competitors from all over the region will be vying for $5,500 in prize money. The People's Choice Samplin' Pit is back by popular demand, according to event organizer Christy Moore. The pit will feature professional barbecue contestants' submissions of chicken wings and will be open from noon until the food runs out. Tickets for the People's Choice Samplin' Pit can be purchased at the tent, $5 for six tickets. Specialty food booths will also be at the festival to offer additional food options to festival patrons. The musical lineup includes the Wildcat O'Halloran Band, Danielle Miragli, EasyBaby, and Janet Ryan. "We are lucky enough to also be able to showcase some outstanding Blues musicians who will be playing live throughout the festival," Moore said. The festival is open to the public and will be held rain or shine. The event is 21-plus and identification will be checked at the gate. Festival admission is $20 and includes a souvenir pint glass, one free pint from Lefty's Brewing, and a $2 Food voucher towards festival vendors. There is a special rate of $10 for designated drivers who are making sure their friends get home safely. For more information about the festival, please visit www.riversidebluesandbbq.com or call (413) 772-1553. Lyra Music has brought a conservatory-like atmosphere to Smith College in Northampton in recent summers, giving young students of classical music a taste of what it's like to work as a professional. Looking to make 2018's iteration the biggest year ever, Lyra Music will hold a scholarship fundraiser on Tuesday, Oct. 10, with all proceeds going toward scholarships for students in need. "Our concert in October is very specifically to raise money for need-based scholarships in 2018," said Odo. "While 2017 was our second year at Smith, we've been around since 2010 in rural Vermont. But we wanted to grow and needed a space where there was a music department that had everything we needed," said Lyra Music Executive Director Rachel Odo. The fund-raiser, which will take place at St. John's Episcopal Church, will bring together musical acts familiar with Lyra Music's ultimate goal: To award scholarships to students who may excel at their instruments but lack the financial means to attend the three-week music camp. "This year's concert will feature Duo Amie, out of Boston. We're really lucky to have them playing for us - they gave a workshop to our kids in 2016. Julie (Reimann) went to the Curtis Institute of Music, Elysses (Kuan) runs a music school in Boston. We also have two students from last years program who'll perform - one is a freshman at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee," said Odo, adding that all proceeds from the concert will go directly toward getting students with financial needs involved with the program, which will take place in July 2018. "What we do each summer is rent Smith College's old dorms. Our kids haven't seen anything like it before. We usually have 20 students age 9-18 and around ten aculty and staff and we all live together. The kids get to know their teachers exceptionally well - they're Julliard grads, Manhattan School of Music grads, and they get to know the instructors as real people," said Odo, adding that students who attend the program oftentimes are placed in top-tier music conservatories across the United States. "One of the things that happens for this age group, roughly 9 to 18, once they get pretty good in the classical world, options for a summer program get tricky. They're competitive. It can be a tough environment to be in. The original idea was to get kids to a place where they could get high-level training in a supportive, nurturing environment," she said. Odo said that providing that supportive and nurturing environment may not always be cheap, but remains the top concern of Lyra Music. "We really want to make it accessible. Programs like this are hugely expensive to run. The tuition, the fees, it covers 60 percent of our budget. We only pay ourselves if there's money left in August. But every summer, we say, "we have to make this happen again,'" she said. Lyra Music's scholarship fundraiser concert will take place Tuesday, Oct. 10 at St. John's Episcopal Church in Northampton. Tickets are $25. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit lyramusic.org/benefit-ma EASTHAMPTON -- Cinzia Pica-Smith, born in Italy, traveled to the states as a teen, attended college in Albany, and earned a master's in human development and psychology from Harvard University and doctorate in education from UMass Amherst. Now an associate professor of human services and rehabilitation studies and education at Assumption College, she lives at 54 Ward Ave. with her husband and five-year-old son. "It's pronounced 'Cheen-sia,'" she said. "We've lived in Easthampton since 2007." One of eight candidates for four at-large seats on the City Council, Pica-Smith said her training as a counselor would help facilitate open dialog as the city becomes more diverse and moves through a period of change. "I know what it's like to work with families and people who are not in agreement with each other," she said. "I'm a trained listener and problem-solver." She said that skill set -- and her facility with research and fact-finding -- would be equally valuable in local government. "The approach I'm trained in is a systemic one," she said. "We identify areas of strength, and provide supports for maximum success. It's different from a model that just identifies what's wrong." She said in her role as a professor, she facilitates dialog with a diverse group of students whose beliefs lie "across the political spectrum." Cinzia-Smith said she's confident in her ability to quickly learn about budgets, zoning, and other bread-and-butter issues. "I'm not intimidated by a steep learning curve," she said. "I'm a scholar by trade. I've been reading master plans and other documents, and have sat down to speak with individual department heads." She said she supports the construction of a new, consolidated school to serve pre-school through eighth-grade students, despite the high potential price tag. "It's the right thing to do," she said. "Children and teens are fully and keenly aware of our expectations for them. Our schools are sites of community identity." She said that 66 percent of students who attend Maple elementary school are classified as low-income. Building a school that supports 21st-century learning then becomes a social justice issue, she said. "Many of our students don't have access to certain learning opportunities at home," she said. "Plus, the numbers are clear. It's the option that makes the most financial sense." Officials have said that bringing four troubled school buildings up to code could cost $115 million, while the taxpayer share for a new, consolidated school could reach $60 million when state assistance is figured in. She said the increase in property taxes could be a serious burden for people on fixed incomes. "So we need to look at creative ways to make that less burdensome," she said. "To look at our abatement programs, and find new funding streams connected to economic development." She said that one potential source of revenue could be a local option tax on marijuana businesses. Under the new state law governing recreational cannabis, such products will see a 6.25 percent sales tax, state excise tax at 10.75 percent and a local option tax of up to 3 percent. "I support the full 3 percent local option tax," she said. "Also, I'm a parent, so I want to see marijuana business development done safely, thoughtfully, and well, combined with community education." As for business development and retention in general, "we need to put out our ask." Pica-Smith said she supports Nicole LaChapelle for mayor. "We need someone who can provide vision and bold leadership -- someone who can imagine something different, rather than simply staying the course," she said. "I believe Nicole is that person." LaChapelle, a local lawyer, is running against longtime Precinct 3 city councilor Joy Winnie in the 2017 mayor's race. She said that divisive issues -- from a failed proposal to make Easthampton a "sanctuary city" to a recent state investigation that found racial bias at the high school -- underscore the need for respectful dialog and data transparency. "During that time, people were talking at each other," she said. "And the discussion was not always informed by the facts." Pica-Smith said clear, unvarnished communication from elected and appointed officials is essential, and that more public information and data should be put on the city's website. "We have the technology," she said. "When members of the community have access to data and documents, then we can engage in fact-based research together." She said it's important to ensure that people without computers also have access to public information. At-large candidates running for re-election are council president Joseph P. McCoy of 11 Clapp St., Margaret "Peg" Conniff of 35 Pine Hill Road. and Daniel R. Carey of 6 Newell St. New at-large candidates are Owen Zaret of 74 Florence Road, Jared Hinkle of 12 Monska Drive, William E. Lynch IV of 2 Bryan Ave., and Pica-Smith. The top four vote-getters on Nov. 7 will be sworn into office in early January. At-large councilors represent the entire city, instead of a single precinct. By Michelle Williams, MassLive The Las Vegas shooter who took the lives of at least 58 people and injured hundreds more did not have a criminal record before he went on a shooting rampage. But his father did. Don't Edit (FBI archive photo) Don't Edit Stephen Paddock is the son of serial felon Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, according to multiple news organizations citing law enforcement sources. Don't Edit Hoskins Paddock was convicted of robbing a bank in Arizona and sentenced to prison in 1960. He remained behind bars for eight years before escaping in 1968 and spending three years on the run from federal law enforcement. Don't Edit His prison break landed him on the FBI's most-wanted list. He was caught in 1971 in Las Vegas. During his capture, he allegedly tried to run down an agent pursing him. Don't Edit Don't Edit Stephen Paddock's brother, Eric, told reporters Monday that their father wasn't around during their childhood due to his outlaw antics. Don't Edit (An FBI wanted poster regarding Benjamin Hoskins Paddok) Don't Edit Paddock worked for years as an accountant before retiring and moving into a retirement community in Nevada about an hour from Las Vegas. Don't Edit The 64-year-old retiree did not have a criminal record and held a hunting and pilot's license. Don't Edit Stephen Paddock, seen here in an undated photo shared on social media. Don't Edit Don't Edit He is believed to have shot at people during the Las Vegas concert from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Police say he barricaded himself inside the room, forcing law enforcement to deploy an explosive device to gain entry. Don't Edit A woman cries while hiding inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after a mass shooting in which dozens were killed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Al Powers/Invision/AP) Don't Edit Officers found Paddock dead of an apparent suicide. Prior to taking his own life with a bullet, he is believed to have killed 58 people and injured more than 500 others. Don't Edit People assist a wounded woman at the Tropicana on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Don't Edit Las Vegas police sweep through a convention center area during a lockdown Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, at the Tropicana Las Vegas following an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip. (Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP) Don't Edit Don't Edit The moment a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip late Sunday, killing at least 58 people and wounding more than 500, was captured on video by concertgoer Andrew Akiyoshi. Ukrainian MPs, representatives of the coalition of nongovernmental organizations "For Ukraine Free from Tobacco Smoke," youth organizations and medical community demand from the Verkhovna Rada to pass a bill that would ban cigarette showcase in kiosks and stores (No. 4030a). "The bringing of this bill to the session hall is being blocked by lobbyists in parliament, by the tax committee, which does not allow Ukraine to provide for normal and safe life of children, as the level of tobacco smoking in Ukraine among children and women is permanently growing," Head of the parliamentary committee for healthcare Olha Bohomolets (Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction) at a rally in front of the building of the Verkhovna Rada on Monday. She said that if the lawmakers do not pass the bill, radical measures should be taken. "I think that we should switch to more radical steps. If you do not want [to approve] bill No. 4030a, let's demand to ban sale of cigarettes in kiosks," she said. Bohomolets said that cigarettes should be sold in specialized stores, as it is happening in the entire civilized world. The judicial panel of the Zhytomyr region's Andrushivka District Court has sentenced two persons, who had facilitated the creation, launch and broadcasting of the Novorossiya TV channel to nine-year imprisonment each on the grounds of materials provided by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), the SBU said on its website on Friday. According to the SBU, two men, residents of Kyiv and Berdychiv, had arrived in Donetsk, where they "provided technical, practical and methodical consultations for the establishment of the separatist Novorossiya TV channel." After returning to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, they helped with technical support and ensuring broadcasts of terrorists' propagandist channel," the SBU said. Those persons "posed as independent social activists and journalists of an independent online media, joined a public council of a ministry and were members of several public councils of other bodies of state administration and local government" in Kyiv, the SBU said. Law enforcement structures detained them in Kyiv in November 2015. The court found the aforementioned citizens guilty of committing crimes under articles of 'creation of a terrorist group or organization,' 'public calls for committing a terrorist attack, as well as distribution, production or possession in order of distribution of materials with such calls,' and 'infringement on citizens' equality on the grounds of their racial or national identity' of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, it said. Montana means a lot to me and it means a lot to the other million people that share this state as their home. Dean Folkvord (Wheat Montana Founder) There has always been something special about the Big Sky State. Just being from Montana evokes a sense of community and pride that is rarely seen in other parts of the world. Interesting people and stories can be found here in every corner of the State. We at Under The Big Sky have made it our goal to find and document the people, history and stories that truly make it the last best place. A show created by Montana filmmakers for Montanans. http://underthebigsky.com/ Have a great story idea for Under the Big Sky? Tell us about it here. Bitcoin ""puts a question mark on the fractional banking model we know today." In a remarkably frank talk at a Bank of England conference, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund has speculated that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency have as much of a future as the Internet itself. It could displace central banks, conventional banking, and challenge the monopoly of national monies. by Jeffrey A. Tucker https://fee.org/articles/imf-head-predicts-the-end-of-banking-and-the-triumph-of-cryptocurrency/ Latvian Education and Science Minister Karlis Sadurskis and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin have signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of education, science, youth and sports. The document was signed at a meeting between the two ministers on September 29, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported. Chief of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Viktor Muzhenko has said that he will visit the United States in October to hold a number of bilateral meetings and take part in a security conference. "Next month I'm planning to visit the United States, where I will have a meeting with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a number of bilateral meetings. I will also attend a security conference for NATO countries and partners, which will address the issues of responding to terrorist threats," he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. Muzhenko also noted that the U.S. side has satisfied the request of Ukrainian colleagues and promised to familiarize them with the work of the United States Joint Forces Command. "We are also going to visit a number of military bases of the California National Guard. By the way, the national guardsmen of California have more than 20 years of experience of partnership with the Ukrainian Armed Forces," he said. The Ukrainian Armed Forces has confirmed reports that three Ukrainians were killed in the crash of a military aircraft in the Congo. "Three Ukrainians died in the Congo capital, Kinshasa. However, no details were given, since the deceased were not military," a 112.Ukraine TV journalist said live on the channel on October 1. Ukraine's Channel 24 reported earlier that 12 people were killed as a military plane crashed shortly after take-off in the Congo on Saturday, September 30. According to the report, citing local news site Actualite.cd, that three Ukrainians could be among those killed. According to an eyewitness of the tragedy, the plane caught fire and fell shortly after take-off from N'djili Airport. Delegates of the all-Ukrainian congress of socialists, social democrats and trade unions, which gathered over 2,000 participants at Kyiv's Zhovtnevy Palace to elect the new leadership of the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) and proclaim the creation of the bloc For Ordinary People, have unanimously voted for the election of Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Serhiy Kaplin as SPU chairman, the politician's press service reported on October 1. "I am grateful to the socialists for this trust. SDP, which I have headed up to now, as well as the Socialist Party, the Pensioners Party of Ukraine and trade unions, have united into a single bloc For Ordinary People... Together we stand for the authorities for local councils, for parliament and for the presidency," Kaplin said. He said there was an attempt to seize the leadership of the party by an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, former head of the Drug Control Department at the National Police, Illia Kiva, with the support of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko. According to Kaplin's press service, the congress also decided to nominate him as candidate for the country's main post. Socialists, social democrats and trade unions also began to form a shadow government of the leftists and the national personnel reserve. The report notes that the bloc For Ordinary People plans to fight for a number of constitutional changes. "We will seek the nationalization of strategic enterprises, a reduction in the number of MPs to 100, a public election of prosecutors and judges, and removal of any immunity. A major task is active parliamentary legislative work," Kaplin said. The congress was attended by representatives of the European leftist parties, in particular, the social democrats of Finland, Poland, Belarus and a representative of the Communist Party of China. Almost 50 trade unions and organizations of retirees and veterans of the Interior Ministry and the Ukrainian Armed Forces became the co-founders of the bloc. After the congress, the delegates held a rally outside the building of the Justice Ministry and demanded the implementation of the High Administrative Court's decision to remove Kiva from the registers and register SPU's new leadership. As reported, Kiva said on July 8 that he had decided to head SPU and that the relevant decision had been taken at a party congress. There was no official information from SPU on this matter. Later Kiva stated that SPU did not intend to unite in elections with any of the political forces currently represented in the Verkhovna Rada. According to him, the main goal of the party will be patriotic work. SPU was established in the fall of 1991. Oleksandr Moroz was initially elected its leader. In 2012, the party was headed by Pavlo Ustenko. In 2014, the SPU congress impeached him, and Mykola Rudkovsky was elected leader of the party then. In August 2015, he was succeeded by Mykola Sadovy. Error 404 Not Found You may have mis-typed the URL. Or the page has been removed. Actually, there is nothing to see here... Click on the links below to do something, Thanks! Take Me our of here The press conference scheduled for Wednesday, October 4, at 13.00, at the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency has been cancelled. It concerned an initiative to hand to the prime minister and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of signatures of Mykolayiv region residents against the flooding of a part of the Buzky Hard National Nature Park in connection with the project to complete the construction of the Tashlyk Hydroelectric Power Plant, which is part of the South Ukrainian energy complex. We often believe that actors are born with a silver spoon. However, many of our favourite stars have had a terrible past and struggled hard to even get the smallest of roles in films. Some of them in-fact started off too late in movies, but never gave up on their spirit and zest. The toughest of circumstances couldn't break them and finally they lived the most extraordinary lives. Here is a list of actors who made it all the way from rags to riches. Boman Irani Boman Irani had a late beginning in Bollywood. Not many of us know that he used to work in the house keeping staff at Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and before that was running his own bakery. Boman first tried a career in Photography and then switched to dramatics. His role as Dr. Asthana in Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.' was much appreciated. Since then, Boman has worked in many films and is now a well known name in Bollywood. Tom Cruise Hollywood's chocolate boy grew up in poverty in a struggling catholic family. His childhood was disturbing as his father used to beat him up when he was just a kid. However, the young Tom decided not to give up and started working on his chances in Hollywood. At the early age of 19 he got to act in his first film Endless Love', since then there has been no looking back for him. Paramount Pictures Daniel Craig The Bond actor is now a multimillionaire, thanks to his association with the Bond franchise, however, it is believed that much before he hit the stardom he struggled a lot on a day to day basis. It is also reported that he used to sleep on park benches during his struggling days. His estimated worth is $65 million. Arnold Schwarzenegger The former governer of California had seen many difficulties in life. When Arnold first came to Hollywood, he was rejected by many producers as they found it difficult to get through his accent. Arnold first started his journey by winning many body-building chamionships however, his first steps as an actor were demanding, he was signed for low budget films and bad scripted projects. From bricklaying to financing his bodybuilding career and finally becoming a star in Hollywood, Arnold's journey is a inspiration to the world. Orion Pictures Jim Carrey Though Jim is one of the most lovable actors, he is now being discussed for his errant behaviour, an unusual interviews, the recent one at the New York Fashion Week. Before things became better for Jim who is known for his powerful improvisations and highly energetic performances, it is believed that Jim used to live with his family in a small spaced VW bus in Canada. He later worked on a construction sites and in factories before he found his calling in Hollywood. The actor's net worth is estimated to be $150 million. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Nawazuddin is one of the most well known actors in Bollywood and has a past beyond the glitz and glam of cinema. Before hitting Bollywood, he has worked for many odd jobs and was hardly able to earn anything. After giving a good amount of time in The National School of Drama, he bagged small roles in films after the world recognized him in the Gangs of Wasseypur. Viacom 18 Motion Pictures Akshay Kumar Akshay Kumar worked for many years in Bangkok as a waiter and was later promoted to a cook. However, he used to sleep on floor and later trained himself in Martial Arts. His journey in Bollywood started with small roles and action oriented films. He is now one of the most bankable stars in the world. Leonardo DiCaprio Academy award winner Leonardo DiCaprio grew up saw poverty, crime and nasty characters while he was growing up. It is believed that Leonardo was homeless before he landed himself a big role in Hollywood. Today Leonardo's worth is estimated to be over $200million so far. 20th Century Fox Thomas Beach Alter, also known as Tom Alter, was a loved figure of the Indian Cinema fraternity and was best known for playing a staunch British Official in many movies. He died earlier this week, after giving us 40 years of uninterrupted and dedicated cinema and he will forever be remembered for some of his prominent roles that we absolutely loved! From 'Gandhi' to 'Junoon' to even 'Shaktiman', a fine actor to watch on screen and in theatre, he has definitely left a legacy behind with his fine acting skills. The actor sadly passed away after battling stage 4 of cancer. Here's a peek into the actor's versatile acting career and the characters he played, that stuck with us, through time, in these 10 roles in films and television series, respectively! Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) Tom started his Bollywood journey with this Satyajit Ray film. The movie was based on Munshi Premchand's short story. The film is based on the eve of the 1857 Indian Rebellion and two wealthy Indian men who love to indulge in a game of chess amidst scheming British officials of the East India Company. Tom played the role of Captain Weston, an aide de camp to General James Outram, a prominent English general who fought the rebellion. (c)Youtube Des Pardes (1978) This film was produced and directed by Dev Anand and, as the name suggests, it was a movie about the then social evils plaguing society. Tom Alter plays the role of a police officer by the name of inspector Martin. (c) Navketan International Films Kranti (1981) Kranti, directed by Manoj Kumar, featured Tom in the role of a British officer and the movie was set in the 19th century when India was struggling with independence. (c)Manoj Kumar Productions Gandhi (1982) Playing the role of a doctor who takes care of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi in prison, in the film 'Gandhi', Tom Alter did great justice to the character. Even though the role was small, it was noticed by his Indian fans for sure. (c)Goldcrest Films Parinda (1989) 'Parinda' is a crime drama film, directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and showcases Alter's role in a different character altogether. The movie, quite relevant to reality, revolves around the underworld and the life of the people residing in Mumbai. Tom played the role of Musa, a deadly gangster in the city. (c)Vinod Chopra Productions Aashiqui (1990) Alter plays a nasty, stubborn hostel warden who makes Anu Aggarwal's life miserable! The role was quite meaty and away from all the soft spoken, polite roles he's ever done! (c)T-Series Zabaan Sambhal Ke(1993) In a humerous attempt to learn the Hindi language, Tom Alter joins a Hindi speaking class, held together by Pankaj Kapur. The show was hilarious, and the best version of the British sitcom Mind Your Language'. (c)Doordarshan Television Series Junoon (1994) Tom Alter played a suave, vile mobster Don Keshav Kalsi'. The oldest and the most popular show on Doordarshan back in the day, Junoon revolved around some glamorous lifestyles and emotionally charged drama. (c)Cinevistasa Limited Shaktiman (1997) A very different role portrayal as Mahaguru', Tom Alter really proved his worth as a versatile actor in the hit series 'Shaktiman'. His role required him to be fluent in Sanskrit, that was laced in Hindi and he nailed it to the T! If you remember watching Shaktiman' as a kid, you will definitely remember Alter's role. (c)Doordarshan Television Series Veer-Zaara (2004) 'Veer-Zaara', a renowned film starring Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta, had a lot of powerful character play. One of Tom Alter's recent films, he fit into the role of a doctor beautifully. (c)Yash Raj Films It's been raining devices ever since Samsung announced the Note 8 and Apple announced three smartphones a few weeks ago. We may have been distracted by all the smartphone goodness but there's yet another flagship to be announced in a few days. Google impressed the world with their first smartphone and the time has come to wonder what we can expect from the search engine giant this year. Pixe 2, duh! And Here is the Pixel 2 XL in Black and White, Starting at $849. #pixel2 https://t.co/NAyk9cmvmk pic.twitter.com/30MiYgKQTr Droid Life (@droid_life) September 19, 2017 Google's next pair of handsets should be dubbed as Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL and will be the star attraction of the event. From prior leaks, we can assume that there will be a 5.5-inch and 6-inch version. The design will be slightly updated and is expected to have IP-67 water resistance. Remember, the only complaint from the first smartphone was that it lacked any kind of water resistance and this would be a great move by the company. The Pixel 2 might not feature a headphone jack and will have a small 2,70 mAh battery. These two things might be a concern as Google teased Apple at last year's event about the missing headphone jack. Google will have to impress their audience by a high margin as the world is still captivated by the iPhone X. Google Home Here is the Google Home Mini, the Smaller $49 Google Home.https://t.co/8dzUOARr4C pic.twitter.com/grsf5n39aF Droid Life (@droid_life) September 19, 2017 Even though the first virtual assistant device never made it to India officially, we are still excited about what Google has up its sleeve with the newly updated variant. Google released the Google Home in direct competition with Amazon Echo and a new updated version might just leave the Echo behind. Google Home is already a much more accurate and reliable virtual assistant than the competition and if the rumoured price of $49 (INR 3,200) is correct, we can start celebrating already. Chromebook Google Pixelbook is Google's New Chromebook With Pixelbook Pen, Starting at $1,199.https://t.co/hxtalQXdwT pic.twitter.com/jzKB1I5OsY Droid Life (@droid_life) September 19, 2017 Google loves Chrome and they will darn sure make a laptop that features their operating system. The original Chromebook Pixel was launched back in 2013 and rumours have suggested that Google may already be planning a 2017 update for the Android laptop. The updated version will have a 360-degree hinge that lets it become a writing pad. Microsoft already does this with their Surface laptops and there is no doubt that Google wants to be left behind. The rumours also suggest that an optional stylus can also be bought for INR 6,500 which can be used for taking notes, make drawings and markup presentations. The laptop is expected to be priced for INR 80,000 and there is no word whether it will make its way to India. DayDream VR Here is the New Google Daydream View, It'll Cost $99.https://t.co/Opj8Do2qA5 pic.twitter.com/Yyevo618sU Droid Life (@droid_life) September 19, 2017 Google is also revamping their VR headset and based on leaks the new device will be made of a fabric of some sort. The new Daydream View is reportedly priced at $99, which is a bit more expensive than the original $79 model. The new headset will be available in three colours i.e. "Charcoal," "Chalk" and "Coral," which would match the rumoured colours for the Google Home Mini. On Tuesday, October 3, at 12.30, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press center will host a press conference dedicated to the results of a round table meeting entitled "Trade Union Maidan Getting Rid of Corruption and Reform in Trade Unions Federation of Ukraine." The participants will include Director of the October Palace International Center for Culture and Arts Borys Kholodenko, Chair of Kyiv city branch of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine Petro Hudym, chairman of the NGO 'Ordinary People Protection' Dmytro Pavlychenko (8/5a Reitarska Street). Accreditation is required by phone: (098) 256 3363 (Mykhailo). Try to make this authentic tamale casserole for your next family dinner. It has all the same flavors and ingredients you would add to a small tamale, but takes a lot less time! So the next time you are craving an authentic Mexican tamale, make this chicken tamale casserole instead. Craving tamales? Instead of spending hours spreading the dough on every single cornhusk, try making it in a clay pot or a baking dish. Sounds easy, right? Well, it actually is! And, if you have never cooked a meal in a clay pot before, you are really missing out. Cooking Authentic Mexican Recipes In Cazuelas Clay pots, or cazuelas, have been a part of our Mexican cuisine since pre-hispanic times, when many of the cooking instruments were made out of clay. Everything from the pots where the seeds were stored, to the larger pots (called tinas or tinacos) used to store drinking water, the decorated clay dishes in diverse sizes and shapes, as well as drinking cups. Even some strainers were made out of clay! Homes back then would have a kitchen with a clay comal (griddle) over a fire that was used for cooking tortillas, roasting peppers and seeds, and as a base where the clay pots and casseroles were placed on to cook the meals. I remember my abuela had a huge griddle over the wood fire stove, but it wasnt made of clay, it was made out of steel! That thing was about 30 inches in diameter, and now that I think about it, it is kind of like my ceramic stovetop. You have a flat hot surface and place your pots on top to cook! Cooking with clay pots is still common in Mexico, especially in rural areas. The industrial modernization of cooking, as well as the introduction of aluminum and other materials, have changed the way we cook, but there are still some like myself who still long for the romantic idea of a meal slowly cooking in a clay pot. I hope you enjoy this making this tamal en cazuela! Frequently Asked Questions About Chicken Tamale Casserole Before I share my casserole recipe, here are a few questions Ive been asked about homemade tamal en cazuela. What kind of filling can I use? The type of filling of chicken and green salsa can be different, the same way that we have other fillings for tamales: you can either use pork, beef, or cheese. Thats the beauty of making tamales...the variety of fillings for them is endless! Can I freeze this tamale casserole? Yes, this is a very freezer-friendly casserole. Bake it completely and then let it cool down. Then, seal it tightly with a lid or aluminum foil. Keep it in the freezer for up to 6 months. When you are ready to reheat it, let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then reheat it in the oven. How long will this chicken casserole last in the fridge? If you keep it sealed with a lid, plastic wrap, or aluminum foil, it will last about a week in the refrigerator. What is the best type of cookware for me to use to make this casserole? This recipe requires an ovenproof dish about 8-9 inches in diameter or width. I will be using a cazuela (clay pot) to make it. You can buy a good-quality clay cooking pot at Ancient Cookware, but you can also use a square glass baking dish if you can't find one. Authentic Mexican Tamale Casserole Here is a list of ingredients you will need to make this dish: Tomatillos Jalapeno peppers Garlic cloves Cilantro Salt Lard Corn masa-harina Chicken broth Chicken Onion powder Garlic powder Salt and pepper Banana leaves Please note: For exact measurements of the ingredients listed above, scroll down to the recipe card located at the bottom of this post! JUMP TO FULL INSTRUCTIONS How To Make Tamal En Cazuela: Step By Step Tutorial To make things easier for you, I am going to break down the directions to this recipe into sections. Make The Salsa Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the tomatillos, peppers, and garlic in a saucepan. Cover with water and cook over medium heat for about 13-15 minutes. Let them cool, drain them, and place them in your blender along with the chopped cilantro. Process until you have a smooth sauce. Prepare The Dough With Masa-Harina Place the lard in a large bowl and beat with the help of a mixer until the lard changes color, from light golden to white. Add the corn masa-harina little by little and keep beating. Pour the warm chicken broth in intervals while you keep beating the dough. Keep beating until the dough texture is creamy. Tip: Taste to check if the dough needs salt. It's so much better when the dough is actually seasoned and has some flavor. Seasoning The Chicken Place the shredded chicken in a medium-size bowl and season with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Prepare The Banana Leaves And The Clay Pot Clean the banana leaves by placing them under running water, then wipe them dry with a paper towel. Steam the banana leaves by passing them over the flame of your gas stove or electric stove. With the help of a pastry brush or with your fingers, grease the inside of the clay pot. Cover the clay pot with the banana leaves and make sure you grease the banana leaves themselves so the masa doesn't stick. Assemble The Casserole In The Cazuela Divide the dough into two equal parts; it is very important to have the same amount of dough at the bottom as well as at the top. Spread one part of the dough on the bottom of the clay pot. Pour half of the green salsa on, then spread the shredded chicken, and cover this with the rest of the salsa. Finally, evenly spread the rest of the dough on top, then fold over the banana leaf flaps to cover the dough. Place the lid on the clay pot. Bake and Enjoy! Bake in the oven for 60 minutes, and then check to see if it is done. To make sure it is finished cooking, check if the dough has separated from the banana leaves by inserting a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. If your tamale casserole comes out uncooked, just place it back in the oven and keep cooking until done. Tip: You have to let the masa dough settle for at least 15 minutes before cutting to be able to get a good slice. With the help of a pastry brush or with your fingers, grease the inside of the clay pot. Cover the clay pot with the banana leaves. Make sure you grease the banana leaves. What To Serve With Chicken Tamale Casserole This is almost an entire meal in one dish! It only takes a few simple Mexican side dishes to really round out the meal and make it completely filling. Fresh corn salad with purslane is zesty and flavorful. Black beans and rice is another very popular choice for dinnertime sides. It is really easy and everyone loves it. Or, serve it with a sweet side dish like a jicama and citrus salad. Sometimes, I just serve a slice of the casserole with some fresh salsa verde and just eat it that way. It is all very delicious! More Authentic Mexican Recipes To Enjoy If you enjoyed this recipe for tamal en cazuela, take a look at some of these other authentic Mexican recipes: I hope you make this chicken tamale casserole recipe! If this recipe was of any help to you, come back to let me know your experience. Please leave us a comment done below and tell us all about it! Buen provecho! Mely Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Terens Quick will visit Egypt on 2 and 3 October, together with the Cypriot Commissioner to the Presidency for Humanitarian Affairs and Overseas Affairs, Photis Photiou, following the invitation of the Egyptian Minister of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs, Nabila Makram. Mrs. Makram, Mr. Quick and Mr. Photiou will discuss plans for cooperation on Expatriate Issues on a trilateral level, as agreed at the recent meeting on the margins of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly, in New York between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the three countries. In the context of this visit, Mr. Quick will also meet with His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, as well as with the boards of the Greek Communities of Cairo and Alexandria. BAD AXE Bad Axe High School will be hosting the Huron County College Night Program later this month. The program is scheduled for Oct. 24. The evening will begin with a general session in the gym at 6 p.m. for announcements, directions and other information. It is important that students and parents attend the opening session at to receive directions and updated information for the evening. Roughly 40 representatives of Michigan colleges, universities, and other institutions will be on hand to answer questions and provide information about their respective schools. All area high school students considering college are welcome to attend. Parents are also encouraged to accompany their student. For more information, call the Bad Axe High School counseling office at 989-269-9593. UPPER THUMB Tomorrow is an important day for school districts in Michigan. Wednesday is the day school districts will count their students. The count is important because the amount of state aid a school district will get is directly tied to the number of students at that district. Its 90 percent of our state aid, said Ubly Superintendent Joe Candela. The majority of our funding is student count. The majority of what happens is on Wednesday. Having the students for count day is where your state funding is going to be based out of, said Bad Axe Superintendent Greg Newland. So we want the students to be in attendance if possible. Each student will be worth around $7,300 to a school district, according to Newland. Its an important day because superintendents project what we have, Candela said. We then do a revised budget and we bring it to the boards for them to adopt. Candela noted the school districts adopt a budget before student count is done. Neither Newland nor Candela said they are doing anything special to make sure students are in class Wednesday. We dont have an incentive plan like you hear from Detroit Public Schools or others like that, Newland said, noting Bad Axe has a student attendance rate of around 90 percent. It will be a normal day, Candela said. Those kids that miss we just have to make sure they get their seven hours (of instruction time). School districts will have time to make sure of their numbers before they are submitted to the state to calculate state funding. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MIDDLETOWN The city stands poised to move ahead on an innovative entrepreneurial concept proposed by key stakeholders, including the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce and Wesleyan University, that would bring a coworking space downtown. Still in the planning stages, the Middletown Entrepreneurs Work Space, or MEWS+, is being spearheaded by Jeff Pugliese, vice president of the chamber, who will speak at Mondays Common Council meeting to persuade councilors to approve $35,000 in seed money for the project. Support from the city of Middletown can be a catalyst for additional funds coming into the community, Pugliese said. If we are fortunate enough to secure the citys support, we will then apply for additional support through a statewide network of entrepreneurs, mentors, service providers and others involved in helping Connecticuts most promising startups succeed and grow. Were essentially looking to take money pledged by Wesleyan, Middlesex Hospital and Liberty Bank to get the citys support to really make that initiative sustainable for a couple years at least, Pugliese said. Coworking spaces, many of which exist throughout Connecticut, provide members access to wi-fi, copy machines, storage space, discount parking, coffee, bike racks and even a business mailing address. The chamber has offered its second floor, about 600 square feet, as MEWS+ headquarters, to initially get the project off the ground, Pugliese said. When available, he said, MEWS+ members would have access to things like the chamber conference room and videoconferencing. Eventually, Pugliese hopes, the group will find a larger suitable location downtown. The number of coworking spaces around the world has increased by 400 percent in the past two years, according to Guilford Coworking. Connecticut By The Numbers reports 54 million people in the nation do freelance work about a third of the U.S. workforce, an increase of 700,000 since 2014, according to a study published by the independent research firm Edelman Berland. In Connecticut, there are now an estimated 204,000 individuals who are self-employed, more than 11 percent of the states workers, which exceeds the national average, Connecticut By The Numbers reports. The state is already home to several of these enterprises, including The Grove New Haven, Upward Hartford, SONO Spaces in South Norwalk, Guilford Coworking and Axis 901 in Manchester. Middletown Economic Development Specialist Thomas Marano has been involved with the project since the city applied for a grant last year through CTNext, a public/private network of entrepreneurs, mentors, service providers and others helping startups succeed and grow. CTNexts Innovation Places, an arm of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, combines entrepreneurship support and relationship building with physical planning and development, according to its website. These competitive three-year grants are substantial, Marano said. Representatives of 25 entities, including the chamber, city, Wesleyan, Middlesex Community College, Liberty Bank and Middlesex Hospital, met ahead of the citys CT Next grant application proposal to brainstorm. Middletown wasnt among the 12 that moved on to the semifinal round. We got voted off the show, Marano said. CT Next funded cities that already had coworking spaces and entrepreneurial infrastructure and we didnt have that. However, We decided not to quit, said Marano, who was laid off from Northeast Utilities before he came to work for the city of Middletown. He went into business for himself as a consultant at the time and used one of these coworking spaces for his office. I used to go there just to get out of my house, Marano said. I could spend $25 week, sit at a couch or an easy chair to work, have coffee and attend free training programs, he said. Working somewhat independently..., you could have entrepreneurs around you. I could pay $100 week and get my own desk in a quiet room. I could pay a little more to get a micro office, or some suites at market price, Marano said. Part of the plan was to have the chamber offer meet-ups for business professionals. The first was held Aug. 29 at the Central at 363 Main St., the Webster Bank building. We thought wed get 20 we got 60 participants, Marano said. Then Wesleyan offered $25,000 toward the project, which is conditional on the city matching it, and Liberty Bank and Middlesex Hospital also pledged funds. The object is to prove that we have a big enough group of people who want to meet in a place to be able to network and to build an innovation community, then go back to CT Next and say, Here is the community, here was the plan that we have submitted, and hopefully, they will fund some more of that, Marano said. Other communities, like Meriden, whose projects werent chosen by CT Next, are mobilizing their nonprofit and business communities in preparation for next years awards, Marano said. We want to prove we didnt get the money we should: Here we are. On Oct. 11 from 4:30 to 6 p.m., the chamber will host a 5 Minute Solution! session that will include networking with local entrepreneurs, an introduction to the chambers new Entrepreneur Council and discussion of MEWS+. The event is a part of the day-long Connecticut Connections Business Showcase at the Radisson Hotel Cromwell, 100 Berlin Road, Cromwell. For information, see middlesexchamber.com. Mondays Common Council meeting will take place at City Hall, 245 deKoven Drive, at 7 p.m. Contact Managing Editor Cassandra Day at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com. File photo of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Sunday gave a televised speech defending government actions following violent clashes which left hundreds injured in a banned referendum. The prime minister said "today there has not been a self-determination referendum" and that "our state maintains its strength and reacts and acts with all its resources against any kind of provocation." Rajoy also defended the decision to send in police force to stop the voting, which was earlier deemed illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court. "My first obligation was to obey the law and to make sure it was obeyed," he said, adding that security forces had acted with "firmness and serenity" in stopping the Catalan referendum. He said that the referendum had produced "attitudes that should be repugnant to anyone who believes in democracy," and blamed Catalan leaders for the violence. "I want to make it clear that the only people who are responsible are those who have venerated the law," said Rajoy, who insisted his government had "done what we had to do." "We are the government of Spain and I am the prime minister of Spain. We acted with the law and only with the law and showed our democratic state has the resources to react to this attack on our unity." Online videos posted Sunday showed that police officers armed with batons clashed with voters at polling stations in Catalonia. According to Catalan health authorities, more than 800 people received treatment at hospitals after being injured by police during Sunday's disputed referendum. Two people are in serious conditions. Meanwhile, Spain's Interior Ministry said 33 police required treatment as a result of the clashes. Local reports said more than 5.3 million people had been called to cast their vote in the referendum. About 2.26 million people took part in the banned referendum, with 2.02 million voted for independence, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said in a press briefing late Sunday. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, speaking shortly after Rajoy's speech on TV, said Catalonia's citizens "have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic." The region, with a population of 7.5 million, accounts for about a fifth of Spain's economic output. Residents in the region mostly speak Catalan, a language that some believe is a dialect of Spanish but others argue to be a totally different one. The region, discontent of the "disproportionate support" it has received from the Spanish government considering its contribution to the national economy, attempted to stage an independence referendum in November 2014, only suspending the move following stern gestures from the government and the Constitutional Court. "My government, in the next few days will send the results of today's vote to the Catalan Parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum," Puigdemont said. The regional leader also urged the European Union to stop looking "the other way" as leaders of most EU members declined to take stance on the referendum, only saying it is Spain's internal affairs and political parties should resolve their differences via dialogue. Here are five news stories and events to start your week, from the editors at Military.com: More Than 50 Dead in Las Vegas Shooting Via The Associated Press: "At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 wounded when a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Authorities have identified the suspected gunman in the Sunday night shooting as Stephen Paddock. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said officers confronted Paddock on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street from the concert. Paddock is dead." Navy T-45 Jet Crashes in Tennessee National Forest Via The Associated Press: "Officials say a U.S. Navy plane crashed in the Cherokee National Forest in southeastern Tennessee. Monroe County Emergency Management Director David Chambers tells the Knoxville News Sentinel the crash occurred Sunday afternoon in Tellico Plains, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Knoxville. Chambers says the field of debris is estimated to be at least a half-mile long. The Navy confirms in a statement that a T-45C Goshawk aircraft was training in the area and had not returned to its Mississippi base by late Sunday. The statement says two pilots were on board and their status is unknown. In April, the Navy grounded a fleet of T-45C Goshawks amid reports of problems with the cockpit oxygen systems." Pentagon Adds USS Wasp to Puerto Rico Response Via Corey Dickstein at Stars & Stripes: "Two U.S. Navy ships are now cruising toward Puerto Rico to bolster the U.S. response to the island, left devastated last week by a direct hit from Hurricane Maria, officials said Friday. The Defense Department on Friday tasked the USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship, to move from its location near the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica toward Puerto Rico to expand rescue and relief operations there in the wake of the Category 4 storm that struck Sept. 20, defense officials said. Meanwhile, the USNS Comfort, a 1,000-bed hospital ship, left port from Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday." ISIS Claims Responsibility for Slayings in France Via Associated Press: "The Islamic State group is claiming links to a knife attack in the southern French city of Marseille that left two women and the assailant dead. The claim was carried in a statement Sunday night by the ISIS-affiliated Aamaq news agency. It said the attacker on Sunday was one of its 'soldiers' who acted in response to the group's calls to target countries involved in the US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq. It did not elaborate on the attacker's alleged IS links. French counterterrorism authorities are investigating the attack Sunday at the main Marseille train station and any possible links to Islamic extremism." First Female Marine AAV Officer Set to Graduate Training Via Hope Hodge Seck at Military.com: "Days after the Marine Corps welcomed its first female infantry officer, the service is set to mark another milestone. A female officer enrolled in the Corps' assault amphibian officer course aboard Camp Pendleton, California is set to graduate Oct. 3, Capt. Joshua Pena, a spokesman for Marine Corps Training and Education Command, told Military.com. When she does, she'll be the first woman to earn the military occupational specialty of 1803, assault amphibian officer, qualified to be a platoon commander for Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicles, better known as AAVs or Amtracks." -- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry. 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... Two Navy pilots were killed when a T-45C Goshawk went down in East Tennessee on Sunday evening, officials with Naval Air Training confirmed Monday. The aircraft, belonging to Training Air Wing One out of Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi, went down in the Cherokee National Forest prior to 6 p.m. Sunday. Naval officials announced late Sunday night that such an aircraft had gone missing, but could not confirm it had crashed. Just before 10 a.m. Monday, Navy officials with the wing confirmed the tragedy, adding that the lost aircraft belonged to Meridian's Training Squadron Seven. Related content: The disaster comes roughly a month after the Navy allowed T-45s at the service's three training bases to resume flights with students. The aircraft had been grounded in April after about 100 instructor pilots reportedly refused to fly, citing concerns with aircraft safety after a surge in hypoxia-like cockpit incidents. The fleet returned to the air the same month with stringent restrictions, including a 5,000-foot altitude limit, but aircraft sorties were limited to instructor currency flights rather than training, according to June congressional testimony from Vice Adm. Paul Grosklags, commander of Naval Air Systems Command. In late September, leaders of the Navy team investigating physiological episodes confirmed to Military.com that T-45s had resumed training flights in August, but said there had been four pilot physiological episodes since then. Those episodes, according to Capt. Sara "Clutch" Joyner, the newly appointed head of the Navy's Physiological Episode Action Team, appear to be caused by human factors. It remains unclear what caused Sunday's deadly crash. Lt. Elizabeth Feaster, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Training, said an investigation will be launched to determine the cause of the tragedy. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. The suspect in the Las Vegas shootings had no record of military service and no ties to international terrorism, the Pentagon and the FBI said Monday. An extensive search turned up no evidence that 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, of Mesquite, Nevada, ever served in the military, said Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman. Las Vegas police have identified Paddock as the gunman who opened fire on thousands attending a country music concert from a hotel room in Las Vegas, killing at least 58 people and leaving 515 wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, said Paddock was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a 32nd-floor hotel room overlooking the concert. Related content: Eric Paddock, the alleged gunman's younger brother, also told reporters that his brother had no military background and "no religious affiliation, no political affiliation, no white supremacy as far as I know." Eric Paddock said the family was "completely dumbfounded" and had no insight into what his brother's motive may have been. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, through its Amaq news outlet, claimed that Stephen Paddock was acting for ISIS, but the FBI dismissed the claim. At a news briefing in Las Vegas, Aaron Rouse, the FBI's Special Agent in Charge, said Stephen Paddock had "no connection with an international terrorist group," but the investigation into his background is continuing. In an afternoon briefing to defense reporters, Manning said initial checks by all the services indicated that no active-duty members of the military were among the victims in Las Vegas. The Nevada National Guard had yet to complete a thorough check on the status of its members, Manning said. The review was slowed in part because many officials weren't working on Monday, according to Lt. Col. Mickey Kirschenbaum, a spokesman for the Nevada Guard. There are 4,200 members of the Army and Air National Guard in the state, he said. Of the 3,200 Guard soldiers in the state, about 1,800 -- or more than half -- come from the Las Vegas metro region, he said. Kirschenbaum said some of its members likely responded to the tragedy in an unofficial capacity as first-responders. "We do have many members of the Guard who work as police officers with metro police departments, fire departments and hospitals," he said. -- Brendan McGarry contributed to this report. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Have you ever been drawn to nature? Have you had an urge to sit by the sea, hike in the woods or just stand barefoot in the... File photo Hong Kong Express Airways canceled 18 flights between Hong Kong and three destinations in Japan and South Korea from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8, leaving over 2,000 travellers affected. According to Hong Kong Express, the only low-fare airline in Hong Kong, the canceled flights on Sunday are round-trip flights between Hong Kong International Airport and Japan's Kansai International Airport (KIX). Other canceled flights will be those between Hong Kong and Japan's Chubu Centrair International Airport(NGO) as well as South Korea's Incheon International Airport(ICN) scheduled from Oct. 2 to 8. According to Hong Kong Express Airways, all the 2,070 passengers affected by the cancellations had been rearranged to take other airlines' flights or fully refunded as of Sunday evening. Hong Kong Express Airways CEO Andrew Cowen said at a press conference that the cancellations was a tough but only choice of the airline since the company discovered there would be shortage of about five to six backup crew members each day during the holidays. The airline decided to cancel those flights, otherwise there would be many risks to the safety of flights if the crew members on duty ask for emergency leave during the holidays, the CEO said. The airline said most of the affected passengers have been arranged to take other airlines' flights with assistance of two local travel agencies. The airline issued an apology on Sunday to those affected passengers. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region(SAR) government said it is closely reviewing the aftermath of the cancellation. The Civil Aviation Department has met with high-level executives of the Hong Kong airline and asked the airline to submit detailed report about the cancellation within one week. Hong Kong Consumer Council lashed out at the airline for its irresponsibility, saying that the cancellation would not only impair passengers' confidence of the airline, but also affect Hong Kong's reputation as an international aviation hub. Hong Kong Express commercial director Jonathan Hutt said, "I would like to offer my profound apologies for the flight cancellations that have affected the travel plans of some of our passengers during this important holiday season." Sarah Stein ANN ARBOR, MI - For eight years, Washtenaw County probation officer Sarah Stein was charged with protecting the community and guiding juveniles toward socially responsible behavior. Now, the 39-year-old is on the other side of the law, charged with lying to police when they questioned her about a murder case. Investigators say she denied knowing details about the case involving Tariq Jackson, who was facing a murder charge in the 2015 death of Keandre Duff. But police allege they found a phone recording of her talking about the Jackson case with a parolee. Authorities claim Stein was romantically involved with the parolee, whom she had known for years through her position with the courts. While Stein awaits trial, she remains on unpaid administrative leave from the court. She could not be reached for comment and her Ann Arbor-based attorney John Shea declined to comment. Lying to a peace officer is punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine of $5,000. An unexpected recording Just how the Ann Arbor woman found her role reversed is laid bare in a court recording obtained by The Ann Arbor News. The recording is of a hearing in which Ypsilanti police Detective Annette Coppock swears to the felony complaint against Stein. Stein told police that she did not think Tariq Jackson was capable of murder, according to Coppock's statement in the court recording. Stein said Jackson - who Stein knew in her role as a probation officer - did not admit to his presence at a party, stealing a gun or being responsible for Duff's death, Coppock said. However, police say when they took a parolee named Lawrence Watkins Jr. into custody on a parole violation, they discovered a recorded conversation they say is with Stein. She was a probation officer for Watkins, now 24, when he was a juvenile in the Washtenaw County Trial Court system, court records show. "(We) discovered that Lawrence Watkins Jr. and Sarah Love Stein are living together, Lawrence Watkins is on parole, that she's romantically involved with Lawrence Watkins and Sarah Stein admitted in a conversation with Lawrence Watkins stating that Tariq Jackson told her that he was at the party, that he stole a gun prior to shooting Keandre Duff and that he had brandished the gun several different times in attempts to shoot Keandre Duff - however, there was too many people at the time - and then had to wait until Keandre Duff was by himself or with a limited number of people and then Tariq Jackson shot and killed Keandre Duff," Coppock said, according to the court recording. At Stein's August 2016 arraignment, Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney John Vella said Stein tried to have a recorded phone conversation with a parolee - though the parolee's name was not stated - deleted by lying to a phone company, according to a transcript of the hearing contained in court records. Vella also said Stein was privy to confidential information about the Duff homicide through meetings and strategy sessions with law enforcement. She told the parolee "who were snitches on the case," Vella alleged. At Vella's request, Magistrate Elisha Fink prohibited Stein from contact with known felons, and anyone she knew to be or have been on juvenile probation. Relationship with a client Court records show Stein began working on Watkins' cases around 2010, when Watkins would have been 16. His eight delinquency cases from 2009 to 2010 included unarmed robbery, disturbing the peace, assault, breaking and entry, third-degree home invasion and probation violation. Court records indicate that Stein, on at least one occasion, recommended him to a youth facility because he could not be managed at home. Watkins was recommended for the youth facility multiple times and Stein, his mother, or another individual were given the responsibility for picking him up and driving him home upon his release on different occasions, records indicate. Coppock did not state in the recording when Stein's alleged personal relationship with Watkins began. Officials from Ann Arbor police, the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office and Ypsilanti police said they had no knowledge of past or current investigations into Stein's relationships with any juvenile probationers. Interviews with Watkins have not led sheriff's detectives to believe an investigation is necessary. Watkins pleaded guilty in 2011 to receiving or concealing a stolen vehicle and operating a vehicle while license suspended, revoked or denied just a little over a month and a half after he turned 17 in late 2010, court records indicate. For that, he was sentenced to probation and jail. Watkins is currently serving time with the Michigan Department of Corrections for an incident of larceny from a person for an incident that took place on Sept. 3, 2011, in Washtenaw County. He was released on parole in May 2015 and was returned to MDOC custody for parole violations on Aug. 30, 2016, according to MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz. He was accused of violating parole rules by possessing alcohol while on parole, being in the company of a person known to have a firearm, and changing residences without the permission of his parole agent. Watkins was living with Sarah Stein and, with his reincarceration, Stein's story began to unravel, according to Coppock's statements during the Aug. 17 hearing. A question of conduct Dan Dwyer, Washtenaw County Trial Court administrator, declined to comment on the matter while criminal proceedings continue. An internal investigation into the matter will take into account the outcome of the proceedings. He did confirm that the court would hold Stein to the Washtenaw County Trial Court's code of conduct and said the court also holds Stein, as a social worker in the state of Michigan, to the standards of the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. The court's code includes canons that ask that employees to avoid activities that could cause adverse reflection on the court, disclose information required by the court and not disclose confidential or discretionary information gained through employment. The social work code prohibits social workers from engaging in sexual contact with current clients. It also prohibits social workers from having sexual contact with former clients, and, if they do so anyways, puts the burden on the social worker to prove the former client has not been intentionally or unintentionally exploited, coerced or manipulated. Attempts to contact an attorney for Watkins were unsuccessful. What happens now Stein, who has been a probation officer at the court since 2008, is charged with four counts of lying to police and is free on 10 percent of a $20,000 bond. On March 7, Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Carol Kuhnke granted a defense motion to release Stein from house arrest and allow her internet access. Stein's attorney, Shea, argued that these bond conditions, which were put in place to keep Stein from influencing Tariq Jackson's ongoing murder case, should no longer apply since Jackson has pleaded guilty. Kuhnke agreed and granted the motion. Since then, her jury trial has twice been postponed to allow for more preparation time in the case. The latest trial date has been canceled and Stein will next appear in court Oct. 10 for a so-called "Daubert" hearing. Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals was a 1993 U.S. Supreme Court case that set the standard for the admissibility of expert testimony. The expert testimony will be used to "help explain why certain statements made by (Stein) to law enforcement officers were unreliable and not evidence of her having made false statements," according to the motion. ANN ARBOR, MI - Plans are in the works for a $44 million apartment development on Ann Arbor's west side, with a mix of options geared toward working professionals. A Chicago-based developer operating under the name 2050 Commerce LLC is proposing a 327,399-square-foot building containing 267 market-rate apartments at 2050 Commerce Blvd., between Maple Road and Stadium Boulevard. Pending city approval, construction is expected to start in spring 2018 and wrap up in summer 2019. The plans include 29 studios, 170 one-bedroom apartments and 68 two-bedroom apartments, for a total of 335 bedrooms. Documents submitted to the city indicate the apartments would range in size from just under 400 square feet to nearly 1,400 square feet, with monthly rents ranging from $800 to $1,800. It's described as a four-story apartment building with a private interior courtyard and a maximum building height of 55 feet. Due to ground elevation changes, there actually are six different partial levels plus basement-level parking shown in the drawings. "We've designed the building so that it steps up the hill, so the building is tiered," explained project architect Brad Moore. Moore said there would be a rooftop terrace offering tenants and guests amazing views of the Ann Arbor skyline. Some of the other building amenities tentatively include a health club, social lounges and business center. It's also expected to be pet-friendly. Moore said the development is geared toward working professionals, not University of Michigan students. "This is absolutely not student-focused," he said. "It's going to be designed for working people, people who have day jobs." With local buses running along Commerce, Maple and Stadium, Moore said, it's also going to be a transit-oriented development, providing good connectivity to the rest of the city. He said it also will be walkable to many area businesses such as Arbor Farms Market, Dimo's Deli and Donuts and Wolverine State Brewing, minimizing the need for private ownership of cars. And there are talks of providing some shared vehicles on site. Moore said the city plans to fill a sidewalk gap along the north side of Commerce next year, making the area more walkable. The new apartment building would be surrounded by new parking areas and driveways, new site lighting, new underground utilities and underground stormwater detention, new landscaping and new solid waste management facilities. There would be a total of 371 automobile parking spaces below and above ground, 31 of which are proposed to be deferred. There also would be 171 bicycle parking spaces, including 151 interior Class-A spaces in a four-level parking garage included in the building plan, with a mix of bicycle rack types. The parking garage would contain 297 of the parking spaces for automobiles, plus 14 motorcycle/scooter spaces. There also would be six electric-vehicle charging stations. City assessor records indicate the developer purchased the 3.8-acre property from William Berger for $1.575 million in April. It has an assessed value of $1.22 million. It's the former location of the corporate office for Select Ride. The proposed site plan indicates the building is vacant now. The developer proposes reconstructing the existing drive with two new access points, including one off Federal Boulevard and one on the west side of the site off Commerce Boulevard. Nine on-street parking spaces are proposed along Commerce. The development company, 2050 Commerce LLC, is affiliated with and shares an address with Chicago-based JDI Realty LLC, which describes itself as a well-capitalized, opportunistic, private-equity real estate firm with more than $2 billion invested since 1988. Midwestern Consulting is the civil engineer for the project. The architects are Moore of J Bradley Moore and Associates in Ann Arbor and Bob Lamkin of HLR Architects in Dallas. 'Cottages at Barton Green' proposed for development in Ann Arbor $146M development headed to Ann Arbor council for approval Ann Arbor could see 100-plus new condos near downtown in two years 3 large apartment buildings starting to rise in downtown Ann Arbor See latest plans for 9-story mixed-use development in Ann Arbor ANN ARBOR, MI - A construction worker was hospitalized in critical condition on Monday, Oct. 2 after a fall from a development going up in downtown Ann Arbor. Authorities were called about 11:15 a.m. Monday for a report that a worker fell about 20 feet while on site of the 12-story high-rise under construction at 603 E. Huron St., Ann Arbor police Lt. Ed Dreslinski said. The worker was listed in critical condition at the time of transport to an area hospital, Huron Valley Ambulance spokesman Matt Rose said. However, Dreslinski described the worker's injuries as non-life threatening. Representatives for Core Spaces, the Chicago-based developer behind the high-rise, and Spence Brothers, the main contractor for the project, could not be reached for comment. American Campus Communities Inc. announced on Sept. 25 plans to acquire the project, now called Hub Ann Arbor, along with six other student housing properties from Core Spaces and DRW Real Estate Investments, according to a report by Business Wire. American Campus Communities will assume sole operational control with initial funding, while Core Spaces will retain some decision-making abilities including the development and delivery of properties, according to the report. When the Ann Arbor development initially went through the city's approval process, it was known as The Calvin, though the name then changed to Hub on Campus Ann Arbor on the Core Spaces website. The website indicated the building will be more than 171,000 square feet, containing 124 apartments with 310 beds. A project architect previously said the team hopes to finish the project by the end of May 2018. ANN ARBOR, MI - Shortly after Robert Vogt arrived at 10:15 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, in Las Vegas, he noticed the GPS in his rental car was taking him a strange route to his hotel just off the Las Vegas Freeway. "The GPS started taking me the weirdest route to the hotel," he said. "I was like, why aren't we getting on the freeway? I was driving along on the service road on the west side of the freeway wondering why the hell I'm on the service road and I just see this army of flashing lights - literally everywhere. "It was just crazy and I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on," he added. "All the roads over the freeway to the strip were blocked off by cops." Vogt later learned the emergency vehicles were en route to a mass shooting where at least 58 people were killed at the Route 91 Harvest Festival - about a mile from his hotel - around 10:30 p.m. According to the Associated Press, a gunman perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street unleashing a hail of bullets on the outdoor country music festival. The Ypsilanti resident and CEO of IOSiX, LLC had arrived Sunday evening for a business meeting, and was informed by his client of the shooting after arriving at the Vdara Hotel and Spa, about a mile from where the shooting took place. Not long after, while he was waiting for the food he had ordered in the restaurant near the hotel's front entrance, a mass of people began entering the hotel in a chaotic moment. "Lots of people were coming in through the door, and usually it's a pretty quiet hotel," There were maybe 40 to 50 people coming in per minute through the front door of the hotel. I was wondering why there was this huge volume of people. These people came to the bar, and these ladies were just shaking. They said they had been evacuated from New York-New York (Hotel & Casino), which is probably three buildings closer - pretty close to Mandalay Bay." Vogt said people from the hotel informed him there was a stampede inside the hotel from people getting run over because they thought there might be a shooter inside the building. "The whole situation was crazy and nobody knew what was going on," Vogt said. "The staff didn't know what to do." In addition to the 58 deaths, the AP reports that at least 515 others were injured in the Sunday night attack. SWAT teams using explosives stormed the gunman's hotel room in the sleek, gold-colored glass skyscraper and found he had killed himself, authorities said. The gunman, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles, they said. Police said he was a retiree with no criminal record in the Nevada county where he lived. In the aftermath of the shooting, Vogt described the atmosphere around the hotel as a lot of "fog of war stuff going on," with rumors floating around about what had happened. Early rumors of the shooting being a coordinated terrorist attack had forced McCarran International Airport to close temporarily. This morning, Vogt said, the mood around a city normally hopping with activity is eerily quiet. "Nobody is out, at all - it is completely dead here in Las Vegas," he said. BAY CITY, MI -- Bay City is poised to purchase the old Van Poppelen Bros. brickyard to be used as the future home of the city's pubic works department. The Bay City Commission votes Monday, Oct. 2, to approve a $400,000 purchase of the property, located at 1301 N. Sherman St. City officials didn't disclose the site in the commission's agenda. City Manager Dana Muscott said a closed session is scheduled during the City Commission's Finance and Policy Committee meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday to discuss the real estate purchase. Paul Strpko, facility manager of Bay Aggregates, which owns the property, however, confirmed to MLive-The Bay City Times that the company has been in talks with the city about a purchase. "We've been talking with them back and forth and we're hoping it comes to fruition," he said. Bay Aggregates acquired the site in 2013 for $17,000, according to Bay County Property Records. Strpko said the company also took on about $90,000 in payroll debt with the purchase. The company's first intention was to bring back a manufacturer to the site that could serve as a customer for Bay Aggregates, like another block manufacturer, Strpko said. Van Poppelen operated in Bay City for more than 100 years, specializing in making concrete blocks and bricks. Strpko also said a group from Florida had inquired about putting housing on the property. Finding a new home for the city's public works department is a top priority for Muscott, who was hired on as the city's full time manager in July. The existing building at 801 S. Water St., has been designated as a "dangerous building." Public works employees still work out of the facility's garage, but a majority of employees have been transitioned to work out of the fourth floor of City Hall, Muscott said. "There are definitely parts of that building where we don't allow our employees to go into," she said. If the purchase is approved by the commission, the city would then work to get bonding in place to finance the construction of a new public works building, Muscott said. Muscott wants to see the city move the public works building and Bay City Electric Light and Power to the new site in order to redevelop the waterfront property where the facilities are currently located. Muscott has previously said she likes the concepts of condominiums, similar to the Breakers Cove condos that are located to the north of the public works buildings. Commissioner David Terrasi, 2nd Ward, took to social media Monday to say he doesn't want to see housing built on that site. FLINT, MI - A shuttered automotive plant may see new life after a Wisconsin-based commercial real estate firm purchased the former Delphi Flint East industrial plant. The 550,000-square-foot building on the property near Dort Highway and Robert T. Longway Boulevard was bought by an affiliate of Phoenix Investors, according to a statement from the company on Monday, Oct. 2. Phoenix Investors paid $3.15 million for the property, the statement said. The release from the company did not specify what, if any, developments are planned for the facility. Officials with Phoenix Investors could not immediately be reached for comment. "Although we have a real estate presence in the state, this acquisition represents our entry into the rebounding industrial markets of Michigan," Senior Vice President of Acquisition and Leasing for Phoenix Investors Kurt Jensen said in the statement. "We are encouraged by the opportunity that strong tenant demand provides specifically in the Flint industrial market. A long period of blight and the prospect for future value-add improvements provides an opportunity in the coming months to immediately execute on a turnaround plan for this asset. We have been welcomed with open arms by community partners in Flint and we look forward to working with them as we renovate and lease this property to new tenants." Delphi East closed in 2013 when the work for its 287 employees was sent to a plant in Mexico, according to MLive-The Flint Journal's files. The company was created in 1999 as a General Motors spinoff and filed for bankruptcy in 2005. The Flint location was the last Michigan manufacturing plant to hold the company's name. The building on the property today was originally built in 1960 and requires extensive renovations, according to the statement from Phoenix. There are 42-foot ceiling heights, 17 loading docks and numerous overhead cranes in the building, the statement said. Phoenix cited low industrial property vacancy rates, "creating strong demand for this asset class." "I am pleased to hear that our partners, Phoenix Investors, finalized the purchase of the Delphi East Site on Robert T. Longway and Center Road," said Flint Mayor Karen Weaver. "For many years, this site served as a place of employment for Flint residents and soon we will see more Flint residents report to work on that site." The site also was once the world headquarters for AC Spark Plug, one of the most iconic auto parts names in history. For almost 100 years, the factories on North Dort Highway produced countless spark plugs, as well as oil filters, air cleaners, dashboard instruments, fuel pumps and a variety of other products. It was a site that has seen several incarnations, but for decades was the AC headquarters, overseeing AC operations in plants across the world, including Texas, Wisconsin and England. In 1925, before it was a division of GM, AC Spark Plug bought the plant on Dort Highway from the Dort Motor Co., which had recently built the factory there to produce Dort automobiles. The Dort Motor Co. went out of business in 1924. When AC moved in, it increased the facility's floor space to nearly 470,000 square feet. AC's operations were based on their original location on Industrial Avenue, at the old Chevy in the Hole site, which was razed in 1976. At the time, workers at the original AC plant on Industrial Avenue considered the new Dort Highway plant to be flashy and new and short on character. Two years after acquiring the Dort Highway facility, AC founder Albert Champion died while on a business trip to France. In 1929, General Motors bought the remaining AC stock from the Champion estate and in 1933, AC Spark Plug officially became a division of GM. A 1975 Flint Journal article, with the headline "AC to demolish Industrial Ave. facility this month" read, "The 60-year-old complex, built by AC founder Albert Champion, has been phased out over several years. Many manufacturing operations, machinery, equipment and personnel have been absorbed into the main AC facilities on S. Dort Hwy., where seven manufacturing factories employ nearly 12,000 hourly and salaried employees." By the 1980s, the site boasted six factories as well as engineering and administration buildings. The plant survived highs and lows of the auto industry. The site was officially named Flint East in 1987 when AC took over the Chevrolet facilities across town and named that location Flint West. In 1988, Flint East became the headquarters for AC Rochester following a merger between AC Spark Plug and Rochester Products Division, but soon the headquarters moved to the Great Lakes Tech Center. More consolidation under GM's divisions led to the facility being renamed to AC Delco Systems in 1994, and in 1995, the entire Automotive Components Group became Delphi Automotive Systems. On June 11, 1998, Flint East followed in the footsteps of Flint Metal Fab, taking part in one of the longest strikes in GM history. The 54-day strike for which Flint East was a part almost stalled operations for the entire company within two weeks. GM agreed to the investment to Flint Metal Fab and to keep Flint East open until at least 2000.The union agreed to cooperate on efforts to increase productivity at both plants. Shortly after the strike, it was announced that Delphi would be spun off in 1999 into what is now Delphi Corporation, and Flint East was for a time part of Delphi's Energy and Engine Management Systems division. Flint East would fall back under General Motors' control following a string of financial downfalls by Automotive Holdings Group - a collection of underperforming plants that Delphi felt needed to be changed. Delphi declared bankruptcy in October 2005 and announced plans to close or sell 21 of its 29 US plants by Jan. 1, 2008, including Flint East. Another agreement was reached between Delphi, GM and the UAW in 2007, allowing the Delphi Flint East plant to stay open for the next four years. The agreement meant GM would supply the hourly UAW employees, while Delphi provided the management and equipment. The products made at the site were instrument clusters used in GM vehicles such as pickup trucks, SUVs and large vans. The agreement expired in September 2011 and the decision was made to extend that agreement for an additional amount of time before it was announced in Feb. 2013 that the plant would close for good in Nov. 2013. "This acquisition will result in the reinvention of a blighted industrial property and lead to the creation of quality jobs right here in Genesee County," said Mark Young, chairman of Genesee County Board of Commissioners. "Having grown up on the east side, I understand the importance that the redevelopment of this property will have in the growth of Genesee County's economic future." FLINT, MI -- Flint's water quality may be improving, but residents' trust in government has been battered by the city's water crisis, those working on the front lines told a visiting U.S. senator Monday, Oct. 2. "I went to a block club meeting last week, and (people) are appreciative of everything everyone has done, but they say it's hard to trust the government now. It's just hard," said Flint City Council President Kerry Nelson. "We want to get them back to the point that they can trust the government." Nelson was among those at a roundtable meeting convened by the University of Michigan-Flint and attended by U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat and member of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee. "The special circumstances in Flint illuminated that we have water problems across the nation ...," Merkley said. "Clean water supply and wastewater treatment are continuous issues across this country." More than once, those who have responded to the water crisis in Flint told the senator that in addition to suffering from elevated lead and suspicion that a Legionnaires' disease outbreak was related to the use of the Flint River, residents are skeptical when given assurances about their water. "Trust is our number one problem right now," said Jamie Gaskin, chief executive officer of the United Way of Genesee County. "I mean, we've got lots of problems, but until that is established, all of these other things we are trying to do -- we don't get the (results)... "The delay in the willingness to express the reality of the situation by our government partners exacerbated (that lack of trust)," Gaskin said. "Had this been talked about openly at the point that it appears to have been known, we could have done a great deal more to know who was exposed, how they were exposed and so forth." The water crisis in Flint was not recognized by Gov. Rick Snyder until late 2015, well over a year after residents began to complain about the color and odor of their water and months after officials were aware of rising lead levels and suspicions that the use of the Flint River could be related to a Legionnaires' disease outbreak here. The U.S. Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee pushed through the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act of 2016, which set aside $100 million in federal funds for Flint. The funding allowed the city to make infrastructure improvements, including replacing lead and galvanized water service line. Michael McDaniel, the coordinator of the Flint Action and Sustainability Team, told Merkley that service line work may not require as many pipe excavations as originally expected because one in six service lines encountered so far have been copper and do not need to be pulled from the ground. "We think it's less than 20,000 (service lines that need to be replaced) ...," McDaniel said. "We've covered a large part of the city. By the end of next year -- the end of 2018 -- we think we will have all of the major areas covered and we'll spend 2019 sort of going around doing cleanup..." FLINT, MI - Gold-plated shovels gleamed in the sunshine Monday afternoon at the site of the former Buick City site on Flint's north side before digging into piles of dirt. Officials are hopeful the 33-plus acres off East Hamilton Avenue with busted pavement and overgrown weeds where Lear Corporation is set to build a 156,000 square-foot facility will become the beacon for future growth in the city. "We're here today to really start a journey for the next 18 months as we get this facility built," said Jason Scott, global vice president of Lear's General Motors seating group. "And it's a journey (that's going to be) ongoing as we become a part of the community and the city of Flint." The company anticipates hiring more than 430 people for the seat manufacturing facility supplying General Motors' Flint Truck Assembly plant and employ 600 workers at full production mode by 2019. The facility is expected to begin production of seats by April 2018. Flint native Ray Scott, executive vice president of Lear and president of Lear's seating business, said the effort has been in the works for more than one year -- with production moving from the Rochester Hills facility -- and it was important to find the right fit in the city. "Every time, everybody who was bringing different business proposals forward to me, I kept saying yeah but it's not Flint," he said. "I made sure we were doing the right things here. There's no question this is the right decision for us as a company, for our customer General Motors, and for our community here. We are really, really excited about bringing jobs here to Flint." Lear employs approximately 156,000 employees at more than 250 facilities in nearly 40 countries across the globe. Jason Scott said the company "will target Flint residents," with the hiring process expected to begin in July 2018. Tom McMillen, executive director of interiors and safety, global purchasing and supply chain at General Motors, thanked several partners for the development to come to fruition including Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, state Rep. Sheldon Neely, D-Flint, and Gerald Kariem, director of UAW Region 1-D. Kariem offered his excitement at the news, calling it a "good day" for Flint. "Flint is going to win today," he said. "I am sure that this Flint site will be another winning facility for Lear. I appreciate the corporation having the vision to relocate Lear here. It's showing they have confidence in Flint and proving their faith and confidence in the workers of Flint." With the history tied to the site, Kariem commented many retirees and residents talk about what was but "now we can talk about what's going to be." Weaver said she is optimistic the investment by Lear -- $29.3 million in capital investment that's being helped along by a $4.35 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant -- could spur further development in the community. "We talk about how you bring leverage to do other things and I think that's what this will do," she said. "When people see that they're investing 30, 31 million to making this happen for the city of Flint, how can you not want to? "This is a great city. We've got great people. We have hard workers and people that want to be contributing members to their community and they've been waiting for some jobs. Here they are. They're coming." File photo China and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) have finished substantial negotiations on an economic and trade cooperation agreement, the Ministry of Commerce said Sunday in a statement. Zhong Shan, China's commerce minister, signed a joint statement on the formal completion of the negotiations with the EEU trade minister Veronika Nikishina, on Sunday in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. This is the first important institutional agreement reached between China and the EEU in economic and trade field, according to the statement. It is also an important result on pairing China's Silk Road Economic Belt initiative with the EEU. China and the EEU members are highly complementary to each other in economy, enjoying huge trade potentials, it said. The agreement is very important for both China and members of the EEU. It will help reduce non-tariff trade barriers, facilitate trade, create a favorable environment for industrial development, promote the Belt and Road Initiative, and push forward further development of China's economic ties with the EEU and its members, the statement said. Negotiations were officially launched on June 25, 2016. The talks touched upon 10 chapters, including customs procedures, trade facilitation, intellectual property rights, department cooperation, government procurement and e-commerce. FLUSHING, MI - A broken force main in Flushing has led to the discharge of untreated sanitary sewage from the city's sanitary system. The city issued a statement Sunday, Oct. 1 by Jeff Clark, assistant Flushing Department of Public Works director, advising the discharged sewage "will ultimately flow to the Flint River." Officials with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Genesee County Health Department have been notified of the discharge as is required by law, as well Flushing Township, Montrose Township, and Montrose officials. The Genesee County Health Department has advised residents to avoid contact with the river downstream of the release point. Wearing Red Army uniforms, students from a primary school in Huaying city, Sichuan province, experience the Red Army's Long March by climbing a steep hill. [Qiu Haiying/Xinhua] New measures are helping maintain love of country in the modern world The past few years have witnessed changes in the education system aimed at further raising awareness of patriotism among young Chinese. The National Anthem Law, approved in September by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, states that the national anthem should be played and sung at primary and middle schools nationwide. "Schools should regard the national anthem as an important part of patriotic education for students," according to the law, which came into force on Oct 1. "They are obliged to teach students to sing the anthem, learn its history and the spirit it reflects and obey the etiquette of singing it." Earlier this year, the Ministry of Education urged education departments across the country to revise textbooks for primary and middle schools by extending the duration of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to 14 years (1931-45) from eight (1937-45). The move was intended to not only uphold the spirit of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and China's struggle against the Japanese, which fell in September 2015, but also to strengthen patriotic education for the younger generation by allowing them to understand the history in a profound, all-around way, the ministry said. Lyu Liangqiong, director of the student affairs office at the Shengli Experimental School in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, who is responsible for designing the related curriculum and organizing activities for the students, has noticed the changes and the growing emphasis on patriotic education. "China has changed so much during recent years and is growing more influential in the world, so I think it's necessary to conduct patriotic education among young people, which will deepen their love for the country on the basis of better knowing and understanding," she said. According to Lyu, patriotic education at her school started becoming regular and systematic in 2009, when construction of the campus was completed and the school decided to weave the content of such education into school activities. "For example, we bring students to historical places during the annual spring outings. Before setting out, we give lectures about the background information; while there, we guide students to listen to stories told by the descendants of revolutionary martyrs at those places. After they return, we ask them to generate and deliver work - a short article, an exhibition board or other forms," she said. "In the past, the spring event was purely an outing and just about having fun." Efforts to boost patriotic education made by the authorities of the People's Republic of China can be dated back at least 35 years, when the country's constitution, passed in 1982, stated that Chinese citizens should "love the country and the people ... and receive education about patriotism, collectivism, internationalism and communism". Apart from the constitution, other laws, such as those related to education, stipulate that the country must offer patriotic education to students at all levels. The Teachers' Law states that they have an obligation to conduct patriotic education for students. President Xi Jinping has also stressed the significance of patriotism on a number of occasions in recent years. For example, in a speech delivered at a collective group study among the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in December 2015, Xi said patriotism is the spiritual core of the Chinese nation and patriotic education should run through the nation's entire education system. "Efforts should be made to enrich the form and content of patriotic education and ensure good results," he said, suggesting that the great achievements in China's reform and development, memorial activities for historic events, patriotic education bases, and traditional festivals and celebrations should be fully exploited to help people's love for the country to grow. New understanding At Lyu's school, patriotic education has been particularly stressed since January last year, when the Ministry of Education issued a series of guidelines in which it said patriotic education should be integrated with the design of the curriculum, textbook compilation and the examination and evaluation of subjects taught at schools. "That inspired my colleagues and me to consider how we could make patriotic education part of our daily lessons, and make it easily understood and well-accepted by the students," she said. "If we simply tell students to love the country, it may be too abstract and abstruse for them to understand." Some schools, such as Qianmen Primary School in Beijing, brought students to patriotic education centers such as the Red Star Education Center in Daxing district, where children can simulate walking the paths of the Red Army's Long March and gain elementary impressions of what patriotism might be about. However, Lyu and her colleagues finally decided to start with a more practical approach. They guide students to do things they are capable of: To love their families, teachers and classmates; to love the school by maintaining a clean and tidy campus; to love the city by appreciating its beautiful scenery; and to love traditional culture by - for instance - learning about the origins of each traditional festival. "We believe that patriotism is not complicated. It can be perceived or interpreted through one minimal thing or another so even primary school students can make some contribution," Lyu said. "In this way, we are transforming patriotism from slogans into action, turning patriotic education from cramming into a kind of experiential learning." Zhao Zhiwei, an associate professor of Chinese language and culture at East China Normal University, praised Lyu's interpretation of patriotism. "It's sensible to let students know that patriotism is not far beyond their reach," he said, adding that patriotism is not necessarily about sacrificing one's life to guard the country, a sentiment frequently heard during wartime. He said that in today's China, doing the right thing and behaving oneself is also a way of showing love for the country, as this contributes to the national harmony and development. New forms urged In 1994, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a series of guidelines on how patriotic education should be conducted. Following the guidelines, the following decade witnessed patriotic education carried out in various ways, such as organizing students to appreciate exhibitions, watch movies, visit historical places and take part in related speeches, knowledge and singing contests. After being implemented for more than 20 years, the limitations of such forms of patriotic education have become increasingly obvious. Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said patriotic education delivered in these ways might help students to grasp some knowledge about the country, but in the meantime leave them bewildered about what patriotism really means and why they should engage. "I would rather recommend students take part in social activities and get involved in voluntary services, which would cultivate their sense of social responsibility," he said. The education authorities had also recognized the necessity of updating the form and content of patriotic education to keep pace with the times. A notice released by the Ministry of Education in February last year encouraged schools at all levels to innovate the ways by which patriotic education is conducted. "By deploying the internet and new media, such as micro blogs and WeChat, schools should try to make patriotic education more vivid and appealing," the notice said. "A good atmosphere should be created on campuses to ensure that students will feel the spread of the patriotic spirit all the time, whether they are in or out of class, online or offline." However, Xiong said "a good atmosphere" should not be interpreted simply as hanging banners carrying patriotic slogans or having rituals such as raising the national flag while playing the national anthem. "Foremost is creating a social environment that gives all students an equal opportunity to develop themselves, so that they will feel that they are well-treated and respected," he said. "People growing up in such an atmosphere will be grateful and spontaneously show their love for society and the country. And that's how patriotic education should work." FILE PHOTO - A liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrying vessel sails at Tokyo Bay, offshore of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Japan October 22, 2012. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo - RTX2ZAHL The recent renegotiation of the Gorgon contract between India's Petronet LNG (PLL) and Mobil Australia Resource Company is bound to open more doors for similar deals, credit rating agency ICRA said. It said that akin to PLL, Gail is also is trying to renegotiate such contracts and swap LNG with other marketers in other regions of the world, it said. "It is expected that major buyers in Japan, South Korea and China could also look to renegotiate contracts to reflect term prices more aligned to the spot market. "Already utilities in Japan have grouped to pool their buying power and seek more flexible and shorter-term deals," K Ravichandran, Senior VP and Group Head - Corporate Sector Ratings, ICRA said in a statement. As per media reports on the Gorgon contract, it has been agreed to revise the slope of the contract from 14.5 percent to 13.9 percent and the pricing will be on DES2 basis rather than FOB3 basis. Also as part of the deal, PLL will take another 1 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) LNG at a slope of 12.5 percent of Brent crude price. Akin to PLL, Gail has a 20-year contract with Cheniere Energy for supply of 3.5 MMTPA of LNG and with Dominion Energys Cove Point liquefaction plant for supply of another 2.3 MMTPA. Due to changing dynamics, LNG has become uncompetitive and GAIL is trying to renegotiate these contracts and also swap LNG with other marketers in other regions of the world, said Ravichandran. Cumulatively, about 34 MMTPA of new plant capacities is expected to come online in 2017 which along with ramp-up of new capacities commissioned in 2016 is expected to add about 30-34 MT of new production this year. Several new liquefaction plants are scheduled for start in 2017 including Gorgon Train 3 of 5.2 MMTPA, Cove Point of 5.3 MMTPA, Sabine Pass Train 3 and 4 (4.5 MMTPA each) etc. These additional volumes are expected to be partly absorbed by China, India, the Middle East and North Africa, Pakistan besides the new markets of Malta and Ghana. Additionally, Europe will be the target for LNG exporters, especially US-based liquefaction plants. Nevertheless, absorption of new supply will be a key challenge for LNG suppliers in 2017 which is expected to weigh on LNG prices. Indications as of mid-September show that the Asian spot LNG prices were subdued at USD 5.6/mmbtu owing to rising supplies from Australia and the US. As per ICRA, on the home front, the outlook for domestic gas utilities sector is stable. The capacity utilisation levels of some gas transmission pipelines would remain sub- optimal in the near to medium term due to shortage of gas supplies but would show an increasing trend with rising LNG consumption. SBI Life Insurance, a subsidiary of the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), will make its stock market debut on Tuesday and most likely at a premium of Rs 20-30, suggest experts. SBI Life is a joint venture between SBI and BNP Paribas Cardif (BNPPC). Its initial public offer (IPO) of Rs 8,400 crore was oversubscribed 3.58 times between September 20 and September 22. The portion meant for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was oversubscribed 12.56 times, while those meant for non- institutional investors and retail investors received 70 percent and 85 percent subscription, respectively, data available with the NSE showed. There could be a marginal premium that the stock could list at. The fact remains that the issue was priced to perfection. We may see a 5-7% listing premium but may not be more than that, Jimeet Modi, CEO, SAMCO Securities told Moneycontrol. The issue price is fixed at Rs 700 per share. JM Financial Institutional Securities, Axis Capital, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets India, Deutsche Equities India, ICICI Securities, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and SBI Capital Markets were the book running lead managers to the offer. Most brokerages and research firms tracking the issue had recommended a subscribe rating and said that investors who missed out on the IPO could consider investing in SBI Life on every dip as it is a good long-term bet. SBI Life is Indias largest private life insurer, in terms of New Business Premium, a position the company has maintained since FY10. Its renewal premium growth has increased at a CAGR of 24.2% from FY14 to FY17, highest among the top 4 private life insurers in India and also holds a commanding 20% share in New Business Premium in the private life insurance market, said a report. At a price band of 685-700, the asking valuations are 4.1-4.2x its FY17 Embedded Value of Rs165 per share as compared to P/E.V. of 3.75 of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance currently. Most brokerage firms were of the view that the premium valuations compared to ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and Max Financial Services are justified due to higher renewal premium growth over three years (FY14-FY17); hence, investors should see a positive listing. The IPO can get listed at a premium of around Rs 20-22. The premium may go higher if market sentiment improves. One can hold it for a long-term perspective, Sanjeev Jain, AVP - Equity Research at Ashika Stock Broking Ltd told Moneycontrol. The kind of growth company has reported over the last several years coupled with strong brand name and presence in the sector and industry seems in the phase of high growth, positively impacting SBI Life, he said. Jain further added that company's healthy market share and business growth justified its premium valuation. One can hold it for long-term perspective to get a handsome return, he said Pakistan today summoned India's deputy high commissioner over the alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC). The Foreign Office, in a statement, alleged that Indian forces resorted to firing in Rukh Chakri and Rawalakot Sectors on September 30 and October 2, killing three civilians and injuring five others, including a woman. Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohmmad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces, it said. Faisal claimed that it was the fifth ceasefire violation by the Indian forces in the past twelve days that killed 11 civilians, including five women, and injured 37 others. He said despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations. "The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation," he said. Faisal said that the Indian side should permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. India maintains that the UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control. Pakistan claimed that Indian forces have carried out more than 900 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary this year, which have resulted in the deaths of 43 civilians and injuries to 153, as compared to 382 ceasefire violations in 2016. Meanwhile, a senior Indian government official said two minors were killed today and 12 civilians injured in cross- border shelling by Pakistan along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Five children were among the injured, the youngest being five-year-old Zobia Kousar who was airlifted to a hospital in Jammu in a helicopter. An amateur historian discovered a trove of 2,000-year-old Roman silver coins worth 200,000 pounds with the help of a metal detector in a farmer's field in the UK. Mike Smale, a fisherman and amateur historian, was hunting for treasure with friends when he found 600 rare Denarii in a field in Bridport. Some of the coins are extremely rare as they were minted in Roman general Mark Anthony's short-lived reign when he was allied with Egypt's Cleopatra and can be worth up to 900 pounds each. "I was elated and shaking because this is a once in a lifetime find," Smale said. "The archaeologists excavating it could not believe what they were seeing because these coins are so rare," he added. It is a great find, my biggest one, but I won't be giving metal detecting up, it is great fun and I am sticking with it, Smale was quoted as saying by 'The Metro'. "Coin finds such as this are fascinating, and are incredibly important in shedding light on the history of Roman Britain," said Dominic Chorney, coin expert of A H Baldwin and Sons in the UK. "Republican coins and those of Antony were issued before the Roman Invasion of Britain in AD 43, and would have drifted over in the pockets of Roman soldiers and citizens alike," said Chorney. The Islamic State group on Monday claimed responsibility for the mass shooting in Las Vegas, saying the perpetrator was "a soldier" who had converted to Islam months ago, without providing any evidence to support the claim. The group's Aamaq news agency released two brief statements hours after the shooting at a country music concert that killed at least 50 people and wounded at least 400. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. IS did not name the suspected shooter, but said he had "executed the operation in response to calls to target countries of the coalition" batting the extremist group in Iraq and Syria. Read more at New18 People take part in the 35th India Day Parade in New York August 16, 2015. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz - RTX1OFFS Indians remember October 2 as Gandhi Jayanti, the day Mahatma Gandhi was born. It is a public holiday in the country, not to mention a dry day, as a mark of respect for the man they call the father of our nation. Mahatma #Gandhis first Salt Satyagraha was inspired by Imam #Hussains non- violent resistance to the tyranny of Yazid.#Karbala #Muharram pic.twitter.com/NmiiEgJUPd Govt of Pakistan (@pid_gov) September 30, 2017 But Indians arent the only ones who remember Gandhi on important occasions. On the eve of the Muslim festival of Muharram, the Government of Pakistan tweeted a picture that contained a quote by Gandhi about his take-away from the teachings of Imam Hussain, grandson of Prophet Muhammad and the third Shia Imam. I learnt from Hussain how to achieve victory while being oppressed, reads the quote attributed to Gandhi. Moneycontrol could not independently confirm the veracity of the quote but did find various mentions of it across the web. Imam Hussain became the Imam of Shia after the death of his older brother Hasan. Hussain gathered support from his fathers supporters in Kufah and refused Muawiyah Is request to let his son Yazid I succeed him. Hussain was later killed on his way to Kufah in the Battle of Karbala. The annual day for Hussain, his family and his companions is the first day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar. The day of his death, which occurred on the 10day of Muharram, is observed to this day as the mourning of Muharram. Heres why controversial birth control healthcare needs to start putting women first, not financial gain. In June of 1960, the FDA approved the sale of the first birth control pill, Enovid. Though effective and simple to use, Enovid was far from perfect. Due to the extremely high dose of hormones it carried (far more than necessary to prevent pregnancy), the likelihood and severity of side effects were sky high. Even more disturbing was the fact that these serious side effects had been evident since the first clinical trials. In the first trials in Puerto Rico, Dr. Edris Rice-Wray reported early on that 17 percent of the women* who took the pill had significantly unpleasant side effects, including dizziness, nausea, headaches, and vomiting. Because of the discomfort caused by the medicine, 25 of the patients withdrew from the trials before completion. In her first report, Dr. Rice-Wray made it known that although the pill provided exceptional protection against unintended pregnancy, she felt it caused too many side effects to be generally acceptable. Unfortunately, Gregory Pincus, the head of the research team, was more concerned with the pills effectiveness at preventing pregnancy than the side effects he had little empathy for what he regarded as hypochondria among the women in the trials. But it wasnt hypochondria at all. Besides the distressing side effects mentioned above, one woman died of congestive heart failure and another developed pulmonary tuberculosis. The trial researchers were so focused on watching for damage to the cervix, endometrium, liver, and ovaries, that they didnt stop to consider that these adverse reactions were related to the pill. Once the pill hit the market, the problems only intensified. Reports of nausea, breast tenderness, water retention, and weight gain poured in from millions of women worldwide. In 1961, G.D. Searle the manufacturer of Enovid reported 32 incidents of thrombosis (blood clots) and embolism (clots moving through and blocking a blood vessel) among women using the pill. But the FDA resolved that even if the pill caused these harmful side effects, the rate was much lower than the rate of women who would die from pregnancy complications. However, Senator Gaylord Nelson elected to hold hearings on whether the women who used Enovid had been provided with enough information about possible risks and side effects to make an informed decision. Some who questioned the use of the pill were motivated by an interest in womens health. Some, such as Hugh Davis, were not. Davis, a gynecologist, was Nelsons lead speaker at the hearings. He testified that women would be safer using a new IUD instead of the pill. He failed to reveal the fact that he had a financial interest in promoting this new IUD the Dalkon Shield which was later found to cause pelvic inflammatory disease, loss of fertility, and the death of five women. This wasnt the first time profits were put ahead of womens safety, and it wouldnt be the last. As a result of the Nelson Pill Hearing, drug companies were required to include a health warning with oral contraceptives the first informational insert on any prescription drug. Enovid was discontinued in 1988, and oral contraceptives were released with far lower estrogen doses. The history of the birth control pill is a disturbing one, and unfortunately, it doesnt seem to have had any impact on the modern pharmaceutical industry. If we look closer at the birth control options available for women today, well find that not much has improved in the last 57 years. Good Enough Doesnt Cut It As it stands, no birth control currently available on the market is risk free even those that are generally considered safe. Hormonal birth control (pills, patches, vaginal rings, injections, and implants) is known to cause headaches, nausea, sore breasts, and spotting between periods in many women. Much worse, though, is the increased risk of blood clots, heart attack, stroke, and liver tumors. Women who smoke, especially if they are over 35 years of age, are especially susceptible to these serious side effects. For the most part, progestin-only birth control doesnt carry these risks. Women who are over 35 years of age and smoke should avoid birth control containing estrogen. Women of any age should avoid combination hormonal birth control if they have a history of uncontrolled high blood pressure, chest pain, diabetes, severe headaches, heart or liver disease, blood clots, or stroke. Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are one of the most effective forms of birth control. However, they shouldnt be used if you have an active STI, have had a recent pelvic infection, have had cancer of the cervix or uterus, or if youre pregnant. Rare but serious side effects include infections caused by bacteria getting into the uterus when the device is inserted, punctures in the wall of the uterus, ovarian cysts, and ectopic pregnancies. Copper-releasing IUDs can cause intense cramping, longer and heavier periods, and spotting between periods. Even permanent birth control isnt totally safe. Surgical sterilization (tubal ligation) typically involves general anesthesia and a laparoscopy. Major complications of tubal ligation arent common, but include infection, heavy blood loss, general anesthesia problems, and organ injury during surgery. Invented to be an alternative to surgical sterilization, Essure is the latest birth control option found to cause serious harm to the women who use it. Essure is a permanent birth control procedure that involves two nickel-titanium coils being placed inside the fallopian tubes to incite the growth of scar tissue that eventually blocks the tubes to prevent pregnancy. Many women who have used Essure report the implant having migrated and embedding itself elsewhere in the body, chronic fatigue, migraines, joint pain, digestive issues, back pain, heavy periods full of clots, difficulty concentrating, abdominal pain, pelvic pain, hair loss, tooth deterioration, depression, and severe bloating. These problems have been so severe that hundreds have needed surgery to remove the device a surgery that often ends in a complete hysterectomy. Bayer, the maker of Essure, failed to properly carry out clinical studies, and actually petitioned the FDA to downgrade the nickel contraindication to a warning which resulted in physicians not screening patients for nickel allergies. Consequently, many users had severe autoimmune reactions to the device. The Essure scandal which is still very much ongoing has led the FDA to require that Bayer label the device with the agencys strictest black box warning. This alerts both patients and doctors to the risks associated with Essure. Furthermore, Bayer has to develop and conduct a new post-market study to investigate the rate of complications including injuries, pain, unplanned pregnancies, and surgery to remove the device. Is The Future Of Birth Control Male? The effect of modern birth control on womens bodies has led many to look to new options for men** as a possible solution. As it stands, men have only two choices for birth control: condoms or a vasectomy. Both these methods come with their own issues and limitations. Fortunately, there are a number of male contraceptives currently in development, the most promising of which is Echo-V, a hydrogel created by contraceptive company Contraline. The Echo-V gel is injected directly into the vas deferens (the tube that transports sperm from the testes to the urethra) where it solidifies and blocks the flow of sperm but still allows other fluid to pass through. When the patient is ready to have children, a solution is injected to dissolve the gel. The doctor uses an ultrasound to guide the placement of the injection, so no surgery or stitches are required. Clinical trials in India have shown that the hydrogel method works with almost perfect results and no serious side effects. However, tests will still need to be carried out in America, and Contraline has had trouble finding financial backing. It may be a while yet before Echo-V is available. Though contemporary birth control is safe for most women, everything currently on the market is still associated with some risks and side effects. And, with the controversy surrounding contraceptives such as Yasmin, Mirena, and now Essure, we are constantly faced with the question of whether those in the healthcare field can truly balance ethics with financial responsibility. Our best bet is to do as much research as possible before choosing which birth control is right for us. Other than that, well just have to look to the future. * Not all women have a womb. ** Not all men have a vas deferens. Artwork: Brittany Naundorff (brittanyfears.com) Ever find it hard to find the right kind of movie to watch? This could fix that More than 40 years ago, Ana Frederico, an unassuming entrepreneur, borrowed $1,000 from her parents. Her husband, Fernando Frederico, used it as seed money to start their own specialty foods importing business. Fernando would purchase fish and other seafood, package it himself and deliver it to customers in the Central Valley three times a week. Neither of them knew it then, but they were onto something bigbigger than they could have ever imagined. Today, the married couple are founders and owners of Lusamerica Fish, a full fledged fresh and frozen seafood processing and distribution company based here in Morgan Hill. Only in America, repeated Ana, an immigrant from Portuguese Mozambique, who started Lusamerica with Fernando in 1975. Our goal is, If it swims, we got itand somewhere along the line we will get it, in a sustainable way, said Fernando, emphasizing the sustainability of the various seafood products handled at Lusamerica. Family is of just as much importance to the Fredericos, who employ several relatives at the Morgan Hill headquarters located at 16480 Railroad Ave., where theyve been for more than 10 years. We are proud to be here, said Anas brother, Tony Silva, the companys general manager. We chose Morgan Hill, first of all because it is beautiful here. And the city really made it as easy to work with as any city we were looking at and even more so. Before moving into their current operations, they gutted and customized the former Napa Auto Parts building into a refrigerated warehouse where they could process and distribute their products. Its a labor of love, not for the company and the employees, but for the people in Morgan Hill, added Silva, detailing that Lusamerica seafood is stocked at all of the Safeway grocery stores and Costco warehouses in Northern California. When you go to the grocery store here in Morgan Hill, most likely the products youre buying are from Lusamerica. The fish business is big business Silva worked in the research and development of microprocessors in the high tech industry for 13 years before joining the family fish outfit. I thought Id spend my life in high tech, he said. His sister and brother-in-laws growing seafood business changed all that. The family-owned and family-run company, with many employees considered extended family with more than 20 years loyal to the business, processes in excess of 350,000 pounds of antibiotic-free salmon per week, according to Silva. The retail-oriented operation runs 24 hours-seven days a week. They have 250 employees in Morgan Hill alone (mostly all are residents of South County) and 385 company-wide with two other locations, a processing facility in Fife, Washington and a distribution facility in Vernon, Calif. Anything that swims, we carry, noted Silva, again reiterating if its not sustainable then they dont carry it. The seafood industry is very global. We get fish from all over the world. Mostly all the salmon Lusamerica gets is flown in from Norway on British Airway freight planes loaded to the grills. When Lusamerica receives the product from one of its fleet of 50 trucks, the fish are partially processed, so the trucks are unloaded and workers finish the processing at the Morgan Hill plant. They butcher it down to portions, vacuum package it and make sure it is retail ready, even with prices already labeled for stores. There are all types of salmon products, from stuffed to seasoned to ceviche. They even have an onsite test kitchen to try new recipes. Once everything is packaged and the purchasing orders are finalized, one of three different sized delivery trucks (a big semi, a medium delivery truck and a smaller delivery van) are loaded up. Those trucks can go anywhere in Northern California from Eureka-McKinleyville to Chico-Redding to Reno-Sparks-Tahoe. Anas son, Jonathan Frederico, who works in Lusamericas purchasing and selling department, makes sure those orders are frequent and accurate. I grew up in the fish business, said Jonathan, who started by folding and making the delivery boxes, then packaging the product to making deliveries before earning his current duties. I looked up to all my family members and this was something I always wanted to do. Its in my blood. The business of buying and selling dead fish, as Jonathan puts it, has been good to all of them. Ana said she sticks with the administrative side of the business, while Fernando was off to a big purchasing/sales conference call on this particular Tuesday afternoon. We are from humble beginnings and we are still a humble company, Silva stressed. We all do everything. Manufacturing a big part of local industry Lusamerica is one of a handful of food processing manufactures in town, which also includes Kettle Cuisine, Talamo Foods, Ozuna Foods, Tonys Kitchen, Pattys Pantry and Lawsons Bakery. Food processing is one of three niches within the local manufacturing sector along with computer components and recreational equipment, according to Morgan Hill Economic Development Manager Edith Ramirez. Altogether, they make up 22 percent of the workforce in Morgan Hill. We love Lusamerica, Ramirez said. We are excited about the work that they do. We believe they are happy in Morgan Hill, and we want to help them continue to grow and succeed. Lusamerica contributes to the more than 500 local food processing jobs that cover about a quarter-million square feet of industry space in Morgan Hill, according to Ramirez. Manufacturing is a very important industry for us, Ramirez said. In general, we are very proud of our manufacturing roots in the city. They provide great jobs and are a great partner. 350,000: Pounds of salmon processed per week 250: Lusamerica employees in Morgan Hill 385: Employees company-wide with two other locations, a processing facility in Fife, Washington and a distribution facility in Vernon, Calif. In addition to Lusamerica, the following food processing companies make Morgan Hill their home, according to city staff: Kettle Cuisine: wholesale frozen and refrigerated soup maker. Located at 18675 Madrone Parkway. Ozuna Foods: tortilla factory. Located at 180 Cochrane Circle. Talamo Foods: wholesale cheese producer. Located at 18675 Madrone Parkway. Lawsons Bakery: a sit-down bakery, restaurant and coffee shop. Located at 15862 Monterey Road. Tonis Kitchen: maker of high-performance protein meals. Located at 16840 Joleen Way. Pattis Pantry: gluten-free bakery serving desserts, sandwiches, pastries and a wide variety of baked goods. Located at 435 Vineyard Town Center. Total food processing jobs in Morgan Hill: 503 Total square footage of commercial space occupied by food processing companies: 252,642 Despite some recent delays, downtown Morgan Hill continues to proceed toward city officials long-term vision as the most visitor-friendly, pedestrian-safe, transit oriented neighborhood in town. At least five new restaurants, three high-density residential projects, a boutique hotel and a handful of retail establishments are projected to be complete at various times within the next two years, according to city staff and developers. On top of that, three new public parkssponsored by city fundsare nearing completion that will provide more casual recreational choices. At the intersection of Third Street and Monterey Roadconsidered by many city officials as the center of downtownlast winters rains significantly delayed the construction of four new restaurants, according to Morgan Hill Economic Development Manager Edith Ramirez. The restaurants are now projected to be complete by January 2018. Developers Ken Rodrigues and Don Imwalle acquired the property, formerly the site of Simple Beverages, from the city in 2016, through the Redevelopment Agency liquidation process that started in 2012. The developer struck a deal with the Opa! Group of restaurants to bring its four signature joints into two new structures on the property: Opa, a Greek restaurant; Mosthe Breakfast & Burger Joint; Willard Hicks (steaks and American food); and Tac-Oh!, the groups fledgling designer Mexican food. The exterior of the two new buildingsabout 5,600 and 6,425 square feet, respectivelycurrently looms over the busy intersection of Monterey Road and Third Street. Up the street on Monterey Road is the former site of the Downtown Mall, which was demolished by hospitality development guru Frank Leal in late 2016. Leal, who developed the next-door Granada Theater and remodeled it into a happening dinner theater and events venue last year, hopes to have the hotel complete by the fall of 2019, he said earlier this week. Just waiting on some final kitchen design and elevator design, Leal replied to an email from the Times. The four-story Granada Hotela boutique lodging accommodationwill consist of a steakhouse, floral shop, market hall and lobby with a wine bar on the first floor. The second floor will house conference and banquet space, a pool and spa. The third and fourth floor will each house 30 guest rooms. Leal acquired these properties from the city, also through the RDA wind-down process. Back on the other side of Monterey Road, at Second Street, the Edes Gallery project proposed by restaurateur Dan McCranieowner of Ladera Grill just a block awayhas also been delayed, but the developer is determined to wait until things are just right before beginning construction. Theres a couple issuesI think theyre solvable, but theyre important to me, McCranie said of his back-and-forth approval process with city staff. Its a small footprint, and theres a lot of things going on, and I need to have it as efficient as possible. McCranie declined to say exactly what was holding up the project, but he doesnt expect it to affect his vision for the site. The three-story project will include a ground-floor art gallery and wine bar, with more gallery space on the second floor and a restaurant with rooftop dining on the third floor. He is now hoping to start construction before this coming winter. On the east side of downtown, the Sunsweet project with frontage on Third, Depot and Fourth streets is undergoing a second construction plan check by city staff, Ramirez said. This four-story development includes 83 residential units, with an outdoor plaza and office and retail components. Morgan Hill residents Rocke and Glenda Garcia are the developers of that site. Another former RDA propertypreviously the site of the BookSmart shopping centeris also under development on Depot Street, between Second and Third streets. The developer, City Ventures, is planning to build a 29-unit housing project with 8,500 square feet of condominium/retail space facing Third Street. Earth moving crews have been active at the site recently, and Ramirez said the project is currently under construction. New parks under construction Residents and visitors should be able to enjoy three new downtown parks by the end of November, Ramirez said. Construction crews have also been active at these sites throughout the summer. The parks are located on Depot Street, just across from the Third Street intersection with a wide variety of play equipment scattered throughout the site that sits along the Union Pacific Railroad tracks; The Hilltop Park and Trail, at the top of the hill at the end of West Third Street; and the Creek Park, located on a small, quiet stretch of West Little Llagas Creek on the west side of downtown, between Second and Third streets. All of the downtown projects are part of the citys $25-million-plus plan to revitalize the neighborhood, funded largely by leftover RDA monies. Previous projects include the downtown garage, various street resurfacing efforts on Monterey Road and side streets, utility undergrounding and other improvements. Standard economic theory suggests that economies further away from the world technology frontier should grow faster than economies close to the frontier. That's because it's easier to grow by copying existing technology than by inventing a new one. Arguably, no major country has capitalised on the opportunity afforded copycats as well as China. Rapid absorption of foreign technology is evident in the growth of the country's now world-beating manufacturing sector. Since 1990, Chinese manufacturing exports have grown at a 15% compound annual rate and are now roughly 50 times larger in nominal US dollar terms. By 2015, the last year for which worldwide data is available, China accounted for 19% of global manufacturing exports, up from 5% in 2000 and 2% in 1990. Success Factors China absorbed and successfully redeployed foreign technology so quickly due to four interlinked factors: Good timing: Over the past few decades, rapid improvements in communications technology such email and the internet, and reduced barriers to trade and investment through globalisation have allowed companies to manage further-flung operations and vendor relationships. Without these developments, it is doubtful China could have attracted the foreign investment that made possible rapid technology absorption, or redeployed that technology into the export markets as successfully as it did. Location: Proximity to existing supply chains in East Asia aided China's acquisition of foreign technology. Rising wages in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong made mainland China an attractive and convenient alternative once Beijing opened its doors for business. Government support: Technology acquisition has been a major policy priority since Deng Xiaoping established the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in 1980. In the intervening years, Beijing has used a variety of tools to aid domestic firms' acquisition of foreign technology. In its role as regulator, the government has often demanded technology-sharing agreements before granting market access. Frequently, that access is only allowed through joint ventures with domestic Chinese firms. As a big buyer in its own right, the government has made local content or technology-sharing prerequisites to its purchases. Finally, as the owner of China's largest banks, the government has steered funding to state-owned firms that undertake mergers and acquisitions aimed at acquiring foreign technology. Vast domestic market: Foreign willingness to share or risk losing valuable intellectual property would have been more limited were it not for China's vast and growing domestic market. The opportunity has been far too much to pass up for countless foreign firms, from automakers to software developers. Lost IP (intellectual property), whether through formal technology transfer agreements or outright theft, has often been the price of entry to the Chinese market. Closing the Gap With the Best in the World Through this combination of factors, Chinese firms have been able to rapidly absorb foreign technology and, in many sectors, have closed the gap with the best that foreign firms have to offer. In the industrial sector, for example, the country's first domestic high-speed locomotive design, the CRH380 series, based largely on foreign designs, was rolled out in 2010. Not long after, China had captured over 40% of the global high-speed rail equipment market, much to the dismay of rivals like Japan's Kawasaki (3045), which claims the Chinese CRH380 is a copy of its Shinkansen bullet train. A similar story has played out in the power sector, another area targeted by the government. In nuclear power, China is now aggressively marketing its first domestically developed third-generation reactors, the Hualong One and CAP1400. Those designs are based largely on Areva's PWR reactors and Westinghouse's (WAB) AP1000, respectively. In wind power, the government's 50% local-content requirement on any sales to Chinese buyers facilitated rapid technology transfer to domestic players. By 2016, four of the 10 largest onshore wind turbine manufacturers were Chinese, including third-ranked Xinjiang Goldwind (002202). China is also home to the world's largest offshore wind turbine maker, Sewind, which builds Siemens turbines under license. While China's rapid technological catch-up has proved a major boon to growth over the past few decades, it naturally leaves less scope for productivity-enhancing copycat behaviour going forward. Increasingly, Chinese firms will need to innovate, rather than imitate. And that's a lot harder to do. What are investors reading this week? Popular on Morningstar.co.uk are dividend stock picks, Hargreaves Lansdown founder's views on equity income, why Ryanair shares have not nosedived and forecasts for a 40% rise in equity prices over 10 years by Schroders. Top 20 FTSE 350 Dividend Paying Stocks UPDATED JUNE 2017: Dividend payments are expected to total 85bn in 2017. We reveal the top 20 dividend paying stocks in the FTSE 350 Is it Time to Dump Woodford? Woodford Equity Income has taken a hit this year, with top holdings suffering significant losses. Is the star manager losing his touch or is this just a bump in the road? Hargreaves: Stop Buying UK Equity Income Billionaire Hargreaves Lansdown founder Peter Hargreaves is launching a fund management business - and wants newbie investors to take the plunge Top 20 FTSE 100 Dividend Paying Stocks THE INCOME INVESTOR: The largest companies in the UK source their revenues internationally, meaning your dividend stream is boosted by global economic growth Schroders: UK Stocks Will Rise 4% a Year for Next Decade Value investor Kevin Murphy says UK stocks are looking more expensive but the Schroders team expects domestic equities to rise 40% over the next 10 years Investment Trust Sales Hit Record High NEWS YOU CAN USE: This month, Neil Woodford apologises, Nick Train makes his first new stock purchase in 2 years and M&G revamps a superfund Why are Ryanair Shares Not Lower? THE WEEK: Morningstar columnist Rodney Hobson fails to comprehend why troubled airlines Ryainair and British Airwarys did not see their shares tumble from the sky T Rowe Price: Why We Sold Pakistan Oliver Bell, portfolio manager of the T. Rowe Price Frontier Markets Equity Strategy says Pakistan has been punished on plunging political and economic prospects How Global Income Funds Differ Funds in the global equity income sector differ considerably - but there are some stock types which crop up across the peer group for their superior dividend capabilities What is a Fund? Funds are suitable for investors who do not have the time or expertise to construct and monitor a portfolio themselves. We go back to basics and explain all Auto-enrolment has got millions of workers saving for retirement, but the self-employed are still woefully underprepared. Latest Government figures show almost 40 million UK workers are now part of a pension scheme up 17% since 2015. Some 13.5 million Brits are actively making contributions to their retirement savings. Yet just 12% of the 5 million self-employed people in the UK are currently saving into a pension. The annual pension contribution from these workers is still less than half than its 2007/08 peak of 3.5 billion. This situation is only set to worsen as more people decide to forgo working for a company to go it alone; the number of self-employed people in the UK has already increased by 23% over the past decade. John Lawson, head of policy at Aviva, said: The lack of retirement provision among the self-employed is reaching crisis levels. While automatic enrolment has helped reverse declining participation among employees, the situation for self-employed workers remains dire. While there is some debate about how auto-enrolment can be expanded to include the self-employed, for those looking to start saving now there are already a number of options. A self-invested personal pension, or Sipp, is a retirement savings account you can open easily online through a fund supermarket in the same way you would open a stocks and shares Isa. Investors pay an annual fee to the fund supermarket and select funds or stocks in which to invest. Money saved into the account gets tax relief, with the government automatically adding 20% to anything paid in. Higher and additional-rate taxpayers can claim back a further 20% or 25% too. Investors who do not feel comfortable picking their own selection of investments can also opt for a personal pension account with a provider. These let you save into a default fund or simplified selection of funds. Sean McCann, chartered financial planner at NFU Mutual, said: Sipps can have higher charges than a standard personal pension and there is little point in paying for the extra options it offers unless youre going to use them. But for those savers looking for more flexibility, this years launch of the new Lifetime Isa (Lisa) has created a new opportunity. The Lisa can be opened by anyone aged between 18 and 39, and contributions can be made until the age of 50. Savers can put up to 4,000 a year into the account, which the Government will top up by 25%. Those who open an account at age 18 and save the maximum amount each year could receive a total of 32,000 in contributions from the Government. And any gains on money invested through the account are tax-free. However, any money withdrawn from the account before age 60 is subject a to a charge of 25% - unless it is for a house purchase - which effectively wipes out the Governments contribution. That compares with a Sipp, where money can be withdrawn at age 55 though in 2028 this will rise to age 58. Richard Stone, chief executive at The Share Centre, said: The flexibility of the Lisa is a good thing. In theory your money is locked away but you have the ability to access it if you really need to and dont mind taking the 25% hit. But he is concerned by the limitations on how much you can save into a Lisa; its a major drawback for anyone trying to amass enough for a comfortable retirement. The maximum you would be able to save into a Lisa at under the current contribution limits, including the Government top-up, is 160,000. The contribution limits are much higher on a Sipp at 40,000 a year, with a lifetime allowance of 1 million. Sipps also do not limit you to only making contributions until age 50 - an age where, in theory, mortgages are paid off and children have flown the next - many investors start to ramp up their contribution levels. There are hopes, however, that in time the Government will raise the annual contribution limit as it has done with other Isa accounts. While Sipps offer more options in how you are able to withdraw your money, with a 25% tax free lump sum and the possibility of flexible drawdown, a major downside to them is the uncertainty around the future of pensions. Stone said: The trouble with saving into a pension is you are locking your money away without really knowing what the policy is going to be when you come to withdraw it. He thinks many younger savers will be more inclined to move away from pension products in favour of Isas, which seem to be better favoured and protected by Government. McCann added: There is no right answer for the self-employed but there are key things to consider such as how old you are, what your tax position is and how much flexibility you want. There is much debate about how auto-enrolment could be expanded to include the self-employed, with the possibility of contributions being made through the annual self-assessment tax return process. But some experts say that, for now, the focus needs to be on education rather than introducing yet more changes. Stone said: I think the Government has done a lot to encourage saving and innovate with new products. The key now is educating people as to its importance. Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive. To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research. Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process. ADS ADS The Art of de Grisogono, Creation I, a unique High Jewellery necklace featuring a 163.41-carat D-Colour Type IIA diamond of Flawless clarity, is unveiled. Founder and Creative Director of de Grisogono, Fawaz Gruosi, has guided the process from the cutting of the 404.20-carat rough diamond to the finished High Jewellery necklace. Not only is this perfect white diamond the largest of its kind ever to come to auction and the most valuable gem the house has ever set, it is also the first step in a game-changing move for de Grisogono on the cusp of its 25th anniversary. Now able to work with ever-more precious stones of both historic and geological significance thanks to a strategic partnership with Nemesis International, de Grisogonos signature style of audacious glamour, rich colours, large volumes and baroque opulence, highlighted by an exquisite attention to detail, is set to rise to new levels of sublime luxury. The diamond On the eve of 4th February 2016, in eastern Angola, the Lulo mine revealed its greatest treasure yet: a 404.20-carat rough diamond. To pay tribute to the day the country commemorates its long journey to independence, it was named the 4 de Fevereiro and is the 27th biggest rough white diamond ever discovered. It is also the largest to be found in Angola, assuring its place in diamond history. Soon after its discovery, de Grisogono was able to secure the 4 de Fevereiro thanks to its partnership with the diamond trading company Nemesis International. The 4 de Fevereiro was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on 17th May 2016. Beyond its impressive size, colour and clarity, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in New York declared the rough stone to be a highly desirable Type IIA D-Colour with little or no nitrogen in its lattice structure. Whats more, once cut and polished, on the 15th December 2016 the GIA graded the 163.41-carat stone as a D-Colour and Flawless. To date, it seems that it is the largest D Flawless emerald-cut diamond the Institute has ever seen. Rough diamond de Grisogono From the stone to the final diamond For the next stage of its journey, the 4 de Fevereiro travelled to New York, where it took 11 months to analyse, map, cleave, laser cut and polish the elegant 163.41-carat emerald-cut stone we see today. In December 2016, the 163.41-carat diamond left New York and travelled to de Grisogonos headquarters in Geneva. The challenge for Fawaz Gruosi and his team was to maintain the spirit of de Grisogono in a jewel worthy of this magnificent stone while not forgetting that it must be a wearable piece of jewellery of the utmost comfort. After two months, 50 different design options were reduced to just one: an asymmetric necklace with the 163.41-carat diamond as the centrepiece, enhanced with emerald-cut diamonds and emeralds. Piece creation Over six months, a team of 14 master craftsmen and women, including eight jewellers, five setters and one engraver, lavished 1,700 hours on the creation, making each piece of the necklace by hand in de Grisogonos high jewellery atelier. Working from a highly detailed life-size wax model, they meticulously refined every detail while the Gemmology department assembled the thousands of emeralds and diamonds, each cut individually to ensure the harmony of the design. Let's discover the creation process in the documentary "The Art of de Grisogono - Birth of a legend". Sale by auction A worldwide tour starting in late September will culminate in Geneva. The Art of de Grisogono will tour the world for viewings starting in Hong Kong (28th September-1st October), London (4th-7th October), Dubai (17th-19th October), New York (4th-5th November) and Geneva (9th-14th November). The necklace will be sold by auction at Christie's at 7pm GMT on Tuesday, 14th November 2017 at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, Quai des Bergues 33, Geneva, Switzerland. Georgia Idaho Illinois Maine Michigan Mississippi Montana Rhode Island South Carolina Wisconsin Ocwen wont acquire new residential mortgage servicing rights in the states until April 30, 2018 Ocwen will develop a plan to transition to a new servicing system The company will not board any new loans to REALServicing, its proprietary servicing platform Ocwen will get an auditor to perform an escrow review of between 8,000 and 10,000 loans Months after more than 20 states brought their regulatory hammers down on Ocwen Financial, the embattled servicer is beginning to settle with them.In April, more than 20 state regulators issued cease-and-desist orders against Ocwen for allegedly mishandling customer escrow accounts. The orders forbade the company from servicing or originating loans in those states. Soon after, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued the company for allegedly failing borrowers at every stage of the mortgage process.Ocwen initially said it would fight the cease-and-desist orders and the lawsuit.On Friday, however, Ocwen announced that it had reached mutually agreeable resolutions with 10 states, while another two no longer have cease-and-desist orders in force. The company said it was negotiating with the remaining states.We continue to work cooperatively with the remaining 19 state regulatory agencies and two state attorneys general, and are committed to seeking timely and acceptable resolutions with these states, company spokesman John Lovallo said.The states with which Ocwen has reached agreements are:Nevada and Indiana either withdrew their cease-and-desist orders or allowed them to expire.According to Ocwen, the settlements have similar terms, including:The company neither admitted nor denied liability in any of the settlements. While Ocwen will incur the costs of complying with the settlements, none of the agreements called for monetary fines or penalties. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate For the family of Midland ISDs superintendent, small moments matter. From walking around the neighborhood to watching TV on the couch, Orlando Riddick and his loved ones take time to connect. Some people think thats very simple, and I think thats very dynamic, Orlando said. The top school administrator credits his wife, Yvette, with having a family-driven purpose in life. He said she made sacrifices while working in the business sector for 19 years. The blessing for us is that shes deferred her career so that I could advance in mine, Orlando said. And shes not pursued what were options to advance to supervisory roles. She could easily be the president of a company. Yvette, now a stay-at-home mother, has known her husband since the fifth grade. During the past two decades, Orlandos positions in the education field have taken his family to urban areas all over Texas, including Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Over time, the couple and their three children formed close bonds. I think what has created that is the movement, Yvette said. Weve moved so much, and you go into new cities and new towns and really you just know each other. Still, the move to Midland this summer wasnt the same as previous transitions. This year is the first time the Riddicks live in three different parts of the state. Alejandra, 19, returns this fall as a sophomore at Texas State University in San Marcos. Diego, 18, is starting as an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Arlington. When we have our little ones step away its hard for me..., Orlando said. But I know for Yvette, she cries a year in advance before they leave. And when we leave them at the university, its tough. The youngest Riddick family member, Aaron, is adjusting to being the only sibling at home. The 15-year-old enjoys outdoor activities and trading sneakers. I like shoes that people dont have, Aaron said. Theyll look down and be like, Wow, whered you get those? Aaron is a student at Early College High School at Midland College and hopes to pursue a career in aerospace engineering. He said being the son of an educator isnt always easy. Its a curse and a blessing because all the teachers expect the most, and theyre always looking at you, Aaron said. But then again, since they have you at a high standard, you try to be at a high standard. So it keeps you on your toes. The Riddick parents realized their children faced pressure from teachers early on. Yvette said her husband has high expectations for them as well as other students in the districts where he has worked. Orlando served in the U.S. Army Reserve and said that experience influenced his standards. At the Riddick home, the children had chores and were taught to respect authority. I came from a family that had a lot of structure as well, so to me it wasnt that hard, Yvette said. His was way more structured than mine was. And again, I was the happy balance in the whole thing. Throughout Orlandos career, Yvette has brought balance in other ways. The two have attended various job-related events, where she serves as a sociable counterpart to her observant husband. Yvettes Christian faith has also affected her husbands spiritual life. That has helped us with our kids as well understand good values, ethics and beliefs and nurture them in where they go when they struggle, Orlando said. Its been very important from the time that they were very little that they were involved with a church. For Orlando, teaching the children about economic and cultural diversity also held significance. He grew up in poverty, and his family background formed part of his identity. Even when my kids were coming up, they understood both their black and Hispanic roots were very important to who and what we are, he said. For Yvette, who is Hispanic, learning about the cultural dynamics her family members face is eye-opening. As the Riddicks adjust to Midland, Orlando said the familys diversity reflects that of the community. The El Paso native said people have embraced him upon his return to West Texas. Weve lived in nothing but metroplexes, Orlando said. And so to be able to come into Midland and get in a community thats nurturing, thats familiar in regards to the Southwest, I think has been a great opportunity to experience for us. Locally, Orlando, Yvette and Aaron are searching for restaurants to share family meals. As time goes on, the superintendent realizes the value of moments he spends with family. We cherish the time that we have together because its fleeting, he said. We see two who are already gone. m The knife attack at Marseille train station on Sunday left two women dead The Egyptian foreign ministry has issued a statement saying that Egypt denounces "in the strongest terms" a terrorist knife attack in Marseille on Sunday that left two people dead. In the statement issued late on Sunday, the Egyptian government presented its condolences to the French government and people regarding the deadly attack, which took place at Marseille train station. Two women were stabbed to death in the attack, which has since been claimed by the ISIS militant group. The suspect was killed on the spot by French military police. The ministy reaffirmed Egypt's rejection of all forms of terrorism and violence, which seek to destabilize societies and harm citizens. It also renewed its call for the world to stand up against terrorism and those who support it, whether through funding or other means. Search Keywords: Short link: GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. Related Egypts population reaches 104.2 million: Census Egyptian parliament's third legislative session to start next week Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said in a press statement his government is not considering any cabinet reshuffle for the upcoming parliamentary session, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported. Ismail is set to speak on Monday before the House of Representatives to showcase his government's agenda during the upcoming period. Ismail's speech before the parliament will mark the opening of the third parliamentary session of his government's five-year term. The prime minister will address the issue of national population growth and outline the role of the parliament in passing new legislations presented by his government, according to press statements. On 28 September, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued decree 470/2017, asking parliament to meet in a morning plenary on 2 October to begin its third nine-month legislative session. The last cabinet reshuffle in February included new ministers for the portfolios of agriculture, parliamentary affairs, local development, planning and administrative reform, education, higher education, and transport. The ministries of investment and international cooperation were also merged. Search Keywords: Short link: A person of interest in the death of Jennifer Fulford was arrested in Jacksonville on Sunday, according to the Sheriffs Office. Scott Edward Nelson arrested in Jacksonville He was person of interest in Altamonte woman's death Investigators found Nelson in a motel Sunday night Jennifer Fulford's body was found Saturday Scott Edward Nelson, 53, was found at the Sunshine Inn on New Kings Road by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office's Criminal Apprehension Unit. Additional details of his arrest were not immediately available. Fulford, 56, of Altamonte Springs, was reported missing Sept. 27. She worked as a personal assistant to a Winter Park family. "Our hearts are broken, but we are encouraged that the perpetrator of this heinous crime will now be brough to justice," said the Berman family in a statement. According to Fulford's husband, she was supposed to fly to Dallas the next day to see her newborn grandchild, but she was reported missing last Wednesday. Her body was found in a wooded area along Apopka-Vineland Road in Orange County on Saturday. Fulfords death is being investigated as a homicide. Police have not released a cause of death. Winter Park Police released surveillance photos of Nelson using Fulfords bank card at an ATM. Several law enforcement agencies joined in the search for him. Nelson has an extensive criminal history. He is on federal probation for bank robbery. The gunman in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history is thought to have killed himself in a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip before police could get to him, law enforcement said Monday. At least 58 dead, more than 500 hurt in mass shooting in Las Vegas Stephen Craig Paddock found dead in hotel room at Mandalay Bay Paddock fired on crowd from 32nd floor, investigators say Paddock once owned a home in Melbourne, according to neighbors Shooting thought to be 'lone wolf' attack RELATED stories: Las Vegas shooter's Orlando brother shocked at actions Las Vegas shooting suspect had Central Florida ties LAS VEGAS SHOOTING: Responses and reactions As of 6:00 p.m. ET, 59 people were dead and 527 were wounded in the shooting at a country music festival across the Strip from the Mandalay Bay Casino, where 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock is thought to have sprayed bullets from a hotel room. Officials found more than 10 rifles in a hotel room, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joseph Lombardo during one of several news conferences. Lombardo said police found Paddock dead in the hotel room, which he checked himself into Thursday, Sept. 28. Paddock's brother, Orlando-area resident Eric Paddock, said that "something incredibly wrong happened to my brother." &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp; Lombardo said that Paddock was firing rounds from the 32nd floor at thousands of people at the outdoor concert after he smashed the windows from his room. Paddock did not show up in any criminal databases, Lombardo said. During a fourth news conference on Monday, Lombardo said the FBI has joined the investigation. Special FBI agent Aaron Rouse said that there is no connection between Paddock and any international terrorist organization, though the Islamic State tried to claim responsibility for the shooting. The Las Vegas mayor said what happened in the city is not what its people are about. "This is a crazed lunatic full of hate. We don't know much about his background, but it is certainly not an extension of what we believe in ," she said. Anyone looking for loved ones should call 1-866-535-5654, Lombardo said, who added that it will take a long time for investigators to identify the bodies from the concert venue and notify families. Before police can investigate Paddock's Mesquite, Nevada home, they have to clear his house of any possible explosives, Lombardo said. He also said Paddock had other property in northern Nevada that they will investigate. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing on stage when the shots began ringing out just after 10 p.m. Sunday local time at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Several officers from the Bakersfield Police Department were attending the festival when the gunman opened fire. The two slain off-duty officers were attending the concert, Lombardo said. Two on-duty Las Vegas officers were wounded Sunday night. One had surgery; the other sustained minor injuries. Lombardo said police think this was a "lone wolf" attack, meaning they don't think anyone else was involved. Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! pic.twitter.com/Z83XvcHejH LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp; The Pulse nightclub shooting left 49 people dead by gunman Omar Mateen, who was killed by law enforcement. President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 Stephen Paddock's father was a notorious bank robber who tried to run down an FBI agent with his car in Las Vegas in 1960 and was on the agency's most wanted list after escaping from a federal prison in Texas in 1968. Paddock was 7 and the oldest of four children when his father was arrested in connection with a string of Phoenix bank robberies. Benjamin Paddock was in prison for the first three years of his oldest son's life. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Related Egyptian rights activist Azza Soliman released on bail in NGO case The committee of the Allard Prize for International Integrity has honored Egyptian women's rights lawyer and co-founder of the Center for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance (CEWLA), Azza Soliman, for her "life dedicated to fighting corruption and injustice faced by Egyptian women in both the private sphere and the judicial system." Soliman's honoring came as she placed among three finalists for the prize who were selected following a comprehensive review of 244 nominations received from 70 countries. As a co-founder and current trustee of CEWLA, Soliman has operated numerous campaigns to to raise awareness of womens issues in Egypt and to promote gender equality through legislative reform over the past 25 years. At a ceremony held on September 28 at the University of British Columbia, Khadija Ismayilova, an Azerbaijani anti-corruption investigative journalist, was announced the CAD $100,000 Allard Prize winner for 2017. The two other finalists, Soliman of Egypt and an organization known as the "Car Wash Task Force" (Forca Tarefa da Lava Jato), a Brazilian anti-corruption prosecutors' group, were granted CAD $10,000 awards in their efforts in "fighting corruption and protecting human rights." The annual award, which is administered by the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, is decided by a committee composed of representatives of both the Allard School of Law and from the private sector. Search Keywords: Short link: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Everyone's favorite sparkling mineral water from Mexico is about to take the plunge with Coca-Cola. On Monday it was first reported by FoodBev Media that Coca-Cola North America had acquired Topo Chico. RELATED: How Topo Chico went from taste of Mexico to Texas cult favorite As soda sales continue to slow, items like Topo Chico and La Croix are only growing more popular as some consumers turn away from conventional soft drinks. According to the outlet, the brand will continue to be imported from the same natural source in Cerro del Topo Chico in northern Mexico. Coca-Cola and Topo Chico are by no means strangers. According to a release on Monday, the first bottle of Coca-Cola in Mexico was bottled at a Topo Chico plant in the 1920s. Arca Continental, Coke's second-largest bottling partner in Latin America, has bottled and distributed Topo Chico since the late '80s. Topo Chico grown from a cult hit with a legion of devotees to a mainstream phenomenon, inspiring cocktails and even tattoos. It's also known to be good for a hangover cure. The state of Texas makes up approximately 70 percent of Topo Chico's United States sales. It's sold in 35 states. Matt Hughes, the vice-president of emerging brands and incubation for Coke's Venturing & Emerging Brands (VEB) unit, said that the goal of the beverage giant is to preserve what people love about it. RELATED: Texas favorite Topo Chico gets some national love "Our goal now is to extend its reach while preserving its heritage," Hughes told FoodBev Media. "Topo Chico has a very loyal base of Hispanic consumers, who grew up with the brand in the U.S. and Mexico, and over the years it has even garnered a massive millennial following," Kellam Mattie, vice-president of marketing and innovation for VEB, said Monday. Population growth is set to pose the biggest challenge to the country, Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail told MPs during a speech on the first day of parliaments new session on Monday. In all honesty, the biggest challenge that we should be combating is population growth; especially after we reached an unprecedented increase that would affect what has been accomplished in terms of economic growth, Ismail said during his address. He added that his government cannot alone carry out this "national mission," stressing that it needs the support of the nation and its representatives in parliament. The president ordered earlier that a comprehensive strategy be put in place to overcome this major challenge that has been crippling the country for decades. We have indeed pinpointed a strategy, but we need the support of all involved bodies, he said. Ismails statements come two days after Egypt officially announced its population had hit 104.2 million, with 94.7 million living within the countrty and 9.4 million abroad. In recent months, Egyptian officials have described the country's rapid population growth as an "actual catastrophe" that threatens the nationl development plans and demands aggressive attention, just like the country's war against terrorism. Last July, Egypts President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi shed light on the dilemma, describing it as a threat to both Egyptians and the government, with each having a role to perform," although the benefits of the preventative measures would not be immediately visible. Addressing Wider Challenges Ismail highlighted this agenda during Monday's opening day, which marked the start of this parliament's third legislative session of his government's five-year term. The prime minister praised the parliaments efforts and support for the government in its duties, and also presented recently finalized draft bills, as well as ones that are yet to be discussed by the House. According to Ismail, this session's agenda would include legislation on health insurance, tenders and auctions, social insurances, people with special needs, and youth laws. Under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisis leadership we have accomplished security and economic stability. Your assembly had a vital role in achieving this, he said, adding that the government was also able to attract foreign investments through a series of legislations. Ismail also highlighted several important pieces of legislation which were passed during the parliaments first and second sessions, including the 2016 civil service law and others which aim to provide support to low-income sectors. The government and your respectable assembly will continue to work to accelerate efforts aiming to ensure the success of this nation. Your assembly has fully carried out its supervisory role and has not spared any effort to combat corruption, he concluded. Search Keywords: Short link: Texan Bob Schieffers new book on the media and news, Overload, is subtitled Finding the Truth in Todays Deluge of News. Finding the truth, indeed, is becoming more challenging as news reporting becomes more fragmented and as everyone joins in the practice through social media, sometimes with motives different from providing accurate and fair information. Schieffers views on the overwhelming change engulfing the journalism world is valuable. His decades of experience, his common-sense approach and his clear-eyed, folksy-style of reporting lifts him into the trustworthy realm of the late Walter Cronkite, his CBS News colleague. More Information Overload By Bob Schieffer with H. Andrew Schwartz Rowman & Littlefield, $24.95 See More Collapse Schieffer and H. Andrew Schwartz, Center for Strategic and International Studies chief communications officer, conducted interviews for this book across the nation with leaders of traditional and emerging news organizations, delivering in new ways because of technological advances. Overload explores several key findings: Americans are overwhelmed by the widening plethora of news. They cannot process it. Fake news is published purposefully for profit and political gain, threatening democracies. U.S. polling, once remarkably accurate, now is missing the mark because of the shift from landlines to mobile phones. A change in methodology is needed. National news organizations such as the New York Times and the Washington Post continue to produce vital journalism on important issues. But the shift in advertising from local newspapers to non-journalistic online search engines and social media sites is closing local newspapers, allowing for a rise in local government corruption. The closing of Texas newspapers has led to a new, nonprofit business model of journalism, represented by the Texas Tribune. The U.S. political and electoral system has become too messy. Intelligent people with leadership abilities no longer run for office because of negative ads and the rise of extremism forged by gerrymandering. The middle road of politics has been gutted. All honor in holding office has disappeared. The media needs to explain this better. The book also touches on how the millennial generation is changing journalism as they rely mainly on digital-only sources that emphasize visual and audio appeal over verified information. Schieffer, known mainly as the longtime host for CBS-TVs Face the Nation, wrote much of the book. Schwartz contributed chapters on digital-only, or Internet-only, news websites, podcasts and online newsletters. Decades ago, Walter Cronkite said the best-informed citizens were the ones who received their news from a variety of sources: newspapers, television, radio, news weeklies and books. The change today is that people must be careful about what they trust as fair and accurate. They must understand what drives and finances the content at each source they come across. Its not always accuracy and integrity. It has come down to this: It takes a book like Overload to explain to news consumers what they are faced with in a world exploding with information, some true, some false. dhendricks@express-news.net STRATFORD A major dredging project will take nearly 300,000 cubic yards of clean, fine sand from the Housatonic's shallow navigation channel and move it to Connecticut's premier beachfront park. The sand is headed to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, as the dredging is expected to begin this week, officials said. The dredging will take the channel to its authorized depth and width from the mouth of the Housatonic, between Milford and Stratford to about five miles upstream. More than 1,000 vessels are based in the river and harbor; some occasionally run aground. So the project will see two benefits one for the boaters who use the river, and the other for beachgoers at Hammonasset. For the first time since 1976 the channel will finally be dredged to a depth of at least 18 foot deep and 200 feet wide from just south of Goose Island to just beyond the end of the breakwater at the mouth of the river, said William Rock, a member of the Stratford Waterfront and Harbor Management Commission and chairman of its dredge committee. He added: Not only will this facilitate long-term safe navigation for all vessels but it will present new opportunities relating to the water dependent aspects of the redevelopment of the Stratford Army Engine Plant, which has the potential to become the premier destination on Long Island Sound. The last dredging of the Housatonic was in November 2012 when the Corps' dredge Currituck removed about 50,000 yards of shoal material. However, this was classified as only a maintenance dredge for it just removed sand deposited from earlier storms. This time, the sand will be transported by barge to re-nourish the eroding beach at Hammonasset. There, the sand will be pumped onto the beach and moved by bulldozers. Hammonassett attracts 1 million visitors a year. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded the $9.3 million contract to Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting Company of Quincy, Mass. The work will be performed over a three to four months, now through Jan. 31, 2018, for shoals inside Milford Point, and now through and Feb. 28 for shoals seaward of Milford Point. jburgeson@ctpost.com The calls from various quarters for beefed up aid to the hurricane-ravaged island of Puerto Rico are well placed. Even as of Friday, the island was without cellphone or internet service. Its been more than a week since Hurricane Maria roared through the Caribbean leaving little but wreckage in its wake. Whether the criticism of President Donald Trumps response to the crisis is accurate or not, there is no debate that the island of some 3.4 million people and a U.S. territory, remains a humanitarian crisis and the U.S. needs to do more. Trump himself on Friday described the island as literally destroyed. While the island is run by an elected governor, the president of the United States is considered the head of state. By some estimates, about 5 million Puerto Ricans live in the United States and roughly 300,000 in Connecticut. U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both D-Conn; Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash; Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. wrote to Trump last week asking him to up the ante in aid to the island, and to the U.S. Virgin Islands. The requests in the letter are reasonable, including upping the disaster declaration to the maximum level, which presumably opens the coffers and the availability of services to the highest level available. It also asks for a special assistant for rebuilding to coordinate the numerous aspects of federal efforts. And the senators asked for more money for Puerto Ricos Medicaid program and urges the president to particularly focus on the restoration of electrical power by sending U.S. Department of Energy experts and 500 utility workers to the island. These are not unreasonable suggestions. Hurricane Maria was the largest storm to hit this U.S. territory since 1928. And while federal agencies like FEMA have moved into action, its understandable that after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and now Maria have done their damage, the federal agencies that respond to such disasters are spread a little thin. Its not just the federal government that has to pick up the ball. The average citizen can help by contacting the Red Cross and any of the other local and national relief efforts that are so helpful in helping people caught in a disaster. Each of the hurricanes of this extraordinary 2017 hurricane season has also fired the debate about climate change and global warming, some experts noting that the storms are irrefutable signs of mankinds gnawing away at the environment. Maybe so, but the time now is for action on the part of the U.S. government and individuals to help our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico and the U,S. Virgin Islands. Save the Children has called upon the Trump Administration to do more for the well-being of Puerto Rican children and families after the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. Too many of Puerto Ricos 3.4 million people, which include nearly 700,000 children, remain stranded without access to power, shelter, clean water, or fuel nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria struck the island on September 20, said Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of the Fairfield-based international humanitarian organization. Much more action is needed and it is needed immediately. Childrens lives are at stake, she said. Miles call for more action comes the day before President Donald Trump prepares to visit Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In a statement released Monday morning, Miles outlined four key steps that the Trump administration and Congress should take this week to help address the ongoing crisis. They include: Expand the disaster declaration to include the entire island of Puerto Rico. The White Houses original disaster declaration covered only a portion of Puerto Rico, but the entire island is devastated and needs the declaration so families in Puerto Rico can access federal funding for immediate relief to meet urgent, life-threatening needs. Send a disaster funding request to Congress immediately. The White House needs to send a request to Congress for disaster relief for Hurricane Maria immediately and not wait until mid-October as they have stated to the press. After Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, President Trump asked Congress for $8 billion in relief within six days. It has been more than a week since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, but we have yet to see any emergency requests to meet these urgent needs. Move as fast as possible to get the resources to Puerto Rico that it so desperately needs. We ask that the federal government deploy all relevant assets to Puerto Rico and provide stricken communities appropriate access so that Puerto Rican children and families can receive the services they need to survive in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The Trump Administration should work to ensure that additional military and other federal personnel arrive soon to address basic infrastructure needs such as clearing roads, repairing power lines, distributing supplies and other needs. Pay particular attention to the needs of children in preparedness, response and recovery. Miles said the greatest current gap to meet the needs of children in disasters arise from inadequate funding. While the United States invests billions of dollars to support emergency preparedness and response, very often childrens needs are overlooked. In fact, of every $10 in federal emergency preparedness grants, less than 1 cent has gone toward activities targeting childrens safety. We need to dedicate more funding to emergency preparedness, response and recovery to lessen the gaps that remain and further support children. Miles said Save the Childrens emergency response team is on the ground in Puerto Rico, working with partners to help children and their families recover and eventually rebuild. Our immediate priority is to make sure children are safe, that they are with family members or friends and have access to food, water and shelter, including safe, supervised places for children to play, said Miles. While helping families meet their basic needs, we are also working with local partners to help get children back into school. Returning to a regular routine of going to school can have a tremendous, positive impact on children as they recover. Casey Harrity, the agencys team leader in Puerto Rico, noted that team members have distributed much-needed materials to displaced children and their families, such as tarps, diapers, baby wipes and soap, as well as materials to create safe spaces for children in emergency shelters. There are still so many families and children that need help, Harrity said. The mass shooting that killed at least 58 people in Las Vegas on Sunday night was the worst in modern American history. Police suspect that Stephen Paddock fired on the crowd at a country-music concert indiscriminately from his hotel room window, killing dozens and injuring hundreds more. More for you Dramatic video shows the horrific moment shots rang out at Las Vegas concert If it seems as though we only just experienced another deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, it's because we did. About 16 months ago, Omar Mateen killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State. Before that, the record was held by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, in which 32 people were killed. NEW DELHI - One recent Wednesday afternoon, monsoon rains were lashing office windows in Mumbai. Inside, screens were lighting up with messages announcing the arrival of Cyclone Phyan. Employees of a start-up called Little Black Book, an online city guide, started panicking. Some went home early after receiving messages on their phones that roads were being closed. Others passed the message on to loved ones in Phyan's path. Jayati Bhola, a 24-year-old writer at Little Black Book, was organizing a charity music show that evening and feared that the warning may put off her guests. She quickly checked the weather online and then sent around a message: "We're still on guys! Rain or Shine." As it turns out, Cyclone Phyan never came to Mumbai that evening, Sept. 20. In fact, it had already happened - eight years earlier, 1,400 miles away, in Sri Lanka. "That rumor about the cyclone has been going around for years," said Pankaj Jain, founder of SMXHoaxSlayer.com, a website that fact-checks circulating rumors on social media in India. While fake news in the United States is said to have contributed to President Donald Trump's election victory, in India, a nation with 355 million Internet users, false news stories have become a part of everyday life, exacerbating weather crises, increasing violence between castes and religions, and even affecting matters of public health. "Common sense is extinct," Jain said. "People are ready to believe anything." Last week, newspapers here carried full-page advertisements by Facebook that explained how to spot false news. Minister Rajnath Singh, who oversees home affairs, addressed members of the armed border forces in New Delhi, advising them not to believe everything on social media. Much of India's false news is spread through WhatsApp, a popular messaging app. One message that made the rounds in November, just after the government announced an overhaul of the country's cash, claimed that a newly released 2,000 rupee bank note would contain a GPS tracking nano-chip that could locate bank notes hidden as far as 390 feet underground. Another rumor, about salt shortages last November, prompted a rush on salt in four Indian states. In southern India, a rumor about a measles and rubella vaccine thwarted a government immunization drive. Many false stories have led to violence. In May, rumors about child abductors in a village triggered several lynchings and the deaths of seven people. In August, rumors about an occult gang chopping off women's braids in northern India spread panic, and a low-caste woman was killed. Some stories exacerbate India's rising religious and caste tensions. This week, for instance, images purportedly showing attacks against Hindus by "Rohingya Islamic terrorists" in Burma circulated on social media in India, stoking hatred in Hindu-majority India against Muslim Rohingya. "There was one video with two people being beheaded, and the text was saying these were Indian soldiers being killed in Pakistan. When I found the original video, it was actually taken from footage of a gang war in Brazil," Jain said. "They'll tell you this is fresh, these are images the media is not showing you, if you're a true Indian patriot, you will forward this message." The rumors have resulted in a small industry of fact-checkers who are setting up websites to debunk myths circulating online. Pratik Sinha is a former software engineer who started Altnews.in, a fact-checking website. "The number of fake news stories is so high that we can't compete on the quantity of fact checks we do," he said. "We focus on quality." The fact-checkers come from various backgrounds - some are former journalists, others are software geeks, and some are just concerned citizens. Many fake news stories appear to support India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its right-wing Hindu nationalist agenda, said Jency Jacob, managing editor for boomlive.in, a fact-checking website. "If we don't do something, it will be too late," Jacob said. "Political parties would love to use this for their own benefit, and we need to intervene." The scrutiny has led to some triumphs. Ministers have deleted misleading tweets and posts after being fact-checked online; in one instance, a government ministry launched an inquiry after Altnews pointed out that an image it had used in a report to show floodlights on India's border was actually from the Spanish-Moroccan border. In September 2016, India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, launched an ultra-cheap mobile network service, Jio. The new network brought millions of Indians online for the first time. Jio's cheap plans increased mobile data use more than sixfold between June 2016 and March 2017, according to Mary Meeker's Internet Trends 2017 report. India's first-time users are particularly susceptible to rumors doing the rounds on social-media websites, Jacob said. "The U.S.A. is a more mature market. In India, these forwards take on a life of their own," he said, referring to chain messages on social media. Asavari Sharma, a Mumbai resident, was one of many who posted images of rainy streets on Facebook. She added a caption that read "CYCLONE PHYAN REACHING US: Hope all the good souls on my list are safe." "Honestly, I never believe in weather news because every time they show, something never really occurs," Sharma said. This time they had shown a "few horrible images projected straight from the satellite. So I had to upload to Facebook." By noon, rumors about Phyan had reached authorities. Mumbai's Disaster Management Unit tweeted, "As informed by IMD [India Meteorological Department] there is no cyclone warning for Mumbai. Citizens r requested not to spread & trust rumour." Jain says the rise of false rumors worries him. "Basically, somebody's making money out of all this," he said, saying that clicks on fake news websites are supported by advertisements. "Ultimately, people are being conned." The ministry says the two suspects, identified as Mohamed Abdel Karim Marei and Mahmoud Barakat, as well as another unnamed member, shot at police on Sunday evening as police attempted to apprehend them in 15th of May, a suburb in Eastern Helwan. The three men were wanted in a terrorism-related operation known as the Hasm Movement Action," which was under investigation by Homeland Security. According to the statement, the three suspected militants were planning to carry out an attack in the near future. Hasm has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against Egyptian security personnel in recent months, mostly targeting police checkpoints. Egyptian security forces have arrested and killed dozens of suspected Hasm members in the past few months. Egyptian officials have said that that the group is linked to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group. Search Keywords: Short link: NEW HAVEN U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, visited St. Francis Church in Fair Haven Monday to continue pushing for hurricane relief for Puerto Rico and chastise the Trump administrations response to the disaster. Inside St. Francis Churchs basement, DeLauro asked what has taken so long for the Trump administration to provide additional resources to Puerto Rico. The island suffered extensive damage due to Hurricane Maria, which has left most of its residents without power nearly two weeks after it made landfall on Sept. 20. DeLauro said she has deep concerns, frustration and anger, over the federal response to the tragedy, in Puerto Rico, which is home to some 3.4 million U.S. citizens. She called the response, inadequate. She was joined by representatives from Gov. Dannel Malloys office, the American Red Cross, the New Haven Fire Department and local clergy. These are Americans, DeLauro said. There are family. These are our friends. They are stranded without potable water, electricity, and we if we are not moving quickly enough, they are without food. DeLauro said she was heartened by progress made, though much is left to be done, to ensure the safety of our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico. According to the Associated Press, Trump said about Puerto Rico: We have it under really great control. The AP reported Trump described critics who question his administration's commitment to rebuilding Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria as politically motivated ingrates. FEMA reported that, as of Friday, there were more than 10,000 federal staff from 36 departments and agencies engaged in storm response, including more than 800 FEMA personnel on the ground in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. At least 56 of 58 hospitals are partially operational in Puerto Rico, according to FEMA. Chris Smith, speaking on behalf of Malloys office, said there are more than 100 national guardsmen from Connecticut in Puerto Rico. He said money donations are the best way to assist Puerto Rico relief. Several visitors at the churchs basement on Monday had family ties to the island. Victoria Colon said she returned from Puerto Rico Sunday after traveling there to visit family on Sept. 10. Her family in Ponce is OK, but overall, Colon was distraught by what she witnessed. Its horrible, Colon said, speaking in Spanish, The help isnt getting there like they need it. Despite criticism over federal response, Elm City residents and community members have mobilized. Community members raised $63,000 during a daylong event Saturday and in conjunction with a GoFund me page. They now have their sights on a loftier goal: To raise $100,000 in total. The community planned Saturdays event less than a week before it convened. State Rep. Juan Candelaria, D-New Haven, who lost a family member due to the hurricane and has been instrumental in local relief efforts, said residents need to stay in constant communication with congressional leaders. He thanked DeLauro and New Haven Mayor Toni Harp for helping raise funds. Puerto Rico is suffering now, but here, on the mainland, we are working together to ensure we raise necessary funds, Candelaria said, adding that there is another fundraising event scheduled at the Greek Olive restaurant from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Friday. The people of Puerto Rico need the help, Candelaria said. Theyve lost everything. Everything has been lost. From their homes. From their vehicles. Lives have been shattered and now we are in rebuilding mode. Reach Esteban L. Hernandez at 203-680-990 esteban.hernandez@hearstmediact.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The woman who injured a family of three in a January crash while driving drunk was handed a 30-year prison sentence Friday. Caryn Lee Stucky, 54, had just left a local bar when she started swerving in the 1300 block of South FM 3083, nearly hitting two vehicles that were able to dodge her car. She then slammed another car head-on, sending the car's three occupants to the hospital. The car was occupied by a married couple and their granddaughter, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. The grandmother suffered abdominal bleeding, while the granddaughter was put in the intensive care unit with a brain bleed and traumatic brain injury. INTOXICATION ASSAULT CASE: Elderly man accused of running over police officer The grandfather had a collapsed lung and torn stomach, the DA's Office said. Stucky was admitted but soon released, into police custody, after suffering some bruising. She was charged with three third-degree felony counts of intoxication assault, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison on each count. A jury convicted Stucky on all three counts Friday and sentenced her to the maximum punishment. Judge Lisa Michalk, in the 221st state District Court, stacked the sentences, meaning Stucky will likely serve one decade for each of the victims. "(Stucky) had demonstrated herself to be a danger to our community time and time again," Prosecutor Monica Cooper said. "The jury knew they had to keep her locked away as long as possible." Stucky was arrested on six prior occasions for driving while intoxicated in Colorado and was convicted on three of those arrests, according to prosecutors. Law enforcement officers from her Colorado arrests also testified during her trial. The jury also heard evidence about her history of alcohol abuse over the years as well as use of cocaine and marijuana. "The victims in this case feel safer knowing that, after so many chances, she is finally off our roadways and unable to put anyone else through the nightmare they have had to endure," Prosecutor Brittany Litaker said. On the night of her arrest, Stucky's blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit, prosecutors said. Vehicular Crimes Chief Andrew James thanked the Conroe Police Department, first responders and the officers from Colorado for their work in the case. He also thanked the work of the doctors at Conroe Regional Medical Center, who worked on the three crash victims. "Without their exceptional work, three lives would have been lost," James said. Stucky will be eligible for parole in 2032. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On Monday morning, many in social media and the news reported that the Las Vegas tragedy is the United States' 273rd mass shooting of 2017. The factoid was widespread throughout Twitter, mentioned on the BBC's live feed and the focus of a Newsweek article titled "There's a mass shooting almost every day in the U.S." stating, "The horrifying events in Las Vegas on Sunday night mark the 273rd mass shooting in the U.S. in the 275 days that have passed so far in 2017, according to Gun Violence Archive." Gun Violence Archive is one source that tracks "mass shootings" with an online database. Mother Jones is another. The progressive American magazine updated its database Monday morning and its count for 2017 now stands at seven. Why the vast discrepancy? There's really no one definition of mass shooting. The nonprofit, nonpartisan group Gun Violence Archive defines mass shooting as "four or more shot and/or killed in a single event [incident], at the same general time and location not including the shooter." The Mass Shooting Tracker, a crowd-sourced list that's also often cited in social media, uses the same definition. In other words, if an attacker kills three people with gunfire and no one else is injured, it doesn't count as a mass shooting by the Gun Violence Archive definition. If an attacker shoots and injures four people, the bullets only grazing them, and nobody dies, it counts. Mother Jones, on the other hand, defines "mass shootings" as "indiscriminate rampages in public places resulting in four or more victims killed by the attacker." This narrower definition results in the significantly lower total count for 2017. Even within the U.S. government, the definition seems to vary. A 2013 report on Public Mass Shootings in the United States says that "there is no broadly agreed-to, specific conceptualization" of mass shootings. For the report, researchers used the definition: "These are incidents occurring in relatively public places, involving four or more deathsnot including the shooter(s)and gunmen who select victims somewhat indiscriminately. The violence in these cases is not a means to an endthe gunmen do not pursue criminal profit or kill in the name of terrorist ideologies, for example." SFGATE reached out to the FBI for their definition and spokesperson Andrew Ames wrote in an email, "our definitions are based on federal law" and directed us to the bureau's Active Shooter Resources site that uses a broad definition to define mass killings as three or more people killed regardless of weapon. The lesson in all of this is that when you see counts for mass shootings in your social media feeds, it's important to consider the source's definition and understand that not all sources are neutral in their politics. James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University in Boston, is concerned about those sources that use a broader definition. "These stats where four or more people were shot... most of those aren't mass killings and in a high percentage of those, no one dies," Fox says. "They roll out those numbers every time there's a mass killing which confuses people. They start equating that things like Las Vegas happen every day. And they don't happen every day. It's really a disservice to try and broaden the definition." Fox also feels Mother Jones' numbers are problematic because, "they ruled out all family executions, which are half the cases. They also ruled out cases that are robberies. Only the public cases are included and that's usually about a half-dozen a year." He adds that it can be difficult to define whether a shooting occurred in a public place and says one of the incidents Mother Jones includes in its database occurred at a private party, yet they don't cite any other home incidents. He thinks the most accurate definition is four or more victims, not including the killer, and encompasses family, public and burglary killings, and this is the one the U.S. Congressional Research Service uses. With this definition, he says on average there are about two dozen mass shootings a year. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Before dawn one August morning, sheriff's deputies arrived at a two-story townhome along a rural road near Channelview, expecting to find a man so dangerous that a knock on his door would put them in harm's way. "This is the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Please exit the home. Please have your hands above your head," one deputy said over a megaphone, as others, armed with a search warrant for the home, smashed the windows and door of the residence. Someone shot a gun from inside toward one of the townhome's windows. Deputies - assigned to a task force with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - fired back, killing the aggressor, said sheriff's deputy Thomas Gilliland. Once inside, deputies expected to find a suspected drug dealer, 20-year-old Eriberto Suarez. But the man who lay dead wasn't Suarez. Nor was he the target of an open ATF investigation, said agency spokeswoman Nicole Strong. It was 24-year-old Nicholas Solis, the half-brother of Suarez's estranged wife. According to his family's lawyer, he had been asleep on the couch in the moments leading up to the gunfire, next to his fiancee and her 1-year-old daughter. The details of the gunfire that Aug. 11 morning are still hazy. The sheriff's office is investigating both the fatal shooting and the ATF drug case that initially led law enforcement to the townhome. The sluggish pace of both investigations has done little to ease concerns from Solis' family, as they grieve a death that, in their eyes, never should have happened. "I just want closure," Solis' mother, Veronica, 47, said more than a month after the shooting. "I just want closure." Solis was born in Houston. Since 2008, he had lived with his mother, stepfather and younger sister in the neighborhood of single-family, suburban houses about 3 miles from the townhome in the 900 block of Ashland where he died, Veronica Solis said. Solis attended Channelview High School. He spent his free time tinkering with his Chevy truck and his motorcycle - a gift from his stepfather - or entertaining his 12-year-old sister and 6-year-old son. He charmed employees of a Stripes convenience store down the street, where he stopped in every afternoon for conversation and a pack of cigarillos. He launched his own landscaping business, named after his son: Nico's Landscaping. He started with his family's yard and worked his way around the neighborhood, all too often declining payment for his services. "He ripped himself off," Veronica Solis said. "All the time." His most recent venture followed years of struggling to find employment - he worked in roofing and installed cable - because of a criminal record in Harris County that dated back to when he was 17 years old. He had two burglary of a motor vehicle convictions and a felony conviction of tampering with evidence, according to court records. He also had been convicted of evading arrest. A midnight trip Solis' brother, Lewis, said Nicholas met Suarez about a month before his death, through their half-sister. To the family's knowledge, the pair were never close, Lewis Solis, 29, said. But, for reasons his brother and mother don't know, Nicholas Solis headed to Suarez's apartment about midnight on Aug. 11, his fiancee and her daughter with him. Five hours later, sheriff's deputies arrived at the two-floor unit in an armored vehicle. A confidential source had tipped off deputies earlier in August that there were drugs - Xanax pills and hydroponic marijuana - and two assault rifles and a handgun inside of the unit, according to a search warrant obtained by the Houston Chronicle through the state's open record law. On Aug. 4, deputies went to the unit and spotted surveillance cameras facing the front porch and parking lot, according to the warrant. On Aug. 7, a judge gave deputies approval to search the home for drugs, firearms and items used to distribute narcotics, including iPads, ledgers, computers and packaging. Investigators were concerned that knocking on the door and announcing the purpose of the search would be futile, dangerous and inhibit the investigation, according to the warrant. Story discrepancies When deputies arrived the day of the shooting, they parked their armored vehicle at an angle so stray bullets they anticipated might be shot from inside of the townhome would hit the vehicle and not other units. Gilliland said Solis fired more than once toward the side window as deputies broke in. Three deputies who were still outside shot back, hitting Solis multiple times. By the time deputies got inside the building, Solis was severely injured and likely unable to fire a weapon, Gilliland said. Citing an ongoing investigation, the sheriff's office had not released, as of Friday, further details about the gunfire, including discrepancies between what the deputies said happened and Solis' fiancee's memories of the morning. Gilliland said on Friday that Solis' fiancee and her child were in a different room during the shooting. Yet, Solis' fiancee told lawyers she was lying on the same sofa as Solis with her daughter, said Muhammad Aziz, an attorney hired by the Solis family to investigate the shooting. Solis' fiancee added Solis never fired at law enforcement. When the gunfire started, Solis' fiancee threw herself and the infant onto the ground and screamed, "There's a baby in here!" That, she told lawyers, was when the shooting stopped. Later in the morning, about 7:30 a.m., Veronica Solis got a call from Nicholas Solis' father: Had she heard from their son? No, she responded. "Let me call you back," he said. Veronica immediately called Solis' phone. "It just kept ringing and ringing and ringing," she said. The Harris County Sheriff's Office removed illegal narcotics, two empty firearm magazines, two digital scales, cash, a tactical vest, an assault rifle and ammunition, casings and bullets from the apartment, according to the warrant. The three deputies who fired at Solis were placed on administrative leave, as per protocol, Gilliland said. All three were back on active duty by Friday, he added. Suarez was arrested later the day of the shooting and charged with possession of less than a gram of cocaine, which is a felony, and carrying a gun in a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor. He has pleaded guilty to only one other criminal charge in Harris County. In 2015, he stole 50 bottles of cologne, valued between $1,500 and $20,000, according to court records. Suarez was out on a $1,000 bail for each charge by Aug. 12. His case is ongoing. 'My heart is broken' More than a month after the gunfire, two candles lit in Solis' memory burned on the kitchen counter, next to his graduation portrait, in his family's home. His keys to his Chevy still hung on a hook by the door that he had installed. Veronica Solis couldn't bear to move them. "My heart is broken," she said. "I'm never going to be the same. Ever." In the front room of the house, Solis' mother, stepfather and brother looked through photos of him. Solis in his Little League outfit the year his team was the Astros - "He was such a little brat," Veronica Solis said, with a smile. A video Solis took of himself driving his sister and son to Chuck E. Cheese. Shots of him at his sister's birthday party in the neighborhood in July. Another self-recorded video, this time of him taking a swig of beer on New Year's Eve. "Thank God for letting me see 2017," he said, as fireworks went off in the background. For a while after President Donald Trump was elected, I thought I should watch a few episodes of "The Apprentice" if only to hear him utter the infamous phrase, "You're fired." Turns out I didn't need to. Tom Price - who led the Department of Health and Human Services for a mere eight months - is packing up his desk at the Humphrey building, announcing Friday that he's resigning from the sprawling federal agency that oversees not only the government's big Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs, but also the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. Even before the news broke that Price had spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on private jet flights, Trump had been increasingly dissatisfied with the Georgia doctor and his ineffectiveness in selling various health-care plans to former congressional colleagues. The president had even joked back in July about firing Price, telling a group of Boy Scouts that he'd say, "Tom, you're fired" if Price didn't get the votes for a bill repealing Obamacare. Even so, Price's fall was swift - he resigned 11 days after the first of several reports by Politico about his use of private planes to conduct official business. And it comes at a less-than-optimal time for HHS, just a month before the Affordable Care Act marketplaces open for business. Whoever Trump appoints to replace Price will inherit many messy questions. He had invited governors to propose more conservative changes to their Medicaid programs and marketplaces, taken steps to reverse Obama-era rules implementing the ACA and pulled back on experimenting with new ways of paying Medicare providers. In short, Trump can still make a big mark on HHS even after the dramatic failure of ACA rollback efforts in Congress. Trump has picked Don Wright, who has been director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, as acting secretary in the interim. But Trump has several options for replacing Price. Trump might go with a governor, since they're used to running large health-care programs. Or he might promote someone within HHS -- most likely Seema Verma -- or someone elsewhere in his administration. A few senators' names have surfaced as possible picks, too. Here's a list of the top names being circulated: Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: Pros: Verma is a favorite of Vice President Mike Pence; she helped him reshape Indiana's Medicaid program while he was governor. She has already been confirmed by the Senate. She knows a lot about Medicaid. Cons: Like Price, Verma has been viewed as ineffective on Capitol Hill in advocating for Trump's priorities (such as repealing the ACA). Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration: Pros: Gottlieb is a physician, like Price. He has garnered some bipartisan support; a few Senate Democrats voted for his confirmation. He's well-known in Washington policy, government and industry circles. Cons: Gottlieb doesn't have the executive experience a governor could bring to the table. Rick Scott, governor of Florida: Pros: He's a former hospital executive. He's from a state that Trump would need to win in 2020. Cons: Scott is still in the middle of hurricane response efforts, so he might not want to head to Washington. Also, he's from a state Trump would need to win in 2020, meaning the president might not want to remove a key ally from a critical post. David Shulkin, secretary of Veterans Affairs: Pros: Shulkin is also a doctor. He's the only Obama-era secretary that Trump kept on and the only Cabinet member to be confirmed unanimously. He's a Trump favorite. Cons: The Washington Post recently reported that Shulkin combined some official travel with leisure travel a la Price. This summer, he attended Wimbledon and took a cruise on the Thames while meeting with European officials. Bobby Jindal, former Louisiana governor: Pros: Known as a top conservative thinker on health-care policy, Jindal has proposed his own Obamacare replacement plans. Jindal was originally viewed as a top contender along with Price for the role HHS secretary. He worked at the agency under President George W. Bush. Cons: He and Trump criticized each other as they were running in the 2016 GOP primary. He's extremely conservative, advocating for health-care ideas that are even more conservative than what many Republicans would back. Charlie Baker, governor of Massachusetts: Pros: A former health-care executive. Previously his state's secretary of health and human services. If Jindal is the most conservative possibility, Baker is the most moderate. Cons: Baker was one of several Republican governors to oppose the latest Senate health-care bill, the one proposed by Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. That might not sit well with Trump. Rick Santorum, former senator from Pennsylvania: Pros: Teamed up with Graham and Cassidy on their recent health-care bill. Beloved by religious conservatives. Cons: Limited background in health policy. Also ran against Trump in the GOP primary. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Dozens of people were killed and hundreds were injured Sunday when a gunman opened fire at a country music festival in Las Vegas. Here are stories of those who died. DENISE BURDITUS, 50 From Martinsburg, West Virginia Burditus recently changed her Facebook profile picture to a photo of her and her husband, Tony Burditus, both smiling, with the Route 91 Harvest festival stage and Mandalay Bay hotel in the background. The photo was posted hours before a gunman fired into the crowd and she later died in her husband's arms, Tony Burditus wrote on Facebook. The West Virginia resident was a mother of two, grandmother of four and had been married to her husband for 32 years. Denise Burditus described herself as a college student and as semi-retired on her Facebook page. "It saddens me to say that I lost my wife of 32 years, a mother of two, soon to be grandmother of 5 this evening in the Las Vegas Shooting. Denise passed in my arms. I LOVE YOU BABE," Tony Burditus wrote. Following that post, other friends took to Facebook to share memories of Denise, whom one friend described as "beautiful and full of life." "Denise, you sure showed the rest of us how to live - with so much spunk and spirit, devoutly loyal to your family and extended family, because that's how you treated every one of us," a friend wrote on Facebook. Recent Facebook posts show the couple smiling in Las Vegas, while hanging out by the pool, out to dinner, at the festival. In many, Denise Burditus is kissing her husband's cheek. Now Playing: Video footage shows the harrowing moments country singer Jason Aldean ran from the stage during his Las Vegas show on Sunday after a gunman opened fire, killing at least 50 people and injuring over 400. Video: TMTime Denise Burditus posted a photo of her husband in the pool during the trip with the caption: "Having the best time in Vegas with this guy... him!" On Sunday, Denise Burditus had posted that she was "already planning" for the 2018 festival. --- SANDY CASEY, 35 From Redondo Beach, California In early April, on the last day of their 10-day vacation in New Zealand, Christopher Willemse and his girlfriend, Sandy Casey, walked down a steep hill to a lake. As she played by the water's edge, Willemse took a ring out of his pocket. When she turned around, he was down on one knee. At the end of this month, they planned to tour the final wedding venue on their list. Instead, after seven years as colleagues at Manhattan Beach Middle School, three years as a couple and five months engaged, Willemse held Casey on Sunday night as she died of a gunshot to her lower back at a country music festival in Las Vegas. Willemse, 32, worked as a behavioral therapist in Casey's special-education classes. They bonded over their love of country music. They were attending the festival with a few of Willemse's friends, huddled in front of the stage, when the gunshots rang out. They all dropped to the ground, but Casey said she'd been hit and couldn't feel her legs. Willemse stuck his finger in the wound to stop the bleeding and then carried her out, dodging the continuous gunfire. When she stopped responding, he told her that he loved her and that she was amazing. "She was just a kind soul and she was full of life and loved to live it," Willemse said. "She made everybody smile, she was an excellent teacher and loved the kids she taught. Everyone who meets her never forgets her." Casey, who also loved yoga and the outdoors, was originally from Vermont, where her family still lives. Willemse said he's arranging to get her body back to her parents. She wanted to be cremated, he said, so he'll be able to keep a part of her with him. On Facebook early Monday, Willemse wrote: "As I sit and mourn such a beautiful life gone too fast, all i can say is look up and watch the birds fly high and free today as that's where I feel you smiling down upon all of us. I love you baby girl! Love you to pieces!" --- ANGIE GOMEZ, 20 From Riverside, California Gomez traveled from Southern California to the concert with her high school sweetheart to toast a new job as a certified nursing assistant, family friend Tyler Smith confirmed. "She was just celebrating the music she loved," Smith said. "She was a light to everyone in her life; she was just the best kind of person, she was what the world needs." Gomez graduated from Riverside Polytechnic High in Riverside, Calif., in 2015, the school confirmed on Facebook. A member of the school's cheer and song team, Gomez was remembered by her squad on Facebook as "having a warm heart and a loving spirit." In a statement to the news media, the Riverside Unified School District described Gomez as "always seen with a smile on her face whenever she was on campus." She was enrolled at Riverside Community College. Gomez's mother, when reached Monday afternoon, was on her way back to Riverside from Las Vegas. She was too distraught to talk and said she and her family needed time to grieve. Gomez was shot three times, Smith said, once in the shoulder and twice in the arm. Her boyfriend of five years tried to carry her out of the concert venue with the help of several strangers. But Smith said that the crowds and blocked-off streets made it impossible to get Gomez to a hospital in time to save her life. "She had a lot going for her, young and in love, with a good family," Smith said. "It's just incredibly surreal." --- CHARLESTON HARTFIELD Hartfield was a Las Vegas police officer, a member of the armed services, a father and a youth football coach, friends and family said. Those who knew him said each of those roles touched on the type of person Hartfield was. "He was one of those guys who gives, gives, gives," said Stanley King, a friend. Troy Rhett, who coached the Henderson Cowboys youth football team with Hartfield, sounded a similar note. "He wasn't someone who was just here," Rhett said. "He made sure the time he spent here was valuable." Rhett said Hartfield got into coaching football because his son was a standout athlete and is now a high school football player. Hartfield leaves behind that son, a daughter who is in elementary school and his wife, Veronica, Rhett said. Family members said that Hartfield had just finished a book about his life as a police officer called "Memoirs of a Public Servant." He changed the banner photo on his Facebook page to an image of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Sunday, just hours before the mass shooting. --- JENNIFER IRVINE Ryan Mallinaux, a bail bondsman in San Diego, said he often spoke to Irvine on the phone about clients who needed bail but that he met her in person only once. They met in person for the first time just a month ago, before a Metallica concert for which she had been unable to get tickets. "She was real funny, good head on her shoulders, real smart," Mallinaux said. On her law firm's website, Irvine wrote that she recently started her own firm to be closer to her clients. Outside of work, she said, she had a black belt in tae kwon do, practiced hot yoga and was an avid snowboarder. Kyle Kraska, the sports director for CBS News 8 in San Diego, had been friends with Irvine for 15 years. "She was a ball of energy, she was fun, she was just full of life," he said. Irvine was always organizing people to take weekend trips to other cities, to go boating or go to a festival, he said. She was always surrounded by big groups of friends. She went with several girlfriends to the festival in Las Vegas, Kraska said. "They were holding hands, they were dancing, they were singing," he said. He was told that when the shots rang out the group all fell to the ground. When the other women looked around, they realized Irvine was not moving. She had been shot in the head. Kraska, who was nearly killed in a shooting two years ago, said he took some small comfort in knowing his friend probably died instantly, without fear or pain. "I hope that's the case," he said. "Her life ended singing and dancing and smiling." by Rachel Weiner --- JESSICA KLYMCHUK From Valleyview, Alberta Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who leads the government in that Canadian province, confirmed Monday the death of one Alberta resident in the Las Vegas mass shooting. Local news outlets identified that person as Jessica Klymchuk, a single mother of four who lived in Valleyview, a town of about 2,000. Klymchuk was in Las Vegas with her fiance, Brett Irla. The two were engaged in April, according to announcements in their Facebook timelines. On Monday, Irla posted an image of him and Klymchuk nuzzling, covered in pink hearts. Messages of condolence for Irla and Klymchuk's children quickly followed. Irla's timeline also includes multiple messages in which Irla described Klymchuk as "the most amazing woman" and someone he was lucky to have in his life. --- RHONDA LEROCQUE, 42 from Tewksbury, Massachusetts LeRocque and her husband, Jason, had attended Vegas's Route 91 Harvest Festival before. This year, LeRocque's aunt said, they made a last-minute decision to go back. They brought along their 6-year-old daughter, Aliyah, and Jason's father and booked a room at the Mandalay Bay. Now, the family is mourning a woman who "was everything to everyone," Gloria Murdock, LeRocque's aunt, said Monday evening. At a design firm in Boston, her job was to host important guests. At her home in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, she hosted family gatherings with big helpings of buffalo chicken and macaroni and cheese around her pool. "She would make a cake and say 'Oh, it only took me 10 minutes,' " Murdock said. LeRocque was a Jehovah's Witness and met Jason on a mission trip, her cousin Craig Marquis said. Trips became a regular part of their life together, with excursions to Hawaii scheduled every year. They hoped to move there someday. "All day I've been posting pictures of her on my Facebook page," said her mother, Priscilla Champagne. "This is just our family's greatest loss." --- SONNY MELTON From Big Sandy, Tennessee Melton was a registered nurse at Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tennessee. His wife, Heather Melton, is a surgeon. --- ADRIAN MURFITT, 35 From Anchorage, Alaska Ryan Kopiasz met Murfitt at a party in high school. Kopiasz's friends hadn't shown up, and Murfitt came over to talk to him so he wouldn't be alone. "He was the thoughtful type that would see a random person at a get-together and not let them sit by themselves," Kopiasz said. "They don't make them like that anymore." Murfitt was one of the first people to visit after Kopiasz's daughter was born, and he was always there to help someone who needed anything from a ride to a supportive phone call. "He always had an alert up, when somebody needed him - he knew," Kopiasz said. A high school hockey player and an outdoorsman, Murfitt was tough, Kopiasz said, but also deep and open. He wasn't afraid to talk about politics or life philosophy, always from a humane perspective. "Adrian would engage on a very intimate, personal level," Kopiasz said. He said Murfitt wasn't a huge music fan; he went to the festival because he wanted to be with friends after several months on a commercial fishing boat. "The one consolation that we have is that . . . he didn't meet his end alone," Kopiasz said. Murfitt attended the concert with his friend Brian MacKinnon. MacKinnon said in a Facebook post that Murfitt died in his arms. --- RACHAEL PARKER, 33 The Manhattan Beach, California, police department confirmed that Parker, a police records technician, died in the hospital after being shot Sunday night. She worked for the Southern California department for 10 years, according to a news release. --- JOHN PHIPPEN, 57 From Valencia, California John Phippen was a "lumberjack kind of a guy" who loved music, said his best friend. Still, it came as a surprise when the general contractor belted out Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" while helping the friend renovate his bathroom. "It was so wrong it was funny," said the friend, Thomas Polucki, a chiropractor who lives in the same Southern California town, in the Santa Clarita Valley, as Phippen. Phippen attended the festival with his son, Travis. Jake Diaz, 19, who with his mother are friends of the Phippens, said family members told them that Phippen jumped on top of his son when the shooting started. "He saved his life," Diaz said. Polucki said Travis worked as a medic and, even after being shot in the arm, treated more than a dozen of the injured. Polucki said Phippen actually "looks like a teddy bear and acts like a sweetheart," with a calm demeanor no matter how tense a situation. "There'd be stuff where I'm screaming profanities and he's like, no problem, no worries. That's just the kind of guy he was. It took a world calamity for him to bat an eye," Polucki said. Phippen took buggies out on the sand dunes, and ran a company called J.P Specialties that advertises as an "all-purpose remodeling company" with painting, electrical, drywall, plumbing and flooring. Polucki said that he first met Phippen about 10 years ago after he had bought a "money pit of a house." He said Phippen helped him out. "He was the guy you wanted to have a beer with," the chiropractor said. "You wouldn't want to hang out with a celebrity or a politician. You'd want to hang out with John." --- QUINTON ROBBINS, 20 From Henderson, Nevada When Robbins first clutched his chest, his girlfriend thought something was wrong with his sugar levels, she told his grandmother. They were on a date at a Jason Aldean concert. They hadn't been together for very long, but she knew he had diabetes and thought he might need his insulin. She didn't yet realize that a bullet had torn through his body. Robbins's grandmother Gaynor Wells said Monday that he will be remembered as "just a jewel." She recounted the story of his death as she heard it through his girlfriend, who was uninjured. He was the oldest of three children, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a student at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where he was considering going to dental school. An avid athlete, Robbins spent his time refereeing various recreation leagues in his home town of Henderson, Nev. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and country music, which is why he decided to drive to Las Vegas for the concert Sunday night. His girlfriend would later tell his family about two strangers, who described themselves as a marine and a nurse, who tried to carry Robbins to a vehicle so he could get medical attention, even as gunfire was still raining down on the crowd. It would be hours before his family would find out for sure where he had been taken and that he hadn't survived. --- LISA ROMERO-MUNIZ, 42 From Gallup, New Mexico Mike Hyatt, superintendent of the Gallup-McKinley County Schools, said in a statement that Romero-Muniz was "an incredibly loving and sincere friend, mentor, and advocate for students." Romero-Muniz was a discipline secretary at Miyamura High School, relatives confirmed The wife, mother and grandmother was "outgoing, kind and considerate," Hyatt said. Paul Romero, 57, had not seen his cousin in a couple of years, but they grew up together. "She was a very down-to-earth person; she was a very sweet person," he said. "As far as I know, she never had an enemy in the world." Louise Leslie's 14-year-old great-granddaughter went to the school where Romero worked. She found out in class today that the discipline secretary was dead. "The last time she saw her was Friday after school and she gave her a hug," Leslie said. "She was always telling my granddaughter to stay out of trouble and get somewhere and do the right thing - she was a good friend of hers." At school Monday, her great-granddaughter told her, "everyone was crying." --- BAILEY SCHWEITZER, 20 from Bakersfield, California Schweitzer was a receptionist at Infinity Communications and Consulting in Bakersfield, California. The company released a statement Monday mourning the loss of an employee who "was always the ray of sunshine." "If you have ever called or visited our office, she was the perky one that helped direct you to the staff member you needed," Infinity chief executive Fred Brakeman said in the statement. Schweitzer grew up in Bakersfield, where her father, Scott Schweitzer, owned the Bakersfield Speedway dirt track. She loved spending time there, her coworker Katelynn Cleveland said, and loved attending country music concerts. Schweitzer had seen Jon Patti, Cole Swindell, Dierks Bentley and Garth Brooks. On Friday, she drove to Las Vegas for a weekend so packed with country artists there were two stages for them to perform on. The artist she was most excited to see, Cleveland said, was Luke Combs. He performed at 7:20 p.m. Sunday evening, but Schweitzer wasn't expected to be back at work until Tuesday. She decided to stay for the final show, a performance from Jason Aldean. On Monday evening, her coworkers held a candlelight vigil in her honor at their offices. --- SUSAN SMITH, 53 Smith, the office manager at Vista Fundamental Elementary School in Simi Valley, California, was killed at the concert, said Jake Finch, a spokeswoman for the Simi Valley School District. Smith, 53, was "a big country music fan" and had been attending the concert with friends when she was shot, Finch said. Smith had worked for the school district for 16 years, and she had served as the office manager of the elementary school for three years. She was married and the mother of young-adult children, Finch said, although she wasn't sure how many. Finch said she was friendly with Smith, and that they would chat whenever Finch stopped by the school. "She had a great sense of humor. She was very funny. She was great with the children and with the staff. In a school this size, the office manager is really at the center, the hub. You have to be able to get along with everybody," she said, and Smith did. "She was also a parent in the school district for many years, and was very active in the PTA." The school deployed counselors to every classroom and held a meeting with staffers on Monday, Finch said. The children are writing letters to Smith's family and drawing cards, she said. --- NEYSA TONKS, 46 from Las Vegas Tonks, 46, was a big fan of Jason Aldean, and she attended the music festival with her boyfriend. Her brother, Cody Davis, confirmed that Tonks was killed in the gunfire during Aldean's set. Her boyfriend was injured and was treated at a hospital. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Because they were separated and he had her purse with her identification, the family was struggling to claim Tonks's body. She was raised in Utah and moved to Las Vegas about 10 years ago, Davis said. "She was pretty much a single mother who raised three boys," he said. "She was a great mom and a great sister and a great friend." She was also a successful businesswoman, he said, working at the IT firm Technologent. In her free time she loved taking her kids to the beach, Davis said, and water-skiing. When she went back to Utah she would ski the mountains. "She was just completely outgoing," he said. -- Compiled by The Washington Post's Colby Itkowitz, Rachel Weiner, Ellie Silverman, Justin Jouvenal, Janell Ross, Rachel Weiner, Peter Hermann, Jessica Contrera, Abigail Hauslohner This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A third lawsuit has been filed alleging negligence against Beaumont ISD by the parents of a student who was airlifted to Houston after an April school bus crash that sent two dozen students to hospitals. The unnamed student "suffered severe and debilitating injuries and his parents, Helen and Ra'mon Mouton, witnessed their son in the hospital shortly after the accident go into a seizure and convlusions, thinking he was dying before their eyes, and washing him be taken via life-flight to Houston," according to the suit filed last week in the Jefferson County District Clerk's Office. The suit alleges that the bus driver, Michelle Lewis, was texting and falling asleep before the accident, and accuses her of negligence while driving the bus. She was cited by Lumberton Police for failure to control speed. More than 40 Charlton-Pollard students were on the bus returning from a field trip to Big Thicket when Lewis, 53, hit another vehicle from behind, veered into oncoming traffic and landed in a ditch on the other side of U.S. 69 in Lumberton. The suit alleges BISD is responsible because Lewis was employed by and working for the district at the time of the crash. "BISD knew, or through the exercise of reasonable care should have known, that Lewis was a reckless and incompetent driver," attorney Mitchell Toups wrote in the suit. A camera on the bus, which should have recorded the crash, had not worked correctly since 2015, LPD Chief Danny Sullins said in April. Efforts to retrieve footage by the manufacturer were unsuccessful. The Moutons are seeking between $200,000 and $1 million from the district for past and future pain and suffering, impairment, anguish and future medical care. In responses to two previous suits related to the crash, filed by parents in July, Beaumont ISD has denied the claims. The district has also argued that it should not be ordered to pay any medical expenses over $100,000 per person under state law and said the "recovery of medical expenses, if any, should be reduced." While school districts are exempt from most legal claims under governmental immunity, personal injury claims resulting from the use of a motor vehicle are an exception, and the district can legally be found liable under state law. BISD does not comment on pending litigation. In April, the district told The Enterprise that parents should use their own insurance for healthcare needs, and spokeswoman Nakisha Burns said the district planned to talk to parents who were asking for financial help with claims. LTeitz@BeaumontEnterprise.comTwitter.com/LizTeitz Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry held a meeting with his Yemeni counterpart Abdulmalik Al-Mekhlafi in Cairo on Monday, in which both discussed bilateral relations and solutions for Yemeni crisis, said FM spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid in an official statement. Shoukry expressed Egypt's continuous support to the unity and stability of Yemen, asserting that there is no military solution for the ongoing crisis, instead a comprehensive political settlement is needed, the statement reads. Shoukry has also stressed Egypt's support for recent efforts made by the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh, towards attaining a peace settlement by urging all sides to return to negotiations, and to deal positively in attempying to resolve initiatives, Abu Zeid added. From his side, Al-Mekhlafi tackled different topics in the meeting, including the latest political and security developments in Yemen, as well as the situation of Yemenis living in Egypt. The Yemeni minister has also praised Egypt's role in supporting Yemen on various occasions in the international arena. During the UN general assembly in September, Shoukry addressed the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen with the United Nations and the International Crisis Group (ICG) top officials, highlighting the need to boost aid efforts for the Yemeni people, who are facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The Yemeni civil war broke out in September 2014 when rebels of the Houthi movement, who are Zaydi Shia, seized the capital Sanaa from the country's government under then-president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. The conflict has pit Hadi's government and the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis, who are allied with former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Since March 2015, more than 8,400 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict. Close to 2,000 Yemenis have also died of cholera since April and another 600,000 are expected to contract the infection this year. Search Keywords: Short link: This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Caleb Downs Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Caleb Downs Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Caleb Downs Show More Show Less 5 of 5 A teenager stabbed her 28-year-old boyfriend Monday on the South Side during an argument over alleged infidelity, police said. The woman, who has not been identified, stabbed the man with a pocketknife around 10:45 a.m. at an apartment complex in the 7500 block of Old Corpus Christi Road, authorities said. RELATED: SAPD: Man shot with AK-47 pistol at South Side home San Antonio Police Sgt. Darryl Rooks said officers are receiving conflicting stories from the victim and the woman as to what happened, and they are trying to determine whether the woman was acting in self defense or whether she will be charged with aggravated assault. A federal judge Monday rejected Texas Sen. Carlos Urestis request to dismiss one of the 22 charges against him in a case involving a now-defunct oil field services company. One of the San Antonio Democrats lawyers, Tab Turner, told Senior U.S. District Judge David Alan Ezra that prosecutors failed to include enough facts to meet federal requirements for charging Uresti with acting as an unregistered securities broker. Uresti was charged in May in a 22-page indictment, and the charges also include securities fraud and wire fraud. He has denied the charges. Also charged in the case are former FourWinds CEO Stan Bates and company consultant Gary Cain. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Blackwell argued that there is enough in the indictment to let the charge remain. This is a very detailed indictment, Blackwell told the judge. We allege Sen. Uresti was a security broker for FourWinds and received a commission from FourWinds. Ezra sided with prosecutors and reiterated that the trial is set for Oct. 23 for Uresti, Bates and Cain. A separate, unrelated bribery case Uresti is charged in is set for trial early next year. FourWinds was formed to buy and sell sand, which is used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to produce oil and gas. FourWinds entered bankruptcy in August 2015 amid allegations from a handful of investors that they were defrauded. The feds say it was a Ponzi scheme. Uresti served as FourWinds lawyer from about June or July 2014 until January 2015. Uresti testified in a bankruptcy hearing in September that he originally was introduced to Bates as a potential investor, though he didnt have the $1.4 million required to invest with FourWinds. Uresti said he sought to bring in investors for FourWinds. Former Uresti law client Denise Cantu of Harlingen invested $900,000, earning Uresti a $27,000 commission. Cantu lost all but about $100,00 and now is suing Uresti, FourWinds and Bates for fraud. Uresti previously had represented Cantu in a wrongful-death case involving two of her children. Also Monday, San Antonio criminal defense lawyer Mike McCrum told Judge Ezra that he may join Urestis legal team. In addition, Bates lawyer, Karl A. Basile, filed a motion Monday to postpone his clients trial date. Basiles motion cites a number of other cases hes involved in that make it difficult to adequately prepare for Bates trial. gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedland This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonio Police are searching for a suspect in a fatal East Side shooting Sunday afternoon. The victim, a male in his 20s, was walking near the intersection of South Pine and Nevada streets about 3:20 p.m. Sunday, when a vehicle pulled up and fired several shots striking him once in the chest, according to Sgt. Michael Fletcher. Fletcher said the victim was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center where he later died. RELATED: Girl injured by bullet during attempt to break up dog fight on the Southwest Side Police say witnesses described the vehicle as a silver sedan, which they saw flee west on Nevada Street after the shooting. Authorities do not have a description of the suspect, and other information was given. aluna@express-news.net | Twitter: alexluna801 During a press conference held in the French consulate on Monday, Ambassador Stephane Roumtier said his country is undertaking preparations for Egypt's president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's upcoming visit to Paris, where he is set to discuss regional and international issues as well as work with French President Emmanuel Macron towards boosting bilateral relations. Roumtier affirmed the security situation is now suitable for the return of French tourism to Egypt. The ambassador pointed out that cooperation between both countries has been mutlifaceted in recent years, including military relations, which he described as "firm and strong." "Egypt is battling terrorism in Sinai just as French citizens battled it today, which urges both nations towards more cooperation to combat terrorism," Roumtier added, referring to recent attacks in France. The visit is the first by the Egyptian president since the election of President Macron in May 2017. Last month, France's ambassador to Cairo announced that Egypt's President Sisi will visit France in the fall of this year upon an invitation from his French counterpart. Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt condemned on Monday the shooting incident that took place earlier in the American city of Las Vegas where no less than 58 people were killed and more than 500 others were wounded, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced. In a statement issued in Cairo, the ministry stated that the people and government of Egypt were standing in solidarity with the people and administration of the United States. The Foreign Ministry also offered its condolences to the families of the victims and the injured describing the attack as an extreme violation of human values. Police identified the gunman as local resident Stephen Paddock, 64, but said they had no information yet about his motive to open fire on the open-air concert from a nearby hotel window. Without providing any evidence, the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in 3 statements published on social media. US officials said there was no evidence so far linking the gunman to any militant group. Search Keywords: Short link: 1 North Korea tensions: President Trump said Sunday that he told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson not to waste his time trying to negotiate with North Koreas leader, Kim Jong Un an extraordinary public undercutting of Americas top diplomat. The presidents contradiction of Tillerson, at a time of high tension with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs, came in the form of Twitter posts sent just a day after Tillerson, in China, said the U.S. has direct contacts in North Korea and is probing for negotiations. I told Rex Tillerson ... that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man, Trump said, using his nickname for Kim. 2 Errant bombing: At least 10 Afghan security forces were killed Sunday after the Afghan Air Force mistakenly dropped bombs on their checkpoint in southern Helmand province, officials confirmed. Gul Agha Muslim, a member of the Gareshk districts local council, said another 11 were wounded in the incident. The victims were from both the Afghan police and intelligence agency. The district has witnessed heavy fighting in recent weeks between security forces and Taliban insurgents. The West Bank-based Palestinian prime minister crossed into the Gaza Strip on Monday in a move towards reconciliation between Hamas and the mainstream Fatah party, a decade after the Islamist group seized the territory in a civil war. Hamas announced last week that it was handing over administrative control of the Gaza Strip to a unity government headed by Rami al-Hamdallah, but the movement's armed wing remains the dominant power in the Palestinian enclave of two million people. "We return to Gaza in order to conclude reconciliation and national unity and end the painful impacts of divisions and to rebuild Gaza brick by brick," Hamdallah said at a welcoming ceremony. Forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas lost control of Gaza in fighting with Hamas in 2007. Hamas's reversal was the most significant step towards Palestinian unity since the government was formed in 2014. It failed to function in Gaza - where Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 - because of disputes between Hamas and Fatah over its responsibilities. Analysts said narrowing internal divisions could help western-backed Abbas counter Israel's argument that it has no negotiating partner for peace with the Palestinians. "We came with instructions from Abbas to tell the world from the heart of Gaza that the Palestinian state cannot and will not be established without geographical and political unity between Gaza and the West Bank," Hamdallah said. A Hamas police honour guard and hundreds of Palestinians, many of them waving Palestinian flags, awaited Hamdallah outside the Hamas-controlled checkpoint, down the road from Israel's Erez border crossing through which the prime minister and his motorcade passed. "It is a day of Eid, a national holiday," said Abdel-Majid Ali, 46. "We hope this time reconciliation is for real." Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel and the West, made its dramatic step towards unity last month, disbanding its Gaza shadow government, after Egypt. "The road ahead will be long and hard, but momentum of reconciliation and peace should not be missed," Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process wrote on Twitter. The unity drive also marked a return to prominence of exiled former Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan, once one of Hamas's fiercest enemies and now a leading figure in regional efforts to pull the territory back into the Palestinian mainstream. Dahlan, based since 2011 in the United Arab Emirates, is behind an influx of cash to prop up Gaza and detente between Hamas and Arab states including Egypt, which hosted reconciliation talks. ISRAEL SCEPTICAL Michael Oren, deputy minister for diplomacy in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, played down the unity drive, saying "it happens every two or three years" and that Hamas remains dedicated to Israel's destruction. "One of the issues is whether Hamas will be able to retain its arms. If it does then it's a non-starter for Israel," he said. Abbas' pressure over the past several months on Hamas to loosen its grip included halting electricity payments to Israeli suppliers, a sanction that caused extensive daily blackouts in Gaza. Abbas also cut wages to civil servants still on the unity government's payroll, a move that deepened economic hardship in an area long underl blockade by Israel. Hamdallah, accompanied by security men from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and Hamas forces, was scheduled to hold talks with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and tour Shejaia, a neighbourhood heavily damaged by Israeli bombardment in a 2014 war with Gaza militants. On Tuesday, the Palestinian unity cabinet will meet in Gaza. "The agenda is crowded with ideas and projects," Culture Minister Ehad Bseisso said. "We need to ... push the wheel of reconciliation forward, to create a positive atmosphere." In addition to setting a date for holding presidential and parliamentary elections, rival factions will have to resolve the issue of the fate of the 40,000 to 50,000 civil and military staff Hamas had hired since 2007. *This report was edited by Ahram Online. Search Keywords: Short link: 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 Following a recent decision to rescind the Obama administrations 2015 Waters of the United States regulations, NACS expresses its support for returning to the pre-2015 definition. WASHINGTON NACS provided comments last week in support of a proposed rule to return the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) to its pre-2015 definition. On June 27, the Trump administration announced the proposal to overthrow the Obama administrations WOTUS regulations. The WOTUS regulations went into effect in August 2015 but were later blocked by the Sixth Circuit Court. The WOTUS regulations were met with opposition from the business and agriculture industries, which felt that the regulations went too far and would drastically increase cost of permitting and compliance. For instance, any convenience store near or touching a protected water would face additional permitting and Clean Water Act requirements. By way of background on this issue, NACS commented in November 2014 on the Obama administrations proposed WOTUS rule, saying that our members had significant concerns with the proposed changes to the WOTUS definition. The proposal was subsequently finalized with minor changes on June 29, 2015, but our industrys concerns were not alleviated in the final rule. The final rule drastically expanded federal CWA jurisdiction and was excessively broad and ambiguous. Had it gone into effect, the final rule would have increased the already significant costs that NACS members incur through permitting and associated CWA regulatory requirements. Moreover, it would have undermined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) efforts to encourage fuel retailers to invest in equipment that is compatible with higher ethanol blends. This is because the final rule would have added a layer of regulatory complexity and cost to every investment and expansion decision that retailers make. In short, the final rule would have worked against EPAs regulations under the Renewable Fuel Standard program, which relies on retailers investing in new equipment that can store and dispense gasoline-ethanol blends greater than 10% ethanol. In finalizing the WOTUS rule, NACS believes the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers did not sufficiently consider the rules impact on small businesses, including most fuel retailers. Given these concerns, NACS supports the recent decision to rescind the Obama-era rule and re-codify a pre-2015 definition ahead of a rulemaking process intended to review and revise the WOTUS definition. NACS is also urging the agencies to consider the comments of respondents to ensure that any new rule is clear, appropriate and properly balances any impacts on small businesses. ONTARIO, Canada Satinder Chera, president of the Canadian Convenience Stores Association, wrote in the Huffington Post (Canada) that as legislation calling for plain packaging on tobacco products moves through the legislative process, it could bring to light two important pieces of evidence that will impact how lawmakers decide to proceed. First, Chera points to the results of a CCSA survey of convenience store retailers. When asked if they believed the proposed legislation would affect their business, an overwhelming majority say it will have a negative impact on the security of their stores, force staff to work longer hours and damage the customer experience by slowing down transactions. The main thing to be learned is that changing the way that tobacco is packaged will have a significant impact on the people who sell it, he said. For the sake of context, understand that the retailers answering the survey are also the people with easily the most experience in how tobacco packaging and placement affects the retail experience. They have been on the front lines of the fight to reduce underage smoking and work hard every day to make sure tobacco products don't end up in kids' hands, wrote Chera. Chera also pointed to Australia, where plain packaging has not helped reduce the smoking rate. He notes that in 2012, Australia introduced plain packaging legislation very similar to what is being proposed in Canada. Per the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), a recent study found that in the four years immediately following implementation of the new rules (2013-2016), the downward trend in smoking rates actually stalled for the first time in 20 years, wrote Chera. As pertains to youth, smoking rates in Australia had actually gone up prior to 2013, and between 2013 and 2016, they simply returned to the previous downward trend. Overall, there was no statistically significant decline in smoking that could be attributed to plain packaging. While the Canadian government weighs plain packaging, perhaps it is time for the federal government to slow down the runaway train until all the benefits and impacts have been identified and studied, Chera said. [T]he only sure thing about plain packaging right now is that it will be a pain for retailers, a pain for their employees, and a pain for consumers. Spain's foreign minister says the violence seen Sunday as police tried to prevent people from voting in Catalonia in a banned independence referendum was "unfortunate" and "unpleasant" but "proportionate." In an interview with The Associate Press, Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis blamed the violence exclusively on Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his regional government. Dastis says "if people insist in disregarding the law and doing something that has been consistently declared illegal and unconstitutional, law enforcement officers need to uphold the law." Officials say at least 465 people and 11 police were injured Sunday. Videos showed police roughing up voters, who tried to shield themselves from blows. Dastis says, however, "it was a proportionate use of force, there was no excessive violence and it was a reaction to the situation they were faced with when they were prevented from doing their job." Search Keywords: Short link: A California investor chartered planes to take cargo from Florida to Puerto Rico as part of his $10 million donation to help the hurricane-ravaged island. Orlando Bravo chartered the planes Saturday to take goods from Fort Lauderdale to Puerto Rico, which is struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. The Category 4 storm tore across the island on Sept. 20 with winds of 155 mph, leaving millions without power and many cities and towns isolated. Bravo said that that through efficient use of capital, supply chain expertise and knowledge of the local communities where he grew up, he believed he could have a significant impact on the recovery. An unfounded shooting scare that left USC students and staff shaken Monday was triggered by a faculty member, who's accused of falsely telling her students that there was an "active shooter" in one of the buildings on campus, the university reported. The university issued an alert urging students and staff to shelter in place or avoid the area of 610 Childs Way on the University Park Campus. University officials said shots were reported but not confirmed. Aerial images showed officers swarming the building and students evacuating and gathering on street corners. Officers searched Fertitta Hall at the Marshall School of Business about 12:15 p.m. Forty-five minutes later, after authorities conducted an initial search of buildings, the LAPD reported that there had been no shooting and there was "no danger to the community." According to USC Department of Public Safety Chief John Thomas, the school took the action after receiving reports that "a faculty member during class falsely told her students there was an active shooter in the building. The faculty member has been detained by the LAPD." The university withheld the name of the faculty member who was detained. The incident came a day after a gunman killed 59 people and wounded hundreds more at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas, in what's become the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history. The 37th annual Fleet Week in San Francisco is officially underway. And while the sight of the Blue Angels flying overhead thrills fans, theres also a serious side to the event. Crews in the area will be training to deal with a potential disaster. Landing craft units arrived Sunday near the Mariposa Hunters Point Yacht Club in San Francisco, unloading U.S. military vehicles and equipment. "It's going to drop its front, and all of the supplies that are part of our medical surge exercise happening tomorrow, all of that equipment is going to be coming here to San Francisco," said David Cruise, spokesman for San Francisco Fleet Week. Military personnel and local first responders will take part in a disaster training scenario Monday at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. "The scenario tomorrow is San Francisco has suffered an earthquake that is not catastrophic, but it does isolate the city, and there is a need for medical assistance," Cruise said. One of the biggest concerns if a disaster strikes, Cruise said, is how to get resources into the city. "This is that drill youre seeing happening right now in Houston and in Florida, especially in Puerto Rico, where ports are closed, you can't get commodities in," Cruise said. According to estimates, Fleet Week is expected to bring in more than $10 million in revenue for the city. And with the disaster response exercise, the hope is the city will be ready for an emergency. SAN FRANCISCO - A Russian diplomat says the United States is violating international law by searching a two-story brownstone building in San Francisco that was the consul's residence. Russian diplomat Nikolay Pukalov says at least 20 U.S. officials were coming in and out of the property Monday. The U.S. State Department confirmed it conducted a walkthrough to make sure all residents had left the premises. Pukalov, head of the consular division at the Russian embassy in D.C., called the inspection an "intrusion" and a violation of international law and of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. President Donald Trump's administration on Aug. 31 gave Moscow two days to shutter diplomatic outposts in San Francisco and other American cities and a month to vacate diplomatic residences. Dire warnings that a volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali will erupt have caused tens of thousands to flee, but some who survived its last eruption in 1963 refuse to leave the danger zone while others are pulled into it by the power of tradition. Gede Bagus Ariksa Sudana and Yesi Fitriani, a young couple planning to legally marry in April next year, spent Sunday at Gede's village, Beluhu, inside the area declared off-limits, for a steeped-in-tradition Hindu wedding ceremony requiring prayers at a family shrine. Sudana, who is Balinese, came from faraway Kalimantan on the giant island of Borneo, where he's a policeman, and Fitriani came from her hometown of Bandung in Java. They were aware of the risks, said Sudana, but had put their faith in God. Dressed in handsome traditional finery, the couple were tender with each other and photogenic, but also keenly aware that most of Sudana's family couldn't attend the all-important traditional ceremony. "God has his own will and by his blessing we can conduct the ceremony today, even though it's a small ceremony, because most of our family are still in the refugee camp," Sudana said, standing in front of the shrine in a dusty yard at the family home. "Even though they're not coming here, we can ask for their blessing. Even though they're still at the refugee camp, that's enough for us," he said. The area is home to about 6,000 people, but around only 50 are left, said its head of adat, or tradition, who was on hand for the ceremony. Businesses were shuttered and the roads empty except for police patrols and the occasional villager returning to tend to animals or check on property. They are part of a larger exodus of more than 140,000 people from the surrounds of Mount Agung since authorities raised the volcano's alert status to the highest level on Sept. 22, though they say about half of those people have left villages in safe areas and should return home. "We've been planning this for more than a month. At that time, we didn't know this was going to happen," Sudana said. "At the beginning, we were really worried. I was worried this whole ceremony will not happen." His grandmother, Nengah Mungkreng, remembers Agung's last eruption in 1963, which over two major episodes in March and May of that year killed about 1,100 people. "There was no sign at all," said Mungkreng, who was 25 in 1963. "The volcano just suddenly exploded, spreading lava and then raining ash," she said. "The difference now is we can feel the earthquakes." Government volcanologists say instruments are recording hundreds of volcanic earthquakes daily as the mountain is fissured by rising magma. A dramatic escalation in that type of earthquake was the basis for officials to put the volcano on high alert and warn that an eruption was possible anytime. Gede Windu, a villager who spends his days tending goats in a dried-out river bed that the cone-shaped mountain looms over, said he was about 7 years old when Agung erupted in 1963. The sun-beaten 60-year-old remembers terrific explosions, raining ash and the village becoming enveloped in darkness before the family fled. He recalled it being more awe-inspiring than terrifying. "I didn't know what fear was because I was too small," he said. "I wasn't that brilliant like the current generation. We were kind of stupid." After the eruption, Windu said he and his family lived in an evacuee camp for about eight months and returned to their village after the government stopped giving out food. Back in the village, it was a hand-to-mouth existence, he said, because it was two years before the land could be properly farmed again. More than half a century later, Windu is in no hurry to leave his goats and says he won't leave unless officials make him. "Seeing the situation now, I think it's nothing," he said. "I experienced much worse before." "Now the earthquakes are very small, but my children have already run away," he said. "They're really afraid. If they experienced what I experienced, they'd run even faster." Theyve been disagreeing and feuding publicly for months on a variety of topics, but NBC 5 has learned that Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel met privately on Friday. The mayor and governor are working together to bring Amazons second headquarters, and its 50,000 jobs, to Chicago, a spokesman for Mayor Emanuel said. Our offices have been working closely together for weeks on the proposal, and the mayor and governor met on Friday to discuss the progress thats been made and the overall strategy behind the Chicago proposal. The city is aiming to land the coveted headquarters, which could bring billions of dollars and thousands of jobs into the local economy. Mayor Emanuel has made luring the project a priority, trying to fend off other cities like Austin and Atlanta in the process. The meeting between Rauner and Emanuel was not disclosed publicly until Sunday afternoon. Governor Rauner is looking to regroup after an avalanche of criticism greeted his decision to sign a controversial abortion funding bill on Friday. Several prominent Republicans have criticized Rauner for the decision, including State Rep. Peter Breen, the partys floor leader in the chamber. The bill expanded abortion coverage for women on Medicaid, a move opposed by the GOP establishment and some religious leaders in the state. What to Know SWAT officers using explosives stormed Stephen Craig Paddock's hotel room and found he had killed himself. Faces of concertgoers who survived were brushed with shock and confusion, tears and screams Pres. Trump tweeted: "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" The rapid-fire popping sounded like firecrackers at first, and many in the crowd of 22,000 country music fans didn't understand what was happening when the band stopped playing and singer Jason Aldean hustled off stage. "That's gunshots," a man could be heard saying emphatically on a cellphone video in the nearly half-minute of silence and confusion that followed. A woman pleaded with others: "Get down! Get down! Stay down!" Then the pop-pop-pop noise resumed. And pure terror set in. "People start screaming and yelling and we start running," said Andrew Akiyoshi, who provided the cellphone video to The Associated Press. "You could feel the panic. You could feel like the bullets were flying above us. Everybody's ducking down, running low to the ground." While some concertgoers hit the ground Sunday night, others pushed for the crowded exits, shoving through narrow gates and climbing over fences as 40- to 50-round bursts of automatic weapons fire rained down on them from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino hotel. By Monday afternoon, 59 victims were dead and 527 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. "You just didn't know what to do," Akiyoshi said. "Your heart is racing and you're thinking, 'I'm going to die.'" The gunman, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old retired accountant from Mesquite, Nevada, killed himself before officers stormed Room 135 in the gold-colored glass skyscraper. The avid gambler who according to his brother made a small fortune investing in real estate had been staying there since Thursday and had busted out windows to create his sniper's perch roughly 500 yards from the concert grounds. The motive for the attack remained a mystery, with Sheriff Joseph Lombardo saying: "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath at this point." Paddock had 23 guns some with scopes in his hotel room, authorities said. Two were modified to make them fully automatic, according to two U.S. officials briefed by law enforcement who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still unfolding. At Paddock's home, authorities found 19 more guns, explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Also, several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be turned into explosives such as those used in the 1995 Oklahoma bombing, were in his car, the sheriff said. The FBI said it found nothing so far to suggest the attack was connected to international terrorism, despite a claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group, which said Paddock was a "soldier" who had recently converted to Islam. In an address to the country, President Donald Trump called the bloodbath "an act of pure evil" and added: "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has." He ordered flags flown at half-staff. With hospitals jammed with victims, authorities put out a call for blood donations and set up a hotline to report missing people and speed the identification of the dead and wounded. They also opened a "family reunification center" for people to find loved ones. More than 12 hours after the massacre, bodies covered in white sheets were still being removed from the festival grounds. The shooting began at 10:07 p.m., and the gunman appeared to fire unhindered for more than 10 minutes, according to radio traffic. Police frantically tried to locate him and determine whether the gunfire was coming from Mandalay Bay or the neighboring Luxor hotel. At 10:14 p.m., an officer said on his radio that he was pinned down against a wall on Las Vegas Boulevard with 40 to 50 people. "We can't worry about the victims," an officer said at 10:15 p.m. "We need to stop the shooter before we have more victims. Anybody have eyes on him ... stop the shooter." Near the stage, Dylan Schneider, a country singer who performed earlier in the day, huddled with others under the VIP bleachers, where he turned to his manager and asked, "Dude, what do we do?" He said he repeated the question again and again over the next five minutes. Bodies were lying on the artificial turf installed in front of the stage, and people were screaming and crying. The sound of people running on the bleachers added to the confusion, and Schneider thought the concert was being invaded with multiple shooters. "No one knew what to do," Schneider said. "It's literally running for your life and you don't know what decision is the right one. But like I said, I knew we had to get out of there." He eventually pushed his way out of the crowd and found refuge in the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino, where he kicked in a door to an engineering room and spent hours there with others who followed him. The shooting started as Aldean closed out the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival. He had just begun the song "When She Says Baby," and the first burst of nearly 50 shots crackled as he sang, "It's tough just getting up." Muzzle flashes could be seen in the dark as the gunman fired away. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," said Kodiak Yazzie, 36. "You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash, flash, flash, flash." The crowd, funneled tightly into a wide-open space, had little cover and no easy way to escape. Victims fell to the ground, while others fled in panic. Some hid behind concession stands or crawled under parked cars. Faces were etched with shock and confusion, and people wept and screamed. Tales of heroism and compassion emerged quickly: Couples held hands as they ran through the dirt lot. Some of the bleeding were carried out by fellow concertgoers. While dozens of ambulances took away the wounded, some people loaded victims into their cars and drove them to the hospital. People fleeing the concert grounds hitched rides with strangers, piling into cars and trucks. Some of the injured were hit by shrapnel. Others were trampled or were injured jumping fences. The dead included at least three off-duty police officers from various departments who were attending the concert, authorities said. Two on-duty officers were wounded, one critically, police said. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the attack was the work of a "crazed lunatic full of hate." The sheriff said authorities believe Paddock acted alone. While Paddock appeared to have no criminal history, his father was a bank robber who was on the FBI's most-wanted list in the 1960s. As for why Paddock went on the murderous rampage, his brother in Florida, Eric Paddock, told reporters: "I can't even make something up. There's just nothing." Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and that the shooting was "beyond horrific." "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," the country star said. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman who professed support for Muslim extremist groups opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. A suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killed 22 people in May. Almost 90 people were killed in 2015 at a concert in Paris by gunmen inspired by the Islamic State. As the investigation continues into what is now being called the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Connecticut State Police are watching closely. Authorities say at least 50 people were killed and over 400 injured when a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas Sunday. Its a wakeup call, said Connecticut State Police Trooper Kelly Grant. The closer it gets and the more that it happens, the more you realize its anytime, anywhere, any place. [NATL-LA] Mass Shooting at Las Vegas Concert Leaves 58 Dead The Connecticut State Police are often called upon to help police large events. She said there are two things regular citizens can do when in attendance. First, if you spot something or someone that appears suspicious, tell security or law enforcement. Grant said to look out for specific behavior. The faces continually change. So youre not looking for a particular person or type of person, youre looking for the behaviors, youre looking for that person that looks out of place, youre looking for that person, theyre up to something, Grant explained. The second thing you can do is have an exit plan if you have to flee the area in an emergency. When you get to your seat know where that closest exit is. Is there some sort of shelter nearby, is there a pillar where if something does go bad you can get behind that pillar. So situational awareness is very important, Grant said. State police constantly train and prepare to respond to emergencies including mass shootings like the tragedy in Las Vegas. The death toll and number of injured continues to rise in Nevada; police identified Stephen Paddock as the dead man suspected of opening fire on concert and say he was not connected to any militant group Fifty-eight people are now known to have been killed in a mass shooting at an open air concert in Las Vegas while another 515 were wounded, police said Monday. "The number of people who have died associated with this event has increased. Right now we're using the number of 58," Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "The number of injured -- we are using the number of 515."The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary, would make the attack the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, eclipsing last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club. Thousands of panicked people fled the scene, in some cases trampling one another as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack. Police identified the gunman as area resident Stephen Paddock, 64, and said they had no information yet about his motive. He was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. "We've located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied." Authorities believed they had located Paddock's roommate, who they identified as Marilou Danley. He gave no details of whether she was suspected of involvement in the attack but described her as an "associate." Police had located two cars that belonged to the suspect. The dead included one off-duty police officer, Lombardo said. Two on-duty officers were injured, including one who was in stable condition after surgery and one who sustained minor injuries, Lombardo said. Police warned the death toll may rise. 'JUST KEPT GOING ON' Video taken of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. "It sounded like fireworks. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on," said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. "Probably 100 shots at a time. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again," Smith said. "People were shot and trying to get out. A lot of people were shot." Las Vegas's casinos, nightclubs and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out shortly after 10 p.m. local time (0400 GMT). Mike McGarry, a 53-year-old financial adviser from Philadelphia, was at the concert when he heard hundreds of shots ring out. "It was crazy - I laid on top of the kids. They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life," McGarry said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks, after people ran over him in the panicked crowd. The shooting broke out on the final night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival, a sold-out event attended by thousands and featuring top acts such as Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean. "Tonight has been beyond horrific," Aldean said in a statement on Instagram. "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night." 'WE'RE HORRIFIED' The suspected shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news. "We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims," Eric Paddock said in a brief telephone interview, his voice trembling. "We have no idea in the world." U.S. President Donald Trump offered his condolences to the victims via a post on Twitter early Monday. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Trump said. The rampage was reminiscent of a mass shooting at a Paris rock concert in November 2015 that killed 89 people, part of a wave of coordinated attacks by Islamist militants that left 130 dead. The concert venue was in an outdoor area known as Las Vegas Village, across the Strip from the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor hotels. "Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night's tragic events," the Mandalay Bay said on Twitter. Search Keywords: Short link: A team of surgeons at Yale-New Haven Hospital is ready to mobilize in the event of a mass casualty incident. "We have 11 fully trained trauma and emergency general surgeons," said Dr. Kimberly Davis, Yale-New Haven Hospitals chief of general surgery, trauma and surgical critical care. But when the Yale-New Haven emergency room expects an influx of patients at once, other surgeons are prepared to help. The same is true at Connecticuts other Level One Trauma Center at Hartford Hospital. "That includes neurosurgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery," Hartford Hospital Chief of Surgery Dr. Jonathan Gates said. "And even you can imagine surgical oncology and transplant surgery would benefit because they have expertise in dealing with different organs." The Yale-New Haven Trauma Center would set up two triage areas, one for the walking wounded and the other for critically injured victims, DDavis said. "A determination would be made who is likely to survive who would best benefit from early aggressive intervention," she said. When Davis first learned of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, she thought of her friend who runs the Level One trauma center at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas. "The trauma surgery community is a small tight community," she said. "So I knew all the surgeons who are involved in the Pulse nightclub event, I know all the surgeons that are out in Las Vegas and I can only imagine what theyre going through." Mass casualty events can take a toll on a hospitals staff, Davis said. "Im sure the providers have their heads down," she said. "And theyre taking care of patients but will have some downstream emotional effects of taking care of so many people in such a short period of time." Yale-New Havens Trauma Center runs disaster drills twice a year. Hospitals in Bridgeport and Norwalk are Level Two trauma centers along the I-95 corridor. Families whose loved ones were killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting nearly five years ago are calling on Congress to pass stronger guns laws in the wake of the shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival overnight that has killed 58 people. Dawn Hochsprung was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and was killed in the December 2012 school shooting. Her daughter, Erica Lafferty, on Monday is using Twitter to urge people to call their Congress members about gun control. What I want to do - sit on my couch and cry, she Tweeted. What I am doing - tweeting, calling and emailing #Congress, encouraging others to get involved What I want to do - sit on my couch and cry What I am doing - tweeting, calling and emailing #Congress, encouraging others to get involved Erica L Lafferty (@ELaffGarb) October 2, 2017 If I can get up today and act, so can you. Text READY to 64433 to get involved with @MomsDemand. It's time to be a part of the solution. Erica L Lafferty (@ELaffGarb) October 2, 2017 She said if she can get up and act, others can too. Read more of her Tweets here. Nelba Marquez-Greenes daughter, Ana Grace, was killed in the school shooting and on Monday she took to Twitter to express her displeasure with Congress. I dont know what to say besides this is on every congressperson who said in 13: There is simply nothing we could do. #LasVegas #Newtown Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 I dont know what to say besides this is on every congressperson who said in 13: There is simply nothing we could do, she Tweeted. She went on to Tweet that she is heartbroken and said families do not recovery from tragedies like the one in Newtown or in Las Vegas. Read more of her Tweets here. Donna Soto, whose daughter Vicki, a first-grade teacher, was among 26 people killed the school in Newtown, tweeted: "When will it end." Newtown Action Alliance, a grassroots organization formed after the shooting in Sandy Hook, also released a statement Monday, saying members hearts are broken for the families of the victims and they are sending love and support. While we wait for more information to be released and the investigation to be completed, we cannot ignore that fact that rapid-fire weapons of war were used to brutally murder innocent Americans who were simply attending a live concert in Las Vegas. Over and over again, military-style assault weapons are the weapons of choice for mass shooters due to the sheer lethality of their design. Assault weapons are designed to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. After the Sandy Hook tragedy and other mass shooting incidents, thoughts and prayers are offered by Congressional members who stand with the NRA. But these members of Congress have failed to do their job to keep all Americans safe. Taking action to reduce gun violence should not be a political issue. It is a matter of public safety and public health, the alliance said. It too is calling on Congress to reject policy proposals that loosen gun laws. Over 500,000 Americans have been killed or injured by guns since the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy. The Las Vegas massacre was the 272nd American mass-shooting incident in 2017. Too many Americans are getting killed in public spaces. Until our federal gun laws are strengthened, we are all vulnerable to becoming victims of gun violence in our country. We encourage all Americans to demand action from their congressional representatives by calling them at 202-224-3121, the Newtown Action Alliance said in a statement. The Connecticut Citizens Defense League, a Connecticut-based grass-roots gun rights organization, released a statement Monday morning in response to what is now the deadliest shooting in the United States. "CCDL sympathizes with victims and families of this horrible mass murder in Las Vegas. We are eager for answers about what motivated this mass murderer and other questions about him as well," the organization said in a statement. "We would like to acknowledge the speedy response of law enforcement and their efforts to put an end to the incident as quickly as possible." I can understand the feelings and sentiments of a lot of people. I think we need more answers as far as the firearms used and his motives. One thing we dont want to see is, gun control proponents are out there right now calling for knee-jerk legislation, Scott Wilson, President of CCCDL, said in a statement. The Connecticut budget deadline is Sunday and with no budget reached, cities and towns will be hit with some deep spending cuts. On Saturday people voiced their opinions about Gov. Dannel Malloys budget veto and what to do next. On Saturday a group of people, including Bianca Johnson from Colchester, marched and shouted outside the governors mansion hoping he and lawmakers would hear. Let it be about we the people, not the Democratic party not the Republican party, it should be about us the people, said Johnson. As a mother of three who spent her life on a budget, Johnson says no veto, we need a budget now. I am hoping to convince these senators and representatives to vote to override the veto, said Johnson. Joe Visconti, who plant to run for Connecticut Governor himself as a Republican, organized the rally as a private citizen. He said overriding the governors veto is the best solution. Trying to form a budget in the next three weeks is like trying to plan your next vacation while you are in the middle of a train wreck, said Visconti. Many cities and towns are fearing the impact of the executive order. No budget means payments to cities and towns will get cut down dramatically starting during the first week of October. After Sunday, 85 school systems will see their entire state education aid eliminated, while another 54 will see major reductions. When to comes to West Hartford, they want fair funding for schools, however, town leaders say they planned ahead. I don't know if I would say I was happy he vetoed the budget. I wish that we could come to some sort of a resolution. It is very difficult being in limbo, said Judy Casperson, who is a member of the West Hartford Town Council. Casperson said the state funding uncertainty is tough, however, West Hartford has enough fiscal resources to last through the end of the year. Come to a resolution that will benefit the people of the state and of West Hartford of course, said Casperson. When asked if she thought a new budget was the best solution, she said: "I say we need more work, yes. Bianca Johnson said it is time we all work together. Lets get out and get some work done, said Johnson. The next chance for lawmakers to override the governors veto will be on Oct. 10. Connecticut State Police arrested a passenger after finding marijuana and a gun in a car during a traffic stop Sunday, according to police. Police said that Pierre Clemat, 27, of Brockton, Mass. was riding in a vehicle traveling 79 mph in a section on I-84 east in Danbury marked 55 mph. A trooper pulled the car over and observed that the call smelled of marijuana. State Police K9 Favor was called in and detected marijuana in the vehicle. Troopers also found a 9mm handgun in the trunk of the vehicle. Clemat was arrested and charged with weapons in a motor vehicle and criminal possession of a firearm. He was released on a $2,500 bond and is due in court on Oct. 19. The driver was issued a speeding ticket. What to Know At least 59 people were killed and more than 400 sent to hospitals in what would be the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history The gunman has been identified as Stephen Paddock, of Mesquite, Nevada; he was found dead in his 32nd floor room in the Mandalay Bay hotel Tens of thousands ran for their lives, screaming, as gunfire erupted; it was believed to have been a "lone wolf" attack, authorities said President Donald Trump called Sunday's mass shooting at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas "an act of pure evil" in an address to the nation Monday. Stephen Craig Paddock opened fire from a high perch late Sunday, leaving at least 59 people dead and more than 500 wounded. It's the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Trump responded from the White House, thanking first responders for what they did to save lives and offering prayers for the victims and their families. "We pray for the entire nation to find unity and peace, and we pray for the day when evil is banished and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear," Trump said. At least 59 people were killed and more than 500 injured when a man opened fire at an open-air concert in Las Vegas from a nearby hotel. He also said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday, and ordered flags across the nation to be flown at half-staff. Trump also observed a moment of silence Monday afternoon on the south end of the White House lawn. A bell tolled three times as a solemn Trump, flanked by first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, paused on the South Lawn for a moment of silence in honor of the shooting victims. Videos recorded by concert-goers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas show the moment shots rained down on Oct. 1, 2017. Flags over the U.S. Capitol were ordered to be lowered to half-staff Monday, House Speak Paul Ryan said. "This evil tragedy horrifies us all. To the people of Las Vegas and to the families of the victims, we are with you during this time," Ryan said in a statement. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 The gunman, who took aim at the crowd as country music star Jason Aldean was performing, was killed on the the 32nd floor of a casino on the Las Vegas Strip. He was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said it was believed to be a "lone wolf" attack. Asked if Trump wants to use the shooting to launch into a policy discussion about gun control, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said now is not the time to discuss policy. "Theres a time and place for a political debate," she said at a White House press briefing Monday afternoon. "Now is the time to unite as a country. Theres currently an open and ongoing law enforcement investigation; a motive has yet to be determined. It would be premature for us to discuss policy when we dont fully know all the facts or what took place last night." Pence also tweeted in response to the shooting, saying, "To victims, families & loved ones affected by this senseless violence in Las Vegas, Karen & I are praying for you & offering our love. The hearts & prayers of the American people are with you. You have our condolences and sympathies." Pence also thanked the "courageous first responders" for their "acts of bravery." [NATL-LA] Mass Shooting at Las Vegas Concert Leaves 58 Dead In Connecticut, officials who have been fighting for stricter gun control laws in the years since the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School are calling for action on gun control following the shooting. "Not again," U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted, saying his heart is with Las Vegas and he is sending prayers to the victims. "Nowhere but America do horrific large-scale mass shootings happen with this degree of regularity," Murphy said in a statement. "Last night's massacre may go down as the deadliest in our nation's history, but already this year there have been more mass shootings than days in the year. ... It's time for Congress to get off its ass and do something." Other politicians from Nevada and around the country responded as well, including former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. https://twitter.com/GovSandoval/status/914783843806199809 "North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region," Vice President Mike Pence said. Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, saying she knows the "horror" of gun violence all too well, implored lawmakers on Monday to take action following the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas. "I know this feeling of heartbreak and horror too well," Giffords, who was gravely wounded in an assassination attempt six years ago in Arizona, said in a statement. "The massacre in Las Vegas is a grave tragedy for our nation. This must stop we must stop this." Authorities in Southeast Texas say an 8-year-old boy has died after being shot in the chest while shooting at tin cans with family members. The Liberty County sheriff's office said Sunday that they're still investigating the Saturday night shooting and haven't yet determined exactly how it happened or who was involved. Officials said the boy, his 35-year-old father and the father's nephew had been taking turns using a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle with no trigger guard to shoot at tin cans near a wood pile. The boy's father told an investigator that when he turned his back he heard a gunshot and his son had been shot. The boy was pronounced dead at a Houston hospital. Authorities say no charges have been filed at this time. One person was hurt after a three car crash Sunday evening along the TEXPress lanes of Texas 121 in Hurst. The Hurst Fire Department confirms that one person involved in the crash had minor injuries. No further injuries were reported. The crash happened in the Eastbound TEXpress lanes. One car caught fire after the crash happened. Hurst Police were forced to shut down both directions of the TEXPress lanes so rescue crews could get to the scene. The cause of the crash has not yet been released. What to Know SWAT officers using explosives stormed Stephen Craig Paddock's hotel room and found he had killed himself. Faces of concertgoers who survived were brushed with shock and confusion, tears and screams Pres. Trump tweeted: "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" The retired man suspected of using an automatic weapon to unleash a barrage of gunfire on thousands of people attending an outdoor music festival Sunday in Las Vegas had three previous addresses in North Texas, NBC 5 has confirmed. Authorities identified the gunman in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. Police said he killed 59 and wounded 527 when he opened fire on 22,000 concertgoers at about 10 p.m. Sunday from inside his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. [NATL-LA] Mass Shooting at Las Vegas Concert Leaves 58 Dead Paddock's records indicate he lived at multiple addresses in Mesquite, Texas, before moving to Mesquite, Nevada. He once owned and managed the Central Park apartments on Via Ventura and lived for a time at a home around the corner from the apartment complex, about 10 years ago. At the apartment complex on Monday one person who asked not to be identified described Paddock as a good guy and said he was well liked by many of his tenants. Across the street from the home where he once lived, neighbor Samih Abdel said Paddock typically kept to himself. "My mom, she agreed with me that he never really associated with anybody in the neighborhood," Abdel said. The father of the Las Vegas gunman also has ties to Texas and an extensive criminal background. Mesquite, Texas, police records show Paddock called police twice in 2005 to report minor issues at the apartment complex. Police said on one occasion Paddock reported vandalism to a mailbox at the apartment complex and in another instance reported a parking violation. Police said at no time did they have any trouble with Paddock. He appears to have no previous criminal record. The Mesquite, Texas, police department released the following statement about Paddock's time in Texas Monday afternoon: "Stephen Craig Paddock, the suspect in the Oct. 1, mass shooting in Las Vegas, is a former resident of Mesquite, Texas. Paddock had connections to three different properties in Mesquite between 2004 and 2012. In 2010 Paddock declared his home address was in the 4800 block of Via Ventura, Mesquite, Texas. Between 2007 and 2010, Paddock rented a hangar at the Mesquite Metro Airport. He stored one plane at that location and he paid his rent on time. Airport files do not indicate any negative interactions with Paddock. There is no record that the Mesquite, Texas Police Department has ever dealt with Paddock in any way. Our thoughts and prayers continue to focus on the families of the victims in Las Vegas and the members of law enforcement who lost their lives in this tragedy." At the Mesquite, Texas, airport Monday the airport manager said Paddock seemed to be a normal guy who enjoyed flying and spending time around the airport hangar. "He wasn't a troublemaker. There is nothing in the file that indicated we had any issues with him. He just came out and flew his airplane and bought gas from us," said airport manager Cynthia Godfrey. In a statement released Monday, Lockheed Martin said that Paddock once worked for a predecessor company in the 1980s. It was not clear from the statement whether he worked for the company's operations in North Texas or someplace else. The statement said that Lockheed was cooperating with authorities to answer any questions they might have about Paddock's time with the company. Paddock's brother, Eric, acting as a spokesman for the family, said he was not aware of mental illness or any other reason for his brother's attack. He added he didn't think Stephen had any financial troubles, saying he had worked as an accountant and was a multimillionaire who made much of his money investing in real estate and said he was a very private person. "There's no affiliations," he told NBC affiliate WESH. "There's no church. There's no religion. There's no politics. There's no anything." Eric Paddock told reporters that he and his son have been in touch with federal investigators, corroborating text messages they had exchanged with Stephen. Eric said he had built computers for his brother, and he gave investigators possible passwords. Eric also said he is hoping for a detailed autopsy on his brother, and he intimated he wants to know if anything was wrong with his brain. He referenced autopsies of football players' brains to look for signs of degenerative brain disease. Country singer Jason Aldean was performing his headlining set at the open-air Route 91 Harvest Festival when the the shooting began. SWAT teams quickly descended on the concert and the casino, and officers used explosives to get into the hotel room where the suspect was found dead inside, authorities said. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued the following statement Monday after learning of the massacre. The death toll in Las Vegas is the highest in modern American history, topping the 2016 shooting that left 49 dead at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. People who were at the Las Vegas music festival when the mass shooting occurred are telling horrific stories, including husband and wife Daniel and Jennie Rosales, who were working at the concert as ushers. Police said they believe Paddock acted alone in the shooting. His girlfriend, a 62-year-old woman, was traveling out of the country when the shooting took place. Investigators said they do not believe she is involved in the attack but that they'd like to speak with her when she returns to the U.S. There was no immediate word on the motive for the attack. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said there was no "specific credible threat" involving other public venues in the U.S. and there is no suspected ties to terrorism. The body of a 19-year-old student last seen on a U.S. naval base in Virginia, has been identified, and federal investigators are searching for her killer. The body found Friday in Charlotte, North Carolina, is that of Ashanti Billie, the FBI and local police announced Saturday. Billie, a culinary arts student who recently graduated from high school in Prince George's County, Maryland, was last seen Sept. 18 at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Norfolk, Virginia. Her body was found 11 days later and more than 300 miles away, outside a church in a residential neighborhood of Charlotte. Billie's heartbroken parents spoke at a news conference Saturday evening. "She is home. She's home with God, and we're OK with that," Billie's father, Meltony Billie, said. Billie's mother, Brandy Billie, addressed her daughter's killer and then her daughter. "To the person or persons that decided they wanted to take our baby away from us and away from everyone that loved her: You're a coward. You don't deserve to breathe the air she breathed," she said. "Ashanti, baby, we love you, we love you and we love you." The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is investigating Billie's death as a homicide. No information was released immediately on how she died. Federal officials are assisting in the search for her killer, FBI special agent Martin Culbreth said. "Our mission is to bring justice for Ashanti, and we will be relentless in our efforts to find who did this to her," he said in his statement. "We will not rest until the person who robbed Ashanti of her life, her promise and her future is held fully accountable under the law." A landscaper found Billie's body Friday morning behind a church on the 1700 block of Griers Grove Road in Charlotte, local police said. The church, East Stonewall AME Zion Church, is about a mile from Interstate Highway 77 and Interstate Highway 85. Someone at the church called 911 about 10:35 a.m. Police arrived and pronounced Billie dead on the scene. It was not immediately clear how long her body had been behind the church. Billie's family had said Friday that they had been told a body was found but it was not clear if it was Billie's. "As the family awaits further updates, we ask that you continue to keep us in prayer and pray this is not Ashanti Billie," a statement from the family said. Billie's body was identified by the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner's Office and Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Police Department. That police department, the FBI, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Virginia Beach Police Department and the Norfolk Police Department searched for Billie, along with her loved ones and volunteers. More than 75 people combed two Norfolk, Virginia, neighborhoods Thursday, looking for any clues that would lead them to Billie. Billie was last seen about 5 a.m. on Sept. 18 entering Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Norfolk, where she was an assistant manager at a Blimpie sandwich shop. But police say she never arrived at work. Her cellphone was found later that day in a dumpster nearly 3 miles away from the base. Neighbors spotted her car Sept. 23 on a dead-end road in the Ocean View section of the city. They told police the car had been there for several days. On Thursday, a volunteer found a pink shoe near where Billie's car was found, The Virginia Pilot reported. A sweatshirt and phone charger also were found during the search, according to the newspaper. It was not clear if those items are related to her disappearance. Billie's parents, who both are veterans, said earlier this week they remained hopeful that she would be found. "Just help me bring my baby, Ashanti, home, please," Brandy Billie said through tears in a video posted to Facebook. Billie moved to Virginia Beach in August to attend culinary arts classes at the Art Institute of Virginia Beach. She graduated from Henry Wise High School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, in 2016. Anyone with information for the FBI is asked to contact the FBI Norfolk Field Office at 757-455-0100. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a shooting that killed at least 50 people and wounded over 400 in Las Vegas early on Monday, and said the attacker had converted to Islam a few months ago. The IS-affiliated news agency Amaq did not provide evidence to support its claims. "The Las Vegas attack was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried it out in response to calls to target states of the coalition," the group's news agency Amaq said in reference to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the group in the Middle East. "The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam a few months ago," Amaq added. US security officials have maintained that the suspect in Las Vegas killing is not connected to any militant group. Search Keywords: Short link: As shark attacks continue to be a concern along Californias coast, local politicians are now advocating for the adoption of shark-detecting technology in the ocean. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, announced this week his desire to purchase technology from Australian-based company, Shark Mitigation Systems. The company produces a sonar buoy that recognizes when a sea animal is more than 6 feet long. Then, the software determines if its behaviors are similar to a great white shark. If they are, lifeguards will receive a text and can decide to shut down the beach. "The City of Newport Beach would be interested in installing the shark detection technology along our beaches," Mayor Kevin Muldoon told NBC 7 Friday. "The environmentally-friendly technology could assist lifeguards and help protect swimmers." In April, Leanne Ericson, a mother of three, was swimming at San Onofre State Beach when a shark bit her right leg. Doctors at the time were unsure if she would survive. Local biologists say the shark population is increasing due to a 1990s near-shore net ban, allowing juvenile white sharks, and their prey to thrive along Californias coast. Biologists add theyre beginning to see the results of that legislation now as the sharks grow to adulthood. 104 Wins. Is that good? The Los Angeles Dodgers completed the regular season on a high-note, defeating the Colorado Rockies, 6-3, on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field. Corey Seager had three hits to break out of a funk and the Dodgers got RBI doubles from Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson. At 104-58, the Dodgers finished tied for the second-most wins in franchise history with the 1942 squad (104-50) in Brooklyn. The '53 team went 105-49. Colorado wrapped up the regular season 87-75 for its best mark since 2009, which was the last time the team went to the postseason before clinching the second NL wild-card spot Saturday. The Rockies travel to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks in a one-game playoff on Wednesday. The winner will meet Los Angeles in Game 1 of an NL Division Series on Friday at Dodger Stadium. Up Next: The Playoffs! The Dodgers will face the winner of the one-game wild card match between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies Please refresh this page for more updates, stats, and player reactions These are the victims from Southern California killed when a gunman fired from a hotel room on the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas on Sunday. The shooting left at least 59 people dead and hundreds injured. It is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. For an up to date list of victims from Southern California see our photo gallery. Sandy Casey, Manhattan Beach Casey was a special education teacher from the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. Casey worked at the district for nine years. "This is unbelievably sad and tragic," said Superintendent Mike Matthews. "We lost a spectacular teacher who devoted her life to helping some of our most needy students." Rocio Guillen, Eastvale Jesse Guillen, her ex-husband and father of four children, wrote: "Words can not explain how much it hurts me to see the pain in my boys eyes when they found out that their mom was taken from them last night in Las Vegas by a senseless act of violence. Please hold your loved ones close. Life is too short and too precious. Please keep Marcus, Christopher and Rocios 2 small infant children in your prayers." Rachael Parker, 33, Manhattan Beach Parker was a records technician at the Manhattan Beach Police Department. Susan Smith, 53, Simi Valley Smith was a Simi Valley Unified School District office manager. She worked for the district for 16 years. The shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas is one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. At least 59 people were killed and 527 wounded, according to authorities. That makes it the deadliest in modern American history. Here is a list of some of the worst mass shootings in recent years: [[449123453, C]] 59 Killed - Las Vegas, Nevada (Oct. 1, 2017) - A gunman on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas strip casino fired down on a country music festival below, killing at least 58 people and wounding 515, according to authorities. The suspected gunman, Stephen Paddock, killed himself at the scene, police said. 49 Killed - Orlando, Florida (June 12, 2016) - Forty-nine people were killed and 53 wounded in a shooting at the Pulse nightclub. Gunman Omar Mateen was killed after taking hostages. 32 Killed - Blacksburg, Virginia (April 16, 2007) - Thirty-two people were killed and 17 wounded in a shooting on the Virginia Tech campus by gunman Seung-Hui Cho, who also fatally shot himself. 26 Killed - Newtown, Connecticut (Dec. 14, 2012) - Twenty-six people, including 20 children, were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Gunman Adam Lanza killed his mother before the shooting and later fatally shot himself. 23 Killed - Killeen, Texas (Oct. 16, 1991) - Twenty-three people were killed and 20 injured when George Hennard crashed his pickup into Luby's Cafeteria then opened fire on customers before fatally shooting himself. 21 Killed - San Ysidro, California (July 18, 1984) - Twenty-one people were killed and 19 injured at a San Diego McDonald's. James Huberty was killed by police. 17 Killed - Austin, Texas (Aug. 1, 1966) - Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 others wounded when student Charles Whitman opened fire from the 28th floor of the University of Texas campus tower then was killed by police. Seventeen deaths were ultimately attributed to the shooting. 14 Killed - San Bernardino, California (Dec. 2, 2015) - Fourteen people were killed and 22 wounded at a meeting of San Bernardino County employees. Husband-and-wife suspects Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were killed in a gunfight with police. 14 Killed - Edmond, Oklahoma (Aug. 20, 1986) - Postal worker Patrick Sherrill killed 14 co-workers and wounded six others before fatally shooting himself. 13 Killed - Fort Hood, Texas (Nov. 9, 2009) - Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded by Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist. Hasan was sentenced to death. 13 Killed - Binghamton, New York (April 3, 2009) - Thirteen people killed and four wounded at a citizenship class by gunman Jiverly Antares Wong, who then killed himself. 13 Killed - Littleton, Colorado (April 20, 1999) - Twelve students and one teacher were killed and 20 wounded at Columbine High School. Attackers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed themselves. 12 Killed - Aurora, Colorado (July 20, 2012) - Twelve people were killed and 70 wounded at a movie theater during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." Gunman James Holmes, arrested outside the theater, had booby-trapped his home with explosives. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. 12 Killed - Washington, D.C., (Sept. 16, 2013) Twelve people were killed and eight injured at the Washington Navy Yard. Gunman Aaron Alexis, of Texas, was killed. 9 Killed - Charleston, South Carolina, (June 18, 2015) Nine people were killed at a prayer meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic African-American church. Gunman Dylann Roof, a white supremacist, was sentenced to death. CORRECTION (Oct. 2, 2017 1:53 p.m. ET): This article has been updated to fix a typo on the number of those killed in Austin, Texas, and to clarify that 17 deaths were ultimately attributed to the shooting at the University of Texas. The curfew put in place after Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys last month has been lifted. Monroe County Sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin said in a news release Monday that sheriff's deputies will be actively patrolling residential neighborhoods and keeping an eye out for suspicious people and suspicious activity. Officials in the Keys have also reopened to visitors three weeks after Irma devastated the island chain. Airline and cruise ship traffic has returned to Key West and traffic is flowing on the Florida Keys Overseas Highway. Herrin says that anyone who sees activity that looks unusual or suspicious should call the sheriff's office. A University of Florida student is among the more than 500 people injured in the Las Vegas mass shooting in which dozens were killed. Laura Rosenbury, dean of UF's Levin College of Law, said third-year UF law student Kristin Babik sustained a collapsed lung and broken ribs, but is in stable condition. "As some of you already know, 3L Kristin Babik was wounded during last night's horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas. I have been in touch with Kristin and she would like you all to know that she is in stable condition," Rosenbury said in a statement. "Thankfully, the gunshot missed Kristin's major ogans and spine." Rosenbury said Babik is on bed rest. "We look forward to welcoming her back to Gainesville as soon as she recovers," Rosenbury added. "This shooting is a tragedy for our entire nation." Babik's Facebook account states that she attended Gainesville's Buchholz High School. "A UF student was wounded in horrific Las Vegas mass shooting. She is in stable condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected," UF President Kent Fuchs wrote on Twitter. The short films tells the stories of Faten Hamama, Gameel Rateb and Duraid Leham, three of Arab cinema's most renowned performers Cairo arts venue Darb 1718 will hold a screening of three short documentaries by director and producer Magy Anwar on 9 October. The films are on three of the most important actors in the Arab world: Egyptian actress Faten Hamama, Egyptian actor Gameel Rateb and Syrian actor Duraid Leham. The 16-minute film El-Fatena contains the last film footage of actress Faten Hamama before she died. It was screened at Cannes, at the Malmo Film festival, the Khartoum Film festival, and the 31st Alexandria Film festival. El-Gameel, on the life of Gameel Rateb, runs for 28 minutes and traces the life of the actor between Egypt and Paris, including his determination to follow his passion for acting despite the objections of his family. The film was screened at the Cairo Opera House, where Rateb was honored by the Actors' Syndicate. The longest of the three, at an hour long, is El-Montamy, dealing with actor Duraid Leham. Shot in Syria during the civil war, the film premiered at the 2017 Alexandria Mediterranean Film Festival, which honored the actor with an award. The documentary was also screened at the Cairo Opera House, where Leham was also honored by the Cultural Production Sector and the Cultural Development Fund. Entry to the Darb 1718 screening is free and will be followed by an open discussion with Anwar. Programme: Monday 9 October at 7pm Darb 1718, Kasr El-Shamaa St., Old Cairo. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture Search Keywords: Short link: What to Know It will take weeks, if not months, to fully repair fire damage done to a Route 139 ramp on the Jersey side of the Holland Tunnel Authorities are warning people to take buses, trains or ferries to avoid nightmarish traffic on the NJ and NY side of the tunnel Capacity is being added to trains and buses, and multiple agencies say they're working together to minimize the impact of anticipated delays Messy commutes are expected at the Holland Tunnel this week after a fire damaged a ramp on the New Jersey side of the span. Damage from the Friday night fire under the Route 139 ramp has led to closures on the westbound lanes of the New Jersey side, causing backups through the tunnel, as well as in Hoboken, Jersey City and Lower Manhattan. The gridlock is expected to worsen Monday when people return to work. Authorities are urging commuters to ditch their cars and take alternative means of transportation, including buses, trains and ferries. WHAT TO KNOW Authorities say repairs will severely impact Jersey-bound traffic during morning and evening rush hours. Only two of five westbound lanes are open on the New Jersey side of Route 139; three lanes have been closed nearly all the way back to the tunnel. Officials are working on opening a third lane for Monday. There may be backups on local streets accessing the tunnel in Manhattan, especially if one of the tunnels two westbound lanes is closed due to potential gridlock on the New Jersey side. Multiple agencies in New York and New Jersey are working on traffic management plans to lessen potential problems; for example, ongoing construction work on the Bayonne Bridge has been suspended to help ease congestion. Officials may add additional police officers, close certain side roads and adjust traffic light patterns to help move traffic. The Lincoln Tunnel and George Washington Bridge may see an increase in diverted traffic. Commuters are advised to travel before 7 a.m. and after 9 p.m. if they want to get a seat on buses. Find the latest traffic and transit information at these official websites: Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, George Washington Bridge, PATH, Port Authority Bus Terminal and NJ Transit. RAIL PATH is poised to add two extra trains hourly during the morning and evening rush hours on each of its three lines: Newark to World Trade Center, Hoboken to World Trade Center and Journal Square to 33rd Street starting Monday morning. NJ Transit is increasing capacity on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail between the West Side Avenue park-and-ride and Hoboken Terminal between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., and between 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. This will provide additional capacity and more connectivity to PATH service at Exchange Place, Newport and Hoboken Terminal NJ Transit commuters can use the North Jersey Coast Line rail service as an alternative, but must purchase those rail tickets. Travelers to Newark Liberty International Airport are encouraged to use NJ Transit rail service from New York Penn Station to access the Newark AirTrain to the airports terminals. BUS NJ Transit is adding capacity to bus routes along the Route 9 corridor in and out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in the morning and at peak periods in the afternoon. Commuters on the 120 and 64J bus routes should expect significant delays. FERRY NY Waterway ferries depart Hoboken for the West 39th Street Ferry Terminal every 20 minutes until 10 a.m. The NYPD has ramped up security at a museum in Lower Manhattan this week after Islamic State audio recordings called for attacks on infidels, authorities say. The recordings suggested that the Jewish Heritage Museum would be a good target because of an upcoming Kurdish exhibit opening Monday, according to authorities. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have helped in the fight against ISIS. The threats are unsubstantiated and there is no known plot, but extra security has been put in place as a precaution. Officers and police dogs were seen outside the museum Sunday night, and an increased visible presence was expected Monday. Meanwhile, police in New York are monitoring a car attack in Canada and a double stabbing in France that authorities have described as terrorism. What to Know A fire on Friday night under the Route 139 ramp caused damage that has closed three of five westbound lanes on the NJ side of the tunnel Commuters are strongly urged to take alternate means of transportation, including bus, rail and ferry, the Port Authority advised Despite all the work being done to mitigate traffic headaches, authorities say it will take weeks, if not months, to fully repair the damage Authorities have beefed up mass transit to assist commuters who use the Holland Tunnel after a fire caused structural damage to a ramp leading to the tunnel in Jersey City. Commuters are strongly urged to take alternate means of transportation, including bus, rail and ferry, the Port Authority advised. The gridlock is expected to worsen when people return to work on Monday and throughout the week. Just after 7 a.m. Monday, four lanes and the shoulder of the outbound tunnel have reopened for traffic. One lane remained closed, however. Use mass transit to avoid Holland Tunnel this week due to congestion from lane closures to nearby access ramp damaged by fire Port Authority NY&NJ (@PANYNJ) October 1, 2017 (Click here for a full commute guide how to navigate the travel nightmare.) A fire on Friday night under the Route 139 ramp caused damage that has closed three of five westbound lanes on the New Jersey side, nearly all the way back to the tunnel, the Port Authority said. The fire was so large it scorched a nearby police SUV. Despite all the work being done to mitigate traffic headaches, authorities say it will take weeks, if not months, to fully repair the damage from the fire. Construction crews are working to fix the damaged ramp but officials said it could take weeks, or even months, before it's fully repaired. Commuters have already been complaining that the tunnel has gotten very congested. "I take the bus into the city, it's about an hour and 20 minute ride as it is," said Sam Wilken. "So I might have to make other arrangements." Authorities say drivers should expect traffic delays in Jersey City and Hoboken. Lower Manhattan may also see delays on local streets accessing the tunnel. "We hope that, with the possibility of the fourth lane being opened up in the next few days, that that will be mitigating," said Roger Prince, deputy director of Port Authority Bridges and Tunnels. "But for Monday, it will be a tough commute coming home through the Holland." New Jersey Transit and Port Authority were increasing capacity on light rail and PATH train service during the morning and evening rush hours to ease expected traffic back-ups at tune tunnel, authorities said. PATH adding rush hour trains this week to ease expected traffic back-ups at Holland Tunnel caused by nearby access ramp fire Port Authority NY&NJ (@PANYNJ) October 1, 2017 NJ Transit was also adding buses to routes along the Route 9 corridor to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Customers on the 120 and 64J bus routes should expect significant delays. Customers should travel before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m. to get seats, authorities said. More than 2,600 vehicles per rush hour and 46,000 vehicles daily travel through the tunnel from Manhattan to New Jersey. Top Tri-State News Photos Philadelphia police had a message for residents worried about what could happen if a mass shooter targetted the city. "We look at every tip, every threat," Philadelphia police deputy commissioner Dennis Wilson said. "Our policing evolves as the threat evolves." Unlike civilians whose first instinct would be to flee, local police are trained to go towards the chaos, he said. "Theyre trained to listen for gunshots and go towards the gunshots and seek the shooter," he said. Philadelphia is a favorite destination for massive events such as the Democratic National Convention, Made in America music festival and even Pope Francis' U.S. visit in 2015. Because the city attracts so many visitors every year, planning is paramount. Detectives visit nearby hotels and other popular attractions to coordinate with staff before major events take place. This open line of communication is essential to mapping an area and securing the perimeter, Wilson said. Social media is also crucial for law enforcement. Entire teams monitor possible threats via Twitter and Facebook and coordinate with local and national officials. Additional, Philadelphia police work with colleges and schools. "We have a lot of layers in place for every large event," Wilson said. In June, Philadelphia City Council convened a committee on the prevention of gun violence, which will continue to hold hearings on programs and policies, identifying local and national best practices and engaging community leaders. More than 800 residents in the city have been the victims or witnesses to shootings in 2017, according to Philadelphia Councilman Darrell Clarke. Clarke, who represents Philadelphias 5th District, said Sundays shooting is an opportunity for the nation to have a bigger conversation about gun regulations. Like millions of Americans today, I am both heartbroken and angry, he said. Im angry that the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world cannot muster the political will to regulate the manufacture, sale and trafficking of deadly weapons. Flags throughout the nation and region were lowered to half-staff Monday to honor the more than 50 lives lost in Sundays Las Vegas massacre. Philadelphia grieves with Las Vegas this morning, Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted. Its an unspeakable tragedy for the hundreds of families impacted and for our nation. What to Know At least 50 dead, 400 hurt as shooter attacks Las Vegas concert-goers. Philly-based attorney Billy Ciancaglini was nearby when he saw people running toward him: "They started yelling, Theres a shooter!'" Ciancaglini visits Las Vegas often & had never seen the iconic strip like it was after the shooting. A Philadelphia attorney walking near the Las Vegas concert where a man rained gunfire down on a crowd of thousands of people described chaos as concertgoers scrambled to escape the massacre. I was really close to the middle of it. It was very scary," Billy Ciancaglini said early Monday morning. Ciancaglini arrived in Las Vegas late Friday night for a vacation. He did not attend country singer Jason Aldean's concert where the shooting took place. Instead, the Philadelphia-based attorney was walking near the Route 91 Harvest Festival adjacent to the Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Tropicana resorts when he saw throngs of people running toward him. "The first thing I think is 'Its an attack,'" Ciancaglini said. Then "they started yelling, Theres a shooter! Theres a shooter! The gunman identified by law enforcement as Stephen Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino around 10 p.m. local time, spraying the crowd of about 22,000 people with bullets from hundreds of yards away. At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 were taken to the hospital in what is now called the worst mass shooting in modern United States history, police said. Officials described Paddock as a "lone wolf" gunman. Concert attendees mistook the gunfire for fireworks at first, but the situation quickly devolved into pandemonium. There was no getting out of the way as people and cars quickly fled the scene, Ciancaglini said. There were just people everywhere coming in my direction, he said. People were just pushing into each other and pushing the people in front into the street one after another and cars werent stopping. You could still hear it, Ciancaglini added. It was going off seemingly forever, it was going on for quite a while. Paddock killed himself before law enforcement officials were able to locate him and make entry into his hotel room, police said. Ciancaglini was able to get to his hotel room at the Monte Carlo casino about five blocks from the shooting scene where he turned to Facebook to post about being "100 percent fine" and complementing the "spectacular" work of Las Vegas police. As he spoke to NBC10, Ciancaglini looked out of his hotel room down onto a nearly deserted Vegas Strip. Police urged people to stay in their rooms and away from the shooting scene. Ive never seen Vegas silent like this, Ciancaglini said. It is a ghost town like Ive never seen before. Ciancaglini eventually made his way down to the Monte Carlo casino floor where he saw pillows and blankets at slot machines, seemingly for people who weren't staying at the hotel who got caught in the building after the shooting. There were even some people gambling and at the bar before daybreak, Ciancaglini said. A mother's worst nightmare becomes a moment to count her blessings. A panicked couple runs to the first taxi they see. A group of friends duck down as bullets fly over their heads. As news of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history continues to develop, more stories from witnesses and survivors of the Las Vegas concert shooting are surfacing. Here are some of those accounts from people from the greater Philadelphia region. NBC10s Tim Furlong was live at Philadelphia International Airport after speaking with a Wilmington mother, as well as her daughter who survived the Las Vegas mass shooting. 'I Have Not Slept' It will take one to two weeks for Katie Fuhrmeister's sprained ankle to heal. But the emotional wounds the Horsham, Pennsylvania woman suffered will take much longer to mend. "It just feels like nightmare," Fuhrmeister said from her wheelchair as she arrived back in Philadelphia. "You just play the scene back in your head the whole entire time you close your eyes," she said. Fuhrmeister, who volunteers as a secretary with the Horsham Fire Company, was at the concert with her husband, who also volunteers as a firefighter. "We were there to have a good time," she said. "And we all were." As they watched in the crowd, they heard what they initially believed were fireworks. They then realized it was the sound of gunfire. The couple ducked and ran as the shooting continued. At one point, Fuhrmeister's husband kicked open a locked gate so that people could get out. As Fuhrmeister recounted the terrifying ordeal, her emotions ranged from sadness to anger at the shooter who took his own life, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada. "Nobody there deserved what happened," she said. "It's a disgrace and it's disgusting. And he's a coward." Before the couple took a red-eye flight back to Philly International Airport Monday night, they knew what to do once they returned home: Embrace their two children. 'What Do You Mean Youre Okay?' Lucy ODonnell was sleeping when she was awoken by the most terrifying phone call of her life. I got the call that no parent ever wants, the Wilmington, Delaware woman told NBC10. Lucys daughter, Megan ODonnell, was at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas with a group of friends. We were running out of the fence and it was still going on, the machine gunshots behind you, she said. Its like a terrifying feeling to be running backwards, away from shots right behind you. Megan O'Donnell managed to escape unharmed. Before reports of the shooting hit the news cycle, she called her mother. Her first words were, Im okay. I said, What do you mean youre okay? I didnt even know anything had happened, Lucy O'Donnell said. And then she explained to me what had happened and how she had just run through the streets of Las Vegas and into the airport. Megan O'Donnell, a 33-year-old mother of two, eventually touched base with her friends and made her way to Las Vegas McCarran Airport. She boarded a flight back to Philadelphia International Airport and arrived Monday afternoon. NBC10s Ted Greenberg spoke with a former AC Casino executive who was on the Vegas Strip as the mass shooting occurred. 'Well Pay for It' Virginia McDowell knew something was wrong the moment she and her husband pulled up in a cab to the Las Vegas Tropicana Sunday night. The former Atlantic City casino executive and Philadelphia native saw a panicked couple approach her taxi as a group of people ran from the country music festival. Were taking this cab, the couple told McDowell. We havent even paid yet, McDowell replied. Dont worry, the couple said. Well pay for it. McDowell told NBC10 the couple then threw her and her husband out of the cab, jumped in and told the driver to take them anywhere. McDowell was among the 26,000 people expected in Vegas for the annual Global Gaming Expo Conference. She could never imagine she would arrive at the same time the deadliest mass shooting in the countrys modern history was taking place. McDowell described the bloody aftermath of the massacre. Literally, the walking wounded, McDowell said. Many of them carrying severely wounded people into the Tropicana and into Hooters next door. Literally just walking around shell-shocked. It was horrible. NBC10s Lauren Mayk spoke with passengers who had just landed at Philadelphia International Airport from Las Vegas. 'Somebody Was Watching Over Us' Stephanie DiBartolomeo first noticed the popping sound. "You just kind of heard like, 'pop, pop, pop' real loud a bunch of times," she said. DiBartolomeo and her family were in the middle of the crowd of thousands during the concert when the shooting began. "The stage went dark and then everybody just started screaming and people were dropping to the ground and running," she said. "So then we just all kind of just grabbed each other and started running." As more and more concertgoers were struck by gunfire in the ensuing panic, DiBartolomeo and her friends frantically ducked for cover. "We were hiding under the bar," she said. "Jumping under the bar trying not to get hit by the bullets. You could hear them going off and hear them over your head. Then we just ran." DiBartolomeo and her friends escaped unharmed. She returned to her native Glassboro, New Jersey, Monday with a new appreciation for life. "Extremely lucky," she said. "Extremely. Somebody was watching over us. I've never felt so lucky in my life to be safe and to be here." [NATL-LA] Mass Shooting at Las Vegas Concert Leaves 58 Dead 'You Can Already See It on Peoples Faces' Lisa Johnson drove past the concert venue just minutes before the massacre began. Johnson, the president of an Egg Harbor Township-based communications company, was at dinner at a different hotel when word of the shooting spread. Theres an active shooter on the strip, a waiter inside the restaurant told her. No ones allowed to go out to the strip. The Global Gaming Expo Conference still began Monday in the aftermath of the shooting. Johnson knows it wont have its normal festive atmosphere. You can already see it on peoples faces, Johnson said. Everybody is just shocked over this. Nobody can go on and enjoy themselves. This is a tragedy unlike any other that weve seen. Its just horrific. NBC10 spoke with Bill Ciancaglini, a Center City Philadelphia attorney, who was vactioning in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire on a country music concert. Ciancaglini spoke exclusively to NBC10s Katy Zachry. 'Ive Never Seen Vegas Silent Like This' Billy Ciancaglini was enjoying the third night of his Las Vegas vacation when he noticed a crowd of people running toward him. Theres a shooter! Theres a shooter, someone in the panicked crowd yelled. Ciancaglini was unable to escape the mass of people and vehicles that were fleeing the scene. There was no getting out of the way, the Philadelphia-based attorney said. There were just people everywhere coming in my direction. People were just pushing into each other and pushing the people in front into the street one after another and cars werent stopping. Ciancaglini eventually made it to his hotel room at the Monte Carlo casino about five blocks from the shooting scene. During an interview with NBC10, Ciancaglini looked down from his hotel room at the nearly deserted Vegas Strip. Ive never seen Vegas silent like this, he said. It is a ghost town like Ive never seen before. The mayor of Dr. Seuss' hometown fired back at a school librarian on Thursday who called the children's author's books "racist" and "cliche" in rejecting a donation of them from Melania Trump. The comments of Cambridge Public Schools librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro were "political correctness at its worst," Springfield, Massachusetts, Mayor Domenic Sarno said in a statement. "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, I think her comments stink and are ridiculous towards our beloved Dr. Seuss," he said. Dr. Seuss, whose real name is Theodor Geisel, was born and raised in Springfield. He wrote and illustrated dozens of rhyming children's books including "The Cat in the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham." A Dr. Seuss museum opened in the city earlier this year and the Democratic mayor notes that attendance has been "through the roof." He said if Cambridge doesn't want the books, Springfield will take them. Sarno also praised the first lady and invited her and Republican President Donald Trump to visit the Springfield museum. The first lady sent Dr. Seuss books to schools across the country earlier this month to celebrate National Read a Book Day on Sept. 6. A spokeswoman for Melania Trump said the Cambridge librarian's response was "unfortunate" and the first lady remains committed to children's causes. Soeiro could not immediately be reached for comment. But in a blog post the librarian called Dr. Seuss a "tired and worn ambassador for children's literature"and said his illustrations are "steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes." She also suggested that more thought could have gone into the selection of the books, saying that "Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliche..." The Cambridge school system distanced itself from Soeiro's opinions, saying her comments were "not a formal acceptance or rejection of donated books." A special education teacher from the Manhattan Beach Unified School District was killed during Sunday night's massacre in Las Vegas, the school district confirmed. Sandy Casey, who worked at the district for nine years, was killed when gunfire broke out at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival in Las Vegas. "This is unbelievably sad and tragic," said Superintendent Mike Matthews. "We lost a spectacular teacher who devoted her life to helping some of our most needy students." Grief counselors will be on hand at the schools over the next few days to provide support for students, teachers, and parents. The shooting left at least 58 people dead and hundreds injured. It is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The casualty toll continued to creep up this morning, with authorities in Las Vegas reporting that at least 58 people were killed and another 515 wounded. The gunman was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, a city of about 17,000 residents about an hour northeast of Las Vegas off Interstate 15 near the Arizona border. Police say Paddock, who fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killed himself before SWAT officer breached his room, where he'd been staying since Thursday. The terrorist group ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, but an FBI agent at a Las Vegas new conference said there was no known connection between the shooter and any international terrorist groups. A Prince William County animal rescue organization is helping care for animals displaced by Hurricane Irma. The Washington Post reports that the Prince William Humane Society, which opened its first adoption center earlier this year, has taken in 30 dogs and 16 cats from shelters in Florida after Hurricane Irma prompted a significant increase in pets needing care. The nonprofit organization took custody of the pets as part of an agreement with Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society. The organization will house all of the cats and 10 dogs for adoption, and bring the remaining 20 dogs to the county animal shelter in Bristow, where they will be put up for adoption. World governments know about Israeli crimes. But it seems they fear Israel, or deem it untouchable. Hence the world's people must speak out Israel expelled the residents of Al-Sheikh Al-Jarrah in Western Jerusalem in 1948 and gave their homes to Jewish families. The residents have been obliged to rent houses in which they are living now in the same neighbourhood according to a law that was supposed to protect them from eviction. Israeli troops came in and expelled them for the second time in a racist savagery that does not care at all about human rights. They did this in order to provide a dwelling for settlers whose existence in occupied Arab Jerusalem is an infraction of international humanitarian law, as moving them to occupied territories, like transferring other settlers, is a war crime according to international conventions. We have recently witnessed a succession of measures that not only entrench war crimes, but the racist apartheid system, including the setting up of a municipal council of Hebron settlers. This is considered a serious development in two aspects. First, it is actually annexing parts of the city of Hebron to Israel. Second, it denotes the imposition of two systems and two laws for two groups of people in the same area, in which the settlers are treated favourably at the expense of the old city native residents in Hebron. This is the accurate definition of apartheid. I have not participated in a debate, lecture or a conference during the last 15 years without describing Israel as an apartheid regime. Not one Israeli, whoever he was, in any forum was able to refute the apartheid description of Israel because the facts, realities, numbers, pictures and maps were compelling and decisive. Today, Israels government is blending occupation, ethnic cleansing and racist apartheid in an historical precedent. Like those who rub salt into the wound, Israeli governments did not hesitate to describe those who criticise its crimes as anti-Semitic, terrorists or inciters. These are cheap means to evade facing facts and realities. However, the most important question is: Why is large part of the world and its governments silent towards these crimes, which continue to be committed on a daily basis? Why were sanctions imposed on the South African racist regime yet not imposed until now on Israel? The strange thing is that Israel is the only entity in the world that combines apartheid, ethnic cleansing and occupation, and in spite of all this is elevated above the international law and the principle of accountability. All states and governments acknowledge that apartheid is unacceptable and most of them acknowledge that Israel is practising apartheid. Why then are measures not taken to deter this regime, even by the simplest means, such as depriving it of economic privileges, cancelling scientific rewards, and stopping military cooperation? Why dont European and non-European countries apply their own laws when it comes to Israels practices? I dont think that the reason for this lies in not accepting the principle of sanctions. Sanctions have been used and are still used, sometimes unrightfully, against Russia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Sudan and other countries. Their use against the South African regime was decisive in the downfall of the apartheid regime. I dont think that world countries are lacking knowledge. Thus, they arent suffering from blindness or deafness. It seems that they suffer from a new illness, named Fear of Israel." There is no cure for this illness except through working strenuously, effectively and continuously with the peoples of these countries in order that they exert pressure on their governments as the South African militants have done. For if the peoples did not do what they did, the worlds governments would not have changed their stances towards the racial segregation regime, which some of them were colluding with. There is no cure for this illness except through removing the cover called the Peace Process, shrouding Israeli crimes and at the fore the crime of settlements. There is no cure for this illness except through taking Israel to the International Criminal Court and confronting it in every judicial, legal or diplomatic forum in the world. What was taken forcibly cant be regained except through force. The writer is secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative. Search Keywords: Short link: Two people are dead in the northwestern Vermont city of St. Albans, but police have not revealed many details on their deaths, pending an investigation described as more complex than initially thought. A man and woman were found dead in an upstairs apartment on Lincoln Avenue, Chief Gary Taylor of the St. Albans Police Dept. said, adding that they might have been there for days. The grim discovery came after the man's relatives called the cops saying they hadn't heard from him in a while. The landlord let officers in Sunday night, Taylor said. "The landlord and building owner lives downstairs," Taylor said, telling necn that the property owner had not reported any unusual sights or sounds from the unit. Pending autopsies Tuesday, Taylor declined to say who these people are, how they died, or the nature of their relationship. He did say there were signs of significant violence that required a tricky investigation with the support of the Vermont State Police. "It's very complex," Taylor said. "Maybe more complex than we had anticipated." "It's definitely not something you want to wake up and see," said neighbor David Smith Smith and others on Lincoln Avenue saw their street blocked off with police tape as detectives went door-to-door asking if anyone had information. Franklin County State's Attorney Jim Hughes stopped by to check out the situation mid-day. Throughout the afternoon, crime scene experts, in their protective suits, emerged from the apartment carrying evidence bags. "I have two young children, so this obviously is something that kind of makes me a little nervous," neighbor Dan Bruce said. Chief Taylor said he expected to see the State Police mobile crime lab moved Monday evening, but for local officers to maintain a presence on Lincoln Avenue through the night. While he said he could not reveal much about the investigation at this early juncture, Taylor did say whatever happened inside the apartment appears to have been contained to the apartment, so he said there's no threat to the general public. A 42-year-old Tewksbury, Massachusetts woman was among those killed in Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas. Rhonda LeRocque was among the victims of the shooting, according to her mother, Priscilla Champagne, of Lowell. "We've lost a gem," Champagne told NBC Boston on Monday. Gunfire broke out late Sunday night at the Route 91 Harvest Festival at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas strip. At least 59 people died and more than 500 were injured. The suspected gunman, who killed more people than in any other modern American mass shooting, is believed to have killed himself before SWAT agents entered the room he was in. The gunman, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old retiree from Mesquite, Nevada, had as many as 23 guns with him, including rifles, they said. Jennifer Zeleneski, LeRocque's half-sister, also spoke out on the senseless tragedy. "She didnt deserve this, her family doesnt deserve this," Zeleneski said. "She was an amazing person - a great mom, great wife - she always had something nice to say when you needed it." The Tewksbury resident had traveled to Las Vegas with her husband Jason and their 7-year-old daughter to attend the country music festival. They were music fans and big travelers. "Just seeing her, there was light around her all the time, she was always smiling," Zeleneski said. LeRocque's husband was not injured. Neither was their daughter. The child had left the concert with her grandfather right before the shooting took place. Zeleneski said her brother-in-law thought his wife had ducked when the shots rang out. "He thought she ducked and she didnt," said Zeleneski. "She was caught in the back of the head." At her home, Rhondas mother said she was the heart and soul of the family, the oldest of four girls, and that the mass shooting was completely senseless. "I am going to miss my beautiful baby," said Champagne. "She was loved by everyone." LeRocque's family said she and her husband were Jehovahs Witnesses and heavily involved with their religious community. "Its not fair. I cant imagine what the other families are going through because this is so messed up," Zeleneski said. Her half-sister said there will be no justice and she is angry the shooter killed himself. "If you have psychological problems, get help," said Zeleneski. "If you have problems with someone, dont take it out on everybody, because this is what happens." The Burlington Free Press is reporting that another one of the shooting victims was a Vermont native. The newspaper reports that 35-year-old Sandy Casey, who grew up in Dorset, died in the attack. She was living in California and was engaged to be married. "The community is definitely feeling the loss today," Dorset Town Clerk Sandra Pinsonault said. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged on Saturday that the United State is maintaining direct channels of communications with North Korea even as tensions rise over the North's nuclear and missile programs and the countries' leaders spar through bellicose name-calling. Tillerson said the U.S. was probing North Korea's willingness to talk, and called for a calming of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, adding it was incumbent on the North to halt the missile launches. "We have lines of communication to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout," Tillerson told reporters during a visit to China. "We have a couple ... three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them." No elaboration about those channels or the substance of any discussions came from Tillerson, who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top officials in Beijing. While Tillerson affirmed that the U.S. would not recognize North Korea as a nuclear power, he also said the Trump administration had no intention of trying to oust Kim. "Despite assurances that the United States is not interested in promoting the collapse of the current regime, pursuing regime change, accelerating reunification of the peninsula or mobilizing forces north of the DMZ, North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war, and the Demilitarized Zone divides North and South Korea. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the U.S. has restored a diplomatic back-channel between the State Department and North Korea's mission at the United Nations. That's traditionally been a way for the two sides to communicate because they lack formal diplomatic ties. The main aim of the initial contacts was to seek the freedom of several American citizens imprisoned in North Korea, although U.S. officials have told The Associated Press that there were broader discussions about U.S.-North Korean relations. Those contacts, however, have failed to reduce the deep mistrust between the adversaries and it's unclear to what extent they have endured the current spike in tensions. North Korea has in recent months tested long-range missiles that potentially could reach the U.S., and on Sept. 3 conducted its largest nuclear test explosion to date. The standoff has entered a new, more dangerous phase since then as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Trump have exchanged personal insults and threats of war. "I think the most immediate action that we need is to calm things down," Tillerson said. "They're a little overheated right now. And I think we need to calm them down first." He did not directly address the impact of Trump's own rhetoric. "Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles. That would calm things down a lot," Tillerson said. Trump gave a combative speech recently at the U.N. General Assembly in which he mocked Kim as "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission." Trump said that if "forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea." Kim responded by saying he would "tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire." Tillerson's stop in the Chinese capital was helping lay the groundwork for a November state visit by Trump, part of a five-nation swing through Asia. Trump has pressed for sterner measures against the North by China, the North's chief trading partner and source of aid and diplomatic support. Beijing adamantly opposes steps that could bring down Kim's government, but appears increasingly willing to tighten the screws. China has agreed to tough new U.N. penalties that would substantially cut foreign revenue for the isolated North. On Thursday, Beijing ordered North Korean-owned businesses and ventures with Chinese partners to close by early January, days after it said it would cut off gas and limit shipments of refined petroleum products, effective Jan. 1. China made no mention of crude oil, which makes up the bulk of Chinese energy supplies to North Korea and is not covered by U.N. sanctions. China has banned imports of North Korean coal, iron and lead ore, and seafood since early September. Still, Washington hopes China will exert even greater pressure. China argues that sanctions alone cannot solve the impasse, and has urged Washington to cool its rhetoric and open a dialogue with North Korea. But the North is coming closer to having a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike America, and says it will only discuss the weapons programs if the U.S. abandons its "hostile policy" toward the North. This was Tillerson's second visit to China as America's top diplomat. China is the world's No. 2 economy and chief U.S. rival for influence in Asia, and increasingly, the world. In addition to North Korea, the U.S. and China have other security concerns to address. They are at odds over Beijing's military buildup and assertive claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea. Trump is also looking to reduce China's massive trade surplus with the U.S. $347 billion last year and what American companies say are unfair barriers to investment, including pressure to hand over their technology. In opening remarks at his meeting with Xi, Tillerson said relations between the sides continue to "grow and mature on the strength of the relationship between yourself and President Trump." He added: "We look forward to advancing that relationship at the upcoming summit." Trump and Xi met in April at Trump's estate in Florida. Trump's planned visit next month will come weeks after Xi is expected to receive a new five-year term as leader of the ruling Communist Party. The presidents' upcoming meeting promises to be grander and more choreographed than the informal talks in Florida that were most memorable for Trump's ordering a missile strike on Syria and then informing Xi about it afterward as they ate chocolate cake. Illegal encampment cost tax payer more than 2,000 TRAVELLERS who set up camp on Stroud Green last month are estimated to have cost the taxpayer more than 2,000. The camp, which arrived on Saturday, August 19, had, in general, been considered to be well behaved by police, despite reports of residents being intimidated and public urination and defecation. However, after the travellers ignored instructions to leave, West Berkshire Council was forced to obtain a court order to evict them, resulting in costs running into the thousands. More than 14,000 has been spent on dealing with illegal traveller camps over the last year, according to council figures. Discussing the Stroud Green encampment at a meeting of Greenham Parish Council last Wednesday, chairman Julian Swift-Hook acknowledged the concern and distress caused to local residents, but said the travellers had been moved on as quickly as possible. He said: Several residents contacted me during the six days the travellers encampment was on Stroud Green, telling me about antisocial behaviour on the part of the travellers, intimidating residents, driving recklessly across Stroud Green, urinating and defecating in public. I told residents to report the behaviour they had witnessed to the police. However, on attendance, police found no evidence of any criminal or antisocial behaviour, and so getting the travellers to leave remained a civil matter, in the hands of West Berkshire Council. Around eight caravans parked on the council-owned green, after removing bollards close to the entrance to Newbury Racecourse. Residents had been left frustrated at the seeming lack of action from the police and council to move the camp on. After the travellers had left, one neighbouring resident, who did not wish to be named, questioned why the camp had been allowed to remain on the green for so long. They told the Newbury Weekly News: It took a week for the council to move them on. It was the height of summer, in the middle of the school holidays and we couldnt use the green. However, Mr Swift-Hook said it had taken four days for council officers to obtain an order to move the travellers from the land. The council had initially instructed the travellers to leave on Monday, August 21. Mr Swift-Hook said: It should be noted that this traveller encampment, which consisted mainly of travellers from mainland Europe, was considered by both the police and the council traveller liaison team to be well-behaved and friendly. There were no confirmed reports of antisocial or criminal behaviour according to the police, unlike the previous encampments in 2012 and 2013. It was after the 2012 issue that the council opted to place bollards around the green. Options are being considered to improve the security at Stroud Green, but Mr Swift-Hook conceded there was no way to 100 per cent prevent travellers camps setting up on public land. West Berkshire Council spokeswoman Jo Bassett said: The council has to find a balance between making its parks and public open spaces as accessible as possible for members of the public to be able to enjoy and also protecting them from unauthorised use. In the case of Stroud Green, the bollards that were removed have been concreted back into place. Norrie Bissett part of disaster response team dispatched to Caribbean A NEWBURY army veteran has returned home after helping Caribbean islanders restore normality following the devastation of Hurricane Irma. Norrie Bissett arrived in the disaster zone just 48 hours after the category five storm hit the islands. He was part of the first relief teams, made up of veterans, emergency responders and civilians, who focused their efforts on the severely-damaged British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos. But when Hurricane Maria, the second massive storm in less than two weeks, threatened to wreak havoc on already-battered communities, the teams switched rapidly to storm-proofing shelters, securing debris and making sure residents were as prepared as possible. Mr Bissett said that when he saw the devastation unfolding on the news, he knew he wanted to help. It was what I joined Team Rubicon for, he said. I wasnt sure what to expect and it was so positive to see all the good things going on out there. He also described local residents as absolutely fantastic they are really picking themselves up. Team Rubicon UK was set up in 2015 to harness the experience, endurance and practical skills of veterans and other professionals to deliver vital relief immediately after disasters. In Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, Team Rubicon UK volunteers worked alongside other relief agencies, local authorities and residents to make shelters as safe as possible. Mr Bissett has experience from the British Army and the fire service, and he is also trained in urban search and rescue. While helping with the relief effort, he spoke to a tourist from Hawaii, who, instead of trying to get home, had stayed behind to help. She just started mucking in, said Mr Bissett. She wasnt part of any organisation, she just wanted to help the locals. I thought it was really kind of her. The British Virgin Islands escaped a direct hit from Maria, although heavy rain and gales caused flooding and damage to properties already hit by Irma. Permanent secretary in the Office of the Premier in the British Virgin Islands Brodrick Penn said: Its extremely important to have strong international partners like Team Rubicon on the ground helping us here to provide aid. We have logisticians, we have disaster managers, we have everybody. They bring their expertise, they share it with us. We have our local knowledge. We put that all together and we have a winning combination. The scale of the devastation from Irma prompted Team Rubicon UK to expand its initial operation by sending an additional 38 volunteers to the region this week, making this its largest operation to date. Team Rubicon UK has launched an emergency appeal to fund its work in the Caribbean. Donations can be made at http://www.teamrubiconuk.org/donate/ University News The University of New Haven today announced it will partner with New Haven Sister Cities, Inc. (NHSC) to form a partnership to advance cultural understanding and exchanges with the City of New Haven's seven sister cities around the world. The partnership will be formalized with a signing of a memorandum of understanding in a ceremony at the University of New Haven, Monday, Sept. 18. The partnership takes advantage of the University's diverse faculty and student body hailing from 43 states and 45 countries to promote humanitarian, cultural, educational and economic programs with the seven sister cities: Changsha-Hunan, China; Afula-Gilboa, Israel; Amalfi, Italy; Avignon, France; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Hue, Vietnam; Leon, Nicaragua; and Tetlanohcan, Mexico. Our collaboration with New Haven Sister Cities will provide excellent opportunities for our students and faculty by creating meaningful and direct interaction with residents in these cities. This partnership will also offer the University an opportunity to work with other area colleges to further cultural understanding and world peace. University of New Haven President Steven H. Kaplan The award-winning New Haven Sister Cities chapter is recognized as the best in Connecticut and one of the best in New England. The chapter responds to crises in the sister cities, such as the recent mud slides in Freetown, and helps celebrate milestone events such as Bastille Day in Avignon. "The University of New Haven has globally recognized undergraduate and graduate programs," Toni N. Harp, New Haven Mayor and honorary chairman of the Sister Cities Board of Directors said. "The University's involvement with New Haven Sister Cities will help us achieve an on-going interaction of artistic, cultural and educational exchanges that will be a remarkable testament to the power of town-gown initiatives." These activities, Harp said, "advance the interconnectivity of the world today particularly for our students and future leaders of this grand experiment in democracy called The United States of America." Shaundolyn Slaughter, president of New Haven Sister Cities, Inc. said the partnership will advance the group's mission "in novel and exciting ways including increased interpersonal, and cultural exchanges using technology, travel, and artistic pursuits that celebrate our diversity and reinforce the role that America has achieved for over 60 years through meaningful citizen exchange programs." About New Haven Sister Cities, Inc. New Haven Sister Cities, founded in 1982, is part of a 60-year old nation-wide program begun by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It promotes an awareness of the cultures, customs, and historical heritages of its sister cities by cultivating citizen diplomacy. It is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors. It is part of a global network of more than 2,300 partnerships in 150 countries. Sister Cities International promotes peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Variably cloudy with snow showers. Low near 30F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.. Tonight Variably cloudy with snow showers. Low near 30F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulations less than one inch. New Delhi: India will receive its first ever shipment of US crude oil when a very large crude carrier (VLCC) docks at Paradip port in Odisha on Monday. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) in early July booked the first US cargo, opening floodgates that saw other state-owned refiners including Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) rush to buy US crude oil. "The ship carrying 1.6 million barrels of US crude will reach Paradip sometime around midnight tonight or early tomorrow morning," IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh told PTI here. The Indian government has encouraged state-controlled refiners to buy US and Canadian crude from the US Gulf coast as it looks at cheaper alternatives that have emerged due to global supply glut. A US energy official had on Friday stated that IOC and BPCL have committed to buy eight shiploads of US oil by March 2018. "We have booked a second cargo as well for delivery at Vadinar in Gujarat in about a month from now," Singh said. "We expect to buy one shipload of US crude every month through tenders." While in the first purchase IOC is importing 1.6 million barrels of high sulphur crude Mars from the US and 400,000 barrels of Western Canadian Select oil, in the second it has bought 1.9 million barrels of US crude, half of it being shale oil, he said. "We have bought 950,000 barrels of light sweet Eagle Ford shale oil and 950,000 barrels of heavy sour Mars crude in the second tender," he said. India, the world's third-largest oil importer, joins Asian countries like South Korea, Japan and China to buy US crude after production cuts by oil cartel OPEC drove up prices of Middle East heavy-sour crude, or grades with a high sulphur content. Buying US crude has become attractive for Indian refiners after the differential between Brent (the benchmark crude or marker crude that serves as a reference price for buyers in western world) and Dubai (which serves as a benchmark for countries in the east) has narrowed. Even after including the shipping cost, buying US crude is cost competitive to Indian refiners, an industry official said. The IOC deal cames within weeks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's June-end visit to the US when President Donald Trump talked of his country looking to export more energy products to India. To encourage US crude purchases, the government has allowed refiners to use a foreign rather than an Indian-owned vessel for the purchase. Indian refiners typically have to use domestic vessels for their crude imports. BPCL has bought two of the US cargoes -- 500,000 barrels each of Mars and Poseidon varieties of medium-to-high-sulphur crude for delivery to its Kochi refinery between September 26 and 15 October and 1 million barrels of US WTI Midland sweet crude for delivery in October. HPCL too has made its first purchase of the US oil, buying 1 million barrels of Mars crude from trading firm Trafigura for delivery in December at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Bharat-Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL) has also bought 1 million barrels of Mars crude from Trafigura for November 16- 25 arrival. BORL is a 50:50 joint venture between BPCL and Oman Oil, which operates a 6 million tonnes a year refinery at Bina in Madhya Pradesh. A VLCC can carry up to 2 million barrels of oil. London: UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Monday Britain's Monarch Airlines ceased operations with immediate effect, leaving 110,000 customers stranded overseas and about 300,000 future bookings cancelled. "We're sorry to announce that Monarch has suspended flights and holidays," Monarch said on Twitter. Tough competition in the airlines sector has been putting pressure on weaker European carriers and driving consolidation, with Air Berlin and Alitalia filing for insolvency this year and seeking new investors for parts of their business. "This is the UK's largest ever airline to enter administration," CAA said. The government has asked CAA to charter more than 30 aircraft to bring back to the UK Monarch Airlines customers currently overseas, CAA said in a statement. The government has begun the biggest ever peacetime repatriation effort to return the affected passengers, Department for Transport, Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement. Monarch said on Thursday it was talking to potential partners after a report that parts of its short-haul network would be sold. New Delhi: Facing flak for being unable to contain the violence on the BHU campus, vice chancellor GC Tripathi on Monday decided to go on leave, citing personal reasons, according to sources. BHU sources said that Tripathi has gone on leave for indefinite period due to personal reasons. Earlier, speaking to CNN-News18, the VC had made it clear that he would rather quit than go on leave. On September 27, Chief Proctor of Banaras Hindu University Professor Onkar Nath Singh resigned citing moral responsibility for the violent protests that rocked the campus. The Chief Proctor is the official charged with ensuring law and order on university campus. The vice-chancellor has been under pressure for mishandling the protests after the female students were allegedly lathi-charged for agitating against a student's molestation on the campus. He has been issued a notice by the National Human Rights Commission for failing to act on the womans complaint and the "unwarranted thrashing of students, mostly women". His term ends on November 27. Kolkata: Rebel Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) leader and newly appointed Chairman of Board of Administrators for Darjeeling Hills (BoADH), Binay Tamang, on Monday warned Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia and state BJP President Dilip Ghosh not to visit the Hills without a clear stand on the Gorkhaland demand. He said, Since 2009, the Gorkhas have been sending BJP leaders to the Parliament with the hope of Gorkhaland, but nothing has been done so far. Recently, our MP SS Ahluwalia, made a statement in Tripura that the division of Bengal and Tripura is not possible. Dilip Ghosh and Amit Shah also said the same thing. It is unfortunate that despite supporting our cause for Gorkhaland in their manifesto, now these leaders are making such statements. Tamang demanded an apology from the Member of Parliament. I have information that these BJP leaders are planning to come to Darjeeling. I would like to tell them to clear their stand on Gorkhaland. If they are willing to give us Gorkhaland, or not. BJP or NDAs stand is not clear. It would be better for them to come to Darjeeling with a clear stand or else, they could be faced with some law and order problem and for that we will not be responsible, Tamang added. Speaking to News18, Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh, who will be visiting Darjeeling on October 4, said, I would like to ask him why is he not asking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her stand instead. We dont take sold out leaders like him (Binay Tamang) too seriously. Darjeeling is nobodys private property and no one can stop me from entering Darjeeling. It was learnt that a team of BJP leaders are likely to visit Darjeeling on Tuesday. On September 20, in a major setback for GJM Chief Bimal Gurung, Mamata Banerjee formed a new administrative body called the Board of Administrators for Darjeeling Hills till the scheduled election of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) and appointed Binay Tamang as its Chairman. Another GJM rebel leader, Anit Thapa, was made the vice-chairman of BoADH. The other key members are: state Chief Secretary Malay Kumar De, LB Rai (TMC), Mann Ghising (GNLF), Sanchari Subba (GJM) and Jaitoon Khatun. While addressing mediapersons, Mamata said, These people were appointed to supervise the administration of the hills in the absence of GTA. The Board will govern the areas which used to fall under GTA. The initiative has been taken for the development of the Hills. The rift in GJM was out in the open after August 31, when Binay Tamang was removed as the Chief Coordinator for going against Bimal Gurungs wish to call off the indefinite strike in the Hills. Binays removal came after he announced to call off the indefinite bandh. Ahmedabad: Months before the Gujarat Assembly election, Dalits, a year after the Una incident, are once again up in arms against the government, alleging the atrocities against their community continue unabated. Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch is already planning a number of protests in the days to come. A Dalit was lynched by the upper caste Patel community for watching people do the garba, the traditional Gujarati dance, on Saturday last week, while another was beaten up on Sunday in the Gandhinagar district by Rajputs for sporting a moustache. The response to the Sunday incident is palpable on social media, with people posting selfies on Twitter and Facebook, showing off their moustaches. Bharatsinh Vaghela, a Rajput by caste, beat up Krunal Maheriya, a Dalit, in North Gujarat's Limbodara village. He was arrested on Sunday after a complaint was registered. A few Dalit activists alleged that a similar incident had occurred in the same village a week ago, too, and police had refused to file an FIR. We have had over 1000 people from the Dalit community posting pictures of themselves with moustaches on Facebook alone in the past three days. The number will keep increasing, Gautam Makwana, who posted his selfie with a moustache, told News18. A social media user posted this photo sporting a moustache, protesting against atrocities on Dalits. Gautam added that his campaign will gain momentum, and it was high time the plight of Dalits was brought to everybody's notice. Twenty-one-year-old Jayesh Solanki, another Dalit, was beaten to death by eight upper caste villagers in Bhadarniya village of Anand district. One Sanjay Patel alias Bhima and others banged his head into a wall. Either people have been arrested in connection with the case. Superintendent of Police, Anand district, Saurabh Singh said that all accused have been arrested, adding, Police have registered an offence based on the version of the victims family members and all the eight accused have been arrested. There was an altercation between the accused and victim over why the victim was sitting near the garba venue. Dipak Solanki, a relative of the victim, said Bhima and others came and asked him why he was sitting there. They beat him up and Bhima even tried to strangulate him. We first took him to Borsad and then to a hospital in Karamsad. If politics is about symbols and percepts, then Mahatma Gandhi was perhaps its finest connoisseur. The movements he presided over, the milk that he consumed, the charkha that he spun, his clothing, his sandals or just about everything around him had a distinct Gandhi insignia a colophon of sorts. Not that Gandhi gave a call for political mobilization every other day. In fact, just three in his entire career at the helm of Indian Freedom Movement. But in all three instances, he knew precisely the intended objective of a protest and the exit route when the purpose was achieved. But what set him apart among all his contemporaries, or even among those who followed him, was Gandhis sense of aesthetics in political mobilization. The de rigueur of a Mahatma, up against the might of the British government. Worlds Last Englishman, Nirad Chaudhuri in his memoirs gives a rare glimpse of the rigours involved in procuring goat milk during Gandhis visit to the Bose household in Kolkata. The body of Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) lying in state at Birla House, New Delhi, before the funeral cortege leaves for the burning ghats on the banks of the River Jumna. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images) Chaudhuri was then working as personal secretary to Subhash Chandra Boses elder brother Sarat Chandra. The elaborate exercise involved Gandhis formidable secretary Mahadev Desai choosing from a herd of goats which one would have the privilege of serving as the foster-mother. Chaudhuri took goats for goats, wherein the entire ritual was about cows- underscoring Gandhis Hindu credentials. Both in form and content, Gandhi carefully chose to be more Hindu than a typical Hindu nationalist. He understood his people and their oracles, their articles of faith. And he seamlessly assimilated them in his discourse as a thoroughbred politician would do. Gandhi preached what he practiced. Cleaning toilets for him was part of the larger sanitation drive. Gandhi preached what he practiced. Cleaning toilets for him was part of the larger sanitation drive. Gandhis symbolism rubbed on friends and foes alike. His staunchest critic and fellow barrister Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his avatar as the proponent of the two-nation theory had to make some sardonic adjustments from three-piece suit to sherwani and Aligarhi pajama. Jinnah called Gandhi a Hindu agent and Congress a party espousing the majoritarian cause. By default, Gandhi and Congress were the choice of the overwhelming majority. Gandhi preached what he practiced. Cleaning toilets for him was part of the larger sanitation drive. But it also had political undertones with a powerful message to the untouchables. So despite having convoluted and complex views on caste system, Gandhi could still confront the tallest Dalit leader at that time, Dr. BR Ambedkar and tire him out to sign the Poona Pact. Indian nationalist leader and organizer of the Indian National Congress's campaign of passive non-cooperation, Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, 1869 - 1948) with his wife, shortly before his arrest for conspiracy. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) Leaders rooted strongly in their core constituency are more apt at managing contradictions. Vajpayee, before Modi leading a right-wing government, it is said, was better placed to seek stable solution on Kashmir. Similarly, Gandhi could forcefully espouse a secular because he had high Hindu credentials. Gandhis visibly Hindu mien gave him maneuvering space like no one else. His pilgrimage to Noakhali in the face of communal carnage and his views on the division of assets between India and Pakistan irked many. But the allegations could never really stick. Not even in the surcharged atmosphere of partition and thereafter. Politically one could never really beat Gandhi. So, he had to be eliminated, physically. Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is now gearing up for a carnival around the Durga Puja idol immersion ceremony on Tuesday, after ensuring a peaceful observance of Puja celebrations alongside Muharram, on Sunday. CM Mamata on Monday, held a meeting to plan ahead for the October 3 Durga Puja immersion events on the arterial Red Road. Some of the noted puja organisers will be participating at the Red Road event being organised by the state government. I invite all of you to come and witness the beautiful event, Mamata said. More than 20,000 visitors and 2,500 VIPs are likely to watch the celebrations from designated seats set up on the sides of Red Road. Over 50 Puja organisers will take part in the carnival that will be inaugurated by the chief minister. Several other important roads, including Mayo Road, Kidderpore Road and Bentinck Street will be closed for traffic for the three-hour event that starts at 5 pm. Giant screens will be set up at various intersections for those who do not have passes for the event. Special security arrangements are being made by the Kolkata Police and snipers will deployed for the first time to thwart any untoward incident. I would like to thank all who participated in the festivities of the Durga Puja, the Puja committees for their cooperation and the police and administration for maintaining discipline, Mamata said. With Sundays Muharram and Durga Puja events, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee managed to silence her critics by successfully maintaining law and order that posed a hurdle for her counterpart in Uttar Pradesh, where several clashes broke out and many were left injured. Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, Rajeev Kumar said, My officers did a commendable job in ensuring peace during Durga Puja and Muharram. I would also like to appreciate the people for helping and cooperating with us during the festive season. Banerjee has been embroiled in a huge controversy since August 24, when she declared that idol immersion would be banned on the day of Muharram, to avoid clashes between the two communities. A Trinamool Congress leader said, Her decision to ban idol immersion on the day of Muharram, had nothing to do with appeasement. There is a staff crunch in the police force in West Bengal and there are too many things that has to be managed with the limited resources. Opposition leaders always talk about appeasement politics, but never praise her for the several schemes that benefit all communities, including Hindus. BJP does not have a single issue, which could give them a firm ground to compete in the upcoming elections. Their campaign against Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of appeasement politics, is a well calculated political move to gain grounds. The state governments restrictions on Durga idol immersion after 10 pm and ban on immersions on Muharram day had triggered a furore, with the BJP accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of playing the politics of appeasement. Bengaluru: Noted actor and National Award winner Prakash Raj on Monday launched a scathing attack against Narendra Modi over his silence on the Gauri Lankesh murder, saying the Prime Minister is a bigger actor than him. "The PM is is a bigger actor than me, I should give him my award," he said There is a huge crowd out there enjoying and celebrating it (Gauri Lankeshs murder) on social media. We all know what their ideology is. Some of those celebrating this ghastly episode are being followed by none other than Mr Narendra Modi himself. This worries me, Deccan Chronicle quoted Raj as saying at the 11th state meet of the Left-leaning Democratic Youth Federation of India. Raj said Modis silence on his followers actions proves he is trying to be a bigger actor than me. "I am a renowned actor, do you (Modi) think I will not be able to detect when you are acting. At least show me some respect, considering the fact that I am an actor and I will be able to tell what is the truth and what is acting," a report in News Minute quoted him as saying. Lankesh, the 55-year-old editor of Kannada weekly tabloid by her name Gauri Lankesh Patrike, was gunned down by unidentified men outside her home in the city suburbs on September 5. Journalist organisations and Left parties have accused Right-wing groups of orchestrating the murder, which, the police said, bears resemblance to the murder of rationalist MM Kalburgi in 2015. New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in a video appeal, announced an Rs one lakh reward for helping find Geeta, the deaf and mute girl who returned to India in 2015 after being stranded in Pakistan for over a decade, find her parents. Swaraj in her appeal said there could not be a better deed than helping a girl find her parents and urged those people, who know about any family which had a mute and deaf girl who went missing around 12 years back, to come forward. Geeta, who had returned to India in October 2015, has been staying at an institution for hearing and speech impaired people run by an NGO in Indore. "At times she becomes very emotional and starts crying. My appeal to her parents please come forward and take your daughter. I am assuring that we will not let her become a burden on you," Swaraj said with Geeta by her side. "We will take care of her including her marriage and studies. Your daughter is desperate to meet you," she said. #WATCH EAM Sushma Swaraj appeals people to help Geeta (Indian girl brought back from Pakistan in 2015 ) in finding her parents. pic.twitter.com/aQpg3CSL5Y ANI (@ANI) October 1, 2017 Swaraj said Geeta could be from Bihar or Jharkhand and requested chief ministers of both the states to ensure that her appeal is shown by all cable TV networks for the next seven days so that people come forward to help her. The External Affairs Minister, who had played a key role in ensuring the girl's return from Pakistan, said she had indicated that her real name is Guddi and that the name Geeta was given to her by the Edhi foundation in Pakistan which had taken care of her. After her return from Pakistan, a family from Bihar had come forward claiming that Geeta was their daughter after she felt that they were her parents. However, DNA tests conducted on her proved otherwise. She had failed to recognise the Mahato family after arriving in India though, after seeing their photographs in Pakistan, she had indicated that they could be her family. Geeta was reportedly just 7 or 8 years old when she was found sitting alone on the Samjhauta Express by the Pakistan Rangers at the Lahore railway station. (With PTI inputs) Lucknow: The monument which attracts tourists from across the globe to Uttar Pradesh and is also the only Indian structure featuring among the Seven Wonders of the World, the Taj Mahal, has failed to find a spot in the states latest tourism booklet. The booklet, Uttar Pradesh Paryatan Apaar Sambhavnayen, published by the UP tourism department, was released on World Tourism Day. Almost all tourist spots in Uttar Pradesh have been covered in the booklet. The Uttar Pradesh government later clarified that they would include a picture of the Taj Mahal in the booklet. In June this year, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that according to him, the Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita represent the Indian culture and not the Taj Mahal. The Adityanath-led BJP governments first state budget for 2017-18 had also made no mention of the Taj Mahal in its special section Hamari Sanskritik Virasat (Our Cultural Heritage) that was incorporated in the finance ministers 63-page statement. The cover of this booklet has a picture of a Ganga Aarti ceremony, along with the photos of Tourism Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi and CM Adityanath on the first page. The booklet talks about the Ganga Aarti of Varanasi, Gorakhpurs Gorakh Peeth, Mathura-Vrindavan, Ayodhya and all major religious places in the state. The back cover has the photos of Fatehpur Sikri and other tourist destinations. Efforts of the UP government in promoting tourism in the state have been listed in the inside pages of the booklet along with the current state of tourism. Information on the states tourism development plan has also been listed in the booklet. The Narendra Modi governments Swachh Bharat Abhiyan turned three on Monday, with the Prime Minister reiterating that India will achieve its cleanliness goal by 2022. However, a big roadblock to achieving the Clean India goal is open defecation, which continues to plague urban and rural India alike. Despite public awareness campaigns by leading politicians, filmstars and sportspersons, the menace continues. To aid the Swachh Bharat mission, CNN-News18 has launched a campaign to name and shame those still defecating in the open. Heres how you can partner us in this campaign: As much as youd complain about the boring gameplay of Bigg Boss, majority of the viewers are clearly excited about the new season. Considering the interesting mix of contestants that the makers have roped in for the eleventh of the show, the viewers are prepared for some of the most explosive and outrageous spats in reality TV history. But how impressive was the much awaited premiere of Bigg Boss 11 that was aired on Sunday night? We informed you all a few weeks back that the show would follow padosi as the theme of the current season wherein the contestants would be divided into two groups and made to live as neighbours inside the controversial Bigg Boss house. While the theme is interesting, we now tell you if the Bigg Boss 11 premiere was worth the viewers time and attention. Host Salman Khans Flawless Opening Act Salman Khan who has been giving back to back hits in India (Tubelight being an exception), is the undisputed Sultan of Bollywood. Popular for his hatke roles and his action-packed entertainers, the viewers couldnt stop hooting for the host as he arrived on the sets of Bigg Boss 11 sets riding a Being Human bicycle. Badal gaya hai sab kuch badal gaya. Ab who sab nahi hoga jo pehele hua karta hai, declared Salman. Interestingly, it wasnt just meant to suggest the new theme, but also to promote the new sponsors of the show, and his upcoming film Tiger Zinda Hai. Now, isnt that a super-smart tactic for using the show to get the message out about everything important? From making witty remarks to flashing his wicked smile to his love for random dance moves and making every contestant feel special on the show, like a perfect host he did it all. Bigg Boss 11s opening night would have been exciting sans Salmans quirks. Padosis? Hard To Beat As soon as Salman introduced us to the much anticipated padosis of the new Bigg Boss season former Miss World South Australia Lucinda Nicholas Lucinda Nicholas; aspiring actor Luv Tyagi; Sabyasachi Satpathy and Mehjabi Siddiqui, we knew they would turn out to be extremely tough competitors. Introduced with hard-hitting dialogues like Mai who baagi bahu hoon jissey har jallad saas kaamp uthti hai (Mehjabi), Mera devil aur angel wala hisaab hai (Luv), Dont mess with me. Mujhse bachke rehna (Lucinda) and Teen type ke log mujhe pasand nahi jhuutey, khudgarz, and showoffs (Sabyasachi Satpathy) we knew they are expecting to last for a long time, reach their goals and also expect for all the little things to go wrong in the process. Going by the manner in which they interacted with the rest of the contestants, they appeared calm, cool, and collected. Similarly, the 40-year-old occultist and dancer Sapna Choudhry appeared confident too. Hence, as Salmans remark Bigg Boss Season 11 padosi aa rahe hain bajane 12 was needed to whip up competitive spirit by padosis to win at all costs. Bigg Boss 11's Annoying Contestants: Best TRP Strategy? Remember Priyanka Jagga the most annoying contestant of Bigg Boss 10 who was asked to leave the show? Well, the current season also have a few faces which are expected to leave many miffed. Akash Dadlani, the self-proclaimed rapper and Puneesh Sharma are expected to create a lot of drama on the show. Dont be surprised if Puneesh gets on your nerves by passing insensitive comments, maligning others, getting into ugly spats. Just hope he doesnt turn out to be as uncouth as Swami Om. But isn't this needed to grab viewers' attention and ensure they sit glued to the TV screens? Celebrities A Cautious Lot That Won't Stoop Low Among all the celebrities who have been roped in for the show, actor Hiten Tejwani appeared mature, balanced and sorted. While Hina Khan managed to wow many with her flawless musical act, Angoori Bhabhi aka Shilpa Shinde showed no qualms in letting everyone know how Vikas Gupta Maligned her image. There was something genuine about the difficulties she faced. While Priyank Sharma is the only good-looking single male contestant, we hope he does a lot more than flashing his abs. Agreed, celebrities know their fanbase will help them sustain their position, and won't do just about anything to to get linked with controversies and shocking moments inside the house. But we hope, they give a tough fight to padosis. Los Angeles: Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, who died on September 27, was laid to rest in a private ceremony here, media reported. Sources told tmz.com that Hefner's four children, his wife Crystal Harris and some key Playboy staffers attended the funeral at Los Angeles's Westwood Village Memorial Park on Saturday. Hefner's crypt is directly to the left of actress Marilyn Monroe's -- he bought the burial spot for $75,000 in 1992. One of the people buried in the cemetery, around 100 feet from Hefner's crypt, is Dorothy Stratten, a Playboy Playmate who was murdered in 1980 by her estranged husband when she was just 20 years old. Her boyfriend at the time of her death, director Peter Bogdanovich, railed against Hefner, blaming him and the "Playboy sex factory" for her demise. New Delhi: Two days after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwats statement on the Kerala government, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has lashed out at him for categorizing people and creating a divide. In a Facebook post, Pinarayi wrote that Bhagwats allegation of Kerala government helping anti nations was nothing but their repeat formula to categorize people and create divide. But no communalist, seditionist or anti-national individual or organisation can provocate Keralites who have rejected these outfits completely. He further said that the RSS chief must clarify what he means by his statement. I understand that Bhagwat ji is speaking such utter nonsense because their outfit failed to poison the minds of Keralites for BJP's narrow political gains, he wrote. Pinarayi further said that Kerala need not be taught by the head of an outfit that was subservient to the British with its top brass prohibiting participation in mass movements. We all know the history & geography of RSS's nationalism, their activities/propaganda against the secular character of Indian constitution. Kerala has the unique distinction where patriotic Indians revolted against the British rulers even before the first freedom struggle of 1857, Pinarayi wrote. Defending his secular practices in the state, Pinarayi said the Left led political practices in Kerala had strengthened peoples confidence to resist all such attacks unleashed by the RSS. The CM was also quick to add that RSS got foothold in many states by spreading terrorism in the name of religion, make communally abrasive comments & attack on minorities. Dear Shri Bhagwat, you need not worry about Kerala & its people friendly secular-democratic government. We need no lessons from you or RSS. Let RSS concentrate on issues reported in media and social media regarding violence related to communal polarisation, cow vigilantism, atrocities against minorities, Dalit and women in various BJP ruled states, Pinarayi wrote, adding that the LEDF government came to power with a mission of building a corruption-free, development driven, secular New Kerala which will deal against false propaganda in the strictest manner possible. Bhagwat had created a stir on Saturday as he said that jihadi elements were acting out their violence in Kerala and Bengal, and that state governments were supporting it, despite people resisting. Bhagwat was speaking on Vijaydashmi, which also happens to be RSSs foundation day. ceremony. Washington: US President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed the prospect of talks with North Korea as a waste of time a day after his own secretary of state said the United States was maintaining open lines of communication with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump wrote on Twitter, using his sarcastic nickname for Kim and seeming to contradict the top US diplomat. Trump, who has traded insults and threats with Kim in recent weeks amid escalating tensions over Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs, later tweeted that his White House predecessors, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, had all "failed" on North Korea by "Being nice to Rocket Man, So why would it work now?" he asked. Kim succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, as North Korean leader in 2011, during Obama's administration. Previous presidents negotiated with Pyongyang but ultimately failed to prevent it from pressing ahead with its internationally condemned weapons programs. Tillerson disclosed on Saturday that the United States was directly communicating with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programs but that Pyongyang had shown no interest in dialogue. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Trump said. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 Tillerson said during a trip to China that the United States had multiple direct channels of communication with Pyongyang, the first such disclosure from the Trump administration, and that it was probing North Korea to see whether it was interested in dialogue. Tillerson expressed hope for reducing tensions with North Korea, which is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland. "We are probing, so stay tuned," Tillerson told a small group of reporters. "We ask: 'Would you like to talk?'" He said the United States had "a couple of, three channels open to Pyongyang." AIDES DOWNPLAY COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS A senior Trump administration official, asked for clarification about Trump's Sunday morning tweets, played down the significance of the communication channels. "At a time when North Korea is continuing its provocations, the president does not think now is the time to negotiate with them," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official also said that to the extent that diplomatic channels exist between Washington and Pyongyang, they are aimed at securing the return of Americans detained by North Korea. R.C. Hammond, an adviser to Tillerson, denied that his boss had been undercut by Trumps tweets and rejected any suggestion that the secretary of state should resign. "Let's resign the idea of resignation. The President just made it clear to the Kim regime the diplomatic offer on the table is cooling," Hammond said on Twitter. He also downplayed any contacts. "Channels have been open for months. They've been unused and cooling for months," Hammond wrote. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert made a similar point on Sunday. "Diplomatic channels are open for #KimJongUn for now. They won't be open forever," she wrote on Twitter. US Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, wrote on Twitter: "If Tillerson is wasting his time, its only because his boss fails to understand the catastrophic consequences of war on Korean Peninsula." Trump's rhetoric on North Korea has run the gamut, from personal attacks on Kim to veiled military threats, from a denial of any interest in talks to an insistence that he would prefer a diplomatic solution. After announcing new US sanctions on North Korea last month, he acknowledged diplomacy was still possible, asking: "Why not?". But he has also frequently declared that he had military options at its disposal, although US officials and outside experts have long said a US strike on North Korea would risk massive casualties. Moscow: King Salman of Saudi Arabia will arrive in Russia this week to conduct the first official visit to the country by a Saudi king, a senior Kremlin aide said Monday. "We are awaiting the king's visit on Thursday," President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, was quoted by the state TASS news agency as saying. Saudi Arabia's ministry of information called the visit by 81-year-old Salman "historic" as it would be the first official visit to Russia by a Saudi monarch. Putin visited Riyadh in 2007. The visit comes a month before members of the OPEC oil cartel, of which Saudi Arabia is the biggest producer, are due to meet with the other nations that have joined them in cutting crude output, including Russia, to discuss extending the pact that has helped prop up prices. King Salman is expected to ask Russia's support and commitment to ensure that the production cuts deal continues, following Saudi Arabia's cut of its output to around 10 million barrels per day to help control a glut in world oil supplies. OPEC and its allies agreed from the beginning of 2017 to cut their production by around 1.8 million barrels per day for six months. It was subsequently extended through March 2018. The pact has helped reduce crude supplies on the market and the price to climb to around $55 per barrel currently. "King Salman does not do courtesy calls so it can be reasonably assumed that his first official visit to the Russian capital is a serious event," wrote Chris Weafer, a senior partner at Macro-Advisory, a consultancy. "It is not too many years ago that such a visit would have been difficult, if not impossible. Today that has changed 180 degrees. Both countries now see political and economic advantages from a closer, albeit pragmatic, relationship." Saudi Arabia and Russia are heavily dependent on oil exports and the plunge of the price of crude that began in 2014 lashed both of their economies. While Russia and Saudi Arabia are now allies on the global oil market, they are on the opposite sides in the Syria conflict, with Moscow supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and Riyadh backing the opposition. Another potential point of disagreement between Riyadh and Moscow could be Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Huthi rebels since 2015, drawing criticism from Moscow. Washington: US President Donald Trump has been briefed on the mass shooting in Las Vegas, the White House said on Monday, and Trump offered condolences to victims. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting," Trump said in a Twitter post. Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the White House was monitoring the situation closely and offered full support to state and local officials. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was horrified by an attack at a music festival in Las Vegas that left at least 50 people dead, and said the country stood ready to help however it could. "I am horrified by the awful attack at a music festival in Las Vegas this morning," he said in a statement. "The United Kingdom stands with the American people against this indiscriminate violence. My thoughts are with all those caught up in it." "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in contact with Las Vegas authorities to establish whether any British people were caught up in the attack and we are ready to help however we can." Las Vegas: A 64-year-old man armed with more than 10 rifles rained down gunfire on a Las Vegas country music festival on Sunday, slaughtering at least 58 people in the largest mass shooting in US history before killing himself. The barrage from a 32nd-floor window in the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people lasted several minutes, causing panic. Some fleeing fans trampled each other as police scrambled to find the gunman. More than 500 people were injured. Police identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, who lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada, and said they had no sense of what prompted his attack. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the massacre, but US officials expressed skepticism of that claim. The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary, eclipsed last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club by a gunman who pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothing, wandered the streets afterwards. Police said they had no information about Paddock's motive, that he had no criminal record and was not believed to be connected to any militant group. Paddock killed himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. Two senior US government officials told Reuters that Paddock's name was not on any database of suspected terrorists and that there was no evidence linking him to any international militant group. One of the two US officials discounted a claim of responsibility that was made by Islamic State. There was reason to believe that Paddock had a history of psychological problems, the official said. Lombardo said there were more than 10 rifles in the room where Paddock killed himself. He had checked into the hotel on Thursday. Police found several more weapons when they searched Paddock's home in Mesquite, which is about 90 miles (145 km) northeast of Las Vegas, Mesquite police spokesman Quinn Averett told reporters. "He brutally murdered more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil," U.S. President Donald Trump said in a White House address. He ordered flags lowered to half-staff in a national gesture of mourning and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. 'JUST KEPT GOING ON' Video of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. "People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on," said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. "Probably 100 shots at a time," Smith said. "It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again." Las Vegas's casinos, nightclubs and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out shortly after 10 pm local time (09.30am IST). Mike McGarry, a financial adviser from Philadelphia, was at the concert when he heard hundreds of shots ring out. "It was crazy - I laid on top of the kids. They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life," McGarry said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks, after people ran over him in the panicked crowd. The shooting broke out on the final night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival, a sold-out event featuring top acts such as Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean. "Tonight has been beyond horrific," Aldean said in a statement on Instagram. "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone." 'WE'RE HORRIFIED' The suspected shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned. "We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims," Eric Paddock said in a brief telephone interview, his voice trembling. "We have no idea in the world." As with previous U.S. mass shootings, the incident sparked anger among advocates for gun control. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to bear arms, and gun-rights advocates staunchly defend that provision. "It's time for Congress to get off its ass and do something," said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, where 26 young children and educators were killed in an attack on a school in 2012. "This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren't public policy responses to this epidemic." The rampage was reminiscent of a mass shooting at a Paris rock concert in November 2015 that killed 89 people, part of a wave of coordinated attacks by Islamist militants in which 130 people were killed. Islamabad: An anti-corruption court in Pakistan on Monday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Nawaz Sharifs three children and son-in-law, and postponed the indictment of the ousted prime minister on charges of corruption in the Panama Papers scandal. Pakistani media reported that Sharifs daughter Maryam, sons Hussain and Hasan and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar have been summoned them for the next hearing on October 9, the day when Sharif is also expected to be indicted. A helicopter hovered over the Islamabad court and supporters chanted slogans from behind security barriers as Sharif arrived for the hearing in a convoy of BMW SUVs, escorted by elite police guards. Media along with many lawyers and officials including Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal were prevented from entering the court, with security forces forming a human barrier as the former premier entered. The Supreme Court deposed Sharif in July following an investigation into corruption allegations against him and his family, making him the 15th prime minister in Pakistan's 70-year history to be ousted before completing a full term. The allegations were sparked by the Panama Papers leak last year, launching a media frenzy over the lavish lifestyles and high-end London property portfolio of the Sharif dynasty. The Supreme Court also banned him from holding public office and ordered the country's anti-corruption watchdog, the National Accountability Bureau, to open a criminal case against him along with his sons Hussain and Hassan and his daughter Maryam. Pakistani media reported that Sharif is expected to face a criminal indictment in the case Monday. The charges have not yet been confirmed, but a criminal conviction for corruption could see him facing imprisonment. Sharif has faced such challenges before. In 1993 he was sacked from his first term as prime minister for corruption, while in 1999 he was sentenced by a military court to life in prison after his second tenure ended in an army coup. That time he was allowed to go into exile in Saudi Arabia, returning in 2007 before winning the premiership for a third time in 2013. Sharif made his first appearance before the anti-corruption court last week. He later held a press conference in which he vowed a landslide win for his ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party in general elections due to be held by the end of next year, and insisted he was seen as innocent in the court of public opinion. "For God's sake let this country move according to the constitution and if the constitution gives the people the right to rule, accept it," he said. Last month, his wife Kalsum, who is being treated for throat cancer in London, won his former parliamentary seat during a by-election in Lahore in a poll seen as a test of the PML-N's popularity after his ousting. Stockholm: US-born scientists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Medicine for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling our biological clocks, the award-giving body said on Monday. The mechanisms help explain issues such as why people travelling long distances over several time zones often suffer jet lag and they have wider implications for health such as increased risk for certain diseases. "(The three scientists') discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the Earth's revolutions," the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute said in a statement. The laureates used fruit flies to isolate a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm and showed how this gene encoded a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night and degrades during the day. "The clock regulates critical functions such as behavior, hormone levels, sleep, body temperature and metabolism," the Assembly said on awarding the prize of 9 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million). Thomas Perlmann, secretary at the Karolinska Institute Nobel Committee, described the reaction of Rosbash when first informed of the award: "He was silent and then he said you are kidding me." Medicine is the first of the Nobel Prizes awarded each year. The prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were created in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel and have been awarded since 1901. Nobel medicine laureates have included scientific greats such as Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, and Karl Landsteiner, whose identification of separate blood types opened the way to carrying out safe transfusions. The prize has not been without controversy, especially with the benefit of hindsight, such as with 1948 award for the discovery of DDT, a chemical that helped battle epidemics but was later banned due to its harmful environmental impact. Ottawa: Jagmeet Singh, an Ontario provincial lawmaker and practising Sikh, was elected on Sunday as leader of Canada's left-leaning New Democrats, becoming the first non-white politician to head a major Canadian political party. The 38-year-old lawyer, whose penchant for colorful turbans and tailor-made three-piece suits made him a social media star, was elected on the first ballot to lead the New Democratic Party into the 2019 federal election against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals. "Thank you, New Democrats. The run for Prime Minister begins now," Singh tweeted. Singh secured 54 percent of the vote, defeating three rivals to become the new head of the NDP, succeeding Thomas Mulcair. The results of the vote, conducted online and by mail, were announced at a party meeting in Toronto. The Toronto-area politician, who led in fundraising since joining the race last May, had been touted by supporters as someone who could bring new life to the party, which has struggled since the death of charismatic former leader Jack Layton in 2011. Singh's profile was boosted in early September after a video went viral showing him calmly responding with words of love to a heckler who interrupted a campaign event to accuse him of wanting to impose Islamic Shariah law in Canada. "His skill, in being able to diffuse the situation, it understandably appealed to a lot of people who ended up supporting him," said Christopher Cochrane, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto. Cochrane added that Singh's ability to connect both with young people and ethnic minorities would make him a "force to reckon with" when competing against Trudeau in 2019. Trudeau congratulated his new political rival on Twitter on Sunday, saying: "I look forward to speaking soon and working together for Canadians." The NDP is the third largest party in the federal Parliament, with 44 of 338 seats. The party lags well behind the centrist Liberals and right-leaning Conservatives in political fundraising this year, according to Elections Canada data. Singh will now focus on rallying supporters and targeting center-left voters who helped propel Trudeau's Liberals to a decisive victory in 2015. There are hurdles ahead. Singh does not have a seat in the federal parliament and will have to win one in a special election. He also needs to persuade voters that his party can form a government, although it has never held power federally. There are also questions over whether he will have success in Quebec, Canada's mainly French-speaking province, where overt signs of faith are frowned upon. Of the 14 posts on John Kinchens Campbell County School Board campaign Facebook page since Aug. 4, eight directly reference transgender people using the restroom. We can have all kinds of discussions about, oh yeah, teacher pay, infrastructure of schools; we can continue to deflect the issue and point to those, Kinchen said in an interview, but he believes the election for the Timberlake seat will be made or broken by his stance on bathroom accommodations for students who dont identify with their physical sex. Superintendent Bobby Johnson said accommodating the few transgender students in Campbell County Public Schools has been very straightforward up until now. Were going to protect all kids. We want all students to feel safe when theyre in school, Johnson said, adding the division has not allowed and did not allow a student to enter the bathroom for the gender they are identifying with. In other words, no one who is biologically a male is permitted to enter a bathroom designated for girls, and vice versa, in Campbell County Public Schools. Instead, Johnson said the principal and parents of a transgender student allow that student to use an individual unisex or staff bathroom. Its never been an issue, Johnson said. We have managed it. Weve done it respectfully, weve done it quietly and worked with families and children to make them feel comfortable. Johnson said this is a practice, not a policy, because it has not been voted on by the school board and codified. Kinchen said he thinks the existence of the informal practice, and the practice itself, are unacceptable. He thinks the board should vote on a formal policy, and he believes his constituents dont want any accommodations made for transgender children. When it comes to the transgender thing, most people not only dont understand it, theyre not supportive of this position and trying to accommodate a minority, to give special privileges and special rights to people, he said. If he is elected, Kinchen, an associate dean in the School of Music at Liberty University, intends to bring the issue up for discussion among the board members, open it up to the public at a meeting or open forum and create a formal policy. His opponent, Barbara Rypkema, disagrees with Kinchen on how pressing this issue truly is. I have concerns that [transgender bathrooms are] being used as an issue by Mr. Kinchen and others because of the fact that they dont understand what the schools are truly facing and so its easier to go with a national item that will scare people into a vote, she said. For his part, Kinchen said he doesnt see it as a national issue because there is a practice currently being implemented in Campbell County schools. Rypkema, previously a bookkeeper at Tomahawk Elementary School, said she doesnt plan to propose policy while cases like Gavin Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board still are in progress and could set a precedent Campbell County would need to follow. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Virginia filed the case on behalf of Grimm, a transgender teenager, when his school board voted to approve a policy that required transgender students to use alternate, private restroom facilities instead of communal restrooms. The case made it to the Supreme Court but was sent back to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals after the Justice Department and Department of Education rescinded a President Barack Obama-era guidance that recommended schools accommodate transgender students. If and when that case is resolved, Rypkemas strategy would be similar to Kinchens: She intends to listen to parents and constituents and implement policy the community approves of. Unlike Kinchen, she wont predict what the policy will look like. Just randomly stating it to be a party line policy I dont believe thats beneficial to the parents or the students. It actually upsets me because I feel like [Kinchen is] using that issue to basically create pawns of the students in this election, she said, adding she believes his goal is only to win, not to look out for the students and to improve the education in Campbell County. In the Rustburg seat race, candidates also hold slightly different positions on a transgender bathroom policy in Campbell County Schools, but neither has emphasized it to the same extent as Kinchen. David Phillips, a BWXT engineer, said he didnt initially intend to build the issue into his campaign but spoke with Johnson about the divisions current practice after Kinchen brought attention to it. Phillips said he doesnt think transgender students should be able to use a communal bathroom that doesnt match their physical sex but said, If we have a special need, we can address it as it arises. I want to first and foremost adhere to the law thats currently on the books, and I think thats what were currently doing, he said. If the law were to change in that regard, then we would have to act accordingly to provide those resources to fall in line with what the law would require. Phillips opponent, Doug Barringer, thinks Campbell Countys current practice is too informal, and he wants to open the issue up to the community and vote on a policy, similar to Kinchen. Barringer, a software engineer at Harris Corporation, also said he thinks allowing a transgender student to use a staff or unisex bathroom qualifies as special protection, under the law instead of equal protection, as the Constitution guarantees, which he finds problematic. Johnson said he would work with the principal and parents of any student who came forward and didnt want to use a communal bathroom, regardless of whether or not the student was transgender, but that wasnt sufficient for Barringer. It seems like Johnson is merely expanding one special exception to include a second. As such it is not equal access but remains special access, Barringer wrote in an email. This may seem a minor contention, but it diminishes a principle that is central to our concepts of equal rights and equal protection under law, all so the superintendent and school board can avoid a contentious debate and difficult decision. Barringer also said allowing transgender students to use a separate bathroom could cause a slippery slope that would lead to transgender students asking to use the communal bathrooms for the gender they identify with. Scott Miller, a veterinarian and current school board chair who is running unopposed in the Brookneal district, said he thinks it is absurd anyone would treat transgender bathroom policies as a central issue in the election. I dont see a reason to make this an issue. I dont see a reason to bring attention to Campbell County by making it an issue, and I feel like right now, were handling it perfectly well without setting in stone some policy that we wont have control over anyway if it does come down from above, from a federal or state mandate that we will have to abide by, Miller said. He noted at this time, no biologically male students are using girls bathrooms in the division. Were addressing the needs of that individual student without making a mountain out of a molehill and creating problems, he said. Nobody is forcing us to do anything, so I just find it ridiculous that thats even an agenda item. Well cross that agenda item if we have to, but we dont have to. Residents will vote on candidates for Campbell County School Board on Nov. 7. VICE President Phelekezela Mphoko yesterday castigated the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for allegedly concentrating on Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo. VP Mphoko, who described the commission as corrupt and useless, said in the eyes of the anti-graft body, only him and Prof Moyo are sinners. He said he was concerned that ZACC was ignoring several cases of corruption and focusing on Prof Moyo just to serve the interest of some individuals. ZACC has accused Prof Moyo of corruption in relation to the use of ZIMDEF funds and the matter is before the courts. ZACC is being abused. Looking at the way its operating, its not going to give Government the best results but its simply serving the interest of a few individuals. ZACC has simply become an instrument thats being used to target other people and this is unfortunate. I must express my concern about ZACC. I dont think its capable of dealing with corruption in the country. As far as ZACC is concerned, the only sinner is Prof Moyo and myself because I ordered the release of Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (zinara) executives from police custody, said VP Mphoko in an interview after a meeting with white business community in Bulawayo yesterday. He said the reason why he ordered the release of zinaras boss Moses Juma was because his arrest was unprocedural and some people wanted his post. We know very well that there are people who are stealing, smuggling gold into South Africa and other countries. There are people who are smuggling chrome out of this country. There are people who have fraudulently bought properties, including blocks of flats in South Africa when were suffering here. Im asking myself whos going to arrest these people if ZACC sees Prof Moyo as the only corrupt person in this country. Some people are actually being arrested for nothing and ZACC doesnt care. All they want is to arrest Prof Moyo, said VP Mphoko. He said he was aware that some people in ZACC and other institutions were corruptly given jobs. It becomes difficult for us to believe these people who choose to chase one person in this whole country. We have illegal money changers crippling the economy. Im told people bring new bond notes onto the streets to buy United States dollars. This is clear sabotage and these are the people that ZACC should look for not Jonathan or me. Im strongly against the way ZACC operates because they have serious corrupt elements among themselves, said VP Mphoko. He said it was important for the commission to be re-organised, especially the management, if corruption is to be tackled in an effective manner. Recently, First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe said fraud allegations raised by Anti-Corruption Commission against Prof Moyo were lies, adding that only President Mugabe has the prerogative of removing him from his post. Herald Bezos' Ex Is Already Doing This. Now He Is, Too It's the perfect job for someone who prefers the minimum amount of human interaction. The French government is looking for a couple to take care of the deserted Brittany island of Quemenes. The mile-long island in the Molene archipelago off the Breton coast was occupied by humans for thousands of years, but the last owners left 25 years ago. The Conservatoire du Littoral (French Coastal Protection Agency, per the Mirror) bought the island, which includes a farm, and selected David and Soizic Cuisnier to run it and take care of the flock of sheep living on it. That was in 2007, and the couple and their two children, ages 7 and 5, are ready to move on, leaving a job opening, the BBC reports. Unfortunately for would-be island caretakers, the deadline for applications is over and the Conservatoire has narrowed it down to a shortlist of applicants. "We received around 60 inquiries and 40 applications, but only 15 or so of those were serious," a manager tells the Local. A decision is expected by October or November. "Coming here was an act of glorious folly," David Cuisnier tells the BBC. "But it turned into the most wonderful adventure. We developed the farm into a successful business. We raised a family. It has been unforgettable." The Cuisniers' lease required them to earn a livelihood, which they did by growing and selling potatoes, gathering edible seaweed, and running a B&B for half the year, among other things. They could also use only the resources provided by the island, meaning they get electricity from a wind turbine and solar panels, and water from a well. (Read more France stories.) Like other Jews during Yom Kippur, Mark Zuckerberg tried to atone for his sins and made a plea for forgiveness over the weekend, Reuters reports. Unlike most other Jews, he asked forgiveness from millions of peoplenot just for his personal mistakes, but also for his social media platform. "For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better," he wrote in a Saturday evening Facebook post. "For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better." Vanity Fair notes that his head-hanging is "vague," but that "it looks like his Yom Kippur confession is an apology for enabling Trump"meaning Zuckerberg probably was referencing the ways tech companies like Facebook and Twitter contributed to the "fake news" phenomenon and perhaps had an impact on the election. Vanity Fair notes Zuckerberg's mea culpa also shows he's ready to come clean on the role Facebook may have played, including initially being dismissive of fake-news warnings and unwittingly enabling Russian interference efforts via thousands of divisive ads. The magazine also holds his feet to the fire, asking, "What does it mean when he says he will 'work to do better,' though?," wondering if that means he'll be "less laissez-faire" about such issues. Josh Constine at TechCrunch concurs, noting that while he believes Zuckerberg's apology was "genuine," it may also be seen as politicizing the holiday and trying to fend off criticism (of which he lists a couple of scathing examples). "The path forward isn't through faux-neutrality or forgiveness, but clear admission of malfeasance and demonstrable change," Constine writes. (Zuckerberg recently pushed back on Trump's "collusion" claim.) Donald Malarkey, a World War II paratrooper who was awarded the Bronze Star after parachuting behind enemy lines at Normandy to destroy German artillery on D-Day, has died. He was 96. Malarkey was one of several members of "Easy Company" portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. He died Sept. 30 in Salem, Ore. of age-related causes, his son-in-law John Hill said Sunday. Malarkey was a University of Oregon freshman when he was drafted into the Army in 1942 and volunteered to become a paratrooper. He fought across France, the Netherlands, and Belgium and with Easy Company fought off Nazi advances while surrounded at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, reports the AP. Malarkey met with historian Stephen Ambrose in 1987, and in 1989 traveled with other members of Easy Company to Europe to provide oral histories of their war experiences. Those recollections became the basis for Band of Brothers and an earlier book with the same name written by Ambrose. He remained close to the other surviving members of Easy Company and attended his final Easy Company reunion in August. "You could look back and with great pride realize that you had done a very significant thing and acted responsibly in what amounted to saving the world," Malarkey told Oregon Public Broadcasting in 2012. Malarkey is survived by his three daughters and his sister. (Read more Band of Brothers stories.) A major delivery of North Korean arms to Egypt last year was dashed only after American spies got wind of the illegal cache and, alerting officials in Cairo, essentially forced the US ally to seize the rickety ship. The dashed deal reveals the difficulty of stopping the illegal arms trade with Pyongyang despite UN sanctions, the Washington Post reports. The freighter Jie Shun, sailing in secret under a Cambodian flag, was ferrying 30,000 rocket-propelled grenades hiding under a load of iron ore. A UN report later called it the "largest seizure of ammunition in the history of sanctions" against the North. While it was unknown if the buyers, Egyptian businessmen, ever paid the $23 million tab, the incident angered US officials, who put the brakes on nearly $300 million in military aid to Cairo over the summer. Egypt's defense minister announced last month his country was cutting military ties to North Korea. But with long-standing ties to Pyongyang dating to when it was legal to trade, Cairo remains a "resilient customer today" for Kim Jong Un's arsenal of Cold War-era conventional weapons, one expert tells the Post. Sanctions and the war of words playing out between President Trump and Kim has failed to defeat a vibrant trade with countries whose military forces depend on the Soviet-designed hardware and replacement parts North Korea can provide, including Cuba, Syria, Burma, and Uganda. Terrorists have obtained small arms they've used to carry out attacks, the Guardian reported last month. "As the Russians and Chinese have moved away from this market, the North Koreans have stuck around," an expert tells the Post. (Trump calls negotiations with North Korea a waste of time.) Monarch Airlines, the fifth-largest airline in the UK, has collapsed, leaving 860,000 people with canceled tickets for upcoming trips and 110,000 people overseas, mid-trip. Those 110,000, who are spread across at least 33 airports in 11 countries, will be returned to the UK via 34 chartered planes sent by the country's Civil Aviation Authority, the BBC reports. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is describing that process, for which travelers won't be charged, the country's "biggest peacetime repatriation" effort. (Instructions for ticketholders, whether they'd already started travel or not, can be found here.) The demise of Monarch makes it the biggest airline ever to go under in the UK. The airline reported a loss of more than $386 million last year. Higher fuel prices, increased competition, and the weak pound have been named as some of the causes, but the airline's CEO says the "root cause" is terrorism in Egypt and Tunisia (two of the airline's biggest markets) and the collapse of the market in Turkey due to unrest there. The announcement that the airline had gone into administration and all flights had been canceled came at 4am local time Monday, the Guardian reports, and some would-be travelers were informed their flights were canceled just minutes before they were scheduled to take off. It's not clear how many travelers will be refunded for tickets and any other costs they may have incurred, such as hotel stays they now can't use. About 2,100 employees of the airline have also been left without jobs, though other airlines have expressed interest in hiring Monarch employees. (Read more airline industry stories.) President Trump on Monday called the mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night an "act of pure evil" and said he would visit the city to meet with victims and first responders on Wednesday, reports CNN. In a brief news conference, Trump also praised the response by police and medical personnel as "miraculous" and credited it with preventing an even further loss of life. "It is our love that defines us today," said Trump, per the Washington Post. "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence." Earlier, Trump tweeted his condolences for the victims, and he reiterated that in his address. "We cannot imagine their loss," he said of victims' families. Former President Obama also weighed in, tweeting that "Michelle & I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy." (Read more Las Vegas shooting stories.) At 59, Debra Newell had found professionalbut not romanticsuccess. Divorced four times, the Irvine, Calif., interior designer hadn't totally given up on love, and then it found her in a whirlwind. She met John Meehan via an online dating site in October 2014, and he seemed too good to be true: a 55-year-old anesthesiologist with washboard abs prone to obsessive flattery and so attentive he carried her purse for her. She spotted a few red flagshe wore tattered scrubs to a formal evening eventand her kids spotted far more: He called himself a doctor but had no car and dirty fingernails; he played Call of Duty constantly. And, unbeknownst to them, by that December he had married their mom. So begins a tale of "love, deception, forgiveness, denial, and ultimately, survival," told in six parts by Christopher Goffard for the Los Angeles Times (parts one and two out thus far). "Dirty John" recounts how, after knowing John just five weeks, Debra rented them a $6,500-a-month Newport Beach home. He later outfitted it in security cameras he could monitor from his phone, which is how he ended up spotting her opening a letter addressed to him from someone who said he spent time with John in county jail. He had an answer for it, as he did for everything, but while he was out, she began to chip away at the truth, as told by papers sitting in plain sight in their shared home office: Court records painted the picture of an alleged conman who had served time for drug theft and had a history of seducing and then taking advantage of women. He had met Debra two days after leaving jail after violating a restraining order. Printouts from DatingPsychos.com logged women's complaints about him. She began packing her things. Follow the story here or listen on iPhone or Android. (Read more Longform stories.) One of the first victims to be identified from the Las Vegas mass shooting is a male nurse from Tennessee who had gone to the country music festival with his wife. What's more, his wife credits him with saving her life. "At this point, I'm in complete disbelief and despair," Heather Gulish Melton tells Nashville's Fox 17 of her late husband, Sonny Melton. He "was the most kind-hearted, loving man I have ever met," she said, adding, "He saved my life and lost his." She didn't provide further details about how her husband died. He was one of at least 58 people who were killed Sunday night when a gunman opened fire on the musical festival on the Vegas strip. Sonny Melton worked as a nurse at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, reports the Jackson Sun. His wife is an orthopedic surgeon, and she had previously posted a photo of the couple wearing Eric Church shirts, the headline act of the three-day festival, reports the New York Post. Gulish Melton wrote on Facebook that she "lost my true love and knight in shining armor" Sunday night. "I appreciate the prayers but I just need some time. (The gunman's brother says the family is "dumbfounded" about the massacre.) Frightening attacks on US personnel in Havana struck the heart of America's spy network in Cuba, with intelligence operatives among the first and most severely affected victims, the AP has learned. It wasn't until US spies, posted to the embassy under diplomatic cover, reported hearing bizarre sounds and experiencing even stranger physical effects that the United States realized something was wrong, individuals familiar with the situation said. While the attacks started within days of President Donald Trump's surprise election in November, the precise timeline remains unclear, including whether intelligence officers were the first victims hit or merely the first victims to report it. The US has called the situation "ongoing." To date, the Trump administration largely has described the 21 victims as US embassy personnel or "members of the diplomatic community." That description suggested only bona fide diplomats and their family members were struck, with no logical motivation beyond disrupting US-Cuban relations. Behind the scenes, though, investigators immediately started searching for explanations in the darker, rougher world of spycraft and counterespionage, given that so many of the first reported cases involved intelligence workers posted to the US embassy. That revelation, confirmed to the AP by a half-dozen officials, adds yet another element of mystery to a year-long saga that the Trump administration says may not be over. Of the 21 confirmed cases, American spies suffered some of the most acute damage, including brain injury and hearing loss that has not healed, said several US officials. Click for more on the latest to surface, including details on whether all the symptoms are conclusively tied to attacks. (Read more Cuba stories.) Three members of Congress are demanding answers after a St. Louis scholar's new book revealed details of secret Cold War-era US government testing in which countless unsuspecting people, including kids, pregnant women, and minorities, were fed, sprayed, or injected with radiation and other dangerous materials. The health ramifications of the tests are unknown. Lisa Martino-Taylor, an associate professor of sociology at St. Louis Community College who wrote Behind the Fog: How the US Cold War Radiological Weapons Program Exposed Innocent Americans, acknowledged that tracing diseases like cancer to specific causes is difficult. But three House Democrats who represent areas where testing occurredWilliam Lacy Clay of Missouri, Brad Sherman of California, and Jim Cooper of Tennesseesaid they were outraged by the revelations. Martino-Taylor used Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain documents, including Army records. She also reviewed already public records and published articles. She told the AP that she found that a small group of researchers, aided by leading academic institutions, worked to develop radiological weapons and later "combination weapons" using radioactive materials along with chemical or biological weapons. Martino-Taylor said the offensive radiological weapons program was a top priority for the government. Unknowing people in places throughout the US, as well as parts of England and Canada, were subjected to potentially deadly material through open-air spraying, ingestion, and injection, she said. The congressmen say they will push for answers (Read more radiation exposure stories.) A Haitian man who federal prosecutors say was the ringleader of an auto insurance scam involving as many as 50 staged car crashes was sentenced Monday to four years in prison and ordered to pay $207,000 in restitution, the AP reports. Mackenzy Noze, 33, a legal permanent US resident who lived in Norwich, a city in southeastern Connecticut, and more than 15 other people staged the crashes in several towns in and around New London County between 2011 and 2014, authorities said. They fraudulently collected $6,500 to $30,000 in insurance payouts per crash, bilking insurance companies out of an estimated total of $600,000, according to court documents. Most of the crashes were single-vehicle wrecks on remote roads where the only witnesses were the occupants of the vehicle, prosecutors said. The crashes included Noze driving other people's cars into trees and other objects, then leaving the scenes while the policyholders got into the vehicles and called for help, authorities said. The policyholders would often tell authorities they swerved to avoid an animal or lost control because of weather conditions. US District Judge Jeffrey Meyer in New Haven sentenced Noze, who was convicted of nine fraud charges by a jury in June. He will face immigration proceedings after serving his prison sentence, officials said. Six other people involved in the scam were also convicted. Some got prison time, while others await sentencing. Several other people who took part cooperated with authorities and were not charged. Sullivan wrote in court documents that Noze had a difficult childhood and started using alcohol when he was 8 or 9 years old and painkillers when he was 26. (Read more insurance fraud stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Snow showers this evening. Breaks in the overcast later. Low 6F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%.. Tonight Snow showers this evening. Breaks in the overcast later. Low 6F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 40%. New Delhi: The merger deal between Indias two telecom giants Vodafone India and Idea Cellular is expected to be finalised by the end of March next year. All regulatory approvals are likely to be obtained by that time, a source said. There are only two permission left in the amalgamation scheme of the Idea and Vodafone. It should be completed by end of the current financial year, an industry source told PTI. Both Vodafone and Idea are before National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in order to seek its nod, without which they cant proceed further to get approval from the Department of Telecom. In order to seek approval for the amalgamation of Vodafone Indias business with itself, Idea will hold a meeting of its shareholders and creditors on October 12. The meeting will take place in Gujarats Gandhinagar. It is being convened following directions of the NCLT bench at Ahmedabad. ALSO READ: Vodafone offers cashback in form of talk time to Lava smartphone users Reliance Communications on Sunday announced termination of mobile business merger deal with Aircel due to Legal and regulatory uncertainties, and various interventions by vested interests leading to inordinate delays in receipt of relevant approvals for the proposed transaction. Earlier this year, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular had agreed to merge their operations to create the countrys largest telecom operator worth of more than USD 23 billion with a 35 per cent market share. The combined entity of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which are currently Indias number 2 and 3, respectively, would dislodge Bharti Airtel to counter the fierce price war in the worlds second-largest telecom market. The deal gives Vodafone India an implied enterprise value of Rs 82,800 crore and Idea Rs 72,200 crore. Post the transaction, the British firm will own 45.1 per cent stake in the merged entity, while the Aditya Birla group, Ideas parent, will have 26 per cent after paying Rs 3,874 crore cash for a 4.9 per cent stake. The remaining 28.9 per cent will be held by other shareholders. (With PTI inputs) ALSO READ: Reliance Jio offers several recharge plans to prepaid customers; know more about it For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The representation of the Delhi government in the Metros fare fixation panel was futile if its views were not considered before raising tariffs, the Aam Aadmi Party said on Monday. KK Sharma had on June 30 vehemently protested against the proposed fare hike, AAPs Delhi unit chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said. Sharma was sent by the Delhi government as its representative in the fare fixation committee. While talking about the fare hike decision, Bharadwaj said What is the use of having a representative of an elected government in the fare fixation committee if the Urban Development Ministry and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) want to go ahead without taking its views into consideration. ALSO READ | Delhi Metro fare hike: Kejriwal says Delhi Metro fare hike unacceptable, writes to Centre He said fares of Kolkata Metro, which is the oldest in the country, were lower than that of the Delhi Metro, as he sought to draw a parallel between the transport systems of the two metropolitans. The fare for Delhi Metro is Rs 10 for the first five kms, whereas the first five kms in the Kolkata Metro costs Rs 5. Delhiities have to spend Rs 50 for 32 kms or more whereas people from Kolkata shell Rs 25 for travelling 25 kms or more, he added. The AAP has threatened protests over the proposed fare hike. (With PTI inputs) ALSO READ: Arvind Kejriwal terms Delhi Metros proposed hike as anti-people New Delhi: Heavy rain lashed Hyderabad on Monday evening that took lives of three people in rain-related incidents. According to the reports, a physically-challenged man and his four-month-old son died after debris of a retaining wall collapsed on their thatched house at Naidu Nagar, Banjara Hills at around 5:30 PM. In another incident, a 35-year-old man was electrocuted at Hussainialam after he touched a road-side parked van which came in contact with an electric pole. 67.6 mm of rainfall was recorded in the city from around 4:30 PM to 8:30 PM and the rainfall was mainly due to the monsoon, a Met official said. Read more:A AAPas objection to Delhi Metro fare hike ignored: Saurabh Bharadwaj The downpour led to inundation of several low-lying areas and traffic came to standstill due to water-logging at different places in the city. "In view of heavy rains, the entire force of the Hyderabad City Police including force from law and order police stations, traffic police stations, Task Force, Armed Reserve, Home Guards, Special Branch and other wingsA have been alerted to be in readiness", a release from the CP office said on Monday night. They have been instructed to take an active part in flood-related emergencies and have been directed to monitor the situation throughout the night and attend all emergencies in coordination with other government departments, it said. (With inputs from PTI) New Delhi: Mumbai Police has arrested a constable for allegedly driving a vehicle in a drunken condition that too while he was on patrolling duty, an official said on Monday. The constable has been identified as Ankush Sanap, attached to the MHB Colony Police Station in suburban Borivali. According to reports, some locals spotted Sanap driving a police mobile van in a zigzag manner on the Western Express Highway near a temple in suburban Kandivali around 11.30 pm on Sunday, the official said. The locals then informed the police who arrived at the spot and took Sanap to a police station. Upon examination, Sanap was found to be under the influence of alcohol, the official said. The constable was arrested in the wee hours of Monday and booked under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act and the Maharashtra Prohibition Act, he added. New Delhi: Aarav, who recently won the popular reality show Bigg Boss Tamil, has finally opened up on Oviya Helen's love proposal and said that the actress wasn't in a right state of mind. The young actor had invited a lot of flak after he was seen giving a cold shoulder Oviya who had confessed her feeling towards him on national television. Now post his triumph on Bigg Boss Tamil, Aarav has revealed his true feelings for Oviya. aI knew Oviya was interested in me, but I thought she was just playing around. Once I realised it was serious, I told her it wonat work out. She was also confused and not in the right state of mind,aA Aarav was quoted as saying. For the uninitiated, Oviya and Aarav's chemistry on the reality show had grabbed a lot of attention. While the two were seen going mushy over each other, Oviya got quite serious about their relationship and went on to prove Aarav on national television. But much to everyone's surprise, Aarav gave her a could shoulder, leaving Oviya distressed. The diva even walked out of the show raising a lot many eyebrows towards Aarav. He further stated that he had no hard feelings for the lady and wouldn't mind sharing the screen space with Oviya Talking about the same, Bigg Boss Tamil winner said, aIf people want to see us together on screen, I am up for it. Iam ready." Oviya, on the other hand, seems to have overcome Aarav's episode. The lady even had a cordial conversation with the actor during the grand finale of Bigg Boss Tamil. We wonder what Oviya has to say about Aarav's statement on her For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Karan Johar's popular chat show Koffee With Karan has been one of the most talked about celeb based shows on Indian television. And after entertaining the audience for five seasons the renowned filmmaker has dropped hints about the next season of the show. On the occasion of International Coffee Day, KJo, took it to micro-blogging site Twitter and shared pictures of previous seasons. In the caption, he wrote, "#InternationalCoffeeDay... I may have changed the spelling... But the love for it remains... Season 6 anyone?". The fifth season hosted by the "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" director aired on November 6 last year. #InternationalCoffeeDay....i may have changed the spelling ...but the love for it remains.....season 6 anyone? YYYYYY pic.twitter.com/yulWovyd0K a Karan Johar (@karanjohar) October 1, 2017 Johar invited Bollywood bigwigs such as Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, Alia Bhatt, among others. It was in the 16th episode that actor Kangana Ranaut had described the director as the "flagbearer of nepotism", which snowballed into the infamous controversy that continues to simmer till date. For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Divyanka Tripathi who plays the lead role in the popular daily soap Yeh Hai Mohabbatein on Star Plus recently visited various cities along with her husband Vivek Dahiya as part of Navratri events. The adorable couple managed to woo the crowd in every city they visited as part of the celebrations. According to a Times of India report, the beautiful actress was supposed to take a flight to return to Mumbai on October 1 but some uncalled delays by the airline led her to write to them on micro-blogging site Twitter. a Divyanka T Dahiya (@Divyanka_T)A October 1, 2017 The Nach Baliye 8 winner complained on Twitter about how the delay made her reach late on the sets of her television show. Jet Airways airline responded to the actress in an hour but the damage was done till then. a Divyanka T Dahiya (@Divyanka_T)A October 1, 2017 This is not the first instance where a television celebrity complained about aviation authorities. Uttaran actress Tina Dutta and Kaisi Hai Yaariyan fame Niti Taylor also faced displeasing experiences with them. Divyanka and Vivek had a memorable time meeting their die-hard fans in different cities. You need to check out their pictures to see how cute the couple looks together. Indeed, the couple gives us relationship goals. Lucky to have got KaliBari Darshan in such peace! Thank you God! YThanks to our entire team.ai A post shared by Divyanka Tripathi Dahiya (@divyankatripathidahiya) on Sep 30, 2017 at 12:55pm PDT Shubho Bijoya everyone from Kolkata.YS #LetsKillEvilWithin #HappyDussera A post shared by Vivek Dahiya (@vivekdahiya) on Sep 30, 2017 at 10:21am PDT Ahmedabad: A 21-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by a group of men belonging to the upper caste Patel community for attending a garba event in Gujarat's Anand district in the early hours on Sunday, police said. The incident took place around 4 am. Jayesh Solanki, cousin Prakash Solanki and two other Dalit men were sitting near a house adjacent to a temple in Bhadrania village when a person made "derogatory remarks about their caste", police said quoting a complaint filed in connection with the incident. The accused said Dalits "do not have any right to watch garba. He made casteist remarks and asked some men to come to the spot", an officer at the Bhadran police station said. The upper caste men allegedly thrashed the Dalits and banged Jayesh's head against a wall, the officer said. Gujarat: Dalit man beaten to death on #Dussehra, allegedly for attending a Garba event in Anand. pic.twitter.com/i80ChYxjyi ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 Read | Dalits thrashed for sporting moustache in Gujarat, one arrested Jayesh was rushed to a hospital in Karamsad, where doctors declared him brought dead in the morning. "We have registered an FIR under IPC sections related to murder and the Prevention of Atrocities Act against eight men," the official said. Deputy SP (SC/ST cell) A M Patel said it did not appear to be a pre-planned attack. "Jayesh was killed in the heat of the moment, as there was no rivalry between him and the accused. We are probing the case from all angles. The accused will be arrested soon," the officer said. Recently, two Dalit men of a village near Gandhinagar were allegedly thrashed by members of the Rajput community for "sporting a moustache" in separate incidents, on September 25 and 29. The state had witnessed massive protests in July last year over the brutal thrashing of four Dalit men at a village in Una town. Read | Madhya Pradesh: Dalit woman's nose cut, husband beaten for refusing work as bonded labourers For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Three generations of Congress have dished out severe injustice to Gujarat and Gujaratis, said BJP president Amit Shah while launching the first phase of Gujarat Gaurav Yatra from Karamsad, the birthplace of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, on Sunday. The BJP has undertaken the Gaurav Yatra to reach out to the voters as the state goes to polls for the Gujarat Assembly in December. Gaurav Yatra will take place in two phases and cover a distance of more than 4,500 km through 149 Assembly constituencies. The focus of the yatra is to highlight the achievements of successive BJP governments in the state. Shah was accompanied by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel. Shah invoked Sardar Patel to launch an all-out attack on the Congress. Rahul Gandhi (Congress vice-president who was recently on a three-day visit to Saurashtra) comes here and seeks answers from us as to what has the BJP done for the state. We are seeking an answer from you (the Congress) for injustices that the three generations of your rule did to us, said Shah. While the first generation of the Congress insulted Sardar Patel by not giving him his due recognition and the Bharat Ratna, (former) Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did injustice to Morarji Desai, Shah said. The third generation of (Congress leaders) Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have done injustice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Gujarat seeks answer for that, he said. The second phase of the Gaurav Yatra will start on October 2 from Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. The Yatra will conclude in Gandhinagar on October 16 with a rally addressed by PM Modi and Amit Shah. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In order to abolish child marriage and dowry from the state, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched a campaign on Monday. While speaking about the campaign, the chief minister said, We had implemented prohibition in the state last year and launched a massive campaign in its support by forming a human chain on January 21, 2017.... Similarly, I would appeal to all of you to form a human chain on January 21, 2018 in support of the campaign to put an end to the wrong practices of child marriage and dowry. Nitish said this while speaking at a function at the Ashok Convention Centres Bapu Sabhaghar. It was organised by the Social Welfare Department. Bihar had formed the worlds largest human chain on January 21 this year in support of the liquor ban at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna. The chief minister, leaders from various political parties and citizens held each others hands and formed the worlds largest human chain, the state government claimed. All the sections of the society should put an end to social evils such as child marriage and dowry and not politicise them, Nitish appealed. Do not view everything from a political angle, he said. The chief minister, who administered an oath to the people not to promote or support such social evils in any manner, also asked them to shun child marriage functions or marriages where dowry had been taken. ALSO READ: Bhagalpur canal breach leaves Bihar govt red-faced, probe ordered He expressed hope that the campaign would result in a substantial decline in the number of child marriages and dowry cases in a year. Kumar said as per the Government of Indias crime data, Bihar ranked 26th in terms of crimes against women in the country, but added that the situation was alarming when it came to dowry-related cases. Bihar ranks second in the country after neighbouring Uttar Pradesh when it comes to dowry-related cases. In 2016, 987 cases of dowry deaths were registered in Bihar, while the number of cases of dowry-related atrocities was 4,852, he said, adding that the percentage of child marriage cases in the state stood at 39. The chief minister pointed out that this was the situation, despite there being lawsthe Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 -- to eliminate such ill practices. The liquor ban was the foundation of a social change, the process of which would further be expedited with the abolition of the wrong practices of child marriage and dowry, he said, adding, Bringing social change is our governments resolve, like the seven resolves.... We want overall development both physical and social. Kumar described Bihar as the land of knowledge and the land where great personalities like Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Gobind Singh, Mahatma Gandhi (during his Champaran satyagraha days) worked and transformed the society. Despite this, we (Bihar) have become a victim of such social evils.... If we have to regain our lost glory, then it is necessary to get rid of such practices, he said. The chief minister also flagged off 38 Abhiyan Jagrukta Rath for all the 38 districts of the state to raise awareness among the masses on the issues. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi asked Kumar to introduce a stringent law to deal with the issue of child marriage and suggested him to enact a legislation, under which the elected representatives of the panchayats would be held responsible if a child marriage was reported from their respective jurisdictions. Bihar Legislative Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Legislative Council Vice Chairman Haroon Rashid, Social Welfare Minister Kumari Manju Verma, who presided over the function, and other ministers and top officials were present on the occasion. (With PTI inputs) ALSO READ: Tejashwi takes a dig at Nitish, says 'corruption of Ganga is streaming in Bihar' For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Rival faction AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran ppressed for a CBI probe into the death of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Monday. Dhinakaran when asked if the party faction led by him was ready to cooperate with the government-constituted Justice A Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry to probe the death of Jayalalithaa on December 5, 2016 said, I want a CBI probe. Tamil Nadu government on September 25 had constituted an inquiry commission headed by Justice A Arumughaswamy to look into the circumstances leading up to the death of the former chief minister and AIADMK supremo. Dhinakaran has accused the state government of trying to use "the doubts over Amma's death" to "divert" the attention of the public from its misgovernance. He said, To divert the peoples attention from the misgovernance, doubts are being raised over Ammas death. Dhinakaran and Palaniswami are engaged in a tussle for power with the latter accusing the chief minister of betryaing Sasikala, who nominated him to the top party post in February. He also lashed out at the government on the spread of dengue, saying "their words and action show they are only bothered about the government. We can't expect any action from them". (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Odisha Police arrests an ex-army personnel along with five others for providing arms training and logistic support to CPI-Maoist breakaway faction Peoples Liberation Front of India (PLFI) from Sundergarh district. The arrests came a day after Odisha Police arrested eight PLFI cadres including two commander rank members of the banned outfit. Sundergarh superintendent of police (SP) Pinak Mishra, Jadumani Patra one of the arrested on Monday raids is a former army jawan. The SP informed the media that Patra is a resident of Badbil, is an ex-army personnel, and he was providing shelter, logistics support and arms training Arjun Rana, a zonal commander, and his troop. Rana was arrested on Sunday. The other arrested have been identified as Sandip Ekka, 22; Butru Khadia, 20; Suraj Sahu, 19; Kalu Thakur, 19, and Riba Xalxo, 30. All the arrested belong to Biramitrapur of Sundergarh district. Also read: Maoists torch PLFI leader's house in Palamau Mishra added, "Monday arrests were made after Arjun and Kiran Soye PLFI cadres arrested yesterday spilled details of other members during questioning. A special raiding team was formed to make raids according to the inputs provided by the PLFI arrested leaders, said Mishra. Also read: PLFI ultras kill three in Jharkhand PLFI is in a fratricidal war with its CPI-Maoists in at least 14 districts in Jharkhand and three districts of Odisha for area dominance. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday kicked off its campaign in poll-bound Gujarat, blaming the BJP goverment in the state of being arrogant, corrupt and murderous and highlighting issue of unemployment. While launching the partys campaign, AAP leader and Delhi minister Gopal Rai held a road show that roughly covered a distance of 20 kms in the city, in which thousands of party workers joined him. During his address to the party workers, Rai, who is the partys election in-charge for Gujarat, expressed confidence that AAP would unseat the BJP government in the upcoming elections. He also said that the people of the state would respond to the bullets fired by the government through ballots. The BJP government is arrogant, corrupt and murderous. The AAP has started a march to bring about a change in the state by throwing out such a government, Rai said. He added that the arrogance of BJP government has reached the peak of the Mount Everest, and not a single work is possible without corruption. Corruption, unemployment, pathetic condition of schools and hospitals, injustice to farmers, are some of the issues faced by the people in the state. The government fires bullets at people when they raise their voice against this. But people will respond to the bullets through ballots, he said. Also Read: AAP leader Joginder Chinna joins BJP, accuses Bhagwant Mann of converting party into private company The road show started from Nana Chiloda Circle on the outskirts of the city and ended at Sabarmati riverfront, after which some leaders of the party visited the Sabarmati Ashram to pay obeisance to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary. The AAP had recently made an announcement that it would contest the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat. Also Read | Arun Jaitley defamation case: Delhi HC dismisses AAP leader Raghav Chadha's plea For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: We are celebrating Mahatma Gandhis 148th anniversary today. His unparalleled contribution to the Indian Independence movement and mantra of non-violence inspire people for civil right movement and freedom across the globe. The great soul (Mahatma), who dedicated his entire life for activism, had not only given us Independence back in the country but also left his footmark in South Africa at the very young age of 24. He developed the philosophy of Satyagraha (peaceful resistance to political prejudice) there that turned out as his strength and helped him in securing freedom for the nation. Gandhi in South Africa Gandhi earned his law degree from London and went to South Africa in 1893 on a temporary assignment to represent a local trader in a court of law. When he arrived in the country, racial discrimination was on the surge due to the increase of Indian population and he learnt at the beginning that the migrant community living in Durban was on the target. Gandhi witnessed the social stigma when he arrived to represent the trader in court and the magistrate asked him to remove the turban he was donned. Mahatma declined his request and preferred to walk out from the court as he dubbed it as a sign of disrespect to his nation. The matter was published in a local Newspaper, Natal Advertiser, that brought him headlines and he was recognised for his sense of dignity. Afterward, he experienced another incident on June 7, 1893, when he was travelling to Pretoria for and the conductor asked him to leave the first class compartment despite he had the ticket for the same. A few fellow travellers had questioned his skin colour. Gandhi was thrown out from the compartment at Pietermaritzburg station. The incident changed his life, and he stood up against racial discrimination and made active non-violence as his mission. Indians were not allowed to walk on the footpath and once Gandhi was kicked by a police officer out of the footpath sans warning. He was disturbed with such inhumane practices and decided to fight for civil right. He took the matter before British colony for referring Indian Hindus and Muslims as Kaafir. When the British declared war against Zulus, Gandhi had extended his support and had asked India people to serve them as volunteers in ambulance unit. Gandhis philosophy was invented from this very right place and his political involvement, and influence also grew. He became popular among Indian population for his providing legal service and discovered term Mahatma for himself in 1914. The black South African people were allowed to cast their vote in 1994 and they consider Mahatma Gandhi as their hero. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Jharkhand Police constable and his friend have been alleged of raping a three-year-old girl in Jharkhands Chatra district. Police said, the constables friend, a co-accused of the heinous crime, was nabbed by the locals while he was sexually assaulting the minor. Chatra superintendent of police Anjani Kumar Jha told the media that the arrested has been identified as Vijay Bhuiyan. The police constable has been identified as Mukesh Dangi, who is still at large. Raids are being made to nab the co-accused, a constable with Ranchi Police, said the SP. Gidhour police station in-charge Ajay Kumar Panjikar, Both the accused are well versed with the victim and her family. Panjikar added that the duo abducted the girl from a Durga Puja Pandal at Barta village in Chatra district. According to the complaint lodged by the victims father he had gone outside the puja pandal for a while on returning he did not find his daughter. In the complaint he mentioned that after searching her for a time within the premises of the Durga Puja pandal and fair he decided to head back home in the hope to find her there. The victims father further mentioned that on way back home he saw one of the accused trying to force himself on the victim. Also read| Uttar Pradesh: Cop molests six-year-old in police station premises in Ballia I raised an alert and with help of locals we nabbed one of the co-accused, the victims father said. Police said that the girl was found in unconscious state. She was rushed to a local hospital for medical attention. Also read| Himachal Pradesh: 3 Balika Ashram employees raped inmates after sedating them Jha also said, The girl is recovering well. She has narrated the ordeal to the police. Chatra SP further told the media that an FIR has been lodged under adequate IPC sections and POSCO act. Jha also told the media that they found on Bhuiyans clothes confirmed his involvement in the crime. He seems to have committed the crime under the influence of alcohol, he added. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Pakistani troops violated ceasefire along Line of Control near Keri and Digwar areas of Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. Indian Army is giving a befitting reply. A nine-year-old boy was killed and five other civilians were injured as Pakistani troops targeted border villages and forward posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir by firing and shelling, a police official said. Indian troops fired in retaliation to silence the Pakistani guns and the exchange of fire between the two sides was continuing when last reports came in. Updates: #12:34 PM: 3 civilians dead (all minors), 8 injured after ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch. #Visuals: Army vehicle damaged in ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch. Five injured admitted to district hospital. pic.twitter.com/gAfdprjzQh ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 #10:30 AM: One girl lost her life during ceasefire violation in Digwar sector of J&K's Poonch. Total 2 dead, 5 injured. #Visuals Five civilians injured during ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch admitted to district hospital. pic.twitter.com/4GXkF4waXG ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 The official said that Pakistani troops targeted dozens of villages and posts in Shahpur, Kirni and Qasba sectors in the early hours, resulting in the death of a boy and injuries to five other civilians. Read | J&K: Pakistan violates ceasefire in Poonch sector; Indian Army retaliates He identified the deceased boy as Israr Ahmad of Karni sector. The official said the heavy cross-border firing started around 0650 hours, triggering panic among border residents. He said the injured civilians have been rushed to a hospital. Meanwhile, there was an infiltration attempt in Keran sector. The security forces have killed one infiltrator. Search operation continues. Pakistan violated ceasefire at multiple occasions in September. The most recent incident took place on Wednesday when the Pak troops shelled LoC at Poonch and Bhimbher ali sector. On September 24, two soldiers were injured as Pakistan opened fire at forwarding posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Balakote sector of Poonch district. #Visuals Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Keri and Digwar areas of Poonch district (J&K), three civilians injured. pic.twitter.com/LOPXLVoNOc ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: India is celebrating 148th anniversary of the Father of Nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on Monday. He played a key role in Indias freedom struggle. He started movements including Khilafat Movement, Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha, Non-cooperation Movement, Quit India Movement and Salt Satyagraha Movement Dandi march. The government of India has launched some schemes, programmes and campaigns named after him. Take a look at those schemes: Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, also known as MNREGA, was launched in 2006 as National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). It is an Indian labour law which aims at providing guarantee employment for 100 days to adults in rural areas of the country. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, also known as Clean India Mission, is a campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 2, 2014, soon after forming the government in the Centre. This campaign aims at cleaning the roads, streets and infrastructure of the country. It is divided into Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Gramin), under Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Urban), under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. ALSO READ: Who gave Mahatma title to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Bima Yojana was launched in December 2003 as Bunkar Bima Yojana. The objective of this Yojana is to provide insurance cover to the handloom weavers in case of natural or accidental death and total or partial disability. Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana was launched by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in order to provide social security including Pension and Life Insurance to the Indian workers working overseas in possession of Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports. The aim of this Yojana is to help out the overseas workers to meet their financial needs, which include saving for retirement, saving for return and resettlement, and free life insurance. Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti and Gandhi Shilp Bazaar Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti and Gandhi Shilp Bazar are the two institutions started by the government of India. The main objective of Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti is to propagate the life, mission and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi. On the other hand, Gandhi Shilp Bazaar works at highlighting and promoting poor and small artisans or craft persons and avoiding their exploitation. ALSO READ: How South Africa's visit changed Gandhi's life For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Even before the horror and pain of stampede at Mumbai's Elphinstone Bridge could pass, a series of shocking videos have made it to the internet which show women victims being groped or robbed as they lie in the pile of bodies. The Mumbai Police has reportedly launched a probe into alleged instances of theft and molestation reported by eyewitnesses after Fridays stampede. One video clip shows a woman victim being molested by a bystander as she lay beneath a pile of victims on the bridge. The woman in the video can be seen reaching out to help, however instead of helping the man gropes her. Seconds later her hands drop motionless as she breathes her last. For this victim, her last memory was filled with helplessness for not just against crushing crowd but also deep-seated misogyny stripping away her dignity as she passes away to a better universe. Read | Mumbai stampede: Death toll in Elphinstone stampede climbs to 23 Another viral video shows ornaments being removed from the bodies of the victims. An eyewitness Jayshree Kanade told The Hindu that when the stampede occurred, said, Many people stole purses and gold ornaments from women victims. This molestation video is really shameful. How can someone molest a girl fighting for life and asking for help? The culprits should be punished. We are studying the video recordings and investigating the cases of thefts and molestation reported to us, said Sunil Deshmukh, assistant commissioner of police. Read | Piyush Goyal passes the buck to previous governments; says problems of Railways were inherited by them For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday directed the Delhi government to submit a report on River Yamunas condition post Ganesha and Durga idols immersion. A detailed affidavit enumerating steps being taken to clean the river should be filed, a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said. The Delhi government and the Delhi Jal Board were also asked by the green panel to submit a status report on compliance of its directions on the execution of phase-I of Yamuna cleaning work. The first phase is on control and prevention of pollution at Najafgarh and Delhi Gate drains. The counsel appearing for the NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi submits that steps are being taken to clean the river and the flood plains of Yamuna after the festive season and immersion of idols. Let him also file a status report, the bench said. ALSO READ: National Green Tribunal refuses to lift ban on 10-year-old diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR Most of the Ganesha idols are made of plaster of paris and coated with toxic chemicals including cadmium, carbon, mercury and lead. People immerse the idols in the River Yamuna on the occasion of Ganesha Chaturthi. An environment activist Akash Vashishta filed a plea seeking directions for steps for cleaning the banks of the river. The river was completely choked with dumped waste, he mentioned in his plea. Referring to a media report, the petition said due to the immersion of idols and puja material, the river has virtually turned into a drain. The bio-oxygen demand of the river, a measure of organic pollution, reached dangerously high levels during Ganesh Chaturthi, it said. Stressing that the river was dying a slow death, the petition said the continuous and unabated immersion of idols into the Yamuna have caused complete choking. The river has been turned into a virtual dumpyard of waste, the plea, filed through advocate Upama Bhattacharjee, said. It has sought directions for a complete bar on dumping of waste and an action plan to deal with idol immersion in the entire National Capital Region (NCR). The tribunal had in 2015 passed a slew of directions to prevent pollution of the Yamuna, including a ban on immersion of idols except those made from bio-degradable material. Idol immersion should be allowed only of the ones which are made from bio-degradable material and not plastic/plaster of Paris. Only those colours should be used on the idols which are environment-friendly, the bench had then said. (With PTI inputs) ALSO READ: Lord Ganesha mocked in Australian lamb meat ad, India lodges complaint For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A year after Rosetta spacecraft has crashed into the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency (ESA) has shared a hidden image from spacecraft before it struck a comet. According to the reports, the picture was taken at an altitude of 20 meters above the surface of comet 67P. Initially, Scientists believed that they had retrieved all the images Rosetta had taken. But after the final probe of the spacecraft's final transmission, they surprisingly revealed one more image which is a blurred photo captured a few feet away from the comet's surface. Scientists did not get all the images from Rosetta mission, they got pictures into packets of data. The final images were split into six packages each, making up 23048 bytes per image. This final image is not complete only three telemetry packages were received. The last photo came into existence has incomplete layers which mean that Rosetta disintegrated pictures into six telemetry packets before sending the final image back to Earth. But after sending three packets, the transmission was interrupted, sending over just half of what's supposed to be a complete image. Due to the inability of the Rosetta spacecraft to collect enough energy to go on, the scientists decided to crash-land Rosetta in 2016. European Space Agency has launched the Rosetta spacecraft in 2004, en route to Comet 67P, passing by Mars and asteroids 21 Lutetia and 2867 Steins on its way there. This was the first spacecraft to ever orbit a comet nucleus and also the first to fly alongside a comet as it headed toward the inner solar system. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Alien-Hunting NASA's James Webb Telescope launch date has been postponed tom 2019. According to the space agency the reason behind the postponement was not the result of any technical concerns, but that integrating all the elements of the spacecraft was taking longer than expected. The launch is expected between March and June 2019 from French Guiana, following a schedule assessment of the remaining integration and test activities. Previously Webb was targeted to launch in October 2018. "The change in launch timing is not indicative of hardware or technical performance concerns," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Rather, the integration of the various spacecraft elements is taking longer than expected," said Zurbuchen. As part of an international agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide a desired launch window one year prior to launch, NASA recently performed a routine schedule assessment to ensure launch preparedness and determined a launch schedule change was necessary. The spacecraft itself, comprised of the spacecraft bus and Sun-shield, has experienced delays during its integration and testing. The additional environmental testing time of the fully assembled observatory - the telescope and the spacecraft - will ensure that Webb will be fully tested before launching into space, NASA said. After the launch of the James Webb Telescope it will be the worlds biggest space telescope. It is sometimes also referred to as Hubbles successor, as it will build on and expand many of the discoveries made with the 27-year-old telescope. "Webb's spacecraft and Sun-shield are larger and more complex than most spacecraft," said Eric Smith, programme director for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA. "The combination of some integration activities taking longer than initially planned, such as the installation of more than 100 Sun-shield membrane release devices, has meant the integration and testing process is just taking longer," said Smith. "Considering the investment NASA has made, and the good performance to date, we want to proceed very systematically through these tests to be ready for a Spring 2019 launch," he said. The James Webb Space Telescope is NASAs next great multi-purpose observatory and will be the worlds most powerful space telescope ever built, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. The 21-foot (6.5-meter) diameter infrared-optimized telescope is designed to study an extremely wide range of astrophysical phenomena: the first stars and galaxies that formed; the atmospheres of nearby planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets; and objects within our own solar system. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners ESA and the Canadian Space Agency. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: Google on Monday announced new steps to help struggling news organisations including an end to a longstanding first click free policy to generate fresh revenues for publishers hurt by the shift from print to digital. The moves come amid mounting criticism that online platforms are siphoning off the majority of revenues as more readers turn to digital platforms for news. I truly believe that Google and news publishers actually share a common cause, said Google vice president Philipp Schindler. Our users truly value high quality journalism. Google announced a series of measures, the most significant of which would be to replace the decade-old policy of requiring news organisations to provide one article discovered in a news search without subscribinga standard known as first click free. This will be replaced by a flexible sampling model that will allow publishers to require a subscription at any time they choose. ALSO READ: Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL specs leaked ahead of official launch We realize that one size does not fit all, said Richard Gingras, Googles vice president for news. This will allow news organisations to decide whether to show articles at no cost or to implement a paywall for some or all content. Gingras said the new policy, effective on Monday, will be in place worldwide. He said it was not clear how many publishers would start implementing an immediate paywall as a result. The reaction to our efforts has been positive, he told a conference call announcing the new policy. This is not a silver bullet to the subscription market. It is a very competitive market for information. And people buy subscriptions when they have a perception of value. Google said it is recommending a metering system allowing 10 free articles per month as the best way to encourage subscriptions. News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson, whose company operates the Wall Street Journal and newspapers in Britain and Australia, welcomed Googles announcement. If the change is properly introduced, the impact will be profoundly positive for journalists everywhere and for the cause of informed societies, said a statement from Thomson, a fierce critic of the prior Google policy. ALSO READ: Google celebrates 19th birthday with 'Surprise Spinner' doodle Washington: The deadliest mass shooting in modern US history at Las Vegas that killed at least 58 people and injured over 500 others has rekindled the debate on gun control laws in America. Nearly 12,000 Americans have been killed by guns in 273 mass shootings in 2017 so far one incident for each day. On an average, more than 90 Americans lose their lives to gun violence every day, a daily toll of heartbreak and tragedy in communities across the US. Experts believe that the last night incident, which President Donald Trump termed as an "act of pure evil", is unlikely to bridge the bitter differences between the pro- and anti-gun control law lobbies in the country. Trump, who ran his campaign against any gun control laws, did not mention it in his two remarks on Monday during which he said that this is "a very very sad" day for him. Responding to questions, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said on Monday that is the day of reflection and mourning and not a day to discuss political issues. Referring to Chicago, she said gun control laws have not been helpful. Read more: Las Vegas shooting: 58 killed, 515 injured; US denies ISIS connection Taking a lead, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, sought off a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan on the creation of a Standing Committee on gun violence and passage of a common-sense legislation on gun control. "Congress has a moral duty to address this horrific and heartbreaking epidemic. Charged with the solemn duty to protect and defend the American people, we must respond to these tragedies with courage, unity and decisive action", Pelosi said in her letter to Ryan. The Congress, she said, must pass the bipartisan King-Thompson legislation to strengthen the life-saving background checks that keep guns out of the wrong hands. But this is only a first step, she said. "I urge you to create a Select Committee on Gun Violence to study and report back common sense legislation to help end this crisis. The bipartisan committee would make recommendations to prevent unspeakable tragedies such as the mass shooting in Las Vegas and to restore confidence in the safety of our communities", Pelosi said. Congressman Kathy Castor said: "Certainly, we can come together to pass common-sense safety requirements such as background checks and limits on the civilian use of military-style weapons and to enforce the laws on the books. The sorrow that I and so many around the country feel for the innocent men and women whose lives were cruelly cut short by this heartless act of domestic terrorism is immeasurable". Congressman Earl Blumenauer said: "From Orlando to Roseburg, OR and now Las Vegas, the carnage has only continued. Thoughts and prayers will not stop future tragedy. Enough is enough. My hope is that sanity will prevail, and Republican leadership in Congress will muster up the courage to act". The right-wing and NRA messaging point that nothing could have been done to prevent the horrific attack in Las Vegas is just wrong, he said. Over two years ago, he had released a comprehensive plan to deal with gun violence like the public health epidemic that it is, the lawmaker said, adding that the solutions should not be hard. Read more: Las Vegas: Know more about music festival shooter Stephen Paddock Congressman Andre Carson said it is time people need to stop hiding behind the false narrative that enacting common sense gun policies somehow limits the rights of law-abiding Americans. "Every day that we fail to act puts more innocent lives at risk. It is long past time to fix our gun laws. Congress has a moral responsibility to act and address the daily tragedy of gun violence in our communities", he said. Last week, he said, Republicans planned to vote on a bill that would loosen gun laws, instead of strengthening them. In light of the tragedy in Las Vegas, and the ongoing tragedy of gun violence in America, this could not be more inappropriate. The American people deserve a vote on legislation that will curb gun violence, including reinstating an assault weapons ban and instituting new restrictions on gun trafficking, Carson said. Congressman Alcee L Hastings said that more than 33,000 people will die from gun violence this year. "With each new tragedy that occurs, those who stand in the way of legislation to address our country's gun violence epidemic are increasingly culpable for its continuation", he said. "Trump, who ran as a champion of gun rights throughout his campaign, is unlikely to directly tackle the issue of gun control and, in fact, rolled back a restriction that made it more difficult for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun", a report in Newsweek said. Acts of mass gun violence, reported The Washington Post, "have done little to change the strong partisan divide on the issue". Most Democrats argue that the incidents heighten the need for tighter gun laws, while most Republicans think Americans should have a greater ability to protect themselves, the daily said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A gunman on Monday killed 58 people and wounded hundreds more when he opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. Islamic State group claimed the responsibility for the attack through its propaganda agency. However, FBI denied the involvement of Islamic State in the attack. According to Police, the gunman, a Nevada resident identified as Stephen Paddock, had been found dead after SWAT team responded to reports of multiple gunfire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay, a hotel-casino next to the concert venue. "We believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry," Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told a news conference in the Nevada gambling hub. At least eight rifles were recovered from the room that had been rented by the 64-year-old. Concert-goers screamed and fled in panic as a steady stream of automatic gunfire rang out at the venue shortly after 10 pm local time, footage captured on smartphones showed. Lombardo told reporters that initial estimates had put the number of dead "at in excess of 50 individuals" while more than 200 had been injured. (With PTI Inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistans Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi an elected terrorist during an interview to Geo Tv. Asif in the interview mentioned Modi as elected terrorist who has the blood of Muslims of Gujarat on his hands, referring to the 2002 Godhra riots and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a terrorist party during an interview to Geo TV. Asif in the interview further said, Sushma Swaraj has accused us (Pakistan) of exporting terrorism. (However) one terrorist (in India) is the country's prime minister himself." Also read: Khawaja Asif sworn in as Pakistans full time foreign minister He further added that India is being "ruled by a terrorist party - the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)", Asif went on to say. The foreign minister added that Muslims were being killed in India in the guise of cow protection. Asif added, What can be said about the country that elects a terrorist as prime minister. When the host suggested that one cannot generalise, Asif mentioned that BJP won the Uttar Pradesh elections with full majority only because of support from communal upper-caste Hindus. The foreign minister also denied the recent reports that Pakistan had recieved a proposal from Afghanistan to swap former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadav for the Peshawar school attacker currently booked in Afghanistan Jail. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif's indictment in accountability court over corruption cases was on Monday deferred to October 9, Pakistan Media reported. Pakistans National Accountability Bureau was scheduled to indict former prime minister in the accountability court in three corruption and money laundering cases involving his familys offshore properties on Monday. The reports in local media say that the accountability court has also issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Sharif's children & son-in-law. Ousted Pakistan prime minister was expected to be present during his indictment proceedings in the court in Islamabad, his party said. Mr Sharif is not leaving for London and he will attend indictment proceedings of accountability court in Islamabad on Monday against him. However, his children will not appear before the court, the ruling PML-N had said on Sunday. Nawaz Sharif has decided to appear before the court in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references in order to expose the targeted trial, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said and added justice is being compromised in the case. The minister also said Sharifs children - Hassan, Hussain and Maryam and son-in-law Safdar will not come from London to appear in the court to face the graft cases. Read | Former Pak PM Nawaz Sharif set to return as PML-N chief on October 3 Since Mr Sharifs children are busy looking after their mother (Kulsoom Nawaz) they are unlikely to appear in the accountability court on Monday, the minister said, adding the court should have given more time for indictment. The court has already issued bailable warrants for Hassan, Hussain, Maryam, and Safdar. The accountability court may issue non-bailable arrest warrants for the suspects for skipping the proceedings for the third consecutive time. During his first appearance in the accountability court on September 26 in connection with three corruption references filed by the NAB against him and his family members, it declined Sharifs request for exemption from personal attendance. The Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif, 67, as prime minister on July 28 in the Panama Papers case and ordered the NAB to file corruption and money laundering references against the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the light of the Joint Investigation Teams report. Dar has already been indicted in the reference against him for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income. Sharifs wife Kulsoom has undergone three successful surgeries for throat cancer in London and her condition is stated to be stable.Sharif is likely to leave for London to be with his wife on October 5. (With inputs from PTI) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Myanmar has proposed taking back the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks, the Bangladeshi foreign minister said after talks Monday with a senior Myanmar representative. The talks were held in a friendly atmosphere and Myanmar has made a proposal to take back the Rohingya refugees, A H Mahmood Ali told reporters. The call to take back Rohingya refugees was first heeded by countrys leader Aung San Suu Kyi after immense international pressure. Read | Rohingya violence: Bangladesh to move 15,000 Rohingya from tribal district to ensure peace In her special address to national and international media last month, Suu Kyi told the world that country will accept returning Rohingyas as refugees. The issue of Rohingya exodus became a matter of international concern after over 800,000 Muslims from Myanmar were forced to flee the country to escape communal persecution and violence. Majority of these refugees took shelter in neighbouring Bangladesh, which was already reeling under the pressure of several lakh refugees who migrated decades ago. However, countrys PM Sheikh Hasina agreed to give shelter to all who crossed into their borders. India and Sri Lanka were more reluctant to accept the migrants. The persecuted migrants were not welcome in India as the government termed them illegal migrants and proposed to deport those who already reside in the country. Read | MEA says India is focusing on providing humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh Modi Government, however, sent relief material to Bangladesh for refugee camps and insisted the Myanmar Government to resolve the matter soon. In Sri Lanka, the community faced further terrorist attacks. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: A former Pentagon official has said that it is time for the Trump Administration to designate Pakistan along with Qatar and Turkey as state sponsors of terrorism. "It is time to hold Pakistan to account. If Pakistan then wishes to escape sanctions, it must imprison terrorists on its soil and cease any funding and be equipping of them", said Michael Rubin, a resident scholar with American Enterprise Institute (AEI), in an op-ed in The Washington Examiner. Since 1979, the US State Department similar to India's Ministry of External Affairs has maintained a list of State Sponsor of Terrorism. So far the Secretary of State has designated Libya, Iraq, South Yemen, Syria, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and North Korea as state sponsors of Terrorism after determining that these have "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism." Over the years many of these countries were gradually removed off the list. As of now, three countries are on the list Iran, Syria and Sudan. Read more: Catalan votes to breakaway from Spain However, Rubin, a former Pentagon official in his op-ed argues that at a time when the world is infested with terrorist activities, the US needs to return the terror list to its original purpose: calling out states which embrace terrorism, no matter whether they are US allies or not. Three countries, he argued, deserves to be on this list.They are Turkey, Qatar and Pakistan. Alleging that under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has enabled and supplied the Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked groups inside Syria, Rubin said Qatar has not only become the chief banker to Hamas, but it also finances the most radical al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria and Libya. "Pakistan has escaped the state sponsorship of terrorism list for far too long", he asserted. Alleging that leaders of Pakistan's Inter-ServicesIntelligence openly support the Taliban, Rubin said Islamabad continues to tolerate and support an array of terrorist groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad, which recruited the Times Square bomber, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for 2001 attack on India's parliament and the 2008 slaughter of tourists at a Mumbai hotel. "Nor is it credible that al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, Pakistan's equivalent of West Point, without senior Pakistani authorities knowing it", he said. Rubin observed that occasional Pakistani government crackdowns on these groups are insincere: Even for the most high-profile terrorists, Pakistani prisons have revolving doors. Perhaps the Bush and Obama administration gave Islamabad a pass because they wanted Pakistan's logistical cooperation in Afghanistan, but it didn't work, he said. "Turning a blind eye toward Pakistani terror support cost scores of American lives, even as Pakistani leaders received billions of US dollars", he added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an apparent terror attack in which two women were stabbed to death at a train station in Marseille, France on Sunday. The extremist group made the claim through its official news agency. A man shouting "Allahu Akbar," (God is great) stabbed the two women before French soldiers gunned him down. Police shut down and sealed off the station and French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb immediately went to Marseille. French prosecutors have opened a counterterrorism probe, but Collomb has not yet formally declared it a terror attack. Schools in Japan aren't entirely free of misbehaving students, ranging from sleepers to delusional ranters. These are mild when compared to the horror stories of schools from some other countries. Which is why a particular video that recently surfaced on the Internet has Japanese netizens in a furious uproar. Tablets were being used during class in a Fukuoka high school, and one student was using it to watch movies instead. After several warnings to concentrate on class were ignored, the 23-year-old teacher had no choice but to confiscate the electronic device, which caused the angry pupil to approach him. The obvious intrusion of personal space by the student prompted little reaction from the teacher, and served to embolden the rebellious bully into doing the unthinkable. Giving his teacher the foot. The student kicked his victim in the back a total of four times, each harder than the last. Encouraged by shrill laughter from classmates, the bully's manhandling would have escalated to punching if his teacher didn't scream in protest. Seeing that no bodily harm has come to the assault victim, the school currently has no intention of lodging a police report. Hopefully all will not be swept under the carpet as if it never happened though, as the principal is considering meting out appropriate punishment for the offending student. On the morning of 26 September in Tokyo, schoolchildren on their way to a day of learning and play at Edogawa Elementary School were crossing a pedestrian land bridge. However, hanging from the rail was a little doll made of straw along with a note which read "All you f***ing brats jump from here and die." In Japan, straw dolls (waraningyo) are used in a somewhat similar fashion to a voodoo doll, in that they are both effigies used to summon a curse upon people. Judging by the note, it would appear that someone had intended to make the children to jump to their own death through the power of the straw doll. That someone is believed to be 41-year-old Takeshi Inaba who lives near the school. According to the Tokyo Metro Police, Inaba confessed to inflicting the curse saying "Those kids running wild in the park are too noisy." Inaba is facing charges of criminal intimidation which, considering his supernatural method, seems a little excess. If I were his attorney, I would argue that traditionally, the doll is made with hair or some possession of the intended victim and then nailed to a tree or wooden pillar to really get the magic flowing. By not including any personal effects or even nailing the doll, the defendant was pulling off a pretty half-assed attempt at spiritual assassination. On the other hand, if I were the prosecutor, I would counter that he could have been adhering to Hell Girl logic in which removing a red string from the straw doll causes a demon girl to appear and devour the souls of those from whom revenge is sought. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate He liked to bet big, wagering tens of thousands of dollars in a sitting. He owned homes in four states but preferred staying in casino hotels, sometimes for weeks at a time, as he worked the gambling machines. He grew up the son of a convicted bank robber who was constantly running from the law. But in his own life, Stephen Paddock, 64, had kept his nose clean until Sunday night, when he suddenly unleashed a firestorm of bullets from his casino hotel room, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500 more on the Las Vegas Strip. "If you told me an asteroid fell into Earth, it would mean the same to me. There's absolutely no sense, no reason he did this," his brother Eric Paddock said in an interview outside his home in Orlando, Florida. "He's just a guy who played video poker and took cruises and ate burritos at Taco Bell. There's no political affiliation that we know of. There's no religious affiliation that we know of." After the shooting, officers found Stephen Paddock dead with 17 guns on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where he had arrived Thursday. Police believe Paddock acted alone in executing the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Now Playing: 59 dead, 400+ hospitalized in attack at Vegas music fest Video: San Antonio Express-News More News Sandy Hook groups react to Las Vegas shooting Eric Paddock said he knew of five guns his brother kept in his safe but was shocked that a rapid-fire weapon was used in Sunday's shooting. He said Stephen Paddock didn't hunt and barely shot his guns, once taking Eric's children on a skeet-shooting trip paid for by the casinos. In the final years of his life, Stephen Paddock was living out his retirement in quiet obscurity. He liked country music, relatives said, and went to concerts like the Route 91 Harvest festival where he killed so many Sunday night. He was worth more than $2 million, relatives said. Before retiring, he made a small fortune from real estate deals and a business that he and Eric Paddock sold off. He traveled a lot and had millions of free airline miles. At various points of his life, Stephen Paddock worked for defense contractor Lockheed Martin and as an accountant and property manager. As a retiree, he had no children and plenty of money to play with. So he took up gambling. "It's like a job for him. It's a job where you make money," said Eric Paddock, adding that his brother could lose $1 million and still have enough to live on. "He was at the hotel for four months one time. It was like a second home." He recalled one time when the entire family took over the top floor of the Atlantis at the casino's expense. His brother was very particular about the games he played. "It had to be the right machine with double points, and there has to be a contest going on. He won a car one time," Eric Paddock said. "He's known. He's a top player. He's the small end of the big fish." Over the past two decades, Stephen Paddock had bought and sold properties in several states, including California, Nevada, Florida and Texas, where for a time, neighbors said, he lived with his mother. Public records show Paddock at one point owned two planes and was a licensed pilot. He also had a fishing license from Alaska. He told neighbors he was a professional gambler and a prospector, and he appeared to favor buying homes in retirement communities. At one point, he and his longtime girlfriend, Marilou Danley, were living in at least three retirement communities, property records show. Neighbors said the couple seemed almost itinerant, leaving the properties empty for long stretches as Paddock visited his casinos. Donald Judy, who was his next-door neighbor in Florida until two years ago, said the inside of Paddock's home "looked like a college freshman lived there." There was no art on the walls and no car in the driveway. Just a dining chair, a bed and two recliners. Paddock was constantly on the move, carrying a suitcase and driving a rental car whenever he stayed at the community near Cocoa Beach. "It looked like he'd be ready to move at a moment's notice," Judy said. Judy said he never flashed his wealth, often wearing khaki cotton pants, with a polo or other collared shirt, and never driving anything nicer than a standard rental car. A little while after living there, Paddock left Judy a key and asked him to keep an eye on the rarely used house and to borrow any tools he might want. Judy said there were no drugs or parties, nothing unusual except for Paddock's gambling. "They did seem to always stay up till midnight and sleep in till noon," Judy said. "They always seemed to stay on Vegas time." Then, as quickly as he had appeared, Paddock put up a for-sale sign, Judy said. "He never said much about it, just said they were moving back to Vegas." Police in Texas and towns Paddock lived in in Nevada said they could find no records of run-ins with the law involving him. California records show that Paddock married a woman named Peggy Okamoto in 1985. They divorced in 1990 citing "irreconcilable differences." In recent years, Danley had become his girlfriend, relatives said. Authorities said Danley was out of the country at the time of the shooting and was located in Tokyo. She is not considered a suspect. At one point, Danley worked as a high-limit hostess for Club Paradise, a rewards program in the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, Nevada, according to her LinkedIn profile. In a statement, Atlantis officials said she has not worked for the casino for several years. Diane McKay lived next door to Paddock and Danley at their Reno home until July, when McKay moved away. Danley wasn't forthcoming about her life, and Paddock was unfriendly, McKay recalled. She only saw him in the mornings, when he went to the clubhouse to work out. "He was weird. Kept to himself," said McKay, 79. "It was like living next to nothing. . . . You can at least be grumpy, something. He was just nothing, quiet." The couple kept their blinds closed, but sometimes Paddock would open the garage door, revealing an enormous safe the size of a refrigerator. Paddock's father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, described on a 1969 wanted poster as "psychopathic'' with suicidal tendencies. He escaped from prison that year and, according to news accounts, was not captured until 1978, when he was nabbed while running a bingo parlor in Oregon. Stephen Paddock was the oldest of four boys. Eric, eight years his junior, was the youngest, with two in between: Bruce and Patrick. Their father died a few years ago, but Eric Paddock grew up thinking their father was already dead. He found out otherwise when Patrick went to the Air Force Academy and was told his father was a decorated veteran and still alive. "We didn't grow up under his influence," Eric Paddock said. "I was born on the run in Tucson. My dad was about to be arrested for robbing banks." FBI agents interviewed relatives Monday, including Stephen Paddock's mother, who is in her 90s and spoke with him two weeks ago, Eric Paddock said. Five days after Hurricane Irma hit Orlando, Stephen Paddock texted his brother to see whether relatives had been affected. Eric Paddock said he did not know of any mental illness, alcohol or drug problems in his brother's life. He said he had no clue whether Stephen had gambling debts or was financially troubled. By Monday night, after an entire day dealing with FBI investigators and reporters camped outside his house, Eric Paddock said he and other relatives were still struggling to process the atrocity carried out by his brother. "When we talked about a month ago, I can't believe he was planning this," he said, squeezing his eyes closed. "But he must have. It takes time." What he knows about his brother doesn't fit with Sunday's massacre of innocents. "Something broke in his head is the only thing possible. Did he have a stroke?" he said. "I'm hoping they cut open his brain and find something. There's a data point missing." - - - Julie Tate and Mark Berman in Washington; Ally Gravina in Reno, Nev.; Heather Long in Mesquite, Nev.; William Dauber in Los Angeles; and Justin Glawe in Dallas contributed to this report. Ce urmeaza dupa retragerea rusilor din Herson: Putin e pe cale sa faca o grava eroare din punct de vedere militar / Niciodata sa nu-ti intrerupi dusmanul cand face o greseala Parents remain unaware about connection between vision health and children's learning and development. VANCOUVER, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ - As part of Children's Vision Month this October, BC Doctors of Optometry is encouraging parents to prioritize their child's eye health since many are unaware that vision problems can cause learning and developmental delays. A study conducted on behalf of the Canadian Association of Optometrists found that the majority of parents in B.C. do not realize the impact that vision problems can have on the long-term health of their children. For example, the study shows that 83 per cent of B.C. parents are unaware that vision problems can lead to developmental delays, and 57 per cent don't know that vision problems may be the cause of a child's short attention span. "As children head back to school, and all throughout the year, we strongly encourage parents throughout B.C. to keep their child's eye health a top priority," says Dr. Amanda Farley, President of BC Doctors of Optometry. "We know that 80 per cent of a child's learning is achieved through what they can see, so identifying a vision problem early is essential for a child to grow into their full potential." The study also found that parents in B.C. ranked vision health among one of the lowest priorities for their child's overall health, with only 22 per cent choosing it as one of their top three concerns. "As an optometrist and mother, these statistics are particularly concerning because many common vision problems can imitate symptoms of other childhood development issues including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and speech impediments," says Dr. Farley. A comprehensive eye exam with a BC doctor of optometry is the best way to ensure vision health problems do not go undetected or untreated, such as nearsightedness, improper eye alignment, or reduced vision in one eye due to the eye and brain not working together properly, otherwise known as a lazy eye. BC Doctors of Optometry recommends that children have their first eye exam between six and nine months of age, their second between the ages of two and five and every year after starting school, unless instructed otherwise by their optometrist. About BC Doctors of Optometry BC Doctors of Optometry is dedicated to advancing the profession of optometry, and is the voice on issues affecting the eye health of all British Columbians. BC Doctors of Optometry is a primary source for vision, eye health and eyewear needs. Doctors of optometry diagnose, treat and help prevent diseases and disorders affecting the eyes and the visual system, and also assist in identifying general health conditions that are often first detected through an eye exam. For more information or to find a BC Doctor of Optometry, visit www.bc.doctorsofoptometry.ca and https://www.facebook.com/BCDoctorsofOptometry/ SOURCE BC Doctors of Optometry For further information: Media Contact: Christina Panagio, Manager Communications and Member Engagement, [email protected], 604.737.9907 Game-changing solution disrupts pricing with flat rate calling throughout Canada; Opens Vancouver office to support national business customer growth VANCOUVER, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Dialpad, the San Francisco-based pure-cloud business communications provider, today announced the launch of its business communications service in Canada. The company also announced the establishment of its newest office in Vancouver, B.C. as it continues its worldwide pursuit to "kill the desk phone," providing modern workers with new ways to connect and work from anywhere. Dialpad enters Canada at a time of explosive growth in the country's cloud computing market, where, according to IDC1, spending will double from CAD 2.3B in 2016 to CAD 5.5 billion in 2020. Overall IT spending will also grow from CAD 59B in 2015 to CAD 65B in 2020, generating more than 50,000 new jobs in Canada. "We see Canada as a massively underdeveloped market for our breakthrough pure-cloud communications service. Canada is one of the largest telecommunications markets in the world, representing a massive opportunity to scale Dialpad across the provinces," said Craig Walker, CEO of Dialpad. "Canadian companies have long been saddled with legacy PBX service constraints, mostly from their native telcos. They have been unable to break the cycle of overpriced monthly service fees and confusing long-distance calling plans. That's why it's time to modernize communications for every business, from the smallest office to the largest enterprise customers, across all industries, bringing the era of the Anywhere Worker to Canadians." Pricing, Service Plans, and Features Dialpad offers three service plans in Canada starting with the entry-level Standard package at CAD 20 (per user, per month). The Standard package includes unlimited calling and texting in Canada and to the US, a company main line with a virtual receptionist, up to three group calling departments with time of day routing, free conference calling with screen sharing, Office 365 and Google G Suite integration, and a standard customer support package. Dialpad PRO, the most popular package worldwide, starts at CAD 30 (per user, per month) and includes additional features such as call queues, CRM integration with Salesforce, voicemail transcription, up to 25 departments, and up to 10 office locations, including cross-border and international locations. The Enterprise package offers even more features including guaranteed SLAs, Administrator APIs, a dedicated account management representative, deployment and onboarding services, unlimited departments, extension dialing, and unlimited seats. Enterprise package customers also receive enhanced 24/7 phone, email and chat services support, and hands-on account management. "Dialpad's flat-rate pricing makes monthly costs predictable," added Walker. "Calls to any mobile or landline number in Canada, or the United States, are included in the monthly rate, along with a full set of business class features, plus integrated audio conferencing and collaboration." Canada Wide Availability Dialpad will offer Canadian customers telephone numbers in 39 area codes across the provinces. These include area codes: 204, 226, 236, 249, 250, 289, 306, 343, 365, 403, 416, 418, 431, 437, 438, 450, 506, 514, 519, 548, 579, 581, 587, 604, 613, 639, 647, 705, 709, 778, 780, 782, 807, 819, 825, 867, 873, 902, 905. Vancouver Office to Support Engineering, Marketing, and Product Management The Vancouver office is expected to create at least 20 new full-time positions in engineering, marketing, and product management. Dialpad aggressively pursued the expansion into Canada in 2017 as a result of favorable economic climate, friendly immigration policies, the highly educated workforce, and a thriving technology startup scene. Dialpad has tapped Vancouver telecom startup veteran, and founder of Counterpath, Erik Lagerway to lead the office. The company reallocated several senior software engineering and product management positions to establish a significant presence in Canada. The newly formed Canadian team will provide full-service account management for mid-market and global enterprise customers, as well as for U.S. companies with a Canadian presence. "It has become apparent over the last couple of years that the cloud will soon be dominating small business and enterprise communications in Canada," said Erik Lagerway. "I'm very excited to lead Dialpad's expansion into Canada. Our born-in-the-cloud solution is a perfect fit for a market characterized by an extremely high concentration of traditional phone companies that have a stranglehold on customers, pricing, scalability, and coverage. Dialpad is proud to offer our disruptive pricing and innovative services." Worldwide, Dialpad has helped 48,000 customers move to the cloud, avoiding the use of any on-premise legacy PBX hardware, with 85 percent of the customers completely eliminating their desk phones, and aggressively transitioning their businesses to the cloud to accommodate an increasingly mobile, BYOD-enabled workplace. Dialpad's software-only platform allows companies, from small storefronts to large enterprises, to instantly launch, provision and scale their communications platform. This makes voice, video, messaging and meetings available on any device, anywhere, at any time, all within a single easy-to-use application. Organizations see immediate value from their shift to the cloud by better connecting offices and anywhere workers. By just logging into the personal computer or mobile application interface, employees are immediately empowered to connect and collaborate in whatever format they prefer, with unbeatable connection speeds and service continuity. Additional Resources Learn more about Dialpad: http://www.dialpad.ca Follow us on Twitter @DialpadHQ Like us on Facebook About Dialpad Dialpad is communications simplified for every business. Available on any device, anywhere, Dialpad includes voice, video, messaging and meetings; and is integrated with Microsoft Office 365 and G Suite. Dialpad is also the only business communications system built on the Google Cloud Platform. Today, 48,000 customers have joined Dialpad's mission to kill the desk phone, including 65 percent of the Fortune 500, high-growth enterprises and forward-thinking organizations including Uber, Vivint Solar, Eventbrite, Betterment, Stripe, Asana, Quora, Denison University, and Gate Gourmet. Dialpad is funded by Amasia, Andreessen Horowitz, Felicis Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Section 32, Softbank, and Work-Bench. For more information, visit dialpad.ca and follow @DialpadHQ on Twitter. _________________________ 1 How the Microsoft Ecosystem and Cloud Computing Will Create 110,000 New Jobs in Canada from 2015 to 2020 SOURCE Dialpad For further information: PRESS CONTACT: Shelby Valdez, [email protected], +1-604-900-5630 (Canada), +1-415-805-2049 (USA) All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated CALGARY, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Pembina Pipeline Corporation (TSX: PPL; NYSE: PBA) ("Pembina") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced business combination (the "Transaction") with Veresen Inc. (TSX: VSN) ("Veresen") pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the "Arrangement") under Section 193 of the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) to create one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in Canada. "Today marks another significant milestone for Pembina," said Mick Dilger, Pembina's President and Chief Executive Officer. "With increased size and scale, the combined companies create a platform in which we can pursue expanded growth opportunities while continuing to support future dividend growth and value creation for our shareholders. Our customers will also benefit from the enhanced service offerings through the highly integrated asset base and the extended geographic reach." "We are also proud to have increased the common share dividend for the second time this year a testament to the strength of the combined companies and to our commitment of providing value to our shareholders," continued Mr. Dilger. "We have recently placed $2.8 billion of projects into service and expect to place approximately $2 billion of additional projects into service by early 2018. Pembina has truly become a leading North American infrastructure company and is well positioned to deliver top-tier performance going forward. Our future is bright and I am excited to realize our expected near term transformational results," concluded Mr. Dilger. Pursuant to the Arrangement, Pembina acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Veresen in a transaction valued at approximately $9.4 billion, including the assumption of Veresen's debt (including subsidiary debt) and preferred shares. In accordance with the Arrangement, Veresen has been amalgamated with Pembina and the outstanding Veresen preferred shares have been exchanged for Pembina preferred shares with the same terms and conditions, and will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") under the symbols PPL.PR.O (series 15, previously Series A preferred shares of Veresen), PPL.PR.Q (series 17, previously Series C preferred shares of Veresen) and PPL.PR.S (series 19, previously Series E preferred shares of Veresen) within a few days following closing. Dividends on the series 15, 17 and 19 preferred shares will continue to be paid on the last business day of March, June, September and December in each year if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors. As previously announced, based on elections received, each Veresen common shareholder (a "Shareholder") who elected cash will receive, on a pro-rated basis, an aggregate amount that equals (i) cash of approximately $6.4314, and (ii) approximately 0.2809 of a Pembina common share, multiplied by the number of Veresen common shares held by such Shareholder. For certainty, the Shareholder will exchange a portion of their shares for cash and a portion for Pembina common shares pursuant to the terms of the Arrangement. Shareholders who elected Pembina common shares or did not make an election will not be subject to pro-rationing and will receive 0.4287 of a Pembina common share for each Veresen common share held. No fractional Pembina shares will be issued pursuant to the Arrangement and therefore the consideration received by any individual shareholder may be subject to adjustment according to the provisions for rounding described in the management information circular of Veresen dated June 5, 2017. The previously announced common shareholder dividend payable to Veresen common shareholders of record on September 25, 2017 of $0.0833 per common share, will be paid to such shareholders as planned on October 23, 2017. The Veresen common shares and preferred shares will be delisted from the TSX within a few trading days following closing. The Pembina common shares issued to the former holders of Veresen common shares pursuant to the Arrangement will be listed on the TSX under the symbol "PPL" and on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "PBA". All regulatory conditions have been satisfied prior to closing. These conditions included termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period by the US Federal Trade Commission on May 30, 2017; approval by the Minister of Transport under the Canada Transportation Act on June 28, 2017; and expiry of the waiting period under the Canadian Competition Act on September 13, 2017. With respect to the Canadian Competition Act, Pembina has been working with the Commissioner of Competition and his staff for several months relative to the Alberta Ethane Gathering System ("AEGS"), and their review relating to AEGS is ongoing. This work with the Commissioner of Competition and his staff will continue post-closing. Should Pembina and the Commissioner of Competition not reach a mutual agreement relative to AEGS, the matter may be referred to the Competition Tribunal by the Commissioner of Competition for resolution for a period of up to one year from closing. The Company is of the view that its ownership of AEGS is complementary to its natural gas liquids ("NGL") infrastructure, and Pembina's fee-for-service business model will continue to drive increased volumes across both AEGS and its NGL infrastructure benefiting producers and the broader NGL market. Currently, AEGS comprises approximately one percent of Pembina's forecasted 2018 adjusted EBITDA. Common share dividend increase and declaration In conjunction with closing of the Transaction, Pembina is proceeding with the previously announced increase to its common share dividend. As such, Pembina's Board of Directors has declared a common share cash dividend for October 2017 of $0.18 per share to be paid, subject to applicable law, on November 15, 2017 to shareholders of record on October 25, 2017. This dividend reflects a 5.9 percent increase to the current monthly common share dividend rate of $0.17 per share. This dividend is designated an "eligible dividend" for Canadian income tax purposes. For non-resident shareholders, Pembina's common share dividends should be considered "qualified dividends" and are subject to Canadian withholding tax. For shareholders receiving their common share dividends in U.S. funds, the October 2017 cash dividend is expected to be approximately U.S. $0.1443 per share (before deduction of any applicable Canadian withholding tax) based on a currency exchange rate of 0.8018. The actual U.S. dollar dividend will depend on the Canadian/U.S. dollar exchange rate on the payment date and will be subject to applicable withholding taxes. Pembina pays cash dividends on its common shares in Canadian dollars on a monthly basis to shareholders of record on the 25th calendar day of each month (except for the December record date, which is December 31st), if, as and when determined by the Board of Directors. Should the record date fall on a weekend or a statutory holiday, the effective record date will be the previous business day. The dividend payment date is the 15th of the month following the record date. Should the payment date fall on a weekend or on a holiday the business day prior to the weekend or holiday becomes the payment date. Business update Pembina is pleased to announce that commissioning is now underway for the Company's Duvernay assets (the "Duvernay Complex") which includes its 100 million cubic feet per day ("MMcf/d") (75 MMcf/d net to Pembina) shallow cut gas plant ("Duvernay I"), connecting pipelines and the associated field hub infrastructure ("Field Hub"). The Duvernay Complex is expected to be placed into service on November 1, 2017, ahead of schedule and under budget. This will represent the first large-scale processing plant and infrastructure to be placed into service that was specifically developed to handle the liquids-rich Duvernay production. Pembina also anticipates that the construction of the 160 kilometer northeast British Columbia ("B.C.") pipeline (the "NEBC Expansion") will be completed in October on time and on budget. The NEBC Expansion, which is underpinned by long-term, cost-of-service agreements, is expected to add approximately 75 thousand barrels per day ("mbpd") of capacity and is centrally located to accommodate further incremental transportation demands for the majority of producers in the liquids-rich Montney resource play. With continued development in the Montney, the NEBC Expansion offers producers a cost-effective transportation solution and access to Pembina's existing infrastructure at Taylor, B.C. which feeds into the Edmonton, Alberta area market hub. On June 30, 2017, Pembina placed its Phase III Expansion into service, adding 420 mbpd of incremental capacity between the Fox Creek and Namao corridor of Alberta on the Company's Peace and Northern systems. Through the first six months of 2017, Pembina's Conventional Pipeline revenue volumes averaged 692 mbpd, representing a 42 mbpd increase over the full year 2016 average of 650 mbpd. Approximately half of this increase was related to incremental volumes on Pembina's Peace and Northern systems in anticipation of the Phase III Expansion being placed into service. Pembina currently estimates Conventional Pipelines' revenue volumes for the third quarter of 2017 will be over 750 mbpd, consistent with Pembina's management's expectations. Combined with the additional Peace connections that will be placed into service throughout 2018 and the incremental Peace pipeline expansions expected to be placed into service in late 2018, revenue generated from the Peace pipeline will continue to ramp-up based on shipper contractual obligations. As such, Pembina expects a continued steady increase in Peace pipeline revenue volumes through the remainder of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, with another step-change occurring in 2019, where current firm volume commitments reach their peak. On September 21, 2017, Veresen announced that the Jordan Cove Energy Project and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline have filed applications with the United States Federal Regulatory Commission for the construction and operations of a 7.8 million tonne per annum liquefied natural gas ("LNG") export terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon and the related Pacific Connector that will transport natural gas from the Malin Hub in southern Oregon to the LNG export terminal. On September 27, 2017, Veresen announced the successful start-up of the Tower rich gas processing plant on September 20, 2017, ahead of schedule and under budget. The Tower processing plant has the capacity to process 200 MMcf/d of natural gas, and is the first of three Veresen Midstream facilities that support the Cutbank Ridge Partnership's ("CRP") condensate-focused growth plan in the Montney within the Dawson Creek region of northeast B.C. The two remaining plants currently under construction are also expected to be placed into service ahead of schedule and under budget. The 400 MMcf/d Sunrise processing plant is expected to start-up by mid-October with throughput anticipated to ramp-up throughout 2018. The Saturn processing plant is anticipated to have one of its two 200 MMcf/d trains in-service by year-end, followed by the second train expected to be placed into service in the first half of 2018. When all three facilities are operational, Veresen Midstream will have 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas processing capacity in operation in the core of the Montney, one of North America's most prolific and competitive liquids-rich resource plays. As of September 28, 2017, Pembina has commissioned the tie-in of the Tower plant to the Peace pipeline system. About Pembina Calgary-based Pembina is a leading transportation and midstream service provider that has been serving North America's energy industry for over 60 years. Pembina owns and operates an integrated system of pipelines that transport natural gas and various products derived from natural gas and hydrocarbon liquids produced primarily in western Canada. The Company also owns and operates gas gathering and processing facilities and an oil and natural gas liquids infrastructure and logistics business. Pembina's integrated assets and commercial operations along the majority of the hydrocarbon value chain allow it to offer a full spectrum of midstream and marketing services to the energy sector. Pembina is committed to working with its community and aboriginal neighbours, while providing value for investors in a safe, environmentally responsible manner. This balanced approach to operating ensures the trust Pembina builds among all of its stakeholders is sustainable over the long term. Pembina's common shares trade on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbols PPL and PBA, respectively. Pembina's preferred shares also trade on the Toronto stock exchange. For more information, visit www.pembina.com. Forward-looking Information Certain information contained in this news release constitutes forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, which address activities, events or developments that Pembina expects or anticipates may or will occur in the future, are forward-looking information. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "continue", "will", "future", "expect", or similar words suggesting future outcomes or outlook. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements with respect to: anticipated synergies and benefits of the Transaction to Pembina and its shareholders; remedies that may be imposed by the Competition Bureau with respect to the Arrangement; anticipated timing, capacities, and revenue volumes of Pembina's capital projects; future dividends which may be declared on Pembina's common and preferred shares, the dividend payment and the tax treatment thereof; and the timing of the listings of the Pembina common and preferred shares. The forward-looking information provided in this news release is based upon a number of material factors and assumptions that Pembina has made in respect thereof as of the date of this news release, including, without limitation: that favourable circumstances continue to exist in respect of current operations and current and future growth projects; future levels of oil and natural gas developments; potential revenue and cash flow enhancement; that any remedies that may be imposed by the Competition Bureau with respect to the Arrangement will have minimal impact on Pembina's business and its operations; with respect to Pembina's future dividends and results: prevailing commodity prices, margins and exchange rates, that the businesses of the combined company will continue to achieve sustainable financial results and that the combined company's future operations and results of operations will be consistent with past performance of Pembina and Veresen and management expectations in relation thereto including, the sanctioning and completion of any third party projects relating to growth projects, future operating costs, the availability and sources of capital, ongoing utilization and future expansion of the combined company, future production rates, the ability to reach required commercial agreements, the ability to obtain required regulatory and environmental approvals on the necessary terms and in a timely manner, and the continuation of timely performance by counterparties to material agreements. Although Pembina believes that the expectations and material factors and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof, there can be no assurance that these expectations, factors and assumptions will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and other factors that could cause actual results and events to vary materially from that anticipated by such forward-looking information, including, but not limited to: the failure to realize the anticipated synergies or benefits of the Transaction following closing due to integration issues, incorrect assumptions, any post-closing regulatory remedies or otherwise; changes to applicable tax laws; the sufficiency of budgeted capital expenditures in carrying out planned activities; the availability and cost of labour and services; non-performance of agreements in accordance with their terms; the impact of competitive entities and pricing; reliance on key industry partners, alliances and agreements; lower than anticipated results of operations and accretion from Pembina's business initiatives; the inability of Pembina to raise sufficient capital; the strength and operations of the oil and natural gas production industry and related commodity prices, and certain other risks detailed from time to time in Pembina's public disclosure documents including, among other things, those detailed under "Risk Factors" in Pembina's management's discussion and analysis and annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2016, which can be found at www.sedar.com under Pembina's profile. Readers are also urged to consult the disclosure provided under the heading "Risk Factors" in Veresen's management information circular dated June 5, 2017, which was filed on SEDAR under Veresen's profile, for further information respecting the risks and other factors applicable to the Arrangement. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors is not exhaustive. The impact of any one risk, uncertainty or factor on a particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as these factors are independent and management's future course of action would depend on its assessment of all information at that time. Accordingly, readers are cautioned that events or circumstances could cause results to differ materially from those predicted, forecasted or projected. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date hereof, and Pembina does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws. Any forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. In this news release, Pembina has used the term adjusted EBITDA. For more information about this non-GAAP measure, see the "Non-GAAP measures" section below. The information contained herein with respect to future adjusted EBITDA is to assist investors in understanding the combined company's expected financial results, and this information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Any forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Non-GAAP Measures In this press release, Pembina has used the term "adjusted EBITDA" which is not defined by GAAP but is used by management to evaluate the Transaction. Since non-GAAP measures do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies, securities regulations require that non-GAAP measures are clearly defined and qualified. The intent of non-GAAP measures is to provide additional useful information with respect to the Transaction to investors and analysts though the measures do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure and is calculated as earnings for the year plus share of profit (loss) from equity accounted investees (before tax, depreciation and amortization) plus net finance costs, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (included in operations and general and administrative expense) and unrealized gains or losses on commodity-related derivative financial instruments. The exclusion of unrealized gains or losses on commodity-related derivative financial instruments eliminates the non-cash impact of such gains or losses. Adjusted EBITDA also includes adjustments for loss (gain) on disposal of assets, transaction costs incurred in respect of acquisitions, impairment charges or reversals and write-downs in respect of goodwill, intangible assets and property plant and equipment, and non-cash provisions. These additional adjustments are made to exclude various non-cash and other items that are not reflective of ongoing operations. Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors as it is an important indicator of an issuer's ability to generate liquidity through cash flow from operating activities. Management utilizes Adjusted EBITDA to set objectives and as a key performance indicator of the Company's success. SOURCE Pembina Pipeline Corporation For further information: Pembina Investor Inquiries: Cam Goldade, Vice President, Capital Markets, (403) 231-3156, 1-855-880-7404; Pembina Media Inquiries: (403) 231-3148, [email protected] Related Links http://www.pembina.com TORONTO, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ - SPOT COFFEE (CANADA) LTD. (TSX-V: SPP) ("SPoT" or the "Company") is pleased to report the following: NEW DRIVE-THRU FOR SPOT TRANSIT ROAD The new drive-thru addition to the SPoT Transit Road cafe presently under construction will be completed and operational the week of November 6, 2017. This new drive-thru will provide a much needed "on the go" service solution that leverages the high number of SPoT Transit motorist customers in the cafe's busy commercial neighbourhood. NEW SPOT COFFEE ROSWELL PARK FRANCHISE After submitting its proposal for the development of a new franchise cafe in Roswell Park Cancer Institute ("RPCI") of Buffalo, the Company was invited by RPCI to negotiate and finalize a licensing agreement. SPoT has already signed an agreement with a qualified franchisee to operate the new SPoT Roswell Park cafe. The Company anticipates completion of the franchise location and commencement of its operation prior to this year's end. RPCI is a cancer research and treatment center in Buffalo, New York, founded in 1898. It was the first dedicated medical facility for cancer treatment and research in the United States, and is the only facility in Upstate New York to hold the National Cancer Institute designation of "comprehensive cancer center." The Institute, which conducts clinical research on cancer as well as developing new drugs, provides advanced treatment for all forms of adult and pediatric cancer. The RPCI campus, which is spread out in 15 separate buildings, occupies 28 acres of the 100-acre Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) in downtown Buffalo, and includes 1,500,000 square feet of space equally distributed between clinical programs and research/education functions. NEW SPOT COFFEE AMHERST FRANCHISE The Company has identified and negotiated a lease for a 2,600 square foot space at 4610 Main Street in Amherst, New York. This strategic location is presently being prepared by the landlord in anticipation of its construction and full development by SPoT into a new SPoT franchise cafe namely, SPoT Coffee Amherst. The Company is presently finalizing its franchise agreement with the approved franchisee and will be providing progress reports in forthcoming news releases. The town of Amherst encompasses most of the village of Williamsville as well as the hamlets of Eggertsville, Getzville, Snyder, Swormville, and East Amherst. Amherst is home to the north campus of the University of Buffalo, the graduate campus of Medaille College, a satellite campus of Bryant & Stratton College, and Daemen College. As of the census of 2010, there were 122,366 people residing in the town. NEW SPOT COFFEE WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT FRANCHISE The Company confirms completion by its architects of the working drawings, as well as receipt of the premises from the landlord, needed to start the construction of another new 3,000 square foot franchise cafe in the prestigious Blue Back Square development in West Hartford, CT. For more information about this new franchise SPoT cafe and the franchisee, Parisco Cafes, LLC, please refer to our news release of June 1, 2017. The Company expects to complete the construction of SPoT Coffee West Hartford cafe by the end of this year. LEASE RENEWAL AND RENOVATIONS OF SPOT COFFEE ROCHESTER The Company has successfully negotiated with the landlord of SPoT Coffee Rochester a renewal of its lease until the year 2022. SPoT will renovating its cafe while the andlord has committed to make other substaintial renovations to the facade of the building, as well as to install new flooring. ONGOING EXPANSION OF THE COMPANY'S FRANCHISE PROGRAM Based on the growing popularity and consistent increase in sales of SPoT Rochester cafe, the Company has now focused its attention on conducting an intensive demographic and real estate analysis of the Rochester Metropolitan Area in order for it to meet a rising demand for new franchise locations in and around Rochester, including Fairfield, Victor, Webster and many other Monroe County communities where SPoT enjoys significant brand recognition and strength. Accordingly, the Company has now begun examining all possible avenues of further franchise expansion across the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Furthermore, the Company is now negotiating with a serious prospective franchisee for a new full SPoT cafe in and around the southwest part of Orange County of New York, which lies approximately 50 miles north of the city of New York. Orange County contains three villages and eight hamlets which are the home of the annual Applefest, the Summer Arts Festival, the Black Dirt Feast, The Hudson Valley Jazz Festival and many other unique events and festivals. The Company will be issuing a news release concerning this new franchise once the franchise agreement is finalized and ratified and a cafe location has been chosen. About SPoT Coffee SPoT Coffee trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SPP. SPoT designs, builds, operates and franchises community oriented cafes and express cafes in New York State. SPoT's community cafes provide its customers with the highest quality service, signature made-to-order meals and award-winning micro-roasted coffee. Each SPoT cafe is distinctively designed to suit its local neighbourhood, creating a warm and friendly gathering place for the community. SPoT's commercial business focuses on the sale of roasted coffee beans to food service and grocery chains, business offices and third party resellers such as universities and hospitals. Forward Looking Statements Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements. In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, the potential use of proceeds of the financing that is the subject of this release. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the release. SOURCE Spot Coffee (Canada) Ltd. For further information: Anton Ayoub, CEO & President, (416) 368-2220 Ext 228, [email protected] Trading Symbol: VPI VANCOUVER, Sept. 29, 2017 /CNW/ - The financial results of Vitality Products Inc. for the three months ended July 31, 2017 show the Company's first profitable quarter since the launch of Vitality's new line of premium quality natural health products in September 2013. Vitality's net income for the three months ended July 31, 2017 was $14,397 or $0.00 per share compared to a net loss of $36,360 or $0.00 per share for the same period last year. The Company's sales for the three months ended July 31, 2017 increased 92% to $129,458 (2016 - $67,369) as Vitality's supplements continued to receive re-orders from retail stores, be ordered by more retail stores located in Canada and by more online shoppers. The Company's general and administrative expenses for the three months ended July 31, 2017 decreased to $83,835 (2016 - $85,884) as the Company streamlines processes while expanding distribution and growing sales. The Company continues to focus its efforts on expanding distribution and sales nationally. Vitality attended and exhibited at 2017 CHFA East - Canada's largest natural health trade show and conference in September 2017 in Toronto, Ontario. During the show, the Company presented with its national distributor, met retailers, sold products and provided information to prospective buyers. Vitality's mission is to provide a healthy, energized lifestyle through high quality supplements. Vitality products are available for sale in 425 retail stores (2016 - 300 retail stores) located across Canada. A list of the retailers is available at www.vitality.ca. Effective September 30, 2017, Acosta Canada Corporation (Acosta) will no longer be broker for Vitality. Acosta, through its Natural/Specialty Sales division, worked with the Company since January 2017 to promote Vitality products. The Company's condensed interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the six months ended July 31, 2017 and 2016 are available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. On behalf of the Board of VITALITY PRODUCTS INC. "W. Douglas Grant" (signed) __________________________________ W. Douglas Grant, President & CEO Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE Vitality Products Inc. For further information: W. Douglas Grant, President & CEO at (604) 683-6611 or [email protected] Related Links http://www.vitality.ca By GMM 1 October 2017 - 09:50 Dr Helmut Marko will head to Hondas Japanese headquarters after the Malaysian grand prix. The Red Bull chief was part of the negotiations that sees axed McLaren partner Honda switch to the energy drink companys junior team Toro Rosso next year. There are sceptics in the paddock who question the move. "If Honda cannot make significant progress in three years, they never will," Christian Danner, a former driver, is quoted by Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper. But Red Bulls senior team is set to split with Renault after next year, and therefore sees Honda as a potential partner for 2019. Marko sounds optimistic. "What we know from Honda shows that things are going up," he said ahead of his trip to Japan early next week. "The technical and financial resources are there, as is the ambition to improve through this new start." Salzburger quoted an unnamed Honda F1 driver as saying he is also hopeful the Japanese marque is improving. "Honda will increase its F1 budget by 50 per cent for 2018," he said. "It is the funds freed up by the McLaren sponsorship." Hero of Mollywood's first musical hit 'Thiramala' shares his Hollywood stint, directing Prem Nazir and more This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HAMDEN In China, tea is not only a drink, but a culture. It is consumed regularly, both formally and informally, and used in traditional Chinese medicine. Tea ceremonies are performed to celebrate special occasions. In celebration of the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival on Wednesday, traditional Chinese tea expert Lindan Hu taught the Mandarin class at Sacred Heart Academy how to perform a formal gongfu tea ceremony Friday. Hu is from Shanghai and lives in New Haven. She has hosted tea ceremonies at Yale University, Foote School and in other communities where she has been invited. She loves tea and has incorporated it in her daily life for the past 10 years. Tea culture means health and enjoying yourself, she said. Tea culture is part of Chinese culture. The ceremony is performed slowly, delicately and precisely, with classic Chinese music being played. Hu said the ceremony is about building peace and all the movements symbolize peace. They should all be performed softly and quietly. She demonstrated the ceremony for the students and guided them as they performed it themselves. Hu bowed when she offered tea first to guests and to exchange tea, the recipient first smells it, then sips it three times. Tea culture is a way of promoting health and helping people relax. Hu said she like teaching the ceremony to introduce the culture to students. Ninth-graders Mary Kate Hewitt and Claire Chirstie said they liked performing the ceremony and have learned a lot about Chinese culture from the class. Language teacher Xiuying Tan at Sacred Heart Academy incorporates cultural learning with her language teaching. She invited Hu to demonstrate the importance of tea culture in China and brings other cultural experts to the class regularly. I want students to experience the culture when they learn language, she said. In the class, students practice Chinese calligraphy, learn to cook authentic foods. Throughout the year, a master of Kung Fu, a master of Mulan Martial Art, a master of Chinese chess and a Chinese signer will visit the Mandarin classes. On Monday, in honor of the Mid-Autumn Festival, students will learn how to make moon cakes. The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second-most important festival in China after the Chinese New Year. The festival takes its name from the fact that it is always celebrated in the middle of autumn. The day is also known as the Moon Festival, since its celebrated at a time when the moon is fullest. It falls on the 15th day of the eight month in the Chinese lunar calendar. Tan said the festival symbolizes family and unity and its a time when people get together to appreciate family. The full moon symbolizes the whole family together, not missing any part, she said. mdignan@hearstmediact.com In case you havent noticed, there are more than a few entrepreneurs online daily talking and marketing the same kind of business, and offering the same services. You log onto social media and you see many of your entrepreneur friends that sell podcast services, build funnels, run ads, can teach you how to use live video, teach you how to create a profitable blog, and the list goes on. Building an online business isnt easy, and there are some hard realities that you need to realize, CopyBlogger tells us. I know Im not telling you anything new. Having said that, I love the freedom an online business can provide. As youre reading this, Im writing this article from a cafe in Nairobi, Kenya. I'm here in Africa as part of a six-country consulting tour. While Im writing this, people are buying my books and other products on my website. Im making money passively while enjoying the amazingness of Africa. If this is one of your goals, there are seven things you can do to get better results from building an online business or increasing your business' presence online. 1. Stop copying other entrepreneurs. Customers buy from someone they know, like and trust. They dont buy from strangers. If you are the clone of some other and/or famous entrepreneur, theyll never get to know the real you. When they want to buy, they will buy from the entrepreneur you are copying. Use frameworks that work, but dont be a clone. Model success but don't copy it. Let your voice come through, and build a business thats yours. Related: 10 Simple Things Successful People Do Every Morning (Infographic) 2. Be clear about who your core audience is. If you try to reach the whole world, youll end up reaching no one because your efforts to reach customers will be scattered. You wont be able to help people where they are if youre not speaking to a specific target audience. The more specific you can get with your target audience, the easier time youll have marketing, which is what ultimately grows your business. When you do, you will be focused on your strategies. Your branding and messaging should be very clear. Related: 10 Questions to Ask Before Determining Your Target Market 3. Keep it simple. Keep your website simple and clean. Even though Wordpress has a variety of options for widgets and plugins, you dont need all of them. When someone visits your website it shouldnt confuse them. When it comes to your business, keep it simple, too. Build traffic to your website. Learn the biggest struggles your target audience is facing. Create products and services that help solve those problems. Rinse and repeat. Yes, it can be that simple to create a solid foundation. Related: Don't Just Start a Business, Solve A Problem 4. Dont rely exclusively social media. While you cant ignore social media, dont make it your number one strategy for traffic and leads. New York Times best-selling author, Crystal Paine, clearly illustrated this. The bottom line is that you want to build your business on your platform, not someone elses. You want people to sign up to your email list, and interact with you personally, not just on social media. Related: The Only Technique You Need to Quickly Grow Your Email List 5. Focus on whats important. Theres a wealth of information you can learn online. Most of these things arent important to where you are in the process. If youre building, you probably shouldnt be learning about SEO. If you guest post and build your audience in other ways, the SEO will naturally come, so your time is better spent writing guest posts. Sit down, and evaluate where youre at in your entrepreneurial journey, and stick to what will help you where you are. Dont fall victim to information overload because it can easily keep you from making progress. The speed of implementation is what makes you successful in business. Related: How to Treat Information Overload in 3 Simple Steps 6. Dont be afraid to charge a fair price. It would be great to help as many people as possible for free, but you have a family to care for and bills to pay. If you add value and help people, you should be paid a fair price for it. Remember, youre building a business; it cant be a business if it doesnt make money. There are people online who should be ashamed at what theyre doing and charging, but youll find that in any industry. As long as you focus on serving and adding value to your customer's lives, your prices will be justified. Reading: 3 Lessons About Setting Your Price Learned From a Vegas Prostitute 7. Keep pushing towards your goals. At the end of the day, if you want this to succeed, you have to determine right now that youll keep going no matter what. Perseverance is what makes your business grow. Even if you havent made the process you wanted to make at this point, you cant give up. Build this business one relationship, and one sell at a time. Have patience. This takes time to build. With focused effort, you can build a powerful online business or grow your business' presence online. Use these seven strategies to optimize your building efforts. Have patience, and build something that helps your target audience. Focus and you will do this. Related: 7 Patient Strategies for Growing Your Business Online 4 Things to Consider Before Expanding Your Business The Big Reason Why You Should Hire Highly Educated Employees Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has paid tribute to President Muhammadu Buhari and his wife, Aisha.He also stated that political differences in Nigeria needs fixing in order not to jeopardize national development.Atiku spoke in Abuja at a reception in his honour over his recent appointment as the Waziri (Prime Minister) Adamawa.Atikus appointment in June followed the death of former Waziri, Alhaji Muhammad Abba who died in April.Waziri is the most senior kingmaker in the emirate and serves as close confidant and adviser to the Lamido, the paramount ruler of Adamawa.In his remark, Atiku said: I implore us (Nigerians) to fix our politics as well.We can have our political differences and political flights but let us know when to apply the brakes.This is key so that what is getting to Adamawa, be it projects, provisions or positions are not lost because of dirty quarrels and what some people call pull him down syndrome.I believe we will be remembered not by the number of people we pulled down but by the number of people we lifted up.For those of us who God has spared our lives up till nowhow do we forget the contributions of Air Marshall Badeh or late M D Suleiman, the Inspector General of Police, people like Senator Mahmood Waziri or late Justice Buna?Or how do we forget people like Nuhu Ribadu, Babachir David Lawal or Emmanuel Musa Bello just to mention a few?We even gave our President, Muhammadu Buhari his very smart and beautiful wife (Aisha), an accomplished professional in her own right.I stand to be challenged by any state; which has given so much to this country? So dont let anybody tell you that we have not contributed or that we have a basket case.Governor Muhammadu Jibrilla Bindow, President of Adamawa Community Association in Abuja, ACA, Alhaji Sali Isa Bello, an ex-Head of Service of the Federation, among others at the event hailed Atiku for his contributions to the state and nation. Reno Omokri, the former Special Adviser on New Media to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has said President Muhammadu Buhari is a hypocrite, for expressing disappointment in South East leaders over the agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.Omokri made the rebuttal while reacting to Buharis Independence Day speech.He wondered why a president who has never blamed Northern leaders for Boko Haram insurgents should now blame South East leaders for Biafra agitation.In a series of tweets via his twitter handle, the United States based former presidential aide wondered why Buhari who divided Nigeria into 97% versus 5% is disappointed at others? The tweet reads, And on Independence Day PMB said I am very disappointed at responsible leaders of these communities. Is he @MBuhari better than them?President @MBuhari who never one day blamed Northern elders for Boko Haram today blamed SE elders for IPOB. What a hypocrite of a President!PMB says hes disappointed in SE leaders? A man who divided Nigerians into 97% versus 5% is disappointed at others? Look in a mirror sir! US President, Donald Trump A day after the United States secretary of state said the Donald Trump administration opened lines of communication with North Korea, U.S President on Sunday, told Rex Tillerson to save your energy because well do what has to be done with Little Rocket Man. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man, Trump wrote on Twitter, repeating the nickname he has been using for North Korean President Kim Jong Un. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done! , he posted. ...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 Tillerson on Saturday said the Trump administration for the first time has opened up lines of communication with Pyongyang. Were not in a dark situation, a blackout. We are seeing from what we can observe, and the Chinese are telling us, that it is having some effect, and [the Chinese] have a pretty close view of it, Tillerson said. Trump has warned Kims regime that he would totally destroy North Korea if forced to defend the US or its allies in the region. He also referred to Kim as Rocket Man during a speech last month to the United Nations General Assembly and said the despot is on a suicide mission. North Korea is under punishing sanctions imposed by the UN that restricts its imports, especially fuel, for its continuing military provocations that include detonating a nuclear device and launching intercontinental ballistic missiles. While backing the sanctions, China and Russia have both encouraged the US to try to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff between the two countries. File photo The Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State Of Biafra, MASSOB, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to let Biafrans go. The group noted that Python dance and other forms of intimidation cannot stop the agitation for Biafra. It also stated that they were not calling for disintegration of Nigeria but the freedom of Igbos. This was contained in a statement in Enugu, yesterday issued by MASSOBs National Director of Publicity, Samuel Edeson. According to the release, MASSOB is not saying that Nigeria should disintegrate. What we are demanding is freedom of Biafrans. Any Igbo man or woman who wishes to remains in Nigeria is free and if any Nigeria feels to live in Biafra, he will be accepted. If President Mohammad Buhari is supporting the states of Palestinian and Saharawi, why is he against Biafra freedom? MASSOB wishes to make it clear that no amount of threats by Nigerian army, police and other security agents can ever stop us from pursuing our freedom. What we are doing is legal, constitutional and justifiable and nobody can ban us because self determination is guaranteed by United Nations and the African Union charter, which Nigeria is signatory to both organisations, Edeson said. The Pro-Biafra group alleged that it was for fear of international prosecution that the Nigerian government was considering pulling out of 90 international organizations it belonged to. Nigerian government is afraid of prosecution by all these organizations. The genocide and war crime cases are at the door of Nigeria government. The Chief of Army Staff and the GOC 82 Division must face ICC. Python should go ahead and dance, after dancing we shall see the end of Python. Biafra agitators cannot be banned. Nigeria, let Biafra go and you will have peace, he stated. 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 ... The Ondo State Police Command yesterday said it had arrested another suspected Boko Haram member, Mohammed Basha, at Isua-Akoko in Akoko... The Ondo State Police Command yesterday said it had arrested another suspected Boko Haram member, Mohammed Basha, at Isua-Akoko in Akoko South East Local Government Area.Police spokesman Femi Joseph said the suspect was arrested by the men of the anti-crime patrol while he was loitering on Isua-Ifira Akoko road.He said: When the suspect was arrested, he was interrogated and he confessed that he was a member of the Boko Haram sect. He said his father is from Niger Republic while his mother is from Maiduguri in Borno State.He said when Maiduguri was hot for him, he ran to Nasarawa State last month and that he left Nasarawa yesterday and came down to the Southwest to hide here.He also confessed that a man he called Daffo is his team leader while Abubakar Shekau is still the overall leader of the group.Joseph said items suspected to be charms were recovered from Basha.The spokesman said the suspect was still in the commands protective custody for further investigation.He added that the suspect would be paraded soon. A human rights group, Advocate of Social Justice for All has called for the immediate extradition of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous ... A human rights group, Advocate of Social Justice for All has called for the immediate extradition of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra back to Nigeria. The group said it was disappointed that the UK government was hiding Kanu, after he had caused the death of many persons in Nigeria. The rights group was reacting to the shocking revelation made by former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu that Kanu fled to London through Malaysia. The ex- Abia state governor had said, Kanu was not taken away by the military. Kanu went to Malaysia from where he travelled to the United Kingdom. Reacting, however, ASJA said it was disappointed to learn that Kanu was hiding in the United Kingdom after illegally travelling through Cameroon and Malaysia. It said the development was a clear indication that the UK was harbouring a fugitive from Justice and this was irrespective of him holding dual nationalism Nigeria and the United Kingdom. The proper thing is for the UK to have allowed Kanu answer the treason charges against him in Nigeria before making any intervention, the group said in a statement by its Executive Director, Asongo Venatius,. ASJA said it was supremely irresponsible for the UK High Commission in Nigeria to have issued its statement seeking clarification on Nnamdi Kanu when it knew it was in cahoots with the terrorist leader. He added, The irresponsible behaviour became diabolic when the UK issued him an emergency travel document in collaboration with crisis merchants. This is the worst form of double standard ever. We are at a loss to understand what the UK Mission in Nigeria or even the home country stands to gain by mischievously sinking so low to aid and facilitate his sneaking out of the country. This is a disgrace to the government and people of the United Kingdom, it is a blot that can only be erased by the government of the UK flushing out Kanu and all other bad elements that are trying to sabotage Nigeria. If the UK truly believes in freedom, it must extradite Kanu, who is facing charges in a Nigerian court, so that those who stood surety to perfect his bail conditions do not end up in jail if he fails to show up for his trial. Even where the UK has decided to spurn the ties that existed between it and Nigeria, we advise it to revisit the ill-advised choice of backing a terrorist against the Nigerian state. As the UK should have learnt from initially supporting ISIS terrorists, the attacks by these sick minds would eventually take place on its soil. The Advocates of Social Justice for All (ASJA) therefore demands that the UK High Commission in Nigeria immediately extradite Nnamdi Kanu to stand trial for his crime before his October 17, 2017 court appearance. Failure to do this will see ASJA leading Nigerians to occupy the UK High Commissions premises in a manner it has never experienced before in any other part of the world. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has urged Niger Government to immortalise Mohammed Dauda, ex-President of the association who passed on recently.Dauda, President of NANS between 2011 and 2012, died on Sunday en route India where he had gone for medical treatment due to a protracted illness.The NANS National Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr Bestman Okereafor, made the call in a statement on Monday in Enugu.Okereafor said that the news of the demise of Dauda came to NANS with extreme sadness and shock after all that was done to secure his life from the cold hands of death proved abortive.NANS under the leadership of Aruna Kadiri appreciates all genuine and progressive-minded comrades, governments and individuals who have set aside tribes, regions and religions to raise millions of naira just for Dauda to be alive.Unfortunately, despite all efforts, we received the sad news of his demise minutes before landing in India.NANS, however, mourns our brother and comrade Muhammed Dauda.We wish to call on the Niger State Government to immortalise the beloved ex-President of NANS.NANS prays that may the gentle, rugged and dogged soul of the departed rest in perfect peace, he said.May God also grant the family of the deceased the fortitude to bear this irreplaceable and irreparable loss, he said.It was gathered that Dauda departed Abuja for India on Sept. 30 to receive treatment for alleged liver cirrhosis. The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign state of Biafra (MASSOB) said yesterday the missing leader of Indigenous People of B... The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign state of Biafra (MASSOB) said yesterday the missing leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, is a true hero of Biafra, even dead or alive.MASSOB described Kanu as a determined man who was destined for the actualisation of Biafra.In a statement posted by its leader, Uchenna Madu, MASSOBB said: Kanu does not pose any danger to Nigerias existence; the problem that poses a dangerous extinction to Nigerias existence is Hausa/Fulani domination of Nigeria over the general interest of other ethnic nationalities.MASSOB said Kanu had proven to be a loved figure for championing the self-determination struggle for the actualisation and restoration of Biafra. Human rights lawyer and National Coordinator of Ekiti Redemption Group (ERG), Mr. Morakinyo Ogele, has warned Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayo... Human rights lawyer and National Coordinator of Ekiti Redemption Group (ERG), Mr. Morakinyo Ogele, has warned Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose, against attacking the personality of Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN). Ogele speaking with the Our correspondent on Monday described Falana as aneminent son of Ekiti who should not be pilloried by the governor of his home state but should be celebrated and appreciated for entrenchment of democracy in Nigeria. The ERG boss was reacting to a comment made by the governor while appearing on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television last Thursday in which he (Fayose) accused Falana of being one of the brains behind the latest Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) investigation of his administration. Fayose alleged that the Senior Advocate was still aggrieved with his loss of the 2003 governorship election where he (Falana), as the candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP), lost to him (Fayose), who ran on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Ogele advised Fayose to cooperate with the EFCC in the ongoing investigation of how bailout funds given to his administration to pay workers and pensioners were spent rather than blaming Falana for his woes. Ogele said: Falanas personality and integrity cannot be called to question by anybody as he is one of those who fought for democracy being enjoyed by people like Fayose who was nowhere when people like Falana were in the trenches. Falana has not been accused of looting Ekiti or being a security risk. Fayose cannot compare himself with Falana because he (Falana) has been fighting for democracy which earned him detention alongside the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Falana cannot be aggrieved because of the 2003 election; the only thing Falana is craving for is that Ekiti should be ruled within the purview of our constitution so Fayose should stop insulting Falana. Falana has earned himself various prominent awards in Nigeria, Africa and in all parts of the world for his persistence in fighting for the freedom of Nigerians, respect for human rights and good governance. What Falana is saying is that Fayose should pay salaries and entitlements of workers and should account for all the unds received from the Federal Government on behalf of Ekiti people. Mr Segun Adeniyi, the spokesman to late President Umaru Yaradua, has called on Nigerians of all backgrounds to see themselves as allies and strive for a better country.Adeniyi made the call on Monday in Lagos in a paper he delivered at the The Platform, an annual programme organised by Covenant Christian Centre to awaken national consciousness.He said the challenges facing the country would be surmounted if all Nigerians approached them with unity of purpose.Adeniyi declared that the countrys problems were not rooted in ethnicity or religion, adding that Nigerians playing ethnic and religious cards were part of the problem.The problems of the country are not caused by ethnicity or religion, but by poor leadership.So those who are directing their anger at people from other ethnic groups or faiths are missing the point.Once the leadership lives up to its responsibilities to the people, most of these challenges will be solved, he said.He condemned the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), saying the agitations of the group lacked focus.He explained that the approach adopted by the group through the use of violence and hate speeches to pursue its agenda, not only threatened unity but also smacked of ethnicity.He said that it was wrong for IPOB to create the impression that the rest of the country was against the Igbos.He said that the group squandered an opportunity to raise genuine concerns about the South-East zone by resorting to hate messages.Adeniyi also described as `unfortunate the quit notice issued to Igbos by some Arewa youths to leave the North.He said that the action of the youths was condemnable as the activities of IPOB.The former presidential spokesman urged Nigerians to have positive outlook about the future of their country and demand accountability from their leaders.He advised that, instead whining and resort to distrust for others based on religion or ethnicity, Nigerians should rise up and contribute their quota to national development.Adeniyi urged governments at all levels to be more alive to their responsibilities to deliver democratic dividends.He stressed the need for the Federal Government to restructure some of its Ministries, Departments and Agencies for efficiency, adding that some of the agencies were redundant and constitute drain on national resources.Adeniyi also urged the federal government to consider the report of the Oronsaye committee on rationalisation of MDAs to save cost and make governance more effective.In his paper entitled Federalism is Restructuring, Restructuring is Federalism, the Vice-chancellor of Igbinedion University, Prof. Osaghae Eghase, said restructuring was a continuous process in a federal arrangement.The professor of Comparative Politics said the process should be adopted in response to changes in the arrangement.He said that most of the people agitating for restructuring had no legal right to do so as they were not representatives of the people.He explained that only members of National Assembly have the mandate to advocate for restructuring as they were the constitutional representatives of the people.Most of the people calling for restructuring have no legal right to do so because they have no mandate of the people to do so.It is the National Assembly that has the right to bargain to do so, but whether they are willing or not is another issue, he said.The don expressed disappointment that governments at all levels were not responsive to the yearnings of the people.Eghase submitted that with the best political system and economic policy in place, development would elude the nation if resources were not judiciously utilized. The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has denied allegations by the former governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, that its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, escaped to the United Kingdom, through Malaysia, adding that Kanu had not been seen or heard from since the military invaded his country home and killed some members of his family.IPOB said that its lawyers would compel Dr Kalu to appear in court and speak on oath, all that he knew about Kanuswhereaboutst on October 17, when his case would come up before an Abuja High Court.According to IPOBs Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, It has come to the knowledge of the worldwide family of IPOB and its leadership, regarding the wild and widely reported comments of Orji Uzor Kalu on the whereabouts of our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. This man Orji Uzor Kalu has again made claims that could only classify him as beholding to the Fulani caliphate interests.His spurious claim that the overall leader of IPOB and prophet of our time Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has made his way to London via Malaysia is confirmation that he would do or say anything to escape his ongoing trial.Worse still, he might be a hapless victim of a well orchestrated blackmail by his mastersWe expect many more compromised Igbo leaders to follow suit in the coming days. After all selling collective Igbo interest and by extension that of Biafra has been their hallmark. It didnt start today but their era is coming to an end.Biafrans are now well accustomed to Hausa Fulani errand boys euphemistically referred to as Igbo leaders coming out once in a while to condemn what is in the collective interest of the people. They have no qualms about conniving with Hausa Fulani soldiers to kill and maim their own people as long as their meaningless and fake interests are protected.Only people who have no qualms about what happens to their natives man without honour, and devoid of shame will spout such unfounded, uncorroborated nonsense in the hope of letting Buratai off the hook for the abominable atrocities his soldiers committed in connection with the disappearance of our leader when his home was raided on September 14, 2017.Both the United Kingdom and Malaysia are civilised countries and not as corrupt as Nigeria, where there is no accurate record of migration in and out of the country. What Orji Uzor Kalu is saying in essence is that United Kingdom government officials were lying when they rightfully demanded the whereabouts of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.For the information of those who may have fallen for the bare faced lies of Orji Uzor Kalu, United Kingdom is an island nation surrounded by water and it is near impossible to enter without being documented. If our leader is in the UK their government will not bother demanding that he be produced by the Buhari regime. Lying it seems runs deep in APC.It is not right to apportion blame to Orji Uzor Kalu alone but, there is no other humiliating indictment of the an entire race than when those, who in traditional Igbo setting would not speak in public, suddenly rise up to spread falsehoodThere seems to be an ongoing battle among so-called political leaders in Biafraland as to who will emerge the anointed son of the Fulani caliphate.IPOB through her lawyers will compel Orji Uzor Kalu to appear in court alongside Buratai on the October 17, 2017 to tell the world, under oath, what he claims to know about the whereabouts of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.His laughable assertion that the IPOB leader is in London is confirmation that all along he has been working in tandem with Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, Willie Obiano, Rochas Okprocha and others to slaughter as many IPOB family members as possible in order to please the core North.Any right thinking person, aware of the dubious upbringing of Orji Uzor Kalu and his fraudulent paternity claim against the famous businessman Nnanna Kalu, a man that publicly denied him, should dismiss his latest antics as another calculated attempt to endear himself more to his Hausa Fulani Islamic handlers. The question Orji Uzor Kalu must answer is this, if indeed you are Nnanna Kalus son, why do you tell people you come from Igbere when the man you fraudulently claim is your father is not from there.Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before his abduction by Nigerian Army has brought an end to the era of cash and carry politics politics of subservience to Hausa Fulani to the detriment of Biafra. That was why he flatlyrejected your monetary offer to him to compromise his uncompromising stance on Biafra restoration. Thankfully today you have told the world that Nnamdi Kanu cannot be bought. The politics of selling the interest of the East to the North is why all Hausa Fulani stooges in government houses across the South East ganged up with their Hausa Fulani masters to kill Nnamdi Kanu and proscribe IPOB.Their wish having come through, they are now lining up to exonerate the military because they know their names will be mentioned as accomplices to mass murder of IPOB family members.Orji Uzor Kalu and his co-conspirators must await the fury of the people which is slowly building up. The same way Romans rose against the murderous Brutus and his gang that slayed the popular Julius Ceasar, so will the mob in Biafraland descend on all traitors in no distant time.Planning and executing the mass murder of IPOB members including our leader and looking to cover up your complicity with bare faced lies, will expose and render Orji Uzor Kalu inconsequential and expose him for the Hausa Fulani slave he truly is. The masses will set an example with the likes of Orji Uzor Kalu, Okezie Ikpeazu and Willie Obiano in no distant time that other quislings like them may learn.We have formally instructed our attorneys to add the name of Orji Uzor Kalu as one of those who might help in locating of our leader. He should be prepared to present his evidence in a court of law and be cross examined under oath. The surviving members of Kanu family have all denied ever talking to the lying Orji Uzor Kalu about the whereabouts of our leader, so he should be prepared to mount the witness box because his lies have gone on for far too long. The 2014 Confab report will be not be considered by the Buhari-led government, the presidency has said. The 2014 Confab report will be not be considered by the Buhari-led government, the presidency has said. Despite calls from some quarters that the report should be considered and implemented, the presidency on Sunday, October 1, ruled out implementation of the report. Speaking on a programme on Channels TV for Nigerias 57th Independence anniversary celebrations, the senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, said despite heavy criticisms against the confab, the Goodluck Jonathan administration went on with it. Giving reasons why the federal government Shehu said: Because it was not an inclusive conference. You very well recall that the leaders of our own party whether ACN and all of that and the governors were missing from that conference. This (the confab) was lopsided in terms of representation, ethnically, religiously, regionally; and they were insensitive to all of these things and then they want to force it down the throats of everyone. That is why its a problem. The presidential aide blamed those who failed Nigeria in the past for the agitations in the country. It is not like I have no respect for older people. But there are people who think that they have messed up this country so much that they now want to resolve the problems that they created and they are in a hurry to do that, he said. Shehu said Buharis government has advised aggrieved people in the country to take their grievances to the National Assembly which has the constitutional backing to address such concerns. He wondered why the people cannot trust the National Assembly with such responsibility as lawmakers are Nigerians and are serving the purpose of representation. Activist lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome has said President Muhammadu Buharis speech on Octpber 1 clearly displayed his hatred for people of t... Activist lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome has said President Muhammadu Buharis speech on Octpber 1 clearly displayed his hatred for people of the South-East. He said Buhari showed a fixated hatred for Igbos when he berated leaders of the region for allowing those feeling marginalised to agitate for the breakup of the country. Describing the speech as not only un-presidential but un-reconciliatory, Ozekhome wondered how Buhari could see nothing wrong in the murderous activities of herdsmen across the country as well as the illegal quit notice asking Igbos to vacate the North without any repercussion against them. Ozekhomes stance on Buharis speech was contained, in a statement he signed, entitled President Muhammadu Buharis National Day Broadcast: Yet Another Golden Opportunity Lost. According to Ozekhome, The entire national day broadcast by PMB on the occasion of Nigerias 57th independence is quite disappointing in all ramifications. It was very un-presidential and un-reconciliatory. PMB left the real issues and pursued trifles. The speech was bereft of nobility of statesmanship, and devoid of a calm grasp and appraisals of the dire straits Nigeria is currently in. The broadcast was rabidly narcissist, parochial, nepotic and clannish, as it failed to see anything wrong with the blatant and well reported threats by the Arewa youths to quit fellow Nigerians from their domains. The speech followed his now well worn out fixation of perceived hatred for the Igbo race, whose leadership he needlessly scurilized and lampooned, for allegedly being behind IPOB and other agitations. I doubt and didnt hear him mention anything about gun wielding herdsmen that literally vanquish citizens in their own homesteads across Nigeria. The President celebrated mediocrity and edified his governments non-performance two and half years down the line. I genuinely wondered if he was discussing the same country, Nigeria, that I am in, or another utopian planet Mars. The beautiful picture of a peaceful country he painted so glowingly and artistically with the paintbrush of breathless satisfaction is quite different from the stark reality on the ground, which every beleaguered Nigerian labours under. His speech writers either wallowed in utopian mystic of redemptive messianism, or in crass fraud and grand deception. But, Nigerians are no fools. Did I hear PMB say this is the first time a government at the Centre is losing the governorship, senatorial and Houses of Assemblys elections to the opposite at the state level? No sir, wrong. Whoever gave Mr. President this false electoral history has done him incalculable disservice and great damage and ridicule. Few examples: Remember Ondo state (Labour Party), Osun and Edo states (AC), Anambra (APGA), etc? Not only did the ruling PDP lose the elections to those opposition parties, the then President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan actually rolled out the drums and congratulated the new governors, Senators and House member. Peter Obi won the Anambra state governorship election in 2010 for the second time on the platform of APGA. Obasanjo was President at the Centre under the PDP, just as Bola Tinubu won the Lagos state governorship seat twice under AD and ACN, with Obasanjo as president under PDP at the Centre. Buhari lost yet another golden opportunity to balm bruised nationalities ego and cement Nigerias yawning cleavages, hate and divisiveness. Must everything be predicated on falsehood, force, threats and gun boat diplomacy, viet armis? It didnt ever work. When he applied such excessive force and threats to the Niger Delta militants, I counseled then it would not work. The marginalized youth picked up the gauntlet, serially blew up oil pipelines, tore up Nigerias oil jugular into smithereens. Crude oil output plummeted to about 700 thousand barrels per day from 1.5m barrels. It took the then Acting President Yemi Osibanjos shuttle diplomacy to the Niger Delta region to quell the strife. It was Napoleon Bonarparte, a French General and Emperor (1769-1821), who famously declared: do you know what amazes me more than anything else? The impotence of force to organize anything. PMB sir, allow Nigerians enjoy the full bloom of democracy and its inbuilt mechanisms for conflict resolution. As Nigeria marks its 57th Independence anniversary, many citizens complain that the ideals of past leaders have not been met while others c... As Nigeria marks its 57th Independence anniversary, many citizens complain that the ideals of past leaders have not been met while others continue to blame the military over the challenges faced by the country over the years. However, 18 years down the line in the countrys democratic process, the country has continued with the very challenges allegedly imposed on it by the military. This time, the blame has shifted to politicians with some Nigerians even calling for the scrapping of a part of the National Assembly. Nigerian Eye presents the very first Independence Day address presented by Tafawa Balewa, then prime minister of the country, on October 1 Today is Independence Day. The first of October 1960 is a date to which for two years every Nigerian has been eagerly looking forward. At last, our great day has arrived, and Nigeria is now indeed an independent sovereign nation. Words cannot adequately express my joy and pride at being the Nigerian citizen privileged to accept from Her Royal Highness these constitutional Instruments which are the symbols of Nigerias Independence. It is a unique privilege which I shall remember forever, and it gives me strength and courage as I dedicate my life to the service of our country. This is a wonderful day, and it is all the more wonderful because we have awaited it with increasing impatience, compelled to watch one country after another overtaking us on the road when we had so nearly reached our goal. But now we have acquired our rightful status, and I feel sure that history will show that the building of our nation proceeded at the wisest pace: it has been thorough, and Nigeria now stands well-built upon firm foundations. Todays ceremony marks the culmination of a process which began 15 years ago and has now reached a happy and successful conclusion. It is with justifiable pride that we claim the achievement of our Independence to be unparallelled in the annals of history. Each step of our constitutional advance has been purposefully and peacefully planned with full and open consultation, not only between representatives of all the various interests in Nigeria but in harmonious cooperation with the administering power which has today relinquished its authority. At the time when our constitutional development entered upon its final phase, the emphasis was largely upon self-government. We, the elected representatives of the people of Nigeria, concentrated on proving that we were fully capable of managing our own affairs both internally and as a nation. However, we were not to be allowed the selfish luxury of focusing our interest on our own homes. In these days of rapid communications we cannot live in isolation, apart from the rest of the world, even if we wished to do so. All too soon it has become evident that for us Independence implies a great deal more than self-government. This great country, which has now emerged without bitterness or bloodshed, finds that she must at once be ready to deal with grave international issues. This fact has of recent months been unhappily emphasised by the startling events which have occurred in this continent. I shall not labour the point but it would be unrealistic not to draw attention first to the awe-inspiring task confronting us at the very start of our nationhood. When this day in October 1960 was chosen for our Independence it seemed that we were destined to move with quiet dignity to place on the world stage. Recent events have changed the scene beyond recognition, so that we find ourselves today being tested to the utmost. We are called upon immediately to show that our claims to responsible government are well-founded, and having been accepted as an independent state we must at once play an active part in maintaining the peace of the world and in preserving civilisation. I promise you, we shall not fail for want of determination. And we come to this task better-equipped than many. For this, I pay tribute to the manner in which successive British governments have gradually transferred the burden of responsibility to our shoulders. The assistance and unfailing encouragement which we have received from each Secretary of State for the Colonies and their intense personal interest in our development has immeasurably lightened that burden. All our friends in the Colonial Office must today be proud of their handiwork and in the knowledge that they have helped to lay the foundations of a lasting friendship between our two nations. I have indeed every confidence that, based on the happy experience of a successful partnership, our future relations with the United Kingdom will be more cordial than ever, bound together, as we shall be in the Commonwealth, by a common allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, whom today we proudly acclaim as Queen of Nigeria and Head of the Commonwealth. Time will not permit the individual mention of all those friends, many of them Nigerians, whose selfless labours have contributed to our Independence. Some have not lived to see the fulfilment of their hopes on them be peace, but nevertheless they are remembered here, and the names of buildings and streets and roads and bridges throughout the country recall to our minds their achievements, some of them on a national scale. Others confined, perhaps, to a small area in one Division, are more humble but of equal value in the sum-total. Today, we have with us representatives of those who have made Nigeria: Representatives of the Regional Governments, of former Central Governments, of the Missionary Societies, and of the Banking and Commercial enterprises, and members, both past and present, of the Public Service. We welcome you, and we rejoice that you have been able to come and share in our celebrations. We wish that it could have been possible for all of those whom you represent to be here today: Many, I know, will be disappointed to be absent, but if they are listening to me now, I say to them, Thank you on behalf of my Thank you for your devoted service, which helped build Nigeria into a nation. Today we are reaping the harvest which you sowed, and the quality of the harvest is equalled only by our gratitude to you. May God bless you all. This is an occasion when our hearts are filled with conflicting emotions: we are, indeed, proud to have achieved our independence, and proud that our efforts should have contributed to this happy event. But do not mistake our pride for arrogance. It is tempered by feelings of sincere gratitude to all who have shared in the task of developing Nigeria politically, socially and economically. We are grateful to the British officers whom we have known, first as masters, and then as leaders, and finally as partners, but always as friends. And there have been countless missionaries who have laboured unceasingly in the cause of education and to whom we owe many of our medical services. We are grateful also to those who have brought modern methods of banking and of commerce, and new industries. I wish to pay tribute to all of these people and to declare our everlasting admiration of their devotion to duty. And, finally, I must express our gratitude to Her Royal Highness the Princess Alexandra of Kent for personally bringing to us these symbols of our freedom, and especially for delivering the gracious message from Her Majesty The Queen. And so, with the words God save our Queen, I open a new chapter in the history of Nigeria, and of the Commonwealth, and indeed of the world. Balewa, Nigerias first prime minister, delivered this speech on October 1, 1960 A grandson to late Premier of the Northern region Sir, Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Hassan Danbaba, has regarded the leader of the Indigenous Peopl... A grandson to late Premier of the Northern region Sir, Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Hassan Danbaba, has regarded the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu as a coward for reportedly fleeing Nigeria to London. Danbaba, who is the Magajin Gari Sokoto, addressed reporters on the occasion of Nigerias 57th Independence anniversary on Sunday. He said, I find it difficult to understand what Nnamdi Kalu wants, bearing in mind the outcome of the secession attempt that led us into civil war. Danbaba said the IPOB leader was a misguided element, who thought he could return home to cause trouble in Nigeria and run away. Danbaba added, Honestly, if I were President (Muhammadu) Buhari, he wouldnt have the luxury of time he had in generating tension, caused untimely death of some before I descend on him. Where is the coward who was threatening that anyone, who comes to arrest him, will not leave Igbo land alive? Following the crises generated by the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Regulation and Coordination Bill in the House of Representatives, the originator of the bill, Hon Buba Jubril, on Monday said the bill was drafted in the best interest of Nigeria.According to him, the aim of the bill was to regulate activities of the NGOs and keep them in proper check as developmental partners of government when passed into law.Besides, the lawmaker also asked Federal Government to look into agitations for restructuring and devolution of powers for Nigeria to move forward.Jubril, who said this in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital, after a prayer organised for him following months of a medical trip abroad, said it had been discovered that the activities of many of the NGOs in the country were not properly regulated.The member representing the Lokoja/Koton-Karfe federal constituency said NGOs were supposed to be partners in progress with the government, to intervene in areas with developmental deficiencies and fill the gaps.According to him, the bill, which is due for third reading aimed at providing the legal framework for the establishment of a commission to regulate the NGOs, adding that Nigeria would benefit from the bill as it would enhance security by checking espionage activities of expatriates who come into the country under the cover of NGOs.He said, You cannot use residual laws of other agencies of government to say you are being regulated. We need a commission empowered by the National Assembly and sanctioned by the Presidency to do that.We are still suffering from the incidences of terrorism and insurgency. We have foreign NGOs coming into this country. People are not looking at that aspect and all these people coming, there is no regulation.We must monitor their activities because through these NGOs, a lot of atrocities are being committed. They have the capacity to topple governments like they almost did in Russia before Putin quickly outlawed them.We heard what happened in the North-East. A lot of them went in there, collected money and disappeared. There was even one that collected over N250 million, spent less than N15 million and disappeared. These people are using the NGOs to launder money and you say nobody should regulate. You want to self-regulate, what kind of regulation is that? I believe Nigerians need to open their eyes.All the propaganda and lies being peddled by those opposing the bill are just to safeguard their selfish interests and nefarious activities against this country. We have procedures in the National Assembly, the bill is for third reading and anybody is free to come on the day of the third reading to present his position. That is all that is expected.On the agitations across the country, Jibril, who is also the deputy majority leader, House of Representatives, said, It is high time we changed the direction of this country. This country is destined to be great but we are being held back by the circumstances generated back to about 57 years ago.We have the size, the population, the human capacity, mineral resources, the land, good weather and stable geo-physical environment. So, what is left for us is to sit down count our blessings and begin to forge ahead.Again, for us to move forward, we cannot continue with the same way day-in, day-out. That is why there is a lot of disaffection and dissatisfaction in the system and people are beginning to thinks as human beings saying, we must restructure or devolve power.Whatever you call it, it is the way forward and I am calling on the government of the day to give it a thought. This country must move forward. We cannot continue to do things the same way and expect different results. A former Nigerias Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, retd., has told groups agitating for a separate country from Nigeria to think again... A former Nigerias Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, retd., has told groups agitating for a separate country from Nigeria to think again. Gowon also asked leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu to consult daughter of former Biafran leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu, Ebele, for advice. Gowon said this in an interview with Punch on the eve of Nigerias 57th independence anniversary. According to him, those behind the resurgence of agitations for Biafra lack a sense of history. He said , Those who think of causing problems for Nigeria should , for Gods sake, think twice. I think we have had Biafra before and it has ended. Dont resurrect it. Think of the sufferings of the people in those days, dont recreate it because any leader will not want to be a party to dismembering the country. All those who are calling for disintegration, let them think twice . Let them ask, will the authorities accept it? I can assure you I did not accept it and that is the reason why when it was threatened; we had to do something which we didnt like to do because we know the sufferings of the people. My prayer to all Nigerians is for them not to think of self interest by pushing for the disintegration of the nation which we had shed blood to sustain. It is more valuable to me than anything and I will certainly not be a party to or support anyone who is fomenting trouble. Speaking more on Kanu, Gowon said, I understand that you were one of those who were supporting one Nigerian in the United Kingdom, for Gods sake, dont foment trouble which is dangerous for this country. I will like him to consult Ebele, Ojukwus daughter, to know the way we related with Ojukwu; I want to see love among all Nigerians. Dear Reuben Abati, Just as you have never met Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, I have never met you. I only started hearing your name during the g... Dear Reuben Abati, Just as you have never met Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, I have never met you. I only started hearing your name during the government of Ex President Goodluck Jonathan. I have really not taken much notice of you until your recent open letter to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). I am hopeful this letter will get to you wherever you are. As the special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Ex president Goodluck Jonathan, I never really wrote anything ill about you. Even when EFCC arrested you for alleged mismanagement of the nation's funds during former President Goodluck Jonathan's administration, I didn't border myself much to shout 'LOOTER' because I know what EFCC stands for under APC government led by President Muhammadu Buhari. Sir, I am not here to talk about your corruption charges, neither am I here to talk about how you failed your President and made him look like he performed very low in the eyes of Nigerians, until he left office. I am only here to give justice to the tiring and boring letter you wrote to the courageous and uncompromising leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. My leader, our leader. After reading your long letter to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, I came face to face with a man who is eager to side with the oppressor against the oppressed. A man who could not come out straight in mocking the oppressed, but chose to but hide behind the play of words to serve his masters well. But fortunately enough, we the Biafrans are smarter than you. We were able to decode your words and whom you are working for. We know you are standing with every other person but not IPOB nor Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. We know that since Ex-President Jonathan lost 2015 election, you have been nichodemusically fighting tooth and nail to find yourself in this APC led government. You were the first to openly abandon the one that made you whom you are today. We were able to point out the intent of your letter to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. You tried to force gullible Nigerians to accept that President Buhari has decimated IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu. You wanted to sell the lie that Nnamdi Kanu's supporters and his trusted IPOB followers have deserted him. This you did by saying that since Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was attacked, Igbo land have remained as if nothing happened. You made it sound as if Igbos have rejected Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and referendum for Biafra. Sir, I can see that Igbos really disappointed you. The bloodbath you saw wasn't enough for you. I know, you really wanted all Igbos to go to war immediately so that the support we enjoy from international community will be punctured. The truth is that this is 2017, and not 1967. We are not going to answer rebels this time around, and no one, not even you will make us answer that. Sir, if you must work for Buhari against the oppressed, at least you should do that openly and be proud of it. Take responsibility and stop being a hypocrite. You see, in as much as I have no single respect for the five governors of south eastern states, I still respect them more than you. You know why? These governors made their stand known. They were not hypocrites like you. They were very open in their support for President Buhari over their own people, people they swore to protect, people that gave them their votes. Their proscribing of IPOB, without condemning the Nigerian military's Python dance that led to the inhuman torture and killing of their youths like mosquitoes and their support for the senseless tagging of IPOB as terrorist group by President Buhari's APC government differentiates them from you. As bad as their actions were against their own people, they were not hypocritical about it. But you hid under useless words of praises to mock a man that have stood against all odds to question how bad things are done in Nigeria. Something you had the opportunity of doing for a whooping five years, but lack the courage and political will to do. Reading the replies from your Facebook page I can't but marvel at the gullibility of Nigerians. Some were actually praising you. This group of Nigerians were not able to see what you came for. They were blinded by the subtle praises you showered on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, without seeing the damage your letter did to the person of Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB in general. I am proud of those that were able to see that you only came to mock and not to praise. "Some people said you were called the lion, but when trouble came, you were the first to run away from the zoo". Who and who is saying this to you if not yourself? "You had boasted that you will deal with any invading force from Abuja. You also said it would be Biafra or Death. But when death came calling in the shape of operation Python dance II, your enemies insisted that you should have waited". Who is the enemy here if not you Sir? You have shown how good you are at twisting words. I give it to you Sir. You are supper intelligent. But we caught you red handed here. We know that you are disappointed that up till now the Nigerian government has not brought out Nnamdi Kanu's lifeless body. Nnamdi Kanu has been a terror to people like you that have held Nigeria down. Nothing have shakened Nigeria like the fearless and courageous Nnamdi Kanu. That's why all of you wants him dead. His death will be the greatest good news leaders like you crave for. A good man with conscience should be mocking Nigerian government who unleashed terror on armless youths and not on a man that seeks for a change in the status quo. A man that have the interest of the common man at heart. That you even tried to use your letter to create division and suspicion among the leadership of IPOB shows how desperate you are to impress your masters. That you now tell Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to fear people who have given their lives, taken bullets for him and to now fear them is very pathetic and mischievous. Unless you are indirectly telling us that Nigerian military who are currently holding Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wants to poison him. You said that Biafra Security Service are no where to be seen, that Igbos have deserted Kanu. That we have thrown away our Biafra flags. What an insult to all of us. Who ever throw away his country's flag? Who? Sir, the unfortunate thing is that people like you always think that everybody are like them. That is why mad people are always quick to call others mad, and a snitch thinks everybody snitches. It is known to everybody that more than 95% of Igbos are still behind Nnamdi Kanu. When next you want to know what IPOB is saying and the events concerning Biafra, go to Family Writers Press (FWP) and stop forming your opinion out of people like you, who can sell even their boss, for political relevance. The only gold digger I see here is you Sir. Let it be known that since the genocidal invasion of southeast by Nigerian military as ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari, IPOB supporters and sympathizers have tripled, both local and international. So for somebody to say that IPOB supporters have dwindled is just no other thing than being mischievous. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu remains our leader, we listen to no senator, no king and no governors except Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. You have no right to speak on whether IPOB have deserted Mazi Nnamdi Kanu because you are not a Biafran nor IPOB member. Biafrans have not been going about their businesses like nothing happened, just like you projected. Biafrans have felt the pain and have remained strong. Our children goes to school bearing in mind that their lives stands in the precipice. They go to school with every alertness, knowing that a fighter jet can cross at anytime. Their fathers have given them lectures about bunkers, and they now know what to do, just like their forefathers did in 1967. We are preparing burials and burying our many youths that died prematurely in the hands of Nigerian soldiers. You cannot stay in Abeokuta, Abuja or Lagos and claim to know how we in the southeast goes about our businesses. We actually go out these days hating Nigeria more, with more greater determination to exit Nigeria. We have a smart leader whose actions and inaction rattles the Nigerian government. A leader that have refused to be bought and controlled by the Fulani controlled federal government of Nigeria. We now have a leader who God himself sent to us just like Moses. We will courageously walk in line with his instructions until we walk into Biafra the Land of the Rising Sun. Yours sincerely Elochukwu Nicholas Ohagi. FREEHOLD - A 59-year-old Lake Como man was sentenced on Friday to 25 years in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl at his home during the course of six months in 2014. A jury on April 13 found Santiago Gonzalez-Ruiz guilty of aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Gonzalez-Ruiz sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl who spent weekends at the 17th Avenue residence in Lake Como while under the care of family members in 2014. "It was during these weekends that (Gonzalez-Ruiz) committed multiple acts of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault upon her in the living room where the defendant slept," Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said in a statement. The girl told her mother about the sexual assaults in March 2015 before she was to stay at Gonzalez-Ruiz's home again, authorities said. He was arrested on April 13, 2015, in Glen Cove, New York, where he had fled after the Lake Como Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office's Special Victims Bureau launched an investigation. Along with the sentence, Gonzalez-Ruiz will have to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law and will be placed on parole supervision for life once he is released from state prison. Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. NEW YORK -- The man accused of setting off a pipe bomb in New York City that injured 30 people went on trial Monday, but opening statements were made without him in the courtroom. Ahmad Khan Rahimi stood and asked to speak as a prosecutor tried to start opening statements. The judge told him to sit down or he'd be removed. When he tried again to speak, marshals escorted him out and opening statements went forward without him. Rahimi has not been charged with terrorism, but federal lawyers say his interest in jihad, terrorist attacks and terrorist organizations vastly influenced his plans. The government said it is seeking to have an expert witness testify about al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders as a primer for jurors and to help explain some writings he made in a journal. Defense lawyers have argued the government is trying to wrongly paint a picture of Rahimi, an Afghanistan-born U.S. citizen, as an extremist. They say federal lawyers have drummed up a "radicalization" theory "To make its case more 'compelling, dramatic, and seductive,'" the lawyers wrote in court papers. Rahimi, 29, who lived with his family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, is charged with detonating a pipe bomb along a charity race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and planting two pressure cooker bombs in Manhattan on Sept. 17. One device did not explode. The other one detonated in Chelsea. Rahimi was shot by law enforcement during his arrest two days after the attacks. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. Jurors were expected to see various terrorism-related videotapes, a book, a blood-stained journal with a bullet hole in it and two 2012 emails found during the investigation, after U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman ruled the evidence could be included because they might show motive, intentions, preparation and knowledge of the bombings. They also may hear details of a bomb left in an Elizabeth, New Jersey, trash can, along with video recordings of Rahimi in New Jersey and New York on Sept. 17 and setting off explosives in his backyard two days before the bombing. Prosecutors have said they're not planning to introduce statements Rahimi made in the days after his arrest, gleaned while he was hospitalized and medicated with a breathing tube down his throat. Investigators asked him yes or no questions and had Rahimi nod his head. His lawyers said he was improperly interrogated. Berman rejected a request to move the trial from New York to Vermont or Washington, D.C. Rahimi also has been charged with attempted murder in New Jersey, because authorities say he shot at police officers during his arrest. Details of the shootout won't be included in the federal trial. When New Jersey stands out among the pack, it's not always for the best of reasons. But when it comes to crime, things are looking up. Violent crime in the state decreased for the fifth-straight year in 2016, a stark contrast with the rest of the country, which saw violence increase yet again in large part due to a spike in killings in some major cities, according to the FBI's annual crime report released last week. The murder rate in New Jersey -- calculated as the number of murders per 100,000 residents -- ticked up by 2 percent compared to 2015 but was in line with the recent past. In total, 372 murders were reported to law enforcement last year -- up from 363 in 2015. Nationwide, the murder rate rose 8 percent, the data shows. There were 21,914 violent crimes reported in the state in 2016. Those included murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, according to the FBI. Overall, the violent crime rate decreased 4 percent from 2015. Similarly, the number of property crimes in New Jersey fell about 5 percent, from 145,701 in 2015 to 138,152 in 2016. Those included burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson -- essentially, crimes involving no force or threat of force against someone else. The property crime rate for the year was 1,545 per 100,000 residents. So how does your town stack up? Use the dropdown menu below to select your county and town, and then select another to compare crime statistics. A note about the data: Only crime reported to local law enforcement gets reported to the FBI, so towns where crime is more likely to be reported may have higher crime rates than those where crime goes unreported. Crime rates in towns with very small populations may appear high. Surging seasonal populations in shore towns can result in higher property crime rates there. Not all towns have their own police departments, and thus they are not included in the lookup tool. Not all towns report their data to the bureau every year. See more about how the FBI defines each crime. A note about Camden: In 2013, a county police force took over policing the city of Camden. As a result, the city was not specified in the local law enforcement data, but the Camden County Police Department numbers from the dataset found here were manually added. Carla Astudillo may be reached at castudillo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @carla_astudi. Find her on Facebook. LAS VEGAS --The president of New Jersey's police union had just finished dinner at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday when chaos erupted and SWAT team officers stormed the building. Patrick Colligan, who is in Las Vegas for a seminar, was attempting to return to his room on the 29th floor of the Mandalay Bay, unaware that a gunman had opened fire on concert-goers from a window three floors above his room. "We were heading to the elevator when we saw a security guard running through the casino," said Colligan, president of the state Police Benevolent Association. "There was chaos in the casino when the SWAT team ran in," he said. "People were trying to get out, there was a lot of confusion, cops were coming in from all the entrances, 50 or 60 cops." Colligan, of East Brunswick, gave his account in a phone call with NJ Advance Media on Monday morning as he remained on lock-down at a fellow PBA member's hotel room at the neighboring Delano Las Vegas hotel. Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, has been identified as the gunman who opened fire on the concert crowd gathered for an outdoor country music festival. At least 58 people were killed, making it the most deadly mass shooting in modern history. More than 515 people were also injured as Paddock continued to spray the crowd with bullets as tens of thousands tried to take cover or flee, authorities said. SWAT teams using explosives stormed the gunman's hotel room and found he had killed himself, authorities said. He had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles, they said. There was no immediate word on the motive for the bloodshed. Colligan said the roads outside his hotel on Monday morning remained closed and quiet, eerily absent of the usual bustling Las Vegas traffic. Only police officers and emergency vehicles were visible, he said. Colligan was in Las Vegas for a law enforcement seminar and was heading back to his room after a dinner in the Mandalay Bay with a group of fellow PBA members. Some of the PBA members had already gone back to their rooms in the Mandalay Bay, and also remain on lock-down, Colligan said. He said if it weren't for the rapid response by law enforcement, it's unknown how long the firing might have continued. View from room of @NJSPBA President Colligan in #LasVegasMassacre , suspect's room with red arrow. Pray for all those impacted. pic.twitter.com/iXyUFow6YZ New Jersey State PBA (@NJSPBA) October 2, 2017 Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook. President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson should not bother trying to negotiate with North Korea and "Rocket Man" Kim Jong Un over its nuclear and missile programs, that he would be "wasting his time." It wasn't clear what prompted the tweets, which were among a series of posts ranging from hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico to NFL players' refusing the stand for the national anthem. On Saturday, Tillerson said that after meetings with Chinese leaders, that the Trump administration was keeping open direct channels of communications with North Korea and probing the North's willingness to talk. But there were so elaboration. Last month, Trump told the U.N. General Assembly that if the U.S. is "forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have choice but to totally destroy North Korea." North Korea has in recent months tested long-range missiles that potentially could reach the U.S., and last month conducted its largest nuclear test explosion to date, claiming it had tested a hydrogen bomb underground. The standoff has entered a more dangerous phase since then as Kim and Trump have exchanged personal insults and threats of war. Sunday afternoon, when Trump was heading to Jersey City to attend the closing day ceremony for the Presidents Cup, he tweeted that being nice to Kim Jong Un "hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now?" Of course, Kim has only been in power since 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il. With Trump's contradicting messages on North Korea, do you think the administration can negotiate with the country? Vote in our informal, unscientific poll and tell us how you voted in the comments. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Two weeks ago, a white police officer was acquitted by a judge in the shooting death of a black man in St. Louis, even though his shouted intention to kill the victim was captured on tape during the pursuit, and despite the fact that the only DNA found on a gun in the dead man's car belonged to the cop himself. Just hours later, Attorney General Jeff Sessions decided that we should accept this as an ordinary event in law enforcement, so he pulled the plug on a successful program that helps reform police departments after controversial incidents such as officer-involved shootings. Sessions figures cops don't need federal help improving their Use of Force policies, so he drastically scaled back on the Collaborative Reform Process, a voluntary program created by the Department of Justice's office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The program began as a pilot in Las Vegas in 2011, where metro police allowed COPS to analyze its police-involved shootings over five years. By 2013, the Vegas PD implemented 90 percent of the recommendations made by the federal agency, reforms related to reality-based training, de-escalation methods, use of body cams, and changes in its review board. The results were profound. Over those three years, use-of-force incidents dropped 25 percent. Accountability also returned: Before the reform process, 97 percent of deadly force incidents were validated by the review board; after the board was reshuffled to allow civilian reps on the review board to out-vote members of the department, bad cops were more likely to fired or prosecuted. In the 14 other departments that adopted the program - from Fayetteville, N.C. to Salinas, Calif. - these results were typical. Now Sessions is ending it out of respect for "local control." He doesn't seem to care that the program was voluntary, and that most departments want to get better. Vanita Gupta, who ran the Justice Department's civil rights division, sees Sessions' act as "another indication of the full retreat from police reform by Jeff Sessions." No surprise there. Earlier this year, Sessions reversed the Obama directive to restrict shipments of surplus military weaponry to police departments because the previous administration "was "more concerned about the image of law enforcement being too 'militarized' than they were about our safety." He doesn't believe in policing the police: He opposes consent decrees, the court-enforced settlements with cities - such as Newark - that are designed intend to eliminate profiling. It's part of a radical remaking of the DOJ, and most of it has an unmistakable stench of malevolence: This is the Attorney General who even opposed the extension of hate crimes protections, and flaunts an open hostility to African-Americans, gays, and immigrants. In the Senate, he fought justice reforms at every turn, leading the opposition of a bipartisan bill that would have eliminated mandatory minimums and reduced sentences for drug crimes. When the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, he called it "good news for the South." When he was Alabama AG, he even prosecuted black civil rights activists for simply trying to get out the vote. He was laughed out of court by the judge. And now, our top law enforcement officer is the second most dangerous man in America. The AG's job has never before been more important, if only because of the sitting president's lack of interest in the rule of law, ignorance of constitutional norms, and hostility to civil liberties. Since President Trump's inauguration, in fact, COPS had not published a single assessment or follow-up report for any of the 15 police departments it agreed to help through Collaborative Reform. St. Louis was one of them, a tragic postscript for a city where excessive police force is now part of the Sessions legacy. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. PATERSON -- An administrator for a charter school who admitted to stealing more than $75,000 from the school relinquished her certificate for school employment to the state. Kathleen Patacsil Kathleen E. Patacsil, 53, pleaded guilty to theft by deception on May 22, 2017 and was sentenced to drug court. She held a School Business Administrator Certificate, issued in July 2010, which she agreed to give up. That state Department of Education's Board of Examiners voted Sept. 15 to accept her relinquishment. Patacsil, former chief operating officer and board secretary at the Community Charter School of Paterson, was charged in April 2016 with theft by deception. Authorities say she diverted more than $75,000 in school money to herself between 2014 and 2015 while overseeing the school's payroll. She faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the charge. Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook. NEWARK -- U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez held two contentious discussions with Medicare representatives - including one that included former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius - to press for a reimbursement policy change that would benefit his friend, a wealthy Florida ophthalmologist, a former top Medicare official testified on Monday. The first discussion about Salomon Melgen's $8.9 million Medicare overpayment issue came up in a July 2009 phone call in which Menendez became "very angry" and "very hostile" when Medicare would not change its policy about how physicians are reimbursed for the drug Lucentis, said Jonathan Blum, former principal deputy for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Three years later, Menendez raised the issue again. But this time he sought out even higher-ranking officials in the federal government in a meeting called by Reid that included Sebelius, Blum testified in the continuing federal bribery trial of Menendez and Melgen. "He wasn't happy with the response. He pushed back on me quite forcefully," Blum said of Menendez's reaction to the outcome of the 2009 phone call. He said the nearly 15-minute phone call ended with Menendez hanging up on him. Now entering the fifth week of their bribery trial, Menendez and Melgen are accused of swapping lavish gifts for political influence between 2006 and early 2013. Federal prosecutors have accused Menendez, among other charges, of using his legislative authority to try to convince Medicare offiicals to forgive an $8.9 million debt Melgen owed to the federal agency because of his billing practices. Federal prosecutors offered Blum's testimony to show that Menendez moved up the chain of command to try to help his friend get out of paying $8.9 million the Medicare program said it wanted back from Melgen because he was billing for use of a drug in a manner not approved by the agency. Blum, then the second in command at CMS, said he was asked to be part of the July 27, 2009, phone call with Menendez about a Medicare Part B billing issue because the Democratic senator wanted to "talk to someone high up in the agency regarding those concerns." He said the call started off cordially but ended up "hostile" on Menendez's part when Blum wouldn't budge from his position that Medicare wouldn't pay for multiple uses of a single vial of Lucentis, a medication used in the treatment of the eye disesase macular degeneration. He said Menendez never mentioned Melgen by name in his argument to change the reimbursement policy, but that CMS staff knew Menendez was advocating on behalf of the Florida ophthalmologist from their previous dealings with the issue. Blum said he recalled being "curious" as to why a senator for New Jersey was focusing on an issue that affected a doctor from Florida. Toward the end of the phone call, Blum explained to Menendez that the doctor had the right to appeal the overpayment issue. That didn't sit well with Menendez, he said. "He said something to the effect 'don't tell me what the appeal rights are' and the call was ended quite quickly," Blum told jurors. He said Menendez hung up on him. The issue came up again three years later, when Blum was asked to participate in a meeting set up by Reid in Washington, D.C., to include Sebelius, the top person in the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare. Blum sad Reid opened the meeting, then turned it over to Menendez to discuss his concerns regarding Medicare's payment policy. He said Sebelius then explained that because the issue was in the appeals process, she had no authority to intervene. Blum said he then explained the agency's policy and Menendez again became "very angry" and "very hostile." "It was a very angry exchange," he said. At the end of the meeting, Menendez vowed to use his authority as a member of the Senate Finance Committee to get some action on the matter, Blum said. Blum said it wasn't uncommon for him to interact with members of Congress, but he noted this meeting stood out in his mind because the tone of the discussion "was very aggressive and adversarial" and because it didn't involve a national issue or an issue that affected one of Menendez's constituents. Menendez did not specifically mention Melgen in this meeting, either, but Blum knew it to be about the Florida doctor because of Reid's introduction in which he mentioned having a "friendship" with Melgen. The trial is expected to continue on Tuesday. MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook. WASHINGTON -- A veteran of the last two Democratic administrations is the newest entrant in the race against Rep. Leonard Lance. Tom Malinowski, a former assistant secretary of state under President Barack Obama and a former senior director on the National Security Council under President Bill Clinton, announced his candidacy Monday for the Democratic nomination in the 7th Congressional District. The district is one of only 23 Republican-held districts that were carried by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016. "I've stood up to dictators on behalf of America; I'll stand up to Donald Trump and Leonard Lance for the people of our state," said Malinowski, who currently lives in Rocky Hill. "I've defended human rights, equality, and the rule of law," he said. "Now, those values are threatened by a president governing far outside of American norms along with a congressman who can't be counted on. I've always fought for what is right -- that's why we're going to win." Tom Malinowski is seeking the Democratic nomination against Rep. Leonard Lance. Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Malinowski "an advocate to his very core, with a fierce sense of right and wrong, and a moral compass always pointed due north." Lance is rated as a slight favorite to win re-election by the Cook Political Report, a Washington-based publication that tracks congressional races. He has bucked his fellow House Republicans and President Donald Trump on several issues this year, most notably his no vote on the Affordable Care Act repeal legislation that the Congressional Budget Office said would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 23 million. The other Democratic candidates in the race are Linda Weber, a bank executive from Berkeley Heights; Lisa Mandelblatt, a teacher in Westfield; Scott Salmon, a lawyer from Scotch Plains; and Goutam Jois, a lawyer from Summit. Peter Jacob, the only New Jersey congressional candidate backed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2016, is raising money for another run as well. Lance is one of four Republicans in the state targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee next year. Another former national security aide in the Obama administration, Andy Kim, is one of the Democrats seeking the nomination against Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-3rd Dist. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook. CRANFORD -- Five New Jersey men were arrested after leading police on a two-mile chase that ended when the stolen car they were riding in crashed early Friday, authorities said. Cranford police began pursuing a 2008 Mercedes around 12:30 a.m. after the driver refused to pull over for a lane violation, according to Sgt. Ryan J. Greco. The driver sped west on Raritan Road, finally striking a median and rolling over near the intersection with Centennial Avenue, police said. The five occupants of the vehicle were caught after a foot chase with the help of State Police, Union County police and Linden police. Police charged the driver, Aaron Scarborough, 24, of Irvington, with eluding, receiving stolen property and resisting arrest. The passengers were charged with receiving stolen property and resisting arrest. They are: Juan Leandry, 18, of Newark DeQuelle Nelson, 21, of Newark Amahad Denton, 25, of Newark Patrick Roberts, 19, Irvington The car was reported stolen in Cedar Grove. All five were given summonses and released. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Twyena Thomas, also known as Twynea, was booked with cruelty to a juvenile after her bruised and malnourished 2-year-old son was found dead in her Kenner home Saturday (Sept. 30).(JPSO) 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. The Page County Sheriffs Office is looking for a stolen pickup truck and tips from the public after a short pursuit through cornfields near College Springs. Deputies initiated a traffic stop on a black 2005 Honda Pilot just northwest of College Springs about 8:06 p.m. Saturday, according to a news release. A short pursuit, lasting less than 5 minutes, ended in the Pilot entering a field of standing corn after accelerating away from the deputies. The deputies stopped following the vehicle once it entered the field, and a perimeter was established. Deputies discovered the vehicle went through a fence, more corn and into another standing cornfield before entering a ditch, where it was disabled. The Pilot was found to be stolen in Council Bluffs around Sept. 5. The suspect in the pursuit appeared to have fled to a residence less than a quarter-mile from the ditch. Owners of a blue and gold 2010 Ford F-150 with Iowa license plate 038 SDQ reported their truck was stolen from that residence. Anyone with information on the truck or the incident above is asked to call the Page County Sheriffs Office at 712-542-5193 or notify their local law enforcement agency. JOHNSTON, Iowa - A suburban Des Moines mother has been jailed after she left her four children home alone while she traveled for a 12-day vacation in Germany, police said Friday. Johnston police have charged Erin Macke, 30, with four counts of child endangerment and one of transferring a firearm to a person under 21. Police said the latter charge was filed because a firearm was left at home within the childrens reach. Police said Macke tried but failed to make child care arrangements for her children two 12, one 7 and one 6 before leaving Sept. 20 for a vacation in Germany. The father of one of the children was called by his child the next day, and he tipped off police that the children had been left unsupervised, Johnston police spokeswoman Janet Wilwerding said Friday. Johnston Police Lt. Tyler Tompkins told Des Moines television station KCCI that Mackes baby sitter options all fell through, so she left the two 12-year-olds in charge. They were concerned, they didnt know, they were confused, Tompkins said of the youngsters. I mean, were only talking about 12-year-olds being the adults here. Officers went to the residence Sept. 21 and called the Iowa Human Services Department, which took custody of the children. They have since been released to the care of relatives, Wilwerding said. Police called Macke in Germany, demanding she return. She had planned to fly home on Sunday. Macke was arrested on her return Thursday. She remained in custody Friday, according to Polk County Jail records. Court records didnt list an attorney who can comment on her behalf. Da Nang Secretary used degrees from unaccredited school VietNamNet Bridge - The highest ranking leader of the central city of Da Nang has been using degrees granted by an unaccredited educational institution. Mr Nguyen Xuan Anh The Central Inspection Commission (CIC) has found multiple serious violations committed by Da Nang Secretary Nguyen Xuan Anh. The doctorate in business administration was granted by the California Southern University, formerly Southern California University for Professional Studies (SCUPS). However, the institution has not been recognized by Vietnams education ministry. Under the current law, the degrees granted by foreign training establishments not recognized by the education ministry have no validity. Under the current law, the degrees granted by foreign training establishments not recognized by the education ministry have no validity. Anh, born in 1976, was elected to head the Da Nang Party Committee in 2015 and to the Party Central Committee at the 12th National Party Congress in January 2016. Local newspapers have found that the school which awarded doctorate to Anh only provides online training. Tuoi Tre quoted two experts on US tertiary education as reporting that the doctorate from SCUPS is not illegal, but has very low value under the US ranking criteria. They said the doctorate has little value in the US because no organization or business would accept the degree, simply because the degrees awarded by unaccredited training establishments are null and void. Tuoi Tre said that Anh studied for doctorate with super speed, just two years, as opposed to 4-7 years on average to obtain a doctorate in the US. Meanwhile, Le Thanh Van, a National Assemblys Deputy said on Nguoi Dua Tin that if Anh studied for a doctorate with super speed, other officials would study for degrees with lightning speed. Other officials even spent shorter time to study and obtain degrees from degree mills. At the last session of the 13th National Assembly, he questioned Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan about a Masters of Business Administration granted by an institute in Brussels. He noted that the training mode provided by the institute is very strange as learners dont have to sit the entrance exam and dont have to take exams or write theses to graduate. Meanwhile, the study time is 44 days, including the time for translation. If not counting the time for translation, students only have to spend more than 20 days on study. I know that many high-ranking officials use that kind of degree to apply for important positions, Van said, adding that the degree is similar to Anhs, but the training quality is even worse. RELATED NEWS Vietnamese try to obtain bachelors degree at any cost Danangs high-ranking officials are reprimanded Le Van The rise in oil prices has been, in part, attributed to confidence that OPEC will extend the cap on global oil production through 2018. In this segment of Industry Focus: Energy, show host Sarah Priestley and Motley Fool premium analyst Taylor Muckerman discuss how realistic that hope is. Oil-producing nations such as Nigeria and Libya are upping production and show no sign of wanting to participate in a cap. As crude approaches $60 a barrel, more and more U.S. shale producers will be tempted to frack the untapped potential of waiting wells. A full transcript follows the video. 10 stocks we like better than Wal-Mart 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, the Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now and Wal-Mart 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 September 5, 2017 The author(s) may have a position in any stocks mentioned. This video was recorded on Sept. 28, 2017. Sarah Priestley: I'm interested to get your opinion, too, because as you said, everybody's focused on OPEC. But I'm wondering how much actually OPEC contributed to this rally. There's a ton of concerns right now over whether they're actually going to be able to cap production. If you look at, North Sea oil is coming back online, Nigeria and Libya were previously left out of the deal because civil unrest in those countries was thought to depress production. But now, Nigeria, the vice president arranged a ceasefire with militants in that area that have cut off the pipelines. Libya, the top official at Libya's National Oil Co. has no intention to cap its output. Between them, they only supply 7% of the world's crude. But this is just one example of many of, can they really impact the global production? Taylor Muckerman: Yeah, you mentioned North Sea. That's been an area in decline over the last decade or so. If that comes back, it was at one point one of the largest producing areas in the world. Then, UC Brazil, with the surprising move to allow foreign investment in their offshore oil, which at one point could have been one of the biggest economic boosts for this country that it's ever seen. Instead, it decided to keep its oil markets privatized, and that was when oil was trading above $100. Now they're starting to sell off some assets down there to companies like [Royal Dutch] Shell and Total, when oil prices are in the $40-$50 range. So they missed out, it seems. But if some companies go down there and can actually efficiently produce oil out of the sub-salt fields in Brazil, watch out. These are some gushers that are expected to produce upwards of 30,000 barrels of oil a day, over decades. It's not the shale wells that deplete rapidly. These are conventional offshore wells that would produce oil for a very long time. Sarah Priestley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Taylor Muckerman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Total. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. VALPARAISO Prosecutors have agreed to greatly reduce the jail bonds of four people who claim the 10 pounds of "white flaky substance" found in their vehicle last month is soy wax and not methamphetamine. Officials have further agreed to a request by defense attorney Bob Harper to speed up the lab testing on the substance, which resulted in each defendant facing high-level felony charges. The developments came about during a Monday morning hearing for one of the defendants Jessica Jones, of Fort Wayne. Harper had requested the hearing to argue for reducing Jones' $15,000 cash bond, but announced at the outset that prosecutors had agreed to reset the bond for Jones and the three others at $2,000 cash. The agreement was accepted by Porter Superior Court Judge Bill Alexa. In arguing that the substance is not methamphetamine, Harper said it would have a street value of a half-million dollars or more if it were the drug. "The defendant tried to explain to the officer that the material was bought for approximately $20 from Amazon and in fact contained a soy wax which was used for making candles," according to the motion prepared by Harper on behalf of Jones. The preliminary test done on the substance is the reason for the two high-level felony charges, the motion says. If those charges did not exist, Jones argued, she would face just the lesser count involving the needles and would have a lower bond. Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel said last week in a written statement, "The seized material field tested positive for methamphetamine using Raman Spectroscopy. It is at ISP (Indiana State Police) labs for confirmation." "Also found in the vehicle were items of paraphernalia including a large number of new and used needles/syringes," he said. Harper asked the court Monday for a sample of the substance to have tested or to order state police to rush its tests. State police testing can take months, he said. Deputy Prosecutor Tammy Gregg said the testing will be expedited. Jones was among four people arrested following a traffic stop Sept. 14 in the parking lot of AJ's Pizza Co. just east of Ind. 49 near the access point to the Indiana Toll Road in Chesterton, according to the charging documents. Police said they found a scale and hypodermic needles in the vehicle, a plastic bag containing a white substance and a metal bucket containing a plastic bag with 10 pounds of a "white flaky substance" that police said "appeared to field test positive for methamphetamine." Jones was charged with two high-level felony counts of dealing in methamphetamine one carrying a potential sentence of 10 to 30 years behind bars and the other carrying a potential of three to 16 years, according to court documents. She is also charged with a lower-level felony count of possession or control of a hypodermic needle. A trial is scheduled for Jones on Feb. 19, with preliminary hearings Dec. 8 and Jan. 12. LAPORTE A Michigan City physician who said he was accused publicly of contributing to opioid addiction has won $20,000 and a public apology. Dr. Vidya Kora was paid $20,000 in a settlement reached with Coolspring Township resident Dennis Metheny, who ran against Kora unsuccessfully last year for LaPorte County commissioner. Metheny also issued a public apology during Monday nights LaPorte County Council meeting in word for word statements read directly from the settlement. "I wanted to address these matters today before you to clear the air and apologize for any harm this has caused Dr. Kora," Metheny said. At the LaPorte County Council's March 27 meeting, Metheny did not directly allege Kora was overprescribing painkillers to his patients. It was implied, though, by statements Metheny framed as questions during the public comment portion of the meeting, Kora alleged in his LaPorte Circuit Court defamation lawsuit filed a month later. At the March meeting, Metheny asked council members, "What would you say if I had two people who contacted me in regards to prescriptions that came from Dr. Kora that overprescribed opioids and I had their names. They personally contacted me. What would you say to that?' He went on to ask if any local officials had contacted the FBI or anyone else in authority "to check on doctors that are overprescribing opioids." While continuing to read from the settlement last week, Metheny said he never meant to imply wrongdoing on the doctors part. "During my comments, I also mentioned Dr. Vidya Kora by name, though my intentions were not to suggest he was overprescribing opioids to patients or engaging in professional misconduct as a physician. I have no reasonable basis to think otherwise." In his lawsuit, Kora said he refers patients with chronic pain who may require narcotic pain medications for the management of chronic pain to various pain clinics that may or may not treat the patients with opioids. Kora also alleged in his legal action that Metheny knew his statements were false and defamatory and phrased them as questions to try and protect himself from liability. Under Indiana law, though, words creating a false implication or impression are defamatory, according to the lawsuit. Kora declined comment on the settlement. Metheny, well known as an outspoken political watchdog, also agreed in the settlement any future comments he makes "in this forum will be conducted with civility." Two homes were torched Thursday night in the same neighborhood in Gary where hours earlier a police shootout left one man dead and two officers injured. Gary firefighters were dispatched at 8:50 p.m. Thursday to reports of heavy smoke at a home at 4121 W. 22nd Plaza, according to Mark Jones, the Fire Department's chief of operations. The home sustained extensive structural damage, the chief said, and it took crews about two hours to extinguish the flames. Firefighters were dispatched again around midnight after a second fire was reported at 4135 W. 22nd Plaza, the chief said. That fire was contained to a rear east bedroom, but did moderate damage to the home. Jones said Monday both fires were suspected arsons, but investigators were still trying to determine their causes. The plaza was a chaotic scene earlier that afternoon after a controlled drug purchase by police turned into a shootout between law enforcement and a 33-year-old Gary man. A controlled drug purchase was allegedly conducted at about 1:50 p.m. between law enforcement and Ned Brooks III near the intersection of 22nd Plaza and Willard Street in Gary, according to Indiana State Police. The law enforcement officers attempted to stop the vehicle after the transaction, but Brooks allegedly rammed his vehicle into several unmarked police cars and then began shooting at police. Brooks allegedly fled into the backyard of a home in the 4200 block of West 22nd Plaza, where he was found dead by police. An autopsy by the Lake County coroner's office later determined Brooks died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Two law enforcement officers suffered injuries that were not life threatening as a result of the shootout and chase. A civilian was also critically injured. HAMMOND An East Chicago man entered into a plea agreement Monday on federal drug charges from a 2016 investigation of drug dealing in the city's Calumet neighborhood. In the plea agreement, Deandrea "Shorty Black" Davis, 36, said he will plead guilty to charges of conspiracy with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The first charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, while the second carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of five years imprisonment. According to a federal indictment filed in the case, Davis, along with East Chicago resident Lloyd Bruce and Jose "Zay" Santiago, of Munster, allegedly dealt crack cocaine between the dates of Sept. 1 and Dec. 1, 2016. Bruce, early this year, entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine. Prosecutors had accused Bruce of operating a "social club" selling crack cocaine in the 4800 block of Alexander Avenue in East Chicago. LAKE STATION Police said Monday that many people have come forward as they continue to investigate an attack Friday that left a 14-year-old hospitalized with severe injuries. Lake Station Police Chief David Johnson has said he hoped charges could be filed soon in connection with the attack Friday at Edison Junior-Senior High School. A cellphone video widely circulated on the internet showed two teens punching and kicking other teens. Johnson told The Times on Sunday that police were working to sort out details of what happened. "There is a lot of hearsay in this case and officers are trying to get to the facts. Once we have all the statements and possible videos related to this incident then we can present the evidence as we find it," Johnson said. Tarra Maksimik, who organized a GoFundMe campaign for the injured 14-year-old, told The Times on Sunday that the boy's condition had improved slightly, but he still had a long road to recovery. The fundraiser can be found at gofundme.com/medical-expenses-frankie. INDIANAPOLIS A quiet revolution is transforming Indiana's judicial system as new technology replaces the mountains of paper documents that previously filled courthouses across the state. Over the past 15 months, courts in 55 of the state's 92 counties, as well as Indiana's appellate division, have adopted mandatory electronic filing for most new criminal and civil lawsuits, and subsequent case-related paperwork. In Northwest Indiana, e-filing is required in Porter County, LaPorte County, Newton County and Jasper County courts. It's anticipated that Lake County, and all the remaining counties, will begin accepting e-filed documents in 2018. Already more than 2.1 million documents have been e-filed statewide since July 1, 2016, according to data compiled by the Supreme Court's Office of Court Technology. "It's a few million boxes and it's hundreds of millions of pages," said Justice Steven David, who is leading the high court's technology efforts. "That all has a cost to create, to copy, to distribute, to inadvertently miss a copy here or there, to store and for how long," David said. "In addition, whether you're a trial court judge or an attorney or party, that translates to money." Exactly how much money is being saved has yet to be determined. But David said e-filing also is making judges and lawyers more efficient, while improving court services for Hoosiers. For example, he said enabling trial court judges to access documents at home on their laptop computers, review litigant filings as soon as they come in and sign routine orders, perhaps even on weekends, saves minutes here and there that add up significantly over time. David pointed out that lawyers don't have to dispatch someone to the courthouse to file every single document in person. They also no longer need to lug boxes of documents from their offices to the courthouse and back every day during trials. In addition, non-confidential court documents are available online at mycase.in.gov for Hoosiers to review at their leisure. State records show the website was visited 12.2 million times during the 2017 budget year. "Indiana is one of the leading states in moving to the 21st century, in the 21st century imagine that!" David said. Justice Mark Massa said one reason e-filing has been adopted so quickly in Indiana is because two-thirds of the state's counties, including Porter, LaPorte and Jasper, use the same case management system: Odyssey. "It's the best deal for counties," Massa said. "It carries with it state funding of that technology and that support, and we're getting closer and closer to that complete statewide coverage with each passing year." Lake County reportedly is planning to make the switch to Odyssey sometime next year. The system is funded through a $20 automated recordkeeping fee assessed on each case filed in every Indiana court. David said beyond e-filing, another benefit of a unified case management system is the judicial branch being able to generate comprehensive data about crimes, courts, dispositions, children in need of services, protection orders and other information that the legislative and executive branches need when enacting new laws. "In the old days, you might get data from one court and try to extrapolate, or determine if that court is representative of the rest of the state or not, and that's no longer the case," he said. "You're seeing partnerships and collaborations in Indiana that you don't see in many states." When Alberts Diamond Jewelers had its first fundraiser for multiple sclerosis research 14 years ago, it was held in the jewelry store at Main Street and Indianapolis Boulevard in Schererville. Jewelry was the only thing being auctioned off then, and it raised about $18,000 in its first year, Albert's Diamond Jewelers President Josh Halpern said. This year the event raised more than $240,000. Now the annual Alberts MS Auction packs the 6,500-square-foot W.F. Wellman Exhibit Hall in the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond, drawing hundreds of bidders every year. More than 300 businesses donate items to be auctioned off, including watches, spa gift cars, signed photos of White Sox star Jose Abreu, high definition home theater systems and wheelbarrows full of wine and liquor. "It's grown from just jewelry to tickets and experiences and vacations," Halpern said. "It's just taken a life of its own. Every year we add something new. We get creative. Every year, there's new energy from new committee members who think outside the box." The annual fundraiser, which took place Sunday, now generates 10 times as much for finding a cure for MS. It's personal for the Halpern family. Josh and his father Fred were motivated by Donna Halpern, Freds wife and Joshs mother, who has battled MS for decades after she was diagnosed with the disease in her late 20s. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease that disrupts the central nervous system. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates the progressive, debilitating disease afflicts about 2.3 million people across the world. The Alberts MS Auction has risen more than $1 million for multiple sclerosis research over the last 14 years, getting it inducted into the National MS Society's Circle of Distinction. This year, Albert's auctioned off 220 silent items and 170 live items before a crowd of 400 to 500 people Sunday afternoon. Sponsors, including the Times Media Co., contributed $42,000 to stage the event. "We thankful with whatever we get today," Josh Halpern said. "It's more than we had yesterday. There's a lot of things happening around the world today, so I don't know what people's direction is, if it's Florida, Texas or Puerto Rico. There's only so much funds people can donate to certain things. I'm thankful for whatever we get today. Whatever we get today is a win." In 2016, the jewelry store in Schererville raised more than $180,000 toward a cure. "We've got some major momentum," Josh Halpern said. "For a local charity, getting that much money is amazing. Whatever we collect, every dollar we collect, goes toward research. We specifically asked for our donation to be carved out, earmarked for research, because we want to find a cure for MS." Several Northwest Indiana police departments will answer residents' questions Wednesday during Coffee with a Cop events. Officers with the Indiana University Police Department-Northwest will discuss community issues and talk with residents from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday in the RedHawk Cafeteria in the Moraine Student Center. The department's Coffee with a Cop program is in its fifth year. The LaPorte County Sheriff's Office, Westville Police Department and Purdue University Northwest Police Department will meet with residents from 8 to 10 a.m. Wednesday at the McDonald's on U.S. 421 in Westville. The event is the third in a series of community outreach programs this year, the sheriff's office said. WIMS 1420 AM will broadcast live from McDonald's during the event. A garage fire spread to a house on the 1900 block of Elgin Street in Chesterton on Saturday afternoon, causing significant damage to the property. A blaze destroyed the garage of a house in a neighborhood east of Ind. 149 and just north of the Indiana Toll Road, Chesterton Fire Chief John Jarka said. Firefighters found that it was involved when they arrived at about 3:10 p.m. Saturday. The fire already had reached the home at that point. "Burns Harbor fires apparatus arrived and started fire attack," Jarka said. "Portage, Porter and Chesterton units arrived minutes later and assisted to quickly stop the fire from doing more damage to the home." No one was injured in the blaze. Firefighters rescued all the pets in the house and returned them to the family. They were able to put out the fire and leave the scene by 5:18 p.m. Saturday with further assistance from the Liberty Township Fire Department, Beverly Shores Fire Department, Washington Township Fire Department and Chesterton police. Damage was extensive. "The garage and its contents are a complete loss," Jarka said. "The home received fire, smoke and water damage." WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP The search for two missing children that involved more than 100 law enforcement officers, as well as helicopters, drones and K-9 units, ended late Monday afternoon after the children were safely located near Victory Christian Academy. The children, Samuel Orshonsky, 9, and his sister, Charley Orshonsky, 7, approached a citizen at 4:27 p.m. walking the perimeter of the school's north campus at county roads 360 North and 325 East, according to the Porter County Sheriff's Department. The children told officers they had been hiding in a pine tree near the school, and hid their bags under some leaves, the release states. The discovery ended a massive search effort involving almost a dozen government agencies that organized after the children were reported missing from their home in the area of Streamwood Drive and County Road 325 East. The siblings, who were last seen at midnight Sunday at the home, were not habitual runaways, but the 9-year-old son had a spat with family members Sunday night and threatened to run away, according to sheriff's department Sgt. Jamie Erow. Involved in the search were the Washington Township Fire Department, Porter County Search and Rescue and its K-9 unit, Valparaiso Police Department heat sensor and drone equipment, the FBI, Indiana Conservation Department, Indiana State Police and its K-9 unit, Hobart Police Department, Lake County Sheriff's Department helicopter and Porter County Sheriff's Department drone unit. The sheriff's department expressed gratitude in the press release to area residents, who shared news of the children's disappearance on social media and sent food and water to the Washington Township Fire Department. "We are pleased with a happy outcome, and everyone goes home safe," Erow said. A Child is Missing protocol was activated. VALPARAISO Alumni returned to campus this weekend for homecoming at Valparaiso University, but this year celebrated a significant milestone for members of sororities. In 1917, the first sorority was founded at Valparaiso, making this the 100th anniversary of sorority life on campus, and many sorority sisters returned to celebrate the occasion at Harre Union on Sunday afternoon for A Century of Sisterhood. Theres hugging and tears, so its officially a sorority event, said Dr. Carolyn E. Whittier, assistant dean of students, Greek life, leadership and volunteer programs, who led the celebration that featured a lunch, speeches, recognition and plenty of memories. Whittier said that over the past 100 years there have been 21 different sororities at Valparaiso, many of which were represented at the celebration, including Kappa Tau Zeta, whose members gathered privately in a corner to join hands, sway and sing their honor song. For me, it was knowing I had a safe, inclusive place. Even if you didnt get along with a sister, you had her back, said Kappa Tau Zeta member Sandra Shibata, class of 1967, who drove from Oregon to attend the occasion. We lived in Sheele Hall and because of the way the building was situated, we had a view of the Chapel and we could see the snow falling across the campus. We would light our study candles and it was beautiful. I still light candles because of that memory, said Shibata, who worked in New York government and taught in public schools as well as at VU for a short time. Whittier said that the current sororities at the university have housing in the Sorority Housing Complex that opened in 2016, but from 1960 to 2016 the sororities were housed in Sheele Hall. Prior to 1960, the sororities rented homes off campus. Delores Ruosch lived in one of those homes during her time as a member of Valparaiso's original sorority, Alpha Phi Delta, which was founded in 1917. Ruosch, class of 1951, says she has fond memories of her days with her sisters. Homecoming weekend was very important. We decorated the house and we made floats for the parade and competed against each other for the best one. Competition was fierce! she said, smiling. The 88-year-old Ruosch was honored with the inaugural Fraternity and Sorority Laurel Wreath Society award for her contribution to Greek life and her advocacy of women, said Maddie Nieter, Panhellenic Council president who presented Ruosch with the award. I tried to touch many lives during my time here on campus, Ruosch said. I returned from 1961 to 1995 to serve as director of sorority affairs and dean of women, and it was so rewarding to see the women grow and be able to help them when they were in trouble. Continuing the legacy of the past 100 years of sororities at Valparaiso is the mission of todays cohorts of women who lead the way, said Sara Powell, class of 1998, who once served in a leadership role with a Greek organization on campus. The ideals we stood for are flourishing and thriving, she said from the podium. Nieter echoed that charge, Im eager to see where the next 100 years takes our sisterhood. The man accused of detonating a crude bomb in Chelsea last year, injuring dozens of people, was initially ejected from the courtroom Monday as opening arguments began in his trial. Just minutes into the trial, the defendant stood and insisted on addressing the court, despite warnings from the judge not to. When Rahimi would not back down, Federal Judge Richard Berman ejected him from the courtroom. Rahimi later was allowed to return, and he apologized, saying he only wanted to ask why his family is not being allowed to visit him in jail. Prosecutors say he was inspired by Osama bin Laden and ISIS, arguing "The defendant believed he was a soldier in a holy war against Americans." During their opening arguments, prosecutors said Rahimi purchased the materials online and made the bombs himself. They said surveillance video shows him hauling the bombs to Chelsea, and forensic analysis detected his fingerprints and DNA on the cellphone detonator and other evidence. Rahimi's public defender gave a brief opening statement, reminding the jury that the prosecution must prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. The Chelsea blast blew out windows and sent people running for their lives. The prosecution's first witness testified that was she just steps from returning to her West 23rd St. apartment when she heard a deafening sound, saw a blinding light, and was knocked to the ground. She recalled injuring her knees and not being able to see. When she asked a medical worker if her eye was still there, the worker hesitated before saying "yes." That same worker then added: "Do you believe in God?" When she responded, "yes," the medical attendant said, "pray." She said a bomb fragment stopped just short of an eyeball, but her vision eventually recovered. 31 people were injured last year when a bomb went off on 23rd St. between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. A second device, which never went off, was placed four blocks north, and another exploded in New Jersey, but no one was injured. Ahmad Rahimi was arrested days later after a shootout with police. Prosecutors have connected him to all three bombs. Rahimi has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The trial is expected to last at least two weeks. If convicted, Rahimi faces life in prison. Sketch above by Shirley Shepard. New York lawmakers in Washington want a former Nazi living in Queens to be deported. All 29 members of the state's congressional delegation sent a letter to secretary of State Rex Tillerson seeking help to get rid of Jakiw Palij. Demonstrators have protested outside his Jackson Heights home in the past to try and kick him out of the United States. Justice Department officials say the 94-year-old was a Nazi concentration camp guard and is partially responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. His U.S. citizenship has been revoked, and a federal judge ordered him back to Germany, Ukraine or Poland to possibly stand trial. But those countries have refused to accept him, leaving him in legal limbo since he can't be tried on the charges here in the United States. Palij says he was forced to become a guard and has denied killing anyone. A man accused of raping an 18-year-old Auburn University student on a transit bus during homecoming weekend is back in jail after his bond was revoked due to being incompliant with the conditions of his bond requirements. Tony Patillo, 51, of Columbus, Ga., was arrested by the Lee County Sheriffs Department and was booked into the Lee County Detention Facility on Saturday evening. Patillo had been out on bond since Sept. 22. Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes said Patillo was required to wear an ankle monitor as a condition of his bond. We first got a report that he had not checked in for about nine hours on Friday and calls were made to him that he didnt answer, Hughes said. Later that day, Hughes said, Patillo was located and given a second ankle monitor in case there was something faulty with the previous one. After putting on the second ankle monitor, he was off the grid for about 14 hours between Friday night and Saturday afternoon, Hughes said. It was at that point that we felt he was out of compliance of his bond requirements. At 1 p.m. Saturday, Hughes filed a motion to have Patillos bond revoked and an arrest warrant. My investigator went and picked him up and he is sitting in jail pending a bond revocation hearing, Hughes said. I am going to ask that he remain in custody until his case is finished. Patillo and James Don Johnson Jr., 32, of Auburn, were arrested Sept. 16 and each charged with first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy. Police arrested Patillo and initially charged him with public lewdness, later adding the rape and sodomy charges. He was booked into the Lee County Jail, where he had a $127,000 bond. Johnson was booked into the Lee County Jail and has since been released on a $125,000 bond. The initial charges stem from an incident that occurred at about 11:50 p.m. Sept. 15 when Auburn police were informed about a male exposing himself while standing over a female in the 700 block of Aspen Heights Lane. Officers arrested Patillo after finding him near the roadway and took him to the Lee County Jail. After further investigation, officers determined that the victim, an 18-year-old female who seemed incapacitated, had been sexually assaulted by Patillo while aboard the bus. The victim had entered the bus near Magnolia Avenue, and Johnson, who was driving the bus, "engaged in actions to perpetuate the crime while Patillo was in the rear of the bus assaulting the victim," according to a police statement. A preliminary hearing on Patillos rape and sodomy charges is scheduled for Nov. 15. Troy Turner is editor of the Opelika-Auburn News. He previously served as the news editor in New York for the nation's second largest newspaper company, and as the senior editor at several other news entities around the nation. He is an Auburn alum. Follow TROY TURNER Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today On September 25, Dr Kizza Besigye, the four-time presidential candidate, made a scathing critique of President Museveni via Facebook. Here is a slightly abridged version. The current excitement and debate about possible plans for a Museveni Life-Presidency started at the beginning of July 2017. It was started by The Observer story about a Uganda Gazette of June 8, 2017 listing the Constitutional Amendment Bill as one of the bills to be published. This was followed by confirmation from Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire, the regimes minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, who said that a Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) was to be appointed as soon as the bill had been gazetted. The CRC was then expected to gather views on all matters, including the age limit for presidential candidates. Kizza Besigye addressing the media The targeted provision Article 102(b), says a person is not qualified for election as President unless that person is not less than 35 years and not more than 75 years of age. In mid-July, the NRM Junta tabled a Constitutional Amendment Bill seeking to amend Article 26(2) that deals with compulsory acquisition of land only. Mr Museveni subsequently said that those talking about age-limit are idlers! Now, there is an outburst of emotions and activity following an NRM MPs Caucus resolution to move a Private Members Bill seeking to amend Article 102(b) of the Constitution to remove the age-limits of persons qualified to be elected as President. What surprises me is that there is still surprise, especially among the Ugandan elite, about whats happening! Whoever has been following Ugandas politics, even casually, shouldnt be surprised by Mr Musevenis quest to align the Uganda Constitution to his desires. Right from the day Mr Museveni was sworn in as President after the 1981-6 bush war, hes single-mindedly pursued two political objectives. First, to expand and protect his power. Secondly, to emasculate, weaken, or even destroy any institutions, organisations, entities or individuals that had capacity or potential to check his power. The historical NRM/NRA leaders (of which I was one) and those who joined the post-1986 broad-based government are culpable for being complacent or compliant as this process gained pace. SALIENT AMONG THE ELEMENTS OF POWER ACCUMULATION: 1) From 1986, all NRM and NRA top organs had Mr Museveni as the Chairperson. These included, NRMs NEC, NRC (also Parliament), NRM SECRETARIAT and CABINET; NRAs HIGH COMMAND & ARMY COUNCIL. 2) Enacting a law that makes him (Mr Museveni) a member of UPDF High Command for life- Sec 15(c) of UPDF Act. The UPDF Act also gives the president (& C-i-C) preponderant power to micromanage the UPDF. 3) Formal NRM organs were abandoned, since they could only be convened by the Chairperson; Mr Museveni, personally, and with informal (ad hoc) groups increasingly managed NRM affairs during the 1986-96 transition period. 4) Suspension of the activities of all other political parties (formally done since 1992), meant only Mr Musevenis NRM could politically organise and function. 5) Manipulation and subversion of the 1995 Constitution for self-entrenchment- read the document I wrote entitled Evolution and Character of the NRM authored in 1999. 6) Introduction of the Movement System- dubbed a No Party System, but with organs of a political organisation! The Movement National Conference (policy organ & body corporate, that included all MPs) and the National Executive Committee (Executive organ) were all headed by Mr Museveni. Even now, in NRM-O, Mr Museveni chairs all national party organs. 7) Embarked on policies of primitive accumulation of capital and accumulation by dispossessing the public. This included the dismantling of Producer & Marketing Cooperatives and advocating the transformation of peasant (producers) into wage labourers; massive conversion of public enterprises into private (Museveni family & Cronies) property; massive land-grabbing; etc. 8) Expanding the Military and armaments to atrociously subdue insurgent communities (rather than have political settlements) and launch regional expansion missions. 9) Colleagues that shared achievements and credentials of the NRM struggle were gradually marginalised or purged. Replaced by those who were entirely beholden to him and would do his bidding unquestioningly. 10) Personal financial favours using public funds. This started with a special item in the Ministry of Defence budget, where huge slash funds would be allocated for Mr Musevenis discretionary and not accounted-for expenditure. Presidential donations were also taken off classified budgets of NRA/UPDF and Security Organisations. State House/ Presidents office also created a Presidential Donations budget that grew exponentially to the huge slush fund it is today. Patronage with appointments- responsible for the greatly bloated administration. 11) State House Scholarships- again, this started as a small item, with no known policy, and had exponential growth. This was for funding the education of hand-picked people through to university, including expensive foreign universities. The products of this scheme have been absorbed into various strategic areas to advance/protect Mr Musevenis interests. 12) Militarisation and indoctrination of civil service and local government leaders through the Kyankwanzi political education or Leadership Institute 13) Chilling Military attacks on the Judiciary; sustained verbal threats; and appointments of cadre judges that have left the independence of the Judiciary only on paper. 14) Civil Society and non-state Institutions were either co-opted into the NRM or turned into appendages of the patronage system. 15) Co-optation of religious and cultural leaders through direct regular payments and financial favours. Those that resist are subjected to various forms of intimidation, harassment, blackmail, and outright attack and annihilation. 16) Breakdown of independent (critical) media. This was through economic blockades, illegal closures, security and legal operations; co-opting the journalists and editors etc. Alongside this, was the huge investment in large propaganda networks- domestic and international. 17) Patriotism secretariat (project) in the Presidents Office, with a large budget mainly meant for indoctrination of school-going pupils. SALIENT AMONG THE ELEMENTS OF REGIME PROTECTION WERE: 1) Expansion of the elite Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) - originally, about a Company (of about 100 soldiers) expanded to Battalion strength (about 650 soldiers), then to a Brigade strength, called PGB (about 2,000 to 3,500 soldiers) and now to a full Command - Special Forces Command (SFC)- about 10,000 soldiers! State House Entebbe displaced all other entities in its vicinity to give way to a huge military base. 2) Army leadership largely developed from specially recruited (hand-picked) cadets; taken through accelerated training courses; and given accelerated promotions. 3) Arming civilians in the Cattle Corridor without any legal framework regulating the weapons. 4) Specially recruited and trained police officers (akin to the PPU/PGB/SFU and largely from one area) took over the leadership of the police force. Some military officers were also transferred to Uganda Police to join this group! These are the openly partisan officers that keep M7/NRM campaign posters hanging in their offices. Building private militia, like Kakooza Mutales Kalangala Action Plan. 5) Building quasi-official militia forces like the Special Police Constables (SPCs) and the Crime Preventers. 6) Developing a multiplicity of Security Organisations, several of them informal and reporting to Mr Museveni personally. Mr Museveni has also focussed on weakening and destroying institutions, organisations, entities and persons capable of checking his power or empowering others. Salient examples include: 1) Financial institutions owned by Ugandans-eg: Uganda Cooperative Bank, Uganda Commercial Bank, Greenland Bank, more recently, the National Bank of Commerce and Crane Bank etc. 2) Cooperative Unions and Trade (Workers) Unions. 3) Religious institutions- those whose leaderships were not outrightly co-opted have been blackmailed, divided and, even, criminalised. 4) Cultural Institutions- treated in the same way as religious institutions above. 5) Political Institutions (Parties, Pressure Groups and Associations etc)- apart from what happens to 2& 3 above, these are emasculated by sustained blatant violation of Rights & Freedoms to associate, assemble and peacefully demonstrate. These processes have been largely visible to all who cared to see. It was clear from very early in Mr Musevenis presidency that he was constructing a patrimonial system - a PRESIDENTIAL MONARCH. He had turned against the NRM mission to engender a democratic transition. UGANDAS 1995 CONSTITUTION: The 1995 Constitution was made against a background of political and constitutional instability since independence in 1962. This political turmoil was driven by Chief Executives, who, using the armed forces, sought to exercise perpetual and absolute power. That was why no leader had ever handed over power to another, which is still the case to date. The critical concerns and initiatives contained in the Constitution Commission (Odoki) report aimed at dealing with fundamental challenges of peaceful and democratic change of leaders. As pointed out earlier, the Constituent Assembly (CA) process (debating and passing a new constitution) was seriously sabotaged by Mr Museveni. However, significant initiatives coming from the people (through Odoki report) survived, although, sometimes quite altered. The main initiatives that survived the CA process were in four areas: 1) Comprehensive bill of rights; some, entrenched. 2) Reduce the powers of president through having parliamentary approvals on some decisions and censure of ministers. 3) Decentralisation- to give local (and regional) authorities direct power and control of resources. 4) Presidential term limits (Art 105(2). The draft Constitution never had an upper age-limit. It only provided for a lower age-limit of 40 years! This is a provision I opposed together with educational qualifications. My view then, as now, was that they were campaign issues on which voters (with ultimate power) would decide. The upper age-limit was included as an amendment that was introduced by a Museveni hatchet man, the late Lt (then) Noble Mayombo. Thats why its widely believed to have been a Museveni initiative to bar the then UPC leader from contesting! Regardless of what may have motivated its inclusion, it became an integral part of the Constitution. Regrettably, right from the promulgation of the 1995 Constitution, Mr Museveni embarked on systematic undermining and undoing the various provisions (that had survived the CA) vital for democratic governance and peaceful, orderly change of government. How Mr Museveni conducted himself in the 1996 elections, the first under the new constitution, should have erased any doubts that the attempt at a democratic transition had aborted. It was, therefore, surprising that many political elites seemed surprised, when, in 2005, Mr Museveni sought to remove the vital safeguard of term limits. Removal of presidential term limits was a tragic blow to the soul of the 1995 constitution and its fundamental objectives of ending tyranny and oppression; engendering democratic and peaceful change of government; and ending political and constitutional instability. With the tragedy of the fallen term limits, the only constitutional check to Mr Musevenis ambition to create a Presidential Monarchy is, ironically, the age limit. This is the only reason why the fight over Article 102(b) is a do or die. Mr Museveni has, so far, gotten away with destroying the 1995 Constitution and construction of a Presidential Monarchy largely because of the nature of the majority of Ugandas political elites. A large section of the political elite seems to be unable or uninterested in studying the obtaining political situations and trends, for purposes of anticipating whats likely to happen ahead and prepare for it. There is also a discomforting level of dishonesty; selfishness and disregard for common good; lack of self-esteem or self-confidence; and underpinned by insatiable greed! This is why many of our elites are like wind vanes- rotating effortlessly and endlessly to align themselves to the wind of personal benefits regardless of cost to common good. CONCLUSION: Over the last three decades, there has been a comprehensive capture of all State institutions and the countrys governance systems. Mr Musevenis ongoing effort is to formally align the constitutional/legal framework with the reality of a Presidential Monarch. It means that Parliament, in the present state, will not, on its own, discharge its intended duty of representing the peoples will. Similarly, a referendum conducted by the captured State institutions will not give a result that reflects the true will of the people. Mr Museveni knows all this very well. Thats why he didnt appeal to parliament for reforms or run to Courts of law in 1980, when he complained about rigged elections. THE WAY FORWARD: All Ugandans need to realise that having the first eve non-violent change of a leader and a transition to a democratic dispensation isnt a partisan issue. Its a foundation on which a stable and prosperous nation has to be built. The determination and single-mindedness of Mr Museveni to create a Presidential Monarchy or Life Presidency will not be stopped by words of persuasion alone! Ugandans who want a transition must take some actions- individually or collectively. Individually, from wherever youre, take action that will slow the pace of the regime and/or show your disapproval. This includes those who work for the regime in any capacity. In doing this, you dont have to expose yourself to the regime operatives, to avoid retribution. Collectively, together or in our different formations (students, Youth groups, Women groups, business people etc,) undertake protest actions. These are actions that demonstrate our objection to proposed changes to the constitution and support for TRANSITION. If the police and other coercive forces menacingly stop peaceful protests, as they did last week, we disperse our actions throughout the country and stop (withhold) movement of food and supplies to the regime nerve centres. Progressive MPs, who are objecting to amendment of the Constitution, on both sides of the house should continue to robustly protest within parliamentary chambers and also offer leadership to protests of the public. The MPs who are serving as regime hired guns to support the creation of a Presidential Monarch/M7 Life-Presidency should be isolated and face maximum non-cooperation. The effect of these MPs actions is the same as a Plague (KAWUMPULI in Luganda, TAUNI in Kiswahili). Members of UPDF, Uganda Police Force, Uganda Prisons Services, Internal & External Security Organisations, and any other Armed/ Security Organisation have a special and primary responsibility to the country; to the people of Uganda as a whole, and not to the ruling regime. Its your responsibility to make sure that the greed of the rulers of the day doesnt subvert the political and constitutional stability of Uganda. Its not going to be a one day engagement, however, all signs show that the peoples desire for nonviolent change is well within reach. GET INVOLVED; DO SOMETHING. Security operatives have laid siege to The Uhuru Institute for Social Development offices in Naguru, Kampala. The Uhuru Institute, located at Katalima Crescent, east of Kampala, advocates for an equitable society led by a developmental state that runs on the principles of a social market economy. Its work puts the citizen at the center of an inclusive, cooperative and accountable system. The institute is actively involved in revitalization of cooperatives in Uganda. Uganda's biggest opposition political party, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), has backed calls for a new wave of peaceful protests by the former party president, Dr Col. Kizza Besigye. Over the weekend, Besigye announced the return of the walk to work protests to express dissatisfaction against the presidential age limit removal from Uganda's Constitution. Besigye asked all Ugandans especially the elite opposed to the proposed scrapping of article 102 (b) of the Constitution to park their vehicles and walk-to-work like the case was in 2011. He also urged them to wear red ribbons on the heador arms to further show their discontentment Kizza Besigye addressing the media last weekend According to Besigye, it is time that those opposed and those in favor of the proposed constitutional amendment are known. The protests are expected to start tomorrow, Tuesday. Besigye said it was prudent for the elite to experience the normal day suffering and hardships lived by the majority of Ugandans. To Besigye, lifting of the age limit would mean continuation of the economic hardships under the same regime of President Yoweri Museveni. Now, Paul Mwiru, the deputy FDC party spokesperson, says the party is fully behind the protests announced by Besigye. "Besigye's front doesn't contradict with the struggle we are in, we have many fronts just like NRM, we expect every Ugandan opposed to the removal of age limit to come and be part of us tomorrow," said Mwiru. Mwiru said contrary to popular belief that FDC doesn't support Besigye's defiance campaign against the state and the establishment, the party funds all the activities of civil disobedience by its members. Idi Ouma, the FDC National Youth chairperson, says as youth they are fully behind the protest. "As you know that the youth are the beneficiaries of the ongoing programs because they have more stake in the country. As youth we have mobilised. All youth should start from where they are and mobilise. And this time it is a cheaper thing. You start from where you are, you dont need a team. As youth we are very set much as we cant disclose everything", he said. Besigye's call for new protests comes after violent events in parliament last week when security officers from the elite, Special Forces Command (SFC), the presidential guards raided the august House to evict the defiant suspended MPs. After two straight days of filibustering during plenary, Kadaga suspended 25 MPs from the House including minister Ronald Kibuule who entered the Chambers with a firearm. Kibuule entered the Chambers through an entrance used by the president. It is Kibuule's actions that largely contributed to the first fistfight on Tuesday last week as the MPs attempted to frisk him. The very next day, again a fistfight broke out in the Chambers, as the MPs most especially from opposition,attempted in futility to prevent Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi from tabling a motion seeking leave of parliament for him to go and draft a Constitution amendment bill including the lifting of the presidential age limit. Walk to work resurrection In 2011, Besigye announced the walk to work protests against high commodity and fuel prices. The walk-to-work protest began on April 11 led by Activists for Change (A4C). Police reacted with brutality to the protests leading to the arrest of Besigye and other key opposition figures. They were arraigned in court for staging illegal assemblies and disobeying lawful orders. The then Attorney General, Peter Nyombi later invoked Section 56 of the Penal Code Act to issue a statutory instrument declaring A4C as "an unlawful society." Nyombi said that the membership of A4C was banned and if they tried to form another group, it will also be deemed unlawful. On tomorrow's protests, Police has warned the FDC party against inciting the people saying; by calling for protests, they are breaking the law and anyone who joins them will be deemed as an accomplice in the crime. In August this year, the Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura banned processions by all those in favour and against the proposed constitutional amendment, saying it could lead to a breach of peace. He suggested options including using media platforms, village halls among others that people can use to show their discontentment or approval of the amendment. Photos of extremely muscular pigs bred by a farm in Cambodia have been doing the rounds online, sparking controversy about genetically modified animals. The Hulk-like pigs are apparently bred by Duroc Cambodia, a pig farm in the Asian countrys Banteay Meanchey province. The companys Facebook page is littered with photos and videos of these freakishly muscular animals that appear to be the result of some extreme genetic tampering. Some have accused the breeder of using hormones and steroids to turn the pigs into nightmarish monsters, but seeing as Duroc Cambodia is also selling insemination kits to people wanting to grow their own, their unnatural physique is most likely caused by genetic modifications. Duroc Cambodia has been sharing updates on the incredibly muscular pigs since December of last year, including videos of the animals struggling to walk under the weight of all that muscle mass and trying to keep their heads up. Apart from the huge muscles, the males also have enormous testicles. Photos of the mutant pigs recently went viral online, leaving most social media users furious. This breaks my heart how many people dont give a flying f**k about animals and how they are treated, one person wrote on Facebook. This is disgusting!!! Those poor pigs cant even hold their heads up s**t looks painful af if you ask me!!! This is HORRIBLE, another commented. Animal rights group PETA also condemned the practice, stating Hulk-like pigs are the stuff of nightmares, not meals, and those who are genetically engineered are also likely to be born with painful health issues. Pigs suffer even without this Frankenscience. On typical pig farms, their tails are cut off, their sensitive teeth are ground down, and the males are castrated, all without so much as an aspirin. The desire for freakishly large muscles in pigs is believed to be fueled by greed, as breeders look to maximize their profits by artificially increasing the amount of meat per animal. A similar case made headlines in 2015, when scientists in China and South Korea created double-muscled piglets. Double-muscling is also practiced in cattle, with the Belgian Blue breed being known as the bodybuilders of the bovine world. #Cho Yong-pil K-pop legend Cho Yong-pil to return with new single Cho Yong-pil, a living legend of the Korean pop scene, will be back this week with his first release in nine years, his management agency said Tuesday. The 72-year-old singer wi... The proposal to sub communications for PR in most places in the PRSA bylaws at the Oct. 8 Assembly is a blow not only to PR but to PR and communications courses offered by colleges. If the worlds largest PR organization has lost faith in the value of PR as a function, why should teenagers be enticed into studying PR or its distant cousin, communications? PR courses have long been under attack by some PR profs themselves, working PR people, and consultants who feel such courses dont belong in college. Employers are looking for grads who spent four years in legitimate academic subjects. Donald Wright Boston University PR Prof. Donald Wright told the Arthur W. Page Society in 2007 that grads of PR degree programs only account for 10-15% of then recent hires. He conducted research with the help of Patrick Ford of Burson-Marsteller, Rob Flaherty, Ketchum, and Michelle Hinson, Institute for PR. They found that, most of the time, agencies and major corporations favor grads who took liberal arts, business and other academic disciplines. Princeton Review Urged Liberal Arts The Princeton Review in 2007 said college students interested in PR should take liberal arts and writing courses rather than PR courses. PR, it said, needs people who can "communicate well in print, in person and on the phone." The Review claims that half of those bound for college consult one or more of its products. These include preparation for the SAT and other tests, an annual listing of the "best" colleges, and an annual ranking of the "best" party colleges. Tom Harris Tom Harris, co-founder of Golin Harris, author of The Marketer's Guide to PR, who taught 14 years in the master's program in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University, "agreed 100%" with the Review. Dont Take Vocational Subjects Said Harris: "I wouldn't waste my precious time in undergraduate school on vocational subjects like advertising or PR. This is the greatest time in life for young people to learn about the world in which we live and work. I was an English major at the University of Michigan and always looked kindly on English majors when I was hiring college grads." He said, "College should be about learning to think, solve problems and communicate" but life should not be "all work." He urged undergrads to take some courses in art and music. Subjects like psychology, sociology, history, political science and economics are "invaluable to an educated person," he added. PR and communication profs should convert to teaching such subjects. PRSA Mistake Was Pullback from Ethics The advice of the Princeton Review and Harris is even more relevant today when there is such confusion over the role of PR. There is no confusion over what happened to PRSA in the past 17 years that stymied its growth. Membership of 21,000 is only slightly above the 19,600 it had it 2000. The Society in 1999 cancelled its enforceable Ethics Code that had been a bulwark since the 1950s. In many years, tens of thousands of dollars were spent trying cases and giving members ethical guidance. Spending on ethics fell to almost zero--$945 in 2016 on total expenses of $11.5 million. Only one of the 55 or so staff members is a member of PRSAPR director Laurent Lawrence. The 1980 regime of Patrick Jackson decreed that administrators would staff h.q. with minimal PR people. About ten staffers with PR or journalism backgrounds were let go. Mark of a Profession Abandoned Staff thought it could easily dispense with ethics. But lack of an enforceable code demolished any claims of PR being a profession. Doctors, Lawyers and CPAs have elaborate Code enforcement mechanisms As a result of the ethics pullback, major companies and PR firms deserted PRSA in droves to The Arthur W. Page Society, PR Council and (PR) Seminar, among others. New York Women in Communications exploded to 2,200 members, leaving the PRSA/New York chapter in the dust with about 600 members. Instead of execs from blue chips such as Texaco, American Can, Pacific Gas & Electric and Reynolds Metals Co. holding the top elected PRSA spot, it went mostly to solo practitioners. Members gave up the CEO title to the staffsomething unthinkable in medical, legal and CPA assns. Staff and "educators" now dominate PRSA. Changing Label Doesnt Change Contents PRSA leaders and staff think they can sprinkle communications throughout the bylaws and thus broaden the Societys appeal. This is like changing the label on a can of soup that had sprung a leak. The contents are poison and no amount of label-changing will cure that. The Society must restore its Board of Ethics and start spending and speaking out on ethical issues. It must go after misbehaving members who are exposed in the public prints. It must stop its policy of blocking press coverage of events, of refusing to answer press questions, and withholding its 990 financial report until the last minute. It has spent nearly $800K on D.C. law firm Venable in the past ten years but nothing on outside PR counsel which it desperately needs. However, no PR firm could be identified with its obsessive stonewalling. It must show its good will and dedication to communications by webcasting live the Oct. 8 Assembly when the communications bylaw will be debated. The Canadian PR Society webcasts its legislative meeting live for all to see and there is no reason PRSA could not do this. A number of unethical practices and policies of the Society itself must be changed including its dominance by APR members who hold 16 of the 17 board seats when it should be 3-4 based on the percentage of APR members. The membership of the Assembly should be public record. Proxy voting should not be allowed. One national conference in NYC in 25 years is an insufferable snub of the city. No doubt 20-30 staffers enjoy about two weeks every year with all expenses paid in a distant city. Reporters should be allowed to join. They were welcome as Silver Anvil judges in the 1970s. Pieta House is delighted to announce that Pieta House Midlands, the charitys 14th centre, will be opening and accepting clients from October 2 in Athlone. The centre will bring vital and much-needed services to those in the Midlands who are at risk of suicide, engaging in self-harming, or who have been bereaved by suicide. As in all of its centres, Pieta House Midlands in Athlone will provide a completely free, professional service. The opening of Pieta House Midlands could not have happened without the massive support received from Darkness into Light across the midlands, nationally and internationally and Pieta House and Darkness into Light are hugely indebted to the people who continue to support the event all across the midlands. Since the charity was established in 2006, Pieta House has seen over 30,000 clients across Ireland free of charge, a service which is possible largely due to the great generosity of its many supporters, and the charity would like to take this opportunity to again thank everyone who has made the opening of another centre a reality. The vision of Pieta House is a world where suicide, self-harm, and stigma, have been replaced by hope, self-care, and acceptance. The contact details for Pieta House Midlands, which will be offering counselling Monday to Saturday, are as follows Pieta House Midlands Sean Costello Street, Athlone, Co.Westmeath 090 6424111 Pieta House 24/7 Helpline 1800 247247 A community in Offaly is in mourning following the untimely death of a 21 year old college student on Friday Rachel Spain, 21, from Birr sadly passed away last Friday night. She was a Bachelor of Arts student in the subjects Gaeilge and Music at Limericks Mary Immaculate College Her passing has left the institution in shock and will have a 'profound impact' on its community, its acting president has said. Acting president of the college Prof Eugene Wall led tributes to Ms Spain in an email to students over the weekend: It is with shock and heartfelt sadness that I write to you to inform you of the tragic death of our student Rachel Spain last night. Rachel, who was from Birr, Co. Offaly, was a 4th year BA student, taking Gaeilge and Music. Rachels untimely death will have a profound impact on the College community, particularly on her friends and those who taught her. On behalf of the entire college community, I extend deepest sympathy to her distraught parents and brother, her extended family and her friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this extremely sad time. Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam. Rachel was a member of MIDAS [MIC's drama society], and was a volunteer at student radio station Wired FM. In a statement posted to Facebook, the colleges Students Union said: Our thoughts and prayers are with Rachels family, her friends and classmates. MISU would like to remind all students that the support services of MISU, the MIC Counsellors and Chaplaincy are available to use at this time. Chaplaincy is open throughout the day if any student would like to drop in. Ray Burke, station manager at Wired FM and fellow Offaly native, said that her loss is deeply felt in the station and college community. Our thoughts are with her family, and all the great friends who laughed and joked with her in the halls of Mary I and St Brendan's Community School, sung with her on stage with Midas and Birr Stage Guild, and had to pleasure of her warm friendly nature when she served them at The Stables in Birr. It's devastating to lose such a wonderful vibrant person so young. The loss is felt by the staff and students of the station, and the broader college community. Funeral details are as follows: Reposing at her home at 1 Corr na Meala, Hillside, Birr, Co Offaly, this Wednesday from 3pm until 8pm. Removal on Thursday morning to arrive at St Brendan's Church, Birr, at 10.45am for funeral mass at 11am. Burial afterwards in Clonoghill Cemetery, Birr. House private all day Tuesday and Thursday morning. Sinn Fein Spokesperson on Community and Rural Development, Teachta Carol Nolan, has called on the Government to make a commitment to implement the recommendations of the Report on the Future of the Post Office Network in full. Teachta Nolan raised the matter directly with the Taoiseach under todays order of Business in the Dail. Teachta Nolan said, The Programme for Government makes a commitment that the new Government will act swiftly on the recommendations of the Post Office Business Development Group. We saw over the summer that the Irish Postmasters Union has withdrawn from talks with An Post and have refused to implement the new smart account. It is reported that An Post is currently considering the potential closure of up to 600 post offices, many of them in rural areas." Teachta Nolan stated that the action by the Irish Postmasters is borne out of 'huge frustration' at what she described as the lack of interest by the Government in securing the post office network. Post offices are a vital service for rural communities in particular and must be protected by investment and development. I am asking the Taoiseach - what action has been taken by this Government to address the concerns of the postmasters? What action has been taken to implement the Kerr Report? I am calling on this Government to address the concerns of postmasters by establishing a comprehensive five year plan for the development of the post office network and to make a firm commitment to implement all the recommendations of the Kerr Report, the Offaly TD concluded. In the event of unexpected opportunities, you have to stay on your toes but a former prima ballerina said this one really came out of the blue. Rachel Vickrey, who has spent much of her career dancing on her toes, last March took 40 of her ballet students to perform at the Rose Blumkin Home. Visiting that day was Jerry Gordman, president of Gordman Properties Inc., who was charmed by her nonprofit dance troupe, the Heartland Youth Ballet. Throughout the community, it performs shows such as The Firebird, Cinderella and Snow White, and travels for the nonprofit Regional Dance America. Gordman gave Vickrey his business card. She had been looking into moving her dance studio from 88th and F Streets, but hadnt found a suitable, affordable spot. He suggested a space he owns northwest of 132nd Street and West Center Road. After much discussion and realizing that it was a stretch at 10,600 square feet, studio space 2 times as large as her previous place she signed a lease. The Heartland Conservatory of Dance & Pilates opened Monday. It really scared me to take a big step and move, Vickrey said. But it looks beautiful. I love it. Rachel, 45, was born to dance her parents, Robert Vickrey and Robin Welch, performed ballet around the world. Their daughter began lessons at 4 and became a professional at 16. She has taught ballet, tap and jazz dance, and performed for 15 years at the Orpheum as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. At the old Omaha Theater Ballet, Rachel worked with her mother once the model for a U.S. postage stamp celebrating the arts and then purchased her moms private studio three years ago. At the new location, the sign out front depicts another ballet dancer. It is based on a photo of Ashlee Knapp, a former student of Welch. The Omaha area has more than 100 dance studios, Rachel said, with more than 25,000 students who can gain discipline and confidence. Everybody in the Omaha area works very hard to offer kids the best dance they know how, she said. All dance studios have something wonderful to offer their students. Gordman, who plays French horn in the Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha, said he is happy to provide a space for younger generations to hone their dance skills. His new tenant credits him for working with her to make it happen, even installing raised dance floors. Her business including the nonprofit, performing youth ballet is one of several in a strip shopping center that once was home to a Gordmans store. Rachel, who also has taught Pilates in recent years and will continue to do so, has two children with her husband, Brian Hartley. Her studio, with several teachers, offers various styles, including theater dance. Before running into Jerry Gordman, who took a shine to her students, she had despaired of coming up with a new location. Id given up on finding anything. But because of that chance meeting, the former ballerina is now taking a big step happy that her studio has landed on its feet. A Norfolk man who was caught on surveillance video with his genitals out as he chased after a hotel worker was sentenced Monday to 15 to 20 years in prison. Zachary L. Person had pleaded no contest to attempted first-degree sexual assault. On March 2, Person arrived at the Home2 Suites Omaha West hotel near 179th and Chicago Streets wearing a ski mask. He grabbed a female hotel employee by the shoulders and pushed her toward a restroom, authorities have said. Person groped the woman, but she fought back and removed his ski mask. He fled, running through an exit door unmasked and his pants below his waist. Douglas County District Judge Thomas Otepka read parts of the womans letter to the court and praised her toughness. She put up a good fight, Otepka said. She managed to pull that ski mask off of you, and here you are. The woman wrote that she is afraid to be alone and continues to suffer emotional distress. I think hes a dangerous man who does not wish to get help for his exhibitionism nor try to control it, the woman wrote to the court. His public defender, Noelle Obermeyer, said Person was sexually abused growing up and never overcame that trauma. Person said he wasnt able to seek treatment, but court records show that he missed psychologist appointments for an evaluation in a prior case. I apologize for my actions and accept responsibility for the things Ive done, Person said. Person has been convicted of third-degree sexual assault and exposing himself to women. He is listed on the Nebraska and Iowa sex offender lists. He could be paroled after 7 years and must be released after 10 years. He faced up to 20 years. Douglas County prosecutors dropped a first-degree false imprisonment charge in exchange for his no-contest plea. HASTINGS, Neb. The Jackson Dinsdale legacy at Hastings College continues to grow. A little more than a year after the opening of the Jackson Dinsdale Art Center on campus, Kim and Tom Dinsdale have made another gift to the college in honor of their late son, Jackson. The $8.5 million endowment legacy gift from Jacksons estate the largest in the colleges history is designed to support all facets of the educational experience, as well as the Jackson Dinsdale Art Center and its related programming. We have an incredibly strong belief in Hastings College, its mission and the opportunities it creates for students, said Kim West Dinsdale, who is also a member of the colleges board of trustees and chairwoman of the Hastings College Foundation board of directors. This gift from Jackson is a way to share his generous spirit while helping generations of students and the college be successful. Travis Feezell, who on Friday was inaugurated as Hastings Colleges 17th president, said the gift is a wonderful way to continue to honor Jackson and what he believed in. It comes at an exciting and transformational time for the college as we build momentum for our future, a future built around specialized student experiences and an expanded personal approach that Hastings is famous for, he said. Indeed, the gift comes just after Hastings College completed a review of where it is successful and where it can grow, and after the college balanced its budget and laid down a plan for the future. It also grows the Hastings College Foundation endowment to more than $85 million. We are going to change the conversation about what it means to be an exceptional college with a student-centered experience, Feezell said. The Jackson Dinsdale Fund is a shot in the arm, and we are making it part of a larger, exciting, college-wide initiative. This is the right time to elevate who we are and what we do; its time to reimagine the Hastings College experience. I thank Kim, Tom and Jackson Dinsdale, Feezell said, for their support and for their willingness to believe in our vision. Jackson West Dinsdale was studying studio art at Hastings College when he died on May 3, 2014. The Jackson Dinsdale Art Center was made possible thanks to a $5 million legacy leadership gift announced by Jacksons parents, Grand Island business owners and philanthropists Kim and Tom Dinsdale. University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds wouldnt consider accepting a raise during this period of financial challenges, the chairman of the NU regents said Monday. He wouldnt even begin to listen to any kind of raise for himself, said Regents Chairman Bob Whitehouse of Papillion. It was his decision not to even go there or discuss anything at this point. Bounds is paid $530,400, including $20,000 in private money. The regents are expected to extend Bounds contract Thursday by a year, from June 30, 2020, to June 30, 2021. The regents meet at 12:45 p.m. at Varner Hall, 3835 Holdrege St. in Lincoln. Before the official meeting, the board will hear a noon discussion on retention and graduation rates. Besides Bounds contract extension, the board will consider several new degree programs and renovation of the Nebraska East Union in Lincoln and Arts and Sciences Hall at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Bounds, the NU systems president since 2015, has struggled with a $49 million budget hole over the next couple of years, the product of declining state money and rising costs. He has assembled efficiency teams and whacked away at the deficit. Layoffs are expected, although attrition is likely to account for some decrease in positions. Whitehouse said the regents appreciate Bounds financial planning and organization. They wanted to show their appreciation monetarily, he said. We would like to have, but he wouldnt hear of it, Whitehouse said. Omahas past came alive Sunday during the Douglas County Historical Societys annual tour of cemeteries. About 40 people boarded a chartered bus for the eighth Tombstone Tour. With plastic wine glasses in hand, the guests made stops at Prospect Hill Cemetery, Westlawn-Hillcrest Memorial Park and Potters Field. Each time we do this, we pick out completely different stories, said Kathy Aultz, executive director of the Historical Society. We focus on different aspects of the people ... who are buried in our cemeteries. The cemetery crawl began at the General Crook House at Historic Fort Omaha, 5730 N. 30th St., with wine and hors doeuvres. Each cemetery stop gave guests the chance to explore the grounds, be entertained with stories from a tour guide and toast individual graves. Following the tours completion, guests returned to the General Crook House for food, refreshments and a Victorian seance. Tickets cost $50 for Historical Society members and $55 for nonmembers. Judy Brugger of Blair was making her third Tombstone Tour and brought along her niece Kate Miller of Omaha. Sipping from a glass of white zinfandel at the General Crook House, Brugger said she enjoys the historical focus of the tours. I love to walk cemeteries and see the old graves, Brugger said. My husband and I are going to be buried at Forest Lawn (Cemetery) in the older part. Brugger said she was looking forward to her first visit to Prospect Hill because its the oldest cemetery in town. Caretaker Mike Scofield said there were 12,599 burial permits issued at Prospect Hill, near 32nd and Parker Streets, but its estimated that 15,000 people are buried there. This was a burial ground long before it became a cemetery, he said. There were Indians and all sorts of people buried up here. One of the most talked about of the cemeterys residents is Anna Wilson, who operated a brothel and was known as the queen of the underworld. When Wilson died at age 76 in 1911, she donated her 25-room brothel at 912 Douglas St. to the City of Omaha, along with her life savings. Wilson and her longtime partner, Dan Allen, are buried beneath a huge concrete stone in the shape of a king-size bed with four posts. The story goes, Aultz said, that Wilson didnt want any of the respectable people to disinter her and move her out of town. What were doing is celebrating the lives of the people of Omaha, tour guide Ana Somers said. At Prospect Hill, we have many of the towns founders. At Westlawn-Hillcrest, we have ordinary people and their stories, and we have the poor people of Omaha in Potters Field. Somers said she was looking forward to sharing some of the stories of David Abbott, a wealthy businessman buried at Westlawn-Hillcrest Memorial Park near 57th and Center Streets. Abbott, who died in 1934 at age 70, was also a magician. He was a great magician, who held private parlor parties by invitation only, Somers said. Abbotts friend (Harry) Houdini would take part in the seances. Abbott spent a lot of his career on debunking fake mediums of the day, kind of in the tradition of Houdini. At Potters Field near 48th and State Streets, the tour visited the grave of William Brown. He was the African-American man who was lynched in downtown Omaha in 1919 after wrongly being accused of raping a white woman. After seeing a documentary about Henry Fonda that included the lynching, a California man donated a headstone for Brown, Somers said. The epitaph says, Lest we forget. Construction crews will close the U.S. Highway 75 southbound 30th Street exit ramp from 9 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday for a construction project in the area. Crews will be moving a crane into the area for the Creighton University pedestrian bridge project that is scheduled to be completed in summer 2018, officials said. The project would include reconstructing the Highway 75 off-ramp at Cuming Street, roads officials said. The improvements would involve grading, removal and replacement of concrete pavement, curb ramps, sidewalks, curb inlets, and relocation of traffic signals, officials said. A fence would be constructed between the sidewalk and parking areas to restrict encroachment on pedestrian facilities, roads officials said. Sidewalk and driveways within the project limits would be removed and reconstructed. Traffic signals and lighting would be replaced and updated as necessary. The project is part of the planned redevelopment of the former Creighton University Medical Center site for use as apartments and retail. The private pedestrian bridge will be built over the Highway 75-North Freeway between the I-480 interchange and Burt Street, officials said. Information about the project can be found on the Nebraska Department of Transportations website, http://dot.nebraska.gov/projects/future-projects/, by clicking on the pedestrian bridge link. Also, City of Omaha traffic engineers say beginning Monday at 9 a.m., Park Avenue will be restricted to one lane northbound at Farnam Street for five says for fiber optic installation in the west section by Telecom. As it seeks to continue its rebound from a scandal over excessive executive pay, Goodwill Omaha is turning to a retired Army brigadier general with recent experience in the Omaha nonprofit world. The board of directors of the charity announced Monday it has hired Michael McGinnis as its new CEO, replacing the ousted Frank McGree. McGinnis comes to Goodwill after having spent nearly four years as chief executive of the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum near Ashland, Nebraska. Before that, he spent four years as director of the University of Nebraskas Peter Kiewit Institute. We were so fortunate to have substantial applications from both local candidates and candidates around the country, Erin Limas, the Goodwill board member who chaired the search committee, said in a statement. It was a very difficult decision, but one that the committee has made with confidence for the future of Goodwill in the areas we serve. McGinnis base pay will be $215,000 annually. He will take over in two weeks. Goodwills board fired McGree on Oct. 28 last year, just days after The World-Herald published an investigation detailing corporate-style executive pay at the widely known charity that sells publicly donated used goods to employ needy job-seekers. McGree received base pay, retirement pay, bonuses and other compensation exceeding $400,000 annually more than double the average for CEOs at other Omaha social service nonprofits. A $519,000 lump sum payment in 2014, part of a retirement agreement intended to retain McGree, brought his pay that year close to $1 million. In all, 14 executives and managers at the charity were paid $100,000 or more. Nationwide, no Goodwill affiliate of its size had more employees paid in six figures. Goodwill spent so much on executive pay and other administrative costs that scant dollars from its signature thrift stores were left to support the community jobs programs that are central to the charitys mission. More than a dozen employees told the paper that mission had taken a back seat to executive pay, with job trainers who worked with disabled students frustrated by the charitys reluctance to hire graduates to work in the profit-driven thrift stores. In addition to McGrees firing, the revelations led the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office to launch an investigation of Goodwill, one that is still believed to be ongoing. McGree last week also went to court attempting to collect another $550,000 from Goodwill that he says hes owed as part of a severance agreement he had struck with the charity. In the 11 months since McGrees ouster, the charity has made wholesale changes, including the firing or departure of nearly all its highest paid executives. The number of employees paid $100,000 or more was recently down to four. It also has been undergoing an internal ethics review and brought in an outside consultant to examine its operations. The charity in the interim has been led by Pauli Bishop, Goodwills chief financial officer, whose work was praised by Goodwill board chairman Mark Stokes. Pauli has done a remarkable job of rebuilding employee trust and managing a multitude of situations, Stokes said. Now the board is turning to McGinnis, a Wisner, Nebraska native who spent 29 years in the military, retiring as a brigadier general. McGinnis graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. He also holds masters degrees from the U.S. Naval War College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a doctorate from the University of Arizona. He first came to Omaha in 2009 as director of the Kiewit Institute. He then moved on to the SAC Museum in January of 2014. During his nearly four-year tenure at the museum, McGinnis was credited with stabilizing its finances. Running nearly million-dollar annual operating deficits when he was hired, the museum is projected to finish the current year in the black. He also took the museum through a name change a year ago, getting back to its SAC Cold War roots. It had formerly been called the Strategic Air and Space Museum. Mike has skillfully guided the museum to significant growth and success during his tenure. He led a talented management team that raised the guest experience to new levels, said Gary Gates, the chairman of the SAC Museums board. While Mike will be missed, I am confident in the management teams ability to run the museum while the board undertakes a search for an executive director. In 2015, the most recent year for which the museums financial report is publicly available, McGinnis received base pay of $157,230 and other compensation of $19,209. McGinnis said it had been an honor and a privilege to serve the museum, which he said is well positioned for continued success in the years ahead. Editors note: Staff writer Henry Cordes serves as a volunteer board member for the SAC and Aerospace Museum. LAS VEGAS (AP) The rapid-fire popping sounded like firecrackers at first, and many in the crowd of 22,000 country music fans didn't understand what was happening when the band stopped playing and singer Jason Aldean hustled off stage. "That's gunshots," a man could be heard saying emphatically on a cellphone video in the nearly half-minute of silence and confusion that followed. A woman pleaded with others: "Get down! Get down! Stay down!" Then the pop-pop-pop noise resumed. And pure terror set in. "People start screaming and yelling and we start running," said Andrew Akiyoshi, who provided the cellphone video to the Associated Press. "You could feel the panic. You could feel like the bullets were flying above us. Everybody's ducking down, running low to the ground." While some concertgoers hit the ground Sunday night, others pushed for the crowded exits, shoving through narrow gates and climbing over fences as 40- to 50-round bursts of fire rained down on them from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino hotel. By Monday afternoon, 59 victims were dead and 527 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. "You just didn't know what to do," Akiyoshi said. "Your heart is racing and you're thinking, 'I'm going to die.'" The gunman, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old retired accountant from Mesquite, Nevada, killed himself before officers stormed Room 135 in the gold-colored glass skyscraper. The avid gambler who according to his brother made a small fortune investing in real estate had been staying there since Thursday and had busted out windows to create his sniper's perch roughly 500 yards from the concert grounds. The motive for the attack remained a mystery, with Sheriff Joseph Lombardo saying: "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath at this point." Paddock had 23 guns some with scopes in his hotel room, authorities said. They found two gun stocks that allow the shooter to replicate fully automatic fire, and are investigating whether weapons used in the massacre had those modifications, according to a U.S. official briefed by law enforcement who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still unfolding. At Paddock's home, authorities found 19 more guns, explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Also, several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be turned into explosives such as those used in the 1995 Oklahoma bombing, were in his car, the sheriff said. The FBI said it found nothing so far to suggest the attack was connected to international terrorism, despite a claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group, which said Paddock was a "soldier" who had recently converted to Islam. In an address to the country, President Donald Trump called the bloodbath "an act of pure evil" and added: "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has." He ordered flags flown at half-staff. With hospitals jammed with victims, authorities put out a call for blood donations and set up a hotline to report missing people and speed the identification of the dead and wounded. They also opened a "family reunification center" for people to find loved ones. More than 12 hours after the massacre, bodies covered in white sheets were still being removed from the festival grounds. The shooting began at 10:07 p.m., and the gunman appeared to fire unhindered for more than 10 minutes, according to radio traffic. Police frantically tried to locate him and determine whether the gunfire was coming from Mandalay Bay or the neighboring Luxor hotel. At 10:14 p.m., an officer said on his radio that he was pinned down against a wall on Las Vegas Boulevard with 40 to 50 people. "We can't worry about the victims," an officer said at 10:15 p.m. "We need to stop the shooter before we have more victims. Anybody have eyes on him ... stop the shooter." Near the stage, Dylan Schneider, a country singer who performed earlier in the day, huddled with others under the VIP bleachers, where he turned to his manager and asked, "Dude, what do we do?" He said he repeated the question again and again over the next five minutes. Bodies were lying on the artificial turf installed in front of the stage, and people were screaming and crying. The sound of people running on the bleachers added to the confusion, and Schneider thought the concert was being invaded with multiple shooters. "No one knew what to do," Schneider said. "It's literally running for your life and you don't know what decision is the right one. But like I said, I knew we had to get out of there." He eventually pushed his way out of the crowd and found refuge in the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino, where he kicked in a door to an engineering room and spent hours there with others who followed him. The shooting started as Aldean closed out the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival. He had just begun the song "When She Says Baby," and the first burst of nearly 50 shots crackled as he sang, "It's tough just getting up." Muzzle flashes could be seen in the dark as the gunman fired away. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," said Kodiak Yazzie, 36. "You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash, flash, flash, flash." The crowd, funneled tightly into a wide-open space, had little cover and no easy way to escape. Victims fell to the ground, while others fled in panic. Some hid behind concession stands or crawled under parked cars. Faces were etched with shock and confusion, and people wept and screamed. Tales of heroism and compassion emerged quickly: Couples held hands as they ran through the dirt lot. Some of the bleeding were carried out by fellow concertgoers. While dozens of ambulances took away the wounded, some people loaded victims into their cars and drove them to the hospital. People fleeing the concert grounds hitched rides with strangers, piling into cars and trucks. Some of the injured were hit by shrapnel. Others were trampled or were injured jumping fences. The dead included at least three off-duty police officers from various departments who were attending the concert, authorities said. Two on-duty officers were wounded, one critically, police said. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the attack was the work of a "crazed lunatic full of hate." The sheriff said authorities believe Paddock acted alone. While Paddock appeared to have no criminal history, his father was a bank robber who was on the FBI's most-wanted list in the 1960s. As for why Paddock went on the murderous rampage, his brother in Florida, Eric Paddock, told reporters: "I can't even make something up. There's just nothing." Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and that the shooting was "beyond horrific." "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," the country star said. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman who professed support for Muslim extremist groups opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. A suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killed 22 people in May. Almost 90 people were killed in 2015 at a concert in Paris by gunmen inspired by the Islamic State. The brother of Stephen Paddock, the gunman who killed more than 50 people at an outdoor Las Vegas concert Sunday night, has revealed disturbing details about their past. Eric Paddock told reporters Monday that their father was a convicted bank robber who was added to the FBIs Most Wanted list after escaping prison in the 1960s. Patrick Benjamin Paddock, who went by a variety of aliases including Chromedome and Old Baldy, was arrested in his 30s for robbing a Valley National Bank in Phoenix in 1960. At the time he was living in Tucson, Ariz., with his wife and four kids. He escaped with over $4,600. According to an Arizona Republic article from January 1961, the elder Paddock surrendered two days after the robbery after an officer shot at his vehicle, shattering his windshield. Paddock was also accused of robbing two other Valley National Bank branches for more than $20,000, but the charges were dropped after he was convicted of the first crime. According to a 1961 article, Paddock attempted to escape a Las Vegas jail by posing as another inmate. Paddock was waiting to be extradited to Phoenix at the time. During a court appearance, Paddock testified that he would have fled the jail if they had been lax enough to let me go. Nearly a decade later, Paddock did escape while serving a 20-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution at La Tuna in Texas. A federal warrant for his arrest was issued in February 1969 and he was added to the FBIs 10 most-wanted fugitives list. Paddock remained on the most-wanted list until 1977. He was arrested the following year in Oregon, where he was managing a bingo parlor under the alias Bruce Werner Ericksen. It is believed he died in 1998. At least 58 people were killed and more than 515 wounded when a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Previously, the deadliest mass shooting had been an attack at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub that killed 49. Before that, the deadliest shooting in the U.S. was the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, in which a student killed 32 people before killing himself. Some of the nations deadliest rampages since 2012: Oct. 1, 2017: A gunman identified by authorities as Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip from the 32nd floor of casino, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 200. He died at the scene after officers went into the hotel room he was using. June 12, 2016: Gunman Omar Mateen opened fire at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub, killing 49 people. Mateen was later killed in a shootout with police. Feb. 25, 2016: Cedric Ford, 38, killed three people and wounded 14 others lawnmower factory where he worked in the central Kansas community of Hesston. The local police chief killed him during a shootout with 200 to 300 workers still in the building, authorities said. Feb. 20, 2016: Jason Dalton, 45, is accused of randomly shooting and killing six people and severely wounding two others during a series of attacks over several hours in the Kalamazoo, Michigan, area. Authorities say he paused between shootings to make money as an Uber driver. He faces murder and attempted murder charges. Dec. 2, 2015: Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, opened fire at a social services center in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding more than 20. They fled the scene but died hours later in a shootout with police. Oct. 1, 2015: A shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, left 10 people dead and seven wounded. Shooter Christopher Harper-Mercer, 26, exchanged gunfire with police, then killed himself. June 17, 2015: Dylann Roof, 21, shot and killed nine African-American church members during a Bible study group inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Police contend the attack was racially motivated. Roof has been sentenced to death in the shootings. May 23, 2014: A community college student, Elliot Rodger, 22, killed six people and wounded 13 in shooting and stabbing attacks in the area near the University of California, Santa Barbara, campus. Authorities said he apparently shot himself to death after a gunbattle with deputies. Sept. 16, 2013: Aaron Alexis, a mentally disturbed civilian contractor, shot 12 people to death at the Washington Navy Yard before he was killed in a police shootout. July 26, 2013: Pedro Vargas, 42, went on a shooting rampage at his Hialeah, Florida, apartment building, gunning down six people before officers fatally shot him. Dec. 14, 2012: In Newtown, Connecticut, an armed 20-year-old man, Adam Lanza, entered Sandy Hook Elementary School and used a semiautomatic rifle to kill 26 people, including 20 first-graders and six adult school staff members. He then killed himself. Sept. 27, 2012: In Minnesotas deadliest workplace rampage, Andrew Engeldinger, who had just been fired, pulled a gun and fatally shot six people, including the companys founder. He also wounded two others at Accent Signage Systems in Minneapolis before taking his own life. Aug. 5, 2012: In Oak Creek, Wisconsin, 40-year-old gunman Wade Michael Page killed six worshippers at a Sikh Temple before killing himself. July 20, 2012: James Holmes, 27, fatally shot 12 people and injured 70 in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. April 2, 2012: Seven people were killed and three were wounded when a 43-year-old former student opened fire at Oikos University in Oakland, California. One Goh was charged with seven counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, but psychiatric evaluations concluded he suffered from long-term paranoid schizophrenia and was unfit to stand trial. Travis Buhr first thought fireworks were blasting. But then Buhr, a hunter, recognized the sound. Boom, boom, boom, he said. We knew. Buhr, his wife, Kelly, and their twin 14-year-old daughters were on the edge of the crowd when a gunman unleashed a barrage of bullets at concertgoers in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Buhr, of Adams, Nebraska, said their spot made it easier to escape. We grabbed the kids, he said. And I said, Lets go. He and his family linked hands and dashed through a maze of vendor booths. The family crouched and took cover when the gunman fired, then ran when he paused. Buhr said it was a chaotic scene. Some people fell or got knocked over as they tried to escape, unaware where the bullets were flying from. People frantically looked for family and friends. Even after safely dashing a quarter mile back to their Strip hotel, the MGM Grand, Kelly Buhr said she feared that the shooting wouldnt be the last of the night. My whole thought was that wasnt the end of it, she said after arriving on a Southwest Airlines flight Monday evening at Omahas Eppley Airfield. Ambulance sirens and the thumping of helicopters circling their hotel Sunday night added to the anxiety and made sleep impossible. The couple told their daughters that no one would leave the hotel room that night. We didnt know what else to do, she said. It felt safe in the room. Is this really happening? Trent Bostwick, a 23-year-old concrete worker from Omaha, said people started fleeing the concert after realizing the initial burst of pops they heard werent fireworks. There was a pause, then shots started breaking out again, he said. Thats when everybody started fleeing. Bostwick and four friends with whom he attended the concert did what everyone else appeared to be doing. Youre running and we heard shots again, and everybody hit the ground, he said. Once they stop, we get up and run. It was pretty crazy. There was panic, he said. People were running everywhere. Bostwick and his friends one from Las Vegas and three from Indiana met Friday in Las Vegas for the country music festival. He arrived home in Omaha on Monday aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas less than 20 hours after the incident. The group clustered near the back of the concert venue. Bostwick said he was more confused than terrified during the incident. Is this really happening? he said he thought. Not until returning to his room at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club behind Planet Hollywood did Bostwick learn of deaths. By morning, the initial reports of two dead had risen to more than 50. Even now its unreal, he said. Insane. Eerie quiet, then more shots Justin Zimmerman of Dexter, Iowa, attended the concert with friends and had just stepped away to buy a round of beers when the gunfire erupted. At first, Zimmerman thought the sound was some type of electrical problem. Then the gunman fired more shots, the music stopped and it got eerie quiet, he said. Zimmerman said he dove to the ground and people scrambled to escape. I thought, Oh, my Lord, he said. Zimmerman eventually reconnected with his friends. Zimmerman said he didnt sleep at all Sunday night and still feels rattled. Its still running through me, he said. We just heard pop, pop, pop Don Wanek of Crete, Nebraska, was stepping off a bus at his Las Vegas hotel Sunday night when he heard the noise. We just heard pop, pop, pop, he said. Were like, thats gunfire. There were cop cars going by us left and right. Wanek was in Las Vegas for a travel agent convention and staying at a hotel near where the shooting occurred. He said he and his group of other travel agents dashed inside their hotel and gathered in one of their rooms to listen to a police scanner as the tragedy continued to unfold. It was scary, Wanek said. We were feeling thankful we were upstairs and safe. Ex-NU baseball player shot A former Nebraska baseball player was among the many injured in the Las Vegas shooting, according to the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald. Andrew Gudmunson of Minot, North Dakota, was shot and had undergone one surgery as of Monday afternoon, with more procedures ahead, the newspaper reported. Gudmunson was on the Husker baseball roster as a freshman in 2006, listed as an infielder. He did not compile any statistics as a Husker. He transferred to the University of North Dakota, where he played from 2007 to 2009. Iowans goal: Get out Jerry Bollard of Okoboji, Iowa, was in a nearby casino when the killings unfolded, and someone yelled that there was a shooter. He and a crowd ran out the back doors of the casino, but he still didnt feel safe, he said. There were rumors of multiple shooters, he said, which left him with a goal: 'Get out of there as far away as you can.'" You cant live in fear Betsy Peterson of Lincoln returned from Las Vegas on Monday evening and said the mood in Vegas was somber. Everyone was shocked, she said. She said that earlier in the weekend, she had been at the same venue where the shootings occurred. The tragedy, she said, wont keep her from returning to Las Vegas. You cant live in fear, she said. Chris Peterson, Betsys husband and a veteran Nebraska government affairs consultant, said the concern was obvious among employees at the locked-down Palazzo casino from which they watched late-night, televised news reports of the shooting. There was so much confusion over whether or not there were multiple shooters and whether there were shooters up and down the Strip, he said. The Petersons had been inside the Mandalay Bay the night before the shootings. We had a nice trip, but it sure was a somber ending, Chris Peterson said at Omahas Eppley Airfield after arriving Monday on a Southwest Airlines flight. UNL grad working on no sleep A recent University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate and current Las Vegas Review-Journal crime reporter worked overnight in Las Vegas to report on the mass shooting. Our staff, we care about this city, Mike Shoro said in a phone call after being awake for 24 hours. We keep wanting to wake up from a nightmare, but its real. Shoro, who previously worked as a World-Herald intern, interviewed people who fled from the concert. The concertgoers described chaos people running and knocking down barriers to escape. Late Monday morning, Shoro said he planned to sleep for a short time, then return to work to help. Certainly in a case like this, its been all hands on deck in the newsroom, he said. This is the news story for today, and I would imagine, for the next year. World-Herald staff writer Alia Conley and the Associated Press contributed to this report. LINCOLN Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday ordered all flags in the two states to be flown at half-staff to honor the shooting victims in Las Vegas. The governors made the announcement in accordance with a proclamation from President Donald Trump. Please join Susanne and I in keeping the victims and families of the horrifying tragedy in Las Vegas in our thoughts and prayers, Ricketts said. Flags will be at half-staff on the Iowa State Capitol Building and on flag displays in the Capitol Complex. Flags will also be half-staff on all public buildings, grounds and facilities throughout Iowa. A shooter opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas late Sunday, killing at least 58 people and injuring at least 515 others. Flags will be flown at half-staff until sunset on Friday. Oh, the places youll go! Unless, that is, youre 10 Dr. Seuss books donated by Melania Trump, and your planned destination is the shelves of the Cambridgeport School library. The first lady gave a collection of titles by the beloved childrens author to award-winning education programs around the country. As kids learn at school, when you get a gift, even if it is unappealing or unnecessary, you take it and say thanks. What you do after that is up to you. That is not what happened in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Instead, school librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro wrote a letter back to Trump informing her that we will not be keeping the titles for our collection. Why? Her school is relatively wealthy; its library shelves are well-supplied already. But on top of that, Seuss is a bit of a cliche and worse, hes a racist. To support her argument, Soeiro cites scholarly work on the minstrel characteristics of Seusss characters, or caricatures. The Cat in the Hat may have been based on blackface entertainers, and before his storybook career took off, Seuss sketched cartoons filled with racist stereotypes, particularly of Japanese people. OK. So Seuss had issues. But so did a vast array of other authors, including pretty much anyone writing before, say, 1930. And Dr. Seuss books contain plenty of other lessons more amenable to the forward-thinking, from The Loraxs hit-you-over-the-head environmentalism to the anti-fascism of Horton Hears a Who, Yertle the Turtle and The Sneetches. Seuss was also a champion for childrens literacy, the same cause Trump sought to promote when she sent out his books. Dismissing Seuss expansive oeuvre as racist propaganda is lazy. And if the photo some online sleuth discovered that looks an awful lot like librarian Soeiro dressed in a Cat-in-the-Hat outfit hugging Green Eggs and Ham to her chest is anything to go on, this anti-Seuss crusader doesnt actually disagree. A librarians role and Cambridgeports has a graduate degree in library science, so she should know it is to curate a collection that represents a diverse set of viewpoints over an extended period of time so readers can see the widest possible picture of the literary past and present. Her additional role as an educator is to provide students with the full context of any of those works, showing them how to understand the good, the bad and the ugly in it. No school employee has an obligation to fawn over an administration whose policies they see as antithetical to their mission as an educator, and Soeiros letter does include separate critiques of Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss agenda. But the way she chose to lash out against DeVos regime by rejecting a well-intentioned gift on disingenuous grounds doesnt seem in line with that mission, either. Soeiros letter to the first lady included a list of 10 books that challenge the traditional literary canon. They include the tale of a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who breaks a taboo against female drummers, the saga of a Pakistani boys victory over a bully in a kite battle and a story starring a Haitian American mother incarcerated because she is undocumented. In other words, the books on the list aim to help children go places that Dr. Seuss never imagined. Good. Thats Soeiros job. Adding Trumps choices to the stacks certainly wont keep her from doing it. Mourners lay flowers to the victims of Sunday's deadly Istanbul bombing that killed at least 8 people and injured 79. Turkey's.. euronews (in English) 14 Nov 2022 Rumble 22 Sep 2022 In this episode of the Curious Realm, we are joined by investigator and head of 5x5 News, Mike Turber to discuss the circumstances.. Rumble 13 Oct 2022 The only Metro Officer that was killed by the gunfire was off duty at the route 91 country music festival according to Sheriff Joe.. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. In the week ending 29 September, 2017, Steve Cohen has sent investors documents for the upcoming launch of his new hedge fund, Stamford Harbor Capital; Mike Novogratz is starting a $500 million hedge fund to invest in cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings and related companies; Optima Fund is making available its Optima STAR Long Strategy in Europe; Asia Frontier launched the Luxembourg domiciled AFC Asia Frontier Fund which invests in the Frontier economies of Asia; Capital Fund Management has launched an Australian trend-following trust; former Sprott Asset Management team leader James Fox has launched Ninepoint Partners; and Zurich-based Eniso Partners has unveiled a new FX strategy. David Perry plans to end the main operations of TeamCo Advisers by early 2018 and ultimately shut the firm; Louis Dreyfus Holding BV will close by the end of 2017, joining a wave of commodity investment vehicles that have shut; and Whitney Tilson said he is shutting down his fund at a time when industry assets are growing but returns continue to lag. The Lyxor Hedge Fund Index was slightly up with 0.1% returns from 12 September to 19 (+0.9% YTD); The Wilshire Liquid Alternative Index returned 0.4% in August, outpacing the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index's 0.3% return; And the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index was up +0.6...................... To view our full article Click here The Oregon Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a pastor sentenced to prison for sexually abusing a girl who grew up in his Happy Valley church. Mike Sperou The court affirmed the conviction of Mike Sperou without opinion on Wednesday, records show. A Multnomah County jury convicted Sperou in 2015 on three counts of first-degree sexual penetration of a person under the age of 12, and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He's being held in the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, and records list his earliest release date as December 27, 2032. In 1997, seven girls complained that Sperou, co-founder of the North Clackamas Bible Community, had molested them. No charges were brought because the girls' stories were inconsistent or vague. The allegations came on the heels of a split in the church, leading to the exit of several families. In 2013, the girls -- by then adult women -- again brought their complaints to police. After an investigation, authorities found that the statute of limitations had expired on all of the complaints except those raised by one woman, who then offered additional details not previously considered. The other six women were allowed to tell the jury about their own experiences with Sperou, who's now 67, during the trial. Defense attorney Steven L. Sherlag previously said he intended to appeal Sperou's conviction to the Oregon Court of Appeals. He said the judge's ruling constituted "reversible error" when she allowed six additional women not listed as victims in the case to offer graphic testimony of their experiences with Sperou when they were girls. -- The Oregonian/OregonLive Oregon's largest school district has a permanent leader running the show for the first time since mid-July of 2016. Ending 14-plus months of interim leadership, Guadalupe Guerrero, until now a deputy superintendent of San Francisco schools, began work as head of Portland Public Schools today. He has a lot on his plate. The district's headquarters is rife with vacancies, including an assistant superintendent and key budget officials. Officials have been unable to recruit and retain enough talented principals, and plans to replace K-8 schools that are delivering watered-down options to too many minority and low-income middle grades students are behind schedule and kicking up a lot of controversy. The dysfunction that allowed an educator dogged by complaints of sexual misconduct to dodge consequences for years haven't been fixed. Portland's school board has expressed high hopes the first-time superintendent will be able to deliver. Parents, students, board members and taxpayers will be watching with high hopes. Guerrero spent part of his first morning at a Portland school buffeted by challenges and change: Cesar Chavez K-8 school. The North Portland school, which has seen heavy turnover in its leadership and faculty in recent years, was abruptly given a new principal, TJ Fuller, on Thursday. Paige Kelsey, who was appointed to her first principal's job in Portland Public Schools over the summer, was expected to lead the school all year but left less than five weeks in. The district's announcement of Fuller's move to Chavez, which yanked him out of Rigler School where he had just begun his his third year as Rigler principal, did not say a word about Kelsey's departure. Rigler Vice Principal Jennifer Fontana stepped up Thursday to lead that school. Authorities have rescued a Portland teen who became lost and got mild hypothermia during a solo hike, according to the Linn County Sheriff's Office. The 16-year-old girl called dispatchers at 8:35 p.m. Saturday minutes after a friend reported the girl had gotten lost on a hike to Marion Lake and that the girl's parents weren't aware of the trip, the sheriff's office said in a news release. The lost girl said she had taken a wrong turn and wasn't equipped for the weather, which the agency said was near freezing overnight. The agency said search and rescue personnel responded to a trailhead leading to the lake, and found the teen's car. Four rescuers hiked about seven miles and found her around 4:20 a.m. Sunday. She was about three miles south of Marion Lake on the Blue Lake Trail, according to the sheriff's office. The agency said rescuers made a warming fire, aided the girl and gave her food, liquids and dry clothes. Rescuers, including members of the sheriff's office's Mounted Posse, escorted the girl to a different trailhead Sunday morning, the sheriff's office said. She and her mother were later reunited at the trailhead. The agency didn't publicly identify the girl. Marion Lake sits in Linn County and inside the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. The Oregonian/OregonLive The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case that could have tested Oregon's unusual system of allowing nonunanimous jury verdicts, dealing a blow to critics who claim the rule is unconstitutional. Oregon and Louisiana will remain the only states to allow juries to convict most felony defendants with a 10-2 vote, though Oregon still requires a unanimous vote to find defendants guilty of murder. The federal government and all other states require a 12-0 verdict for crimes such as manslaughter, rape and arson. Lawyers for defendant Dale Lambert had petitioned the nation's high court to review Louisiana's jury law, claiming that such statutes deprive some defendants of equal protection under the law and should be ruled as unconstitutional. Lambert, 30, was convicted in 2015 of second-degree murder by a 10-2 jury vote in Louisiana's Orleans Parish. Previously, the Supreme Court upheld Oregon and Louisiana's jury laws in 1972 and has declined to hear cases challenging Oregon's 10-2 jury verdicts since as recently as 2009. But criminal justice reform advocates who believe nonunanimous juries are deeply flawed and punitive toward nonwhite defendants had hoped the court's recent interest in cases involving race and juries could compel a new hearing. That did not happen. "While the Supreme Court chose not to hear the nonunanimous jury case, the fact remains that Oregon's nonunanimous jury system is a relic of anti-Semitism and xenophobia, and it dilutes minority voices today," said Aliza Kaplan, a professor at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, where she directs the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic. The clinic submitted a brief in support of Lambert's petition, which was one of some 2,000 appeals submitted to the Supreme Court over the summer. Earlier this year, Kaplan published an article in the Oregon Law Review that argued how nonunanimous juries undermined the state's criminal just system. The Supreme Court rejected all but a tiny fraction of the petitions it received, though it has agreed to take up a number of major criminal justice issues next year. Among them: cases that look at digital privacy, vehicle searches by police and plea bargains. Louisiana's majority verdict system was adopted during the state's 1898 constitutional convention to diminish the influence of black jurors upon verdicts, scholars claim. In Oregon nearly four decades later, it was a sensational murder trial involving a Jewish suspect that prompted voters in 1934 to adopt the nonunanimous jury system, according to advocates and legal scholars. Though declined by the high court, Oregon legislators still have the ability to refer a proposal to voters to change the system back to a 12-0 vote, which would likely spark a multimillion-dollar ballot fight. State lawmakers have not tackled the issue of nonunanimous juries since it first recommended a public vote in 1934 In an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive last month, Kaplan said the rule is likely to limit evidence-based jury deliberations and increase wrongful convictions. It may also marginalize minority jurors whose votes aren't needed, she said. Some of Oregon's most seasoned prosecutors, who support the state's unique jury system, disagree with that characterization. "They simply result in fewer hung juries and not more convictions," said Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis. "This system empowers jurors. And victims of crimes." -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh skavanaugh@oregonian.com 503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh Congressman Earl Blumenauer called for new gun control legislation Monday, hours after a gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas casino, killing 58 and wounding at least 515. The Portland Democrat said statements from some Republicans and conservatives that nothing could have been done to stop the mass shooting are "just wrong." He said the Republican-led Congress should consider his plan for reducing gun violence, which he first released in 2015. The plan includes proposals that no one be able to sell a firearm without a background check, the mental health care system better respond to people at risk of suicide by gun, researchers and the federal government be permitted to study gun violence, certain firearms be barred from public places, and consumer protection laws regulate guns. "The solutions shouldn't be hard but sadly, none of the proposals I've laid out have even been considered by Congress," said Blumenauer. "From Orlando to Roseburg, and now Las Vegas, the carnage has only continued. 'Thoughts and prayers' will not stop future tragedy. Enough is enough. My hope is that sanity will prevail, and Republican leadership in Congress will muster up the courage to act." It's unlikely that Congress will act. Even if they did, President Trump may not sign new gun control legislation. In his statement Monday, Trump did not mention gun control or call for a change in policy. Asked if now is the time for a renewed debate about gun control, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters it would be "premature" to discuss policy changes while the law enforcement investigation into the shooting is still underway. "There's a time and place for a political debate," Sanders said, "but now is the time to unite as a country." -- Gordon R. Friedman 503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman Officers are investigating a Sunday robbery at a Northeast Portland tavern, police said. An Ace Tavern employee told police two people came into the bar and demanded money, the Portland Police Bureau said in a news release. One of them showed a handgun, the employee said. The duo got an undisclosed amount of cash and left, police said. No one was injured. Police said they're not releasing descriptions of the suspects "at this time" and that the robbery remains under investigation. Officers initially responded to the tavern, 8868 N.E. Sandy Blvd., around 12:50 p.m. Police ask anyone who has information about the robbery to call the bureau's Robbery Detail at 503-823-0405. The Oregonian/OregonLive Tuesday 3 October 2017 4:35pm Professor Parry Guilford Professor Parry Guilford, an internationally renowned cancer genetics and biology expert, has been selected as the Universitys latest recipient of the Distinguished Research Medal, the University of Otagos highest distinction. The University awards the Medal for outstanding scholarly achievement, including the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge, the development of innovative technology, or the development of concepts that lead to significant advances. Announcing the honour Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne extended her warmest congratulations to Professor Guilford, who she says is the very model of an excellent scientist who has not only produced ground-breaking research, but also worked assiduously to translate it into commercially-available products that are benefiting cancer patients around the world. Not only has Parry Guilford made fantastic achievements in cancer diagnostics and prognostics, he has also formed strong bonds and worked closely with a number of groups affected by several of the cancers he studies, Professor Hayne says. Among the most well-known of his outstanding national and international contributions to the fields of cancer biology and cancer genetics is his work in identifying the first known gene for fatal inherited gastric cancer, which has allowed many lives to be saved worldwide. The genesis of this discovery came after a partnership with an affected North Island Maori whanau who came to the Universitys Cancer Genetics Laboratory hoping for help in understanding why so many of their family members were dying of the disease. Professor Guilford and colleagues were able to develop a simple genetic test to determine which family members would benefit from early intervention (through stomach surgery) to eliminate their risk. Since then the test has been deployed around the world. Previously, there was a 70 per cent death rate for carriers of the mutations involved, but now most mutation carriers lead largely normal lives. His work as Chief Scientist Officer with Pacific Edge Ltd, a spin-off from his research at the University, guided the notable success of this young New Zealand company with the development of CxBladder, a urine test for bladder cancer. This test, which reduces the need for painful bladder cystoscopies and reduces healthcare costs, is increasingly being used in the US and by New Zealands District Health Boards. He is also working on new ways to fight lobular breast cancer (the second-most common type of the disease) and diffuse type stomach cancer by investigating the approach of synthetic lethal targeting, to see whether cancer cells that lack an important tumour suppressor gene have vulnerabilities that can be targeted with particular drugs. Professor Guilford says his initial interest in medical research was inspired by an electron microscope photo in his School Certificate Science text book of a virus perched on the surface of a bacterial cell, prior to forced entry of that cell. It was a scene of exquisite brutality that stimulated my interest in the molecular basis of disease. This fascination has seen Professor Guilford go on to pursue an impressive career beginning with an Otago MSc followed by a PhD from Cambridge. His world-leading studies led to him gaining New Zealands most coveted scientific honours, including the Royal Societys Sir Charles Hercus Medal, The Health Research Councils Beaven Medal for Translational Health Research and his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. His research, which has resulted in 82 publications in peer-reviewed journals has received major support by funding bodies such as the Marsden Fund and the HRC. He is currently director of the Universitys Centre for Translational Cancer Research. Professor Guilford says his teams research over the last few years has built a strong understanding of new cancer diagnostic methods and also the molecular basis of both familial and sporadic stomach cancer. The challenge now is to pull many new threads of information together as quickly as possible and turn them into new, practical tools for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Im delighted to receive this honour, but Ive only been able to achieve what I have thanks to the close support of many colleagues over the years, he says. Professor Guilford paid particular tribute to his research supervisors (Associate Professor Merv Smith and Professor Sir David Baulcombe) and his former group leaders (Dr Richard Forster, Professor Christine Petit and Emeritus Professor Tony Reeve) for their nurturing of his scientific endeavours. I must make special mention of Tony, who has guided my career for many years sometimes bluntly more often discreetly, but generally in the right direction. Also, all the patients and families affected by cancer who have contributed to our research this medal is for them. Finally, I would like to acknowledge my family for putting up with the countless lost looks as I have tried to build my own imaginary vision of the sub-microscopic world where the battle for our health is played out. The Distinguished Research Medal will be presented to Professor Guilford when he delivers a public lecture in November this year. For more information, contact: Professor Parry Guilford Department of Biochemistry /Centre for Translational Cancer Research University of Otago Tel +64 3 479 7673 Email parry.guilford@otago.ac.nz McLean County Orthopedics welcomes new surgeon BLOOMINGTON McLean County Orthopedics, Ltd. (MCO) is pleased to welcome Shaun A. Kink, M.D., to the active medical team as an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon. Dr. Kink is an orthopedic surgeon who recently completed his fellowship in Boston, Mass. He comes to MCO from the Massachusetts General Hospital Foot and Ankle Fellowship at Harvard University. Prior to his time in Boston, Dr. Kink completed his residency in Grand Rapids, Mich., at Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners and his medical degree in East Lansing, Mich., at Michigan State University. Dr. Kink is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle surgery, who also possesses his pharmaceutical license and was a practicing pharmacist prior to returning to medical school. McLean County Orthopedics is happy to announce Dr. Kink will join the practice this fall. Dr. Kink will make an excellent addition to the team and is excited to take on new patients and provide you with comprehensive foot and ankle care. Dr. Kink is happy to call the Bloomington-Normal area his new home. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Kink, call McLean County Orthopedics at 309-663-6461 or visit them at mcleancountyorthopedics.com. Conroy completes Graduate School of Banking program TREMONT First Farmers State Bank Vice President Joe Conroy has been awarded a diploma at commencement exercises during the 73rd annual session of the prestigious Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Graduate School of Banking, sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and state bankers associations across the central United States, was established in 1945 to provide bankers with an opportunity for advanced study and research in banking, economics and leadership. Instruction takes place during two-week resident sessions for three consecutive summers, along with comprehensive study between summer resident sessions. The curriculum focuses on managing strategic issues faced by banking executives and financial services industry professionals. The Graduate School of Banking enrolls approximately 600 professionals each year. More than 85 esteemed academicians, economists, government officials and industry professionals comprise the schools faculty. Conroy earned an agribusiness, farm, and financial management degree from the University of Illinois in 2001. He has been with First Farmers since 2009 and has 15 years of banking experience. Conroy and his wife, Brooke, have four children and live in Tremont. SAN JOSE, Calif. Grocery shopping can feel like you're navigating through an obstacle course filled with crowded parking lots, long lines and screaming kids. But a growing number of Americans are checking off their grocery lists without even walking inside the store. San Francisco resident Allison Howard gets her groceries delivered to her home about once a week through Instacart. The busy mother of four places an order online for items in at least two or three stores, including Costco, where time flies when you're munching on free samples. "It's just a huge time savings when I think about those extra five and a half hours I have," said Howard, who has been using Instacart for more than three years. "That makes it pretty much a no-brainer for me." Tech companies including Amazon, Google and Instacart have been teaming up with retailers to expand online grocery shopping. Companies also have been experimenting with ways to make picking up groceries inside the store, or delivery, easier. "The ones that jumped in on the early side it was a little risky but they saw the potential. Now these retailers are really starting to reap the benefits," said Patricia Orsini, an analyst with eMarketer. About 23 percent of American households are buying their groceries online, according to a 2017 study by the Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen. Online grocery spending has the potential to grow fivefold to more than $100 billion in 2025, the report stated. While shopping online can be more convenient, some shoppers want to make sure they get the freshest fruits and vegetables by touching and seeing the produce in person. Shane Caudle, owner of The SPOT on 25th cafe in Silicon Valley, said he prefers to shop in person to guarantee he buys the freshest produce. "One of the things I tell people at the cafe is I go out every single day and pick all the produce myself," he said. With his business just a few miles away from a grocery store, he's also noticed that online shopping costs more because of the delivery fees. Not being able to see the groceries in person was one mental hurdle that Howard said she eventually got over. Online grocery shopping also had other quirks. A bag of flour she received from Costco one day was much larger than she pictured in her mind. Grocery stores have been expanding the availability of online shopping in cities throughout the United States. Walmart customers can order groceries online and pick them up at the store on the same day. The retailer, which opened its 1,000th online grocery pickup location this month, also joined forces with Google. Walmart is also now letting customers shop for items on Google Express the Mountain View, Calif.-based tech firm's shopping and delivery service and reorder household essentials just by speaking to Google's virtual assistant. When Amazon purchased Whole Foods, the e-commerce giant not only slashed prices but made the grocery store's own branded products available through Amazon's website and grocery delivery service. Amazon employees also have been testing a store in Seattle, where shoppers can pick up their items without having to wait in a checkout line. Instacart recently expanded its service in the Bay Area, allowing more consumers to get items delivered from Smart & Final, Safeway, Whole Foods, Target and other stores. Smart & Final, with locations in the Western U.S., last month launched its own website for grocery delivery powered by Instacart, which promises same-day delivery in as little as an hour. "It's not necessarily that we've seen a shift so far, but we've seen new customers introduced to the Smart & Final brand," said Joe VanDette, Smart & Final's vice president of digital marketing. "In turn, we've seen a lot of crossover with those customers going into our stores and experiencing what we have to offer." Bay Area resident Maria Irma Aguilar uses Walmart's and Safeway's websites to grocery shop online with her son, who attends college in Arizona. "We were sending him money and he was just eating out or spending his money foolishly," she said. Now, the mother and son get on the phone every two weeks to purchase groceries online. She's even walked him through how to cook a recipe, through FaceTime. "He learned how to cook for himself, and now he's not eating out as much or the junk food as he was eating before," she said. At a Bay Area Smart & Final store, Instacart full-service shopper La Tigre Waters wasted no time picking out bananas, asparagus and other items on a customer's shopping list. With about 40 minutes to shop and deliver the groceries, she strategically placed her cart to the side, scanned the aisles and gathered vegetables so she only made one trip to the scale. She knew that dried apricots were located on a bottom shelf. When an item was out of stock, she alerted the customer through the app. "It's a very attentive job," she said. "Notice I took a step back, analyzed everything at once and then went in and made sure the only one I touched was the right one." And while time was winding down, the quality of the items was also on her mind. BLOOMINGTON Eastern Illinois Foodbank will distribute food to hungry area families from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 21 at Western Avenue Community Center, 600 N. Western Ave., Bloomington. McLean County residents who meet income eligibility criteria and need food are invited. To be eligible, a household must have an income at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level or $3,746 per month for a family of four. Residents are asked to bring boxes or bags to transport food. The distribution is part of the foodbank's Foodmobile Program, which is mobile pantries designed to bring nutritious food to areas of need. Local companies and organizations are asked to contribute the value of a one-day distribution ($3,000) and participate in the distribution. According to Feeding America, the nation's network of food banks, 14 percent of eastern Illinois residents sometimes lack adequate access to food. Eastern Illinois Foodbank works to alleviate hunger in 17 counties in cooperation with a network of food pantries, agencies and programs. More information is at www.eifoodbank.org. "White supremacist": It's a label that's come to dominate our conversations in the wake of deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, but it's also one that has a deeply rooted history in the United States. As the FBI would tell you, the effort to disrupt violent hate groups and combat the threat of homegrown terrorism has been going on for decades. In fact, one of the Bureau's most remarkable investigations revolves around a white supremacist group that existed more than 30 years ago. It was known as "The Order." In order to dismantle it, the FBI had to rely on a skilled undercover agent to methodically gather intel against the group. In new interviews with CNN's series "Declassified," the agents involved describe what it took to see The Order fall. Going undercover It was the early 1980s, and white supremacist leaders were beginning to lure followers from multiple extremist groups with the intention of recruiting them to stage revolts against the US government, which they believed to be under heavy Jewish influence. To build a case, the FBI sent a single agent to a small city in northern Idaho called Coeur D'Alene. It was home to the racist religious group The Aryan Nations.The Northwest Pacific region was also home to a group called The Order, which at the time was a lesser known religious and political terrorist organization. To infiltrate this world, the FBI tapped Special Agent Wayne Manis. He'd been working undercover for the Bureau since 1967, and had gained experience investigating hate groups like the New Left in Chicago and the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama. He knew how to deal with radical idealism, and was familiar with their methods to organize into larger ranks. Gathering intelligence But before Manis and his FBI colleagues could launch a full federal investigation in Idaho, agents had to demonstrate to the US attorney general the presence of a real threat to the United States and its interests. For agents like Manis, this meant most days were spent gathering intelligence to prove that threat. Working alone, Manis spent months sifting through records trying to connect the dots between several crimes in Coeur D'Alene. After meeting with local law enforcement, Manis was able to narrow the scope of his investigation. "We pinpointed about five or six different crimes and probably 30 or 40 different people. That was sort of the beginning of the playbook," Manis recalled. Further investigation proved the network was larger than originally suspected. The Order was led by Robert Mathews, a known white supremacist in his early 30s with ties to anti-Semitic groups. Agents described Mathews as charismatic. "He had been involved in the right-wing movement, especially the National Alliance for years," retired FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Tom McDaniel told CNN's "Declassified." Tracking the crimes At first, when Manis arrived in Idaho, he was not aware of The Order or Mathews, but after following months of research Manis would discover the new subject of his investigation and begin to put the crimes together. To fund operations, The Order robbed several banks and attacked armored trucks. After accumulating more than $3.5 million, the group was well situated to move forward with their mission, which at that point remained a mystery to the FBI. The Order's first attacks targeted a synagogue in Boise. No one was reported hurt. Two months later, the group murdered Jewish radio host Alan Berg outside of his Denver home, the FBI said. Manis now had enough information to get approval from the Department of Justice. "I commenced my investigation in about March of 1984, and finally in July I got the authorization to do a full-scale domestic security investigation of the terrorist organization called The Order," Manis recalled. Eventually, according to the University of Maryland's Global Terrorism Database, the FBI was able to tie The Order to an eye-opening series of crimes, including: September 1983 -- counterfeiting December 1983 -- bank robbery January 1984 -- bank robbery March 1984 -- armored car robbery April 1984 -- armored car robbery April 1984 -- synagogue bombing June 1984 -- murder of radio host Alan Berg July 1984 -- armored car robbery Finding 'The Turner Diaries' With the backing of the DOJ, the FBI sent a large team of agents to help Manis, who began to catch up with Mathews and other members of The Order. They traced motels where suspects had stayed. They tracked the phone calls they made and vehicles they used. Manis and his team successfully placed an informant inside The Order who led them to Mathews and "The Turner Diaries," a work of fiction by neo-Nazi leader William Luther Pierce written under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald. The story depicts the violent overthrow of the US government and the extermination of all non-white enemies. Mathews, a follower of Pierce, took the name of his group from the book and used it to guide his decisions as the group leader. "They were following 'Turner Diaries' like a map," ex-FBI agent McDaniel recalled. "It's a scary thought because the principal character in 'The Turner Diaries' blew up FBI headquarters." In the novel, a resistance movement sparked by white nationalists gains control of the government and furthers their mission to attack and disenfranchise non-whites. Equipped with the plot Mathews was following, agents tracked his movements more closely. "Through some informants ... we were able to locate the whereabouts of Bob Mathews and six members of The Order at his hideout on Whidbey Island on the Puget Sound in Washington," Manis said. Agents closed in on the hideout in December of 1984. Mathews was holed up in a house. "We did everything we could to get him out of there," Manis said. When the FBI moved in, Mathews began shooting, and the FBI returned gunfire. "While all this was going on, the house caught fire. The fire was from a flare that was in the bottom of the house," Manis said. "The shooting continued all night. It was a war zone." "At daylight I walked up to the cabin and I found Bob's body lying in the rubble," Manis said. Mathews had died in the burning house, and six other members of The Order were arrested at the scene, Manis said. In the following weeks, additional agents were sent into the field to find other members of The Order. As the FBI started making arrests, some suspects would offer valuable information that led to the capture of other members. "We really broke the back of The Order at that point," said retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Donald Wofford, who also worked the case. A two-month trial resulted in several convictions on racketeering charges. Ten members of The Order were sent to prison to serve substantial sentences, Wofford said. The fight continues "The Turner Diaries" would remain popular among white supremacists and continue to inspire domestic terrorism, according to authorities. A decade after the fall of The Order, Pierce's novel would serve as a blueprint for one of the deadliest domestic terrorist attacks in American history. On April 19, 1995, Timothy J. McVeigh, an anti-government terrorist, detonated a truck filled with explosives outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. McVeigh's attack left more than 500 people injured and killed 168, including 19 children. "He'd read 'The Turner Diaries' and he picked up where The Order left off," Manis said. More than 20 years after the tragedy at Oklahoma City, the former agents say the Justice Department still finds it necessary to go undercover to gather intelligence on violent white supremacist groups and other domestic terrorist threats. On August 12, the racially charged protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, which led to the death of 32-year-old counterprotester Heather Heyer -- provided a disturbing reminder that racial intolerance still fuels deadly violence. "The belief system is still here," Manis said. "It's still with us." LAS VEGAS A gunman perched on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel-casino unleashed a hail of bullets on an outdoor country music festival below, killing at least 58 people as tens of thousands of concertgoers screamed and ran for their lives, officials said Monday. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. At least 515 others were injured in the Sunday night attack, authorities said. SWAT teams using explosives stormed the gunman's hotel room in the sleek, gold-colored glass skyscraper and found he had killed himself, authorities said. He had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles, they said. There was no word on a motive for the attack. Aaron Rouse, the FBI agent in charge in Las Vegas, said investigators saw no immediate evidence connecting it to an international terror organization, despite a claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group. Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the attack was the work of a "crazed lunatic full of hate." As for why he went on the murderous rampage, his brother in Florida, Eric Paddock, told reporters: "I can't even make something up. There's just nothing." A bell tolled three times as a solemn President Donald Trump paused on the White House South Lawn for a moment of silence in honor of the victims of Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas. Flanked by first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, Trump walked out onto the lawn for the memorial moment Monday afternoon. The White House's flag stood at half-staff overhead. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing Sunday night at the end of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival in front of a crowd of more than 22,000 when the gunman opened fire from inside the 44-floor Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street. The gunman was identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada. He had checked into the hotel room on Thursday, authorities said. Police said he was a retiree with no criminal record in the Nevada county where he lived. Eric Paddock told the Orlando Sentinel: "We are completely dumbfounded. We can't understand what happened." In an address to the country, Trump called the attack "an act of pure evil" and added: "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has." He ordered flags flown at half-staff. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said authorities believe it was a "lone wolf" attack. And the U.S. Homeland Security Department said there was no "specific credible threat" involving other public venues in the U.S. In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said the gunman was "a soldier" who had converted to Islam months ago. But it provided no evidence. Attorney General Jeff Sessions offered the support of the FBI and other federal agencies but noted that the investigation is being led by the sheriff in Las Vegas. That was seen as another possible sign the shooting was not believed to be an act of international terrorism. Las Vegas authorities put out a call for blood donations and set up a hotline to report missing people and speed the identification of the dead and wounded. They also opened a "family reunification center" for people to find loved ones. Aldean was in the middle of a song when the shots came rapidly: pop-pop-pop-pop. Video showed Aldean stopping and the crowd getting quiet as if it were unsure of what had happened. The gunman paused and then fired another volley, the muzzle flashes visible from the casino, as victims fell to the ground while others fled in panic. Some hid behind concession stands, while others crawled under parked cars. Kodiak Yazzie, 36, said the music stopped temporarily when the first shots began and then started up again before the second round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," Yazzie said. "You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash, flash, flash, flash." Monique Dumas, of British Columbia, Canada, said she was at the concert, six rows from the stage, when she thought she heard a bottle breaking, then a burst of pops that sounded liked fireworks. Couples held hands as they ran through the dirt lot. Faces were etched with shock and confusion, and people wept and screamed. Some were bloodied, and some were carried out by fellow concertgoers. Dozens of ambulances took away the wounded, while some people loaded victims into their cars and drove them to the hospital. Police shut down busy Las Vegas Boulevard, and federal and state authorities converged on the scene. Interstate 15 was briefly closed, and flights at McCarran International Airport were suspended. Hospital emergency rooms were jammed with the wounded. Rep. Ruben Kihuen, a Democrat whose congressional district includes a portion of Las Vegas, visited a hospital were some of the victims were taken and said: "Literally, every single bed was being used, every single hallway was being used. Every single person there was trying to save a life." The dead included at least three off-duty police officers from various departments who were attending the concert, authorities said. Two on-duty officers were wounded, one critically, police said. "It's a devastating time," the sheriff said. Nearly every inch of the Las Vegas Strip is under video surveillance, much of it set up by the casinos to monitor their properties. That could yield a wealth of material for investigators as they try to piece together the attack. Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and that the shooting was "beyond horrific." "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," the country star said. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman who professed support for Muslim extremist groups opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. Sunday's shooting came more than four months after a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. Almost 90 people were killed by gunmen inspired by Islamic State at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris during a performance by Eagles of Death Metal in 2015. Endless source of couple #inspo, 21 Savage and Amber Rose, have shared their love in almost every setting across every platform, but now 21 Savage has come out to swinging for Amber in her ongoing battle against misogyny, sexual injustice and gender inequality. Dream man. The rapper joined Rose on her annual SlutWalk in LA, sporting an "I'm a Hoe, Too" sign at his lady's side. For her part, Amber donned a sexy "Captain Save a Hoe" outfit in honor of the event, which also shines a light on rape culture and "provides a safe, all-inclusive space to entertain, educate, and empower." Look at them. Bless, little angels. Support us all, 21. 21 and Amber, a relationship capable of lighting up this very, very dark day. [h/t The Fader] Image via Getty Germany became the 15th European country to legalize same-sex marriage this June. Yesterday, the law went into effect and Karle Kreile and Bodo Mende, who met 38 years ago, became the first German gay couple to be legally married. "This is an emotional moment with great symbolism," Kreile told The New York Times. "The transition to the term 'marriage' shows that the German state recognizes us as real equals." Karl and Bodo have become the first same-sex couple to get married in Germany pic.twitter.com/BJnYbtG6f7 ITV News (@itvnews) October 2, 2017 Kreile and Mended reportedly tried to marry in 1992 but were turned away at the registry office. They settled for a registered partnership, then legal under German law, but a civil union offered fewer rights than those given to married couples. (Under the new law, for instance, gay married couples have full legal rights to adopt children together). German Chancellor Angela Merkel has long-resisted legalizing same-sex marriage, though in June she began to be publicly open to the idea. She said she was more open to lawmakers voting based on their individual beliefs, but still voted against marriage equality when the German parliament officially voted to legalize it this summer. [h/t Jezebel] A new law now requires French advertisements to disclose to consumers if they have altered a model's body to appear thinner. According to the BBC, the ads are required to carry a disclaimer that says "Photographie retouchee" ("edited photograph") or face a 37,500 ($44,102) fine or 30 percent of the cost of creating the ad. France has the lowest body-mass index (BMI) of any European country, and the health ministry reported that 600,000 French citizens suffer from anorexia. Former health minister Marisol Touraine, who introduced the new law, told the Telegraph the law is meant "to avoid promoting inaccessible ideals of beauty and to prevent anorexia among young people." This year, two Paris-based luxury fashion conglomerates banned underweight and underage models from their runway shows, and Getty announced last week that photographers couldn't significantly alter models' bodies. [h/t The Cut] Image via Getty A new reports reveals that a federal judge ruled on Saturday that the FBI does not have to disclose the name of the vendor, and how much it was paid by the government for a hacking tool that unlocked the iPhone of a terrorist behind the San Bernardino, California attacks that left 14 people dead. The development of the unlocking tool ended what was one of the biggest legal showdowns in the technology space, one in which Apple was fighting a judge's order last year to provide the FBI with software to enable investigators to unlock the iPhone 5C of Syed Rizwan Farook. Farook was one of two shooters behind the December, 2015 attack at a San Bernardino County facility that left himand wife Tashfeen Malikdead. Apple had argued that the law didn't require it to create software, or a "backdoor," to enable the government to unlock its customers' encrypted devices. The Associated Press, USA Today, and Vice Media sued the FBI in a bid to force the agency to reveal the name of the vendor that cracked the iPhone. The Freedom of Information Act lawsuit also demanded to know how much taxpayers paid for the crack. Though at the end of the day US District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the District of Columbia agreed with the government that naming the vendor could put the company and its tools susceptible to a "cyberattack." Read more at Ars Technica. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. The Apple-Qualcomm war has been ranging on since 2017 began as you can see by the 18 reports that they've posted this year at the bottom of this report. Now a new dimension could be in works in Europe that could alter patent infringement cases in the future. According to a new report today we learn that the European Union is drawing up guidelines on how much patent holders should charge for their technologies, a thorny issue that pits Apple and other users against Qualcomm and Ericsson. The Reuters report further noted that "Trillions of dollars in sales are at stake as regulators ponder whether a fridge maker should pay a different rate for crucial patents than a carmaker, or whether a flat, fixed rate would be fairer. The patent fee model used by world No. 1 smartphone chip designer Qualcomm predominates in the tech industry and is based on how much value a technology adds to a product, but is opposed by Apple and others in Silicon Valley. Other models are in use and the EU aims to set a uniform one for Europe, opening a new front in a global dispute that has already seen multiple lawsuits between Apple and Qualcomm. Antti Peltomaki, deputy director general at the European Commission, told a conference last week that the EU hopes to finalise its guidelines by the end of the year. They will not be legally binding but could provide a basis if the EU executive decides to enact rules in future. Qualcomm's patent fee model is based on the widely used so-called "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory" (FRAND) licensing model. The European Commission, however, has yet to make a final decision on which technology patent fee model it favours. Qualcomm's approach sets royalty rates based on the proportion of 'added value' the patented technology provides to the completed product. Its previous patent licensing deal with Apple, for example, allowed it to take a percentage of the overall selling price for the iPhone, in exchange for supplying it with modem chips. Lobbying group the App Association (ACT), whose sponsors include Apple, Facebook, Intel and Microsoft, urged the Commission not to rush into setting new guidelines." Apple Qualcomm Battle History The battle between Apple and Qualcomm has been raging since 2017 began and the battle history as we've covered it is noted below. Jan 17, 2017: The U.S. Fair Trade Commission Sues Qualcomm for Forcing Apple to use its Chips in iDevices Jan 20, 2017 - Apple Sues Qualcomm for $1 Billion Claiming Unfair Exclusionary Tactics and Charging Excessive Royalties Jan 22, 2017: Apple's Full lawsuit against Qualcomm Comes to Light Revealing Secret Licensing Agreements and more Jan 25, 2017: Apple takes their War against Qualcomm to Beijing China Jan 25, 2017: While Qualcomm is Guilty of Gouging Asian Smartphone OEMs, the Chip Maker Believes that Apple is the Problem March 02, 2017: Apple has launched a new Lawsuit against Qualcomm in the U.K. April 11, 2017: Qualcomm Fires Back at Apple with Counterclaims Lawsuit Claiming Breach of Contract and more April 28, 2017: Qualcomm Lowers Q3 Fiscal 2017 Guidance due to Apple Holding back Royalty Payments May 03, 2017: Qualcomm Plans Retaliation against Apple and ask the International Trade Commission to Stop iPhone Sales May 12, 2017 - The FTC Responds to Qualcomm's Motion to dismiss their case about Monopoly Power, Samsung & Intel File Amicus Briefs May 17, 2017: New Court Filing Details Qualcomm Suing Apple's iPhone Suppliers for withholding Royalty Payments July 06, 2017: Qualcomm Files another Patent Infringement Complaint against Apple with International Trade Commission June 20, 2017: Apple has asked the Court to Stop Qualcomm's Double Dipping 'No License, No Chips' Market Tactic July 19, 2017: Apple joins in new Lawsuit against Qualcomm filed by Suppliers Hon Hai, Pegatron, Wistron and Compal July 21, 2017: Intel Files Statement with ITC claiming Qualcomm is trying to Force them out of the Modem Business with Apple Aug 09, 2017: U.S. International Trade Commission to Investigate Apple's Alleged Unfair Trade Practice within 45 Days Aug 14, 2017: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has Requested Qualcomm provide more info on Dispute with Apple Sept 08, 2017: U.S. Federal Judge Rules that Apple's Multiple Foreign Lawsuits against Qualcomm can Proceed About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. Boy Scouts are sex-segregated? No, silly, of course not. For as much as the Boy Scouts appear in the news periodically with complaints that they refuse to permit girls to join, in this case theyre coming under fire for the opposite reason: because they have been discussing ways to open the program up to girls. This first appeared in the news back in May, and Ive seen snippets in newsletters that are sent to Scout leaders, from which Ive gotten the impression that whats under discussion is inviting girls to participate insofar as certain activities and programs are family-oriented. I have the vague impression that Cub Scout pack meetings, for instance, would be labelled as family activities rather than parent-son events. But I dont really know; they seem to be keeping this information very close which could be reasonably explained as wanting to have well-developed proposals before they get ripped apart in the media, or could be more nefariously wanting to push their plans through to the membership as a done deal, and, as Ive said before, I dont believe that the core Boy Scout program would benefit from becoming co-ed, or, rather, I dont think the boys themselves would be well-served by that move. At the younger level, though, since Cub Scouts operates with a combination of den meetings (individual grades, small groups) and pack meetings (all grades together), I could well imagine a model in which the den meetings are separated by grade and sex, and the pack meetings combine boys and girls for large group activities. But Buzzfeed reports that the Girl Scouts are not at all happy about this, and sent a scathing letter to the Boy Scouts. A Girl Scouts spokesperson confirmed that Kathy Hopinkah Hannan, GSUSAs national president sent the letter to BSAs national president, Randall Stephenson, and the entire BSA board. And, boy, this letter doesnt pull any punches. The Girl Scouts, Hannan says, have developed a program which works magnificently at meeting the needs of girls, while she implies that the Boy Scouts have failed in their mission, taunting them that 90% of boys do not participate in Boy Scouts, and implying that they are not putting in sufficient effort to recruit African-American or Hispanic boys, or are even unwelcoming of those boys. (Scouting is primarily a parent-child organization and for that reason, it seems to me, very difficult to bring into communities where there is no existing tradition, and all the more so if there arent dads around, and single moms are hoping for men to arise from, well, somewhere, to fill the father-figure role for boys.) The Boy Scouts, she says, are attempting to recruit girls and undercut the Girl Scouts as a result. (From everything Ive read, and from reader comments to prior posts on the subject, Girl Scouts is much more dependent on the skills and interests of the leaders at the individual troop level, who may be keen on camping and adventure, or prefer to stick with crafts meeting after meeting. Unlike the Boy Scouts, theres nothing in the program itself to ensure that camping occurs, and the Journeys element ensures that the mandatory part of Girl Scouts is focused on social justice/environmentalism and other political topics instead. And since each grade has its own troop, with the leaders typically being parents who follow those girls through the progression until they lose interest, theres not the same sort of continuity as with a multi-age Cub Scout pack or Boy Scout troop where leaders pass the torch onto new parents. The American Heritage Girls goes too far in the direction of being sectarian, but I rather like the way theyve structured the troops.) So, Im sorry, but after a week full of nonsense culminating in the report that ESPN reassigned a sportscaster by the name of Robert Lee (of Korean descent, not of some proud Confederate family) because they thought their viewing audience would be so stupid as to, well, I dont know what they were supposed to think, actually, this just strikes me as a bit of comic relief. In a time when even the National Organization for Women is calling for the Boy Scouts to open up to girls (per this ABC report), I cant do anything other than just laugh at the report that the Girl Scout leadership itself is p***ed off about the prospect. Image: By David Fine (This image is from the FEMA Photo Library.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Landmine Victims Denied Compensation as Border Regions Remain Plagued by Remnants of Iran-Iraq War 10/01/17 Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran An attorney representing people maimed by mines in Iran's border regions says the victims are not only entitled to damages under the country's Islamic Penal Code, but could also qualify for funds set aside by the Interior Ministry's Article 2 Commission for wounded veterans. Hossein Ahmadiniaz told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on September 27, 2017 that "there can be only be compensation for part of the damages since psychological damages can never be repaired. "Nevertheless, the law has never been applied to many landmine victims. At least I haven't had any success in such cases, neither have my colleagues." The attorney added: "The war with Iraq ended 30 years ago and now we have to think of new ways to seriously deal with these minefields. First of all, we need new laws and regulations to help the victims. Secondly, the government should join the anti-mine Ottawa Convention and thereby benefit from new mine-clearing technology. Also, non-governmental organizations should be given permission to get training to carry out mine-clearing operations." Millions of landmines that were laid by Iraqi forces in Iran's western provinces during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) that were never cleared continue to threaten the lives of people living in towns and villages near the Iran-Iraq border. Over the past two decades, rain and floods have shifted some mines outside marked zones into farms and riverbanks, further endangering civilians. "One client, Ghader Nabati, is a border tradesman who in 2014 stepped on a mine in the Baneh border strip [in Iran's Kurdistan Province] and lost his right leg below the knee. He has not being given a pension as a victim of war nor has he been given compensation for his hospital bills or medical expenses," said Ahmadiniaz, who has been representing landmine victims since 2006. "My other clients, Soleiman Jafari and Hadi Lezgi, from Bukan [West Azerbaijan Province], were blinded in both eyes and lost one of their hands when they stepped on a mine 14 years ago," he added. "The Article 2 Commission agreed that they should receive veterans' pensions, but the Martyrs Foundation has rejected it. This is a great injustice." Iran is not a signatory to the United Nations' 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, known as the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Producing and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. Ahmadiniaz described situations wherein the authorities accused victims of crimes to avoid paying compensation. "Last week a victim of a mine explosion in Piranshahr [West Azerbaijan Province] contacted me after stepping on a mine as she was herding her sheep on a mountain one night," he said. "One of her legs was completely blown away. The police accused her of being a trafficker and refused to issue an accident report required by the Article 2 Commission to prove disability for a pension. But she was not a trafficker. She was only with her herd and was not transporting any goods." "There are many such cases," he added. "In Piranshahr alone there are 250 mine explosion cases gathering dust for no apparent reason." The attorney noted: "Mines don't have brains. They can't tell the difference between soldiers and civilians. The government is required to help these victims, but the current bureaucratic procedures are unfair." "The Article 2 Commission has no members representing the victims or the legal profession and as a result many cases are ruled against the victims," he added. "The victims are not only denied compensation, but also intimidated to keep quiet." In December 2016, a letter signed by 130 artists urged President Hassan Rouhani to help those who have lost the ability to support their families as a result of landmine injuries. The cases involving these victims, mostly in West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam and Khuzestan Provinces located along the border with Iraq, have been filed away and ignored by government agencies, the letter added. Previously in May 2014, a group of environmentalists complained about mines laid in Kavir-e Lut desert in the eastern part of the country. "In addition to mines left by Iraqi forces on Iranian territory during the war...There are also mines left over from the early days of the [1979] revolution to combat Kurdish opposition groups," Ahmadiniaz told CHRI. "More mines means more danger to the people. Every day someone could get hurt." After a truce was announced between Iran and Iraq in the summer of 1988, the Iranian military estimated minefields covered 16,200 square miles along its 680-mile border. More than 16 million mines of various kinds were laid on Iranian soil, according to Iranian officials. Announcing the creation of the Mine Clearing Collaboration Campaign, Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi called on the Iranian government to join international anti-mine agreements in 2004. "They could have cleared the mined areas, long ago," she said. "A country as rich as Iran should not contain even one hectare of mined land 15 years after the end of the war." 'We call on the Iranian government to join the treaty banning landmines, to clear the mined areas in our country and help the victims," she added. Turkey's top military chief in Iran ahead of Erdogan visit 10/02/17 Source: Press TV Turkey's Military Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar is in Tehran for talks with Iran's top military and political officials, expected to tackle border security and counter-terrorism along with regional issues. Akar arrived in Tehran late Sunday on the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Major General Mohammad Baqeri who visited Ankara in mid-August, the first by an Iranian chief of staff since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The first round of talks between the two military chiefs began on Monday after an official welcoming ceremony held in Akar's honor in Tehran. The Turkish general is expected to meet with President Hassan Rouhani, Defense Minister Amir Hatami and head of Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani later during the visit. The situation in the region, especially in Syria, countering terrorism, border security and the controversial referendum held in the Iraqi Kurdistan last week are anticipated to be the topics for discussion, the Fars news agency reported. The two sides are also expected to discuss the implementation of mutual agreements signed in the Turkish capital. Turkey and Iran are not on the same page over conflicts in Iraq and Syria but the changing dynamics on the ground in recent months have prompted Ankara to inch closer to Russia and the Islamic Republic. "Iran is becoming a very important actor in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria," former Turkish ambassador to Iraq Unal Cevikoz, who now heads the Ankara Policy Forum, told the Voice of America in August. Ankara is becoming increasingly wary of US and Israeli plans in the region, including their covert support for the establishment of independent Kurdish satellites in Syria and Iraq. A referendum held in the Iraqi Kurdistan last Monday on possible secession has outraged Turkish leaders who have threatened a military intervention if the campaign does not stop there. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday he will travel to Tehran on October 4 to discuss the referendum and the Astana talks on Syria with President Rouhani and Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Erdogan said the roadmap that Turkey and Iran will follow in response to the controversial referendum and other regional developments will take shape after his visit. Iraq's central government has said it will seek the assistance of Iran and Turkey to secure its borders after local Kurdistan authorities refused to cede the control of border crossings and airports to Baghdad. The Iraqi military held a joint drill with Turkish troops on their borders last week and similar exercises are in the works with Iran. Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, has asked that the Public Private Partnership (PPP) bill, currently before Parliament, be returned to Cabinet for a review before it is finally passed into law. Cabinet, he said, needs to make additional input and necessary changes to help address the current infrastructural demands, he said. He said this at the initial market sounding event for the Accra Tema Motorway Upgrading Project, which brought together investors, project financiers, investor analysts, construction consultants, civil engineers, legal practitioners, officials from the Ghana Highways Authority, the Ministry of Roads and Highways, the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund. The recent reports in the media about some private sector players hiding behind PPPs to defraud the state is very worrying, he said. This, therefore, calls for proper reforms in the PPP modalities in any PPP arrangement government is entering into. With the expected passage of the PPP law in the very near future, it is envisaged that the private sector will be assured of security for their investments. The PPP law, when enacted, will support the implementation of the national PPP policy that was launched by the government in 2012. It is expected to give confidence to both local and international investors who would want to participate in PPPs with the government. Ghana currently does not have a specific legislation governing the implementation of PPPs; however, efforts are ongoing to enact a PPP Law. Notwithstanding the absence of a specific PPP law, there have been efforts to provide for a framework for the implementation of PPP. On June 3, 2011, a National Policy on PPPs was approved by the then Cabinet, to guide the implementation of PPP in the country. Mr. Osafo-Maafo explained that PPPs are not a universal solution to underlying sector investment and performance problems, adding that PPP development requires sustained policy dialogue and the development of suitable legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks. The development of road PPPs usually requires the government to assume demand risks and/or provide financial support, as it is usually difficult to charge tariffs that cover costs. The risk sharing structures need to be perceived as fair and manageable, he said. He indicated that some infrastructure sectors such as power are more conducive to private sector participation and PPPs than the road and transport sectors. This is due to a range of reasons, including better potential for cost-recovery, lower levels of stakeholder resistance to private sector participation, greater institutional capacity, more progress with sector unbundling and utility restructuring. This, he said, does not mean that PPPs in other sectors are without prospects. Government recognises the road sectors importance to economic growth and has accorded it a high political commitment, with support for capacity development and other sector reforms. Governments decision to encourage PPPs in the road sector is due to a number of reasons, including reduced budgetary support, access to capital, need for off balance sheet borrowing, innovation and transfer of risk, he stated. Ghana is presently faced with a huge infrastructure gap, and needs an average US$1.5billion per annum for the next decade to address it. This is required to bring the nations infrastructure to the recommended status for a middle-income country. Studies on the countrys infrastructure requirements indicate that for the next decade, government requirements for the transport sector alone average US$307 million annually to provide the needed infrastructure. Mr. Kwasi Amoako-Attah, the Minister of Roads and Highways, said PPP market sounding events are opportunities for the public sector to establish the market and to manage the private sector expectations on what will be achieved by the project. One of the key objectives of the government is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the development, management and maintenance of the countrys road network. This is motivated by the recognition that the road network constitutes the single largest asset owned by the government, and that a less-than-optimal system for its management and maintenance generally results in huge losses for the national economy. These losses occur not only in the form of road deterioration but also in increased vehicle operation costs which have to be borne by road users, he said. Source: B&FT 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 activities of Menzgold Ghana Limited, an investment company operating in Ghana has been hit with yet another setback following an announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Ghana that the company has not been licensed to operate in the capital markets. In a notice published in the Monday, October 2 edition of the Daily Graphic newspaper, the SEC informed the General Public that Menzgold Ghana Limited has "neither been licensed nor their adverts sanctioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to carry out any activity in the Capital Market". According to the notice, Menzgold is not a SEC-regulated entity because its operations contravene section 3 (c) of the Securities Industries Act, 2016 (Act 929) which deals with the registration, licensing, authorisation and regulation of entities in the securities market. The SEC also reiterated its commitment to ensuring the protection of all investors who patronise the products/services offered by licensed Capital Market operators. Menzgold not licensed to do banking - BoG The announcement by the SEC follows on the heels of a similar statement by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), cautioning the general public against depositing money with Menzgold because it has not been licensed the company to take deposits. The Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Asiamah, said the company was licensed by the Minerals Commission to buy and sell gold but had veered off into accepting deposits from unsuspecting customers. Many feared could have eventually become another financial sector scam following the experiences of DKM and God is Love Fun Club among others. Dr Asiamah further cautioned that anyone transacting banking businesses with MenzGold will only do that at their own peril. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Three hundred and forty suspected galamsey operators, including Chinese nationals, have so far been arrested by the National Anti-Galamsey Task Force. Out of the number, 20 were put before court where they were slapped with various fines to serve as a deterrent. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr David Eklu, the Director General, Public Affairs, of the Ghana Police Service, made this known at Wassa Akropong in the Amenfi East District in the Western Region last Saturday. The task force was set up by the government this year to deal with the galamsey menace which has resulted in the wanton destruction of the forests, farmlands, pollution of water sources and the degradation of the environment. Town hall meeting Giving an update of the operations of the task force at a town hall meeting at Wassa Akropong, ACP Mr Eklu explained that the task force, otherwise called Operation Vanguard, was made up of professional police and army personnel who are tasked to restore law and order in the operations of the illegal miners. "We need support for the initiative, which is to help everyone, including the police and the army. It will save our own lives and the future. The effects do not discriminate," he stated. However, the participants expressed their discontentment at the sentences imposed by the courts since in their estimation, the punishment was not deterrent enough. They called for a more stiffer sentence, including heavy fines, jail terms or both. Organisers The meeting was organised by the Media Coalition Against Galamsey in collaboration with the National Commission on Civil Education, supported by some Christian and Muslim groups. The media partners include the Graphic Communications Group, New Times Corporation, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Ghana News Agency (GNA) and the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) among others. Present at the meeting included the Omanhene of the Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area, Tetrete Okuomoah Sekyim II, his elders and sub chiefs, the Western Regional Minister, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mrs Helena Appiah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Amenfi East, Mr Patrick Kwame Seim, security officers, assembly members and other stakeholders in the mining industry. Training According to Mr Eklu, members of the task force had received further training and were therefore poised to enforce the law against illegal mining activities. According to him, the government had provided necessary logistics to the task force to aid in its operations, adding that criminal activities had reduced in the region since the beginning of the operation. "Our operation is geared towards ensuring that the people are safe to eat uncontaminated tilapia from unpolluted waters and again our people also drink clean water from our rivers without fear," he added. Convener The Convener of the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Mr Kenneth Ashigbey, explained that embarking on the advocacy in the media was not enough, for which reason members of the coalition had decided to reach out to the people in a face-to-face interaction. He said similar meetings had taken place at Dunkwa in the Central Region and Kyebi in the Eastern Region. According to Mr Ashigbey, who is also the Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group Limited, the next townhall meeting would be held in the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions while the Upper East and Upper West regions would have their turns next year. "We are not going back to the days of illegal mining, but those who are prepared to engage in legalised mining operations are welcome," he added. Law enforcement The Leader of a Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP) being implemented at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Dr Isaac Karikari, called for the enforcement of the law on illegal mining. "We need to enforce the law to deter others. The Vanguard people have been trained not to kill the people but only to fire to defend themselves. If sustained awareness creation is undertaken and alternative likelihood opportunities are created, the fight against the menace will succeed, he stated. Dr Karikari disclosed that within the next five years, about 500,000 small-scale miners (SSMs) from the mining communities would be engaged through their associations and groups. He said about 20,000 acres of oil palm plantation and other economic trees would be established as part of the Alternative Livelihood Programme (ALP) for the miners. Concerns For his part, the Western Regional Minister also mentioned social vices such as the use of cocaine, murder, prostitution and teenage pregnancy which he said were associated with galamsey operations. "We mean well in stopping the galamsey operations and we will not succumb to any threats because the correct thing must be done," he stated. The Omanhene also appealed to the stakeholders to live up to expectations as he pledged his support to stop galamsey. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Bishop Charles Agyinasare has bemoaned the plundering of state funds by Ghanaian politicians whose standards of living shoot through the roof overnight. Politicians, stop stealing the peoples money for yourselves, he told his congregation on Sunday, 24 September, explaining that: And this one I didnt say it. Unfortunately for us in Ghana, the politicians are telling us that they are thieves. Every change of government, the politicians tell us the other politicians [their predecessors] were stealing so in our minds, the politicians are telling us they are thieves. Now if it is so, Mr Politician, dont steal our money, keep our money. So, if we desire righteousness, we must have clean hands, Bishop Agyinasare admonished. He wondered how a politician from a village who may have been a pupil teacher or a trained teacher, suddenly becomes an MP and the next time he is going to the village, he is in a four-wheel drive and in the next four years he has built three houses. Where did you get the money from? The money you are being paid in Parliament is not enough to get three, four houses in that place, he added. He said there was the need for Christians who go into politics to change the narrative. And we are saying many Christians should go into politics and as you go into politics, you want to make the difference, he stated. Bishop Agyinasare, however, acknowledged that certain cultural practices entrench corruption in Ghana. And you know, some of the greatest challenges we have, why we cant come out of corruption but we will come out is that our system is such that you cant even sanction anybody. Somebody does something wrong and then its exposed and you want to do something, the next day youll see the presiding bishop and normally we do it early in the morning, 6 Oclock yes, he has done it but temper justice with mercy. And the tempering justice with mercy we are saying that we should corner the thing, we shouldnt deal with the thing and if the priest doesnt come, the bishop doesnt come, then the chief will come. In fact, I just learnt that in some of our paramountcies there is what we call Gyantuahene, where you offend and you go to see him to go and pacify [on your behalf], so they go and ask for mercy for you and so we are not sanctioning anybody, we dont judge sin, we dont punish wrongdoers and so as long as wrongdoers see that there is no punishment for wrong, wrongdoing will continue. May God help us as a people, he complained. Source: classfmonline.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 First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo has caused the arrest of Nigerian bar and restaurant operator, and her son at Sokoban Wood Village, near Kumasi, Ashanti regional capital. The arrest follows a revelation that the woman, Nkechi, also known as Obolo and her son, Emmanuel David, otherwise known as Ndubuisi, have been using their bar as a front to traffic Nigerian girls into the country and force them into prostitution. Two of such victims, aged 17 and 23, who were rescued have been brought to Accra to be cared for under the orders of Mrs Akufo-Addo. Explaining their modus operandi, ASP Regina Eleanor Mintah, the Ashanti Regional Anti Human Trafficking Unit Commander, disclosed that the mother and son use social media to lure unsuspecting young Nigerian girls to Ghana with a promise of securing them decent jobs. The rescued victims were convinced by Ndubuisi to make the trip and he paid for their travelling expenses. But upon their arrival in November 2016, Obolo and Ndubuisi failed to provide them with the decent jobs and rather forced them into prostitution and while they kept the proceeds. After some time, the girls realized that they were being so they run away from the Sokoban Wood Village to Accra where they were lucky to meet a member of the First Ladys security and told him their problem. When the First Lady became aware, she ordered for the arrest of the suspects to face the law and provided shelter for the girls. The police quickly stormed the Sokoban Wood Village at dawn and arrested Ndubuisi but Obolo was nowhere to be found but the police managed to arrest her later. The mother and son were arraigned before a Kumasi Circuit Court presided over by Ekow Mensah last week and Ndubisi remanded in prison custody for two weeks while Obolo was granted bail on health grounds to reappear in court in two weeks time, ASP Mintah said. Source: ghanaweb.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 Editor in Chief of the Crusading Guide newspaper has described as a storm in a tea cup allegations of corruption against two Chiefs of Staff by a member of the New Patriotic Party and musician Kwame Obeng Asare, popularly called A Plus. Kweku Baako Jnr said but for the controversial leaked tape recording, the allegations made by A Plus, against Abu Jinapor and Boakye Asenso, were distortions exaggerations. In a revealing comment on Joy FM Saturday, Kweku Baako Jnr said A Plus appears to have been appointed officially or unofficially as the Special Aide to the acting CEO of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital but stopped short of suggesting he was protecting his own selfish interest as far this whole scandal is concerned. Malik Baako Jnr broke down to every detail the source of the scandal between A Plus and the two Chiefs of Staff- the Korle Bu scandal-which has since seen a new twist in a leaked tape controversy. The beginning According to Kweku Baako Jnr the scandal began after the management of Korle Bu Teaching decided to abrogate a revenue collection contract it had with Unibank. The contract had to be abrogated because Stanbic Bank was also doing the same job for the Hospital and Korle Bu was uncomfortable having two banks performing the same job. However the decision to abrogate the contract with the Unibank did not go down well with the Ghanaian owned bank whose officials decided to petition the Vice President and the Chief of Staff on July 12, 2017. The bank believed due process was not followed in the award of contract to their competitors Stanbic and demanded the presidency to intervene. Kweku Baako Jnr said when the matter was brought to the attention of the Chief of Staff, the two Deputies in the office, particularly Boakye Asenso was convinced the decision to select Stanbic ahead of Unibank was not transparent. The Chiefs of Staff believed Stanbic had been favoured at the expense of a local bank without any due process. The two, concluded that the decision taken by the Korle Bu management was irregular and unsustainable, particularly in the absence of the Board. The position taken by the two persons did not go down well with A Plus who then began waging a crusade and an allegation of corruption against the two. Kweku Baako Jnr brought a copy of a report A Plus submitted to the Police CID in which he stated that he did not at any point accuse the two Chiefs of Staff of collecting bribes. However he accused the two of using their positions to favour Unibank at the expense and interest of the public. Baako quoted A Plus report as saying Jinapor and Asenso Boakye are favouring Unibank because, the local bank contributed to the NPP campaign ahead of the 2016 elections. That for him [A Plus] smacks of corruption by the two Chiefs of Staff. He did not however give any evidence of corruption or wrongdoing by the two gentlemen. On that aspect, the ace journalist said the allegations by A Plus was nothing but hot air except that the new twist which is the leaked tape controversy has to be investigated more. Source: myjoyonline.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 Mr Kweku Baako, this is not a small issue; I know that you yourself do not know that we dont have an end to end system that will tell us exactly how many beds are empty and exactly how much money we are making; you dont even know thatbut people like us we will not sit down and watch musician Kwame Obeng Asare, popularly called A Plus has said. His comment follows Kweku Baakos reaction to the A-Plus/Jinapor/Korle-bu saga on Joyfm's Newsfile programme. A-Plus had accused the two Deputy Chiefs of Staff of putting pressure on the CEO of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Felix Anyah, to give back a revenue-collection contract to UniBank after the same contract had been given to a wholly-foreign-owned bank. The Editor in Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper on Saturday said A Plus appears to have been appointed officially or unofficially as the Special Aide to the acting CEO of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Click to read In a video on his facebook page, A-Plus said even though he admires Kweku Baako, he (Baako) does not understand the situation When they say I should choose the top ten Ghanaians, I will add kweku baakoI think he himself does not understand the situation; everybody can insult me I dont care I will continue talking and talking and talking...I am here for Nana Addoeverybody who wants a second term for the NPP; open your eyes he said. Meanwhile, A-Plus has rendered an apology to Samuel Abu Jinapor and Francis Asenso-Boakye for wrongly accusing them of corruption as far as the Korle-bu saga is concerned. According to him, now that I have come to understand that Abu does not even understand the issue, I will go ahead like Ive said already and say I apologise for how I put this whole thing out; yes, because listen to him [Abu]: he does not even understand the issue. People have lied to him. Look at what he said, if he was being honest on radio, I have the impression that he was being honest, and that is all that they told him, then they have deceived him...the issue is that every Ghanaian watching me today ask yourself how can we have a government institution that can't tell how much money it makes? Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Minority in Parliament has said it is troubled by the ongoing exercise by the National Communications Authority (NCA) which has led to selected media houses being subjected to very steep regulatory sanctions. A statement from the Ranking Member on the Communications Committee, Alhaji A.B.A. Fuseini, said while we acknowledge the NCAs right to regulate the communications sector in a manner that ensures compliance with appropriate regulations, we are alarmed by the sweeping and heavy-handed approach under the current exercise. It indicated that the move by the NCA would worsen the plight of the country which already had a great number of unemployed people. This will only serve to worsen the precarious unemployment situation and add to the hardships Ghanaians are going through. In the light of the foregoing, we urge the NCA to as a matter of urgency suspend the ongoing exercise and use dialogue and more flexible means to ensure compliance with relevant regulations, the statement said. NCA is right but... Last Thursday, the NCA announced that about 131 radio stations had their authorisation revoked or slapped with fines for failing to renew their licences. The statement said the situation where alleged breaches of regulations dating back several years were suddenly cited as basis for the near-summary closure of radio stations and humongous fines, posed a mortal danger to the expansion of the frontiers of free expression. It said radio had become a foremost means of expression by large sections of our citizenry since the liberalisation of the airwaves at the beginning of the current democratic dispensation. Therefore, it said, entities operating within that space, therefore, ought to be acknowledged for their invaluable contributions to the growth of our democracy. Reasonable enforcement of regulations The statement said regulatory enforcement ought to be undertaken in a reasonable manner that factored in the fragilities inherent in the operations of many radio stations. It said the current revocation and sanctions regime appeared to be monetising the right to free expression and could be construed as an effort to exact retribution particularly against stations that had traditionally been ideologically opposed to the current NPP administration. We are at a loss as to how millions of Ghana cedis can be imposed as fines on radio stations, failing which their authorisation will be revoked only to have them sold to other entities for GH30,000, it said. More job losses The statement estimated that close to 5,000 people working in the affected stations would be rendered jobless should the current action persist. This will only serve to worsen the precarious unemployment situation and add to the hardships Ghanaians are going through, it said. Source: Daily Graphic Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video I extend warm congratulations to the entire membership of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) for the successful conduct of their elections of Friday, 29th September, 2017, which saw the selection of executives to steer the affairs of the Association for the next four years. I congratulate Affail Monney on his decisive re-election as President of the GJA; Linda Asante Agyei as Vice President; Edmund Kofi Yeboah as General Secretary; Mary Mensah in-charge of Public Affairs; and Albert Tuffuor as Organising Secretary. The losing aspirants are also to be commended for graciously conceding defeat. It is my hope that the Ghana Journalists Association and its leadership, over the next four years, will continue to contribute to the growth of a vibrant and critical media that has won Ghana the reputation of having one of the most media friendly and liberal climates on the continent, and also to the enhancement of public accountability as a strategic goal of public policy. Long live Mother Ghana, long live GJA!! signed Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo President of the Republic Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Tue., Nov. 15, 5:30 p.m. Lincoln Library 326 S. Seventh St., Springfield Downtown Free History Some of the weird and wacky requests made to the Sangamon Valley Collection will be presented by a panel of experts. The Sangamon Valley Collection manager and city historian, Curt Mann, along with assistant Stephanie Martin, will discuss some of the requests they have handled. Other panelists include Cinda Klickna, the society's vice president and Mike Kienzler, SangamonLink editor and Summer Griffith, Lincoln Library director will offer insights into the future of the SVC. 217-525-1961 Jordan McIldoon is shown in a photo from the Facebook page "Remembering Jordan Seymour McIldoon." McIldoon, a 23-year-old man from Maple Ridge, B.C., has been confirmed as one of the victims of the shooting attack at a Las Vegas music concert. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Facebook-Remembering Jordan Seymour McIldoon MANDATORY CREDIT Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, speaks with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as they leave St. Mathews Cathedral after the Red Mass in Washington on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. The Supreme Court's new term starts Monday, Oct. 2. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Description "This year marks the 42nd Annual Columbus Day Weekend that has celebrated the agricultural heritage of our town. As one of the largest festivals in New York State, Riverhead hosts visitors and vendors from many states throughout the country. Take time to enjoy the works of original artists, agricultural and homemaking displays and competitions, authors, entertainers, local merchants, food, amusement rides, pony rides, business expositions and displays, and of course, more food. Covering more than 100,000 square feet, we offer something for everyone. The Country Fair does not come to fruition without a coordinated effort of many people, starting with our dedicated and diligent Fair Committee as well as scores of volunteers whom all band together to ensure a day that is safe and enjoyable for the whole family. Excellence in service is provided by our government officials, police, ambulance, fire and highway departments, along with the Chamber of Commerce, multiple service groups, local merchants, Boy Scouts, advertisers and sponsors. Thank you to all the volunteers, professionals, vendors, competitors, performers, boaters, merchants, and anyone else who gets together each October to make our Fair the very best. Enjoy our town-wide little block party!" The paradox of an unstoppable force meeting immovable object stumps oil market U.S. shale acts as a counter to OPEC output and surging demand . APPEC oil conference ends with bullish outlook for 2018 prices. By Javier Blas, Serene Cheong, and Sharon Cho SINGAPORE Petroleumworld 10 02 2017 The oil market is battling with a paradox: what happens when the unstoppable force of OPEC production cuts and soaring global demand meets the immovable object that's U.S. shale? The answer will determine not only the price of crude, already at its highest in two years near $60 a barrel, but also the fortune of Big Oil companies and energy-rich countries from Saudi Arabia to Russia and Brazil. For many at the annual Asia-Pacific Petroleum Conference in Singapore, one of the global oil industry's biggest events, the clash means prices will remain in a narrow band of $50-$60 a barrel the rest of the year and into 2018. Yet a growing minority -- notably oil trading giant Trafigura Group -- believe the paradox will be resolved next year as U.S. shale proves it isn't an immovable object that can continue capping prices. The market may well discover it has been asleep at the wheel and far too relaxed about shale keeping a ceiling on prices forever, said Ben Luckock, a senior executive at Trafigura, the world's third-biggest independent oil trader. For sure, U.S. oil production has failed to grow significantly this year, with output in June at 9.1 million barrels a day, only marginally higher than 8.9 million barrels a day in January. Shale executives, once focused on growing output at nearly any cost, are putting more emphasis on boosting their profitability. And the number of rigs they're putting to work has flat-lined over the past three months. Yet many others are far from convinced that the paradox will be resolved anytime soon. Companies from Vitol Group, the largest independent oil trader, to energy major BP Plc still see shale as creating a ceiling, especially at current prices. Anything above $60 a barrel is going to be a massive incentive for U.S. shale to ramp up production, said Chris Bake, a senior executive at Vitol. Brighter Mood There is, however, a growing consensus that the market looks stronger than a year ago. At APPEC, the mood at the evening parties this week was certainly far more bullish than in 2016. Gone are the days of $40 a barrel oil, traders and executives said, as the current rally seems better anchored in supply and demand fundamentals than the one in January-March, when Brent crude prices briefly rose above $55 a barrel only to crash shortly after. Rebalancing is already on the way, said Janet Kong, the top executive of BP's trading arm in Asia, echoing a widely held view across executives. Brent crude, the benchmark for more than half the world's oil, was at $57.62 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange at 11:28 a.m. London time. Prices are up 10 percent this month and 20 percent higher this quarter. Global oil demand is growing faster than the 10-year average on the back of strong diesel consumption. This is a perfect world for refining, Gary Ross, the founder of consultant PIRA Energy, said on the sidelines of the APPEC conference, held by S&P Global Platts. As refiners enjoy strong margins, they have an incentive to buy more oil. With demand outpacing supply, crude and refined products inventories are shrinking. In developed countries, commercial stockpiles fell in July to 190 million barrels over the five-year average, compared with a 302 million-barrel surplus in January, according to the International Energy Agency. Supplies stored at sea are dwindling too, traders say. Tighter Market The physical crude market is reflecting the growing tightness, with North Sea and U.S. varieties trading at multi-year highs to their benchmarks. Hedge funds are again piling into oil, as are long-term passive investors, attracted not only by rising prices, but also by a profitable change in the forward-price curve . While a year ago senior oil traders and energy executives saw prices staying at the lower end of a $40-$60 range, this year most predicted a $50-$60 band for 2018. Of the two dozen executives interviewed this week on the sidelines of APPEC and at cocktail parties, only a handful saw prices averaging more than $60 a barrel next year. And only two said that $65 a barrel was a buying opportunity. Still, even the most bullish traders believe the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which include Russia and Mexico, need to extend output cuts that are set to expire at the end of March 2018 to avoid a build-up in inventories. The need for sustained production curbs is a sign the bulls are on fragile ground. If OPEC takes advantage of the demand-driven rally and ends its production cuts in early 2018, global supply will again threaten to overwhelm demand, pushing stockpiles up and depressing prices. It might look tempting to take advantage of the current price strength momentarily, but if OPEC acts responsibly now, short-term pain will lead to a long-term gain and not the other way round, said Tamas Varga, an analyst at brokerage PVM Oil Associates Ltd. Story by Javier Blas , Serene Cheong , and Sharon Cho ; With assistance by Heesu Lee, Tsuyoshi Inajima, Dan Murtaugh, Alfred Cang, and Ann Koh from Blomberg. bloomberg. com / 09 29 2017 In general, men are twice as likely to cheat on a spouse than women are. That frequency increases over the lifespan, peaking among the elderly. Among men 18 to 29 who have ever been married, about 1 in 10 is In Philly's hyper-hyped restaurant scene where every chef move and menu nuance is chronicled and analyzed by a gaggle of bloggers and Instagrammers last week's opening of Trattoria Carina was a victory for owners Dan Clark and Ed Hackett. Trattoria Carina an easygoing Italian concept now filling the corner of 22nd and Spruce Streets in the spot that was until recently the more upmarket Fitler Dining Room had no PR machine stoking the attention. As of Oct. 1, it had no public website, no Facebook page, no Instagram account, and no large sign just a sandwich board on the sidewalk advertising a neighborhood Italian restaurant. "No phone, either," Hackett told me last night when I stopped in after noticing the craft paper off the windows and the interior glowing again like an operating restaurant. When they closed FDR about a month ago, Hackett and Clark who also own Pub & Kitchen nearby and the Diving Horse in Avalon, N.J. had left a note on the door promising "something new and fresh." But they ignored frequent calls and texts seeking elaboration. Though frustrating from my side of the table (yeah, whatever), it's a shrewd business move. It allowed Hackett, Clark, chefs Steve Eckerd and Peter Bresnahan, and their staff to work out the kinks, free of the clamoring "first-nighter" hordes and Yelpers. (There'd been no Yelp mention, either.) The deal here: It's a casual Italian with a small drink list (Negroni, Aperol spritz, peroni, prosecco, a couple of reds and whites). There's no corkage fee, so you can BYO. They've done just a minor redo of the snug interior, whose open kitchen remains. Atmosphere is low-lit beneath globe fixtures with subway-tiled walls and red votives on the tables. They've flipped the orientation of the dining room, removing the tufted banquettes from the 22nd Street side in favor of a five-seat eating counter that gives a street view. Seating is communal in the middle row. The deuces along the far wall, beneath a narrow mirror, are separated. The menu, not final, includes snacks (marinated olives and smoked almonds, plus pepperoncini and giardiniera), four apps (including grilled Tuscan chicken wings in an agrodolce sauce that alone makes it worth a visit), Italian wedding soup, a few salads, five pastas made in-house (including luscious tagliatelle Bolognese), and two entrees (chicken Milanese and grilled branzino). Main-dish prices fit into the neighborhood: $16 for spaghetti pomodoro to $27 for the fish. (My wings were $11 and the tagliatelle was $21.50.) Desserts include house-made gelato ($9), pizzelle ($5), and chocolate torte ($9). It's walk-in only. No reservations. Hackett, who says both families and couples have patronized in the early days, says it's open nightly now from 5 p.m. Weekend brunch will follow. P.S. The space for years was the stellar Melograno, an Italian BYOB, which gave way to the LaBan three-bell Meme before Hackett and Clark took it over as FDR. Melograno, meanwhile, moved a few blocks away to 2012 Sansom St. Larry Coia was happy with the 4,500 pounds of blaufrankisch grapes, an Austrian red, that he harvested last Monday from his 15-acre Atlantic County vineyard, where he had already brought in merlot and several whites chardonnay, albarino, and viognier. "September has really turned things around," Coia said while, on an unseasonably hot morning, five pickers snipped off dense bunches of dark purple grapes and let them fall into yellow trays called lugs at their feet. It was not the best August for grapes. "It was cool, and we had those periods of rain, but in between it wasn't terrible," said Coia, who has been growing grapes in New Jersey since 1975. When the blaufrankisch harvest was done, Coia didn't load the grapes into his own crusher-destemmer. Instead, they were destined for Mount Salem Vineyards in Hunterdon County. Why not have his own winery? "I just have no interest in selling wine," Coia said, though if the right investor came along with skills in the marketing and selling end, he would consider it, he added. For now, Coia, 66, who also sells to Sharrott Winery in Winslow Township, remains a coveted player in the growing New Jersey wine industry: a grape grower willing to sell fruit to winemakers who face a grape shortage. "Even if you can find them, the quality of those grapes can be a real problem," said Peter Leitner, who is the founder of Mount Salem and has been buying grapes from Coia since 2011. "I've bought grapes from other growers before and, frankly, have not had good experiences." New Jersey has tough growing conditions for grapes, with levels of humidity, rainfall, and pests that don't exist in prime growing regions west of the Rocky Mountains, Leitner said. Like Leitner, Scott Donnini, an owner of Auburn Road Vineyard & Winery in Salem County, has had to cut off relationships with growers whose fruit was not good enough. The crop is hard even for farmers. Just a few weeks ago, Donnini had to negotiate a price with a farmer who was conscientious but had a bad harvest. Under the best of circumstances, a tension exists in the relationship between a winery and a grape grower. "The grape grower wants to produce lots of fruit because he's getting paid by the ton," Donnini said, but the winemaker is happy with higher-quality grapes and lower volume. Sometimes, reduced volume is not a choice. Pam Horovitz estimated that she and her husband lost 20 percent to 30 percent of their merlot grapes this year to turkeys, deer, and wasps. While harvesting their 4-acre Raccoon Creek Vineyard in South Harrison Township last week, pickers had to take extra time with damaged bunches. "You pick off the handful of grapes that are worth saving," said Horovitz, who moved from Haddonfield six years ago. They initially planned to plant peaches but were convinced of the opportunity in grapes. Plagido's Winery, in Hammonton, was buying this year's crop for $1.25 a pound, she said. It's hard to know how many acres of New Jersey vineyards are not attached to a winery. Dustin Tarpine, an owner of Vinetech Vineyard Management Co. in Bridgeton, said Vinetech has developed close to 20 vineyard acres a year since its founding in 2013 and manages just shy of 100 acres, mostly for owners who don't have wineries. "For a lot of people, it's become a hobby project once they become successful in their own right," Tarpine said. "I think another reason at least our clients are getting into it is because they think they might see a real estate opportunity." Among Vinetech's clients is Orley Ashenfelter, who recently bought 10 acres adjacent to Coia's. He's a Princeton University economics professor who developed a formula for predicting the quality and prices of Bordeaux wine. On his South Jersey vineyard, Ashenfelter planted cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and petit verdot. He plans to sell the grapes to New Jersey wineries. "There's no question that people are making wines that are high quality. The bad part is that New Jersey has this horrible reputation for everything. Unless it's pizza or Springsteen, everybody thinks it's horrible. The reality is completely different," said Ashenfelter, who is also president of the American Association of Wine Economists. His neighbor, Coia, who retired from a career as a radiation oncologist in 2013, didn't harvest any more grapes last week, preferring to let them hang in the perfect weather for ripening. The plan is to harvest six tons of chambourcin Monday, followed by five tons of cabernet franc Tuesday. Cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot will stay on the vine for an additional week or so. "Some very nice wines can be and will be made from all of these," Coia said Friday. Artist rendering of proposed 30th Street Station Plaza, as seen from above corner of 29th and Market Streets looking northwest. Read more Amtrak has postponed its search for a developer to remake the area around 30th Street Station amid signals that city officials intend to pitch an adjacent swath of University City to Amazon as a potential site for the e-commerce giant's planned second headquarters campus. The transit agency's lead contract administrator, Carole Owens, said Monday in an email to potential development partners who had registered for an Oct. 11 tour of the station area that the search would be delayed "until such time a decision on the Amazon headquarters has been made." The postponement, coming less than three weeks before Amazon's deadline for headquarters proposals, shows that Amtrak is taking seriously Philadelphia's odds of snagging the Seattle company's new campus, said Dean D. Bellas, president of Alexandria, Va.-based real-estate and planning consultancy Urban Analytics. "This could potentially be an economic boom for Amtrak, so it would be worth their while to step back for a moment," said Ballas, author of a recent report on transit-linked development projects for the Urban Land Institute. The move pauses Amtrak's efforts to secure a master developer for the first phases of a decades-long, $6.5 billion area vision known as the 30th Street Station District Plan, which could eventually include capping a nearby rail yard to accommodate additional development. Amtrak issued a "request for qualifications" in late August for the plan's first phases, which involve reconfiguring the public plaza around the rail station for easier pedestrian access, upgrading the station building's interior, and developing a now-vacant 32,500-square foot tract of land known as Parcel 1 just to the building's west. Amtrak's project site borders 14 acres of vacant and underutilized property that Brandywine Realty Trust has plans to develop into a high-rise district of offices, homes and shops known as Schuylkill Yards, which city official are expected to propose to Amazon as one possible site for its second headquarters. Philadelphia is also expected to pitch Amazon on the uCity Square development to the west of Schuylkill Yards and the Navy Yard office-and-industrial district in South Philadelphia. All three sites, the thinking goes, could accommodate the 50,000 full-time workers Amazon plans to employ within millions of square feet of new office space. Philadelphia Commerce Director Harold Epps, who late last week joined a fact-finding delegation to Seattle aimed at refining the city's proposal to Amazon, said Monday that the city is still deciding which sites to propose most forcefully to the company. Amtrak apparently expects Amazon to have decided whether Philadelphia will have made its short list by early 2018, which is when its contracts chief Owens said in her email that it plans to resume its 30th Street Station-area developer search. "While Philadelphia is still determining the best site to present to Amazon, Amtrak feels it best to suspend its solicitation," Amtrak spokeswoman Chelsea Kopta said in a statement. Epps said government officials had been informed by Amtrak that it planned to postpone its developer search, but were not involved in the decision. "We think it allows them to stay more flexible about the possibilities," he said. When the opening bell next rings on Philadelphia's original trading floor, it can only mean one thing: It's lunchtime! The 122-year-old Bourse building near Independence Hall, once home to the country's first formal commodities exchange, is being renovated by its owners to house what will be the city's second-biggest eating hall, after Reading Terminal Market, when it opens next summer. Like other commercial landlords nationwide, MRP Realty is betting that the quickest way to tenants' signatures is through their stomachs, as it upgrades the Bourse's dated food court into a feast of food vendors, from Prescription Chicken (matzo-ball and noodle soup) to Chaat & Chai (Indian street food). Plans call for 27 eateries to fill the 25,000 square feet of food-hall stalls and sit-down restaurant space in what's being called the Bourse Marketplace, said MRP managing director Charley McGrath in an interview ahead of Monday's scheduled announcement about the project. Also among the hall's initial batch of eight signed tenants are a branch of the Washington, D.C.-based dim sum vendor Pinch Dumplings; an outpost of the South Philadelphia diner Grub House; a cocktail bar run by Phoenixville's Bluebird Distilling; Vera Pasta Co. of West Chester; and Chocodiem, an Easton-based Belgian-style chocolatier. "When you have trophy office space, you need to make sure you have killer amenities," McGrath said. "As part of the killer amenities, you need a place to work out, you need a place to hang out, and you need a great place to have food offerings." In recent years, food halls have been emerging in U.S. cities as a sort of hipster nephew to the traditional shopping plaza-food court, with indie riffs on ethnic favorites enjoyed under exposed ductwork standing in for chain grub in the glow of a Sbarro sign. The commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield counted 105 major food halls nationwide in November 2016, when it released a report on the eating venues, up from just 28 in 2010. The firm projected that the number would rise to 210 in 2019. Classics of the genre include Chelsea Market in New York (established in 1997) and the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco (established in 2003), themselves modern versions of market-hall mainstays such as Philadelphia's Reading Terminal (established in 1893), which over some 75,000 feet embraces such items as Pennsylvania Dutch comfort food, Mexican dishes, fresh produce, and sweets. Also striving for food-hall status locally are Chinatown Square on Race Street a mini-emporium of sushi, curry, and kebab vendors and the small clutch of Philadelphia foodie favorites, including Dizengoff and Cheu Noodle Bar, in stalls at the Art Museum area's Whole Foods store. But the next big wave of food halls will likely be developed as a component of larger commercial projects, as office landlords seek new ways of drawing tenants spoiled by en suite yoga classes, manicurist visits, and ping-pong-and-beer lounges, said Pam Flora, Cushman & Wakefield's San Diego-based director of retail research. Landlords, Flora said, can use their food halls as branding opportunities, curating unique mixtures of cuisine to differentiate their properties from the competition. "One of the elements of food halls is they want to be unique and they want to be authentic," she said. "That sets each project apart." Food halls have already popped up at Seattle's 400 Fairview offices and at the National office tower in Chicago, with more on the way, Cushman & Wakefield reported. In Philadelphia, Brandywine Realty Trust, the city's biggest office landlord, has said it plans to install a food hall on the ground floor of the parking garage beside its FMC Tower near 30th Street Station, while Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has said it's negotiating with a European food-hall operator to lease lower-level space in the former Strawbridge's store building at 801 Market St. (It no longer owns any of the office space above). MRP's plans for the Bourse Marketplace aren't solely focused on that building's tenants. The Washington-based company acquired two more office properties 325 Chestnut St. and 400 Market St. in a package with the Bourse, leaving it with more than 600,000 square feet of space to keep filled flanking Fourth Street between Market and Chestnut Streets. Also in mind are the roughly 5 million yearly visitors to nearby historic sites, many of whom have dined on the chafing-dish Chinese food and lamp-heated pizza once served at the Bourse's orange-tiled food court, said Michael Morris, a principal with Baltimore-based Cana Development, which is handling retail and restaurant leasing at the Bourse for MRP. "We want to be and need to be a place where the visitor and tourist still comes and finds what they need, but ultimately we'll become an amenity for the local residential and daytime population," he said. "We have to have a $5 burger, and we're probably going to have a $14 burger." Buildings in the Quartermaster office complex, a former military facility near 20th Street and Oregon Avenue in South Philadelphia. Read more Pennsylvania State Police have relocated some Philadelphia operations to a 25,000-square-foot space at the former South Philadelphia military complex near 20th Street and Oregon Avenue now known as the Quartermaster development. The state police operations now at the Quartermaster complex moved from a location at 6901 Woodland Ave. in Southwest Philadelphia, commercial real estate firm JLL, which is marketing office space at the former military property, said in a statement late last week. Joshua Sloan, JLL's lead broker on the deal, declined to identify which state police operations moved to the Quartermaster site, although the agency's website lists it as the location of its Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. A state police spokeswoman did not return a call seeking further details. The Quartermaster development, a former 150-year-old military arsenal redeveloped into offices by Sky Management Services LLC of Philadelphia, consists of six buildings encompassing 1 million square feet of office space over 24 acres. Other tenants include the Philadelphia Police Department's Delaware Valley Intelligence Center and the U.S. Department of Labor's Regional Job Corps Training Center. Pottstown Memorial Medical Center is among the five hospitals that lost in-network status under Independence Blue Cross insurance plans after their sale to Tower Health. Read more Independence Blue Cross' contract offer to Tower Health on Friday, the day Tower completed its acquisition of Brandywine Hospital, Chestnut Hill Hospital, Jennersville Regional Hospital, Phoenixville Hospital, and Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, contained what was effectively a poison pill, Clint Matthews, president and chief executive of Tower Health, said Monday. "The issue that has come between us is the clause that we would not compete with a health plan" in territory served by IBC, Matthews said. Agreeing to the non-compete clause would have blocked Tower, which has changed its name from Reading Health System, from also selling health insurance plans in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties. The health system has a joint venture with UPMC Health Plan, a unit of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, to sell coverage. Donna Farrell, a spokeswomen for Independence, said Monday that the Philadelphia company is not trying to block competition. But, she added, "We had no interest in being forced into supporting it with our tools, capabilities, data or revenue." "Independence has no incentive to make it any easier for UPMC's health plan to gain a foothold in Southeastern Pennsylvania," said Stuart H. Fine, director of the health policy and management graduate program at Temple University's College of Public Health. The result of the dispute is that the five hospitals are now out-of-network under Independence Blue Cross plans, potentially disrupting care for 120,000 IBC beneficiaries who use those hospitals, though during a grace period of at least 30 days Independence will provide coverage at the new Tower facilities at in-network levels. Emergency care is also covered under in-network terms. The skirmish could be the start of a protracted war for market share between Independence and UPMC, which is aggressively expanding across Pennsylvania. "I think it's a very significant development," said Daniel M. Grauman, chief executive of Veralon, a Philadelphia health-care consulting firm. "We have all been speculating about UPMC and Reading and what the implications are for the eastern part of the commonwealth and notably the Southeastern Pennsylvania and Philadelphia market." Independence has limited options, he said. "While they don't like it, they're not happy that this is a path for a very formidable competitor into the Southeastern Pennsylvania market, IBC's core territory, I don't know if they can prevent it. Obviously, they are trying to make it more difficult and create barriers to entry," Grauman said. Meanwhile, patients are facing a time of uncertainty and confusion. Claire Gawinowicz of Oreland, a patient at Chestnut Hill Hospital, said in an email Monday that the customer-service person she reached at an Independence hotline "read me the exact email that I received from Blue Cross" and suggested that she call her doctors. "They don't know what's going on either! They said they are totally scrambling. This is outrageous! Why is no one helping us! It's chaos," Gawinowicz said. Independence defended its performance. "We feel confident that our customer-services team is working closely with our members to help them get the information and the care they need, when they need it, and with as little disruption as possible" Farrell said. "However, because of the short time frame we have had to work with, we may be still gathering answers to some member questions." PA Rep. Chris Rabb pictured in front of his new office on the 7200 block of Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia. Read more When I ask freshman Philadelphia State Rep. Chris Rabb what he thinks of the ongoing state budget impasse, he doesn't exactly hold back. "I would have to use words I don't usually use in public," he says. "It boggles the mind how dysfunctional this process is I have a master's degree [from Penn; he also has a degree from Yale] in organizational dynamics. That confers upon me the ability to smell dysfunction a mile away." Also, when legislation (HB 1416) was offered earlier this year to force the governor, his budget secretary, and legislative leaders to be sequestered in a room every day past the annual June 30 budget deadline until a resolution is reached, Rabb became a co-sponsor. The legislation, naturally, went nowhere. But Rabb now says, "I'd put `em in a room without a bathroom." (I'd add: and with no salary or expenses until statutorily required duties are met.) Pennsylvania's Republican-run legislature and Democratic governor are in month four of failure to enact a full budget. Rabb is not the only lawmaker, or stakeholder, or taxpayer frustrated by Harrisburg. But I'm following him with quarterly columns during his first year in office. This is mostly because he's new, liberal, reform-minded, and from Philadelphia, working in a place known for animus toward all of the above. And because he's experienced in government, the private sector, and higher education; his credentials include work in the U.S. Senate, work for the White House, authoring a book on entrepreneurship, and teaching at Temple. Plus, to get to Harrisburg, he beat an incumbent who was backed by party bigs. He's a rarity. And I'm curious about people such as Rabb who rail against the machine with no clout and little power other than what's inside. He made a long-shot run on a theme that the peoples' representatives should be elected by the people, not selected by the party. Now he pushes long-shot legislation to repeal the death penalty, require reporting of stolen guns, and make Pennsylvania a sanctuary state. "I know whistling in the wind, but you've got to work it because things take time," he says. "When I talk to colleagues about sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, they say, `We've got to follow the law.' Well, my ancestors followed the law. And if laws never change we'd still have Jim Crow and child labor. What's the point of being a lawmaker if not to make better laws?" Meanwhile, he goes about the business of representing Democratic northwest Philly neighborhoods in Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill, and West Oak Lane. "Every day we have constituent services and people in need," he says. He holds town hall meetings, three last month: "People are thirsty for basic information and access to resources. People like being talked to instead of being talked down to by their elected officials. I love participatory democracy. I love being responsive to constituents. It affirms voices can be heard and inspire action." He's also the new leader of the Democratic Ninth Ward, the highest voter-turnout ward in a city, sadly, not really into high voter turnout. His first ward meeting was last week. His focus is "the diffusion of power and not the concentration of power." He wants to open ward business, have public ward meetings; and, he says, on election days, "We won't be passing out street money." The question is, can Rabb or anyone inclined to reforming politics and government last long enough to overcome the long-standing, unproductive status quo? "Well," he says, "I have many demoralizing moments [but] I hope years from now I can laugh and say I remember when people said it was crazy to try to do things that became the norm, whether legalizing cannabis or getting automatic universal voter registration." He adds, "I think I'm a fairly tenacious soul. But right now the long view is all I got." I hope Rabb shares it. The long view is something that Harrisburg far too often lacks. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will be at the New York Comic Con. The organizers will start a Philly outpost net year. Read more ReedPOP, organizers of large-scale comic book conventions like New York Comic Con, will repotedly bring a new, geek-centric event to Philadelphia next year. The Keystone Comic Con will hit the Convention Center Sept. 14-16, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The convention will be yet another on ReedPOP's list, which includes C2E2 in Chicago and Seattle's Emerald City Comicon in addition to the New York event. "In conversations with publishers, retailers, and artists, Philly kept coming up as a city that they see a ton of popularity in," ReedPOP event director Mike Armstrong told Newsarama.com in a recent interview. "It's been a perfect storm of opportunity, interest, and availability." For its Keystone event, ReedPOP says it plans to hire three full-time staff members. The team, the Hollywood Reporter writes, will work to develop interest in the event among fans and businesses. This will be the second major comic con at the Convention Center. Wizard World, which has held court there for the last few years, announced its 2018 dates May 17-20 last week. Does Philadelphia have the culture to sustain two big comic cons? Only time will tell. The Keystone Comic Con will not be the company's first Philly event. ReedPOP is also behind the forthcoming PAX Unplugged, a tabletop gaming-focused convention coming to Philly Nov. 17-19. The company will hold its New York Comic Con starting Thursday at the Javits Center, where it will run through Sunday, with guests ranging from X-Files stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny to The Walking Dead's Andrew Lincoln to the one and only William Shatner. When he was offered the job to direct the sequel to Blade Runner, Denis Villeneuve went a little Batty. As in Roy Batty, the synthesized human "replicant," played by Rutger Hauer, who makes a pilgrimage to confront his visionary maker in the original. Villeneuve insisted on his own pilgrimage, albeit a less ominous one he wanted the blessing of Blade Runner visionary Ridley Scott, and he wanted it in person. Otherwise, no deal. Blade Runner meant that much to Villeneuve, who was profoundly moved by the 1982 movie when he saw it as a teen in Quebec, and who has drawn upon its vast influence for his own memorably moody sci-fi, like last year's Arrival. Blade Runner is also all over his 2013 movie Enemy featuring Jake Gyllenhaal as a rumpled philosophy professor who becomes obsessed with his doppelganger in its urban dystopian atmospherics and its themes: What is identity? Am I original? Who am I really? Villeneuve's identity, for the moment, is this: The guy fiddling with the DNA of a beloved classic, finding a way to replicate (pardon the pun) that experience for fans, while creating something essentially new. Blade Runner 2049 arrives Friday, starring Ryan Gosling as a police officer in mid-century Los Angeles searching for his missing predecessor, Roy Deckard (Harrison Ford, reprising his title role), who holds the key to a crucial mystery. We talked to Villeneuve about his challenge. Scott talks about Blade Runner being his most personal movie ever. Did he tell you why? After Alien, his plan was to do Dune, and something happened, he lost a brother [to cancer]. And suddenly Blade Runner was the movie that was a more meaningful reflection of his state of mind. He needed to work, he needed to explore the shadows that were related to how he felt, and that was Blade Runner. He was angry with God. I think you can feel that in Blade Runner. And I think the movie as it resulted is very close to the dream of the movie he had in his head when he began. And that is rare, and special. I think for a filmmaker there must also be something special in the way Philip K. Dicks story lends itself so aptly to the medium of film. In the original, a replicant finds out memories she thinks are hers are actually designed for her and implanted. Film comes very close to fulfilling that role for us movies become shared memories, implanted. Well, that's the beauty of the original, and the source of its melancholia, which is the feeling we tried to preserve. That idea of a character who is struggling with identity, struggling to know how much is programmed. Replicants are so close to humans, and we too are programmed by our genetic heritage, and also by our experience. Can we get free of that? Can we become truly independent entities? One of the things that separates your sequel from the original are its references, often to classic art and literature, even to Sinatra. They pop up like the ghosts of a dead civilization, and that civilization is ours. We had to preserve the idea that it is the future, but one that is still in relationship with its past. That's one of the things about Ridley's movie that was so brilliant, that made it feel real, in a way. The objects were reminiscent of old phones, old cars. What we show people in 2049 is a continued expression of that logic, and so I had to choose artists who would be in keeping with that, and with that melancholia. There will be no place for Celine Dion this is a sci-fi film noir. Theres a nod to Nabokov that seems telling. Its a selection from Pale Fire, which Nabokov concocted as a fictional poem by a fictional poet, but in the process created something completely original. Thats very Blade Runner. Also, this movie has a more Eastern Bloc feel to it. The first movie has a definite Asian feel to it, [Scott likened it to "Hong Kong on a bad day"] ours is more suggestive of the old Soviet empire, and there are elements of that in the original story. The movies are very concerned with how to distinguish between humans and replicants. Im wondering: In your opinion, can replicants make art? A fascinating question. I think, yes. They are very close to human. They lack human experience, they are different from an emotional point of view, but they have their own sensibility, so I think yes, definitely. But it's an interesting question. I think, if there is a Blade Runner sequel, I will steal your idea. Marilyn Manson performs in concert during the "End Times Tour 2015" at the Susquehanna Bank Center, in Camden. Read more Marilyn Manson has canceled several coming tour dates, including a scheduled appearance at a metal music festival in Camden, after being injured in an onstage accident in New York over the weekend. Manson, 48, was scheduled to co-headline the Monster Energy Rock Allegiance Festival at the BB&T Pavilion on Saturday, but will no longer be appearing "due to circumstances out of our control," organizers announced Sunday. Other acts including Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, and Mastodon are still scheduled to appear. The shock rocker's canceled Camden concert is one of several scrapped dates following Manson's injury at the hands of a pair of giant prop pistols onstage on Manhattan this past weekend. The extent of Manson's injuries has not yet been announced, though a release from his camp noted that he was taken to a hospital after being injured and "will be recuperating at his home in Los Angeles." Other canceled dates include stops in Boston, Chicago, and Houston, with Manson taking a break from touring through Oct. 14. According to the New York Daily News, tour organizers expect to reschedule the canceled shows. Manson's latest album, Heaven Upside Down, is scheduled to be released Friday. The Rock Allegiance festival has not yet announced a replacement artist for Manson's set. Representatives of the event did not immediately respond to request for comment. I was raised to believe everything happens for a reason. But when I began losing my vision 4 years ago, I remember thinking there will never be an acceptable reason for this. The cause of my vision loss went undiagnosed for three years, with top doctors unable to fully explain why I was losing my sight. The journey of vision loss is terrifying, but not being able to understand why it was happening made it even harder for my family and me. Then I was introduced to the Foundation Fighting Blindness. The foundation "family" instantly gave my husband, Dominick, and me a new level of strength, support, and purpose. Our first foundation event was its Philadelphia VisionWalk, and we'll never forget that important day. For the first time, we didn't feel alone. The foundation opened many doors for me, the most important one being the Scheie Eye Institute at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. There, I met Alexander Brucker, who used an imaging diagnostic tool called optical coherence tomography angiography to finally diagnose my condition. The scan allowed my medical team to see actual pictures of my inner retina; they found a large area of obstructed blood vessels. We learned that my blood can't properly flow through my retina, causing the blind spots that were severely limiting my vision. This obstruction is referred to as capillary nonperfusion, or macular ischemia. Even though there isn't yet a cure or treatment for my condition, we finally understood what was causing my blindness. Losing one's vision takes a lot away, but the Foundation Fighting Blindness has given me a lot back. It provides a platform for me to use my voice to raise money and awareness of inherited retinal diseases. It also supports the research that gives the 10 million-plus Americans affected by vision-robbing diseases the hope of a cure. This led my husband and me to create our own fund-raising event, the SeeShore Fest. Our third annual gathering was held in August and raised more than $11,000. On Saturday, the whole family will participate in our third Philadelphia VisionWalk. The 5K walk will start at 8:45 a.m. at Independence National Historical Park. Our goal is to raise $226,000 to support vision-saving research. Though I still may not have a true reason for my life's unexpected turn to this journey of vision loss, it has taught me to take time every day to truly see all the important things that make up my life. That includes being able to spend more time with my two incredible kids, Daxton and Laityn, and moving closer to my parents so they can help out with the things I can no longer do. And meeting some of the hands-down most incredible and inspirational people that only this journey could have led me to. Heather Napolitano is president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Foundation Fighting Blindness. For more information about the foundation, visit www.FightBlindness.org. For more information about the Philadelphia VisionWalk, email Debbie Hayter at DHayter@FightBlindness.org. The Conkling-Armstrong house was once the handsomest mansion on West Tioga Avenue. It was built by the owners of the Conkling-Armstrong Terra Cotta Co. and was a showpiece for its wares. Read more Before sporting goods companies tattooed our apparel with Swooshes and stripes, and before movie stars blasted their images across social media, a Philadelphia manufacturer of architectural terra-cotta hit on a way to get its brand in front of the public. In 1898, the Conkling-Armstrong Terra Cotta Co. built an ornate twin house in the Nicetown-Tioga section that was encrusted with its products. Today, the company is a memory, but its chateau-style demonstration house somehow hangs on at 2224-26 W. Tioga St. in North Philadelphia, even though it is currently unoccupied. As befits a three-dimensional building catalog, the facade is an encyclopedia of classical-style details rendered in terra-cotta, the relatively inexpensive, clay-based ceramic used for architectural decoration. The material is layered on at every level of the three-story twin. Pairs of Corinthian columns scored with flowers and fluting hold up the porch's massive entablature, or lintel, which is itself a dense collage of scrolls, leaves, and dentil incisions. Diamonds and shields frame the two regal bay windows. The double-height dormer windows are treated like miniature versions of baroque churches. The house even has a few plain tiles corseting its corners. This block of West Tioga, between 22nd and 23rd Streets, may seem today like an odd spot for such a grand promotional gesture. But when architect Edgar Viguers Seeler was hired, middle-class Philadelphians were flocking to newly fashionable Tioga. The block is still lined with handsome, well-kept stone houses, although none are as flamboyant as Conkling-Armstrong. At the same time new neighborhoods were going up, the area around Nicetown and Hunting Park also began to industrialize. Ira L. Conkling and Thomas F. Armstrong arrived in 1895 and set up their terra-cotta factory about two blocks from West Tioga Street. It's not clear whether they lived in the house or merely used it as a showplace. But they certainly prospered, as demand for middle-class houses boomed. Conkling-Armstrong became a major supplier of precast terra-cotta pieces that could be used to distinguish ordinary brick houses. They also began to supply major architects, like Horace Trumbauer and Cope & Stewardson, with custom pieces. The Witherspoon Building (also known as the Presbyterian Board of Publication) at Walnut and Juniper Streets virtually drips with terra-cotta from Conkling-Armstrong. Later, it became a major source for the ornament that enlivened art deco theaters, like the Anthony Wayne Cinema in Wayne. The industrialization of the neighborhood proved a mixed blessing. The Budd Co.'s automobile plant opened a few blocks from the Conkling-Armstrong house in 1912 and soon grew into a sprawling, belching compound. As the area became Philadelphia's manufacturing heartland, big-name companies like Midvale Steel and Tastykake set up plants nearby. But with increasing suburbanization after World War II, industry and residents began migrating out of the neighborhood. The house was acquired in 1945 by a couple who took in foster children, according to a 2014 account by Jennifer Robinson, then a graduate student in historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania. It is now owned by one of those children, who lives next door. Although she told Robinson she wanted to restore the house, it has clearly been slow-going. Trees sprout from the roof, and the bay on the west facade sags. "No trespassing" signs have been posted to deter scavengers. For all that, the house's distinctive charms remain intact. In a study of the neighborhood issued last year, the Planning Commission called out the Conkling-Armstrong house as a good candidate for historic designation. It would be a great way to recognize the neighborhood's history. But there isn't much time left. The Conkling-Armstrong factory fell to wreckers in 2011. If this living catalog of its work also succumbs, we'll lose another crucial link to Philadelphia's great industrial past. Abdul Holmes, 22, was charged with attempted murder and related counts for allegedly shooting a 6-year-old boy in North Philadelphia. Read more A 22-year-old man was arrested Sunday and charged with attempted murder and related counts for allegedly shooting a 6-year-old boy Friday night in North Philadelphia, according to police. Abdul Holmes was taken into custody by Central Detectives and the SWAT team, who executed a search and arrest warrant Sunday morning at a home in an undisclosed location. Holmes also was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, three gun-related counts, and reckless endangerment, police said. His court records did not list a lawyer. Holmes is accused of opening fire around 7:48 p.m. Friday at 24th and Norris Streets, striking a 6-year-old boy once in the left shoulder while he stood with his father and 15-year-old brother outside their residence, police said. The boy, whom police did not identify, was taken to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. Police said Sunday he was in good condition. The shooting scene is across the street from a playground. Holmes in July 2015 was charged with aggravated assault, robbery, and related counts, but the case was dismissed, according to court records. The records did not provide an explanation. He faced a similar battery of charges in 2012, according to court records, but that case also was dismissed. A theft-related case, for which Holmes was charged in 2011, was dismissed as well, court records show. Similarly, the records did not provide an explanation. Staff writer Diane Mastrull contributed to this article. Robert Sanders (left) and George Shaw, charged in connection with the 1984 death of 14-year-old Barbara Rowen. Both have been sentenced to prison. Read more A Florida man was sentenced Monday to 13 to 27 years in prison for the 1984 murder of a Bucks County teenager, according to the district attorney's office. George F. Shaw, 57, of Geneva, Fla., was found guilty in July of third-degree murder and attempted indecent assault of 14-year-old Barbara Rowan, whom family and friends described as "sweet" and "innocent." After a brief bench trial, Common Pleas Court Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. took five days to determine the verdict, which he handed down without comment. Monday's sentencing marked the latest chapter in a case that has spanned more than three decades. After a 2015 grand jury investigation, Shaw was charged in October of that year with murder, rape, and other offenses. Through lawyer Louis Busico, Shaw has maintained his innocence, insisting that Rowan was killed by someone else. Busico did not return a request for additional comment as of Monday afternoon. Rowan, a petite redhead, was last seen alive on Aug. 3, 1984, playing outside her family's Old Lincoln Highway mobile home in the Trevose section of Bensalem. Rowan was reported missing that same day, prosecutors said, after she didn't arrive home by her 7 p.m. curfew. Less than two weeks later, her decomposed body was found in a wooded area between Route 1 and North River Drive in Bensalem Township. Rowan's arms and legs were taped, and she was wearing only a shirt. Her father, Robert Rowan, described his daughter, and only child, as "just a skeleton." In the early days, Shaw was interviewed by police, and multiple times changed his account of when he last saw Rowan at the apartment where he lived with his wife and 2-year-old daughter. Shaw lived down the street from the Rowan family's home, and the girl sometimes babysat for the Shaws. Authorities were unable to press charges for more than 30 years, until Shaw's former drug buddy Robert Sanders, 53, of Willow Grove, told that 2015 grand jury that he had been in Shaw's apartment when the murder occurred and helped dispose of the girl's body. During the non-jury trial, Busico questioned Sanders about his prior use of cocaine and methamphetamine and asked whether the possibility of a lengthy jail sentence influenced his decision to testify. Sanders pleaded guilty to lying to authorities for so many years and was sentenced last month to three to seven years in prison, with credit for time previously served. Staff Writer Justine McDaniel contributed to this article. It's not just black people, but entire, predominantly black, neighborhoods that are disproportionately impacted by the Philadelphia Police Department's use of stop-and-frisk. That's a key finding of a new analysis of police data from 2014 to 2015 by Lance Hannon, a Villanova University professor of sociology and criminology who began analyzing publicly available police data after the presidential candidates clashed over the effectiveness of stop-and-frisk in debates last year. He found that mostly black neighborhoods drew 70 percent more frisks than nonblack areas, yet yielded less contraband. And, he discovered, the elevated rate of frisking was consistent whether the predominantly black neighborhood was a high-crime area or a very low-crime area. Although many African American neighborhoods in the city have low crime rates, he said, "People, police officers, and nonpolice officers tend to judge the dangerousness of a place based on racial predominance. When they think of a black area as being dangerous, they are thinking of the outliers and all the other neighborhoods that are relatively safe get painted with the same brush." Mike Dunn, a spokesman for Mayor Kenney, said that the city is addressing the issue with implicit bias training and progressive discipline for officers who make bad stops. He said the overall number of stops has declined since last spring, while the number of stops identified by the city as problematic has declined by 72 percent. Hannon's research makes the case that stop-and-frisk can be problematic not just at the individual level but also at the neighborhood level. He says if that can't be fixed, perhaps it's time to end it. What does your research reveal about stop and frisk that we didn't already know? My study provided support for two findings in previous research. First, African Americans are more likely to experience a frisk when stopped. Second, African Americans are more likely to experience unproductive frisks in which the frisk does not uncover any contraband or lead to an arrest. My findings also go beyond what has been found in previous research. For example, I find that it's not just black individuals; anyone, regardless of race, in a black area is more likely to be frisked when stopped and more likely to be frisked unproductively. I also looked at how the crime rate of an area differently matters in predicting the likelihood of a frisk based on the racial composition of the area. I found that the association between violent crime and the likelihood that an officer will frisk someone is contingent on the degree to which African Americans are present in the neighborhood. So in predominantly black neighborhoods, the association between the violent crime rate and the frisk rate is very weak. In areas that are not predominantly African American, the association is moderately strong and in the direction you would expect: higher violent crime rates mean higher frisk rates. There is a puzzle here: Why is the violent crime rate significantly less predictive of frisking activity in predominately black neighborhoods? Why do you think that is? Actually, I think the answer to that question is very closely related to the answer to why law-abiding African Americans experience so many more unproductive frisks as individuals. The reason that has been talked about before by others is it appears that African Americans are held to a lower level of reasonable suspicion so people who should not be perceived as dangerous or are objectively not dangerous are more likely to get swept up in a stop-and-frisk initiative and be unproductively frisked due to implicit racial bias. Not only is that happening at the individual level, but it's also happening at the neighborhood level. Neighborhoods with low levels of criminal activity are erroneously considered dangerous due to the prevalence of African American residents. There seems to be good evidence that it's not just the stigma associated with an individual's race that potentially drives bias; the stigma associated with a neighborhood's race also affects bias. In other words, there is racial profiling of individuals and there is racial profiling of neighborhoods. Outside of the issue of racial bias, what do your results say about the usefulness of stop-and-frisk as a policing tool? The data suggest that, regardless of racial composition, as the number of frisks increases in a neighborhood, the proportion of frisks that produce contraband decreases. Some might interpret that correlation as proof that frequent frisks deter people from carrying contraband. But what I believe the data are actually showing is that, in places where you are doing more stopping and frisking, you are being tougher and harder but you are not being smarter if your goal is to uncover weapons. That negative correlation represents that when you're overzealous, you make more bad judgment calls. Maximizing the quantity of stop-and-frisk seems to hurt its quality as a policing tool. Why do you think this is a big deal? If there's more stopping and frisking in minority neighborhoods, it's going to decrease the legitimacy of the police in the eyes of residents there and increase mistrust of the police. Police are going to perceive that mistrust and it's going to lead them to potentially stop and frisk more. It becomes almost a spiraling system that hurts everyone. What do you think should be done? We need to pay attention to how police officers can be racially biased, based not just on the race of the suspect but also based on the race of the neighborhood they're in. We need to start compiling statistics and monitoring outcomes based on that. . In addition, there are a lot of different ways to do proactive policing besides stop-and-frisk. So if stop-and-frisk isn't working, or if it's having these effects which are racially disparate and ultimately potentially undermining police legitimacy, then change. Stop using stop-and-frisk, and use something else. Certainly, we see that, in New York, the crime rate has not actually gone out of control after stop-and-frisk was greatly curtailed. One clear policy implication is stop trying to do proactive policing via stop-and-frisk. Find another way. A onetime challenger to U.S. Rep. Bob Brady has agreed to cooperate and potentially testify in an ongoing federal investigation into $90,000 he says the congressman's campaign gave him to drop out of a 2012 primary race. But Jimmie Moore, a former Philadelphia Municipal Court judge, remained tight-lipped Monday on whether his testimony could implicate Brady, one of Philadelphia's most powerful Democrats, in a crime. The details of Moore's cooperation with the government emerged during a federal court hearing in which the onetime Brady rival pleaded guilty to falsifying his campaign finance filings to conceal the $90,000 payment. His lawyer, Jeffrey Miller, said in court that Moore had been working with government lawyers for months, but he declined afterward to elaborate on the extent of that cooperation or where it might have led. "There is a vast amount of evidence out there," he said. "Whether it points to the congressman doing something illegal or exculpates him, I can't say." Moore's plea agreement, however, told a different story. The document without identifying Brady by name says explicitly that the congressman and Moore hatched a plan together to conceal the source and reasons for the payment on Moore's campaign filings. "[Brady] and the defendant agreed and understood that the payment from [Brady's] campaign would be disguised," the document reads, "and the deception would include hiding at least some of [Brady's] funds as the purchase of a poll analyzing the primary matchup between [them], notwithstanding the fact that [Brady] was already in possession of this same poll." Moore told U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois in court Monday that that summary of events was accurate. Prosecutors, however, offered no clues on their intentions regarding the congressman, who has chaired Philadelphia's Democratic City Committee for three decades. Brady's lawyer, James Eisenhower, did not return calls for comment Monday. Since the FBI investigation burst into public view this summer with a similar guilty plea from a Moore campaign aide, Brady has maintained that the payment to Moore's campaign was legal, properly documented, and carried out largely by his subordinates. Meanwhile, his lawyers have scrambled to convince the Justice Department that there is no evidence that the congressman did anything wrong and to forestall what certainly would be a high-profile and politically damaging court battle should he be indicted. Brady, a former union leader now in his 10th term in Congress, rarely has faced formidable opposition at the polls. Moore was no exception. At the end of 2011, after Moore's campaign was underway, he had less than $4,000 after pouring tens of thousands of dollars of his own money into the race, federal campaign-finance reports show. At the same time, Brady reported $758,355 on hand. Prosecutors have alleged that Moore's decision to bow out was driven by a secret deal with his opponent. Brady allegedly agreed to cover Moore's debts, including more than $80,000 the former judge had personally loaned his campaign, as well as to provide jobs for both Moore and his former fiancee and campaign manager, Carolyn Cavaness. Because federal campaign contribution limits at the time capped the amount that one candidate could give another's campaign at $2,000 for a primary election, Brady allegedly funneled the money from his campaign coffers through two political consulting firms run by longtime campaign aides. The aides Ken Smukler and Don "D.A." Jones paid a consulting firm that Cavaness has said she created at Moore's instruction, solely to receive the funds from Brady's war chest. Though prosecutors say that some of the money went toward paying off Moore's campaign debts, he and Cavaness spent most of it on themselves. None of it ever showed up on Moore's campaign finance filings. Cavaness pleaded guilty in July. Both she and Moore could face up to five years in prison when they are sentenced. Afflicted by homosexuality? Try electric shock therapy, drugs that render men impotent, or maybe even a lobotomy. Or just get locked up in a mental institution. Decades ago, those were the medical remedies for homosexuality, officially considered an illness by the American Psychiatric Association, starting in 1952. "As we can all appreciate, for any physical or mental illness, there is a cure," said Malcolm Lazin, executive director of the Equality Forum, a Philadelphia-based gay rights group. The reason that doesn't happen now can be traced to a gay Philadelphia psychiatrist being honored Tuesday at 1 p.m. with a historic marker at 13th and Locust streets, in the heart of the Gayborhood and across the street from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, which houses the archives of the late Dr. John Ercel Fryer. Fryer caused an uproar in 1972 when he appeared before the American Psychiatric Association meeting in Dallas. Wearing a tux and a tie, as well as a mask and curly wig to disguise his identity, Fryer announced his homosexuality to his colleagues, making an impassioned plea that it shouldn't be classified as an illness. "He literally saved countless lives and allowed gays to come out," Lazin said. "I am a homosexual. I am a psychiatrist," he told the group, identifying himself as Dr. H. Anonymous. Using a voice distorter, Fryer said he had to remain anonymous because being gay might cause him to lose his license to practice. At the time, he was an untenured professor at Temple University. Fryer had already been booted from his psychiatric residency at the University of Pennsylvania when his homosexuality was discovered. A year later, in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association declassified "homosexuality" as an illness, prompting Philadelphia's Evening Bulletin newspaper, now defunct, to proclaim in a headline that 10 million Americans had been "cured." On Tuesday, just before Fryer's ceremony and just half a block away on Locust Street, a marker commemorating the 30-year anniversary of the AIDS Library of Philadelphia will also be dedicated, said Lazin, whose Equality Forum applied for both markers. The LGBTQ "community is the only minority that is not taught its history at school or in public religious institutions," Lazin said. But, he said, that history isn't just significant to the LGBTQ community. That community's struggles mirror those faced by women and African Americans. "It's about our common humanity. We all believe we are created equal, both because of religion, but also it's our American ideal. The question is: Are we living up to that?" Playwright and historical archivist Ain Gordon, attending Tuesday, agrees. "Now, at this political moment, it reminds us of how recently we've come out of a dark time. It is important for us to understand how hard we worked to expand justice," said Gordon. He wrote 217 Boxes of Dr. Henry Anonymous, a play about Fryer that premiered last year, drawn from material in Fryer's archives that Gordon discovered while an artist-in-residence at the Historical Society. Saul Levin, the current CEO and medical director of the American Psychiatric Association, is openly gay and will be the keynote speaker at the unveiling. Fryer, who died in 2003, "is a hero to me and to countless others in the LGBT community," Levin said. Ahead of the event, Penn's Perelman School of Medicine sent a letter of support. In 2014, the school established the annual John E. Fryer Lecture to pay tribute to his work. And state Rep. Brian Sims, an openly gay Democrat whose district includes both markers, said Fryer's actions paved the way for Sims' current push for legislation banning therapists from trying to change people's sexual orientation, known as "gay conversion" therapy. One of Fryer's oldest friends, Harry Adamson, will attend the ceremony. According to Adamson, Fryer was never one to seek the limelight and had confided to him that he would probably be remembered for being Dr. H. Anonymous, even though he had done so much work in substance abuse, suicide prevention, and working with impaired doctors. What would Fryer think of Tuesday's honor? "Although he wouldn't want to make too much of it," Adamson said, "I think he'd be rather pleased." This article contains information from the Associated Press. Decades before authorities say Stephen Paddock opened fire Sunday evening from a high-rise hotel near the Las Vegas Strip, leading to the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history his father was one of the FBI's most-wanted fugitives. Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, a convicted bank robber and con man described in a wanted poster as "psychopathic" with suicidal tendencies, had escaped from prison in 1969, earning him a spot on the FBI's list of most-sought-after and dangerous criminals. According to news accounts, he was not captured until 1978, when he was nabbed while running a bingo parlor in Oregon. Officials said Benjamin Paddock is the father of Stephen Paddock, the gunman who started shooting Sunday evening from the window of a 32nd-floor hotel room overlooking a concert on the Las Vegas Strip, where 22,000 people had gathered for a three-day country music festival. At least 58 people were killed, including an off-duty police officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, authorities said. More than 500 others, including two on-duty officers, were injured. The gunman was found dead by Las Vegas SWAT officers in his hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. His father had been convicted of bank robbery, auto theft and a confidence scam when he escaped from prison Feb. 3, 1969, in El Paso, Texas. At the time, his son Stephen would have been 15 years old. At 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, Benjamin Paddock used a host of aliases, and was also known as "Chromedome" and "Old Baldy," according to his "Wanted" poster. He remained on the FBI's Most Wanted list until 1977, when he was removed for reasons that aren't clear. Stephen Paddock's brother, Eric, told reporters outside his Orlando, Florida, home Monday that their father was not around during their childhood. "I was born on the run," he said. Las Vegas Police at the scene of the massacre along the Las Vegas Strip. Read more Early Monday morning, police identified Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old Las Vegas resident, as the man suspected of opening fire from the Mandala Bay Resort & Casino late Sunday night, killing more than 50 people and injuring 400 others. But amid the chaos that erupted at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, people turning to social media for answers saw another name popping up on their feeds: Geary Danley. Danley's name first came up because he was Facebook friends with Marilou Danley, whom police had described as a person of interest connected to the suspected shooter. It's unclear what relationship Geary Danley has with Marilou Danley, and he did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Marilou Danley has been found out of the country and is no longer considered a person of interest. Right-wing news site the Gateway Pundit, which the Trump administration granted White House press credentials this year, posted a now-deleted item identifying Geary Danley as the shooter with the headline: "Las Vegas Shooter Reportedly a Democrat Who Liked Rachel Maddow, MoveOn.org and Associated with Anti-Trump Army." Danley's name was also linked to the shooting on Everipedia, an online encyclopedia that describes itself as allowing "anyone to create a page about any person, organization, object, or idea." In the Everipedia post, which was shared more than 4,000 times on Facebook, Danley was identified as "a Democrat and is registered to vote in Washoe County, Nevada" who liked several anti-Trump pages on Facebook. From there, Danley's name and supposed politics spread across right-wing social media, pushed by conservative platforms such as Cougarboard, Dailey Alt News, and USSA News, which describes itself as "The Tea Party's Front Page." The false news items quickly spread across social media until police identified Paddock as the lone suspect about six hours after the shooting. Dailey Alt News later corrected its post and apologized. Another false suspect The false identification of Danley as the suspected shooter wasn't the only hoax that spread overnight Sunday into Monday morning. As Buzzfeed's Ryan Broderick pointed out, dozens of accounts falsely identified comedian Sam Hyde as the suspected shooter, claiming he was "32-year-old Islamic convert Samir Al-Hajeed." Fake missing friends There were also several social media users who spread fake "missing friends" photos on Twitter, including the fake Twitter account Jack Sins, who shared a photo of a man claiming to be his missing father. The photo actually features porn star Johnny Sins. Mashable reporter Gianluca Mezzofiore was able to message the owner of the Jack Sins account, who had a simple explanation why he decided to exploit a tragedy: "For the retweets." The Utuado region in the mountains of central Puerto Rico mountains was devastated by Hurricane Maria. Read more UTUADO, Puerto Rico The day Hurricane Maria swiped through these mountains, the loose, wet dirt started to tumble and roll. It broke through the gate and through the door. It moved with ferocity and determination. It covered and filled everything. "It looked like chocolate," said Ferdinand Ramos, a 63-year-old retired police officer whose home was directly in the path of massive landslides. The viscous mud crashed into his living room and kitchen, leaving a shin-high sludge. Then, for almost nine days, Ramos and Norma Jimenez and members of their extended family were trapped on their property. No one came to help. Their home on the remote outskirts of this town 60 miles southwest of San Juan became a prison. Even after they cleaned up inside, they had no way to leave the mud, broken trees and chunks of debris had piled up outside. On Thursday eight days after Maria had passed a municipal utility worker cleared their street. The family had almost run out of drinking water. Their isolated community of Caonillas had received no aid from the local or federal government, residents said. And they had no way to make the perilous trek to town; the winding roads had been obliterated and six of the family's cars had been stored in a garage that collapsed, crushing five of the vehicles and sending a sixth sliding down the mountainside and into a river. So their daughter decided to try hitchhiking to town, desperate for bottled water for her month-old premature baby, Diana. As Jimenez, 62, waited for her daughter to return, she rocked six-pound Diana in her arms, kissing the infant's forehead. "She left this morning and still hasn't come back," Jimenez said. An unknown number of families are still trapped in this part of Utuado, much of which is inaccessible nearly two weeks after the storm. From the air it is clear why: Mountaintop houses are surrounded by landslides, shredded structures are scattered down mountain slopes, and residents in some areas could be seen waving frantically for help as a helicopter passed. Some of the homes are so remote and in such rugged terrain that getting to them requires extraordinary effort by helicopter or all-terrain vehicle. Pilots can't land in many nearby spots, making it unclear how authorities will reach people before the road infrastructure is repaired, which could take months. Residents are cut off from civilization, in some places at least a four-hour walk to the nearest store. If aid and essential resources have been slow to reach Puerto Rico as a whole, getting help to isolated communities such as Utuado has been taking even longer. In these rural neighborhoods, tucked between mountain ranges and nestled along murky river beds, there is no telecommunication. Some residents recounted coming across Federal Emergency Management Agency officials, none carrying aid only search-and-rescue teams seeking assessments. These are the U.S. citizens for whom the mayor of San Juan has been crying, the people who say they have been forgotten and betrayed by their government in Washington. President Donald Trump has been declaring the federal government's role in Puerto Rico a success, but the people here see things very differently as they struggle to survive. "In the towns I represent, there are people who have no water," said an emotional Sen. Nelson Cruz Santiago, who represents the island's southern region. "In Utuado, there is an area where the bridge was washed out and people are screaming from the other side for help. We can hear them, we can see them, but we can't help them." At least three people died in mudslides in Utuado after Maria hit on Sept. 20. Many residents of the Caonillas neighborhood worry that if it rains again, the mountains and roads could buckle even more and come after them again. Hector Ruiz, a utility worker hired by the Utuado municipality to clear its roads, is often the first outsider to encounter stranded families. With a large excavator on Friday, he cut through a mountain that had fallen over Highway 140. He estimated that it will take at least one more month to make the entire highway in Utuado accessible. Ruiz said he came across a community of about 50 homes surrounded by a broken road on one side and a lake on the other. "They can't get out either way," he said. Ana Rosa Cruz escaped from one of those isolated communities on Friday and was walking through Caonillas with her nephew. She emerged from a road covered with tall mounds of broken trees and mud. She was out of breath and exasperated, her shins covered in scratches and gashes from the trek. Cruz, 58, had walked for about two hours just to reach an accessible road. She was carrying empty gasoline containers and had about an hour to go to reach her destination. Since the storm, Cruz had been staying at her mother's home, which had been cut off by landslides. About nine families live there, but dozens more live even farther into the area, she said, miles away from anything. Her mother, who has circulation problems, only had enough fuel to use her generator for two more days. She and her neighbors are forced to drink "water from the mountain or from the sky," she said. "If she gets sick, we can't get her out," Cruz said of her mother, noting that she has seen helicopters but none of them have stopped. "We just wave goodbye, because there's nothing else we can do." For Lisandra Torres, 43, who lives down the road from Jimenez and Ramos, her family's sedan is too low to the ground to make it up the muddy, rugged route only a four-wheel-drive SUV would even have a chance. Torres walked for three hours to get to the center of Utuado on Thursday, seeking food and water. Her extended family is almost out of cash, so Torres tried to pick up their benefit checks from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children known as WIC to purchase food and diapers for her grandchildren. But the WIC offices in their town were closed. "If my babies get sick, I need to buy medication," said her daughter, Lizbeth Coraliza, 24. A relative tried driving her sister, Angelica Coraliza, 26, to a minimart Friday in a different sedan. That car got stuck four times because of mud and road damage, and other drivers had to help. When they finally made it to the store, they found that it was sold out of water. The Coralizas, like many other families in the Utuado area, can reach mountain springs. The cloudy water works for bathing and cleaning, but many said they wouldn't risk drinking it and definitely wouldn't give it to infants. Jimenez's daughter might not have a choice. The young mother has been struggling to breast-feed her newborn, probably because she is stressed and not getting enough to eat, Jimenez said. If they can't find bottled water, the family will have to start boiling water from the mountain to add to the baby's formula. And the shortage of food is increasingly grim. Fuljencio Guzman and his 12-year-old son, Kelvin, lost their home, its wooden structure devastated. They are staying next door at Guzman's mother's house. A pantry showed the family's only remaining nourishment: one can of beans, a few cans of tomatoes, saltine crackers and a few potatoes. Even if they could reach the nearest grocery store, they have no cash to buy food, and no banks or cash machines in town are functioning. The Guzmans are limiting themselves to one meal a day, the father said. About 1 p.m. Friday, Kelvin ate some Chef Boyardee and rice probably his only meal until Saturday. Another resident, Migdalia Guzman, said she thinks the U.S. government doesn't realize there are communities up here, away from the cities and the television cameras. "I think they think no one is here," Migdalia Guzman said. "But there are a lot of people here." The storm loosened massive boulders in the mountain slope directly above Migdalia Guzman's home, where she lives with her children. She worries that additional rain could cause another catastrophe. "We would all die," she said. When she saw a local government official around town on Thursday, she was told that she should move to a different home because of the risk. "We don't know where to go," she said. On Friday afternoon, thunder clapped and dark clouds started rolling in over the mountains. It began to rain. President Donald Trump plans to travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday following a massacre at a country music festival in which at least 50 people were killed and more than 400 were injured late Sunday, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. "It was an act of pure evil," Trump said somberly, standing in the Diplomatic Room at the White House on Monday morning. Trump offered his condolences to the friends and relatives of those killed. "We cannot fathom their pain; we cannot imagine their loss," he said. He urged the country not to be divided by what happened, saying that "our unity cannot be shattered by evil." And he praised law enforcement officers and others who quickly responded as soon as shots were fired. "The speed with which they acted is miraculous and prevented further loss of life," Trump said. "To have found the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired is something for which we will always be thankful and grateful. It shows what true professionalism is all about." Police have identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, who was found dead by officers on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Police believe that Paddock, a 64-year-old local resident, was a "lone wolf" attacker, and they have not yet released any information about his background or possible motivations. Trump first responded to the shooting in a tweet early Monday. Soon after, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted a series of message that read, in full: "To victims, families & loved ones affected by this senseless violence in Las Vegas, Karen & I are praying for you & offering our love The hearts & prayers of the American people are with you. You have our condolences and sympathies. To the courageous first responders, thank you for your acts of bravery." Lying on the floor of his hotel room and wincing at the sound of gunfire, Ben Sweeney pecked out a text message to his wife, but did not hit send. "Babe, I think someone is shooting here I'm really scared it's loud." The gunfire sounded like it was coming from the room next door, Sweeney told The Washington Post. His mind raced to the worst possible scenario: An active shooter, kicking in doors, killing random hotel guests. But the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino is huge, and so is Las Vegas, and Sweeney didn't want to scare his wife asleep back home in Pennsylvania until he knew what was going on. They had just said their goodnights. Sweeney was attending an IT conference that started the next day. He'd checked into the hotel around 6 p.m., walked around a bit and listened to the country music concert going on 30 floors below. His wife is a country music fan. He is not. So before turning in, he held the phone up in the air to let her hear the music and crawled into bed. Then he heard booms. He assumed it was fireworks connected to the concert, he told The Post, and figured he might as well catch a glimpse before turning in. He opened the curtains, but instead of lights in the sky, he heard more booms, closer together, from the hotel. "That's a machine gun," he thought, dropping to the floor. "An automatic rifle." The booms were tightly grouped. Seven at a time. Five at a time. "It seemed like I was so close," he told The Post. "I thought it was coming from the room next to me. I could hear the shots go off inside the hotel first, then echo outside." He made sure his door was locked, turned off the TV and crawled into the bathroom. There, inside whatever safety the tub provided, he looked at his phone and hit "send." Now, both Sweeneys were worried, but neither knew what was going on or what to do. Sweeney sent his wife a picture of the ground below the hotel, but it was too far away to show any detail. Then he sent her an audio file, but she couldn't really hear it. His realization came a few moments later: "Ya hun It's an active shooter I swear it's right in the room next to me." "It's so loud and it echoes. It's a machine gun." Sweeney and his now-fully-awake wife cobbled together what was going on from Twitter and Facebook and news reports. A man opened fire from the 32nd floor of the hotel two floors up and one room over from where Sweeney huddled in the bathtub. The shooter had almost the same view that Sweeney had, and he was firing indiscriminately into the crowd. At least 58 people were killed by gunfire, and more than 500 were wounded. The victims were attending the Route 91 Harvest festival. But Sweeney was safe. He texted his parents, figuring they'd wake up, hear the news and worry. And he whispered to his wife on the phone. Occasionally, he crept over to the bed. Afraid that the TV would attract a shooter, he checked social media on his laptop for information. At one point, "all of a sudden I hear this loud explosion," he told The Post. It was also from inside the hotel. Police in Las Vegas said their SWAT team used explosives to get into the room where the suspected shooter, Stephen Paddock, had fired from. Paddock was an accountant with real estate investments around Orlando and "plenty of money to play with," a family member said. He killed himself as SWAT officers closed in. The investigation into what has been called the worst mass shooting in the modern era is ongoing. On Monday, police were working to identify the dead. Around 4:30 a.m., Sweeney was awakened by officers at the front door who said they wanted to do a welfare check. He assented and they burst in, checking the closets and the bathroom with guns pointed, clearing the room. When they left, he heard similar shouts and commands as the officers moved on. By the time the sun came up, he said, the IT conference was an afterthought. He just wanted to be out of Las Vegas. He booked a flight to Newark. His wife was going to drive 90 miles to pick him up. Before he left the hotel, less than a day after checking in, he glanced outside the window. In the daylight, he could make out the police activity 30 floors below. And he could see white tarps. There were dozens of them. Under each, he assumed, was a body. "If I look out my window right now, I see the tarps out there. The aftermath. You see the tarps and you know someone went out there to have a good time in Vegas and never went home." Inquirer editor William K. Marimow earlier this year. William K. Marimow will become vice president of strategic development for Philadelphia Media Network. Read more William K. Marimow, former editor of the Inquirer and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, has joined the business side of the newspaper's parent company in the newly created position of vice president of strategic development, publisher Terrance C.Z. Egger announced Monday. "In his new role, Bill will report to and work directly with me to further deepen our connection with our community," Egger said in a memo to employees of Philadelphia Media Network. In concert with the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the nonprofit that owns PMN, Marimow "will help formulate important projects throughout the company and match them with donors to guarantee the viability of our journalism and our overall business," Egger said. Marimow also will work to provide "both subscribers and advertisers with consistently excellent customer service," Egger said. Most recently, Marimow served as editor-at large and vice president for PMN. He previously was editor of the Inquirer. "I think this is really a great opportunity and an even greater challenge, and timing is right," Marimow said, adding that the newsroom remains "in excellent hands." PMN, the Inquirer, and Daily News are led by Stan Wischnowski and Gabriel Escobar. His new job will entail showing the public how important a free press is to democracy, he said. Marimow, now 70 and a Center City resident, started at the Inquirer as a reporter in 1972 at the age of 24. He left in 1993 to join the Baltimore Sun, where he eventually became its top editor. In 2004, he joined NPR News as a managing editor. Marimow returned to the Inquirer in 2006 as the top editor. He left briefly to serve on the faculty of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Ocean City officials have detailed plans and a timetable for an $11.5 million project beginning this month to rebuild beaches at the northern end of the island a project made more urgent after a 2016 winter storm struck the coast, causing flooding and erosion. They also said the final leg of a multiphase rebuilding of the boardwalk would also start this month and be complete for it to reopen by March. Mayor Jay Gillian said in a written update that the beach project will entail adding 930,000 cubic yards of sand between Seaspray Road and 12th Street. The sand will also be used to rebuild dunes near Fifth and 10th Streets. The project could be expanded a block or more depending on the results of surveys. Work will begin the end of this month and run at least 50 days, meaning that it will run into December. However, it could take until January, officials said. "Ocean City has been part of an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers since the 1990s that calls for re-nourishment projects on a three-year cycle," city spokesman Doug Bergen said in an email. "The current project is on an expedited schedule based on erosion from Jonas in 2016." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is funding 90 percent of the cost and the state is also funding a portion. Bergen said the city "is extremely grateful for its partnership with the feds and state for this work." He said Ocean City will have an an uninterrupted dune system protecting property along almost all of its beachfront, except for a small breach at Fifth Street caused by the rough surf of the recent Jose and Maria hurricanes. A 305-foot cutter will pump sand in from an area about a mile off Great Egg Harbor Inlet. A pipe from the dredge site will empty sand onto Morningside Road. Crews will work north to south and about 1,000 feet of beach will be closed. It's the eighth such project by the Army Corps of Engineers since the 1990s to "renourish" the Ocean City beach. "These projects are absolutely vital to the protection of property in Ocean City," the mayor wrote. "The south end also remains on schedule for replenishment sometime in late 2018 or early 2019." Separately, the city said another phase of its boardwalk reconstruction projects will start Oct. 16 and the area between 10th and 12th Streets will be closed. The boardwalk should be open by March. It's the fifth and final phase of rebuilding the substructure and decking on the boardwalk. About a dozen protesters confronted law enforcement Sunday at a police union fund-raiser for a Philadelphia police officer who was suspended for the fatal shooting of a man running away from a traffic stop. Facing a heavy police presence outside the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5's office on Caroline Road in Northeast Philadelphia, the protesters led by Black Lives Matter showered police with profanity and called for the prosecution of Officer Ryan Pownall, who was suspended last month with the intent to dismiss for the June 8 shooting of David Jones. "It's a disgrace you're having a party for a murderer," Asa Khalif, a Black Lives Matter national coordinator, shouted at the police through a bullhorn, sometimes within inches of the faces of the stoic officers, who did not respond. Many of the protesters shot video of the demonstration and provided commentary live online to social-media audiences. Scores of police officers, including about 20 bike cops, set up barricades about a quarter-mile from the union hall, restricting vehicle access to the ticketed event. Pownall shot Jones, who had been riding a dirt bike and illegally carrying a gun, after Pownall pulled him over in North Philadelphia. The FOP said the fund-raiser was intended to help Pownall meet living expenses while he is suspended. The event appeared to be well-attended, and the FOP parking lot was full. FOP president John McNesby declined to comment Sunday. The shooting has become a lightning rod for anger from civil rights activists, as well as the police themselves, who objected to the release of Pownall's name by the police administration. The protesters conducted a profanity-laced action outside Pownall's Bustleton home house in August. A Philadelphia judge on Friday denied an attempt by the police union to block the policy that allows officials to release the names of officers involved in shootings. Commissioner Richard Ross, in suspending Pownall on Sept. 7, said the officer's first attempt to shoot at Jones was justifiable under department policy because it took place immediately after the struggle over the weapon and with reasonable belief that Pownall's life was in danger. But Pownall continued to fire when Jones had his back turned to the officer and was 10 to 35 feet away. Although Pownall clearly thought he was in danger, Ross said, he had an obligation to reassess the chaotic situation on a busy street as Jones, 30, who had dropped his gun, began to run. "There were serious policy violations that were committed ones that were on video," Ross said in September. President Trump makes a statement on the mass shooting at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas in the diplomatic room of the White House. Read more President Trump's budget deal with Democrats last month encouraged Americans looking for a sign that he can put aside personal political calculations for the good of his country. In the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in this nation's history, that same common sense is needed to help reduce the frequency and carnage of such tragedies. This is a Nixon-in-China moment for Trump. Richard Nixon's stature as an anticommunist Republican made it more palatable to conservatives when he traveled to Beijing in 1972 to meet with Mao Zedong, who seized power in 1949. Trump's stature with the gun-rights activists who helped him win the presidency opens the door for him to argue for more gun control. But will he do it? Trump's first comment after at least 59 people were shot to death Sunday night while attending a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip came in the form of a rather benign tweet: "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you." Later, reading from a teleprompter, the president called the attack an "act of pure evil." He commiserated with families who lost loved ones in the massacre, saying: "We cannot fathom their pain, we cannot imagine their loss." But he made no mention of the rapid-fire guns that made it possible for the shooter to claim so many victims. At least 500 were wounded or injured during the chaos. How many more must die or be maimed before Congress grows a spine strong enough to resist the gun lobby, whose campaign donations apparently mean more than seeing two House members Gabby Giffords and Steve Scalise wounded in mass shootings? That Congress did nothing after Giffords and Scalise were shot shouldn't have been surprising. After all, it did next to nothing in 2012 after 20 first-graders and six adults were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. That sickening event led Trump to tweet his support for President Barack Obama's call for more gun control, saying Obama "spoke for me and every American." Now it's time for Trump to speak. The National Rifle Association endorsed his presidential campaign, but that doesn't mean he must be the NRA's tool. In fact, Trump's 2000 book, The America We Deserve, called for a ban on assault weapons and a longer waiting period to buy a gun positions he discarded on the campaign trail in 2016. This president, who was born with all the accoutrements of wealth, prides himself on being able to connect with working-class, churchgoing Americans who also own guns. Many of them have bought the NRA's position that any further restrictions would become a slippery slope toward banning gun ownership. Trump has the stature to argue otherwise. To do that, he must find the same will he showed in avoiding a government shutdown by reaching a budget deal with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. His fellow Republicans didn't like it, but it was the right thing to do. Just as it is the right thing to support measures backed by law enforcement that may not prevent mass murders, but make it harder to kill so many. Associates of President Trump and his company have turned over documents to federal investigators that reveal two previously unreported contacts from Russia during the 2016 campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. In one case, Trump's personal attorney and a business associate exchanged emails weeks before the Republican National Convention about traveling to an economic conference in Russia that would be attended by top Russian financial and government leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, according to people familiar with the correspondence. In the other case, the same Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, received a proposal in late 2015 for a Moscow residential project from a company founded by a billionaire who once served in the Russian Senate, these people said. The previously unreported inquiry marks the second proposal for a Trump-branded Moscow project that was delivered to the company during the presidential campaign and has since come to light. Cohen declined the invitation to the economic conference, citing the difficulty of attending so close to the GOP convention, according to people familiar with the matter. And Cohen rejected the Moscow building plan. Nonetheless, the information about the interactions has been provided to congressional committees as well as special counsel Robert S. Mueller III as they investigate whether Trump associates coordinated with Russian efforts to interfere in the U.S. election, according to people familiar with the inquiries who, like others cited in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the inquiry. Details of the communications were turned over by the Trump Organization in recent days to the White House, defense lawyers and government investigators and described to The Washington Post. Though there is no evidence that these Russia-related entreaties resulted in further action, the email communications about them show that Trump's inner circle continued receiving requests from Russians deep into the presidential campaign. After WikiLeaks began to publish emails from the Democratic National Committee that were widely believed to have been hacked at the direction of Moscow, Trump said on several occasions that he had no financial ties to Russia. In July 2016, he tweeted: "for the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia." But the new disclosures add to an emerging picture in which Trump's business and campaign were repeatedly contacted by Russians with interests in business and politics. Trump's son, son-in-law, campaign chairman, low-level foreign policy advisers and, now, Cohen, one of his closest business confidants, all fielded such inquiries in the weeks before or after Trump accepted the nomination. The documents also underscore the Trump company's long-standing interest in doing business in Moscow. In a statement Monday, Cohen stressed that he did not attend the economic forum. "I did not accept this invitation," he said. "I have never been to Russia." Cohen has said he will cooperate with authorities. Alan Garten, general counsel for the Trump Organization, said the newly disclosed Moscow proposal needed to be understood "in context." "Like any other international real estate brand, it is not uncommon for third party developers to submit proposals for potential real estate projects all over the world," he said, adding that, only a "very small percentage of these proposals are ever pursued." White House lawyer Ty Cobb declined to comment, saying he was not familiar with the documents. The June 2016 email to Cohen about the economic conference came from Felix Sater, a Russian-born real estate developer and former Trump business associate. Sater encouraged Cohen to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, with Sater telling Cohen that he could be introduced to Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, top financial leaders and perhaps to Putin, according to people familiar with the correspondence. At one point, Sater told Cohen that Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, could help arrange the discussions, according to a person familiar with the exchange. Robert Wolf, an attorney for Sater, declined to comment. The correspondence included a formal invitation to the conference from the Russian leader of the event, according to people familiar with the Trump Organization documents. The invitation included a letter signed by a conference official designed to help Cohen get a visa from the Russian government. Cohen and Sater had earlier that year been working on a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The email exchange did not directly address the Moscow Trump Tower plan that Cohen, Sater and Trump had been working on earlier in 2016, according to people familiar with the correspondence. But Sater was eager to rekindle interest in the project, which had been canceled five months earlier, according to a person familiar with his thinking. The project had begun in the fall of 2015, when Trump was competing for the GOP nomination. He signed a so-called letter of intent in October 2015 to license his name to the Moscow developer working with Sater to construct what they hoped would be one of the tallest buildings in the world. In January 2016, Cohen emailed Peskov, Putin's spokesman, saying the project had stalled and asking for assistance in pushing it forward. Cohen has said he received no response from Peskov and canceled the deal shortly thereafter. Peskov has said he received the email but did not reply. He said Sunday that he did not remember any discussions about Cohen attending the St. Petersburg economic forum. But he said the conference, an annual event, is designed to allow attendees to meet with government and business leaders. "My job [is] to assist in that!" he wrote in a text message. Cohen rebuffed the invitation, and the project was not restarted. Sater, who emigrated from Russia to the U.S. as a youngster, served time in jail as a young man following a bar fight and then was convicted in 1998 for his role in a Mafia-linked stock fraud. He has also been hailed for cooperating in the past with U.S. Justice Department probes in undisclosed national security matters. Sater has had a long relationship with Cohen, whom he knew in high school, and with Trump. A firm in which he played a principal role, Bayrock, partnered in building the Trump Soho tower in New York City. And Sater and Cohen met with a Ukrainian legislator in 2017 to discuss how to promote a Ukrainian peace plan to the new Trump White House team. The newly disclosed documents show publicly for the first time that, in addition to Sater's efforts, the Trump Organization fielded another inquiry for a Moscow project during the presidential campaign. That proposal originated with Russian billionaire Sergey Gordeev, a Moscow real estate mogul who served through 2010 as a member of the Russian Senate. The discussions about working with Gordeev took place via email between Cohen and an international financier he had worked with in the past, Giorgi Rtskhiladze, according to people familiar with the correspondence. A spokesman for Rtskhiladze, Melanie A. Bonvicino, confirmed the proposal for a Trump-branded residential development, saying a 13-page document with pictures was delivered in October 2015. But, Bonvicino said, Cohen informed Rtskhiladze in 2015 that the Trump company could not pursue the project because it was already committed to another developer in Russia a reference to the proposal being guided by Sater. No letter of intent was ever signed, according to people familiar with the interaction. Cohen and Rtskhiladze "did not speak of the project again," Bonvicino said. A spokeswoman for Gordeev's company said he had no comment. Rtskhiladze has had a long-standing interest in working with Trump in the region and pursued a project to build a Trump Tower in Batumi, Georgia, overlooking the Black Sea. Trump traveled to Georgia in 2012 to promote the Batumi deal and was paid nearly $1 million in upfront cash, but the project was never built and was formally canceled by the Trump Organization in December, as Trump prepared to take office. WASHINGTON The tax overhaul rolled out last week by President Trump and congressional Republicans would cost New Jersey and Pennsylvania residents a tax break that can save them thousands of dollars a year and the idea is already shaping up as a major political threat to the GOP's top agenda item. The two states are among the biggest beneficiaries of the deduction for state and local taxes, which would be axed under the GOP plan, putting Republicans from the Philadelphia region in an awkward position as the proposal begins its arduous path through Congress. "That's going to be a tough issue, both with regard to the substance of it itself and the politics," said Rep. Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), who sits on the House committee that writes tax policy. The provision, which lets people write off many taxes they paid to their state and local governments, generally helps wealthier people with big tax bills and provides significant relief to many in the Philadelphia suburbs. In Meehan's home turf, Delaware County, roughly 40 percent of filers claimed the deduction on their 2015 taxes, letting them shield an average of $13,428 of income from federal taxes. For someone in the 33 percent tax bracket, that could mean saving more than $4,000. New Jerseyans, who have the country's highest property-tax bills, claim the third most state and local deductions of any state helping those who use it to write off an average of nearly $18,000. Pennsylvanians are sixth, with some the biggest savings seen in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties all represented, at least in part, by Republicans. South Jersey's Burlington and Gloucester Counties also see hefty write-offs and have GOP members of Congress. "I predict that's going to be a downfall of this plan," said the Democrats' leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, of New York. "There are 40 or 50 Republican congressmen from well-to-do suburban districts in high-tax states New York, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Maryland whose constituents will be clobbered by removing state and local deductibility. Clobbered." Consider a Burlington County couple. While Republicans would lower their rates and nearly double their standard deduction to $24,000, many in the county already deduct more than that, IRS statistics show, thanks in large part to state and local tax breaks that let them write off an average of nearly $14,000. Even if their overall taxes do drop, losing that deduction means they might not save very much, experts said. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a Republican from the Atlantic City area, called the idea "a problem" for him, echoing many others in the region. But none drew firm red lines, and stalling the plan would carry major risks for local lawmakers, who support tax reform overall. After striking out on repealing the Affordable Care Act, Trump and fellow Republicans are desperate for a big win. What is the deduction? At stake is one of the biggest tax breaks on the books valued at $1.8 trillion over the next decade, according to Jared Walczak, of the nonpartisan Tax Foundation. That makes it a ripe target for Republicans who want to eliminate most itemized deductions to help pay for boosting the standard deduction and lowering individual and business tax rates. Critics argue that the state and local write-off disproportionately helps a small group of well-off taxpayers, forcing those in low-tax states who don't reap nearly as much benefit to subsidize the deduction. Only 28 percent of tax filers nationwide use it, according to the Tax Foundation, and close to 90 percent of the benefits go to those with incomes over $100,000. More than half of the value goes to just six states. Why Republicans have targeted it The deduction is likely to be a key part of a fierce battle as businesses and regions with competing interests try to shape the final plan. Gary Cohn, Trump's chief economic adviser, called the deduction a loophole for the wealthy, and showed no signs of relenting. "You're going to pay a lower rate, but you're going to pay it on more income," he said. "That is a basic core premise of our plan and we're committed to it and we're sticking with it." Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), a leading GOP voice on fiscal issues, also backed the idea in the name of paying for the broader package. "We've definitely identified the items that can get us there. The question is: Will we have the political will to do it?" Toomey said. "I certainly hope we will because it is a good trade-off to reduce some of the special provisions and distortions" in exchange for lower rates that he believes will drive economic growth. He said nearly everyone, including people who use the state and local tax break, will enjoy "a net savings" once the entire plan is laid out. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) disputed that math, though, citing the bevy of lost deductions. For now it's impossible to precisely predict taxpayers' bottom lines, since many critical details of the GOP plan are unresolved, including who falls into which tax brackets. But based on the outline, "it's hard to see how this ends up being a big tax cut" for those who rely heavily on the state and local deduction, said Frank Sammartino, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. Tax savings, he said, will be diminished by losing such a significant break, and pale compared with what some others get. "For sure it's going to be less than for a similar couple or similar person in a state without high taxes," Sammartino said, "and then the question is whether it's really much of a cut at all." Why keep the deduction? That's why some New Jersey lawmakers argue the proposal would make their residents foot the bill for everyone else's tax breaks. They also say their constituents will face what is, in effect, double taxation. "This proposal crushes New Jersey's middle class," said Rep. Donald Norcross, a Democrat from Camden County. Rep. Tom MacArthur, a Republican who represents parts of Burlington and Ocean Counties, is pressing to keep the deduction for property taxes, even if that means losing the ability to write off state income taxes. "There's a clear public policy interest in the federal government encouraging homeownership, within people's means," MacArthur said. "It creates stable, good communities when people are invested in their own homes, and we should encourage that." City Commissioner Al Schmidt recently released information about irregular voting in Philadelphia. His report, which received national attention, summarized the impact of a state-level voter registration problem on elections in the city. Between 2006 and 2017, a flaw in the programming of PennDot's voter registration software, commonly referred to as Motor Voter, misordered the questions asked of prospective voters registering at the DMV. This glitch allowed at least 167 noncitizen Philadelphians to register. Ninety of these individuals also cast ballots in at least one election over this 11-year span. The issue was identified and largely resolved last year. The problem Schmidt helped highlight is important because the integrity of our voter rolls is important. But so is registering eligible Philadelphians to vote. As is ensuring that elections are administered free of any potential conflicts of interest. On these last two counts, there are issues in our own backyard that demand the same scrutiny as the problems with Motor Voter. This is why many voting-rights advocates agree that the Office of the City Commissioners, a vestige of 19th-century county government and overseen by three elected officials, is structurally flawed and must be reformed. This is also why Philadelphia 3.0 and the Committee of Seventy filed a lawsuit seeking to enforce, for the first time in Philadelphia, a Pennsylvania Election Code law that limits potential conflicts of interest for those who monitor and run elections. We lost the case, and the court's decision affirms the practice of city commissioners overseeing and certifying the results of all ballot questions, even those that directly impact the office and the commissioners themselves. Unfortunately, the type of conflict of interest we sued to eliminate is only one of several created by the elected commissioner positions. The commissioners aren't limited in their political activity above and beyond the restrictions placed on all elected city officials. This means they are free to raise and donate money to support candidates, as well as serve an active role in the party system. It is deeply problematic that the commissioners are allowed to influence the outcomes of elections, including those they are simultaneously tasked with administering and ultimately certifying. Beyond the conflicts, there are systems-level failures deserving of attention. A voter-registration analysis released four months before Schmidt's report by Keystone Votes, a statewide coalition of voting-rights advocates, found that more than 17,000 on-time, valid applications in Philadelphia were not processed until days before the Nov. 8, 2016, election. This rate was more than 8.5 times higher than the statewide average, and nearly 20 times higher than in Allegheny County, the second-largest county in the commonwealth. Late processing of registrations can create challenges for voters at the polls, and might raise issues with compliance with voting protections in federal law. The same report also identified instances of voter registrations being lost outright by local election officials. And, finally, we are reminded of Philadelphia's history of challenges in administering smooth, inclusive elections that have been well-documented by advocates, journalists, and in court settlements for decades. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the city commissioners for failing to provide sufficient assistance to Spanish-speaking voters. Three years later, the commissioners settled another lawsuit with the Department of Justice to give disabled Philadelphia voters greater opportunity to vote in person at their polling places. During the November 2012 presidential election, more than 27,000 city voters were kept from voting machines and forced to use provisional (paper) ballots. In 2014, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a complaint against the city after documenting language-access challenges for Asian American voters. Voting-rights and good-government advocates were driven by these systemic and persistent issues to establish the now 14-member Better Philadelphia Elections Coalition (BPEC) in 2016. BPEC urges City Council to create a new Department of Elections led by a professionally accredited election director appointed by the mayor with oversight provided by an appointed, nonsalaried, and bipartisan Philadelphia Board of Elections. Sophisticated operational departments demand a single desk where the buck stops. Every other agency in the city works this way, but we've never had this in elections. Also last week, State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.) convened a hearing on the Keystone Votes report and other voter-access issues in the city and state. Representatives from public interest and civic engagement groups testified about the challenges they've faced and expressed a strong desire to take on the difficult task of improving systemic failures that disenfranchise voters. There is urgency here: On the near horizon is a competitive gubernatorial race in 2018; farther down the line, a presidential contest that will almost certainly draw the most voters in American history. We've got a lot of work to do before then. David Thornburgh is CEO of the Committee of Seventy. dthornburgh@seventy.org Ali Perelman is executive director of Philadelphia 3.0. alison@phila3-0.org Embed from Getty Images One off-duty Las Vegas officer was killed in the Sunday night mass shooting at the Route 91 country music concert. Multiple officers in attendance at the concert off duty or responding to the shooting were wounded. From Nevada, one off-duty Las Vegas Metro officer was killed. Two on-duty Las Vegas officers were wounded. The LVMPD Twitter account says one of the on-duty officers was stable after surgery and the second "sustained minor injuries." From California: A deputy with the Orange County Sheriff's was shot in the abdomen and thigh. The wounds were described by the Los Angeles Times as "severe." An LAPD officer was shot in the knee. She is expected to recover. A Bakersfield police officer was wounded in the gunfire and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Two employees with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department were struck by gunfire, the agency said. One was critically injured while the other is stable. One was earlier described as a deputy. Ontario Police Officer Michael Gracia, 24, was wounded and underwent surgery Monday morning, officials said. He is listed in critical but stable condition. Gracias wife was also hurt during the incident but her injuries were non-life-threatening. From Colorado: Curtis Leoni, 52, who has been an Englewood police officer for around 25 years, called his sister and told her he had been wounded, but did not have life-threatening injuries, the Denver Post reports. Cpl. Michael Paul Middlebrook of the Lafayette (LA) Police Department was killed in a convenience store shooting Sunday night. (Photo: Lafayette PD) A nine-year veteran of the Lafayette (LA) Police Department was shot and killed Sunday night at a convenience store on Moss Street by a gunman who was soon taken into custody, said State Police spokesman Master Trooper Brooks David. Lafayette police Cpl. Michael Paul Middlebrook was killed and two other people were injured in the shooting but are expected to survive, David told the Advocate. Police were called to the Big Boy Discount Zone around 10:30 p.m. Sunday about an aggravated assault with a gun, but the call was upgraded to a shooting before officers arrived, David said. When police arrived, gunfire was exchanged with a shooter, David said, with at least one bullet striking and killing Middlebrook. The shooter has not been identified. An off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy, and a Bakersfield officer were reportedly wounded in last night's mass shooting at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. A civilian employee of the LASD was also wounded in the shooting. According to the LAPD's Foothill Division, one of their officers was shot in the knee. She is in stable condition, police told ABC7. An LASD deputy and an LASD employee were also injured in the incident. They were both hit by gunfire, sheriff's officials said. One was listed in critical condition, and the other was listed in stable condition. Their identities were not immediately released. A Bakersfield police officer who was off-duty and in attendance at the concert with a group of other officers was also struck by a bullet and injured, the department said. The officer is being treated at a Las Vegas hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Polish Language & Culture Education Pack The British Council and Polish Cultural Institute in partnership with Dwie Siostry Publishing and Templar Publishing are pleased to present a Polish Language and Culture Education pack for the primary school teachers. This education pack is designed to help primary teachers introduce aspects of Polish language and culture to their Pupils aged 711. It contains lesson and assembly plans, factual information and resources to help pupils develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the rich language, geography and culture of Poland. The materials are designed to be flexible and adaptable for use in a variety of settings. They can be used as starting points for individual lessons and assemblies or form part of larger cross-curricular joint projects. The Pupils can learn how to greet a friend in Polish and find out about many aspects of Polish culture by using our wide range of classroom resources and activities. A copy of this pack can be downloaded here or from British Council website We hope that both Teachers and Pupils enjoy using this pack. This education pack was produced by the British Council and the Polish Cultural Institute in London, in partnership with Dwie Siostry Publishing and Templar Publishing. Dwie Siostry Publishing is one of the most highly acclaimed publishers on the Polish book market. Find out more The Templar Publishing, founded in 1978, has become one of the worlds most respected publishers and packagers of illustrated childrens fiction, novelty and picture books. In 2008 Templar was recognized by the Independent Publishers Guild as UK Childrens Publisher of the Year and Independent Publisher of the Year. The Polish Language and Culture Pack was written by Alison Willmott. Thanks to Agnieszka Tadaj, Marta Sordyl and their colleagues at Poles Connect for their kind help and assistance in putting the pack together. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Julia Harte WASHINGTON (Reuters) c U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday he does not regret using a government plane to travel to Kentucky in August with his wife to view the solar eclipse and speak to business leaders, calling it completely justifiable. Mnuchins use of the plane at taxpayers expense prompted an outcry from Democratic lawmakers and interest groups and spurred a government watchdog to begin examining whether it violated travel or ethics policies. It was approved by the White House and there were reasons why we needed to use that plane that are completely justifiable, he said on NBCs Meet the Press program. Cabinet members rarely use government planes or chartered aircraft for domestic travel, but the practice has received significant attention in the wake of Mnuchins trip. On Friday, former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned after an outcry over his use of private charter planes for government business at a cost of nearly $52,000. Mnuchin told NBC that he would only use a private plane for government purposes if either there was a national security issue or we couldnt get somewhere. The Treasury Department has described Mnuchins trip in August as official government travel. Mnuchin spoke to business leaders in Louisville and visited Fort Knox, the site of significant U.S. gold reserves. Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton, also viewed the Aug. 21 solar eclipse in Kentucky with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and others. Public uproar over the trip began to mount after Linton posted a photo of herself deboarding the plane on social media and listed the expensive designer brands she was wearing in the caption. (Reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Paul Simao) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print NEW YORK Facebook Inc said it plans on Monday to turn over to the U.S. Congress copies of some 3,000 ads that the social network says were bought on Facebook likely by people in Russia in the months before and after the 2016 U.S. election. Last month, in response to calls from U.S. lawmakers, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pledged to hand over the ads to congressional investigators who are looking into alleged Russian involvement in the U.S. presidential election, but he had left the timing unclear. The materials would be delivered on Monday, Facebook said on Sunday. Facebook, the worlds largest social network, has become a primary platform for internet political ads because it has a wide reach and gives advertisers powerful targeting capabilities. For that reason, it may possess valuable clues for U.S. investigators. Facebook has already provided information about Russia-linked ads to U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller, who is also investigating alleged election meddling, a source said last month. Moscow has denied any meddling in last years U.S. election, in which Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. Facebook said on Sunday it would provide to Congress copies of the ads it has found, as well as related data such as whom the ads were targeted at and how much each ad cost. The materials would be turned over to the intelligence committees of the Senate and House of Representatives, and to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Facebook said. The $100,000 in ads linked to Russia focused on amplifying divisive U.S. social and political messages, Facebook said last month. Some ads mentioned Muslim support for Clinton, promoted in-person events and weighed in on the Black Lives Matter protests against police shootings, according to media reports. The emergence of Facebook as a battleground for government-sponsored propaganda has become a major challenge for the social networks corporate image. Zuckerberg, in Facebook posts last month, disclosed a series of steps he said the company would take to prevent governments from manipulating it and said he had earlier been wrong to dismiss the possibility of Facebook being used in such a way. U.S. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, has likened digital political advertising to the Wild, Wild West, and he and others have called for legislation to impose disclosure requirements similar to what is required in the United States for political ads on television. (Reporting by David Ingram in New York; Editing by Michael Perry) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print House Republicans are scheduled to vote on a bill this week that would loosen restrictions on gun silencers. It will be interesting to see if that vote still takes place after the worst mass shooting in US history occurred in Las Vegas. Politico reported on September 21, The Sportsmens Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act, introduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), may come up for a House vote as early as next week. The Duncan legislation includes language revising federal regulations on silencers, which currently have tougher purchasing requirements than guns. According to Matt Laslo, the vote on loosening the restrictions on silencers was scheduled for this week: Wonder if the House is going to stick with schedule and vote on the GOP bill to loosen restrictions on gun silencers this week? https://t.co/0jrjwaxR8G Matt Laslo (@MattLaslo) October 2, 2017 The motivation for this legislation has nothing to do with sportsmen or public safety. Loosening restrictions are viewed as a financial windfall for the gun silencer industry. Republicans already had to cancel a hearing on the bill after the congressional softball game shooting in June, but the fact that one of their own members getting shot didnt persuade them away from the legislation illustrates that Republicans dont care about the lives lost or changed by gun violence. It would be shocking if Republicans voted on legislation that would make guns even more deadly this week, but the vote will be happening soon. Maybe next week or the week after, because not even the worst mass shooting in US history can stop congressional Republicans from doing the bidding of their gun industry masters. UPDATE: As expected, House Republican leadership says the bill wont be voted on this week, but it will be voted on: House leadership says not on the schedule yet but it has passed Cmte. Hearing on bill was scheduled day of Scalise shooting then postponed Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) October 2, 2017 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Joel Schectman, Dustin Volz and Jack Stubbs WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) Hewlett Packard Enterprise allowed a Russian defense agency to review the inner workings of cyber defense software used by the Pentagon to guard its computer networks, according to Russian regulatory records and interviews with people with direct knowledge of the issue. The HPE system, called ArcSight, serves as a cybersecurity nerve center for much of the U.S. military, alerting analysts when it detects that computer systems may have come under attack (Graphic: http://tmsnrt.rs/2yHK3VS). ArcSight is also widely used in the private sector. The Russian review of ArcSights source code, the closely guarded internal instructions of the software, was part of HPEs effort to win the certification required to sell the product to Russias public sector, according to the regulatory records seen by Reuters and confirmed by a company spokeswoman. Six former U.S. intelligence officials, as well as former ArcSight employees and independent security experts, said the source code review could help Moscow discover weaknesses in the software, potentially helping attackers to blind the U.S. military to a cyber attack. Its a huge security vulnerability, said Greg Martin, a former security architect for ArcSight. You are definitely giving inner access and potential exploits to an adversary. Despite the potential risks to the Pentagon, no one Reuters spoke with was aware of any hacks or cyber espionage that were made possible by the review process. The ArcSight review took place last year, at a time when Washington was accusing Moscow of an increasing number of cyber attacks against American companies, U.S. politicians and government agencies, including the Pentagon. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations. The case highlights a growing tension for U.S. technology companies that must weigh their role as protectors of U.S. cybersecurity while continuing to pursue business with Washingtons adversaries such as Russia and China, say security experts. BACKDOOR VULNERABILITIES The review was conducted by Echelon, a company with close ties to the Russian military, on behalf of Russias Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEC), a defense agency tasked with countering cyber espionage. Echelon president and majority owner Alexey Markov said in an email to Reuters that he is required to report any vulnerabilities his team discovers to the Russian government. But he said he does so only after alerting the software developer of the problem and getting its permission to disclose the vulnerability. Echelon did not provide details about HPEs source code review, citing a non-disclosure agreement with the company. FSTEC confirmed Markovs account, saying in a statement that Russian testing laboratories immediately inform foreign developers if they discover vulnerabilities, before submitting a report to a government database of information security threats. One reason Russia requests the reviews before allowing sales to government agencies and state-run companies is to ensure that U.S. intelligence services have not placed spy tools in the software. HPE said no backdoor vulnerabilities were discovered in the Russian review. It declined to provide further details. HPE said it allows Russian government-accredited testing companies to review source code in order to win the Russian defense certifications it needs to sell products to Russias public sector. An HPE spokeswoman said source code reviews are conducted by the Russian testing company at an HPE research and development center outside of Russia, where the software maker closely supervises the process. No code is allowed to leave the premises, and HPE has allowed such reviews in Russia for years, she said. Those measures ensure our source code and products are in no way compromised, she said. Some security experts say that studying the source code of a product would make it far easier for a reviewer to spot vulnerabilities in the code, even if they did not leave the site with a copy of the code. In a 2014 research paper, Echelon directors said the company discovered vulnerabilities in 50 percent of the foreign and Russian software it reviewed. Still, security analysts said the source code review alone, even if it yielded information about vulnerabilities, would not give hackers easy entry into the military systems. To infiltrate military networks, hackers would need to first overcome a number of other security measures, such as firewalls, said Alan Paller, founder of the SANS Institute, which trains cybersecurity analysts Paller also said HPEs decision to allow the review was not surprising. If tech companies like HPE want to do business in Russia, they dont really have any choice, he said. HPE declined to disclose the size of its business in Russia, but Russian government tender records show ArcSight is now used by a number of state firms and companies close to the Kremlin, including VTB Bank and the Rossiya Segodnya media group. Whether the customer is Russia or the United States, overlooked errors in software code can allow foreign governments and hackers to penetrate a users computer. Exploiting vulnerabilities found in ArcSights source code could render it incapable of detecting that the militarys network was under attack, said Allen Pomeroy, a former ArcSight employee who helped customers build their cyber defense systems. A response to the attack would then be frankly impossible, Pomeroy said. The HPE spokeswoman said Reuters questions about the potential vulnerabilities were hypothetical and speculative in nature. HPE declined to say whether it told the Pentagon of the Russian review, but said the company always ensures our clients are kept informed of any developments that may affect them. A spokeswoman for the Pentagons Defense Information Systems Agency, which maintains the militarys networks, said HPE did not disclose the review to the U.S. agency. Military contracts do not specifically require vendors to divulge whether foreign nations have reviewed source code, the spokeswoman said. The U.S. military agency itself did not require a source code review before purchasing ArcSight and generally does not place such requirements on tech companies for off-the-shelf software like ArcSight, the Pentagon spokeswoman said. Instead, DISA evaluates the security standards used by the vendors, she said. EVERYONE IS HAPPY Echelon operates as an official laboratory and software tester of FSTEC and Russias FSB spy agency, according to Russian government registries of testing laboratories and software certifications reviewed by Reuters. U.S. intelligence has accused the FSB of helping mount cyber attacks against the United States and interfering in the 2016 presidential election. Markov, Echelons president, defended the reviews, saying that if a vulnerability is found, everyone is happy because the detected flaw means laboratory experts are able to demonstrate their qualifications and the developer is happy that a mistake was detected, since by fixing it the product will become better. Russia in recent years has stepped up demands for source code reviews as a requirement for doing business in the country, Reuters reported in June. A number of international companies, including Cisco Systems Inc, the worlds largest networking gear maker, and German software giant SAP , have agreed to the reviews, though others, including cybersecurity firm Symantec , have refused because of security concerns. CYBERDEFENSE BULWARK U.S. government procurement records show ArcSight is used as a key cyberdefense bulwark across much of the U.S. military including the Army, Air Force and Navy. For example, ArcSight is used to guard the Pentagons Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), which is used to exchange classified information, according to military procurement records. The Pentagon spokeswoman declined to comment on risks posed by specific products to its network but said all software used by DISA is extensively evaluated for security risks, and continually monitored once deployed. Created in 2000 as an independent company, ArcSight broke new ground by allowing large organizations to receive real-time alerts about potential cyber intrusions. The software draws activity records from servers, firewalls, and individual computers across a network up to hundreds of thousands per second. The system then searches for suspicious patterns, such as a high number of failed login attempts within a few seconds, and alerts analysts. A decade later, ArcSight had become the core cyber network defense tool the Pentagons analysts rely on to defend DoD networks, DISA said in a 2011 ArcSight procurement request. Today ArcSight is a virtually irreplaceable tool for many parts of the U.S. military, at least for the immediate future, Pentagon records show. HP ArcSight software and hardware are so embedded, the Pentagons logistics agency wrote in April, that it could not consider other competitors absent an overhaul of the current IT infrastructure. HPE agreed last year to sell ArcSight and other security products to British tech company Micro Focus International Plc in a transaction that was completed in September. Jason Schmitt, the current head of the ArcSight division, said the product makes up a little less than half of the $800 million in annual revenue Micro Focus expects to get from the security software business purchased from HPE. Schmitt said he could not comment on any source code review that took place before this year, when he took the job, but stressed such reviews do not currently take place. Micro Focus did not respond to requests for comment on whether it would allow Russia to do similar source code reviews in the future or whether Micro Focus executives knew of the review prior to the acquisition. (Reporting by Joel Schechtman and Dustin Volz in Washington and Jack Stubbs in Moscow; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Ross Colvin) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Documents turned over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller show that Trumps company was trying to do business in Russia after he had locked up the Republican presidential nomination. The Washington Post reported: Associates of President Trump and his company have turned over documents to federal investigators that reveal two previously unreported contacts from Russia during the 2016 campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. In one case, Trumps personal attorney and a business associate exchanged emails weeks before the Republican National Convention about the lawyer possibly traveling to an economic conference in Russia that would be attended by top Russian financial and government leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, according to people familiar with the correspondence. With any other candidate or elected official, this may not be an issue because they would have separated themselves from their business, but Donald Trump has chosen to stay conflict and not put a wall between his business interests and the presidency. Trump has repeatedly stated that he has no business in and nothing to do with Russia. The documents provided to the Special Counsel tell a much different story. A picture is emerging of a Trump Organization that is deeply connected to Putins Russia. While may are preoccupied with the horrific massacre in Las Vegas, the Russia scandal churns on. Trump is in the midst of a crisis. The paper trail is revealing that not only is the Russia scandal real news, but there is mounting evidence of the sort of relationship that would easily open the door to election collusion. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Mostly cloudy skies early then periods of showers late. Low 53F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies early then periods of showers late. Low 53F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Minnesota native Emily Fridlund had other things on her mind when her editor e-mailed her in late July to say her novel, "History of Wolves," had been longlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. "I was in labor," Fridlund said. The book news didn't really sink in. But when she was told last week that her novel had made the Booker shortlist, she was all ears. "It's really exciting," Fridlund said, as 7-week-old Eliot slept nearby. Hours after hearing the news, she still sounded in awe. "It's incredibly humbling. I didn't expect it at all." It is all the more unexpected, given Fridlund's low profile and the star power of the writers she booted off the longlist: Zadie Smith, Sebastian Barry, Arundhati Roy, Colson Whitehead (whose novel "The Underground Railroad" won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award). ADVERTISEMENT All made way for 38-year-old debut novelist Emily Fridlund, from Edina. "History of Wolves" is the story of a teenage girl called Linda (or Commie, or Freak she's a definite outsider) who was raised in a commune in the woods of northern Minnesota. She starts babysitting for a family and gradually realizes that something is not quite right. "And because of her age and incredible isolation, she doesn't quite know what that is, how it's wrong," Fridlund said. "Her ignorance slips into complicity, allowing terrible things to happen." A HOMECOMING SORT OF Fridlund is the second of three children. She grew up in Edina next door to the house her grandfather built, and her family traveled up the North Shore for vacations. She never meant to move away, but college happened first St. Olaf in Northfield, then Principia College in Illinois, where she earned a bachelor's degree. She earned an MFA in fiction at Washington University in St. Louis, and a doctorate at the University of Southern California. "Lots of school," she said with a small sigh. It was while she was in California that she began writing "Wolves." It was wintertime, and she was missing the snowy North Woods. "I wanted to be in that place," she said. "The first chapter was initially a short story, and then as I began to move around, this invented little town kind of stayed with me, and I found myself going back to it." Fridlund, who now lives in New York state, traveled to northern Minnesota for research, but "it was also important to me that it was invented a place that was sort of a combination of memories and research, but also invention." ADVERTISEMENT EYES ON THE PRIZE The Man Booker Prize is one of the world's biggest awards for writers in English, carrying a prize of 50,000 British pounds (about $68,000). For years, it was open only to novelists in Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom and its Commonwealth, but in 2014, it was opened up to all English-language fiction writers. In 2015, St. Paul writer Marlon James, a Jamaican, won for "A Brief History of Seven Killings." In 2016, American writer Paul Beatty won for "The Sellout." This year three of the six finalists are Americans. Fridlund, her husband, and baby Eliot will head to England in early October for a week of events leading up to the awards ceremony. "I just got used to going to the coffee shop" since the baby's birth, she said. "And now I'll be traveling to London." ----- Book notes "A History of Wolves," by Emily Fridlund, is available at Barnes & Noble at Apache Mall, through online booksellers, and at the Rochester Public Library. The Minnesota beer scene keeps growing more diverse. With so many new world flavors available, along with the classic beer styles, theres a bevy of choices for brewers to make. Tanzenwald Brewing Company in Northfield embraces that fusion potential perfectly. The brewery opened in April 2017. While their name and food menu share ties with Germany, they offer a wide selection of stylessome rooted in tradition, and others moving in bold new directions. Tanzenwald translates to "dancing forest" and their building, which dates to the late 1800s, shares that sense of historic whistfulness. The weathered brick gives a historic impression, blended with glossy wooden bar tops and an open kitchen that serves locally-sourced foods that range from bratwurst to Bahn Mi and spaetzle. Like the community of Northfield, the crowd is diverse: a mix of college students, working professionals, and retired customers all enjoying a comfortable social scene. The kitchen motto at Tanzenwald is "globally-influenced, locally-sourced," a motto which carries over into the beer and general atmosphere of the brewery. With six months of experience, theyre also growing their footprint and will begin distribution soon, eying the southeastern Minnesota and southwestern Wisconsin markets. Owned by husband and wife team Steve Pittman and Jenaveve Bell Pittman, the brewery has years of experience in professional brewing and hospitality. Steve was a brewer at Lagunitas and Jenaveve managed several restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, theyre leading their own project that emphasizes a unique local experience with quality ingredients. They have a wall that honors their local farmers who supply the restaurant with food and they are developing a sour beer using Minnesota plants. As for the beer, its a variety of American craft styles rooted in tradition but with twists and turns for the modern palate. Of the 10 taps, six are flagships and the other four are in frequent rotation. De Minimus Pale Aleis a tropical and easy drinking every day ale with tropical and orange notes. Smithereen New England-style IPAis their best seller, with a big pineapple burst and soft mouthfeel, and Hitthebrixis a nuanced Belgian Golden Strong with a stronger malt bill and a fruity banana sweetness. Among the rotators, Fruhstuck Coffee Schwartz Bieris roasted and earthy with a delicate balance between bitter and soft on the tongue, very fitting for fall. Its brewed with cold press from a local Northfield coffee roasting company. ADVERTISEMENT To keep the fall theme going, Tanzenwald will celebrate their German ties with the month-long Tanz-Tober-Fest, featuring beer specials, a Tanz-Tober-Fest beer release party on Oct. 1, and an Oct. 27 Halloween party with a costume contest and zombie burlesque dancers. For travelers looking to make a day trip, Northfields historic downtown is a blend of modern art galleries and established antique stores, coffee shops, and restaurants along the Cannon River. There are walking bridges and trails that show the natural beauty along the brick downtown. The Jesse James Museum details a botched raid by the James-Younger Gang in 1876 and offers a distinct local history, and the city is also home to both Imminent Brewing and Loon Liquors Distillery and Cocktail Room. One resident, numerous anecdotes Name: Nick Nelson Age: 29 Occupation: Product specialist at Subaru of Rochester Where we found him: Showing us a used car Have you always lived in Rochester?Im from Stewartville, but two-and-a-half, three years ago I lived in Colorado for a year. A year was all I could take, and then I moved back. I lived in the northern part of Denver, and I couldnt do the traffic. I missed the hometown feel, the slower pace, and the Minnesota Nice. ADVERTISEMENT What did you do in Denver?I did a lot of backpacking, and I did some snowboarding, too. I found some nice spots, some hidden gems, that werent too touristy. The weather is beautiful therethey have over 300 days of sunshine. I worked at Colorado Deck & Landscape, building decks. Id been doing construction work here, so I thought, "Why not try Colorado? I can do construction work there, too." I lived in Minot, [North Dakota] for a while, too. Why Minot?I helped a guy doing some reconstruction up there after the flood. That had to have been four, five years ago. Thats when the oil industry was booming, and everyone was out there working on oil rigs, too. How long did you stay?I was there a few months. My buddys parents had a house in Lansford, 20 miles away, so we stayed there and drove into town. There were so many people, and the housing industry was so expensive. Everything was. It was crazy how much even McDonalds was paying15, 17 dollars an hour. What did you want to be when you were a kid?Professional snowboarder. Youre outdoorsy?I like backpacking, fishing, hiking. I just bought a canoe that Ill take out on the Root River down by Lanesboro. Tell me about your job? I was a service advisor for Subaru then Todd [Penz, the owner] approached me. Said they were opening a new location and would love to have me on the sales team. I thought that would be a better opportunity for mesales is really more my alley. So for a year and a half now, Ive been in sales. I like it a lot. Is your family still in the area?My mom and my dad both live in Stewartville. My mom has done daycare for 35 years, and foster care for 20 years. My dad does ceramic tile. My grandpa had one of the very first ceramic tile companies in Rochester, Glen Tile Service. Hes still alive. Hes 100 and my grandma is 88 and they still live at home, in a townhouse. Theyve been married 70 years. Youre close to them?Yeah. My grandpa worked until he was in his 80s, doing ceramic tile. He did a lot of houses up on Pill Hill. Well drive up there and he can say, "Ive done this house and this house and this house." ADVERTISEMENT You didnt follow the family business?My grandpa would say, "Stay away from construction. Use your mind over your body. Construction takes a toll." He always told me to use my educationI have a degree in psychology. He didnt get to do that. He had to go off on the farm at 12 years old and help raise 11 siblings. Where did you go to school?Mankato, but I didnt go right away. I worked for the Minnesota Conservation Corps for a year. I thought I wanted to go into the DNR, so I did that 10-1/2-month volunteer program. I did prescribed burns, rattlesnake surveys, restoring our bluff prairiesworking in the southern state parks. I was the youngest guy at the time, 19, and the people I was working with were intelligent people, they had masters in biology and they were getting the same living stipend I was, $1,200 a month. I thought, I would love to do this, but if they couldnt find work and its that difficult to get into the DNR? So I didnt quite start schooling for that. Your mom did foster care while you lived at home?Yeah. That was good. Its part of what drove me to psychology. I have two [biological] brothers and six adopted siblingsfour who were going to be split up in the foster care system, and the other two recently. Its not always been easy. You have to be a special kind of person to have the patience and time. Shell be 72 when the youngest graduates. Are you in a relationship?I am. My girlfriend is a patient care coordinator at Mayo. How did you meet?A mutual friend. He used to be in my moms daycare, and he worked with her. We were at Roosters Too one night, and she was with him. She asked him for my number, and the next day she texted me. How long have you been together?Eight months. Its going really good. Her cat and my dog, though? Thats another story. Sometimes theyll be next to each other and if I touch the cat, my dogs like, "Hey!" But that cat has her claws and shes ready to roll any time! What does your future hold?When I was younger, Id think about today and not tomorrow. I used to think, "Ive got moneylets spend it!" As Ive gotten older, Im thinking more about my career, a house. [Age] pushes you to change your lifestyle, behavior, professionalism. I have more of a purpose than living day to day. Sometimes people learn that as a kid. Ive learned that now. ADVERTISEMENT A man whom one member of law enforcement called "a career criminal" was sentenced Thursday to more than 11 years in prison. Aaron Michael Anderson, 37, was arrested in April by members of the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office and the Southeast Minnesota Violent Crimes Enforcement team, a day after he allegedly fired a handgun near or at someone in rural Mazeppa. Anderson was charged in December with multiple felonies after stealing a pair of snowmobiles on a trailer; he was able to post $200,000 conditional bond and was released. He was under the radar until the alleged shooting in April; he's been in custody since his capture April 19. In the snowmobile case, a man called law enforcement about 2:45 a.m. Dec. 10. He'd heard an engine running outside his home, looked out a window and saw a four-wheeler hooked to his son's snowmobile trailer. Before he could get outside, the suspect later identified as Anderson took off down Douglas Trail with the trailer, the complaint says. ADVERTISEMENT The man's daughter said she woke up to her father yelling, then "went after the person, caught up to the suspect and began honking her horn," court documents say. The four-wheeler didn't slow down and was swerving all over the road, the document continues, as the woman followed it down the Douglas Trail. The woman's vehicle and the four-wheeler eventually collided and ended up in the ditch. Anderson allegedly told the woman he wasn't stealing the snowmobiles, then said he was getting paid $50 to steal them, but wouldn't say who paid him. The man's son arrived at the scene, verified the items belonged to him and said he hadn't given anyone permission to take them or ride them, the reports say. The snowmobiles and trailer carry an approximate value of $15,000. Anderson, who claimed to be injured in the collision, was taken first to the hospital, then to jail. He was searched, which allegedly resulted in the discovery of $960 in cash, a total of 35.2 grams of methamphetamine and two stun guns. After posting bond in January, he was reportedly seen brandishing a gun in April. Anderson ran when the authorities were called. He was spotted near a residence in the 2400 block of 105th Street Northeast, Farmington Township; when Anderson saw law enforcement, he fled north on an ATV through farm fields, according to a news release. Officers were able to track Anderson to the area of U.S. Highway 63 North and 130th Street Northeast, where he was taken into custody without incident after being confronted by law enforcement. Anderson pleaded guilty in May to one count each of second-degree possession, theft of a motor vehicle and possession of stolen property, all felonies, as part of the December case. ADVERTISEMENT He pleaded guilty in June to one felony count of first-degree drug possession for a case dating back to Christmas Day 2015. In exchange for the pleas, additional felony charges of first-degree drug sale, person ineligible to possess an electronic incapacitation device, theft of a motor vehicle and possession of stolen property were dismissed. Judge Debra Jacobson sentenced Anderson to concurrent prison terms of 138 months, 92 months and two 20-month terms, with credit for 177 days already served. Anderson's extensive criminal history includes drug offenses, motor vehicle thefts and fleeing from law enforcement on foot and in vehicles. A review of his court records reveals at least 26 cases since 2006, with a minimum of eight felony convictions. He sentenced in 2013 to 23 months in prison, with credit for 275 days already served. An after-bar party early Saturday morning nearly turned deadly after four guests apparently overdosed, authorities said today. Rochester police responded about 3:30 a.m. to a home in the 1200 block of Sixth Street Southwest, where a 30-year-old man was hosting the party. Four people were unconscious and unresponsive, the report says; they'd "snorted some sort of cocaine laced with an opioid like Fentanyl ," said Capt. John Sherwin. First responders administered a dose of Narcan to each victim, the report says, then transported them to the hospital. The medication blocks the effects of opioids and typically is used in overdoses. The victims ranged in age from 20 to 29; the investigation is ongoing. CANNON FALLS A car ended up in the median after the driver lost control at about 4:25 p.m. Saturday about six miles south of Cannon Falls. Paul Kohler, 27, of Ramsey, was northbound on U.S. Highway 52 in his 2016 Mini Cooper when he fell asleep, according to a report from the Minnesota State Patrol. The car then went into the median and down an embankment, finally resting on its side. Kohler was transported to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Cannon Falls with injuries that were not life-threatening, the state patrol reports. An update of his condition was unavailable. The Goodhue County Sheriff's Office also responded to the scene. ZUMBROTA A woman was injured after losing control of her vehicle at about 4:37 p.m. Sunday about 3 miles north of Zumbrota. Elizabeth Felsheim, 22, of La Crosse, was northbound on U.S. Highway 52 in a 2007 Dodge when she lost control of the vehicle and it rolled into the ditch on the side of the road, according to a report by the Minnesota State Patrol. Felsheim was transported to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys Campus with injuries that were not life-threatening. An update on her condition was not available. Zumbrota Fire and Rescue assisted on the scene. Goodhue County Sheriff's Office and Zumbrota Police Department also responded to the scene. Ryan Franz has a new appreciation for the importance of mock disaster drills. Two weeks ago, the medical school student sat huddled in a closet on the island of Dominica as Hurricane Maria tore through the Caribbean. The category 5 storm ripped roofs off buildings and snapped trees. More than two dozen people on the island died in the wake of the storm. Franz evacuated the island, returning to his hometown of Rochester. On Sunday, he joined hundreds of people at a mock disaster drill at Gamehaven Scout Reservation. And while there are certainly key differences between this mock drill focused on a zombie apocalypse and a devastating hurricane, Franz said the key lesson about teamwork in the midst of a disaster rings true. "It is really spot on what we do here," he said. In fact, it is his past experience attending the annual "Bounce Day" event that helped Franz cope as the hurricane bore down on the island of 72,000. His father Mayo Clinic Dr. Walter Franz helps run the disaster simulation. So what was it like as a father to have his son in the midst of a natural disaster? ADVERTISEMENT "I knew Ryan had been an EMT. I knew he had been to a lot of these (disaster simulations), and he's a very sober guy. So I knew he'd be taking care of himself and also he'd be helping someone else," the elder Franz said. 'It's here' For more than a year, Ryan Franz had been attending medical school at Ross University in Dominica. Initial forecasts predicted that Maria would be a tropical storm or category 1 hurricane when it made landfall on the island. But all that changed within hours as the storm picked up strength, turning into a category 5 hurricane with winds of 160 miles per hour. Sitting in his ground floor apartment, the 33-year-old remembers the exact moment he realized this storm was far worse than expected. "I heard cracking, and that was trees coming down and buildings being ripped," he said. His neighbor a fellow university student sent him a text message telling him to come over. She had outfitted her closet with blankets and candles. Before he ran next door, he sent his parents in Rochester a text message "It's here." It was the last message they'd get from their son for days. For four hours, the Minnesotan and his neighbor stayed in the closet. Heavy winds flung the closet door open a couple of times. The two would fight to get the door closed again. Once the wind subsided, the Rochester native emerged to find all of his apartment's windows shattered. But he was lucky. He still had a roof over his head. It wasn't until the next morning that he saw the true extent of the damage. Many of the island's wood-framed homes were destroyed. Flood waters filled the streets. ADVERTISEMENT Ross University had instructed students that if the storm became severe and communication lines were knocked down, to report to the school. He made his way to the school with his neighbor. After a few days of waiting, he was among 1,300 students and faculty members evacuated from the island. A real-world lesson Reflecting on what happened, Franz's father said his son's experience in Dominica highlights some key lessons. For starters, it is important to realize that government assistance might not come right away. That's why it is so important for people to take care of each other when disaster strikes. "Neighbors helping neighbors is the key," the Mayo Clinic doctor said. During Sunday's Bounce Day event, healthcare professionals, students, scouts and military members all took part in the daylong disaster exercise. Victim volunteers wandered around with bloody wounds, screaming and moaning as they were taken to a makeshift hospital. The Rochester Police Department had its drone on hand to help locate victims. The goal of Bounce Day is to make sure Rochester can bounce back quickly from a disaster. Byron Callies, who oversees emergency response for Mayo Clinic, said these exercises are critical. Roughly 95 percent of all disaster victims are rescued by other victims not disaster agencies. This event helps get the broader community involved in preparing for the unexpected. "It's just a great opportunity to build relationships," he said. ADVERTISEMENT A future in emergency medicine For now, Ryan Franz is waiting to find out where he will finish his medical school training. Ross University won't be able to resume classes this fall. The school is busy trying to find somewhere else it can place its students. The hurricane did help the younger Franz decide what type of medicine he wants to practice. Initially, he wanted to be a family medicine doctor. Now he wants to be an emergency room physician. He added, "I think it's just a good fit now." ALBERT LEA More than 300 people angry with Mayo Clinic's decision to transfer some services from its Albert Lea hospital to its hospital in Austin gathered Saturday in Central Park to protest the change. Mayo plans to move Albert Lea's ICU to Austin today. Inpatient surgeries are scheduled to move in January 2018 and baby delivery in late 2019. On Saturday, a number of residents, business owners, teachers, city officials and members of the Save Our Hospital organization displayed handmade signs and marched outside Mayo's hospital in Albert Lea. "I don't like it one bit," said Gary Wichmann, a former maintenance employee for Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea and Austin. "We want our hospital back." Others said they fear that once services are transferred out of Albert Lea, patients would be affected severely by the additional travel time it would take to go to Austin for care. The two campuses are about 23 miles apart. ADVERTISEMENT During an earlier discussion of the changes, Dr. Bobbie Gostout, a Mayo Clinic vice president, equated the distance to a "trip for ice cream." Protesters latched on to the comment, and Saturday's event included an ice cream truck serving cones. "I'm absolutely appalled that (Mayo) would treat other human beings like this," said Mary Packer-Umstead, of Albert Lea and owner of Mary-Go-Round Shoppe. "It's morally and ethically wrong. The people are disappointed and feel taken advantage of." 'It's a worry to us' Mayo has said the planned changes "renewed its commitment to the hospital" and rejected requests to sell the Albert Lea campus. "We see that they're passionate and that they're fighting for quality health care in Albert Lea, and we agree with them," Mayo spokeswoman Mandie Siems said in a statement. "We do have a common goal of keeping that here. We're not going anywhere." But some of the protesters were skeptical that Mayo understood the impact of transferring services to Austin. "It's a worry to us," said Kathy Lehman, Minnesota Nurses Association Albert Lea chairwoman. "We just want our community to have the health care they deserve. In spite of the difficult road that lies ahead of us." Rep. Paul Thissen, former House minority leader and a candidate for governor, implored Mayo to delay its planned transition and to allow Albert Lea to stop the elimination of services in town. ADVERTISEMENT He also pointedly said the hospital has a responsibility to taxpayers because of Minnesota's investment in Destination Medical Center, which helps fund infrastructure in Rochester. Thissen also became the first state lawmaker to suggest DMC legislation could be rewritten because of the Albert Lea debate. 'Shame on Mayo' Dr. Matthew Kumar, a 25-year Mayo physician and chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea and Austin, was scheduled to address the crowd after filing four federal antitrust complaints against his employer since 2015. His 10-page complaint to the Department of Justice claimed Mayo created a "health care monopoly" by "simply eliminating competition between itself and the hospitals in the region." Angie Hanson, organizing committee chairwoman of SOH, said Kumar called Thursday morning to say he'd been threatened by Mayo with a lawsuit if he were to attend and speak during Saturday's rally. "He couldn't be here today, but he wanted to let us know that he was behind our cause 100 percent," Hanson said. "Shame on Mayo." Mayo representatives denied the allegations: "We can assure you that there was no threat made." The Post Bulletin has been unable to reach Kumar directly for comment. He hasn't responded to calls and emails. ADVERTISEMENT 'It's not just about us' Sandy Kvenvold, of Albert Lea, shared that while no one argues with Mayo's medical research and quality health care, the town felt its future will be affected gravely by the loss of services. "This world belongs to our children," Kvenvold said. "We don't want them to lose something they had no control over. We're not being good stewards for their future. It's not just about us it's about the future they deserve." WINONA The lawsuit to determine the legality of the frac sand ban enacted by Winona County will get its first day in court Tuesday. A motion hearing will take place at 1:45 p.m. in Third Judicial District Court at the Winona County Courthouse. Gary Van Cleve, an attorney with Larkin Hoffman Attorneys of the Twin Cities, said the motion hearing is likely to be the only court date for the case. "We've submitted volumes of paperwork supporting our case," he said. Cleve is representing Roger Dablstein and Southeast Minnesota Property Owners, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation. The plaintiffs, which also include Minnesota Sands LLC, a company that owns leases on silica sand on properties across Winona County, claim the ban violates the U.S. Constitution's right to equal treatment under the law and goes against established state and federal law concerning mining. ADVERTISEMENT One of the main arguments is the silica sand in question can be mined, processed and shipped for just about any other purpose, but it cannot be mined for sale to oil and gas companies in other states for the purpose of hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting oil and gas from oil shale. "There is no legitimate basis for the disparate treatment," the plaintiffs state in a court brief. "The sand has the same geological properties. There is no genuine difference between the mining and processing of construction and industrial sand." The case against the ban originally started as two separate cases, with the one brought by Minnesota Sands addressing the damages against its client. The corporation's leases for sand mining amount to more than $1 billion worth of sand. In the briefs filed on the case, Minnesota Sands argues even if the ban is struck down, the company lost potential income during the time the ban was in effect. And should the ban be upheld, attorneys for Minnesota Sands have argued, the company has lost its ability to earn money on those leases in perpetuity. That, said Bobby King, a policy organizer for the Land Stewardship Project, the organization that served as a driving force behind the ban, ignores the fact that everyone has to abide by community standards for the well-being of that community. "And our members would say we would have lost the value of our farms near this (without the ban)," he said. Eventually, King said, the court should understand that state law gives local governments the powered to enact zoning ordinances. "That's the bedrock of local government," King said. "They used it carefully and judiciously. And we think the county will prevail because of that." Minnesotans will find out today how much it will cost to buy health insurance on the individual market next year. The Minnesota Department of Commerce is slated to release the 2018 rates for individual and small group health insurance plans. The announcement comes after lawmakers last session approved a $542 million reinsurance plan to help lower costs. The program is expected to lower premiums 20 percentage points. At one point, it was unclear the reinsurance plan would be allowed to move ahead. The state needed a federal waiver for the program to take effect. It wasn't until late last month after Gov. Mark Dayton held a press conference denouncing the "nightmarish" process that the waiver was approved by the Trump administration. But that approval came with a twist. In exchange for approving the waiver, the federal government cut funding for the state's MinnesotaCare program by $369 million. That program serves about 100,000 low-income residents. Liebling: Dayton should have rejected waiver ADVERTISEMENT Gubernatorial candidate and Rochester Rep. Tina Liebling said the governor should have rejected the Trump Administration's waiver because of the MinnesotaCare funding cut. She even texted the governor urging him not to accept the waiver. "The purpose of the waiver is to make sure we don't lose money, and we're losing money with the waiver. I just don't see any justification for accepting it," she said. Liebling would rather have seen lawmakers pass a premium assistance program to help people buying insurance on the individual market with the cost of insurance. Lawmakers approved such assistance this year, benefiting more than 112,000 Minnesotans. The Rochester Democrat also worries that accepting the waiver puts MinnesotaCare in serious jeopardy. The tax that helps pay for it known as the "provider tax" is slated to sunset at the end of 2019. Legislators this session also approved using some of the money in the fund that pays for MinnesotaCare for other things. "I worry that Gov. Dayton is presiding over the end of MinnesotaCare," she said. Franken: Mayo needs to improve community engagement Sen. Al Franken sent a letter last week to Mayo Clinic President and CEO Dr. John Noseworthy stressing that the clinic needs to do a better job of reaching out to the Albert Lea community. Franken's letter comes as Mayo Clinic Health System is moving most inpatient services from its Albert Lea campus to its Austin location. That includes transferring the Intensive Care Unit and childbirth center. ADVERTISEMENT In his letter, Franken writes that since talking to Noseworthy in August, his office has continued to get phone calls from "anxious constituents who are concerned about Mayo's plans." He continued, "I urge you as a leader to create opportunities that increase engagement with communities across Minnesota and that provide more information regarding the transition of services. I also urge you to reconsider what actions including additional community meetings Mayo could take to inform the public of changes in your delivery models that could affect Minnesota's rural communities." In addition, 1st District Rep. Tim Walz has requested the U.S. Government Accountability Office review the issues facing rural hospitals. He joins Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill as a co-requester of the review. St. Cloud could become the third Minnesota city to make it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone younger than 21. The St. Cloud City Council set a public hearing for Nov. 6 on the proposed ordinance, following a study session in October. Edina and St. Louis Park already have raised the minimum age for tobacco sales to 21. So have five states: California, Oregon, Hawaii, New Jersey and Maine. Current Minnesota law prohibits the sale of tobacco to people younger than 18. The move is supported by an organization called Crave the Change, part of CentraCare Health Foundation. In August, the group recommended St. Cloud and its five area cities Sartell, Waite Park, St. Joseph, St. Augusta and Sauk Rapids adopt ordinances prohibiting the sale of tobacco and tobacco-related products to anyone younger than 21. Dr. Julie Anderson, a family physician with the St. Cloud Medical Group, said raising the minimum age has been effective at reducing tobacco use among teens in other cities. ADVERTISEMENT "They've seen a significant drop in the teen use of tobacco products up to 50 percent, on average 25 to 30 percent, in these communities," Anderson said. "That struck me as something that perhaps could happen in Minnesota." Anderson said she's concerned that although cigarette use among teens has declined, there's been an increase in the use of other nicotine products, including e-cigarettes. Young adults ages 18 to 20 provide about 90 percent of tobacco obtained by younger teens, Anderson said, so the ordinance change would be a way to restrict access. She said it's also a way to curb the public health costs associated with tobacco use. St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said although he opposes smoking, he does not support the ordinance change. He said 18-year-olds can vote and serve in the military, so they should be able to decide whether to buy a legal product. Kleis also said the ordinance would ban the sale of tobacco to people between the ages of 18 and 21 but wouldn't prevent them from using tobacco or buying it somewhere else. As we have noted here ad nauseam, ad infinitum, the climatistas suffer from an advanced case of extrapolation; i.e., pick out any adverse observation of something in nature, attribute it to climate change, and proclaim that it heralds the end of the planet if we dont hand our car keys over to Al Gore right away. So lets take in two recent headlines about the Great Barrier Reef in Australia: The first headline appeared in May, and the second headline just a few days ago. Lets delve a little deeper. From the first story back in May: Scientists have concluded that the Great Barrier Reef can no longer be saved because it is so damaged. The plight of the reef is partly due to the extraordinary rapidity of climate change, according to experts. The reef has been severely damaged by the warming of the oceans, and around 95 per cent of it suffers from bleaching, according to scientists who surveyed it in 2016. And now the latest story from a few days ago: Optimism is rising among scientists that parts of the Great Barrier Reef that were severely bleached over the past two years are making a recovery. Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science this month surveyed 14 coral reefs between Cairns and Townsville to see how they fared after being bleached. The institutes Neil Cantin said they were surprised to find the coral had already started to reproduce. But never forget: the science is settled. Stamp your feet now! Hat tip: Benny Peiser and the Global Warming Policy Foundation. A day after Secretary of State Tillerson said he was reaching out to North Korea in hopes of starting a new dialogue, President Trump belittled the idea. He tweeted: I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done! Trump is right. North Korea isnt going to negotiate away its nuclear arsenal and its not going to freeze its nuclear program until the program has the capacity to inflict the level of damage Kim Jong Un deems necessary to deter the U.S. namely the capacity to hit major U.S. cities. Michael Green, President George W. Bushs chief Asia adviser, acknowledged that the president is right on this one in the sense that Pyongyang is clear it will not put nuclear weapons on the negotiating table, nor will the current level of sanctions likely convince them to do so. . . . The incoherence of Tillersons approach is underscored by this incoherent statement by Sen. Bob Corker: I think that theres more going on than meets the eye. I think Tillerson understands that every intelligence agency we have says theres no amount of economic pressure you can put on North Korea to get them to stop this program because they view this as their survival. If no amount of economic pressure can induce North Korea to stop its nuclear program because of its centrality to the regimes survival, then what are the likely outcomes of Tillerson negotiating with the regime? The likely outcomes are (1) no agreement or (2) acceptance of North Korea continuing its program, in effect on North Korean terms. These have been the outcomes of past U.S. diplomacy with North Korea. As Trump tweeted: Being nice to Rocket Man hasnt worked in 25 years, why would it work now? The question remains, though, why did Trump publicly undercut his Secretary of State on Twitter. According to reports, the president was furious at Tillerson for contradicting his public position that now is not the time for talks. That seems like reason enough for the presidents tweeting. It may be reason enough to sack Tillerson. Some have suggested that Trump is attempting a good cop, bad cop approach to Kim Jong Un. It seems to be true that the North Koreans are mightily confused by conflicting signals coming from Washington. According to a number of sources, they are frantically talking to American sources in an attempt to understand the true intentions of the Trump administration. And Trump has often touted the advantages of keeping our adversaries uncertain about his intentions. Its far from clear, however, that this is the right approach in the context of a fledgling nuclear power led by an inexperienced ruler about whom we dont know much. My guess is that Trumps rhetoric will unsettle North Korea, but is no more likely than Tillersons diplomacy to deter it from expanding its nuclear program. At the same time, it will not prompt Kim Jong Un to start a war he otherwise doesnt want, as Trumps critics suggest might happen. Wheres the advantage to the regime in that? If one is inclined to view Trumps rhetoric as rationally calculated to achieve a positive purpose, I think that purpose would be to influence China. If China believes Trump might launch a preemptive attack on North Korea, it might apply a stranglehold on the regime, especially if it also sees South Korea and Japan possibly moving towards developing a nuclear arsenal. If there is any hope of changing North Koreas behavior, it rests not with Tillersons diplomacy or with the direct effect of threatening Kim Jong Un. Rather, it rests with China acting out of self-interest. Dear Mr. President, Following the dramatic developments in Las Vegas, where a madman caused death of tens of people, injuring hundreds of others, on behalf of the Polish Nation and on my own behalf, I wish to offer into your hands, Sir, our deepest condolences. The death of so many innocent people inspires in us a profound sense of grief but also meets with our resolute and unequivocal objection. In the face of this barbarous act of terror, we remain in solidarity with the American People, sharing the sentiments of pain and despair, offering our prayers together with the bereaved families, and wishing a quick recovery to all the wounded. With the assurances of my highest consideration, Andrzej Duda President of the Republic of Poland An incomplete version of this story ran in Tuesdays editions. Following is the full story. Atlantic County residents got a first look at where their state Senate candidates stand last week when Stockton University released a poll showing Democratic Senator-select Colin Bell tied with Republican Assemblyman Chris Brown among likely voters in the 2nd Legislative District. With just five weeks before the election, both candidates have been racking up endorsements from local and state entities that have a chance to influence one of the states only swing districts. Im grateful that my positive message of property tax relief for middle-class families and bringing new jobs and industries to our region is resonating with voters across Atlantic County, Bell said in a statement. Now more than ever, we need fresh honest leadership in Trenton that can shake things up for our middle-class and small businesses. The poll pushed back on the assumption that Brown, a three-term assemblyman in Atlantic County, was the favorite over Bell, who lost to Brown in the 2015 Assembly race and has not held public office since his term expired as a county freeholder that year. The tightness of the race has come with endorsements from throughout New Jersey. Brown received a big endorsement in August from Unite Here Local 54, Atlantic Citys main hospitality union, and followed it up with endorsements from the Atlantic City lifeguard union, the New Jersey Education Association, the New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police, the New Jersey State Police Benevolent Association and the New Jersey State Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association, among others. Bob McDevitt, president of Unite Here Local 54, told The Press of Atlantic City in August that the vote among its political committee was unanimous. Chris Brown stood firmly with working families by leading the fight against North Jersey casinos, preventing the loss of 15,000 existing local jobs, McDevitt said at the time. Thanks to Chris efforts, Hard Rock is now investing in Atlantic City, creating over 3,000 new jobs. Brown was one of three Republicans endorsed by Local 54, along with Don Guardian for Atlantic City mayor and John Risley for Atlantic County freeholder. Bell has also received several endorsements from entities including the Stockton Federation of Teachers, UAW Region 9 Casino Workers, which represents dealers at Tropicana, Caesars and Ballys casinos in Atlantic City, the American Federation of Teachers, NJ Building & Construction Trades Council, Health Professional & Allied Employees, Operating Engineers Local 68 and the Sierra Club, which advocates for the environment and has vigorously fought against a natural gas pipeline that will connect to the B.L. England plant in Upper Township. Jeff Tittel, president of the Sierra Club, said the Senate race in Atlantic County is one of the organizations top priorities. We believe Bell will live up to the legacy of Senator Whalen by being an independent voice on the environment for South Jersey, Tittel said in a statement. Browns been more known and has been elected to the Legislature, but the fact that it is neck and neck shows that Bell is moving up. Brown also received an endorsement from an environmental group, the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. TRENTON More than 30 members of the New Jersey EMS Task Force are leading a two-week response mission to hurricane-ravaged Virgin Islands, Gov. Chris Christie said Monday. Our continued thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Virgin Islands as they recover and rebuild their lives. New Jersey knows how a devastating hurricane can turn everyday life upside down, Christie said. Our response teams train and plan for these types of scenarios on a regular basis and are well prepared to assist residents and fellow first responders already on the ground in helping to return some semblance of normalcy to the area. Christie authorized State Police troopers, disaster mental health counselors and members of the EMS Task Force to depart on the response mission to help the region hit by hurricanes Irma and Maria. The team, along with all-terrain vehicles, box trucks and logistic supplies, deployed Sunday and monday. They will provide emergency medical service to the hardest hit areas, some of which no longer have functioning hospitals, Christie said in a statement. Officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands requested assistance through the Emergency Management Assistant Compact, or EMAC, a mutual aid agreement allowing states and territories to share resources in response to natural and manmade disasters. The New Jersey Office of Emergency Management has emergency management experts from its Public Assistance Unit deployed to Florida to assess preliminary damage, Christie said. State Police, EMS and mental health counselors are planning for a two-week mission, but could be there longer, Christie said. Last month, Christie authorized 26 security forces airmen from the 108th Wing of the New Jersey National Guard, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, to leave for the Virgin Islands in support of Hurricane Irma relief efforts. Medicaid fraud is a big problem, and the federal and state governments that administer the benefit dont even know how big. The health coverage program for those with low incomes or disabilities made 10 percent of its payments, or about $30 billion, in error in 2015, the Government Accountability Office reported last year. And that only included paying bills for services not covered or that werent actually provided not the cost of people in the program who arent eligible for it. Apparently there are a lot of people on Medicaid who shouldnt be. This month, New Jersey launched a unique Medicaid fraud amnesty program for Ocean County residents and explained later it did so because it doesnt have the resources to fully investigate all cases of Medicaid fraud. That sounds like simply giving in to fraud. But the state seems to have other motives for holding its first-ever Medicaid fraud amnesty and, by all accounts, the first in the nation. In June and July, 26 people in Lakewood were arrested, mostly in a series of FBI raids, on charges of defrauding Medicaid of a combined $2 million. Among them were many members of the citys Orthodox Jewish community, including a rabbi and his brother, business owners, students and housewives. State Comptroller Philip Degnan this month announced the Ocean County Recipient Voluntary Disclosure Program. Residents who have purposely or inadvertently received unwarranted Medicaid benefits have 90 days to withdraw from coverage and avoid criminal prosecution. Theyd have to pay restitution to Medicaid and penalties, and couldnt re-enroll in Medicaid for a year. And people already charged arent eligible. At a subsequent information meeting with residents, Degnan said the program was aimed at Ocean County because years of investigations showed high levels of Medicaid fraud. He said it wouldnt be possible to run such a program statewide. Perhaps factors other than an overwhelming amount of Medicaid fraud none good, but more believable or even understandable influenced the states amnesty decision. One might be that adding many more criminal cases from the Orthodox community might make it look unfairly or not like the state was singling it out for prosecution. Another might be that the community is politically connected and, this being New Jersey, state officials chose to offer justice through the less punitive civil settlement process. A recent Asbury Park Press report that Jewish Orthodox civic leaders had exclusive access to state officials during the planning of the amnesty offer suggests as much. But its also possible that in a tightly knit group such as the Orthodox community, many people were led to improperly enroll by a few whose overly generous view of eligibility crossed into fraud. Maybe a civil settlement would be appropriate for them. Whatever the combination of reasons, the Medicaid amnesty is unfortunate, improper and shouldnt be repeated. What New Jersey, other states and the federal government obviously need is better enforcement and prevention of Medicaid fraud. Illinois cracked down on fraud in 2012, hiring a private contractor to identify people who might not be eligible. Within a year, the state had canceled benefits for nearly 150,000 people whose eligibility couldnt be verified, saving an estimated $70 million. Thats the kind of approach New Jersey should take. Amazon a game-changer With the recent announcement that Amazon is looking to build a second corporate headquarters, Atlantic City and the state of New Jersey should be doing everything possible to bring them here. While Atlantic City may seem like a dark horse compared to every other major metropolitan area, that should not prevent the city from trying to lure the online retail giant. Most tax breaks and other incentives amount to little more than corporate welfare, helping the rich get richer at the expense of other taxpayers. For Atlantic City (and the state, which now runs the city) and Amazon it is much different. Atlantic City is dying from lack of professional jobs. Other than traditional support industries, we only have casinos and tourism. Those industries are full of lower paying service jobs. An economy based on this cannot flourish. Whether it is giving away Bader Field, waiving taxes for a decade, or any other combination of things, Atlantic City needs to do whatever it takes to entice Amazon. The tax abatement or free land would be more than made up with the influx of well-paid professionals, who would buy up and restore blighted land, spend money at local establishments, etc. If the leaders of this area are not going all out to entice Amazon, then they are failing the residents of region. Greg Seher Absecon Education should focus on life after high school Two recent articles reported that the state took an Egg Harbor Township school off the state list of those needing improvement. One reason given was rising test scores. As a former educator for 15 plus years in an urban district, I ask when will the state Department of Education and all public schools recognize that tests measure only, but do not teach, nor guide, nor care, nor illustrate (nor offer) positive role models, life skills, caring leadership or guidance? Graduation rates also do not ensure a students future. As a special education educator, I see special as a positive. What has pained me, and still does, is that 85 percent of my students have not elected to go to college, nor have an interest to do so. So after all the fuss about test scores and graduation rates, what happens after 12th grade? Minus vocational skills? Life skills? A roadmap to their future? Oops, I forgot, test scores cannot, or do not, measure that. Our focus needs to be re-directed and realigned with present day post-high school needs and reality in 2017. Pamela Price Atlantic City Immigrants want same While watching Hurricane Harvey in Texas on TV, I remembered Hurricane Sandy. I was frightened all over again. The next day, the water kept rising and rising over peoples homes. This is whats happening in the United States these days. People just want to live, breathe and be safe for themselves and their families. Why dont people understand immigrants? Thats all they want in life. In Syria they are being murdered by their own governments. We are all human first. Have some compassion. Juanita Hooper Atlantic City Geneva has just been voted Europe's Leading City Break Destination for the third time at the prestigious World Travel Awards 2017. Held in St Petersburg, and known as the Oscars for the tourism industry, Geneva's natural attractions, tourism offer and digital expertise stood out amongst the fierce competition for the highly acclaimed accolade. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/562765/Geneva_Leading_City_Break_Destination.jpg ) A hat trick - the first of its kind for Switzerland Geneva pulled off a hat trick this weekend by being named "Europe's Leading City Break Destination 2017" for the third time in four years, an honour that is the first of its kind in Switzerland. Having succeeded against Paris, London and Venice in 2014 and 2015, Geneva pulled off a tour de force this year by beating off stiff competition from cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Rome with an overwhelming majority of online votes. "Aware of the strong potential for growth of the sector, we have been working to promote Geneva to tourists for many years now," says Geneva Tourism CEO Philippe Vignon. "We are very proud of this award which acknowledges the efforts made this year by various stakeholders in Geneva, including our team. This success confirms that Geneva has all it takes to attract tourists in search of an unforgettable weekend in Europe." The ideal destination for a city break Tourism stakeholders attending the award ceremony praised Geneva as an attractive tourist destination offering high quality services to visitors, while escaping the downsides of mass tourism that affect many other major European cities. Beautifully situated on the shores of Lake Geneva and within a stone's throw of the Alps, Geneva is easy to access thanks to excellent land and air connections. Its accommodation offer is outstanding with the availability of great weekend deals. Additionally, the high number of pioneering services available; including free public transport, access to many activities at reduced rates with the Geneva Pass, a year-long rich cultural programme and even customised tours make Geneva the ideal destination for a weekend break in Europe. City breakers, a central focus alongside advanced digital expertise With a clear market position and success-driven strategy, Geneva Tourism has been working for many years to implement and promote a series of ground-breaking products tailored to meet the needs of city breakers. In line with this, Geneva Tourism has developed invaluable expertise in digital technology, a key driver of its marketing strategy. Head of Marketing at Geneva Tourism, Vincent Dubi, has commented: "Several factors, including the emergence of the internet, have considerably impacted the tourism industry. Nowadays, most Europeans book their own holidays. We have successfully negotiated this change by strengthening our digital hub in order to be able to speak the same language as city breakers and therefore promote Geneva in the best and most innovative way possible among our target audience. In Switzerland, Geneva is a pioneer in the field and our digital leadership has certainly been a great help in successfully positioning Geneva as the ideal destination for weekend breaks." The development of a comprehensive website available in eight languages, sophisticated social networking strategies with pages tailored to different markets, comprehensive digital campaigns, and utilising bloggers and key influencers are just some examples of the initiatives implemented by Geneva Tourism. The special attention paid to welcoming European visitors and cutting-edge digital expertise have undoubtedly helped Geneva stand out from its competitors and achieve an unprecedented hat trick in becoming the leading European city break destination for 2017. Find the communication kit about this victory here W: geneve.com SOURCE Geneva Tourism & Conventions Foundation LIMA, Peru, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On Friday 29th September, Proinversion, the Peruvian Investment Authority, concluded a highly successful Asia investment roadshow in Tokyo, Japan, holding a conference for over 80 attendees at the headquarters of the the prestigious Japanese Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, who supported the event along with the Embassy of Peru in Japan. This was followed by a series of bilateral meetings with Japanese companies and potential investors. The delegation was headed by Mr. Alberto Necco, the Director of Special Projects at Proinversion, and earlier in the week had held similarly important actions in Beijing, China and Seoul, South Korea. Among the Japanese guests were representatives from Hitachi, Mitsui, Mitsubishi and many other industry leaders, while guests in China included representatives from Volant Industry, Pinggao Group and SEPCO, and in South Korea from Yooshin, Daewoo and Hyundai. The Tokyo event was inaugurated with an introduction by Peruvian Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Harold Forsyth, who highlighted the more than 140 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the fact that Japan is Peru's fifth largest trade partner. He noted the favorable investment conditions for foreign capital such as the equal conditions for foreign and domestic investors and the solid legal framework to protect assets. For his part, Mr. Cesar Martin Penaranda, Director for Investor Services, presented the Agency's portfolio of infrastructure projects worth over US$ 17bn, in sectors such as energy, mining, gas, transport, water and sanitation and telecommunications. He also explained the way in which PPPs and the tender process works in Peru. Mr. Necco concluded: "Tokyo marks the end of a highly productive and successful roadshow during which we have received a great amount of interest from Asian conglomerates and private investors who are particularly attracted by Peru's stability and transparency. The size of our infrastructure gap provides many opportunities and many firms have expressed their interest in learning how to best enter the market. Our roadshow has been vital to developing relations with potential partners from the region who will be participating in tenders to enter PPPs in the near future". Proinversion is open to any questions or enquiries by Japanese investors, potential investors or media. SOURCE Proinversion BURLINGTON, Mass., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 128 Technology, the Secure Vector Routing company, today announced the appointment of Susan Graham Johnston as President. With more than 20 years of management, engineering and enterprise technology experience, Graham Johnston will be responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the business, driving global adoption of the 128T Networking Platform. Graham Johnston's appointment comes as organizations of all sizes are transforming their networks with Secure Vector Routing, a fundamentally new approach to networking that makes IP routing intelligent and allows customers to build context-aware networks that can easily, dynamically, and securely stretch across network boundaries without relying on costly tunneling and overlay technologies. "With the rise of cloud computing, mobile devices, and the number of applications created each day, the demand for the solutions 128 Technology provides has never been higher. Sue's extensive operational experience will prove invaluable as we scale our business," said Andy Ory, co-founder and CEO of 128 Technology. "I am delighted to have Sue assume this role on the 128 Technology leadership team." Prior to joining 128 Technology, Graham Johnston was Managing Director of British Oxygen Company (BOC), running the UK, Ireland and sub-Saharan Africa region of the Linde Group. At Linde, she drove rapid transformation of the business through deployment of digital capabilities such as IoT, cloud services, process automation and analytics. "Having experienced first-hand the challenges of delivering innovative services securely over a complex network, 128 Technology's one-of-a-kind approach to solving network complexity clearly addresses a critical enterprise need," said Graham Johnston. "I am excited to apply my skills to advance the company's mission of fixing the internet." Before joining Linde, Graham Johnston was at Oracle for five years as Vice President in the Communications Global Business Unit and the Systems Business, and was a member of the Oracle Women's Leadership Advisory Board. She joined Oracle through the acquisition of Sun Microsystems, where she held numerous leadership roles in operations, supply chain, and engineering. Graham Johnston started her career in management consulting with Bain & Company. With her passion for making engineering, technology and leadership roles more diverse she has been a speaker at numerous conferences, including the Pacific Business Women's Conference, and is a past member of Watermark and Advancing Women Executives. Graham Johnston holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, an MS in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University. About 128 Technology 128 Technology is a Secure Vector Routing software company on a mission to fix the internet. The 128T Networking Platform natively provides network-based security, control and insight across data centers, wide-area networks and edge locations for enterprises, service providers, and cloud companies alike. The company's software-based approach disrupts the traditional networking paradigm, but doesn't disrupt existing network infrastructures. To learn more about 128 Technology's unique approach to networking, visit www.128technology.com, and follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. SOURCE 128 Technology Related Links http://www.128technology.com CHLM is focused on working directly with hospitals and health systems to enhance team-based patient care and optimize PA practice. CHLM provides expertise, analytics, and industry best practices to help clients evaluate organizational alternatives designed to improve the effectiveness of their provider workforce. "A PA-positive work environment is so much more than just a label. It can impact a PA's career growth and their ability to deliver care to their communities," said L. Gail Curtis, PA-C, MPAS, DFAAPA, president and chair of AAPA's Board of Directors. "This award program, which is the first of its kind, gives AAPA an opportunity to uniquely acknowledge employers for their commitment to fostering PA-positive environments and, ultimately, the care patients receive." CHLM partnered with HealthStream, a leading provider of workforce, patient experience, and provider solutions for the healthcare industry, to gain an understanding of what PAs value in their place of employment. Based on the findings, criteria for the Employer of Excellence Awards will focus on five key drivers including: Facilitating a positive and supportive PA work environment. Creating processes for effective conflict management. Providing opportunities for PAs to provide meaningful input that leads to positive organizational change. Informing PAs of organizational activity and decisions through communications. Involving PAs in leadership efforts to improve the quality of patient care. "These awards will recognize hospitals that demonstrate that healthcare is a team-based endeavor and that PAs are essential to those teams," said Jennifer Broderick, managing director of CHLM. "We hope the awards inspire others to follow suit and adopt similar practices." The Employer of Excellence Awards will honor hospitals that are committed to empowering PAs, promoting mutual respect and effective communication and collaboration among providers, and facilitating professional development. Hospitals that are recognized will be showcased as top places to work for PAs, which will enhance recruitment of highly qualified PAs, increase retention rates, and showcase the awardees as models in the healthcare industry. Any hospital in the United States that employs PAs is eligible to apply for the awards. The online application opens today, Oct. 2, and must be submitted by Jan. 31, 2018. The awards will be presented at AAPA's Annual Conference in New Orleans, May 19-23, 2018. For more information and to apply online visit CHLM.org/eoe. About the American Academy of PAs AAPA is the national organization that advocates for all PAs and provides tools to improve PA practice and patient care. Founded in 1968, AAPA represents a profession of more than 115,500 PAs across all medical and surgical specialties in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories and the uniformed services. Visit www.aapa.org to learn more. About AAPA's Center for Healthcare Leadership and Management (CHLM) CHLM is focused on working directly with hospitals and health systems to maximize team based utilization and optimize PA practice settings. CHLM provides expertise, analytics, and industry best practices to help their clients evaluate organizational alternatives designed to improve the effectiveness of their provider workforce. For more information visit http://www.chlm.org/. SOURCE American Academy of PAs Related Links http://www.aapa.org Actifio Sky Platform 8.0 is a proven, cloud-centric solution enabling enterprises to further accelerate critical digital transformation initiatives for application development, analytics, data protection, high availability and compliance by leveraging the agility and economics of public and private cloud solutions. With a single Sky Platform, enterprises are executing a crawl-walk-run IT transformation strategy and harnessing cloud solutions for appropriate workloads, including cloud-native applications, rather than an all-or-nothing, lift-and-shift "cloud strategy." The new platform introduces five significant features, in addition to comprehensive updates across the board, that reinforce Actifio's place as the most mature platform on the market: Cloud Native Enterprise grade data management for cloud native applications in Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and Oracle Cloud. Enterprise grade data management for cloud native applications in Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, and Oracle Cloud. Cloud Mobility Enables true hybrid cloud deployments across on-premises physical or virtual servers and cloud platforms. It delivers instant access to data and improved business resiliency and agility. Enables true hybrid cloud deployments across on-premises physical or virtual servers and cloud platforms. It delivers instant access to data and improved business resiliency and agility. Cloud Object Unleash the power of object storage with technology innovations to enable instant data access for application development, analytics applications, low RPO and RTO disaster recovery and long-term data retention for archival and compliance, on-premises or in the cloud. Support currently for Amazon Web Services S3 and S3 IAS, Microsoft Azure Blob, IBM Cloud Object Storage, Google Nearline and Coldline, Dell EMC ECS, Hitachi HCP, Netapp StorageGRID, Wasabi and Scality. Unleash the power of object storage with technology innovations to enable instant data access for application development, analytics applications, low RPO and RTO disaster recovery and long-term data retention for archival and compliance, on-premises or in the cloud. Support currently for Amazon Web Services S3 and S3 IAS, Microsoft Azure Blob, IBM Cloud Object Storage, Google Nearline and Coldline, Dell EMC ECS, Hitachi HCP, Netapp StorageGRID, Wasabi and Scality. Cloud Catalog Cloud-scale catalog for all applications and data, anywhere, delivering fastest times to find, access and use data. Native catalog API forms the foundation for new data-centric IT-analytics and business-decision-analytics applications. Cloud-scale catalog for all applications and data, anywhere, delivering fastest times to find, access and use data. Native catalog API forms the foundation for new data-centric IT-analytics and business-decision-analytics applications. Cloud Engage Pioneering user engagement platform serving as the foundation for deriving more value out of Actifio Data-as-a-Service for analytics, reporting, new data-centric applications and enablement. Ash Ashutosh, Founder and CEO of Actifio, stated, "Data is at the heart of business transformation to a digital enterprise. For over seven years we've enabled enterprises to leverage their data as a strategic asset to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives for application development, analytics, data protection and compliance. Our relentless focus on customer success led us to a close collaboration with our users and partners who believe in cloud solutions as part of their IT strategy, not 'the cloud strategy.' Together, we delivered practical solutions to help them leverage the agility and economics of the emerging public and private cloud infrastructure and services, without the traditional constraints of vendor lock-ins, platform limitations or mobility. "I want to express my sincere appreciation for the incredible work by several hundreds of individuals across our users, partners, and Actifio. The result is the biggest software release in the history of the company since our inception that combines the speed, agility and economics of Actifio's Data-as-a-Service with cloud based Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service offerings. We are looking forward to further accelerating the pace of innovation and transformation for our users." Customer and Industry Support Actifio 8.0 reinforces the company's leadership position as the most mature, proven and advanced data management platform on the market. "We are extremely excited about Actifio 8.0 as it gives us the ability to natively write to our cost-effective Private Object Storage platform or leverage Object Storage in the cloud," said Abdul Altamimi, CTO of Atlanta-based RestorePoint. "Our clients can globally search for data regardless of where it is stored, easily mount the data in a virtual environment, and recover just what they need in a fraction of the time. Actifio 8.0 is built to tackle the challenges our clients face today, as well as ones they may likely face while moving and storing data in the Hybrid Cloud in the future." In terms of performance, Altamimi continued, "We tried the new Cloud Object feature in our multi-tenant data center. Actifio's ability to replicate incremental forever to IBM Cleversafe Object Storage in our cloud with instant recovery got us interested right away. We recovered a 5TB SQL database in just over 3 minutes, compared to the several hours it typically takes. No block storage at all, and no networking bottlenecks. This is a game changer because it drastically reduces my TCO and delivers a great recovery SLA!" According to Phil Goodwin, IDC Research Director, "The data revolution is increasing the amount data stored by more than 2.5 exabytes every day and this data is quickly becoming the world's most valuable resource. Actifio aims to work closely with customers to create and enrich a virtual data platform that meets the rising challenges of the modern data economy. IT organizations are looking for these types of solutions to make a faster digital transformation and use their own data in the Cloud." Henry Baltazar, Research Vice President, Storage at 451 Research, stated, "Actifio has established a track record of success with enterprises and service providers in backup and recovery by pioneering Enterprise Data as a Service. In recent years they have extended that into a true data platform than can empower application development, database, analytics and other teams with access to the data they need as they help transform their organizations. Speed, agility and security are all critical to these use cases and the Actifio platform has the potential to capitalize on this expanding opportunity particularly as more workloads migrate to the Cloud." "Overpromising and under delivering is almost a hallmark of data protection and data management companies," said George Crump, Lead Analyst and Founder of Storage Switzerland. "Actifio has separated itself from the pack with an eight year track record of technology innovation that has set a high bar in the protection and management of data. Now with their latest release, Actifio 8.0, they are well positioned to help their customers as they transition to cloud-first data management." "A few years ago Actifio was the only visionary company building disruptive data management strategies, and now we see a range of vendors trying to deliver similar capabilities," said Jason Buffington, Principal Analyst at ESG. "With the announcement of 8.0, Actifio continues its innovation and leadership with their cloud-centric strategy to unleash the full power of their customer's data. By providing the ability to immediately recover and enable data access across a range of cloud providers, Actifio is raising the bar once again on the landscape of data management." The announcement of Actifio 8.0 comes on the heels of Actifio being recognized in Gartner's Magic Quadrant and Critical Capabilities for Data Center Backup and Recovery Solutions (July 2017) reports. Gartner's Magic Quadrant positioned Actifio furthest for vision and execution within the Visionaries quadrant. In the Critical Capabilities report, Actifio Enterprise and Sky received the highest score in the Fully Virtualized Environments and second highest scores for both the Public Cloud Environments and Balanced Physical & Virtualized Environments Use Cases. To learn more about Actifio 8.0, please visit our core technology page. Click here to watch the Actifio 8.0 announcement videos from Tech Field Day. About Actifio Actifio is the world's leading Enterprise Data-as-a-Service software platform. It enables thousands of users around the world to deliver their data just as they deliver their applications and infrastructure... as a service available instantly, anywhere. An enterprise-class software platform powered by patented Virtual Data Pipeline technology, Actifio frees data from traditional infrastructure to accelerate adoption of hybrid cloud, build higher quality applications faster, and improve business resiliency and availability. For more, visit Actifio.com or follow us on Twitter @Actifio. Media Contacts: Meredith Kelly Bite for Actifio [email protected] SOURCE Actifio Related Links https://www.actifio.com Grand View Research, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global activated alumina market is expected to reach USD 1.32 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing demand from key end-use industries, including water treatment and oil & gas, is a key factor driving the growth of activated alumina market growth. In addition, robust growth of the healthcare industry in North America is further fueling the demand over the forecast period. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371361LOGO ) Activated alumina is a highly porous substance that exhibits tremendous surface area and is used in various end-use industries. The key applications of the product include catalyst, desiccant, fluoride adsorbent, and bio ceramics. The industry is mainly driven by the demand from the water treatment segment due to its ability to be used as an adsorbent for the effective removal of fluoride and other impurities from water. Different types of activated alumina are used in the different application segments depending upon the requirement of the products. In terms of revenue, water treatment accounted for the largest share of industry revenues in in 2016, and is anticipated to continue its dominance with a growth rate of 6.2% over the forecast period. Increasing need for waste water and drinking water treatment is expected to drive the growth. The supportive government policies for water treatment are also expected to have positive impacts on the overall segment growth. The demand for the product is expected to be driven primarily by the end-use industries in Asia Pacific region. Key countries such as China and India have been witnessing significant industrial growth, thereby resulting in the need of effective waste water treatment infrastructure in compliance with existing government regulations and policies. In addition, the increasing population and limited availability of clean drinking water in several parts of the globe have resulted in strong measures by governments to enhance water treatment operations. Browse full research report with TOC on "Activated alumina Market Analysis, By Application (Catalyst, Desiccant, Fluoride Adsorbent, Bio ceramics), By End Use (Water Treatment, Oil & Gas, Plastics, Healthcare, Others), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2014 - 2025" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/activated-alumina-market Further Key Findings From the Study Suggest: The global activated alumina market is estimated to reach a market size of USD 1,320.2 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.4%, driven primarily by the increasing use of the product as adsorbents and catalysts in the water treatment and oil & gas industries respectively. by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.4%, driven primarily by the increasing use of the product as adsorbents and catalysts in the water treatment and oil & gas industries respectively. Among applications, the fluoride adsorbent segment dominated the industry, accounting for around 30% of the overall industry revenues in 2016. The dominance of this segment is expected to continue during the forecast period, owing to the rapid growth of the water treatment industry, where application of activated alumina as fluoride adsorbent is significant. The water treatment end-use segment is expected to continue its dominance over the forecast period, projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.2%, driven by supportive government policies and increasing investments in water treatment infrastructure for increasing the access to clean and safe water for domestic as well as industrial functions. The Asia Pacific region dominated the overall industry revenues in 2016, and is projected to witness growth to the tune of 6.2% during the forecast period. This growth can be primarily attributed to the growing demand for clean water sources, for catering to the needs of the rapidly growing population as well as industrial sectors in the region. region dominated the overall industry revenues in 2016, and is projected to witness growth to the tune of 6.2% during the forecast period. This growth can be primarily attributed to the growing demand for clean water sources, for catering to the needs of the rapidly growing population as well as industrial sectors in the region. Key players in the industry focus primarily on acquisitions of smaller companies to strengthen their portfolios and positions in the global market. For instance, in January 2017 , Axens SA acquired shares of Heurtey Petrochem S.A. with the objective of enhancing their competitive position in the industry. Browse related reports by Grand View Research: Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/sulfur-hexafluoride-sf6-market Sulfur Dioxide Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/sulfur-dioxide-market Sulfur Coated Urea Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/sulfur-coated-urea-market Caprylic/Capric Triglycerides Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/caprylic-capric-triglycerides-market Grand View Research has segmented the global activated alumina market on the basis of application, end-use and region: Application Outlook (Volume, Tons; Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) Catalyst Desiccant Fluoride Adsorbent Bio Ceramics Others End Use Outlook (Volume, Tons; Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) Water Treatment Oil & Gas Plastics Healthcare Others Regional Outlook (Volume, Tons; Revenue, USD Million; 2014 - 2025) North America U.S. Europe Germany UK Asia Pacific China India Japan Central & South America Brazil Middle East & Africa South Africa Read Our Blog By Grand View Research: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/blogs/specialty-and-fine-chemicals About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. 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. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc Phone: +1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: www.grandviewresearch.com SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 85 Market Data Tables and 48 Figures spread through 180 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Advanced Composites Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/advanced-composites-market-3930953.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report The major factors fueling the growth of the advanced composites market across the globe are the increasing use of advanced composites in the aerospace & defense, sporting goods, transportation, and wind energy end-use industries. Increasing use of advanced composites in the aerospace & defense industry is expected to drive the growth of the advanced composites market from 2017 to 2022 The use of advanced composites in the aerospace & defense applications has gained momentum during the past few decades. Up to 53% of the latest Airbus aircraft, A350XWB is made using advanced composite materials as compared to old aircraft models, which used only 2%-5% advanced composites. The main reasons for the growing use of advanced composites in aircraft are the reduction in the weight of aircraft and high resistance offered to corrosion. Moreover, the maintenance costs for aircraft manufactured using advanced composites are lower in comparison to those for aircraft manufactured using traditional materials. Get PDF Brochure @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=3930953 Among fiber types, the carbon fiber composites segment is projected to lead the advanced composites market during the forecast period in terms of both, volume and value Carbon fibers account for over 70% of the reinforcements used for the manufacture of advanced composites across the globe. There is an increasing demand for carbon fiber composites in the aerospace & defense, sporting goods, automotive, and wind energy industries, owing to their lightweight, high inherent strength, weather-resistant finish, and variety in surface textures offered. As demand for carbon fiber composites is increasing across the globe, several companies are investing in setting up their carbon fiber composites manufacturing plants in North America and Europe. North America is the largest market for advanced composites across the globe North America is the largest consumer of advanced composites across the globe. Moreover, the Europe advanced composites market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR in terms of both, value and volume during the forecast period from 2017 to 2022. The increasing use of advanced composites in the transportation, aerospace & defense, and wind energy industries is the major factor driving the growth of the Europe advanced composites market. Moreover, the presence of major automotive manufacturers and mass production of automotive parts using advanced composites are driving the growth of the European Advanced Composites Market. Some of the leading manufacturers of composites include Owen Corning, Solvay SGL Group, Hexcel Corporation, Koninklijke Ten Cate bv, Teijin Limited, Toray Industries, Inc., Huntsman Corporation, Jushi Group, and Gurit, among others. These players have adopted various organic and inorganic strategies to strengthen their foothold in the advanced composites market. Inquiry before Buying @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=3930953 Browse Related Reports CF & CFRP Market by End-Use Industry (A&D, Wind Energy, Automotive, Sports, Civil Engineering, Pipe & Tank, Marine, Medical, E&E), Resin Type (Thermosetting, Thermoplastic), Manufacturing Process, Raw Material, and Region - Global Forecast to 2022 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/carbon-fiber-composites-market-416.html Composites Market by Fiber Type (Glass, Carbon), Resin Type (Thermoset, Thermoplastic), Manufacturing Process (Layup, Filament Winding, Pultrusion), Application (Transportation, Aerospace & Defense, Wind Energy), Region - Global Forecast to 2022 http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/composite-market-200051282.html Know More About our Knowledge Store @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Tel: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Blog @ http://www.marketsandmarketsblog.com/market-reports/chemical Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 34% of America's employees are not required by their employers to track their hours worked. This is according to the 2017 "Getting Paid In America" survey conducted by the American Payroll Association (APA) for National Payroll Week, September 4-8. While employers are not required to track hours for many of their employees, that may change soon. Even though a regulation that would have increased the Department of Labor's "white-collar" overtime exemption threshold was invalidated by a Texas federal district court on August 31, 2017, the DOL has signaled that it will revise the regulations. Many of those businesses not tracking employees' hours could be out of compliance if their employees become for eligible for overtime if the threshold is increased. "It's troubling that so many employers still continue not to track all of their employee hours worked," said Dan Maddux, executive director of the American Payroll Association. "These results show that nearly a third of American Businesses were narrowly saved by the court in Texas from significant compliance concerns." Beyond compliance, accurately tracking all hours worked by employees is an important metric for businesses, according to Bob DelPonte, vice president and general manager of Workforce Ready Group, Kronos. "Employee compensation is only as accurate as the data used to generate payroll each pay cycle. Organizations that fail to capture an accurate look at their employees' complete work hours will struggle to pay employees what they have earned and risk undermining their own employee engagement initiatives." The annual "Getting Paid In America" survey by the APA asked, "How do you input the hours you work at your place of employment?" Nearly 34 percent of respondents indicated they are not required to document their time spent on the job. Another 14% of respondents stated they are still using antiquated time cards and timesheets to document their hours worked. The "Getting Paid In America" survey is held annually during National Payroll Week (NPW) by the APA. More than 34,000 employees responded to the survey, providing insight into various payroll and time and attendance trends impacting the American workplace. Visit nationalpayrollweek.com to view full survey results. The APA is the nation's leader in payroll education, publications, and training. Visit APA online at americanpayroll.org. SOURCE American Payroll Association Related Links http://www.americanpayroll.org THE HAGUE, the Netherlands, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The European Commission (EC) announced that it has fined Scania 880 million for its participation in the 1997-2011 truck cartel. This is the second highest fine ever imposed on an individual company by the EC. On Friday 22 September 2017, the District Court of Amsterdam published a landmark decision endorsing the assignment model of litigation whereby victims of cartels from all over Europe can pool their claims in a single legal case in order to obtain damages for the 'overcharge' that they paid as a result of a cartel. With the clear support from the judiciary for this mass litigation model, the Netherlands is likely to become the key jurisdiction for Pan-European damage claims arising from the trucks cartel. As DAF and Iveco are domiciled in the Netherlands, Dutch courts will have jurisdiction to award compensation against all cartel members. The six truck makers have already instructed Dutch counsel. Background - record fines The European Commission (EC) announced that it has fined Scania 880 million for its participation in the 1997-2011 truck cartel. This is the second highest fine ever imposed on an individual company by the EC. The EC confirmed that the size of fine against Scania was based on the 'serious nature of the infringement', Scania's sales of trucks and the geographic scope and duration of the cartel[1]. In July 2016 the EC announced that it had imposed fines MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF totalling 2.93 billion[2]. MAN escaped an individual fine on the basis that it had 'blown the whistle' on the cartel when it approached the EC in September 2010. After several months of investigation, on 25 January 2011 the EC then carried out unannounced dawn raids on the other European truck manufacturers. Subsequently Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF also formally admitted their role in the cartel to the EC and thereby received a 10% reduction in the level of their fines. Even with this reduction, the fine of 1 billion imposed on Daimler was the largest ever cartel fine ever levied by the EC on a company. Scania did not make formal admissions regarding its participation in the cartel. This meant that the EC investigation process against it took longer. It also meant that Scania did not receive the 10% reduction in the level of its fine. On Tuesday 26 September, European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said "This cartel affected very substantial numbers of road hauliers in Europe, since Scania and the other truck manufacturers in the cartel produce more than 9 out of every 10 medium and heavy trucks sold in Europe..Instead of colluding on pricing, the truck manufacturers should have been competing against each other". Landmark Decision of Amsterdam Court On Friday 22 September 2017, the District Court of Amsterdam published a landmark decision endorsing the assignment model of litigation whereby claimants who are victims of cartels from all over Europe can pool their claims in a single legal case in order to obtain damages for the 'overcharge' that they paid as a result of a cartel. The decision was made in the case being run by the leading Netherlands law firm BarentsKrans against KLM, Air France, Lufthansa and British Airways on behalf of victims of the 1999-2006 air cargo cartel. The pooled claims of the victims of the cartel will be handled by BarentsKrans and funded by Claims Funding Europe and the US law firm Grant & Eisenhofer. Martin Hyde, director of Claims Funding Europe said "The scale and length of the European truck cartel is astonishing. Businesses all over Europe have been hit hard by it. Martijn van Maanen, cartel litigation partner at BarentsKrans: "This important decision of the Amsterdam court clears the way for the Netherlands to become the focal point of the fight between the truck manufacturers and the victims of their illegal price collusion". 1. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-3502_en.htm 2. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2582_en.htm SOURCE BarentsKrans ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Kidney Fund (AKF) will host its ninth annual gala, The Hope Affair, on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in the nation's capital. The event, themed "Imagine the Possibilities," will celebrate inspirational individuals whose lives have been impacted by kidney disease. Bringing together members of the kidney care community, patients, advocates, and policymakers, The Hope Affair will be emceed by Emmy Award-winning FOX 5 news anchor Shawn Yancy and will honor: Luis Matos , the 2017 American Kidney Fund Hero of Hope, a dialysis patient from Ozone Park, New York who formed a football team in Newark, New Jersey , to give young inner-city men a positive outlet. the 2017 American Kidney Fund Hero of Hope, a dialysis patient from who formed a football team in , to give young inner-city men a positive outlet. Skyler Moats , the 2017 American Kidney Fund Calendar Cover Artist, an Elkins, West Virginia teenager living with kidney disease whose artwork was selected to appear on the cover of AKF's 2018 calendar. , the 2017 American Kidney Fund Calendar Cover Artist, an teenager living with kidney disease whose artwork was selected to appear on the cover of AKF's 2018 calendar. Justin Condon , the 2017 American Kidney Fund KIDNEYNATION Excellence Award winner from Hoboken, New Jersey , who climbed Mt. Everest to honor his father who died of kidney disease and raised over $25,000 to support AKF programs and services in his memory. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) will address the audience in appreciation of AKF's longstanding support of kidney patients in Greater Houston and its recent rapid-response efforts to provide emergency grants to dialysis patients whose lives were devastated by Hurricane Harvey's massive floods. AKF has provided over $230,000 in emergency assistance to nearly 1,000 Texas dialysis patients, primarily in Greater Houston. "The Hope Affair is an opportunity to bring the renal community together to celebrate those who are changing lives through their selfless and compassionate work," said LaVarne A. Burton, president and chief executive officer of the American Kidney Fund. "We are grateful to the sponsors whose support funds our education, prevention and financial assistance efforts, and especially mindful this year of the great need to assist so many dialysis patients who are suffering in the United States and U.S. territories in areas devastated by hurricanes." The Hope Affair 2017 is made possible thanks to generous support from silver sponsors American Renal Associates, Satellite Healthcare and Sanofi Renal. Support was also provided by bronze sponsors Dialysis Clinic, Inc., Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Right Advisory LLC and Ropes & Gray LLP. A full sponsor listing can be found at www.TheHopeAffair.org. About the American Kidney Fund As the nation's leading nonprofit working on behalf of the 30 million Americans with kidney disease, the American Kidney Fund is dedicated to ensuring that every kidney patient has access to health care, and that every person at risk for kidney disease is empowered to prevent it. AKF provides a complete spectrum of programs and services: prevention outreach, top-rated health educational resources, and direct financial assistance enabling 1 in 5 U.S. dialysis patients to access lifesaving medical care, including dialysis and transplantation. AKF holds the highest ratings from the nation's charity watchdog groups, including Charity Navigator, which includes AKF on its "top 10" list of nonprofits with the longest track records of outstanding stewardship of the donated dollar, and GuideStar, which has awarded AKF its Platinum Seal of Transparency. For more information, please visit KidneyFund.org, or connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. SOURCE American Kidney Fund Related Links http://www.kidneyfund.org APPLETON, Wis., Oct. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Appvion, Inc. (the "Company") today announced that it and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to facilitate a balance sheet restructuring and better position the business for long-term growth and success. The Company expects to continue operations as usual and has obtained a commitment for $85 million in new debtor-in-possession ("DIP") financing from a group of its first lien lenders. Subject to Bankruptcy Court approval, this DIP financing, combined with cash generated by the Company, is expected to provide more than adequate liquidity to support ongoing operations during the process. "We thoroughly explored various alternatives to address our debt and have been engaged in constructive discussions with our lenders regarding sponsorship of a plan to delever the Company and enhance our liquidity," said Kevin Gilligan, Chief Executive Officer of Appvion. "While those discussions are active and continuing, we determined that pursuing a restructuring through Chapter 11 is the best path forward for Appvion and our stakeholders. We believe this process will result in a sustainable capital structure for our business." Gilligan continued, "The Chapter 11 process itself will have little impact on how we do business. We will continue to implement profit improvement and growth initiatives to optimize our operations and maximize the efficiency of our supply chain. As we work toward restructuring and emergence, we will remain focused on combining our market insight, extensive manufacturing capabilities, and unique coating technologies to serve our customers' needs. Our goal is to emerge a stronger company well positioned to compete long-term in the evolving coated paper market and further invest in the innovation that has made Appvion a market leader." The Company will work closely with its customers and vendors to ensure that ongoing obligations are met and that production and delivery are uninterrupted. Appvion has filed with the Bankruptcy Court a series of customary motions seeking to maintain business-as-usual operations during the process. These "first day" motions include requests to continue payment of employee wages and benefits and honor customer programs as well as other motions to ensure a smooth transition into Chapter 11 without business interruption. For more information about Appvion's restructuring, including access to Bankruptcy Court documents, please visit https://cases.primeclerk.com/appvion, contact the Company's noticing and claims agent at (866) 315-0467 (for toll-free domestic calls) and (929) 342-0756 (for tolled international calls), or email [email protected]. DLA Piper is serving as legal counsel to Appvion, Guggenheim is serving as the Company's investment banker, and Alan Holtz of AlixPartners is serving as the Company's Chief Restructuring Officer. About Appvion Appvion creates product solutions through its development and use of coating formulations and applications. The Company produces thermal, carbonless, security, inkjet, digital specialty, and colored papers. Headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, Appvion operates coating and converting plants there and in West Carrollton, Ohio, and a pulp and paper mill in Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania. The Company employs approximately 1,400 people and is 100% employee-owned. For more information, visit www.appvion.com. SOURCE Appvion, Inc. Related Links http://www.appvion.com PITTSFIELD, Mass., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Berkshire Medical Center nurses will join community members from across Berkshire County on Monday evening for a Patient Safety Vigil ahead of a 24-hour strike scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 7 a.m. "As a registered nurse, nothing comes before the safety of my patients," said Alex Neary, RN and Co-Chair of the MNA BMC Bargaining Committee. "For as long as I have been a caregiver and advocate for my patients at Berkshire Medical Center, I have never encountered such disregard for nurses and such overwhelming resistance from the hospital to simply work with us to make sure our patients are cared for safely." Patient Safety Vigil What: BMC nurses and supporters gather in solidarity the evening before a planned one-day strike. Nurses are calling on BMC to bargain in good faith and settle a fair contract. When: Monday, Oct. 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. Where: Outside Berkshire Medical Center on North Street in Pittsfield. One-Day RN Strike Begins What: Nurses and supporters gather to greet RNs leaving the hospital for 24-hour strike When: Tuesday, Oct. 3 6:30 - 7 a.m. Where: Outside Berkshire Medical Center at 725 North St. in Pittsfield and outside the North Adams Campus at 71 Hospital Ave. in North Adams. Public Rallies What: BMC nurses, friends, family, community members and elected officials rally When: Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. Where: Outside Berkshire Medical Center at 725 North St. in Pittsfield. One-Day RN Strike Ends What: BMC nurses and supporters gather before the 24-hour strike ends to support RNs planning to re-enter the hospital to care for their patients. When: Tuesday, Oct. 3 from 6:30 to 7 a.m. Where: Outside Berkshire Medical Center at 725 North St. in Pittsfield and outside the North Adams Campus at 71 Hospital Ave. in North Adams. Also at the Hillcrest Campus at 165 Tor Court in Pittsfield. One-Day Strike Background The nearly 800 registered nurses of Berkshire Medical Center, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, delivered a 10-day notice to hospital management on Friday, Sept. 22 notifying BMC of their intent to hold a one-day strike beginning at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 3 and running until 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4. BMC nurses have been bargaining in good faith for a year, seeking to ensure that their patients are able to receive the safest and most effective nursing care possible. The hospital has refused to negotiate over concrete improvements to patient care and RN staffing. BMC management has also refused to provide information necessary for nurses to negotiate quality, affordable health insurance. BMC Nurses Locked Out BMC has announced it will lock out BMC nurses and keep them from caring for their patients for four days as a consequence of the strike. The hospital said instead it will pay for replacement nurses from outside the community. The MNA is seeking information from the employer to counter evidence that this is retaliatory and therefore unlawful. "We are ready to return to caring for our patients Wednesday morning," said Jerri Jakacky, RN and Co-Chair of the MNA BMC Bargaining Committee. "Berkshire Medical Center nurses are irreplaceable. We walk the halls of this hospital every day, many of us for decades. We have an intimate knowledge of our patients, our technology, our staff and our community. There is no way that nurses outside of this facility, who have never worked in this hospital can step in and provide safe patient care to our patients." MassNurses.org Facebook.com/MassNurses Twitter.com/MassNurses Instagram.com/MassNurses Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association Related Links http://www.massnurses.org FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Indian-born billionaire, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Manoj Bhargava believes those with wealth have a duty to serve those with less. Bhargava's unique approach to philanthropy was originally chronicled in the 2015 documentary film, Billions in Change, which featured four solutions created by Stage 2, Bhargava's invention shop in Farmington Hills, Michigan, dealing with energy, water, and health. Billions in Change 2, available now to stream and download at billionsinchange.com, is the follow-up to the first documentary, and unveils five wholly new inventions that directly address those fundamentals. "Lights, clean water and nutritious food are the foundation of health, education and livelihood," said Bhargava. "Without them it's impossible to live a productive life and care for your family," he adds. In Billions in Change 2, Bhargava describes how some of the new devices evolved from solutions featured in the first documentary. He also reveals his own Darwin-like philosophy when it comes to the invention process, "If something works, I'm there. If it doesn't work, it's out," said Bhargava. In the months following the 2015 release of the first Billions in Change documentary, the team at Stage 2 worked tirelessly to refine the products featured in the film in order to start production and distribution. They conducted multiple rounds of field-tests, made improvements, retested, navigated bureaucracy and red tape, and in some cases went back to the drawing board and started over because they discovered that they could make something better. "I wish I was smart enough to go right to the end, it would save a lot of money," said Bhargava. "But unfortunately, we have to go through all the stuff that didn't work, all the stuff that was marginal, and then finally get to something that we say, 'Yes, we have it!' The "it" Bhargava is referring to are five new inventions: The HANS PowerPack, The HANS Solar Briefcase, RainMaker for Brackish Water, RainMaker for Grey Water, and Shivansh Fertilizer. The HANS PowerPack is a lightweight, portable power device that allows people to easily generate and store electricity for basic uses, such as lights, fans, and mobile devices. It includes a spotlight and room lighting, a USB port, and a 12-volt outlet for running small electronics. It can be recharged for free using the built-in solar panel, the HANS Solar Briefcase, or the HANS Free Electric bike (featured in the original Billions in Change film). It can also be plugged into a regular wall socket and charged off the grid. The HANS PowerPack is constructed from the same material used to make bulletproof glass and comes with a 12-year warranty, so it's made to last. The HANS Solar Briefcase is a lightweight, portable, and simple-to-use set of solar panels designed for charging the HANS PowerPack from virtually anywhere on Earth. Created with portability and durability in mind, the HANS Solar Briefcase avoids the serious problems that make glass rooftop panels impractical. Also featured in the film are two new RainMaker inventions for the billions of people who either lack access to safe drinking water, or live in areas threatened by shrinking water supplies. The RainMaker for Brackish Water is a water filtration unit that takes the salts and other minerals out of brackish water so it can be used for both drinking and agriculture. The device simply attaches to the water source, uses minimal electricity from a small generator, and begins working immediately. The RainMaker for Grey Water is a small, self-contained unit that uses a series of filters to purify any type of dirty waterriver water, sewage water, bacteria-filled water, well water, etc. It can be installed and used immediately. If electricity is not available, RainMaker for Grey Water can be used with a manual pump or a bike pump. The fifth invention, Shivansh Fertilizer, is intended to help the billions of rural farmers who are unable to make a living and take care of their families because of the debilitating expense of chemical fertilizer. Shivansh Fertilizer is a simple-to-follow and cost-free method of making fertilizer using whatever is laying around the farmdry plant material, fresh grass, crop residues, animal manure. After 18 days and relatively little maintenance, the result is a nutrient-rich soil amendment. Integrating this fertilizer into a field brings dead soil back to life within just one planting season. This fertilizer method was discovered and refined through work sponsored by The Hans Foundation, one of the largest charitable organizations in India, and also funded by Bhargava. About Billions in Change (The Movement) Billions in Change is a movement to bring useful inventions to the unlucky half of the world in order to improve quality of life for billions of people. Those inventions are focused on helping people obtain basic needs like clean water, reliable electricity, and sufficient foodfundamentals that set the foundation for education, health, and livelihood, enabling people to improve life for themselves and for their families. The Billions in Change inventions include devices that create fresh water for drinking and agriculture; expense-free and pollution-free electricity generators that power homes, schools, and businesses; farming techniques that enhance crop yields, crop quality as well as farmer income; and healthcare solutions that actually address the main causes of disease. The Billions in Change movement includes its founder, Manoj Bhargava, Stage 2 (the invention shop in Farmington Hills, Michigan), The Hans Foundation (the organization responsible for deploying solutions in India), and tens of thousands of supporters and volunteers around the world. For more information about Billions in Change visit www.BillionsInChange.com. Contact: Melissa Skabich PCE Communications, LLC 973-760-9926 [email protected] SOURCE Billions in Change CLEVELAND, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueBridge Networks, www.BlueBridgeNetworks.com today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has honored BlueBridge Networks with its esteemed 2017 Triple Crown Award. Forty North American solution providers had the necessary revenue, growth and technical expertise to be recognized on three of CRN's pre-eminent solution provider lists, earning them the Triple Crown Award this year. CRN assembles lists and rankings each year to recognize solution providers who are setting the bar in the IT industry, including the Solution Provider 500, which lists the largest solution providers in North America by revenue; the Fast Growth 150, which ranks the fastest-growing solution providers; and the Tech Elite 250, which recognizes solution providers that have received the highest-level certifications from leading vendors. It is a considerable achievement for a solution provider to make any one of these lists; to make it onto all three, howeveras this year's Triple Crown Award winners have doneis a big achievement. A company must simultaneously have enough revenue to be ranked on the Solution Provider 500 list, record double- or triple-digit growth for recognition on the Fast Growth 150, and invest heavily in top certifications to attain Tech Elite 250 status. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, BlueBridge Networks is the region's leading total technology solutions provider. The Company's best-in-class Data Center Services, including Cloud Computing, Hosting, Collocation, Virtualization, Migration Services, Disaster Recovery, Managed Storage, Backups, Replication and Managed Security Services save cost and remain highly available for their customers. "BlueBridge Networks continues to improve itself by reinvesting in personnel, infrastructure, products and services for our customers benefit. The BlueBridge Team works to improve efficiencies and reduce costs for our customers, who rely on us as we assist them with their Digital Transformation in the Digital Age. We are appreciative of our customers, vendors, community partners and employees," said, Kevin Goodman, Managing Director, Partner "This year's CRN Triple Crown Award winners boast multiple, advanced technical certifications from leading vendors, rank among the top-earning IT solution providers in North America, and are some of the fastest-growing organizations in the channel today," said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. "These over-achieving businesses have set the standard for success in the strategic service provider era and are leading the channel into an exciting new future." SOURCE BlueBridge Networks Related Links http://www.BlueBridgeNetworks.com The philanthropic effort comes at a time when millions of American families struggle to put food on the table. According to recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1 in 8 Americans face hunger, including 13 million children. However, most families don't recognize the extent of hunger in America; a Red Gold survey found that nearly 7 in 10 households were either unsure of the number of Americans struggling with hunger, or they severely underestimated the problem. "Hunger doesn't discriminate it touches every community in the U.S.," said Nancy Curby, SVP of Corporate Partnerships & Operations at Feeding America. "The Feeding America network serves as a lifeline for many families struggling to put healthy food on their table, and we can't do it alone. We need the support of individuals and companies like Red Gold to join in and help provide meals to help end hunger in America." This is the second year of Red Gold's national Crush Hunger effort. The inaugural campaign secured over 1.7 million meals for Feeding America and its network of food banks. This year, in honor of Red Gold's 75th anniversary, the company is looking to generate its largest charitable donation yet: 2 million meals to Feeding America food banks. Families Make Mealtime into Teaching Moments Red Gold research shows that a majority of parents use the family meal as a moment to teach, inspire and talk to their children about important issues like hunger, poverty, and giving back to others in need. In fact, more than 80 percent of parents said they would be willing to take the time to share a family meal, or use a new recipe or ingredient, if they knew it could help provide for families in need. "As a family-owned company rooted in the business of giving back, we know how important it is to share a meal together," said Colt Reichart, fourth-generation owner of Red Gold. "We can't stand by when we know millions of people in our own country are struggling with hunger, so we're pledging our support to Feeding America and encourage our consumers to do the same. By simply sharing their family meal using a Red Gold product in October, they can help another family in the process." To make it easy for families to share tasty meals together and help others in need, Red Gold has teamed up with celebrity chef, YouTube personality and host of the Cooking Channel's "Simply Laura", Laura Vitale. Vitale will lend her culinary expertise, tips and simple approach to cooking to help create easy, affordable meals to share with their families during October and beyond. "Growing up in a large family in Italy, the dinner table has always been more than a place to share meals it was a place to share stories, make memories and have meaningful conversations. It's shocking to know that millions of Americans face hunger every day and don't always have that opportunity," said Laura Vitale. "I'm ready to 'crush hunger' with Red Gold by spreading the word that the simple act of making a delicious family meal can benefit someone in need this October." For recipes, family meal tips and more information about ways you can help crush hunger in your community, visit HelpCrushHunger.com. *$1 helps provide at least 10 meals secured by Feeding America on behalf of local member food banks. Red Gold guarantees a minimum of 2 million meals ($181,818.18) from 10/01/2017 10/31/2017. About Red Gold For four generations, the Reichart family has been producing Red Gold premium quality tomato products. Red Gold was founded on the idea of helping to supply food for the troops in 1942. Red Gold sustainably produces premium quality canned tomatoes, ketchup, and tomato-based products for the retail, foodservice, private brand, and club channels of distribution. Exceptional quality and operational excellence are the shared values that contributed to the employee-created mission statement: "To produce the freshest, best tasting tomato products in the world." Visit www.RedGoldTomatoes.com for great recipes, tips and culinary inspiration! About Feeding America Feeding America is the nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through 60,000 food pantries and meal programs in communities across America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit www.FeedingAmerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. Contact: Benny Martinez, BRG Communications [email protected] 703-739-8352 SOURCE Red Gold HOUSTON, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) will host its third quarter 2017 earnings conference call on Friday, October 27, 2017 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The Company plans to issue its financial and operating results prior to the market opening on the same day. To access the live audio webcast, please visit the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.cabotog.com. A replay of the call will also be available on the Company's website. Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading independent natural gas producer with its entire resource base located in the continental United States. For additional information, visit the Company's website at www.cabotog.com. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Matt Kerin (281) 589-4642 SOURCE Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation Related Links http://www.cabotog.com NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Castle Brands Inc. (NYSE American: ROX), a developer and international marketer of premium and super-premium drinks brands, today announced that it has purchased an additional 5% of Copperhead Distillery Company, which owns and operates the Kentucky Artisan Distillery. Kentucky Artisan Distillery currently has three warehouses storing Jefferson's bourbons, provides distilling using special mash-bills made from locally grown grains for Jefferson's brands and houses the Jefferson's Visitor Center and store, showcasing the Jefferson's brand. The additional investment brings Castle Brands ownership of Copperhead to 25%. John Glover, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Castle Brands, said "Our additional investment makes us the second largest shareholder in Kentucky Artisan Distillery and demonstrates our continued commitment to our Jefferson's brand. Partnering with Kentucky Artisan Distillery has provided a home for Jefferson's bourbon and allowed us the ability to develop, innovate and expand our Jefferson's offerings. With Kentucky Artisan Distillery's expanded warehousing and distilling capabilities, we expect the partnership to continue to grow and develop with the Jefferson's brand." Stephen Thompson, President and General Manager of Kentucky Artisan Distillery, stated "We are excited to expand our partnership with Castle Brands to further develop the super-premium Jefferson's portfolio. We look forward to working with Castle Brands on innovations such as estate farm-to-glass bourbon and a super-premium 100% rye whiskey and welcoming guests to the Jefferson's Visitor Center for many years to come." About Castle Brands Castle Brands is a developer and international marketer of premium and super-premium brands including: Jefferson's, Jefferson's Presidential Select, Jefferson's Reserve, Jefferson's Ocean Aged at Sea Bourbon, Jefferson's Wine Finish Collection and Jefferson's Wood Experiments, Goslings Rums, Goslings Stormy Ginger Beer, Knappogue Castle Whiskey, Clontarf Irish Whiskey, Pallini Limoncello, Boru Vodka, Brady's Irish Cream, The Arran Malt Single Malt Scotch Whisky, The Robert Burns Scotch Whisky and Machrie Moor Scotch Whisky. Additional information concerning the Company is available on the Company's website, www.castlebrandsinc.com. Forward Looking Statements This press release includes statements of our expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs that constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are intended to come within the safe harbor protection provided by those sections. These statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, relate to the discussion of our business strategies and our expectations concerning future operations, margins, sales, new products and brands, potential joint ventures, potential acquisitions, expenses, profitability, liquidity and capital resources and to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. You can identify these and other forward-looking statements by the use of such words as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "thinks," "estimates," "seeks," "predicts," "could," "projects," "potential" and other similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions. These forward looking statements are made based on expectations and beliefs concerning future events affecting us and are subject to uncertainties, risks and factors relating to our operations and business environments, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed or implied by these forward looking statements. These risks include our history of losses and expectation of further losses, our ability to expand our operations in both new and existing markets, our ability to develop or acquire new brands, our relationships with distributors, the success of our marketing activities, the effect of competition in our industry and economic and political conditions generally, including the current economic environment and markets. More information about these and other factors are described under the caption "Risk Factors" in Castle Brands' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2017 and other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. When considering these forward looking statements, you should keep in mind the cautionary statements in this press release and the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and we cannot predict those events or how they may affect us. We assume no obligation to update any forward looking statements after the date of this press release as a result of new information, future events or developments, except as required by the federal securities laws. Castle Brands Inc. Investor Relations, 646-356-0200 [email protected] www.castlebrandsinc.com SOURCE Castle Brands Inc. Related Links http://www.castlebrandsinc.com KFAR SABA, Israel, Oct. 2nd, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CathWorks Ltd., a leader in the development of non-invasive FFR measurements for guiding coronary interventions, today announced the completion of a $15.8M Series B round of financing, led by Quark Venture and Triventures. The syndicate also included Planven Investments, Pontifax, Corundum Open Innovation, and BioStar Ventures as well as a strategic investor. Cathworks' lead product is a real time, digital platform for the determination of FFR in the catheterization laboratory during procedures in under 5 minutes using standard angiographic images. The company uses a proprietary series of algorithms to reconstruct the coronary tree in three dimensions from standard angiograms and to provide the clinician with a complete FFR analysis in all visible coronary arteries simultaneously. Cathworks technology has the potential to both disrupt the existing FFR market and to provide clinicians the capacity to integrate coronary images with lesion physiology in real time. The "functional angiography" developed by Cathworks provides clinicians, for the first time, the ability to correlate anatomy and physiology at the point of care for the purpose of performing guideline driven intervention. The present funding will allow CathWorks to conduct a global pivotal trial to support 510K FDA approval. The company received a CE Mark on its lead product earlier this year. "FFR has become a standard in the enablement of evidence-based treatment in coronary catheterizations" said CEO and founder Guy Lavi. "We intend to make FFR accessible to more patients by facilitating its widespread application without the use of invasive wires or the infusion of adenosine. We are delighted to receive the support of such an experienced group of investors," added Lavi. Dr. Peter Fitzgerald, Managing Partner at Triventures, an investor in CathWorks, stated: "We are enthusiastic that CathWorks' digital FFR platform can both improve patient care and reduce costs while enhancing workflow in the cath lab. By applying novel mathematical approaches to measuring flow reserve, Cathworks makes real time virtual FFR a reality." "Clinical testing in more than 400 patients has made me confident in the sensitivity and specificity of the Cathworks product as compared to wire based FFR," added Fitzgerald. About Triventures Triventures is a venture capital fund that invests in disruptive medical device and digital health companies that impact the quality and cost of healthcare. Triventures supports ventures in areas such as big data, artificial intelligence and cyber security for healthcare as well as medical device companies in a wide variety of fields. The fund is based in Tel Aviv and Silicon Valley and has strong partnerships with medical device manufacturers, healthcare providers and consumer electronics companies which enable it to contribute significant value to its portfolio companies when commercially integrating into markets. About Quark Ventures Quark Venture is focused on equity financing of innovative biotechnology and health sciences companies with breakthrough technology platforms and projects. The organization's approach is to establish long-term relationships with target companies, with a view to enable and strengthen management to realize the full potential and value of the technology. This approach has been previously successfully demonstrated in the energy and high-tech sectors where Quark Venture partners have invested. Quark Venture's management is supported by a scientific and commercial advisory board. For more information on Quark Venture visit www.quarkventure.com About Cathworks CathWorks is a privately-held Israeli company founded in 2013. The company develops digital healthcare products for the cardiovascular market and is focused on improving the utilization of coronary angiography data to ratify measurement-based medicine in the cath lab. CathWorks is backed by worldwide VCs as well a strategic partner and has completed two series of financing. For further information, please contact Ilanit Frank-Hakim, [email protected] SOURCE Cathworks Ltd. DENVER, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Using an app to stay in touch with friends or to split a restaurant bill is one thing....but using an app to prevent the potentially deadly consequences of driving while under the influence? Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) does, indeed, have an app for that, but not one that's peer-reviewed -- or backed up by data according to expert, Jay Tiftickjian of Tiftickjian Law Firm, P.C. Criminal defense attorney Jay Tiftickjian has written numerous books on DUI and drug law Colorado Department of Transportation is encouraging people to administer their own breathalyzer tests via an untested smartphone app CDOT has partnered with BACtrack, a manufacturer of personal breathalyzers, to offer Colorado residents a mobile breathalyzer device that communicates with a user's smartphone via an app. This app quickly gives its users an answer to the question "should I drive or not?" Historically, breathalyzer tests have been exclusively administered by trained (and sober) law enforcement officials. Now, CDOT is encouraging people who have been consuming alcohol to test themselves. In Colorado, the BAC limit for a DUI is .08 percent; the BAC legal inference for driving while ability impaired (DWAI) is .051 percent. There exists a very fine line between when a driver is safe to operate a vehicle and when they're an offender handling a deadly weapon. With the CDOT actively encouraging drinkers to perform their own breathalyzer tests, one might assume that this is a peer-reviewed and consumer-tested app. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case. Human Error is a Potential Issue Human error, especially when the humans in question have been consuming alcohol, is a pervasive issue. In fact, the manufacturers of BACtrack recommend that the user conduct multiple breath tests to avoid "human error." Accuracy can't be guaranteed: if a person drank five shots within 15 minutes and then immediately used the breathalyzer without waiting, it's quite possible that their BAC will fall below Colorado's DWAI or DUI limits. Environmental Factors Can Influence Readings Environmental factors, such as chemical and paint fumes, can cause readings to go haywire, as can everyday chemicals such as mouthwashes and breath fresheners. Technical issues appear to be a problem, with reviews reporting glaring inaccuracies: in one review, an app user stated, "[The] reading will be totally off if [the] battery is low, which takes a month or less to happen." Another review comments that the device still reads zero after two drinks have been consumed. No Control Group or Double-Blind Study With the obvious issues of human error and accuracy at play, one would hope that the working efficacy of BACtrack would have been established with solid scientific procedures, tested by a representative sample population, confirmed by a control group and backed up by a double-blind study. CDOT did, in fact, conduct a survey with 226 residents of Colorado; however, the group is hardly representative: participants were sourced by handing out breathalyzers to people who were either at a Denver brewery or at the CDOT itself. The question of how participants fared versus the control group can't be answered at this time, as there was no control group. Further, a double-blind study was not conducted. It seems that the study yielded few, if any, usable results. In a press release published by CDOT on this study, the strongest claim is as follows: "84 percent of participants agreed that owning a smartphone breathalyzer lowered their risk for a DUI/DWAI". The Bottom Line: Further Studies Are Needed The accuracy of the BAC reading is largely dependent upon the person using the app; the research supporting the efficacy and safety of CDOT's BACtrack appears to be, at best, perilously lacking. With the issue of human life at stake, the Colorado Department of Transportation's choice to promote a do-it-yourself breathalyzer is one that clearly needs further examination. For our full analysis of CDOT's Breathalyzer program, click here. About Jay Tiftickjian: Tiftickjian Law Firm, P.C. is a Colorado law firm with a focus on DUI defense, drug related charges and major traffic offenses. Criminal defense attorney Jay Tiftickjian has written numerous books on DUI and drug law, and has been voted "Best DUI Lawyer" in Colorado by the state's official bar journal every year since 2013. Visit us at: https://www.criminallawdenver.com/. Media contact: Jay Tiftickjian [email protected] 303-991-5896 SOURCE Tiftickjian Law Firm, P.C. Related Links https://www.criminallawdenver.com MAINZ, Germany, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- JF Hillebrand Group's Supervisory Board has appointed Cees van Gent to take over from Christophe Bernard as Chief Executive Officer, effective on the 1st of October 2017. The appointment of Cees van Gent as CEO marks a new phase of growth for JF Hillebrand Group. He has a strong and proven track record with leading multinational logistics companies, having held previous roles such as CEO, DHL Freight Germany GmbH, Group CEO, Lehnkering Logistics and Services GmbH, and Group CEO, Van Gansewinkel Groep BV. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/565166/JF_Hillebrand_Group_Logo.jpg ) "Cees brings a combination of deep management expertise from leading multinational companies in areas such as logistics, infrastructure, and environment, with a match in our values around passion for service and customer intimacy," says Christof Hillebrand, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. "His appointment sets the company on a path which we are excited about, particularly for our 2020 Business Plan goals to digitise the customer experience and fast-track service innovation. " "It is a great honour to be appointed CEO for JF Hillebrand Group," says Cees van Gent. "What makes this organisation special is its unique friendly and flexible, entrepreneurial, and decentralised culture. Within our industry, the company is known for its unparalleled service and that is what I am going to continue building on in the coming years. With my experience in building and buying better businesses, I look forward to accelerating the implementation of the 2020 Business Plan vision around customer centricity and innovation." Cees van Gent will take over the role from Christophe Bernard, who will remain with the company to assist with the transition until March 2018. "On behalf of the entire company, I would like to sincerely thank Christophe for his 35 years of exceptional service, having successfully developed the business across four continents and leading the company as Group CEO since 2013. Over the past four years we have made enormous strides in developing talent, refining our strategy, and strengthening our business performance," says Christof Hillebrand. Bio and photo available on request. ABOUT JF HILLEBRAND GROUP JF Hillebrand Group is a privately-owned international logistics service provider operating in two specific niche markets: Beer, Wine and Spirits (BWS) and Industrial Bulk. The Group employs 2,500 people and has a presence in more than 90 countries, and generated revenues of 1.3 billion in 2016. SOURCE JF Hillebrand Group Cheetah Mobile Completes Investments in AI Technology Company BEIJING, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheetah Mobile Inc. (NYSE: CMCM) ("Cheetah Mobile" or the "Company"), a leading mobile internet company that aims to provide leading apps for mobile users worldwide and connect users with personalized content on the mobile platform, today announced that the shareholders of Kingsoft Corporation Limited ("Kingsoft") have approved the delegation of approximately 38% voting power of Cheetah Mobile held by Kingsoft to Mr. Sheng Fu, chief executive officer and director of Cheetah Mobile ("Mr. Fu"), effective October 1, 2017. To the Company's knowledge, Mr. Fu intends to separately enter into a voting proxy agreement with Tencent, pursuant to which Tencent will delegate to Mr. Fu certain voting power of Cheetah Mobile. Upon the completion of both the Kingsoft and Tencent delegations, Mr. Fu and other Cheetah management members will hold over 50% of voting power and approximately 10% of equity interests in Cheetah Mobile. In addition, the shareholders of Kingsoft have approved a capital injection agreement, which the Company previously announced on May 26, 2017. Pursuant to the capital injection agreement, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cheetah Mobile subscribed to newly issued equity interest in Beijing OrionStar Technology Co., Ltd. ("Beijing OrionStar") for a consideration of approximately US$40 million. Beijing OrionStar is an artificial intelligence technology company incorporated in China and controlled by Mr. Fu. This transaction was completed on September 30, 2017. As a result, Cheetah Mobile holds approximately 30% of equity interest in Beijing OrionStar and has a two-year warrant to subscribe to additional equity interests at the same valuation to achieve controlling position. Mr. Fu stated, "I appreciate Kingsoft's trust and confidence in Cheetah Mobile's management team. By holding over 50% of voting power in the Company, we will have more independence and flexibility in executing our long-term growth strategy. The investment in Beijing OrionStar will also help Cheetah Mobile become one of the top players in AI technologies and roll out its own AI based products and services in the near future." Background Information On February 12, 2017, Kingsoft entered into a voting proxy agreement with Mr. Fu, delegating certain voting rights of Cheetah Mobile to Mr. Fu. The effectiveness of the agreement was subject to Kingsoft's shareholder approval and signing of a definitive agreement between Mr. Fu and Cheetah Mobile in relation to Beijing OrionStar technology company. On May 26, 2017, Beijing Kingsoft Internet Security Software Co., Ltd. ("Beijing Security"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cheetah Mobile, entered into a capital injection agreement with Beijing OrionStar. Pursuant to the Capital Injection Agreement, Beijing Security, Pingtan Dingfu, and Kangyuan Heart agreed to subscribe to newly issued equity interest in Beijing OrionStar for a consideration of approximately US$40 million, US$0.4 million, and US$0.35 million, respectively, payable in cash. Within two years after the completion of the transaction, Beijing Security is entitled to a warrant to subscribe to newly issued equity interest in Beijing OrionStar in the future with an equivalent value of up to US$62 million at the same unit subscription price as the current investment, subject to certain conditions and adjustments as provided in the Capital Injection Agreement. If the warrant is exercised in full, Beijing Security is expected to hold over 50% of equity interest in Beijing OrionStar, assuming that there will be no other change in the shareholding structure of Beijing OrionStar. About Cheetah Mobile Inc. Cheetah Mobile is a leading mobile internet company. It aims to provide leading apps for mobile users worldwide and connect users with personalized content on the mobile platform. Cheetah Mobile's products, including its popular utility applications Clean Master, Security Master and Battery Doctor, help make users' mobile internet experience smarter, speedier, and safer. Leveraging the success of its utility applications, Cheetah Mobile has launched its line of mobile content-driven applications, including News Republic and Live.me. Cheetah Mobile provides its advertising customers, which include direct advertisers and mobile advertising networks through which advertisers place their advertisements, with direct access to highly targeted mobile users and global promotional channels, which are capable of delivering targeted content to hundreds of millions of users. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements, including management quotes and business outlook, constitute forward-looking statements under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Such statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including but are not limited to the following: Cheetah Mobile's growth strategies; Cheetah Mobile's ability to retain and increase its user base and expand its product and service offerings; Cheetah Mobile's ability to monetize its platform; Cheetah Mobile's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; competition with companies in a number of industries including internet companies that provide online marketing services and internet value-added services; expected changes in Cheetah Mobile's revenues and certain cost or expense items; and general economic and business condition globally and in China. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Cheetah Mobile's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Cheetah Mobile does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. Investor Relations Contact Cheetah Mobile Inc. Helen Jing Zhu Tel: +86 10 6292 7779 ext. 1600 Email: [email protected] ICR, Inc. Xueli Song Tel: +1 (646) 417-5395 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Cheetah Mobile The partnership will combine OTP Mobil's digital payment services technology with VCC Live's unique and proprietary contact center services solutions, offering customers a comprehensive payment solution. The combined technology can be quickly implemented and deployed without significant IT support. Key to the partnership is VCC Live Pay, a unique PCI DSS (bank card security) compliant, ISO 27001 and ISO 22301 certified voice-based payment solution that allows customers to pay for products and services during a phone conversation without installing an app or having internet access on their phone. Now integrated with OTP Mobil's digital payment technology, this solution (and in particular, the recently-introduced VCC Live Pay recurring payment function which allows for fixed or variable amounts of automatic payment), will bring many benefits to the companies' joint customer base. dr. Al-Absi Gaber Seif, deputy CEO of OTP Mobil said: "It is very important that customers have to make a decision about the payment and also execute it within a 5-minute timeframe. This can only be achieved if we offer a secure and convenient solution to them. Our pilot projects proved that the combined solution of VCC Live and OTP Mobil can provide both of these attributes to our customer base." "Since the rollout of VCC Live Pay in 2016," Szabolcs Toth, Managing Director of VCC Live stated, "clients have reported that up to 30% percent of their customers use it to make payments during phone calls. With the new Recurring Payments function, this number is certain to rise. This feature provides the fastest solution for arranging monthly payments, including insurance-, subscription-, and utility-fees, as well as debt collection and donations. We look forward to working with OTP Mobil to professionally support our customers." About VCC Live VCC Live is an innovative cloud-based contact centre technology company focusing on the global market. Its technology is utilized in over 35 countries, with users logging in from 65 countries worldwide. Venture capital investment for the company is provided by DBH Investment. Board of Directors: Szabolcs Toth,Tamas Jalsovszky,Sandor Erdei,Laszlo Urge About OTP Mobil OTP Mobil is a digital payment services technology subsidiary of OTP Bank, providing its customers with unique and effective card payment solutions. For further information, contact: [email protected] Dora Szente, +36-30-297-74-45, [email protected] SOURCE DBH Investment DUBLIN, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Combat Management System Market by Sub-System, Component, Platform and Region - Global Forecast to 2022" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering. The combat management system market is projected to grow from USD 306.7 Million in 2017 to USD 365.5 Million by 2022, at a CAGR of 3.57% during the forecast period. Major drivers influencing the growth of the market include growing demand for advanced situational awareness systems in naval ships & submarines and increase in upgradation of legacy combat management systems by different navies across the world. The combat management system market has been segmented on the basis of component, sub-system, platform, and region. Based on component, the market has been classified into software and hardware, and the hardware segment has been further divided into control consoles, combat data center, and data network switchers. The software segment is estimated to lead the market is 2017 and is also projected to grow at a higher CAGR than the hardware segment during the forecast period, owing to the high development cost of software, which is based on the complex architecture of the combat management system. Based on sub-system, the combat management system market has been segmented into self-defense management system, situational awareness system, track management system, weapon management system, display system, identification system, and unmanned vehicle control system. The unmanned vehicle control system segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to the increasing adoption of unmanned vehicles, such as UAVs, UUVs, and UGVs in naval combat operations. Based on platform, the market has been segmented into destroyers, submarines, frigates, amphibious ships, corvettes, fast attack craft (FAC), and aircraft carriers. The corvettes segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the increase in deliveries of corvettes. Based on region, the combat management system market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). The Asia Pacific market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2017 to 2022, due to the growing ship building activities and increasing deliveries of combat vessels in the region. Asia Pacific countries, such as China, India, and Japan, are also increasingly investing in the development of future-centric naval technologies Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 5 Market Overview 6 Combat Management System Market, By Sub-System 7 Combat Management System Market, By Component 8 Combat Management System Market, By Platform 9 Regional Analysis 10 Competitive Landscape 11 Company Profiles BAE Systems Plc. Elbit Systems Ltd. Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. Kongsberg Gruppen Asa Leonardo S.P.A. Lockheed Martin Corporation Northrop Grumman Corporation Raytheon Company Saab AB Thales Group For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/853jhx/combat_management Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com NOVI, Mich., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cooper Standard (NYSE: CPS), like other manufacturing companies across North America, is hosting Manufacturing DaySM events throughout October to help its communities and future generations thrive. As a Silver Sponsor and event host for Manufacturing Day, Cooper Standard employees are educating attendees about the benefits of manufacturing careers and underscoring the industry's importance to the national economy. Produced by the National Association of Manufacturers, The Manufacturing Institute, Fabricators and Manufacturers Association International and Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Manufacturing Day is an annual event during which companies showcase modern manufacturing and foster interest in manufacturing careers. It is a growing grassroots movement of manufacturers dedicated to overcoming the shared challenges facing manufacturers today. This year, more than 2,167 events are slated in North America throughout October, which is coming to be known as Manufacturing Month. "Cooper Standard is excited to again host Manufacturing Day events to introduce the next generation to the many career opportunities in modern manufacturing," said Jeffrey Edwards, chairman and CEO, Cooper Standard. "Manufacturing Day is a part of our overall STEM education initiative run by Cooper Standard employees who bring STEM activities to thousands of students annually." The events at Cooper Standard's facilities will include an overview of the Company, career discussions and tours of manufacturing facilities. Anyone interested in participating in Cooper Standard's Manufacturing Day events can obtain additional information on the Manufacturing Day website http://www.mfgday.com/events. As a global manufacturing leader, Cooper Standard is passionate about supporting STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. To drive interest in STEM-related careers in modern manufacturing, the Company created its STEM Affinity Group. Its STEM Accelerators trained employee volunteers work to inspire student achievement and interest in STEM careers through volunteer programs built upon the desire of Cooper Standard employees to give back and create a manufacturing workforce for years to come. About Cooper Standard Cooper Standard, headquartered in Novi, Mich., is a leading global supplier of systems and components for the automotive industry. Products include rubber and plastic sealing, fuel and brake lines, fluid transfer hoses and anti-vibration systems. Cooper Standard employs approximately 30,000 people globally and operates in 20 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.cooperstandard.com. CPS_G Contact: Sharon S. Wenzl Cooper Standard (248) 596-6211 [email protected] SOURCE Cooper Standard Related Links http://www.cooperstandard.com With interest in AI exploding across all segments of business, one of the biggest inhibiting factors to adoption is the shortage of qualified data scientists and engineers. According to a survey by IBM conducted in early 2017, the annual demand for the roles of data scientist, data developers, and data engineers will reach nearly 700,000 openings by 2020. In addition, the number of jobs for all US data professionals will increase by 364,000 openings to 2,720,000 by 2020 according to IBM. In fact, CrowdFlower's 3rd annual 2017 Data Science survey found that 75% of the respondents say they get calls for a new job several times a month. "The potential for AI to change the way business works is limitless. But what will stall adoption is the lack of skilled engineers that understand how to put machine learning platforms to use," said Robert Munro, VP of Machine Learning at CrowdFlower. "Many really smart computer engineers graduated long before AI started to hit the mainstream. Our workshops are designed to help jumpstart their understanding of what AI can and should be used for in businesses everywhere." About the Trainers: Lukas Biewald, Founder of CrowdFlower Lukas co-founded CrowdFlower. He has worked as a Senior Data Scientist and Manager within the Ranking and Management Team at Powerset, Inc., a natural language search technology company later acquired by Microsoft, and led the Search Relevance Team for Yahoo! Japan. He graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Mathematics and an MS in Computer Science. Lukas is also an expert-level Go player. Robert Munro, VP of Machine Learning, CrowdFlower Robert Munro is an expert in combining human and machine intelligence, working with machine learning approaches to text, speech, image and video processing. Robert has founded several AI companies, building some of the top teams in artificial intelligence. He has worked in many diverse environments, from Sierra Leone, Haiti and the Amazon, to London, Sydney and Silicon Valley, in organizations ranging from startups to the United Nations. He most recently ran Product for AWS's first Natural Language Processing services in the Deep Learning team at Amazon AI. Robert has published more than 50 papers and is a regular speaker about technology in an increasingly connected world. He has a PhD from Stanford University. To learn more about CrowdFlower visit www.crowdflower.com About CrowdFlower CrowdFlower is the essential human-in-the-loop AI platform for data science and machine learning teams. The CrowdFlower software platform trains, tests, and tunes machine learning models to make AI work in the real world. CrowdFlower's technology and expertise supports a wide range of use cases including autonomous vehicles, intelligent personal assistants, medical image labeling, consumer product identification, content categorization, customer support ticket classification, social data insight, CRM data enrichment, product categorization, and search relevance. Headquartered in the Mission District in San Francisco and backed by Canvas Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Industry Ventures, Microsoft Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures, CrowdFlower serves Fortune 500 and fast-growing data-driven organizations across a wide variety of industries. For more information, visit www.crowdflower.com SOURCE CrowdFlower Related Links http://crowdflower.com "D-Link smart managed switches help users implement a full range of high-value network solutions from enabling physical security to managing wireless infrastructure or protecting and storing sensitive data," said Steven Olen, product line manager, D-Link Systems. "This award from Security Today Magazine underscores our commitment to creating cutting-edge end-to-end solutions for businesses of all sizes." More than 100 entries were received in the ninth successful year of the independently juried contest, and winners were honored in 40 product award categories. The winners will be recognized at ASIS International 2017 in Dallas, Sept. 26-28, as well as featured in the December 2017 issue of Security Today Magazine. To view the full list of this year's winners, visit www.securitytoday.com. "The New Product of the Year contest gives us a terrific sampling of security solutions, but what is more amazing each year is the technical savvy that comes along with new products," said Ralph C. Jensen, editor in chief, Security Today Magazine. "Our juried judges understand technology and innovation and how security solutions will blend into the platforms in use today, and what will be expected of them tomorrow. Our New Product of the Year contest allows forward-thinking manufacturers to be able to share their vision of security." More about the D-Link DGS-1100-05PD The D-Link Smart Managed PoE Powered 5-Port Gigabit Switch and PoE Extender (DGS-1100-05PD) is a unique 5-port switch powered through the network cable by an upstream PoE power source (PoE switch or injector) that can be located up to 100m away. As a "PoE extender," it is also able to propagate (pass-through) PoE power further downstream to one or two Powered Devices (PDs), such as IP cameras, IP phones, and wireless APs. The switch is ideal for applications where a small 5-port Gigabit switch is required but AC power is not close. PoE pass-through capability makes the switch ideal for IP surveillance networks where cameras are further than 100m from the main PoE switch and a PoE Extender is required. And because the switch is smart-managed, an administrator can control various PoE functions through the user interface, such as remotely rebooting cameras or access points, from anywhere on the network. About D-Link D-Link is the global leader in connectivity for home, small business, mid- to large-sized enterprise environments, and service providers. An award-winning designer, developer, and manufacturer, D-Link implements and supports unified network solutions that integrate capabilities in broadband, cloud-based network management, IP Surveillance, switching and wireless. For more information visit us.dlink.com, or connect with D-Link on LinkedIn, Spiceworks and the D-Link Blog. D-Link and the D-Link logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of D-Link Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other third-party marks mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright 2017. D-Link. All Rights Reserved. SOURCE D-Link Systems, Inc. DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, Founder and Chairman of the Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX), announced the launch of the 19th WETEX (WETEX 2017). This announcement was made today during a press conference held at the Address Hotel, Dubai Mall, in the presence of DEWA's senior executives, representatives from partners, sponsors, and the media. Dubai Solar Show logo (PRNewsfoto/Dubai Electricity & Water) DEWA announces the launch of WETEX 2017 from 23 to 25 October 2017 (PRNewsfoto/Dubai Electricity & Water) WETEX 2017 logo (PRNewsfoto/Dubai Electricity & Water) DEWA announces the launch of WETEX 2017 from 23 to 25 October 2017 "We are pleased to announce that WETEX 2017 will take place from 23 to 25 October 2017 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Covering a surface area of over 70,000 square metres, the event will play host to 2,000 exhibitors from 50 different countries. This year, WETEX's theme is 'At the Forefront of Sustainability,' and is part of Green Week. It will also coincide with the 2nd Dubai Solar Show and the 4th World Green Economy Summit. At least 60 speakers from all over the world will focus on key topics, such as Smart Cities, Green Economy, Innovation, and Sustainable Development at this year's World Green Economy Summit," Al Tayer said. "WETEX 2017 has become an important strategic platform for the companies specialised in renewables from the region and all over the world, through which they can present their green solutions, products and technologies, and build solid business relationships with the world's decision makers and major investors in these fields," added Al Tayer. Al Tayer said that the organisation of the 2nd Dubai Solar Show, the biggest exhibition in the region focused on solar technologies, which coincides with WETEX, will take place over an area of 14,000 square metres. "We made it our priority to ensure that the 2nd Dubai Solar Show features a range of specialised platforms in addition to the national pavilions. The events agenda will include a number of high-profile discussions addressing key topics such as the regulations necessary for driving renewable energy projects, strategies of energy demand management, the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Al Tayer thanked all the partners, valued strategic, platinum, gold and media sponsors for their support for this important economic and environmental event. For the full press release please click on the following link: https://www.dewa.gov.ae/en/about-dewa/news-and-media/press-and-news/latest-news/2017/10/wetex-to-take-place-from-23-to-25-october-2017 SOURCE Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) HAGERSTOWN, Md., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Having high quality medical care close to home is important, and Hagerstown patients have trusted Maryland plastic surgeon Henry F. Garazo, MD, FACS, to safely improve their appearance for over two decades. The board certified plastic surgeon and Hagerstown native celebrated his 20th anniversary at Plastic Surgery Services this month. Since joining the practice in 1997, Dr. Garazo has built the practice into western Maryland's premier center for cosmetic breast, body and facial surgery, as well as expert skin care services. "I knew I wanted to return to my hometown once I completed my medical training, and it's been a wonderful place to practice. I feel fortunate to have helped so many people boost their confidence and feel great about their appearance. It's hard to believe 20 years have gone by," states Dr. Garazo. Shaping Plastic Surgery Services to stay current with patient needs Plastic Surgery Services was founded in 1961. Dr. Garazo joined the practice in 1997 to become partners with Dr. Michael Hall. Recognizing that western Maryland lacked many of the cosmetic services that patients desirednon-surgical treatments in particularDr. Garazo focused on expanding options at the practice for cosmetic surgery and skin care. Today, Plastic Surgery Services is home to both Dr. Garazo's thriving Hagerstown cosmetic surgery practice and a full-service aesthetic skin care clinic, where patients can receive a variety of non-surgical facial rejuvenation and skin treatments, including BOTOX and filler injections, microneedling, and the popular HydraFacial MD. "Plastic surgery has evolved significantly since the 1990s. It used to be that patients waited for aging to progress until they truly needed a larger procedure such as a facelift. Today, with more minimally invasive options available, we can better individualize and modulate each patient's treatment plan," explains Dr. Garazo. "This allows for more natural outcomes and shorter recovery times. Patients also love how they can keep looking their best over time with smaller treatments at intervals." Providing nationally-recognized expertise to the Hagerstown community Over the past 20 years, Dr. Garazo has become one of the region's most sought after plastic surgeons. Patients frequently travel to Hagerstown from up and down the east coast to have their cosmetic surgery procedures with him. Holding numerous local and national awards, Dr. Garazo has been listed among "Outstanding Plastic Surgeons in Maryland" by Vogue, Glamour, Allure, and Self magazines and named one of "America's Top Plastic Surgeons" for 8 consecutive years. In addition to his rigorous training, friendly, low-pressure approach, and focus on achieving subtle, natural results for patients, Dr. Garazo credits his insistence on only providing proven cosmetic treatments and technologies for his practice's success: "Growing demand for minimally invasive treatments has resulted in a flood of new technologies on the market. While some show promise, I owe it to my patients to vet new procedure options carefully before adding them in my practice to ensure they are safe, effective, and a good investment for patients," Dr. Garazo states. He mentions platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as a newer treatment option that passes muster: "While relatively new in the cosmetic field, PRP has been successfully used to promote healing and tissue regeneration for decades. We've seen excellent results with PRP for hair restoration and skin rejuvenation." Dr. Garazo says the Hagerstown small business is busier than ever. "My staff and I are humbled by the support our community has shown and honored to have so many patients trust us to provide the excellent care and superb results they seek. I look forward to many more years serving the Hagerstown community." About Dr. Henry F. Garazo: Plastic surgeon. Henry Garazo is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and has been selected as one of America's Top Plastic Surgeons by the Consumers' Research Council of America for seven consecutive years. He practices in his hometown of Hagerstown, Maryland, at The Galleria, 1140 Conrad Court, Hagerstown, Md., 21740-5905. Learn more at www.plasticsurgeryservices.net or read Dr. Garazo's reviews. Media Contact: Dr. Henry F. Garazo, (301) 791-1800 or www.plasticsurgeryservices.net SOURCE Plastic Surgery Services Chaudry previously served as CIO at Cambridge University Hospitals in the United Kingdom. In this role, his team implemented the Epic EMR to HIMSS Stage 6, and he led the organization to be the first non-U.S. organization to achieve the U.S. MostWired Award in 2017. He was also named to the 2017 CIO 100 list of the most transformative CIOs in the U.K. Chaudry brings more than 30 years of experience in all aspects of information technology. His background includes work in both health care and corporate settings in the U.S., Australia, Western Europe and the U.K., in enterprise infrastructure development; business intelligence; unified telecommunications; and implementation of health care information and electronic medical record systems. Prior to Cambridge University Hospitals, Chaudry served as global research director at Gartner; CIO at the Liverpool Women's and Alder Hey Children's Hospitals in the U.K.; consulting editor for Hospital Information Technology Europe Magazine; information technology strategist for the Vision4Children Pediatric Charity in the U.K.; and teaching faculty at the City Colleges of Chicago. "We are very excited to welcome Dr. Chaudry to the Seattle Children's team," said Dr. Jeff Sperring, chief executive officer of Seattle Children's. "We are moving boldly into our next era, and Dr. Chaudry brings a global perspective and an incredible depth of experience that will help us transform the information and data initiatives empowering our mission and goals." Chaudry earned his doctor of medicine degree from Ross University in New Jersey. In the U.K., he earned his Master of Science degree in health care policy and management from the University of Birmingham; his Master of Science degree in information systems management from the University of Salford; and his Master of Business Administration from Aston University. "I am honored to join the team at Seattle Children's," Chaudry said. "I look forward to guiding the development of key information technology systems necessary to support the organization and its staff in providing the highest quality of care and research to the patients and families who we serve." About Seattle Children's Seattle Children's mission is to provide hope, care and cures to help every child live the healthiest and most fulfilling life possible. Together, Seattle Children's Hospital, Research Institute and Foundation deliver superior patient care, identify new discoveries and treatments through pediatric research, and raise funds to create better futures for patients. Ranked as one of the top children's hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Children's serves as the pediatric and adolescent academic medical center for Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho the largest region of any children's hospital in the country. As one of the nation's top five pediatric research centers, Seattle Children's Research Institute is internationally recognized for its work in neurosciences, immunology, cancer, infectious disease, injury prevention and much more. Seattle Children's Hospital and Research Foundation works with the Seattle Children's Guild Association, the largest all-volunteer fundraising network for any hospital in the country, to gather community support and raise funds for uncompensated care and research. For more information, visit seattlechildrens.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or on our On the Pulse blog. Media Contact: Alyse Bernal [email protected], 206-987-5213 SOURCE Seattle Children's Hospital Related Links http://www.seattlechildrens.org NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- E-J Electric Installation Co. completes the base building infrastructure for John F. Kennedy International Airport's (JFK) new pet, livestock and zoo animal terminal called "The ARK." The scope of work provided by the E-J Electric team includes 5KV primary service, the installation of 3,000-amp distribution service and panels, the building-wide fire alarm system and site lighting throughout. The ARK This state-of-the art terminal totals 178,000 square-feet. For the ultimate comfort and security of the animals, it is equipped with customized departure lounges, around-the-clock medical care, spa pampering and high-end electronics. The ARK will also provide transportation in dedicated climate-controlled vehicles to and from aircraft, terminals, cargo facilities and other airport locations. More information about the ARK is available at www.arkjfk.com. E-J Electric's Airport Experience E-J Electric's well-known airport experience and reputation has landed them this comprehensive multi-purpose animal handling and air cargo facility at JFK. E-J Electric has previously completed the office and warehouse facilities for Air France, KLM Cargo, Alitalia and Icelandair Cargo. "We do a lot of work with airports, but this is a really exciting and one of a kind project," said E-J Electric's Anthony E. Mann. "Not only because it is the World's first luxury animal terminal, but because The ARK will service exotic animals and pets of all shapes and sizes. We're glad be part of ensuring the safety and comfort of animals and humans alike." About E-J Electric Installation Co. E-J Electric Installation Co., is active in all facets of electric contracting. Projects vary in size to over $200 million. Typical installations include: office buildings, hospitals, power plants, co-generation facilities, data communication centers, airports, industrial plants, universities, sport stadiums, transit facilities and high voltage distribution. At E-J Electric Installation Co., three family generations of practical expertise have created an organization keyed to the most modern technological advances in providing rapid and efficient solutions to today's lighting, power, energy and communication needs. E-J has a 118-year reputation for unparalleled integrity, quality and service in the electrical field. Please visit our website at www.ej1899.com to learn about the company. SOURCE E-J Electric Installation Co. Related Links http://www.ej1899.com VILNIUS, Lithuania, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Burton will be joining BitDegree's experienced team of entrepreneurs, software engineers and strategists who are behind the success of Hostinger and 000webhost, the world's first and biggest free cloud hosting platforms designed for learning, testing and experimenting. Burton has previously worked together with one of BitDegree co-founders, Danielius Stasiulis, at University of California Berkeley Skydeck startup accelerator. BitDegree The online learning model conceptualized by BitDegree will grant access to the best online courses, which are curated by the world's leading lecturers in their domains of expertise. It will have a clear and transparent achievement tracking and token-based reward system. BitDegree will be based on smart-incentives, a smart contract on the Ethereum network ensuring the exchange of tokens between a sponsor (the Incentive Creator) and a student (the Incentive Receiver). The latter will commit to studying a specific subject in order to receive tokens (the Incentive). This means that instead of paying for courses, students will actually get paid for taking them. "There is a huge gap between what we learn and what the employers need," said Andrius Putna, CEO of BitDegree. "We pay tens of thousands of dollars for degrees that are becoming increasingly obsolete. The current education system has been designed for the needs of previous generations and is irreparably outdated. We want to change this status quo by building a future in which everybody can learn the right skills needed in the 21st century. The best part is, people, will be paid for doing this." BitDegree will take learning to an exciting new level, because it is based on an Octalysis framework for gamification. Therefore, education and learning will become as simple and exhilarating as playing Minecraft. The inclusion of smart-incentives, reward-based learning will allow BitDegree to solve the problem of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) industry's low five percent completion rate. "By using our platform, companies will be able to seek, sponsor and reward potential employees," explained Putna. "It will give a solid edge over the competition, who are struggling to find the best talent." It is estimated that the global recruitment market is worth more than $200 billion USD, whilst $4,000 is the average amount of money spent by a U.S. company to fill an open position. BitDegree will provide global employer branding to millions of students by sponsoring their courses. BitDegree is being built on solid foundations, thanks to its user base of a combined 29 million Hostinger and 000webhost users. This will ensure a rapid scaling up, and attraction of users into the platform, who are students, third parties, and sponsors. The BitDegree team has set up a roadmap, which has been projected into Q4 of 2018 when the platform aims to reach its full functionality. The BitDegree team is currently working on the MVP and getting ready for the upcoming ICO event, which is scheduled to take place on 2017 Q4. An innovative learning model, a passion-driven team and, the successful ICO event will accelerate the potential of BitDegree's platform and revolutionize education from the core. Media Contact: Andrius Putna Email: [email protected] Related Links Twitter Slack SOURCE BitDegree AMSTERDAM, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Reaffirming EclecticIQ's commitment to improving the effectiveness of cyber threat analysts, the new analyst-centric features of EclecticIQ Platform 2.0 allow investigations to go faster and go farther than any other product on the market. To remove one of the biggest bottlenecks in threat investigation, EclecticIQ Platform 2.0 now includes easy-to-use, built-in intelligence reporting capabilities. Without leaving EclecticIQ Platform 2.0, threat analysts can compile comprehensive tactical and strategic intelligence reports that non-specialists can easily understand, while also automatically including links to technical items (e.g. IOCs) for quick access by other analysts. "EclecticIQ Platform 2.0 is the only Threat Intelligence Platform with built-in intelligence reporting, and we believe that this capability will dramatically improve the speed, availability, and quality of high-level intelligence to all stakeholders," said Joep Gommers, CEO, EclecticIQ. "More than just performing IOC triage, threat analysts need to facilitate faster and better communications as an essential component of protecting an organization's most vital assets." Analysts can also work faster on research using the brand-new user interface and improved navigation and discoverability features of EclecticIQ Platform 2.0. Highlights include context-aware navigation and increased screen real-estate to allow for better focus and efficiency; and new and intuitive dashboards for fast prioritization and collaboration. Numerous other improvements combine an incredibly intuitive user interface with fast shortcuts for power users, aiming to make EclecticIQ Platform 2.0 the preferred tool for threat analysts. By popular demand, EclecticIQ Platform 2.0 now enables analysts to fully utilize observables. Analysts can now search and manipulate observed instances or attack patterns with the same speed and precision as other STIX-formatted entities. The user interface includes a detailed pane for Observables, showing relationships with neighbor entities and other relevant information. This is essential for organizations that rely on these data objects in their existing workflow. With these improvements, along with dozens of other new features, enhancements, and integrations (including EclecticIQ Platform App for Splunk), EclecticIQ Platform 2.0 is a must-have upgrade for threat analysts. "EclecticIQ Platform 2.0 is a milestone in EclecticIQ's development, heightening the effectiveness of threat analysis by empowering organizations to anticipate threats," says Raymon van der Velde, Co-founder & VP Product at EclecticIQ. "All too often, software vendors try to automate away the role of the analyst at the heart of a proactive cyber defense. We believe that high-grade threats require human-qualified intelligence. Our mission is to make those human analysts more efficient and effective, and EclecticIQ Platform 2.0 is the embodiment of our strategic thinking." To see EclecticIQ Platform 2.0 in action, register for the webinar on 26 October 2017. About EclecticIQ EclecticIQ helps organizations to turn cyber threat intelligence into business value through products built for cyber security professionals in threat intelligence, threat hunting, SOC, and Incident Response. EclecticIQ Platform is the analyst-centric threat intelligence platform based on STIX/TAXII that meets the full spectrum of intelligence needs. EclecticIQ Fusion Center enables the acquisition of thematic bundles of cyber threat intelligence from leading suppliers with a single contract. The company won Deloitte's Technology FAST50 Rising Star Award for "Most Disruptive Innovator." EclecticIQ is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Learn more: https://www.EclecticIQ.com. Photos: https://www.prlog.org/12667712 Press release distributed by PRLog SOURCE EclecticIQ Related Links https://www.eclecticiq.com HOUSTON, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Envirocleanse LLC, division of Charter Brokerage, a BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY company, recently signed an Agreement with CMB/Bocimar to install the patented inTank Ballast Water Treatment System aboard the Capesize Bulk Carrier, Mineral New York. The initial installation will be designed as a pilot study to reflect much of CMB's fleet and will include the treatment of a cargo hold being used in part as a ballast tank. Envirocleanse is currently undergoing both land-based and shipboard testing aboard the USTS Golden Bear with DNV-GL as the independent laboratory. Testing is expected to be completed in November of 2017 and application submitted to both the US Coast Guard and International Maritime Organization shortly following. The inTank BWTS uses a unique nozzling system patented by the US Geological Survey for dispersion and mixing in the ballast tanks. Treatment of the tanks is performed in transit, which means there is no disruption to in-port cargo operations. The Envirocleanse inTank BWTS can use either electrically generated hypochlorite or bulk chemical as the means to provide disinfectant. Having these options allows the user flexibility to choose the system which best fits their vessel profile. "Bocimar is committed to the tenets of the IMO Convention and to ensuring sustainable environmental practices," said Lieven Van Eetvelde, Technical Manager, CMB Group. "We are excited that the Envirocleanse inTank system can achieve this, while allowing us to maintain efficient, ongoing vessel operations without disruption." Matt Hughes, EVP of Sales and Marketing, Envirocleanse adds, "CMB has been a critical part of our development process by allowing us to install the inTank system on their vessel. Envirocleanse is committed to finding solutions to the Regulatory challenges the industry is currently facing, and the data we collect on various ballast tank configurations and geometries will help us to meet the needs of our customers." About Envirocleanse LLC The mission of Envirocleanse is to provide a superior and sustainable ballast water treatment system that assists companies around the world to perform at the highest safety, compliance and reliability standards. Envirocleanse LLC is a division of Charter Brokerage, a BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY company. SOURCE Envirocleanse LLC Related Links http://www.eco-enviro.com ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Twenty major metropolitan areas with 50,000 or more Hispanics of Puerto Rican origin will likely absorb the influx of climate refugees from the island. These cities will need to prepare for new residents who have full US citizenship but several unique characteristics that differentiate them from the general US population and other Hispanics. Examining likely impact of Hurricane Maria on internal migrations, research firm EurekaFacts identified the key cities likely to receive an influx of new residents. Cities including New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Miami and even Cleveland will likely start seeing new residents arrive just as quickly as transportation infrastructure is restored. In addition to the 20 large jurisdictions, there are 30 other locales such as Buffalo, Phoenix and Charlotte with 10,000-50,000 people who identify as Puerto Rican. The devastation in infrastructure in Puerto Rico has resulted in loss of inhabitable dwellings, places of employment and community resources such as schools, hospitals, the power grid and other essential services. While Puerto Ricans are a resilient people, the magnitude is such that even small fractions of the 3.4 million population are expected to seek refuge near relatives and friends in mainland US. Cities need to prepare to receive these new residents. "Displaced from their homes, they will need support in housing, health, employment, in learning their new community, enrollment in schools and in accessing a variety of social services", says Jorge Restrepo, CEO and Principal Analyst at EurekaFacts. Hispanics from Puerto Rico represent a unique subset of the general U.S. Hispanic population, especially when compared to mainland Puerto Ricans: represent a unique subset of the general U.S. Hispanic population, especially when compared to mainland Puerto Ricans: Home ownership is much lower in the island than in the continental US, which makes Puerto Ricans more mobile than the average American. Nearly three quarters (73%) lived in single-family homes, while half of mainland Puerto Ricans live in apartments. Mainland Puerto Ricans tend to be highly educated and among the most affluent among Latinos. However, they will need the full assistance typical of anyone displaced from their home and community to get back on their feet. Two thirds of Puerto Rican Islanders speak Spanish only at home, while only 6-20% of mainland Puerto Ricans do. Bilingual services will be important as well. Proactive receiving cities will need to examine their programs to meet the new need, since most new resident programs are designed to welcome foreign refugees and not and not to welcome and integrate internally displaced citizens. EurekaFacts compiled these demographics along with the list of 20 primary and 30 secondary cities using its proprietary Segmentos geo-demographic tool. The tool enables organizations to discover and focus on their target audience and integrate detailed profiles of the Hispanic population into their data sets. To view the full list of cities expected to receive Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria migrants visit www.EurekaFacts.com/puertorico For More Information Contact: Patrick Benko Director of Communications 240 403 4800 x 268 [email protected] SOURCE EurekaFacts Related Links http://www.eurekafacts.com Talented MBA candidates from 41 of the nation's leading business schools competed for $50,000 in scholarships in the 2017 National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Graduate Student Case Competition, sponsored by FCA US LLC. The NBMBAA/FCA US National Graduate Student Case Competition is an annual event that gives high-powered student teams an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and problem-solving skills in a formal competition. Teams are given a business case from which they develop business solutions. Each student team then prepares and presents its case to a panel of experienced business executives. Teams are judged on their analysis of the case, the feasibility of their recommendations and the quality of their presentations. The competition is held each year as part of the NBMBAA's Annual Conference and Exposition, which was held this year in Philadelphia from September 26-30. FCA US has been an active supporter of NBMBAA for more than 30 years and the exclusive sponsor of the Graduate Student Case Competition since 1995. Over that time, more than 2,300 MBA students have participated in the competition. "FCA US is proud to continue its support of the National Black MBA Association Graduate Student Case Competition," said Kelly Tolbert, Head of Diversity, FCA US LLC. "The competition is a showcase event for student achievement that enables our Company to demonstrate its commitment to identifying, recruiting and developing diverse talent and future business leaders." This year, the students from the University of Alabama took home the first place trophy as national champions and $25,000 in scholarships. The winning team members were Liz Alley, Jessika Banks, Bryonna Rivera Burrows and Myles Ward, all current MBA students at the university. The second- and third-place teams represented Georgetown University and Boston University, earning $15,000 and $10,000 in scholarships, respectively. Winning teams were announced at the NBMBAA's Impact Awards Gala on Friday, September 29. The 2017 business case required teams to re-introduce a global automotive brand to the U.S. market. Teams were judged on their work creating a strategic vision and operating plan for their dealership incorporating concepts from marketing, supply chain, finance, operations and customer experience. About National Black MBA Association The NBMBAA has grown from a two-day conference to one of the country's largest professional, minority organizations with 9,000+ members, 45 professional chapters, 35 Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) programs and more than 300 corporate partners. The organization is dedicated to developing partnerships that create intellectual and economic wealth in the Black community through its five channels of engagement: career, education, entrepreneurship, leadership and lifestyle. About FCA US LLC FCA US LLC is a North American automaker based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It designs, manufactures, and sells or distributes vehicles under the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT and Alfa Romeo brands, as well as the SRT performance designation. The Company also distributes Mopar and Alfa Romeo parts and accessories. FCA US is building upon the historic foundations of Chrysler Corp., established in 1925 by industry visionary Walter P. Chrysler and Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (F.I.A.T.), founded in Italy in 1899 by pioneering entrepreneurs, including Giovanni Agnelli. FCA US is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA). FCA, the seventh-largest automaker in the world based on total annual vehicle sales, is an international automotive group. FCA is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FCAU" and on the Mercato Telematico Azionario under the symbol "FCA." Follow FCA US news and video on: Company blog: blog.fcanorthamerica.com Company website: www.fcanorthamerica.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FiatChrysler.NorthAmerica/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/FiatChrysler_NA Twitter: www.twitter.com/FiatChrysler_NA Twitter (Spanish): www.twitter.com/fcausespanol YouTube: www.youtube.com/fcanorthamerica Media website: media.fcanorthamerica.com SOURCE FCA US LLC Related Links http://www.fcanorthamerica.com PARIS, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tinubu Square, a leading provider of trade credit risk management solutions, announces the investment of 53 million from Long Arc Capital and Bpifrance to accelerate the development of its technology solutions for credit and surety insurers, trade finance banks and export credit agencies. With this capital injection, US-based investment firm Long Arc Capital takes a majority stake in Tinubu Square, while Bpifrance, a shareholder since 2011, reaffirms its role as a long-term shareholder by participating in this strengthening of equity capital through its fund Large Venture. A key step in the evolution of Tinubu Square, enabling digital transformation of the trade credit industry. The equity capital increase will enable Tinubu Square to pursue growth in areas where the company already operates (Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific), evolve its solutions and open up new market segments. The French software provider intends to invest in R&D to address new markets (financial institutions, including multinational banks and factoring companies) and to continue to develop ground-breaking solutions for credit insurance, surety and bonding companies. Jerome Peze, Tinubu Square founder and Chairman, said: "We have spent the past year working with the team at Long Arc Capital to drive the next phase of growth for Tinubu Square. The Partners at Long Arc Capital bring a wealth of experience to help Tinubu Square's business to scale. Bpifrance has long been a supporter and their reinvestment gives us renewed confidence in our partnership. Tinubu Square's management confirms its commitment to the implementation of our growth plan by retaining a significant share of the capital." Gaurav Bhandari, Managing Partner of Long Arc Capital commented: "We have great respect for enterprise software businesses like Tinubu Square that are market leaders in their verticals. The team at Tinubu Square has executed on a bold vision with remarkable skill and creativity to build a product that has the potential to become the software industry standard for the trade credit insurance business." Nicolas Herschtel, Investment Director of Bpifrance explains: "Tinubu Square has undergone a profound transformation since we became an investor in 2011. In addition to its strong growth, its software has established itself as the benchmark in the credit insurance sector. The company is now in a key phase of its development with numerous market opportunities. Long Arc Capital's expertise will be a major asset to support the company in this new phase. Bpifrance wished to renew its support to the management by participating in this fund raising alongside Long Arc Capital." A strategy focusing on innovation and international development Tinubu Square has modernized the management of trade credit risk through the application of technology. Its solutions integrate data analysis, advanced decision support and process automation. The software vendor enables credit insurers, banks, financial institutions and multinationals to enhance the effectiveness of their risk management with greater efficiency and operational control. Tinubu Square is at the heart of the trade finance value chain, which is undergoing digital transformation with the emergence of technologies such as blockchain, big data and advanced data analytics. The company will continue to invest in the deployment of these leading-edge technologies. Tinubu Square's management has seen its role and strategy strengthened with a clear roadmap for the next five years. "We've reached a crucial stage in our growth and we now have a clear roadmap for the next five years, so we are delighted that Long Arc Capital and Bpifrance are helping us continue our entrepreneurial journey," says Jerome Peze. "It's a real show of confidence that allows us to speed up our strategy aiming to make Tinubu Square a global leader in the trade credit industry's digital transformation." About Long Arc Capital Long Arc Capital LP ("Long Arc") is a private equity firm based in New York dedicated to building and scaling breakthrough businesses. Founded in 2016, Long Arc has eight Partners with significant investing and operating experience. The firm has a philosophy of "active ownership" and partners with entrepreneurs and management teams to build successful businesses. About Bpifrance Bpifrance, a subsidiary of Caisse des Depots and the French State, is a trusted partner of entrepreneurs which provides companies with credit, collateral and equity financing support - from start up through to stock exchange listing. In partnership with Business France, Bpifrance also provides guidance and enhanced support services for innovation, external growth, and export. Bpifrance offers companies a range of financing for each key stage in their development, and an offer adapted to regional particularities. With 48 regional offices (90% of decisions are made regionally), Bpifrance offers entrepreneurs a tool for economic competitiveness. Bpifrance works in support of the public policies pursued nationally and regionally by the French government, to meet three objectives: support the growth of businesses prepare for future competitiveness contribute to the development of an ecosystem that encourages entrepreneurship. With Bpifrance, companies benefit from a strong and effective local contact able to meet all their financial, innovation and investment needs. Further information: www.bpifrance.fr - Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance - @BpifrancePresse About Tinubu Square Enabler of the Trade Credit Digital Transformation Founded in 2000, Tinubu Square is a software vendor, leading expert in trade credit risk management. Tinubu Square enables organizations across the world to significantly reduce their exposure to risk and their financial, operational and technical costs with best-in-class technology solutions and services. Tinubu Square provides SaaS solutions and services to different businesses including credit insurers, receivables financing organizations and multinational corporations. Tinubu Square has built an ecosystem of customers in over 20 countries worldwide and has a global presence with offices in Paris, London, New York, Montreal and Singapore. For more information: www.tinubu.com Press contacts: Long Arc Capital : Vincent Fleury -[email protected] - +1-(212)-430-2261 Bpifrance : [email protected] - Tel : 01-41-79-95-26 SOURCE Tinubu Square NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Galien Awards Committee announced today that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will receive the 2017 Pro Bono Humanum Award at the 11th annual Prix Galien USA Awards Ceremony, to be held on Thursday, October 26, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The annual Pro Bono Humanum Award was first bestowed in 2007 and recognizes innovative individual and group efforts to improve the human condition through the application of biomedical science to problems in developing or underserved populations worldwide. The Pro Bono Humanum Award will be presented by Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, Chairman of the Prix Galien USA Committee. "President Carter follows in a long line of recipients who demonstrate the basic humanitarian impulse - a desire for excellence in pursuit of the common good," said Dr. Vagelos. "That has always been the driving premise of new medical research. We welcome President Carter and The Carter Center to our roster of principled leaders in health." Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, The Carter Center seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health worldwide. Part of the organization's mission is to create a healthier world through eliminating six core preventable diseases: Guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria in Hispanolia. Just one year ago, The Carter Center reached a major milestone with the delivery of 500 million doses of donated medicines to target tropical diseases in 14 African and Latin American countries. The Carter Center has played a leadership role in the elimination of river blindness, a parasitic infection, in four of the six Latin American countries where it was endemic (Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Guatemala), and has halted the disease's transmission in several locations in Africa where more than 99 percent of the global cases exist. This distinguished award will be accepted by former President Carter's grandson, Jason Carter, who serves as Chair of The Carter Center. "I and The Carter Center deeply appreciate the decision of this panel of top medical scientists to recognize my grandfather's commitment to eliminating preventable diseases that afflict the world's poorest people," said Carter. "The Galien Foundation's international community of medical researchers is key to achieving his vision of providing peace, health, and hope for future generations." To learn more about the Carter Center's work, please visit: https://www.cartercenter.org/health/index.html. To learn more about the organization's progress with eradicable disease, please visit: https://www.amnh.org/explore/science-topics/disease-and-eradication/countdown-to-zero. About the Galien Foundation The Galien Foundation fosters, recognizes and rewards excellence in scientific innovation to improve the state of human health. Our vision is to be the catalyst for the development of the next generation of innovative treatments and technologies that will impact the state of medical practice and save lives. The Foundation oversees and directs activities in the U.S. for the Prix Galien, an international award that recognizes outstanding achievement in improving the human condition through the development of innovative therapies. The Prix Galien was created in 1970 by Roland Mehl in honor of Galien, the father of medical science and modern pharmacology. Worldwide, the Prix Galien is regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research. To attend the October 26th Prix Galien USA Awards Ceremony, register at: http://register.prix-galien-usa.com/registration/index. Media Contacts Giana Gregga Finn Partners on behalf of the Galien Foundation [email protected] 312-329-3910 SOURCE The Galien Foundation GENEVA, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Global Commission on Drug Policy today released a position paper on The Opioid Crisis in North America. The members of the Global Commission, several of whom faced similar crises while occupying the highest levels of government, share their views and recommendations on how to mitigate this epidemic. The Commission warns against cutting the supply of prescription opioids without first having supporting measures in place, and emphasizes the need to improve and expand proven harm reduction services and treatment options, including opioid substitution therapy and heroin-assisted treatment. Regulation of prescription opioids needs to become well-balanced to provide effective pain care while minimizing misuse. The Global Commission also calls for the de facto decriminalization of drug use and possession for personal use at the municipal, city or State/Province levels, so that people in need of health and social services can access them freely, easily, and without fear of punishment. Finally, the Global Commission suggests allowing pilot projects for the responsible legal regulation of currently illicit drugs including opioids, to bypass criminal organizations that drive and benefit from the black market. The Global Commission has called for the legal regulation of psychoactive substances since 2011, and sees in the opioid crisis a failure of regulation for medical purposes alone. The opioid crisis, characterized by a transition from licit prescription opioids via their illicit use to illicit heroin, also demonstrates the narrow and arbitrary boundaries that exist between licit and illicit substances. Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland and Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, said: "In 2017, Switzerland celebrated 25 years of heroin-assisted treatment and harm reduction policies. Drug-related deaths dropped by 50% within the first decade of implementation, with an 82% decrease in patients who used to sell heroin on the black market." Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal and member of the Global Commission said: "In the 1990s, Portugal was experiencing heroin and HIV epidemics with open drug scenes and soaring overdose rates. We responded by changing the approach to drug addiction focusing on it first and foremost as a public health issue. This shift allowed people who use drugs to access services without fear of legal coercion. Today, Portugal has one of the lowest rates of drug overdose deaths in Europe." DOWNLOAD POSITION PAPER www.globalcommissionondrugs.org SOURCE Global Commission on Drug Policy Related Links http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org CARMICHAELS, Pa., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AGRiMED Industries continues their journey making history in Pa. on Wed., Oct. 11, 2017 at 11 a.m. with a formal groundbreaking ceremony for their medical cannabis grow/process facility and laboratory. The new facility is located about an hour south of Pittsburgh in Carmichaels, PA 15320. This phase one building will be an indoor grow facility and will comply with the Pennsylvania Department of Health Medical Marijuana Program (Act 16 of 2016). While this is the first building to be on AGRiMED's site, there are plans in action for perpetual expansion. AGRiMED Industries is committed to creating and providing the model environment for medical cannabis growing and processing. Some of these initiatives include dynamic sustainable agriculture of plant-based medicine production, renewable energy application, entrepreneurship and education about wellness and healthy living just to scratch the surface. Focusing in on the energy aspect of the building, AGRiMED will pioneer innovations in the medical cannabis industry and set a precedent for other facilities to follow. AGRiMED's focus is not just on the cultivation and agriculture of medicine, but on sustainable energy as well as the business practices that will ultimately lead to value-added production of medical cannabis. The state-of-the-art facility will be used to develop new innovations in the medical cannabis and agriculture industries as well as take part in economic development activities and community engagement. These facilities will allow for a greater number of patients in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to have safe, convenient and affordable access to high-quality natural cannabis-based medicines. AGRiMED's high tech and innovative facilities will serve patients statewide in its development and production of the highest-quality strains of medical cannabis. AGRiMED is committed to growing the local workforce and very backbone of Greene County by creating many career opportunities in the coming months. Over the next five years, AGRiMED has positioned itself to become a significant component to the medical cannabis industry whether through its high-quality strains or its sustainable energy efforts. Plus, beyond Greene County, AGRiMED has pending applications to develop additional processing facilities in order to cultivate more industry innovation and develop new products in additional States. This groundbreaking event will give local dignitaries as well as the media a great opportunity to ask questions to AGRiMED's leadership team including CEO Sterling Crockett, Chairman Bruce Goldman, Jack Ham and Dr. Julian Bailes. The construction contractor for the projectAccelerated Construction Industries, LLC of Morgantown, West Virginia.will be cohosting the groundbreaking event. For additional information about the event or to coordinate an interview with a representative at AGRiMED Industries, please call (413) 247-4633 or email [email protected]. For more information on AGRiMED Industries visit, https://AGRiMEDindustries.com SOURCE AGRiMED Industries LLC HOUSTON, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: GPI),("Group 1" or the "Company"), an international, Fortune 500 automotive retailer, today announced in celebration of its 20-year anniversary since going public in 1997, senior management will ring The Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, October 3, 2017. "We are delighted to commemorate the Company's 20 years of existence by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange," said Earl J. Hesterberg, Group 1's president and chief executive officer. "We appreciate all the efforts from our employees and other key stakeholders around the world in making these first 20 years so successful. We look forward to many additional years of success as we continue to grow and improve our business." About Group 1 Automotive, Inc. Group 1 owns and operates 174 automotive dealerships, 228 franchises, and 47 collision centers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil that offer 32 brands of automobiles. Through its dealerships, the Company sells new and used cars and light trucks; arranges related vehicle financing; sells service contracts; provides automotive maintenance and repair services; and sells vehicle parts. Investors please visit www.group1corp.com, www.group1auto.com, www.group1collision.com, www.facebook.com/group1auto, and www.twitter.com/group1auto, where Group 1 discloses additional information about the Company, its business, and its results of operations. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are statements related to future, not past, events and are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. In this context, the forward-looking statements often include statements regarding our goals, plans, projections and guidance regarding our financial position, results of operations, market position, pending and potential future acquisitions and business strategy, and often contain words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "should," "foresee," "may" or "will" and similar expressions. While management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made, there can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we anticipate. Any such forward-looking statements are not assurances of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, (a) general economic and business conditions, (b) the level of manufacturer incentives, (c) the future regulatory environment, (d) our ability to obtain an inventory of desirable new and used vehicles, (e) our relationship with our automobile manufacturers and the willingness of manufacturers to approve future acquisitions, (f) our cost of financing and the availability of credit for consumers, (g) our ability to complete acquisitions and dispositions and the risks associated therewith, (h) foreign exchange controls and currency fluctuations, and (i) our ability to retain key personnel. For additional information regarding known material factors that could cause our actual results to differ from our projected results, please see our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor contacts: Sheila Roth Manager, Investor Relations Group 1 Automotive, Inc. 713-647-5741 | [email protected] Media contacts: Pete DeLongchamps V.P. Manufacturer Relations, Financial Services and Public Affairs Group 1 Automotive, Inc. 713-647-5770 | [email protected] or Clint Woods Pierpont Communications, Inc. 713-627-2223 | [email protected] SOURCE Group 1 Automotive, Inc. Related Links http://www.group1auto.com SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hancom Inc., a leading productivity software developer, today announced that its full-featured mobile office suite supporting Samsung DeX, designed for the Samsung Galaxy Note8 and S8/S8+, is available for free as a Galaxy Apps download. Powered by Thinkfree technology, Hancom Office Mobile includes applications for word processing, spreadsheet calculation, and presentation graphics that are highly compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint - Hancom Office Mobile features true desktop-class office productivity applications, enabling Galaxy Note8 owners to leave their computers behind. The full-featured version of Hancom Office Mobile is also optimized for use with Samsung DeX The DeX-optimized implementation of Hancom Office Mobile can automatically switch to desktop mode on a larger external monitor when a user connects the Note8 as well as S8 and S8+ to a DeX station. With Samsung DeX, Note 8 users can use a full-sized keyboard, a mouse, and a large external monitor to interact with files that reside on their phones, on the web, and elsewhere. Sang Heon Lee, the Vice Chairman of Hancom said, "The Hancom Office Mobile suite, running on DeX-enabled Samsung products, truly changes the dynamic of professional productivity. You no longer need to rely on multiple devices to work; you can produce and collaborate on professional-quality content using a small screen or a large one, with a smartphone keypad or a full-sized keyboard. We will continue to bring out a higher level of flexibility and power to the world of office productivity" The DeX-optimized version of Hancom Office for Note8 is available for download free of charge globally through Samsung Galaxy Apps. Owners of Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones can also install this version of Hancom Office Mobile as well, also at no charge. Thinkfree Office Mobile will be available for other Android devices without DeX capability later this year. For More Information: Visit the Hancom web site at www.officefordex.com for more information on the Office for Galaxy Note 8. For more information on Thinkfree, visit www.thinkfree.com. About Thinkfree Thinkfree is the global brand of Hancom, Inc., South Korea's leading productivity software provider. The company's headquarters are in South Korea, with global offices in the US, Belgium, and Australia. Thinkfree, Thinkfree Office and Hancom Office are registered trademarks of Hancom, Inc. All other trademarks and/or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Media Contact: Edward S. Coloma Thinkfree, Inc. (408) 313-7583 Email Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Thinkfree WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Heffernan Insurance Brokers, one of the largest full-service, independent insurance brokerage firms in the United States, announces the opening of newly formed London brokerage, Heffernan Brokers UK Ltd., led by Nick Murrell as Executive Vice President. Murrell joins Heffernan to establish its London office and expand operations further into the Lloyds and UK underwriting markets. His career to date has focused on listed multinationals, large United States, Europe and Caribbean corporate programs, as well as specialty facilities for industry associations based in the United States. Murrell comes to Heffernan from JLT, having supported the Heffernan program for over a decade, and brings a strong network developed while working at top-tier broking houses including Aon and Arthur J. Gallagher. "I'm excited about this evolution as it consolidates and strengthens the marketing of the Heffernan Group programs, improving bargaining power and creating opportunities for bespoke solutions," said Nick Murrell, Executive Vice President of Heffernan Brokers UK Ltd. "The response from the Lloyd markets is equally positive as they are keen to support new entrants to the London market and are enthusiastic to develop new offerings across multiple classes of business. This development is a great opportunity for all clients and I'm looking forward to building new relationships within the group." "Nick is the perfect person to launch this effort for us in further developing our direct relationship with Lloyds and providing more enhanced products to our clients," said John Tallarida, Executive Vice President of Heffernan Insurance Brokers. For more information, contact: Nick Murrell Executive Vice President M: +44 (0)7980 982 585 [email protected] About Heffernan Insurance Brokers Heffernan Insurance Brokers, formed in 1988, is one of the largest independent insurance brokerage firms in the United States. Heffernan provides insurance and financial services products to a range of businesses and individuals. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., Heffernan has offices in San Francisco, Petaluma, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Irvine, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Portland, OR; and St. Louis, MO. Employee-owned, Heffernan Insurance Brokers was named the Top Mid-Sized Broker in the United States to work for in 2009 by Business Insurance Magazine. The firm has been among the Top Greater Bay Area Philanthropists since 2003, donating more than 11 percent of profits to charity in 2016. For more information, visit www.heffins.com. License #0564249 SOURCE Heffernan Insurance Brokers Related Links http://www.heffins.com HAMILTON, Bermuda, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoegh LNG Partners LP (NYSE: HMLP)(the "Partnership") today announced that it will host an investor and analyst event on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 12:00 P.M. ET in New York City. Institutional investors and analysts interested in attending the event should contact Bryan Degnan of The IGB Group at +1-646-673-9701 or [email protected]. A live Webcast of the presentation and slides will be available to the public on Hoegh LNG Partners' website at http://www.hoeghlngpartners.com. Please allow extra time prior to the presentation to visit the site and download any necessary software that may be needed to listen to the Webcast. A replay of the presentation will also be available on the Company's website. About Hoegh LNG Partners LP Hoegh LNG Partners LP is a growth-oriented limited partnership formed by Hoegh LNG Holdings Ltd. (Oslo Brs ticker: HLNG), a leading floating LNG service provider. HMLP's strategy is to own, operate and acquire floating storage and regasification units ("FSRUs") and associated LNG infrastructure assets under long-term charters. It has interests in five FSRUs that have an industry leading average remaining firm contract duration of 12.0 years plus options as of June 30, 2017. Media contact: Richard Tyrrell Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer +44 7919 058830 www.hoeghlngpartners.com SOURCE Hoegh LNG Partners LP Related Links http://www.hoeghlngpartners.com CHICAGO, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hub International Limited (Hub), a leading global insurance brokerage, announced today that it has acquired the shares of Rural Alaska Insurance Agency, Inc. (Rural Alaska). Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Based in Fairbanks, Alaska, Rural Alaska specializes in property and casualty insurance. John Kohler, Jr., President of Rural Alaska, will join Hub Northwest and report to Steve Wagner, Executive Vice President, Hub Northwest. About Hub's M&A Activities Hub International Limited is committed to growing organically and through acquisitions to expand its geographic footprint and strengthen industry and product expertise. For more information on the Hub M&A experience, visit WeAreHub.com. About Hub International Headquartered in Chicago, IL, Hub International Limited is a leading global insurance brokerage that provides property and casualty, life and health, employee benefits, investment and risk management products and services from offices located throughout North America. For more information, please visit hubinternational.com. CONTACT: Media: Marni Gordon Phone: 312-279-4601 [email protected] M&A: Clark Wormer Phone: 312.279.4848 [email protected] SOURCE Hub International Limited Related Links http://hubinternational.com LONDON, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- International Game Technology PLC ("IGT PLC") (NYSE:IGT) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, IGT Global Solutions Corporation (the "Company" and collectively with IGT PLC, "IGT"), has agreed with the California Lottery to extend its existing contract for seven years, through October 31, 2026. An IGT customer since 1986, the California Lottery is the second largest lottery in the United States, generating approximately $91.4 billion in sales, and contributing nearly $31 billion to public education since its inception in 1985. "IGT and the California Lottery have enjoyed a long and successful partnership for more than three decades. We have assisted the Lottery in increasing sales and funds for education exponentially over the past several years, including in its most recent audited fiscal year with lottery sales of $6.276 billion and $1.587 billion returned to education," said Jay Gendron, IGT Senior Vice President, WLA North America Lottery. "We look forward to using this opportunity to further strengthen our partnership with the California Lottery and its retailers through the deployment of leading-edge solutions." Under the extension, IGT will provide its industry-leading Aurora system platform to the California Lottery, providing it with a comprehensive set of new tools and applications to support the Lottery's player and retailer base, and enhance the back-office suite. This new platform includes: Aurora Navigator, a new user-friendly, back-office suite that will provide the tools the California Lottery will require to manage its business and maximize productivity; OpenRetail, a new retail solution software architecture that will enable the California Lottery to deploy a single terminal application across multiple types of retailer devices, reducing complexity and time to market, and creating new retailer expansion opportunities; and Performance Wizard, a comprehensive, dashboard-driven solution for analytics and business intelligence. Additionally, the California Lottery will receive IGT's best-in-class equipment delivery that includes more than 19,000 Altura GT1200 Flex retailer terminals, offering a smaller footprint to optimize retail space, while continuing to offer a highly-configurable platform. IGT's Ticket-Scan Plus ticket checkers allow players to easily and securely check the win status of their own instant and draw-based tickets. The Company will also deliver its Gemini Ultra self-service lottery vending machine, offering players an easy-to-use interface and a buying experience that is intuitive and inviting. The Lottery will also receive new monitors for multimedia advertising as well as HotSpot draw shows. Certain Lottery retailers will receive IGT's patented Dual Comm Inside, comprising a combination of next-generation VSAT and cellular-based technology. Tablet-based third-party terminals will be provided to the Lottery giving them the capability to provide more terminal type devices to new and current retailers, and create new opportunities for expanding the retailer base. The Company will continue to provide ongoing services to the Lottery such as support and maintenance of the central system, communications network, and more than 140,000 points-of-sale in over 22,000 retailer locations; field services; marketing and research services; consumables; and call center support. About IGT IGT (NYSE: IGT) is the global leader in gaming. We enable players to experience their favorite games across all channels and regulated segments, from Gaming Machines and Lotteries to Interactive and Social Gaming. Leveraging a wealth of premium content, substantial investment in innovation, in-depth customer intelligence, operational expertise and leading-edge technology, our gaming solutions anticipate the demands of consumers wherever they decide to play. We have a well-established local presence and relationships with governments and regulators in more than 100 countries around the world, and create value by adhering to the highest standards of service, integrity, and responsibility. IGT has over 12,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.IGT.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning International Game Technology PLC and its consolidated subsidiaries (the "Company") and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions, and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, dividends, results of operations, or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the management of the Company as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, such management. Forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "could," "would," "should," "shall", "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "guidance," "intend," "may," "will," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project" or the negative or other variations of them. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are made and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside the Company's control. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those predicted in the forward-looking statements and from past results, performance, or achievements. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to) the factors and risks described in the Company's annual report on Form 20-F for the financial year ended December 31, 2016 and other documents filed from time to time with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and on the investor relations section of the Company's website at www.IGT.com. Except as required under applicable law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider these factors and other risks and uncertainties that affect the Company's business. Nothing in this news release is intended, or is to be construed, as a profit forecast or to be interpreted to mean that the financial performance of International Game Technology PLC for the current or any future financial years will necessarily match or exceed the historical published financial performance of International Game Technology PLC, as applicable. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to International Game Technology PLC, or persons acting on its behalf, are expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Contact: Robert K. Vincent, Corporate Communications, toll free in U.S./Canada (844) IGT-7452; outside U.S./Canada (401) 392-7452 James Hurley, Investor Relations, (401) 392-7190 Simone Cantagallo, (+39) 06 51899030; for Italian media inquiries SOURCE International Game Technology PLC Related Links http://www.IGT.com (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/564686/Wolves_Summit_Panel.jpg ) (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/487309/Wolves_Summit_Logo.jpg ) 6th edition of the conference On 10th and 11th October 2017 young tech companies, investment funds, and corporate representatives will gather in Warsaw, Poland to make new business partnerships, get to know new technologies, and search of investment opportunities. This time the organizers are focusing on companies from Central and Eastern Europe. "We've been observing a constant development of tech companies in the region and we see huge potential in them. During the previous editions of Wolves Summit we had hundreds of companies from this part of Europe, so at the upcoming event we want to give the opportunity to develop not only to startups, but also investors and organizations that look for innovations in this particular region," Piotr Piasek, the co-founder of Wolves Summit explains. Warsaw has been very supportive of the startup community creating an ecosystem that encourages growth and co-organizing Wolves Summit. "Warsaw is quickly becoming one of the most important hubs for innovation and business development in this part of Europe. The city's help is invaluable and we believe the cooperation can only become better," Piasek says. Gesture towards startups The conference is planning to welcome 200 startups from the CEE region, including representatives from a few different industries. "The formula introduced at the 5th edition worked well and this time qualified startups will again participate for free," Piasek explains. "It's a step that's going to let such companies concentrate their resources on tech development and allow to meet 150 investors and 250 corporate representatives in just 2 days," he adds. Startups will be selected based on e.g. its innovative character and market's need in chosen fields. Corporations and funds looking for certain solutions will be involved in the selection process. All participants will therefore have the chance to establish valuable partnerships. Only the right contacts Wolves Summit is not only an event for startups, but also for investors and executives, who can meet, exchange experiences, and get to know new methods of cooperating with all groups present at the venue - all in just 2 days. Lectures and discussion panels held at the main stage give massive support. Each time they concentrate on current startup ecosystem's challenges and in October it's going to be no different. The 6th edition puts great emphasis on participants from the CEE countries as well as anyone thinking of establishing cooperation with companies from this region. The innovative system of scheduling meetings, which are the core of Wolves Summit since its beginning, makes getting new contacts, meeting potential clients and business partners much easier. The participation in Wolves Summit on 10-11 October 2017 is free for selected 200 startups. All further information can be found on the event's website: www.wolvessummit.com . Media Contact: Dominika Liecau [email protected] +48-796-677-699 SOURCE Wolves Summit ATLANTA, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Trustees of each of the Invesco closed-end funds listed below today declared the following dividends. EX-DATE 10/12/17 RECORD DATE 10/13/17 REINVEST DATE 10/31/17 PAYABLE DATE 10/31/17 Name of Closed-End Management Investment Company Ticker Monthly Dividend Amount Per Share Change From Prior Distribution Invesco Advantage Municipal Income Trust II VKI $0.0547 - Invesco Bond Fund VBF $0.0690 - Invesco California Value Municipal Income Trust VCV $0.0535 - Invesco Dynamic Credit Opportunities Fund VTA $0.07101 - Invesco High Income 2023 Target Term Fund IHIT $0.0500 - Invesco High Income Trust II VLT $0.08401 - Invesco Municipal Income Opportunities Trust OIA $0.0344 - Invesco Municipal Opportunity Trust VMO $0.0554 -0.0045 Invesco Municipal Trust VKQ $0.0591 - Invesco Pennsylvania Value Municipal Income Trust VPV $0.0521 - Invesco Quality Municipal Income Trust IQI $0.0546 - Invesco Senior Income Trust VVR $0.02051 - Invesco Trust for Investment Grade Municipals VGM $0.0636 - Invesco Trust for Investment Grade New York Municipals VTN $0.0583 +0.0012 Invesco Value Municipal Income Trust IIM $0.0620 - 1 A portion of this distribution is estimated to be from a return of principal rather than net income. The Section 19 notice referenced below provides more information and can be found on the Invesco website at www.invesco.com. Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year will report distributions for federal income tax purposes. The Fund's annual report to shareholders will include information regarding the tax character of Fund distributions for the fiscal year. The final determination of the source and tax characteristics of all distributions in 2017 will be made after the end of the year. In order to comply with the requirements of Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, each Fund will provide its shareholders of record on the record date with a Section 19 Notice disclosing the sources of its dividend payment when a distribution includes anything other than net investment income. The Section 19 Notice is not provided for tax reporting purposes but for informational purposes only. If applicable, this Section 19 Notice information can be found on the Funds' website at www.invesco.com. The amount of dividends paid by each fund may vary from time to time. Past amounts of dividends are no guarantee of future dividend payment amounts. Investing involves risk and it is possible to lose money on any investment in the funds. For more information, call 1-800-341-2929. About Invesco Ltd. Invesco Ltd. is a leading independent global investment management firm, dedicated to helping investors worldwide achieve their financial objectives. By delivering the combined power of our distinctive investment management capabilities, Invesco provides a wide range of investment strategies and vehicles to our clients around the world. Operating in more than 20 countries, the firm is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol IVZ. Additional information is available at www.invesco.com. Invesco Distributors, Inc. is the U.S. distributor for Invesco Ltd.'s retail products. Invesco Distributors, Inc. is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd. Note: There is no assurance that a closed-end fund will achieve its investment objective. Shares are bought on the secondary market and may trade at a discount or premium to NAV. Regular brokerage commissions apply. NOT FDIC INSURED l MAY LOSE VALUE l NO BANK GUARANTEE SOURCE Invesco Ltd. Related Links http://www.invesco.com Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada supports Waterloo-based quantum security company before UN International Telecommunication Union WATERLOO, Ontario, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s recent acceptance of quantum-safe encryption certificates from ISARA, the leading provider of security solutions for the quantum computing age, highlighted the vital role Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) plays in bringing Canadian technological advances to the global marketplace. ISED sponsored ISARA's presentation to the ITU, the United Nations' specialized agency for international telecommunications. The ITU accepted ISARA's proposal to support multiple public-key algorithm certificates as a new feature for inclusion in the next version of the widely-used X.509 global standard establishing ISARA as one of the first organizations to develop an international standard in quantum-safe certificates. Private companies must be sponsored by their governments in order for ITU to review their proposals. "Our government is committed to collaborating with Canadian companies leading the way in quantum computing research and contributing to Canada's success in the digital economy," said The Honourable Navdeep Singh Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. "ISARA is among a number of companies emerging in Waterloo Region's Quantum Valley with the promise to lead the world into a new era of quantum computing." ISARA is an industry leader in efforts to develop standards that will allow organizations to encrypt, share, store and use data in the quantum age. Experts estimate that a large-scale quantum computer will be developed within the next decade. With immense computing power driven by quantum mechanics, such a computer offers the potential for huge advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence and material design. However, it also will be capable of breaking the public key encryption standards that protect all of the data, software updates and technology now in use. Mark Pecen, Chief Operating Officer of ISARA, who represented ISARA at the ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Sector Study Group 17 in Geneva, said: "The active support of the Canadian government is one of the key reasons Canada has developed into one of the most vibrant centers of research and development of quantum computing. ISARA greatly appreciates the efforts undertaken on our behalf to turn mathematics and theoretical physics into real products and services that protect and benefit the global economy." Added ISARA CEO Scott Totzke: "ISED's partnership with us was integral to achieving the end result. There is rapidly increasing urgency to define the next generation of standards needed for the quantum age and this work is a fantastic example of how public-private collaboration can be done effectively to quickly make significant contributions on a global scale." About ISARA Corporation ISARA is a cybersecurity company specializing in creating class-defining quantum safe cryptography solutions that can be embedded into commercial products today to secure data now and in the future. As a commercial solution provider within a rich academic and research ecosystem, ISARA is part of a collaborative effort to raise awareness of quantum threats, and design and implement quantum safe solutions that will work globally. For more information, visit http://www.isara.com/. About ISED Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's mission is to foster a growing, competitive, knowledge-based Canadian economy. The Department works with Canadians throughout the economy, and in all parts of the country, to improve conditions for investment, improve Canada's innovation performance, increase Canada's share of global trade, and build an efficient and competitive marketplace. About ITU The ITU is a public-private partnership with a membership of 193 countries and almost 800 private-sector entities and academic institutions. The ITU-T Study Group 17 (SG17) coordinates security-related work across all ITU-T Study Groups. It also cooperates with other standards-development organizations. SOURCE ISARA Corporation Related Links http://www.isara.com WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ITA Group, a worldwide leader in corporate engagement solutions, has announced its acquisition of Boston-based market research and strategy firm Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB). CMB, a data-driven market strategy firm, leverages advanced analytics, consumer psychology, and market strategy consulting to offer innovative solutions in market segment identification, brand health and positioning, customer journey and loyalty, and new product and service development. CMB is a market strategy industry leader, receiving its fifth consecutive American Marketing Association "Gold Top 50" honor this year. Top global brands rely on CMB's expert consultation to help them make strategic brand and market decisions. CMB's three decades of data-driven market research and strategy expertise brings ITA Group the ability to recommend targeted market research that addresses increasingly complex business needs. The acquisition was effective as of Sept. 1, 2017. "Organizations are demanding to know the future," said Tom Mahoney, ITA Group Chairman and CEO. "They want predictive analytics that allow them to capitalize on their existing assets and create new opportunities for growth. This acquisition will give our clients and prospective clients the data-driven insights that can further drive their business." Additionally, deep expertise in market science, qualitative, and predictive analytics will arm clients with heightened intelligence as they partner with ITA Group to align and motivate their most valuable asset: their people. "An increasingly complex and data-driven world requires an innovative and strategic approach to helping companies and their people succeed," said CMB CEO Jim Garrity. "While ITA Group and CMB bring unique expertise and talents to this partnership, we are committed to the same goal: delivering best-in-class data-driven solutions to our clients." CMB Chair Anne Bailey Berman adds, "I am confident combining our complementary expertise will strengthen our current offerings and carve out new opportunities in our respective industries." About ITA Group As a global engagement solutions expert, ITA Group creates and manages events, incentives and recognition programs that align and motivate every organization's most valuable assetits people. ITA Group's innovative engagement solutions are uniquely designed to maximize business impact and value, and are powered by Motivology, its exclusive brand of motivation. With 50+ years of experience, operations in every region of the United States, and award solutions for 75+ countries globally, ITA Group is the company that ignites passion in people and connects it to your success. Learn more at https://www.itagroup.com. About CMB CMB is an AMA Gold Top 50 market research and strategy firm partnering with a select group of the world's leading brands. CMB collaborates on game-changing initiatives including market identification and segmentation, brand health invigoration, rejuvenating tired trackers, loyalty and advocacy growth, and product and service development. For more information, visit http://www.cmbinfo.com. SOURCE ITA Group Related Links https://www.itagroup.com PORTLAND, Oregon and PUNE, India, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "IVF Devices and Consumables Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2023, " the global IVF devices and consumables market was valued at $1,506 million in 2016, and is projected to reach $4,972 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 18.3% from 2017 to 2023. Europe is anticipated to be the highest revenue contributor throughout the forecast period. Do Enquiry for Sample [email protected] https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/124 In vitro fertilization (IVF) is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedure. It is the process of fertilization, which includes eggs extraction, sperm cell sample retrieval, and then manually combining an egg and sperm in laboratory settings to form an embryo. The embryo(s) are then transferred to the uterus for further gestation. The IVF devices and consumables market is expected to witness a substantial growth in future owing to rise in incidence of infertility cases, growth in the trend of delayed pregnancies among women, technological advancements in IVF procedures, and increased occurrences of gamete donations. Furthermore, rise in disposable income & increase in awareness about IVF treatments among the general populace boosts the market. Inadequate reimbursement policies associated with IVF treatment are anticipated to impede the market growth during the forecast period. However, growth in interest of single parents as well as same sex couples in experiencing parenthood through artificial reproductive technology (ART), especially IVF, is expected to present various opportunities for market expansion. Do Enquiry before purchasing Report https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/124 In the instrument segment, cabinets, a capital IVF instrument accounted for nearly one-fourth of the share in 2016. In terms of reagents and media, cryopreservation media accounted for a global revenue of nearly 34% in 2016. Whereas, semen processing media segment is anticipated to exhibit a prominent growth rate owing to its crucial role in the preservation of sperm motility, which is one of the essential factors for a successful IVF procedure. In the IVF devices and consumables end users market, IVF clinics generated revenue of $894 million in 2016, highest amongst all end users. The surgical centers segment is anticipated to exhibit prominent growth rate due to availability of various IVF procedures under one roof, development of IVF devices with advanced technologies, and the availability of a skilled workforce. By geography, Europe generated the highest revenue in the global IVF market in 2016. KEY FINDINGS OF THE IVF DEVICES AND CONSUMABLES MARKET STUDY: Cabinets accounted for nearly one-fourth of the share of the global IVF devices and consumables market in 2016. Ovum aspiration pumps are anticipated to grow with the highest CAGR throughout the forecast period. Europe accounted for nearly two-fifths of the global IVF devices and consumables market in 2016. accounted for nearly two-fifths of the global IVF devices and consumables market in 2016. Cryopreservation media accounted for a global revenue of nearly 34% in 2016. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest growing IVF devices and consumables market during the analysis period, followed by LAMEA. According to Onkar Sumant, Team Lead, Healthcare at Allied Market Research, "Rise in incidence of fertility-related conditions has led to the need of assisted reproduction technologies. IVF is the key assisted reproduction technology that provides technologically advanced treatment to couples seeking assistance for infertility treatment." The major companies profiled in the report include Cook Medical, Inc., Cooper Companies, Inc., Genea Biomedx, JXTG Holdings, Inc., Merck KGAA, Ovascience, Inc., Oxford Gene Technology, Progyny, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., and Vitrolife AB. About Us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact: Pankaj Kumar 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Direct: +1-503-894-6022 Toll Free: +1 (800) 792-5285 (U.S. & Canada) SOURCE Allied Market Research PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Janrain, the company that pioneered the Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) category and market leader in Privacy by Design, today announced that Slate, a leading provider of incisive commentary and analysis about news, politics, culture, technology, business and more, has implemented the Janrain Social Login and Registration platform to enable its users to log onto its site through different social platformsall with one unique user IDand, if they choose, even add secondary social accounts to a primary login. "Our number of registered users has jumped 33 percent since we turned to Janrain. A smoother social login experience is a huge contributor to these improved results," said Heidi Strom Moon, Slate product manager. Prior to using Janrain, Slate relied on an in-house legacy solution. But as Slate's membership and the ways people wanted to sign in expanded, Slate sought a solution that would deliver a more consistent and streamlined login experience in order to increase sign-ups and users' engagement with content and other site features. The Slate team also sought a way to access a breadth of user journey data that they could mine in their efforts to increase memberships and newsletter sign-ups. "A better registration experience should lead to more registrations," said Slate Vice Chairman Dan Check. "We are happy to report that it does. The number of registered Slate users has increased significantly." Janrain satisfied Slate's need for an easy-to-deploy solution that covered desktop, mobile and in-app logins across social identities. Slate is not only counting on Janrain to deliver a better experience for current users, but the company also expects its solutions to provide improved insight into customer identities and journeys that could be used to successfully grow its membership program and newsletter subscriptions. "We expect to keep growing registrations and deepening relationships with users as we apply more insight to the engagement process," said Check. For a full case study on Slate's use of Janrain, visit: http://www.janrain.com/resources/case-studies/slate-increases-registrations-more-than-30-by-improving-user-experience/ About Janrain Founded in 2002, Janrain pioneered Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) and is widely recognized by industry analysts as a global CIAM leader. The Janrain Identity Cloud provides identity management, security and activation solutions that enable seamless and safe customer experiences across their digitally connected world, while providing enterprise organizations with deep customer insights. Janrain's identity capabilities include social and traditional login and registration, single sign-on, customer profile data storage and management, customer segments, customer insights and engagement solutions. The company powers brands like Pfizer, Samsung, Whole Foods, Fox News, Philips, McDonald's and Dr Pepper. Janrain is based in Portland, Oregon, with offices in London, Paris and Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit www.janrain.com and follow @janrain. Media Contact: Chris Blake MSR Communications Phone: 1-415-989-9000 E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE Janrain Related Links http://www.janrain.com "We are excited to continue our partnership with Jefferson County as they move to the most reliable, simple and secure paper-based voting system in the industry," said ES&S' Regional Sales Manager, Mac Beeson. ES&S is known for developing equipment with the highest standards of security. The ExpressVote Universal Voting System utilizes a variety of functions to ensure election data and cast vote records are secure. In addition, after all selections are made, the system produces a verifiable paper record for each voter. As well, like all ES&S ballot tabulation equipment, the DS200 includes physical security features to secure sensitive components and election files. The DS200 operating system controls, limits and detects unauthorized access to all critical data. The system also includes safeguards that help protect sensitive data and verify authenticity. Jefferson County joins hundreds of locations across the U.S. whose voters, poll workers and staff benefit from the secure and intuitive voting experience provided by the ExpressVote and DS200 including areas of Florida, Indiana and Michigan, the States of Maryland and Rhode Island, the City of New York and hundreds more. "Voter confidence is incredibly important, and it's my job to ensure that the elections system offered to our citizens is of the very best quality," said Bobbie Holsclaw, Jefferson County Clerk. "We are always looking for ways to improve our services to the residents of Jefferson County, and that's why we selected the ExpressVote Universal Voting System and DS200 precinct-based scanner. With this modern, secure and reliable system, voters can be assured that our election process meets the very highest of standards." ABOUT ES&S: Election Systems & Software's visionary approach to election equipment, software and solutions has helped improve the voting experience throughout North America for nearly 40 years. We are committed to developing integrated voting solutions that improve the marketplace and are flexible enough to meet multiple jurisdictions' needs and voter preferences. Learn more about ES&S at www.essvote.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/essvote. SOURCE Election Systems & Software Related Links http://www.essvote.com BOSTON, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The five John Hancock closed-end funds listed below declared their monthly distributions today as follows: Declaration Date: October 2, 2017 Ex Date: October 11, 2017 Record Date: October 12, 2017 Payment Date: October 31, 2017 Ticker Fund Name Distribution Per Share Change From Previous Distribution Market Price as of 9/29/2017 Annualized Current Distribution Rate at Market HPI Preferred Income Fund $0.1400 - $21.93 7.66% HPF Preferred Income Fund II $0.1400 - $21.91 7.67% HPS Preferred Income Fund III $0.1222 - $18.80 7.80% PDT Premium Dividend Fund $0.0975 - $16.87 6.94% HTD Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund $0.1380 - $25.86 6.40% John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund Premium Dividend Fund (the "Fund") declared its monthly distribution pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan (the "PDT Plan"). Under the PDT Plan, the Fund makes monthly distributions of an amount equal to $0.0975 per share. This amount will be paid monthly until further notice. Distributions under the PDT Plan may consist of net investment income, net realized long-term capital gains, net realized short-term capital gains and, to the extent necessary, return of capital. The Fund may also make additional distributions (i) for purposes of not incurring federal income tax on investment company taxable income and net capital gain of the Fund, if any, not included in such regular distributions and (ii) for purposes of not incurring federal excise tax on ordinary income and capital gain net income, if any, not included in such regular monthly distributions. The Board may amend the terms of the PDT Plan or terminate the PDT Plan at any time. John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (the "Fund") declared its monthly distribution pursuant to the Fund's managed distribution plan (the "HTD Plan"). Under the HTD Plan, the Fund makes monthly distributions of an amount equal to $0.1380 per share. This amount will be paid monthly until further notice. Distributions under the HTD Plan may consist of net investment income, net realized long-term capital gains, net realized short-term capital gains and, to the extent necessary, return of capital. The Fund may also make additional distributions (i) for purposes of not incurring federal income tax on investment company taxable income and net capital gain of the Fund, if any, not included in such regular distributions and (ii) for purposes of not incurring federal excise tax on ordinary income and capital gain net income, if any, not included in such regular monthly distributions. The Board may amend the terms of the HTD Plan or terminate the HTD Plan at any time. A portion of a Fund's current distribution may include sources other than net investment income, including a return of capital. Investors should understand that a return of capital is not a distribution from income or gains of a Fund. As required under the Investment Company Act of 1940, a notice with the estimated components of the distribution will be sent to shareholders at the time of payment if it does not consist solely of net investment income. Such notice will also be posted to the Funds' website at www.jhinvestments.com . The notice should not be used to prepare tax returns as the estimates indicated in the notice may differ from the ultimate federal income tax characterization of distributions. After the end of each calendar year, investors will be sent a Form 1099-DIV informing them how to report distributions received during that year for federal income tax purposes. 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 Related Links http://www.jhinvestments.com DULUTH, Ga., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia DECAL (Department of Early Care and Learning) hosts the Teacher of the Year award annually via a nomination process for Georgia Pre-K Teachers in both the public and private sectors. This year's award winner from the private sector is Jodi McNamara from Kids 'R' Kids of Grayson. Jodi has been a Pre-K teacher for 15 years and has been with Kids 'R' Kids of Grayson for 12 years since their opening in 2005. Nominees for the Teacher of The Year award must meet several requirements including but not limited to, having been a lead teacher for a minimum of three years, meeting the Georgia Pre-K credential and Professional Development Registry requirements, be in current employment with a child care provider in good standing with all programs administered by DECAL, and be willing to serve as ambassador for the Georgia Pre-K program. Six finalists were announced earlier this year and were then interviewed and evaluated in-classroom. The finalists were also visited by Commissioner Jacobs and Stephanie Black of the Nasserian Foundation, who sponsor the foundation. The award ceremony was held on Friday, September 29 at 9:00 AM at Kids 'R' Kids of Grayson in Lawrenceville. In attendance were First Lady Sandra Deal, DECAL Commissioner Amy Jacobs, Assistant Commissioner of DECAL Susan Adams, Stephanie Blake of the Nasserian Foundation, and last year's Teacher of The Year Connie Ellington. Attending from the Kids 'R' Kids corporate office were Co-Founder Janice Vinson, CEO David Vinson, V.P. of Operations Sasha Vinson, and CCO Darlene Vinson Barnwell. Kids 'R' Kids of Grayson's owners Terri and Dale Carico and Director Allyson C. Locsin were also in attendance. Allyson has called McNamara a "godsend" for the school ever since she started, adding, "I cannot tell you how honored we are to have (McNamara) as part of this school." About Kids 'R' Kids Learning Academies Headquartered in the North Atlanta suburb of Duluth, Georgia, Kids 'R' Kids Learning Academies provide a secure, nurturing, and educational environments for children (ages six weeks - 12 years) to bloom into responsible, considerate, and contributing members of society. With nearly 160 Learning Academies in 16 states, Kids 'R' Kids International is a family-owned and operated organization that ranks in the top three nationwide for franchised early childhood education centers (www.kidsrkids.com). SOURCE Kids 'R' Kids International Related Links http://www.kidsrkids.com FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP (NYSE: KRP), a leading owner of oil and natural gas mineral and royalty interests across 20 states, today announced it will release its third quarter 2017 financial results on Thursday, November 9, 2017, before the market opens. In conjunction with the release, Kimbell Royalty Partners has scheduled a conference call, which will be broadcast live over the Internet the same day at 10:00 a.m. Central (11:00 a.m. Eastern). By Phone: Dial 201-389-0869 at least 10 minutes before the call. A replay will be available through November 16 by dialing 201-612-7415 and using the conference ID 13671601#. By Webcast: Connect to the webcast via the Events and Presentations pages of Kimbell's Investor Relations website at http://kimbellrp.investorroom.com/. Please log in at least 10 minutes in advance to register and download any necessary software. A replay will be available shortly after the call. Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP (NYSE: KRP) is an oil and gas mineral and royalty variable rate master limited partnership based in Fort Worth, Texas. KRP is managed by its general partner, Kimbell Royalty GP, LLC, and owns mineral and royalty interests in approximately 5.6 million gross acres in 20 states and in nearly every major onshore basin in the continental United States, including ownership in more than 50,000 gross producing wells with over 29,000 wells in the Permian Basin. Contact: Rick Black Dennard Lascar Investor Relations [email protected] (713) 529-6600 SOURCE Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP Related Links http://www.kimbellrp.com "The decision by Carnival Corporation to introduce a new casino management solution is consistent with our vision to drive the greatest vacation experience for our guests and long-term value for each brand in our portfolio," said Marty Goldman, Senior Vice President, Global Casino Operations, at Carnival Corporation & plc. "Our goal was to find a solution that not only satisfies the complex requirements of operating over 100 sailing global casinos, but also provide a robust infrastructure and agile functionality to appropriately foster future innovation." SYNKROS will help centralize marketing, reporting, analytics, accounting, and operational considerations for casino systems across Carnival Corporation's global portfolio of brands. Implementation is scheduled to begin next year, setting in motion a strategic installation program that will ultimately reach the entire Carnival Corporation casino portfolio. "From a technical standpoint, SYNKROS' core architecture and advanced functionality provides our organization the optimal casino systems environment to achieve our goals and enhance the guest experience. In addition, Konami has the strong company culture and customer focus that we believe is best suited for a long-term partnership," said Goldman. "SYNKROS is known for delivering incredibly flexible and stable systems solutions to operators with a variety of unique business needs, from ocean cruise lines to multi-property resorts," said Tom Jingoli, executive vice president & chief commercial officer at Konami Gaming, Inc. "Carnival Corporation is a global leader of consumer travel technology, and we are committed to supporting the future of casino gaming across their fleet." Those interested in learning more about SYNKROS' award-winning product suite are encouraged to visit www.konamigaming.com. About Konami Gaming, Inc. Konami Gaming, Inc. is a Las Vegas-based subsidiary of KONAMI HOLDINGS CORPORATION (TSE: 9766). The company is a leading designer and manufacturer of slot machines and casino management systems for the global gaming market. For more information about Konami Gaming, Inc. or the SYNKROS gaming enterprise management system, please visit www.konamigaming.com. Media Contact: Tashina Wortham Marketing Communications Manager 702.419.6025 [email protected] About Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is the world's largest leisure travel company and among the most profitable and financially strong in the cruise and vacation industries, with a portfolio of 10 dynamic brands that include nine of the world's leading cruise lines. With operations in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia), and P&O Cruises (UK). Together, the corporation's cruise lines operate 103 ships with 231,000 lower berths visiting over 700 ports around the world, with 17 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2018 and 2022. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices. In 2017, Fast Company recognized Carnival Corporation as being among the "Top 10 Most Innovative Companies" in both the design and travel categories. Fast Company specifically recognized Carnival Corporation for its work in developing Ocean Medallion, a high-tech wearable device that enables the world's first interactive guest experience platform capable of transforming vacation travel into a highly personalized and elevated level of customized service. Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.princess.com, www.seabourn.com, www.aida.de, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com, www.pocruises.com.au, and www.pocruises.com. SOURCE Konami Gaming, Inc. Related Links http://konamigaming.com NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kroll ("the Company"), a global leader in risk mitigation, investigations, compliance, cyber resilience, security, and incident response solutions, today announced the appointment of Stacy Scott as a Managing Director in its Cyber Security and Investigations practice, based in Dallas. In addition to founding and operating her own consultancy, Scott has served in high-profile roles with a leading cyber security consulting firm, a Big Four accounting firm, and the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in Texas. Over the past 16 years, she has built a successful track record of developing and implementing strategic information security initiatives that help organizations better safeguard data, manage risk, and enhance business operations. "Stacy brings a wealth of information risk management experience, with particular expertise in cyber risk management, security program development, and regulatory compliance, especially in the healthcare sector," said Jason Smolanoff, Senior Managing Director and Global Cyber Security Practice Leader for Kroll. "With her advanced technical knowledge in multiple facets of information security, broad leadership experience, and ability to forge productive relationships within organizations, from boards of directors to front-line staff, Stacy will enhance our ability to deliver outstanding results to our clients across the globe." "On behalf of our clients and our company, I am delighted to welcome Stacy to our Cyber Security team," said David Fontaine, Chief Executive Officer of Kroll and its parent, Corporate Risk Holdings. "Stacy is a dynamic professional who excels at helping enterprises transform information security into a competitive advantage. I am confident our clients will quickly recognize in Stacy a valued advisor who brings to each engagement a unique combination of technical expertise, business acumen, and strategic vision." Most recently, Scott was the President and Founder of Wisterwood Advisory Services. From 2014-2016, Scott served as Vice President, Security Science for Stroz Friedberg in Dallas. Scott was the firm's HIPAA Security Rule subject matter expert. From 2006-2014, Scott was Director, Enterprise Architecture and Security, for Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in Texas, with over 34,000 employees, 5,400 licensed beds, and 43 locations. In this role, which was the healthcare system's highest-ranking information security position, Scott directed and oversaw the development and implementation of the enterprise's overall information security architecture as well as security strategy and programs, managing a multimillion-dollar budget. Scott's accomplishments included developing and executing the plan to overhaul security tools in order to mature monitoring processes and rules to enable rapid detection and response to potential security incidents. These efforts reduced the risk of compromise to enterprise systems, including the possible loss of financial data and personal health information. During this time, Scott also served as the healthcare system's HIPAA Security Officer. She possesses a deep understanding of financial and healthcare regulations, including NIST Policy, Federal Trade Commission Red Flag Rules, HIPAA Security Rules, PCI (Payment Card Industry) Data Security Standards, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Health Breach Notification Rule. Scott also chaired the system's information security council that worked to assist business users in making the appropriate security risk decisions consistent with the organization's goals and risk levels. Earlier in her career with Baylor Scott & White, Scott was Director, Standards, Audit, & Integration; Manager, Internal IT Audit; and Information Security (IS) Security Engineer. Scott began her professional career as a Senior Information Risk Management Consultant for KPMG, where she conducted assessments of information system security access, change and lifecycle development management, and computer operations for major ERP systems, such as SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, and PeopleSoft. Scott earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Information & Operations Management at Texas A&M University. In addition to holding certifications as an Information Systems Auditor and HITRUST Common Security Framework Practitioner, Scott is a member of CHIME (College of Healthcare Information Management Executives); HIMSS (Healthcare Information Management Systems Society); ISACA (Information System Audit & Control Association); and AITP (Association of Information Technology Professionals). In testament to her extraordinary record of achievement, Scott was recognized as Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women in 2012. About Kroll: Kroll is the leading global provider of risk solutions. For more than 40 years, Kroll has helped clients make confident risk management decisions about people, assets, operations and security through a wide range of investigations, cyber security, due diligence and compliance, physical and operational security and data and information management services. Headquartered in New York with more than 35 offices in 20 countries, Kroll has a multidisciplinary team of nearly 1,000 employees and serves a global clientele of law firms, financial institutions, corporations, non-profit institutions, government agencies and individuals. For more information visit www.kroll.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's performance and growth, and other non-historical statements. Forward-looking statements identify prospective information. Important factors could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from those stated in the forward-looking statements. In some cases you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "potential," "should," "will" and "would" or the negatives thereof, variations thereof or other similar words. You should read statements that contain these words carefully because they discuss the Company's future priorities, goals, strategies, actions to improve business performance, market growth assumptions and expectations, future business opportunities, capital expenditures, financing needs, financial position and other information that is not historical information or state other "forward-looking" information. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which, such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or management's good faith belief with respect to future events, and is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in the statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. If the Company does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect thereto or with respect to other forward-looking statements. SOURCE Kroll Related Links http://www.kroll.com PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LBC Credit Partners ("LBC"), a leading provider of financing solutions to middle market companies, provided a $62.0 million senior secured credit facility to support the recapitalization of Gamo Outdoor S.L. ("Gamo") and Daisy Manufacturing Company ("Daisy"). Gamo and Daisy are portfolio companies of Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. ("BRS"). LBC served as Agent for the senior secured credit facility. Gamo, based in Barcelona, Spain, is the premier global provider of high-quality airguns, pellets, optical equipment, airsoft products, related consumables and outdoor accessories. Daisy, based in Rogers, Arkansas, is the leading manufacturer and marketer of youth airguns and accessories. BRS is a New York-based private equity firm with combined capital invested of over $1.2 billion across three investment partnerships, focused on investing in middle market consumer goods and services businesses. BRS seeks to partner with management while allowing them operational freedom with long-term equity incentives and support. Since 1996, BRS has purchased over 50 portfolio companies for aggregate consideration of over $6.9 billion. In addition, BRS portfolio companies have completed over 40 add-on acquisitions. About LBC Credit Partners LBC Credit Partners is a leading provider of middle market financing solutions including senior term, unitranche, second lien, junior secured and mezzanine debt and equity co-investments supporting sponsored and non-sponsored transactions. With over $2.9* billion of capital commitments, LBC has made investments in companies located throughout North America across a wide range of industries and is committed to a long-term approach to debt investing. LBC is headquartered in Philadelphia, with offices in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. To learn more, visit www.lbccredit.com. *Information as of September 2017 LBC Credit Partners, Inc. Cira Centre, 2929 Arch Street, Suite 1550 Philadelphia, PA 19104-7340 Tel 215-972-8900 Fax 215-567-0138 MEDIA CONTACT: Lisa Rubano-Volansky Tel (724) 979-4293 Email [email protected] SOURCE LBC Credit Partners Related Links http://www.lbccredit.com STAINES-UPON-THAMES, United Kingdom, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mallinckrodt plc (NYSE:MNK) today announced it has entered into a licensing agreement for development and commercialization of NeuroproteXeon's investigational, pharmaceutical-grade xenon gas for inhalation therapy being evaluated to improve survival and functional outcomes for patients resuscitated after a cardiac arrest. If approved, xenon gas for inhalation will expand Mallinckrodt's portfolio of hospital drug-device combination products providing therapies for critically ill patients. Under terms of the agreement, later today Mallinckrodt will pay $10 million upfront with cash on hand to reimburse NeuroproteXeon for certain product development costs, and gains exclusive rights to commercialize the therapy, if approved, in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Australia. Mallinckrodt will make additional payments of up to $25 million dependent on achievement of clinical, regulatory and sales milestones as well as a tiered, net-sales-based royalty. NeuroproteXeon will continue to be responsible for the cost of development and will manage the development of the product in collaboration with Mallinckrodt. Approximately 500,000 people in the U.S. experience cardiac arrest every year[1], more than half of whom are over 65. When a patient's heart stops beating, death can occur within minutes but today ~35%-40% of these patients are revived and their heartbeat and blood circulation returns. However, even when successfully resuscitated, only 30%-35% of these resuscitated patients survive to leave the hospital[2]. Among survivors, coma or brain damage, including impairment of motor function, memory and cognition, are common. Improving survival and reducing brain damage and impairment is of paramount importance for these individuals and their families. And it's critically important for the healthcare system as well, given that the average cost of care in the U.S. from the cardiac arrest through the 12 months following is roughly $100,000 per patient[3]. Rates of resuscitation following cardiac arrest have risen modestly over time, but physicians say they still are not as high as they could or should be. The problem is beginning to be addressed in developed markets with campaigns focused on cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and programs to install defibrillators in workplaces, arenas, retail stores and even public transportation. But another equally serious problem exists. Even when patients are successfully resuscitated, their outcomes are frequently still not positive, and post-arrest care and management continues to be an area of very high unmet medical need. "Only about a third of patients resuscitated following cardiac arrest survive to leave the hospital," said Dr. Steve Romano, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, "and survivors still have significant rates of coma and long-term functional or cognitive disability. The standard of care for treatment of these patients includes 24 hours of targeted temperature management, or hypothermia therapy, but there are currently no specific approved pharmacologic treatments available for use. The Phase 3 xenon gas for inhalation registration trial that will begin in early 2018 is designed to confirm a potential clinical benefit associated with the positive biomarker outcome as demonstrated on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of patients treated with hypothermia therapy plus xenon gas for inhalation that was seen in a Phase 2b study. Those results published in the March 2016 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed a measurable reduction in brain damage. The Phase 3 trial, being conducted under an FDA Special Protocol Agreement, or SPA, will seek to measure the clinical benefit of xenon gas for inhalation in terms of improved 30-day survival and improved functional outcomes." About the Phase 2b Study and the Possible Mechanism of Action of Xenon Gas for Inhalation The Phase 2b study, a randomized, single-blind, clinical drug trial, studied 110 comatose patients who had experienced cardiac arrest. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 24 hours of standard-of-care hypothermia therapy, alone or 24 hours of hypothermia therapy plus inhaled xenon gas. The primary endpoint was reduction of cerebral white matter damage (brain damage) in areas associated with several important cognitive functions, as assessed by MRI. The result was that MRI scans showed a statistically significant lowering of brain damage (p = 0.006) in patients treated with xenon gas for inhalation plus hypothermia. Although the study was underpowered for clinical endpoints and showed no statistically significant difference in mortality rates (p = 0.053) or neurological outcomes at six months in the overall population, subsequent analysis showed potentially intriguing positive outcomes in a subset population. In patients resuscitated within 30 minutes (roughly 90% of the overall study population), those treated with hypothermia therapy plus xenon gas for inhalation had improved mortality and the improved functional and cognitive outcome. The Phase 3 trial, designed under an FDA SPA, will study these clinical endpoints at 30 days in this targeted population patients resuscitated within 30 minutes in approximately 1,400 patients. In patients who have had cardiac arrest, low blood flow and poor oxygenation of brain tissue may lead to a number of changes including the opening of calcium channels, which are known to contribute to neuronal injury and death, leading to brain damage. Xenon gas for inhalation binds to a receptor that can regulate these calcium channels and potentially mitigate these negative neuronal effects. "If the planned Phase 3 study is successful and the biological effect seen in the Phase 2 study translates to clinical impact, we believe xenon gas for inhalation has the potential to change treatment paradigms and increase adoption of the therapy in a population of resuscitated cardiac arrest patients," said Dr. Romano. The Special Protocol Assessment that has been approved by the FDA allows for an interim analysis at 50% of trial completion of the primary endpoint follow up, and if the primary and secondary endpoints are positive at that review the trial would be halted for success. If the primary or secondary endpoints are futile at that point, the trial will be stopped for futility. Assuming full completion of the trial, Mallinckrodt expects the regulatory submission to be a drug and delivery device combination and anticipates receiving U.S. regulatory approval in late 2020. U.S. regulatory approval is the first priority, but Mallinckrodt is also evaluating regulatory strategies for market entry in the remaining countries aligned with its existing footprint where it has commercialization rights. The device for the trial and for any commercialized product will be supplied by Penlon and Praxair will supply the pharmaceutical grade xenon gas for inhalation under supply agreements with NeuroproteXeon. Ron Lloyd, Executive Vice President and President of Hospital Therapies for Mallinckrodt, said, "Xenon gas for inhalation addresses a critical unmet need and is a natural fit with Mallinckrodt's specialty brands portfolio, where we can leverage our unique drug-delivery expertise and existing hospital infrastructure to commercialize this product. This product can add value to patients and also help us continue to deliver on our growth strategy for the hospital business." Bill Burns, NeuroproteXeon Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are excited by the partnership with Mallinckrodt and we believe they are the ideal partner given their pharmaceutical gas and drug-device experience, as well as their broad service and technical support infrastructure. We look forward to working closely with Mallinckrodt in bringing this important therapy to the market so patients having a cardiac arrest may have better survival rates and neurological outcomes." Financial Considerations, Closing and Commercialization Under terms of the agreement, NeuroproteXeon will receive an upfront payment of $10 million in cash on hand from Mallinckrodt, with potential additional payments of up to $25 million dependent on developmental, regulatory and sales milestones. In addition, NeuroproteXeon will receive tiered royalties on applicable worldwide product sales and a transfer price for commercial product supply. Mallinckrodt expects dilution of $0.10 to $0.15 to GAAP[4] earnings per share and adjusted diluted earnings per share for the remainder of 2017, with slightly lower dilution in 2018. Note that the majority of the dilution to 2017 will come from the upfront, one-time consideration, which the company will not remove for non-GAAP reporting purposes. The transaction closing will be concurrent with the upfront payment being paid later today. If approved, Mallinckrodt expects xenon gas for inhalation to be commercialized by the company's existing sales organization. At launch, patient access to this unique treatment option would also be supported and enhanced by the company's strong relationships with hospital networks, insurance companies and group purchasing organizations. Mallinckrodt's existing infrastructure of clinical and medical affairs experts will also support both approval and launch of the product. About Xenon Gas for Inhalation Xenon is a noble gas that has been used safely as an inhaled therapy in several studies to date. In cardiac arrest, calcium channels in the brain can get over-activated, causing neuronal damage and cell death. Xenon binds to N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors through a unique glycine-binding mechanism and can help regulate the flow of ions through the calcium channels. By mitigating neuronal damage and cell death, xenon may be able to reduce time in coma, lower mortality rates and improve cognitive and motor functions. About Mallinckrodt Mallinckrodt is a global business that develops, manufactures, markets and distributes specialty pharmaceutical products and therapies. Areas of focus include autoimmune and rare diseases in specialty areas like neurology, rheumatology, nephrology, pulmonology and ophthalmology; immunotherapy and neonatal respiratory critical care therapies; analgesics and hemostasis products. The company's core strengths include the acquisition and management of highly regulated raw materials and specialized chemistry, formulation and manufacturing capabilities. The company's Specialty Brands segment includes branded medicines and its Specialty Generics segment includes specialty generic drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients and external manufacturing. To learn more about Mallinckrodt, visit www.mallinckrodt.com. Mallinckrodt uses its website as a channel of distribution of important company information, such as press releases, investor presentations and other financial information. It also uses its website to expedite public access to time-critical information regarding the company in advance of or in lieu of distributing a press release or a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosing the same information. Therefore, investors should look to the Investor Relations page of the website for important and time-critical information. Visitors to the website can also register to receive automatic e-mail and other notifications alerting them when new information is made available on the Investor Relations page of the website. Cautionary Statements Related to Forward-Looking Statements Statements in this document that are not strictly historical, including statements regarding future financial condition and operating results, economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory factors affecting Mallinckrodt's businesses and any other statements regarding events or developments that we believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future, may be "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those suggested or indicated by such forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. These factors include risks and uncertainties related to, among other things: general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which Mallinckrodt operates; the commercial success of Mallinckrodt's products; Mallinckrodt's ability to realize anticipated growth, synergies and cost savings from transactions (including the NeuroproteXeon transaction); conditions that could necessitate an evaluation of Mallinckrodt's goodwill and/or intangible assets for possible impairment; changes in laws and regulations; Mallinckrodt's ability to successfully integrate acquisitions of operations, technology, products and businesses generally and to realize anticipated growth, synergies and cost savings (including with respect to the NeuroproteXeon transaction); Mallinckrodt's ability to successfully develop or commercialize new products; Mallinckrodt's ability to protect intellectual property rights; Mallinckrodt's ability to receive procurement and production quotas granted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; customer concentration; Mallinckrodt's reliance on certain individual products that are material to its financial performance; cost containment efforts of customers, purchasing groups, third-party payers and governmental organizations; the reimbursement practices of a small number of public or private insurers; pricing pressure on certain of Mallinckrodt's products due to legal changes or changes in insurers' reimbursement practices resulting from recent increased public scrutiny of healthcare and pharmaceutical costs; limited clinical trial data for H.P. Acthar Gel; complex reporting and payment obligations under healthcare rebate programs; Mallinckrodt's ability to navigate price fluctuations; future changes to U.S. and foreign tax laws; Mallinckrodt's ability to achieve expected benefits from restructuring activities; complex manufacturing processes; competition; product liability losses and other litigation liability; ongoing governmental investigations; material health, safety and environmental liabilities; retention of key personnel; conducting business internationally; the effectiveness of information technology infrastructure; and cybersecurity and data leakage risks. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" sections of Mallinckrodt's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2016. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date hereof and Mallinckrodt does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise, except as required by law. CONTACTS Investor Relations Coleman N. Lannum, CFA Senior Vice President, Investor Strategy & IRO 314-654-6649 [email protected] Daniel J. Speciale, CPA Director, Investor Relations 314-654-3638 [email protected] Media Rhonda Sciarra Senior Communications Manager 908-238-6765 [email protected] Meredith Fischer Chief Public Affairs Officer 314-654-3318 [email protected] [1] American Heart Association Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2013 update [2] Callaway et al, Resuscitation. 2010 May; 81(5): 524529. [3] Merchant et al, Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 2009;2(5):421428 [4] Accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. SOURCE Mallinckrodt plc (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/565581/Hajj_Memories_of_a_Journey_Exhibition.jpg ) The exhibition is taking place on the grounds of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and will run until 19th March 2018, marking the 10th anniversary of the Centre's establishment. Sheikh Mansour toured the exhibition, co-organised by SZGMC and the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, TCA Abu Dhabi. It includes a rare collection of Islamic manuscripts, historical photographs, antiquities and classical and modern artworks, which were loaned from 15 local and international organisations. It also houses private collections and collectables and Hajj souvenirs provided by community members. He stated that organising the exhibition and displaying its collection of cultural and historical treasure reflected the prestigious stature of the SZGMC, as a cultural and civilised icon that cares for the advancement of humanity, and promotes the true teachings of Islam and the UAE's essential customs, traditions, philosophies and values, under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Sheikh Mansour added that the exhibition is the perfect opportunity to learn about the deeply-ingrained values of tolerance in Islam, through the rich heritage of the Hajj pilgrimage, which developed with the passing of time and the increasing numbers pilgrims from various parts of the world, who faced considerable challenges and hardships in their long journey. He described the Hajj as a journey to return to one's true self and to confront intolerance that is rejected by the noble values of Islam. His Highness expressed his happiness at seeing the documented materials from the pilgrimage of the founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan while stressing that these documents enrich the content of the exhibition and provides a humanitarian example of an unequalled leader, who has made his principles and values part of the country's lifestyle, which has placed it first regionally and third internationally in a tolerance index in the World Competitiveness Yearbook, which was published by the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland. "Such events are open invitations for connecting our past, present and future with the values of co-existence, diversity, moderation and selflessness, which were inspired by the words and actions of the late Sheikh Zayed that totally combined the nation's efforts, making the UAE an oasis of variety and cultural diversity," he said. Sheikh Mansour expressed his happiness at the transformation of the Centre, which now attracts many tourists from various nationalities, who desire to view its Islamic architecture that displays the history of the Islamic civilisation, where people enjoyed peace, co-existence and intellectual and economic growth. Ahmed Juma Al Zaabi, Deputy Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the SZGMC, stated that the launch of the exhibition by Sheikh Mansour reflects the desire of the wise leadership to strengthen the country's stature as a destination of tolerance, balance and co-existence, with an environment for with noble values that were inspired by Islamic thought and humanitarian ethics, which are full of peace and giving. He explained that the importance of the exhibition lies in its value and location, as it highlights Islam's pivotal role and its history, which the world can see clearly at the SZGMC. Al Zaabi added that the UAE had given the world an inspiring model of advancement that includes all aspects of life while maintaining its Arab and Islamic values. "The centre is a comprehensive project that carries an ethical message about the heritage and values from the teachings of Islam and the traditions and lives of our fathers and grandfathers. The exhibition represents the meaning of this spiritual message, though its antiquities, memorabilia and historical photographs, which will highlight to the entire world the faithful and humanitarian stature of a true leader, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan," he further added. "Holding the exhibition, in co-operation with the SZGMC, will help us realise the Authority's strategies, which aim to celebrate and promote our heritage, as a major part of our identity and society," said Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority. "The visitors at the exhibition will feel the diversity and richness of its exhibits on the greatest ritual in Islam, where every pilgrim can indeed see the greatness of our tolerant religion, which brings together, under its flag, all the races of humanity from a variety of cultures and backgrounds, making us equal in the eyes of our creator," he added. The launch was attended by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development; Ahmed Mohamed Al Humairi, Secretary-General of Presidential Affairs at the Ministry; Hamad Abdul Rahman Al Madfaa, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council Affairs of the Federation at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs; Ali Salem Al Kaabi, Director of the Office of the Minister of Presidential Affairs; Mohammed Ahmed Al Murr, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Library, and several under-secretaries and senior officials. SOURCE Department of Culture and Tourism SAN MATEO, Calif., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketo, Inc., the leading provider of engagement marketing software and solutions, today announced that it has appointed three executives to head its revenue teams in the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. Kate FitzGerald joins Marketo as president of sales, Americas; Jamie Anderson has been appointed president of EMEA; and Yasutaka Fukuda has been promoted to president of Asia Pacific-Japan. All three will report into Marketo Chief Sales Officer Eric Johnson. "With the appointments of Kate, Jamie, and Yasutaka, I am confident that Marketo has the best revenue team in the entire enterprise software industry," said Johnson. "These three executives have stellar track records of building and inspiring revenue teams at leading technology brands around the world. Kate, Jamie, and Yasutaka will take the success of Marketo's field and customers to new heights in the Engagement Economy." FitzGerald joins Marketo from Oracle Marketing Cloud, where she was most recently group vice president of sales for North America. At Marketo, FitzGerald will oversee the Americas sales team. Over the course of her more than 30-year career in enterprise software, she has led top-performing sales organizations for both mature and early-stage companies with aggressive growth goals. Prior to Oracle, FitzGerald served as vice president, Worldwide Sales, for Salesforce.com's Service Cloud, building a team from the ground up and pioneering a new selling model for the company's customer service and contact center applications. FitzGerald also held multiple senior leadership roles during her 11-year tenure at Siebel Systems, Inc. "I am thrilled to lead Marketo's Americas salesforce as it champions the superior benefits of the Marketo Engagement Platform," said FitzGerald. "Marketo has been aggressively innovating to deliver the best engagement marketing solutions available for today's enterprise, and I look forward to being part of an executive team committed to capitalizing on Marketo's incredible market potential." Anderson will be responsible for overall business operations across EMEA, including the region's recent expansions in France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. He brings more than 20 years of experience in marketing and business development, including 11 years at SAP. His most recent role was senior vice president and chief marketing officer at SAP Hybris. Anderson has worked with numerous brands to redefine customer experience throughout his career, drawing upon his experience as a product developer, solution architect, marketer, and business developer. A recognized thought leader in the customer engagement and CRM space and noted for his track record in building winning teams, Anderson has also held leadership roles at Adobe and Siebel. "Meaningful customer engagement transforms not just the way customers think about a brand, but how they feel about it," said Anderson. "Marketo and its customers sit at the very heart of the Engagement Economy. I'm excited to be able to work closely with the global leadership team, as well as our regional partners and customers, to drive Marketo's leadership in EMEA." Fukuda has been promoted to president, Asia Pacific-Japan, from his current position as representative director and president of Marketo K.K., Marketo's joint venture with Dentsu Digital Inc., and SunBridge Corporation. In his new role, Fukuda will continue to oversee operations in Japan, as well as Marketo's presence in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. Fukuda joined Marketo in 2014 from Salesforce.com, where he served as senior vice president of commercial sales in Japan. He has been instrumental in Marketo's successful entry into the Japanese market, which has included triple-digit revenue growth, numerous strategic partnerships, and unparalleled customer success. To learn more about Marketo's leadership team and the Marketo Engagement Platform, visit www.marketo.com. About Marketo Marketo, Inc., offers the leading Engagement Platform that empowers marketers to create lasting relationships and grow revenue. Consistently recognized as the industry's innovation pioneer, Marketo is the trusted platform for thousands of CMOs thanks to its scalability, reliability, and openness. Marketo is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with offices around the world, and serves as a strategic partner to large enterprise and fast-growing organizations across a wide variety of industries. To learn more about the Marketo Engagement Platform, LaunchPoint partner ecosystem, and the vast community that is the Marketing Nation, visit www.marketo.com. SOURCE Marketo, Inc. SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) today announced that it has appointed Geoffrey J. Craddock as Chief Risk Officer, effective immediately. He reports directly to Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Roger W. Crandall and joins MassMutual from its OppenheimerFunds, Inc. asset management affiliate. Craddock moves into a position previously held by Elizabeth A. Ward prior to her being named MassMutual's Chief Financial Officer, and assumed on an interim basis by Brad Hoffman. As Chief Risk Officer, Craddock will be responsible for identifying and managing global operational and reputational risks across MassMutual and its subsidiaries, while establishing the appropriate strategic priorities for the Enterprise Risk Management function. Hoffman will continue to be a part of MassMutual's Enterprise Risk Management team, reporting to Craddock. "This is an executive leadership role that continues to grow in importance, given our unwavering commitment to protecting the company and policyowners by identifying and managing the increasing risks all major companies face in today's rapidly evolving world," Mr. Crandall said. "In addition to his track record as a highly regarded professional with 20 years of risk management experience, Geoff has a total of 30 years as a financial markets professional making him an ideally suited leader to drive a holistic risk management approach across our organization. We are delighted to welcome him as our new Chief Risk Officer." Craddock began his career in the 1980s in a range of trading and brokerage positions with various investment banks in Europe, including Charterhouse Bank; Banque Indosuez; Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; Paine Webber, and Phillips & Drew. Upon joining OppenheimerFunds in 2008 as Director of Risk Management and following a period of historic financial volatility in markets around the world Craddock played an integral leadership role in successfully advancing the firm's risk management and asset allocation capabilities, including governance structure. Subsequently, he was appointed OppenheimerFunds' Chief Risk Officer in 2010. Immediately prior to his employment at OppenheimerFunds, Craddock was Global Head of Market Risk Management for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) where he oversaw global market risk management for the bank's investment banking, trading and retail activities. He holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management and a BA/MA from Magdalene College, Cambridge, both in the UK. Craddock is a member of the Investment Company Institute, the Global Association of Risk Professionals Risk Managers' Forum and the Risk Management Association. A board member and chair of the National Eating Disorders Association, Craddock is also a board member and Vice President of Magdalene College Foundation and a former senior trustee and deacon of Stanwich Congregational Church in Greenwich, Conn. At OppenheimerFunds, he was the leadership sponsor of the firm's charitable corporate giving program. About MassMutual MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. MassMutual offers a wide range of financial products and services, including life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, annuities, retirement plans and other employee benefits. For more information, visit www.massmutual.com. CONTACT: Jim Lacey (413) 744 2365 [email protected] SOURCE MassMutual Related Links http://www.massmutual.com SAN DIEGO, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Marijuana, Inc. (MJNA), the first publicly traded cannabis company in the United States, today announced that its subsidiary HempMeds Brasil is excited to support the establishment of the Associacao Nacional dos usuarios de Canabidiol (ANUC) Patient Association in Brazil dedicated to connecting patients with cannabis-friendly doctors and continuing to educate the Brazilian medical community and its citizens on the therapeutic uses of cannabis. The Company also applauds the appointment of Franklin Vargas as President of the Patient Association. This new Patient Association in Brazil will offer educational courses on the medical value and therapeutic uses of cannabis, introduce potential cannabis patients to cannabis-friendly doctors and coordinate efforts to donate cannabis products to patients who cannot afford them. "We are excited about the opportunities the establishment of this new ANUC Patient Association will afford to educate a broader number of Brazilian citizens on the plethora of benefits that medical cannabis provides to treat several types of indications, as well as connecting them with doctors that can help," said Chief Executive Officer of Medical Marijuana, Inc. Dr. Stuart Titus. "Brazil is a major market for our Organization and we continue to be impressed with the response of the Country's health authority in their proactive measures to see that products like ours get to those who need it most and the increasing interest health professionals are showing in how they can prescribe CBD hemp oil products to their patients." ANUC Patient Association President, Mr. Vargas, whose niece has been taking the Company's hemp CBD oil product Real Scientific Hemp Oil (RSHO) for the past three years to treat her epileptic seizures, said: "HempMeds Brasil has been instrumental in creating access to medical cannabis in Brazil, and helping treat patients like my niece who suffer from debilitating medical conditions. I am honored to take on this new responsibility as President of the Patient Association, which I believe will help bring relief to more and more families across Brazil with our focus on education and connecting citizens to doctors that can help." HempMeds Brasil is the first company to offer legal medicinal cannabis products to Brazil after receiving import approval to those suffering from specific medical conditions. Most recently in February 2017, for the filling of a prescription for the first time for the Company's hemp CBD oil product RSHO to treat patients in the Country suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. Additionally, doctors in Brazil can prescribe RSHO for any condition and HempMeds Brasil has worked with several cases including patients suffering from: Epilepsy Psoriasis Pain Cancer Parkinson's Alzheimer's Migraine Diabetes Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis About Medical Marijuana, Inc. Our mission is to be the premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate and purchase value-added companies and products, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. We strive to create awareness within our industry, develop environmentally-friendly, economically-sustainable businesses, while increasing shareholder value. For details on Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s portfolio and investment companies, visit www.medicalmarijuanainc.com. About HempMeds Brasil HempMeds Brasil currently has three cannabis products approved for importation into Brazil as a prescription medication for multiple conditions including; Epilepsy, Parkinson's, Chronic Pain, Psoriasis, Cancer, Alzheimer's, Diabetes, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis and Migraines. The company had the first-ever cannabis product allowed for import into Brazil and its products are currently subsidized by the Brazilian government, under their health care system, for all three medical indications listed above. HempMeds Brasil is working on additional approvals for multiple indications. FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES. This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties. The statements in this press release have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. The Company does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act. The Company does sell and distribute hemp-based products. CONTACT: Public Relations Contact: Andrew Hard Chief Executive Officer CMW Media P: 888-829-0070 [email protected] www.cmwmedia.com SOURCE Medical Marijuana, Inc. Related Links http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com MILWAUKEE, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), the nation's first private mortgage insurer, has made its mortgage insurance available through Mortgage Cadence's Enterprise Lending Center loan origination system. The Enterprise Lending Center facilitates lending in all forward and reverse mortgage channels and across all mortgage products, including home equity. Through the MISMO-based integration, customers of Mortgage Cadence's Enterprise Lending Center version 9.0 or later can now request rate quotes for MGIC insurance, submit delegated orders and receive status updates on their MGIC order all without leaving the Enterprise Lending Center platform. Non-delegated mortgage insurance is also available. This automation of data exchange with MGIC reduces the time and increases the accuracy of the loan origination process. "We are pleased to provide our clients with mortgage insurance through MGIC by integration with our Enterprise Lending Center," said Paul Wetzel, Mortgage Cadence's executive vice president of product management. "With this integration, our customers will benefit from easier access to MGIC's product offering." "We're excited to expand our partnership with a technology leader like Mortgage Cadence," said Margaret Crowley, vice president of Marketing and Customer Experience at MGIC. "Our integration demonstrates our continued dedication to providing our mutual customers with a best-in-class loan origination experience." About MGIC MGIC, the principal subsidiary of MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG), this year celebrates 60 years of serving the mortgage finance industry. As the founder of the modern private mortgage insurance industry, MGIC is committed to providing products and services that make originating affordable low-down-payment mortgages options available for the financial institutions served. Fulfilling this vital role helps families achieve homeownership sooner. At August 31, 2017, MGIC had $190.1 billion of primary insurance in force covering over 1 million mortgages. About Mortgage Cadence Mortgage Cadence, a wholly owned subsidiary of Accenture, has been working with lenders since 1999, offering mortgage technology solutions designed for point-of-sale through post-closing. In a time when efficiency, speed and the customer experience are paramount to the success of lenders, Mortgage Cadence offers reliable software and dedicated people, supporting lenders every step of the way. Visit www.mortgagecadence.com for more information. SOURCE MGIC Related Links http://www.mgic.com CAMBRIDGE, England, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Milner Therapeutics Institute at the University of Cambridge announces 65 organisations are now part of their global therapeutic alliance. The alliance includes 7 pharmaceutical companies and 3 Cambridge academic institutions who have signed a consortium agreement, with associated funding, to engage in collaborative research in Cambridge. The latest pharmaceutical company to join the consortium is Janssen Biotech, Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. This arrangement was facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Richard Mason, Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, London said: "We are delighted to work with the Milner Therapeutics Institute to enable collaborative research with Cambridge scientists which will help us to better understand disease processes and identify new drug targets." Professor Tony Kouzarides, Director of the Milner Therapeutics Institute added: "Janssen and Johnson & Johnson Innovation bring great scientific and business insight to the Milner Therapeutics Consortium. We plan to work closely with them to identify relevant research and collaborative partners to help fuel and validate new therapeutic solutions." In addition to the 3 academic institutions in Cambridge, there are now 14 affiliated academic institutions from around the world including Spain, USA, Australia and South Korea. The Milner Therapeutics Institute will connect and enable collaborative research between the affiliated institutions within the alliance. The Milner Therapeutics alliance has 39 affiliated companies, such as product and service providers and SMEs, who have joined the alliance since March 2016 to form a cohesive community to accelerate ideas into therapies. There are 2 affiliated venture partners, Amadeus Capital and Cambridge Innovation Capital who provide mentoring and potential funding opportunities. The alliance is seeking academic and industrial partners to work in all therapeutics areas. For further information on how to join please contact [email protected] . Notes to Editors: About Milner Therapeutics Institute The Milner Therapeutics Institute is a fully integrated Institute of the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge, UK. The Milner Therapeutics Consortium is the outreach programme of the Milner Therapeutics Institute and consists of major pharmaceutical companies, (Astex, AstraZeneca, Elysium Health, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson and Johnson Innovation, Shionogi, Pfizer) and three academic centres (University of Cambridge, Babraham Institute and Sanger Institute). A Consortium agreement is in place to facilitate rapid exchange of reagents and information between partners in all therapeutic areas. Pharmaceutical partners use pre-allocated funds and the Consortium agreement to collaborate with scientists in the academic centres. The Consortium is part of the outreach program of the Milner Therapeutics Institute, which has research laboratories under construction on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus to be completed late in 2018. The Milner Institute affiliated company partnership scheme engages with small and medium size companies that are technology or service providers or have drug development pipelines themselves. There are 39 Affiliated companies including Charles River Laboratories, Amgen and Promega. For more information please see the website http://www.milner.cam.ac.uk. Contact Kathryn Chapman, Executive Manager, Milner Therapeutics Institute Email: [email protected] Phone: +44-(0)-1223-767-111 SOURCE Milner Therapeutics Institute, University of Cambridge, UK FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- It was January 2, 1996 when Dede Hughes, IOM arrived at the offices of the National Association of Women in Construction to take on the job as the Association's Executive Vice President. More than 21 years later, she is retiring from NAWIC. Her tenure officially ended with the conclusion of NAWIC's Annual Meeting and Education Conference, Aug. 16-19. Dede Hughes, IOM retired from NAWIC at the end of August after 21 years as Executive Vice President of NAWIC. Beth Brooks, CAE succeeded Dede Hughes, IOM as NAWIC's Executive Vice President. "We wish Dede Hughes our very best with her retirement from NAWIC," said NAWIC President Catherine Schoenenberger. "She's witnessed and lived much of the her-story of this association, and gave us an incredible foundation on which to build. Thank you Dede for your many years as our Executive Vice President, colleague and friend. We look forward to your role as a 'retired member at large' and your continued passion for NAWIC." NAWIC's Immediate Past President Connie Leipard, CIT, said, "Retirement is an opportunity to experience life in a new way, opening doors to be an influencer in another path. I have no doubt that Dede will enjoy a remarkable retirement, investing in the lives of those around her." Leipard credits Hughes with helping NAWIC attain its current position. She said, "Dede has been solid, steady and wise in guiding NAWIC's board of directors to build a foundation of financial strength and service to members and their employers." "Dede's legacy is built on her commitment and personal belief in the core purpose of NAWIC," Leipard said. "Dede understands the importance of NAWIC, embraced the spirit of the founders of NAWIC and reinforced that message for more than 20 years. It is vitally important for the executive of an association to believe in the power of the mission. Dede continues to display her belief in us." The admiration Association members have for Hughes is mirrored by her feelings for NAWIC. "I have loved NAWIC and its mission from the beginning," said Hughes. "I have the upmost respect for women in the construction industry." Beth Brooks, CAE, will succeed Hughes as NAWIC's EVP. Brooks is a respected association professional and advisor on governance, board orientation and strategic planning. She previously served as the chief executive of the Texas Pest Control Association and the Texas Society of Association Executives. About NAWIC NAWIC is a construction industry association serving approximately 121 chapters across the United States. It was founded in 1953 to enhance the success of women in the construction industry as "Women in Construction of Fort Worth, Texas." In 1955, the charter was expanded to allow chapters to form across the country and the National Association of Women in Construction was born. For more information, please contact Communications Director Autumn Daughetee at (817) 877-5551. Visit NAWIC online at www.nawic.org. Media Contacts: Autumn Daughetee 817-877-5551 [email protected] SOURCE National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Related Links http://www.nawic.org ARCHDALE, N.C., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- After much controversy regarding the content of the Kersey Valley Spookywoods billboards, Fairway Outdoor, who owns the billboards, has made the decision to take down the billboards immediately due to the feedback from drivers. Kersey Valley Spookywoods put up billboards across the NC Triad Region to promote its haunted house. The billboards depict a photo of a young woman with fake blood and barbed wire around her face. Some are saying the photo portrays child abuse and domestic violence. Some are even arguing that it promotes sex trafficking. The design was also approved by Fairway Outdoor Advertising before it went up on their billboards. A representative from the company said there aren't any sort of regulations when it comes to content. They view it as freedom of speech; however, they can deny a design if they feel that it's necessary. Spooky Woods supporters say it's fitting for Halloween time, and it is clearly a billboard for a Haunted House. The girl underneath this costume is Sydney Parks, a Kersey Valley Employee. Her character is a product of the Spookywoods Lab, run by Matt Patterson. "Just to assure everyone, I'm 21," Sydney said. "I'm not being abused or you know, forced to do anything." Patterson says the barbed wire around her face is plastic and that the rest is simply makeup. It's a fictional character and the folks at Spookywoods say it's just the nature of the business. "She's not a victim, she's a protagonist in the show," Patterson explained. "If you look at the way the makeup is done, she's snarling her face, she's in attack mode." He also said they put it on the public to pick the image on the billboard. Their social media following voted on the image they went with. North Carolina residents are encouraged to make up their own mind when it comes to the advertising of Kersey Valley Spookywoods this Halloween. To learn more visit http://spookywoods.com. CONTACT: Lynn Holloway l[email protected] (336) 402-4404 Related Images image1.jpg SOURCE Kersey Valley Spookywoods Related Links http://spookywoods.com NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New York City's public hospital system is the city's essential safety net provider and important for the survival of private hospitals. But according to a new report to the New York State Nurses Association by two leading policy experts, Barbara Caress and James Parrott, public hospitals are forced to operate without fair and equal funding. Last year alone, the NYC public hospital system treated and served almost five million out-patient visits and over 200 thousand in-patient admissions, many of them shunned by private hospitals. The study stresses that the survival of private hospitals depends on public hospitals accepting patients of any socioeconomic level, and concludes that something must be done to fix the inequality in how New York City's public and private medical facilities share the costs and revenues of medical care. The report, On Restructuring the NYC Health + Hospitals CorporationPreserving and Expanding Access to Care for All New Yorkers provides an analysis of the critical role that the city's public hospital networkthe New York City Health + Hospitals Corporation (NYC H+H)plays in New York's broader healthcare framework, its relationship to private hospital networks, and the reasons behind its current financial difficulties. According to the report, NYC H+H picks up costs and services that private hospitals try to avoid, including: a disproportionate share of care for the un- and under-insured, extensive Level 1 trauma capacity, substance abuse and psychiatric services, and many other unreimbursed or underfunded medical services. Private hospitals, in turn, benefit from the public hospitals picking up these costly services, allowing them to focus on building their market share and serving profitable patient populations with private insurance. As a result, the combined net revenues (profits) for the five major private hospital networks operating in New York City were nearly $900 million in 2016, more than one-third greater than the year before. And despite their tax-exemption status, the five private networks reported that over 100 executives were compensated in excess of $1 million each in 2015. The report states, "It is, in part, the very existence of NYC H+H that enables the large private hospital networks to operate with huge surpluses." According to the report, the city's public hospital network is, "a vital safety net provider for New Yorkers who might otherwise not have access to healthcare services that the private sector cannot or will not take on." "Our report," said co-author and New York health policy expert and Baruch professor Barbara Caress, "describes a public hospital system with financial problems that are a direct consequence of who they serve and of the unwillingness of most private sector hospitals to take care of these patients." New York City projects that NYC H+H will face a deficit of $1.6 billion by 2019 and $1.8 billion by 2020 despite the fact that the city has raised its annual level of financial support. According to the report, the city's public hospitals receive high marks for quality, scoring in the top half of all NYC hospitals. NYC H+H's cost structure also compares favorably to the private hospital network, yet the system loses money because the services it provides are not fairly reimbursed by the state or federal governments. More than 1.1 million New Yorkers received care at one of the 11 NYC public hospitals in 2016, about 20% of all inpatient discharges. But half or more of uninsured New Yorkers who sought medical care went to a public hospital, including 31 percent of all ER visits and 80 percent of hospital clinic visits. The report was prepared for the New York State Nurses Association. NYSNA Executive Director Jill Furillo said, "Our extraordinary nurses in New York City's 11 public hospitals know the value of their work, their commitment to patients, their advocacy, and the results they achieve. With this study comes in-depth support for their work. This study shows that our public hospital system must be strengthened and supported, not criticized and undercut." The report concludes by calling for consideration of the fundamental role of NYC H+H within the broader health system, and cautions that any restructuring of the NYC H+H system must take into account the interplay of the public and private hospitals in providing needed health care at that broader level. "The Mayor has demonstrated a strong commitment to H+H, its patients, and its workforce," said report co-author James Parrott, Director of Economic and Fiscal Policies at The New School's Center for New York City Affairs. "As the city grapples with a path forward, given these daunting fiscal challenges, it needs to be mindful of how the healthcare landscape has changed, and it needs to have an appreciation for the real cost-effectiveness of care provided by H+H given its role as the provider-of-first-resort for so many vulnerable New Yorkers. H+H hospitals are not more costly, they just bear more of the costs." To read the full report, visit: http://bit.ly/2x4U5TR About the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) The New York State Nurses Association is a union of 40,000 frontline nurses standing together for strength at work, our practice, safe staffing, and healthcare for all. We are New York's largest union and professional association for registered nurses. Learn more at www.nysna.org. SOURCE New York State Nurses Association Related Links http://www.nysna.org 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. NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Genetic changes that help lung cancer thrive also make it vulnerable to a promising experimental drug, according to a study led by researchers from Perlmutter Cancer at NYU Langone Health, and published online October 2 in Nature Medicine. Specifically, the study found that mutations in the DNA code for the gene KEAP1 help lung adenocarcinoma cells counter a process called oxidative stress, in which molecules known as reactive oxygen species (ROS) are created as a side effect of "burning" fuel to make energy. Cancer cells need extra fuel to support abnormal growth, produce more ROS, and depend more for survival on naturally occurring antioxidants that keep ROS from damaging cell parts. The new study confirmed that mutations that weaken KEAP1 function lead to greater production of antioxidants. It also found that KEAP1 mutations create vulnerability in cancer cells when combined with changes in the gene KRAS, which cause cancer cells to multiply aggressively. The vulnerability found by the new study reflects the ability of lung adenocarcinoma cells to use extra fuel sources in support of abnormal growth. Along with the blood sugar that most cells use, cancer cells also break down a compound called glutamate to make energy, say the study authors. At the same time, such cells also expel glutamate as part of a process that supports the building of antioxidants. Importantly, cancer cells cannot both break down for energy, and expel, the same molecule of glutamate. Recognizing this "competition" for glutamate as a weakness, the research team showed that the experimental drug CB-389 stopped tumor growth in mice with KRAS and KEAP1 mutations by cutting off the glutamate supply. Because adenocarcinoma cells with KEAP1 mutations used up so much glutamate to enable antioxidant production, they did not have enough to fuel aggressive, KRAS-driven growth. Consequently, they starved. "Our study results suggest that a drug currently in clinical trials may be more effective against cancers with combined KRAS and KEAP1 mutations, which represents perhaps ten percent of patients diagnosed each year with lung adenocarcinoma or 9,000 patients per year," says corresponding study author Thales Papagiannakopoulos, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at NYU School of Medicine. First of Many Vulnerabilities To make their discovery, the research team used the revolutionary gene editing system called CRISPR-Cas9. Using a virus to introduce this system into mouse lung cells, the investigators made their desired genetic changes in months instead of the years needed for conventional gene targeting. The team then disabled the KEAP1 gene in lung cancer cells that already had KRAS mutations, and metabolic tests confirmed the glutamate supply vulnerability this process created. Drug screens subsequently revealed that the Phase I clinical trial drug, CB-839, might be especially useful against cells with this combination of mutations. Moving forward, Papagiannakopoulos says he has approached Calithera, the company developing CB-839, about the possibility of testing whether the drug is more effective in patients with KRAS and KEAP1 mutations. Beyond lung cancer, a second study published this week by the same team in the journal eLife found that KEAP-1 mutations might also make glutaminase inhibitors such as CB-839 more effective against other cancers, including melanoma, bone cancer, kidney cancer, urinary tract cancer, and colon cancer. KRAS and KEAP1 represent just two on the team's list of the 18 most commonly mutated genes in lung adenocarcinoma. The researchers plan to work down the list, confirming the contribution of mutations in each gene to cancer cell survival, revealing related metabolic dependencies, and screening for drugs that may leverage them. About 222,500 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed each year, according to the American Cancer Society. About 40 percent of lung cancers are adenocarcinomas, which start in cells that would normally secrete mucus. Along with Papagiannakopoulos, study authors in the Department of Pathology at the NYU School of Medicine were Simranjit Singh, Sarah LeBoeuf, Volkan Sayin, and Britney Martinez. Study authors from the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were Rodrigo Romero, Shawn Davidson, Matthew Bauer, Donald Ellis, Arjun Bhutkar, Francisco Sanchez-Rivera, Lakshmipriya Subbaraj, Matthew Vander Heiden, and co-corresponding author Tyler Jacks, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Also making important contributions were Roderick Bronson of Tufts University and Harvard Medical School; Justin Prigge and Edward Schmidt in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Montana State University; and Craig Thomas at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Chemical Genomics Center in Bethesda. This work was supported in part by the Koch Institute Support grant P30-CA14051 from the National Cancer Institute, NIH grant K22CA201088-01), National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship grant 1122374, EMBO Long Term Fellowship ALTF 1451-2015 co-funded by the European Commission (LTCOFUND2013, GA-2013-609409) with support from Marie Curie Actions, Cancer Center Support Grant P30-CA14051. Additional support was provided by the American Cancer Society, Hope Funds for Cancer Research, the Swedish Medical Research Council, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. CONTACT: Gregory Williams, 212-404-3500, [email protected] SOURCE NYU Langone Health Eight diamond drill rigs are now active at the Arrow Deposit and South Arrow with infill, step-out and exploration drilling underway. In addition, one sonic drill rig testing subsurface conditions as part of the pre-feasibility geotechnical study has successfully completed its work. Additional geotechnical drilling continues utilizing a diamond drill rig. Initial geotechnical drilling discovered an interval of semi-massive pitchblende mineralization 130 m northwest and up-dip from the A1 mineral resource domain. A3 High Grade Domain Infill Drilling Infill hole AR-17-147c3 intersected 79.5 m of total composite mineralization including 17.35 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 114.5 m section (542.0 to 656.5 m). This intersection is the most extensive off-scale radioactivity intersected in the A3 shear to date (see Figure 1). intersected including (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 114.5 m section (542.0 to 656.5 m). This intersection is the intersected in the (see Figure 1). Infill hole AR-17-147c4 intersected 67.5 m of total composite mineralization including 5.45 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 182.0 m section (588.0 to 770.0 m). intersected including (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 182.0 m section (588.0 to 770.0 m). Infill hole AR-17-155c2 intersected 41.0 m of total composite mineralization including 5.15 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 100.0 m section (486.5 to 586.5 m). Expansion in the Southwest and Northeast Gaps In the resource growth areas of the southwest and northeast gaps, broad zones of mineralization including off-scale radioactivity have been intersected throughout (Figure 2). Step-out hole AR-17-129c5 intersected 71.0 m of total composite mineralization including 5.85 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 295.0 m section (616.5 to 911.5 m) in the A2 through A5 shears in the northeast gap . intersected including (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 295.0 m section (616.5 to 911.5 m) in the A2 through A5 shears in the . Step-out hole AR-17-156c1 intersected 38.0 m of total composite mineralization including 3.0 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 30,500 cps) within a 87.0 m section (657.0 to 744.0 m) in the A3 and A4 shears in the southwest gap . intersected including (>10,000 to 30,500 cps) within a 87.0 m section (657.0 to 744.0 m) in the A3 and A4 shears in the . Step-out hole AR-17-146c2 intersected 36.0 m of total composite mineralization including 2.55 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 121.0 m section (661.5 to 782.5 m) in the A3 and A4 shears in the southwest gap. Geotechnical Drilling Geotechnical drilling testing subsurface conditions as part of the pre-feasibility study has intersected uranium mineralization northwest of the A1 shear indicating the potential for additional shears to the northwest (see Figure 3). Geotechnical hole GAR-17-001 intersected 34.5 m of total composite mineralization including 0.9 m of continuous off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 54,000 cps) within a 265.5 m section (272.0 to 537.5 m). Arrow Activities & Financial The eight diamond drill rig summer development and exploration program consisting of an expanded 35,000 m of drilling continues to be fully operational. Multiple advanced technical studies including geotechnical drilling, hydrogeological work, environmental and metallurgy are underway. The Company has cash on hand of approximately $185 million . Longitudinal sections, a cross section view of GAR-17-001, and drill hole locations are shown in Figures 1 to 4. Garrett Ainsworth, Vice-President, Exploration and Development, commented: "The summer drill program's objectives of increasing indicated mineral resources through infill, and inferred mineral resources through step-outs continue to be achieved. An important characteristic of the basement-hosted Arrow Deposit is its high degree of continuity in grade and thickness, which continues to be observed across the Deposit including in the A3 High Grade Domain where we expect a high conversion of inferred to indicated mineral resources. Expansion is also clearly evident through step-out drilling in the A4 shear, southwest and northeast gaps as well as the potential for a new shear to the northwest of the A1. Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "These latest results which include the most extensive off-scale mineralization seen to date in the A3 shear highlights considerable future drilling is required to determine the full extent of Arrow. Infill drilling continues to demonstrate the intensity of mineralization often increases which is significant from a mine optimization planning perspective. Further, pre-feasibility study programs incorporating advanced engineering and environmental work is in full flight. Together, with the increase in drilling focus on the exciting South Arrow Discovery, NexGen is at an exciting stage of development." Table 1: Arrow Deposit Drill Hole Data Drill Hole Athabasca Group - Basement Unconformity Depth (m) Handheld Scintillometer Results (RS-120) Hole ID Azimuth Dip Total Depth (m) From (m) To (m) Width (m) CPS Range AR-17-129c5 327 -70 960.50 N/A 616.50 617.00 0.50 <500 - 570 655.00 657.50 2.50 <500 - 2500 692.50 693.00 0.50 4600 - >61000 728.50 730.00 1.50 <500 - 10500 740.00 740.50 0.50 <500 - 9100 748.50 751.50 3.00 <500 - 22000 754.00 754.50 0.50 <500 - 9400 757.50 761.00 3.50 <500 - >61000 766.00 774.00 8.00 <500 - >61000 777.50 781.00 3.50 <500 - >61000 784.50 789.50 5.00 <500 - 5000 793.00 800.00 7.00 <500 - 2800 803.50 804.00 0.50 <500 - 700 812.00 814.50 2.50 <500 - 2500 851.50 875.00 23.50 <500 - 57000 878.50 879.00 0.50 <500 - 1100 882.00 888.50 6.50 <500 - 13000 891.50 892.00 0.50 <500 - 2200 901.50 902.00 0.50 <500 - 1100 911.00 911.50 0.50 <500 - 580 AR-17-129c6 327 -70 876.50 N/A 595.00 595.50 0.50 <500 - 830 710.50 711.00 0.50 <500 - 680 735.50 736.00 0.50 <500 - 820 778.00 778.50 0.50 <500 - 740 817.00 817.50 0.50 <500 - 550 AR-17-129c7 327 -70 960.50 N/A 650.00 650.50 0.50 <500 - 780 668.00 669.00 1.00 <500 - 670 675.50 678.50 3.00 <500 - 36000 704.50 705.50 1.00 <500 - 8700 731.00 731.50 0.50 <500 - 55000 736.00 737.00 1.00 <500 - 660 765.50 766.00 0.50 <500 - 650 783.00 789.00 6.00 <500 - 58000 791.50 795.00 3.50 <500 - 1500 804.00 804.50 0.50 <500 - 2100 807.00 813.00 6.00 <500 - 3600 815.50 818.50 3.00 <500 - 1500 829.50 831.00 1.50 <500 - 2000 856.50 857.00 0.50 <500 - 1400 AR-17-143c2 147 -70 729.50 N/A 562.00 562.50 0.50 <500 - 1400 AR-17-143c3 147 -70 974.00 N/A 662.00 664.00 2.00 <500 - 1300 668.00 673.00 5.00 <500 - 4500 677.00 677.50 0.50 <500 - 1000 682.00 699.00 17.00 <500 - 11000 702.00 704.50 2.50 <500 - 1600 712.00 713.50 1.50 <500 - 3500 742.50 743.00 0.50 <500 - 2600 772.50 773.00 0.50 <500 - 2600 813.00 813.50 0.50 <500 - 790 856.00 860.00 4.00 <500 - 1300 863.50 864.00 0.50 <500 - 830 866.50 868.50 2.00 <500 - 3100 885.50 886.00 0.50 <500 - 670 924.00 928.00 4.00 <500 - 37000 930.50 934.00 3.50 <500 - >61000 938.00 938.50 0.50 600 - 3900 AR-17-146c1 327 -70 910.50 110.40 630.50 631.50 1.00 <500 - 11000 686.00 688.00 2.00 <500 - 45000 691.00 695.00 4.00 <500 - 7800 697.50 703.00 5.50 <500 - 2000 705.50 709.50 4.00 <500 - 5800 721.50 732.00 10.50 <500 - 15000 734.50 735.50 1.00 <500 - 2500 739.50 744.00 4.50 <500 - 2300 754.00 755.50 1.50 <500 - 3000 765.50 768.50 3.00 <500 - 3100 795.50 797.00 1.50 <500 - 800 AR-17-146c2 327 -70 907.00 N/A 661.50 663.00 1.50 <500 - 10100 687.00 688.00 1.00 <500 - 550 694.50 699.00 4.50 <500 - 9100 704.50 705.50 1.00 700 - 6300 736.50 739.50 3.00 <500 - 830 742.00 742.50 0.50 <500 - 1200 747.50 763.50 16.00 <500 - 37000 767.00 772.50 5.50 <500 - 1450 777.00 778.00 1.00 <500 - 30000 780.50 782.50 2.00 <500 - >61000 AR-17-146c3 327 -70 993.50 N/A 677.00 677.50 0.50 <500 - 700 709.00 709.50 0.50 <500 - 2300 722.50 723.50 1.00 <500 - 9200 728.00 732.50 4.50 <500 - 2200 744.00 745.00 1.00 <500 - 2100 753.00 763.00 10.00 <500 - 15000 765.50 768.00 2.50 <500 - 1160 770.50 772.50 2.00 <500 - 1250 777.00 777.50 0.50 <500 - 550 783.50 784.00 0.50 <500 - 1200 789.00 804.50 15.50 <500 - 12600 807.00 819.50 12.50 <500 - 7300 825.50 826.00 0.50 <500 - 560 912.50 913.00 0.50 <500 - 540 946.00 946.50 0.50 <500 - 950 954.00 956.00 2.00 <500 - 1170 964.00 964.50 0.50 <500 - 1440 AR-17-147c1 327 -70 621.50 133.90 454.00 454.50 0.50 <500 - 3000 492.50 495.50 3.00 <500 - 50000 510.00 511.00 1.00 <500 - 11000 515.00 515.50 0.50 <500 - 1800 521.00 525.00 4.00 <500 - 45000 532.50 536.50 4.00 <500 - 24400 541.50 545.00 3.50 <500 - 25500 556.50 567.50 11.00 <500 - >61000 572.00 573.00 1.00 <500 - 9000 576.00 592.00 16.00 <500 - >61000 599.00 599.50 0.50 <500 - 1400 606.00 607.00 1.00 <500 - 1200 AR-17-147c2 327 -70 660.50 133.90 454.50 455.00 0.50 <500 - 1300 498.50 499.50 1.00 1000 - 12000 530.00 530.50 0.50 700 - 10300 534.00 534.50 0.50 <500 - 7000 544.50 549.50 5.00 <500 - 25000 560.00 563.00 3.00 <500 - 22000 566.00 569.00 3.00 <500 - 6300 580.50 581.50 1.00 <500 - 550 592.00 593.00 1.00 <500 - 5500 605.00 612.50 7.50 <500 - 58000 618.50 619.00 0.50 <500 - 1000 624.00 626.00 2.00 <500 - 1800 629.50 630.50 1.00 <500 - 650 AR-17-147c3 327 -70 682.50 133.90 454.50 455.50 1.00 <500 - 2000 499.50 501.00 1.50 <500 - 12000 515.50 516.00 0.50 <500 - 530 528.50 529.50 1.00 <500 - 9500 536.50 539.50 3.00 <500 - 3000 542.00 543.00 1.00 <500 - 2500 546.50 552.00 5.50 <500 - 18600 554.50 563.50 9.00 <500 - 23000 573.00 573.50 0.50 <500 - 540 579.50 587.00 7.50 <500 - 43000 597.50 648.50 51.00 <500 - >61000 651.50 656.50 5.00 <500 - 1200 AR-17-147c4 327 -70 870.50 133.90 522.50 527.00 4.50 <500 - 9950 529.50 530.00 0.50 <500 - 4600 560.00 561.50 1.50 <500 - 11000 574.00 574.50 0.50 <500 - 670 588.00 593.50 5.50 <500 - 18000 614.50 615.50 1.00 <500 - 2000 618.00 626.00 8.00 <500 - 37000 628.50 630.00 1.50 <500 - 20000 632.50 648.00 15.50 <500 - >61000 655.00 660.50 5.50 <500 - 1360 668.00 668.50 0.50 <500 - 760 691.00 691.50 0.50 <500 - 750 695.00 696.00 1.00 <500 - 1100 713.00 715.00 2.00 <500 - 1100 717.50 723.50 6.00 <500 - 1700 729.00 732.00 3.00 <500 - 1800 752.50 770.00 17.50 <500 - 7600 792.50 794.50 2.00 <500 - 2550 804.50 814.00 9.50 <500 - 16000 848.50 853.00 4.50 <500 - 760 AR-17-148c1 327 -70 1054.00 N/A 505.00 505.50 0.50 <500 - 1200 682.00 682.50 0.50 <500 - 1200 689.00 690.00 1.00 <500 - 1700 699.50 711.00 11.50 <500 - >61000 733.00 735.50 2.50 <500 - 5500 756.50 757.00 0.50 <500 - 700 759.50 765.50 6.00 <500 - 1900 768.50 771.50 3.00 <500 - 1200 774.00 777.00 3.00 <500 - 3500 791.00 794.00 3.00 <500 - 570 797.00 798.50 1.50 <500 - 900 802.00 805.50 3.50 <500 - 27000 808.50 815.50 7.00 <500 - 24000 969.50 973.00 3.50 <500 - 600 976.00 977.50 1.50 <500 - 1100 980.50 981.00 0.50 <500 - 580 983.50 984.00 0.50 <500 - 530 990.50 991.50 1.00 <500 - 600 AR-17-148c2 327 -70 1044.50 N/A 693.50 694.00 0.50 <500 - 980 705.50 706.00 0.50 <500 - 4700 711.50 712.50 1.00 <500 - 3400 715.00 715.50 0.50 <500 - 700 718.50 729.50 11.00 <500 - 10500 739.50 741.50 2.00 <500 - 2600 746.00 747.00 1.00 <500 - 1400 753.00 754.00 1.00 <500 - 1000 757.00 768.00 11.00 <500 - 1400 777.00 777.50 0.50 <500 - 630 788.00 789.00 1.00 530 - 2100 791.50 795.00 3.50 <500 - 770 805.50 806.00 0.50 <500 - 530 816.50 817.00 0.50 <500 - 1000 827.00 827.50 0.50 <500 - 540 831.50 837.00 5.50 <500 - 15000 841.00 841.50 0.50 <500 - 820 879.50 880.50 1.00 <500 - 1000 894.50 895.00 0.50 <500 - 1000 907.50 908.00 0.50 <500 - 1000 934.50 938.50 4.00 <500 - 1300 942.00 942.50 0.50 <500 - 630 945.50 946.00 0.50 <500 - 650 950.00 953.50 3.50 <500 - 1100 AR-17-149c1 345 -70 1014.50 134.90 618.50 619.50 1.00 <500 - 4400 627.00 630.50 3.50 <500 - 4800 636.00 636.50 0.50 <500 - 1400 643.00 647.50 4.50 <500 - 29000 693.00 701.50 8.50 <500 - 1390 713.50 720.00 6.50 <500 - 48000 764.00 765.00 1.00 <500 - 850 794.00 795.50 1.50 <500 - 7000 798.50 799.50 1.00 <500 - 3000 859.00 860.00 1.00 <500 - 750 869.00 873.50 4.50 <500 - 7000 AR-17-149c2 345 -70 897.50 134.90 623.00 625.00 2.00 <500 - 52000 638.00 638.50 0.50 <500 - 700 670.00 670.50 0.50 <500 - 1300 674.00 674.50 0.50 <500 - 880 679.50 680.00 0.50 <500 - 730 688.50 699.50 11.00 <500 - 13000 731.50 735.00 3.50 <500 - 12600 763.00 765.00 2.00 <500 - 6500 AR-17-154c1 327 -70 854 120.6 419.00 419.50 0.50 <500 - 680 594.00 594.50 0.50 <500 - 1800 598.00 598.50 0.50 <500 - 3360 606.50 607.00 0.50 <500 - 850 613.00 616.50 3.50 <500 - 8700 626.00 628.00 2.00 <500 - 1600 633.50 637.00 3.50 <500 - 1000 643.00 643.50 0.50 <500 - 510 646.00 646.50 0.50 <500 - 505 678.00 679.00 1.00 <500 - 3600 703.50 704.00 0.50 <500 - 1600 706.50 708.00 1.50 <500 - 3600 717.00 733.50 16.50 <500 - >61000 736.50 737.50 1.00 <500 - 900 AR-17-154c2 327 -70 849.5 120.6 612.00 612.50 0.50 <500 - 1400 620.50 621.00 0.50 <500 - 510 737.50 738.00 0.50 <500 - 2200 AR-17-155c1 327 -70 828.5 128.6 422.50 423.50 1.00 <500 - 1000 426.00 426.50 0.50 <500 - 550 430.00 431.00 1.00 <500 - 2200 505.00 505.50 0.50 <500 - 810 509.50 510.00 0.50 800 - 18000 513.50 518.00 4.50 <500 - 12000 520.50 524.00 3.50 <500 - 13000 531.00 532.00 1.00 <500 - 25000 536.50 537.50 1.00 <500 - 6800 547.00 556.50 9.50 <500 - 23000 577.00 577.50 0.50 <500 - 2800 584.00 586.00 2.00 <500 - 4700 589.50 590.00 0.50 <500 - 900 606.00 615.00 9.00 <500 - 1600 620.00 630.00 10.00 <500 - 1200 637.00 637.50 0.50 <500 - 510 646.50 647.00 0.50 <500 - 520 681.00 690.00 9.00 <500 - 3100 693.00 698.00 5.00 <500 - 6300 702.50 703.00 0.50 <500 - 2200 705.50 706.50 1.00 <500 - 1550 723.00 723.50 0.50 <500 - 780 733.00 734.50 1.50 <500 - 2800 AR-17-155c2 327 -70 600.5 128.6 458.50 459.50 1.00 <500 - 920 463.00 464.00 1.00 <500 - 3200 466.50 477.50 11.00 <500 - 37000 480.00 481.50 1.50 <500 - 2400 486.50 487.00 0.50 <500 - 5350 490.00 492.00 2.00 <500 - 21000 501.00 501.50 0.50 <500 - 510 504.00 505.00 1.00 <500 - 21000 511.50 515.00 3.50 <500 - 16000 519.00 520.00 1.00 <500 - 2600 522.50 530.00 7.50 <500 - 49600 534.00 534.50 0.50 <500 - 1900 537.00 538.50 1.50 <500 - 6000 542.50 545.00 2.50 <500 - 3200 551.00 552.00 1.00 <500 - 3600 560.50 578.00 17.50 <500 - >61000 584.50 586.50 2.00 <500 - 950 AR-17-1556c1 327 -70 858.5 N/A 657.50 662.00 4.50 <500 - 12900 664.50 665.00 0.50 <500 - 1300 671.50 674.00 2.50 <500 - 21000 676.50 703.00 26.50 <500 - 30500 707.50 711.00 3.50 <500 - 3600 743.50 744.00 0.50 <500 - 560 GAR-17-001 327 -70 597.1 115 272.00 277.00 5.00 <500 - 1150 280.00 301.00 21.00 <500 - 2300 417.50 419.50 2.00 <500 - 700 493.50 494.00 0.50 <500 - 700 531.50 537.50 6.00 <500 - 54000 Parameters: Maximum internal dilution 2.00 m downhole All depths and intervals are meters downhole, true thicknesses are yet to be determined. Resource modelling in conjunction with an updated mineral resource estimate is required before true thicknesses can be estimated. "Anomalous" means >500 cps (counts per second) total count gamma readings by gamma scintillometer type RS-120 "Off-scale" means >10,000 cps (counts per second) total count gamma readings by gamma scintillometer type RS-120 Where "Min cps" is <500 cps, this refers to local low radiometric zones within the overall radioactive interval Arrow Deposit Drilling AR-17-129c5 Hole AR-17-129c5 was a directional hole that departed its pilot hole at a depth of 471 m. This step-out hole was designed to test the A4 shear approximately 50 m up-dip of AR-17-129c1. Directional drilling was initiated at 486 m. The A3 and A4 shears were both intersected at an inclination of -60. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A3 and A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A3 and A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation, and fracture-controlled mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 71.0 m including 5.85 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 295.0 m section (616.5 to 911.5 m). In the A3 shear, 49.0 m of composite mineralization including 2.35 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 17.0 m of composite mineralization including 3.1 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. An additional 1.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected in the A2 shear and 3.5 m of composite mineralization including 0.4 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected in the A5 shear. The hole was terminated at 960.5 m. AR-17-129c6 Hole AR-17-129c6 was a directional hole that departed its pilot hole at a depth of 504 m. This step-out hole was designed to test A4 shear 50 m down-dip and northeast of AR-15-57c2. Directional drilling was initiated at 516 m. The A4 shear was intersected at an inclination of -64. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A3 and A4 shears). Anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A4 shear in association with disseminated and fracture-controlled uranium mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 2.5 m was intersected within a 222.5 m section (595.0 to 817.5 m). In the A4 shear, 2.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. An additional 0.5 m of mineralization was intersected in the A5 shear. The hole was terminated at 876.5 m. AR-17-129c7 Hole AR-17-129c7 was a directional hole that departed its pilot hole at a depth of 255 m. This step-out hole was designed to test A4 shear 15 m up-dip and northeast of AR-15-57c3. Directional drilling was initiated at 268 m. The A3 and A4 shears were intersected at an inclination of -64. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A3 and A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A3 and A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation, and fracture-controlled mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 28.5 m including 1.4 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >58,000 cps) was intersected within a 207.0 m section (650.0 to 857.0 m). In the A3 shear, 11.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A4 shear, 12.5 m of composite mineralization including 1.3 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. An additional 4.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected in the A5 shear including 0.1 m of off-scale radioactivity. The hole was terminated at 960.5 m. AR-17-143c2 Hole AR-17-143c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-143c1 at a depth of 204 m. This step-out hole was designed to the southwest gap 50 m up-dip of AR-17-143c1. Directional drilling was initiated at 219 m. The A4 shear was intersected at an inclination of -68. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A4 shear). Anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A4 shear in association with disseminated uranium mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 0.5 m was intersected in the A4 shear. The hole was terminated at 729.5 m. AR-17-143c3 Hole AR-17-143c3 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-143c2 at a depth of 221 m. This step-out hole was designed to the southwest gap 50 down dip of AR-17-143c1. Directional drilling was initiated at 231 m. The A4 shear was intersected at an inclination of -72. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A4 and A5 shears). Anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A4 and A5 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 45.0 m including 1.45 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 276.5 m section (662.0 to 938.5 m). In the A4 shear, 29.5 m of composite mineralization including 0.15 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A5 shear, 15.5 m of composite mineralization including 1.3 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at 974 m. AR-17-146c1 Hole AR-17-146c1 was a step-out hole collared from surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 Azimuth). The hole was designed to test the southwest gap 50 m up-dip and northeast of AR-16-103. Directional drilling was initiated at 201 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -62. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at 110.4 m which consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (A3 and A4 shears). Athabasca Group sandstones were not intersected. Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A3 and A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 38.5 m including 0.5 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 45,000 cps) was intersected within a 166.5 m section (630.5 to 797.0 m). In the A3 shear, 36.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.4 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 1.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.1 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. An additional 1.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected in the A2 shear. The hole was terminated at 910.5 m. AR-17-146c2 Hole AR-17-146c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-146c1 at a depth of 331 m. This step-out hole was designed to test the southwest gap 50 m down-dip and northeast of AR-16-103. Directional drilling was initiated at 348 m. The A3 and A4 shears were both intersected at inclinations of -66. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A3 and A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A3 and A4 shears in association with disseminated, fracture, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 36.0 m including 2.55 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 121 m section (661.5 to 782.5 m). In the A3 shear, 28.0 m of composite mineralization including 2.5 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 8.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.05 of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at 907.0 m. AR-17-146c3 Hole AR-17-146c3 was a directional hole that departed hole AR-17-146c2 at a depth of 481 m. This step-out hole was designed to test the southwest gap 90 m down-dip and northeast of AR-16-103. Directional drilling was initiated at 496 m. The A3 and A4 shears were both intersected at inclinations of -69. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 through A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A2 through the A4 shears in association with disseminated, fracture, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 55.0 m including 0.45 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 15,000 cps) was intersected within a 287.5 m section (677.0 to 964.5 m). In the A2 shear, 3.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A3 shear, 44.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.45 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 7.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. The hole was terminated at 993.5 m. AR-17-147c1 Hole AR-17-147c1 was a directional hole collared from surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 azimuth). This infill hole was designed to test the A3 shear 30 m down-dip and northeast of AR-17-121c1. Directional drilling was initiated at 201 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -65. Strongly bleached Athabasca Group sandstone was intersected from 123.1 m to the unconformity at 133.9 m. Basement lithologies consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (A3 and A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A3 and A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, foliation-controlled, and semi-massive pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 46.0 m including 5.1 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 153.0 m section (454.0 to 607.0 m). In the A3 shear, 41.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 4.3 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A4 shear, 5.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.8 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at 621.5 m. AR-17-147c2 Hole AR-17-147c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-147c1 at a depth of 432 m. This infill hole was designed to test the A3 shear 25 m below AR-17-147c1. Directional drilling was initiated at 441 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -69. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (A3 and A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A3 and A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, and semi-massive pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 26.5 m including 4.8 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 58,000 cps) was intersected within a 176 m section (454.5 to 630.5 m). In the A3 shear, 25.0 m of composite mineralization including 4.6 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 1.5 m of composite mineralization including 0.2 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at 660.5 m. AR-17-147c3 Hole AR-17-147c3 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-147c2 at a depth of 448 m. This infill hole was designed to test the A3 shear 25 m below AR-17-147c2. Directional drilling was initiated at 458 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -73. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (A3 and A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A3 and A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, foliation-controlled, and semi-massive pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 86.5 m including 17.45 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 202 m section (454.5 to 656.5 m). In the A3 shear, 79.5 m of composite mineralization including 17.35 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 7.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.1 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at 682.5 m. AR-17-147c4 Hole AR-17-147c4 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-147c1 at a depth of 210 m. This infill hole was designed to test the A3 shear 25 m below AR-17-147c3. Directional drilling was initiated at 222 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -72. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 through A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A2 through A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 90.5 m including 5.7 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 330.5 m section (522.5 to 853.0 m). In the A2 shear, 16.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.15 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A3 shear, 67.5 m of composite mineralization including 5.45 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 7.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.1 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at 870.5 m. AR-17-148c1 Hole AR-17-148c1 was a directional hole collared from the surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 azimuth). This step-out hole was designed to the southwest gap 50 m below AR-16-103. Directional drilling was initiated at 300 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -69. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at 108.0 m which dominantly consist of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 through A4 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A2 through A4 shears in association with disseminated, foliation-controlled, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 50.5 m including 2.0 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 486.5 m section (505.0 to 991.5 m). In the A2 shear, 7.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A3 shear, 15.0 m of composite mineralization including 1.0 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 28.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 1.0 m of off-scale radioactivity. An additional 0.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected in the A5 shear. The hole was terminated at a depth of 1054.0 m. AR-17-148c2 Hole AR-17-148c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-148c1 at a depth of 628 m. This step-out hole was designed to the southwest gap 100 m down-dip of AR-16-103. Directional drilling was initiated at 642 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -76.Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (A3 and A4 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A3 and A4 shears in association with disseminated, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 51.5 m including 0.2 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 15,000 cps) was intersected within a 260 m section (693.5 to 953.5 m). In the A3 shear, 10.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A4 shear, 41.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.2 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at a depth of 1044.5 m. AR-17-149c1 Hole AR-17-149c1 was a directional hole collared from the surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (345 Azimuth). It was a step-out hole designed to test the northeast gap 110 m down-dip and northeast of AR-17-116c2. Directional drilling was initiated at 201 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -68.The hole intersected bleached Athabasca Group sandstones between 122.0 m and the unconformity at 134.9 m. Basement lithologies dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 and A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A2 and A3 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation-controlled, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 33.5 m including 0.95 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 48,000 cps) was intersected within a 255 m section (618.5 to 873.5 m). In the A2 shear, 9.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A3 shear, 24.5 m of composite mineralization including 0.95 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at a depth of 1014.5 m. AR-17-149c2 Hole AR-17-149c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-149c1 at a depth of 540 m. This step-out hole was designed to test the northeast gap 50 m above AR-17-149c1. Directional drilling was initiated at 552 m. The A2 shear was intersected at an inclination of -64. Basement lithologies were intersected from the top of the hole and dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 through A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous radioactivity in the A2 and A3 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 20.5 m including 0.6 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 52,000 cps) was intersected within a 142 m section (623.0 to 765.0 m). In the A2 shear, 5.5 m of composite mineralization including 0.2 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A3 shear, 15.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.4 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at a depth of 897.5 m. AR-17-154c1 Hole AR-17-154c1 was a directional hole collared from the surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 Azimuth). It was a step-out hole designed to test the northeast gap 20 m up-dip and northeast of AR-17-133c2. Directional drilling was initiated at 205 m. The A2 shear was intersected at an inclination of -65. The hole intersected bleached Athabasca Group sandstones between 108.9 m and the unconformity at 120.6 m. Basement lithologies dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 and A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A2 through the A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation-controlled, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 32.5 m including 1.8 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 318.5 m section (419.0 to 737.5 m). In the A2 shear, 21.0 m of composite mineralization including 1.8 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A3 shear, 11.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. Additionally, 0.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected in the A4 shear. The hole was terminated at a depth of 854.0 m. AR-17-154c2 Hole AR-17-154c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-154c1 at a depth of 228 m. This step-out hole was designed to test the northeast gap 80 m up-dip and northeast of AR-17-149c1 m. Directional drilling was initiated at 244 m. The A2 shear was intersected at an inclination of -68. Basement lithologies were intersected from the top of the hole and dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 through A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous radioactivity in the A2 and A3 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 1.5 m was intersected within a 126 m section (612.0 to 738.0 m). In the A2 shear, 0.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A3 shear, 1.0 m of composite was intersected. The hole was terminated at a depth of 849.5 m. AR-17-155c1 Hole AR-17-155c1 was a directional hole collared from surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 azimuth). This infill hole was designed to test the A3 shear 22 m up-dip from AR-17-118c1. Directional drilling was initiated at 202 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -69. Strongly bleached Athabasca Group sandstone was intersected from 120.7 m to the unconformity at 128.7 m. Basement lithologies consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (A2 through the A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A2 through A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 63.5 m including 0.85 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 25,000 cps) was intersected within a 312.0 m section (422.5 to 734.5 m). In the A2 shear, 17.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A3 shear, 38.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.55 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A4 shear, 8.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.3 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at 828.5 m. AR-17-155c2 Hole AR-17-155c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-155c1 at a depth of 202 m. This infill hole was designed to test the A3 shear 34 m up-dip of AR-15-057c5. Directional drilling was initiated at 202 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -67. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (A3 and A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A3 and A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, foliation-controlled and worm rock pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 55.5 m including 5.7 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 128 m section (458.5 to 586.5 m). In the A3 shear, 41.0 m of composite mineralization including 5.15 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 14.5 m of composite mineralization including 0.55 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at 600.5 m. AR-17-156c1 Hole AR-17-156c1 was a step-out hole collared from surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 Azimuth). The hole was designed to test the southwest gap 45 m southwest of AR-16-103. Directional drilling was initiated at 157 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -63. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at 103.5 m which consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (A3 and A4 shears). Athabasca Group sandstones were not intersected. Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A3 and A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 38.0 m including 3.0 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 30,500 cps) was intersected within an 86.5 m section (657.5 to 744.0 m). In the A3 shear, 33.5 m of composite mineralization including 2.8 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A4 shear, 4.5 m of composite mineralization including 0.2 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at a depth of 858.5 m. GAR-17-001 GAR-17-001 was the first hole drilled in the geotechnical segment of the Pre-Feasibility Study. The hole was collared from surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 azimuth). The purpose of the hole was to provide data on the geotechnical and hydrogeological characteristics of the Arrow Deposit host rocks and overburden. Strongly bleached Athabasca Group sandstone was intersected from 104.2 m to the unconformity at 115.0 m. Basement lithologies consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite associated with the A1 shear zone. Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A1 shear in association with stringers, disseminated, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A second zone of strongly anomalous radioactivity anchored by a narrow vein of semi-massive pitchblende mineralization was intersected in a new area northwest of the A1 shear. A total composite mineralization of 34.5 m including 0.9 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 54,000 cps) was intersected within a 265.5 m section (272.0 m to 537.5 m). In the A1 shear, 28.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the new zone northwest of the A1 shear, 6.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.9 m of off-scale radioactivity. The hole was terminated at a depth of 597.1 m. About NexGen NexGen is a British Columbia corporation with a focus on the acquisition, exploration and development of Canadian uranium projects. NexGen has a highly experienced team of uranium industry professionals with a successful track record in the discovery of uranium deposits and in developing projects through discovery to production. NexGen owns a portfolio of prospective uranium exploration assets in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada, including a 100% interest in Rook I, location of the Arrow Discovery in February 2014 and Bow Discovery in March 2015 and the Harpoon discovery in August 2016. The Arrow deposit's updated mineral resource estimate with an effective date of December 20, 2016 was released in March 2017, and comprised 179.5 M lbs U3O8 contained in 1.18 M tonnes grading 6.88% U3O8 in the Indicated Mineral Resource category and an additional 122.1 M lbs U3O8 contained in 4.25 M tonnes grading 1.30% U3O8 in the Inferred Mineral Resource category. Technical Information Natural gamma radiation in drill core reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a Radiation Solutions Inc. RS-120 gamma-ray scintillometer. The reader is cautioned that total count gamma readings may not be directly or uniformly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured; they should be used only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive minerals. Split core samples will be taken systematically, and intervals will be submitted to SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories (an SCC ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 Accredited Facility) of Saskatoon for analysis. All samples sent to SRC will be analyzed using ICP-MS for trace elements on partial and total digestions, ICP-OES for major and minor elements on a total digestion, and fusion solution of boron by ICP-OES. Mineralized samples are analyzed for U 3 O 8 by ICP-OES and select samples for gold by fire assay. Assay results will be released when received and after stringent internal QA/QC protocols are passed. All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared by or reviewed and approved by Mr. Garrett Ainsworth, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration & Development for NexGen. Mr. Ainsworth is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), and has verified the sampling, analytical, and test data underlying the information or opinions contained herein by reviewing original data certificates and monitoring all of the data collection protocols. For details of the Rook I Project including the quality assurance program and quality control measures applied and key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate the mineral resource please refer to the technical report entitled "Technical Report on the Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Arrow Deposit, Rook 1 Property, Province of Saskatchewan, Canada" dated effective September 1, 2017 (the "Rook 1 Technical Report") prepared by Jason J. Cox, David M. Robson, Mark B. Mathisen, David A. Ross, Val Coetzee and Mark Wittrup, each of whom is a "qualified person" under NI 43-101. The Rook I Technical Report is available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All intersections are downhole, true thicknesses are yet to be determined. U.S. investors are advised that while the terms "indicated resources" and "inferred resources" are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize these terms. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the material in these categories will ever be converted into mineral reserves. Forward-Looking Information The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. "Forward-looking information" includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, the completion of the technical report in support of the PEA. Generally, but not always, forward-looking information and statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negative connotation thereof or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Forward-looking information and statements are based on the then current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about NexGen's business and the industry and markets in which it operates. Forward-looking information and statements are made based upon numerous assumptions, including among others, that the proposed transaction will be completed, the results of planned exploration activities are as anticipated, the price of uranium, the cost of planned exploration activities, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms, that third party contractors, equipment, supplies and governmental and other approvals required to conduct NexGen's planned exploration activities will be available on reasonable terms and in a timely manner and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner. Although the assumptions made by the Company in providing forward looking information or making forward looking statements are considered reasonable by management at the time, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be accurate Forward-looking information and statements also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performances and achievements of NexGen to differ materially from any projections of results, performances and achievements of NexGen expressed or implied by such forward-looking information or statements, including, among others, negative operating cash flow and dependence on third party financing, uncertainty of the availability of additional financing, the risk that pending assay results will not confirm previously announced preliminary results, imprecision of mineral resource estimates, the appeal of alternate sources of energy and sustained low uranium prices, aboriginal title and consultation issues, exploration risks, reliance upon key management and other personnel, deficiencies in the Company's title to its properties, uninsurable risks, failure to manage conflicts of interest, failure to obtain or maintain required permits and licenses, changes in laws, regulations and policy, competition for resources and financing, and other factors discussed or referred to in the Company's Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2017 under "Risk Factors". Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information or implied by forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or reissue forward-looking information as a result of new information or events except as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE NexGen Energy Ltd. Related Links www.nexgenenergy.ca Novume invites individual and institutional investors as well as advisors to attend interactive real-time virtual VirtualInvestorConferences.com CHANTILLY, Va., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Novume Solutions, Inc. (OTCQX: NVMM, NVMMP, NVMMW) today announced that Robert A. Berman, Chief Executive Officer, will present live at VirtualInvestorConferences.com on October 5, 2017. Novume, based in the Washington DC metropolitan area, is a holding company of professional services firms that aggregate highly-specialized, difficult-to-find talent. DATE: Thursday, October 5, 2017 TIME: 4:00pm EDT LINK: https://tinyurl.com/1005prepr This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time -- both in the presentation hall as well as the association's "virtual trade booth." If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an on-demand archive may be available for up to 90 days after the event. It is recommended that investors pre-register and run the online system check to save time and receive event updates. Learn more about the event at www.VirtualInvestorConferences.com. Recent Company Highlights September 2017 : Novume announced its definitive agreement to acquire Global Technical Services, Inc. and Global Contract Professionals, Inc. in a cash and stock transaction valued at $3.75 million . : Novume announced its definitive agreement to acquire Global Technical Services, Inc. and Global Contract Professionals, Inc. in a cash and stock transaction valued at . August 2017 : Novume announced it completed the merger between Keystone Solutions, Inc. (formerlyOTCQB: KEES) and Brekford Traffic Safety (formerlyOTCQX: BFDI). About Novume Solutions Novume is a holding company of leading professional services firms. These firms aggregate highly-specialized, difficult-to-find talent and have the scale and mass to deploy that talent efficiently at the enterprise-level at a moment's notice. Novume focuses on the logistics of procuring highly-specialized human resources and delivering definitive knowledge to the right place at the right time. Whether we manage our client's workforce or provide them with the tools to manage their own success, they need exceptional people with distinctive experience. We do that. Novume subsidiaries have a history of success dating as far back as 1983 and their clients include 87 of the top-100 federal contractors as well as numerous Fortune 100 companies. About VirtualInvestorConferences.com Since 2010, VirtualInvestorConferences.com, created by BetterInvesting (NAIC) and PRNewswire, has been the only monthly virtual investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for presenting companies to meet directly with investors using a graphically-enhanced online platform. Designed to replicate the look and feel of location-based investor conferences, Virtual Investor Conferences unites PR Newswire's leading-edge online conferencing and investor communications capabilities with BetterInvesting's extensive retail investor audience network. SOURCE Novume Solutions, Inc. SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle OpenWorld -- Expanding its comprehensive Artificial Intelligence (AI) offerings, Oracle today announced Oracle AI Platform Cloud Service to help developers quickly create and deploy breakthrough enterprise AI services. Using the new cloud service, organizations can take advantage of deep learning to better understand enterprise data and transform corporate business processes and user experiences. Only Oracle can deliver a pervasive approach to AI, embedding AI into its applications, providing an AI development environment coupled with a world-class infrastructure to run specialized workloads. The complexity and time required to set up a complete environment for work on advanced machine learning algorithms can be daunting. With today's announcement, Oracle is making it quick and easy for developers and data scientists to set up a secure, scalable environment for new deep learning models in the cloud. Oracle Cloud has been uniquely engineered to streamline model training by leveraging customers' essential enterprise data and operating on an industry leading high-speed network, object storage, and GPUs. Oracle AI Platform Cloud instances come pre-installed with familiar AI libraries, tools, and deep learning frameworks, including Caffe, Jupyter Notebook, Keras, NymPy, scikit-learn, and TensorFlow, among others. Machine learning practitioners also have access to Oracle Object Store and can easily connect to existing Spark/Hadoop clusters. "AI has the power to be more transformative for the enterprise than any other technology in recent history," said Amit Zavery, senior vice president, product development, Oracle Cloud Platform. "Oracle is in a unique position to deliver AI across all layers of the cloud, empowering customers to uncover and unlock critical business patterns in their enterprise data to transform organizational productivity, efficiency, and insight." Oracle AI Platform Cloud Service runs on world-class Oracle Cloud Infrastructure optimized for peak performance and price-performance to run specialized deep learning applications. The differentiated infrastructure layer includes NVMe flash storage and best-in-class GPUs on a 25 Gigabit network for extreme performance. In an industry standard benchmark test, Oracle was 2X more performant than Azure's largest GPU instance and demonstrated 2.4X better price-performance than the closest AWS equivalent.(1) Oracle AI Platform Cloud Service includes a GPU Bare-Metal Shape: 2x Tesla P100 GPUs based on Nvidia's Pascal Architecture, and will soon support the new Volta GPUs with up to 8 GPUs. Once machine-learning models are trained, developers can access Oracle's rich set of PaaS services to include them in AI-powered applications. Oracle Adaptive Intelligent Applications Oracle today also announced new Adaptive Intelligent Apps that enable business users from across the organization to quickly and easily take advantage of the industry's most powerful AI-based modern business applications. By embedding AI capabilities directly within existing Oracle Cloud Applications including Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning Cloud, Oracle Human Capital Management Cloud, Oracle Supply Chain Management Cloud and the Oracle Customer Experience Cloud Suite Oracle eliminates the need for more integrations or other costly and time-consuming processes. Adaptive Intelligent Apps are powered by insights from the Oracle Data Cloud, which is the largest third-party data marketplace in the world with a collection of more than 5 billion global consumer and business IDs and more than 7.5 trillion data points collected monthly. By applying advanced data science and machine learning to Oracle's web-scale data and an organization's own data, the new Adaptive Intelligent Apps can react, learn and adapt in real time based on historical and dynamic customer data. Only Oracle Can Deliver a Pervasive Approach to AI Oracle's holistic approach enables customers to quickly employ advanced machine learning to transform their business processes. In addition to Oracle AI Platform Cloud Service, Oracle embeds ready-to-use AI and machine learning capabilities across Oracle's SaaS, PaaS, and IOT services, including cognitive AI, analytics, data services, IT management, and security operations. Adding machine learning and cognitive interactions to traditional business processes and applications enables greatly improved user experience and productivity. Other new AI-based solutions and services being unveiled or showcased at Oracle OpenWorld include: Oracle Mobile Cloud includes conversational AI through bots to automate human interactions using natural language, sentiment, speech, images, and machine learning. includes conversational AI through bots to automate human interactions using natural language, sentiment, speech, images, and machine learning. Oracle Autonomous Database Cloud includes machine learning to enable self-driving, and self-repairing data warehousing and OLTP to improve security and reliability. includes machine learning to enable self-driving, and self-repairing data warehousing and OLTP to improve security and reliability. Oracle Analytics Cloud allows analysts to use machine learning techniques to better visualize data and understand patterns without having to become a data scientist. allows analysts to use machine learning techniques to better visualize data and understand patterns without having to become a data scientist. Oracle Security and Management Cloud includes embedded machine learning to automate detection, prevention, and response to security breaches, performance anomalies, and vulnerabilities. Additional Resources About Oracle The Oracle Cloud offers complete SaaS application suites for ERP, HCM and CX, plus best-in-class database Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) from data centers throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), please visit us at oracle.com. About Oracle OpenWorld Oracle OpenWorld, the industry's most important business and technology conference for the past 20 years, hosts tens of thousands of in-person attendees as well as millions online. Dedicated to helping businesses leverage Cloud for their innovation and growth, the conference delivers deep insight into industry trends and breakthroughs driven by technology. Designed for attendees who want to connect, learn, explore and be inspired, Oracle OpenWorld offers more than 2,500 educational sessions led by more than 2,000 customers and partners sharing their experiences, first hand. With hundreds of demos and hands-on labs, plus exhibitions from more than 400 partners and customers from around the world, Oracle OpenWorld has become a showcase for leading cloud technologies, from Cloud Applications to Cloud Platform and Infrastructure. For more information; to register; or to watch Oracle OpenWorld keynotes, sessions, and more, visit www.oracle.com/openworld. Join the Oracle OpenWorld discussion on Twitter. Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Safe Harbor Disclaimer The preceding is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle's products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle Corporation. Statements in this article relating to Oracle's future plans, expectations, beliefs, and intentions are "forward-looking statements" and are subject to material risks and uncertainties. Such statements are based on Oracle's current expectations and assumptions, some of which are beyond Oracle's control. All information in this article is current as of October 2, 2017 and Oracle undertakes no duty to update any statement in light of new information or future events. [1] Based on industry-standard SPECint_rate2006 benchmarking, a measure of multicore, multisocket workloads. Compared to AWS M4.16xlarge [1] Based on a standard benchmark with TensorFlow as the main Neural Net Training Framework, AlexNet and Inception V3 computer vision models, and the ImageNet dataset. Compared to AWS p2.8xlarge and Azure NC24 SOURCE Oracle Related Links http://www.oracle.com RARITAN, N.J., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (Ortho), a global leader of in vitro diagnostics, today announced it will present new scientific research on automation in immunohematology, or pre-transfusion compatibility testing, at the 2017 AABB Annual Meeting. For the first time at AABB, the company will showcase its entire transfusion medicine portfolio in its booth (No. 1635). Ortho will also host an industry workshop regarding standardization of the titration process and a customer event focused on emergency preparedness and military readiness featuring keynote speeches by leaders representing the Military's Armed Services Blood Program. The conference will be held October 7-10 at the San Diego Convention Center. "With blood banks facing constant cost and resource pressures, simplicity and standardization is the key to success. Ortho's best-in-class instrumentation, assay menu and digital solutions help transfusion professionals deliver accurate results safely and effectively to truly elevate critical patient care," said Heidi Casaletto, head of transfusion medicine for Ortho. Ortho and its customers will share the following poster presentations: ORTHO VISION Automated Analyzers Enable Efficient and Reproducible Measurement of Prenatal Antibody Titers Though Clinical Correlation Studies Are Necessary for Clinical Implementation (CP299) Author Presentations: October 7 at 7:30 a.m. 8:00 p.m. ; October 8 & 9 at 7:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m. ; and October 10 at 7:30 a.m. 2:00 p.m. ; & 9 at ; and at Presenters: Dr. Brian Adkins , Princess Maynie , Carol Chandler , Shelia Garret and Pampee Young , Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Nashville, TN Evaluation of the Impact of Advancements of New Automation on Future Challenges (AP32) Author Presentations: October 7 at 7:30 a.m. 8:00 p.m. ; October 8 & 9 at 7:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m. ; and October 10 at 7:30 a.m. 2:00 p.m. at ; & 9 at ; and at Presenter: Tony S. Casina , Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Impact Study of a New Automation System on Transfusion Medicine Operations (AP97) Author Presentations: October 7 at 7:30 a.m. 8:00 p.m. ; October 8 & 9 at 7:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m. ; and October 10 at 7:30 a.m. 2:00 p.m. at ; & 9 at ; and at Presenter: Tony S. Casina , Ortho Clinical Diagnostics The company will conduct an industry workshop on Monday, October 9 at 7:00 a.m., entitled, "Standardization and Validation of Titrations in Perinatal Clinical Situations". Speakers at this workshop will address clinical outcomes associated with performing titration studies using the ID-MTS Gel Test method, process improvements that can be realized through standardization of the titration process, and best practices for successful process implementation in the transfusion service laboratory. Presenters include Laura L.W. Cooling, MD, MS, Associate Professor and Associate Director, Blood Bank and Transfusion Medicine Director, Cell Therapy Laboratory, Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School; Robert Witkowski, PhD, Principal Scientist, Research and Development at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics; and Christina Gendron, MLS (ASCP), Senior Medical Technologist, Transfusion Service at Florida Hospital. Ortho will demonstrate its fully automated transfusion medicine solution, featuring ORTHO VISION and ORTHO VISION Max analyzers that improve workflow and standardize systems and processes in transfusion laboratories. The solution's full menu automation offers the most diverse testing capabilities on the market today, including complex testing and extended phenotyping with ORTHO Sera[1]. Connecting the ORTHO VISION Platform is the ORTHO CONNECT V2.0[2] middleware solution, which centralizes management across multiple instruments and laboratories to create a seamless flow of information, allowing lab professionals to manage workload from a single console. Ortho will also host an exclusive invitation-only customer event, "Emergency Preparedness and Military Readiness: Are They the Same? A symposium on the lessons learned through the implementation of Low Titer Group O Whole Blood (LTOWB) in trauma management." Colonel Audra Taylor, director, and Lieutenant Colonel Jason Corley, deputy director, of the Army Blood Program will discuss how the military's implementation of LTOWB might apply to civilian hospitals' disaster response. About Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Ortho Clinical Diagnostics is a global leader of in vitro diagnostics serving the global clinical laboratory and immunohematology communities. Across hospitals, hospital networks, blood banks, and labs in more than 100 countries, Ortho's high-quality products and services enable health care professionals to make better-informed treatment decisions. Ortho brings sophisticated testing technologies, automation, and information management and interpretation tools to clinical laboratories around the world to help them run more efficiently and effectively and improve patient care. For the immunohematology community, Ortho's blood typing products help ensure every patient receives blood that is safe, the right type and the right unit. Ortho's purpose is to improve and save lives with diagnostics, and it does that by reimagining what's possible. This is what has defined Ortho for more than 75 years, and it's what drives Ortho forward. For more information, visit www.orthoclinicaldiagnostics.com. Ortho Clinical Diagnostics 2017 PR-03300 [1] ORTHO Sera for use with the ORTHO VISION Platform is commercially available in CE marked countries. ORTHO Sera is pending FDA clearance for use with the ORTHO VISION Platform. [2] ORTHO CONNECT is commercially available in CE marked countries and is pending FDA clearance. SOURCE Ortho Clinical Diagnostics Related Links http://www.orthoclinicaldiagnostics.com NEW YORK and TORONTO and TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, and the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), a Canadian listing exchange recognized as a Qualified Foreign Exchange in the U.S., that delivers the lowest cost of capital to public companies, announced that they will launch a strategic alliance that will offer a new program for issuers looking for an efficient IPO experience in Canada and cost-effective access to North American investors. This first-of-its-kind North American capital and visibility solution will offer issuers the CSE's IPO listing and trading services, coupled with the enhanced U.S. disclosure distribution and secondary trading on OTC Markets' OTCQX Best Market/OTCQB Venture Market. The resulting combination will offer an efficient alternative for international companies seeking to raise capital, build global investor awareness and have their shares trade in two of the world's largest financial markets. Both OTC Markets Group and the CSE emphasize simple processes and fixed fee structures that remove much of the cost, time and complexity typically associated with going public on an exchange. This cooperative effort is positioned to introduce foreign issuers to North American capital formation resources and secondary market liquidity. As the first initiative in this strategic alliance,OTC Markets Group Executive Vice President of Corporate Services Jason Paltrowitz and Canadian Securities Chief Executive Officer Richard Carleton, will host a series of meetings and roundtable discussions with prominent Israeli business leaders to discuss the opportunities available for Israeli companies seeking to grow their businesses by going public on the CSE and establishing a U.S. footprint on the respective premium OTCQX/OTCQB markets. The program will take place on Tues., November 7 and Wed., November 8 at the Carlton Tel Aviv. The alliance with the CSE will further support the needs of the Israeli market, as discussed during OTC Markets Group's Israel meetings and presentations earlier this year. "We are pleased to announce this alliance with the CSE which will offer international companies the ability to raise capital via an IPO in Canada, build their North American brand and gain secondary access to the broad pool of U.S. investors," said Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group. "Investors and the broker dealer community will benefit from greater information, increased global investing opportunities and more efficient trading of Israeli and international issuers shares." As a Qualified Foreign Exchange, a listing on the CSE pre-qualifies many of its listed companies as candidates to apply to trade on OTC Markets' premium OTCQX and OTCQB Markets. "The CSE is thrilled to be embarking on this strategic alliance with OTC Markets," said Richard Carleton, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Securities Exchange. "Capital formation for growth companies is one of Canada's key strengths in the financial markets. Through our program with OTC Markets, we can offer a compelling proposition for Israel's globally respected entrepreneurial community: the benefits of public company status in Canada, with access to the funding and secondary market trading capabilities of the United States. We hope to be able to introduce a number of new and compelling investment opportunities to the North American marketplace." As part of the upcoming visit, additional resources and referrals to third-party service providers will be offered to candidates to ensure a smooth, and cost-effective transition to these markets. A complete event schedule will be posted at thecse.com/about/events and otcmarkets.com in the coming weeks. About the CSE The Canadian Securities Exchange is home to more than 300 issuers covering a broad range of industry sectors. Recognized as an exchange by the Ontario Securities Commission in 2004, the CSE facilitates the capital formation process for public companies through a streamlined approach to company regulation that emphasizes disclosure and the provision of efficient secondary market trading services for investors. About OTC Markets Group Inc. OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market, and the Pink Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com . OTC Link ATS is operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC and SEC regulated ATS. Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed Media Contacts: Richard Carleton Chief Executive Officer CSE | Canadian Securities Exchange D (416) 367-7360 M (416) 528-1257 [email protected] OTC Markets Group Inc. +1 (212) 896-4428 [email protected] SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc. Related Links http://www.otcmarkets.com HAMILTON, Bermuda, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Life today announced the appointment of Paul Courtney as chief commercial officer managing the International Distribution, Product Development and Strategy Development teams based in Bermuda. Mr. Courtney's responsibilities will focus on growing Sun Life's leading position in the international high-net-worth (HNW) life insurance marketplace. His position is effective February 5, 2018, subject to obtaining a valid Bermuda work permit. Mr. Courtney joins Sun Life from Willis Towers Watson, where he was European CEO based in Switzerland and Liechtenstein overseeing the HNW life insurance markets of the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa. "We are excited to welcome Paul, who is well-regarded in the industry and has an established record of strong business results across many countries," said Niall O'Hare, CEO of Sun Life Financial International. "Paul's expertise will help us to expand our presence in the international high-net-worth marketplace by continuously evolving our products and services to meet the wealth preservation, growth and multigenerational transfer needs of our Clients." Mr. Courtney brings more than 19 years of experience in the insurance industry with a focus on corporate and business strategy, HNW sales and distribution management, operations and product development. He started his career in his home country of Ireland and later served in underwriting, sales and claims functions in Germany and Asia for Munich Re. Mr. Courtney subsequently held positions of increasing responsibility in operations and distribution for Swiss Life and Transamerica Life Bermuda, and in 2012 was named CEO for the Singapore operations of Transamerica Life Bermuda. Mr. Courtney earned an MBA from the National University of Singapore and a bachelor's degree in Insurance and European Studies from the University of Limerick in Ireland. He holds the Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII) designation. About Sun Life Financial Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individuals and corporate Clients. Sun Life Financial has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of June 30, 2017, Sun Life Financial had total assets under management of C$944 billion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com. Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF. About Sun Life Financial International Sun Life Financial International is the Bermuda-based unit of Sun Life Financial that focuses on high-net-worth (HNW) life and wealth solutions for families in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. As a pioneer in the international market, Sun Life Financial International has delivered innovative and creative solutions since 1996, which help HNW families and business owners protect their wealth, fund their business succession plans and help future generations succeed. For more information, please visit https://www.sunlife.com/international. Media contact: Cynthia Michener Sun Life Financial 781-446-2459 [email protected] The Sun Life Financial group of companies operates under the "Sun Life Financial" name. Sun Life Financial Inc., the publicly traded holding company for the Sun Life Financial group of companies, is not a product offering company and is not the guarantor of the obligations of its subsidiaries. Life insurance products available through the international offshore business based in Bermuda are offered by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Bermuda Branch). These products may not be sold in the United States, nor to citizens or residents of the United States, nor to residents of Bermuda and Canada. Other restrictions may apply. In certain communications, the company may be referred to as "Sun Life Financial International" strictly as a marketing name, and no legal significance is express or implied. SLB 2774 0917 Exp.0919 SOURCE Sun Life Financial Related Links http://www.sunlife.com/us MONTCLAIR, N.J., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pendo Systems have been selected by SWIFT to exhibit in the Fintech Marketplace at SIBOS in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre between Oct. 16-19, 2017. SIBOS is the world's premier financial services event and attracts representatives from over 200 financial institutions. In addition to exhibiting, Pam Pecs Cytron, CEO and Ruth Wandhofer, Global Head Regulatory, Market & Innovation Strategy at Citi, and Pendo Systems Board Member will be co-presenting on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 1530. Their 30-minute presentation will look at 'The risks of not preparing your enterprise to participate in the data economy.' In addition to the above, Pam has been asked to join a panel session on Tuesday, Oct.17 at 1400 to discuss, 'As the financial services industry and Fintechs work ever closer, where does that leave BigTech?'. The panel is made up of three senior representatives from HSBC, JP Morgan and Northern Trust and Pam's role will be to put forward an independent view from the perspective of the Fintechs. Pam Pecs Cytron commented, "It is a great honor to be asked to speak, not once but twice, at such a prestigious event and I am genuinely excited about sharing my views on AI, and the new data economy, with such a wide and influential audience. Even more important is that Pendo Systems will be out there for the world to see, we have just recently launched our Pendo Machine Learning Platform (PMLP) and with two household names on our books already, I think we are primed to elevate the company to the next level. SIBOS is a great forum for this and I can't wait to share the experience with our customers and prospects. For many years I have been a great supporter of the event and whilst there is an awful lot of hard work involved in preparing for it, the outcomes and relationships we create are invaluable." Pendo will be exhibiting at booth #8 in the Fintech Marketplace which is located on Level 600 in the Fintech Discovery Zone. About Pendo Systems The Pendo Machine Learning Platform is a data management and intelligence platform that provides exploration, discovery and analysis capabilities across multiple, disparate sources of unstructured data. It transforms unstructured data into AI ready datasets at machine scale and significantly improves on standard NLP libraries by applying real-world, customer training data improving accuracy to over 95 percent. Headquartered in New Jersey with offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, the senior management team brings decades of experience developing, selling and supporting enterprise-grade software solutions to global banks, insurance companies, and asset management firms. The firm prides itself on maintaining its agile development philosophy in order to address the ever-changing environment of the financial services industry. Pendo Systems is certified as a Women's Business Enterprise by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation's largest third-party certifier of the businesses owned and operated by women in the United States. For press information Clare Walsh | [email protected] | +44 7768 770757 Hannah Pewter | [email protected] | +44 7500 905415 For company information Philip Smith | [email protected] | 646.354.0067 SOURCE Pendo Systems PHOENIX, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FIBCO Family Services, Inc. a not-for- profit organization focused on family and individual self-sustainability challenges for over 30 years, will host community members, leaders, and business supporters at their First Annual Breakfast to support their key programs. Keynote speaker of this year's event is Phoenix Police Chief Jeri L. Williams, the highestranking female police officer in the United States. Chief Williams is a native of Phoenix, and brings the unique perspective of having risen to a top leadership position of serving and protecting the diverse "village" (Phoenix) from which she came. Friday October 27 from 7:30 a.m. until 9:00 a.m., at The Hope Center 1141 East Jefferson St. Phoenix, AZ, the event includes full breakfast, presentation, and discussion of how since 1986 FIBCO Family Services, Inc. (a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit) has served the community through four main program areas: Food and Clothing Distribution, African Immigrant and Refugee Support Services, Job Readiness Programming, and Affordable Housing for some of the most vulnerable and underserved individuals of the community. Proceeds from this event will support FIBCO human services and housing programs, such as the The Ujima House. The Ujima House provides for the physical and emotional needs of teen girls in the foster care system, that includes shelter, food, and clothing. Through these programs, FIBCO provides services to hundreds of individuals and families every week. Individual tickets are $30 dollars. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Pleases visit www.fibco.org for sponsorship and tickets limiting seating/meals available. FIBCO Mission FIBCO Family Services, Inc. is dedicated to making a difference in our community by providing resources and knowledge to assist individuals and families in becoming self-sustaining. For more information on the "Heart Of A Village" First Annual FIBCO Fall Breakfast, visit www.fibco.org or call Damara Lotten, Executive Director at 602-385-3902. CONTACT: James Shipp, Office 928-848-4088 [email protected] SOURCE FIBCO Family Services, Inc. Related Links http://www.fibco.org/ ATLANTA, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE: APTS) ("PAC" or the "Company") today announced the acquisition on September 29, 2017 of a 172-unit Class A multifamily community in the Atlanta, Georgia MSA constructed in 2016 called Reserve at Summit Crossing. "We are thrilled to add Reserve at Summit Crossing to our existing assets Summit Crossing I and Summit Crossing II and is the third and final phase of the Summit Crossing multifamily community," said Daniel M. DuPree, the Vice-Chairman and Chief Investment Officer for PAC. Mr. DuPree added, "The acquisition of Reserve at Summit Crossing came through a real estate loan investment that PAC made to partially construct the development over two years ago and once again demonstrates the success our real estate loan investment program, which we expect to continue to be a solid contributor to the dynamic growth of our Company." PAC acquired this community through a wholly-owned subsidiary and financed the acquisition utilizing a non-recourse first mortgage loan from Mid First Bank. The first mortgage loan is approximately $20.1 million, bears interest at a fixed rate of 3.871% per annum, matures in October 2025 and amortizes based on a 30-year schedule. There are no loan guaranties provided by PAC or our operating partnership. About Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. is a Maryland corporation formed primarily to acquire and operate multifamily properties in select targeted markets throughout the United States. As part of our business strategy, we may enter into forward purchase contracts or purchase options for to-be-built multifamily communities and we may make real estate related loans, provide deposit arrangements, or provide performance assurances, as may be necessary or appropriate, in connection with the development of multifamily communities and other properties. As a secondary strategy, we may acquire or originate senior mortgage loans, subordinate loans or real estate loans secured by interests in multifamily properties, membership or partnership interests in multifamily properties and other multifamily related assets and invest a lesser portion of our assets in other real estate related investments, including other income-producing property types, senior mortgage loans, subordinate loans or real estate loans secured by interests in other income-producing property types, membership or partnership interests in other income-producing property types as determined by our manager as appropriate for us. At June 30, 2017, the Company was the approximate 97.3% owner of Preferred Apartment Communities Operating Partnership, L.P., the Company's operating partnership. Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, commencing with its tax year ended December 31, 2011. Learn more at www.pacapts.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "trend", "will", "expects", "plans", "estimates", "anticipates", "projects", "intends", "believes", "goals", "objectives", "outlook" and similar expressions. Because such statements include risks, uncertainties and contingencies, actual results may differ materially from the expectations, intentions, beliefs, plans or predictions of the future expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to, those disclosed in PAC's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PAC undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required by law. Additional Information The SEC has declared effective the registration statement (including prospectus) filed by the Company for each of the offerings to which this communication may relate. Before you invest, you should read the final prospectus, and any prospectus supplements, forming a part of the registration statement and other documents the Company has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and the offering to which this communication may relate. In particular, you should carefully read the risk factors described in the final prospectus and in any related prospectus supplement and in the documents incorporated by reference in the final prospectus and any related prospectus supplement to which this communication may relate. You may obtain these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Company or its dealer manager, Preferred Capital Securities, LLC, with respect to PAC's mShares Redeemable Preferred Stock Offering and Series A Redeemable Preferred Stock and Warrant Unit Offering, and JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC, with respect to PAC's ATM Common Stock Offering, will arrange to send you a prospectus if you request it by calling Leonard A. Silverstein at (770) 818-4100, 3284 Northside Parkway NW, Suite 150, Atlanta, Georgia 30327. The ATM Common Stock Offering prospectus supplement, dated July 10, 2017, including a base prospectus, dated May 17, 2016, can be accessed through the following link: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1481832/000148183217000110/atmprospectusspring2017.htm The mShares Redeemable Preferred Stock Offering prospectus, dated January 19, 2017, can be accessed through the following link: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1481832/000148183217000008/a424prospectus-mshares1.htm The Series A Redeemable Preferred Stock and Warrant Unit Offering prospectus, dated March 16, 2017, can be accessed through the following link: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1481832/000148183217000061/a424prospectus-15bseriesar.htm SOURCE Preferred Apartment Communities, Inc. Related Links http://www.pacapts.com NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area. You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform EXPERT ALERTS Tax Reform Plan Makes C Corporations More Appealing Smart and Not So Smart Marketing Strategies What Every First-Time Tech CEO Should Know MEDIA JOBS Digital Financial Journalist Investor's Business Daily (CA) US Social Media Journalist Financial Times (NY) Reporter, Spot News The Wall Street Journal (NY) OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES Convert Your Broadcast Voice to Print: 5 Tips From a Former TV Reporter 2017 Global Social Journalism Study Blog Profiles: Whiskey Blogs ------------------------------------------------------------------- EXPERT ALERTS: Tax Reform Plan Makes C Corporations More Appealing Nathan Smithson Tax lawyer Jackson Walker LLP in Dallas "The reduction under the proposed Republican tax reform plan of the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent could certainly lead to a renewed interest in C corporations. An investment in a corporation is subject to two levels of federal income taxation once at the corporate level, and then again when a distribution is made out of the corporation to the investor. The proposed 20 percent corporate tax rate would make this investment far more palatable. The plan also lowers rates for partnerships and LLCs. However, investors and business owners who do not want to subject themselves to the more complex partnership tax rules including paying taxes on their share of entity-level income may now want to convert their entities to corporations. An original investment in stock of a qualifying small business corporation can be sold tax-free if held for five or more years. A drop from a 35 percent to a 20 percent rate may make this type of investment a no-brainer for investors looking to minimize their overall taxes on corporate income." Contact: Kit Frieden, [email protected] Smart and Not So Smart Marketing Strategies Jose Palomino CEO Value Prop Interactive, Inc. Malvern/Philadelphia, PA A smart marketing strategy is centered around strong value propositions, innovative sales strategies and sales/marketing alignment, and sales messaging, which if done correctly, can give you an advantage in the marketplace. Says Palomino: "Everything within your company -- from your mission statement to marketing plans to social media strategy -- must inform and support your value propositions Perhaps the best solution to dealing with disruptors is to know your market and customers so well that your company is the one introducing 'disruptive' solutions into the marketplace." Palomino has held management, technology, sales, and marketing positions at Yankee Group, Market Systems International, Tandem Computers and the Clearpoint Group--working with industry leaders including IBM, Accenture, Unisys, SAP, General Motors, Chase and Citicorp. He holds an MBA from Villanova University, serves on the board of The Entrepreneurs' Forum of Greater Philadelphia and is a Vistage International Speaker. His latest book, Strategic Propositions: Observations On Smart And Not So Smart Marketing - And Why It Should Matter To Growing Companies, also covers the topic of marketing strategy. Palomino is available for comment in English and Spanish. Website: www.ValueProp.com Interviews: https://valueprop.com/strategicpropositions/ Contact: Richard Bailey, [email protected] What Every First-Time Tech CEO Should Know Greg Stock CEO Zenoss, Inc. Austin, Texas Building a solid company culture is an ongoing process, and tackling it with the right mindset can set a company up for long-term success. Says Stock: "Culture is a daily discipline: If you think company culture is something you do at a quarterly offsite, think again. Plan on working on it daily. The cornerstone is not having fun or being 'start-uppy,' the cornerstone is winning. Build your culture around winning." With over 20 years of executive level experience with high-growth companies, Stock is available to speak about executive-level leadership, how to make hard choices in business, and lessons for success new executives can learn, based on his long career of successfully building companies as CEO. His current company - Zenoss Inc. - is one of Forbes' Best Enterprise Startups and CEOs to Work For (2016) and Best Cloud Companies and CEOs to Work For (2015). Stock firmly believes a business person needs to be fit in both mind and body, so he finds time for adventure races and other fitness efforts, fosters dogs, plays ukulele, and spins around the office on a hoverboard to save time and keep his mind sharp. Website: http://www.zenoss.com Contact: Alison Guzzio, [email protected] **************** MEDIA JOBS: Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/ Digital Financial Journalist Investor's Business Daily (CA) US Social Media Journalist Financial Times (NY) Reporter, Spot News The Wall Street Journal (NY) ***************** OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES: Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at [email protected] Convert Your Broadcast Voice to Print: 5 Tips From a Former TV Reporter. Today, journalists, bloggers and all variations of content creators must be able tell their stories in all formats. But this transition isn't always easy. Here are some lessons to develop your print voice: http://prn.to/tvtowriting 2017 GLOBAL SOCIAL JOURNALISM STUDY. It's the sixth in a series of studies published by Cision that survey and chart changes in how journalists use social platforms. The study also closely examines problems social media has created for the industry (Read: Battling fake news and the increased focus on speed vs. analysis): http://bit.ly/2ymJCiM BLOG PROFILES: WHISKEY BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and profiles a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the conversation. This week, they look at whiskey blogs: http://prn.to/whiskeyblogs **************** PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire. To contact ProfNet: [email protected] or 800-776-3638, ext. 1 SOURCE ProfNet Related Links http://www.profnet.com "When it comes to attention, getting public displays, I'm typically guilty as charged but this was as much of a surprise to me as it was to the customers," Hof confided. "The girls came up with this idea completely on their own, and quite honestly, I got a little emotional when I saw it." Hof himself, a best-selling author and star of HBO's long running "Cathouse" series, was a frequent guest at the Playboy mansion and considered Hefner a friend. "There is no underestimating the historical contribution that Hugh Hefner made to worldwide sexual evolution. He was a true visionary and he built one of the most iconic brands that the world will ever know. I know that for me personally, there would be no Bunny Ranch or Dennis Hof, if Hefner hadn't shown me and so many others that openly expressing our sexuality was something that should be celebrated rather than shamed." Mercedes, a Bunny Ranch prostitute, fought back tears as she talked about what led to the spontaneous tribute. "Every girl here who has realized the dream of becoming a Bunny Ranch Bunny has also had the fantasy of being a Playboy Bunny and I think that because of that we have always felt a sisterhood with the Playboy Playmates. I know they are mourning just like we are and we wanted to show them that we are holding them close in our thoughts." Plans are under way to rename one of the Bunny Ranch's exclusive VIP suites after the literary icon and Hof knows that Hefner would smile at knowing that a cavalcade of future sexual adventures will be occurring in a bungalow hideaway that bears his name. "I certainly had my share of fun in his grotto," Hof reminisces fondly. "It seems only right that I should return the favor and designate a special place on my grounds for his immortalization." Dennis Hof and the Bunny Ranch girls are available for interviews by contacting (775) 720-9090 or [email protected] SOURCE Bunny Ranch NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Quesnay, an innovation consulting firm focused on accelerating growth among startups and corporations, officially launched its inaugural Female Founders in Tech competition to address the gap in female leaders by recognizing and supporting female-founded startups that positively impact the financial services and/or insurance technology industries. "As a longtime advocate of female entrepreneurship, Quesnay is very excited to leverage our extensive experience running global innovation competitions for corporate clients to launch our inaugural Female Founders in Tech competition," said Jennifer Byrne, president of Quesnay. "Women often lack access to funding and mentorship to grow their businesses. Among the nearly 500 deals closed in the Fintech sector in the US in 2016, less than a dozen went to companies founded by women. We hope to make a positive and immediate impact to showcase female-founded companies with viable products that could be quickly scaled through meaningful partnerships." Through October 31, applicants can access the online platform at www.quesnays.com/competitions and apply to win financial, mentoring and marketing support. U.S.-based technology startups led by a female that have at least a minimum viable product applicable to the financial services and/or insurance industries are encouraged to apply. Applicants will gain visibility to a community of thought leaders from the venture capital and investor communities, the insurance, finance and technology industries and prominent universities. Among the applicants, six finalists will be selected to participate in a live pitch event on December 11, hosted by Open Innovation Lab at Alley powered by Verizon, and receive personalized guidance from the competition's corporate sponsors. In addition, finalists will receive Microsoft Azure cloud computing credit. Quesnay's corporate sponsors across the financial services, insurance, legal, and technology industries include AARP, American Family Insurance, RGAx, Sterling National Bank, TD Bank, Thomson Reuters and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. The finalists will have the opportunity to work with these sponsors and with Quesnay's network of leaders more broadly through mentorship as well as the potential to explore partnerships following the competition. "I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur from a young age and am encouraged by the increasing number of fearless women leading businesses," said Scarlett Sieber, Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Strategic Information and Digital at Opus Bank. "While we have made a lot of progress, there is a lot to be done in providing women-led businesses with an equal playing field to access necessary funding and growth opportunities. Mentorship and strong networks are critical and greatly enhance the chance for success." For more information on the competition, visit www.quesnays.com/competitions. To obtain a press pass to the December 11 event, please contact [email protected]. ABOUT QUESNAY INC. Quesnay is an innovation consulting firm that bridges the gap between traditional firms and the best innovators and emerging young companies, preparing both sides to take advantage of the opportunities created by the ongoing market disruption. Quesnay partners with companies to solve their innovation challenges by running innovation competitions and acceleration programs as well as providing strategic consulting services. For more information, follow us at @QuesnayInc and visit us at https://www.quesnays.com. CONTACTS Nataly Sabharwal [email protected] M3 Advisors, on behalf of Quesnay [email protected] This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE Quesnay Related Links https://www.quesnays.com RIALTO, Calif., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Radial announced today the opening of its newest fulfillment center in Rialto, California. Just in time for the holidays, Radial is looking to bring on an additional 950 seasonal workers to the Rialto facility to support the busiest time of year in the retail industry. The Rialto facility will be up and running quickly with established clientele and full-time employees coming from the closure of Radial's Redlands, California site. As more people shop online, job opportunities in the fulfillment and transportation sectors have expanded dramatically to ensure consumers' holiday packages arrive at their doors on time. Radial understands the importance of providing a positive work experience for its seasonal hires. Seasonal workers will have access to competitive hourly wages, overtime and holiday pay, flexible work schedules, and employee discounts. The fulfillment center in Rialto also provides holiday meals and fun events, giving workers a chance to unwind while at work. At the fulfillment center in Rialto, seasonal hires will have the chance to work with some of the world's favorite brands and retailers. Workers will source orders and send them to their final destinations faster using Radial's technology, fulfillment and transportation solutions. "We're thrilled to be opening this new fulfillment center in Rialto and creating so many additional jobs in the process, many of which may lead to full-time opportunities," said Kelly Scally, director, strategic staffing, at Radial. "If you value quality, excellence and the best customer service possible, and you thrive in an energized, fast-paced and rewarding workplace culture, we'd love to have you work with us. Whether you're looking to earn extra cash for the holidays or wanting to get your foot in the door at Radial, seasonal work is a great place to start." For workers who may be looking for something more long term, Radial converted over a thousand seasonal workers last year into full-time roles after the holidays. To learn more about seasonal job openings in Rialto, visit www.radial.com/jobs. About Radial Radial is the leader in omnichannel commerce technology and operations, enabling brands and retailers to profitably exceed retail customer expectations. Radial's technical, powerful omnichannel solutions connect supply and demand through efficient fulfillment and transportation options, intelligent fraud detection, payments, and tax systems, and personalized customer care services. Hundreds of retailers and brands confidently partner with Radial to simplify their post-click commerce and improve their customer experiences. Radial brings flexibility and scalability to their supply chains and optimizes how, when and where orders go from desire to delivery. Learn how we work with you at www.radial.com. Media Contact: Laura Beauregard PAN Communications for Radial 407-734-7320 [email protected] SOURCE Radial Related Links https://www.radial.com FORT MYERS, Fla., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery is proud to announce its involvement in the Hurricane Irma relief efforts. Many in our local communities have realized considerable damage to their homes and businesses. We have been moved by neighbors helping neighbors, the financial assistance and volunteer support to local organizations and response to the needs across the state. Riverchase Dermatology is excited to be part of this effort by donating 20 percent of all retail product sales to charities providing hurricane relief in our local communities. Beginning now through the end of the year, Riverchase Dermatology will be donating 10 percent of all retail sales with management personally matching every dollar raised for a total of 20 percent. The community support has been tremendous and the team at Riverchase is passionate about continuing to support the regions most impacted, including Riverchase's own employees, patients and the local economies with the ultimate goal of full restoration. We are committed to the communities we serve and are thankful that we have the ability to provide support to this recovery effort. We proudly stand behind our communities, and together with our neighbors, aim to rebuild our beautiful cities. Visit one of our local Riverchase offices to show your support or visit our online product store at www.Riverchasedermstore.com. About Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery is one of Florida's largest, fastest growing and most comprehensive skin centers. Founded in Naples, Florida in 2000 by Andrew T. Jaffe, MD, FAAD, Riverchase has maintained its initial vision of providing the most comprehensive skin cancer, dermatology and cosmetic surgery services for over a decade. The caring and skilled providers at Riverchase use the latest techniques and equipment to diagnose and treat a wide range of skin disorders and cosmetic concerns. Riverchase has many convenient locations throughout Florida. For more information, visit www.RiverchaseDermatology.com. CONTACT Maureen Williams Director of Marketing and Aesthetics (407) 718-8886 [email protected] SOURCE Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Related Links http://www.riverchasederm.com Young used genetics to identify gene mutations that disrupt the ability of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to appropriately modulate its internal clock in response to a changing environment, and went on to define their biochemical mechanisms. This clock found in fruit flies proves to be conserved throughout the animal kingdom, and provides insight into how the brain translates environmental cues into altered behavior. His work has direct implications for understanding human sleep disorders, the mechanisms of jet lag, and the challenges of working on the night shift. Young's lab is currently working to assess how rhythmic gene and protein activities are established in cells derived from patients with sleep and depressive disorders. Among other discoveries, this work recently identified a common mutation that slows the human biological clock. People with the "night owl" variant of this gene have a long circadian cycle, making it challenging for them to stay on a normal 24-hour cycle. "I am delighted that the Nobel Foundation has chosen to honor Mike for his pioneering work on circadian rhythm," says Richard P. Lifton, Rockefeller University's president. "The discoveries made by Mike and his colleagues have provided fundamental insight into the molecular mechanisms by which the brain responds to environmental cues, a profound advance. The Nobel Prize is the pinnacle of scientific recognition, and I can think of no one more deserving than Mike to receive this award." Young, Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor and head of the Laboratory of Genetics, is the 25th scientist associated with Rockefeller University to be honored with the Nobel Prize. In addition to Young, five other Nobel Prize winners are current members of the Rockefeller faculty: Roderick MacKinnon (2003), Paul Nurse (2001), Paul Greengard (2000), Gunter Blobel (1999), and Torsten Wiesel (1981). Young received his undergraduate degree in biology in 1971 and his Ph.D. in genetics in 1975, both from The University of Texas at Austin. Following postdoctoral work in biochemistry at the Stanford University School of Medicine, he was appointed assistant professor at Rockefeller in 1978 as part of The Rockefeller University Fellows Program. Young was named associate professor in 1984 and professor in 1988, and in 2004 he was appointed the university's vice president for academic affairs and Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor. Young was an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1987 to 1996. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. Young is a recipient of the 2013 Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine, the 2013 Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences, the 2012 Massry Prize, the 2012 Canada Gairdner International Award, the 2011 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, and the 2009 Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation Neuroscience Prize. About The Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is the world's leading biomedical research university and is dedicated to conducting innovative, high-quality research to improve the understanding of life for the benefit of humanity. Our 82 laboratories conduct research in neuroscience, immunology, biochemistry, genomics, and many other areas, and a community of 1,800 faculty, students, postdocs, technicians, clinicians, and administrative personnel work on our 14-acre Manhattan campus. Our unique approach to science has led to some of the world's most revolutionary and transformative contributions to biology and medicine. During Rockefeller's 115-year history, 25 of our scientists have won Nobel Prizes, 22 have won Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards, and 20 have garnered the National Medal of Science, the highest science award given by the United States. Media contact: Katherine Fenz [email protected] 212-327-7900 www.rockefeller.edu SOURCE The Rockefeller University Related Links http://www.rockefeller.edu (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/565582/Prof__Dr__Hatem_El_Gabaly.jpg ) Rx, which is led by former Egyptian Minister of Health, Dr. Hatem El Gabaly, is a private equity fund managed by a newly setup fund manager in partnership with EFG Hermes, the leading financial services corporation in the Middle East and North Africa. The Fund aims to address growing demand for high-quality healthcare services across North African and Sub-Saharan jurisdictions, through investments in high growth potential entities in three key sectors: specialized hospitals, medical diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals. "Access to long term development funding is the cornerstone of sustainable healthcare development in Africa", said Farid Fezoua, President & CEO of GE Healthcare Africa. "As Africa's banks and financial services industry sharpen their focus on the continent's expanding health sector, nurturing homegrown strategic funding and financing solutions combined with operators' and technology domain expertise has the potential to provide a significant boost for local private sector healthcare providers, SMEs and entrepreneurs as well as public-private partnerships." "We're delighted to have completed our lineup of potential anchor limited partners with GE Healthcare, an unrivaled industry specialist with a footprint in more than 100 countries across the world, and African Development Bank, the continent's leading development finance institution," said Dr. El Gabaly. "Importantly, GE Healthcare's added value to Rx goes far beyond its financial investment: We view GE Healthcare and AfDB as strategic partners who would bring deep industry and geography specific knowledge in many of our target markets. We believe our Fund will offer a unique value proposition to the potential investors, in which it will be supported by veteran healthcare professionals, seasoned private equity professionals, and experienced investors." "Africa's healthcare sector is unique in that it offers both the potential for superior risk-adjusted returns as well as the opportunity to invest responsibly in a critical sector that will have measurable impact on the wider economy," El Gabaly noted. With the IMF projecting the continent's GDP growing at 6% (2013-2017) and a population of over one billion that includes an emerging middle class that has grown 60%+ to reach c.313 million over the last 10 years, Africa has a strong macro-economic outlook that could create a significant role for private healthcare providers. Within Africa, Rx will focus its strategy to invest in opportunities across Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia in sub-Saharan Africa as well as in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco in North Africa. About GE Healthcare GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services to meet the demand for increased access, enhanced quality and more affordable healthcare around the world. GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter - great people and technologies taking on tough challenges. From medical imaging, software & IT, patient monitoring and diagnostics to drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and performance improvement solutions, GE Healthcare helps medical professionals deliver great healthcare to their patients. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at http://www.gehealthcare.com . About Rx Healthcare Rx Healthcare Fund, is a private equity fund (under establishment) that will capitalize on the rapidly growing demand for affordable, high-quality healthcare services across the African continent. The Fund aims to build an integrated portfolio of strategic healthcare assets across the North African countries of Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco with a potential for expansion and replication in the vastly underserved Sub-Saharan healthcare markets particularly Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia. The Fund deploys a rigorous value creation strategy centered around the development of pan-African healthcare platforms along three distinct verticals covering diagnostics & therapeutic services, hospitals (general and specialized), and pharmaceuticals or other complimentary subsectors of healthcare across the continent. For further information about Rx Healthcare, please visit http://www.rxhealthmanagement.com About EFG Hermes With a current footprint spanning eight countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Pakistan & United States of America, EFG Hermes started in Egypt and has grown over 30 years of success to become a leading financial services corporation with access to emerging and frontier markets. Drawing on our proven track-record and a team of more than 2900 talented employees, we provide a wide spectrum of financial services that include investment banking, asset management, securities brokerage, research and private equity to the entire region. Combining our strengths and expertise in the region, we offer our clients best-in-class products and services that are tailored to their needs to maximize their investment goals in a rapidly changing environment. EFG Hermes' private equity arm is one of the Arab world's leading private-equity groups with a special focus on investing in infrastructure (particularly renewable energy), healthcare and consumer products. With more than 25 years of experience in investing across a broad industrial footprint, the firm is a leader in infrastructure private equity. For further information about EFG Hermes, please visit http://www.efghermes.com and stay connected with us. SOURCE Rx Healthcare Fund DALLAS, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC) ("SC") today announced several key changes to SC's leadership team under new CEO Scott Powell. SC announced that Juan Carlos Alvarez, Corporate Treasurer of Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (SHUSA), is succeeding Ismail (Izzy) Dawood as Chief Financial Officer of Santander Consumer, effective immediately. Dawood, who has been with SC since December 2015, is leaving to pursue other opportunities. In addition, Sandra Broderick will join SC as Executive Vice President, Head of Operations on October 10. "Juan Carlos was instrumental in helping SHUSA take major steps forward in the past year, including the work that led to passing the Federal Reserve's capital stress test and the termination of our 2014 Written Agreement with the Federal Reserve," Powell said. "With his intimate knowledge of SC and strong financial expertise, I'm confident Juan Carlos is the right person to assume the role of SC CFO at this point in SC's evolution." As Corporate Treasurer of Santander Holdings, Alvarez oversaw SHUSA's liquidity risk management, asset liability management, fixed-income investor relations and treasury functions. He has significant financial expertise, having served in a variety of roles at Santander, including interim Chief Financial Officer of Santander Holdings and Global Head of Treasury and Investments for Santander's International Private Banking Unit. Alvarez is stepping down as Corporate Treasurer of Santander Holdings to devote his full attention to Santander Consumer. Santander Holdings will name its new Corporate Treasurer at a later date. "I'm looking forward to working alongside Scott as Santander Consumer's CFO, and continuing to strengthen SC's financial and operational performance," said Juan Carlos Alvarez. "SC has a bright future ahead, and I'm excited to be part of this new chapter." Santander Consumer also announced that Sandra Broderick will join SC as Executive Vice President, Head of Operations on October 10. In this role, Broderick will oversee originations, servicing and default, and other operations functions including administrative oversight of Santander Consumer International, Puerto Rico. She joins SC from US Bank, which she joined in 2017 from JPMorgan Chase & Co. At JP Morgan Chase & Co. she served as the Managing Director, Operations Executive from 2002 to March 2017, and also served as Head of Operations for their automotive finance business since 2012. She brings more than 30 years of experience in the industry and also has held a variety of senior positions leading operations at Bank One, GE Capital and HSBC. Broderick will report to Scott Powell and Santander US Chief Operating Officer Mahesh Aditya. Rich Morrin will also take on a new role as President, Chrysler Capital and Auto Relationships, reporting to Scott Powell. Morrin will be responsible for Chrysler Capital, SC's sales and marketing activities, dealer and customer relationships, dealer oversight and RoadLoans.com. He will also be jointly accountable for Dealer Commercial Services, (DCS), which is part of Santander Bank, N.A. Rich will be responsible for building Santander Consumer's integrated product offering for dealers and strengthening relationships with them. "I am pleased to have such strong leaders on my team," said Powell. "Juan Carlos, Sandy and Rich each bring considerable experience and expertise to their roles, and I am looking forward to working together as we grow SC and strengthen our commitment to customers." SC will file additional details regarding today's appointments with the Securities and Exchange Commission. About Santander Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC) (SC) is a full-service, technology-driven consumer finance company focused on vehicle finance, third-party servicing and delivering superior service to our more than 2.7 million customers across the full credit spectrum. SC, which began originating retail installment contracts in 1997, has a managed asset portfolio of approximately $50 billion (as of June 30, 2017), and is headquartered in Dallas. Santander Holdings USA, Inc. (SHUSA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) (Santander), one of the most respected banking groups in the world with more than 125 million customers in the U.K., Europe, Latin America and the U.S. As the intermediate holding company for Santander's U.S. businesses, SHUSA includes five financial companies with more than 17,500 employees, 5.2 million customers and assets of over $144.8 billion. These include Santander Bank, N.A., one of the country's largest retail and commercial banks by deposits; Santander Consumer USA Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SC), an auto finance and consumer lending company; Banco Santander International of Miami; Banco Santander Puerto Rico; Santander Securities LLC; and Santander Investment Securities Inc. For more information about Santander Bank, visit www.santanderbank.com. For more information about Santander Consumer USA, visit www.santanderconsumerusa.com. Media Contacts: Investor Relations Media Relations Evan Black Laurie Kight 800.493.8219 214.801.6455 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. Related Links http://www.santanderconsumerusa.com NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sentinel Capital Partners, a private equity firm that invests in promising companies in the lower middle market, today announced the sale of PlayCore, the leading North American designer, manufacturer, and marketer of a broad range of play, park, and recreation products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. "We are very pleased with the excellent results PlayCore has achieved," said Eric Bommer, a Sentinel partner. "PlayCore has successfully executed a broad range of organic growth and add-on acquisition initiatives. PlayCore's talented management team has incorporated new brands seamlessly and accelerated growth by cross-selling, accessing new market opportunities, and capturing cost efficiencies. During our ownership, PlayCore has not missed a beat, which is a tremendous credit to its outstanding management team, and we leave the company well-positioned for future success as the industry leader." Since Sentinel's 2014 investment, PlayCore has successfully pursued its mission of building communities through play and recreation. PlayCore has completed 14 add-on acquisitions, and today owns 27 complementary brands and serves more than 8,000 customers. PlayCore's President and CEO, Roger Posacki, commented, "Sentinel has been a strong and supportive partner during a highly successful period in PlayCore's history. Sentinel has played a very important role in our acquisition strategy and we look forward to continuing this success with our new private equity owners." Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, PlayCore designs and builds a wide spectrum of commercial playground, park, recreation, performance, and specialty equipment ranging from basic modular play structures to complex, theme-based play environments that require significant creative and engineering competencies. PlayCore also provides a broad array of site amenities, surfacing, seating, performance, and fitness solutions, including picnic tables, benches, bleachers, bike racks, and outdoor fitness stations. Widely recognized as the industry thought leader, PlayCore also offers highly-differentiated, value-added services such as designing curriculum-based education programs for playgrounds and parks, and helps customers access funding sources. PlayCore is the market leader in play and recreation and has built the industry's most expansive distribution network. The past 12 months have been highly productive for Sentinel. Besides exiting PlayCore, Sentinel sold WellSpring Consumer Healthcare , a portfolio of high-performing OTC healthcare brands; Checkers & Rally's Restaurants , an iconic and innovative drive-thru restaurant chain; National Spine & Pain Centers , a leader in interventional pain management; and Power Products , a leading global provider of branded electrical products and systems. During this same period, Sentinel made three new platform investments, including Altima Dental , the largest dental services organization in Canada; Cabi , a leading direct marketer of women's fashion apparel; and SONNY'S Enterprises , the worldwide leader in conveyorized car wash systems. About Sentinel Capital Partners Sentinel Capital Partners specializes in buying and building lower middle market companies in the United States and Canada in partnership with management. Sentinel targets aerospace and defense, business services, consumer, distribution, food and restaurants, franchising, healthcare, and industrial businesses. Sentinel invests in management buyouts, recapitalizations, corporate divestitures, and going-private transactions of established businesses with EBITDA of up to $65 million. Sentinel also invests in special situations, including balance sheet restructurings, and operational turnarounds. For more information about Sentinel, visit www.sentinelpartners.com. About PlayCore PlayCore is one of the leading playground equipment and recreation products companies in the world, specializing in the design, manufacture, and marketing of commercial playground, park, recreation, performance, and specialty equipment. PlayCore helps build stronger communities by advancing play through research, education, and partnerships. PlayCore infuses this learning into its complete family of brands. PlayCore combines best-in-class planning and education programs with the most comprehensive array of recreation products available to create play solutions that match the unique needs of the each community it serves. Learn more at www.playcore.com. Contact: Roland Tomforde Broadgate Consultants 212-232-2222 SOURCE Sentinel Capital Partners These exploration drill hole results have not been included in the recently reported mineral resource estimate for the Yauricocha Mine (please see press release dated September 29, 2017) as they were received after the cut-off date for the report. Management expects that they will provide further potential resource growth when the next mineral resource estimate is calculated. Igor Gonzales, President and CEO of Sierra Metals stated: "Today's results represent the existence of high grade polymetallic mineralization at Cuye, and suggest the possibility of even further mineralization to depth. Additionally, these results represent some of the widest sulfide intercepts drilled at Yauricocha since the discovery of the Esperanza Zone in 2016." He continued, "The Company has made a strong commitment to brownfield exploration in 2017 and results such as the ones released today continue to demonstrate that this investment is paying off with the potential to further grow our mineral resources." Alonso Lujan, VP Exploration of Sierra Metals commented: "These results from Cuye demonstrate the existence of mineralized sectors containing high grade sulphides consisting of mainly Copper and Zinc as shown in Table 1 below. Additional potential still exists as the Cuye zone remains open to depth. Additionally, it appears that the Cuye and Catas zones unite at depth and management believes that beyond the 1120 level the orebodies will be more continuous in the longitudinal extension of the mine. The Company plans to continue exploring this area from the 1070 level." He concluded, "The historic Cuye copper orebody used to be one of the largest cashflow generators 10 years ago at Yauricocha. It's rediscovery in late 2016 (see press release dated November 17, 2016) seemed to have found the Cuye orebody extensions at depth. Today's results confirm the connection of these orebodies at higher elevations and suggest that Cuye may merge with the Catas polymetallic orebody. This is very significant since Catas is the one of the largest contributors to the mine's current production." All reported intercepts are core length as further drilling is required to determine true thicknesses. A plan view map of Yauricocha Mine is shown in Figure 1. Level 920 shows the Cuye and Catas areas. Figure 1 and 2 show the cross sections of the holes drilled: Table 1. Hole No. From To Width (m) Ag g/t Pb % Cu % Zn % Au g/t Description CUY 17-17-01 252.50 258.95 6.45 39 0.18 0.35 21.66 0.33 Poly 258.95 261.80 2.85 15 0.14 0.18 1.29 0.10 Pyrite 261.80 266.00 4.20 22 0.12 0.42 2.40 0.32 Poly 267.30 285.00 17.70 7 0.00 1.64 0.16 0.9 Copper 285.00 293.00 8.00 10 0.03 0.57 0.32 0.48 Pyrite 293.00 295.00 2.00 24 0.00 1.49 0.01 0.09 Copper CUY17-17-02 209.00 211.00 2.00 149 0.13 2.04 0.04 0.61 Copper 211.00 218.90 7.90 58 0.10 0.22 16.96 0.14 Poly 218.90 229.00 10.10 3 0.02 0.01 0.55 0.13 Skarn 229.00 238.00 9.00 82 0.16 0.99 9.55 0.24 Poly 238.00 239.00 1.00 27 0.02 2.4 1.65 0.26 Copper 239.00 244.00 5.00 15 0.02 0.62 0.56 0.36 Pyrite 244.00 245.00 1.00 33 0.03 1.67 2.42 0.46 Poly 245.00 258.00 13.00 27 0.00 3.37 0.02 1.85 Copper CUY 17-17-03 196.50 196.80 0.30 12 0.04 0.31 3.29 0.47 Poly 196.80 202.40 5.60 9 0.05 0.25 0.98 0.26 Pyrite 202.40 203.00 0.60 19 0.06 0.98 2.90 0.28 Poly 203.00 206.00 3.00 21 0.01 2.25 0.94 0.97 Copper CUY 17-17-04 129.00 130.90 1.90 10 0.03 0.08 5.37 0.06 Poly 130.90 195.75 66.80 4 0.03 0.11 0.12 0.03 Pyrite 197.50 207.00 9.50 47 1.63 0.49 10.12 0.62 Poly 207.00 212.00 5.00 35 0.03 3.79 0.11 1.41 Copper 212.00 220.50 8.50 6 0.00 0.84 0.05 4.58 Copper 220.50 225.80 5.30 18 0.00 1.52 0.01 1.55 Poly 225.80 237.05 11.25 8.77 0.00 1.86 0.01 0.42 Copper Qualified Persons The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Gordon Babcock P.Eng., Chief Operating Officer and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Americo Zuzunaga, MAusIMM CP(Mining Engineer) and Vice President of Corporate Planning is a Qualified Person and chartered professional qualifying as a Competent Person under the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Augusto Chung, FAusIMM CP(Metallurgist) and Consultant to Sierra Metals is a Qualified Person and chartered professional qualifying as a Competent Person on metallurgical processes. About Sierra Metals Sierra Metals Inc. is Canadian based growing polymetallic mining company with production from its Yauricocha Mine in Peru, and its Bolivar and Cusi Mines in Mexico. The Company is focused on increasing production volume and growing mineral resources. Sierra Metals has recently had several new key discoveries and still has many more exciting brownfield exploration opportunities at all three Mines in Peru and Mexico that are within close proximity to the existing mines. Additionally, the Company also has large land packages at all three mines with several prospective regional targets providing longer term exploration upside and mineral resource growth potential. The Company's Common Shares trade on the Bolsa de Valores de Lima and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SMT" and on the NYSE American Exchange under the symbol "SMTS". Continue to Follow, Like and Watch our progress: Web: www.sierrametals.com | Twitter: sierrametals | Facebook: SierraMetalsInc | LinkedIn: Sierra Metals Inc Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian and U.S. securities laws related to the Company (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Company's operations, including anticipated developments in the Company's operations in future periods, the Company's planned exploration activities, the adequacy of the Company's financial resources, and other events or conditions that may occur in the future. Statements concerning mineral reserve and resource estimates may also be considered to constitute forward-looking statements to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if and when the properties are developed or further developed. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategy", "goals", "objectives", "potential" or variations thereof, or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the mining industry including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected geological formations, floods, labour disruptions, explosions, cave-ins, weather conditions and criminal activity; commodity price fluctuations; higher operating and/or capital costs; lack of available infrastructure; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks associated with the estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits and the inability to replace reserves; fluctuations in the price of commodities used in the Company's operations; risks related to foreign operations; changes in laws or policies, foreign taxation, delays or the inability to obtain necessary governmental permits; risks relating to outstanding borrowings; issues regarding title to the Company's properties; risks related to environmental regulation; litigation risks; risks related to uninsured hazards; the impact of competition; volatility in the price of the Company's securities; global financial risks; inability to attract or retain qualified employees; potential conflicts of interest; risks related to a controlling group of shareholders; dependence on third parties; differences in U.S. and Canadian reporting of mineral reserves and resources; potential dilutive transactions; foreign currency risks; risks related to business cycles; liquidity risks; reliance on internal control systems; credit risks, including risks related to the Company's compliance with covenants with respect to its BCP Facility; uncertainty of production and cost estimates for the Yauricocha Mine, the Bolivar Mine and the Cusi Mine; and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which filings are available at www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. Forward looking information includes statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and the Company's actual achievements or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. The Company's statements containing forward-looking information are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, one should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. SOURCE Sierra Metals Inc. Related Links www.sierrametals.com VANCOUVER and LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Pixhug, an online social-change platform that turns "slacktivism" into activism, is supporting National Bullying Prevention Month by sponsoring "A Common Good Project" (ACGP), a non-profit that combats online abuse, hate-speech, and bullying. Pixhug is a photo-sharing app that turns social actions such as likes and posts on social platforms into 10-cent donations to charities. Pixhug partners with corporate sponsors who fund the charities, which enables everyone with a smartphone to become a social activist and philanthropist without making a monetary contribution. "We know that the most active demographic on social media wants to support causes but doesn't necessarily have the financial means," Mido DeSanti, Pixhug co-founder, added. "So we built Pixhug to allow them to participate in charitable giving, facilitating random acts of kindness on social media." "We are delighted to harness the cyber-power of social media to fuel ACGP's innovative tools to combat cyber-bullying," added Mia Rajkovic, Pixhug co-founder. ACGP offers legal support to victims of cyber bullying and will be releasing free software tools to protect individuals from abusive behaviour online. "We are committed to ending the cycle of hate speech and cyber harassment that affects our Internet on a global scale," said ACGP's Flynn Adams. "We are calling on other brands to join Pixhug to match this sponsorship in the fight against cyber-bullying, and inviting everyone to support this initiative by downloading the Pixhug iOS app," Mido DeSanti, Pixhug co-founder said. "Our own company was the victim of corporate cyber-bullying, and our goal is to help prevent this experience from happening to others," DeSanti added. "Technology has created the problem of cyber-bullying, and we need technology to help solve it, while giving people the tools to be socially active and supporting causes of all kinds via the Pixhug platform." About Pixhug Pixhug was created to elevate awareness of charitable causes, support philanthropy, and make giving easier and more effective than ever before. The iOS app is available on the App Store. Website: https://www.pixhug.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pixhug About ACGP ACGP is a nonprofit based in California, dedicated to solving the worldwide problem of cyber bullying and online harassment. ACGP advocates for victims of abuse by raising awareness and sponsoring new legislation and emerging technology to protect individuals from harmful behaviour online. http://aCommonGoodProject.com SOURCE Pixhug Media Inc. Related Links www.pixhug.com REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncologists may get a new tool for identifying which of their cancer patients are most likely to respond to widely prescribed immunotherapies, recent research suggests. In a paper published in Clinical Cancer Research, researchers from the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center showed that response to treatment with a checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapy correlated with the number of genomic alterations detected by the Guardant360 assay. Clinical adoption of checkpoint inhibitors to treat a variety of solid tumor types has changed the way oncologists treat cancer in recent years. Although some patients respond dramatically to these drugs, many do not. While existing biomarkers such as PD-L1 expression are being used to help identify some patients well-suited for these drugs, these tests may be either imperfect predictors or infeasible to use due to limited tumor biopsy tissue. Now, UC San Diego investigators have demonstrated that the Guardant360 assay, the leading comprehensive liquid biopsy, may be able to non-invasively identify patients who benefit most from these drugs. "Considering the high costs and complications associated with immunotherapy, finding biomarkers that predict which patients will respond best to immunotherapy is of utmost importance," said Razelle Kurzrock, MD, Director of the Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy at the University of California San Diego Moores Cancer Center and the study's senior author. "We show, for the first time, that a blood test that measures genomic alterations shed from the tumor into the circulation can help determine which patients are likely to respond." Genomic testing in several advanced cancer types helps doctors match their patients to targeted therapies that are often more effective and less toxic than traditional chemotherapy. "These results also show the potential use of liquid biopsies for assisting immunotherapy decision making," said Richard Lanman, MD, Guardant Health's Chief Medical Officer. "Comprehensive genotyping before first-line immunotherapy is critical to identify EGFR, ALK, ROS1, and MET alterations, as these predict lack of response to checkpoint inhibitors while providing patients with a targeted therapy treatment option," Lanman said. "Here Dr. Yulian Khagi, Dr. Kurzrock, and team have shown that Guardant360 may help predict benefit of immunotherapy with a single blood test, by identifying hyper-mutated tumors noninvasively." The Guardant360 assay, the most widely used comprehensive liquid biopsy, was introduced in 2014. It has been ordered more than 50,000 times by more than 3,500 oncologists to look for somatic genomic alterations associated with targeted therapies in the tumor DNA of patients with advanced cancer. It is supported by more than 30 peer-reviewed journal publications that address its analytical validity, clinical validity, and clinical utility. About Guardant Health Guardant Health is focused on conquering cancer by using its breakthrough blood-based assays, vast data sets, and advanced analytics. Using both molecular and digital tools, Guardant Health is addressing challenges across the cancer care continuum. The company has raised more than $500 million from leading investors. Its first product, the Guardant360 assay, came to market in 2014, and is now the most widely ordered comprehensive liquid biopsy commercially available. In 2016, it announced Project LUNAR, an effort to apply Guardant Health's technology platform to early detection, recurrence monitoring, and assessing minimal residual disease. Guardant Health and Guardant360 are registered trademarks of Guardant Health, Inc. SOURCE Guardant Health Related Links http://www.guardanthealth.com AMMAN, Jordan, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company ("Tabuk"), one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has entered into an agreement with Selectchemie, under which Selectchemie granted Tabuk a license to register, market and sell Caspofungin Injection (systemic antifungal agent) in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Countries, North Africa, and the rest of Middle East. Selectchemie is one of the leading European companies, headquartered in Zurich serving the pharmaceutical and human nutrition industries since 1969 as a premier supplier of high quality ingredients. Dr. Rana Azzam, Senior VP of Business Development said "We are excited about this major partnership collaboration with Selectchemie. Caspofungin Injection is a hard to develop and lifesaving product. This partnership will provide an opportunity for both companies to leverage their combined strength." Selectchemie side commented "Dr. Peter Kaufmann, CEO of Selectchemie, is proud to have gained Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company as a licensing and marketing partner for Caspofungin in the MENA Region. With this highest quality product, manufactured in Europe, Selectchemie looks forward to a long-term partnership with Tabuk to the benefit of both companies and end-users." SOURCE Tabuk Pharmaceuticals Beginning today, fans can visit http://www.hondabattleofthebands.com/the-bands and vote daily to help select the eight bands that will perform at the 2018 Invitational Showcase. Voting will close on Friday, October 20 at midnight Eastern. "For more than 15 years, Honda Battle of the Bands has provided a stage for exceptional marching bandsa hallmark of HBCU culture," said Stephan Morikawa, Vice President, Corporate Relations & Social Responsibility for Honda. "Honda is honored to celebrate these student musicians and their teamwork, and we look forward to their dynamic performances come January." This year's theme, March On: Dream Together, highlights the distinctive culture of HBCUsboth on and off the field. It is a culture that impacts and inspires far beyond its community. In addition to music education, HBOB celebrates everything from the rich history and traditions of HBCUs to the life-long connections that fuel future leaders. In the last two years, the HBOB Invitational Showcase has attracted a combined audience of nearly 120,000 fans via the live show and online livestream. Tickets for the anticipated event start at $10 and will be available for purchase on October 16 at HondaBattleoftheBands.com. In addition to the marching bands, the 2018 Invitational Showcase will also feature the fourth-annual HBCU Power of Dreams Award. Honda established the award to honor extraordinary individuals who are positively affecting the lives of others and moving the HBCU community forward. Members of the HBCU community will have the opportunity to nominate an exceptional individual who is making a difference in the community. Honda will recognize the winner in a ceremony during the event. For more information on Honda Battle of the Bands and to buy tickets, visit www.HondaBattleoftheBands.com. To join the social media conversation, use #HBOB and visit the following social media handles for official updates: About Honda Honda seeks to be a company that society wants to exist, creating products and technologies that improve the lives of people while minimizing the environmental impacts of its products and business operations to ensure a sustainable future for society. Honda is also committed to making positive contributions to the communities where we do business, to socially responsible business practices and to the promotion of diversity in our workforce. From our involvement in STEM education and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to our support of pediatric brain tumor research, and volunteer efforts by Honda associates, including environmental clean-up activities, Honda believes in giving back to the communities where we live and work. Honda supports a variety of initiatives aimed at advancing education and creating experiences of discovery that help young people see and achieve their own dreams. Honda's partnership with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund is one of many programs demonstrating Honda's commitment to the Latino community and to helping young people access The Power of Dreams. SOURCE Honda CULVER CITY, Calif., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS) held its 10th annual meeting of the World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC) September 13 16, 2017 in Philadelphia, PA where there were 247 oral presentations and 551 poster presentations, with awards given in each category of science. One of the most prestigious awards at the WMIC, the Young Investigator of the Year Award, recognizes a young, next-generation scientist making giant breakthroughs in the field of molecular imaging. The 2017 WMIS Young Investigator of the Year Award was presented to Dr. Patrick McCormick at the University College London for his work titled, "Evaluation of (4S)-4-(3-[18F]fluoropropyl)-L-glutamate ([18F]FSPG) for Measurement of Intracellular Redox Status using Positron Emission Tomography." "The findings from this study suggest that our method will be able to detect subtle biochemical changes that precede the desired clinical outcome, namely tumor shrinkage, offering the potential of our technique in both clinical chemotherapy treatment decisions, as well as in the screening of new, more effective chemotherapeutics," said Dr. Patrick McCormick, University College London. McCormick plans to further validate the method and extend the study to facilitate interpretation of human imaging data. UCL just recently received funding to take this radiotracer into patient studies at the University College Hospital in London. "Our group is interested in developing the next generation of molecular imaging agents to image cancer response and resistance to therapy," said Tim Witney, PhD, University College London, McCormick's PI. "Drug resistance is currently the biggest hurdle to long-term curative treatments for patients with cancer. We desperately need to understand why some patients become drug-resistant. If we can find these patients, this opens up the possibility of selecting better drugs that may prolong the life of that person. I really hope we can help with this effort. This work is just the start of a large program we are developing to try and answer this previously unanswerable problem." Second runners-up for the award are Dr. Suchismita Mohanty, Stanford School of Medicine, for her work titled "A novel theranostic strategy for MMP-14 expressing glioblastomas impacts survival" and Dr. Zhi Wei Tay, University of California, Berkeley, for his work titled, "Eight-fold Improvement in Magnetic Particle Imaging Resolution with Pulsed Drive Waveforms." ABOUT WORLD MOLECULAR IMAGING SOCIETY The WMIS is dedicated to developing and promoting translational research through multimodality molecular imaging. The education and abstract-driven WMIC is the annual meeting of the WMIS and is held in conjunction with partner societies including the European Society for Molecular Imaging (ESMI) and the Federation of Asian Societies for Molecular Imaging (FASMI). WMIC provides a unique setting for scientists and clinicians with very diverse backgrounds to interact, present, and follow cutting-edge advances in the rapidly expanding field of molecular imaging that impacts nearly every biomedical discipline. Industry exhibits at the congress included corporations who have created the latest advances in preclinical and clinical imaging approaches and equipment, providing a complete molecular imaging educational technology showcase. For more information: www.wmis.org CONTACT: LAUREN WHITMAN PHONE: 865-308-2312 E-MAIL: [email protected] SOURCE World Molecular Imaging Society Related Links http://www.wmis.org/ NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This October, Times Square Church presents an original stage production of "The Cross and The Switchblade" based on the bestselling book which sold 16 million copies worldwide, to mark the 30th Anniversary of its founding by David Wilkerson in 1987. The Cross and The Switchblade The Cross and The Switchblade The play re-enacts the story of two individuals from totally different worlds. David Wilkerson, a small-town preacher from rural Pennsylvania who sees a court drawing of seven teens on trial for the gang murder of a polio victim in Life Magazine and is compelled to go to New York City to bring a message of hope to these teens swallowed by a life of drugs, violence, and prostitution. Nicky Cruz, a feared and violent gang warlord by 16, who was told by one psychologist he was "on a one-way trip to jail, the electric chair and hell." When their two worlds collide, everyone around them is impacted, from the cop walking the beat, to the gang and drug culture in New York City. The production features a cast of thirty young actors with Tyson Kennedy as David Wilkerson and Jesus Cabreja, as Nicky Cruz. The production integrates music throughout, including original songs with an R&B flavor, spoken word and video. Speaking about the production, director/writer David Ham says: "The play takes a hard look at gang violence and drug addiction. Some moments are disturbing, but this is the reality. It's a culture we'd rather ignore because it's not comfortable being around them. But, David Wilkerson was immersed in their world and genuinely loved them. The production is a musical journey of different sounds from Latin rhythms to soulful grooves. The cast and crew are made up of talented young adults from NYC committed to reaching their generation. Videos are integrated throughout as an extra bonus in the play, well-crafted to capture your attention as if suddenly you are watching a movie. This ensemble cast is electric and compelling! Make sure you keep your feet out of the aisles, as the story comes to life right through the house." "The Cross and The Switchblade" will have six performances on Friday, October 6 and 13 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 8, 15, 22 and 29 at 6:00 p.m., at the landmark Mark Hellinger Theatre, located on 51st street between Broadway and 8th Avenue which is home to Times Square Church. The show runs 90 minutes in length. Admission is free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. to allow attendees to secure seats in the main theatre. For more information visit tsc.nyc. If you have any questions or to schedule an interview with the director or the cast, please contact: Luly McCoy, Communications Director at 212 541 6300 / [email protected]. Show times: Friday, October 6 & 13 at 7 p.m. Sunday, October 8, 15, 22 & 29 at 6 p.m. Times Square Church Mark Hellinger Theatre 237 West 51st Street between Broadway & 8th Avenue Times Square Church is an inter-denominational, multinational congregation, located in the heart of New York City, at 51st Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, founded by Rev. David Wilkerson, author of the best-selling book "The Cross and the Switchblade." Over 10,000 people, representing more than 100 different nationalities, gather to worship together each week, finding true unity is possible through Jesus Christ. For more information, please visit tsc.nyc Contact: Luly McCoy Tel: 212-541-6300 Email: [email protected] website: www.tsc.nyc SOURCE Times Square Church Related Links http://www.tsc.nyc NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance (PSSCRA) today announced the opening of applications for its 2018 Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research. The prize of $200,000 per year for up to three years is awarded annually to at least six New York City-based scientists, enabling them to continue to pursue explorative, high-risk/high-reward cancer research at a stage when traditional funding is lacking. Applicants must have between 2 to 8 years of experience running their own laboratories by the award start-date (July 2018) and must hold a PhD, MD or MD-PhD (or degree equivalent). The deadline to submit the Letter of Intent is November 6, 2017. For more details on the application process, including the full eligibility criteria, and for more details on the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance, please visit: www.psscra.org. Now providing support for 25 primary investigators, the highly competitive Prize underwrites the research of early-career cancer scientists at a formative stage in their careers. In order to facilitate these collaborations, each Prize winner is given access to leaders in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and the opportunity to present his or her work to scientific, business, and philanthropic audiences. "As we embark on the fifth year of the Prize, we remain consistently impressed with the extraordinary scientific talent in the NYC area. These brilliant early-career scientists have the potential to bring about catalytic change for the detection and treatment of cancer," said Olivia Tournay Flatto, Ph.D., President of The Pershing Square Foundation and Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance. "The future of New York's life science research and industry relies on our ability to discover and support such new talent." "When we learned about receiving the Pershing Square Sohn Prize we were super excited," said Daniel Heller, PhD, a 2017 Prize winner who runs the Cancer Nanomedicine Laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. "The support will enable us to do innovative work that we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise." "I am honored to be part of this esteemed group of early-stage investigators who are working toward understanding the basis of cancer," said Agnel Sfeir, Ph.D., a recipient of the 2016 Prize and assistant professor at NYU's Skirball Institute of Biomolecular medicine "With support from the Pershing Square Sohn Prize, my lab and I are pursuing risky approaches to identify all molecular players in cancer and highlight novel ways to treat this disease." About The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance was formed in 2013 through a $25 million commitment by Bill and Karen Ackman and The Pershing Square Foundation, which partnered with The Sohn Conference Foundation. The Alliance is dedicated to playing a catalytic role in accelerating cures for cancer by supporting innovative cancer research and by facilitating collaborations between academia and industry. Annually, the Alliance awards The Pershing Square Sohn Prize to young New York based scientists who are engaged in cutting-edge cancer research. For more information, visit http://psscra.org/. About The Pershing Square Foundation In 2006, Bill and Karen Ackman founded the Pershing Square Foundation (PSF) to support exceptional leaders and innovative organizations that tackle important social issues and deliver scalable and sustainable impact across the globe. In the decade since, PSF has committed $400 million in grants and social investments across a number of fields, including health and medicine, education, economic development and social justice. By investing in pioneering individuals, non-profits and mission driven companies who dare to re-imagine the possible, PSF has helped to bring about important breakthroughs from cancer research and small scale agriculture to criminal justice reform and educational opportunities for young people in communities around the world. For more information visit: www.pershingsquarefoundation.org.. About The Sohn Conference Foundation The Sohn Conference Foundation is dedicated to the treatment and cure of pediatric cancer and other childhood diseases. The Foundation supports cutting-edge medical research, state-of-the-art research equipment, and innovative programs to ensure that children with cancer survive and thrive. The Foundation raises its funds through premier investment conferences and special events, including its renowned annual New York Sohn Investment Conference. Founded in 1995, the Conference honors the memory of Ira Sohn, a Wall Street professional who lost his battle with cancer at age 29. The Foundation has expanded its reach to include Sohn Australia Conference, Sohn Canada Conference, Sohn Hong Kong Conference, Sohn India Conference, Sohn London Conference, Sohn San Francisco Conference and Sohn Tel Aviv Conference. To date, the Foundation has raised more than $75 million. More information on the Sohn Conference Foundation can be found here: www.sohnconference.org. SOURCE Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance Related Links http://psscra.org SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The RealReal, the leader in authenticated luxury consignment, today announced it has established National Consignment Day as an official holiday, henceforth taking place annually the first Monday of every October. This new official holiday solidifies The RealReal's consignment model as a key stimulator of the circular economy. In celebration of the new holiday, The RealReal is announcing a strategic relationship with Stella McCartney, the first luxury lifestyle brand committed to sustainability. This year, National Consignment Day will take place on Monday, October 2nd, the same day as the Stella McCartney Summer 2018 fashion show in Paris. More than 80 billion pieces of clothing are produced worldwide each year. Of these pieces, 75% will end up in landfills, meaning we are using up the planet's resources at a rate that is truly unsustainable. In fact, August 2nd of this year marked 'earth overshoot' day meaning that on that day we used more from nature than our planet can renew in the whole year. Stella McCartney has made a firm commitment to being a responsible and modern company taking responsibility for the resources it uses and the impact it has on the environment. The brand is embracing new business models that will transform how clothes are produced, sold, shared, repaired and reused. Some of the most important actions that a companies can take to reduce their environmental impact are designing products that are built to last and promoting the extended use of those items. This partnership with The RealReal will promote the extended lifecycle of luxury products and is yet another chapter in Stella McCartney's relentless sustainability efforts. The exclusive partnership program will launch in 2018 with a full scale national initiative. Stella McCartney comments: "Sustainability is important to us and I'm excited to be partnering with The RealReal on this new sustainable program. We believe that consignment and recommerce can play a significant part in reducing the amount of raw materials that are required each year from our planet. This is key in our commitment to becoming part of a more circular economy. By ensuring that our products are used for the entirety of their lifecycle it is possible to begin to slow down the amount of natural resources currently being cultivated and extracted from the planet for the sake of fashion." The RealReal CEO and Founder Julie Wainwright adds: "Sustainability has been in The RealReal's and Stella McCartney's core since day one. The RealReal was founded to extend the lifecycle of luxury products in a trusted, dynamic marketplace. I am thrilled that we will be working with Stella McCartney to further both of our missions of extending the lifecycle of luxury goods and creating a greener planet. National Consignment Day allows us to raise awareness about the circular economy, especially as it applies to the luxury market." The new holiday celebrates consignment as the smart, sustainable way to shop, earn money and extend the lifecycle of luxury. The RealReal is introducing the #NeverThrowAway movement urging consumers to either consign or donate items they no longer want. How to Observe National Consignment Day: Consign Set up an in-home consignment appointment. Get started here. Set up an office or facetime appointment with one of The RealReal's experts to receive a free price quote, or drop off your items at a Luxury Consignment Office. Get started here . . Donations: The RealReal encourages consignors to donate items to its charity partner GOOD+ Foundation, a non-profit organization that is breaking the cycle of family poverty through donated goods. Learn more here . Social Media Demonstrate your commitment to sustainable living and conscious consumption by posting your consignments and donations on Instagram using the hashtags #NeverThrowAway and #NationalConsignmentDay. About The RealReal The RealReal is the leader in authenticated luxury consignment with a certified expert inspecting every single item. The company has reinvented luxury resale and has changed how people think about and consume luxury goods. The RealReal provides the largest selection of pre-owned authenticated luxury items including women's and men's fashion, fine jewelry & watches, and fine art & home. Consignors earn up to 70% of the sale price and items sell quickly. The company offers white glove consignment service and operates Luxury Consignment Offices in seven US cities that offer free fine jewelry and watch valuations from certified gemologists. The RealReal is a member of Ellen MacArthur Foundation's CE100, a leader in the circular economy and an innovator in sustainable luxury. About Stella McCartney Stella McCartney is a luxury lifestyle brand that was launched under the designer's name in 50/50 partnership with Kering in 2001. Stella's approach to design puts emphases on sharp tailoring, a natural confidence and an effortlessly sexy style. A lifelong vegetarian, Stella McCartney does not use any leather or fur in her designs. The brand is committed to ethical values, and believes the company is responsible for the resources it uses and the impact it has on the environment. It is therefore constantly exploring innovative ways to become more sustainable, from design to store practices and product manufacturing. Stella McCartney offers women's ready-to-wear, menswear, accessories, lingerie, swimwear, kids, fragrance and adidas by Stella McCartney collections through 51 free-standing stores including London, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Milan and Shanghai. Her collections are distributed in 77 countries through 863 doors including specialty shops, and department stores, as well as shipping to 100 countries online. For additional information, please visit: www.stellamccartney.com. Press Contact: Natalie Seufferlein [email protected] (650) 823-5892 SOURCE The RealReal Related Links http://www.therealreal.com PELLA, Iowa, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TheBestSchools.org, a leading online publication for ranking schools and degree programs, has now published its ranking of "The 25 Best Schools for Studying the Bible." https://thebestschools.org/rankings/best-schools-for-studying-bible/ The 25 Best Schools for Studying the Bible - TheBestSchools.org TheBestSchools.org list includes Bible schools as well as other schools with strong Bible programs. They earned a place on this list through individual holistic considerations that include their (1) commitment to sound Christian education, (2) academic excellence, (3) spiritual life on campus, (4) and impressive Bible curriculum. Also, (5) all entrants are accredited through one or more of the following: Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS), Association of Theological Schools (ATS), and Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). "Many people today are searching for truth. Our ranking of America's top Bible schools reflects a select group of elite institutions that provide students an assurance of authority and credibility," says Dan Edelen, director of marketing services for TheBestSchools.org. "As a service to our readers, our list provides an additional 75 Honorable Mention schools for added convenience should a prospective student need access to a more nearby program." The 25 top Bible schools, listed alphabetically: Asbury University, Wilmore, Kentucky Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota Biola University, Los Angeles, California Bryan College, Dayton, Tennessee Cedarville University, Cedarville, Ohio Clarks Summit University of Pennsylvania, South Abingdon Township, Pennsylvania Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, Texas Emmaus Bible College, Dubuque, Iowa Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania Hardin-Simmons, Abilene, Texas Houston Baptist University, Houston, Texas Johnson University, Knoxville, Tennessee Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia Messiah College, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, Illinois Multnomah University, Portland, Oregon Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma Taylor University, Upland, Indiana The Master's College, Santa Clarita, California Toccoa Falls College, Toccoa, Georgia Trinity International University, Deerfield, Illinois University of Dallas, Irving, Texas Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois Through "The 25 Best Schools for Studying the Bible," TheBestSchools.org is delighted to spotlight the achievement of these schools for their excellence in teaching the Bible. To view the 75 Honorable Mention schools, please visit the link above. TheBestSchools.org is a leader in school rankings K12, college, postgraduate, online, and on-campus providing millions of prospective students with the information they need to find the right school for them. TheBestSchools.org is an independent educational website whose staff and advisory board believe learning transforms lives for the better and should be a lifelong pursuit. Contact: Dan Edelen, Director of Marketing Services Web: https://thebestschools.org Email: [email protected] Phone: (513) 601-8202 SOURCE TheBestSchools.org Related Links http://www.thebestschools.org Thomas Vincent Girardi has certainly proven himself as an accomplished professional and expert litigator who has become a household name. From being the trial lawyer on the famous Erin Brockovich case to his solid victories against Vioxx, Merck and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mr. Girardi is regarded by his peers as one of the nation's top trial lawyers of all time. He has obtained more than 30 verdicts of $1 million or more and has handled more than 100 settlements of $1 million or more. He has tried more than 100 jury cases, winning the first California medical malpractice verdict of $1 million or more, back in the 1970s and he has had a few billion dollar settlements under his belt. His areas of practice include Wrongful Death, Commercial Litigation, Products Liability, Bad Faith Insurance and Toxic Torts. Mr. Girardi attended Loyola Law School and graduated in 1964. He then enrolled in a master's program at NYU receiving his LLM in 1965. In addition to running the firm, he has also been an Associate Professor at Loyola Law School from 1976 to the Present and was recipient of the "Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1997 and in 2005 named "Champion of Justice" from the law school. Throughout his illustrious career, Thomas Girardi has been active in his community, received numerous awards, accolades and recognized worldwide for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the legal profession. He has been featured in numerous publications and magazines and will be featured on the front cover of the First Edition of TIP (Top Industry Professionals) Magazine which will be out January of 2018 and distributed to the most prestigious professionals all around the world. The International Association of Top Professionals have been working on a film documentary on Mr. Girardi which should be released by this December. For more information, please visit: http://www.thomasvgirardi.com Watch his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MA-kbMkPSw CONTACT Stephanie Cirami 212-634-4427 SOURCE International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP) BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- When hunger strikes and we're on-the-go, we often find ourselves worrying about how to get our hands on something tasty and wholesome. That's why on-the-go working mom and foodie Tiffani Thiessen took a break from her routine to head to New York City. Enlisting the help of the Keebler Town House Bike Brigade, Tiffani delivered Town House Crackers + Hummus to hungry go-getters across the city. With two delicious varieties, Town House Pita Crackers Mediterranean Herb with Hummus and Town House Flatbread Crisps Sea Salt and Olive Oil with Hummus, these flavorful duos can save your day with a snack anytime, anywhere. Tiffani Thiessen and her Town House Crackers + Hummus bike brigade geared up to save hungry, on-the-go New Yorkers with a snack! Did you know 3:14 p.m. is the time people are most in need of a snack? Tiffani rescued ravenous New Yorkers with this portable snack at that perfect moment! By using a high heat process during packaging, this allows for packs to be conveniently stored at room temperature. Town House Crackers + Hummus fills you up with wholesome goodness, and is always ready to eat so you can just grab it and enjoy on-the-go. "I'm thrilled to partner with Town House Crackers + Hummus. For so many mothers, finding time for a delicious snack that is both wholesome and convenient can be difficult, but with the delicious Mediterranean herb and sea salt and olive oil flavors, Town House Crackers + Hummus is the perfect solve," Tiffani said. Check out www.facebook.com/TiffaniThiessen and @tiffanithiessen on Instagram to follow Tiffani Thiessen and the Keebler Town House Bike Brigade and their journey through New York. You can also learn more about the Town House Crackers + Hummus varieties by visiting www.facebook.com/KeeblerElves/. SOURCE Kellogg Company "For more than a decade, through the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest, children around the world have been painting, drawing and coloring their vision of what mobility will look like in the future," said Mike Groff, President & CEO of Toyota Financial Services . "Every year, I am truly impressed by how these kids envision the potential of vehicles to do more than simply move people, but to also help solve environmental and social problems. Their artwork is not just beautiful, it's incredibly inspirational." In the spring of 2018, nine U.S. winners will be selected. Once accepted and awarded, their artwork will be submitted, along with entries from over 80 countries, for consideration in the World Contest. Thirty World Winners plus their parents or guardians receive a trip to Japan to participate in an awards ceremony in August 2018 during which four additional awards are announced per age category: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Best Finalist. As in years past, Toyota divisions and affiliates are encouraging young people across the country to participate. In addition, exhibitions featuring artwork by past U.S. Dream Car finalists are being displayed at the new Toyota headquarters in Plano, Texas and at John Elway's Crown Toyota Scion in Ontario, California. About Toyota Dream Car Art Contest: Last year, over 830,000 entries from almost 80 countries were submitted by youth, ages 4-15, around the world to their local presentations of the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest. Of these, over 700 artworks were submitted for World Contest judging in Japan. The first global contest was held in 2004 by Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan with the dual goals of inspiring children to understand the importance of having a dream while, at the same time, encouraging them to become interested in cars by designing "Dream Cars" of their imagination. This year marks the 12th time that the World Contest has taken place, and is the 7th year of the National Contest in the U.S. that is run for Toyota by TFS. About Toyota Financial Services: TFS is the finance and insurance brand for Toyota in the United States, offering retail auto financing and leasing through Toyota Motor Credit Corporation (TMCC) and Toyota Lease Trust, and extended service contracts through Toyota Motor Insurance Services (TMIS). Lexus Financial Services is the brand for financial products for Lexus dealers and customers. TFS currently employs approximately 3,100 associates nationwide, and has assets totaling over $119 billion. It is part of a worldwide network of comprehensive financial services offered by Toyota Financial Services Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation. TFS announces material financial information using the investor relations section of its website (www.toyotafinancial.com) and SEC filings. These channels, press releases, and social media are used to communicate about the company, its services, and other issues. While not all information posted on social media is of a material nature, some information could be material. Therefore, those interested in the company are encouraged to review its posts on Twitter at www.twitter.com/toyotafinancial. For more information, visit www.toyotafinancial.com. SOURCE Toyota Financial Services Related Links http://www.toyotafinancial.com The Company is also pleased to report a number of significant intersections in its active infill sampling program which is designed to assay previously drilled but un-sampled drill core in all zones, prioritizing intervals within and near the proposed open pit. Results include TL10-96 intersecting 11.37 g/t over an intersection length of 4.20 m including 34.80 g/t over 1.30 m within the D Zone and TL10-108 intersecting 31.38 g/t over 3.00 m including 93.40 g/t over 1.0 m in a HW Zone. The first drill results from the Company's active infill drilling program are expected to be announced in October. Condemnation Program: Gold mineralization was intersected in several drill holes approximately 80 to 350 metres from the proposed open pit. Due to the proximity to the proposed open pit, these and future drilling results, may lead to an eastern expansion of the pit and/or underground operations ("East Resource Target"). There were a number of near surface highlights within the C Zone, located approximately 20-60 metres behind the Main Zone. TL17-445 intersecting 2.26 g/t over an intersection length of 5.83 m with visible gold observed and 16.79 g/t over 2.00 m in the D Zone. with visible gold observed and in the D Zone. TL17-459 intersecting 2.84 g/t over 5.60 m including 13.80 g/t over 1.00 m and 4.00 m of 0.84 g/t in the same hole. in the same hole. TL17-458 intersecting 0.71 g/t over 8.00 m. These new holes are located close to previously drilled holes TL12-268 which contained 3.53 g/t over 7.00 m and TL12-265 with 0.71 g/t over 8.50 m. In addition, these results within the C Zone are up dip of a potential developing, inferred high-grade shoot, which includes TL200 that intersected 4.78 g/t over 4.50 m and TL205 with 1.98 g/t over 4.50 m, where additional drill holes are planned in the second half of the current drilling program. The Program also had encouraging results in the same area in the Main Zone (TL17-456, TL17-457) highlighted in the attached image and table (click here to enlarge image). Chris Stewart, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "After completion of the current infill drilling program in the Main Zone resource area, this East Resource Target will become an area of focus with plans to drill test down dip and along strike to further delineate this exciting target. The additional drilling in this zone has the potential to add near surface mineral resources which may potentially extend the mine life and/or increase production rates from the underground when compared to the proposed mining schedule in the 2017 PEA." East Resource Target Intercepts: Drill Hole Section From (m) To (m) *Intercept (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Comments TL17423 528600E 30.00 33.40 3.40 0.72** 2.29 C Zone TL17425 528650E 57.40 61.30 3.90 0.66** 3.29 C Zone TL17445 528475E 43.17 49.00 5.83 2.26** 3.89 C1 Zone Including 47.00 48.00 1.00 9.92** 3.60 Visible Gold 57.20 59.00 1.80 2.56** 5.38 C2 Zone 68.00 70.00 2.00 16.79** 1.90 D Zone Including 69.00 70.00 1.00 33.30** 2.10 TL17455 528675E 63.00 68.00 5.00 0.79 2.02 Main Zone Including 66.00 68.00 2.00 1.50 3.45 TL17456 528700E 132.00 139.00 7.00 0.94 5.81 Main Zone Including 137.00 139.00 2.00 2.11 6.60 TL17457 528550E 58.00 60.00 2.00 3.21** 1.95 Main Zone Including 59.00 60.00 1.00 6.09** 2.10 TL17458 528525E 100.00 108.00 8.00 0.71 2.83 C Zone Including 102.00 104.00 2.00 1.71 5.20 TL17459 528450E 32.00 34.00 2.00 0.82 2.60 Main Zone 102.00 106.00 4.00 0.84 4.38 C1 Zone 122.00 127.60 5.60 2.84** 4.96 C2 Zone Including 122.00 123.00 1.00 13.80** 19.90 Notes: The company has not used a Gold Equivalent (AuEq) for the contained silver for this release but would expect the recovery of silver to increase the overall contained AuEq by a small amount in future studies. For duplicate samples, an average of the two gold assays are used to calculate the intersection grade; all grades un-cut, no-capping Holes are generally drilled 320-330 Azimuth with inclinations ranging -45 to -60 All assays are rounded to two decimal places *Intervals do not indicate true widths **Metallic Screen Fire Assay Results Full Table of Assays will be provided on the company's website As anticipated, a number of the condemnation results, where planned mine infrastructure will go, did not identify significant gold mineralization. These included holes TL17-431, TL-17432, TL17-433A and TL17-446 through TL17-454, all of which are situated within the proposed tailings storage facility. The tailings storage facility appears in the attached image above in purple. Infill Sampling Program: This program is designed to assay previously drilled but un-sampled drill core in all zones, prioritizing intervals within and near the proposed open pit. Core samples were assayed from 141 drill holes. The goal of the program is to: 1) potentially increase gold ounces in the next resource estimate expected in first half of 2018; 2) extend existing gold mineralization; and, 3) uncover potential new zones. The program is reporting a number of significant intersections including: TL10-96 intersecting 11.37 g/t over an intersection length of 4.20 m including 34.80 g/t over 1.30 m within the D Zone. including 34.80 g/t over 1.30 m within the D Zone. TL10-108 intersecting 31.38 g/t over 3.00 m including 93.40 g/t over 1.0 m in a HW Zone including 93.40 g/t over 1.0 m in a HW Zone TL11-171 intersecting 4.97 g/t over 4.43 m including 18.20 g/t over 1.00 m in the B Zone including 18.20 g/t over 1.00 m in the B Zone TL11-209A intersecting 8.61 g/t over 4.00 m including 29.80 g/t over 1.00 m in a HW Zone. The next steps for the program will be to re-visit the portions of the geological model wherein these new results are located to better understand their impact and develop a follow-up program which may include additional infill core sampling and new drill holes. Infill Sampling Program Intercepts: Drill Hole Section From (m) To (m) *Intercept (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Comments TL0849 527600E 100.00 104.00 3.00 1.61** 15.97 E Zone TL1096 527250E 206.80 211.00 4.20 11.37** P D Zone Including 208.00 209.30 1.30 34.80** P TL10108 527475E 250.00 253.00 3.00 31.38** 21.63 HW Zone Including 252.00 253.00 1.00 93.40** 64.10 TL11145 528500E 49.50 52.00 2.50 1.36** 9.90 BMS HW TL11167 527275E 134.30 137.00 2.70 4.52** 5.18 Including 134.30 135.00 0.70 15.90** 11.70 HW Zone TL11171 527225E 279.57 284.00 4.43 4.97** 1.16 B Zone Including 283.00 284.00 1.00 18.20** 0.70 TL11209A 527075E 43.00 47.00 4.00 8.61** 0.99 HW Zone Including 44.00 45.00 1.00 29.80** 2.20 TL12287 527275E 292.00 294.00 2.00 4.12** 2.09 HW Zone Including 292.70 294.00 1.30 6.07** 2.40 TL13306 527850E 86.00 90.00 4.00 1.12** 1.65 C Zone TL15387 527550E 143.00 145.00 2.00 3.70** 5.38 HW Zone TL164-12RE 527625E 417.00 419.30 2.25 3.01** N/A B Zone Notes: The company has not used a Gold Equivalent (AuEq) for the contained silver for this release but would expect the recovery of silver to increase the overall contained AuEq by a small amount in future studies. For duplicate samples, an average of the two gold assays are used to calculate the intersection grade; all grades un-cut, no-capping Holes are generally drilled 320-330 Azimuth with inclinations ranging -45 to -60 All assays are rounded to two decimal places *Intervals do not indicate true widths **Metallic Screen Fire Assay Results P Assays Pending Full Table of Assays will be provided on the company's website Eastern Alternation Corridor: Other encouraging results from the condemnation program are drill holes, approximately 1.5 km northeast of the proposed open pit and directly east of the tailing storage facility. TL17-439 intersected 1.08 g/t over 2.30 m and 0.49 g/t over 6.80 m, TL17-442 intersected 1.65 g/t over 3.00 m, and TL17-443 intersected 0.79 g/t over 3.18 m and 0.76 g/t over 4.00 m. These holes occurred over a strike length of approximately 100 metres with minimal past drilling. The previous drilling in the 2011 program found several envelopes of gold mineralization including TL11-225 which intersected 1.29 g/t over 3.65 m, and historical Teck hole TL271 encountered 17.36 g/t over 1.60 m and 1.20 g/t over 3.00 m. Additional drilling in future programs will help delineate this mineralization and develop its potential. All results from the program will be available for viewing in the Complete Assay Table on the Company's website. Technical information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Adam Larsen, P. Geo, who is the qualified person under the definitions established by National Instrument 43-101. To view further details about the Goliath Gold Project, please visit the Company's website at www.treasurymetals.com. Follow us on Twitter @TreasuryMetals About Treasury Metals Inc. Treasury Metals Inc. is a gold focused exploration and development company with assets in Canada and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") under the symbol "TML" and on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol TSRMF. Treasury Metals Inc.'s 100% owned Goliath Gold Project in northwestern Ontario is slated to become one of Canada's next producing gold mines. With first-rate infrastructure currently in place and gold mineralization extending to surface, Treasury Metals plans on the initial development of an open pit gold mine to feed a 2,500 per day processing plant with subsequent underground operations in the latter years of the mine life. QA/QC Program: The Company has implemented a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program to ensure sampling and analysis of all exploration work is conducted in accordance with the CIM Exploration Best Practices Guidelines. The drill core is sawn in half with one-half of the core sample dispatched to Actlabs facility located in Dryden, Ontario. The other half of the core is retained for future assay verification and/or metallurgical testing. Other QA/QC procedures include the insertion of blanks and Canadian Reference Standards for every tenth sample in the sample stream. A quarter core duplicate is assayed every 20th sample. The laboratory has its own QA/QC protocols running standards and blanks with duplicate samples in each batch stream. Additional checks are routinely run on anomalous values including gravimetric analysis and pulp metallic screen fire assays. Gold analysis is conducted by lead collection, fire assay with atomic absorption and/or gravimetric finish on a 50 gram sample. Check assays are conducted at a secondary ISO certified laboratory (in this case AGAT Laboratories located in Mississauga, Ontario). Metallic screen fire assaying is now completed using a 2.0 kg sample and four 50 gm fire assays of the pass (-100 mesh) pulverized material. Forward-looking Statements This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expect, are forward-looking statements. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Treasury Metals disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE Treasury Metals Inc. Related Links www.treasurymetals.com WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Within the first 10 days of taking office, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order rolling back excessive regulations that have had a negative effect on economic growth. To ensure that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is meeting the requirements of the Executive Order, senior DOL officials will join the Small Business Administration (SBA) Monday, Oct. 2, in a Listening Session, "Cut the Red Tape: Liberating America From Bureaucracy." The session will provide an opportunity for stakeholders and groups to hear from DOL and SBA regulatory experts on accelerating regulatory reform. The session will focus on the process of regulatory reform. WHO: SBA Administrator Linda McMahon Senior Department of Labor Officials WHAT: Listening Session on regulatory reform and eliminating excessive regulatory burdens WHERE: Auditorium, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. (Please use the 3rd Street Visitor Entrance) WHEN: Oct. 2, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.CLOSED PRESS Advisory Number: MA17-14 Contact: Casey Brinck (202) 664-0758 Internet Address: www.sba.gov/news Follow us on Twitter, Facebook& Blogs SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration Related Links http://www.sba.gov CGI to help curb agency's rising data maintenance costs, transition data centers to hybrid cloud environment FAIRFAX, VA, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) announced that it has been awarded a five-year US$68.2M contract by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau of Management, Office of the Chief Information Officer to support its enterprise data center and disaster recovery efforts. USAID will leverage CGI Unify360 enterprise software to help combat the soaring costs associated with maintaining data centers while transitioning the agency to a hybrid cloud environment. CGI Unify360's cloud provisioning tools will enable USAID to pay only for servers that it actually uses on a monthly basis. Further, USAID will have the ability to view the domain and analyze the impact of changes through continual evolution to the latest strategies and technologies. "We are pleased to work with CGI to implement a hybrid cloud solution designed to reduce costs and gain efficiencies, while enabling continued implementation of new best practices," said USAID Contracting Officer, Joseph Lentini. "CGI is honored to have the opportunity to help spearhead the digital transformation of USAID's current enterprise data center and disaster recovery efforts," said Kenyon Wells, Senior Vice-President, CGI. "Our proven track-record and expertise will help the agency transform and our hybrid cloud solution is expected to result in a significant financial savings and technical improvement for USAID." CGI has a proven record as a secure cloud hosting and services provider for high-profile federal agencies. CGI Unify360 enables holistic management of both on-premises and cloud-based services and helps organizations maximize their IT portfolios for greater agility, innovation and competitive advantage. It also facilitates modernization and "cloudification" of business applications, as well as allows for more flexible and rapid DevOps to support innovation and transformation. About CGI Federal CGI Federal Inc. is a wholly-owned U.S. operating subsidiary of CGI Group Inc., dedicated to partnering with federal agencies to provide solutions for defense, civilian, healthcare and intelligence missions. Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is the fifth largest independent information technology and business process services firm in the world. Approximately 70,000 professionals serve thousands of global clients from offices and delivery centers across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, leveraging a comprehensive portfolio of services including high-end business and IT consulting, systems integration, application development and maintenance, infrastructure management as well as 150 IP-based services and solutions. With annual revenue in excess of C$10 billion and an order backlog exceeding C$20 billion, CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Website: www.cgi.com. Forward-Looking Statements All statements in this press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. These statements and this information represent CGI's intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs, and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, of which many are beyond the control of the Company. These factors could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. These factors include but are not restricted to: the timing and size of new contracts; acquisitions and other corporate developments; the ability to attract and retain qualified members; market competition in the rapidly evolving IT industry; general economic and business conditions; foreign exchange and other risks identified in the press release, in CGI's annual and quarterly Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A"), in CGI's Annual Report, in CGI's Annual Report on Form 40-F filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (filed on EDGAR at www.sec.gov), and in the Company's Annual Information Form filed with the Canadian securities authorities (filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com), as well as assumptions regarding the foregoing. The words "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "foresee," "plan," and similar expressions and variations thereof, identify certain of such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. In particular, statements relating to future performance are forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. CGI disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements or on this forward-looking information. SOURCE CGI Group Inc. Related Links http://www.cgi.com/ Led by Creative Strategist Kerry Haynes, the campaign stills and video were shot in New York by a creative team known for their influential and progressive style, including Creative Director Graham Rounthwaite, of i-D magazine and previously of iconic publication, The Face. Fashion Director Alastair Mckimm, also of i-D magazine and Creative Consultant to Saint Laurent along with inspirational Photographer & Film Director Daniel Jackson. Sebastien Fabre, Co-Founder and CEO of Vestiaire Collective comments: "I'm proud to reveal Vestiaire Collective's first fashion campaign marking a key moment in the company's rapid international growth. Developed by a top-tier creative team widely respected throughout the fashion industry, the concept and the influential cast perfectly embodies our diverse global network. It is our incredible community of over 6 million members worldwide, sharing a passion for desirable fashion, who are the driving force behind Vestiaire Collective's continued success, so it felt apt that that they should be the focus of our first campaign." Kerry Haynes, Creative Strategist and Image Director adds: "It is important that our creative for this debut Vestiaire Collective campaign reflects the modern proposition that they offer in pre-owned luxury. Their global reach has built a diverse community that includes many industry heavy hitters. The more we considered it, the more we identified that Vestiaire's authoritative curation and fashion expertise is revealed through community sharing (or selling) and acquisition of not just vintage, but also new season pieces whether they be limited edition, sold out from the catwalk, or just plain hard to get. Luxury re-sale is culturally relevant from an archival, and environmental standpoint; thus, the emphasis became about creating an identity that sits within luxury fashion, but also accessible to many. A world renowned creative team with expertise in artistry, identity and nuance - orchestrate a visually and emotionally engaging series of imagery featuring a cast of young, diverse, in-demand faces that represent the modern proposition that firmly places Vestiaire Collective in a league of its own." The campaign, which includes a series of stills, along with TV and digital video, perfectly embodies Vestiaire Collective as the global go-to site to sell and buy authentic pieces of pre-owned luxury fashion, ranging from recent designer collections to rare vintage pieces. Launching on the 28th September, the campaign will run across 11 of Vestiaire Collective's key markets, including France, US, UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, Scandinavia, Hong Kong, and Australia. The release of the campaign follows the company's earlier announcement this year of a $65 million investment to fuel global growth, specifically in the US and Asia Pacific, and increase operational capabilities. After expanding into Asia Pacific, the company recently announced plans to open a new 8600 square foot logistics hub in Tourcoing, Northern France. The opening of this center will enable Vestiaire Collective to meet fulfilment, quality control, and authentication demands fuelled by rapid growth. The new strategic center will function alongside the existing logistics centers in Paris and New York, allowing Vestiaire Collective to control, authenticate, and ship 10,000 products worldwide each day. Located in the heart of Paris, Vestiaire Collective will also open its first boutique on October 19th for 4 months. Parisians and tourists from all over the world will have the opportunity to buy from an expertly curated selection of luxury preowned products, have a coffee at the Vestiaire Cafe, and leave with a beautifully arranged bouquet of flowers prepared by renowned florist, Racine Paris. About vestiairecollective.com Vestiairecollective.com is the leading global marketplace for premium and luxury pre-owned fashion. The platform is unique due to its carefully curated catalogue of 600,000 desirable items, that once sold are expertly checked for 100% quality and authenticity. Launched in Paris in October 2009, Vestiairecollective.com has over 6 million fashion savvy members across 48 countries worldwide with offices in Paris, London, New York, Milan, Berlin and Hong Kong. 30,000 new items are submitted by our community of sellers every week, which enables buyers to hunt amongst over 3,500 coveted and must have fashion pieces a day, ensuring that Vestiaire Collective is the go to site for an exciting unique shopping experience. Campaign Credits Photographer + Film Director - Dan Jackson Creative Director - Graham Rounthwaite Stylist - Alastair McKimm Campaign Director + Creative Strategy - Kerry Haynes Talent - Lexi Boling Talent - Paul Hameline Talent - Manami Kinoshita Casting - DM Casting - Piergiorgio Del Moro + Samuel Ellis DOP Jack Webb Makeup Artist - Kanako Takase Hair Stylist - Esther Langham Set Design - Gerard Santos Production - Art + Commerce Post Production - Wildchild SOURCE Vestiaire Collective Related Links http://Vestiairecollective.com The funds raised through CFC provide WWP the support needed to ensure its programs and services continue to be provided free of charge to warriors, their families, and caregivers. These resources help with mental and physical health, career and benefits counseling, connecting warriors with one another and their communities, and long-term support for the most seriously wounded. The programs and services support both immediate and long-term recovery by smoothing the transition into civilian life and empowering warriors to build support structures. The simple act of attending an event with fellow warriors can reintroduce injured veterans to the unique bonds experienced during military service. Rarely duplicated in the civilian world, these relationships act as a secure bedrock that paves the road to recovery. "Each of the warriors, caregivers, and family members we serve at Wounded Warrior Project has been touched by the generosity of our supporters," said WWP CEO Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mike Linnington. "We serve warriors through life-saving programs empowering them to live life on their terms. The generous donations of our supporters through the Combined Federal Campaign can help us achieve that goal." The process is easy: between Oct. 2 and Jan. 12, 2018, pledges can be made through an employee's local CFC office using the WWP CFC code #11425. To locate your local office, visit https://www.opm.gov/combined-federal-campaign/find-local-campaigns/locator. To learn more about how donors fuel WWP's programs and services that connect, serve, and empower wounded warriors, visit http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org. About Wounded Warrior Project Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/about-us. SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project Related Links wounderwarriorproject.org AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Zenoss Inc., the leader in Software-Defined IT Operations, today announced the launch of its Nutanix ZenPack, a comprehensive monitoring integration that gives Zenoss customers the ability to view their entire Nutanix hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) deployments as a single holistic unit, encompassing the Distributed Storage Fabric (DSF), server compute capacity and virtual network components. Linked with Zenoss Service Impact, the Nutanix ZenPack gives users the ability to see when and where performance issues occur and pinpoint the services that rely on Nutanix infrastructure, greatly accelerating the ability of IT Operations professionals to perform root-cause analysis (RCA) and accelerate the mean time to resolution (MTTR) of issues or outages. The Nutanix Platform Nutanix has emerged as a front-runner in the integrated systems space and in 2016 was named a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integrated Systems for the second year in a row. Part of the appeal of the Nutanix platform is that it is hypervisor agnostic, supporting ESX, Hyper-V and XenServer natively. This allows companies to deploy new HCI resources into existing environments without disruption to existing virtualization platforms that may be in place. Zenoss Zenpacks and the Nutanix ZenPack ZenPacks are pre-packaged, customizable and extensible plugins used to extend the Zenoss Service Dynamics (ZSD) platform. They use standard APIs and protocols including SNMP, WMI and SSH to collect configuration information and provide deep system monitoring capabilities across new types of systems and applications. The flexible, highly extensible ZenPack model allows the ZSD platform to extend discovery, performance, and availability monitoring to new technologies quickly. In addition to the Nutanix ZenPack, Zenoss boasts a catalog of more than 400 ZenPacks covering physical systems, containers, cloud deployments, and applications. "Customers are increasingly adopting Nutanix hyper-converged integrated systems, because of the speed and flexibility that they provide in provisioning and supporting enterprise applications and workloads," said Brian Wilson, Chief Customer Officer at Zenoss. "We're excited to work with this market leader and we're proud to stand out as a scalable service assurance platform that can be adapted to every type of complex IT environment, from the application level to virtual machines, storage, hyper-converged and even cloud environments." About Zenoss Zenoss works with the world's largest organizations to ensure their IT services and applications are always on. As the leader in Software-Defined IT Operations, Zenoss develops software that builds comprehensive, real-time models of hybrid IT environments, providing unparalleled holistic health and performance insights. This uniquely enables Zenoss customers to predict and eliminate outages, dramatically reducing downtime and IT spend. https://www.zenoss.com About Nutanix Nutanix makes infrastructure invisible, elevating IT to focus on the applications and services that power their business. The Nutanix enterprise cloud platform leverages web-scale engineering and consumer-grade design to natively converge compute, virtualization and storage into a resilient, software-defined solution with rich machine intelligence. The result is predictable performance, cloud-like infrastructure consumption, robust security, and seamless application mobility for a broad range of enterprise applications. Learn more at www.nutanix.com or follow us on Twitter @nutanix. Media Contact: Alison Guzzio [email protected] 484-459-3243 SOURCE Zenoss Inc. Related Links http://www.zenoss.com Islamabad, Sep 26 : An anti-corruption court in Pakistan issued arrest warrants on Tuesday against the three children and son-in-law of the former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after they failed to appear for a hearing. The court also announced that it would indict next week Nawaz Sharif for corruption, reports Efe news. "Judge Mohammed Bashir issued arrest warrants with possibility of bail against his children Hasan, Husain and Maryam and her (Maryam's) husband Mohamed Safdar Awan because they did not appear before the court and ordered them to do so on October 2," the court's spokesperson Mohamed Irfan said. The bail amount was fixed at 1 million rupees ($9,490) for each. Khawaja Haris, the lawyer of the Sharifs, argued that Sharif's children could not appear before the court as they were in London with their mother Kulsoom, who is undergoing treatment for throat cancer. The former Prime Minister, after missing the first hearing on September 19 because he was in London, attended Tuesday's hearing to request permission to miss the next hearing due to his wife's illness. The judge said the court would indict him on corruption charges on October 2, for which his presence would be necessary. After that it would decide if he was required to continue to appear for the hearings. The Sharifs had been summoned before the court on September 15 after the National Accountability Bureau, an anti-corruption body, opened three cases against them following an order by the Supreme Court on July 28. The three cases are related to ownership of property at an exclusive zone in London, the creation of the firms Azizia Steel and Hill Metal and the Flagship investment firm as well as another 15 companies. On July 28, Sharif was disqualified from serving as Prime Minister for not declaring income from his son's company, following investigations into the so-called Panama Papers. Mumbai, Sep 26 : Reliance Power on Tuesday said it will look at growth opportunities in the commercial coal mining segment. "The company will also look at the opportunities in the commercial coal mining," Reliance Power's Chairman Anil D. Ambani said while addressing the company's shareholders at the 23rd annual general meeting (AGM). According to Ambani, the sector "is undergoing a consolidation phase" and is offering a number of inorganic growth opportunities. "Company will continue to explore these to accelerate value accretive growth and exploit synergies with the existing portfolio," Ambani said. Ambani informed the shareholders that Reliance Power's 750 MW LNG-based power project in Bangladesh, being implemented with an investment outlay of $1 billion, is expected to achieve financial closure in the current financial year. Earlier, Reliance Power had signed a MoU with the Bangladesh government to develop a 3,000 MW LNG Power project in Meghnaghat and 500 mmscfd LNG terminal at Qutubdia Island in Bangladesh. The phase-1 of the project envisages development of a 750 MW power project and 500 mmscfd LNG terminal with an investment outlay of nearly $1 billion which is the largest FDI in Bangladesh. The phase 1 is expected to achieve commercial operation by March 2020. Kuala Lumpur, Sep 28 : The Malaysian Foreign Ministry on Thursday banned its citizens from travelling to Pyongyang due to escalation in tensions in the Korean peninsula. "This decision is taken in view of the escalation of tensions in the Korean peninsula and related developments arising from missile tests," the ministry said. It added that the travel ban will be reviewed once the situation has returned to normal, reports Efe news. The move follows Pyongyang's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3, where it claimed to have detonated a hydrogen bomb capable of being mounted on a ballistic missile. The Malaysian order also comes four days ahead of the beginning of the trial of two women who have been accused of murdering Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who died in February after he was allegedly poisoned at the Kuala Lumpur airport. The investigation into the incident, that South Korea and the US alleged was masterminded by North Korea, had severely strained diplomatic relations between Pyongyang and Kuala Lumpur. Kim Jong-nam, who was travelling with a passport under the pseudonym Kim Chol, was scheduled to fly to Macau, where he was living in exile, when he was assaulted by Siti Aisyah, an Indonesian national, and Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese national. The two suspects, who will testify before a court of law on October 2, said they were conned by a group of men, allegedly North Korean agents, who promised them money to play a prank on the victim for a television show. Washington, Sep 29 : Genetic data from seven humans who lived 2,500 years ago in South Africa suggest that Homo sapiens arose 350,000 years ago, much earlier than previously thought, a new study has revealed. Swedish and South African scientists managed to identify the genetic sequence of the remains of three hunter-gatherer individuals who lived between 2,300 and 1,800 years ago and four peasants who lived between 500 and 300 years ago, reports Efe news. All of them lived in the present province of KwaZulu-Natal, on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa. Scientists concluded that the evolution from archaic humans to Homo sapiens occurred between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago, rather than 180,000 years ago which previous studies had posited based on remains found in East Africa. The authors of the study, from the University of Uppsala (Sweden), the University of Johannesburg (South Africa) and the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), consequently supported the Pan-African origin theory of Homo sapiens, with simultaneous evolutions throughout the continent. In fact, in June fossils of more than 300,000 years old found in Morocco suggested that the evolution of archaic man to Homo sapiens could have occurred much earlier than what has been established to date. New Delhi, Sep 29 : Delhi's Lt Governor Anil Baijal and the AAP government were on the same page on providing loans to students for higher education and making guest teachers permanent, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Friday. Sisodia said he met Baijal earlier in the day during which the latter felt that the loan scheme should not be stopped. He said Baijal wanted his suggestions to be incorporated in the scheme, but most of these had already been included. "I've submitted the files again (to the Lt Governor) and I hope he will approve," Sisodia said. The Lt Governor had earlier asked the Aam Aadmi Party government to take the Centre's opinion on student loans. But this would have set the scheme back by two to three years, Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, told the media. On the issue of around 15,000 guest teachers in Delhi whom the AAP government plans to make permanent in service, Sisodia said Baijal was worried about the teaching vacancies in government schools. Sisodia said he told the Lt Governor that making guest teachers permanent was the easiest way to fill the vacancies. On Wednesday, the Delhi Cabinet approved a bill to make 15,000 guest teachers in government schools permanent. It will be taken up at the Delhi assembly's special session on October 4. The assembly on August 10 put on hold the recruitment of teachers by the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) till the criteria to give weightage to guest teachers was readied. On Thursday, Baijal asked Sisodia to recommence recruitment of teachers by DSSSB, adding that teachers' vacancies were affecting academics. "Hiring new teachers will take two-three years and it will in turn derail the good work we've been doing in the Delhi education system," Sisodia said. Sisodia said he hoped the Delhi government will get Baijal's support on the issue. New Delhi : It has taken more than three years for Narendra Modi to realise that a presidential style of governance is not suitable for a country of India's size and complexity. The Prime Minister may have found it easy to preside over Gujarat's destiny with his personalised style of politics where he was a cut above the others in the government and party. But India is different. Hence his decision to set up an Economic Advisory Council to assist him in the framing of policy instead of pursuing an agenda in accordance with his own instincts and with inputs from the Finance Minister and the Chief Economic Adviser. If anything substantiates the dire prognosis of former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the economy, it is the roping in of experts from outside Modi's charmed circle. What it also shows is the non-fulfilment -- at least for the present -- of the expectation of "vikas" which was Modi's trump card in 2014. Ironically, one of the reasons for the hopes turning sour is another of Modi's purported trump cards -- demonetisation -- which, along with the clumsy rolling out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), is now being held largely responsible for the current economic woes. It is obvious that if the government had a team of experts earlier who were not overawed by the Prime Minister, then there would not have been any demonetisation if only because it was a step guided more by politics than economics. The objective of the hugely disruptive step was to show Modi's resolve to tackle the problem of black money in view of the government's inability to deposit the promised Rs 15 lakh in every bank account by busting the parallel economy. As a political initiative, demonetisation was a success in the weeks immediately after its announcement since the Prime Minister is generally widely trusted and large sections believed that the hoarders of illegal funds were running for cover. But it was a short-term gain, for the economic downturn has shown that there's more to governance than political showmanship. As a result, the one-step-forward of the demonetisation has been followed by the two-steps-backward of a tacit admission that it takes more than one person to run a government, no matter how energetic he may be or how impressive an orator. However, the pitfalls of an individualistic style have been evident earlier too. For instance, Modi realised within a year of assuming power that a pro-capitalist image does not sell well among the ordinary people for whom businessmen are associated more with profit than popular welfare. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Prime Minister's recent endeavours have been to project himself as pro-poor in the aftermath of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's jibes about the government being a "suit-boot ki sarkar". Modi also decided to drop his plans to amend the land acquisition law enacted by the previous government because it was felt that he was tilting too much in favour of big business. This habit of adopting new outlooks has been seen in the demonetisation episode as well, which is now being presented as an exercise in digitalising the country's financial transactions and not a drive against black money. However, all these twists and turns might not have led to the formation of the Economic Advisory Council if the sinking growth rate had not made the government jittery. Besides, several other problems have cropped up to exacerbate the sense of unease in the government and the BJP. The caution sounded by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) about the murmurs of disquiet among the people must have also enhanced the feeling of anxiety in the saffron camp. Among the main causes of worry is the absence of jobs, coupled with the State Bank of India's view that the economic slowdown may not be a "transient" phenomenon and is certainly not a "technical" glitch, as BJP president Amit Shah has said. The phenomenon of jobless growth has changed, therefore, into one of few jobs and hardly any growth. However, as even a pro-BJP economist pointed out, an economic council will be unable to suggest the possibility of an immediate turnaround since its panaceas will all have long gestation periods. The so-called Big Bang reforms to introduce buoyancy in the economy and boost public confidence are also out because the government has never tried it before and is unlikely to do so when the general elections are less than two years away and several crucial state assembly polls are due next year. Besides, Jaitley's proposed Rs 50,000 crore ($7.6 billion) stimulus may undermine the target for curbing fiscal deficit. The scene is not unlike what happened towards the end of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tenure when he spoke of reviving the "animal spirits" but to no avail. The economy is not the government's only cause of concern. It was an unfortunate coincidence for the BJP that students went on the warpath in Banaras Hindu University just when the party was holding its National Executive meeting and Modi was in attendance in the city. The unrest drew attention to the fact that the BJP's student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), has lost several student union elections recently in a demonstration of how the youth was getting disillusioned with the party. For the BJP, 2014 has never been farther away. (Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com) New Delhi : Two developments in Europe this week have brought cheer. First, Angela Merkel has held on to her job (even though only by the skin of her teeth). Secondly, the very citadel of Western capitalism, The Economist, has editorially welcomed Jeremy Corbyn, a socialist in the Michael Foot mould, as Britain's next Prime Minister, whenever elections take place. There is a stamp size photograph of Corbyn standing at 10 Downing Street, without a necktie, of course. It is maliciously reported that smoke billowed out of Lord Peter Mandelson's ears after he read the editorial while holidaying on an oligarch's yacht. Tony Blair's favourite sidekick and one of the architects of the now defunct New Labour, had sworn in 2015 that he would work hard to "undermine Corbyn". It is not that The Economist has suddenly turned pink. It is doing the best it can to cope with altered circumstances: If you can't beat them, join them. The trophy for prescience must go to Chris Mullin, writer and former Labour MP. In 2015, Mullin wrote an imaginary piece in The Guardian under the heading: "All hail the Bearded One! The first 100 days of Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister. "To general astonishment, among the early visitors to Downing Street is a grim-faced Rupert Murdoch. He is closeted with the new Prime Minister for more than an hour, at the end of which the following announcement is made. "First, that the Broadcasting Acts are amended, requiring Sky to compete on a level playing field with the main terrestrial TV channels. And secondly, that he relinquishes control of all his British newspapers which will, in future, be managed by a trust in which no single shareholder will have a controlling interest. Murdoch has accepted these conditions. Our discussions were amicable." While Corbyn is still in the realm of speculation, the historic German elections have stirred up the heart of Europe. From the wreckage around her emerges Angela Merkel as a fourth term German Chancellor, testimony to the compelling power of decency in public life. If she were not a hardnosed politician also, she would not be where she is -- a titanic figure in world affairs. But a premium she places on moral and ethical values in decision-making shines through. This fourth term is her trophy on that count. Daughter of a vicar in East Germany, her background has been something of an asset for her. It is the abiding Christian in her, in the highest sense of the term, that enabled her to rise above the din and keep compassion as an ingredient in her decision to accord hospitality to hapless Arab and North Africa migrants -- totally against the prevailing political current. She is too intuitive not to have known that she would be made to pay a price for her decision. As a consequence, the Bundestag will have for the first time the ultra right wing AFD (Alternative for Germany) with 94 seats, making it the country's third-largest party, much of it at Merkel's cost. Marine Le Pen in France or Geet Wilder in the Netherlands also represent narrow, anti-immigrant xenophobia. In Germany, the AFD resonates more frightfully. It stirs images of Nazism. But it would be a mistake to paint with the same brush all the one million voters who moved away from the ruling Christian Democrats. Let me add in parenthesis: Voters moved away from CDU and its Bavarian partner CSU, but, please note, much of the largest number of the vote did not shift. They stayed with Angela Merkel. It must be put down to Merkel magic that in a House of 709, she still has 246 seats despite her immigration policy. But she is still 109 short of a majority. "One thing is clear," she announced with good natured mischief in her eyes. "They can't form a government without us." By the same token, she cannot form a government without them. The Social Democrats who were with her in a grand coalition in the outgoing government have been decimated. They have decided to sit in the opposition. If Merkel lost 8.5 per cent of her vote because of her calculated decency, Martin Schulz of SPD is kicking himself for having lost 5.2 per cent of his vote for the sin of looking like CDU's B team. The fate of the Spanish Socialist party leader Pedro Sanchez must have haunted him. After two deadlocked elections, Sanchez was persuaded to abstain from a vote, enabling the Peoples Party Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to sail through. Sanchez now looks a cipher in public life. Schulz wishes to escape that fate. There is accidental altruism in his decision too. By choosing to be in the opposition with 153 seats, he has effectively blocked AFD from taking the pulpit as leader of the opposition. All of Merkel's negotiating skills will be brought into play to forge what in German parlance is called a "Jamaica" coalition -- black, yellow and Green representing the colours of CDU, FDP and Green. The combination happens to be the colour of the Jamaican flag. How will Merkel reconcile her gentler, market approach to the Liberal, FDP leader, Christian Lindner's unbridled capitalism? Will there be difficulty striking a rapport with the Green's Katrin Goring-Eckardt on environmental issues? Merkel did not hesitate calling off nuclear energy for Germany quite instinctively as soon as she witnessed Japan's Fukushima disaster. She will also work very hard to retrieve the million or so voters who drifted away from her because of her being "soft" on immigration. A hunch on Merkel is that she will not compromise on her core beliefs. One such belief concerns immigration. Refugees fleeing from the post-9/11 West Asian wars strike a very Christian chord with her. Being practical, she will not accelerate migration; she will facilitate migrant leaders, NGOs, in establishing model migrant settlements. Unnecessary gestures unpopular with the electorate will be discarded. She has already spoken with her usual honesty that talks with Turkey should be suspended on European entry. Where is the point in sustaining a dialogue with Turkey when nobody in Europe is willing to give up the medieval aversion to the "Turk". Decades ago, French President Giscard d'Estaing declared with stunning candour: "European civilisation is Christian civilization." In it there was no room for a Muslim Turkey. Those were days when Turkey's case could be supported because it still donned the secular cloak of Ataturk. Now Europe considers such support untenable: Turkey is quite transparently Muslim Brotherhood. (Saeed Naqvi is a commentator on political and diplomatic affairs. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com) Ghaziabad, Sep 30 : Two criminals were arrested on the charge of raping a 25-year-old woman here last week whereas their accomplice is on the run, police said on Saturday. The woman, employed as a nurse at a private hospital in the trans-Hindon area, was walking back home after alighting from an auto-rickshaw around 9.30 p.m. on September 22 when the two accused dragged her to a paddy field near National Highway-58 in Ghaziabad and raped her. The woman alleged that their third accomplice shot a video clipping on her mobile phone after snatching it from her. They threatened that in case she reported the crime to police, they would upload the clipping on social media. A case was registered under Sections 376 and 394 of the Indian Penal Code at the Sihani Gate police station in the city. Ghaziabad Senior Superintendent of Police H.N. Singh told the media that the district Crime Branch staff has since recovered the phone dumped in a drain in Duhai locality. He said the accused had initially sold the mobile phone to someone but took it back later due to the fear that it could help police track them down. "We screened the entire locality after the crime and shortlisted nearly 100 suspects. During screening, the three accused were identified. While Ankit and Mohit alias Rahul were arrested, Kapil is absconding," the SSP said. Four criminal cases stand registered against Ankit and two against Mohit at Sihani Gate police station. "Ankit and Mohit, both alcoholics and habitual criminals, confessed that they gang-raped the young woman while Kapil was only involved in planning the crime. Their initial motive was to rob her," Singh said. Mohit is a resident of Duhai locality, Ankit of Farid Nagar in Bhojpur police station area and Kapil of Sikrod. Barcelona, Oct 1 : Voting began on Sunday for the Catalan regional government's independence referendum in an attempt to break away from Spain, the media reported. The Spanish government has pledged to stop the vote that was declared illegal by the country's constitutional court, reports the BBC. The ballot papers contain just one question: "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?" There are two boxes: Yes or No. Earlier on Sunday, dozens of Spanish police vehicles left their base in the port of Barcelona as officers were deployed. The officers then began seizing ballot papers and boxes as the polls opened at 9 a.m (local time). Thousands of separatist supporters occupied schools and other buildings that have been designated as voting centres ahead of the polls opening. In some areas, farmers positioned tractors on roads and in front of polling station doors, and school gates were taken away to make it harder for the authorities to seal buildings off. Referendum organisers have called for peaceful resistance to any police action, the BBC reported. Catalan government officials have predicted a big turnout. Sunday would be an "important date for democracy", regional Vice-President Oriol Junqueras told TV3, the main Catalan public channel on Saturday. Catalonia, a wealthy region of 7.5 million people in north-eastern Spain, has its own language and culture. It also has a high degree of autonomy, but is not recognised as a separate nation under the Spanish constitution. New Delhi, Oct 1 : Urging cleanliness be made a national movement, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Sunday that achieving the goal of "Swachh Bharat" will be true tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. Kovind, who is currently in Maharashtra on an official tour, will visit Gujarat, the home state of Gandhi on his birth anniversary to pay tributes to the Father of the Nation. On the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, the President said that Gandhi Jayanti is an occasion to rededicate to the ideals and values of Mahatma Gandhi, who believed that 'cleanliness is next to godliness'. "Cleanliness is not only the responsibility of sanitation personnel and government departments. Today, India is fighting a decisive battle for cleanliness and hygiene through the 'Swachhta Hi Seva' campaign. "Let us also commit ourselves to ensuring public hygiene, personal hygiene and environmental hygiene. It is a multi-stakeholder national movement. Achieving the goals of the Swachh Bharat Mission expeditiously will be a true expression of tribute and regard to Gandhiji on his birth anniversary," he said. Describing Gandhi as a man of simple living and a moral preceptor, Kovind said that he gave a new direction to the country through his leadership. "His philosophy of non-violence and peaceful co-existence is of increasing relevance in the present times. Through the symbols of Charkha, the spinning wheel and khadi, he stressed the message of self-reliance and dignity of labour," he said. Kovind will commence his Gujarat engagements with paying his tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his birth place, Kirti Mandir at Porbandar. Later, he will attend a function organised by the state government to declare Open Defacation Free status for rural Gujarat at Kirti Mandir. The President will also inaugurate various projects including upgradation of Veraval and Porbandar fishing Harbour, upgradation of Navibandar, Miyani and Salaya Fish Landing Centre, laying the stone for development of Mangrol Phase-III fishing Harbour, announcement for development of Veraval Phase-II. He will also foundation stone of Porbandar Phase-II, Navabandar, Mandhavad and Sutrapada Fishing Harbours and inauguration of Mangrol Rural Water Supply Augmentation Scheme of 45 villages at Mangrol, an official statement said. Madrid, Oct 2 : Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Sunday spoke following the banned Catalan independence referendum on a day marked by violence which the Catalonia regional government said left 761 people injured. Rajoy said he wanted to speak as "Prime Minister of Spain, a great nation," adding that in the face of a vote which had been deemed illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court that "my first obligation was to obey the law and to make sure it was obeyed," Xinhua reported. The Prime Minister said there was "was no referendum" and that "our state maintains its strength and reacts and acts with all its resources against any kind of provocation." Despite the number of injured, Rajoy insisted the security forces had acted with "firmness and serenity." He said the referendum had produced "attitudes that should be repugnant to anyone who believes in democracy," and blamed Catalan leaders for the violence. "I want to make it clear that the only people who are responsible are those who have venerated the law," said Rajoy, who insisted his government had "done what we had to do." "We are the government of Spain and I am the Prime Minister of Spain. We acted with the law and only with the law and showed our democratic state has the resources to react to this attack on our unity." Sociality Party leader Pedro Sanchez blamed both Rajoy and Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont for what he described as a "sad day for democracy". Sanchez said the images of the police baton charges and the injured "cannot please any democrat" and made his "disapproval of the police charges." Podemos leader Pable Iglesias meanwhile was strongly critical of Rajoy accusing him and his Peoples Party of "doing irreparable damage; not just to Catalonia, but also to Spain." Iglesias also strongly criticized the use of rubber bullets by police in a region where they had been banned since 2012. Washington, Oct 2 : Three people were killed and two others were wounded in a shooting in downtown Lawrence, US state of Kansas, authorities said on Sunday. Police officers were near the area of 11th and Massachusetts Street when multiple gunshots were heard at approximately 1.39 a.m., Laurence Police Department said in a press release, Xinhua reported. At the scene, they found a large crowd and five people who had been shot. Three of the victims, two men and one woman, died of fatal injuries, while two others were being treated for non-life threatening injuries, according to the release. Police are seeking assistance in identifying the suspect involved as an investigation is underway. Washington, Oct 2 : The President of the US said on Sunday that his secretary of state was wasting his time trying to negotiate with North Korea. Donald Trump made his remarks after Rex Tillerson had said in a press conference Saturday in Beijing that the US had established direct channels with the secretive Asian nation and was seeking to calm tensions related to its defiant pursuit of a nuclear programme, Efe reports. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump tweeted, using his nickname for North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Trump added. Tillerson said in Beijing that US officials were probing Pyongyang's willingness to engage in dialogue, although he did not specify the nature of those overtures or whether they were being made via Chinese authorities. Shortly afterward, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert issued a statement in Washington reiterating the existence of "several open channels." "(But) despite assurances that the United States is not interested in promoting the collapse of the current regime, pursuing regime change, accelerating reunification of the peninsula or mobilizing forces north of the DMZ, North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearisation," she added. Tillerson's announcement came amid a sharp increase in tensions triggered by North Korea's latest nuclear test (of a hydrogen bomb) last month and heated rhetoric by both Trump and North Korean officials. Trump ominously warned Pyongyang on in his debut speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 19 that the US would obliterate the Asian country if necessary. "The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea," Trump said in his UN speech. Two days later, Kim accused Trump of being mentally deranged and said he would "pay dearly" for making threats against North Korea. The Asian nation's foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, told reporters in New York on Sept. 22 that North Korea may retaliate for Trump's threats by testing a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean. Jammu, Oct 2 : Indian and Pakistan troops traded heavy fire on Monday on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. Police sources said heavy shelling and firing started between the two armies in Kerni area. "After the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked shelling and firing at Indian positions, Indian military retaliated strongly and effectively. "Shelling and firing exchanges are going on," the sources added. New Delhi, Oct 2 : President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday remembered the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 148th birth anniversary. "Bow to beloved 'Bapu' on Gandhi Jayanti. His noble ideals motivate millions across the world," Modi tweeted sharing a video of Mahatma Gandhi. The Prime Minister also visited Rajghat and laid a wreath. Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also paid floral tributes to 'Bapu' at Rajghat. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar in Gujarat to Putlibai and Karamchand Gandhi. His birthday is also observed as the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist during a prayer meeting at the Birla House here. Gandhi is admired across the world for his non-violent philosophy of passive resistance. He was known to his many followers as Mahatma. New Delhi, Oct 2 : President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday paid tributes to the country's late second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 113th birth anniversary. "My respects to Shastri ji, who inspired farmers, jawans and gave the nation able leadership. Remembering Lal Bahadur Shastri ji on his Jayanti," Modi tweeted along with a video. Modi, Kovind and Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu also visited Vijay Ghat and paid floral tributes to the former Prime Minister. Shastri was born to Sharada Prasad and Ramdulari Devi in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi on October 2, 1904. On January 11, 1966, he took his last breath in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the day after signing the Tashkent Declaration, reportedly due to cardiac arrest. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award. Washington, Oct 2 : Facing an intense scrutiny over the presence of Russian ads on its platform during the 2016 American presidential election, Facebook will finally hand over nearly 3,000 Russian political ads to US Congress on Monday. According to a ReCode report, along with the Russian ads, Facebook plans to share information about the users those ads targeted and how they were paid for with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee. "All three committees are investigating the extent to which Russia may have interfered in last fall's US presidential election," the report added. Facebook is facing a probe after disclosing the details about the presence of Russian political ads worth $100,000. After an extensive legal and policy review, the social media giant recently announced that it would share 3,000 Russian ads with Congressional investigators. Google, Facebook, and Twitter have been invited to testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee on November 1 over the Russian probe. Facebook earlier handed over the details to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently investigating claims of alleged Russian meddling in the election, included copies of the ads and details about the accounts that bought them and the targeting criteria they used. As the probe into Moscow's alleged meddling in the election intensifies, Twitter also announced that it has deleted over 200 fake Russian accounts and identified Russia Today of buying bought ads targeted at American users' accounts. In a closed-door meeting last week, Colin Crowell, Twitter's Vice President for Public Policy, met with staff from Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to discuss the issue. Twitter also shared with committee staff ads that three Russia Today accounts targeted to the US market in 2016. "Based on our findings thus far, RT spent $274,100 in US ads in 2016. In that year, the three RT accounts promoted 1,823 tweets that definitely or potentially targeted the US market," Twitter said. Google has also launched a probe into the role its services could have played in the Russian interference. "Google is conducting a broad internal investigation to determine whether Russian-linked entities used its ads or services to try to manipulate voters ahead of the US election," media reports said last week. Chandigarh, Oct 2 : Four suspected terrorists of Khalistani terror outfit Babbar Khalsa were arrested from Punjab's Ludhiana district, police said on Monday. They were nabbed following the interrogation of seven members of the Babbar Khalsa who were arrested on Saturday after the police busted a terror module with direct links to the Khalistani terror outfit. Three pistols and some ammunition was seized from the men arrested earlier. Ludhiana Police Commissioner R.N. Dhoke told the media on Saturday that the group planned to target those opposed to or writing against Khalistani ideology and radical Sikh organisations. Those arrested were allegedly linked to and were funded by Surinder Singh Babbar, who is said to be based in London. Dhoke claimed that Babbar was providing money and weapons to the members of the group. Islamabad, Oct 2 : Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed on a framework towards achieving a "peaceable environment" conducive to political process and essential for regional stability," media reports said on Monday. The reports, citing a military statement, said that Pakistan's Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa paid a day-long visit to Afghanistan on Sunday for the first time since he assumed office last November, reports Xinhua news agency. Bajwa held talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, during which they agreed on the framework. "There was also a consensus on regular and focused dialogue at multiple levels to evolve bilateral process for minimizing misunderstanding, managing crisis situations and enhancing cooperation in order to bring peace and stability in the region," the statement said. On his part, Ghani said that Afghanistan and Pakistan were friendly countries and together both shall move towards enduring peace and stability. "Issues related to long-term peace, cooperation against the shared threats, coordination between respective counter-terrorism campaigns to restrict space for non-state actors, intelligence sharing, trade and commerce, and people-to-people contacts were discussed," the statement said. Bajwa offered Pakistan's complete support in achieving shared interests in war against terrorism including training and capacity building of Afghan Security Forces, it added. Islamabad, Oct 2 : Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) his indictment by an accountability court in a corruption case. The corruption reference, pertaining to Dar's owning assets that were disproportionate to his known sources of income, was filed by the anti-corruption body, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), in light of the Supreme Court's July 28 judgment in the Panama Papers case. Dar, in his petition, stated that he was indicted by the accountability court without giving him the mandated time and requested the IHC to suspend the indictment proceedings, Geo News reported. During the hearing of the accountability court earlier, Dar's counsel asked the judge to be granted seven days for perusing the reference against his client but the judge denied the request observing that the court had to complete the trial in six months as per the apex court's directions. Warsaw, Oct 2 : Pioneering documentarian Frederick Wiseman will receive the Camerimage Award for Outstanding Achievements in Documentary Filmmaking at the 25th edition of Camerimage, the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography. It will be held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, from November 11-18. The festival will screen a selection of Wiseman's films, and the filmmaker himself will be on hand to accept the award and talk to fest participants about his unorthodox approach to documentary filmmaking, reports variety.com. The Camerimage honour comes to Wiseman on the 50th anniversary of his seminal 1967 debut film, "Titcut Follies", which casts the spotlight on the patient-inmates of Bridgewater State Hospital for the criminally insane, a Massachusetts correctional institution. The fest said: "The cinema of Frederick Wiseman is not easy to digest, for it demands both the viewers' complete attention, something which is becoming increasingly difficult in this constantly accelerating world of ours, and their intense participationA" "'Titicut Follies' still evokes strong emotions, proving indisputably that the line between the primitive and the civilized was, is and always will be very thin." This year, Wiseman received an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Las Vegas, Oct 2 : At least 20 people were killed and over 100 others injured when a "lone attacker" opened fire at a music festival here, police said on Monday. The news was confirmed by Las Vegas Metro Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo in a press conference, reports CNN. Lombardo also said that the "lone wolf" perpetrator was also killed without giving further details. The shooting took place at 10.30 p.m. in the Route 91 Harvest festival near the Mandalay Bay Casino on the city's Strip. A video posted on Twitter showed the shooting outside the casino. Sounds similar to automatic gunfire could be heard, as well as the screaming of the crowd. A witness told CNN he saw "ambulances" arrive in the wake of the shooting and "people were running everywhere inside the casino". "We met someone at the gas station, a nurse, she was at the concert and she treated someone who was shot in the face, someone who was shot in the chest and someone who was shot in the liver." Several off-duty officers from Bakersfield Police Department witnessed the shooting and one was injured. The Las Vegas Police Department announced that they were not looking for additional shooters at this time. Facebook has initiated its Safety Check feature for "the violent incident in Las Vegas, Nevada", so people in the area can tell their friends and relatives they are safe. Limited flight activity resumed at the city's McCarran International Airport after services were temporarily suspended. Chennai, Oct 2 : Actress Tamannaah Bhatia is confident that the magic of Kangana Ranaut-starrer "Queen" will be recreated in its Telugu version which was officially launched on Sunday. The remake, to be directed by Neelakanta Reddy, has been titled "Queen Once Again". "It's an exciting project and I love doing roles that talk about women empowerment. I'm confident we can recreate the magic of the original. At the same time, not make our film look like a frame-to-frame remake. We'll adapt it to suit Telugu sensibilities," Tamannaah told IANS. Ever since she saw the Vikas Bahl-directed "Queen", she wanted to be a part of its remake. "I wasn't even sure if it was going to be remade. What makes 'Queen' special is that it's one of those rare women-centric films which succeeded in reaching out to everybody, across all sections of the audience," she said. Tamannaah starts shooting for the project from October 25. "Queen" is the story of the self-exploration of a young Punjabi girl, played by Kangana, who embarks on her honeymoon to Paris alone after her fiance calls off the wedding. Last week, the Tamil and Telugu versions of "Queen" were launched. The Tamil version, which has been titled "Paris Paris", stars Kajal Aggarwal in the lead. The Kannada version, which has been titled "Butterfly" and stars Parul Yadav, has already gone on the floors. Actor-filmmaker Ramesh Aravind is directing the Tamil as well as Kannada versions of the remake. Lucknow, Oct 2 : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has received the administration's nod to visit his parliamentary constituency Amethi in Uttar Pradesh on October 4, officials said on Monday. The Congress leader, who was earlier denied permission to visit Amethi, would also be given protection by the district administration during his scheduled visit. Amethi District Magistrate Yogesh Kumar said on Monday: "We urged Rahul Gandhi in a confidential letter to postpone his visit due to security reasons on account of Durga Puja, Muharram and Gandhi Jayanti, but the visit could not be postponed." The District Magistrate and Senior Superintendent of Police had urged the Amethi MP to postpone his visit in a letter. The letter angered the Congress workers and party leaders alleged that the administration was trying to prevent Rahul Gandhi from visiting Amethi. Chandigarh, Oct 2 : After remaining underground for three days, Punjab's rape accused former Shiromani Akali Dal Minister Sucha Singh Langah dramatically surrendered before the District and Sessions Court here on Monday. Langah, who was booked on Friday at Gurdaspur on the complaint of a woman constable of the Punjab Police, chose to surrender in the court in Chandigarh instead of Gurdaspur. The victim claimed that she had been sexually exploited and raped by Langah since 2009 under the threat of death. The woman, a widow, said that she was a classmate of Langah's daughter in college. The former Minister was accompanied by his lawyer and some associates when he arrived at the court complex here to surrender. Since the complex was closed due to Monday being a national holiday on account of Gandhi Jayanti, the surrender was done before the Duty Magistrate. Langah had remained underground since Friday and failed to surrender in Gurdaspur or Pathankot as promised. The police had conducted raids at various places in Punjab to arrest him. The former Minister was booked under Sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code at the Gurdaspur City police station. Langah, who was a Shiromani Akali Dal core committee member and President of the Gurdaspur district unit of the party, on Friday announced his resignation from all party posts and from the membership of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee as well. "I have full faith in the judiciary. Therefore, I am submitting to the process of law by surrendering in the court tomorrow (Saturday). I have firm belief that truth will come out and justice will be done to me," he said on Friday. SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, who accepted the resignation immediately, had said Langah had done so (resigned) to "submit himself to the process of law". Langah termed the case "political vendetta" and "premeditated" just before the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat bypoll on October 11. The SAD and alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party leadership have defended Langah in the matter saying that the case was motivated by the Congress government in Punjab before the crucial bypoll. The Congress has rubbished the charges of vendetta in the rape case. New Delhi, Oct 2 : The Adani Group's entire A$3.5 billion (Rs 178 billion) debt-funded 'investment' in Australia is gravely at risk, the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said on Monday. In a new report it details how Adani's Abbot Point Coal Terminal has excessive financial leverage, negative shareholders equity and runs the risk of becoming a stranded asset if Adani's Carmichael mine does not get a $1 billion Australian subsidy. The Abbot Point Coal Terminal is due for a $1.5 billion debt refinancing next year and a cumulative debt refinancing of $2.11 billion by 2020. Currently, operating at just over 50 per cent capacity, the Abbot Point Coal Terminal needs the Carmichael mine to fill the gap created as its current take-or-pay contracts progressively expire. "Securing this refinancing is going to be a real challenge, not the least because the port value has been tied to the success of the Carmichael coal mine proposal which is itself yet to secure funding and which the 'big four' Australian banks have refused to touch," an official statement quoting report co-author Tim Buckley said. Buckley's the IEEFA's Director of Energy Finance Studies, Australasia. "The potential for a loss of up to $1.5bn on any decision to walk away from Carmichael mine and rail proposal, explains why the Adani Group has been so focused on securing Australian tax payers money and royalty holidays to subsidise his loss making ventures," he said. "To the extent able to be analysed from Australian Securities and Investments Commission records, Adani's entire mine, rail and port operation in Australia looks to be 100 per cent debt financed and shareholders funds now tally an unprecedented, negative $458 million combined. The value at stake for the Adani Group's Carmichael mine proposal is far bigger than previously understood," Buckley added. Whilst Adani continues to search for overseas project funding, the report, "House of Cards: The Escalating Financial Risk of Adani's Abbot Point Coal Terminal", the report traces events that make the Carmichael project an even greater financial risk. The events include Adani's major proposed off-take coal customer, Adani Power Ltd's 4.6 GW power plant at Mundra in Gujarat, is financially distressed and its equity is for sale for just Re 1 but has no buyers so far. India's thermal coal imports have continued the downward trend of the last two years and are down 13 per cent year-to-date in 2017 compared to the prior year. And, in the light of new solar infrastructure projects delivering electricity at prices now 20 per cent below many Indian thermal power plant tariffs, financial analysts don't see any imported coal demand to justify more expensive seaborne supplies. Patna, Oct 2 : A massive campaign against child marriage and dowry was launched in Bihar on Monday with the state government all set to organise a human chain against child marriage and dowry on January 21 next year. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched the statewide campaign at the newly built Bapu Sabhagaar here on the sidelines of Mahatma Gandhi's 148th birth anniversary celebrations. He administered oath to over 5,000 people, including Ministers, MPs, MLAs, government officials and others, to fight against child marriage and dowry. "It is only a beginning to fight against child marriage and dowry in the state. We would involve people, government officials, including police, teachers, over half a million women self-help groups, civil society organisations, to intensify the campaign to ensure child marriage and dowry free Bihar in coming years," Nitish said. After forming the world's largest human chain in support of prohibition and de-addiction in the state in January this year, he said "we will form a human chain against child marriage and dowry in Bihar in January next year". Kumar recalled that when Bihar formed a human chain in support of prohibition and de-addiction, it was a rare move. "Bihar will now set another example by forming human chain against child marriage and dowry. It will inspire other states in the country to follow us," said Kumar. "We had initiated several measures for women empowerment in Bihar, including 50 per cent reservation to women in panchayat polls, bicycle and uniform schemes for girl students, 35 per cent reservation for women in police constable job followed by 35 per cent reservation in all government jobs." The Chief Minister said that a campaign against child marriage and dowry is part of his resolve to eradicate both social evils in Bihar. "I strongly believe that numbers of child marriage and dowry cases would be reduced in the next one year in the state with the active support of people, government officials including police, more than six lakh Self Help Groups, civil society organisations. It will certainly change the face of Bihar in the coming years." Kumar said the fight against child marriage and dowry are part of social campaign and has nothing to do with politics. "Opposition should extend support to it. People's help and support to this campaign will result into its success," he added. Kumar also appealed to the people not to attend child marriage functions and boycott the marriage of dowry takers to give a strong message in the society. "It is the best way to isolate such people who will violate child marriage and dowry acts," he said. Child marriage is rampant in Bihar, particularly in the rural areas, despite laws against it. At present, the incidents of child marriage is 39.1 per cent in the state. Until a few years ago, Bihar accounted for 69 per cent of child marriages of total marriages. But the latest National Family Health Survey-4 revealed that the figure has declined in the last 10 years due to increase of education among girls. According to a state government press release, the Women Development Corporation has along with the Social Welfare Department prepared a road map for the next six months for the campaign. The government will advertise on large scale in local newspapers to create awareness among the people. "The government will use social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter for exchange of information with people on this campaign. It will send SMS and will use WhatsApp to create awareness," the release added. Kolkata, Oct 2 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday thanked the devotees, Durga Puja organisers and police for making the festival joyous, peaceful and disciplined. She also thanked the clubs and committees in the state for their "total cooperation and overwhelming support" in making the festival a grand success. "At the end of Durga Puja, the biggest festival in the world, I would like to thank the crores of people who visited the puja mandaps and participated in the festivities and made the festival celebration so joyful," Banerjee wrote on her Facebook page. "I thank the police and civil administration for their tireless endeavour to make the puja celebration smooth, peaceful and disciplined," she said. Stating that some of the prominent puja organisers would be participating in the Durga Puja carnival at Kolkata's Red Road on October 3, she welcomed everyone to be part of the "beautiful event". The Durga Puja carnival was first organised in Kolkata in 2016 where 30 noted pujas from the city and districts participated in a colourful roadshow along with their respective Durga idols and replicas of the pandals. According to police, the carnival this year would be bigger as nearly 68 puja organisers would be participating. The spectator-capacity has also been doubled from 10,000 to 20,000 this year. Patna, Oct 2 : Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday blamed 'ghulami' (foreign rule) for social evils like child marriage, dowry and purdah in India. Without directly naming Muslim rule, Modi, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said: "Social evils like child marriage, dowry and purdah were created in India during the 700 or 800 years of ghulami phase." He said this while speaking at the launch of a massive state-wide campaign against child marriage and dowry in Bihar. Modi, not known as a hardliner or a vocal champion of Hinduvta politics, said in chaste Hindi that "samajik kuriti" (social evil) is the result of foreign rule in the country. "There was no child marriage, dowry and purdah either during the Vedic age nor later during ancient period in India." He said India is a country where women used to enjoy equal rights during Vedic to Ramayana period. There is no evidence of any such social evils in the society as neither religious books nor scriptures mentioned about them. "In ancient times, girls used to choose their groom or life partner at a function and there was no child marriage or dowry." New Delhi, Oct 2 : Hundreds of journalists on Monday formed human chains at various places across the country to protest intimidation of the media and the killings of scribes, including the murders of Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru and Shantanu Bhowmick in Tripura, and to draw attention towards "increasing intolerance against criticism". Scores of scribes turned up at the Press Club of India (PCI) here and formed a human chain in the heart of the capital to express their solidarity with their colleagues who were killed in the line of duty. The protests on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti were organised by various media associations, including the Press Club of India, Federation of Press Clubs in India, Indian Women's Press Corps, Press Association, Kerala Union of Working Journalists and Indian Journalists Union. The trigger for the protests were the killings last month of Lankesh, the editor of Karnataka-based Lankesh Patrike, who was shot dead at her own doorstep, and Bhowmick, who was abducted and later hacked to death by a tribal group in Tripura while he was covering a fight between two local factions. According to data compiled by an independent non-profit organisation 'Committee to Protect Journalists', at least 10 journalists have been killed in India since 2014 for various reasons. "Silent protests, meetings and human chains were organised in various state capitals and cities under the aegis of press clubs in the country to draw attention to the killings, threats and intimidation of journalists," a joint statement from the media associations said. "Expressing concern at the growing incidents of attacks on sections of the media fraternity across the country - the symbolic protests on October 2 sent out one single message - violence against journalists in any form will not be tolerated in the land that preaches non violence." The protests were held to draw attention to the "increasingly unsafe environment for journalists, the misogynistic and abusive targeting of media persons for their views on online forums, covert and overt threats to physically harm journalists for holding different opinions and increasing intolerance against criticism". They resolved that journalistic freedoms and the right to dissent needed to be protected and the right to freedom of expression needed to be upheld in the interests of India's liberal secular democracy. The protesting journalists later signed a memorandum to be given to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh "requesting his intervention for a status report on attacks against journalists in various states and action in this regard". Barcelona, Oct 2 : A day after a referendum on independence for Catalonia that was marred by clashes between supporters and police officers, the Spanish regions leaders were meeting on Monday to determine how to convert the vote into a state free from the rest of the country. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said late Sunday that the Spanish region had won "the right to statehood" and he would soon present the result of the referendum to the regional Parliament to make it binding, the New York Times reported. "With this day of hope and suffering, the citizens of Catalonia have won the right to an independent state in the form of a republic," Puigdemont said in a televised address. The Catalan government announced that 90 per cent of almost 2.3 million voters had voted in favour of independence. But several issues stood in the way of a consensus on the vote: The figures could not be independently verified, the voting registers were based on a census whose validity was contested and - most importantly - Spain's constitutional court had ordered that the referendum be suspended. Spain's Justice Minister Rafael CatalA warned on Monday morning that the central government in Madrid was prepared to use its emergency powers to prevent a unilateral declaration of independence. Under Spanish law, the government can take full administrative control of Catalonia. It is a wealthy region of 7.5 million people in north-eastern Spain. It has its own regional government which already has considerable powers over healthcare, education and tax collection, but is not recognised as a separate nation under the Spanish Constitution. Amid a harsh response from the police to the Sunday vote, the turnout was only around 42 per cent of the 5.3 million eligible voters. A Catalan spokesman said more than 750,000 votes could not be counted because polling stations were closed and urns were confiscated, CNN reported. The Catalan health ministry said 893 people were injured in clashes as riot police raided polling stations, dragged away voters and fired rubber bullets. TV images showed Spanish police kicking would-be voters and pulling women out of polling stations by their hair. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Catalans had been fooled into taking part in an illegal vote. The EU backed the embattled Spanish government. "We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics," the European Commission said in a statement posted on Twitter. More than 40 trade unions and Catalan associations called a region-wide strike on Tuesday due to "the grave violation of rights and freedoms". Several thousand people gathered outside Barcelona's town hall where the executive of the autonomous Catalan government was meeting to discuss its next move. New Delhi, Oct 2 : India and Bangladesh are likely to ink major economic agreements during the official visit of Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to Dhaka beginning from Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Finance, Jaitley will arrive in Dhaka on Tuesday for a two-day official visit. Major economic pacts like US dollar credit line agreement and joint interpretative notes on bilateral promotion and protection of investments are likely to be signed during Jaitley's visit. "The first major engagement of the Indian Finance Minister... will be to deliver the inaugural address at the business meeting between Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) tomorrow afternoon," the ministry said in a statement issued on Monday. Further, Jaitley will hold a bilateral level meeting with his counterpart Abul Maal A. Muhith on Wednesday. "During the visit of the Indian Finance Minister... a dollar credit line agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and Export-Import Bank of India is likely to be signed for third Line of Credit," the statement said. "Joint interpretative notes on the agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments are also likely to be signed during the visit." In addition to the likely agreements, Jaitley and Bangladesh Finance Minister Muhith will launch the "Cashless Visa Services". "Finance Minister Jaitley will also deliver a talk on the macro-economic initiatives of the Government of India," the statement added. New Delhi, Oct 2 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that Delhi Metro's proposed fare hike, the second in five months, is clear a violation of law and urged the central government to put the hike on hold. Kejriwal said the hike will be in violation of the Fare Fixation Committee's (FFC) recommendation that "there shall be a gap of one year between two fare hikes", an official statement from the Chief Minister's office said. It said that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has claimed it is bound by recommendations of the FFC on fare hike, but by ignoring the time gap between two fare hikes the FFC recommendations are being "selectively implemented" by DMRC. "Delhi government has never interfered in DMRC functioning, but it can't remain a mute spectator when commuters are being hit," Kejriwal said. "Delhi government appeals to the central government to invoke its powers under Section 86 of the Delhi Metro Railway (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002 to put on hold any fare hike till the entire matter is reviewed jointly by the central and Delhi governments," the statement read. Delhi Metro fares are set to increase for a second time this year from October 10. The last increase was in May when the minimum fare went up from Rs 8 to Rs 10 and the maximum from Rs 30 to Rs 50. DMRC and the AAP-led Delhi government have locked horns over the fare hike for the past one week. Last Thursday, Kejriwal asked Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot to find a way to stop the "anti-people" fare hike within a week. Later Gahlot met with DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh and asked DMRC to put on hold the impending fare hike till the Delhi government completes an inquiry on the proposed increase. On Friday, AAP said it will launch a protest campaign if DMRC remained adamant on increasing the Metro fare. DMRC defended its decision on fare hike saying its input costs have gone up over the years, and the increase is on par with other city metro rails. On Saturday, Kejriwal urged Union Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri to direct DMRC to withhold the fair hike and on Sunday he called for an independent audit of the DMRC's accounts. Gurugram, Oct 2 : The suspended principal of a Ryan International School, where a boy was found brutally murdered on September 8, has been reinstated in another of the group's schools, leaving the parents of the seven-year-old Pradhuman Thakur fuming. Neerja Batra, the acting principal of Ryan International in Bhondsi, who was suspended for her negligence in the murder of Pradhuman, has now joined as a teacher in the Sector 40 school of the group. "Why was Neerja Batra suspended if she was not guilty. If she was guilty then why has she been reappointed in the middle of the inquiry in the murder," questioned Barun Chandra Thakur, father of Pradhuman, while speaking to IANS on Monday. "While Principal Batra was so irresponsible regarding her responsibility and duties, how will she fulfil her responsibilities now?" Batra was reinstated on an order by Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh. Sushil K. Tekriwal, advocate for Thakur, told IANS that Pratap Singh's order was "totally illegal, unconstitutional and unfortunate. How can he grant clean chit to a suspended principal in such a hurry". "DC Vinay Pratap Singh has been appointed administrator of the school by the Haryana government for just three months. He must be sacked for his decision. It seems that Singh is also part of a group involved in hatching a conspiracy to provide clean chit to the school management," Tekriwal added. Pratap Singh, in the order, had said that after a discussion with stakeholders, he has decided to send Batra to the Ryan Group's Sector 40 branch. The order said that since Batra had "highlighted deficiencies to Ryan management multiple times about the Sohna Road branch and had no financial powers, she has not been directly held responsible for the unfortunate incident" in preliminary inquiry. Birbal Jha of NGO Mithilalok Foundation, fighting for justice to the murdered boy and his family, called the decision to give Batra clean chit "unfortunate." Batra was officiating as the principal of Bhondsi school since April this year after then principal Rakhi Verma resigned. Pradhuman was found dead with his throat slit inside the school's washroom on September 8 within an hour after his father dropped him at the school. Police alleged that school bus conductor, Ashok Kumar, 42, killed him with a knife after the boy resisted an attempt to sodomise him. While Kumar has been arrested, his parents and two other staffers claim he was being made a scapegoat. New Delhi, Oct 2 : An assembly of religious leaders, academics and scientists on Monday passed a resolution proposing construction of a multi-religion "temple of humanity" in Ayodhya to resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue. The resolution also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to form a 27-member steering committee under his leadership to initiate an inter-religion dialogue on the issue. It said that 67 acres of government land contiguous to 2.77 acres of disputed land should be used for construction of "Vishwadharmi Shri Ram Manavata Bhavan", consisting of places of worship for Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and followers of Judaism and Zoroastrianism, "giving equal respect and status to all the religions". However, the Delhi Declaration added that apart from a multi-religion temple, "a magnificent and beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Ram be constructed on his very birthplace" -- the 2.77 acres of disputed land presently trifurcated by the Allahabad High Court. The resolution was passed at the national round-table organised by the MIT World Peace University on the need to amicably resolve the contentious issue through inter-religion dialogue. The participants included Ram Vilas Vedanthi, Arif Mohammed Khan, Vijay Bhatkar, Swami Agnivesh, Syed Kalbe Rushaid Rizvi and Vishwanath Karad, among other academics and religious scholars. According to the conference declaration, the multi-religion temple would serve as "India's contribution to promoting the message of culture of peace and harmony". "The Bhawan be open to all, where prayers, meditations and devotional services can be offered by individuals and communities belonging to different religions and faiths and institutions as decided and scheduled by the trustees of the temple," it added. "We sincerely feel that in the greater national interest and to minimise the possible hatred, jealousy, violence and suspicion, particularly between the two major communities of the country, it is essential...to make sincere and sustained efforts to resolve this vexing, long-standing conflicting issue of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya," Vishwanath Karad, Founder President of MIT World Peace University, said. The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute encompasses 2.77 acres of disputed land, at present allotted to three litigating parties by the Allahabad High Court -- the All India Hindu Mahasabha, Nirmohi Akhara and All India Sunni Waqf Board. With each party getting only 0.9 acre of the disputed piece of land, it was not enough to construct either a Ram temple or even a mosque, the declaration said. "Further, according to Islamic belief, no mosque or place of worship can be constructed on a disputed piece of land, and according to the Hindu belief, temple of Lord Ram should be necessarily constructed on this very site -- the birthplace of Ram," the Delhi Declaration said. Geneva, Oct 2 : A top UN official on Monday called for an independent and impartial investigation into the violence that saw hundreds injured as Spanish authorities grappled to thwart a Catalan independence referendum ruled illegal by Spain's judiciary. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein voiced his concern over the situation in Catalonia after more than 800 people were injured, according to Catalan authorities, in clashes with Spanish police during the Sunday referendum. The riot police raided polling stations, dragged away voters and fired rubber bullets. TV images showed Spanish police kicking would-be voters and pulling women out of polling stations by their hair. "I am very disturbed by the violence in Catalonia," the official said. "With hundreds of people injured, I urge the Spanish authorities to ensure thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence." "Police responses must at all times be proportionate and necessary," Hussein was quoted as saying by Efe news. Spain's Constitutional Court had ruled the vote was illegal. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy declared that no referendum had taken place in Catalonia, while the Catalan government said that one had not only taken place, but the case for independence had prevailed, paving the way towards a unilateral declaration of independence. "I firmly believe that the current situation should be resolved through political dialogue, with full respect for democratic freedoms," said Hussein. He also called on the Spanish government to "accept without delay" requests by UN human rights experts to visit. Accra (Ghana), Oct 2 : Indian High Commissioner in Accra Birender Singh Yadav led a community group and members of the Society of Friends of India to make a presentation of assorted drugs worth thousands of dollars to a military hospital to mark the 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi -- also observed as the International Day of Non-violence. Yadav declined to give the exact cost of the drugs, given by Indian companies based in Ghana, calling it a "friendly donation". The companies are: Pharmanova Pharmaceuticals, M&G Pharmaceuticals, Deepaks, GR Industries, Induslite Sciences, Eskey, Theurapeutics and Tablets India. The donation followed a Peace Walk from the residence of the Indian High Commission through the Switchback Road and the Liberation Road in Accra and then back to the residence. Speaking to IANS, Yadav said: "The celebration of this day reinforces the relevance of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, many years after his death." "It reinforces the need for all of us to follow in the belief of Gandhi in a world that is facing a lot of political and security crises," Yadav said, adding, that "if we follow the Gandhi's principles the world will enjoy a lot of peace". He said the world needed peace to help bring about development. "We need a safe world so that efforts that will bring about the development could be implemented to benefit the vulnerable in society. Without peace, it is only anarchy that will consume the world." A statement by the UN on the International Day of Non-violence said: "In his life, Gandhi remained committed to his belief in non-violence even under oppressive conditions and in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges." "The theory behind his actions, which included encouraging massive civil disobedience to British law as with the historic Salt March of 1930, was that 'just means lead to just ends'... He believed that Indians must not use violence or hatred in their fight for freedom from colonialism," the statement said. A United Nations' General Assembly resolution in June 2007 established the commemoration as an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness". The UN said, the resolution reaffirms "the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence" and the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence". (Francis Kokutse can be contacted at fkokutse@gmail.com) Porbandar, Oct 2 : BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday said Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is unable to see the development in Gujarat because of "Italian spectacles". Flagging off the second phase of Gujarat Gaurav Yatra from Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi on his birthday, Shah said: "Rahul should wear Gujarati spectacles and not the one made in Italy, then he will see the development in Gujarat." His criticism of Gandhi comes after the Congress leader during his visit to Saurashtra last week termed the Gujarat model of development as a failure. The BJP is taking out a series of such yatras across the state ahead of the assembly election later this year. The yatras would culminate at Gandhinagar on October 15, during which 138 public meetings would be addressed by party leaders. Addressing a meeting at Porbandar, Shah hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gujarat's pride. He said the BJP takes pride in Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Narendra Modi and in developed, peaceful and curfew-free Gujarat. "BJP takes pride for making Gujarat drought free by bringing Narmada water to the parched areas," Shah added. Shah also took a dig at the opposition for its dismal electoral performance in other states since 2014 and said the Congress is "day dreaming" about winning Gujarat in 2017. He also taunted the Congress Vice President, saying that elections are not won by spending vacations abroad but with boots on the ground. Shah claimed the BJP has established the rule of law in Gujarat after the Congress' "misrule" and that like the erstwhile goons in Porbandar and elsewhere in the state, the opposition too has gradually "disappeared" from Gujarat. He also spoke of last year's surgical strikes across the border and questioned Rahul Gandhi about a Congress leader's comment on the Army General. Shah termed the Congress "anti-Gujarat" and said the NDA government at the Centre has enhanced the financial allocation for the state to Rs 1,58,380 crore as opposed to Rs 63,343 crore till May 2014 besides approving various other projects for the state, and completing Sardar Sarovar dam over Narmada, "the life line of Gujarat". Srinagar, Oct 2 : Two policemen were injured on Monday in a grenade attack by two militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said. A joint checkpost (naka) was set up police and the army at Juhama in Baramulla for routine area domination, a police officer said here. Shortly after 6 p.m., a motorcycle which was coming from the opposite side made an about turn on seeing the checkpost and as they were asked to stop, "one of the two militants riding the motorcycle hurled a grenade" towards the deployed security personnel. Two policemen received minor injuries in the blast, the official said, adding that the area has been cordoned off for searches. Kolkata, Oct 2 : West Bengal on Monday joined the rest of India in celebrating the 148th birth anniversary of the 'Father of the Nation' Mahatma Gandhi through various programmes organised by the state government, political parties and civic bodies. The main programme was held at Gandhi Ghat in Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district, where Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi paid floral tribute at the martyrs' column amid the rendering of the Ramdhun. Women took part in spinning yarn, all faith prayer services were held and school students read excerpts from Gandhi's writings. The programme concluded with Gandhi's favourite bhajans like "Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram" and "Vaishnava Jana To". State Information Technology Minister Bratya Basu and Chief Secretary Malay Dey were also present. Tripathi also offered flowers at Gandhi's statue in the city hub Maidan area. State Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee accompanied the Governor. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on social media. "Homage to the Father of the Nation on his birth anniversary," Banerjee tweeted. Several programmes and lectures were organised in the city in memory of 'Bapu'. The state Congress committee celebrated the birth anniversary at all its major party offices in the city and districts and organised lectures on Gandhi's philosophy and political ideology. Various municipal bodies also celebrated the occasion. New Delhi, Oct 2 : Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failing to keep his promise of creating a corruption-free India and threatened to begin an agitation if Modi "did nothing" to enforce the Lokpal Bill. Hazare, who sat on a one day satyagraha at Rajghat on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 148th birth anniversary and paid tribute to the Father of the Nation, also wrote a letter to Modi. He said that even after three years in power, the Prime Minister had not enforced the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, but had instead "hastily" passed amendments to weaken the anti-corruption law. "I had started a movement for appointing a Lokpal. It is still incomplete. There is a need for another agitation. The government not only failed to appoint a Lokpal but has weakened the Act (The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013)," he told reporters. Hazare said he would launch the agitation by the end of the year or early next year. "During the agitation no party or its member would be allowed to sit on stage. If someone wants to join, he can join the people," he said. He said that his volunteers will reach Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra to discuss on the course of the movement. In his letter to Modi, Hazare said that while earlier it was mandatory for those covered under the Lokpal to disclose their assets as well as the assets of their family members, the amendment passed in July last year exempted the family members from doing so. He also accused the Prime Minister of postponing the enforcement of the anti-corruption law by making "one or the other excuse". "It appears you have no intention to bring Lokpal and Lokayukta Act... And that you don't want to build a corruption-free India," Hazare wrote. "Looking at the present situation, it appears that no efforts are being made to end corruption and establish effective democracy in the country. Instead, efforts are being made to weaken democracy and strengthen the party. "Distressed by this, I will pray for the country on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary and will launch a 'satyagraha' from his footsteps," he added. The social activist said that Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised many things to the common man including an end to farmer suicides, fair price for agricultural produce, safety of women and solution to all problems of all sections of the society. Modi also promised getting back the black money stashed abroad within 30 days of coming to power, Hazare wrote. "But neither the Lokpal and Lokayuktas were appointed, nor the citizen charter enforced. Neither the black money came back from abroad, nor the black money from within the country got exposed through demonetisation. "Farmer suicides did not stop but have been increasing. They do not get fair price for their produce. There has been no action on the Swaminathan report. "Women haven't got the security, respect and justice that they deserve. And when it comes to corruption, it has been increasing by the day," Hazare added. Hazare's remarks has come at a time when BJP-led NDA government has been claiming that it did not allow any scam to take place during the past three years in power. The Modi government has also been claiming it has taken many steps to curb the menace of corruption. United Nations, Oct 2 : Meeting under the grim shadow of the overnight Las Vegas massacre, the leadership of the global organisation on Monday renewed its commitment to embodying Mahatma Gandhi's belief in the power of nonviolence. Gandhi's principle of nonviolence was the core principle of the UN, said General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak speaking at the observance of Gandhi Jayanti as the International Day of Nonviolence here. "The UN is the greatest promoter of nonviolence," he declared. "Everyday, the UN is using non-violent means to strive for peace and decent life for all on a sustainable planet." Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's Chef de Cabinet Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti recalled that Gndhi declared nonviolence the "greatest weapon" and said: "We are committed to translate this belief into action." Nonviolence underpins the unity of the UN in its quest for a peaceful world amid a rising tide of messages of hatred against minorities and refugees, and xenophobia, she said. India's Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin said that violent incidents were on the rise with civilians as the main victims in recent times compared to a century ago when 90 percent of those killed in conflicts were non-civilians. Military spending was also on the rise as was violence being done to the environment, he said. Gandhi's messages had the answers for the world to find solutions to these problems, he said. "We are not in the world that Gandhi dreamed of," Lajcak said. But as the global leader for nonviolence, the UN should promote peaceful methods of conflict resolution like mediation, he said. Prevention, he said, would be at the core of the activities current session of the General Assembly over which he has been elected to preside. While the UN peacekeeping missions are deployed to prevent conflicts or try to end them, the Security Council that mandates them has come under criticism by India and several countries for not giving adequate importance in the first place to prevention of conflicts through political and other means. Another element in the mission for prevention of violence, Lajcak said, is spreading the message of nonviolence with community and religious leaders, and especially the youth. For each message of violence, there should be two messages of peace, he said. On Sunday night in Las Vegas, a gunman killed more than 50 people and injured over 200 people at a concert in the worst shooting incident in modern US history. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) Mumbai, Oct 2 : Indian Oil Corp. (IndianOil) on Monday said it has received its first US crude oil cargo of 1.6 million barrels. According to the company, it received the shipment at Paradip port in Odisha. "MT New Prosperity, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), of capacity 2 million barrels of crude, left US Gulf Coast on 19th August and arrived at Paradip port today," the company said in a statement. "IndianOil will process the crude at its east-coast base refineries, located at Paradip, Haldia, Barauni and Bongaigaon." IndianOil has placed a cumulative order of 3.9 million barrels from the US. The two other public sector refiners -- Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum -- have also placed orders for about 2.95 million barrels and 1 million barrels, respectively, for their Kochi and Vizag refineries from the US. "The total volume of the crude presently contracted by Indian public sector refineries is, therefore, 7.85 million barrels," the company said. "The three refiners are sourcing sweet, sour and heavy crudes for their refineries which are equipped to handle complex mix of crude oils." In recent years, Indian public and private companies have also made sizeable investments in US shale gas assets with a total investment of approximately $5 billion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to the US in June 2017, had mentioned that India was looking to strengthen its hydrocarbon engagement with US. The deal to source crude from the US came through shortly after the visit of the PM to the US. "Rich in hydrocarbon assets, the US can be a significant supplier for Indian demand," the company added. This is one of the first shipments to India since the United States stopped oil exports in 1975. Kolar (Karnataka), Oct 2 : In a tribute to the father of the nation on his 148th birth anniverary, Kolar Deputy Commissioner K.V. Thrilok Chandra again became a doctor and treated about 100 patients on Monday. "As Chandra is a medical doctor by trainingn, he checked about 100 patients, including women and children at the government hospital in Kolar and prescribed medicines for their treatment," his personal secretary Prasad told IANS on phone. Kolar, about 100km from Bengaluru, is a backward district in the state. Donning a white apron and armed with a stethoscope, the 40-year-old Chandra was at the hospital for over two hours after participating in the official function to mark the National event at the district administration office in the town. "This is the second consecutive year Chandra marked the day by engaging in public service as a doctor, though he unable to practice regularly due to administrative duties," added Prasad. The 2007 batch IAS officer has been posted in Kolar since 2013. Chandra was not reachable for his comments. New Delhi, Oct 2 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday appointed a five-member Commission headed by Delhi High Court's former Chief Justice G. Rohini to examine sub categorization of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) under Article 340 of the Constitution, an official statement said. This decision has been taken to ensure more backward among the OBC communities to avail the benefits of reservation, added the statement from the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry. "The President in exercise of the powers conferred by article 340 of the Constitution appointed a Commission to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes. "This decision, taken on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, reinforces, in the spirit of his teachings, the government's efforts to achieve greater social justice and inclusion for all, and specifically members of the Other Backward Classes," it added. The Commission will have as its members J. K. Bajaj, the Director of Centre for Policy Studies, and the Director, Anthropological Survey of India and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, while Joint Secretary in the Ministry will be its Secretary. It will examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBCs with reference to such classes included in the Central List. It wil also work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs and will take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories. The Commission has been asked to submit its report to the President within a period of twelve weeks of assumption of charge by the chairperson. On receipt of the report, the Central government will consider ways and means for equitable distribution of the benefits of the reservation in Central government jobs and admission in Central government institutions amongst all strata of OBCs. Lucknow/New Delhi, Oct 2 : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday received the administration's permission to visit his parliamentary constituency Amethi in Uttar Pradesh on October 4, officials said. The Congress leader, who was earlier denied permission to visit Amethi, would also be given protection by the district administration during his scheduled visit. Amethi District Magistrate Yogesh Kumar said on Monday: "We urged Rahul Gandhi in a confidential letter to postpone his visit due to security reasons on account of Durga Puja, Muharram and Gandhi Jayanti, but the visit could not be postponed." The District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police had urged the Amethi MP to postpone his visit. The letter angered the Congress workers and party leaders alleged that the administration was trying to prevent Rahul Gandhi from visiting Amethi. At a press conference in New Delhi later in the day, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the district administration's suggestion to postpone visit was "mala fide and discriminatory". "Will Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath or Prime Minister Narendra Modi now decide whether an MP can visit his constituency or not? How can anyone prevent an MP from going to his home, which is his constituency," Singhvi asked. He said BJP President Amit Shah had been travelling in every nook and corner of the country during festivals, on holidays and on normal days for the last three years but he was never stopped by any District Magistrate on the pretext that police force was not available. "Why is Rahul Gandhi's movement being curtailed? It has also happened earlier. It was only after we protested and put the matter before the media that the Amethi district administration gave permission," Singhvi said. He also shared the letter signed by District Magistrate Kumar and Superintendent of Police Poonam that requested Rahul Gandhi to postpone his visit. New Delhi, Oct 2 : Ahead of Gujarat polls, the government on Monday night appointed a five-member Commission headed by Delhi High Court's retired Chief Justice G. Rohini to examine sub categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in a bid to ensure that more backwards among the OBC communities avail the benefits of reservation. It has been asked to submit its report within 12 weeks. President Ram Nath Kovind issued the order constituting the Commission under the provisions of Article 340 of the Constitution, a decision taken on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, enforcing the spirit of his teachings to achieve social justice, an official release from Ministry of Social, Justice and Empowerment said. "The President in exercise of the powers conferred by article 340 of the Constitution appointed a Commission to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes. "This decision, taken on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, reinforces, in the spirit of his teachings, the government's efforts to achieve greater social justice and inclusion for all, and specifically members of the Other Backward Classes," it added. The Commission will have as its members J. K. Bajaj, the Director of Centre for Policy Studies, and the Director, Anthropological Survey of India and the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, while Joint Secretary in the Ministry will be its Secretary. It will examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBCs with reference to such classes included in the Central List. It wil also work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs and will take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories. On receipt of its report, the Central government will consider ways and means for equitable distribution of the benefits of the reservation in Central government jobs and admission in Central government institutions amongst all strata of OBCs. Last month, the government raised the 'creamy layer' ceiling for OBC reservation for securing government jobs to Rs 8 lakh from the existing Rs 6 lakh per year. The National Commission for Backward Classes had given its recommendation in 2011 that there should be sub-categorisation and the Parliamentary Standing Committee had also given such a recommendation. The Supreme Court, in its November 1992 order, had observed that there is no Constitutional or legal bar to a state categorising backward classes as backward or more backward. New York, Oct 3 : At least 58 people were killed and more than 515 others wounded on Sunday night in a mass shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas in the US state of Nevada, the worst in US history. In recent years, deadly shootings have been occurring more frequently in the United States, where over 57,000 incidents of gun violence happened in 2016, killing at least 14,000 people and injuring 30,000 others. The following is a chronology of the deadly mass shooting incidents recorded in the United States in recent years: -- Fort Launderdale, Florida, January 6, 2017: A shooting killed five people and injured six others inside the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport in the US state of Florida. -- Houston, July 7, 2016: Four police officers were killed and seven others injured as two snipers opened fire during a protest against police shootings across the United States. -- Orlando, June 12, 2016: A gunman wielding an assault-type rifle and a handgun killed at least 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. -- San Bernardino, California, December 2, 2015: At least 14 people were killed and 17 others were injured after gunmen opened fire at a social services centre in San Bernardino City, southern California. -- Oregon, October 2, 2015: At least 10 people, including the gunman himself, died in a shooting at a community college in the state of Oregon. The gunman, identified by US media as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, about 290 km south of Portland, Oregon's largest city. -- Charleston, South Carolina, June 17, 2015: A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston, killing nine people in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime. -- Chicago, May 26, 2015: Twelve people were killed and more than 40 more wounded in shootings in Chicago during Memorial Day. -- Waco, Texas, May 17, 2015: Nine people were killed and several wounded after a shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco, Texas, with more gangs threatening to descend onto the town after the violence. -- Washington, September 17, 2013: A shooting inside a building at the Washington Navy Yard that serves as the headquarters of the Naval Sea System Command killed 13 people, including a suspect later identified by the FBI as 34-year-old navy contractor employee Aaron Alexis. -- Newtown, Connecticut, December 14, 2012: A shooting incident in an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, killed 20 children and six adults. -- Chicago, August 5, 2012: At least seven people were killed in a shooting incident at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, in the state of Wisconsin. -- Aurora, Colorado, July 20, 2012: Twelve people were killed and 59 others injured at a Batman movie premier, where a lone, heavily armed gunman burst into a packed theater in a suburb 10 miles (16 km) east of Denver. Local police identified the perpetrator as James Holmes, 24. -- Tuscon, Arizona, January 9, 2011: A gunman opened fire at a public gathering outside a grocery in Tuscon, Arizona, killing six people including a nine-year-old girl and wounding at least 12 others. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was severely injured with a gunshot to the head. -- Fort Hood, Texas, November 6, 2009: US army psychologist Major Nidal Hasan opened fire at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas, leaving 13 dead and 42 others wounded. -- Binghamton, New York, April 4, 2009: A man shot dead 13 people at a civic centre in Binghamton, New York. -- North Carolina, March 30, 2009: A heavily-armed gunman shot dead eight people, many of them elderly and sick, in a privately-owned nursing home in North Carolina. -- DeKalb, Illinois, February 15, 2008: A man opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, killing five students and wounding 16 others before laying down his weapon and surrendering. We are thrilled to support these two companies as they scale. Upayas CEO Kate Cochran said. Upaya believes in the power of entrepreneurs to fight global poverty. Mansi and Naveen are exceptional in how deeply they share our commitment to providing jobs and opportunity." Upaya Social Ventures has selected two more companies for its investment portfolio of social enterprises creating jobs for the poorest of the poor. The companies are UpSkill Management Services Pvt Ltd and SMV Green Solutions. Details of the investments are to be negotiated; Upaya typically provides seed stage equity investments up to $50,000 per investment. The announcement was made on September 23rd at the Investor Showcase marking the conclusion of Upayas first Accelerator Program, Formalizing the Informal Sector. UpSkill is a Mumbai-based technology company that aims to connect the fragmented education to employment market in India. Founded in 2013 by Mansi Agrawal, it is both a direct training program and a technology provider to training centers and corporates aiming to address the massive skills-gap in India where 90% of the workforce has no specialized training and industry projects a resulting jobs shortfall in the hundreds of millions by 2022. UpSkills technology product, Node, uses a SaaS model to capture data on all steps in the education to employment journey, from recruiting trainees to placement to career advancement. The platform will also include content for digital training. My motivation to join the Upaya cohort was foremost our vision congruence. Mansi Agrawal said. All through the last six months the Upaya team has worked relentlessly to connect us with the best minds in the social impact sector to help us understand it better and scale our businesses. Being part of the cohort was an honor enough and now having been selected to be an investee is great motivation for the entire team of UpSkill. SMV Green Soluitions, founded by Naveen Krishna, is a Varanasi-based company that finances battery-powered rickshaws so that drivers are able to upgrade from either gas-powered or manual rickshaws that are better for their own health and the environment. SMV Green provides financing for 24 months, after which the driver owns the vehicle and is better equipped to earn their way out of poverty. Of the 281 vehicles financed since April 2016, there have been zero defaults and 98% on time repayment. The company builds on the work of an earlier company founded by Krishna, SMV Wheels, which first addressed the physical drudgery of manual rickshaws with a lease-to-own model for auto-rickshaws. That company financed over 5,000 rickshaws. SMV Green Founder Naveen Krishna: "Upaya Social Ventures assisted us to identify the key drivers in our work through their six-month program where we can double our impact with the same effort. Now with their investment, SMV Green is able to dignify the lives of 10,000 cycle rickshaw pullers in the next three years by upgrading them to electric rickshaws." Upaya selected these two companies from a cohort of eight that completed a six-month program that included three four-day workshops and mentoring from a successful professional. The program culminated in an investor showcase at the Thought Factory in Bangalore on September 23rd where the companies connected with early stage impact investors. Representatives from Unicorn Ventures, Indian Impact Angel Network, Yunus Social Business, Loans4SME, Social Alpha, Bestseller Foundation, and Elevar Equity participated. In addition to pitching to the impact investors, the entrepreneurs met with LinkedIn Co-Founder and VP of Product Management, Allen Blue, who sponsored the Accelerator Program. Blue has shown a serious interest in the future of workforce development and the ways that LinkedIn can fulfill its vision of providing economic opportunity for the global workforce. He kicks off a new series of conversations about the topic with an interview with Upaya CEO Kate Cochran speaking about how the future of work will affect the extreme poor here.https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/india-excited-future-work-us-should-too-allen-blue/ A complete list of the eight participating companies in the cohort includes: Helper4U Services LLP, Meenakshi Gupta Jain, Mumbai JobNukkad Services Pvt Ltd, Ankur Mehta, Mumbai Kabadiwalla Connect Pvt Ltd., Siddarth Hande, Chennai KhanaGaDi, Amit Deep Kumar, Jaipur SMV Green Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Naveen Krishna, Varanasi The Shoe Men, Saral Budhijara, Delhi UpSkill Management Services Pvt. Ltd, Mansi Agarwal , Mumbai Zero Waste Incorporation, Amit Lingwal, Rishikesh For more information about Upaya Social Ventures, please contact: Kate Cochran kcochran(at)upayasv(dot)org For more information about UpSkill, please contact: Mansi Agarwal mansi(at)upskillindia(dot)co(dot)in For more information about SMV Green Solutions, please contact: Naveen Krishna smvgreensolutions(at)gmail(dot)com About Upaya Social Ventures: Upaya creates dignified jobs for the poorest of the poor by building scalable businesses with investment and consulting support. Since 2011, Upaya has supported 12 small and growing businesses in India with investments and expertise. Upaya partners have created nearly 5,000 jobs. With offices in Seattle, Washington and New Delhi, India, Upaya has committed to a goal of helping partners create 15,000 jobs by the end of 2019. For more information on Upaya, please visit http://www.upayasv.org About UpSkill: Upskill is on a mission to lift young adults out of poverty by providing them skill training using technology as a key to improving student engagement, teaching methodologies and employment outcomes. This technology platform NODE is a one stop solution for all stakeholders of the skill training ecosystem to optimize their operations, improve reporting procedures ultimately leading to bridging the gap between skilled manpower and their gainful career progression. Since 2013, Upskill has also trained and placed 4,500 youth across 3 Indian states through their skill development centers. Upskill is affiliated with the NSDC, World Skills India and multiple sector skills councils. About SMV Green Solutions: SMV stands for Slow Moving Vehicle, which offers a unique solution to cycle rickshaw drivers to become owners of their own vehicle by making weekly repayments. Matt lives the Hunter mantra of whatever it takes when it comes to customer service. To help drive continued business growth and customer service, Hunter Panels will promote Matt Peterson to general manager, effective January 1, 2018, succeeding Jim Whitton who will retire at the end of the year. Hunter Panels is announcing the change now to ensure a smooth leadership transition over the next several months. Peterson currently serves on the Hunter Panels management team in his role as director OEM/Private Label Sales. A veteran of the commercial roofing industry for 15 years, in a variety of sales positions of increasing responsibility, Peterson joined Hunter Panels in 2011 as Midwest regional manager. So many companies say theyre committed to customer service, but when I first came to Hunter Panels, I was blown away by the relentless focus on working hard to earn customers business, said Peterson. Our goal is to take care of the customer and help them grow their business. We do that with passion, responsiveness and being their polyiso resource. And, we are always asking what can we do better for the customer? Thats truly something special to be a part of, and it will be a privilege to lead these exceptional folks. Matt lives the Hunter mantra of whatever it takes when it comes to customer service, said, Jim Whitton, Hunter Panels vice president of sales and marketing. His devotion to our company, customers and business partners, and years of experience in the building industry make him a natural choice to lead Hunter going forward. As one of Hunter Panels original employees, the retiring Jim Whitton has played a crucial role in the companys growth and its positive, customer-focused culture, said Nick Shears, executive vice president, sales and marketing for Hunter Panels. About Hunter Panels Headquartered in Portland, Maine, with manufacturing at seven state-of-the-art polyiso manufacturing plants in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Utah, and Washington, Hunter Panels produces Hunter Xci wall insulation and Hunter roof insulation. For more information, visit http://www.hunterpanels.com or call 888-746-1114. Barry M. Koplen, acclaimed author, is opposed to the display of Confederate flags in settings other than museums. As a life-long fighter of Civil Rights, Barry continues to challenge vocal supporters of that flag, and in often heated debates. For Koplen, the flag, for numerous reasons, represents the South's addiction to slavery and is hardly "just a cultural relic." "The Constitution of the Confederate States of America states unequivocally, at various points, that the right to own slaves shall not be impaired. The Civil War was about slavery," Koplen declared. "Additionally, leaders of the Confederacy, including Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis knew exactly what they were doing: they were committing treason. At the war's end, Lee even wrote that it was '... wisest not to keep open the sores of war...' and its Confederate symbols. Davis did the same in 1881, in his apologia, that the Confederate flag should be folded up and put away." Koplen's book, No Gold Stars, focuses on some of the unspoken heroes of the civil rights era, his students and their victories. He is also saddened that the wishes of Lee and Davis have been, all too often, forgotten and/or ignored. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Barry M. Koplen's book is available via Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/Barry-M.-Koplen/e/B005K94JR6/ Wonderful things happen when a community works toward a common goal, something Houston knows well after Hurricane Harvey. In the face of this hardship, UNCF is as determined as ever to continue its work of helping young people attend college. Toward that end, UNCF is thrilled to announce that Houston lawyer and community leader Melanie Gray will serve as its honorary chair for the 29th annual A Mind is Gala held Nov. 18 at the Hilton Americas Hotel in Houston. Ms. Gray, a partner at Winston & Strawn LLP, was named by Benchmark Litigation as one of Houstons seven top female attorneys. She is also well-known for her community service and contributions to education, young people, the arts and the advancement of women. Last year, she was recognized as a Houston Hero by the Houston Chronicle. Hurricane Harvey has made this a difficult time for Houston. Now it is even more important to ensure that crucial support systems like the United Negro College Fund remain strong and vibrant, Ms. Gray said. I am so proud to serve as honorary chair for this years Houston Gala and to do all I can to help this organization do as much good as it can. Last year, UNCF scholarships helped scores of Houston students attend college, and that will be even more important now. Longtime supporters and this years Gala chairs, Diana and Elijah White, will join more than 500 guests in recognizing the recipients of the UNCF Excellence in Education and John and Drucie Chase Young Builders awards. The worthy recipients will be honored for their commitment to quality education and their service to the community. Promising to be a fun-filled night with a purpose, this signature fundraising event will continue providing scholarships to the next generation of leaders. The Gala will include a reception generously hosted by H-E-B and a live performance by The ZAPP Band. Attending the event will be distinguished representatives from the corporate, civic and education sectors, including UNCF president and CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax. Last years gala raised more than $500,000 for scholarships and operational support for UNCF-member institutions in Texas: Huston-Tillotson University, Jarvis Christian College, Texas College and Wiley College. Major sponsors of the Gala include H-E-B, Brentwood Baptist Church, Sysco Foods, Macys, Windsor Village United Methodist Church Family, and Melanie Gray & Mark Wawro. For sponsorship information and individual tickets, please call 713.942-UNCF or visit http://www.uncf.org/houstongala. Stay connected by following the Houston office on Facebook and Twitter @UNCFHouston and through #UNCFHoustonAMI. ### About UNCF UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nations largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students education and development through scholarships and other programs, strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding nearly 20 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF awards more than $100 million in scholarships annually and administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized motto, A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at more than 1,100 colleges and universities. Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous news and updates, follow UNCF on Twitter @UNCF. "Our organization can have a large, positive impact on a number of lives by getting involved right now. - Tina Stacy, PharmD, CCO Clinical Care Options (CCO), a global leader in the development of innovative educational programs and technology platforms, has joined forces with Free to Breathe to raise funds for research and to increase the number of patients with lung cancer participating in clinical trials. Working within the framework of Free to Breathes 4th Annual Lung Cancer 5K Walk/Run in Brooklyn, New York, on October 22, 2017, funds raised will be used to dramatically increase lung cancer survivorship in a short span of time. Through their CCOcares initiatives, CCO works with local and national charities to affect positive change in communities around the nation. Free to Breathes aggressive and achievable goal of doubling the lung cancer survival rate by 2022 really spoke to us as an organization, said Tina B. Stacy, PharmD, BCOP, CHCP, Senior Vice President Educational Strategy and General Manager, Oncology at CCO. Lung cancer claims more lives each year than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined but receives far less funding per life lost than these other types of cancer. We feel like our organization can have a large, positive impact on a number of lives by getting involved right now. CCO invites anyone interested in being involved to participate in person or virtually or by donating. For people living near Brooklyn, the walk/run provides a unique event in which like-minded attendees will traverse the Brooklyn Bridge together. General donations to team members, as well as virtual participation that includes fundraising, are also encouraged. CCO will donate up to $3000 to match the first $3000 raised. More information can be found on the event page: http://bit.ly/2xAzi9f. About Clinical Care Options Clinical Care Options, LLC, is a global leader in the development of innovative educational programs and technology platforms. CCOs team has been a pioneer in the creation of continuing education and decision support resources for healthcare professionals both in the United States and around the world for more than 2 decades. For more information, visit clinicaloptions.com. Contact: Tradd Sanderson | Director of Marketing Clinical Care Options Telephone: 855.224.2241 Email: tsanderson(at)clinicaloptions(dot)com Summit Medical Group Foundation (SMGF), whose mission is to improve access to healthcare for underserved individuals in the community and to educate and inspire current and future healthcare leaders, has awarded scholarships to 76 outstanding students who are pursuing college degrees and careers in medicine or a healthcare-related field. This scholarship program is one of the principal reasons for starting Summit Medical Group Foundation, says Jeffrey LeBenger, MD, FACS, Summit Medical Group Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer. We are determined to provide medical help to the communities we serve, and to support up-and-coming students who are embarking on a career in the medical profession to change the health and lives of people all over our great state of New Jersey, LeBenger adds. The students, all part of Summit Medical Group Foundations 2017 Next Generation Scholarship Program, were required to meet the following criteria: All are enrolled in universities across the United States, are in good academic standing, are primary residents of New Jersey, and are pursuing studies in medicine or a healthcare-related field. All students have also provided proof of their university enrollment. The top three outstanding Next Generation Scholarship Program awardees are: Leonardo Oliveira American University of the Caribbean Geoffery Ofori Dwomfuo Rutgers University New Brunswick Michael Diiorio Harvard Medical School We are very proud of all the recipients of the 2017 Next Generation scholarships, says Joe Finocchiaro, SMGF Executive Director. We believe all of our health and lives will continue to improve with this next generation of health professionals on the rise, Finocchiaro adds. Summit Medical Group Foundation is committed to supporting undergraduate and graduate students who seek careers in medicine and/or healthcare-related fields to enrich their lives and the lives of those in the communities they serve. This year, the Foundation awarded more than $50,000 in scholarships. Twenty recipients each received awards ranging between $1,000 and $2000, and 56 students each received $500. Over the past three years, the Foundation has awarded more than $170,000 to New Jersey students pursuing careers in medicine. For more information on Summit Medical Group Foundation, please visit the website. ### ABOUT SUMMIT MEDICAL GROUP FOUNDATION (SMGF) Summit Medical Group Foundation (SMGF) is deeply rooted in the community in a steadfast effort to better the health and well-being of each member through wellness promotion and medical education. Summit Medical GroupNew Jerseys oldest and largest private multispecialty physician groupestablished SMGF in 2013 to grow its culture of philanthropy and further its more than 85-year legacy of building a healthier tomorrow through programs and services that extend far beyond traditional medical care. Among other initiatives, the Foundation provides scholarships and supports health programs that reflect its mission. For more information, visit http://www.smg-foundation.org. The legal team at Sidney L. Gold Associates P.C. is honored to announce that Sidney L. Gold has been named as one of Suburban Life magazines Top Attorneys for 2017 in the practice area of Employment Law. Attorney Gold has been a warrior for employee rights for more than 40 years, often breaking new ground while advocating for its clients. As a service to its readers, Suburban Life composes this annual list, which names the best legal practitioners in many different areas of law, including business law, medical malpractice, employment law, and more. The best attorneys in the Greater Philadelphia area are determined by reader votes. Mr. Gold is the principal shareholder in Sidney L. Gold Associates, P.C., which is headquartered in Philadelphia and serves clients throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mr. Gold and every member of the firm focuses exclusively on the representation of both employers and employees in all aspects of employment litigation, including claims under federal and state anti-discrimination laws, and federal civil rights laws. Mr. Gold has extensive experience counseling employers on compliance with Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA and FMLA. He also has vast experience representing both private- and public-sector employers. He has won landmark victories for his clients, including employees and employers. In addition to this welcome honor, Mr. Gold has also been named as a Super Lawyer every year since 2004, among other noteworthy honors. If you need guidance on an employment law matter, please call the Philadelphia employment lawyers at Sidney L. Gold & Associates, L.P. at 215-569-1999, or visit their website at http://www.discrimlaw.net for a free, confidential consultation. To activate the text-to-speech service, please first agree to the privacy policy below. Bureau Taipei, Oct. 2 (CNA) The Tourism Bureau said Monday that no Taiwanese tourists were reported to have been injured in a mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, nor has Taiwan's representative office in the U.S. been notified of any Taiwanese being hurt in the attack. CEW Beauty Insider recently released their monthly Indie Spotlight, featuring Airelle Skincare. The article highlights Airelles unique founders back story and inspiration along with the innovative powerful science. Kasey shares how Airelle is the only skincare line with BERRIMATRIX, the lines key ingredient to protect the skins collagen breakdown from Infrared Radiation. This exclusive Q&A interview tells how the brand started with just Kasey and her husband Stephen DAmato. Stephen is a TV first assistant director and Kasey is a Dermatology Physician Assistant specializing in aesthetic medicine. Stephen noticed actors were spending more time in the makeup chair during film shoots. He tapped into Kaseys expertise and the pair joined forces to design the five sku line, which aims to provide skin with a youthful complexion while improving the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and helping prevent future aging all at the same time. Kasey tells Beauty Insider about Airelles secret anti-aging ingredient, BERRIMATRIX. It was recently recognized by peer reviewed medical journal, Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, because of its unique capabilities to protect the skin from infrared radiation, one of the major causes of collagen breakdown and wrinkle formation. Airelles BERRIMATRIX formula is proven by the world's top researchers to help slow wrinkle formation. "14 years of practicing Dermatology as a Dermatology P.A. and searching for the most efficacious natural skin care led me to be inspired to develop Berrimatrix and the 5 Airelle Skus. Antioxidants can have the ability to improve and protect the skin and are often ignored as part of the daily skin care regimen. Everyone should be using preventative skin care beyond sunscreen alone to help slow the onset of the signs of aging. I am excited to be on the forefront of preventative skin care; this is a category that we will see a lot more growth in the future as people learn that there is more that they could be doing to help prevent future wrinkle formation!" -Kasey D'Amato Cosmetic Executive Women, Inc. (CEW) is a global, nonprofit professional organization with 9,000 global members, both men and women, from over 2,250 companies in the beauty and related industries. CEW brings the beauty community together, at every stage of their careers, from every facet of the industry. CEW leads the conversation in beauty, addressing topics that are shaping the future of the industry and provides unparalleled access to industry influencers and thought leaders. CEW provides the connections, tools and leadership development resources to move careers forward. CEW recognizes professional achievement and innovation in the industry to inspire the next generation of leaders. CEW is based in New York City, and also hosts events for the beauty community in Los Angeles. Additionally, CEW has associated organizations in France and the United Kingdom. The CEW Foundation supports Cancer and Careers, a comprehensive program for people balancing work and cancer. For more information, please visit cew.org. Airelle Skincare, LLC is a Los Angeles based company that produces high quality natural anti-aging skin care. Airelle is all natural physician dispensed skincare that improves and prevents aging. http://www.airelleskin.com For more information about AIRELLE, please contact Lilly Zabat, 310-462-5869 or lilly.zabat@airelleskin.com Green Solar Technologies Ranked #1 Solar Installer in CA GST may be at the number one spot now, but they didnt start there. They have been working tirelessly all year to stand out among CA installers by providing full-service solar panel installations and financing options for every type of home and business owner nationwide. One thing that separates them from other installers is that their primary product manufacturer is SolarWorld USA, Americas most successful and longest-lasting solar panel manufacturer established in 1975. GST begins the process for people looking to go solar with a start-up solar consultation. During this time, their product knowledge expert Solar Consultants educate the customer about their company, how solar power works, and answer all of their questions. It is at this point they explain of the benefits and options of going green from beginning to end. Next, the Solar Consultants evaluate the energy demand of their customer and provide a free quote for a solar power generation system (SPGS) design tailored to meet their annual energy needs. From there, the customer is given a proposal from a Senior Solar Advisor for a system that would eliminate their energy dependency on their utility company. Different financing options are offered including cash and various fixed-payment loan terms. Once those terms are decided upon, GST will arrange the installation, taking great care in the layout of the home or business, as well as the personal concerns of the customer. After the installation, net metering is set up so that the new solar home or business owner can monitor their energy production in real time. That is all there is to it! The customer has gone solar with Green Solar Technologies and can then begin saving for decades to come. A lot of GSTs business comes from referrals of previous customers who have had the pleasurable experience of trading their permanently escalating utility bill for a temporary, low, fixed payment. So it is no wonder that GST would be Californias highest ranking solar installer. They really take care of their customer from that first phone call, all the way up to the installation. And this achievement holds even greater weight by the fact that California is leading the nation with over 4.7 million homes powered by solar and over 100,000 employed in the solar industry, several times more than any other state. But perhaps another reason customers have ranked GST so high on SolarReviews is because of their remarkable accessibility post-installation. The business-customer relationship remains for the duration of its 25 year warranties. If a customer is having trouble with a panel or with monitoring their energy production, GST is there to make sure the customer gets the most out of his or her investment. Geddy Friedman, Marketing and Reputation Management for GST says, We are very much involved with our customers for the entire solar process. And that includes even after their system is installed. We understand our reputation and success moving forward depend not only on educating the customer and providing them the best renewable energy alternatives, but also in keeping them happy for many years into the future. This means listening to their concerns and doing all that we can to handle them as soon as possible. Now with certified Pre-Screened Solar Pro status, GST has also achieved a Top 10 ranking among CA installers of All-Time and a Top 35 ranking for Most Reviewed Installers of All-Time with a 4.8+ star customer rating. Geddy continues, The success we have had as a company thus far is merely foreshadowing what is possible in the future. The solar industry is open wide and we are educating more people and helping positively change their lives every day. Heart Walkers proudly represent Healthpointe for the American Heart Association! It was great to meet with coworkers from other offices, especially at an event that is raising awareness for such a good cause. On September 23, 2017, Healthpointe employees from both the corporate and medical offices walked together as Team Healthpointe in the Pasadena Heart Walk. Among the group were x-ray technician staff, corporate staff, medical assistants, and surgical coordinators. The American Heart Associations Heart Walk, which kicked off with a health expo at 7:30 a.m., was created (according to heartwalk.org) as a way to raise funds and save lives from this country's No. 1 and No. 5 killers heart disease and stroke. In the weeks leading up to the event, participants received healthy living tips and ways to take precautions against heart disease, from the event organizers. Healthpointes Medical Director, Dr. Ismael Silva, said that he was proud to see a group of Healthpointe employees give up their Saturday to walk for the American Heart Association. Healthpointes goal is to provide care for all patients including those affected by heart disease and to see that Healthpointes employees are so caring both during and after work hours is great. They are truly reflective of Healthpointes mission. Roxanne Velasquez, an employee based out of Healthpointes corporate site who was one of the participants, agrees with Dr. Silva: It was great to meet with coworkers from other offices, especially at an event that is raising awareness for such a good cause. Healthpointes participation in the Heart Walk comes just weeks after Healthpointes company-wide involvement with a charity food drive for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Healthpointe looks forward to more ways to give back to the community in the near future. For more information about the American Heart Association, visit heart.org. For more information about Healthpointe, visit healthpointe.net or call 888-824-5580. About Healthpointe: Healthpointe is a leading multidisciplinary healthcare organization offering a full range of medical services in practice locations throughout Southern California (Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino County, and Riverside County). Healthpointe, which has locations situated in over 10 cities in Southern California, has provided services over the last four decades for private patients, injured workers, urgent care, personal injuries, and athletes. Leading the organization is a dynamic team of healthcare professionals who continually strive to be at the forefront of medical innovation and healthcare service delivery. For more information, a complete list of services, and Healthpointe locations, visit Healthpointe.net. Jeffrey James Rodvold, PhD Postdoctoral Researcher, UCSD Successful tumor outgrowth requires the coordination of a variety of cell intrinsic and cell extrinsic signaling events. These events include those establishing a tumor microenvironment (TME) that both enables tumor cell survival and disables anti-tumor immunity. Recent reports demonstrate that these events require molecules produced by resident tumor cells. Tumor-borne signals within the tumor microenvironment propagate tumor cell fitness and immune hijacking. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is an adaptive response to a variety of TME insults, including hypoxia and nutrient deprivation, raising the possibility that ER stress could serve as a potential source of tumor cell fitness and immune dysregulation. Through this webinar, attendees will gain a better understanding of how to design an in vitro system to model phenomenon within the tumor microenvironment. They will learn from case studies and study results that revealed that the CM of cancer cells undergoing ER stress transmits ER stress to recipient cells. When implanted into immune competent hosts, ER stress experienced cancer cells grew at markedly faster rates than inexperienced ones. These findings support the existence of a novel mechanism used by tumor cells to restrain anti-tumor immunity while enhancing cellular fitness with the TME. The team at Thermo Fisher Scientific has arranged for Dr. Jeffrey James Rodvold, a postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California, San Diego, to be the speaker for this event. Currently a postdoctoral researcher, Rodvold completed his doctorate in biomedical sciences at the University of California, San Diego, where his research focused on the unfolded protein response (UPR) within the tumor microenvironment. His research involved elucidating how the tumor microenvironment becomes dysregulated within both the cancer cell and immune infiltrate compartments through the production of signaling molecules cancers cells producing during the UPR. This webinar will be hosted on LabRoots.com November 14, 2017, beginning at 10:00 a.m. PST, 1:00 p.m. EST. to read more on this event, learn about the continuing education credits that will be offered, or to register for free, click here. About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of $18 billion and more than 55,000 employees globally. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics and increase laboratory productivity. Through our premier brands Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive support. For more information, please visit http://www.thermofisher.com. About LabRoots LabRoots is the leading scientific social networking website, which provides daily scientific trending news, as well as produces educational virtual events and webinars, on the latest discoveries and advancements in science. Contributing to the advancement of science through content sharing capabilities, LabRoots is a powerful advocate in amplifying global networks and communities. Founded in 2008, LabRoots emphasizes digital innovation in scientific collaboration and learning, and is a primary source for current scientific news, webinars, virtual conferences, and more. LabRoots has grown into the worlds largest series of virtual events within the Life Sciences and Clinical Diagnostics community. Kips Bay is our first Midtown office. We couldnt have chosen a more flourishing neighborhood. Theres an expanding, underserved pocket of NYC here that reached out to us and were here to answer that call. Dr. Bobby Buka and his team at Bobby Buka MD Dermatology are thrilled to announce the expansion of their dermatology practice to Kips Bay, Manhattan beginning the week of October 16. The new office is Bukas seventh location in New York and is located at 247 East 28th Street. It sits at the corner of 2nd Ave and 28th, offering 1,200 square feet of office space to local New Yorkers (and commuters) in the neighborhood. Kips Bay is rich in both historical significance and present-day attraction. Bordered by Murray Hill on the north, Madison Square on the west, Gramercy Park on the South and the East River on the east, Kips Bay was an American Revolutionary War site in 1776 and features the last unpaved street in Manhattan, Broadway Alley. Today, Kips Bay is a thriving NYC neighborhood home to many businesses and several high-rise apartment complexes. New York Universitys institutional buildings are prominent, including NYUs Tisch Hospital, NYU Hospital of Dentistry, and NYU School of Medicine, among other medical centers. The addition of Bobby Buka MD Dermatology only adds to the neighborhoods vibrant medical landscape. According to John Brod, partner at ABS, the real estate firm that signed the lease, Kips Bay was the next natural location for Dr. Buka, who attracts clientele from all over New York City. Brod continued, The new office at 247 East 28th Street will draw patients from several Midtown East neighborhoods, like Murray Hill, in addition to clients from the Upper East Side and Queens, who previously had to travel to offices downtown. Bobby Buka MD has offices in South Street Seaport, Greenwich Village, the Upper West Side, Crown Heights, and Williamsburg, and has recently opened its first Queens office in Long Island City. Every office has a unique atmosphere designed and decorated by Bobby Buka himself to reflect the local scene and make patients feel engaged and at ease. This attention to detail when it comes to the patient experience is one way Bobby Buka MD stands out from other providers in the city. Kips Bay is our first office in Midtown and we couldnt have chosen a more flourishing neighborhood, says Dr. Buka. Theres an expanding, underserved, residential pocket of NYC professionals here that reached out to our organization to open nearby and were here to answer that call. Its important that we bring a fresh aesthetic to every community we join and were poised to be the premier dermatology destination in the area. Visitors to Bobby Buka MDs Kips Bay office will not be short on things to do: Its blocks from the Fairway Market, AMC Theater, Tipsy Scoops ice cream barlour, and striking East River views. Nearby the 28th Street 4/6 and a short walk further to the R/ W and F/M at 23rd Street, the office is accessible for New Yorkers from all parts of town. Voted "Most Sought-After Dermatologist" in NYC, Bobby Buka provides quality medical and cosmetic services including acne treatment, anti-aging services, cancer prevention, Botox and more. Dr. Buka and his team pride themselves in offering individualized, state-of-the-art care for every patients dermatological needs. A graduate of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Dr. Buka completed his residency at the University of California, San Diego and a fellowship in pediatric dermatology at Children's Hospital San Diego. He is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, and published several books including Buka's Emergencies in Dermatology and Top 50 Dermatology Case Studies for Primary Care. For more information or to book your consultation at the new Kips Bay office or existing locations, visit BobbyBukaMD.com or call at (212) 385-3700. An Illinois-based author has released his compilation of independent research on spiritual approaches to mental illness and psychology. In A Spiritual Hypothesis: An Inquiry into Abnormal and Paranormal Behavior, Daniel Punzak delves into the connection between human spiritual makeup and behavior and emphasizes the importance of spirit-focused psychotherapy in the treatment of trauma. A result of 45 years of study, Punzaks book draws on his extensive research on near-death experiences, dissociative identity disorder, shamanism, mysticism and Eastern concepts of spirituality. Through this, Punzak hypothesizes that a persons psyche is comprised of two components, a soul and a Spirit. The soul can be compromised by traumatic life events with emphasis on childhood abuse. The eternal Spirit can also function in a healing mode but is more involved in creativity in both scientific and artistic fields. Mental illnesses and criminal behaviors are often the result of past traumas, or soul fragmentation, as I refer to it in A Spiritual Hypothesis, Punzak said. This sort of spiritual injury can be corrected with properly administered psychotherapy which can address criminal behavior as well as personal issues such as depression and addiction. My hope is that this book can serve as a step toward understanding the human spirit beyond what empirical sciences currently dictate. Through A Spiritual Hypothesis, Punzak proposes a shift in modern attitudes toward treatment of mental illnesses and behavioral abnormalities from a pharmaceutical approach to a spiritually therapeutic approach. In this, Punzak also emphasizes the Spirits critical importance to remedying other major world issues, such as climate change and environmental degradation. A Spiritual Hypothesis: An Inquiry into Abnormal and Paranormal Behavior By Daniel Punzak ISBN: 978-1-5246-5238-8 (hardback); 978-1-5246-5237-1 (paperback); 978-1-5246-5236-4 (electronic) Available at the AuthorHouse Online Bookstore, Barnes & Noble and Amazon About the author Daniel Punzak spent many years as an environmental engineer before retiring and holds a bachelors degree in engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Punzak has spent more than four decades independently researching near-death experiences, dissociative identity disorder, mystical experiences and shamanism. He currently resides in Springfield, Ill. Review Copies & Interview Requests: LAVIDGE Phoenix 480-648-7557 dgrobmeier(at)lavidge(dot)com General Inquiries: LAVIDGE Phoenix 480-998-2600 x 584 mdriver(at)lavidge(dot)com Dino Hatzopoulos has faced a string of adversity in his life. Born in Greece, Hatzopoulos was caught in the middle of two wars before the age of six. At seven-years old, he lost his father all before being sent to an orphanage at the same year. Facing an uphill battle from a young age, Hatzopoulos realized the importance of seizing every opportunity and fighting for what you want. Now, Hatzopoulos uses his personal story as a call to action, encouraging readers to preserve their dignity, freedom and dreams in Revolution? What is Wrong with America? Revolution? follows Hatzopoulos transition from an abandoned boy in Greece to a patriotic American man. He chronicles his early years facing a country caught up in WWII and then a Civil War. Dino discusses his life as a member of the Greek army before his departure of his homeland in search of a better life. He also sheds light on the emotions he endured as notable events and relationships impacted his perspective, particularly his connection with his estranged mother. Additionally, Hatzopoulos warns readers of upcoming civil unrest and the need to remain strong in the face of uncertainty and oppression. He encourages readers to go after every opportunity, fight for democracy and live with dignity and happiness. Grab every chance that comes your way, until you find the one which changes your life, Hatzopoulos said. Revolution? urges readers to fight for each and every moment in their life, especially when the world seems to work against them. Revolution? What is Wrong with America By Dino Hatzopoulos ISBN: 9781524579074 (hardcover), 9781524579067 (softcover), 9781524579050 (e-book) Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Xlibris About the author Dino Hatzopoulos was born in1942 in a small village in Greece called Velesiotes. At the age of six-years old, his father was killed during the civil war and his mother did not have the financial means to take care of five kids. As such, Dino was taken to an orphanage where he stayed for eight years. Review Copies & Interview Requests: LAVIDGE Phoenix Satara Williams 480-998-2600 x 586 swilliams(at)lavidge(dot)com General Inquiries: LAVIDGE Phoenix Jacquelyn Brazzale 480-998-2600 x 569 jbrazzale(at)lavidge(dot)com Vodafone's VOXI refers to Buyapowa "Word of mouth is critical for acquiring new customers - especially when it comes to influencing their choice of mobile network - and rather than coasting off the back of that, we felt it was right to reward people who sent their friends our way." Michelle Wiliams, Commercial Manager, VOXI Vodafone and Buyapowa are excited to announce a new refer-a-friend programme for the industry-first dedicated youth-brand, VOXI. The innovative programme will play a key part in Vodafone's marketing campaign for VOXI, and will equip and incentivise customers to encourage their friends to experience the new network's unique benefits, including endless flexibility with no contracts, unlimited calls & texts and free data for social and chat apps. Given Vodafone's unique history, spanning over 30 years at the forefront of the mobile telecommunications industry, it made sense for them to partner with a referral marketing platform with similar credentials. That's why they've joined forces with Buyapowa - the technology platform behind ground-breaking referral programmes for brands such as ASOS, Expedia and Sky, plus numerous mobile networks including Three, Telefonica's O2, Lebara and BT Mobile. Drawing on Buyapowa's experience in tailoring referral programmes for multiple demographics with differing wants and needs, Vodafone are, in fact, launching three distinct referral programmes to cater for three distinct groups: happy customers who want to share the love with their friends, brand ambassadors who are driven to celebrate VOXI among their networks and the brand's most passionate advocates - Vodafone employees themselves. In each case, friends will be rewarded with a free 10 Amazon gift card when they sign up with VOXI, as will the referrer who tipped them off. While the proposition is simple, the technology behind it is cutting-edge, enabling referrers to share with their friends across any device and via a host of mobile apps, including SMS, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Michelle Williams, Commercial Manager at VOXI said: "Transparency is at the heart of VOXI. That's why we wanted to be transparent when it comes to marketing, too. We know that word of mouth is critical when it comes to acquiring new customers - especially when it comes to influencing customers' choice of mobile network - and, rather than coasting off the back of that word of mouth, we felt it was right to reward people who sent their friends our way. They scratch our backs, we scratch theirs. By working with Buyapowa - who have unparalleled experience in this area - we can do just that." "We couldn't be more delighted to work with an iconic brand like Vodafone on this major new launch," said Buyapowa CEO, Gideon Lask. "Telecoms is an industry that's really embracing referral marketing, to the extent that few networks now risk alienating their customers by not offering a referral programme. By teaming up with us, Vodafone will not only be able to harness the incredible passion of VOXI's young customer-base, they'll also be able to extend their loyalty and grow the brand into what I'm sure will become a huge success." ENDS ABOUT BUYAPOWA Buyapowa is the worlds leading referral marketing platform, powering invite-a-friend programmes for hundreds of brands including ASOS, Zalando, FeelUnique, Virgin Wines, Expedia, Vodafone, Travelex etc.. A unique feature-set, including a multi-referral engine, flexible rewards and an intelligent sharing suite, enables brands to launch fully-branded, internationalised referral programmes in minutes, reducing the cost per customer acquisition by up to 80%. For more information visit http://www.buyapowa.com/, or for regular updates connect with us on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/buyapowa LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/buyapowa MEDIA ENQUIRIES Contact the Buyapowa PR team at hello(at)buyapowa(dot)com or +44 20 3008 4431 Jason Stadtlander, author of the fiction anthology Ruins of the Mind, will be holding his book release and book signing on Friday, October 6, 2017 from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Barnes & Noble in the North Shore Mall in Peabody, MA. Stadtlanders fiction thriller, The Steel Van Man (published by BHC Press) is centered in the small Massachusetts town of Swampscott, just north of Boston, where a serial killer hunts select victims. Detective Stanley Devonshire who is joined by his long-time friend Marblehead Detective Mark Brown, Massachusetts State Police officer Joyce Chase and an imposing federal agent who are uncovering a trail of evidence in an attempt to determine exactly how the killer has managed to continue on a horrific rampage undiscovered for what appears to be almost a century now and with the exact same pattern. The Steel Van Man has the reader holding his breath and postulating at every turn as the book weaves a story of murder, secrets revealed, and justice sought. The reader is driven in an uncomfortable direction he might prefer to avoid. Stadtlander will be available for autographed copies of The Steel Van Man on Friday, October 6, 2017 from 6 PM to 8 PM at Barnes & Noble at North Shore Mall (210 Andover Street, Peabody, MA). It is highly recommended that visitors pre-order your book so it is available for the book signing by contacting Barnes & Noble at (978) 573-3261. ABOUT JASON STADTLANDER A long time Swampscott resident, Jason is originally from Ohio and has had an affinity for writing since he wrote his first story in sixth grade. Since then, he has written more than two hundred short stories. In addition to his novels, Jason has published numerous articles and columns in newspapers and magazines, and is also a columnist at the Huffington Post. He enjoys connecting and philosophizing with his readers through book signings and speaking engagements. Learn more about Jason at jasonstadtlander.com. ### Last week HubSpot announced Leighton Interactive as the grand prize winner of the 2017 Website Design Impact Award in North America for their work with Chicago-based custom home builder, BrightLeaf Homes. Each year HubSpot agency partners from around the globe submit their best work for a chance to win an award in sales enablement, integrations innovation, inbound growth story, website design, and graphic design. For each category, a grand prize is awarded to an international agency and an agency located in North America. In March 2017, Leighton Interactive crafted an impact blog they submitted for consideration in the website design category. Their submission explained how the agency used research and design to create a website that addressed the client's challenges and generated huge ROI. "The website before the redesign did not convey our brand very well. Now, I can just focus on listening and asking them [leads] questions...because they've already hit the website before we've talked," said Rick Thompson from BrightLeaf Homes. "I have better informed leads coming to us in the first place, and that has been making the sales process easier. I'm looking at closing 6 sales in the past four weeks which is unprecedented in our company." Leighton Interactive was notified in April 2017 that their submission won them a first round "Website Design Impact Award" that six other finalists also received. This initial award entered the agency into the grand prize competition with the other finalists. On September 25th, 2017, Leighton Interactive was announced the grand prize winner during HubSpot's Partner Day at INBOUND in Boston. As the grand prize winner, Leighton Interactive was highlighted at the INBOUND award ceremony, featured in printed materials and press coverage, and will appear on HubSpot's partner directory profile. HubSpot's press release announcing all grand prize winners can be found here: https://www.hubspot.com/company-news/hubspot-honors-winners-of-annual-impact-awards-at-inboundpartnerday "Our team dug deep to uncover a tailored marketing strategy for BrightLeaf Homes. We wanted to create a lead generation engine for them, and the website was an important piece of that," said Jen Keul, Vice President of Leighton Interactive. "To be recognized as the best website in the North American region by HubSpot means a great deal to Leighton Interactive." This is Leighton Interactive's second Grand Prize Impact Award from Hubspot. The inbound marketing agency also received an Inbound Growth Story Impact Award in 2015 for their work with wholesale distributor, Bernick's. Read the winning impact blog about BrightLeaf Homes website redesign: https://www.leightoninteractive.com/blog/brightleaf-homes-website-revival ABOUT LEIGHTON INTERACTIVE Leighton Interactive is an inbound marketing agency with locations in St. Cloud, MN and Green Bay, WI that is passionate about demanding and driving results. Their tribe of experienced marketing, development, and design professionals foster dynamic solutions for their business partners goals and objectives. Leighton Interactive focuses on branding, email marketing, web design, blogging, and campaign strategy development for all industries and sectors. For more information, visit leightoninteractive.com Tecumsehsbones said: So, just an isolated lone wolf. Nothing to see here, no comment or action needed on policy. Boys will be boys. Well, white boys anyhow. Just havin' some fun. Least it was nothing dangerous, like a 12-year-old black kid with a toy gun or a Muslim woman with a golf club. Click to expand... He was a local 64 year old called Stephen Paddock. Could be Black. What probably happened is that he yelledout the window for an hour, finally got fed up and reached for the "remote". Either that or he's a local Pastor.Either way, it will be interesting watching Trump trying to connect it to the Mexicans in a Tweet, later today. Earlier this year, Orren Pickell Building Group COO Lisa Pickell was nationally recognized as one of Constructech Magazine's Women in Construction in 2017. Now, she's accepting an honor of another kind, as she steps into the role as president of the prominent Illinois design-build firm. "I started this company 42 years ago and we have many things to be proud of, including the contributions that my wife Tina, and my daughter Lisa, have made to our success," offers founder Orren Pickell. Lisa Pickell joined the firm 21 years ago, entering an industry largely dominated by men. Even today, according the the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 91% of workers in construction are male, and women hold less than 7.5% of management roles. The Orren Pickell Building Group has always strived to bring women on board, and the firm is currently about 33% femalemore than triple the national average. Throughout her career, Lisa has been honored for her efforts in the industry. In addition to her Constructech award, she was named Remodeler of the Year by the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago in 2009, and was selected as one of Professional Remodeler magazine's 40 Under 40 in 2011. "Lisa has worked tirelessly for our company, clients and staff, rising through the ranks and helping guide the trajectory of the firm," adds Orren Pickell. "Her talent and dedication will lead the company toward a very bright future." Lisa is an active member of Vistage Worldwide, the Executive's Club of Chicago, and the Chicago Architecture Foundation where she sits on several planning committees. Lisa conducts Chicago River cruises for the Foundationone of TripAdvisor's Top 10 Tours in the United Statesand has studied culinary arts at Kendall College. Lisa Pickell will become president of Orren Pickell Building Group effective October 1, 2017 ++++++++ ABOUT ORREN PICKELL BUILDING GROUP Orren Pickell Building Group has been a leading design-build firm on Chicago's North Shore for more than 40 years. The company provides custom home architecture and construction throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. J. Walter Thompson announced today the five young women selected for this years class of Helen Lansdowne Resor Scholarship recipients. Named after the industrys and J. Walter Thompsons first female copywriter, the HLR Scholarship is a global opportunity launched by J. Walter Thompson and the 4As in 2014. Each winner receives an individual scholarship up to $10,000, a paid summer internship with a J. Walter Thompson office in her respective region, a J. Walter Thompson mentor, and a first look placement consideration upon graduation. Laura Agostini, Chief Talent Officer at J. Walter Thompson Company, said of this years Scholarship recipient group: Now in its third year, we are delighted to welcome and congratulate the latest HLR winners. Each talented woman chosen for this scholarship has a unique voice and perspective, and we are excited to share their stories. We hope this scholarship will give them added support and confidence to drive forward their careers. And in time, I also expect that they will pull up those coming behind them. My congratulations to each and every winner! This years recipients are: MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA: Lian Saifi, an Art and Cultural Enterprise major at the Central Saint Martins University in London. She is a strong advocate for womens rights and displaced people, and is currently working at an international humanitarian organization. EUROPE: Margherita Teodori, a Copywriting major at The Miami Ad School Berlin. Originally from Italy, she earned her Masters Degree in European Literature, and is very passionate about the performing arts. SOUTH ASIA: Simoul Alva, a Graphic Design major at the National Institute of Design in India. She is a strong believer in philanthropy, and each year sends contributions to the Good Samaritan Mission in Mumbai, India. NORTH AMERICA: Ein Jung, an Art Direction major at the School of Visual Arts. She is passionate about musical theatre, and is proficient in four languages. LATAM: Valeria Moreno, an Art Direction major at the Miami Ad School Mexico City. Half chilanga and half xalapena, she is passionate about creating and yoga. To learn more about the Scholarship and how to apply, click here. ABOUT J. WALTER THOMPSON COMPANY J. Walter Thompson Company was founded in 1864 and has been making pioneering solutions that build enduring brands and business for more than 150 years. Today the company has evolved to include several global networks including J. Walter Thompson Worldwide, Mirum and Colloquial. The success that the South Coast Region has seen is a testament to the educators and the grant program for investing in the students futures, said Dusty Moore, president of iCEV. In 2015, the South Coast Region Agricultural Education Consortium received $5.7 million in grant funding from the California Careers Pathways Trust Program to strengthen Career and Technical Education (CTE) instruction in their classrooms. By implementing iCEV, a CTE online learning platform from CEV Multimedia, students from the South Coast Region School District have earned over 1,400 industry-backed certifications in the last two years. Students from 10 schools have earned 11 different industry-backed certifications. The most popular certifications among the students are Principles of Floral Design, Professional Communications, Fundamentals of Animal Science, Veterinary Medical Applications and Plant Science. Industry-backed certifications are endorsed and developed in collaboration with companies and organizations such as Southwest Airlines, Bayer CropScience, Elanco and others. Over the past two years, weve grown our program to work with over 6,000 students to teach 21st century skills and earn industry-backed certifications to help them successfully enter the workforce, said Erin Gorter, program director of South Coast Region Agricultural Education Consortium. The industry-backed certifications have helped our students explore potential career paths and develop critical skills employers look for. The success that the South Coast Region has seen is a testament to the educators and the grant program for investing in the students futures, said Dusty Moore, president of iCEV. The impact of earning over 1,400 industry-backed certifications cant be understated and further signifies the important role CTE programs play in preparing students for a variety of careers. The consortium has also used grant funds for classroom equipment to supplement the CTE curriculum, student organizations, professional development opportunities and subject-area recruitment efforts for educators. The funding has allowed us to increase the amount of technology we have in classrooms to allow students to earn industry-backed certifications, said Lauren Peterson, agriculture teacher at King City High School. The students were excited when they heard about the certifications and we have seen an increase in their involvement as a result. For more information on CEVs industry-backed certifications, please visit https://www.icevonline.com/7-12-education/industry-certifications/. About CEV Multimedia With 33 years of experience, CEV specializes in providing quality Career & Technical Education (CTE) curriculum and education resources for several major subject areas: Agricultural Science and Technology, Family & Consumer Sciences, Business Education, Marketing Education, Trade and Industrial Education, Health Science, Law Enforcement and Career Exploration. CEV received the U.S Chamber of Commerces Blue Ribbon Small Business Award in 2012 and has been honored numerous times for its excellence in content creation and exemplary business practices. iCEV is the most comprehensive online resource for CTE educators and students. With iCEVs learning-on-demand capabilities, video clips stream instantly to any device with Internet capabilities. Through iCEV, students can earn industry-backed certifications across multiple areas of CTE that prepare them for college and beyond. For more information, visit http://www.icevonline.com/. ### In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, Oregon Fruit Products is donating $5,000 to National Breast Cancer Foundation to support its mission of early detection, education and support services for those affected by breast cancer. This is the companys third year supporting the foundation, donating over $15,000 in total. In a show of support for the initiative, Oregon Fruits canned red tart cherries will display the symbolic pink ribbon on its labels for the month of October. Nearly every American has been affected by someone with breast cancer, says Oregon Fruit CEO Chris Sarles. We are pleased to be continuing our relationship with National Breast Cancer Foundation, and hope that this contribution will help make an impact on as many people as possible affected by breast cancer. When choosing Oregon Fruit red tart cherries, consumers can feel good about supporting breast cancer research while also making a healthy choice for themselves. The Montmorency cherry is known for its healthful anthocyanins: deep-colored pigments that are responsible for the cherrys crimson color. Montmorency cherries boast a multitude of anti-inflammatory benefits from decreasing muscle soreness, to combating gout, to helping with insomnia. Additionally, all Oregon Fruit Products cans do not contain a Bisphenol A (BPA) lining. The fruit is Non-GMO Project Verified, and made without high fructose corn syrup. Oregon Fruit Products red tart cherries are available at most grocers nationwide. About National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. Recognized as one of the leading breast cancer organizations in the world, National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is Helping Women Now by providing early detection, education and support services to those affected by breast cancer. A recipient of Charity Navigators highest 4-star rating for twelve years, NBCF provides support through their National Mammography Program, Patient Navigation, Beyond The Shock, breast health education, and research programs. For more information, please visit http://www.nbcf.org. Oregon Fruit Products LLC Founded in 1935, Oregon Fruit Products offers a complete line of canned, frozen and shelf-stable premium fruit for consumers, foodservice operators and ingredient sales. The company is located in Salem, Oregon and can be found on the web at http://www.oregonfruit.com. Intrinsic ID SPARTAN products provide a unique unclonable identity to microcontrollers and other semiconductors, which allows them to connect seamlessly and securely to a cloud service, and enables hardware-based security that can be implemented on virtually any CPU. Intrinsic ID, the worlds leading provider of digital authentication technology for Internet of Things security and embedded applications, today announced it will exhibit at the Sensors Midwest conference, to be held October 3-4 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, in Rosemont, Ill., near Chicago. WHAT: The Sensors Midwest conference provides a venue in the Midwest United States for engineers who seek access to sensor advancements as the growth of the sensors market continues. Intrinsic ID will demonstrate device-to-cloud device authentication using SPARTAN, a digital authentication software module for Internet of Things and embedded applications. The SPARTAN products provide a unique unclonable identity to microcontrollers and other semiconductors, which allows them to connect seamlessly and securely to a cloud service, and enables hardware-based security that can be implemented on virtually any CPU. Intrinsic ID will exhibit in the Industrial IoT Pavilion, with Renesas Electronics America in Booth 700. WHEN: Oct. 3, 2017: Exhibits open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT Oct. 4, 2017: Exhibits open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT WHERE: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center 5555 N. River Rd. Rosemont, Ill. 60018 About Intrinsic ID Intrinsic ID is the worlds leading digital authentication company for the Internet of Things (IoT) and embedded applications. It is the inventor of SRAM Physical Unclonable Function, or SRAM PUF, leveraging manufacturing variations in semiconductors to create unique IDs and keys to authenticate chips, data, devices and systems. Through its flexibility, scalability and low implementation cost, Intrinsic ID products address the security needs of the fast-growing IoT market. Its solutions are used to validate payment systems, secure connectivity, authenticate sensors, and protect sensitive government and military data and systems. Intrinsic IDs award recognition includes the EU 2016 Innovation Radar Prize, which honors high-potential innovations and innovators in EU-funded research. Intrinsic IDs SRAM PUF technology has been proven in millions of devices and in products that have passed certification by Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL6+), EMVCo, Visa and multiple governments. Visit Intrinsic ID online at http://www.Intrinsic-ID.com. Intrinsic ID, the Intrinsic ID logo and SPARTAN are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intrinsic ID, Inc., and are protected by trademark laws of the United States and other jurisdictions. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Intellectual Property practitioners from across the world will join together with their peers in the creative and legal communities at the American Intellectual Property Law Association's (AIPLA) 2017 Annual Meeting. AIPLA's Annual Meeting, which gathers thought-leaders from all areas of patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret law, expects hundreds of attendees to descend upon Washington, DC this fall. 2017 was a landmark year for IP law and many of the country's IP practitioners are facing new challenges as they adapt to the changing landscape of IP law. AIPLA's 2017 Annual Meeting is the place to be for attorneys, patent agents, businesses, and startups to learn how to navigate the year ahead. AIPLA is pleased to announce it will bestow the AIPLA Board of Director's Excellence Award, its highest honor, on US Senators Orrin Hatch [R-UT] and Patrick Leahy [D-VT] at the AIPLA 2017 Annual Meeting. This is AIPLA's highest award, and is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions fostering intellectual property law. Distinguished speakers include: Joseph Matal, Interim Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Honorable Paul R. Michel, former Chief Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (retired), Karyn Temple Claggett, current acting Register of Copyrights. The program also includes a judicial panel with the Honorable Pauline Newman and the Honorable Kara Stoll from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, along with a number of other top leaders in IP profession from around the world. WHAT: AIPLA 2017 Annual Meeting WHO: Attended by lawyers in private and corporate practice, in government service, and in the academic community, as well as patent agents and other IP law professionals. WHEN: October 19-21, 2017 WHERE: Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC For complete program and registration details, visit http://www.aipla.org. Credentialed members of the press are invited to attend; Pre-registration is requested. For complimentary registration*, please complete and submit the Press Registration Form and submit by fax, mail or email as directed. *All receptions, luncheons, breakfasts, and guest tours are excluded. New Nurture Book Tour for author John M. Ward. Visit the blogs and websites featuring John and his book, "Tunnel Rat" from October 2nd-31st, 2017 at http://www.nurtureyourbooks.com/upcoming-nurture-book-tour-tunnel-rat-by-john-m-ward/. About the book, "Tunnel Rat": When former US Army captain Eric Tucker decided to visit Old City in Jerusalem with his daughter and granddaughter, he thought it would be a chance to get some family time with his girls and enjoy his retirement. But when a terrorist organization threatens his familys safety, Captain Tucker must reach into his past in order to survive. Can he do so without becoming the cold-blooded killer he once was? Emir Farouk is falling on hard times, and the loyalty that once came so easily to him is dwindling. When an old man and a teenage girl from America appear in his sights, he believes it is a sign and orders his men to kidnap them. But things dont go as planned What follows is an intense cat-and-mouse game between a powerful terrorist cell and one man whos determined to protect his family, the woman he loves, and his ship. Captain Tucker cantand wontgive in, even if it means returning to the man who led an elite unit of soldiers into claustrophobic tunnels after their enemies with nothing but flashlights, knives, and pistols: the infamous Tunnel Rats. About the author, John M. Ward: John Morris Ward is a professional architect and author. He also loves anything that has to do with water and the ocean, including sailing, scuba diving, fishing, and spearfishing. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida. Author's Website: http://johnmorrisward.com/ Join us for the "Tunnel Rat" Nurture Book Tour for reviews of the book, guest posts, author interviews and more! For the complete book tour schedule, please refer to the author's Nurture Book Tour page at http://www.nurtureyourbooks.com/upcoming-nurture-book-tour-tunnel-rat-by-john-m-ward/. About Nurture Your BOOKS: Nurture Your BOOKS has been providing Literary PR and top quality, professional, author and book promotion, and marketing services since 2010. http://www.nurtureyourbooks.com There are some differing opinions and strategies across industries when it comes to cloud technology ... And thats okay. Terillium, an Oracle Platinum Partner and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) consulting company, published a new white paper today. The white paper covers key ERP definitions, explains characteristics of cloud and on-premise ERP options, and discusses the return on investment for ERP software solutions. Chris Garrity, Director of ERP Project Delivery at Terillium, authored the white paper to help shed some light on the options available today for companies considering ERP software. Chris drew on his knowledge gained during numerous ERP implementation projects over the past 25 years. There are some differing opinions and strategies across industries when it comes to cloud technology some executives cant make the move to the cloud fast enough, while others are unsure. And thats okay. Terillium is in the unique position to offer advice regarding cloud and non-cloud ERP options. Our new white paper addresses many questions we hear from CIOs and other business leaders I hope readers find it helpful, said Garrity. The white paper includes information on the total cost of ownership (TCO) of ERP software, functionality considerations, technology trends, ERP upgrades, security and uptime, hybrid cloud scenarios, and return on investment. Cloud solutions, including Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (Paas), and Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas), are a current topic in both business and the technology industry. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for enterprise cloud is forecasted as 19% through 2026, according to a study by Wikibon, a business technology research organization. Despite being a relevant topic, the ERP industrys shift to the cloud has happened at a slower rate than other technologies according to the recent ERP Technology Value Matrix published by Nucleus Research. To learn more, download the full white paper or visit terillium.com. About Terillium, Inc. Terillium is an award-winning Oracle Platinum Partner specialized in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Consulting. Terilliums team, made up of 150+ full-time employees, has an average of 16 years ERP experience. Terillium has helped over 500 businesses implement ERP. About the Author Chris Garrity is the Director of ERP Project Delivery at Terillium. Chris has 25 years of experience with ERP implementations. Prior to his career at Terillium, Chris was a senior manager at Deloitte Consulting. He also worked as a project manager at JD Edwards before the ERP software product was acquired by Oracle. Chris has a Bachelor of Science from UCLA, as well as a background accounting, finance, and computer programming. His professional certifications include APICS CFPIM and Project Management Institute PMP. Chris has spoken at several conferences including Oracle Open World, APICS World Conference, and numerous user group events. KUHL Prepares to Host Exclusive Line Preview at Park City Location "It's suddenly so cold that we all just want to wrap up in a blanket. Our guests and customers will be ready for fall bundled in one of our classic pieces like the womens Flight or mens Alpenwurx, said store manager Joleen Willardsen. Leading outdoor brand KUHL prepares to welcome customers to its first public line preview on Monday October 2nd. Guests of The KUHL Store on Park Citys historic Main Street will be treated to the leading outdoor brands signature warm welcome in Mountain Culture style. The event will give loyal customers first dibs on new fall and winter designs and will feature classic styles in vibrant new seasonal colors. In preparation for the event the flagship store will undergo a rapid and complete changeover of product after closing on Sunday night and will re-open Monday morning with the new season on full display. Doors will close at 6PM Monday and open again for the line preview between 7PM and 9PM that night. KUHL's line preview comes at just the right time, as locals gear up with transitional jackets in preparation for the upcoming ski season. Park City temperatures went from 80 degrees to the first snow fall and highs in the 40s in a matter of days. It feels so cold that we all just want to wrap up in a blanket. Our guests and customers will be ready for fall bundled in one of our classic pieces like the womens Flight or mens Alpenwurx, said store manager Joleen Willardsen. On hand will be the new womens and mens KUHL Alskar collection, upscale urban looks in lightweight heathered fleece and 800-fill down insulation providing the perfect level of warmth for leaf-peeping season. Luxuriously soft Italian Fleece in rich core-dyed hues for fall pair with vintage micro suede accents to create one of the brands most iconic designs, the womens Flight Jacket and Vest. The Alpenwurx, a favorite of KUHLs mens collection, returns in two-tone heavyweight fleece, with suede micro fiber accents at the shoulders and elbows for a vintage look and added durability for falls hefty outdoor chores. Special guests include members of the KUHL mens and womens design teams and artist Manny Carrasco, who will be on site to sign limited edition artwork and answer questions about the one-of-a-kind sketches that showcase KUHL clothing throughout the store. Light refreshments will be served. Location: 333 Main Street, Suite F, Park City, Utah Date: Monday, October 2nd Time: 7:00PM to 9:00PM RSVP: (385) 229-3776 About KUHL Born in the Mountains KUHL [kul] German < 1.) English Translation: COOL KUHL is a product-driven apparel company with a passion for the outdoor experience. We are a group of artists, designers and athletes who collaborate to create great products that are timeless and in a constant state of evolution. Born in the Mountains, our innovative designs and technical fabrics have been enhancing movement and outfitting adventures for 30 years. Barb Drummitt Leads Phoenix Sentry Office Sentry is known for having highly competent, seasoned professionals to head our offices Barbara Dummitt was recently appointed Vice President of the Phoenix Division of Sentry Management. Barbara has over 28 years in association management, homeowner services and operations. For the last ten years, Barbara has served as Executive Director of Management Services for City Property Management, where she led a team of 57 community managers. Prior to 2007, she held responsible positions with Cuellar Realty Services and Rossmar & Graham. Kregg Hale, Sentrys Senior Vice President responsible for Sentrys Western Region, lauds Barbaras unique background. She is the ultimate problem solver in her associations and pays close attention to the details. From her Boards, she receives high praise for her communications style. She is exactly the type of professional we want to manage Sentrys accounts in Arizona. Barbara is well known and respected in the community management industry. She holds a CAAM certification from the Arizona Association of Community Managers (AACM). Barbara is active in AACM serving on the Continued Education Committee, where she has been instrumental in writing and teaching various industry-specific training classes for Certified Managers. Barbaras office is at 1414 W. Broadway, Suite 205, Tempe, AZ 85282. The office phone number is 480-345-0046 or visit http://phoenix.sentrymgt.com. Jane Scully is now Vice President of the Indianapolis Division of Sentry Management. Jane has been in the HOA and Condominium Management industry for nearly two decades. For the last 13 years, she was Vice President of Operations & Sales for Community Association Services of Indiana where she led a 47-member team that managed over 200 residential associations. Jane is unusually skilled in working with HOAs, Planned Unit Developments, Horizontal Property Regimes and all classes of multi-family housing. Sentry is known for having highly competent, seasoned professionals to head our offices says Michael Dale, Senior Vice President, Eastern Region & Corporate Sales and Marketing Services. Jane is another example of Sentry selecting the ultimate professional with deep experience. She is both a Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) and Association Management Specialist (AMS) of the Community Associations Institute (CAI). She recently served for three years on the Board of the Central Indiana Chapter of CAI. Janes office is at 8425 Keystone Crossing, Suite 108, Indianapolis, IN 46240. The office phone number is 317-251-9393 or visit https://indianapolis.sentrymgt.com. Sentry Management is a full-service community management company. Sentrys business is the day-to-day operation of communities, homeowner associations and condominiums. Sentry is accredited as an AMO (Accredited Management Organization) by the Institute of Real Estate Management, providing independent evaluation that Sentry has one of the highest operating and financial standards in the industry. Sentry operates in dozens of localities in Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Freedom Healthworks logo There is indeed a true, Free Market Healthcare solution, and it is Direct Primary Care, said Adam Habig, co-founder and president of Freedom Healthworks. One primary care physician has launched her own practice to provide better primary care than ever before. After more than a decade of consulting with patients within a small, private family medicine group, Dr. Ashlie Olp is opening her own practice in Carmel, Indiana, under the Direct Primary Care model. The impetus to venture out as a solo practitioner is the product of her own story as a patient. My personal journey of needing care at a dire moment sparked a lightbulb to help other patients that need a dedicated, accessible primary care physician, who is indeed their advocate, said Dr. Olp, an Indiana-born and Indiana University educated primary physician focusing on womens health and family medicine. I believe in the Direct Primary Care model to give my patients healthcare options and enhance their health and well-being. My three goals are accessibility, time with patients and transparency in billing. Dr. Olp is opening her practice with the help of Freedom Healthworks, an organization enabling individuals to choose a physician that best suits their needs for a flat price of $50 to $150 per month, depending on the physician while reserving their insurance for catastrophic events like broken bones and hospitalizations. Direct primary care physicians like Dr. Olp spend more time with their patients (roughly between 45 and 60 minutes) during each office visit and are more accessible, when convenient for the customer, by text, phone, email, and even digital apps, than the typical, insurance-based primary care model. There is indeed a true, Free Market Healthcare solution, and it is Direct Primary Care, said Adam Habig, co-founder and president of Freedom Healthworks. DPC lowers healthcare prices, improves both consumer and doctor satisfaction, scales back insurance company and government intrusion, and above all else, provides options for the consumer, no matter their situation. Freedom Healthworks focuses on helping physicians launch their dream practices. DPC physicians are empowered to practice how they were trained to care for patients. Freedom Healthworks helps physicians open their own practices and connects them with patients seeking a direct and honest relationship with their care provider. By removing the administrative red tape associated with insurance, doctors are free to deliver care according to their clinical expertise and set clear prices their patients can afford. As a result of working with Freedom Healthworks, many physicians report being more inspired, happier with their career, more dedicated to their calling and are no longer are on the brink of burnout. Dr. Ashlie Olp is accepting new patients and treating them at their homes and through digital interactions. Her freestanding, bricks-and-mortar office will open later this Autumn. ABOUT FREEDOM HEALTHWORKS Freedom Healthworks propels the launch, growth and operation of independent, direct primary care practices. By liberating physicians to serve patients instead of insurance companies, we hope to restore Americans freedom to purchase excellent, affordable medical care from private physicians they know and trust. More information about Freedom Healthworks can be found at FreedomHealthworks.com. ### Montage, the leading provider of purpose-built video and voice interviewing solutions to the worlds most well respected brands, including 100 of the Fortune 500, congratulates the winners of Talent Boards 2017 North America Candidate Experience (CandE) Awards. We are thrilled to again find our clients recognized among this prestigious group and we applaud them for achieving these best-in-class ratings by job candidates, commented Kurt Heikkinen, president and CEO of Montage. It is a testament to their innovation in embracing voice and video interviewing technology and their commitment to providing the best candidate experience possible, he added. Since the inception of the CandE Awards, several Montage clients have been among the winners. This years winners include Verizon, Humana, JetBlue, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Brown-Forman Inc., Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Colorado Springs Utilities, and Sharp HealthCare. At Brown-Forman we have always pursued a richer interaction with candidates by engaging with them and delivering a better experience. The team at Montage has been helping us to do that since we began working together in 2010. This award is a validation not just of our candidate experience, but also of Montages success in helping us to deliver that experience over the past eight years, said Arelis Correa, Director of Global Talent Acquisition and Onboarding at Brown-Forman. Winners were identified through a blind data analysis based on their job candidates satisfaction survey scores. To qualify, each company committed to a statistically significant candidate response rate, where the proportion of respondents not hired met or exceeded a set standard. Multiple factors in the data summaries were considered in the final analysis, however, three key questions had a significant impact on determining the winners. These questions focused specifically on the likelihood that the candidate would reapply to the organization, whether or not the candidates would refer other job seekers to the organization and the candidates overall ranking of their specific candidate experience. The 50 winners are organizations that received the highest positive candidate experience ratings. Along with the 50 CandE Winners, all employers participating in this years Candidate Experience Awards will be celebrated at the 2017 North American CandEs Symposium and Awards Gala, taking place on Monday, October 2, 2017 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. About Montage Montage offers the most mature video and voice interviewing solution available, purpose-built to transform the hiring experience one smile at a time. Applying an enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, Montage is the solution of choice for companies pursuing a hiring advantage. By extending talent reach, elevating employer brand, reducing travel, and minimizing costs, Montage engages candidates and hiring teams throughout the process, driving faster decisions and improving quality of hire. A privately held company, Montage is headquartered in Wisconsin and located on the Web at https://www.montagetalent.com/. About Talent Board Talent Board is a non-profit organization focused on the elevation and promotion of a quality candidate experience. The organization, Candidate Experience (CandE) Awards program and its sponsors are dedicated to recognizing the candidate experience offered by companies throughout the entire recruitment cycle and to forever changing the manner in which job candidates are treated. The CandE Awards also serve as a benchmarking program to raise awareness of the benefits of a positive candidate experience and highlight the processes, methodologies and technology that can enhance the recruiting experience as demonstrated by the winning organizations. More information can be accessed at http://www.thetalentboard.org/. CourseKey, a leader in higher and career education technology and classroom enhancement, today launched a first-of-its-kind sound attendance technology. Integrated into the CourseKey platform, the automated feature enables an instructors classroom device to emit a sound, inaudible to humans, to all student devices in the classroom and automatically log their time spent in class. Its proven that when students physically attend class, their grades and likelihood of graduating increases dramatically. However, due to security risks and lack of technology adoption, teachers still rely on century-old pen and paper systems to run their classrooms - making tracking accurate attendance time consuming and frustrating, said Luke Sophinos, Founder and CEO of CourseKey. We were the first company to develop location-based attendance technology in education using GPS and WiFi triangulation methods, and now were proud to introduce sound technology as not only the next step in classroom operating systems but also the most secure solution on the market today. The patent-pending technology empowers instructors and institutions to verify student attendance at the classroom level by emitting sound waves that cannot travel through walls. The inaudible sound signals contain unique leader codes that student devices must match before their presence can be securely confirmed. This feature can be utilized in classes both big and small. Being able to work with our amazing team to prototype and test different solutions was the highlight of the development process, said Fadee Kannah, CourseKey CTO and the lead developer behind the sound attendance technology. Verifying the integrity and authenticity of the educational data institutions and instructors collect was paramount in our companys vision to enhance the way the world learns. Sound attendance technology is one of many new additions to the CourseKey platform. Neither a learning management system nor student information system, CourseKeys classroom-centric SaaS operating system enhances the student and instructor experience among higher education and vocational institutions. Innovative features include real-time analytics, easily distributed assessments and peer-to-peer social channels all available from simple, easy-to-use apps. Like the rest of CourseKeys platform, the sound technology is available on any internet-enabled device a student brings to class. Learn more at http://www.coursekeyeducation.com About CourseKey: Founded in 2014, San Diego-based CourseKey is the leader in higher and career education classroom enhancement technology. Its attendance, engagement, and analytics operating system transforms the classroom experience for instructors and empowers students to maximize their learning efforts. For more information, visit http://www.coursekeyeducation.com. Media Contact: Emily Webb coursekey(at)bamcommunications(dot)biz 619.855.7230 Oracle CX includes highly sophisticated sales and marketing automation systems, and Conversica is the only AI-powered sales and marketing assistant available on the market today," said Victor Belfor, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Conversica. Conversica, the leader in conversational AI for business, today announced that its AI-based sales assistant technology is now deeply integrated with the Oracle Customer Experience (CX) software suite, including both Oracle Marketing Cloud and Oracle Sales Cloud. Launching today at Oracle OpenWorld 2017, the Conversica integration is available now in the Oracle Cloud Marketplace, one of the industrys most comprehensive technology ecosystems, offering Oracle customers a broad set of apps and data services to extend and optimize their technology investments. The Conversica AI assistant with integration to Oracles CX suite enables Oracle CX customers to easily leverage Conversicas state-of-the-art AI technology combined with data from Oracles CRM and marketing automation solutions. The Conversica assistants, powered by advanced natural language processing and machine learning technology, carry on natural, two-way conversations with leads to engage and qualify them for Sales. This automated lead follow-up ensures that 100 percent of Marketings leads are contacted 100 percent of the time and results in more meetings and, thus, more opportunities for Sales. Oracle Sales Cloud and Oracle Marketing Cloud provide heads of sales and marketing and their teams with data-driven solutions to amplify sales and marketing resources and deliver more personalized customer-centric experiences across every channel to attract and retain ideal customers. These modern solutions connect cross-channel, content and social marketing with data management and activation for enterprise B2B and B2C sellers and marketers on a single system of record. Oracle CX includes highly sophisticated sales and marketing automation systems, and Conversica is the only AI-powered sales and marketing assistant available on the market today so this partnership and this integration are a natural match, commented Victor Belfor, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Conversica. The ability to drive greater lead conversions through the combination of Oracle CX and AI assistant technology means that our joint customers can achieve greater value and ROI from their Oracle CX investment. The partnership between Conversica and Oracle creates this win-win combination for our joint customers. Oracle CX customers can visit the Conversica listing in the Oracle Cloud Marketplace at https://cloudmarketplace.oracle.com/marketplace/en_US/listing/29204544 to access detailed information on the integration and begin implementing Conversica AI assistant technology in Oracle Marketing Cloud or Oracle Sales Cloud. Oracle customers can learn more about Conversica at conversica.com. About Oracle CX Cloud Suite Part of Oracle Applications Cloud, Oracle CX Cloud Suite empowers organizations to improve experiences, enhance loyalty, differentiate their brands, and drive measurable results by creating consistent, connected and personalized brand experiences across all channels and devices. The Oracle CX Cloud Suite includes Oracle Service Cloud, Oracle Sales Cloud, Oracle Commerce Cloud and Oracle Marketing Cloud. About Conversica Conversica is the leader in AI-powered business conversations and the only provider of AI-driven lead engagement software for marketing and sales organizations. The flagship Conversica AI Sales Assistant helps companies find and secure customers more quickly and efficiently by automatically contacting, engaging, qualifying and following up with leads via natural, two-way conversations. Used by more than 1,000 companies worldwide, Conversicas sales assistants are built on a proven AI platform integrating natural language processing (NLP), natural language generation (NLG), and machine learning (ML) capabilities and engage prospects over multiple communication channels and in multiple languages. Recognized by Gartner as a Cool Vendor, Conversica is a portfolio company of Providence Equity, Kennet Partners and Toba Capital and is headquartered in Foster City, California. To learn more, visit conversica.com and follow the company on Twitter,LinkedIn and Facebook. About Oracle PartnerNetwork Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) is Oracle's partner program that provides partners with a differentiated advantage to develop, sell and implement Oracle solutions. OPN offers resources to train and support specialized knowledge of Oracles products and solutions and has evolved to recognize Oracles growing product portfolio, partner base and business opportunity. Key to the latest enhancements to OPN is the ability for partners to be recognized and rewarded for their investment in Oracle Cloud. Partners engaging with Oracle will be able to differentiate their Oracle Cloud expertise and success with customers through the OPN Cloud program an innovative program that complements existing OPN program levels with tiers of recognition and progressive benefits for partners working with Oracle Cloud. To find out more visit: http://www.oracle.com/partners. Progressive Dinner Invitation "We're excited to see so many partners come together to host and promote this unique event that highlights the city along with local food and businesses, says Alicia Ellingsworth, farm to institution manager at KC Healthy Kids. KC Healthy Kids farm-to-table progressive dinner will take place on Tuesday, October 17. Kansas Citys only farm-to-table progressive dinner is hosted by KC Healthy Kids in collaboration with its network of Carrot Gold partners. The guests will enjoy tasting courses at two out of the seven partner restaurants that are participating in the event. After dinner, they will head to 901 West on the rooftop of The Fontaine for drinks and dessert. In the spirit of progressive dinners, where different courses are prepared and shared at different homes, this dinner adventure will take the guests on a tour of some of Kansas Citys finest farm-to-table restaurants. The adventure features three separate routes for course tastings with our Carrot Gold partners. A surprise element comes in when KC Healthy Kids picks the routes, not the guests. The guests will know their route to the dinner by October 15. Here are the participating restaurants for Carrot Gold progressive dinner along with the routes & times: Johnson County: >> Renee Kellys Harvest>> Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar >> The Fontaine The Westside: Blue Bird Bistro >> The Rieger >> The Fontaine River Market: The Farmhouse >> Howards KC >> The Fontaine Times: 6:00 - 8:00 pm First & Second Stops 8:00 - 10:00 pm Rooftop of the Fontaine on the Country Club Plaza We're excited to see so many partners come together to host and promote this unique event that highlights the city along with local food and businesses, says Alicia Ellingsworth, farm to institution manager at KC Healthy Kids. The Carrot Gold network is one of collaboration and sharing. We aim to demonstrate that during the event, she said. Guests can choose from following ticket options available on Eventbrite: Early Bird Progressive Dinner Tickets- $55 plus $3.74 (fee) Progressive Dinner Tickets- $65 plus $4.24 (fee) Dessert Event- $20 plus $1.99 (fee) About Carrot Gold Carrot Gold grows the demand for local food and keeps farmers farming. Its a network of restaurants and institutions that are setting the standard for local food purchasing, sustainable kitchen practices and healthy menu options. The growing list of partners includes restaurants, schools, corporate cafeterias, government facilities, grocery stores, value-added producers and food trucks. About KC Healthy Kids KC Healthy Kids rallies the people in our communities to improve access to affordable fresh food and safe places to walk and play. When our neighborhoods support healthy habits, we are less likely to suffer from obesity, which is linked to Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and poor mental health. To make a lasting impact, we shape policies that improve our food system and physical surroundings and ultimately, the places where we live, work, learn and play. For more information, please visit http://www.kchealthykids.org Tods Aerospace, a Unitech Aerospace company and leader in advanced composite materials technologies, is pleased to announce that Sean Cooper, Materials and Manufacturing Development Manager for Tods Aerospace, will be giving a presentation entitled The Manufacture and Joining of Thermoplastic Composites in Aerospace at Thermoplastic Composites 2017. The presentation will showcase Tods Aerospaces thermoplastic composite manufacturing capabilities and will outline a newly developed rapid, low-cost welding process suitable for aerospace qualified glass and carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic laminate. Tods Aerospace is at the forefront of the UK supply-chain for thermoplastic composite aerostructures and interiors and foresees continued success from both private venture and collaborative R&D efforts in the development of new thermoplastic composite applications for aerospace and defence. Thermoplastic Composites 2017 will be held on the 5th of October at the BPF House in London. The annual event, organised by Composites UK and the British Plastics Federation, will examine the growth of UK thermoplastic composites and will enable knowledge transfer on a cross-sectoral level. For more information on the event visit: http://www.bpf.co.uk/events/thermoplastic-composites-2017.aspx About Tods Aerospace Tods Aerospace specializes in advanced composite materials technology for aerospace applications. The Yeovil, UK based team enhances the performance of vital defence systems, aircraft interiors and air transport equipment worldwide through design, engineering and manufacturing. Tods Aerospace is a Unitech Aerospace Company. About Unitech Aerospace Unitech Aerospace provides the aerospace, marine, medical, defense, nuclear and rail industries with composite and metallic structures and components that meet demanding and complex requirements. The companys growing global footprint is currently comprised of strategically located sites providing local and immediate support to customers. Integrated solutions range from early stage design, rate production, to full-term sustainment making Unitech Aerospace the industrys trusted lifecycle partner. An excellent testament to the capacity of the human spirit Gratitude forces you to find the positive in your present situation SAY YES TO "GRATITUDE" We all face daunting challenges at some points in our lives. Whether the crisis involves health, career, relationships, the initial reaction is fear. How we react can impact the outcome. The most interesting people have faced many difficulties. They have buffeted storms, but they hold steadfast and keep moving forward. Actress Julia Louis Dreyfus recently delivered the news of her breast cancer diagnosis with grace and character. Others like Sheryl Sandberg, Angelina Jolie, Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, and those who are suffering from the devastation of Hurricane Maria, Hurricane Harvey, and the earthquakes in Mexico come to mind as well. "Life is a journey and a precious gift," says Ilse Anderson, author of the new book "Say Yes to Life." "If we allow ourselves to live it fully, with all its joys and challenges, we embark on an adventure that will change us in countless ways as we evolve." For Ilse Anderson, the challenge was facing the cancer monster. She was on the cusp of her new life, traveling the world, growing as an artist, and exploring new avenues of spirituality. She was soaring into a bright, cloudless future, and then, on May 22, 2015, her doctor informed her she had stage four oral cancer. She had to dig deep to believe in herself and have the power to get her life back. She faced many challenges, but always found her way back. Yes, it was hard. Anything truly meaningful is hard. Throughout her journey, Ilse discovered the 7 secrets to prevailing: First and foremost is having a positive attitude. It is a key component to overcoming adversity. Without it everything else you do is less effective. Believe wholeheartedly in yourself, and you can achieve your goals and dreams in any realm. Many people give up too soon. They lose hope. They fear change of failure. But our reaction to any challenge dictates the outcome. We are in charge and must let go of doubt and fear. We must assume responsibility for this gift of life and cherish it. Having a strong support team. Having faith and trust in the unknown. Patience. Meditation and spiritual seeking to enlighten and open ourselves to new possibilities, relinquish old patterns, renewal, and develop a deep intimacy with ourselves. Finally and most important "Gratitude" Gratitude forces you to find the positive in your present situation, whatever that may be. Gratitude for little things keeps us from succumbing to negativity as it invites miracles in our lives With these powerful tools for survival in place, Ilse battled hopelessness and despair, transmuted the unbearable into the endurable, shed light into the darkest hour, rejected the temptation for resentments and regrets, and today, savors every step of her remarkable recovery. "Say Yes to Life" is an "excellent testament to the capacity of the human spirit," says Dr. Eric S. Nadler, MD, Medical Oncologist. "Ilse Anderson confronted one of the most challenging medical ordeals a person can endure. Her strength, humor, graciousness, and spirit were inspiring to me and all who encountered her during and after her journey." "Gratitude opened me to positive change," says Anderson. "As part of my recovery, I made "gratitude lists" every day. I shifted my focus away from what I did not have. I couldn't travel the world as I always had, but I reveled in seeing the sunrise and sunset from my window. Things I used to take for granted took on the significance they deserved. My life became fuller, even at its lowest point." Today, the cancer treatments have ended, but gratitude continues to propel me forward. I look back at my "gratitude lists" from two years ago and smile. Each statement of gratitude led me to today." Many people give up too soon. They lose hope. They fear change of failure. But our reaction to any challenge dictates the outcome. If you believe wholeheartedly in yourself, you can achieve your goals and dreams in any realm. We are in charge and must let go of doubt and fear. We must assume responsibility for this gift of life and cherish it. "'Say Yes to Life' will inspire you to clutch life, and all that if offers for what it can teach us," says Kristin S. Kaufman, President, Alignment, Inc., and author of the "Is This Seat Taken?" book series. When Ilse Anderson found herself facing the biggest challenge of her life, she refused to give up. She wrote "Say Yes to Life" to encourage readers to find that inner strengthno matter what challenges they face. Her story is proof that having an optimist attitude can impact the outcome. Her M.O. is a positive attitude. Practice gratitude, hold your loved one close, banish negativity, and Say Yes to Life. Gratitude makes all the difference. Let's spread the love. A percentage of book proceeds will be donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. To contribute, visit: http://www.stjude.org/DONATE Books are available online and bookstores. To learn more, visit: ilseanderson.com About the Author Ilse Anderson was born in Caracas, Venezuela to European parents. Her father's business required the family to travel extensively where she experienced a culturally enriching childhood. Without real roots, she found life challenging at times, but quickly became highly adaptable to change. This has served her well throughout life. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and holds a masters degree in Latin America Studies from Tulane University. She speaks four languages, loves to cook, paint, and travel. She loves champagne and intimate gatherings with family and friends. She is grateful for the love her dog Titan, a Bichon frise who was her constant companion for fourteen years, and passed away October, 2016, after pushing her through Cancer. Celebrations are always on her to-do list. She is the mother of three adult children: twin daughters and one son. She lives in Dallas, Texas. # # # With this award, it demonstrates Marcos skill in taking technology further, says Todd Erne, Vice President of IT Solutions. We are honored Marco has been selected for this prestigious award, says Todd Erne, Vice President of IT Solutions. With this award, it demonstrates Marcos skill in taking technology further by innovating and utilizing the resources of our industry-leading partners. And together we are able to help clients connect with the right technology to achieve their business goals. CRN assembles lists and rankings each year to recognize solution providers who are setting the bar in the IT industry, including the Solution Provider 500, which lists the largest solution providers in North America by revenue; the Fast Growth 150, which ranks the fastest-growing solution providers; and the Tech Elite 250, which recognizes solution providers that have received the highest-level certifications from leading vendors. It is a considerable achievement for a solution provider to make any one of these lists; to make it onto all three, howeveras this year's Triple Crown Award winners have doneis a big achievement. A company must simultaneously have enough revenue to be ranked on the Solution Provider 500 list, record double- or triple-digit growth for recognition on the Fast Growth 150, and invest heavily in top certifications to attain Tech Elite 250 status. Marco earned CRNs Tech Elite 250, Solutions Provider 500 and Fast Growth 150 awards, which led to winning the Triple Crown Award. We are honored Marco has been selected for this prestigious award, says Todd Erne, Vice President of IT Solutions. With this award, it demonstrates Marcos skill in taking technology further by innovating and utilizing the resources of our industry leading partners. And together we are able to help clients connect with the right technology to achieve their business goals. This years CRN Triple Crown Award winners boast multiple, advanced technical certifications from leading vendors, rank among the top-earning IT solution providers in North America, and are some of the fastest-growing organizations in the channel today, said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. These over-achieving businesses have set the standard for success in the strategic service provider era and are leading the channel into an exciting new future. The 2017 Triple Crown Award winners will be featured in the October issue of CRN and can be viewed online at http://www.crn.com/triplecrown. About Marco Marco was founded in 1973 and serves over 32,500 customers nationally, with offices in Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Marco specializes in copiers/printers, business IT services, cloud services, managed services, telecom carrier services, phone systems, document management and audio/video systems. Learn more at marconet.com. About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. http://www.thechannelco.com "We applaud Dell for providing an outstanding model for engaging and supporting SMBs, and congratulate the company on being named B2SMB Brand of the Year. The B2SMB Summit, the inaugural gathering of senior executives from the business-to-small-business community, today announced it has named Dell Technologies B2SMB Brand of the Year. The award will be presented on Tuesday to Erik Day, VP and GM, North America Dell Small Business, who is delivering the opening keynote address at this week's B2SMB Summit, taking place Oct. 3-4, in Chicago. SMBs are used to taking a back seat to the needs of larger companies, especially in IT, which is typically scaled for big enterprises, said B2SMB Summit Co-Chair Dave Walker. But Dell has turned this approach around, dedicating two sales hubs in Round Rock, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee specifically for small business IT advising. The focal point of its strategy is the relationships between its IT advisors and small businesses. We applaud Dell for providing an outstanding model for engaging and supporting SMBs, and congratulate the company on being named B2SMB Brand of the Year. Among the SMB-focused initiatives that contributed to the selection of Dell for this award are: Sales advisors dedicated to Small Business (SMB) client account to advise, educate, and execute IT essentially becoming extension of the team Addition of CDW as an independent channel partner to provide SMBs with the right solution and the small business channel partner program as a whole Use of Dell Financial Services to allow SMBs to finance or lease technology investment, which benefits cash flow for SBs and refresh times so they can use latest tech for their business Enhancement of Dell Pro Support to help SMBs with smaller IT staffs More than 50 B2SMB brands are slated to attend the B2SMB Summit on Oct. 3-4, with 30-plus B2SMB leaders on stage, representing more than 20 million worldwide SMB client accounts. The Summit is spread over two locations in Chicagos dynamic West Loop district: 1871 at the Merchandise Mart on Day 1, and the Revel Fulton Market on Day 2. It is the only event of its kind to focus exclusively on the latest innovations and best practices for big enterprise companies looking to engage, win and retain small business customers, at scale. The B2SMB Summit is produced by bizHive. The title sponsor is Business.com. Additional sponsors include Cargo Agency, Dell Technologies, Office Depot, BuzzBoard, Reach Local, DocuSign, AdRoll, BuyerZone, Radius, Mono Solutions, Assurance, Indeed, Radius, Neustar, MatchCraft, Pitney Bowes, Websplanet, Advice Local, Uberall, Yext, Proximiti, G2 Crowd, Kabbage and TopTenReviews. Event media partners include Bredin, Inc., Local Search Association (LSA), Street Fight Magazine, CrowdReviews, Topseos.com and Visibility Magazine. Visit the B2SMB Summit website for full conference details, including online registration and the latest speaker and program updates. About Business.com Business.com is a next generation content and commerce marketplace that brings together industry-specific communities of small business owners with the experts who can help them understand and grow their business. About BizHive BizHive is a leading online resource for over 150,000 SMB owners looking for products and services that will help them grow. The company also produces SMB-related events around the country. DailyDAC The Keynote Presentation will feature a convicted Ponzi schemer (Travis Correll, master of a $100 million scheme), SEC enforcement counsel, the federal equity receiver on the case (NAFERs president, Greg Hays), and the receivers counsel. The National Association of Federal Equity Receivers will hold its Sixth Annual Conference in Miami, October 18-20, at the Four Seasons Hotel. We at DailyDAC have reported on NAFERs 2016 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. and on NAFERs 2015 Annual Conference in San Diego. We are proud to be NAFERs conference media sponsor for a third year running. And what a Conference it will be! The Keynote Presentation will feature a convicted Ponzi schemer (Travis Correll, master of a $100 million scheme), SEC enforcement counsel, the federal equity receiver on the case (NAFERs president, Greg Hays), and the receivers counsel. A rare feast of the mind to accompany the fine lunch NAFER will provide. For more on the Conference, see the NAFER website. Some panels take up subject matter focusing on federal equity receiverships, and some focus more broadly on issues of interest to anyone working in bankruptcy, collections, and receiverships other than federal equity receiverships. The latter include: Pursuing Claims Against Professionals, Fiduciaries, and Other Deep Pockets Keys to a Cost-Effective Receivership When to Hold Em & Fold Em Fraud Vectors in the Receivership Universe Panels more specifically focused on FERs include: Receivers Training Camp: The Second Quarter Receivers Training Camp: Introduction to International Issues [by the way, isnt it refreshing to see a professional organization devoting resources to developing expertise in its junior members?] Avoiding Turf Wars in Parallel Receiverships and Forfeiture Proceedings [wed have called it Dealing with the Man, but we digress] Taxing Questions for the Federal Equity Receiver [or, Wake Up, This is Serious Money! Every NAFER Annual Conference features a Judges Panel, moderated by the courtly Robert P. Mosier. This year we will hear perspectives from Judge Dee Vance Benson (D. Utah), Judge Darrin P. Gayles (S.D. Fla.), and Judge Philip Gutierrez (C.D.Cal.). It is difficult to over-estimate the value of learning what judges expect. SEE YOU THERE! For more than a decade, Rightpoint has worked to build a team and a culture that are driven by a passion for creating seamless digital experiences. Rightpoint, an independent customer experience agency, announces the addition of four new senior leaders to expand offerings in strategy, design and development to strengthen its customer experience solutions and evolve its clients businesses. The newest additions to Rightpoints team strengthen the agencys creative team, in addition to its enterprise solutions, retail and commerce practice areas. The new leads enhance Rightpoints commitment to expanding its offerings and strengthening its national reach by attracting top talent. Rightpoints newest leads include: Michael Tiedemann, as Group Creative Director, based in the Boston office. Michael joins Rightpoint from Agency 451, and will provide full-service creative and strategic ideation to new and existing clients in the East Coast region. Rich Wood, as Senior Director of Rightpoints cloud and enterprise applications, based in the Chicago office. Focused on transforming customer experience and employee productivity, previously Rich was National Director of Digital Platforms and Strategy at Perficient. Thomas John, Senior Director and Commerce practice lead, based in the Dallas office. He joins from experiential commerce agency SMITH, and brings to Rightpoint his skills in development and management, as well as extensive experience in planning, design, development, implementation and maintenance of enterprise applications. Brian Browning as Vice President of digital experience solutions practice, based in the Boston office. An industry-recognized thought leader, author and speaker, Brian joins from web consulting firm Ameex Technologies, where he worked with clients including Microsoft, GE, Walmart and T. Rowe Price. For more than a decade, Rightpoint has worked to build a team and a culture that are driven by a passion for creating seamless digital experiences, said Ross Freedman, co-founder of Rightpoint. The addition of these four exceptional leaders to our talented team is a reflection of our fierce determination to create transformative digital experiences driven by design and technology, with a focus on creating transformative solutions. Since its founding 10 years ago, the agency has grown its employee base to 350 full-time team members, and is on track to grow its staff by 20% in 2017. Rightpoint has been named one of the top 20 fastest growing firms by Consulting Magazine for two consecutive years, and the Chicago Tribunes Top Workplaces for three consecutive years. For more information visit: http://www.rightpoint.com About Rightpoint Rightpoint is an independent customer experience agency with technology at our core. We create seamless digital experiences driven by insight, strategy, technology and design to evolve the way our clients do business. Rightpoint serves more than 250 Fortune 1,000 companies with strategy, site design and development, content, CRM, commerce, BI and cloud infrastructure. Named one of Crain's 50 Fastest Growing Companies in Chicago for four consecutive years, Rightpoint is the largest independent agency with 350 employees across eight U.S. offices. For more information, visit rightpoint.com. Contacts: Amy Smolensky 312-385-0053 asmolensky(at)rightpoint(dot)com ATL Communications This Advocacy Award was voted on by other RespOrgs in the industry and is a testament to [ATLs] hard work and dedication. At their annual summit, Somos, the Toll-Free numbering and registry administration service for the telecommunications industry, announced winners of their first annual Toll-Free Industry Awards in the categories of Toll-Free Advocacy, Tech Breakthrough, and the Campaign of the Year. According to Somos, the Toll-Free Industry Awards recognize individuals or companies for their outstanding examples of leadership and innovation in the Toll-Free industry. ATL Communications CEO Brian Lynott said of the award I give 100% of this recognition and award to our team. This Advocacy Award was voted on by other RespOrgs in the industry and is a testament to [ATLs] hard work and dedication." Through the years, ATL has been on the forefront of major policy issues impacting the toll-free community. Representatives are always in attendance at major industry events and often spearhead policy changes. Now leading the charge in toll-free fraud prevention, detection, and enforcement, ATL is constantly striving to improve the world of toll-free. Whether for clients, carriers, or peers, ATL Communications continually presses on to make a better, brighter future for the industry as a whole. Im proud to be with ATL during these times of innovation and cant wait to see our further growth as we continue to revolutionize our company and the industry, said Mark Bilton-Smith, President, "advocacy and innovation go hand in hand. With a brand new product in local number porting, an area that has seen no major advancement in over a decade, ATL is poised for exponential growth. Attending the Incompas show later this month in San Francisco, ATL Communications will be demonstrating this product and sharing the news of their award across toll-free and local communication channels alike. *** About ATL Communications ATL Communications is America and Canadas first and largest independent Responsible Organization, managing millions of toll-free and local numbers. Telephone companies, call centers, and enterprise clients have entrusted ATL Communications with the responsibility of managing and maintaining numbers and essential phone services with reliability and consistency since 1993. ATL Communications offers unique services in Disaster Recovery and Least Cost Routing with new products in Local Number Portability, Toll-Free Texting, and 8XX Number Reservations launching in 2017. ATL Communications commitment to clients is to remove complexities, maximize productivity, enhance control, increase savings, and protect numbers. For more information about Advanced Toll-Free and Local Communications visit http://atlc.com or contact: Christy Green, cgreen(at)atlc(dot)com | 1- 866-ATL NEWS Mt. Sinai Medical Center celebrated the topping out of their new patient tower on Sept. 27. "The new tower and emergency department will be a great compliment to the dedication, passion and high quality care our physicians, nurses and allied health professionals deliver to our patients every day, Steven D. Sonenreich, President and CEO of Mount Sinai Medical Center, said. On September 27, Mount Sinai Medical Center celebrated the topping out of its 154-bed surgical tower addition project as the final beam was raised. Construction began in August 2016 to address the expanding healthcare needs of both Miami and Miami Beach residents and visitors-- the project is set to transform Mount Sinais main campus. The 340,000-square-foot expansion will bring a new surgical tower and emergency department to the main campus and enhance Mount Sinais ability to deliver high-quality medical care to patients in its diverse community. Specifically, the new emergency department spans 35,000 square feet across 50 treatment bays and essentially triples the size of Mount Sinais current facility to accommodate up to 75,000 annual patient visits. Equipped with 154 private rooms, including larger VIP suites, and 12 large contemporary operating rooms, the new patient tower offers striking views of nearby Biscayne Bay and the Miami skyline. The project also includes a new public lobby, revised vehicular traffic patterns and new parking space. The architect for the new facility is Cannon Design, and is being constructed by Robins & Morton with construction management by ADAMS. During the Topping Out Ceremony, the final beam is hoisted into place, marking the structural completion of the tower. The final beam was signed by over a thousand employees, in the week leading up to the ceremony. The signatures symbolize each individuals support and contributions to the project. Hospital employees, physicians, board members and the project team members attended the event. There is a great deal of pride we all feel in achieving this milestone. The new tower and emergency department will be a great compliment to the dedication, passion and high quality care our physicians, nurses and allied health professionals deliver to our patients every day, Steven D. Sonenreich, President and CEO of Mount Sinai Medical Center, said. Construction is targeted for completion in fall 2018. # # # About Robins & Morton Founded in 1946, Robins & Morton is a privately held construction firm that consistently ranks among the 100 largest U.S. contractors in Engineering News-Record Magazine. The company has also been named one of the best mid-sized companies to work for in America because of its worker-friendly and family-friendly practices. Robins & Morton is based in Birmingham, Alabama, with offices in Dallas, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Orlando and Miami Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information, visit http://www.robinsmorton.com. David Weiss named Vice President, Client Services at D S Simon Media. David Weiss is taking the next step in his outstanding career to become Vice President at video influencer marketing firm, D S Simon Media. Hes one of the leading video communications strategists of our times. Hes provided outstanding counsel to Fortune 500 companies in health, technology, food & beverage, travel, beauty & fashion and the automotive industries. He previously has held senior management roles with Vidicom, Medialink and with the global WTN News Agency that was affiliated with ABC News. We are incredibly excited to bring such a tremendous talent into our organization during this period of significant growth, says company CEO Doug Simon. David brings a unique understanding of how to effectively use video to achieve brand goals combined with outstanding customer service. Our clients will love working with him. D S Simon Media has a unique approach to influencer marketing that builds brand authenticity instead of challenging it, says Weiss. They are in it for the long haul and continue to develop and master cutting edge solutions that meet and exceed clients needs. Im excited to be backed by such a strong team that understands cross-platform communications. The position was created after promotions to three members of the D S Simon Media client service team. Eric Wright is now Executive Vice President. Sarah Katz was promoted to Senior Vice President. Elizabeth Rosenberger has been promoted to Account Manager. About D S Simon Media: Influencer Marketing is the story in 2017. D S Simon Media has been doing this for 30 years turning our clients experts and leaders into influencers. The video influencer firm gets spokespeople from leading brands and non-profits on television and online and creates awareness for their campaigns and initiatives. They have won more than 100 industry awards. The firm has founded the SPOKEies Awards, which honors the best in-house spokespeople representing brands and non-profits and also publishes the Guide to Brand Authenticity. For more information, please visit http://www.dssimonmedia.com. Hotel Zico in Mountain View, CA, managed and owned by Concept Hotels Concept makes data driven decisions. And it does not get more data driven than the kind of information were getting from Tambourine Concept Hotels, a prominent hotel management firm in California, has selected Tambourine to handle website and digital marketing efforts for its portfolio. Tambourine has launched services to all seven of Concepts properties, the latest being Santa Fe Sage Inn & Suites in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Concept makes data driven decisions. And it does not get more data driven than the kind of information were getting from Tambourine, said Tushar Patel, Director of Revenue Management, Sales & Marketing at Concept Hotels. Together, we have gotten smarter, more creative, more purposeful and ultimately, more effective. We are excited about continuing, further strengthening and expanding on our partnership with Tambourine. Tambourines services for Concept includes: Omni-channel traffic generation (search, PPC, email, social) Custom, responsive hotel website design and mobile sites Conversion rate optimization Reservation recovery Cross-channel ROI tracking Its very validating to see our roster of West Coast clients growing, said Scott Quintal, Partner and Chief Revenue Officer at Tambourine. And to gain the confidence of deeply respected firms like Concept makes it even more rewarding. About Concept Hotels Targeting business and leisure guests who favor personality and individuality over cookie-cutter conformity, Concept Hotels boasts a portfolio of seven unique boutique hotels in major metropolitan centers in California and New Mexico. From Mountain View to Menlo Park, San Francisco to San Jose and also Santa Fe, our hotels deliver a feel-good Xperience thats anchored in service, style and great value. At Concept Hotels, our hospitality know-how is anchored in the Xperience, that je ne sais quai that turns first-time guests into treasured friends. Here, its about creating experiences through fresh, fun and functional design, throwing in a generous dose of excitement and layering it with unbeatable value and personal service delivered with a smile. Whether the vibe is European, Mediterranean or an artful, magical mix that defies labeling, Concept Hotels are united in delivering an Xperience. And a distinctly great one at that. About Tambourine Tambourine is transforming hotel ecommerce. The Firm has become an instrumental partner for elite hoteliers, hotel management and asset management firms seeking to outperform their compset, improve bottom line profitability and decrease OTA-dependence. We deliver an all-inclusive managed service program that ensures maximum traffic and conversions across all digital channels. Our team utilizes our own best-in-class technology to empower your property giving you the confidence and ability to achieve your ownerships revenue goals. The firm is celebrating its 33rd year in business. For more information about Tambourine, visit http://www.Tambourine.com Michelle Fee (Left), CEO of Cruise Planners receives South Florida Business Journals Ultimate CEO award alongside Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises. Cruise Planners continues to be the round peg in the square hole, and we celebrate standing out because we do things differently. Its our secret sauce in a sea full of sameness," said Michelle Fee, CEO and co-owner of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative. The South Florida Business Journal (SFBJ) honored Michelle Fee, CEO, and co-founder of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, at the 2017 South Florida Ultimate CEO Awards. The awards ceremony was held on Sept. 28 in Fort Lauderdale, where Fee was recognized as a top executive officer for her business acumen, travel expertise and philanthropy. For the second time, she is considered an Ultimate CEO from SFBJ. For over 23 years, Fee has been recognized as an astounding leader throughout the travel industry and across South Florida because she thinks differently. The travel agency landscape has evolved over the years from a travel agency at every corner of yesteryear to the home-based business model flourishing today and Fee has been part of that forward-thinking initiative. Being the Ultimate CEO means challenging yourself and your team to think differently, said Michelle Fee, CEO and co-owner of Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative. Cruise Planners continues to be the round peg in the square hole, and we celebrate standing out because we do things differently. Its our secret sauce in a sea full of sameness. Due to Fees excellence in providing the best leadership and inspiring those with a passion for travel to live their dreams, Cruise Planners has grown tremendously; starting with just five franchises and gradually expanding to more than 1,800 nationwide. Cruise Planners is considered one of the nation's largest home-based travel franchise organizations and continues to be an exemplary model in the travel industry with home-based travel agents in all 50 states. Fee is passionately dedicated to her franchisees and believes in pushing the envelope, which allows her to continuously surpass the leadership benchmark she raises each year, while making a positive impact in her community and the travel industry. As the CEO, I am in a unique position to help inspire our franchise owners to define their own success, Fee said. Travel is a relationship business, and I value our strategic alliances with our home-based travel agents, land and tour partners and our long-lasting cruise industry partnerships. Fee is the ultimate woman in power and a great role model for female entrepreneurs. About Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative: Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, is the nations largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the travel industry. Cruise Planners operates a network of more than 1,800 franchise owners who independently book amazing vacation and travel experiences for their clients. The Florida-based Home Office Team positions a nation-wide network of franchise owners for success by providing innovative marketing, booking and technology tools, as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industrys top executives. The company continues to be lauded and has been named the No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur magazine for 14 consecutive years. Cruise Planners was recently featured in Entrepreneur as one of the top 30 franchise innovators in technology, has been consistently named as one of the Top Women-Owned Businesses by the South Florida Business Journal, is on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, has been ranked as the #1 travel franchise by Franchise Business Review for 6 years in a row, and was recognized as one of the Top Workplaces by the Sun Sentinel since it started ranking companies. Headquartered in Coral Springs, Fla. with more than 23 years of experience, Cruise Planners has achieved top producer status with every major cruise line. Accolades include numerous Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly, American Express Travel Representative Excellence Award for 13 consecutive years (2004-2016), American Express Agency of the Year (2010), Royal Caribbean International Chairmans Award (2015), Royal Caribbean International Presidents Award for Overall Achievement (2012 and 2014), Royal Caribbean International Home-Based Partner of the Year (2007-2013), Norwegian Cruise Line Elite Agency of the Year (2016), Norwegian Cruise Line Franchise Agency of the Year (2011-2015), Celebrity Cruises Home-Based Partner of the Year (2016), Celebrity Cruises Field Sales Account of the Year (2015), Celebrity Cruises Home-Based Account of the Year (2013-2014) and Celebrity Cruises Southeast Region Travel Agent Partner of the Year (2010), Travel Impressions Best of the Best Globe Award (2008-2016), Sandals Top Host Worldwide, Globus Family of Brands Premier Agency Partner (2009-2016), Platinum Circle Member with Viking River Cruises (2009-2015), Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection Top Producer (2008-2014) and Regent Seven Seas Cruises Top Producer. Cruise Planners is one of the Top 50 franchises for Veterans according to GI magazine, the Top Franchise Brand for Veterans according to Franchise Business Review, has been named one of the Top 25 franchises for African-Americans by Black Enterprise magazine and is a member of the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. For more information, visit http://www.cruiseplanners.com. Stay in Touch: Media can stay up-to-date with Cruise Planners by visiting our media room, following us on Twitter @Cruisitude or on Facebook. For additional information or to make reservations, vacationers should locate a travel advisor near them. For those interested in becoming a franchise owner, please visit the Cruise Planners franchise website. # # # Media Contact: Caitlin Gardner, Director of Public Relations Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative CGardner@cruiseplanners.com 954-344-8060 This January, Slow Food International and Slow Wine Editore will release the latest English-language edition of Slow Wine, the renowned annual guide to 400 of Italys best wineries, during the 2018 Slow Wine US Tour. This year, Slow Wine has expanded their guide to include American wineries for the first time ever. The Californian wineries were reviewed using the same Slow philosophy that is at the core of the Guide. The move to add non-Italian wineries is not unprecedented the 2017 edition added eight from Slovenia but this years larger selection of wineries marks the Guides most aggressive steps to take their Slow philosophy worldwide. The Guides founding organization, Slow Food, has been international since 1989. Slow Wine recognizes that the wineries they review not only put their hearts and souls into the wines they produce, but also into the land on which it is made. The Guide uses the following symbols to evaluate each winery: The Snail, the Slow Food symbol, signals a cellar that has distinguished itself through its interpretation of sensorial, territorial, environmental, and personal values in harmony with the Slow Food philosophy. Only wineries that are herbicide free can receive the Snail. The Bottle, allocated to cellars that show a consistently high quality throughout their range of wines. The Coin, an indicator of great value. Slow Wine features wines that represent outstanding quality, expressing the history and identity of the land from which they come in each sip. Slow Wine California officially opened its chapter in the summer of 2017. After visiting hundreds of producers on the West Coast and evaluating them according to the same high standards the guide is known for, over 50 producers were selected and added to the 2018 guide. Moving into California is a significant step for the Slow Wine Guide, as the state is home to preeminent New World wine-producing areas that are relevant on a global scale in the wine world. Californias commitment to sustainable wine-making and respect for the terroir is consistent with Slow Wines principles and its mission to support local agriculture. The Slow Wine guide publisher, Slow Wine Editore, and a delegation of its top wineries will hold tasting events for press and trade during their annual multi-city US tour, stopping in San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston, and New York City. In Houston, Slow Wine Editore will join forces with Italy American Chamber of Commerce of Texas to host one of the largest food and wine fairs in the US featuring Italian products. In addition, this year seven new Italian wineries received the distinguished Snail award, bringing the grand total in the guide to 195. We are thrilled about our new foray into the US. The wineries practice and believe in the Slow philosophy, which is increasingly important to consumers in wine and food, says Giancarlo Gariglio, Editor of Slow Wine. When we search out new wineries and winemakers, our role is to discover those whose practices coincide with organic or sustainable methods and who make wine with integrity and care. Our guides role is to help readers find these wineries, which have become even more numerous in Italy and the US in the eight years since we started the guide. The dates and locations of the 2018 Slow Wine US Tour are: January 22nd, San Francisco January 23th, Seattle January 25th, Atlanta January 29th, Houston January 31st, New York ***** About Slow Wine The Slow Wine Guide, published by Slow Food Editore (the publishing arm of Slow Food Italy*), adopts a new approach to wine criticism and looks at a variety of factors to evaluate wineries in their entirety. They take into consideration wine quality, history and adherence to terroir, value, environmental sensitivity and ecologically sustainable methods of practice. Slow Wine was conceived to give a realistic snapshot of the current Italian wine landscape. The guide features reviews of over 400 different wineries, each one visited by Slow Food experts. It is available for purchase on Amazon.com as well as in select bookstores. *Slow Food International is a global grassroots organization that envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it, and good for the planet. A non-profit member-supported association, Slow Food was founded in Italy in 1989 to counter the rise of fast food and fast life and the disappearance of local food traditions, and to encourage people to be aware about the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. Kenneth C. Griffin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Citadel The Navy SEALs and their families are representative of our countrys greatest values and make sacrifices to protect all Americans, said Griffin. To receive an award from this community and the Navy SEAL Foundation is a truly humbling experience. On Wednesday, September 27th, the Navy SEAL Foundation hosted its 6th annual Chicago Evening of Tribute to honor the bravery and sacrifice of the Naval Special Warfare community and its families. Under the leadership of Bill and Sandi Strong, the events co-chairs, 960 patriots attended the benefit at The Field Museum, which raised a record-breaking $5 million. With programs ranging from tragedy assistance to veteran support, the Navy SEAL Foundation provides important services for the Naval Special Warfare community, said Bill Strong, Chairman and Managing Director of Longford Capital Management, LP. As co-chairs of the event, my wife Sandi and I were honored to have played a role in recognizing the contributions and sacrifices made by these individuals and their families. Retired Four-Star Army General and former CIA Director David Petraeus and Chicago businessman and philanthropist Ken Griffin, who received the Foundations prestigious Navy SEAL Patriot Award for his continued support of the Naval Special Warfare community and its families, engaged in an active and robust discussion onstage that included foreign policy issues, cybersecurity risks to our nation, and the impact of the Foundations work. The Navy SEALs and their families are representative of our countrys greatest values and make sacrifices to protect all Americans, said Griffin. To receive an award from this community and the Navy SEAL Foundation is a truly humbling experience. Former Navy SEAL Senior Chief Mike Day also spoke at the event; he told attendees about his journey to recovery after surviving 27 gun shots during a firefight in Iraq. Additionally, he spoke about the need for the Foundations services, as they provide critical support for SEALs and their families, who are often separated from one another for 270 days per year on average. The events proceeds will help fund services and programs for all active-duty Naval Special Warfare personnel and their families, Naval Special Warfare Gold Star families, and Naval Special Warfare veterans. ### About the Navy SEAL Foundation Built on an unparalleled legacy and established in 2000, the Navy SEAL Foundation is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt, national, non-profit benevolent organization headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA. The Foundation is a resolute cornerstone for the Naval Special Warfare community and their families in times of adversity and triumph. Each of our specialized programs maps directly back to the U.S. Special Operations Command directive and the Naval Special Warfares Preservation of the Force and Family Program, a program designed to address the fraying of the force caused by the stress of more than 16 years of sustained combat. Our programs are designed to improve health and welfare, build and enhance resiliency, empower and educate their families, and provide critical support during times of illness, injury, and loss. For more information, please visit http://www.navysealfoundation.org. Mairead T. Hickey, a Real Estate associate in Greenberg Traurig, LLPsBoston office, will participate on the panel, Launching Your Real Estate Career, at the Joseph. E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action at Boston College, Oct. 4, 2017. The panel will provide valuable insight on the best ways to launch and navigate a successful career in real estate. Hickey focuses her practice on the acquisition, disposition, development, leasing, financing, and land use of retail, office, industrial, institutional, and multi-use properties. She received her J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School, and is a member of the Boston Bar Association and Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Boston. About Greenberg Traurig's Boston Real Estate Group Greenberg Traurig's Boston Real Estate Group advises clients in connection with acquisition, financing, development, leasing, operation, and disposition of real estate. Clients include a mixture of regional, national, and international companies. Lawyers in the group have broad experience and knowledge in skills related to complex land use and environmental issues, office, apartment, and retail transactions, and eminent domain disputes, including litigation regarding fair market value, right to take disputes, urban redevelopment issues and relocation. The Boston team is part of the firms highly regarded, award-winning national practice. In 2017, 2013 and 2010, Greenberg Traurigs Real Estate Practice received the Chambers USA Award for Excellence. About Greenberg Traurigs Boston Office Established in 1999, Greenberg Traurigs Boston office is home to nearly 70 attorneys practicing in the areas of corporate, emerging technology, governmental affairs, intellectual property, labor and employment, life sciences and medical technology, litigation, public finance, and real estate. An important contributor to the firm's international platform, the Boston office includes a team of nationally recognized attorneys with both public and private sector experience. The team offers clients the value of decades of legal experience and hands-on knowledge of the local business community, supported by the firm's vast network of global resources. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. On Oct. 26 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Scott Meza, a shareholder in the Corporate practice at global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, will participate in the Anatomy of a Multi Company Roll-Up, The Cresa Global Story seminar hosted by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) National Capital Chapter. Tim Meyers, Managing Director at Baker Tilly; Rich Rhodes, Managing Principal at Cresa Global, Inc.; and Jim Underhill, CEO at Cresa Global, Inc. will also present. To register or for more information about the event, to be held at Greenberg Traurig offices at 1750 Tysons Blvd., McLean, VA, contact the ACG National Capital Chapter at this link. Meza, resident in the firms Northern Virginia office, has more than 25 years of experience assisting businesses in complex transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs of public and private companies, and sophisticated equity and debt financings and recapitalizations. Mezas broad industry experience includes managing transactions for technology-based companies as well as companies operating in highly regulated environments like government contracting, telecommunications, and health care. Representative transactions include stock-for-stock combinations, cash-out mergers, tender and exchange offers, management buyouts, stock and asset purchases, distressed company acquisitions (e.g., bankruptcy auctions), corporate spin-offs and divestitures, and corporate governance matters. Meza regularly represents venture funds and emerging growth companies in a variety of financing transactions, ranging from preferred stock sales, subordinated debt lending and licensing, and other strategic alliances. Meza has also been a leader in organizing networks of accredited "angel" investors, which actively invest in emerging growth companies around the country. Scott also advises senior management and boards of directors on executive employment and compensation issues and equity incentive plans. About Greenberg Traurigs Northern Virginia Office Greenberg Traurigs clients rely on the more than 40 attorneys in the firms Northern Virginia office for multifaceted, broad-based legal services. Team members primary goal is to assist clients in addressing their legal needs, locally, regionally, or on a global scale. They work collaboratively with colleagues around the region, or across to Europe, the UK, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. And when a matter requires it, they do not hesitate to utilize the firms full slate of cross border resources. Clients come to the Northern Virginia office for their corporate and securities matters, real estate transactions, wealth management and tax planning, business immigration compliance, labor and employment issues, litigation cases, and government contract needs, among others. These include the top decision makers at tech companies headquartered in the region, as well as government contractors, health care organizations, high net worth individuals, and developers. Most of the firms Northern Virginia attorneys are admitted to practice in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. Flag and Banner has created a pink version of the Arkansas State Flag which will fly in October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The state flag graphics will remain the same, however, the colors will become varying shades of pink. This version will fly at FlagandBanner.coms headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas throughout the month of October and will also be available for order. Production time is about two weeks. The pink state flag trend began with Geoffrey Jackson, a widower who lost his wife to breast cancer. Featured in the Fall 2017 issue of Brave magazine, Jackson was working with a local Susan G. Komen organization in New Mexico when he had idea for a pink version of a state flag. Jackson convinced the mayor of Albuquerque, along with a few local business managers, to fly a pink New Mexico state flag in 2015. Later, when Jackson was transferred to Phoenix, local mayors there agreed to fly the pink version of the Arizona state flag. More recently, business leaders in Texas, California, Utah and South Carolina have also agreed to fly pink versions of their respective state flags. I wanted the message to be more general, Jackson said. And thats when it occurred to me a flag, but not just any flag, a state flag. Orders for any pink state flag can be made through FlagandBanner.com website, the sales department or retail store. For more information on the pink flag project, or an https://www.flagandbanner.com/ interview with Flag and Banner owner, Kerry McCoy, call (501) 375-7633. Joyce Rey Haute Residence is pleased to announce the renewal of its years-long partnership with Joyce Rey, executive director of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury. As a member of the invitation-only Haute Residence network of top brokers, Rey exclusively represents the high-end real estate market in Beverly Hills, California. One of the most respected names in luxury real estate worldwide, Rey has exceeded $3 billion in career sales. She has represented some of the most significant properties in the world. In 2017, Rey has had a record-breaking year including her newest listing of the Perenchio Estate, currently asking $350 million. Reys stellar career began in 1974 with an equally impressive property the residence of Christina Onassis. A sale to famed acting teacher Lee StrasbergThey thought I was a genius, Rey recallsquickly paved the way for celebrated clients and landmark properties: Owlwood, Pickfair, and The Harold Lloyd Estate, to name a few. In 1979, she was invited to establish the first company in the United States to specialize exclusively in estates valued at more than $1 million. Since then, through every fluctuation in the economy and the market, Rey has consistently represented a choice collection of the most distinguished properties in the world. Throughout the years, Rey has also mentored and fostered what is today an award-winning team. Reys name has consistently appeared on best of lists for both her real estate production and her personal and professional influence. Recent accolades include The Los Angeles 500 Most Influential People (L.A. Business Journal), First Lady of Luxury Real Estate (Chinese media), Billionaires Broker (The Hollywood Reporter), and Grand Dame of Real Estate (Los Angeles Times). Rey is also ranked in the Top 20 Luxury Brokers in L.A. County by The Real Deal Los Angeles. Rey is frequently quoted in the media and has appeared on numerous television shows. In addition to her demanding professional life, she remains passionately dedicated to philanthropic projects. With nearly 46,000 followers on Instagram, Reys social media prowess is matched only by her legendary attentive and knowledgeable personal service. About Haute Residence: Designed as a partnership-driven luxury real estate portal, Haute Residence connects its affluent readers with top real estate professionals, while offering the latest in real estate news, showcasing the worlds most extraordinary residences on the market and sharing expert advice from its knowledgeable and experienced real estate partners. The invitation-only luxury real estate network, which partners with just one agent in every market, unites a distinguished collective of leading real estate agents and brokers and highlights the most extravagant properties in leading markets around the globe for affluent buyers, sellers, and real estate enthusiasts. HauteResidence.com has grown to be the number one news source for million-dollar listings, high-end residential developments, celebrity real estate, and more. Access all of this information and more by visiting: http://www.hauteresidence.com Dr. Vidhyalakshmi Sampath of Bright Now! Dental Appointed to Colorado Dental Board I believe the practice of dentistry impacts lives in so many ways, and now Ill be able to support patients in my practice and volunteer outreach activities while also helping advance the profession state-wide. Bright Now! Dental is proud to announce the appointment of Dr. Vidhyalakshmi Sampath to the Colorado Dental Board. Dr. Sampath practices at Bright Now! Dentals Parker office located at 11183 South Parker Road in Parker, CO and serves as the clinical lead across all 14 Bright Now! Dental offices in Colorado. Dr. Sampath was selected from an impressive group of nominees based on her exemplary dental credentials, commitment to community service and strong desire to promote the industry. Born and raised in India, Dr. Sampath received the Gold Medal for Dentistry upon graduation from The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University (Ragas Dental College) in 1999. She then came to the United States and received a second dental degree from New York University College of Dentistry in 2004. Strongly impacted by the events of 9/11, Dr. Sampath opted to join the U.S. Army as a professional contractor and practiced at Fort Polk in Louisiana before moving to Colorado and joining Bright Now! Dental in 2006. She consistently finds time for community outreach, offering advice and free dental care through several local non-profit organizations, including; the Smiles For Everyone Foundation, HealthTap and the Colorado Mission of Mercy. Ive always felt a strong desire to give back to the community, explains Dr. Sampath. I believe the practice of dentistry impacts lives in so many ways, and now Ill be able to support patients in my practice and volunteer outreach activities while also helping advance the profession state-wide. The dental profession faces a unique set of challenges in todays healthcare environment. Preventative dental care is critical to overall wellness; however, 40% of the populations lacks dental insurance and an equal proportion of adults dont receive regular care. State dental boards help providers navigate these challenges while also maintaining standards for care quality. Over the past 20 years, the industry has experienced significant consolidation. The emergence of larger group dental practices has helped expand access to affordable dental. The Colorado Dental Board has taken a big step forward by appointing Dr. Sampath to give voice to group dental practices at the state level. About Bright Now! Dental Bright Now! Dental provides general dentistry, childrens dentistry and, in select locations, specialty care services such as orthodontics, oral surgery, periodontics and endodontics at over 150 offices across Colorado, California, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Bright Now! Dental is affiliated with Smile Brands Inc., one of the largest providers of support services to dental groups in the United States. Smile Brands Inc. provides comprehensive business support services through exclusive long term agreements with affiliate dental groups, so dentists can spend more time caring for their patients and less time on the administrative, marketing, and financial aspects of operating a dental practice. Smile Brands is a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors (Gryphon), a leading middle-market private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA. 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Ensurem, LLC, secures $12.25 million investment from A-CAP Ensurem, LLC, an innovative technology and digital marketing platform dedicated to simplifying the process of buying insurance, announced today a $12.25 million capital commitment from and partnership with an affiliate of A-CAP, a New York City-based insurance holding company specializing in life and health insurance and related services. This funding follows a successful angel investment round of $1.7 million led by AngelRush, a San Francisco-based investment firm that uses its proprietary direct-to-consumer digital engagement platform to empower partner companies. A-CAP is an industry-leading financial platform that owns multiple insurance and financial businesses. A-CAPs significant capital commitment will help Ensurem expand its capabilities in four main areas: Digital storefront where consumers can easily research, shop and purchase life insurance policies, supplemental health coverage, living insurance, and other insurance-related products. Digital customer acquisition technology and expertise. Proprietary product platform used in the development of new insurance products for direct-to-consumer sales. Third-party administrative services specializing in straight-through processing, providing insurance companies full back-office support in collaboration with Secure Administrative Solutions (SAS), A-CAPs third-party administrator affiliate. A-CAPs insurance capabilities, combined with the digital marketing expertise of AngelRush and Ensurems own team of insurance and technology experts, will advance the companys robust direct-to-consumer insurance platform. Our strategic partnership with A-CAP grants us access to third-party administration (TPA) services, reinsurance capabilities, and a wealth of knowledge in the insurance carrier space, all of which will help us meet our mission of providing consumers with a consolidated resource to learn about and secure life insurance and supplemental health-related protection online, said David Rich, CEO and founder of Ensurem. Daily advancements in technology are changing consumer expectations of the insurance-buying process, said Kenneth King, CEO of A-CAP. The Insurtech space needs innovation and disruption to meet these growing consumer demands and we are confident that Ensurem can deliver an exceptional insurance-buying experience. For more information visit http://www.ensurem.com, http://www.a-capholdings.com and http://www.angelrush.com. About Ensurem, LLC Ensurem, LLC was launched in January 2016 with a two-fold mission of Awaring America about the value of life insurance and supplemental health products and providing a simplified buying process. Based in Tampa Bay, Florida, the company provides insurance-related products to consumers nationwide through its online platform. Ensurem offers several features to help customers live Life Optimized, including direct-to-consumer products, a library of product guides and resources, and the Life Optimized Risk Assessment (LORA) tool. About A-CAP A-CAP is a holding company owning multiple insurance and financial businesses on its unique and synergistic platform. These businesses include primary insurance carriers, an investment adviser, an administrative services provider, reinsurance vehicles, and a marketing organization. With broad knowledge across the insurance and investment sectors, A-CAPs management team has diverse experience and provides comprehensive services to policyholders, insurance company clients and capital partners. Launched in 2013, A-CAP is a privately held company with offices in New York, Charleston, Chicago, Salt Lake City and Omaha. About AngelRush Ventures, LLC AngelRush partners with passionate entrepreneurs and innovators to accelerate businesses to their fullest potential. Led by a team of successful entrepreneurs with decades of combined experience building companies and brands, AngelRush provides seed-stage funding, strategic advice and domain expertise to support its partnerships. About Secure Administrative Solutions (SAS) Established by Sentinel Security Life Insurance Company, an A-CAP portfolio company, in 2014, SAS is a licensed third-party administrator (TPA) providing efficient and effective administration for insurance companies of all sizes and across multiple product lines. SAS operates in over forty states. ### Ensurem Contact: Danielle Hutchins dhutchins(at)ensurem(dot)com 727-451-5126 A-CAP Contact: Kristen King kristenking(at)a-capholdings(dot)com 929-383-7501 AngelRush Contact: David Lukrich dlukrich(at)angelrush(dot)com 415-779-2003 SAS Contact: Mike Maughan mmaughan(at)sslco(dot)com 801-478-4022 Viki Kaas, Homes Unlimited, Inc. They cleaned out their closets so others could benefit from their generosity, as every single pair of shoes collected makes a difference in someones life. Past News Releases RSS Alaska Realtor Viki Kaas Cooks at... Viki Kaas, broker/owner of Homes Unlimited, Inc., recently hosted a summer shoe donation drive for Soles4Souls, a nonprofit global social enterprise committed to fighting poverty through the collection and distribution of shoes and clothing. The result of Homes Unlimiteds drive was eight boxes of shoes that will help many people in need. It was fun touching base with friends, family, and clients during this drive, said Kaas, who was named Anchorage Realtor of the Year in 2007. They cleaned out their closets so others could benefit from their generosity, as every single pair of shoes collected makes a difference in someones life. Soles4Souls aims is to eradicate extreme poverty by 2050. To date, Soles4Souls has collected and distributed more than 30 million pairs of shoes to those in need in 127 countries around the world and all 50 states in the U.S. Businesses and individuals that host donation drives for Soles4Souls help us fulfill our mission by providing short-term relief and long-term solutions to global poverty, said Buddy Teaster, Soles4Souls President and CEO. In addition to supporting Soles4Souls, Kaas, a third-generation Alaskan, is a dedicated community advocate. She volunteers to cook for the workers at Kokrine Hills Bible Camp and volunteers at a local private school. She has also held various officer positions in the Anchorage PTA and was a Camp Fire Alaska leader for seven years. About Soles4Souls Soles4Souls disrupts the cycle of poverty by creating sustainable jobs and providing relief through the distribution of shoes and clothing around the world. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, the organization repurposes product to supply its micro-enterprise, disaster relief and direct assistance programs. A nonprofit social enterprise, Soles4Souls earns more than half of its income and commits 100% of donations to programs. About Viki Kaas, Homes Unlimited, Inc. Viki Kaas is a Graduate, Realtor Institute and Certified Residential Specialist. She is currently president-elect for the Anchorage Board of Realtors, a position she also held in 2003. Over the years, she has served as president of the Alaska Multiple Listing Service, and served on the board of the PTA, Alaska Association of Realtors and Community Council, in addition to volunteering for Birchwood Christian School and the Crossings at Birchwood. Homes Unlimited, Inc. is a high-tech virtual brokerage in Anchorage. For more information, please call (907) 346-4111, or visit http://www.callviki.com. About the NALA The NALA offers small and medium-sized businesses effective ways to reach customers through new media. As a single-agency source, the NALA helps businesses flourish in their local community. The NALAs mission is to promote a business relevant and newsworthy events and achievements, both online and through traditional media. The information and content in this article are not in conjunction with the views of the NALA. For media inquiries, please call 805.650.6121, ext. 361. From architect or specifier, to installer, to building owner and building occupant, K-NRG Seal VP is a product that will benefit everyone. KARNAK, an industry-leading manufacturer of reflective coatings, sealants and cements, today announced the launch of K-NRG Seal VP, a high-performance vapor-permeable air barrier for above-grade wall application. K-NRG Seal VP expands KARNAK offerings, which include roofing, damp-proofing and waterproofing products; fabrics and repair tapes; caulks, sealant and flooring products; and elastomeric products. We are proud to launch an air barrier product that offers long-term sustainability and durability in building envelope protection. From architect or specifier, to installer, to building owner and building occupant, K-NRG Seal VP is a product that will benefit everyone, said Chris Salazar, Chief Operating Officer of KARNAK. K-NRG Seal VPs seamless elastomeric membrane seals the building envelope, preventing air passage while allowing vapor permeability. The product is designed to provide the building envelope with superior energy efficiency and mold resistance. KARNAKs new liquid-applied, fire-rated vapor-permeable air barrier, evaluated by the Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA), meets the highest industry standards. K-NRG Seal VP has been tested by UL Laboratories and passes NFPA 285 Fire Test, making it compliant with IBC 2012 and allowing flexibility in choice of insulating materials. It also exceeds ASTM E2357 and ASTM E2178. The liquid-applied air barrier strongly adheres to most wall construction materials, including exterior gypsum boards, CMU, stone, wood, metal, and damp or dry concrete, making it ideal for multi-story applications. K-NRG Seal VP requires easy spray application using standard spray equipment. When combined with KARNAK sealants and accessories, K-NRG Seal VP forms a complete vapor-permeable wall air-barrier system. For building owners, K-NRG Seal VPs benefits assure a fire-safe, long-term, sustainable air barrier solution. K-NRG Seal VP is designed to improve building occupant comfort, improve acoustical isolation, help reduce greenhouse gas formation (lessening environmental impact), help reduce heating and cooling costs, and help improve indoor air quality. It may also reduce building enclosure moisture problems. With K-NRG Seal VP, building owners can reduce energy costs, improve overall building functionality and safety, as well as contribute to potential LEED certification. To learn more about K-NRG Seal VP, call 800-526-4236 to speak to a KARNAK technical representative. Specifications and details are available at the following link: http://www.arcat.com/sdspecs/htm04/07_27_26kar.htm. About KARNAK KARNAK, a Certified Womens Business Enterprise, manufactures and supplies reflective coatings, cements, and sealants for roofing and waterproofing. It provides roofing products, damp proofing and waterproofing products, fabrics and repair tapes, caulks, sealant and flooring products, and elastomeric products. The company serves architects, specifiers, contractors, distributors, and building owners in the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. It markets and sells its products through sales representatives in the United States and internationally. The company was founded in 1932 and is based in Clark, New Jersey. For more information, visit http://www.karnakcorp.com. The cost effective ZyDoc solution improves productivity and quality of the medical record while justifying higher coding levels and reducing audit risk. ZyDoc has released an Android version of its popular mobile dictation app for use with TrackDoc Connect, ZyDocs secure cloud-based transcription service. New ZyDoc customers can download the app, also available for iOS, and try the TrackDoc Connect transcription service at no cost for two weeks. For EHR users, the app allows doctors to securely access patient schedules from their smartphones and dictate encounters for automated EHR data entry. Used by small and large medical practices and hospital systems nationwide, TrackDoc Connect is a HIPAA-compliant cloud-based transcription service that facilitates section-level insertion of clinical documentation into the EHR. Connectivity to most major EHRs is supported, including athenahealth, eClinicalworks, AllScripts and many others. With the mobile app, doctors can access patient schedules remotely, select a patient and job type, and dictate. The transcription is then inserted into the appropriate EHR sections. USB handheld recorders and toll-free dial-in may also be used for dictation, depending on user preference. Referral faxing is available for letters and documents that are not for EHR insertion. The free trial offer includes the mobile app and two weeks transcription per user. The app is available for free download from Google Play (Android), or the Apple App Store (iPhone, iPad). Following the trial, enhanced options and multiple users can be added, including other providers and authorized administrators. "Doctors can work 60% faster with dictation on their smartphone than with conventional EHR data entry, according to James Maisel, MD, ZyDoc Chairman and principal investigator for an NIH-funded research study, Natural Language ProcessingEnabled and Conventional Data Capture Methods for Input to Electronic Health Records: A Comparative Usability Study. The automatic insertion of the rich Health Story in the EHR is better and more accurate than medical scribes lacking medical language skills of experienced transcriptionists. Doctors don't have to mess with complicated speech recognition technology, correct errors or deal with additional employees. The cost effective ZyDoc solution improves productivity and quality of the medical record while justifying higher coding levels and reducing audit risk. Features TrackDoc Connect solves the clinical documentation bottleneck and usability issues related to EHR population (aka data entry), payer coding requirements, and government healthcare reporting regulations. Physicians can securely dictate notes and reports for transcription and insertion into their EHR, and share referrals electronically by fax. Accuracy measurement tools and flexible workflow are optimized to ensure fast turnaround times. Clients may choose to fax or print completed transcriptions at their own locations, making use of available printing or downloading capabilities provided by the ZyDoc website. As a clinical data management tool, TrackDoc Connect transcription can be used in combination with ZyDocs MediSapien platform to integrate with EHRs for structured reporting and analytics. MediSapien utilizes natural language processing (NLP) and AI technologies to capture and code structured data from narrative or semi-structured text, enabling cross-platform interoperability for information exchange and data mining for applications such as clinical decision support, identifying at-risk patient populations, computer-assisted coding, registry reporting, pharma RWD studies, and more. Security TrackDoc Connect requires no software installation, facilitating fast implementation and eliminating IT burdens. It is device and browser independent. Now in version 3.0, the TrackDoc Connect platform is designed for tight security with all voice, metadata and transcription versions encrypted in the Cloud, and incorporates user audit and tracking. It does not use vulnerable FTP servers. ZyDoc transcriptionists are prevented from exporting audios, PHI metadata and transcribed documents outside the platform; there is no off-site storage of patient health information (PHI). PHI is accessed via any web-browser over the internet using the highest available internet security protocol, https. All communications between the browser and the website are encrypted. About ZyDoc and MediSapien Since its inception in 1993, ZyDocs mission has been to utilize informatics technology to increase the efficiency of physicians through the use of software technology and services to improve patient care and outcomes, lower malpractice risk, and maximize reimbursement. Based in Islandia, New York, ZyDoc has developed award-winning, HIPAA-secure, cloud-based e-transcription infrastructure and medical informatics technologies, serving medical practices, hospitals, public health agencies, and other entities in the medico-legal, academic, and pharmacology sectors. Augmenting ZyDocs transcription business, MediSapien is a web-based knowledge management platform that uses disruptive natural language processing (NLP) and AI technologies to convert unstructured text to fully coded structured data for EHRs, PACS, RIS, analytics, and reporting. For clinician end-users, MediSapien can be utilized in conjunction with EHR installations, and can facilitate analytic applications for individual or population disease management for practices, ACOs, hospitals or large groups. ZyDoc is a VMWare Professional Solution Provider Partner. More information about ZyDoc and MediSapien is available online at http://www.zydoc.com. The TrackDoc Connect free trial may be accessed here. Steve Bilt, co-founder and CEO of Irvine-based dental support organization (DSO), Smile Brands Inc. Steve Bilt, co-founder and CEO of Irvine-based dental support organization (DSO), Smile Brands Inc., will keynote the upcoming Legends and Leaders breakfast event on October 10, 2017 at 8:00 am at the Hotel Irvine Pavilion 17900 Jamboree Road, Irvine, CA. In 1998, Steve Bilt co-founded Smile Brands, giving birth to a whole new model of dental practice management where the DSO manages all administrative functions so dentists can focus on providing great quality care. In August 2016, Bilt returned to Smile Brands after previous leadership had fallen on hard times. His keynote will cover how he and CFO, Brad Schmidt, have successfully turned the business around in just 12 months by reinvigorating a strong company culture and leveraging deep industry expertise. The Legends and Leaders Speaker Series, hosted by the Greater Irvine Chamber, creates a platform for local industry leaders to share management best practices. The focus is on leaders who have risen to the forefront of their industries by identifying and innovating around emerging business trends while creating corporate cultures that position their organizations for success. The Legends and Leaders breakfast is open to both Irvine Chamber members and non-members. Meet and learn from some of the areas top leaders. Space is limited, so register today. About Smile Brands Based in Irvine California, Smile Brands Inc. is one of the largest providers of support services to dental groups in the United States. Smile Brands Inc. provides comprehensive business support services through exclusive long term agreements with affiliate dental groups, so dentists can spend more time caring for their patients and less time on the administrative, marketing, and financial aspects of operating a dental practice. Smile Brands supports 360+ Bright Now! Dental, Monarch Dental, Castle Dental, A+ Dental Care, OneSmile Dental, and Johnson Family Dental offices in 16 states, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. Smile Brands is a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors (Gryphon), a leading middle-market private equity firm based in San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit smilebrands.com. Contact: Jody Martin Jody.martin(at)smilebrands.com 714.428.1299 DES MOINES Mondays unanimous decision by the State Appeal Board to approve a $1.75 million settlement with a former state employee came with an apology from State Auditor Mary Mosiman to the women and taxpayers of Iowa that sexual harassment was taking place in state government. This should not happen, said Mosiman, a Republican who chairs the appeal board that agreed 3-0 to pay the settlement to Kirsten Anderson and her attorney. The deal settles charges of sexual harassment she leveled against Republicans in the Iowa Senate. In July, a jury awarded Anderson $2.2 million after she asserted she had been fired in 2013 only hours after she complained of a toxic work environment in the Capitol. The state was appealing the verdict when the settlement was reached. As the state auditor, as a fellow woman in public service, I just feel the need to apologize that this was able to happen, Mosiman told reporters after the vote by her, State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald and David Roederer, director of the Iowa Department of Management, to end a legal dispute with Anderson, the former Iowa Senate GOP communications director. Harassment, discrimination should not happen in the workplace, specifically in government, said Mosiman. A Polk County jury found favor for Anderson, but then the two sides agreed the state would drop its appeal and pay $1,044,776 to Anderson and $705,224 for legal fees to the law firm representing her to end the case. We did our best. We lost the verdict, said Jeffrey Thompson, solicitor general in the Iowa Attorney Generals Office, who advised the appeal board members to approve the compromise and shield the state from further expenses. We decided that under the circumstances it was best to resolve the claim, he said in an interview. We resolved it for less than the judgment, but we also gave up our right to appeal. Anderson who worked in the Iowa Senate for five years told jurors she was fired in 2013 about seven hours after she complained to her boss about lewd and sexist behavior she experienced there. Her assertions were backed up by others who also testified. Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock, contended Anderson was fired for poor work performance. But he told reporters that things he learned from the trial "that I was not aware of" prompted him to have the Secretary of the Senate launch an internal investigation and contract with the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to provide human resources services to the Senate. A Senate Republican Caucus staff employee who was at the center of the lawsuit resigned his Senate job. Fitzgerald, a Democrat, said he was outraged and appalled by the toxic work environment that was described during the trial, and he expressed concern that more lawsuits could be forthcoming. He said the board was offered a terrible choice but he voted to approve the settlement to save the state further loss of money. This is not something that exists throughout state government. We have a very professional operation through the state government. These are the leaders of our state. People that set the laws, and if we cant expect them to follow the spirit of the law, were in bad shape. I think this is an outrage, he said. Im appalled that Sen. Dix is not taking responsibility, has not indicated that this wont happen again all the things that Iowans would expect, the treasurer added. I think the governor should ask for Sen. Dix to step down. Legally, the state is on the hook. I think it would be a very good gesture if the Republicans, because they have a lot of money, would raise it to pay back the Iowa citizens. Dix declined to comment on the situation Monday. In August, GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds backed Republican Senate leaders but called sexual harassment in the workplace unacceptable and suggested it would be healthy to have an independent investigation to ensure state employees are adopting a zero tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior. During her weekly news conference Monday, the governor reiterated that sexual harassment is not to be tolerated in state government, but she added lets stop taking incidents like this and making it a political issue. This is ridiculous. One of the sharpest observations came from Kory Stamper, an editor for the dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster, who noted the subtle difference between "warmest" and "deepest." It's not the first time Trump has caught heat for the tone of his tweets following a disaster. In late August, after Hurricane Harvey dumped a record amount of rain on parts of Texas and Louisiana, Trump issued a series of tweets in which he seemed to marvel at the historic size of the storm. He was put before the court after he slashed a cleaners arm with a knife and snatched her hand bag at Spintex, a suburb of Accra. The convict pleaded with the court that he had no initial intention to harm the victim, Justine Atankuga, but she got hurt during the struggle over her hand bag. However, the court presided over by Ms. Eva Bannerman-Williams sentenced Sarfo to 18 years imprisonment on the charge of robbery. The convict was sentenced to pay a fine of GHC 480.00 in respect of the charge of causing unlawful harm or in default, serve four years imprisonment. The sentences are to run concurrently. Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu narrated to the court that both the complainant, Ms. Atankuga and the convict lived at Spintex. He said on September 26, this year, around 0500 hours, Ms. Atankuga was on her way to work at GT Bank, Spintex branch. According to Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu, on reaching a section of the road in front of BCM Construction Workshop, the victim spotted Sarfo pretending to be repairing his faulty bicycle. The prosecution said the complainant greeted the convict, but he declined to respond, so she moved on. No sooner did the complainant walk past the accused than he followed her, pulled a knife and ordered her to handover her bag, containing two mobile phones valued at GH1000. The convict, after taking the hand bag, slashed her right arm and absconded. Thelma Williams posted on Facebook, photos and videos of her bound and gagged in her basement. Families and friends who got frightened upon seeing the posts after noon on September 27, called the 911 and said a man had kidnapped her. Thelmas relatives had reportedly told the 911 officials that, the post has video and picture of her saying they have her and theyre going to kill her today. Lo and behold, when police arrived, they found Williams in the basement of her Middletown home loosely bound with a pair of underwear in her mouth. She told police that a masked man had attacked her that morning and left her tied up. According to Williams, he recorded the images, posted them, then called a contact on Williamss phone, laid the phone by her side, and left. However, Police investigations later discovered that, Williams had done the recording of the video herself with her cellphone. During polices interrogation, Williams then admitted that the kidnapping was a hoax. She was arrested and charged with filing a false report, which is a fifth-degree felony. A police official said We can actually see her waiting for it [the video] to come on so she can get her serious face on. We find her story to be totally a fabrication. Thelmas daughter was horrified when she first saw the video, but was of the view that her mother pulled the prank to ask for help, not attention. The allowances, which will officially start at a ceremony at Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region on October 10, 2017, will see over 58,000 trainee nurses and midwives in the various public nursing and midwifery schools receive a little over GH400 every month. READ MORE: Judges threaten strike over unpaid allowances The allowance, which were scrapped by the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) was met with strong resistance from the nursing trainees who complained bitterly about the difficulties it had brought upon them. The NDC government insisted the continuous payment of the allowances would threaten the future of Ghanas economy. Under the allowance scheme, the nurses got at least GH450 every quarter. Government had explained the removal of the allowance was to allow it to admit more students. The allowances had tied the hands of government because huge numbers had serious financial implications. Prior to the 2016 elections, the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) assured students of the various teacher and nursing training institutions of the partys commitment to bring back the allowances, to ensure they had a smooth training to serve the country. The Vice President Dr. Bawumia had said in January 2017 that the allowances would be restored in March 2017. But the Minister at the 7th induction and oath swearing ceremony for allied health professional in Accra on Saturday, said the registration of beneficiary nurses has already started and expected to be completed today for the smooth roll out of the policy. As part of the president's nationwide tour, which has already taken him on visits to the Western and Ashanti Regions, he will now switch his attention to that of the three Northern Regions of the country. He will start his seven-day tour in the Upper West region, before taking to the Upper East region and eventually ending it all in the Northern region. He is also billed to commission the said project before holding talks with the people and Chiefs of Lawra, Nandom, Sissala and Tumu, as well as the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, in Wa. The president will again spend two days of his tour in the Upper East region, where he is expected to visit the Chiefs in Bolgatanga, as well as also check up on the progress of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital. The last three days of the tour will be spent in the Northern region by the president and his entourage. Akufo-Addo will be occupied with visits to the Mamprugu land, Damango, yendi and Gonjaland. He will hold talks with Nayiri, Naa Bohigu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga (Mamprugu land, Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Boresa I (Gonjaland) and Kampakuya Na, Yakubu Abdulai Andani II (Yendi). He said the abrogation of the contract was against good corporate governance. Korle Bu in a statement Friday explained the hospitals decision to award Stanbic Bank a contract for onsite banking services at the facility and the reason for terminating its contract with uniBank. But uniBank in a statement said the hospitals statement succeeded in creating more distortions than it sought to correct. Mr Agyemang-Manu in an interview on Accra-based Joy FM said he heard about the matter after the hospital had terminated the contract. He said he was not comfortable with the CEO's decision to terminate the contract. READ ALSO: A Plus apologises to Abu and Asenso over corruption allegation He noted: "After Dr Anyahs appointment, I told him I was in consultation with the president to get the board for the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital but told him since the facility cannot be allowed to sit down without working, if there is any major decision concerning the running of the hospital, he should consult me." But early on Monday, viral fake-news stories ricocheted across the platforms and to the top of Google's search algorithm this time about the deadly mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas late Sunday. A 4chan message board about the Las Vegas shooting rocketed to the top of Google's Top Stories, a tool distinct from Google News, which is vetted by humans. Users on the board incorrectly identified the shooter. Many far-right users said that person had followed Democratic pages on social media. Authorities have identified the gunman as a 64-year-old Nevada man. The 4chan board posts were quickly picked up and magnified by The Gateway Pundit, a far-right website that has repeatedly misidentified attackers and continues to promote debunked conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama's birthplace, among other misinformation. Some observers quickly said the story titled "Las Vegas Shooter Reportedly a Democrat Who Liked Rachel Maddow, MoveOn.org and Associated with Anti-Trump Army" was incorrect, but not before it began to go viral. While The Gateway Pundit removed the story, the site's White House correspondent, Lucian Wintrich, criticized and mocked reporters who inquired about how the site published the piece. Meanwhile, another Gateway Pundit article jumped to the top of Facebook's "crisis response" page. An NBC report is barely vis... @ Rob Pegoraro A good demonstration of the magnitude of the challenge that these companies are facing That was just one of several false bits of information circulating on social media. BuzzFeed News compiled a list on Monday morning of viral tweets about supposed missing people, some of which were obviously fake but circulated nonetheless. On its "safety check" page, Facebook linked to a story on a self-proclaimed alt-right blog that suggested the festival was "more like the kind of target a left-wing nutjob would choose." And other users like the far-right provocateur Laura Loomer went viral on Twitter stoking speculation that Islamic terror groups were responsible for the shooting. Though ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, it did not provide evidence, and the FBI on Monday said there was no evidence that the shooter had any connection to international terrorist groups. Hey @biz if you don't want ... @ Scott with coffee #emo# The far-right website Breitbart News retweeted people calling for gun control in the wake of the shooting, most likely attempting to emphasize reports that the shooter may have used a difficult-to-obtain automatic weapon. Authorities have not announced the type of weapons the shooter used. The tech platforms said they were working to remove the false stories when they saw them. In a statement to Business Insider, a Google representative said the link to 4chan was algorithmically removed within several hours of it appearing in search results for some users who googled the name of the man incorrectly identified as the shooter. The platform also pledged to improve the algorithm to prevent spreading misinformation in the future. "Unfortunately, early this morning we were briefly surfacing an inaccurate 4chan website in our Search results for a small number of queries," the representative said. "Within hours, the 4chan story was algorithmically replaced by relevant results. They added: "This should not have appeared for any queries, and we'll continue to make algorithmic improvements to prevent this from happening in the future." Facebook similarly cast the prominence of The Gateway Pundit's story on the platform as short-lived. Facebook spox to me on site... @ Oliver Darcy Twitter said it was aware of the various stories circulating on its platform. "We are aware of this issue and are proactively taking action on content that violates our terms of service," a representative told Business Insider. The platforms face growing criticism that trolls and malicious foreign operatives have used them to spread misinformation for political purposes. Last month, Facebook announced it would release previously undisclosed Russia-linked political ads to congressional and federal investigators, and that it would continue to investigate how its platform was used during the 2016 US presidential campaign to spread political information. Some lawmakers, particularly Democrats, have become increasingly concerned about the ability of tech platforms be unwittingly or purposefully co-opted into perpetuating fake news. "This is a good demonstration of the magnitude of the challenge that these companies are facing in combating fake news and misinformation on their platforms," a representative for Sen. Mark Warner told Business Insider when asked about the spread of misinformation about the shooting in Las Vegas. Many critics on social media blasted Google and Facebook for spreading misinformation: Great job by Facebook here ... @ Travis Hughes The major tech companies ar... @ #emo##emo##emo##emo# #emo##emo##emo# We#emo#ll say it again: Algori... @ Sleeping Giants LONDON Boris Johnson has received a backlash from Conservative colleagues after his latest Brexit intervention, with Chancellor Philip Hammond saying that "everyone is sackable." The foreign secretary has been criticised following the announcement of his "red lines" for the UK's withdrawal deal with the European Union on Saturday, which included a demand that a transition period should not last "a second more" than two years. Hammond told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday morning: "I always operate on the principle that everyone is sackable," after being questioned about whether Johnson should be fired. He also said on Sky News: "The more we can show unity, the stronger our negotiating position with the European Union would be." Johnson's intervention dominated the first day of the Conservative Party's conference in Manchester, which Prime Minister Theresa May hopes to use to stabilise her premiership after a turbulent summer. The foreign secretary has again revealed the disunity in the cabinet over how Brexit should progress, with his "red lines" coming weeks after he published a 4,000-word article about his vision for a "glorious" Brexit the week before May's keynote speech on Brexit in Florence. His support for transition being as short as possible puts him at odds with both May and Hammond, who are keen to provide enough time for British business to adjust. May said in her Florence speech that it would be "around" two years. However, former education secretary Nicky Morgan told BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour on Sunday that Johnson "has to go" unless he shows more loyalty to the prime minister. "If he cant stop setting down arbitrary red lines, then yes he has to go... the parliamentary party has had enough and actually it is now time for everybody to get back on track." Business has also criticised Johnson over his apparent disloyalty with the British Chamber of Commerce's director general Adam Marshall accusing him of destabilising the government. Marshall said there was growing concern over "division and disorganisation at the heart of the party of government" and he had made it "very clear that they [businesses] expect competence and coherence from ministers as we move into a critical period for the economy." Last week Johnson was booste by a new poll that showed he was the favourite amongst Conservative members to become the party's next leader. Backbench Conservative MP Graham Brady, who is also chairman of the influential 1922 committee, said on Westminster Hour: "I think we have a very simple straightforward task at this conference, and its to demonstrate that we are a grown-up party which cares more about the future of our country than about the particular career prospects of any individual." May insisted on Sunday that the cabinet were behind her on Brexit, saying she had a "cabinet united in the mission of this government." 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! Narrowing it down to the sub-Saharan African region, the learning crisis is very damning. The research suggests that in the sub-Saharan Africa region 88% of children and adolescents enter adulthood without a basic proficiency in reading. Over the period international aid in education has focused on the lack of access to schools, particularly in poorer countries in sub-Saharan Africa or in conflict zones rather than the learning crisis. This development has made the new research by Unesco Institute for Statistics warn of the lack of quality within schools. According to the report, more than 600 million school-age children do not have basic skills in maths and reading. In North America and Europe, only 14% of young people leave education at such a low level. The research states that only 10% of the world's school-age children live in these more affluent, developed regions. Silvia Montoya, director of the Unesco Institute for Statistics says "many of these children are not hidden or isolated from their governments and communities - they are sitting in classrooms". Pupils in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Nicaragua are unable to do simple sums or read simple sentences even after years in school. Only 7% of pupils in Mali have a basic level of proficiency in primary school. There are also wide gulfs within countries. At the end of primary school in Cameroon, only 5% of girls from the poorest families were at a level to continue with their education, compared with 76% of girls from wealthy families, the report said. Whats to blame? The World Bank study examined the factors underlying such poor achievement: On Monday, a group of shareholders led by Zevin Asset Management filed a resolution to express concern with the company's "unequal paid parental leave policy." While Starbucks' corporate offices have extensive maternity and paternity leave policies, these policies do not include in-store workers. Corporate employees can receive up to 18 weeks of paid maternal leave, and fathers or adoptive parents receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave. However, in-store workers receive just six weeks of paid maternal leave. Adoptive parents can request up to six weeks of paid leave. "This runs counter to Starbucks's widely recognized commitment to social responsibility, nondiscrimination, and inclusion," the resolution reads. "Our Company's unequal stance may disproportionately harm low income workers and workers of color. LGBTQ workers face particular challenges, as they are four times more likely to parent adopted children and six times more likely to raise foster children." The resolution requests that Starbucks' board prepare a report on the coffee giant's family leave policy that evaluates the risk of employment discrimination at the company. Starbucks spokesperson Reggie Borges told Business Insider that the company is one of the few to provide hourly employees full benefit eligibility at only 20 hours a week. "We offer a more robust benefits package than any other retail company," Borges said in an email. He continued: "With respect to our new parental leave benefit, this will be exceptional within the retail industry not only because of paid time off component, but also because its offered to anyone who works just 20+ hours or more a week, and there is no tenure requirement attached to it." Zevin Asset Management, which classifies itself as a socially responsible impact investing firm, says it began conversations regarding weak family leave policies with more than 10 companies in client portfolios this summer. "Paid family leave is a matter of gender justice in America. And it's quickly becoming a business risk," Pat Miguel Tomaino, associate director of socially responsible investing at Zevin, said in a statement. The cleric also urged religious leaders to pray for political leaders while advising them on the best way to lead the country. Addressing journalists in Abuja on activities to mark his golden jubilee on Monday, October 2, 2017, chairman of the planning committee, Prof. Obiekwe Nwanolue said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other past and world leaders would attend the event. Nwanolue called on world leaders to fund programmes that would impact positively on the lives of people instead of nuclear weapons. ALSO READ: How this church made me believe in modern Christianity The Bible says that by their fruits we shall know them. They are deceitful, the so-called men of God who are using the pulpit to score cheap political goals. Their main goal is to pray for the country. What they are doing now is condemnable. If a leader is not doing well, call him to order, invite him, not chide him publicly. Believers must also go into the uniform jobs like the police and the military so that they can simply sanitize the ills that have bedeviled those professions by eliminating the rot that has eaten deep into the fabric of those institutions, said Nwanolue. Other prominent leaders expected at the event include former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, General Yakubu Gowon, leaders from Zambian and Central African Republic. MASON CITY | A real estate transfer involving KIMT's studio in Mason City is one of the latest developments involving the TV station's sale from NexStar Broadcasting Group, Inc. to Heartland Media LLC in June 2016, according to the station's general manager. Lin Television Corp. sold two lots of its Mason City property to Rochester TV LLC for $614,659 and $672,659, respectively, according to Cerro Gordo County property records filed late last week. KIMT General Manager Steve Martinson said the deal is one of the many transactions in the $115 million multimedia deal completed last June, which involved four other TV stations in the Midwest. "This is a huge deal," he said of the entire process. "I can't even imagine how many attorneys and legalese it takes to put this together." KIMT sold in multi-million-dollar deal MASON CITY KIMT-TV, the CBS television station in Mason City, has been sold in a multi-med He added the Rochester name is used because it is the "net market" for KIMT, which he said is typical for deals like this one. Some local KIMT viewers have been complaining on social media about how the station is drifting toward covering more southern Minnesota news. Martinson said no cuts have been made at the Mason City studio, and that KIMT has had offices in Rochester since 1988. Martinson added, however, that KIMT has been expanding its Rochester studio during the past nine to 12 months but doesn't believe it will lessen important news coverage of North Iowa. "No one is going to wait until the 6 o'clock newscast," he said of local news coverage. "Everything's happening instantaneously ... no matter where in our coverage area it happens, we gotta get there fast." The Public Relations Officer of the State command, Mr. Femi Joseph, disclosed this on Sunday, October 1. He said the suspect was arrested by the men of the Anti-Crime Unit of the command while loitering along the Isua-Ifira Akoko Road. Josephn said, "When the suspect was interrogated, he confessed that he was a member of Boko Haram. He said his father is from Niger Republic, while his mother is from Maiduguri in Borno State. "He said when Maiduguri was hot for him, he ran to Nasarawa State last month and he left Nasarawa yesterday (Saturday) and came down to the South-West to hide here. "He also confessed that one Daffo is his team leader, while Shekau is still the overall leader of the group." The police spokesman said some items suspected to be charms were recovered from the suspect, adding that the 'terrorist' is still in the protective custody of the command. ALSO READ: Many oil workers reported dead in Boko Haram ambush Taking to her Twitter account on Monday, October 2, 2017, the former minister said the president failed to use his speech on Sunday to unify the country as a great leader would. She argued that based on the status of the president's office, he is responsible for being the leader of every group in the country, and shouldn't be dividing the populace. She tweeted, "So I read OUR President 's Speech and wondered how OUR Leader could be so DIVISIVE & UNINSPIRING on a DAY LIKE THAT. "As one who need not wave my banner on the faces of HONEST people, I wish Pres had GIVEN A LEADER'S SPEECH. "LEADER of a country BELONGS TO ALL. There is a HIGH PEDESTAL of a LEADER that is BEST DEPLOYED FOR BUILDING ALL. NEVER DIVIDE YOUR PEOPLE." The former minister also faulted President Buhari's personality since he assumed office as being a betrayal of him as a presidential candidate. She said the president needs to better take to independent feedback as against the feedback of his inner circle who might be lying to him. She posted, "A Presidential system makes much of the "personality" of a President & how they LEVERAGE it to mobilize, inspire & influence their citizens. Since he became OUR President in 2015, we have not seen much of that LEVERAGE of "the personality of the President" to MOBILIZE & UNITE. For e.g. as Candidate, Pres spoke often about our Internally Displaced People- IDPs. Why has he NEVER CONSIDERED a VISIT to them? Those who LIE to Mr President that he is doing well in BUILDING a NATION are UNFAIR to him. The President should take INDEPENDENT FEEDBACK." Despite her criticism of the president's speech, Ezekwesili commended President Buhari for visiting soldiers of the Nigerian Army at the front line of the war against terrorist group, Boko Haram. "I am definitely one of those delighted to see that our President visited our soldiers @ the frontline of battle. "Here is my Shout Out&Gratitude to the DECENT among our soldiers in frontline of battle.God bless you!" she tweeted. She made this known in a statement credited to her Chief Press Secretary, Belema Meshack-Hart, on Monday, October 2, 2017. We wish to place it on record that in the history of this country, no wife of any President had been so far investigated in such flagrantly vindictive and disgraceful manner, as has been the fate of Mrs. Jonathan, in the hands of Magus EFCC, the statement read. The immediate former first lady had also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call the acting boss of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, to order. We believe that she is being systematically persecuted and punished because of her unflinching support for her husband during the 2015 elections, the statement read. President Buhari should be reminded that his wife also supported him in all the elections he contested against her husband, former President Jonathan, but Dr. Jonathan did not at any point in time, carry out personal vendetta or go after Buharis wife. That is the standard practice in all democracies around the world. For instance, Michelle Obama campaigned vigorously for her husbands party during their last Presidential election, but we are yet to see President Donald Trump move against her. One thing is clear: No matter what they do to Mrs. Jonathan, she will continue to stand by her husband, the father of her children, even if it means paying the supreme price with her life. Continuing, Mrs Jonathan accused Magu of desecrating the image of the presidency, saying it would be good to bring him back to the path of sanity and reason. Jonathans wife said she is the most vilified first lady in the history of Nigeria. As a tradition, every first lady in this country has had one pet project or the other, with which they sought to intervene in the lives of the less privileged. Mrs. Jonathan started her NGO in Bayelsa State 11 years ago when her husband was the Governor of the State. With it, she has, over the years, touched the lives of many Nigerians in different ways. It is then surprising that while other First ladies and their pet projects were left alone, it is only her activities and that of her NGOs that are being subjected to indefinite probe and microscopic scrutiny by the Buhari administration. In a method that clearly bears out the axiom of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it, Magus EFCC had maliciously linked Mrs. Jonathan to all kinds of fake possessions and properties around the country, including the Local Content Office in Yenagoa which is an arm of NNPC, Shoprite Complex, Nigerian Customs Guest House and Park View Hotel, both in Port Harcourt, as well as the residence of her neighbor who is a serving Senator. It has now come to a point where all the magnificent edifices in Abuja, Yenagoa or Port Harcourt are presented to the media as belonging to Mrs. Patience Jonathan. Not done, they also accuse her of owning several plots of land in many cities across the country, including places she has never visited. The most astonishing of all is that her close relatives are viciously being victimized, as their personal properties are also being investigated. It is either the EFCC is now led by people who cannot conduct proper investigations, or they are deliberately feeding the public with false information, in line with their sinister script to embarrass and browbeat the former first family. ALSO READ: EFCC seizes hotel worth N2bn from Patience Jonathan We wish to remind President Muhammadu Buhari that what Magu and other agents of his government are doing is tantamount to desecrating the hallowed and dignified office of the President, and exposing it to public ridicule before the rest of the world. As the elected President, Muhammadu Buhari has become a father to all Nigerians. He should, therefore, resist the snare of those vile advisers who portray him as a sectional and vindictive leader, out to disgrace his predecessors. We implore President Buhari to call Magu and his goons to order so he does not further defile and do more damage to the dignity of the seat of the nations President. The seat of the President of any country is sacred and the occupant must be respected. As a former First Lady, Mrs. Jonathan has been falsely called all manner of names, including drug peddler, by Magus well-oiled propaganda machinery. The Brigade Commander of the 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta, Basil Adoke, disclosed this in Abeokuta at a reception organised by the state government as part of activities to mark Nigerias 57th independence anniversary. Adoke, who said that the initiative would commence in the next couple of days across the state and its environs, is targeted at miscreants. We are going to start Operation Crocodile Smile in Ogun and it involves series of actions to step up tempo targeted at miscreants, Adoke said. The commander, who allayed fears over the initiative, called on residents to be calm, stressing that some miscreants had been identified and would be flushed out. "Though the state is relatively peaceful but we still have some miscreants to deal with, so when you see Crocodile Smile, dont be scared, he said. According to him, the exercise is a replica of Operation Python Dance recently carried out in Abia to tackle crime. Responding, Gov. Ibikunle Amosun, commended the roles of security operatives in the state since he took over in 2011. Amosun pledged continued support on any programme to make the state crime-free. I want to appreciate our security agencies and we will continue to support security measures put in place to silence criminals in our state. This is because Ogun has grown to become the economic hub of Nigeria and investments can only continue to thrive in an environment of peace and order, he said. Reflecting on Nigeria at 57, Amosun expressed optimism that the nation would overcome all its challenges, stressing that this period is just a phase in our national life. He stressed the need for Nigeria to consider and use its high population as a factor of strength in unity. ALSO READ: Niger Delta militants say Operation Crocodile Smile is a scam Amosun, who described governance as service to the society, expressed optimism that his successor would tread his path of serving the people and would equally record great achievements like him. He said the model of governance through the selfless service introduced and established by his administration had transformed the entire state and changed the face of leadership in the state. When we got to office, we have raised the bar to the delight of the people and I believe that my successor will follow my path of achievements, he said. Notable guests at the reception included the first military governor of Ogun, Seidu Balogun, former military administrator of the state, Raji Rasaki, and a former military administrator of Sokoto State, Raji Rasheed. Kukah made the call on Monday at `The Platform Nigeria powered by the Covenant Christian Centre, Lagos. The Platform is an evangelistic tool. The theme of the October Platform is: Putting Together the Jigsaw Pieces that Form Nigeria Kukah spoke on the sub-theme The Weakness of Power. He said that although the country was facing challenges, positive change of attitude, peace, unity and good governance would improve Nigeria. He noted that many Nigerians were not satisfied with the situation of things in the country but cautioned that anger, hatred and violence would not tackle the challenges. Nigerians have reasons to be angry but they should remember that a lot of people have sacrificed their lives for the country, he said. Kukah also called for prayers for the country to attract divine intervention. He appealed to Nigerians to love one another irrespective of their ethnic, religious and political leanings. The cleric urged more patriotism by the citizens. Banire made the assertion on the sidelines of an Independence Day Anniversary programme organised by the Lagos State chapters of the Buhari Youth Organisation (BYO) and National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Lagos. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the programme tagged: United Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities started on Sept. 29 with series of activities. Banire told NAN that poverty and ignorance were the main reasons for agitation for secession in some parts of the country. He called for right representation of people to quell agitations, adding that Nigerians should also learn to ask questions from their representatives at various levels. People agitate only when they feel offended and deprived, but the solution for deprivation does not lie in restructuring. It will never end. If you split today, some people in the split group will still rise up later to agitate for one thing or the other. It does not solve our problems. What matters is that we must be happy, and to be happy, it means we must enjoy equal opportunity under this system. It is deprivation and hunger that are causing problems facing the country today. When we eliminate all inequalities, everybody will be happy with the system. When hunger is taken care of, most of the issues threatening our unity will go, Banire said. He called for respect for the rule of law and youth education to foster unity in Nigeria. Restructuring is not our problem. Our people are not enlightened to ask questions from their representatives, the APC chieftain said. Banire had earlier at the panel discussion urged youths, as major stakeholders in the Nigerian Project, to rise up and take charge of the nations leadership. He said that there was need to build the capacity of youths to fill the vacuum in the leadership gap in the country. Banire said that youths had taken over the social media and should use the medium to propagate ideologies of integrity, transparency and accountability, which President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration represent. Also, a security expert, retired Col. Hassan Stanislous-Labo, said that restructuring would calm various forms of agitations in various parts of the country. Stanislous-Labo said that President Buhari has vision to right all the wrongs in the country, but his cabinet members did not have the capacity to execute his mission. In his remarks, Sen. Olorunimbe Mamora said that the tendency to manipulate religion and diversity was a challenge which must be addressed with proper conflict management. Mamora said that diversity could be turned to strength by listening to the grievances of the various groups. Also, Mr Dayo Bush-Alebiosu, a former House of Representatives member, urged youths to take advantage of their population to take over the nations leadership. Mr Waheed Ishola, the Lagos State Director of NOA, called on those fanning the embers of disharmony to have change of attitude for the overall interest of the nation. We must strive to achieve that strength in our diversity. We believe that the unity of Nigeria is sacrosanct, he said. In his comments, Mr Biodun Ajiboye, the BYOs National Secretary, called for restructuring of the mind of Nigerians. Also, the Lagos State Coordinator of BYO, Mr Waheed Odunuga, said that lack of love, trust and greed of the political class were the causes of disunity in the nation, urging youths to rise up for national rebirth. President Buhari stated this in a condolence message issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Monday. The president also described late Mohammed, one-time Military Administrator of Kaduna State and Chairman of Freedom Radio Kano, as a fountain of inspiration who loved the progress of Nigeria at all times. AVM Mohammed was so passionately committed to his principles and beliefs that he had to leave his military career earlier than expected on account of those principles. Very few Nigerians are ready to lose their jobs or offices on account of their beliefs, but the late Mohammed was an exception to this ugly reality of Nigeria, a society where public office holders respect power more than principles, he said. The President also recalled the significant role played by the late Air Force Officer in the realization of his peoples desire for the creation of the present Jigawa State. He extended his condolences to the government, the family and people of Jigawa and Kano States over the loss of this illustrious public figure. President Buhari prayed to Allah to forgive his gentle soul. Late Muhammad, who was the Wazirin Dutse in Jigawa, died on Sunday in a London hospital after a protracted illness. The governor stated this in his Independence Day speech to the state on Sunday, October 1, 2017. Bello who blamed paucity of funds for delay in payment of salaries and gratuities urged workers not to be misled by mischief makers adding that his government was doing everything possible to address the problem. Prompt payment of salaries is still a vexed issue, but we will do our best to keep our workers happy given the competing demands on the income of the state per time, Bello said. However, it is inevitable that from time to time we must ask workers to stand with us in sacrifice. We hope they will oblige in the overall interest of the state. "In similar vein, prompt payment of Gratuities and Pensions is only possible within the ambits of a Contributory Pension Scheme. Like the automation of the workforce, a Contributory Pension Scheme for the Kogi State workforce is inevitable reform. We commend workers who come around to work to the overall interest of the state. We cannot allow ourselves to become deterred from implementing much-needed reforms. We also urge all workers not to be misled as Government is doing everything possible to address the various challenges confronting the workforce. We are a responsible Government and we shall live up to our responsibilities, he added. The governor further called for the inclusion of more young people in government. In order to force a paradigm and generational shift in politics, I realize that I must keep justice, equity and merit as the moral compass for Government. The only way politics in Nigeria can change to accommodate more young people in high positions of leadership is for youths already in leadership to demonstrate competence and capacity to lead. I shall not speak for others but I repeat a solemn guarantee to succeed well as Governor of Kogi State. ALSO READ: Kogi workers embark on indefinite strike Nationally, the governor noted that President Muhammdu Buhari-led government has put in place measures to ensure that Nigeria optimizes her potentials. The British may have had their own ulterior motives when they amalgamated the old Northern and Southern Protectorates into one Nigeria in 1914, but I believe they also provided us an opportunity which hitherto did not exist, i.e. the opportunity to be much greater than we would have become as individual tribes or territories. In my opinion, and I think most Nigerians will agree with me, that even though we have not harnessed our gains after amalgamationthe present Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR is making efforts to optimize our potentials as a Nation. A picture of what looked like a campaign sticker for the former Vice President's 2019 presidential bid on a bag of rice got quite a lot of criticism from Nigerians on social media. In reaction, Atiku's media office distanced the former Vice President from the pictures, saying they were most likely fake and had nothing to do with his campaign. On its official Twitter account , the team posted, "We've seen this flying around. It's fake. Possibly photoshop. owns a feed factory, employing hundreds, not rice." This is not the first time the team has had to deny a claim against the former Vice President. After a report by a news organisation claimed that Atiku supported leader of separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, they threatened to take legal action. ALSO READ: Atiku Abubakar denies supporting Nnamdi Kanu Despite not making a formal announcement yet, the former Vice President is expected to contest for the 2019 presidential elections even though he's still a member of the All Progressives' Congress (APC), the same party as incumbent PresidentMuhammadu Buhari who is also expected to seek reelection. The American-based young man says Nigerias potentials would be fully harnessed if each region of the country enjoys the fruits of its labour. In a statement at the weekend, Emejuru who recently declared his intention to contest for President in 2019 described the call for Nigerias breakup as unrealizable. "Nigeria is one; from the beauty of the North, to the magnificence of the South, to the wonders of the West, united we will remain, as an example for many, for Africa, for the world, Emejuru said. It is urgent for the reason of economic prosperity for all Nigerians that a restructuring must occur. To restructure, is for each region of the federation to enjoy the fruits of its labour, overseen by an authority to manage each system of that labour. Simply, every region should be able to manage its own output in cooperation with the federal government." Since the beginning of self-rule in 1960, major events have shaped our landscape politically, economically, and socially. From the assassination of Prime Minister Tafawa Bawela, to the coup attempt by General Ironsi, this led to a federal system with no viability, as 'regionalism' was relegated to something unimportant at the time. "During these major transitions, sentiments were brewing, especially concerning divisions between the North and South. These implications would reach a boiling point. This boiling point eventually led to the civil war. To avoid this, concessions were made, but the influence of one charismatic leader, Ojukwu was undeterred. "Propoganda was relentless giving the South courage to secede from the Union, but ultimately, the plot failed, and this so called leader of the Biafra War retreated with all his luxuries. Economically and socially, the country was in disarray and for the next 29 years, different transitions of power and brief stints of democratic rule would take form but with menial results. It wasnt until the fourth Republic arose into fruition in 1999, that a democratic foundation lay its roots. However flimsy these roots are, it was the beginning," Emejuru narrated. The secretary urged Nigerians to support government in promotion of transparency, accountability, prudence and good governance for national development. Nigeria under previous regimes lost several opportunities, this government is determined to give the country a new lease of life through good governance, effective and efficient infrastructural development. It is most unfortunate that at 57 we are still battling to stabilize, this government has come with a new sense of commitment to fight corruption which has been largely responsible to Nigerias problems. President Buhari has taken the bold step to diversify the economy through development and growth of the non-oil sector like agriculture and solid minerals to reduce over dependence on oil as the sole source of revenue for the country. We should commend this government for awarding the Mambilla hydro electric project which had been on the drawing board for the past 45 years. The Mambilla hydro plant project will serve as a gateway to the nations economy. Government needs the support of Nigerians and not deliberate acts of distraction he said. He said the Buhari led APC government was committed to fast tracking development of the nation to improve the lives of the citizenry. Zuckerberg has come under lots of criticism over Facebooks failure to block fake news spread on its platform, Russias interference in the 2016 U.S elections and being labeled an anti-Trump supporter by the president himself. The CEOs apology has also been met with mixed reactions following his sudden change from atheism to Jewish faith in late 2016. Oh former atheist Mark Zuckerberg, suddenly so religious now that hes aiming for the worlds presidency. To make it very clear: no problem in being an atheist whatsoever; the problem is to use religion as a political tool Brazilian ad platform Boo Box co-founder Marco Gomes tweeted. Forgiveness is denied by both. God and humanity, since you & Sheryl knew what was happening, condoned it, & then lied about both its existence and impacttweeted Matt Ocko, partner at VC fund Data Collective. Zucks response to Trumps allegations that Facebook was always against him did not also help the matter because he made it look like Facebook was positioning itself as neutral to the alleged Russian election interference coming to the aide of Trumps campaign. Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump. Both sides are upset about ideas and content they dont like. This information was disclosed in Minna, Niger State capital by Hellen Obi, who represented the Executive Vice Chairman NCC, Professor Umar Danbata, at the Consumers Conversation Forum. The forum was organized by the NCC to alert consumers on the need to follow the right channel in resolving issues with their telecom service providers. NCC has mandated all network providers to give their subscribers 14 days of grace after the 30 days expiration of their data if they still have data left and cannot recharge to get their data rolled over, she stated. Obi declared 2017 as NCC Telecom Consumer year as a result of the consumers importance to the growth and development of the telecom industry. The year of telecom consumer, which was formally launched by NCC Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Danbata, is in tandem with the 8-point Agenda of the commission aimed to protect, educate, and empower consumers towards ensuring sustainable growth and further development in the Telecom sector. Only hours after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed that US officials are in exploratory contact with their North Korean counterparts, Trump appeared to undercut his top diplomat by declaring on Twitter that any talks would be futile. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump said, using the insulting nickname he has tried to pin on North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Speaking on Saturday after talks with China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing, Tillerson said that US officials have open channels of communication with North Korea despite an escalating war of words between their respective leaders. 'Stay tuned' Asked how he could know whether the North would even contemplate coming to the table to negotiate away its growing nuclear arsenal, Tillerson told reporters in Beijing: "We are probing, so stay tuned." "We have lines of communication with Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout, we have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang," he said. "We can talk to them, we do talk to them." But later, after the secretary began his flight home, the State Department issued a statement to clarify that North Korea has "shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization." And on Sunday, the department's spokeswoman Heather Nauert and Tillerson's chief public affairs adviser R.C. Hammond launched their own series of tweets in what appeared to be an attempt to harmonize the mixed messages. "DPRK will not obtain a nuclear capability. Whether through diplomacy or force is up to the regime," Nauert wrote, before tagging the president in her second message: "Diplomatic channels are open for #KimJongUn for now. They won't be open forever @StateDept @potus." Hammond, meanwhile, said Trump's tweets should be interpreted not as a rebuke to Tillerson but as a message to Kim that time is running out for a diplomatic solution. "Channels have been open for months. They've been unused and cooling for months," he said in one tweet. "The president just sent a clear message to NK: show up at the diplomatic table before the invitation gets cold," he added in another. 'Suicide mission' In a recent speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea if it threatens the US or any of its allies, deriding Kim as "Rocket Man" and warning he is on a "suicide mission." Kim responded by calling Trump a "mentally deranged dotard." Trump's administration has also been at the forefront of a drive to impose a series of sanctions against North Korea in response to its sixth nuclear test -- the largest yet -- and the firing of two missiles over Japan. North Korea's main economic partner China has signed up to the sanctions, including restrictions on imports, as has Russia. But, uneasy over Trump's bellicose tone, both countries have appealed to the United States to have talks with North Korea, and Tillerson's revelation was welcomed on Sunday by Germany. "This is exactly the right course and a courageous step," German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said. "North Korea would be well advised to take this offer of talks seriously." Gabriel also urged the US to have dialogue with Iran over a nuclear accord which Trump appears on the verge of scrapping, adding that such a move "would undermine the credibility of the offer to North Korea." jpegMpeg4-1280x720Trump has previously kept the door open to possible talks with North Korea. In a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the UN meeting last month, Trump responded "Why not?" when asked whether there could be talks. But his administration has also been urging allies to ratchet up the pressure on Kim's regime by isolating it diplomatically. It emerged on Sunday that Italy has ordered North Korea's incoming new ambassador to leave the country in a protest over Kim's missile launches and nuclear tests. "We have taken the firm decision to interrupt the accreditation procedure. The ambassador will have to leave the country," Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said in an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica. WATERLOO A Tama man died after he was struck Saturday night by a passing semi on Highway 20. According to a preliminary accident report, 53-year-old Richard James Murphy was walking in the area of the Highway 20/Interstate 380/Highway 218 interchange near mile marker 71 about 7:50 p.m. Saturday when he was struck. The semi driver, Kent Ridlon, 53, of Klemme, told police he had been looking at his GPS device because he was nearing the end of his hours. When he looked up, he saw something dark in the roadway and swerved and stepped on the brakes but struck the object, the report states. He initially thought he had struck a deer and pulled over when he was in a safe location. He called 911 after failing to find deer fur on his vehicle, and police found Murphy unconscious a short time later, the report states. Paramedics with Waterloo Fire Rescue took Murphy Covenant Medical Center, and he was later transported to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City where he later died. Police said he had severe injuries. It wasnt clear what Murphy was doing along the highway, Waterloo Police Capt. David Mohlis said. The report noted the accident happened after dark, and the area has lights. But the report states the light in the area isnt sufficient. The accident remains under investigation. "If I do not start classes, I need income. So I'm going to go first with the kids and then my husband. If classes do not start, I'll leave in a month," says Rivera, whose house was among the few standing after the megastorm. Her three and seven year old sons run around amid what were the chicken farms and Easter flower farms key to Aibonito's economy. They were wiped off the map by Maria. She herself lost $ 80,000 in flowers, her husband's business. "We lost everything. And since it was the first year, we did not have insurance coverage, we had 7,000 baskets of flowers," she told AFP. "Who's going to buy an Easter flower at Christmas if we're in so much need," he says. She plans to go to Tampa, in central Florida, where she has family. And she does not know if she will come back -- certainly not in the short term. That's the case for many Puerto Ricans who have family or friends and a place to stay on the US mainland. After New York City, central Florida cities such as Orlando -- with its thousands of theme park jobs -- Tampa and St Petersburg are among the biggest draws. Yet in balmy Florida, Puerto Ricans feel a bit more on their home turf. Many from the Caribbean island of 3.4 million fault Donald Trump for responding too slowly to the catastrophe. Trump denies the claims and says local leaders mismanaged and politicized the situation. "He needs to come down here, see how this is," 57-year-old Aida Rosario said on her way out of mass. "He needs to see for himself, with his own two eyes, what we are going through." Conditions on the island are so difficult that those who can leave, leave. "Everyone is trying to get out. Everyone: middle class, upper class, lower class, everyone, either for a short time or for good," says Professor Astrid Arraras, from the Department of International Relations and Politics at Florida International University (FIU). "The Puerto Ricans of this crisis diaspora are bringing their parents," says the expert. The political impact "It's going to be very widespread," adds Jorge Duany, an anthropologist specializing in migration at FIU. "It is not clear if they are people who are going to stay permanently. But it is quite clear that there will be an even greater exodus because of the hurricane." Puerto Rico is a US territory. Though Puerto Ricans are US citizens with US passports, they can only vote in presidential primaries. If they live on the island, they cannot vote in US presidential elections. If they are living on the mainland, they can register to vote including for president, in whichever state they live. Of the five million Puerto Ricans living in the United States mainland according to US Census figures for 2015, one million reside in Florida. Most have come since 2006 because of the financial crisis on the island, which went bankrupt with a $ 74 billion debt. And the Puerto Ricans, traditionally Democrats, will be arriving en masse to a state that gave the presidency to the Republican Trump. "Definitely an influx of Puerto Ricans could have a political impact in Florida," in that regard, says Duany. "And I think they could have an economic impact also in terms of businesses and businesses that have been created here," he adds. jpegMpeg4-1280x720The new exodus will have a cultural impact, too. They may be Americans, but Puerto Ricans are Hispanic, salsa-dancing, Caribbean, Spanish-speaking and family-oriented. For a long time, northern Florida leaned rural, conservative and white. Now it is likely to help Florida become more Hispanic, and lean more Democratic. "Puigdemont and his team are solely responsible for all that has happened today and for all that can happen if they do not put an end to this farce," Madrid's representative inCatalonia Enric Millo told a news conference. Catalonia's emergency services said they had treated 38 people hurt during a police crackdown at polling stations, Most had suffered bruises, dizziness and anxiety attacks. Spain's interior ministry said 11 police officers were injured in clashes with protesters. Demonstrators had thrown rocks at police, it added in a Twitter message. Police fired rubber bullets in Barcelona as they charged protesters who wanted to vote in the independence vote which was banned by Spain's central government and the courts, witnesses told AFP. Millo, however, said police officers were acting with "proportionality". He also said Catalonia's regional police force had sought help from national police to block voting from happening at 233 polling stations. "This is a gesture than honours them," Millo said, just hours after he complained that Catalan regional police were not doing anything to prevent polling stations from opening. Spain's Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido also urged Catalan authorities "to stop this genuine madness", adding that officers from the national force and the Guardia Civil had "neutralised" 70 polling stations. The Catalan government says it had prepared just over 2,300 polling stations for the vote. The Spanish government had said on Saturday that it had already sealed more than half of them. Zoido also said the computer system which Catalan authorities say they have set up to prevent people from voting twice in the referendum "does not work". Police told journalists that "one suspect is down". About 12 people are also said to be in critical condition. The three-day country music concert, which reportedly attracted 30,000 attendees, held over the weekend. Reports say the sound of gunshots rented the air as Jason Aldean, one of the final performers, was playing. The Associated Press cited witnesses who said they could see muzzle flashes coming from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino's high floors and described the sound of automatic gunfire. Get help to quit smoking this Stoptober Related links Register for your newsletter from: Putneysw15.com & Wandsworthsw18.com Now in its fifth year, Stoptober supports smokers across England to quit, with support and tips delivered straight to your inbox, via an app or on Facebook. Its based on research that shows if you can stop smoking for 28 days, you are five times more likely to stay smokefree for good. So far more than a million people have taken up the Stoptober challenge. Wandsworth Council provides a free Stop Smoking service offering confidential face-to-face advice and support from specialist advisors, as well as free stop smoking materials and medication such as Nicotine Replacement Therapy. The number of people in Wandsworth who smoke has dropped from a fifth of residents in 2011 to around 14.6 per cent now, but smoking is still the single biggest cause of preventable death. Two-thirds of smokers want to quit. Wandsworths smokers can now also call a new telephone support service to get expert advice on how they can quit for good. The new pan-London service will complement the existing service by offering a telephone service for residents who are unable to commit to the four- to eight-week, face-to-face council programme. When Wandsworth smokers call the free number 0300 123 1044 to access the stop smoking information they will be offered a series of individual regular phone calls from a specialist advisor. The councils health spokesman Cllr Paul Ellis said: Giving up smoking is the single best thing you can do to improve your health, so we would urge smokers to sign up for Stoptober and take the 28 day pledge. We know giving up isnt easy, but our stop smoking service can advise you on the right products to use and offer you regular support and information. For those not able to commit to face-to-face help, the new telephone support line will help you quickly and easily get the support you need to quit. Sign up for Stoptober To access the personalised Stop Smoking Service to support you give up any tobacco product, including cigarettes and e-cigarettes, visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/stopsmoking, email stopsmoking.team@wandsworth.gov.uk or call 0800 389 7921. To access the new pan-London service you can ring the new helpline 9.00am to 8.00pm Mon-Fri and 11.00am to 4.00pm Sat-Sun and speak to a trained advisor. Call the helpline on 0300 123 1044 October 1, 2016 At least 50 killed as gunman opens fire at Las Vegas concert By SALLY HO and REGINA GARCIA CANO, Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) A gunman perched high on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas Strip casino unleashed a shower of bullets down on an outdoor country music festival below, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 200 as tens of thousands of frantic concert-goers screamed and ran for their lives, officials said Monday. It was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing Sunday night at the end of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival when the gunman opened fire across the street from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. SWAT teams quickly descended on the concert and the casino, and officers used explosives to get into the hotel room where the suspect was inside, authorities said. The gunman died at the scene and was identified by Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo as Stephen Paddock. A motive as not immediately known. Aldean was in the middle of a song when the shots came rapidly: Pop-pop-pop-pop. Video of the shooting then showed Aldean stopping and the crowd getting quiet as if they were unsure of what had just happened. The gunman paused and then fired another volley of muzzle flashes from the gold glass casino as more victims fell to the ground while others fled in panic. Some said they hid behind concession stands and other crawled under parked cars. Kodiak Yazzie, 36, said the music stopped temporarily when the first shots began and the tune even started up again before the second round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," Yazzie said. "You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash- flash- flash- flash." Thousands in the crowd fled as the bullets ran rampant. Monique Dumas from British Columbia, Canada, said she was at the concert, six rows from the front of the stage when she thought she heard a bottle breaking, and then a burst of popping sounds that may have been fireworks. She said as she made her way out, it was "organized chaos" as everyone fled. "It took four to five minutes and all that time there was gunfire." In addition to Paddock, police said they located a woman who may have been his roommate Marilou Danley, 62. Lombardo said they believe this was a "lone wolf" attack. "It's a devastating time," Lombardo said. Police shut down the usually busy Las Vegas Boulevard and authorities across the state and federal ranks converged onto the scene as dozens of ambulances ferried those struck by gunfire. Nearby Interstate 15 and flights at McCarran International Airport were also halted. Hospital emergency rooms were jammed with victims delivered by ambulance. Others loaded the wounded into their cars and drove them to hospitals. Jose Baggett, 31, of Las Vegas, said he and a friend were in the lobby of the Luxor hotel-casino directly north of the festival when people began to run, almost like in a stampede. He said people were crying and as he and his friend started walking away minutes later, they encountered police checkpoints where officers were carrying shotguns and assault rifles. "There were armored personnel vehicles, SWAT vehicles, ambulances, and at least a half-mile of police cars," Baggett said. Among those killed were two off-duty police officers who were attending the concert and two other on-duty officers were wounded, including one in critical condition, police said. Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and said the shooting was "beyond horrific." "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," Aldean said. The shooting at the sold-out Route 91 Harvest festival was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Forty-nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 2016. Sunday's shooting came more than four months after a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. Almost 90 people were killed by gunmen inspired by Islamic State at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris during a performance by Eagles of Death Metal in November 2015. A registered nurse from Tennessee who died shielding his wife, a doctor, from gunfire. The only son of a Canadian couple who is now left childless. A popular secretary at a New Mexico High School. All were among the at least 58 people killed in the mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas, a tragedy that has left behind loved ones in many parts of the country and world. Details began to emerge Monday about some of those slain and the hundreds more who were injured after a gunman opened fire on festivalgoers. ___ Commercial fisherman Adrian Murfitt, 35, of Anchorage, Alaska, was also among the slain, a family member said Monday. His sister, Shannon Gothard, said the family heard from one of Murfitt's friends who was with him when he died though they haven't received official confirmation about his death. Asked if the family was holding out hope that he made it after all, she said, "No. No." Gothard described her brother as a man with a big hearty laugh, a former competitive hockey player who still dabbled in the game. "His whole life was always around hockey," she said. After graduating from high school, he became a fisherman, picking up odd jobs in the offseason. He had just come off an extremely successful fishing season when he made the trip to Las Vegas with some good friends, Gothard said. Her brother "was happy to pay some things off and had made some really good money and decided to go out and celebrate and go to the concert and treat himself to something nice and fun," she said. ___ Sonny Melton, a registered nurse, died in the shooting, according to The Henry County Medical Center in Paris, Tennessee, where he worked. His wife, Dr. Heather Melton, an orthopedic surgeon who was with him when shots were fired, survived, the medical center said. Heather Melton told WZTV in Nashville, Tennessee that her husband "saved my life and lost his." She says her husband was the most kind-hearted, loving man she ever met. Friend Jeremy Butler told the Paris (Tennessee) Post-Intelligencer that Melton was shielding Heather Melton from gunfire when he was fatally shot. ___ Real estate agent and father of three older children Rob McIntosh, 52, of North Pole, Alaska, was near the front of the stage with friends when the shooting began, according to friend and real estate broker Mike Vansickle. He was hit repeatedly but survived, Vansickle said. "From just getting off the phone with the family, he took three bullets to his body," said Vansickle. "He just came out of surgery, and he's going to make it." In a personal note on his real estate website, McIntosh describes himself as enjoying the outdoors in Alaska, where he also operates a business called Santa's Fireworks. "Whether I'm fishing, snow machining, hunting, steel welding or building my own home or cabin; I stay active all year round," McIntosh wrote. Vansickle described McIntosh as being strong. "He's been though lots of adversity," said Vansickle. "He'll get through all this and come out with some stories to tell." ___ Lisa Romero, a high school secretary from Gallup, New Mexico, was killed during Sunday night's attack in Las Vegas, the Gallup-McKinley County Schools announced Monday. District officials confirmed to reporters on Monday that Romero, 48, died sometime after a 64-year-old man fired multiple weapons. "Last night during the mass shooting in Las Vegas we lost one of our staff members," Mike Hyatt, interim superintendent for Gallup-McKinley County Public Schools, wrote to employees. "Lisa Romero, discipline secretary at Miyamura (High School), was a victim in the shooting. Our prayers go out to her family during this tragic time." She was an "incredible loving and sincere friend, mentor and advocate for students," Hyatt said. Survivors included Romero-Muniz's husband, children and grandchildren, Hyatt said. Officials announced a candlelight vigil in honor of Romero-Muniz set for Monday night. ___ Sgt. Jeff Higbee of the police department of the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario said a four-year veteran of the force was shot in the head at the concert. Officer Michael Gracia and his girlfriend, who have a baby, were both hit by gunfire, Higbee said. Her injuries are not life threatening, Higbee said. He did not have more details. "He's always real personable, upbeat, a real friendly guy," Higbee said. __ Rachael Parker, a police records technician, was shot and ultimately died in the hospital, the Manhattan Beach Police Department said. Parker was among four department employees who were attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival while off-duty. Another suffered minor injuries. "She was employed with the Manhattan Beach Police Department for 10 years and will be greatly missed," the department said in a statement. ___ Nick Robone, an assistant hockey coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was shot in the chest, the school said. The Rebels men's ice hockey team said in a statement Monday that Robone had surgery to remove a bullet from his chest. General Manager Zee Khan says Robone is breathing with help from a ventilator and is in stable condition. The team says the bullet missed Robone's lung, and he is expected to fully recover. The team says he will be hospitalized "for the near future." ___ At least two Canadians are among the dead. Mechanic's apprentice Jordan McIldoon, 23, of Maple Ridge, British Columbia was among those slain, according to CBC News. "We only had one child," Al and Angela McIldoon, told the CBC. "We just don't know what to do." The couple says their son was attending the music festival with his girlfriend. British Columbia Premier John Horgan offered condolences and says flags will be dropped to half-mast on the province's Parliament buildings and on government buildings in Maple Ridge. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said Tuesday Jessica Klymchuk, a 28-year-old Albertan, also was among those who died. Notley expressed sympathy for the loss. Klymchuk worked as an educational assistant, librarian and bus driver at St. Stephen's School in Valleyview. In a statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced the "senseless and cowardly act of violence." ___ Sandy Casey, a middle school special education teacher from Manhattan Beach, California, was killed in Sunday night's attack, the school district said. "This is unbelievably tragic and sad," Mike Matthews, superintendent of the Manhattan Beach School District, wrote in a Monday morning letter to the district. "This loss is impacting many of our staff members deeply." Casey is a 2004 alumna of the College of St. Joseph in Rutland, Vermont, according to a Facebook post in the college's alumni page. ___ Kristin Babik, a law student at the University of Florida in Las Vegas for an internship at the Clark County district attorney's office, suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung in the shooting, the school said. "Kristin is on bed rest for now," an email from the law school's dean said. "We look forward to welcoming her back to Gainesville as soon as she recovers." ___ Among the injured were two off-duty personnel from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, the agency confirmed. Both were transported to a local hospital after being hit by gunfire. One remains in critical condition and the other is in stable condition, the department said in a statement. No names or details on their positions at the department were being released at this time. I worry much of the world is in the process of passing America by, and most of us are either unaware or are resigned to our fate. During recent years, I have taught American government for six-week periods at Fudan University in Shanghai, one of their top schools. This past week, I hosted one of my former students in Chicago and rural Stark County before his resuming graduate studies at Stanford. Xudong Yang, 22, is bright as a new penny, outgoing and has a great sense of humor. He has been working his tail off to succeed since grammar school. He told me he worked morning through evening and had no time for outside, extracurricular activities. Many, many Chinese young people are doing the same, strongly encouraged, even pushed, by their parents. They are hungry for success, and the things we take for granted. Xudong told me he attended an elite high school for seven classroom hours per day, 230 days per year (half-days on Saturday). In Illinois and most states, students are in school about six hours per day for 175 or so days. I figure my former student spent the equivalent of 1.6 more years in high school, based on classroom time, than does the typical American student. You think he didnt learn more math than most American students? While in Chicago, Xudong asked if we might visit the University of Chicago, a school right up there with Stanford (the Chinese are captivated by top rank and status). Walking among the English gothic buildings on the handsome campus, we saw a lot of Asian students; rarely did we see blacks or Latinos walking between classes. Xudong reports from his friends there are so many Chinese at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign whole dorms are occupied by his countrymen and countrywomen. Based on test scores, many top American colleges could fill their whole incoming classes with Asian students. Soon, top Chinese students might prefer to stay at home for their higher educations. China is pouring huge money into new and better campuses, laboratories and top-flight faculty. Between 1998 and 2012, Chinese enrollment in higher education increased from 6 million to 24 million, compared with 20 million college students in the U.S. in 2017. All this while in the U.S., especially in the Midwest, we are disinvesting in higher education. The Washington Monthly magazine is running a major piece about the looming decline of the public research university, especially the flagships in Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio -- and Illinois. The land grant public universities established by Congress and Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War became founts of cutting-edge scientific, engineering and medical advances. I have mentioned before how the Internet web browser basically was created at the University of Illinois, just one of countless examples from our public research universities. According to Jon Marcus, of Washington Monthly, state cutbacks at our Midwestern research universities have allowed elite universities on both coasts, as well as in Texas, to poach our star faculty, their multimillion-dollar labs and bright grad students. At the same time, in a hypercompetitive academic environment, the best-funded universities elsewhere say to emerging PhDs from top schools, Tsk-tsk; you dont want to go to Illinois or Wisconsin. They are cutting funding; their states dont care about their universities, you know. I am just getting into the 2016 book, The Complacent Class, by economist Tyler Cowen. He said Americans overall, up and down the economic ladder, have lost our dynamism. I would say hunger, as in, because tomorrow will be pretty much similar to today, which was OK, why worry; why hustle? Maybe Cowen and I are wrong. Two decades ago, many thought Japan would be the world-beater, but that country has stalled since. And Japan, where population is shrinking, has less than half the population of the US. China, and India, are different. Together those countries have about eight times our population. They have many more honor students than we have students! What if a serious presidential candidate declared he or she would require us to go to school year-round (to reduce significant learning loss) and maybe longer each day and year? And that the candidate would raise our taxes to pay for it? I expect he or she would be hooted off the speakers platform. What to do? In addition to investing more, rather than less, in education at all levels, I think the U.S .must attract the absolutely best and brightest from wherever in the world, to create and discover right here. We might be in decline, yet we still offer a very attractive setting in which to achieve, for the benefit of all of us. Objectives of the proposal include relieving congestion on the busiest routes, encouraging private railways to expand and creating an express east-west rail freight corridor. Around 200 infrastructure projects are covered by the proposal. Major schemes include the Bruttener tunnel between Zurich/Winterthur and expansion of the station at Zurich-Stadelhofen, which have a combined cost of SFr 4bn, and the SFr 2.2bn second phase of the Zimmerberg base tunnel. Also on the list are expansion of the line south of the Jura between Yverdon, Lausanne and Geneva, and modernisation of the Neuchatel - La-Chaux-de-Fonds line. In addition, a number of mainly medium-sized stations will be upgraded to accommodate higher passenger numbers and provide barrier-free access for passengers with reduced mobility. With these improvements, a 15-minute frequency can be provided between Zurich and Berne, and a half-hourly service on other busy routes such as Basel - Biel, Berne - Interlaken and Lucerne - Engelberg. Freight will also benefit with additional tracks to relieve congestion and new terminals and marshalling yards to alleviate bottlenecks and improve productivity. However, some projects, seen by some interest groups as equally important, will have to wait until the next phase of investment. These include completion of track-doubling in the Lotschberg base tunnel, the proposed cross-city link in Basle, and the reconstruction of the terminus at Lucerne as a through station. The programme will be financed through the Swiss Rail Infrastructure Fund (BIF). An alternative proposal to spend SFr 7bn by 2030 was rejected by the federal council on the grounds that it would only solve some of the existing and foreseeable bottlenecks in system, and was deemed significantly less effective than the SFr 11.5bn variant decided on. The councils proposal now enters the consultation stage and is due to be put before parliament at the end of 2018. In 2008 Polish oil company Orlen considered rerouting freight from its refinery at Mazeikiai in northwest Lithuania to the Latvian port of Ventspils by using the services of another operator. However, in October 2008 LG dismantled a 19km section of the line from Mazeikiai to Renge in Latvia, forcing Orlen to use the much longer route via Joniskis to reach Latvia. The ECs investigation found that these actions hindered competition by preventing a major customer of LG from using the services of another rail operator. The EC also says LG failed to show any objective justification for the removal of the track, which has still not been restored. This deemed to be in breach of Article 102 on the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits the abuse of a dominant market position. LG used its control over the national rail infrastructure to penalise competitors in the rail transport sector, says EU competition commissioner Mrs Margrethe Vestager. The European Union needs a well-functioning rail freight market. It is unacceptable and unprecedented that a company dismantles public rail infrastructure to protect itself from competition." Source: European Commission The vehicles are being procured as part of the City Center Connector project, which will link the existing South Lake Union and First Hill Streetcar lines via 1st Avenue and Stewart Street in the city centre. The bidirectional low-floor LRVs will be equipped with an onboard energy storage system supplied by CAF Power & Automation. The contract includes the provision of spare parts, special tools and testing equipment. Delivery of the new catenary-free LRVs will enable Seattle to dispense with three of the Inkeon Trio trams currently used on the South Lake Union line. In addition to the order from Seattle, Kansas City Transport Authority has approved the purchase of two additional Urbos LRVs to supplement the fleet of four vehicles already in operation on the KC Streetcar line. The order is worth around $US 10m and expands the fleet to provide additional capacity on the 3.5km line from River Market to Union Station, which opened in May 2016. For detailed data on LRV orders around the globe subscribe to IRJ Pro. The Federal Railroad Administration has chosen a preferred corridor for a proposed high speed rail line connecting Chattanooga, Tenn., and Atlanta. The FRAs decision comes as part of the Tier I combined Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision (FEIS/ROD) for the High-Speed Ground Transportation (HSGT) project, and marks the completion of the Tier I environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This project will benefit both Atlanta and Chattanooga with more efficient transportation, while also providing rail access to the rural communities in the region, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao, in a statement. This has been a long time in the making and represents a response to numerous transportation needs along the I-75 corridor. The HSGT project would run approximately 120 miles along Interstate 75 and provide what FRA terms a competitive and more reliable transportation choice for people traveling between Atlanta and Chattanooga. The corridor includes eight rail stations and is estimated to take 88 minutes of travel time from the first to last station. The route would begin on the east side of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (HJAIA) at the proposed HJAIA/Southern Crescent Station and end at a proposed downtown Chattanooga station. This combined FEIS and ROD is a product of nine years work from FRA and its state partners, said FRA Deputy Administrator Heath Hall. The administration is working diligently to remove barriers which slow down the environmental process, so that people can get to work rebuilding the nations infrastructure. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) studied the corridor as part of that states 1997 Intercity Rail Plan; GDOT and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) later identified 15 corridors between Atlanta and Chattanooga. A screening process ultimately narrowed down three corridors for the FEIS. The FEIS/ROD provides information on train technology, maximum operating speeds and station location options. However, decisions on these issues, as well as the exact alignment within the preferred corridor, will be part of a Tier II NEPA study, if additional funding is secured. Below: The Georgia Department of Transportations corridor map. Welcome to Railway Gazette. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of these cookies. You can learn more about the cookies we use here. OK A 400-page report submitted Sept. 22 by Argentine police investigators to that nations courts found what many people instinctively knew: that special prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered in January 2015, and that he did not commit suicide the day before he was to present evidence to the Argentine Congress that then-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner had attempted to cover up Irans role in the countrys largest terrorist attack in history. While the police report lays to rest many questions, important ones remain in the broader case, which is far from closed and which the courts will have to determine. The reports findings open the door to address not only who killed Nisman, but at whose behest and why. After all, many observers believe it was not his body that was the target, but the body of evidence he exposed about Irans role in terrorism in the Western Hemisphere, and about Kirchners alleged attempt to cover up Irans part in the July 18, 1994 bombing of the AMIA, a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. The report came as INTERPOLs General Assembly convened in China. Nismans exhaustive investigation found that senior Iranian officials had planned and coordinated the bombing of the AMIA. In 2007, INTERPOL issued red notices the equivalent of arrest warrants -- for the Iranian officials. Iran has repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempted various schemes to get the red notices lifted. In August of this year, at the request of the Argentine government, sources tell me that INTERPOL extended five notices that were due to expire in late 2017. Because INTERPOL did not announce it, the extension until 2022 received little attention but is significant. The notices are key to holding accountable those who planned and coordinated the AMIA bombing, which killed 85 Argentinians and injured hundreds more. In 2015, audio recordings from 2012 surfaced of then-foreign minister Hector Timerman acknowledging that the bomb had been placed by Iran. Other recent developments provide a backdrop for next steps in the Nisman murder case, the AMIA bombing investigation itself and Nismans case alleging the coverup. During court testimony in August, Roberto Ahuad, Argentinas ambassador to Syria under Kirchner, revealed that Timerman had made a secret trip to Damascus in 2011 and reportedly met with Ali Akbar Salehi, then Irans foreign minister and now head of Irans nuclear organization. Timerman denied the meeting took place. Ahuad testified that Timerman traveled from the military sector of the Damascus airport in a private plane supplied by Bashar al-Assads Syrian government. The goal, Ahuad believed, was to iron out secret terms of what became the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Iran and Argentina. Based on thousands of wiretaps and other evidence, Nisman asserted the MOUs ultimate aim was increased bilateral trade in exchange for immunity for the Iranian red notice holders and others implicated in the attack. In September, Federal Judge Claudio Bonadio unified two criminal cases: one Nisman filed against Kirchner and 13 others -- days before he was assassinated -- alleging their involvement in a coverup of Irans role in the AMIA bombing; and a treason case brought against the former president in 2016 for these activities. Bonadio may call Kirchner to court by the end of this month. If this happens, it would take place just weeks before Argentinas general elections on Oct. 22, when the former president is standing for election to the Senate -- some say to seek immunity from prosecution in several cases against her. Establishing that Nisman was murdered according to the police report, by two people who drugged and beat him and then tried to make the crime scene look like a suicide is important. Why did Kirchner, shortly after Nisman was found dead, rush to announce that his death was a suicide, then announce that it was part of a gay lovers spat, and finally, that it was a murder aimed at framing her? Who had motive and the means to cover up the murder? Did Iran have anything to do with it? Now that U.S. policy is to no longer ignore Irans malign activities in order not to endanger the nuclear deal struck under President Obama, will this new development encourage people with information to come forward? Will Hector Timerman finally come clean? Will Argentinas flawed justice system get to the bottom of these cases? Among other unanswered questions are how Argentinas justice system will address the alleged role of Luis DElia, Fernando Esteche, and Jorge Khalil, who, based on audiotapes, were involved in Kirchners Iran-Argentina back-channel talks aimed at swapping increased trade for immunity for the Iranian officials. If the evidence points to her complicity, will Kirchner be brought to justice? And, finally, will Iran the worlds foremost state sponsor of terrorism be held accountable for its apparent role in the murder of 85 Argentinians, not to mention other acts of terrorism around the world? Property details: LAND FOR SALE IN LUCERNE CALIFORNIA! Would you like to own property in Lake County California? Does residential land in Lucerne, CA interest you? Here is your opportunity to purchase a beautifully wooded lot for a fraction of market value. Known as the "Bass Capital of the West." Clear Lake supports large populations of bass, crappie, bluegill, carp and catfish. Located along Spur Trl., the lot itself measures approximately 5,802 square feet. Please feel free to drive out and visit the property ... Price: $ 950 Seller State of Residence: Wisconsin State/Province: California Zip/Postal Code: 95458 City: Lucerne Zoning: Residential Type: Homesite, Lot Property Address: 6070 Spur Trl. Location: 532**, Milwaukee, Wisconsin You will be redirected to eBay Nearby 6070 Spur Trl. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate , We're sorry, this article is not currently available WISeKey Reports Record Q3 2017 Consolidated Preliminary Revenue of Approximately $14.4 Million due to Strong demand for Cybersecurity SaaS and Semiconductors IoT Products Q3 2017 Preliminary Revenue for the Semiconductor IoT Segment and Cybersecurity SaaS Segment was Approximately $8.4 Million and $6.0 Million, Respectively Zug, Switzerland - October 2, 2017 - WISeKey International Holding Ltd ("WISeKey") (SIX: WIHN), a provider of Cybersecurity and IoT solutions, today announced that its consolidated preliminary revenue for the 3 month-period ending September 30, 2017 ("Q3 2017") is expected to be approximately $14.4 million (unaudited), due primarily due to strong demand for the company's IoT Technology and Cybersecurity SaaS products, and a larger client base resulting from strong synergies between these two main verticals. In Q3 2017, the Semiconductor IoT Segment generated revenue of approximately $8.4 million while revenue from the Cybersecurity SaaS Segment was $6.0 million. By way of comparison, revenue for the first six months of 2017 ("H1 2017") was $21.2 million Carlos Moreira, Chief Executive Officer of WISeKey, noted, "Q3 2017 was another strong quarter for WISeKey as we continued to deliver exceptional results. H1 2017 consolidated revenue of $21.2 million was an increase of over 1500% as compared to H1 2016 due to the successful integration of the recently acquired IoT and Cybersecurity assets. Our consolidated revenue for the first nine months of 2017 is expected to be approximately $35.6 million. Thus, we are confirming our previously announced full year 2017 revenue guidance of $50.0 million, which includes revenue generated by the QuoVadis assets from April 3, 2017 onwards. On a pro forma basis, WISeKey projects revenue of approximately $54.0 million for the year ending December 31, 2017." The vertical integration of WISeKey's unique Root of Trust and Identity technology with VaultIC's hardware & software, system certification, provisioning and up to management services, created the first ever comprehensive trusted end-to-end cybersecurity platform for people and objects (IoT) and gave WISeKey the unique ability to deliver the most secure Platform to its customers. WISeKey is now generating strong sales in new areas such as chip-based IoT, anti-counterfeiting, brand protection, EMV payment card and secure access to building IT equipment. WISeKey has seen a strong demand across this combined product portfolio as the market for IoT chips associated with PKI and Cybersecurity is increasing globally. We experienced substantial revenue growth with the combination of our IoT and Cybersecurity technologies in new markets, such as the smart automobile with our Secure Connected car technology. Q3 2017 results reflect the increased trust customers are placing in the WISeKey Cybersecurity SaaS and Semiconductor IoT segments. Currently, over 3500 organizations ranging from large multi-nationals, to small- and medium-size businesses, to non-profits all over the world are using the WISeKey Platform to secure their digital assets. The integration of chips, smart metering and identification token technology provides us with substantial synergistic cross-selling opportunities for several clients, including world leaders in IT infrastructure. The IoT revenue generated by WISeKey is premium revenue, as many of our competitors that have invested in similar projects have yet to derive any significant revenue from their solutions. Business models are changing from transactional to collaborative, transactions are evolving from simple one-off payments to complex variants of usage-based billing. WISeKey's success is based on our clear vision and business strategy that allows us to generate revenue from IoT devices, cybersecurity services, data and, more importantly, our Trusted Ecosystem and Vertical Platform. While the IoT security landscape is still evolving and the IoT adoption is expected to revolutionize how enterprises do business, early movers such as WISeKey stand to gain substantial market share, since Root of Trust ("RoT") is required for secure communication over IoT. WISeKey's unique RoT serves as a common trust anchor, which is recognized by operating systems (OS) and backed by multiple independent accreditations and IoT applications to ensure the authenticity, confidentiality and integrity of on-line transactions. We believe these features will be vital in creating significant business opportunities with various governments, international bodies, and industrial entities which are wary of foreign government oversight and centralization of data on servers outside their jurisdiction. Multinational corporations that need to comply with International Standards on the deployment of their IoT infrastructural are ideal candidates for the WISeKey Trust Model. Amidst the threat of increasingly sophisticated data and online identity thefts, WISeKey's robust solutions ensure data protection for individuals, enterprises, IoT objects and government organizations. Mr. Moreira, concluded, "Since early 2016, WISeKey has been increasing its focus on the IoT segment, and we are currently offering various solutions (both hardware and software) supporting customers using IoT-based systems. At the same time, we are working on a future wave of WISeKey Cybersecurity IoT Technologies, extended with blockchain and Artificial Intelligence." About WISeKey: WISeKey (SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying via a Virtual Platform large scale digital identity ecosystems. WISeKey's Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust ("RoT") and IoT Microchips provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com. To receive WISeKey's latest news, subscribe to our Newsletter or visit the WISeKey Investors Corner. Press and investor contacts: WISeKey International Holding Ltd Company Contact: Carlos Moreira Chairman & CEO Tel: +41 22 594 3000 info@wisekey.com WISeKey Investor Relations (US) Contact: Lena Cati The Equity Group Inc. Tel: +1 212 836-9611 lcati@equityny.com Disclaimer: This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey. A 21-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by a group of men belonging to the upper caste Patel community for attending a garba event in Gujarats Anand district in the early hours on Sunday, police said. The incident took place around 4 am. Jayesh Solanki, cousin Prakash Solanki and two other Dalit men were sitting near a house adjacent to a temple in Bhadrania village when a person made derogatory remarks about their caste, police said quoting a complaint filed in connection with the incident. The accused said Dalits do not have any right to watch garba. He made casteist remarks and asked some men to come to the spot, an officer at the Bhadran police station said. The upper caste men allegedly thrashed the Dalits and banged Jayeshs head against a wall, the officer said. Jayesh was rushed to a hospital in Karamsad, where doctors declared him brought dead in the morning. We have registered an FIR under IPC sections related to murder and the Prevention of Atrocities Act against eight men, the official said. Deputy SP (SC/ST cell) A M Patel said it did not appear to be a pre-planned attack. Jayesh was killed in the heat of the moment, as there was no rivalry between him and the accused. We are probing the case from all angles. The accused will be arrested soon, the officer said. Recently, two Dalit men of a village near Gandhinagar were allegedly thrashed by members of the Rajput community for sporting a moustache in separate incidents, on September 25 and 29. The state had witnessed massive protests in July last year over the brutal thrashing of four Dalit men at a village in Una town. Image used for representational purposes only. United States President Donald Trump has warned his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that negotiations with North Korea were a 'waste of time' and said he 'won't fail' on a front where three of his predecessors -- Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama failed. 'I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man. Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!' Trump said in a series of tweets. 'Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail,' Trump said. Trump had earlier also referred to the North Korean leader as 'Rocket Man'. In his tweets, Trump went public in differing with Tillerson on having talks with North Korea. Tillerson who is in China had said that the US was in direct communication with North Korea as part of their effort to reduce tension. "The whole situation is a bit overheated right now. If North Korea would stop firing its missiles, that would calm things down a lot," Tillerson had said on Saturday. Soon his spokesperson Heather Nauert said North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearisation. In the past few weeks, Trump has said that he is open to military option, even though it is not his preferred choice. Following Trump's tweets, mainstream American media prominently displayed the differences between the president and his secretary of state. 'Trump undercuts Tillerson', said a headline by The Washington Post. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that 'President Trump seemed to undercut Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, belittling the prospect of a diplomatic resolution to the crisis with North Korea'. 'Trump rejects dialogue with North Korea,' reported The Wall Street Journal. In an interview to NBC News, Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee favoured stepping up against North Korea. "I mean, we should step it up. I mean, you know, we're moving to a place where we're going to end up with a binary choice soon," he said. "I don't think we're cornering ourselves. But if we don't ramp up the diplomatic side, it's possible that we end up cornered," he added. A nine-year-old boy and a teenage girl were on Monday killed while nine other civilians injured as Pakistani troops opened fire and lobbed mortars at dozens of villages and posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Indian troops guarding the border effectively retaliated, a police spokesman said. The spokesman said Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked and heavy firing and shelling from across the border in Dhigwar, Kerni and Shahpur sectors around 6.50 am. A nine-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl were killed and nine other civilians were injured in the Pakistani firing targeting different villages, he said. The deceased have been identified as Asrar Ahmad of Mohallha Qasba and Yasmeen Akhtar of Kerma village of Dighwar. The condition of three of the injured was stated to be critical. The critically injured persons were referred to the Government Medical College Hospital for specialised treatment, the spokesman said. The firing and shelling by Pakistan sparked panic among border residents. The year 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Till August 1, there were 285 violations by Pakistani forces while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, according to army figures. Image used for representational purposes. Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters Mayhem and panic gripped a country music festival in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire on revellers. IMAGE: People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after a gunman opened fire, shooting rounds and rounds of ammunition at the helpless revellers. Photograph: David Becker/Getty Images A gunman in a high-rise hotel opened fire on a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip late Sunday, killing 58 and injuring 515 people in one of the worst mass shootings in modern United States history. Police say the shooter was 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, a resident of nearby Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on the festival taking place at Las Vegas Village from a room across the street in the Mandalay Bay Hotel at 10:08 pm. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said that his officers breached Paddock's room on the 32nd floor and found Paddock dead inside, among an 'arsenal' of 10 firearms. Lombardo said that Paddock shot himself dead. IMAGE: People take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photograph: David Becker/Getty Images The carnage surpassed the death toll of 49 people at an Orlando nightclub when a gunman believed inspired by the Islamic State opened fire in June 2016. On Sunday, around 10 pm local time, Paddock fired numerous rounds while revellers were listening to country musician Jason Aldean during the Route 91 Harvest festival. Bursts of gunshots continued even as Aldean fled the stage and his music came to a halt. IMAGE: Las Vegas Metro Police officers work near the concert venue after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas. Photograph: Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus/Reuters Off-duty officer killed At least one off-duty police officer was among those killed after a gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas music festival. The police department in Bakersfield, California, said that a group of its officers were at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival and that one received non life-threatening injuries. Screaming concertgoers ran for their lives, tripping over each other while trying to escape -- not knowing where the gunfire was coming from, according to horrific footage of the attack. Police rushed to the hotel and searched floor-by-floor before cornering the suspected shooter in a room on the 32nd floor. Officers blasted open the door and found the gunman dead. Police believe Paddock, a local resident, was a lone wolf attacker. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo did not give further details, however, on Paddocks background or possible motives. We have no idea what his belief system was, Lombardo said. Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor and the scene is static. IMAGE: People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard. Photograph: David Becker/Getty Images A woman who was seen sitting in the suspects car before the incident and sought as a person of interest has been located, Lombardo said. He identified her as Marilou Danley, who is Asian and is 4 feet and 11 inches tall. The gunman was previously known to local police for past run-ins with law enforcement, according to people familiar with the investigation. Recordings of the attack suggest the suspect used an automatic weapon. IMAGE: Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue after the mass shooting. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Later, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the shooting. In a statement through its Amaq news agency, it claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying that the attacker had converted to Islam a few months ago. "The Las Vegas attack was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried it out in response to calls to target states of the coalition," the group's news agency Amaq said in reference to the US-led coalition fighting the group in the Middle East. However, US officials said that there was no evidence the shooter was linked to the group. Eye-witness accounts IMAGE: People tend to the wounded after a gunman opened fire at the music festival, sending concertgoers into a tizzy. Photograph: David Becker/Getty Images Speaking on a bus laid on to transport concert goers away from the scene, Lisa Price, 43, and Nancy Stover, 38, of Los Angeles said: People were lying on the ground -- I was like get up, youre going to get trodden on. IMAGE: Hundreds of people fled the scene at the sound of automatic gunfire.It is still unknown as to the number of attackers. Photograph: David Becker/Getty Images We just heard like pop, pop, pop, pop and started walking - it was happening over and over again. It was at least 20 shots. Enough for us to start walking, then running and panicking. Luckily, we seemed to be further away - we were at the front of the concert near the stage. It seemed to be coming from the back. We were running to try to help people and they were coming from that direction. Derek and Karen Bernard, from Los Angeles, California, were in town for the Route 91 country festival and were close to the stage when the shooting began. We were inside, said sales manager Derek, 53. All of a sudden, we saw the band disappearing - they were like running off the stage. IMAGE: The Las Vegas police has shut down the Strip following the shooting and have asked people to stay indoors. Photograph: David Becker/Getty Images We were off to the left side of the stage, we were running off there and there were staff security there. There was a woman bleeding thats when we realised it was real shots. She just fell. She was shot. There was a lot of blood. It was so many - it sounded like 4th of July - just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. So many. I didnt think it was real because I couldnt see or feel anything. I was so panicked. IMAGE: A man lays on top of a woman as others flee the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after a active shooter was reported. Photograph: David Becker/Getty Images Another witness said he was in the room next to the gunman when he opened fire. I was in room 135 and I heard over the police scanner that the shooting came from room 137, said the man, who asked not to be named. IMAGE: Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the Route 91 Harvest Country music festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest. Photograph: David Becker/Getty Images It was non-stop, I would say well over 100 rounds. We hit the floor and took cover. I called the front desk and she was remarkably calm and said she was aware of the situation and told us to stay in our room. After around 10-15 minutes it just kind of stopped. You could smell the gun powder. Right before we got out I heard an explosion, maybe a flashbang, but windows were blown out. IMAGE: A body is covered with a sheet in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Photograph: Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus/Reuters Trump tweets condolences My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! wrote the US president on Twitter Jagmeet Singh, a 38-year-old Sikh criminal lawyer, was on Monday elected the leader of Canadas New Democratic Party, becoming the first non-white politician to head a major party in the country. Singh, the Ontario provincial lawmaker, was elected on the first ballot to lead the party into the 2019 election against Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberals. IMAGE: Jagmeet Singh, the Ontario provincial lawmaker, was elected on the first ballot to lead the party into the 2019 election against Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus Liberals. Photograph: Mark Blinch/Reuters He won the decisive first-ballot victory over three other candidates by receiving 53.6 per cent of the vote. Thank you, New Democrats. The run for prime minister begins now, he tweeted after the election. Thats why today, Im officially launching my campaign to be the next prime minister of Canada, he added. IMAGE: Singh won the decisive first-ballot victory over three other candidates by receiving 53.6 per cent of the vote. Photograph: Mark Blinch/Reuters Trudeau congratulated Singh and said he looked forward to speaking with him soon and working together for Canadians. Singh, who has penchant for colourful turbans, is the first member of a minority community to lead a major federal political party. He now has the difficult task of rebuilding the party that lost 59 seats in the 2015 election. This race has renewed excitement in our party, Singh said, calling the win an incredibly profound honour. IMAGE: Singh has a penchant for colourful turbans and has received attention for his sharp style. Photograph: Mark Blinch/Reuters The New Democratic Party is currently at the third place in Canadas Parliament, with 44 of 338 seats. The party has never held power. In the 2011 general election, the party made historic gains only to lose almost a million votes -- mostly to Trudeaus Liberals -- four years later. Singh said he would focus on issues of climate change, reconciliation with indigenous peoples, and electoral reform, The Globe and Mail reported. He has received attention for his sharp style. Earlier this year, he told the American magazine how his personal style, which includes brightly coloured turbans and well-cut suits, became part of his political brand. IMAGE: Jagmeet, born in Scarborough, Ontario, worked as a criminal defence lawyer in the Greater Toronto Area before entering politics. Photograph: Mark Blinch/Reuters During the leadership campaign, he raised far more money than his competitors did and he said he believes he can continue that success as leader. Born in Scarborough, Ontario, to immigrant parents from Punjab, Singh grew up in St Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador and Windsor, Ontario. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Western Ontario in 2001 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from York Universitys Osgoode Hall Law School in 2005. He worked as a criminal defence lawyer in the Greater Toronto Area before entering politics. Sikhs account for roughly 1.4 per cent of Canadas population. The countrys defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan is also from the community. English Dutch REGULATED INFORMATION - INSIDE INFORMATION Caplacizumab meets primary endpoint and key secondary endpoints Statistically significant reduction in time to platelet count response, with at any given time patients treated with caplacizumab 50% more likely to achieve platelet count response 74% relative reduction in the percentage of patients with aTTP-related death, a recurrence of aTTP, or at least one major thromboembolic event during the study drug treatment period 67% relative reduction in the percentage of patients with aTTP recurrence during the overall study period No caplacizumab-treated patients had refractory disease Trend to faster normalisation of organ damage markers Safety profile consistent with Phase II TITAN results and mechanism of action Data will be used to drive the registration process for caplacizumab in Europe and the USA Conference call and webcast today at 4pm CET/10am ET GHENT, Belgium, 2 October 2017 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX; OTC: ABYLY] today announced positive topline results from the Phase III HERCULES study with caplacizumab, the Company's anti-von Willebrand factor (vWF) Nanobody being developed for the treatment of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP). Treatment with caplacizumab in addition to standard-of-care resulted in a statistically significant reduction in time to platelet count response (p<0.01), the primary endpoint of the study and a measure of prevention of further microvascular thrombosis. Patients on caplacizumab were 1.5 times more likely to achieve platelet count response at any given time point, compared to patients treated with placebo. The Phase III HERCULES study also met the first two key secondary endpoints. Treatment with caplacizumab resulted in a 74% reduction in the percentage of patients with aTTP-related death, recurrence of aTTP, or at least one major thromboembolic event during study drug treatment (p<0.0001), with recurrences being the driver for achievement of this endpoint. In addition, the proportion of patients with a recurrence of aTTP in the overall study period (including the 28 day follow-up after discontinuation of study drug treatment) was 67% lower in the caplacizumab arm compared to the placebo arm (p<0.001), demonstrating the durability of the treatment effect. Analysis of the third key secondary endpoint showed that no patients treated with caplacizumab were refractory to treatment compared to three patients treated with placebo (p=0.057). The analysis of the fourth key secondary endpoint showed a trend to faster normalisation of the organ damage markers (lactate dehydrogenase, cardiac troponin I and serum creatinine) in patients treated with caplacizumab. Based on the topline data, the safety profile of caplacizumab is consistent with its mechanism of action and the Phase II TITAN study results. The number and nature of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were similar between the treatment groups. Serious TEAEs were more common in the placebo group, driven by the percentage of patients experiencing a recurrence of aTTP. Consistent with the mechanism of action of caplacizumab, the percentage of subjects with any bleeding-related TEAE was higher in the caplacizumab treatment group than in the placebo treatment group (66.2% vs. 49.3%). Most bleeding-related TEAEs were mild or moderate in severity. There were three deaths in the placebo group and none in the caplacizumab group during the study drug treatment period. One patient in the caplacizumab group died in the follow-up period after completing the study drug treatment and this was assessed by the investigator not to be related to study drug. Caplacizumab is wholly-owned by Ablynx and today's reported data will be used to support the registration process for caplacizumab in Europe and the USA. Dr Robert K. Zeldin, Chief Medical Officer at Ablynx, commented: "Patients with aTTP are at risk for significant morbidity and early death. We believe these positive Phase III study results confirm the potential for caplacizumab to address the high unmet medical need in the treatment of aTTP and to have a meaningful impact on the lives of affected patients. We continue to analyse the data and look forward to sharing the results with regulatory authorities and the scientific community." "We thank the study participants and their families as well as the investigators and staff who contributed to this study." Dr Edwin Moses, CEO of Ablynx, commented: "I am delighted by this outcome as it reinforces all our beliefs in the potential for caplacizumab to change the lives of patients affected by aTTP. This is a very important milestone for the Company as it further validates our Nanobody platform and demonstrates our ability to discover and develop medicines that make a real difference for society. These results strengthen our resolve to obtain marketing approval as quickly as possible so that caplacizumab rapidly becomes available to patients suffering from this severe disease for which there is currently no approved drug available." Professor Marie Scully, leading TTP specialist from the University College Hospital in London and Investigator in the HERCULES study commented: "The results of this landmark trial constitute a complete game changer for patients with aTTP. They will revolutionise how we manage the acute phase of the disease, which is when patients are at highest risk for organ damage, recurrence and death." Investor conference call and webcast information Ablynx will host a conference call/webcast today at 4pm CET, 10am ET. The webcast may be accessed by clicking here. To participate in the Q&A, please dial +32 (0)2 620 01 38, using confirmation code 4097559. Shortly thereafter, a replay of the webcast will be available on the Company's website: http://www.ablynx.com/news/events-presentations/. About HERCULES The HERCULES study recruited 145 patients and is the largest randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted in patients with aTTP. Patients with an acute episode of aTTP were randomised 1:1 to receive either caplacizumab or placebo in addition to standard-of-care treatment (i.e. daily plasma exchange [PEX] and immunosuppression). Patients received a single intravenous bolus of 10mg caplacizumab or placebo followed by daily subcutaneous dose of 10mg caplacizumab or placebo until 30 days after the last daily PEX. If, at the end of this treatment period, there was evidence of persistent underlying disease activity indicative of an imminent risk for recurrence, the treatment could be extended for additional seven-day periods up to a maximum of 28 days. Patients were followed up for a further 28 days after discontinuation of treatment. A three-year follow-up study (NCT02878603) of patients who have completed the HERCULES study is in progress and will further evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of caplacizumab and repeated use of caplacizumab, as well as characterising the long-term impact of aTTP. About caplacizumab Caplacizumab is a bivalent anti-vWF Nanobody that received Orphan Drug Designation in Europe and the United States in 2009. Caplacizumab blocks the interaction of ultra-large vWF multimers (ULvWF) with platelets and, therefore, has an immediate effect on platelet aggregation and the ensuing formation and accumulation of the micro-clots that cause the severe thrombocytopenia, tissue ischemia and organ dysfunction in aTTP. This immediate effect of caplacizumab has the potential to protect the patient from the manifestations of the disease while the underlying disease process resolves. In February 2017, based on the Phase II TITAN study results, a Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) was submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for approval of caplacizumab in aTTP[1]. In July 2017, Ablynx received Fast Track designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for caplacizumab for the treatment of aTTP.[2] Results from the Phase III HERCULES study are expected to further support the MAA, as well as a planned Biologics License Application (BLA) filing in the United States in 2018. If approved by regulatory authorities, caplacizumab would be the first therapeutic specifically indicated for the treatment of aTTP. About aTTP aTTP is a rare, acute, life-threatening, autoimmune blood clotting disorder. It is caused by impaired activity of the ADAMTS13 enzyme, leaving ULvWF molecules uncleaved (vWF is an important protein involved in the blood clotting process). These ULvWF molecules spontaneously bind to blood platelets, resulting in severe thrombocytopenia (very low platelet count) and clot formation in small blood vessels throughout the body[3], leading to ischemia and widespread organ damage[4]. Despite the current standard-of-care treatment consisting of PEX and immunosuppression, episodes of aTTP are still associated with a mortality rate of up to 20%, with most deaths occurring within 30 days of diagnosis[5]. Furthermore, patients are at risk of acute thromboembolic complications (e.g. stroke, myocardial infarction) and of recurrence of disease. Some patients are refractory to therapy3, which is associated with a poor prognosis for survival of an acute episode of aTTP. Long term, patients are at increased risk for hypertension, major depression, and premature death[6]. About Ablynx Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of Nanobodies, proprietary therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, which combine the advantages of conventional antibody drugs with some of the features of small-molecule drugs. Ablynx is dedicated to creating new medicines which will make a real difference to society. Today, the Company has more than 45 proprietary and partnered programmes in development in various therapeutic areas including inflammation, haematology, immuno-oncology, oncology and respiratory disease. The Company has collaborations with multiple pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie; Boehringer Ingelheim; Eddingpharm; Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA; Merck KGaA; Novartis; Novo Nordisk; Sanofi and Taisho Pharmaceuticals. The Company is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com. For more information, please contact Ablynx: Dr Edwin Moses CEO t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07 m: +32 (0)473 39 50 68 e: edwin.moses@ablynx.com Lies Vanneste Director Investor Relations t: +32 (0)9 262 01 37 m: +32 (0)498 05 35 79 e: lies.vanneste@ablynx.com Follow us on Twitter @AblynxABLX Ablynx media relations: Consilium Strategic Communications Mary-Jane Elliott, Philippa Gardner, Sukaina Virji t: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 e: ablynx@consilium-comms.com Disclaimer Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Company or, as appropriate, the Company directors' current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its parent or subsidiary undertakings or any such person's officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. [1] Press release February 2017 [2] Press release July 2017 [3] Veyradier, NEJM 2016: "von Willebrand Factor - A new target for TTP treatment?" [4] Scully et al., Br J Hem 2012; Sarode et al., J Clin Apher 2014; Chaturvedi et al., Am J Hem 2013 [5] Benhamou, Y. et al., Haematologica 2012 [6] Deford et al., Blood 2013 Attachments: http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6c125443-e9cd-47e4-a334-128a5d6a7154 National award winning actor Prakash Raj has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his silence on those who were celebrating the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh and said he feels like returning his awards. Lankesh, who had strident anti-right wing views, was shot dead from close range by unknown assailants at her home in Bengaluru on the night of September 5. Raj said Lankesh was his close friend and in his experience he had not heard such harsh language being used against anyone. My problem is that -- who killed (her) is not important -- but who is celebrating is clearly seen (on Twitter), he said after inaugurating the 11th state conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Who is happy can be clearly seen. There may not be proof (regarding the killing), but things can be seen. Today through social media the hidden cruelty is known, he said. We have a prime minister amidst us who is sitting with his eyes shut to this, the actor alleged. Im bigger actor than you, dont try to act in front of me, please respect me as an actor. If you act in front of me as though you know nothing -- am I a fool (to believe it) or are people or todays younger generation fools, he asked. Raj, who has acted in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil movies, went on to add, When I see such actors who are acting as though nothing has happened, I have been given five national awards, I feel like returning it to them. They are bigger actors than me. He has won national awards as best supporting actor for his film Iruvar in Tamil, special jury award for Anthapuram in Telugu, special jury award for various movies in multiple languages, best actor for Kanchivaram in Telugu, and best film for Puttakkana Highway in Kannada. Raj also apparently referred to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath performing Dussehra rituals at Gorakhpur as the mahant of the Gorakhnath temple. He said he saw a video relating to Uttar Pradesh and could not make out whether it was a chief minister or a temple priest. There are people who play such double roles, he alleged. Unfair cop why African police forces make violent extremism worse Publisher IRIN Author Obi Anyadike Publication Date 28 September 2017 Cite as IRIN, Unfair cop why African police forces make violent extremism worse, 28 September 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d1eb634.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. Undermanned, underfunded, underwhelming: African police forces struggle to contain regular crime, and they are even further out of their depth when it comes to tackling violent extremism. The best way to identify threats to public safety is a policing model that promotes trust and collaboration with the community, say the policy manuals on preventing violent extremism, better known as PVE. A positive relationship is believed to help build resilience to radicalisation. But the reality in much of the world is that the police are viewed as corrupt, violent, and people best avoided. "In African culture the police are there to intimidate, to coerce," acknowledged Kenyan senior sergeant Francis Mwangi. He is trying his best to change that perception. Sharp and articulate, Mwangi is the face of a new policing initiative in the Nairobi slum of Kamakunji, which aims to build a partnership with the community to help blunt radicalisation of the youth. Traditional policing far too often based on brutality and arbitrary arrest rather than proper detective work can create more fear of the security services than the insurgents and is clearly counter-productive. A new UNDP study based on interviews with more than 500 jihadists drawn mainly from Kenya, Nigeria, and Somalia found that in over 70 percent of cases "government action", including the killing or arrest of a family member or friend, was the tipping point that prompted them to join. Why is the culture of human rights abuse and resistance to reform so deeply ingrained? Citizen or subject Part of the problem is history. African police forces were set up by the colonial powers to maintain control over the local population. Independence didn't really change that function. Their role largely remains regime protection and representation rather than serving the public. As a result, most police forces are seriously undermanned. The UN recommends a ratio of 300 officers per 100,000 citizens. It's a rough guide force levels are influenced by a range of factors. But Kenya manages a ratio of only 203, Nigeria 187, and Mali another country facing an Islamist insurgency just 38. Police forces are also underequipped. From vehicles and the fuel to run them, to paper, pens, and printing ink. The barest of necessities are in short supply, before you get to functioning forensic labs and national fingerprint databases. Unsurprisingly, conviction rates are low. In South Africa, one of the more advanced police forces on the continent, only an estimated 10 percent of murder cases end in conviction. In crimes of sexual violence, it falls to between four and eight percent. The temptation, then, is to turn to forced confessions. In Nigeria, torture has become such an integral part of policing that many stations have an informal torture officer, according to a 2014 Amnesty International report. The prevalence of shoot-to-kill policies are also a reflection of the failure of the criminal justice system, with sections of the community seeing themselves as targets of persecution. Police hit squads take that logic one step further. In the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, they are known to operate against so-called radical elements, whose deaths only serve to stoke the anger of Muslim youth, who view themselves as already marginalised. Nigeria provides a stark example of the impact of the failure of due process. In 2009 the police killed Boko Haram founder Mohamed Yusuf while he was in custody. It did not stop his movement, and his successor, Abubakar Shakau, has proved a far more brutal and implacable enemy. The impunity of the police commanders involved in the murder undermines the moral authority of the Nigerian state. Governance failure is key in the tolerance of abuse. A corrupt political system breeds corrupt cops. If states are unwilling to provide opportunities, services, and rights to entire sections of its citizens, "there is then little reason to expect national police actors to do so", argues a report by the Global Centre on Cooperative Security. Sympathy for the police The subservience of the police to the ruling elite doesn't win them any political favours. Conditions of service are generally appalling and pay poor. Families of officers killed in action can struggle to receive their benefits with kickbacks expected. A former Nigerian Inspector General of Police acknowledged that some barracks were "to say the least, nauseating". In the absence of accommodation, one Nigerian officer told IRIN how he spent the first few months of his posting to the northeastern city of Maiduguri sleeping on two plastic hard-backed chairs. The police top-brass regularly make whistle-stop visits to the city as part of political entourages, but hardly ever drop in on the officers who are on the frontline of the insurgency, and very much targets for Boko Haram. Predatory police take out their frustrations on the public typically the most vulnerable and powerless members of society. According to an Afrobarometer survey across 34 countries, the police are universally regarded as the most corrupt of institutions well ahead of even government officials. "In most cases the police in Africa are demoralised because the remuneration they are getting is just peanuts," said sergeant Mwangi in half-hearted mitigation. "They have a family to feed so can be prone to being compromised." In the Afrobarometer survey, more than half of respondents who had been victims of a crime did not report it to the police. Regionally, levels of distrust were highest in East Africa just 43 percent said they would seek the assistance of police first if they became victims. That's because the police don't have a monopoly on criminal justice. People often have multiple choices, with varying degrees of legitimacy and links to the state from family and friends out to exact revenge, to local militia, customary courts, and formal commercial security guards. Western models of PVE stress community policing the ideal of the "bobby on the beat". But in an African context, community policing means something quite different. These informal security systems some of which are just plain vigilantes have less to do with notions of state legitimacy, "and more to do with what's available, trusted, and affordable," the Global Centre on Cooperative Security report points out. Resistant to reform Security sector reform is a growth industry in aid world, despite little concrete evidence of success. The reports compiled by external police experts, paid for with donor money, gather dust on the shelves of police commands, the officer in Maiduguri told IRIN. According to researcher Alice Hills, police reform cannot be divorced from "fundamental socio-political change". Without buy-in from the powers that be, the effects are only transitory. The lessons being learnt by sergeant Mwangi in Kamakunji, for instance, are yet to feature in the curriculum of the Kenyan police college. Reform is admittedly difficult to tackle in the middle of an insurgency. The priority of governments and their international partners is for harder-hitting security services, not the soft power of PVE. What that can mean in practice is squads of men who are simply more proficient at harming their fellow citizens and extracting rents. What is needed are "programmes that recognise that the core problems of governance lies in incentives and desire, not capacity," write researchers Rachel Kleinfeld and Harry Bader. Egyptian blogger among 24 facing jail terms for 'insulting' the judiciary Publisher IRIN Publication Date 28 September 2017 Cite as IRIN, Egyptian blogger among 24 facing jail terms for 'insulting' the judiciary, 28 September 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d1eddd4.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. The Egyptian authorities must drop all charges against Alaa Abdel Fattah, a blogger and human rights activist who rose to prominence during the 2011 uprising, and at least 23 other defendants, who could face up to four years in prison simply for criticizing the country's flawed justice system, said Amnesty International. A Cairo criminal court is due to hand down its verdict in the case against a total of 25 defendants, on Saturday 30 September. At least 24 of the defendants including Alaa Abdel Fattah, Egyptian politician Amr Hamzawy, and former Member of Parliament Essam Sultan, have been charged with defamation for their legitimate criticism of the Egyptian judiciary as biased and a puppet in the hands of the state. "This trial is an attempt to silence criticism of a judiciary that has itself become a source of human rights violations. 'Insulting' public institutions or officials is not a criminal offence under international law, and no one should stand trial - let alone face imprisonment - for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression," said Najia Bounaim, North Africa Campaigns Director at Amnesty International. "Instead of punishing Alaa Abdel Fattah and the 23 other defendants for expressing their opinions, the authorities should drop the charges and immediately and unconditionally release them." Amnesty International's research has identified serious due process shortcomings in Egypt's judiciary. The criminal justice system has handed down mass death sentences and lengthy prison terms to thousands of human rights defenders, activists, lawyers and journalists following grossly unfair trials, while security forces responsible for grave human rights violations enjoy near total impunity. The organization has also found the Public Prosecutor's office to be complicit in violations by turning a blind eye to enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment. "It is ironic that the Egyptian authorities are persecuting individuals for criticizing the judiciary when there are serious questions hanging over its independence and impartiality," said Najia Bounaim. "If the authorities choose to convict Alaa Abdel Fattah and the 23 others on Saturday this will be another nail in the coffin for justice in Egypt." The charges against 24 of the defendants, including Alaa Abdel Fattah, stem entirely from their exercise of their right to freedom of expression. Amnesty International's analysis of the casefile indicates there is no credible evidence to suggest that they have incited hatred, violence, or discrimination. The charges against them are based on comments they made in the media and on social media. Alaa Abdel Fattah is being tried based on a tweet in which he criticized the judiciary as "biased" and implied that judges are "taking orders from the military". The tweet was in relation to a controversial 2013 trial in which 43 NGO workers were sentenced to between one and five years in prison. The charge against Egyptian politician Amr Hamzawy is based on a tweet about the same verdict which he described as "shocking and lacking in transparency". Former MP Essam Sultan was charged based on a TV interview in which he described former President Hosni Mubarak's trial as a "mockery of justice and betrayal to the protesters killed". Twenty one other defendants were charged based on similar tweets or statements. Alaa Abdel Fattah spent 45 days in detention in 2006 for protesting in support of judges calling for the independence of the judiciary under President Hosni Mubarak's rule. "It is shocking that a man who stood side by side with Egypt's judges to defend the rights of the judges and the judiciary more than 10 years ago, is now facing trial for peacefully criticizing the same institution," said Najia Bounaim. #FreeAlaa campaign Alaa Abdel Fattah is currently in Al-Mazraa prison in the Tora prison complex in Cairo serving a five year sentence after being convicted of flouting Egypt's repressive protest law by participating in a peaceful protest in 2013 to oppose military trials for civilians. His prison term will be followed by five years subject to excessive probation measures, which amount to deprivation of liberty. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has concluded that Alaa Abel Fattah is arbitrarily detained and has called for his immediate release. Egypt's Court of Cassation, is due to examine his appeal on 19 October and will either uphold the verdict, reduce his sentence or acquit him. Local human rights activists have organized campaign ahead of this date to call for his release. "Alaa is one of thousands losing years of their lives in Egypt's prisons while President Abdelfattah al-Sisi is received warmly by governments across the world, with few questions raised about the rights violations committed by his regime," Alaa Abdel Fattah's sister, Mona Seif, told Amnesty International. "But we know that people around the world stand with Alaa and all those unjustly detained in Egypt's prisons - and we are asking them to join our campaign and make their voices heard to help us #FreeAlaa." She also said that during his three and a half years in detention her brother has been denied access to all books and newspapers in an effort to mentally isolate him from ongoing events. 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. English French Dutch Orange Belgium announces today it has become 100% shareholder of A3Com and A&S Partners, who both have already been distribution partners of Orange Belgium for almost 20 years. Through the acquisition of both partners Orange Belgium strengthens its footprint in the Brussels region. A3Com was already an exclusive Orange Belgium agent,specialised in telecommunications product sales and services for residential customers through a network of 12 Orange shops located in the Brussels region. It employs 45 people. A&S Partners, also an existing Orange Belgium agent, provides telecommunications services to B2B customers within the Brussels region via a dedicated sales team of 35 professionals under the name of AS Mobility. Michael Trabbia, CEO of Orange Belgium, declares: "We welcome both A3Com and A&S Partners in the Orange Belgium Group. They have been proven to be very reliable and trustworthy distribution partners over the past years. This acquisition streamlines our distribution channels, and we're looking forward to investing further in the Brussels region. Our main focus will be customer experience and satisfaction in all B2C and B2B product and service offers." Today Orange Belgium distributes its products and services via a network of 141 owned and partner Orange shops, in addition to 73 points of sale located in Carrefour hypermarkets and Media Markt stores across the country. About Orange Belgium Orange Belgium is one of the leading telecommunication operators on the Belgian market, with over 3 million customers, and in Luxembourg through its subsidiary Orange Communications Luxembourg. As a convergent actor, we provide mobile telecommunication services, internet and TV to private clients, as well as innovative mobile and fixed line services to businesses. Our high-performance mobile network supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 4G+ technology and is the subject of ongoing investments. Orange Belgium is a subsidiary of the Orange Group, one of the leading European and African operators for mobile telephony and internet access, as well as one of the world leaders for telecommunication services to enterprises. Orange Belgium is listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange (OBEL). More information on: corporate.orange.be, www.orange.be or follow us on Twitter: @pressOrangeBe. Press contact Annelore Marynissen - annelore.marynissen@orange.com - +32 (0) 479 01 60 58 Jean-Pascal Bouillon - jean-pascal.bouillon@orange.com - +32 (0) 473 94 87 31 press@orange.be Contact investors Siddy Jobe - ir@orange.be - +32(0)2 745 80 92 UN: Breakthrough resolution establishes expert group to investigate violations in Yemen Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 29 September 2017 Cite as Amnesty International, UN: Breakthrough resolution establishes expert group to investigate violations in Yemen, 29 September 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d1f0de4.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. A resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Council today, mandating a group of international experts to investigate abuses by all parties to the conflict in Yemen, is a momentous breakthrough that will pave the way for justice for countless victims of human rights abuses and grave violations of international law, including war crimes, said Amnesty International. The resolution was passed today by consensus, after intensive negotiations. It is the result of years of campaigning and lobbying by Yemeni human rights organizations as well as Amnesty International and other international organizations. "This resolution is a victory for Yemenis whose suffering at the hands of all parties to the conflict has been overlooked by the international community. The resolution offers hope for those seeking justice and can serve as a stepping stone towards accountability," said Anna Neistat, Amnesty International's Senior Director for Research. "By passing this resolution today, the Human Rights Council has finally responded to the repeated calls of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and national and international rights groups to establish an investigative mechanism into violations of international law in Yemen. Given the long delay, it is imperative that the group of experts is established as soon as possible and given adequate resources to get to work without delay, and that it receives full cooperation from all parties to the conflict." "Although the campaign has been long and there have been many obstacles along the way, today's resolution is a clear reminder that when the Human Rights Council member states fulfil their responsibility to place human rights ahead of political interests they are able to pave the way for perpetrators of atrocities to be held accountable. It also sends an unequivocal message to all parties to the conflict in Yemen - that their conduct will be scrutinized and the abuses they commit will not go unpunished." Background For the past two and a half years all parties to the conflict in Yemen have flagrantly flouted international law. The lives of civilians have been devastated by indiscriminate bombing and shelling, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances and a spiralling humanitarian crisis. Throughout this time the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council repeatedly failed to take meaningful action to ensure those committing such crimes are effectively scrutinized. In 2015 Saudi Arabia effectively blocked efforts to set up an inquiry by tabling its own draft resolution. Last year the Arab group - led by Saudi Arabia - made a token gesture by amending a resolution to add international experts to the Yemen office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, merely seeking to strengthen the work of the Yemeni National Commission. Neither of these moves have offered realistic prospects of accountability. Copyright notice: Copyright Amnesty International Title Report to the Greek Government on the visits to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) Publication Date 26 September 2017 Country Greece Citation / Document Symbol CPT/Inf (2017) 25 Cite as Council of Europe: Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Report to the Greek Government on the visits to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), 26 September 2017, CPT/Inf (2017) 25, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d205444.html [accessed 15 November 2022] In Bangladesh, UN food relief agency chief urges support amid massive Rohingya influx Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 1 October 2017 Cite as UN News Service, In Bangladesh, UN food relief agency chief urges support amid massive Rohingya influx, 1 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d23c604.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. The head of the United Nations food relief agency called today for an end to the horrors driving Rohingyas by the tens of thousands from their homes in Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh. On a visit to the region to rally international support to help ease the humanitarian crisis, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, met refugee families in the new settlements in the Cox's Bazar area of Bangladesh, and reiterated the agency's commitment to supporting people fleeing violence in Myanmar. According to the UN, more than 500,000 Rohingya refugees have poured into Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar since 25 August, having fled their homes after violence erupted in Myanmar's northern Rakhine province. United Nations relief agencies and partner aid organizations are rushing to help cope with the influx. I have heard heart-breaking stories today, speaking to people who ran for their lives and saw loved ones killed before their eyes. These horrors must stop, said Mr. Beasley. Noting that many of these people were receiving WFP food assistance in Myanmar, he stressed that they will receive WFP food assistance in Bangladesh, until they are able to return home safely. This is Mr. Beasley's first visit to Bangladesh since his assuming office in April. Having been in the region since Thursday, 29 September, he saw a WFP food distribution in an area adjacent to Kutupalong refugee camp, where hundreds of thousands of people have settled in makeshift shelters over the past month. The WP chief also toured the 2,000-acre area that has been allocated by the Bangladesh Government to accommodate the new arrivals. He also saw a WFP e-voucher shop, where registered refugees redeem monthly electronic food vouchers. WFP started distributing food as soon as the influx began, and has scaled up operations to reach almost half a million refugees in the past month with life-saving assistance, said Mr. Beasley, adding: We are grateful for the generous support of the donor community that has made this possible. Find out more: Half a million Rohingya arrive in Bangladesh; UN agencies rush to provide shelter, clean water WFP reported today that it has so far distributed rice to some 460,000 refugees, and has also been providing high energy biscuits to more than 200,000 people as a one-off emergency measure when they arrive in the settlements and at border crossing points. As the situation stabilizes, WFP plans to transition to more sophisticated programmes, especially with a view to supporting the nutritional needs of women and children and developing electronic voucher programmes that integrate with markets. Fixing Fallujah: City tests Iraq's ability to bounce back Publisher IRIN Author Sofia Barbarani Publication Date 2 October 2017 Cite as IRIN, Fixing Fallujah: City tests Iraq's ability to bounce back, 2 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d241974.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. Midday in Fallujah and the searing sun beats down on the dust-caked roads. The salmon-hued General Hospital towers prominently over the city: ground zero for a rebuilding and reconciliation process that holds vital clues about Iraq's ability to move on from so-called Islamic State. What was once a fully functioning medical facility that served 400,000 local people has yet to recover from two and a half years of war and IS rule. A main entrance is covered in soot and peppered with bullet holes. On the first floor, a pungent smell emanates from the depths of a charred, darkened corridor that leads to what was the emergency wing. The authorities have yet to inspect that part of the building, even though it's been more than 15 months since IS was driven from the city. "It could be sewage," offers a member of staff, "or dead [IS] bodies". Fallujah became the first major Iraqi city to fall to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his army in January 2014. IS used part of the hospital to treat fighters. Their clothes and belongings are still strewn over the floors. Some staff said fleeing fighters set the first floor alight in an attempt to destroy incriminating evidence. Others faulted the extent of the general destruction on frequent shelling by the Iraqi army as they surrounded the city. Fingers were also pointed at Shia militias allied with the army after liberation in June 2016. Wherever the blame lies, entire blocks of Fallujah are still covered in rubble. Charred buildings and crumpled cars are a frequent sight and dilapidated mosques have been temporarily shut down. As a majority-Sunni city in a country where the central government is dominated by Shia Muslims, what happens next in Fallujah really matters. Its population has been seen as supportive of al-Qaeda and, in turn, IS. If Iraq hopes to move forward, this is where change must come. Sectarian resentment On the surface, Fallujah looks like other former ghost towns clawing their way out of post-IS disarray - alive with myriad rehabilitation projects led primarily by the UN and local partners. Businesses are cropping up - ice cream shops, a vegetable stall laden with produce, a Friday bazaar - but most people don't have much to spend. At his family gold shop, 34-year-old Ali Nouri said trade was slow: his only clients were couples looking for wedding rings. "If anyone has any money, they'll use it to fix their home," he explained, in front of a stall of shining, unsold rings and necklaces. There are 42,000 homes in the city and the UN is looking to repair 21,500 that were partially damaged - other aid organisations are aiming to fix up another 600. According to one local NGO, almost 2,000 homes were completely destroyed here between 2014 and 2016 - as yet aid agencies do not have plans to rebuild these houses. The sewage system and the water supply have been restored and both the central government and the UN say the vast majority of the population has safe water again - although you could never drink it from the taps. The electricity grid is only operating at half capacity. Many households are still forced to use private generators. The process of getting basic infrastructure going has been slow, in part because the city first had to be cleared of mines and other explosive remnants of war. But some locals say Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's Shia-dominated government is neglecting Fallujah by design. It's no secret IS found a welcome in pockets of the city, and Sunnis across Anbar Province accuse Baghdad of ignoring liberated areas exactly for this reason. "All these [reconstruction] projects haven't even covered 30 percent of what Fallujah needs," Karim Aftan, a wealthy city resident and former Iraqi minister of electricity accused of corruption by the present government, told IRIN. "The government is not interested in Fallujah." The home of Abu Hamed*, an elderly colonel, was left practically empty other than a few items he was able to bring back to Fallujah from the north, where he and his family were displaced for three years. His home was looted while they were gone. "The government has done nothing to reconstruct," he said. "On the contrary, if they can destroy more, they will." Ali Hamad, a 35-year-old Imam whose mosque was partly destroyed by what he claimed were government-backed Shia forces, agreed: "So far there's been no money; the government hasn't given us anything to rebuild houses." But according to UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande, the government is playing a part in rebuilding Fallujah, including facilitating the renewal of the main hospital, where although less than 40 percent of the structure is usable, a newly refurbished area is pristine and chock full of equipment. "[The hospital] is a good example of the kind of collaboration that has to happen to get Fallujah back on its feet," she told IRIN. "It's important that people feel that the government is there for them... The government needs to win the trust of the population. This was lost during IS' occupation. It's a race against time to win it now." Economic woes While some residents were adamant the central government was intent on crippling Fallujah for sectarian reasons, others blamed the lack of financial support on the costly war against IS, and Iraq's flailing economy. NGO-funded rebuilding projects mask the economic reality in the city. Fallujah's populace is largely unemployed and has very little money: Savings were spent on fleeing IS and surviving displacement. Young, educated men with university degrees like 27-year-old Moath Abdulhdi join the UN's Cash for Work programme and sweep Fallujah's unpaved streets for $20 a day. But with the programme set to last just six weeks, it's unclear where the 300 men involved in the scheme will turn once it's over. Abdulhdi is one of four brothers, all university graduates, and all unemployed. Their situation is far from unique. Adil Khalifa, a 37-year-old father of five with a degree in accounting, has also signed up with Cash for Work. "I was forced to take this job because there is no other option," he explained. Peter Hawkins, UNICEF's representative in Iraq, told IRIN that eventually investment in basic services like these needs to come "primarily from the government" and then be "only supplemented" by organisations like the UN. Corruption "The government says it doesn't have any money," Fallujah Mayor Issa Saer al-Assawi told IRIN. Iraqi government finances are, of course, overstretched. Officials would argue that clean streets aren't a priority, especially with the war ongoing - al-Abadi recently announced a new offensive on IS in Hawija. Whatever slow rebirth is happening in Fallujah is largely down to UN and NGO funding. But al-Assawi suggested more could be achieved if aid organisations stamped out graft. "Unfortunately, the corruption and the contractors have made it hard to rebuild. There is a lot of money but less reconstruction." One aid worker from a UN-contracted NGO told IRIN the only way to operate efficiently in Anbar Province, where Fallujah sits, is to play a part in the corruption game - paying off private companies more than the cost of projects, just to get work started. "Unfortunately, we all have to do this," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Most projects are only at 70 percent of what they could be because the money goes into other people's pockets." UNICEF spokeswoman Sharon Behn Nogueir said there should be no compromises when it comes to corruption: "It only serves to exacerbate insecurity and disillusion in a country that is already reeling from years of insecurity." UNICEF said it had built a number of procedural steps into its programming to avoid corruption, including audits to secure accountability and transparency. Torhan al-Mufti, minister in Baghdad's Higher Commission of Coordinating among Provinces, maintained that the government had zero tolerance of graft. "The government is very serious about corruption issues," he told IRIN in response to the allegations. "There is an investigative bureau in each ministry, a finance over-watch in each project. The government is trying to prevent it, and if there is corruption they will deal with it." Several Fallujah aid workers and others sources insisted that corruption was, nevertheless, commonplace. Looking forward Not everyone has been able to come back to Fallujah. Those alleged to have sympathised with or joined IS, as well as their families, languor in camps with little hope of seeing their homes anytime soon. For both those in camps and returnees, there are challenges that go far beyond bricks and mortar: There is grave disillusionment, suspicion of Baghdad, and fear of powerful Shia forces - the same sort of grievances that have given rise to extremism in the past. Human Rights Watch Senior Researcher on Iraq Belkis Wille stressed the importance of Baghdad's role in putting an end to the abuses of Sunni Arabs by the state and allied Shia-majority militias. "One [Iraqi] judge said the reason they have IS is because the Americans didn't kill every prisoner in [Camp] Bucca," Wille told IRIN, referring to a US-run prison that held mostly Sunni prisoners during the second Iraq War and is widely cited as the birthplace of IS. "As long as that is their mentality, we do run the risk of seeing young men as easy recruits for extremism in future." As dusk settles on Fallujah the call to prayer resonates from a partly destroyed minaret, filling the roads with its melodic chant. A gaggle of men listen intently from the banks of the Euphrates, gazing out at the bridge where 13 years ago insurgents hanged the charred bodies of two slain American contractors. The bridge's silhouette betrays its half-shattered structure. "They say it was an Islamic State car bomb," says 34-year-old Abu Mohammad. But the young father-of-two doesn't believe this theory. He blames it on the Shia militias. Next to the downed bridge, a group of young boys swing themselves into the murky waters and race each other upstream. *Name changed Media targeted in Kurdistan referendum tension Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 2 October 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Media targeted in Kurdistan referendum tension, 2 October 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d242f24.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. >After the historic referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan on 25 September and the resulting tension at the local, regional and international levels, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reminds the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of the need to safeguard the right to criticize in what is now an increasingly uncertain political environment. In particular, RSF urges the KRG authorities to preserve media pluralism and pluralism of opinion and to protect the local and international journalists covering the various developments in the region. "The authorities must not neglect the public's right of access to freely reported news and information and the right to express critical opinions on matters of general interest, rights that are essential to the democratic debate," said Alexandra El Khazen, the head of RSF's Middle East desk. RSF has compiled a list of violations of the freedom to inform in Kurdistan on the day of the referendum and during the preceding weeks, and of its repercussion beyond Kurdistan's borders. Media targeted On the day of the referendum, Turkey's High Council for Radio and TV Broadcasting (RTUK) ordered the Turkish satellite operator Turksat to stop transmitting Rudaw TV, a pro-KRG TV channel, and then banned transmission of two other Kurdish TV channels, Kurdistan 24 and Waar TV, on the grounds that they were "dangerous for Turkish national interests." In Kurdistan, four journalists with NRT TV were prevented from entering three voting stations (at the Zhilwan, Qazi Mohamed and Barzani Namir schools) in the city of Erbil. They were also barred from the Hotel Rotana, where several politicians voted. The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has had NRT TV in its sights since 2015, and its owner, Shaswar Abdulwahid, campaigned against the referendum. As well as being suspended for eight hours on the eve of the referendum, it has been the target of several attacks and restrictions in recent weeks. An NRT TV crew was prevented from covering the arrival of the KRG's president (and KDP leader), Masoud Barzani, in Sulaymaniyah on 20 September. NRT TV's bureau in Erbil's Ainkawa district was raided by the security forces in August, just as it was about to open a new studio designed to broadcast referendum-related programmes. Five days later, NRT TV was suspended for a week in all of the region's cities on the culture ministry's orders. And on 31 August, pro-referendum gunmen threatened NRT TV employees in Duhok and tore down an NRT TV poster. Two other Kurdish TV channels, Roj News and KNN, were also prevented from covering the address that President Barzani delivered in the city of Kirkuk on 12 September. These media channels, in addition to Payam TV, were at several occasions prevented from covering meetings about the referendum in the Kurdistan region or even meetings organized by the Kurdistan referendum delegation in Bagdad. Journalists threatened While the referendum received a great deal of international media coverage, local journalists and activists whose coverage was regarded as critical were the targets of intimidation by unidentified gunmen or by the security forces. Mohamad Wali, a cameraman with Roj News (which supports Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK), was arrested on 20 September while covering a protest against President Barzani's visit to Sulaymaniyah. His equipment was seized and he was held for eight hours. Ahmed Shingaly, a Kurdish journalist of Yazidi origin, reported on Facebook on 6 September that four gunmen had smashed one of the windows of his car while it was parked outside his home. He said the attack was probably a reprisal for his articles about the Yazidi community and his criticism of government corruption and certain corrupt officials. Hoshang Kareem, the host of a daily political programme called "Your Opinion" on the Communist Party-affiliated Rega TV, took a call during the programme on 31 August from a person who threatened to kill him and identified himself as a member of an elite Peshmerga unit. Sherwan Sherwani, an outspoken journalist who actively supported the "No to the referendum" campaign, reported on Facebook on 14 August that he had gone into hiding because he had been threatened and because the security forces were looking for him. Ibrahim Abbas, a freelance journalist who was fired from President Barzani's press office last year and who recently became very critical of the government, especially Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, was beaten up by unidentified gunmen in Erbil on 11 July. He was briefly arrested and threatened in Erbil in May because of what he was posting on social networks. In June, around 100 journalists and activists signed a statement criticizing the decision to hold the referendum at a time when the security, economic and political environment was so bad, and voicing concern about the possible repercussions at the national, regional and international levels. The referendum was effectively banned by Iraq's supreme court and was criticized by a range of countries including Turkey, Iran, Syria and the United States. It was also condemned by the UN Security Council. Iraq is ranked 158th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. RSF backs Serbia's embattled independent media Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 28 September 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF backs Serbia's embattled independent media, 28 September 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d2434d4.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. In response to an appeal by Serbia's journalists to the international community to condemn the growing hostility towards dissident journalists and media in Serbia, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Serbian authorities to stop hounding and intimidating independent media outlets The government's harassment and intimidation of journalists has increased in recent months, to the point that Vukasin Obradovic, the editor of the independent weekly Vranjske Novine, shut himself in his office and began a hunger strike on 19 September. He said he wanted to draw attention to the "meaninglessness of the fight for media freedom that I have been waging for the last 30 years". President of the Independent Journalists Association of Serbia (NUNS) from 2010 until February of this year, Obradovic is a renowned journalist who has won many awards for his investigative reporting. However, after being denied financial support and advertising revenue, his widely respected newspaper ran out of funds and has just been forced to close by the authorities. Media outlets that are critical of President Aleksandar Vucic depend for the most part on public subsidies to survive, and the authorities have been imposing increasingly drastic conditions on them with the sole aim of reducing them to silence. Journalists associations say that, when the government recently published a list of projects for which Vranjske Novine had received state subsidies, it was implying that any media outlet receiving public funds should refrain from criticizing the government. "It is fundamental that the Serbian authorities should condemn targeted harassment and attacks on media outlets such as Vranjske Novine and that they should ensure that all publications are treated fairly," said Pauline Ades-Mevel, the head of RSF's EU-Balkans desk. After posting articles about how defence minister Aleksandar Vulin bought his apartment, the investigative news website KRIK and its editor, Stevan Dojcinovic, have meanwhile been the targets of angry attacks by the Movement of Socialists (one of the parties in the ruling coalition) and by media outlets that support the prime minister. The defence minister called Dojcinovic a "drug addict and great enemy of the state" without refuting the article's claims or explaining how he obtained the money used to buy his apartment. "RSF condemns the intimidation campaigns against opposition media outlets, including threats, blackmail and tax audits, which are designed to get rid of publications that annoy the government," Ades-Mevel added. Serbia's independent media are trying to draw the international community's attention to their plight. Several Serbian journalists associations issued a joint appeal this week "to international organizations to publicly denounce the media freedom violations in Serbia." "The authorities are using state institutions and pro-government media to harass 'inadequate' media and journalists," the joint statement said, urging international organizations to stop ignoring the grave problems affecting Serbia's journalists and to help protect the democratic values they defend. Serbia is ranked 66th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. Ugandan commission threatens broadcasters with closure Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 29 September 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Ugandan commission threatens broadcasters with closure, 29 September 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d244784.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is extremely concerned about a decision by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) to ban on live broadcasts by TV, radio or other electronic media that do not respect undefined "minimum" standards. RSF calls for the ban to be lifted at once. In a 26 September directive, the UCC told broadcasters that live feeds that were "in breach of the minimum broadcasting standards" could result in "suspension and revocation of your licence." The UCC issued the directive shortly after several TV stations provided live coverage of a scuffle among parliamentarians during a debate earlier the same day in parliament about a proposed constitutional amendment to abolish age limits for presidential candidates. As its stands, the constitution requires presidential candidates to be aged between 35 and 75. Opposition members say the proposed amendment is designed to enable President Yoweri Museweni, currently aged 73, to run for another term. "This kind of indiscriminate ban constitutes a new level of censorship for Uganda," said Reporters Without Borders. "The UCC is using the parliamentary altercation to threaten the media by applying arbitrary and restrictive measures. We ask the UCC to rescind this decision at once in order to allow the media to freely reflect what really happens in Uganda." The proposed amendment has triggered heated reactions in certain quarters of Ugandan society that the authorities would rather not see covered. Four reporters - Isaac Otwii of the Daily Monitor, Robert Kalibongo of Radio Unity, Denis Engena of Nile Broadcasting Services (NBS) and freelancer Martin Ongomwere - arrested while covering protests in the northern Lira district on 26 September and were held overnight before being released without charge. Several journalists were roughed up by police on 27 September while covering a protest by parliamentarians that was being broken up by the police. Uganda is ranked 112th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. Ukraine urged not to deport Uzbek journalist Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 30 September 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Ukraine urged not to deport Uzbek journalist, 30 September 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d247a64.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Ukrainian authorities not to deport Narzullo Akhunzhonov, an Uzbek journalist held since 20 September, when he was arrested at Kiev international airport under an Interpol red notice issued at the request of the Uzbek authorities. Akhunzhonov was detained when he arrived with his wife and children on a flight from Turkey with the intention of seeking political asylum. On 22 September, he appeared before a Kiev court, which later ordered him held provisionally for 40 days. His lawyer has appealed against the order. He disputes the fraud charges on which the Uzbek authorities issued a warrant for his arrest. The Uzbek authorities claim that he fraudulently obtained 2,000 dollars in 2009 although they did not open their investigation into the allegations until nearly four years later, in 2013. "The Ukrainian authorities must not send Narzullo Akhunzhonov back to Uzbekistan," RSF said. "We urge the Ukrainian attorney-general's office to oppose his extradition in order to guarantee his protection. Deporting him to a country where independent journalists are persecuted and torture is systematic would violate Ukraine's international obligations." Akhunzhonov worked for many years as a journalist with Uzbekistan's national radio and TV broadcaster. He began being subjected to intimidation attempts by the authorities in 2013, partly as a result of his investigative reporting into the case of a prominent athlete who was the victim of trumped-up fraud charges. Three years before that, he sided with two colleagues, Malokhat Eshonkulova and Saodate Omonovykh, who had publicly denounced the corruption and censorship prevailing within the national broadcaster. He also worked on several occasions with the BBC's Uzbek service on political and social subjects. He fled the country in November 2013 as the threats against him and his family intensified. He found a temporary refuge in Turkey, but the intimidation attempts continued. He received threatening phone calls, he was followed and he was visited at his home. Fearing for his life, he finally decided to leave Turkey with his family and seek asylum in Ukraine. Uzbekistan has been near the bottom of RSF's World Press Freedom Index for years and is ranked 169th out of 180 countries in the 2017 Index. The Uzbek authorities have a complete monopoly of news and information, and independent journalists who try to work are exposed to the possibility of extremely severe reprisals. Many reports have documented the widespread use of torture in Uzbek prisons. RSF has often condemned Interpol's exploitation by repressive regimes, which do not hesitate to get Interpol to issue red notices for the arrest of critics who have fled abroad. English Lithuanian Panevezys, Lithuania, 2017-10-02 11:23 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of AB Linas (company code 147689083, address S.Kerbedzio str.23, Panevezys) will be held on October 24, 2017 acc. to the decision and initiative of the Board. Date of the meeting October 24, 2017, Tuesday. Time of the meeting 12:00 a.m. Registration of participants from 11:00 a.m. till 11:45 a.m. Place of the meeting AB Linas premises, S. Kerbedzio str. 23, Panevezys. Agenda of the meeting: 1. The Audit Committee new editing regulations confirmation. 2. Election of the members of Audit Committee. The accounting date of General Meeting of Shareholders is October 17, 2017. In the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders have the right to participate and vote persons who were companys shareholders at the end of accounting date (October 17, 2017), personally or their authorized persons, or persons with whom voting right transferring contract is signed. The Company doesnt form the right to participate and to vote in the meeting with the help of electronic communication equipment. Decision projects on the agenda, documents which will be presented for General meeting of Shareholders are announced in companys web page http://www.linas.lt . The shareholders of the company have the right to acquaint with this information on working days from 9:00 a.m till 16:00 a.m. at companys premises S.Kerbedzio str.23, Panevezys. Shareholders the shares of whom provide not less than 1/20 of all votes, can offer new decision projects for the questions which are included or will be included into the agenda of the meeting. Offers can be presented in written form or by e-mail. The offers in written form can be taken till October 24, 2017, 10:00 a.m. (on working days) to the companys premises or sent by registered letter to address S. Kerbedzio str.23, LT-35114, Panevezys. Offers by e-mail are sent to address office@linas.lt . During the meeting there will be discussed only offers received in the company till October 24, 2017, 10:00 a.m. Shareholders have the right to provide questions in relation with agenda of the meeting in advance. Shareholders can provide questions by e-mail office@linas.lt not later than 3 working days till the meeting. The company will present answers by e-mail till the meeting. The company has the right not to give answers to shareholders questions if they are in relation with companys commercial (production) or confidential information. All the persons who are participating in General Meeting of Shareholders and have the right to vote have to present the document certifying person identification. Representative of the shareholder for the meeting has to present the original of authorization acc. to law indicated form and content. The company doesnt indicate special form of authorization. The shareholder has the right with the help of electronic communication equipment to authorize other natural or legal person to participate and to vote in the meeting in the name of shareholder. The shareholder has to inform the company about the issued authorization by e-mail office@linas.lt not later than till the last working day 16:00 p.m. to the meeting. In the report the shareholder has to indicate web page from which the shareholders electronic signature checking program could be sent for free. It would be able to vote on the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders questions completing the general voting bulletin in written form in advance. Printed general voting bulletin is available at companys premises, address S. Kerbedzio str. 23, Panevezys. If the shareholder requires in written form, then the company is sending general voting bulletin by registered letter or handle with written confirmation not later than 10 days till the meeting. Shareholder or his authorized person has to sign the filled in general voting bulletin. If the general voting bulletin is signed by the representative, then the document confirming his right for voting has to be added to the bulletin. Properly completed voting bulletins with the attached documents should be presented to the company personally, by the authorized person or by registered letter to the address S. Kerbedzio str.23, LT-35114, Panevezys, not later than the last working day to up to the meeting. Information is available by phone +370 45 506100 Exiled Turkish journalist threatened with Interpol red notice Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 29 September 2017 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Exiled Turkish journalist threatened with Interpol red notice, 29 September 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59d248334.html [accessed 15 November 2022] 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. A prosecutor in Diyarbakr, in southeastern Turkey, yesterday asked the country's justice minister to obtain an Interpol "red notice" for the arrest of Can Dundar, a Turkish journalist now in exile in Germany, on a charge of propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In response to this development, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its call for an urgent overhaul of Interpol because of the growing tendency for it to be exploited by repressive governments such as Turkey's. The red notice request came just one day after Dundar, the former editor of the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He decided to stay in Germany in 2016 after being prosecuted on charges of "divulging state secrets for espionage purposes" and "assisting a terrorist organization." The new PKK propaganda charge is based on a speech he gave in Diyarbakr on 24 April 2016 in which he criticized the harassment of critical journalists and accused pro-government journalists of being accomplices to war crimes by supporting the government's military operations in Turkey's Kurdish provinces. The grounds given by the Diyarbakr prosecutor's office for seeking the Interpol red notice was its inability to question Dundar in connection with this charge. "There is an urgent need for reforms at Interpol, especially as regards the 'red notices' that are too often used by governments to hunt down political opponents abroad," RSF editor in chief Virginie Dangles said. "Interpol must not be coopted into assisting the Turkish government's attempts to extend its persecution beyond its borders. And the Turkish authorities must stop hounding Can Dundar, a leading figure in the fight for media freedom, and all the other journalists who have been unjustly prosecuted." The number of Interpol red notices has grown almost five-fold in the past decade, from 2,804 in 2006 to 12,878 in 2016, prompting criticism from civil society groups that has finally received some attention. Interpol began reinforcing its appeal mechanism in 2015 but much remains to be done, both as regards putting the reforms into practice and providing better filtering of requests from repressive states. This was stressed in an April 2017 resolution by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which called on Interpol "to continue improving its red notice procedure in order to prevent and redress abuses even more effectively." After spending nearly 100 days in detention in late 2015 and early 2016, Dundar was sentenced to five years and ten months in prison in May 2016 (along with fellow Cumhuriyet journalist Erdem Gul) on the charge of "divulging state secrets." The court let him remain free pending the outcome of his appeal, but he was the target of a murder attempt as he left the courthouse. Dundar fled the country immediately after the July 2016 coup attempt, which triggered an unprecedented purge against critical media outlets. He and Gul are still also being prosecuted on a charge of collaborating and supporting "the FETO terrorist organization" (the Gulen Movement). The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 4 October. Turkey is ranked 155th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. TORRINGTON Teachers at Torrington Middle School, inspired by a Facebook post from teachers in Alabama, decided to get together a week before school began to do something special for their students. Led by Leanne Maguire, 6th grade language arts teacher teacher, this group of about 15 teachers renovated and beautified the girls lavatories for all three grades by repainting the stalls a bright blue and adding inspiring quotes intended to empower and inspire their female students. Be the reason someone smiles today and Beauty is created by your attitude, your behavior, your actions. Its up to you are examples of some of the quotes. Dublin, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Effective Management of Legal Risk" conference has been added to Research and Markets' offering. Legal risk is just part of the jigsaw of risk and reward which business people have to manage. Once an organisation establishes a legal department there can be a tendency for business people to abdicate and the in-house lawyer confiscate the management of legal risk. Poor management of legal risk can impair the prosperity and growth of a business by an accumulation of ineptitude or the drama of a showstopper. It is undeniable that an organisation will be more agile in today's demanding environment if it is: Equipped with a good understanding of the legal implications of actions (or inactions) and the commitments entered into with a good understanding of the legal implications of actions (or inactions) and the commitments entered into Involving lawyers in the right things at the right time In today's tough economic conditions in-house legal departments are under pressure: To reduce or freeze headcount in line with cost reduction programmes To reduce legal spend or keep it under even tighter control To be more attentive to the risks of business failure and unreliable commitments Unique Feature A key feature of this seminar is the practical workshop session which is designed to explore more effective ways in which legal awareness can be raised and legal risk better managed. Who Should Attend: In house lawyers Legal affairs directors and managers Senior corporate counsel and advisers Business executives who need a greater understanding of legal risk Agenda: Day one Introduction: Striking examples of legal risk- lessons for us all The top ten areas of legal risk in today's business environment - Early detection and precautionary measures Managing dispute resolution Managing legal costs as part of managing legal risks PRACTICAL WORKSHOP SESSION - Assessing legal risk in the context of key relationships What does legal risk' mean to business people and to lawyers? Influencing attitudes to legal risk The full picture of regulatory compliance Day two Putting business development on a sound footing Putting a competition compliance programme in place Working together when business preservation is under threat WORKSHOP - Concurrent practical workshop sessions The aim of the workshops is to provide you with practical guidance, models and confidence to embark on these initiatives Feedback from practical exercises Wrap up and review of other available material For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/pp6qxw/effective Belmopan, Belize -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/02/2017 --Today, Requitix has announced a significant advantage for the first 250 Merchants that register to accept RQX tokens for regular transactions. Throughout the entire beta period and up through the initial release of the payment gateway system, all early adopters of the Requitix merchant solution will have Zero (0%) processing fees for the first six months of use with the official production release of the Requitix solution. All merchant transactions using the RQX token as payment will see zero merchant transaction fees during the first six months of official usage, and still have the protections and value of the entire Requitix system, including scammer/spammer protections, qualified reviews, and of course, zero chargebacks. Full merchant registration will open on January 1st, 2018 so be sure to secure your spot by visiting the Requitix Merchant Registration page. About Requitix Requitix is a new startup company looking to introduce the new Requitix (RQX) token built on the Ethereum Blockchain through Smart Contracts that control 4 major components that consist of Trusted Reviews, Scammer/Spammer Protection, Zero Chargebacks and a Transaction fee of .5%. That's one half of one percent! During the American Revolution many local state militia units were created to help defend the rights of the colonies. The Western Battalion (178182), a militia unit from Virginia, fought in support of the American cause. Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_militia_units_in_the_American_Revolutionary_War A mammoth merger of state-owned coal and power companies in China may create the world's largest electric utility, but what it will do for the environment remains to be seen. Under an agreement approved by the cabinet-level State Council on Aug. 28, China's leading coal company Shenhua Group Corp. will join with generating giant China Guodian Corp. to form National Energy Group, Reuters reported. The combination will control 1.84 trillion yuan (U.S. $280 billion) in assets, the companies said. Shenhua brings 420 million metric tons of coal mining capacity to the table, adding to Guodian's 65 million metric tons, the South China Morning Post said. Combined coal production this year may exceed 336 million tons, based on company reports. Guodian's installed generating capacity of 145 gigawatts (GW) includes 26.17 GW of wind power, the world's largest source. Shenhua's installed power capacity stood at 82 GW at the end of 2015, Bloomberg News said, citing the energy analysis firm BNEF. The merger of the two state-owned enterprises (SOEs) includes a slew of other assets including rail lines and port facilities. The new company accounts for 13 percent of China's power generation and coal mining capacity, according to a Citigroup estimate cited by Bloomberg. Despite Guodian's investments in wind power and other renewables, the merged company's output will continue to rely heavily on coal. Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimated that 77 percent of National Energy Group's generation will be coal-fired, with 14 percent coming from wind, 8 percent from hydropower and 1 percent from solar. It is unclear how many of the company's generating plants will be affected by the National Energy Administration (NEA) plan last November to close or delay 103 coal-fired plants and projects with capacity of 150 GW by 2020. But the company is expected to keep building and opening new coal power plants. Shenhua alone is likely to commission nine new coal-fired plant sites in 2017-2018. All will be "ultra-supercritical" generators, which rely on high temperatures to use coal more efficiently, the Global Energy Research service of consulting firm Enerdata said. The changes come as China appears to be on the verge of reversing a declining trend in coal consumption which, according to official figures, has lasted for three years. In the first half of this year, China burned 1.83 billion tons of coal, a slight increase from year-earlier consumption of 1.82 billion tons, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in separate reports. The figures from the government planning agency may be an early sign that coal use is on the rise again this year along with the economy. Last year, coal consumption fell by a substantial 4.7 percent. In the first half of 2016, coal use dropped 5.1 percent from a year before, the NDRC said last year. The turnaround in consumption is taking place against a backdrop of conflicting forces. On the one hand, China's government has ordered cuts in production overcapacity in industries including coal and steel, while downsizing generating plans. On the other, China is facing rising demand due to the increase in economic growth rates to 6.9 percent in the first half of 2017 from 6.7 percent last year. Power consumption in the first half rose 6.3 percent, up from a 5-percent pace in 2016. The forces have combined to drive up prices for coal and steel, triggering increased production. Coal output through August climbed 5.4 percent, while crude steel production gained 5.6 percent. A woman rides a bike in heavy smog along a street in Haozhou, central China's Anhui province, Jan. 30, 2013. Credit: AFP Onset of winter smog The environmental effects have been evident this year. In the first half, the concentration of fine smog-causing particles known as PM2.5 rose 5.4 percent from a year earlier in 28 monitored northern and central cities, marking the first increase since 2013, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said. In early September, the MEP warned that the onset of winter smog had started early in Beijing this year, prompting new limits on coal. On Sept. 16, the official Xinhua news agency reported that only natural gas, electricity and renewable energy would be used for heating in the 28 cities, but it did not say how the rule would be enforced. Beijing authorities have also promised to suspend most construction activities to ease pollution pressures from Nov. 15 to March 15, Xinhua said. Steel production is to be reduced by half in the nearby port city of Tianjin this winter, but it was unclear whether wider seasonal cuts ordered last March by key agencies and six provincial governments for steel, cement and aluminum would be put into effect. Despite the new environmental measures, the joining of large coal and power interests suggests that the merged company will have a strong incentive to utilize its own resources and boost coal-fired power. The government has targeted a reduction in coal's share of primary energy use from 62 percent last year to 58 percent by 2020. But the proportion is now "around 80 percent" in China's north, according to Xinhua. In a blog posting, China energy expert Philip Andrews-Speed said that one of the government's aims in promoting the merger is to further its goals of reducing coal-fired power capacity, cutting coal production and consumption, and curbing emissions. Those aims have met with local resistance, in part because coal mining and power provide more jobs than renewable energy, said Andrews-Speed, a principal fellow at National University of Singapore. "In undertaking the merger of Shenhua and Guodian, the government seems to have shifted the responsibility to the new company," he said. "Even within the company, the business logic will continue to support coal use, at least in the short-term, as the merger reduces the impact of fluctuating prices." The environmental effect of the merger appears to have been a secondary consideration at best as the government pursues its separate goal of restructuring its bloated state-owned giants and reducing the number SOEs. In July, the State Council unveiled its broad plan to register all of its centrally-administered SOEs, except those in financial and cultural enterprises, as limited liability companies or joint-equity corporations in an effort to make them more competitive. It is unclear whether the program will succeed in reforming the heavily-indebted SOE sector under modern management with participation of private capital. But the government claims that 92 percent of SOE subsidiaries had already been "restructured into modern companies" by the end of 2016. Part of the goal has been to reduce the number of centrally-administered SOEs to under 100 by the end of the year. That target was reached in August with the announced merger of Sinolight Corp., a light industry and financial services group, with China National Arts and Crafts Corp., incorporated in turn under China Poly Group Corp., which is engaged in activities ranging from real estate to defense equipment. While the logic may seem less than obvious, the merger allowed the government to claim that the number of SOEs had dropped to 99 from 102 at the start of the year and 196 in 2003. In time for the party congress The speedup of SOE merger activity appears to be aimed at advancing claims of success in reform efforts in time for the Communist Party of China (CPC) 19th National Congress, scheduled for this month. The Shenhua-Guodian deal may have clearer logic, but it is part of the same process, reducing the number of central SOEs to 98. China analysts say the mergers do little for competition and may succeed only in creating bigger SOEs, leaving the size of the state sector unchanged. Andrews-Speed said it was uncertain what part environmental considerations may have played in the Shenhua- Guodian merger plans. "I guess it is a case of mixed motives will lead to mixed outcomes," he said. "Although one of the (secondary?) official reasons for the merger is the reduction of thermal power, it is far from clear how this will be achieved other than through the ongoing program of enforced closures," he said by email. In an upbeat assessment last week in the run-up to the party congress, the chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), Xiao Yaqing, announced record rates of revenue and profit growth for the sector in the first eight months of the year. Debt risks at the companies are "totally under control," Xiao said, according to Xinhua, citing an average debt-to- asset ratio of 66.5 percent. Separately, the Ministry of Finance reported that total SOE assets in the eight-month period climbed to 146.3 trillion yuan (U.S. $21.9 trillion), while liabilities rose to 96.5 trillion yuan (U.S. $14.4 trillion). Both increased by 11 percent from a year earlier, Xinhua said. Kem Monovithya, daughter of jailed Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Kem Sokha, tells reporter Nareth Muong of RFA's Khmer Service in an Oct. 2, 2017 interview that she has been meeting with government officials and lawmakers in the U.S. and the EU to ask for their support in pressing for Kem Sokha's release and creating the space for free and fair national elections in Cambodia next year. RFA: What is the significance of your meetings with EU and US officials? Kem Monovithya: I am very optimistic about those meetings. The governments of European countries have made it clear that an election that lacks participation by the main opposition party will not be legitimate or recognized. They are also demanding Kem Sokha's release and an open democratic space, including the lifting restrictions on independent media and civil society organizations. RFA: What have you asked the international community to do to ensure that the current political situation returns to normalcy? Kem Monovithya: We would like them to continue monitoring the situation in Cambodia and push the government to change its attitude in a timely manner, as the national election will be held in July 2018. We need to make sure that things are back on a right track so that we can prepare for the election. European countries and the U.S. can play a significant role in this. RFA: Your father has been charged with conspiring with foreign powers to change the current regime through elections. Are you not afraid that you will also be implicated, because what you are doing is exactly what your father has been accused of doing? Kem Monovithya: Everyone in Cambodia is intimidated by Hun Sen and his ruling party. They can cause us trouble any time they want. Not only members of the CNRP are intimidated but also members of the CPP themselves do not feel secure. However, I hope the government will not label me an instigator of a color revolution for speaking with foreign countries to put pressure on the government to release my father. Absurdly, the democratic means the CNRP has been perusing are being called a color revolution. This has taken the entire world by surprise. But I trust the international community knows the right things to do to help Cambodia. If any sanctions are imposed on the government, it will be because the government itself has provoked such measures. The Cambodian government is destroying peace, development, and democracy by persecuting the opposition party, the media, and civil society organizations. Any sour relations with foreign governments are being created by the Cambodian government itself. RFA: Why do you think Kem Sokha has been accused of treason? Kem Monovithya: I believe this accusation is personal and vindictive. Over the past three decades, leaders of the ruling [CPP] party themselves have been described as traitors. They hate this term so much. So in revenge they are accusing the CNRP of treason. But no matter what we are called, we have faith in our people, who know who and what are really are. Over three million Cambodians have already voted for us. The CPP will not stop being called traitors simply by accusing the CNRP of treason. The ruling party should start doing good for the people instead. RFA: Do you think that seeking foreign assistance and advice to build democracy in your country can be described as a conspiracy? Kem Monovithya: Absolutely not! The current government depends a lot on foreign aid and assistance. Even our National Election Committee receives funds from foreign countries. The government has never taken issue with that. But when it comes to the CNRPs relations with foreign countries, the government paradoxically treats these as a conspiracy. I think the government is manipulating this issue about foreign assistance for political gain and to weaken the opposition party ahead of the national election. Thats why I believe in what I am doing. In my capacity as an official of the CNRP, I am authorized to deal with foreign countries to ask for their help. Im not afraid of doing this. And Im not afraid of being accused by the ruling party for doing this. RFA: Hun Sen today threatened to arrest more people in Kem Sokhas case, saying that treason is an organized offense that must involve several people. What do you think of this? Kem Monovithya: The CNRP is a well-organized and structured opposition party with over three million supporters. We work together for democracy. Everyone in the party is involved with Kem Sokha in promoting democracy. If the CPP wants to arrest more people, they will have to arrest over three million Cambodians. RFA: Several independent media outlets including Radio Free Asia, Voice of America, Voice of Democracy, and the outlet that the CNRP used to air its regular programs to voters have been banned. How is the CNRP communicating its message to people about these latest developments? Kem Monovithya: We are doing advocacy work now. We cannot accept that these radio stations have been closed. We are using social media to get our message to our people. We are also visiting them, but our visits to our constituents are being met with threats from Hun Sen. The ruling party is attempting to deny our access to information and to demoralize us. They are trying to keep us from carrying out our political activities. These are things we would like the international community to step in to help with. RFA: Given the current political tension, will the CNRP continue to stand by its position that it wont back down? Kem Monovithya: This is official. The CNRP maintains our position that Kem Sokha must be released. We cannot walk the path marked out by the CPP. We cannot join the CPP in destroying democracy. RFA: Hun Sen says that the CNRP is destroying democracy, peace, and stability. He says that he has to maintain peace and stability at all cost. What is your reaction to his remarks? Kem Monovithya: The world is condemning the government of Cambodia for destroying democracy. The economic growth and developments in Cambodia from the Paris Peace Accords period to the present time have been achieved thanks to Cambodia open to democracy and pluralism. The opposition parties play significant roles in these. The independent media and civil society organizations also play important parts in these. Now the government is destroying them. RFA: Several CNRP lawmakers are out of the country now. What are they doing outside of Cambodia? When will they return? Kem Monovithya: The CNRP lawmakers are meeting supporters in foreign countries. They will go back to Cambodia soon. RFA: What message would you send to your father in prison? Kem Monovithya: My message to him is that we are determined. We wont back down. We are committed to continuing his fight for democracy. And we are adamant that we will continue to advocate for his immediate and unconditional release so that he can lead the CNRP to positive change [for Cambodia] in the upcoming national election. Pro-democracy activists have staged mass rallies and demonstrations in Hong Kong over a national holiday marking China's National Day, calling for an end to "authoritarian" rule in the city. Tens of thousands marched through the downtown area on Sunday in a protest against the jailing of democracy and land rights activists following a string of controversial sentencing reviews by the city's courts. Two years after thousands of protesters blocked major highways during the 79-day Occupy Central democracy campaign, groups once more convened for a "rally against authoritarian rule" following a series of high-profile interventions by the ruling Chinese Communist Party in the political and judicial affairs of the city. Dressed in black, protesters called for the resignation of justice secretary Rimsky Yuen, who ordered courts to review sentences handed down to 16 activists including Occupy leaders Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, and Alex Chow, all of whom are now in jail. "Authoritarian rule has already become Hong Kong's reality," law professor Benny Tai, one of the founders of the Occupy movement for fully democratic elections, told the rally. "We are having today's rally ... because we hope more Hong Kong people will see the true nature of the government," he said. The protesters said Yuen had damaged human rights and judicial independence in Hong Kong, which was promised the continuation of its traditional freedoms under the 1997 handover agreement, by ordering the review of noncustodial sentences for the 16 activists. Breach of the Basic Law A protester surnamed Wong said Yuen is intent on wiping out any opposition voices in Hong Kong, and that his department is in breach of the city's mini-constitution, the Basic Law. "I agree [with demands for his resignation] because he is destroying the rule of law," Wong said. "The government has done a lot of things that are unconstitutional. This is authoritarian rule, and I support our prisoners of conscience." A resident surnamed Tse said he had turned out in protest on China's National Day because the festival is used by the ruling Chinese Communist Party for self-glorification. "I think that this celebration is entirely orchestrated by the Communist Party: it's more of a Party Day than a National Day celebration," he said. The government-requested review into the sentencing of Wong, Chow, and Law has also been criticized as part of a politically motivated retaliation instigated by Beijing. Hong Kong courts also recently stripped six directly elected pan-democratic legislators of their seats following an intervention by the National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, invalidating their oaths of allegiance to China. 'Authoritarian era' Avery Ng of march co-organisers the League of Social Democrats said Hong Kong has now entered "an authoritarian era." "The law has used against people that hold a different view against the government," he told journalists, calling on Yuen to resign. "For those in support of the government's views, no matter what crimes they commit, they will go unpunished." The government warned in a statement on Sunday that Hong Kong's freedoms of speech and demonstration "are not absolute." But it denied that judicial independence had been subject to political interference. "Judicial decisions are made independently after fair and open hearings on the basis of the evidence adduced in court and the applicable law," the statement said. "Political consideration does not come into play at all." "The allegations of political prosecution or persecution [by the Justice Department] are entirely unfounded," it said. Broken promises Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy under the terms of its 1997 handover from Britain to China, but many say the citys traditional freedoms are now a thing of the past, as Beijing seeks to wield ever greater influence over the citys media, publishing, and political scene. Leaders of the 79-day civil disobedience movement rejected a Aug. 31, 2014 NPC decree which required the vetting of candidates for the city's top job by a pro-Beijing committee, as "fake universal suffrage." Earlier this year Hong Kong courts stripped six directly elected pan-democratic legislators of their seats following an NPC interpretation invalidating their oaths of allegiance to China. Pan-democratic lawmaker Charles Mok said the jailing of democracy activists and the stripping of seats from elected lawmakers following an intervention by the NPC on the validity of their oaths last November showed that the authorities are stepping up the pressure on Hong Kong's political opposition. But he said recent divisions within the movement must be healed as soon as possible. "There is no room for us to be divided or disunited," Mok said. "We must show mutual tolerance, because this is the biggest hope we have for our collective struggle for democracy and the reliable and equitable rule of law in Hong Kong." Internal disputes The pro-democracy movement has been riven by disagreements over the aim of protests and the methods used to get its message across since the Umbrella Movement in 2014, according to democracy campaigner Joseph Cheng, a former political science professor at City University. Student unions were notably absent from Sunday's rally, which police estimated at a much lower level of turnout than the levels estimated by organizers. "It's very difficult when you have political views that are hard to reconcile, especially when this degenerates into online flame wars," Cheng said. "This can be very harmful, and I think the first step is to lay off attacking each other." "We should be doing everything we can to work together, to gradually build mutual trust. But this is a process that will take time." Reported by Tam Lee for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Chen Pan for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. 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: Kames Capital Plc (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a): The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates: Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Paysafe Group plc (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken: For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 29/09/2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer? If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" YES If YES, specify which: 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: Ordinary Share Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 12,733,935 2.6082 0 0.00 (2) Cash-settled derivatives: 612,520 0.1255 0 0.00 (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell: 0 0.00 0 0.00 TOTAL: 13,346,455 2.7337 0 0.00 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 Ordinary Share Sale 495,000 5.8200 GBP (b) Cash-settled derivative transactions Class of relevant security Product description e.g. CFD Nature of dealing e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit (c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options) (i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit (ii) Exercise Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit (d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities) Class of relevant security Nature of dealing e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable) 4. OTHER INFORMATION (a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer: Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" None (b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to: (i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or (ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced: If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" (c) Attachments Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? Date of disclosure: 02/10/2017 Contact name: Stephen Adams Telephone number: 0131 549 6714 For any issues relating to this disclosure please contact 0131 549 3288 or kamestradeoperationsmb@kamescapital.com Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service and must also be emailed to the Takeover Panel at monitoring@disclosure.org.uk. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129. The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk. The expulsion of once-rising political star Sun Zhengcai from the ruling Chinese Communist Party and a criminal probe into "serious disciplinary violations" on his part comes as President Xi Jinping continues to thin the ranks of the ruling party leadership ahead of a crucial five-yearly congress later this month, analysts said. According to state media, the fall of former Chongqing party chief Sun Zhengcai, 54, "fully demonstrates ... the party's firm determination and unflinching mettle to carry through to the end the fight against corruption," according to an editorial in party newspaper the People's Daily. "Corruption is a tumor that has intruded into the party's healthy body, and the campaign for stricter self-governance of the party is a war, but without the smoke of gunpowder," the paper thundered. "Sun's case once again sounds the alarm bell to the whole party," it said. Its sister-paper, the tabloid Global Times, said Sun had accepted a "huge amount" of money and gifts in return for ignoring party and government rules, taking advantage of his position to seek benefits for others. "He was also accused of bureaucracy and sloth in work and degradation and power-for-sex trades in life," the paper said. "It should be noted that he committed all these grave crimes." But political analysts said Sun has fallen victim to a power struggle in the corridors of power in Beijing, as President Xi Jinping moves ever closer to the kind of supreme leadership not seen since the death of Deng Xiaoping. Hu Ping, the New York-based editor of the Chinese-language monthly Beijing Spring, said the system of collective leadership by a seven-man Politburo standing committee established during Deng's tenure is now clearly over. "Since Xi Jinping came to power, he has been intent on expanding his personal power," Hu said. "It's clear that he is unwilling to accept any potential successors picked by his predecessors, so he has taken the knife to Sun Zhengcai." "This in itself suggests that he has put paid to the system for choosing the next generation of leaders." High-pressure atmosphere Hu said the announcement of Sun's fall in the run-up to the opening of the 19th Party Congress shows that Xi's power strategy appears to be working. "I think we will be seeing more such moves before the Party Congress formally opens," Hu said. "The aim will be to create a high-pressure atmosphere that will ensure that delegates to the congress enable Xi Jinping to complete his plan smoothly." Chinese constitutional scholar Zhang Lifan agreed, saying that Sun's fall is part of a campaign by Xi to suppress an entire generation of potential successors who were endorsed by his predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin under a form of power-sharing developed after the death of late supreme leader Mao Zedong and the fall of the Gang of Four later that year. "Xi wants to get rid of the whole next generation that he inherited from Hu and Jiang," Zhang said. "He is planning to handpick [politicians] who are loyal to himself." "Also, the whole question of whether or not Xi will seek a third term in office is another reason for the rather low priority given to the succession of power to the next generation," he said. Zhang said Sun was recently praised by fugitive billionaire Guo Wengui, whose accusations of massive corruption linked to relatives of the Communist Party's anti corruption czar Wang Qishan have made him one of Beijing's most-wanted men. "It is possible that Wang and Xi have a sense they're [their leadership is] in crisis ... and they have become united against external opponents," he said. "The fall of Sun Zhengcai would be the best indicator of that, and also of the united partnership formed by Wang and Xi." Political journalists in China are interpreting Sun's fall to mean that his replacement Chen Min'er is being groomed as a potential successor to Xi, according to political commentator Gao Xin. "This argument isn't without merit [but] Xi Jinping has already returned to the single leadership model of the Cultural Revolution, that of the Great Helmsman holding all the power," Gao wrote in a recent commentary for RFA's Mandarin Service. "The role of premier has lost the importance it had under Hu and Jiang, so it really makes no difference to Xi [who succeeds Li Keqiang as premier]." Pyramid-shaped structure Beijing-based current affairs commentator Zhou Xiaozheng said Sun's downfall was predictable from a close reading of moves made by Xi during the five years following the 18th Party Congress in 2012, because falls like Sun's are built into China's political structure. "[Sun was near the top of the party] power base, which is shaped like a pyramid," Zhou said. "He was already a member of the Politburo, so the next step would be the Politburo standing committee." "The higher you go, the closer to the summit, the fiercer the competition becomes," Zhou said. "It's not only not surprising; it is an inevitable outcome of [this structure]." "The higher you go, the more dangerous it gets." A total of 2,287 party delegates will gather in Beijing on Oct. 18 to decide the leadership line-up for Xis second term and to discuss and endorse major changes to the party charter. In Sun's backyard of Chongqing, however, around one-third of the city's party congress delegates have been dropped, with a number of his political allies also likely facing investigation, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper reported. Reported by Lin Ping for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Myanmar-based diplomats board helicopters in Sittwe to take them to Maungdaw township in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine state, Oct. 2, 2017. Foreign diplomats in Myanmar and the heads of United Nations agencies visited areas of volatile northern Rakhine state recently hit by violence on Monday, despite warnings by the states police chief about further possible terrorist attacks in the area. Three helicopters transported members of the group of diplomats, including those from the United States, the European Union, Malaysia, Israel, Denmark, France, Indonesia, and Pakistan, Thailand, and India. They were joined by Rakhine state and central government officials and ministers on a government-sponsored tour of areas of Maungdaw and Ratheduang townships, the nexus of recent strife. They visited Khamaungsake, Nurular, and Shwe Zar villages, where violent attacks occurred during a military crackdown in the wake of deadly assaults by the militant Muslim group Arakan Rohingya Salvation army (ARSA) on police outposts and an army base on Aug. 25. They also stopped at Pantaw Pyin Muslim village, where communities lived peacefully during the crisis, and met with members of ethnic Rakhine, Muslims, Mro, Hindu, Diangnet, and Kaman minority groups who were caught up in the violence in other areas. The visit comes amid heightened international pressure on Myanmar to address accusations and evidence of deadly violence by the military against Rohingya Muslims in ravaged northern Rakhine state. More than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims and thousands of ethnic Rakhine and Hindus have fled the area since Aug. 25 when the Myanmar military launched a devastating crackdown in the region following deadly attacks on 30 police outposts and an army facility by ARSA. Rights groups, nongovernmental organizations, and the U.N. have accused the Myanmar military of committing crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in northern Rakhine amid numerous reports by Rohingya of security forces indiscriminately killing civilians, burning villages, torturing people, and raping women during two crackdowns following the ARSA attacks. The government maintains that there have been no armed clashes or security operations in the region since Sept. 5, and has accused Muslim militants of setting Rohingya villages ablaze and arresting and killing more than 50 ethnic Hindus living in local villages. Four Hindu organizations have sought permission to take care of orphaned children and elderly victims of the violence in Maungdaw. The Myanmar Hindu Central Organization Thanantapala will ask the government to grant permission to take the Hindu children to the commercial capital Yangon where they will be given shelter, said Kyaw Thu, the organizations secretary. For the moment, we dont know what kind of verification cards the Hindu children are holding, he told RFAs Myanmar Service. Since their parents were killed, they might not have their papers. We will be proposing that the government make allowances for that. Full investigation needed The diplomats on the tour urged the Myanmar government to fully investigate allegations of human rights violations, allow unimpeded humanitarian access to northern Rakhine, let a U.N. fact-finding mission visit the area, and ensure the safe return of the Rohingya refugees, the online journal The Irrawaddy reported. The Myanmar government has refused to grant entry visas to the members of a U.N. fact-finding mission appointed to investigate previous allegations of killings, rape, and torture by security forces against the Rohingya after October 2016 attacks by ARSA. A statement issued by the U.N. office in Yangon expressed appreciation for the government-organized visit, in which three U.N. representatives took part. The scale of human suffering is unimaginable and the U.N. extends its deepest condolences to all those affected, the statement said. The U.N. advocates for the end to the cycle of violence and for establishing law and order and the rule of law; to allow unfettered access for humanitarian support; and to ensure the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of the refugees to their areas of origin. It also urged Myanmar to allow the media and human rights advocates greater access to the area to assess the concerns and needs of all communities in affected areas. The diplomats visit to Rakhine, which had been postponed last week because of heavy rain, took place as Rakhine State Police Chief Colonel Aung Myat Moe said security forces had received information about possible assaults by terrorists who may be plotting bomb and surprise attacks. He said authorities have responded by increasing security measures in certain parts of Rakhine state. We have received news about possible terror attacks in ethnic villages in south and north of Maungdaw, he said. We have tightened security in those places with the No. 1 border police force along with the army. We have also beefed up security in state capital Sittwe. In a related development on Monday, Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to set up a working group for the repatriation of the half-mission Rohingya from northern Rakhine who recently sought shelter across the border, Reuters reported, citing Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali. Bangladesh, which has accused Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya and called on it to resolve the refugee crisis, has struggled to accommodate the influx of new refugees in existing camps in the countrys southeast where another 400,000 Rohingya already live. Win Myat Aye, Myanmars minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, told the U.N.s refugee agency in Geneva on Monday that the ministrys next immediate priority was to return the refugees, Reuters reported. He said the process could begin at any time for the Rohingya who want to go back to Myanmar and that the verification of refugees will be based on the terms of a 1993 agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Reported by Min Thein Aung and Wai Yan Moe Myint for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Kyaw Min Htun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Seven people suspected of involvement in a violent mob attack last month on Muslims in Taungdwingyi township are still in hiding, a lawmaker from the area central Myanmars Magway region said Monday. A mob of Buddhists, which eventually grew to as many as 70 people, attacked a Muslim butchers home in the township and then marched on a local mosque before being dispersed by police who fired rubber bullets into the crowd. Other houses, shops, and stands were also damaged by the mob, whose actions were observed by about 400 bystanders. Member of Parliament Zaw Min Tun said that police have already questioned seven suspects, and from them learned about seven others. One of the questioned suspects had contact with three of those in hiding, he said. And then the other six questioned had contact with another four persons. When police tried to contact them, they had already escaped. The local government has disbursed 8 million kyats (U.S. $5,750) to residents whose property was damaged during the violence. At the time, local media sources quoted an attacker as saying that the crowd had taken action because they were enraged over communal violence and terrorists attacks involving Rohingya Muslim militants in northern Rakhine state. A Myanmar army counteroffensive in response to deadly attacks on police outposts and an army base by a militant Muslim group on Aug. 25 triggered the communal violence that drove more than 500,000 Rohingya from their villages across the border to Bangladesh. Thousands of ethnic Rakhine, Myo, and Hindu refugees also fled their villages in northern Rakhine, claiming that militant Muslims attacked them and drove them out. The same day as the Taungdwingyi township riot, police arrested Hnin Ko Ko Lin, who admitted to attacking the houses, and the following day apprehended four others Soe Thu, 33; Thein Zan Htay, 22; Naing Aung Htet, 27; and Sithu Aung, 18 according to a report by Democratic Voice of Burma. Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Authorities in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region are confiscating Qurans and prayer mats from Muslim Uyghurs in the seat of Bayingholin Mongol (in Chinese, Bayinguoleng Menggu) Autonomous Prefecture, according to official sources. Information recently posted on the Facebook accounts of residents of Korla (Kuerle) city suggested that Uyghurs were required to attend self-confession meetings on Sept. 25, during which they had to hand over all remaining prayer mats and religious books to administrators. When contacted by RFAs Uyghur Service, a staff member who answered the phone at Korlas government office said he was unaware of such meetings taking place in the city. But officials with Korlas Saybagh Residential Committee and Qara Yulghun village confirmed the meetings took place last week and said they were part of a campaign to collect Islamic religious items from area Muslims that began in the end of 2016. When asked about the meeting that occurred in his district, the cadre from Saybagh told RFA that such self-confession gatherings had taken place there for several months. He said that while no one who attended last weeks meeting had admitted their failings, authorities were able to collect 16 books containing religious content and also Islamic journals. No one handed in prayer mats at the meeting, the cadre said, but authorities have confiscated 5,000-6,000 mats since the Saybagh campaign began in February. Those who are bringing payer mats in these days say they only recently found them because they had been misplaced, he said, adding that authorities are working very hard to implement the rules. A cadre from Qara Yulghun village told RFA that 657 residents attended a similar meeting in his village between 7:00 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. on Sept. 25. People have already handed in their prayer mats and books, as we have been continuously propagating these rules, he said, adding that authorities had collected around 400 books and 250 prayer mats since the end of last year. We are encouraging people to hand in not only their Qurans, but all religious items There are so many different religious books that we are asking for them all so that we can examine them and decide whether any can be handed back [to their owners]. The cadre said there was no timetable or guidelines regulating how authorities would determine whether religious materials were correct or incorrect and could be returned. The four religious scholars in the cadres village owned a large quantity of religious materials, he said, all of which had been confiscated. Authorities took personal books from the scholars as well as those they had received while at training college, the cadre said, confirming that even state-sanctioned religious materials had been seized. All of the books were subsequently delivered to the United Front Work Departmenta Communist Party agency responsible for handling relations with Chinas non-party elite that he said had issued the verbal order to confiscate them. Harsh punishment Last week, sources told RFA that officials across Xinjiang had been warning neighborhoods and mosques that Uyghur Muslims must hand in the items or face harsh punishment if they are found later. Exile Uyghur groups said reports had emerged from Kashgar, Hotan and other regions of similar practices starting earlier in September. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a Sept. 28 press briefing in Beijing, however, that the situation in Xinjiang was sound and dismissed the reports as groundless rumors. In May, official sources told RFA that authorities were confiscating all Qurans published more than five years ago due to extremist content amid an ongoing campaign against illegal religious items owned by ethnic Uyghur residents. The Qurans were appropriated as part of the Three Illegals and One Item campaign underway in Xinjiang that bans illegal publicity materials, religious activities, and religious teaching, as well as items deemed by authorities to be tools of terrorismincluding knives, flammable objects, remote-controlled toys, and objects sporting symbols related to Islam, they said. Overseas Uyghur groups slammed the Quran ban at the time as merely another bid by Chinese authorities to exert more control over the Xinjiang region by linking their ethnic groups cultural traditions to terrorism and promoting more government-friendly versions. China regularly conducts strike hard campaigns in Xinjiang, including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people, including videos and other material. While China blames some Uyghurs for "terrorist" attacks, experts outside China say Beijing has exaggerated the threat from the Uyghurs and that repressive domestic policies are responsible for an upsurge in violence there that has left hundreds dead since 2009. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFAs Uyghur Service. Translated by Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skeena Resources Limited (TSX-V:SKE) (Skeena or the Company) is pleased to announce a strategic investment from Gold Mountains Asset Management Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group Company Limited of China (Zijin) and certain clients and affiliates of the Sprott Group of Companies (Sprott Group). Skeena proposes to issue 83,333,334 flow through units (the Units) at a price of C$0.072 per Unit for gross proceeds of C$6,000,000. Each Unit will consist of one flow through common share and one half of a warrant (each whole warrant, a Warrant). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional common share of Skeena at a price of C$0.10 for 24 months following closing. By way of a charity flow through swap, Zijin and Sprott Group will each subscribe for 41,666,667 Units, for a total of 83,333,334 Units. Skeenas CEO, Walter Coles Jr. commented, A strategic investment from two of the most sophisticated investor/operators in the precious metals sector is a strong show of confidence in the value of Skeenas portfolio of mineral properties in northwest British Columbia. The net proceeds of the financing will be used to fund on-going exploration programs. Closing of the financing is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. All of the securities issued under this financing will be subject to a hold period of 4 months from the closing date of the offering. Finders fees may be payable to qualified finders in accordance with applicable regulations. Skeenas Board of Directors has also passed a resolution authorizing a 10 (old) for 1 (new) share consolidation (the Consolidation) in order to reduce the number of common shares outstanding. The Company will make similar adjustments to its outstanding warrants and incentive stock options. The Company currently has 644,608,495 common shares outstanding and following the Consolidation there will be 64,460,849 common shares outstanding (prior to the closing of the financing described above). There will be no name change associated with the Consolidation and it is anticipated that the Consolidation will occur immediately after closing of the financing. The Consolidation is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, however no shareholder approval is required. About Skeena Skeena Resources Limited is a junior Canadian mining exploration company focused on developing prospective precious and base metal properties in the Golden Triangle region of northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Companys primary activities are the exploration and development of the past-producing Snip gold mine, acquired from Barrick Gold, and the past-producing Porter Idaho silver mine. The Company also recently announced Preliminary Economic Assessment results for the Spectrum-GJ copper-gold porphyry project. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited, Walter Coles Jr. President & CEO This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons (as defined in the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirement is available. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements Certain statements made and information contained herein may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation, including, among other things, information with respect to the expected size and terms of the Offering, the expected timing for closing of the Offering and the expected use of proceeds of the Offering. These statements and information are based on facts currently available to the Company and there is no assurance that actual results will meet managements expectations. Forward-looking statements and information may be identified by such terms as anticipates, believes, targets, estimates, plans, expects, may, will, could or would. Forward-looking statements and information contained herein are based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and other matters. While the Company considers its assumptions to be reasonable as of the date hereof, forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue importance on such statements as actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements or information except as may be required by applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Suite 650, 1021 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC, Canada V6E 0C3 Tel: (604) 684-8725 Fax: (604) 558-7695 A 73-year-old Chesterfield County man has been charged with drunken driving in a Friday crash in which police said he collided with a county school bus. Thomas C. Fensch, who lives in the 8800 block of Rockdale Road, was charged with first offense DUI and failure to stop. He lives a short distance from the site of the wreck. Police said the crash occurred about 2:30 p.m. when a school bus traveling south on Rockdale Road at Lindell Road was struck on the passenger side by a Jeep Cherokee traveling south on Lindell Road. Police said their investigation showed that Fensch ran through a stop sign at the intersection. According to court papers, a Chesterfield police officer who spoke with Fensch after the wreck said he detected an odor of alcohol on him. When the officer asked whether he had consumed any alcohol, Fensch said he had drunk two glasses of wine on an empty stomach about one hour earlier. Fensch also told the officer he was driving to the store from his home when when the crash occurred. A breath sample taken from Fensch at the scene registered 0.10, which is above the legal driving limit of 0.08. In an test conducted at the jail, Fensch's blood alcohol content registered 0.08. The number of reported rapes on Virginia Commonwealth Universitys Monroe Park campus nearly doubled last year, according to the universitys recently released annual security report. The figure jumped from eight in 2015 to 15 in 2016, with all but two reported to have occurred in a campus residence facility, according to VCUs data. There were seven reported rapes at the universitys MCV campus. The University of Richmond reported 11 rapes, with eight reported to have occurred in residence halls. The total was down from 17 in 2015. About 31,200 students are enrolled at VCU, and 4,181 are enrolled at the University of Richmond, according to the schools websites. Nationally, about 1 in 5 women report experiencing sexual assault while in college, according to research from the Association of American Universities. VCU expected a rise in the number of reports after recent efforts to improve the school communitys education in reporting the crime, university spokesman Tom Gresham said. The university has been diligent in education, awareness and reporting efforts for all forms of sexual assault, he said. Students and staff members are encouraged to report sexual assaults and help get the support and resources they need in a way that is appropriate for them. The university has mandatory Title IX training for students and staff, and last year VCU launched a specific program for criminal sexual assault investigations. The security reports, due by Oct. 1, are mandated by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure Act, which requires U.S. colleges and universities that receive federal money to publish a security report every year. The act requires three years of statistics and other security information. The reports mostly contain descriptions of university security policies, but they also include three years worth of campus crime statistics. The act, named after a Lehigh University student who was raped and killed in her dorm room in 1986, has very strict definitions for what is to be reported and how crimes are to be classified. Crime statistics in the report also include alcohol violations, giving insight into just how much college students get in trouble for drinking. At VCUs Monroe Park campus, 163 people were arrested for alleged liquor law violations and 97 got disciplinary referrals, numbers that were both down from 2015. The University of Richmond saw a drastic increase in the number of liquor law arrests 56 last year, up from 17 in 2015 while the number of disciplinary referrals dropped from 198 to 170, according to the universitys report. Fewer people also got in trouble for drug-related offenses at VCU last year, according to the data. Ninety-two people were arrested and 52 got disciplinary referrals for alleged crimes involving drugs, down from 105 and 63, respectively, in 2015. Year-over-year numbers stayed relatively the same at the University of Richmond. Guns were already on the radar for Monday in Virginias governors race, but the massacre in Las Vegas on Sunday night forced both campaigns to react amid another round of debate over the political response to mass shootings. Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam called the shooting a terrorist attack and reiterated his calls for tighter gun restrictions. Republican Ed Gillespie, whose promises to preserve gun rights have earned the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, called the violence an act of evil, but did not weigh in on the question of whether the latest tragedy should compel new approaches to gun policy. Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a champion for stronger gun control who survived being shot in the head in 2011, had been scheduled to campaign for Northam in Northern Virginia on Monday. The Northam campaign announced early Monday that the roundtable discussions, which Northam was not scheduled to attend, had been canceled due to recent events. Pam and I are praying for everyone involved in last nights mass shooting in Las Vegas. Make no mistake: This is terrorism, Northam said on Twitter. We have got to do more to prevent events like this moving forward. Im tired of waking up to horrific news like this, and Im sure you are, too. On Monday night, Northam was to attend a vigil for the Las Vegas victims outside Alexandria City Hall, sponsored by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Gillespie, a political consultant and former Republican National Committee chairman endorsed by the NRA, also took to Twitter on Monday morning to respond to the violence. Heartbreaking news out of Las Vegas this morning, Gillespie said. Cathy and I are praying for victims and all those affected by this act of evil. The NRA recently bought more than $750,000 worth of TV airtime in the Richmond and Roanoke markets starting Oct. 10 and running until the eve of the Nov. 7 election, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. The content of the ads was not immediately clear, but the gun rights organization is also backing Republicans in the races for attorney general and lieutenant governor. Everytown for Gun Safety, an anti-gun violence group backed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has invested almost $95,000 supporting Democrats in the 2017 election cycle, according to VPAP, including $42,060 of in-kind polling and staff support for Northam. Northam has advocated for universal background checks, an assault weapons ban and reinstating Virginias former law limiting handgun purchases to one per month. Democrats have introduced a variety of gun control bills in recent General Assembly sessions, but the Republican-controlled legislature routinely blocks efforts to add new restrictions on the purchase and possession of firearms. Gillespie has vowed to defend and advance gun rights. In its August endorsements, the NRAs Political Victory Fund called Gillespie a strong supporter of our constitutional rights who will stand up to Michael Bloomberg and his out-of-state gun control groups. At a candidate forum in Richmond last week, Northam and Gillespie weighed in on what may be a new gun policy issue for the 2018 legislative session: whether cities and counties should be allowed to restrict weapons at volatile political rallies like the chaotic white nationalist gathering in Charlottesville this summer. No one was shot at the Aug. 12 rally, but one rally attendee was firing a handgun in the direction of anti-racist protesters, and the presence of heavily armed militia members heightened the already tense situation. For a much smaller gathering of pro-Confederate demonstrators in Richmond last month, police enacted a ban on objects like sticks and shields that could be used for mayhem, but concluded there was no way to ban guns under existing law. Northam said he supports the work of a post-Charlottesville task force convened by Gov. Terry McAuliffe that is reviewing the permitting process for political rallies, including the legality of weapons bans. I think we need to use some common sense, Northam said. When permits are granted for a demonstration, and we know that law enforcement is going to be there with their weapons, why do other people need to bring their weapons there? Lets be clear, theres a difference between speech and action, Gillespie said. Speech is protected, but inciting violence is not. And we need to enforce that law. We need to learn the lessons from Charlottesville. Emmanuel Macrons trouncing of Marine Le Pen in the French presidential contest led some to conclude that the rise of the far right had been greatly exaggerated. Maybe not. The AfD, or Alternative for Germany, took third place in German elections a few days ago, and will soon take seats in the countrys parliament. (Alice Weidel, one of the partys leaders, confounds expectations: The New York Times reports she is fluent in Mandarin and is raising children with her female partner.) Islamist radicals have done surprisingly well in recent parliamentary elections in Lahore, Pakistan. One candidate was from a banned group, its leader under house arrest for past ties to armed militants, The Washington Post reported. The other was from a movement built around the cult of an assassin and the belief that blasphemers against Islam deserve death. Juxtaposed against that, Alabamas Roy Moore looks the very soul of moderation. But here in the U.S. the former state chief justice is too extreme even for Donald Trump who campaigned for Moores primary opponent, Luther Strange. Moore won, and is expected to beat his Democratic opponent. That means Alabamas next senator is likely to be someone who believes Islam is a false religion, thinks Muslims should be barred from serving in Congress, was kicked off the bench for disregarding a federal ruling against the Ten Commandments monument he had installed, and considers 9/11 to be divine punishment for Americas sins. Blue Heron Capital, a private equity firm based in South Richmond, has led a $3.5 million investment round in a New England-based company that makes specialized building products. Blue Heron said it invested in STARC Systems, a fast-growing company in Brunswick, Maine, that manufactures and distributes modular wall systems designed to provide clean, airtight and sound-deadening construction barriers to protect work environments from the effects of construction. The companys modular walls have been in demand for projects at some health care facilities that need to remain open during construction work. Tom Benedetti, a partner and co-founder of Blue Heron Capital, said hospital systems spend about $2.5 billion a month on construction and renovation projects, so the demand for STARC Systems walls is significant. This can also be used in any area where there are renovations going on and people want to present a more polished image, such as retail stores, he said. Blue Heron Capital became a private-equity investment venture in 2010 and focuses its investments on companies in health care, technology, security and business services. The firms other investments include Avizia, a Reston-based company with products including telemedicine carts that enable doctors to consult with patients from a distance by video conference. NEW YORK, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Primera Air today announced that during the first eight months of 2017, the company increased its total earnings by 16.3% and its revenues per available seat by 12.1% compared to the same period last year. Primera Air has also shown compelling performance regarding ancillary revenue that has grown by 3.11%, reaching income of 9.36 million euro for 2017 thus far. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4271aaae-2510-422c-8e9b-bf3d476aad0d The introduction of three fare classes on European flights, the development of the most demanded routes and the removal of unprofitable flights have been the most important factors allowing Primera Air to achieve record high results this year. Taking into account airlines outstanding performance, Primera Air continues to revolutionize transatlantic flights from Europe to USA. During the first eight months of this year, the number of passengers carried by Primera Air has grown over 23% compared to the same period last year. According to corporate projections, the number of passengers carried by the airline will exceed one million by the end of 2017. Primera Air will begin flying to New York and Boston from its new European bases in London, Paris and Birmingham beginning of April 2018. During Spring 2018, Primera Air will also commence flights from Riga to its most popular vacation destination - the city of Malaga in Costa del Sol region in Spain. We are proud to announce the excellent financial performance of our airline and the increase in the number of passengers we have carried thus far in 2017. This, in particular, means that all of our initiatives launched in 2016 are delivering great results. We have improved our product by introducing three fare classes on European flights, closed unprofitable routes and focused on those with higher demand. We have optimized operations to increase our load factor and we are now enjoying amazing results; A Primera Air flights average annual load factor has reached 87%, said Primera Air vicepresident and chief commercial officer Anastasija Visnakova. Airline tickets to more than 70 destinations operated by Primera Air, including new European bases in London (Stansted, STN), Paris (Charles de Gaulle, CDG) and Birmingham, UK (BHX) can be purchased at www.primeraair.lv. Primera Air is a scheduled operator, operating flights to more than 70 airports in Europe. Primera Air is based in Denmark and Latvia, and is part of the Primera Travel Group that operates travel agencies and tour operating companies in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Estonia. Contact: Sandra Baltruka Baltic Communication Partners + 371 26428418, sandra.baltruka@bcp.lv Joanne Hogue Smart Connections PR (410) 658-8246, joanne@smartconnectionspr.com A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. TORONTO, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Schulich School of Business at York University and Deloitte, two global leaders in the field of business analytics, today announced plans to create the Deloitte Cognitive Analytics and Visualization Lab, an innovative laboratory, supported by a leading data scientist, to foster advances in the visualization and interpretation of big data. The new Deloitte Cognitive Analytics and Visualization Lab and the Deloitte Data Scientist position at Schulich will be established in partnership by Schulich and Deloitte as part of their joint commitment to building tomorrows leading talent in the field of analytics. The Deloitte Data Scientist position will support the Lab and was made possible through a significant private investment from Deloitte. The Lab and Data Scientist will be housed within Schulichs future Centre of Excellence in Business Analytics, one of several Centres of Excellence to be located in the Schools new $50-million Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study & Research Building, scheduled to open in late spring 2018. The new lab and partnership were announced this morning at a networking breakfast at Deloittes Toronto office, where industry professionals were shown the latest technology and techniques in data analytics and visualization. A panel discussion featuring Deloitte and Schulich analytics leaders followed. Ever since Schulich became the first business school in Canada to offer a management degree in business analytics, our School has been a global leader in analytics research and education. Deloitte, meanwhile, has been at the global forefront of utilizing data analytics to help businesses gain a competitive advantage, said Schulich Dean Dezso J. Horvath. Establishing the state-of-the-art Deloitte Cognitive Analytics and Visualization Lab at Schulich will enable both of our organizations to continue providing world-class expertise in business analytics. Deloitte is committed to helping Canada understand and leverage analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and cognitive computing against a rapidly changing and complex business and economic environment to deliver financial, social and economic value, said Anthony Viel, Managing Partner, Financial Advisory at Deloitte in Canada. By sharing our industry experience, our globally recognized analytics team, and our ecosystem of resources, like our Greenhouse and relationships with Schulich we know we can together develop the next generation of business analytic talent and business leaders faster to make Canada better. By taking a leading role in business analytics education and research, we will equip Canadian leaders with the in-demand skills they need to grow their businesses, said Frank Vettese, Managing Partner and Chief Executive, Deloitte Canada. Business analytics is a rapidly expanding field and the Deloitte Cognitive Analytics and Visualization Lab will uncover the insights and innovation we need to not only distinguish our leaders on the world stage but also drive Canadas future prosperity. The approximately 800-square-foot lab will be designed to support teaching and research goals, as well as explore advances in predictive analytics, natural language processing, machine learning, analytics design and visualization, and data-based story-telling. It will be equipped with cognitive, data analytics and visualization technology, available to students and faculty in Schulichs Master of Business Analytics program, Masters-level programs, Executive MBA and MBA programs, as well as undergraduate business programs. There is a high demand now for business leaders with the expertise to analyze and communicate trends, patterns and insights, quickly understand and navigate industry shifts, as well as to influence and drive change. Visualization techniques are the easiest way to translate very complex data into a form that is ready to be used by business executives to solve problems and plan for the future. Schulich is excited to work with Deloittes pioneering data analytics team to prepare future business leaders to visually interpret and communicate insights generated by big data collections, said Murat Kristal, Director of Schulichs Master of Business Analytics Program. Business analytics and data visualization are a potential game changer for every industry. The future Schulich Centre of Excellence in Business Analytics, of which the Lab will be the major component piece, will provide a focal point for industry outreach, collaboration, research and practical teaching. Once established, the Centre will be the business schools fourth centre of excellence. Other centres at Schulich, which will all be located in the new building as of spring 2018, include: the Brookfield Centre in Real Estate and Infrastructure; the Centre for Global Enterprise; and the Centre of Excellence in Responsible Business. Schulich was the first business school in Canada to launch a graduate-level business analytics program in 2012. Graduates of Schulichs business analytics program are in high demand and have been recruited by a wide range of companies, including Deloitte, Aimia, TD, Bell, Labatt, CIBC, and Statistics Canada. About Deloitte Deloitte, one of Canada's leading professional services firms, provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services. Deloitte LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership, is the Canadian member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and its member firms. About Schulich Known as Canadas Global Business School, the Schulich School of Business in Toronto is ranked among the worlds leading business schools by a number of global surveys. Schulichs MBA program is ranked #1 in the world by Corporate Knights, the worlds largest circulation magazine with an explicit focus on Corporate Social Responsibility, in a global survey that identifies which schools are doing the best job of preparing future business leaders for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business. Schulichs MBA program is also ranked #1 in Canada and among the worlds leading schools by The Economist, Forbes, CNN Expansion and America Economia. Schulich is also ranked among the worlds top 35 business schools for a career in investment banking in a global survey by eFinancialCareers.com. The Kellogg-Schulich EMBA program is ranked #5 in the world by The Economist and #1 in Canada by the Financial Times of London. For complete ranking details, please visit www.schulich.yorku.ca. Global, innovative and diverse, Schulich offers business programs year-round at its state-of-the-art complex at York University; at its Miles S. Nadal Management Centre located in the heart of the Torontos financial district; and at its new campus in Hyderabad, India. Schulich also operates a number of satellite centres in Beijing and Shanghai, China; Mumbai, India; Seoul, South Korea; Mexico City, Mexico; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Schulich offers undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate business degrees that lead to rewarding careers in the private, public and nonprofit sectors, and close to 30,000 alumni working in over 90 countries. The School pioneered Canadas first International MBA (IMBA) and International BBA (iBBA) degrees, as well as North Americas first ever cross-border Executive MBA degree, the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA. In addition to Schulichs Master of Finance, Master of Management and Master of Accounting degrees, the School launched Canadas first Master of Business Analytics degree and the worlds first Master of Real Estate and Infrastructure degree. Schulichs Executive Education Centre provides executive development programs annually to more than 12,000 executives in Canada and abroad. For more information members of the media may contact: Beth Marlin Media Relations and Public Relations Schulich School of Business Phone: 905-717-6278 Email: bmarlin@schulich.yorku.ca Emily Richardson Deloitte Public Relations Email: Emrichardson@deloitte.ca LYNCHBURG With the price of solar panels dropping, more people are opening up to the idea of installing renewable energy in their homes and businesses to help offset electric costs. Among them is James LaPrade, president of BMS Direct on Millrace Drive in Lynchburg. LaPrade had solar panels installed on the roofs of his business last year, and those panels now supply about half of BMS Directs electricity. Im a big fan of renewable energy, he said. When installed, solar panels absorb the suns rays and convert it into electricity. Solar panels are made up of different types of silicon cells joined together to form a circuit. While the savings and environmental benefits from using solar power can be an attractive investment, prospective buyers must weigh those advantages against the upfront cost of installing solar panels and assess whether their property receives enough sunlight to make solar power viable. When LaPrade built his home 10 years ago, he installed solar hot water and said he has been able to see the savings from that over the years. When an opportunity came to do something similar at his office, LaPrade jumped on it. The 80,000-square-foot facility that employs 72 people and specializes in processing invoices has a roof with more than 900 solar panels on it. The initial installation last year at BMS involved 722 panels placed on the roof, and this year another 200 were added. The first investment cost $402,000, and LaPrade just added another $100,000. Before installing the panels, he said, the offices electric bills were anywhere from $6,000 to $9,000 per month. The payback timeline on the panels at BMS is six years. My intention is to keep adding on each year until I can maximize my roof space, LaPrade said. There is about 40 percent of the roof remaining. LaPrade hired Affordable Energy Concepts Inc. in Madison Heights. The cost of solar has dropped dramatically over the past five years primarily due to technology improvements and the supply and demand for solar, Affordable Energy Concepts owner David Wall said. Installing residential panels can cost between $2.30 per watt and $2.75 per watt. An average residential installation totals around 5,000 watts, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. For commercial, the panels can cost between $1.40 per watt and $2.20 per watt. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, there were 26,000 Virginia homes powered by solar as of Sept. 12, and there has been a 55 percent price decline in solar infrastructure over the past five years. Matthew Brady, director of business development for Lynchburg-based New Dominion Solar, said increased electricity costs and the publics greater awareness of solar power have contributed to its popularity. New Dominion Solar, which opened last year, works mostly in the residential market but is hoping to break into commercial soon. Brady said using solar panels can replace homeowners and businesses power bills. Financing is available for solar panels, and in Virginia, those with solar panels are eligible for a 30 percent federal solar investment tax credit. With the tax credit, the net cost of a $20,000 solar installation would be $14,000, with $6,000 returned during the tax season. Aaron Sutch, program director of Virginia Sun, a nonprofit that helps communities go solar across Virginia and advocates for fair solar policies across the state, said Virginians want solar power and they dont want their options blocked. He explained there are several regulations from the General Assembly, one being that third-party leases arent allowed. For example, if a business doesnt have the money to buy the panels upfront, but a third party offers to own the panels and sell the electricity, that isnt allowed, Sutch said. This can be done in Washington, D.C., and in Maryland. Stand-by charges exist from Appalachian Power and are billed to the customer if their system uses more than 10 kilowatts of alternating current or AC. Appalachian Power Company serves about 500,000 customers in its Virginia territory, Appalachian spokesman John Shepelwich said. It has about 750 customers in its net metering program, which allows the customer to install and use solar generators on their property for their own use while remaining attached to the Appalachian Power grid, and most are residential solar installations. All Appalachian customers pay a monthly service charge, which is less than $9. That covers meter reading, billing and account servicing. Others who get some of their power from solar power also receive the monthly service fee and might also receive a stand-by charge if they use over 10 kilowatts of the generation capabilities. Those charges range from about $5 to $75. Those using solar arent completely going off the grid, Shepelwich said. They are still connected to the utility, which has to have a plan for those customers if their system goes down or power goes out. Six hours a day [solar] may be generating power for them; the rest comes from us. We still have to have the infrastructure available, power system, transformers and people available to fix all of that stuff, he said. Thats still part of the formula. Were providing that service. It has to be covered in some way. He said Appalachian is in a middle ground of moving toward a new world of distributed generation. As things go along, this will get worked out as we move forward with a renewable energy as the price comes down. Sutch said companies such as Appalachian Power are preventing solar from taking off even more. Monopoly utilities are blocking access for market options for their customers because solar is a disruptive technology to their business model that hasnt had to change in decades, Sutch said. Sutch said the charges unfairly target solar producers. Wall said he wants the regulations to stay fair so solar companies can continue working. We need fair regulations and fair fee structures; if they do that, we will see the economy grow, he said. After price, the biggest factor when looking at residential is how much sunlight a property gets. Wall said a home or business should go solar if they have 15 percent or less shade coverage. Brady said it is rare for New Dominion Solar to turn anyone down due to shade coverage on a roof. We can usually figure out a way to make it work, he said. We go to extreme lengths to make it work, but we have had to say no to a few. There are customers who want solar, and they want to maximize production, but Brady said sometimes their homes are not set up for it. If you put panels there, it could take 30 years to pay off, he said. In full sun, it will pay for itself sometimes in seven years. LaPrade, of BMS Direct, enjoys his savings from his solar investment and the warranties on the equipment, which last 15 to 20 years. Its a long-term product that is producing, he said. LaPrade said one of the biggest benefits is the federal tax credit, and because his business is placed in an enterprise zone, he can take advantage of infrastructure improvement credits through local and state programs. LaPrade said he thinks one of the biggest hold-ups others have with solar is the initial investment. Im very happy with what weve done, he said. We feel we are being a good steward of our environment and I think the project we put on here is really helping to educate the public and others about renewable energy. I feel this is our future. TORONTO, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Detour Gold Corporation (TSX:DGC) ("Detour Gold" or the "Company") plans to release its third quarter 2017 operating and financial results after market close on Wednesday, October 25, 2017, followed by a conference call and webcast the following morning. Conference Call Details The Company will host a conference call and webcast at 10:00 AM ET on Thursday, October 26, 2017. Webcast access: via the Company website at www.detourgold.com (details on home page) Telephone access: Toll-free (North America): 1-800-319-4610 Toronto local and international: 416-915-3239 A playback will be available until November 26, 2017 by dialing 604-674-8052 or 1-855-669-9658 within Canada and the United States, using pass code 1729. The webcast and presentation slides will be archived on the Companys website. About Detour Gold Detour Gold is an intermediate gold producer in Canada that holds a 100% interest in the Detour Lake mine, a long life large-scale open pit operation. Detour Gold's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol DGC. For further information, please contact: Paul Martin Laurie Gaborit President and CEO Vice President Investor Relations Tel: (416) 304.0800 Tel: (416) 304.0581 Detour Gold Corporation, Commerce Court West, 199 Bay Street, Suite 4100, P.O. Box 121, Commerce Court Postal Station, Toronto, Ontario M5L 1E2. Two recent episodes for your consideration: First item: In the immediate aftermath of the deadly protest in Charlottesville over the removal of a Robert E. Lee monument, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam announced he would be a forceful advocate for Virginia to relocate all of its statues of Confederate leaders from public property into museums. Only a few days later, after a national survey revealed widespread support for the Civil War monuments, Northam was in retreat. These days, Northam emphasizes that keeping or removing Confederate monuments is a question best left up to local officials. Its the same position held by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie. Item number two: In June, Corey Stewart, an unapologetic practitioner of President Donald J. Trumps brand of bare knuckles politics, nearly captured Virginias Republican nomination for governor with a campaign built mainly on fear of illegal immigrants and support for Virginias Confederate Civil War monuments. Stewart practically wrapped himself in the Stars and Bars. We like to think we live in a modern age, with enlightened views. Why is it, then, that most of Virginias progressive politicians seem so timid about racial issues, while some conservatives here seem emboldened to make overt racial appeals to their base constituents? The answer, of course, is that politicians make choices about what they need to do to win office. And a new statewide survey sheds some light on how politicians navigate Virginias troubled cross-currents of race relations. The research was commissioned by the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and conducted by Mason Dixon Polling & Strategy. From Sept. 10-15, 625 registered Virginia voters were interviewed by telephone, giving the survey a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4 percentage points. The survey reveals widespread support for the idea that we need to resolve our race relations issues once and for all. Seventy percent of poll respondents agreed with the once and for all proposition. There was agreement from men and women, black and white, young and old, Democrat and Republican, and across Virginias regions. But when the survey probed a little deeper and asked what steps might be taken to resolve those racial issues, the consensus broke down. Asked whether Virginia should mount a serious study of race relations because of the Commonwealths role in the Civil War and its history of discrimination against African Americans, only 35 percent agreed (52 percent disagreed and 13 percent were not sure). People in Northern Virginia were evenly divided on the idea of a serious study (48 percent support, 46 percent oppose). In other regions, the idea is unpopular, with strongest opposition in the Roanoke to Southwest Virginia region. Asked whether Virginia should appoint a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) aimed at healing racial wounds, poll respondents were similarly opposed (39 percent in favor, 43 percent against overall.) Blacks supported the TRC 61 percent to 23 percent. Whites opposed TRC 48 percent to 32 percent. Again, there were strong regional differences, ranging from 57 percent support for TRC in Northern Virginia, to 63 percent opposition in Roanoke-Southwest Virginia. Based on the rest of the survey, it was no surprise that the idea of financial reparations for African Americans to make amends for 400 years of systemic mistreatment was a non-starter. Statewide, 68 percent oppose reparations, 19 percent support the idea. Three-quarters of white Virginians oppose reparations, as do half of black Virginians (36 percent of blacks support reparations). Across regions, Virginians oppose reparations: 75 percent against in Piedmont and the Shenandoah Valley and 74 percent opposed in Roanoke-Southwest. In the Richmond region, 71 percent oppose reparations. Even in progressive Northern Virginia, 59 percent oppose reparations. Against this backdrop, is it any wonder that Virginia office seekers are reluctant to get out ahead of the public on race relations? Racial appeals have been a staple in American and Virginia politics for as long as anyone remembers. In recent years, the appeals have usually been delivered in code, in an effort to avoid backlash. Remember Republican calls for law and order, and warnings about anchor babies? Even Democrats have gotten in on the act. Hillary Clinton warned in 2008 that then U.S. Sen. Barack Obama would not be able to earn support from hard-working Americans. The simple fact is that until the public has a change of heart on racial issues, we are not likely to see much leadership from our politicians on the matter. Virginias business community is not populated by social justice warriors, and an economic report is not usually considered a manifesto. However, a report produced by one of the states GO Virginia economic development councils raises a provocative question: Is Virginias system of school funding constitutional? To be fair, thats not exactly what the report says, but, unintentionally or otherwise, it does point in that direction. Lets explain. The GO Virginia state board has divided Virginia into nine regions, each of which has produced a report on the regional economy. The best thing about them is they are not documents written by community cheerleaders. Instead, some of them ask some pretty difficult but perhaps necessary questions that communities need to resolve before they can try to build a new economy. The reports for the states two most economically-distressed regions Southwest and Southside are particularly blunt. The Southwest report warns that an exodus of young adults makes it hard to not just recruit new employers, but hold onto the ones already there. Weve looked at that one before. Today, well look at the Southside report, which basically suggests the public schools there arent any good. That is obviously not a Chamber of Commerce kind of question to ask at least in public but its one that came up repeatedly in a series of stakeholder meetings that the Southside council held earlier this year. Heres a sampling: From community leaders: There is a lack of historic public commitment to education and a lack of parental expectations that education is important, which results in challenges to create competitive schools . . . There is a lack of historic public commitment to education and a lack of parental expectations that education is important, which results in challenges to create competitive schools . . . From large employers: There is a perception that the school systems are not producing good talent; does this reflect lack of leadership from local elected officials, unwilling to invest in K-12? There is a perception that the school systems are not producing good talent; does this reflect lack of leadership from local elected officials, unwilling to invest in K-12? From small business owners: There are vestiges of Massive Resistance and other racially-divisive actions are still evident, particularly as seen in lack of support for public schools. In each of the nine GO Virginia reports, the biggest obstacle to economic growth was identified as a lack of trained workers. However, no other region focused as much on the perceived deficiencies of the public schools as did the report on Southside. This seems . . . noteworthy. Keep in mind that these councils are dominated by business leaders, motivated by cold-eyed, bottom-line questions. When various education groups say schools are under-funded, well, they may be right, but thats also easy to dismiss this complaint as exactly what youd think theyd say. But when a 337-page report set in motion by the states business community says the same thing, perhaps its time to pay attention, eh? The interesting thing that runs through these comments is that they all raise the question of whether the schools in Southside are supported by their communities. Thats an important nuance. Its not saying the teachers are failures; its saying theyre not well supported. The comments suggest that lack of support comes in two forms. The first is a lack of parental expectations that education is important. If parents arent supportive, then no amount of funding is going to achieve the desired results. Thats also something hard to measure. All the other comments about lack of support speak either directly or indirectly to a lack of funding for public schools. And that is something that can be measured. In Virginia, school funding comes from three sources local, state and federal funding. The amounts vary, according to a complex formula. Generally speaking, the poorer a community is, the more state and federal funding it gets on the very correct theory that theres less local funding available. Thats the case in Southside, and across other parts of rural Virginia. On average, Virginia localities spent $6,084 on each student in the 2015-2016 year, the most recent year for which data is available. In the 14 localities that fall in what GO Virginia defines as Southside, the average was $2,817 ranging from $1,930 in Henry County to $4,030 in Prince Edward County. For comparison purposes, the eight localities in far Southwest Virginia (encompassing the economically-distressed coalfields) spent even less on their public schools averaging $2,499. It would be easy to say these localities arent spending enough. However, these are also some of the states poorest localities; how much can they realistically tax themselves? Perhaps a better comparison is to look at the total funding, once the state and federal monies are factored in. By that measure, the state average is $11,745 per student. In Southside, its $11,516 below average, but not that much. The total spending on far Southwest schools is lower $9,950 per student. Now, heres some more context: In parts of Northern Virginia, affluent localities are able to afford to spend a lot more of their own money so the total school spending is nearly twice that in far Southwest and far higher than in Southside. Arlington, for instance, spends $16,228 per student nearly 12 times what Henry County spends. Arlingtons total spending per student weighs in at $19,323 per student, the highest in the state, while Henry comes in at $9,777, one of the lowest figures in the state. All this raises the question of what school spending ought to be. The state constitution requires that Virginia maintain public schools of high quality. However, the state Supreme Court ruled in 1994 that nowhere does the Constitution require equal, or substantially equal, funding or programs between school systems. Its up to the General Assembly, the court ruled, to decide what funding should be. So heres maybe a better question. Lets not focus on the difference between what Arlington spends and what Henry County spends. Lets focus on what the Constitution requires. Does the $11,516 being spent per student in Southside (or the $9,950 in far Southwest) result in schools that meet the constitutionally-mandated standard of high quality? The business community in Southside has just implied the schools there are not. If the courts were ever called upon to decide the definition of high quality and whether some school systems fail to meet it, this GO Virginia report might be Exhibit A for the plaintiffs. NEW YORK, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Progyny, the leading fertility benefits company, today announced that Alan B. Copperman, M.D., FACOG has joined the Company as Medical Director. In his role, Dr. Copperman will work closely with the executive team and medical advisory board to ensure that Progynys comprehensive benefits include the latest clinical technologies and best practices to increase treatment success by reducing time to pregnancy, reducing miscarriage rates and decreasing rate of multiples (twins). Dr. Copperman will also provide clinical oversight of other key functions within Progyny, including network credentialing and working closely with the Companys Patient Care Advocate team to further develop its high-quality, concierge patient experience. David Schlanger, CEO of Progyny, said, We are honored to have Dr. Copperman, a world-renowned expert in reproductive health, join our team. Working with the nations leading employers, we are committed to expanding access to high-quality fertility preservation and infertility treatments. Together with Dr. Copperman, we share a vision to ensure that anyone who wants to have a child can do so successfully. Dr. Copperman said, Progyny has been successful in driving expanded access to employer-sponsored fertility care. As a practicing clinician, I have seen Progynys unique approach empower patients to work with their doctors and make the best clinical decisions, free from financial constraints. It is exciting to become a part of the energy and excellence of the Progyny team. Dr. Copperman is the Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility as well as the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Additionally, Dr. Copperman is a Co-Founder of RMA of New York, and serves as the IVF Programs Managing Director. As an experienced and respected clinician, Dr. Copperman has published numerous manuscripts and book chapters on reproductive medicine, and has co-authored hundreds of scientific abstracts on infertility, in vitro fertilization, egg freezing, ovum donation and genetics. Dr. Copperman is frequently quoted in print and digital media and is featured on local and nationally-televised news shows. Dr. Copperman has been named to New York magazines list of Best Doctors sixteen years in a row, and Castle Connolly and SuperDocs have annually recognized Dr. Copperman as one of the top fertility doctors. Dr. Copperman is board certified in reproductive endocrinology and infertility as well as in obstetrics and gynecology, and is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. About Progyny: Progyny is a leading fertility benefits company that combines service, science, technology and data to provide comprehensive value based fertility solutions for self-insured employers. Progynys benefit plans are designed to improve outcomes, shorten time to pregnancy and reduce total fertility-related costs. Progyny is privately held and is headquartered in New York, NY, with operations in San Francisco, CA. Please visit www.progyny.com. Media Contact: Jennifer Brandt Jennifer.Brandt@Progyny.com Phone: 646-930-4207 A NURSE has been suspended for four months after she was found to have grabbed a vulnerable clients wrist and called him a bas***d. Hazel Anthea Sharples was sanctioned by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for her conduct while working at the Ten Acre Respite Care Home in Kimberworth. An NMC panel found that her fitness to practise was impaired. Sharples also failed to report the altercation or that the client had fallen to the floor, the misconduct panel found. The nurse did not attend the disciplinary hearing in August and was not represented there. The panels findings, which have now been published, said Sharples had been a nurse since 1972. Ten Acre Respite Care Home offers respite for up to 19 people, who stay for one to five nights at a time. The client involved in the incident was an autistic man who would hoard newspapers and sometimes nip clients and staff at the home, the NMC panel reported. While his care plan included distracting him to try and avoid these behaviours, it did not include physical restraint. Last April 11, the man became fixated with a newspaper which Miss Sharples had brought in and tried to take it from her, it was alleged. The nurse then took hold of the clients wrists to stop him from taking the newspaper, when he lost his balance and fell over. Once on the floor, the man broke loose from Miss Sharples grip and nipped her, the panel heard. Sharples was accused of grabbing the man again and shouting in his face: You bas***d. She then failed to report this incident, despite being advised to by colleagues, it was alleged. Two carers who saw the altercation take place and gave evidence at the misconduct hearing were judged to be credible witnesses and the allegations were found proved. It was also alleged that the incident was part of a wider poor attitude towards residents, which included shouting at them to be quiet when they distracted Sharples from watching television but this allegation was was not upheld by the panel. Sharples resigned the same month and Ten Acre conducted an internal investigation. The nurse was invited to a disciplinary hearing, but did not attend. The panel noted the event was a brief, isolated event in a 45-year nursing career. Sharples was given an interim suspension order for 18 months, during which she can appeal the four-month suspension. Andrew Lockley CONCERN has been raised about the number of stop and searches South Yorkshire Police officers have carried out on people from minority and ethnic communities. The criticism came from the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) Independent Ethics Panel (IEP) in its annual report. Despite a dramatic reduction in the number of stop and searches carried out in South Yorkshire from 22,000 in 2013 to 2,580 in 2016 a higher proportion were carried out last year on minority and ethnic communities than the previous year. But the report said the chances of further action (arrests, summons or penalty notice) after the stop and search was about the same for all communities. Andrew Lockley, chairman of the IEP, said: Statistics show that a significantly higher proportion of searches have been of people from ethnic minorities. In 2016 in South Yorkshire, black, Asian and other visible ethnic minority citizens were 3.4 times more likely to be stopped and searched, (an increase from 2.3 in 2015). The chances of a further action outcome, however, were about the same for all ethnicities. There is clearly further work to be done to understand what is happening here. The proportion of stop and searches resulting , which the panel said suggested the power to stop and search was being better targeted. Mr Lockley said: The IEP believes that the increase in the proportion of further action cases on a much reduced number of searches should be seen as a success. It suggests that the power to stop and search is being better targeted. If so, this is a more effective use of police time, and also reduces the damage to relations with the public which follows from searches carried out without good reason. The IEP was established in 2015 by the South Yorkshire PCC, Dr Alan Billings, to increase public trust and confidence in police work. The panel is made up of five independent members who have experience in a number of different sectors including social housing, legal and education. The latest annual IEP report covers the period between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017. The use of tasers was also reviewed and showed last year South Yorkshire Police officers took out their tasers on 102 occasions, which is below the national average, and fired them on 34 per cent of occasions. A sub-group of the IEP has also looked at the ethical issues around the introduction of body-worn video by officers. The group identified five ethical issues where guidance and training would need to be prepared before body-worn video could be introduced, including when to record and consent of those being filmed. The panel also praised the force for its willingness to be open. Mr Lockley added: Despite the legacy issues that face the force, and the burden carried by those past events, the force that we are working with today is unrecognisable from the headlines generated by investigations into past failures. Specifically we do not recognise the description used by one politician during the heat of the Hillsborough Inquests verdict, of a force rotten to the core. We see a force that is willing to be self-critical and that welcomes outside scrutiny. The IEP will now undertake a project looking at culture within the SYP workforce. With more than 30 years of experience in the gem lab sector under his belt, Mark Gershburg is an industry veteran widely popular in the global gem and jewelry industry. He began his career in 1980 as a grader but his professionalism, creativity, and commitment were rewarded with increasing levels of responsibility until he became the director and CEO. In early 2005, Mark launched Gemological Science International (GSI) with a vision of creating unprecedented innovation in new technologies. His goal was to improve trade efficiencies, enhance the consumer experience and meet the rapidly changing needs of the jewelry industry in the new millennium. Currently, Gershburg is actively involved in multiple jewelry industry organizations including the Jewelers Vigilance Committee and the Responsible Jewelry Council, besides steering GSI to become a laboratory equipped with sophisticated technologies. Here, in an interview with Rough&Polished, Mark Gershburg traces the company he founded, from its inception till date; and also touches upon some points that the industry can focus on like transparency, best practices, etc. Was establishing GSI a conscientious decision on your part given that there were already numerous laboratories vying for a piece of the global business? At GSI we work one-on-one with our Customers to offer them services that they need we have sometimes gone back to the drawing board and come up with solutions to their problems that work in todays economy and not just trying to resell the same things that worked in yesterdays economy. To address the question regarding our competitors there is plenty of space in the market for everyone but our reason for establishing GSI was in part due to our commitment to working one-on-one with customers rather than trying to have a one size fits all approach. Or, was it your background in the laboratory services that gave you a clearer picture of the opportunity for growth in this field? Your story, please? My background in laboratory services taught me an important lesson and which is that Diamond grading is subjective While others can try to replicate the cutting-edge technology that we are using they would find it extremely difficult to mimic the expertise of our Senior Gemologists and Senior Graders due to our rigorous processes and our insistence on adhering to International Standards. The opportunity for growth is available to anyone but the future belongs to those who have higher standards Can you walk us through GSI from the time it was launched till date; details about your presence globally; some info on your entry into India; and future plans? We started our first office in New York, 2005. And since then it was no looking back. Today GSI has eleven offices in seven different countries on four continents. We are an independent gemological laboratory with a global footprint with offices in USA, India, Israel, Belgium, Botswana, UAE, and China. While numbers are important, quality is much more so, thats why we put more efforts in our people, our instruments, processes, and training. Our goal in future is to emerge as thought leaders in industry and to be known for bringing transparency in the industry by bringing in best practices from other industries. Why would a client choose GSI for services when he is spoilt for choice with umpteen other laboratories around? What's your USP? Is offering of customized solutions a norm by all laboratories or is it your company's specialized service? The Pareto Principle states that 80% of wealth belongs to 20% of the population. When you extend that principle to customers you realize that the Top 20% of customers give you 80% of your business. Our focus has always been to wow the Top 20% of customers in every market that we enter into. Now bear in mind that the top customers want the best service they can get so our USP is all about challenging ourselves to provide the best service that we can. To answer your question about customized solutions anyone can claim to offer customized solutions but delivering those customized solutions in a consistent manner is a different matter altogether. At GSI we work one-on-one with our Customers to offer them services that they need and not just try to sell them cookie-cutter services. In terms of technology, how advanced is GSI by today's standards? How often is technology updated at GSI to meet the industry's requirements, especially with numerous challenges cropping up ever so often? GSI was the first in the world to begin the testing of smaller size diamonds in a bulk and since then it has been never looking back. At GSI, we have always maintained international standards for Diamond Detection by Grading the 4c. We utilize other instruments used by many industries besides gemology, FTR spectrometer, FTIR spectrometer, Bruker FTIR spectrometers, EDXRF, and Raman spectrometer and others. Having developed its technology for grading systems in 21st Century, GSI has been able to incorporate the very latest and best in technology with Experts in Research & Development team. At GSI, application of technology right at the very beginning of our diamond grading process. Spectroscopy plays a very important role in gemology. Besides lab services, what other services do you offer to the gem and jewelry industry? Are the training and research, etc., offered in every branch? And how is it customized in different countries? We also have services such as Metal Engraving, Gemstone Laser Inscription and Virtual Vault. Some of our services have been driven by the demands of the marketplace which is why it has been customized to different countries for Example we have mobile labs in India and Virtual Vaults are only provided in the USA. Can you brief us on the RJIF initiative of your company? How will it add value to the industry members' business on the whole? Given the fragmented nature of the industry and the high concentration of service providers in the metro cities, it is often difficult if not tedious for retail jewellers to identify the best resource for a particular service. RJIF 2016 filled this void by picking companies that have strong, demonstrated synergies with jewelry retail requirements, and bringing them together on a single platform. This is more for the Individual retailer and it would give him access to the same tools that the bigger retailers have access to. Differences in the grading of precious stones from different labs have been seen quite often worldwide. When standard rules and specifications are used by all labs, how does this difference arise? Your comments, please. As mentioned earlier my background in laboratory services taught me an important lesson which is that Diamond grading is subjective. While standard rules like the 4Cs are used by all labs it is impossible to eliminate subjectivity which is why it is expertise and commitment to excellence which differentiates the leaders from the rest. What's your opinion on synthetic diamonds being mixed with natural that happens often worldwide? What according to you is the right way to tackle this problem, given that customer confidence is at stake here? I think it is a scourge of the diamond industry. While there is no magic bullet I recently read about a company called Everledger, which is using the blockchain technology (the same technology that bitcoin uses) to track diamonds across the entire value chain from mines to the market. This technology would need to be run in tandem with 3 other mechanisms such as Regulatory, Commercial and Process-based Initiatives for it to be considered a success. 1. Regulatory: The Regulatory system would target greater traceability of goods in the value chain and would inflict penalties on those found to be indulging in undisclosed mixing. All trade bodies and associations have been advised to adopt amendments to their Articles and Constitutions to clearly outline undisclosed mixing as an unfair practice and to outline and implement strict penal measures against players found to be indulging in such activities. By organizing symposiums, seminars and interactions with Industry Leaders on individual and group levels to rapidly drive forward scalable and affordable solutions for the industry. 2. Commercial: Commercial solutions have been crafted to ensure greater accountability and trust within the trade. Standard declarations to accompany trade invoices globally, which would provide clarity to buyers on the nature of the goods being purchased. 3. Process: Process measures can be supported by putting in place adequate machines for testing and systems for tracking and storing all transaction data including test logs and invoices and accompanying declarations and segregation of diamonds. As an active member of the Vigilance Committee and RJC, what are your views on the global gems and jewelry industry on the whole? Are the governing organizations losing their grip on the industry, which is plagued by challenges galore? While I would not be able to comment on specific challenges I could tell you that the days of Cartels and Oligopolies are over. Since the business of Global Gems and Jewelers operated on Governing principles rather than regulation it was just a matter of time before bad actors entered the scene. Does the solution require us to become a regulated industry? I strongly believe the answer to that is no! Regulation is not the solution for everything however it is time for Industry Leaders to step up and Lead by eliminating Middlemen and by focusing on what is working today and not on what used to work in the past. The need for control can be seen in both a negative as well as a positive light However we need to understand that Higher Standards are the need of the hour not the need for control in itself. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished Mountain Province Diamonds announced 3Q 2022 results Mountain Province Diamonds Inc. released its financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022. According to the company, revenue from 805,000 carats sold at $110.1 million (US$83.3 million) at an average realised... Average price for Q3 Letseng tenders exceed $2 000/ct - Gem Diamonds Gem Diamonds generated $56.6 million in revenue during the third quarter of the year, achieving an average price of $2 028 per carat compared to $1 589 per carat a year earlier. Williamson production to remain suspended for up to three months Petra Petra Diamonds says a preliminary estimate suggests that production at its 75%-owned Williamson diamond mine in Tanzania will be temporarily suspended for up to three months until a new tailings storage facility (TSF) is commissioned. Chinas wholesale gold demand dips due to seasonality and COVID disruptions in October The average Shanghai-London gold price premium remained elevated in October but fell during the second half of the month as COVID-related uncertainty clouded local gold demand prospects. Seasonal weakness and COVID-related disruptions weighed on Octobers... The Fifth Jewelry Charity Ball "For the Glory of the Jewelers of Russia" was held in Moscow on September 27, 2017 in the Celebrations Hall of the Guild of Jewelers of Russia. The event was attended by the owners and top-managers of Russias major jewelry companies, art historians and collectors, cultural figures and show-business stars, representatives of foreign jewelry companies and organizations, including Gaetano Cavalieri, President of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO). Traditionally, the ball was visited by the representatives of the Noble Assembly and yet by another guest of honor - Pavel Kulikovsky, the great-grandson of Russian Emperor Alexander III. In his welcoming speech, Gagik Gevorkyan, Chairman of the Council of the Guild of Jewelers of Russia and President of the Estet Jewelry House, said: "There are many processes that hinder our industry and prevent it from developing. But jewelers have a fantastic quality to overcome all the difficulties that arise in their path. It is notable that our profession is called "jewelry". My friends, you and I have had a special honor to bear this burden of the jeweler, because we serve as an example for many people, who often compare any complex and sophisticated work with jewelry craftsmanship. Therefore, our task now is to be able to continue, develop and, most importantly, keep a cheerful spirit and a good mood." The guests were also welcomed by Valery Budny, General Director of RESTEC Junwex Holding, Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO, and Sergey Rybakov, Vice-President of the Russian Jewelry Trade Club. During the gala night, the guests could admire the jewelry pieces produced by GEVORKYAN, the first family brand in Russia and by the Estet Jewelry House, as well as the jewelry exhibited by the partners of the ball, Gohfeld Jewellery and YKstyle, as well as the timepieces made by Philippe de Cheron, a Swiss-based watch manufacturer. The lottery held at the Fifth Jewelry Charity Ball raised more than 100,000 rubles. These funds will be used to help in acquiring equipment for specialized educational institutions: Polytechnic College No. 13 named after Pavel Ovchinnikov and the Faberge College of Decorative and Applied Arts. The Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE), a DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre) platform, is all set to tackle the debate on How diamonds fit in the new era of millennials, says a press note from DMCC. Dubai Diamond Conference panellist Jean-Marc Lieberherr, Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Producers Association; Amit Dhamani, CEO and Managing Director, Dhamani Jewels; Rajiv Mehta, Director, Dimexon International, Kolia Neveux, Managing Director - Middle East & Africa, Bulgari are preparing to discuss how to appeal to the younger generation born between approximately 1980 and 2015. Lieberherr will describe how the DPA is extensively surveying Millennials in the United States and preparing major campaigns in the key markets of India and China as well. We have uncovered a great deal of vital and encouraging data. Because they live in a world of fast-fashion and unlimited choices, they actually crave the opposite and are looking for authenticity when buying luxury items, and diamonds are a perfect fit," he said. Peter Meeus, Chairman, Dubai Diamond Exchange, said:We keep adapting to market demand, and the topic surrounding millennials and their buying trends is certainly calling for a shift in industry marketing strategies. We look forward to learning more about this topic in October as we bring together over 350 stakeholders to discuss challenges and opportunities facing the trade today. The conference takes place in Dubai's Almas Tower, the home of the Dubai Diamond Exchange, on October 16-17. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished TURBO, Colombia, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inca Worldwide (OTC-Pink:QEDN) announces The Agriculture Bank of Colombia Banco Agrario has agreed to finance up to 10,000 hectares for our project Sacha Inchi in Colombia for 2017-2018. The company currently has 1,000 hectares under contract of the 10,000 promised. The ADR (Agencia de Desarrollo Rural) agreed on Friday, September 29, 2017 to work directly with our project and with all our communities which give us access to one of the three branches of Colombia government agency to work with the farmers directly. We are also working with the ADR to get access to the funding available in 2018 for our project. Kate Bahnsen, CEO, states, We are extremely pleased to wrap up this financing and begin our project at a large scale. The funding will continue to come in stages as we continue to establish contractual relationships with farmers. http://www.adr.gov.co/ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bfc917c6-f7da-4196-9420-c8dbb0ae367f For our sister company we will have 200 hectares of the 3,200 available and two more projects under negotiation which will make our mining projects the first project with Sacha Inchi and a real Green Mine Project. This will allow Cacique Mining (GEGI) to obtain more licenses and to work with other mining companies in Colombia. The environmental license is very important in Colombia and with our Sacha Inchi project we will be the first project that will provide real jobs to communities around mining areas. Contact information: info@incaworldwide.com About Inca Worldwide Our Inca Seeds (Roasted Sacha Inchi) a complete protein with all 9-essential amino-acids rich in Omega 3, 6 & 9 and an antioxidant. A real Super-food. www.incaworldwide.com Contact information: info@caciquemining.com About Cacique Mining The Guayuco project is a gallery project. Cacique Mining Inc. and Green Mine Solutions has entered into an agreement with Inca Worldwide to grow Sacha Inchi on the land above the mine. www.caciquemining.co Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements: Our public communications and SEC filings may contain "forward-looking statements" that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "see," "will," "would," or "target." Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, such as statements about our announced plan to reduce the size of our financial services businesses, including expected cash and non-cash charges associated with this plan and earnings per share of QED retained businesses (Verticals); expected income; earnings per share; revenues; organic growth; growth and productivity associated with our Digital business; margins; cost structure; restructuring charges; acquisition-related synergies; cash flows; returns on capital and investment; capital expenditures, capital allocation or capital structure; and dividends. Retailer traffic was brisk at the September VicenzaOro, the last showcase of Italian gold and silver jewelry before the festive season, with organizers reporting a rise in Italian precious jewelry exports. Italys exports of precious jewelry increased 13% to $3.57 billion (EUR 3.04 billion) year on year in the first half, supported by rising gold prices, organizers of the fair reported. Italy is one of the worlds leading exporters of gold and silver jewelry to key markets such as the Middle East, the US and Switzerland. A seminar hosted by the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) discussed new EU conflict mineral legislation, which obligates importers of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold to carry out strict checks to ensure that their suppliers are respecting their social-responsibility obligations. VicenzaOros Trend Book 2019+ was launched at the fair, with forecaster Paola De Luca predicting more personalization in jewelry design, consumer preferences for imperfection and asymmetry, and growing demand from millennial consumers for high ethical standards in luxury goods. In jewelry, the black-and-white look is becoming more popular, including black diamonds. Darker and warmer tones in diamonds are also getting more play, De Luca said. Alex Shishlo, Editor of the Rough&Polished European Bureau in Brussels Consumer goods giant Unilever plc (UN,ULVR.L,UL) Monday said it has agreed to acquire Carver Korea, a Seoul-based maker of toners and moisturizers, for 2.27 billion euros from Bain Capital Private Equity and Goldman Sachs. The company expects the acquisition to help it to gain ground in the Korean beauty market, said to be the fourth largest skincare market in the world. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Carver was founded in 1999 as an aesthetics company supplying professional products to beauty salons. Through sales of its brand, AHC, the company now has become the fastest-growing skincare in South Korea, a source of global beauty trends. AHC portfolio includes age-management, skin-hydration and skin-nourishment products. In 2016, the company delivered sales of 321 million euros and EBITDA of 137 million euros. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Unilever's expertise in the Asian beauty market, and its Personal Care category globally. Alan Jope, Unilever President Personal Care, said "We are delighted to be acquiring Carver Korea. It is an impressive business that is completely aligned to our Personal Care strategy. It will significantly strengthen our position in North Asia, the largest skincare market in the world; and will complement our existing portfolio, enabling us to offer luxury skincare products at attainable price points. AHC has been strongly gaining popularity thanks to its efficacious, innovative and premium products; and it therefore offers great opportunities for growth." In London, Unilever shares were trading at 4,271.50 pence, up 0.11 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News European stocks were trading mixed on Monday as the result of the German election stoked uncertainty among investors and a report showed Germany's confidence weakened in September. Also, French President Emmanuel Macron's new centrist political party suffered its first electoral setback in a partial Senate election on Sunday, dealing a blow to the popularity of Macron as he pushes through unpopular reforms. German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term in office on Sunday, but will have to govern with a far less stable coalition. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1 percent at 383.70 in late opening deals after closing 0.1 percent higher on Friday. The German DAX was also up 0.1 percent, while France's CAC 40 was declining 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.2 percent. Spain's Ibex 35 was down more than 1 percent on reports of possible delays in the approval of the Spanish government's 2018 Budget Law. Deutsche Lufthansa shares rallied nearly 2 percent after reports that the German airline group is offering to pay 200 million euros to buy its bankrupt smaller opponent Air Berlin. Alstom shares rose 1 percent. The French speed-train maker confirmed that it was in discussions with Siemens about a possible combination of Alstom with Siemens Mobility Division. Airbus Group advanced 1.3 percent. The aerospace and defense major is in talks to sell a part or all of Premium Aerotec, a subsidiary that makes large plane components, Die Welt newspaper reported. Car making group Trigano advanced 2.7 percent after it acquired Slovenia's Adria Mobil. Shares of Imagination Technologies Group soared as much as 28 percent in London after the chip designer agreed to a 182p-a-share takeover by Canyon Bridge. Dutch brewer Heineken N.V. rose half a percent after successfully placing 12-year Notes with a coupon of 1.50 percent for a principal amount of 800 million. ABB edged up slightly after General Electric Co agreed to sell its industrial solutions unit to the Swiss engineering firm in a deal valued at $2.6 billion. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis Today's Daily Dose brings you news about AveXis' progress with AVXS-101 for patients with spinal muscular atrophy Type 1; Insys' advancement of its pipeline; FDA clearance of K2M Group's YUKON OCT Spinal System; MannKind's conference call; regulatory approval of Novo Nordisk's faster-acting insulin aspart in the U.S. and Zogenix' phase III trial of ZX008 in Dravet Syndrome. Read on... AveXis Inc. (AVXS) has been given the go-ahead by the FDA to initiate its planned pivotal trial of AVXS-101 for patients with spinal muscular atrophy Type 1 using the intravenous formulation produced by the company's Good Manufacturing Practice commercial manufacturing process. The trial, dubbed STR1VE, will be initiated immediately. The trial will enroll a minimum of 15 patients with SMA Type 1 who are less than six months of age at the time of gene therapy, and who have one or two copies of the SMN2 backup gene as determined by genetic testing and bi-allelic SMN1 gene deletion or point mutations, noted the Company. AVXS closed Friday's trading at $96.73, up 4.92%. INSYS Therapeutics Inc. (INSY) has filed a New Drug Application for a novel formulation of buprenorphine as a sublingual spray for the management of moderate-to-severe acute pain with the FDA. Saeed Motahari, president and CEO of INSYS said, "Our NDA for buprenorphine sublingual spray marks another major milestone for the company's R&D pipeline. This submission to the FDA supports our goal of filing one NDA every year for the next five years as we execute on our collective vision and expand our product portfolio." INSY closed Friday's trading at $8.88, up 0.45%. K2M Group Holdings Inc. (KTWO) has received FDA clearance for its YUKON OCT Spinal System. YUKON OCT offers surgeons an advanced system aimed at facilitating fusion with posterior fixation in the occipito-cervico-thoracic regions of the spine with the goal of helping to achieve three-dimensional spinal balance, according to the Company. KTWO closed Friday's trading at $21.21, up 2.61%. MannKind Corp. (MNKD) will host a conference call on Monday, October 2, 2017 to discuss Company developments at 9:00 AM (Eastern Time). The FDA decision on the label change of the Company's Afrezza Inhaled Insulin, highlighting its unique PK: PD profile, supposed to have been announced by September 30, 2017, is still pending. MNKD closed Friday's trading at $2.17, down 2.25%. The FDA has approved Novo Nordisk's (NVO) Fiasp, a faster-acting insulin aspart, to improve glycemic control in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Fiasp is a new formulation of NovoLog, in which the addition of niacinamide (vitamin B3) helps to increase the speed of the initial insulin absorption, resulting in an onset of appearance in the blood in approximately 2.5 minutes. The Danish diabetes care giant, which was issued a Complete Response Letter last October, has found success for Fiasp in its second-go-around. NVO closed Friday's trading at $48.15, up 0.17%. The supplemental Biologics License Application for Perjeta, submitted by Roche Group's (RHHBY.OB) Genentech, has been granted priority review by the FDA, with a decision date set for January 28, 2018. The Company is seeking approval of Perjeta in combination with Herceptin and chemotherapy for adjuvant (after surgery) treatment of HER2-positive early breast cancer. Perjeta is already indicated for the combination treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, and for the neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer. Sales of Perjeta, which were $1.9 billion in 2016, are expected to generate over $2.3 billion in 2017 and almost $5.2 billion in 2021, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. RHHBY.OB closed Friday's trading at $32.00, up 0.53%. Zogenix Inc. (ZGNX) surged as much as 193% on Friday, following positive top-line results from its pivotal phase III trial of ZX008 in Dravet Syndrome. Dravet syndrome is a rare, catastrophic, lifelong form of epilepsy that begins in the first year of life with frequent and/or prolonged seizures. (Source: Dravet Syndrome Foundation). In the trial, ZX008, at a dose of 0.8 mg/kg/day, was found to be superior to placebo as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of Dravet syndrome in children and young adults based on change in the frequency of convulsive seizures between the 6-week baseline observation period and the 14-week treatment period. ZX008 0.8 mg/kg/day also demonstrated statistically significant improvements versus placebo in all key secondary measures, including the proportion of patients with clinically meaningful reductions in seizure frequency and longest seizure-free interval. The same analyses comparing a 0.2 mg/kg/day ZX008 dose versus placebo also demonstrated statistically significant improvement compared with placebo, according to the Company. The second pivotal phase III trial of ZX008 in Dravet Syndrome is underway, with results expected in the first half of 2018. ZGNX touched a 52-week high of $37.55 on Friday, before closing the day's trading at $35.05, up 172.23%. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Ablynx (ABLYF.PK) announced Monday positive topline results from the Phase III HERCULES study with caplacizumab, being developed for the treatment of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura or aTTP. The treatment with caplacizumab, the company's anti-von Willebrand factor or vWF Nanobody, in addition to standard-of-care resulted in a statistically significant reduction in time to platelet count response, the primary endpoint of the study, the company noted. It is also a measure of prevention of further microvascular thrombosis. Patients on caplacizumab were 1.5 times more likely to achieve platelet count response at any given time point, compared to patients treated with placebo. The Phase III HERCULES study also met the first two key secondary endpoints. Treatment with caplacizumab resulted in a 74% reduction in the percentage of patients with aTTP-related death, recurrence of aTTP, or at least one major thromboembolic event during study drug treatment, with recurrences being the driver for achievement of this endpoint. In addition, the proportion of patients with a recurrence of aTTP in the overall study period was 67% lower in the caplacizumab arm compared to the placebo arm, demonstrating the durability of the treatment effect. The company added that analysis of the third key secondary endpoint showed that no patients treated with caplacizumab were refractory to treatment compared to three patients treated with placebo. The analysis of the fourth key secondary endpoint showed a trend to faster normalisation of the organ damage markers in patients treated with caplacizumab. Based on the topline data, the safety profile of caplacizumab is consistent with its mechanism of action and the Phase II TITAN study results. Ablynx said the latest reported data will be used to support the registration process for the caplacizumab in Europe and the USA. Robert Zeldin, Chief Medical Officer at Ablynx, said, "Patients with aTTP are at risk for significant morbidity and early death. We believe these positive Phase III study results confirm the potential for caplacizumab to address the high unmet medical need in the treatment of aTTP and to have a meaningful impact on the lives of affected patients. We continue to analyse the data and look forward to sharing the results with regulatory authorities and the scientific community." For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News China Ceramics Co., Ltd. (CCCL), reported Monday that its net loss for the first half was 5.8 million Chinese yuan or $0.8 million, compared to net profit of 29.5 million yuan or $4.5 million last year. Loss per share were 2.07 yuan or $0.30, compared to profit of 9.81 yuan or $1.48 a year ago. Revenue for the six months decreased 1.2 percent to 336.5 million yuan or $49.0 million from 340.6 million yuan or $51.9 million a year earlier. The year-over-year decrease in revenue was primarily due to the 24.5% decrease in the average selling price of the Company's ceramic tile products to 24.0 yuan or $4.5. This was substantially offset by the 30.8% increase in sales volume to 14.0 million square meters of ceramic tiles. Looking ahead, Jiadong Huang, CEO of China Ceramics, said, "For the second half of 2017, we anticipate a challenging building materials sector that will continue to be price sensitive and more cyclical than usual due to government pressure to ease demand and stem escalating home prices which could have the effect of slowing or curtailing new real estate projects." For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Gold futures were lower Monday morning amid news of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. A gunman killed 50 and wounded 200 at a country music concert in Las Vegas. Gold was down $10 at $1275 an ounce. On the economic front, the Purchasing Managers' Manufacturing Index for September will be published at 9.45 am ET. The economists are looking for consensus of 53.0, compared to 52.8 in the previous month. Institute For Supply Management or ISM Manufacturing Index for September will be revealed at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for 58.0, slightly down from 58.8 in August. The Commerce Department's Construction Spending Data for August will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The forecasters are looking for growth consensus of 0.3 percent, while it declined 0.6 percent in the previous month. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis The ongoing price war and stiff competition in the European aviation sector has claimed another victim. The UK's Monarch Airlines has decided to cease operations with immediate effect, becoming the country's largest ever airline to enter administration. The decision leaves about 110,000 customers of the airline stranded overseas, while about 300,000 future bookings were also canceled. The UK's Civil Aviation Authority or CAA said in a statement on Monday that all future Monarch bookings, including flights and holidays, have now been canceled. This follows a decision by the board of Monarch Airlines to appoint joint administrators, which has resulted in the airline ceasing to trade. The CAA added that the UK Government has asked it to charter more than 30 aircraft to bring back to the UK about 110,000 Monarch Airlines customers who are currently overseas, at no cost to them. Meanwhile, Monarch customers in the UK who are yet to travel abroad have been advised not to go to the airport as there will be no more Monarch flights. "We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UK's largest airlines to manage this task. The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable," Andrew Haines, chief executive of the CAA said. Blair Nimmo, Partner at KPMG and Joint Administrator to Monarch Airlines, said, "Mounting cost pressures and increasingly competitive market conditions in the European short-haul market have contributed to the Monarch Group experiencing a sustained period of trading losses. This has resulted in Management appointing us as administrators in the early hours of this morning." Stiff competition in the airlines sector has put pressure on weaker carriers in Europe. Air Berlin PLC (AIBEF.PK), Germany's second largest carrier, filed for bankruptcy in mid-August this year as its businesses deteriorated at a rapid pace. Italy's troubled flagship airline Alitalia also filed for insolvency in May this year. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News Dallas, Texas, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thompson & Knight LLP is pleased to announce Patrick J. Trostle has joined the Firm as a Partner in its New York office in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice Group. With 25 years of experience, Patrick will add immediate depth to our nationally recognized Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice. He will spearhead our distressed investing practice in New York City, said David M. Bennett, the Firms Bankruptcy and Restructuring Practice Leader. Patricks leadership skills and experience will complement our existing New York presence and position us to better service our clients. We simply are delighted to have him on our team. Mr. Trostle focuses his practice on complex restructuring and Chapter 11 reorganizations, including litigation related to troubled or insolvent businesses. He has extensive experience in cross-border restructurings and in the evaluation and acquisition of distressed debt, assets, and businesses. He has represented a number of the worlds largest hedge funds in a variety of matters, including disputes involving mortgage-backed securities, derivatives, and other structured products. He has been involved in a number of landmark bankruptcy cases, including as appellate counsel in multiple cases before the United States Supreme Court. Notably, Mr. Trostle served as a team leader in the representation of the court-appointed examiner in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case, and as co-debtors counsel in the General Motors Chapter 11 case regarding the sale of its assets to a newly formed entity sponsored by the United States Treasury. Recognized for his legal work, Mr. Trostle has been selected for inclusion in New York Metro Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters (2010-2017) and The Legal 500 U.S. by Legalease (2013). Mr. Trostle is the Former Vice Chairman of the Business Bankruptcy Trust Indenture Subcommittee of the American Bar Association and a member of the Advisory Board of the Commercial Law Centre for Harris Manchester College University of Oxford. He was recently appointed Chair of the Advisory Board for the Institute of Transnational Commercial Law at Queen Mary University of London. He often speaks on issues related to insolvency, restructuring, and bankruptcy. Mr. Trostle has received several awards for his pro bono representation of a United States charity operating in Rwanda, a project that created the largest grid-connected solar field in east Africa. The National Law Journal recognized his efforts on its Pro Bono Hot List. His work was also honored by American Lawyer with its Global Legal Award for Citizenship and by the Financial Times in its North American Innovative Lawyers report as a standout the publications highest rating. Mr. Trostle received a J.D. from Vermont Law School in 1992 and a B.A., with highest honors, from Trinity College in 1989. He also attended the University of Oxford, and he served as a law clerk for the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York. Prior to joining Thompson & Knight, he was a partner at an international law firm in New York and served as Chair of its New York Restructuring and Bankruptcy Practice. Mr. Trostle is admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut. About Thompson & Knight Established in 1887, Thompson & Knight is a full-service law firm with more than 300 attorneys. The Firm provides legal solutions to clients and communities around the world and is particularly recognized for its depth of experience and capabilities on behalf of the energy industry. Thompson & Knight has been named Law Firm of the Year in Oil & Gas Law in U.S. News-Best Lawyers Best Law Firms for 2011-2013, 2015, and 2017. This year, Thompson & Knight proudly celebrates 130 years of service. For more information, visit www.tklaw.com. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1e398c72-68c6-47c3-8dc5-aac6243f18c8 Portland, Ore., Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mission-driven banking is picking up steam with todays announcement that Beneficial State Bank (Beneficial State) and fellow Certified B Corporation, Albina Community Bank (Albina) have signed a definitive agreement and plan of merger pursuant to which Albina will merge with and into Beneficial State. In connection with the signing of the merger agreement, Beneficial State Bancorp, Inc. (Bancorp), the holding company of Beneficial State and Albina, reached an agreement to purchase the remaining 9.9 percent of the stock of Albina not owned by Bancorp. The merger has been approved by the boards of directors of Beneficial State and Albina, and is conditioned upon the closing of Bancorps purchase of the Albina stock and receipt of stockholder and regulatory approvals. The merger, currently targeted for Q1 of 2018, will create a powerful organization that combines and amplifies the impact of Albinas proven community banking model with Beneficial States mission to transform the banking industry for good by creating equitable access to financial services. Bancorp acquired a 90.1 percent share of Albina in 2013, helping to recapitalize and stabilize the respected and fellow community development financial institution (CDFI) following a period of industry turbulence. We recognized and wanted very much to help preserve the positive impact and legacy of Albinas longstanding community banking model, knowing it plays a critical role providing capital to underserved Portland entrepreneurs and individuals, said Randell Leach, chief credit officer of Albina and president of commercial banking at both Albina and Beneficial State. Its a legacy we want to continue building, added Kat Taylor, co-CEO of Beneficial State and Albina. We can do so much more together to change the banking system for good. The purchase creates an opportunity for Beneficial State to learn from Albinas impactful community banking model while bringing the lending and service advantages of a deeply mission-aligned larger bank to Albina customers. Taylor serves as co-CEO of Beneficial State and Albina with co-CEO Dan Skaff. With Leachs Portland-based leadership, Beneficial State expects to formally combine the two banks into one entity under the Beneficial State brand next year. The resulting unified bank will retain all Albinas staff and five branches and ensure continuing excellent mission-driven customer services and community support. United in their mission to serve market segments which are unique, often-neglected and sometimes exploited, the combined banks will expand services. Albinas Sue Campo will remain in her role as president of Albina as the two banks prepare to unify and carry on in a leadership role thereafter. "As a person who was raised in the Albina neighborhood and one who has served on the Albina Community Bank board, I am pleased that this merger will bring a mission and the resources to serve individuals, families and businesses that have not always found open doors in banking communities, said Kay Toran, a longstanding member of the Albina Community Bank board. A united Beneficial State and Albina will keep this population as a top priority." The banks unification strengthens lending opportunities, combining $770 million in deposits and a loan portfolio of $656 million, over 80 percent of which is funding mission categories including renewable energy, affordable housing and women and minority-owned businesses. Unification also will pave the way for Albinas exemplary model of personalized small business loans and deep community ties to be further propagated into the California and Washington markets that Beneficial State also serves. Beneficial State emphasizes it will take great care to preserve Albinas history of breaking down barriers between the traditionally underserved communities and capital. That legacy perfectly complements Beneficial States pursuit of a triple bottom line mission of social justice, environmental resilience and economic sustainability. About Beneficial State Bank Beneficial State Bank is a state-chartered, federally-insured, for-profit bank whose economic rights are owned entirely by the non-profit Beneficial State Foundation, which is in turn permanently governed in the public interest. That ownership allows the bank to prove and maintain an innovative model for banking that generates prosperity for people and the planet and eschews harm to any while being financially safe and sound. Beneficial State Bank entered the Portland marketplace in 2011 with the acquisition of ShoreBank Pacific, a pioneer of environmentally sustainable banking serving Washington and Oregon. In 2013, Beneficial State Bancorp completed a stock purchase transaction of 90.1 percent of Albina Community Bank to provide critical capital for a legendary Portland institution. In June of 2016, Beneficial State Bank acquired Pan American Bank to serve communities in the Central Valley and Los Angeles markets of California. Today, the combination of Beneficial State Bank and Albina Community Bank have $919 million in assets, 225 colleagues, and 17 locations in California, Oregon, and Washington. Albina Community Bank and Beneficial State Bank are both community development financial institutions (CDFI) as designated by the US Treasury and Certified B Corporations, with Beneficial State Bank ranking among the worlds top B Corps since becoming a Certified B Corporation in 2012. For additional information, visit http://www.beneficialstate.com. FDIC Insured, Equal Housing Lender. # # # Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/973edd93-08ac-4469-a366-5e306aa10aae WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IT solutions leader Winslow Technology Group (WTG) today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has honored WTG with its esteemed 2017 Triple Crown Award. Forty North American solution providers had the necessary revenue, growth and technical expertise to be recognized on three of CRNs pre-eminent solution provider lists, earning them the Triple Crown Award this year. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c185d237-f377-4107-ab9c-1b186bb54000 CRN assembles lists and rankings each year to recognize solution providers who are setting the bar in the IT industry, including the Solution Provider 500, which lists the largest solution providers in North America by revenue; the Fast Growth 150, which ranks the fastest-growing solution providers; and the Tech Elite 250, which recognizes solution providers that have received the highest-level certifications from leading vendors. It is a considerable achievement for a solution provider to make any one of these lists; to make it onto all three, howeveras this year's Triple Crown Award winners have doneis a big achievement. A company must simultaneously have enough revenue to be ranked on the Solution Provider 500 list, record double- or triple-digit growth for recognition on the Fast Growth 150, and invest heavily in top certifications to attain Tech Elite 250 status. Winslow Technology Group, LLC (WTG) is a leading provider of IT Solutions and Consulting Services dedicated to providing better IT solutions for our customers. We provide expertise in the areas of server, storage, networking, security, virtualization, hyper-convergence, cloud and data protection technologies. Winslow Technology Group is delighted to win the CRN Triple Crown Award, an important milestone in our 14 year history, said Scott Winslow, President and Founder of Winslow Technology Group. It validates that WTG has the revenue size, the consistent top line growth, and the technical skill set to be a game-changer in the partner ecosystem. This is tremendous recognition of the accomplishments of our team and the loyalty of our great customers. This years CRN Triple Crown Award winners boast multiple, advanced technical certifications from leading vendors, rank among the top-earning IT solution providers in North America, and are some of the fastest-growing organizations in the channel today, said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. These over-achieving businesses have set the standard for success in the strategic service provider era and are leading the channel into an exciting new future. The 2017 Triple Crown Award winners will be featured in the October issue of CRN and can be viewed online at www.crn.com/triplecrown. Tweet This: @TheChannelCo honors Winslow Technology Group with @CRN Triple Crown Award #CRNTripleCrown crn.com/triplecrown About WTG Winslow Technology Group, LLC (WTG) is a leading provider of IT Solutions and Consulting Services dedicated to providing better IT solutions for our customers. WTG enables our clients to innovate and transform their businesses by realizing the benefits of hyper-converged, software-defined, and hybrid cloud infrastructure frameworks. We provide expertise in the areas of server, storage, networking, security, virtualization, hyper-convergence, cloud and data protection technologies. WTG serves the IT needs of clients ranging from medium sized organizations to Fortune 50 companies that operate in a variety of industries including finance, healthcare, education, manufacturing, technology, legal, and more. We deliver proven solutions that are easy-to-use, feature rich, and affordable. Our core principles are to select the right technology partner, provide unparalleled technical expertise, deliver exceptional service, and demonstrate an unyielding commitment to customer satisfaction. WTGs industry recognition includes being named to Inc. Magazines Fastest Growing Private Companies, CRN Fast Growth, Boston Business Journals Fastest Growing Private Companies, and a four-time Dell Partner of the Year award winner. For more information, visit http://www.winslowtg.com. Lori Wilkins Winslow Technology Group 781-697-0603 lori@winslowtg.com @WinslowTG About the Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelco.com The Channel Company Contact: Melanie Turpin (508) 416-1195 mturpin@thechannelco.com Switzerland is offering scholarships for researchers from Samoa and the Pacific Islands. The announcement was made by the Honorary Consulate General of Switzerland in Samoa, Sylvie Salanoa in an interview with the Samoa Observer. According to the information on the website provided by Salanoa, the Consulate General of Switzerland in Apia announced the Swiss Confederation awards Government Excellence Scholarships to promote international exchange and research cooperation between Switzerland and over 180 countries. Salanoa urges the public to take advantage of the opportunity. We would really like to have people from the Pacific region to have a chance because theres a whole list of countries that can apply, not just Samoa. Switzerland is very high in Science and Research and so they always encourage students from other countries to be a part of this. For Samoa, to me I think there is a big chance that somebody could go. I know that in Samoa we do have a highly educated people. Its a very small country but I know that a lot of people have done their Masters and PhDs. This is a great opportunity and it would be very nice for people to apply, said Salanoa. Switzerland has so much to offer when it comes to education and Switzerland would be very happy to have applicants from Samoa and the Pacific. According to Consul General, there is really no difficult in applying. Types of scholarship The research scholarship is available to post-graduate researchers in any discipline (who hold a masters degree as a minimum) who are planning to come to Switzerland to pursue research or further studies at doctoral or post-doctoral level. Research scholarships are awarded for research or study at all Swiss cantonal universities, universities of applied sciences and the two federal institutes of technology. Only candidates nominated by an academic mentor at one of these higher education institutions will be considered. Art scholarships are open to art students wishing to pursue an initial masters degree in Switzerland. Art scholarships are awarded for study at any Swiss conservatory or university of the arts. This scholarship is available to students from a limited number of countries only. Selection criteria The FCS assesses scholarship applications according to three criteria: a) Candidate profile b) Quality of the research project or artistic work c) Synergies and potential for future research cooperation The FCS will select scholarship holders for the 201819 academic year by the end of May 2018. Scholarships for the 201920 academic year will be advertised online from August 2018. The due date is November 15th 2017 this is the website www.sbfi.admin.ch/scholarships_eng Vusa Fiti of Aufaga is more than happy about the many tourists visiting his village. According to Vusa; the rapid change slowly occurred right after the time of the tsunami in 2009. We still think about those who have passed on from the disaster in 2009, he tells Village Voice. We are still thankful to God because some of us are still here today and we try to keep in mind that when things or situations like these happen; it always comes with a lesson for us all and that is to be prepared for whats coming next. Despite the tragedy; our village is trying to do its best to continue on bringing and attracting more tourists into Samoa especially to do sightseeing on our side of the country. That is one of the main goals that we are aiming for to achieve every year. Vusa went on to say that many of the villagers have moved away from the coastal areas to live in the high areas. In fact some families have spent years developing their lives up on the mountains. I think what Im trying to say here is that it is important and its a must to always be prepared for natural disasters. We dont need to be told when to prepare because no one knows everything but God. Vusa is also quite thankful that even with the tsunami in 2009; they still get a lot of tourists coming in to explore their lands. We love having tourists here and we are happy that its a continuous improvement for our village. We need these people because not only do we want them to experience the beauty of Samoa but also they are a big part of this countrys income. And with that as a help in the tourism industry; it does help our people as well in terms of employment at the many new accommodation venues being set up. Let us work together to keep our country alive and beautiful for the sake of our economy. More tourists coming into Samoa means more money for this countrys development. Heartless con people making the rounds and swindling money from unsuspecting victims has become a major issue in Samoa. Youd think that just because we live in Samoa where its small and people know each other such a menace wouldnt exist. Well think again. There are criminals who dont care about the rule of law at all. They will rob you during the day and they dont care. One of them appeared on the front page of the Sunday Samoan on 24 September 2017. Under the headline Professional Con Artist, the story confers Fata Fereti Fiti, of Mulifanua with the unflattering distinction. And rightly so. Fitis first victim is a 57-year-old male of Palisi who went to Farm Tech Supply at Fugalei to purchase some chairs. The shop was closed but Fiti approached the victim and misled him into believing he worked for Farm Tech and that he could place his order through him. The victim believed him and gave $400, which he ran off with. Seven days later on 20/09/11, he set his sights on an 86-year-old male of Vailele. The victim and his family went to the Quarantine Office (QO) at Matautu to treat their fine mats (faaasu). He ended up taking the finemats valued at $21,000. The third incident happened between 1 and 28 February 2013. The victim this time was a 67-year-old male of Faleasiu. He was at the Court complex and had a conversation with Fiti where he told him o au e fai lau piki maukegi (I run a pumpkin picking company). He managed to convince the old man he could get his sons to work for him and from there the lies and deception was simply amazing. You asked the victim on this first meeting if he had a fine mat for your faalavelave. The next day you uplifted this from the victims house. On the same month, you called the victim and indicated that two of his sons could go on the trip and to pay you $200 each for their passports. To spice up things, you added that the money would be sent to NZ by bank cheque to process the visas. The victim, whom by now was completely under your spell and trusted you, paid you $400. A week later, you kept the momentum going on your deception by asking the victim for a size 2 pig for the lawyer in charge of processing the travel documents. This was done. The pig is said to be valued at $400. After that you asked for $100 from the victim, he gave you $70 instead. On the same month of February you asked for another size 2 pig. Still believing you were preparing travel documents for the victims sons, he killed the pig, roasted it and delivered it to you. On the same occasion, you uttered words of inducement to further lure the victim into your plot of aua gei misi le aso Lulu e o aku ai kamaiki e fai le lakou fogo i le ofisa o le loia o Latu. But you knew very well this was a lie. The total value of the fruits of your false representations from this victim was $2170. But that wasnt all. A month later, Fiti struck again. This time the victim was a 54-year-old male of Vailele-uta. You assisted the victim, Filiga Miti in processing his entitlement with NPF. The victim was informed to uplift his cheque on 9 March 2013. On 8 March 2013, you marched into the NPF office and misled the officer that you were Filiga Miti. Tricked by your false representation, the cheque was released to you. You then went to Westpac Bank, and misled the bank officer you knew there that you were one and the same person as Filiga Miti and cashed out the cheque of $592.32. The next day when the victim went to uplift his cheque from NPF it was then discovered that the cheque was released to the wrong person. Fiti also approached another victim who was a businessman at Alafua. You asked the victim for $500 to process your fathers land and it would be repaid in due course. The victim believed you and gave you $500. On 28/01/15 you again approached the same victim and sought $1000 again for the land documents on the basis it would be repaid. This was done. On 5/02/15, you went back and conned another $700 off the same victim who gave in yet again to your request on the belief you would repay it. This never happened. The total monies you obtained by deception from this victim is $2200. On 31 October 2016, he turned his attention to a 53-year-old female of Lalovaea who works at Nelson Public Library. You told the victim here that you had a half acre land you could sell her at a low price. Believing this to be true, the victim went with you to MNRE to obtain the plan of the land. The victim then gave you $60. You requested further monies to process the paperwork and on 1/11/16, the victim gave you $50. On 2/11/16 she gave you $130.The next day $800.00. The total monies the victim gave you was $1,040. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the sort of stuff we expect in the movies and yet it is happening right here in Samoa. The good news is that Fiti has been caught and District Court Judge, Alalatoa Rosella Viane Papalii, has sent him to Tafaigata where he truly belongs. The community is not safe from you, Judge Alalatoa said. I view you as a high risk to innocent, gullible and vulnerable members of our community who must be protected against your evil schemes. The level of premeditation on your part is significant. As I said above, you chose your victims well. You breached their trust. The Court noted that his actions were calculated, manipulative and cruel. This was chronic serial offending, committed with complete disregard of the welfare of the victims. Although you finished school at Standard 3, this is not reflected in the level of your manipulative schemes. You managed by quite ingenious and very premeditated methods to extract money and other items from each of the six victims. In simple terms, you became a professional. There is no doubt that we are delighted Fiti is now behind bars. Thank you Judge Alalatoa and the Court system. The obvious lesson for everyone is that not everyone is worth trusting. The level of desperation and criminality out there today has become so great people are literally no longer afraid to rob others with their eyes wide opened. So be careful and stay safe, Samoa! Three new Samoa Qualifications and National Competency Standards for Tourism, Hospitality and Cookery have been launched by the Samoa Qualifications Authority (S.Q.A.). The new development addresses the shortage of skilled workers and existing gaps in the tourism industry. The newly developed SQs target everyone including those without qualifications wanting to pursue careers in Tourism and Hospitality. The qualifications help to document existing knowledge and skills to further anyones career in the industry. Held at the Millenia Hotel fale Friday afternoon, the launch was opened with a prayer by Reverend Dr. Siaosi Salesulu. Tourism formally is now recognized as a qualification and part of a moral compass incorporated into our Faasamoa. Thats what attracts people to Samoa. He noted the need to practice hospitality. In Samoa when all the tourists come from Faleolo they see a multitude of churches, any sort of church, temples, chapels. Shouldnt it go hand in hand, the Christian message, the gospel and being hospitable? With all these many churches there should also be an honest and emphasis on us being hospitable. This is a big deal for S.T.A and S.Q.A and commended them for foresight for a better Samoa, said Reverend Salesulu. According to a press statement issued by S.Q.A. a total of 112 National Competency Standards which have been packaged into twelve SQs were developed based on feedback provided by various employers in the tourism sector with technical advice from the Sector Advisory Group (SAG). The qualifications are now registered on the Samoa Qualifications Framework (SQF) after satisfying the requirements for registration. The development of the SQs in Tourism and Hospitality started in 2013 with the support of the Samoa-Australia Partnership for Development under the TVET Support Programme coordinated by SQA. Chairperson of the S.Q.A Board, Gatoloaifa'ana Tilianamua Afamasaga, officially launched the three National Competency Standards. According to the statement, in 2013, the Tourism and Hospitality sector Needs Analysis Report identified the shortage of skilled workers ranging from management to labourer positions as barriers to the growth of the industry. The report concluded with consultations with stakeholders that affirmed the need for skilled workers in the different areas of the industry. Furthermore, these have collectively indicated a need to focus on the major areas in hospitality, as well as management and tour guiding from the tourism side of the industry, stated the report. However, for all these areas to provide efficient and better quality services it is essential for all employees of the industry (current and prospective) to possess the ability to be able to read, write, listen to, take notes and communicate fluently in English. The report also recommended that NCSs should be developed for the Tourism and Hospitality sector to cater for the skills needed by various stakeholders in order for the industry to progress and maintain its place as the highest export earner for Samoa. Public servants who were participants of a Basic Office Administration Course have new methods and techniques to help them handle administration work within their offices. The training was held at the Samoa Shipping Corporation Conference Room last week. Thirty participants invited from government ministries and State-Owned Enterprises were trained on office administration skills which will help improve their organisations core functions key themes including: Describing what office administration is and how they apply key principles to their works. Understanding different areas which cover in office administration work. Identifying some of the challenges faces with them in doing administration work in office. How better office administration service contributes to the success of the organization. The majority of participants who attended the training included senior and officer levels whose line of work evolve around Administration and Human Resource area. Participants positively reflected on 3 half days learnt such as: The training provided an opportunity for them to broaden their understanding & knowledge on the roles perform by an administrator; The training also enables them to learn new skills in performing their work effectively in their workplaces; The training allowed discussions to share experiences in office administration; The training enabled them to the significant of their roles in achieving their respective offices strategic goals Tauleva Luteru Togafau from the Samoa Water Authority in Savaii delivered a thank you speech on behalf of the participants. She acknowledged the Office of the Public Service Commission for the opportunity given to learn new knowledge and skills. She mentioned this training does help in building up their capacity performing office administration task. The new learning learned will be utilised in their line of work and will shared it to their work colleagues. The Training was conducted by Angela Palu Phineas, Principal Training & Development Consultant, with Faafetai Vaevaina, Principal Human Resource and Planning Officer. During certificate presentations, Ms. Angela Palu Phineas, on behalf of Sarona Esera-Filipo, A.C.E.O. for the Human Resource and Development Division at P.S.C, congratulated the participants. She also acknowledged the continuous support from M.N.R.E through G.E.F/ E.W.A.C.C Project, N.Z.Aid and D.F.A.T for making this training possible. Our weather and climate can impact our public health in the Pacific region: more rain can lead to higher chances of mosquitos and the illnesses they bring, less rain can lead to hygiene problems leading to possible illnesses. And on it goes. Being several steps ahead of the possible health impacts from our weather and climate is the Third Pacific Islands Climate Outlook Forum (P.I.C.O.F-3) held in Samoa last week. The meeting brought together Pacific regional meteorological and health sectors to plan and prepare for what will be forecast ahead in an attempt to alleviate the health impacts. The timing of the Forum is unique, recently there has been abnormal rainfall during our dry season and a few months ago a number of dengue fever cases were reported. There are predictions for a weak La Nina later in the year and the tropical cyclone season is also a few weeks away, said the Associate Minister for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Lemalu Lemi Taefu, at the official opening of the P.I.C.O.F-3. I call on your meeting to discuss and suggest recommendations through a regional statement on relevant actions that governments in the region can implement to curb and mitigate the adverse implications of these phenomenon in all levels of society. P.I.C.O.F is a platform coordinated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (S.P.R.E.P) in partnership with World Meteorological Organization and the Pacific Met Desk Partnership. It brings national, regional and international climate experts together to produce regional climate forecast information based on input from National Meteorological Services, regional institutions and Global Producing Centres of climate predictions. It also provides an opportunity for experts on climate and health services to discuss the development, tailoring, uptake application and communication of climate information to ensure it is relevant and useful. The first P.I.C.O.F three years ago focussed on the impact on the water sector, last year P.I.C.O.F-2 brought together the meteorological services and the disaster preparedness experts. This week the focus is on the health services in the Pacific. Some of the specific objectives of P.I.C.O.F-3 include identifying the needs of the Health sector for climate services, discussing opportunities for integrating climate change information for health services and how representatives from the sector are using or may use the guidance of climate information, said Sunny Seuseu of the Pacific Meteorological Desk at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (S.P.R.E.P). Its also to provide a platform through the PICOF for stakeholders to share and exchange experiences and knowledge on wet or tropical season and its prediction. The Climate Technical Meeting preceded the P.I.C.O.F-3, and saw the regional N.M.H.Ss compare the various seasonal climate forecast guidance of the Pacific region, and discuss how these are produced in terms of accuracy, utility, weaknesses and strengths of the regionally produced guidance, as well as comparing and refining national level consensus-based climate outlooks for the upcoming season. The N.M.H.Ss also discussed how they are currently accessing and assessing the available climate forecast guidance, making them nationally-relevant, and disseminating them to users. A draft Regional Statement on the 2017/18 Climate and Tropical Cyclone Outlook for the Pacific islands and the Potential Impacts on Human health was also discussed and developed from the Climate Technical Meeting, this will be released once the P.I.C.O.F-3 is complete. The meeting was held at Taumeasina Island Resort. The P.I.C.O.F-3 was supported by the government of Samoa, government of Australia, Climate and Ocean Support Program, Government of Korea, Republic of Korea-Pacific Islands Climate Prediction Services Project, Environment and Climate Change Canada, World Meteorological Organization, United Nations Development Programme, Disaster Resilience for Pacific S.I.D.S (R.E.S.P.A.C) project, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, A.P.E.C Climate Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Meteo-France, Meteorological Services Singapore, Pacific Community, International Federation of the Red Cross, World Health Organization Samoa Office and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Samoa. The Pinktober 2017 was officially launched yesterday. The launch was held at the ANZ Bank on Beach Road. The ceremony also unveiled the banks pink Samoan Fashion A.T.M's in Apia featuring the signature print of renowned Samoan fashion label, MENA. The event was opened by Reverend Dr. Siaosi Salesulu, who emphasised the importance of friendship. He referred to the story of the Good Samaritan. That is the prototype and the example that we follow, said Rev. Salesulu. Today in Samoa we are still doing that and the Samoa Cancer Society (S.C.S) still thanks the good Samaritans ANZ, Colgate and the Government of Samoa and the list is endless. I thank you on behalf of the Clergy of Samoa, all the supporters that make this month so special. Rev. Salesulu also spoke about his personal experience with his parents who had cancer. Cancer can take you to a lot of dark places, even for a faifeau, he said. It questions your calling and it questions your role as a son. But I thank all the friends and supporters that I have in Samoa Cancer Society, the wise counsel from the Minister each and every time I come to a service for Samoa Cancer. There are dark times, but I walk together with a really good group of friends. The President of the Samoa Cancer Society, Lauaki Jason Annandale, said Pinktober is all about fighting cancer. Thirty plus years on, it remains the primary aim and it is supplemented by related aims such as raising awareness of the prevalence of breast cancer and associated issues and what might be do to preempt and address those issues, he said. Over time the use of the color pink, for paraphernalia particularly ribbons and various activities such as walks and runs and luncheons and the illumination of iconic landmarks structures in October have become synonymous with breast cancer awareness month and its commonly known as Pinktober. The Minister of Health, Tuitama Dr. Leao Tuitama, noted that early diagnosis is the key to maximising the chances for beating cancer. As a medical practitioner, I encourage self-examination for breast cancer, he said. Every woman needs to learn about the signs and symptoms, in order to keep alert to any possible breast cancer. Mothers, I urge to encourage your daughters about the importance of screening and self-examination for breast cancer. Cancer is the uncontrolled growth and multiplication of body cells and the spread of cells. It can affect almost any part of the body. The growth often invades around in tissues and can metastasized to distant site, this is one of the main reasons why early diagnosis and treatment is essential to improving the chances of survival. Samoa Cancer Society Chief Executive Officer, Shelley Burich, said Pinktober is a universal campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness and Advocacy. It is about raising awareness on breast cancer; pushing the messages of early detection, seeking early intervention; acknowledging those who are fighting breast cancer and honoring those who have passed on, she said. The Vave Campaign which Im sure youve heard over the months has been going on since February this year and its a campaign funded by the Civil Society Support Programme here in Samoa and is the promotion of early detection with three key messages: Vave iloa, Vave vaai se fomai and Vave vili mai. So the Vave campaign promotes breast cancer awareness and advocacy as well. You are CEO of a company. A woman you know well calls to inform you that her husband, an at-will company employee for over 20 years, has a gun and has told her that he is angry at his co-workers. Without investigating the womans claims, you put the employee on paid administrative leave. Based on your review of a restraining order the woman obtained against her husband -- whom you are aware she is in the process of divorcing -- you soon thereafter fire the employee. The twist: the caller is your daughter, making the worker you just fired your son-in-law. Did you commit unlawful discrimination because of marital status by firing him? Did you at least have an obligation to investigate your daughters allegations before firing the man? Those were the questions the San Francisco division of the California court of appeal addressed in its recent ruling in Nakai v. Friendship House Association of American Indians Inc. The court answered both questions no. Advertisement Heres why. In concluding that there had been no marital status discrimination, the court observed that Orlando Nakai did not allege he had been fired because he was a married man, but because he happened to be married to the CEOs daughter a political problem, not a marital discrimination problem. Nakais claim that the CEO terminated him to help her daughter gain an edge in a battle with Nakai over custody of their daughter, the CEOs granddaughter, raised a family dynamics problem, not a marital discrimination problem. Even if Nakai could show his termination on its face had constituted marital status discrimination, the court found that the employer had articulated a non-discriminatory reason for the termination. The CEO had been told that Nakai had a gun, was angry at his fellow employees, and had relapsed into substance abuse. [G]iven the number of workplace shootings in our day and age, it was entirely reasonable for the CEO to fire Nakai on this basis. Nakai could not show that the stated reason was a pretext for marital status discrimination. The court further held that Nakai was not entitled to contractual due process, including the right to have his employer investigate his wifes accusations before firing him. As an at-will employee, Nakai legally could be discharged for any reason so long as it was not a prohibited discriminatory reason. Moreover, the employers duty to investigate under California law protects the alleged victim of discrimination or harassment, not the alleged perpetrator. An employer that does not investigate an alleged threat of workplace violence breaches no duty to the person who poses the alleged threat by summarily dismissing him. The court noted that the outcome may have been different if Nakais employment had been subject to termination only for good cause. Even in that case, however, Friendship House would not have had to show that Nakai posed an actual threat to other employees. Instead, the employer would have to have shown only that it had come to a reasoned conclusion that he posed such a threat supported by an adequate investigation that includes notice of the claimed misconduct and a chance for the employee to respond. The prohibition on marital status discrimination protects classes of people, such as unwed mothers because they are unwed or single people because they are single. That protection does not extend to the status of being married to a particular person. And while the prudent employer will do some form of investigation before firing even an at-will employee based on unconfirmed accusations of misconduct or the threat of misconduct alone -- regardless of the source -- there is no duty for the employer to do so. Even where the accuser is the decision-makers daughter and the accused is, for now, the decision-makers son-in-law. Dan Eaton is a partner with the San Diego law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek where his practice focuses on defending and advising employers. He also is an instructor at the San Diego State University Fowler College of Business where he teaches classes in business ethics and employment law. He may be reached at eaton@scmv.com. His Twitter handle is @DanEatonlaw. CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xtreme Drilling Corp. (TSX:XDC) (Xtreme, the Company) is pleased to announce the sale of the Companys XDR 200 drilling rigs and provide the third quarter 2017 operations update, along with the dates for the quarterly earnings release and conference call. Sale of XDR 200 Drilling Rigs On September 30, 2017, the Company closed on the sale of four XDR 200 drilling rigs to a private party in Canada. Total gross proceeds were C$9.1 million and included rigs 3, 4, 5 and 10 along with associated spares and inventory. With the sale of these rigs the Company no longer has any rigs or operations in Canada. This sale fits with Xtremes announced strategy of focusing on major US resource plays along with enhancing liquidity through certain non-core asset sales. The Company continues to actively market the four XDR 300 drilling rigs for sale. Third Quarter Operating Update For the third quarter of 2017 Xtreme had total operating days of 851 from its drilling operations. Effective January 1, 2017, the Company has excluded the three rigs that will be upgraded to 850XE rigs from its utilization calculation and effective the second quarter of 2017 Xtreme also excluded the rigs classified as Assets held for sale from available rigs, thus reducing the number of available rigs to 10 and available days to 920 for the third quarter. Of the 851 operating days, 62 days related to the rigs classified as Assets held for sale. Exclusive of these operating days, utilization for the third quarter of 2017 was 86%, compared with a utilization rate of 70% for the prior quarter. Third Quarter Results and Conference Call The Company expects to announce financial and operating results for the three months ended September 30, 2017 after market close on Thursday, November 2, 2017, with a followup conference call planned for Friday, November 3, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. MT/11:00 a.m. CT. Matt Porter, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Martin Ramirez, Vice President Finance and Corporate Development, will host the conference call and will answer questions from analysts and investors. To participate in the conference call, please dial in approximately ten minutes before the start time in your time zone. +1 844-889-6858 (North America TollFree) or +1 661-378-9711 (International) Webcast link: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/bot88w43 Conference ID: 95118505 An audio replay of the call will be available until 4:00 pm Wednesday, November 8, 2017. To access the replay, call +1 855-859-2056 or +1 404-537-3406 and enter Passcode 95118505. Reader Advisory This press release contains forward-looking statements. More particularly, this press release contains statements concerning commencement of operations. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. About Xtreme Xtreme Drilling Corp. (XDC on the Toronto Stock Exchange) designs, builds, and operates a fleet of high specification drilling rigs under contracts with oil and natural gas exploration and production companies and integrated oilfield service providers in Canada and the United States. For more information about the Company, please visit www.xdccorp.com. For further information, please contact: Xtreme Drilling Corp. Matt Porter President and Chief Executive Officer +1 281 994 4600 ir@xdccorp.com www.xdccorp.com For healthy people with a neat row of financial ducks and plenty of cash, health savings accounts, or HSAs, could be a retirement gift from the tax gods. Its no secret that the body begins to break down in old age, likely leading to an abundance of medical expenses. A study by Fidelity Investments put the average dollar amount needed for this purpose for a couple who retired in 2015 at a jaw-dropping $245,000. What if you could fund a retirement account specifically earmarked for health care costs? Advertisement In theory, very precocious savers could accumulate up to $360,000 after saving in an HSA for 40 years, assuming a 2.5% return, according to a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, or EBRI. A 7.5% rate of return nearly triples that figure to $1.1 million. For those who are eligible, it pays to learn all the health savings account rules, both good and bad. HSAs actually surpass IRAs even Roth IRAs in their tax blessings. They have a triple tax advantage compared with the measly 2 tax benefits offered by IRAs. There are just a couple of (really big) catches. Triple crown tax treatment: Why you want an HSA HSAs enjoy 3 tax advantages: Money goes in pretax or contributions are tax-deductible. Once in the account, money grows tax-free. Money can be withdrawn tax-free to cover qualified medical expenses. The buildup is tax-free, so whatever earnings you get on the account whether its interest earnings or if you invest the money in stocks or mutual funds or some type of brokerage account that builds up tax-free and when money comes out for qualified medical expenses, its tax-free, says Paul Fronstin, Ph.D., director of the health research and education program at EBRI. Its different than a traditional 401(k) plan where the money goes in tax-free, builds up tax-free but is taxable upon distribution, he says. Drawbacks to HSAs Truly, the tax gods give with one hand and slap you with the other. HSAs are a tax-break treasure but only for those who can afford to take full advantage of them. The rules for health savings accounts can be stringent. First of all, to even qualify for an HSA, you must purchase a high-deductible health plan. These are not Cadillac health care plans with generous benefits. The minimum annual deductible, according to the IRS, is $1,300 for individuals and $2,600 for family coverage. Those deductibles and corresponding out-of-pocket expenses are what HSAs are designed to help you with. So, for those whod like to use HSAs to save for retirement or future health care expenses, the biggest hurdle to overcome is present-day medical expenses. The people who can benefit most from the lavish tax advantages of HSAs basically must either be incredibly healthy or have a lot of cash on hand to cover todays health care costs while letting their savings grow tax-free over time. Here are a few other health savings account rules that limit their usefulness: HSA cons The money is earmarked strictly for medical expenses or penalties may be imposed. Withdrawals used for nonqualified medical expenses before someone becomes eligible for Medicare are subject to income taxes and a 20% penalty. After age 65 or Medicare eligibility, withdrawals for nonmedical expenses are not subject to the 20% penalty, though they are subject to income taxes, just as they would be from a traditional IRA. Contributions to the account can be made only up until an individual hits Medicare eligibility. Turning 65 doesnt automatically disqualify you from contributing to an HSA, but enrolling in Medicare as the primary source of insurance does. Medicare eligibility is generally age 65, but it can also happen when someone qualifies for Medicare through being on Social Security disability, says John Grosso, consulting actuary at Aon Hewitt. HSAs are also a bit hamstrung by low contribution levels. The contribution limit in 2016 is $3,350 for an individual and $6,750 for family coverage. People over age 55 can put in an extra $1,000 per year in catch-up contributions. HSA hacks: Tips and tricks Everyone loves a good loophole, and there are a couple around the HSA. For instance, HSA distributions dont have to be taken in the year the expense is incurred. That means that money tucked safely inside an HSA can keep growing tax-free provided, of course, that you can cover the deductible on your health insurance plan and any out-of-pocket expenses when they are incurred. Keep a list of your qualified health care expenditures and receipts. Then, when you need money to pay for your kids college, take the vacation you always wanted even before age 65 you can pull it out of the account and report an equal amount of health care expenditures from prior years on your tax Form 8889 for that year, says Matt Rinkey, president of Illumination Wealth Management in San Diego. Only one hitch: HSA distributions wont cover health care expenses incurred before you establish an account. Another trick is useful only for savers between the ages of 59 1/2 and 65 who own traditional IRA or 401(k) assets. By taking withdrawals from an IRA or 401(k) and putting that money directly into an HSA, people can nearly wash out the taxation on those dollars, according to Grosso. Its a little clumsy. You take the money out, pay tax and then put the money in the HSA and take a deduction. Its not a complete wash, but its another way to build up assets in the HSA, he says. Youre going to be paying for health care anyway. Tax-free money might make the mountain of health care expenses waiting in retirement a little more easily scaled. Steiner writes for Bankrate.com Most adults want to grow old in the home they live in now and not in a nursing home or assisted living facility. A 2016 HomeAdvisor study found 61 percent of people over the age of 55 plan to stay in their homes indefinitely. Older adults, or their children, looking to modify a home for aging in place can expect the process to get expensive but there are lower-cost options to get started. Advertisement While doing most things listed in this article would cost a minimum of $75,000, research by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said making modifications to stay in ones home could be significantly cheaper than moving into assisted living. Experts say the first place to start is the bathroom, followed by the front door. Here are a few things you can do to prepare to age in place. Bathroom grab bars One of the most basic additions to an aging adults house is usually the first thing to put in. Grab bars near a toilet or shower can assist in getting from a wheelchair to the toilet or can prevent a slip. All Home Medical Supply, based in San Diego, sells simple wall grab bars for $15 to $24. Security poles, which connect to the floor and attach to the ceiling, range from $169 to $209. Nonslip flooring More than one-third of older adults injure themselves in the bathroom, says AARP, making nonslip flooring a priority for many aging-in-place remodelers. Slip-resistant rugs can run $10 to $15 a piece, and rubber flooring options are typically less than $3 per square foot, said AARP. Shower design In addition to nonslip flooring, showers can be modified to include a seat (or shower stool), grab bar and handheld shower head. Ideally, the shower should have a low threshold for easy access. There are hundreds of shower seats on the market, but the most basic stool with suction cups and adjustable legs is around $40. Walk-in bathtubs Walk-in tubs are designed to prevent slips and to help people who have difficulty getting in and out of normal tubs or showers. Costs range from $15,000 to $35,000, said Safe Step San Diego sales representative Brady Kosen. Why is it so pricey? Sometimes plumbing needs to be redone or an entire section of the bathroom needs to be rebuilt to accommodate the tub. Toilet riser Common additions are toilet safety frames, which allow the user to lower themselves onto the seat, and toilet seat risers that reduce the distance the user needs to bend down. Seat risers can cost as little as $24 at Walgreens and there are toilet safety rails for $20 on Amazon. Widened doorways Wider doorways make it easier for occupants in a wheelchair to move around the house, but wider doorways are also popular with home remodelers because they make homes look bigger. Much of the cost will likely come from labor, although there are many do-it-yourself guides on the Internet. The online Remodel Cost Guide estimates $75 to $500 for materials. In general, remodelers recommend 36-inch-wide doorways. Outside ramp An outside ramp helps occupants in a wheelchair, or those with other walking challenges, get into their home. Materials for the project can cost from $500 to $2,000, said the Remodel Cost Guide. A simple steel ramp is also an option for homes that only have a small porch. Susan Mack of Homes for Easy Living in Murrieta suggests a subtle design that will not alert potential criminals that there is someone in the house who may be vulnerable to easy theft. Stair lift Ensuring a house with several floors doesnt become a trap, several companies offer mechanical chairs that attach to stairwells and securely transport someone up a floor. Carlsbads Access to Freedom sells Stannah brand chairs that go straight up the stairs ($2,500 to $4,100), a version for curved stairs ($11,200 to $16,500) and for outdoor stairs ($5,500 to $6,000). It also has a rental program that, for $1,895, will put in a straight-line chair and remove it after three months. Kitchen remodel Aging-in-place experts say the most important room to remodel is the bathroom, but after that, the kitchen is a good place to start. Anne Kellett, owner of San Diego-based A Kinder Space, said a low-end kitchen remodel could cost $45,000 but would be much more for a total makeover. Some changes include: Adjusting counter heights to make them easier to reach; adding more drawers than cabinets; arranging space so appliances are easier to reach; and using different colors throughout the house using a different color on flooring, walls and cabinets to help those with depth-perception issues. Kellett said some changes are simple, such as putting dishes right next to the dishwasher. Wheelchair accessible sink When washing dishes or using a bathroom sink, it helps to have one that people in wheelchairs can roll under. It can be a simple job to install, compared to other aging-in-place projects, but can get expensive if an individual is looking for a top-of-the line product. Kohler sells enameled cast iron sinks for around $1,129. Swedish company Granberg sells an electronically raised and lowered wash basin so different members of a household can use it. (No price provided. You have to call the company for a quote.) Lighting Older adults may need stronger lighting, or dim lighting, depending on their eyes and vision. Additionally, it can be helpful to install motion-sensor lights for those with limited movement, says the AARP HomeFit Guide. It suggests increasing lighting on stairs and pathways, which can be done cheaply with nightlights. Other suggestions include light switches that glow in the dark, lighting over work areas in the kitchen, lights in places that might not already have them (like closets) and halogen bulbs to reduce glare. Business phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar ALSO Will Prop. 13 changes make home prices go up? Pacific Beach landlord to keep rent low, even after sale How much can you make on the sale of a San Diego house? With workshops, panels, and lectures, a day-long environmental conference in Tijuana on Wednesday will focus on cross-border ties and climate change. Green Tijuana/San Diego Verde, as the event is known, is a project of the non-profit group Tijuana Innovadora. Octavio Lopez, the project director, said that a main objective is to establish a bi-national agenda. The event is being held at the El Trompo Interactive Museum. Advertisement Scheduled speakers include Alexandra Cousteau (5 p.m.) , a filmmaker and environmental activist, who will talk about the effect of climate change on the worlds oceans. She is the granddaughter of famed oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Also invited is Mexican photojournalist Sergio Tapiro (4 p.m.), who was named 2017 photographer of the year by National Geographic Traveler. Also on the schedule is YouTube star Yovana Mendoza (3 p.m.), known as Rawvana, a young promoter of the vegan lifestyle. A business panel (12 p.m) will put the spotlight on businesses that seek to reduce the carbon footprint such as the Dutch startup Land Life that focuses on restoring ecosystems. While the issue of cross-border sewage spills is not on the agenda, the subject is likely to come up during a 1:30 p.m. panel that includes government officials from both sides of the border. Scheduled U.S. participants include Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina and San Diego councilman David Alvarez. Expected participants from the Mexican side include Baja Californias secretary of the environment, Thelma Castaneda; Alfonso Blancafort, representative of Mexicos federal environmental secretariat in Baja California; and Jesus Manuel Sanchez of the Baja California State Public Service Commission (CESPT). Wednesdays event marks the third Green Tijuana/San Diego Verde conference hosted by Tijuana Innovadora. The group also hosts smaller monthly Agora Verde gatherings that bring together environmental groups from both sides of the border. Tijuana Innovadora is a civic group founded in 2010 that seeks to promote positive narratives about the city. Its main event is held in Tijuana every other year. sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com @sandradibble The blame game has begun. With the death toll up to 17 and more than 450 sickened since November, focus has started to shift to what led to San Diego Countys hepatitis A outbreak. Did the city of San Diego do enough to provide basic sanitation for the homeless? Did county health officials act fast enough to warn against and contain the virus? But how that finger-pointing would stand up in a courtroom is another matter entirely. Advertisement Lawsuits are probably on the way, leaving legal experts to ponder what those cases would look like. You cant help but sit around with a beer and think Oh my God, is there liability here? What would it be? said San Diego attorney Scott Dreher, who is suing the city on accusations of unfairly ticketing homeless people on sidewalks. He said any lawyer pondering litigation in this case would likely start with the standard premise: What did they know, who knew it and when? Legal scholars and the most aggressive personal injury attorneys could not create a more fertile ground for litigation, said San Diego attorney Michael Aguirre, a former city attorney with a practice focusing on fraud and public policy issues. But anyone wanting to sue a city or county will find out its not easy to sue a government. And this hepatitis outbreak is far more complex than the ones litigated in other parts of the country. Its one thing to bring a lawsuit, another thing to win a lawsuit, Aguirre cautioned. At this point in the outbreak, the city of San Diego home to the regions largest concentration of homeless and county Health and Human Services Agency seem the biggest potential targets. Emails between officials show there were ongoing discussions of how to handle the crisis but an apparent hesitancy to implement some solutions quickly. The solutions included installing portable toilets and hand-washing stations downtown to accommodate the ballooning transient population and posters for a public-awareness campaign. Critics also point to what they say is the citys long-standing inability to effectively deal with the homeless and greater problem of affordable housing, as well as a history of being warned about the risk of such a disease outbreak due to lack of public restrooms downtown. Both city and county officials have defended their responses to the crisis, saying they have implemented timely vaccine clinics, public-awareness campaigns, and clean-up operations. City officials said they had good reason to previously remove some downtown restrooms out of concern for public safety, saying the portables had attracted drug use and prostitution. The county is the basic public health office, Aguirre said. Their job is to warn and to take corrective action, but they dont have any authority to build facilities in San Diego. This has to do with a question of basic hygiene within the city, and that falls on the citys shoulders. But lawsuits against a government would have a huge initial hurdle to overcome: immunity. Sovereign immunity laws generally protect government bodies from liability, giving elected officials wide latitude on decision making. It ultimately comes down to resource allocation situation. The government has a limited amount of dollars and has to make choices, said Fred Pritzker, a Minneapolis-based attorney who specializes in hepatitis A and food-borne illness lawsuits. Decisions made by city council vote or other legislative means are more protected than a ministerial act lower down the chain of government, legal experts said. An area that could make local government vulnerable is the state tort claims law that says officials could be held liable if they were put on notice of a dangerous condition on public property but failed to take corrective measures. Its a law typically used in the context of poorly maintained sidewalks or streets that cause injury or death. Its a question of the city acting reasonably under the circumstances, Aguirre explained. Government immunity has been tested in numerous cases over the years and a body of law established, but maybe not in a way that addresses this situation, legal experts said. In the context of a public health crisis, its a very intriguing question, said Tim Cohelan, a San Diego class-action attorney who has previously sued the city on behalf of the homeless. There is also a question of willful conduct versus negligence. Is there evidence of specific actions government employees took that led to the outbreak, of corruption or cover-up? Or is it failing to take action? Some citizens are calling for even harsher measures. A change.org petition started by a Los Angeles woman calls for the state attorney general to launch a criminal negligence investigation into Mayor Kevin Faulconer. It had garnered roughly 500 signatures by Saturday afternoon. The Attorney Generals Office did not respond to an inquiry about the petition, and the mayors office declined to comment. Even if a plaintiff can get past immunity issues, proving causation could be challenging. The exact source of the outbreak is not known and may never be. In personal injury cases, specifics matter. How did one person specifically get it and somebody else didnt? asked Pritzker. Its almost impossible to show. The first few cases connected to the outbreak came from El Cajon and La Mesa in late November of 2016, Dr. Wilma Wooten, the countys public health officer, told the county Board of Supervisors last week. That news drew a sharp line of questioning from supervisor Dianne Jacob whose district includes much of East County. Were they residents? Do we know? Jacob asked. This is where you identified the first cases, but they could have come from somewhere else, is that correct? Wooten replied: The cases were homeless, and as we know, homeless people do move around. Theyre very transient the individuals could have been picked up in that zipcode, but it doesnt necessarily mean that they lived in that zipcode. The exchange illustrates how San Diegos outbreak is vastly different than cases Pritzker and other hepatitis attorneys litigate, where the source is often easily traced to a single food distributor or restaurant. For example, in Hawaii last year, hundreds of people were sickened, and one woman died. The epidemic was traced to tainted scallops served at a chain of sushi restaurants and resulted in several lawsuits. Here, there is no known patient zero. And the nature of the disease with an incubation period of two weeks before symptoms show up means that the infection chain in this case may be impossible to trace. You cant put a toilet and cant put a sink on every corner where theres a homeless person, Pritzker said. You cant prove what they did or didnt do would have resulted in something different. You can make general statements but cant make individual case specific statements. If hepatitis A victims did want to band together in court, a mass tort action would probably be more appropriate than a class action, since each victim likely contracted the disease from different sources, Pritzker said. Mass tort cases are held together by a common premise but then litigated separately on individual factors. For example, one person might have been infected by coming into contact with feces on the street, while another was sickened by an infected door handle or food server. Damages would also be different: Some people died, some were hospitalized and some affected mildly. Some had pre-existing conditions. Every personal injury claim also looks at the victims degree of fault. Here, a victims intravenous drug use or failure to wash hands may come into play. Mass tort claims save the court, attorneys and parties money and resources because the cases are often managed together at first under one judge for discovery purposes, then later litigated individually according to the unique circumstances. Hepatitis A victims would be the obvious plaintiffs for potential lawsuits, but legal experts say cases could also come from other states or cities where the disease may have spread, or from businesses that may argue they lost revenue because of the outbreak. Some lawyer more creative than me will say, Heres what you can recoup and heres how, Dreher said. Staff writer Paul Sisson contributed to this report. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis For a decade, Bill Kampine has run a popular website that helps consumers determine fair prices for medical procedures. The co-founder of Healthcare Bluebook says one of the most important things people need to understand is that medical pricing is extremely variable. Even if theyre in-network, prices can vary anywhere from two to 10 times, said Kampine, who is based in Nashville. Advertisement His website uses data from millions of paid health insurance claims, so you can easily see, for example, that cataract surgery in San Diego can cost anywhere from $2,000 to more than $8,000, depending on who does the procedure and where its done. What accounts for these differences? One might think its the doctors. Those who charge more make more. Kampine said if you look at what insurance companies pay doctors, it is often pretty consistent. They usually get about $400 per cataract. The difference from one bill to another, he said, usually has more to do with the where of the surgery. That multiple-thousand-dollar difference in cost is almost always described by what building you have the procedure done in, Kampine said. Stand-alone outpatient surgery centers tend to be less expensive than ambulatory facilities attached to hospitals, for example. And one hospital may charge more than another based on location, reputation and other factors. There was a time, not too long ago in fact, when nobody cared. Most health plans had low deductibles, and there was little reason for consumers to find out what their care cost, let alone to shop around for a better deal. However, as overall health care costs have continued to rise, companies have increasingly been forced to increase deductibles as a strategy for keeping monthly premiums from growing too quickly. The change has been striking over the last decade. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 10 percent of workers had an annual deductible of $1,000 or more in 2006. That increased to 51 percent in 2016. Many people face far more financial exposure for health care than a mere $1,000. The Internal Revenue Services definition of a high-deductible health plan now sets the maximum family deductible at $6,650 with an out-of-pocket maximum of $13,300 in 2018.This switch to high-deductible plans, Kampine said, brings a new urgency to finding good deals when health care is needed. Ten years ago, the main cost that people looked at was modest copayments when they went into the doctors office, Kampine said. With these high deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums were seeing, how were looking at cost is very different today. This new reality, he added, requires a fundamental change in the way you think about your health care, especially when it comes to major procedures.When a doctor determines that an operation or other intervention is necessary, he said, its important to find out exactly what the medical billing code is for that procedure or group of procedures. Once youve got those numbers --- often called CPT codes --- its possible to enter them into a site such as healthcarebluebook.com, which is designed to provide the average price for a given procedure in a given ZIP code. Knowing that average, then, provides you a starting point to find out whether what your provider is charging a reasonable amount. Kampine said its important to ask if there are options about where a procedure could be performed. Most doctors in an urban area will have many choices about where they can do their work, and you want to make sure you understand what those choices are. In many cases, you can keep your doctor but still make sure youre having your surgery in the most cost-effective venue possible, he said. Finding the fair price of medical procedures Gone are the days when it was nearly impossible to find out what a medical procedure should cost. A growing group of websites analyze paid health care claims and other data to provide estimates on pretty much every service you could need tailored to your specific location: healthcarebluebook.com fairhealthconsumer.org changehealthcare.com newchoicehealth.com outofpocket.com Goodbye to the practice of balance billing For many years, the balance bill has been one of the nastiest surprises in the world of health care. What is balance billing? Also called a surprise bill, it refers to the practice of charging you for the part of a medical bill that your health insurance did not cover. Heres an example: Lets say you had surgery in a local hospital that was pre-approved by your health insurance company. The facilitys fees were covered, and so was the doctors. However, the anesthesiologist who put you to sleep did not have a pre-negotiated rate with your insurance company, and his bill is $5,000. Your insurance company will pay only its negotiated rate of $1,000 for this service, leaving a $4,000 balance which the anesthesiologist bill you for -- a balance bill. For many years, balance billing for emergency services has been illegal, but the practice has been allowed in non-emergency situations.But that all changed in California on July 1, 2017 when a new law, Assembly Bill 72, took effect. The law forbids providers from charging patients the balance if they receive their care at a facility that has a contract with their health insurance company. 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 This year, the government will spend $609 billion to cover 58 million Medicare beneficiaries. Those numbers lump everybody together into one monolithic group, but thats not the case when Oct. 15 arrives. That date opens a 54-day window where each individual covered by the program gets to make changes to how they receive the Medicare benefit they paid for through regular payroll deductions during their working years. And there are plenty of choices. In San Diego County alone, 24 different prescription drug plans are available with another 23 Medicare Advantage plans offered by third-party providers. Advertisement Many who are already enrolled in a plan they like simply let Medicares open enrollment window close without taking any action. David Weil, director of San Diegos Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program, said that is a mistake. Everyone should at least take a look at the options available to them every year, he said, especially if they are taking prescription drugs. For most people, this is the one time during the year when they can make changes. But you dont want to make those changes without doing your homework first, Weil said. There are also a few changes that are coming your way whether or not you decide to take a look around during Medicares open enrollment window. Today, most Medicare beneficiaries are paying a $109 monthly Part B premium, while those who enrolled in 2017 pay $134 per month. Medicare was able to charge more to new enrollees but was unable to spread overall cost increases to the already enrolled due to hold harmless provisions in the federal laws that underpin the governments largest health care benefit. However, those same laws allow a broad-based premium adjustment anytime the government grants a cost-of-living increase to Social Security benefits, and Weil said it looks like it will happen in 2018. Its likely that, across the board, people who are paying $109 per month now will see an increase, and those who are paying $134 will see a little bit of a drop. We wont know for sure until November, Weil said. Thats when Medicare is expected to announce basic Part B premiums for 2018. There is also a bit of intrigue around another significant change in how everyone will use Medicare next year. In April, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will mail new Medicare cards to every one of the nearly 60 million Americans receiving benefits. These new cards will feature 11 randomly selected numbers and letters called a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier that will replace your existing health insurance claim number. Why are they doing this? Well, your old number is based on your Social Security number and because it appears on all Medicare-related paperwork, it was often used to defraud seniors. The new number, because its randomly selected, carries no such risk of inadvertently providing your Social Security number to thieves. However, in an ironic twist, those same thieves are using this change for one last burst of malfeasance. In San Diego and across the nation, reports are surfacing of Medicare beneficiaries receiving calls from scammers who demand their personal information and, in some cases outright payment, to get their new card. In some cases we have reports of people calling up and telling them they can get their number embossed on a nice metal plate if they provide information over the phone, Weil said. There are other variations of these scams which have callers impersonating Social Security or insurance company employees. In all cases, experts advise hanging up and not providing any information even if the caller already has certain information about you such as your date of birth or Social Security number. Medicare does not call and request this type of identifying information from its beneficiaries. Once the new ID number is in place, beneficiaries will have a 21-month grace period during which they can use either their old number or the new one. The one site you must know Visit www.medicare.gov/find-a-plan to enter your information and see whats available in your specific ZIP code. There is even a place for you to enter up to 25 different prescription drugs and have the website show you only those plans which include everything youre taking. If youre not an Internet person, thats OK too. Anyone living in San Diego County can call the Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program at (858) 565-8772 for help. Imperial County residents have their own line at (760) 353-0223. Health insurance brokers are also available to help, and because they are paid through commissions on the plans they sell, they offer assistance at no cost to you. You can find an agent at www.nahu.org. Medicares makeup Here is a refresher on Medicares four essential parts. It pays to remind yourself what these mean before starting your research: Part A: Hospital insurance. Everyone gets it if they or their spouse has worked in the United States for at least a decade. There is no premium. Hospital insurance. Everyone gets it if they or their spouse has worked in the United States for at least a decade. There is no premium. Part B: Health insurance. This covers doctor visits, medical equipment and a vast range of other outpatient services. The government charges a monthly fee, and they deduct it from your Social Security check if you receive one. Health insurance. This covers doctor visits, medical equipment and a vast range of other outpatient services. The government charges a monthly fee, and they deduct it from your Social Security check if you receive one. Part C: This is not a separate benefit but rather a special section which allows private companies to administer a persons Medicare benefit through Medicare Advantage plans. In San Diego County there are usually dozens of options, many offered by familiar names such as Sharp, Scripps, Kaiser and SecureHorizons. This is not a separate benefit but rather a special section which allows private companies to administer a persons Medicare benefit through Medicare Advantage plans. In San Diego County there are usually dozens of options, many offered by familiar names such as Sharp, Scripps, Kaiser and SecureHorizons. Part D: This part of Medicare pays for prescription drugs and has its own monthly premium on top of what you pay for Part B. There is another key to understanding Medicare: There are two different flavors, Original and Advantage. Our Turning 65 article describes the differences between the two. 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 Usually, the annual ritual of selecting the right health plan for the coming year is quite predictable. The options are there on the table, and there is usually little thought that things might change dramatically after you make a decision. Not this year. The president tweeted this summer he might end cost-sharing subsidies to health insurance companies if Congress cant get together on long-promised plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. So open enrollment this season comes with an unprecedented edge of unease. Advertisement Dave Jones, Californias health insurance commissioner, does not attempt to sugarcoat the effect that so much heated rhetoric has had on the task of getting insurance companies to offer affordable rates to consumers, especially in the private health insurance market now dominated by the Covered California health insurance exchange. This has been the most unstable and challenged health insurance market in my tenure as a public servant, Jones said. The degree of uncertainty and instability that the Trump administration has injected into the market this year cannot be understated. That turmoil has most directly affected the 1.4 million Californians who buy exchange plans and about 1 million more estimated to purchase individual coverage plans off-exchange. It is this group, plus 3.8 million California adults enrolled in Medi-Cal since it was expanded in 2014, whose coverage has been the subject of political debate for several years. While attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have failed, there are still several steps the president could take to undermine the controversial program. Already the new administration has said it would not enforce the penalties assessed for those who dont buy health insurance. And his decision to target out-of-pocket cost-reducing payments to insurance companies also introduced a fair bit of volatility. There has also been talk that the federal government will not support outreach efforts to some types of potential policyholders, especially those in Latino communities. Enrollment there is often seen as critical to bringing in enough healthy people to offset the costs incurred by older and sicker Americans who are much more likely to sign up for coverage. On Aug. 1, Peter Lee, Covered Californias director, said the average increase for exchange plan premiums in 2018 will be 12.5 percent. He attributed about 3 percent of that bump to insurance company uncertainty about whether or not the new administration will undermine existing Affordable Care Act programs. While the average increase will be nearly 13 percent, Lee said in some cases policyholders will be able to limit their premium hikes to less than 4 percent by moving into a different plan within their home market. In San Diego County, exchange customers will have six different carriers to choose from this fall, down one from this year due to the decision of Anthem Blue Cross to pull out of Californias individual market in most regions. Of course, the individual health care market is only a small fraction -- about 9 percent in California -- of the overall health insurance pie. The largest segment, representing 45 percent of all Californians in 2015 according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, get their coverage from an employer. An additional 38 percent is enrolled in a government program such as Medicare and Medi-Cal. Its a little harder to peg just how much premiums for employer-sponsored plans will increase in 2018. Every year the National Business Group on Health surveys large employers nationwide to get a sense of how much costs will increase in the coming year. This time around, the nonprofit announced that costs were up about 5 percent, a number that should roughly translate to the premium increase that employees of large companies will see in 2018, according to Brian Marcotte, the business groups president and chief executive. He said employers are continuing strategies that have gradually come to the fore over the last few years to contain health care costs as much as possible. Most companies, he said, are building in income-based premiums for employees. Gone are the days when the premium list was the same for everyone on the payroll. That means if you make more, you end up paying a higher monthly premium, Marcotte said. And there has also been a big increase in the number of employers offering self-directed health plans that combine high deductibles with special health savings accounts that the employer funds to help defray costs. The average contribution, Marcotte said, is $650 per year for an individual and $1,000 per family. Average deductibles for these plans, he added, are $1,500 per individual and $3,250 per year for family coverage. Today we have 90 percent of large employers offering self-directed plans with attached health savings accounts and 40 percent are offering these as their only option in 2018, Marcotte said. Companies are choosing these options to help control the amount of health-care services their employees use, he said. Jones, the insurance commissioner, said no statewide average has been calculated for premium increases among small- and medium-sized plans, but he has seen proposals from many carriers that give him a general sense of the range for 2018. On an annualized basis, Id say its probably running somewhere between 8 percent to 10 percent, Jones said. As to those buying through Covered California, or in the individual market outside the exchange, Jones said he knows there is significant anxiety among everyday consumers. But even if there is a sudden change in the congressional logjam and the ACA is repealed immediately, he said the 70 percent of Covered California policyholders who are getting significant portions of their premiums covered by subsidies should not be left suddenly paying full freight. If that were to happen, and I think the possibility is extremely remote at this point, people would be able to get out of their plans because they are currently predicated on them receiving premium assistance, Jones said. Important dates Covered California open enrollment: Nov. 1 - Jan. 31. Apply by Dec. 15 for coverage that starts on Jan. 1, 2018. Employer-sponsored plans: Open enrollment periods vary by company but most occur in the fall. Check with your human resources director for details. Medicare: Oct. 15 - Dec. 7. Newly-selected coverage starts Jan. 1, 2018. Who needs to pay extra attention? More than 4,000 San Diego County residents are currently covered by Anthem Blue Cross plans through the Covered California health insurance exchange. If you or a family member is in one of these plans, you will have to choose a new option for 2018 because Anthem announced in August that it is pulling out of nearly all individual health insurance markets. An estimated 150,000 Anthem customers currently have individual market plans sold outside the exchange. These plans will also be canceled, so dont think that, if you didnt buy through Covered California, your plan will be continued. Molina Healthcare, which covers 21,400 people in San Diego County, notified the public of large insurance premium increases for 2018 in most of the markets its serves. In San Diego County, increases will range from 18 percent to 31 percent depending on age. Blue Shield of California will significantly decrease its premiums in 2018, dropping them somewhere between 3 percent and 16 percent in California, depending on age. 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 A man who spent almost 30 years living in the San Diego area is trying to figure out how hes going to support his family, including an autistic son who depended on him, after he was deported Thursday to Tijuana. Gaston Cazares, 45, has no criminal record except an illegal entry misdemeanor he pleaded to almost six years ago after immigration officials determined he used false information to work at a restaurant and seafood market in Pacific Beach. Because of his sons needs, Cazares was able to convince authorities to let him stay in the U.S. as long as he checked in once a year. President Donald Trump issued a January executive order that put an end to such practices, and many unauthorized immigrants with stories like Cazaress have been deported this year when they checked in with immigration officials. Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos was one of the first such cases to reach the spotlight after she was deported in February from Arizona. Advertisement Cazares checked in with immigration officials in April, and they told him that he would be deported. He spent nearly six months trying to get them to reconsider. When he reported to their offices on Thursday as requested, they took him to Tijuana. I want the opportunity to support my family, Cazares said. We never asked for nothing. All I did was work. Everything is my family. I work for them. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack said that Cazaress request to stay in the U.S. was denied because of the agencys current enforcement priorities. While ICE continues to prioritize its enforcement resources to focus on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security, the agencys acting director has made it clear that ICE will not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement, Mack said. All of those in violation of our nations immigration laws may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable, he or she will be removed from the United States. Cazares came to the U.S. in 1989 when he was about 17. He went to visit family in Mexico in 1998, shortly after Congress made penalties harsher for immigration violations, his attorney said. When Cazares tried to cross back through a port of entry and showed a border official his California drivers license, his attorney said, the official determined that Cazares had falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen and deported him. With the new laws, which created a process called expedited removal, the official did not have to send Cazares to an immigration judge before deporting him. Cazares later came back into the U.S. illegally. Because the official said Cazares made a false claim of citizenship, now that he has been deported, he is permanently barred from returning to the U.S. His lawyer, Nicole Leon, said that the only way Cazares can come back is through an act of Congress. Leon is looking into asking a member of Congress to sponsor a bill for Cazares. She knows getting that kind of legislation signed into law is extremely difficult. The most recent private bill that passed, granting someone a green card, was signed in 2012, and only six percent of such bills have become law since 1983, according to data from Congress. Theres no way to appeal this, Leon said. Theres no legal remedy in that regard. His options are extremely limited, slim to none really, in terms of immigrating. Arnie Garcia, 25, of Linda Vista, met Cazares when Garcia was a child, and they later worked together. He described Cazares as a hard-working family man. Garcia stood with a crowd outside ICE offices on Thursday to find out what would happen to Cazares. It felt like losing a family member, Garcia said. Everyone was crying. What really hurt me was his family I was thinking, How are they going to get through this? How are they going to survive now? Cazares is still hopeful that he can reunite permanently with his family in San Diego. His children are U.S. citizens. All I know is that Im going to try to find a way to come back to San Diego because my family needs me, Cazares said. I want to come back legally. In the meantime, Cazares has to find work in Tijuana. Hes staying with his wifes nephew. Im just looking around, and the salaries are very low compared with San Diego, Cazares said. When I was in San Diego, I was the provider of everything. Its going to be very tough. His 17-year-old daughter wants to get a job to help out, he said, but he wants her focusing on her studies. Shes a senior at Scripps Ranch High School. Cazares is also worried about his son, who is 15. Cazares helped his son work through the challenges of autism and often took him along for daily errands like going to the car wash, which his son enjoyed. Im sad because hes made a lot of progress, Cazares said. He needs me. He needs me. Im a little scared that he will get depression or another kind of emotional issue. His son doesnt yet understand why he cant come home, he said, though hes explained it several times. All my work I do to make good kids just fell apart, Cazares said. Everything is falling apart. A fundraiser organized by UndocuMedia to support the Cazares family has raised close to $10,000. 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 This week, more than 100 dreamers from around the country, including one from Vista, are traveling to Capitol Hill to make a pitch to Congress to provide them a pathway to citizenship. Hopefully congress members will have a change of heart and be able to feel compassion about us and actually get a plan together, said Marco Antonio Ortiz Sanchez, a freshman at University of California, Irvine. Its very stressful living like this day to day, not knowing what is going to happen next. Its scary. President Donald Trump ordered about a month ago the end of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allowed unauthorized immigrants who were brought into the country at a young age to stay in the U.S. as long as they met certain criteria. The DACA participants had to register with the government, attend school or have a job, stay out of trouble and not enter Mexico without permission. Advertisement The program was merely an understanding that the government wouldnt deport participants, and Trump argued it was Congress job to pass legislation on the matter. The administration gave Congress a six-month deadline to come up with a law. But the timing is even more urgent for those whose two-year permits expire before then. Some of the 800,000 DACA participants have by Thursday to renew their status, with some having to come up with $495 renewal fee sooner than expected. On Tuesday, Ortiz Sanchez, 18, is set to fly to Washington, D.C., along with dreamers from 25 states to meet with their elected representatives. Ortiz Sanchez said he has a meeting scheduled with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista. The trip was organized by FWD.us, a nonprofit that supports immigration and criminal justice reform. I want to be an advocate and show people theyre never alone, theres people who will stand up for those who dont have the voice or courage or opportunity to go, he said. Ortiz Sanchez was brought to the U.S. illegally at 6 months old and grew up in Vista, at one time having to sleep on the floor of the living room of his familys small apartment. He started working at the age of 8 with his stepfather in landscaping and construction. As a student at Vista High School he was involved in extracurricular activities and graduated in the top 10 percent of his class with honors. He is studying business administration at the Paul Merage School of Business at UCI and hopes to start a company and create jobs. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP) (OTCBB:CYDVF) (Frankfurt:C1Z1) (Cypress or the Company) is pleased to announce that, due to investor demand, it has increased the amount to be raised under its previously announced non-brokered private placement of Units to up to $1,200,000 CDN. The Units are being offered at a price of C$0.10 per Unit with each Unit consisting of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase Warrant. Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.13 for a period of 24 months following the closing of the offering. Please see the Company's press release of September 13, 2017 for further details regarding the offering. The Company intends to utilize the proceeds from the private placement to complete a drilling program on Cypress 100% held Dean and Glory Lithium Projects in Clayton Valley, Nevada and for general working capital purposes. The private placement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance. Cypress Clayton Valley, Nevada Lithium Projects location map: http://www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com/i/maps/CYP-Clayton-topo-satalite-small.jpg About Cypress Development Corp.: Cypress Development Corp. is a publicly traded lithium and zinc exploration company that continues to acquire and develop potentially viable mineral projects in the State of Nevada, U.S.A. Cypress Development Corp. has approx. 35.5 million shares issued and outstanding. To find out more about Cypress Development Corp. (TSX-V:CYP), visit our website at www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com. CYPRESS DEVELOPMENT CORP. Don Huston DONALD C. HUSTON President For further information contact myself or: Don Myers Director Cypress Development Corp. Telephone: 604-687-3376 Toll Free: 800-567-8181 Facsimile: 604-687-3119 Email: info@cypressdevelopmentcorp.com NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE. This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information. San Diego is scheduled to approve on Tuesday another in a long series of payouts to victims of former police officer Christopher Hays, whose alleged sexual misconduct and inappropriate touching have cost taxpayers more than $2 million. The latest settlement of $250,000 will go to Melanie Wilson, whom Hays allegedly groped sexually for more than three minutes after picking her up in December 2013 and giving her a ride home. In August 2015, the city paid $550,000 to another victim who suffered a 20-minute pat down from Hays, and $400,000 to a separate victim who was forced to watch Hays masturbate while trapped in a bedroom. Advertisement And in April 2015, the city paid $1.3 million total to two other alleged victims of Hays. RELATED: Cop misconduct cases settled A spokesman for City Attorney Mara Elliott said this was the final Hays case the city would be dealing with because the statute of limitations prevents additional claims and lawsuits. His series of misconduct incidents ran from summer 2012 until late 2013. Hays, 33, agreed to resign from the force in February 2014 after he was criminally charged for his misconduct. That September, he pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault under color of authority. He was sentenced to one year in county jail and three years of probation, but was released after five months. If Hays had been convicted at trial instead of pleading guilty, he would have been ordered to register as a sex offender for life. The case prompted the department to establish a new policy requiring two officers to accompany any female in custody. Just before the Hays case, San Diego paid out $5.9 million to a woman who was allegedly groped by police officer Anthony Arevalos in 2011. That followed $2.3 million in payouts to 12 additional Arevalos accusers. Arevalos was found guilty of 12 charges including sexual battery and asking for a bribe. He is serving a sentence of more than eight years in prison. Hays had said he planned to move back to his home state of Arkansas quickly after being released from custody. Tuesdays payout was agreed to during a March mediation session and approved by the City Council in a session closed to the public in June, but the amount wasnt disclosed. The $250,000 will cover damages, interest, costs and attorneys fees in the Wilson case. The money will come from the citys public liability fund, an account the city maintains to handle payouts and other legal costs. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick A little-known local nonprofit hopes to play a key role in solving San Diegos housing crisis with several new initiatives, including an aggressive proposal to accelerate construction of some low-income apartments. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which gives developers seed money to buy land for housing projects in low-income areas, is proposing to establish a $50 million regional housing affordability fund to make construction of such housing cheaper and faster. LISC also plans to accelerate construction of granny flats in San Diego by funding pre-approved architectural plans that would allow people to bypass the often lengthy design and approval phases. Advertisement And the national nonprofit, which launched its San Diego chapter 25 years ago this fall, hopes to bolster the Little Saigon neighborhood on El Cajon Boulevard by helping make it San Diegos second enhanced infrastructure district. We are hoping to be a big-time part of solving the housing crisis, said Ricardo Flores, who took over as LISC executive director in April. The regional housing fund would be modeled after a $20 million fund recently created jointly by the city of San Diego and its Housing Commission. But it would cover the entire county and leverage at least $40 million in private capital. Thats how LISC, which has an unusual funding model, works. Banks, corporations and foundations provide the nonprofit large chunks of money that it then uses to finance projects in low-income areas with loans, grants or equity. The key funding comes from banks, which are required to invest with nonprofits like LISC by the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. The federal law was prompted by banks rarely loaning money for projects in low-income areas. That private capital could make LISC a significant factor in regionwide efforts to address the housing affordability crisis in San Diego, where the median price of a new home is more than $550,000 and the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,800. The regional housing fund that LISC is proposing would also give San Diego capital needed to secure matching funds available under new California legislation that aims to address a statewide housing affordability shortage, Flores said. L.A. passed a $1.2 billion bond, but we dont have any matching money in San Diego, he said. The regional housing fund could make a big difference to developers by giving them seed money to secure land, said Lori Holt Pfeiler, chairwoman of Housing You Matters, a coalition of community leaders focused on San Diegos housing shortage. LISC would give builders an opportunity to get to the starting line very, very quickly, said Pfeiler, adding that capital for land acquisition is often a stumbling block for projects. It would be early money, which is always difficult to get, said Pfeiler, who also serves as executive director of Habitat for Humanitys local chapter. You can improve the supply of housing if you have more certainty about being able to buy a piece of property. Then you can do the whole process of finding the rest of your money to build the project and getting through the approval process. LISC estimates the fund it proposes would create 2,500 units of low-income housing and save San Diego families, many of them poor, $15 million per year in rent. Flores is also working with City Councilman Scott Shermans office on the granny flat proposal, where LISC would pay for an architect to create multiple floor plans people could choose from to get immediate approvals. The proposal to create an Enhanced Infrastructure District in Little Saigon is less far along. In February, San Diego became the first city in California to take advantage of the states partial revival of redevelopment agencies, which are being called Enhanced Infrastructure Districts, by creating one in Otay Mesa. Flores said he envisions the city creating a second one on a seven-block stretch of El Cajon Boulevard, from Highland Avenue to Euclid Avenue. That part of San Diegos City Heights neighborhood, where incomes are quite low, is often called Little Saigon. Creating a district there would yield millions in property tax increment in coming decades for infrastructure, while encouraging developers to invest in the area, Flores said. We want the people who own property there to start thinking about taking advantage of some of these opportunities, Flores said. LISC has a long track record of smaller scale achievements in San Diego over the last quarter century. They include supporting $1 billion in total development and fostering projects that have included 6,300 housing units and more than 1 million square feet or retail, public art and community space. Some signature projects include San Diego Square, 156 units of senior housing downtown that got $7.9 million from LISC; Nook East Village, 91 mixed-income micro apartments in the East Village that got $3 million from LISC; and La Maestra Community Health Centers, a clinic in City Heights that got $1 million from LISC. The nonprofits primary focus has been on City Heights and Barrio Logan, but LISC has also participated in projects elsewhere. Richard Gentry, executive director of the San Diego Housing Commission, said last week that LISC has been a solid partner in addressing the housing crisis. Low-income and homeless seniors have opportunities to live in apartments they can afford because of our collaborative efforts, Gentry said. I look forward to continuing to work together with LISC. The local chapter was created 12 years after LISC was founded in 1979 with a focus on Chicago, Boston and the south Bronx in New York City. LISC now operates in 31 cities and some additional rural areas. Nationally since 1980, LISC has invested $17.3 billion that has led to $52 billion in total development, including 366,000 low-income homes and apartments and 61 million square feet of commercial, retail and community space. david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick More than a dozen off-duty San Diego Police Department officers called in to report they were unharmed while attending a country music festival in Las Vegas where a man opened fire late Sunday, killing more than 50 people in the worst mass-shooting in U.S. history. It wasnt immediately known exactly how many SDPD employees attended the event, but many were checking in Monday morning to report that they were OK, said police Sgt. Edward Zwibel. They are just letting people know they are all safe, Zwibel said. We are still trying to compile how many. Advertisement Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said on Twitter: We are all grieving with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department) and everyone affected by this horrific attack. Grateful off-duty (SDPD) officers who were there are ok. The gunman who opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival opposite the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip was found by a SWAT team that burst into the hotel room where he had been firing at the crowd. The shooter was identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite. One of the dead includes an off-duty police officer who was attending the concert. Several other officers from Nevada and California, both on and off duty, were wounded by gunfire, officials said. San Diego Fire-Rescue Chief Brian Fennessy said several of his off-duty firefighters were in Las Vegas attending the concert as well. Officials had not heard that any were among the injured. At this point we believe they are safe but we will continue to gather information as to their status, Fennessy said in a statement. A spokesman for the San Diego County Sheriffs Department said he was aware of at least two off-duty deputies who attended the concert who were not injured. karen.kucher@sduniontribune.com UPDATES: 11:07 a.m. This story was updated with additional details. This article was originally published at 6:35 a.m. David Whelan, a pioneering figure in the aerospace industry and an influential voice when the government considers where to spend money on military research, has joined the faculty of UC San Diegos Jacobs School of Engineering. Whelan, the former chief technology officer at Boeing, was hired to help the university better compete for research contracts in such areas as telecommunications, radar, intelligence gathering and aircraft projects. The 62 year-old Whelan is a member of the Defense Science Board (DSB), a group of civilian experts that advises the Defense Department of how to solve scientific and technical issues. Advertisement Over the past two years, the DSB has paid special attention to cyber security and autonomous vehicles, which are specialty areas at UC San Diego. Im a dot connector, Whelan told the Union-Tribune. I can help introduce researchers to people at DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) and the Office of Naval Research and the national labs, where people need help solving challenges. Whelan said hell also work to strengthen the universitys ties to industry, where he has deep experience, having held various executive positions at Boeing, including serving as general manager of Phantom Works, the companys prototyping outfit. He is familiar with such major San Diego County companies as chipmaker Qualcomm, and with ViaSat, a satellite and broadband services firm. Whelan said he was partly attracted to the faculty position because I was an undergraduate at UC San Diego. He was also drawn by his professional connections to the universitys chancellor, Pradeep Khosla, and Albert Pisano, dean of the engineering school. We all worked at DARPA at one time, said Whelan, who lives in Newport Beach. Whelan earned a bachelors degree in physics at UC San Diego in 1977, then a masters and doctorate in the same field at UCLA, in 1978 and 1983, respectively. He went on to serve in a key design and development position on the B-2 Stealth Bomber, and he became director of the Tactical Technology Office at DARPA. Much of the DARPA work was classified, but Whelan has been credited with his leadership on Discoverer II, a space-based radar project, and on unmanned combat air vehicles. He also spent years working on battlefield communications for the Army. In 2007, Whelan was elected to the elite National Academy of Engineering, joining a class of inductees that included Timothy Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web. Hes joining the Jacobs School during a period of rapid growth. The school added a record 26 faculty this year, and it now has almost 9,000 students also a record. Jacobs officials are trying to raise $180 million for an engineering complex to accommodate further expansion. Jacobs Dean Pisano said on Monday, Engineers apply science and math to real problems. Thats what we do. But if youre not working on the right problems, it doesnt matter how smart you are or how good your technologies are. The right problems can be tough to pin down, especially now, with technical innovation and the needs of society moving so fast. David Whelan is working with me to help make sure Jacobs School engineers are working on challenges that will have the greatest positive impact possible. Science Playlist On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds Twitter: @grobbins gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com The El Cajon City Council will retake votes affecting more than 800 delinquent trash customers, leaving Councilman Bessmon Ben Kalasho out because of an apparent conflict of interest involving the citys waste hauler. Kalasho has owned a for-profit chamber of commerce that sold memberships and accepted sponsorships from businesses across the Cajon Valley. Earlier this year, Kalasho accepted $2,500 from Waste Management for its 2017 membership in the association, which Kalasho now calls the Middle Eastern Chamber of Commerce. The company canceled its membership last month, after Kalasho and his chamber were sued for fraud in a dispute related to a chamber beauty pageant. Advertisement State law prohibits elected officials from voting on matters in which they hold financial interests. One definition of financial interest used by state ethics regulators is an individual or an entity from whom the official has received income or promised income aggregating to $500 or more in the previous 12 months. City Attorney Morgan Foley said the council will reconsider recent property liens approved for delinquent Waste Management customers. He announced his legal opinion after The San Diego Union-Tribune published a report that raised questions about the vote last month. Following our review of this matter, it is uncertain that the decisions related to the delinquent refuse service fees are required to be reconsidered by the City Council, Foley said in an email. However, in an abundance of caution the city will conduct new public hearings and votes for both the February and June 2017 lists of delinquent refuse service fees in which Councilmember Kalasho previously participated. Councilmember Kalasho will not be participating in these hearings and decisions, Foley wrote. The re-votes on the trash liens have not yet been scheduled. Those persons who were notified of their delinquencies prior to each of the prior public hearings will receive notice in accordance with the El Cajon Municipal Code, and given another opportunity to contest the charges previously approved, Foley said. The California Government Code states that public officials shall not be financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity, or by any body or board of which they are members. Kalasho did not respond to questions about the rehearings. He previously has declined to discuss his business practices or explain how he managed potential conflicts of interest between his for-profit chamber of commerce and his service to the city. Foley said the city has no intention of asking Kalasho to disclose the members or sponsors of his private ventures, so the public can monitor for potential conflicts of interest. He said state laws make public officials responsible for their own disclosures and voting decisions, not the city or its attorney. In addition to the chamber, Kalasho runs a masquerade ball and the beauty pageant that receives sponsorships from local businesses. It is not our intention to request a list of sources of income to Mr. Kalasho, Foley wrote. The reason is that it is his responsibility to identify those persons or entities that have provided him or his business with $500 or more in income during the prior 12-month period. Kalasho disclosed the chamber on his state-mandated economic disclosure, reporting income of between $10,001 and $100,000. He did not list individual clients or patrons of the business. The Fair Political Practices Commission told The San Diego Union-Tribune that individual clients must be disclosed only when they spend $10,000 or more with a business owned by a public official. Mayor Pro Tem Bob McClellan operated a car dealership for years. Before he retired from the dealership, his practice was to disclose a list of customers who were a source of income for his company. McClellan is traveling and was not available for comment. He provided our office of a list of customers who were sources of income for his corporation, which owned a car dealership as well as repair shop, Foley said, but it remained his responsibility to identify the conflicts, just as it is the responsibility of Mr. Kalasho. Kalasho incorporated the San Diego East County Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce in 2013 as a nonprofit organization. He told the Union-Tribune in August that the group ended up being run as a private business instead. We never completed that paperwork, he said at that time. We never operated a true nonprofit or completed that filing. The group has since been reorganized as the Middle Eastern Chamber of Commerce, he said in August. There is no paperwork on file at the Secretary of States office documenting formation of the new organization. Kalasho did not respond to a question for this story about the organizations status. Kalasho has been sued by two beauty pageant contestants and others in the community alleging fraud and unfair business practices. He denied the claims in a counter-suit. Previously Watchdog Videos On Now Sexual misconduct accusers worry deputy is being protected 6:16 On Now City funded $2-million waterfront bathroom 1:26 On Now Public water district charges customer for legal work, response to records request On Now Video: Tiny homes won't be reused amid housing, homeless crisis On Now Attorney General seeks documentation for Miss Middle East On Now Rep. Hunter probe covers possible fraud On Now Video: SDG&E delaying solar credit for some low-income housing tenants On Now Video: Former San Diego Junior Theatre teacher sentenced for sex with teen girl 0:24 On Now Video: Shelter volunteers believe they were fired for finding a dog a home 0:49 On Now McKamey Manor is leaving San Diego 3:35 jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald Regarding School librarian, citing racist propaganda, rejects Melania Trumps gift of Dr. Seuss books (Sept. 29): I feel some individuals jump at any opportunity to identify any illustrations as racist. I wonder if all of Mark Twains books or Disney books like Mickey Mouse (black-skinned) or Donald Duck (speech impediment) have been removed from the Cambridgeport School library. I feel that Dr. Seuss contributed to education and should not be labeled steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures and harmful stereotypes. Advertisement The letter rejecting the books stated rather than sending books to a well-funded elementary school in Cambridge, Trump should instead be devoting resources to schools in underfunded and underprivileged communities. Excuse me and my family for not living in her elementary school district. I assume it is all right for my children to read Dr. Seuss books, but the children of Cambridge elementary schools should be protected from Dr. Seuss illustrations. Or was this all political? Willard Doc Howard Chula Vista 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. Politicians in the U.S. and worldwide are wrestling with decisions over what to say or do after the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history left dozens dead and hundreds more wounded in Las Vegas. President Donald Trump led the nation in mourning in somber remarks as the death toll rose to at least 58 victims and 515 injuries. He thanked first responders and asked Americans to come together in collective grief. Related: President Donald Trump calls Las Vegas shooting 'act of pure evil' Hundreds of our fellow citizens are now mourning the sudden loss of a loved one a parent, a child, a brother or sister, he said from the White House. We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss. To the families of the victims: We are praying for you and we are here for you, and we ask God to help see you through this very dark period. A gunman targeted the Route 91 Harvest Festival where some 22,000 people were watching a performance from country music star Jason Aldean Sunday night, forcing fans to the ground and then prompting them to flee the area in panicked droves as sustained gunfire rained down on them from a hotel room 32 floors up. Related: Las Vegas shooting: Gunman's brother says, 'We don't understand.... This is like he shot us.' Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton joined other world leaders including those from the United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico sharing condolences for victims. In addition to sharing words of support and grief, some U.S. lawmakers quickly turned to discussing gun control laws in America. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi , D-San Francisco, called for the creation of a select committee on gun violence to work on common sense legislation to help end this crisis. After offering her own condolences, Hillary Clinton led others in calling for political action in response. She zeroed in on a gun bill to make it easier to purchase silencers currently making its way through the House. Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vermont, shared similar thoughts. Sen. Chris Murphy , D-Connecticut, has become a leading voice in the movement to prevent gun violence since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 28 people (20 of them young children) dead in his home state. He shared a specific message for his colleagues in Congress: Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords , a victim of a 2011 shooting that nearly took her life, also called on Congress to act on gun control. Now is the time to take positive action to keep America safer, she said in a statement. Do not wait. The nation is counting on you. She tweeted that no one should have to endure such horror. Several anti-gun violence events Giffords and her husband astronaut Mark Kelly were supposed to attend with Virginia gubernatorial candidate Lt. Governor Ralph Northam on Monday were canceled. On the Republican side, political leaders among them Vista Rep. Darrell Issa shared condolences and focused on thanking first responders. Asked a number of questions about gun legislation and possible political outcomes in a press briefing Monday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said it would be premature to discuss gun restrictions. Today is a day for consoling survivors, she said. Others called on Congress to take action on Monday. Heres a look at what some of those comments, including ones from San Diegos congressional leaders Scott Peters and Susan Davis . To read the full speech from the president, go here. To monitor continued comments from member of Congress, check out this Twitter list that aggregates their tweets. We will update this page if any additional Congressional action takes place or any more specific legislation is called for by U.S. lawmakers. Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin LUANG PRABANG, Laos (AP) Growing up in Wisconsin, Son Inthachiths classmates in school had no idea where his native Laos was. Thanks to President Barack Obama, not only is the little landlocked country on the world map but so is Inthachiths sleepy hometown of Luang Prabang. The town of about 50,000 people, known to a relatively small number of international tourists for its stunning temples and quaint streets, welcomed Obama on Wednesday as he made a side trip from the capital, Vientiane, where he is attending a regional summit on Thursday. President Obama is giving Laos the highlight it needs, Inthachith, 42, said, choking up with emotion. I think its going to bring more investment, more people interested. Advertisement Inthachith left Laos as a boy and ended up in Madison, Wisconsin, part of a post-Vietnam War refugee exodus from the communist nation. But he returned to Luang Prabang in 2006 to start a company that connects visiting students with volunteer rural development projects. During the war the U.S. secretly bombed Laos in an attempt to destroy communist trails from neighboring Vietnam. More bombs were dropped on the country than on Germany and Japan combined in World War II. Obama visited Wat Xieng Thong, or Temple of the Golden City, a tourist destination because of its architecture, history and artwork. Construction of the temple began in the 16th century, when Luang Prabang was the seat of Lao royalty. It remained under royal patronage until 1975, when the monarchy was abolished. Inside the temple grounds is a large golden barge, adorned with golden dragons at the bow. Obama looked in awe at the structure, staring straight at the dragons mouth. Then he walked to the back wall of the temple to look at a line of large golden statues. Its gorgeous, he said. Obama also held a town-hall meeting with 350 young leaders from the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, which is hosting him at Thursdays summit. The hour-long question and answer session that followed was remarkable for Laos, where top officials in the one-party state are inaccessible and not answerable to the common people. Even the open expression of opinions and free questioning of leaders is unheard of. Chan Ti Da, 22, was excited at being in the same room as Obama, even though she didnt get called on to ask a question. The Vientiane resident said Obamas emphasis on youth was striking. I am so very proud that he is the president of the USA but he also cares about youth to be the priority to develop the country, she said. Ret Thaung, 28, of Cambodia was inspired by hearing Obama address how to balance environmental and economic concerns an ongoing fight for her and a conservation group she belongs to, Fauna & Flora International. Biodiversity conservation can be a tough slog, but Thaung said the U.S. could influence my government to be way more eco-friendly. Thaungs work involves protecting endangered Asian elephants. When she was told that Obama joked about riding an elephant a practice some consider abusive during his Vientiane speech Tuesday, she replied, Were trying to (create) awareness (among) people not to ride elephants. Photo by Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join This three-part series on Charlie Chaplin was originally published in March of 1958, after Chaplin had been forced to leave the United States following an FBI investigation based on accusations of communist sympathies. Chaplins popularity had been in decline throughout the 1940s, not only because of the rumors of communism, but also because of scandals related to a paternity suit and marriages to much younger women. This series was written six year after Chaplin had left the U.S. He would not return to America until 1972. This article and other features about the stars of Tinseltown can be found in the Posts Special Collectors Edition, The Golden Age of Hollywood. This edition can be ordered here. When I think of a million dollars, tears come to my eyes Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today This is one of the theme songs from Charlie Chaplins latest film, A King in New York, in which he has added another sad chapter to the strange case of Charles Chaplin versus the United States. In A King in New York, a furious Chaplin takes off after the Statue of Liberty with a blunderbuss. When the smoke clears, the old gal is still there, and all Chaplin has is an aching shoulderand the worst artistic flop of his career. Even the day that Charlie Chaplin and the United States came to the parting of the ways, September 17, 1952, in New York harbor, the plot was chaotic. Many observers felt the actor got a most inelegant bums rush. Others, including members of our various patriotic societies, hailed it as the most wholesome good riddance since the day we lost Benedict Arnold, in the same direction. There remains much mystery as to what was going on behind the scenes. Chaplin had announced that he and his family were leaving on a long vacation trip to Europe. The reentry permit in Charlies British passport was valid for one year. The Chaplins were two days at sea before the then Attorney General of the United States, James P. McGranery, tossed off a bombshell statement that he had instructed the Immigration authorities to hold Chaplin for a hearing to determine whether he would be allowed to reenter the country. What were the charges? That, hinted the Attorney General, would tip off Mr. Chaplin. McGranery then went on to add, If assertions about Mr. Chaplin are true, he is, in my judgment, an unsavory character . He has been publicly charged with being a member of the Communist Party, with grave moral charges and with making statements that would indicate a leering, sneering attitude toward a country whose hospitality has enriched him. In Europe the reaction to this bold statement was a spontaneous uproar in Chaplins favor. What provoked McGranerys action? I have made inquiries at the Department of Justice, and I have asked Chaplin his version. Naturally, the versions differ. The Department of Justice presumably was preparing to move against Chaplin and intended to wait until he returned to the country. But the plan apparently leaked, and hence McGranery made his announcement. Chaplin seemed convincedwronglythat the American government, under special orders from President Truman, was out to lower the boom on him. Something Foul Afoot Since he arrived here in Europe in 1952, Chaplin has added to the general confusion. A born mythomaniac, he has given several public versions of his troublesthe pressure of bankers on Hollywood, McCarthyism, fascists in Washington, the American Legion, now this, now that, et cetera. In private, however, Chaplin recently told one of his closest friends in London the following lurid tale: Chaplin says that in Hollywood, in the spring of 1952, he was visited by agents of the FBI this could have been in connection with the granting of the reentry permit. Several old and rather sticky matters in the dossier were gone over. Suddenly according to Chaplin came the charge that he was the father, out of wedlock, of a now-famous star. There are several raw things in what the FBI calls its raw file. But for Chaplin the nightmare of a second Joan Berry scandal, the paternity case in which he was convicted by a Los Angeles jury of being the father of an unwed girls baby, must have been terrifying. This is Chaplins penny-dreadful version, and if true, it would explain a lot. Both those who insist that Chaplin had decided to leave the United States forever and those who believe he was pressured into it now cite the curious incident known as Oonas Strange Interlude. Shortly after they landed in Europe, Charlie sent his wife hightailing back to his other properties and converting the proceeds into a cashiers certified check, Oona scurried back to Europe. Obviously, since the treasure trove was in a rather neat little bundle, pickup letter and all, Chaplin was hedging his bets. But it seems more obvious that had he definitely known he was leaving Hollywood forever, he would have taken his valuables with him. There is a variant version of Operation McGranery, one of those persistent stories that crop up so often in the vast Chaplin apocrypha. It goes back to the summer of 1952, when Charlie came to the East Coast a short while before sailing. Chaplin is a ferocious after-dinner mimic, and on this occasion he added a new piece de resistance, Bess Truman Launches a Battleship. New York friends warned Chaplin that if news of this spoofery leaked down to Washington, it might cause trouble. According to one published version, the attorney general did hear of this naughty take on the First Lady and decided to throw the book at the little fellow. Former President Harry S. Truman, in a letter to this writer, said that this story was news to me. But the real reason American audiences will not see A King may not be censorship, as Chaplin has been hinting for European boxoffice purposes, but a private quarrel between Chaplin and the Internal Revenue Service. If Chaplin made money on any picture in the United States, the tax collectors would immediately grab it, because of the wholesale cheating they say he has done in the past. The revenuers regard Charlie as a hard, shirking man and claim getting taxes out of him is like trying to open an oyster with a spoon. Down through the years the epic battles between Chaplin and the Treasury have become textbook classics in the art of the tax maneuver. On one occasion the Treasury found Chaplin more than $1,000,000 in arrears and forced him to pony up. In a return engagement, Chaplin proved that the Treasury owed him $18,000one of those giddy victories that Charlie rather unwisely boasted too much about. In the third showdown, it is the Treasury that is enjoying the old boffola. How an old master like Chaplin got his neck in the wrong loopholes is an involved affair, although the law is simple enough. Through the autumn of 1952, as he moved from capital to capital and triumph to triumph, Charlies plan seemed to be simply to play things by ear. Then, one fine spring day in 1953, came the tax notice from the United States, and Charlie whipped off to the nearest American consulate, in Geneva, and tossed in his reentry permit like a hot grenade. He apparently thought that possession of it was what made him liable for United States taxation. Too late. This time the Treasury had Chaplin in a three-way bind: If Charlie claimed his reentry permit was valid, then he was taxable on the usual basis, as an alien still legally resident in the state of California; if he claimed he was no longer a resident or had been deprived of his right to be a resident, then he was taxable on all income and profits made in the United States. For a nonresident alien, British, the flat rate is 30 percent; the one status Chaplin could not claim was the popular 18-month exemption clause under which other Hollywood directors and stars had made films in Europe free of U.S. tax. That clause applied to American citizens only. The amount due, said the Treasury, was $516,167. Chaplin refused to pay. A penalty fee brought the amount to $1,400,000, roughly. And then Chaplin got so mad he sat down and wrote that song: When I think of a million dollars. This article and other features about the stars of Tinseltown can be found in the Posts Special Collectors Edition, The Golden Age of Hollywood. This edition can be ordered here. Though most people would prefer they move back into the White House, there is a SPICY RUMOR out there that the Obamas are looking into purchasing an apartment on the Upper East Side. If the gossip is true, they'll basically be neighbors with Mayor de Blasio, not that they'll ever hang out with him. Sorry Bill. Page Six reports that Barack and Michelle are looking at an apartment at 10 Gracie Square, located just a five minute walk from Gracie Mansion in Yorkville. The tabloid claims multiple sources confirmed the Obamas checked out a pad in the building, and last weekend a fancy-looking, five-bedroom, 10th floor apartment went into contract for $10 million. IS IT YOU, OBAMA? Famed 10 Gracie Square residents have included Gloria Vanderbilt, conductor Andre Kostelanetz, and publishers John Fairchild and Horace Havemeyer III, according to City Realty's website. This is also the building where author Jean Stein died earlier this year. The Obamas bought an $8.1 million home in the Kalorama neighborhood in Washington, D.C. in June and also own a home in Chicago. They plan on staying in D.C. at least until their youngest daughter, Sasha, graduates from high school. Deerfield Beach, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/02/2017 -- The market study on Global and China Industrial Floor Coating Market 2017 Research Report studies current as well as future aspects of the Industrial Floor Coating Market primarily based upon factors on which the companies compete in the market, key trends and segmentation analysis. This report covers each side of the worldwide market, ranging from the fundamental market info and advancing more to varied important criteria, based on that, the Industrial Floor Coating market is segmented. Industrial Floor Coating industry research report analyzes, tracks, and presents the global market size of the major players in every region around the world. Furthermore, the report provides data of the leading market players in the Industrial Floor Coating market. 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Production is separated by regions, technology and applications. Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/02/2017 -- ITM Training Center is proud to offer solar training courses as solar power is growing at unprecedented rates thanks to the United States and China. The amount of solar power usage jolted up by 50 percent last year worldwide, according to a report by The Guardian. The increase in solar popularity is largely due to investments by both the United States and China, who once again doubled the amount of solar power panels they installed in 2015. Though the United States government made headlines earlier in the year by backing out of the Paris Climate Agreement, it seems that solar power's popularity is continuing to soar right here in America. As the demand for clean energy grows stronger every day, solar power provides a clean and high-tech solution to the impending energy crisis that is growing more and more affordable by the day. The need for solar panel technicians is also expected to grow in the coming years, thanks to the predicted upwards trajectory of solar panel popularity. The entire green energy sector is also anticipated to grow thanks to millennials preference for cleaner solutions to the country's energy needs. Students and job seekers are advised that solar panel installation or SAP training in NJ is a good investment regarding today's energy sector job outlook. Residents who are interested in learning about solar panel installation or undergoing SAP training in Edison, NJ to manage the finances of a green-energy business are encouraged to contact ITM Training Center by calling 866-260-3966 or by visiting http://www.itmsys.com. About ITM Training Center ITM Training Center is an organization that provides solar, business, and medical training for individuals seeking to advance their careers. All of their training is done in a classroom setting at an approved school in New Jersey. Anyone looking to take their skills in technology to the next level can check out their courses online at http://www.itmsys.com/. For more information, visit http://www.itmsys.com/. A new leader for TRIO students Althea Counts, the new director of the universitys TRIO programs, remembers her days navigating the University of South Carolina campus as a first-generation college student, hitting a few rough patches along the way. Althea Counts is the new director of TRIO programs at the University of South Carolina. She attributes much of her success as a student to mentors she found in University Housing, who encouraged her to get involved and led her to become a residence hall adviser. That extra encouragement is what she believes the TRIO programs offer students who attend Carolina today from similar economic backgrounds. I hope our program is that connection for them, says Counts, who earned her undergraduate degree in economics and a masters degree in student personnel services. We show them that you have people who believe in you here, and we also help to create some opportunities for them to be leaders. And we encourage them, as well. TRIO programs around the country offer low-income and first-generation college students the personal attention, planning and information to manage their financial constraints, strengthen their academic skills, adjust to the campus environment and set goals that lead to graduation and responsible participation in society. The federal TRIO programs were created in 1965 to help low-income Americans enter and graduate from college. It has evolved into a network of programs and services that support students in middle school, high school and college undergraduate programs. Carolina has sponsored TRIO programs for the past 50 years. Counts has worked for TRIO since 2002, first as the coordinator for the Opportunity Scholars program and later becoming the offices associate director. She takes over this fall as the new director of the universitys TRIO programs, succeeding Paul Beasley, who retired after leading the office for 29 years. Now, she will be in charge of the office that oversees Carolinas four different TRIO components: Upward Bound, an intensive pre-college program for TRIO-eligible students attending high school in Richland County; the Educational Talent Search, which works with middle and high school students in Richland County to help prepare them for college; the Opportunity Scholars, which helps students through tutoring assistance, academic advising, mentoring and workshops; and the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program to help TRIO-eligible undergraduates prepare for and pursue graduate degrees. Its important work in a state like South Carolina, where a large percentage of students come from homes where their parents did not attend college. If we look at the future of students who will be attending school at the University of South Carolina, more of them will be first-generation, low-income students. Our programs will provide the kind of support and transition services that will help students not only enroll here, but graduate from the university, she says. Thats always our goal retention and graduation. Of the 138 Opportunity Scholars who started in the program in fall 2013, 77 graduated in May after four years. Many others are on track to graduate this year. "For the first-generation, low-income student, we look at making the playing field level. But those students have been excelling, and thats great for us, she says. I think the students are really appreciative of any assistance, direction and guidance you can give them. It has been the most gratifying job Ive had. Counts is only the third director of the universitys TRIO program and the first woman to hold the post. She also was a 2016 recipient of the Ada B. Thomas Outstanding Advisor Award and the academic adviser award winner for the Association of African-American Students. Once you start working for TRIO, it becomes your lifes mission, she says. Its been fulfilling for me to see 18-year-olds come in, get involved on campus, graduate with good GPAs and go on to be productive citizens with good, productive lives. Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Joining a high-yield pepper plant sapling to the roots of a strong and resistant variety could help pepper farmers cope with lower rainfall, a study has found. An experiment using the technique of merging two plants, known as grafting, resulted in higher fruit yield during periods of less rain. Plants also grew much better in salty soil, a by-product of drought, the researchers found. The results of the study were published last month in Scientia Horticulturae. Peppers are native to Mexico, but are grown in many developing countries both as the bell pepper vegetable and chili pepper to make spices. The plant is a particularly important commercial crop in Latin America and Asia. Around 26 million tons of peppers were grown commercially around the world in 2007. Grafting allows for the combination of the desired shoot characteristics with roots that can overcome environmental stress Angeles Calatayud The Spanish research team took saplings of commercially grown Adige Lamuyo peppers and grafted these onto wild peppers. They also grew the pepper on its own as a control group. For the third part of the experiment, the researchers grew the grafted and original plants outdoors in one normal field and one with salt and irrigation problems. The research showed that peppers grafted onto Capsicum anuum, a wild pepper plant, were much better at dealing with drought conditions and high levels of salt in the soil. The yield of the grafted plants was 40 per cent higher than that of the ungrafted plants grown from seed. Pepper grafting could become an environmentally friendly adaptation strategy, says Angeles Calatayud, a researcher at the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias in Valencia, Spain, and co-author of the paper. Grafting allows for the combination of the desired shoot characteristics with roots that can overcome environmental stress. Grafting is done by cutting a plant off near the root, shaping its stalk into a wedge and fitting this into a matching groove on the severed stem of another plant. The technique is used for many other vegetables as a means of dealing with stress factors such as extreme climate conditions and toxic soil. Grafting is common in the farming of watermelon, tomato and cucumber. In Spain, almost all watermelon are grown from grafted plants. Grafting is ideally suited for developing countries, the researchers say, as the technique does not require expensive kit or expertise. They described Capsicum anuum as priceless plant material for the sustainability of pepper farming. However, there are costs implications to the technique, says James Nienhuis, a plant breeding researcher at the horticulture department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States. He points out that in Cosa Rica, for example, a conventional seedling costs around $0.20, but a grafted seedling could cost up to $0.75. This is because the grafted plants require extra work, and result in half of each plant being thrown away. But, the extra cost of the seedling is saved easily by eliminating the need to purchase and apply chemicals to control soil pathogens and also by the dramatic increase in yield, he says. Nienhuis cites the example of a project he worked on in Totonicapan, Guatemala, where a womens cooperative managed to up the yield of their tomato harvest by 50 per cent by grafting plants onto the roots of varieties that are resistant to pathogens in the soil. The grafting technique is also used to protect plants against pests, which decreases the need for expensive pesticides. In South Asia, Edwin Rajotte, a professor of entomology at Penn State University in the United States, has studied grafting as a means to combat bacterial wilts in eggplant and pepper plants. However, he warns that grafting loses its power over time. Over time, pests can evolve to overcome root resistance, he explains. Grafting should be a component of an extensive integrated pest management approach. FLORENCE, S.C. Florence County School Districts Three and Five have received grants from the Abbeville Capital Improvement Fund. The decades-old Abbeville County School District lawsuit against the state challenged funding of public primary and secondary education. The South Carolina General Assembly has made available $55.8 million to fund school facility upgrades for school districts that were plaintiffs in the lawsuit or districts with a poverty index of 80 percent or higher. According to the South Carolina Department of Education, 48 districts were eligible to receive funding. They each had to apply for money from the Abbeville Capital Improvement Fund. Florence County School District Five Superintendent Randy Smiley said the district applied for about $2.5 million with its top priority being to replace all lighting in the district. District Five was awarded $915,000. In addition to using the funds to replace lighting, Smiley said, the district wants to replace the HVAC at Johnsonville Middle School and change the districts water heaters to gas systems that are used as needed. We met with the engineer ... to help start the process of drawing plans and setting up specs of what we have to have because those have to be approved by the office of school facilities, Smiley said. And then we can move on to the bid process, which Im sure thats going to take a little time before you get through all those little hoops, but thats good. Smiley said District Five received funds in the first round of distribution. There will be another round of funding in October and then in November, Smiley said. At the end of that time, the monies that are left -- and Im not too sure when thats going to take place -- theyll redistribute, Smiley said. He is not sure if the district will be required to submit new proposals for leftover funds or if it will depend on how much is left. In any case, were very happy for what we have and for the improvements that thats going to help us make, Smiley said. Florence County School District Three Superintendent Laura Hickson said the district received $1 million from the Abbeville Capital Improvement Fund. District Three will use the funds to support roof replacement at Lake City High School. We had to list three priorities and our first priority was the Lake City High School roof because of the cost of it, Hickson said. And were really pleased that that has been approved. According to Hickson, there are some districts that didnt submit proposals. If any funds are left, the state department will go back and look at prioritized lists, and the district may receive additional funds. So right now, we received our letter, and we sent that back already, Hickson said. So, were very pleased and excited about that. Its very much needed. If you're looking to switch up your egg sandwich game head to the Nolita and East Village locations of Black Seed Bagels this month for the L.E.C., a Filipino twist on the classic B.E.C. Chef Jordan Andino of Flip Sigiwhose new Upper East Side location will also serve the sandwichcreated the sandwich, which uses Longanisa sausage, a fried egg and American cheese on an everything bagel. The sausage, which is common in the Philippines, is made with pork, soy sauce, vinegar, shaoxing wine, sugar, garlic and spices. For its official launch on Tuesday, Nom Wah Tu will be offering an all-night happy hour with discount food and drinks. During dinner service, spring rolls will be just $1 with an $8 speciality cocktail, $5 Tsingtao beers and 25% off all bottles of wine. Come for the cheap grub, stay for the rest of chef Jonathon Wu's excellent menu. Bistro Salmon from Bliss 46 Nearly 30 restaurants are participating in the 5th annual Sunnyside Restaurant Week, which began on Sunday and runs through October 7th. Tibetan, Turkish, Italian, Mexican and Peruvian are a sampling of the types of restaurants being highlighted in the Queens neighborhood and all will be offering a three-course dinner for $25 with some restaurants also offering a special lunch menu as well. Menus for most of the restaurants can be found here along with a full list of participating eateries. Little Tong Noodle Shop in the East Village launched a new weekday lunch deal for those who leave their desks for the midday meal (or order via Caviar). On Tuesdays through Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., stop by for a bowl of Little Pot Mixian or Mala Dan Dan Mixianrice noodle dishes in soup or withoutand an appetizer including Pork Chao Shou or Ghost Chicken. The two-course meal is available for $15 with hospitality included. (courtesy of Kokus) Kokus, the coconut cream-based soft serve brand that's opening a brick-and-mortar next year, will be popping up at the open-air Bowery Market this week from Wednesday through Sunday. The vegan treats come in flavors like lemon vanilla-tart and raw cacao, and they'll also be serving a special flavor at the market: blue majik, made with spirulina. La Colombe coconut lattes will also be given out gratis while supplies last. The pop-up runs from noon until 9 p.m. Houseman in Hudson Square hosts a benefit dinner on Thursday with proceeds going to fisherman whose livelihoods have been compromised as a result of Hurricane Irma. The Fisherman's Wife Dinner, in conjunction with Stephanie Villani of Blue Moon Fish's new cookbook of the same name, will be a five course, family-style dinner highlighting the fish company's seafood. Dishes include clams casino, Peconic Bay silver snapper tartare, pickled bluefish and poached blackfish. Tickets $145. Four round-trips of 10 to 12 days from Vancouver are also offered. Overall, Silversea's itineraries include more than 400 destinations in 64 countries, spanning the globe from the Mediterranean, northern Europe, Alaska and Canada to the Arctic, South Pacific, Galapagos Islands and Australia's Kimberley Coast. Among the dozens of new destinations are Milos, Greece; Corsica's L'Ile Rousse and St. Florent; Porto Santo Stefano, Italy; St. Mary's (Isles of Scilly), UK; Rudyerd Bay (Misty Fjords), Alaska; Alert Bay (Cormorant Island), British Columbia; and Little Bay, Montserrat. With nine ships, Silversea is able to offer a wealth of choices, from port-intensive itineraries as short as five days to longer journeys such as a 47-day 'Grand Mediterranean' voyage. A Northeast Passage expedition, 25 days aboard Silver Explorer, departs Aug. 10 from Nome, Alaska, to explore the Russian Arctic. The expedition ends at Troms, Norway. Following an 11-year absence, Silver Shadow returns to the Mediterranean with a 47-day voyage that visits 39 destinations in nine countries. The ship sails round-trip from Barcelona on June 10. Dozens of Mediterranean and northern Europe voyages can be combined. Some particularly notable sailings include Silver Shadow's May 22 round-trip from Nice to spend five days at two world-class events: the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix. Plus, the ship will call at La Spezia for access to places like Cinque Terre. On Silver Shadow's Oct. 23, 10-day voyage to the Holy Land, round-trip from Piraeus, an opera-themed on-board enrichment program will feature four soloists and one pianist from the Accademia Teatro alla Scala. Silver Spirit's June 12, 15-day voyage from London (Greenwich) to Copenhagen visits Norway's North Cape in time for the summer solstice. The voyage can be combined with the June 27, seven-day sailing from Copenhagen to Stockholm, which features an overnight in St. Petersburg. In 2019, both Silver Cloud and Silver Wind will sail the Thames River to dock near London's Tower Bridge. One such Silver Cloud voyage ends in London after departing May 1 from Lisbon for a 12-day expedition along France's Atlantic Coast, offering the chance to explore Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum, Bordeaux's vineyards, the ancient ramparts of St. Malo and the D-Day beaches of Normandy. Silver Discoverer's eight expeditions along Australia's scenic Kimberley Coast also afford opportunities to visit Borneo's Camp Leakey, a renowned orangutan refuge, aboard two voyages: a 15-day sailing from Darwin to Bali, departing June 24, and a 12-day adventure from Bali to Kota Kinabalu on July 9. Silver Galapagos will continue its seven-day Galapagos voyages that can be combined into 14-day sailings. Press Release October 2, 2017 Drilon: Congress has sole power to investigate, prosecute impeachable officials Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon on Monday called for a "ceasefire" in the word war between the President and the Ombudsman, as he advised the president to just file an impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales if he is in possession of any evidence against her. "The rhetoric and the word war between the president, on the one hand, and the ombudsman and the chief justice, on the other, will only leave us nowhere," Drilon said. "We must keep in mind that the Constitution has enough safeguards to discipline and go after erring officials," he said. If the President is in possession of any evidence against the alleged wrongdoing of Ombudsman Morales, he should initiate the filing of an impeachment complaint against her, according to Drilon. "We should apply and follow the Constitution and the rule of law," underscored Drilon as he emphasized that the power to investigate and prosecute impeachable officers "exclusively lies in Congress." "The power to investigate and prosecute impeachable officers such as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Ombudsman lies solely in Congress through an impeachment," Drilon said. Under Section 2, Article XI of the Constitution, the President, the Vice-President, the Members of the Supreme Court, the Members of the Constitutional Commissions, and the Ombudsman may be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust, he cited. "The President cannot exercise authority and influence over an independent body such as the Ombudsman, more so over a co-equal branch of government such as the judiciary. That is how our structure of government is contemplated under the constitution," Drilon said. "The Congress can provide checks and balances with the executive, the judiciary and independent constitutional commissions but the constitution has likewise provided them sufficient power to be independent and isolated from pressure in order to effectively carry out their constitutional duties," Drilon concluded. Press Release October 2, 2017 Gatchalian Aims to Double Marawi Rehab Funds in 2018 Budget Senator Win Gatchalian has vowed to fight for a significant increase in funds earmarked for the rehabilitation of Marawi City in the 2018 national budget. Gatchalian, who spent the weekend meeting with local government officials, top military brass, and civilian evacuees in Marawi City and surrounding municipalities, explained that the initial proposal of P20 billion would not be enough to rebuild key infrastructure and provide quality basic social services to the hundreds of thousands of area residents displaced by the conflict. "We will need to spend at least P47 billion to make sure that facilities will be rebuilt and, more importantly, to bring the lives of the people back to normal," said Gatchalian, who computed the figure in consultation with Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra and other government officials. Stressing the urgent need to inject public funds into the local economy of Marawi, Gatchalian said he would work to carve out as much as P40 billion for initial rehab funds when the Senate begins plenary deliberations on the General Appropriations Bill this month. "Marawi's economy is at a standstill right now. What we have to do now is jumpstart it, and to do that we are looking at a figure of around P40 billion," said Gatchalian, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs. "We should be looking at the P40 billion vicinity so that we can rehabilitate not only infrastructure, but also the livelihood of the people. Their welfare should also be our concern," he added. The senator, who also serves as a member of the Senate Special Committee on Marawi City Rehabilitation, emphasized that the aim of government rehabilitation efforts should be to improve the quality of life of Marawi City residents in the long term. "We have to remember that Marawi was one of the poorest cities before this all happened, so we can't just rehabilitate it and bring it back to the way it was before. If we do that, it would still be the poorest. We need to level up investments here," he said. During his visit Gatchalian also participated in the distribution of relief goods, sanitary kits, and financial assistance provided by the Valenzuela City Government and private sector donors. This is the second relief operation conducted by Valenzuela City Government to give aid to displaced Marawi residents. Gatchalian, a former mayor and congressman of the city, also joined Valenzuela City officials during their first visit to evacuation centers in Lanao del Sur back in June. Press Release October 2, 2017 Senate pays tribute to former Senator Aytona Current and former senators paid tribute to the late Senator Dominador R. Aytona during the necrological rites at the Senate on Monday, October 2, 2017. Aytona passed away last September 26, 2017 at the age of 99. Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III presented Senate Resolution No. 67 expressing the Senate's sympathy and condolences to the family of the former senator. The resolution recognized Aytona's achievements as an educator, cabinet member and as a senator of the republic during the Sixth and Seventh Congresses from 1965-1971. In his eulogy, Pimentel said that the life of the late senator was more than just a simple success story. "The life of former Senator Dominador Aytona is also about making use of this success to help others, especially those who are most in need," Pimentel said. "Despite reaching the height of success in his chosen field, Senator Aytona did not forget the welfare of the ordinary Filipino," he added. Aytona authored landmark legislation such as the student's loan fund authority, salary standardization of the employees of the General Auditing Office, salary increase of the employees of the Bureau of post and the formation of the Price Control Council. "Every law he crafted was aimed at improving the quality of life of the Filipino people," Pimentel said. Senator Cynthia Villar, partymate of the late Senator in the Nacionalista party, said one thing that she shared with the late senator was humble beginnings. "How he started as a clerk of the General Auditing Office to become one of the great senators of the land is a testament not only to his brilliance but also his commitment to hard work and perseverance," Villar said. She said Aytona shared her "vision of creating an entrepreneurial class that would prepare the Filipinos to progress and development." Former Senator Edgar Ilarde, who served with Aytona during the Seventh Congress, said 'Manoy Doming' lived a full life, "sharing the joys of life, serving the people, enjoying God's blessings with humility, honesty and compassion for his fellow men." Ilarde said that he was "lucky to have brushed elbows with such a man of intellect and love for the Filipino." "May his legacies of dedication and honesty in government emblaze on the heart of those in public service," Ilarde said. Former Senator Rene Espina, another colleague of the late senator in the Seventh Congress, said that Aytona was the embodiment of what a Filipino could do given the opportunity to study. He said Aytona had "earned the admiration of the Filipino people." In response, Elica Aytona Ponce de Leon, granddaughter of the late senator, thanked everyone who offered their condolences and prayers for her grandfather. Other distinguished guests who were present during the necrological rites were former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, former Senator Alfredo Lim, incumbent Senators Gringo Honasan and Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate Secretariat officials. Aytona was elected senator on November 9, 1965. An alumni of the University of Manila, he held various positions at the General Auditing Office (now Commission on Audit), and was "drafted" to be the financial adviser of the Senate in 1950 - 15 years before his election. Before joining the Senate, Aytona served as Secretary of Finance during the term of then President Carlos P. Garcia. He was only 36 years old when he was appointed as Commissioner of the Budget by former President Ramon Magsaysay in 1954. (Olivia Caunan) SAN FRANCISCO The phone calls began late Friday among Ubers new chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, and the ride-hailing companys executives, as well as board members and a raft of lawyers. They were facing an emergency. The problem was that Travis Kalanick, Ubers former chief executive and a board member, had appointed two new directors Ursula Burns, the former chief executive of Xerox, and John Thain, the former chief of Merrill Lynch to the privately held company without informing them. The moves, which pushed the nine-member board to 11 people, gave Kalanick new potential allies on major decisions at Uber. Kalanicks actions were disappointing, Khosrowshahi wrote on Friday in a letter to employees that was obtained by the New York Times. Anyone would tell you that this is highly unusual. The trigger for Kalanicks move one made possible by a board vote last year giving him control of three seats was a proposal that Khosrowshahi and the investment bank Goldman Sachs, an Uber shareholder, brought to the board on Thursday. The proposal, which is set to be discussed by directors on Tuesday, includes measures that would shift the power on Ubers board by reducing Kalanicks voting clout, expanding Khosrowshahis powers and imposing a 2019 deadline on the company to go public, according to three people with knowledge of the proposal who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Parts of the proposal were also read to the Times. The power shift proposed by Khosrowshahi and Goldman Sachs spurred Kalanick to act to reassert control, according to a statement Kalanick issued on Friday. That has now plunged Uber into another period of uncertainty and a corporate governance crisis, at a time when the company had been trying to move beyond its controversial past with a new chief executive on board. Uber is attempting to copy some things that characterize good governance at a public company, said Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. But, he added, parts of the proposal typically show up when you have poor management and are generally opposed by public shareholders. The governance plan that touched off the latest politicking was created by Khosrowshahi and Goldman Sachs as part of a bigger effort to finalize a deal to sell billions of dollars of Uber stock to the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, according to a person briefed on the proposal. That deal depends on the participation of some early Uber investors, who have said they will not sell their shares to SoftBank unless Ubers governance structure changes and Kalanick is barred from returning as chief executive. Those investors include the venture capital firm Benchmark, which put money into Uber early on and has more recently been warring with Kalanick over his control of the company. Here are some of the specifics of the proposal that Khosrowshahi and Goldman Sachs put before the board on Thursday, including details that are in flux, according to the three people briefed on the proposal and the parts of the plan that were read to the Times. Some parts of the proposal were earlier reported by Recode. According to the proposal, if the Uber board seats currently held by three directors Ryan Graves, Arianna Huffington or Wan Ling Martello are vacated, Khosrowshahi gains the power to nominate directors for those spots. The new directors must be approved by a majority of the board and by a majority of all shareholders. The plan also includes a proposal to remove the outsize voting power carried in two categories of Uber stock, the Class B common shares and the preferred shares. Class B common shares currently offer their holders 10 to 1 voting power, for example. But under the proposal, that would change to one vote per share. The change would diminish the power of some current shareholders, like Kalanick, as well as that of Benchmark and other venture investors. The proposal also suggests that Uber elect only a few board members each year, in effect setting a cap. That would make it hard for an activist shareholder to take over the board. One part of the proposal takes direct aim at Kalanick. The measure states that any person who has previously been an officer of Uber can return as chief executive only if he or she can get the approval of two-thirds of the board and 66.7 percent of all shareholders. The proposed plan also imposes a 2019 deadline for Uber to go public. To ensure that the public offering happens at that time, there is a provision that if more than one-third, but less than one-half, of the board wants an IPO, they can add directors until they have the control over the board they need to make the public offering happen. This provision may be dropped. 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 plan does allow Kalanick to keep his board seat, subject to the approval of Khosrowshahi. Of the two other board seats that Kalanick controls, one would be given to SoftBank while the other would be filled by the chief executive of a Fortune 100 company, if approved by the majority of the board and a majority vote of all shareholders. If for some reason Khosrowshahi rejected the proposed board member three times, he could designate someone for the third seat himself. For now, most of Ubers directors are reluctant to oppose the new board appointments of Thain and Burns made by Kalanick, according to two people who were briefed on the calls. Burns, the first African American woman to helm a Fortune 500 company, and Thain, who also ran the New York Stock Exchange, could potentially help Uber address issues around company culture and diversity, and better prepare it to go public. To employees, Khosrowshahi wrote: Just know that the most important work here is the hard work youre doing on behalf of our company. Keep focused, keep together, and keep going. Katie Benner and Mike Isaac are New York Times writers. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A clergywoman draped in purple stood in the pulpit at Grace Cathedral, arms lifted in the air. Raise your voices, she said to the Episcopal congregation. A choir of white-clad men and women belted out, Hallelujah. Parishioners in their Sunday-morning best held their sheet music and sang. Their dogs obliged, too. Or interrupted, really. Ay-oo, howled Zoya, an 8-year-old husky. Her owner, Jihan Jiha, 15, who lives in Walnut Creek, hushed her. Shes normally good, Jihan said, whispering to the pup. Sometimes she just wants to sing when everyone else does. There was a lot of that kind of yipping and yapping going on at Grace Cathedral on Sunday. Not to mention meowing, slithering or just plain grunting. The cathedrals pews were packed with critters for the annual Feast of St. Francis and Blessing of the Animals, which honors the citys patron saint. During one early morning service, a sheepdog fell asleep in the aisle, softly snoring through the homily. A basset hounds tail thumped against the ground. A yellow Lab with white whiskers attempted an escape, his leash slipping through his owners grasp. (The man was unsure whether all dogs do go to heaven or if his would be the exception.) In the fourth century, St. Anthony of the Desert became the first to bring animals into the church for a blessing. It is now an annual tradition celebrated all over the United States on the feast day of St. Francis, who was named the patron saint of ecology in 1979, and was by all accounts a dog and cat fan. Churches around San Francisco open their pews to all species of parishioners. Grace Cathedral clergy have blessed boa constrictors, a beehive, goldfish, parrots, dogs, baby tigers and even some San Francisco Police Department horses, who came for Sundays homily but left early because of the organ. Big sounds from big pipes freaked them out. Usually someone will bark or make a hissy fit and the priest will just have to roll with it, said Lance Wood, a 70-year-old usher from Richmond. His schnauzer, Vilja, assisted with Woods church duties Sunday morning. This one has been blessed more times than I can count, he said. Maybe 11? She is 11 years old. Its nice they acknowledge the animals. The sermon involves pets being a gift. They are. Grace Cathedral Dean Malcolm Clemens Young said animals were another conduit for finding God. They have their own inner life, he told the congregation. Now Playing: St Peters Union Church holds a Blessing of the Animals service in Upper Milford Twp. on Sunday, October 1, 2017. Video: MorningCall Why do we bless animals in church? he said, pausing as an eager mutt barked in response. We come into God through our encounter with animals. Even if they dont fit the prescribed views of the church. Cathy Broder of Oakland said she had been bringing her Samoyed, Lexi Mari, to the cathedral for nearly seven years. 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. I want her to be healthy and safe, Broder said, adding that Lexi had lost her right eye to glaucoma. I dont want her to be in pain. Normally she is a Jewish dog. But I think the blessing still translates. Lexi short for Alexandria, for the last tsarina of Russia yipped and blinked, then nosed Broders hand. Nearby, Angie Bailie of Lafayette hoisted her small pup Ace into her arms for a photo with a statue of St. Francis. His ears folded back as the iPhone flash went off. Can you take a second one? Bailie said, shifting him in her arms. We want him to get the blessing. Its his first time here. I use him in companion therapy in nursing homes and hospices. We are hoping he can pass those blessings along. She set Ace on the floor, and he wagged his tail so hard his butt wiggled. Woof, Ace, a very good boy, said. Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Investors seemed impressed by Rokus Wall Street debut last week. But now the pressure is on the Los Gatos maker of streaming video devices to prove it can stay ahead of competitors as it makes its first product announcements as a publicly traded company on Monday. Rokus new version of its highest-priced model, the Ultra, will sell for $100, a price cut from last years $130 version, but this one boastsmore processing power. The Ultra is more expensive than Amazons $70 Fire TV, but far cheaper than the $179 Apple TV. And Roku is also beefing up a variety of features for its lower-priced Express and Streaming Stick models, including voice-activated searching on all of its remote controls and an increased Wi-Fi antenna range to capture signals in more distant corners of an owners home. Roku has revamped its operating system to include a guide to programing, available both over the Internet and from over-the-air broadcast channels. Roku closed at $26.54 per share Friday, a day after going public at $14 per share. But the road ahead isnt as clear as it was when the company started in 2002, years before it created the first TV streaming device that would carry Netflix into a new era of online video. Now it faces competition from all sides, including Googles Chromecast, Amazons Fire, the Apple TV and the Nvidia Shield, said Paul Erickson, senior research analyst for IHS Markit. Theyre very aware of the fact that the competitive picture in the market is deepening, Erickson said. The next 18 months is going to be very pivotal for Roku. Roku has also been working with TV manufacturers like Chinas TCL to embed its operating system in sets. During a recent demonstration, Shubhada Hebbar, launched the Hulu online video app on a new TCL TV monitor by speaking into the remote control, even though the monitor was turned off. Then she said, Tune to ABC, and the monitor switched to San Francisco broadcast station KGO, the Bay Areas ABC affiliate. Erickson, who was not briefed on the product announcements, said voice controls could be a key to Rokus future, especially because Amazon, Google and Apple are leading the charge into voice-activated devices for the home. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes For Roku, it would be a fitting long-term strategic move for them to not try to compete with some of these market forces around virtual assistants, but to instead ride that momentum, he said. Josef Schuster, founder of the Chicago financial services firm Ipox Schuster, said investors will surely scrutinize Rokus product announcements. But the fact that the company has revamped products so soon after the IPO could boost the stock price. There seems (to be) a positive correlation with stock price performance, he said in an email. Facebook and Google (early days after the IPO with lots of new product announcement) vs. Twitter and Snap (lack of strong news flow generated by new products post-IPO) come to mind here. Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Alarm company ADT is teaming up with Samsung to sell a self-installed smart home security kit, setting up a head-to-head competition against a similar service that Alphabets Nest Labs revealed last month. Samsung and ADT will offer a $550 kit, which includes a motion detector, a touch-screen control panel and sensors for doors and windows, with an optional monthly subscription to a monitored security service that will notify authorities of a break-in or fire. The companies say they are targeting the nearly 80 percent of homeowners who historically have stayed away from subscribing to a professional security service and, in particular, tech-savvy younger people who rent rather than own their homes or apartments. For an extra $24.99 per month, ADT will monitor the sensors and contact the homeowner if it detects a potential unauthorized break-in. The company wont require a long-term contract so the service can be started and stopped at any time using only a smartphone app, said Bill Lee, Samsungs vice president of home products. The companies will also offer a $200 package with fire, carbon monoxide and water detection sensors, and ADT will charge an extra $14.99 per month to monitor those devices. Samsung also plans to release a video monitoring device early next year. This will appeal heavily to Millennials, Lee said during a recent preview in San Francisco. Samsung hopes to attract more customers to its SmartThings technology, which connects dozens of third-party connected home devices: thermostats, lightbulbs, doorbells and door locks. The technology also works with virtual assistant speakers Amazon Alexa and Google Home. The ADT control panel, which is compatible with SmartThings technology, gives the 143-year-old Florida company a way to tap a market it hasnt been able to reach. Only about 22 percent of U.S. homeowners have a professionally monitored home-security system, and most of those have been installed by the companies, said Parks Associates senior analyst Brad Russell. ADT has about a quarter of that market, leading competitors Vivint, Comcasts Xfinity Home and Moni. The overall market has remained flat for several years, but should generate $15 billion in revenue this year, Russell said. But the vast untapped portion of the market includes homeowners and renters who dont want to pay the $40 to $60 per-month fee or would rather install and monitor their own equipment, Russell said. Traditionally, security companies recouped the equipment and installation costs with long-term contracts, he said. But that left the door open for companies like SimpliSafe, which offers do-it-yourself equipment and a monthly $14.99 monitoring fee. Younger consumers are less willing to pay for a monitored service, Russell said. Now, theres a veritable land rush of new home-security products from tech companies like San Franciscos August Home. Last week, Alphabet expanded its home-security lineup with Nest Secure, a $499 package that includes a base control, motion sensor and a keyfob to arm and disarm the system. Dallas Moni Smart Security, which renamed itself last year from Monitronics, will provide the optional professional monitoring service for Secure. Moni plans to reveal the services monthly fee later this fall; it also will not require a long-term contract and customers can choose a month-to-month option, said spokeswoman Lindsay Lougee. The Samsung-ADT kit will be available at Best Buy stores and online starting Oct. 29. Nests starter pack is scheduled to ship in November. Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Travis Kalanick hasnt been Ubers CEO since June, but he still casts a long shadow over the company he co-founded. That may change after the ride-hailing companys deeply divided board of directors meets on Tuesday. The agenda includes governance changes that would lessen Kalanicks power as both a shareholder and director, as well as deciding whether Uber should sell $10 billion worth of stock to SoftBank, according to sources cited by Bloomberg News. In a stunning power play ahead of the crucial meeting, Kalanick late Friday appointed two new directors, increasing the boards size to 11. His nominees, Ursula Burns, former Xerox CEO, and John Thain, former CEO of Merrill Lynch and the New York Stock Exchange, have now formally joined the board, Uber said on Monday. Kalanick holds a board seat, as do two of his close associates, co-founder Garrett Camp and Ryan Graves, Ubers first employee. Kalanicks right to add two directors is among the reasons that hes the target of an explosive lawsuit filed in August by major Uber investor Benchmark. The suit is in mediation. Benchmark cited the legal and ethical scandals that led to Kalanicks ouster, saying he already knew about some of the turbulence including pervasive cultural issues in 2016 when he orchestrated a plan to convince the board to let him name two new members. Uber last month picked a new CEO, former Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Although Kalanick embraced his successor at an event introducing him to the companys employees, Khosrowshahi wrote to employees that he was disappointed by Kalanicks appointment of the two new directors. Khosrowshahis proposal to the board would give the new CEO the right to appoint one of the two new directors. Travis position is getting weaker and weaker, said Evan Rawley, professor of strategy at the University of Minnesota. Appointing the two new board members seems like a last-ditch effort for him to try to get some negotiating leverage. Rawleys prediction: SoftBank, the Japanese giant that wants to invest in Uber, will align with Benchmark and maneuver to reduce super-voting rights, which give extra sway to founders and other insiders, including Benchmark. Those rights are why Kalanick, who owns about 10 percent of Ubers stock, controls 16 percent of its voting power. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean at the Yale School of Management, thinks that Kalanick might still triumph. As much as many of my fellow governistas dislike founders shares and B class shares, these emperor-for-life deals that have been transparently agreed upon are hard to take away, he said. I think they are a bad idea, but they werent created through deceit. While both Thain and Burns are objective, independent-minded people, its inconceivable that they would have been selected without some discussion about this exact conflict, Sonnenfeld said. I doubt they would have been nominated if theyd expressed views hostile to Kalanick. In other words, while the new directors arent under Kalanicks thumb, they presumably already passed a litmus test saying theyd continue the current governance structure. This is a classic battle between a charismatic founder and professional investors, said Max Wolff, chief economist at Disruptive Technology Advisers. Its great to be a scrappy startup and follow your gut, but its harder to do when you have billions of investors money at stake. Since its 2009 founding, Uber has vaulted to a status as the worlds most valuable startup, worth $69 billion on the private markets. But after months of turmoil against the stark fact that its path to profitability is unclear that valuation is likely much lower. Most sources expect SoftBank will invest at a lower valuation, perhaps $49 billion. Theres still a ton of value there, Wolff said. Once they get this behind them, theyre poised to be bigger and better than ever. Super voting shares are an issue throughout Silicon Valley where other founders like Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg and Airbnbs Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk also have outsized board control. This case has import for the high-tech sector far beyond just the concerns of Uber, said Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. There are the beginnings of a movement against super-voting shares, that could get much stronger in the months ahead. SoftBank is a good investor for a company like Uber, where the question of when to go public is paramount, Rawley said. SoftBank has a longer-term view, and should be willing to hang on a bit longer, taking the risk that profitability may be further in the future, he said. Sonnenfeld sees SoftBank as a bridge to another potential future for Uber: being bought by Didi Chuxing, Chinas dominant ride-hailing company. Uber last year ceded the Chinese market to Didi in a partnership that gave Didi founder Cheng Wei a seat on Ubers board, and Kalanick a seat on Didis board. SoftBank has invested $5 billion in the Chinese giant. Uber could sell to Didi and become part of the great global behemoth of ride-hailing, Sonnenfeld said. If Kalanick cant run the empire, he might dilute it, putting it into larger hands. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid The fusillade emanating from the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas on Sunday night sounded to many as if it came from one or more automatic rifles, which fire continuously as long as the trigger is held down. Such guns are legal if they were made before May 1986 and are registered with the federal government. If an automatic weapon, also called a machine gun, was made or imported after 1986, it may be legally owned only by licensed dealers, police and the military. In 1986, Congress passed the Firearm Owners Protection Act, which was signed by President Ronald Reagan, to restrict ownership of automatic weapons to those already made and registered, aside from those manufactured for use by a government agency. It's rare when a public hypocrisy smacks people so quickly. But Illinois Republicans are feeling that smack today. Last week, Gov. Rauner signed into law a controversial measure to expand taxpayer-subsidized abortions. Rauner had earlier vowed to veto the bill. His signature drew some stinging criticism from Illinois lawmakers. One called Rauner a "failed governor." Another said the decision would guarantee Rauner would be a one-term leader. He is now lying to us, said another. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider injected some unintended humor to the fallout when he accused Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan of being responsible for the veto in order to divide Republicans and elect Madigan's choice for governor, whomever that might be. I cannot adequately express how disappointed I am with Gov. Rauner. He told House Republicans last spring that he was going to veto this bill and that turned out to be a falsehood, said Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth. That's the same Bill Mitchell who crossed party lines to support a tax hike to help settle the state budget impasse. The same Bill Mitchell who, almost immediately after that vote, announced he wouldn't be running for another term. Rauner says he signed with his conscience. A Republican who vowed to constituents and lawmakers that he would veto the bill changed his mind and signed it. Republicans like Mitchell who are expressing outrage are reminiscent of the gendarme in Casablanca who, even as he is pocketing winnings while closing down Rick's cafe. Asked on what grounds he's closing the club, Captain Renault says, I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! It's never fun when someone backs out on a promise. It's quite contradictory, though, to complain about a reversal just weeks after you've done the same. The latest worst mass shooting in modern American history a distinction now conferred with frightening frequency isnt likely to lead Congress to make such slaughters more difficult. If our grimly repetitive recent history is any indication, it will at best force lawmakers to delay their latest effort to enable the killing. Its a testament to the post-factual nature of the nations gun politics that a bill to lift restrictions on silencers, last delayed out of a modicum of respect for a congressman who was nearly shot to death, was poised to proceed again before Stephen Paddock used high-powered firearms to kill more than 50 people attending a concert on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday night. As the Chronicle reported that morning, devices that muffle the sound of gunshots would make it harder for police to locate a shooter like Paddock, who murdered his victims from a 32nd-floor hotel room about a quarter-mile away. Nor was that the only loosening of the nations already permissive gun laws that Washington was considering on the eve of the latest massacre. The provision to ease the long-standing silencer restrictions is part of broader legislation that would also legalize more armor-piercing ammunition and open more public and private lands to shooting. Another bill poised to move forward would allow more concealed firearms to be brought into states such as California that restrict them. The gunmakers who push such legislation enjoyed the usual surge in their stock prices in the wake of the latest mass shooting. Congress is long past the point when it banned particularly dangerous weapons or considered patching the gaping holes in the national background-check system, which even a horrific elementary school shooting in Connecticut couldnt bring about. On the contrary, lawmakers have shown a determination to help deadly weapons infiltrate every corner of the country, and they have maintained that stance in the face of relentless and increasingly deadly shootings. The 2007 Virginia Tech shooting became the nations deadliest by surpassing a mass killing at a Killeen, Texas, restaurant 16 years earlier. Nine years after that, last years Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando eclipsed Virginia Tech. Now that record has held for all of 16 months. Mass shootings that dont break records, meanwhile, are routine. The Gun Violence Archive has recorded 273 shootings with at least four victims this year about one a day. Las Vegas wasnt even the only American mass shooting of the day; another, in downtown Lawrence, Kan., killed three and injured two. Such multiple shootings underscore the added toll of the sort of high-powered firearms that once fell under the federal assault weapons ban. But they account for only a small fraction of Americans killed by firearms, who number more than 11,000 this year. On Sunday alone, gunfire took the lives of a 23-year-old man found in an upstate New York park; a Louisiana police officer responding to a crime at a convenience store; a Chicago man who was one of half a dozen shot in the city over a 24-hour period; a man shot along with a woman in the parking lot of a Phoenix area sports bar; and the victim of a drive-by in Chico. The Las Vegas killer, a retiree who does not appear to have had a criminal history, will be united with every one of his long line of predecessors not by his motive, creed, race, nationality, or particular sickness, but only by his ability to obtain extremely deadly weapons. Its revolting enough that our leaders, who are quick to take every precaution against the far more remote threat of foreign terrorism, cant find the courage to make it a little harder to amass such an arsenal. That they keep making it easier is an absurdity and an outrage. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. The persistence of homelessness in San Francisco cant be blamed on lack of money or lack of human compassion. The city spends $239 million a year on the issue. Nearly 80 private and nonprofit organizations are engaged in the mission to keep people from living on the streets. The commitment is impressive. The overall result is not. About 7,500 people remain homeless in San Francisco, and the squalor and the human misery are in plain view in many parts of the city. Its everyday effects are a source of frustration for residents and businesses, and they have become defining traits for visitors who are stunned and chagrined to see such despair in a picturesque city of such prosperity. Most of all, this is no way to leave our fellow human beings. Perhaps the most inexcusable aspect of the citys efforts is the utter lack of coordination. There is inadequate tracking of people who enter the system, insufficient accountability of the myriad groups running programs, and far too much bureaucracy on those trying to navigate the system as clients or workers. We have a lot of model programs, but we dont have a model system, said Jeff Kositsky, director of San Franciscos Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. The department is rolling out a new strategic framework this week designed to address the lack of coordination. The approach described to our editorial board by Kositsky last week is as welcome as it is overdue. It contains rigor, timelines and a healthy dose of common sense that have been missing. For starters, every arriving homeless person will be assessed for the Homeward Bound program, which attempts to help reunite people with friends and relatives who can offer shelter and support. As Kositsky noted, sometimes a newly homeless person can return to his or her place of residence with a relatively small amount of rental assistance. The most complex overhaul may also prove the most significant. The strategic plan seeks to streamline a vast system of outreach workers, drop-in centers, shelters, navigation centers, medical facilities, supportive housing and other services. The city also plans to begin individual tracking of homeless people in the system and to keep track of outcomes. The goals are ambitious. The framework calls for reducing street homelessness by October 2018, sheltering all families with children by December 2018, and reducing chronic homelessness 50 percent by December 2022. Kositsky said his department will be checking regularly on whether its meeting its targets starting in January. For years, City Halls efforts to combat homelessness have been stymied by the extremes: advocates who believe that government should be tolerant of people who sleep in parks, outside storefronts or beneath freeway underpasses until the housing need is fully met; and those who want law enforcement to make the problem go away. The new strategic plan has correctly targeted the issues that help explain how so much money and so many dedicated organizations can fall short of ending the futility. Its a sensible plan that ultimately will be judged not by its intentions, but by its results. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate IRVINE Help could be on the way for voters frustrated by congressional Republicans who repeatedly attempt to overhaul health care and shrug off the impacts of climate change: A growing number of doctors, scientists and technology professionals are running for Congress. Several of those candidates are running in one the nations most intense congressional battlefields: Orange County. If Democrats can flip four GOP seats in the Orange County congressional districts where Hillary Clinton won a majority of the votes, it will be a huge step toward the 24 turnovers the party needs to win back the House next year. That wont be easy. But the scientists, doctors and techies running there provide voters with a different type of Democratic candidate. While scientists especially have traditionally been reluctant to shed their nonpartisan skin, thats changing as health care has continued to tie up Congress. I have been motivated by the new administration like no tomorrow. And fearful, Hans Keirstead, a world-renowned stem cell researcher who is running against climate-change doubter Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa, said at his Irvine lab. Im fearful of how society is leaving behind our aged, our sick, our people with pre-existing conditions and it really disappoints me, Keirstead said, I see Congress as a grander stage to do good on. Over the past several months, Yorba Linda pediatrician Mai Khanh Tran has seen an unusually high number of her patients most of whom are working-class Latinos and Asian Americans break down in her office, fearful that they will lose coverage they gained under the Affordable Care Act. One patient, a nail-salon worker who had purchased insurance through an ACA exchange, cried in Trans arms, fearful that her 5-year-old, who had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, would not receive the care he needed. I feel like a lot of these families are not listened to. Theyre fearful that, with all of the noise going on around us about health care, their voice will not be heard, Tran said. Thats why coming to their pediatricians office is a place where they can voice that. I want to be the extension of what I hear daily. Brian Forde, a Lake Forest resident who was senior technology adviser in the Obama administration and is a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is one of six Democrats running against Rep. Mimi Walters, R-Irvine. He is talking about issues that most politicians avoid, like how driverless cars will affect the future of work. Ive always been the person who can explain complex subjects easily, Forde said. As Keirstead and Forde put it, there arent a lot of House members with their expertise. For perspective, there are 14 physicians in the House, seven radio talk-show hosts, eight ordained ministers, two almond farmers and one microbiologist, but there are 218 lawyers. But those numbers could change. Since President Trumps inauguration, more than 6,000 people with science, technology, engineering or math backgrounds have contacted the new organization 314 Action, which trains people from STEM fields to run for office. The organization doesnt know how many of those people will evolve into candidates, but it expects to spend $5 million to $7 million on candidates running in next years midterm elections and has already developed a list of 250,000 supporters. The attacks on science didnt start with the Trump movement, said Shaughnessy Naughton, a Pennsylvania congressional candidate in 2014 and 2016 and a chemist who founded 314 Action last year. The organizations name is a proud nerd nod to pi its website states: Why 314 Action? Because Pi is everywhere. The organization got a bump after Trump proposed cutting the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent and the National Institutes of Health by 18.3 percent, and withdrew from the Paris climate change agreement. Since then, energized by Aprils March for Science events across the country, politicized science types have begun emerging from the lab, largely on the Democratic side. It may be one of the best things to come out of the Trump administration, Naughton said. Her organization is trying to highlight the GOPs dismissal of climate change through the words of congressional representatives like Rohrabacher. During a recent interview in his Costa Mesa home, Rohrabacher told The Chronicle, I believe mankind has a very minor impact on the nature of the climate of the planet. Almost every factor has more of an impact. Trying to reverse that is a power grab by people who believe in global government. And Rohrabacher certainly isnt cowed by the prospect of facing a scientist in an election. I can look at a scientist in the face and say, I know you got your research grant, Rohrabacher said. But that doesnt mean I have to believe everything youre saying. That would seem to be a jab at Keirstead, a neuroscientist who has cut an international public profile in both science and politics. He was the first scientist to use stem cells to develop treatment for spinal-cord injuries. He was the lead scientific adviser for Proposition 71, the 2004 ballot measure under which voters approved $3 billion for stem cell research. On his wall is a photograph of him being interviewed on 60 Minutes. Hes testified before Congress. Though he has made millions as an entrepreneur building four biotech companies, Keirstead grew up working-class on a farm in Ontario, Canada. He said he wouldnt be a one-issue congressman and earnestly envisioned leveraging his expertise to become a leader soon after he arrives. Im starting with my greatest strength, Keirstead said. After talking with more than 100 members of Congress, hes learned that if you are the guy who understands the most about a subject over there, you have power and you will be listened to. While Keirstead brings more of a public persona to his first-time candidacy, the new wave of interest from the STEM community has produced candidates like Tran, people with inspirational personal stories. Tran came to the United States as a 9-year-old, one of the last refugees to leave Vietnam. Her parents placed her and her three siblings all under 10 years old in an orphanage shortly before the fall of then-Saigon, hoping they would be airlifted out of the country. They made it onto one of the last transport planes out of the country in 1975 and landed in San Francisco. The family was reunited within months and went to live in a two-bedroom apartment in Oregon, renting out one of the bedrooms for extra money. Her father, who had been a judge in Vietnam, got a job as a janitor in the local courthouse. Tran was a good student who received a scholarship to Harvard University. She arrived on campus with one suitcase and worked her way through school as a campus janitor, cleaning the rooms of much wealthier students. After graduating from medical school at UCLA, she settled in Orange County, where her practice is made up of mostly working-class Asian Americans, Latinos and Caucasians. In her office she deals with not only their health issues, but also their struggles with immigration and education. Now is the time when we need nonpoliticians at the table, Tran said. I think Im in the best position to do that as a pediatrician. Its not just about health care. Im not a one-issue candidate. Forde, a former Republican, talks about issues in a futuristic way that is rarely heard among most candidates. He outlines the vulnerability of the nations energy grid and offers ideas about how to help the 3 million truck drivers who could be affected by the evolution of autonomous vehicles. The nations struggles with technology are often rooted in the fact that much of government is built for an analog world and often becomes overwhelmed when confronted with new digital technologies like Uber and Lyft, he said. We need people who understand these things, Forde said, so we can see around the corner. Forde said he had learned one piece of good news while in the White House: We have bipartisan support on a lot of technology initiatives. Republicans and Democrats havent staked out their sides yet. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli Online extra To see a video about Democratic candidate Mai Khanh Tran: http://bit.ly/runforcongress This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate For 90 minutes, Meredith Rich huddled in the bathroom of her Las Vegas hotel room, the lights off, her door locked, just down the hall from where the gunman in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history fired his shots Sunday night. Rich, an event planner from Santa Clara who was in Las Vegas for a job, was in her room on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino just after 10 p.m., about to have a late dinner, when she heard loud noises, something like fireworks. She knew a country music concert was going on across the street and assumed the pops were part of the show. Then she got a message from colleagues on a group text saying there was an active shooter and that everyone should double-lock their door and get down. Now Playing: A Roseville woman describes the horrific scene of Sunday's mass shooting in Las Vegas at the Jason Aldean concert. Video: KCRA I quickly ran and locked the door, turned out the lights and went into the bathroom, Rich said. Her colleague, Isabella Gomide of San Francisco, was in her own room, on the third floor in a different tower of the same hotel, watching television. From there, she heard the first blasts, a noise she couldnt imagine came from a gun: Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba! I thought it was a jackhammer, she said. I called the front desk, asking why there was construction. Like Rich, she got a text saying there was a gunman in the building. She watched television news as the massacre unfolded just across the Las Vegas Strip. On the 32nd floor, Rich, 34, remained in her room for what she thought was about 90 minutes before she was alerted via her phone that the gunman was on her floor. At one point, a siren went off and an alarm, followed by a ruckus in the hall, an explosion and smoke presumably from SWAT teams entering the room of the gunman. Eventually, the police went room to room, banging on doors, calling on occupants to identify themselves. They opened the door, said Rich. I immediately dropped to the floor like they told me. Police patted her down for weapons and then evacuated her, first to the basement and later to a theater, where she and other guests spent most of the night. Guests from other areas of the hotel were allowed to remain in their rooms through the night, Gomide said. Chris Wong of Palo Alto, who is staying on the 17th floor of the hotel for a tech conference, was one of them. He woke up at 3:30 a.m. to a thunderous rat-tat-tat of knocks on the door. Two men dressed in full gear and carrying assault rifles rushed into the room immediately after he opened the door. They checked the closets and the bathroom, casing the space for something or someone, Wong assumed before leaving. He was able to stay in his room and watch the news on the hotel television. My first reaction was some kids were pranking people, Wong, 41, said. Then I heard, We have a warrant. If you dont open up, we are going to break in! I realized this wasnt a joke. They were running down the hallway calling out Clear! just like you see in a TV show. It was surreal watching them operate and realizing it wasnt a drill. Guests received no information from the hotel, no phone calls or intercom announcements and the front desk phone went unanswered, he said. Eventually, police doing a room-to-room search allowed guests to return. They told Gomide to remain in her room under lockdown. Some colleagues had been in a restaurant and fled the building, spending several hours hiding in bushes. The lockdown remained in effect until 7:30 a.m. You never feel like its going to happen to you where you are, Gomide said. You feel helpless and hopeless, just trying to understand why somebody would do that. By 8:30 a.m. Monday, Rich was allowed to return to her room. Im fine, Im really fine, Im just tired, Rich said. Im the lucky one here. Im distraught for the people that were much worse off. Jill Tucker and Lizzie Johnson are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker @LizzieJohnsonn This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Federal officials searched and took control of the Russian consular residence in San Francisco Monday, following the closure of the consulate in September. The former home of the Russian consul general and his family, located just paces from the Presidio, was inspected by State Department officials as security guards stood outside the two-story brownstone building. The residents had left the premises before it was searched, meeting an Oct. 1 deadline. We conducted a walk-through to secure the residential portions of the buildings and confirm that all residents had left the premises, a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. Russian trade offices in Washington, D.C., and New York also were ordered closed by the State Department last month, escalating tension between the United States and Russia. The Trump administrations order to shutter the foreign posts followed Moscows decision to expel some U.S. diplomatic personnel in Russia. A Russian diplomat who was at the consulate residence Monday and watched as multiple plainclothed officials entered the property said the action violated international law. Its a gross violation of the fundamental diplomatic and consular conventions, said Nikolay Pukalov, head of the the consular division at the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. This is a completely and totally unlawful and flagrant act. Pukalov said that U.S. officials removed and replaced the locks at the residence. Theyre searching it, theyre doing whatever they want, but they have absolutely no right to be there because thats not their property, Pukalov said. A State Department spokesperson said they will secure and maintain the properties and entry or access to the office space will be granted only by the Department of State. The spokesperson declined to comment on Pukalovs claims. Joaquin Palomino is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jpalomino@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JoaquinPalomino The former chief executive of Equifax Inc. plans to apologize for the credit reporting companys massive data breach when he testifies Tuesday before a congressional committee, as well as detail the missteps in response to the hack that exposed the Social Security numbers and birthdates of as many as 143 million people. Equifax was entrusted with Americans private data and we let them down, Richard Smith said in written testimony for the hearing that the House Energy and Commerce Committee released Monday. To each and every person affected by this breach, I am deeply sorry that this occurred. Smith stepped down last week in the wake of the breach, which has sparked numerous federal and state investigations as well as outrage from lawmakers. His appearance Tuesday before the House panel will be the first of three before congressional committees this week. Smith, who resigned after overseeing the company for a dozen years, said Equifax was hacked by a yet-unknown entity. An additional 2.5 million consumers may have been affected by the massive data breach at Equifax, the company said Monday, bringing the total of potentially affected consumers to a staggering 145.5 million. Lawmakers are expected to question Smith on how the company allowed the breach to occur, why it took as long as it did to notify consumers and whats its doing to help consumers protect themselves. The House subcommittee holding the hearing has jurisdiction over e-commerce and consumer protection issues. Automakers Tesla sales rise in 3rd quarter Tesla Inc.s vehicle deliveries rose in the third quarter as orders for its more expensive models perked up following Chief Executive Officer Elon Musks introduction of the cheaper Model 3 sedan. The Palo Alto automaker shipped 26,150 cars and SUVs in the period, including a record number of Model S sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles. Tesla said it expects to exceed by several thousand units its forecast in July for a faster pace of deliveries in the second half of the year from the 47,100 shipped in the first six months of the year. Production totaled 25,336 vehicles in the three months ended in September. The third quarter was the first to include early output of the Model 3, which starts at $35,000 before any incentives or options. GM to roll out 2 new EVs GM is promising two new EVs on Chevrolet Bolt underpinnings in the next 18 months and more than 20 electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2023. The company sees its entire model lineup running on electricity in the future, whether the source is a big battery or a tank full of hydrogen. The news conference at the GM technical center north of Detroit was billed as a sneak peek into GMs electric future. The company also pledged to start producing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for commercial or military use in 2020. And it promised an increase in the number of electric fast-charging stations in the U.S., which now total 1,100 from companies and governments, taking a shot at electric competitor Tesla Inc. by saying the system would not be walled off from electric vehicles made by other manufacturers. Cloud computing Oracle goes after Amazon Oracle Corp.s Larry Ellison said new features in its database service will help the software company go after Amazon.com Inc. in its expanding cloud-computing business. During his big annual keynote in San Francisco on Sunday, the executive chairman said the new database has been overhauled with artificial intelligence, improving on speed, efficiency and pricing to help it outperform Amazon. The Redwood City company is locked in an increasingly aggressive battle with Amazon over cloud products, an area the e-commerce company helped pioneer. Customers around the world are adopting the new type of service that lets them easily access computing power and software without having to build and install the technology on their own sites. Chronicle News Services Fyre still burns Billy McFarland, organizer of Aprils notorious Fyre Festival in the Bahamas that turned into a weekend of trash-strewn chaos, pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. The festival collapsed, with concertgoers finding luxury accommodations were actually disaster-relief tents and the gourmet food they were promised ended up being cheese sandwiches. McFarland was first arrested on June 30 on charges that he defrauded investors who bought a $1.2 million stake in Fyre Media. Hes charged with two counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements to a bank, and is free on bail. A plea deal may be close. Brewing change Starbucks is bucking the trend toward e-commerce: It shuttered its online store on Sunday. The digital store stocked items like Starbucks coffee and branded mugs and tumblers, along with espresso machines, brewing tools and other accessories. A company spokeswoman said that the decision was part of a push to simplify Starbucks sales channels. But the move disappointed many fans by ending sales of flavored syrups, a cult favorite. Social media filled with protests: Are you discontinuing the toffee nut syrup sold on the online store?? one customer tweeted. I need that! How sweet it is After a decade of quotas, sugar firms in the European Union can now produce and export as much as they want. The change may fuel a global sugar glut as companies such as Frances Tereos and Germanys Suedzucker AG ramp up operations. The quotas, which ended last weekend, were the last of the European Unions agriculture curbs. Daily Briefing is compiled from San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techchronicle This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate LONDON British authorities are scrambling to bring home 110,000 travelers after Monarch Airlines collapsed Monday, canceling all flights by what had been Britains fifth biggest carrier. The Civil Aviation Authority said it has leased 30 aircraft to transport Monarch customers scattered around holiday destinations ranging from Turkey to Spain and Sweden. Flights will be provided at no additional cost to passengers. This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad, and my first priority is to help them get back to the U.K., Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said in a statement. That is why I have immediately ordered the countrys biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded. Some 860,000 customers in all are affected, 750,000 of them with future bookings. Monarch ceased operations after failing to reach a deal with regulators to extend the companys license to sell package holidays to overseas destinations. Monarch Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield said the airlines troubles stemmed from recent terror attacks in Egypt and Tunisia and the decimation of the tourist trade in Turkey. The airline had tried to pivot from short-haul flights to long-haul travel to reduce losses as consumers shied away from Middle Eastern and North African destinations after the June 2015 attack on tourists at a resort in Tunisia, the bombing of a Russian airliner that had taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, a few months later, and the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016. The Civil Aviation Authority is advising Monarch customers who are trying to get home from abroad to visit the agencys website for information about their flights. Passengers who were preparing to leave the United Kingdom on Monarch flights should not go to the airport. The first repatriation flight carrying 165 passengers from the Spanish resort island of Ibiza has already arrived at Londons Gatwick Airport, the aviation authority said. The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable, agency CEO Andrew Haines said. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home. Monarchs collapse represents the biggest failure of a British airline. KPMG partner Blair Nimmo said administrators are now considering breaking up the company as no buyer has been found to purchase Monarch in its entirety. Counting the airline and tour operator business, the company had 2,100 employees. The airline said companies affected by its failure include Monarch Airlines Ltd., Monarch Holidays Ltd., First Aviation Ltd., Avro Ltd. and Somewhere2stay Ltd. All future holidays and flights provided by these companies have been canceled and are no longer operating, the company said. Among those affected was a British couple who had intended to fly to Gran Canaria with their family to get married. Bricklayer Alan Jee, 42, was five minutes away from his scheduled flight time when he learned the news. The flights for 30 of his friends and family including fiancee Donna Smith were also affected. My missus just burst straight into tears, and my mother-in-law, and my mum, he said. They (Monarch) are doing absolutely nothing about it whatsoever, theyve palmed us off. Greybull Capital LLP, which owns the Monarch Group, said it was deeply saddened by the airlines failure. Danica Kirka and Elaine Kurtenbach are Associated Press writers. Narek Petrosyan was discharged around three months after being called to the army. Parents were told that a lung disease was the cause. Only after arriving in Yerevan it turned out that in reality it was a complicated cancer that was spread in the body by metastasis. "There were six formations on the lungs, and the biggest was around two centimeters," says Narek's father, Arthur. For parents, it is still unclear how the malignant tumor could stay unnoticed for physicians at the initial stage, before he was drafted. The malignant cells were removed in the Central Clinical Military Hospital, and Narek, his mother and his younger brother are now in Germany to get treatment for metastasis. The father believes that his son's illness could be prevented According to Nareks diagnosis document, the malignant formation found in the right testicle was around 1.5 cm. During the operation, the right testicle, which was the source of the formation, was removed. The decision to discharge Narek, however, says that the cancer had "evolved during the military service." In other words, Armenias Defense Ministry wants to say that 1.5 cm tumor developed within three months. During the operation at the Central Clinical Military Hospital, Narek's father, Arthur, asked doctors whether it was possible for the cancer to grow in three months and spread metastasis in the lungs. The doctors didnt give a clear answer. Arthur is convinced that if the military medical commission studied Narek's pre-conscription documents more carefully, it would be possible to notice the cancer and the disease would not reach such a complicated stage. Narek is from Etchmiadzin, and the pre-conscription examinations were carried out at the Medical Center Etchmiadzin and in Yerevan, at the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center. Neither Narek nor his parents had a chance to see the results of the two examinations. They were told that all the documents were sent to the Etchmiadzin territorial military commissariat. Narek was undergoing his first chemotherapy at a German hospital when we talked. He said that at the last pre-conscription examination conducted at the Etchmiadzin hospital, after the sonography of the testicles, he was referred to the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center, where the doctors told him that there was nothing dangerous, just a hydrocele. "The doctor explained to me that there was fluid in the testicle, but it was not dangerous and it was not operable. I told him that if it wasnt operable, I would go to the army," Narek says. He did not feel bad in the army, but he had a fever, and that led to doing fluorography in the health care center, which showed that there was metastasis in the lungs. "Now, I am weak, I have no energy, the pains are constant, but I resist," says Narek, adding that German doctors say cancer could not develop so much in three months. Calcificate, which is only recorded With Nareks consent, Hetq acquired his medical records from the Medical Center Etchmiadzin, Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center and Etchmiadzin Regional Commissariat. According to the obtained documents, Narek went to the military commissariat on December 19, 2016, complaining of a pain in the right testicle. The testicular sonography was performed at the Etchmiadzin Medical Center and a calcificate of 0.9x0.8 cm size was found. Narek was referred to the medical center in Yerevan, and as we see from the documents found in Lusavorich center, the referring institution mentined calcificate and diagnosed "apparent orchitis". However, in Yerevan's medical center's diagnosis, orchitis wasn't mentioned. In Lusavorich center, only hydrocele was diagnosed, mentioning that no operation is required. Calcificate was recorded during this sonography, too, without mentioning it in the final diagnosis. Hayk Norsoyan, a neurologist at the Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center, who signed under the medical records, told us that the calcificate did not "drop out" of the diagnosis but it simply "wasnt needed." "In the diagnosis, we didnt write calcificate, but we did mention it in the sonography, that is, we did notice it, it was mentioned in his medical history, but since we didnt have data at that moment that there was an inflammatory process, we could not write an inflammation. " Norsoyan says other symptoms were missing - acute pain, swelling, stinging, skin redness, and Narek had no complaints. He believes the disease emerged after their examination. Srbouhi Sedrakyan, the sonographist at the Etchmiadzin Medical Center, had a suspicion, thats why she sent for further, thorough examination. I saw a calcificate that could be either because of a chronic inflammation, or an initial stage of a tumor." says Sedrakyan. To the question whether this further examination should have been another sonography, the doctor replied: "In general, it would be better to have a computed tomography (CT). The latter is regarded to be an expensive examination, so they are sent to CT mostly in case if sonography finds something. CT would be at a cellular level and would have shown it, but they didnt do it. Im sorry he ended up like that. " Norsoyan says they did again a sonography, no CT, as the obtained results were enough to make sure that the calcificate is a result of a past inflammation. Though Narek is now in Germany to be treated for metastasis, he was prematurely discharged from the army by an article that excludes the existence of metastasis in the body. Article 46b of the N410 order of Armenias Minister of Defense, which served as a basis for Nareks discharge, is about "malignant neoplasms, consequences of radical removal without near and far metastasis". Arthur doesnt want to send another son to the army Nareks brother, Vladimir Petrosyan, is 16 years old. His pre-conscription examination has already begun. Arthur says he has a lymphangioma since his birth. The tumor is on the right leg. Being a child, Vladimir was examined outside Armenia where they said that it could be operated only at adulthood. In July 2016, Vladimir passed an ultrasound examination of the internal organs at the Armenia Medical Center. "In the right part of the right knee, there is a thickness of 6.3 * 4.5 cm, and another, more superficial one, next to it," the examination papers say. In May 2017, Vladimir underwent a pre-conscription MRI examination of the knee joint at the Ultraimaging Center, and, according to this examination, the size of the tumor has grown to 15 * 6.3 cm. Vladimir is advised against walking or running a lot, he often has strong bleeding from the nose. Arthur says doctors do not give a clear answer whether the disease can serve as a basis for a military discharge. Hetq sent a query to the Ministry of Defense, mentioning Vladimir Petrosyan's disease, attaching the diagnostic documents. The Defense Ministry has informed that the decision is made by the Republican Conscription Commission, established by a government decision, based on the conclusion of the Central Medical Commission. Arthur has decided that whatever happens, he will not send Vladimir to the army. First photo: Narek Petrosyan | credit: Egiazaryan Photography Videos by Hrant Galstyan This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Jury selection began Monday in the trial stemming from the killing of Kate Steinle on San Franciscos Pier 14, as prosecutors prepare to argue the shooting was murder and defense attorneys aim to prove it was an accident. Steinles death at age 32 on July 1, 2105, ignited a national debate over immigration policies and sanctuary cities. The alleged shooter, Mexican citizen Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, was freed from San Francisco jail 2 months before the killing, even though federal immigration agents had sought to take custody of him and deport him for a sixth time. But jurors will be focused on Zarates actions on the pier, not on the 54-year-old defendants immigration history or the citys sanctuary policies. With at least 1,000 potential jurors summoned to San Francisco Superior Court, the focus Monday was on narrowing the field to those who could sit through a lengthy trial not who could best decide the fate of Zarate, also known as Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez. Potential jurors filled out questionnaires to identify any conflicts, logistical or moral. But voir dire, the process in which attorneys question people in the jury pool, is not expected to begin until Oct. 16. Few San Francisco criminal trials have been as politically controversial as the Pier 14 case, which became a lightning rod for anti-immigrant rhetoric that helped President Trump win the election. One challenge is finding jurors who can see past, or set aside, the immigration issues, and decide the case purely based on the law and on what happened on the waterfront. Zarate had been on track for a sixth deportation when the shooting occurred, after serving 46 months in prison for felony re-entry into the country. He admitted to handling the gun that fired the round that struck Steinle in the back and pierced her heart as she strolled along the Embarcadero with her arm around her father. The gun had been stolen from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management rangers car four days earlier in the city; Zarate, who was homeless, said he found the weapon wrapped in a T-shirt under a bench. The burglary remains unsolved. Defense attorneys say the shooting was an accident, with the bullet ricocheting off the ground before striking Steinle. But prosecutors say he committed murder because he either aimed the gun at Steinle or recklessly fired the weapon in a crowded area. Under the citys sanctuary policies, Zarate was released from the San Francisco jail before the shooting rather than being turned over to immigration agents. The case sparked a push against the policies that enabled his release, and in June, the House of Representatives passed Kates Law, legislation that would significantly boost punishment for people who repeatedly enter the U.S. illegally. San Francisco has fought efforts to punish cities with sanctuary policies, saying the law makes the community safer and more equitable because immigrants feel comfortable taking part in society and working with authorities, including as witnesses to crimes. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Fans attending the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival in San Franciscos Golden Gate Park, as well as taking part in Fleet Week activities in the Marina this weekend can expect tighter security measures following the deadly attack at an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday night. The San Francisco Police Department said the public can expect a more visible police presence including officers on foot, motorcycle, horseback and in patrol cars as a precaution. As the city begins a week of special events, we want to reassure the public that we are working with our local and federal partners to provide a safe environment for everyone, SFPD said in a statement. That proclamation came Monday afternoon following the Las Vegas festival shooting deemed the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, with at least 59 people dead and more than 500 injured. Now Playing: 59 dead, 400+ hospitalized in attack at Vegas music fest Video: San Antonio Express-News The attack was reportedly carried out by Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old retiree from Mesquite, Nev. He was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino when he rained heavy fire on a crowd of more 22,000 festivalgoers watching country music star Jason Aldean perform at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Aldean had recently performed at another Live Nation show at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View on Saturday. Mary Tilson, a stage host at this years Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, will be introducing bands to crowds during the three-day festival and said any performer taking a stage any time in the near future will likely have the horrifying event on their mind. Ive been sitting here at work today, convincing myself that the probability (of another shooting) is low, said the Berkeley resident. The other thing I think about is, Wow, what if something happens? What do you do? I dont think theres any one of us who isnt thinking about this today. Organizers of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, which expects more than 500,000 attendees at the outdoor event featuring Randy Newman, Brandi Carlile and festival regular Emmylou Harris, among others, said safety of attendees is their top priority. They did not release details about how and whether security plans are being changed, but the festivals technical director, Sheri Sternberg, emphasized that they are working closely with the city and county of San Francisco to make sure the most up-to-date protocols and procedures are in place. Mayor Ed Lee urged a see something, say something approach to the weekend, adding that there are no known threats to San Francisco. No one can ever guarantee zero risk, said Mark Herrera, director of education at the International Association of Venue Managers, a Texas-based firm that provides venue operators with innovative safety and security guidelines. With outdoor events, its a very unique environment. Chronicle reporter Peter Hartlaub contributed to this story. Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicles pop music critic. Email: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF Mel Evans/Associated Press NEW YORK A man accused of setting off a pressure cooker bomb in New York City last year that injured 30 people was a soldier in a holy war bent on carrying out a murderous plot with maximum carnage, federal prosecutors said Monday at the start of his trial. Ahmad Khan Rahimi researched online, bought ingredients and assembled bombs after watching how-to videos, they said. 1 Deadly crash: Five people died when a vehicle being chased by a North Carolina sheriffs deputy slammed into another car, killing everyone in both vehicles, authorities said Sunday. The Guilford County Sheriffs Office said the collision happened when the fleeing vehicle went through a red light in Greensboro around midnight Saturday and struck a car. Two females inside the other car died, and deputies said two males and one female were killed in the vehicle that ran the red light. The car that was being chased had been stolen earlier in Greensboro, deputies said. The incident is under investigation. 2 Ship sinking: A Coast Guard report released Sunday says the primary cause of the 2015 sinking of the cargo ship El Faro, which killed all 33 people aboard, was the captain underestimating the strength of a hurricane and overestimating the ships strength. The report says Capt. Michael Davidson should have changed the El Faros route between Jacksonville, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, to avoid Hurricane Joaquins 150 mph winds. It also says when the 790-foot vessel got stuck, Davidson should have taken more aggressive measures to save it. The report says the ships owner, Tote Maritime Inc., had not replaced a safety officer and had violated regulations regarding crew rest periods and working hours. The Coast Guard said it will seek civil actions against Tote but no criminal penalties. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON Prosecutors and defense lawyers gave starkly different portrayals Monday of Ahmed Abu Khattala, the alleged mastermind of the 2012 attacks on U.S. outposts in Benghazi, Libya, that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. A government lawyer said that when Abu Khattalas hatred of America boiled over, he orchestrated the attacks and then triumphantly strode around the attack site carrying an AK-47. Assistant U.S. attorney John Crabb said that later, the defendant was heard at his apartment saying: I attacked the American embassy and would have killed more Americans that night if others had not intervened. A defense attorney, Jeffrey Robinson, on the other hand, called Abu Khattala a Libyan patriot, who fought on Americas side in the war against Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy. He said Abu Khattala didnt mastermind the attack. The lawyer said the defendant simply went to the attack site because he heard there was a protest and wanted to see what was happening. He didnt shoot anyone. He didnt set any fires. He did not participate in the attacks, said Robinson. Twelve jurors and three alternates listened as opening statements unfolded in one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years. The trial is being held in federal court in Washington at a time when the Trump administration has said terror suspects should be sent to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Abu Khattala has pleaded not guilty to the charges, including murder of an internationally protected person, providing material support to terrorists and destroying U.S. property while causing death. He monitored his trial with earphones offering him an Arabic interpreter. An 18-count indictment against Abu Khattala arises from a burst of violence that began the night of Sept. 11, 2012, at a State Department compound, a rampage prosecutors say was aimed at killing American personnel and plundering maps, documents and other property from the post. Stevens was killed in the first attack at the U.S. mission, along with Sean Patrick Smith, a State Department information management officer. Nearly eight hours later at a CIA complex nearby, two more Americans, contract security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, died in a mortar attack. After he was captured, Abu Khattala was taken to a U.S. Navy ship that transported him to the United States. During the 12-day journey, he was first interrogated by intelligence personnel and then by FBI agents. Crabb said Abu Khattala told FBI agents that America was the root of all the worlds problems. Deb Riechmann is an Associated Press writer. Amalia Margaryan Ashot Sukiasyan, a businessman implicated in an offshore scandal that rocked Armenia in 2013 and most likely paved the way for the resignation of then Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, was today found guilty of fraud and sentenced to sixteen years. The man Sukiasyan is said to have cheated out of millions is Paylak Hayrapetyan. Implicated in the off-shore scandal, that revolved around a government-backed program to transform Armenia into a world center for the polishing and sale of diamonds that eventually went belly-up, were RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Locum Tenens of the Ararat Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Navasard Kjoyan and businessman Ashot Sukiasyan. Sukiasyan was the one who used Hayrapetyan family property as collateral to receive $10.7 million in loans from AmeriaBank to finance the scheme. That money eventually disappeared in an offshore maze with Wlispera Holdings Limited at the center. Hetq revealed that the company had three equal shareholders - RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Primate of the Ararat Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Navasard Kjoyan and Ashot Sukiasyan. From June 25, 2010 to June 15, 2011, Ashot Sukiasyan received periodic loans of $10.7 million from AmeriaBank. As collateral, however, he used companies owned by Paylak Hayrapetyan and the latters son. Receiving the money, however, Sukiasyan failed to abide by the loan agreement conditions and the business plan he had presented. But this didnt prevent AmeriaBank to continue freely transferring amounts to several bank accounts owned by companies registered in Cyprus. When the loans werent paid off, AmeriaBank started to auction off Hayrapetyans collateral worth some $33 million. The court also seized over 9 billion AMD from Sukiasyans assets to compensate Paylak Hayrapetyan and his son. YANGON, Myanmar Myanmar authorities took foreign diplomats and U.N. representatives on a tour Monday of conflict-torn northern Rakhine state, where a security crackdown has led to an exodus of more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims. Three groups of diplomats were taken to three different areas, said Ye Htut, district administrator of Maungdaw in Rakhine. He did not provide details on the diplomats nationalities. Myanmar has come under international criticism for barring aid groups, journalists and other outsiders from independently traveling to the region to see the situation there. A previous guided visit for diplomats scheduled for last week was abruptly canceled. More than a half-million Rohingya have fled from the region to Bangladesh in just over a month, the largest refugee crisis to hit Asia in decades. The current exodus is in addition to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled prior violence in Myanmar, where the Muslim ethnic group has faced decades of persecution and discrimination in the Buddhist-majority nation. Bangladeshs foreign minister said Monday that Myanmar has made proposals for taking back Rohingya refugees. A.H. Mahmood Ali made the remarks after meeting in Bangladeshs capital with a Myanmar delegation led by Kyaw Tint Swe, a minister in the State Counselors Office. Ali told reporters that the counties had agreed to form a joint working group to start work on repatriation. Both countries want to settle the issue peacefully, he said. It was unclear whether Myanmar would place restrictions on which refugees would be allowed to return home. Most Rohingya have been denied citizenship in Myanmar, although many families have lived in the country for generations. The latest violence began when a Rohingya insurgent group launched deadly attacks on security posts Aug. 25, prompting Myanmars military to launch clearance operations. Those fleeing have described indiscriminate attacks by security forces and Buddhist mobs. The government has blamed the Rohingya, saying they set fire to their own homes, but the United Nations and others accuse it of ethnic cleansing. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The article originally appeared on The Oregonian/OregonLive.com The brother of the gunman in the Las Vegas mass shooting told reporters their father was once on the FBI's list of 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, a convicted bank robber who was ultimately arrested under an alias while operating a bingo parlor in Oregon. Eric Paddock, the brother of Stephen Craig Paddock, who police say killed at least 50 people from his hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino late Sunday, told the Orlando Sentinel that their father was Benjamin Hoskins Paddock. Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, born in Wisconsin, was the 302nd person who appeared on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitive list. He was added on June 10, 1969, and remained on the list for eight years. His name was removed on May 5, 1977, according to the FBI. Paddock had been wanted for escaping from a federal prison in Anthony, Texas, after he was convicted of a string of armed bank robberies in Arizona. He was found operating a bingo parlor in Springfield under an assumed name. The FBI's Most Wanted poster said Paddock had been diagnosed as a psychopath with suicidal tendencies who was armed during several bank robberies. He had been serving a 20-year term in federal prison for a 1960 bank robbery in Phoenix, Arizona, when he escaped in 1969. Paddock moved to Oregon in 1971 and opened the Springfield bingo parlor in September 1977 under the name Bruce Werner Ericksen, according to Oregonian articles. Paddock was manager of The Bingo Centre, 612 Main St., Springfield. He had lived in the Eugene-Springfield area for several years and escaped detection by changing his appearance and avoiding contact with law enforcement, according to The Oregonian. The FBI and Springfield police arrested him in September 1978 after receiving tips about his alias. He later pleaded guilty to escape and was sentenced to two more years in federal prison. Benjamin Paddock died in 1998. -- Maxine Bernstein The article originally appeared on The Oregonian/OregonLive.com WAILUKU, Hawaii Four people died, including a San Mateo man, and several others were injured in a head-on vehicle collision on Mauis northwest side, authorities said. The collision happened Saturday night when the driver of a pickup truck crossed a painted median and slammed head-on into a Toyota Camry sedan with five people in it, Maui police said. The pickup driver and three people from the Camry died at the scene, police said. The other two people who were in the Camry were taken to the hospital in stable and critical conditions. Two other vehicles were involved in the crash after the initial collision. There were five people in those two other vehicles, none of whom were seriously injured, police said. Authorities identified the truck driver as 52-year-old Raymundo Hernandez-Ramirez of Lahaina, Hawaii. Two victims from the Camry were identified by police as Charles Whipple, 36, of San Mateo and Danille McColloch, 36, of Galt (Sacramento County). Both victims were sitting in the back seat without seat belts on, police said. The Camrys driver also died, but his name is being withheld as family continues to be notified. The Camry passenger in critical condition is a 38-year-old man from Galt. He was wearing his seat belt in the back seat, police said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will not take up a conservative groups challenge to UC Regents decisions that allow undocumented immigrants in California to pay in-state tuition fees and to receive financial aid. In-state residents now pay $12,630 a year in tuition and fees to attend the University of California, compared with $40,644 for out-of-state residents. State lawmakers voted in 2001 to grant in-state tuition to all students, regardless of immigration status, at Californias public colleges and universities. But the legislation directly affected only California State University and community colleges, because the state Constitution grants independent status to UC under the governance of the Board of Regents. The regents then voted to make the lower fees available at UC campuses to students who had attended high school in California and had applied to legalize their immigration status. They took the same steps after legislators passed laws in 2011 and 2014 making unauthorized immigrants eligible for state financial aid and loans. According to a legislative staff report, fewer than 1 percent of the students at Californias public colleges are unauthorized immigrants eligible for lower costs. A taxpayer represented by the conservative nonprofit Judicial Watch challenged the regents actions. The suit relied on a 1996 federal law that made undocumented immigrants ineligible for state and local benefits unless those benefits were expressly allowed by a future state law. Because the regents are not state legislators, Judicial Watch argued, they have no power to enact state laws. But a state appeals court ruled in December that the Legislature had authorized the lower fees, in the laws passed in 2001, 2011 and 2014, allowing the regents to take the final step. The 1996 federal law required only that state laws make undocumented immigrants eligible for public benefits in order to receive them, and the Legislature removed the federal barrier and cleared the way for the regents action, Justice John Segal said in a 3-0 ruling of the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. The state Supreme Court unanimously denied review of the case in February, and the nations high court rejected a final appeal by Judicial Watch on Monday. The organizations president, Tom Fitton, said the action was disappointing but should not be considered an endorsement of Californias policy. The losers here are taxpayers and the rule of law, he said. The case is De Vries vs. Board of Regents, 16-1405. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@egelko A good friend and business associate came into my office last week, armed with videos and pictures of 1,374 immigrants from 95 countries taking the oath to become citizens of the United States. The ceremony was held at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, and one of the oath takers was her sister, who is Filipina. She came to the U.S. on a work-sponsored visa and eventually got her green card. Only after the last presidential election did she decide to apply for citizenship. I was scared for the future, she told me when I called her and asked what prompted her to apply. Anti-immigrant sentiment has awakened. What will happen next year? The fear factor was very important in my decision. She said she was comfortable with her green card and never saw an immediate need to take the next step. She could do anything, except vote. Now she wants to vote and make a difference. This is my home, she said. My loyalty is to the United States. I feel safe now. Safe. Lucky her. Lucky me. Lucky us. I thought about a couple of other people I know. Theyre in their early 20s and have been in the United States since they were children. Theyre the Dreamers, and they have no path to citizenship. Needless to say, theyre scared to death. My friends sister feared that the current administration would take away some, if not all, of her green-card rights. Imagine the fear of those who have no rights. I looked at the pictures and watched the video of the ceremony. I listened as a speaker announced each of the 95 countries represented by the immigrants. I listened to the oath of citizenship, where the applicants vowed to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. It was inspiring to see the diversity of the men and women who were celebrating their adopted country. When I watched the video of the song God Bless America, with accompanying pictures of our American heritage, I started to tear up. And I wasnt even there. The next video, though, was of President Trump welcoming the immigrants as new citizens of our country. As soon as his face was on the screen, a scattering of boos filled the auditorium. It certainly didnt take long for a few of our new citizens to understand the concept of free speech. He came across as angry and scary, my friends sister said, who was not one who booed and thought it was extremely disrespectful. It was as though he was reprimanding us because we were new citizens. It was not inspiring at all. I watched the video, and didnt see it that way. Im no fan of the president, but as long as hes reading off a teleprompter, he can sometimes be tolerable. This was one of those times. So why did my friends sister, and those few that booed and shouted fake news feel the way they did? Because of the divisiveness this president has fostered over the issue of immigration, along with numerous other issues. Very few of us want to see open borders. Most of us are in favor of border protection, short of building a wall. The immigration laws, and the path to citizenship, are complicated issues that probably wont be resolved anytime soon. The only thing Im suggesting is to not blame the immigrants. They have goals and dreams just like all of us. Most of them desperately want to sit in that auditorium and take the oath that will allow them to become a citizen of the United States. We are, as has been said many times, a nation of immigrants. Ninety-five countries were represented at this one oath-taking venue, from Mexico to Ghana to Pakistan. Ninety-five heritages. Ninety-five nations that lost some good people in order to make our country stronger. We need to embrace immigration as an idea, not vilify it. We need to understand that immigration is a positive, not a negative. We cant be anti-immigrant. This incredibly inspiring and joyful ceremony should be required viewing for anyone who thinks immigration should be stifled. Once we understand that immigration and diversity not only built this country, but continues to make it the greatest country on Earth, the fair and just laws will come. Nick Hoppes column appears Tuesdays in Datebook. Email: nickhoppe61@gmail.com New student loans made under the federal Perkins program ended Oct. 1, which means there will be fewer dollars students can borrow at a relatively low interest rate to attend college. It leaves the federal governments direct lending program as the sole borrowing mechanism for students who wish to borrow from the federal government. 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. The Cap Times interviewed Epic Systems CEO Judy Faulkner for our cover story Her Way this week. Reporters Katelyn Ferral and Erik Lorenzsonn sat down with Faulkner for 30 minutes at Epics campus on March 29 to ask her about her interest in healthcare and her early management decisions at the company. She also spoke to Epics impact on the local community, her personal mentors and philosophy when it comes to hiring, considering the lack of women in the STEM fields. The interview has been lightly edited for grammatical clarity. The Oakland Raiders, who are due to relocate to Las Vegas within the next few years, have donated to a fund to benefit the families of the victims in the Las Vegas shooting on Sunday night. The Raiders confirmed to SFGATE that the franchise has given $50,000 to the cause started by Steve Sisolak, the Clark County Commission Chair from Las Vegas. The campaign, on GoFundMe, has a goal of raising $1 million and is already well on its way. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Architect Robert Swatt adores hillsides. The principal at Swatt/Miers Architects looks at each incline and downslope as an opportunity to marry nature and design. His latest project in the Los Altos hills is an example of Silicon Valley grandeur on full display. Here, high-tech amenities and luxurious finishes abound within a gracious floor plan totaling around 10,000 square feet. Its a prime example of Swatt designing a space that blur the lines between indoors and out. Each building is knitted to a site in a way that almost seems inevitable, to create exciting spatial experiences, Swatt said. When we do our best work, the feeling is Aha, thats the building that should be on the site. And I cant imagine that building anywhere else but here. High-end construction dominates Swatts portfolio. He has built homes around Silicon Valley and Wine Country and completed commercial projects around the state as well. He has built community centers and cafes, and future projects include campuses in Rancho Palos Verdes and Oakland. The firm also designs sales offices and showrooms for Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco and Glen Ellen Winery in Glen Ellen, among many others. We stay pretty busy, he said. Swatts brand-new six-bedroom, seven-bathroom mansion provides striking views of the rolling hills and San Francsico Bay in the distance. A cinema and a temperature-controlled wine room account for some of the homes refined details, while the gym provides a place to sweat off meals cooked in the chefs kitchen. The residence rests on a downslope recessed from the street. This positioning keeps its grand proportions discreet from a distance. Get closer to the home and its scale and fashionable material palette become self-evident. Smooth stucco and Brazilian ironwood fashions an exterior defined by multiple terraces and full-size windows. Inside, 24-foot ceilings pair with walls of glass for voluminous proportions. The home is angled to frame mesmerizing views of the canyon below and the water in the distance. Bands of parallel construction separate the home into multiple wings, while a sparkling infinity edge pool and spa rest just beyond the great room and view deck. The great room stares at the sunrise and this home really shines in the morning, but theres so much glass, it gets tremendous light all day long, Swatt said. That open planning spaces defined without walls is really important to our work. The great room is open to the family area, the family area is open to the kitchen. Swatt has several principles that guide his architectural vision. First, architecture must be functional. Next, a design should fit within the context of its neighborhood and surroundings. And, perhaps most importantly, architecture must be timeless. The property introduces itself with a hobby vineyard, then the home begins with an entry court with a low protective eave. This segues to a dramatic double-height space that opens up to a dining room and steps down to the living room and adjacent pool. A kitchen and family room with superlative views awaits to the left, while the right hosts the first of two master suites. Theres also a library with its own patio on this level. A second master suite with a private balcony awaits upstairs, along with three childrens bedrooms on the opposite side of an open space. Below, a recreation room with a wine cellar basks in natural light. This segment also plays home to the theater and gym. This is the first of several estates Swatt is designing in this area. The others will feature similar architectural language and materials, though no timetable is set for when they may be built, Swatt said. Listing agent: Arthur Sharif, Sothebys International Realty, (650) 804-4770, art.sharif@sothebyshomes.com. Details Address: 10718 Mora Drive, Los Altos. Price: $18 million. Features: Built in 2017, this six-bedroom, seven-bathroom mansion boasting more than 10,000 square feet of living space enjoys sweeping views of the Los Altos hills, a sparkling pool and spa and a plethora of high-tech amenities. The home includes a cinema, a gym and a temperature-controlled wine room, as well as an open floor plan and a kitchen finished with a marble floor and glass tiles. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BARCELONA, Spain Catalan separatists called for international mediation with the Spanish government as they pushed ahead Monday with plans to declare unilateral independence this week after a violent police crackdown scarred a disputed secession referendum. The referendum debacle only deepened Spains most serious political crisis since democratic rule was restored in 1978. The violence Sunday in the prosperous northeastern region left more than 890 civilians and 430 police officers injured when riot squads moved into polling stations and dispersed voters. Shocking videos and photos of police dragging people by the hair and kicking them were flashed around the globe, leading some European leaders to warn about any further escalation of violence. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said a regional parliamentary commission would investigate why Spains anti-riot squads fired rubber bullets, smashed into polling stations and beat protesters with batons to disperse voters in the independence referendum that Spain opposed. He also urged the 5,000-strong contingent of special Spanish police forces deployed in Catalonia to leave immediately. Puigdemont called Monday for the European Union to stop looking the other way and urged Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to accept international mediation in the crisis. He urged the EU to view Catalonias desire to break away from Spain as a Europe-wide issue. This is not a domestic issue. The need for mediation is evident, Puigdemont said. Calls for restraint came from across Europe, including EU chief Donald Tusk, who appealed to Rajoy to avoid further escalation and use of force while agreeing that the independence vote was invalid. Several human rights organizations called for an impartial investigation into the violence. Catalan officials say an overwhelming majority of the 2.26 million who voted supported independence from Spain they said 90 percent but the central government in Madrid has repeatedly condemned the referendum as unconstitutional and invalid. The Catalan president said the regional parliament will be asked to declare independence this week after final results are announced and plenary sessions are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. So far, most European governments, the U.S. and most international bodies have backed Spain in its stance against Catalan independence, fearing that Catalonia could unleash a wave of secessionist movements. French President Emmanuel Macron called Rajoy on Monday to offer support. Aritz Parra and Ciaran Giles are Associated Press writers. BARCELONA, Spain Catalonias regional government declared a landslide win for the yes side in a disputed referendum on independence from Spain that degenerated into ugly scenes of mayhem on Sunday, with more than 800 people injured as riot police attacked peaceful protesters and unarmed civilians gathered to cast their ballots. Catalonia has won the right to become an independent state, Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said after the polls closed, adding that he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally from Spain if the yes side wins. Today the Spanish state wrote another shameful page in its history with Catalonia, Puigdemont added, saying he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote. Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull said early Monday that 90 percent of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted chose the yes side in favor of independence. He said nearly 8 percent of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. The region has 5.3 million registered voters, and Turull said the number of ballots didnt include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids that aimed to stop the vote. No one knows precisely what will happen if Catalan officials actually follow through on their pledge to use the vote chaotic as it was as a basis for declaring the northeastern region independent, a provocative move that would threaten Spain with the possible loss of one of its most prosperous regions, including the popular coastal city of Barcelona. Hundreds of police armed with truncheons and rubber bullets were sent in from other regions to confiscate ballots and stop the voting, and amateur video showed some officers dragging people out of polling stations by the hair, throwing some down stairs, kicking them and pushing them to the ground. Anguished, frightened screams could be heard. Police were acting on a judges orders to stop the referendum, which the Spanish government had declared illegal and unconstitutional and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said going forward with the vote only served to sow divisions. In a televised address after the majority of polls closed Sunday, he thanked the Spanish police, saying they had acted with firmness and serenity comments sure to anger Catalans. Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said the violence, while unfortunate and unpleasant was proportionate. Catalans favoring a break with Spain have long wanted more than the limited autonomy they now enjoy, arguing that they contribute far more than they receive from the central government. The police aggression on Sunday was likely to only fuel the passion for independence. By days end, Catalan health services said 844 civilians had been treated in hospitals for injuries. Thirty-three police officers were also injured. Aritz Parra and Joseph Wilson are Associated Press writers. The Catalan president has called for international help in tackling its independence dispute with Spain, saying Europe cannot continue to ignore the issue after almost 900 people were injured during the police crackdown on the referendum. "The European commission must encourage international mediation," Carles Puigdemont said on Monday. "It cannot look the other way any longer." At least 844 people and 33 officers were reported to have been hurt on Sunday after riot police stormed polling stations, dragging out voters and firing rubber bullets into crowds. The European commission has so far declined to intervene in what it has described as an internal Spanish matter and has urged both sides to "move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue." In recent weeks, Russian state-backed news organizations and automated social network accounts, known as bots, have aggressively promoted digital misinformation and outright fake news about the politically charged vote [on] Sunday, according to an analysis of recent online activity. The efforts aimed at discrediting Spanish political and legal authorities that [tried] to clamp down on the Catalan government's attempt to hold the outlawed referendum follows similar digital misinformation campaigns during Europe's season of elections in 2017. These online activities are intended to cast doubt over Europe's democratic processes at a time of heightened tensions between the EU and Russia, experts warn. From the French and German elections to votes...in Spain and the Czech Republic, among others, Russian-backed online networks have routinely championed extremist groups through social media and digital news outlets. ...As part of the recent misinformation campaign, Russian state news outlets including Sputnik have written misleading articles that have highlighted alleged corruption within the Spanish government, as well as quoting officials from North Korea about how to resolve the country's standoff over the Catalan referendum. The agency published more than 200 articles on the upcoming vote over the two weeks through September 27, according to the Atlantic Council's analysis, with both pro- and anti-referendum slants. These Russian news agencies, as well as Russian users on Twitter, also repeatedly promoted the views of Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, who has taken to social media to call for Spanish authorities to respect the upcoming vote in Catalonia. "Spain's government acts like a banana monarchy embarrassing for Europe!" he wrote on Twitter on September 19. ...[H]is pro-referendum stance also has been routinely shared by Sputnik and alleged networks of Russian social network bots. [Content Note: Police brutality.]Sam Jones and Stephen Burgen at the Guardian report Both sides, even though people just going to the polls were met with police violence.This conflagration happens against a backdrop of old divisions as well as new ones , fomented by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who continues to sow chaos in western democracies whenever and however he can, and his flunky Julian Assange.Emphasis mine.To be completely blunt, I am not especially knowledgeable about Spanish politics and Catalan independence. But I do know quite a bit about Russian meddling and its increasing imperiling of democracy across Europe and North America.The flammable tensions long existed ahead of this referendum. Putin just did what he does best: Exploit existing fissures, deepening those cracks until something breaks. Welcome to Shakesville, a progressive feminist blog about politics, culture, social justice, cute things, and all that is in between. Please note that the commenting policy and the Feminism 101 section, conveniently linked at the top of the page, are required reading before commenting. The New Zealand First Party has broken its silence on the process for government formation, saying "preliminary talks" will proceed with the National Party "this week when arrangements suitable to both parties are concluded". The media statement revealed that the party's leader, Winston Peters, had phoned Prime Minister Bill English this morning in response to a voice message left last night for Peters by English. "New Zealand First expects the same will occur if and when other parties make contact," the statement said. Peters confirmed also that "the staff of New Zealand First have been, and are, in contact with staff from other political parties". The statement comes as pressure mounts on NZ First to demonstrate willingness to progress government formation discussions of a preliminary nature before this Saturday's release of the final election night vote count, which will include the impact of some 384,000 special votes cast either overseas, outside a voter's electorate, or by a voter who both registered to vote and voted on the same day in the fortnight of early voting before the Sept. 23 general election. Peters has nominated Thursday next week, Oct. 12, as the date by which coalition negotiations would be completed, but had given no hint before now that discussions about the broad outline of possible government coalition or support agreements could occur prior to Oct. 7. He did say last week there were nine possible permutations for forming a government with either the National Party or the Labour and Green parties. Between them, Labour and the Greens won 54 seats on the election night count, compared to 58 for National, leaving NZ First in a king-maker role with nine seats. However, historically, special votes have tended to shift one or more seats to parties of the left, which could strengthen the options for a Labour-Greens-NZ First combination, which confer only 61 seats, or a slender two-seat parliamentary majority, on election night results. (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: ALF - Mark Franklin Geneva Appointments new Head of Sales and Lending A shiny new system or the Wazgij of planning systems? THL - Apollo shareholders approve merger TWL - TradeWindow and EMA partner-up to build export capability November 15th Morning Report RAK 1H23 Results Business Update Webcast & Teleconference AoFrio appoints new Vice President of Product HFL - Annual report for the year ended 31 August 2022 Rob Buchanan resigns from Manawa Energy Webcrafters, a family-owned book manufacturing company in Madison dating to 1868, is being purchased by a Minnesota company that owns more than a dozen similar print and publishing firms across the country. CJK Group, of Brainerd, said Monday it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Webcrafters, a supplier to the educational publishing and catalog markets with about 270 employees or roughly half what it employed five years ago. Financial terms of the acquisition agreement were not disclosed. But CJK Group spokeswoman Susan Wiercinski on Monday said Webcrafters will remain in Madison and will keep its name and signage after the acquisition closes Nov. 1. We like each of our companies to remain independent and maintain their brand, she said. Its too early to know, Wiercinski said, whether any of Webcrafters rank-and-file employees will be laid off after the takeover takes effect or whether any new business that results from the transaction could lead to hiring. CEO Jac Garner and other Webcrafters leaders will be leaving, Wiercinski said, with a transition team from Webcrafters and CJK Group to meet over the next 30 days to do a deeper dive on the company and its processes. Theyll lay out a plan (for employment) after that, Wiercinski said. The goal is to focus on emphasizing the best of (Webcrafters) core capabilities. Garner filed a notice of the business sale Monday with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development that stated Webcrafters will continue to employ its current workforce through Dec. 31, under a leasing arrangement with CJK Group. The employees are not represented by a union, Garner said, and have no bumping rights. Garner also said a mass layoff appeared to be unlikely, based on information hed received from CJK Group. It is Webcrafters understanding that CJK will likely retain, even after the end of the leasing period, a substantial number of Webcrafters employees, Garner said in the letter to DWD. Nevertheless, in order to be prudent and to ensure that both any affected employees, as well as the appropriate governmental units, are made aware of the sale, we are providing this notice. Webcrafters, at 2211 Fordem Ave. on the East Side, was founded in 1868 as a printing business. Its been owned by the Frautschi family since the 1950s, but as demand for printing services has waned, the company has cut staffing through voluntary separations and layoffs. In 2012, Webcrafters reduced its payroll, then numbering about 540 employees, by 25 percent, or 133 jobs. In May 2015, another staffing cut of at least 20 percent was announced after a reported drop in business from a major customer, for a loss of at least another 80 jobs. Company officials have said changes in technology, with more online content and electronic publishing of books, coupled with lower funding for printed educational materials by state and local governments, have been driving the business losses. Webcrafters provides conventional offset printing, digital printing, bindery and specialty finishing services. It has production plants on Fordem Avenue and at 5847 Blue Bill Park Drive in Waunakee. In a statement Monday, Garner called the acquisition a big step forward for Webcrafters. The CJK Group has the right vision for making certain that Webcrafters has a durable and future-oriented strategy to continue as a key player in the marketplace and do that right here in the Madison area, Garner said. Both the (Frautschi family) and executive leadership see today as a great next chapter for Webcrafters. In the same statement, CJK Group CEO Chris Kurtzman said, We are very excited about this transaction as it strengthens our ability to serve the educational publishing and book communities. Webcrafters is well known in the marketplace for its family values and exemplary service, making it a perfect fit within the CJK family of companies. With the Webcrafters acquisition, CJK Group is the holding company for 17 companies around the U.S. involved in publishing, print and related services, according to CJK. Las Islas Del Mar, a Mexican seafood restaurant, which opened in October 2012 on Monona Drive, is closing in the next two weeks. The restaurant at 5696 Monona Drive served food native to Puerto Vallarta, the Mexican resort town on the Pacific Ocean, where its owners Diego Valdivia with Mayra Fernandez, are from. An original location in Rockford, Illinois, which they also own, will remain open. The last day will be either Oct. 14 or 15. Valdivia said he has not decided yet. The restaurant's lease was ending and they couldn't come to an agreement with their landlord, Valdivia said. "The building is very old and maintenance for old buildings tends to be very, very expensive. We were not able to reach an agreement as far as that goes," he said. "So, it was definitely not in our best interests to remain at that specific location." The Madison location, which borders Monona, was a former Burger King store. In 2004, it was turned into a Crandall's restaurant that only lasted a couple of years. Valdivia said they are considering a different Madison location, but have no definite plans as of yet. "It does take time," he said, noting the Monona Drive location took a lot of time to find and to open, and faced initial delays. Valdivia has been splitting his time between Madison and Rockford, while Fernandez, who is his sister-in-law, mostly stays in Rockford. The restaurant will continue to serve lunch and dinner daily for its remaining days. "Hopefully we can look at other possibilities and options in the city," Valdivia said, noting that they like Madison a lot and are grateful to their customers. "Even though it was quite a struggle to open and it was quite a struggle to get going, we have gotten a pretty great response I would say, in the last two years," he said. "It's something different for people." Valdivia has been pleased with the positive reviews Las Islas Del Mar has gotten on Yelp and other web sites. "It's been quite the experience and it's been great. It was great to bring something different to the city." STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In the spirit of Norwegian pride, the Sons of Norway presented a Viking ship to cruise children around the greens at Nansen Park over the weekend. Inside, under a tent of crafts and vendors, down-home Nordic cooking further fueled conviviality at Saturday's annual Heritage Festival in Travis. Astrid Petersen cooked her famed lapskaus, a stew of corned beef, potatoes, carrots and onions. The hearts-shaped waffles pressed to crispness sold out early. But Swedish coffee breads and foods to purchase from the "Boutikk," set up like a Scandinavian country store, satisfied the hankering for Viking vittles. "It was great to see so many people coming from Brooklyn, New Jersey, and all over Staten Island to come to the Nansen Heritage Fair and enjoying the day at Nansen Park," said Ruth Kornbrekke who helps organize the event with her husband Paul and son Brian. A brief rain shower marked the sunny afternoon but an estimated 400 were reported in the steady stream of revelers throughout the day. A few politicos even worked the tented room including District Attorney Mike McMahon and Teresa Nuccio who is running for Civil Court in the 2nd Judicial District. A Staten Island fun fact: The Sons of Norway run the lodge at Nansen Park, a charter begun on Jan. 12, 1938. The premises from the ballpark to grounds and two buildings including a lodge can be rented for parties. Food service is managed by Taste of Honey Caterers. There is another opportunity soon to taste Nordic delicacies: Eger Health Care & Rehabilitation Center, Lighthouse Hill, presents its annual Holiday affair on Saturday, Nov. 4 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nansen's also celebrates its Norway Constitution Day on May 17 each year with a picnic at the Lodge. The group continues the fete with participation in the Norwegian Parade in Brooklyn the following day. "They also celebrate St. Hans in June to celebrate the longest day of the year as they do in Norway," adds Mrs. Kornbrekke. Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Many Staten Islanders know of Lakruwana restaurant located at 668 Bay St., is the perennial winner of "Best Sri Lankan Restaurant" in the Best of Staten Island Awards no small honor considering this borough has the biggest population of Sri Lankans outside of Sri Lanka. What many might not know is this location also houses the Sri Lankan Art and Cultural Museum, the first and only Sri-Lankan cultural museum of its kind run by the Cultural Heritage of Sri Lanka, Inc. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant is home to the Sri Lankan Museum founded by 18-year-old Staten Islander and College of Staten Island student Julia Wijesinghe. She founded the Sri Lankan Museum when she was 15 years old to share with the world the culture that defines who she was. Admission to the museum is $5.00 and all proceeds go to the Lakruwana Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization that donates to a school in Rathnapura, a city in Sri Lanka. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com The museum's founder, Julia Wijesinghe, and her parents gave me a personal tour recently and as astounding and rich as the exhibits were Buddha statues, traditional Sri Lankan clothing, and ancient artifacts they were not as impressive to me as the fact that Julia is only 18 years old and conceived of the museum three ago, and opened it in March 2017. The daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants, Julia is a Notre Dame Academy alumna and current student at the College of Staten Island, studying computer science. But one of her passions remains preserving her native cultural heritage through her new Sri Lankan museum. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Lakruwana Wijesinghe and his daughter, Julia Wijesinghe, and his wife, Jayantha, pose inside Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant, which is also home to the only Sri Lankan Museum in the world. Lakruwana, named after the dad, was originally located in Manhattan before moving to a different part of Bay Street for 13 years prior to moving to 668 Bay Street. It enjoyed great reviews from the Staten Island Advance and the New York Times and oftentimes a line to get in can be seen outside the restaurant. Julia is an only child and conceived of the idea of a Sri Lankan restaurant at 15 years old, finally launching it in arch 2017, when she was 18 years-- the only Sri Lankan museum in all the world. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Sri Lankan artifacts like the one pictured here arrive to New York City via ship and travel for one month to reach their Bay Street destination. Each piece is stunning representative of the rich Sri Lankan culture, from Julia's collection of artifacts collected during her annual months-long visits with her grandmother during the summer. Julia has amassed an impressive collection of Buddha statues, ancient Sri Lankan coins and traditional costumes, as well as jewelry, periodicals, Hindu goddesses. The museum opened in March 2017 after the items arrived in a twenty-foot container that took a month to travel from Sri Lanka to Staten Island. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com One of more spectacular exhibits in the Sri Lankan Museum is a replica of a seated Buddha, widely known as the fifth-greatest statue in the world. Seen also in the photos of displays of ancient Sri Lankan money. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Sri Lankan sculptures made of stone and brass are featured prominently at the world's only Sri Lankan Museum, located right here on Staten Island at 668 Bay Street. The Sri Lankans occupying Staten Island are now rumored to be more than one third of the entire Sri Lankan population in New York City as well as being the largest home for Sri Lankan people outside of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan population is now suspected to be about 5,000 people on Staten Island, a massive increase from the 799 Sri Lankans in 2000. The surge of Sri Lankan populous in the Tompkinsville area is due more in part to the suburban setting and more affordable property located on Staten Island. Many already-established Sri Lankans happily help newly-arrived Sri Lankan immigrants. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com With her newly-opened Sri Lankan museum founder Julia Wijesinghe, hopes to educated others who may not be aware of her native country -- event though she was born in the United States. She says many peopl mistake her ethnicity as Indian, but with her new Sri Lankan museum, she hopes to clarify similarities and differences. she Smaller sculptures, as well as ancient Sri Lankan money -- some of which were donated and sent directly to the Staten Island location from Sri Lankan citizens in the U.S. and aborad -- are featured prominently at the world's only Sri Lankan Museum, located right here on Staten Island at 668 Bay Street. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com This exhibit is the representation of fasting Buddha and is made out of medal junk designed by Julia's father, Lakruwana Wijesinghe, an artist and passionate preserver of his Sri Lanka roots. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com In the Sri Lanka Museum on Staten Island, this exhibit of Srilankan wood and clay carvings is featured. They're all handmade pieces with all natural pigments. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Traditional Sri Lankan musical instruments are featured prominently at the world's only Sri Lankan Museum, located right here on Staten Island at 668 Bay Street. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Jayantha Wijesinghe poses inside Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant, which she and her husband Lakruwana own, and which is also home to the only Sri Lankan Museum in the world, founded by their daughter, Julia Wijesinghe. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com The main brass collection in the Sri Lankan Museum represents the jewelry box back in the days when the king and queen owned them. Alongside is a standing Buddha statue. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com As you enter the world's only Sri Lankan Museum, located right here on Staten Island at 668 Bay Street, you are greeted by a massive brass Buddha and chests, unlike anything you've ever seen before in our borough and all of New York City. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com This item in the Sri Lankan Museum is a preview of a Buddhist temple and what you will see first entering a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Sri Lankan souvenirs accumulate from the Wijesinghe family's annual travels to Sri Lanka are featured prominently at Lakruwana Sri Lankan restaurant, which is home to the world's only Sri Lankan Museum, located right here on Staten Island at 668 Bay Street. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Lakruwana Wijesinghe poses inside Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant, which he and his family own and is also home to the only Sri Lankan Museum in the world, right her on Staten Island, and visited by dignitaries from around the world. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com A view of the unique interior of Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant is a big draw to foodies from all over New York City, esepcially Manhattan, says Julia Wijesinghe. Julia is founder of the only Sri Lankan Museum in the world, and a student of College of Staten Island. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com In Sri Lanka, a Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism is a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings, according to the Sri Lankan Museum's founder, 18-year-old Staten Islander, Julia Wijesinghe. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com The Sri Lankan Museum is located in the cellar of Lakruwana restaurant, located on 668 Bay Street, owned and operated by Lakruwana Wijesinghe and his wife Jayantha, in the Little Sri Lanka neighborhood of Staten Island. It serves authentic dishes from his native Sri Lanka. The museum is open on Fridays from 5pm-10pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm-10pm. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com The impressively-scaled and detailed Sri Lankan chest and Buddha are hand-crafted and lovingly preserved at the world's only Sri Lankan Museum, located right here on Staten Island at 668 Bay Street. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com A collection of different Buddha statutes of Srilankan version and the Chinese to show the differences between the images of Buddha is featured in the Ari Lankan nauseum in Staten Island. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Sunday Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Photo: Exhibits in the Sri Lankan Museum includes the groom's suit the Kandiyan kind wore (and are still worn) in traditional Srilankan weddings. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com The front entrance of Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant is gold and there is an epic Buddha statue adjacent; the location which is also home to the only Sri Lankan Museum in the world, founded by 18-year-old Staten Islander, Julia Wijesinghe. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Sri Lankan Museum founder, 18 year old Julia Wijesinghe of Sunnyside, with the help of her father Lakruwana, wanted to showcase her native culture through the Sri Lankan exhibits. Lakruwana is an artist and collector of Sri Lankan cultural objects and all of the exhibits were shipped to New York in a container, a journey that takes about one month. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com The Sri Lankan Museum is ocated in the cellar of Lakruwana restaurant, located on 668 Bay Street, owned and operated by Lakruwana Wijesinghe and his wife Jayantha, in the Little Sri Lanka neighborhood of Staten Island. It serves authentic dishes from his native Sri Lanka. The museum is open on Fridays from 5pm-10pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm-10pm. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com The exterior of Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant, which is also home to the only Sri Lankan Museum in the world, founded by 18-year-old Staten Islander, Julia Wijesinghe. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com The all-brass, hand crafted Sri Lankan chest is housed in Lakruwana restaurant, located on 668 Bay Street, is owned and operated by Lakruwana Wijesinghe and his family in the Little Sri Lanka neighborhood of Staten Island. The museum is open on Fridays from 5pm-10pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm-10pm. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Sri Lankan periodicals are displayed at the Sri Lankan Museum located in Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant, founded by 18-year-old Staten Islander, Julia Wijesinghe. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Julia Wijesinghe holds the unique menu of Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant, which her parents Lakruwana and Jayantha own, and which is also home to the only Sri Lankan Museum in the world, founded by their daughter, Julia Wijesinghe. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com A Buddha greets diners inside Lakuwana Sri Lankan restaurant, which is also home to the only Sri Lankan Museum in the world, founded by 18-year-old Staten Islander, Julia Wijesinghe. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com Lakruwana restaurant, located on 668 Bay Street, is owned and operated by Lakruwana Wijesinghe and his family in the Little Sri Lanka neighborhood of Staten Island. The museum is open on Fridays from 5pm-10pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm-10pm. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) Don't Edit Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com The Sri Lankan Museum is ocated in the cellar of Lakruwana restaurant, located on 668 Bay Street, owned and operated by Lakruwana Wijesinghe and his wife Jayantha, in the Little Sri Lanka neighborhood of Staten Island. It serves authentic dishes from his native Sri Lanka. The museum is open on Fridays from 5pm-10pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm-10pm. (Dr. Gracelyn Santos/Staten Island Advance) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In the battle against breast cancer, studies show that early detection is the best weapon. And today, the availability of 3-D mammography has strengthened Staten Island's arsenal. An FDA-approved technology, the 3-D mammogram, or breast tomosynthesis, takes multiple-layer x-ray pictures of breast tissue. It, like traditional 2-D mammography, is used to screen for cancer in women who show no symptoms, and it is has been made more available recently on Staten Island, with some facilities offering it as the standard of care. "The 3-D mammogram is an improvement on the basic mammogram,'' said Dr. Carolyn Raia, medical director of the Virginia Gruppuso Breast Imaging Center at Staten Island University Hospital. "It makes it possible to find things that might otherwise be hiding in the breast tissue.'' Locally, 3-D mammograms are available at several radiology facilities, including the Gruppuso center, at the hospital's north site, which has had a 3-D unit for more than a year and is currently in the process of adding a second. Once believed to be only necessary for women with dense breast tissue, newer medical research suggests all women can benefit. Physicians at some facilities, like Regional Radiology, consider it the standard of care. Regional, an affiliate of NYU Langone Health, offers 3-D mammography at two of its Island imaging centers. A total of four Hologic Selenia Dimension Mammography 3-D machines are currently in use, both at its Outerbridge location on Arthur Kill Road in Richmond Valley and at its Bard Avenue location in West Brighton. The machines are also equipped to provide 2-D mammography if a patient prefers it. "It's a big change from the standard 2-D mammogram,'' said Dr. Michael Mantello, director of Regional Radiology. "It allows the radiologist to look at the breast in thin layers, resulting in a more accurate detection of small breast cancers. It allows (cancer) to be picked up at stage at which it is more likely to be cured.'' The 3-D mammogram produces clearer images, as well, Mantello said, resulting in fewer false positives and callbacks for further testing, and less anxiety for the patient. "In the past, if there was a questionable finding, you'd come back and they'd take different angles and try to get a better look,'' he said. "Now, the number of callbacks are fewer because they're getting a more accurate picture of what's real and what's artefactual.'' From a patient's perspective, not much has changed. It takes seconds to take each digital image, and four angles are usually taken. Since 3-D mammography takes multiple images, it might take a physician a little longer to study the images, but even that is improving. "There are more images, but the information is clearer,'' Mantello said. "So, it'll require less time for the interpretation.'' The American Cancer Society recommends that women at average risk for breast cancer have the option of a yearly mammogram beginning at age 40. It recommends yearly mammogram screenings for all women at age 45, and every other year beginning at age 55. It also recommends that women at high risk get an MRI in addition to a mammogram. Many insurers, too, have come on board in recent months, the doctors both said, though some patients may have to pay the difference out-of-pocket. Medicare and Medicaid do cover 3-D mammography. "We've always known that 3-D is better,'' Mantello said. "But, as with any new technology, they were waiting to see. Now, they agree that there is a benefit to the 3-D as opposed to the 2-D, so now it becomes a covered service." Patients may still be responsible for co-payments or coinsurance and should check with their insurance companies before scheduling. Some women say the discomfort of the breast compression is reduced a bit with the new 3-D units. "Many women find it to be a bit more comfortable,'' Raia said. "It has to do with the design of the paddles.'' Other than that, and the test taking a few more seconds, the experience is identical to that of the standard mammogram. Patients are exposed to a few seconds of radiation during either type of exam. "The amount of radiation falls well within FDA guidelines," Raia said. "Women should not be concerned with the amount of radiation they're exposed to." Cost shouldn't prevent any New Yorker from getting the screening. The New York State Cancer Services Program, www.health.ny.gov/diseases/cancer/services/ provides access to free screenings for breast, colorectal and cervical cancer to the uninsured and underinsured. They can be reached at 1-866-442-CANCER (2262). "No woman in New York state should not have a mammogram because they don't have insurance," said Raia. LAS VEGAS -- A gunman perched high on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas Strip casino unleashed a shower of bullets down on an outdoor country music festival below, killing at least 58 people and wounding more than 500 as tens of thousands of frantic concert-goers screamed and ran for their lives, officials said Monday. It was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing Sunday night at the end of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival when the gunman opened fire across the street from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. SWAT teams quickly descended on the concert and the casino, and officers used explosives to get into the hotel room where the suspect was inside, authorities said. The gunman died at the scene and was identified by Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo as Stephen Paddock. A motive as not immediately known. Aldean was in the middle of a song when the shots came rapidly: Pop-pop-pop-pop. Video of the shooting then showed Aldean stopping and the crowd getting quiet as if they were unsure of what had just happened. The gunman paused and then fired another volley of muzzle flashes from the gold glass casino as more victims fell to the ground while others fled in panic. Some said they hid behind concession stands and other crawled under parked cars. Kodiak Yazzie, 36, said the music stopped temporarily when the first shots began and the tune even started up again before the second round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," Yazzie said. "You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash- flash- flash- flash." Thousands in the crowd fled as the bullets ran rampant. Monique Dumas from British Columbia, Canada, said she was at the concert, six rows from the front of the stage when she thought she heard a bottle breaking, and then a burst of popping sounds that may have been fireworks. She said as she made her way out, it was "organized chaos" as everyone fled. "It took four to five minutes and all that time there was gunfire." In addition to Paddock, police said they located a woman who may have been his roommate -- Marilou Danley, 62. Lombardo said they believe this was a "lone wolf" attack. "It's a devastating time," Lombardo said. Police shut down the usually busy Las Vegas Boulevard and authorities across the state and federal ranks converged onto the scene as dozens of ambulances ferried those struck by gunfire. Nearby Interstate 15 and flights at McCarran International Airport were also halted. Hospital emergency rooms were jammed with victims delivered by ambulance. Others loaded the wounded into their cars and drove them to hospitals. Jose Baggett, 31, of Las Vegas, said he and a friend were in the lobby of the Luxor hotel-casino -- directly north of the festival -- when people began to run, almost like in a stampede. He said people were crying and as he and his friend started walking away minutes later, they encountered police checkpoints where officers were carrying shotguns and assault rifles. "There were armored personnel vehicles, SWAT vehicles, ambulances, and at least a half-mile of police cars," Baggett said. Among those killed were two off-duty police officers who were attending the concert and two other on-duty officers were wounded, including one in critical condition, police said. Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and said the shooting was "beyond horrific." "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," Aldean said. The shooting at the sold-out Route 91 Harvest festival was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Forty-nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 2016. Sunday's shooting came more than four months after a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. Almost 90 people were killed by gunmen inspired by Islamic State at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris during a performance by Eagles of Death Metal in November 2015. Previously, the deadliest mass shooting had been an attack at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub that killed 49. Before that, the deadliest shooting in the U.S. was the 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, in which a student killed 32 people before killing himself. Here's a look at some of the nation's deadliest rampages since 2012: - Oct. 1, 2017: A gunman identified by authorities as Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip from the 32nd floor of casino, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 200. He died at the scene after officers went into the hotel room he was using. - June 12, 2016: Gunman Omar Mateen opened fire at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub, killing 49 people. Mateen was later killed in a shootout with police. -- Feb. 25, 2016: Cedric Ford, 38, killed three people and wounded 14 others at a lawnmower factory where he worked in the central Kansas community of Hesston. The local police chief killed him during a shootout with 200 to 300 workers still in the building, authorities said. -- Feb. 20, 2016: Jason Dalton, 45, is accused of randomly shooting and killing six people and severely wounding two others during a series of attacks over several hours in the Kalamazoo, Michigan, area. Authorities say he paused between shootings to make money as an Uber driver. He faces murder and attempted murder charges. -- Dec. 2, 2015: Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, opened fire at a social services center in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding more than 20. They fled the scene but died hours later in a shootout with police. -- Oct. 1, 2015: A shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, left 10 people dead and seven wounded. Shooter Christopher Harper-Mercer, 26, exchanged gunfire with police, then killed himself. -- June 17, 2015: Dylann Roof, 21, shot and killed nine African-American church members during a Bible study group inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Police contend the attack was racially motivated. Roof has been sentenced to death in the shootings. -- May 23, 2014: A community college student, Elliot Rodger, 22, killed six people and wounded 13 in shooting and stabbing attacks in the area near the University of California, Santa Barbara, campus. Authorities said he apparently shot himself to death after a gunbattle with deputies. -- Sept. 16, 2013: Aaron Alexis, a mentally disturbed civilian contractor, shot 12 people to death at the Washington Navy Yard before he was killed in a police shootout. -- July 26, 2013: Pedro Vargas, 42, went on a shooting rampage at his Hialeah, Florida, apartment building, gunning down six people before officers fatally shot him. -- Dec. 14, 2012: In Newtown, Connecticut, an armed 20-year-old man entered Sandy Hook Elementary School and used a semi-automatic rifle to kill 26 people, including 20 first graders and six adult school staff members. He then killed himself. -- Sept. 27, 2012: In Minnesota's deadliest workplace rampage, Andrew Engeldinger, who had just been fired, pulled a gun and fatally shot six people, including the company's founder. He also wounded two others at Accent Signage Systems in Minneapolis before taking his own life. -- Aug. 5, 2012: In Oak Creek, Wisconsin, 40-year-old gunman Wade Michael Page killed six worshippers at a Sikh Temple before killing himself. -- July 20, 2012: James Holmes, 27, fatally shot 12 people and injured 70 in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. -- April 2, 2012: Seven people were killed and three were wounded when a 43-year-old former student opened fire at Oikos University in Oakland, California. One Goh was charged with seven counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, but psychiatric evaluations concluded he suffered from long-term paranoid schizophrenia and was unfit to stand trial. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Huguenot man with a suspended license who injured two state troopers in a crash early Saturday morning told police he was at a strip club prior to the incident, authorities allege. Emergency personnel responded just after 4 a.m. to the Staten Island Expressway at Hylan Boulevard, where the defendant allegedly had crashed into the back of the state police cruiser. Vincent Quinn, 21, of Carlton Court, faces charges that include assault with criminal negligence, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and driving with a suspended license in connection with the alleged incident. Quinn, who reportedly totaled a 2017 Nissan SUV, also sustained minor injuries and was transported along with the state troopers to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, officials said. Officers on scene said the defendant was standing in the middle of the road saying he was cut off by a black Jeep. He told officers the Jeep caused him to swerve into a wall, at which point he temporarily blacked out, according to allegations in the criminal complaint. Police said Quinn was unsteady on his feet and slurring his words, as he allegedly told officers, "I understand I had a couple drinks, but it's all good, I'll take it ... I'm coming from a strip club.'" Justice Mario Mattei released Quinn on his own recognizance at the Sunday arraignment. Court records show he's due back in court Dec. 6. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- New York City's Department of Administrative Services (DCAS) has released its examination schedule for October. Open, competitive, computer-based tests will be administered throughout the month for positions such as correction officer, environmental police officer, school safety agent and traffic enforcement agent. Applications for positions have begun, and the the testing period runs through Nov. 30. New York City employs hundreds of thousands of people in its 80 agencies. Taking a test is the way to get started in the hiring process for most of these positions. Application fees range from $40 to $101. For more information about registering for these and other tests, log onto the DCAS website. The following is a list of things to know when taking an exam at a DCAS Computer-based Testing and Applications Center (CTAC). Electronic devices, including cell phones, are not permitted in the testing areas. Check the Notice of Examination for the test you will be taking to see if calculators are permitted. If you are requesting a fee waiver, you must provide a copy of acceptable documentation. DCAS staff cannot make copies of your documentation. Seating is limited. Once the CTAC is filled to capacity, no more candidates will be admitted. You are encouraged to apply and schedule yourself to take a test earlier in the month since there is generally more seating available at these times. You may not have any other person, including children, present with you while you are applying for, being processed for, and/or taking a test, and no one may wait for you inside a CTAC. Testing centers are located at 2 Lafayette St. in Manhattan and 210 Joralemon St. in Brooklyn. VILLAGE OF DANE -- The Dane County Sheriff's Office and Village of Dane Police Department are seeking the public's help in finding Marisa Dahms, 27, described as "missing/endangered" by authorities Sunday night. Dahms was last heard from Thursday evening and has a last known location of Lake Melvin Park in the village, according to Dane County Sheriff's Lt. Tony Fleres. Dahms was descried as five feet, three inches tall and weighing about 115 pounds, with long, brown hair and brown eyes, with a possible piercing above her right eye. There was no known vehicle information, Fleres said. People who know Dahms' location or who have information about the case can contact the Dane County Communications Center at 608-255-2345 or the Dane County Sheriff's Office tips line at 608-284-6900. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis would like to see the implementation of smart light technology at certain Staten Island intersections to help facilitate the flow of traffic. The Republican nominee against Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio held a press conference Monday morning at the intersection of Narrows Road North and Targee Street in Concord where a smart light is already installed. Smart traffic signals use high-tech sensors and artificial intelligence to adjust the timing of lights to ease congestion and reduce accidents and emissions. "What we know is that New Yorkers spend a lot of time sitting in traffic and we also know that there is technology that can ease traffic flow, but we're not doing what we should be and not putting in the proper commitment to transform our signal system into one that meets the demands of the 21st century," said Malliotakis, who was critical of the city's Vision Zero plan, which is aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities. Malliotakis said she would use a portion of funds from the Vision Zero initiative to upgrade traffic signals where needed. The plan could cost $1 billion if all of New York City's traffic signals could be converted. "It's a no-brainer here on Staten Island and it doesn't take an elected official to know that we need more smart lights," said Councilman Steve Matteo (R-Mid-Island), who was also at Monday's press conference. "Where we have the smart lights now, they work." Matteo has made several requests to the Department of Transportation to fix traffic issues at intersections in the past, including 35 left-turn signal requests in 2016. Malliotakis would like to see the smart light technology at the following intersections: Arthur Kill Road at Richmond Valley Road Forest Hill Road and Richmond Hill Road Victory Boulevard to turn onto Richmond Avenue Forest Avenue at Richmond Ave/Morningstar Road Victory Boulevard at Slosson Avenue Victory Boulevard at Clove Road Clove Road at Forest Avenue Bay Street at Victory Boulevard Bay Street at Water Street Richmond Terrace at Clove Road Richmond Road at Narrows Road North Narrows Road North at Clove Road "Mayor de Blasio made a record $2.5 billion MTA capital contribution to support new buses, subway cars, signal and station improvements, while improving 24-hour Staten Island Ferry service, creating miles of new bike lanes and repaving more roadways than any mayor in decades," a de Blasio campaign spokesman said. "We are happy to compare his transportation record against anyone's." STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A new outpatient program at Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) plans to help those with mental and behavioral illness transition into society with aggressive, individualized care, the hospital announced Monday. The "Bridges to Wellness" program will be offered at RUMC's Center for Integrative Behavioral Wellness, located at 1130 South Ave. President and CEO Daniel Messina said the program will create a "tighter integration between behavioral health and medicine." The program is aimed at patients who have been discharged from a psychiatric unit or those currently in an outpatient program at RUMC who need additional support and services to prevent a psychiatric hospitalization. Dr. Rajendra Badgaiyan, chair of the Department of Psychiatry, explained that services will be tailored to each individual patient. "We are very flexible when it comes to the patients. If some need more help with socialization, that's what we'll work on; if a patient needs psychiatric help and medication adjustment, that's the help that they'll get," Badgaiyan said. "This program is designed for the people who are in outpatient psychiatric care but require a little bit more intensive care than what we can offer in typical outpatient settings," he said. Martin Phillips, director of the Continuing Day Treatment Program, said: "Patients need additional support with transitioning back to family and community, especially in areas of self-management of medication, understanding and overcoming symptoms and mental health barriers to recovery and sustaining wellness, establishing and striving to accomplish recovery goals and establishing and implementing safety plans." Individuals typically participate in the program four hours per day, three to five days per week, for one to six weeks. One patient is enrolled in the program as of opening day on Oct. 2. For more information, call 718-818-6132 or email BridgesToWellness@rumcsi.org. Badgaiyan acknowledged that when there is a lack of coordination of care, patients may wind up battling addiction as well. RUMC plans to expand the program, in collaboration with The Warm Handoff, at a later date to those who battle addiction. The Warm handoff is a program that uses peer counselors to help encourage those who've suffered an overdose to seek treatment rather than discharge. Page Content People of St. Maarten, Especially All the Teachers, Students and Parents Good morning/evening. Monday, October 2nd will be four weeks since school was rudely and violently interrupted by the most powerful storm ever recorded in the history of the Atlantic Hurricane season. It has been four weeks of a gruesome, life-changing, traumatic experience and some may even question the wisdom of going back to school now, so soon after our island was so severely devastated by Hurricane Irma, which in seven horrifying hours, turned our lives upside down. Indeed, government recognizes that many people are still hurting and that this may not be the ideal moment to resume school. Yes, there are teachers who have lost their homes, parents who are still trying to piece their lives together and students, many of whom have no previous experience of a calamity like a Category 5 monster storm, trying to make sense out of all the destruction. I hear you and believe me when I say I feel your pain. As an educator for most of my life, nothing gives me more anguish than to see what you are going through and how many of our parents have been left with no other reasonable choice than to send their children away in order for these to be able to continue with their education elsewhere. I am sure had they known then that we would be reopening schools this soon, they would have taken a different decision. But we have been through a similar situation before with Hurricane Luis. And if there is any lesson Luis taught us 22 years ago, it is that there is no ideal moment to resume school after a disaster the magnitude of a Hurricane Irma. Every opportunity to get our lives back on track should be grabbed with both hands. And if we truly believe in providing the best education we can for our youth, no matter the circumstances, then now is as good a time as any to start school again, especially seeing that our Minister of Education and the Education Recovery Team in conjunction with the various school boards, has done everything to make sure that the minimum standards are met to ensure that schools can begin again. Reopening schools is a key element in our recovery and reconstruction efforts. Definitely, St. Maarten will never be the same again after Irma and Maria. I believe in the resilience of our people as demonstrated by the massive and collective clean up initiative that has made our various districts look as if they only suffered a few bruises here and there after the merciless pounding they endured just four weeks ago. I commend that indomitable spirit which is part of the St. Maarten DNA. Yes, we may be knocked down by a vicious super-heavyweight storm, but we are back up long before the count and are dancing like a butterfly around the ring of life again. A few days after Hurricane Irma hit us with all her might, I heard a young student on the radio say he wanted to know when schools will resume. More than just being bored at home, with no water or electricity, I believe that young student was really missing school. He was missing being in a classroom with his peers, learning and of course socializing. I am sure he missed his teacher, too. He knows that he needs the knowledge his teacher imparts on him, because intuitively, he realizes that knowledge is power and education is a right, not a privilege for our youth. It is, indeed, one of the universal rights that we cannot allow any hurricane to knock down. To that student and others like him, I say welcome back to school. Your future and the future of this island that you are called to inherit depends on the kind of hunger for knowledge that you have shown. I know it has not been easy for you, nor for your parents and teachers, but by the grace of God, here we are again, rearing to go, because we won't allow anything to stop us. I want to seize this opportunity to thank all, and I mean ALL those who have helped in the recovery clean up, especially those who got our schools ready for reopening. Government is also very grateful for the assistance received from our partners in the Kingdom, particularly the Dutch government, in providing materials and especially the temporary schools, desk, chairs and other materials. Our National Recovery Plan is expected to be completed this week. It will serve as the blue print for the rebuilding of our young nation. Out of every disaster comes an opportunity for meaningful change that would lead to a brighter future. With the reopening of our schools, we are together taking a very significant step towards rebuilding a better, stronger, and smarter St. Maarten. I am counting on each and every one of you - teachers, parents and students as well as school boards, education officials and the community at large, to make this a very successful school year in spite of all the odds. This is St. Maarten. God bless each and every one of you and God bless our beloved island. I thank you. Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, William v. Marlin. A fight between five boys over the lunch hour Friday outside East High School took 11 Madison police officers some 30 minutes to quell, Madison police said, after a big crowd of other students off for lunch turned out to watch. "Other students were yelling and screaming, with many of them egging on the fight," police spokesman Joel DeSpain, reading from the police reports, said Monday. Between 200 and 300 students gathered at the corner of Fourth Street and Dayton Street, off school property. The fight began about 12:10 p.m. Friday, as students left the school at 2222 E. Washington Ave., and three boys --ages 14, 15 and 17 -- began following two other boys, ages 15 and 16, on their way to a sandwich shop. Police described the first group of three boys as the aggressors in the fight, with citations for disorderly conduct given to the 14-year-old and 15-year-old. The 17-year-old was arrested for misdemeanor simple battery. A Madison Police officer who is stationed at the school -- known as an Educational Resource Officer --initially intervened, but couldn't immediately regain control, leading to 10 more officers being sent to the school. Officers were busy enough that police radio traffic was limited to emergencies for seven minutes, Police Chief Mike Koval said in a blog post about the incident. There were no serious injuries, DeSpain said. 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 A team of computer science researchers at UW-Madison has been awarded over $6 million to work on security for one of the newer components of computer science, known as container technology. Computer sciences professor Somesh Jha said that the $6.1 million grant from the Office of Naval Research will be used to develop technology for better performance, management and security of container software. Containers are programs that help software run when transferring from one computing environment to another, so that the elements a user needs stay together. Researchers from the University of Illinois, Oregon State University, the University of Toronto and GrammaTech are collaborating with UW-Madison on the project, which will be funded for five years, the university said. Jha said when containers are used they can build upon each other and end up getting bloated with elements not necessarily needed for a particular application to run. If we can create techniques to decrease container bloat, the potential benefit to society is huge in terms of software performance, security and trustworthiness, Jha said. Jhas team includes Tom Reps, a fellow UW-Madison professor of computer sciences who is co-founder of GrammaTech, a computer security firm. The larger Software Customization and Complexity Reduction program that we (the de-bloating team) are part of is a creative effort to build a technology base for a win-win: Making software run faster at the same time the attack surface, or number of potentially (vulnerable) features, is reduced, Reps said. Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature want to eliminate state protections for wetlands and air quality except when mandated by the federal government, saying they are costly for businesses. About a million acres of wetlands could be left vulnerable and as many as 300 hazardous air pollutants could become unregulated under a pair of proposals circulating among lawmakers. The proposals come as President Donald Trumps administration moves to reduce federal environmental protections it says are unduly burdensome. The Wisconsin Wetlands Association said Monday the risk of flooding and polluted ground water would increase under a Wisconsin legislative proposal to remove state authority to force developers to avoid or minimize damage to important wetlands. The proposals backers point out that it would preserve the current legal requirement that developers who pave over wetlands pay a fee that is used to create or restore wetlands elsewhere. Wisconsin is one of just a small handful of states that recognizes a class of wetlands beyond what is defined by the federal government, state Sen. Roger Roth said through a spokeswoman. It is with this smaller portion of total wetlands where our bill seeks to strike a balance. The wetland associations Erin OBrien called it a pay to pave plan. They are eliminating a permit system in favor of just writing a check for permission to fill in a wetland, OBrien said. The federal government requires protection of wetlands adjacent to navigable waters, while states may regulate more isolated wetlands. There are 5.3 million acres of wetlands in the state, about half of what was present before European settlers arrived, the state Department of Natural Resources has estimated. About 20 percent of the remaining acreage is regulated by the state. OBrien said replacement wetlands are created artificially or restored after decades as farmland, and too often they fail to provide the same protection against flooding and water pollution in part because they are in different places from where the natural ones occurred, she said. In addition to providing wildlife habitat, wetlands are important for slowing the flow of rain water and snow melt to reduce flooding and to filter impurities so that ground water is cleaner. Wisconsin has regulated wetlands that arent protected by federal agencies since 2001. State law was relaxed in 2012, and filling of wetlands accelerated for several years while a DNR replacement program lagged. Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce issued a statement Monday urging lawmakers to support Roths proposal. The proposed legislation would bring Wisconsin back into the mainstream nationally, the business organization said in a statement. The group also cited a provision that would force the DNR to move more quickly on spending funds it collects as part of a new program aimed at offsetting or mitigating problems caused by wetland destruction. OBrien said quicker replacement action could be desirable, but only if projects are examined carefully to ensure they will be effective. The current pace is dictated by requirements for federal approval. Roth, of Appleton, Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, of Kaukauna, and Rep. Rob Stafsholt, of New Richmond, asked other lawmakers to co-sponsor their proposal in an email dated Friday. Air pollution bill Meanwhile, Republicans Rep. Jesse Kremer of Kewaskum, Rep. Cody Horlacher of Mukwonago and Sen. Duey Stroebel of Saukville were seeking co-sponsors for a bill to require the DNR to repeal state rules limiting pollutants not regulated under federal law. Currently, the DNR regulates nearly 300 more hazardous air pollutants than what is required by federal law, and of those regulated less than a third are actually emitted, the three lawmakers said in a Sept. 20 email asking colleagues to co-sponsor their air pollution proposal. This creates an undue burden on Wisconsin businesses, forcing them to arbitrarily test for pollutants that arent being emitted and otherwise are unregulated by other states and the EPA. States regulate pollutants that may not be problems nationwide, but can harm health or the environment regionally, such as ammonia from food processing and chlorine dioxide from paper mills in Wisconsin, said Tyson Cook of Clean Wisconsin, which mapped pollution sources that would no longer be regulated under the proposal. Kremer, Horlacher and Stroebel are also seeking support for a bill to stop DNR monitoring of air quality in Kohler-Andrae State Park in Sheboygan County, and to seek an EPA waiver of penalties. Republicans and the DNR say some of the ozone pollution there comes from Illinois and Indiana. Cook said several states, including Michigan, have related pollution problems and all are expected to do their part to reduce harmful emissions. The Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters said the proposals needlessly undercut protections for public health. The lawmakers extended last weeks deadline for co-sponsors because of how busy lawmakers have been with the budget and Foxconn, said Kremers research director, Nik Rettinger III. However, all the bills have been receiving solid support among southeastern Wisconsin legislators (whose) constituents and job creators are directly affected by these burdensome policies, as well as legislators from throughout the state who believe these common sense reforms are important to take up to help everyday folks do business in Wisconsin, Rettinger said. 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! Eric Teisberg wasnt your typical retailer. His Quonset hut-like store at 2401 Commercial Ave. could easily be missed or mistaken for something other than a record store. Vines grew on the buildings exterior, the hours of the store were not always clear and the interior resembled more of a vinyl-centric garage sale than a nearly 40-year-old business. Teisbergs Resale Records was unique for Madison and added to the working-class character of the Eken Park and Emerson East neighborhoods. That character, however, is likely to be lost. Teisberg, 61, died Sunday after suffering what is believed to be a heart attack while either entering or leaving the Tip Top Tavern, where he was a frequent visitor for the bars Sunday evening open mic event. Teisberg collapsed just outside the front door of the tavernat the corner of North Street and Commercial Avenue, just a few hundred feet from his store, said Tip Top owner Ben Altschul. He was truly loved. He was creative, he was kind, Altschul said outside his bar Monday morning. Eric just appreciated music. He truly was the music man of our community. Teisberg had no children, was separated from his wife, who lives in Portage, and was living in the back of his record shop with his small, white dog, Snow. Its unclear what will become of the property and the thousands of records inside the shop, some of which were being sold on consignment, said Michelle Moore, a longtime friend who had come to the store Monday to take care of Snow. Moore fought back tears as she talked about Teisberg, whom she met 13 years ago. She said Teisberg had complained of chest pains last week but declined to see a doctor. The reviews you see of him on Facebook are just really generous even though the shop may not look very pretty, said Moore as she held Snows leash on the sidewalk in front of the store. He had a very loyal following of regulars who would come in. Even though he may have had just a little, he was just an incredibly generous person. The shop is likely the oldest vinyl record store in Madison. It was founded in 1978, before B-Side Records opened its doors in 1982 and MadCity Music Exchange opened in 1981. Teisbergs store has a cracked concrete floor, white and purple curtains covered the windows and vinyl record covers, most of them from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, plaster the walls of the shop. However, two new red signs were recently added to the buildings exterior to help promote the business. He clearly was in his element, Altschul said. It was his life. It was open whenever he was up. In recent years, Teisberg was living in the back of the store and had a hot plate, microwave oven and small refrigerator just beyond the $1 album section. When the weather turned cold, he would heat water to pour in the toilet to prevent water in the bowl from freezing, he said in a 2014 interview with Magnus Genioso for the Where@abouts podcast. Teisberg said his father had purchased the building in 1977 so he could repair appliances but six months later died unexpectedly. Teisberg then used the space to open a record store, something he had thought about for years. When he was a child, his parents had given to him for Christmas a best of Herb Alpert and Henry Mancini album, which got him interested in music. It literally has become a museum. My second wife said it was my mistress, Teisberg told Genioso. Whoever buys this place will level it. But, hey, nothing lasts in life. In a 1990 interview with the Wisconsin State Journal about the arrival of the compact disc, Teisberg said that if CDs took over the industry he would continue to sell vinyl, a promise he held. Dave Zero, owner of MadCity Music Exchange, said he first started going to Teisbergs shop when he was in high school in the early to mid-1990s. He didnt know Teisberg well but said Teisberg would price records based on whether he liked them or not, which is why Zero was able to score Gang of Four punk albums on the cheap. He was definitely the eccentric side of record collecting and the record store business industry, Zero said. You had to have a sense of humor to want to dig through there. It's been just over a year since Singapore Airlines launched direct flights between Canberra and Wellington. Haven't been over yet? Don't worry, Wellington is coming to you this weekend. On Saturday, A Taste of Two Cities is on in New Acton - a celebration of food, craft beer, wine and music from the two little capitals. Wellington is bringing a renowned chef, brewer, entertainer and winemaker, who will collaborate with Canberra's local producers in a melting pot of activity. There will be a laneway kitchen serving up a one-off menu from one of Wellington's hippest restaurants, a pop-up bar serving craft beer, Canberra Wines will host tastings and New Acton's restaurants will serve street food. Entry is free, but you need a ticket to the wine tasting. Tickets are $20 for tastings from 11 wineries and your own tasting glass - get from eventbrite.com.au . The event is on Saturday, midday-5pm. The brand new Canberra Style Market is on Saturday at the former transport depot, Kingston. There will be stalls with new, pre-loved and designer fashion, manicures and makeup, health and wellbeing products, coffee, food, champagne and music. There are fitness classes during the day - core and cardio at 10am and yoga at 2pm. Both are free but spaces are limited and you must register. There is also a style workshop at 11am. Tickets are $35, including a coffee or champagne. The market is on 10am-3pm. Entry is $2 charity donation. For more info and event registration, see canberrastylemarket.com.au. 3. GOVERNMENT HOUSE OPEN DAY Tour the historic residence of the Governor-General in Yarralumla this Saturday as part of the annual open day, then take along your basket for a picnic on the lawns. There will also be food and drinks available to purchase on the day. This is always a popular one, so arrive early to get a good park. It is on 11am-2pm and entry is free. Dunrossil Dr, Yarralumla 4. TARA'S WALK FOR CHANGE Take a stand against family and domestic violence on Sunday at Tara's Walk for Change, starting at the Patrick White Lawns in front of the national library. It's the third annual walk, held by the Tara Costigan Foundation, and this year includes a family picnic day with a barbecue, jumping castle, and face painting. The event is on 10am-4pm, with the walk starting from 11am. See more info or register at taracostiganfoundation.com. A Canberra detainee who set fire to his court cell with a cigarette lighter he stashed in his buttocks told officers who strip searched him: "What goes in the safe, stays in the safe." Footage shows Rhys Liam Brown, 26, fishing the cigarette lighter out of his pants and dancing beneath the Civic court complex before he held the lighter to the padded walls and later scorched the screen of a CCTV camera. Rhys Liam Brown, 26, dances in his cell before he singed the screen of a CCTV camera. Brown pleaded guilty to arson and property damage. He was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court to one year and eight months imprisonment last month. A wounded person is walked in on a wheelbarrow as Las Vegas police respond during an active shooter situation on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas. Credit:AP Welcome to another working week. We're looking at a beautiful Tuesday with a minimum of five degrees and maximum of 24. A lone shooter has opened fire at a country music festival in Las Vegas, carrying out the deadliest mass killing in US history. A lone gunman, identified by Las Vegas police as 64-year-old retiree Stephen Paddock, began firing from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the neighbouring Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino into the 30,000 people below at the Route 91 Harvest festival. In terrifying footage of the incident, the sound of bullets could be heard over music, which quickly cut out as people screamed and ran for cover or lay on the ground. More on this horrible event here. Comcare's efforts "unconscionable" A male prisoner who was stabbed in Goulburn Correctional Centre has been transported to the Canberra Hospital in a serious condition. Emergency services were called to the prison about 2.45pm on Monday after the 31-year-old was found with a stab wound. The Goulburn jail. Credit:Barry Chapman The crime scene was examined by specialist forensic officers. NSW Police are investigating. The man remained in a serious condition Monday evening. A group of hikers have stumbled across a rare sight of three eastern brown snakes romping in the grass at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve in Canberra. William Chancellor and friends were walking along the trail when they spotted the snakes. "We got up further up the trail and we just saw these two snakes that were spinning around," he said. "We weren't really sure what was happening, whether they were fighting or mating. Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell has floated the idea of a taxpayer-backed bank to support lending to small businesses, saying the current system is starving firms of reasonably-priced finance. With top financial regulators also suggesting there is a need for more competition in small business banking, a new submission from Ms Carnell says regulations are pushing banks to focus on property-secured lending. Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell led an inquiry into bank lending to small business. Credit:Andrew Meares This means that unless a small business owner has a property they can mortgage, bank funding at a reasonable cost is "simply unavailable" for many firms, she says. At the same time, she says other potential financiers such as superannuation funds are also shying away from backing local start-ups. In response, Ms Carnell says one "option" could be to look into establishing a body that arranged government-supported loans, alongside closer scrutiny of banking regulations. A Sydney couple celebrating 1000 days together have called out a "horrible experience" at a North Ryde restaurant on social media, publishing a video of a cooked steak that appeared to be crawling with live maggots. Stella Kim and her partner Sushil Lamichhane were dining with two friends at The Ranch Hotel bistro on Wednesday evening when one of the three steaks they ordered arrived infested with what appeared to be small white worms or fly larvae. "We ordered steaks and one of our steaks was full of worms. Live worms coming out of the steak. We couldn't believe this was happening at one of the big restaurant [sic] in Australia," Ms Kim said in the Facebook post, which has been viewed more than 140,000 times. "I wish no one has to go through this horrible experience. We have lost our appetite." Sydney's property boom is allowing developers to undermine the state's affordable housing laws. The key housing scheme, which is under review by the government, is designed to provide lower-rental accommodation for workers such as nurses, teachers and police. Developers gain extra floor space in return for setting aside units to be leased at discounted prices, supposedly delivering rents below the "housing stress" level of 30 per cent of a household's gross income for low and very low income earners, with "some flexibility in pricing" for moderate income earners. But Fairfax Media can reveal that some new developments include "affordable" two-bedroom units with rents as much as $850 a week more than 55 per cent of the gross income of an eligible single person with a child or 41 per cent of the income of an eligible couple with a child. Look out, here comes another wave of anti-immigration sentiment, or at least pro-much-lower-immigration sentiment, riding on a surge in March quarter population figures, the biggest rise since 2009. The population growing in the March quarter by 126,000 is either being blamed or thanked for keeping housing prices strong in Sydney and Melbourne. It will feed the tide of anti-immigration sentiment that's spreading out beyond Dick Smith publicity stunts and One Nation ratbaggery, assisted by the "Australia First" rhetoric of the Labor and Liberal parties. But before reinstating Bob Carr's "We're full!" signs, it's worth examining who is behind that surge and the role they're playing and paying in our economy. The growth is predominantly from job and wealth creators rather than job thieves, customers rather than shoplifters, future ambassadors for Australia if we get it right rather than infrastructure leeches. The sharp growth in net overseas migration (NOM) is mainly foreign students, one of our biggest sources of export income. In just the past two years, up to half the coral on the Great Barrier Reef has died. The world has reacted differentially to this disaster. Publics have been shocked. Conservationists have cried. The tourism industry has fractured. Some opportunistic politicians have denied. And scientists, what have we done? We've become angry. Scientists have known this was going to happen for years. I have been teaching climate change and coral bleaching as part of core curriculum since I first began as a young academic in 2001. We have been watching the world in disbelief; watching the world careen down a collision course with its own climate. Somehow, we thought that common sense would prevail that politicians and businesses and people would change course before it was too late. And then, suddenly, it was too late for half of the corals on the world's largest contiguous reef system our national natural treasure. The only good news is that when scientists get angry, we get active. In response to two consecutive years of mass coral mortality, some scientists have ramped up the pressure on decision makers, demanding they rapidly adopt evidence-based policies on energy. The last Australian-built Camry rolls off the production line at Toyota's assembly plant in Altona on Tuesday. Some Australians who might not instinctively describe General Motors Holden as an American firm still think of Toyota as a Japanese car maker. A camry in production at Altona. Credit:Toyota Yet the company has been making cars here for more than half a century, since 1963, and has shaped Australia's automotive industry and its culture as much as Holden and Ford have. Australia was the first country outside Japan where Toyota built vehicles, and for the past decade the company has been our biggest motor vehicle producer. Living in Australia sometimes feels like living in a bureaucrats' version of a spaghetti western. The heroes are the brave and all-knowing public servants, while the villains are the naughty people who are too foolish to realise that government knows best. Politicians and bureaucrats alike want to regulate first, ask questions later. It seems barely a week passes without someone trumpeting the expansion of the nanny state. And with each new crackdown, ban or tax, our freedom gets that little bit smaller. Whereas once the government would at least go through the motions of citing things like market failure, all it takes now is for a politician to want to look tough or be seen "doing something". So it is with the proposed regulation of short-term accommodation platforms like Airbnb and Stayz. Sharing our home with someone is as old as time. Who has not stayed with a family member or friend, or the friend of a friend? The difference these days is that it is much easier. Technology allows us to stay in someone's home nearly anywhere in the world. Former Indian environment minister says Adani's track record 'leaves a lot to be desired' Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later. Dismiss Caviar service at the Mayfair. Credit:Simon Schluter It seemed an unlikely site for a 1930s New York supper club pitch. This was formerly Mark Best's spartan Pei Modern at the Sofitel Melbourne on Collins. You now walk into a venetian-shuttered room. A brushed concrete bar with etched glass decanters awaits on your left. A field of linen-clad tables and deep leather booths strikes out to the right. Carpets, ornate light fixtures (including the many-armed gold-and-chain chandelier), and Belinda Aucott's illustrations of champagne bottles bolster the theme. Does it fully transport you to dining rooms of yesteryear? The still-visible industrial spackled ceiling is a bit of a buzz kill, and adding more ephemera would improve the lived-in bent. But with Sinatra and Holiday crooning over the speakers, and jazz duos playing at weekends, there's still a feeling you could, and should, remember how to get dressed up for dinner. Sliced bavette steak. Credit:Simon Schluter That's if you come for dinner at all. Jones' bartenders know their specs and you'd settle just for a priming tuxedo. A syrupy-cold, vermouth-wet absinthe-rinsed martini is one of the great old hotel classics he's reviving here. You'd equally swing back for a nightcap Campari, rum and pineapple jungle bird at 1am, when off-duty hospitality workers are claiming the close-set tables facing the bar. If you are strapping in, chef Ron O'Bryan, who you might have encountered at the Vine or Church Street Enoteca, returns serve with a French-tilting menu that plays between old school (the specials list includes confit duck on Wednesdays, bouillabaisse Fridays) and new. It pays to dance between both worlds. The after-hours omelette with truffled chicken gravy. Credit:Simon Schluter From the new-school ranks, crab crumpets see a toasty raft loaded with cool spanner crab bound by a lemon aioli and just a hint of Keen's curry mix. It's like an after-school snack for royal sprats. Marron tails from the grill, drenched in a lemon-bright kombu butter, piled with sea succulents and mushrooms, is a salty-fresh dance of umami and seafood. Steak tartare is a divider. Dry-aged, rough cut, chopped in with a smoke-infused egg yolk, worcestershire and caperberries, it's a beefstravaganza without much of the sweet or mustardy foil you usually expect. Of the vegetarian options, fried quadrants of artichoke hearts with a mild gruyere custard are fairly one-note versus the greater glory of white asparagus, charred and mighty when dragged through a self-made sauce of smoky egg yolk and brown butter mayonnaise. Woof. If you can't afford the luxury of the three grades of imported caviar served in Russian porcelain, or the Milking Yard roasted chicken, a day in the prepping and clocking in at $96, playing a straight game isn't stupid. The humble bavette steak at $33, pink, charred, sliced and paired with a pomme puree that threatens to run from the plate, all braced by a radicchio-embittered salad, is all the luxury life demands. It's an equally diplomatic wine list, interesting at the high end and low, with plenty in the $55-$80 bracket. Perrier-Jouet ($22 by the glass) can be subbed for a biscuity '15 local Domaine Pichot vouvray at $14. Premier crus, burgundies and good vintages are here. But Jamsheed's roussanne by the glass is a structured answer to most questions, and if you've already tried Will Downie's elegant pinots, meet the energetic Charteris pinot from Central Otago. Little things need work. Shell shards in our sweet Merimbula rock oysters feel sloppy at $4.50 a pop, though it's nice they arrive with dark mignonette and cloth-bound lemon. Small tables in the centre of the room are cramped for more than one share plate and the spell is broken as we have to help tetris our plates. Service is overall good, and excellent from the sommelier, but less experienced staff seem to be play-acting old-school formality in way that feels unnatural. A textbook creme brulee, crust shattering as delicately as dragonfly wings, accounts for a lot. As does supper, a new menu at 10.30pm and serious eating for the witching hour. Mac and cheese, if mild, has good al dente shells and comes pimped with decent lobes of lobster. The omelette, doused at table with a truffled chicken gravy, is a little salty and strangely tanned but it's been whipped to a set custard yielding silky-souffle consistency. The Mayfair is a vision of 1930s glamour at a time when nostalgic exuberance makes sense. With the world teetering on nuclear annihilation, why not go big on caviar and hundred dollar hens while you have the chance? Live music, good cocktails, cuff links and etiquette feel like anchors in a storm of uncertainty. Speaking this week, Mr Caspian described himself as "astonished" at the decision, while Bath Spa University has launched an internal inquiry into why the research was turned down and is at present refusing to comment further. Until the investigation is complete, Prof Djordjevic, who performs around 100 surgeries a year both at his Belgrade clinic and New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, is unwilling to give his exact opinion on the apparent rejection, but admits he is baffled as there is a desperate need for greater understanding in reversals. "Definitely reversal surgery and regret in transgender persons is one of the very hot topics," he says. "Generally, we have to support all research in this field." Prof Djordjevic, who has 22 years' experience of genital reconstructive surgery, operates under strict guidelines. Before any surgery, patients must undergo psychiatric evaluation for a minimum of between one and two years, followed by a hormonal evaluation and therapy. He also requests two professional letters of recommendation for each person and attempts to remain in contact for as long as possible following the surgery. Currently, he still speaks with 80 per cent of his former patients. Following conversations with those upon whom he has helped perform reversals, Prof Djordjevic says he has real concerns about the level of psychiatric evaluation and counselling that people receive elsewhere before gender reassignment first takes place. Prof Djordjevic fears money is at the root of the problem, and says his reversal patients have told him about making initial inquiries to surgeries and simply being asked to send a cheque in return. "I have heard stories of people visiting surgeries who only checked if they had the money to pay," he says. "We have to stop this. As a community, we have to make very strong rules: nobody who wants to make this type of surgery or just make money can be allowed to do so." To date, all of his reversals have been transgender women aged over 30 wanting to restore their male genitalia. Over the last two decades, the average age of his patients has more than halved, from 45 to 21. While the World Professional Association for Transgender Health guidelines currently state nobody under the age of 18 should undergo surgery, Prof Djordjevic fears this age limit could soon be reduced to include minors. Were that to happen, he says, he would refuse to abide by the rules. "I'm afraid what will happen five to 10 years later with this person," he says. "It is more than about surgery; it's an issue of human rights. I could not accept them as a patient as I'd be afraid what would happen to their mind." Referrals to adult and child gender identity clinics in the UK have increased dramatically over the past 10 years. In April, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, the only clinic for adolescents in England, reported 2,016 referrals to its gender identity development service, a 42 per cent rise compared to the previous year, which in itself marked a 104 per cent increase on the year before that. The clinic stresses the majority of its young referrals do not end up receiving physical treatment through the service. While NHS guidelines state young people should not be given cross-sex hormone treatment until 16, concerns have been raised about the lack of regulation, particularly in the private sector. Earlier this month, it was revealed a Monmouthshire MP, Dr Helen Webberley, was being investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC), following complaints from two GPs that she had treated children as young as 12 with hormones at her private clinic, which specialises in gender issues. Dr Webberley insists she has done nothing wrong, and there were no "decisions or judgments" made on the claims against her. "There are many children under 16 who are desperate to start what they would consider their natural puberty earlier than that," she said this month. Prof Djordjevic feels differently, and admits he has deep reservations about treating children with hormonal drugs before they reach puberty - not least as by blocking certain hormones before they have sufficiently developed means they may find it difficult to undergo reassignment surgery in the future. An Australian man believes the gunman responsible for a mass shooting in Las Vegas was staying in the room next door to him at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. New South Wales man and concert producer Brian Hodge, 36, said he ran for his life as hundreds of bullets sprayed into a music festival crowd from a balcony at the hotel as he walked back to his room from a dinner out with his staff. The gunman who killed at least 50 people and injured hundreds was on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, according to Las Vegas police. Hundreds of fans at the Route 91 country music festival huddled for cover or ran for their lives as the gunfire continued. Curtin's parallels with Giralang are evident. The owners of a commercial lease unilaterally initiate a redevelopment, saying their investment is no longer viable. They promptly threaten to close the existing shops, turf out existing tenants and erect hoardings to create an eyesore. At Curtin, local businesses are being wiped out, just as happened in Giralang, where at least five small businesses were extinguished. It's surprising, then, that one argument the Labor government has used over the years to justify its ludicrous and contrived supermarket policy has been that the policy was designed to support local businesses. Whether Labor is actually interested in a small business seems to depend on its type. While it was the Carnell Liberal government that removed the requirement for suburban shopping-centre leaseholders to continue to provide shops on the land, the Giralang shops imbroglio has spanned the terms of three Labor chief ministers. The current re-elected one, Andrew Barr, appears completely uninterested in, and incapable of resolving, the issue. The government now seems content for a repeat to play out in Curtin. By any measure, the saga of the Giralang shops, which have lain abandoned for more than a decade, is a failure of representation, policy and planning. Despite what ACT Planning Minister Mick Gentleman may wish and his recent assertion reported in The Canberra Times that Curtin is not another Giralang history is clearly repeating itself. Planning arrangements for commercial leases in Canberra are broken and a state of denial by the minister responsible is unhelpful. The definition of "small" may be worth examining, as the "small" local supermarkets Labor's policy favours are locally franchised outlets for Metcash, the third-largest grocery chain in the country. This company effectively uses a replica of the commercial model employed by McDonald's (and others) of having local franchised outlets deliver the last step in the supply chain: the retail outlet. We do not see Labor rushing to ensure a local Macca's franchisee is favoured over other commercial interests, so why supermarkets? Giralang shops became an experiment for the ACT government's competition policy. The Curtin developers' argument that they need a "viable" investment is the same argument used in Giralang more than a decade ago when its shops closed. Unfortunately for the community, viability is in the eye of the beholder or, in this case, the eye of the leaseholder. It's strange that leaseholders of supposedly unviable commercial leases do not sell up or return their lease to the government. No, they hold onto the lease and seek to extract greater returns without concern for any community amenity embodied in their lease. In Giralang, the initial redevelopment proposal did not even contain shops, as the leaseholder deemed these to be unviable without ever disclosing any data to justify such a claim. Curtin folk had better watch out or, they too, might not get replacement shops in the new development if its owners were to decide that there is more money in selling ground-floor apartments. This goes to the heart of the problems with Canberra's current planning arrangements. Planning systems exist to protect broader community interests from purely commercial self-interest. Yet in the case of Canberra's retail leases, this has been completely emasculated and as a result of inadequate policy settings, community assets continue to be lost. Where is the Planning Minister saying that the Curtin community's interests will be protected? And where, over a decade, has the Labor government been in protecting Giralang's community amenities? Where is the requirement on owners of local shop leases to maintain community amenities? Latham lost its shops to developers and, for a while, Aranda looked likely to go the same way, just as was proposed at Giralang. In McKellar and Macgregor, shops were also lost. By its lack of action, Labor seems more concerned with not offending developers than with any detrimental effects on the community. As one would expect from the committee's focus on corporations and financial services, the report's main emphasis is on whistleblowing in the private sector. The inquiry is a response to recent scandals in the banking and financial services sector, which revealed inadequacies in the support and legal protection offered to those seeking to expose serious wrongdoing in their organisations. Like most expert commentary, the committee takes a broader view of whistleblowing than is implied in the everyday notion of going public with an accusation of wrongdoing in one's workplace. It also includes internal disclosure within an organisation, or confidential reporting to a relevant external authority. Whistleblower Protections, the recent report from the parliamentary joint committee on corporations and financial services, is a comprehensive and important document. It draws extensively on the published work of others, notably the research conducted over many years by Professor A. J. Brown of Griffith University and his colleagues. It also quotes liberally from submissions made to the inquiry by interested parties and experts. Having canvassed the opinions of others, the committee then argues carefully and sensibly for its own recommendations on a range of topics related to the present state of legal protection for whistleblowers. The committee also notes that many of the same issues affect potential or actual whistleblowers in the public sector. While Australian public servants are generally better served than their private sector counterparts in terms of formal legal protections for example, at the federal level through the Public Interest Disclosure Act in practice the protections offered to whistleblowers are often equally inadequate. In particular, both the public and private sectors seem unable to deal with the vexed issue of reprisals; that is, retaliatory actions taken by managers and colleagues against those who make disclosures. Under current legislation, it is nearly impossible to protect whistleblowers from reprisals, to hold those responsible for reprisals to account, or to seek recompense for those who were victimised. In extending its conclusions to whistleblowing on the public sector, the committee had the benefit of Philip Moss's Review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act, completed in mid-2016. Moss reported that, overall, the experience of whistleblowers under the act was not a happy one. Some felt their disclosure was not adequately investigated and many experienced reprisal as a result of raising their concerns. Moss made several criticisms of the federal government's whistleblowing regime. In particular, he noted that the processes for making disclosures were cumbersome and legalistic, and discouraged potential whistleblowers. He also found the bulk of disclosures made under the legislation concerned personal employment-related grievances, rather than instances of major wrongdoing or malfeasance. He suggested that the range of disclosable conduct was too broad and should target the most serious integrity risks, such as fraud, serious misconduct or corrupt conduct. Employment-related grievances would be better dealt with through less elaborate processes. In addition, Moss noted that the Commonwealth Ombudsman was unable to provide the necessary level of scrutiny and oversight, and recommended that the ombudsman's powers be strengthened. Confirmed in its view that the problems of whistleblowing are common to both public and private sectors, the committee then raises asks whether the same legislative regime could be applied to all sectors private for-profit and not-for profit, as well as public as several submissions recommended. The committee strongly supports the case for greater harmonisation and consistency. It rejects the view that the public sector must be held to higher standards of accountability and therefore requires stronger legal protection for whistleblowers. Allowing looser provisions to apply to the private sector overlooks the fact that many private organisations now provide public services (think nursing homes and vocational education) and also that wrongdoing in the corporate sector and the non-profit sector is as contrary to the public interest as wrongdoing in the public sector. However, though the substance of the law applying to each sector should be aligned as far as possible, the committee is not convinced of the need for a single act, at least at this stage. Its main reasons appear to be practical, based on the different legal regimes applying to each sector; for example, with businesses operating under corporations law and government agencies under their own set of statutes. Instead, the committee wants to concentrate on a first stage of consolidating all private-sector whistleblower legislation into a single act. Meat & Livestock Australia says there is "no regional or rural base that naturally puts the company closer to one stakeholder group without making it less accessible to another". That is to say, placing the pesticides authority in Armidale may raise the perception, and even reality, that those who depend on the authority in Joyce's electorate will get a better suck of the sauce bottle than "clients" in other parts of the country. The Australian Dairy Industry Council expresses "strong reservations about relocating key government bodies to regional areas where the relocation will impose additional costs, put essential relationships at risk, result in possible loss of specialist staff and reduce effectiveness". It says "relocating a government organisation to a regional town may provide benefits in strengthening regional communities, but if it is done without regard to the organisation's ability to operate effectively, it will not be of net benefit to the agricultural sector", and that "the dairy industry has strong reservations about relocating government bodies to regional areas". To help sort through the web of conflicting interests, the select committee published an "issues paper" in August. It includes a general outline of factors relevant to regional development and examples of successful cases that oddly forgets to mention one of the most successful in Australia's history: Canberra and the ACT; too inconvenient an example perhaps. The paper then goes on to talk about the decentralisation of Commonwealth agencies and concludes with a section on getting more private-sector organisations into the regions. The issues paper is better than nothing but not by a wide margin. First, it says "only a small number of Commonwealth government agencies have established rural or regional agencies". That's true but the paper would have been more helpful if it had gone on to consider, even if briefly, why this is so it doesn't. Second, the paper fails to outline the current dispersion of Commonwealth employees, including very large employers like the Defence Force and Australia Post, whose places of work are spread widely throughout the regions. Instead, it confines itself to the Australian Public Service (those organisations with staff employed under the Public Service Act), which makes up about 50 per cent of total Commonwealth employment. That is to say, the paper's baseline is misleading. While it's true that most Commonwealth employees are in the capital cities, the paper doesn't seem interested in establishing a clear understanding about the extent to which the existing workforce is dispersed, or exploring the lessons as to why substantial parts of a good number of Commonwealth agencies have been able to operate successfully in regions. Calling a halt now may enable some of the wasted millions to be recouped. Third, the paper says the "success of any decentralisation policy needs to be measured with regard to the net benefit or growth achieved by the transfer of public and private utilities from one location to another" while in particular taking into account "growth in regional areas, economic growth, longevity of industry, services and functions, and population in regional areas". Hang on. Notice what's missing? There's not even a fleeting reference to the public interest in the effects of location on the effective working of organisations. That is, the issues paper has omitted the main issue. Fourth, the paper doesn't properly represent the major attempt by the Whitlam government to foster regional development by relocating Commonwealth employees. It deals with this program in seven lines and describes it as being confined to Albury-Wodonga it was not. Moreover, the paper shows no curiosity about either the huge amount of development work done at the time in support of the program or the reasons why it eventually sputtered out. As ever, experience unhelpful to contemporary causes must not be allowed to intrude. There can be little doubt that Joyce's rush-of-blood-to-the-head decision on the pesticides authority was taken without due cabinet process, consultation with interested parties or proper regard to consequences for the agency and those in the agricultural sector who rely on it and who now face, at least in the short to medium term, lower standards of service. It was boilerplate political pork with oink, oink, oink all over it. Why couldn't the Deputy Prime Minister have been more subtle and decide to put the authority in a National Party electorate other than his? The government must now try to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. It won't be easy as hounds are baying and many want to get in on the act. Nash's announcement in April seems like an attempt to clothe the Joyce push for the bush with a veil of policy and political respectability. It's not all that convincing and, if it is implemented, it will please a few and disappoint many more. Rather than starting at what may best suit the needs of government agencies, Nash is requiring her ministerial colleagues to "actively justify" why all or part of their empires are unsuitable for decentralisation. Thus, she puts the cart before the horse. She's also asking ministers to report to cabinet in August about bits suitable for decentralisation although robust "business cases" based on the Finance Minister's "template" are not due until December. The cart again seems to be before the horse. Nash was asked: if she could provide a copy of the criteria she said she would provide ministers to help them assess prospects for decentralisation; how many reports have gone to cabinet in line with the August 2017 deadline; and when she might anticipate making an announcement about progress. She did not respond. She's probably overly distracted by questions about whether she was legitimately elected to Parliament. Cormann was asked if he could provide a copy of the "template" he's developing as a basis for decentralisation "business cases". His office advised: "At this point in time, the business case template cannot be made public as it is being considered by government as part of the cabinet process." That comment is a little opaque but it seems as if the "template" is not yet approved, about five months after Nash's policy announcement and with two months to go before it is to be used as a basis of "business cases" to cabinet on decentralisation opportunities. Whatever, cards are being kept very close to chests. In a sense, that's not a bad idea if room for political manoeuvre is to be maximised. In all, however, the omens are not promising. What would be the best result? The finance and public administration committee reported on June 9. It said Cormann's order under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act was "deficient" and noted that the pesticides authority's move was opposed by "stakeholders, the agricultural sector" and the authority itself. It said the government's cost-benefit analysis "finds no strategic or other benefits in the move". It therefore recommended that: Cormann's order be revoked; the authority's move be "paused" until it "can review its business model"; the Finance Minister apply greater scrutiny to future requests for such orders; and there should be a broad inquiry of representatives of both houses of Parliament "into the merits of decentralisation and the appropriate policy mechanisms for undertaking it". The government should accept these recommendations, noting it was good enough for the Hawke/Keating government to cancel a pork-barrel decision to move the Australian Maritime Safety Authority from Canberra to Newcastle when it became obvious that the costs outweighed any benefits. As indicated, the Senate select committee on regional development and decentralisation is in effect inquiring into the "merits of decentralisation" and related matters. This committee should recommend that: Twenty-five minutes before she was due to be evicted last month, Ms Lyelle requested a postponement on the basis that she had been sick, had nowhere else to live and had a number of pets that would be difficult to accommodate elsewhere. However, Justice Richard Button pointed to parallels between her application and that of Louise Lyel in 2016, which sought a last-minute stay of eviction from a Paddington terrace and also relied on an email from an agent of the lessor to say they were content for her to stay on. "Contrary to the submission of the applicant that she had been the victim of some sort of identity theft, to my mind the unavoidable inference is that the litigant who brazenly deceived [Justice David Davies] in 2016 is indeed the litigant before me," Justice Button said. "That means to my mind that the credibility of the applicant is not just called into question; it is destroyed, I regret to say." He asked the court registrar to refer the court transcript to the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider charging her with a public justice offence "including but not limited to perjury". Contacted by Fairfax Media, Ms Lyelle said she had never misled the court, but had struggled to pay rent as a result of a stalker who had spread incorrect information about her to clients and encouraged them to abandon her business. This is also why she had used multiple identities. "All I'm trying to do is get back up on my feet," Ms Lyelle said. No charges had been laid, she had paid the rent and would continue to reside at the Edgecliff address, she said. In 2016 Louise Lyel appealed to the court for a stay on her eviction from property in Paddington half an hour before the sheriff was due to remove her from the premises, brandishing an email from the purported landlady that agreed to extend her lease. Her rent was $22,000 in arrears, according to the judgment, and Fairfax Media has established that she had hosted paying guests at the property. But the actual landlords told the Supreme Court they had never heard of the author of the email and denied authorising any such correspondence. Justice Button recommended that Ms Lyel be investigated for contempt of court. Two years earlier, under the name Louise Lees, she was booted from a different Paddington property when she was $4478 in arrears after failing to pay rent or the bond since the beginning of her tenancy agreement. According to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal judgment, Ms Lees appealed on the basis that she had received no notice that the tribunal was to hear the case, then attempted to delay the proceedings firstly on the basis that she was going to be overseas but could not get her scanner to work to send the flight information, then that she was to be in a conference and finally on the day of the hearing that she had turned up at the wrong registry. Since the registry she had attended was only a short distance away, the tribunal staff suggested that she take the 15-minute walk to the correct address and the panel would adjourn until she was present. But 20 minutes later another call came to say she had collapsed and an ambulance would be taking her to hospital instead. The Sydney Morning Herald has published several letters by Louise Convy, the first of which appeared in 1989 under the heading "credit denied and only 24". She complained that the Credit Reference Association of Australia had listed her as a defaulter because she had been late in paying a Telecom bill, which she believed was too high. There were 66,430 Queenslanders injured on the job last financial year, costing WorkCover Queensland $800 million in statutory claims. That was an increase on the 65,302 statutory claims accepted by the body the previous year - at a cost of $769 million. Statutory claims are when compensation is paid, regardless of who is at fault, and can include weekly payments as income replacement, lump sums to compensate for permanent impairment and hospital and medical expenses. 66,430 Queenslanders were injured on the job in the past financial year. Credit:Patrick Cummins The most common type of injury was musculoskeletal injuries and diseases, making up just more than half of all accepted statutory claims in 2016-17. All severe weather warnings around Queensland have been cancelled as Bundaberg residents are left cleaning up after a 'tornado' struck the city. On Monday, severe weather drenched and damaged the Queensland coast with power outages, flooding, intense rainfall and what locals in one city believed to be a "tornado" striking. Bundaberg was battered by wet and wild weather resulting in the all-time rainfall record for October being knocked out of the park in just one day. Major flooding reaches the heart of Bundaberg. Credit:Melbourne Hotel Bundaberg - Facebook The city recorded 286mm in the six hours to 6.30pm with a total of 339 millimetres falling in the 24 hours prior, smashing the October rainfall record of 280 millimetres. These smart screens came along before smartphones cemented their place as the primary screens in our lives. Since then voice-activation has seemed like the way forward in the home. Having lived with the voice-activated Google Home smart speaker for a few months, I'd say its strength is that you don't need to look up from what you're doing in order to interact with it. If you need to cross the room to look at a screen then it's just as easy to reach for the smartphone in your pocket or glance at the smart watch on your wrist. Of course not everyone in your home might have smart gadget in their pocket or strapped to their wrist. A smart speaker in the living area can really democratise household tech if you've got young children. My two youngsters have quickly taken to the Google Home in our kitchen, because it puts more smart home technologies at their disposal. The kids also see more potential for a smart screen in the kitchen than my wife or I, who always have phones at hand. Stay alert The Echo Spot's success will come down to how Alexa puts the screen to work. The speaker still needs to be fully functional without looking at the screen, although it would be great to see an accessibility mode for hearing-impaired users. Four teenagers have been taken to hospital after a car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old L-plate driver crashed into a pole in Mount Waverley on Monday. The car, believed to be carrying six teenagers, smashed on Waverley Road about 1.30am. The four hospitalised teenagers were all in a stable condition. Credit:Melissa Singer Two teenage boys were taken to Monash Medical Centre, another boy to The Alfred hospital, and a teenage girl was taken to The Royal Children's Hospital. All were in a stable condition. A ride at the Royal Melbourne Show has been shut down amid safety concerns. The Skywalker, described online as being "for the real thrill-seekers", was closed about 9pm on Sunday after some passengers reported malfunctioning harnesses. The Skywalker. Allie Calleja told Fairfax Media she was about two storeys off the ground and the ride had just started to spin and tilt when her harness lifted. "As soon as it happened my boyfriend pulled it back in and the ride stopped in mid-air," she said. More than than 1200 firearms have been surrendered to WA police as part of the national firearms amnesty. From July 1 to September 30, Western Australians were encouraged to hand in any unlicensed guns or ammunition to police stations without fear of prosecution. The machine gun believed to be from WW2 was found in a cave in Kalbarri recently. Credit: Courtney Lou The firearms handed in during the three month amnesty include: 186 shotguns; Police forensic officers at the Orelia home where Aaron Pajich's body was found. Credit:Nine News Perth The state alleges CCTV footage showed the teenager leaving with the accused pair, with security footage from their home showing the three entering the house around 10.30am. "Mr Pajich did not ever emerge from that house alive," Mr McTaggart said. "The state's case is that Aaron Pajich was brutally and violently murdered at the hands of these two accused. "Either both Ms Lilley and Ms Lenon jointly murdered Aaron Pajich, or one aided the other." Mr Pajich's body was discovered garotted with multiple stab wounds to his chest and neck the court heard. He was buried wrapped in a plastic sheet with cling-film around his face. Mr McTaggart said police who searched the home discovered a large section of carpet had been cut out and removed from inside the house and concealed by a rug and couch. He alleged it was a sign of a "desperate" cover up. The area had been where the home's computer was located. Mr Pajich's thumb drive had been inserted into the computer around 10:30am, leading police to believe he may have attended the house to upgrade some computer software. Security footage from the home showed Ms Lenon allegedly going to the backyard and then running back into the house holding a knife around 11am. On June 19, several days after the murder when media reports of Mr Pajich's disappearance began to spread, the state alleges Ms Lilley bragged to a work colleague about killing the teenager. She told the Woolworths night shift colleague she stabbed Mr Pajich as Ms Lenon held him down, Mr McTaggart alleged, providing details only the killer would have known. "She described how she stabbed a person and then as if to convince [him] of the story... she told him about publicity surrounding the case and showed him a photo of Mr Pajich," Mr McTaggart said. "She wore Aaron Pajich's murder as some sort of badge of honour." Mr McTaggart alleges she described in detail what she did, saying 'it was harder than I thought it would be' and 'there was blood everywhere'. Colleagues told police they had noticed she had cut marks and a bite mark on her body shortly after the murder. The court heard Ms Lilley sent Ms Lenon a text a day after the murder saying: 'I'm seeing things I haven't seen before and feeling things I haven't felt before', to which Ms Lenon replied: 'You're welcome SOS'. The state alleges the text conversation showed Ms Lilley felt exhilarated by murdering Mr Pajich, with SOS being her nickname based on a fictional book she wrote in 2007 about a serial killer of the same name. "She killed Mr Pajich because she could, she gloated about it and sent a message to Ms Lenon about the feeling of euphoria because she had done so," Mr McTaggart said. A notebook allegedly belonging to Ms Lilley, found at the women's home by police also had details of Mr Pajich's address and phone number. The state will allege the women in the days prior and after Mr Pajich's death bought "substantial" quantities of hydrochloric acid, cleaning materials and cement and had "targeted" Mr Pajich. Both women denied seeing Mr Pajich on the day he was murdered when first interviewed by police but eventually both made some admissions to meeting him at the shops and driving him back to their house. Both interactions were caught on either CCTV or security cameras. The court heard the two women were blaming each other for the murder. Ms Lilley admits she was at the house the day of the murder but denied being involved to Mr Pajich's death, helping clean up the scene, or burying him. She claimed she was unaware Ms Pajich was buried in the backyard. Ms Lenon however admits witnessing the murder but claims Mr Pajich died at the hands of Ms Lilley. She admitted, through her lawyer, helping clean up the scene and burying him, and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of accessory after the fact to murder. Ms Lenon's lawyer Helen Prince said Ms Lilley had spoken about her desire to kill someone but that Ms Lenon thought it was "fantasy talk" as the pair often role played together. "She thought it was fantasy, she thought it wasn't real," Ms Prince said. "Jemma Lilley was in fact deadly serious." Bangkok: An Australian man who has lived in Thailand for 12 years has been caught on CCTV footage allegedly stealing a luggage cart belonging to three Thai women which was left outside toilets at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi international airport. Thai media reported that 54-year-old John Robertson has been charged with theft and is currently held in custody pending a court hearing. CCTV footage shows a man identified as Australian John Robertson with a trolley loaded with bags belonging to a Thai traveller. Credit:Suvarnabhumi Airport police CCTV footage showed a man identified by police as Mr Roberston taking the trolley into a restroom for the disabled before walking to a foreign exchange booth, where he was arrested. Police said Mr Robertson admitted taking the trolley and opening the bags but denied stealing anything inside them. Barcelona: The bloodshed and violent scenes of Sunday's independence vote in Catalonia will leave a deep scar on Spain. And they make it more likely though far, far from certain that a new country will be born. The Spanish government both succeeded and failed on Sunday. Its stated aim was to stop the Catalan independence vote but this was never going to happen. Sheer numbers were against them. It's a photo you see all the time on social media: two friends, arm in arm, enjoying themselves at a concert. Brian MacKinnon and Adrian Murfitt, both from Anchorage in Alaska, were at the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas when they took the opportunity to capture the moment with a selfie. Then the gunshots. When Mr Murfitt turned around to see what was happening, he took a bullet in the neck. He died in his friend's arms. Gunman Stephen Paddock had begun raining down thousands of rounds of ammunition on the crowd of music lovers from the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. By then I had decided to travel around the country and interview KKK leaders and members from various chapters and factions to get the answer to my question: how can you hate someone you've never met? I was planning to write a book detailing my interviews, experiences and encounters with these Ku Klux Klan members. (The book, Klan-Destine Relationships, was published in 1998.) I had my white secretary, who typically booked my band and assisted me with my music business, set up a meeting with the Maryland grand dragon, explaining that her boss was writing a book on the Klan and would like his input. As per my instructions, she did not reveal the colour of my skin. The grand dragon agreed to participate, and we secured a room at a motel in Frederick, Maryland, where my secretary filled an ice bucket with cans of soda so I could offer my guest a drink. Regardless of how and what he felt about me, if he entered my room after seeing the colour of my skin, I was going to treat him with hospitality. Punctual to the minute, there was a knock on the door. The grand nighthawk (the grand dragon's bodyguard) entered first, and then the dragon himself. "Hello," I began, "I'm Daryl Davis." I offered my palm, and the dragon shook my hand as he and the nighthawk introduced themselves. The dragon sat in the chair I had set out, and the nighthawk stood at attention beside him. We were both apprehensive of the other, and the interview started haltingly. We discussed what he had hoped to achieve by joining the Klan; what his thoughts were on blacks, Asians, Jews and Hispanics; and whether he thought it would ever be possible for different races to get along. A little while later, we heard an inexplicable crackling noise and we both tensed. The dragon and I stared each other in the eye, silently asking, "What did you just do?" The nighthawk reached for his gun. Nobody spoke. I barely breathed. Seated atop the dresser, my secretary realised what had happened: the ice in the bucket had started to melt, causing the soda cans to shift. It happened again, and we all began laughing. From there, the interview went on without a hitch. It was a perfect illustration that ignorance breeds fear and possibly violence. An unknown noise in an ice bucket could have led to gunfire had we not taken a moment to understand what we were encountering. Even though the grand dragon, who now prefers not to be named, had told me he knew that white people were superior to blacks, our dialogue continued over the years. He would visit me in my home, and I would eventually be a guest in his. We would share many meals together, even though he thought I was inferior. Within a couple of years, he rose to the rank of imperial wizard, the top national leadership position in the Klan. Over the past 30 years, I have come to know hundreds of white supremacists, from KKK members, neo-Nazis and white nationalists to those who call themselves alt-right. Some were good people with wrong beliefs, and others were bad people hell-bent on violence and the destruction of those who were non-Aryan. There was Bob White, a grand dragon for Maryland who served four years in prison for conspiring to bomb a synagogue in Baltimore, where he had been a police officer. When he got out, he returned to the Klan and later went back to prison for three more years for assaulting two black men with a shotgun, evidently intent on murder. But after I reached out to him with a letter while he was in prison for the second time, Bob became a very good friend, renounced the Klan and attended my wedding. Imperial wizard Frank Ancona, who headed one of the largest Klan groups in the country, would also become a very close friend. When Frank was killed this year (his wife and stepson have been charged with murdering him), one of his Klan members, knowing how close we had been, called me and told me before notifying the police. I accepted the Klan's invitation to participate in his funeral service. Three weeks after this summer's violent clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, I was invited by the leaders of the Tennessee and Kentucky chapters of Ancona's branch of the Klan to speak at their national Konvocation. I accepted, spoke and took audience questions after the lecture. Whether or not anyone there immediately changed their minds, we talked as people - and we all benefited from that. I am not so naive as to think everyone will change. There are certainly those who will go to their graves as hateful, violent racists. I never set out certain that I would convert anyone. I just wanted to have a conversation and ask, "How can you hate me when you don't even know me?" What I've learnt is that whether or not I've changed minds, talking can still relieve tensions. I've seen firsthand that when two enemies are talking, they are not fighting. They may be yelling and beating their fists on the table, but at least they are talking. Violence happens only when talking has stopped. And sometimes, people do change. One day in 1999, after having been in the Ku Klux Klan for about 20 years, the Klan leader from the motel interview, whom I watched go from grand dragon to imperial wizard, called me, said he was leaving the Klan and apologised for having been a member. He told me he could no longer hate people. I had not turned out to be what he had always thought of black people. He went on to become one of my best friends, and today I own his robe and hood - one set of many in my collection of garments donated to me by apostate Klansmen and Klanswomen, which is always growing. Geary Danley was not the gunman in Las Vegas who killed at least 50 people late Sunday. But for hours on the far-right internet, would-be sleuths scoured Danley's Facebook likes, family photographs and marital history to try to "prove" that he was. Danley, according to an archived version of a Facebook page bearing that name, might have been married to a Marilou Danley. Police were looking for a woman by that name in the hours after the shooting, but later said they did not believe she was involved. To name someone as a mass murderer based on that evidence would be irresponsible and dangerous. But that's exactly what a portion of the far-right internet did overnight. The briefest look at the viral threads and tweets falsely naming Geary Danley as the attacker makes it easy to guess why a bunch of right-wing trolls latched on to him: His Facebook profile indicated that Danley might be a liberal. A high-stakes gambler, Stephen Paddock's arrival at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino last Thursday would not have surprised anybody. Paddock booked a double-room suite overlooking the main stage of Route 91 Harvest, a three-day country music festival starting the next day. But music was far from his mind as he wheeled in more than 10 suitcases into the room over the next four days, containing an arsenal of guns and ammunition. Read Rachel Olding's account of what happened here. Concertgoers scramble to safety outside the Mandalay Bay Casino. Credit:Twitter: @IAMJUSTINAARON Mr Turnbull praised former prime minister John Howard for bringing in some of the strictest gun laws in the world in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, which left 35 dead in Tasmania in 1996. "And we remain ever vigilant to maintain them," he said. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Credit:AP "Another national gun amnesty has just concluded, and in the first two months, over 25,000 weapons were handed in." Mr Turnbull said he would be convening a special summit of state and territory leaders this week to discuss how to further strengthen and harmonise against the threat of terrorism. Australian man Brian Hodge ran for his life as a gunman began shooting in Las Vegas. Credit:Facebook/BrianHodge "Again, I offer my thoughts and prayers to the people of the United States," he said. "We grieve with the families of the victims." Opposition leader Bill Shorten said Labor would work with the government on national security. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull Credit:Mick Tsikas "We mourn for the losses of [the American people], we pray for their survivors and the best thing that we can do is fight to keep our gun laws as strong as they possibly can be," he said. Ms Bishop said she had been in touch with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to extend Australia's condolences. She confirmed US authorities had been in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs regarding an Australian woman being treated by US authorities as a person of interest, 62-year-old Marilou Danley. Ms Danley is believed to be the companion of 64-year-old gunman Stephen Paddock. She was reportedly travelling in the Philippines at the times of the shooting that left 58 people dead and 515 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. "There are reports that her ID was used to book the hotel but investigations are ongoing," Ms Bishop said. The Foreign Minister said her department had not had direct contact with Ms Danley. "The US authorities were in contact with us about Marilou and I understand they have ruled her out as a person of interest as she was not in the US when this horrific incident occurred." In an update on Tuesday morning, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said the gunman's female companion was still a "person of interest" and she would be interviewed when she returned to the US. A NSW family caught up in the tragedy said they experienced the "scariest night of our life" and had to walk with their hands up across an empty casino. Kevin Comerford, Nicole Shipman and her daughter Maddy Aspinall, 14, from Grafton in NSW, were in Las Vegas for one night only after a dance academy tour in the US had finished. "This was supposed to be a one night special stop because we'd never been to Las Vegas before ... we were planning to live it up for one night and we've had probably the scariest night of our life," Mr Comerford told AAP on the phone. Australian man Brian Hodge said he was staying in room 32134 of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Paddock was in room 32135 as he fired at people at the music festival. Mr Hodge, 36, said he was walking back to his room from a dinner out with his staff when bullets started raining down. "It was hardcore, like it was full machineguns for 20 seconds and then it stopped for five seconds then it just went again it," he told Fairfax Media. "There were so many shots fired, I couldn't tell you how many. A woman came right up to my face and she said 'you've got to turn back there is a shooter' and we all just started running." Mr Hodge said he and his team of about 20 staff fled to a nearby lift and piled in with other terrified hotel patrons. "When we got to the ground floor of the casino it was just utter chaos," he said. Channel Seven journalist Ashlee Mullany said the noise "sounded too loud to be a gun". "I felt sick to my stomach knowing that those hundreds of rounds that I heard were bullets raining down on those people that were just there enjoying a music festival," she told Sunrise. It's not know whether any Australians were hurt in the attack. "If you have any concerns for the welfare of family and friends in the Las Vegas area, you should attempt to contact them directly," a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman told AAP. People unable to make contact with loved ones should phone the DFAT emergency hotline: 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305. Loading Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman described the city as a "safe place" for tourists and called Paddock "a crazed lunatic full of hate". As Kim Jong-nam walked towards an Air Asia check-in-kiosk shortly before 9am on February 13 four - possibly five - suspected North Korean spies were watching in the busy departure hall of Kuala Lumpur airport. But none of them will be among up to 40 witnesses and experts testifying at the trial of two Asian women charged with an audacious Cold War-style political assassination that shocked the world and sparked a diplomatic crisis. Siti Aisyah, 25, of Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong,28, from Vietnam, face execution if convicted of smearing the deadly nerve agent VX on Mr Kim's face after a 23-day trial in Malaysia's High Court, which began on Monday. Both Ms Siti and Ms Doan pleaded not guilty on Monday after the murder charge was read out through interpreters in both the Indonesian and Vietnamese languages. NuRAN Receives Orders of over $1 Million, Including Initial Delivery of 4G LTE Products QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC (Marketwired) 10/02/17 NuRAN Wireless (CSE: NUR)(CSE: NUR.CN)(CNSX: NUR)(OTC PINK: NRRWF) is pleased to announce that it has received new orders of over $1 Million Canadian related to rural connectivity which includes the delivery of the newly-developed 4G LTE small cells. These new orders include the first deliveries of 4G LTE small cells to a Tier One Telecom Operator demonstrating the relevance of broadband in rural connectivity. These new contracts are further evidence of the pressing need for mobile broadband infrastructure in areas other than large urban centers, and that solutions better adapted to these markets are key to continued growth in connectivity. Our partnerships with global players is also testimony to our deep know-how in the area of wireless connectivity and clearly demonstrates our worldwide leading role in this important endeavor of connecting everyone, everywhere, states Martin Bedard, Co-CEO at NuRAN Wireless Inc. About NuRAN Wireless NuRAN Wireless is a leading supplier of mobile and broadband wireless infrastructure solutions. Its innovative radio access network (RAN), core network, and backhaul products dramatically drop the total cost of ownership, thereby creating new opportunities for established, as well as emerging mobile network operators. Indoor coverage, isolated rural communities, offshore platforms and ships, NuRAN Wireless helps its customers reach everyone, everywhere. Nutaq Innovations is a wholly owned subsidiary of NuRAN Wireless. Nutaq is a leading provider of advanced digital signal processing (DSP) solutions and wireless technologies, including software defined radios (SDR). The Company operates three complementary lines of business; Wireless Network Products, Advanced Development Platforms (ADP) and Engineering Services. No regulatory authority has approved or reviewed the contents of the information contained in this news release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects or does not expect, is expected, estimates, intends, anticipates or does not anticipate, or believes, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of NuRAN Wireless to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include: the Companys quest to connect the next billion; that this strategic acquisition allows Nuran to offer a complete mobile and broadband solution and the ability to secure the Nuran solution as the leader in rural and remote mobile connectivity, that the acquisition reinforces NuRANs strategic positioning towards new and small operators by offering an end-to-end mobile small-cell network solution with the lowest Total-Cost-of-Ownership (TCO) on the market and that the acquisition will allow NuRAN the opportunity to bring cellular coverage to emerging market where the return on investment (ROI) was previously simply too low. Actual results and developments are likely to differ, and may differ materially, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to: the ability of NurRAN Wireless to obtain necessary financing; general economic conditions in Canada and globally; competition for, among other things, capital and skilled personnel; our ability to hire and retain qualified employees and key management personnel; possibility that government policies or laws may change; possible disruptive effects of organizational or personnel changes; technological change, new products and standards; risks related to acquisitions and international expansion; reliance on large customers; reliance on a limited number of suppliers; risks related to the Companys competition; failure to integrate the technology and assets acquired from the Vendors and the Companys failure to adequately protect its intellectual property; interruption or failure of information technology systems and other risk factors described in the Companys reports filed on SEDAR), including its financial statements for the year ended October 31, 2015, and those referred to under the heading Risk Factors. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing NuRAN Wireless views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Contacts: For further Information about NuRAN Wireless or Nutaq Innovations: or Martin Bedard and Patrice Rainville Co-Presidents and Co-CEOs (418) 914-7484 or Toll Free: 1-855-914-7484 (418) 914-9477 (FAX) ; Direct Financial Strategies and Communication Frank Candido (514) 969-5530 Light Reading Launches Automation Roadshow Event Series With London Workshop NEW YORK, NY (Marketwired) 10/02/17 Light Reading () is hosting its first automation event, Automation & the New Carrier Network (), in London on November 2. Automation & the New Carrier Network is the first in a series of automation-focused events that Light Reading is hosting. The half-day event brokers a conversation about what the industrys next steps should be. Industry leaders will discuss the state of automation, NFV and SDN, and stimulate a dialogue about how to fit the pieces together and map them to sustainable business cases. The event will feature speakers Dave Hughes, Vice President of Engineering at PCCW Global, and Oliver Cantor, Business Network and Security Solutions at Verizon. Topics to be discussed at the event include: How do data models and information models fit into this, and how can carriers drive these efforts? What impact are the multiple NFV MANO initiatives having on enabling automation? Where and how are goals for automation being defined and time-tables being set? How can operators ensure automation and virtualization dont create new attack surfaces for hackers? What are vendors doing to prepare for automated deployment of software-defined network functions? What roles do AI/machine learning and big data/analytics play in enabling automation? Automation is arguably the end-game for SDN and NFV, but that goal is sometimes easy to forget, says James Crawshaw, senior analyst at Heavy Reading. At Automation & the New Carrier Network we will discuss the state of automation and what the next steps should be. To compete with the OTT players, telcos need to be nimbler and the only way to do this cost effectively is by increasing the level of automation, not just in network operations but throughout the organization. Early-bird rate passes are now available for purchase for 299. Register here: . Sponsor opportunities are still available. Contact for more information. Follow Light Reading on , , and for all the latest news. Light Reading () combines its research-led online communities and targeted events portfolio to help those in the global communications industry make informed decisions. Lightreading.com is the ultimate source for telecom analysis for more than 400,000 subscribers each month, leading the media sector in terms of traffic, content and reputation. Light Reading produces targeted communications events and focused one-day and two-day conferences each year for cable, mobile and wireline executives. Contact: Erin Cardinal 646-618-8854 Patriot One Receives FCC Approval for PATSCAN CMR Paving Way for Commercial Roll-Out TORONTO, ON (Marketwired) 10/02/17 (TSX VENTURE: PAT) (OTCQB: PTOTF) (FRANKFURT: 0PL) (Patriot One or the Company), is extremely pleased to announce that its award-winning PATSCAN CMR (Cognitive Microwave Radar) concealed weapons detection system has achieved Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Declaration of Conformity certification, a copy of which can be found here: . This is a momentous occasion for us, states Patriot One Technologies CTO Dinesh Kandanchatha. We now hold both FCC and Industry Canada (IC) certification allowing us to move into commercial roll-out across North America, with other countries soon to follow. The next stage of this exciting journey now begins with select deployments with key early adopters. Our system, which relies on machine learning algorithms, has graduated from the lab and is about to enter the arena of commercial distribution. Our strategy involves deployment through the remainder of the year to meet our backlog of commitments, and to immerse our engineering teams into an in-depth analysis of real-world threat scenarios in order to ensure that Patriot One offers the leading world-class solution for global threat detection. This is an important milestone for the Patriot One team for which they should be proud, said Governor Tom Ridge, first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security and a member of the Patriot One Advisory Board. I very much look forward to seeing the rollout of this game-changing technology across the United States and to supporting their efforts to improve public safety. We have used the waiting period for regulatory approval to assemble a team capable of meeting the go-to market challenges ahead. Kandanchatha continues, I anticipate a phased rollout, and like any new technology we will advance carefully and deliberately, recognizing progress will come quickly as we learn from each installation. We have worked hard to ensure that our system would pass this rigorous hurdle and to have achieved it in less than a year is a testament to our team of dedicated engineers, researchers and support staff who have put in the huge effort to achieve todays news. PATSCAN CMR sales efforts currently focus on markets encompassing houses of worship, academic institutions, event centres, casinos, commercial offices, hotel properties, government agencies and other locations at high risk of terrorist attack or random violence. Interest and orders have been received from around the globe and todays announcement will trigger a number of sales, marketing and support initiatives in major markets including the United Kingdom, Eurozone and Asia-Pacific regions. This is wonderful news for our company, our stakeholders and shareholders alike. states Company CEO Martin Cronin. We well understand that there are hurdles with any new technology, especially when it is revolutionary. We are also very clear regarding the role that the investment community has played in getting us to where we are today, and we will redouble our commitment as we move ahead to build shareholder value and to earn capital market support. Today we celebrate meeting a significant building block in our strategy for public safety through threat detection and our ongoing mission to make the world a safer place. Martin Cronin CEO & Director (TSX VENTURE: PAT) (OTCQB: PTOTF) (FRANKFURT: 0PL)Patriot One has developed PATSCAN CMR the next generation of its award-winning radar device and software solution. PATSCAN CMR is a first-of-its-kind Cognitive Microwave Radar concealed weapons detection system, designed as an effective tool to combat active shooter threats before they occur. Built for cost-effective deployment in weapon-restricted buildings and facilities, the Patriot One software solution and related hardware can be installed in hallways and doorways to covertly identify weapons and to alert security of an active threat entering the premises. Owner/operators of private and certain public facilities can now prominently post anti-weapons policies with compliance assured. The Companys motto Deter, Detect and Defend is based on the belief that widespread use of its technology will act as an effective deterrent, thereby diminishing the epidemic phenomena of active shooters across the globe. For more information, visit: . Patriot One Technologies are proud winners of the 2017 Anti-Terrorism / Force Protection category of the New Product Showcase at . : No Securities Exchange has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release. This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to product development, licensing, commercialization and regulatory compliance issues and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as will, may, should, anticipate, expects and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Companys expectations include the failure to satisfy the conditions of the relevant securities exchange(s) and other risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable law. Neither the 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. CHICAGO (CBS) Young opponents of abortion gathered outside the Thompson Center to denounce Gov. Bruce Rauner and the new law he signed this week that provides for taxpayer financing of abortion. They called the governors decision to sign HB-40 a grave disappointment. David Cordaro is with the organization Students For Life said: Governor Rauner betrayed us. He betrayed the Republican party. And he betrayed the pro-life generation. State Sen. Dan McConchie and Rep. Tom Morrison are two legislators who say theyve told Gov. Rauner hes finished politically. McConchie said Republican lawmakers tried to convince Rauner to veto the bill. Both McConchie and Morrison encouraged the youthful abortion opponents to find candidates who oppose taxpayer funded abortions and to work for them. Under the Republican leadership (and I use that term loosely) of Ryan and McConnell, the GOP has now reached irrelevancy as was recently demonstrated by Trump negotiating with Pelosi and Schumer as opposed to the aforementioned two misfits. Pelosi is now the de facto Speaker of the House and Schumer is the de facto Senate Majority Leader. The Republicans Big Tent has now become as obsolete as the Ringling Brothers Circus itself! Trump swept Republican candidates into leadership positions in the 2016 national elections. Now Pelosi has flown in on her broom, dismounted, and used it to effectively sweep them out! In a display of total frustration at the Republican Partys inability to repeal Obamacare and come up with a tax reform plan after 7 long years, one center right woman from Lake Forest stated during a recent political debate at a local coffee house: The Republicans are as useless as used condoms! And this womans comment was tame in comparison to others! America has been let down by the Republican Party as the anti-Trump brigade of establishment politicians such as McConnell, Rubio, Murkowski, Collins, McCain, Graham, Flake, Paul Ryan, Kinzinger and their similar ilk, continue their assault on the Trump presidency. Unfortunately for them, their destructive behavior has backfired and the emergence of a viable 3rd Party looks more probable than ever. When that occurs (and it will), the Republican Party will be relegated to 4th place behind the new party, the democrats, and the independents. Given the contempt Americans have demonstrated for the GOP as shown in a recent Gallup poll, together with another Gallup pollshowing 61% of Americans support a new 3rd Party, that may occur sooner rather than later. When I was discharged from the Navy, I returned to Chicago and found it as corrupt as ever. In self defense, and as an eternal optimist, I thought I could make a difference by becoming active in the Republican Party. In that time frame, the GOP was considered THE moral authority and held the high ground. But over the years, the more principled and well intentioned members of the GOP were shouted down as a lesser number of clowns and jackasses brought the Party down to their own low levels. Slowly but surely, the Republicans surrendered the high ground and fought their way to the bottom with many becoming as morally, ethically, politically, and often, as criminally corrupt as the democrats. As I witnessed this destruction, I backed away from the party that had now become known as the least corrupt of the corruptibles. I also became selective in whose campaign I worked and occasionally helped democrats and Libertarians, whose moral standards were much higher than their GOP counterparts. As the GOP continued sliding down the slippery slope and their Big Tent became more of a circus, like so many other supporters I went AWOL. When Perot emerged, I welcomed him with open arms and soon became the elected state chairman, president, and CEO of his Party, United We Stand America Illinois. I was amazed at how many citizens throughout Illinois (and the Nation) held similar feelings. Many thought the GOP would have been jolted into reality by an upstart who just received 20%+ of the vote, but no, they just doubled down on their destructive path to oblivion. Several years ago I was recruited by my township GOP to help with the organization as a committeeman. I quickly rose to 1st Vice Chair of the West Deerfield Republican Party and shortly after that, to third vice chair of the Lake County Republican organization. Shortly after that, I was appointed communications chairman of the 10th Congressional District Party. But what I saw was discouraging: the miscreants in the Republican Party seemed to be in charge and It was now fashionable to represent their own morally, ethically, and politically corrupt values as opposed to the traditional values of their constituents. During one central committee meeting, I stated that the GOP had sunk from being a leader to becoming the least worse of the worse and I was worried it would go even lower. How spot on I was! America is fed-up with mediocracy and kowtowing to the least common denominator. Unfortunately for the Republican Party, their death spiral has begun and it is questionable if they can ever recover. For openers, it is now all but impossible to attract credible and qualified candidates, and without credible candidates, their demise is all but assured. America deserves better. but no one is listening! Because it is worth having that debate. The Germans' attitude toward Europe has changed - it has become significantly more positive. With the EU facing strong headwinds, it appears that many are just now realizing how valuable it is. Seldom has approval of the EU and the common currency been as high as it is right now. And that is another reason why Merkel cannot now hide behind the FDP if she governs together with them. She cannot use the party's euroskepticism as a pretext for rebuffing Macron. Merkel was never a passionate European. But she also didn't want to be responsible for Europe's collapse, hence her decision, after long deliberation, to bail out Greece. Most of all, she came to understand earlier than others that nation-state politics hardly works any longer. Her efforts at forming cross-border alliances came from her experience that large issues - from migration to climate change to financial markets - can only be addresses internationally, or at least at the European level. Macron may want to challenge Merkel's primacy in Europe, but he is actually a perfect complement to her. He possesses the very talents that she lacks: vision, pathos and rhetoric. And she has the ones he is missing: sobriety, experience and substance. It could be a perfect match. The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approved a joint plan filed by Eversource Energy, United Illuminating and affiliated gas companies setting guidelines for continuing service in situations where customers are behind on their bills. PURA approved electricity and gas companies automatically re-enrolling customers for the upcoming heating season who were part of the utilities arrearage forgiveness plans last winter. Last year, more than 17,600 households statewide were enrolled in the Eversources arrearage plan for electricity customers, with United Illuminating reporting 2,800 plan participants in the New Haven and Bridgeport areas where it provides electricity service. Nearly as many were enrolled in gas bill arrearage plans for Eversources Yankee Gas subsidiary and the Southern Connecticut Gas and the Connecticut Natural Gas affiliates of United Illuminating. The utilities inform customers directly about the programs they offer, also taking referrals from social aid agencies who become aware of clients having financial difficulties. In addition to keeping the lights and heat on for cash-strapped customers, the utilities use the arrearage plans to promote energy efficiency and weatherization measures customers can take to lower their future energy bills. Both companies promote the Operation Fuel nonprofit in Connecticut that covers payments for deliveries of home heating oil, with information available by calling 211. Eversource runs a NewStart program that allows customers to eliminate portions of their overdue balance; in 2014, it forgave approximately $28.7 million in debt owed by some 49,000 customers across its territories in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Customers in both utilities winter protection plans are asked to pay what they can in the colder months and work out a payment plan come May when heating bills lessen. Eversource also has a budget billing plan that levels out charges to help customers avoid spikes in their bills they may have trouble covering in any single month. The Hartford-based utility offers a medical protection plan that can protect qualified customers from any shutoff of service should they incur a serious ailment. To inquire about Eversource assistance plans for electricity, call 800-286-2828; and for gas 800-438-2278. United Illuminating fields inquiries at 800-722-5584, and Southern Connecticut Gas at 800-659-8299. Due to reporting errors, an earlier version incorrectly stated utility companies re-enrolling customers in arrearage forgiveness programs for the first time in 2017; Eversource has re-enrolled customers who in its Matching Payment Program provided they still qualify. Social agencies have the ability to enroll clients directly in arrearage programs, not on a referral basis as the article stated. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman By Teresa Mull, School Choice Weekly - U.S. Education Sec. Betsy DeVos has done the unthinkable: Shes proposed the educational elite consider an alternative to our tired, old, broken-down, one-size-fits-none education system. Her bold speech is unlikely to be well-received by the educational elitistsmainly teachers unions and their cronies. Luckily for DeVos, its not the teachers unions who matter, and its fairly certain those who do matter, the parents with kids in the failing government school system, will approve wholeheartedly. READ MORE This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Purdue Pharma was sued last week by the states of Louisiana and Washington and the city of Seattle for alleged deceptive marketing of its prescription opioids, practices that the plaintiffs said have fueled an epidemic of opioid abuse. The new complaints allegations mirror those of legal actions filed earlier this year by other state and local officials around the country arguing Stamford-based Purdue, whose top-selling opioid is OxyContin, and other pharmaceutical companies should be held accountable for the spiraling number of deaths and burgeoning costs stemming from the national opioid crisis. Purdue Pharma ignored the devastating consequences of its opioids and profited from its massive deception, Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a Sept. 28 statement. Its time they are held accountable and pay for the devastation they caused. In a statement Monday on the three lawsuits, Purdue officials said they vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense. In Louisiana, Purdue and several other pharmaceutical firms named as defendants downplayed the risk of addiction to their drugs and falsely promoted their opioids benefits often with the help of doctors, patient advocacy groups and medical professional groups according to the health departments lawsuit. Drug manufacturers undertook an orchestrated campaign to flood Louisiana with highly addictive and dangerous opioids in an effort to maximize profits above the health and well-being of their customers, Louisiana officials wrote in their lawsuit. Among the allegations in the Washington complaint, Purdue engaged in numerous deceptive or unfair acts and practices designed to convince health care providers to continue prescribing opioids despite the lack of evidence of effectiveness and despite the risks of opioid use. The Seattle complaint, which also sues several other pharmaceutical firms, makes allegations similar to those in the Louisiana and Washington actions. It was announced at the same time as the Washington lawsuit and filed in the same state superior court. All three lawsuits link the proliferation of prescription opioids to the escalating toll of abuse and overdoses. Opioid-related deaths in Louisiana have nearly doubled from 155 in 2012, to 305 in 2016, according to state data. In 2015, the number of overdose deaths in Washington exceeded the number of fatalities from car accidents or deaths from firearms. More than six of 10 drug overdose deaths in Washington between 2010 and 2015 involved an opioid, according to state officials. Louisianas lawsuit is seeking damages for excessive opioid prescriptions and treatments tied to the defendants opioids. Since 2007, the health department said it had paid about $28 million for some 12,000 prescriptions for Purdue drugs. The Washington state lawsuit seeks civil penalties and damages and a court order for Purdue to give up the profits it made in Washington as a result of its illegal conduct. Purdue officials cite their companys partnership with law enforcement agencies to provide access to the overdose-reversing medication naloxone and their distribution of federal guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain as key initiatives to combat the opioid crisis. We are deeply troubled by the opioid crisis, and we are dedicated to being part of the solution, Purdue said in its statement. As a company grounded in science, we must balance patient access to FDA-approved medicines, while working collaboratively to solve this public health challenge. Other recent lawsuits against Purdue have been filed by the states of Ohio, Oklahoma, and New Hampshire; the city of Everett, Wash.; and district attorneys in northeast Tennessee. Purdue filed last month for the dismissal of the Ohio lawsuit, arguing it was complying with federal regulations. pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschott STAMFORD 36. Thats the number for a perfect ACT score. Westhill High School senior Nikhil Tungaturthy, 17, achieved this goal in September, but it wasnt an easy process. Despite his fascination with science and math, Tungaturthy took the ACT test four times. Granted, he scored a 34 the first time and a 35 on his second and third tries. Its that kind of determination that Tungaturthy, a high honors award recipient from the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, wants to spread to his peers. I hear all the time I cant do well on these tests, he said. But with prep, you can do anything. Especially for juniors this year, dont give up on these tests. According to the ACT organization, on average, fewer than 0.1 percent of ACT test takers earn a top score. For the 2016 graduates of U.S. high schools, only about 2,200 out of nearly 2.1 million who took the ACT earned a composite score of 36. Tungaturthy doesnt shy away from his enthusiasm for the fanciful and innovative. He takes joy in the wonders of technology and the science of computer programming. His voice becomes rushed when speaking about his experience with robotics, but only in a way that reflects his excitement for the subject matter. Tungaturthys passions dictate his ambition. For most students, schooling and personal life might be separate constructs. For Tungaturthy, a member of the Westhill marching band and section leader in clarinet, theyre one and the same. He found at a young age that having interests that can be applied to the real world helped him academicallyhe encourages others to develop a similar mind set. While you learn a lot in school, how to use those things in the real world and face challenges are the things that stick with you, he said. Learning to cope with setbacks is something you learn if you have a hobby. Everyone should have something they like to do that is challenging. You learn how to do stuff on your own when you experiment yourself. In Tungaturthys case, he found technology to be his challenge. He said it always bothered him not knowing how things worked and he developed that into a passion. Taking things apart and putting them back together became commonplace. While attending Cloonan Middle School, he formed a robotics team that won a regional FIRST LEGO League competition and placed top 10 in the state competition. He then realized that this was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. I realized that technology would be everything in the future, he said. However, Tungaturthy didnt learn these valuable lessons on his own. He said he owes much of his success to his supportive parents. His father, Prasad, and mother, Indrani, are both from IndiaHyderabad and Mumbai, respectively. His father came to the U.S. in the early 1990s while his mother came in 1996 to find better opportunities in the technology industry. Nikhil was born shortly after. While they both completed undergraduate studies in India, their advanced engineering degrees were earned in the U.S. Prasad went to Louisiana Tech University while Indrani attended Fairfields Sacred Heart University. By the time Indrani came to the U.S., Prasad had already graduated, so he helped Indrani complete her studies. Today, Prasad is director of product development at Oracle the tech giant where Tungaturthy has interned and Indrani is a senior engineer at Advent Software. Being a high school senior, Tungaturthy is applying to colleges. His top picks are Dartmouth College, Georgia Tech and the University of Michigan. He hopes to study computer science. In this country there are so many resources and things we take for granted, Tungaturthy said. If I want to give up, I think of the sacrifices made to get me here. tclark@hearstmediact.com; 203-964-2265; @travclark2 Spain moved to turn the screws on Catalonia as the European Union refused to recognize the rebel region's bid for independence, sending the country into its biggest crisis since the end of Francisco Franco's dictatorship and threatening to unravel a four-decade old democratic settlement. After a day of violence in the region on Sunday when the central government sent in police to disrupt voting in an illegal referendum on independence, Justice Minister Rafael Catala said it would use all the tools at its disposal -- including if necessary the suspension of Catalonia's autonomy -- to enforce the rule of law. The EU for its part said the Catalan matter must be dealt with under the Spanish constitution. "We have always said that we would use all the force of the law and all the mechanisms that the constitution and laws grant," Catala told broadcaster TVE in an interview. While images of police violence provoked alarmed reactions from some European government officials, Catala praised the security forces for their "measured" response. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy looks to be doubling down on his response to a still-escalating crisis after secessionist leaders in Barcelona signaled they may declare independence within days for the region that constitutes about a fifth of Spain's economic output. Asked if he would consider applying the never-before-used article 155 of the Spanish constitution to suspend the region's government, Catala said the government's duty was to "fix problems" and ensure the law is enforced. Spanish stocks, shares of Catalan lenders and the euro fell on Monday as the country was left reeling from the previous day's events that saw thousands of police use force to obstruct voting in the referendum ruled illegal by the constitutional court in Madrid. The clashes left hundreds of people injured, according to the regional government. Unions backing independence declared strikes to be held from Tuesday in protest. Spain's public works ministry ordered a minimum 33 percent service on local trains and 76 percent service on long-distance trains. The euro was down 0.5 percent to $1.1755 as of 3:15 p.m. in Madrid, while Spain's benchmark IBEX 35 stock index slid 1.8 percent. Barcelona-based CaixaBank SA fell as much as 4.8 percent and Banco Sabadell SA, another Catalan lender, fell as much as 6.6 percent. While the violent images will harm the country's brand, Rajoy's stance may play well with his core base in conservative Spain, said Antonio Barroso, a political risk analyst at Teneo Intelligence in London. "In the short-term, this doesn't necessarily harm Rajoy," said Barroso. "In the longer-term, the divisions in Spain become more entrenched." Rajoy has said he will address Parliament on the crisis. After a meeting with him on Monday, Pedro Sanchez, the leader of the Socialists, the second-biggest party in parliament, demanded that Rajoy open talks with Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and meet other political leaders including Unidos Podemos to discuss the Catalan crisis. He also demanded an explanation for the police's use of violence. Rajoy also met Albert Rivera, the head of the Ciudadanos party. Article 155 of Spain's 1978 constitution allows the premier a final recourse option to suspend Catalonia's semi-autonomy. Puigdemont said Sunday's events showed the region had won its right to become a republic and called on the EU to support its cause. The EU refused to heed Catalan pleas for recognition, arguing that the matter is a domestic one for Spain and that an independent Catalonia would be outside the bloc. The matter will have "to be dealt with in line with the constitutional order of Spain," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters in Brussels on Monday. While regional heads such as Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon backed the Catalan desire to vote, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel was one of few EU leaders to comment. Even then he steered clear of endorsing the Catalan government line, saying on Twitter only that "we condemn all forms of violence and reaffirm our call for political dialogue." The Catalan crisis has already caused broader problems for Rajoy's efforts to rule Spain as the head of a minority government that relies on support from regional parties to get legislation passed. Last week he had to pull plans to present his 2018 budget after allies in the Basque PNV party withheld their support as they criticized his stance on Catalonia. Inigo Urkullu, the Basque "lehendakari," or regional president, said the police action was totally disproportionate and the use of courts and security services couldn't be a solution to Catalonia's crisis, El Diario Vasco newspaper reported. Speaking to reporters in Barcelona on Monday, Puigdemont demanded the withdrawal of Spanish police and civil guards from Catalonia after Sunday's vote. Two million Catalans backed independence out of 2.3 million votes cast, government spokesman Jordi Turull said at a press conference in the early hours of Monday. Just over 5 million people were eligible to vote. Before the government crackdown began, separatist leaders said they would be comfortable declaring independence with about 1.8 million votes. The government disputes the result, saying there were no safeguards to prevent people voting more than once after it acted to take down online voting rolls. Puigdemont's time frame could see him announce the formation of a Catalan republic on Oct. 6, exactly 83 years since his predecessor as regional president, Lluis Companys, also declared independence. Companys was executed by the dictatorship of Franco. --- Bloomberg's Rodrigo Orihuela and Esteban Duarte contributed. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal expressed their condolences to the Las Vegas community Monday in wake of Sundays mass shooting at a concert. At least 50 people were killed and over 400 were hospitalized. Gov. Malloy: Our hearts are breaking for the Las Vegas community. This morning, our nation woke up to yet another senseless tragedy - one that we have seen repeated far too many times. While we do not know all the details of what took place in Las Vegas - we are incredibly grateful to the first responders and the everyday citizens who bravely risked their lives to save others. We send our sincerest condolences to those who have lost loved ones and we pray for the recovery of the survivors. To all those impacted by last nights shooting - Connecticut stands with you. Lt. Gov. Wyman: We join the country in mourning the citizens who were killed in Las Vegas last night. Our thoughts are with the injured, and with the families who were plunged into the horror of waiting for news on their loved ones. I want to commend the first responders and other citizens who acted with bravery and courage despite the terrible events. Their actions saved lives and we thank them for what they did to protect residents. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.: My heart goes out to the victims, their families, the first responders, and the entire Las Vegas community. Nowhere but America do horrific large-scale mass shootings happen with this degree of regularity. Last night's massacre may go down as the deadliest in our nation's history, but already this year there have been more mass shootings than days in the year. This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren't public policy responses to this epidemic. There are, and the thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference. It's time for Congress to get off its ass and do something. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.: Although many details of this mass shooting remain unclear, one thing is certain: yet again, we are watching in horror as another American community is torn apart by the terrible devastation wrought by a gunman. My heart breaks for Las Vegas: the victims, their families, their friends, and their entire community. It has been barely a year since what was previously the largest mass shooting in American history - the deadly attack at Pulse nightclub. In the interim, thousands more have been lost to the daily, ruthless toll of gun violence. Still, Congress refuses to act. I am more than frustrated, I am furious. Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim: Joe Ganim, the mayor of the states largest city, Bridgeport, said his parents just returned from a conference in Las Vegas. They came back from Las Vegas literally in the last two days, Ganim said. I think they stayed on the Strip. You just have to pause every time something like this happens. I respect the Second Amendment. I dont mean to challenge it as a basis of our fundamental rights. (But) when you can shoot that fast that many people, I dont get it. Ive been a strong advocate for as long as I have been in and out of government, (and) fought for the assault weapons ban. I dont know the answers. I know where I stand on these things. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.: The attack overnight in Las Vegas the largest mass shooting in our nations historyis horrific in its scale and senselessness. My thoughts and prayers are with the hundreds of victims injured and killed, their families, and the community as they grieve following this tragedy. The frequency of these awful eventsNewtown, Aurora, Orlando, Las Vegas, and the list unfortunately goes onis striking and must be met with immediate action. Gun violence has taken far too many American lives from us too soon. Commonsense reforms such as banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, requiring a background check for every commercial gun sale, and supporting federal research into the causes of gun violence, can help save lives. I urge Speaker Ryan to immediately allow Congress to take up these and other measures to prevent gun violence. We owe it to the victims and their families to do everything we can to prevent these atrocities from occurring again and again. U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn.: Once again, the nation is beset with a horrific mass shooting and Congress has done nothing. We are all heartbroken for the victims and their families, my thoughts and prayers are with them all. This December, it will be five years since the tragedy at Sandy Hook occurred. In that time, there have been over 1,500 mass shootings. Since that horrific day, the U.S. House of Representatives has not held a single vote on commonsense gun violence prevention measures. With each day that passes, Congress remains complicit in these acts of violence. Silence and prayers for the fallen are simply not enough. We need a vote on common sense solutions that not only address gun violence, but also focus on mental health and universal background checks. We will continue to demand action for the victims of gun violence. A Quinnipiac Poll in 2017, listed that 94% of Americans polled were in favor of universal background checks. My colleagues in the majority need to do something for a change and address this epidemic. How many more tragedies, how many more deaths need to occur until they are finally able to stand up to the NRA and do what is right? said Larson. Content marketing still remains one of the most cost effective marketing techniques that is widely adopted by most of the businesses worldwide. Nearly all -- 93 percent -- of B2B companies rely upon content marketing for demand generation and brand building. Startups already know the potential that content marketing holds for them. However, that power factor still remains missing that can bring in more customers and retain the existing ones. Here are nine effective ways to boost your existing content marketing strategy. 1. Create content based on user persona. Persona is a fictional representation of your ideal audience. You need to answer the basic question of who you are writing for? Before you start preparing content. If you have an idea of your target audience then it becomes easier for you to prepare content. Document your persona using elements like: -- Age group. -- Gender. -- Likes/Dislikes. --The pain points and how your content can solve the problem. -- Is the target a decision maker? -- Which device do they use to access information? -- When do they prefer to read? -- Are they active on social media? -- Which social channels do they prefer and at what time? -- Do they enjoy watching videos? -- Which brands do they follow and why do they follow them? -- What influences them to share content? Related: The Science of Building Buyer Personas (Infographic) I will also recommend you to read the buying process map before you prepare the content calendar. 2. Identify the crucial micro moments. As a business, you should remain aware of the micro moments that are bringing in and converting the people. Recognizing the most critical micro moments for your brand is an art. It implies making sense of why individuals turn to mobile and when your brand can be generally useful. Catch your audiences attention follow the below-given suggestions: -- Identify the Micro-Moments that Matter the Most to Your Business: Whether that is to draw customers attention to your website or to buy your product online, what are the micro-moments you have to prevail upon? -- Convey on needs at the time: Streamline your content to fit these moments and also make sure that information is bite-sized, simple to consume and visually inspiring. -- Measure Results: The key to any marketing activity is to evaluate the outcomes and choose whether the outcome was worth the time and cash. Related: Leveraging Micro-Moments in Your Content Campaign 3. Prepare a solid layout for the content using Gestalt principles. The use of Gestalt principles helps to create great designs. Designs need to be coherent, associated and bound together. Here are prominent Gestalt principles that you should use for your content layout: -- Proximity: Proximity can make your images stronger by gathering your subjects together with a goal. You should make use of proper spaces in order to hold the attention of the visitors and properly arrange the text into one group, appropriately spacing it from the CTA on your site page. -- Similarity: Similarity occurs when shapes, colors, sizes or objects look enough similar to be perceived as a group or pattern in the viewers mind. When you use all these components in your images it gives your viewers a feeling of rhythm and will mean harmony. -- Continuation: You should make use of text and images to manipulate the direction in which the visitor will look. This could be awesome for your landing pages. Having flow can grab your audiences attention right to the call to action. -- Closure: One of the approaches to keep the viewer associated with the images is to have them finish a picture, shape, or an idea. By having the viewer work at filling in the missing pieces in an image, will turn them into an active applicant, and they will also stick for a long time taking a look at your site images. -- Simplicity: This is also an important concept that you can follow in your design, as it's important to keep your website pages clutter free with a specific goal to streamline the procedures leading to transformation -- Figure/ground: It basically refers to the relationship between an object and its environments. It's important that you should make a clear difference between the figure and the ground. You need to take this principle into consideration in order to create beautiful graphics and if you want to come up with exclusive logos. Related: Boost Facebook Engagement With These Three Psychology Principles 4. Dont ignore aesthetics. Aesthetics simple means having visually appealing content. The attention span of readers comprises of a few seconds and you need to make an instant impact that persuades the reader to take an action. An aesthetic design helps to attract more attention, improve design usability, enhance perceive credibility and influence the brand choice. Here is how you can make your content visually more appealing: -- Make your content easy to scan and use bullet points and numbering wherever needed. -- Use responsive design and avoid grammatical mistakes. -- Add relevant images and videos that explains your content well. -- Use proper contextual links and similar posts feature in order to make it easier for the readers to click on the links. This will help to reduce the bounce rate and improve the overall time on page. -- Adopt an easy navigation that is mobile friendly and use effective CTAs that matches the main theme. Related: The Fascinating Connection Between Design, Human Nature and Buying Decisions 5. Leverage the power of content curation. Content curation will help you to save time and produce lots of content in order to generate indirect traffic and conversions. Major benefits of content curation include: -- Allows you to attract a huge amount of traffic. -- You can create content really fast so this allows you to produce more content for increased social sharing. -- Enhances your brand identity by strengthening and broadcasting your brand values. -- Helps you compete effectively and efficiently, and also offer you with unique benefits critical in todays market. You can use tools like Scoop.it to curate content and reach the masses. It is easy to use and its premium subscription which starts at $11 a year comes with more features such as the ability to customize Scoop.it, make use of analytics as well as to distribute an email newsletter. Related: Four Ways to Stock Your Content War Chest 6. Adopt a storytelling approach. It is one of the most powerful way of attracting audiences attention. It has the power to form a personal relationship with your audience and also helps you in building an attractive and friendly platform for you and your brand. Follow the below given points to improve storytelling while building your brand: -- Know about your audience is the first step you need to consider when creating a story. You have five minutes to grab your audiences attention while telling your story in the right place, time as well as in the right context. -- Make use of various platforms and channels in telling stories to your readers, which will help you in making your brand messages more appropriate. -- Be specific in telling a story and also support your videos with micro moments, as it will help your brand to connect at a much higher level with your audience. -- Be authentic, as original is better. Dont try to polish things in the hope that it will look pleasant to your audience, doing this can sometimes have the adverse result. -- Make it more actionable as it will help your audience to take immediate action. Related: The Five Elements of Storytelling Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know 7. Use the right tools to save time and resources. Hard working content marketers do all the work themselves while smart ones make use of tools! Outbrain If your content is facing publishing and distribution related problems then you can use this tool. It will help you in achieving the awareness for your content and also your brand on authoritative sites as well. HubSpot This tool provides you with great customer support and it has many tools that you can use for monitoring and generating an effective blog posts and landing pages. HubSpot has social media analytics and message-scheduling capabilities by which your content can flawlessly publish to social media platforms after you finish creating your content. BuzzSumo This tool will help you in telling the performance of your content and breaks down that performance by numerous metrics through domains, keywords etc. You can use it free for the first five searches and can find out how much it is helpful for your content marketing strategy. By using this tool you can also find out which content is being shared the most. Related: The 25 Tools Every Entrepreneur Should Know About 8. Run PPC ads on selected platforms. PPC still remains one of the most popular and highly effective choices when it comes to lead generation. Especially for startups where it is necessary to raise up the revenue, you need immediate results. PPC is an ideal way to grab more clicks in no time and improve your ROI. Writing attractive and persuasive PPC ad copy will also help you in grabbing the attention of your audience to click on your content. Use platforms like Reddit, StumbleUpon and LinkedIn or any other platform whose demographics matches the demographics of your target audience. Make use of orients model when designing image ads. If your ad contains images of people, place them toward your CTA and avoid positioning your models towards the viewer as those front-facing images will attract attention toward the model, rather than the essential parts of your ad. In order to rank high in search and grab your customer's attention, ensure that your content should be of high quality, relevant as well as SEO-ready. Related: Five Reasons Why Pay Per Click Ads Work for Small Business 9. Take the help of micro influencers. Micro influencers are an ideal target community for startups because they can be reached easily. Micro influencers can be anyone from a blogger to a niche expert who have a loyal following of people. If you can convince such micro influencers to promote your brand then you have hit the jackpot! Micro-influencers can help you in: -- Increase engagement: Micro-influencer can bring your brands and products in front of the audience. -- Attract higher quality leads: Working with micro-influencers also fosters higher-quality leads since they apply their impact in particular niches. Because of this specificity, the leads you produce from these micro-influencers will be more focused on. The outcome is a higher number of leads who are already interested in what you offer. -- Cultivates trust: Micro-influencers can help your customers in developing a high level of trusts for your brand. You can find a list of top influencer marketing platforms here. Related: Micro-influencers Bring Mega ROI for Brands Follow the above given ways in order to drive high-quality traffic, increase conversions and to retain customers coming back for more. Also, its important that you should calculate the ROI on a regular basis in order to identify whether your money and efforts are yielding the proper results or not. Related: Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com Two people died and 24 more were injured following a mass shooting Sunday night near a Las Vegas casino, according to police and local hospitals. The Los Vegas police account tweeted just before midnight that one suspect was "down" and reiterated that the investigation is still active. While newsrooms are notorious for being the center of chaos, deadlines and pressure, they're also known for something else: trusted, efficient journalists. Turns out, that's just what marketing agencies lack, especially when it comes to their departmental solutions and structures. And its starting at the top. A startling 57 percent of CMOs have been at the helm fewer than three years, according to an analysis by Korn Ferry. CMOs stay at their employers for short stints, perhaps because employers seem to gravitate toward those with degrees in everything and anything except marketing. Yes, 44 percent of CMOs in the study had MBAs, but few had spent time learning the ins and outs of the emerging marketing world, let alone educating themselves in the discipline. This leaves them destined to fail because the marketing platform that works best -- owned media -- eschews vague success metrics and focuses primarily on share of voice versus brand competition. Related: Think Like a Journalist to Create Compelling Content That Gets Noticed Its a faulty system that leads to irrelevant organizational charts based on bygone eras and pushy paid media, mixed up and unable to handle a society that loathes advertising but craves customer-centric information. Even Michael Chrisment, Nestles former global marketing head, has warned that the world of advertising is in chaos and needs a lifeline. Procter & Gamble agrees. And Harvard Business Review highlights the Marketing2020 study, which found that most marketers realize theyre in hot water, even if they arent calling the only people who can save them: the journalists. How journalism can rescue flailing marketing departments. Every journalist possesses inherent traits that can take a marketing department to the next level, starting with a deep understanding that writings should be newsworthy. Unlike marketers, journalists focus on audience first and brand second. Their writing is agile, speedy and accurate, something especially needed in an era where distrust is common. Stories written by journalists have a voice, which builds trust and personality. Instead of simply creating narcissistic pieces, they break out interesting information woven in a storytelling fabric; in other words, they already know how to handle coveted owned marketing. Whats not to love, especially from a marketing standpoint? Regrettably, many businesses dig in their heels and hire traditional marketing agencies instead of making their marketing dollars work by moving to a newsroom-style content development strategy. Related: 3 Classic Journalism Techniques That Will Improve Your Content Marketing Entrepreneurs who go the agency route may discover quickly that they arent getting a true owned media solution based on available research and development data. For example, agencies tend to lack the intellectual curiosity and time necessary to learn their clients businesses. As generalists, they cant delve deeply like on-staff journalists can; if they did spend the time on investigative reporting, they couldnt turn a profit. Consequently, agency writing lacks reach, engagement and crafting. Unless you want your marketing department to stumble in the dark, why not flesh out the team with true brand journalists who are driven to tell your story? Heres how: 1. Spend as much time on owned media as you do on taxes. As referenced in Accounting Today, most entrepreneurs spend more than 41 hours a year on tax preparation, and 40 percent of entrepreneurs devote 80 or more hours each year to taxes. If youre devoted to accounting, you should devote just as much time and energy to your owned media. Founders have wonderful stories; you are no exception. Look at Richard Branson: The man dropped out of high school at 16 because school just wasn't his bag, and he now owns Virgin Group, one of the most successful brands in the world. Let a journalist isolate the main tenets of your stories and develop brand mission narratives to educate and entertain your target audience. 2. Make your business attractive to high-quality brand journalists. The brand journalists are out there, and theyre looking for work. Insights from Indeed show that content marketing jobs are hot, rivaling reporter advertisements on the site after a more than 230 percent increase from early 2015 to 2016. Be sure to promote your company as an owned-media proponent that acts like a publisher, benchmarking the competition. Brand journalists can then step in to help you increase your digital footprint and solidify your authority based on research. Related: Brand Storytelling Becomes a Booming Business 3. Only hire brand journalists who have journalistic training. Any content writer can claim he or she is a brand journalist; focus your attention on writers who have been trained in journalistic reporting in the field and, depending on their skill level, at a reputable school. At my company, we only hire people who have a background in journalism because they can pivot rapidly, assimilating with our brand clients and extracting share-worthy content. The learning curve is short, which gives us an edge. 4. Stay on the cusp of technology. Just because youre using an old school newsroom approach to marketing doesnt give you leeway to ignore technology. Emerging technologies allow brands to capture, curate, distribute and measure high-performing content. Your marketing newsroom -- whether in-house or virtual -- will become a bridge for the journalists and technology platforms to evaluate engagement. Remember: You dont have to invest in an actual physical space for your publishing; part-time and full-time freelance journalists can save money while boosting your owned content's return on investment. Hanging on to a marketing structure thats failing fast? Summon the strength to rip everything apart so you can rebuild a stronger replacement. With journalists on your team, youll have the resources necessary to turn out a steady stream of tip sheets, whitepapers, articles, blog posts and more to bolster your brand. Related: The 7 Most Common Analysis Mistakes New Marketers Make 9 Ways Startups Fuel Great ROI From Their Existing Content Marketing Strategy AI Still Can't Create the Perfect Marketing Campaign for You Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com By H. Sterling Burnett, The Hill - Under the leadership of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin has taken the lead in giving power back to the people, by limiting the size of government, thereby increasing personal freedom and improving the states economic future. Walkers most recent achievement is the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, which he has said he will sign soon. It prevents executive branch regulatory agenciesthose under the governors controlfrom imposing significant rules without the consent of the state legislature. READ MORE If youre hoping to read another 12-15 inches of hot debate about patriotism, the flag and why I stand for the national anthem, youve come to the wrong place. Im as loyal to the red, white and blue as the next girl, as evidenced by the two huge Rubbermaid totes full of Americana merchandise in my garage. I have RW&B bunting, tablecloths, lights, napkins and every other sort of festive flag folderol made in China you could imagine. Remove tongue from cheek. Id say I own more flags than the average American, but Im in no position to say anything when dozens of men take a knee in respect on some overpriced playing field. The young black men there know more about racism than I could ever understand and the old white men are kneeling in unity, because theyre making millions off the young black men. No, I will not drape myself in a flag poncho, sweater or other patriotic topcoat to belittle other Americans peaceful protest, while I ignore 3.4 million Americans whose very lives have been destroyed on an island in the middle of a big ocean. If you truly love America and Americans, stop posting flag memes and start donating to hurricane relief in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The president is literally waving a red flag with this patriotism issue to distract us, like angry bulls, from the countrys real problems like those Kaepernick, et al are protesting. At the same time, hes ignoring the cries of our fellow citizens, also real Americans, without food and water on that pretty little island in the Caribbean Sea, not ocean. Puerto Ricos rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, traditional cuisine and attractive tax incentives make it a popular destination for travelers and pharmaceutical businesses from around the world. Made fortunate by hard work and privilege, I was able to visit there last year and enjoyed the beach, the pina coladas and meeting the locals all destroyed or seriously damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria and other Americans turning their back in a time of need. In the week or more that Americans in Puerto Rico have been without clean water and power, the president has been tweeting and rallying vigorously about some overpaid athletes taking a knee. The Congress, where the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has no vote, has chosen not to allow others to carry aid to U.S. citizens, only 2 hours from Florida, without first stopping in the mainland and reloading everything onto U.S. ships. Note: Id planned another entire column on the power of positive thinking, but as I finished the above paragraph at 4 a.m. Thursday morning, the New York Times announced the administration has waived the Jones Act for Puerto Rico, easing hurricane aid shipments. Federal officials said (two aid centers in Puerto Rico) had received two million liters of water and almost one million meals, and more was in the pipeline. Another challenge is getting those supplies inland. Senator John McCain had joined eight other senators in urging the Department of Homeland Security Monday and Tuesday to lift waive the acts requirement. They were hoping to avoid a humanitarian crisis of biblical proportions. The Bible and the flag are symbols of Christianity, America and doing the right thing. Do we really want to argue about respect by taking a knee or covering our countrys ignorance in the flag, while ignoring the plight of 3.4 million brothers and sisters in Christ and country? The president is trying to move our attention away from his failures in repealing the Affordable Care Act, needling North Koreas dictator while cozying up to Russias. His words are divisive and meant to split friends on social media, in neighborhoods and even churches. Please, dont let him destroy the united in the United States, the ability to help our fellow Americans and respect differences of opinion. Cash is best sent to United for Puerto Rico (sponsored by the First Lady of Puerto Rico) or One America Appeal, spearheaded by the four living U.S. presidents with any common sense. Emergency supplies and volunteers will be needed once the ports are open again. A white University of Kentucky student accused of physically assaulting a Black student worker while repeatedly using racial slurs says she will withdraw from the school. The decision announced Tuesday by a lawyer for 22-year-old Sophia Rosing came after hundreds of students rallied on campus the night before. News outlets report the students called for unity and for the university to quickly address the situation. Officials say Rosing has been charged with assault, public intoxication and disorderly conduct. She pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Monday afternoon. The altercation at Boyd Hall was captured on video and posted to multiple social media platforms. 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According to the Presidential Administration, the distinction was presented upon the Croatian President as a sign "of high appreciation for the contribution brought in promoting democracy and regional security, for the development of the friendship and collaboration relation between Romania and the Republic of Croatia." President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic was awarded the decoration at Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu's proposal. The President of Croatia is on a state visit to Romania, Monday through Wednesday. Agerpres. Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu told a press conference in western Cluj-Napoca that Spain is a strategic partner to Romania and it is to be hoped that negotiated solutions regarding the current situation on the Catalonia referendum are reached as soon as possible. Teodor Melescanu and his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto had a working meeting, and the Romanian minister was asked about Romania's attitude with respect to the situation in Spain following the referendum for Catalonia's independence. "Our stand has not been officially adopted, in principle we are in favour of a dialogue meant to find solutions as regards Catalonia's issue. Any such actions must observe the Constitution and the commitments undertaken must be solved through dialogue between communities and the respective states' governments. Spain is a strategic partner to us and we hope negotiated solutions regarding this issue are reached as soon as possible," Melescanu said. He underscored, just as the Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister, that the issue belongs to Spain's internal affairs. "Firstly, it is indeed an internal issue belonging to Spain. In order to cast a vote, one must know how a referendum is carried out. If this understanding doesn't exist, of course this has given rise to situations that should have been avoided," Teodor Melescanu further said. Agerpres. The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto communicated on Monday in western Cluj-Napoca that the transport connections between Romania and Hungary will upgrade in the future years with a new motorway and a new high speed train. The Hungarian Minister Peter Szijjarto and his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Melescanu, participated together in Cluj-Napoca in a press conference at the Faculty of European Studies of Babes-Bolyai University (UBB). A piece of good news is that by 2020 we shall double the number of connections through motorways between Hungary and Romania, we now have one and we will have two. This is not a pride-worthy situation for us, but we hope that out of the provisional ten border check points, we might have two official border points in the future. In Europe, it is the railway transport infrastructure that is mainly developing. We consider that the project of a high speed train to connect Budapest to Bucharest through Cluj must be a priority. So probably, in a first stage, Budapest will be connected to Cluj, and in a second phase, the two will be linked by a high speed train, the Hungarian minister said. According to him, a project on energy security is underway, so that in 2022 the transport of 4.4 billion cubic metres of gas will be possible between the two countries. And another good piece of news, with regard to energy security, due to our system operators' cooperation, in 2019 we will already have the possibility to transport natural gas from Romania to Hungary and in 2022 the transport of 4.4 billion cubic metres of gas will be possible between Hungary and Romania, Peter Szijjarto further said. The Romanian Foreign Affairs minister participated in Cluj-Napoca, in the morning, in the opening of the university year at UBB, and minister Peter Szijjarto being due to participate in the opening of the Hungarian Line of the same university. Agerpres. President Klaus Iohannis said the economic relationship with Croatia could be considerably improved, announcing that he will participate on Tuesday with his Croatian counterpart, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, in an economic forum in Bucharest. "This visit highlights the importance we attach to deepening bilateral relations, but also to better cooperation and coordination within the EU and NATO. We have found that the level is excellent in terms of political dialogue. Economic relations can be considerably improved. To this end, a Romanian-Croatian economic forum will be held tomorrow, where we will participate together to encourage businesspeople to tighten up the relationship," Iohannis said on Monday, at Cotroceni Palace, in a joint press statement with his Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. Croatian President is paying a state visit to Romania until Wednesday. Agerpres. The grim predictability of stock-market reactions to U.S. mass shootings where before a final tally of casualties can be reached, shares of gun makers rise continued Monday in the wake of a Las Vegas attack that killed at least 58 and wounded 515. Historically, gun stocks have experienced a bump after a mass shooting for reasons both political and emotional. Gun sales typically rise over concerns that a deadly event could lead to more stringent gun-control legislation. An additional driver of sales, and by extension shares, is the rush by some consumers to purchase guns to defend against future attacks. Authorities said that Stephen Craig Paddock opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort, high above a crowd attending the nearby Route 91 Harvest Festival concert. The shooter, originally reported to have been killed by officers, may have shot himself before they entered his hotel room, police said. As local hospitals worked to treat the injured, the south end of the iconic Las Vegas Strip was shut down. The motives of the 64-year-old white gunman remain unknown, police said. As news of the attack spread this morning, firearm-related stocks began to rise. Olin Corp., the maker of Winchester ammunition, rose 6.4 percent by 12:45 p.m Central. American Outdoor Brands Corp., formerly Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., was up about 3.7 percent and Sturm Ruger & Co. rose 4.3 percent. Following the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., last summer, which left dozens dead, Sturm Ruger and Smith & Wesson saw stock prices increase. The same phenomenon occurred after the San Bernardino, Calif. shooting in late 2015, which left 14 dead. In the past, gun rights supporters and organizations such as the National Rifle Association have warned of future regulatory efforts Democratic administrations may try to impose using a mass shooting as justification. This pattern continued throughout the Obama administration, even when the Democratic Party lost control of the House and Senate. Things could turn out differently, however, now that Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress. Gun makers have made it clear they see a connection between the partisan politics, high-profile shootings, and their business. "Concerns about presidential, congressional, and state elections and legislature and policy shifts resulting from those elections can affect the demand for our products. In addition, speculation surrounding increased gun control at the federal, state, and local level and heightened fears of terrorism and crime can affect consumer demand," American Outdoor Brands wrote in its annual report this year, citing the "impact of news events, including terrorism" on gun buying habits. Political change can have an adverse effect on gun stocks, too. After the 2016 election of Donald Trump, who has espoused less-strict gun control policies than those of his Democratic predecessor, gun stocks sank. American Outdoor Brands has seen a double digit stock decline in the months since the presidential election. Tony Messenger Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Tony Messenger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today We think and we pray. We offer our most heartfelt condolences. And then we do nothing. This is the new American way. After Sandy Hook. After Orlando. After Aurora. After Las Vegas. Its as though the devil himself whispers into our ears after he unleashes his evil: Send thoughts and prayers, he says. Ill take care of the rest. On Sunday night, Stephen Craig Paddock let loose a barrage of automatic gunfire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, firing indiscriminately at patrons below who were attending a Jason Aldean concert, killing at least 59 and wounding hundreds. Paddock is an American terrorist, though President Donald Trump couldnt find it in his heart to use that word Monday morning. Heres how bad the Las Vegas shooting was: The death toll rose three times while I was writing this column. By the time you read this, it could be higher still. Just more than a year after the worst American mass shooting in modern history at an Orlando nightclub there is a new record. It likely wont last long. Because in todays America, a bastardized interpretation of the Second Amendment rules the political scene, rendering elected officials helpless in the face of National Rifle Association opposition. The nations Congress, in one of its first acts after the election of Trump, passed a bill that would make it easier for the mentally impaired to access guns. Just last week, a House committee advanced a bill that would make it easier to purchase sound suppressors commonly referred to as silencers for guns. The bill would also ease the sale of armor-piercing bullets. A few days later, many of those leaders who would champion such dangerous legislation offered their thoughts and prayers for the dead and wounded in Las Vegas. America is the Land of Thoughts and Prayers. But it is paralyzed to do anything about guns. Or anything else, for that matter. As millions of Puerto Ricans continue to suffer from the devastation of Hurricane Maria, the Trump administrations inadequate response is being nearly universally blasted, by generals, by San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, by the people in that American territory begging for clean water, by reporters on the ground reporting what they see and being labeled as fake news by the president. Its an island, Trump told a national television audience, surrounded by big water. Ocean water. An America that once shot for the moon is now swamped by big water. While Congress was advancing more gun-porn legislation, it let lapse the Childrens Health Insurance Program that once had wide bipartisan support because providing health coverage to 9 million children is simply too hard. If the program isnt funded, children will die. If the Affordable Care Act is sabotaged from within by politicians who pledged to replace it but cant because governing is difficult, people will die. In Puerto Rico, people are dying because the greatest country in their world their country cant get them clean water, or food or shelter. In Houston and Florida, after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, people died because climate change is hard, because the National Flood Insurance Program is broken and lawmakers cant be troubled with either. In 2017, when a lawmaker says hes pro-life, dont believe him. Its fake news. In a few days, after the thoughts and prayers have passed, Americas gun lobby will find its second wind. A bogeymen other than the American terrorist and the people who armed him will be found. As Americas death toll rises from self-inflicted paralysis, we kneel in somber mourning, sending thoughts and prayers to a once-great nation, unwilling to face the demons that possess it. UPDATED at 9 a.m. Tuesday with names of those involved. DES PERES A dump truck plowed into the back of congested rush-hour traffic Monday morning, sparking a five-vehicle crash that injured two women on Interstate 270 near Dougherty Ferry Road, police say. The chain-reaction crash, at 6:50 a.m., was on northbound I-270 while traffic had slowed due to congestion, said Cpl. Juston Wheetley of the Missouri Highway Patrol. The woman with the worst injuries was in a car that was crushed and the first to be hit from behind by the dump truck, Wheetley said. Traffic had slowed in the northbound lanes, but the dump truck driver didn't, Wheetley said. The dump truck driver is identified as Mark W. Sander, 57, of Festus. Investigators are still trying to determine why Sander did not slow down. In a brief summary of the crash, the patrol said Sander was "inattentive." The dump truck was pulling a flatbed trailer with construction equipment. Sander's dump truck hit the back of a 2007 Dodge Caliber, driven by Theresa M. Jackson, 56, of the St. Louis area; and a 2010 Mazda CX-7 driven by Suzanne M. Ranicilo, 59, of the St. Louis area. Ranicilo's car overturned after being struck. She suffered serious injuries and was taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur. Police say Jackson was uninjured, but the impact of the crash pushed her Dodge into the back of a 2014 Jeep Cherokee driven by Christina D. Johnson, 37, of Fenton. Johnson's Jeep was then pushed into a 2012 Dodge Avenger, driven by John Ingolsby, 52, of Herculaneum. Johnson suffered moderate injuries and was being treated at Mercy Hospital. Ingolsby was uninjured, the patrol said. Wheetley said the investigating officer plans to cite the driver of the dump truck for careless and imprudent driving. One of the motorists stuck in traffic on I-270 at the time watched the crash unfold all around her and provided to the Post-Dispatch an account of what she saw. "There was a tremendous crash to my right and then the vehicle that ended up on the left flew in front of me and there were a few seconds that was like a windstorm of debris," she said, in an email. "Its amazing all that traffic got stopped as quickly as it did." She said she and a few others got out of their cars and began approaching the wrecked vehicles to see if they could help. "But there wasn't much we could do except wait" until emergency vehicles arrived. Editor's note: The Missouri Highway Patrol has amended its report to say that two people were hospitalized after the crash, not three, as originally reported by police. BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. A 65-year-old Baxter Springs woman, who along with two police officers was doused with gasoline early Saturday at her home and set on fire, died five hours later at a hospital burn unit. The two officers and another who was burned while trying to extinguish the flames, and the man who authorities say threw the gasoline and lit it, burning himself accidentally, will survive, according to Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves. Sharon Horn died of her injuries at a Springfield, Mo., hospital. One of the officers was in critical condition, but is expected to recover, Groves said. The other officer, as well as third officer who tried to put out the flames, were released after being treated at a Joplin hospital. Baxter Springs is in southeast Kansas, near the Missouri border. Officers Jimmy Hamilton and Justin Butler responded to what was reported to police as a domestic disturbance about 1:30 a.m. Saturday less than a mile away from the police station. When they arrived, they saw that a man, whose name was being withheld pending the filing of charges, had entered the home and assaulted Horn, according to Groves. The man allegedly threw gasoline on Horn and the two officers and set them afire, Groves said, and accidentally set himself on fire as well. Officer Darryl Nadeau, also with Baxter Springs police, soon arrived and extinguished the flames, injuring himself in the process. "The fire extinguished relatively quickly and then the Baxter Springs Fire Department was on the scene," Groves said. Horn's house is blocked off by crime scene tape and most of the damage was inside, he said. Both Butler and Nadeau were released from the hospital in Joplin after receiving treatment. "(Nadeau) might be back by early next week and (Butler) later in the week," Groves said regarding the officers' injuries. Hamilton was critically injured and taken to the Springfield hospital to be treated at its burn center. Groves confirmed that 29 percent of the Hamilton's body was burned and that he needed skin grafts. Hamilton had one surgery Saturday morning and came through it, Groves said. "They said the prognosis is good and that he will make it," Groves said. "It will be a long road for recovery." Springfield police have offered to make accommodations for Hamilton's family, so they can stay with him while he recovers, Groves added. Horn died of her injuries at the same Springfield hospital, shortly before 7 a.m. Her grandson, Malik Ore, 19, of Joplin, described her as a faith-filled woman who would cook great food during the holidays. "She was a woman who loved to have conversation, considering that she was always on the phone," Ore wrote in a message to the Globe. "She was the woman who would open up her house and let people stay if they needed somewhere to go, including myself." Though Groves said he couldn't confirm the identity of the suspect just yet, one of Horn's neighbors, who was distantly related to her, said his adult son was the suspect. The father said police came to the house at about 9 p.m. Friday looking for his son, who had not been at the residence at the time. After his son came home later, the father, who is blind in one eye, said he did not see his son leave to go Horn's house. He later learned that his son was at a Springfield burn unit and that he had been involved. The father said he couldn't say for sure why his son did what he did, but that his son has a mental illness because of a "chemical imbalance" and had been on medication for two weeks. "He pulled his hair out one day and said he really needed help," the father said. "He's supposed to do better when he's on medication." He said that his son was in stable condition as of late Saturday afternoon. Groves said the suspect has been questioned at the hospital in Springfield and that he is expected to live. He said he anticipated that charges will most likely be submitted to the Cherokee County prosecuting attorney's office. The investigation is ongoing, he said. 2017 The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Mo.) Visit The Joplin Globe (Joplin, Mo.) at www.joplinglobe.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. JEFFERSON COUNTY Jeff Roorda, whose comments as a St. Louis police union leader have generated controversy, announced his candidacy Sunday for county executive here. The Democrat says if he wins, he will step down from his role as business manager for the St. Louis Police Officers Association. Current Jefferson County Executive Ken Waller is not seeking re-election. State Rep. John McCaherty, R-High Ridge, announced last month that he was leaving his seat in the Legislature more than 15 months early to run for county executive to succeed Waller. The position is a full-time job with an annual salary of $81,000. The election will take place in November 2018. Roorda was a police officer for 17 years, most of which he spent in Arnold. He was a Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives, from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2013 to 2015. Roorda ran for the Missouri Senate in District 22 in 2014, but lost to a Republican. But hes most known for his outspoken views on law enforcement. Earlier this year, he called mayoral candidate Tishaura Jones a race baiter and cop hater. Roorda is white and Jones is black. His comments about Jones elicited response from her opponent at the time, Lyda Krewson, who said Roorda would not be allowed in her office should she be elected. Last year, Roorda suggested former President Barack Obama was responsible for the shooting deaths of five police officers in Dallas. He also wrote a book titled, Ferghanistan: The War on Police. Roorda is described as a conservative Democrat who is unapologetically pro-life, pro-gun and pro-police, according to a press release. In a Facebook post Sunday, Roorda wrote: This is an exciting new opportunity to serve my neighbors as I have as a police officer, State Rep, and as a union leader. Most importantly, Im a father and husband who wants to see our community move forward and make Jefferson County an even better place to live. He told the Post-Dispatch he plans to continue to work for the police union through the campaign, using time off when needed. The campaign will not disrupt the operations of the union, he said in a message. Weve got a great team here and when someone else has to step up to fill my shoes, I know theyll do a great job. JEFFERSON CITY New limits on campaign contributions may mean the end of an era of mega-donors writing huge checks to individual candidates, but the caps havent stopped the flow of money into Missouri politics. A Post-Dispatch review shows a surge in the number of political action committees being formed that can bundle money far above the $2,600 individual contribution limits that were approved in a November referendum approved by 70 percent of voters. Through the entire 2016 calendar year, 86 political action committees were formed, according to the ethics commission, which oversees campaign finance regulations in Missouri. Through the first nine months of this year, 99 PACs have been registered, with some of them clearly designed to benefit individual lawmakers. Among them is Holly PAC, which could benefit state Rep. Holly Rehder, a Sikeston Republican who was an unsuccessful candidate for speaker of the Missouri House. On Monday, records show Holly PAC received a $10,000 check from mega-donor Rex Sinquefield, a retired St. Louis financier. The Missouri Senate Leadership PAC was formed in mid-August by a campaign aide to Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis, who is positioning himself to become the next Senate president pro tem. And, Citizens for a Prosperous 34th Senate District was formed to provide support for a candidate seeking to replace Sen. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, who is serving his final term in office. Election law attorney Chuck Hatfield, who served as chief of staff to former Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, said the increase in PACs is linked to the new caps. Once you put limits in place, PACs explode, Hatfield said. The reason we see the increase is because of campaign finance limits. James C. Thomas, a Kansas City attorney who serves as treasurer for multiple Republican-linked PACs, including Holly PAC, agreed, saying the change will make it more difficult for the public to track spending. I understand the sentiment of what supporters wanted to accomplish. But I think it was a mistake, Thomas said. The new law came in response to the growing number of large donations that were being given to politicians. Businessmen such as David Humphreys of Joplin and Stanley Herzog of St. Joseph wrote multiple six-figure checks to support candidates during the 2016 campaign. Missouri last had campaign contribution limits in 2008. Lawmakers that year removed the limits in an attempt to create more transparency in the political system. The amendment approved by voters limits contributions to statewide, legislative and judicial offices to $2,600 per election. Contributions from a person or a committee to a political party would be capped at $25,000 per election. In some cases, however, the caps already have been removed. In a May opinion, the MEC ruled that campaign committees formed by party leaders in the House and Senate are no longer limited to contributions totaling $25,000 annually. In addition, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce recently filed a lawsuit challenging a provision of the new law that prohibits the pro-business group from contributing money to its own PAC. The new PACs must operate similarly to social welfare organizations such as A New Missouri Inc., which was formed by Republican Gov. Eric Greitens campaign aides to support his agenda. Neither can legally coordinate campaign activities directly with a candidate. But, unlike A New Missouri, the new political action committees must disclose their donors. Mark Milton of St. Louis is listed as treasurer for three new PACs. But hes not saying who the committees will be supporting. Rather, he said they will raise money to support a pro-business, conservative agenda. I cant speak to other peoples motives. For me, its a way for to stay involved in Missouri politics, Milton said. Thomas said the rise in the use of PACs could lead to an even harsher political climate because committees might not be as tempered in their discourse than a candidate when they make claims in advertisements. We lose the filter, Thomas said. Theres a potential that the ads can be more not nice. Said Hatfield, I think Missouri is experiencing what is happening on the national level. Anthony Williams and Kylan Maheri were celebrating their 21st birthdays in Las Vegas when a shooter in their hotel opened fire on a crowd of people at an outdoor concert below. Williams and Maheri, both of St. Charles, were in their room on the fifth floor at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino when gunfire erupted from the 32nd floor. All you could hear was shots, it was so loud, Williams said. We were watching everybody scatter. At least one of the shooting victims, Amanda Peterson, has a local connection. Peterson is a former Rolla resident and graduate of Logan University in Chesterfield who was hit in the back by gunfire, her longtime friend Sheila Decker said. Peterson was in stable condition but unconscious in a Las Vegas hospital Monday night, undergoing surgery for internal bleeding. Peterson, 33, is a chiropractor in California and single mother of a 6-year-old boy, Decker said. Petersons son did not travel with her to Las Vegas. When Decker woke up Monday to the news of the shooting, she tried for hours to reach Peterson. She finally got in touch with a friend of Petersons who attended the festival but left minutes before the shooting. An online donation site set up for Peterson had raised more than $7,300 by Monday night. Shes just a very caring person who works very hard, Decker said. She does everything for everybody before herself, and she loves healing people. Shes going to be out of work for a while, and I dont want her to be stressed about anything else until she gets better and can start helping people again. The gunman, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nev., killed dozens and injured more than 500 others in the attack Sunday night. When police stormed Paddocks hotel room, they found he had killed himself. Williams said a team of police officers searched every room in the hotel overnight. The men are scheduled to return to St. Louis on Tuesday. An Anheuser-Busch employee was injured in the shooting and has been released from the hospital, a company spokesman said. No further details were available. Malorie Shriver and her boyfriend, Kent Sisco, of Piedmont, Mo., were at the concert and close to the rear exit when the shooting started. I was trying to understand what was going on, said Shriver, 28. Im still trying to grasp what happened. I dont remember seeing anybody who was shot or trampled on because we were all just trying to get out of there so fast. I keep thinking about the families that didnt make it out. Justin Hoppe of south St. Louis County and four co-workers are in Las Vegas for a technology vendor conference at the Mandalay Bay. Hoppe was sleeping three floors down from the shooter and heard police storming the hallways. I heard them yelling, Get back in your room, stay in your room, lock the door, Hoppe said. Cardinals broadcaster Jim Edmonds said his daughter Hayley was at the concert and was actually running for her life. Other friends were not accounted for, Edmonds said in an Instagram post. Here is a list of the 10 deadliest single-day mass shootings in US history from 1949 to the present. If the shooter was killed or committed suicide during the incident that death is not included in the total. At least 59 killed, Harvest Music Festival, Las Vegas, Oct. 1, 2017: A gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, on a crowd of 30,000 gathered on the Las Vegas Strip for the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 injured. Officers killed the gunman. 49 killed, Pulse night club, Orlando, Fla., June 12, 2016: Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, opens fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub, in Orlando. At least 49 people are killed and more than 50 are injured. Police shoot and kill Mateen during an operation to free hostages officials say he was holding at the club. 32 killed, Virginia Tech, April 16, 2007 - A gunman, 23-year-old student Seung-Hui Cho, goes on a shooting spree killing 32 people in two locations and wounding an undetermined number of others on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. The shooter then commits suicide. 27 killed, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Dec. 14, 2012 - Adam Lanza, 20, guns down 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and six adults, school staff and faculty at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. before turning the gun on himself. Investigating police later find Nancy Lanza, Adam's mother, dead from a gunshot wound. 23 killed, Luby's Cafeteria, Oct. 16, 1991 - In Killeen, Texas, 35-year-old George Hennard crashes his pickup truck through the wall of a Luby's Cafeteria. After exiting the truck, Hennard shoots and kills 23 people. He then commits suicide. 21 killed, McDonald's in San Ysidro, July 18, 1984 - In San Ysidro, California, 41-year-old James Huberty, armed with a long-barreled Uzi, a pump-action shotgun and a handgun, shoots and kills 21 adults and children at a McDonald's. A police sharpshooter kills Huberty one hour after the rampage begins. 18 killed, University of Texas, Aug. 1, 1966 - In Austin, Texas, Charles Joseph Whitman, a former US Marine, kills 16 and wounds at least 30 while shooting from a University of Texas tower. Police officers Ramiro Martinez and Houston McCoy shoot and kill Whitman in the tower. Whitman had also killed his mother and wife earlier in the day. 14 killed, San Bernardino, Dec. 2, 2015 - Married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik open fire on an employee gathering taking place at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, Calif., killing 14 people. 14 killed, Edmond, Okla., Aug. 20, 1986 - In Edmond, Okla., part-time mail carrier Patrick Henry Sherrill, armed with three handguns, kills 14 postal workers in 10 minutes and then takes his own life with a bullet to the head. 13 killed, Fort Hood, Nov. 5, 2009 - Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan kills 13 people and injures 32 at Fort Hood, Texas, during a shooting rampage. He is convicted and sentenced to death. I was discouraged to read the front-page article on how Gov. Eric Greitens' administration is considering eliminating the Missouri Air Conservation Commission ("Greitens wants to merge pollution control boards," Sept. 29). This would be a step backward for clean air and for good government in our state. I speak from experience. I served on the Missouri Air Conservation Commission under Gov. Bob Holden. This commission is charged with enforcing the Clean Air Act. And while progress has been made in reducing air pollution in the metro St. Louis area, we still have dangerous levels of ozone and small-particle pollution here. Not surprising then that St. Louis city has the highest rate of childhood asthma in the state. This commission is also responsible for addressing carbon pollution, the main driver of climate change. Given President Donald Trump's appointment of climate change deniers to the Environmental Protection Agency, we cannot expect the federal government to address this problem. Instead of closing down the commission, Gov. Greitens should fill the three seats on the commission that are empty. Since none of the current commissioners live in St. Louis city or County, even though our area has the worst air in the state, the governor should appoint a public health advocate who has to breathe the dirty air here every day. The governor has claimed that he is shrinking government so that it works better for the people. But the plan to merge air, water and other commissions into one body risks creating an unwieldy and unresponsive body. These commissions are a forum where citizens can meet and converse with state employees and with citizen commission members over matters as important as the air we breathe and the water we drink. We need to keep these essential commissions intact and working. Caroline Pufalt Maplewood Volunteer conservation chair, Sierra Club Missouri If your idea of a Connecticut cigar is an Altadis Montecristo or an Ashton Classic, this new offering from Cornelius & Anthony should be on your give-it-a-try list. While there is a bit of the typical grassy Connecticut (though this wrapper is from Ecuador rather than New England) aroma on the pre-light, the first few puffs are bursting with spice and a strong finish. By the start of the second third, the spice has backed off and tobacco sweetness moves to the fore. In the final third, the spice amps up again, mingling with leather and a light earthiness. Strength is firmly in the mid-level area. I smoked two for this review and each performed flawlessly, producing lots of thick smoke. The Robusto (5 x 52) has a suggested price of $9.25 and is one of four sizes in the new line. The others are Gordo (6 x 60, $10.75), Toro (6 x 50, $9.75), and Corona Gorda (5.5 x 46, $8.75). All are made at Erik Espinosas La Zona factory in Esteli, Nicaragua. The filler is Nicaraguan, while the only identification for the binder is that it is grown in the U.S. Aerial is presented similarly to other Cornelius & Anthony cigars: a relatively large, ornate band identifying the company with a plain secondary band specifying the line. Also familiar in the packaging is the woodcut-style illustrationthis one a hot air balloon that looks like it escaped from a Jules Verne tale. I was curious about the name, and reached out to Cornelius & Anthony director of brand development, Courtney Smith. She said it began with some beautiful aerial photos she discovered in the company archive. The family has been growing tobacco on the same land in Keysville, Virginia, since the 1860s and the photos were so interesting and informative, because they were a visual of the expanse of their property, she wrote in an email. As we talked about the land and the lands history, the name and concept organically grew from there. Aerial was introduced at the summertime IPCPR Trade Show and began shipping recently. So far, its my favorite new release of 2017 and becomes my first five-stogie cigar this year. [To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here. A list of other five-stogie rated cigars can be found here.] George E photo credit: Stogie Guys Stratford's Tea and Chat Group at the Rosebird Community Centre. A TEA and chat group, in Stratford, for older residents, has been shortlisted for a 500 grant, from Skipton Building Society Grassroots Giving. Stratford District councillor Kate Rolfe set up the group, over three years ago, and said: I was aware that there were many older residents in our community who were isolated or lonely and I wanted to do something to help. I am a member of the Rosebird Community Hall committee and the hall time is given to us for free and Waitrose kindly donate the tea and cakes. Kate has a loyal group of volunteers and regularly has 12 to 14 older people go to the group every fortnight. She continued: It is an opportunity for many of our clients to get out of their houses and meet other people. In order to be selected we need as many on line votes as possible. The more votes we get the more likely it is we will be chosen. Kate added: We need this money to pay for transport costs. All our clients are picked up from their homes and taken to The Rosebird Community Hall and are then taken back home safely. The group runs in the Rosebird community centre, every second and fourth Friday, from 2.30pm until 4pm. A keen supporter of the group is Stratford mayor Cllr Victoria Alcock who said Im so proud that Tea and Chat has been shortlisted for this grant. It is a vital service that is offered. None of us would like to think of a loved one being so isolated, so please vote. And Kate said: I am so delighted that Tea and Chat has been shortlisted for a grant of 500, however in order to receive this grant I need as many people as possible to vote on line. I never imagined when filling in the application that Tea and Chat would be considered. It is the only initiative in the West Midlands for older people to have been chosen. If we are lucky and receive this grant it will enable us to pay for transport for at least another year. The closing date to vote is Friday 13th October. To vote, visit https://www.skiptongrg.co.uk/apply-for-funding/2017-shortlisted-groups/west-midlands/tea-and-chat/ For more information about the group contact Kate Rolfe on 01789 550624. Fastly Launches Media Shield to Optimize High-Traffic Streaming Fastly now powers major brands including A+E Networks, Brightcove, Dish Network, and Vimeo SAN FRANCISCO( ) Fastly, the edge cloud platform, today announced its Media Shield. This new offering optimizes on-demand video and live streaming by acting as an origin to content delivery network (CDN) providers, sitting between a company's CDN deployments and its central cloud. Fastly customers have reported cost savings of up to 75 percent a year, along with performance and availability improvements. Fastlys advancements have driven threefold growth of its media and streaming traffic in the past year, with brands like A+E Networks (including A&E, History, Lifetime, FYI, Viceland, LMN), Brightcove, Dish Network, and Vimeo (including Vimeo Live) using its edge cloud platform. The over-the-top (OTT) market is forecasted to reach $64.9 billion, with 965 million connected devices capable of streaming video by 2021. Content providers face a growing demand for real-time, low latency streaming experiences across a broader range of devices. Designed to be easily added to new or existing streaming infrastructure, Fastly's Media Shield improves performance, eliminates inefficiencies, and reduces the total cost of ownership associated with multi-CDN deployments. A growing number of media companies are moving toward a multi-CDN strategy to improve viewer experience, said Dan Rayburn, Principal Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. One of the biggest challenges they face is how to route streaming traffic across multiple CDNs in a way that doesnt duplicate efforts and multiply cost. You dont want your origin server processing the same request for several CDNs at once. Fastlys Media Shield offers a compelling solution to this problem. Optimized streaming is crucial for business success given the current video and content landscape, said Jon Corley, CTO at Brightcove. We are excited to be using Fastly's Media Shield as one of the solutions that enable Brightcove to deliver the best streaming experience to users around the world and in today's online video market. We look forward to our continued relationship with the company. Benefits of Fastlys Media Shield include: Improved Quality of Experience (QoE) - Serving more video content from Media Shield means faster video startup times and less playback interruptions, resulting in the highest quality user experience. Cost Reduction - Using Media Shield to process at the edge, businesses can minimize requests for video content and drastically reduce origin egress costs. Flexible Deployment - Media Shield can seamlessly integrate into businesses existing technology stacks for instant deployment and rapid ROI. To learn more about Fastlys Media Shield, visit: https://www.fastly.com/products/media-and-streaming. About Fastly Removal of taxes on exporters including Cess on the cards By Bandula Sirimanna View(s): View(s): The Government is making a renewed effort towards greater integration into regional and global supply chains, higher levels of FDI, thereby enhancing prospects for private sector investment, official sources said. It will consider removing taxes imposed on exporters including Cess which would help to encourage more exports, a senior official of the Ministry of Policy Planning and Economic Development told the Business Times. On average, Rs. 6 per kg is charged as Cess on some export products. Cess was introduced to formulate a fund from exporters which in turn could be used for promotions and to increase value addition. However this money was used by the previous Government for political work and for unwanted glorification of a few individuals. It was also used to fund unsuccessful projects, he claimed. New export and trade policies are to be introduced shortly to increase the efficiency of trade facilitation, remove barriers to foreign investment entry and establishment (including access to land), enhance access to finance, and strengthen financial market infrastructure. These steps should help attract FDI and complement public investment. State Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe said the government will introduce a new policy on exports by December this year. The exports share of GDP which was at 35 per cent a decade ago has dropped to 14.9 percent, he said adding that the new government would take meaningful steps to increase exports not by 20 per cent or 35 per cent but by at least 200 per cent. To boost trade and private sector development, the government will seek to reduce costs and bolster competitiveness, he said adding that the key element in this work would be a review of Sri Lankas trade regime including an evaluation of para-tariffs and other non-tariff barriers that have led to a high level of effective protection and hampered exports. The aim is to increase the efficiency of trade facilitation, remove barriers to foreign investment entry and establishment (including access to land), enhance access to finance, and strengthen financial market infrastructure. These steps should help attract FDI and complement public investment, he pointed out. Walkers invests Rs.5 M on revamped booking site View(s): Walkers Tours has revamped its booking website investing Rs.5 million to develop it to attract Sri Lankans to some of the best hotel deals in the island. The Walkers Tours website titled cvisit.com, considered to be Sri Lankas premier online travel brand, will serve to attract Sri Lankans to some of the best hotel deals investing approximately Rs.5 million in developing the product, Walkers Tours CEO Nalaka Amaratunga said in an interview with the Business Times on Friday. He noted that they had been able to attract about 50 hotels to display their hotel deals which would be excluding the credit card offers and discounts of upto 45 per cent. Walkers Tours would also be investing a further Rs.2.5 million in a marketing campaign scheduled to commence from next month with the aim of increasing awareness about the website and generating more traffic to tap on the hotel deals on offer, he explained. cvisit.com was a brand initially started out in 2015 but stopped functioning in November due to certain practical issues, Mr. Amaratunga said. As a result Walkers Tours was compelled to re-strategise and re-brand the product and the website resumed operations this year with a soft launch this week, he explained. This would be a purely leisure related one-stop-shop with products solely for Sri Lankan travelers, Mr. Amaratunga said. He pointed out that today Sri Lankas form at least 30-40 per cent of the hotel business and as a result they believed it would be beneficial to tap this market as most locals were touring the country. As a booking website based in Colombo it would also provide travelers with the ability to book their transport options and excursions if necessary alongside the hotel bookings made online. With competition from other websites that offer deals like wow.lk, mydeal.lk and ikman.lk, Walker Tours will focus mostly on the leisure segment and in future would also provide holiday packages and domestic air transport offers as well. A trial-at-bar in Jaffna and a governance muddle in Colombo View(s): In midst of an impossible muddle of governance in Colombo, the handing down of the death sentence to the accused in the Sivaloganathan Vithya rape and murder case by a trial-at-bar in Jaffna this week is one tentative indication that, (to borrow from Longfellow) the mills of justice in Sri Lanka have started grinding again, exceedingly fine. The phenomenon of exceptional prosecutions Indeed, this trial is noteworthy in a way that goes far beyond its verdict. It is more than merely symbolic that the court sittings were held in Jaffna. The last such nationally prominent case was far back as the mid 1990s when Chemmani school girl Krishanthi Kumaraswamys rape and murder, (as well as the murder of her mother, brother and neighbour), was prosecuted before a Colombo trial-at-bar. This was also a successful prosecution at the time. Many would be struck by the poignant and painful commonalities. In both cases, the primary victims were bright schoolgirls, intent on pursuing their studies but robbed of those dreams by the vicious acts of others. Vithya was a child of the generation of the displaced with her family having to leave her native village Pungudutivu in 1990 due to war and returning only decades later. On all accounts, she had wanted to teach or be a journalist after her studies. In-between these two prosecutions which are exceptional simply because they were successful, we have a sad litany of equally horrific rape and murder in the conflict torn North and East. In general, these were left to rot in the tangle of Sri Lankas judicial system without recourse. And common thereto was a broad concern relating to the inveterate pattern by which prosecutions of gross human rights abuses were invariably heard in Colombo rather than the areas where the violations took place in the first instance. Discarding the farce of a legal process In that regard, the Vidhya prosecution differed from the Krishanthi Kumaraswamy prosecution in that the trial-at-bar was held in Jaffna itself. Two years ago, the conviction handed down by the Jaffna High Court on four former soldiers in respect of the rape of one woman and the sexual harassment of another was another indication of the welcome change in earlier patterns. In the Vithya case, this was a trial-at-bar and it was even more significant that the sittings were held in Jaffna. As remarked previously, trials of rape and murder occurring in the North should preferably be held in the courts of that province. This is not mere symbolism. There are immensely practical concerns involved. Generally, transfers of these trials have been due to the accused pleading that they would be at risk if the case is heard in the Court situated in the area where the violation occurred. Consequently transfer of such cases to a court in the predominantly Sinhala North Central Province or to Colombo became the pattern along with jury trials of predominantly Sinhalese jurors in past decades. The transfers resulted in the victim or their family members or witnesses, often of Tamil origin and from the most marginalised villages in the North and East having to run the risk of increased harassment and often fear of death by the alleged perpetrators or their supporters. Financial constraints also resulted in many being unwilling to travel to unfamiliar locations. The successful prosecution of a case was hampered as a result. The problems of transfers of cases In the Mylanthanai massacre case in the early 1990s which concerned the killing of several villagers by soldiers who rioted apparently after the killing of late Major General Denzil Kobbekaduwa and other military command officers in Jaffna is one illustration. The non-summary inquiry originally took place in the Magistrates Court, Batticoloa, but following two appearances before the Batticoloa magistrate, the matter was transferred, on the application of the Attorney General, to the Polonnaruwa Magistrates Court. It was then transferred to Colombo despite protests of the lawyers watching the interests of the victims. As was observed at the time, the witnesses are understandably unwilling to attend the courts at Polonnaruwa. And the danger is that when they absent themselves, warrants will be issued for their arrest in response to which they will have to furnish bail or be remanded. These were all seen as attempts to deliberately sabotage the legal process. In other rape cases, (for example, the Mannar Women Rape Case), though an attempt to move the hearing to Colombo was prevented, the case was transferred to Anuradhapura whereas it should have been before the Vavuniya High Court. More recently the 2006 killing of 17 aid workers in Mutur was originally heard in the Mutur Magistrates Court (being the relevant court having jurisdiction in that matter) but later transferred to the Magistrates Court of Anuradhapura. Consequent to public protests, the case was transferred back to Kantalai. Then again, in the prosecution concerning the killing of five students in Thandikulam agriculture school (18.11.2006), the accused police constable who was arrested and indicted in the Vavuniya High Court in connection with the incident also requested a transfer to the Anuradhapura High Court on the basis that his life will be in danger if the trial proceeds in Vavuniya. Being sensitive to the pain of victims No doubt, the fact that active conflict was taking place in the North and East during these periods was a pertinent factor. However the routine manner in which these transfers occurred showed gross insensitivity to the victims and their families. The Vithya prosecution in particular concerned a violation of the law that could not be assessed on a simplistic equation of security forces against civilians which is ordinarily the case. Here, the nexus between criminal gangs, former cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and elements in the police, government and political establishment in the post war theatre was exemplified. In the final analysis, though the heinous act by which a helpless young girl was ravaged by humans akin to wild animals cannot be reversed, civic conscious Sri Lankans must hail this verdict with considerable relief. These examples of the Rule of law working as it should assure a long alienated people that they are also, citizens of Sri Lanka. They accomplish far more than abstract constitutional reform amidst quarreling by political parties. This salutary commencement of High Court trials and trials-at-bar in the areas where the affected communities live, must continue without change. It is reported that the courthouse in Jaffna was full to capacity at the time that the verdict was handed down. This is effectively and wondrously how justice is claimed by citizens. Cabinet approves purchase of Rs.24 billion Russian frigate on credit line View(s): Sri Lanka will sign a deal with Russia to procure a Gephard 5.1 Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) for the Navy, the Cabinet of Ministers decided last Tuesday. The unanimous decision came on a recommendation from President Maithripala Sirisena who is also the Minister of Defence. As reported in the front page lead story of the Sunday Times last week, the Russian Government will extend credit to the tune of US$ 135 million (Rs.20 billion) exclusive of 15 percent of Sri Lanka Governments contribution. The total ship value including on board spares and ammunition is placed at US$ 158.5 million (Rs.24 billion). This is besides a further Government commitment of US$ 7 million (Rs.1 billion) for training of Navy personnel. The Government will pay a four percent interest on the credit extended by the Russian Government. Payments will be semi-annual in equal instalments within ten years including a grace period of five years. The Russian loan component is the remaining amount of a credit line of US$ 300 million which expired in 2010. It has since been re-negotiated. Now, the Department of External Resources (in the Ministry of Finance) will finalise details for the signing of the credit agreement with Russia. According to Rosboronoexport, one of Russias military products exporters, its OPV is designed to engage surface, underwater and air targets, perform escort and patrol tasks, provide fire support to amphibious assault forces, plant minefields, guard maritime state borders and Exclusive Economic Zones, support naval operations, hoist state flag in the areas of national interests, protect sea environment and rescue distressed ships. The ship can carry out a wide range of missions independently or as part of a naval task force. The on board armament and equipment include Artillery Weapons (76.2mm AK-176M artillery gun mount), 30mm six-barrel AK-630M gun mount; two 14.5mm naval machine gun 76mounts. The OPV carries mines to counter hostile warships, and electronic equipment including those for air/surface target acquisition radar; 67R IFF suite; mutual interference avoidance system; Sigma-E combat information management system.One of the main reasons for the acquisition, President Sirisena has said, is in view of the superior Marine Steel used by Russian Workmanship, weaponry and sensors He has said that the ship is similar to a Frigate Class. Inspector released after languishing for ten years in remand custody Davood Mohamed Ajmeer, an Inspector attached to the Police Training School in Kalutara, has been released after ten years in remand custody after two different High Courts declared he was not guilty of the charges against him. He faced two different cases, one in the Colombo High Court and another in the Gampaha High Court, for allegedly providing shelter to Mayawan, a Tiger guerrilla suspect. The latter had been plotting to kill Ravi Waidyalankara, now DIG. Mr Waidyalankara, then Senior Superintendent of Police in the CID, had been in charge of two major investigations the attack on the Air Force Base at Katunayake in July 2007 and the female suicide bomber who made an attempt on the life of the then Army Commander, General Sarath Fonseka in April 2008. The Attorney Generals Department informed the two courts that a statement from Mr Ajmeer made to the Police had been obtained involuntarily. Both courts then ruled that Mr Ajmeer is not guilty. Rajapaksa going to Japan for minor surgery Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa left for Japan yesterday on a ten-day-long visit for personal reasons. Sources close to him said he would undergo minor surgery there. This is his second visit in one year. On the previous visit he is learnt to have consulted medical opinion with regard to a throat ailment. These sources described the ailment as minor and said Rajapaksa wants to be in a strong physical condition for his partys campaign during the upcoming local government elections. Systems failure hinders Presidents move to get bill passed Systems failure by a Sri Lankan mobile operator caused serious concerns for President Maithripala Sirisena who was in New York to attend the UN General Assembly a week ago. It prevented him from making calls to political leaders when Parliament was set to pass the Provincial Council Elections (Amendment) Bill. The development raised doubts whether interested groups were attempting any act of sabotage. Mr Sirisena is learnt to have spoken to a top rung management official of the company concerned over the issue upon his return to Colombo. It had transpired that a human error caused by a technical hand was the cause. The company concerned had apologised. NPC condemns attack on Rohingya The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) has added to its long list of resolutions approved this year with one on Rohingya refugees. Moved by M.K. Sivajilingam, the resolution sought to condemn what he called the treatment of the refugees who were in a refugee centre run by UN in Mount Lavinia. Following protests, these refugees were moved to the detention camp at Boosa. Police said the action was intended to protect them. This group was rescued by a Naval patrol on the seas off the southern coast. Basil on three-day tour of Jaffna Former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, a key player in the newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Pakshaya (SLPP), begins a three-day visit to Jaffna today. Some 13 meetings have been scheduled in different parts of the peninsula for Rajapaksa but an event that is not scheduled is causing concerns. That is a hartal planned by a Tamil group. The Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) is partnering in arranging the events. Alleged fraud in purchase of two ships by CSC The Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) has begun a probe on the purchase of two ships by the Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC) during the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa administration. The vessels, with a displacement of 63,000 tons each, investigators say had allegedly been purchased with excess payments amounting to US$ 30 million for both. Investigators say the ships procured in 2013 from a Chinese state enterprise had been bought at $70 million each. Meanwhile, the FCID probe into the procurement of MiG-27 fighter jets is now nearing completion. A Sri Lanka team was in the Ukranian capital of Kiev a week ago following up on several matters. It included Attorney General Jayantha Jayasuriya, Senior DIG Ravi Waidyalankara, head of the FCID, and another official from the AGs Department. Ranil going to Germany, Finland Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit Germany and Finland next week on a nine-day tour. He will be accompanied by Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam among others. National carrier or a plaything of the board View(s): From where does the UNP, the major partner of the yahapalanaya government, produce such wunder kinder? Since King Kekille made his remarkable contributions to jurisprudence we have not seen much original thought except perhaps in our great institution by the Oya which will soon be celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is until now. Today we have men of many words strutting around like politically-anointed popinjays. The other day the great pundits in charge of education are said to have decided that those who fail the GCE O level examination be allowed to sit for the A level examination or some such thing. There is originality for you. The idea seems to have been picked up from our political practices. Persons who are rejected by the people at elections end up in parliament. Not only that, they even find themselves in the cabinet. So what does it matter if those who fail to pass the O level go a few steps higher. The current crop of MPs who have failed the O level can now claim to have studied at A level. Why stop at the A level, why not give them places at the universities and even confer a degree on the blessed lot. But not even such a decision can out do the audacious call of Suren Ratwatte, CEO of SriLankan Airlines who wants the national carrier run essentially by the board of directors and for the government to keep its filthy paws off the airline. For a man who was a pilot at Emirates and has little or no experience in running an airline this surely was several steps up the ladder. Some say it was a call from political high ups from the same alma mater that deposited him in the chair of the CEO. So the top three at SriLankan Airlines are from the same college and are identified by the letters FRCS which has gained such notoriety that the many jokes about it have spread far and wide. Alas, some of those fly-bynights who were placed in positions of power and privilege, fell by the wayside. They were declared not fit for purpose though they were certainly fit for other purposes which are now under inquiry by a presidential commission. Others are clinging on for dear life hoping the grey clouds above will soon roll by and they will be able to continue in the arbitrary ways of their predecessors. If one might pick a single example as proof of how rules and regulations are thrown to the four winds what better illustration than our own national carrier known to the world of aviation and tourism as SriLankan Airlines. In the two and half years that SriLankan has been afloat under the yahapalanaya administration it has already gone down in history as perhaps the only national airline of a democratic country whose directors were summoned before the countrys president and cabinet ministers and berated for failure to carry out recommendations of a board of inquiry. They were closely questioned over its management practices and methods (or lack of them) and a host of failures including the habit of sidelining the Minister of Public Enterprise and Development. His ministry oversees the national carrier which some knowledgeable people in the industry call the national corpse and others the national curse. Whichever sobriquet is chosen to describe the airline even the most ill-educated would know that it is no compliment to the airline especially so when its chairman and chief executive officer seem to be in cahoots trying to stay away from stormy weather. Chairman Ajith Dias has thankfully taken a vow of silence, at least in recent days. But the irrepressible CEO Suren Ratwatte, a pilot who seems to think he has descended from Olympus instead from 35,000 feet and came to occupy the CEO post, keeps shooting his mouth off like he was a born again Pericles. What drew attention to the health of the national airline was an interview given to a Sri Lankan website by Suren Ratwatte trying to talk his way out of the pitiful state of the airline and trying to pass the buck without accepting responsibility for not acting on the Weliamuna report. It is nothing new, of course, for the national carrier, under the present administration which has developed a tendency to say not I sir when its big wigs are caught with their fingers in the jam jar. In the interview Ratwatte sets out four issues that need to be dealt with if the airline is to return to financial health. Those issues have been debated by more knowledgeable persons and however much Ratwatte tries to sweep the present administrations faults under the bed he is hardly likely to succeed mostly because his arrogance, pomposity and treatment of staff including pilots have antagonised many at the airline. Our interest however is not on these issues but Ratwattes attempts show that the airline could be lifted out of the morass in which it finds itself if the airlines board of directors is allowed to function independently without others monitoring its decision-making and activities from above. I dare say that this Ratwatte will make a good stand-up comedian if ever he loses his position at the airline. Let the maestro on airline resuscitation characterise himself in his own words: I believe the board of directors should be in charge of running the airline. At the end of the day we need to function in such a way. If we have to seek higher approvals further up the tree because of the shareholding it changes the entire structure and makes it very difficult to run a commercial company. Then we become something else. Is this guy for real or has he just picked a few phrases from the commercial world and is trying to impress some reporter when the real problem is the board of directors to whom he wants the running of the airline handed over lock, stock and barrel. What is curious is that the CEO complains that while the government is the major shareholder it has not capitalised the airline at levels needed. So he expects the State as major shareholder to pump in adequate capital and at the same time allow the director board to run the company abandoning its oversight responsibilities. In short Ratwatte is telling the State give us more capital and let the director board run the airline as it deems fit. Therein lies the rub. When President Sirisena summoned the airline board and he and his ministers questioned the directors it was because it was perceived that the chairman and CEO were taking decisions that apparently were contrary to the views of many on the board. In fact as I said some months ago when the directors appeared before the president and the ministers there was a clear division of opinion and the board seemed as divided as Gaul in Caesars time. It is clear that the board is badly divided, President Maithripala Sirisena was quoted as saying by a ministerial source at the meeting, a news report said. The President felt that the allegations against the SriLankan board are true. What the cabinet found out today is that the CEO and the chairman have been taking arbitrary decisions that were not in the interest of the airline, the same ministerial source was quoted as saying. He said the president insisted that the recommendations of the Weliamuna report be implemented immediately. It was Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who appointed a committee of inquiry headed by senior lawyer J.C Weliamuna to look at the state of the national airline. The inquiry report made several strictures and called for action to be taken including filing criminal proceedings against the previous chairman and the CEO. It also made critical remarks about the current head of human resources who was at the airline during the previous administration. The Weliamuna inquiry found that Pradeepa Kekulawala, the head of Human Resources, allowed sexual perverts a free run. The current management has not taken any action against Kekulawala, ministers had been told. More recently there have been differences of opinion between the Pilots Guild on several issues, one that seemed to concern the safety of aircraft. Media reports have highlighted the goings on at SriLankan. In one instance a virtual scholarship was granted to Ratwatte costing the tax payer around US$ 50,000.This led Chairman Ajith Dias to make what airline sources are said to have claimed was an unprecedented move. He is said to have ordered Capt. Rajind Ranatunga the Head of Flight Operations to hand over the entire Crew Rostering Department to Pradeepa Kekulawala the airlines Head of Human Resources reports said. He is under a cloud following the Weliamuna report but Dias is looking the other way. This is after Capt. Ranatunga had only a few days earlier written to CEO Ratwatte and asked him to back off, after the CEO had muscled his way and got his assigned Line Flying Instructor changed to an Instructor of his choice for his first flight scheduled for July 12, 2017. These instances are but a few of what has not only been reported in the media but have been the talk in Colombos chattering circles. Take for instance a request made to the airline under the Right to Information Act for details of the salaries, allowances, perks enjoyed by those at the top of the pile. The airline has refused to release this information. This is not information that could be refused under Article 5 of the RTI law which sets out the exemptions. But the airline is deliberately refusing to provide this because the public will then know the huge salaries, perks and privileges that the top officials have got together and carved out for themselves. It is to this board which has found to be fractious as President Sirisenas words clearly imply, that CEO Ratwatte wants to entrust the management of the airline. In a press release issued by the airline somewhere in August 2016 it said that there was now heightened accountability. That surely is curious when the airline refuses to answer questions under an RTI law which this government is proud of. When the board was under fire and feeling the heat, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who appointed the board, is said to have mentioned that he would be reconstituting the board. President Sirisena was also hoping that after such a battering the chairman would have the civility and good sense to pack up and go home to enjoy a more restful life. In this way the president hoped he would not have to act and throw the whole lot out. It would have been bad for the government and he wanted to avoid that. Well, three months have passed and nothing has happened. What is it that the French say: Plus ca change, plus cest la meme chose. Now we think back View(s): My dear Mahinda maama, I havent been writing to you for some time now but I thought I must do so now, especially because you somehow seem to find a way of being in the news even though you are not in power. When you hit the headlines, it is invariably linked to one court case or another, but that is a small price to pay! Now they tell me the courts have ruled that you are no longer the leader of the Blue Party despite claims that Maithri took the leadership by force. This court decision comes as no surprise, Mahinda maama, but what surprises me is that there was even a court case challenging Maithris leadership. If memory serves me right, Mahinda maama, shortly after the last big election which you lost to Maithri, you told us a story of how you met at Chamal maamas official residence and agreed that Maithri should be the Blue Party boss. Yet, your supporters now claim that he took the job forcefully. Pardon me, Mahinda maama, but sometimes it feels as if there is a pattern here. You and those Blue supporters in your camp appear to be selectively forgetting certain events that happened when you were the boss and you had the final word on anything and everything that happened in the country. Remember SAITM, the medical school that you gave your blessings to? You gave the school a huge loan and offered scholarships to those enrolling in it. Students who would have otherwise gone to state universities joined, because they could study medicine and your scholarships made it affordable. SB, who championed SAITMs cause then, is still doing that although he has been smart enough to switch sides. Those in your camp however behave as if this is a monster created by Maithri and the GMOA, which squeaked like a mouse then, is now roaring like a lion but that is a different story! Then, those in your camp are very upset that Jagath, the military chap who you promoted over and above others as Saraths successor, has been accused of war crimes while he was serving as our ambassador in Brazil. They are shouting from the rooftops about protecting our war heroes. Correct me if I am wrong, Mahinda maama, but where was all this breast beating when, soon after the big election, Sarath, the greatest war hero at the time, was dragged kicking and screaming from his office by officers junior to him and detained, court-martialled, stripped of his rank and imprisoned? Then, there is the infamous sil redi case. We have heard all the arguments for and against, and the courts have determined that while your secretary Lalith and that other chap were at fault, it was also very clear that they were acting on your orders. In fact, you yourself have confirmed that. If that is so, Mahinda maama, why did you forget to turn up in court, accept responsibility for giving the orders and face the consequences instead of allowing your poor secretary to take the rap? Surely, that is not in keeping with the paternal aadambarakaara thaaththa image that you have cultivated? Then we saw the ugly spectacle of Buddhist monks going about with their begging bowls, asking for money to pay off Laliths fine. That was disgusting. Even though you claim to be a protector and saviour of Buddhism, we didnt see you or even the Mahanayakes, for that matter condemning that! You also complain about postponing provincial council elections. I agree that postponing polls for whatever reason is bad but you must also admit that the Green Man and Maithri outsmarted you after the courts rejected the 20th Amendment. You thought elections will follow but they beat you to it. You claim you never postponed elections and always held them on time. Yes, you did, when it suited you but not when it didnt. Remember the elections to the Northern Province? They were held more than four years after the war was over- and that too only because India and the UN asked you to. That is why elections should be held when they are due and not earlier or later and you, of all people, should know about this. I am trying not to remind you about how you took Sumaneys advice and held an early election because the planets were just right- and the rest is now history! Mahinda maama, you can still play a role in the affairs of our nation but I think you should steer clear of disowning everything that you did when you were the boss. Instead, if you accept responsibility and admit your mistakes, who knows, Namal may someday write a book called Agamethi thaaththa! Yours truly, Punchi Putha PS: I heard that the other Sarath is now going before courts to challenge the postponement of the provincial council elections. This is the chap who was appointed by Satellite but cut short her term by a year, then supported you with Helping Hambantota only to publicly seek forgiveness for that later. Now, he is again on your side. With friends like these, Mahinda maama, who needs enemies? Instead of jiggery-pokery, fix the PC system View(s): There is a pithy local saying nangi pennala akka dunna (showed the younger sister and palmed off the elder one) to describe what happened before an arranged marriage where the marriage broker or the prospective groom was conned and taken for a ride. Whether this is indicative of what the Government did last week in passing the amendments to the Provincial Councils Bill is being hotly debated. Adamant as it was to put off scheduled Provincial Council elections due by the end of this year in three provinces, the Government was not going to take a Supreme Court determination ordering a referendum, if it wanted to do just that through a 20th Amendment, lying down. The Government dusted a partly drafted Bill to provide women a quota at future elections, and through a bypass route introduced amendments to the amendment and bought time to delay holding elections. The hapless Attorney General is being blamed for giving his imprimatur to the Constitutional validity of all of these amendments. Critics say this is circumventing the Supreme Court that sits as the countrys Constitutional Court. The Government says it is difficult to turn the omelette it has cooked back into an egg. A section of the Opposition is howling blue murder, while another section is being accused of passively concurring with the Government. Fiat justitia ruat caelum let justice be done even if the heavens may fall, is an old Latin phrase used as a legal term in English Law that means whatever the consequences, justice must be done. The Government will not say there has been an error of Parliament, and the consequences of a defeat at the polls will be a fate worse than an accusation that it made a mockery of the legislative process. Many Governments do what they think are smart manoeuvres such as this, only to pay for them in the long run. As the country celebrates 70 years of parliamentary democracy heres another clever piece of legislative jiggery-pokery to add to its historical records. As we said last week, the entire Provincial Council debate revolves round elections to it and has become a game of power-politics. This Government has even had to put its good governance theme on hold to postpone elections, and get over what may have been an embarrassing hurdle. Instead, the Government should see how to fix the Provincial Council system which serves neither man nor beast. Highways build in a hurry and repent at leisure The Governments ambitious road-building projects are under fire and for good reason. Not only are they spurred on by an unhealthy desire to compete with the previous administration, they blatantly disregard, even violate, due procedures and legal safeguards put in place to protect the environment and people. The projects which run into billions of rupees will massively inflate national debt. Rather than seek funds from donors like the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Asian Development Bank, the Government is borrowing commercial funds at steeper rates because it is faster and entails fewer conditions. Unlike JICA or ADB, export-import banks are less likely to insist on the long-term interest of the country. The tenders are not open to all, contrary to what was promised when the Government took over. There is only limited international competitive bidding. In some cases, contractors are even pre-selected in a process that seems open to interference by interested parties. The Government could go for suppliers credit where they open up a project complete with pre-feasibility, preliminary design and road trace to international bidders and invite them to come with credit. This ensures wider competition on a global scale. But this is not being considered. Instead, agreements are made with various Governments to build roads here on condition that bids are limited to companies in those particular countries. There is an absurd hurry to build expressways, however important some of them may be, short-circuiting due procedure. Contracts are being rushed into headlong. Families are issued notices under a section of the Land Acquisition Act which will see their properties grabbed overnight without them knowing when (if ever) compensation will be granted and how much. The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) is pressured into approving half-baked environmental impact assessments (EIA). They know full well their conditions cannot be enforced once the project is underway. The Road Development Authority (RDA) has a planning division and an environmental and social division which should be initiating projects to improve the road network based on future demand forecasts and availability of land and terrain for construction. However, most expressway programmes are driven top-down, as political decisions. Feasibility studies have to be examined and accepted by the respective division in the RDA. It is well known that the RDA top management comprises some engineers heading projects and they will operate outside set procedure. This is now widely observed. China-funded projects have not required rigorous feasibility studies. Many expressways and other road projects have been implemented without due return on investment. There are serious issues with how feasibility studies are also handed out. They are increasingly not advertised to major consulting companies and are handed over, instead, to favoured companies. It has been proven that, in most cases, the cost estimated in these studies is surpassed during construction. The traffic levels and benefits are not achieved. In this scenario, most recent highway projects built at astronomical costs are unlikely to produce a net benefit to the economy. These projects are meant to increase the wealth of a country. However, the fact that the Government draws a loan far greater than its actual value is a major problem. The reality that they will probably not produce the benefits required to pay back these loans is another. Parliament and the Committee on Public Enterprise should initiate a special commission to inquire into all road projects since 2010 as this Government, had indeed pledged to do. This commission should start with the most recent initiatives and divulge to the public who is behind the current fiasco. Action must be taken before it is too late. These roads are leading to nowhere and nobody can say that the experts didnt warn them of that. I could have danced all night! By Shakya Wickramanayake Some playing more than one role, cast members share the excitement of being part of The Workshop Players My Fair Lady that will have its curtain raiser on October 6 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre View(s): View(s): Skirts swishing, arms swinging, an animated group of actors loudly sing the words With a little bit of luck!With a little bit of luck. This was the scene the Sunday Times Magazine encountered when we sat in at rehearsals for the Workshop Players much anticipated production of My Fair Lady which goes on the boards at the Lionel Wendt theatre from October 6-15. For those who are unfamiliar with either the legendary film or hit musical, My Fair Lady follows the story of a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle in Edwardian London whose life is forever altered when she becomes the protege of phonetics professor, Henry Higgins. Higgins makes a wager with his friend, Colonel Pickering, that in six months he can teach the unrefined Cockney-accented Eliza to speak proper English. The story follows Higgins attempt to transform Eliza into a proper lady and prove his point that it is language, and not wealth that creates class distinctions a point that some may say is strangely still relevant to the present-day even Sri Lankan society. Bringing to life Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewes much-loved Broadway musical is no easy task. It runs purely on energy, says 19-year-old Devin Randeniya, who plays Eliza Doolittles love interest, Freddy Eynsford-Hill. But watching the young cast perform, it seems less like rehearsals and more like youre in the middle of an East London neighbourhood in Edwardian England. The cast exudes enthusiasm and energy. We dont feel like were rehearsing. Its like hanging out with your friends for extended periods of time, one cast member says. Though most of the leads are seasoned Workshop Players, the majority of the cast is fairly new and quite an eclectic mix, with some like Devin and Daniella Perera ( one of the two actresses playing Eliza) barely out of school, whereas others are busy professionals. Some like Kanishka Herath, who plays Prof. Higgins and Devin Randeniya, have been acting for most of their lives while for others, this is their first role on stage. This was the case with Harin Amirthanathan (30), who will be sharing the role of Freddy with Devin. A professional musician, Harin had never acted before and was very surprised when he got the part. But what has drawn them all to this production is their love for musical theatre and this musical, in particular. Every cast member we spoke to told us of how My Fair Lady either the musical or the film had impacted their lives growing up. Law student Vineshka Mendis (22), playing the role of Freddys mother, recalls how as a child, she and her cousins took her grandmothers copy and acted out the musical along with a piano accompaniment. The play is very close to my heart, says Dhara Gunawardena (21), who shares the role of Freddys mother with Vineshka. Having studied Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (the play on which the story is based) in depth for her Alevels, she is very passionate about it from both an academic and sentimental viewpoint. For Piorina Fernando (34), the film was very much part of her childhood. I loved the Ascot scene as a kid. It was my introduction to what upper class elite English society looked like, says the actress, wholl share the role of Prof. Higgins mother, with Shanuki De Alwis. But not everyone came in eagerly prepared for the auditions. One of the more interesting stories we heard was how 17-year- old Bhanu Prabashan, read about it in a newspaper that was used to wrap his lunch packet and realising the auditions were being held that very day rushed there to try his luck. He got a part! Regardless of why and how they came to be in the cast, one thing is certain, and that is their passion and dedication towards the production. It costs more money to be a part of a production than it does to buy a ticket and watch it, says director Surein De S. Wijeyeratne. He explains that with all the money spent on travel for practices and buying food etc, the cast and the production team dont really gain anything from it. They do it for the love of it. The love and passion they put in shines over any imperfections there maybe (in the production), he adds. This years production will be novel to many of the Workshop Players, as for most this is the first time theyll be alongside their founder/ director Jerome L. De Silva on stage. The last time he acted in a Workshop Players production was 23 years ago. According to long-time Workshop Player Dinushka Jayawickreme, who plays Mrs. Pearce, it is a new experience. You see a different side to him. A more dramatic one! she says. Its an honour to be acting alongside J, adds Reihan Stephen, longtime Workshop Player. Jerome himself seems excited about his role. He recalls the last time he was in My Fair Lady was in the 70s in the Wendy Whatmore directed show. He played the young lover Freddy in that production and jokes that being a dark and skinny thing at the time, that he would have looked a dreadful love interest. This time around, Jerome plays the respected linguist Colonel Pickering, friend to Professor Higgins. Asked why he didnt choose to play Higgins, Jerome said he didnt want to take on such a big role, quite content with the smaller role, enjoying himself in the process. We witness him singing along to the songs from the sidelines even if not part of the scene, free from the stresses that come with directing. Many roles are played by alternate actors on different days and so on days when they arent playing the role, the actors are part of the ensemble. The accents help them switch between characters, they tell us, this being especially vital when the characters they play differ so widely. As Mrs. Eynsford-Hill, Im a refined upper class lady. But in the ensemble Im an old lady threatening to throw her shoes at someone, says Dhara, illustrating the point. It seems that most can now turn on the Cockney accents at will but it didnt come easily requiring much practice and guidance from experienced actors like Shanuki De Alwis. We sounded like cats when we first started singing with the accent, Vineshka and Dhara chuckle. In fact when they demonstrated the cockney ohs it did sound like the mournful mewls of a cat. As in any production, it isnt just the cast and their effort that determines its success. From the animated crowd scenes of the London streets to the elegant waltzes at the Embassy ball, each dance has been carefully choreographed by Ayushka Nugaliyedda and Mihara Jayalath. While we watch the cast twirl and sing the familiar songs from My Fair Lady, we cant help but envision how it would look up on stage. If the costumes from the Ascot scene are anything to go by, this musical promises to be a feast for the senses! My Fair Lady is on from October 6-15 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. Tickets priced at Rs. 5000, 4000, 3500, 2000 and 800 are available at the Wendt and selling fast!The principal sponsor of My Fair Lady is Cargills and co-sponsor Cargills magic. The Sunday Times and Daily Mirror are the print media sponsors of the show. 60 Katugastota cops transferred over missing IB, rise in crime View(s): Sixty Katugastota police officers, including inspectors and sub inspectors, have been transferred and two officers interdicted following the mysterious disappearance of the Information Book and failure to curb crime in the area. Police sources said the book contained entries regarding drug-related crimes and the loss of the book had affected follow-up action by the ASP in charge of the area. They said the transfers were ordered by Central Province Deputy Inspector General Mahinda Ekanayake who had expressed concern over a rise in crimes, including robberies, in Katugastota and the police failure to carry out raids. The sources said the DIGs office had received several complaints against the Katugastota police. Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena has ordered the destruction of nearly 1,000 kilograms of narcotics which have a street value of a staggering Rs. 38 billion. The drugs were seized during raids and detections in the past two years, officials said. The Special Task Force (STF) has been told to destroy the drugs in consultation with the Attorney Generals Department and the Government Analysts Department. STF Commandant M.R. Lathif told the Sunday Times they were discussing how and where to destroy the narcotics which included heroin, cocaine and cannabis, among other drugs. Earlier during a meeting with officials, the President had raised questions regarding what was being done with the detected narcotics. eNIC info: Petition to SC on invasion of privacy View(s): The Supreme Court has been petitioned against the Governments new regulations to create an electronic database allowing the Commissioner General for the Registration of Persons virtually unrestricted access to any information concerning any citizen recorded with any public authority. The regulations mandate the Commissioner General to maintain a national register in respect of each application for a national electronic identity card (eNIC). Citizens must provide name, date of birth, gender, address, family details and numbers of national identity cards of parents, guardian, spouse, children and siblings. Divorcees are even required to specify the date of decree, case number and court in which the divorce decree was entered. The Commissioner must be informed of any birth or adoption of a child, marriage or divorce of a person and death of a spouse. Regulation 7(1) requires any person applying for registration to give impressions of fingers of both hands. The telephone number and email address of each applicant must be entered. The petitioner, R Ratnasabapathy of Colombo 7, points out that the national register grants access to the Commissioner, and any other person he shares it with, such information as the entire family tree of any citizen of Sri Lanka. The Commissioner would have virtually unrestricted access to any information concerning any citizen recorded with any public authority in the country. Furthermore, personal information of a confidential nature required in terms of the regulations is not adequately protected from disclosure to third parties. The Commissioner General and the State would effectively have at its disposal an index to all official and quasi-official records relating to a person and, thus, through cross-references, the key to a total life history of every individual, the petition states. Since the regulations envisage the centralisation of information concerning a citizen, separate databases can be linked together to obtain a full profile or bio-data of any citizen and their families. Consequently, it would be possible through a searchable database to, for example, enter the assessment number of any property or building and discover the names of the owners and the names of any tenants. With the name and eNIC of the owner/tenant, it will be possible to get the details of other properties, vehicles, businesses and family details, among others, the petition observes. It would be possible to enter a vehicle number and discover the owner and then gain a full profile of the owner and his family. And it would also be possible to enter a phone number or email address of a person and obtain a full profile of the owner and his family. The petitioner states that, through this scheme, citizens will be subjected to two major risks. They are unauthorised access through hacking (these would become magnets for hackers); and abuse by interested parties for personal or political gain. The above risks are multiplied as the data collected and stored would be widely available to State functionaries, including low-level police officers. the collection of a full family tree of all citizens with information concerning each person offers little or no public service or benefit, the petitioner holds. However, it would enable the identification and monitoring of relatives of a particular individual and will enable the targeting of family members of opponents for personal or political gain. The respondents are Internal Affairs Minister S B Navinna, the Commissioner General for the Registration of Persons V Gunathilaka and the Attorney General. The case will come up on October 12. Mihin Lanka liquidated, SriLankan floats fresh restructuring plan View(s): Ten years after it was set up as a budget airline, Mihin Lanka is being liquidated. The Auditor General has closed its books and a final annual general meeting is to be held. Liquidation is a process by which a companys existence is brought to an end. Now we have a directive from the Government to liquidate and we are doing that, said Suren Ratwatte, Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines. The Auditor General has closed the books. We have to get that approved, have a last annual general meeting and go into voluntary liquidation. That should happen fairly soon and the air operators certificate will be transferred to SriLankan. In October 2016, Mihin was merged with SriLankan. The national carrier took over all of Mihins routes and some of its aircraft. Despite many international airlines making money from a budget operation, Mr Rawatte maintained that he couldnt have restructured two airlines at the same time. He also said Mihin competed with Srilankan on many of its routes and it was his decision to shut it down. SriLankan has now absorbed 120 of Mihins employees while 180 took a voluntary retirement scheme, funded by the budget carrier. Mihin only had three viable routes: Dhaka, Chennai and Male, Mr Ratwatte said. On Chennai and Male, it directly competed with SriLankan and lowered my yields. So there was really no point in keeping it in those markets. Subsequently, the yields on Dhaka, which was its most profitable route, plummeted because the Maldivian Government no longer takes Bangladeshi workers. That whole revenue stream just dried up. Meanwhile, with no investment partner in sight, the management of loss-making SriLankan Airlines has floated a fresh restructuring plan that focuses on trimming costs in four areas: the interest on loans, fuel, aircraft leases and staff. There will have to be a small headcount reduction, Mr Ratwatte said. With a total workforce of 7,049, SriLankan has a man-metal ratio of 280 which was way too high. And without changing the cost structure, he admitted, the airline was not viable. Two other areas must be addressed by the Government, Mr Ratwatte said. One is the proposal for a 14 percent withholding tax on international service agreements (introduced in the new Inland Revenue Act) that would include SriLankans aircraft rentals. The company spends around US$ 10 million a month on leases and it would be crippling to pay an additional 14 percent on that. The second is a direct order of four A350 aircraft from Airbus due in 2020 which the Government has decided it does not want. We do not need A350s, Mr Ratwatte said. However, we are committed by a purchase agreement. A compromise needs to be negotiated. There are no easy solutions. Talks will start with Airbus to find a way out, he continued. How much it will cost the company this time can only be answered once negotiations begin. The previous regime ordered eight A350sfour on lease, four on direct purchase. The controversial annulment of the leased four has already left gaping hole in the companys balance sheet. But according to a Board decision on May 2015approved by CabinetSriLankan will not take delivery of the four expected in 2020 either. This leaves the possibility that the cash-strapped airline will incur another heavy fine imposed by Airbus. There are several alternatives, as long as we start talking now, Mr Ratwatte pointed out. Again, there is no cancellation clause in the agreement. We have to find some way out of this and have asked for the Governments help because, as an airline, we are not in a position to negotiate. The Government is working with us on that. The restructuring plan has been approved by the SriLankan Board of Directors and is now with the Ministry of Aviation. It comes amid a doubling of losses in the year ending March 2017 caused, among other things, by the hefty fine from Airbus for annulling leases on four A350 aircraft. From April 2015 to March 2016, the airline also saw a significant drop in revenue growth. It went from 8.2 percent when the previous management left to minus 1.6 after the new team took overa ten percent dip. In 2017, a growth of just 4.8 percent was achieved but this was affected by a three month runway closure which led to the cancellation of 600 flights. This financial year, if nothing changes, we spend US$ 60 million in interest (on loans) alone, Mr Ratwatte said. And no airline makes US$ 60 million in profit for an operation our size. For us just to break even is not possible, given the current structure of our loans and the airline. The company borrowed heavily to meet the Airbus fine. Efforts to find an equity partner for 49 percent of the company have fallen flat. Predictably so, say industry analysts who have looked at the financials and concluded that the company has no value to sell. Rumours that businessman Harry Jayawardena is still interested are not substantiated. This has left the companythat incurred a penalty of US$ 98 million just to cancel the A350 leasesscrambling for solutions again. The Government first decided in 2015 to sell a stake in the airline but abandoned this in the confidence that a private partner would commit to a public private partnership. But the only serious contender was the investment firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) which, after due diligence, said it was not interested. Now, Mr Ratwatte wants capital for the airlinenot debt equity. He disagreed that his team was floundering. Our costs are not as far down as we want them to be, he accepted. But weve reduced them and wed reduce them even more if were given a free hand to do so. The problem is all the vested interest in this country that opposes any change. Total staff costs have increased by nine percent. This was attributable to contractual pay rises under collective bargaining agreements. I had no choice but to give them, Mr Ratwatte said. The total cost (of the increase), I think, was US$ 2.2 million. This was not sustainable, he agreed. The CEO has conceptualised carving the company into separate business units (SBUs). It is the first time such a suggestion has been made. SriLankan ground handling (with 2,800 employees) would be one entity and security (with 3,000 employees) would be another. Engineering could be divided into two with the 900-strong airworthiness maintenance section forming another SBU. I want to split the company into lots of little companies, Mr Ratwatte said. Each SBU will be responsible for its respective profits and losses which will be pooled into the group. There were now multiple inefficiencies: A lot of people who sit in a corner of their office and watch YouTube videos all day. They dont do anything because theyre not accountable, Mr Ratwatte complained. You just cant keep track of them, whereas if you split them into little units, each has to perform. Petrol prices to go up; CPC says will follow LIOC View(s): Fuel prices are set to increase soon, a senior government official cautioned yesterday. This follows a decision by the Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) to increase its prices shortly, citing heavy losses and fluctuating crude oil prices in the international market. A senior Finance Ministry official said last night that the Government had not taken a decision, but would be compelled to increase fuel prices if the LIOC increased prices. If the LIOC increases prices, customers will naturally start buying Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) fuel. This may increase the CPCs losses as the fuel is being sold at a subsidised price. Therefore, we will be forced to increase prices, he said. He said fuel prices had not been increased for the past three years. Petroleum Resources Development Ministry Secretary Upali Marasinghe said if the LIOC increased prices, the ministry would have to take a decision regarding prices to prevent the CPC incurring losses. He said that LIOC did not require government permission to increase prices. LIOC Managing Director Shyam Bohara said discussions were under way to decide on the date to implement the price increase.It will all depend on the international prices, he said. He said that the LIOC was at present losing Rs 17 from a litre of petrol and Rs 14 from a litre of diesel. Probe on alleged moves by Australian company to bribe Sirisenas official in 2009 View(s): Australian media reported this week that the World Bank had banned five subsidiaries of one of the countrys iconic engineering companies for allegedly making inappropriate payments to secure contracts in foreign countries, including Sri Lanka where an official working for the then Minister Maithripala Sirisena is said to have demanded political donations. The media reports said two Australian companies SMEC (Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation) and Sundance Resources were facing bribery investigations by the Australian Federal Police (AFP). They had allegedly paid kickbacks to secure World Bank-funded project contracts in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Republic of Congo. SMEC, one of the biggest Australian companies to benefit from WB contracts, was involved in a 2009 dam project and 2011 sewerage project in Sri Lanka. In on-going investigations, SMEC confirmed that a request for a political donation was made by an official in then Irrigation Minister Maithripala Sirisenas office, but insists that no donation was eventually made. In Colombo, the Presidents Media Director Dharmasiri Ekanayake told the Sunday Times yesterday he would respond to the Australian media report soon after he consults the President. Asked what happened when the same newspapers ran similar reports earlier this year, he said We sent a response. Instructions were given to take legal action. I am not sure what action has been taken so far. At the time the news first broke, President Sirisena responded to the Australian media saying he had no knowledge of this incident and requested further information if any, that his officials had asked for kick-backs. The media reports further stated that coming in the wake of foreign bribery allegations implicating Tabcorp, Leighton Holdings and BHP Billiton, the revelations will put pressure on the Turnbull government to reform Australias failing anti-corruption framework.A Fairfax Media and 7.30 investigation has uncovered internal documents from Perth-based listed mining company Sundance Resources that suggest it bribed the leader of the Republic of Congo as it sought presidential approval in 2007 for one of Africas most ambitious iron ore projects, the newspaper states. It says the documents, now being evaluated by AFP reveal a secret share deal worth millions of dollars was brokered with the son of Congos President Denis Sassou Nguesso. In return, the company allegedly secured the Presidents backing for its project. Sundance has launched an internal inquiry into the claims. Referring to SMEC, The Sydney Morning Herald states the firms overseas staff allegedly bribed officials to secure a A$2.3 million aid-funded sewerage project in Sri Lanka in 2011 and, in partnership with a Canadian company, a A$2.2 million power plant project in Bangladesh in 2007. Company emails also reveal an adviser of President Sirisena allegedly demanded a political donation to be paid by SMEC when Mr Sirisena was a cabinet minister, it adds.The emails show a plot to skim the money off a World Bank-funded dam project in 2009. In return, the dam contract to SMEC, worth $1.82 million was to be approved. SMECs Sri Lankan manager, who was recently sacked, wrote in emails to two Australian colleagues that he wanted to inform of the size of an alleged kickback to be paid and that he needed to prioritise certain payments to unnamed parties since the signing of the contract would depend on it. President Sirisena at the time the Australian media first published these details said he would also ask the Attorney General of Sri Lanka to investigate the allegations. A forgotten chapter in Buddhist education As we mark Childrens Day today, Randima Attygalle writes on the urgent need to develop Sri Dhammasara Piyaratana Maha Vidyalaya in Dodanduwa, the first ever Buddhist school in the country View(s): View(s): The shell of a school building adorned with a swastika symbol still stands, the few remaining chairs and tables awaiting the footfall of youngsters. The school laboratory, once the pride of the South is a store room. As if in a mismatch of architecture, parallel to the colonial-looking buildings, a new single storeyed block shelters five classrooms, 157 children and a tutorial staff of seven. Raised concrete beams tell of a long awaited upper floor The vision of Sri Dhammasara Piyaratana Maha Vidyalaya in Dodanduwa proclaims: to mould a generation of responsible citizens replete with skills, values, discipline and wisdom. Once a respected institution of learning which produced scientists and academics, this first Sinhala Buddhist school in the country established by Ven. Sasanalankara Vinayacharya Siri Piyaratana Tissa Nayake Thera in 1869 is a heart-wrenching sight today. Yet despite the odds, present Principal S.L. Chandrika Samanmali, who took over in 2013, is honoured to be at its helm. There are only five classes today- from Grade 1 to 5 and many children in the area seek better-equipped schools in Galle, says Ms. Samanmali who bemoans that the school which had up to O/L classes and one of the best school laboratories in the South, Sri Dhammasara Piyaratana Maha Vidyalaya is today struggling for survival. In its heyday, the school had teachers coming from Jaffna and from time to time even from India, she says. Villagers recall that the railway track which runs next to the school used to be overrun by white uniforms till the school bell was rung. Ada rail para palui, (today the rail track is deserted) is the common lament of the Dodanduwa folk. The original buildings which mirror colonial architecture are dilapidated, some left to the mercy of natures elements. The only one spared proclaims that its conserved by the Archaeology Department. Sadly, no children fill the building. As we step into the Grade 4 classroom of Renuka Damayanthi, eager little faces smile at us, a few giggles are heard, some are camera-shy and others boldly facing it. A mathematics lesson is in progress and chirpy voices unite in crescendo. In the adjoining Grade 5 classroom a scientific experiment on light takes place oblivious to the science lab the school once boasted of. The staff are valiant in their efforts even though lacking basic facilities like a telephone and computer. If we could at least open the path for these children to enter a city school, we will be successful, reflects the Principal. The school currently prepares students for the Grade 5 scholarship exam. Born to the Weerasuriya family of Dodanduwa on December 12, 1826, Ven. Siri Piyaratana Tissa Nayake Thera was ordained at the age of nine at Sailabimbaramaya under Ven. Koggala Susammata Dhammasara Thera, the Chief Incumbent of the Vihara. Inaugurating the Lokartha Sadhaka Samagama, Piyaratana Thera set up the first Buddhist school in the island in 1869 in Dodanduwa. The school which was located in the premises of the Sailabimbaramaya, was then called Jinalabdhi Visodhaka Patashawala, though popularly known as Dodanduwa School. This was the beginning of the Buddhist education movement to counter the Christian challenge, even before Colonel Olcott set foot in the island. Several philanthropists in the area had rallied round the visionary prelate to fund the school. Sourcing text books however had been a challenge and the learned prelate had prepared two readers- Neyyartha Dipani and the Jina Dharma Vikasini, dealing with the life of the Buddha and Buddhist ideals and principles of lay life. He had also prepared a school reader. Given the great hesitancy by the British to register Buddhist schools during this time, it was only in 1874 the school was registered, says the present Chief Priest of Sailabimbaramaya, Ven. Dewuramvehera Medhalankara Thera. It is said that on Governor Robinsons first official visit to Galle, the villagers had given him a grand welcome and also handed over a petition to him urging the British Government to acknowledge the school. After the demise of Piyaratana Thera in 1907, the administration of Jinalabdhi Visodhaka Patashawala was taken over by Ven. Dodanduwe Dhammissara Thera who later initiated an English Buddhist school in the Sailabimbaramaya premises which came to be known as Piyaratana English School of Dodanduwa. The two schools were later amalgamated and renamed Sri Dhammasara Piyaratana Maha Vidyalaya in honour of Piyaratana Thera and his guru Koggala Dhammasara Thera, notes Ven. Medhalankara Thera. The temple which is more than 200 years old is a repository of historical documents including several letters exchanged between Piyaratana Thera and Colonel Olcott and is conserved by the Central Cultural Fund today. Prof. M.B. Ariyapala in Cultural Renaissance- a lesser known pioneer Ven. Piyaratana Tissa Maha Thera (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Sri Lanka Branch, Volume XXV) refers to some of these letters and implies that Piyaratana Thera and Colonel Olcott had been pen friends for a while. In response to a letter in which the prelate extends an invitation to Colonel Olcott, the latter says: the hand of welcome you extend to us is most cordially and warmly grasped. The arrival of Colonel Olcott in the island in 1800 was a turning point. Meeting Piyaratana Thera in Dodanduwa propelled Colonel Olcott to form the Buddhist Theosophical Society in Sri Lanka which assisted in establishing many leading Buddhist schools such as Ananda College, Colombo, Mahinda College, Galle, Musaeus College, Colombo and Dharmaraja College, Kandy. Colonel Olcott who continued to pledge his support towards Dodanduwa School, had also donated valuable equipment to the school. The projector with 8 mm Kodak films, he had donated to the school had been sold for a pittance several years ago to a private party as the chief prelate of Sailabimbaramaya informs us. The decline of this school, the monk attributes to ill administration by school authorities and absence of political will to revive it. A few English classics in the library speak for its one time glory. A fading photograph of a Scout troop dating back to 1918 is evidence of the rounded education the institution once provided. The present staff does their best with annual activities including the alms giving in memory of the founder, perahera and bhakthi gee. Prof. W.M. Karunadasa, former professor of International Relations at the Colombo University and a distinguished past pupil of the school recollects that during the 1940s and 1950s Sri Dhammasara Piyaratana Maha Vidyalaya was a competitive school where admission was not easy. Children as far as from Galle, Boossa, Telwatta, Rathgama and Ambalangoda sought admission to this school and there were science teachers coming from India such as Mr. Jacob who taught us for our O/Ls. Science stream students did experiments in one of the best Southern labs and drew inspiration from erudite quotes which once adorned every school wall, he recalls, adding that students received a good education. I headed the debating team of the school and also the Literary Society, he says. Chartered Architect and Town Planner, Dr. Dayananda Waduge, an English-medium Science student of the school in the late 1940s recollects being a drama enthusiast. During my times, there were classes up to the O/Ls and for my A/Ls I left to Mahinda College, Galle. However, there had been a time when the school had prepared students for Cambridge Senior Examination, says Dr. Waduge, who like all his contemporaries laments the schools present state. Sri Dhammasara Piyaratana Maha Vidyalaya is nearing its 150th milestone. According to late Prof. Gunapala Malalasekera, it is also the first Buddhist school to be established in the world. Prof. M.B. Ariyapala recollects: Prof. Malalasekera made this statement from the Chair when he addressed those assembled to celebrate the centenary of the school in 1969, which I myself had the opportunity of attending. (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Sri Lanka Branch, Volume XXV) The first ever Buddhist school in the country which paved the way for many other leading Buddhist schools, simply does not deserve to be in oblivion as it is today. An urgent effort is called for to renovate and conserve this historic seat of learning. Botanik takes local flavours a notch higher with Michelin star touch By Shakya Wickramanayake View(s): View(s): High above the concrete jungle that is Colombo, sits a rooftop bar with a tropical jungle vibe to it. Botanik, the newest entrant to the Colombo bar scene, is a rooftop bistro and bar at Fairway Colombo in Fort. Conceptualized by the lifestyle company, Cantaloupe & Co, Botanik brings to the table the best of Sri Lanka from the amazing local produce, to a Michelin star chef of Sri Lankan origin, and even the beautiful local flora and fauna by way of decor. Cantaloupe & Co, which previously owned and operated Clique Lounge and Bar in Colombo, will be moving back into the restaurant scene with Botanik. Theyve chosen to partner with Sri Lankan-born chef Rishi Naleendra who recently was awarded a prestigious Michelin star for his restaurant in Singapore Cheek by Jowl. Chef Rishi who has worked in some of the best restaurants in Australia and Singapore, is known for his modern Australian cuisine. With a small yet expertly curated menu, Chef Rishi aims to give diners a contemporary bistro experience on par with those found in Australia. The menu includes such dishes as braised lamb shoulder, roasted mahi mahi, coconut panna cotta, and buffalo curd parfait. Chef Rishi believes in the quality of our local produce and so with the exception of the meat which is imported from Australia, the rest is locally sourced, even the mozzarella made from buffalo milk. Each dish at Botanik is constructed in a manner which highlights the freshness of the produce and elevates its taste, with the lightest of touches by the chefs, by way of seasoning. The butternut squash puree featured in both the Ricotta Tortellini and the Braised Lamb was silky in texture and delicious. Slightly sweet yet savoury the puree was an example of how simple elements uplift the entire dish. The buffalo Parfait with salted kitul caramel and cashew is the highlight of their dessert selection. Though it may sound like an upscale version of the classic Kiri Pani, its far from that. The dessert alone warrants a visit to the bistro. The rooftop bistro and bar also features a 34 feet long island bar on its open balcony. With cane furniture and a white and blue tiled bar, the balcony has a somewhat care-free Mediterranean vibe to it. Having had a soft opening last month, Botanik currently has eight signature cocktails that depart from the more traditional mixes, with exciting drinks like the Wasabi vodka cocktail on offer. Botanik is located on the 6th Floor of Fairway Colombo, No. 7, Hospital Street Colombo 1. For reservations call them on +94 766 445 888 or email then at reservations@botanik.lk. From Ceylon to Canada; Eurasian familys saga By Kaveesha Fernando View(s): View(s): The British may have left Ceylon in 1948 but they left an indelible mark on Sri Lankan history. Their descendants, the Eurasians faced many challenges both in newly independent Sri Lanka and abroad. Too white for Sri Lanka and too brown for the West, theirs was a story of yet another race unsure of where they belonged. This is what intrigued Welsh-Canadian author Thelma Wheatley. Her new book Tamarind Sky tells the story of Selena Jones, a young British girl who falls in love with Aidan Gilmor a Canadian citizen living in Toronto. Aidan is Eurasian. Children of British and Indian parentage came to be known as Eurasians although the term later came to denote anyone with Caucasian and South Asian heritage. In Ceylon, British colonizers would often take a country wife a Ceylonese woman while in the country, abandoning her when they had to leave for home. The children of these liaisons received a good education and had a good social status until 1948 when Ceylon gained Independence. Most Eurasians migrated to Canada, Australia or Britain in the 1950s and in Tamarind Sky, Aidan Gilmors father, is a Eurasian tea planter, who is compelled to migrate to Toronto with his wife and children following the Citizenship Act of 1948. The story of the Eurasians (particularly Aidans family and the issues they face both in Toronto and Sri Lanka) is the focus of Tamarind Sky. Thelma read for her degree in English at the University of Wales and completed her Masters at York University, Toronto after which she taught English and History, later working with developmentally challenged children. After retiring from teaching, she started writing when she was about 50. Her first book My Sad Is All Gone a familys triumph over violent autism deals with the challenges she faced raising her autistic son Julian. Her second book And Neither Have I Wings to Fly labelled and locked up in Canadas oldest institution is about the neglect and abuse faced by differently abled individuals in the Huronia Regional Centre (previously the Orillia Asylum for Idiots and Feeble Minded), incidentally the same place she was once advised to send her son to by doctors. She didnt and raised him at home. Tamarind Sky is her first work of fiction. Thelma was inspired to write this novel by her own mixed marriage to a Eurasian in Canada (her husband is half-British, half Sinhalese). The character of Selena is based on me but she is not exactly like me, she stresses. Similarly, there are so many differences between the characters and the people they are based on that this novel cannot be considered non-fiction, she explains. Her own in-laws inspired her to write this book because of the close bond she shared with them. When I got married and moved to Canada my family was back in UK so his family became mine and I really love them, she says. One of her admitted goals with the book is to expose the degrading treatment the British colonizers afforded their country wives. My sister is all ra-ra-ra Union Jack but my British relatives cannot deny the truth, she says, adding that she always writes the truth the most important consideration for her. The novel is in two parts the first part set in Canada before Pierre Trudeaus (father of Justin Trudeau) multiculturalism and the second part taking place in colonized Ceylon and newly independent Sri Lanka. Interestingly, she wrote most of the book sitting at the Burger King in Toronto from 7.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. looking over at Lake Ontario and sipping copious amounts of coffee. This book was much more fun to write than her first two, she says, because once she did her research she was then free to write what she pleased. She also came to Sri Lanka this March and visited most of the places the novel mentions apart from Weywaltalawa a 22 hairpin bend ride on a tuk-tuk one which she was willing to take but eventually didnt embark on because those who were with her were hesitant, she says. Tamarind Sky was launched at the Colombo International Book Fair on September 19 and Thelma has completed a speaking engagement at the University of Peradeniya and the British Council. A great fan of the late Nihal de Silvas work, Thelma chose Vijitha Yapa Publishers because they had published Nihal de Silvas books. I am really grateful to Vijitha Yapa for giving me a chance to publish my work here in Sri Lanka, she says, adding that the team has been very professional and supportive. Tamarind Sky priced at Rs. 1000 is available at Vijitha Yapa bookshops. Thelma will be speaking at the Colombo University on October 4 at 4 p.m. and the Annual General Meeting of the Ceylon Planters Society on October 7. Kaema Sutra dishes up Lankan delicacies in Hong Kong View(s): Chef and restaurateur Dharshan Munidasa and actress Jacqueline Fernandezs contemporary Sri Lankan restaurant Kaema Sutra was invited to host a 10 day pop up event at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Known for conducting several overseas guest chef promotions annually and having hosted three-star Michelin Chefs such as Alain Passard and Massimo Bottura, this was the first time the Hong Kong Jockey Club had featured Sri Lankan cuisine in its restaurants. Held at the Happy Valley Clubhouse from September 15 24, the event saw Chef Dharshan and his team plating up some of Kaema Sutras signature dishes including the giant Two-Egg Hopper, the Porksicle, the a la minute Ambulthial and of course the Lamprais. Also featured were Lankan favourites such as Kiribath, Pol Roti and Pol Sambol. Dharshan says, This was the longest overseas pop up weve ever done and I was very proud to be able to showcase Sri Lankan cuisine to another part of the world. It was also a great opportunity for my team to cook in an overseas kitchen which is not something most local restaurant staff get to experience. Pens and pencils to get those little hearts go boom boody-boom boody-boom By Kumudini Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s): Just buy a pen or a pencil and help swell the funds being collected to save the little hearts of Sri Lanka..and it is not just an ordinary pen, but a first in the country, for its shape is triangular. This was the heartfelt plea of Consultant Cardiologist Dr. Duminda Samarasinghe who is Chairperson of the Little Hearts Project, as all those seated at the podium raised high the simplest tools everyone uses daily. Journalists who attended the media briefing in the auditorium of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) for Children were earlier left wondering why at the registration table, instead of the usual pen and paper, three pens all in blue, black and red and two pencils with the trademark of a tiny heart on them, were handed over. The reason why, of course, dawned as the briefing commenced, with the explanation flowing forth from Dr. Samarasinghe. They are of good quality, so favour these pens and pencils, he reiterated, adding that for each pen, a man, woman or child bought at Rs. 20, DSL Enterprises (Pvt.) Ltd., is set to donate or offer as pooja, Rs. 4 for the Little Hearts Project and from each pencil costing Rs. 20, there would be a channelling of Rs. 2.50. The target of the company is to donate Rs. 50 million within the next three months, through the sale of Speed Little Hearts pens and Camlin Little Hearts pencils. Since its inception DSL Enterprises (Pvt.) Ltd has focused on developing safe, innovative ideas. With the recent re-structuring process of the organization, the management wished to participate in a corporate social responsibility project, selecting the Little Hearts Project as we felt that it was the most deserving of our attention, said Founder and Group Managing Director, Asitha Wijerathne. Slow and steady has been the progress of the Little Hearts Project with a target of Rs. 2 billion, with everyone chipping in to ensure that this national need of a Cardiac and Critical Care Complex at the LRH sees the light of day. While children queued up to donate their precious keta salli (money in tills) and women offered their hambili, prisoners sacrificed a meal to donate those funds and a group of doctors based in England teamed up with some locals to cycle from south to north, to collect funds for the Little Hearts Project. So far, rupee by rupee, the Little Hearts Project has collected Rs. 176 million and Dr. Samarasinghe says that all the monies go into the National Health Development Fund. All contributions are tax-free. Look out of the window from this floor and you will see the piling work being carried out by the Navy since April, he says, adding how blessings come in different forms. The Navy which has undertaken the construction work on the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena is donating its labour absolutely free of charge, with funds being needed only for the building material, thus saving a lot of money for the Little Hearts Project, drastically cutting costs by about 50%. The vision of the Little Hearts Project initiated by the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians is a state-of-the-art 10-storey Cardiac and Critical Care Complex at the LRH for, the numbers are heart-rending. Aptly, the symbol of the Little Hearts Project is a bright red heart with a hole in it, depicting the plight of thousands of children living across Sri Lanka. Every year, 3,000 babies are born with congenital heart disease and the LRH the only tertiary-care referral centre for all those little patients ranging from newborns to 12-year-olds performs 900 cardiac surgeries and 700 catheter-based interventions each year. With the envisioned Cardiac and Critical Care Complex, hopes are high of increasing the number of cardiac surgeries to 2,000 and catheter-based interventions to 1,000. What is the need, is answered simply if not, all these babies will not be able to blow out the candles on their next birthday cake. The expertise, skills and care, on par or even better than at centres across the world, are available in abundance, but the lacuna is a dedicated Cardiac and Critical Care Complex not only for children with heart trouble but also newborns and children suffering from other critical illnesses, says Dr. Samarasinghe. President to lay foundation stone tomorrow President Maithripala Sirisena will lay the foundation stone for the Cardiothoracic and Critical Care Complex tomorrow (October 2) at 8.30 a.m. at the premises of the premier Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo. Please help in whatever way you can Every cent and every rupee count, is the plea of Little Hearts Project Chairperson Dr. Duminda Samarasinghe. So, please send whatever you can to the Bank of Ceylon Account No. 79738633 with the Account Name: Little Hearts at the Borella branch. Secure online donations may also be made through the website: www.littlehearts.lk For more details, please contact the hotline: 0716441122 By PTI: celebrating Lankeshs killing Bengaluru, Oct 2 (PTI) National award winning actor Prakash Raj has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his silence on those who were "celebrating" the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh and said he feels like returning his awards. Lankesh, who had strident anti-right wing views, was shot dead from close range by unknown assailants at her home here on the night of September 5. advertisement Raj said Lankesh was his close friend and in his experience he had not heard such harsh language being used against anyone. "...My problem is that -- who killed (her) is not important -- but who is celebrating is clearly seen (on Twitter)," he said after inaugurating the 11th state conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the CPI(M), here yesterday. "Who is happy can be clearly seen. There may not be proof (regarding the killing), but things can be seen. Today through social media the hidden cruelty is known," he said. "We have a prime minister amidst us who is sitting with his eyes shut to this," the actor alleged. "Im bigger actor than you, dont try to act in front of me, please respect me as an actor. If you act in front of me as though you know nothing--am I a fool (to believe it) or are people or todays younger generation fools," he asked. Raj, who has acted in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil movies, went on to add, "When I see such actors who are acting as though nothing has happened, I have been given five national awards, I feel like returning it to them. They are bigger actors than me." He has won national awards as best supporting actor for his film Iruvar in Tamil, special jury award for Anthapuram in Telugu, special jury award for various movies in multiple languages, best actor for Kanchivaram in Telugu, and best film for Puttakkana Highway in Kannada. Raj also apparently referred to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath performing Dussehra rituals at Gorakhpur as the Mahant of the Gorakhnath temple. He said he saw a video relating to Uttar Pradesh and could not make out whether it was a chief minister or a temple priest. "There are people who play such double roles," he alleged. PTI KSU BN AAR AKK --- ENDS --- Bookworms, dont miss the 11-day Big Bad Wolf Book Sale By Kaveesha Fernando View(s): View(s): Many Sri Lankan book lovers have had the unfortunate experience of rushing to get to a book sale just before it closes, often not making it in time. The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale this month offers bookworms the chance to enjoy a 11-day sale of high quality books at reduced prices open 24 hours a day. The sale will bring in 30-40 containers of books, a choice of 20,000 English titles, some 1.5 million books on a discount of about 50%. The sale will operate in the same way throughout the 11 days, with the same books on offer whether you visit the sale at 4 p.m. or 4 a.m. There will be biographies, non-fiction and fiction, coffee table books, cookbooks, childrens books and educational books for children of all ages. Back home when we started there was no reading culture so we had to create an event which would attract children to attend so we organised the sale on the theme of the Big Bad Wolf, explains Founder and Managing Director of Big Bad Wolf Books, Andrew Yap, a Malaysian national. Partner of Big Bad Wolf Books Dipak Madhavan explains the goal of the organisation. We operate on the basis of the quote put the right book in the hands of a child and you will create a leader, he says, adding that they never expected the sale to gain the popularity it now enjoys. Director of ProRead Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. Nishan Wasalathanthri saw some of the arrangements being made for a previous sale and decided that it was a great event to bring to Sri Lanka. Ape rate daruwanta apita denna puluwan adyapanaya pamanai (we can only give the children of our nation a good education), he stated. The event is supported by the Ministry of Education and organizers feel that the event has potential as an annual event in Sri Lanka. The Big Bad Wolf book sale will be held from October 5 15 at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC) and is open all day and night. Visitors can also claim exclusive member benefits at the book sale by visiting the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale official website and registering for the Wolf Pack Membership by accessing the link https://www.bigbadwolfbooks.com/lk/register/english. Prosthetic hands for needy people View(s): Helping Hands- a project by Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) provides semi-functional prosthetic hands to people who have lost their hands due to landmines. These prosthetic hands can be fitted to those who have lost hands due to other reasons also. The teams from RAWCS travel overseas fitting these hands, bearing the cost of air and internal travel, accommodation and food. The recipients do not have to spend any money on this project. The Rotary Club of Battaramulla, with the assistance of RAWCS facilitated the Helping Hands project to come to Sri Lanka in 2015 and 2016 and fitted over 500 hands to landmine victims of the Army and civilians in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Kandy and Anuradhapura. A team of Rotarians from RAWCS is willing to come to Sri Lanka and fit these hands on needy people again this year. The prosthetic hands donated by RAWCS cost about US$. 400. The movable fingers of this hand when fitted can be used for many requirements like holding a pen to write, spoon or fork to eat, toothbrush to brush teeth, a broom to clean the house and many other uses. The Rotary Club Battaramulla needs about 200 recipients to make the Australian effort in coming to Sri Lanka worthwhile. Those interested could contact Nelu Fernando, Chairman, Nelus Advertising Services Pvt. Ltd. Tel ; 011-2852820 Email: nelu@nelus.com Trumps foreign policy: A reawakening of nations By Somar Wijayadasa View(s): View(s): The President of the United States, Donald Trump, made an unprecedented speech to the UN General Assembly endorsing nationalism around the world, and called for a great reawakening of nations, for the revival of their spirits, their pride, their people and their patriotism. Trump told the UN delegates that he was going to put America First and that sovereign nation-states should also put the interests of their own citizens first. He suggested that governments should cooperate within the UN to make the world better, and to deal with certain rogue regimes. Saying that If the righteous many do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph Trump labelled three countries as rogue regimes that overshadowed his vision for a new foreign policy based on sovereignty. Rogue regimes threaten the world Saying that we meet at a time of immense promise and great peril, Trump singled out North Korea, Iran and Venezuela as rogue regimes that disregard the rights of their own people and threaten the security of other countries. North Korea: Referring to its leader Kim Jong Un, Trump said Rocket Man is on a suicide mission, and said that if forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Kim Jong-un responded that he would definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire, and said that Trumps comments reflected a mentally deranged behaviour. North Koreas foreign minister confirmed that his countrys nuclear force is to all intents and purposes, a war deterrent for putting an end to nuclear threat of the US and for preventing its military invasion. Russia and China have presented a viable proposal known as freeze for freeze that calls for North Korea to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for the US and South Korea suspending their military exercises in the Korean Peninsula. This proposal may be acceptable to North Korea but the US has flatly rejected it. Iran: Saying that Iran is an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos, Trump threatened to abrogate the landmark Iran deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was reached, in 2016, after lengthy negotiations with the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany that has already restrained Irans nuclear program. Trump reiterated that it was the worst and one-sided transaction the US has ever entered into and that it is an embarrassment to the United States. Addressing the UN, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani lashed out at Trumps fiery remarks as ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric which was unfit to be heard at the United Nations. He said that by quitting the nuclear deal, the US would destroy its own credibility, and Iran will not be the first country to violate the agreement. He said that It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics. Abrogating the deal without clear evidence of a material breach would force Iran to restart its nuclear program with catastrophic consequences. Venezuela: Trump said that the socialist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro has seized power from democratic institutions and plunged the once oil-rich nation into poverty and misery by imposing a failed ideology that has produced poverty and misery everywhere it has been tried. Trump threatened to take action if the government of Venezuela persists on its path to impose authoritarian rule on the Venezuelan people. Venezuelas Foreign Minister retorted that No leader can come and question our democracy, and question our sovereignty. He said that We do not accept threats from President Trump or whoever in this world. President Maduro angrily reacted aggression from the new Hitler of international politics, Mr. Donald Trump, against the people of Venezuela. Maduro said Nobody threatens Venezuela and nobody owns Venezuela. During my 25 years at the UN, I have never heard any President of any country threaten another country with total destruction. Trumps belligerent remarks ensued the deplorable diatribe that continues to date. Sovereignty to promote security, prosperity and peace Despite his unorthodox rhetoric, Trump used the word sovereign or sovereignty 21 times during his speech to articulate his opinion that countries, not international institutions like the UN, will and should determine the fate of the world by pursuing their own best interests. He envisions an international order in which each nation pursues its own self interests and cooperates only when those interests converge. Our success, he said, depends on a coalition of strong and independent nations that embrace their sovereignty, to promote security, prosperity and peace for themselves and for the world. Strong, sovereign nations, he said, let their people take ownership of the future and control their own destiny. Trump said We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to watch. He added: Strong, sovereign nations let diverse countries with different values, different cultures, not just coexist, but work side by side on the basis of mutual respect. Unless this is a total departure from the past policies and practices, the US has a disparate record of imposing their way of life, and doctrines of democracy and freedom in other countries. It would bode well for the world, if the US can put Trumps magnificent statements into practice. United Nations on the back burner Trump proudly announced that we will be spending almost $700 billion on our military and defence, and said that our military will soon be the strongest it has ever been. As for the UN, Trump hinted that The American people hope that one day soon the United Nations can be a much more accountable and effective advocate for human dignity and freedom around the world. Validating his usual vitriol vis-a-vis the UN, Trump reiterated that Too often the focus of this organisation has not been on results, but on bureaucracy and process. During his election campaign, Trump repeatedly called the UN just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. Also, when he addressed an Israeli group (AIPAC), last year, Trump said that The United Nations is not a friend of democracy, its not a friend to freedom, its not a friend even to the United States of America where, as you know, it has its home. Therefore, Im not surprised that Trump had nothing positive to say about the UN. Trump said that the US is one out of 193 countries in the United Nations, and yet we pay far more than anybody realises. He did not, however, mention that his administration seeks a 32% decrease in funding for the State Department, a 29% cut in foreign assistance, and a 50% cut in US funding to UN programs including a cut of $1 billion in funding for UN peacekeeping operations. The US deserves credit that it pays over 22 percent of the UNs $5.7 billion administrative budget. According to the Foreign Affairs magazine, last year, the US contributed more than $2 billion to the UNs $8 billion-plus peacekeeping budget, and the US government agencies contributed nearly $10.5 billion to several UN programs that vaccinate children, help keep the peace in conflict zones, care for refugees, feed the poor, and monitor the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. The cuts may be due to the premise that the UN purportedly doesnt serve US foreign-policy interests. On the contrary, the UN promotes stability around the world and advances US interests, including economic development, conflict prevention, and non-proliferation. Finally, the US should remember President Trumans words: The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not dominate the peoples of the world. (The writer is an international lawyer and was a UNESCO delegate to the UN General Assembly and Representative of UNAIDS at the United Nations.) By PTI: asset: Report New Delhi, Oct 2 (PTI) Adani groups Abbot Point Coal Terminal in Australia faces the risk of becoming a stranded asset if its proposed Carmichael mine fails to get 1 billion Australian dollar (AUD) subsidy, according to a report by US- based institute IEEFA. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), which conducts research and analyses on financial and economic issues related to energy and environment, has found that Adanis Abbot Point Coal Terminal (AAPCT) is excessively leveraged and promises negative shareholders equity. The Abbot Point terminal, IEEFA said, also "runs the risk of becoming a stranded asset if Adanis proposed Carmichael mine does not get the AUD 1 billion Australian taxpayer subsidy it seeks." advertisement The IEEFA further said the analysis finds more broadly that "Adanis entire AUD 3.5 billion debt-funded investment in Australia is at grave risk." Currently operating at just over 50 per cent capacity, the AAPCT needs the Carmichael mine to fill the gap created as its current take-or-pay contracts progressively expire. "Securing this refinancing is going to be a real challenge, not the least because the port value has been tied to the success of the Carmichael coal mine proposal which is itself yet to secure funding and which the big four Australian banks have refused to touch," Tim Buckley, lead author of the report and IEEFAs director of energy finance studies, Australasia was quoted as saying in the report. "The potential for a loss of up to AUD 1.5 billion on any decision to walk away from Carmichael mine and rail proposal, explains why the Adani Group has been so focused on securing Australian taxpayer money and royalty holidays to subsidise its loss-making ventures," he said. Meanwhile, Adani continues to search for overseas project funding and events have transpired that make the Carmichael project a greater financial risk than ever, it said adding "Adanis major proposed offtake coal customer, Adani Power Ltds 4.6 GW import-coal power plant at Mundra in Gujarat, is financially distressed..." No comment could be obtained from Adani group on the IEEFAs report. PTI ABI MR --- ENDS --- The Graham Young Youth Theatre was packed on Thursday evening for a panel discussion about the Battle of Passchendaele. Approximately 900 New Zealand sons died on a single day, on October 12, 1917. A century on, many New Zealanders know nothing of what has been termed our darkest hour. The Battle of Passchendaele was New Zealands greatest loss of men in any battle, in any war. Dr Cliff Simons, Lieutenant Colonel, New Zealand Defence Force, led the discussion. Tauranga born historian and author of New Zealand and the First World War, Dr Damien Fenton set out the events of the Battle of Passchendaele. New Zealanders joined the battle proper on October 4, 1917, in an attack on Gravenstafel Spur. Considered a success the NZ division took their objectives and captured 1000 German prisoners. It was not without cost as 320 New Zealanders were killed, including two Tauranga men. Following their success on October 4, the New Zealanders were again called on. The attack on October 12 began at 5.25am. Dawn broke over a scene of carnage. In four hours of determined, bitter, frenzied fighting at Passchendaele, 60 percent of the two brigades that had started the attack were casualties. On that single day of battle NZ troops suffered more than 2700 casualties; 45 officers and 800 men were killed. Hundreds of mortally wounded men were left out in no mans land; they waited to die a lonely death. At the panel discussion event on Thursday night, the college theatre foyer featured large displays showcasing key elements of Tauranga soldiers involvement at Passchendaele, photos and letters, and five replica military medals awarded to Second Lieutenant Charles Carl Southey For Bravery in the Field the Military Cross, Military Medal, British War Medal, Victory Medal and New Zealand Service Medal. A life size photograph of Charles Southey, in the NZ Cyclist Battalion as well as a bicycle complete with mannequin was also displayed. Ray Waru has written the following about Charles Southey for Archives NZ: The Allied offensive called the Third Battle of Ypres began on the last day of July in 1917. Its objective was to smash through the German lines, take the high ground around the village of Passchendaele, and ultimately drive on to destroy German U-boat pens on the Belgian coast. Charles Carrington Southey, known to his family as Carl, was born on July 18 1889 in Hawera. At the age of nine his family moved to Tauranga where his father, Herbert, had purchased land at Gate Pa. Herbert was a prominent member of the community who served on the County Council for many years. Carl attended Greerton Primary School and became a pupil teacher at Tauranga Primary. At the end of each year he would cycle to Paeroa to sit his examinations. He later attended Aucklands Training College and qualified as a teacher. In August 1914, Carl was sole charge teacher at Paengaroa School. It is clear from the testimonial written on his leaving to become a teacher, and displayed in the Graham Young Youth Theatre foyer that he was popular with both students and parents. Carlss first attempt to enlist was on October 13, 1914. Much to his frustration, he was judge unfit for service due to catarrhal weakness, a nasal problem which in chronic cases can cause a loss of taste, hearing and sight. However by March 1916 his condition appears to have improved or the shortage of eligible men meant that the army could no longer turn him away. Briefly posted to the Auckland Mounted Rifles, Carl was transferred to the NZ Cyclist Corps in April 1916. The Cyclist Corps was formed in March of that year, and he embarked on May 6 with the first Cyclist Corps unit to leave NZ shores. On arrival in France the Cycle Company was used for all kinds of work. Indeed everything except its intended role as a mobile reconnaissance unit. Nonetheless, in 1917, the Cyclists did see some action, building a track across no mans land to newly-captured German trenches taken by the infantry at the Battle of Messines in June. In October the Cycle Company laid and maintained signal cabling to the front line during the Battles of Broodseinde and Passchendaele. It was at Passchendaele that Charles Carl Southey won his Military Medal. Although the exact circumstances are unknown his citation reads For bravery in the field (Passchendaele, October 1917). After the war Charles Southey returned to his position as headmaster of Paengaroa School. In the early 1930s he moved to become headmaster of Whakatane School. In 1942 he became headmaster of Tauranga District high School and in 1946 was the first headmaster of the newly established secondary school, Tauranga College later to become the Tauranga Boys College. During the Second World War Charles was seconded as temporary Captain of the Tauranga District High School Cadets. He retired from teaching in 1952. A keen historian, he was actively involved in the Tauranga Historical Society and wrote many articles on the history of Tauranga. The Southey Field was named after him. The audience of nearly 200 people gathered on Thursday night had amongst it those with family connections to the Battle of Passchendaele. Questions followed the presentation by Dr Damien Fenton, and the evening began and ended with cadets from the 16 Squadron ATC Tauranga unit presenting and carrying flags. As well as the panel discussion, there are further events planned to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of WW1 Battle of Passchendaele. From Friday, 2September 29 to Thursday, November 30 stop by the Tauranga central library and learn about Charles Southey who was awarded a Military Medal. For Bravery in the Field explores the experiences of 2nd Lieutenant Southey, who returned to Tauranga after the war. He went on to make a significant contribution to his home town, including becoming headmaster of Tauranga District High School in 1942. Between Friday October 6 and Thursday November 16 experience the exhibition I Died in Hell: From Tauranga to the Trenches, which will be on display at three different locations across the city. The exhibition tells the story of Carl Jordan through his own words and those of his friends, and includes excerpts from personal letters, as well as WW1 film footage. On Sunday, October 8, all children of WW1 veterans can take part in the Children of WW1 Veterans Afternoon Tea at the Mount Maunganui RSA to remember those who served during the war. On Saturday, October 14, join the Hauraki Patriots at the Passchendaele Memorial Service at the Mount Maunganui Cenotaph. The service will include a Parade Guard and Flag Party followed by an address, wreath laying, the Ode to the Fallen and the Last Post. The First World War was one of the most significant events of the 20th century, and had a deep and lingering impact on New Zealand society. Ten percent of our population of one million served overseas, of which more than 18,000 died and over 40,000 were wounded. Nearly every New Zealand family was affected. New Zealander Ben Northrop had just arrived in Las Vegas for a conference and he and a colleague drove into a scene of "madness" he says. At least 58 people died, and more than 500 were wounded, in the worst mass shooting by a lone gunman in US history. The gunman, named by police as Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire from his 32nd floor hotel room window at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Ben says he and a colleague were driving down the strip and came head on into the immediate after effects of the shooting. "My colleague said, Oh look weve driven into a gunfight - jokingly - and we had. Police were running everywhere, that was the beginning of a very mental few hours. "There was a huge amount of police response, it was insane it was like something out of the Blues Brothers, there were hundreds of police and marshalls and rangers everywhere." He says the sense of panic was heightened by not knowing who was behind the attack. "We all thought it was a bunch of terrorists or a terrorist cell." Video footage taken at the scene by Ben Northrop: He met one woman who he said was in "immense shock". "She had been working behind the bar and was serving a woman ... who got shot in the head as she was lining up at the bar right beside her, so she was freaking out." He says eventually he and his friends got to their hotel in the early hours of the morning, but he had barely slept. "It was so eerie walking through these places empty, casino music, no-one except armed guards. "I had an hour of the worst sleep Ive ever had, I was literally having dreams about being chased around by gunmen." Steve Harper-Travis, a New Zealander also staying in the city, says the Las Vegas Strip was an endless parade of police cars and firetrucks heading up towards the Mandalay Bay Hotel. "Those sirens went on for probably a good two hours. "Its very eerie Las Vegas this morning, its very quiet out on the Strip. We came down to our lobby this morning there were quite a few people hugging and crying whod obviously been at the concert and survived. "Its the first day of our vacation and to look out on the scenes, we just cant believe what we are seeing and to see this place of fun turn into something so tragic." -RNZ Steven Gillingwater, Adrian Mansfield and Dennis Gonzalez, members of the Taourarte Educational Charitable Association, are trekking to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for a project to improve the educational facilities for underprivileged children in the remote Moroccan village of Taourarte. The charity, which is registered in Gibraltar, was formed by a group of friends who were hiking in the Rif mountains and had to seek shelter in Taourarte during a snow storm. The intrepid members hope to raise 1,000 through crowdfunding. Further information can be found at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/steven-gillingwater Chief minister Fabian Picardo has responded to a claim made this week by Spain's former foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, that a meeting had been arranged between the two men last year. In a statement, Picardo confirmed that Margallo had requested a meeting, despite publicly insisting that he would only deal with the UK over Gibraltar or in the context of a quadrilateral forum with the Junta de Andalucia. However, the chief minister told him that he would only discuss non-sovereignty matters and that the meeting should not be secret. Given my reply, I did not receive a further response, he said. Six flights leaving from Malaga airport were cancelled on Monday as a result of the airline Monarch announcing that it had ceased all operations with immediate effect. Flights from the Costa del Sol to London Luton, Birmingham, London Gatwick and Manchester were all affected. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is arranging alternative flights until 15 October at the request of the British government to ensure that people get back to the UK within 24 hours of their original bookings. Six flights from the UK destined for Malaga have also been cancelled but no replacement services will be provided. Many passengers on Monday were informed of the cancellation well before their flight. Terry Dyson, who was travelling on the 12.15pm flight to Birmingham said: "I received a text at around 5.15am saying that my flight had been cancelled. I was advised not to go to the airport but I had no option." Some, though, were left in the dark. Anthony McCaughan from Coventry, who was also booked on the Monarch flight to Birmingham said: "There is a real lack of communication. I didn't even receive a text. Everything seems to be a rumour at the moment; all we can really do is wait around and try to get ourselves on another flight." Passengers flying to Luton seem to have had a bit more luck. Many were booked onto a British Airways replacement flight at 11.50am, the same time as their original departure time. Amanda Murray told SUR in English: "I visited the website this morning (Monday) and saw that I was able to catch a British Airways flight to Luton." "Luckily, we have not been affected that much, the only annoyance is that we are silver members and all of the perks that come with this are not available on the new flight," she added. "But the process has been fairly well dealt with." Another passenger flying to Luton, Michael Romero-Sanz, had a more traumatic wait before he was able to board an alternative flight. On arrival at the airport he was informed that he would not be able to board the replacement flight, contrary to information he had received: "My booking reference wasn't on the list of those exempt, but when I arrived I was told that I was not able to get on the flight. It's just a matter of waiting now." Though for Michael it was mostly a case of "lost time and inconvenience", he had sympathy for others with connected flights: "If they miss that then they are in real trouble." Despite lots of anxious waiting, most passengers were able to board an alternative flight back to the UK. Monarch passengers on the morning flight to Birmingham and Manchester were transferred onto a flight to Manchester run by Air Transat, and remaining Luton passengers were reportedly able to board the British Airways replacement flight. Passengers on future Monarch flights are advised to visit the official website set up by the CCA for more information about their options. As of the beginning of next year, cinema tickets will cost, on average, one euro less. This reduction in price was confirmed after the minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Inigo Mendez de Vigo, announced last Friday that the IVA (value added tax) on cinema tickets will drop from 21% to 10% in 2018. Until now, cinema was the only cultural activity that was still subjected to the increase in IVA that was levied upon cultural events in 2012 under the government of prime minister Mariano Rajoy. Last June, the IVA on all live events such as dance shows, theatre and music was lowered to the reduced rate of 10%, but the IVA on cinema tickets remained at 21%, sparking protests in the industry. According to a study carried out by a consumer rights organisation (FACUA Madrid), the most expensive cinema in Spain, with a weekend rate of 10 euros, is in Barcelona. A cinema in Santander, Cantabria, is at the other end of the scale with a price of four euros. The average price for weekend tickets sits at 7.24 euros, while concession or loyalty card tickets come at an average of 6.41 euros. It is expected that general prices will drop to this lower rate of around 6.50 euros following the tax reduction next year. Representatives of the industry considered the tax increase of 2012 a punishment, claiming that the sector was already at the point of economic collapse, with dozens of cinemas closing across the country. Nevertheless, the price increases have not affected sales in all areas of cinema. Spanish cinematography seems to have withstood the rises, and sales in this sector have endured the economic woes of the industry. The government has promised to reduce the IVA by the beginning of next year. Images of the 1 October independence referendum in Catalonia, declared illegal by the Constitutional Court but carried out regardless by the regional government, have gone round the world. Disturbances as police arrived on the scene to clear the crowds outside polling stations and confiscate ballot boxes have led to more than 700 people injured according to the regional government. A ballot box is empties after voting. / AFP On Sunday evening prime minister Mariano Rajoy said, "There has been no referendum or anything that resembles one," although at the same time the votes cast by thousands of Catalonians at stations that remained open were being counted. "Catalonia has earned the right to be independent," said regional president Carles Puigdemont on Sunday night as the count continued. The first violent scenes occurred first thing on Sunday morning when members of the state security forces Policia Nacional and Guardia Civil tried to evacuate schools being used as polling stations and confiscate ballot boxes and voting papers. Riot police charged the crowds outside polling stations in several areas, and rubber bullets were fired during disturbances in Barcelona. In many stations around the region however, people were able to vote without any obstruction. Rajoy said that the security forces had fulfilled their duty as ordered by the courts. The police violence has been criticised both in Spain especially by the Catalonian authorities and the left wing group Podemos and abroad by Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. Mariano Rajoy. / EFE Early on Sunday morning the Catalonian government announced that voters could use any polling station that was open due to a universal census system set up online. The central government was prepared to react to this, however, and by 8.30am the schools' internet connections had been blocked. This led to even more chaos, with reports of people being able to vote more than once. Despite the actions of the security forces according to the regional authority 319 schools had been closed, according to central government 92 Catalonian minister Jordi Turull said on Sunday evening that the votes counted would be millions. Turull described the police operation as savage and an international scandal. After the pooja, a large crowd of participants, identifiable from the saffron scarves, started firing indiscriminately in the air creating panic among the tourists assembled. By Siraj Qureshi: After two days of continuous deliberation, the Agra police has finally filed a criminal case against 80 activists of VHP and Bajrang Dal for firing bullets indiscriminately near the Amar Singh Gate of Agra Fort, endangering the lives of hundreds of people. In an brazen display of callousness and lack of respect for law, 100-150 Hindu activists had assembled at the Ramlila grounds on Dussehra, just across the road from the Agra Fort - a popular tourist attraction. The assembly was in clear contravention of Section 144 CrPC, which forbids the assembly of more than 5 people at one place. Almost all the activists were carrying firearms ranging from revolvers to shotguns and rifles, purportedly for a 'Shastra Poojan' program to be held in the grounds. advertisement After the pooja, a large crowd of participants, identifiable from the saffron scarves, started firing indiscriminately in the air creating panic among the tourists assembled, who feared it was a terrorist attack. Most of them rushed inside the fort seeking safety, while those who were inside, were seen rushing through the narrow gate, almost resulting in a stampede. The matter was immediately brought to the notice of police, but none of the accused men were apprehended. It was only after the matter was highlighted by a local news portal and the video of the firing went viral on social media, that the police came into action and assured proper inquiry. Talking to India Today, Agra SSP Amit Pathak said, an FIR under sections 307 IPC has been registered against 29 activists who were identified from the video footage, while 40-50 activists are still unidentified. Apart from attempted murder charges, there are 10 other charges registered in the FIR including sections 143, 144, 149, 188, 295, 298, 505(3), 153A and 153AA. A report into this entire incident has been sent to the state government. Suresh Chand, a street vendor in front of Agra Fort told India Today, "Long weekend of Dussehra had resulted in a huge number of tourists coming to Agra. When the firing started, the tourists panicked and started running helter-skelter. It almost caused a stampede and the young and elderly were in danger of being crushed had the firing continued even for a minute more. Interestingly, most of the activists who have been named in the FIR, are already facing several criminal charges, but they are still holding licensed weapons and were carrying them openly, especially at a time when section 144 CrPC is effective in the district. A senior police official told India Today that a similar incident had taken place in Fatehpur Sikri and Sadar police stations and a few of these activists were involved in arson and damage caused to the police stations, apart from thrashing several policemen. But, the BJP MLAs of Agra had come in their defence and no case was initiated against them. However, the Agra Fort is a sensitive zone as the Ramlila Ground falls within the Cantonment area of India Army, so this time it may not be easy for the VHP and Bajrand Dal members to avoid charges. advertisement Social activist Rajkumar Nagrath said, that the real test of the police will be in arresting these hooligans. Politics will begin on the issue since all the accused belong to hardline Hindu outfits. Nagrath stated, lack of law and order in the state could become a major issue during the national convention of Samajwadi Party, to be held on October 5, in the city. WATCH: Police book 80 VHP-Bajrang Dal activists for indiscriminate firing --- ENDS --- Syracuse: Family, friends and supporters welcomed home Eighty men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces, at the height of World War ll and the Korean War. The resounding cheers and greetings filled the terminal at the Syracuse Hancock airport Saturday evening when the Syracuse Honor Flight landed, completing Mission 10. The veterans, the oldest 102, were returning from their one day visit to Washington, DC to visit monuments honoring their service and sacrifice. They also visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. Honor Flight Network was formed in 2005 to transport veterans at no cost to Washington, DC to visit their memorials. Honor Flight Syracuse serves ten counties in the greater Central NY area and are one of 130 Regional Hubs in the National Honor Flight Network. Across America we lose nearly 1,000 World War ll and Korean veterans a day. Honor Flights across America is one way to thank the Greatest Generation. Syracuse, N.Y. -- Economic development officials from Central New York and the Mohawk Valley are preparing a joint pitch to Amazon for the online retailer's second headquarters. "We're not going to, like other communities, go around and hire a consultant to put a fancy package together and send a 100-page submission," said Robert Simpson, president and CEO of Syracuse-based CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity. "But we're going to put some ideas on paper. We've got good partners we're working with." Seattle-based Amazon announced earlier this month that it was looking for a place for its second headquarters, a massive campus that would employ 50,000 people and cost $5 billion to build. The Syracuse and Utica-Rome metro areas, by themselves, do not meet Amazon's requirements for population size. The online giant said it's looking for a metro area with a population of at least 1 million people. The Syracuse metro has 656,510 residents, and Utica-Rome has a population of 293,803. Combined, however, they have 950,313 residents, close to the minimum sought by Amazon. Toss in the counties surrounding the two metro areas, and the population count goes over 1 million. "We are not Seattle, Boston or Toronto," Simpson said. "If Amazon wants to run a traditional site selection, our response won't make it past the first desk it lands on. But if Amazon wants to disrupt the real-estate focused, mega-city chokehold on corporate headquarters locations the same way they have disrupted bookselling, retail, distribution, film production, unmanned systems and the grocery business, then we think they will like what they see from Central New York and the Mohawk Valley." He said the two regions have a lot to offer Amazon. "Creativity, innovation, higher education," he said. "A remarkable quality of life. And an almost limitless supply of quality, affordable housing that their employees can enjoy within a 20-minute commute so that they can spend more time enjoying their families or disrupting Amazon's next target market and less time polluting the planet during tediously long commutes that serve no social or corporate end. "I'd hate to be the corporate real estate staffer who didn't pass that kind of value proposition along when (Amazon founder, Chairman and CEO) Jeff Bezos finds out about it." It would not be the first time Central New York and the Mohawk Valley have worked together on an economic cause. Nuair, a coalition of more than 100 private and public entities and academic institutions, last week launched the first part of a 50-mile air corridor between Syracuse and Rome for testing unmanned aerial vehicles and systems. The alliance is hoping to make Central New York and the Mohawk Valley a headquarters for the growing UAV industry. The Syracuse and Utica-Rome areas are not the only places in New York looking at making a bid for what is being called Amazon HQ2. Officials in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, New York City and Long Island have also expressed an interest in submitting proposals. State economic development officials said they will support the bids of any New York communities by offering Amazon significant financial incentives to build its second headquarters in New York. Jason Conwall, a spokesman for New York's economic development office, said the state will not favor any one city or regional bid over another's. Competition for Amazon's second headquarters is expected to be fierce. More than 100 cities across the nation have expressed an interest in submitting a bid. Proposals are due Oct. 19. Contact Rick Moriarty anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148 More than 400 Syracuse city school students who depend on free school meals during the week are getting bags of food to take home on Fridays so they won't go hungry over the weekend. Syracuse has joined a growing number of school districts nationwide that are combating childhood hunger by feeding students seven days a week. The Syracuse City School District is distributing the food through Blessings in a Backpack, a national nonprofit group dedicated to providing food to low-income elementary school kids to tide them over on weekends. It serves 96,000 students in 47 states and Washington, D.C. "It (childhood hunger) is in the crevices of every community and we are trying to shine a light on it," said Trisha Ewald, Northeast program manager for Blessings in a Backpack. Half of city's children live poverty That organization began in Kentucky in 2005 when a teacher noticed children who received free or reduced-price lunches in school coming to school Monday morning hungry and tired. Recent U.S. Census data shows about half of Syracuse children live in poverty and the city is the nation's 29th poorest. The district coordinates the effort with help from community groups, but does not pay for the food. Blessings in a Backpack depends on donations of money and non-perishable food items from businesses, organizations and individuals. It costs $100 to feed one child on the weekends for one 38-week school year. Here's what each child typically gets: two entrees like small cans of beef ravioli or soup; two breakfast items like cereal packs and two snacks like granola bars. Some kids don't know where to get next meal "A lot of people only see hunger on TV in third world countries, but I see it all the time," said Rachel Murphy, the district's director of food and nutrition services. "Some children don't know where their next meal is coming from." The district serves about 24,000 meals a day when school is in session. About 80 percent of city school students are classified as "economically disadvantaged," which means they qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. Because the poverty rate is so high, federal rules allow the district to provide free meals to all students, regardless of family income levels. The district also runs a summer feeding program at 49 locations in the city for children under 18. If they don't eat in school or a summer feeding program, many children don't get fed, Murphy said. Containers of juice and cheese dip waiting to be packed at Bishop Grimes High School for students at Franklin Elementary School in Syracuse. The district launched the Blessings in a Backpack program last year at Delaware Elementary on the city's Near West Side. The number of participating Delaware students has gradually increased from 50 to 100. Since school opened three weeks ago, the program has expanded to Franklin Elementary on the North Side and Seymour Elementary on the Near West Side. Dr. King Elementary on the South Side will roll out the program Friday. Community groups 'adopt' city elementary schools Murphy said the impetus to start the program here came from community organizations like Bellevue United Methodist Church in Syracuse that contacted the district and expressed interest in helping needy students, Murphy said. Community organizations that have "adopted" participating schools order the food, pack it in bags on Thursdays and deliver them to the schools. Those organizations include Bellevue United Methodist Church which works with Delaware; St. Paul's Church, Seymour; Bishop Grimes High School, Franklin; and Centro, Dr. King. The number of children who get bags is determined by the amount of donations. About $75,000 has been raised so far in the Syracuse area. Organizations also help by conducting non-perishable food drives. Murphy said the district wants to provide the weekly bags to more students and expand the program to other elementary schools. Hoarding food in lockers to eat at home Because there are not enough bags for every child in each of the participating schools, school social workers like Pedro Abreu at Seymour talk to teachers to determine which students should get the food, then contact parents for their consent. "Teachers have a good sense of the needs of the kids," he said. "They know who comes in during the winter without a coat." Some kids come to school hungry, and others hoard food from the cafeteria in their lockers so they will have something to eat when they get home, according to Abreu. "If they are hungry or worrying about if they will be able to eat later in the day, how can they pay attention to math?" Abreu said. Murphy said all 642 students at Dr. King need the extra food, but there will only be 50 bags available. So King will give the food to 50 different children every week. To kick off the program at King, Centro plans to bring a bus filled with enough bags for every student in the school on Oct. 6. Anyone who wants to donate money, nonperishable food or volunteer to support the program can call Murphy at (315) 435-4207 or visit the Blessings in a Backpack website. Contact James T. Mulder anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2245 The president of Utica College has issued a statement - which includes an apology from four students - after images which "appear to portray a racist situation" were shared on the social media platform Snapchat on Friday. One photo posted showed two white students seated at a table in the college's dining room with a sign that reads: "Whites only. We're privileged." Another photo posted showed two students of color seated at a table with a sign that reads: "Black People Section." Utica College President Laura Casamento''s statement, issued Friday afternoon, said the photos were posted on a Snapchat account not affiliated with the college and were shared across multiple social media sites, she said. Utica College officials quickly identified the four students involved, according to Casamento's statement. The two students of color admitted to creating the signs and posting the images, and said they didn't intend to imply a hate action had taken place, she said. They said they didn't realize the implications of what they did, she said. In their apology, the students said it was a joke that was taken out of context. The four students depicted in the photos were sitting together, and "we began asking questions to one of our friends whom began to become annoyed,'' the apology read. "We then asked if it was 'because we were black' in a joking manner. The signs were created as to elaborate the joke even further, to make it more amusing to ourselves." Casamento said the incident is a serious matter that has the potential to damage the college's reputation, and also to spark anger and retaliation. In her statement, she asked the community to allow the judicial process to move forward, and to be aware of the consequences of "irresponsible social media behavior." John Johnsen, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the college, said the community has participated in "robust conversations" since the incident. The talks aren't just about a joke gone wrong, but also are about "the volatility of issues of diversity and inclusion in our society," he said. To the Editor: We are writing in response to recent media attention regarding the lawsuit brought forward by a Syracuse University student who was expelled for nonconsensual sex ( "Case of SU student expelled after drunken sexual encounter echoes national debate," Sept. 27, 2017). The lawsuit comes on the heels of major federal changes to guidelines for campus response to sexual violence, which significantly weaken protections for sexual assault victims that had taken many years to achieve. We work for Vera House, a comprehensive domestic and sexual violence service agency. Let us be very clear that we feel strongly that the process on campus for responding to sexual assault allegations needs to be fair for the accused student. We believe both the Title IX and New York State "Enough is Enough" processes ensure that fairness. It is critical to note that just because someone files a lawsuit does not mean that the injustice they allege is true. For decades, sexual assault on college campuses has been ignored and minimized, with victims feeling re-victimized, alone and helpless when they find the courage to report. Changes over the last several years at the state and federal level finally gave victims of sexual assault hope that justice was possible. We are at the early stages of changing a culture that has tolerated sexual assault and rape on campuses, and we want to be sure that federal policy changes and publicity about lawsuits don't confuse some key understandings: We believe the university's response to this lawsuit helps to provide some very important information regarding how every step in the required process was followed in this case. We hope everyone reads it. (Scroll down for the text.) Syracuse University - thank you for all your efforts to build a system that supports survivors while ensuring a fair process for accused students. Survivors - we believe you, and we will continue to support you. If you need support, please feel free to contact our 24 hour support line at 315-468-3260. Tiffany Brec, Campus Project Coordinator Jolie Moran, Advocacy Program Coordinator Randi Bregman, Executive Director Syracuse SU Response by Julie McMahon on Scribd WASHINGTON -- Democrat Heath Phillips says he is dropping his bid for the party's nomination in the 22nd Congressional District, where he had hoped to challenge Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-New Hartford, next year. Phillips, a Navy veteran from Cincinnatus in Cortland County, told syracuse.com that he made his decision because an unexpected personal family matter will take up most of his time in the coming months. His decision leaves state Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-Utica, unchallenged for the Democratic nomination and party backing in the 2018 mid-term election. Brindisi announced his candidacy in June and had encouraged Phillips to step aside to show party unity in the race against Tenney. Democrats and Republicans have identified Tenney's seat as one of their top priorities in the 2018 election. Political analysts in Washington have identified the 22nd District as one of the most competitive of the 435 House seats that will be up for grabs. Analyst Nathan Gonzales of Inside Elections last month changed his rating from "lean Republican" to "tilt Republican," suggesting Tenney is one of the six most vulnerable House Republicans. The 22nd Congressional District covers all of Madison, Oneida, Cortland and Chenango counties and part of Oswego, Broome, Herkimer, and Tioga counties. Contact Mark Weiner anytime: Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 Washington -- A Massachusetts congressman plans to boycott a moment of silence in honor of Las Vegas shooting victims on the floor of the House of Representatives. U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat and veteran of the war in Iraq, tweeted his plans on Monday. He did the same thing following the shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando in 2016. Moulton and some other colleagues walked out when that moment of silence began. As after #Orlando, I will NOT be joining my colleagues in a moment of silence on the House Floor that just becomes an excuse for inaction. Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) October 2, 2017 Now is not a moment for silence; it's a time for action. Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) October 2, 2017 Moulton's protests are meant to draw attention to the need for new gun control legislation. He called on Speaker Paul Ryan to act in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, according to Boston.com. "I don't know how many innocent Americans have to die before Republican leadership has the courage to have a debate about this," Moulton said, according to Boston.com. "Not even to vote for it. I'm just saying to have a debate." Moulton said he'd start with pushing for universal background checks. "Nine of out 10 Americans support them," Moulton said, according to Boston.com. "There's a lot of evidence that shows it would reduce the chances of crimes like these. It wouldn't entirely stop them, but it would help. We should have passed universal background checks years ago." Moulton is seen as a possible presidential candidate in 2020, according to CBS News. At least 58 people died and hundreds were injured in the shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday. The suspect, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, is dead. Authorities are still working to determine a motive. They have found no evidence of ties to terrorist groups. The Las Vegas shooting is the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. It surpassed the Pulse shooting, which took the lives of 49 people. Several other lawmakers, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, called for action on gun control today. This senseless violence must endthoughts and prayers are simply not enough. We must act to prevent this from happening again. Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) October 2, 2017 Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, Democratic leader in the Senate, thanked first responders and expressed sadness for the victims on Twitter. Deeply saddened for the people of Las Vegas and the country. We will keep the victims & their families in our hearts. Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 2, 2017 I commend the Las Vegas 1st responders, the SWAT team & the regular ppl who acted quickly & saved lives. Thank you. Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 2, 2017 Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Google + | 315-454-2112 Ahead of the Assembly election in Gujarat scheduled this year, BJP president Amit Shah trained guns at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Porbandar. By India Today Web Desk: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah took a swipe at Congress vice-president and said that to see development in Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi must wear Gujarati glasses and not the ones made in Italy. "Rahul should wear Gujarati spectacles and not the ones made in Italy, then he will see the development in Gujarat," Amit Shah said in Porbandar today. advertisement Ahead of the Assembly election in Gujarat scheduled this year, Amit Shah trained guns at Rahul Gandhi and said, "If Rahul dreams of Gujarat, then to realise those dreams, he must visit Porbandar and not Italy". The BJP president said that the Assembly election in Gujarat will be held in the first week of December. Amit Shah had kicked off the party's mass outreach initiative 'Gujarat Gaurav Yatra' on Sunday to highlight the state's achievements during the two decades of the BJP rule ahead of the Assembly election in the state. The yatra was launched from Karamsad, which is Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's native place. "The BJP today launches Gujarat Gaurav Yatra from the same land of Sardar Patel from where he raised the voice of the farmers and started the work to unify the country," Amit Shah said. The BJP's Gujarat Gaurav Yatra will continue till October 15 and during this period 138 jan sabhas will be addressed. While one tour route will be led by Gujarat's deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, the other will be led by BJP's Gujarat chief Jitubhai Vaghani. The yatra comes close on the heels of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's three-day visit to the Saurashtra region last week. ALSO WATCH: BJP had 3 years to fix economy, can't blame Congress anymore: Yashwant Singh --- ENDS --- Anna plans to launch his movement in the national capital either by December 2017 or January 2018. By Shalini Lobo: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare plans to launch another campaign against corruption either by December 2017 or January 2018 in the national capital. Hazare, who was in Delhi where he paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, expressed his displeasure with the ruling government over rampant corruption. He went on to state that according to reports India ranks the most corrupt in Asia while Pakistan is 4th and until he breathes his last, he will strive to fight corruption in the system. advertisement Anna Haraze launched a massive nationwide movement -- India Against Corruption-- years back and was even arrested for his demonstration in Delhi's Ram Leela Maidan. Today, he announced before the media that he has written various letters to the PM citing his displeasure with the rampant corruption, but received no reply and so he will be launching his movement again. "This is a fight against corruption. The people need Lokpal and Lokayukta to bring about a change in the system. The government is sitting on this for 3 years even though a resolution has been passed. I will call a meeting of all my volunteers on October 7th and 8th and we will decide on how we will take the movement forward," said Anna Hazare, while speaking to India Today. In 2011, many prominent faces joined hands with Anna Haraze. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Puducherry Lt. Governor Kiren Bedi, Swaraj Abhiyan's Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were amongst the popular faces. However, today Anna was all by himself at Rajghat. "I learnt my lesson the last time as I saw people rise politically through my movement. This time volunteers have to sign an affidavit stating that they will not join any political party or float their own once they are part of this movement against corruption," he said. Arvind Kejriwal stepped into the political arena by standing beside Anna Hazare, but Anna seems to be let down by him the most. "I know Arvind won't ask me to be part of this, even if he does, I'll ask him to stand 5 feet away from me," he added. Anna Hazare is fighting for the implementation of the Lokpal Bill, the appointment of the Lokayukta and the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission. --- ENDS --- The White House turned pink to honor the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with First Lady Melania Trump tweeting a picture of the event from inside the White House. Trump also released a statement in support of the movement, as the rest of the world also did their part in ushering in Breast Cancer Awareness Month. White House Honors Breast Cancer Awareness Month The White House was lit up in pink on the evening of Oct. 1 to signal the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. First Lady Melania Trump tweeted a photo from inside the "pink White House." In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month we lit the @WhiteHouse pink! pic.twitter.com/w3M3XlpXos Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) Oct. 1, 2017 In a statement, Trump urged women to consult with their doctors and other healthcare providers about undergoing mammograms and other methods for the early detection of breast cancer. Women should also be aware of possible methods to decrease the risk of getting breast cancer, Trump said. The White House said in a statement that improved options for early detection and treatment have significant reduced the number of deaths caused by breast cancer, but "there is still work to be done." Other countries joined in honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month by illuminating various landmarks in pink, with some examples being the Eiffel Tower in Paris for France and the Senatorial Palace in Rome for Italy. The Milan Cathedral, also in Italy, was likewise lit up in pink, as breast cancer survivors released pink balloons. Breast Cancer News In recent developments regarding breast cancer, a long-term study found that exposure to artificial lighting during night time increases the risk for breast cancer by 14 percent. This follows previous studies on the relationship between breast cancer and light exposure, with hormone disruption due to exposure to light during the evening tagged as the cause for the higher breast cancer risk. Earlier in the year, there was a report on the increasing rate of double mastectomy among women who were diagnosed with early stage cancer in one of their breasts. Two of the factors contributing to the trend are the desire of women for symmetry and the Angelina Jolie effect, as the celebrity opted for double mastectomy after being diagnosed to have a gene that causes breast cancer. Doctors, however, have recommended against double mastectomy, except for women who have an unusually high chance of developing breast cancer due to genetic factors. According to a study, women who choose to have double mastectomy do so not because of medical necessity, but rather out of anxiety. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Cost reduction or productivity gains? Thats the question facing business today at least those that have not yet made the switch to cloud-based communications services. Todays workforce is more mobile than ever and demand mobile business communications capabilities. Its a trend that is only going to continue as mobile natives continue to become a growing force in the business community. For business leaders, the choice is not whether to accommodate an evolving mobile mindset, but how to embrace it most effectively. There are certainly ways to enable mobility and access to applications in an on-premises environment. But, businesses both large and small are coming to the conclusion that cloud communications offers an opportunity to not only embrace mobility and productivity, but to reduce cost and management and maintenance efforts at the same time. Today, Canadian businesses have access to a new cloud communications provider, Dialpad, which officially extended its services into the country, providing an innovative alternative to tired, traditional telcos, as well as a competitor to other cloud-based solutions. Dialpad CEO Craig Walker has long understood the value of combining mobile access with quality voice service, having built GrandCentral Communications which later became the foundation for GoogleVoice, a business he ran for several years at Google. Walker has been nothing but consistent in his vision for creating disruption in communications and Dialpad is no different, based on the catchphrase the company has adopted, Kill the Deskphone. The Dialpad service allows users to turn one or several connected devices into their business phones, including porting existing business numbers to their Dialpad accounts without foregoing the must-have call control features for business communications (transfer, three-way calling, visual voicemail, call recording, call screening, simultaneous ringing, etc.). Geographically dispersed workforces can also leverage P2P video to create an increased sense of community and unity within teams and entire organizations. SMS/MMS and IM, along with presence, round out the suite of features that combine unified communications with the mobile experience to which users are accustomed. And of course, theres UberConference for meetings, launched by Walker back in 2012, which is included with all business plans. Having the full breadth of mobile experience on the mobile device that is most convenient at the moment is key to ROI and business growth. By giving users the intuitive tools they need and know, on devices they already love, businesses ensure high adoption rates, one of the common deficiencies of many UC solutions. Integration with other business apps makes Dialpad an appealing alternative beyond its low monthly cost (entry-level packages start at just CAD20 per user per month), the service includes integration with popular productivity, CRM, social media, and other apps, including Salesforce, Okta, LinkedIn, and Office 365. Walker also isnt shy about pointing out that Diapad is the only business phone system with native integration with Goolges G Suite, which Dialpad itself leverages heavily. The SMB market continues to adopt cloud communications at a healthy rate but, comprehensive business feature sets, service quality and reliability, a reduction in phone system management and maintenance, lower costs, and the ability to be productive anywhere and on any device is driving more and more large enterprises towards cloud communications services as well. Walker says Dialpad is seeing more and more interest from the large enterprise market, which adds stands to benefit most from a pure cost perspective. Companies like Motorola Solutions, Uber, and Xero, among others are already using Dialpad, and he believes that, in the near future, all businesses will migrate to the cloud, because it simply makes no sense not to there is little benefit to owning, operating, and managing their own on-premises systems any longer. As for Canada, specifically, he says, We see Canada as a massively underdeveloped market for our breakthrough pure-cloud communications service. Canadian companies have long been saddled with legacy PBX service constraints, mostly from their native telcos. They have been unable to break the cycle of overpriced monthly service fees and confusing long-distance calling plans. Thats why its time to modernize communications for every business, from the smallest office to the largest enterprise customers, across all industries, bringing the era of the Anywhere Worker to Canadians. Dialpads Canadian efforts are being spearheaded by another mobile communications veteran, CounterPath and Hookflash co-founder Erik Lagerway, who said, Our born-in-the-cloud solution is a perfect fit for a market characterized by an extremely high concentration of traditional phone companies that have a stranglehold on customers, pricing, scalability, and coverage, Whether the death of the deskphone in Canada or elsewhere is imminent or not remains to be seen thats a debate thats been going on for a decade. But, Dialpad, with its inclusive calling to the US and within Canada, is certainly ushering in the death of long distance in the Great White North. Edited by Mandi Nowitz Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare will sit on a day-long hunger strike at Rajghat in Delhi today. What has prompted the need for him to do so was, as he said, the country's moving away from Gandhiji's vision. By India Today Web Desk: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare will sit on a day-long hunger strike at Rajghat in Delhi. After paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti today, Hazare said the country was moving away from Gandhiji's vision. "Today is October 2, Gandhi Jayanti. It's been 70 years since our country gained independence, but we have moved away from the vision he had for India. It is for this reason that I am going to launch my satyagraha from Gandhiji's samadhi." advertisement In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Anna Hazare has threatened to launch a fresh agitation after his day-long dharna. The anti-corruption crusader has alleged that in the last 3 years, he wrote 30 letters to PM Modi, but did not get a response to even one. This is one of the few issues he will be speaking on when he begins his satyagraha from Rajghat. "I am not satisfied with PM Modi's work and am therefore going on a hunger strike. Based on the inspiration I draw after sitting near Gandhiji's statue at Rajghat, I will speak accordingly", Hazare added. Hazare is likely to announce an agitation to bring in the Lokpal and implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. In a letter to PM Modi a few days ago, Hazare had threatened to go on an agitation for the same. WATCH VIDEO | Anna Hazare slams PM Modi, decides to launch fresh agitation over Lokpal --- ENDS --- By PTI: Puducherry, Oct 2 (PTI) In a fresh tirade against the Puducherry government, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi said the Central Vigilance Commission hasasked for a report regarding alleged irregularities in procuring two luxury boats by the Puducherry Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) in 2015. The CVCs action follows a representation made to it by the Lt Governor seeking a probe into the matter. advertisement In a WhatsApp message to media persons last night, Bedi said after perusing a report in a section of the media stating that the two boats worth Rs 1.15 crore procured by the PTDC remained idle, she had obtained a status report on the boats. She said the status report revealed "irregularities in the purchase of the boats which warranted investigation and inquiry". The Lt Governor said as an administrator of the Union Territory, she had exercised her quasi judicial powers under Rule 44 of the Business Rules governing Puducherry administration to seek a probe into the purchase of the boats. She had written to Central Vigilance Commissioner K V Chowdary on August 19 and had stated that a prima facie case was made out of "serious irregularity in the purchase of the boats for the PTDC calling for investigation into the matter". She also circulated the copy of her letter to the CVC to reporters via WhatsApp. The former IPS officer came out with the message in the backdrop of Chief Minister V Narayanasamys statement last week that "someone from the administration had written a complaint to the CVC on the alleged irregularities in purchase of the boats." Narayanasamy had said, "none can bypass the elected government and rush to the Centre for a probe without the knowledge of the minister concerned or the secretary." He did not identify as to who the person was who wrote the letter to the CVC, despite repeated queries from media persons. The Lt Governor in her message said, "From CBI on medical admissions, it is now the CVC on issues relating to tourism. The CVC has called for a report from the chief secretary within three weeks." Bedi also reiterated her plea that Puducherry required an independent chief vigilance officer and a branch of CBI. The Narayanasamy-led Congress government in Puducherry has been at loggerheads with the Lt Governor over a host of issues. PTI COR SS SRY --- ENDS --- advertisement By PTI: (Eds: With additional information) Varanasi/New Delhi, Oct 2 (PTI) BHU Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi, under fire for his alleged mishandling of student protests last month, today proceeded on indefinite leave citing personal reasons. Tripathi, who is scheduled to retire on November 30, has gone on "indefinite leave", BHU officials said. The development comes amid indications from top HRD ministry sources that the central government was upset with the manner in which he handled the entire episode, including a protest by women students of BHU following an incident of alleged harassment. advertisement However, HRD officials maintained that the ministry has not asked Tripathi to go on leave and it was a "personal decision". The Banaras Hindu University VC had told PTI last week that he "will resign if the ministry asks him to proceed on leave as it will be insulting for him". However, calls and messages to Tripathi about his next move did not elicit any response. According to norms, if the university head goes on leave, the Rector will act as the head and, in the Rectors absence, the varsity Registrar will assume charge as the VC. Tripathis replacement, till he is on leave, has to be decided by the HRD ministry. The ministry has already put out an advertisment seeking applications for the post of his successor. Last month, a number of students, including women, and two journalists were injured in a baton-charge by the police after a protest against an alleged eve-teasing incident turned violent in BHU, one of the 43 central universities in the country. Tripathi had earlier said that the violence was fanned by "rumour mongering" and "outsiders". The varsitys Chief Proctor O N Singh had also resigned, taking "moral responsibility" for the campus violence. His resignation had paved the way for appointment of the first woman proctor at the university. A former professor of Allahabad University, Tripathi was appointed as the BHU VC in 2014 for a three-year tenure. PTI GJS KR JC SC --- ENDS --- BHU Vice Chancellor Girish Tripathi, under fire for how he managed last month's violent unrest on university campus, has gone on leave days after threatening that he would quit his post if he was made to go on leave. By India Today Web Desk: Girish Chandra Tripathi, the under-fire vice chancellor of the Benaras Hindu University, has gone on indefinite leave, sources told India Today TV. Tripathi came under criticism after protesting students were lathicharged on the BHU campus last month. The students were protesting over the alleged harassment of a female Fine Arts students. The BHU administration called police to the campus to deal with the protest. On the night of September 23, police lathicharged the students, resulting injuries to a number of the protestors. advertisement The lathicharge, especially viral videos of male cops thrashing female students, added fuel to the fire and caused nation-wide consternation. Demands were raised on sack Tripathi, who anyway completes his term next month. Incidently, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which is oversees BHU - a central university, has already begun the routine process of finding a replacement for Tripathi. Tripathi, who cited personal reasons for going on indefinite leave, had previously threatened to quit from his post if he was made to take leave. Tripathi also raised eyebrows after the lathicharge when he said in an interview that the alleged harassment of a female student was not a case of molestation but a "simple matter of eve-teasing". BHU's Chief Proctor O.N. Singh had last week resigned taking moral responsibility for the violence inside the campus. A report by the Varanasi Commissioner had also blamed the varsity administration and the baton-charge on protesting students for the violence in the BHU. The BHU administration has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident. The investigation would be conducted by a team headed by V.K. Dixit, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court. (With inputs from agencies) --- ENDS --- LAS VEGAS (AP) The rapid-fire popping sounded like firecrackers at first, and many in the crowd of 22,000 country music fans didn't understand what was happening when the band stopped playing and singer Jason Aldean hustled off stage. "That's gunshots," a man could be heard saying emphatically on a cellphone video in the nearly half-minute of silence and confusion that followed. A woman pleaded with others: "Get down! Get down! Stay down!" Then the pop-pop-pop noise resumed. And pure terror set in. "People start screaming and yelling and we start running," said Andrew Akiyoshi, who provided the cellphone video to The Associated Press. "You could feel the panic. You could feel like the bullets were flying above us. Everybody's ducking down, running low to the ground." While some concertgoers hit the ground Sunday night, others pushed for the crowded exits, shoving through narrow gates and climbing over fences as 40- to 50-round bursts of fire rained down on them from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino hotel. By Monday afternoon, 59 victims were dead and 527 injured in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Can't see video below? Click here. "You just didn't know what to do," Akiyoshi said. "Your heart is racing and you're thinking, 'I'm going to die.'" The gunman, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old retired accountant from Mesquite, Nevada, killed himself before officers stormed Room 135 in the gold-colored glass skyscraper. The avid gambler who according to his brother made a small fortune investing in real estate had been staying there since Thursday and had busted out windows to create his sniper's perch roughly 500 yards from the concert grounds. The motive for the attack remained a mystery, with Sheriff Joseph Lombardo saying: "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath at this point." Paddock had 23 guns some with scopes in his hotel room, authorities said. They found two gun stocks that allow the shooter to replicate fully automatic fire, and are investigating whether weapons used in the massacre had those modifications, according to a U.S. official briefed by law enforcement who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still unfolding. At Paddock's home, authorities found 19 more guns, explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Also, several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be turned into explosives such as those used in the 1995 Oklahoma bombing, were in his car, the sheriff said. The FBI said it found nothing so far to suggest the attack was connected to international terrorism, despite a claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group, which said Paddock was a "soldier" who had recently converted to Islam. In an address to the country, President Donald Trump called the bloodbath "an act of pure evil" and added: "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has." He ordered flags flown at half-staff. With hospitals jammed with victims, authorities put out a call for blood donations and set up a hotline to report missing people and speed the identification of the dead and wounded. They also opened a "family reunification center" for people to find loved ones. More than 12 hours after the massacre, bodies covered in white sheets were still being removed from the festival grounds. The shooting began at 10:07 p.m., and the gunman appeared to fire unhindered for more than 10 minutes, according to radio traffic. Police frantically tried to locate him and determine whether the gunfire was coming from Mandalay Bay or the neighboring Luxor hotel. At 10:14 p.m., an officer said on his radio that he was pinned down against a wall on Las Vegas Boulevard with 40 to 50 people. "We can't worry about the victims," an officer said at 10:15 p.m. "We need to stop the shooter before we have more victims. Anybody have eyes on him ... stop the shooter." Near the stage, Dylan Schneider, a country singer who performed earlier in the day, huddled with others under the VIP bleachers, where he turned to his manager and asked, "Dude, what do we do?" He said he repeated the question again and again over the next five minutes. Bodies were lying on the artificial turf installed in front of the stage, and people were screaming and crying. The sound of people running on the bleachers added to the confusion, and Schneider thought the concert was being invaded with multiple shooters. "No one knew what to do," Schneider said. "It's literally running for your life and you don't know what decision is the right one. But like I said, I knew we had to get out of there." +4 Graphic video: Moment shots fired at Las Vegas concert shooting A Nevada sheriff says the death toll has climbed to 58 in an attack on a Las Vegas concert S He eventually pushed his way out of the crowd and found refuge in the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino, where he kicked in a door to an engineering room and spent hours there with others who followed him. The shooting started as Aldean closed out the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival. He had just begun the song "When She Says Baby," and the first burst of nearly 50 shots crackled as he sang, "It's tough just getting up." Muzzle flashes could be seen in the dark as the gunman fired away. "It was the craziest stuff I've ever seen in my entire life," said Kodiak Yazzie, 36. "You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash, flash, flash, flash." The crowd, funneled tightly into a wide-open space, had little cover and no easy way to escape. Victims fell to the ground, while others fled in panic. Some hid behind concession stands or crawled under parked cars. Faces were etched with shock and confusion, and people wept and screamed. Tales of heroism and compassion emerged quickly: Couples held hands as they ran through the dirt lot. Some of the bleeding were carried out by fellow concertgoers. While dozens of ambulances took away the wounded, some people loaded victims into their cars and drove them to the hospital. People fleeing the concert grounds hitched rides with strangers, piling into cars and trucks. Some of the injured were hit by shrapnel. Others were trampled or were injured jumping fences. The dead included at least three off-duty police officers from various departments who were attending the concert, authorities said. Two on-duty officers were wounded, one critically, police said. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the attack was the work of a "crazed lunatic full of hate." The sheriff said authorities believe Paddock acted alone. While Paddock appeared to have no criminal history, his father was a bank robber who was on the FBI's most-wanted list in the 1960s. As for why Paddock went on the murderous rampage, his brother in Florida, Eric Paddock, told reporters: "I can't even make something up. There's just nothing." Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and that the shooting was "beyond horrific." "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night," the country star said. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman who professed support for Muslim extremist groups opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. A suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killed 22 people in May. Almost 90 people were killed in 2015 at a concert in Paris by gunmen inspired by the Islamic State. ___ Brian Melley in Los Angeles; Brian Skoloff in Las Vegas; Sadie Gurman and Tami Abdollah in Washington; and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tennessee, and Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco contributed to this report. MESQUITE, Nev. (AP) Stephen Paddock lived in a tidy Nevada retirement community where the amenities include golf, tennis and bocce. He owned By PTI: Jammu, Oct 2 (PTI) A BSF jawan was today injured in sniper firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control in the Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. The incident occurred around 6:15 pm at a forward location, opposite Pakistans Mohra post. The jawan, conatable S Ramachari, suffered injuries on his forearm and abdomen and was rushed to a nearby military hospital, they added. PTI NES GVS --- ENDS --- advertisement The Australian National University Za Kabuki Club has performed Japanese theatre in Canberra, around Australia and internationally for more than 40 years. It has described itself as the longest-running Kabuki group outside Japan and has been supported by the Embassy of Japan for more than two decades. About 30 of the 40 current members of the group - from a range of nationalities and backgrounds - are continuing the tradition with this year's production, an somewhat Australianised version of the early 20th-century comedy Topknot Bunshichi. It will be directed by the senior lecturer in Japanese studies, Dr Shun Ikeda. The play will be performed mostly in Japanese with English surtitles. ANU Za Kabuki members Nami Yasuda, Alex Pietrzak, and Wei Zhou bring alive the characters of Chobei, Okoma, and Ohisa during a dress rehearsal of Top Knot Bunshichi. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong In Topknot Bunshichi , a poor man named Chobei (played by Nami Yasuda) has landed his family in debt through gambling and drinking. He returns home one day to find his wife Okane (Gen Kinoshita) upset because their daughter has disappeared only to make a heartrending discovery. Dr Ikeda said he had begun the group in 1976 with contemporary Japanese drama but in the 1980s it had changed to Kabuki under a colleague, Professor Andrew Gerstle. Four Winds Vineyard's Sarah Collingwood has been named owner/operator of the year at the Australian Women in Wine Awards. Collingwood has managed micro-winery Four Winds Vineyard in Murrumbateman for seven years, alongside husband John and parents Suzanne and Graeme Lunney. Owner of Four Winds Vineyard Sarah Collingwood (second from back right) with all the winners of the 2017 Australian Women in Wine Awards at the ceremony in London. The awards were established in 2015 by The Fabulous Ladies' Wine Society to address the gender imbalance and increase gender diversity in the industry - they say females make up less than 10 per cent of the Australian wine industry. The ceremony for this year's awards was held in London on September 26, and Collingwood made the trip and accepted the award in person. Staff at the elite Duntroon Royal Military College have been sacked after testing positive for steroid use and MDMA, it can be revealed, as the Defence Department embarks upon a new drug testing regime. The figures, released by the Defence Department under freedom of information laws, also show there were no positive drug tests recorded at the college between 2011 and 2014. Two staff members from the Duntroon military college have been suspended for use. Credit:Glenn Campbell The Duntroon Royal Military College is an elite Canberra establishment that trains a select group of promising Army cadets. In February 2015, one Duntroon staff member was discharged from the Defence Force for testing positive to steroid use. Hands in pockets, shoulders hunched against the biting cold, three colleagues stand outside during a break on their last shift after two decades together. "When I was going through that turnstile for the last time this morning ... ," says Matthew Kinson, trailing off, shaking his head. "Reality has kicked in today, that's for sure." His co-workers nod and agree. "It's sunk in now," says Michael Spiteri, an employee of 23 years. "I couldn't sleep last night. I've been up since 4am." Nearly four years have passed since auto giant Toyota told them it was shutting down the Altona production plant, the last car-making factory in Victoria. The closure, made official at 11.30am, puts 2600 staff out of well-paid work, and will trigger even more job losses in the wider economy. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has rejected Donald Trump's comments on North Korea after the US President said it was "a waste of time" trying to negotiate with dictator Kim Jong Un. On Monday, Ms Bishop urged Mr Trump to put maximum political, diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to bring it back to the negotiating table. Mr Trump labelled Kim Jong Un "little rocket man" again on Monday morning. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter. More than 12 million Australians have already participated in the Turnbull government's same-sex marriage postal survey, new polling suggests. With a month still to run until the survey closes, the polling conducted for The Equality Campaign finds a massive 77 per cent of the nation's 16 million enrolled voters have returned their forms. That includes 69 per cent of younger voters - aged 18 to 24 - who are overwhelmingly expected to support same-sex marriage. That's more than double the number of 18- to 24-year-olds who took part in the Howard government's 1998 postal ballot. A further 17 per cent of people in this age group say they have filled out their forms but have yet to put them in the post, the survey of 1000 people found. A NSW family have told of the "scariest night of our life" and how they were forced to walk with their hands up across an empty casino after a mass shooting in Las Vegas. At least 50 people are dead and hundreds more wounded after a gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Kevin Comerford, Nicole Shipman and her daughter Maddy Aspinall, 14, from Grafton in NSW, were in Las Vegas for one night only after a dance academy tour in the US had finished. They rode in a helicopter over the Grand Canyon on Sunday afternoon and then returned to their hotel, about two blocks from the shooting scene. On Sunday, voters defied a violent police crackdown and, according to regional officials, voted 90 percent in favour of breaking away from Spain. In Barcelona, Catalonia's capital, people react after voting ended for the banned independence referendum By Reuters: Catalonia's regional leader opened the door to a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain on Sunday after voters defied a violent police crackdown and, according to regional officials, voted 90 percent in favour of breaking away. Despite Spanish police using batons and rubber bullets to disrupt the banned referendum, which was declared unconstitutional by Madrid, the Catalan government said 2.26 million people had cast ballots, a turnout of about 42 percent. advertisement Carles Puigdemont's comments followed a television address by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who ruled out independence and accused separatists of trying to "blackmail ... the whole nation". He offered all-party talks on the region's future. Catalan officials say more than 800 people were injured in clashes with Spanish riot police during the referendum, which has pitched the country into its deepest constitutional crisis in decades and deepened a rift between Madrid and Barcelona. WATCH: all they wanted was a peaceful vote #CatalanReferendum pic.twitter.com/axSEKRwREo- Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) October 1, 2017 Video courtesy: @KTHopkins/Twitter "On this day of hope and suffering, Catalonia's citizens have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic," Puigdemont said in a televised address. "My government, in the next few days will send the results of today's vote to the Catalan Parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum," he said. The law of the referendum, deemed unconstitutional by Madrid, foresees a unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament if the majority votes to leave Spain. The law does not set a minimum turnout for the outcome to be valid. The results announced early on Monday were not a surprise, given that many unionists were not expected to turn out to vote. READ | Why does Catalonia want to leave Spain? What you need to know VIOLENT SCENES Earlier in the day, the streets of Catalonia, an industrial and tourism powerhouse accounting for a fifth of Spain's economy, erupted into violence as national police burst into polling stations with batons, dragging voters away. The action drew criticism at home and abroad. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson voiced worries over the violence while backing Madrid's view that the vote was unconstitutional. Spain's deputy prime minister said force used by the police had been proportionate. "The absolute irresponsibility of the regional government has had to be met by the security forces of the state," said Soraya Saenz de Santamaria. The euro lost about a third of a US cent after the violence-marred vote before steadying. It touched a low of $1.1776 in thin Asian trade but soon steadied at $1.1801. advertisement In the run-up to the referendum, Puigdemont had said he would move to a declaration of independence within 48 hours of a "yes" vote. But the fragmented nature of the polling, with many voting stations closed, could complicate any move to a formal declaration. Puigdemont called on Europe to step in to make sure fundamental rights were fully respected. NEXT STEP? In another sign tensions would endure beyond the vote, secessionist groups and trade unions in Catalonia called a general strike for Tuesday, La Vanguardia newspaper said. Catalan officials said 844 people had been injured in the police crackdown and the Spanish Interior Ministry said 12 police officers had been hurt. "I propose that all political parties with parliamentary representation meet and, together, reflect on the future we all face," Rajoy said in his televised address. Opinion polls had shown around 40 percent of the northeastern region wanted independence from Spain although a majority were in favour of a referendum on the issue. National police sent in to Catalonia for the referendum swept into polling stations, hitting people with batons, firing rubber bullets into crowds and forcibly removing would-be voters from polling stations, some dragged away by their hair. advertisement "Regardless of views on independence, we should all condemn the scenes being witnessed and call on Spain to change course before someone is seriously hurt," Scotland's pro-independence leader, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Twitter. Despite the national police action, some polling stations remained open, especially in areas supervised by the Catalan police force which adopted much milder tactics. "I'm so pleased because despite all the hurdles they've put up, I've managed to vote," said Teresa, a 72-year-old pensioner in Barcelona who had stood in line for six hours to vote. The ballot will have no legal status as it has been blocked by Spain's Constitutional Court which ruled it at odds with the 1978 constitution that effectively restored democracy in Spain after the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. VIDEO: Spanish Police force their way into a polling station (Courtesy: @AP_Europe/Twitter) WATCH: Police force their way into polling station being used for Catalonia independence vote READ MORE: https://t.co/lWScbGte37 pic.twitter.com/P4e3lvNYNz- AP Europe (@AP_Europe) October 1, 2017 --- ENDS --- Police are searching for a man after he fell into the water at a national park in North Queensland on Sunday. It is understood the 31-year-old man slipped and fell about 30 metres into the water at Roaring Meg Falls which is found off the Creb Track in Bloomfield, north of Port Douglas. The falls can only be accessed off the 71-kilometre Creb Track by four-wheel-drive. Roaring Meg Falls at Bloomfield A woman, who was with the man, had to walk some distance from where the man fell to a rangers hut to call for help because of patchy communication in the area. South-east Queensland traffic centres were bracing for nightmare conditions on the roads throughout Monday, with holidaymakers expected to clog major highways as they returned from the long weekend. The traffic delays started during the late morning, but a few hours later it was all quiet on the south-eastern front and traffic centres were "at ease" throughout the afternoon. The Bruce Highway southbound through Beerburrum at 5pm. Earlier in the afternoon there had been heavy congestion through the area. Credit:Department of Transport and Main Roads About 25 kilometres of southbound delays formed on the Bruce Highway between Palmview and Beerburrum about 11am, according to Australian Traffic Network reporter Jay Lane. That's all from me today. Thanks again for joining us. If you'd like to follow our rolling coverage of the Las Vegas shooting, you can find the latest updates on our live blog here. Enjoy the glorious weather in Melbourne today. We're in for a sunny top of 23 degrees. See you all from 6am tomorrow morning. A Perth woman has told of the "terrifying" moments after a mass shooting a Las Vegas music festival and described the horror of seeing people running around screaming while bodies lay on the street. At least 50 people are dead and hundreds more injured after a shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival outside the Mandalay Bay Casino on the city's famous strip. A burst of gunfire was heard during a performance by Jason Aldean, which several witnesses said appeared to come from an upper floor of the casino. Claire McShanag told Radio 6PR on Monday afternoon she was catching up with friends at a bar 500 metres from where the shooting took place. An undated photo of Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, right, with his brother Eric, left. The photo was handed out to media by Eric Paddock from his home in Orlando, Florida. Credit:Eric Paddock Harold Allred, who lives up the street from the couple, said his wife often ran into Danley in exercise classes or social gatherings. Allred said he and his wife found Danley unremarkable, though perhaps a little odd, and didn't know Paddock. "He was reclusive," said Allred, 66. "We never met him." Paddock and Danley had another home in Mesquite, Nevada, which also meant they went away regularly, said their neighbours. Women make phone calls while taking shelter inside the Sands Corporation plane hangar after the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Credit:AP Diane McKay lived next door to Paddock and Danley until July, when McKay moved to a different community, but said she only ran into Danley occasionally when both women happened to be pulling weeds from their front yards. Danley wasn't forthcoming about her life, and Paddock was aggressively unfriendly, McKay recalled. She only saw him in the mornings, when he went to the clubhouse to work out. Occasionally, he would open the garage door, revealing a large safe the size of a refrigerator. Other than that, the couple kept their blinds closed. People drive a cart through the scene of a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Credit:AP "He was weird. Kept to himself," said McKay, 79, who described Paddock as small but in pretty good shape. "It was like living next to nothing . . . You can at least be grumpy, something. He was just nothing, quiet. He never went out in back and enjoyed the backyard, nature. They had a little backyard, 17 feet [almost 6 metres] to the fence and hill. But the blinds were always closed." McKay said the couple was gone for six months last year, which she thought was for a gambling trip. Stephen Paddock, 64, man identified as the gunman responsible for a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 1, 2017. Paddock's family said there was nothing in his past that would suggest violence. Nevertheless, his father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was a convicted bank robber and con man described in a wanted poster as "psychopathic" with suicidal tendencies. The elder Paddock had escaped from prison in 1969, earning him a spot on the FBI's list of most-sought-after and dangerous criminals. According to news accounts, he was not captured until 1978, when he was nabbed while running a bingo parlor in Oregon. Family members said that Paddock spent much of his retirement in recent years staying in hotels in Las Vegas and gambling. They said he listened to country music and went to concerts at Vegas hotels, similar to the one Sunday night where he opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers. Public records show Paddock was a licensed pilot who owned two planes. And he had a hunting license from Alaska. "We are in complete shock, bewilderment and horror. We have absolutely no idea how in the world Steve did this. Absolutely no concept," said one relative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid hurting other relatives. "There was nothing secret or strange about him." Property records show he had homes in both Mesquite, Texas, and Mesquite in Nevada. He bought his current home in Mesquite, Nevada, in 2013, and appears to have been living there ever since. Las Vegas police said authorities were in the process of searching Paddock's home in Mesquite, Nevada, on Monday morning. Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the Mesquite Police Department said Paddock was unknown to local authorities in the city 80 miles (128 km) northeast of Las Vegas. Mesquite police have no recorded interactions with Paddock. Las Vegas police said the same. "We have no investigative information or background associated with this individual that is derogatory," said Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. "The only thing we can tell is he received a citation several years ago, that citation was handled as a matter of normal practice in the court system." After the shooting, Paddock was found dead by officers on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Lombardo said during a news briefing. Police believe Paddock was a "lone wolf" attacker. Lombardo did not give further details, however, on Paddock's background or possible motivation. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. "Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor." Paddock, who arrived at the hotel on Thursday, was found with more than 10 rifles, Lombardo said. Relatives said they knew Paddock owned guns but believed they were legal. On Monday morning, police released a picture of Danley, saying they were searching for her as a person of interest. They later said they she was out of the country, and has been located and detained. Authorities called her a companion of Paddock. In a statement, Lockheed Martin, the defense giant, said that Paddock worked for them for three years in the 1980s. "Stephen Paddock worked for a predecessor company of Lockheed Martin from 1985 until 1988," the company said in a statement. "We're cooperating with authorities to answer questions they may have about Mr. Paddock and his time with the company." Loading The shooting on Sunday was the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, killing at least 50 people and injuring hundreds of others. A woman sought after a shooting in Las Vegas that left more than 50 people dead is Australian, but is not believed to be involved in the incident, police said in a statement. Marilou Danley, 62, was named as a person of interest in the shooting at a country music festival that killed 58 people and injured 515, the deadliest mass shooting in US history. She is an Australian citizen who lived on the Gold Coast for more than a decade. After sending out a request for her whereabouts, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement late on Monday night that "detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip." However, in an update on Tuesday morning, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said the gunman's female companion was still a "person of interest" and she would be interviewed when she returned to the US. Ms Danley was reportedly in the Philippines at the time of the shooting. Damascus: It had stood for 2000 years in ancient Palmyra, when it was shattered along with much of the Syrian city by Islamic State in 2015. Now the Lion of al-Lat stands proud again, after being carefully restored by Polish archaeologist Bartosz Markowski and re-erected in Damascus. Russian soldiers attend the unveiling ceremony of the statue of the Lion of al-Lat, a 2000-year-old Palmyra statue that was destroyed by IS. Credit:EPA It is one of several ancient monuments nearly destroyed by the terror group in the ancient city the jihadists have twice seized from government control during the six-year-long war. The 15-tonne, 3.4-metre statue was damaged during the group's first spell in control of the city. It was moved to Damascus for restoration when Syrian government forces retook the city with Russian military support in March 2016. By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 2 (PTI) A CISF officer today opened fire in the air at a Delhi Metro station after some people manhandled and hit a policeman and other security personnel there following a scuffle between two groups. The incident at the Azadpur station happened at 8:20 pm after two men engaged in an argument at the ticket counter, CISF officials said. advertisement The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel deployed at the station brought the two to the control room and asked them to pay the fine for creating trouble, they said. But one of them, a 17-year-old resident of Wazirpur industrial area, called his associates to the station. Nearly 20 people reached the station soon and allegedly beat Delhi Police constable M L Meena, who was taking the two to the Kashmere Gate police station, the officials said. The miscreants grabbed the collar of CISF Assistant Sub- Inspector Mohammed Umar, who had to fire in the air to control the crowd, they said. The situation at the station was chaotic but metro rail services were not interrupted, they said. The police said they have detained a few people and examining the next legal step. Senior officials of the CISF and the Delhi Police were examining the CCTV video of the incident, they added. PTI NES SLB ABH --- ENDS --- By PTI: Shimla, Oct 2 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said today that the concept of democracy was fast disappearing in all political parties and called for elections to party posts to be held in a democratic manner. Singh said he was elected president of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) four times, and only once was he nominated to the post two months before the last polls. advertisement "Today, the true concept of democracy was diminishing in all parties. I believe elections to various posts, even at the block-level should be held in a democratic manner. All the members should be elected, and not be nominated," he said. Addressing a public meeting at Nerwa in Chopal area of Shimla, he slammed independent MLA from Chopal Balbir Verma, accusing him of betraying the people of his constituency. "It is unfortunate that the sitting MLA from Chopal could not digest the development of the area and betrayed the people of his constituency by joining hands with the BJP," he said. Singh claimed that after the 2012 assembly polls, Verma, who won as an independent candidate in the polls, requested him to make him an associate member of the Congress party. But Verma later claimed credit for Chopals development and blamed him for ignoring the area, Singh said. He said he believed in the overall development of the state and does not play politics in the name of region, caste or religion. The chief minister later inaugurated a Rs 4.73-crore industrial training institute at Nerwa and laid the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 78 crore in Chopal constituency. Singh told reporters that former Congress MLA Subhash Manglet would be his choice from Congress party to contest from Chopal constituency in the state polls due later this year. PTI PCL ABH --- ENDS --- Local museums, theater programs, dance companies and other organizations will get a big boost after a Brazos Valley Arts Council fundraiser brought in $170,000. That's $45,000 more than was raised in last year's Celebrate the Arts event. Part of the credit goes toward this year's auction, which included a trip to Tuscany, Italy. About $20,000 will be reserved for scholarships that are given out each year to Brazos Valley teens planning to attend college to pursue their talents. The rest of the funds raised will be used to promote local museums, theater programs, dance companies and other organizations, as well as to fund charity art programs hosted by the Arts Council. Since 2008, the Arts Council has doled out more than $3 million to its 60 affiliate arts and culture organizations, regional artists and creative businesses, officials said. The recent fundraiser, which is one of several the organization hosts, was at the Brazos County Expo and featured a Back to the Future theme, complete with 1980s decorations and a "time warp tunnel" to the main exhibit hall, which was decorated like a 1950s prom. Attendees, who were encouraged to dress from the 1950s or 1980s, could pose with a DeLorean car like the one in the original film. An Artist of the Year award was given posthumously to Randy Wilson, who had been the artistic director at The Theatre Company in Bryan-College Station since 1993. He passed away last November at the age of 69. Among the sponsors for the event were American Momentum Bank, Wells Fargo and David Gardner's Jewelers, which donated jewelry for a raffle. For more information, go to www.acbv.org. The RSS-BJP supporters summon Mahatma Gandhi to state that his last wish was to see Congress disbanded in post-Independence era. By Prabhash K Dutta: Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth, said Albert Einstein, arguably the most famous scientist till date, of Mahatma Gandhi. Yet, Mahatma Gandhi continues to dominate the political rhetoric in India. Both the Congress and the BJP - two biggest parties in the country - invoke Mahatma Gandhi to condemn the other. advertisement Congress leaders invariably accuse the RSS-BJP ideology for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The RSS-BJP supporters, in turn, summon Mahatma Gandhi to state that his last wish was to see Congress disbanded in post-Independence era. The claim has a curious history. WHAT ACTUALLY MAHATMA GANDHI SAID? Few days after his assassination by Nathuram Godse (whose RSS links have been debated inconclusively till date), the Harijan published an article written by Mahatma Gandhi under title, His Last Will And Testament. In this article, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that the Congress "has outlived its use" and advised "to disband the existing Congress organization". These two phrases have been used by Congress's opponents to attack the grand old party. But, this is not the whole picture. What Mahatma Gandhi said about the Congress in January, 1948 formed the part of a note written by the Father of the Nation on January 27, 1948 - three days before he was assassinated in New Delhi. The note was a draft constitution for the Congress in the post-Independence era. This note was meant to be discussed by the All India Congress Committee and put to vote for passage and adoption. This is what Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "Though split into two, India having attained political independence through means devised by the Indian National Congress, the Congress in its present shape and form, i.e., as a propaganda vehicle and parliamentary machine, has outlived its use." But, Mahatma Gandhi saw Congress's utility in shaping India's future. He listed out his reasons in the draft constitution for the Congress. He said, "India has still to' attain social, moral and economic independence in terms of its seven hundred thousand villages as distinguished from its cities and towns." Mahatma Gandhi further said, "The struggle for the ascendency of 'civil over military power is bound to take place in India's progress towards its democratic goat It must be kept out of unhealthy competition with political parties and communal bodies." "For these and other similar reasons, the A. I. C. C. resolves to disband the existing Congress organization and flower into a Lok Sevak Sangh under the following rules with power to alter them as occasion may demand," wrote Mahatma Gandhi. The same day, the same Harijan published another statement of Mahatma Gandhi about the significance and future of the Congress in the country. "Indian National Congress, which is the oldest national political organization and which has after many battles fought her non-violent way to freedom, cannot be allowed to die. It can only die with the nation," Mahatma Gandhi was quoted as saying the same day as His Last Will And Testament was published. advertisement Clear enough, Mahatma Gandhi wished Congress to continue but he was still in thinking about its future as political party in Independent India when he was assassinated by an alleged former RSS worker. WHAT MAHATMA GANDHI THOUGHT OF RSS? The RSS had been critical of Mahatma Gandhi for long. The RSS has softened its approach towards Gandhian thoughts and philosophies. It seems that the 'dislike' was mutual during Mahatma Gandhi's lifetime. On August 9, 1942 - when Quit India Movement was launched, Mahatma Gandhi wrote in Harijan, "I had heard of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its activities; and also know that it was a communal organization." Responding to some communal sloganeering against which complaints were made, Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "I hear many things about RSS. I have heard it said the Sangh is at the root of all this mischief." Mahatma Gandhi's secretary Pyarelal too recorded in Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase that he was not very appreciative of the RSS ideology and activities as an organisation. Narrating an incident following partition of the country, Pyarelal said that many people came to Mahatma Gandhi praising the "efficiency, discipline, courage and capacity for hard work shown by RSS cadres at Wagah border, a major transit camp for Punjab refugees". advertisement But, Mahatma Gandhi silenced them saying, "don't forget, even so had Hitler's Nazis and Fascists under Mussolini." WHAT OTHERS SAID ABOUT MAHATMA AND RSS Mahatma Gandhi has not written much about the RSS himself. But, following a meeting with MS Golwalkar in September, 1947, Mahatma Gandhi told his prayer meeting quoting the then RSS chief that the organisation did not believe in violence and was not anti-Muslim. Golwalkar had apparently told Mahatma Gandhi that he could not vouch for every single member but he assured him that as an organisation the RSS did not believe in violence and killing people from other religious faiths. In his book, Mohandas, Rajmohan Gandhi writes that Mahatma Gandhi asked Golwalkar to go public with his view. Golwalkar told Mahatma Gandhi that he could quote him as saying. Following this encounter Mahatma Gandhi spoke about the RSS in the prayer meeting while talking about communal violence in Delhi during Partition. advertisement Another close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, in a letter to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 27, 1948, wrote, "I remember Bapu telling me after his first meeting with MS Golwalkar (the then RSS chief) that he was partly impressed by him but at the same time did not trust him. After his second or third meeting he expressed a very strong opinion against Golwalkar and the RSS and said that it was impossible to rely upon their word." --- ENDS --- A revealing insight into why President Donald Trumps Korea fulminations are painting him and the United States into a corner came in a report of the CIA psychological evaluation of North Koreas equally unpredictable leader. The CIA described Kim Jong Un as someone who has a massive ego and reacts sharply and sometimes lethally to insults and perceived slights, reported Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times. This description explains why top presidential advisers have reportedly told Trump to cool his inflammatory rhetoric about Kim. But the CIAs description of Kim also sounds a lot like Trump. After all, he has shown a proclivity for repeated, self-aggrandizing self-descriptions, which speak to his massive ego. And much of his life reflects reactions to perceived slights, whether from the cold shoulder Manhattans social and financial elite gave to Queens native Trump, or President Barack Obamas sarcastic dismissal of his birther crusade. The likelihood the two have more in common than would seem usual for the leaders of two such different nations could complicate behind-the-scenes efforts for a peaceful resolution of a situation Obama correctly warned would be Trumps most difficult challenge. A crucial question is whether, since Kim seems deadly serious in his nuclear ambitions, Trump is equally serious in threatening military action to prevent it. Unfortunately, by ignoring advisers warnings against more bluster, Trump has created a situation in which he may be damned if he does and damned if he doesnt. If Kim persists and Trump fails to follow his tough language with action, hell look weak. On the other hand, if Trump retaliates, there is no guarantee the destruction would be limited to North Korea. Its possible Trump has a rational purpose in such very public warnings as his vow in May that future North Korean threats will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen and his recent denigration of Kim as rocket man. Several analysts have suggested he has adopted the so-called madman theory that President Richard Nixon purportedly used during the Vietnam conflict a generation ago. The theory was that, if the president was seen as a madman who would stop at nothing, North Vietnam would be persuaded to accept U.S. peace terms. Despite waves of U.S. bombing, it didnt work. In the end, Nixon settled for the same agreement he could have had two years earlier, ultimately enabling North Vietnam to complete its takeover of U.S. ally South Vietnam. Trumps bluster comes in advance of a conflict and threatens far greater destruction. It raises the specter of an attack that would level North Korea but probably also trigger retaliation against South Korea, whose capital lies within artillery range of the border between the two longtime foes. On the surface, it doesnt seem to be working very well this time, either. Each Trumpian insult seems only to have inspired Kim to escalate his level of defiance, setting off nuclear tests, rockets firing across Japan and, most recently, a threat to explode a nuclear bomb over the Pacific Ocean. Trumps warnings go back nearly two decades. As far back as a 1999 appearance on NBCs Meet the Press, he said that, if diplomacy didnt work, better solve the problem now than solve it later. His implied means was obvious. In January, on the eve of becoming president, Trumps intent was clear. North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S., he said in a tweet. It wont happen! That remains Trumps public stance. He derided North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Hos U.N. speech, warning If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they wont be around much longer. Ri replied that, because the United States declared war on our country, North Korea might shoot down U.S. planes over international waters. The question of who wont be around much longer will be answered then, he told reporters. As other officials have stressed, the preferred U.S. route to resolve this remains international economic sanctions. But those applied so far have had little evident deterrent effect, raising the prospect that one of the two impetuous leaders will goad the other into disastrous action. Since the dawn of the nuclear age, the world has relied on U.S. restraint to prevent a global cataclysm. Its how President Harry Truman resisted the Soviet Unions 1948 Berlin blockade and how President John F. Kennedy responded to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. The current situation requires a similar response, especially from a president who may have a massive ego and reacts sharply and sometimes lethally to insults and perceived slights. Carl P. Leubsdorf is the former Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News. Email him at carl.p.leubsdorf@gmail.com. This lobby are currently pushing to maintain the destructive 7% target for biofuels in the transport sector until 2030. With current biofuel usage at around 4%, this target would dramatically boost biofuel production. And if that wasnt enough, they are even pushing to add new targets that would dramatically increase destructive crop-based biofuels. In the Agriculture and Rural Affairs committee of which Im a member, the conservative, neoliberal and far-right alliance are more than happy to push the industry line, and to support this murderous policy. But the socialists too are complicit in this and have even advocated a doubling of crop-based biofuels in transport. They have all fallen prey to a series of myths being peddled by the biofuels lobby. The lobbyists biofuels myths Myth 1: "Protecting investors" The industry maintains that production must be maintained to protect investors who were previously encouraged to put money into biofuels, before the unintended consequences of the EU policy became known. But this argument falls flat when we see that investments made in conventional biofuels before 2010 have already been paid back, or will be before this decade is out. The Commission's original proposal was precisely to phase out these damaging investments. Secondly, with the strong political commitments to carbon emissions reductions in the Paris Agreement, a further signal to investors to place their capital in the biofuels sector by increasing thresholds, will simply create a carbon bubble - setting them up to lose their money and acquire stranded assets. It is clear that such destructive investment must be phased out. Myth 2: Supporting farmers Ending support for crop based biofuels would put the future of EU farmers at risk, argue advocates. This is because the production of crops like rapeseed which is used in bioethanol provide a significant income for many EU farmers. However, in its 2016-2020 horizon report, the EU predicted that if crop-based biofuels were phased out to zero, whereas demand for some crops would decrease, demand for other crops would remain unchanged or even marginally increase for food and feed, with negligible negative effect. Myth 3: Crop-based biofuels can be highly sustainable The biofuel industry claims that biofuels need not drive land use change, and that instead the transport sector can rely on what they are calling highly sustainable crop-based biofuels'. However, this delusional category of biofuels will displace agricultural land and drive deforestation in the developing world. Further, according to a European Parliament Research Service study in 2015, 99% of biofuels used for road transport came directly from food and feed crops. Anyone who argues that the EU should meet a 7% biofuel in transport target whilst using such a delusional definition of sustainability is clearly stuck in Oz. We need policymakers to rouse themselves from the dream world that the biofuel lobby is luring them into, and start taking responsibility. Paradigm shift needed A well-intentioned idea, which sought to guarantee farmers' incomes and replace fossil fuels, has had disastrous effects. Giving any further support to crop-based fuels would fly in the face of economic logic - and ethics - as the price of renewables such as wind and solar falls and battery technology races ahead. We need a total paradigm shift towards greater energy efficiency, smart grids matching supply and demand, and a new mobility paradigm based around active and public transport. MEPs continue to be lured down the yellow brick road by the biofuel lobby, many perhaps hoping that for them the yellow may turn out to be gold. But the reality is that the idea of biofuels as a panacea for the green energy transition is as mythical as the Emerald City and, when it comes to a policy that protects Europe and the world's forests and productive farmland, most politicians are still dreaming. This Author Molly Scott Cato is Green MEP for the South West of England and is a member of the Agriculture Committee in the European Parliament. By PTI: By K J M Varma Beijing, Oct 2 (PTI) Preparing to hold its key Congress, Chinas ruling Communist Party (CPC) is reflecting on the collapse of the Soviet Union to avert a similar fate, state media reports said. The CPC is set to hold its once in a five year, Congress from October 18 which was expected to confirm a second term for it most powerful leader, Xi Jinping who heads the party, Presidency and the military. advertisement The 19th Congress of 96-year-old party is also expected to formulate a new Constitution with sweeping reforms of its functioning after a five-year massive anti-corruption campaign by Xi in which thousands of officials have been purged. On the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik-led October Revolution has prompted the CPC to reflect on the Soviet Unions collapse in 1991 and triggered a surge of "red tours" to Russia to study the reasons, state run Global Times reported. The great October Revolution in 1917 has spurred Communist movements worldwide, including inspiring leaders like Mao Zedong, the founder of the CPC which came to power in 1949 after a bloody revolution which was aided and abetted by the then Soviet Union. Mao and the CPC later parted company from the Soviet Communist Party and after his death in 1976, the CPC opted for massive economic reforms under the reformist leader Deng Xiaoping, emerging as the second largest economy of the world in the last four decades. Beset with economic slowdown and weighed down by rising expectations of the people, the CPC, which is the worlds longest Communist Party in power since 1949 has made the collapse of the Soviet Union as a major lesson in all its party schools. At the "October Revolution and Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" workshop held in Beijing last Tuesday, Liu Qibao, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC and head of the Partys Publicity Department virtually ruled his party meeting the same fate. The Soviet failure from socialist path has multiple reasons including conservativeness and rigidity, but the most fundamental reason is the deviation from the path of Marxism- Leninism and the socialist path started by the October Revolution, Liu said. The failure of the Soviet economy was caused by its conservative political system which refused to reform and distributed too many resources to the military. "When problems could not be hidden in the 1980s, it started to reform without adhering to the Partys principles. But it was too late and this directly caused the collapse," Su Wei, a professor at the Chongqing Municipal Party Committees Party School told the daily. A 100 year ago China was a weak, poor, easily bullied and invaded country, he said but now China has "more confidence and capability than at any stage in our history to achieve this goal," he said. advertisement The root cause of this huge change was that though the CPC chose the path of the October Revolution, it discovered a path suitable for Chinas national conditions that lead to the "great rejuvenation in China", Liu said. The daily said in view of the significance of Soviet collapse China?s tourism authorities are planning and preparing for "red-themed" tours for the Chinese tourists to visit Russia to get first experience. PTI KJV UZM AKJ UZM --- ENDS --- The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel launched a massive cleanliness drive across Srinagar city on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti today. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti hailed this initiative. By Ashraf Wani: Apart from carrying out their primary duty of maintaining law and order and security, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a massive cleanliness drive across Srinagar city on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti today. The CRPF Srinagar Sector organised the cleanliness drive in Shankar Achariya, temple area, Cheshmashahi and other tourist spots in Srinagar. This initiative was aimed at inspiring the locals keep the capital city clean and beautiful. advertisement Today is the third anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which he launched on Oct 2, 2014, the year he came into power. Inspector General of CRPF Raveesh Shai started the cleanliness drive by cleaning the road heading to the famous Shankar Achariya temple in Srinagar. He said, "We have 23,000 men deployed in and around Srinagar city. We want to create an atmosphere among our own men and public so that they keep the surroundings clean." Besides the CRPF, Jammu and Kashmir Police as well as the Army are also organising cleanliness drives in famous tourist destinations of the Valley. Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti has appreciated this initiative. Mufti said, "Clean tourist destinations will help visitors get a better feel of the spots." Mufti added, "Dal Lake needs cleanliness at a fast pace so that its beauty can be restored. Authorities must involve people and Shikara walas living in the Dal Lake to clean it up." WATCH VIDEO | Only 125 crore Indians can help realise Swachh Bharat Abhiyan dream, says PM Modi --- ENDS --- President Kari Sawyer presided over the Sept. 16 meeting of Gamma Chapter, Rho State of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, at First National Bank. The program, Mental Health Services, was presented by member Colleen ONeill. She gave various statistics pertaining to teenage suicides and the numerous causes of those suicides. ONeill then passed out surveys asking the members for possible program suggestions. Susan Gronemeyer, World Fellowship chair, announced a silent auction is schedule for the October meeting. Nancy Krueger reported on her trip in July to the Northwest Regional Conference in Spearfish, S.D. Prospective member cards were handed to members for their suggestions. Stephanie Leininger requested a resignation, which was accepted with regret. Rachel Pischnotte transferred her membership to Iowa. Members were reminded of the next meeting, Oct. 21, at First National Bank. Cynthia Serrano enjoys helping people. As a member of the Community Youth Council, Serrano, a senior at Grand Island Senior High, has done a number of activities centered around her passion for helping those in her community. This is the second year Serrano has been involved with CYC. She said she enjoys doing volunteer work and joined the organization as a way to do more of that and to get involved in the Grand Island Community. And Serrano has found herself doing the community-oriented service work she joined CYC to do. She said the organization has four committees one for each season and that she was on two committees last year. One of the ones I feel has impacted me the most includes the fall committee last year, Serrano said. We did a Thanksgiving feast called Feast Like a Pilgrim to give families a meal for Thanksgiving who we thought might not have one that year. Serrano added that she co-chaired last years spring El Dia de Los Ninos (Childrens Day) committee as a first-year member and also co-chaired this years summer state fair committee. One thing she has learned through her involvement with CYC, Serrano said, is how to talk to adults. She explained that CYC members often ask them for donations and must present themselves as professional people and speak professionally. She said this will help her in her future endeavors. When you have connections, there are more things you can do and more ways to advance in the future, she said. In addition to CYC, Serrano is vice president of Key Club at GISH and flute section leader in the Islander band. She added she enjoys being a leader and making each group she is in better. Leaders are people who bring others together and help solve difficult problems, Serrano said. Through being in several leadership positions, I have enjoyed learned certain types of characteristics do not mix. But I am here to try to understand both sides and aid in picking a decision or making a compromise. CYC coordinator Wendy Meyer-Schmidt said she appreciates Serranos leadership and organizational skills, as well as her ability to be a get-it-done person. She added these skills have helped Serrano land co-chair positions on the El Dia de Los Ninos (Childrens Day) and state fair committees. Meyer-Schmidt said Serrano is admired by her fellow CYC members for her guidance, decision-making skills and understanding of the concept of team. Cynthia is someone that can be counted on to follow through with her responsibilities, and will chip in whenever extra help is needed and brings out the best in others, she said. With her enthusiasm and big heart, she has helped other members become more confident, learn how to work as a team, and complete a project from start too finish. After graduating from high school, Serrano will attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on a full-ride scholarship offered through the Nebraska College Preparatory Academy. While she is undecided on a specific major, Serrano is decided on what she wants it to involve: helping people. I have three areas I am interested in business, education and health sciences, she said. With business, I really want to go into the creative side of it with advertising and making posters. I like education and health sciences, mostly because you get to help people. I love helping people. Hall County may have a new appointed election commissioner named Tuesday afternoon. The Hall County Board of Supervisors will interview four candidates for the Hall County election commissioner position beginning at 1:30 p.m. According current Hall County Election Commissioner Dale Baker, the four finalists are: - Tonya Baker, field appraiser in the Hall County Assessor/Register of Deeds office. - Bailey Gibson, GIS analyst with the Hall County GIS Department. - Susan Nickerson, senior living regional operations consultant at Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. - Tracy Overstreet, administrative assistant for the Regional Planning Department and a former Independent reporter. Baker added there were 21 total applicants. Board chairwoman Pam Lancaster said the elections committee, made up of Supervisors Scott Arnold, Doug Lanfear and Jane Richardson, met twice and selected the four finalists for the election commissioner position. The three of them, I understand, have reviewed the applicants two different times once in the first bunch and then there was a group that came in later, Lancaster said. They reviewed the first group that came in and then another group as the time neared the deadline. The county board meeting agenda calls for the board to consider taking action on the election commissioner vacancy. However, Lancaster emphasized the board does reserve the right to have two interviews with the candidates, rather than just one. But hopefully, the interviews will go such that there is a clear candidate we would like be the election commissioner for Hall County, she said. It is imperative that we get them in the office and get them training as soon as possible. There is a lot to learn. Baker and Denice Kruse, assistant to the Hall Election Commissioner, plan to retire after 16 and 29 years, respectively, in the election commissioners office. The last day for Kruse will be Dec. 1. Lancaster reiterated Baker will step into the position of assistant to the Hall County election commissioner, effective Jan. 1, to help the appointed election commissioner through her first election. The Hall County board will also discuss and consider taking action on setting a reporting period for the Central Nebraska Humane Society. Supervisor Doug Lanfear, who placed the item on Tuesdays meeting agenda, said Hall County and the Central Nebraska Humane Society entered into a contract for services last January. He added, per the contract, the Humane Society is to write the county board a report once a year on all activities it performs in Hall County. Nowhere in there does it specify what time period it is, Lanfear said. Is it a calendar year? Does it run with our fiscal year? Basically we, as the board, need to decide what the time period is. This is something that got missed and we need to make a decision. I had talked to Tonya Hansen (president of the Central Nebraska Humane Societys Board of Directors) and she was the one who brought it up. Lanfear added the report will include the number of trips the Humane Society takes and for what reason they were done. In other action: - Be introduced to new Hall County Court Clerk Magistrate Jen Myers. - Discuss the installation of a water cooler for the veterans services office. - Discuss and consider taking action on a Hall County attorney appointment, - Hear a recommendation from the classification committee regarding the job description for a mental health care provider at the Hall County Jail. The Hall County Board of Supervisors meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Hall County Administration Building. Since coming to Grand Island in 2012, Marv Strong has improved the operation of the wastewater treatment plant, and brought people together. I think the biggest strength I have is team-building, Strong said. That might sound strange coming from an engineer, he said. But he believes hes good at getting people to work with each other, tearing down the barriers between them and just getting people to work with each other. After a career in private industry in the Chicago area, Strong moved to Grand Island to become the engineer at the wastewater treatment facility. The toughest part of the job, and the most enjoyable, is dealing with people, he said. I think the greatest achievement since Ive been here is to build a team of professionals to handle the wastewater needs of the city of Grand Island. Strongs work in Grand Island is now done. After slightly more than five years in the job, he will retire on Thursday two days after he turns 65. Twenty-seven people work at the wastewater treatment plant. Probably half of those employees have come aboard in the last five years. But they are a team, Strong said. I think theyre operating on all eight cylinders to handle all the needs of the city of Grand Island, he said. The plant has added positions and become highly regarded, he said. The infrastructure is in good shape, he said. But its the team being left behind that Im most proud of. Weve got a good group of men and a good group of women that are very capable and competent, he said. Strong worked in private industry for 31 years. Twenty-one of those years were with Citizens Utility Co. The water and utility divisions were then acquired by American Water. He spent 10 years with that company, His job as senior project manager was eliminated as part of a corporate downsizing. He left that company with a retirement package in April 2012 and started work in Grand Island in June. In coming to Grand Island, Strong and his wife, Shelly, followed an easy route. Their home in Lockport, Ill., was five miles north of Interstate 80. But they had a choice of links to Central Nebraska. Their home was seven miles north of Highway 30, a mile or two north of Highway 6 and 10 miles south of Highway 34. When Strong got to Grand Island, the wastewater treatment facility was a problem. The city was considering privatizing the plant, keeping the collection system separate. Employees were agitated. We had a very dysfunctional group five years ago, he said. So steps were taken. Some accepted the changes, he said. Some people did not. For the most part, theyre no longer here. Some people accepted change begrudgingly, while others jumped on board right away, he said. But the dysfunction is gone, he said. We havent addressed everything by all means. There are still things that need to be done. But I like to think weve addressed the things that needed to be addressed first, he said. The low-hanging fruit has been plucked, and he likes to believe the raging fires are behind us. Financially, were very solid. Weve got most of the key positions filled, he said. People are getting the training they need, and were doing the right thing right. Strong praises Dong Hyun Chon for his work as wastewater operations engineer. Strong was born in San Antonio, Texas, but moved with his family to Chicago when he was 10. He lived in the Chicago area for close to 40 years. He spent his senior year of high school in Germany. Strongs father was a chemical engineer for Amoco, which was considering building an oil refinery in Europe. After an enjoyable year in Germany, the young Strong enrolled in college. When I got to Purdue I came in as a foreign student, he said. He earned a bachelors degree in civil engineering. Then he got a masters degree in business administration from Indiana University. Asked about Strong, Public Works Director John Collins says, I wish he would stay. He has accomplished an unbelievable amount during the time hes (been) here, completely overhauling the plant and the collection system and the whole organizational structure of wastewater, Collins said. I imagine we will be benefiting from his work for the next, I dont know, 40 or 50 years. Thats the life of that type of infrastructure, Collins said. Collins agrees that the wastewater treatment plant was struggling before Strong arrived. It had some major issues when I came to Grand Island. I was informed of them repeatedly during my first year here. And we found Marvin and started working on it, Collins said. Im real happy with what hes done here. Strong and his wife, a retired occupational therapist, have two grown daughters and three granddaughters in Orange County, Calif. Strong and Shelly, whove been married 41 years, will move to Fawnskin, Calif., which is near Big Bear Lake. Strong is glad hes finishing his career on an up note, rather than leaving the workplace back in Chicago. I was too young to retire. Im glad I didnt. If I had had enough money to retire I would hate to have missed the last five years, he said. As he leaves, he says, I wish the men and women of Grand Island the best. Im grateful for the opportunity. Thirty employers will be featured at a Job Fair sponsored by The Grand Island Independent from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Full Circle Venue at Boarders Inn and Suites, 3333 Ramada Road, in Grand Island. This is the second Job Fair sponsored by The Independent this year. The first one in June attracted about 350 job seekers attend, according to Katy Bergstrom, The Independents classified manager. She is expecting about the same number at Tuesdays event. Were having this because employers have a great need in Central Nebraska for employees theres more jobs it seems like than there are people to fill them, Bergstrom said. We felt like we were a natural fit to put on the job fair. We already have the relationship with area employers when we handle their job ads. Hall County has an extremely low unemployment rate, she said. The Nebraska Department of Labor reported that the Grand Island metropolitan area of Hall, Hamilton, Howard and Merrick counties had an unemployment rate of just 2.7 percent in August. There is always a pressing need for employers to find qualified employees for their jobs, Bergstrom said. I foresee that this is going to be an ongoing commitment for us. At Tuesdays Job Fair, employers will be offering a wide variety of choices, including everything from entry-level jobs to jobs that require specialized education or training such as nurses and electricians as well as everything in between. Industries that will be represented at the Job Fair include medical, retail, grocery, manufacturing, meatpacking, education, sales, industrial, construction, clerical, agricultural and employment agencies. Some employers will be offering on-site interviews, Bergstrom said. There may even be a few employers who offer immediate hiring. As a result, job seekers should come dressed to impress and with copies of their resume, she said. A 21-year-old Dalit youth was beaten to death for merely watching a garba event underway in a temple from afar in Gujarat's Anand district. By Gopi Maniar Ghanghar : A 21-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death by a group of men from the Patel community for watching a garba event underway in a temple in Anand district. The deceased has been identified as Jayesh Solanki, who along with his cousin Prakash and two other Dalit men was attacked while they were sitting near a house adjacent to the temple where the garba event was underway. advertisement The accused upper caste men reportedly passed derogatory remarks about their caste and opposed their attendance so close to the temple. A police officer at the Bhadran Police Station said, "The accused said Dalits "do not have any right to watch garba . He made casteist remarks and asked some men to come to the spot." Jayesh was brutally thrashed by the mob of unruly upper caste men along with his friends and cousin. "Jayesh's head was banged against a wall," added a police officer. Gujarat: Dalit man beaten to death on #Dussehra, allegedly for attending a Garba event in Anand. pic.twitter.com/i80ChYxjyi- ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 When rushed to the hospital, he was declared brought dead. The incident took place around 4 am on Sunday. "We have registered an FIR under IPC sections related to murder and the Prevention of Atrocities Act against eight men," an official said. Deputy SP (SC/ST cell) AM Patel said it did not appear to be a pre-planned attack. "Jayesh was killed in the heat of the moment, as there was no rivalry between him and the accused. We are probing the case from all angles. The accused will be arrested soon," the officer added. Also watch: Dalit youth thrashed for sporting moustache in Gandhinagar --- ENDS --- The City of Kindness will celebrate the 20th anniversary of a remarkable community expression of selflessness. Acts of Kindness Week began Sunday and runs through Oct. 7. In 1997 Grand Islands Gloria Wolbach sought to spread the virtue of kindness throughout Grand Island. Gloria and her husband, S.N. Bud Wolbach, devoted their lives to community service and support for a number of philanthropic causes. Bud was one of Stuhr Museums biggest benefactors and guided the museums progress as president for 40 years. Bud and Gloria have passed away, however, their impact on the community will live on for generations through their good works and grants awarded through the Bud and Gloria Wolbach Foundation. Gloria established Acts of Kindness (AOK) after hearing former Gen. Colin Powell speak about the importance of volunteering. The AOK movement began with a group of 50 community-minded ladies. AOK Week was officially recognized in 1999, although the mission of the AOK Ladies is to perform good deeds throughout the year. After a persuasive lobbying effort by Gloria in 2002, Mayor Ken Gnadt enacted a change in the citys motto from Grand Island, the Third City to Grand Island, City of Kindness. A proclamation by the governor followed to formally adopt the citys new motto. Jan Cook and Lisa Thayer are chair and vice chair of the AOK Ladies and they are supported with the help of 74 other members. The AOK Ladies are once again assisted by a number of annual kindness partners to help spread goodwill throughout the community: - Officers of the Grand Island Police Department and Hall Countys Sheriffs Department will be handing out pink Acts of Kindness Citations whenever they see somebody doing a good deed. - The Grand Island Library will be offering late book return forgiveness. No Late Book Fine Today cards will be issued to patrons whose fine has been waived encouraging them to perform kind acts for other people. - Sutter Deli will randomly offer free lunches during Acts of Kindness Week, with a pink card saying, Its an Act of Kindness, pass it on. - Arbys of Grand Island will offer free random lunches to their clients, along with Pass it on cards. - Starbucks Coffee and Baristas Coffee will distribute pink cards and free coffee to random drive-through customers with the goal of seeing how long the chain will last as cards are passed from car to car. - Banners and signs all over town will remind residents to participate in AOK Week. The AOK Ladies are challenging everyone in the community to join them and do five or more acts of kindness throughout this week. For the third year running, the AOK Ladies will provide a light supper for Grand Island Senior High teachers in appreciation for the long day spent in parent-teacher conferences. Each December the AOK Ladies partner with Walnut Middle School students in a store where kids can pick out donated items as Christmas presents for family members. The ladies supply wrapping paper and assist with gift wrapping. Gloria lived by the creed that, Kindness is as contagious as violence and hate. She once saw a coatless young mother pushing a baby stroller down a Grand Island street on a cold winter day. She stopped her car and gave the woman her coat. When told by an observer how wonderful the young mother must have felt, Gloria responded, How wonderful do you think I felt after giving her my coat? Help keep Glorias spirit alive and give yours a boost in the process. Spread acts of kindness this week. Live update: Eagles' undefeated season in jeopardy after brutal half Several observations from the Eagles' Monday night game against the Washington Commanders. By PTI: Kanpur (UP), Oct 2 (PTI) Prohibitory orders were clamped in the trouble-hit areas of Kalyanpur and Juhi police stations here today after a clash between two communities during a Muharram procession, a district administration official said. District Magistrate Kanpur Surendra Singh told PTI that section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been imposed prohibiting unlawful assembly of people and carrying of weapons, in order to restore normalcy. advertisement A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into incidents of violence and arson, he said. Tension gripped the Parampurva area after six people were injured yesterday in a clash during a Muharram procession. The incident occurred when the procession deviated from its pre-determined route and members of another community responded by hurling stones, officials said. Singh said the Muharram procession as well as the Durga idol immersion concluded last night itself under heavy police security. Two cars and four motorcycles were also set ablaze during yesterdays clash and police had to use batons to control the situation. Four companies (around 400 personnel) of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and a company of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed in the area yesterday to maintain peace. PTI NAV SMI TIR --- ENDS --- An Edwardsville teen was killed Sunday morning when his vehicle veered off Marine Road and struck a tree. A passing motorist called Edwardsville police at 7:17 am to report that a vehicle had left the roadway in the 7400 block of Marine Road in Edwardsville, also known as Illinois Route 143, and overturned, according Edwardsville Police Lt. Charles Kohlberg. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin KEMENKO PMK (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Mon, October 2, 2017 The Indonesian government will boost cooperation with Japan in the area of health based on each countrys needs, such as Japans need to increase the number of skilled nurses. To that end, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs Puan Maharani met with LDP Policy Research Council Deputy Chairman Nishimura Yasutoshi and with Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Sept. 25. As reported earlier, Japan is in dire need of nurses and caregivers from different countries in the near future. More generally, the meeting also noted 60 years of good relations between Indonesia and Japan and reaffirmed the two countries commitment to establishing even closer ties. Minister Puan offered suggested that Indonesia and Japan collaborate in the area of human development and culture, especially related to education and health, and offered Indonesian help in meeting the growing need for caregivers in Japan. Minister Puan also noted that Indonesia will be a host of the Asian Games 2018 and stressed that with Tsunekazu Takeda, a Japanese national, leading the OCA Coordination Committee, Japan played a strategic role in supporting the Asian Games 2018. Apart from that, Minister Puan and Nishimura Yasutoshi also discussed the latest situation in North Korea in the hope of creating a more conducive situation to global security and stability in the near future. *** Public Relations and Library Department, Legal Bureau, Information and Trial, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs roinfohumas@kemenkopmk.go.id www.kemenkopmk.go.id Twitter @kemenkoPMK Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bank BJB (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia Tue, October 3, 2017 Bank BJB continues its efforts to achieve quality growth far above the banking industry average in Indonesia. This time, the company proved its mettle by winning first place at the recent Annual Report Award (ARA) 2017 under the Provincial Administration-Owned Enterprise (BUMD) Listed Company category. This year's ARA event marked the 16th time the event was held. Accepting the award was Bank BJB president director Ahmad Irfan, Bank BJB chief independent commissioner Klemi Subiyantoro and Bank BJB finance director Nia Kania, alongside the entire management of Bank BJB in Jakarta on Sept. 19. "This award is the result of teamwork in all layers of Bank BJB. Everyone has harmonized in such a smart way that has allowed Bank BJB to win first place at ARA 2016," Irfan said during the awards ceremony. The goal of ARA, as planned by the Financial Services Authority, is to work together with the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry, the Tax Directorate General, Bank Indonesia, the Indonesia Stock Exchange, the National Committee on Governance Policy and the Indonesian Accountants Association to increase the quality of information and governance. ARA is a prestigious awards ceremony designed to evaluate the implementation quality of good corporate governance. It does this by use of applicable international rating provisions. ARA's central theme is: "Quality of Information Disclosure to Support Sustainable Company Performance in Winning Global Competition." Photo: Courtesy of Bank BJB (./.) By successfully earning the first-place spot in the BUMD Listed Company category, the bank has demonstrated its commitment as the nation's largest regional development bank to implementing the principles of good corporate governance and in complying with all applicable laws and regulations. This has allowed Bank BJB to produce some of the best work performances among banks in Indonesia. It has also allowed the bank to register positive growth in work performance. During the second quarter of 2017, Bank BJB registered an increase in financial work performance of Rp 85.4 trillion year-on-year (yoy), or a growth of 15.6 percent. The bank's total assets are registered at Rp 108.6 trillion, an 11.7 percent growth yoy. As a banking organization that also functions as an intermediary, Bank BJB has also successfully registered credit growth of 12.9 percent yoy, far above the banking industry's average growth of 7.77 percent. The total credit channeled was Rp 68.2 trillion. This credit growth was accompanied by Bank BJB's success in keeping its non-performing loan ratio at a level of 1.57 percent, down 45 bps, much better than in the second quarter of 2016 at 2.02 percent. This positive work performance earned Bank BJB net profits of Rp 829 billion. "This excellent achievement in work performance cannot be separated from the support of all parties that have helped Bank BJB become even better. Thanks to the company's implemented strategy of sustainable banking that harmonizes policy and business process into one policy architecture, all the internal business processes at Bank BJB have become more effective, efficient and secure for the long-term business continuity of Bank BJB," Irfan said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nedi Putra AW (The Jakarta Post) Malang Mon, October 2, 2017 09:33 1870 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22d313f 4 Books Book,1965-mass-killing,#1965Tragedy,nonfiction,history,New-Order,Soeharto,PKI,#PKI,communism Free In the historical record of the events in Indonesia in 1965, John Roosas Pretext for Mass Murder: The September 30th Movement and Suhartos Coup dEtat in Indonesia has always been one of the main documents for study. The Indonesian translation of the book came out for the first time in 2008. In August 2017, the Kendi publishing company republished this 426-page book with a different cover from its previous edition. Several academics recently analyzed Roosas research at the Library Cafe in Malang State University in Malang, East Java. The academics were Arif Subekti, a historian at Malang State University, Kuncoro Hadi, a historian from Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta and Hasan Abadi, rector of Raden Rahmat Islamic University (Unira) Kepanjen in Malang. Hasan said that as a member of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), his initial perception was that Roosas book would unquestioningly favor the Indonesian Communist Partys (PKI) interpretation. Even in the title, there is no mention of the PKI, however, it turns out that the book does not support any particular party or side involved, Hasan, the former chairman of Malangs NU youth movement GP Ansor, said. Hasan added that Roosa had rightly placed the various belligerent parties face to face, more personally rather than organizationally. Hasans analysis of the book concluded that the PKIs fate was actually obvious. Under guided democracy, all circles or parties including NU, the Indonesian Nationalist Party and Masyumi wondered who would rise to power after [then president] Sukarno, he said. At the time, he said, all of them, including the Army, had the same perception that without consolidating with Sukarno it would be hard to gain power. In my view, even if the PKI had not taken the chance to act at all, it would have been finished because that party was already the common enemy of several groups, he pointed out. Pretext for Mass Murder: The September 30th Movement and Suhartos Coup dEtat in Indonesia by John Roosa (Kendi publishing company/File) Hasan described the book as interesting for comparative discourse, yet rather difficult for historical discourse by the younger generation. A book, according to Hasan, can be used for historical discourse when it is arranged chronologically so that causes of occurrences and other developments can be traced back instead of just dealing with a particular event. Meanwhile, Kuncoro said that Roosa had made a remarkable analysis of the muddled involvement of the civilians, in this case the party elite, and that of the military in the Sept. 30 movement (G30S). Roosas analysis, according to Kuncoro, explains why the movement eventually failed and was finally overwhelmed by Suharto. There are several documents. One of them revealed in this book is the Supardjo document that wasnt used in military tribunals, thus leading to mass murder following the incident, Kuncoro said. If the elite had been tried and the party disbanded, the mass murder of members of the party and affiliated organizations might not have happened, he added. John Roosa, author of Pretext for Mass Murder: The September 30th Movement and Suhartos Coup dEtat in Indonesia (JP/Nedi Putra AW) Kuncoro added that the book also showed why reconciliation between the state and the families of the 1965 communist purge remained a difficult topic until now, because unlike history in general, the incident had produced two contradictory narratives. Some maintain an opinion that it was the PKIs violence against the state, while others maintain that it was the states violence against the PKI, he said. Other incidents like the DI/TII Islamic military rebellion, according to Kuncoro, only left one narrative, that of a revolt against the state. In response, Arif said, it was normal for a regime to write an official version of history in an attempt to legitimize the regime and oblige people to memorize its historical narrative. But I appraise this book as a detective novel, definitively revealing no mastermind, because what happened were crucial moments that benefited certain individuals, he suggested. In spite of their different viewpoints, the three experts shared the same judgment of Roosas work. They regarded Roosa as having worked as a genuine historian in writing this book. A different perspective systematically presented has opened a new horizon for readers to draw their own conclusion of the truth or fiction of the Sept. 30 movement. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 11:06 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22d94bd 1 Art & Culture batik,#batik,Oey-Soe-Tjoen-batik,Peranakan Free Batik is one of Indonesias most recognizable cultural trademarks, with designs that weave together meaningful traditional patterns and symbols that convey many expressions and distinctive nuances. However, not many batik lines capture these expressions and nuances quite like batik master Oey Soe Tjoen, whose creations are considered a true Indonesian cultural touchstone. Started in 1925 in Pekalongan, one of Central Javas batik centers, Oey Soe Tjoen, the business named after its founder, was one of the first examples of Indonesian-Chinese made batik. At that time, Oey Soe Tjoen broke away from his familys printed batik business to start his own hand-drawn batik line. Now, in its 92nd year of business, Oeys granddaughter, Widianti Widjaja is at the helm of the family business, as well as taking up the role as designer. She took the reins after her fathers death in 2002. At the time, she was only a few days into college. Read also: Preserving Go Tik Swan batik legacy Widianti said she had received countless words of appreciation from batik collectors, some of whom often reminded her to not feel pressured into conforming to specific design aspects and encouraged her to make and sell the kind of batik she wanted to. Some collectors have advised me not to take specific orders when making batik, because doing so would [subtly] affect my creativity, she said during a discussion held as part of an exhibition at Jakartas Kunstkring Paleis Gallery in Menteng, Central Jakarta. Decades of tradition: Widianti Widjaja, Oeys granddaughter, displays an Oey Soe Tjoen batik piece. (Intisari/File) Around 40 batik pieces were displayed at the Oey Soe Tjoen Batik Exhibition: A Tribute for Culture held in partnership with private lender Bank Central Asia (BCA) and Wastra Indonesia, an organization founded with the aim to preserve Indonesian fabrics. The vintage pieces on display were known for the distinctive ways their floral and animal patterns were designed. In order to maintain her creativity, Widianti has vowed to keep an open mind when crafting batik designs, crediting her openness, which allows her to explore new ideas beyond the same old batik patterns, as the reason behind the uniqueness of her works. With the large weight placed on her shoulders by the legacy of the Oey Soe Tjoen dynasty and the demands of the batik industry, Widianti is full of sheer determination, despite her claim that creating batik is always considered second to her devotion to her husband and children. She only draws at night, after her family has settled in, but can spend up to four hours either coming up with new designs or perfecting those in progress. The devotion I have for batik is strong, but I will always put my familys needs first over everything else, she said. Oey Soe Tjoen batik pieces, with their complex designs and meticulous production methods, are considered very difficult to reproduce and, as such, are deemed to be rare items. A particular piece usually requires a dozen or so non-full-time workers to complete, and the more complicated the design, the longer it takes to finish. The process is therefore very expensive and time consuming, with it possible for a single piece to take up to a year-and-a-half to complete. During the companys golden years in the 1930s, the Oey Soe Tjoen batik line was able to produce 30 pieces of batik per month with a workforce of over 150 people. As such, any new prints made by Widianti for the Oey line usually fetch prices in the millions of rupiah because of their scarcity and the length of production. The kind of vintage batik Oey Soe Tjoen produces is made with a more fragile, delicate method than modern batik. The maintenance of its pieces, specifically those that are on display in museums, must adhere to strict climate control measures and meticulous, delicate cleaning because something as small as a spec of dust or improper lighting could basically tear the batik like a knife. Throughout its history, Oey Soe Tjoen batik has been collected, exhibited and sold all around the world, such as in Europe, Japan, Singapore and the United States. The scarcity of its pieces has also bred a black market industry of fakes, with several fake Oey Soe Tjoen prints in circulation. Widianti claims the deluge of forged prints contributed to diminishing her familys business back in the 1980s, and remains a threat today. A collector, who attended the exhibition and had experience being offered fake Oey prints, said the biggest giveaway was usually the price. There is a saying among collectors. If anyone were to offer you an Oey Soe Tjoen batik for less than Rp 150 million (US$11,278) then it would definitely be a fake, the collector said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Alfred Bayle (Inquirer.net/Asia News Network) Mon, October 2, 2017 18:34 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22ec046 2 Science & Tech Elon-Musk,rocket,space,travel,SpaceX Free SpaceX CEO Elon Musk proposed to use the companys Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) as a commercial vehicle for global transport. He claims it could get people anywhere in the world within an hour. Fly to most places on Earth in under 30 mins and anywhere in under 60. Cost per seat should be about the same as full fare economy in an aircraft. Forgot to mention that. A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Sep 28, 2017 at 11:19pm PDT During his presentation at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Musk detailed his vision of developing the Interplanetary Transport System, codenamed BFR, for use within the Earth, according to a report by The Verge. BFR is also sometimes referred to as the Big F**king Rocket. Part 2 A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Sep 28, 2017 at 11:56pm PDT The BFR would lift a passenger ship into orbit and then land on floating pads near cities around the world. This ship would travel at speeds of 18,000 miles per hour (about 29 kilometers per hour) during its fastest. Musk estimates travel time to be around 30 minutes for most places. A maximum travel time of one hour is estimated for locations farther from the launch point. Read also: Elon Musk reveals full view of SpaceX astronaut flight suit Passengers would be ferried to and from the floating launch pads through boats. Best of all, Musk claims the price for a trip would be equal to a full fare economy plane ticket. If made true, going to another country halfway across the globe may potentially be faster than the daily commute to work for most people. Musk proposed landing pads in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Dubai, New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai, to name a few. SpaceX initially plans to use the BFR for sending humans to colonize Mars by 2024. Musk pegged the BFR as a future replacement for their Falcon rockets. Development for the BFR will come from funds generated by satellite launch missions carried out by existing Falcon 9s. Generally held in late September or early October every year, the IAC acts as a venue for countries and organizations involved in space development to discuss various space-related plans. Its first conference was held in Paris, France in 1950. Topics : This article appeared on the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post By PTI: ignored: AAP New Delhi, Oct 2 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party today said the representation of the Delhi government in the Metros fare fixation panel was futile if its views were not considered before raising tariffs. The AAPs Delhi unit chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said that K K Sharma, the representative of the Delhi government in the fare fixation committee, had on June 30 vehemently protested against the proposed fare hike. advertisement "What is the use of having a representative of an elected government in the fare fixation committee if the Urban Development Ministry and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) want to go ahead without taking its views into consideration," Bharadwaj said. He said fares of Kolkata Metro, which is the oldest in the country, were lower than that of the Delhi Metro, as he sought to draw a parallel between the transport systems of the two metropolitans. "The fare for Delhi Metro is Rs 10 for the first five kms, whereas the first five kms in the Kolkata Metro costs Rs 5. Delhiities have to spend Rs 50 for 32 kms or more whereas people from Kolkata shell Rs 25 for travelling 25 kms or more," he added. The AAP has threatened protests over the proposed fare hike. PTI PR SMN --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jessicha Valentina (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 18:07 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22eb4bb 1 Science & Tech Education,#education,research,#research,My-Thesis-in-180-Seconds,Competition,#competition,thesis Free Maya Puspita, who has a doctorate in marine biology, has joined the international My Thesis in 180 Seconds (MT180) competition in Liege, Belgium, on Thursday. The competition -- attended by 20 doctorate and doctoral students from 15 countries, namely Indonesia, Belgium, Benin, Cameroon, Canada, Cote dIvoire, France, Lebanon, Morocco, Congo, Romania, Senegal, Switzerland, Tunisia and the United States -- required participants to present their doctoral research within 180 seconds in front of an international panel headed by Professor Alain Vanderplasschen of the University of Liege. Maya is a doctorate graduate with double degrees from Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java, and the Universite de Bretagne Sud in Lorient, France. During the competition, the Indonesian marine biologist presented her dissertation on phlorotannins compounds extracted from marine seaweeds belonging to the sargassaceae species. Maya said that most people have difficulty in understanding her research, as it explored an exact science. However, the competition had taught her to simplify the scientific terms by using laymans terms. Read also: Thesis competition eyes French-speaking Indonesian students, graduates With regard to her involvement in the competition, Maya said her work at the Indonesian Seaweed Association (ARLI), MT180 provided her with the opportunity to expand her network, experience and knowledge. The candidates were not only focusing on the competition, but we continuously learnt together through various activities, such as doctorate workshops and public defenses of doctoral dissertations. [The activities] became a platform to share our thoughts and aspirations, she said. Prior to joining the competition, Maya was named runner-up at the national MT competition that was held at Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta, on May 4. In Indonesia, the national MT180 competition was held, for the second time this year, by the French Institute in Indonesia (IFI). It is open to Indonesian doctoral students or graduates who speak French or have studied in the country. (kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fiachra Gibbons (Agence France-Presse) Paris Mon, October 2, 2017 13:24 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22dcb83 2 Lifestyle balenciaga,Crocs,fashion,#fashion,Paris-Fashion-Week Free Paris fashion was reeling Sunday from Balenciaga's latest outrage/stroke of genius -- platform Crocs. The luxury brand, which hit the headlines in April with its $2,000 (1,700-euro) blue leather "Ikea" bags, has raised eyebrows again by sending out five pairs of the comfortable, indestructible but undeniably ugly sandals in its spring summer collection. With the Women Spring Summer 18 runway show, Balenciaga launches the Foam shoes, a 10 cm platform version of the iconic @Crocs clog. pic.twitter.com/TsjgjkllF2 Balenciaga (@BALENCIAGA) October 1, 2017 "I'm sorry am I hallucinating or did I just see platform Crocs from Balenciaga?" tweeted Tyler McCall of the Fashionista website. Another Fashionista critic, Alyssa Vingan Klein, added, "There are platform Crocs at Balenciaga. This is not a drill..." Fashion house @Balenciaga just elevated Crocs to new heights. Here's a first look at the shoe they sent down the runway today in Paris. pic.twitter.com/JQzVtG6cbT Crocs Shoes (@Crocs) October 1, 2017 Balenciaga's iconoclast designer Demna Gvasalia is known for seeing the beauty in the banal, with some critics accusing him of "poverty chic" -- remaking the clothes of the poor for the rich. But he has a formidable track record of making hugely hot clothes -- and particularly shoes -- that taste forgot. His thigh-high Spandex boots have become a style sensation, worn and adored by celebrities and fashion mavens alike. The wunderkind has, however, a job on his hands with Crocs, which as one joke goes, have holes in them "so your dignity can leak out". "Ugly" shoes like Crocs and Birkenstocks have nonetheless been quietly coming up in the world. Last year the Scottish designer Christopher Kane produced a 500-euro ($590) line of fur-lined and crystal-encrusted Crocs. While Vogue adored their comfort, critic Julia Hobbs said there was no getting over that "Crocs are ugly". Read also: Netizens ridicule Balenciaga's $4,900 tote that looks like a blanket bag 'Unrivalled ability to repel' "They have nostril-like pores, and an upturned snout... When worn by grown-ups they have an unrivalled ability to repel onlookers and induce sneers," Hobbs added. Not content with attempting to rehabilitate Crocs, Gvasalia, the man behind the uber-cool Vetements label, also transformed fringed sun umbrellas into skirts and shop awnings into trousers in his Paris show. This collection, however, was more slick than shocking, with very smart use of tartan in trousers, and tops and skirts often paired with chain straps taken from souvenir and duty free shops. "The inherent possibilities" and the "exaggeration of everyday styles... is the design impulse" behind the show, he wrote in his show notes. Pants made from three different trousers spliced together made a reappearance, suggesting they are on their way to becoming a Gvasalia staple alongside thigh-high boots and buttoned-up charity shop shirts. Alterability too was built into several garments, with parts of the pants interchangeable like modular tracksuits. His new punky "super-spiked stilettoes" also seemed to go down well. Other trousers printed with screensaver shots of the Alps may have been a nod to his new home in Zurich, whose hardcore unfashionableness he seems to relish. But there were also small hints that Gvasalia's notoriety and the hilarity sparked by his Ikea tote -- and another that closely resembled a cheap Thai shopping bag -- might be hemming him in. Read also: Ikea responds to Balenciaga's extra-large tote bag with joke ad Givenchy's new elegance In one look, a sweater was tied around a newspaper print blouse like a straitjacket. Yet the Georgian-born creator remains impossible to pin down and as full of surprises as ever. The man who likes to borrow, tweak and hijack seemed to be paying backhanded homage this time to the print king Dries Van Noten in some of the rich palate of colours he used, which oozed a class befitting Balenciaga's aristocratic roots. All eyes Sunday were also on the debut of designer Clare Waight Keller at Givenchy after her move from Chloe. In the end her transition was very much like the lady herself, low-key and classy. "Seduction is key," she the British-born creator. "The most selective things are not seen, but merely imagined." And that subtlety of thought made for a collection that seemed to give the brand back its quiet but assured elegance. Fellow Brit Phoebe Philo at Celine, another designer whose lead others follow, came up with a trenchcoat that doubled as a cape under which you could keep your bag dry. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 16:58 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22e736b 2 National Volcano,bali,Mount-Agung,evacuees Free Thousands of residents who fled a rumbling volcano in Bali are refusing to leave evacuation centers after being told to return to their homes outside of the immediate danger zone. Officials announced the highest possible alert level for Mount Agung, about 75 kilometres (47 miles) from the resort hub of Kuta, on Sept. 22, telling people not to venture within nine to 12 kilometres of the summit. Some 144,000 people fled their homes following the warning, including about 75,000 who were not in immediate danger, according to officials. The government has since urged evacuees from outside the red zone to return home, but many are refusing to go. "Honestly I don't have the courage to go home right now because my children are still young, our house is located in a narrow alley, I don't know if we will have enough time to evacuate [if the volcano erupts], mother Cecilia Eka Setyarini Utami, who fled to an evacuation centre in Denpasar, told AFP. Kadek Kanda, the coordinator of an evacuation centre in Balis capital Denpasar, said his shelter was so full he had stopped accepting evacuees. Some people whose houses are not within the danger zone have started to return home this morning, but for those who decided to stay, we don't have the heart to tell them to go home. Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said the number of volcanic tremors was still high -- 222 between midnight and 6am Monday -- but the situation was stable. You have acceleration prior to September 22. At that moment we increased the alert level, but thereafter the number of seismicity is almost the same day by day, said Devy Kamil, a senior official at the centre, told AFP. White steam clouds -- which contain sulphurous fumes -- have been observed rising 50 to 200 meter above the summit. Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. In 2010, Mount Merapi on the island of Java erupted after rumbling since 2006, while Mount Sinabung on Sumatra island -- which is currently also on the highest alert level -- has been active since 2013. Volcanologists cannot predict when an eruption may occur, but Kamil said the risk had not decreased. Mount Agung last erupted in 1963, killing nearly 1,600 people. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Las Vegas, United States Mon, October 2, 2017 15:41 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22e44b2 2 World US,violence,shooting-incident Free At least two people were killed and more than 20 wounded when a gunman went on a shooting spree on the Las Vegas Strip late Sunday, police and US media reports said. Police said that the shooter was taken "down" after officers swarmed over the famous boulevard following reports of multiple shots being fired from the Mandalay Bay casino. "At this time we do have a suspect down," Las Vegas police officer Steve Gomez told reporters, without elaborating. "We have numerous victims right now," he added. While police did not immediately give a figure for the number of dead, CNN reported that at least two people had been killed in the shooting while several local news outlets put the number of injured at up to 24. Pictures taken at the scene showed revelers cowering in the street or running in terror, as well what appeared to be several bodies lying prone on the ground. A local hospital was taking in "several" people with gunshot wounds, University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen told the local Sun newspaper. Video footage circulating on social media purportedly of the Mandalay Bay showed a crowd enjoying a country music concert before what sounded like volleys of automatic gunfire halted the performance. A witness told local TV news station KLAS he saw someone several stories high firing hundreds of shots into a crowd of people. Police however denied reports of multiple shooters. "At this time we do not believe there are any more shooters," the department wrote on Twitter. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 21:52 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22f2e0b 1 City Allianz,insurance,claims Free The insurance company PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia has denied refusing to reimburse medical expenses of its clients, saying that there were irregular patterns in the claims. In a press release received by The Jakarta Post on Monday night, the insurance company said it had requested further clarification from the clients in the form of copies of their medical records after finding "irregular patterns in the claims submitted within a relatively short period." "This is a necessary step in the claim-clarification process," the release said. Previously, Alvin Lim, the lawyer who represents Ifranius Algadri and Indah Goena Nanda, the company's clients, said that Allianz's request for the submission of the complete medical records was not mentioned in the policy book. The Jakarta Police have named two former executives of the company, Joachim Wessling and Yuliana Firmansyah, as suspects and accused them of violating the 1999 Consumer Protection Law for allegedly breaching contracts with the two customers by refusing to reimburse the clients medical expenses. The police have also issued travel bans for the executives. The travel bans took effect on Sept 28 and will last for 20 days. The police had scheduled questioning former claims manager Yuliana on Oct. 4 and former president director Wessling next week. Through its release, the company also said that it would stand by its former executives and would be ready to help them by providing legal support. (rdi) Topics : Allianz insurance claims Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Edwin Utama and Lucas Chaumontet (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2 2017 Globally, aviation is a strategic sector that has a significant multiplier effect on the rest of the economy. Aviation can accelerate growth in gross domestic product (GDP), stimulate new investment, create jobs and increase trade activity. In Europe, for example, aviation contributes to 4.1 percent of GDP and generates more than 12 million jobs, both directly and indirectly. Several countries such as Singapore, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have successfully developed their aviation sector by integrating and strengthening their aviation ecosystems. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 21:15 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22f2647 1 City Jakarta-council,governor,development Free The Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) has lauded the citys infrastructure and human resources development during its five-year leadership under three different governors. Outgoing governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat, who will officially leave office on Oct. 15, replaced Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama after the latter was controversially convicted of blasphemy. Ahok held the position after his superior and then-governor Joko Jokowi Widodo won the presidential election in 2014. The three leaders have developed Jakartas infrastructure that we can all enjoy, said councillor Meity Magdalena Ussu, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, during a plenary meeting on Monday, which was attended by Djarot, city administration officials and other councillors. Meity cited data showing the Human Development Index in the city had improved under the three governors leadership. In 2013, the index stood at 78.08 percent and jumped to 79.60 last year. The index is far higher than the national index, which stood at 69.24 last year. Meity said the figures showed that the administration had succeeded in providing residents with access to health, education and employment. Unemployment decreased from 9.87 percent in 2012 to 6.12 percent last year, she added. The council also noted some of the administrations achievement, including an increase in the number of tourists visiting the city, infrastructure development to tackle flooding and traffic congestion, as well as opening up public spaces. (fac) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mikael Holter (Bloomberg) Oslo, Norway Mon, October 2, 2017 19:45 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22f02ff 2 World Nuclear,Nobel-Peace-Prize,EU,Iran,negotiation Free The main facilitators of the 2015 accord on Irans nuclear program, slammed as the worst deal ever by US President Donald Trump, could be among the top contenders for this years Nobel Peace Prize, according to researchers who predict potential winners. Federica Mogherini, the European Unions foreign affairs chief, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Irans foreign minister, are the best candidates because they convened the process that ended with the easing of sanctions against Tehran in return for nuclear restrictions, according to Henrik Urdal, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), which makes a shortlist each year with mixed results. The threat of the use of nuclear-arm force is more real than it has been, with North Korea being in play as well, Urdal said to reporters last week in Oslo. Its important to support initiatives that prevent the development and proliferation of nuclear arms. Leaving John Kerry out was no criticism of the former US secretary of states role in the deal, the PRIO director said, but could be a way of highlighting to Trump -- who has said hes made a decision on whether the US will continue to abide by the deal -- that it has broad international support. US Secretary of State John Kerry (left) meets with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on April 22, 2016 in New York. (Agence France -Presse/Bryan R. Smith) Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, won the award in his first year in office in 2009. The current US president has also been nominated this time, according to PRIO. Nominations, which include over 200 names every year, are open to academics, lawmakers and non-governmental agencies worldwide. Trumps odds were 101/1 at William Hill, which estimated Obamas chance of winning again to be higher, at 20/1. PRIOs shortlist also included the White Helmets, formally called the Syrian Civil Defense, and its leader Raed al Saleh, for its efforts to help civilians in the war-torn country. The White Helmets were 4/1 to win the prize at both William Hill and Unibet. The main bookmakers didnt provide odds for the Iran-deal parties, or for PRIOs second and third picks: Members of the Syrian civil defence volunteers, also known as the White Helmets, sit by as colleagues bury their fellow comrades during a funeral in Sarmin, a jihadist-held town nine kilometres east of Syria's northwestern city of Idlib on Aug. 12, 2017, after seven were shot dead early in the morning during a raid on their base, according to the organisation. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the seven volunteers had all been killed by bullets to the head. (Agence France -Presse/Omar Haj Kadour) UNHCR and High Commissioner Filippo Grandi, amid a record number of displaced people globally and crises spanning from Syria and Afghanistan to the Rohingyas in Myanmar Turkeys Cumhuriyet newspaper and its former editor Can Dundar, who symbolize president Recept Tayyip Erdogans crackdown on the freedom of the press Pope Francis was favorite to win at William Hill with 2/1, followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at 3.5/1. The American Civil Liberties Union had the lowest odds at Unibet with 3/1, followed by the Pope at 4/1. Other candidates cited by PRIO, Nobel historian Asle Sveen, or bookmakers: The Economic Community of West African States Saudi writer Raif Badawi US leaker Edward Snowden Russias Novaya Gazeta newspaper, human rights group Memorial The prize, along with literature, physics and medicine honors, was created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel and first awarded in 1901. Past winners also include civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the late Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo and Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos, last years recipient. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, based in Oslo, selects the peace prize recipient. The Physiology or Medicine Prize was on Monday awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for discoveries that explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the earths revolutions. Prizes in chemistry, physics and literature will be awarded this week in Stockholm while the economics prize will be handed next Monday. The peace prize winner will be announced on Friday at 11 a.m. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 20:15 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22f11d5 1 City Jakarta-council,Transportation,allowance Free Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat has told all city councillors to return their official cars before demanding their transportation allowances. All the 101 official cars should be returned, then we can compensate for them with a transportation allowance. Otherwise, well not disburse the allowance, Djarot told reporters on Monday as quoted by kompas.com. A renewed bylaw on the administration and financial rights of council leaders and members stipulates that the members will be entitled to a transportation allowance, rather than a car, to assist them in carrying out their duties. However, many have yet to return the Toyota Corolla Altis cars provided to them. While Djarot said that the cars would then be auctioned, Jakarta Financial Management Body (BPAD) head Achmad Firdaus suggested that the cars could be used by officials at the Jakarta administration. (fac) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 12:38 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22dad2a 4 Business Freeport-Indonesia,divestment,valuation,rejection Free The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has advised the government not to bow down to the wishes of the United States Freeport McMoRan, the parent company of PT Freeport Indonesia, which had rejected the governments proposal on its divestment scheme. Kadin deputy chairman for eastern Indonesia H. Andi Rukman Karumpa said in Jakarta on Monday that the government needed to defend its position on the divestment of 51 percent shares of PT Freeport Indonesia as required by Indonesian law. I hope the government will not feel pressured. It needs to defend the scheme, he said as reported by tribunnews.com. Andis statement was made in response to a letter sent by Freeport McMoRan Inc. CEO Richard C. Adkerson to the Finance Ministrys secretary general, a copy of which was also sent to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani. In his letter dated Sept. 28, Adkerson said his company, which agreed in late August to divest 51 percent of its shares, could not accept a number of issues related to the valuation, timing and structure of the divestment. With regards to valuation, for example, the governments position is to buy the shares based on the market price, while Freeport wants to take into consideration the reserve of its gold and copper mining site in Papua in calculating the share price. He said the government was in a strong position. The mineral reserve is owned by the state. The company only rents. It is unlikely that we have to buy our owned [mining reserves], said Andi, citing Article 33, paragraph 3 of the Constitution. (bbn) Hundreds of big and small goddess Durga idols were seen floating in the already heavily polluted Yamuna on Saturday and Sunday. Dumped idols and waste float on the Yamuna at Kudsia Ghat near ISBT on Sunday. (Photo: Parveen Negi) By Mail Today Bureau: The Delhi government and, specifically, the environment department's lack of proactivity in stopping Plaster of Paris (PoP) idol manufacturing became apparent on the eve of Vijayadashami. Hundreds of big and small goddess Durga idols were seen floating in the already heavily polluted Yamuna on Saturday and Sunday. The water at the six designated ghats and large stretches of the river turned into a colourful soup with PoP and paints from idols dissolving slowly and puja waste littered everywhere. advertisement Also, at least eight people drowned in different parts of the Capital during Durga idol immersions on Saturday. A search operation was launched by the divers and the rescue teams deployed there for such tragedies, which have now become a regular occurrence. Volunteers said at least 500 idols had been immersed at the Kudsia Ghat at ISBT itself and the "chalk" was melting in the water. The other immersion spots - Geeta Ghat at ISBT, Shyam Ghat at Jagatpur, Hathi Ghat at ITO, Jaitpur and Geeta Colony - witnessed around 200-250 immersions each. Though Delhi constitutes only two per cent of the entire stretch of Yamuna, which is 22 km of 1,300 km from Yamunotri in Uttarakhand to Allahabad in UP, it contributes over 70 per cent of its total solid waste, sewage and industrial pollution. In the run-up to the grand event, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) was not heard making any surprise raids on idol makers to check their raw material, nor were any awareness campaigns were conducted. COTTAGE INDUSTRY With successive festivities - Ganesh Chaturthi, Vishwakarma Puja, Durga Puja, Kali Puja (Diwali) and then Saraswati Puja - being observed in the city, idol making of the presiding deities has become a cottage industry. Poor artisans can be seen making these along roads in the city such as near Patparganj, Mehrauli, Mandir Marg, etc. While the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has already passed strictures prohibiting use of harmful PoP, synthetic paints, plastic and chemical colours in idol-making, there is no implementation of the same. Javed, a volunteer with the Boat Club, DM (East), which assists in rescue and cleanup operations in Yamuna, said, "While bamboo barricading at the ghats by the flood and irrigation depart-ment stopped the solid waste - such as idol frames, cloth, pots and plastic carry bags - from being washed into deeper waters, the harmful elements are certainly dissolving and poisoning the river water." Ragpickers were seen pulling out the bamboo idol frames and taking away what could be dried and reused. Shailja, a ragpicker, said, "We are segregating all the puja waste like jute and cloth, and very little will go to the landfills as almost everything here is fresh and reusable." East Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) spokesperson, YS Mann, said, "After all the discaradable waste is gathered, it will be dumped at Okhla and Ghazipur landfills." advertisement Only few puja committees have recently shifted to biodegradable items in idols and are immersing them in local water-filled pits. 'SERIOUS HEALTH CONSEQUENCES' "It is sad the government isn't taking any definitive steps regarding PoP idol making. These do not melt for months, unlike clay idols that dissolve in 45 minutes and were traditionally used. Thereby they create the ugly scenes of broken idols floating on the river and clog big drains," said Prashant Rajankar, scientist with NGO Toxic Links. "The oil paints used on them, with water colours not staying on PoP for long, have heavy metals like cadmium, mercury and lead, which undergo biomagnification and have serious health consequences." Manoj Mishra of NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, on the other hand, said, "It is not just the authorities to blame, but general public too. What kind of bhakti is this when you offer prayers to an idol for ten days almost and then, suddenly, abandon it to rot, break and slowly melt in a sewage-laden river?" advertisement ALSO WATCH | DU professor in trouble over Facebook post on Goddess Durga --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 18:41 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22ec99f 1 Business Go-Jek,ride-hailing-application,business-expansion,ASEAN Free Ride hailing application Go-Jek plans to operate in four other member countries of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as part of its efforts to expand its business in the region. Go-Jek founder and CEO Nadiem Makarim did not specify the destination countries of his companys forthcoming investment, but he has previously mentioned that money would go to countries with large populations and those that still relied on cash transactions. So far, we have held off operating [outside Indonesia]. It will be the first time we have faced tougher competition, Nadiem said as reported by kompas.com on Monday. He, however, did not mention the amount of the money to be invested and when the investment would commence. Go-Jeks main competitor, Grab, which is based in Singapore and operates in seven countries, recently received financing from SoftBank Group and Didi Chuxing from China. Nadiem said his company had a platform that was fit for investing in countries whose economies were not yet well developed and still lacked infrastructure. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 17:45 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22ea532 1 Politics KPK,inquiry,house-of-representatives,KPK-inquiry,PDI-P Free The House of Representatives special committee tasked with launching an inquiry into the Corruption Eradicaton Commission (KPK) is mulling to, again, force the anti-graft body to attend a hearing in the House. The committees deputy chairman, Eddy Kusuma Wijaya, said on Monday that committee members would hold a meeting to schedule a summons for the KPK. "We'll summon the KPK again and if they still refuse to come, we'll consider taking legal action stipulated under the MD3 [Legislative Institution] Law to force it to attend the inquiry," said Eddy, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). He went on to say that the committee would summon several KPK investigators to seek clarification over its investigation procedures. The committee was expected to end its probe into the KPK on September 28, but it decided to extend its mandate until it managed to bring its leaders and investigators in for questioning. The KPK has refused to attend the hearings which it said was illegal and could be construed as an attempt to obstruct justice. Eddy said the committee had support from the National Police to summon the KPK. The MD3 Law gives the police the authority to help the House to force all parties summoned to attend any inquiry. (ary) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 22:20 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22f3183 1 Politics Prabowo-Subianto,election,comments Free Chief patron of the Gerindra Party Prabowo Subianto has said he no longer wants to rub shoulders with political elites in Jakarta given their predilection for lies. "I am done with them. The Jakarta elite, I am sorry to say this, is beyond repair," Prabowo said at a rally to announce a ticket to compete in the 2018 gubernatorial election in West Nusa Tenggara on Monday. Prabowo also said he had grown tired of the behaviors of political bigwigs in the capital. "They only give you fake smiles, not like yours. You have real smiles, ones that comes from the heart," Prabowo told his supporters as quoted by kompas.com. Prabowo, who lost the 2014 presidential election to then Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and is expected to run in the 2019 presidential election, also said he preferred to spend his time at home rather than attending parties held by elites. In April this year, ahead of the runoff to the Jakarta Gubernatorial election, Prabowo gathered a number of party elites and several political figures at his private residence in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta Several prominent figures who joined him at the dinner table included National Mandate Party (PAN) senior politician Amien Rais, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Sohibul Iman, former coordinating economic minister Kwik Kian Gie and Betawi figure Ridwan Saidi. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 20:30 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22f151d 1 City Allianz,insurance,claims Free The Jakarta Police special crimes unit has sent summons letters to two former executives of PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia, Joachim Wessling and Yuliana Firmansyah, who have been slapped with travel bans, for questioning next week. Joachim, the companys former president director and Yuliana, a former claims manager, stand accused of violating Law No. 8/1999 on consumer protection for allegedly breaching contracts with two customers by refusing to reimburse them for their medical expenses and instead setting additional requirements for the two to comply with in order to receive payouts. We are scheduled to question Yuliana on Oct. 4, while the president director will be questioned next week, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said on Monday as quoted by tribunnews.com. The Police have also communicated with the Immigration Office to impose travel bans on the pair, which took effect on Sept. 28, Argo said. The travel restriction lasts for 20 days. This is necessary to aid our investigation, Argo said. The case is the countrys first criminal case implicating an insurance company. (fac) Topics : Allianz insurance claims Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Batam, Riau Islands Mon, October 2, 2017 18:58 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22eddd3 1 National pirates,Singapore-Straits,Navy,barge,Singapore,naval-base Free The Indonesian Navy's Western Fleet Quick Response Unit (WFQR) arrested 15 alleged pirates in the Singapore Strait on Sunday. The alleged pirates were in six wooden boats when they were arrested. Naval Base (Lantamal IV) commander Commodore Ribut Eko Suyatno told The Jakarta Post that the arrests were made after Singaporean authorities told them that a barge had been accosted by about 15 unidentified people in Indonesian waters on Sept. 30. The barge was sailing around the Malacca and Singapore straits. The wooden boats allegedly used by the pirate suspects who were arrested by the Indonesian Navy's Western Fleet Quick Response Unit (WFQR) in Singapore straits on Sunday. (Courtesy of Indonesian Navy Region IV/file) "[The suspects] are currently held at the Batam [Naval] base," Ribut said. "Preliminary investigations show that the barge LKH 7887, which was being towed by tugboat Kim Hock Tug 9, had not actually been attacked because the tugboat crew and the 15 alleged pirates had made a deal," he explained. Read also: RI pirates get jail term, cane lashes in Malaysia According to suspects testimonies, Ribut said they had attempted to take items from the barge, such as steel scraps, cables and 19 gallons of diesel. He added that the tugboat's crew had paid the alleged pirates Rp 15 million (US$1,100) not to take the items. (foy/bbs) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 17:44 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22e98ef 1 Business CFC-regulation Free On the back of the Indonesian government's issuance of its new controlled foreign company (CFC) regulation on July 26, many Indonesians are likely to sell their foreign shell companies because of the enforcement of double tax payments. The CFC regulation authorizes the government to charge a dividend tax on foreign companies that are controlled by Indonesians even though the companies are formed in tax heaven countries. Consultancy firm Deloitte's Indonesia tax partner Dionisius Damijanto said on Monday if an Indonesian investor indirectly owned an Indonesian company through a foreign company, the government would charge taxes on each dividend payment. "The government will charge tax on dividend payments from the Indonesian company to the foreign shell company and impose another tax on dividend payments from the foreign shell company to the investor," he said during a Deloitte-Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) joint event in Jakarta on Monday. As an example, he said if an Indonesian company gave a Rp 100 million (US$7,374) dividend to the foreign shell company, the government would impose a 30 percent international withholding tax. "If the investor owns the Indonesian company directly, the government will only charge a 10 percent dividend tax or Rp 10 million," Dionisius said. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 11:21 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22d960c 4 Business license,reformasi,realized-investment Free While the government is trying to attract more investors to Indonesia, it has not been able to convince investors to make good on their pledges, an official at the Coordinating Economic Ministers Office has said. The office's deputy for commerce and industry affairs, Edy Putra Irawady, said only 31 percent of investment pledges from domestic investors and 27 percent of foreign investment pledges had been realized in the last 10 years. We found that this happened in a number of regions. The [investors] could not materialize their investment plans because of various problems, said Edy in Bandung, as reported by kontan.co.id on Monday. He said the value of unfulfilled investment pledges was about US$50 billion and involved 190 projects. Edy said records showed the variety of problems investors had faced, including complicated licensing procedures, bureaucratic red tape and uncertainties, and property issues such as land acquisitions. Some existing investors stopped investing because they were disappointed by the difficulties obtaining facilities that were promised by the government. He said the government was currently dealing with the problems by improving the one-stop integrated services for investors and introducing standardized licensing services through a single application scheme. The pilot for the scheme will start on Jan. 1 and it will be fully implemented on March 1, Edy said. He added that another facility that would be provided was allowing investors who were developing factories in industrial estates to delay arranging their business permits until construction was complete. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 21:07 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22f248d 1 City crime,robbery Free The police in Bekasi, West Java, have captured and killed suspected members of a violent gang of armed robbers, which had plagued Cikarang for the last three months. The police shot dead two of the six members of the gang, allegedly while the suspects were resisting arrest. Their target of operations focused on the industrial area. Our Cobra team has managed to stop them, Bekasi Police chief Sr. Comr. Asep Adi Saputra said at the National Police Hospital in Kramatjati in East Jakarta on Monday as quoted by tribunnews.com. He referred to a team specifically formed to combat street crime. He said the criminals were recidivists, who had frequently been jailed for numerous street crimes in many areas outside Bekasi, such as Tangerang in Banten. In recent months, they had been involved in at least 13 crimes, Asep added. Tangerang and Bekasi share some similarities. They targeted industrial areas. After closely observing their targets, they moved to threaten security guards with guns, he said. (fac) Topics : crime robbery Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 17:54 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22ea5c7 1 City insurance,claims,executive,suspect,police Free The Jakarta Police have slapped a travel ban on former president director of PT Asuransi Allianz Life Indonesia Joachim Wessling after naming him a suspect in a criminal case last week. Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said that investigators handling a criminal case implicating the insurance company had asked the Immigration Office to ban Wessling from leaving the country. The travel ban also applies to former Allianz Indonesia claims manager Yuliana Firmansyah, who has also been named a suspect in the case. The Jakarta Police named the two executives suspects for allegedly refusing to grant medical claims by two customers. The police charged the two executives with violating the 1999 Consumer Protection Law for allegedly breaching contracts with customers. Immigration Office spokesperson Agung Sampurno confirmed on Monday that the police had filed a request for a travel ban for the two former Allianz Indonesia executives. Agung however could not confirm whether Wessling, a German national, was still in the country. "We have to check the data first," Agung said as quoted by tempo.co. Topics : insurance claims executive suspect police Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 14:28 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22dfd3d 1 Politics Prabowo-Subianto,Gerindra-Party,OppositionLeader,PKI,communism Free Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto has claimed he had nothing to do with the renewed anti-communist hysteria in the country. The former presidential candidate played down a suggestion made by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) that fears of an imminent revival of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was mobilized by his supporters. "I don't know. There is no such thing," Prabowo said in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, (NTB) on Sunday as quoted by Antaranews.com. "I never gave instruction [to spread the PKI issue]," he said. The SMRC survey, released Friday, shows that only 13 percent of 1,220 respondents believed Indonesia was facing a communist revival. Most of them (about 76 percent) voted for the Prabowo-Hatta Rajasa pair in the 2014 presidential election, and are supporters of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Gerindra and the National Mandate Party (PAN). The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), of which Jokowi is a member, previously accused the opposition of using anti-PKI sentiments to hurt its electability ahead of the 2019 legislative elections. The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) predicted that the PDI-P would win the election if it were held today. (ary) By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 2 (PTI) The government has planned to connect as many as 5 crore village women to charkha (spinning wheel) in next 5 years with a view to provide them employment and promote khadi, Union minister Giriraj Singh said today. "Following the Khadi for Fashion call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ministry has planned to connect not less than five crore village women to Charkha (spinning wheel)," Singh said while addressing a function on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti at Khadi Bhawan in Connaught Place here. advertisement Khadi has now been popular in younger generation also, the minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises said. "For a significant span of time Khadi was meant for either dadaji (older ones) or netaji (politicians). But, it was the initiatives and appeals made by our Prime Minister ? who is himself the latest USP of Khadi ? that Khadi has now become a fashion trend among the youths," he said, adding, "even the results speak. The previous governments could increase the sale by 70 per cent in 10-odd years, but we enhanced it to 90 per cent". Speaking of solar charkhas, the minister said it would provide employment to at least five crore village women in the coming five years. "We are already on our heels (in) this connection, with five pilot projects at Varanasi (PM?s constituency), Nawada (minister?s constituency) and other places. It will ensure a regular income between Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000 to each of the women," he said. He claimed that to make khadi a fashion brand across the globe, the department is in regular contact with all leading fashion institutes of the country. Singh further said that even in Africa, as a part of centenary year celebrations of Gandhijis Swadeshi Movement, Indian High Commission in Uganda along with the African nation is unveiling Gandhi Charkha ? gifted by KVIC ? at the Gandhi Heritage Site at Jinja (Uganda) today, which is also the International Day of Non-Violence. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena, in his address, said Khadi had been spreading its wings in all directions for creating maximum job opportunities for the artisans. "Since sanitation and Khadi was close to Mahatma Gandhis heart, the KVIC is all set to take his legacy forward," he said, adding, "We have also taken up the Prime Minister?s call of ?Sweet Revolution? very seriously and we are trying to give a major push to our ?Honey Mission? in the coming days". Earlier, the minister inaugurated the 60 khadi outlets ? which were renovated and re-launched during the completion of KVIC?s 60th anniversary and a khadi outlet at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport at Lucknow, through remote device. advertisement He also handed over the cheques to five artisans, each from two khadi institutions of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, under the new sales initiatives undertaken by KVIC. Later, he inaugurated a honey parlour ? showcasing several qualities of honey ? at Palika Bazaar. PTI KKS BAL --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Margareth Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 17:06 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22e7c09 1 Politics setya-novanto,Idrus-Marham,Golkar,KPK,e-ID Free Loyalists of Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto have indicated they would fight against any moves to unseat their leader after a Jakarta district court ruled that his naming as a graft suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was illegal. Calls for Setyas resignation mounted days before the courts ruling on Friday. Factions opposed to Setyas leadership within Golkar argued that his legal problem had taken a toll on the partys electability, saying Setya had to resign to save the party. Party secretary-general Idrus Marham, a close ally of Setya, said that the party respected its members aspirations but that there was no need for the party to replace Setya as he had won a pre-trial lawsuit against the KPK. "What is the urgency for the party [to appoint an acting chairman]? The party has no problem now after Setya won the pretrial motion, Idrus said at the party headquarters. The Golkar executive board was supposed to hold a plenary meeting on Monday to hear Setya's response to a recommendation made by a special team within the party that Setya be suspended from his position to focus on his legal problems and health issues. Golkar deputy secretary-general Ace Hasan Syadzily said it was now unclear if the executive board would hold the plenary meeting as scheduled. Setya has been accused of playing a key role in the high-profile e-ID graft case, which has also implicated other former and active members of the House of Representatives. (ary) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2 2017 Indonesian ex-Formula 1 driver Rio Haryanto is set to make a return to his racing career after he was confirmed to take the Formula E test in Valencia, Spain, on Tuesday. The first ever F1 racer from Indonesia will get his first taste of electric car racing at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, according to a press release on Sunday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 17:36 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22e8205 1 Business CEPA,Indonesia,Australia,negotiation Free High ranking officials from Indonesia and Australia are continuing to negotiate the Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Deddy Saleh, chairman of the Indonesian negotiation delegation, said many issues had already been agreed to by both parties over the previous eight negotiation sessions. Many issues have been resolved, particularly those regarding taxation, said Deddy on Oct. 2, as reported by kontan.co.id. He explained that currently, the Indonesia delegation was trying to open the market for various commodities in Australia, while Australia still sought tariff reductions. Meanwhile, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukito said President Joko Jokowi Widodo had instructed his ministry to complete the negotiation this year. Enggartiasto said each party had tried to defend its respective interests during the negotiations. Therefore, the delegates need to look further into each item being discussed to produce an agreement, which brought mutual benefits for both countries. Bilateral trade between Indonesia and Australia has decreased over the past few years. It dropped to US$8.46 billion last year from $10.2 billion in 2012, down by 4.63 percent on average per year, according to data from the Trade Ministry. (bbn) Topics : CEPA Indonesia Australia negotiation Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Daily Star/ANN) Dhaka Mon, October 2, 2017 15:53 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22e4781 2 World #Bangladesh,#Myanmar,#MyanmarRohingya,#Rohingya,#RohingyaCrisis,#RefugeeCrisis,#refugees Free Some 507,000 new arrivals of Myanmar's fleeing Rohingya population were reported as of September 30, according to a new report. The number includes 453,300 arrivals identified in UN Migration Agency - IOM's Needs and Population Monitoring assessments in four sub-districts of Cox's Bazar. Over the last two days, movement across the border in Cox's Bazar has reportedly decreased again, according to the report "Situation Report: Rohingya Crisis". The latest figure also includes 35,000 in refugee camps reported by UNHCR and 18,700 reported by field staff in Naikhongchhari (Bandarban district), the Daily Star reported quoting UNB. Rohingya Muslims, an ethnic minority group rendered stateless in their homeland, have been fleeing persecution in Myanmar's Rakhine state since August. Their plight has triggered a humanitarian crisis in neighbouring Bangladesh, which has accepted the refugees pouring over the border. The Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), convened by the IOM, in collaboration with humanitarian partners prepared the report that covered September 21 - 27. The next report will be issued on October 8, said the IOM on Sunday. Some 37% of refugees arrived by walking and 34% by boat. People who have arrived since August 25 continue to move to the new Kutupalong Expansion site, where they are constructing new shelters. The Rohingya Refugee Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) is leading on the Kutupalong Expansion project along with the Site Management Taskforce, which includes UNHCR, IOM and other key implementing agencies. Some 20 'blocks' have been identified by RRRC. Agencies continue to focus on delivering aid wherever people have settled. Road access continues to be a constraint for humanitarian assistance delivery, with road repairs underway. As of now 630 meters of road construction has been completed in Balukhali. The latest violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State which began on August 25 has driven an estimated 436,000 Rohingyas across the border into Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. The speed and scale of the influx has resulted in a critical humanitarian emergency. The people who have arrived in Bangladesh since 25 August came with very few possessions. They have used the majority of their savings on transportation and constructing a shelter, often out of no more than bamboo and thin plastic. They are now reliant on humanitarian assistance for food, and other life-saving needs. Basic services that were available prior to the influx are under severe strain due to the massive increase in people in the area. In some of the sites that have spontaneously emerged, there is no access to water and sanitation facilities, raising the risks of an outbreak of disease. The Rohingya population in Cox's Bazar is highly vulnerable, having fled conflict and experienced severe trauma, and now living in extremely difficult conditions. Population movements within Cox's Bazar remain highly fluid, with increasing concentration in Ukhia, where the government of Bangladesh has allocated 2,000 acres for a new camp. Topics : This article appeared on The Daily Star 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 Rachmadea Aisyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 14:34 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22e10f7 1 Business TOD-transit-oriented-development,pondok-cina-station,apartment Free State-owned housing developer PT Perumnas and state railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) have started on Monday construction of the transit-oriented development (TOD) apartments at the Pondok Cina Commuter Line train station in Depok, West Java. The four-tower apartments on a 27,706-square-meter plot will become an urban development model for Greater Jakarta, said Perumnas president director Bambang Triwibowo in his speech at Monday's groundbreaking ceremony. Pondok Cina apartments is the second TOD project, following the TOD development kicked off earlier this year at the Tanjung Barat Commuter Line train station in South Jakarta. "People who live here will be just one step away from the commuter train. It will reduce the use of private vehicles and will further reduce congestion and pollution," said Bambang . He added that the 49-story towers would have 3,693 apartment units, with a total investment of around Rp. 1.45 trillion (US$107.2 million). Thirty percent of the apartments would be sold to minimum-wage earners at Rp 7 million per square meter. Two towers are expected to be completed within two years, while the rest will be built six months after this first phase of the construction. Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno also attended the groundbreaking. Rini said the government planned to build at least nine more TOD projects in Greater Jakarta. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 17:37 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22e8cc2 1 Business tourists,arrivals,BPS,August-2017 Free The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced on Monday that foreign tourist arrivals had reached 9.25 million up to August this year or a 25.68 percent increase year on year, compared to the previous corresponding period. The figure for tourist arrivals up to July, amounted to 7.81 million. "I hope there will be a further hike [in foreign tourist arrivals] in the coming months," BPS head Suhariyanto said on Monday. Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, West Java, recorded a notable increase of 21.57 percent year-on-year up to August, compared to the same period last year or a 32.38 percent increase month-on-month. Read also: Tourist arrivals up 21.57 percent in July Another significant increase of tourist arrivals occurred at Entikong checkpoint between Indonesia and Malaysia in West Kalimantan and at Kualanamu International Airport in North Sumatra. Tourists from China still dominated the figure, while Singapore and Malaysia trailed behind. The government aims to welcome 15 million foreign tourists by the end of the year. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Jennifer Epstein and Kathleen Hunter (Bloomberg) Washington, United States Mon, October 2, 2017 19:45 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22efa6f 2 World shooting-incident,Las-Vegas,trump,victim Free President Donald Trump sent his support Monday to the victims of a shooting at a Las Vegas concert in which police said at least 50 people were killed and more than 200 were injured, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting, Trump said on Twitter. God bless you! My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 Trump has been briefed on the Sunday night incident and White House officials are closely monitoring the situation, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers, she said. The shooting could initiate a new round of debate over gun laws. Previously, the deadliest modern shooting on US soil happened just over a year ago, when 49 people were killed at the Orlando nightclub Pulse. In Las Vegas, authorities said a gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on an outdoor country-music festival below, sending people fleeing. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo identified the suspect as a man named Stephen Paddock, whose motive was not clear and who died at the scene. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 16:05 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22e574d 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Batam Free Up to 365 Singaporeans who celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Batam View Beach Resort in Batam, Riau Islands, on Sept. 30 reportedly documented the event by posting photos and talked about their experience on social media. We ask all of the Singaporeans, expats and permanent residents of Singapore and Malaysia to take a selfie and upload it on their Instagram. We encourage them to share their experience to other internet users, said Tourism Ministry's archipelago tourism marketing development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti. Read also: Tibet to bar foreign visitors in October The festival featured interesting activities, such as lantern-release, Mandarin music performances, fireworks and fundraising. The event was also being live streamed on www.parkirmusik.com. The popularity of Nongsa area in Batam is increasing rapidly [] This is an extremely effective promotion, she added. Tourism Minister Arief Yahya praised the foreign tourists who promoted Wonderful Indonesia on their social media through the Mid-Autumn Festival in Batam. [Thanks to the posts, those who didn't visit the festival] can still enjoy the celebration and consider how fun it is to take a vacation in the crossborder area thats only 30 minutes from Singapore, said Arief. (kes) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta Mon, October 2, 2017 14:08 1869 1f87594453bb792833e1ece3a22def86 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,cross-border-tourism,Batam Free Up to 365 tourists flocked to Batam on Sept. 30 to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival held at Batam View Beach Resort. In addition to Chinese Indonesians, the visitors reportedly hailed from neighboring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. Some spent three days and two nights at the resort and some opted to enjoy a two-day and one-night trip to celebrate the event. Hotels around Nongsa are fully booked. There are plenty of Singaporeans, expats and permanent residents of Singapore and Malaysia who want to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Lantern in Nongsa, Batam, said Batam View Beach Resort general manager Anddy Fong. Officially held on Oct. 4, the festival is said to be the second most important celebration after imlek (Spring Festival) for the Chinese people who came to meet with fellow Chinese descents from Singapore and Malaysia as well as enjoying moon cakes. Read also: Discovering the other side of Krabi in Koh Klang The event was filled with plenty of interesting activities, such as interactive talk show, comedy show, traditional Javanese gamelan performance, fireworks and performances from Singaporean and Malaysian entertainers. During the finale there was a lantern-release attraction at the Batam View Beach Resort, which symbolizes hopes and prayers for themselves and their loved ones, said Tourism Ministry's archipelago tourism marketing development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti. The festival also hosted a fundraising event for the less-fortunate people of Batam. In the afternoon prior to the main event, tourists were seen hunting for food and shop around the Nagoya area. Each tourist is estimated to have spent S$200 (US$147) per day during the festival. (kes) By Manjeet Sehgal: In a bid to divert attention from the charges of 'mass rapes' that have been levelled against him, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's aides and followers have threatened mass conversions to Islam in a bid to stoke another controversy. The controversial Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief's followers claim that their chief - Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh - was jailed because he is a Hindu and that Hindu organisations are easy targets. advertisement The latest allegation and the threat of conversion surfaced on social media in a video which is being anchored by none other than the Dera spokesperson Sandeep Mishra himself. In the video, he can be seen in conversation with a Dera follower whose face is masked. The video, as claimed by Mishra himself, was shot in Sirsa. In the video, Mishra claims that the Dera followers are in touch with AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and Shahi Imam Syed Ahmad Bukhari, the 13th Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid, Delhi. "If you love Hindustan... it will bring tears to your eyes that being a Hindu is a crime in our own country Hindustan. When faith is under attack, why not to convert? I am being joined by people with a similar mindset," says Sandeep Mishra in the video. The person on the other side, whose face has been masked, says converting to Islam will be beneficial for them as nobody touches Muslims even when they throw stones. "We face bullets even when we are empty-handed. Our leader is in touch with Muslim leaders and we will convert when one lakh followers give their consent," says the Dera follower who says they will live in India after converting to Islam. In the video, Sandeep Mishra is also heard saying that those who are followers of Ram get punished while those who pledge their allegiance to Rahim are allowed to go scot free. The follower also claims that all Dera followers will convert to Islam in batches of one lakh followers. He also says that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh paid the price for being a Hindu. But, sources say, Mishra is not the brain behind this fresh controversy. Sources say that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh - the Dera chief who knows how to play the religion card well - himself is the brain behind the controversy. Sources have revealed that despite being behind bars, the controversial Dera chief is managing the sect and is guiding his aides on their next course of action from inside the jail. advertisement Sources say besides the well wishers in the BJP-led state government, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh also has friends in the police and bureaucracy who could possibly be helping him manage the affairs of the Dera from the jail itself. Sources and former Dera followers allege that when the police can give a free hand to the fugitive Honeypreet and Dr Aditya Insan who have continued to evade the police for the last five weeks, they may also be helping their jailed boss by offering internet or social media access. The jail authorities have, however, denied these allegations. Interestingly, both the mobile phone numbers that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh provided - of himself and of Honeypreet - could not be verified by the jail authorities as both the numbers were switched off. "Gurmeet Ram Rahim is not able to speak to anybody in the Dera as the numbers provided by him were not verified. The allegations are not based on facts," says DGP Prisons, Haryana, Dr KP Singh. Former Dera followers like Gurdas Singh Toor and Gurmeet Ram Rahim's relative Bhupinder Singh Gora say the jailed sect chief knows how to misuse and exploit religion to divert attention when things go against him. advertisement "He is a clever fox and knows the power of religion. He used to change the names of Hindu followers to Muslim names just to prove that Muslims are also his followers," says Gurdas Singh Toor. Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim's relative Bhupinder Singh Gora has demanded a probe into the mass conversion threat raised by Sandeep Mishra in the video. Some right wing organisations have also taken a serious note of the threat. Chandigarh-based Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Vijay Bhardwaj has criticised Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for using the religion card to divert public attention. "The claims made by him that he has crores of followers are false. He has a few lakh supporters who are non-Hindus as they had joined the Dera. The society will disown the Dera chief and his followers as they are accused of exploiting innocent female followers," says Vijay Bhardwaj. Interestingly, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh - the controversial Dera Sacha Sauda Chief who added Ram and Rahim to his name saying that it would send out the message that the Dera is a confluence of all religions - is now accused of himself disturbing communal harmony between the two religions. advertisement Also Watch : Dera's WhatsApp gang: How Honeypreet, Ram Rahim's aides are outsmarting Haryana cops --- ENDS --- For years now, residents in the Two Bridges area have been forced to endure ear-splitting noise and many other negative effects from the construction of Extells 80-story condo tower at 252 South St. Now theyre also having to deal with another loud project: the scrubbing of the FDR Drive overpass at Pike Street. Trever Holland, tenant association president of Two Bridges Tower, recently fired off a letter to city officials about the situation. Heres part of what he told representatives at the Department of Transportation and Department of Buildings: Right now there is a machine underneath the FDR at South and Pike (State DOT), producing a non-stop, tortuous, drone noise at levels that require earplugs. This machine runs seven days a week from dusk till dawn. Extell is constructing its massive 80 story building along with a smaller building at Pike, South and Cherry St. EDC is working on Pier 35 and the waterfront esplanade on South St. DOT, Con-Ed and DEP (and other acronyms) are constantly digging up South, Pike, Rutgers and Cherry street on what seems like a weekly basis. Not to mention the planned Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency work, NYCHAs Storm Resiliency projects and the five proposed mega-towers for this same two block area. We are calling for an IMMEDIATE suspension of all (after hours work) within this two block radius. We simply need a well-deserved break from this non-stop noise and disruption. There are children in this area who have never seen a peaceful weekend without construction trucks and personnel dominating the neighborhood. We are tired of trying to figure out which contractor is responsible for trash, noise, dangerous truck maneuvers, blocking sidewalks and a host of other SAFETY violations What we are demanding is reasonable and fair. All (after hours work) should be suspended immediately until there is some sort of meeting to talk about coordination and our quality of life The project, overseen by the state Department of Transportation, will be impacting many additional residents. Over the next several weeks, contractors will be moving north in the direction of Montgomery Street. As Holland mentioned, several large-scale projects have been proposed in the Two Bridges area, meaning that construction noise will likely be a fact of life in the neighborhood for years to come. This past month, Community Board 3 called on government officials to establish a construction command center to coordinate projects on the Lower East Side. By PTI: (Eds: With updates) Hyderabad, Oct 2 (PTI) Normal life was thrown out of gear as heavy rain lashed Hyderabad for several hours this evening. One man was killed in a rain-related incident in Old City area, according to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). GHMC Commissioner B Janardhan Reddy has advised people to venture out as per the rain updates on Met department website. advertisement According to a Met official, 67.6 mm of rainfall was recorded in the city from around 4.30 PM to 8.30 PM. The rainfall was mainly due to the monsoon. The downpour led to inundation of several low-lying areas and traffic moved at a snails pace due to water-logging at different places in the city. The GHMC said its personnel have been pressed into service to flush out stagnated water and to take up other relief works. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who spoke to GHMC Commissioner and the city police commissioner, urged the official machinery to be on alert throughout the night, a release from Raos office said. He directed the officials to take up relief works and respond to problems wherever they occurred, it said. PTI SJR NSK --- ENDS --- Five teenagers have been shortlisted for this years BBC Young Writers Award for their original creations inspired by the likes of Margaret Atwood. Their creations which included subjects such as domestic abuse, divorce and survival were praised by the judges for their raw beauty and assuredness of the storytelling. Among the names, announced on Alice Levines BBC Radio 1 show on Saturday, was 14-year-old Miranda Crawford, who explored the tensions of a breaking-down marriage through the metaphors of tea and coffee in her story Decisions. Victoria Knight, 18, took inspiration from Atwoods dystopian novel The Handmaids Tail for her Something Wicked, Something Wild a story of revenge and retribution. Levine chaired the judges panel (Ian West/PA) Matt Coleclough, 17, created a writing competition within the competition through his story Wolf, while 17-year-old writers Elizabeth Ryder and Abiah Wyatt touched on the ideas of emotional and domestic abuse in their stories The Roses and Sunflowers. Levine, who chaired the judges panel for a third year, said: Every year, when we get to the point of discussing the shortlist, it seems to get harder and harder as the quality is just so high. This year we have five wonderful stories that truly reflect the breadth of talent and imagination in young writers in the country today. Its a very exciting time. The final prize winner will be announced on October 3 during a ceremony at BBCs Radio Theatre and will be broadcast live on Radio 4s Front Row. All shortlisted entries will have their stories published on the Radio 1 website and the winner will also receive a personalised mentoring session with an author to enhance their writing skills. Venues Festivals Clubs These range from the old classics such as Black Sabbath, The Streets, Duran Duran and Dexy's Midnight Runners, to the current scene including Peace, Swim Deep, Jaws and The Cosmics. B-Town has something special going on beneath the radar, its reputation has been overlooked due to other thriving cities like Manchester and Liverpool, but Birmingham has a hugely diverse range of music, covering hip-hop/grime, indie and hardcore. It has everything to soundtrack the next three years of your university life.If you're wanting to see some big names, theplays host to the nation's adored musicians and artists around today as well as some delightful 90's throwbacks; Emeli Sande, All Time Low, Lady Gaga and TLC are just a few on the their guestlist.pull no punches when it comes to booking some of the best in-demand acts such as Lorde and Slaves to play at their venue. These two venues have a big schedule full of incredible artists. It should be mentioned that before you go from your standard concert venues to the grubby pubs and 'intimate' venues,in Digbeth is the perfect inbetween of the two, for those who want intimacy but not at the expense of practically being sat on the bar the Instituteis a great middle ground. However, I am a firm believer that a lot of Birmingham's best venues are clubs and pubs as well as amazing places to see some cool fresh bands,is one of the most popular, widely known venues for seeing an up-and-coming artist from a mixture of genres despite it being known mostly for it's indie crowd, enjoy a can of Red Stripe upstairs before delving down the steps into a room that's probably no bigger than your uni accommodation.andare two dark and gloomy venues off the beaten track that tailor for a more niche kind of interest. These are the places to go if you're into your hardcore or pop-punk music. After facing a risk of closure, The Flapper had the support of other venues and promoters in the region to keep it alive, I'd get down there quick and witness this incredible venue by the canalside before it gets threatened with demolition again, it's a Birmingham gem you don't want to lose.Slightly outside of the city centre, over in Kings Heath is, an amazing pub with wooden creaky floorboards and stairs leading up to two rooms. At this venue, it's mostly indie gigs hosted by THIS IS TMRW and Birmingham Promoters, the rooms get warm and cosy and are kinda tricky and awkward to get in and out of so plan your toilet trips wisely.is currently one of the most talked about venues because of its interior design based on a New Orleans style with a stage on the main floor, a balcony with booths and justt above that behind some amazing 20's style curtains a makeshift bar/lounge with old furniture to chill whilst your favourite band plays a couple floors below whilst still being able to get a good view.Festivals in inner cities is slowly becoming a popular trend in the summer, something Birmingham hasn't fully taken advantage of considering the possible locations and venues that would be ideal for this kind of event.is a brand new three-day rock festival taking place just by Birmingham City University's campus on Eastside City Park, hosting local heroes such as Ocean Colour Scene and Editors as headliners as well as rising stars, Jaws and The Americas.Birmingham's nightlife is incredible for music, down on Broad street you can have all of your cheesy pop needs met withand playlists that you can always sing along to inandBut if you're looking for something specific,in the Arcadian is a good shout - no, it's not indie, I made that mistake when I moved here. Indi baris the hub of hip-hop and R&B where Rihanna and Drake will make a guest appearance a few times throughout the night. If it is indie that you want,is your home. Propagandais a national club night ran all over the UK, using different rooms for different music with the core being indie; full of your Alex Turner wannabes, Oasis, Catfish and the Bottlemen and The 1975 to quench that thirst. Luckily, these club nights offer a bit of diversity with a hip-hop room and your cheesy pop in another to unleash your inner Shakira.As mentioned with the music venues,andoffer a 'club' experience with DJ's and/or just a loud spotify playlist, which sometimes are more fun than being in a sweaty nightclub. These two bars in particular are two of the most homely bars in Birmingham dependent on your taste, whether its indie or hardcore, these would probably be your 'space' whilst you live here. Other music venues that act as night clubs as well areandis mostly a live music venue but holds certain club nights from other organisations now and then and is used for Digbeth Dining Club.on the other hand is completely different; dance, techno and rave are their forte, if you want a rowdy, messy night, with dirty basslines, this is where you want to be. This club has also recently started hosting the legendary Bongo's Bingo night that's become a huge phenomenon, crossing the line between young boozers and old bingo lovers. George Kwali - When It Breaks (ft. Lonestate) I mean, it's sort of uncomfortable, isn't it? The nights are getting darker in the middle of the evening, if you leave the house in the morning with a coat you're cradling it in your arms by lunchtime, and the Christmas adverts have started even though we haven't hit Halloween.Whether you're wishing it was still festival season, or you're enjoying the chillier nights, this playlist starts with a tropical Summery tune and ends with some late night pop best listened to at 3am... so no matter what your favourite season - something for you was released this last week. Take a listen.An addictive blend of house and drum and bass production, George Kwali's 'When It Breaks' featuring vocal from Lonestate is the perfect track to play if you're wanting to inject some Summer vibes into the colder months. MY - Skeletons There seems to be a never ending stream of incredible talent coming from Sweden, and MY is no exception. NME referred to her as a Swedish Hayley Williams, and her vocal on single 'Skeletons' certainly backs up this claim. MY adds her own punky edge to perfect glossy pop. PLAZA - Speak It How could this track be described as anything other than a 'banger'? Hartlepool's PLAZA release 'Speak It' today, an explosive guitar tune with the most athemic chorus the boys have produced so far. Catchy and angry but with laid back vocal, expect to have this song in your head for days. The Fluids - Sign N' Drive Post-punk trio The Fluids share 'Sign N' Drive', the second single from their upcoming debut. Exuding no-wave 70s vibes, the band have already been compared to Talking Heads and Berlin-era Bowie. Check them out for yourself. High Tyde - Young Offenders Young but not really offensive, High Tyde's 'Young Offenders' explores what its like to be a millennial in a world where every media outlet endeavours to criticise them in an attempt to break the stereotype. "We are the future" sings frontman Cody against an eruption of noisy guitar and quick drum beats. Is this the next millennial anthem? Jake Alder & Charlotte Turnbull - Think Back Electronic producer Jake Alder dabbles into the world of alt-RnB with Charlotte Turnbull on their collaborative track 'Think Back'. His forte is evident in the track with electronic vibes still running through its seams; Charlotte's stunning, soulful vocal complements the piece's R&B feel perfectly. Bully - Kills to be Resistant Despite their name, and even the title of the song, Bully posess a lot of emotion. This track in particular describes the turmoil of unrequited love, taken from their upcoming album Losing. GULP - Morning Velvet Sky Super Furry Animal's Guto Pryce teams up with Lindsey Leven to form Gulp, whose glittering single Morning Velvet Sky is an otherworldly, synthy piece of psychedelic pop. The band say they want the listener to feel like they're waking up on a warm dewy morning with an appreciation for the beauty in nature, and this song certainly sounds like sun. Grandbrothers - Open Dusseldorf duo Grandbrothers are made up of Sarp, a pianist, and Vogel, an engineer. Their instrumental track 'Open' is a glistening, uplifting piece made entirely on a piano. That's right - every sound in this song comes from a piano. While Sarp skillfully plays piano, it is Vogel's talent in manipulating the sounds with homemade software and mechanics that twists and turns every note into something new. CC Honeymoon - Part Time View 'Part Time View' is the debut, self released single from CC Honeymoon, whose music is described as the lovechild of The Weeknd and John Maus. The track creates that sort of image reminiscent of that reflection in the window neon lights set against the city. It's exciting to see what could come next from CC Honeymoon's brand of late night pop. The Welsh NHS has been criticised by campaigners who say its 'not fair' that a life-prolonging drug is not available to women with terminal cervical cancer despite it being available to NHS patients in England and Scotland. Calling the situation a postcode lottery, chief executive of Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust said: "It is simply not fair that women in Wales are not going to be granted the same access as women in the rest of the UK. While I accept NHS resources are not finite a terminal cervical cancer diagnosis already brings extreme devastation and I am unhappy that differences in criteria for assessing medicines is leading to women in Wales facing a further challenge. I urge for the decision to be reconsidered. The drug Bevacizumab, also known as Avastin, which is used alongside chemotherapy doesnt cure cervical cancer but it can increase a patient's survival time by around four months according to reports. Responding to the heavy criticism, a Welsh Government spokesman said: "Where a treatment is not routinely available in the Welsh NHS, but a clinician thinks that his or her patient is likely to gain significant clinical benefit from the treatment, the clinician may make an Individual Patient Funding Request to the health board, on the patient's behalf." In 2014, an estimated 3,224 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in the UK with 164 in Wales. 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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. By PTI: (Eds: Correcting slug and recasting story) New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui has said it was time for India and China to turn the old page and start a new chapter, stressing that the countries have made a lot of progress at bilateral level. Chinese President Xi Jinping met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BRICS Summit in Xiamen earlier this month, and the two leaders sent a clear message of "reconciliation" and "cooperation", he said yesterday in remarks which come in the backdrop of the Dokalam row. advertisement "We should turn the old page and start a new chapter with the same pace and direction. We should dance together. We should make one plus one eleven. China is the largest trading partner of India. We have made a lot of progress at the bilateral level, as well as in international and regional affairs," Luo said. The Chinese envoy was speaking on the 68th anniversary of founding of the Peoples Republic of China. India and China, who went to war in 1962, share an uneasy relationship and territorial dispute is a major bone of contention between the two countries. The two nations recently agreed to disengagement of troops in Dokalam where their armies were locked in a stand- off for over two months. The Chinese diplomat also recalled one of his teachers, Prof Xu Fancheng, who lived in Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry from 1945 to 1978. Xu is known for his work of translating Upanishad, Bhagawad Gita and Shakuntala from Sanskrit to Chinese. "In our bilateral engagement, there have been thousands of prominent persons like Prof Xu Fancheng, (Buddhist monk) Bodhidharma, Faxian (a Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled to India in the 3rd century) and Rabindranath Tagore. "We should never forget their contribution and legacies. The history could do a lot of things. Standing on their shoulders, we should do more today," Luo said. The Chinese envoy added that the speed of Chinese high- speed trains from Beijing to Shanghai was increased from 300 kmph to 350 kmph two weeks ago. "We have started the feasibility study of hyperloop trains at the speed of 1,000 to 4,000 kmph," he said. He added that the high-speed trains were one of the four latest inventions of China. PTI PR SRY AAR --- ENDS --- By PTI: scandal-hit plant By Aditi Khanna London, Oct 2 (PTI) Indian-origin "chicken king" Ranjit Singh Boparans food company in the UK has suspended poultry processing operations at a plant accused of serious safety breaches. The 2 Sisters Food Group, one of the largest suppliers of chicken to supermarkets across the UK, said the action had been taken as a temporary measure at its West Bromwich factory in the West Midlands region of England to retrain staff on hygiene standards. advertisement The company said in a statement today that it was "shocked and distressed" by the allegations and the footage which emerged last week as part of a joint investigation by the Guardian newspaper and ITV channel and have been "working around the clock" to get to the truth of the matter. "Our internal investigation has shown some isolated instances of non-compliance with our own quality management systems. We have therefore decided to temporarily suspend operations at the site to allow us the time to retrain all colleagues including management in all food safety and quality management systems," the statement said. The company added that the UKs Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been in daily attendance since the allegations were raised and confirmed that it has "not identified any breaches". The move came after undercover footage showed an instance of 2 Sisters workers at the plant altering the source and slaughter date of poultry being processed in the firm?s Site D plant. Experts said altering "kill dates" could artificially stretch the commercial life of the meat and dupe consumers into buying chicken past its use-by date. It is illegal to place incorrect use-by dates on food, which are set for safety reasons and differ from "best before" dates. Other sections of the footage, which was filmed in August, showed chicken being picked off the floor and thrown back on to the production line, and older poultry being mixed with fresher birds. All major supermarket supplied chicken from the plant quickly announced a boycott of the supplier until their own investigations were complete, as did the FSA. The chairman of the House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs committee, Neil Parish, said he was preparing to call Singh before the committee to answer questions about the allegations. "It would be good if we could have a short, sharp inquiry. We need to restore both food safety, animal welfare and consumer confidence to these massive chicken plants run by 2 Sisters,? Parish said. advertisement The 2 Sisters group was founded in 1993 by Ranjit Singh Boparan and now employs 23,000 staff. Although it has diversified, the bulk of the groups income still comes from processing poultry. The company, the UK?s second-largest food company which claims to process around 6 million chicken every week, has said its staff?s pay will not be affected during the suspension of operations. "We continue to work closely with the FSA and our customers throughout this period. We remain committed to ensuring that we operate to the highest standards of hygiene and food safety, and we act with honesty and integrity at all times,? a 2 Sisters spokesperson said. PTI AK PMS --- ENDS --- After the Islamic State said it was responsible for the Las Vegas mass shooting, the FBI seemingly rejected the terrorist group's claim. Now, ISIS has released a new statement standing by its claim. By India Today Web Desk: Was the Las Vegas shooting a terrorist attack? Did the global terrorist group, Islamic State, have a role to play a 64-year-old male raining bullets on a 22,000-strong crowd at a concert near the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino? Confusion prevails on the answers to the two questions, with the terrorist group ISIS and the US's FBI contradicting each other. advertisement Earlier today Islamic State released a series of one-sentence statements (see below) to claim responsibility for the Las Vegas mass shooting in which at least 58 people were killed and more than 500 injured. The terrorist group, however, did not offer any proof to back its claim. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, however, seemingly refuted the ISIS claim, saying that the gunman - 64-year-old Stephen Paddock - was not connected to any international terrorist groups. Now, ISIS has released a new, detailed statement that not only reiterated the group's claim that it was responsible for the deadly shooting but also identified the shooter as Abu Abdul Barr al-Amriki. Islamic State has now released their detailed claim for Las Vegas attack in English. pic.twitter.com/vFixvObvvQ- F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) October 2, 2017 The new statement also claims that the shooter conducted a recce of the site of the mass shooting. The statement did not offer any information that was not already reported by news outlets or released by officials in the US. Earlier, ISIS released a short statement via its official news agency, Amaq, saying that Stephen Paddock, the 64-year-old shooter behind the Las Vegas massacre, was a "soldier" of the Islamic State caliphate and had converted to Islam a few months before Sunday's night mass shooting in the US. 7) #ISIS appears to be doubling down on its claim for #LasVegas as Amaq statements being further disseminated in different languages. pic.twitter.com/ecTVGjvclM- Rita Katz (@Rita_Katz) October 2, 2017 Before releasing the statements announcing the claim that it was responsible for the Las Vegas shooting, ISIS had released posters celebrating the mass shooting. "[The] USA [is] licking her wounds in Las Vigas [sic]", the posters said. BREAKING: Islamic State released new posters celebrating Las Vegas attack and mocking USA. pic.twitter.com/bFDIaQhnQs- F. Jeffery (@Natsecjeff) October 2, 2017 Notably, the Islamic State has a history of claiming responsibility for attacks and incidents without providing proof. In fact, just earlier this year, the ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack on a casino in Manila, Philippines even though local police denied that the attack was terrorism-related. advertisement What is also to be noted, however, is the recent release of an Islamic State propaganda video that featured Las Vegas. The Las Vegas-Review Journal reported in May that the terrorist group had released an usually-long 44-minute propaganda video clip which ended with, among others, shots of the famous Las Vegas Strip. (Mandalay Bay, from where the shooter targeted his victims. The concert venue that was targeted is located across the road, northeast to the hotel) The Las Vegas Strip is the very location more than 58 people were massacred on Sunday night (US time) after Stephen Paddock rained bullets on concert-goers from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. Incidentally, the global terrorist group was also reported to have issue a warned over Telegram (a WhatsApp-like encrypted message application often used by the ISIS) that Muslims in America, Europe and Russia should avoid public places. VIDEO: A concertgoer captures the moment when a gunman opens fire on a concert in Las Vegas, killing more than 50. https://t.co/dorpLMQR7F- The Associated Press (@AP) October 2, 2017 advertisement Muslims should avoid such places because "these places are targets of the soldiers of the caliphate," the message read, according to a report in the US-based Military Times. Soon after ISIS released its first set of statements, the FBI seemingly denied the Islamic State's claim without explicitly naming the global terrorist group. BREAKING: FBI says Las Vegas shooter had no connection to international terrorist group.- The Associated Press (@AP) October 2, 2017 What is known is that the Stephen Paddock started firing from a the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino towards a 22,000-strong crowd of people at a concert across the street. The shooter rained bullets on to the crowd, killing more than 50. The mass shooting took place late Sunday night (US time) and Paddock - the shooter - is reported to have killed himself before police could enter the room he was in and apprehend him. This was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. (This story has been updated to include the FBI's statement and the ISIS's subsequent communique) --- ENDS --- By PTI: Jammu, Oct 2 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) today expressed anguish over a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch district that resulted in the death of two children and injured a dozen others. The JKPCC also demanded adequate compensation to the affected families. "It is tragic that Pakistan has repeatedly violated the ceasefire and it was unfortunate that the unwarranted firing in Poonch resulted in the killing of two children and injuries to 12 others? We demand adequate compensation to the victims and specialised treatment for the injured," JKPCC chief spokesman Ravinder Sharma said. advertisement Criticising Pakistan for the repeated ceasefire violations, Sharma demanded that necessary measures be taken for the safety of the people living along the border. "It is unfortunate that the PDP-BJP government does not care much for people living near the border," Sharma alleged. He termed the Centre and the state government "total failure on all fronts" and blamed them for the "present situation of the state". The state Congress leader demanded immediate fulfilment of the promises made to the residents of the border areas that they would be accommodated in safer zones to save them from Pakistani firing. Two minors were killed and 12 civilians injured in Poonch in cross-border shelling by Pakistan along the LoC today. PTI TASIJT MIN GVS --- ENDS --- It's our annual Labour Weekend tradition ...The Sound 'Hall Of Fame' Countdown... Where we honor the greatest 500 songs of all time as voted by you. Head Constable Ashiq Hussain, who was on his way back home from the Awantipora police station, was shot dead, allegedly by militants. By India Today Web Desk: A policeman, who was on his way back home from the Awantipora police station, was shot dead, allegedly by militants, tonight. The policeman - identified as Head Constable Ashiq Hussain - was killed after militants opened fire at him in the Padgampora area. Earlier in the day, Border Security Force (BSF) had cautioned its personnel about terrorists planning more attacks on unarmed soldiers. The advisory came after a young unarmed BSF Constable Mohammad Ramzan Parray was shot dead by terrorists in north Kashmir on Wednesday evening. advertisement The BSF alert, based on multiple intelligence inputs, hinted of more such surprise attacks on armed forces. As per sources, the advisory cautioned troops to be more vigilant in public places when they are not on duty and are outside the campus or in markets. Earlier, young Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz was killed in south Kashmir when he went for a wedding. His bullet riddled body was recovered the next day. With number of militant kills touching 140, a desperate bid by back terror groups to launch attack on unarmed Kashmiri soldiers is a bid to discourage locals from joining the forces. --- ENDS --- Three day long, sixth edition of Khushwant Singh Literary festival 2017 is scheduled to kick start from October 6 in Kasauli. Indian economist, journalist, author and politician Arun Shourie will address the gathering with his inaugural address on October 6. Besides, actors Anupam Kher, Asha Parekh, acclaimed writers Mark Tully and Shobhaa De will be the speakers during the Lit festival. The Khushwant Singh Literary festival is an annual event organised by Khushwant Singh foundation in Kasauli every October since 2012 and has witnessed participation of renowned personalities from India and abroad. Since Khushwant Singh had spent a sizable chunk of his life at Kasauli in Raj Villa, the festival is held every year to commemorate his life and achievements. The festival seeks to impart the joy of learning through stories, through books, through real life experiences that impact the lives of the people. It is probably the only literary festival dedicated to the cause of the girl child and ecology of Kasauli and also dedicated to the Indian soldier. Last year the festival was held on October 14, with a concept theme Breaking Barriers focusing on various issues that included ecology, heritage. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das will visit Japan and the Czech Republic from October 8-14 along with a high-level delegation to woo investors, an official said on Monday. During the visit, Das and his team would be participating in a three-day engineering fair in the Czech Republic. In Japan, the delegation would witness road shows in Tokyo and Osaka. Sunil Barnwal, Secretary, Industry and Information and Technology, Jharkhand, met Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu and Czech Ambassador Milan Howarka besides other officials ahead of the visit. Barnwal said that Japan and the Czech Republic were partner countries during the Momentum Jharkhand Summit earlier this year. This visit would enable the Japanese companies to know about Jharkhand and also encourage investment and industrial growth in the state. The Japanese envoy said that Jharkhand was the state with the most potential in the dream of a New India. He said that there was tremendous potential of growth and that Japan would be extending full cooperation to the delegation during the visit. The envoy of Czech Republic said he was optimistic about Das visit. He said that many nations and renowned companies from across the world would be participating in the engineering show. Officials of the Indian Embassy in the Czech Republic said final stages of preparation were on for the meetings and interactions during the visit. Barnwal said Jharkhand would also have its pavilion at the international engineering show in which the investment potential, art and culture, and specialty of the state would be showcased. Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Monday said the investigation team probing the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh has got some clues on the killers and knows who is behind it, but is waiting to gather more concrete evidence. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) got some clues on the killers of Lankesh. Its gathering evidence. We know about them (killers) but cant go public without evidence, Reddy told reporters at Chikkaballapura town, about 60 km from Bengaluru. Lankesh, 55, was found dead on September 5 night in front of her home in the citys south-west suburb after she was shot from close range by unidentified assailants who fled from the spot on a motorbike within minutes. We need hard evidence against the suspects to file even a charge-sheet against them in a court. Otherwise, the case will not stand for trial, asserted Reddy on the margins of a Gandhi Jayanti function. In an attempt to nab the killers, the state government had constituted the SIT and announced Rs 10 lakh reward to anyone giving information leading to their arrest. The 150-member SIT is headed by Inspector General of Police (IGP-Intelligence) B K Singh with Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) M.N. Anucheth as its main Investigation Officer (IO). Ambassador of Finland to India Nina Vaskunlahti graduated from the University of Turku in 1983 with a Masters degree in political science, after which she joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland in 1984. Her first posting was to Canberra, Australia, from 1985 to 1988 followed by two postings in Brussels, Moscow and the headquarters in Helsinki.Between September 2000 and May 2004, she was posted as Deputy Head of Mission to the Finnish Embassy in Moscow, after which served as Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union, Director General of the Department of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After four years as Finnish Ambassador to Turkey,her tenure in India commenced in September 2016.In this interview with Sarah Berry,Ambassador Vaskunlahti talks about the growing cooperation between India and her country, with focus on renewable energy, environment,innovation and others. Excerpts: Question: Has direct air connectivity between India and Finland helped enhance people-topeople contacts between the two countries? As you may agree, ease in connectivity is one of the most important factors in enhancing people-to-people contact. One vital component, thereof, is a direct air connection. Finnair connects Helsinki and New Delhi thrice a week, and October onwards, five times a week. In fact, another well-known destination amongst Finns, namely Goa, is also connected to Helsinki with a twice-a-week connection during the winter months. A flight from Delhi via Helsinki is indeed the shortest way to get to Europe. Question: Finland is a member of the European Union (EU). Why have India and the EU failed to ink an FTA despite 10 years of negotiations? Talks in this connect have been stalled since 2013 and may see a revival of sorts in 2018. Maybe the EU-India Summit taking place in October in Delhi can push the negotiations forward. There are not so many issues to be negotiated but they are, of course, the most difficult ones. Question: Why is the volume of trade between India and Finland still below its potential? Trade is one of the cornerstones of Indo-Finnish relations. Having said this, I do not completely agree with the question, as during the last decade trade between India and Finland has increased significantly, making India Finlands fourth largest trading partner in Asia. Finnish investments to India are still relatively modest, but close to 599 million euro, and Finland ranks as number 32 among the foreign investors. The main exports from Finland to India includepulp & paper, timber, heavy machinery and telecom equipment. Finnish imports from India include textile products, clothing and machinery instruments. The annual trade volume is just below one billion euro, and increasing. Besides this, there are about 100 Finnish companies operating in India. Initiatives such as Finn partnership offer services for companies and organisations in all sectors planning or improving business activities, free of charge. Another organisation called Finpro, consisting of Export Finland, Invest in Finland and Visit Finland, helps Finnish SMEs go international, encourages foreign direct investment in Finland and promotes travel to Finland. Question : How is Finland assisting India in the field of new and renewable energy? Key areas of cooperation between Finland and India are, predominantly, in the areas of climate change, air quality, sustainable energy solutions, waste management, water and sustainable production and consumption. For instance, the Joint Working Group on Environment (JWGE) between Finland and India provides a vital platform for meetings and discussions between officials, besides bringing companies, research organisations and experts of the two countries together. Minister Kimmo Tiilikainen, responsible for Energy, Environment and Housing, will visit India with a large business delegation in October. Question: Do you support Indias candidature for inclusion in the UN Security Council as a permanent member and in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)? Finland supports Indias aspiration for a permanent seat in the UNSC and we also support the quest to become a member of Nuclear Suppliers Group. Amid the challenges of producing quality products in large quantities and market competition, weaving may take a back seat in the North-east but yet it is one of the most vital sources of livelihoods and income generation for thousands of people, particularly in rural areas. Next to agriculture, the handloom industry continues be the second largest employment generator in the region. At the heart of this important tradition and economy are women weavers. Though invisible, weaving and weavers keep the domestic economy going. On 9 August, National Handloom Day, Union minister for textiles, Ajay Tamta said that this year the Centre was taking various initiatives for the welfare of handloom weavers. Presiding over the main event of the Third Handloom Day celebrations in Guwahati, the minister said he not only appreciated but also saluted the handloom weavers for their commitment, dedication and skills. They should be able to earn due value for their produce, and that the government was working in this direction. Assam chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal said about 50 per cent of weaver population of India lived in the North-east and most of them were women. In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked people to help promote handloom and handicraft and thus preserve the great tradition of weaving in the country. In his inaugural speech at the first national handloom day in Chennai, the Prime Minister noted that handlooms could be a tool to fight poverty, just as swadeshi was a tool in the struggle for freedom. He also noted that India, whose products were once in demand across all continents, had not been able to market its handloom products in recent times. True to what the Prime Minister stated, a peek into the report on handloom and handicrafts in the Northeast does not give an encouraging picture. The annual report of the NE Handloom and Handicraft Corporation for 2015-16 says that the gross sale turnover of the corporation during the financial year 2015-16 was Rs 113.11 lakh and the net loss was Rs 195.86 lakh. The authorised share capital of the corporation was Rs 8.50 crore, as of March 2016. The NEHHC record showed losses over the years. Report of the financial performance over a period of five years showed no improvement. Between the financial years 2011-2012 there was the turnover of Rs1,681.77 lakh with a loss of Rs 150.71 lakh, Between 2012- 2013 there was a turnover of Rs 1,299.27 lakh with a loss of Rs 149.58 lakh; in 2013-14 the turnover was Rs 1,239.22 lakh and loss of Rs 439.76 lakh. The NEHHC report observed that employees have low morale due to non-revision of the pay scales. There was a lack of professionals in strategic areas of marketing and finance. The sector was highly fragmented, unstructured and there was individualised production system with no product certification and standardisation. There were very limited institutionalised sales and showrooms, the report stated. Meanwhile the region, as the gateway to Southeast Asia, could have been promoted and made into an economic gateway. But for handloom weavers and craftsmen this was something that did not happen. The NEHHC report observed that there was increasing threats from Asian countries, with better quality, packaging, innovation and technology. This inflow of various products ranging from household items like electronics, clothes, and food products of other Asian countries, particularly South-east Asia, flooded the markets in the North-east. Local products were obviously not in a position to compete with these readily available, attractive and cheap products. Now, even as handloom weavers across the country are facing challenges and stiff competition, the GST Act has further created uncertainty for millions of weavers across the country. Though the North-east may pay less tax under the GST Act, it is a cause for worry for handloom weavers and handicraft artisans in other parts of the country. The Federation of Handloom Organisation recently wrote to the Prime Minister and finance minister Arun Jaitley urging for GST exemption on handmade products. The federation stated that the GST Act was a direct threat to artisans engaged in non-machine production. The absence of the word hand in the list of goods and services was indicative of the dismissal of any recognition of handmade in the GST. In the textile sector, after the GST, the distinction between hand woven and machine woven has been removed and there is a five to 10 per cent increase in prices in handlooms after the GST came into force. Tax on handlooms will discourage even existing customers and further reduce the demand for these products, already facing competition from powerloom imitations, the petition stated. The compliance for GST demands the pre-existence of IT infrastructure, digital literacy, and access to experts like chartered accountants for uploading GST forms every month. All these call for resources, both human and financial, which will be impossible for small producers. They are also an additional financial burden. It is imperative to exempt products made by handloom and handicraft artisans from GST to protect rural livelihoods, said the petition. It has also been reported that weavers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, due to GST tax on cotton yarn, had spiked the price of handloom products. The National Handloom Development Corporation, from where weavers get their raw materials, has refused to supply yarn to handloom societies that do not have a registered GST number. The handloom sector is reported to be the worst hit by the GST. While there has been talk of promoting handloom products and preserving a great tradition, weavers are caught in the web of open market, technology and competition with policies such as the new GST Act further adding to their woes. Unless there is political will to tackle the situation, the sector is sure to face major challenges in the near future. (The writer is a freelance contributor based in Imphal) President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday remembered the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 148th birth anniversary. Bow to beloved Bapu on Gandhi Jayanti. His noble ideals motivate millions across the world, Modi tweeted sharing a video of Mahatma Gandhi. The Prime Minister also visited Rajghat and laid a wreath. Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also paid floral tributes to Bapu at Rajghat. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar in Gujarat to Putlibai and Karamchand Gandhi. His birthday is also observed as the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist during a prayer meeting at the Birla House here. Gandhi is admired across the world for his non-violent philosophy of passive resistance. He was known to his many followers as Mahatma. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will attend a special parliamentary session in Sri Lanka that is being convened to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Parliament there. The Sri Lankan Parliament is also hosting the eighth conference of the association of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Speakers and Parliamentarians. The association of the Saarc Speakers and Parliamentarians is a platform for the parliamentarians of South Asia to work together to reach the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. Mahajan is leading an Indian parliamentary delegation to the conference to be held in Colombo between October 4-6. She will deliver the lead speech on the importance and need for parliamentarians of South Asia to work together to reach the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. Speakers and delegates from the Saarc countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, will attend the conference. The Saarc envisages promoting parliamentary diplomacy and open Parliament in the digital age, encourage parliamentarians role in preserving cultural and archaeological heritage in South Asia, support women to uplift themselves from poverty and build a better future for their communities, and attempts to counter violent extremism among the youth to prevent terrorism among other things. The Young Parliamentarians Committee meeting will be held for the first time at the event. The inaugural ceremony of the conference will be attended by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremsinghe. US President Donald Trump spoke harshly about Pakistan; but he has not yet imposed sanctions, as has been the case with Iran, nor threatened to totally destroy it, like North Korea. Pakistani diplomats believe there is room to maintain a working if not a cosy relationship with Washington. That remains to be seen. Islamabad disagrees with the new US strategy concerning Afghanistan. It will not fight Afghanistans war on its soil. It will continue to oppose an expanded Indian role in Afghanistan. It wants a political settlement between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban, rather than continued conflict, and coordinated action to eliminate the militant Islamic State group and Al Qaeda, as well as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, the Jamaatul Ahrar and the Balochistan Liberation Army, that operate from safe havens in Afghanistan. Even if Pakistan and the US are able to reconcile their divergent positions on Afghanistan, the emerging strategic alignments that will shape policies in Asia are unlikely to change. The US has chosen India as its major strategic partner in Asia to counter the rising power of China. The resulting escalation in the Indian threat to Pakistans security is either irrelevant for the US or part of its strategic plan to weaken Pakistans opposition to Indo-US regional domination. The recent visit of the US defence secretary to India has confirmed and reinforced their strategic alliance and intention to collaborate in Afghanistan. Pakistans ability to resist Indian diktat and to disagree with Americas strategic design flows from one principal source: its nuclear and missile capabilities. Without this, Pakistan would have been attacked like Iraq or sanctioned like Iran. On the other hand, North Korea, despite its isolation, has been able to thumb its nose at America because of its demonstrated nuclear and missile prowess. An Islamic nuclear power was always anathema for America and much of the Western world. The US worked ceaselessly even when Pakistan was a close ally to retard and reverse its nuclear and missile programmes. This endeavour has intensified since the emergence of the American alliance with India. Apart from the discriminatory technological and political restrictions it has long imposed against Pakistans strategic programmes, the US now demands that Pakistan unilaterally halt fissile material production and the development and deployment of short and long-range nuclear-capable missiles. Meanwhile, it is actively assisting India in enlarging and modernising its nuclear arsenal, its missile and anti-ballistic missile capabilities, its air and naval forces, as well as satellite and space capabilities. There are credible and not-so-secret reports that the US has formulated plans to seize or destroy Pakistans nuclear weapons in a crisis. American think tanks have concocted scenarios of Pakistans nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists or, even more absurdly, of the Pakistan Army turning into an extremist or jihadi force. Indeed, such scary scenarios could be engineered as an excuse to execute the seize or destroy plans. Matters are more likely to come to a head in the event of another war between Pakistan and India. Kashmir is an ongoing dispute and a nuclear flashpoint. Every India-Pakistan war game confirms the likelihood of a rapid escalation of a conflict to the nuclear level due to the asymmetry in conventional forces. A war should thus be unthinkable. Yet, Indias political and military leaders continue to speak of surgical strikes and a limited war against Pakistan. If India does ever decide to go to war with Pakistan, it would have to first conduct a pre-emptive strike to eliminate Pakistans nuclear deterrence capabilities. Or, would the US be prepared to do so on Indias behalf? Pakistan must be prepared for both contingencies. Islamabad must presume that in the course of its past (ill-considered) cooperation with the US to enhance the safety and security of Pakistans nuclear assets, the US has gained considerable intelligence about Pakistans strategic assets. However, Pakistani officials correctly discount Americas ability to seize Pakistans nuclear weapons. These are too many, and too widely dispersed and well protected, thus not amenable to any seizure or strike. But nuclear delivery systems are more difficult to hide and protect. In a crisis, it is the delivery systems that will be the prime target of a preemptive strike. These are most likely to be detected when, in a crisis, they are being mated with the separately stored warheads. Furthermore, as revealed during the current Korean drama, missile launches can be sabotaged by cyberattacks and other technical means. In the emerging strategic scenario, nuclear deterrence is Pakistans ultimate assurance against external aggression and coercion. Pakistan needs to take several measures so that the credibility of its nuclear deterrence is assured. One, the massive deployment of artillery and short-range missiles (a la North Korea) as the first line of conventional deterrence and defence against an Indian Cold Start attack. This would deter Indian attack and also raise the nuclear threshold. Two, the multiplication of long-, medium- and short-range nuclear-capable missiles to ensure the penetration of any ballistic missile defence systems that India deploys. Three, the continued production of fissile materials to provide warheads for the enlarged missile force. Then, there is the need to mate at least some warheads with delivery vehicles, their dispersal and disguise, or protection in hardened silos, to respond to a pre-emptive strike. Eventually, submarine-launched ballistic missiles could provide an assured second-strike capability. Five, the deployment of effective air defence systems plus a limited number of advanced (and expensive) antiballistic missile systems to protect command and control centres. Six, the development of offensive and defensive cyber-warfare capabilities. Following this, Pakistan needs the acquisition and deployment of earlywarning capabilities satellites, surveillance aircraft and drones. In the meantime, Pakistan should utilise Chinese early warning capabilities. Lastly, greater integration and inter-operability with Chinese land, air and naval forces to enhance conventional and strategic deterrence, quickly and cheaply. Once Pakistan can demonstrate the complete credibility of its nuclear deterrence posture, its offers to negotiate peace and security in South Asia and to resolve the Kashmir dispute may evoke a more positive response from both India and the US. Pakistan will then also be able to pursue its socioeconomic objectives free from the threats of external coercion, intervention and aggression. (The writer is a former Pakistan ambassador to the UN. Dawn/ANN) The recent diplomatic battle between India and Pakistan at the UN general assembly followed up by their respective right to respond and press comments clearly indicate that animosity between the two nations is only increasing. Numerous comments by both, display of pictures, including a wrong one by the Pakistan permanent representative solely to make a point, only moved the relationship into deeper trouble. The UN has always been a diplomatic battle ground for the two, however this year it took a turn for the worse. India took advantage of the fact that Pakistan had faced the brunt from the US and within the subcontinent Afghanistan and Bangladesh would join it in condemning Islamabad for its support to terrorism. In every case, Pakistan had to resort to taking the right to respond to clarify its position and seek to present a different picture, the only country in the world to do so multiple times. India was also buoyed by the success of the BRICS summit statement, hence could let the anger flow, hitting Pakistan where it hurt the most speaking of poor development, lack of facilities and domination of terror groups within the country. The animosity had been building ever since India called off talks, after the Pathankot strike. Pakistan has always felt that terror and talks should continue, while India wants to delink the two and will only consider talks if terror strikes cease. This is impossible, hence talks are unlikely to resume in the near future. With a clear directive on the issue, highlighted by the surgical strike and strong response to Pakistans border misadventures, India has pushed its neighbour into a corner. The Pakistani civilian establishment hopes that by commencing talks and moving forward the agenda on Kashmir and other disputed areas, including Sir Creek and Siachen, it could gain leverage to compel the deep state to rein in terror groups. The deep state on the other hand is unwilling to relent as any attempt to rein in terror groups could lead to an internal backlash, adding to woes of the security forces, as the groups have gained power and created an identity of their own with the masses. For Indias government, considering talks, opening dialogue and then have a strike take place would be politically disastrous. This government has adopted a hard policy. Hence, unless it is assured of cessation of terror activities, it would be wary of moving forward. This wide perception gap is neither easy to bridge, nor is there any midway point which could suit both countries. Pakistan thus harps in every international forum including the General Assembly that the UN resolution must be implemented under the aegis of the Security Council. The Indian stand is amply clear, which it has continuously reiterated, that as per the Shimla agreement and Lahore declaration the issues were to be discussed bilaterally, hence the UN declaration is redundant. Thus, differences only widen and animosity builds. Pakistan had over the years used the separatists to ensure that the valley remained in turmoil and underdeveloped, despite massive government investment. Its funding the agitation and pushing in terrorists used as cannon fodder, created an environment of violence compelling the Indian army to enhance deployment. Its support to terror groups has enhanced animosity from the Indian end. Violent border clashes with civilian casualties have pushed the countries further apart. Presently, with the NIA and ED moving after the separatists and isolating them, while the army buoyed by enhanced intelligence and surveillance achieving spectacular success, the scenario is well within control and can be considered near normal. The deep states well-oiled plans appear to be falling apart. It has attempted to increase infiltration attempts, but most are being nipped in the bud, enhancing frustration within the deep state. Prime Minister Modis announcement of political support to the Baluch people in their freedom struggle has been misconstrued by Pakistan to indicate military support. Further, with an increase in operations by the TTP across the country, Pakistan appears to be facing greater threats from within. Their blaming India and Afghanistan appears to be misplaced, but it must be done, as it is the only way to shift blame from the military. In a simple analysis, India faces limited turmoil in the valley, Pakistan faces it almost across the length and breadth of the land. Indias intention of isolating Pakistan has been noticed by them, adding to their anger. Support from neighbouring states, which refused to attend any SAARC summit in Pakistan, has pushed the regional grouping into a state of near collapse. The region stands as one alongside India, as recent events indicate. The US providing India back-up and seeking an enhanced role for the country in Afghanistan has riled Pakistan so much that its Prime Minister was compelled to make a statement that it would never accept any role for India in Afghanistan. Pakistan had banked on support from China and Russia for continuance of its existing policies, irrespective of international views. Hence immediately after the BRICS summit, its foreign minister rushed to China. The joint statement while offering continued support did not contradict the BRICS statement. This indicated a shift, small but significant. Russia also commented that the BRICS declaration on terrorism would reduce terror support in the region. Recent comments by Pakistans foreign minister, Khwaja Asif, that the country is aware of its liabilities, but lacks assets to deal with them, is another signal of things beginning to hurt. It has finally begun visualising its internal scenario from the Indian viewpoint. It was compelled to ban the formation of a political party led by Hafiz Saeed. The US defence secretary, Jim Mattis comment that they would be watching Pakistan, only enhances pressure. Differences are immense, animosity high and there is no sign of any thaw in relations. Mounting international pressure by the West, regional isolation, increased firing along the LoC with India, encounters with militants in the restive tribal belts and along the Durand Line are only adding to the woes of their army. It knows it must act against terror groups, but hesitates, fearing a backlash. Increased international isolation fuelled by India would enhance animosity and increase pressure in the near to mid future. It would be worthwhile to watch Pakistan attempt to preserve its survival as a nation state, while being compelled to dismantle terror groups. (The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army) By PTI: others Dubai, Oct 1 (PTI) The Emir of Kuwait has freed 22 Indian prisoners and commuted the sentences of 97 others lodged in the Arab countrys jails, according to Indias Embassy in Kuwait City. The list containing the names of 119 Indians is addition to the 15 Indian prisoners whose death sentences were recently commuted to life imprisonment. advertisement The Indian prisoners in Kuwait covered by the Amiri pardon include 22 people who have been ordered to be released immediately, Embassy of India in Kuwait City said in a statement. Sentences of 53 Indians have been reduced from life imprisonment to 20 years, it said. The Emir of Kuwait has ordered a reduction of three quarters of the sentence of 18 Indians, a reduction of half period of the sentences of 25 and one quarter of the sentence of one, the statement said. The charges in most of the cases involved narcotics, drugs trading or consumption, theft, robbery and fraud among others. All the 15 prisoners whose death sentences have been converted to life imprisonment were convicted in drug-related charges, said the statement. The Indian mission said that it would provide all possible assistance for their travel to India after their release or completion of sentences. Efforts were also being made to help those Indian prisoners who have given their consent to spend rest of their sentence period in India. Yesterday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj thanked the Emir of Kuwait after the death sentences of 15 Indians, lodged in Kuwaiti jails, were commuted to life imprisonment. PTI CORR CPS --- ENDS --- The name of Rajnath Singh is unlikely to figure in any list of Indian security experts or strategic analysts (some of them self-styled?), yet the union home minister has emphasised a profound but often ignored reality ~ the role the local populace in border regions can play in preserving the nations territorial integrity. During his recent visit to remote border outposts on the Uttarakhand-Tibet front, the minister called for upgrading the development effort to prevent people from migrating to urban areas in their quest for a better life.They are a strategic asset to us, we have to give due importance to them. Make border people your friends, win their trust and confidence, he advised personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), promising to ensure enhanced funding for Border Area Development Programme that deals with constructing roads, building bridges etc; but also called upon the ITBP to undertake civic action projects on its own, catering to specific local requirements. He also assured ITBP personnel he would work on cheaper cell-phone rates so that they remain in contact with their families ~ a major morale booster in the prevailing environment which has seen a sea-change in family relations when compared with the days before mobile-telephony revolutionised connectivity. It is a sad reality that the security forces deployed along the national frontiers generally have very limited interaction with the local communities, hence an outsider tag attaches itself to them. It is an open secret that there is only token cooperation between the Central forces (military and paramilitary) with whatever little police exists in the area ~ thus a vacuum is created. Yet the populace can prove valuable eyes and ears, assist the forces by providing intelligence inputs ~ apart from manpower for implementing other works. At times the locals are treated shabbily: as were the nomadic shepherds who were ridiculed and chased away when they alerted the Army to intruders, well before it was accepted that defences at Kargil had been breached by Pakistans Northern Light Infantry in 1999. It is true that conditions are not the same all along the frontier, some situations are problematic if not hostile, but what the home minister said remains valid: for both the Army and the paramilitary. Comparisons are never comfortable but it must be noted that while on her trip to forward areas in J&K and Ladakh, Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman, praised the state police, but her overlooking the local populace ~ probably because the Army never briefed her on all ground realities ~ added to the sense of alienation that fosters an empathy for militants. The short point being that national defence is more than a military or paramilitary exercise. Full marks to Mr Rajanth Singh for driving that point hard ~ security does indeed begin at home. Mahatma Gandhi is an unrivalled pioneer of goodness. He is the eternal torch-bearer and guide to goodness in society anywhere and everywhere. In todays world, amidst the tremors of conflicts, he stands apart like a colossus, as the ardent apostle of tolerance and tranquillity, peace and harmony. An untiring follower of the altruistic spirit of the Upanishads and Vaishnavism, he has singularly envisioned and experienced God walking with him and with others in society ~ the joy of equality, humility, non-attachment, the joy in conquering greed, hypocrisy, passion and anger as reflected in the society that stands against the efflorescence of true religion. (Robert Paine: The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi, p.23) Purity in thought, word and deed, as Gandhi once pointed out, are the invaluable components of goodness. Such values are now almost extinct. To be a workaholic is to be good in action, indifferent to the terrific tremors of exhaustion which simply reward one with psychological insensibilities of boredom and isolation. In a tension-ridden world, man is simply an inhabitant of utter hopelessness and loneliness. Gandhi has distinctly prioritised man and not machine which replaces man with a robot and goodness with reality. A craze for ultra-modernism crushes the dream of purity and happiness with a desire for inanity. Gandhis concept of goodness, on the other hand, is the all-time hope and pathfinder of progressive and enlightened humanity. It is a positive step to avert annihilation of man aggravated by greed, hypocrisy, impurity, hatred and violence. Politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice ~ these seven social sins, as he has observed in Young India, 1925, are now tearing off the entrails of man and society, culture and civilisation, sense and sensibilities. There is an appalling absence of goodness. Gandhi had long ago warned against this. His vision of Sarvodaya, the awakening of all, upholds the good of the individual for the good of all and vice versa. By goodness he categorically asserts that everyone has the right to live, dress, house and feed himself. Bereft of these elementary rights, goodness is a myth. Moreover, the exercise of goodness is never a one mans job. It welcomes and embraces all in extending the warmth of love and brotherhood, peace and harmony, catholicity of vision and purity in contemplation. Needless to say, the concept of goodness must not be camouflaged and vitiated in narrowness and vested interests. After his prayer speech at Patna in 1947, he asserted: Although evil seemed at times to rule the world, the eternal truth was that the world lived so long as goodness resided even in one person. (D. G. Tendulkar: Mahatma, Publications Division, New Delhi, Vol. 7, p. 377) Love, as Gandhi once pointed out, is the hallmark of goodness. It is love that crowns the meaning and glory of goodness. How is it possible to establish the Kingdom of Heaven in this battered and bruised world that hardly cares for love and to be loved? How is it possible to eliminate anger and hatred, apathy and ignorance? Gandhis ever transparent answer is non-violence. It is goodness. It never betrays humanity. Rather it confirms and consolidates humanity. It is the greatest shield of humane development and efflorescence. If we are non-violent through and through, as he characteristically elucidates, Our non-violence would have been self-evident. Nor were we able to show to the terrorists that we are greater in our non-violence than they are in their violence. On the contrary, many of us made them feel that we had the same spirit of violence in our breasts than they had. Only, we did not believe in the deeds of violence. The terrorists rightly argued that if the spirit of violence was common to both, the policy of perpetrating or not perpetrating violence was a matter of opinion. I need not repeat what I had said before, that the country has made great strides towards non-violence and that many have exhibited great courage and self-sacrifice. All I want to say is that ours had not been unadulterated non-violence in thought, word and deed. It is now my paramount duty to devise ways and means of showing demonstrably to the Government and the terrorists the efficacy of non-violence as a means of achieving the right thing including freedom in the right sense of the term. For this experiment to which my whole life is dedicated, I need complete detachment and absolute freedom of action. Satyagraha of which civil resistance is but a part is to me a universal law of life. Truth is my God. I can only search Him through non-violence and in no other way. And the freedom of my country, as of the world, is surely included in the search for Truth. I cannot suspend this search for anything in this world or another. (Ibid., Vol. 3, p.298) Truly, goodness stands for truth, non-violence and love. In other words, it is truth-force, soul-force and love-force. It heightens man in honouring and cultivating the finer feelings and nobler sensibilities of life almost lost now in the process of de-living or sham living. What an irony. Goodness as Gandhi envisions and manifests, encompasses a seven-fold truth. First, it is for the welfare of all and never a show or a mockery in the name of human behaviour. Second, the good of all is actually the good of the individual and vice versa. Third, in the best manifestation of goodness, each individual is an inseparable and unavoidable partner. Four, the decency and decorum inherent in goodness must be an abiding and stimulating factor in theory and practice. Five, the energising principle of goodness is spontaneity. It must always be remembered that goodness cannot be taught but can only be caught. As such, it is never forced but it always comes out of an inner and deeper urge for upholding the true identity of man. Six, goodness always upholds adherence, devotion and dedication. There is no short cut to it. Seven, to be transparent and crystallised is to be on the ideal avenue of goodness. It is invaluable not only for the present but also for the future and the beyond. It must be rooted to life and work even under the unfathomable sea, as it were, of confusion and constraints. My life, as Gandhi remarks, is my message. It stands for heralding the true philosophy of goodness. (The writer is retired Professor of Education, Visva-Bharati University) (To be concluded) 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. The mass shooting in Las Vegas is the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. A 64-year-old man gunned down at least 59 people near Las Vegas's Mandalay Bay casino in a country that has grappled with an unfortunate history of mass shooting. More than 50 people were killed after a gunman rained fire on a 22,000-strong concert crowd in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve M By India Today Web Desk: With at least 59 people killed and 527 injured, the Sunday night (US time) mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada has become the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The shooter literally rained fire on his targets - a group of concert goers in Las Vegas, the town known for its vibrant nightlife and 24x7 casinos. The shooter, identified as 64-year-old resident of Nevada Stephen Paddock, was perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. advertisement From there, Paddock rained fire on a 22,000-strong crowd gathered at a concert across the street. The shooting began at around 10:08 pm Sunday night (US time) and Paddock targeted a a performance by country music star Jason Aldean at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Distressing videos from the Las Vegas mass shooting showed concert goers inadvertently becoming sitting ducks as lied down on the ground, not realising that the bullets were coming from up above. VIDEO: A concertgoer captures the moment when a gunman opens fire on a concert in Las Vegas, killing more than 50. https://t.co/dorpLMQR7F- The Associated Press (@AP) October 2, 2017 An unceasing barrage of gunfire was heard in at least one of the videos, underscoring the sheer deadliness of the mass shooting near Mandalay Bay casino. At least 59 people were killed and an estimated another 527 were injured, officials said. The shooter - Paddock - killed himself before SWAT teams that stormed the casino could reach the room he was in. It was earlier reported that Paddock was eliminated in police action, however, officials later clarified that the Las Vegas shooter had killed himself by the time police entered the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino room. The death toll, which has crossed 50, is the worst for a mass shooting in modern US history. The US has a history of mass shootings, which critics say is because of the country's lenient gun laws. US mass shootings.Las Vegas, 2017: 50+ killedOrlando, 2016: 50 killedVirginia Tech, 2007: 32 killedSandy Hook, 2012: 27 killedSan Ysirdo, 1984: 21 killedSan Bernadino, 2015: 14 killedEdmond, 1986: 14 killedFort Hood, 2009: 13 killedColumbine, 1999: 13 killed- The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) October 2, 2017 Sunday's shooting in Las Vegas will undoubtedly reignite debate over America's gun laws. What will perhaps make the debate more heated is the fact that the Mandalay Bay casino mass shooting was the deadliest in modern US history. Before this, the June 12. 2016 Orlando massacre, classified by American authorities as a terrorist act, was the worst mass shooting in modern US history. Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old American, opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and wounding more than 53. 50 people, including the shooter, were killed in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida (File photo) Click here to Enlarge 50 people, including the shooter, were killed in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida (File photo) advertisement Nearly a decade earlier, 32 people were killed on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. 23-year-old student Seung-Hui Cho went on a shooting spree on April 16, 2007, killing 32 people before turning the gun on himself. The most enduring mass shooting in US history, however, is the Sandy Hook massacre. Adam Lanza, barely out of his teens, shot dead 20 children between the ages of six and seven and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. Lanza killed himself moments after gunning down the children and school staff. Click here to Enlarge A street artist prepares a memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, at Union Square in New York, June 14, 2013. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz Other mass shootings in US that claimed a significant number of lives include the 1991 murder-suicide at a cafe in Texas that killed 24 people, including the shooter, and a mass shooting at a McDonald's outlet in California that resulted in the deaths of 21 people. advertisement The Texas tower shooting of 1966 is another incident that remains etched in America's history of mass shootings. That shooting was eerily similar to Sunday night's Las Vegas mass shooting. A student of the University of Texas clambered on to the top of a tower that housed the institute's library and rained fired on his victims on the ground. The shooting resulted in the deaths of 16 people. Click here to Enlarge A police officer stands in front of the University of Texas tower, from which a sniper launched a shooting rampage that left 16 people dead. REUTERS/Jon Herskovitz Another mass shooting that attracted lasting headlines in the US was the June 17, 2015 shooting at a African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina. Dylann Roof, 21, shot and killed nine members of the church and was later sentenced to death in the shootings. The Charleston shooting particularly stood out because it combined two issues that continue to vex the US till this day: race and guns. (With inputs from agencies) --- ENDS --- The Las Vegas police identified the shooter as Stephen Charles Paddock, a 64-year-old Nevada resident. His female roommate at Mandalay Bay, Marilou Danley, the woman police was searching for, has been located. Stephen Charles Paddock, the shooter who opened fire at the Las Vegas Music Festival By India Today Web Desk: The latest update on the Las Vegas shooting incident confirmed the shooter was a local, a 64-year-old white male, police confirmed. More than 50 people died and over 400 people were injured after a shooter opened fire at the crowds assembled to enjoy a concert organised at the Mandalay Bay casino as part of the Las Vegas Music Festival. The police neutralised the shooter soon after the attack. advertisement Paul Ryan, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, released a statement condoling loss of lives. .@SpeakerRyan orders Capitol flags lowered to half-staff in remembrance of Las Vegas victims https://t.co/GclMJhvYVK pic.twitter.com/N9nKy1sy08- The View (@TheView) October 2, 2017 US President Donald Trump tweeted about the tragic incident saying, "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 The shooting, it seems was sniper-style, with the shooter being perched on the 32nd floor Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. From there, the shooter rained deadly fire toward crowds gathered to enjoy a performance by country music star Jason Aldean. Aldean was performing at the end of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival when the gunman opened fire across the street from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. #BREAKING VIDEO: Jason Aldean on stage as a gunman begins to fire upon crowd in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/lfWiVaYaBD- Al Boe BREAKING NEWS (@AlBoeNEWS) October 2, 2017 The Las Vegas Strip where more than 50 people were killed in mass shooting. Click here to Enlarge The Las Vegas Strip where more than 50 people were killed in mass shooting. SWAT teams quickly descended on the concert and the casino, and officers used explosives to get into the hotel room where the suspect was inside, authorities said. The gunman died at the scene. A motive was not immediately known. Visuals from the Las Vegas Strip from earlier today showed how horrified people were since the moment they heard gunfire. This is so crazy ?? Im Praying for Las Vegas ????? #MandalayBay pic.twitter.com/tL1ULG9Unx- DeMarko Gage :) (@DeMarko_Gage) October 2, 2017 Cops identified the shooter as Stephen Charles Paddock, 64 years old, a resident of Nevada's Mesquite. Records show Paddock was living with a woman the police was searching for, and has now located - Marilou Danley. advertisement The official Twitter handle of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has been active and sharing information with the public. The Sheriff of the LVMPD Joseph Lombardo briefed the media a while ago and confirmed the figures. UPDATE: Slain suspect in Las Vegas shootings identified as Stephen Paddock - Sheriff pic.twitter.com/yc1Ln1wjto- Reuters Top News (@Reuters) October 2, 2017 The Las Vegas police tweeted about two vehicles they are trying to locate in relation with the investigation about the shooter. In a tweet, the LVMPD said, "We're searching for two vehicles associated with the shooter: Hyundai Tucson Nevada/114B40 and a Chrysler Pacifica Nevada/79D401." Were searching for two vehicles associated with the shooter: Hyundai Tucson Nevada/114B40 and a Chrysler Pacifica Nevada/79D401. https://t.co/pVyGvN7ZqV- LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 And in a subsequent tweet, said they are in search of a woman -- Marilou Danley -- who is said to have been the shooter's roommate at Mandalay Bay, and LVMPD later tweeted saying they're 'confident' they have located the vehicle and person of interest. Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! pic.twitter.com/Z83XvcHejH- LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 We have located the vehicles in question, and we are confident we have located the female person of interest.- LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 advertisement A Twitter user tweeted saying, "Marilou Danley was seen at Mandalay Bay with the suspect," and said that both the suspect and Marilou are 62 years old. The user said the police finds this 'unusual' for 'mass shooters'. A journalist, @alexsilverman on Twitter, shared a photo clicked from the 31st floor of Mandalay Bay, saying, "Here is a photo from the 31st floor at Mandalay Bay, one below shooter's perch. Clear line of sight to festival grounds at center." The shooter is said to have been on the 32nd floor of the hotel. Photo courtesy: Twitter (@alexsilverman) (With inputs from AP and Reuters) --- ENDS --- But the tribe has a long way to go Monarch Airlines, Britain's longest-surviving airline brand, collapsed on Monday stranding tens of thousands of travellers and prompted the country's biggest-ever peacetime repatriation effort. The airline has ceased trading and its 300,000 future bookings for flights and holidays have been cancelled, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said. In all, the cancellations could affect up to 750,000 people, BBC reported. The move leaves roughly 110,000 Monarch customerswhom the airline was meant to fly back to the UK in the next two weeksstuck overseas, the CAA said. The agency said it was working with the government to secure a fleet of more than 30 aircraft, flying to more than 30 airports, to bring the stranded tourists back to the UK. It described the crisis as "the biggest ever UK airline failure". The CAA chief executive, Andrew Haines, said, "We know that Monarch's decision to stop trading will be very distressing for all of its customers and employees. "This is the biggest UK airline ever to cease trading, so the government has asked the CAA to support Monarch customers currently abroad to get back to the UK at the end of their holiday at no extra cost to them." Transport secretary Chris Grayling said the company fell victim to a price war over flights to the Mediterranean and told customers not to come to airports. "We are doing our best to make sure that those people who are stranded and can't get back otherwise will be able to do so," he told BBC. Accounting firm KPMG, which has been appointed to manage Monarch's insolvency, said the airline had been unable to deal with increasing financial problems. "Mounting cost pressures and increasingly competitive market conditions in the European short-haul market have contributed to the Monarch Group experiencing a sustained period of trading losses," said KPMG partner Blair Nimmo. Monarch, whose headquarters are at London Luton airport, was founded in 1968. It operates from four other UK basesLondon Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds Bradfordtravelling to more than 40 destinations around the world. The company employs about 2,750 predominantly UK-based staff and reported a 291 million pounds loss last year, a BBC report said. Monarch said it would work with the administrators, and the unions Balpa and Unite to help its employees find new jobs as quickly as possible. The chaotic situation prompted angry and anxious posts on social media. "Thanks @Monarch - that's our Christmas holiday stuffed," tweeted one user. "Waking up to find out @Monarch has collapsed," tweeted Naveed Khan, a medical student in London. "Flights for a family break are cancelled, and equivalent flights double the price." Customers affected by the company's collapse were urged to check the dedicated website monarch.caa.co.uk for advice and information on flights back to the UK. Even as incidents of atrocities on dalits in Gujarat continue unabated, thousands of dalits on Monday took a pledge of supporting only those candidates who give an affidavit that they would work towards removing practice of untouchability from the society. The scheduled convention of dalits in Dholka, about 43 kilometer from Ahmedabad, assumed significance considering that a dalit youth was done to death allegedly by upper caste Patels in Central Gujarat early morning on Saturday. A few days ago, another youth was beaten up in Gandhinagar district for sporting a moustache. According to reports, one Jayesh Solanki of Bhadraniya village in Anand district had gone to see garba. He was done to death allegedly after an altercation with Patel youths. Eight persons, alleged to have been involved in the incident, have been arrested. Unconfirmed reports say that Solanki had prevented higher caste youth from teasing his sister. Kirit Rathod of Navsarjan, a leading organisation working for the dalits in Gujarat, told THE WEEK that the dalits pledged that they would only vote for candidates who give an affidavit that they would strive to remove untouchability from the society. Assembly election in the state is slated to be held by the end of the year. Last year, Una flogging incident had hit national headlines and had brought bad name for Gujarat. Speaking on the occasion, Martin Mackwan, founder of Navsarjan, said that people talk of development in Gujarat but it appears that Vikas Dalit ane Adivasi thi abhdaay che (in their scheme of things (read the BJP) development is considered untouchable for dalits and tribals). The dalits would also soon take out a rally in which 1000 youth would sport moustaches. This is to protest against the incident in which a youth from the community was beaten up for sporting a moustache. The attackers had allegedly said that he (the dalit youth) had no right to sport a moustache. A convention is also being organised in Anand district on October 5. Violence broke out during Muharram processions in different parts of the state, injuring more than a dozen people. Miscreants in Kanpur indulged in open firing, stone pelting , hurling of petrol bombs and ransacking police outposts injuring three cops. Trouble began at Perampurva and Rawatpur when a Muharram procession deviated from its route, leading to a clash between communities. A heavy police force comprising Rapid Action Force personnel and Provincial Armed Constabulary was roped in to bring the situation under control. According to ADG Avinash Chandra, preliminary inquiry suggests clashes broke out after a dispute over route of Muharram procession. Bareilly district's Jogi Navada area, too, witnessed heavy stone pelting between members of both the communities when the procession was taken out from a different route. In nearby Pilibhit district 12 people were injured in communal clashes over Muharram procession. Ballia, massive violence broke out on Sunday evening when members of a particular community were taking out Tazia procession. Trouble started from Sikandarpur area where massive violence broke out when the Moharram procession was being taken out. Shops and houses were set on fire and during communal clashes during Muharram procession in Sikandarpur area of Balia district. Police fired four rounds of tear gas shells to control the violent mob. Station officer Vinay Pathak was badly injured during the clashes. Similar violence were reported from Ambedkar Nagar, Sambhal and Allahabad. By PTI: By Aditi Khanna London, Oct 2 (PTI) A six-foot tall statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled today in Wales to mark his 148th birth anniversary. The 300-kg statue, which is made of Indian bronze, is situated at Lloyd George Avenue in Cardiff. The amount for the memorial, 65,000 pounds (USD 86,222), was raised from three years of fundraising by the Hindu Council of Wales (HCW) as part of its campaign for Wales to get its first statue of Gandhi. advertisement "The memorial will be a tribute to a unique man who epitomises peace, non-violence and tolerance. The iconic figurine will act as a focal point of peace and will help ensure that the legacy of Gandhi lives on for future generations in Wales," the HCW said in a statement. The statue was unveiled by Indian High Commissioner to the UK YK Sinha, hours after he paid floral tributes at a similar but much older Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Tavistock Square in London. Designed and created by Indian sculptors Ram Sutar and his son Anil Sutar, the effigy depicts Gandhi holding a stick in one hand and the Bhagavad Gita in the other. The HCW said that the new sculpture at Lloyd George Avenue in Cardiff Bay will become a focal point for the Indian Diaspora in the UK as well as a tourist attraction for international visitors to Wales. "The HCW hopes his life will inspire the whole society in Wales," it said. The event in Cardiff was also attended by Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones and Gandhis great-grandson Satish Kumar Dhupelia. Raj Aggarwal, the Honorary Consul General for India in Wales, said: "This statue shows the important bonds between the two nations of India and Wales and the great relations for the Indian Diaspora who have made Wales their home". PTI AK DPB CPS DPB --- ENDS --- Six decades and nine years after his assassination in 1948, Gandhis importance as the tallest leader of the modern world remains relevant. Professor Gene Sharp described Gandhi as a resonant symbol of one of the most important phenomena of modern history, the simultaneous assault on colonialism and the oppression of individuals, which has transformed much of the 20th century world. His statues adorn high pedestals in over a hundred countries. Even England, whose colonial rule he ended in India, has honoured Gandhi with a statue at the iconic Parliament Square in London where it stands alongside Winston Churchill who once called him a half-naked fakir. There are Gandhi Centres or Ashrams in over thirty countries around the world. Gandhi was a prolific letter writer. He would write to just about everybody from the highest to the humblest. His unpublished letters, when put up for auction by Southebys or Christies or at other leading auctioneers in England, France, USA or other countries set the auction world abuzz and fetch huge sums. R.K.Puri Gandhi wrote two letters to the German Fuehrer Adolf Hitler, one in 1939 and the other in 1941, addressing him as My dear friend and asking him to shun violence and prevent war. He wrote to Hitler: You are leaving no legacy to your people of which they will feel proud. They cannot take pride in the recital of cruel deed however skillfully planned. He also wrote to President Roosevelt in 1942 suggesting that if the Allies think it necessary, they may keep their troops in India at their expense, not for keeping internal order but for preventing Japanese aggression and defending China. So far as India is concerned, she must become free even as America and Britain are. It is on behalf of this proposal that I write to enlist your support, he wrote. The volume of over 260 letters, which Gandhi wrote to his friend Kallenbach in South Africa, created a sensation in the auction world when Southebys put them up for auction in 2012. The Indian government paid around 1 million for the Kallenbach Collection because of their historic significance in researching the gradual formulation of Gandhis powerful concepts of satyagraha and non-violent way of protesting against injustices. During their preparations for Freedom at Midnight, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, the French authors, held extensive interviews with Lord Mountbatten over the years 1971, 1972 and 1973. They have published the complete record of the interviews in another book titled Mountbatten and the Partition of India. In this book they have mentioned about the access given to them to the personal archives of the last Viceroy of India in the library of his country home Broadlands. Here, they chanced upon a veritable treasure trove of Gandhis handwritten notes in one of the cabinets. It was full of heaps of old, torn envelopes covered with penciled writing. Looking at their astonished faces, Mountbatten revealed to them that the author of these messages was none other than Gandhi. They have described a marvelous story shared with them by Lord Mountbatten: When I landed in New Delhi on March 22, 1947 to find an urgent solution to the subcontinents dilemma, I immediately understood that nothing could ever be achieved in India without Gandhis consent. He was in fact the key to the problem. I then learned something extraordinaryeach Monday the Mahatma would observe a day of silence to purify his vocal chords. Mountbatten saw in this practice a sign of his good fortune and took an immediate decision to engage his negotiations with Gandhi on Mondays only. But the old Mahatma was prepared for all eventualities. Tucked in his dhoti, he kept a stack of old envelopes. When he felt the least disagreement over something Mountbatten was saying, he hurried to scribble a message on one of his old envelopes and hand it, over to him. Twenty-five years later in the Broadlands basement library, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre had an opportunity to look at these historical messages which constituted an invaluable source of information on the father of the nations feelings and inner thoughts at the most critical juncture of modern Indian history. The importance of being Gandhi has been best described by Professor Mary E. King, the author of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr: The Power of Nonviolent Action in the following words: As long as there is strife, hostilities, ethnic cleansing, religious unrest, internal conflicts and threats of military occupation, people will turn to Gandhi. His usefulness will not end unless conflict ceasesthe importance of being Gandhi is enduring. (The author is a retired civil services officer) Three militants were killed and four soldiers, one of them an officer, were injured along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tanghdar Sector of north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Monday. By Ashraf Wani: Three militants were killed and four soldiers, one of them an officer, were injured along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tanghdar Sector of north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Monday. A police officer told India Today that a joint team of army's 20 Rashtriya Rifles and 6-Garwal, manning the Balthania post along the LoC in Tanghdar sector, noticed some suspicious movement in the wee hours on Monday. advertisement "The group of the infiltrators entered few meters towards this part and on noticing the movement, the army opened fire which was retaliated, triggering off an encounter in which four militants have been killed so far, the police officer said. He said that an army officer Lieutenant Rahul Sheikh was among the four soldiers injured in the gunfight. While officer and another soldier have been admitted in military hospital Drugmulla, two remaining injured soldiers were airlifted and admitted to 92-Base Hospital at Badaminagh here for specialized treatment. The police officer said that three militants bodies have been recovered along with 4 AK rifles. Army's Srinagar-based Defence Ministry spokesman Col Rakesh Kalia told India Today that three militants have been killed so far. "So far three militants have been killed while search operation is still going on. Weapons were also recovered," he said. Meanwhile, official sources said, reinforcements of Para Commandos have been rushed to the area to track down the militants. --- ENDS --- The robust defence of free market capitalism made by Chancellor Philip Hammond at the Tory conference clearly is needed. But what was missing from Hammonds speech was recognition of why consumers find Labours proposals for wholesale nationalisation and repatriation of PFI contracts attractive. Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnells rhetoric may be driven by Marxist tendencies, but the reason why Venezuelan-style economics has resonance is more complicated. Citizens feel let down by the way that utility services are delivered. The CAA jumped to attention over the Monarch Airlines collapse, but why was it so slow to respond to Ryanairs finagling over compensation and BAs poor performance after its computer meltdown? Elsewhere there is consumer anger over the feather and rocket pricing in the energy market where domestic bills race ahead when wholesale prices rise and drop slowly, if at all, when they fall. To the point: Chancellor Phillip Hammond delivers his keynote speech to the Conservative Party Conference Thames Water customers may well wonder why work on replacing Victorian pipes stops at night and weekends for cost reasons, while hundreds of millions of pounds of dividends are shipped to overseas owners. All of this can be put down to weak regulation which has failed to protect the consumer interest. Left to their own devices, companies generally put profits, dividends and the share incentive pay for executives ahead of the consumer or public interest. Communications regulator Sharon White is so frustrated by the behaviour of the telecoms companies that she has taken to the public prints to protest. Court actions by Three (owned by Hong Kongs Hutchison) and BT/EE in the mobile market means that the upgrades to 4G and 5G cellular networks almost certainly will be delayed. This potentially might have been avoided had the Competition & Markets Authority shown some teeth and prevented BT from taking a short cut back into mobile by buying EE and dominating the market. BTs poor attitudes to competition are illustrated by the way in which it has run Openreach until now. It took a huge campaign by competitors for Openreach to be separated so that competitors can gain easier access to the ducts, tunnels, dark fibre and the rest which would give the country better and faster broadband. White should go further and force a full spin-off of Openreach, if she wants real progress to be made. The Tories must shake up the current regulators. The Government needs to place aggressive advocates of free markets in place, disbanding remnants of the quangocracy put in place by New Labour. Where necessary it must enhance powers of the regulators, giving them the rights to fine up to 10pc of turnover when companies, such as Thames Water, pollute the nations rivers with sewage. The Rail Regulator should have the power to fine companies and unions alike when they disrupt services on Southern. Robust action by newly installed and empowered regulators could heal the reputation of the Conservatives of being a soft touch with the utilities and kill the public ownership threat. They should get on with it, rather than fighting like ferrets in a sack over Brexit. Catalan bolthole The clumsy intervention of the police in the Catalan independence referendum shows how fragile post-Franco democracy still is in Spain. It is also a distraction for Madrid at a moment when the Spanish economy is starting to repair after its long euro and banking nightmare. The enthusiastic vote for breaking free also helps better understand why Catalans biggest bank, Banco Sabadell, chose to throw its lot in with Britain by buying newly floated TSB for 1.7billion in 2015. The deal offers investors an escape route to Europes biggest financial centre should the breakaway of Catalonia end in grief. Shares in Sabadell fell heavily and ended up 4.5 per cent down. Uncertainty in the home market is all the more reason for TSB to get on and launch its new digital platform now scheduled to be unveiled in November. Hopefully it will do a little better than Barclays with its Smart Investor option. Toxic gains Causing trouble can be very profitable. British staff at Elliott Management, persecutors of Akzo Nobel, collected a neat 66million in earnings last year, with directors pay jumping from 2.6million to 6.2million. Worth all the fuss, if less profitable than the big bucks made in Argentine bonds. Dividend shares have traditionally been an abundant spring for thirsty investors, but the recent perils suffered by favoured income stocks Pearsons, Admiral and Provident Financial are a timely reminder of the risks DIY investors face from individual companies. To circumvent this, many income investors have turned to investment trusts in which a fund manager uses their expertise to build a diversified portfolio, so they don't have to. And there are some trusts that deliver eye-catching returns if you know where to look. Investment research firm Stifel has done some of the leg work for investors by compiling a list of the 13 investment trusts that invest in shares and have dividend yields of at least 4 per cent. A total of five investment trusts which invest in UK stocks features on the Stifel's list of the 13 trusts with historical dividend yield of more than 4 per cent The trusts identified in the list all predominantly invest in shares. The names on it range from dividend hero City of London, with 50 years of rising payouts under its belt, to Aberdeen Asian Income and European Assets Trust, which yields 6.7 per cent. All but four trusts on the list trade at a discount to their net asset value - with the biggest at 12.4 per cent - which provides an opportunity to buy into the investment trust for a price that is less than the sum of its parts. However, you shouldnt assume that buying at a discount is automatically a good thing. It can also reflect when an investment style or sector has fallen out of favour - perhaps for good reason. In a similar vein, a trust trading at a premium may suggest that its investment strategy is not only all the rage and working well but is predicted to yield impressive results in the future. According to Stifel, there are 13 investment trusts boasting dividend yields of 4 per cent or more in September, up from 11 six months ago. Top three Discounts and premiums Unlike funds that always reflect the value of their underlying holdings, investment trusts are traded on the stockmarket like shares. This means the share price you get may be higher or low than the net asset value. A trust trading above net asset value (NAV) is said to be trading at a premium - i.e. it costs more to buy the shares than the underlying investments are worth. When the share price is below the NAV, this is known as trading at a discount. With a historic yield of 6.7 per cent, European Assets Trust tops the list. Run by Foreign & Colonial Investments, the firm behind the oldest investment trust, invests in small and medium-sized companies in Europe, excluding the UK. It resets its dividend level each year. The dividend is primarily financed by a return of capital and for 2017 the board's dividend forecast equates to a yield of 6.7 per cent, according to Stifel. At present, the trust trades at a premium of 0.9 per cent to its net average value (for more, see box right). Blackrock Commodities Income secured the second spot on the list. The trust, seeks to achieve its investment target by investing primarily in securities of companies operating in the mining and energy sectors. The trust's dividend yield was cut this year to 4p from 5p in the previous year. However, the shares remain high yielding despite the reduction, with a dividend yield of 5.7 per cent and trades at a 5.3 per cent discount. Third spot is occupied by Henderson Far East Income, which trades on the Pacific, Australasian, Japanese and Indian stockmarkets. It boasts a yield of 5.6 per cent and currently trades at a 3 per cent premium. The 4+ club: these investment trusts all yield more than 4 per cent UK equity trusts - high yielders A number of UK equity specialist trusts yield more than 4 per cent, according to the Stifel research. Merchants Trust, which invests mainly in higher-yielding FTSE 100 companies, has the highest yield in this sector at 5.1 per cent. Get help investing for your income If you want to invest for income then professional help can be invaluable. Busy people may want to invest but often find that they do not have the time to build a portfolio themselves. A good financial adviser can help you work out your goals and how you plan to get there - and then make sure you stick to your financial objectives. This is Money has teamed up with Timber to offer readers easy access to carefully selected financial advisers who you can trust, with fair and affordable charges. > Find out if Timber could help you At the same time, the trust trades on a 1.9 per cent discount. This figure is dwarfed by the 12.4 per cent discount shares in the Value & Income Trust trade at - the highest out of the trusts listed. It is worth flagging again that while discounts can represent a buying opportunity, they can also be a warning sign in some cases. The trust generated a 4.1 yield by investing primarily in UK shares and convertible securities - an investment that can be changed into another form, such as bonds that can be converted into equity. Meanwhile, Aberdeen Asset Management's Dunedin Income Growth, which invests in companies listed or quoted in the UK, generated a 4.6 per cent yield and trades at a discount of 8.2 per cent. Murray Income, which is also run by the same fund house, is on a 7 per cent discount, with a 4.2 per cent yield from investing mainly in UK stocks. City of London Trust has moved back on to the list, reflecting dividend growth during the year. It delivered yield of 4 per cent and trades on a 3.1 per cent premium to NAV. More impressively, it has chalked up a 51-year record of annual dividend increases. Asian income Aberdeen Asian Income, one of only two Asian focused funds featured on the list, has generated a yield of 4.3 per cent by largely ignoring Japanese firms and instead focusing on opportunities within Asian Pacific. The trust offers better value on a discount basis (4.9 per cent) than the second Asia focused trust on the list, the previously mentioned Henderson Far East Income, which is trading on a 3 per cent premium, although its yield is higher. Take heed: the recent perils of renowned dividend stocks Pearsons, Admiral and Provident Financial are a timely reminder of the risks DIY investors face European trusts European Assets and Baring Emerging Europe are the only trusts with a European mandate featured on the list. The latter, which invest in companies domiciled in emerging European countries, joins the list following the revision to its dividend policy a few months ago. The board is now prepared to pay out up to 1 per cent to NAV from capital to supplement the dividend which is financed from the revenue account. Taking into account this new payout policy, the Stifel analysts estimate a dividend yield of 4.0 per cent in the current year. Shares in the trust trade on a significant 9.4 per cent discount which could signal a buy opportunity. High-yielding commodity trusts With the exception of BlackRock Commodities Income, the only other trust skewed to commodities investments is Ecofin Global Utilities & Infrastructure. It makes the list having become eligible for inclusion after offering ordinary shares. The trust, which mainly invests in utility and infrastructure companies in developed countries, boasts a yield of 4.9 per cent and trades on a 9.2 per cent discount. Banks are gearing up for complex negotiations across the European Union over the uncertain future of about 20 trillion of crucial finance contracts. Valuable derivatives traded between EU and UK banks will have no legal basis after Britain leaves the bloc unless a deal can be reached. The financial trades are widely used by thousands of businesses and banks to guard against sudden economic changes, so disruption would create chaos on the continent as well as in the UK. Banks are gearing up for complex negotiations across the European Union over the uncertain future of about 20trillion of crucial finance contracts Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned last week that tens of thousands of existing contracts were threatened and that all EU countries needed to find a solution to allow cross-border derivative trading to continue as normal. He said: That cant be solved by the action of the institutions, it cant be solved by actions by the Bank, or even the UK Government. 'It has to be solved ultimately by actions by the EU 27 and the UK. The Bank is in talks with International Swaps and Derivatives Association, which represents dealers, to try to fix the problem. Last night Brexiteers argued it was yet more evidence of how much the Continent stood to lose if no deal between the EU and the UK was agreed. Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned last week that tens of thousands of existing contracts were threatened and that all EU countries needed to find a solution to allow cross-border derivative trading to continue as normal Eurosceptic Tory MP John Redwood said: Its massively in their interests to have smooth arrangements for the day after weve left. I just hope they respond positively to the Prime Ministers very generous approach, otherwise we will just be leaving without a deal in place. The issue can be resolved by London-based lenders setting up a European operation and shifting their contracts into it, but this is fiendishly complicated, expensive and could take far longer than the 18 months left until Brexit. The Banks Financial Policy Committee said: A comprehensive solution is likely to require the development and passage of legislation in both jurisdictions in order to protect the long-term validity of existing contracts. The Bank also highlighted the potential risk from Brexit to contracts between UK insurers and EU firms. It said that without a deal, firms insured by companies based in London might suddenly be unable to pay their premiums or make a claim. Fears were also raised about data protection rules, as Brussels allows non-EU nations to store information about its citizens only if it judges their rules to be adequate. The Bank of England said that banks tended to keep records of European clients in London, creating problems if bureaucrats do not give Britain the green light. "Hand-in Hand" - the annual exercise between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will not happen this year, top sources have told India Today. By Sudhi Ranjan Sen: "Hand-in-Hand" - the annual exercise between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will not happen this year, top sources have told India Today. The exercise - wherein Indian and Chinese troops simulate various counter-terrorism scenarios - is alternatively held in China and India. It started in 2007 as a confidence-building measure between the two Asian giants and their armies. advertisement India had written to China in March 2017, wanting to start the initial planning process. There has been no response yet. Days after India sought to plan the exercise, the Doklam stand-off began where India and Chinese troops faced each other over two-and-a-half months in Bhutan, clouding the atmosphere. "It takes a lot of time to prepare for such exercises. The window for conducting the exercise is no longer available", a senior officer told India Today. In 2016, the exercise was held at Pune's Aundh Military Camp. This year the exercise was scheduled to be held in China. Yesterday, after many years, the Chinese and India troops did not hold the ceremonial border personnel meeting to mark China's National Day - October 1. The Chinese People's Liberation Army didn't extend an invitation to the Indian Army, top sources told India Today. The annual ceremonial meeting is held across five designated Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) points along the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). The designated BPM points are used by local commanders to meet their counterparts on the other side to sort out local and ground level difference. The LAC is not demarked on the ground, leading to varying perception of the border. Interestingly, the suspension of scheduled confidence-building measures between the two militaries comes at a time when China appears to be reaching out to India to normalise relations after the Doklam stand-off. WHAT THE CHINESE ENVOY SAID Speaking in New Delhi on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chinese envoy to India said, "We should turn the old page and start a new chapter with the same pace and direction. We should dance together. We should make one plus one eleven. China is the largest trading partner of India. We have made a lot of progress at the bilateral level, as well as in international and regional affairs", Luo Zhaohui said on Saturday. Earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BRICS Summit in Xiamen. The bilateral military-exercise has been suspended earlier as well. Hand-in Hand was suspended between 2009 and 2013 when China refused visa to the Northern Army Commander of India in 2009, citing its "sensitivities" over Kashmir. New Delhi, nonetheless, is keenly watching the developments. "Statements of the Chinese envoy to India are very positive, let's wait and watch", member of the National Security Advisory Board, General S L Narasimham (retired) told India Today. advertisement WATCH VIDEO | India, China agree to disengage on Doklam ending two-and-a-half-month-long standoff --- ENDS --- I run a small digital marketing business and a couple of my regular clients have asked if they can pay their invoices in bitcoin. I want to keep them happy but I am worried about how safe bitcoins are - and whether this is even legal? What would my bank and HMRC think of me taking payments this way, and is it likely to be worth the hassle? Grey area: It is not illegal to use Bitcoins but they are not legal tender in Britain Myron Jobson of This is Money says: Bitcoin is a 'cryptocurrency' spawned in 2009 that is created by a complicated computer algorithm devised by 'Satoshi Nakamoto' - whose true identity remains shrouded in mystery. Put simply, Bitcoin is not tangible tender like the new 10 note but a digital currency used to make payments of any value with low fees. The currency has rocketed in value since inception. To put this into context, if you had bought just 1.38 worth of bitcoin in May 2010 you would now be a millionaire. There's no regulation. It's not illegal but it's not considered legal tender in the UK. It operates without a government, central authority or bank managing transactions or injecting new bitcoins into the market. The currency is not covered by UK regulatory protection such as the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which compensates for loss of deposits of up to 85,000 in bank and savings accounts. What is Bitcoin? Bitcoins are lines of computer code that are digitally signed each time they travel from one owner to the next. They are the basic unit of a new online economy which runs independently of any company, bank, or government. Because bitcoins allow people to trade money without a third party getting involved, they have become popular with libertarians as well as technophiles, speculators and criminals. Read more here. So there is no obvious recourse should you lose your virtual collection of bitcoins - or have them stolen from you - and there have been a number of high-profile hacks on bitcoin storage services and exchanges over the years. Bitcoin has also been the payment tool of choice for unscrupulous individuals for ransom. This was the case with the WannaCry debacle that rocked the NHS and a plethora of businesses in 150 different countries earlier this year. There is a lot to factor in when considering accepting Bitcoin as payment, so it is best to hold fire until you receive professional advice. To help you get on your way, we asked a leading accountant and lawyer for their recommendations. Tim Walford-Fitzgerald, partner at chartered accountants HW Fisher & Company, says: Given the association with the dark web, bitcoin has a bit of a shady reputation. This is mainly due to perception though, and in reality theres nothing dodgy or illegal about it per se. One concern, though, is security. Bitcoin is not linked to any central bank and this presents two potential weaknesses. The first is the exchange through which the currency is bought and sold - there have been several well-reported attacks on bitcoin exchanges over the past few years. The other is the safety of your private key - the data file that allows you to use your stash of bitcoin. If you lose the device your private key is stored on (a USB stick, for example), or if the cloud storage youre using is compromised in some way, then you could lose all your money. Bitcoin is outside mainstream regulation, meaning that the compensation schemes that cover UK banks wont cover a loss of bitcoin. Tim Walford-Fitzgerald of HW Fisher & Company says security is a concern Being paid in bitcoin wont affect the tax position of your business. The income is still taxable and, if it would usually be charged, VAT is still due too. The value of bitcoin can fluctuate quite a bit, though, so if you are preparing accounts youll need to take this into consideration. Despite its use in the black market, bitcoin is in fact traceable through its blockchain. Blockchain is a digital, and public, log of all transactions. If HMRC, or any other authority, wants to follow your Bitcoin transactions, it can. Bitcoin is outside the normal currency dealt with by most banks so your bank probably wont be aware of your Bitcoin holding. But, unless youre looking to spend Bitcoin yourself, youll need to convert it back into a more mainstream currency in order to deposit it. Whether its worth the hassle to accept Bitcoin, or any other crypto-currency, is a similar question to whether you will accept any other currency such as US Dollars, Yen or Euros. Finally, although HMRC and the US Internal Revenue Service have both explained the treatment of Bitcoin transactions in their systems, it is not clear where Bitcoins exist. That is, where the server they originate from is located. This can create complications around which countries tax laws should apply. This isnt a problem if youre taxed on your worldwide income and gains - for example US citizens and UK-domiciled residents - but it can be tricky for non-doms who dont yet know whether they can shelter their Bitcoin gains from UK tax. Unfortunately, while the sector scrambles to catch up with the world of cryptocurrencies, the answer to this problem remains to be seen. Bitcoin has been the payment tool of choice for unscrupulous individuals for ransom Eitan Jankelewitz, partner at law firm Sheridans, which specialises in technology, adds: Making and receiving payments in Bitcoin is legal in the UK, and generally speaking, around the rest of the world. As a means of payment, the system is very safe and secure at this stage, hacking the Bitcoin network is a practical impossibility for all but a team of nation states acting in concert. Bitcoin payments cannot be refunded or charged back without your consent, and so once received, you can be sure they will remain yours. The transaction fees for Bitcoin can be extremely competitive, especially for higher value payments, because Bitcoin transaction fees are determined by the amount of data being sent and not the value of the transaction. HMRC is fine with merchants taking Bitcoin payments and has even issued guidance on the subject. VAT should be applied in the usual way to goods and services sold in bitcoin. Banks are generally OK with merchants accepting bitcoin payments too, but may ask questions if the volume of payments is particularly high. Dealing with Bitcoin is not like dealing with traditional currencies. User error can mean Bitcoins are irrecoverably lost, so a lot of people rely on a third-party 'wallet' operator to hold their funds. This vastly reduces the technical know-how necessary in order to use Bitcoin. A number of wallet providers offer free insurance for the Bitcoin they hold. It is important to bear in mind that there will be currency fluctuation, which means potential for gains and losses. While its volatility has reduced in recent years, it is still prone to unpredictable peaks and troughs. Bitcoin has increased in value against the pound by about 400 per cent this year, but it's not backed by any underlying asset and could conceivably fall to zero. One option for merchants is to use a payment processor, such as Bitpay, in order to accept Bitcoin. This means a third-party service provider enables the merchant to issue a Bitcoin invoice to its customers. The customer can then make a payment in Bitcoin to the payment processor, which settles with the merchant in sterling at the end of each day. If you do not feel comfortable dealing in Bitcoin, a payment processor is an excellent way to provide customers with the option to pay in Bitcoin while receiving only sterling and taking no exposure to currency fluctuation. Payment processors charge a small fee, usually around 1 per cent, but some will allow a small number of transactions to be processed each month without any fee at all. By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 2 (PTI) Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan today said that modern technology must be used to counter poachers and wildlife crimes. Inaugurating the Global Wildlife Programme here, he also appealed to wildlife experts and scientists to deliberate on various wildlife-related laws with a modern and scientific outlook. "If you can blend science and technology to the cause of wildlife, it will produce a drastic difference to the outcome of the conference," he said. advertisement Vardhan also emphasised that "modern technology must be used to counter poachers and wildlife crimes", a statement from the ministry said. He pointed out that the effort has always been to resolve all issues related to wildlife in a harmonious manner. The minister said India has the largest participation of people living in the forests towards conservation efforts. Two documents--Indias National Wildlife Action Plan (NWAP) for the period 2017-2031 and Secure Himalaya--were released on the occasion. The plan focuses on preservation of genetic diversity and sustainable development. The NWAP has five components, 17 themes, 103 conservation actions and 250 projects, it said. Referring to the NWAP, Vardhan said it has been made landscape-based, rather than sanctuary, or national park- based. The minister urged students to become strong eco- messengers in the society. Addressing the gathering, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ajay Narayan Jha, said the event will provide a platform to build strategic partnerships between all the 19 nations and enable India to strengthen its enforcement mechanism to control wildlife trafficking. Jha said some new action issues have been considered in the Third National Wildlife Action Plan. These issues include climate change and wildlife, wildlife health, inland, coastal and marine conservation and wildlife conflict mitigation. PTI KND AAR --- ENDS --- MBABANE It looks like a helpless situation as the country has run short of a number of major drugs including Intravenous (IV) fluids. The IV fluids commonly referred to as drip are used for rehydration if a patient had been dehydrated from illness or excessive activity, treatment of an infection using antibiotics, cancer treatment through chemotherapy drugs and management of pain using certain medications. Also on the list of drugs that are not available is medication for treating pain (diclofenac and tramadol) and severe infections (Cefazolin). Patients right to health is being violated by the drug shortage as they leave health centres without receiving their prescribed drugs and are forced to purchase them at the pharmacies at more costs. This is not the first time in recent weeks that this publication has reported about the shortage of certain drugs while the Ministry of Health remains adamant that the situation has not reached crisis stage. One patient, who called this publication to report that he had been turned back from a public health institution due to the unavailability of his prescribed drugs, asked the Minister of Health Sibongile Simelane when such a situation warranted to be called a crisis. The mere fact that there is not one medication is a crisis. Should we wait for someone to die before we declare it a crisis? asked the patient. To send their message across, the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) petitioned the Prime Ministers office last Friday with the hope to get immediate intervention. Due to the situation, the nurses said people must come at their own risk to all public health facilities as medication for a number of ailments was not available. SWADNU Secretary General Sibusiso Lushaba said the drug shortage was a serious national crisis, especially with the IV fluids scarcity. Lushaba said the country had once again plunged into a drug stock out and it was near impossible to operate in a number of facilities in the country. We delivered the petition to the PM because there was a crisis and patients are not getting help. Principal Secretary in the ministry of health Dr Simon Zwane said the drugs situation in the country had not improved to the level of satisfaction. Zwane said the issue of drug stockout was not new and it has been extensively explained even in Parliament. In an interview with Chief Pharmacist Fortunate Bhembe, she maintained that there was no drug crisis. Bhembe said she wrote to all the key hospitals and was still going to identify the key people to communicate with at clinical level. MANZINI In anticipation for her dance skills, the crowd sang praises to Princess Sikhanyiso before she took to the arena to perform a solo dance. While the prelude of her first recorded praises to His Majestys King Mswati III played on the loud speakers, some members of the public who stood on their feet to get a clear view of her performance also sang praises to her. One member of the Lutsango regiment was heard bawling that she was not only the princess from Ludzidzini Royal Residence, but also the princess of the whole land. This attracted more attention to her before there were bursts of laughter from members of the public who also ululated as the princess performed. Indeed, the princess did not disappoint with her creative dance moves. Despite that the songs were traditional in the sense that drums were beating, the princess displayed a fusion of electrifying dance skills. From brake dancing to moon walking and hip-shaking, the princess left spectators astonished. This was in addition to the back-bending technique she performed at the main reed dance at Ludzidzini. However, this time around, there was no male appreciator who came close to her like the last time, when Chief Hhoyi II had a moment with her. Performing her giya dance on different songs, the princess continued to entertain the audience. What was also out of the ordinary this time around was that the regiment which came to the fore to accompany her back to the main group of maidens who formed an arc shape, consisted of the other princesses from other royal residences, including Princess Temaswati. Before they departed from the front of the arena, the two princesses showcased their impeccable dance skills before His Majesty the King and other dignitaries who graced the event. The combination of the different colours of the attires worn by the imbali from various regiments made a beautiful sight under the dazzling lights. When the duo reached the main arc, they again performed a short dance before waving their shields in the air as if waving goodbye. This marked the end of the reed dance ceremony. This, though, left the people asking themselves what it signifies specifically. Some speculated that the princesses were communicating that they will not be returning as their regiments leaders next year. However, Imbali Overseer Hlangabeza Mdluli refuted that the gesture was a sign of the princesses leaving, but said it was part of the dancing skills that the princesses showcased on the evening. Akusho kutsi emakhosatana ayahamba; bekukudlalisela ingoma nje, he said. When Mdluli was asked whether there were any representatives from Chief Hhoyis palace, he said he neither saw the chief or anyone representing him at the reed dance. MBABANE - Their conduct will lead to social disorder and in the process render the Maphungwane chiefdom ungovernable. This was one of the submissions made by Chief Maliwa Maziya of Maphungwane in his application where he had taken some of his alleged defiant subjects to court. The residents; Jackson Shongwe, Vusi Maziya, Mademu Maziya and Bafana Maziya, are allegedly defying the chief in that they have cleared a piece of land which was not allocated to them by the areas lawful authorities. They are reported to be preparing to construct a structure without the consent of the chief. Averred In his application for an interdict, Chief Maliwa averred that the construction of structures on the piece of land by the respondents will be prejudicial to him. He alleged that this was so because he was the sole authority to allocate land within the Maphungwane Chiefdom. The chief averred that the actions of the respondents would promote lawlessness and would also set a bad precedent within his area. He told the court that he decided to seek legal recourse to protect his rights in the area of his jurisdiction. High Court Judge Ticheme Dlamini has since issued an interim order against the residents. The court has interdicted the respondents or anyone acting on their behest from continuing with any development, construction or erection of any structure on the piece of land they have cleared and were building on at Maphungwane. In his founding affidavit, Chief Maliwa stated that on or about November 3, 2010 he was appointed chief of the Maphungwane by the Ingwenyama. He submitted that on or about Septembers 3, 2017 he discovered that the respondents had allocated themselves the piece of land and started constructing a kraal and a building without his authority. Submitted I sent community police with the assistance of police officers from Siteki Police Station to stop them from continuing with the unauthorised construction, which they did, submitted the chief. He alleged that, however, on Tuesday, the following day, they continued with the unauthorised construction. According to Chief Maliwa, the community police and the Royal Swaziland Police, again stopped the unauthorised construction The logs were then destroyed and the unauthorised construction was completely brought to an end, submitted the chief. He said on Wednesday, September 20, 2017, Msongwelwa Dlamini, Ndleleni Shongwe and Jeremiah Matsenjwa announced at Mhlabovu Dipping Tank that they would be cutting logs in preparation for the construction again. He alleged that the residents, who are respondents in this matter had been summoned to the royal kraal but they allegedly always defied such summons. MANZINI Even though she did not make a public appreciation for imbali, Minister Jabulile Mashwama was spotted among the crowd. The minister of Natural Resources and Energy is the mother to newly-unveiled Liphovela LaMashwama. The minister made her first public appearance in this years Umhlanga ceremony, after speculation that the new Liphovela was her daughter. Amid the news and the urge to see her during the main reed dance, which was held at Ludzidzini Royal Residence recently, the minister was a no-show. The minister was seen seated at a separate marquee with a seven-member delegation made up of some members of the Lutsango regiment. Uniform to her acquaintances, Mashwama looked radiant in traditional attire and a maroon soft blanket, since the weather was chilly. When the regiment, which consisted of royalty marched in front of Their Majesties, the ministers delegation rose up to show appreciation to the Imbali when they passed by the tent where the minister was seated. All this while the minister remained on her seat but she instructed the women who had gone to ululate the imbali to take pictures of the liphovela. Even before the group reached where the minister was seated, she looked at the direction from where they were coming in anticipation. The minister posed for cameras but efforts to get an interview with her proved futile. Im not interested at all, she said before she focused her attention to the arena. Towards the end of the ceremony, the ministers delegation went to the arena to show appreciation to the maidens, including the Liphovela. The minister was conspicuously missing during the main day of the reed dance held earlier this month. Her daughter had not been officially unveiled then as Liphovela, until a couple of weeks back when His Majesty King Mswati III left for New York in the United States of America accompanied by LaMashwama. One of the royal aides at the airport proudly announced that His Majesty was indeed leaving with Liphovela LaMashwama. Speculation of LaMashwama joining royalty started during the build up and activities leading to the main day of the reed dance when she was spotted donning a different kanga and further guarded by members of the security forces. On the main day, she was also spotted dancing with royalty. While 3 people were injured in violence that erupted in Vadodara during the immersion procession of Tajiya during Muharram on Sunday after some elements resorted to stone pelting, over a dozen people were detained in similar clashes in Kanpur. Police had to resort to lathicharge after a clash between two communities during a Muharram procession at Parampurva in Kanpur on Sunday. PTI Photo. By India Today Web Desk: Three people were injured in violence that erupted in Vadodara during the immersion procession of Tajiya during Muharram on Sunday after some elements resorted to stone pelting. Police fired three rounds and 4 teargas shells in an attempt to restore law and order. The injured have been admitted to a private hospital. Meanwhile, over a dozen people have been detained by the police in Kanpur after similar clashes broke out between members of the two communities during a Muharram procession, who threw vehicles bricks at each other and torched vehicles, police said. The situation is not under control in the district. advertisement The incident occurred when the procession deviated from its fixed route. Perturbed, some members of another community started throwing stones at it in Parampurva area, Inspector General of Police (Kanpur zone) Alok Singh told PTI. Two cars and four motorcycles were set on fire during the clash. Police resorted to baton-charge to control the situation, the IG said. He said three people were injured in the incident. Four companies (around 400 personnel) of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and a company of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed in the area to maintain peace. A senior official in Lucknow said the situation was being closely monitored. A similar incident happened in Rawatpur village in the district, but it was nipped in the bud. Vehicles set on fire during clashes on the occasion of Muharram on Sunday. PTI Photo. HALF-A-DOZEN PEOPLE INJURED IN BALLIA Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia, nearly half-a-dozen people were injured after members of two commmunities clashed over a petty dispute involving children in Sikandarpur, an official said. The incident took place at a Durga Puja fair on Sunday evening, District Magistrate Surendra Vikram said when a quarrel between two children degenerated into a clash between two communities after their parents got involved. "There were reports of stone pelting," Vikram said. The district magistrate said the police reached the spot and brought the situation under control. "Police and provincial armed constabulary (PAC) personnel have been deployed at the spot. The situation is under control", he added. (WITH INPUTS FROM PTI) WATCH VIDEO | Clashes break out between groups over procession routes in Kanpur, Ballia --- ENDS --- Nissan is recalling 1.2 million vehicles in Japan that were produced between October 2014 and September this year to re-inspect them because they had not gone through the proper final checks. Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. said Monday that a team, including an independent third party, was investigating the cause of the oversight and promised to prevent a recurrence. The problem does not affect Nissan vehicles sold outside Japan. The failure is not believed to have affected vehicle safety as they were final-stage checks, according to the Yokohama-based maker of the March subcompact, Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models. Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa told reporters the oversight occurred at all six Nissan plants in Japan. He acknowledged not enough had been done to ensure inspection staff were aware of inspection requirements. He estimated the recalls and re-inspections would cost Nissan about 25 billion yen ($222 million), but stressed final costs were still unclear. The inspection oversight is an embarrassment for Nissan. Nissan temporarily stopped registering new vehicles in Japan last week, after the government notified the company it had noticed inspection irregularities. The auto industry has been hit by a series of recent scandals. Volkswagen AG of Germany acknowledged in 2015 that it had equipped its diesel cars with illegal software that enabled cheating on U.S. emissions tests. Volkswagen has agreed to more than $20 billion in fines and civil settlements over the scandal. SOURCE: AP Spain vowed Monday to stop Catalonia from declaring independence after a banned referendum that saw riot police use batons and rubber bullets, as the country grappled with its deepest crisis in decades. The government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was holding emergency talks after Catalan president Carles Puigdemont declared Sunday that the region had won the right to break away from Spain. Images of riot police beating up would-be voters with batons and firing rubber bullets to disperse crowds during Sunday\s referendum in the wealthy northeastern region shocked many in Spain and its neighbours in Europe. Puidgemont appealed on Monday for international mediation to help solve the crisis, and called for all police sent in to Catalonia for the vote to be removed. In its first reaction on Monday, the European Union urged all sides to "move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue" and said violence should not be part of politics. A jubilant Puigdemont said late Sunday that 90 percent of voters taking part in the referendum had voted for independence for Catalonia, defying the police crackdown and the fierce opposition from Madrid. The regional government said 2.26 million people actually took part in the vote, or just over 42 percent of the electorate in Catalonia. Puigdemont said his people had "won the right to an independent state" in Catalonia, a region of 7.5 million people which accounts for one fifth of Spain\s economic output. But any attempt to unilaterally declare independence is likely to be opposed not just by Madrid but also a large section of the Catalan population which is deeply split on the issue. His declaration sets the restive region on course for a deeper split with the Spanish government, after Rajoy reiterated his government\s position that the vote was an illegal act, to which the state had reacted "with firmness and serenity". Puigdemont has said he would now present the results to the region\s parliament, which has the power to adopt a motion of independence. Pro-separatist lawmakers have a narrow majority of 72 seats in the 135-seat Catalan parliament. Reacting to the scenes of violence, Puigdemont said Spain\s central government had "written a shameful page in its history with Catalonia" while several top figures in the far-left party Podemos called for Rajoy to resign. At least 92 people were confirmed injured, two of them seriously, out of a total of 844 who needed medical attention, Catalan authorities said. Shocking videos posted on social media showed police dragging voters from polling stations by their hair, throwing people down stairs and attacking Catalan firefighters protecting polling stations. Further adding to tensions, unions and Catalan associations have called a region-wide strike for Tuesday due to "the grave violation of rights and freedoms," urging people to take to the streets. While Spanish newspapers were unanimous in criticising Puigdemont for pushing ahead with the referendum despite a court ruling it unconstitutional, they also took aim at Rajoy\s handling of the crisis. Conservative daily newspaper El Mundo said the government\s wait-and-see strategy of sending the police had led to failure. "It could not prevent dramatic images from going around the world," it said in an editorial. Top-selling daily El Pais said Rajoy had shown an "absolute inability" to "manage the problem since the beginning of the Catalan crisis. Rajoy will hold crisis talks later Monday with the leader of the main opposition Socialist party, Pedro Sanchez, as well as with Albert Rivera, the leader of the centist party Ciudadanos, his minority government\s ally in in parliament. Justice Minister Rafael Catala said the government could invoke Article 155 of the constitution which would allow it to suspend the powers of Catalonia\s regional government to block any declaration of independence. "That is a tool that is there We have always said that we will use all the force of the law, all the mechanisms that the constitution and the laws grant the government," he said in an interview with public television. Hundreds of people gathered in central Barcelona on Monday to protest against the police violence, chanting: "The streets will always be ours". Some analysts said the images of the crackdown may help boost international support for the secessionists. "Catalan secession remains unlikely, but separatist sentiment now has a momentum of its own, and the resulting institutional crisis will be severe and poses significant risks to Spain\s economic outlook," said Federico Santi, an analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. The euro and the Spanish stock market slid on Monday after the vote, with bank shares particularly hard. SOURCE: AFP Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah arrived in Gaza Monday for his first visit in two years, saying the Palestinian Authority would assume control of the strip after a decade of factional strife. Hamdallah crossed the border with dozens of ministers and officials from the West Bank-based PA into the Hamas-run coastal enclave at around noon. The Islamists have controlled Gaza since a 2007 split but recently agreed to hand over civilian power to a unity government. "The government began to exercise its roles in Gaza from today," Hamdallah said at a press conference at the crossing. "We return to Gaza again to end the division and achieve unity." He was welcomed by thousands of Gazans, with hopes that this reconciliation plan can avoid the problems that wrecked several previous attempts. Hamdallah\s entry was delayed by around half an hour because of disputes between PA and Hamas security men, a security source said. Hamas politicians and members of the premier\s Fatah faction greeted Hamdallah on arrival. He is expected to meet Hamas\s overall leader Ismail Haniya and its Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar later Monday, and chair a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The event is meant to be the first significant step in a transfer of powers. Hamas ousted the PA in 2007 after a near civil war, but recently agreed to dissolve what has been seen as its rival administration and make way for a unity government. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas\s PA is the internationally recognised Palestinian government and supposed to steer its people to an independent Palestinian state. Hamas, blacklisted as a "terrorist" group by the European Union and the United States, won a landslide victory in 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections. It ousted Fatah from Gaza the following year after wrangling over the formation of a new government degenerated into bloody clashes. Abbas\s limited power has since been confined to the West Bank which is under Israeli military occupation and located, at its nearest point, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Israel-Gaza border. The logistics of the visit are themselves an indication of Palestinian divisions and challenges. Arriving by road from Ramallah, about 70 kilometres (44 miles) away in the West Bank, Hamdallah\s convoy crossed Israel and then transited the fortress-like Erez crossing into Gaza before passing a Hamas checkpoint. Hamas last month finally agreed to the PA\s return to Gaza, under pressure from the enclave\s powerful neighbour Egypt. The group was squeezed by Abbas, who stopped paying Israel for electricity it supplies to Gaza, resulting in devastating power cuts. And long-time Hamas ally Qatar\s diplomatic isolation led to a fall in backing for the group. For Gaza\s two million residents, the hope is to see an improvement in their miserable living conditions in the overcrowded and impoverished territory. Battered by three wars with Israel since 2008, Gaza is under Israeli and Egyptian blockade and suffers from severe water and electricity shortages, an economic slump and unemployment of more than 40 percent. Abu Musa Hamduna, a 42-year-old Gazan, welcomes the return of central government. "We call on it to take care of the young this is the most important and to resolve the electricity crisis and improve the living conditions of the people of Gaza," he said. Experts say that the prospect of social unrest among disgruntled Gazans was a factor in Hamas\s willingness to reconcile with Fatah, along with its growing isolation and perhaps a new pragmatism in its leadership. Hamas and Fatah, which dominates the PA, have both expressed confidence that the latest unity initiative will fare better than the failures of the past. But scepticism remains rife, with many observers suspecting Hamas of a tactical manoeuvre to improve its position. They doubt Hamas will cede its security control over the strip to the PA, and see major challenges for Abbas in finding a future for the thousands of public workers recruited by Hamas over the past decade. Particularly thorny issues include the potential future of Hamas\s military wing. The Hamdallah delegation\s visit is seen as largely symbolic and preparing the ground for further talks, probably in Cairo. The outcome will determine the Palestinians\ acceptance on the international stage. The PA recognises Israel, but that appears to remain out of the question for Hamas. Israeli construction minister and former general Yoav Galant says everything depends on Hamas accepting Israel\s existence and ending armed struggle. "If the answer is positive, we can talk about a lot of things," he says. "If it is negative, nothing has changed and all this is a deception." SOURCE: AFP The Pakistani foreign minister, in an interview to Geo News, called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a terrorist and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh a terrorist party. By India Today Web Desk: Narendra Modi is a "terrorist" who has the blood of Muslims on his hands - that is what Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had to say on a Pakistani news show. Talking to Geo News's Hamid Mir, Asif made his statement in an attempt to rebut External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who recently ripped into Pakistan at the United Nations for supporting and exporting terror. advertisement "Sushma Swaraj has accused us (Pakistan) of exporting terrorism. (However) one terrorist (in India) is the country's prime minister himself," Asif told Mir on the Geo News show Capital Talk. "He (Modi) has the blood of Muslims murdered in Gujarat on his hands," Asif also said. India is being "ruled by a terrorist party - the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)", Asif went on to say. Asif's comments today were just the latest attempt by Pakistan to counter External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj excoriating Islamabad for its support for terrorism. While India has produced IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) and IIMs (Indian Institute of Management), Pakistan has produced terrorist outfits like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Swaraj had memorably said. 'EXPORTER OF TERRORISM' Swaraj denounced Pakistan as the "world's greatest exporter of havoc, death and inhumanity" - this was the comment that Pakistan's Foreign Minister Asif was referring to on Geo News before he called PM Modi a terrorist. "I would like to tell Pakistan's politicians that perhaps the wisest thing they could do is to look within. India and Pakistan became free within hours of each other. Why is that today India is a recognised IT superpower in the world, and Pakistan is recognised only as the pre-eminent export factory of terror," Swaraj had gone on to say. Swaraj, in her speech also targeted Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, though without calling him names. "Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi wasted rather too much of his speech [at the UN] in making accusations against us. He accused India of State-sponsored terrorism, and of violating human rights. Those listening had only one observation: 'Look who's talking!'" Swaraj had said. PAKISTAN RESPONDS Pakistan attempted to strongly respond to Swaraj at the UN, but embarrassed itself after Islamabad envoy to the UN held up an incorrect photo to allege human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's Representative to the UN, spectacularly brandished a photo of a girl with facial injuries, suggesting that the woman was injured by pellet gun fire in Jammu and Kashmir. This, however, turned out to be a lie. Lodhi then went on to call India the "mother of terrorism" in South Asia and also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without expressly naming him. advertisement "Current political luminaries [in India] belong to an organisation that has the blood of thousands of Muslims of Gujarat on their hands," Lodhi had said. Lodhi's boss, Khawaja Asif, however, took it a step further during his Geo News interview, personally and directly attacking PM Modi. WATCH | Narendra Modi is a terrorist, says Pakistan Foreign Minister, Khwaja Asif --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate EDUCATION ALBANY LAW SCHOOL Jeffrey M. Schanz was named vice president of institutional advancement, a new position that will oversee institutional development efforts, alumni relations and community affairs. Schanz previously served as assistant vice president in the Division of Institute Advancement and as executive director of the Rensselaer Alumni Association at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. HUDSON VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE Martha "Marty" Desmond was named chairwoman of the Nursing Department. Desmond has 37 years of experience as a registered nurse and joined HVCC in 2008, most recently serving as interim department chair. FINANCIAL ASSOCIATES OF GLENS FALLS INSURANCE Carrie McIntosh joined as commercial lines account manager. McIntosh previously worked at McPhillips Insurance Agency for more than 27 years. HEALTH CARE ALBANY MEDICAL CENTER Sandra Jean Shin joined as chair of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Shin previously served as vice chair for education, chief of breast pathology at New York Presbyterian Hospital and as director of the pathology residency training and breast pathology fellowship programs at Weill Cornell Medical College. NATHAN LITTAUER HOSPITAL AND NURSING HOME Joseph E. Popper joined as an orthopedic spine surgeon. Popper specializes in the comprehensive treatment of the neck, back and spine and is a specialist in cervical spine surgery and minimally invasive lumbar procedures. MVP HEALTH CARE Brian Mulvey joined as director, new business sales for the Capital Region, Mid-Hudson Valley and Vermont. Mulvey previously worked at CDPHP and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Connecticut. SOUTHWESTERN VERMONT MEDICAL CENTER Jonna Racela joined as a physician assistant. Racela also joined the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Medical Group. NONPROFITS NORTHERN RIVERS FAMILY OF SERVICES Barbara Pasinella was named senior director of prevention services. Pasinella joined in 1988 and has worked in a variety of clinical and supervisory roles. Mary Purdy was named senior director of prevention services. Purdy joined in 1991, working in educational and community-based programs. CAPITAL REGION SPONSOR-A-SCHOLAR Benjamin Sweet joined as college success manager. Sweet previously served as an academic adviser at Bard College in the Higher Education Opportunity Program. PROFESSIONS RYAN BIGGS | CLARK DAVIS ENGINEERING & SURVEYING Chris Maxon was named a shareholder. Maxon joined in 1995 and serves as an associate, managing the CADD Department in the Clifton Park office. Jill Shorter was named a shareholder. Shorter joined in 2000 and serves as an associate and as marketing director in the Clifton Park office. Doug Clark, senior associate, and Everett Quackenbush Jr., associate/chief surveyor, were named shareholders. WOJESKI & COMPANY CPAS, PC. Dylan Devino joined as a staff accountant. Devino previously served as a state tax intern at General Electric Company. Michael Germano joined as a client bookkeeper. Germano previously worked at Hamel Real Estate and Property Management. SERVICES 4CITE Shawn Firehock joined as vice president of strategic growth. Firehock previously served as vice president, digital consulting leader at EXL. LECHASE CONSTRUCTION SERVICES LLC Zach Froio joined as an estimator in the Albany office. Froio previously served as a project engineer and project manager on various construction projects. Jennifer Patterson This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Barcelona, Spain Catalonia's defiant attempt to stage an independence referendum descended into chaos Sunday, with hundreds injured in clashes with police in one of the gravest tests of Spain's democracy since the end of the Franco dictatorship in the 1970s. National police officers in riot gear, sent by the central government in Madrid from other parts of Spain, used rubber bullets and truncheons in some places as they fanned out across Catalonia, the restive northeastern region, to shut down polling stations and seize ballot boxes. The clashes quickly spoiled what had been a festive, if expectant, atmosphere among voters, many of whom had camped inside polling stations and stayed on into late Sunday, fearful that officers might seize ballot boxes. By the day's end, both sides were claiming victory. Voting went ahead in many towns and cities, with men and women, young and old, singing and chanting as they lined up for hours to cast ballots. Just after midnight, the Catalan government said the referendum had been approved by 90 percent of some 2.3 million voters. Those figures could not be independently confirmed. The Spanish government declared that the referendum had been disrupted. More than 750 people were injured in the crackdown, Catalan officials said, while dozens of Spanish police officers were hurt, according to Spain's Interior Ministry. The day's events left nothing clear except that the clashes over the status of the region Spain's economic powerhouse, where yearnings for a separate nation have ebbed and flowed for generations had left supporters on both sides more hardened and polarized than before. The Madrid government, with the backing of Spanish courts, had declared the referendum unconstitutional and ordered the vote suspended. But that did not stop Catalans from gathering before sunrise Sunday, massing on rain-slicked streets across the region. "Spain has shown us today its ugliest and darkest face, that which we really thought had disappeared 40 years ago," said Mario Pulpillo, 54. "You simply can't use violence against people who just want to vote." Despite the police threat, Pulpillo, who uses a wheelchair, said he went to vote "to make sure this was our feast of democracy, not our humiliation at the hands of a Spanish state that believes in repression." Voters like him made the turnout an extraordinary show of determination in the face of a steady drumbeat of threats from Madrid. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, at a news conference Sunday evening, characterized the police actions as a proper and measured response to the acts of secessionists. "We did what we had to do," he said. Proponents of the referendum immediately pointed to the heavy use of police force as a blight not only on Rajoy's conservative government, but also on Spain's still relatively young democracy. "The image of the Spanish state has reached levels of shame that will stay with them forever," the leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, told a crowd in the town of Sant Julia de Ramis, the scene of clashes. "Today, the Spanish state has lost a lot more than it had already lost, and Catalan citizens have won a lot more than they had won until now," he said. He and other Catalan authorities maintained that balloting had proceeded in most of the polling stations and seemed determined to use the vote as further evidence of the legitimacy of their claim for a separate nation. The Catalan vote has been watched with rising trepidation and no sign of support by a European Union wary of stoking forces of fragmentation already tugging at the bloc and many member states, where populist and nationalist parties have surged in recent elections. Nationalism in Spain, a country with a long and painful 20th century history that included civil war and fascism, has been all but dormant since the coming of democracy after the death of the dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975. There are already signs that Catalonia's threat to fracture the country is changing that. The third event in a new monthly acting series that aims to diversify theater in the Capital Region and spark conversation about it has been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, at Proctors in Schenectady. The Illuminate Theater series, which kicked off in August, features actors of color performing monologues of their choice on a given theme. This month's: social change. "We then open up a talk-back with the audience, so there's an opportunity to have those uncomfortable conversations about race," said the series' creator, Morgan Elizabeth, an Albany High School graduate whose experiences as a student and actor of color at Russell Sage College inspired the program. "For my senior capstone project, I wrote a play about what the experience was like and what it was like being a student of color at a school that was full of predominantly people that didn't look like me," she said. The Illuminate Theater series has two main goals. "The first one would be to give people of color in the Capital Region a platform to perform on and to share their talent. And the second would be to start a communication with the community." Auditions for the October event at Proctors (which is donating use of the space) will be held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, in the second-floor meeting room at Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Ave. Actors should prepare a two-to-five-minute monologue "about a topic related to issues in society." The first two events in the series were held at the Troy Kitchen, 77 Congress St., which will host again on Tuesday, Nov. 28. To schedule an audition slot or become a sponsor, email illuminatetheater@yahoo.com. Admission to the performances is free. For more information on the series or auditions, see facebook.com/IlluminateTheater. abiancolli@timesunion.com 518-454-5439 @AmyBiancolli Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's indictment in Panamagate graft charges has been deferred to October 9. By Hamza Ameer: Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today appeared before an accountability court in Islamabad for an expected indictment in Panamagate graft charges, but walked out with a new date for hearing. In addition, the court issued non-bailable warrants against Sharif's sons Hassan and Hussain, his daughter Mariyum Nawaz Sharif and her husband (Retd) Captain Safdar. The hearing in the case has been deferred to October 9, Monday. advertisement In late July, the Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualified Sharif as a member of the National Assembly, finding him guilty of corruption in the Panama Papers case. The court said cases should be opened against Sharif, his daughter Maryam, her husband Captain Muhammad Safdar, and Sharif's sons, Hassan and Hussain Nawaz. On September 15, the Supreme Court dismissed a review petition filed by Sharif and his children. Meanwhile, Sharif is expected to be reinstated as the chief of his party- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) today after a scheduled party leadeship meet. The party aims to restore the deposed premier as the party president after getting the Electoral Reforms Bill approved from the lower house of the parliament. A National Assembly session has also been summoned today, two days earlier before the scheduled date. President Mamnoon Hussain is expected to sign the Electoral Reforms Bill 2017 into law immediately after it is passed in the lower house. Last week, the ruling party had managed to muddle through passing the Electoral Reforms Bill 2017 without amending Clause 203, which states that any individual who is not qualified to become a member of the parliament, is not eligible to become a party's chairperson either. After the verdict on Nawaz Sharif's ouster from the top executive office of the country, the election commission ordered the ruling party to elect a new party chief as a disqualified person cannot hold any office in a political party. --- ENDS --- This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate New York S.I. Newhouse Jr., the low-profile billionaire media mogul who ran the parent company of some of the nation's most prestigious magazines, died Sunday. He was 89. Newhouse's death was confirmed by his family, who said he died at his New York home. The chairman of Conde Nast since 1975, Si Newhouse, as he was known, bought and remade The New Yorker and Details magazines and revived Vanity Fair. Other magazines in the Conde Nast stable included Vogue, Wired, Glamour, W, GQ, and Self. The glossy titles helped set the nation's tastes, reached millions of aspirational readers and appealed to upscale advertisers. "In all realms, he wanted Conde Nast and its writers, artists and editors to be at the center of the cultural conversation," Bob Sauerberg, the company's CEO, wrote to staff in announcing Newhouse's death. As Newhouse himself put it in a rare 1988 interview with The New York Times, "Our magazines represent a certain tone and audience." Under Newhouse, Conde Nast was famously extravagant, paying editors huge salaries, throwing lavish parties and rarely sticking to budgets if budgets existed at all. Its expense accounts were legendary, with dresses flown from Paris to New York on the Concorde and elephants brought in to menace models at fashion shoots. "He was passionate about journalism and he supported journalists and editors," his nephew Steven Newhouse, who is the chairman of Advance Publications Inc., which owns Conde Nast, told The Associated Press. "He set an example of caring about the right things in media, which is great stories, great design, great magazines, great websites." Newhouse's vision extended beyond magazines. Before selling the Random House book publishing empire, he spotted a magazine profile about a rising young real estate mogul and commissioned the first book of a future president: Donald Trump's "The Art of the Deal." Some of his editors became celebrities in their own right. "He loves magazines, meaning the whole and all of it, the variety of things published, the business details, the visions and actions and personalities of his editors, the problems, the problem-solving, the ink and paper," New Yorker editor David Remnick told New York magazine in 2009. Newhouse also brought in buzz-obsessed Britons Anna Wintour and Tina Brown as editors, while abruptly firing staffers who fell from his graces. Grace Mirabella learned she was being axed as editor-in-chief of Vogue in June 1988 when her husband saw it on TV. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The people around Alicia Bemis seemed to think the first chatter of gunfire was nothing more than fireworks. "At concerts like this you expect someone to be goofing off," said Bemis, who teaches at a Clifton Park day care, in an interview Tuesday, a day after she survived the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. "I know the difference between gunshots and firecrackers, and I said, 'No that's gunshots.'" Bemis went to all three days of the Route 91 Festival with a family friend. She was in the VIP section of the outdoor concert site alongside Las Vegas Boulevard, while her friend had gone up to be near the stage as Jason Aldean began his set as part of the festivals final night. The second of three initial bursts of gunfire confirmed her fears, and after the third fusillade the crowd of 22,000 was in a panic that lasted for 10 to 15 minutes. It didnt seem to stop," Bemis said. "The gunshots seemed to be getting closer. She turned toward a tent near the VIP lounge and crawled under a table, trying to stay out of open areas. After that she crawled away from the area; when the shooter paused, she got up and ran. As she tried to escape, Bemis saw at least one first responder shot while trying to help victims. One (medic) stopped to give a girl CPR and he was shot, she said. Concertgoers began to pour out on to Las Vegas Boulevard in front of the Mandalay Bay Hotel where unknown to many in the crowd the shooter was firing from a room on the 32nd floor. Police told them to go back in to the concert area, trying to move them away from the shooter, Bemis said. People were tearing down barriers, tearing down walls, she said. As the crowd moved toward the main entrance trying to escape, Bemis found herself caught in a bottleneck as people took cover behind food trucks. She nearly passed out. Bemis eventually was able to leave the concert from the main entrance. She contacted her friend, found out she was safe and kept walking until she reached the safety of the MGM Grand hotel, where they were staying. It really is surreal," she said. "At one point, youre listening to a performer you love so much and then next youre on the ground fearing for your safety. What has happened to the America I knew as a boy? Mounted on the Statue of Liberty is a poem, "The New Colossus" written by Emma Lazarus: "Give me your tired, your poor, "Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, "The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. "Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, "I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" When did we become afraid of immigrants? And what of the religious freedom spoken of in the First Amendment? There is no place for religious intolerance in America, be it Islamophobia, anti-Semitism or against any other religious group. We must be vigilant and work to educate our young and old. Our current government is a manifestation of a culture divided and in decline, a government too often wanting to build and hide behind the walls of fear, racism and intolerance. How sad. Fortunately our fair city of Albany stands as a beacon of light and has kept the torch lit and the golden door open. On Oct. 9, Indigenous Peoples Day, The Madison Theater is hosting a conference, "Fear of the Other: Challenging Xenophobia, Racism and Islamophobia." Speakers, including Kathy Kelly, Michael Brannigan and the Rev. Emily McNeill, poets and musicians will come together to hold a meaningful community conversation, to affirm all, where everyone is held dear and valued, regardless of race, religion or country of origin, a beautiful mosaic of life. Sign up for the Observation Deck newsletter Read the latest Times Union opinion, perspective and letters to the editor on Mondays by signing up for our Observation Deck newsletter. John Amidon The Interfaith Alliance of New York State Albany The Taoiseach, Leo Varadker, led the State's National Famine Commemoration which took place at the Famine Warhouse 1848 on Saturday Sept 30th 2017, on the site where the 1848 Young Irelanders rebellion took place at the height of the Famine. This was the first time Ballingarry was the location of a formal State National Event. The Taoiseach said the best way to remember those who died in Irelands Great Famine of the 1840s is to help their modern-day equivalents by welcoming those who have suffered through natural disaster or oppression. Ms. Heather Humphreys, T.D., Minister for Cultured, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and Dr. Phyll Bugler, Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council, attended the event at the Famine Warhouse 1848, once the home of the Widow McCormack and her family and now a commemorative visitor centre run by the OPW. They were joined by hundreds of spectators, including ambassadors or charges daffaires from 48 countries as well as representatives of the UN High Commission for Refugees, the European Commission and European Parliament. Mr. Varadkar told the crowd the Irish Famine had shaped our destiny through its effect on our culture, society, politics and approach to the problems of the world. The Great Famine was a cataclysm on a scale never witnessed on this island before, and yet people endured, survived, emigrated and, above all, remembered, he said. It has become part of our national consciousness and, indeed, part of our national sub-consciousness. The scene outside Ballingarry was an intersection of two important events, according to the Taoiseach - the suffering of the Famine and the uprising of 1848 which was quickly repelled. A direct line connecting the events of Ballingarry ran through the subsequent foundation of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the struggles of the Land League, the 1916 Rising and the achievement of Independence. While the Great Hunger left many emotional and social wounds, its positive legacy was the contribution since made to the world by our emigrants, which began when so many people left in the 1840s and subsequent years, he added. For so many of our diaspora, the Famine was the foundation stone of the story of their families. For many, it was the turning point in their family history. Another positive from the Famine, he continued, was the solidarity shown to other people who have gone through similar events. He referred to the contribution of Ireland today to helping those in such situations, from investment in delivering nutrition to mothers and their children, to our Naval Service assisting people who decide to cross the Mediterranean Sea to seek a better life, to our soldiers on peacekeeping duties with the UN in various countries. As a Prelude to the ceremony, the large crowd present were entertained by local musicians, the Mangled Badgers, followed by a performance from Banna Cluain Meala. Local County Councillor, Imelda Goldsboro, was on hand to lead An Taoiseach to where he was asked to plant an oak tree and to unveil a commemorative plaque specially commissioned for the occasion. The ceremony included wreath-laying by diplomatic representatives, singing by students from the Ursuline Convent in Thurles, while teacher Carmel OBrien and poet Michael Coady, read a poem, Amhran na bPratai, by Maire Ni Dhroma translated into English by Michael Coady piano improvisations on the traditional air by Micheal O Suilleabhain, and prayers were led by Rev. Barbara Fryday and Fr Derry Quirke. The wreaths will subsequently be placed on graves in the graveyards in the parish. Local historian Dr. Thomas McGrath spoke of the role played by the Famine Warhouse in history. A poem, Siberia, by James Clarence Mangan, was read by Aiden Mullally and Abaigeal Maher, head boy and girl from Presentation School, Ballingarry. Dr Phyl Bugler, chairperson of Tipperary County Council, read from an excerpt from Fr. Philip Fitzgeralds Report on Famine in Ballingarry to the National Repeal Association published in Tipperary Free Press on 8th May 1847. Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys, also chairwoman of the National Famine Commemoration Committee, said annual commemorations have now been held in 8 different counties across the country. Events concluded with a minutes silence, the playing of the Last Post and Reveille, the raising of the national flag and the national anthem. All present were then invited into the large marquee beside the House to be treated to an array of refreshments, while An Taoiseach mingled amongst the crowd. The event can viewed on the RTE Player through the following link: httpshttps://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/rte-news-special-1516/10782471/ The story of Ned Kelly, the infamous Australian outlaw with Co. Tipperary roots, and his gang is well documented but perhaps what isn't so well known is that John Sadeir (1833-1919). John Sadleir one of the senior policeman involved in the effort to apprehend them between 1878 and 80, was actually a native of Brookville just south of Tipperary Town. In a career that spanned over four decades, Sadleir is also credited with having played a pioneering role in policing in the state of Victoria. It was at the age of 19 in November 1852 that John Sadleir first set foot in Melbourne. A well known figure there by the time of his retirement he published a book in 1913 chronicling his experiences but wrote very little about his time in Ireland and Co. Tipperary. He also gives the reader scant information on his parents and siblings. Now with contributors from the Premier County and relatives hailing from abroad his fascinating story is to be the subject of a 3-part documentary to be aired on Tipp Mid West Radio which in addition to uncovering more about his time in Ireland includes details of his emigration, police career, family life and legacy in his adopted home of Australia. One of ten children, John Sadleir lived with his parents on the Brookville estate and in his spare time engaged in his favourite pastimes of horse riding and shooting. His early life was not without incident however as he experienced a family member be murdered outside Nenagh and the needless suffering he witnessed during the famine left a lasting impact on him. An accident also ended any aspirations he may have had in his initial chosen profession. On arrival in Australia Sadleir joined the police pretty much straight away and rose quickly through the ranks. Within three years he was married to an Irish woman with whom he had a large family. In social circles he was held in high regard and became a firm friend of the famous explorer Robert O'Hara Burke. It was on being promoted to superintendent that he later became centrally involved in the hunt for Ned Kelly and his gang. In fact in 1880 when they were eventually cornered, with hostages at a hotel in Glenrowan, it was John Sadleir who took over command of the siege. The documentary which has uncovered a lot of new information on the Tipperary native also delves into the background of his wife about whose family not a lot is known. Today the Sadleir name is no more in the Tipperary Town area but a family plot exists which is visited followed by reminisces concerning the last with that surname to live in the locality. Interviewees for the programme include Mary Crowe, Terry Cunningham, Danny Grace, Billy Kingston, Ronnie Land, Miriam Moffitt, Mike O'Meara, Alan Phelan and Katie Sadleir. The intriguing 3-part documentary entitled 'The Captor' by Tom Hurley will be aired over three Wednesdays at 7.05pm on Tipp Mid West Radio beginning on October 11th. The programmes can be heard outside the county on www.tippmidwestradio.com. By PTI: (Eds: Updating with fresh inputs) By Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Oct 2 (PTI) Pakistans ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif today appeared before an anti-corruption court for the second time in a week but his indictment was postponed till October 9 as his children, who are also been named in the high-profile Panama Papers case, failed to appear in court. advertisement Sharifs sons Hussain and Hassan and his daughter Maryam are co-defendants in the Panama Papers case and are currently in London with their mother Kalsum, who is undergoing treatment for throat cancer. Sharif, 67, got a brief reprieve when the Accountability Court decided to postpone his indictment till October 9. Sharif and his children Hussain, Hassan and Maryam; and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar ? are now expected to appear on October 9 to be formally indicted. Sharif could be jailed after the indictment. Sharif had earlier appeared before the accountability court on September 26, a day after returning from London. Sharifs family has alleged that the cases against them are politically motivated. Earlier, amidst tight security, Sharif arrived at the court for the hearing in three graft cases against him and his family. During the hearing, his lawyer Khawaja Haris argued that all of the accused in the case have to appear in court before an indictment can take place. Harris had contended that since Sharifs children were in London to take care of their ailing mother, arrest warrants should not be issued. But the court refused and issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the men and a bailable warrant for Maryam, likely keeping in mind that she may need to stay with her mother in London. Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, a leader of Sharifs Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), told the media after the hearing that last for more than an hour that the indictment has been postponed. "The indictment is still pending and it would be discussed at the next hearing on Monday (October 9)," he said. Ranjah said that Maryam and her husband Muhammad Safdar are ready to come back to the county from London and will appear in the court in the next hearing. He said the defence did not press the issue of Sharifs exemption from appearing in the court. His lawyer asked the court on the last hearing that Sharif needed to take care of his wife in London so he would be allowed to skip personal appearance in the court. advertisement Lawyer Shahab Sarki said that Sharifs children now needed protected or transitory bail to avoid arrest after they would land in Pakistan from London. Heavy security arrangement made around the judicial complex created unpleasant situation when Sharif?s supporters and several cabinet ministers, including Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, were not allowed to enter the court premises. The Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif on July 28 in the Panama Papers case and ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file corruption and money laundering charges against the Sharif family and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. The NAB has filed cases of corruption and money laundering against Sharif, his family members and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in the Accountability Court in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The anti-graft body also froze the bank accounts and seized properties of Sharif and his family members to put pressure on them to appear before the court. Sharif last month went to London to see ailing wife Kulsoom who has undergone three surgeries related to her throat cancer (lymphoma). PTI SH NSA AKJ AKJ --- ENDS --- advertisement Gawk CEO Talks Small Business By Paula Bernier - Executive Editor, TMC John Oliver of Last Week Tonight recently did a segment on frequently politicians say small business is the backbone of the American economy. In it, he built from Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin to former President Barack Obama saying it. The video clip concluded with a grid of 16 congresspeople all reciting this well-worn comment. So it was funny that Gawk CEO, Scott Kettle used the exact same phrase in the companys announcement about its recent and projected sales numbers. But, the point is that this cloud-based infrastructure-as-a-service company sold 1.7 billion minutes to its business-to-business customers before the end of the third quarter. And it expects its sales to exceed 2.3 billion minutes by the end of 2017. "Our revenue is based on the total amount of minutes we sell to small to-medium businesses in the United States, said Kettle. Small business is the backbone of America, and we contribute to their success, as well as ours, by making sure their messages are heard in the consumer markets. GAWK sells cloud communications, cloud computing, cloud connectivity, and managed cloud-based applications solutions to small, medium, and large businesses. It also provides domestic and international voice services to communications carriers worldwide. Theres been a long-term decline in new business creation, according to several sources. CNN reports that U.S. entrepreneurship is near a 40-year low. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation says this trend has been ongoing since the 1980s. Oliver, meanwhile, referred to New York Times coverage saying its been on the decline since the 1970s. But, the 2017 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity points to some positive developments on this front. "A three-year upward trend in new business formation is a promising sign for the economy," said Victor Hwang, vice president of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation. "Recent research demonstrates that more startups lead to higher productivity, wage growth and quality of life. Growing startups not only support individual entrepreneurs but lift surrounding communities, says Hwang. We need to identify and remove barriers and contribute to a new model of economic development that infuses more entrepreneurship into the economy." Please enable JavaScript to view the Edited by Mandi Nowitz [October 02, 2017] Community Health Systems Completes Divestiture of Weatherford, Texas Hospital Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH) announced today that subsidiaries of the Company have completed the sale of 103-bed Weatherford Regional Medical Center in Weatherford, Texas, and its associated assets to subsidiaries of HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA). The effective date of the transaction is October 1, 2017. Weatherford Regional Medical Center is one of the 30 planned hospital divestitures discussed on the Company's second quarter 2017 earnings call. About Community Health Systems, Inc. Community Health Systems, Inc. is one of the largest publicly traded hospital companies in the United States and a leading operator of general acute care hospitals in communities across the country. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns, leases or operates 129 affiliated hospitals in 20 states with an aggregate of approximately 21,000 licensed beds. The Company's headquarters re located in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb south of Nashville. Shares in Community Health Systems, Inc. are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CYH." More information about the Company can be found on its website at www.chs.net. Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this news release regarding potential transactions, operating results, and other events are forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. Actual future events or results may differ materially from these statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Community Health Systems, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K, current reports on Form 8-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. These filings identify important risk factors and other uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171002005241/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Quorum Health Corporation Completes Sale of Two Hospitals in Pennsylvania Quorum Health Corporation (NYSE: QHC) announced today that affiliates of the Company completed the transaction for the divestiture of 70-bed Sunbury Community Hospital in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and 47-bed Lock Haven Hospital in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and their associated assets. The transaction was effective as of 11:59 Eastern Time on September 30, 2017. About Quorum Health Corporation Quorum Health Corporation is an operator of general acute care hospitals and outpatient services in the United States. Through its subsidiaries, the Company owns, leases or operates a diversified portfolio of 32 affiliated hospitals with an aggregate of approximately 3,100 licensed beds. The Company also operates Quorum Health Resources, LLC, a leading hospital management advisory and consulting services business. More information about Quorum Health Corporation can be found at www.quorumhealth.com. Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this news release regarding expected operating results, acquisition transactions or divestitures and other events are forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. Actual future events or results may differ materially from these statements. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Quorum Health Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K, current reports on Form 8-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. These filings identify important risk factors and other uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The terms "QHC," "Quorum Health," "the Company," "we," "us" or "our" refer to Quorum Health Corporation or one or more of its subsidiaries or affiliates as applicable. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171002005395/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 01, 2017] Oracle Partners Continue to Accelerate Success in the Cloud SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle OpenWorld -- Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), today announced that the company continues to see strong cloud leadership and momentum across its 25,000-member strong partner program. Companies are increasingly looking to the cloud to stay competitive and enable business transformation. Since its launch in February 2016, more than 2,600 unique partners have joined the Oracle PartnerNetwork Cloud Program. Additionally, cloud resell revenue from partners increased 105 percent year over year. Further helping customers and partners succeed in the cloud, OPN also today announced the Oracle Cloud Excellence Implementer Program. Please see the release here. "Oracle continues to deliver the programs and enablement resources that help our partners to grow and thrive in the cloud," said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president, Cloud Business Group, Oracle. "Through Oracle PartnerNetwork, we work in tandem with partners to provide customers with the solutions and services needed to take advantage of Oracle's state-of-the-art cloud platform." With Oracle's complete and integrated cloud, customers can choose their own personalized path for how they want to move to cloud and partners are a critical part of that journey. Nearly half of all partners in the OPN program today implement, develop and sell in the cloud with Oracle. Providing ISVs a Platform for Success For independent software vendors (ISVs), selecting the right cloud platform, and the right cloud partner, are critical decisions for their business. ISVs and application developers must balance the requirements of their current businesses and implementations with the need to invest in innovative new architectures, modern cloud capabilities, and flexible deployment models. With Oracle's broad collection of available PaaS and IaaS services, we are delivering on the most comprehensive portfolio of cloud services and capabilities for developers, as well as programs, resources, and commercial models that meet both immediate business needs and longer-term growth objectives. From startups to enterprise application providers, hundreds of partners worldwide are realizing the many benefits of migrating their applications and customers to Oracle Cloud Platform and Infrastructure, including 1Check, FICO, Manhattan Associates, Wexlog and many others. "Oracle's commitment to partners is clearwe both win when we work together," said Jeff Cashman, senior vice president of business development, Manhattan Associates. "We are excited to collaborate with Oracle in bringing state-of-the-art cloud solutions to companies of all sizes." Oracle is investing in innovative new services and capabilities with Docker and Kubernetes, which has captured the attention of cloud application developers at Dial-Once, RECVUE, and SuiteBox among others. Through the Oracle Cloud Marketplace, partners can expand the visibility of their applications to 425,000+ Oracle customers and partners. PS Technology, Stromasys and Symantec are a few of the 4,000+ cloud application provides leveraging Oracle programs and go to market resources to grow their business and expand into new markets. New OPN Enablement Resources Also launched today, the Cloud Excellence Implementer Program (CEI) helps customers make a smooth transition to the cloud through Oracle implementation partners. The new program recognizes and rewards those partners who have invested in building their Oracle Cloud expertise and demonstrate a proven track record for delivering high quality cloud implementation projects across Oracle's customer base. With the CEI distinction, partners that work with Oracle to implement Oracle Cloud around the globe will be able to further differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and benefit from increased enablement and go-to-market support from Oracle. In tandem, customers will be able to more easily identify partners with the specific expertise and proven track record they need to successfully navigate their transition to the cloud. The CEI program is available to OPN members now and will initially focus on implementations for Oracle's SaaS Cloud services. Driving Cloud Momentum for MSPs Unveiled at OpenWorld 2016, the Oracle Cloud Managed Service Provider (MSP) program enables customers to speed up success in the cloud with support from the right partner and platform. The program is available to partners with the skills and infrastructure to build, deploy, run and manage both Oracle and non-Oracle workloads, enabling OPN members to offer a complete managed service solution for workloads running on Oracle Cloud. The Oracle Cloud MSP Program most recently includes Fujitsu America Inc., which just announced a new MSP relationship to provide Oracle Cloud to its customers in the Americas. "There is a breadth of opportunity for all partners regardless of partner type to expand your solution portfolios with Oracle Cloud," said Penny Philpot, group vice president of worldwide channels and alliances, Oracle. "Our primary focus is working together with partners to transform our customers' businesses and support their growth in the cloud." Oracle is one of the only cloud providers to deliver complete industry-leading product portfolios across Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and Data-as-a-Service (DaaS). Its SaaS portfolio features the broadest set of solutions in the marketplace, which can be extended, enriched and customized through Oracle PaaS and delivered on Oracle IaaS for high performance, security, scale and availability. In addition, Data as a Service (DaaS) complements our existing SaaS applications with one of the world's largest third-party data sources with more than six billion anonymized profiles from online data, websites, and offline transactions for every major industry. About Oracle The Oracle Cloud offers complete SaaS application suites for ERP, HCM and CX, plus best-in-class database Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) from data centers throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), please visit us at oracle.com. About Oracle PartnerNetwork Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) is Oracle's partner program that provides partners with a differentiated advantage to develop, sell and implement Oracle solutions. OPN offers resources to train and support specialized knowledge of Oracle's products and solutions and has evolved to recognize Oracle's growing product portfolio, partner base and business opportunity. Key to the latest enhancements to OPN is the ability for partners to be recognized and rewarded for their investment in Oracle Cloud. Partners engaging with Oracle will be able to differentiate their Oracle Cloud expertise and success with customers through the OPN Cloud program an innovative program that complements existing OPN program levels with tiers of recognition and progressive benefits for partners working with Oracle Cloud. To find out more visit: http://www.oracle.com/partners/index.html About Oracle OpenWorld Oracle OpenWorld, the industry's most important business and technology conference for the past 20 years, hosts tens of thousands of in-person attendees as well as millions online. Dedicated to helping businesses leverage Cloud for their innovation and growth, the conference delivers deep insight into industry trends and breakthroughs driven by technology. Designed for attendees who want to connect, learn, explore and be inspired, Oracle OpenWorld offers more than 2,500 educational sessions led by more than 2,000 customers and partners sharing their experiences, first hand. With hundreds of demos and hands-on labs, plus exhibitions from more than 400 partners and customers from around the world, Oracle OpenWorld has become a showcase for leading cloud technologies, from Cloud Applications to Cloud Platform and Infrastructure. For more information; to register; or to watch Oracle OpenWorld keynotes, sessions, and more, visit www.oracle.com/openworld. Join the Oracle OpenWorld discussion on Twitter. Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Safe Harbor Disclaimer The preceding is intended to outline our general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracle's products remains at the sole discretion of Oracle Corporation. Statements in this article relating to Oracle's future plans, expectations, beliefs, and intentions are "forward-looking statements" and are subject to material risks and uncertainties. Such statements are based on Oracle's current expectations and assumptions, some of which are beyond Oracle's control. All information in this article is current as of October 1, 2017 and Oracle undertakes no duty to update any statement in light of new information or future events. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oracle-partners-continue-to-accelerate-success-in-the-cloud-300528804.html SOURCE Oracle [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 01, 2017] Accenture Named Global and North America Specialized Partner of the Year for HCM Cloud at OpenWorld 2017 ORACLE OPENWORLD -- Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE:ACN) received two new Oracle Excellence Awards in recognition of its success in leveraging Oracle (News - Alert) Cloud solutions: Specialized Partner of the Year: HCM Cloud - Global; and HCM Cloud Partner of the Year - North America. These 2017 Oracle Excellence Awards were received at Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco, an annual event honoring outstanding Oracle PartnerNetwork alliance partners, in recognition of their commitment to delivering innovative solutions and business practices for Oracle customers. "Accenture continues to deliver exceptional results for Oracle customers, bringing unparalleled industry experience and knowledge to every project," said Camillo Speroni, vice president of worldwide strategic alliances, Oracle. "This year, we congratulate our longtime alliance partner for playing a crucial role in successfully bringing the flexibility of Oracle HCM Cloud to more customers than any other alliance partner in our network, and look forward to many years of continued joint success and innovation." In selecting Accenture for these prestigious awards, Oracle highlighted the strength of the Accenture Oracle Business Group, which brings together Oracle's cloud offerings and Accenture's deep industry, technology and delivery capability to help drive superior performance, business agility and customer impact for clients. The judges also emphasized the growing success of the Accenture Cloud Suite for Oracle, an integrated digital platform designed to help clients achieve optimal results when migrating applications to the cloud. The Accenture Cloud Suite is a focal point for creating Oracle SaaS (News - Alert), PaaS and IaaS solutions for clients - and can be tailored for individual projects. For businesses moving to Oracle HCM, the Accenture Cloud Suite can help architect, accelerate, and automate their journeys, drawing on Accenture's extensive experience with Oracle technology and cloud implementations. "It is an honor to have been selected as the 2017 OPN Global and North America Human Management Cloud Partner of the Year," said Terri Strauss, managing director of Oracle business for Accenture. "With these awards and the recent launch of the Accenture Cloud Suite for Oracle, Accenture continues to demonstrate its strong understanding of the capabilities of Oracle's suite of cloud solutions as well as our commitment to delivering innovative solutions and business value for our clients looking to accelerate their journey to cloud." Accenture has been one of Oracle's top systems integration partners globally for 12 years in a row, with more than 54,000 Oracle-skilled consultants around the world who help accelerate digital transformation by implementing Oracle-based business solutions and new business processes that develop and evolve as their digital business grows. Accenture has teamed with Oracle for more than two decades and is a Global Cloud Elite-level member in Oracle PartnerNetwork. For more information on the Accenture and Oracle relationship, please visit www.accenture.com/oracle. About Accenture Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions - underpinned by the world's largest delivery network - Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 425,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com. About Oracle PartnerNetwork Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized is the latest version of Oracle's partner program that provides partners with tools to better develop, sell and implement Oracle solutions. OPN Specialized offers resources to train and support specialized knowledge of Oracle products and solutions and has evolved to recognize Oracle's growing product portfolio, partner base and business opportunity. Key to the latest enhancements to OPN is the ability for partners to differentiate through Specializations. Specializations are achieved through competency development, business results, expertise and proven success. To find out more visit: www.oracle.com/partners. Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171001005031/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 01, 2017] Clearbridge BioMedics joins CANCER-ID consortium as first Asian partner SINGAPORE, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Clearbridge BioMedics today announced that it has joined CANCER-ID, a public-private international consortium that aims to establish standard protocols for, and clinical validation of, blood-based biomarkers. Founded in 2015 and backed by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), CANCER-ID currently has 38 partners from 14 countries, including Clearbridge Biomedics. The company is the consortium's first partner headquartered in Asia. The CANCER-ID consortium brings together experts from academic medical centres and industry engaged in oncology research and patient care, who are working to advance cancer treatment and therapy monitoring by using circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and tumour-related DNA (ctDNA) found in blood. CANCER-ID supports a number of innovative research projects, which aim to develop clinical utility in cancer treatment and monitoring through the identification of biomarkers in blood, specifically for lung and breast cancer. Clearbridge BioMedics has developed the proprietary ClearCell FX System, which is a label-free, enrichment and isolation platform that retrieves intact, viable CTCs from a patient's blood sample. The technology enables seamless processing of both CTCs and ctDNA from the same patient blood sample for subsequent analysis. It is currently being used in cancer research and clinical trials to better understand the underlying biology of cancer, to gain new insights into the disease and improve patient management. The ClearCell FX System is also being used at several academic consortium partners and hospitals for research projects under CANCER-ID. "We believe that the use of liquid biopsy will play a critical role in advancing cancer diagnostics and personalised medicine. By participating in the CANCER-ID consortium, we aim to accelerate the adoption f CTC-based diagnostics in the clinic. This will ultimately lead to better patient management and improved outcomes for cancer patients," said Dr Michael Paumen, CEO Clearbridge BioMedics. "The innovative label-free ClearCell FX microfluidic technology is an important addition to the CANCER-ID repertoire of EpCam independent CTC capture assays, which enables the detection and characterization of subsets of tumor cells that undergo an epithelial mesenchymal transition," said Prof. Dr. Klaus Pantel, Scientific Coordinator of CANCER-ID and Chairman of the Department of Tumor Biology at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf. Clearbridge BioMedics will show-case its liquid biopsy platform at two upcoming conferences, the ACTC meeting in October (www.actc2017.org) and AMP in November 2017 (www.amp.org). About Clearbridge BioMedics Clearbridge BioMedics is a clinical oncology company that enables non-invasive liquid biopsy using a label-free Circulating Tumour Cell (CTC) enrichment platform. It is a National University of Singapore (NUS) spin-off company committed to revolutionizing cancer diagnostics and patient care. The ClearCell FX System, using the CTChip, is based on innovative technology that effectively isolates intact and viable CTCs from patients' blood. The system uses inertial focusing microfluidics for label-free CTC enrichment, capturing heterogeneous and dynamic cancer cells to be used for cancer diagnosis and treatment monitoring. By enriching CTCs from standard blood samples, the platform allows for analysis of disease before, during, and after treatment, which has become increasingly critical in the new era of precision medicine. Headquartered in Singapore, Clearbridge BioMedics currently has customers spanning Asia, Europe and North America. The company has won numerous awards and garnered global recognition for the ClearCell FX System. Clearbridge BioMedics has received ISO 13485 certification in 2011, and the ClearCell FX attained CE IVD in 2015. http://www.clearbridgebiomedics.com/ About the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is working to improve health by speeding up the development of, and patient access to, innovative medicines, particularly in areas where there is an unmet medical or social need. It does this by facilitating collaboration between the key players involved in healthcare research, including universities, the pharmaceutical and other industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), patient organizations and medicines regulators. IMI is a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry, represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Through the IMI 2 programme, IMI has a budget of 3.3 billion for the period 2014-2024. Half of this comes from the EU's research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020. The other half comes from large companies, mostly from the pharmaceutical sector; these do not receive any EU funding, but contribute to the projects 'in kind', for example by donating their researchers' time or providing access to research facilities or resources. The research leading to these results has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement n [115749], resources of which are composed of financial contribution from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) and EFPIA companies' in-kind contribution. www.imi.europa.eu The text in this press release reflects Clearbridge BioMedics' views and neither IMI nor the European Union, EFPIA or any Associated Partners are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170928/1952739-1-LOGO SOURCE Clearbridge BioMedics [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 01, 2017] Sara Kopamees interviews Suncor for cover of Canadian Industry magazine: celebrating the company's 50 years in the oil sands KITCHENER, ON, Oct. 1, 2017 /CNW/ - Interactive publishers Industry Media announced the release of the latest issue of Canadian Industry Online (CIO) magazine, featuring an exclusive story looking at the 50th anniversary of Suncor's innovation in the oil sands. In this month's edition, CIO also features interviews with Colliers Canada, Pearson International Airport and RMS Group. Readers are invited to share thei comments on this month's content via Facebook, and by email at [email protected]. Contributions to the magazines are welcomed, and will be reviewed by the Industry Media team for inclusion in the next issues. Current contributors include Mergermarket, CNW, and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. About Industry Media Industry Media is an interactive publishing company dedicated to serving the information needs of business professionals in Canada and abroad. Headquartered in Kitchener-Waterloo, Industry Media produces online magazines Canadian Industry Online (CIO) and Global Renewables Online (GRO), with a mandate to share Canadian innovation success nationally and beyond, as well as showcase the best in international renewable energy development. SOURCE Industry Media [October 02, 2017] ABLYNX ANNOUNCES POSITIVE TOPLINE RESULTS FROM THE PHASE III HERCULES STUDY OF CAPLACIZUMAB FOR THE TREATMENT OF ACQUIRED TTP REGULATED INFORMATION - INSIDE INFORMATION Caplacizumab meets primary endpoint and key secondary endpoints Statistically significant reduction in time to platelet count response, with at any given time patients treated with caplacizumab 50% more likely to achieve platelet count response 74% relative reduction in the percentage of patients with aTTP-related death, a recurrence of aTTP, or at least one major thromboembolic event during the study drug treatment period 67% relative reduction in the percentage of patients with aTTP recurrence during the overall study period No caplacizumab-treated patients had refractory disease Trend to faster normalisation of organ damage markers Safety profile consistent with Phase II TITAN results and mechanism of action Data will be used to drive the registration process for caplacizumab in Europe and the USA Conference call and webcast today at 4pm CET/10am ET GHENT, Belgium, 2 October 2017 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX; OTC: ABYLY] today announced positive topline results from the Phase III HERCULES study with caplacizumab, the Company's anti-von Willebrand factor (vWF) Nanobody being developed for the treatment of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP). Treatment with caplacizumab in addition to standard-of-care resulted in a statistically significant reduction in time to platelet count response (p<0.01), the primary endpoint of the study and a measure of prevention of further microvascular thrombosis. Patients on caplacizumab were 1.5 times more likely to achieve platelet count response at any given time point, compared to patients treated with placebo. The Phase III HERCULES study also met the first two key secondary endpoints. Treatment with caplacizumab resulted in a 74% reduction in the percentage of patients with aTTP-related death, recurrence of aTTP, or at least one major thromboembolic event during study drug treatment (p<0.0001), with recurrences being the driver for achievement of this endpoint. In addition, the proportion of patients with a recurrence of aTTP in the overall study period (including the 28 day follow-up after discontinuation of study drug treatment) was 67% lower in the caplacizumab arm compared to the placebo arm (p<0.001), demonstrating the durability of the treatment effect. Analysis of the third key secondary endpoint showed that no patients treated with caplacizumab were refractory to treatment compared to three patients treated with placebo (p=0.057). The analysis of the fourth key secondary endpoint showed a trend to faster normalisation of the organ damage markers (lactate dehydrogenase, cardiac troponin I and serum creatinine) in patients treated with caplacizumab. Based on the topline data, the safety profile of caplacizumab is consistent with its mechanism of action and the Phase II TITAN study results. The number and nature of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were similar between the treatment groups. Serious TEAEs were more common in the placebo group, driven by the percentage of patients experiencing a recurrence of aTTP. Consistent with the mechanism of action of caplacizumab, the percentage of subjects with any bleeding-related TEAE was higher in the caplacizumab treatment group than in the placebo treatment group (66.2% vs. 49.3%). Most bleeding-related TEAEs were mild or moderate in severity. There were three deaths in the placebo group and none in the caplacizumab group during the study drug treatment period. One patient in the caplacizumab group died in the follow-up period after completing the study drug treatment and this was assessed by the investigator not to be related to study drug. Caplacizumab is wholly-owned by Ablynx and today's reported data will be used to support the registration process for caplacizumab in Europe and the USA. Dr Robert K. Zeldin, Chief Medical Officer at Ablynx, commented: "Patients with aTTP are at risk for significant morbidity and early death. We believe these positive Phase III study results confirm the potential for caplacizumab to address the high unmet medical need in the treatment of aTTP and to have a meaningful impact on the lives of affected patients. We continue to analyse the data and look forward to sharing the results with regulatory authorities and the scientific community." "We thank the study participants and their families as well as the investigators and staff who contributed to this study." Dr Edwin Moses, CEO of Ablynx, commented: "I am delighted by this outcome as it reinforces all our beliefs in the potential for caplacizumab to change the lives of patients affected by aTTP. This is a very important milestone for the Company as it further validates our Nanobody platform and demonstrates our ability to discover and develop medicines that make a real difference for society. These results strengthen our resolve to obtain marketing approval as quickly as possible so that caplacizumab rapidly becomes available to patients suffering from this severe disease for which there is currently no approved drug available." Professor Marie cully, leading TTP specialist from the University College Hospital in London and Investigator in the HERCULES study commented: "The results of this landmark trial constitute a complete game changer for patients with aTTP. They will revolutionise how we manage the acute phase of the disease, which is when patients are at highest risk for organ damage, recurrence and death." Investor conference call and webcast information Ablynx will host a conference call/webcast today at 4pm CET, 10am ET. The webcast may be accessed by clicking here. To participate in the Q&A, please dial +32 (0)2 620 01 38, using confirmation code 4097559. Shortly thereafter, a replay of the webcast will be available on the Company's website: http://www.ablynx.com/news/events-presentations/. About HERCULES The HERCULES study recruited 145 patients and is the largest randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted in patients with aTTP. Patients with an acute episode of aTTP were randomised 1:1 to receive either caplacizumab or placebo in addition to standard-of-care treatment (i.e. daily plasma exchange [PEX] and immunosuppression). Patients received a single intravenous bolus of 10mg caplacizumab or placebo followed by daily subcutaneous dose of 10mg caplacizumab or placebo until 30 days after the last daily PEX. If, at the end of this treatment period, there was evidence of persistent underlying disease activity indicative of an imminent risk for recurrence, the treatment could be extended for additional seven-day periods up to a maximum of 28 days. Patients were followed up for a further 28 days after discontinuation of treatment. A three-year follow-up study (NCT02878603) of patients who have completed the HERCULES study is in progress and will further evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of caplacizumab and repeated use of caplacizumab, as well as characterising the long-term impact of aTTP. About caplacizumab Caplacizumab is a bivalent anti-vWF Nanobody that received Orphan Drug Designation in Europe and the United States in 2009. Caplacizumab blocks the interaction of ultra-large vWF multimers (ULvWF) with platelets and, therefore, has an immediate effect on platelet aggregation and the ensuing formation and accumulation of the micro-clots that cause the severe thrombocytopenia, tissue ischemia and organ dysfunction in aTTP. This immediate effect of caplacizumab has the potential to protect the patient from the manifestations of the disease while the underlying disease process resolves. In February 2017, based on the Phase II TITAN study results, a Marketing Authorisation Application (MAA) was submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for approval of caplacizumab in aTTP[1]. In July 2017, Ablynx received Fast Track designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for caplacizumab for the treatment of aTTP.[2] Results from the Phase III HERCULES study are expected to further support the MAA, as well as a planned Biologics License Application (BLA) filing in the United States in 2018. If approved by regulatory authorities, caplacizumab would be the first therapeutic specifically indicated for the treatment of aTTP. About aTTP aTTP is a rare, acute, life-threatening, autoimmune blood clotting disorder. It is caused by impaired activity of the ADAMTS13 enzyme, leaving ULvWF molecules uncleaved (vWF is an important protein involved in the blood clotting process). These ULvWF molecules spontaneously bind to blood platelets, resulting in severe thrombocytopenia (very low platelet count) and clot formation in small blood vessels throughout the body[3], leading to ischemia and widespread organ damage[4]. Despite the current standard-of-care treatment consisting of PEX and immunosuppression, episodes of aTTP are still associated with a mortality rate of up to 20%, with most deaths occurring within 30 days of diagnosis[5]. Furthermore, patients are at risk of acute thromboembolic complications (e.g. stroke, myocardial infarction) and of recurrence of disease. Some patients are refractory to therapy3, which is associated with a poor prognosis for survival of an acute episode of aTTP. Long term, patients are at increased risk for hypertension, major depression, and premature death[6]. About Ablynx Ablynx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of Nanobodies, proprietary therapeutic proteins based on single-domain antibody fragments, which combine the advantages of conventional antibody drugs with some of the features of small-molecule drugs. Ablynx is dedicated to creating new medicines which will make a real difference to society. Today, the Company has more than 45 proprietary and partnered programmes in development in various therapeutic areas including inflammation, haematology, immuno-oncology, oncology and respiratory disease. The Company has collaborations with multiple pharmaceutical companies including AbbVie; Boehringer Ingelheim; Eddingpharm; Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, New Jersey, USA; Merck KGaA; Novartis; Novo Nordisk; Sanofi and Taisho Pharmaceuticals. The Company is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium. More information can be found on www.ablynx.com. For more information, please contact Ablynx: Dr Edwin Moses CEO t: +32 (0)9 262 00 07 m: +32 (0)473 39 50 68 e: [email protected] Lies Vanneste Director Investor Relations t: +32 (0)9 262 01 37 m: +32 (0)498 05 35 79 e: [email protected] Follow us on Twitter @AblynxABLX Ablynx media relations: Consilium Strategic Communications Mary-Jane Elliott, Philippa Gardner, Sukaina Virji t: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 e: [email protected] Disclaimer Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Company or, as appropriate, the Company directors' current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition and technology, can cause actual events, performance or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its parent or subsidiary undertakings or any such person's officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. [1] Press release February 2017 [2] Press release July 2017 [3] Veyradier, NEJM 2016: "von Willebrand Factor - A new target for TTP treatment?" [4] Scully et al., Br J Hem 2012; Sarode et al., J Clin Apher 2014; Chaturvedi et al., Am J Hem 2013 [5] Benhamou, Y. et al., Haematologica 2012 [6] Deford et al., Blood 2013 Attachments: //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6c125443-e9cd-47e4-a334-128a5d6a7154 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Chakratec and DBT-CEV Announce a Cooperation in Fast and Ultra Fast EV Charging Station With Kinetic Power Booster to Deliver EV Charging Everywhere LOD, Israel, October 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chakratec, the Kinetic Energy Storage pioneer and DBT Europe's leading EV Technology partner for AC and fast charging announced today their cooperation to offer and deliver DBT's Fast and Ultra-Fast EV charging stations combined with Chakratec's unlimited charge cycle and environmental friendly kinetic power booster. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/565403/Chakratec.jpg ) Fast EV chargers have a great impact on the grid when charging with high power. The newly developed system between DBT-CEV and Chakratec connects a multi standard fast charger and a kinetic storage to a low power grid and boosts it times three. The objective is to avoid massive upgrade investments of the grid. The system will store energy while no car is charging and flush it into the EV during the EV charging process. The outstanding advantages of kinetic storage over chemical batteries are its capability of providing unlimited charge cycles and since not chemical, it is environmental friendly. The power booster is modular, starting at 100kWp and scalable to multple MWp. This cooperation will enable both companies to offer fast chargers everywhere, including in areas with weak grid without effecting the grid. " Car Manufacturers are announcing new EVs for next years to come and behind the curtain we are making it possible. These new electric versions will only sell if we are able to charge them safely, anywhere without stressing the grid. I am glad this collaboration allows chargers to be installed in remote location where upgrading the grid makes no sense. The product is high tech, high quality and environmentally friendly which is crucial in our industrial approach today." said Alexandre Borgoltz, Sales Director of DBT-CEV. " After maturing our kinetic storage technology and our patents granted in the US, EU and Israel, Chakratec is accepting orders and preparing for deliveries of its power booster with fast EV chargers in 2018." says Nir Zohar, co-founder and VP Business Development of Chakratec. "Cooperating with DBT, and together accelerating the penetration of EVs by enabling fast EV charging everywhere is very exciting for us", he adds. About Chakratec Chakratec, established in 2013, brings to the energy storage market patented kinetic battery energy storage solution based on an innovative flywheel concept. Chakratec's kinetic battery, provides virtually limitless number of deep charge cycles over the full life time of 20 years. Chakratec is accelerating its sales activities and is looking for partners and pilot projects in Europe. URL : http://www.chakratec.com , Contact : [email protected] About DBT-CEV DBT-CEV, leader in Europe, offers innovative solutions for electric vehicle charging, PH-EV, buses and also trucks. On the field, around 15,000 charging points are installed on more than 500 sites, the company has installed 55% out Fast Charger in Europe. The CEO's word, Herve Borgoltz, "Tomorrow, we will move another way. And our mode of transport's transformation will deal with electricity" URL : http://www.dbtcev.fr/en/ , Contact : [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] BAMM! and Chicago Fair Trade Announce a Travel Affinity Program to Increase Program Contributions CHICAGO, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BAMM!, the next-generation travel and meeting management platform, today announced with Chicago Fair Trade (CFT) a unique public-private partnership to drive giving for Chicago Fair Trade's domestic and global initiatives. Using BAMM!'s unique web, iOS and Android-based platform, CFT supporters travel for fun or business and a percentage of the proceeds go to fund Chicago Fair Trade. "We are tremendously excited to support Chicago Fair Trade's domestic and global agenda at a time where the political and economic climate is really a call to action for the private sector to increase its role in charitable giving. The affinity program is easy to set up, and provides donors an alternate way of giving and supporting Chicago Fair Trade," said Kurt Johnson, CEO of BAMM! "Partnering with BAMM! is a natural fit, as fair trade supporters are adventuresome and most love to travel. And like fair trade, booking through BAMM! is a great (and easy) way for people to use their purchasing power for good," said Katherine Bissell Cordova, Executive Director of Chicago Fair Trade. Born as a project of the international anti-poverty organization Oxfam, Chicago Fair Trade is now the largest fair trade coalition in the U.S. Fair trade policies promote economic development, worker well-being and environmental sustainability. By harnessing the power of American consumers, Chicago Fair Trade helps support tens of thousands of low-income and marginalized workers, artisans and farmers from around the world each year to achieve a fulfilling and sustainable livelihood for themselves and their families. "We see BAMM! as a way of augmenting our fundraising through the end of the year and beyond. October is Fair Trade Month so this launch is timely. We also are launching a new venture this month: selling Chicago Fair Trade coffee. And booking travel through BAMM! is another great way additional way to support us," said Cordova. BAMM! helps non-profits grow their contributions through affinity programs; enterprises receive the best market pricing for travel, and busy individuals have the most productive meetings and travel possible. Integrations with Priceline and Uber ensure that nearly all aspects of personal and professional travel are enabled; integration with Uber Conference ensures that users can go virtual, if necessary; and integration with Outlook and Gmail means that users do not have to change behavior to reap BAMM!'s productivity benefits. Companies and users can: - Book rental cars, hotels and air travel via the web, iPhone, or Android apps - Schedule and monitor meetings and events - Understand if people are going to be late, and reach out individually to participants, and instantly set up a conference bridge or easily reschedule About BAMM! (Before and After Meeting Manager) Founded in 2014 in Chicago, IL, BAMM! is the next generation travel and meeting management platform, and is uniquely positioned to offer affinity and travel programs to non-profits and enterprises. As a member of the Priceline Partnership Network, BAMM! has access to over 900,000 hotels worldwide, over 18 rental car brands in 180 countries, and 220+ airlines, and gets travelers where they need to be at the best prices. BAMM!'s smart apps for web, iPhone and Android take the stress out of meetings and meeting management and ensure that users are on time or able to be productive regardless of schedule changes. Integrations with Priceline, Uber, Uber Conference, Outlook, Gmail, combine with BAMM!'s proprietary AI to create an effortless travel and meeting experience. About Chicago Fair Trade Chicago Fair Trade (CFT) is the largest fair trade coalition in the USA, comprised of a dedicated base of member businesses, educational institutions, congregations, non-profit organizations, and individual activists. CFT increases support for economic and environmental justice through consumer education, advocacy, and promotion of local fair trade businesses. CFT is proud to be a local and national leader in raising awareness about and building support for fair trade and its principles of environmental sustainability, ethical production methods, fair wages, and safe working conditions. BAMM! When and Where Effortlessly is a registered trademark of DESTN8,LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Related Images image1.jpg CFT is launching a new venture this month: Chicago Fair Trade coffee image2.png Chicago Fair Trade image3.png BAMM! helps non-profits grow their contributions through affinity programs View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bamm-and-chicago-fair-trade-announce-a-travel-affinity-program-to-increase-program-contributions-300528813.html SOURCE Stevens & Tate Marketing for BAMM! [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By PTI: By Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Oct 2 (PTI) For the first time, Nepal and India will undertake a joint tiger census next month in their national parks, forests and protected areas adjoining the two countries using a globally-recognised method, officials said today. Conservation authorities and experts would install cameras in various locations in tiger habitats as well as in buffer zones to capture and track the movements of the big cat, a senior official said. advertisement The counting of tigers will begin from the second week of November, Director General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Man Bahadur Khadka said. According to Khadka, this is the first time that both the countries are counting tiger heads using the same method that is recognised globally. During a meeting recently, Nepalese and Indian conservation officials had decided to use the camera tapping procedure for the joint. "By using this method we can avoid chances of repeated counting of the same tiger," Khadka said. The Chitwan National Park in Chitwan and Parsa Wildlife Reserve of Nepal are adjacent to the Balmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar. Likewise, Nepals Bardiya National Park adjoins Indias Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary while the Shuklaphant National Park in Nepal adjoins Indias Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Tiger is an endangered animal listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The last tiger count conducted by Nepal in 2013 puts the number of adult tigers around 200 in the Himalayan country. Recent figures showed that since 2010, the estimated number of tigers across 13 tiger range countries including India and Nepal stood at 3,900. Tiger range countries (TRCs) are those where the big cat roams freely. At the International Tiger Conference in Russia in 2010, participating countries including Nepal had made a commitment to double the tiger population by 2022. This means Nepal would have at least 250 tigers, 100 per cent increase from its 2010 tiger count which had put the number of the big cat at 125. The 13 tiger range countries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), tigers have lost 93 per cent of their historical range. Human and wildlife conflict, climate change and poaching and illegal wildlife trade are among the major reasons that has pushed the feline into the endangered category -- facing risk of extinction in the wild -- over the years, the WWF said. PTI SBP KIS AKJ KIS --- ENDS --- advertisement [October 02, 2017] Bloomberg's New European Headquarters Rated World's Most Sustainable Office Building LONDON, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Opening later this month in the City of London, Bloomberg's new European headquarters is the world's most sustainable office building, as designed. The building achieved an 'Outstanding' rating against the BREEAM sustainability assessment method, with a 98.5% score. This is the highest design-stage score ever achieved by any major office development.1 Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. said: "We believe that environmentally-friendly practices are as good for business as they are for the planet. From day one, we set out to push the boundaries of sustainable office design - and to create a place that excites and inspires our employees. The two missions went hand-in-hand, and I hope we've set a new standard for what an office environment can be." Compared to a typical office building2, the new Bloomberg building's environmental strategies deliver a 73% saving in water consumption3 and a 35% saving in energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions4. Innovative power, lighting, water and ventilation systems account for the majority of energy savings. Designed to utilise waste products, respond to the building's external environment and adapt to its occupancy patterns, many of these solutions are first-of-a-kind. Norman Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman, Foster + Partners, said: "In some of our first discussions on the project, Mike Bloomberg and I arrived at a 'meeting of minds' on how the design of the new Bloomberg headquarters should incorporate the highest standards of sustainability. The project evolved from thereon into a building that is one of the most sustainable in the world. The deep plan interior spaces are naturally ventilated through a 'breathing' facade while a top lit atrium edged with a spiralling ramp at the heart of the building ensures a connected, healthy and creative environment." Alan Yates, Technical Director of BRE Global's Sustainability Group said: "What sets the Bloomberg building apart is its relentless focus on innovation and its holistic, integrated approach to sustainable construction and design. Projects like these are really important in giving confidence to the industry to experiment." Innovation Highlights Key innovation highlights include: Integrated Ceiling Panels: Bespoke integrated ceiling panels combine heating, cooling, lighting and acoustic functions in an innovative petal-leaf design. The system, which incorporates 500,000 LED lights, uses 40 percent less energy than a typical fluorescent office lighting system. Bespoke integrated ceiling panels combine heating, cooling, lighting and acoustic functions in an innovative petal-leaf design. The system, which incorporates 500,000 LED lights, uses 40 percent less energy than a typical fluorescent office lighting system. Water Conservation: Rainwater from the roof, cooling tower blow-off water, and grey water sources, like basins and showers, is captured, treated and recycled to serve vacuum flush toilets. These use net zero mains water for flushing. Overall, water conservation systems will save 25 million litres of water each year, enough to fill ten Olympic swimming pools. Rainwater from the roof, cooling tower blow-off water, and grey water sources, like basins and showers, is captured, treated and recycled to serve vacuum flush toilets. These use net zero mains water for flushing. Overall, water conservation systems will save 25 million litres of water each year, enough to fill ten Olympic swimming pools. Natural Ventilation: When ambient weather conditions are temperate, the building's distinctive bronze blades can open and close, allowing the building to operate in a "breathable" natural ventilation mode. Reducing dependency on mechanical ventilation and cooling equipment significantly reduces energy consumption. When ambient weather conditions are temperate, the building's distinctive bronze blades can open and close, allowing the building to operate in a "breathable" natural ventilation mode. Reducing dependency on mechanical ventilation and cooling equipment significantly reduces energy consumption. Smart Airflow: Smart CO 2 sensing controls allow air to be distributed according to the approximate number of people occupying each zone of the building at any given time. The ability to dynamically adjust airflow in response to occupancy hours and patterns is expected to save 600-750 MWhr of power per annum, reducing CO 2 emissions by approximately 300 metric tonnes each year. Smart CO sensing controls allow air to be distributed according to the approximate number of people occupying each zone of the building at any given time. The ability to dynamically adjust airflow in response to occupancy hours and patterns is expected to save 600-750 MWhr of power per annum, reducing CO emissions by approximately 300 metric tonnes each year. Combined Heat & Power: An on-site Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generation centre supplies heat and power in a single, efficient system with reduced carbon emissions. Waste heat generated from this process is recycled for cooling and heating and, in use, is expected to save 500-750 metric tonnes of CO 2 each year. A Global Commitment Environmental impact management has helped Bloomberg eliminate nearly 700,000 tonnes of CO2e (41% of CO2e intensity reduction) and avoid $95 million in operating costs since 2008. With the addition of the new London building, Bloomberg has 34 LEED or BREEAM-certified projects globally. By the end of 2017, nearly 70% of the company's 19,000 employees will occupy an environmentally certified office. Sustainable Occupation Bloomberg has been a zero-landfill operation in London since 2010; instead waste is recycled, composted or converted to energy. This commitment will continue at the new site, with better waste streaming to enable a greater proportion of waste products to be reused and recycled. Globally, Bloomberg currently diverts 75% of its total waste away from landfills and is targeting 90% diversion by 2020. The new development's interiors encourage active working, with sit-to-stand work stations for all employees and a central ramp spanning six floors that encourages movement through the building on foot. Two cycle centres and a wellness centre incorporating on-site health services, multi-faith prayer rooms and a mothers' room, will also be available to all employees. About Bloomberg's New European Headquarters: Located between the Bank of England and St Paul's Cathedral, the new European headquarters occupies 3.2 acres and will provide: approximately 1.1 million square feet of office and retail space; three new public plazas, two featuring specially commissioned works of art; Bloomberg Arcade, a dining arcade lined with independent restaurants, a new entrance to Bank Underground Station and an anticipated cultural space that will restore the ancient Roman Temple of Mithras to its original site. Clad in traditional stone and bronze, the building is sympathetic to its context and will improve the surrounding public realm. Bloomberg Arcade is now open to the public, reinstating an ancient Roman travel route and adding a new road to today's City grid. The new building will be opened on the 24th October, 2017 For more information on Bloomberg's approach to sustainability, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/bcause/. About BREEAM: BREEAM is the internationally recognised measure of sustainability for buildings and communities. More than 540,000 certificates have been issued under BREEAM on more than 24,000 projects and over 2.2 million buildings and communities are registered for certification. BREEAM is used in more than 70 countries. For more information on BREEAM visit: www.breeam.com 1 BREEAM UK New Construction 2014: Offices (Fully Fitted) 2 Compliant with current Building Regulations 3 2.34 m3/person per annum compared to 8.56 m3/person per annum from regulated loads (Source: BREEAM assessment 2014) 4 13.7 kg.CO2/m2 per annum compared to 20.9 kg.CO2/m2 per annum (Source: BREEAM assessment 2014). View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bloombergs-new-european-headquarters-rated-worlds-most-sustainable-office-building-300528941.html SOURCE Bloomberg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Veritas Launches New Research and Development Function in Ireland, Creating 250 Jobs by 2019 Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar officially opens Veritas multi-cloud innovation centre in Dublin DUBLIN, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Veritas Technologies, a leader in multi-cloud data management, announced the launch of a Veritas research and development (R&D) centre in Dublin, Ireland. The centre was officially opened by the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, and will contribute to the company's expansion in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Following a multi-million Euro investment, Veritas will be creating 250 new jobs in Dublin by 2019, of which 130 roles will be filled within the next year. Veritas has already started recruiting for a wide-array of open positions, working closely with the IDA Ireland to secure top talent with the cloud-based technology skills needed to accelerate the company's 360 multi-cloud data management platform. The recruitment drive focuses on development rolesfrom new graduates to senior-level executives, as well as multi-cloud engineering and supporting cross-functional roles, such as product and programme management. These roles will largely support new products, services and applications for Veritas. Veritas will also focus on creating close links with universities across Ireland and intends to launch an internship graduate programme in 2018. The new R&D centre in Dublin is a strategic extension of a new innovation centre in San Francisco, which is also focused on delivering market-leading products and solutions for the Veritas multi-cloud data management platform. "We're thrilled to announce that we're actively recruiting innovative talent at all levels in Ireland to help us transform how customers can harness the power of their data in a multi-cloud world," said Bill Coleman, chief executive officer, Veritas. "Our latest research shows that 56 percent of organisations have a cloud-first mentality, but are struggling with how to protect their data, gain visibility and extract maximum value while staying compliant. This new centre is going to focus on solving these challenges and we're delighted to work with the IDA Ireland to attract top talent into theVeritas family." Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, congratulated Veritas, saying: "The creation of 250 new jobs by Veritas is a great boost for Ballycoolin and for North-West Dublin. The Government is prioritising research and development, innovation and enterprise, to ensure companies like Veritas can grow their operations here. Ireland has developed a very strong reputation as being a hub for cloud-based technology companies and the latest jobs announcement confirms that this sector of the economy is continuing to grow strongly and contribute to our jobs recovery." Tanaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Frances Fitzgerald TD said: "The development of a multi-cloud innovation centre by Veritas is very welcome here in Ireland. We have been working to expand our footprint into the growing cloud computing area and have initiated policies to ensure that companies like Veritas can obtain the requisite skills here. The government is committed to enhancing Ireland's presence in the emerging knowledge based enterprise activities, especially in the ICT sector. This vote of confidence by Veritas in what Ireland has to offer, is very good news indeed." Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland, commented: "Veritas joins a prominent list of leading companies creating a foundation in the city and reflects our commitment to innovation in Ireland. The Dublin expansion builds on the company's existing presence and attests to the city's thriving tech culture. We welcome Veritas' continued investment and expansion in Ireland." Today, Veritas is already helping 86 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies reveal insights about their data, and those insights can play a critical role in areas like compliance. With the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force in May 2018, the need to control, protect and gain visibility into data has never been more imperative for organisations. Veritas is helping customers in Europe and around the world address these challenges directly, offering readiness assessments and solutions that give customers simple ways to locate, manage, monitor and protect their dataall critical actions as companies look to advance their compliance journey. "Veritas is a company of technologists and we look forward to welcoming people with skills in areas such as analytics, machine learning and cloud data protection to our team in Ireland," added Coleman. "We also believe in nurturing our talent and we hope future employees of Veritas in Dublin will stay for years to come." IDA Ireland is the Irish Government Agency tasked with bringing foreign direct investment into Ireland through a wide range of services. IDA Ireland partners with potential and existing investors to help them establish or expand their operations in Ireland. About Veritas Technologies Veritas Technologies empowers businesses of all sizes to discover the truth in informationtheir most important digital asset. Using the Veritas platform, customers can accelerate their digital transformation and solve pressing IT and business challenges including multi-cloud data management, data protection, storage optimisation, compliance readiness and workload portabilitywith no cloud vendor lock-in. Eighty-six percent of Fortune 500 companies rely on Veritas today to reveal data insights that drive competitive advantage. Learn more at veritas.com or follow us on Twitter at @veritastechllc. Forward-looking Statements: Any forward-looking indication of plans for products is preliminary and all future release dates are tentative and are subject to change at the sole discretion of Veritas. Any future release of the product or planned modifications to product capability, functionality, or feature are subject to ongoing evaluation by Veritas, may or may not be implemented, should not be considered firm commitments by Veritas, should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions, and may not be incorporated into any contract. Veritas, the Veritas Logo, NetBackup, Backup Exec and Enterprise Vault are trademarks or registered trademarks of Veritas Technologies LLC or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. PR Contacts US Contact Veritas Technologies Dayna Fried +1 925 493 9020 [email protected] EMEA Contact Veritas Technologies Brooke Hamilton +44 (0) 7713697268 [email protected] APJ Contact Veritas Technologies Belinda Lim +65 64275564 [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/565426/Veritas_Logo_RED_1000x197.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Konami's SYNKROS Receives "Intention to Award" from Carnival Corporation for Fleetwide Gaming Operations LAS VEGAS, Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Konami Gaming, Inc. has received an intent to award a contract for its SYNKROS casino management system, from Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest leisure travel company as the core gaming solution for its portfolio of 100+ ships across the globe. Konami's SYNKROS will provide systems hardware and software for all Carnival Corporation ships, which include Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia), and P&O Cruises (UK). New build ships are also expected to be included in implementation as it progresses. "The decision by Carnival Corporation to introduce a new casino management solution is consistent with our vision to drive the greatest vacation experience for our guests and long-term value for each brand in our portfolio," said Marty Goldman, Senior Vice President, Global Casino Operations, at Carnival Corporation & plc. "Our goal was to find a solution that not only satisfies the complex requirements of operating over 100 sailing global casinos, but also provide a robust infrastructure and agile functionality to appropriately foster future innovation." SYNKROS will help centralize marketing, reporting, analytics, accounting, and operational considerations for casino systems across Carnival Corporation's global portfolio of brands. Implementation is scheduled to begin next year, setting in motion a strategic installation program that will ultimately reach the entire Carnival Corporation casino portfolio. "From a technical standpoint, SYNKROS' core architecture and advanced functionality provides our organization the optimal casino systems environment to achieve our goals and enhance the guest experience. In addition, Konami has the strong company culture and customer focus that we believe is best suited for a long-term partnership," said Goldman. "SYNKROS is known for delivering incredibl flexible and stable systems solutions to operators with a variety of unique business needs, from ocean cruise lines to multi-property resorts," said Tom Jingoli, executive vice president & chief commercial officer at Konami Gaming, Inc. "Carnival Corporation is a global leader of consumer travel technology, and we are committed to supporting the future of casino gaming across their fleet." Those interested in learning more about SYNKROS' award-winning product suite are encouraged to visit www.konamigaming.com. About Konami Gaming, Inc. Konami Gaming, Inc. is a Las Vegas-based subsidiary of KONAMI HOLDINGS CORPORATION (TSE: 9766). The company is a leading designer and manufacturer of slot machines and casino management systems for the global gaming market. For more information about Konami Gaming, Inc. or the SYNKROS gaming enterprise management system, please visit www.konamigaming.com. Media Contact: Tashina Wortham Marketing Communications Manager 702.419.6025 [email protected] About Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is the world's largest leisure travel company and among the most profitable and financially strong in the cruise and vacation industries, with a portfolio of 10 dynamic brands that include nine of the world's leading cruise lines. With operations in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, its portfolio features Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia), and P&O Cruises (UK). Together, the corporation's cruise lines operate 103 ships with 231,000 lower berths visiting over 700 ports around the world, with 17 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2018 and 2022. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices. In 2017, Fast Company recognized Carnival Corporation as being among the "Top 10 Most Innovative Companies" in both the design and travel categories. Fast Company specifically recognized Carnival Corporation for its work in developing Ocean Medallion, a high-tech wearable device that enables the world's first interactive guest experience platform capable of transforming vacation travel into a highly personalized and elevated level of customized service. Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com, www.hollandamerica.com, www.princess.com, www.seabourn.com, www.aida.de, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com, www.pocruises.com.au, and www.pocruises.com. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/konamis-synkros-receives-intention-to-award-from-carnival-corporation-for-fleetwide-gaming-operations-300528901.html SOURCE Konami Gaming, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Kraig Biocraft Laboratories to Open New Biotechnology Research and Production Center ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (OTCQB:KBLB) (Company), the leading developer of spider silk based fibers, today announced the Company is opening its new research and production headquarters in Michigan. This facility will unite the Companys ongoing recombinant spider silk production operations with its accelerating research into the creation of ever more powerful spider silk protein technologies. Over the next 30 days, the Company will be relocating its current production operations, from Indiana into its new larger facility, and will transfer key production staff, to ensure continuity of operations. This new facility offers better environmental control, roughly three times the production space, significantly reduces overhead costs, and, for the first time in the Companys history, will allow the Companys research and production teams to work side by side producing todays spider silk based products, and creating tomorrows possibilities. The Company created two new lead positions within its research group to support the new facility and growing research efforts. Individuals with strong laboratory experience working in genetic engineered, and interested in taking a lead role in a fast paced, growing Biotechnology Company, are encouraged to apply at https://tinyurl.com/ya43k5u7. Launching this new larger factory unifies our production and research teams efforts. Having our teams working hand in hand will make us more agile and open up oportunities to move technologies more quickly from the drawing board to tested and validated designs, said COO Jon Rice. In addition to streamlining developmental timelines and enhancing our ability to tailor fibers, we expect to reduce R&D costs, as we generate new spider silk technologies by fully integrating design, creation, testing, and scale up, under a single roof. Our plan is to have this facility be the global central hub for spider silk technology and the center of our international operations. The Companys domestic operations complement its ongoing work establishing international production centers. Company management is currently considering three overseas locations for production. Management is scheduled for meeting with senior central government officials in Hanoi, Vietnam in early October and is in ongoing discussions with another country silk producing country which has expressed interest in working with the Company to scale its spider silk technology. To view the most recent edition of Kraigs Spider Sense quarterly newsletter and/or to sign up for Company alerts, please go to www.kraiglabs.com/newsletter About Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, Inc. (www.KraigLabs.com), a fully reporting biotechnology company is the leading developer of genetically engineered spider silk based fiber technologies. The Company has achieved a series of scientific breakthroughs in the area of spider silk technology with implications for the global textile industry. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information Statements in this press release about the Companys future and expectations other than historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are made on the basis of managements current views and assumptions. As a result, there can be no assurance that managements expectations will necessarily come to pass. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as believes, plans, expects, anticipates, foresees, estimated, hopes, if, develops, researching, research, pilot, potential, could or other words or phrases of similar import. Forward looking statements include descriptions of the Companys business strategy, outlook, objectives, plans, intentions and goals. All such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Ben Hansel, Hansel Capital, LLC (720) 288-8495 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] AbacusNext Shares Its Vision for the Future of the Accounting Profession with Top Thought Leaders SAN DIEGO, Calif., Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AbacusNext, the largest Technology-as-a-Service (TaaS) provider for the legal and accounting professions, hosted an exclusive, behind the scenes VIP event in La Jolla, California for thought leaders and influencers specializing in accounting technology. Attendees were personally introduced to AbacusNext executives and staff who shared AbacusNexts vision for the future of accounting practices globally. Hornblower Cruise on Sand Diego Bay Evening reception at La Valencia Hotel Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/293377fc-269-4b99-96dc-c846cd087687 //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/72a0a5f4-fbfe-4e20-b31b-48815befd5f7 Over three days, attendees were taken on a tour of AbacusNext headquarters, presented with a Dell laptop with ninety days of free service to the Abacus Private Cloud (APC) and its integrated accounting software solutions, provided product demos of the full AbacusNext portfolio, taken behind-the-scenes at one of the five AbacusNext datacenters, and given a chance to share their professional expertise on how best to serve the needs and demands of todays accounting practice. AbacusNext is honored to have hosted such an exceptional group of thought leaders and experts, said Alessandra Lezama, CEO of AbacusNext. APC is a game changer for the accounting profession, and were proud to share our vision of enabling accounting practices with technology to better compete in todays fast-paced digital world. The center piece of AbacusNexts vision for the future of accounting practices is Abacus Private Cloud, the most secure fully managed private cloud on the market today. Accountants have become familiar with piecemeal hosting solutions, and the ancillary benefits of the cloud in recent years, but APC offers advantages on different scale entirely. I came to the AbacusNext VIP event with QuickBooks hosting on my mind, said Rick Armstrong, founder of QB Pro Consulting, a cloud consultancy firm specializing in the integration of accounting technology solutions. He continued, The Abacus team left me with a mission to help server huggers everywhere. Thanks for the intro to the future of business! AbacusNext looks forward to building on the relationships created during their behind-the-scenes event. Deeper collaborations are planned to help AbacusNext bring even more compelling accounting-specific technology solutions to market, and help them realize their vision for the future of the accounting profession. It is clear that AbacusNext means business when it comes to engaging the accounting community, said Mathew Heggem, CEO of SUM Innovation, the Manhattan based accounting management and consulting firm. This experience was exactly what I needed to gain the trust and understanding necessary to advocate for the company's products and services. About AbacusNext As the largest Technology-as-a-Service (TaaS) provider for the professional services sector, AbacusNext helps legal and accounting professionals achieve ultimate success and peace of mind through the delivery of a complete suite of compliance-ready technology solutions designed to support a secure and cloud-enabled practice at a cost they can afford. Our portfolio of turnkey solutions includes hardware, software and infrastructure on a pay as you go model; Practice Management, Client Resource Management (CRM), Payment Processing, Email, Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and Managed IT. Headquartered in San Diego, California, and backed by private investment with Providence Equity, AbacusNext delivers products and services to over 500,000 businesses worldwide. To sign up or learn more visit AbacusNext.com. About Providence Equity Providence is a premier global asset management firm with $45 billion in assets under management across complementary private equity and credit businesses. Providence pioneered a sector-focused approach to private equity investing with the vision that a dedicated team of industry experts could build exceptional companies of enduring value. Since the firm's inception in 1989, Providence has invested in more than 150 companies and is the leading equity investment firm focused on the media, communications, education and information industries. Providence is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, and has offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Delhi. For more information, please visit www.provequity.com. Contact: 858-529-0018 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Dialpad Expands To Canada To Kill The Deskphone and Cuts Significant Telephony Costs Game-changing solution disrupts pricing with flat rate calling throughout Canada; Opens Vancouver office to support national business customer growth VANCOUVER, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Dialpad, the San Francisco-based pure-cloud business communications provider, today announced the launch of its business communications service in Canada. The company also announced the establishment of its newest office in Vancouver, B.C. as it continues its worldwide pursuit to "kill the desk phone," providing modern workers with new ways to connect and work from anywhere. Dialpad enters Canada at a time of explosive growth in the country's cloud computing market, where, according to IDC1, spending will double from CAD 2.3B in 2016 to CAD 5.5 billion in 2020. Overall IT spending will also grow from CAD 59B in 2015 to CAD 65B in 2020, generating more than 50,000 new jobs in Canada. "We see Canada as a massively underdeveloped market for our breakthrough pure-cloud communications service. Canada is one of the largest telecommunications markets in the world, representing a massive opportunity to scale Dialpad across the provinces," said Craig Walker, CEO of Dialpad. "Canadian companies have long been saddled with legacy PBX service constraints, mostly from their native telcos. They have been unable to break the cycle of overpriced monthly service fees and confusing long-distance calling plans. That's why it's time to modernize communications for every business, from the smallest office to the largest enterprise customers, across all industries, bringing the era of the Anywhere Worker to Canadians." Pricing, Service Plans, and Features Dialpad offers three service plans in Canada starting with the entry-level Standard package at CAD 20 (per user, per month). The Standard package includes unlimited calling and texting in Canada and to the US, a company main line with a virtual receptionist, up to three group calling departments with time of day routing, free conference calling with screen sharing, Office 365 and Google G Suite integration, and a standard customer support package. Dialpad PRO, the most popular package worldwide, starts at CAD 30 (per user, per month) and includes additional features such as call queues, CRM integration with Salesforce, voicemail transcription, up to 25 departmets, and up to 10 office locations, including cross-border and international locations. The Enterprise package offers even more features including guaranteed SLAs, Administrator APIs, a dedicated account management representative, deployment and onboarding services, unlimited departments, extension dialing, and unlimited seats. Enterprise package customers also receive enhanced 24/7 phone, email and chat services support, and hands-on account management. "Dialpad's flat-rate pricing makes monthly costs predictable," added Walker. "Calls to any mobile or landline number in Canada, or the United States, are included in the monthly rate, along with a full set of business class features, plus integrated audio conferencing and collaboration." Canada Wide Availability Dialpad will offer Canadian customers telephone numbers in 39 area codes across the provinces. These include area codes: 204, 226, 236, 249, 250, 289, 306, 343, 365, 403, 416, 418, 431, 437, 438, 450, 506, 514, 519, 548, 579, 581, 587, 604, 613, 639, 647, 705, 709, 778, 780, 782, 807, 819, 825, 867, 873, 902, 905. Vancouver Office to Support Engineering, Marketing, and Product Management The Vancouver office is expected to create at least 20 new full-time positions in engineering, marketing, and product management. Dialpad aggressively pursued the expansion into Canada in 2017 as a result of favorable economic climate, friendly immigration policies, the highly educated workforce, and a thriving technology startup scene. Dialpad has tapped Vancouver telecom startup veteran, and founder of Counterpath, Erik Lagerway to lead the office. The company reallocated several senior software engineering and product management positions to establish a significant presence in Canada. The newly formed Canadian team will provide full-service account management for mid-market and global enterprise customers, as well as for U.S. companies with a Canadian presence. "It has become apparent over the last couple of years that the cloud will soon be dominating small business and enterprise communications in Canada," said Erik Lagerway. "I'm very excited to lead Dialpad's expansion into Canada. Our born-in-the-cloud solution is a perfect fit for a market characterized by an extremely high concentration of traditional phone companies that have a stranglehold on customers, pricing, scalability, and coverage. Dialpad is proud to offer our disruptive pricing and innovative services." Worldwide, Dialpad has helped 48,000 customers move to the cloud, avoiding the use of any on-premise legacy PBX hardware, with 85 percent of the customers completely eliminating their desk phones, and aggressively transitioning their businesses to the cloud to accommodate an increasingly mobile, BYOD-enabled workplace. Dialpad's software-only platform allows companies, from small storefronts to large enterprises, to instantly launch, provision and scale their communications platform. This makes voice, video, messaging and meetings available on any device, anywhere, at any time, all within a single easy-to-use application. Organizations see immediate value from their shift to the cloud by better connecting offices and anywhere workers. By just logging into the personal computer or mobile application interface, employees are immediately empowered to connect and collaborate in whatever format they prefer, with unbeatable connection speeds and service continuity. Additional Resources Learn more about Dialpad: http://www.dialpad.ca Follow us on Twitter @DialpadHQ Like us on Facebook About Dialpad Dialpad is communications simplified for every business. Available on any device, anywhere, Dialpad includes voice, video, messaging and meetings; and is integrated with Microsoft Office 365 and G Suite. Dialpad is also the only business communications system built on the Google Cloud Platform. Today, 48,000 customers have joined Dialpad's mission to kill the desk phone, including 65 percent of the Fortune 500, high-growth enterprises and forward-thinking organizations including Uber, Vivint Solar, Eventbrite, Betterment, Stripe, Asana, Quora, Denison University, and Gate Gourmet. Dialpad is funded by Amasia, Andreessen Horowitz, Felicis Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Section 32, Softbank, and Work-Bench. For more information, visit dialpad.ca and follow @DialpadHQ on Twitter. _________________________ 1 How the Microsoft Ecosystem and Cloud Computing Will Create 110,000 New Jobs in Canada from 2015 to 2020 SOURCE Dialpad [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Cooking for a Cause MISSION, Kan., Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (Family Features) If you love to entertain and want to support a good cause, now you can do both at the same time. Photo courtesy of Chris Scheuer of The Cafe Sucre Farine A photo accompanying this announcement is available at //www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fed2eb5b-9a2f-4226-aea0-1de413185f53 Currently in its 16th year, Cook for the Cure is a program that gives those with a passion for cooking a way to support the fight against breast cancer. Through culinary-based fundraising, events, auctions and the sale of select products, the partnership between KitchenAid and Susan G. Komen for the Cure has raised more than $10.7 million for the cause. It adds another layer of purpose to one of lifes great pleasures, cooking and enjoying food with family and friends, said Anthony Pastrick, brand manager for KitchenAid. The program continues to fuel passionate cooks with simple, creative ways to support a meaningful cause. You can make a difference by hosting a party that lets you Cook for the Cure by raising awareness and funds for breast cancer research. Here are some ideas to get you started: Invite guests for an evening of appetizers, such as these Mini Fruit Tarts, and drinks. Encourage fundraising by awarding a prize to the guest with the highest donation, or let donors enter their names into a drawing to win a restaurant gift certificate or spa treatment. Organize a fundraising bake sale. Get the neighbors involved in baking, promoting and selling its a great way to bring people together. Your contribution could be these Lemon Berry Cheesecake Bars. Host a potluck brainstorming party. Invite people who share your passion for helping others to bring their favorite dish and think up creative ways to support the cause as a group. Vote on a project then let everyone pitch in to get started. Cooking good food, sharing time with friends and giving back to the community thats a recipe for a truly great party. Learn more at CookfortheCure.com. Lemon Berry Cheesecake Bars Recipe courtesy of Lindsay Conchar of Life, Love & Sugar on behalf of KitchenAid Makes: 12-16 bars 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 5 tablespoons butter, melted 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 1 /2 cups powdered sugar, divided 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon lemon zest 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided fresh berries Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter, and stir until well combined. Press crumb mixture evenly into bottom of cake pan. Set aside. In bowl of stand mixer, beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest until smooth. In separate bowl, whip heavy whipping cream until it starts to thicken. Add remaining powdered sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Gently fold half the whipped cream into cheesecake mixture and place remainder in refrigerator to use later. Spread cheesecake mixture evenly in cake pan. Refrigerate cheesecake at least 4 hours, or until firm. Use parchment paper on sides to lift bars out of pan then cut into squares. Use remaining whipped cream to top cheesecake bars then add fresh berries, as desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Mini Fruit Tarts Recipe courtesy of Kelly Kwok of Life Made Sweeter on behalf of KitchenAid Makes: 6 pastries Pastries: 1 frozen puff pastry sheet (17.3 ounces), thawed 1 large egg 1-2 teaspoons milk Frosting: 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 8 ounces cream cheese, chilled 1-2 tablespoons coconut cream or full-fat canned coconut milk, plus additional (optional) 1 teaspoon coconut extract 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus additional (optional) Toppings: assorted fresh fruit powdered sugar, for dusting (optional) To make pastries: Heat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Place puff pastry sheet on lightly floured work surface and cut each sheet into 12 3-inch squares. In small bowl, beat egg with milk to make egg wash and lightly brush onto each square. Transfer pastries onto baking sheet and bake 10 minutes, until pastries have puffed up and are golden. Cool completely on wire rack. To make frosting: In stand mixer bowl fitted with flat beater, beat butter on medium speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth and fully incorporated. Add coconut cream, coconut extract and vanilla extract, and beat until smooth. Gently stir in powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Turn stand mixer on high and beat 1 minute, until fully combined. Add additional powdered sugar and coconut cream until desired consistency and level of sweetness is reached. Spread or pipe coconut cream cheese frosting into middle. Top with fresh fruit and another pastry square. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired. 10,000 Cupcakes Sharing baked goods with friends is a pleasure. Now you can make it even more meaningful by sharing to raise money for a good cause. From Oct. 1 through Oct. 31, for every original cupcake image or video shared on Twitter or Instagram with the collective hashtags #10000cupcakes and #donate, KitchenAid will donate $1 to Susan G. Komen, up to a maximum donation of $10,000. In addition, KitchenAid will donate $250,000 or more to Susan G. Komen through the Cook for the Cure program to support the fight against breast cancer. Since 2001, they have donated more than $10.7 million to Komen through the initiative, sales of pink products, celebrity chef auctions and fundraisers hosted by supporters. Visit cookforthecure.kitchenaid.com/10000cupcakes to see the full terms and conditions and learn more about the 10,000 Cupcakes program. Michael French [email protected] 1-888-824-3337 editors.familyfeatures.com About Family Features Editorial Syndicate Established in 1974, Family Features is a leading provider of free food and lifestyle content for print and online publications. Our articles, photos, videos and web content solutions save you time, money and help create advertising opportunities. Registration is fast and free with absolutely no obligation. Visit editors.familyfeatures.com for more information. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Case Western Reserve University Completes Successful Evaluation of SCI's Innovative Material for Thin Film Solar Applications COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SCI Engineered Materials, Inc. (SCI) (OTCQB:SCIA), a global supplier and manufacturer of advanced materials for physical vapor deposition thin film applications, including thin film solar products, today announced Case Western Reserve Universitys (CWRU) successful evaluation of test films using SCIs Zinc Magnesium Oxide (MZO) material. These results support use of SCIs innovative material in thin film solar applications that could lead to higher efficiencies. CWRUs evaluation involved the use of two facilities, the Materials for Opto/electronics Research and Education Center and the Swagelok Center for Surface Analysis of Materials. These resources were leveraged to sputter the MZO material into thin films and then measure the band gaps that impact the efficiency of thin film solar cells. As a result of this collaborative effort, manufacturers will have valuable data to make product decisions concerning the use of SCIs MZO material for the buffer and/or window layer of their thin film solar products. These layers work in tandem to admit light to the absorber layer of a solar cell. Jing Yang PhD, SCIs Senior Product Development Engineer, said, We are pleased to receive CWRUs independent confirmation that SCIs MZO materal has certain advantages versus other buffer materials. For CIGS applications, these include wider bandgaps and improved compatibility of band alignment with zinc oxide based transparent conducting oxide, potentially superior solar cell efficiencies plus opportunities for manufacturers to label their products Cadmium free. Jeremy Young, Vice President of Operations, commented, We are pleased to add MZO to our portfolio of material and product offerings. It reflects SCIs ongoing commitment to research and development of innovative solutions for our markets and growing customer base. This application enables us to reach a greater number of thin film solar manufacturers. Importantly, we are able to use existing manufacturing equipment to produce this new application. An initial order for targets utilizing MZO has been received and we are actively marketing it to current and potential customers. About SCI Engineered Materials, Inc. SCI Engineered Materials is a global supplier and manufacturer of advanced materials for PVD thin film applications that works closely with end users and OEMs to develop innovative, customized solutions. Additional information is available at www.sciengineeredmaterials.com. About Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University is one of the country's leading private research institutions. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, Case Western Reserve offers a unique combination of forward-thinking educational opportunities in an inspiring cultural setting. Case Western Reserves leading-edge faculty engage in teaching and research in a collaborative, hands-on environment. Case Western Reserves nationally recognized programs include arts and sciences, dental medicine, engineering, law, management, medicine, nursing and social work. About 5,100 undergraduate and 6,200 graduate students comprise Case Western Reserves student body. Visit case.edu to see how Case Western Reserve thinks beyond the possible. Contact: Robert Lentz (614) 876-2000 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Envirocleanse LLC signs Agreement with CMB/Bocimar to install the inTank Ballast Water Treatment System HOUSTON, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ -- Envirocleanse LLC, division of Charter Brokerage, a BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY company, recently signed an Agreement with CMB/Bocimar to install the patented inTank Ballast Water Treatment System aboard the Capesize Bulk Carrier, Mineral New York. The initial installation will be designed as a pilot study to reflect much of CMB's fleet and will include the treatment of a cargo hold being used in part as a ballast tank. Envirocleanse is currently undergoing both land-based and shipboard testing aboard the USTS Golden Bear with DNV-GL as the independent laboratory. Testing is expected to be completed in November of 2017 and application submitted to both the US Coast Guard and International Maritime Organization shortly following. The inTank BWTS uses a unique nozzling system patented by the US Geological Survey for disersion and mixing in the ballast tanks. Treatment of the tanks is performed in transit, which means there is no disruption to in-port cargo operations. The Envirocleanse inTank BWTS can use either electrically generated hypochlorite or bulk chemical as the means to provide disinfectant. Having these options allows the user flexibility to choose the system which best fits their vessel profile. "Bocimar is committed to the tenets of the IMO Convention and to ensuring sustainable environmental practices," said Lieven Van Eetvelde, Technical Manager, CMB Group. "We are excited that the Envirocleanse inTank system can achieve this, while allowing us to maintain efficient, ongoing vessel operations without disruption." Matt Hughes, EVP of Sales and Marketing, Envirocleanse adds, "CMB has been a critical part of our development process by allowing us to install the inTank system on their vessel. Envirocleanse is committed to finding solutions to the Regulatory challenges the industry is currently facing, and the data we collect on various ballast tank configurations and geometries will help us to meet the needs of our customers." About Envirocleanse LLC The mission of Envirocleanse is to provide a superior and sustainable ballast water treatment system that assists companies around the world to perform at the highest safety, compliance and reliability standards. Envirocleanse LLC is a division of Charter Brokerage, a BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY company. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/envirocleanse-llc-signs-agreement-with-cmbbocimar-to-install-the-intank-ballast-water-treatment-system-300529198.html SOURCE Envirocleanse LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Jefferson County Kentucky Picks A Secure Paper-Based Voting System OMAHA, Neb., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The nearly 600,000 registered voters in Jefferson County KY will soon be casting their ballots on new and improved federally certified voting systems with voter-verifiable paper audits. Election Systems & Software (ES&S) is honored to announce that the Jefferson County Clerk's Office has made the decision to continue their nearly decade-long partnership with ES&S, ensuring the administration of fair and accurate elections for their jurisdiction through the deployment of ES&S' ExpressVote Universal Voting System and DS200 precinct-based scanner and tabulator. "We are excited to continue our partnership with Jefferson County as they move to the mst reliable, simple and secure paper-based voting system in the industry," said ES&S' Regional Sales Manager, Mac Beeson. ES&S is known for developing equipment with the highest standards of security. The ExpressVote Universal Voting System utilizes a variety of functions to ensure election data and cast vote records are secure. In addition, after all selections are made, the system produces a verifiable paper record for each voter. As well, like all ES&S ballot tabulation equipment, the DS200 includes physical security features to secure sensitive components and election files. The DS200 operating system controls, limits and detects unauthorized access to all critical data. The system also includes safeguards that help protect sensitive data and verify authenticity. Jefferson County joins hundreds of locations across the U.S. whose voters, poll workers and staff benefit from the secure and intuitive voting experience provided by the ExpressVote and DS200 including areas of Florida, Indiana and Michigan, the States of Maryland and Rhode Island, the City of New York and hundreds more. "Voter confidence is incredibly important, and it's my job to ensure that the elections system offered to our citizens is of the very best quality," said Bobbie Holsclaw, Jefferson County Clerk. "We are always looking for ways to improve our services to the residents of Jefferson County, and that's why we selected the ExpressVote Universal Voting System and DS200 precinct-based scanner. With this modern, secure and reliable system, voters can be assured that our election process meets the very highest of standards." ABOUT ES&S: Election Systems & Software's visionary approach to election equipment, software and solutions has helped improve the voting experience throughout North America for nearly 40 years. We are committed to developing integrated voting solutions that improve the marketplace and are flexible enough to meet multiple jurisdictions' needs and voter preferences. Learn more about ES&S at www.essvote.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/essvote. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jefferson-county-kentucky-picks-a-secure-paper-based-voting-system-300529396.html SOURCE Election Systems & Software [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] By PTI: Patna, Oct 1 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today paid tributes to Hazrat Imam Hussain and Shaheedan-e-karbala (72 followers) for their sacrifice on the occasion of Yaum-e-ashura, the 10th day of Muharram. Hazrat Imam Hussain and his 72 faithful followers gave sacrifice in Maidan-e-Karbala to protect their rights and truth fighting against injustice, atrocity and narcissism, Kumar said in an official release. advertisement Stating that their sacrifice will not be forgotten, the CM said that people should take inspiration from their sacrifice and should always be ready to give bigger sacrifice for truth, benevolence and humanity, it said. Kumar appealed the people of the state to observe Muharram with peace, amity, harmony and brotherhood. PTI AR KK SNP --- ENDS --- [October 02, 2017] Governments of Canada and Ontario join forces to launch BizPaL in Sarnia Free online business permit and licence service saves time, cuts red tape and helps entrepreneurs SARNIA, ON, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Starting and running a business in the City of Sarnia just became easier thanks to BizPaL, an online business permit and licence service that saves time spent on paperwork and helps entrepreneurs start up faster. The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism, is pleased to announce the implementation of BizPaL in the City of Sarnia, located in southwestern Ontario. This free online application is a directory of the permits and licences required to start or run a business. BizPaL saves business people time searching for information and, as a result, helps them meet their obligations more easily. Quotes "Small businesses are the engine of the economy. BizPaL cuts red tape, so that hardworking entrepreneurs and business owners can focus on what they do best: innovating and creating good middle-class jobs. Our government is proud to work with our provincial and municipal partners to give entrepreneurs the tools they need to run their businesses." The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Governmet in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism "The adoption of this tool, and its ongoing development, will help realize the goal of online access to government services for business people. It provides maximum simplicity and convenience in accessing government forms and information, 24/7, for the lowest possible cost. I am excited to see it begin and watch its growth and development." Matt Mitro, Councillor, City of Sarnia Quick facts BizPaL, a unique collaboration between all levels of government, helps entrepreneurs find out which permits and licences they require to start and grow their businesses. The City of Sarnia is a progressive border municipality with a population of 72,000 residents. is a progressive border municipality with a population of 72,000 residents. Sarnia signing on to BizPaL brings the number of local governments in Ontario involved in this program to 142. signing on to BizPaL brings the number of local governments in involved in this program to 142. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the foundation of the economy, accounting for 99 percent of all businesses in Canada . . To date, all provinces and territories are participating in BizPaL, with 934 municipalities and one First Nation offering the service, making it available to 79 percent of the Canadian population. Related products Backgrounder: BizPaL simplifies access to information on permits and licences for Canadian businesses Associated links BizPaL Ontario BizPaL Follow Minister Chagger on social media. Twitter: @MinofSBT Instagram: minofsbt SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [October 02, 2017] Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Announces That a Class Action Lawsuit Has Been Filed Against SCANA Corporation (SCG) and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired SCANA Corporation (NYSE: SCG) securities between January 19, 2016 and September 22, 2017 (the "Class Period"). Investors have until November 27, 2017 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. On July 31, 2017, SCANA's subsidiary, South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. ("SCE&G"), and Santee Cooper, South Carolina's state-owned electric and water utility, announced that they would discontinue construction of two nuclear power plants in South Carolina, citing rising construction costs. On August 10, 2017, The Post and Courier reported that SCANA CEO Kevin Marsh advised state lawmakers that SCE&G might not resume construction on the nuclear power plants even if a new partner for the project was found. Following this news, shares of SCANA fell $1.32 per share, or 2.13%, to close at $60.69 per share on August 11, 2017. Further, on September 4, 2017, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster's office released an audit report that had been kept secret by the utility companies for approximately 18 months. The report warned of serious problems that put the nuclear project at risk. The analysis cited factors such as flawed construction plans, faulty engineering designs, and high turnover. The following day, South Carolina lawmakers reacted to the report by urging state regulators to block SCE&G from charging its customers any more for the nuclear project. If you purchased or otherwise acquired SCANA securities and suffered a loss, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker or Melissa Fortunato by email at [email protected], or telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a New York-based law firm concentrating in commercial and securities litigation. For additional information concerning the SCANA Corporation lawsuit, please go to http://www.bespc.com/SCG. For additional information about Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., please go to www.bespc.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171002006497/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The first in a series of shipments of US crude oil to India arrived at Paradip Port of Odisha. By Ashish Pandey: The first in a series of shipments of US crude oil to India arrived at Paradip Port of Odisha. This is one of the first shipments to India since the United States stopped oil exports in 1975, and follows recent commitments to US oil purchases by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL). IOC and BPCL have placed orders for over 2 million barrels from the United States. advertisement US crude oil shipments to India have the potential to boost bilateral trade by up to $2 billion. Mary Kay Carlson, Charge d'Affaires at the US Embassy in New Delhi said, "This event marks a significant milestone in the growing partnership between the United States and India. The United States and India are elevating our cooperation in the field of energy, including plans for cleaner fossil fuels, renewables, nuclear, and cutting edge storage and energy efficiency technologies. We look forward to working together on further sales of US crude and exploring opportunities to expand the role of natural gas in India." "Energy and energy security are pillars of any strong economy. The United States looks forward to expanding our cooperation with India in this area, in my consular district of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, our partnerships with various stakeholders on clean energy projects will continue to strengthen," stated Consul General Hadda. During their June 26 meeting in Washington, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi committed to expanding and elevating bilateral energy cooperation through a Strategic Energy Partnership. The leaders called for a rational approach that balances environment and climate policy, global economic development, and energy security needs. President Trump affirmed that the United States continues to remove barriers to energy development and investment in the United States and to US energy exports so that more natural gas, clean coal, and renewable resources and technologies are available to fuel India's economic growth and inclusive development. --- ENDS --- FAIRFIELD, CTA month-long festival of contemporary female scholars and artists responding to Ancient Greek tragedy will take placebeginning October at Fairfield University. 21st Century Women and Ancient Greek Tragedy is a four-part series of performance, scholarship, and discussion at the Quick Center for the Performing Arts at Fairfield University. Ancient Greek tragedies involve complex situations that set up a cascade of difficult choices affecting generations to come, Dr. Katherine Schwab (Fairfield University) told TNH.On the face of it, we might think that this is outside our realm, but a deeper exploration reveals how ancient events and actions hold an immediacy for us. The Festival kicks off on October 3 with Iphigenia: Book of Change, a film of a live performance piece inspired by Euripides. The film explores how Euripides mythical character and how contemporary women survive captivity. Schwab will lead a Q&A with the films writer and directorfollowing its screening. The experimental filmmaker Elise Kermani found that the story of Iphigenia was a powerful vehicle to explore the tragedy of political imprisonment of a 16-year old girl in Iran, Schwab told TNH. The arts invite ways to explore the imagination, to see the world and oneself in new ways, and to communicate what may not be easily expressed. Read full story here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Fingalo License: CC-BY-SA Source: thenationalherald.com She was invited by Wilson to participate in the play, which celebrates the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's publication of the 95 Theses Greek Culture Minister Lydia Koniordou is in Berlin for a guest appearance in world renowned theatre director Robert Wilson's "Luther Dancing with the Gods". She was invited by Wilson to participate in the play, which celebrates the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's publication of the 95 Theses. According to legend, Luther hammered his theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Koniordou will participate without remuneration. Koniordou , who first worked with Wilson on "Odyssey" at the National Theatre of Greece in 2012, will be reading in Greek excerpts from the Bible and the Book of Revelation. Performances run to October 12. In Germany, she will also meet with government and local officials on issues of cultural collaboration. On October 5, the Minister will travel to Basel, Switzerland, for the inauguration of "Culturescapes", which will open with "The Great Tamer", produced by Dimitris Papaioannou. On October 11, Koniordou will meet with French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen at the annual Frankfurt Book Fair, where France will be the guest of honour, and their German counterpart, Monika Grueters. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Pedelecs License: CC-BY-SA Source: ANA-MPA Greece's foreign ministry (MFA) expressed its abhorrence on Monday over the attacks in Las Vegas and Marseille on Sunday night, and the Greek people's sympathy for the American and French people, respectively, with dual-language messages on Twitter. In tweets both in English and Greek, the MFA noted, "Appalled by #LasVegas attack. Sincere condolences to all affected. We extend our solidarity to the American people and its govt." A gunman killed at least 50 people attending a concert before being shot dead by police; the injured total 200, according to preliminary information. The ministry also tweeted a message in both Greek and English for the attack in Marseille, where a man stabbed two women to death at a train station before being killed by the police. "Our thoughts w/ all affected by cowardly terrorist attack in #Marseille. We express solidarity to French people and its govt," the ministry's tweet stressed. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: A.Savin License: CC-BY-SA Source: ANA-MPA 20 percent boost in arrivals between November this year and March of 2018 Already coming off a big tourist summer season, Cypriot officials are expecting the trend to continue into the fall and winter and another 250,000 airline seats are being added to the schedule. That means a 20 percent boost in arrivals between November this year and March of 2018 coming on the heels of an estimated 3.6 million visitors arriving by the end of 2017, the Cyprus Mail reported. Winter tourism in the past has not fared well because there were not enough airline arrivals or seats, official said, hoping adding additional capacity will keep bringing more people in the off-season. Everything depends on the supply of available airlines and hotels, Avgi Papageorgiou, head of the Cyprus Tourism Organisations (CTO) marketing department told the paper.. This is the chicken and egg problem, she added. Senior Marketing Manager for Hermes Airports Maria Kourpouri said progress was relative to what we have the rest of the year. Kourpouri said winter tourism always hovered around 20 per cent of total arrivals. We want to see it grow yearly to 25-30 per cent of the total, she told the paper. We have made some progress but there is still a big difference but more and more hotels Cyprus Hotels Association Director General Zacharias Ioannides said the 250,000 extra seats, running at 70-80 per cent capacity per flight should result in an extra 100,000 visitors or so, or a 20 percent increase. In the last three years weve seen growth from 350,000 to almost 500,000 last year, he said, adding that gradually were seeing more hotels staying open. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: AyianapaProtaras License: CC-BY-SA Source: thenationalherald.com Balaskas will be responsible for leading the Hellas Gold group and for working with all involved parties to promote the development of the firm's projects in Greece Christos Balaskas, former general manager of the Attiki Natural Gas Distribution Company, will replace VP and general manager of Hellas Gold, Eduardo Moura, the company said on Monday. Moura will return to the Vancouver office of parent company Eldorado Gold once the handover is finished. Balaskas will be responsible for leading the Hellas Gold group and for working with all involved parties to promote the development of the firm's projects in Greece. Read more here. RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Szaaman License: CC-BY-SA Source: ANA-MPA By PTI: By Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Oct 2 (PTI) Pakistan today summoned Indias deputy high commissioner over the alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC). The Foreign Office, in a statement, alleged that Indian forces resorted to firing in Rukh Chakri and Rawalakot Sectors on September 30 and October 2, killing three civilians and injuring five others, including a woman. advertisement Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohmmad Faisal summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh and "condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces, it said. Faisal claimed that it was the fifth ceasefire violation by the Indian forces in the past twelve days that killed 11 civilians, including five women, and injured 37 others. He said despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations. "The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation," he said. Faisal said that the Indian side should permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions. India maintains that the UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control. Pakistan claimed that Indian forces have carried out more than 900 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary this year, which have resulted in the deaths of 43 civilians and injuries to 153, as compared to 382 ceasefire violations in 2016. Meanwhile, a senior Indian government official said two minors were killed today and 12 civilians injured in cross- border shelling by Pakistan along the LoC in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. Five children were among the injured, the youngest being five-year-old Zobia Kousar who was airlifted to a hospital in Jammu in a helicopter. PTI SH PMS AKJ PMS --- ENDS --- Jordan and Algeria had a real opportunity to achieve joint economic integration, Yarub Qudah, Jordanian Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply was quoted as saying in a media report. He said during bilateral talks, held on the sidelines of the Arab-African Economic Forum in Amman, that the Algerian market could be a launch pad for Jordan products to Africa, while Jordan could become a conduit for Algerian goods to the Middle East, reported Wam, the Emirates official news agency. According to the Jordan News Agency, the minister told the meeting of the Jordanian-Algerian Business community that increased trade exchange is vital, adding that the two countries are currently discussing prospects to enhance bilateral trade. The Saudi government has approved plans for a new city to be built at an investment of $3 billion featuring more than 10,000 homes, a culture and heritage tourist centre, technology and industry parks, a university and an airport at Taif, said a report. The project will come up over a 1,250-sq-km area on a site in the northeastern part of the existing city of Taif, with the tourist centre being an expansion of the popular Souq Okaz destination, reported Arab News. An infrastructure contract has already been signed for the first phase of a three-stage project to build a residential suburb of more than 10,000 homes. The $160-million development, which will spread over 12 million sq m area, is the biggest in the Makkah region, stated the report. The General Authority for Civil Aviation has signed a contract to develop and operate the new Taif International Airport with a group of companies including Asiad, the Contractors Association Company and Munich Airports Company. The airport will be spread over a 48 million-sq-m area about 40 km from Taif and 117 km from Makkah. It will cost $800 million and is expected to be operational by 2020. The new Souk Okaz City, in addition to its culture and heritage tourist attractions, will also have 1,250 hotel rooms and 130 new homes. It is being supervised by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, with participation from the private sector, and will cost almost $1 billion, reported Arab News. The tourism project will create 4,400 jobs, is expected to attract more than 260,000 visitors a year and will contribute about $80 million a year to the the kingdoms GDP. A consortium of global companies has been selected to design a business park called the Oasis of Technology, a joint venture between King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology and the Morganti Group, said the report. The 35-million-sq-m site will accommodate projects to assemble and manufacture Antonov aircraft, make solar panels and develop solar energy, it added. Saudi Aramco said it has entered into a strategic partnership with Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG) to enhance the value and competitive positioning of its petrochemicals projects within the Petronas Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) in the southern Malaysian state of Johor. The partnership marks a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship that will provide PIC with high-impact strengths and synergies from both Saudi Aramco and PCG said a statement from the company. Under the terms of the ventures share purchase agreement (SPA), signed between PCG and Saudi Aramcos Aramco Overseas Holding Cooperatif U.A. (AOHC) subsidiary, the parties have equal ownership in PRPC Polymers Sdn Bhd (PRPC Polymers) within PIC, it added. "This venture leverages the historic partnership between Saudi Aramco and Petronas that was recently sealed during the visit of King Salman to Malaysia," remarked Said Al Hadrami, the VP International Operations at Saudi Aramco, after signing the deal with Datuk Sazali Hamzah, the Petronas VP and PCG managing director and CEO. Given PCGs strength in the regions petrochemicals sector, Saudi Aramco is proud to be entering into a deeper, mutually beneficial partnership in PIC, he stated. According to him, this agreement strengthens Saudi Aramcos position and growth in South East Asia through crude supply and world-scale downstream operations. "Through this venture, we will also achieve a high degree of integration between refining and petrochemicals, with petrochemicals production greater than 10 per cent of crude intake," noted Al Hadrami. "It is also in tandem with our downstream growth strategy where we are investing in a global refining and petrochemicals system of strategically located world-scale manufacturing complexes with participated refining capacity of several million barrels per day," he added. Hamzah said the petrochemicals projects in PIC was one of the largest growth projects for PCG and Petronas' largest downstream investment on a single site to date. "The signing of this Agreement is truly a momentous milestone for the industry as it brings together two key leaders in petrochemicals, entering into a partnership in a world-scale greenfield project.," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Jordan-based Tabuk Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Company said it has signed an asset purchase agreement along with a supply agreement with Swiss group Acino Pharma AG. Under this agreement, Acino will acquire three of Tabuk's existing products in the cardiovascular therapy area in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Countries and Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, excluding Morocco, Sudan and Algeria. This project will allow Acino to continue on these products' success, to expand the offering of cardiovascular medicines in Saudi Arabia and the Mena region, and to reach more patients. "This partnership illustrates our commitment to leverage our Mena-wide footprint and to serve multinational partners looking to maximize their potential in the region," remarked Georges De Vos, the chief executuve of Tabuk Pharmaceuticals. Dr Rana Azzam, the senior VP of Business Development, said: "We are delighted to be collaborating with Acino, one of the fastest growing branded generic companies in the region, this will for sure help us to expand our partners network worldwide. Such partnerships will for sure help us to serve our patients better." Acino CEo Kalle Kand expressed delight at establishing a relationship with Tabuk, a major player in the pharmaceutical landscape in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. "With this partnership, we are adding products with existing sales to our key countries in this region and can provide a richer portfolio of medicines for our patients," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Oman's first budget airline SalamAir is set to launch daily flights to Dubai International Airport (DXB) from its hub in Muscat starting from October 8 with a special introductory RO49 ($126) all-inclusive return ticket offer. The new route will complement SalamAirs current flight to Al Maktoum International Airport until October 28 when the airline has set plans re-route all flights to DXB, said a statement from the Omani airline. SalamAir will be operating daily morning and evening services to and from Terminal 2 with the first flight departing Muscat at 8.30am and departing Dubai at 10.50am. The evening flight is scheduled to take off from Muscat at 5.30pm, while the flight from Dubai will depart for the Sultanates capital at 8pm. CEO Captain Mohamed Ahmed said the addition of flights to DXB was in response to guests requests and the growing demand for an affordable alternative to this popular destination. "Dubai International Airport is one of the most prominent hubs in the region and we are in negotiations with some of the citys tourism and business attraction to offer our guests even more value-added services. This new route will not only capitalize on Dubais wider international network and economic position but also further increase the connectivity between Oman and the UAE," observed Ahmed. "We are constantly striving to provide choice and flexibility to our guests and are committed to enhancing our service offering, allowing more people to fly more often, without compromising on quality and comfort," he added. SalamAir has negotiated with the management of Dubai International Airport and respective authorities for the past few months to secure suitable time-slots for the airline in the airports busy schedule. Providing added convenience and efficiency to travelers, Terminal 2 will allow SalamAirs guests to go from arrivals to the city within 15 minutes. Operating a fleet of A320s, the airlines schedule includes flights to Salalah, Suhar, Jeddah, Dubai, Sialkot and Karachi.-TradeArabia News Service Turquoise Announces Lit Auctions Turquoise, a European MTF, announced that it plans to launch frequent transparent auctions to complement its existing lit and non-displayed trading mechanisms. Turquoise Lit Auctions will be a pre-trade transparent, MiFID II compliant, matching mechanism providing indicative price and quantity to the market. The auction mechanism has already obtained regulatory approval for Q4 2017 launch, ahead of MiFID II implementation in January 2018. Robert Barnes, CEO of Turquoise, said: Turquoise is proud of its track record of innovating in partnership with our customers. As firms seek MiFID II compliance, Turquoise Lit Auctions is another example of an easy to implement solution offering quality execution in a regulated market environment. Turquoise Lit Auctions will be triggered when Turquoise receives matching orders from its members. Members will then have a 50 millisecond window in which to submit any further orders to the auction before a further 50 millisecond randomized uncrossing period commences. Auction matching will happen within Primary Best Bid Offer (PBBO) Reference Price Collar and will support orders pegged to the PBBO midpoint and Limit Orders. Turquoise members will be able to participate in Turquoise Lit Auctions by using their existing technical interface to Turquoise and workflow into the new mechanism with Market Identifier Code (MIC) of TRQA. The introduction of Turquoise Lit Auctions follows the success of Turquoise Plato Uncross, the non-displayed service that provides a series of periodic randomized auction-like uncrossings during European trading hours. For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: Saudis Prepare for Possible Aramco IPO Delay to 2019 Big things often take time to cultivate and pull together and initial public offerings are no exception. Especially when one is talking about the largest single IPO is history the Saudi Aramco offering which might be delayed, according to a report from Bloomberg. It reported that the Kingdom is preparing contingency plans for a possible delay to the IPO of the state-owned oil company by a few months into 2019, according to people familiar with the matter. That is not say that a delay from the original 2018 date is certain as the government is still aiming for an IPO next year. But sources told Bloomberg that 2018 could prove a challenge given the complexities of the global offering and its enormous size. In aa statement, Saudi Aramco said the IPO "remains on track. The IPO process is well underway and Saudi Aramco remains focused on ensuring that all IPO related work is completed to the very highest standards on time. However, no specific time was mentioned. Bloomberg added that Saudi Arabia has yet to announce where it will sell shares in Aramco other than the domestic stock exchange in Riyadh. US exchanges have been reportedly jockeying for position to get in on the deal, as well as US domiciled brokers. The country may not to make an announcement until late October, when its holding a big investment conference in Riyadh. The delay in selecting a foreign exchange, mostly likely London or New York, has had a knock-on effect on other preparatory work. Saudi Aramco has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, HSBC Bank Plc, Moelis & Co. and Evercore Partners Inc. to advise on the IPO. Independent Wall Street consultant Michael Klein is advising the oil ministry. For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: Three children have been killed and 8 civilians injured during ceasefire violations by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's Kerni, Kasaba and Digwar sectors. By India Today Web Desk: Three children have been killed and 8 civilians injured during ceasefire violations by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir's Kerni, Kasaba and Digwar sectors. One of the deceased has been identified as 10-year-old Israr Ahmad, a resident of Kerni sector. Ahmad was killed in Kasaba sector. Pakistani troops indulged in firing and mortal shelling at border villages and forward posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, according to police. advertisement The Indian Army gave a befitting reply to firing from Pakistan. Exchange of gunfire between the two sides was on when reports last came in. Officials said Pakistani troops targetted dozens of villages and posts in Shahpur, Kerni and Kasaba sector in the early hours, resulting in the death of the two children and injuries to 5 other civilians. The heavy cross-border firing started around 0650 hours, triggering panic among border residents. The injuries civilians have been rushed to the hospital. PAKISTAN A COUNTRY OF COWARDS: JAMMU AND KASHMIR DEPUTY CM Reacting to these ceasefire violations, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy CM Nirmal Singh has said, "Pakistan is a country of cowards. On the one hand, they show white flags while on the other, they target civilians." In a major boost for the security forces, the BSF had on September 30 detected a 14-foot-long tunnel in Jammu's Arnia sector. The Indian Army has foiled an infiltration bid by Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on September 26. On the first anniversary of Indian Army's surgical strikes on September 29 this year, former Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag had hailed the operation , adding that it was the first strike to have political clearance and achieved the desired result. Meanwhile in another incident, an encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in Thangdhar sector along the LoC. This after a group of 5 to 7 heavily armed infiltrators were seen in the area near LoC. While one infiltrator has been killed, many more are believed to be hiding in the area. (WITH INPUTS FROM PTI) WATCH VIDEO | J-K: Terrorists attack army vehicle in Shopian, one shot dead by security forces --- ENDS --- In late July, the Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualified Nawaz Sharif as a member of the National Assembly, finding him guilty of corruption. By Hamza Ameer: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to be indicted today over charges of corruption in an Islamabad accountability court. In late July, the Supreme Court of Pakistan disqualified Sharif as a member of the National Assembly, finding him guilty of corruption in the Panama Papers case. The court said cases should be opened against Sharif, his daughter Maryam, her husband Captain Muhammad Safdar, and Sharif's sons, Hassan and Hussain Nawaz. advertisement On September 15, the Supreme Court dismissed a review petition filed by Sharif and his children. SECURITY ARRANGEMENTS Special security plans have been put in place during the time of the court hearing. At least 1,500 troops will be deployed to ensure security around the judicial complex, as well as on the routes leading to the complex from Punjab House. Police will also be deployed on rooftops of homes around the judicial complex tomorrow. Local media have been given special passes for assigned beat reporters, as non-relevant individuals will not be allowed to enter the area. The media have also been given a specific place outside the judicial complex. A special traffic plan has also been put in place, as the route Nawaz Sharif will use will be cordoned off throughout the day. ALSO WATCH | It's a very good verdict, says former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Nawaz Sharif's ouster --- ENDS --- Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : HMH APPOINTS RENE VINCENT-ERNST AS GENERAL MANAGER FOR BAHI AJMAN PALACE HOTEL Industry: Travel PR HMH Hospitality Management Holding has appointed Rene Vincent-Ernst as the General Manager for Bahi Ajman Palace Hotel. (TRAVPR.COM) UAE - October 1st, 2017 - HMH Hospitality Management Holding has appointed Rene Vincent-Ernst as the General Manager for Bahi Ajman Palace Hotel. Vincent-Ernst has over three decades of outstanding experience in the hospitality industry spanning Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Making the announcement, Ferghal Purcell, COO of HMH, stated, We are delighted to welcome Rene Vincent-Ernst to lead the team at Bahi Ajman Palace Hotel. Vincent-Ernst brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the luxury hospitality sector including more than 10 years in the GCC. We are confident under his leadership this superb property will continue to excel as a market leader offering the highest levels of service standards and guest satisfaction. Vincent-Ernst began his career in the industry at The Savoy Hotel in London in 1988 as the food and beverage manager and subsequently worked his way up serving a number of key positions in various prestigious hotels. He also worked as a consultant for Tourism Development and Investment Company Abu Dhabi from May 2015 to February 2017. Taking over the general managers role at Bahi Ajman Palace Hotel, Vincent-Ernst, said, I am truly proud to join Bahi Ajman Palace Hotel that is a magnificent property and look forward to building on its success. Bahi Ajman Palace Hotel enjoys an exceptional reputation as a preferred address for both regional and international travellers and it is an exciting challenge to take it to the next level. A Danish national, Vincent-Ernst holds a Bachelors degree in Hotel Management from Royal Hotel School in Denmark and a Masters degree in Business Administration from Delward University in California. About HMH Founded in 2003 in Dubai, HMH Hospitality Management Holding is a fully integrated hotel management company that prides itself for being one of the pioneers among local groups that are specialized in the dry segment. Being the largest operator in the sector within the region, HMH provides hotel owners and developers a broad spectrum of world-class management solutions with five distinct, yet complementary, hotel brands catering to varied market segments from luxury to budget. These include Bahi Ajman Palace Hotel, Coral Hotels & Resorts, Corp Hotels, EWA Hotel Apartments and ECOS Hotels. HMHs strategic expansion in the Middle East and North Africa has been successful in unlocking a world of opportunities while creating value for its stakeholders, associates, staff members and customers. The existing portfolio is located in some of the most desirable destinations across the MENA region, with a pipeline of hotels under development to grow HMHs regional footprint even further. For more information about HMH please visit http://www.hmhhotelgroup.com or https://www.hmhhotelgroup.com/subscribenow For media contact: Hina Bakht Vice President MPJ (Marketing Pro-Junction) Mob: +971 50 697 5146 Email: h.bakht@mpj-pr.com http://www.mpj-pr.com ### Please contact the person or company listed above for information regarding the content of this press release. TravPR.com are not the issuers of this press release and are not responsible for the accuracy of the content. Share Release : CONTACT INFORMATION Name: Hina Bakht Company: Marketing Pro Junction Phone: +971 50 697 5146 Email: pressrelease@mpj-pr.com Web: PRESS RELEASE TAGS Portugal was named the Best Destination in Europe at the 2017 World Travel Awards. The recognition was awarded this weekend at a ceremony. (TRAVPR.COM) USA - October 2nd, 2017 - Portugal was named the Best Destination in Europe at the 2017 World Travel Awards. The recognition was awarded this weekend at a ceremony held in St. Petersburg, Russia, attended by Secretary of State for Tourism of Portugal, Ana Mendes Godinho. This is the first time that Portugal has been voted the best European destination highlighting the tremendous momentum that Portugal has attained in terms of quality, investment and media accolades (during 2017 Portugal received more than 2,300 awards and distinctions). The diversity of landscapes, growth of air accessibility, the ease of traveling within the country and the friendliness and welcome of the Portuguese peopleare all reasons Portugal took top honors. This award is also the recognition of the commitment to make Portugal a destination of excellence, with a diversity of unique experiences for the visitor from north to south, from the coast to the interior. Portugal also received the most awards overall, with 37 awards ranging from the best Cruise Port (Lisbon), the leading island destination (Madeira), the best beach destination in Europe (Algarve) and the best European official tourism entity (Turismo de Portugal). Portugal took home 13 more Oscars of Tourism than last year, which highlights not only the brand of the 3rd most peaceful country in the world but also the 14th most competitive country in the world in terms of tourism that all years receives more than 21 million tourists. ABOUT THE AWARDS Established In 1993, the World Travel Awards acknowledges, rewards and celebrates excellence across all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. Thousands of industry professionals identify the selection of nominees at an international level and choose their favorites every year ### By PTI: chilling, says actor Prakash Raj (Eds: Updates with actors latest statement) Bengaluru, Oct 2 (PTI) National award winning actor Prakash Raj today described as "chilling" the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on those "celebrating" the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh, including the ones "follwed" by him on Twitter. While questioning Modis silence, Raj said that he felt like "returning" his awards to "such actors who are acting as though nothing has happened" but later insisted that he was "not such a fool to give back the national awards." advertisement Lankesh, who had strident anti-right wing views, was shot dead from close range by unknown assailants at her home here on the night of September 5. Raj posted a video statement tonight on his Twitter account, saying that he had not said that he "wants to reject the national awards". "I saw on news channels that Prakash Raj has decided to give back the national awards. I am not such a fool to give back the national awards. It has been given for my work, which I am proud of," Raj said in the video statement. Earlier, at an event here yesterday, he had said, "When I see such actors who are acting as though nothing has happened, I have been given five national awards, I feel like returning it to them. They are bigger actors than me." Raj, who described Lankesh as his close friend, said, "Who is celebrating? I am pained at the celebrations of inhuman killing. I have vented out my pain and my anguish at those who are celebrating. I have been trolled..." He went on to add, "At the same time, my question is, as the prime minister of this country, if such people are being followed by the prime minister and the prime minister is not taking a stand on them or not commenting on them, as a citizen of this country, I am disturbed, hurt. I am afraid of the silence of my prime minister." Emphasising that he did not belong to any political party and was speaking as a citizen of the country, Raj said, "I am not talking against any party. I am talking to my prime minister. I am saying your silence is chilling. I am hurt by the silence....I have a right to say this." Yesterday, the actor had said, "...My problem is that -- who killed (her) is not important -- but who is celebrating is clearly seen (on Twitter)." He had added, "Who is happy can be clearly seen. There may not be proof (regarding the killing), but things can be seen. Today through social media the hidden cruelty is known." advertisement He made the remarks after inaugurating the 11th state conference of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the CPI(M), here yesterday. "We have a prime minister amidst us who is sitting with his eyes shut to this," Raj said. In further comments, he had said, "Im bigger actor than you, dont try to act in front of me, please respect me as an actor. If you act in front of me as though you know nothing-- am I a fool (to believe it) or are people or todays younger generation fools?" He has won national awards as best supporting actor for his film Iruvar in Tamil, special jury award for Anthapuram in Telugu, special jury award for various movies in multiple languages, best actor for Kanchivaram in Telugu, and best film for Puttakkana Highway in Kannada. PTI KSU BN AAR AKK --- ENDS --- Two policemen sustained splinter injuries in a grenade attack at Juhama area of Baramulla in north Kashmir on Monday evening. By Ashraf Wani: Two policemen sustained splinter injuries in a grenade attack at Juhama area of Baramulla in north Kashmir on Monday evening. A police officer told India Today that a joint team of police and Army has established a checkpost at Juhama, Baramulla for routine area domination. "At about 1850 hours one motorcycle approached from opposite side and after seeing the checkpost, they made an about turn. When challenged to stop, one of the two militants hurled a grenade towards the security personnel. Two policemen received minor injuries . Both the injured have been hospitalized," the officer said. advertisement Soon after the incident, the whole area has been cordoned off with the help of additional reinforcement, the officer said. Meanwhile, police has registered a case and started further investigation in this regard, the officer added. --- ENDS --- New Delhi: IT major TCS on Monday said a US court has more than halved the compensatory and punitive damages demanded from the company to $420 million in a lawsuit filed by Epic Systems Corporation. The matter relates to a US grand jury order that slapped two Tata group companies TCS and Tata America International Corp with a $940 million fine in a trade secret lawsuit filed against them by Epic in April 2016. Epic had accused TCS and Tata America International Corp, in a lawsuit filed in October, 2014 in US District Court in Madison which was amended in January and December 2015, of brazenly stealing trade secrets, confidential information, documents and data belonging to Epic. PTI MK Bhadrakumar MK Bhadrakumar THE visit by the US Defence Secretary James Mattis to New Delhi last week provided the opportunity for the first focused high-level interaction between the two countries regarding President Trumps announcement of the new policy outlining a new South Asia strategy. Unsurprisingly, much speculation preceded Mattis arrival in Delhi. Arms dealers and fat cats anticipated defence deals and closer military ties in particular, the US offer to relocate its factory for production of vintage F-16 fighter jets to India, which is being mothballed in America. Western media reports even linked closer US-Indian military ties with Trumps Afghanistan strategy. Some Indian reports blithely forecast a deployment of Indian troops to Afghanistan. But, in all fairness, Mattis himself was noticeably circumspect. En route to Delhi, he told the Pentagon press party accompanying him that the Trump administration viewed India as a natural strategic partner and that he hoped to set a refreshed partnership. He said he was hoping to basically putting meat on the structure (and) promote pragmatic progress in the defence partnership, delivering defence interoperability. He saw the visit as an opportunity to speed up decision-making by the bureaucracy at a time of strategic convergence between Washington and Delhi. Plainly put and divested of the usual high-flown rhetoric about shared values, et al Mattis hinted at his intent to give ballast to the arms sales by American vendors, project new arms deals and urge the Indian defence establishment to speed up decision-making on the pending proposals. Interestingly, however, Mattis was circumspect on Afghanistan. He never once voiced any criticism of Pakistan. He insisted that the relationship we are building with India is not to the exclusion of other countries. Mattis was confident that Pakistan will find nothing out of line with India and the US alignment in the same fight. He commended Indias role in Afghanistan but would see them (India) continuing along the lines they have already chosen, and looking for other areas that they may believe appropriate to the relationship with Afghanistan. Curiously, Mattis ducked a pointed question as to whether there is any shift in the locus of US-Indian security partnership away from the Obama administrations efforts to get India more involved in the South China Sea, towards Afghanistan. What sails into view is a complex paradigm of US-Indian defence partnership in the Trump era. Quite obviously, Mattis brief was to play on Indian vanities as a regional and global power and establish a source of funding for America First via lucrative arms deals. The Afghan problem and Chinas rise provide leitmotifs in the US-Indian strategic partnership, but in reality, the relationship complicates the advancement of Sino-Indian and India-Pakistan ties, which of course serves a useful purpose both as a template of the US containment strategy against China as well as to bring pressure to bear on Pakistan to cooperate with the US strategy in Afghanistan. India runs the risk of entrapment if it chooses to view its all-important ties with the US through the prism of its problematic relationships with Pakistan and China, instead of attributing a raison detre for them in intrinsic terms related to Indias development and its needs and aspirations as a regional power. Indeed, there is no certainty that the US concedes equal partnership to any interlocutor. In the circumstances, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did brilliantly well by underscoring in her joint press conference with Mattis that much as she appreciated his willingness to share further cutting-edge platforms we need to expand on the progress already made by encouraging co-production and co-development efforts. Sitharaman added candidly: I reiterated Indias deep interest in enhancing defence manufacturing in India under PM Modis Make-in-India initiative. I thank Secretary Mattis for his supportive position in this regard and look forward to working closely with him to realise joint projects. She stressed that the US announcement last year recognising India as a major defence partner should go beyond optics and actually refocus and reenergise the defence technology and trade initiative as a mechanism to promote technology-sharing as well as co-development and co-production efforts. Of course, Sitharaman would know that the US doesnt co-develop weapons or transfer military technology developed at enormous cost. It prefers to sell weapons and keep the end-users on a tight leash. Reuters reported recently that the US-India Business Council in a letter to the Indian Defence Ministry in August made it clear that US firms want to retain control over technology even if they are allowed to set up a production line for fighter jets and other equipment on Indian soil and, secondly, that they do not want to be held liable for any defects in equipment jointly produced with Indian counterparts. Clearly, Make in India is fast becoming a nuisance. Sitharaman also shrewdly distanced India from Trumps new Afghan strategy. She made three key points: one, Indias Afghan policies enjoy great continuity (by far predating Trumps entry into politics and diplomacy); two, Indias focus will be on assisting Afghanistan in its development, economy, capacity-building nothing more, nothing less; and, most importantly, India will not deploy troops to Afghanistan. All in all, she factored in that in the prevailing international milieu, the challenge for Indian diplomacy lies in differentiating the imperative needs of Indias military modernisation (and the creation of a world-class defence industry) from the geopolitics swirling around the region. After all, Asia-Pacific did not stand still because of Mattis visit. US Vice-President Mike Pence met Pakistani PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on September 20 for an important conversation about the Presidents South Asia strategy and highlighted ways that Pakistan could work with the US and others to bolster stability and prosperity for all in South Asia and reiterated President Trumps belief that Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in the region. Again, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Beijing on yet another visit to meet with senior Chinese leaders (to) discuss a range of issues, including the Presidents planned travel to the region, the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, and trade and investment. Washington flagged that Tillersons visit reaffirms the (Trump) administrations commitment to further broaden and enhance US economic and security interests in the Asia-Pacific region. Of course, just before emplaning for Beijing, Tillerson also co-chaired with the visiting Chinese vice-premier Liu Landong the first China-US Social and People-to-People Dialogue. And Trump himself received Liu in the White House on September 29 to convey that his visit to China in November is sure to be a success. The writer is a former ambassador Dubai, October 2 A quick-thinking Muslim woman saved the life of an Indian truck driver in the UAE when she saw him in flames following a horrific road accident, media reports said. Jawaher Saif Al Kumaiti, 22, was driving home after visiting a friend in a hospital when she saw two trucks burst into flames in Ras al-Khaimah, a city in the UAE - and heard the victim shouting for someone to save him, Gulf news reported. Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) She bravely saved the Indian driver from a fire by putting out the flames with an abaya cloak - a robe-like dress worn by some Muslim women. Al Kumaiti said that she was at first taken aback when she saw the two trucks on fire following the accident. She also saw a man on fire screaming in pain and fear shouting for help, the report said. The police have named the victim as Harkirit Singh. Al Kumaiti persuaded her friend who was a passenger to take off her abaya cloak then leaped out of the car and used it to put out the flames, it said. "He was lying down. He was on fire... I took out my friend's abaya, asked her to stay inside and left the car. I went to cover the guy because there were no clothes on him. He looked at me and said, 'I'm dying. I'm afraid to die'," she said, adding that she tried to talk to him and calm him down telling him that he would survive as the rescue teams will arrive soon." "I just thought about saving the man's life," said Al Kumaiti, who works at Adnoc Oasis in Sharjah. "The police patrols, ambulance and paramedics shortly arrived. They swung into action, provided first aid to the driver, and rushed him to the hospital," it said. "All thanks and praise to Almighty Allah who gave me the power and courage to act and intervene into the situation at the right time and rescue the man's life." Both the drivers suffered "40 to 50 per cent burns." Both were first taken to a hospital and then to the Saqr Hospital, said Major Tariq Mohamed Al Sharhan, head of the ambulance and rescue section at the Ras Al Khaimah police. Al Sharhan said they want to honour the bravery of the "abaya woman", the report said. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi will also honour Al Kumaiti, Navdeep Singh Suri, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, was quoted as saying by the report. Shockingly, she said there were other people at the scene in before she was but they did not help and simply stared at the man as flames burnt his body. PTI London, October 2 A primary school in the UK has come under fire for banning an eight-year-old British Sikh pupil from wearing his kara to school because it breaches the uniform policy. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Kaiden Singh, who has worn his Sikh religious bangle since birth, was asked to remove it after he started at his new school, Summerhill Primary School in Tipton, in the West Midlands region last month. His father, self-employed businessman Sunnie Singh is fighting the ban on the grounds of discrimination. I was totally gobsmacked and completely shocked. It is a religious symbol and a religious principle. We wear it for religious reasons, it's not to give a statement or for fashion, Singh said. The 30-year-old said he has told his son to refuse to remove his kara as it does not qualify as "jewellery", which is not allowed under the school's uniform policy. "The school have threatened my son and said he'll be excluded if he continues to wear his bangle. They shouldn't do that to a child. They're trying to class it as jewellery but it's not, it means a thousand words to us. It's racist and in my mind discrimination," he said. The family is currently taking up the matter through the school's official complaints procedure. Meanwhile, Sikh Federation UK has highlighted a similar case dating back to 2008 as a precedent for the school to follow. "In 2008, we helped a 14-year-old Sikh girl win her case in the High Court against a South Wales school for her right to wear the kara to school. We suggest the school headteacher and governors urgently reverse their decision as legal advice will confirm eight-year-old Kaiden Singh has the legal right to wear his kara to school," it said in a statement, warning against an expensive court case if the matter lands in court. But Summerhill Primary School has claimed that it has offered to discuss the matter with the parents. Headteacher Kerry Rochester said: Our school uniform policy does state no jewellery, only ear studs if a child has pierced ears. All parents are made aware of this when they send their children to our school. "And, as with all parents, Kaiden's mum and dad signed the school's agreement form accepting our policies when he started in September. We are a bit taken aback by this because we do consider religious items and we had arranged to meet Kaiden's parents on Wednesday to discuss the matter with them. The kara is part of the five key symbols of the Sikh faith, which also include kesh, kanga, kachha and kirpan. PTI Sushil Manav Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 2 With prices of raw cotton hovering just above the minimum support price (MSP), the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) will not begin procurement activities in the state anytime soon. Market sources said procurement of cotton was already on peak, but its prices had not picked up this year. They said while the price of raw cotton hovered between Rs 4,800 and Rs 6,000 last year, the prices were much less since harvesting of the crop this year. The crop was sold today for Rs 4,350 in Sirsa, the biggest cotton producer in the state. In other markets too, the price was Rs 10 to 20 higher or lower than this. With low prices and higher input cost than the last year, we want the government to provide us some relief. At least, the government can ask its own procurement agencies to buy our produce for remunerative price, said Nand Kishore, a farmer from Ellenabad. The CCI, however, said since the prices were still above the MSP, the agency would not enter into procurement operations. The prices are still higher than the cotton MSP, which is Rs 4,220 this year. We purchase the crop only when farmers sell it on the MSP and their crop meets the quality parameters. The crop must meet the parameters of the fair average quality prescribed by the corporation, said Kamal Kant, administrative officer at the Cotton Corporation of India office in Sirsa. He said the CCI did not purchase any crop from Haryana even during the last two procurement seasons, as the prices remained much higher than the MSP. While farmers are concerned at the low prices of cotton, cotton ginners are happy with the present scenario. The prices suit ginners, who have been suffering losses for the past five years. After purchasing raw cotton for Rs 4,350 per quintal, our ginned cotton is fetching us Rs 3,850 per bale of 170 kg and the cottonseed is selling for Rs 2,000 per quintal, said Gurpreet Singh Nagpal, a partner in Royal Kotgin at Sirsa. Sushil Mittal, president, Haryana Cotton Ginners Association, said in the past five years, nearly 50 ginning units had been closed in the state due to losses. Arteev Sharma Tribune News Service Nagrota, October 2 A nine-year-old boy and a teenage girl were on Monday killed while 11 other civilians were injured as Pakistani troops opened fire and lobbed mortars at dozens of villages and posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Indian troops fired in retaliation to silence the Pakistani guns and the exchange of fire between the two sides was continuing when last reports came in. The deceased have been identified as Asrar Ahmad of Mohallha Qasba and Yasmeen Akhtar of Kerma village of Dighwar. The condition of three of the injured was stated to be critical. The critically injured persons were referred to the Government Medical College Hospital here for specialised treatment, the spokesman said. The firing and shelling by Pakistan sparked panic among border residents. The spokesman said the heavy cross-border firing started around 0650 hours, triggering panic among border residents. Meanwhile, the Army foiled an infiltration bid in Tangdhar sector of frontier Kupwara district. A BSF jawan was on Monday injured in sniper firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control in the Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. The incident occurred around 6.15 pm at a forward location, opposite Pakistans Mohra post. The jawan, constable S Ramachari, suffered injuries to his forearm and abdomen and was rushed to a nearby military hospital, they added. The year 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Till August 1, there were 285 violations by Pakistani forces while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, according to Army figures. With PTI inputs Arun Joshi IF we Indians believe that the Armys intensified anti-militancy raids by the National Investigation Agency on the premises of separatists has made the Kashmir valley swing towards the country, it is patently wrong. And, it will be our mistake to think that the amendments to the Constitution can bring about a change of heart in them. There is nothing bad in the mainstreaming of Kashmir, but we should not make it look like some kind of a message of conquering the people and the territory. This needs a heart-to-heart approach. Jammu and Ladakh are suffering from a sense of persecution and shameless discrimination, so Delhi must show greater dexterity in handling these two regions. It would be a fatal blow if Jammu and Ladakh are reduced to anti-Kashmir entities. The very thought of mainstreaming of the exclusively Muslim Valley through money, military power and the terror-fund choking exercise is absurd. The Valley is being seen in an isolated slot. This mistake in the past has let down the country time and again. Now this deemed mainstream is suffering from credibility crisis of unimaginable proportions. The mainstreaming cannot be imposed, it should come from within. The term denotes two connotations - first, adopting the idea of India, and second, reviving the Kashmiri ethos under attack from radicalisation. May be it is true to some extent that many in Kashmir would like to live in peace under India, but the idea has not germinated well because of Pakistans threat to kill all those talking of building bridges with Delhi. They want to be Kashmiris first. For the past 29 years, the idea of Kashmir too has been snatched from them. It is no different from the idea of India - unity in diversity, co-existence, religious freedom and round-the-year bloom of peace. Their yearning to see peace in their land should not be interpreted as their having been mainstreamed with the rest of India. That is merely an illusion. For the moment, the high-pitched rhetoric that the backbone of militancy is broken and people are living a normal life may seem logical. But minds dont have backbone; militancy is born in minds, not bodies. The phrase is perfect but its usage is imperfect. The fact is that there was much more normalcy in the Valley when it was reduced to a narrow lane for jostling tourists in the first half of 2016. They all wanted to have a fair view of Kashmirs beauty. That lasted till a couple of hours before militant commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter on July 8, 2016. The difference between the 2016 and 2017 normalcy is that last year it was an enthusiasm to revive everything that Kashmir stood for - beauty, hospitality and search for peace. This year the normalcy could be attributed to drop in stone-throwing with fatigue setting in, doubtfulness about the ability of the leaders to deliver on their promises and a widespread fear that militants are destined to meet their fate. The normalcy is deceptive. It may shatter any moment. Kashmiris can walk miles to befriend people from the rest of the country. They love to be loved in a natural way. They can easily see through artificial praise to their virtues or a mechanised attempt to include them in the mainstream. Let Kashmiris grow the way they want to. They have seen it already that how Pakistan has subjugated their ethos and nationalism and imposed a pan-Islamic agenda of radicalisation on them. They want to fight it back but they do not see India as a natural ally in this battle as yet. There is a lot of gap between today and the day Kashmir would mainstream again after the 1947 accession. That gap needs to be bridged with genuine talk and examples. The Mahatma Gandhi Peace Mission celebrated the 149th birth anniversary of the Father Of the Nation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi at a memorial built at Gandhi Dham on the banks of the Sutlej, where his ashes were immersed in 1948 after his assassination. People from all walks of life participated and paid floral tributes at the memorial. Children sang bhajans and shabads. With placards in their hands, slogans of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan also reverberated, reminding one of late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose birth anniversary also falls on October 2. Children who are being brought up by a charitable trust took pledge never to take drugs and shun violence, dowry, female foeticide and corruption. Gurbinder Singh Atwal, president of the mission, asked the present government at the Centre to allay the fears of minorities and help people engaged in handlooms and handicrafts as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi. MP Chowdhary Santokh Singh recalled the sacrifices of freedom fighters. This time, activists of the peace mission were all praise for the local administration which cleared the monument site of weeds and filth. Brij Bhushan Goyal of the mission said they hoped for the revival of the Sarvodya Mela that was stopped at the time of terrorism in Punjab. TNS Benefits of hygiene discussed Dr Kotnis Acupuncture Hospital and Ek Kadam Sewa Ki Aur, an NGO, took the initiative of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on the occasion of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and former PM Lal Bahadur Shastri. A cleanliness movement started at the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, under the supervision of Dr Kulwinder Singh, SMO, Civil Hospital Ludhiana; Dr Ashish Chawla, District AIDS Control Officer and Dr Inderjit Singh, Medical Superintendent, Dr Kotnis Acupuncture Hospital, along with the staff. "The aim was to ensure cleanliness in the hospital to provide good health services to patients and general public," said Dr Inderjeet. Dr Kulwinder and Dr Inderjit told the staff about the benefits of hygiene. It also protects from TB, dengue and many diseases, they were told. This effort will continue for 15 days. TNS Suspended acting principal of Gurgaon's Ryan International School, Bhondsi branch, Neerja Batra has been demoted as a teacher with another school branch in the city. By India Today Web Desk: Former acting principal of Gurgaon's Ryan International School , Bhondi branch, Neerja Batra who was suspended following the murder of a seven-year-old student in the school premises has been re-appointed and demoted. Batra has been effectively shifted to another branch of the Ryan International School in Gurgaon's sector 40. But according to reports, parents are not happy with this latest development on part of the authorities who are still reeling under extreme criticism over their lackadaisical management. advertisement Reacting to Batra's re-appointment as a teacher, Pradyuman's father Varun Thakur asked how can a principal under whose watch a student was murdered be transferred to a different school? "If she was not able to fulfill her duty as a principal then how can she fulfill her duties as a teacher," Pradyuman's father questioned. Displeased with this development, he further said that unless the case is closed, no one should be posted or transferred anywhere. Neerja Batra was caught in the eye of the storm after a class 2 student, Pradyuman Thakur was found murdered inside the school washroom on September 8. Neerja Batra, former acting principal of Gurgaon's Ryan International School, Bhondsi branch. Pradyuman was found in a pool of blood with his throat slit , allegedly with a sharp object. He succumbed to his injuries at a Gurgaon hospital, due to lack of immediate medical attention. Bhondsi branch of Ryan International School reopened on September 25, with its management been taken over by the Haryana government for the next three months. Parents have been personally assured by the Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh that their children's safety and security is priority for the administration and staff, and it is not something the authorities will compromise with. In latest development, around 45 CCTVs have been installed in the Bhondsi campus and the construction of a new boundary wall has begun. All the teaching and non-teaching staff have undergone police verification and now wear ID cards. A metal detector has been placed at the entry gate and people who enter are being frisked by guards. Parents have been provided with ID cards too and now visitors have to provide proper identity proof. With inputs from Shalini Lobo and Chirag Gothi Also watch: Pradyuman was taken to 2 hospitals, he was conscious all along: Ryan bus conductor --- ENDS --- Washington, October 2 A former Pentagon official has said that it is time for the Trump Administration to designate Pakistan along with Qatar and Turkey as state sponsors of terrorism. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) It is time to hold Pakistan to account. If Pakistan then wishes to escape sanctions, it must imprison terrorists on its soil and cease any funding and equipping of them, said Michael Rubin, a resident scholar with American Enterprise Institute (AEI), in an op-ed in The Washington Examiner. Since 1979, the US State Department similar to Indias Ministry of External affairs has maintained a list of State Sponsor of Terrorism. So far the Secretary of State has designated Libya, Iraq, South Yemen, Syria, Cuba, Iran, Sudan and North Korea as State Sponsor of Terrorism after determining that these have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism. Over the years many of these countries were gradually removed off the list. As of now, three countries are on the list Iran, Syria and Sudan. However, Rubin, a former Pentagon official in his op-ed argues that at a time when the world is infested with terrorist activities, the US needs to return the terror list to its original purpose: calling out states which embrace terrorism, no matter whether they are US allies or not. Three countries, he argued, deserves to be on this list. They are Turkey, Qatar and Pakistan. Alleging that under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has enabled and supplied the Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked groups inside Syria, Rubin said Qatar has not only become the chief banker to Hamas, but it also finances the most radical al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria and Libya. Pakistan has escaped the state sponsorship of terrorism list for far too long, he asserted. Alleging that leaders of Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence openly supports the Taliban, Rubin said Islamabad continues to tolerate and support an array of terrorist groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad, which recruited the Times Square bomber, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the 2001 attack on Indias parliament and the 2008 slaughter of tourists at a Mumbai hotel. Nor is it credible that al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden lived in Abbottabad, Pakistans equivalent of West Point, without senior Pakistani authorities knowing it, he said. Rubin observed that occasional Pakistani government crackdowns on these groups are insincere: Even for the most high-profile terrorists, Pakistani prisons have revolving doors. Perhaps the Bush and Obama administration gave Islamabad a pass because they wanted Pakistans logistical cooperation in Afghanistan, but it didnt work, he said. Turning a blind eye toward Pakistani terror support cost scores of American lives, even as Pakistani leaders received billions of US dollars, he added. PTI Dubai, October 2 Kuwait has released 22 Indian prisoners and commuted the sentences of 97 others lodged in various prisons of the country after the Emir reduced their sentences, according to Indian officials. The list contains the names of 119 Indians in addition to the 15 Indian prisoners whose death sentences were recently commuted to life imprisonment. The Emir of Kuwait has ordered immediate release of 22 Indian prisoners, Indian Embassy in Kuwait City said in a statement. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The sentences of 53 Indians had been reduced from life imprisonment to 20 years, it said. The Emir of Kuwait has ordered a reduction of three quarters of the sentence of 18 Indians, a reduction of half period of the sentences of 25 and one quarter of the sentence of one, the statement said. The charges in most of the cases involved narcotics, drug trading or consumption, theft, robbery and fraud among others. All 15 prisoners whose death sentences had been converted to life imprisonment were convicted in drug-related charges, the statement said. The Indian mission said it would provide all possible assistance for their travel to India after their release or completion of sentences. Efforts were also being made to help those Indian prisoners who had given their consent to spend rest of their sentence period in India. On Saturday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had thanked the Emir of Kuwait who had reduced the sentences of the Indian nationals lodged in Kuwaiti jails. Kuwait has been an important trading partner for India. It is also the seventh largest crude supplier to India in 2016-17. Oil-rich Kuwait is home to around nine lakh Indians. PTI Amit Sharma Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 2 Wanted in a case of raping a woman cop, Punjabs former Akali minister Sucha Singh Langah on Monday surrendered before the court of Duty Magistrate Hirdejeet Singh here on Monday afternoon. The court refused Langah's surrender plea and told him to go to Gurdaspur. Langah on Saturday had failed to surrender in a court, as promised a day earlier after the registration of a rape case against him. Also read: Langahs political journey marred by controversies Langah continues to be on run, Jakhar questions Sukhbirs silence Langahwho was booked on Friday on charges of rape, criminal intimidation, and cheating on the complaint of a woman working with Punjab Policehad remained underground ever since, police sources said. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Langah was booked under Sections 376 (rape), 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code at the Gurdaspur City police station after the woman, a widow, complained that he had been repeatedly raping her since 2009. Langah, who was a Shiromani Akali Dal core committee member, on Friday had announced his resignation from all party posts and from the membership of the SGPC. I have full faith in the judiciary. Therefore, I am submitting to the process of law by surrendering in the court. I have firm belief that truth will come out and justice will be done, he had said on Friday. Washington, October 2 US President Donald Trump sent his "warmest condolences" on Monday to the victims and families of a shooting at a concert in Las Vegas that has killed at least 50 people. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Trump wrote on Twitter in response to what is the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said separately that the president had been briefed on "the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas" on Sunday night. "We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials," she said. "All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers." Senseless tragedy Pope Francis and former president Barack Obama called the killing a "senseless tragedy". "Deeply saddened to learn of the shooting in Las Vegas, Pope Francis sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this senseless tragedy," said a message sent to the Roman Catholic bishop of the Nevada city on Monday. Obama's statement on Twitter said: "Michelle & I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy". Michelle & I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas. Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy. Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 2, 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday that Britain's thoughts were with the victims of what she called an "appalling attack" in Las Vegas, where a gunman opened fire at a country music festival. "The UKs thoughts are with the victims and the emergency services responding to the appalling attack in Las Vegas," May said in a post on her official Twitter feed. Reuters/AFP Prakash Raj says that he is very proud of his National Awards and he never said that he would give them back. By India Today Web Desk: Actor Prakash Raj made headlines when he lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence over journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder. Raj was quoted as saying, at the 11th state meet of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) in Bengaluru on Monday, "In UP, we don't know whether he's a Chief Minister or the pujari of a temple. You know, I have 5 national awards. I think I should give them to him." advertisement This led to speculations whether Raj was going to return his National Award. However, the actor clarified this in video, saying, "I'm not such a fool to give back my National Award, it's something I'm very proud of. " Watch the full video here. What's said...n what's not said. For all out there .. thank you pic.twitter.com/zIT7rnkFxb- Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) October 2, 2017 A close friend of Gauri Lankesh, Prakash Raj also criticised Narendra Modi for following some Twitter users who celebrated the murder on social media. "I am a renowned actor. Do you (Modi) think I will not be able to notice when you are acting? At least, show me some respect. Considering the fact that I am an actor, I will be able to tell what is the truth and what is acting," the actor was also quoted as saying earlier. Raj is considered one of the finest actors of Tamil cinema. He made his Tamil debut with K Balachander's Duet. Prakash Raj won the National Award for Best Supporting Actor for Iruvar. He won the National Award for Best Actor for Kancheevaram. Prakash Raj has won 5 National Awards till date. Earlier in September, senior journalist Lankesh, a well-known critic of the right wing forces, was shot dead at her house in Bengaluru. ALSO WATCH: Major breakthrough in Gauri Lankesh murder case, killer disguised himself as IT professional --- ENDS --- Regent Bank announced a $12 million common stock raise in an effort to boost its lending limit. The move will increase the banks legal lending limit to about $14 million, allowing it to serve larger businesses and real estate clients. We have grown from $72 million in assets in 2008 to $400 million currently, said Sean Kouplen, chairman and CEO. Our Board of Directors approved raising this new capital to allow us to continue to grow and expand services for our clients. The bank, which specializes in small and mid-market business banking, has a stated vision to grow to $1 billion in assets by 2025. Regent Bank started as First National Bank in Nowata in 1898 and was purchased by Kouplens Regent Capital Corp. in April 2008. Since that time it has grown from 80 local shareholders and a $15.5 million investment in the bank to 130 shareholders and a $34 million capital base. We are very excited about the future, Kouplen said. We have an amazing team of seasoned community bankers and a supportive and energized shareholder group. We believe Regent Bank will continue to grow as Oklahoma business owners continue to prefer local community bankers they can count on as their financial partners. By India Today Web Desk: Actor Prakash Raj on Monday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his silence over journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder. Speaking at the 11th state meet of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) in Bengaluru, Prakash Raj was quoted by The News Minute as saying, "Gauri's killers may not have been caught yet but what is more distressing is those who celebrated her death. We may not be able to see Gauri's killers but we can see those who have spewed vitriol. People who our Prime Minister follows are also among them. We have a Prime Minister who shuts his eyes to this." advertisement Taking potshots against the BJP, Raj said, "In UP, we don't know whether he's a Chief Minister or the Poojari of a temple. You know, I have 5 national awards. I think I should give them to him." A close friend of Gauri Lankesh, Prakash Raj also criticised Narendra Modi for following some Twitter users who celebrated the murder on social media. "I am a renowned actor. Do you (Modi) think I will not be able to notice when you are acting? At least, show me some respect. Considering the fact that I am an actor, I will be able to tell what is the truth and what is acting," the actor was quoted as saying. Prakash Raj in one of the finest actors in Indian cinema. He made his Tamil debut with K Balachander's Duet. Prakash Raj won the National Award for Best Supporting Actor for Iruvar. He won the National Award for Best Actor for Kancheevaram. Prakash Raj has won 5 National Awards till date. Earlier in September, senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, a well-known critic of the right wing forces, was shot dead at her house in Bengaluru. ALSO WATCH: Major breakthrough in Gauri Lankesh murder case, killer disguised himself as IT professional --- ENDS --- Students serving as leaders with the Coweta FFA chapter took part in the 2017 Oklahoma FFA Chapter Officer Leadership Training (COLT) Conference held Tuesday, Sept. 12 at the Glenpool Conference Center in Glenpool. Participating officers were President James Waller, Vice President Lucas Beaty, Secretary Andy Theodore, Treasurer Aubrey Kilgore, Reporter Daniel Grove and Sentinel Kelsey Walenciak. Chapter advisor is Travis ODell. Dare To Be Different was the theme of this years conference, which was planned and conducted by eight state FFA officers. Training was designed to equip chapter leaders with tools to help them be different as individuals, officer teams and as FFA chapters. Kelly Barnes, a professional speaker who served as state FFA president in 2003-04, was the keynote speaker for the conference. We believe great individuals make great teams, great teams make great chapters and great chapters make for a successful Oklahoma FFA Association, said State FFA President Ridge Hughbanks. Sometimes you need to do things a little different in order to accomplish greater things. A young girls encounter with a tiny snake became a big problem last month, and according to a local doctor who consulted on her case, it represents a growing problem in Oklahoma as pygmy rattlesnake bites not only are increasing in number but changing in nature. Adyson Griffin, 6, was bitten by a western pygmy rattlesnake Sept. 16 while playing in her backyard in the Henryetta area. She did not see the snake before it bit her near the ankle. After a LifeFlight helicopter ride to Tulsa, 38 vials of antivenin, and nine days in the hospital, she is home but still recovering with a dangerously low blood platelet count almost two weeks later, according to her mother, Tammy Collins. (The antivenin) would raise her count and then it would drop right down again, Collins said. Slowly now, Adysons platelet level seems to be coming back, but in the meantime she has to be careful. They said no running, no jumping, no playground time; she cant get cleared to go to school, Collins said. That wide-ranging effect of the pygmy rattler venom, an attack on the victims coagulation system, which can lead to dangerous internal bleeding, is a relatively new development and has threatened four children in Oklahoma the past two years, according to Dr. Phil Barton, medical director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. The threats would have been much more serious if not for help from Oklahomas zoos, he said. Both zoos have helped us in the past, and in this case the Tulsa Zoo made a significant difference in her outcome, Barton said. After recognizing the problem in children last year, the pediatrician and Dr. William Banner, medical director of the Oklahoma Poison Control Center, co-authored a paper that should result in release of a new antivenin treatment sometime next year, Barton said. In each case, a child received 20 to 30 vials of standard antivenin without seeing satisfactory results, he said. A typical dose of anitvenin for a bite case is four to six vials. After 28 vials of a standard CroFab antivenin failed to help Adyson, the hospital got 10 vials of a different kind, called Antivipmyn, from the Tulsa Zoo, Barton said. The standard CroFab antivenin covers the 10 most common types of venomous bites in North America; the Antivipmyn covers up to 40, including many exotic species such as those that might be kept in a zoo collection, he said. The pygmy rattlesnake is interesting; it has a different type of antigen, one we cant describe yet, in its venom. Snakes evolve and venom can change and adapt, and were seeing it becoming quite resistant to the CroFab now, Barton said. We think the pygmy rattlesnake venom is morphing. Not only is the venom showing signs of greater danger, the incident of pygmy snake bites is on the rise, Barton said. He has worked in pediatric medicine in Tulsa since 1996 and worked projects with Banner for 13 of those years. Of pygmy rattlesnake bites, he said, we see way, way more than ever before. Without exact numbers, he broke down the changing trends he witnessed the past decade. Ten years ago the breakdown was 70 percent copperhead bites, 20 percent cottonmouth, and 10 percent all rattlesnake varieties, he said. In the childrens hospital now Id say its 80 percent pygmy rattlesnake, 15 percent copperhead and 5 percent cottonmouths and others. Thirteen children were treated with CroFab at St. Francis this year, according to pharmacy records, Barton said. There have been 35 snakebite patients overall, old and young, not counting many others who may have been observed but not admitted for treatment, he said. Sometimes the snakes bite without delivering venom, or a very small amount. The patients are observed for a time and then sent home. In Adysons case, her mother said the bite was scary and painful and the swelling rose all the way up to her knee, but now it is mostly healed. Its still just a little tender to the touch, she said. The girls blood platelet count has been slow to recover. She has to travel to her doctors office in Okmulgee daily to have blood drawn for testing. Her platelet count needs to be twice to three times what it was Wednesday, Collins said. Doctors have not set a time frame for her count to recover. I think shes been kind of a head-scratcher, Collins said. Adyson seems to be taking it all in stride. She has been fantastic; even right after it all happened, shes kept her spirits up and just been her happy little self, Collins said. Im a grown woman and I couldnt have handled it like she did. Lasting impacts are the medical bills yet to come and her fear of snakes. The LifeFlight bill is in the neighborhood of $36,000, Collins said. I was told each antivenin vial from the hospital is about $10,000 and the vials from the zoo would be about $14,000 or $15,000 each. She had 28 of the one and 10 of the other, so ... its all perfectly fine; they did what they had to do. The incident in the backyard still upsets her four children, ages 5 to 12, she said. She said the bite incident had her in a panic. Her husband, Matt Collins, is an EMT and firefighter and was the calm one. They were all pretty terrified, she said of the children. They havent asked, not even attempted to go outside yet. She is fine with them staying in for now. They play outside at school. Once it starts snowing they are free to go out there and play again, she said in a lighthearted way. The ordeal was fatal to the snake itself, which Matt Collins found near the tree where Ayden was playing. Its in the freezer now, Collins said with a heavy sigh. My husband wants to turn it into a bracelet for her. STILLWATER Great steaks come from a beef loin. You know their names by heart. Sirloin. Filet mignon. Rib-eye. T-Bone. Porterhouse. You can add another, one from the shoulder, thanks to researchers working at Oklahoma State Universitys Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center. The Vegas Strip Steak, patented and trademarked, will be arriving soon at butcher shops and restaurants. Ive worked with universities all across the country, said Tony Mata, a world-class meat researcher from Dallas nicknamed the Meat Geek. There is none better than the folks right here at OSU. Mata has been working with OSU researchers for more than 20 years, and the latest discovery is the Vegas Strip Steak. Mata was working with OSUs Jake Nelson to try new ideas in the production of meat products. They were literally looking for new ways to cut up beef. Mata is generally credited with discovering the flat iron steak and petite tender. We were working to find new cuts to add value for our producers and processors, said Mata. We found what we thought was a possibility, a muscle near the shoulder. At first, it was not what we wanted. But, through testing, we found the proper process. Mata and Nelson found what they believed was a possible new cut of beef in the area that normally produces chuck roasts and hamburger. There are two on every animal and, depending on portion size, can produce up to four to six steaks. It took a lot of work and testing, including by chef Rick Gresh of Primehouse in Chicago, to come up with a finished product. When I first cooked it up at home it wasnt very good, said Nelson. But when we worked on the process to produce it, we produced a much better product. The next time I cooked it the steak was great. When it comes to tenderness, flavor and juiciness, it holds its own with just about any other steak. Oklahoma State received notice this summer that a patent on the process to produce the steak has been approved. The Vegas Strip Steak name has been trademarked. You cant patent the work of God, so the steak is not patented, said Nelson. All we did was patent the process to produce it. The patent office believed we had some worthy intellectual property. The Vegas Strip Steak is an approximately 14-ounce steak that is similar to a strip steak in both tenderness and flavor. I feel pretty confident we have identified the last real beef steak, said Nelson. So far, the steak has a limited availability. Creekstone Farms in Arkansas City, Kansas, is licensed to produce the steak for the food service industry (restaurants). In Stillwater the Vegas Strip Steak is available at two restaurants: The Ranchers Club and Mojos. It is also available at the Iron Star in Oklahoma City. It is a new product that we believe will become very popular, said Nelson. The versatility of this steak is very popular with high-end chefs. The Vegas Strip Steak has some advantages over the standard steaks that come from the loin (T-bone, rib-eye, porterhouse). While aging is often important in steaks, the Vegas Strip Steak needs no aging. So, instead of aging in a cooler for weeks, you get the Vegas Strip Steak and it is already tender and ready to be cooked, said Nelson. That saves you money. As the Vegas Strip Steak starts to spread in popularity, it could add $2 to $5 per animal for producers. That doesnt sound like much until you realize we produce 25 million animals in this country each year, said Mata. When you look at it industrywide, you realize just how much of a game-changer it could be for meat producers. Finding additional ways to produce revenue is important in any business. That added value is an important factor, said Mata. You can have a cut of beef that costs more to produce but doesnt add any value. In this case, the Vegas Strip adds value. In fact, that was an important part of the Vegas Strip development. When Mata and Nelson started working on it, it took too much time to produce, upward of 20 to 25 minutes. However, they developed a process to cut that time dramatically. Now, one female processor is producing a finished Vegas Strip Steak in less than 30 seconds. The steak had to be good, said Nelson. Once we had the product, then we had to name it, too. Youd be surprised but that was very important. In fact, the first thing we did after coming up with a name was to trademark it. How do you cook it? One chef that has worked with it said pan sear each side for two minutes and serve. How soon until you start seeing it on restaurant menus or at your local butcher shop? That is up to the marketplace, but we believe it is a terrific addition to the beef options for consumers, said Nelson. We think as more people taste it, and as more chefs work with it, it will become very popular. Defense motions to dismiss or push back Shannon Keplers first-degree murder case were struck down Monday, paving the way for a fourth trial to begin next week in the shooting death of teenager Jeremey Lake by Kepler when he was an off-duty Tulsa police officer. Tulsa County District Judge Sharon Holmes denied a motion to dismiss the case based on Defense attorney Richard OCarrolls contention that Tulsa County District Court doesnt have jurisdiction because Kepler is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the site of the fatal shooting is in the Creek Reservation. That matter became an issue in an unrelated case in August after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver overturned a Native American Oklahoma death-row inmates conviction, saying the killing for which he was convicted happened in Indian country and should have been tried in either federal or tribal court. The appeals courts ruling says the Creek Nations reservation was never disestablished by Congress when Oklahoma became a state and so the tribes jurisdiction, including Tulsa County, is still a reservation. Holmes denied that defense motion, saying there has been no mandate from the appeals court in that case which is pending in the court system so she wont at this time dismiss any case based on that ruling. OCarroll also sought to have the case dismissed because Keplers repeated trials have put him in a continuing state of anxiety and insecurity and violate his right to due process. Keplers original trial and two retrials each resulted in a hung jury voting 11-1 and 10-2 in favor of guilt, respectively the first two times, and then a 6-6 juror tie. This burden is untenable, OCarroll said, contending that if ever there were a case in need of a merciful end, this would be the one. District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler told the court Kepler is in this predicament because he pulled the trigger on the 19-year-old in August 2014. Lake had just begun a romantic relationship with Keplers daughter, Lisa Kepler. The consternation of Mr. Kepler is caused by his own hands, Kunzweiler said. He also argued that there is good reason to believe there was an effort by the defense to harpoon a previous trial. Kepler against the judges orders told prosecutors in front of jurors, You have Jeremeys gun in reference to a handgun found in a police interview room trash can the day after witnesses to the shooting were interviewed. Kepler contends that Lake had a gun, but police found no gun on or near the teenager. Pretrial arguments revealed that no fingerprints that could be traced to Lake or any witnesses were found on the gun that was found at police headquarters, so it could not be tied to Lake. OCarroll contended that Kepler was simply answering a question put forth by Assistant District Attorney Kevin Gray. What Kepler said was not a harpoon, OCarroll said. It was in response to a question. District Judge Sharon Holmes denied Keplers motion, saying she has been fair to all parties and made decisions rooted in looking out for both sides. My decision to preside over a fourth trial is based on sound principals, Holmes said. In another motion, OCarroll asked Holmes to bar the state from giving jurors the option of convicting Kepler of first-degree manslaughter, arguing that the statute of limitations to formally charge Kepler with that crime has expired. Holmes also denied that motion. She said evidence was presented in the third trial that would make manslaughter appropriate. Not knowing what evidence will be presented in the fourth trial, Holmes said it would be premature to prevent the prosecution from asking for that lesser offense to be included. I cant forecast what I may or may not do, Holmes said. The judge also denied OCarrolls request to stay the proceedings so Kepler could seek extraordinary relief on the defenses motions. Jury selection in Keplers fourth trial is slated to begin Oct. 9. A half a dozen people met on a recent Sunday afternoon in a house in a quiet midtown neighborhood for prayer. After a few minutes of socializing, they sat down on chairs and couches and closed their eyes, hands folded in their laps. For the next hour, they sat in silence, broken only two or three times by brief statements by one or another of them. The others responded with more silence. To me, in silent worship, its like we know by faith that God is present, Lori Laub said during the hour of prayer. When we sit in silence, were waiting to hear the still, small voice. These are Tulsas Quakers, members of the Green Country Friends Meeting, who are celebrating their 30th anniversary as a fellowship Sunday. Sometimes called Silent Quakers, the Tulsa group has about a dozen members, not all of whom attend every weekly meeting. Glenn Craig said he has been part of the group for about a year. I like the meditative aspect, ... the sense of quiet, he said. Laub said their group is Tulsas only Quaker group, and there are only a few other groups around Oklahoma. Officially, they are called Unprogrammed Quakers, she said before the meeting. They are part of the Friends General Conference. Direct line to God They have no clergy, believing that all are ministers with a direct line to God, no hierarchy, and no order of service. Their meetings consist of sitting in silence, waiting for the Spirit to speak through one or another of the worshippers. Silent Quakers elevate what they call the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, often called the light within, over the written Bible. Politically, they tend to be more liberal than conservative, and less what they call Christo-centric than other Quakers; Buddhists would be right at home in their group, Laub said. They are active in social projects like AIDS relief and the food bank. A second Quaker U.S. denomination, which is more organized, is called Friends United Meeting. They generally call their gathering places Meeting Houses. And on the other end of the Quaker spectrum are Evangelical Friends Church, International, who have churches and pastors and, as their name suggests, are more evangelical. All Quakers seek to live simple lives. In todays culture, it can be a real struggle to live simply, said Don Satterthwaite. It became easier, he said, when he retired from his work with computers. He said he finds being a vegan one of the easiest, most effective ways to simplify his life and to minimize his negative impact on the environment. Long history And Quakers follow principles of nonviolence, which means no military service, Laub said. Some try to keep their income so low that they dont pay any federal taxes, thereby not supporting the military. During wartime, most Quakers are conscientious objectors. Quakers are sometimes confused with other churches that have a tradition of simple lifestyle and nonviolence, Anabaptists like Amish, Mennonites and Church of the Brethren. But they have a different history. The Religious Society of Friends was started in England in the 17th century. George Fox was an early leader. They were often persecuted by the established church. William Penn founded the state of Pennsylvania as a safe place for Quakers. Tulsas Quakers will hold a public event at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, World Quaker Day, at Martin East Regional Library, 2601 S. Garnett Road, to celebrate their 30th anniversary as a fellowship in Tulsa. They will do a short introduction to Quakerism, answer questions, serve snacks and have a brief time of silent worship. Once again, the management of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame has put the facility in a high-profile embarrassment. Somehow, the facility got booked for simultaneous events a wedding and the one-year commemoration of the fatal police shooting of Terence Crutcher. Mistakes happen, and the right thing to do is admit them and try to work things out. But thats not what happened. No one from the Jazz Hall of Fame told the wedding party about the situation, although it was clear the facility had no intention of fulfilling its promise, according to family members. The family says it had paid the $3,000 rental fee in full, but didnt learn about the double-booking until the night before the wedding, when one of their guests told them. The mother of the bride says only a few days before the planned wedding, her daughter had visited the facility and had gone over details with Executive Director Jason McIntosh, but no one mentioned the problem. When the bride later confronted McIntosh with the foul up, he told her he had arranged (without her consent or knowledge) for her wedding to be held at another downtown Tulsa facility, according to the mother of the bride. The family eventually moved the wedding to a different facility in Broken Arrow. McIntosh wasnt willing to talk on the record about the incident with a Tulsa World reporter, so we dont know his side of events; but what weve heard makes us completely sympathetic with the wedding party. Its unbelievable that the Jazz Hall of Fame would leave them in the dark as long as it did. This isnt the first time the Jazz Hall of Fame has gotten itself in an ugly public mess. Many remember how the county voted to expel a charter school that had rented Jazz Hall of Fame classroom space because there wasnt a proper certificate of occupancy; and how the county once threatened to evict the hall of fame because it did not have insurance required in its 99-year lease. The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame is a public facility. The people of Tulsa County bought it and paid for its renovation with tax money. When the Jazz Hall of Fame management screws up, it degrades the value of a pubic asset. The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame is a beautiful facility with an important mission, and it ought to be a showcase. Is it too much to expect that it be managed so that it isnt a public embarrassment? This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? Special Operation Group of Rajasthan Police arrested the kingpin behind the theft of crude oil while being transported from Cairns Energy, India's Barmer well. By Rohit Parihar: Special Operation Group of Rajasthan Police have arrested the kingpin behind the theft of crude oil while being transported from Cairns Energy, India's Barmer well. Bhhor Singh Rajpurohit, alleged kingpin was arrested on Saturday and sent to police custody. He is the 34th arrest in the case. Investigations so far rule out the involvement of any Cairns Energy's regular employees as most of the work there had been outsourced. advertisement Cairns had as a precautionary measure, removed from current duties a number of senior personnel after the theft came to the notice. The theft was on for two years and was by contractors who were involved in transporting crude through their vehicles and manpower to different stores that were not linked to a gas pipeline. Dinesh MN, IG of the SOG told India Today that, company did not have its own men stationed at the points of loading and unloading. "Because of this, a faulty system developed where locals hired to do the job, connived to pilfer the oil," he said. Oil exploration in Barmer has led to the large-scale generation of employment. Cairns, then a British firm, largely hired locals for most of its ground activities. Very often, locals were hired under threat and pressure from local politicians and officials too. Many of those who worked with Cairns, earned a lot enough to transform their lives for better but apparently, the greed finally took better of them. --- ENDS --- UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi presents the 2017 Nansen Refugee Award to Zannah Mustapha. UNHCR/Mark Henley GENEVA In a glittering ceremony showcasing resilience and hope, Zannah Mustapha, a Nigerian lawyer, has received UNHCRs prestigious Nansen Refugee Award for 2017 for providing orphans of Nigerias Boko Haram insurgency with an education. A star-studded event on Monday evening (Oct 2) at Genevas Batiment des Forces Motrices saw the modest former barrister turned property developer become the latest in a long line of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to be feted with the annual award. Mustapha set up the school for orphans and vulnerable children in 2007 after witnessing growing numbers of children on the streets of the capital of Borno state, Maiduguri, the heart of an insurgency which has cost an estimated 20,000 lives and displaced some 2.3 million people. Renowned Afrobeat musician Tony Allen is here for tonights final performance - enjoy! https://t.co/MnyyAadhgE pic.twitter.com/PxEnPdj2Im UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) 2 October 2017 Presenting the award, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, hailed Mustapha, 58, as a man of courage and a man of peace, the same qualities as those possessed by Fridtjof Nansen, the first High Commissioner and the man after whom the award is named. Mustapha set up the school after he feared growing insecurity and the ensuing military crackdown was producing a generation of children with no education and that this would, in turn, cause even more problems for one of the poorest regions of the country. In his acceptance speech, Mustapha dedicated the award to the children, widows, teachers and his own family who, he said, had shown enormous courage in difficult times. British journalist and broadcaster Anita Rani hosts UNHCR's 2017 Nansen Refugee Award ceremony at the Batiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva, Switzerland. UNHCR/Mark Henley Syrian refugee and accomplished violinist Mariela Shaker performs Meditation Thais by Jules Massenet with Syrian British pianist, Riyad Nicolas. UNHCR/Mark Henley Nujeen Mustafa, who made the dangerous journey from Syria to Germany in a wheelchair, addresses the audience. UNHCR/Mark Henley Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist, Miyavi, performs with the Geneva International School Choir and the Neon Quartet at a glittering 2017 Nansen Award ceremony. UNHCR/Mark Henley United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi tells the 2017 Nansen Refugee Award ceremony how key education is to refugees. UNHCR/Mark Henley UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi presents the 2017 Nansen Refugee Award to Zannah Mustapha. UNHCR/Mark Henley Zannah Mustapha, UNHCR's 2017 Nansen Award winner, speaks about his work advocating for the rights and education of displaced children in northeast Nigeria. UNHCR/Mark Henley Tony Allen, who hails from Nigeria and is one of the greatest drummers of all time, performs a tribute in honour of the Nansen Aard winner. UNHCR/Mark Henley "We have witnessed unprecedented destructions to human beings in north-east Nigeria. The level of devastation to children and women is unparalleled in the history of the region, he told a packed auditorium. Mustapha described his two Future Prowess schools as an oasis for children where they could once again have hopes, dreams and a future. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would see these children progressing in such a traumatic period in their lives. When I look at the childrens faces I see resilience and stability. I feel utter contentment when I walk through the school gates, he said, adding: I have a vision for peace in Nigeria. That one day these children will heal the wounds that have been left behind by the insurgency. Earlier Grandi had stressed that education was often the first casualty of war and conflict. When bombs start to fall schools inevitably close The reality is stark- refugee children are four times more likely to be out of primary school. And only one per cent go on to university, he said. The event was hosted by British broadcaster Anita Rani, herself the grand-daughter of refugees. She introduced a host of performers, including Syrian violinist Mariela Shaker, Japanese rock star Miyavi, and Nigerian Afro-beat drummer Tony Allen, interspersed stories of refugee heroism. To a standing ovation Mustapha concluded: Before I leave this ceremony I have an important message for you. We are not in a journey to be the same but we are in a journey to understand our differences and overcome our adversity. That we can achieve with education. By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 2 (PTI) A gathering of journalists today vowed to take up the recent killings of mediapersons in the country with the home ministry and demand a status report on the attacks against the media in various states. Scores of journalists gathered at the Press Club of India (PCI) here and formed a human chain to condemn the recent spate of killings, threats and violence directed at mediapersons. advertisement Organised on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the protesting journalists, wearing black bands, also took out a silent march from the PCI to the Indian Womens Press Corps (IWPC) building, demanding press freedom. A petition, signed by hundreds of journalists, would be submitted to the home ministry on October 5, when the presidents of various press clubs from across the country would meet to chalk out the future course of action, PCI president Gautam Lahiri said. Similar protests were staged by the PCIs affiliate bodies across the country, down to the district-level, IWPC vice-president T K Rajalakshmi said, expressing anguish over the recent killings of veteran journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru and young reporter Shantanu Bhowmik in Tripura. "A memorandum appending the signatures of hundreds of journalists will be submitted to the home minister, requesting his intervention for a status report on attacks against journalists in various states and action taken in that regard," a joint statement issued by the PCI, IWPC, Federation of Press Clubs in India, Press Association, Kerala Union of Working Journalists and the Indian Journalists Union said. PTI SBR RC --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, Oct 2 (PTI) Markets regulator Sebi has barred Skymarg Agro Industries India Ltd (SMAIIL) and its five directors from the securities market and directed them to refund the money collected illegally from the public. According to a Sebi order, the firms directors who have been banned from the capital market are Pradip Kumar Das, Dharmnath Rai, Jai Singh, Subhasis Mahato and Sumit Kumar Das. advertisement Besides, the firm and directors have been restrained from the securities market till the expiry of four years from the date of completion of refunds along with interest to investors. SMAIIL had issued and allotted redeemable preference shares (RPS) to at least 65 investors during 2013-14 and mobilised at least Rs 30.67 lakh, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) noted in the order dated September 28. Since the shares were issued to more than 50 people, the offer of RPS qualified to be a public issue and required compulsory listing of the securities on a recognised stock exchange. However, SMAIIL did not comply with the provision. Among other requirements, the firm was to register a prospectus with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) under the Companies Act, which it failed to do. Sebi has also restrained the directors of the firm from associating themselves with any listed public company and any public entity that intends to raise money from the public, or any intermediary registered with the regulator till the expiry of four years from the date of completion of refunds to investors. The firm and its directors are permitted to sell the assets of the company "for the sole purpose of making the refunds" and deposit the proceeds in an escrow account opened with a nationalised Bank, Sebi said, adding that such proceeds should be utilised for the sole purpose of making a refund to investors. In a separate order dated September 28, the regulator has directed Arcava Enterprises Ltd (AEL) and its three directors -- Aloke Banerjee, Subir Banerjee and Naba Kumar Ganguly -- to refund the investors money that the company raised illegally through RPS, along with interest. According to the regulator, AEL allotted RPS during 2010?11 and 2011?12 to 183 and 161 persons, respectively, and had raised at least Rs 17,00,500. "AEL was engaged in fund mobilising activity from the public through the offer of the RPS and contravened the provisions... of the Companies Act," Sebi said in the order. advertisement The firm and directors have also been restrained from accessing the securities market and further prohibited from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities till the expiry of four years from the date of refund completion. PTI VRN ADI ARD --- ENDS --- October 2 2017 Threesixty Architecture and Muckle Brig have submitted plans for a purpose-built single malt distillery at Port of Leith, Edinburgh, next door to the Ocean Terminal shopping centre and Royal Yacht Britannia.Intended to convey an exciting and modern image for the Scotch whisky industry through conception of a vertical production process capable of producing 400,000 litres of pure alcohol by using the adjacent harbour as a heat sink, significantly reducing the volume of water required in the production process.In a statement the architects wrote: The vertical, gravity-led design provides an opportunity for visitors to experience a distillery like never before, getting as close to the production process as possible as they follow the liquid from the mash tun in the centre of the building, down through the brewery, to the stills on the ground floor. Afterwards, from the rooftop bar and restaurant, they will be able to enjoy a unique view across the Firth of Forth to Fife, overlook the busy port of Leith, and even see across to the new Queensferry Crossing to the west."With 28,000sq/ft of floor space the distillery will place equal emphasis on the visitor experience as the distillation process itself, telling he story of the rise and fall (and rise again) of whisky production in the port. Denying that the Taj was deliberately dropped from the tourism booklet, the UP government asserted that the booklet mentions a number of projects that are being taken up to develop India's attraction. By India Today Web Desk: A tourism booklet released by the Uttar Pradesh government has stirred controversy as it has no mention of the iconic Taj Mahal, which is one of the major tourist attractions of the state. The booklet, released by tourism minister Rita Bahuguna in Lucknow, features other heritage sites including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's Gorakhdham temple but has no mention about the seventh wonder of the world. advertisement Denying that the Taj was deliberately dropped from the tourism booklet, the UP government asserted that the booklet mentions a number of projects that are being taken up to develop India's attraction. Avneesh Awasthi, director general UP tourism, told TOI that it was not a compendium of tourist attractions in UP but merely a book highlight the works done by the incumbent government and the projects it plans to take up. "There was no question of ignoring the Taj Mahal as it was one of India's biggest attractions," Bahuguna told TOI. According to a report in TOI, two pages of the UP government's booklet has been dedicated to the Gorakhdham temple. While the booklet cover image is the famous Ganga aarti, the second page carries photgraphs of Adityanath and Bahuguna. The developmental works on tourism also find mention in the booklet. In June, Yogi Adityanath had criticised the tradition of presenting replicas of Taj Mahal to foreign dignitaries as "it doesn't represent the Indian culture". It irked the local population eliciting angry remarks from the tourism industry as well. ALSO WATCH | You may not be able to touch the Taj Mahal again. Here's why --- ENDS --- (Oct. 2, 2017) -- This fall's incoming class is the largest in school history at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) with 7,898 new students, according to a newly released report by the UTSA Office of Institutional Research. Additionally, the university welcomed 5,014 new freshmen, the largest class in six years. Overall, 30,674 students have enrolled at UTSA, which is known for excellence in academics, research and engagement. Nearly a quarter of UTSAs freshmen are enrolled in the College of Sciences, where students study in one of six departments: biology, chemistry, computer science, geological sciences, mathematics, and physics and astronomy. With more than $26 million in annual research expenditures, the college is the most productive research community at UTSA. Faculty, staff and students in the College of Sciences make significant contributions in many fields, including nanotechnology, brain health, stem cells, medicinal drugs, infectious diseases and vaccine development, and cybersecurity, where UTSA ranks No. 1 in the nation. The majority of UTSAs nine colleges saw a boost in overall enrollment this year. The College of Liberal and Fine Arts (COLFA) and College of Business (COB) have the largest student enrollments, with about 20 percent of Roadrunners majoring in programs in each college. COLFA, with 6,499 students enrolled, is UTSAs most academically diverse college. It offers more than 80 degree and certificate programs in the arts, humanities and social sciences. More than 6,200 students are pursuing a degree in COB, one of the top five undergraduate business schools in Texas and the No. 1 Hispanic-Serving Institution in the nation, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Bexar County remains the largest source of students attending UTSA. In all, 14,706 are from the San Antonio area. The second highest population (2,165) of UTSA students hails from the Houston area. More than half of UTSAs undergraduate student population (14,310) identifies as Hispanic and 55 percent of new freshmen (2,741) identify as Hispanic. More than 40 percent of incoming freshmen are first-generation college students, the first in their families to graduate from college. UTSA also continues to have a diverse international population. This fall, 1,033 students from outside the U.S. are studying at UTSA, including 80 new freshmen. These international students represent more than 90 countries. Thirty-three percent of UTSAs doctoral candidates come from outside the U.S. this year. UTSA is recognized as one of the top four young universities in the nation by Times Higher Education. UW Trustees Education Initiative Board to Meet Oct. 17 The University of Wyoming Trustees Education Initiative (TEI) Board is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Oct. 17, at noon in Salons D and E of the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center. The meeting is open to the public. The board will review innovation proposals from the TEI research work groups. The TEI was established by the UW Board of Trustees in fall 2014 to elevate the UW College of Education to national pre-eminent status in professional educator preparation, ultimately to improve and enhance K-12 education in Wyoming. The TEI Board is composed of trustees, UW administrators, College of Education representatives, Wyoming K-12 educators, first lady Carol Mead, external members and others. The TEI invites members of the public to submit innovation ideas by going to its website at www.uwyo.edu/trust_edu_init/index.html. Click on the Brief Online Innovation Idea Submission Form link on the home page. By PTI: By Lalit K Jha Washington, Oct 2 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has warned his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that negotiations with North Korea were a "waste of time" and said he "wont fail" on a front where three of his predecessors ? Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama failed. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done!" Trump said in a series of tweets. advertisement "Being nice to Rocket Man hasnt worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I wont fail," Trump said. Trump had earlier also referred to the North Korean leader as Rocket Man. In his tweets, Trump went public in differing with Tillerson on having talks with North Korea. Tillerson who is in China had said that the US was in direct communication with North Korea as part of their effort to reduce tension. "The whole situation is a bit overheated right now. If North Korea would stop firing its missiles, that would calm things down a lot," Tillerson had said on Saturday. Soon his spokesperson Heather Nauert said North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearisation. In the past few weeks, Trump has said that he is open to military option, even though it is not his preferred choice. Following Trumps tweets, mainstream American media prominently displayed the differences between the president and his secretary of state. "Trump undercuts Tillerson," said a headline by The Washington Post. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that "President Trump seemed to undercut Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, belittling the prospect of a diplomatic resolution to the crisis with North Korea". "Trump rejects dialogue with North Korea," reported The Wall Street Journal. In an interview to NBC News, Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee favoured stepping up against North Korea. "I mean, we should step it up. I mean, you know, were moving to a place where were going to end up with a binary choice soon," he said. "I dont think were cornering ourselves. But if we dont ramp up the diplomatic side, its possible that we end up cornered," he added. PTI LKJ AJR --- ENDS --- By PTI: By Lalit K Jha Washington, Oct 2 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying Secretary of State Rex Tillerson should not negotiate the Rocket Man or being nice to him to stop Pyongyangs nuclear ambitions. Trump?s opposition to the possibility of talks with North Korea fuelled speculation that the president and his secretary of state were in disagreement on how to deal with the regime. advertisement Trump also stressed that he "wont fail" on a front where three of his predecessors ? Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama failed. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done!" Trump said in a series of tweets. "Being nice to Rocket Man hasnt worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I wont fail," Trump said. Trump had earlier also referred to the North Korean leader as Rocket Man. Tillerson, who is in China, had said that the US was in direct communication with North Korea as part of their effort to reduce tension over its nuclear programme. "The whole situation is a bit overheated right now. If North Korea would stop firing its missiles, that would calm things down a lot," Tillerson had said on Saturday. Soon his spokesperson Heather Nauert said North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearisation. In the past few weeks, Trump had said that he was open to a military option, even though it is not his preferred choice. Following Trumps tweets, mainstream American media prominently displayed the differences between the president and his secretary of state. "Trump undercuts Tillerson," said a headline in The Washington Post. Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that "President Trump seemed to undercut Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, belittling the prospect of a diplomatic resolution to the crisis with North Korea". "Trump rejects dialogue with North Korea," reported The Wall Street Journal. PTI LKJ AJR AKJ NSA --- ENDS --- People gather at Plaza Catalunya in Barcelona as they wait for the results of a banned independence referendum after the closing of polling stations on Oct 1, 2017. (Photo: AFP) People gather at Plaza Catalunya in Barcelona as they wait for the results of a banned independence referendum after the closing of polling stations on Oct 1, 2017. (Photo: AFP) This represents a turnout of around 42.3 per cent of Catalonia's 5.34 million voters. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said the northeastern Spanish region he governs had "won the right to an independent state" after "millions" turned out to vote in a banned independence referendum. "With this day of hope and suffering, the citizens of Catalonia have won the right to an independent state in the form of a republic," he said in a televised announcement. Puigdemont's comments followed a television address by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who ruled out independence and accused separatists of trying to "blackmail ... the whole nation". He offered all-party talks on the region's future. Catalan officials say more than 800 people were injured in clashes with Spanish riot police during the referendum, which has pitched the country into its deepest constitutional crisis in decades and deepened a rift between Madrid and Barcelona. "On this day of hope and suffering, Catalonia's citizens have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic," Puigdemont said in a televised address. "My government, in the next few days will send the results of today's vote to the Catalan Parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum," he said. The law of the referendum, deemed unconstitutional by Madrid, foresees a unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament if the majority votes to leave Spain. The law does not set a minimum turnout for the outcome to be valid. The results announced early on Monday were not a surprise, given that many unionists were not expected to turn out to vote. Earlier in the day, the streets of Catalonia, an industrial and tourism powerhouse accounting for a fifth of Spain's economy, erupted into violence as national police burst into polling stations with batons, dragging voters away. The action drew criticism at home and abroad. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson voiced worries over the violence while backing Madrid's view that the vote was unconstitutional. Spain's deputy prime minister said force used by the police had been proportionate. "The absolute irresponsibility of the regional government has had to be met by the security forces of the state," said Soraya Saenz de Santamaria. The euro lost about a third of a U.S. cent after the violence-marred vote before steadying. It touched a low of US$1.1776 in thin Asian trade but soon steadied at US$1.1801. In the run-up to the referendum, Puigdemont had said he would move to a declaration of independence within 48 hours of a "yes" vote. But the fragmented nature of the polling, with many voting stations closed, could complicate any move to a formal declaration. Puigdemont called on Europe to step in to make sure fundamental rights were fully respected. NEXT STEP? In another sign tensions would endure beyond the vote, secessionist groups and trade unions in Catalonia called a general strike for Tuesday, La Vanguardia newspaper said. Catalan officials said 844 people had been injured in the police crackdown and the Spanish Interior Ministry said 12 police officers had been hurt. "I propose that all political parties with parliamentary representation meet and, together, reflect on the future we all face," Rajoy said in his televised address. Opinion polls had shown around 40 percent of the northeastern region wanted independence from Spain although a majority were in favor of a referendum on the issue. National police sent in to Catalonia for the referendum swept into polling stations, hitting people with batons, firing rubber bullets into crowds and forcibly removing would-be voters from polling stations, some dragged away by their hair. "Regardless of views on independence, we should all condemn the scenes being witnessed and call on Spain to change course before someone is seriously hurt," Scotland's pro-independence leader, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Twitter. Despite the national police action, some polling stations remained open, especially in areas supervised by the Catalan police force which adopted much milder tactics. "I'm so pleased because despite all the hurdles they've put up, I've managed to vote," said Teresa, a 72-year-old pensioner in Barcelona who had stood in line for six hours to vote. The ballot will have no legal status as it has been blocked by Spain's Constitutional Court which ruled it at odds with the 1978 constitution that effectively restored democracy in Spain after the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Kunio Umeda (fourth from right) and representatives of grassroots human security projects in Viet Nam at the grant assistance signing ceremony in Ha Noi on Friday. - VNS Photo Bao Hoa The aid will be used to purchase OCT machines to serve some three million people suffering from eye diseases in the northern central and central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, said Pham Minh Truong, director of the Hue Eye Hospital, during the ceremony. Part of Japans Grassroots Grant Assistant Programme in Viet Nam, the signing ceremony took place last week in Ha Noi with the participation of Kunio Umeda, Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam, and project representatives. Simon Rea, country director of MAG in Viet Nam, said the organisation will use the aid to identify and destroy 2,100 bombs and unexploded ordnances, clearing around 2.6 million square metres of land, as well as paying 81 MAG staff in the Quang Binh Province and organising 128 training workshops on mine clearance for them. These projects will not only minimise the threats to the existence and livelihoods of people at grassroots level, but also benefit them greatly, Ambassador Umeda said. Established in 1992, Japans Grassroots Grant Assistance Programme has supported 600 grassroots projects in Viet Nam, with Official Development Assistance (ODA) totalling $50 million. The SME Finance Forum will invite its member banks catering to small businesses to join Opportunity Networks (NO) community of Trusted Partners. The banks in turn will nominate its most trusted and capable small business clients to join the network and post and respond to B2B deals worth $1 million and above. ON currently has over 14,000+ CEOs, referred through trusted financial institutions, and hosted over $80 billion in deals. The networks Trusted Partners include prestigious financial institutions and associations, such as Citizens Bank, London Stock Exchange Group, Caixa Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Eurobank, YPO, and Dentons. The SME Finance Forum is very excited about this new partnership. ONs creative approach of using financial institutions as intermediaries to identify those SMEs most ready to take advantage of international market opportunities plays to our strengths in the SME Finance Forum. Hopefully we will be able to help ON accelerate its partnership building with those FIs for whom this platform best fits their SME sector growth strategy, said Matt Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum. The SME Finance Forum, created by the G20 countries and managed by the IFC, works to expand access to finance for small and medium businesses. It operates a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs. Its annual flagship event, the Global SME Finance Forum 2017 will be held November 1-3 in Berlin, Germany. We are excited to establish a partnership with SME Finance Forum. With its broad network of financial institutions and industry associations in developing countries we see strong synergies in working together to facilitate trade and investment to support the underserved SME segment. The partnership will also drive digitalisation of SME banking and strengthen our efforts to make the benefits of globalisation truly accessible to entrepreneurs and investors in emerging markets, said Brian Pallas, CEO and founder of ON. ON is the community for select CEOs and private investors to grow their businesses worldwide. ON members post or directly connect to actionable business and investment opportunities ranging from early stage funding to M&A, commercial partnerships, and JVs, both domestically and around the world. Southern Lottery Council revealed that the total first half sales of lottery products in 22 member companies have reached VND44.52 trillion ($1.96 billion), up more than 8 per cent compared to the same period last year. Total sales increased slightly as the average consumption rate continued to hover around 78 per cent, equivalent to VND34.921 trillion ($1.53 billion). In the first six months, the pre-tax profits of lottery companies from Binh Thuan to Ca Mau provinces hit VND4.606 trillion ($202.9 million), up less than 1 per cent compared to last year. Financial contributions to the state budget reached VND14.743 trillion ($649.5 million), completing 69 per cent of the target set earlier this year. Due to the aggressive competition posed by Vietnam Computerised Lottery One Member Limited Liability Company (Vietlott), also a member of Southern Lottery Council, while these companies remained profitable, they have reported signs of deceleration both in revenue and profit growth. The most prominent case is Ho Chi Minh City Lottery Co., Ltd. The companys pre-tax profit decreased by more than 9 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year and only reached VND480 billion ($21.15 million). This is also a five-year low for the company. Accumulated revenue in the first half of this year was VND3.238 trillion ($142.6 million), less than 2 per cent increase on-year. The lottery business accounted for 97 per cent of the total revenue, while the rest came from printing and office leasing. In a business report issued in late May, company executives said it was losing out to Vietlott, the new player in the market. In particular, the board of directors said that the main reason for the gradual slowdown in growth was the continuous introduction of new lottery products by Vietlott. By the end of 2016, the revenue of Ho Chi Minh City Lottery Co., Ltd. was seriously affected by the strong competition. Accordingly, Vietlotts revenue soared by ten times, going from VND160 billion ($7.05 million) on September 30, 2016 to VND1,600 billion ($70.48 million) at the end of 2016. Throughout the period, Vietlott was reported to gain VND16 billion in revenue each day ($704,845). In 2015, Ho Chi Minh City Lottery Co., Ltd. used to earn at least VND15.6 billion ($687,225) in revenue a day. In an attempt to regain market share, the company seeks to maintain its core markets in Ho Chi Minh City and the eastern provinces, while developing more markets in the western region. In the near future, the company will also finalise business and operation plans for some of its investment projects to put into operation two new types of lottery products which have been approved recently: self-pick lotto and scratch-off instant tickets. Tien Giang Lottery Co., Ltd. is in a similar situation as the companys revenue and pre-tax profit figures were reported to drop by VND13 billion ($572,687) and VND27 billion ($1.189 million) on-year, respectively. In previous reports, it was constantly named in the list of companies producing a stable growth rate of about 5 per cent. As consumption and demand are forecast to encounter a number of difficulties, earlier this year, the executives of Tien Giang Lottery Co., Ltd. only set a sales growth target of 0.02 per cent. However, matters are still out of control as over the first six months of the year the company only completed less than half of the target for taxed revenues, which was equivalent to VND3.86 trillion ($170 million). In contrast, Vietlott has reported a record profit of approximately VND133 billion ($5.86 million), while in the same period last year, the company incurred a loss of VND4 billion ($176,212) due to the rising cost of facilities, information technology, and personnel recruitment to launch new types of lottery products. Despite being over its super-fast growth spurt, Vietlotts revenues from lottery products still reached VND1.884 trillion ($83 million), of which matrix-based electorate games accounted for about 93.5 per cent. This put Vietlott on top of industry big wigs, taking over names like Dong Thap, Dong Nai, and Kien Giang Lottery Co., Ltd. The company also does not hide its ambition to seize a 30-per-cent market share of the lottery market in the next few years, with about 10,000 units of terminal equipment to be distributed nationwide. From an underdog, Vietlott has become one of the industrys highest earners in 2016. Previously, giving in to the dominance of Vietlott, a number of traditional lottery companies in Ha Nam and Thua Thien-Hue provinces decided to cooperate with Vietlott instead of pursuing a confrontation. According to rumours, Capital Lottery Company also intends to cooperate with Vietlott to improve its business performance. Capital Lottery Company has been struggling since Mega 6/45 appeared. The company also launched a computerised lottery to put up a fight, but failed because Vietlott has been offering much higher jackpot prizes. In the race to gain market share, traditional lottery companies in the south were forced to raise their maximum prize to VND2 billion ($88,260) since January 1, 2017 from the previous VND1.5 billion ($66,195). Pro-independence supporters play their drums in front of a banner reading, Long life working class, while they walk through Pamplona, Spain, in support of the Catalonias secession referendum on Sunday. AMC and Zoom made it possible for enterprise meetings to be held in some AMC theaters throughout the U.S. with Zoom Rooms. By PTI: London, Oct 2 (PTI) A typhoid vaccine, licensed only for use in children under two years of age in India, could prevent over half of the infections, according to a study published in The Lancet journal. In a trial of 112 adults the Vi-conjugate typhoid vaccine has proven safe, highly immunogenic. The study provides the first efficacy data for the leading candidate vaccine being considered for widespread use in children under 2 years, who are disproportionately affected by typhoid. advertisement The trial uses a controlled human infection model, in which healthy volunteers are vaccinated and then deliberately exposed to the pathogen. These types of studies have been used to support the development of various vaccines as they can be rapidly deployed to assess vaccine efficacy. The Vi-conjugate vaccine studied in this trial is only licensed for use in children under two years in India, and there are no typhoid vaccines licensed worldwide for use in children under two years old. The study provides evidence to support the development of Vi-conjugate vaccines as a control measure to reduce the burden of typhoid fever. Typhoid affects between 12.5 and 20.6 million people worldwide in regions with inadequate water quality and poor sanitation, particularly in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. One in 100 cases are deadly and approximately three per cent of cases become chronic carriers. Typhoid is caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S Typhi bacteria) and is usually treated with antibiotics, but antibiotic resistance is increasing. Children are particularly susceptible to typhoid, but no vaccine is licenced for worldwide use in children under two years, contributing to poor adoption of typhoid immunisation programmes. In the study led by the University of Oxford in UK, 112 volunteers were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of the Vi-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine (Typbar-TCV; Vi-TT), the pre-existing Vi-polysaccharide vaccine (TYPHIM Vi; Vi-PS), which cannot be given to young children, or a control meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MENVEO). One month post-vaccination, participants were given an oral dose of the bacteria (wild type Quailes strain of S Typhi). Participants were monitored daily for a two-week period and were given a course of antibiotics if they were diagnosed with typhoid. At the end of the two weeks, all participants, including those not diagnosed, were given a course of antibiotics. In the control group, 77 per cent of participants were diagnosed with typhoid, compared with 35 per cent Vi-TT recipients and 35 per cent Vi-PS recipients, equivalent to a vaccine efficacy of 54.6 per cent for Vi-TT and 52.0 per cent for Vi-PS. advertisement "Our study provides further evidence to support the development of Vi-conjugate vaccines as a control measure to reduce the burden of typhoid fever, and individuals living in endemic regions should not be made to wait another 60 years to receive the vaccine," said Professor Andrew Pollard, from University of Oxford. PTI MHN MHN --- ENDS --- Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. Advice Sheet for Monarch Customers to/from Gibraltar International Airport Following this morning's announcement regarding Monarch airlines, HM Government of Gibraltar is actively engaging with the UK Government to identify ways in which they can assist passengers affected. Any information that the Government receives will be updated via the following official websites: Official Gibraltar International Airport Website: www.gibraltarairport.gi Official Facebook Page: HM Government of Gibraltar www.facebook.com/gibraltargovernment Official Twitter Page: @GibraltarGov www.twitter.com/GibraltarGov Official Gibraltar Tourist Board Twitter Page: @VisitGibraltar www.twitter.com/visit_gibraltar Please allow extra time to travel through Gibraltar International Airport and be prepared to travel via Malaga Airport instead. This is what to do if you: 1) Are a Gibraltar resident wanting to return home from the UK: Do not go to your Airport Re-book your flights with another airline and contact your insurance / card provider. 2) Are a UK resident wanting to return home from Gibraltar: Do not go to the Gibraltar International Airport until you have a confirmed replacement flight. Please check the Civil Aviation Authority website for the latest information: https://monarch.caa.co.uk/ Information will also be available from the sources above In the meantime, contact your insurance / card provider and familiarise yourself with your passenger rights. 3) Are a Gibraltarian sponsored patient: The GHA has made arrangements for sponsored patients who need to travel between Gibraltar and the UK for medical treatment. You should already have been contacted by the GHA with alternative travel arrangements. If you havent, please contact the GHA Sponsored Patients Department via: - Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - During office hours: 200 07039 / 200 07040 / 200 07043 - Out of office hours: please call the main hospital number 200 72266 and ask for Sponsored Patients. You will be connected to the mobile of the on-duty Sponsored Patients officer. 4) Need to travel to the UK for private medical treatment and have booked flights yourself: Do not go to Gibraltar International Airport until you have a confirmed replacement flight. Please check the Civil Aviation Authority website for the latest information: https://monarch.caa.co.uk/ You may be able to fly from Gibraltar to the UK on a CAA replacement flight but you will not be provided with a return flight to Gibraltar, even if you have previously booked a ticket with Monarch. Please re-book your return flight with another airline. 5) Are a Gibraltar resident with flights to the UK for non-medical reasons: Do not go to Gibraltar International Airport until you have a confirmed replacement flight. Please check the Civil Aviation Authority website for the latest information: https://monarch.caa.co.uk/ You may be able to fly from Gibraltar to the UK on a CAA replacement flight but you will not be provided with a return flight to Gibraltar, even if you have previously booked a ticket withMonarch. Please re-book your return flight with another airline. 6) Are not a resident of Gibraltar or the UK but are booked to travel with Monarch through / via Gibraltar: Do not go to Gibraltar International Airport until you have a confirmed replacement flight. Please check the Civil Aviation Authority website for the latest information: https://monarch.caa.co.uk/ If you are travelling to the UK from Gibraltar you may be able to fly from Gibraltar to the UK on a CAA replacement flight but you will not be provided with a return flight to Gibraltar, even if you have previously booked a ticket with Monarch. Please re-book your return flight with another airline. 7) Are expecting to greet somebody from a Monarch flight in to Gibraltar International Airport: Do not go to the Gibraltar International Airport until you have confirmation that the passenger you are expecting to greet has made alternative flight arrangements and is travelling to Gibraltar. Important Milestone for School of Health Studies Student Nurses Fourteen students from the School of Health Studies have completed their 3 year programme of study, culminating in the award of Bachelor of Science with Honours in Adult Nursing. Four students have received a first class honours degree awarded by St Georges and University of London and Kingston University London. The role and function of the School of Health Studies is to offer a range of educational activities. The programmes are forward-looking, anticipating not only today's expectations but tomorrow's demands. The School of Health Studies are dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of individuals and communities and are delighted to be able to announce these outstanding results from the biggest ever cohort of registered nurses completing their course at the Gibraltar Health Authority. Professor Ian Peate, (Head of School), congratulated not only the students who have achieved outstanding degree classifications, but also all of the staff at the School of Health Studies and all clinicians who have contributed to this success. All 14 students have been successful in being offered employment with the Gibraltar Health Authority. Mrs Sandie Gracia, Director of Nursing Services was thrilled with the achievements and welcomes the staff nurses as they take up their posts. The Minister for Health, Care and Justice, the Honourable Mr Neil F. Costa MP, said: I wholeheartedly congratulate all the students on their achievements and on this important milestone and I look forward to welcoming them into our GHA family. This locally delivered and assessed programme further demonstrates the Governments desire and on-going commitment to look locally in preparing and sourcing our health care workforce. I am looking forward to celebrating their achievements at the Rock Hotel on 3rd November 2017 when their graduation ceremony will take place. The provision of high quality, safe and effective nursing care is demanding. Staff require a great deal of foresight, innovation and creativity, and a strong grasp of the sciences and the latest technologies. Our staff are able to demonstrate all of these traits and abilities. I wish them all the best with their new careers. L-R: Nia Vardalos and Cheryl Strayed. Photo: Bryan Derballa/Vulture At the first preview of the Public Theaters encore staging of Tiny Beautiful Things, Cheryl Strayed sat in the audience watching herself reveal some of her most personal experiences onstage. The Cheryl onstage is played by Nia Vardalos, who adapted the series of advice columns collected in Strayeds book Tiny Beautiful Things, into a play. Or rather, its better to say that Vardalos is playing Sugar, the persona behind those columns, an unconventional advice-giver who offered up a view of her own wounds memories of lost family members, addiction, and sexual abuse and the lessons she learned as they healed. Strayed wrote those columns years ago, and by then she had made peace with much of what she described. Watching herself, Strayed says, she feels vulnerable yet again. When you perform it, Strayed tells Vardalos as the two sit at the Public Theaters cafe the day after that first preview, youre making it alive again, and it brings up a real mix of things inside of me, and the feeling of whats happening to other people in the room. Strayed and Vardalos hadnt met before Tiny Beautiful Things, but they developed a close kinship during the plays production and its first run at the Publics 99-seat Shiva Theatre last winter this fall the play moved to the larger Newman Theater, opening October 2, with a run that was recently extended through December 10. Both women hail from the middle of North America, both write through the night, and after years of toil, both suddenly, unexpectedly found themselves famous for work sheared from their personal experience Vardalos with My Big Fat Greek Wedding; Strayed with the one-two-three punch of Wild and Dear Sugar, which became Tiny Beautiful Things. Vulture sat down with Vardalos and Strayed to talk about surprising audience members with raw emotion, what its like to see your life adapted in two different ways, and Dear Sugars advice that is worth revisiting. Lets start at the beginning of the plays history: It was Marshall Heyman who recommended the book to the plays director, Thomas Kail, who recommended to Nia, and to the Publics artistic director, Oskar Eustis. Nia Vardalos: Tommy gave me the book saying, I think this is a play. I flew back to L.A. reading it on the plane and embarrassed myself with gasps, sobs, and hard laughs. When I landed, I said, We have to get the rights to this book. Several calls to agents went unanswered, we didnt know what was happening, so I reached out to Cheryl on social media. Cheryl Strayed: Tommy had originally sent me an email several months before, but he emailed me right in the middle of a very busy time in my life. Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things were published months apart, and I was in this weird situation where I was promoting two books at once. I dragged his email into my to-do file, which is like shoving it into a closet or under the bed. But one day on Facebook, I posted something and Nia commented. What caught my attention was all of these other people who were like, Oh my god, thats Nia Vardalos! Shes writing to Cheryl! NV: I said I was going to send her a DM on Twitter because I dont understand Facebook. Then I just laid it out, as if I was writing a letter to Sugar: Dear Cheryl, Tommy Kail gave me this book, we are hoping to make it into a play. Cheryl said, Im coming to L.A. tomorrow to see the first screening of Wild. CS: After Jean-Marc Vallee had finished the first cut of Wild, and I went and saw it with him and Reese and Laura Dern and my husband, the next day my husband and I met Nia for tea in the hotel in Santa Monica. NV: The emotions that carry you into a place of grieving and reconciling the pain that you didnt know you had permission to feel anymore was what made me feel this could carry a narrative. But talking to you was what made me realize, Oh, we have so much in common. When Tommy and I got to know you, we learned that you wrote in your kitchen, which informed our choices. Your house, your children, your relationship with Mr. Sugar. Cheryl was an open, open, open book. There were no questions left unanswered. Cheryl, you wrote Dear Sugar after you had written Wild, but before the book came out. What was your life like then? CS: Tiny Beautiful Things is really the book I wrote by accident. I sold Wild, wrote it, finished the whole draft, sent it to my editor, and days after I had sent it off, [the Rumpus editor] Steve Almond emailed me and asked if I wanted to take over this column. I thought, Oh, Ill just do this little thing for the fun of it, on the side, while Im doing the edits of Wild. I did revisions, but then they held [Wild] for a year, so I was sort of drumming my fingers, waiting for the book to come out. Meanwhile, Sugar was becoming more important to me as a writer. All these editors were emailing Sugar, saying, I dont know who you are, but if you want to publish a book, just give me a call. Meanwhile, Ive got this other book! I went to my publisher and said, We need to publish a book of the Dear Sugar columns, lets just do it now, and then that went into the pipeline! NV: The one thing that really struck me is how you were a paid author, and yet you were writing this for free. It was feeding something, and you were feeding so many people. You had this memoir coming out and yet youd write at night, all week. CS: I think there can be this overly idealized idea of, Real artists dont get paid, which is why weve been screwed over for all time. I hate that and Im very adamantly against that, but I also know that sometimes you do things only because you want to. I did Sugar because I wanted to. Both of you have had the experience of getting very famous very quickly from your very personal work with Tiny Beautiful Things and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. What is that like? CS: Its everything! By that I mean its a wide range of things. Its wonderful, terrible, true. There is a way in which it is true that people know a lot about me if theyve read my work, and theres another way in which you dont know me at all. One of the things I write about as Sugar so much is that the journey is about learning how to set boundaries, when to say yes or no, and how to be brave in your conversations with people. NV: When the movie [My Big Fat Greek Wedding] came out, I was satisfied with that. Im a middle child CS: Like me! NV: I dont have an overarching goal when I write something. Its just, Thats it. Then what happened was shocking, and I was so grateful for it, because all doors opened to me and I got to create other work and mentor other people and find projects that were definitely never going to get made unless I said, Id like to try this. What I really, ultimately have come to terms with is that the me I grew up being, a little bit, no, a lot socially awkward, now, I realize theres only one you, so embrace that person. Embrace that inner geek. Cheryl and I are from sister cities, were prairie girls CS: youre northern Minnesota and Im Winnipeg. NV: We are two people who said, Why not me? and we started to write. L-R: Vardalos and Strayed. Photo: Bryan Derballa/Vulture Cheryl, what has it been like to see yourself played in two different roles so quickly in succession, in Wild with Reese Witherspoon, and now with Nia in Tiny Beautiful Things? CS: The most surreal experience of my life, and Im not being hyperbolic. Whenever Nia, onstage, says, Im Cheryl Strayed, I have, like, a visceral reaction to it. Theres this wonderful way in which its a very intimate moment, watching them be me, and its also a very expansive moment, where I realize that none of this is me. Its all what I put in the world. NV: Very early on, Tommy Kail decided I would not be doing an imitation of you, but that we wanted to create a role. CS: Reese did try to be me. She tried to look like me, looked at photographs of what I wore, they asked me what my house looked like. But Nia has done a very different thing. Even though Sugar is me, theres also no question that Sugars a version of myself that was actually the conduit for this exchange done in the dark. I think Nia was really perceptive to pick up on that dynamic, that she was both Cheryl Strayed and, I guess, the force of this connection between these two people. NV: What I was hoping to do with this role was create a role that could be played by a multitude of women. Think of the age range of the women who could play this role, and the ethnicities. This is what we were hoping to do. How did you decide which questions to include in the show? NV: It was really hard to decide which pieces could go on to the train tracks of the play, and which pieces were boxcars that we had to cut loose. The first reading, two-and-a-half to three years ago, was vastly different than this. Im still writing. I went home last night after the first preview and will change a few things with Tommys permission. CS: Whats often said about writers is that you have to kill your darlings, and the agony of being adapted is that somebody else kills them! NV: I couldnt believe how magnanimous you were about it. I thought at some point, youd say sure, and then Id walk to the door and youd leap and send me into the ground. What is it about good advice that is something you can revisit? Many of the people coming to the show have read Dear Sugars columns before what draws them back? CS: What I always wanted to do more was illumination rather than instruction, and I dont think theres anything wrong with instruction. There are times when, embedded in one of the columns, I say, I think you should do this. Thats the traditional style of an advice column. But what I was really trying to do as a writer was something else, which was illuminate the question in a way that deepens it, allows the reader to think about the questions that werent asked. I dont know that I was conscious of that. I talk about it as if it was my grand plan, but when I look back I realize what I was trying to do in the columns. NV: We would often ask, when she got letters, would she answer them right away? And I love what you said: You walked around them. CS: When something landed with me and I couldnt get it out of my mind, Id walk around and I wouldnt be writing. Id be with my kids, pushing them on the swing in the park, and this person their suffering, their secret, their sorrow would be coming to me, and through me. A story would rise up in me, an experience I had in my own life, that seemed, oftentimes, completely unrelated to the letter or question, and I would think, I have to start writing that story and trust that theres a thread between me and you. Sometimes there wasnt and I failed, but a lot of times there was. NV: I love that. I think that also informs the choice [in the plays staging] of the letter writers coming into the house. They stay with Sugar until they get what they need. Theres one seemingly nonsense reader question: WTF. It gets repeated throughout the play until Sugar answers with this anecdote about her own abuse. Was that something you had to sit with for a long time? CS: In real life it was the opposite experience. In the play, shes like, Of course Im going to not answer this question because its not a question, and then shes finally ready for it. In real life, I was sitting at my computer as soon as that question came in, so I saw it come in, I read it, and I almost immediately deleted it, because its not a letter, you know? I stopped and I started writing. That was one I didnt think about. I immediately wrote the response, and the next day it was on the website. I was terrified, because Im writing about being sexually abused. Its the part of the play I have to muscle my way through as an audience member I always sink in my seat. Im sometimes crushed by it. I hate that part of the play, even though I think its a necessary part. I realized last night it was because I knew there were a whole bunch of people in the room who have had this experience, and I feel that sorrow. I was so aware last night that there were people in the room who experienced sexual abuse as children, and they have to sit there and feel what theyre feeling. I think that is a good thing, a powerful thing, but its hard. NV: Theyve come to me in the lobby. Theyre so familiar with the book. My favorite duo of audience members are someone whos read the book and someone who hasnt. But the people who have read the book have told me, I am *insert name here*. CS: When youre up there, are you thinking about that ever? How do you not let that feeling of other peoples emotional experiences, in the room, interfere with your work? NV: Tommys direction really helped me. He said, This happened to you a long time ago, you have something to tell this person. I have processed it, and thats what helps me. CS: This is whats so strange to me about my experience of it with the play thats true. I wrote it. Im healed. Im okay. I can make jokes about it. But I wrote that piece because I have processed it. Somehow, when its in your hands, I feel vulnerable to it, whereas when Im the writer, Im in command. But when you perform it, youre making it alive again, and it brings up a real mix of things inside of me. NV: I had a friend sitting behind you in one of the performances in the last run, and he said he just wanted to put his arms around you and say, Thank you for telling this story. CS: One of the things about that story, too, is, that some people in the room are thinking, Thank you for telling that story. Other people are thinking, Who would say that stuff? This is so gross and ugly. It makes some people very uncomfortable, to the point of being repulsed by it. People arent comfortable with people sharing certain things, right? Dont you think there are people who walk into the play and think, What the fuck am I doing here? NV: Absolutely. Thats a good theatrical experience. This interview has been edited and condensed. Jon Hamm. Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Imagesfor SXSW Let the new Star Wars movies play musical chairs with their directors: Theres a new written addition to the Star Wars saga, narrated by Jon Hamm, thats just as satisfying as a romp around the galaxy on the big screen. Weve established that Armie Hammers voice melodiously reading the Call Me by Your Name audiobook, out October 3 sounds a little like Jon Hamms voice. But now that Hamm happens to be reading a short story on an audiobook thats out the very same day Hammers audiobook drops, why not revisit the timbre that first set our hearts aflutter: Hamms. Call it battle of the extremely good-looking men with deep, passionate voices. Hamms reading of Paul Dinis Star Wars short story Added Muscle, in which Hamm plays the part of bounty hunter Boba Fett, will leave you flush. His voice sounds simultaneously lawless and lavish, like what it feels like to watch Rihanna walk out of a restaurant with her wine glass in hand. It sounds like your eardrums guiltiest of pleasures. That voice the depth, the timbre! should come with a Parental Advisory label. In case the actual story matters at all to you, heres a short description, courtesy of an interview with Dini in USA Today: Boba is stopping over on Tatooine when hes called on by his old associate Jabba the Hutt to help collect a debt. Naturally, this is the money owed to Jabba by Han Solo. The story is a monologue going through Fetts head while he backs up Jabba and stares down Han and Chewie. With Hamm reading it, the story becomes a deliciously mercurial tale about one of Star Wars most shadowy figures. Here are 20 descriptions of the sumptuous sound emanating from Hamms face: 1. When Jon Hamm says Tatooine, it sounds dirty, like you must immediately check to make sure the people to the right and left of you didnt overhear what you and Jon Hamm are gonna be up to later. 2. Jon Hamms reading is full of pregnant pauses, the ones that make you feel like your day is a little longer, your heart a little fuller, like you really do have as many hours in a day as Beyonce. 3. Jon Hamms voice sounds like mischief, like and I hate to bring this up Hans Zimmers Pirates of Carribean theme for Jack Sparrow, if that role werent being reproduced and bastardized in sequels ad infinitum. 4. Jon Hamms voice probably smells like pine and eucalyptus. Noir-style, like in a way youd be attracted to if you grew up watching too many Humphrey Bogart movies. 5. The texture of Jon Hamms voice is leathery, like a lovingly worn-in Eames chair. 6. Jon Hamms voice has an undertone of arrogance hes better read than you, better dressed than you, better bred than you, but hes willing to overlook it, just this once. 7. When Jon Hamm speaks, it sounds like hes offering you endless options: What should he make for dinner tonight? Is it pizza you want? he says, lightly massaging the back of your neck. Or should I do twice-baked potato? Your kitchen is immaculate. This happens to be a Nancy Meyers movie. Youre welcome. 8. Jon Hamm kinda sounds like DMXs voice, but only on that one DMX song Hows It Goin Down. Jon Hamms voice sounds like hes been through some shit, but hes smooth with it. 9. Jon Hamms voice just sounds so clean that when he sneers dustball, you will have an immediate need to buy the most luxurious Dyson vacuum on the market. 10. Jon Hamms voice is as satisfying as when your bed is covered in freshly washed sheets, still a little warm from the dryer. 11. Mama Fett didnt raise any fools, Jon Hamm mentions offhand. But his tone is such that you immediately want to meet Mama Fett and spend time with her, so she can guide us out of these dark and perilous times. 12. Jon Hamms voice sounds like when you walk in your living room after a particularly grueling day of responding to emails and screening telemarketers calls. You kick off your shoes, and sit down on the couch. Oceans 12 is on TV. 13. Something about the baritone of Jon Hamms voice recalls the fantasy of talking back to your overbearing aunt. Not that you would Hamms voice just conjures the daydream of disrespect. 14. Jon Hamms voices aesthetic is autumn. Not merely fall, but the rich mustards, deep Cabernet-colored suedes, and dark-wash denims of September through November. 15. Flash, boom, three tiny ash piles, Jon Hamm says at one point in this story. Hes so quick and nonchalant about it, like hes Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, but in a deeper register. 16. Jon Hamms voice doesnt sound like Obama is still in office, but it does sound like Donald Trump has been permanently banned from Twitter, and never again will you wake up to those freaking stupid early morning tweets. 17. You know when you run into that guy from that thing and you can see that hes staring at you a little too long, trying to place you in his memory? Jon Hamms voice sounds like what it feels like to slyly grin and walk away, because sometimes you just dont feel like saying hi. 18. Jon Hamm sounds like when Anne Hathaway says oops in the Dark Knight Rises, which is one of the most seductive and thrilling lines of dialogue in American cinema. 19. Jon Hamms laugh could con the devil out of delivering four more Avatar movies. 20. Jon Hamms voice sounds a little like Armie Hammers voice, but only if Armie Hammers voice wasnt already dunked in honey. I am VERY pleased to announce that we are now in Scotland circa 1968, because that means were with Claire as well as Brianna and Roger, both of whom finally believe her whole deal. I hate it when people experience magic and then people dont believe them, and am grateful that Outlander rarely falls into that narrative trap. They are companionably researching! Bless them. The Dunbonnet has come across their radar, as has the name of James Fraser as a prisoner post-Culloden. HES ALIIIIIVE! Well, not now, obviously, but hes more recently dead than Claire feared. Speaking of Jamie, hes at Helwater in 1756, the stately home of one Lord Dunsany. Hes also the hottest groomsman in all the land (going by Mackenzie instead of Fraser, obviously). Dunsany lost his only son at Culloden, but seems quite chill about Jamie being a Jacobite. Lady Dunsany, however, would not feel that way, so as far as shes concerned, hes just a groom. The Dunsanys have two daughters, one of whom is a bitch and the other of whom is sweet, just like in fairy tales. Meanwhile, Roger and Brianna are flirting up a storm, because they are both cute and they both believe in time travel and prior to the internet that kind of shared interest was really all you needed to have a functional relationship. Claire gets a call from her buddy Joe at the hospital in Boston, wondering when shell be back. Joe, I wouldnt hold your breath. I dont think shes coming back to Boston in this century, if you know what I mean. In Scotland, Lady Geneva (the bitchy daughter) is about to be married off to a gross and grumpy old dude, Lord Ellesmere, which seems like an excessive punishment for being bitchy, if you ask me. She takes this opportunity to clock Jamies rugged good looks, and you can tell IT IS ON. Hes the one dragged along on her daily ride the grooms usually draw straws to avoid this task and she hits on him like a bongo drum, including faking falling off a horse. He drops her in the mud once he discovers the ruse, which only drives her more mad with desire. Lord Grey has shown up to hang out and see how Jamies doing. Colonel Melton has ALSO come for a visit, and restrains himself from blowing up Jamies spot, noting his brothers obvious fear that Jamie will be unmasked to the female members of the family. Geneva continues to eye-hump Jamie like its going out of style. She hints that she is not super stoked to marry Ellesmere, and then, like a HUSSY, like a COMMON WASTREL, she tells Jamie to come to her bedroom to take her virginity. He demurs, but she reveals she extracted his secret from Colonel Melton and threatens the safety of his family. Listen, you little witch, coercing sexual intercourse from a totally dependent underling is deeply uncool. Jamie arrives in Genevas bedroom to discover her all heated up and ready to go. He tells her she can watch him strip, something many of us have imagined Jamie Fraser offering to do. In case you were wondering, his body is still in great shape, despite the malnutrition caused by several years in prison. He has an amazing ability to maintain muscle mass, our Jamie! (I do not condone any of this, but I also do not blame Geneva for WANTING to have a ride on a magnificent stallion before settling down with an old nag.) Geneva, unsurprisingly, is also smuggling a pretty bangin bod under her voluminous nightie, and Jamie manages to steel himself to his task. (My husband watched them do it for what the montage suggests was an extended amount of time, and then said, After all that time in prison, he probably would have come by now.) Geneva is all I love you! and Jamie is like, That is not what this is, and then says beautiful romantic things about the nature of love. As per agreement, Geneva dutifully marries Lord Ellesmere and returns to visit several months later with a fairly grim face and A BIG OL PREGNANT BELLY. Jamie gets the job done! (I assume.) Back in 1968, Brianna is worried what will await her mother if she goes back to Jamies time, and Roger is worried that Brianna will go back to Boston once that happens. They finally kiss! In the middle of the night, Jamie is awakened by Lady Isabel (the sweet sister), as the family departs with great haste to Ellesmeres estate, where Geneva is dying of a postpartum hemorrhage, leaving behind a healthy baby boy. Lord Ellesmere COMPLETELY loses his shit, as he and Geneva never had sex and the Dunsanys married him off to a whore, etc. etc. I dont know why he did not say anything about this during her pregnancy, but here we are. After a hell of a fight, Jamie winds up cleanly shooting Ellesmere through the head to prevent him from stabbing the baby (!) to death. The Dunsanys take the baby home and name him William. Lady Dunsany tells Jamie that she is grateful for his swift action, and that shes no dummy and knows hes a Jacobite. She bears no ill will, however, and tells him her husband would be happy to arrange for his release and return to Scotland. Jamie, because hes a freaking saint, doesnt want to leave his infant son behind without a father figure, and says he wants to stay so he can send money back to his family. Cut to a rapid fast-forward several years, where we find Willie big enough to ride a pony and ask questions, yet Jamie looks exactly the same age. You cannot mar his beauty, Father Time! Back in modern times, Claire discovers that the 18th-century ship manifests are not at the National Archives. And with that, she decides its time to move forward with her life and return home, just as Jamie is finally ready to make the same decision. Lord Grey promises to raise Willie as his own he is marrying Lady Isabel, there not being a thriving gay singles scene in 18th-century England and politely turns down Jamies rather touching request to barter his body in exchange for said promise to raise Willie. Lord Grey is in love with Jamie, but hes not a MONSTER who would take advantage of someone in a terrible spot, like some dead women we could mention but wont. In an almost too-touching scene, Willie comes to Jamies room late at night and finds him lighting a candle to Saint Anthony for all those hes lost. He is, after all, a stinking Papist, and so, at Willies request, Jamie baptizes him with a drop of water. His baptismal name? William James. Its a lot to take in. Cue a sweet acoustic cover of A Hard Rains Gonna Fall, as we see both Claire and Jamie starting their respective journeys toward what we hope will ultimately be each other. This is it. This is the episode we knew would come eventually. The one where Abby Donovan dies. Weve seen glimpses of what happened that fateful day Ray bursting through the bedroom door, his face broken by what he sees but Horses gives us the last 24 hours of Abby Donovans life. And it does so respectably, if not in a way that produces quite the emotionally devastating, breakthrough television fans were hoping for. Once again, the ensemble is phenomenal, but the writing lacks the spark that makes for great television. Having said that, Ray Donovan will miss the different energy provided by Paula Malcomsons Abby, and Im sad to see her go. And her husband wasnt even at her side when she shuffled off this mortal coil. In a life of bad decisions, its Rays worst. Abby Donovan is looking at a painting in what will be the bar named after her, soon to open. Its a painting of horses called Cave Hill, and Abby hears the hooves, as the Patti Smith song Land plays on the soundtrack with Smiths repeated Horses horses horses horses. (The song will play two more times.) Its a captivating moment because we realize that Abby has decided to end her life. Is it the freedom of the horses that shell never have again, or a sense of reclaiming that freedom and leaving the world on her own terms? We dont need to know the specific reason to see it in Abbys eyes she makes the decision even before she learns that she didnt get into the experimental trial. After the call, she wanders down to the pharmacy to get the Seconal that shell use to end her life. Illustrating how much denial Ray Donovan uses to fuel his optimism, he buys his dying wife a necklace. She says, What am I gonna do with it? and its hard not to feel sorry for Ray in this beat though its not as hard later because hes blindly denying that Abby wont be going to anymore occasions that require a fancy necklace. Hes focused on material things while shes moved past the stuff that you really cant take with you. Ray finds out that Abby didnt get into the trial and snaps. Always the professional fixer, hes convinced he will fix this problem. He leaves his wife to go to New York City to sort things out, and its a decision hell regret for the rest of his life. When Abby needed him most, supporting her in whatever way she chose, he decided to do what he always does scramble to fix an unfixable problem. To that end, he calls Lena and gets names and addresses of people in the trial, and he gets Avi to find him meningitis bacteria to poison someone else on the thin line between death and hope. Terry comes to the Donovan house and finds Abby on the couch. A great scene unfolds in which she makes it clear that no one cares what she wants, and she asks Terry to pick up the refill for the prescription that Ray flushed. Why does Terry say yes? Is it because he understands debilitating sickness because of his Parkinsons? Because he knows what its like to be controlled by something bigger than himself? Whatever the reason, Terry will be the Donovan man whos there for Abby when Ray isnt. She later tells Bridget, I want to be the one to shoot first. I want to be the one pulling the trigger. While this emotional drama goes down in L.A., we get distracted in New York City. Avi gets arrested, which means Ray has to go to his contacts house to get the meningitis bacteria, which leads to a violent showdown in a small apartment. Its a weird scene to include here, other than to perhaps indicate how far Ray is willing to go to save his wife. Horses is a long episode and I wish they sacrificed the Avi subplot to get more time with Abby, Terry, and Bridget. A little more tightness would have made this a more effective gut punch. While Ray focuses on his nefarious plan, which includes poisoning Smitty, a party is unfolding at Abbys. Daryll and Mickey are laughing, Bridget and Bunchy are smiling, Terry and Maureen are in a booth (which reminded me how much the show has blown off Terrys new wife, another sign of inconsistent writing). Abby spits up blood in the bathroom and Terry and Bridget join her in the alley. No more doctors, she says. And then she delivers a classic Abby line: St. Peter is gonna give you a hand job for your work this day, Terry Donovan. Abby slowly breaks her capsules into a glass. Terry comes into the bedroom and asks what to do, and thats the beat that hit me hardest. Its the response Ray never gave Abby a question instead of a statement. Bridget even helps, taking the ginger ale and pouring it over the drugs. Bridget promises her mother shell be okay and Abby hears horses again as her daughter and brother-in-law stay by her bedside, watching her go. As if pouring salt on a wound, Ray comes home thinking that Abby is in the trial that will now save her life. Terry and Bridget hug and then Terry leaves? Thats a bit of a surprising moment, but it fits with Ray not knowing that his brother was involved. (Although maybe Terry was just downstairs or in the bathroom when Ray got home and then snuck out.) Ray comes home to hear Bridget crying. He crashes through the door and sees Abby dead, peaceful on the bed. He falls on her, weeping. And then Ray does what he does when emotion overtakes him: He lashes out. He yells at Bridget. He goes down to the bar and loses control. In front of his family, he goes after Bridget, grabbing her and screaming, Why?! Mickey tells him to cool down, reminding him he wasnt there. Ray starts punching everyone. Its all he knows how to do now. Hes a primal animal. The night Abby Donovan dies, Ray Donovan gets arrested. The camera pans into the bar to see Bridget watching him, Terry sitting, and ultimately to the painting. You can almost see Abby among the horses. Other Notes This definitely wasnt a bad episode, but it wasnt the all-timer I was hoping to get for the departure of Abby Donovan. It felt longer than it needed to be, in part because the structure of this season made most of its secrets known earlier. Learning more about Avis addiction after hes fled to Colombia feels like a case of bad timing. Those details might have made his arc in the last few episodes more powerful. Its a case in which I think the structure of this season hurt the show dramatically. Ray poisoned a young man, knowing full well that it would not only disqualify him from the life-saving trial but could kill him. Is that an irredeemable turn for the character? This feels like it could be a moment thats hard to come back from narratively, especially if Smitty dies. Its a plot twist that makes it difficult for the writers to ever give Ray a happy ending. Well see if they can find a way out of it, but it might be interesting if, with Abby gone, Ray Donovan becomes a true villain. Hes certainly shown he will do anything to get what he wants, even when it only causes him pain. By PTI: Violence United Nations, Oct 2 (PTI) The UN today observed the 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as the International Non-Violence Day with Indian-Americans remembering the apostle of peace across the US. UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak, at an event at the UN headquarters in New York, said that people are not yet living in the world that Gandhi dreamt of. advertisement The birth anniversary of Gandhi is celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence by the world body. "Unfortunately, we are not yet living in the world that Gandhi dreamt of. Many actors still use violence as their tool of choice. Every day there is new evidence of the destruction and human suffering, which result from this choice," Lajcak said. Observing that intolerance and hate speech are features of the world, he rued that international human rights and humanitarian law are constantly violated. Conflicts, violent extremism and terrorism do not show any signs of decreasing, he said. "Even the planet is suffering from a violence of sorts, due to the harmful impact of human activities. The message of non-violence is therefore needed more today than ever," Lajcak told the audience inside the UN headquarters in New York. As a global leader in non-violence, the UN needs to do more to promote this principle and to inspire others to do so too, said the president of the UN General Assembly. This will mean stepping up its efforts in conflict prevention, he said. Gandhis birth anniversary was celebrated across the country including New York, Washington DC, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and San Francisco. In Washington DC, Indian Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna offered floral tributes to the statue of Gandhi located in front of the Embassy premises. A cultural programme consisting of patriotic songs was also organised. The ceremony was attended by around 200 prominent members of the community. PTI LKJ CPS --- ENDS --- Polanski. Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images Speaking at the Zurich Film Festival, Roman Polanski made a rare comment on the rape conviction that caused him to flee the United States. Polanski was arrested and charged with raping Samantha Geimer, who was 13 at the time, in 1977. In a plea bargain, the director pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, but fled to Paris when he heard the judge was considering giving him 50 years in prison. As you know, Samantha Geimer has been asking for over 30 years for this thing to end. But, Im sorry the judges who dealt with it the last 40 years were corrupted, one covering for the other maybe one of them will (eventually) stop doing it, he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As far as what I did: Its over. I pleaded guilty. I went to jail. I came back to the United States to do it, people forget about that, or dont even know. I then was locked up here (in Zurich) after this festival. So in the sum, I did about 4 or 5 times than what was promised to me, Polanksi said. In January, Polanski stepped down as president of the Cesar Awards amid reports that the festival would be protested because of his inclusion. Polanksi continues to try to have the case resolved, and be sentenced in absentia. In August, a third woman accused Polanski of sexually victimizing her when she was a teenager in 1973, and said she would testify if Polanski were retried in the case involving Geimer. The director is at the Zurich festival promoting his newest movie Based on a True Story. There is no feeling greater than Star Trek anxiety, followed quickly and efficiently by Star Trek relief, and friends for we are friends that is the feeling I was privileged to experience during this weeks episode. While I remain skeptical toward a great many of the choices from Discoverys first two episodes, tonights soft relaunch offers up the Star Trek and/or Mean Girls and/or high-school-A.U.cumThe Thing homage my hungry little heart never even knew it had always longed for. You will not be surprised to learn that the rest of Discovery does not follow the story of Michael Burnhams life imprisonment, and that her prison shuttle is instead diverted to the mysterious USS Discovery. Once aboard, she faces a logistically implausible but deeply personally satisfying Uncomfortable Cafeteria Scene, a talkative new roommate, and one of those great scenes all the best high-school movies have where someone points out all the various cliques in rapid-fire succession to the audiences bewildered point-of-view character. You ever seen a black badge before, Starfleet? asks one of Michaels snarky fellow prisoners as theyre led down one of Discoverys corridors. No, I have not, I answered from my couch, but please, please stick around forever and describe various Starfleet social groups in vague and insinuating detail for the rest of my life. Also, oh my God, does this mean were going to get a Section 31 subplot? Burnhams penal shuttle is temporarily picked up by the Discovery after they lose their pilot during an infestation of electricity-eating space bugs, and the prisoners are given unrestrained access to the ship shortly thereafter. I dont even care how unlikely that is, because it gives us a scene where Burnham wanders around the ships cafeteria carrying an actual lunch tray looking for someone to sit with like Cady Heron on the first day of school at North Shore. An insufficiently disgruntled fellow prisoner carefully announces his intention to kill Burnham, pauses for a full two-count beat, then stands up and takes a wild, windmilling swing in her general direction; she takes him and several other nearby rowdies out in a matter of seconds. (Its suus mahna, I excitedly informed my friend watching with me, who was not especially interested in hearing about suus mahna.) Afterward, Burnham is whisked away to see the ships captain by perpetually unimpressed Security Officer Landry, who says, So thats suus mahna. Vulcans should stick to logic. (See? I said once again to my friend. That was suus mahna. My friend contended that this did not enhance their experience of watching the show in any way, and I was forced to concede the point.) We meet Captain Gabriel Lorca, who is purposefully vague as to why the Discovery picked up Burnhams shuttle, what he wants from her, and how long she can expect to stay with them. Jason Isaacss Captain Lorca has displayed, thus far, two character traits: He constantly fiddles with a bowl of fortune cookies, and he is brusque with everyone. This does not endear him to me, nor make me long any less for what might have been with Michelle Yeohs Captain Georgiou, although I hold out the same hope for her that I do with any character who dies in a sci-fi story whose body is never recovered: Namely, that she will turn up at the 11th hour with a wildly unlikely story of survival and increased narrative significance. The real standout of the episode is Sonequa Martin-Green, whos given a lot more to work with and is, in turn, captivating, charming (I didnt know I wanted to see her scrabbling through a series of Jefferies tubes reciting Alice in Wonderland to herself until it happened), and heartbreakingly winsome. Honorable mention goes to Mary Wiseman as her new roommate, Cadet Sylvia Tilly, who chatters nonstop at every opportunity and somehow doesnt connect Michael, her reserved new roommate with Michael, the famous Starfleet mutineer, until its spelled out for her. A roommate is an automatic built-in friend! I do not know what your patience is for the old trope wherein a Shinily Overeager, Wide-Eyed Naif befriends a Brooding and Complicated Non-Talker. Mine is boundless. Ive never met a female named Michael before, Tilly says to Burnham, whose face makes it clear how much shed rather be in prison right now, leading me to shout from my couch, Cadet, it is the 24th actual century and you are in outer actual space, you cannot be surprised by gender-variant naming practices! Tilly tries to assign Burnham a more approachable nickname. Burnham declines the honor. I cackle. Im so glad were getting to meet more of Discoverys crew, because UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIPS between MUTUALLY ANTAGONISTIC PARTIES is one of my absolute favorite things, and this series is setting up a number of absolute doozies. Anthony Rapps Lt. Stamets hates everybody because he cares too damn much about his research, and I cannot wait to see what begrudging respect Burnham is able to slowly extract from him between her excellent coding skills and idiosyncratic-yet-severe internal moral code. Saru now First Officer on the Discovery gets a few lovely, wistful scenes with Burnham where he also manages to deliver some of the most casually brutal remarks Ive ever heard, capping it all off with, I intend to do a better job protecting my captain than you did yours. Other highlights include: the ubiquitous floating touch screens of the future, assigned-seating anxiety in the science lab, a so-ridiculous-I-loved-it scene where Burnham manages to steal her own roommates breath in order to override Engineerings security protocol (You know, like people used to think cats did. Also, this ship really needs two-step verification Me), some lingering shots of horribly mangled bodies on Discoverys sidelined sistership that are disturbingly reminiscent of John Carpenters The Thing, another unnecessary swipe at Andorians, an Amanda Grayson reference that had me squealing with delight, and a discursive conversation about physics as biology, and how thats the distinction that will enable Starfleet to win the war. Lorca is sassy again, I wrote in my notes, and I hate it. Burnham turns down Lorcas invitation to join her crew because shes convinced that Discoverys research (spore-y biological weapons, to the best of my understanding) violates the Geneva Convention, and that hes only after her help because he sees her as a genius whos willing to wage unsanctioned war unilaterally. In fact, shes committed to abiding by Starfleets principles, even though shes no longer part of Starfleet. Lorca claims that theyre actually working on a new way to fly, not kill an organic propulsion system that would enable the Discovery to be anywhere and gone in an instant. He wants Burnham for her ability to think predictively, not because she shoots first. Lord knows Im sorry for working in a Star Wars debate here, but I kind of adore that Star Trek is exploring space-cowboyism from its own particular frame of reference. You helped start a war, he says. Dont you want to help me end it? He also gives her a fortune cookie while she considers the offer, because hes the most on-the-nose captain to ever live. In closing, if youd like to read a fan theory about Burnhams origins and motivations and how they may relate to the Discoverys time-bending propulsion system a fan theory that is wholly unverified and that I have nonetheless decided to believe in with my whole heart you can follow the thread by clicking here and scrolling wildly up and down. In a 2012 interview with Alan Sepinwall, Matthew Weiner said that one of the major parts of Mad Men was how it tracked the crudening of our culture. At the beginning of the series, 50s moralism still reigned over social life, but small cracks began to show, like men refusing to remove their hats in mixed company and superficially taboo topics worming their way into mainstream conversation. By the end of the series in 1970, after the assassinations and the racial unrest and the ramping-up of Vietnam and the commodification of the counterculture, mores permanently loosened. People cursed more, compulsory respect for authority was falling, and a strain of subversion had taken hold of society. One of my things is that human behavior doesnt change, Weiner said, but certainly the manners change. Its coincidence that The Deuce picks up mere months after the end of Mad Men, but its interesting to watch George Pelecanos and David Simon pick up that thematic torch from Weiner, both chronologically and spiritually. The grimy streets of Times Square are a far cry from a Madison Avenue skyscraper, but the former represents the culmination of what was only bubbling up to the surface in the latter. The Deuce covers a snapshot of a time and place when the culture was looser than ever, when all previous rules were moving off the table. Its a tableau of figures that exist in a world of moral instability. The golden age of pornography is the series primary focus, but its also a microcosm for broader developments happening in the larger culture. Simon and Pelecanos convey this without judgment or condescension, and that shouldnt go unrecognized. After three episodes establishing characters, plots, and tone, The Deuce adopts a more observational mode in I See Money, capturing a full tableau in motion. Pelecanos and Lisa Lutz (who has sole credit on the teleplay) dont jam the episode with incident, but instead allow the characters to just exist in their environment, leading their own parallel stories. This panoramic storytelling is easier said than done, and yet everything already feels ingrained and bone-deep. The casual confidence on display shouldnt be a surprise considering the veterans behind and in front of the camera, but it still pops onscreen. If theres one major thread in the episode, its Candys disillusionment with prostitution. I See Money follows Candy on a series of especially terrible nights where she is mainly just going through motions. To get out of the rain on the streets, she enters a dirty movie to find clients. While fellating a guy, a rat finds his way onto his lap and near her head, startling her badly enough that she runs out to the lobby. As she catches her breath, another guy approaches her, suggestively asking if she likes movies. Maggie Gyllenhaal gives one of her best performances in this episode by silently illustrating how much unique labor, both physical and emotional, goes into sex work. In one scene, she rolls a client off her body like its one of a million, and then subtly deflects his touch as she puts on her clothes, not wanting to deal with more than she absolutely has to. While shes trying to simply unwind at the Hi-Hat, a heavy-set man asks her for a date, and director Alex Hall lingers on Gyllenhaals face as you watch it barely contort into a smile, actively fighting the urge to turn him down. Later, shes completely shaken up when the man dies during oral sex, sending her on a bender just as shes weighing a date from a legitimate suitor named Jack (Will Chase). Lutzs teleplay then walks a fine line during the dinner with Jack, showing how Candy tries to be Eileen but falls back on her work persona when she gets nervous or when things become too personal. Her discomfort on the date shows Candy at the end of her rope, but shes finally pushed when all the dudes in the diner the pimps, Frank, Big Mike, and Vincents new bodyguard Black Frank (Thaddeus Street) give her a standing ovation for having a deadly mouth. Its disgusting and uncomfortable, and you can see the last ounce of street spirit leave Candy as she exits the diner. The rest of I See Money treats the other characters like a tapestry, partially out of necessity and partially out of the aforementioned observational approach. In any other hands, Id say The Deuce is spread too thin, but Pelecanos, Lutz, Simon, and everyone else have such a good handle on how to approach character and setting that they can comfortably take the place of traditional story. The Deuce can deftly cut between Paul (struggling in a relationship with his more reticent, straitlaced boyfriend as well as his outsider feelings at the Hi-Hat), C.C. (whos dealing with jealousy among his girls), and Officer Alston (whos testing the limits of no-go zones while unintentionally teaming up with Sandra the reporter) with incredible ease. Almost everyone profiled in this episode is at a crossroads, and Hall and Lutz effectively capture the fractured states of all involved. The most traditional storyline in I See Money involves the mobs influence on Bobbys construction site. Some of the workers decide not to pay the mob tax and wait to cash their checks on Monday, which doesnt sit well with Rudy and his crew. Though Bobby swears things will get back to normal soon, Rudy tasks an enforcer to straighten out the point man, Bill Schmidt, so others will walk the line. Its the first time that The Deuce has portrayed the mob in an actively violent light, but it was an inevitable step, and it occurs just when Rudy and Tommy Longo try to bring Vincent closer into their real estate ventures. Although the mob plotline can feel like an afterthought on a series like this, Pelecanos & Co. neatly fold it into the proceedings here, capturing the predictability of their influence on illegal vices. Yet, I See Money is at its best when it portrays people at cross-purposes, desperately trying to understand their surroundings but failing to fully grasp them. Lutz places Abby and Darlene at the center of this idea; as Darlene shows Abby how to fix the buckle on her shoe with a safety pin, Abby openly asks her why shes on the street rather than at home. Its a conversation Darlene has had a million times, but Abby is only broaching it now that shes outside of her privileged, college bubble. Abby pushes her to go see her aunt in Charlotte, but Darlene knows herself and why she does what she does, politely deflecting her advice. Im just trying to understand, Abby says. You dont need to understand, Darlene replies. Later, Abby gives her a copy of Graham Greenes Travels With My Aunt with a Greyhound ticket inside; Darlene smiles and returns to Larry. As hard as some might try, other peoples experiences will forever be outside of their own. Vincent might be cool with Paul, but hell never know what Stonewall meant to him. Candy might have a nice evening with Jack, but its unclear whether hell ever accept her true identity. Darlene knows what Abby doesnt: Money affords the fantasy of escaping ones circumstances. Its a tough, crude world out there, and everyones just trying to get by with what they have. Theres nothing more to it. Other Tricks and Pricks Watch how Hall shoots the sex scene between Vincent and Abby and compare it to the sex-work scenes. Its a neat illustration of the difference between mutual passion and a one-sided fantasy. Zoe Kazan returns as Vincents wife, Andrea. She says that she misses him and wants him to come home, but Vincent knows too well what will happen, reminding her of when she lit his clothes on fire. The fire thing, that was an accident, Andrea insists. Yeah, the first time, maybe, Vincent replies. I want to ding the scene with Paul and Vincent because it feels a bit too didactic, with Paul explaining preferred pronouns and queers rioting for three days, but then again, Vincent would genuinely be indifferent and ignorant to those concerns. Its nice to see how these two guys could come to a mutual understanding and be collegial, but theyd probably never be close. My favorite bit of irony: Bobby snarking about his doctor asking him to change his lifestyle after his heart attack while hes taking a drag off a cigarette. Kiefer Sutherland and Kevin Bacon in 1990s Flatliners. Photo: Archive Photos/Columbia Pictures/Getty Images History has already begun to vindicate the Joel Schumacher apologists. Even two decades out from the poisonously received Batman and Robin, the filmmakers still most commonly remembered as the man who slapped a pair of nipples on Bruce Waynes outfit, but the tides changing. A new critical reappraisal is upon us, celebrating Schumachers campier instincts while putting the calamitous mismatch of his flamboyant directorial sensibility and the superhero genre into perspective. Schumachers skill lies in sculpting unexpectedly accomplished art from the marble of ridiculous ideas: Nicolas Cage infiltrating the world of snuff film, a lethal thriller taking place entire inside of a phone booth, a man who dresses up like a winged mammal to nocturnally beat up muggers. And yet a sizable faction of viewers seem to lack either the ability or the inclination to look beyond the punch line of his premises. Which brings us to his 1990 thriller Flatliners. When boiled down to its logline, Flatliners sounds like it could be an SNL sketch as easily as a surrealist imagining of infinity: A group of ambitious medical students let their competitive spirit get out of hand and challenge one another to see who can go the longest in a state of induced death. It was at this time that the Venn diagram charting the overlap between Schumachers intentions and popular tastes began to widen; the mixed reviews left in the releases wake foretold a career falling out of public favor after the Zeitgeist-capturing The Lost Boys. Despite healthy grosses and scattered praise, the film had its fair share of detractors united in frustration over a perceived dissonance between Schumachers comically heightened, nearly faux-melodramatic tone and its weightier meditations on mortality. As New York Times critic Caryn James wrote in her review, Viewers are likely to go along with this film instantly or else ridicule it to death. In an act so perfectly analogical as to almost be suspicious, Flatliners has been unnaturally brought back to life. This past Friday saw the release of a new sequel/covert remake, courtesy of Danish journeyman Niels Arden Oplev, the hired gun on the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo film as well as scattered episodes of Under the Dome and Mr. Robot. Just as the original collected a gaggle of young stars on the precipice of the A-list (the other major Julia Roberts release in 1990 was Pretty Woman, a success so definitive for her actorly persona that shed never make another modestly budgeted sci-fi flick again), so does the new film: Ellen Page, Vampire Diaries grad Nina Dobrev, British import James Norton, Rogue One casualty Diego Luna, and Kiersey Clemons of Dope and Neighbors 2 fame. The film seems to follow the same basic plot schematic of the original, excepting this time, flatlining imbues the hubristic students with superpowers. (Not full-blown X-Men superpowers, though, more like Limitless/first half hour of Lucy superpowers.) And as the disparaging reviews dealt the film a humbling zero percent Rotten Tomatoes score this weekend artless and agonizingly boring, raves Indiewire! just meh, gushes the New York Times! we were left only to ask: Why? Some will undoubtedly appreciate that the new films gender makeup has been evened out a touch, the sample size containing three women instead of one. And of course its for the best that the new film is not made up almost entirely of white people. Still, the issue remains that nobody can seem to figure where this all came from. Hollywoods remake doctrine has heretofore been oriented around giving the people what they want, reviving universally beloved franchises in the hope that sheer brand recognition will be enough to get the ledgers in the black. The majority of remakes attempt to affect the appearance of tallness by standing on their own shoulders; 2016s Point Break was the monocultures punishment for so unilaterally adoring the testosterone-drunk genuine article. So whats the big idea with resuscitating a body that was, in a pretty wide estimation, dead on arrival? Except that this is precisely how remakes should work. The deluge of reimaginings slathering a layer of high-gloss CGI on some cherished childhood classic your irredeemable Alice in Wonderlands, your Oz the Great and Powerfuls usually sully the memories and accomplish little else. Instead, remake privileges ought to be reserved for good ideas bungled in execution, scripts with promise that somehow landed in the custody of an incompetent director or a misassembled cast. In a perfect world, the remake would correct a mistake, not reproduce a success for what inevitably ends up being a diluted imitation. Perhaps this project was conceived as a chance to get it right to win over the viewers that Schumachers antic streak previously alienated. The principles sound, but its been misapplied in selecting Flatliners for a second go. Though one might be able to see where some studio boss could get the idea that theres a great film waiting to be carved out of the concept, given its polarizing reputation, a closer look confirms that Schumachers original qualifies as something of a cult success. If Flatliners actually was as so-so as its 49 percent Rotten Tomatoes score would suggest, wed be in business. But, as ever, the situations a bit more nuanced than that. Schumacher took Peter Filardis script in a kookier direction than his overlords at Columbia would have liked, yet in doing so, he charmed the cult fan base still carrying this movies torch. One might wonder why the various flatlinings take place in a hospital basement that resembles a high Gothic mausoleum chamber. Schumachers film stands as his implicit self-evident response: Why wouldnt they? He reaches even obscurer corners of weirdness during the many sequences visualizing the fantastical afterlife: At first, it comes as a surprise that being dead looks, to put it in medical terms, pretty lit. The idyllic early phases of the hallucinations call to mind Elysian fields, a reference point both nodded to and covertly laughed at by the recurring motif of oddly placed ribbon dancers moving through a plain. Whether in these euphoric early phases or the chilling bad trip they melt into, Schumacher seizes the opportunity to indulge in imagery a bit more abstract than could be found in the usual studio project. The star-studded cast stood out as Flatliners greatest asset, however. Even as they fill broadly sketched stock types Kiefer Sutherlands the reckless genius, Oliver Platts the nerd-among-nerds comic relief, Roberts is the token woman, Kevin Bacons the golden boy, and Billy Baldwin is Billy Baldwin the actors make a meal out of the smart-alecky dialogue. Sutherland gets to play grunge-rock Frankenstein and say stuff like, Philosophy failed. Religion failed. Now its up to the physical sciences! while Platt speaks almost entirely in Gen-X ironic witticisms and pop-culture references. Upon learning that he and his colleagues have successfully stopped death in its icy tracks, Platts student crows, Were finally going to have something to hold over those fucking baby boomers! Hes not just being flippant, either; the students really are fueled by a drive to make their mark on nothing less than the fabric of scientific history. Flatliners betrays its own smarts through its adroit take on the dog-diagnose-dog culture of medical school, where high standards encourage the students to push themselves into competition against one another. Everythings a contest to the core quintet, including and especially their game of death, as they test the limits of how long a body can safely stay under. The same god complex Billy Baldwins brother proclaimed in Malice takes on frighteningly literal terms here, as the students arrogantly swing back and forth through the veil of eternity. The smartly observed depiction of the med-student lifestyle holds the entire film together; you want to yell at the characters to stop knowingly endangering their own lives, until you realize that they cant not. Theyre addicted to excelling. This kind of purposeful creative direction hints at what the films acolytes know to be gospel: that Schumacher had a reliable road map when he ventured off past the outer limits of human consciousness. This film was made by a man who knew precisely what he was doing, whose success in meeting his own goals was misread as a failure to meet an unwritten list of everyone elses. Remaking Flatliners by pushing it towards a dull middle ground and away from the weirdo fringes for the sake of broader palatability undermines the factors that made it noteworthy enough to revive in the first place. Well have to settle for the most worthy tribute to Flatliners being Bill Haders bit from Popstar a joke clearly written from a place of love, by people who get it. Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan have collaborated for the first time with Sui Dhaaga. By India Today Web Desk: On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's 148th birth anniversary, Varun Dhawan and Anushka Sharma, who are all set to star in Sui Dhaaga - Made In India, released a special teaser of the film. Along with paying a tribute to Gandhi on his birth anniversary, the actors also spill the beans on their film's subject. In the video, they speak about Gandhi's Swadeshi Movement. "A dream, #MadeInIndia. He made it happen for us. Team Sui Dhaaga bows down to Mahatma Gandhi," Varun tweeted along with the video. advertisement Anushka wrote, "To the man who began the #MadeInIndia journey. We salute the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi." She also shared a picture of Gandhi, with a quote of his. His greatness was & is about understanding this & speaking it out to millions. May you all find that greatness in you. Happy #GandhiJayanti pic.twitter.com/mwmeRYcLEX - Anushka Sharma (@AnushkaSharma) October 2, 2017 Akshay Kumar also shared the teaser and wished them luck. About the film, Varun had earlier told PTI, "From Gandhiji to Modiji (Narendra Modi), our country's leaders have always endorsed the mantra of Made in India. With Sui Dhaaga I am proud to take their message to millions of movie lovers in a manner that is entertaining and relevant. I really liked the script Sharat had written and I am happy that I am teaming up with YRF on this movie. Anushka and me are teaming up for the first time so I am sure there will be fireworks." Sui Dhaaga - Made In India is written and directed by Sharat Katariya. The film hits the screens next year on Gandhi Jayanti (October 2, 2018). ALSO WATCH: Watch Varun Dhawan dance to Saturday Saturday, talk about female fans --- ENDS --- Asking people to shun their business-as-usual attitude, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said the country has to move forward with a collective will to make its surroundings clean. By India Today Web Desk: Staying true to his knack for witticisms, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said "felicitation is to give inspiration to others" at the third edition of India Today Safaigiri Awards. Venkaiah Naidu, who was in attendance at the Safaigiri Awards last year as a Union minister, said that earlier it was his duty to attend such events but now it is a matter of pleasure. "I have retired from politics but not tired from public life," Naidu said as the audience smiled. advertisement Commending India Today for honouring citizens who are doing pioneering work in the field of cleanliness and sanitation, Venkaiah Naidu said "media hold enormous potential for influencing public opinion and awards like these will give a big boost to citizens and corporates to donate time and efforts to the cause of Swachhata". He said swachhata is a "mission without any commission so there should not be any remission because this has to become a people's movement". In his keynote address, the Vice President also complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making cleanliness a jan andolan or mass movement. "Narendra Modi said don't give it a government or political meaning, this has to be a people's movement," Naidu said. OF BABAS WITH BEARDS AND BILL GATES Venkaiah Naidu said that safaigiri is about cleaning the dirt everywhere, be it body, mind or unaccounted wealth. He said that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates once called on him when he was a Union minister and told him that the "issue (of sanitation) is not about money but mindset". To this effect, Naidu today listed three steps to build a Swachh Bharat: changing the mindset, creating infrastructure and taking punitive action against offenders. He said, "Swacchta cannot be achieved overnight, it has to be a sustained effort" and a regular exercise. He cited the example of men trimming their beards everyday to keep it in shape. He said that if one decides to trim the beard once every year then "you will become a baba and nowadays you know what is happening to babas". WOMEN LEADING THE WAY IN SWACHHATA "If you have a healthy India, you can make a wealthy India," said the Vice President. He said that women and girls are nowadays taking a stand on not getting married in a house without a toilet. He listed a few examples of women sanitation warriors across the country, including a 105-year-old woman in Chhattisgarh who sold her goats to build a toilet and a 17-year-old girl in Karnataka who went on fast demanding construction of a toilet in her village. advertisement Asking people to shun their business as usual attitude, Venkaiah Naidu said the country has to move forward with a collective will to make its surroundings clean. ALSO WATCH: It is crucial that swachhta becomes everybody's business, says V-P Venkaiah Naidu at Safaigiri 2017 --- ENDS --- By Ashish Pandey: Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha on Monday asked the Modi-led government to identify all the stockholders in Jammu & Kashmir issue and initiate a time-bound dialogue immediately. Sinha was addressing "Manthan Samvaad" in Hyderabad. Delivering a talk on "Kashmir: Now, and Way Forward", the bureaucrat-turned-politician said that it is entirely our (politicians/government) fault that people of Kashmir alienated in successive years post Indian Independence and merger of the state of J&K in it. advertisement Mentioning about BJP and Jammu and Kashmir's Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) coalition government in the state, Yashwant Sinha said while both the parties agreed on a common agenda of governance and agreed on the need of dialogue with each stockholder of Jammu & Kashmir to resolve the problem, but it has hit a roadblock. "I have an opportunity of serving the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and the agenda announced by the current BJP-PDP agrees to follow the same path shown by former prime minister. Same path should be followed." "J&K issue has been the longest unfortunate problem or issue and it is with us since our independence. We should also remember that J&K is the only Muslim state that rejects Pakistan and idea of Pakistan and joined India, and it is unfortunate that over last the 70 years successively by each government the people of state were let down. And, now they have a strong feeling of betrayal and discrimination and now they tell you that we always been in denial on their misery," said Sinha. Taking a potshot on Prime Minister Narendera Modi, Sinha said, "PM who travels to state condoling death of a leader, but didn't go to J&K condoling the death of one of its tallest leaders. It puts question on your intention as people are noticing it." Mentioning about killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a Kashmiri militant and the commander of militant group Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) which triggered a large scale protest and violence in the valley, Sinha said, "I along with few concerned citizen went to the Valley post his killing and we wanted to tell that people of India really care. We met large number of people and a youth told me that they can't forget how Government of India and state government have made a tremendous contribution in their psyche and now youth of Kashmir has lost fear of death." Sinha said that Jammu & Kashmir issue is more political in nature then a law & order or security issue and a dialogue is the only way forward. He said that when from the Red Fort prime minister said, "Na Goli sey, Na Gali sey, lekin Galey laganey sey" people of Jammu& Kashmir appreciated it and when during his recent visit of valley, Union Home Minister Rajntah singh again reiterated it was again welcomed by the people, but now they want words turning into action. advertisement "Please, operationalise these statements, identify the internal stake holder, whether you will speak to Hurriyat? Please make up your mind. Political party, civil society, trade body, business interest, youths, we have to identify the stakeholder than important is to decide interlocutor like Vajpayee Ji identified LK Advani ji last time, fix a time frame and finish this." said Yaswant Sinha, advocating an urgency for dialogue. He warned that if their will be no time frame dialogue, it will not encourage people of J&K and the day government will announce the dialogue process, there will be a dramatic improvement in the situation in the state. Sinha, then, identified the role of Pakistan in the issue of Jammu & Kashmir and said that the neighboring country is indeed an important factor deciding peace and prosperity in Kashmir. "One day, we like it or not, we have of involve Pakistan because it has become a third party in the issue of J&K and Pakistan must be held for its promise which he made to Prime Minister Vajpaye. Sometime in future, we have to initiate dialogue with Pakistan and it should not stop us talking to our own people now." advertisement Sinha also advocated the reduction of armed forces in the Valley and said that the Indian Army should only guard and handle border and line of control while Jammu and Kashmir Police along with central paramilitary forces should be given the full responsibility of law & order and security in the state. "There are three sets of forces, J&K Police, CRPF and Army. While Army is to protect border and Line of Control, but now it is in the forefront of fighting militancy in the state and I feel our central paramilitary forces are well equipped and trend to handle militancy in the state and so army should go back to barracks and handover tackling of militancy to them," said Sinha, while mentioning about 1989 rigged assembly election which became a turning point and how Pakistan took full advantage of the situation. --- ENDS --- By PTI: Washington, Oct 2 (PTI) Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has publicly apologised for the social-media platforms negative effects and asked for forgiveness for his work that was used to divide people rather than uniting them. Zuckerberg, 33, did not mention any specific incident, but his apology came in the face of mounting evidence that Russians had used Facebook he created more than a decade ago to spread propaganda and influence voter sentiment ? all to tip the US presidential election in Donald Trump?s favour, Washington Post said. advertisement He took to his social media account and wrote, "For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better." "For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask for forgiveness and I will work to do better," he wrote in a brief post. Earlier, Facebook had announced it would turn over to Congress copies of more than 3,000 advertisements that a shadowy Russian company bought for USD 100,000 from June 2015 to May 2017. The ads were linked to about 470 fake accounts likely operated out of Russia. Alex Stamos, Facebooks chief security officer, said last month that the vast majority of the ads didn?t specifically mention the presidential election, but it touched on divisive topics, such as LGBT rights, race, immigration and gun rights. Facebook had initially declined to share copies of the ads, saying it would compromise user privacy, but Zuckerberg announced a reversal of that decision on September 21, the paper said. "I don?t want anyone to use our tools to undermine democracy. That?s not what we stand for," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook Live video. Zuckerberg acknowledged that the amount of problematic activities Facebook has uncovered is "relatively small", but he vowed that the company will continue to investigate and enhance transparency on who buys political ads. PTI NSA AKJ NSA --- ENDS --- 2 Oct. There is free entry to the Galleria Nazionale from 18.30 on Monday 2 October to celebrate the inauguration of the exhibition e solo un inizio. 1968. The show marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 protests that shook London, Paris, Berlin and Rome, by examining the role of art within the social and political context of the era, featuring works by important Italian and international artists. The open evening also coincides with the launch of two parallel exhibitions: one dedicated to the gallery's former director Palma Bucarelli (1910-1998), the other to painter Renato Guttuso on the 30th anniversary of his death. In addition visitors can enjoy the exhibition Time is Out of Joint which opened last October following the gallery's completed refurbishment and reorganisation. Sea Hornet Resurrection by Richard Mallory Allnutt Pioneer Aero in Auckland, New Zealand recently announced that they have acquired the substantial remains of de Havilland Sea Hornet F.20 TT193, and will be restoring this unique survivor to flying condition. They will be working with Aerowood, a company already hard at work building wings for deHavilland Mosquito FB.VI PZ474 currently coming together at AvSpecs Ltd. These two New Zealand-based companies have rebuilt all but one of the Mosquitos currently flying or under restoration to fly, in close collaboration with Glyn Powell, who developed the fuselage moulds. These skills will prove essential to restoring the Sea Hornet. The de Havilland Hornet series of fighter and reconnaissance aircraft derived directly from the earlier Mosquito, using similar moulded plywood construction techniques, although it was a wholly new design. de Havilland started work on the DH.103 Hornet in November 1942, seeing the need for a long-range escort to cover the vast open spaces in the Pacific Theatre of Operations during WWII. While the war ended before its development was complete, the Hornet did reach front line service in the post-war RAF. The advent of the Jet Age, however, quickly saw the Hornet relegated to ancillary roles on the outer edges of Britains fading empire in the Far East. The type did see combat in the Malaya Emergency during the 1950s however, and excelled in the ground attack role. Its agility, ordinance load and especially its lengthy target loiter time proved highly useful. The Royal Navys Fleet Air Arm had its own variants, known as Sea Hornets. They had folding outer wings for service on carriers, along with a number of other naval modifications, such as slotted flaps for better low-speed flight characteristics while landing. Sea Hornet F.20s also had a pair of dedicated fuselage camera ports. The type was beloved by pilots for its speed and handling. In fact, the legendary British test pilot, Eric Winkle Brown said of the type later in his life Circumstances had conspired against the Sea Hornet in obtaining the recognition that it justly deserved as a truly outstanding warplanein my book the Sea Hornet ranks second to none for harmony of control, performance characteristics and, perhaps most important, in inspiring confidence in its pilot. For sheer exhilarating flying enjoyment, no aircraft has ever made a deeper impression on me than did this outstanding filly from the de Havilland stable. However, the Hornet did have an Achilles Heal. The glue which deHavilland used to bond its plywood skins proved susceptible to breaking down in the high heat and humidity of the tropics. The resulting delamination problems, coupled with termite issues, caused the early retirement of the RAFs fleet in the Far East. The last operational sortie by an RAF Hornet took place on May 21st, 1955, and the remaining airframes in the Far East were broken up on site. While the Sea Hornet was an amazingly capable aircraft, it was unsuitable for operations from the smaller, Light Fleet Carriers which predominated in the post-war Royal Navy. Thus the type did not enjoy much service at sea, with only 801 Squadron flying the F.20 in front line service. The type did operate from a few naval land bases, including Hal Far on Malta, but the Royal Navy withdrew most of its remaining Sea Hornets to storage yards in Scotland by the early 1950s. Long-term outdoor storage of wooden aircraft in such a climate is never a practical solution, and the Sea Hornets didnt last long. Most of these examples were in scrap yards by 1957. Of the 209 Hornets and 178 Sea Hornets which deHavilland produced, neither the RAF, nor the Royal Navy thought to preserve one. The last known, substantially complete airframe, Sea Hornet NF.21 VW949, lingered on at Goodwood into the late 1960s, but even that ended up on the scrap heap in 1968. Just one Sea Hornet made it into civilian hands. This was F.20 TT193, which the Air Ministry sent to the RCAF Winter Weather Experimental Establishment in Edmonton, Alberta for cold weather trials in December, 1948. Following testing, the aircraft was surplus to requirements, and sold off to save the cost of shipping it home. Pilot William Bill Ferderber registered the Sea Hornet as CF-GUO in April 1951, before selling it to aerial survey firm Spartan Air Services of Ottawa two months later. Ferderber flew it on a handful of high-altitude photographic missions for Spartan. However Spartan, presumably realizing they couldnt easily get spare parts or additional examples, ended up trading the exotic aircraft to Kenting Aviation Ltd. for a pair of P-38 Lightnings soon after. These Lightnings were actually F-5Gs 44-26761/CF-GKE and 44-53184/CF-GKH. While GKE was airworthy (and now with Kermit Weeks in Florida), GKH took a year to fix corrosion issues before flying again, only to crash in the Yukon at the end of July, 1953. Canadian aviation historian Robert M. Stitt, in communication with the author, noted that the Sea Hornet was not the best or safest option for high-level photography, and that an exchange with Kenting was the way to go. Aerial mapping work, in those days, was really a two-man job at a minimum, requiring both a pilot and a navigator/camera operator. In the case of the Sea Hornet, the camera operator had to slide backwards over the main spar carry through in the fuselage to reach his cramped station. During takeoff and landing, he lay on his belly on the main spar, holding onto a grab bar behind the pilot to give himself the illusion of an escape option should it prove necessary! Also, Stitt noted, the pilot would have to do the navigation while keeping the aircraft straight and level at a precise altitude during photography while pressure-breathing oxygen and trying to read or create maps in a cramped cockpit; a huge workload and strain. So, it was far from ideal for either crew member. Stitt suspects that Spartan would never have acquired the Sea Hornet had Ferderber not acquired it first, which is a fair point. TT193 didnt fly with Kenting for long. She suffered an in-flight failure of her port engine on July 11th, 1952. Her pilot, T.E. Bach, guided her safely in to a forced landing at Terrace Airport in Terrace, British Columbia. Kenting, being unable to fix the Sea Hornet, abandoned her in place and the airframe became a childs plaything. Left to the elements and little fingers, the airframe deteriorated and eventually the airport manager had it carted to the local dump. Sometime in the 1970s, an enterprising individual and his son recovered what remained of TT193. Richard de Boer noted the remains in outdoor storage on George Le Mays farm in Acme, near Calgary Alberta in 1979, and took the following photographs on a subsequent visit in 1990. Le May moved the parts under cover soon after. What you can see in these images is essentially the wing center section extending out to the wing fold. While much of the wood has deteriorated badly, there are many crucial metal parts in excellent condition, not to mention pattern examples for wooden parts as well. In addition to what is shown in these images, there are other significant parts in the collection as well. It may not look much right now, but other than Bob Jens B.35 VR796, the Mosquitos currently flying looked little better than this when they first started. Pioneer Aero are collaborating with several others in addition to Aerowood on this project. This includes world DH.103 authority, David Collins. David Collins, based in the UK, has spent the last two decades scouring the world for Hornet parts and drawings. He has amassed a considerable amount of original material, plus many cockpit items unique to the type. Along the way he has also built cockpit replicas for both the Hornet and Sea Hornet, which include many original parts. You can see some of what he has achieved HERE. The team also has 6,000+ factory drawings for the Hornet, and that coupled with Aerowoods wealth of experience building the complex wooden structures for de Havilland Mosquitos. Like the DH.98 Mosquito, the DH.103 also had a moulded plywood fuselage. Believe it or not, one of these fuselage moulds still exists, albeit in poor condition, at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum in London Colney, England. The museum boasts three fully restored Mosquitos, including the prototype, but also has the rear fuselages of Sea Hornet NF.21s VX250 and VW957 on display. Perhaps more importantly, they have examples of the super-rare 130 series Rolls Royce Merlin from a Hornet on display. In fact, the most difficult part of this entire project will likely involve locating the right and left-hand turning Merlin engines specific to the breed (133/134). The Sea Hornet was the only aircraft to use these engines. Pioneer Aero are more than up to the challenge though, and resurrecting the Sea Hornet will be a crowning achievement for this impressive company. We must congratulate Pioneer Aero and their partners for taking on this singularly significant project, and cannot wait to see the results of their work to resurrect this long-extinct breed! WarbirdsNews would like to thank Richard de Boer very much for the use of his photographs, and to noted aviation historian Robert M. Stitt for his details on Spartan Air Services, a subject in which he specializes. Richard de Boer is heavily involved with the Calgary Mosquito Society, which is restoring ex-Spartan Air Services Mosquito RS700/CF-HMS to its former glory when flying with the company. Please click HERE for their website, their YouTube channel HERE or the Facebook Page HERE. To see more of what Robert M. Stitt has been working on concerning Spartan Air Services, or if you can help with his research, please click HERE. Beach Energy had a 19 per cent price spike on Monday after reporting a 98 per cent take-up of its institutional offering to help fund its purchase of Lattice Energy. It jumped as high as 98 cents in early trade, as it announced the successful completion of its institutional offering, raising $201 million of its targeted $301 million. Beach Energy's share priced has rapidly increased as investor confidence grows. Credit:Heidi Wideroe This was due to major shareholder Seven Group Holdings' pre-commitment to its full equity entitlement, and SGH's sub-underwriting the offer. The 98 trading price is the highest the energy company's shares have reached since November 2015, although it is well below Beach's high watermark of $1.80 per share reached in April 2014. The price retreated in late afternoon trading and closed at 91. Australia's real estate industry is hoping recent rule changes for foreign buyers haven't dimmed Chinese appetites too much, as they eagerly awaited an influx of big-spending tourists during China's Golden Week holiday beginning on Sunday. As Golden Week began, real estate agents prepared to roll out the red carpet for cashed-up Chinese visitors, offering them helicopter rides and limousine tours to show off prestige properties in the $10 million to $25 million range. Chinese vacationers, six million of whom travelled overseas during last year's Golden Week, have become increasingly important to Australia. In the year through June they accounted for almost a quarter of the $31.8 billion spent by foreign holiday makers in the country, while only accounting for less than one-sixth of the total number of visitors. A takeover of department store chain Myer by Solomon Lew's Premier Investments could see savings in rent of about $23 million, according to Citi. Retail analysts at the broker said if Premier were to acquire Myer, rental savings from shifting the footprint of 200 specialty retail stores into the department store could yield "about $23 million in net savings", underpinning 28 per cent earnings per security (EPS) accretion at a $1 takeover price for Myer, in our view". Myer is under pressure from its largest shareholder, Premier Investments. Credit:AAP "Despite what appears to be attractive merger economics, this would likely be outweighed by the risk of exiting about $1.2 billion of long-term leases on 'mainstream' and 'community' Myer stores," the analyst said. Mr Lew's retail business owns about 11 per cent of Myer and last week he requested the chain's share register, which was seen as a move to gain investor approval to agitate for change in the Myer management. Peer pressure is a powerful force, but not one that always leads to wise decision making. Australia's corporate tax rate is again in the spotlight thanks to US President Donald Trump's ambitious tax plan announced last week to slice the US rate from 35 to 20 per cent. Illustration: Jim Pavlidis Let's leave aside the issue of whether Trump will be able to deliver on this promise. The question is, with so many other nations engaged in a race to the bottom on corporate tax rates, can Australia afford to leave its 30 per cent rate where it is? Within weeks we will know whether a national postal plebiscite has opened the way for same-sex couples to enjoy equal rights under the law to marry. If, as seems likely although not certain such a plebiscite results in a "yes" vote, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has pledged to amend the existing Marriage Act to enshrine into law marriage equality. Labor and most crossbenchers will support this legislative amendment. Let's hope that once this process is completed the country will wrench itself back to pressing issues such as ballooning debt and energy security diverted by a divisive same-sex marriage debate. Some bad ideas never die. After those who lived through the consequences of them are gone, the fallacious policies reappear, embraced by a new generation convinced it is smarter than its predecessors. So it is with the United Nations. Last week, the international body opened for signing a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, which 122 non-nuclear UN member states adopted in July. The point of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is to encourage the nine nuclear states the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea to follow the UN's lead, disarm and embrace a nuclear-free world. To mark the moment, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared that the only world that is safe from the use of nuclear weapons is a world that is completely free of them. Someone forgot to tell Kim Jong-un. His wicked regime a former signatory to the more worthy Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty flouts international rules and norms by regularly testing missiles and nukes. As a result, there are growing fears that an accident or miscalculation could lead to nuclear war. Thailand has been inundated by flooding last month, thanks to a particularly nasty typhoon season. Across the country, people living near swollen rivers have been evacuated. On the popular tourist island of Phuket, roads are submerged and planes are grounded. In Bangkok, low-lying areas were inundated by water. Schools and businesses have been shut down, and government officials passed out drinking water, food and medicine. This year has brought record rainfall. In August, a storm turned 10 of Thailand's 77 provinces into disaster zones. Rice fields were decimated. (The country is the world's second-biggest rice exporter.) Experts say at least $US300 million in damage has been done. And scores of people have died because of flooding. Thailand's ruling junta has proposed a 10-year water management plan, but it's still under review. Australians would be prohibited from buying cigarettes until age 21 under a new cancer-fighting plan developed by billionaire mining magnate Andrew Forrest. Mr Forrest and his wife Nicola are spearheading a major lobbying campaign to convince federal and state governments to raise the legal tobacco purchase age from 18 to 21 a move they say would stop young people getting hooked, save lives and save government coffers up to $3.1 billion a year. Mr Forrest and other members of the Eliminate Cancer Initiative which the Forrests fund through their philanthropic Minderoo Foundation have already presented the plan to federal Health Minister Greg Hunt and his state counterparts as part of an all-out assault on big tobacco. The effort comes after Mr Forrest confirmed last week he is considering suing big tobacco companies for the cost of smoking-related illnesses. The plan is based on a landmark Canadian lawsuit in which three companies were ordered to pay more than $15.6 billion in damages. A Turnbull government minister is facing up to $500,000 in personal legal bills to defend his job against a Labor High Court challenge. While the government is covering the costs of the seven federal politicians referred to the court over their citizenship status, the eighth MP facing constitutional eligibility questions is not getting the same assistance. Labor is challenging Assistant Health Minister David Gillespie's eligibility to sit in Parliament. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Labor is challenging Assistant Health Minister David Gillespie's right to stay on in Federal Parliament, putting the government's slender majority at risk, because it believes he may have an indirect financial interest in the Commonwealth grounds for disqualification under section 44(v) of the constitution. As revealed by Fairfax Media in February, the Nationals MP owns a small suburban shopping complex in Port Macquarie and one of the shops is an outlet of Australia Post a government-owned corporation. Children have become "super spreaders" of the flu, a leading respiratory expert says bolstering the case for more free influenza vaccines. The death toll from Victoria's horror flu season has now reached 116 in Victoria's aged care facilities. There have been more than 14,000 notifications of flu in Victoria this year. Credit:Robert Peet There have also been numerous reports of the infection killing young and otherwise healthy people, including eight-year-old Melbourne girl Rosie Andersen and Bacchus Marsh father Ben Ihlow. More than a third of people admitted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with the flu in the past six months were under 60. Perth's beleaguered property market could finally be showing signs of recovery, according to a new report. Property consultant CoreLogic released its latest figures on Monday morning showing Perth house values fell by 0.1 per cent through September. Are Perth house prices finally recovering. Credit:Henry Zwartz The minuscule fall might seem insignificant given the hot east coast property market, but given Perth prices have continued to fall over the past few years, it could be the first signs of a rebound. It comes on the back of CoreLogic figures released in June, which found Perth house prices recorded their biggest one month rise in more than a year, going up 1.4 per cent for the month. Catalan president Carles Puigdemont arrives at a sports centre in Sant Julia de Ramis, near Girona, Spain. Credit:AP The turnout was less than half of the region's 5.3 million registered voters, and the numbers did not include votes seized by police on Sunday. Mr Puigdemont condemned the "unjustified, abusive and severe police violence committed by the Spanish government", and said the Spanish state had "written a shameful page in its history". An elderly lady is applauded as she celebrates after voting at a school assigned to be a polling station by the Catalan government in the Gracia neighbourhood of Barcelona. Credit:AP He said his government would present the result to the parliament of Catalonia. Under that parliament's referendum law, a win for "Yes" means a declaration of independence should follow within two days. A Spanish court has declared the vote illegal, and Spain may respond with its own constitutional power to seize direct control of the region's administration a move that could provoke further confrontation. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy addresses the nation after the banned Catalan referendum. Credit:Bloomberg The citizens of Catalonia have won the right to have an independent state. Catalan president Carles Puigdemont Local unions have also threatened a general strike for Tuesday. Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau called for Mr Rajoy to resign, saying he had "crossed all the red lines". The message is clear for many wishing for independence. Credit:AP Video shared on social media showed riot police using force to take the ballot boxes and move would-be voters away, leaving some voters with head wounds and one with a reported broken hand. They successfully closed around 350 of the more than 2000 polling stations in the region, though some reopened after police left. Pro-independence supporters wrapped in ''esteleda'' or Catalan flags stand in front a balcony while people protest with a banner reading ''self determination''. Credit:AP Spain's Interior Ministry said 19 police and 14 Guardia Civil were injured in clashes at polling stations. It tweeted video which it said showed protesters pelting police with rocks. Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said police had "acted with professionalism and in a proportionate way". Spanish riot police fire rubber bullets trying to stop people reaching a voting site. Credit:AP One Barcelona voter, Mireia Bosch, arrived at her polling station to find a notice saying "you can't vote here, police have seized the ballot boxes". She said she had planned to vote against independence but "now I am voting 'yes' because of the repression". She would go to another polling station, she said. Pro-independence Catalans raise their arms while gathering outside the Escola de la Concepci polling station in Barcelona on Sunday. Credit:Bloomberg The Spanish government had responded "in the worst way", she said. One of the most violent clashes in Barcelona came at a polling station in the Ramon Llull school. People hold Spanish national flags while being escorted by Mossos d'Esquadra, the Catalan police force. Credit:Bloomberg Volunteer Marc Carrasco said hundreds of people had gathered at the school before daylight, aiming to peacefully prevent police from entering. Half an hour before the polls opened "they tried to enter but it was impossible people linked arms", he said. A man and his child listen to a televised speech by Mariano Rajoy, Spain's Prime Minister. Credit:Bloomberg "A half hour later the police came back with guns and helmets. They jumped the fence. We went inside and closed the door but they crashed the door and seized the ballot boxes and that was it. "A few minutes later when they were leaving they were shooting plastic (rubber) bullets. There was a lot of that. They shot one guy in the eye." Mr Carrasco shook his head at the Spanish police action. "It's so, so sad, it's incredible," he said. "Yes, yes, we have anger." "The Spanish answer was only police and the law never a conversation, never, never democracy". There were more peaceful scenes at other polling stations, where voters put up with Spanish rain and slow queues. They cheered and chanted "votarem!" ('we will vote'). Pol, 26, said he had waited all night, in a group of locals guarding the polling place from police. He was finally getting his chance at 1pm on Sunday, 17 hours since he arrived. "It's a special feeling," he said, beaming as he emerged from the voting station. "The most important thing is democracy, and the expression of democracy is to vote. San Francisco: Facebook will release copies of 3000 Russian-bought ads to congressional investigators. The release is part of a widening government probe into how Russian operatives used Facebook, Twitter, Google and other technology platforms to widen fissures in the United States and spread disinformation during the 2016 campaign. Those companies have come under increasing pressure from Capitol Hill to investigate Russian meddling and are facing the possibility of new regulations that could affect their massive advertising businesses. On Saturday, Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg asked for forgiveness for ways his work was used to divide people in a Facebook posting marking the end of Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday of atonement "For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better," Zuckerberg said in the post. "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence and though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today and always will forever." Drapes billow out of broken windows at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. A gunman was found dead inside a hotel room. Credit:AP Paddock lived in Mesquite, Nevada with Ms Danely, a 62-year-old Australian citizen who lived on the Gold Coast for more than a decade. She was initially described as a "person of interest" being sought by police. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement late on Monday evening that "detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip." Police officers at the scene of a suspected shooting in Las Vegas. Credit:AP However, in an update on Tuesday morning, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said the gunman's companion was still a "person of interest" and she would be interviewed when she returned to the US. Ms Danley was reportedly in the Philippines at the time of the shooting, although there have been conflicting reports about her location. The shooter's brother Eric Paddock said his brother was a quiet retiree who owned no machine guns. Credit:BBC Relatives told the Washington Post and local media that she had been Paddock's girlfriend for some time and lived with him. "She's a nice lady, I've met her three or four times," Paddock's brother, Eric, told local TV station WKMG from his home in Orlando, Florida. "She's got a Facebook page. She sends cookies to my mum." A wounded woman is moved outside the Tropicana during the active shooter situation Credit:Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Her LinkedIn profile said she was a "gambling and casino professional" who lived in Reno, Nevada and, between 2010 and 2013, worked as a "hostess" for the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa. Facebook photos show her participating in a gambling tournament in Las Vegas in 2014. President Donald Trump makes a statement about the mass shooting in Las Vegas at the White House. Credit:AP/Evan Vucci Paddock's home in an over-55s residential community in Mesquite, Nevada, about an hour from Las Vegas, was searched by local police on Monday. Paddock had 16 guns in his hotel room when his body was found by police, according to law enforcement authorities; another 18 were found at his home, they said, plus various explosives, including ammonium nitrate, a common fertiliser that can be turned into a bomb. Police officers tell people to take cover after shootings in Las Vegas. Credit:AP A Mesquite Police Department spokesman said Paddock had no previous interactions with police. He said Paddock lived in a quiet cul-de-sac and nothing of note was found in his home, although there were some guns and ammunition. Eric Paddock told reporters outside his home that there was "absolutely no indication he could do something like this". A police officer takes cover behind a police vehicle during a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Credit:AP "It's like an asteroid fell out of the sky," his visibly shocked brother said. "He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something. We know absolutely nothing, this is just, we are dumbfounded." He said his brother had no political or religious affiliations and didn't own any machine guns when he moved to Mesquite a few years ago. Their deceased father, Benjamin Paddock, was on the FBI's Most Wanted List in 1961 for bank robberies, the FBI confirmed to CNN. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Paddock had no local, state or federal convictions and they had no indication of a motive. Washington Post Hours after the attack, Islamic State issued a message on their official Telegram channel claiming responsibility for the attack. The message said the shooter had converted to Islam months ago. However, the FBI said there was no indication of any links to foreign terror groups. Two off-duty policemen attending the concert are believed to be among the dead. "We believe there are a couple of off-duty officers attending the concert that may have died," Las Vegas Police Department Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. Earlier reports of a second shooter and suspicious packages and explosions in other hotels were false, Sheriff Lombardo said. Danita Cohen, a spokeswoman for the University Medical Centre, said the hospital received 106 patients, eight of whom went straight to operating theatres. An Australian witness staying at the Mandalay Bay hotel told CNN that there was mayhem as the shots broke out. "The initial gun shots were machine-gun fire," he said. "We knew it was chaos and mayhem because people were running out of everywhere." He also described scenes of chaos when police came across a group of guests taking cover. "We were tucked away, about 12 of us, in a carpark thing, and the Swat team came and said hands up," he said. "We didn't know where the shooter is. We knew they were confused like we were. Police ushered us out". Another witness said: "Police said run and we started running." Mandalay Bay is located on the south end of the Vegas strip and across from McCarran International Airport. Flights in out of McCarran Airport had been stopped. Firearms can generally be carried openly throughout Nevada, though carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun inside a vehicle or on or along a public road is illegal. Although North Las Vegas has an ordinance prohibiting open carry at county parks or in vehicles within city limits, the ordinance does not supersede state law. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a short statement on Monday night that it was still trying to determine whether any Australians had been caught up in the incident. Loading "The Australian Consulate-General in Los Angeles is making urgent inquiries with local authorities to determine whether any Australians have been affected by a shooting incident at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas," the spokeswoman said."If you have any concerns for the welfare of family and friends in the Las Vegas area, you should attempt to contact them directly." 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. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 02, 2017 | METROPOLIS, IL By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 02, 2017 | 10:42 AM | METROPOLIS, IL Metropolis Police made arrests in two different theft investigations on Thursday. Police say an officer had received theft reports from Casey's General Store on West 10th Street earlier in the week. One involved the customer leaving without paying for gasoline and a donut, and a few days later the same suspect got a drink and left without paying, even after employees said they confronted him. On Thursday, police were told that the suspect was back at the store, and officers were able to detain 31-year-old Jackson T. H. Strong in the parking lot. He was arrested on two counts of retail theft. Police say all three incidents were captured on surveillance video. Another investigation began with a call from Lindsey Avenue, where a woman told police her brother had moved to Nashville, but someone was removing items from his home. When police arrived they found the caller talking to 32-year-old Cody Atkinson of Metropolis in the front lawn. Police say he had pulled a trailer up to the home and was removing items. Atkinson was arrested for burglary and theft. Both suspects were taken to Massac County Detention Center. By West Kentucky Star Staff Oct. 01, 2017 | 07:30 PM | MAYFIELD, KY Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes today will rally members of the Purchase Area Development District, the Kentucky Association of Food Banks and the Kentucky Council of Area Development Districts for a new hunger-fighting partnership.The Secretary of State's office is joining with the organizations for the Commonwealth of Kentucky Bowl, a statewide friendly competition among Kentucky's area development districts to raise resources for hunger relief and the state's food banks. Grimes is traveling across the state to rally partners and communities to help end hunger in Kentucky and join the Commonwealth of Kentucky Bowl effort. One in six Kentuckians and nearly one in four children face food insecurity. Grimes will speak at the PADD office in Mayfield at 11 am. Loading... In the space of a decade, Chile incurred more than 200 terrorist attacks roughly 30 a year on average. The bombs, mostly detonated late at night, were largely symbolic and broadly ineffective. Aside from a few minor injuries and one bomber's death, they achieved very little, not least because no one openly claimed responsibility or offered a rationale. Tackling the issue, Guillermo Calderon's B is like an abstracted, philosophical cousin of Chris Morris' satire Four Lions. Instead of imbecilic jihadis, he shows us two amateurish young female anarchists, waiting in a safe house to receive a bomb from their contact. Their plan is to detonate it outside a bank in the dead of night a symbolic strike against capitalism but to get their hands on the device, they must first go through a convoluted handover of codes and trust games that threatens to tip the whole thing into farce. It doesn't help that a nosy neighbour pokes her head round the door, leading to a bluffed cover story about a birthday party and a dead boyfriend, but when their contact turns up, bearing gift-wrapped explosives and wearing a T-shirt over his face, the three of them steadily tie themselves in knots with a tangle of secret knocks and codewords. Bombs are cheese or cows, in case anyone's listening, and the plan itself keeps changing. What was meant to be a "noise cheese" is, in fact, a "nail cow", and its maker wants one of them to crap in it to make it more lethal. Not that it matters of course, if no-one's nearby in the middle of the night Calderon taps into the inherent irrationality of terrorism specifically in Chile, but B's resonance is wider than that. The moment attacks become a constant, or worse, an accepted aspect of life, they are instantly rendered entirely ineffective. Daniela Samal's cynical Alejandra aspires to join a long list of friends in prison, suggesting she's long given up on changing anything, while, by fretting about being caught, Marcella (a droll Aimee-Ffion Edwards) seems more gripped by terror than the society around her. There's something vaguely Ortonesque about the way flawless logic turns into lunacy, but Calderon's writing is too steadily static at least in William Gregory's straight-faced translation. Sam Pritchard follows suit with a deliberately dry and disjointed production that only sporadically gets the comedy to sing. It never quite builds or spirals out of control and, for all the theatrical absurdity of three masked terrorist clowns, B raises titters but not a lot more. It's a neat way to disarm the act of terrorism not only by humanising the perpetrators, but by revealing the innate hope involved. As their contact, Paul Kaye is a middle-aged man acting on auto-pilot and, though he talks of weaponising the war, he's lost all sight of his cause. The same, sadly, is true of the play and it dwells on one idea without fully developing its drama. This one just doesn't quite go off. B runs at the Royal Court until 21 October. FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA JAIL ADMINISTRATORS ASSOCIATION On Wednesday, September 27, 2017, the North Carolina Jail Administrators Association (NCJAA) awarded Henderson County Sheriffs Office Detention Officer Joey Garren with the Detention Officer of the Year Award. This honor recognizes a detention officer who has made outstanding contributions to his or her Sheriffs Office in the performance of their duties. Nominees were submitted from across the state who demonstrated initiative in the performance of their duty or for specific meritorious service which resulted in the saving of a life or other significant act. The NCJAA Awards Committee selected Detention Officer Garren to be recognized at a banquet held in Greensboro during the NCJAA Annual Conference. Two events led to Detention Officer Garren being nominated by the Henderson County Sheriffs Office; one incident occurring within the confines of the jail, the other occurring while he was off duty and out in the community. On Friday, June 9, 2017, Detention Officers Joey Garren and Stephen Darnell, were passing out meal trays in special housing. They noticed an inmate had begun to bang on his cell door. The officers responded swiftly, realized the inmate was in distress and called for the door to be unsecured. As soon as the door was open, Officer Garren immediately turned the inmate around and began the Heimlich maneuver. After several thrusts, a piece of food became dislodged and the inmate began breathing normally again. Earlier in the year, while off-duty and shopping at a home improvement store, Joey Garren came across an unfolding situation. A shoplifter became agitated when he was confronted by employees and began to swing a metal fence post at them. Joey Garren wrestled the man to the ground and detained him until Hendersonville Police Officers arrived on scene. The man was arrested and charged with felony armed robbery. Sheriff Charles McDonald along with Jail Administrator/Captain Neal Urch, Lt. Tim Fuss and fellow Henderson County detention officers attended the ceremony honoring Garren. Regarding Officer Garren, Sheriff Charles McDonald said, He demonstrates actions that are quick, selfless and with great regard for the safety of our inmates. We are proud of Joeys commitment exhibited both on and off duty and were grateful to the NCJAA for recognizing the remarkable work of one of Henderson Countys finest. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Welcome to The Independent Herald E-Edition! Check back each week on Tuesday to see our[Read More] Are you struggling with email, social media, or computers in general? Or do you need help filling out job applications and resumes? Are you needing testing help with the GED, GRE, etc? Schedule an appointment with a Winona Digital Literacy Project Volunteer and get the help you need. Appointments are one hour in length and are available from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays and 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesdays starting Oct. 10 and ending Oct. 31. All appointments will take place at Minnesota State College Southeast in Room 313. You must register for an appointment. To register, go to http://tinyurl.com/winonadlp, call the Winona Public Library at 507-452-4860 or Winona Adult Literacy at 507-494-0924. The Winona Digital Literacy Project is a grant-funded project through Bremer Banks L3 (Libraries, Literacy, and Leadership) Institute. The goal of the project is to educate the Winona Area Community in digital literacy skills including but not limited to GED Testing, job skills, and general computer skills. The Winona DLP is currently looking for volunteers who are interested in teaching digital literacy skills or assisting community members during open lab hours. Winona Saturday 1:24 a.m. John Charles McErlean, 20, Frankfort, Ill., was cited for underage drinking after being found passed out on a chair in the Kwik Trip at Sarnia Street and Huff Street. 3:27 a.m. Charges of third-degree test refusal, fourth-degree drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident were referred against Dakota Todd Brown, 21, Stockton, after he allegedly hit a utility pole in the Hy-Vee parking lot and had another person come pick him up. His blood alcohol from a delayed breath test was 0.18 percent. 9:01 a.m. Craig Robert Neiers, 44, Winona, was cited for trespassing for being at the Kwik Trip near Fifth Street and Orrin Street. 3:39 p.m. Charges of domestic assault strangulation and domestic assault were referred against Christopher Pete Sage, 43, Winona, after allegedly choking a woman during an argument on the 650 block of East King Street. 5:05 p.m. Charges of violating an order for protection were referred against Waleed Mahmoud Al-Balawi, 52, Winona, after he spoke to the subject of the order inside of Walmart. 10:28 p.m. Sinclair Gas Station on the 920 block of Mankato Avenue reported $46.71 in a gas drive off. Sunday 12:31 a.m. Aaron Kristian Davis, 25, Winona, was cited for public urination near Third and Johnson streets. 9:43 a.m. A woman reported eggs broken on her car and flour poured on it on the 600 block of Main Street. 10:03 a.m. A woman reported that the front and back windows of her car were damaged in an apparent attempt to break them with a rock on near Belleview and Main streets. 10:12 a.m. A man reported that a boat had its security cameras spray painted in Levee Park. 12:59 p.m. Olivia Lynn Hunn, 19, Princeton, was cited for disobeying a stop light after going through a red light southbound on Huff Street and colliding with a car driven by a 55-year-old Winona man westbound on Fifth Street. 1:21 p.m. A man reported a Polaris Ranger XP 1000 UTV missing from the 250 block of West Mark Street. 1:39 p.m. A 14-year-old St. Paul girl was cited for theft by shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia at Shopko after a pipe was found in her purse while searching for stolen items. 3:00 p.m. A man reported scrap metal taken from outside of a building on the 700 block of East Front Street. 7:40 p.m. A woman reported a garbage can on fire on the 350 block of West Fourth Street. Winona County Friday 11:09 p.m. A woman reported that cash, her drivers license and a Social Security card were missing from her car along with her purse after being in an unlocked car at the Elba Fire Tower. Saturday 1:39 a.m. Kueth Pamier Ruae, 19, Mankato, and Nicholas Jason Camarotd, 18, Rogers, were cited for underage drinking and Camarotd cited for fleeing on foot after running away from a car being pulled over near Washington and Wabasha streets. The driver, who was not caught, cut the lights and turned onto Wabasha Street before they all abandoned the car and tried to run away. 3:19 a.m. Charges of fourth-degree drunken driving, no Minnesota drivers license and underage drinking were referred against Benjamin Robert Speece, 19, Apple Valley, when he was stopped on Hwy. 43 for not using headlights and driving in the wrong lane. Speeces vehicle sustained large amounts of damage including a shredded drivers side tire and a smashed hood and windshield from allegedly rolling the vehicle in a location he couldnt recall. His blood alcohol was 0.14 percent. 8:10 p.m. Charges of third-degree drunken driving were referred against Nathan Donavan Fuhrman, 32, Onalaska, when he was pulled over on Interstate 90 near La Crescent for being over the center line and had a blood alcohol of 0.19 percent. 11:49 p.m. Lucas Allen Ronnenberg, 21, Peterson, was cited for possession of a small amount of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and speeding after being stopped for speeding near County Road 4 and Hwy. 43. A 23-year-old Rushford woman riding in the vehicle could potentially be charged for the possession of half an OxyContin as well as possession of paraphernalia. Sunday 4:34 a.m. Charges of fourth-degree drunken driving were referred against James Howard Dehn, 60, Woodbury, after being stopped for speeding on I-90. Monday 12:26 a.m. Richard Edwin Garfield, 38, Utica, was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired pending the results of a blood test after he was stopped near Washington and Mill streets for having a break light out and displayed symptoms of impairment. Garfield told deputies he had taken both hydrocodone and cyclobenzaprine. Having a taste of Poland can take the form of sausage, fish or even a jelly doughnut, but the culture around the food is what Smaczne Jablka truly captures. Smaczne Jablka, or the Tasty Apples Festival, has been hosted at the Winona Polish Museum for decades on the first Sunday of October. Its a chance to celebrate the heritage of a large part of Winonas population, which has historically been home to large number of Polish immigrants from the northern part of the country. Michal and Karolina Kucewicz made the trip from Rochester to visit the museum on the day of their five-year anniversary of living in the United States. They originally came from the Kashubian language region of northern Poland, the same place that 95 percent of Polish Winonans came from. While exploring the museum with their child, they came across many artifacts that reminded them of home. Its like traveling into the past, rediscovering to our childhood, Michal said, describing the experience as very sentimental. Karolina recognized one of the dolls in the exhibit as the same one she had as a child. In the museum theater were some of the same cartoons they grew up with, along with cash used in that time period. It feels like theres a bit of us in this country, Michal said. Its so important to know your roots. Most importantly, the food managed to capture the true taste of Polands unique cuisine. It actually tastes exactly like Polish food, especially the poppy seed cake, Karolina said. We are happy to see how Americans are open to the Polish culture. It touches us a lot. Carol Denzer is a local that came with her husband John, and she echoed the sentiments toward the food. We had the polish sausage with the sauerkraut, Carol said. It was very good; fills you up. Many of the vendors were there to carry on their own family traditions while sharing them with the community. Larry Roskos has been keeping the same spook yeast that his mother used to bake homemade bread. Now more than 110 years old, Roskos continues to feed the yeast sugar and potato water in the darkness of the basement, hence the spook nickname. I know my mom; she guarded it with her life, Roskos said. Caramel apples were being made by Chuck Kernler, who keeps up the same recipe used by his grandfather, Howard, who he described as An extraordinary confectioner. His grandmother, Ruth, was another driving force behind the caramel. Its a great family tradition, and Im trying to keep it alive, Kernler said. Other samples included varieties of pickled and smoked fish, filled potato dumplings called pierogies, and jelly filled doughnuts called paczkis. Some tables were below signs that read Survival food and Peasant food to emphasize the resourcefulness of past Winona residents. Tim Breza, festival chairman, believes that such events are important for locals with Polish ancestry because it helps promote their heritage and exposes the kids to the culture. Other activities included a silent auction with numerous prizes on display within the Morrison Annex building and several artists selling merchandise inside the museum. The event was free and open to the public. The GOPs savviest foreign policy expert in the Senate, Tennessees Bob Corker, announced last week he wont run for re-election in 2018. No doubt Corker knew hed be primaried by pro-Trump populists who have declared war on mainstream Republicans. (See: Alabama.) But this sober senator had probably tired of chairing the once-powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the Trump era. Why hold serious hearings on weighty issues when theyll be ignored by a president who makes foreign policy by Twitter? Corkers decision is one more reminder of the dangerous foreign policy confusion that has emerged under the Trump administration. And apart from North Korea, theres nowhere that confusion is more risky than in Trumps contradictory policies toward the Middle East. To be fair, any president would have had a tough time with the Mideast mess Trump inherited, the combined product of mistakes by Presidents Bush 43 and Obama along with the chaos of the Arab Spring. And on the surface, Trump would seem to have returned to a traditional Republican approach to the Mideast: unremitting support for our Sunni Arab allies in the Persian Gulf and Israel, while working to curb Iranian mischief. Add to that bomb the hell out of the Islamic State and make the deal of the century on Israel-Palestine. But the presidents own lack of discipline and disdain for process have turned his would-be Mideast policy into hash. Let us count the ways: Point One. On the Sunni Arab alliance, the president was so entranced by the lavish reception he received from the Saudi royal family that he publicly endorsed its side in a quarrel with Qatar. Thus, Trump helped split the Sunni alliance and distracted its members from a coherent stance toward Iran. Point Two. On the fight vs. the Islamic State, yes, the president intensified the battle already underway under Obama; the jihadis have been mostly routed from Iraq and partly from Syria. But stabilizing Iraq and Syria in the post-Islamic State era requires skilled American diplomacy with full presidential backing or else the Islamic State 2.0 will emerge. In Iraq, for example, Washington still has a key role to play in mediating between factions, including Kurds and an angry Baghdad government after the Kurds Monday independence referendum. Iraqi Sunnis freed from the Islamic State thrall also want U.S. mediation help with the Shiite-led government. A failure to provide it will open the door to a new jihadi explosion and deeper Iranian penetration of Iraq. However, Trumps military-only focus and indifference to broad long-term strategy offer little hope that proactive diplomacy will be on offer. Which leads to Point Three. The United States needs to be talking seriously to Russia about how to stabilize post-Islamic State Syria lest it become another subsidiary of Iran. Shiite militias run by Iran now have access to the Syria-Israel border. But Trump has made U.S. dialogue with Moscow impossible by his stubborn refusal to criticize Vladimir Putin or Russias interference in the 2016 elections. This makes even necessary dialogue with the Russians suspect. Point Four. Trump seems to view his foreign policy as a solo operation tweeting as he sees fit, no matter if this contradicts the positions of his top advisers. Moreover, he appears indifferent to the fact that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is gutting the State Department, leaving few confirmed senior staff to ensure that policy is carried out. Point Five. Under Trump, foreign policy is a family operation. He appointed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and a personal lawyer as the gurus supposed to bring peace to Israel and the Palestinians. The State Department and National Security Council are out of the picture. This is a farce that is going nowhere. Can you imagine the reaction if a President Hillary Clinton had appointed her son-in-law, Marc Mezvinsky, to make Mideast peace? Point Six. Most unnerving, the presidents strategic blindness threatens to put the Iranian ayatollahs back on a short-term path to a bomb. Despite opposition from his top security advisers, Trump is reportedly about to refuse to certify by Oct. 15 that Iran is in compliance with the deal that sharply curtails their nuclear program for the next decade. That will leave the door open for Congress to reinstate sanctions, which would effectively kill the deal. Americas top military chiefs, along with Tillerson, say Iran is in compliance. The five other participants in the deal, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China, oppose Trumps stance and would refuse to lift their sanctions. Corker, although an Iran hawk, has said Trump shouldnt tear up the deal. If he does, Washington would be left as the outlier and Iran would have the option to restart its nuclear program. Chances of negotiating a second deal to end Irans missile tests or extend the deals time frame would be nil. Trump is all alone on this one, except for his base. But there can be no sane Mideast policy with a president who envisions it in terms of domestic politics and thinks he has all the answers. No wonder Corker is planning to retire. ELKHART LAKE Responding to a growing workforce shortage in Wisconsin, state lawmakers are calling for more legislative action to expedite worker training and attract more people to the state. On Friday the Assembly and Senate workforce committees held their first joint informational hearing of the session on the topic with testimony from a dozen invited speakers. The Republican co-chairmen said afterward they expect to draft legislation in the coming months to make it easier for businesses to obtain state workforce development grants and to entice businesses to train future workers. Much of the hearings testimony echoed findings in the Wisconsin State Journals recent four-day series Workers Wanted: Wisconsins Looming Crisis, including that the state will need 45,000 more workers over the next seven years, that many employers are already having difficulty finding qualified workers and that the 65-and-older population in the state is expected to double between 2010 and 2040 while the working-age population is expected to remain flat. Our worker shortage affects every sector and threatens economic growth across the state, said Michael Welsh, legislative affairs director for the Wisconsin Economic Development Association, which represents regional and local economic development officials. Solving our workforce challenges will require a collaborative approach. The hearing capped WEDA and the Wisconsin Workforce Development Associations three-day fall conference, which focused on the workforce issue. Economic and workforce development leaders from across the state discussed which programs are working, possible improvements, ongoing problems and solutions. Welsh said all the attendees recognized the progress Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature have made on the issue the latest state budget, for example, raises funding for the Fast Forward workforce training grant program to $76.9 million since 2013 but challenges remain. He said those include new hires not being work-ready, employers not having the capacity to comply with the reporting requirements of state workforce grant programs, the need for more talent attraction to the state, a lack of affordable housing and reliable transportation for workers and a need for less of a focus on job creation and more on helping companies fill the job vacancies they have. Steve Cassady, vice president of technical services for Kohler Co., said the talent shortage in the state is stifling. He stressed the importance of encouraging students who dont have post-secondary plans to consider technical college. He also challenged the Legislature to consider what theyre doing to elevate our state as a place to live, work and raise healthy families, including transportation infrastructure and affordable housing. Cassady also emphasized the importance of investment in the arts and cultural amenities. Life has to be interesting, he said. It cant just be about finding bodies and teaching those bodies skilled trades and manufacturing roles without revitalizing and building our urban centers. The State Journals workforce series highlighted how software company Jamf is reinvesting in cultural amenities in downtown Eau Claire. Natalie Johnson, Jamfs talent acquisition manager, told the committee the state has focused on rewarding businesses for locating in the state, but needs to encourage workers to locate here. Rep. Dan Riemer, D-Milwaukee, said Cassadys insights into the importance of making Wisconsin an attractive place to live was a key takeaway from the hearing. He said while Walker has done a good job branding the state as open for business, there has been less attention paid to attracting young people to Wisconsin. The university is one place where state policy has been a little myopic on that front by emphasizing that people need to graduate with degrees that people can work with, Riemer said. The humanities dissing is missing how important (quality of life outside of work) is to attracting talent and young people. The state is getting ready to launch a marketing campaign that will focus on what makes the state a great place to live, said Georgia Maxwell, deputy secretary of the Department of Workforce Development. Maxwell also said the state has done a good job leveraging federal workforce grant funds so far, but she expects that pool of money will shrink under the Trump administration. Rolf Wegenke, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said the key to a successful future will be creating more brain workers. He encouraged the Legislature to make Wisconsin the first state in the country to offer tax credits to companies that pay college tuition for future workers. (Companies) would be in charge and be responsive to the marketplace, Wegenke said. Its easier to give a tax credit for a Wisconsin employer than to give assistance to out-of-state students to study. Sen. Patrick Testin, R-Stevens Point, chairman of the Senate Committee on Workforce Development, Military Affairs and Senior Issues, said the tax credit is one idea hes interested in pursuing. Rep. Warren Petryk, R-Eleva, said he would like to find ways to make it easier for small companies that cant afford grant writers to obtain worker training grants. Drafting and passing legislation before the legislative session ends in the spring could be a challenge, the chairmen said. They added they would be interested in holding additional informational hearings around the state on the topic, as well as creating a Legislative Council Study Committee to help draft additional legislation next summer. Well do it as quickly as we possibly can, Petryk said. If we can make at least several strides forward by spring, that would be awesome. They didnt hear any of the hundreds of shots fired in the largest, deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. But a Portage police officer and his wife celebrating their first year of marriage with a trip to Las Vegas experienced, in the shootings aftermath, surprising and gratifying examples of how kind people can be to each other in the face of an unthinkable crisis. Its a time when you realize how many good people we have in the world, Bonnie Pomeroy said early Monday afternoon. Nowhere was this more true, said Dennis Pomeroy, than in the Tropicana Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip where hundreds of people, some of them injured during the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, were gathered in a makeshift treatment-triage area. They (Tropicana managers) took every blanket, every sheet, every towel, even the mattress pads, to cover the people, said Dennis Pomeroy, who has been a Portage Police Department officer for five years. At about 11:45 a.m. Monday, the Pomeroys were allowed to venture out of their room at the Luxor Resort & Casino, where they had been locked down since before dawn. The Luxor is adjacent to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where the shooter launched his deadly onslaught from a 32nd-floor room just after 10 p.m. Sunday. The Pomeroys had arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday, for a planned weeklong stay. They took a walk on the Strip Sunday night in search of a place to eat. They never got that meal. As they walked about a block-and-a-half north of their hotel in the opposite direction from the Mandalay Bay and the open-air concert venue across the street they saw large numbers of public safety vehicles speeding along and around Las Vegas Boulevard. They never heard any shots fired. Dennis Pomeroy tuned into the public safety scanner on his phone to monitor the situation, and heard a variety of conflicting reports. Some reports said, at first, that only one or two people were dead. Others reported possible sightings of shooters in multiple hotels, including not only Mandalay Bay but also several other other Las Vegas hotels. Words like people dead and wounded everywhere filled the scanner chatter, Dennis Pomeroy said. Outside of the hotel-casino New York New York two properties up from the Luxor Dennis Pomeroy said he helped guide pedestrians down from an overhead walkway to street level, because at that time no one knew for sure where the shooter was, or how many shooters there might be. He said he guided the passers-by to safety, behind concrete barriers. Police and security personnel herded the people on the street, including the Pomeroys, into the MGM Grand across the street. But the Pomeroys didnt feel safe there due to the conflicting information they had received, Dennis said. They stayed at the MGM Grand for two hours, then left via a side door, where they saw a deserted Strip, with most of the light coming not from the neon of the hotels, but from the red and blue lights of squad cars and ambulances. They were guided to the Tropicana across from the MGM Grand, and next door to the concert venue where they entered a lower level and were ushered into a large room usually used for convention gatherings. In that room, Dennis Pomeroy said, he saw bleeding people and blood-covered floors, but no dead. And he heard the stories of strangers, including band members who accompanied Route 91 concert headliner Jason Aldean. The band members told him they and Aldean were hustled off the stage without, at first, knowing why. They didnt know, he said, that somebody was shooting in their direction. People were listening, and telling their stories, Dennis Pomeroy said. Bonnie Pomeroy added, It was something good that came out of something so horrible. After a few hours, people at the Tropicana were allowed to leave if their hotel was located north of the Tropicana. The Luxor is just south of the Tropicana, but the Pomeroys left with the group that was supposed to head north. All along the way, they saw abandoned casinos and doors guarded by security guards. At the Excalibur, adjacent to the Luxor with the two properties connected by walkway, they were able to enter by showing a security guard a Luxor room key, and they were escorted to their room. Early in the morning, loud alarms over a PA system at the Luxor preceded an announcement that no one was to leave their room until further notice. The Pomeroys hadnt had anything to eat since the previous day. Their room didnt have a mini-bar, but they had a rented refrigerator stocked with water. All there was to eat in the room was a half a bag of chips. They slept for maybe an hour-and-a-half, Dennis Pomeroy said, but family and friends kept calling them to make sure they were safe. On Facebook, they saw numerous posts calling for thoughts and prayers for Las Vegas. That, Bonnie Pomeroy said, meant something to her, and it helped because she sensed that she and her husband were among the people for whom the thoughts and prayers were offered. Q: Do trees need cold weather? A: Extreme cold weather can kill trees, and cold weather at the wrong time can damage trees. For example, a warm February and March in Michigan in 2012 brought early blooms to apple trees that then were killed by an April frost. Some trees require cool temperatures, such as some fruit trees (peaches, cherries and blueberries) and nuts (almonds). Cold air along with less sunlight that comes with winter halts tree growth, preparing the tree to withstand freezing temperatures and then resume their growing the following spring. The amount of time the temperature is between 32 and 45 degrees F is called chill hours. If these fruit and nut trees do not get their required number of chill hours, buds are delayed and the fruit can be small and underdeveloped. You may have noticed the small crop of Georgia peaches this year. That is because the 2016 and 2017 Georgia winters were warm. As a result, the region lost as much as 85 percent of its peach crop. If winters continue to warm, these fruit trees will be less productive. Georgia was not the only state with a chill hour deficit last year. Most of the U.S. had fewer chill hours than average. Farmers have always been dependent on good weather and have learned to adapt to bad crop weather. Warming winters as a result of climate change bring new challenges. J-1 exchange students could be an endangered species in Wisconsin Dells if a presidential executive order includes the program that brings thousands of those students to work in the area every year. President Donald Trumps Buy American, Hire American" order, signed in April, aims to reduce visas for foreign workers, and the reduction could include thousands of international students who comprise a vital workforce for the Dells tourism economy. It's not clear whether the order will affect the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program, which accounts for more than 4,500 local workers every year in the Dells-Delton area and its countless tourism businesses. An Aug. 27 story in the Wall Street Journal has raised fears among tourism and government officials in Wisconsin Dells and their counterparts in tourism-related areas across the country. While the Trump administrations plans for the J-1 program have not been made public, the Wall Street Journal story quoted an immigration policy studies official as indicating the administration has concerns about the visas that allow for guest workers. There have been threats to the program for a while, said Stacie Tollaksen, a Dells-area J-1 advocate and regional account manager for Intrax, one of numerous student sponsorship organizations that bring J-1 students to the area. The Wall Street Journal article put everyone on notice again. The potential threat to tourism labor has mobilized local tourism and government officials in recent weeks. An Aug. 18 resolution passed by Wisconsin Dells Common Council supports the local J-1 program and noted a growing threat to the continuance of the J-1 program that has been looming at the federal government level and threatens to have a negative effect not only on the people involved in the successful example of the J-1 program in our community, but also on the $1.3 billion economic impact to the Wisconsin Dells area and the State of Wisconsin. The goal of the resolution, Wisconsin Dells Mayor Brian Landers siad, is to make the citys fears known to state and federal lawmakers. We need that influx of J-1s, Landers said a few days after the resolutions passage. I dont view it as taking away American jobs. I cant speak to whether that occurs in other communities, but here in the Dells, we have 5,000 in our population and we need 20,000 workers to do what we do here. More than 4,500 international students travel to the Dells each year to help fill many of the roles required to operate the numerous resorts, attractions and restaurants comprising the states top tourism destination. Lake Delton Village Board Trustee and Kalahari Resort executive Cary Brandt indicated a similar position by the board on which he serves. The village of Lake Delton and the community at large are 100 percent in full support of the J-1 student program, Brandt said. Its a necessity for us and a great experience for (the participating J-1 students) and we embrace it wholeheartedly. The support is evident, Brandt said, in the villages ever-growing number of dormitory facilities built especially for student workers, both on-site at employers such as Wilderness Resort in Lake Delton and Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells, as well as the recently expanded Hiawatha Residence Hall in Lake Delton. Were determined to make sure every aspect of a students visit to the area is a plus, Brand said. We made Hiawatha a one-way road, upgraded the sidewalks and added specialized lighting just so the kids would have a safe travel path to the Parkway. You wont find another side street like that. Criticism of foreign worker visa programs is bipartisan, according to the Wall Street Journal story, but support of the J-1 program also crosses party lines. A letter from 17 United States senators including Wisconsin Sens. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, and Ron Johnson, a Republican was sent Aug. 8 to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. We urge you to work with stakeholders in the (J-1 work travel program) community to continue to strengthen this important and successful cultural exchange program that enriches and supports communities across the United States, the letter states. Wits offers new post graduate courses in e-Science Programme will create opportunities for students in a variety of fields to gain an interdisciplinary perspective on the emerging fields of Data Science. Wits University is leading the charge in combating the large shortage in scientists and professionals qualified in dealing with e-Science, including Big Data. The University, in association with five other South African Universities and research institutions, has started two new Masters degrees, that deal with Big Data, namely a M.Sc. in e-Science, and a M.A. degree in e-Science. Situated in the Wits School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, the M.Sc. degree aims to train postgraduate students in computational, mathematical and statistical methods to solve data-driven problems. This programme will create opportunities for students in the Computer Science, Statistics, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Medicine, Biological Sciences and other technical fields, to gain an interdisciplinary perspective on the emerging fields of Data Science. The M.A. degree, which is situated in the School of Social Sciences in the Humanities Faculty, aims to train students in the use of statistical methods to conduct data-driven research in the social sciences and humanities. Starting in 2018, students from Wits, University of Pretoria and North West University can enrol at the university where they are registered at. The University of Limpopo, University of Venda and Sol Plaatje University will join the programme for the 2019 intake. For the first year of the 18-month programme, students will attend their coursework classes at Wits, irrespective of which university they are registered at, before returning to their home institution for their research project. Students who enrol for the M.Sc. degree will have to take two compulsory courses, namely: Research methods and capstone projects in data science, and Data privacy and ethics, as well as four electives, while students enrolling for the M.A. programme will have four compulsory courses, namely Research methods and capstone project in data science; data privacy and ethics; principles of quantitative social research and advanced topics in quantitative social research. Both programmes are funded by the Department of Science and Technology, through the Council for Science and Industrial Research (CSIR). The 2018 intake of 30 students will be fully funded. For the 2018 intake students are required to have a background in mathematics, statistics or computer science. However, from 2019, bridging courses will be added for students who dont have a strong mathematics background. For more information contact e-science.research@wits.co.za or visit http://www.escience.ac.za/. Read the curriculum overview. 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 Perry acts to support US nuclear 02 October 2017 Share US energy secretary Rick Perry has called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to act swiftly to address threats to grid resiliency through market reforms to recognise the attributes of baseload generation sources including nuclear. Perry also announced further support of up to $3.7 billion in loan guarantees to the owners of the Vogtle nuclear construction project in Georgia. Rick Perry (second from left) pictured visiting the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant and former American Centrifuge Project facility in Piketon, Ohio on 29 September (Image: Senator Rob Portman) In a formal submission to FERC dated 28 September, Perry said the resiliency of the US energy grid depends on an "all of the above" mix of generation resources including "traditional baseload generation with on-site fuel storage" to withstand major fuel supply disruptions caused by natural and man-made disasters. The premature retirement of such resources is threatening that resiliency, he said. Distorted price signals in FERC-approved organised electricity markets have resulted in under-valuation of the reliability and resiliency benefits provided by baseload resources such as coal and nuclear. It was time for the FERC to issue rules to "protect the American people from the threat of energy outages that could result from the loss of traditional baseload capacity", he added. Market changes have resulted in a significant loss of traditional baseload generation, Perry said. Citing the Department of Energy's (DOE) January 2017 Quadrennial Energy Review and its recently published Staff Report to the Secretary on Electricity Markets and Reliability, he said coal and natural gas steam turbine plants had dominated actual and planned power plant retirements, followed by nuclear. He said the USA had lost 4666 MWe of nuclear capacity between 2002 and 2016. A further eight reactors, representing 7167 MWe, had announced retirement plans since 2016, not including reactors where early closure has been averted through state-level action. Traditional baseload generation, with on-site fuel supplies and the ability to provide voltage support, frequency services, operating reserves and reactive power, is essential to provide resiliency during events like the Polar Vortex of 2014, and more recently hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, Perry said. The FERC has already recognised the changing energy mix and that existing capacity markets are not providing a sufficiently reliable supply of electricity, Perry said. "Nevertheless, the fundamental challenge of maintaining a resilient electric grid has not been sufficiently addressed by the Commission or Commission-approved ISOs (independent systems operators) and RTOs (regional transmission organisations)," he said. He noted that the commission's lack of a quorum earlier this year - which prevented FERC voting on regulatory matters from February to August - had "undoubtedly thwarted" the issuance of rules. "But the continued loss of baseload generation with on-site fuel supplies, such as coal and nuclear, must be stopped," he said. Failure of the commission to act expeditiously to develop new market rules to ensure recognition of the reliability and resiliency of such generation "would be unjust, unreasonable and contrary to the public interest", he said. Perry's proposed rule would allow for the recovery of costs of "fuel-secure generation units that make our grid reliable and resilient". To be eligible, units must be located within FERC-approved organised markets; be able to provide "essential energy and ancillary reliability services"; and have a 90-day fuel supply on site. They must also be compliant with all applicable environmental regulations. "It is the policy of this Administration to support an 'all of the above' approach to energy development and use. We need to properly recognise the value of each resource, being mindful of its role in our national defence, economic security, and the pursuit of environmental outcomes. In particular, we must account for the value of on-site fuel storage capability. Moreover, because of the long lead-time to secure and maintain these resources, we must also ensure that the technical expertise and materials are readily available," Perry said. Perry has instructed the FERC to "consider and complete final action" on his proposed rule within 60 days from its publication in the Federal Register. Climate win Michael Shellenberger, president of the Environmental Progress research and policy organisation, said the rule could be a "huge win" for the climate, favouring nuclear plants over coal and gas because of its lower running costs and ability to store fuel onsite. "Nuclear fuel is over one million times more 'energy dense' than coal, and so it's easy for nuclear plants to keep several years' worth of fuel on-site. By contrast, most coal plants keep just one month's worth of coal on site, because of the high cost of storing so much energy-dilute fuel," the organisation said. Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the US Nuclear Energy Institute, said Perry's action addressed the failure of markets based on short-term prices to value electricity system benefits. It also addressed the problem of electricity being "taken for granted" by policymakers. "[It] only gets noticed if the electricity fails to flow," she said. "This remarkable action by Secretary Perry will help ensure that Americas baseload nuclear fleet will remain a strategic asset that contributes to energy security, reliability, economic growth and environmental protection, while advancing American influence abroad," Korsnick said. Exelon Corporation, owner of some of those nuclear plants that are threatened with premature closure, welcomed Perry's directive. "While we are still reviewing the proposed rulemaking, Exelon is pleased that the DOE is proposing action to ensure that attributes of nuclear generation are fully and appropriately valued so that our customers can continue to enjoy the resiliency, security and environmental benefits that they bring to the communities we serve," the company said. Vogtle support Separately, Perry announced on 29 September conditional commitments for up to $3.7 billion in loan guarantees to the owners of the Vogtle project: $1.67 billion to Georgia Power, $1.6 billion to Oglethorpe Power Corporation, and $415 million to three subsidiaries of Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power). The DOE has already guaranteed $8.3 billion in loans to support construction of Vogtle Units 3 and 4. "I believe the future of nuclear energy in the United States is bright and look forward to expanding American leadership in innovative nuclear technologies," Perry said. "Advanced nuclear energy projects like Vogtle are the kind of important energy infrastructure projects that support a reliable and resilient grid, promote economic growth, and strengthen our energy and national security." Paul Bowers, Georgia Power chairman, president and CEO, thanked the DOE for its support and commitment to the project, of which the company owns 45.7%. "Today's announcement reflects the wide-ranging governmental support for nuclear energy in America," he said. Following constructor Westinghouse's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing earlier this year, Vogtle's co-owners in August filed a recommendation with the Georgia Public Service Commission to complete construction of the two AP1000 units as the most economic choice for customers. The company expects unit 3 to begin commercial operation in November 2021 and unit 4 in November 2022. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics [October 02, 2017] Socionext Collaborates with GoPro on GP1 Image Signal Processor, the Magic Behind HERO6 Black YOKOHAMA, Japan, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ -- Socionext Inc., a leading provider of SoC-based imaging solutions, today announced it has developed a powerful, efficient new image signal processor (ISP) based on Socionext's Milbeaut technology to power GoPro's just-released HERO6 Black camera. Socionext and GoPro collaborated on the design and development of GP1, the new custom processor. The HERO6 Black supports 4K/60fps video and 12MP photos, and delivers an extraordinary user experience with advanced stabilization and low power usage. With 4K/60fps, the requirements for the ISP have become more demanding since it must handle much higher amounts of data in real time with lower power. GP1 meets the fast-growing need for high definition and exceptional photo and video image quality in cameras. Socionext, a global leader in image signal processors, combined its proven SoC technology with unique GoPro image processing technology to develop the latest in Socionext's Milbeaut ISP series, meeting GoPro's demanding specifications for the HERO6 Black. Since the launch of its Milbeaut family of image processors in the year 2000, Socionext has been providing optimized solutions for a broad range of imaging applications in DSLR cameras, smartphones, and video industry equipment. "GoPro's expertise in cameras and Socionext's advanced imaging technology have delivered the image signal processing solution that addresses advanced video and movie requirements," said Mitsugu Naito, Corporate Senior Vice President at Socionext Inc. "We are very pleased to make this announcement followig GoPro's launch of its next generation camera, the HERO6 Black." "For our newest and most innovative camera, we required image processing technology that provided unparalleled image quality and next-level image stabilization capabilities while using the lowest possible power," said Dr. Sandor Barna, Vice President of Hardware Engineering at GoPro, "Collaborating with Socionext on this custom image processor, GP1, allowed us to deliver on all of these requirements and more. It is exactly the right choice for the HERO6, and beyond." Meet HERO6 Black + QuikStories: https://shop.gopro.com/cameras/hero6-black/CHDHX-601-master.html Click to download the HERO6 Black image. About Socionext Inc. Socionext is a new, innovative enterprise that designs, develops and delivers System-on-Chip products to customers worldwide. The company is focused on imaging, networking, computing and other dynamic technologies that drive today's leading-edge applications. Socionext combines world-class expertise, experience, and an extensive IP portfolio to provide exceptional solutions and ensure a better quality of experience for customers. Founded in 2015, Socionext Inc. is headquartered in Yokohama, and has offices in Japan, Asia, United States and Europe to lead its product development and sales activities. For product information, visit the Socionext Milbeaut image processors webpage, e-mail [email protected] or call 1-844-680-3453. For company news and updates, connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and subject to change without advance notice. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socionext-collaborates-with-gopro-on-gp1-image-signal-processor-the-magic-behind-hero6-black-300528789.html SOURCE Socionext Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The election of Leon Trotsky to the most important post in revolutionary Russia epitomizes the surging strength of the Bolsheviks. However, the immense popular shift in favor of the Bolsheviks coincides with a sharp crisis in the party leadership. In Lessons of October (1924), Trotsky recalls that our influence in the army grew, not from day to day, but from hour to hour. It was no longer a question of prognosis or perspective; it was literally a question of how we were to act the next day. Petrograd: Sharp divisions in the Bolshevik leadership over the question of boycotting the Pre-Parliament The Democratic Conference continues this week. Organized by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, the purpose of this conference is to build another coalition government and elect a Pre-Parliament that will govern until a Constituent Assembly is convened. However, the conference has been organized in such a way as to mask and minimize the real strength of the Bolsheviks. While the Bolsheviks are the most powerful political force in the country, they are allowed only a little over a hundred out of more than 1,700 seats in the chamber. When public opinion turned in favor of the Bolsheviks following the Kornilov coup, major disagreements emerged in the party leadership over what course of action to take. Lenin does not believe that the party should be involved with the Democratic Conference at all, and he has called instead for the Bolshevik leaders to develop concrete plans to seize power. However, his position at this point commands only a minority within the top levels of the Bolshevik leadership. On October 4 (September 21, O.S.), the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, which is split 8 votes to 7, convenes a meeting consisting of the Bolshevik delegates to the Democratic Conference. In keeping with the partys traditions of internal democracy, a full discussion takes place on the issues that have arisen. As spokesman for the Central Committee, Trotsky proposes a Bolshevik walkout from the Democratic Conference and a boycott of the Pre-Parliament. The discussion is protracted and passionate speeches are given on both sides. The proposed boycott is opposed by the moderate wing of the Bolshevik Party, led by Rykov, Kamenev, and Riazanov. It might seem, and for the majority it did seem, that this hot debate was purely tactical in character, Trotsky later recalls. In reality the quarrel revived the April disagreements [i.e., over Lenins April Theses] and initiated the disagreements of October. The question was whether the party should accommodate its tasks to the development of a bourgeois republic, or should actually set itself the goal of conquering state power. After the matter is put to a vote, Trotskys position is defeated by 77 votes to 50. The supporters of Lenin and Trotsky are compelled for the moment to submit to the democratic decision of the majority. Accordingly, Riazanov, on the floor of the Democratic Conference, announces on October 5 that the Bolshevik Party will participate in the Pre-Parliament in order to expose all attempts at a new coalition with the bourgeoisie. Trotsky writes: That sounded very radical, but it really meant substituting a policy of oppositional exposure for a policy of revolutionary action. Lenin, still in hiding in Finland, writes in support of Trotskys position: Trotsky was for the boycott. Bravo, Comrade Trotsky! Boycottism was defeated in the faction of the Bolsheviks who attended the Democratic Conference. Long live the boycott! We cannot and must not under any circumstances reconcile ourselves to participation [in the Pre-Parliament]. A group at one of the conferences is not the highest organ of the party and even the decisions of the highest organs are subject to revision on the basis of experience. We must strive at all cost to have the boycott question solved at a plenary meeting of the Central Committee and at an extraordinary party congress. We must boycott the Pre-Parliament, Lenin writes. We must go out into the soviets of workers, soldiers, and peasants deputies, go out into the trade unions, go out in general to the masses. We must summon them to the struggle. We must give them a correct and clear slogan: To drive out the Bonapartist gang of Kerensky with its fake Pre-Parliament. The debates taking place in Petrograd are mirrored in all the local organizations of the party throughout the former tsarist empire. Majorities and minorities form over the question of the boycott, which is perhaps the most intense internal conflict in the history of the Bolshevik Party to date. In some cases, a majority of the local leaders are against the boycott, but the majority of the rank-and-file party members pass resolutions in support of Lenin and Trotskys position. In Kiev, an overwhelming majority of the leadership is against the boycott, but a full conference of the membership resoundingly approves of the boycott. On October 5, the party newspaper publishes Lenins articleHeroes of Fraud and the Mistakes of the Bolsheviksas Heroes of Fraud, with all of his criticisms of the Bolsheviks removed. One of the omitted passages reads: The Bolsheviks should have walked out of the meeting [Democratic Conference] in protest and should not have allowed themselves to be caught by the conference trap set to divert the peoples attention from the serious questions How it happened can be understoodhistory made a very sharp turn at the time of the Kornilov revolt. The party failed to keep pace with the incredibly fast tempo of history at this turning-point. The party allowed itself to be diverted, for the time being, into the trap of a despicable talking-shop Why cast pearls before Kerenskys friends? Why divert the attention of proletarian forces to a farcical conference? Meanwhile, the food crisis is sharpening and industrial production continues to decline precipitously. Food is being rationed in Petrograd and Moscow at below basic subsistence levels. The Russian winter is approaching, and in many areas workers and soldiers are literally starving. At some demonstrations, banners simply declare, We are starving. Lenin is emphatic that the party has only a narrow window of time to act, and that it must act quickly and decisively. On October 6, Lenin writes: There is not the slightest doubt that there are noticeable vacillations at the top of our party that may become ruinous . New York City, October 3: Times supports firing of Columbia antiwar professors The New York Times, in its October 3 lead editorial, praises Columbia Universitys decision, taken last week, to dismiss two antiwar professors. The Board of Trustees have done their duty to the university and its good fame by expelling the professors, the leading organ of American liberalism writes. The Times suggests similar firings be carried out across the US, condemning professors who cover themselves with the threadbare cloak of academic freedom for mischievous, unreasonable, and dangerous speech, a specious radicalism that tends to mislead the young. The Times further accuses antiwar professors of engaging in speech that disseminates treason. Professor James McKeen Cattells treason consists of writing to President Wilson in August 1916, reminding him that he had not been elected to send conscripts to Europeand indeed, Wilson won the popular vote on the basis of the infamously deceitful slogan, He Kept Us Out of War. Professor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana is fired for his membership in the pacifist Peoples Council. Not everyone agrees with the editors of the Times. The eminent American historian, Charles Beard, though himself in favor of US involvement in the war, resigns on October 8 from Columbia to protest the firings, stating, the University is really under the control of a small and active group of trustees who have no standing in the world of education, who are reactionary and visionless in politics, narrow and medieval in religion. Simultaneously, the New York Times is leading the crusade to expel from the US Senate Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, who stands accused by a police organization, the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, of making treasonous antiwar statements in a recent speech in St. Paul. Expulsion of this dangerous and disloyal member would be creditable to the Senate, the Times editors write. Flanders, October 4: British and allied forces advance by yards at terrible cost in the Battle of Broodseinde British, Australian and New Zealand forces attack German defenders on the east end of the Gheluvelt Plateau, an important area on the way to Paschendaele that has been captured from German defenders over the course of the past two weeks. The average advance of the allied troops over the course of todays battle is 1,000 yards. Thousands pay for their lives for this modest gain. The Second Army, which leads the offensive with the Fifth Army, suffers 12,236 casualties in the week ending October 5. For the same period, the Fifth Army loses 3,305 men. A particular burden is carried by Australian and New Zealand units. Close to 2,000 New Zealand casualties are reported during the week of the battle. Enthused by the advance, top British commanders including Douglas Haig initially push for a deeper penetration into German territory, but high losses and resistance force these plans to be abandoned. The battle is a setback for the German defenders, and will later be referred to as the black day of October 4. From October 1 to 10, the official German casualty count is 35,000, although others put the figure higher. But the allied advance does not prove decisive. The onset of bad weather makes it impossible for British and allied forces to move their artillery forward, and slows down future attacks. German reinforcements strengthen the area, preventing a breakthrough to the Belgian coast, which was the goal of the Third Battle of Ypres at its launch in July. The slaughter near Ypres will continue through a series of battles over the coming month before concluding in mid-November in a bloody impasse. Washington D.C., October 6: New law gives Wilson power to seize enemy property, censor opposition The Trading with the Enemy Act goes into effect this week, giving the president of the United States far-reaching antidemocratic powers in the name of restricting trade with enemies during the war. It is, in the words of the New York Times, one of the most drastic pieces of legislation ever passed by Congress. The act creates a new police bureaucracy, the Office of Alien Property Custodian, headed up by Wilson ally A. Mitchell Palmer, who immediately begins seizing millions of dollars worth of enemy assets. The biggest branch of the new bureaucracy will be placed in St. Louis, home to a large German-American population. Palmer is authorized to seize assets not only of Germans and Austro-Hungarians, but also their allies, and place these in a Liberty Bond investment trust for the duration of the war. It is estimated that over $1 billion will be subject to government seizure under this new regime. Acting in the name of the new law, as well as the Espionage Act, Wilson orders the creation a Censorship Board, comprised of representatives of the War and Navy departments, the War Trade Board, and the war propaganda bureaucracy dubbed the Committee on Public Information, that has full power to investigate and control mail, radio, and telegraph communications. The law further requires foreign language newspapers to apply for a federal license with the Postmaster General to use the federal mail service. All foreign language newspapers, furthermore, will be required to submit English-language translations of each edition prior to being approved for circulation in the mail. France, October 7: Worst harvest reported in over 50 years As the slaughter at the front grinds on, conditions for Frances civilian population continue to deteriorate. News of the worst harvest in 50 years prompts the introduction of new rations, as the countrys agricultural output falls to less than half its prewar average. Problems with supplying food have contributed to rising social opposition throughout the year. The poor quality of food was a major factor behind the mutinies that rocked the French army during the spring and early summer, while workers in the major cities such as Paris have demonstrated as their wages can no longer keep pace with sharp increases in food prices. In the first quarter of 1917 alone, food prices shot up by 25 percent. Petrograd, October 8 (September 25, O.S.): Kerensky forms third coalition government After months of negotiations, Alexander Kerensky forms the third coalition government. It is a crisis-ridden and unpopular government from the start. Konovalov, a wealthy Moscow industrialist, is vice-president and Minister of Commerce and Industry. Tereshchenko, a sugar manufacturer from Kiev, remains in charge of foreign affairs. In total, ten members of the SRs and the Mensheviks join the government, but almost all of them are unpopular and lesser-known figures. Kerensky is thoroughly discredited due to his involvement in the failed coup by Kornilov. His last weeks in office are marked by an almost total paralysis of will. Trotsky later described the government with the following words: The ministers kept looking round and listening in alarm, waiting, jotting down little notes of evasion, occupying themselves with trifles.... a tint of the involuntary comic lay over the whole activity of the Provisional Government. These people did not know what to do or where to turn. They did not govern, they played at government as little boys play soldier, though far more amusingly. The coalitions work would be marked by its attempt to carry through the business of the July days: to behead the revolution by shattering the Bolsheviks (Trotsky). But the bourgeoisies hold on power is now incomparably weaker than it was after the July days. The Kadet Miliukov later candidly formulated the question looming over the government: Is it not now too late to declare war on the Bolsheviks? Petrograd, October 8 (September 25, O.S.): Trotsky elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet Leon Trotsky is elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, replacing the Menshevik leader Nikolai Chkheidze. Trotskys return to the position he last held in 1905 is greeted with a loud ovation. Ever since the February Revolution, the Bolshevik Party has been a minority in the soviets, which have been controlled by Mensheviks and SRs. In April, the Bolsheviks could barely muster 100 votes in the Petrograd Soviet against the war, as compared with 2,000 votes for defensist resolutions. From the Presidium of the Petrograd Soviet, figures such as Skobelev, Chkheidze, Plekhanov, and Tsereteli have baited and denounced the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks now control the Presidiumon which sit Bolshevik leaders Trotsky, Kamenev, Rykov, and Fedorov, together with two SRs and one Menshevikas well as its Central Executive Committee. The Bolsheviks have majorities in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets as well as an emerging majority of all provincial soviets. In a speech on the day of his election, Trotsky declares: Now we feel distinctly stronger. Yet the list of new ministers [of the Provisional Government] published in the evening papersattests to the fact that the revolution has reached [another] critical point. In his speech, Trotsky compares and contrasts the present situation to the circumstances that faced the revolution in 1905. The revolutionary tide is turning, but complex political challenges remain. Addressing his opponents among the Mensheviks and SRs, he states: We belong to different parties and have our own work to conduct, but in directing the work of the Petrograd Soviet we will observe the individual rights and complete freedom of all fractions. A resolution by the Petrograd Soviet, drafted and read by Trotskycalling for the Kerensky government to resign in favor of a soviet governmentis passed immediately with overwhelming approval: The news of the formation of the government will be met by the whole revolutionary democracy with one answer: Resign! Relying upon this unanimous voice of the authentic democracy, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets will create a genuinely revolutionary government. Also this month: 100-inch mirror installed as worlds largest telescope nears completion in Pasadena, California Engineers under the direction of astronomer George Hale begin final assembly this month of the latest addition to the family of telescopes at the Mount Wilson Observatory: the 100-inch Hooker Telescope. It will be the worlds largest telescope until 1949, and will be a key instrument in one of the most versatile and fruitful astronomical observatories of the 20th century. The mirror for the Hooker telescope was first commissioned by Hale in 1906 as the successor to the as-yet-incomplete 60-inch telescope, also on Mt. Wilson. It is designed to study a series of questions that had been plaguing astronomy, including the nature of the so-called island universes and the spiral nebulae. Are these a part of our own Milky Way or even more distant? This question will be definitively answered by Edwin Hubble in 1923, when it will be shown that the Andromeda nebula is external to the Milky Way. These discoveries dramatically reshape our understanding of humanitys place in the universe. The Milky Way, previously the extent of our horizons, turns out to be only one out of between 200 billion and 2 trillion similar formations, which constitute the basic granular organization of the universe that will later become known as galaxies. The construction of the telescope had to go through a variety of engineering and funding hurdles. When Hale first began the project, he had only secured one-tenth of the necessary funding to purchase, grind and polish the mirror, build the telescopes mounting and construct the dome to house the telescope. It was only through the direct intervention of Andrew Carnegie in 1910 that Hale received the necessary funding to complete the project. Construction is further delayed by the Great War. Optical and instrument shops, funds and personnel that had been previously used to develop astronomical instruments are now dedicated to supporting the American war drive. On top of the difficulty in securing the component parts and labor, a variety of engineering problems surface. The mirror can only be ground and polished in the summer months because the artificial heat generated in the observatory during the winter caused the glass to warp out of position. Getting the equipment to the top of the mountain represents its own challenge: it is necessary to transport the mirror, the concrete and metal for the dome, and one hundred tons of mounting equipment up a treacherous 9-mile dust footpath. Getting just the mirror up the mountain takes eight hours on a specially designed rig. The immense effort and ingenuity will prove to be worth it over the course of the next several decades. Along with proving the existence of other galaxies, the Hooker telescope will be used by Hubble and his assistant Milton Humason to show that the Universe is expanding, by Fritz Zwicky to find the first evidence of dark matter, by Albert Michelson to precisely determine the diameter of stars, by Henry Russell to develop the star classification system still in use today, and by Walter Baade to calculate the distances to certain stars, doubling the size of the known universe at the time. English poet Alfred Noyes is inspired by the first test of the Hooker telescope on the night of November 1-2, chronicling the unfolding drama of the first starlight images taken by the telescope with his poem Watchers of the Sky. The explorers of the sky, the pioneers Of science, now made ready to attack That darkness once again, and win new worlds. FLORIDA (WTXL) - Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in all 67 Florida counties in response to Hurricane Marias catastrophic impact on Puerto Rico. His office says the declaration will provide important resources to help families impacted by Hurricane Maria when they come to Florida. They report that many families displaced by Hurricane Maria are already beginning to arrive in Florida, saying "the state must do everything possible to effectively support the Puerto Rico response effort." "Puerto Rico was totally devastated by Hurricane Maria and so many families lost everything," said Scott. "With families displaced by Hurricane Maria already present and still arriving in Florida, it is critical that our state is prepared to provide the resources they need upon entering our state." Officials say they will continue to coordinate with FEMA to provide survivors with important services such as housing assistance, crisis counseling, unemployment assistance and legal advice. To view Executive Order 17-259, click HERE. (WTXL) - Leaders across the country are speaking out following the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed at least 50 people. Local leaders also took to social media, some even sending out full statements, to express their condolences: Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum: "The mass shooting in Las Vegas last night was horrific and senseless. Our law enforcement and first responders acted heroically. Its both tragic and maddening that any part of our country can be turned into a war zone so quickly.May our prayers inspire our actions." Florida Democratic Party President Sally Boyton Brown: "Today America woke up to the worst mass shooting in its history and we are devastated. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims and their families who are suffering unimaginable loss. Thank you to our first repsonders for their courage and swift action. We are heartbroken. Our love, support, and deepest condolences to everyone in the Silver State." U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL): "Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims of this horrific attack. As the investigation continues, we will learn more about what led to this tragedy in Las Vegas, but at some point we, as a society, have to stand up and say enough is enough. Congressman Neal Dunn, M.D. (FL-02): "Leah and I were heartbroken to hear of the tragic events that claimed so many lives in Las Vegas last night. We are praying for all who were affected by this tragedy. Thank you to all of the officers and first responders who immediately took action. Their bravery saved countless lives. Florida Department of Law Enforcement: Florida State University Police Department: "Our hearts go out to the people of Las Vegas following this horrible act of violence. We wish those injured a full recovery and hope comfort to the loved ones of those who have been lost." TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A man has been arrested, accused of picking up a 6-year-old by his neck and throwing him against a window. Allen Snodgrass, 44, was arrested over the weekend. According to a probable cause document, the Florida Department of Children and Families filed a report about an incident in August. They allege that on August 31, 2017, Snodgrass picked the 6-year-old boy up by his neck and threw him against the window. When they examined the child, they found positive evidence of abuse noting that the injuries were consistent with the above incident. The victim told investigators that this was not the first time he had received a beating that had left marks on his body. However, when investigators talked to Snodgrass, they got a different story. He told them that he grabbed the victim by the back of his neck and "popped" the victim "on the back of the head" because the victim was standing on the windowsill. Investigators write that Snodgrass' version of events was inconsistent with the injuries the victim received. During the interview, the investigators noted that Snodgrass did not express any concern for the victim and consistently referred to him as a burden for the family. "While it is reasonable for a parent to physically punish a child," investigators wrote, "it is unreasonable for a parent to grab a 6-year-old by the neck, a sensitive area that provides oxygen to the body, and then exerting enough force to leave visible injuries." Further investigation revealed Snodgrass had previously been investigated by DCF for an incident of suspected child abuse. As a result of the investigation, a warrant for Snodgrass' arrest was issued. He was arrested on Friday and charged with child cruelty/child abuse without great bodily harm. He remains in the Leon County Jail on a $10,000 bond. MATTOON The Henningsens have been based in Nashville for several years while writing hits, such as American Beautiful, for themselves and for other artists, such as The Band Perrys You Lie. This family trio from Atwood also has performed at the legendary Grand Ole Opry multiple times, created professional music videos that are a fixture on YouTube, and toured throughout the country, including as an opening act for Brad Paisley. Saturday evening, The Henningsens returned home to East Central Illinois to perform their final concert as a touring act. They performed this concert during homecoming at Lake Land College, where trio member and family patriarch Brian Henningsen is an alumnus. Its good to be here, the proud graduate said during an interview backstage at Lake Lands Field House. The trio is also comprised of two of his 10 children -- Aaron and Clara. Aaron Henningsen said they are taking time off from their work as a trio while Clara, their lead vocalist, focuses on her solo act. Both Aaron and his father plan to continue song writing. Aaron also is interested in performing and producing, while his father has gotten back to his trade of restoring older homes. They stopped taking bookings as a trio about a year ago. Brian Henningsen said they decided to do one more show together after Jackie Joines, executive director of college advancement at Lake Land, invited them to perform at Laker Homecoming. He said they felt Lake Land would provide a good venue for a final concert because of his history on campus and because his family knows a lot of people in the area. In 1981, Henningsen earned an associates in agriculture at Lake Land. The country artist, who grew up working on his familys Atwood farm, said he and his classmates had such a blast in the agriculture program while learning from great instructors. Those were some knowledgeable guys with a lot of previous experience. We had really good connections with them, Henningsen said. We thought they were really great. While he was a Lake Land student, Henningsen started performing with a series of country bands in the area. He said these acts include The High Plains Band, Southern Cross, and Killbilly. Henningsen continued to perform country music on the side for several years after graduation, but his professional focus shifted to agriculture in the mid-1990s when he took over the family farm. Henningsen began pursuing a music career anew in the mid-2000s alongside Aaron and Clara, who have long shared his passion for performing and writing country music. Leaving the farm in the care of the rest of their family, they relocated to the Nashville area. Their work eventually caught the attention of music producers and led to the Henningsens partnering with The Band Perry, another family trio, on songwriting for several years. Aaron, Clara, and Brian Henningsen wrote You Lie and Brian and Clara wrote All Your Life, both of which became hit songs on The Band Perry's 2010 self-titled debut album. Henningsen estimated that 18-20 other artists, including Wynonna Judd and Sara Evans, have since recorded songs that he and/or his children have written. "It is always fun to hear when someone else has recorded one of your songs. It makes you feel special," Aaron Henningsen said, adding that just getting a song through music industry "gatekeepers" to a headlining artist is an accomplishment. He said getting a song recorded by an artist is like winning a "small-scale lottery" for a song writer, although it's often not a windfall. Henningsen said they eventually wrote enough of their own material that they started performing shows featuring their original music. They released their hit debut single, American Beautiful, in 2012 and released their self-titled debut EP through Arista Nashville in 2013. The trio ended up being featured in professional music videos for American Beautiful and "I Miss You" off of their debut EP, plus "Why I Farm" off of their 2016 World's On Fire full-length album. Henningsen said they filmed the "American Beautiful" video in January in Franklin, Tenn., but they tried to make the video look like it was springtime. Aaron said the weather was "bitterly cold" that day, and his father added that they had to eat ice cubes between takes so that their breath was not visible in the frigid air. In 2013, The Henningsens performed an early morning concert on Good Morning America and toured throughout the country as an opening act for country superstar Brad Paisley. "(Paisley) is really laid back. He is really silly, always joking. He is very kind to everyone who is on his tour," Aaron Henningsen said, adding that Paisley booked a go cart track one night and a movie theater on another night for everyone on his 2013 tour. Henningsen said their trio also has performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville more than 25 times, walking the same stage where many country music legends have performed over the years. "You never get over your awe of it," Henningsen said, adding that the fact that the Opry is broadcast live can be daunting. "The timing for everything is so exact. You don't get a sound check. You just go out there and play. Israel's Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, better known as the Mossad, has recently marked an historic precedent when two women were appointed division heads simultaneously for the first time in the annals of Israeli security, law enforcement, intelligence and civil defense authorities. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The two division heads received ranks comparable to the IDF's major-general upon their appointment. The first woman, S., was recently appointed head of her division, with her colleague Y. receiving a similar appointment shortly thereafter. This marked the pair's accession to Rasha, or the "division heads' forum," the Mossad's high command forum. Mossad Director Yossi Cohen (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) Y. served in a number of roles, most of which were in the Mossad's human resources division. These roles should not be taken lightly, as an agency such as the Mossad relies on the skills of the people working for it, as well as on their loyalty and dedication to the organization. In fact, the Mossad's human resources division weeds out 95 percent of applicants. Other monitoring systems it operates examine employees' performance throughout their careers. Mistakenly admitting anyone into an organization as sensitive as the Mossad can be disastrous on a national level. S., on the other hand, joined the Mossad in 1992, initially serving in its intelligence division, and dealt with matters relating to terrorism. She then went on to the organization's covert foreign relations wing, Tevel, where she held a number of positions and transferred to the Tzomet ("Junction") division, which recruits and runs field agents. The Mossad's emblem These promotions were not mere coincidence. The Mossad was the first organization to integrate women into operational roles on the forefront of its mandate, not excluding high-risk ones. At first, women were recruited for two wings: Caesareathe special operations wing operating especially in "target countries" (Arab states and Iran)and Keshet ("Rainbow"), carrying out surveillance, wiretapping, building incursions, document copying and the like. Keshet operates in groups and has always employed women. The reasons for coed service in the unit were practical: movement of mixed-gender couples draws less suspicion than that of a group made up solely of men and, even more importantly, women were simply found to outmatch men in a number of operational fields. The average recruitment age for Keshet, for instance, is significantly lower for women compared to men. "They're simply more mature and adept at the job than men of the same age," said a senior Mossad official. As an aside, the woman who reached the highest position in the Mossad thus far, Aliza Magen-Halevi, did so in the Tzomet division, still almost exclusively dominated by men. Magen-Halevi was the first, and to date only, woman to serve as head of a Tzomet office (in a Europen country) and then later head of the Mossad's HR division and its operations directorate, then finally serving as the Mossad's deputy director under Shabtai Shavit and Danny Yatom. Another woman, Sima Shine, served in senior positions in the Mossad's intelligence divisions and even lit a torch in the 2015 Independence Day ceremony representing the women working the for intelligence agency. Former senior Mossad employee Sima Shine lit an Independence Day torch for the Mossad's female agents In addition to the appointments of S. and Y., Mossad Director Yossi Cohen ordered the appointment of several women to head divisions and units within the organization's divisions, as part of an organization-wide gender equality campaign. NEW YORK A trial is scheduled to begin on Monday for a man accused of setting off a pipe bomb in New York City that injured 30 people. While Ahmad Khan Rahimi has not been charged with terrorism, federal lawyers say his interest in jihad, terrorist attacks and terrorist organizations vastly influenced his plans. The government said it is seeking to have an expert witness testify about al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders as a primer for jurors and to help explain some writings he made in a journal. Defense lawyers have argued the government is trying to wrongly paint a picture of Rahimi, an Afghanistan-born US citizen, as an extremist. They say federal lawyers have drummed up a "radicalization" theory. WASHINGTON A trial of the suspected mastermind of the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attacks is unfolding in a federal courtroom in Washington. Opening statements will take place Monday, three years after Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured in Libya and brought to the US on a 13-day trip aboard a Navy ship. Four Americans were killed in the attacks, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens. Prosecutors say the attacks aimed at killing personnel and plundering maps, documents and other property from the post. The Abu Khattala trial is one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years in a civilian court. The Trump administration has said terror suspects are better sent to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Dozens of Israelis have complained that despite their passports being in order, officials at Ben-Gurion Airport and the Taba border crossing passport control informed them their passports were torn or otherwise not in order and demanded they replace it, or they would not be able to leave Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Many of the complainants said their passports were new, and other border crossings had found no fault in them. "The official returned my passport with a tear that wasn't there before" Michael, 31, recounted such an incident. "It happened Friday morning on the Israeli side of the Taba border crossing. The official gave me my passport back with a tear on the page containing my photo. The tear wasn't there before," he said. N., 26, who recently returned from the Sinai Peninsula, shared a similar story. "A day before some guys I didn't know said passports are being damaged at the border and advised us to examine them beforehand. At the border crossing to Israel, the official took my passport, showed me part of it was torn but really yanked it away. I checked it before I got there and it was fine," she said. Itai, 36, said on his return from Prague several months ago Israeli passport control informed him his passport was torn, and he would not be able to use it for international travel again. Itai claimed the passport was only a few months old at the time and no defects were found in it when he left Israel, and then again when he left Prague. The torn passport. Multiple complaints were received about tears in the first page "It's really bizarre, the official showed me a one-centimeter long tear on the passport's first page that wasn't there before. Everyone who complained about this sort of thing said the tear was on the passport's first page, where the passport photo is," he recounted. MK Ofer Shelah's office said it received dozens of complaints about this issue and is familiar with hundreds more made online. Shelah's office contacted the Ministry of the Interior, but have yet to hear back. Responding to a request for comment, the Ministry of the Interior's Population and Immigration Authority said, "By law, one of the main duties of passport control is to ensure the passport a traveler is using is in order and undamaged in any way. A passport control employee not remarking on any defect in the passport would not be doing their job, and may cause the passenger to run into further issues overseas and even be arrested by immigrations authorities there." "Passport control employees at the Taba border crossing, similarly to their compatriots elsewhere in Israel, are dutiful in their work. Unfortunately, travelers often prefer to try and pass through passport control with a damaged passport to avoid having to pay for a new one. Later, when they run into problems, they'll complain to the Authority's employees," the Population and Immigration Authority's response continued. "Insinuation of any alleged tampering is unacceptable, and we will not permit besmirching the Authority or its employees. Any specific complaints will be examined on a case-by-case basis," the Authority's response concluded. MANCHESTER Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday that Britain's thoughts were with the victims of what she called an "appalling attack" in Las Vegas, where a gunman opened fire at a country music festival. "The UK's thoughts are with the victims and the emergency services responding to the appalling attack in Las Vegas," May said in a post on her official Twitter feed. The trial of Abdelkader Merah, who allegedly helped his brother prepare a nine-day shooting spree in southern France in 2012, began Monday, bringing back haunting memories of the bloodshed for the country's Jews. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Merah's trial is the first arising from the wave of Islamist attacks that have hit France in recent years. Abdelkader's brother Mohamed killed three soldiers before targeting a Jewish school in Toulouse , gunning down a teacher and three children aged three, five and eight. The self-proclaimed Al-Qaeda militant was shot dead in a police raid two days later. French forces gaurd Jewish center in France (Archive photo: Yisrael Bardugo) "The terrible shock of 19 March, 2012we still go through it every day, every time we bring the children to school or come to pick them up," France's chief rabbi, Haim Korsia, told AFP. Some 300 Jewish families have since left Toulouse for Israel or other countries, according to Jewish federation CRIFadding to the estimated 20,000 who emigrated from 2014-2015, spurred by fears over anti-Semitism. Jerome Fourquet, head of opinion at pollster Ifop who wrote a study on the exodus, said the attack on Ozar Hatorah School was the "trigger event" for the mass departures. And while the emigration and reports of anti-Semitic abuse have both since slowed, Europe's biggest Jewish communitynumbering half a million people"remains on edge", he said. Nicknamed 'Bin Laden' Abdelkader Merah, 35, has been charged with complicity in terrorism, accused of knowingly helping his younger brother with preparations for one of the deadliest attacks against French Jews since World War II. He helped him steal the scooter used for the three separate shootings. Mohamed Merah, the terrorist (Photo: AFP) Another suspect, 34-year-old Fettah Malki, will also go on trial in Paris for giving Merah a bulletproof jacket, an Uzi submachine gun, and the ammunition he unloaded on his victims. Neither denies giving Merah the items, but both insist they were unaware of his intentions. Abdelkader faces a possible life sentence, and Malki 20 years behind bars. Like his brother, Abdelkadernicknamed "Bin Laden" in the neighborhoodwas known to intelligence services for his ties to radical Islamists in Toulouse. Abdelkader Merah (Photo: AFP) Prosecutors claim he shared his brother's ideology, and the two men were repeatedly in contact in the days before the killings. Lingering worries Simon Cohen, a lawyer representing 160 civil parties including the school, said the trial "comes at a historic moment where we are not finished with the wave of jihadist terrorism." Merah's shooting spree preceded a string of attacks from 2015 in France that left 239 people dead. They include four killed by an Islamic State gunman at a kosher supermarket in Paris in January 2015, two days after the attack at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. After that, 10,000 troops were deployed across France under an anti-terrorism operation known as Sentinelle, guarding sensitive sites including synagogues and Jewish schools. This is credited with contributing to a 58.5 percent drop in reports of anti-Semitic attacks in 2016 compared to a year earlier. Yet French Jews continue to worry over their security. There was outrage over the murder of a Jewish woman in April, pushed from a third-floor window by a Muslim neighbor, and over an attack on a Jewish family in their home in the capital's suburbs earlier this month. Prime Minister Netanyahu and then French President Hollande visiting graves of Toulouse terror attack victims (Photo: Haim Zach, GPO) Chief rabbi Korsia said Jews were comforted by the outpouring of solidarity that followed the Charlie Hebdo and supermarket attacks, with 3.7 million taking to the streets of France against terrorism. But he added that many still feel a lack of support. "There is a kind of keeping us at a distance, an indifference," he said. "At demonstrations, at ceremonies, we find ourselves very alone." An estimated 1.4 million adults (0.6% of the US adult population) identify as transgender, according to data extrapolated from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Surveillance System.1 Primary care clinicians have an important role in the health and wellness of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) adults and need to know best practices of health maintenance and disease prevention interventions for gender minority patients. The recently published Guidelines for the Primary and Gender-Affirming Care of Transgender and Gender Nonbinary People (UCSF guidelines) define transgender as: A person whose gender identity differs from the sex that was assigned at birth. May be abbreviated to trans. A transgender man is someone with a male gender identity and a female birth assigned sex; a transgender woman is someone with a female gender identity and a male birth assigned sex. A non-transgender person may be referred to as cisgender.2 The definition does not include the qualification of a gender-affirming procedure (also known as sex reassignment) or exogenous use of sex steroids provided as hormone therapy, a regimen used to alter secondary sex characteristics to align with a patient's gender identity. Healthy People 2020 has identified a need for a transgender wellness model and stated that one of the limiting factors to reaching that goal is a lack of healthcare providers who display competence in transgender health.3 One of the hurdles for clinicians seeking to become competent in care for TGD adults is that gender identity and birth sex have not been measured by federally administrated population-based surveys or disease-specific registries. Further, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) makes no recommendation for modifying its A and B recommendations to be specific for TGD adults.4 The WHO and CDC have identified TGD adults as a special population in regards to sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention, and these organizations have put forward several recommendations for HIV and screening.5,6 An additional barrier for primary care providers is that health promotion and disease prevention are among the least-researched aspects of wellness for TGD adults and until recently, recommendation often relied on expert opinion.7 The UCSF guidelines offer an important step toward evidence-based practice guidance, and complement the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's standards of care and the Endocrine Society's clinical practice guideline in that they are specifically designed for implementation in primary care, including settings with limited resources.8,9 This article describes modifications to the USPSTF A and B recommendations for prevention and screening for TGD adults, particularly for those using hormone therapy and those who have undergone gender-affirming procedures. When anatomy and behaviors are unaffected by hormone therapy or gender-affirming procedures, screening for TGD adults (for example, for colon cancer) should follow current guidelines. Only information unique to the context of TGD adults will be discussed. This includes the risk assessments for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and osteoporosis as well as screening for reproductive cancers and STIs. CARDIOVASCULAR RISK SCREENING No evidence indicates that masculinizing hormone therapy using testosterone increases CVD risk in TGD adults, although there is a theoretical increase in risk due to changes in physiologic markers. The risk of CVD due to feminizing hormone therapy using estrogen is less clear but appears to be unchanged when corrected for tobacco use, obesity, and diabetes.2,10-12 Clinicians should encourage all adults on hormone therapy to reduce CVD risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and diabetes. When applying the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines for assessing CVD, consider the total length of hormone therapy, the patient's gender identity, and birth sex.2 OSTEOPOROSIS SCREENING Estrogens and androgens are protective against osteoporosis; however, studies appear to shown conflicting conclusions in regards to bone mineral density in TGD adults.11,12 Regardless of birth sex, screen all TGD adults at age 65 years. Consider screening patients with risk factors or a 10-year fracture risk score equivalent to that of a 65-year-old white woman.2,13 Reduced bone mineral density has been shown to result from any state that contributes to a deficiency of sex steroids. In TGD adults, this may result from discontinuation or underdosing of sex steroids, particularly after gonadectomy or while on androgen-blocking medications. Regardless of patient age, consider bone mineral density studies in TGD adults who have not been at physiologic levels of hormone therapy for at least 5 years.2 CANCER SCREENING Assessing cancer risk and providing appropriate screenings to match anatomy and risks for TGD adults is challenging for several reasons. First, prospective studies that address cancer risks and outcomes for TGD adults are limited. Second, federally administered population-based surveys and cancer and other disease-specific registries do not contain potentially relevant information because gender identity and birth sex are not measured. Third, maintaining patient privacy regarding birth sex while screening for cancers that do not match gender identity historically has not been supported at the systems level.14-16 At a minimum, TGD adults should receive cancer screening specific to their organ inventory as documented in their patient history. This organ inventory guides screening as well as management of specific complaints.2 Current evidence does not indicate an increased prevalence of hormone-related cancers related to hormone therapy but the longevity of studies that have looked for a connection between the two have been limited to short- and medium-term follow-up.10 Just as with cisgender patients, hormone therapy is contraindicated in TGD adults with a hormone-sensitive cancer.17 Prostate cancer Although feminizing hormone therapy with concurrent orchiectomy or androgen-blocking medications (such as spironolactone or finasteride) is likely to reduce the risk of prostate cancer in TGD adults, cases have been reported.12,18 These cases may be more aggressive and often are misdiagnosed or diagnosed at a later, more dangerous stage.12 For TGD adults whose birth sex is male, the prostate is not removed during vaginoplasty, and providers should continue to perform prostate cancer screenings following USPSTF guidelines.2 Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) values are not considered a reliable screening measure for prostate cancer in TGD adults who have undergone orchiectomy or are taking androgen-blocking medications because they are androgen-deprived.19 The upper limit of normal for PSA should be lowered to 1 ng/mL for these patients.2,13,20 In TGD adults who have a vaginoplasty, a vaginal approach is recommended for digital prostate examination due to the location of the neovagina between the prostate and rectum.2,19 Breast cancer Research suggests that the risk for breast cancer in TGD adults is not significantly different than in cisgender adults. However, TGD adults may be less likely than their cisgender counterparts to follow breast cancer screening recommendations.21 Follow the USPSTF guidelines for mammography in all TGD adults, with the exception that screening should not begin until 5 to 10 years after the initiation of feminizing hormone therapy.2,13,19 Remaining estrogen-sensitive tissue is a risk factor for cancer in TGD adults who are on masculinizing hormone therapy and have had top surgery, which ranges from surgical contouring of existing chest tissue to removal of all mammary tissue. Because testosterone is partially aromatized to estradiol, patients still are at risk, and annual chest wall and axillary examinations, as well as radiology, are recommended.2,13,19 CANCER SCREENING AFTER VAGINOPLASTY Vaginoplasty results in a blind cuff, without a cervix or fornices. Multiple surgical techniques and autologous tissue graftsfrom the penis, scrotum, small intestine, and colonas well as graftless surgical approaches, are used to perform vaginoplasty.22 None of these techniques requires subsequent need for cytology or human papillomavirus (HPV) testing of the neovagina because there is no endocervical transformation zone.23 However, clinicians may need to visualize the vagina for other complaints; because the neovagina may be narrow and has a posterior orientation, a pediatric speculum or anoscope may be used for clinician ease and patient comfort.2 No recommended guidelines exist for regular well-visit pelvic examinations in TGD adults after vaginoplasty. UCSF guidelines state that physical examinations should be limited to the anatomy that pertains to the patient's specific complaint at that visit.2 CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING All adults with a cervix should have regular screening for cervical cancer following USPSTF guidelines.2 TGD adults may be less likely to comply with the recommended frequency of screening because cervical and vaginal atrophy caused by testosterone results in discomfort during internal physical examination. UCSF guidelines recommend alerting patients to the possibility of bleeding and the need to absorbent products after an internal examination.2 To decrease patient discomfort, clinicians can apply topical lidocaine to the vaginal introitus, use water-based lubricants, or use pediatric or narrow speculums. Unsatisfactory cervical cytology samples are more common in TGD adults, correlated with testosterone use. Cervical cancer screening and retesting of abnormal cytology is recommended at the same intervals as for cisgender patients.24 In patients with previous inadequate samples, low-dose intravaginal estrogen may mitigate testosterone's atropic effects. Noting testosterone use informs the pathologist of possible changes to the cervical architecture that can mimic cervical dysplasia, and specifying that the specimen is a cervical Pap on the cytology requisition also will mitigate laboratory errors, particularly when the patient's gender is identified as male by the insurance company.2,25 STI SCREENING To best meet the STI screening needs of TGD adults, use a TGD-inclusive sexual history to assess sexual behaviors. The history should be specific to the patient's organ inventory, not presuming on the anatomy or gender identity of the patient or partners. An example of an inclusive sexual history for STI screening is presented in Table 1.26,27 The CDC and WHO have strongly recommended that clinicians focus on STI prevention among TGD adults.5,6 TABLE 1.: 26,27 A guide for STI risk assessment for TGD adults HIV The CDC reports the prevalence of HIV among all transgender women (historically defined by CDC within the cohort of men having sex with men) is 27.7%; among transgender women of color, the prevalence is 56.3%.6 Transgender men have a lower incidence of HIV but may still be at higher risk of HIV than the general population depending on their sexual behaviors.6 Thus, WHO identifies transgender adults as one of five key populations due to high rates of HIV. WHO makes the following recommendations: Condom use. Strong recommendation with moderate strength of evidence is made for the correct and consistent use of condoms with condom-compatible lubricants (water- and silicone-based, not oil-based products) for TGD adults having receptive sex, particularly for use with anal sex. 5 Clean needles. Patients using injectable hormone therapy should be given sterile injection equipment to reduce their risk of infection with bloodborne pathogens such as HIV, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus. Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and use of antiretroviral drugs to prevent HIV infection is strongly recommended for TGD adults who have receptive sex. HIV prevention. Pre- and postexposure prophylaxis should be offered to TGD adults as needed.5 Other STIs When screening for other STIs, inclusion criteria can be inferred from USPSTF recommendations and informed by the patient's sexual history. The USPSTF criteria for chlamydia and gonorrhea screening for patients at increased risk is applicable to TGD adults with a neovagina; age 24 years or younger; new partner; more than one partner; a partner with concurrent partners; a partner who has an STI; previous or coexisting STI; and patients who exchange sex for money or drugs.28 Best practices for technique for chlamydia and gonorrhea screening (whether urine or genital swab or both) are unknown. Although vaginoplasty does not confer cervical cancer risk, receptive vaginal sex confers risk for STIs such as syphilis, chancre, herpes, chancroid, chlamydia, and gonorrhea.23 In addition to the other risk factors identified by the USPSTF, TGD-specific risk factors for acquisition of syphilis include age 30 years or older, 10 or more sexual partners in the last week, and HIV infection.29 Given the high lifetime prevalence of syphilis among transgender women, a low index of suspicion regarding any of the USPSTF or TGD-specific risks should prompt syphilis screening.30 CONCLUSION Current sex-specific USPSTF screening guidelines do not adequately apply to TGD adults, particularly after hormone therapy or gender-affirming procedures. Potential dangers of using current USPSTF recommendations based on a patient's birth sex are a misinterpretation of laboratory values in which the reference values are tied to a patient's gender marker, and misuse of risk calculators by entering identifying information that does not adequately represent risk (Table 2). Recommendations for cancer screenings for prostate, breast, and cervical cancers are more easily adapted to the anatomy of TGD adults. Studies to confirm long-term safety of sex steroids as hormone therapy are underway. Identifying any cancer-associated risk would clarify the appropriate interval for screenings. Screening recommendations and risk modifications for HIV and syphilis are being championed by WHO, and are based on more robust epidemiologic studies than are available for other primary care prevention areas. For STIs that require localized screening, best practices for samplingfor example, urine screening versus vaginal swab for diagnosis of chlamydiahave yet to be determined in TGD adults. Gaps remain in the publication of necessary high-quality research and in developing prevention-related recommendations needed for primary care providers to improve health outcomes among TGD adults. In the interest of addressing the state of the science, the National Institutes of Health sponsored a study to evaluate current knowledge of the health status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations and to identify research gaps and opportunities. As a result of this 2011 report, the NIH and other public health agencies have become more TGD-inclusive in their efforts.31 The USPSTF annually identifies gaps in prevention-related research and makes recommendations for needed research to Congress; recognizing the disparity and recommending further research seems to be a realistic next step in addressing this issue.32 The authors recommend integrating the UCSF guidelines, which provide graded evidence with its recommendations to support evidence-based primary care practice. The Palestinian prime minister led a delegation from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip on Monday for talks with Hamas in the most ambitious attempt to reconcile the rival political factions since the Islamic militant group seized control of the seaside territory over a decade ago. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Rami Hamdallah began his visit with a message of reconciliation, shortly after arriving in a 30-vehicle motorcade through the Erez border crossing separating Israel and Gaza. He was accompanied by a large delegation of Fatah officials from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, dozens of aides and armed bodyguards. "The only way to statehood is through unity," Hamdallah said, speaking at a welcome ceremony attended by Fatah and Hamas officials. "We are coming to Gaza again to deepen the reconciliation and end the split." Hamdallah welcomed in Gaza (Photo: Reuters) Hamas ousted the Fatah-led forces of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority in the summer of 2007, leaving the Palestinians torn between rival governments located on opposite sides of Israel. While previous attempts at reconciliation have failed, years of international isolation and steadily worsening conditions in Gaza appear to have pushed Hamas toward compromise this time around. Hamdallah in Gaza (: ) X In a significant concession, Hamas has offered to turn over all governing responsibilities to Hamdallah. But key sticking points, primarily Hamas' refusal to disarm its powerful military wing, are likely to complicate or even derail the reconciliation efforts in the coming weeks. "We realize the road is still long and hard. We will be faced with obstacles and challenges, but our people are able to rise again from among destruction and suffering," Hamdallah said. Hamdallah's Cabinet will hold a meeting in Gaza, and his ministers are expected to assume authority over government offices this week. Negotiations between the sides are expected to move to Cairo next week to work on the more difficult issues. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, 82, has said the rift is his greatest regret, and both sides appear eager to work out a deal. Regaining control of Gaza would give Abbas a much-needed accomplishment after years of failed peace efforts with Israel. Hamdallah welcomed in Gaza (Photo: Reuters) Although Hamas has ruled Gaza with an iron fist for the past decade, it has watched the territory fall deeper into poverty, battered by a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade and three devastating wars with Israel. Unemployment is estimated at nearly 44 percent, Gaza's 2 million residents are virtually barred from traveling abroad through the Israeli and Egyptian borders, and residents receive electricity for just a few hours a day. Several factors appear to be working in favor of reconciliation. Hamas' new leader, Yahya Sinwar, has expressed a willingness to yield most power to Abbas, preferring to return to his group's roots as an armed "resistance" movement battling Israel. The group has consolidated its leadership inside Gaza, meaning they no longer have to consult with exiled leaders spread out across the Arab world. And perhaps most critically, Hamas has improved relations with the Egyptian government of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. In a sign of these improved ties, Egypt has sent a delegation to Gaza to help mediate talks, and it will play host to continued negotiations in the coming weeks. Egypt also maintains good ties with Israel and it could potentially play an important role in selling a reconciliation deal to Israel, which considers Hamas a terrorist group. Hamas seeks Israel's destruction and has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks over the years. Hamdallah welcomed in Gaza (Photo: Reuters) Still, many obstacles lie ahead. While Hamas is eager to give up its governing responsibilities, officials say the group will not give up its formidable arsenal of thousands of rockets and mortars aimed at Israel. Officials close to Abbas say he will not agree to allow Hamas to act like Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group that dominates its country's politics. It also remains unclear what will happen to Hamas' 40,000 civil servants, who were hired after Abbas forced his employees in Gaza to resign after the Hamas takeover. In an area with few jobs, both sides will likely want their loyalists to receive salaries. Officials on both sides said the more difficult issues will be addressed at the upcoming talks in Cairo. At least eight Hezbollah fighters were killed in a drone strike in the eastern Syrian desert, where pro-government forces are engaged in a grinding battle against the Islamic State group, a monitoring group said Monday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a drone struck a position of the Lebanese militant group, which is fighting alongside President Bashar Assad's forces. A Hezbollah militant near the Israeli-Lebanese border (Photo: AFP) A Hezbollah official confirmed the strike but not the toll. The official was not authorized to speak to the media so spoke on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear who was operating the drone. Unmanned aerial vehicles are now widely used in Iraq and Syria, by armies and militant groups alike. Social networks affiliated with Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, as well as Lebanese newspaper "the Daily Star" estimated the drone to be American. However, sources familiar with the incident did not rule out the possibility that it was Russian "friendly fire". No Israeli involvement in the attack was speculated. Hermes 900 drone near the Syrian border. No Israeli involvement was reported in the recent strike (Photo: AFP) Israel has been targeting Hezbollah's convoys in Syria with growing regularity, saying it cannot allow advanced weapons provided by Iran to be sent to Lebanon. Iran has sponsored and supplied Hezbollah since establishing the group in the 1980s to fight Israel's occupation of south Lebanon. But Israel's strikes are generally confined to western and southern Syria, near the Lebanon and Israel borders. It has also been accused of striking Syrian government positions. The US has also attacked Syrian pro-government forces by air, but only once in any connection to the war on the Islamic State group, in September 2016, when an air raid killed at least 60 Syrian soldiers. The White House called the raid a mistake, and said it was committed to the war against the jihadist group. A series of faults in the conduct of security forces in the field led to the deadly attack in the settlement of Halamish, according to the IDF's investigation into the murder of three members of the Salomon family by a Palestinian terrorist from the nearby village of Kobar. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The fault were found both among IDF forces stationed in the area and the civilian security body in Halamish, allowing the terrorist to infiltrate the settlement, despite an alert set off when he climbed over the community's outside security fence. Disciplinary action has been taken against those who bear responsibility for the faults, most of them relatively junior commands. (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) A company commander from the Kfir Brigade's Netzah Yehuda battalion, who was responsible for the protection of the settlement and whose company was stationed in an outpost adjacent to Halamish, was reprimanded by the Kfir Brigade commander for failing to comply with operational procedures. The territorial defense officer in the Binyamin Territorial Brigade (a major), who is in charge of the coordination between civilian and military forces, had an infraction noted in his personal file. The area patrol commander, who was supposed to act inside the settlement, was court-martialed by the Kfir Brigade commander and sentence to 21 days confinement to base for failing to comply with operational procedures. The Halamish security coordination (a civilian security person who answers to the Binyamin Territorial Brigade) was reprimanded by the Binyamin Territorial Brigade commander, Col. Yuval Gaz, for failing to report that he had left the settlement before the attack and for failing to comply with operational orders. The security coordinator's deputy and civilian security guard were removed from their position due to "unprofessional conduct and failing to comply with procedures," while the civilian patrolman who was on duty in Halamish at the time also had the infraction noted in his personal file. In the wake of the unrest surrounding the Temple Mount in July, the Binyamin Territorial Brigade's commander has decided to declare the area's communities as under significant threat of terrorist infiltration. But the investigation found the company commander failed to translate that order into significant operational measures on the ground, such as by allocating forces to that end and holding relevant military drills. Terrorist after being neutralized An initial investigation into the attack found 15 minutes had passed from the moment the first alert was given when the terrorist touched the settlement's outer fence and until a soldier from the Oketz unit, who lives next door to the Salomon family, neutralized the assailant with one shoteven before military forces arrived at the scene. While the initial alert did lead the security guard at the community's gate to send a civilian patrolman to that location, the severity of the alert was not properly communicated to the IDF company nor to the patrolman. The latter did not take the alert seriously enough, stayed in his car when he arrived at the dark spot in the fence, and therefore failed to notice the terrorist who was hiding in the bushes. The deputy security coordinator, who was replacing the security coordinator that evening, was not made aware of the alert. The company from the Netzah Yehuda battalion failed to conduct a proper patrol of the settlement, something that has been a lesson learned from a big fire in Halamish several months earlier. It was also found that the decision to fund the planned security component improvements in the community around eight months beforehand was not implemented due to bureaucratic obstacles, even though it was supposed to go into effect between one and two months prior to the attack. As a result, detectors and cameras were not installed which could have provided a forewarning about the terrorists approach. The investigations findings also touched on military intelligence failures and its technological capacity to monitor social media and to warn about a potential terrorist who, as was the case with the Halamish terrorist, post to Facebook their intentions. The overall responsibility for the security of the community and the residents in the area belongs to the army, said Gen. Ronen Manelis. As part of the conclusions drawn, we've carried out a series of education seminars for all the heads of security, in addition to strengthening protocols among our forces, he added before admitting to the shortcomings of the security apparatus. We are talking about a string of tactical failures. It turns out that the forces conduct in the incident were not typical of the operational norms in the area. Two suicide bombers attacked a police station in Damascus on Monday, killing a number of civilians and policemen, the interior minister said, in the first such attack in the Syrian capital since July. Four militants carried out the attack, killing more than 10 people, the pro-Damascus TV channel al-Mayadeen said. Russia's RIA news agency reported that 15 people were killed. Militants targeted the station in the al-Midan neighbourhood and clashed with police officers there, Interior Minister Mohammad al-Shaar said in comments broadcast by state television from the police station. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Rena M. Lawson, 90, of Polk, walked into the arms of her Savior on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017 at her home in Polk. Funeral services will be on Friday, Oct. 6, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. at the First Baptist Church in Polk with Pastor Myron Stafford officiating. Visitation will be on Thursday, Oct. 5, from 5-7 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Polk. Interment will be at the Laclede Cemetery near Polk. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.soltwagnerfuneral.com. Rena May Willits was born on Dec. 7, 1926 to Grant and Mildred Willits on the family farm near Polk. She spent her childhood in the Polk area attending Rural School District 46 and then High Prairie High. Rena graduated from high school in 1944 and then attended summer school at Kearney State Teachers College. She completed the teacher certification exams and became a rural school teacher. She taught South of Polk for two years before returning to school. From 1946-1948 she attended Bethel College in St Paul, Minn. She then taught in the York County Schools for three years. Rena received her B.A. in Education in 1952 from the University of Nebraska and then taught for seven years in Lincoln. In 1959 she started her masters degree at the University of Denver, and received her degree while teaching in the Denver Public Schools. Rena met Eldon Bud Lawson while living in Denver and the two were united in marriage on Jan. 27, 1962 at Immanuel Baptist Church in Denver. The couple moved to Moses Lake, Wash., and then to Glendale, Ariz. Rena began teaching in the Cartwright School District as well as helping Bud farm and run their custom hay operation in the Glendale and West Phoenix Valley area. Following Buds death, Rena would spend part of her time near her daughter Melody, in Polk, as well as at her home in Peoria, Ariz. Rena loved music. She was a faithful church organist and pianist most of her life. When she wasn't playing the organ she was singing in the choir or with her beloved Harmony Trio. Rena was a wonderful cook and enjoyed sewing. She was a faithful prayer warrior. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in Glendale, serving as a Sunday school teacher. When she moved to Polk, she then became a member of the First Baptist Church in Polk.In Polk, she loved substituting as organist and pianist, playing as recently as this Sunday for church services. She was an active member of the Arizona Farm Bureau, and chaired the Womens Committee for several years. She is an Honorary State FFA Degree Recipient and Honorary National FFA Degree Recipient. She loved participating in Bible Study Fellowship. Those left to cherish her memory are; her daughter, Melody (Kevin) Sandell of Polk; her grandchildren, Chloe Brianne Sandell and Noah Loy Sandell of Polk; and her brother, Dale (Dulcie) Willits of Colorado Springs, Colo., along with many nieces nephews, dear friends and neighbors. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Eldon Bud Lawson; her brother, Robert Willits; and sister-in-law Alice Willits. Expert Advice with Kevin Turner. 02/10/2017 Margaret Lomas will tell us that she has a portfolio of 40 plus properties but how many do you need to retire. Margaret say not that many but you might be surprised with the number she nominates. Listen to the Podcast Now:- Transcript:- Kevin: A question Im asked so often is How many properties do I need in my portfolio to retire? I know this is a question that my guest has had to answer on a number of occasions too. Margaret Lomas from Destiny Financial Solutions. Hi, Margaret. Margaret: Hi there. How are you going? Kevin: Good. Nice to be talking to again. How do you answer that question, when someone asks you, Margaret? Margaret: The difficult thing for a lot of people is that that they feel that the spruiker is talking about unlimited numbers of property, and whenever they read those investment magazines, they see exposes of people who have bought 20 and 25 properties, and they think, Oh my gosh. Thats what I need to be able to retire on a good income for the rest of my life. But in fact, you dont need that many. Weve done a little bit of an analysis on this back at Destiny and discovered that really, if you could put together a portfolio of seven properties, you would be living a pretty comfortable retirement, and if you could put together a portfolio of say, ten, then pretty much thats all you really need. Kevin: I guess it depends on how much cash flow youre getting from those properties as well, Margaret, doesnt it? Margaret: Well, see this is the thing. Its really unreasonable to think that everybody can go out there and pop 20 or 25 properties into their portfolio, even though we have a pretty low cash rate at the moment and a lot of properties are at least evenly geared. Theres still that chance that that could go up, and if you have too many properties in your portfolio at that time, it could cause extreme cash flow issues for you and you might be forced into the sale of them. When I first started my portfolio And I know that Im sitting here talking from a position of having 40 properties, but for me, its been built over a very long period of time, and it was more about the I guess I got a bit addicted to buying property for a little while there. But when you buy your first one, its likely to be a good year or two between the first and the second. Not a lot of people can buy any more than one in the first one. And one of the things that I really want investors to understand is that in that first five to six years, its all about the build phase. Its likely that if youre going to buy seven properties, it might take you five, seven, and even eight years to put together those seven. And as youre doing that, the first property that youve bought, by year seven, is more than likely to have started to become a little bit positive cash flow or at least evenly geared, if it was negatively geared to begin with, and it makes it a bit easier for you to keep adding to that portfolio. As those properties grow in value, as the rental returns go up, then you usually find that they cost less for you to hold and its easier to add to that portfolio. But in those first five to seven years, its almost a like game of one step forward, one backward, because acquisition costs in Australia are fairly high. So, you tend to eat into your equity with costs, rather than with more equity that will grow for you, and you take a bit of a step backward. For many people who are building their portfolios, after having bought five or six properties, they start to think It doesnt seem like Im getting anywhere. My portfolio isnt growing. When it does grow a bit, I tend to go backwards. But its really the second seven to eight years that become the phase where youre actually starting to see the growth. Kevin: So, Margaret, its pretty much steady as she goes at the start of your career? Margaret: I dont want people to think that this is magic and that you can buy a property and bang, you suddenly become wealthy. Anyone whos invested in Sydney in the last three years might be thinking that, because Sydneys just gone through a fabulous growth phase. Interestingly enough, Kevin, I was having a look at the figures the other day, and I did a little calculation on the 12-year growth from 2005 between the median house price in Sydney and the median house price in Adelaide, and guess what I found? Kevin: What? What did you find? Margaret: I found that the median house price in 2005 in Sydney, when you measure it against the median house price in Sydney in July 2017, had grown 78%. The median house in Adelaide, in the same period, had actually grown 112%. Kevin: Wow. Margaret: The difference is that Sydney had a big bang for three years, but they had nothing pretty much for the nine years before that, whereas Adelaide does a little bit every year, and its the compounding growth that counts. The big lesson from those figures, is that, you might think its taking too long. You might think that youre not getting anywhere because as you get that equity, youre borrowing back for your costs from the next property. But if you can sit on something for 12 to 15 years and let your portfolio grow, and as long as you bought well and used the 20 questions to make sure youre buying property in areas that have really good signs of growth, youll find that once you get up around that 12- to 13-year mark, youre going to start to really see some things happening. Youll have a nice wide base of properties, and as they all start going up, youll be adding to your network in large chunks, rather than in those little amounts that you saw at the very beginning. Kevin: Interesting to hear to talk there about those 20 questions. That was the podcast that you and I did some years ago: Margaret Lomass 20 must-ask questions for every property investor. What Ill do Margaret, is put a link back to that because weve still got that in our files. Margaret: Thats a great idea because people still think they can buy any property and as long as they hold it long enough, itll perform. And it probably will. But what you really want is to buy the right kind of property, so that over the long term it performs really well, better than your money could have performed in any other kind of asset. And you can only do that by buying properties with those strong growth drivers. Kevin: Okay, in the text version of this interview, just scroll down to where Margaret did mention the 20 questions. Ill put a live link there thatll take you straight to Margarets podcast where she and I talk about those questions. Hey, Margaret, always great catching up with you. Thank you so much for your time. Margaret: No problem. Ill see you next time. Real Estate Talk the only place where you hear all Australasias leading property experts. Originally published as: https://realestatetalk.com.au/how-many-is-enough-margaret-lomas/ ................................................................................................................................................... Kevin Tuner worked in radio as General Manager of various east coast radio stations. He started in real estate in 1988 and was ranked in the Top 10 Salespeople in the state until he was appointed as State CEO 1992. He operated a number of real estate offices as business owner and was General Manager of several real estate offices in Christchurch. He now hosts a real estate show on Radio 4BC and a weekly podcast at www.realestatetalk.com.au. He is the host of a daily 7 to 10 minute podcast show for real estate professionals at www.reuncut.com.au. To hear more podcasts by Kevin Turner, click here Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property. Abdominal pain is an extremely common complaint in the office and acute care settings. In 2010, abdominal pain accounted for more than 27 million healthcare visits with more than 10 million of those visits occurring in EDs.1 The most common diagnoses made in all patients with gastrointestinal (GI) complaints in the ED in 2012 were functional and organic motility disorders.1 These facts have major implications on healthcare costs: for example, the estimated annual per patient cost of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is $1,562 to $7,547 in direct costs and $791 to $7,737 in indirect costs.2 The ubiquity of these GI disorders along with the diagnostic uncertainly surrounding them means clinicians must understand their cause, presentation, diagnostic criteria, and approach to treatment. The term functional GI disorder refers to syndromes characterized by patient experience and symptoms, rather than structural and motility disorders that are classified in terms of organ morphology and function.3 The Rome Foundation is the major body that has been responsible for characterizing and classifying functional GI disorders. The recently released Rome IV criteria cover 33 adult and 20 pediatric functional disorders.4 These conditions include functional heartburn and dyspepsia, IBS, sphincter of Oddi disorders, functional anorectal pain, defecatory disorders, and functional abdominal pain disorders. This article focuses on the most common functional abdominal pain disorders in adults and their presentation and management in the acute care setting. CAUSES The causes of functional abdominal pain disorders are not fully understood and likely are multifactorial. Although a full review of the pathogenesis of these disorders is beyond the scope of this article, we will briefly outline the proposed physiologic basis of disease to better understand current treatment strategies. In patients without underlying pathology, visceral pain in the GI tract is generated secondary to noxious stimuli (physical, chemical, or inflammatory) that activates a peripheral nerve. This signal is then transduced via the peripheral nerve to the spinal cord and eventually the brain. The potential mechanisms proposed for functional abdominal pain are based on alterations in the function of this system at different anatomic locations. These include augmentation of peripheral nerve signaling, central sensitization, and disturbances in central pain modulation.5 Peripheral nerve signaling augmentation refers to altered nerve signaling or the generation of a pain sensation in the absence of noxious stimuli. Nerve endings may be hypersensitized by an acute insult (such as infection or surgery) and not return to baseline function after the insult is removed.6 Another proposed mechanism is central sensitization, a concept similar to peripheral augmentation. In this case, the brain is hyperresponsive to the input of the peripheral nerves rather than the nerves being hyperresponsive themselves. Finally, disturbances in central pain modulation affect the system responsible for magnifying or limiting peripheral signals. These central mechanisms seem to be associated with psychosocial stressors rather than the residual effects of local noxious stimuli, as postulated in peripheral augmentation.7 The literature supports each of these mechanisms and their contribution but it is likely that they are all contributors to functional abdominal pain.5-7 PRESENTATION AND DIAGNOSTIC APPROACH The clinical presentation of a patient with functional abdominal pain, particularly the physical examination, is nonspecific by nature, given the lack of organic disease. The fact that these disorders are defined by patient experience (that is, symptoms) rather than organ morphology or function makes the history integral to the diagnosis. Although functional GI disorder refers to a spectrum of disorders, all share a general diagnostic framework outlined in the Rome Criteria, which state that symptoms must last at least 3 months, with onset greater than 6 months before diagnosis, and without evidence of organic disease.8 Each specific disorder is then further defined by its own set of criteria.8 The Rome Criteria are the most widely used diagnostic criteria; the Manning Criteria for IBS have been shown to be less sensitive but more specific than the Rome Criteria for that disorder.9 These diagnostic criteria reinforce the importance of an adequate history, specifically regarding symptom duration. In the acute care setting, the general approach to patients with abdominal pain should focus on history with particular emphasis on characterization of pain (including onset, location, and quality), evolution of pain, and what specific changes led the patient to seek urgent care. A comprehensive physical examination should include vital signs, abdominal examination, rectal examination, and pelvic examination for women. A complete medication history also is important as adverse reactions (for example, to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) can cause organic dysfunction that emulates functional abdominal pain disorders. Abdominal wall pain, in particular, is a commonly missed diagnosis; this pain can be elicited by having patients tense their abdominal muscles while the clinician firmly palpates the site of pain (Carnett sign).10 A good psychiatric history also is important, as many patients with functional abdominal pain have comorbid psychiatric conditions. Between 54% and 94% of patients with IBS meet criteria for a primary psychiatric disorder.11 About 50% of patients with functional diagnoses have a history of sexual or physical abuse.12 These comorbid conditions may contribute to the patient's symptoms or symptom perception. Diagnosing functional pain disorders in the acute care setting requires a basic understanding of the general presentation and diagnostic criteria. In the acute care setting, the most common disorders include functional dyspepsia, IBS, functional abdominal pain syndrome, and functional gallbladder disorder. Each clinical situation is different and the lack of objective testing makes generalizable recommendations difficult. Table 1 outlines an approach to each of these disorders. Also a new entity, opioid bowel syndrome, is closely related to functional abdominal pain syndrome and is characterized by worsening pain with increasing doses of opioids and relief after withdrawal of opioids.13 TABLE 1.: 25,26 Comparing common functional abdominal pain disorders If a complete history and physical examination do not reveal a diagnosis of organic disease, further testing is needed. The diagnostic criteria for functional abdominal pain disorders include the caveat that organic disease has been ruled out. This, however, does not mean that advanced testing and imaging are necessary to make a diagnosis, as most organic processes can be ruled in or out with a comprehensive history and examination. If the history and examination are consistent with organic disease, then focused, rather than shotgun testing is indicated. Otherwise, testing should be avoided. In fact, the American Gastroenterological Association's Choosing Wisely Campaign recommends avoiding repeat CT scans in patients with functional abdominal pain syndrome, unless the patient has had major changes in condition.14 A cornerstone of limiting diagnostic testing is obtaining a history of previous tests so that recurrent testing may be avoided unless the patient has new symptoms or strong indications for testing. These conditions often are chronic, and recurrent interventions can be associated with significant cost and patient morbidity. Although functional abdominal pain disorders impair patient quality of life, most do not affect survival, making repeated testing even less useful unless there is a strong clinical indication.15 The general approach to abdominal pain can help define organic versus functional pain and thus can help narrowing testing. If the patient's presentation is consistent with a functional disorder, defining the specific disorder can help define the course of action. In the acute care setting, the following key points can aid the diagnostic approach: In patients with functional dyspepsia, test for Helicobacter pylori, especially in endemic areas such as Asia, Africa, and Central America. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is indicated in patients over age 55 years and in those with red flag symptoms (Table 1). Symptoms of IBS can be exacerbated by triggers including stress, caffeine, artificial sweeteners, legumes, and patient-specific triggers such as lactose or fructose intolerance. Review these with patients to identify causes of exacerbations and to educate patients on avoiding triggers. Screening for celiac disease and lactose intolerance is prudent because of the higher prevalence of these disorders in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. 16,17 Functional gallbladder syndrome, unlike other functional abdominal pain, calls for specific testing to exclude organic disease. Testing includes alkaline phosphatase, transaminases, and pancreatic enzyme tests and ultrasound evaluation of the gallbladder. Advanced imaging with cholescintigraphy (HIDA scan) can be used to assess gallbladder ejection fraction. If the patient's ejection fraction is less than 38%, consider referring the patient for a cholecystectomy.18 TREATMENT The provider-patient relationship is essential to treatment. However brief the interaction may be in the acute care setting, patients may extrapolate their experience to all healthcare providers in the future. Clinicians should validate the patient's symptoms, manage his or her expectations, and explain that these disorders often are chronic. Patients presenting for acute care may expect an inpatient workup but setting boundaries and working with patients to define goals will be important for long-term success. Long-term success is influenced by a strong patient-provider relationship, so one of the core responsibilities of acute care providers is arranging for close, high-quality outpatient follow-up.19 Pharmacologic therapy Patients with functional dyspepsia can be treated locally with proton-pump inhibitor therapy or systemically with antidepressants or other neuromodulating medications. The exact mechanism of action of these systemic medications is not completely understood but their therapeutic effects likely are secondary to their ability to help alter pathologic augmentation of peripheral nerve signaling, central sensitization, and disturbances in central pain modulation. The type of IBS dictates treatment choice. Constipation-predominant IBS can be treated with lubiprostone, linaclotide, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; diarrhea-predominant IBS responds best to tricyclic antidepressants.20 Pharmacologic management is the mainstay of therapy in the acute care setting, given the time and setting constraints. However, the importance of nonpharmacologic therapy cannot be overlooked as these disorders often show an insufficient response in more than half of patients.21 Therefore, patients with residual symptoms or known underlying psychiatric comorbidities should be referred for psychologic therapy. Psychologic therapy The efficacy of several psychologic interventions has been evaluated. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and hypnosis have been shown to be effective in patients with functional abdominal pain disorders; relaxation training, psychodynamic therapy, and biofeedback have not been as promising.22,23 CBT is the most studied of the psychologic interventions for functional GI syndromes. CBT is based on the theory that maladaptive thoughts lead to anxiety and depressive symptoms, which can in turn lead to somatic symptoms. Treatment usually lasts from 6 to 12 sessions. This strategy has been shown to be effective when compared with usual medical care including medications, supportive therapy, education, and stress reduction training.23 Hypnotherapy also has been evaluated and shown to be effective with the potential for benefits lasting as long as 5 years after the intervention.24 With this in mind, part of the acute treatment strategy is identifying psychiatric comorbidities and stressors contributing to the presentation and making the correct referral, especially in patients with refractory symptoms. CONCLUSION Abdominal pain is an incredibly common complaint in acute care, and functional GI disorders are the underlying cause in many patients. The causes of these disorders are not completely understood but seem to have an underlying neurologic component. By understanding the diagnostic criteria of these common conditions, clinicians can intervene appropriately and limit testing. Acute care clinicians also can educate patients and may help establish ongoing outpatient care, helping patients achieve long-term success with their conditions. Latest News Washington, DC - Download the Latest Draft Cybersecurity Practice Guide: What's the guide about? The Federal Government relies on PIV cards to securely authenticate and identify employees and contractors when granting access to federal facilities and information systems. PIV cards require a smart card reader that is typically integrated in desktop and laptop computers. Increasingly, employees are performing work on mobile devices, such as cell phones and tablets, which lack smart card readers. External readers are available, but they are an additional cost and cumbersome to use. As a result, the mandate to use PIV systems has pushed for new means to extend into mobile devices the same security policies as those used on desktop and laptop computers. The NCCoE has demonstrated a feasible security platform based on federal PIV standards that use Derived PIV Credentials (DPC) in a manner that meets security policies. This example implementation is documented as a NIST Cybersecurity Practice Guide, a how-to handbook that presents instructions to implement a DPC system with standards-based cybersecurity technology. This practice guide helps organizations to meet authentication standards and provide users access to the information they need using the devices they prefer without having to purchase expensive and cumbersome external smart card readers. Mobile device users are authenticated through secure cryptographic authentication exchanges using a public key infrastructure (PKI) with credentials derived from a PIV card helping to ensure that strict security policies are met. Although the PIV program and the NCCoE Derived PIV Credentials project are primarily aimed at the federal sectors needs, both are relevant to mobile device users in the commercial sector using smart card-based credentials or other means of authenticating identity. The full draft practice guide is also available for download in PDF or web viewing. Las Vegas: At least 58 people have been killed and over 515 injured after a gunman opened fire at area around Mandalay Bay Casino here, according to a AFP report quoting police officials. This is the deadliest mass shooting incident in modern US history. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed that the suspect - identified as Stephen Paddock - has been shot dead and they believe that there are no more shooters. The police are searching for two vehicles associated with the shooter, Hyundai Tucson Nevada/114B40 and a Chrysler Pacifica Nevada/79D401. Police are also looking out for a woman named Marilou Danley. Reports suggest that she was accompanying the suspect. Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! pic.twitter.com/Z83XvcHejH LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 Freeways have been reopened for traffic. However, the off ramps heading eastbound are closed from Sahara Avenue to Russell Road. The police have asked people to avoid the area around Mandalay Bay Casino. Some flights destined for LAS Airport have been diverted due to the shooting incident. Las Vegas Police have appealed to the people not to live stream or share tactical positions of the cops on scene. I15 Freeway has been closed from Tropicana to Russell Rd, Las Vegas Police reported. University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said the Las Vegas hospital is taking in "several" people with gunshot wounds. Pictures taken at the scene showed revelers cowering in the street or running in terror, as well what appeared to be several bodies lying prone on the ground. (With agency inputs) Nevada: Las Vegas police found at least eight guns in the 32nd-floor hotel room from which a gunman opened fire at concertgoers below, killing at least 50 and injuring more than 200, police said. Undersheriff Kevin McMahill told CNN a police SWAT team found "a number of long rifles" after confronting the gunman in the hotel room. "There were at least eight guns," he said. Las Vegas: A lone gunman opened fire on a large group of concert-goers in Las Vegas late Sunday night, killing at least 50 and injuring over 200. While the gunman has been shot dead by security officials, the hunt is on for an accomplice who may have been with the accused during the incident. Here's is what is confirmed about the incident so far: * A solitary gunman, believed to be a local, opened fire from the 32nd building of the Mandalay Bay, a hotel-casino. * He fired at a large gathering of concert-goers numbering at over 10,000. There was panic with people running in every direction to dodge the bullets. Some eyewitnesses say they had to 'wade through cartridges' to escape the onslaught. * Las Vegas Metro Police officials have said at least 50 have been killed and that another 100 are injured. * Initial investigations show no connection between the shooter and any international organisation. No motive has been established yet. * A massive operation was launched to locate and bring down the gunman - a 64-year-old identified as Stephen Paddock. * The gunman may have had a companion who is wanted for questioning. Her name has officially been released as Marilou Danley and a hunt is on for her. Security officials are also hunting for two cars that may have belonged to the shooter - a Hyundai Tucson Nevada/114B40 and a Chrysler Pacifica Nevada/79D401. Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! pic.twitter.com/Z83XvcHejH October 2, 2017 * Freeways were blocked in the immediate aftermath of the incident but have since been opened. * Reports of several flights being diverted away from Las Vegas has also been received. * US President termed the incident as 'tragic', and offered his condolences to the victims and their families in a single Twitter message. US President Donald Trump offered condolences early Monday morning to victims and their families after a 64-year-old male opened fire on a crowd in Las Vegas killing at least 58 and injuring another 515. Trump termed the incident - regarded as the worst mass shooting incident in the history of the country - as terrible. Praising the first responders, the US Preseident further said it 'was an act of pure evil'. He would visit Vegas on Wednesday, Trump added. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! October 2, 2017 The incident happened late Sunday night when a gunman identified as Stephen Paddock opened fire on an open air concert from his 32nd floor room at the adjoining Mandalay Bay Casino. Absolute panic followed with concert-goers scampering to take cover. Local authorities and a SWAT team quickly reached the spot and Paddock - believed to be a Las Vegas local - was shot dead. He was believed to have been a 'lone wolf'. Authorities also say that no connection between Paddock and any international organisation has yet been established. Meanwhile, White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said separately that the president had been briefed on "the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas" on Sunday night. "We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials," she said. Vatican City: Pope Francis on Monday described a deadly shooting at a Las Vegas concert as a "senseless tragedy" after at least 50 people were gunned down and over 200 others wounded. "Deeply saddened to learn of the shooting in Las Vegas, Pope Francis sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this senseless tragedy," the Vatican said in a telegram. "He commands the efforts of the police and emergency service personnel, and offers the promise of his prayers for the injured and for all who have died," it added. New Delhi: Tata Motors will manufacture compact sedan Tigor with electric powertrain at its Sanand plant in Gujarat to meet Rs 1,120-crore order from state-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL). The company has received an order to supply 10,000 electric cars to the state-run firm. "The electric version of the Tigor would be produced at Sanand plant," sources close to the development said. When contacted, a Tata Motors spokesperson declined to comment. At present, the company rolls out the conventional version of the compact sedan, hatchback Tiago and entry-level car Nano from the Sanand plant, which has an annual capacity of 2.5 lakh units. Tata Motors CEO and MD Guenter Butschek had said the EESL tender provided the company an opportunity to participate in boosting e-mobility in the country and accelerate its efforts to offer full range of electric vehicles to the Indian consumers. The company has been collaboratively working to develop electric powertrain technology for its selected products, he added. Tata Motors will supply the electric vehicles (EVs) in two phases with 500 e-cars in the first phase in November 2017 and the remaining 9,500 electric vehicles (EVs) in the second phase, EESL had stated. All these 10,000 electric cars will be procured within nine months period from the date of issue of letter of intent. As per EESL, Tata Motors quoted the lowest price of Rs 10.16 lakh, exclusive of GST in the competitive bidding. These electric cars are meant for usage by ministries and government departments, either through direct purchase from EESL or lease. Tata Motors was selected through an international competitive bidding aimed at increased participation. Other companies, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Nissan had also participated in the tender. Patna: A massive campaign against child marriage and dowry was launched in Bihar on Monday, officials said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched the statewide campaign at the newly built Bapu Sabhagar here on the sidelines of Mahatma Gandhi`s 148th birth anniversary celebrations. Child marriage is rampant in Bihar, particularly in rural areas, despite laws against it. Till a few years ago, Bihar accounted for 69 per cent of child marriages of total marriages. But the latest National Family Health Survey-4 revealed that the figure has declined in the last 10 years due to increase of education among girls. Mumbai: Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has begun pre-production on his next venture which is based on the "mysterious death" of India's second Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri. The director took to Twitter to make the announcement on the occasion of Shastri's 113th birth anniversary today. "On this day when India's most honest, successful and loved leader, Shri Lal Bahadur Shashtri was born, we begin the pre-production and casting of our film on his mysterious death in Tashkent," wrote Agnihotri. The filmmaker also shared a poster with Shastri's picture and the tentative title of the film is Bharat Ke Lal. Agnihotri had announced in January that his next project will be dedicated to the statesman. He had tweeted, "This is my next film dedicated to Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, on his 51st death anniversary. Please support and contribute ideas. #WhoKilledShashtriji "Death/assassination, questions must be answered. Contribute ideas. This will be first crowdsourcing of ideas for a film." Agnihotri had also shared a poster, which read, "I think it is our democratic right to know if our second Prime Minister Shri Lal Bahadur Shastriji died a natural death, or, as alleged, was it an assassination? Why the cover-up?" Shastri passed away on January 11, 1966 in Uzbekistan, after signing the Tashkent Declaration with Pakistan. He reportedly died due to cardiac arrest at the age of 61. New Delhi: A day after calling off merger deal with Aircel, Reliance Communications on Monday announced elevation of four senior officials to the board level as executive directors of the company. "The board of directors of Reliance Communications Limited (RCom) at its meeting held on October 2, 2017, in Mumbai, expanded its board by inducting its senior executives," the company said in a statement. RCom President for Telecom Business Punit Garg, co-CEO and CEO of Mobility Business Gurdeep Singh, Reliance Infratel Limited (RITL) Director Suresh Rangachar, who currently heads the fibre and tower business, and Chief Financial Officer Manikantan have been elevated to the board as executive directors of the company. Garg and Rangachar have been part of RCom's senior management team for the last 17 years and have held several key positions in the company, including CEO of Indian and global enterprise business, corporate strategy and regulatory affairs. Singh joined RCom from Aircel and has been with the firm for the past 6 years. Manikantan has been with the company for the last 22 years and has held several senior positions. RCom's co-CEO and Chief Executive Officer and Director of its submarine cable venture, Global Cloud Xchange, William (Bill) Barney has also been elevated to the board level, as per the statement. New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will begin a two-day visit to Dhaka from tomorrow during which a pact on bilateral investment promotion and protection is likely to be signed. Besides, "a Dollar Credit Line Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and Export- Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) is likely to be signed for 3rd Line of Credit," an official statement said It did not provide details on the line of credit. On Wednesday, it said, a "Joint Interpretative Notes on the Agreement between India and Bangladesh for the Promotion and Protection of Investments" is likely to be signed. On his arrival in Dhaka tomorrow, Jaitley will deliver the inaugural address at the business meeting between Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FBCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). In the evening, he will attend a dinner hosted by the High Commissioner of India, HarshVardhan Shringla. On Wednesday, Jaitley will hold a bilateral meeting with Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal A Muhith. Later, the two will launch the cashless visa services. Jaitley will also deliver a talk on the 'Macro-economic Initiatives of the Government of India: Financial Inclusion, Demonetisation and Cashless Economy'. Later in the afternoon, Finance Minister is likely to call on Bangladesh Prime Minister. In the evening on October 4, the Bangladesh Finance Minister will host a dinner in the honour of the visiting Indian Finance Minister. The minister will depart for home on October 5. Chandigarh: To promote value-based education in the state, the Haryana Board of School Education will hold a competition on moral education for students from class IX to XII in government and private schools affiliated with it. This was informed by Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, who was speaking at a function organized on the occasion of birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at Board's office in Bhiwani, an official release said. The students in each of these classes bagging first, second and third positions at the state-level would be given cash prizes of Rs 11,000, Rs 5,100 and Rs 3,100 respectively and citations would be given to the concerned schools, the release quoting the minister said. London: An experimental robotic farm run by UK scientists has been harvested for the first time, yielding about five tonnes of spring barley. Everything from start to finish - including sowing, fertilising, collecting samples and harvesting - has been done by autonomous vehicles on the farm, researchers said. Researchers from the Harper Adams University in the UK believe that the robotic technology improve yields in agriculture, which is necessary to avoid food crisis with the growing population in coming years. For the project, dubbed Hands Free Hectare, researchers used commercially available agriculture machines and software used to guide amateur drones. "In agriculture, nobody has really managed to solve the problem of autonomy," said Jonathan Gill, mechatronics researcher at Harper Adams University, who led the project. The researchers purchased several small-size agricultural machines, including a tractor and a combine, a machine for harvesting grain crops, the 'Live Science' reported. They then fitted the machines with actuators, electronics and robotic technology that would allow them to control the machines without the presence of a human operator. "The vehicles navigate entirely based on the GPS, and they are just essentially driving towards targets that we predetermined," said Martin Abell, of Precision Decisions, an agricultural company that partnered with the university. "At different GPS targets, there are different actions designed to be carried out," Abell said. The Harper Adams team plans to use the robotically harvested spring barley to make a limited batch of "hands- free" beer that will be distributed to the project's partners. Vadodara: Two persons were injured here in police firing during the tazia immersion procession on the occasion of Muharram around midnight, an official said on Monday. As the procession was passing through the Panigate area, some members from two different communities allegedly hurled abuses and threw stones at each other, Vadodara's police commissioner Manoj Shashidhar said. A police official present on the spot fired two rounds to disperse the mob and immediately brought the situation under control, he said. Two persons were injured in firing. They were taken to a hospital where they were stated to be out of danger, he said. The police commissioner said he also rushed to the spot and camped in the area till 4.30 am today to monitor the situation, which was under control. Gurugram: Neerja Batra, the acting principal of Ryan International School, where seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur was brutally murdered in a toilet, has been posted as a teacher at Sector 40 branch. The Ryan International administration had suspended Bartra after angry parents and locals had gathered outside the school premises and staged protest demanding a CBI probe into the gruesome murder. Pradyuman was found dead with his throat slit in the washroom of Ryan International school in Bhondsi area on Sohna Road near here on September 8. Meanwhile, Pradyuman's father Varun Thakur questioned the school administration on its move to reinstate the principal. "How can you reinstate the principal who failed to fulfill her responsibility? What is the meaning of suspension then," the aggrieved father said. Police have alleged that 42-year-old bus conductor Ashok Kumar killed the Class II student with a knife after the boy resisted an attempt to sodomise him. Kumar has been arrested. The case has snowballed into a major national issue concerning safety and security of children in private schools, with vociferous protests by parents and activists outside the Ryan schools in several states including Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The post-mortem report of seven-year-old Pradyuman has ruled out sexual assault even as the parent of another schoolchild claimed the crime scene was tampered with even though he had cautioned otherwise. Bus driver Saurabh Raghav has said the knife used in the killing was not kept in the bus tool box, as claimed by accused conductor Ashok Kumar, adding that police pressurised him also to admit to being an accomplice in the crime. Varun Thakur said there were "too many loopholes" in the police theory and the school management's stand on the murder. Lucknow/Ranchi: Communal clashes broke out between Hindu and Muslim communities in parts of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar and Jharkhand on Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1. At least 12 people were injured and six vehicles including two cars and four motorcycles torched after tensions gripped in three areas in UP. The first incident took place in Param Purva area of Kanpur district as one group was taking out Muharram procession through a Hindu-dominated area celebrating Dussehra, leaving six people injured. The rioters also resorted to stone pelting. Heavy security was deployed in the region, with police resorting to lathicharge in some cases. The incident occurred when the Tazia procession deviated from its fixed route. Perturbed, some members of another community started throwing stones at it in Parampurva, Inspector General of Police (Kanpur zone) Alok Singh. Four companies (around 400 personnel) of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and a company of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed in the area to maintain peace. A similar incident happened in Rawatpur village in Kanpur district. Situation was later brought under control. In UP's Ballia, another six people were injured after a dispute broke out between the members of the two communities over children at a Durga Puja pandal. The authorities resorted to curfew to maintain peace and order. The incident took place in the city's Sikandarpur area. A minor quarrel between two children took an ugly turn after their parents and members of the two communities got involved. "The quarrel which took place last evening involving children of two communities at a Durga Puja fair led to tension and people from the two communities clashed with each other. There were reports of stone pelting," District Magistrate Surendra Vikram said. The police reached on spot and controlled the situation. Senior officials in Lucknow said the situations are being closely monitored. Meanwhile, in Bihars Jamui area, violence erupted after a child was injured due to stone pelting during Durha idol immersion. Nearly six persons were injured due to the incident. In Jharkhand, Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Daltonganj also witnessed clashes between Hindu and Muslim communities during Durga idol immersion. With agency inputs New Delhi: Recalling Mahatma Gandhis swachh bharat legacy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that more that 125 crore Indians have accepted the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan in their hearts. The movement has become a people's movement due to the 'Siddhi' of Swachhagrahis, said PM Modi. #SwachhIndia wont come true even if 1000 Mahatma Gandhis, 1 lakh Narendra Modis, all Chief Ministers and governments come together. The dream of a Swachh Bharat will be realised by 125 crore Indians, not a select group of leaders or officials. PM Modi was speaking at an event to mark third anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan on Monday. India faces challenges but that does not mean we run away from them. We will face them and work to overcome them, said the Prime Minister. A positive spirit of competition has been created due to the Swachh bharat Mission, said the PM Modi, further adding, "We see this in the cleanliness rankings, how organisations are working on cleanliness." When we initiated Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, we faced criticism. Three years later, we are aware of its progress. India faces challenges but that does not mean we run away from them. We will face them and work to overcome them, PM Modi said. The Prime Minister also applauded media's role in the cleanliness drive, saying, Media played a big role in cleanliness drive. It will expose those who oppose Clean India. Earlier today, PM Modi paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat on his birth anniversary. Beijing: Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajans and quotes on Monday resonated in the sprawling Chaoyang Park in central Beijing where people from all walks of life gathered to commemorate his 148th birth anniversary. While a cultural team from the Indian Embassy here sung Vaishana Jana, the famous bhajan included in Gandhi's daily prayer, a batch of Chinese school children dressed in green and white with red scarfs recited some of his most popular quotes of Gandhi compiled by their school. Some of the Gandhian quotes read by the Chinese school children included "the weak never forgive: Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong", "Strength does not come from your physic but from indomitable will", "Greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated". The statue of Gandhi carved by China's acclaimed sculptor and artist Yuan Xikun was installed in the park in 2005, providing an opportunity for all his admirers to pay homage to him. Besides Gandhi, Yuan had also sculpted the bust of Rabindranath Tagore which is displayed in the museum attached to the park. A large gathering of Indian diplomats, including Charge d'affaires B Wilson Babu and Chinese admirers of Gandhi and Indian expats attended today's event. In his speech, Babu said Gandhi's novel advocating for non-violent actions brought down colonialism, greatly influenced freedom struggle and inspired several world leaders such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela in their fight. In due recognition of Gandhi's enduring legacy, October 2 has been designated as the International Day of Non-Violence by UN, he said. While Gandhi's philosophy and ideals are all the more relevant in today's world filled with strife, the values espoused by him provided a way forward to build a just and equitable world, Babu said. To commemorate the Gandhi Jayanthi and International Day of Non-Violence, the Centre for Gandhian and Indian Studies (CGIS), Fudan University on September 28 conducted a lecture and a round-table conference on the theme - 'Gandhian Thought and International Relations Today'. GUWAHATI: A wheelchair-bound man was allegedly called a 'Pakistani' for not standing up while the national anthem was being played before a movie screening. Thirty-six-year-old Arman Ali, a disability rights activist and executive director at Shishu Sarothi an NGO, was seated in one of the front rows of the movie theatre on Friday. The moment the National Anthem started playing, he sat upright as a mark of respect. Towards the end, two men in their 50s, started calling him out from behind Saamne ek Pakistani baitha hai ("There is a pakistani sitting in the front"). In his Facebook post, Ali writes: Today, I took my nieces and nephew for a movie. As usual they played the #NationalAnthem before the movie and my niece and nephew stood up. However, since I am a wheelchair user, I did my best by sitting upright. At the end of the Anthem, I heard a comment from behind SAAMNE EK PAKISTANI BAITHA HAI ("There is a pakistani sitting in the front"). When I looked behind, I saw that there were 2 Gents in their 50's with a smug look on their face - perhaps with the mindset that they had done their National Duty by passing a comment on my not standing up to the National Anthem. My nieces asked me "Have people have come from Pakistan to watch this movie?" to which I said "Yes, its a super hit movie". Movie halls seems to have become the new battlefield of the Nation where people prove their patriotism and nationalism. The number of children diagnosed as overweight has more than doubled in recent years.1 More than one out of three pediatric and adolescent patients seen in the family medicine or pediatric settings are overweight.1 Overweight 5-year-olds are estimated to be four times more likely to become overweight or obese in adulthood when compared with children of healthy weight.2 Literature suggests clinicians are not consistently assessing body mass index (BMI) in children. Clinicians often use visual cues, which may lead to inaccurate assessment of BMI.3,4 This becomes problematic as clinicians have a tendency to underestimate weight when relying solely on visual cues for their assessment.4-6 The inability to accurately identify overweight or obesity in children may prolong proper diagnosis, placing them at an increased risk for developing comorbidities.3,7 In primary care, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends clinicians screen for obesity beginning when patients are age 6 years.8 However, earlier identification of overweight status has been found to lead to improved management of obesity.3,9 Waiting until age 6 years may delay timely identification, diagnosis, and treatment of children who are considered overweight or obese. In emergency care, appropriate measurements (use of visual estimations or estimation tools) are necessary for appropriate medication dosing and to prevent underresuscitation.10 However, the use of a measurement tool such as the Broselow tape has been demonstrated as unreliable.11 As a result, clinicians use their own weight estimations, which are even less reliable than the Broselow tape, except in obese children.12,13 In a study specifically targeting children ages 3 to 5 years, a survey of physicians, resident physicians, and fourth-year medical students determined respondents were only able to accurately identify a patient as being obese 15% of the time and only slightly more likely to properly identify an overweight child (21%) with visual cues.4 Literature about the physician assistant (PA) workforce suggests a decreasing trend in primary care and expansion into subspecialties such as emergency medicine and trauma.14-16 In either practice, PAs will encounter overweight children. Evaluation of visual estimations of BMI in children ages 3 to 5 years has not been conducted with PAs or PA students. This study evaluated PA students' and recent PA graduates' ability to accurately assess BMI in patients ages 3 to 5 years, specifically: How accurate are PA students and recent graduates in assessing BMI in patients ages 3 to 5 years using visual observation alone? With height and weight data? Are there differences in the accuracy of PA students' and recent graduates' assessment of BMI based on their standing in the PA education program, confidence in their ability to predict BMI, experience with pediatric patients, or training with BMI-for-age growth charts? METHODS This was a cross-sectional survey of PA students (year 1 and year 2) and recent PA graduates of Wichita State University. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained. A link to the survey (Qualtrics Survey Software) was e-mailed to 140 eligible participants. A reminder was e-mailed 2 weeks after the initial e-mail to nonrespondents. Ninety-eight responses were received, for a response rate of 70%. Informed consent was implied by survey response. The survey consisted of pictures (deidentified with pseudonyms) of 3- to 5-year-old children (Figure 1) and their height and weight information, used with permission from the CDC Internet-based training on using the BMI-for-age growth charts.17 Additional survey questions included self-reported confidence in ability to identify a child's BMI-for-age category accurately; beliefs regarding the importance of BMI-for-age category on a child's health; areas of the body (head/neck region, trunk/abdomen, arms/legs, or all regions) most important for obtaining an accurate assessment of their patient's BMI-for-age status; and demographics. FIGURE 1.: From left, Child 1 (Mike), Child 2 (Mindy), and Child 3 (Lisa) The respondents were first requested to describe each child's BMI for age through visual cues alone and categorize each into one of the following BMI categories: underweight (less than 5th percentile), healthy weight (5th to less than 85th percentile), overweight (85th to less than 95th percentile), and obese (greater than or equal to 95th percentile). Next, respondents were presented with the same photos, but also provided height and weight measurements for each child and asked to categorize them in the BMI groups. Respondents were requested to not to use any assistive devices or notes during this assessment. Data analysis for this study was completed utilizing the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Data were described through descriptive techniques, frequency reporting, and chi-square testing for nonparametric data analyses. The statistical significance for this study was set at a value of P.05. RESULTS Demographics Respondent demographics are shown in Table 1. Respondents were mostly women (70.4%), non-Hispanic white (95.9%), and ranged in age from 22 to 44 years (mean=27.02; SD=4.29). Nearly 29% of respondents were first-year PA students, nearly 40% were second-year students, and nearly 32% were recent graduates. Primary outcomes visual assessment results Results without and with height and weight data are shown in Table 2. All survey respondents underestimated Child 1 (Mike, obese), based on visual assessment alone. There was a statistically significant (10 percentage points; P=.003) improvement when height and weight data were provided although most (89.8%) respondents still underestimated BMI. Most (81.6%) respondents appropriately categorized Child 2 (Mindy, healthy weight child). When height and weight data were provided, respondents' accuracy dropped from 81.6% to 54.1%, a statistically significant decline (33.7%; 27.5 percentage points; P<.001). Almost all (93.9%) underestimated Child 3 (Lisa, overweight). A statistically significant (150.8%; 9.2 percentage points; P=.038) improvement in categorization occurred when height and weight data were provided (15.3%, up from 6.1% correct). Secondary outcomescomparisons between groups Respondents' self-reported program standing, self-confidence, pediatric experience, and training with BMI-for-age growth chart are listed in Table 1. Accuracy by year in PA program is shown in Table 3; no significant differences between groups were found for any child with or without height and weight data (P values ranged from .112 to .889). Half of respondents (55.1%) reported assessing all body regions for estimating BMI. No statistically significant differences were found in categorization accuracy for any child with or without height and weight data (P values ranged from .227 to .864). In regard to self-reported confidence in ability to accurately categorize BMI for age in children, 26.5% of respondents reported being very confident (2%) or confident (24.5%); however, no statistically significant differences were found in categorization accuracy for any child with or without height and weight data by self-reported confidence (P values ranged from .226 to .742). About 40% of respondents reported previous pediatric experience; however, no statistically significant differences were found between those who did and did not report previous pediatric experience (P values ranged from .307 to 1) for any child with or without height and weight data. Half (50%) of the respondents reported having received training to use BMI-for-age growth charts; however, no statistically significant differences were found between training groups in accuracy with or without height and weight data (P values ranged from .435 to 1). TABLE 3.: Correct BMI assessments by participant year in PA program DISCUSSION This study evaluated PA students' and recent graduates' ability to accurately assess BMI in patients ages 3 to 5 years based solely on visual cues, followed by the addition of height and weight data. Further, group comparisons were completed to determine if there were differences based on self-reported program standing, confidence, previous pediatric experience, and previous training with BMI-for-age growth charts. Visual assessment alone was unreliable for all the respondents but especially in regard to Child 1 (Mike, obese) and Child 3 (Lisa, overweight) who were most often underestimated. This was consistent with findings from physicians, residents, and medical students using the same methodology as well as other studies.4-6,18 According to the literature, these underestimations may be a result of inappropriate perceptions of healthy weight status.19 Notable differences were found when comparing respondents' categorization responses with visual assessment (without height and weight data) and when height and weight data were provided. In the case of Child 1 (Mike, obese), initial visual assessments all were underestimated and a small improvement occurred with the addition of height and weight data. This is similar to the responses to Child 3 (Lisa, overweight), who was most often underestimated with visual assessment alone; an improvement was noted following the addition of height and weight data. However, in the case of Child 2 (Mindy, healthy weight), initial visual assessment alone was mostly correct with underestimation more often occurring when height and weight data were provided. The data revealed no statistically significant improvements in categorization based on personal characteristics such as standing in the PA program, previous experience with pediatric patients, or training on the BMI-for-age growth chart. Although familiarity with pediatric patients or growth chart training might be expected to contribute to a clinician's ability to provide an accurate BMI assessment, this study revealed that previous experience does not improve accuracy of BMI-for-age categorization when using visual cues. Also, respondents who reported self-confidence in their ability to assess BMI performed no better than those who reported being somewhat confident or not confident at all. Appropriate evaluation of BMI in young children (ages 3 to 5 years) is important in primary care, where early prevention for obesity may be delayed if not overweight is recognized. Annual calculation of BMI for children and adolescents is clearly recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics as part of routine preventive healthcare.20 Despite recommendations, there is evidence that BMI calculations are not consistently being used in primary care.21,22 Qualitative research indicates that pediatric primary care providers more often watch trends using growth charts, as well as visual estimation, waiting to use BMI calculation until there is a concern.23 BMI use has been shown more effective when the parameter is automatically calculated in electronic health records.23,24 Pediatric providers should give priority to evaluating BMI during preventive care visits due to early risk for comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and underlying endocrine disorders as well as social stigma. Correctly classifying children's BMI also is important in emergency care, especially as EDs often are used as a substitute for primary care and may need to provide routine preventive guidance.25 The concern about visual estimation alone is that in emergent situations, the urgency of patient care may preclude measuring the patient's height and weight. The evidence that providers more often underestimate pediatric BMI leads to the potential for seriously ill or injured children to be undertreated in weight-based treatments such as medication dosing or fluid resuscitation.10 LIMITATIONS Potential limitations of this study include the use of black-and-white digital photographs as opposed to color photographs, video, or live children, and use of photographs depicting nonethnic, white children; providers may make more accurate assessments in live patient encounters. This study was conducted in a single PA education program and is not generalizable to all PAs. Previous pediatric experience was self-reported without specific guidelines. Survey distribution by e-mail may have limited the number of respondents; however, e-mail was chosen due to cost-effectiveness, ease of distribution, and resulting in fewer unanswered survey questions.26 Future research should include more experienced PAs but, more importantly, should evaluate how the knowledge of unreliable visual BMI estimations affects clinicians in their reliance on visual assessment or measurement tools. Research confirming these findings could assess PAs' ability to estimate BMI using standardized patients or patient videos. Further, research for visual estimation of BMI should evaluate various body regions as predictors for correct estimation. CONCLUSION This study supports the body of literature that clinicians should not rely solely on visual assessment for categorizing BMI in children. PA students and recent PA graduates performed similarly to other medical professionals in the underestimation of BMI categorization of young children. This could be detrimental in pediatric patient care, both in early intervention in primary care for obesity and undertreatment in time-dependent urgent care. Instead, clinicians should consistently use height and weight measurements to document BMI in patients, basing their counseling and intervention on these measurements. Mumbai: Mumbai police is set to initiate an inquiry into incidents of molestation and theft during and after the Friday's stampede at the Elphinstone railway station's foot-over-bridge. 23 people died in the unfortunate incident while dozens were grievously injured. Several reports quoting eyewitnesses say that women trapped on the bridge during the stampede were molested and that there were incidents of theft in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. One such report in The Hindu quotes people at the station around the time as saying that while many rushed to help those trapped, there were also some with nefarious intent. What has added to the anger is the emergence of a video which shows a woman trapped under the bodies reaching out for help while a man standing next to her - apparantly to help - brushing his hands against her body. The woman's hands rise for help and then drops. It is not clear if the said woman was one of the 23 dead. Understandably, it has led to a lot of anger with people questioning how incidents of molestation and theft can occur in the immediate aftermath of such a tragedy. It has forced even the Government Railway Police to initiate an inquiry. "This case comes under Mumbai Police, but I will also initiate an inquiry," Niket Kaushik, Commissioner, Government Railway Police, was quoted as saying by The Hindu. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with President Ram Nath Kovind paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri at Rajghat and Vijay Ghat on Monday. Besides the two top leaders, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, former PM Manmohan Singh and BJP patriarch LK Advani also paid floral tributes to the Father of the Nation and India's second prime minister. On the occasion of Gandhi's birth anniversary, the PM tweeted: "I bow to beloved Bapu on Gandhi Jayanti. His noble ideals motivate millions across the world." - ! I bow to beloved Bapu on Gandhi Jayanti. His noble ideals motivate millions across the world. pic.twitter.com/NFUHMLVCxo Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2017 His birthday is also observed as the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist during a prayer meeting at the Birla House here. Gandhi is admired across the world for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance. He was known to his many followers as the Mahatma. The Prime Minister in another tweet remembered Lal Bahadur Shastri on his birthday anniversary. ! Remebering Lal Bahadur Shastri ji on his Jayanti. pic.twitter.com/88ieTHnZip Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2017 The Vice President is also expected to unveil the statue of Gandhiji in the parking area of Rajghat. October 2 is the birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who is also known as the Father of the Nation and Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second prime minister of the country. Naidu on Sunday said that after independence, Mahatma Gandhi wanted Ramarajya in India. Ramarajya means an ideal rule, where there is no fear, where there is no hunger, where there is no corruption, where there is no exploitation, where there is no discrimination. He further said that it is our duty at various levels and we must all work for the ideals of Ramarajya, given to the expectations of Mahatma Gandhi, and see to it that the people are given a fair rule we all concerned. That is why politicians always talk about Ramarajya, he added. President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday urged cleanliness be made a national movement, and said that achieving the goal of "Swachh Bharat" will be true tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. The President described Mahatma Gandhi as a man of simple living and a moral preceptor, Kovind said that he gave a new direction to the country through his leadership. New Delhi: The Modi government will on Monday confer awards on those who contributed towards the Clean India objective in urban areas on the third anniversary of the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). The felicitation will be given under seven categories for their significant contribution towards furthering the Clean India objective in urban areas, said a Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry statement. Among the winners is a Delhi-based Facebook citizen group -- 'My Delhi Keep It Clean' -- which is being awarded for promoting efforts to clean public places. The ministry will also felicitate 20 individuals and agencies in seven categories for significant contribution towards furthering the Clean India objective in urban areas, a government release said. Fertiliser Cooperative KRIBHCO will be conferred the Swacchata Award for marketing of compost made from municipal solid waste. Richmond Park, located in Gurugram's DLF Phase-IV, has been chosen for the award for exemplary decentralized waste management initiative through waste segregation at source, in the RWAs category. The Ministry said that the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) Federation of Mysuru has shown the way in zero-waste effluent management system. Roseland Housing Society, Pune also gets the award for waste segregation initiative. Kasturba Gandhi Balika Awasiya Vidyalaya, Ambikar will receive the award in the schools and colleges category while Swacch Ambikapur Sahakari Samiti has been chosen in self-help group category for women empowerment and livelihood generation by converting garbage into wealth. Pemayangste Monastery in Sikkim will be felicitated in the category of religious institutions for being a Zero-waste institution. No Food Waste' initiative of Coimbatore has been selected in the Innovative Practices category for end-to-end cycle to manage and reduce food waste. New Delhi: American weapons will not give New Delhi a 'bargaining chip' in handling its China relations because it is a US attempt to impose its Asia strategy on India, a state-run Chinese media said in an editorial on Monday. The US is trying to tie New Delhi to its chariot, but it cannot bring about India's rise or act as a viable bargaining chip, the Global Times said. India will have to rely on itself rather than a few weapons the US is trying to sell to it for its own ambitions, the article said, adding the progress of US-India relations is subtly connected to the development of China-US ties. New Delhi's status in Asia should not be determined by Washington's China strategy, it said. While Beijing has not considered India a factor in handling its ties with Washington, the Washington-New Delhi relationship has taken the need to contain China into account, the opinion piece said. But compared to New Delhi, Beijing is more determined and capable not to be manipulated when handling its relations with other countries. India would be more mature if it could view high-level exchanges with the US without regard for any perceived need to contain China, it said. Referring to the Doklam standoff, the article said India and China showed maturity in handling the crisis and proved both have the capability to eliminate exterior interventions and diplomatically handle crises. Washington: Facing an intense scrutiny over the presence of Russian ads on its platform during the 2016 American presidential election, Facebook will finally hand over nearly 3,000 Russian political ads to US Congress on Monday. According to a ReCode report, along with the Russian ads, Facebook plans to share information about the users those ads targeted and how they were paid for with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee. "All three committees are investigating the extent to which Russia may have interfered in last fall`s US presidential election," the report added. Facebook is facing a probe after disclosing the details about the presence of Russian political ads worth $100,000. After an extensive legal and policy review, the social media giant recently announced that it would share 3,000 Russian ads with Congressional investigators. Google, Facebook, and Twitter have been invited to testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee on November 1 over the Russian probe. Facebook earlier handed over the details to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently investigating claims of alleged Russian meddling in the election, included copies of the ads and details about the accounts that bought them and the targeting criteria they used. As the probe into Moscow`s alleged meddling in the election intensifies, Twitter also announced that it has deleted over 200 fake Russian accounts and identified Russia Today of buying bought ads targeted at American users` accounts. In a closed-door meeting last week, Colin Crowell, Twitter`s Vice President for Public Policy, met with staff from Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to discuss the issue. Twitter also shared with committee staff ads that three Russia Today accounts targeted to the US market in 2016. "Based on our findings thus far, RT spent $274,100 in US ads in 2016. In that year, the three RT accounts promoted 1,823 tweets that definitely or potentially targeted the US market," Twitter said. Google has also launched a probe into the role its services could have played in the Russian interference. "Google is conducting a broad internal investigation to determine whether Russian-linked entities used its ads or services to try to manipulate voters ahead of the US election," media reports said last week. Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Sunday doubled the bounty to Rs 6 lakhs for providing any information about the mysterious braid chopping incidents that has gripped the Valley. Incidents of mysterious braid cutting occurred in south and central Kashmir. Police announce reward upto Rs 6 lakh for info on people behind incidents, said SP Vaid, DIG Police, South Kashmir. Police, investigating the braid-chopping incidents, fear that it could incite violence and anti-India protests. Special police teams have been deputed in Anantnag and Kulgam. Helpline numbers have also been set up, said Vaid. The police had also formed a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to investigate the incidents. Last week, clashes erupted in Anantnag district after reports of braid chopping incidents in the adjoining Kulgam district. Several girls and women complained of their braid being chopped off. They claim that someone uses a spray to make them unconscious and later cuts of their braided hair. Hundreds of women across the north Indian belt have complained about their braids being mysteriously chopped off. Nearly 50 incidents of braid-chopping instances have been reported from Jammu and Kashmir alone. Srinagar: Dozens of Pakistani terrorists are waiting to enter India from different areas along the border in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army said on Monday. Intelligence reports suggest Pakistani terrorists have stepped up infiltration bids over the past few months even as the Indian security forces have increased their vigil all along the Line of Control (LoC). GOC 19 Division Major General RP Kalita said on Monday that 60 to 70 terrorists are waiting to cross over to India from different 'launch pads' across the LoC. He said the army is on alert, particularly along the stretch from Baramulla, Gulmarg to Naugam, as the terrorists are 'ready' to enter through this area. Earlier in the day, the army foiled a major infiltration bid in the Tangdhar sector of the state. "An infiltration bid was foiled today by alert soldiers along the LoC in Tangdhar sector in north Kashmir," an Army official said. He said the soldiers noticed some suspicious movement near the LoC and challenged the suspects. "An exchange of fire took place between the sides," he said, adding that a search operation was launched soon after the gunfire stopped. Srinagar: Angered with the repeated ceasefire violation incidents, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Nirmal Singh on Monday said Pakistan is a country of cowards. Hitting out at Pakistan, Singh said, "On one side they (Pakistan) show white flags and on the other hand target civilians." A 10-year-old boy and a girl were killed and five other civilians injured on Monday in heavy shelling and firing by the Pakistan Army on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. Two Border Security Force (BSF) troopers and three civilians were injured when Pakistan Rangers resorted to heavy shelling on the international border in Jammu and Kashmir on September 23. Srinagar: A police head constable was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. The victim has been identified as head constable Ashiq Hussain. He was shot dead in the state's Padgampora region. In another incident today, the army has gunned down three terrorists in Tangdhar district today. The army has also recovered weapons. Two more terrorists were killed in the Rampur sector of Baramulla district by the army during a failed infiltration bid. Mumbai: The city police has arrested a constable for allegedly driving a vehicle in an inebriated condition while on duty, an official said today. Constable Ankush Sanap, attached to the MHB colony police station in suburban Borivali, was on patrolling duty last night. Some locals allegedly spotted Sanap driving a police mobile van in a zigzag manner on the Western Express Highway near a temple in suburban Kandivali around 11.30 pm, the official said. The locals then informed the police who arrived at the spot and took the constable to a police station, he said. Upon examination, Sanap was found to be under the influence of alcohol, the official said. The constable was arrested in the wee hours today and booked under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act and the Maharashtra Prohibition Act, he said. The golden anniversary of the PA profession is here! JAAPA launched its special anniversary content series a year ago, and now it comes to an end. The PA profession, once a nontraditional career, is fully established. Thousands of students apply to and enter PA programs annually, and more than 115,500 certified PAs practice in the United States in every specialty and clinical setting. The future looks bright. However, Everett and Quella reminded us in Diffusion of PA innovation: Risk-taking vs. safe bet (June 2017) that PAs face important new challenges and opportunities in the years ahead. Let us highlight a few themes from the anniversary collection as we look to the future. FLEXIBILITY REMAINS CRITICAL From the beginning of the PA profession to today, flexibility remains a critically important and powerful phenomenon within the PA movement. A generalist education with clinical and interpersonal skills that translate across myriad practice settings has powered PA adaptability. This flexibility, novel to US healthcare, enables PAs to evolve in concert with patient needs, advances in biomedical knowledge, and disruptive changes in the healthcare system. Adaptability and flexibility were powerfully illustrated in A history of PAs in the US Public Health Service (December 2016), Presidents as patients: A White House PA recalls his service (January 2017), and two pieces about the fight to establish practice regulations for PAs in New Jersey and Mississippi (April and May 2017, respectively). PIONEERING NEW TRAILS Reflections from four physicians, each in collaborative practice with PAs across different generations, offered an interesting vantage into this unique professional relationship and its progression over time. PAs: Public awareness and the popular media (July 2017) examined the socialization of PAs in the United States in an unconventional way. This story revealed an important, largely underused opportunity to strengthen public perception of PAs in the future. And, Pederson and Wendel shared an inspiring and heartbreaking story about a PA who single-handedly took the profession to new heights (April 2017). These stories and others are evidence that PAs continue to pioneer new paths to increase access to high-quality healthcare and improve the health of our communities. A CALL FOR LEADERSHIP Stories from the anniversary collection point out important gaps, challenging us to face new paradigms and emerging cultural norms that can strengthen the PA profession. Leadership was a dominant theme. One piece (June 2017) that took a personal look into two successful clinical leaders made the call for PAs to assume a seat at the table. Most of us became PAs to care for patients and families. However, as our profession grows, we must embrace leadership and not abdicate the responsibility to shape healthcare policy and the models of care in which PAs practice. Collaboration has been a defining quality and strength of PA practice for 50 years. We must reconcile a path that embraces interprofessional collaboration but increasingly empowers the profession to drive its own journey ahead. The potential risks of being silent on matters such as national healthcare policy was evident to us in The GMENAC report and the PA profession (October 2016). As this editorial is being written, partisan politics and tension permeate the discussion of US healthcare policy on Capitol Hill mitigating any meaningful improvements or reform. Although the PA profession has spent recent years building and improving the regulatory foundation for PAs state by state, PAs have been relatively silent on the national healthcare policy debate. The future of recent expansions in healthcare insurance coverage for Americans appears uncertain. Is this public silence from the PA profession a strategic move or evidence of inadequate capacities for leadership and risk-taking? New PA programs are developing rapidly with local feasibility studies occurring in the absence of any meaningful national scans. Recent frictions among internal stakeholders within the profession may have distracted attention away from these national health policy and workforce issues. A case to prioritize these discussions was made by Hooker in When will physician assistant supply exceed demand? (November 2016) as well as by Salsberg and Quigley in Are we facing a physician assistant surplus? (November 2016). WHAT LIES AHEAD? In Predicting the past (July 2017), Reed shrewdly reminds us that trying to predict the profession's future is a fool's errand. Although we will not dust off any crystal balls here, we speculate that 25 years from now the full effect of the profession's decision to move to advanced degrees will manifest. Will this dramatically change who we are as a profession? How diverse and inclusive will the PA profession be? Will requiring advanced degrees for entry into the PA career be associated with improved care for patients or greater success in negotiating professional autonomy or self-regulation? One hope we share is that the benevolence and altruistic character that have defined PAs for 50 years will continue to mature. Although the tendency to volunteer and serve our communities remains common among PAs, a culture of philanthropy is lacking despite today's highly competitive salaries. Maybe we should make October's PA Week a time of giving for PAs, highly publicize this priority, and acknowledge contributions and successful projects. As the PA career is now well established, we must prepare ourselves for the emergence of new careers and thoughtfully consider potential relationships and interdependencies. In the same way that PAs were welcomed by some established professions and disregarded by others, will we elect to advocate for and support the development of careers that fill gaps in our healthcare system? Similarly, should PA organizations increase their support for the global development of PAs and similar workforce derivatives? What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of global mobility for PAs? Our anniversary collection included pieces about the evolution and challenges of the PA movement in Canada and the United Kingdom (January and April 2017, respectively) but this only scratches the surface of the global adoption and adaptation of PAs. We hope you have enjoyed the 50th anniversary content as much as we have enjoyed developing it. The editors want to acknowledge the tremendous contributions of those who brought the collection to life, including contributing authors, historians, and numerous collaborators from the American Academy of PAs, Physician Assistant Education Association, and the PA History Society. In this volatile business of ours, we can ill afford to rest on our laurels, even to pause in retrospect. Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future. These remarks from Walt Disney resonate with us and feel inexplicably relevant to the PA profession. At our golden anniversary, let us commit to 50 more years of risk-taking, ingenuity, and collaboration. And let us ensure that the well-being and interests of the patients and communities we serve are at the heart of every decision. Mumbai: The alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people has threatened to sue Pakistan`s foreign minister for suggesting he drank wine at the White House. Hafiz Saeed, designated a global terrorist by the US and who has a $10 million bounty on his head, accused minister Khawaja Asif of "slander" according to a legal notice from his lawyer seen by AFP. Asif, speaking with the dean of the Columbia University School of Journalism Steve Coll in New York last week, was reacting to US President Donald Trump`s claim this year that Pakistan was giving safe haven to "agents of chaos". "We went to hell and we are still burning in that hell... Don`t blame us for Hafiz Saeed's, these were the people who were your darlings," Asif said. "Just only 20 years, 30 years back they were being dined and wined (at the) White House. And now you say go to hell Pakistanis because you are nurturing these -- I don`t want to use the word for them," he added, sparking a lively debate on Pakistani social media. The notice issued by Saeed`s lawyer, dated September 29 but obtained by AFP Monday, slammed Asif for the comments and described Saeed as a "patriotic Islam loving Muslim". "It is shocking to know that (the) Foreign Minister of my country is accusing Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of taking wine!" it said. "This is abusive language and can never be used for my client," it continued, saying that it was issuing 14 days warning of a defamation suit. Saeed will seek 100 million rupees ($950,000) in damages, according to the notice. The horror of the Mumbai carnage played out on live television around the world as commandos battled the heavily armed gunmen, who arrived by sea on the evening of November 26, 2008. It took the authorities three days to regain full control of the city. Saeed heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) group, listed as a terror outfit by the United Nations, and considered by the US and India to be a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the militant group blamed for the Mumbai attack. JuD is also popular for its charity work in Pakistan, where Saaed led a high-profile public life and regularly delivered fiery anti-India speeches as his group operated freely across the country. He was placed under house arrest earlier this year as Pakistan bowed to foreign pressure. JuD has lately backed a newly formed political party, the Mili Muslim League (MML), which Pakistan`s Election Commission has so far refused to register. Their candidate contested a recent by-election in Lahore as an Independent, coming third with 5,822 votes. Ahmedabad: In a shocking incident, a 21-year-old Dalit man was lynched for watching Garba dance hosted for upper-caste Patel community in Gujarat's Anand district on Saturday. Eight people have arrested for the incident, said the police. Jayesh Solanki, resident of Vankarvas area in Bhadrania village, was watching garba during Navaratri festivities with four other Dalit men near a house adjacent to a temple. Suddenly a member of Patel community made "derogatory remarks about their caste", said the police quoting a complaint filed in connection with the incident. The accused said Dalits "do not have any right to watch garba. He made casteist remarks and asked some men to come to the spot", an officer at the Bhadran police station said. Thereafter, the Patel men allegedly beat up the Dalits, banging Solanki's head against a wall. He was rushed to a hospital in Karamsad, where doctors declared him brought dead in the morning. The incident took place around 4 am. "We have registered an FIR under IPC sections related to murder and the Prevention of Atrocities Act against eight men," the official said. Dismissing that it was a pre-meditated attack, Deputy SP (SC/ST cell) A M Patel said, "Jayesh was killed in the heat of the moment, as there was no rivalry between him and the accused. We are probing the case from all angles. The accused will be arrested soon." Poll-bound Gujarat witnessed massive protests in July 2016 over the brutal thrashing of four Dalit men at a village in Una town. With PTI inputs Chennai: Actress Tamannaah Bhatia is confident that the magic of Kangana Ranaut-starrer Queen will be recreated in its Telugu version which was officially launched on Sunday. The remake, to be directed by Neelakanta Reddy, has been titled Queen Once Again. "It`s an exciting project and I love doing roles that talk about women empowerment. I`m confident we can recreate the magic of the original. At the same time, not make our film look like a frame-to-frame remake. We`ll adapt it to suit Telugu sensibilities," Tamannaah told IANS. Ever since she saw the Vikas Bahl-directed Queen, she wanted to be a part of its remake. "I wasn`t even sure if it was going to be remade. What makes Queen special is that it's one of those rare women-centric films which succeeded in reaching out to everybody, across all sections of the audience," she said. Tamannaah starts shooting for the project from October 25. Queen is the story of the self-exploration of a young Punjabi girl, played by Kangana, who embarks on her honeymoon to Paris alone after her fiance calls off the wedding. Last week, the Tamil and Telugu versions of Queen were launched. The Tamil version, which has been titled Paris Paris, stars Kajal Aggarwal in the lead. The Kannada version, which has been titled Butterfly and stars Parul Yadav, has already gone on the floors. Actor-filmmaker Ramesh Aravind is directing the Tamil as well as Kannada versions of the remake. Chennai: Veteran actor Karthik and his son Gautham Karthik are set to share screen space for the first time in a yet-untitled upcoming Tamil film, it was announced on Sunday. To be directed by Thiru, the project will explore the relationship between a father and son. Karthik and Gautham will be seen playing father and son. "It's a story that explores the relationship between a father and son. I'm making Karthik sir and Gautham play father-son. It's set in a middle-class household. While Gautham plays a boxer, Karthik sir will be seen as a government employee," Thiru told IANS. Gautham is thrilled about the project, but he is slightly nervous to act alongside his father. "I have never been nervous to act with anyone. Since it's going to be my father and we are working together for the first time, I'm nervous as well as excited. So far, we have kept our careers separate, but we will be observing each other from close quarters," Gautham said. Basking in the success of his latest Tamil outing Hara Hara Mahadevaki, Gautham says the father-son bond will be the highlight of the film. "The film has action but the biggest highlight will be the relationship I will share with my father. I'm thrilled about this project. I recently returned after training for three weeks in Bangkok to play a boxer. I can't wait to start shooting for this project," he added. To be produced by G. Dhananjayan's Creative Entertainers and Distributors, the project will roll from November. San Francisco: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for hurting and dividing people through his social media platform and said he would work to do better. In a post written after Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews, concluded on Sunday, Zuckerberg said, "We reflect on the past year and ask forgiveness for our mistakes. For those I hurt this year, I ask forgiveness and I will try to be better. "For the ways my work was used to divide people rather than bring us together, I ask forgiveness and I will work to do better. May we all be better in the year ahead, and may you all be inscribed in the book of life." Facebook has been facing an intense scrutiny over the presence of Russian ads on its platform during the 2016 presidential election. President Donald Trump has also accused the platform of being "anti-Trump". Zuckerberg responded to the criticism saying: "Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump. Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don`t like. That`s what running a platform for all ideas looks like". Facebook is facing a probe after disclosing the details about the presence of Russian political ads worth $100,000. After an extensive legal and policy review, the social media giant on Monday will share 3,000 Russian ads with Congressional investigators. According to a ReCode report, along with the Russian ads, Facebook plans to share information about the users those ads targeted and how they were paid for with the House and Senate Intelligence Committees as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee. Facebook earlier handed over the details to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is currently investigating claims of alleged Russian meddling in the election, included copies of the ads and details about the accounts that bought them and the targeting criteria they used. Barcelona: The Catalonian government has announced that 2.2 million ballots were cast in its independence referendum and 90 per cent of those votes were in favour of the region breaking away from Spain, compared to 7.8 per cent against. Government spokesman Jordi Turull said the voting held on Sunday was valid despite the Spanish constitutional court declaring it as illegal, reports Efe news. He said over 2.26 million votes had been tallied even though 400 polling stations had been closed or were occupied by Spanish police who carried away ballot boxes and polling material. On Sunday night, the regional president, Carles Puigdemont said Catalonia "has won the right to decide its future, its sovereignty". He said that in the coming days he would forward the referendum results to the regional Parliament and that if a majority of people voted to secede he would unilaterally proclaim independence for the region. In a surprise move, the region established a "universal census" that allowed people to vote at any polling station in the region and also permitted them to vote without an envelope and to use home-printed ballots. The ballot papers contained just one question: "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?" Given that around 5,313,000 people were eligible to vote and there were 2,262,424 ballot cast, the participation rate was 42 per cent. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who had declared the referendum illegal, said that "there has been no plebiscite on self-determination". The intervention of security forces to impede the vote led to over 800 people being injured, according to regional authorities. Spain`s Interior Ministry said 19 police and 14 Civil Guardsmen were also injured. Catalonia, a wealthy region 7.5 million people in north-eastern Spain, has its own regional government, or Generalitat, which already has considerable powers over healthcare, education and tax collection, but is not recognised as a separate nation under the Spanish constitution. Catalonia`s campaign to break away from Spain has gained momentum since 2010, when Spain`s economy plunged during the financial crisis. Catalonia held a symbolic poll in 2014, in which 80 per cent of voters backed complete secession -- but only 32 per cent of the electorate turned out. Paris: The brother of the Islamist radical who shot dead seven people in southwest France in 2012, including three Jewish schoolchildren, on Monday went on trial accused of complicity in the first of a wave of attacks by homegrown jihadists. Mohamed Merah's March 2012 attack on Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, where he killed a teacher and three pupils, was the deadliest attack on Jews in France in three decades. The 23-year-old Toulouse native also shot dead three soldiers in the nearby garrison town of Montauban before being killed by police in a shootout after a 32-hour siege at his home. The attacks, which he carried out in the name of Al- Qaeda, were the first in a wave of jihadist assaults in France that resumed in 2015 with the shootings at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a massacre at a Paris concert hall. In the most recent killings being investigated by anti-terror police, a man shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is great) stabbed two women to death at the main train station in Marseille yesterday. The Islamic State group claimed the attack as the work of one of its "soldiers", though a source close to the investigation said there was as yet no solid evidence linking the man to the group. Merah's brother Abdelkader, 35, is the first person to tried over the spate of killings. "The events on which we will deliberate are terrible," presiding judge Franck Zientara told the court, asking the prosecution, defence and public to ensure that the tone of the trial remains "dignified". Reacting to his brother's actions in 2012 Abdelkader Merah had declared himself "proud", saying that "every Muslim would like to give his life to kill his enemy". He is accused of helping to facilitate his brother's attacks, in particular by helping him steal the scooter used in three separate shootings. He is being tried alongside 34-year-old Fettah Malki, accused of giving Mohamed Merah a bulletproof jacket, an Uzi submachine gun and ammunition. Neither of the accused denies helping Merah obtain materials but claimed they were unaware of his intentions. Abdelkader faces a possible life sentence while Malki could get 20 years in prison. Merah, who had a history of petty crime, outsmarted French intelligence services. Questioned earlier by the authorities about trips to Syria, Egypt and a tribal area of Pakistan where he met an Al-Qaeda offshoot, he threw them off the track by playing a tourist. "This trial will also be the chance to discuss dysfunctions at government agencies, notably in Merah's surveillance," said Olivier Morice, a lawyer for the family of one of the dead soldiers. Abdelkader Merah, who was nicknamed "Bin Laden" in his neighborhood, was known to intelligence services for his ties to radical Islamists in Toulouse. Prosecutors claim he shared his brother's ideology, and that the siblings were repeatedly in contact in the days before the killings. "Abdelkader Merah expressed the sympathy he felt with his brother's acts. He is not a scapegoat," said Simon Cohen, a lawyer representing some of the plaintiffs. "If Mohamed Merah has blood on his hands, Abdelkader has blood on his soul," he said. Las Vegas: The mass shooting that killed 58 people and injured some 500 others here on Sunday is the deadliest such attack in modern US history. However, this is not the first time the US has witnessed such a horrific attack. Here is a timeline of some of the deadliest mass shootings in the US in the recent past. LasVegas shooting, 2017 At least 58 people were killed and over 500 injured after a gunman opened fire on a crowd at a music concert from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas. This is the deadliest mass shooting incident in modern US history. Pulse nightclub shooting, 2016 On a spree of shooting, a 29-year-old security guard on June 12, 2016 shot dead 49 people and injured another 58 inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Identified as Omar Mateen, the man was later gunned down by Orlando Police. Sandy Hook school shooting, 2012 On December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old man gunned down about 20 children in Sandy Hook Elementary School located in Newtown, Connecticut. Identified as Adam Lanza, the gunman shot dead his mother before arriving at the school. Lanza, later, committed suicide by shooting himself. Virginia Tech shooting, 2007 A gunman on April 16, 2007 shot dead 32 people and injured 17 others at the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. The shooter was identified as Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at the same institute. Columbine school shooting, 1999 On April 20, 1999, two teens identified as Eric Harris (18) and Dylan Klebold (17) gunned down at least 13 people and injured more than 20 at Columbine High School. Following the incident, both of them committed suicide. Killeen, Texas shooting, 1991 A gunman on October 16, 1991, opened fire in a Texas-based resturant killing 23 civilians and injuring a score. The incident reportedly took place at Luby's restaurant located in Killeen, Texas. The perpetrator, George Hennard, then shot and killed himself.San Ysidro mass shooting, 1984 San Ysidro mass shooting, 1984 The San Ysidro mass shooting on July 18, 1984, took place around a McDonald's outlet killing 21 people and wounding another 19. The gunman was identified as James Huberty, 41. He, however, was shot dead by a SWAT team sniper. Austin shooting, Tx, 1966 On August 1, 1966, an ex-marine sharpshooter went on a shooting spree killing over a dozon persons at the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. Identified as Charles Whitman, the gunman reportedly killed his mother and wife before heading to the campus. Damascus: A double suicide bomb attack hit a police station in Syria`s capital Damascus on Monday, state media said, with a monitor saying at least 11 people were killed. Damascus has been largely insulated from the worst of the violence during the country`s brutal six-year war, but several bomb attacks have shaken the city. Syria`s interior ministry said two suicide bombers had blown themselves up at the police station in the southern district of Midan, leading to the "deaths of a number of civilians and a number of policemen". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, said at least 11 people were killed in the attack, among them six police officers. The monitor also reported that a car bomb had been detonated during the attack, but state media made no mention of a third blast. Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar told reporters that one of the attackers had managed to enter the police station and reach the first floor of the building. State television showed images of damage from inside the building, with a black police uniform shirt covered in dust lying in the rubble of partially collapsed walls. The entire front of one room on the first floor had been blown out by the explosion, and inside what remained, twisted bits of metal were scattered across the rubble. Policemen carried one body away from the scene wrapped in a white tarpaulin. Manal, a 28-year-old teacher living in Midan, said she heard at least two blasts on Monday afternoon. "I was coming back from work when I heard the sound of an explosion, it was around 2:30 pm, I didn`t know what it was, and then there was another explosion a few minutes later and buildings shook," she told AFP. "Afterwards I heard gunfire, which usually happens to get people to move out of the way and clear the road so ambulances can get through to retrieve the injured," she added. Damascus has also been rocked by occasional bomb blasts throughout the Syrian conflict, including previous attacks on Midan, a middle-class residential and shopping district. In December 2016, three police officers were wounded when a seven-year-old girl walked into the neighborhood`s police station wearing an explosive belt that was remotely detonated. Rebel groups have been gradually expelled from territory in the capital they once held, though they maintain a presence in a handful of positions, including the Jobar neighborhood. They also hold territory in the Eastern Ghouta region outside the capital and have regularly launched rockets into the city. More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since its conflict began with protests that were met with a harsh government crackdown. A wide array of international players have been drawn in on both sides, with the government relying on allies including Iran, Russia and the powerful Hezbollah militia from neighboring Lebanon. Ten Hezbollah members were killed on Monday in a suspected drone strike in the Badiya desert region in the central province of Homs, the Observatory reported, revising an earlier toll of at least eight. The unidentified strike came near the town of Sukhna in a region where Syria`s government and allied fighters are battling the Islamic State jihadist group. Islamabad: Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was forced to step down after a tribunal accused him in a graft case, is set to be re-elected as president of the ruling PML-N, a media report said on Monday. PML-N's Central Working Committee (CWC) has agreed to amend the party's constitution, paving way for his return, the Pakistani daily Dawn reported. He had to vacate his party president post after he was accused of graft. Monday's CWC session was attended by PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq and Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif, among others. It marks the formal process of re-electing Sharif as party president, the report said. Earlier in the day, Nawaz had appeared before the accountability court here where the graft case against him is being heard. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed three graft cases against him and his family. However, the former PM has not been charged formally. Besides Nawaz, his children Hussain, Hassan and Maryam, and son-in-law Mohammad Safdar, are also accused of corruption. Las Vegas: The Islamic State group on Monday claimed responsibility for the mass shooting at a Las Vegas music concert in which at least 58 people were killed and over 500 injured, a media report said. Citing an ISIS propaganda agency, the AFP reported that the terror outfit has claimed responsibility for Sunday night's horrific attack. "The executor of the Las Vegas attack is a soldier of the Islamic State," the news agency quoted ISIS propaganda outlet Amaq as saying. He carried out the attack in "response" to calls to target countries engaged in military action against jihadists, Amaq said but gave no proof to back its claim. The fatalities took place when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd at a music festival from a nearby hotel. He was found dead with gunshot wounds. An initial probe showed Paddock was travelling with a female companion named Marilou Danley hours before the attack. A search is currently on to nab Danley. Paddock lived in a two-bedroom home in Mesquite, Nevada, some 80 miles from Las Vegas, police said. The suspect's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news. Police said Paddock may have acted on his own as he was not found to be connected with any terror organisation. Authorities have also found several weapons in Paddock's hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino after the Sunday's mass shooting, considered deadliest in modern US history. Las Vegas: Stephen Craig Paddock, who has been identified as a prime suspect in the Las Vegas shooting massacre, was a retired accountant and licensed pilot with no criminal record, it has emerged. The 64-year-old was found dead, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, when the police burst into his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Hotel. Several weapons, including a number of long rifles, were recovered from the room after the shooting, considered as the deadliest in modern US history. Initial investigations show that Paddock was travelling with a female companion named Marilou Danley just hours before the attack. The police are currently searching for Danley. Paddock opened fire on a large crowd at a music concert from the 32nd floor of the hotel on Sunday night, killing at least 58 people and injuring over 500. The Islamic State group later said the attack was carried out by one of its 'soldiers' to avenge the killings of jihadists by countries in military conflicts. Police said Paddock, who lived in a two-bedroom house in Mesquite, some 80 miles from Las Vegas, may have acted alone as he was not found to be connected with any terror outfit. The suspect's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news. "Where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that," he said. "He's a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite, drove down and gambled in Las Vegas. He did stuff. Eat burritos," AFP quoted him as saying. The gunman's photographs flashed by TV channels showed him as having a trimmed white beard and moustache. Paddock was a former accountant and a licensed pilot with no criminal record. Geneva: The UN rights chief said on Monday he was "very disturbed" by the violence during the banned independence referendum in the Spanish region of Catalonia and urged Madrid to investigate any possible misconduct. "I am very disturbed by the violence in Catalonia on Sunday... I urge the Spanish authorities to ensure thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra`ad Al Hussein, said in a statement. "Police responses must at all times be proportionate and necessary." Scores Are Improving, But Not All Students Take Standardized Tests, Making Results Among States Hard To Compare The results are in. More North Carolina students are taking and passing college level advanced placement courses, and students are scoring higher than the national average on the revised SAT exam . But ACT scores are lagging.College Board, which administers the AP and SAT exams, has disclosed data showing improvements for students in North Carolina. The number of students taking at least one AP exam during the 2016-17 school year increased 6 percent from the previous school year. The national average increased by 5.2 percent.Of the 74,041 public school students taking a total of 138,282 AP exams, 71,337 received a 3 or higher score on an AP exam. Tests are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with a 3 or higher translating to college credit, depending on the university.state schools Superintendent Mark Johnson said in a prepared statement N.C. public school graduates also are performing better on the revised SAT college admission exam, scoring higher than the national average. While the national combined average score for the class of 2017 is 1,044 out of a max score of 1,600, the North Carolina combined average score is 1,074. Because the revised test was administered in March 2016, the results for the class of 2017 can't be compared to SAT test scores from previous years.Fewer students - 49 percent - are taking the SAT in North Carolina. The demographic breakdown of students taking the SAT shows more white students and more female students are taking the exam, compared to other subgroups.Lindalyn Kakadelis, a senior consultant with N.C. Education strategies, says the SAT results for North Carolina don't necessarily represent the state demographic.Kakadelis said.ACTs are a greater concern than the SAT, Kakadelis said, because the tests are mandatory for 11th-graders and better represent the demographic makeup of the state's public schools.Only 58.8 percent of participating 11th-graders in the 2016-17 school year met the UNC System's minimum admission requirement of 17. Fewer than half of 11th-graders met the English benchmark, and 31.8 percent met the benchmark for reading. For math, 28.5 percent met the benchmark; 21.9 percent met the science benchmark.Kakadelis said.To improve student performance, Kakadelis suggests focusing on chronic absenteeism for students and teachers. A recent report by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute shows chronic teacher absenteeism much higher at traditional public schools than at charter schools.Kakadelis said.Kakadelis suggests taking a look at hiring practices in traditional public schools. Student performance is tied to quality teachers, she said.Kakadelis said. President Donald J. Trump Puts Americans First in Tax Relief News Release: "If we want to renew our prosperity, restore our opportunity, and reestablish our economic dominance - which is what we should be doing - then we need tax reform that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker, pro-family, and, yes, pro-American." - President Donald J. Trump An America First Tax RELIEF PLAN: President Donald J. Trump, the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, and the Senate Finance Committee are proposing vital tax relief to strengthen the middle class, grow the economy, and unleash America's economic comeback. We are calling for a dramatic tax cut, which includes: A larger zero tax bracket; Lower tax rates for individuals, providing relief to Middle Class American families; Lower small business tax rates, giving a boost to millions of American businesses and farms; and Lower corporate tax rates, making American business more competitive. ax cuts, like those in President Trump's unified framework, boost economic growth. Since Vice President Pence's 2013 tax cuts, as Governor of Indiana, unemployment in Indiana has been cut in half and more than 200,000 jobs have been created. President Reagan's 1986 corporate income tax cut contributed 3.3 percent to economic growth over ten years, according to the Tax Foundation. A TAX CUT For WORKING AMERICANS: We are laying out a tax-relief framework that will unburden America's Middle Class. Double the standard deduction so that more income is taxed at zero percent. The first $12,000 of income for an individual and $24,000 for a married couple will be tax-free. Consolidate the seven existing tax brackets for taxable income to only three brackets: 12 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent. Increase and expand the Child Tax Credit to benefit more middle-income families and eliminate the marriage penalty. Create a new $500 tax credit for those caring for an adult dependent or elderly loved one. Simplify the tax code: We will simplify tax filing so Americans can file their returns on a single sheet of paper. The vast majority of Americans will be able to file their taxes on a single sheet of paper. American individuals and businesses spend more than 6 billion hours complying with the tax code, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate. The plan repeals the Alternative Minimum Tax, which requires many taxpayers to do their taxes twice. The plan ends the job killing "Death Tax." Lower The Crushing Business Tax Rates: We will cut tax rates for American business and make American business competitive again. The plan will reduce the corporate tax rate to 20 percent. The United States corporate income tax rate is the highest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and has been above the OECD average for almost 20 years. The United States corporate income tax rate is more than 10 points higher than China's, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The plan will also reduce the top tax rate paid by sole proprietors, S corporations, and partnerships to 25 percent. For the next five years, American businesses will be able to immediately write off the cost of their equipment and other capital investments. Economists agree that America's corporate tax rate harms America's workers by keeping their wages down. More than 70 percent of the corporate tax burden falls on American workers, according the CBO. Bring Wealth Back: We are proposing an "American Model" that will bring back trillions of dollars held overseas and restore America's competitive edge. Profits that have accumulated offshore will be subject to a one-time low tax rate, thereby ending the tax incentive to keep those profits offshore. To avoid paying high U.S. corporate taxes on foreign profits, American companies have often reinvested their money abroad instead of repatriating it to U.S. shores. Companies hold an estimated $2.8 trillion in earnings offshore, according to Audit Analytics. This plan will stop the "Offshoring Model," which penalizes companies for incorporating in the United States. Contact: White House whitehouse.gov/the-press-office Dr. Dickie Vest, an equine veterinarian from the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, and HSUS wildlife handling and response expert Dave Pauli conduct a wellness check on a dog in Vieques. Photo by Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo/AP Images for The HSUS 821 shares A note about Las Vegas and gun violence: Our hearts at The HSUS are heavy in the wake of the unfathomable killing and wounding of more than 500 people in the nations biggest-ever mass shooting. This latest slaughter of our fellow citizens, enabled by a combination of a deranged person and the high-capacity weapons he turned on innocents, underscores the severity of the gun violence epidemic in our country. Your HSUS has been actively opposing in Congress the Sportsmens Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act, which was approved by a key committee just two weeks ago and is now ready for floor action in the full House of Representatives. The bill is a grab bag of extreme allowances for the gun and ammunition industry and the trophy hunting lobby. The bill has more than a half dozen despicable wildlife killing provisions, including one to allow trophy hunting of grizzly bears and wolves on millions of acres of National Park Service lands in Alaska. The measure also forbids the federal government from restricting poisonous lead ammunition. And it provides for the rollback of an 80-year-old law that restricts the sale of silencers. Silencers are a great tool for people who want to conceal their killing of people or animals. Maybe this incident, which every civilized person abhors, will prompt lawmakers to take a serious look at the entire series of shameful provisions in the bill and step back from the brink. There is hardship and suffering in Puerto Rico, for people and animals. The HSUS and Humane Society International are responding to this crisis with vigor and seriousness. Weve already delivered more than 25,000 pounds of humanitarian assistance, with the New York Times today noting that many of the supplies weve helped to provide are for people. For us, this is a natural instinct we seek to alleviate suffering and to fight cruelty, and clearly people are suffering throughout Puerto Rico. And in practical terms, it is the people of Puerto Rico who are best suited to deliver food and care to animals in need in their homes and communities, and if those people cannot meet lifes necessities, then the animals around them will suffer extra hardships. The people of Puerto Rico are United States citizens, and this is a time of great need for them, and we as a nation must rally around them. I am committed, as president and CEO of The HSUS, to do our best to respond to the crisis and to offer robust assistance that meets the needs of the people and the animals. For several days now, weve had a team on the ground in Vieques, where The HSUS had some time ago launched a humane management program for the islands 2,000 or so free-roaming horses. This winter, we contracepted over 280 horses, as a means of limiting fertility on the small island, where the horses are cherished but where there is a very limited land area and forage for them. Our team on the ground has confirmed that some horses lost their lives, killed by storm surges or injury from debris, and a fair number of animals require medical attention. But the vast majority of the horses appear to have survived the storm. We are providing them with supplemental food because the trees have been stripped bare and forage and fresh water are scarce, and well provide as much medical care as possible. Dr. Dickie Vest, an equine veterinarian from our Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, is helping to lead the response there, with wildlife handling and response experts Dave Pauli and John Peaveler. With the help of local citizens, our team is also caring for dozens of dogs, cats, and other animals at a mobile clinic they established to provide ongoing medical assistance for owned animals that people are desperate to get care for. On the main island, we have an assessment team, almost all Spanish speakers and veterinarians, who are pinpointing where additional resources are needed. We intend to work with as many shelters and rescues on the island as possible, and to transport their shelter animals from the island to St. Huberts Animal Welfare Shelter in Madison, New Jersey. St. Huberts is one of our top Emergency Placement Partners, and well work with its staff members to ready the animals for distribution to other placement partners around the nation. Weve already flown 200 animals to St. Huberts, and we expect to move as many animals as we can from shelters by aircraft. Well also work diligently to help animals on the streets who are in distress, and to provide food and emergency care to them. Many of these Sato dogs, as they are known, are community animals, and with circumstances so disrupted and dire, their human support network is in tatters. We are partnering with the Humane Society of Broward County and our own affiliate, the South Florida Wildlife Center, to operate an intake and distribution center in south Florida as a launching point for humanitarian and animal relief items directed to Puerto Rico. Well be working with our partners, including Wings of Rescue and GreaterGood.org, to deliver these supplies in the days and weeks ahead. Weve had an amazing set of donors, including Whole Foods Market, WellPet, Petco, Halo, Rescue Bank, and others, that have stepped up with enormous amounts of supplies that well continue to deliver to the islands. We are quite sure well find other crisis situations for animals and people on the ground, and well do our best to respond to these circumstances, as possible. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello has asked for our leadership in the identification and fulfillment of animal needs. That came about because of our deep ties on the island. For the last three years, weve been implementing our Humane Puerto Rico program, led by Humane State Senior Director Tara Loller and our Puerto Rico director Yolanda Alvarez. This program has been designed to lift the circumstances for animals and the people who care about them on the main island and also in Vieques, and were going to double down during this time of crisis for people and animals and support them in the trying times ahead in this battered region of the United States. P.S. The Humane Society International team continues its lifesaving work in areas of Mexico hit by two earthquakes over the past few weeks. Our team, including veterinarians, has so far provided medical services to more than 3,500 injured animals, including cats and dogs, with 669 animals helped in Mexico City and the state of Puebla just over this past weekend. MEDIA DOWNLOADS Ruth from Openmedia writes, "This Thursday legislators in the EU Parliament are voting on proposals in the EU for mass content filters, and restrictions on links, all in the name of 'updating copyright. The draft law proposes requiring that all sites where users generate the content (Reddit, Tumblr, Github, Boing Boing itself etc) must build censorship algorithms that monitor and block your content, before publishing, if it looks like it infringes copyright. The plan also includes new powers for media giants to charge fees for linking to their content. This will have a devastating impact on access to information. These rules make open data impossible, add unnecessary costs to libraries, and charge researchers for using references. Phone calls are the most effective method of getting attention from decision makers. That's why we're asking you to call your MEP responsible for civil liberties to vote against these measures in a key vote this Thursday. You can make a difference by calling your MEP and speak directly with your representatives who will be casting the key votes. On September 6, 1949, Howard Unruh murdered 13 people in downtown Philadelphia. It's considered the first mass shooting in US history. Tragically, it wasn't the last. From a 2015 article about Unruh in Smithsonian: In a few hours, on the morning of Tuesday, September 6, Unruh would embark upon his "Walk of Death," murdering 13 people and wounding three others in a 20-minute rampage before being hauled off by police after a dangerous firefight. A somewhat forgotten man outside of criminology circles and local old-timers, Unruh was an early chapter in the tragically-all-too-familiar American story of an angry man with a gun, inflicting carnage "There have been notorious killers since America was founded, but you didn't have the mass shooting phenomenon before Unruh's time because people didn't have access to semi-automatic weaponry," says Harold Schechter, a true crime novelist who has written about infamous murderers going back to the 19th-century. While the terminology is a bit fungible, Unruh is generally regarded as the first of the "lone wolf" type of modern mass murderers, the template for the school and workplace shooters who have dominated the coverage of the more than 1,000 victims since 2013. Unruh was a distinctive personality type, one that has also come to define those who have followed in his bloody footsteps. "Unruh really matches the mass murder profile. He had a rigid temperament, an inability to accept frustration or people not treating him as well as he wanted, and a feeling of isolation, all things people accept and move on from," says Katherine Ramsland, a professor of forensic psychology and the director of the master of arts in criminal justice at DeSales University, as well as the author of some 60 nonfiction books including Inside the Mind of Mass Murderers: Why They Kill. "He had a free-floating anger, held grudges, owned weapons he knew how to use, and decided somebody was going to pay. It's a typical recipe for internal combustion." The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza on Washington's predictable response to Stephen Craig Paddock's murder of more than 58 people in Las Vegas last night: Mass shootings are so frequent in America that the political responses to them have become ritualized to the point of parody. The social-media accounts of the N.R.A. which kicked off last weekend by retweeting a picture of a machine gun, to celebrate #FullAutoFriday go dark. The politicians funded by the N.R.A.mostly Republicanstweet "thoughts and prayers" to the victims. Speaker Paul Ryan said, "The whole country stands united in our shock, in our condolences, and in our prayers." He ordered flags at the Capitol to be lowered. "Keeping #LasVegas in our thoughts this morning after the horrific news," Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted. A tweet from President Trump was a model of the form: "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Featured Post Indigenous Protest at UN Climate Summit: Natives Protesting Biden have Credentials Removed The actions of powerful Indigenous women at COP27, led by Ponca and Anishinaabe, under the heavy oppression of Egypt. Indigenous grandmother... White Mesa Ute Spiritual March to Shut Down Uranium Mill Mohawk Warrior Society Book Launch Lakota Jean Roach: The True Story of Leonard Peltier Justice for Dad: Taylor Dewey Shares the Harsh Road to Justice Justice Dept Files Lawsuit Against Rapid City Hotel Western Shoshone Ian Zabarte Speaks on Radiation Archive Search This Blog About Censored News Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell. Since 2006, Censored News has received more than 20 million pageviews. As a collective of writers, photographers and broadcasters, we publish news of Indigenous Peoples and human rights. Contact publisher Brenda Norrell: brendanorrell@gmail.com From the publisher Censored News is published by Brenda Norrell, a journalist in Indian country for 40 years. Norrell created Censored News after she was censored and terminated as a staff reporter at Indian Country Today in 2006. She began as a reporter at Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a stringer for AP and USA Today and later traveled with the Zapatistas through Mexico. She has been blacklisted by all the mainstream media for 14 years. Contact brendanorrell@gmail.com Translate BUEA/BAMENDA, Cameroon (Reuters) - Soldiers shot dead at least eight people and wounded others in Cameroon's restless English-speaking regions on Sunday during protests by activists calling for its independence from the majority Francophone nation, an official and witnesses said. The demonstrations - timed to take place on the anniversary of Anglophone Cameroon's independence from Britain - came as a months-old movement against perceived marginalization by the Francophone-dominated government gathered pace. The protests, which began late last year, have become a lightning rod for opposition to President Paul Biya's 35-year rule. Donatus Njong Fonyuy, mayor of the town of Kumbo, said five prisoners were killed at around 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) after the jail where they were being held caught fire. "We don't know what caused the fire in the prison ... But five prisoners were killed by soldiers. Two were wounded by bullets and are at the hospital," he told Reuters, adding that another two civilians were also injured. In other incidents in Kumbo, soldiers shot and killed a demonstrator and wounded two others who had raised the blue and white flag of the Ambazonia separatist movement in the town. Another woman was killed inside her home, Fonyuy said, without giving further details. Police and army officials were not immediately available to comment on the shootings. "We won't use violence unless there is major cause. There are numerous risks, even terrorist risks. We're keeping calm," a security source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, said earlier in the day. Writing on his official Facebook account, President Biya condemned the violence. "Let me make this very clear: it is not forbidden to voice any concerns in the Republic. However, nothing great can be achieved by using verbal excesses, street violence, and defying authority," he said. Cameroon's divide has its roots in the end of World War One, when the League of Nations divided the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and British victors. "OUR GREATEST NIGHTMARE" Authorities had banned all gatherings of more than four people, ordered bus stations, eateries and shops to shut and forbade movement between different parts of the English-speaking regions ahead of the protests. The government also ordered Cameroon's border with Nigeria closed for the weekend. Access to popular social media and messaging apps, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, was disrupted from Friday. Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary on Sunday threatened to shut any media outlets giving a voice to separatists, saying they "must not encourage those who advocate division, who want to destroy and destabilize our country". Businesses were shuttered in the regions' main cities, Buea and Bamenda, where military helicopters circled overhead. The security deployment included troops from the Cameroonian army's Rapid Intervention Brigade, a unit that typically fights Islamist Boko Haram militants in the country's north. One protester was killed on the edge of Buea as security forces attempted to block pro-independence marchers from entering the city, three witnesses said. Hundreds nevertheless slipped through the countryside to get around the blockade and into the city, where security forces used teargas to try to stop them from marching on the regional governor's office. A Reuters witness also heard gunfire, though it was not clear whether the shots were targeting protesters or being fired in the air. "The military, which is supposed to protect lives and property, has turned into our greatest nightmare," said one Buea resident, who asked not to be identified out of fear of reprisal. In Bamenda, where a bomb attack blamed on separatists wounded three policemen last week, young men brandishing improvised secessionist flags clashed with security forces who attempted to disperse them with teargas. Thousands of government supporters meanwhile marched in Douala, Cameroon's main port city and its commercial hub, voicing their opposition to calls for independence or more autonomy for the Anglophone regions. "We are here ... to reject sectarianism, to condemn all kinds of hate, all forms of violence carried out under any pretext whatsoever," Justice Minister Laurent Esso told the pro-government crowd. (Additional reporting by Anne-Mireille Nzouankeu in Yaounde and Joel Kouam in Douala; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Mark Potter and Dale Hudson) SEOUL (Reuters) - Several North Korean missiles were recently spotted moved from a rocket facility in the capital Pyongyang, South Korea's Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) reported late Friday amid speculation that the North was preparing to take more provocative actions. The report cited an unnamed intelligence source saying South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials detected missiles being transported away from North Korea's Missile Research and Development Facility at Sanum-dong in the northern part of Pyongyang. The report did not say when or where they had been moved. The missiles could be either intermediate range Hwasong-12 or intercontinental ballistic Hwasong-14 missiles, according to the report, though the missile facility at Sanum-dong has been dedicated to the production of intercontinental ballistic missiles. A source from South Korea's defense ministry said he could not confirm details of the report or whether there has been any unusual activities in the area mentioned. South Korean official have voiced concerns that North Korea could conduct more provocative acts near the anniversary of the founding of its communist party on Oct. 10, or possibly when China holds its Communist Party Congress on Oct. 18. Amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea and U.S. forces recently held their first joint short range air defense training exercise in South Korea, according to a statement released by the U.S. Pacific Command on Friday. The statement did not give the date of the exercise, but said the next exercise is scheduled to take place over the next few months as the two forces become more familiar with each other's capabilities. (Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Richard Pullin) Adaptive Learning Adaptive Bio Course for Non-Majors Finds Success with Simulation, Virtual Field Trips One effort to transform the teaching and learning of science seems to be gaining traction. A recent analysis of the use of BioBeyond, an introductory college biology course that uses simulations, virtual field trips and adaptive technology, showed better learning outcomes than the use of traditional instruction. BioBeyond is an online course that uses a "big question" approach to engage students by asking them to explore how to find life in the universe. In the process of investigating that subject, students delve into what life is, how it became so diverse and how it evolves, what it's made of, how we can test for its existence beyond Earth, and what the future of life is on our planet and elsewhere in the cosmos. The idea is that as they work through various units that take them to the Galapagos Islands, into a cell and out to Mars, among other virtual journeys, students learn what they're expected to know in a standard first-year biology class. The program is built to be adaptive; every learner experiences a unique version of the course based on individual knowledge and skills. The course includes 56 lessons, 13 virtual field trips, four projects and about 70 hours of "learner engagement." Students are assessed as they work through the program, earning points in specific categories (informational, formative, instruction and so on) to help instructors monitor their progress. SRI International performed the assessment, based on examining end-of-course grades for 1,800 students in four institutions during fall 2016. The study showed a "statistically significant impact on grades for three of the four institutions," according to SRI. Arizona State University and Miami Dade College saw improvements of about half a letter grade when they used BioBeyond as part of a blended or hybrid course. In a separate controlled study at Miami Dade College, supported by Arizona State's Center for Education Through eXploration, one professor, Alfredo Leon, saw a "significant increase" in the number of students who earned an A or B exam grade in sections where he used BioBeyond (33 percent vs. 19 percent). "The BioBeyond curriculum takes students through a meaningful learning journey, using real-world science problems that spark their curiosity, getting them excited to form a deeper understanding of scientific reasoning and problem-solving skills," said Leon in a prepared statement. "The learning experiences are also visually stunning and immersive, which helps to engage students." BioBeyond was developed by the Inspark Teaching Network, a partnership of schools, scientists, educators and instructional designers to create courseware that uses the latest digital technologies for teaching science. The network is led by Smart Sparrow, which produces a courseware platform, and Arizona State University. The project is supported with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Currently, according to Inspark, the curriculum is used in 70 colleges around the country. A rundown on the curriculum is available on the BioBeyond site. The study was not made publicly available. 2 October: International Day of Non-violence Published: October 2, 2017 The International Day of Non-violence is celebrated every year on 2 October throughout world on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of Indian independence movement and also pioneer of philosophy of non-violence (ahimsa). Observance of this day seeks to promote principles of non-violence through education and public awareness and is observed by all countries of the UN. In India, this day is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti. International day of Non-Violence The day was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by adopting resolution A/RES/61/271 in June 2007 to disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness. The resolution reaffirmed universal relevance of principle of non-violence and the desire to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence. Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) is known for playing main role in freeing India from clutches of British. He was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, in Bombay Presidency of British India. He was assassinated on January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Godse. Gandhiji is fondly known as Bapu for his selfless contribution towards Indias Independence struggle. He is unofficially called Father of the Nation. He had studied law at University College London. He later returned to India and worked with Indian Firm in South Africa. Gandhiji returned to India in 1915 and joined Indian National Congress. He led nationwide campaigns for various social causes and for achieving Swaraj or self-rule. He led peaceful protests and started creating awareness about oppress rule of British in India. His non-violent methods including Satyagraha and Civil Disobedience is known worldwide. Some of the famous protests led by Gandhiji against British rule include Dandi March and non-cooperation movement that gave severe blows to the British government. Eventually, his fame spread all over India and in year 1921 he became leader of Indian National Congress, He lived modestly in self-sufficient residential community and wore traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn hand-spun on charkha. He also undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and political protest. At multiple times he was jailed however he continued his efforts. Month: Current Affairs - October, 2017 Topics: Days and Events International Day of Non-Violence Mahatma Gandhi National Observances Unga Latest E-Books Unless the day-to-day corruption that affects the masses is rooted out, any anti-graft drive would be just cosmetic, analysts say. Mac Thi Hao seems unperturbed by the news coverage of Vietnams corruption crackdown blaring from screens all around her. A retired accountant in Hanoi, Hao has a much more pragmatic, no-nonsense stance on what corruption means to her. I just dont care about a bigwig being punished, Hao told VnExpress International. I know there is an ongoing crackdown on corruption, but that really has nothing to do with me, she said. Whenever I think of corruption, I always recall the bribes I had to pay for my childrens school admissions or for better hospital services. To me, thats the corruption that affects my life the most. Haos account offers a small glimpse into what most Vietnamese people make of corruption and what it means to them. It was revealed against the backdrop of Vietnams sweeping corruption crackdown that has grabbed both international and local headlines. Just last Friday in Hanoi, a former chairman of the state energy giant PetroVietnam was sentenced to death and a former CEO of a scandal-hit bank got a life sentence in what has been considered the biggest fraud trial in Vietnams history. The OceanBank trial, as referred to by local media, also saw a slew of officials and bankers receive jail terms of up to 22 years. Given that Vietnam's top echelons have repeatedly tried to assuage people's fears of rampant graft, the sentences apparently exhibit the political will to repair shattered public confidence. In late 2013, two former bosses of the state-run Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) also received death sentences for embezzling $476,000 each in a high-profile corruption scam that riveted the nation. But unless the day-to-day corruption that exacts a heavy toll on the most average people is rooted out, any so-called anti-graft movement would amount to little more than window dressing, analysts say. Harsh prison sentences and even the death penalty will only have a marginal impact on curbing grand corruption, Carl Thayer, an Australia-based veteran Vietnam analyst, said. Resorting to hard sentences is like a medical booster shot, it wears off over time, he told VnExpress International. The masses encounter everyday low-level corruption in their dealings with government officials, traffic police and so on, Thayer said. They would like to see this ended as their first priority. In Vietnam, the practice of passing money under the table is so common that many insiders do not even consider it bribery, but an inevitable part of getting things done. In a survey in March, Transparency International ranked Vietnam as the second most corrupt country in Asia after India in terms of bribery. In its Corruption Perception Index 2016, the Berlin-based advocacy group also ranked Vietnam 113th out of 176 countries and territories. According to the most recent Governance and Public Administration Performance Index, which interviewed around 14,000 residents in all 63 Vietnamese provinces and cities, there were noticeable spikes in reports of extra money being paid for everything from civil service positions to good grades. Many analysts blame the problem on Vietnams failure to complete market reforms that began in the late 1980s. They say there is still too much state control over the economy, which allows connected insiders to profit. According to the analysts, individuals who have access to centrally planned or government-controlled assets like land or capital are getting very rich, but individual entrepreneurs who have to compete without subsidized land, capital, fast-tracked approval or tax breaks are having a much harder time. This has fueled an entrenched bribe-for-approval system. It is just too accepted as the Vietnamese way of doing business, Dennis McCornac, a professor of economics at Loyola University in Baltimore (Maryland), said. Right now, the attitude about corruption is still this is Vietnam. Until there is a change in the mentality of the population and all levels commit to reducing corruption, the problem will persist, he said. But apparently, the status quo has already perpetuated widespread public distrust in the governments determination to fight corruption. In its March survey, over half of the Transparency International's Vietnamese respondents reported their government was doing a poor job of fighting corruption. Questions about public faith in provincial leaders drew rock bottom responses in the Governance and Public Administration Performance Index, but only 3 percent of respondents said they would blow the whistle on corrupt officials. But still, the death penalty handed down last week to Nguyen Xuan Son, the former PetroVietnam chairman, and the life sentence for Ha Van Tham, the former chairman of OceanBank, will send a powerful message to the general public that the current leadership is serious about its anti-corruption drive, Thayer said. To be effective the anti-corruption campaign must be never-ending. There are undoubtedly other corruption scandals waiting to be exposed, he said. State oil and gas giant PetroVietnam and the banking sector have been at the center of the crackdown that has netted scores of officials. Chief among them is Dinh La Thang, who was ousted from the Politburo, the Communist Partys decision-making body, last May and fired as the top leader of Ho Chi Minh City soon after. But the bottom line is going after high-profile individuals is not going to restore public trust in any significant way, analysts say. They say the fight against deep-rooted graft in Vietnam requires a political sledgehammer to fix a badly broken system, leaving no room for the kill the chicken to scare the monkeys" approach. Corruption is like Hydra, a nine-headed serpent-like snake in Greek Mythology in which it was said that if you cut off one hydra head, two more grew back, McCornac, the American analyst, said. Perhaps the new heads are not as large or powerful as the one cut off, but they emerge nevertheless, he said. The only way is to address the issue at all levels. Having lived abroad for years, a retired Vietnamese researcher still keeps close tabs on what is happening back home. Unsurprisingly, the corruption crackdown has been high on her radar. If the top officials are squeaky clean, no traffic policeman or doctor would dare to extract bribes from the public, she said, declining to be named, citing the sensitivity of the issue. If, as Vietnams leaders have repeatedly warned, corruption threatens the survival of the system, addressing it will require the overhaul of the system itself, she said. And that only happens when the powers that be have the political will to do so. | 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 An analysis of shifting workforce demographics suggests that the future American labor force, even as it becomes more heavily weighted toward older workers, is getting more diverse and more educated than ever. What could this mean for employers? Examining future workforce trends LEARN MORE Subscribe to receive Future of Work content Visit the Future of Work collection Read Deloitte Review, issue 21 Create a custom PDF or download the issue Are you a US-based organization searching for tomorrows workers? Look around your workplace. The oldest Millennials are just 37, and will likely keep working for several decades.1 The demographic changes that determine many of the key characteristics of the workforce happen slowly. But they happen. Over time, those demographic shifts can compound to make a big difference. Its a difference we can already see. The main long-term changes in the workforce are, in fact, not new; employers have been adjusting to them for decades. Yet they can have real implications for how organizations approach everything, from workforce planning to diversity initiatives. They are: The US workforce is aging, and it will continue to age. Thats partly because of low birth ratesbut its also because people more often continue to work even as they get older. If 70 is the new 50, we shouldnt be surprised to find more 70-year-olds working. Thats already been happening, and it is expected to happen even more in the future. The US workforce is becoming more diverse. Changing immigration patterns and the entrance of more women into the labor force started this process in the 1960s, and it will likely continue. If current trends continue, tomorrows workforce will be even more diverse than todaysby gender, by ethnicity, by culture, by religion, by sexual preference and identification, and perhaps by other characteristics we dont even know about right now. Americans continue to become more educated. Like all demographic processes, the slow rate of the change may make it less than obvious to employers who are coping with fast change in production technologies. But more and more young people are going to college, and many workers are increasingly trying to improve their educational background mid-career. One could say that tomorrows workers will be much like todaysbut more so. And the challenges and benefits of an aging, diverse, and educated workforce, many of which are already evident, will likely only grow in the future. Changing population, changing workforce With Millennialswho represent the largest labor market share of any single generationholding center stage, and Generation Z (post-Millennials, born after 1995) now entering from the wings, one might think that the US workforce of the future will be increasingly tilted toward younger workers.2 However, on the whole, projections suggest that Americas future workforce will be older than the current workforce, just as it is expected to be increasingly female and more racially and ethnically diverse. This age shift in the workforce mainly results from increased population and labor force participation among older age cohorts, combined with declining population and labor force participation of the youngest cohort. As shown in table 1, the three oldest cohorts are projected to increase their labor force participation rates through 2024, just as they have over the prior 20-year period. The labor force participation rate of the large middle section of the labor force, 25 to 54, is expected to rebound slightly, after 20 years of decline. The labor force participation of the youngest cohort, 16 to 24, is expected to continue trending down, as more young people stay in school longer, as we discuss later. When the projected labor force participation rates of each cohort are multiplied by the cohorts population size, the overall picture, shown in the last row of table 1, indicates a continued decline in the participation rate. Changes in population growth across the various cohorts support these labor force participation trends: As older cohorts populations increase (table 2), so would their presence in the labor forcea 55.4 percent increase in the 6574-year-old contingent, and an 85.5 percent increase among those 75 and older. An absolute decline in the youngest groups population could translate to a 13.1 percent contraction in that cohort of the labor force. Even with these shifts, the 2554-year-old group will still make up the majority of the workforce, although the proportion of workers in this category will decline, as will the proportion of 1624-year-olds (figure 1), under the BLS projections. The only age group projected to gain share between 2014 and 2024 is the 55-and-over age group. Age will not be the only distinguishing demographic characteristic of the workforce of the future. Women are expected to continue to gain share, rising from 46.8 percent of the workforce in 2014 to 47.2 percent in 2024. Even though the overall labor force participation rate is projected to decline (as shown in table 1), interestingly, the labor force participation rate of women aged 25 to 54 is projected to rise between 2014 and 2024 (from 73.9 percent to 75.2 percent), while the rate for men in the cohort is expected to decline (88.2 percent to 87.3 percent). Another trend that is expected to continue through 2024 is the increasing diversity of the workforce. By 2024, less than 60 percent of the labor force is likely to define itself as white non-Hispanic. As recently as 1994, over three-quarters of the labor force fell into that category. Hispanics could comprise 20 percent of the labor force in 2024.The proportion of African-Americans in the labor force is projected to rise to 12.7 percent in 2024 from 12.1 percent in 2014; the proportion of Asians to 6.6 percent in 2024 from 5.6 percent in 2014.3 Higher education The US labor force has become more educated in each progressive generation. That trend does not seem to be slowing. A simple measure of education is the share of the labor force (or population) with at least a bachelors degree, but this ignores some key detailsparticularly the important role of community colleges in the US educational system. However, a less detailed picture of education attainment would not change the story, which is fairly straightforward: Young people are increasingly likely to graduate from high school and go to post-high school educational programs, and middle-aged (and even older) people have continued to acquire educational credentials throughout their lives. Figure 2 shows that the share of workers with at least a bachelors degree has continued to grow steadily through business cycles, financial crises, tech and housing booms and busts, and other major economic events. The share of bachelors and higher degree-holders in the labor force grew from one-quarter to two-fifths of the labor force in less than 25 years. The continued intensification of education reflects an acceleration in the rate in which younger people have been going to collegeand an increase in the number of older people who have gone back to school to complete or enhance their education. Currently, young adults are more educated than older adults. As older, less-educated cohorts leave the labor force, and more-educated cohorts enter, the education level of the entire labor force improves over time. In 1999, 23 percent of the US population had earned a bachelors degree, and 4 percent had earned a masters. By 2015, these numbers had risen to 27 percent and 7 percent, respectively.4 The growth isnt fast, but it has been relentless. And, over long periods of time, it can result in a labor force very different from prior decades. Table 3 shows a forecast of the share of labor with various educational attainments in 2025. The forecast assumes that the educational attainment of the youngest cohort grows at the average rate between 1999 and 2015, and that the educational level of each cohort remains unchanged as it ages. Our forecast indicates that, by 2025, almost two-thirds of the labor force will likely have some education beyond high school. That contrasts to a little less than half in 2005, just over a decade ago. This forecast could even be conservative, because it assumes that educational attainment is frozen for each cohort, whereas in fact, people often continue to go to school later in life. Table 4 shows educational attainment by five-year cohort in 2005, and for the same people (10 years older) in 2015. In every cohort, educational attainment improvedamong the same people. Impressively, the number of people aged 40 to 44 years that earned a bachelors degree by 2015 rose by 1.6 percentage points. Younger people saw even larger gains. It is clear that the possibilities of education do not end with the usual graduation ages, and that people in young middle age are often willing to continue their education. What are people studying? This has become a focus of attention in recent years. Some policymakers have expressed concern that US higher education is increasingly turning out graduates trained in less valuable humanities and social science areas, rather than in the (as they claim) more important science, technology, engineering, and mathematics areas.5 Aside from ignoring the importance of skills in humanities and social sciences for the workplace, the idea that the higher education system is overly skewed toward producing these majors is an oversimplification at best. Figure 3 shows the share of bachelors degrees conferred in the 201415 academic year by broad category.6 The chart shows that a plurality of US students graduated with degrees in professional fields such as education, communications, and law (note that these are bachelors degrees, not JDs, so these graduates obtained paralegal credentials rather than law degrees). The single largest major was business, accounting for almost one-quarter of all US degrees. Engineering was also a popular subject. Substantially more students obtained bachelors degrees in engineering subjects than in the humanities and social sciences. The types of majors that critics claim are somehow oversubscribed do not, in fact, attract many students. Just over 9,000 students graduated with philosophy majors, for example. History and English graduates were more numerous, although many of them have found employment in the large demand for high school teachers in these subjects. But humanities majors have constituted a small share of total graduates. Analysts should take care in interpreting the relevance of college majors for the workforce. Only about 27 percent of college graduates work in jobs directly related to their majors.7 US businesses have traditionally been very flexible about matching credentials to jobs, perhaps viewing a college degree as a more general indication of knowledge and flexibility than an indication of specific knowledge.8 This suggests that the important question for the future of the workforce may be the rate of growth of college graduates, rather than the specific courses of study they undertake. Occupations of the future Occupation represents the demand, rather than supply, side of the labor force equation. When the labor force becomes more educated, the demand for educated workers is generally also forecast to grow. While this trend may be well known, some critical details are often not as well understood. Figure 4 shows the projected 10-year growth of broad occupational categories.9 The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects total employment to grow 7 percent, but the occupational mix is expected to change. Traditional blue-collar jobs and administrative and sales jobs are projected to grow more slowly than the average. About one-quarter of the net job gain is expected to be in health care occupations, which are projected to grow almost 20 percent over 10 years. Jobs for health care practitioners and technicians could grow more slowly than jobs for health care support occupations, though in absolute terms, the number of new jobs for the former may be greater than new jobs for the latter. That is because there are about twice as many health care practitioners today, so the slower growth rate for practitioners is off a much larger base. Computer, math, and science occupations are projected to grow relatively quickly (but at half the rate of jobs in health care occupations). However, these occupations are expected to account for just 7 percent of all new jobs, because they make up a relatively small part of total employment (5 percent in 2014). Food service and personal service occupations are projected to also grow relatively quickly. This reflects the increasing bifurcation of the US labor force into highly skilled, well-paid professional jobs and poorly paid, low-skilled jobs, with relatively fewer jobs in middle-skilled, moderate-pay jobs such as traditional blue-collar and administrative occupations. This reflects the increasing bifurcation of the US labor force into highly skilled, well-paid professional jobs and poorly paid, low-skilled jobs, with relatively fewer jobs in middle-skilled, moderate-pay jobs such as traditional blue-collar and administrative occupations. Occupational definitions and requirements are fluid and change over time. For example, todays accountants need a set of basic computer skills, which would have been completely unnecessary 30 years ago. This means that occupational projections are an incomplete picture of the requirements of the labor force. In particular, some analysts believe blue-collar occupations increasingly require computer and mathematical skills, which was unheard of in the past; occupational projections such as these, which imply a static set of skills for a given occupation, may understate the need for more highly educated workers with quantitative skills in the future labor force where even these low-skilled occupations require such skills.10 Deloitte researchers have explained how demand for general abilitiesrather than specific occupational skillsis expected to drive employment in the United Kingdom, and the United States should likely expect to see a very similar trend. 11 An international perspective Relative to the rest of the planet, the US labor force, along with its neighbors Canada and Mexico, is projected to continue to shrink. As shown in figure 5, North America, which now accounts for almost 5 percent of the global working-age population, will likely comprise only 4 percent 20 years from now. Asias share will also likely fall. The future workforce globally could be found more and more in Africa, where the global workforce share is projected to rise almost 6 percentage points. As in the United States, the slow growth of the working-age population combined with longer life expectancies will result in a growing dependency ratio, which is the ratio of retirees to working-age people. In North America, the ratio is projected to rise from 24 retirees per 100 working-age people today to 36 in 2037. Europe could experience an even higher dependency ratio, but the problems associated with a growing population of retirement-aged people will likely be felt around the world (figures 6 and 7). What does all this mean for you? The steady speed of demographic change can provide insights about the future workforce. While tomorrows workforce wont look completely different from todays, the challenges of the future workforce are still todays challenges. Understanding these demographic changes and directions, along with the changing nature of work and jobs, could be critical for business and government leaders. These demographic trends suggest some important potential implications and actions to consider. Use data for workforce planning and identifying shifting demographics. Do your companys workforce planning and analyses reflect the changes in your workforce demographics? Data analytical tools can assist in better understanding how your workforce is aging and can provide greater insights on your organizations future workforce. Leaders can proactively prepare talent strategies by utilizing data and workforce planning tools to provide a clearer line of sight into their changing workforce composition. Develop cross-generational and diverse talent pipelines. Do your development programs reflect the evolving realities of your workforce demographics and, specifically, the needs of different generations and populations in your workforce? It could be beneficial to diversify your leadership pipelines to ensure all populations are well represented in the future. Research for the 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends survey showed that, across a sample of 10,400 surveyed executives, many reported weak programs in their pipeline and training for: Millennial leaders (45 percent reported weak program capabilities) Women leaders (43 percent reported weak program capabilities) Diverse leaders (31 percent reported weak program capabilities) Better addressing the development needs of these often-underserved populationsspecifically, by supporting secondary education or additional leadership trainingcan help strengthen your future workforce pipelines. Develop talent strategies for workforce segments at all ages and at different stages of their career. Generational diversity will likely continue to define the workforce, with older workers representing one of the fastest-growing segments. Providing targeted training solutions that meet their needs and learning styles can be important in ensuring continued productivity throughout a workers career. Research shows that younger and older adults have somewhat different learning styles.12 Therefore, organizations should consider putting development programs in place to meet these varying generational needs and learning styles at each stage in a workers career. Offer opportunities for lifelong learning and reskilling. Do your learning and development programs and incentives support, encourage, and reward ongoing learning and reskilling? Do your training policies support the need for constant training in response to the rapid evolution of business and functional knowledge and technologies? Organizations should consider a focus on training that balances both skills development for current roles while also cultivating the necessary skills for future roles and opportunities. To do this, employers are encouraged to facilitate formal degree programsallowing employees to obtain a second or third degree or certificationto expand their skills, complementing informal programs and resources and gaining access to new career paths. As the 21st-century labor market becomes older, brings newer skills, and shifts across regions, businesses that expect to be able to manage their future workforce the same way they do today may see less success, while those that start planning for these changes will be at an advantage. On September 26, the U.S. Department of the Treasury took further steps to cut off North Koreas access to the international financial system. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, has designated eight North Korean banks and 26 individuals and identified two North Korean banks linked to North Korean financial networks in response to North Koreas ongoing development of weapons of mass destruction and continued violations of United Nations Security Council Resolutions. The sanctions single out North Koreans working in China, Russia, Libya and the United Arab Emirates who act as representatives of North Korean banks. Nineteen of the 26 North Koreans recently designated operate in China. As a result of these sanctions, any property or interests in property of the designated persons in the possession or control of U.S. persons or within the United States must be blocked. We are targeting North Korean banks and financial facilitators acting as representatives for North Korean banks across the globe, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. This further advances our strategy to fully isolate North Korea in order to achieve our broader objectives of a peaceful and denuclearized Korean peninsula. This action is also consistent with UN Security Council Resolutions. These steps are being taken by the Treasury Department to complement U.N Security Council resolution 2375, which was adopted unanimously on September 11, 2017 and includes the strongest sanctions ever imposed on North Korea. It is time for all responsible nations to join forces to isolate the North Korean menace, said President Donald Trump. North Korean nuclear weapons and missile development threaten the entire world with unthinkable loss of life. All nations must act now to ensure the regimes complete denuclearization. The mystery of the Catalan ballot boxes was solved on Sunday. Finding them before the banned referendum could take place had been a top priority for the National Police and the Civil Guard, but they were unable to locate them in time. Despite theories that they might have been sent to another country for safekeeping, the Chinese-made boxes had been in Catalonia all along. Pro-independence activists involved in organizing the referendum which had been suspended by the courts on grounds of unconstitutionality shared out the tasks and decided, as a safety precaution, that nobody would know what the other organizers were doing. This has been a disaster from the point of view of information and intelligence National Police official People hid the ballot boxes inside their own homes, in schools, in town halls and even inside churches. In the early hours of Sunday, they began taking them out of their hiding places. The boxes began arriving at the polling stations in the trunks of regular citizens cars, wrapped in garbage bags. Of the approximately 10,000 boxes ordered from Chinese company Smart Dragon Ballot Expert through the e-commerce website Alibaba, the Spanish police were only able to confiscate four before polling opened on Sunday inside a vehicle on its way to a school in Barcelona. By comparison, law enforcement officers had previously managed to seize over 12 million ballot papers and millions of envelopes, besides other voting material. But the Catalan government promised that the vote would take place regardless. A poll worker holds up a ballot box after voting closes in Barcelona. ELOY ALONSO (REUTERS) For weeks, the National Police, the Civil Guard and the Spanish intelligence services had been working with several theories. One hypothesis posited that the ballot boxes might be in a Baltic state, or in the principality of Andorra, or in southern France. Police sources said they had been confident that they would intercept the boxes at the border, sometime before October 1. Sources familiar with the investigation conceded that they felt frustrated at their inability to locate the boxes in time to confiscate them, particularly since the equipment had been in Catalonia the entire time. Officials at schools that were used as polling stations told EL PAIS that some activists bought boxes directly on Alibaba, while others picked them up at the port, where they arrived inside containers. For safety reasons, and to avoid leaks, tasks were shared out so that nobody knew who was doing what Activist Weve been organizing ourselves in committees for months, explained sources in Barbera del Valles (Barcelona). There were logistics committees, polling station committees and volunteer committees, around 50 people per group. We needed 38 boxes for our four polling centers: two high schools and two health centers. For safety reasons, and to avoid leaks, tasks were shared out so that nobody knew who was doing what, but everyone did one thing, and it worked out really well. Both separatists and non-separatists have voted here, said an activist at one of those schools. The only people who knew where the boxes were were the people in charge of their custody. I got a call one day and was told: you have to be in such a place at such a time to pick up a parcel and keep it for X days, and then somebody else will take it from you, and thats it. Help from the Church Cristian Segura The parish church of Sant Pere de Figueres (Girona) doubled as a polling station on Sunday, as did the Church of Sant Feliu del Valle de Boi (Lleida). At the Jesuit-run school Infant Jesus in Barcelona, where former Catalan premier Artur Mas went to cast his ballot, school officials helped keep the doors shut when the National Police showed up to evacuate the premises and seal off the building. Around 20 Christian schools across Catalonia were used as polling stations, according to the online daily Catalunya Religio. The ballot boxes were thus strategically scattered across the region, thanks to a highly-organized group of civilians who managed to fool the countrys law enforcement agencies. This has been a disaster from the point of view of information and intelligence, admitted National Police officials, speaking privately. In some cases, the boxes were concealed inside churches. This was the case with the ballot boxes used inside the Sant Julia de Ramis pavilion in Girona, where Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont was supposed to vote (the police intervened to seal off this polling station.) English version by Susana Urra. Many of the Spanish National Police and Civil Guard riot officers deployed in Catalonia on Sunday were ordered to withdraw in advance without reinforcements being called in, police sources have told EL PAIS. The units were meant to escort colleagues charged with seizing voting material designed for use in the regions independence referendum. Spanish National Police in Tarragona, Catalonia on Sunday. Jaume Sellart (EFE) More information Follow all the latest on the crisis in Catalonia here But dramatic images of officers in riot gear involved in violent clashes with volunteers who were blocking the entrances to polling stations played a role in the decision of Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido to withdraw the officers, the same sources added. The Interior Ministry, for its part, limited itself to expressing its satisfaction with the actions of the [National] Police and the Civil Guard. They prevented an illegal referendum, the ministry said without confirming or denying reports about the decision to scale back operations in Catalonia. A man falls to the floor during an operation by Spanish National Police riot officers at the Mediterranea de la Barceloneta school, Barcelona. Carles Ribas Under the original plan, officers were to enter polling stations until 8pm, when voting closed, to be able to seize illegal voting material during the counting of ballots. However, in the middle of the afternoon, riot units began to receive orders not to carry out outstanding searches. In some cases they told us to withdraw before waiting for reinforcements planned for the night, one officer said. Police sources criticized the decision while also speaking out against the fact that plans for the operation in Catalonia were only finalized a few hours before October 1. They noted that plans had originally entailed officers entering polling stations on the night of Saturday to Sunday, or before volunteers gathered at the entrance to those stations. Firefighters place themselves between protesters and Civil Guard riot officers outside a polling station in San Julia de Ramis, Catalonia. David Ramos (Getty) However, orders were changed at the last moment on Saturday with the Interior Ministry deciding that the regional Catalan police force, the Mossos dEsquadra, would carry out the initial action against the vote. From 8am to 9am, the [riot police] are to deploy and gradually remove [people] from all polling stations in Barcelona. After that, let the Mossos watch the area, the new order read. But that order was also criticized by various police sources consulted by EL PAIS. Those sources said that if police had gone into the polling stations overnight on Saturday, it would have prevented images of officers entering in full riot gear. Riot police tell a woman not to enter a polling station at the Mediterranea de la Barceloneta school in Barcelona. Carles Ribas As many as 893 people were injured in clashes between police and protesters in Catalonia on Sunday. Regional health authorities report that four of those people are in hospital, two in a serious condition: one person who was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet and another man who suffered a heart attack. English version by George Mills. Syrian activists say at least 11 people have been killed in a bomb attack in central Damascus. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on October 2 that a car bomb went off near a police station in the Syrian capital's Al-Midan neighborhood, before two suicide bombers detonated their explosive belts. The Interior Ministry also reported the attack, saying two suicide bombers had blown themselves up, killing civilians and police officers, but giving no precise toll. Citing a source in the Syrian security services, state-run Russian news agency RIA said the attack was carried out by four suicide bombers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Syria is embroiled in a six-year civil war that has killed more than 330,000 people and forced an estimated 5 million more to flee across borders to become refugees. Russia and Iran support the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while the United States and Turkey back rebel groups. The extremist group Islamic State has also entered the fighting and is opposed by all other sides. Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa An anti-drug official in Iran announced on October 2 that a total of ten metric tons of narcotics and psychedelic drugs have been confiscated during the last of week of September and 7,725 suspects related to these seizures have been arrested. Fars news agency quoted Assadollah Hadinezhad, an official of Irans anti-drug agency as saying that 10,504 kilograms of banned substances were seized from September 23-30. He said opium constituted 79% of the drugs a total of 8,309 kilograms., followed by 868 kilograms of hashish and almost 600 kilograms of heroin. Hadinezhad added that the drugs were seized 1491 separate occasions. This means that most of the drugs were found with relatively small dealers. Iran has been suffering from a widespread drug addiction problem for more than two decades, despite stringent penalties, including the death penalty for smugglers and dealers. But critics say that large-quantity smugglers are rarely caught and prosecuted. Mr. Hadinezhad disclosed that 75% of the drugs were seized in six provinces, with the southeastern province of Kerman at the top, with 1,670 kilograms. Most of the drugs, especially opium enter Iran from Afghanistan and Kerman lies on of the most commonly used routes to transport the drugs to other parts of the country. Other provinces were the southcentral province of Fars, Sistan-Baluchistan, Esfahan, Hormozgan and Tehran; all located in central. Southern and southeastern parts of the country. Iranian officials announce drug seizures almost on daily basis. Recently, customs at Hormozgan announced that 7 million psychedelic pills were seized, entering the country via a port, shipped from an Asian country. Some members of the Islamic Republic parliament are contemplating to write a letter to the Supreme Leader, ayatollah Ali Khamenei, proposing to amend the countrys constitution from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government. The letter will be based on the Supreme Leaders comments made six years ago, on the subject, the parliaments website cited Ezzatollah Yousefian Molla, the representative of the city of Amol as saying on October 2. While visiting Kermanshah in western Iran on, October 16, 2011, Khamenei in a speech said, "In the current situation, the political system of the country is presidential, and the president is directly elected by the people, which is a good and effective method. However, in a distant future, if it is felt that the parliamentary system can better elect the executive officials; there is no problem in changing the current format." Immediately after Khameneis comments, the speaker of parliament, Ali Larijani supported the idea, Changing the country's governmental system, from presidential to parliamentary, will help to better coordinate the activities of the three branches of the government. The idea of eliminating the post of president, according to Mehr News Agency, MNA, was first suggested in September 2011 by Hamidreza Katouzian, an Iranian MP. Katouzian had said: "political experts have been discussing ideasthat since the country is blessed with the supervision of the Velayat Faqih [guardianship of the jurist or the supreme leader], there is no need for a president in this country." He had also maintained that such a system would be more effective because executive officials would answer directly to parliament. He had suggested that a prime minister could be elected by parliament to be the top executive official. Now, comments made by Amols MP, Yousefian Molla have highlighted the possibility of amending the Islamic Republic Constitution and bringing in a parliamentary government system. If parliament wants to keep interaction with the government, it should do it with a lot of connivance. Currently, parliament observes many [unacceptable] things but, for the sake of interaction with the government, keeps mum, Yousefian Molla asserted. Based on the current system of government in Iran and its related rules and regulations, the parliaments right for an overall supervision Yousefian Molla insists, cannot be implemented. Implementing that right means confronting the government. Nevertheless, Yousefian Molla concludes, If the government is formed inside the parliament, there would be no confrontation and if there were any shortcomings, MPs can easily raise their concerns. Meanwhile, Yousefian Molla insisted that his colleagues have not yet reached a final decision on the topic. The legislators are still undecided as to whether send a letter directly to the Supreme Leader or wait for him to deliver the idea to the president. Moreover, according to Yousefian Molla, changing the constitution should take place when a president is serving his second term. Thus, it would not be interpreted as a plot to overthrow the president. Morteza Kazemian, a political analyst living in Paris, told Radio Farda that Khameneis original comment took place during Mahmoud Ahmadinejads presidency, at a time of strained relations between him and Khamenei. But he also said that tensions between presidents and the supreme leader were not related only to Ahmadinejad and have always been present. A proposal to eliminate the post of a directly elected president, will also eliminate the inherent duality of having an executive with popular mandate and a supreme leader, claiming religious legitimacy. In the first eleven years of the Islamic Republic, the top executive position was held by the prime minister. In 1990 the Islamic republics constitution was amended to eliminate the prime minister's position and place the president at the top of the executive branch. The last Islamic Republic Prime Minister, Mir Hossein Mousavi, (1981 to 1989) came out after twenty years of silence as a reformist candidate for the 2009 presidential election, challenging the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In suspicious circumstances Ahmadinejad was announced as the winner. Mousavi and millions of people protested and cried foul. This led to the creation of the Green Movement that kept Iran restless for months. Mousavi was detained in February 2011 and has since been under house arrest. at/ms Adrian Smith likes what he sees from his perch on the tax-writing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. "I'm encouraged," Nebraska's 3rd District Republican congressman said as he viewed reaction to a huge tax reform framework that was released last week with plenty of blanks yet to be filled in. "The initial feedback has been very positive," Smith said. "I think there's much better than 50-50 chances for an agreement." Smith said he was buoyed by both the substance and tone of a five-hour meeting of House Republicans on Wednesday that followed release of a summary of the tax reform package that has been agreed to by the White House and GOP leadership. His House Ways and Means Committee met Sunday evening and all day on Monday to help pave the way. President Donald Trump championed the plan Wednesday during a speech in Indianapolis, hailing it as "a revolutionary change" that will create jobs and increase wages. Although the gathering tax storm is likely to achieve Category 5 status once it reaches the Senate battleground, the outlook for initial agreement in the House is good, Smith said. The strongest argument for tax reform is "what it can do for economic growth," the six-term congressman from Gering said. A key part of his responsibility will be to see "how the package fits the 3rd District and how it impacts agriculture," Smith said. "These are tough times in agriculture." Smith, who served in the Nebraska Legislature before being elected to the House in 2006, represents a vast district that sweeps across all of central and western Nebraska and includes both the northeastern and southeastern corners of the state. Previous Nebraska congressmen who served on the tax-writing committee Hal Daub, Peter Hoagland and Jon Christensen all hailed from Omaha. Daub participated in the last major tax reform in 1986 when Ronald Reagan was president. That was a bipartisan effort. The Ways and Means Committee has been "working on this for a long time," Smith said. Eleven "working groups" within the committee have been meeting to consider various aspects of tax policy, he noted. One of the imperatives for him, Smith said, is to make sure the tax legislation is framed as a permanent package, not as a temporary fix. "What I want to focus on right now is to make this permanent rather than enact something flashier for the short term," he said. Still unresolved in the outline that has been released is how to cope with, or compensate for, what is equivalent to trillions of dollars of reduced federal revenue that would sharply increase the national debt and create additional federal budget pressure. Economic growth spurred by the tax reductions would "offset some of the loss," Smith said, and could "ultimately provide us with budget neutrality that helps us pay down the debt." Still unresolved are legislative options to eliminate some current tax breaks; while a number of those proposals have been aired, they were not included in this week's tax package outline. "We will eliminate some tax deductions," Smith said. "We need to do that to be fiscally responsible." Responding to criticism that the current tax reform outline sharply favors the wealthy, Smith said he'll work for "tax relief for everyone, but more focused on the middle class." "I want to make sure this is not a tax increase for the middle class," he said. Smith said he would fight to protect mortgage interest deductions along with charitable deductions as part of the revised tax code. And what are the chances for bipartisan tax reform? "I think there will be an effort to achieve bipartisan agreement," Smith said. "We need to do everything we can to create more wealth for everyone. That's what this is about. "If there are good ideas that will help grow our economy, let's talk about it," Smith said. "It doesn't matter which party they come from." However, Smith said, "the No. 1 goal" of some Democratic members of Congress is to "raise taxes on the rich." "That ship doesn't sail very far with the current majority," Smith said. "That does not grow our economy." If eyes are fixed on "growing our economy, adopting a progressive tax code and focused on the middle class," Smith said, "then we have a realistic chance this year. "I sense a lot of excitement to get it done this year." Turkeys Chief of the General Staff, Hulusi Akar arrived in Tehran around midnight on Sunday, in a visit tied to the Kurdish independence referendum, which has rattled both Tehran and Ankara. General Akars trip to Tehran takes place prior to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogans planned visit to Tehran this week. Iranian news agencies reported that General Akar met Irans armed forces chief of staff, General Mohammad Bagheri Monday morning and the they discussed security of their common borders, as well as regional issues. Iraqs Kurdish autonomous region held an independence referendum on September 25, which was strongly opposed by Iran and Turkey, as well as many other regional countries and the United States. Both Iran and Turkey have sizeable Kurdish population that have been restive in the past few decades. A Kurdish insurgency in turkey, which began in the 1980s, left more than 30,000 people dead and still plagues the Southwestern part of the country. Iranian news agencies emphasize that this visit is a follow-up to General Bagheris visit to Turkey in mid-August. But given Erdogans announced visit to Tehran, Akars trip is also seen as a preparatory visit. Iranian Tasnim news agency, close to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) reports that General Akar will follow up on the agreements reached in Ankara, a reference to meetings he had with Bagheri in August. Tasnim adds that the two military leaders will also discuss Syria, the fight against terrorism and border issues. President Erdogan has announced that he will meet with President Hassan Rouhani and the Supreme Leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his upcoming visit to Tehran. The Islamic Republics Interior Minister has expressed concern about unemployment; especially in those cities where he says about 60% of the workforce is unemployed. In an interview with Iran Students News Agency, ISNA, the minister noted, Social harms are more acute in areas where the unemployment rate is high. In the interview he says that in spite of Irans 12% national unemployment rate, the same average in some cities has reached to 60%, Abdol-Reza Rahmani Fazli has reiterated, without naming the cities where the rate is so high. Unemployment among three groups is reaching crisis levels, namely the youth, women, and people with higher education. Though the official rate of unemployment last year was reportedly 12.04%, it has been much higher in some provinces. Kermanshah with 22%, Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari with 20.02% and Kurdestan with 15% rates have suffered more than other provinces from unemployment. According to Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare Minister, Ali Rabiei, 3,200,000 Iranians are unemployed. Nevertheless, the parliamentary Center for Research believes that 6,500,000 to seven million people are unemployed in the country. Part of the huge difference in numbers might be due to the governments definition of employment. The Islamic Republic considers anyone who works for one hour a week, as employed. This means that the government greatly underestimates the number of the unemployed. Based on Sixth Five-Year Development Plan, the government is dutybound to create more than 970,000 new jobs in the current Iranian year (starting 21 March 2017). Masoud Nili, an economist and advisor to President Hassan Rouhani has cautioned, Unemployment among three groups is reaching crisis levels, namely the youth, women, and people with higher education. Rouhanis critics have repeatedly blamed his administration for the crisis. But independent economists say that the rate of economic growth in the past 38 years has barely been 3% in Iran which has been inadequate to create enough jobs for a fast growing population. Without presenting a figure, the interior minister in his interview has admitted that the unemployment rate among graduate job seekers is much higher than the average. According to the minister, a high level meeting has taken place to discuss social ills, with the participation of the Supreme Leader, ayatollah Ali Khamenei. An appropriate report on actions taken [to tackle unemployment and reduce social harms] was delivered. However, theres a very long way to go, the minister said, speaking about the high-level meeting. Yet, deputy to Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare Minister, Hassan Taei had earlier noted that the unemployment rate among people with a university degree is between 21.5% and 22%. Furthermore, Rahmani Fazli maintained, Ayatollah Khamenei has prioritized matters related to social ills. Combat against narcotics and drug addiction, slums and suburban settlements, divorce and fighting crime were included in priorities set by Khamenei to check social harms, Rahmani Fazli said. Social problems according to the Islamic Republics officials are mainly comprised of drug addiction, poverty, slums and shantytowns, a high rate of school dropout, high crime rate and divorce. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Summer and extraordinary sessions of the Azerbaijani parliament were completed successfully, said the parliaments speaker, Ogtay Asadov, at a plenary session on Oct. 2. Asadov noted that necessary measures were taken in order to support the Azerbaijani presidents far-sighted policy at the parliamentary level. The speaker said 268 laws and decisions were passed during the summer and extraordinary sessions of the parliament. Members of the parliament actively participated in international events, he said, adding that meanwhile, events of several international organizations were held through the Azerbaijani parliament. Asadov expressed confidence that the autumn session of the parliament will also be successful. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended a ceremony to launch a drinking water supply and sewage system project in the city of Shamakhi. Chairman of Azersu Open Joint Stock Company Gorkhmaz Huseynov informed the head of state of the Reconstruction of the drinking water supply and sewage systems in the city of Shamakhi project. The project was implemented under National Water Supply and Sanitation Project co-funded by the government of Azerbaijan and the World Bank. The project provides for the improvement of water supply and sewage infrastructure for 41,000 people. A 8.9km-long main water pipe and a 130km-long sanitation system was built in the city under the project. The project also saw construction of a biological water treatment facility with a daily capacity of 10,000 cm. President Ilham Aliyev pressed a button to launch the drinking water supply system. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Azerbaijan is tired of double standards, said Speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament Ogtay Asadov at the parliaments plenary session on Oct. 2. He reminded that the OSCE PA Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Kristian Vigenin, recently visited Baku. During the visit, Vigenin said that he will hold meetings in the parliament and meet with public organizations. We did not object. After Azerbaijan he traveled to Armenia. All that he said, was falsity. He met with the Armenian leadership, sat down at the table with representatives of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, at the table where the flag of the separatists stood. Azerbaijan is really tired of all these double standards, noted Asadov. He said that currently, the Azerbaijani delegation to the OSCE PA is participating in the meeting of this structure in Andorra. The Azerbaijani delegation will make proposals on behalf of the Azerbaijani parliament, added the speaker. Asadov also noted the unacceptability of ensuring that those who have a biased position are represented in international organizations. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the opening of Pirgulu-Damirchi highway after major overhaul. Chairman of Azeravtoyol Open Joint Stock Company Saleh Mammadov informed the head of state of the technical indicators of Pirgulu-Damirchi highway. The 8km-long road has two lanes and is 3.5-4 meters in width. Three bus stations were installed along the road. The renovated highway connects five villages with a total population of 1,600 people. President Ilham Aliyev cut a ribbon symbolizing the opening of the road. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Ilhama Isabalayeva Trend: Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov discussed with the honorary consuls of Azerbaijan in Austria, Helmut Manzenreiter and Andreas Koenigsberger, the expansion of trade and economic ties between the two countries. Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry told Trend that during the meeting held on Oct. 2, Mammadyarov congratulated Manzenreiter and Koenigsberger on the beginning of their activities as honorary consuls and informed them about the opportunities of the North-South and East-West transport corridors, about the fundamental economic reforms carried out in the country. The sides also discussed the issues of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Austria in the sphere of tourism, air traffic and other fields. Manzenreiter and Koenigsberger said that they will make every effort in order to develop economic cooperation between the two countries, and attract Austrian companies for investing in Azerbaijan. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 Trend: The Consulate General of Azerbaijan in the US is checking the presence of Azerbaijani citizens among victims of Las Vegas shooting, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend Oct. 2. We express our deepest condolences to the US government and the whole American people, families and relatives of those killed as a result of the bloody and terrible tragedy that occurred in Las Vegas. We wish the swiftest recovery to the people wounded as a result of this terrible attack, noted Hajiyev. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the shooting that killed at least 50 people and wounded over 400 in Las Vegas. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 Trend: Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received newly appointed Ambassador of Greece Nikolaos Kanellos, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a message Oct. 2. Ambassador Kanellos presented a copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Mammadyarov. Mammadyarov congratulated Ambassador Nikolaos Kanellos on his appointment and wished him every success in his future activities. Ambassador Kanellos noted that he would spare no efforts to contribute to further enhancement of bilateral relations between the two countries during his diplomatic mission. At the meeting, views were also exchanged on development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Greece in energy, transport, tourism, culture and other spheres. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 Trend: President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev offered his condolences to President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump. I was deeply saddened by the news of heavy casualties and injuries as a result of a brutal shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas, said President Aliyev in his letter to President Trump. On the occasion of this tragic event, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deepest condolences to you, families and loved ones of those who died and all the people of the United States, and wish those injured recovery, added the head of state. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $252.2 million at the currency auctions organized by the countrys Central Bank (CBA) in September 2017, SOFAZ said Oct. 2. During the nine months of 2017, SOFAZ sold around $2.49 billion at the currency auctions. In total, the Azerbaijani banks bought about $4.92 billion from SOFAZ in 2016. SOFAZ will continue selling the currency through auctions in 2017. The currency is sold as part of SOFAZs transfers to the Azerbaijani state budget, which are envisaged in the volume of 6.1 billion manats for 2017. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Ali Mustafayev Trend: Speaker of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Kazakhstan Ichiro Kawabata. A wide range of issues on further strengthening of Kazakh-Japanese cooperation was discussed during the meeting, according to the message of the Parliament of Kazakhstan. Nigmatulin said that the legislative support for the introduction of the digital economy, ensuring cyber-security and the development of innovative processes in the economy are in the area of practical interest for the Kazakh deputies. The chairman of the parliament stressed, that the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abemade made significant steps to improve the relations between the two countries and to reach the level of strategic partnership. The officials also stated that Kazakhstan and Japan are close allies in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, peaceful use of atomic energy and sustainable development. The Speaker highly appreciated the participation of the delegation of the Parliamentary Friendship League at EXPO-2017, held in Kazakhstan, noting that the pavilion of Japan has become one of the most visited. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Ali Mustafayev Trend: The excise tax on new vehicles manufactured and imported from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan (except for medical vehicles) was reduced to 2% of customs value, Podrobno.uz reported, referring to the decree of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev of September 29 "On measures to further streamline Uzbekistan's foreign economic activity." Previously, such a privilege was granted to vehicles manufactured and imported from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The production of Uzbek automakers is not subject to customs duties and excises the Kazakh border. Supplies of Kazakh vehicles to the Uzbek market, in contrary, were blocked by customs and tariff barriers. Kazakhstan has remained one of the largest export markets for the Uzbek vehicle industry for many years. Kazakh vehicles were represented during a business forum held in Tashkent in September, 2017. The representatives of the Kazakh auto industry discussed with the colleagues the prospects of supplying cars to the Uzbek market, within the framework of the event. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 Trend: The next year will be a year of rapid economic growth, said President Ilham Aliyev at a meeting with members of public in Gobustan on Oct. 2. Our achievements in economy are reflected both in our statistical indicators and in the reports of prominent international economic organizations. Perhaps, you have heard that Davos World Economic Forum has recently ranked the Azerbaijani economy 35th for its competitiveness. We have advanced by two steps, from 37th to 35th position. This is a great result. I should also note that we rank first in the CIS area. Weve been leading for several years and we are ahead of many developed countries, noted the president. Taking into account the fall in oil prices last year and this year, some difficulties and some economic problems have arisen in our country. Nevertheless, our successful work and serious reforms have been highly appreciated by the worlds first economic forum Davos Forum. This once again confirms that we are on the right path, our economic policy fully meets the interests of the Azerbaijani people, and our country is strengthening, said the head of state. I should also note that, despite the fall in oil prices this year, we have managed to increase our foreign currency reserves. This demonstrates that by conducting a right policy even in difficult years, we have not spent our resources, and in contrast, earned extra money. This money serves the interests of our country and our people. Using these funds, we build schools, hospitals, roads, water lines and strengthen our countrys defense capabilities, added President Aliyev. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Azad Hasanli Trend: Azerbaijans Financial Market Supervisory Authority is studying the possibility of local banks merger, according to the monitoring report on the implementation of measures reflected in the Strategic Roadmap for the Development of Financial Services. The possibility of further capitalization of the banks is also being considered, according to the report. The Financial Market Supervisory Authority continues negotiations with shareholders of the banks to ensure recovery and stability of the banking system. As part of these measures, consolidation of AtaBank and Caspian Development Bank was successfully completed, the report said. Caspian Development Bank joined AtaBank. The process went smoothly and no need to provide additional liquidity emerged. In addition, the report indicates that the Azerbaijani government has drawn up a plan for analyzing the financial situation in the countrys banks, carried out diagnostic tests, and also assessed the quality of the banks assets, currency and capital positions. As a result of the diagnostic tests for banks with capital insufficiency, a special program was prepared and appropriate instructions were given to eliminate the shortcomings, the report noted. There are 31 banks including two state-owned ones in Azerbaijan. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: Azerbaijans Honorary Consul to Australia Aydan Rzayeva had a meeting with Australian businessmen in Perth. Rzayeva told Trend Oct. 2 that the meeting was organized by the Honorary Consulate of Azerbaijan to Australia in anticipation of the Azerbaijani-Australian business forum. The first Azerbaijani-Australian business forum will take place in Baku in October. Dozens of entrepreneurs from Australia are expected to take part in the forum. Participants of the meeting in Perth received information on Azerbaijans economic and investment opportunities, and projects implemented in various sectors of the countrys economy. Following the meeting, many businessmen expressed their intention to participate in the business forum in Baku. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.2 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has loaded 40.26 million tons of CPC Blend oil from Russian Yuzhnaya Ozereevka 2 terminal in January-September 2017, as compared to 31.37 million tons in the same period in 2016, reads a message posted on the consortiums website. Based on submitted shipper nominations, the 2017 pumping target is 65 million tons. In particular, Kazakhstan shippers account for 54 million tons, including 11 million tons from Kashagan, and Russian shippers account for 11 million tons, including 5.4 million tons from the Filanovsky and Korchagin fields. The consortium shipped 44.3 million tons of CPC Blend oil from Yuzhnaya Ozereevka 2 terminal in 2016, as compared to 42.76 million tons in 2015. CPC shareholders are Transneft (24 percent), KazMunaiGas (19 percent), Chevron (15 percent), LUKARCO (12.5 percent), Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company (7.5 percent), Rosneft Shell Caspian Ventures Ltd. (7.5 percent), CPC Company (7 percent), BG Overseas Holdings Limited (2 percent), Eni (2 percent), Kazakhstan Pipeline Ventures (1.75 percent) and Oryx Caspian Pipeline (1.75 percent). --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Maksim Tsurkov Trend: Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR exported 1.16 million tons of oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline in January-September 2017 as compared to 898,050 tons in the same period of 2016, SOCAR said Oct. 2. The company exported 169,680 tons of oil from the Russian port of Novorossiysk in September 2017 as compared to 169,280 tons in the same period of 2016. SOCAR exported 1.22 million tons of oil via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline in 2016 as compared to 1.27 million tons in 2015. SOCAR exports the oil produced at its own fields, as well as the oil from joint ventures and operation companies working at Azerbaijans onshore fields, through Russias Novorossiysk port. Oil is delivered to the port via the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline operated by SOCAR. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 2 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: Turkmen deputy prime minister, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov has met with Natalia Gherman of Moldova, the newly appointed special representative and head of the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a message. Meredov congratulated Gherman on her appointment and wished success in her further activities on implementing initiatives to strengthen peace, security and stability in Central Asia. Expressing gratitude for the active position on the development of cooperation with the UN, the sides noted the positive experience, which is solid foundation for the development of joint activities, the ministry said. The parties exchanged views on the issues of further cooperation in the spheres of security, development and humanitarian dimension. The UNRCCA is a special political mission of the United Nations Organization established in 2007 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan upon the initiative of the five Central Asian states. The role of the Center is to identify and address existing and potential threats to regional stability. In addition, the Center facilitates partnerships between the governments of Central Asia in cooperation with regional and international organizations. Natalia Gherman of Moldova, the newly appointed head of the UNRCCA, brings 25 years of experience in diplomacy, having served in various high-level government positions in her native country. Most recently from 2013 until 2016, Gherman was minister of foreign affairs and European integration of Moldova while concurrently serving as deputy prime minister and temporarily as the acting prime minister in 2015. Earlier in her career, Gherman served as ambassador to Austria and permanent representative to the United Nations agencies in Vienna and to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and established the diplomatic presence of her country in the Nordic region, having served as first resident Moldovan ambassador to Sweden, Norway and Finland. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 Trend: A high-level delegation of Turkmenistan led by Vice Premier Maksat Babayev visited Russias Republic of Tatarstan to seek for prospects of larger energy cooperation late this September. The delegation that included heads of Turkmenneft, Turkmengas, Turkmenekologiya, as well representatives of Turkmenbashi complex of oil refineries met with Tatneft Company Director General Nail Maganov and companys top managers in Nizhnikamsk and Almetevsk, Tatneft reported in a statement. During the two day visit the Turkmen delegation reviewed Tatnefts experience with oil refinery, production of tires, power engineering, training of personnel, logistics, and application of innovative technologies. They also visited oil refinery and petro-chemical plants TANEKO, which is operating with record indices of production depth, output of light oil products and loading capacities of initial refinery. Major accent was put on innovative technologies of Tatneft. The Turkmen specialists got familiar with the activities of Geological-Technological Center and ARMITS program complex of the Almetevneft oil and gas production unit and Tatnefts Engineering Center, also visited several production facilities of oil and gas productions units of Almetevneft and Yelkhovneft. RACINE Police are investigating a shooting that occurred Sunday evening that left the victim in critical condition. The shooting was reported at 7:04 p.m. in the area of Blake Avenue and Prospect Street, according to Racine police. The victim was only identified by police as a male. He was taken to Ascension All Saints Hospital, where police said he remained in critical condition as of Monday morning. No suspect was in custody as of Monday morning, police said. Further details were not available as of Monday. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers of Racine County anonymously by calling 262-636-9330 or sending a text to CRIMES (274637). Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 2 By Huseyn Hasanov Trend: The trade and economic partnership was the central theme of the Turkmen-Russian summit talks taking place in Ashgabat, the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency reported Oct. 2. Russian President Vladimir Putin is on an official visit in Ashgabat. The parties noted its progressive and stable nature. Despite the objective difficulties associated with the situation in the global economy, Russia continues to be one of Turkmenistan's largest trading partners, says the report. Visits of the Turkmen delegations of the economic bloc to Russia were held, joint business forums were held with participation of state and private structures, according to the report. A plan of measures and projects for the implementation of the Program of Economic Cooperation between the two countries governments for 2017-2019 has been agreed. This is a kind of roadmap for a three-year period, says the report. Such examples indicate the existence of mutual interest and readiness for building partnership relations further. In this regard, an important role is given to the work of the Intergovernmental Commission. Today we need access specific projects, use of geographical and infrastructural advantages of both countries, and search for new directions. First of all, in strategic spheres industry, transport and communications, energy, agro-industrial complex, and new technologies, noted Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Stressing the interest of the Turkmen side in raising the level and quality of interaction with Russia in the sphere of high technologies, Berdimuhamedov in general expressed his belief in the need to give the bilateral economic partnership a clearly expressed innovative, high-tech character. Russia has excellent developments in this segment, and Turkmenistan would like to use it in mutual interests and on a mutually beneficial basis. The priority areas of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries also include banking and financial sector, support for export-import operations and joint foreign economic projects. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Fatih Karimov Trend: Exports of Irans minerals and mineral industry products valued $3.6 billion during the first five months of current fiscal year (March 20-Aug. 22), the countrys Industry, Mines and Trade Ministry announced. The volume of the exports surpassed 26 million tons in the five-month period, according to the report. Iran exported $169 million worth of aluminum production chain products (154,000 tons) in the first five months of current fiscal year, 115 percent more year-on-year. Export of zinc production chain products also witnessed a rise by 115 percent to $160 million (91,500 tons), the ministry said. The Islamic Republic exported 7.3 million tons of iron ore, worth $413 million in the five-month period, 46 percent more year-on-year. However, export of steel products shrank by 13 percent in terms of value to $1.4 billion. The country exported 4.1 million tons of steel products in the first five months of current fiscal year. Irans copper export also witnessed a fall by 30 percent in terms of value. The Islamic Republic exported 304,000 tons of copper production chain products, worth $303 million in the same period. Iran exported $170 million worth of decorative stones, amounting to 2.8 million tons in volume in the five-month period. The value of the exports surged by 42 percent compared to the same months of preceding year. Exports of Irans minerals and mineral industry products increased by 17 percent to $7 billion during the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2017). The main exported goods were steel products (6.6 million tons, worth $2.699 billion), followed by copper, aluminum, cement, lead, zing, coal, iron, chromium, molybdenum, titanium, mica, nickel, decorative stones and antimony. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 30 By Fatih Karimov Trend: The trade turnover between Iran and Turkey stood at $7.252 billion during the first eight months of 2017, according to the latest statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute. The figure indicates a rise by 14.7 percent compared to same period of the preceding year ($6.32 billion). The trade turnover between the two countries reached $928.36 million in August 2017. The exports of Turkey to Iran in August 2017 valued about $286.3 million ($462.092 million in August 2016), meanwhile the country imported goods worth $642.058 million from Iran in the same month ($459.712 million in the same period of 2016). Turkey's exports to Iran in the first eight months of 2017 amounted to $2.098 billion, compared to $3.358 billion in the first eight months of 2016. The country also imported $5.154 billion worth of goods from Iran in the period, 74 percent more compared to the first eight months of 2016 ($2.962 billion). The trade turnover between the two countries was $13.71 billion in 2014, which stood at $9.76 billion in 2015, indicating a 29-percent plunge. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Fatih Karimov Trend: Irans Custom administration has suspended activity of a checkpoint on the border with the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq following the disputed independence referendum held by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq on Sept. 25. According to a letter, signed by Ahmad Barkabian Zanjani, Supervisor of Irans West Azerbaijan province custom offices, all custom activities including export, transit as well as entry and exit of passenger carrying vehicles are suspended at Piranshahr customs checkpoint until further notice. The letter is published by semi-official Tasnim news agency on Oct. 2. Earlier Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization has temporarily banned carrying oil products to Iraqs Kurdish Autonomous Region and vice versa. The directive addressing Iranian cargo transportation firms has said that the decision was made following the recent developments in the region. Iran has already closed its aerial zone to the region at the request of Iraqs government. All flights to Sulaymaniyah and Erbil airports as well as transit flights from Iraqi Kurdistan through Irans air zone were halted. Iran and Turkey are among the countries, which have urged for protecting Iraqs territorial integrity. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 2 By Khalid Kazimov - Trend: Iran has launched joint war games with the neighboring Iraq along its western and northwestern borders. The commander of the ground forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour has said that the armor units alongside with artillery, drones, and helicopters have joined the drills, Tasnim news agency reported. The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the regular army of Iran earlier on Sept. 25 conducted two separated war games along the countrys western borders with Iraq. The developments came following reports on holding a referendum on independence in northern Iraq. Iran and Turkey are among the countries, which have urged for protecting Iraqs territorial integrity. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.2 By Alan Hope - Trend: All dogs go to heaven but first they must endure the Armenian Hell. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. Book of Psalms 147:9 1989 MGM/UA animated musical comedy-drama called All Dogs Go to Heaven tells an inspirational story of a dog called Charlie, murdered by his former friend. Charlie returns from Heaven to Earth to avenge his death and help his best friend, Itchy, while teaming up with a young orphan girl named Anne-Marie, who teaches them an important lesson of kindness, friendship and love. Unlike Charlie, who by default went to Heaven, since all dogs do, tens of thousands stray dogs just in the capital city of Armenia, Yerevan, subjected to the policy of Speciesism by the mired in all of the Carnal Sins local authorities, first have to go through the Armenias Nine Circles of Hell on Earth. The faith of Yerevans strays In the years of so-called independence, the 26-year-young post-Soviet state of Armenia has gained its notoriety amongst the animal rights activists as the institutionally corrupt country without any animal protection legislation that exercises cruelty, torture and slaughter of the animals on a daily basis. For some years now, local authorities, pointing to an increasing number of fancy dog boutiques, thus priding themselves of being the most animal loving country in the world, have been implementing a new form of the Armenian Genocide by condoning thousands of stray dogs that prowl the grounds of the Armenian capital, looking for shelter and food, to a cruel form of inhumane death. All Hail the Savior! The fact is that in 2006 Yerevan City Hall had announced a tender, valued at $500K a year, for the animal control program that was supposed to deal with the ever growing stray dog population of the city by sterilizing and euthanizing it in a humane way. In line with the well-established Armenian tradition that the results of the tender are always predetermined well before the tenders are held, then mayor of Yerevan, Yervand Zakharyan had issued an unofficial order to announce Unigraph-X, the company which previously was solely involved in the air pollution (car emissions) control sector, the winner of that tender. Back then, while commenting on the unexpected victory, the companys director Mushegh Potikyan, acknowledging that Unigraph-X hasnt had any prior experience in the field of animal control, had stated that "In general, we do many things. What difference does it make?" Well, huge difference has been noticed by the local animal rights activists, who, ever since, have been urging the city authorities to review their stands on the animal control issue and to put a stop to Unigraph-Xs Monkey Business. Unigraph-Xs Nazi Methodology Firstly, in order to fit the new profile and get rid of the prior business association stigma, the company in charge of the animal control program had change its name to Unigraph-X Stray Animal Control and Sterilization Co Ltd. Secondly, the new Unigraph-X, labeling stray dogs as the prime menace to the society, had come up with a new concept of neutralization, as if it was dealing with terrorists rather than helpless animals. In true Nazi traditions the company had devised a related methodology of the concept implementation, comprised of the built concentration camp, where the culled strays are being kept undernourished and medically unattended; euthanasia by Lidocaine, a pain medication that is prohibited for use under any animal welfare standard; and finally, companys Schutzstaffel (SS) squads, in cooperation with the local police force, practice a well-established custom of shooting the dogs in the plain view of the local residents right on the streets of Yerevan, day or night. Following to the letter of the policy of species cleaning, the company personnel simply kills the strays and dumps their corps into the present day reminder of the Nazi made mass graves. Thus, tortured, maimed and finally dead dogs of Yerevan lay in their final place of rest, the open pits called hotels near the Nubarashen highway. As the strays corps lay out in the open presenting a salad bar for the scavengers, continuous warnings these pits have already and might become in the future a potential source of a pandemics. The Horrifying Stats Not less staggering, but even more outrageous, are the statistics on the exact number of the strays it sterilized, euthanized and neutralized, provided yearly to the city authorities and disclosed on its website. As such, in the frame of 2006-2010 the company have claimed to had sterilized and released back to streets 36,127 dogs, while euthanizing another 1,374 and neutralizing 83,526. In first two month of 2011 Unigraph-X had claimed to have neutralized 4,583 stray, while 1,020 dogs were returned to the street after sterilization. In Jan-Feb 2012 the company stated that 4,200 dogs were neutralized and 920 sterilized. Following the public outcries detesting the company methods and statistics, Unigraph-X had taken down its website, restricting release of statistics to the yearly report of the City Halls Trades and Services Department. Thus, the 2016 report had shown that during the mentioned period Unigraph X company [had] neutralized 15522 stray animals, without even a mention of the ones sterilized. Addition of the publicly known and company acknowledge numbers would show that Unigraph-X had neutralized total of 107,831 in the past 10 years of its activities. Nonetheless, animal rights activists estimated that the company catches or shots on the site an average of 90 dogs per day. In a 365 cycle that would mean that Unigraph-X rounds up on average around 32,850 strays a year. Considering their quite visible of using horrific five to one ratio, when only one of the caught dogs is being sterilized and released, its evident that total number of the neutralized dogs rounds to 26,820 a year, or an approximate 268,200 in the past ten. Albeit its enormous effort in the fight against the helpless animals, Unigraph-Xs yearly reports indicate the total number of the strays in the 115 square miles city remains virtually unchanged to stand at 46,000. Money Maters! Putting the moral side of the issue to the side, the financial component of the Unigraph-Xs fascinating reports presents another base for concern and outrage. The company claims that the costs of sterilization procedures vary between $17 for male to $24 for female dogs, while euthanasia costs only $7. Consequently, it claims, that neutralization, with the cost of mere $5, is the most cost effective solution for the stray dog population control. All of the abovementioned stats are attesting to the fact that Unigraph-X has been involved in the ruthless implementation of a meticulously designed plan of animal cleaning. Nonetheless, in view of the animal rights advocates petitions, rallies and even desperate dognapping from the Unigraph-Xs concentration camp, arises the question of how this company by winning the tender year after year has sustained its operations untouched by the law-enforcement or political authorities. Dead animal = Money = Political Careers Well, the answer is much less complicated than one would imagine. Mayor Zakhrayns 2006 predetermined decision on the tender winner was based on the fact that Unigraph-X belongs to Ara Sadoyan, the head of the citys administrative district of Kentron. Ara Sadoyan had used Unigraph-Xs incomes to finance his brother, Ruben Sadoyans political career. As a result, Ruben Sadoyan, previously unemployed for three years, had been elected to represent Yerevans ninth district in the Armenian Parliament. Thus, two brothers scratching each others backs, for the past ten years have managed to scratch the back of the Armenian political elite, including the one that belongs to the former mayor of Yerevan and countrys current Prime Minister, Karen Karapetyan. Using their political connections Sadoyan brothers even managed to subdue the current reformist Mayor Taron Margaryan, who had cautiously instructed Unigraph-Xs persons in charge to strengthen the control over the activity of the service and called them to inform the public about the professional activity of the company to exclude any misunderstanding. Armenias Animal Genocide All-in-all, considering that Unigraph-X operates exclusively in Yerevan, the bigger picture for the animal control program in Armenia would suggest that the countrys authorities, mired down by pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth, are, in fact, practicing the ideology of Speciesism for the advancement of their personal finances and political careers, thus committing a full-scale Animal Genocide. Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.3 By Alan Hope - Trend: Just as the world faces another turmoil ignited by yet another separatist movement, fueled by the nationalist ideology, with the not-so-vague financial backing, the United States had, once again, bared a witness as well as a victim to the yet another dumbfounded, domestically raised, unjust and unexplainable act of madness. This time the thing that happened in Vegas, didnt stay there, it has affected not only the US, but the whole world. First Blood On Aug 1, 1966, a former American Marine sharpshooter, Charles Whitman became infamous as the "Texas Tower Sniper." On that day he had first murdered his mother and wife in their homes, before coming about to the University of Texas (Austin) campus. Upon arrival, Whitman had murdered another three inside the university tower before reaching its 28th floor. From that spot Whitman had randomly and indiscriminately fired for 96 minutes, eventually killing another 17, including one unborn child, while wounding 31 before being gunned done by the police. Bowling for Columbine The Jefferson County of Colorado was shaken and shocked by the Columbine High School seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold on Apr 20, 1999, as they had murdered 12 students and one teacher, while injuring directly 21 and an additional three indirectly, as the later had attempted the scape. The pair, becoming infamous as the Columbian Shooters, had subsequently committed a suicide before the law-enforcement officers could reach them. Beltway Sharpshooters Within the timeframe of Feb-Dec of 2002, a crime spree, featuring a series of murders and robberies and spanning the states of Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Washington, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, resulted in the death of 17, while another 10 got injured. The perpetrators apprehended by the law-enforcement, later called the D.C. snipers (aka the Beltway Sharpshooters), were identified as John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. Virginia Tech Massacre On Apr 16, 2007, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg) senior Seung-Hui Cho had shot and killed 32 people, while wounding 23 others, in two separate attacks approximately two hours apart. The gunman, later on becoming infamous as the Virginia Tech Shooter, had committed suicide before the law-enforcement agents could apprehend him. Newtowns "Klaus" Barbie The town of Newtown, Connecticut was paralyzed on Dec 14, 2012, as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, prior to his arrival to the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre had shot and killed his mother. Upon his arrival to the school, Lanza had fatally shot 20 six and seven year old children, as well as six adult staff members, before committing suicide. Gaydar in Disarray On Jun 12, 2016, a 29-year-old security guard, later called the Orlando Nightclub Shooter, Omar Mateen (aka Omar Mir Seddique) had killed 49 people, while wounding 58 others, in a mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Florida, committing the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter in the United States until the 2017 Las Vegas Strip shooting. Vegas Shooter On Oct 1, 2017, a crowd of 22,000 was fired upon from the 32nd floor of the hotel room, in the Mandalay Bay resort. Almost thousands of machine-gun fired bullets were aimed at the attendees of the country music star Jason Aldeans concert. As they scrambled for cover, ran from the stage and struggled to save each others lives, at least 58 people were killed and more than 515 injured, making this the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter in the United States until, as well as the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since the 9/11. The local police at scene had identified the perpetrator of the latest attack as the resident of the retirement community of Mesquite, Nevada, Stephen Paddock, 64, who had committed suicide before the SWAT team could apprehend him. Notwithstanding that the Islamic State (aka ISI, Daesh) has already claimed itself to be the master-mind by affiliation of the Vegas attack, local, as well the federal law-enforcement agencies, who did not yet determined the motives of Paddocks motives, reiterated insistently that no foreign involvement had been established. While the matter of Paddocks motives (whether religious, financial, gambling or matter-of-the-heart related) will surely be established by the law-enforcement agencies in charge, so far they had stated that it has all the trends a lone-wolf profile, very much similar to the inhumane crimes mentioned above. Notwithstanding the outcome of the investigation, Paddocks crime truly is, just like the US President Donald Trump had described it, an act of pure evil. No matter of the future political storms caused by this event or the political debates be held for the legislative revision of the 2nd Amendment, for now, we honor those who unjustly and treacherously were gunned-down by the maniac, as our prayers go to those who are recovering from this horrific event. We do hope that the Americans will yet again overcome this, as awful as it sounds and so sad to say, already usual type of violence. Nonetheless, as the US president said, there is still some [hope of] light in the darkness. God Bless! US President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed the prospect of talks with North Korea as a waste of time a day after his own secretary of state said the United States was maintaining open lines of communication with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man, Trump wrote on Twitter, using his sarcastic nickname for Kim and seeming to contradict the top US diplomat. Trump, who has traded insults and threats with Kim in recent weeks amid escalating tensions over Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs, later tweeted that his White House predecessors, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, had all failed on North Korea by Being nice to Rocket Man, So why would it work now? he asked. Kim succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, as North Korean leader in 2011, during Obamas administration. Previous presidents negotiated with Pyongyang but ultimately failed to prevent it from pressing ahead with its internationally condemned weapons programs. Tillerson disclosed on Saturday that the United States was directly communicating with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programs but that Pyongyang had shown no interest in dialogue. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done! Trump said. Tillerson said during a trip to China that the United States had multiple direct channels of communication with Pyongyang, the first such disclosure from the Trump administration, and that it was probing North Korea to see whether it was interested in dialogue. Tillerson expressed hope for reducing tensions with North Korea, which is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland. We are probing, so stay tuned, Tillerson told a small group of reporters. We ask: Would you like to talk?' He said the United States had a couple of, three channels open to Pyongyang. An Islamic State militant was responsible for a knife attack at a Marseille train station in southern France that killed two women on Sunday, the groups Amaq news agency said, according to Reuters. Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by a soldier in the southern French port city of Marseille on Sunday in what officials described as a likely terrorist act. At least 17 people have died in clashes between security forces and protesters in Cameroons English-speaking regions, Amnesty International said, as violence broke out in an area where a separatist movement is gathering strength, Reuters reported. The clashes began on Sunday after local groups called protests against what they say is their marginalization by the Francophone-dominated government of the countrys long-time ruler, Paul Biya. Witnesses said security forces opened fire, often at close range. Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty Internationals Lake Chad region researcher, told Reuters that the victims died across several towns in the two Anglophone regions bordering Nigeria. RACINE COUNTY While many local officials were celebrating Gov. Scott Walker signing the $2.85 billion legislation package to bring the Foxconn Technology Group to Wisconsin, several local officials were in Japan preparing for the next step. The trip, which took place Sept. 18-22, was attended by a delegation of local officials from the private and public sector. Those who attended were Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave; Racine County Board Chairman Russell Clark; Racine County Corporation Counsel Michael Lanzdorf; Racine County Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Jenny Trick; Gateway Technical College President/CEO Bryan Albrecht; Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce President/CEO Matt Montemurro; Mount Pleasant Village President Dave DeGroot; Village of Mount Pleasant Project Director Claude Lois; and Tom Ludwig, state operations director for the Foth Company. Based in DePere, Foth is a consulting firm that specializes in infrastructure, environmental and production solutions. In a statement about the trip, Delagrave said as we continue to explore an economic opportunity of this magnitude, it was important to take a fact-finding visit to similar manufacturing facilities in Osaka, Japan as part of our due diligence. The trip reaffirmed our belief that Foxconn would bring significant benefits to Racine County, and we plan to share more with the community very soon. Between Racine County officials and Village of Mount Pleasant officials, it cost taxpayers over $8,100 to pay for the flights and hotel, according to documents obtained by The Journal Times through open record requests. It was unclear as of Friday afternoon who picked up the expenses for the other members of the travelling party. Lois expenses were not picked up directly by the village, however the company hes employed with Kapur and Associates has a contract with the village that costs $20,000 per month. Its likely many future Foxconn employees will first be educated at Gateway, Albrecht said the trip helped him understand how to best educate the students for the jobs. The trip to Osaka, Japan provided me a good benchmark for our training expectations, Albrecht said in a statement. The level of technology integration was inspirational and drives their advanced manufacturing processes. I was pleased to see the focus on employee safety, technical skill training and teamwork. Albrecht said Gateway has been working to strengthen its advanced manufacturing training for jobs similar to what will be at Foxconn. Gateway will continue to partner with Foxconn and supply chain companies to develop training programs to position our graduates for jobs with world class industry standards, Albrecht said. Our investments in robotics, electronics and advanced manufacturing have positioned Gateway as a leading partner for business and industry. DeGroot said the trip was about research, collecting data and doing due diligence on our end. Obviously (Foxconn officials) have been over here and some of us from Racine County felt that it was in our best interest to see things with our own eyes, DeGroot said. Well be able to make more comments on that as soon as we can. Trick was unavailable for comment Friday afternoon. Montemurro declined to comment for this story. Foxconn, a Taiwanese company, has stated it will build a manufacturing plant in southeastern Wisconsin to make liquid crystal display screens, most notably for all Apple Inc. products. With Kenosha taking itself out of the running for the plant, and an abundance of closed-door meetings among various local governments, the speculation is that Foxconn has settled on Racine County, likely in western Sturtevant and Mount Pleasant between Durand Avenue and Braun Road. The Legislature has passed a $2.85 billion incentives bill that would provide tax credits to Foxconn if the company meets certain benchmarks related to construction or hiring. The state has estimated that bringing this company to Wisconsin could create about 13,000 jobs, not including thousands more connected to construction of the proposed behemoth plant and those generated by ancillary and support businesses. KYODO NEWS - Oct 1, 2017 - 18:02 | All, World The development and deployment of small tactical nuclear weapons have been proposed during an ongoing review of U.S. nuclear policy by the administration of President Donald Trump, a congressional source said Sunday. Adoption of the proposal would mark a major departure from the previous administration of President Barack Obama that sought "a world without nuclear weapons." Tactical nuclear weapons of several kilotons are seen as usable as their destructive power is limited compared with conventional nuclear weapons. But it remains uncertain whether Washington will employ such an option, given strong opposition within the U.S. government, the source said. The proposal has emerged at a time when the United States is struggling to deal with the growing nuclear threat from North Korea. Trump ordered the crafting of the Nuclear Posture Review in January, the first since one under the Obama administration in 2010. The U.S. government is planning to complete the review by the end of this year, taking new security conditions into account. Discussions on the NPR are led by the U.S. Defense Department and the Energy Department. According to the source, some have voiced support for the development and deployment of small tactical nuclear weapons in view of North Korea as well as Russia, which has unveiled its policy to strengthen tactical nuclear forces. With guided small tactical nuclear weapons, the United States could destroy nuclear facilities in North Korea while curbing radiation damage, the source added. On the introduction of small tactical nuclear weapons, a U.S. government official said there are a number of options to build a flexible nuclear posture. The same official also said it cannot be denied that the promotion of tactical nuclear weapons in the upcoming policy review could send a message that runs counter to disarmament. Feasibility Report Promising for Australian Seawater Pumped Hydro Project "Pumped hydro has great potential to solve one of the most pressing energy issues we face integrating intermittent renewable supply into the grid in a way that delivers reliable, affordable power," EnergyAustralia Managing Director Catherine Tanna said. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and officials of EnergyAustralia applauded an initial feasibility study of a seawater pumped hydro project in South Australia's Spencer Gulf, a project that could generate 225 megawatts of electricity, which found the technical challenges of using seawater in the project can be overcome, and thus there are no "show stoppers" to the project. EnergyAustralia, together with consortium partners Arup Group and Melbourne Energy Institute, said Sept. 27 that the energy storage project at Cultana now moves to the next stage, which includes engineering design, planning approvals, and more detailed financial modeling. When all approvals are in place and detailed engineering is completed, EnergyAustralia will be able to make a final investment decision on the project -- a decision expected near the end of 2018. The Turnbull government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, provided $453,000 in funding to conduct the study into the proposed pumped hydro facility, which would be the first of its kind in Australia to use seawater. The study found the facility would be capable of generating 225 MW of electricity and 1770 MWh of power with eight hours of storage. Initial cost estimates suggest the project would cost $477 million to build and could be constructed and operational by 2023. EnergyAustralia Managing Director Catherine Tanna said pumped hydro is a way to store energy so it can be used when needed, typically when renewables are not available. "Pumped hydro has great potential to solve one of the most pressing energy issues we face integrating intermittent renewable supply into the grid in a way that delivers reliable, affordable power," she said. "The project we're investigating would be capable of producing 225 MW of electricity with around eight hours of storage. It's the equivalent of installing 126,000 home battery storage systems, but at a third of the cost. We still have a lot of hard work ahead of us before we can commit to a project. But based on the studies we've done these past six months, we're optimistic seawater pumped hydro can play an important role in a new, modern Australian energy system." EnergyAustralia has scheduled a community meeting on Oct. 4 to discuss the study's findings. As people across the country and beyond struggle to recover from the most recent series of natural disasters, the success of a Racine native in helping the people of Nepal offers hope for the future. In April 2015, when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated Nepal, Natasha Wozniak started raising funds to help people there people she had come to know like family when she spent time in Nepal as a 19-year-old Fulbright Scholar. Wozniak, a 1993 Case High School graduate now living in Brooklyn, N.Y., felt compelled to do something to help the developing country recover from the quake, which killed more than 9,000 people and injured more than 23,000. She started simply, with a crowdfunding page that raised $2,000 within a week. And, by working with Bibek Pandit, a member of her family living in Nepals Lamjung district, she was able to direct the funds to those who needed them most. Pandit used the money to buy tarps, tents, medicine and other supplies for people in remote villages which had been directly impacted. That was just the beginning. A village rebuilt In the two years since, Wozniak and Pandit with the help of many others both in Nepal and in the U.S. have rebuilt more than a dozen homes in the village of Rainaskot and are now setting their sights on a second village, Barbandi. They have joined forces with people from Nepal living in the states; they created a nonprofit organization partnership, Sangsangai (which means together in Nepali), registered in both countries; and they have raised more than $100,000 of their $150,000 goal for rebuilding the entire village of Rainaskot. On Friday, Oct. 6, Wozniak will host her third Night Out for Nepal event in Caledonia, at the Siena Center, 5635 Erie St. The evening will run from 6 to 9 p.m. and will feature a short documentary about the rebuilding project, produced by Wozniak, as well as food and beverages. Sharda Thapa, founder of the Association of Nepalese in Midwest America and lead adviser in the U.S. for the Sangsangai project (formerly known as the Fund for Lamjung), will be attending. An RSVP to Wozniak is requested at natasha@sang-sangai.org. The suggested donation is $50. Inspiration for growth People here in Racine, through previous fundraisers and direct donations, have already raised upwards of $20,000 for the project enough to fund the rebuilding of two houses in Rainaskot, said Wozniak, who works as a jewelry designer/metalsmith in New York. And, with the first village nearly entirely rebuilt, enthusiasm for the project continues to grow, she said. Seeing families living in homes that they had a hand in building houses built to be earthquake-resistant, using locally available materials is inspiring, said Wozniak, who has traveled back to Nepal several times during the project. The villagers are very grateful for the their efforts, she said. One of them, Bhim Kumari Gurung told her, I am so happy about the new houses that I feel I will live to a very old age, because of this happiness. Connie Molbeck, a local supporter of the project, said she admires Wozniaks commitment to the people of Nepal, and she appreciates the sustainable-living focus in the houses being built, as well as the fact that homeowners are personally invested in the project. She and Renee Billman, another local donor, also point to the accountability of project organizers, as a reason for their support. Transparent and open Because Wozniak lived in Nepal and speaks the language, she knows a lot about what is happening there and is very involved in how the money is spent, Billman said. Detailed reports, photos and videos on the project website (www.fundforlamjung.org) keep the public informed and Wozniak said that she and fellow organizers believe strongly in being transparent and open, both with donors and villagers. Wozniaks goal for this years Night Out for Nepal is to raise another $10,000, to rebuild a house in the new village. There are 25 houses in Barbandi that need rebuilding, she said. And, with help from others, she plans to continue working toward rebuilding Nepal, one village at a time, as long as there is a need. Natasha has an enthusiasm that is just wonderful to see, Billman said. RACINE Racines Festival Hall will become an island oasis on Friday, Oct. 6, when steel drummers from near and far fill it with the unmistakably tropical tones of their music, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The steel drum concert scheduled to be presented that evening by Angel Lawrie will feature national guest artists including John Patti an internationally touring steel pan artist as well as the local steel band the Steel Doves. And its purpose, in addition to being entertaining, is to share Lawries passion for steel pan drums and the healing effects they can have on at-risk youth. Lawrie, who has been playing steel drums for more than 30 years, is also an educator, clinician and an advocate for students dealing with autism, emotional challenges, learning differences and ADHD. Before moving to Racine a year ago, she founded and led a school program in Ohio that was successful in using music and performing arts to help such students build their capacity for learning and their confidence. An inspiring song Formerly a traditional, middle school band director with a degree in music education, Lawrie said she was inspired to work with at-risk kids by an experience she had with a little girl who didnt speak at all. Determined to find a way to communicate with the girl, Lawrie said she tried a number of strategies and eventually after much trial and error and journaling was able to get the girl to sing a song. She sang Jesus Loves Me to me, and then turned to her mom and said I love you, Lawrie said. The three of us started crying. The minute that happened, I knew this was my calling. That was about eight years ago, and since then she has worked with people of all ages through her program, Angel Pan Camps (www.facebook.com/AngelPanCamps), at schools, churches and other venues across the country. Her base here in Racine County is a storefront called Harmony Hall, located next to Racine Community Acupuncture, at 10502 Northwestern Ave., in the Franksville neighborhood, where she gives lessons and where the Steel Doves a 12-piece band ranging in age from 9 to 70 rehearse. The philosophy works, said Lawrie, who has dealt with ADHD throughout her own life. Its not just about learning to play the instrument. Its about hope and giving attention to kids who might not otherwise get it, and changing their perspective. Anyone, including adults, can benefit from it. Experience its magic While shes happy to talk about the many benefits of playing steel pan drums, Lawrie said the best way for her to share what she calls the magic of this music is to demonstrate it. At her concert on Oct. 6, she hopes to lay the foundation for what she eventually would like to build here in Racine a massive steel band called the Belle City Steelers. The band would serve as a fine arts camp where at-risk youth from throughout southeastern Wisconsin could find their voices, develop new confidence and thrive, while learning to play a new instrument. In order to do so, Lawrie has applied for grant funding and if she gets capacity attendance at Fridays concert, it will help her secure those grants. As of press time, she said tickets for the concert were almost sold out. Most of those still available can be purchased directly from Lawrie, for $15 each, by calling her at 262-883-7624. A limited number may also still be available through Ticketmaster (search for Angel Pan Camps), for $17.50 each. The island life In addition to lots of steel drum music which Lawrie said encompasses just about every genre, from rock to jazz and blues to reggae Fridays event will offer tropically themed drinks and food for sale, as well as an atmosphere designed to transport the audience to the island life. All proceeds from the event will support the expansion of Angel Pan Camps and Lawries work with at-risk youth. Lawrie, who began playing steel drums while enrolled at the University of Akron and later studied in Trinidad, said she and the rest of Fridays concert lineup are excited to perform for the audience here. The people of Racine have been incredibly welcoming and supportive, she said, and she is very appreciative of the collaborative relationships shes found here. I love the feeling here, she said. Everyone is so real and they all want change, so much. Airbnb has become the go-to destination for adventurous vacationers or those itching for a weekend getaway. Now, the company is making a concerted effort to target the business traveler. Forty percent of todays hotel guests travel for business, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Currently, 15% of nights booked on Airbnb are for business travel, representing 3x growth year-over-year, says Airbnb co-founder and chief strategy officer Nate Blecharczyk. And hes vying to gain more marketshare in the corporate world. Over 250,000 small businesses have signed up with Airbnb to use their tools, primarily to facilitate the payment process. Ill say that the most common use case is a trip that combines a work week with a weekend. We see a lot of what we call bleisure, Blecharczyk told Yahoo Finance at the Skift Global Forum. Airbnbs sprawling vision Earlier this year, Blecharczyk transitioned from chief technology officer to strategy officer to figure out how Airbnb expand into other aspects of travel beyond accommodations. Last month, Airbnb announced that users could make reservations at 650 US restaurants directly through its app, powered by Resy. Airbnb led a $13 million funding round in the reservation app in January. Blecharczyk says the partnership is in its early days and the priority is to expand it globally. Airbnb is focused on curating travel for tourists, and dining is just one segment of the vision. This week, Airbnb launched 150 Experiences in New York City. Currently, the company offers 3,000 globally, ranging from a private happy hour with a local musician in Rome to making nigiri in a home kitchen in Tokyo. Most experiences range from $30 to $150. The company teamed up with Sarah Jessica Parker and Michael Strahan to offer experiences where 100% of the proceeds go to charity. Theyre offered by generally local people who are deeply passionate or knowledgeable about something that interests them. Its a great way to both meet a local person and share in an activity. The ones that weve done with celebrities are really to help with the launch, said Blecharczyk. Story continues Ultimately, these experiences can be a way to create more touchpoints (and revenue) with customers who might not want to give up their hotel points. Melody Hahm is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering entrepreneurship, technology and real estate. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm. Read more: A protestor holds Spanish and Catalan flags during a demonstration against independence in Catalonia called by the far-right party "Platform for Catalonia" (PXC) in front of the city hall of Barcelona, on September 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/PAU BARRENA) (AFP) Madrid (AFP) - Frustration and anxiety mounted across Spain on Saturday in the face of Catalonia's determination to defy Madrid and hold a banned independence referendum for the wealthy northeastern region. In the run-up to Sunday's vote, which the courts have ruled unconstitutional, more red and yellow Spanish flags have appeared on balconies in Madrid, Seville and other cities in support of national unity. "Before this summer the Catalan question was not a worry," said Lluis Orriols, a political science lecturer and expert on public opinion at the University Carlos III in Madrid. "The latest polls show 75 percent of Spaniards oppose the referendum, for fear of secession," he said. The anxiety has been fuelled by the media's focus on the issue, Orriols added, since "in reality 55 percent of Catalans reject separation even if a majority want to vote." The apprehension is especially strong in Catalonia's neighbouring regions of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south. "The economy and daily life of the people of Aragon would be hugely impacted if a border went up," said Spanish author Sergio del Molino, who is from the region, which in medieval times ruled Catalonia. "The Aragonese do not understand the demands of such a rich region and feel abandoned," added Del Molino, whose book "Empty Spain" examines the effect of mass migration to major economic centres like Madrid and Barcelona. - 'Step backwards' - In the village of Traiguera in the coastal region of Valencia, Amador Peset, who produces olive oil from centuries-old olive trees, said the dominant feeling was one of "sadness, because we are neighbours". "We are taking a step backwards. My family in Barcelona thinks it's madness. Catalans criticise Madrid but they forget the rest of the country. My bottles, my labels, come from Catalan companies, and I need them for my exports," he said. Story continues Bordered by the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean, Catalonia -- which is roughly the size of Belgium -- accounts for 16 percent of Spain's population and 19 percent of its economic output. The economic consequences of secession are also a worry in the eastern region of Extremadura, one of Spain's poorest regions, which is known for the cherries of its Jerte Valley region. Ignacio Montero, who heads a cooperative, said his cherries pass through Catalonia on their way to France and Italy. "If independence happened, it would be a disaster for us. We would lose everything, in addition to the unity of Spain," he said. Keeping Spain united is also crucial for Rodrigo Marrero, a lawyer from Spain's Canary Islands who works in Madrid. "If they left, it would be like losing a limb. And it could set a dangerous precedent at the European level," he said. "Everyone in my entourage is saddened by the situation, it's all we talk about, it does not matter what their political leaning is." - 'Let them vote' - One of the arguments used by Catalan separatists is that their region pays more in taxes than it receives in investments and transfers from Madrid -- or to use a common refrain, "Spain robs us". But the argument exasperates Jorge Garcia, secretary of the fishing federation of the northwestern region of Galicia. "They say 'Spain robs us' but I haven't stolen from anyone," Garcia said. "The topic tires us, we want this dispute to end because we no longer talk about the problems of the rest of the country. It is no longer a cultural question, it has become an anti-Spain sentiment. But we are Spain so we feel targeted," he added. In the southwestern region of Andalusia, where unemployment runs high, the "intense family ties that unite the two regions" shape people's feelings about the issue, said Manuel Pena, a professor of contemporary history at Cordoba University. "Since the 1960s, a million Andalusians have migrated to Catalonia. At the time they were considered second-class citizens, and that is a feeling that is coming back," he said. He said that some Catalans complain that Andalusians lack a strong work ethic and benefit from the tax revenues their region transfers to Madrid. "In response there has been a surge of nationalism in Andalusia, we see many Spanish flags at the windows." The situation is seen differently in Spain's northern Basque Country, which already enjoys a degree of autonomy far beyond Catalonia's. "We must let them vote, even if they vote 'no' to independence and their demands concern mostly money," said graphic designer Arantxa Beobide in the Basque town of Hernani, adding her whole family agreed. The bitcoin market probably faced its biggest challenge yet, or at least for this year, during the course of last month. Just when the bitcoin traders heaved a sigh of relief after the hard fork in August did not lead to a large breakup of the bitcoin industry as was widely expected, came the month of September. This was a month of rapid and debilitating developments as far as the bitcoin market was concerned but it ended the month down but still not out. Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today Bitcoin Markets Face a Challenge The first half of the month saw the news that the Chinese regulators had banned all ICOs and said that no one in China should be investing in ICOs anymore. They also began to trace out the older ICOs as well and said that the owners of those ICOs had to return the funds back to the investors. Considering the fact that China constitutes a large part of trading as far as the crypto markets are concerned and many ICOs target China specifically as there is a huge market, this was a big blow to the industry as a whole. Bitcoin 4H Though it has been said that the regulators would block everything now only to regulate and release it back later, the market was having none of it and this led to a drop in the prices by about 20% within a matter of days. The prices had been trading close to their highs near the $5000 region but this announcement saw the prices crash down to the $4000 region. If this were not enough, the Chinese regulators also order all the bitcoin exchanges in China to shut down their operations as they felt that they were being used for money laundering. This was another blow to the industry which saw the bitcoin prices move below $4000 during this period and all looked lost as there was not much buying support. If the bitcoin industry needed to show some maturity and resilience, this was the time. Then followed a period of consolidation and then began the process of slow recovery, a recovery which has since managed to carry the prices back above the $4000 region. Story continues Bitcoin Prices Rebound With the rebound continuing through to the new month, what does the month of October hold for the bitcoin? The market has shown some remarkable maturity and support during the latter half of last month. As the market shows some strength, we are also seeing more and more traders, who had rushed out on first signs of trouble, coming back into the markets as they now realize that the market is not going to crash but it is here to stay. We are also seeing the market becoming more resilient to shocks as the news of the ICO ban by South Korea has not had the effect that it was expected to have. Looking at all these, we believe that the bitcoin market is going to have a positive month of October. It has also been getting support from many financial leaders as well like the ECB President Draghi and this should only increase the trust in this market. As trust grows, more traders are drawn into the markets and this helps the market to grow and mature. But another point to note here is the hard fork that is scheduled to be held in November. It is feared that this fork is likely to have a much bigger impact on the bitcoin market than the one in August and with the industry now breaking into three, after the November fork, it is likely to become a battle of which is the bigger and better bitcoin and that isnt great news for the industry. So, we expect a positive upcoming month for the bitcoin market but this is likely to be tempered by the uncertainty of the upcoming hard fork. We see resistances coming in at $4400 and then at $4800, where the all-time high lies, and these should limit the moves of the bitcoin prices for the short term. On the downside, the price region around $4000 should serve as a good cushion. Expect some tight range with consolidation being the key for the month. The Best and Safest Way to Buy and Sell Bitcoins For those who are looking to take advantage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies price fluctuations, Some brokers provide traders with instant access to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The process is fast and easy with convenient and advanced trading platform (desktop and mobile), low spreads and instant execution. Click here for more details. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Photo credit: Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved From Cosmopolitan UK The holiday airline Monarch has stopped all its flights and holidays with immediate effect after going into administration. Monarch, which used to fly out of London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds to name a few, is the UKs largest ever airline to go into administration which means other organisations have been put in charge of the company because of the debt it accrued. Heres what to do if youve booked a flight or holiday with Monarch. If youre already abroad: The government has announced the countrys biggest ever peacetime repatriation, meaning they will fly back all of the passengers stranded abroad due to the airline's closure. Customers are affected in Spain, Gibraltar, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus, France, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, Israel and Portugal. The government and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are securing more than 30 planes, flying to more than 30 airports, to bring home all the Monarch customers. They will not have to pay anything. "This is an unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation," Mr Grayling said in a statement. "Together with the CAA, we will work around the clock to ensure Monarch passengers get the support they need." For more information about the #Monarch situation, visit https://t.co/LcZLT4tkB6 or call the helpline 0300 303 2800 @UK_CAA pic.twitter.com/0jF8DoO1a2 - Dept for Transport (@transportgovuk) October 2, 2017 The CAA have also launched a website to help customers find out and navigate their new flights. Passengers should not go to any airport unless their flight back to the UK has been confirmed through this new website. Story continues The chief executive of the CAA Andrew Haines said passengers should prepare for some delays. We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UKs largest airlines to manage this task, he said in a statement. The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable. We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home. If you have booked a flight with Monarch but havent left yet: Firstly, do not go to the airport, no Monarch flights are running. Monarch customers in the UK: dont go to the airport. There will be no more Monarch flights. This page will no longer be monitored. pic.twitter.com/hzfQGZ0Ty8 - Monarch (@Monarch) October 2, 2017 For anyone who booked flights with Monarch after the 15th December last year, the company was not protected by the ATOL scheme, meaning customers have no grounds to claim their money back through the airline or CAA. However, some credit and debit card issuers, PayPal and travel insurers have different rules and do offer protection when it comes to flights so it is worth getting in touch with them if you are hoping for a refund. To find out if you are ATOL protected: visit here. For anyone who booked flights before or on 14th December, 2016, and then received an ATOL certificate, they may be entitled to a refund through the CAA. If you've booked a package holiday with Monarch: Monarch holidays are ATOL protected. ATOL is the scheme which protects customers from losing their money if a company stops trading so these customers should be entitled to refunds. The company say they are making arrangements for refunds to be processed as soon as possible. More information: This can be found at monarch.caa.co.uk or call the helpline on 0300 303 2800 (from the UK) or +44 1753 330 330 (from overseas). You Might Also Like November West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures closed higher last week. The market continued to be supported by forecasts of increased demand from OPEC and the International Energy Administration. Geopolitical events also played a part in last weeks price action. Tensions continue to build around Iraqi Kurdistan. Prices could pop to the upside this week if the situation escalates enough to adversely affect supply. Weekly November West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Weekly Technical Analysis The main trend is up according to the weekly swing chart. A trade through $52.86 will signal a resumption of the uptrend. If there is enough upside momentum on the move, we could see the rally extend into the next main top at $54.94. This is followed by $58.37. The main range is $58.37 to $42.80. Its retracement zone at $50.59 to $52.42 is controlling the near-term direction of the market. The short-term range is $46.14 to $52.86. Its retracement zone is $49.50 to $48.71. Weekly November West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Short-Term Weekly Forecast Based on last weeks close at $51.67, the direction of the crude oil market this week will be determined by trader reaction to the main Fibonacci level at $52.42 and the main 50% level at $50.59. This suggests that next weeks price action will be all about momentum. If the geopolitical events escalate then the market could surge over $52.42. If they become a non-issue then prices could retreat under $50.59. Hedge fund activity will also determine the tone of the market. If they are willing to buy strength then look for an upside breakout. If they want to buy value then look for a downside breakout into support. A sustained move over $52.42 will indicate the presence of buyers. This could fuel a rally into last weeks high at $52.86 and a long-term downtrending angle at $53.50. The angle at $53.50 is the trigger point for an acceleration to the upside with $54.94 the next target, followed by $55.93. A sustained move under $50.59 will signal the presence of sellers. This could drive the market into the short-term retracement zone at $49.50 to $48.71. Since the main trend is up, buyers are likely to come in on a test of this zone. Story continues Traders should also watch the price action on a test of the steep uptrending angle at $51.14. This angle could act like a pivot this week. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Dont play with fire that was the campaign theme of Alexander van Der Bellen, the leader on the political left who has just won a runoff election to be president of Austria. The odds-on favorite, according to Austrian polls, had been Norbert Hofer, leader of the Freedom Party, a right-wing movement hostile to immigrants from other nations. The incendiary slogan was an oblique reference to Adolf Hitlers Austrian origins. In recent decades, resurgence of extreme nationalism in Austria has been cause for international attention and concern. Meanwhile, a hard-fought referendum in Italy has led to decisive defeat of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who pressed for far-reaching reform of government. He declared he would resign, and parliamentary elections are likely. Nearly seventy percent of Italian voters participated in the referendum, and the result is interpreted as a rebuff to the European Union (EU) as well as Renzi. Seeming cross-currents of Austrian stability and Italian revolt only confirm that national differences remain significant. Comprehensive unification of Europe remains a distant, perhaps impossible goal. They are only the latest in a series of surprising national decisions related to the EU. In June, a referendum in Britain narrowly decided to leave the confederation. That has still to be negotiated. In 2012, a Netherlands coalition government fractured over EU budget rules. The far-right nationalist Freedom Party sparked that crisis by abandoning the coalition government. This party is characterized by extreme hostility to European economic and political integration, and also to immigrants. Yet Prime Minister Mark Rutte is still in power. In 2005, Dutch and French voters decisively rejected a proposed European Constitution. EU ambitions had grown steadily more Utopian, with visions of a benevolent Brussels-based Eurocracy managing people. An expanding body of European law encouraged belief that commercial coordination is the same as political unification. Historically, unpredicted developments and unpalatable populism consistently appear. France, Italy and the Netherlands are among six founding nations of the original European Economic Community, established in 1957. Eight years later, President Charles de Gaulle of France threatened to destroy incipient integration during 1965-1966 over Brussels efforts to collect customs duties independently from member nations. Dutch representatives led the opposition to de Gaulle, and over the decades generally backed European political as well as economic integration. Eventually, France became supportive of the EU. Brussels eventually achieved independent financial resources. The contemporary European Union has broadened geographically and deepened economically. Austria joined in 1995, along with Finland and Sweden. A unified commercial market was achieved in the 1990s. Multinational corporations have been instrumental in this integration and underwrite enormously expanding capitalization. Political uncertainties mask this positive reality. European integration initially involved using economic means to a strategic end, namely peaceful reengagement of Germany in Europe. That was defined during World War II, and has been achieved to a remarkable degree. The vision has become our reality and is more important than inevitable disagreements. Hitlers legacy of militarized hate is dead. The European common currency is an appropriate symbol of the uneven, and at times unpredictable, course of integration. The euro is used by only nineteen of the twenty-eight members of the European Union, years after being formally established. The EU would survive demise of the currency unit, or withdrawal of several members. We focus too much on news at the expense of long-term goals. In Europe, democracy has been affirmed. Powerful market forces encourage further economic integration, despite conflicts within and between members. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping take a walk together after a bilateral meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, April 7, 2017. President Donald Trump will be traveling to five nations in the Asia-Pacific region in November, the White House announced Friday. Accompanied by his wife Melania, Trump will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines from Nov. 3-14. The trip is expected to be dominated by concerns over North Korea and countrys nuclear threat. Trump has sparred with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling him a rocket man on a suicide mission, and warned that the East Asian country would face total devastation if it threatened the United States. Kim has referred to Trump as mentally deranged. In announcing the trip, the White House said: The presidents engagements will strengthen the international resolve to confront the North Korean threat and ensure the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The trip will include two major summits the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vietnam and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations conclave in the Philippines. Trumps attendance at the latter was in some doubt, owing to some outbursts against him by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. However, Reuters reported a U.S. official said Trump was persuaded to attend the Manila summit by Asian leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, to portray a show of unity with key Asian allies. Trump, who routinely said during his presidential campaign he would re-negotiate and get better trade deals for the country, withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal Jan. 23, raising questions about his commitment to the region. However, visits that followed by senior officials, including the secretaries of state, defense and commerce, and his own upcoming trip seemed to have quelled some of those doubts. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said U.S. ties with its former colony were too strong to not recover from disagreements and that Duterte was looking forward to meeting Trump. Story continues Trumps trip to China can be seen as reciprocation to President Xi Jinpings trip to the U.S. in April. Efforts by Trump to apply pressure on China to rein in North Korea have seen little success, although he thanked Xi again Tuesday for his efforts. At a news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Trump said: I applaud China for breaking off all banking relationships with North Korea something that people would have thought unthinkable even two months ago. I want to thank President Xi. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke to Chinas top diplomat State Councilor Yang Jiechi in Beijing on Saturday and said the two presidents had a very regular and close working relationship. Yang, for his part, said the November visit was of extreme importance. Let us concentrate on cooperation and properly manage our differences in a spirit of mutual respect and mutual benefit, he told Tillerson. Trumps national security team is reviewing U.S. strategy with regards to countering Chinese trade practices and opening up market access, according to a senior administration official. The U.S. would also like to address concerns of Chinese entities behind the theft of intellectual property and cyberattacks. As a prelude to his trip, Trump met Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong, who was attending the inaugural dialogue on people-to-people ties in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Bloomberg reported. Related Articles igloo guy cold freeze Over 4 billion personal records were stolen last year alone before the Equifax breach. Only 4% of identity-theft victims in 2014 had a new account opened in their name, which a credit freeze protects against. However, freezing your credit will not prevent the most common type of identity theft: misuse of current accounts. In the wake of the Equifax breach, identity-theft horror stories have been easy to come by. The solution, according to many experts, is freezing your credit something hardly anyone has done. But a credit freeze protects only against new accounts being opened in your name one of the rarest types of identity theft out there, affecting only 4% of victims, according to the most recent Bureau of Justice Statistics data. It's not because criminals haven't had access to Social Security numbers before. A 2015 data breach at the health-insurance company Anthem exposed the personal information, including Social Security numbers, of 80 million people. A class-action lawsuit was settled this summer, awarding up to $50 to each person who was affected. Last year, 4.2 billion personal records were stolen. If someone wants your data, it's probably already out there. In 2014, 86% of identity-theft victims experienced the fraudulent use or attempted use of a current account, such as a credit card or bank account, according to BJS data. News coverage of the Equifax data breach made it seem as though half of Americans' financial future was over. Though there's a risk of identity theft for those affected, it's not a guarantee. And if it happens to you, your chances of buying a home or opening another credit card are not ruined forever. "The good news is you know all of your own history, and this breach is so well-known and far-reaching that if you are a victim, it should be easier than usual to fight," Mark Nunnikhoven, the head of cloud research for the cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, told CNN. Story continues Resolving credit issues is a headache but not impossible Even when missteps on your credit report are your own doing, resolving them can be easier than you think. As a financial planner in New York City, I've helped multiple clients improve their credit scores, including one client whose score increased to the mid-700s from the low 500s in three months. It's not because I have the magic touch it's just a matter of making calls and submitting documents until the issues are resolved. In some cases it takes longer, but even bankruptcy falls off your credit report eventually. Victims of identity theft who are more likely to be white and have annual incomes of over $75,000 spent an average of seven hours resolving problems associated with the crime, according to the BJS. Since banks and credit-card companies typically reimburse people for unauthorized account use, only 14% of victims lost money. Among those who did, the median amount was $100. Still, identity theft is a crime. Companies should have better cybersecurity in place, but even when large systems fail, there are ways you can protect your identity. The BJS found that 85% of Americans had already taken steps to prevent identity theft, including changing passwords and shredding documents with personal information. Rather than stressing out over the Equifax breach, here's what you can do now to prevent headaches if your identity is stolen now or in the future. Protect your credit and identity after the Equifax breach: Monitor your current accounts daily or weekly. Use an account-aggregation app like Mint or log into your various accounts to make sure all charges were made by you. If you see something suspicious, contact your bank immediately. File your taxes early. The IRS is cracking down on tax fraud, but there could be an uptick after the Equifax breach. Get your tax information organized early, and submit your return as soon as you receive your W-2 and 1099 forms. Added benefit: If you're due a refund, you'll get it sooner, and if you owe taxes, the amount isn't due until April 15 regardless of when you submit your return. Use secure passwords and two-step verification. Because most identity theft occurs with existing accounts, one of the best things you can do is safeguard your data online, especially for accounts that contain identifying information and credit-card or other financial data. Set up alerts for new credit activity. Save yourself money and use a free credit-monitoring service, like Credit Karma or Credit Sesame. You can also set up a fraud alert or credit freeze if you'd like. Check your credit reports regularly. You can access one free copy of your credit report from each of the three bureaus once a year through the government-sponsored AnnualCreditReport.com. Set a calendar alert to remind yourself to do this every year, or pull one report every four months to be extra vigilant. While you're at it, there may be things you can do to improve your credit score, fix any errors on your credit report, and optimize your collection of credit cards. Choose identity-verification questions and answers carefully. Additional identity-verification questions can help keep accounts secure, but not if you choose questions like "What street did you live on when you were growing up?" or "Where were you born?" that could easily be answered with access to your social-media account or other personal information. If you have been a victim of identity theft, the Federal Trade Commission has a step-by-step recovery guide. NOW WATCH: The Equifax breach may have exposed 143 million Social Security numbers but here's why you shouldn't freak out More From Business Insider General Electric Co. has completed the $3.4 billion sale of its water business to the French company Suez SA, a move the U.S. government required before signing off on the merger of the conglomerate's oil business with Baker Hughes. Selling the unit, which employed 7,500 workers and garnered $2.1 billion a year in revenue, streamlines GE's power business as well as its broader portfolio as the company focuses on digital manufacturing following former CEO Jeffrey Immelt's sale of non-industrial businesses like NBC television and most of the GE Capital lending division. It's the second of two transactions GE had hoped to finish this year. The other, the $2.6 billion sale of the industrial solutions unit, was announced at the end of September but may not close until early next year. "By creating a more simplified and focused business, we'll be better positioned to leverage power's strengths across the entire electricity value network," Russell Stokes, head of the power business, said in a statement on Monday, Oct. 2. There may be more deals to come. New CEO John Flannery, who took over from Immelt on Aug. 1, has promised a broader review of the Boston-based conglomerate's remaining businesses, which range from medical equipment to jet engines and locomotives, as he works to improve profit and cash flow. Investors including activist Trian Partners are pressuring the new CEO to address concern that the company's negative cash from manufacturing in the first half of the year suggests it might have trouble maintaining a dividend currently valued at $8 billion a year. GE executives have insisted, however, that the payment isn't in question and that the digital manufacturing company still expects to deliver on its target of $12 billion in cash from industrial operations this year. Flannery has scheduled a Nov. 13 meeting to update investors on GE's outlook and the results of his initial review. General Electric is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer and the AAP team buy or sell the stock? Learn more now. Story continues The company, founded by Thomas Edison in the late 1800s, has "to consider everything," Jeff Sprague, a Vertical Research Partners analyst who noted that Baker Hughes is positioned well for a possible spinoff, said in a telephone interview last week. The Baker Hughes deal, completed earlier this year, left GE with control of the combined company, which is publicly traded. Other Wall Street analysts have suggested GE may consider selling assets from lighting to power conversion and even the locomotive division. "The alternatives are to try to grind it out in a cost-cutting and portfolio-simplification story or to try something more dramatic," Sprague said. "Probably the odds favor the former, just restructuring and grinding it out, but I would think they have to be looking at things that could have a bigger effect on the company and change the narrative and change the trajectory of the portfolio. GE climbed 0.7% to $24.35 in the wake of Monday's announcement. The shares have fallen 4.9% since Flannery took over on Aug. 1. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: EXCLUSIVE OFFER: See inside Jim Cramers multi-million dollar charitable trust portfolio to see the stocks he thinks could be potentially HUGE winners. Click here to see his holdings for FREE. Taiwan's Morris Chang (L), seen posing for a photo in 2014, has announced his retirement (AFP Photo/SAM YEH) (AFP/File) The man who founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) and made it the world's biggest microchip producer in terms of contracts announced Monday he would retire next year. Morris Chang, one of Taiwan's most revered business leaders, worked at US firm Texas Instruments and later headed Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute before founding TSMC in 1987. Often called the "godfather" of Taiwan's semiconductor industry, the 86-year-old developed TSMC, a key Apple supplier, into a giant that recorded sales of $29.4 billion last year. "The past 30-odd years, during which I founded and devoted myself to TSMC, have been an extraordinarily exciting and happy phase of my life," Chang said in a statement. He will hand over the reins to Mark Liu and C.C. Wei, who will become chairman and chief executive officer respectively, when he formally retires after the annual shareholders' meeting in early June next year. "After my retirement, with the continued supervision and support of an essentially unchanged board, and under the dual leadership of Mark and CC, I am confident that TSMC will continue to perform exceptionally," Chang said. Liu and Wei have been the company's co-CEOs since 2013. "After I decided to retire at the beginning of this year, I've gradually formed the decision on the dual leadership system. This is my last and probably the most important contribution to the company," Chang told reporters. Rumours of Chang's retirement surfaced earlier this year after he sustained a minor injury at his Hawaii residence, triggering concerns about the state of his health. Analysts expect Chang's upcoming retirement to have only a limited impact on the company's operations. "There a clear roadmap for TSMC with the next focus on artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, and so his retirement won't worry the market too much," said Mason Lee, an analyst at Taishin Securities Investment Trust. TSMC has continued its expansion in recent years. Last year it signed a deal to build a $3 billion plant in the Chinese city of Nanjing, Taiwan's largest single investment in China. The company also announced last month that it would build an advanced chip-making factory in southern Taiwan. Exposing fake news before it spreads is a herculean task in India, where an estimated quarter of a billion people use social media (AFP Photo/NARINDER NANU) (AFP/File) Indian billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications has called off a merger deal with smaller rival Aircel over "legal and regulatory uncertainties", throwing its debt repayment plans into doubt. The cash-strapped telecom firm, better known as RCom, had announced last September it was combining its wireless mobile services with Aircel's Malaysia-based parent Maxis Communications Bhd to cut debt. The merger would have created the country's fourth-largest carrier after three dominant players Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. On Sunday, RCom said both companies agreed to cancel the deal, which was slated to be completed this year. "Legal and regulatory uncertainties, and various interventions by vested interests, have caused inordinate delays in receipt of relevant approvals for the proposed transaction," Prakash Shenoy, RCom secretary, said in a statement. RCom had a net debt of over 443 billion rupees ($6.7 billion) at the end of March this year. Last year, it had said the deal -- which it called the "largest-ever consolidation in the Indian telecom sector" -- would help reduce RCom's debt by $3 billion and Aircel's by $600 million. The collapsed deal raises fresh doubts over RCom's survival prospects, especially at a time of intensified competition and dramatic reshaping of the world's second-biggest telecoms market. Mobile carriers in India have been locked in a heated price battle that escalated further last year with the entry of Anil's elder brother Mukesh Ambani -- the country's richest person -- into the market. Mukesh launched Reliance Jio 4G network with an audacious free service for the rest of 2016, followed by vastly cheaper data plans and free voice calls for life. British mobile phone giant Vodafone is set to merge its Indian unit with Idea to help fend off Jio, which is backed by Reliance Industries -- India's immensely wealthy energy-to-chemicals conglomerate headed by Mukesh. vegas shooting police respond Stephen Craig Paddock, the man police have identified as the Las Vegas gunman, was a quiet man with no criminal record or reports of erratic behavior before the shooting. He was found dead in his hotel room after the shooting. He checked into a hotel room with his girlfriend's identification, police said, but she was found outside of the country and is not suspected to have played a role in the attack. Authorities discovered 10 rifles in Paddock's hotel room when they entered. Paddock's brother, Eric, said he was "not an avid gun guy at all" and has no military background. The shooter's late father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list from 1969-1977 and was a diagnosed psychopath. The Las Vegas police on Monday identified Stephen Craig Paddock as the man who opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino with what appeared to be at least one automatic rifle, killing more than 50 and injuring at least 515 others to local hospitals in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. The 64-year-old from Mesquite, Nevada, targeted concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival at about 10 p.m. PDT on Sunday, police said. They said Paddock had checked into his hotel room Thursday. Video and pictures from the festival captured the chaos and increasing panic as extended bursts of rifle fire rang out. Eric Paddock, the shooter's brother, told CBS News that Stephen was "not an avid gun guy at all." "The fact that he had those kind of weapons is ... just ... where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that," Eric Paddock said. "He's a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite and drove down and gambled in Las Vegas." Paddock CNN las vegas shooter Story continues Paddock was retired and had no criminal record before the attack, Reuters reports. He used to work as an accountant, and his brother described him to CNN as "a wealthy guy playing video poker ... on cruises." A Washington Post report characterized Paddock as a quiet man who occasionally came to Las Vegas to gamble or catch concerts, was a former resident of Texas, and held a hunting license in Alaska. Paddock was divorced, according to CNN, and his ex-wife resides in Los Angeles. The two divorced 27 years ago after a six-year marriage and have not been in contact in years, the report said. Paddock had been checked into in his Mandalay Bay hotel room on with his girlfriend's identification for three days before the attack. Police initially identified her as a person of interest but have said she is not a suspect in the attack. Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, the shooter's father, was a well-known bank robber and on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list from 1969 to 1977, CNN reported. Benjamin Hoskins Paddock was a diagnosed psychopath, according to the FBI, and he was convicted of "bank robbery, automobile larceny, and confidence game." Eric Paddock said he died several years ago. The bureau's poster on the elder Paddock cautioned that he had committed armed robberies before, had "suicidal tendencies," and "should be considered armed and very dangerous." His son, Stephen, had at least 10 rifles in the hotel room on the Mandalay Bay's 32nd floor, where he had been staying since September 28, said Joseph Lombardo, the sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Paddock owned two aircraft and held a pilot's license, according to the "Today" show. Paddock had worked for a predecessor company of Lockheed Martin, the giant defense contractor that builds planes. Paddock lived in the suburbs around Mesquite, Nevada, which sits near the border with Arizona about an hour and a half from where the shooting took place, the police said. Authorities searched his home on Monday and recovered weapons and ammunition. Paddock had purchased several firearms from California in the past, but none of them were among the weapons found in his hotel room after the shooting, CNN reported. Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting graphic BI in house "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo told reporters. In a subsequent press conference, Lombardo said "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath at this point." The Daily Mail quoted Paddock's brother Eric as saying he and his mother were "in shock" and "dumbfounded" after finding out about the shooting. According to the Daily Mail, Eric Paddock described his brother as a normal guy who must have "snapped." More From Business Insider At least 58 people have been killed and another 515 injured in Las Vegas in what is now the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. A gunman, named as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, spraying bullets at the crowd watching a music festival on the Las Vegas strip. The attack is deadlier than the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June 2016, which left 49 dead. As more details emerge, the shooting is likely to reignite the debate on gun control in the US, with #guncontrolnow already trending on Twitter. Today marks the first, fresh day of being told now isn't the time to discuss gun control after the newest worst mass killing in America. David Simon (@AoDespair) October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, once again, Americas choice that civilians should be allowed arsenals of war results in terrorist mass slaughter of civilians Philip Gourevitch (@PGourevitch) October 2, 2017 Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 2, 2017 Barack Obama consistently fought with the US senate to bring in meaningful gun control in the country, saying the US could not wait after a series of deadly attacks. However, Donald Trump, his successor, was endorsed by the National Rifle Association and is opposed to restricting the sale of assault weapons. The Las Vegas attack is the 338th mass shooting of 2017 after just 273 days according to a website that monitors gun deaths. Story continues Police officers stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino (AP Photo/John Locher) The Mass Shootings Tracker defines mass shootings as incidents in which four or more people are killed or injured by gunfire. This includes the gunman. It notes that in September, 31 people were killed and 122 were injured in mass shootings in the country. In August, 34 people were killed in mass shootings, while 154 were wounded, according to the tracker. With the official number of dead not known following the Las Vegas shooting, January remains the deadliest month of the year with 62 killed in mass shootings. According to statistics, Americans are 10 times more likely to be killed by guns than people in other developed countries. In the US, the death rate from all gun homicides is about 31 per million people, according to the New York Times. LAS VEGAS SHOOTING LEAVES 58 DEAD LATEST NEWS FROM YAHOO UK Las Vegas shooting: More than 58 dead in gun massacre Shocking video shows moment Las Vegas gunman opened fire on crowd of 40,000 They unloaded clip after clip: Terrified eyewitnesses describe Vegas shooting Instagram star Dan Bilzerian films shocking video running from Vegas shooting Piers Morgan forced to abandon Mariah Carey GMB interview as Vegas shooting breaks By comparison, in the UK, the death rate from all gun homicides is 0.9 per million people. The most deadly attacks in modern US history Las Vegas strip shooting at least 58 killed October 1, 2017 Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada killed at least 58 people and injured hundreds more in the attack on the Harvest country music festival. Pulse nightclub shooting 49 killed June 12, 2016 Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, killed 49 people and injured 58 after opening fire in Pulse, a gay nightclub, in Orlando, Florida. Police shot Mateen dead at the scene. Virginia Tech shooting 32 killed April 16, 2007 Student Seung-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 people and injured 17 others in two separate gun attacks on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Sandy Hook shooting 26 killed December 14, 2012 Adam Lanza, 20, killed 20 children ages six and seven and six adults in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Lanza also killed his mother, Nancy, before the shooting. Lubys shooting 23 killed October 16, 1991 George Hennard, 35, crashed his pickup truck through the wall of a Lubys Cafeteria, then shooting and killing 23 people. He committed suicide after the attack. 'I Can Tell You Who Is Going to Win.' Trump Says He'd Beat Rex Tillerson in an IQ Test President Donald Trump criticized Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for his attempts to open a dialogue with North Korea, claiming such efforts are a waste of time. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man, Trump wrote on Twitter Sunday, a reference to a past name he has used to describe North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done! I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 The tweets come just one day after Tillerson told reporters during a visit to China that the United States has direct lines of communication with officials in Pyongyang, North Koreas capital. Were not in a dark situation, a blackout, Tillerson said, according to the Associated Press. We have a couple three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them. The AP had reported in August that the Trump administration and North Korea were involved in backchannel diplomacy for several months. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Sunday afternoon, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert wrote on Twitter that diplomatic channels for Kim Jong Un are open at the moment, but it is not permanent. https://twitter.com/statedeptspox/status/914557662477606912 The Nordstrom store is seen at a mall in a Denver suburb May 16, 2008. REUTERS/Rick Wilking Shares of Nordstrom are down 7.32% on Monday as the company's plan to go private has struggled to come together, according to a report from the New York Post. Nordstrom previously said it was exploring the possibility of going private amid struggling sales numbers. But, the deal started to unravel after Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy, according to the Post's story. The bankruptcy apparently caused the banks who would fund the deal to ask for more onerous terms because of increased risks. The retail sector has been in a sort-of apocalypse recently as well, and the upcoming holiday season is not expected to be a good one for brick-and-mortar retailers, which adds to the perceived risk. Nordstrom has fared better than some of its competitors though. The company's off-price store, Nordstrom Rack, has been performing well, and there are currently more Rack stores than the traditional department stores. Nordstrom shares are down 8.15% this year, including Monday's drop. nordstrom stock price NOW WATCH: RAY DALIO: There's one asset every portfolio must have More From Business Insider Barack Obama Former President Barack Obama responded to Sunday night's mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas that left at least 59 people dead and 527 injured the deadliest shooting in modern US history. "Michelle & I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas," he tweeted Monday morning. "Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy." Beginning in the days following the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012, Obama aggressively advocated for more gun-control and safety measures during his time in office, and called his failure to pass significant reforms one of the "greatest frustrations" of his presidency. He delivered 17 speeches following mass shootings during his eight years in office, which saw 37 mass shootings on American soil. "This is not normal. We can't let it become normal," Obama said during a speech after a 2015 shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado. "If we truly care about this if we're going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again, for God knows how many times, with a truly clean conscience then we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them. Period. Enough is enough." During a January 2016 speech in which he unveiled a new set of gun regulations, the president broke down in tears while calling on lawmakers to support "common-sense" gun-control measures. He blamed the powerful gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association, for pressuring lawmakers to oppose even the most basic gun regulations and safety measures, calling the industry "almost entirely unaccountable" in a 2016 op-ed. Story continues "Each time this comes up, we are fed the excuse that common-sense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, or the one before that, so why bother trying," he said. "I reject that thinking. We know we can't stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence So the gun lobby may be holding Congress hostage right now, but they cannot hold America hostage. We do not have to accept this carnage as the price of freedom." The Las Vegas shooter, identified by police as Stephen Paddock, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, aiming into a tightly packed crowd of many thousands of people attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival. Paddock, a 64-year-old from Mesquite, Nevada who appeared to have been armed with at least one automatic weapon, used the elevated vantage point to fire into the crowds across the Las Vegas Strip at the Route 91 Harvest festival, where Jason Aldean was onstage. Soon after the shooting, which began at 10:08 p.m. PDT, a SWAT team stormed the building, forced their way into his hotel room, and found the gunman already dead. Officers believe he was the only attacker, and that he killed himself before they arrived. Police discovered at least 10 rifles in his hotel room, which he checked into on Thursday, September 28. Kieran Corcoran contributed to this report. NOW WATCH: Putin says Trump is not his bride and claims Americans don't know the difference between Austria and Australia More From Business Insider Related Video: U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures are trading slightly lower early Monday. Volume is low and the market is trading in a tight range. There were no major fundamental changes over the week-end so the price action is likely being controlled by technical factors. Some technical traders are calling the markets overbought and overdue for a correction. On Thursday, the WTI futures contract formed a potentially bearish technical reversal top which often indicates the selling is greater than the buying at current price levels. It doesnt mean the trend is getting ready to turn down, but if confirmed, it could lead to a 2 to 3 correction. The move may be necessary to alleviate some of the excessive buying pressure. Daily December Brent Crude The Brent futures contract formed a similar chart pattern earlier in the week on September 26 after hitting a new high for the year. The difference in the dates of last weeks highs suggests a slight divergence between WTI and Brent crude oil. This could lead to a tightening of the spread between the two contracts. The underlying trend is bullish because of expectations of increased demand. Both OPEC and the International Energy Administration are forecasting stronger demand into the end of the year. Unless these forecasts change, the tone of the market should remain bullish which means investors are likely to buy the next meaningful correction into a value zone. Daily November WTI Crude Oil The nearest value zone for November WTI futures is $50.23 to $49.60. The value zone for the December Brent futures contract is $55.88 to $55.17. At the start of the week, bullish traders will be watching the geopolitical risk in Kurdistan. It helped push Brent crude to a two-year high last week. If this situation escalates into a conflict that shuts down supply then prices could rally. If you recall the events from last week, Iraqi Kurds endorsed a secession by nine to one in a referendum last Monday that has angered Turkey, the central government in Baghdad and other powers. Traders fear the vote could lead to renewed conflict in the oil-rich region. Story continues The Kurdish region exports about 500,000 barrels a day through the pipeline so shutting it down could have a bullish impact on prices. On the negative side, Middle Eastern oil producers are concerned the recent price rise will give U.S. oil companies a reason to increase U.S. shale production. U.S. oil drillers added six oil rigs in the week to September 29, bringing the total count up to 750. Traders will be watching Tuesdays American Petroleum Institutes and Wednesdays Energy Information Administrations weekly inventories reports to see if production has risen. If the situation with the Iraqi Kurds is defused then I expect to see WTI and Brent crude retreat into their value zones. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. As the sun rose on the Las Vegas strip on Monday, it revealed two smashed windows on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, from which a gunman opened fire with an automatic rifle on a country music festival the night before, killing at least 58 and wounding over 500. Soon after the shooting, which began at 10:08 p.m. PDT on Sunday, a SWAT team stormed the building, forced its way into his hotel room, and found the gunman already dead. Police have said the gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, had at least 10 rifles in his hotel room, which he checked into three days before the attack. Nevada is an open-carry state, and automatic weapons are legal there. Paddock smashed the windows with a "hammer-like device", authorities said Monday. Associated Press and Getty photos show a second window broken on the same floor, where drapes billowed out of the broken glass. Police didn't specify which the shooter used, or if he shot out of both. mandalay bay window las vegas shooting mandalay bay window las vegas shooting mandalay bay windows las vegas shooting Many of the Route 91 Harvest festival's more than 22,000 attendees were young people, including families with kids. The country star Jason Aldean was onstage performing his headliner set to close the three-day festival when Paddock opened fire. Here's another photo taken shortly after the attack on Sunday night. You can see the two smashed windows here too. Las Vegas NOW WATCH: 'It was an act of pure evil': Watch Trump's statement about the Las Vegas shooting the deadliest shooting in modern US history More From Business Insider Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs is rumored to be putting together a new trading outfit dedicated to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, according to a new report. Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reports that Goldman is in the "early stages" of the effort though it cautioned that the bank may ultimately pass on a cryptocurrency-focused trading operation. The Journal further adds that the trading operation could see input from more than one office within Goldman. "Goldmans effort involves both its currency-trading division and the banks strategic investment group, the people said. That suggests the firm believes bitcoins future is more as a payment method rather than a store of value, like gold," the Journal reported. Representatives for Goldman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But a spokeswoman told the Journal that, in light of interest from the bank's clientele, "we are exploring how best to serve them in [the cryptocurrency] space." That clients may be asking for closer access to cryptocurrency markets through the bank directly is perhaps unsurprising, given past moves from the bank. Beginning this summer, analysts at Goldman began predictive notes on the bitcoin market, with chief technician Sheba Jafari notably predicting bitcoin's climb past $4,800. And in a question-and-answer report published in August, Goldman analysts wrote that "real dollars are at work here and warrant watching." Image via Shutterstock Related Stories 1 killed, 12 taken ill as diarrhoea grips Dolakha village An elderly man died and 12 others were taken ill due to diarrhea at Simigaun in Gaurishankar Rural Municipality-9 of Dolakha district on Sunday. LONDON (Reuters) - Former Tesco chairman Richard Broadbent will be a witness in the trial of three former executives accused of fraud and false accounting at Britain's biggest retailer, a court heard on Monday. Christopher Bush, 51, who was managing director of Tesco UK; Carl Rogberg, 50, who was UK finance director; and John Scouler, 49, who was UK food commercial director, all deny charges of fraud and false accounting. In the second day of opening arguments at London's Southwark Crown Court lead prosecutor Sasha Wass told the jury they would hear evidence from Broadbent, who chaired Tesco from 2011 to 2015. She told the court that Broadbent was misled at a meeting of Tesco's finance committee in August 2014, during which Rogberg was asked if UK profit forecasts were still sound and he confirmed that they were. The court had already heard that Tesco Chief Executive Dave Lewis would be a witness, as would representatives of its auditors in 2014, PwC. The charges against the defendants follow Tesco's announcement in 2014 that its profit forecast had been overstated, sending its shares tumbling and plunging the company into the worst crisis in its close to 100-year history. On Friday the court heard that the three defendants had abused their positions of trust by encouraging the manipulation of profit figures, lying to auditors and misleading the stock market. The case centers on two statements made by Tesco to the stock market in 2014. In the first, published on Aug. 29, Tesco downgraded its financial guidance. In the second, on Sept. 22, Tesco said it had found a 250 million pound ($331.9 million) overstatement of its expected profit, mainly through booking commercial deals with suppliers too early, so-called "pulling forward". The prosecution alleges that it is the difference between the first and second statements that exposes fraud. On Monday Wass told the jury that all three defendants were well aware that a hole in Tesco's accounts was "spiraling out of control" in the first half of 2014 but connived to conceal their failure to meet targets. Story continues The trial is expected to last until Christmas. ($1 = 0.7532 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by David Goodman) In his final days as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Price got a flu shot and cut outreach to get people to sign up for health insurance. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque) Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price resigned on Friday after being caught in a scandal in which he took expensive chartered flights without justification. His short and ignominious tenure at the department was characterized by leading the Trump administrations fight of the Affordable Care Act, and involved tactics that many observers saw as sabotage to the 2010 health care law known as Obamacare. One of his final moves to hinder the ACA is the HHSs shuttering of the federal health insurance exchange HealthCare.gov every Sunday for 12 hours during the open enrollment period, which goes from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15. The Department said the site will be down for maintenance from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m., preventing people from sorting out their 2018 coverage Sunday mornings, according to a tweet from Kaiser Health News Phil Galewitz. ..@HHSGov plans to shut down @HHSGov for 12 hours during all but one Sunday during the upcoming 6 week open enrollment season pic.twitter.com/0d5WUtLc9G Phil Galewitz (@philgalewitz) September 22, 2017 Since inauguration, the Trump administration has taken steps to stymie the success of the ACA, despite the law surviving numerous attempts at several repeals. President Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of its repeal, and while in office has repeatedly incorrectly asserted that it isnt failing, its failed done and wished for its demise. Obamacare has not died on its own, however. While the problems of high costs are far from fixed Congress has not attempted to fix it yet the market is stable, and previously uninsured counties have managed to find insurers for 2018. Now, every county in the U.S. has an option. Story continues Planned HealthCare.gov downtime during open enrollment The open enrollment period is when most people buy health insurance for the year, as you can typically only buy outside of that period if you have a qualifying life event like a job change or a marriage. All but 15 states use HealthCare.gov to publicly offer individual health insurance plans. In addition to the 12-hour overnight shutdown for six weeks, Kaiser Health News also reported the site will be down on Nov. 1, the first day of open enrollment. Why not do it before? Why not do it after, said Abbe Gluck, a Yale University law professor specializing in politics and health law. My own suspicion is that its a technical matter they can justify as an administrative matter. It seems thinly veiled especially when placed alongside the many other instances of intentional sabotage to make it more difficult for people to enroll. Narrowing the window will likely decrease enrollment, as it reduces the time a person has to sign up for a plan. Anyone who has been through limited enrollment knows the amount of time you have facilitates your ability to get it done, Gluck said. With each Trump move, the message has gotten louder. Lori Lodes, who previously ran ACA outreach, told Yahoo Finance, the kindest word you could say is that its sabotage. A spokesperson for the HHS did not respond to comments by publication time. The enrollment period has already been cut in half This isnt the first time the Trump administration has narrowed the time period for open enrollment, a move that restricts sign-ups and drives costs for insurers up, something that hurts the market. (Industry groups frequently note that they do better when more people are involved.) In September, the enrollment period for this year was revealed to be cut in half to six weeks from 12. Previously, open enrollment used to run through the end of January, giving families a little more time to get their plans in order. Former CEO of HealthCare.gov told Bloomberg earlier this year that a huge number of people sign up right at the deadline, and a deadline shift may catch people off guard. The Trump administration has crippled ACA advertising The damage from a shorter open-enrollment period was magnified by the Trump administrations suppression of advertising for the program. In January, between the inauguration and the end of open enrollment, the Trump administration pulled $5 million in Obamacare advertising, at the time citing it was searching for efficiencies. In late August, the Trump administration dealt an even bigger blow by slashing the HHS budget for ACA advertising during open enrollment by one-tenth, to a mere $10 million from $100 million in 2017. With a shorter window and fewer announcements, the Trump administration is following a recipe designed to decrease enrollment. The ad thing is a really big deal, said Gluck. You cant overestimate how important the cutback on the pre-enrollment period ad events are. Its a deliberate attempt to weaken the law with disappointing enrollment numbers. In late September, HHS also told its directors in its 10 regions not to participate in enrollment events. Andy Slavitt, former head of Medicare and Medicaid Services for HHS, said not investing in these partnerships will reduce enrollment, drive up costs and the rate of Americans who are uninsured, according to Talking Points Memo. Foot dragging despite promises of fostering innovative thinking In March, Price announced that he would make state waivers easier to get, to give the localities flexibility in finding health care coverage that fit their unique regions. On Friday, however, Oklahoma withdrew a request for a waiver for a reinsurance program. In a strongly worded letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Price, the state criticized the unexplained delays in the approval process. The withdrawal was necessary, the letter said, to provide a clear picture of 2018 for insurers. Its a pretty solid rebuke from a Republican state to a Republican president, Gluck said. The letter concluded: [The] lack of timely waiver approval will prevent thousands of Oklahomans from realizing the benefits of significantly lower insurance premiums in 2018. The administration has sowed uncertainty over cost-sharing reduction payments Trump and his administration has significantly equivocated over whether they will follow through with payments to insurers to compensate for individual plans for lower-income consumers. These payments, called cost-sharing reduction payments or CSRs, are such a big deal that the Congressional Budget Office calculated that premiums would spike 20% if Trump suspended them. However, some damage has already been done. Earlier this year, Dr. Mario Malino, former CEO of Molina Healthcare, told Yahoo Finance that the uncertainty has already driven up premiums, as insurers must hedge if they think theres a chance they wont get reimbursed for the discounts they offer certain individuals. This is causing a lot of destabilization in the marketplace, he said at the time. What Trump could do to help instead of hurt health care Trump seems to be dead set on an Obamacare failure, but there are a few ways he could help the market, if he chooses to. The first would be to guarantee that his administration would continue CSRs, which would reassure insurance companies, stabilize the marketplace, and keep premiums from rising even higher. The administration could also make sure to enforce the ACA mandate and its penalty for noncompliance, something that it tried to loosen with an executive order earlier this year. The Internal Revenue Service, however, indicated it would still impose the mandate penalties. In addition to giving penalties, providing positive reminders through advertising would similarly help the market, though this is unlikely, given the slew of recent measures. However, the administrations efforts, will depend largely on who succeeds Price. The acting Secretary of HHS, Don J. Wright, has been a careerist and milder in comparison to Price. The two leading candidates to take over may be Seema Verma, Vice President Mike Pence-allied administrator of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the milder Scott Gottlieb, head of the Food and Drug Administration. Neither seems likely to generate bipartisan support. Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. Confidential tip line: emann@oath.com. Read More: How Belgium deals with credit without companies like Equifax Big bitcoin-friendly companies like Microsoft and Expedia hedge their bet This website lets you sue Equifax for free without a lawyer with a few clicks Theres a line in the new Equifax fine print thats raising eyebrows The real reason Mexico will never pay for the Trumps wall: Itd be treason How Waffle Houses hurricane response team prepares for disaster Trump weighs slashing one of the most popular tax deductions A robot lawyer can fight your parking tickets and much more Consumer watchdog is making it easier for consumers to sue banks How ringless spam voicemails became a partisan issue President Donald Trump toughened his rhetoric against North Korea on Sunday, declaring that attempts to negotiate with the regime were "waste," and the U.S. was prepared to "do what has to be done" as tensions escalate between both countries. Over the weekend, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the U.S. had opened a direct channel of communication with Pyongyang, which has tested rockets with increasing regularity. Tillerson has said there were at least "a couple" of channels through which the two parties were attempting to negotiate, The Wall Street Journal reported . However, Trump on Sunday effectively undercut his Secretary of State's diplomacy by declaring negotiations to be all but fruitless. In a series of posts on Twitter, Trump told Tillerson to "save his energy," suggesting the U.S. was prepared to escalate its heated rhetoric to potential military action.TweetLater in the day, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert underscored the U.S.'s resolve by saying Pyongyang would not be allowed to deploy nuclear weapons. The choice of diplomacy or force "is up to the regime," she said on Twitter.Tillerson told reporters in Beijing last week that "we are probing. Stay tuned," The Journal reported."We ask, 'Would you like to talk?' We have lines of communication to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout," the secretary of state added. For his part, Trump has adopted a tougher stance against Pyongyang, which culminated last month at a speech at the United Nations. The president has taken to calling Kim "Rocket Man," in light of his insistence on firing rockets, a moniker he used at the world body when he said the U.S. would "totally destroy" North Korea , if provoked. Rocket man President Donald Trump toughened his rhetoric against North Korea on Sunday, declaring that attempts to negotiate with the regime were "waste," and the U.S. was prepared to "do what has to be done" as tensions escalate between both countries. Over the weekend, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the U.S. had opened a direct channel of communication with Pyongyang, which has tested rockets with increasing regularity. Tillerson has said there were at least "a couple" of channels through which the two parties were attempting to negotiate, The Wall Street Journal reported . However, Trump on Sunday effectively undercut his Secretary of State's diplomacy by declaring negotiations to be all but fruitless. In a series of posts on Twitter, Trump told Tillerson to "save his energy," suggesting the U.S. was prepared to escalate its heated rhetoric to potential military action. Tweet Later in the day, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert underscored the U.S.'s resolve by saying Pyongyang would not be allowed to deploy nuclear weapons. The choice of diplomacy or force "is up to the regime," she said on Twitter. Tillerson told reporters in Beijing last week that "we are probing. Stay tuned," The Journal reported. "We ask, 'Would you like to talk?' We have lines of communication to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout," the secretary of state added. For his part, Trump has adopted a tougher stance against Pyongyang, which culminated last month at a speech at the United Nations. The president has taken to calling Kim "Rocket Man," in light of his insistence on firing rockets, a moniker he used at the world body when he said the U.S. would "totally destroy" North Korea , if provoked. Rocket man More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump will travel to Asia in November for the first time since becoming president, stopping in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines on a trip expected to be dominated by the North Korea nuclear threat. Joined by his wife Melania, Trump will travel Nov. 3-14. His visit will include attending two major summits, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vietnam and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations conclave in the Philippines. Trump's attendance at the Manila summit had been in doubt until recent days, with officials saying he was reluctant to show support for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been responsible for a number of anti-American outbursts. A U.S. official said Asian leaders who met Trump at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week helped persuade him to attend in unity with key Asian allies. An Asian diplomat welcomed Trump's decision to visit Manila "because that reassures the region that Asia policy is not just about North Korea, its about Southeast Asia as well." The diplomat said Trumps decision to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal early this year had raised questions about the administrations commitment to the region. But visits by senior officials, including the secretaries of state, defense and commerce, and Trumps planned trip, showed Washington intended to remain engaged. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Duterte was looking forward to meeting Trump, adding that the relationship between the two countries was so resilient that ties would always recover, regardless of disagreements. Trump, who has been locked in an increasingly bitter war of words with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, will have the opportunity to bolster allied resolve for what he calls the "complete denuclearization" of Pyongyang. He has denounced Kim as a "rocket man" on a suicide mission for test launches of ballistic missiles and for nuclear weapon tests. He has warned North Korea would face total devastation if it threatens the United States. Kim has blasted Trump as "mentally deranged." "The president's engagements will strengthen the international resolve to confront the North Korean threat and ensure the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the White House said in announcing the trip. Trump's visit to China will reciprocate a trip to the United States made in April by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump has applied heavy pressure on China to rein in North Korea. While his efforts have had limited success thus far, he went out of his way to thank Xi on Tuesday for his efforts. "I applaud China for breaking off all banking relationships with North Korea - something that people would have thought unthinkable even two months ago. I want to thank President Xi," Trump said at a news conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Speaking in Beijing, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told China's top diplomat State Councilor Yang Jiechi that the two presidents had established a "very regular and close working relationship". Yang described Trump's visit as of great importance to the bilateral relationship. "Let us concentrate on cooperation and properly manage our differences in a spirit of mutual respect and mutual benefit," he said to Tillerson. At the same time, Trump's national security team is conducting a broad review of U.S. strategy toward China in search of ways to counter Chinese trade practices and open up market access, a senior administration official said. The United States also considers Chinese entities behind the theft of intellectual property and cyber attacks and wants to find ways to address these concerns, the official said. There was no definite timetable for concluding the review. "We're looking at all of it," the official said. (Reporting by Steve Holland, additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON, Phil Stewart in BEIJING and Martin Petty in MANILA; Editing by Andrew Hay and Richard Pullin) * Gunman, 64, acted alone, had no militant links -officials * Toll makes the mass shooting deadliest in U.S. history * Gunman killed himself after shooting from above into crowd * Trump calls shooting 'act of pure evil' (Adds details on weapons, Trump planning moment of silence; adds byline) By Devika Krishna Kumar and Alexandria Sage LAS VEGAS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - A 64-year-old man armed with more than 10 rifles rained down gunfire on a Las Vegas country music festival on Sunday, slaughtering at least 58 people in the largest mass shooting in U.S. history before killing himself. The barrage from a 32nd-floor window in the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people lasted several minutes, causing panic. Some fleeing fans trampled each other as police scrambled to find the gunman. More than 500 people were injured. On Monday, police identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, who lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada, and said they did not know why he attacked the concertgoers. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the massacre, but U.S. officials said there was no evidence of that. The preliminary death toll, which officials said could rise, eclipsed last year's massacre of 49 people at an Orlando night club by a gunman who pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothing, wandered streets, where the flashing lights of the city's gaudy casinos blended with those of emergency vehicles. Police said they had no information about Paddock's motive, that he had no criminal record and was not believed to be connected to any militant group. Paddock killed himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath." Federal officials said there was no evidence to link Paddock to militants. Story continues "We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group," FBI special agent in charge Aaron Rouse told reporters. U.S. officials discounted a claim of responsibility for the attack made by Islamic State through its Amaq news agency. "The Intelligence Community is aware of the claim of responsibility by a foreign terrorist organization for the shooting in Las Vegas," CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in an email. "We advise caution on jumping to conclusions before the facts are in." SEVERAL WEAPONS Lombardo said there were more than 10 rifles in the room where Paddock killed himself. His arsenal included one or more machine guns, according to a law enforcement official. U.S. law prohibits possession of newly manufactured machine guns but allows the transfer of the weapons owned before May 1986 if approved by the government. Police found several more weapons at Paddock's home in Mesquite, about 90 miles (145 km) northeast of Las Vegas, Mesquite police spokesman Quinn Averett told reporters. Despite an outcry among some lawmakers about the pervasiveness of guns in the United States, the massacre, like previous mass shootings, was unlikely to prompt action in Congress. Nevada has some of the most permissive gun laws in the United States. It does not require firearm owners to obtain licenses or register their guns. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to bear arms, and gun-rights advocates staunchly defend that provision. U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has been outspoken about his support of the Second Amendment. "It's time for Congress to get off its ass and do something," said U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, where 26 children and educators were killed in an attack on a school in 2012. Efforts to pass federal legislation after that attack failed. Gun rights advocates argued that restrictions on legal gun sales would leave law-abiding citizens more vulnerable to attacks by criminals. The dead in Las Vegas included one off-duty police officer, Lombardo said. "He brutally murdered more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil," Trump said in a White House address. He ordered flags lowered to half-staff in a national gesture of mourning and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Trump planned to lead a moment of silence to mourn the dead at the White House at 2:45 p.m. ET (1845 GMT). 'JUST KEPT GOING ON' Video of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. "People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on," said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. "Probably 100 shots at a time," Smith said. "It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again." Las Vegas's casinos, nightclubs and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out shortly after 10 p.m. local time (0400 GMT). Shares of MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, fell almost 5 percent on Monday. Mike McGarry, a financial adviser from Philadelphia, was at the concert when he heard hundreds of shots ring out. "It was crazy - I laid on top of the kids. They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life," McGarry said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks, after people ran over him in the panicked crowd. The shooting broke out on the final night of the three-day Route 91 Harvest festival, a sold-out event featuring top acts such as Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean. The suspected shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news. "We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims," Eric Paddock said in a phone interview, his voice trembling. "We have no idea in the world." (Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen, Chris Michaud and Frank McGurty in New York, Susan Cornwell and Mark Hosenball in Washington, Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Ali Abdelaty in Cairo and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Alison Williams, Bernadette Baum, Grant McCool) WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved a possible $815 million sale to Australia of 3,900 GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bombs and related equipment and services by Raytheon Co, a Pentagon agency said on Monday. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement it notified Congress of the possible sale on Friday. (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Eric Beech) An employee using his mobile phone walks past the logo of Samsung Electronics at its office building in Seoul, South Korea, August 25, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji (Reuters) By Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a bid by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> to force customers who have filed proposed class-action lawsuits against the company to arbitrate their claims instead of bringing them to court. The justices left intact a lower court's ruling that purchasers of certain Galaxy smartphones made by the South Korean electronics company were not bound by a warranty provision that compelled arbitration of customer complaints. Warranties with arbitration clauses have become common in consumer electronics and other industries. Courts and regulatory agencies increasingly are scrutinizing arbitration agreements that seek to limit options for resolution of future disputes. The Samsung case involves two smartphone buyers from California who separately filed proposed class-action lawsuits in 2014 over concerns about the products' performance and resale value. Neither Daniel Norcia, who owned an Galaxy S4 device, nor Hoai Dang, who owned an SIII, saw the arbitration provisions when they bought the phone because the language was placed deep inside the warranty booklet and not mentioned on the box, according to their legal papers. The agreement states that all disputes must be resolved through arbitration, and specifically rules out class actions. Samsung tried to force the customers to arbitrate their claims, but a unanimous three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco denied the request in January. The court said Samsung did not provide proper notice of the arbitration provision and neither customer had expressly consented to be bound by it. Appealing to the Supreme Court, Samsung noted that the 9th Circuit decided that the warranty was valid except for the arbitration provision. Samsung argued that the 9th Circuit ruling violated a U.S. law called the Federal Arbitration Act that requires arbitration agreements to be treated equally with other contracts. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham) Email from Jo Bertram, Regional General Manager for Northern Europe Subject Line: Thank you for a brilliant journey As many of you have just heard at our All Hands meeting, Ive decided to move on to something new and exciting. Im leaving Uber with great memories, friendships and many amazing experiences, and Ill never forget the great things that weve achieved together as a team. When I showed up on my first day four years ago, at our tiny serviced office in Baker Street, I quickly realised that this company was special - not only in its ambitions, but also in the way we all pulled together. Whether responding to all sorts of customer questions, buying our own laptops, or distributing mobile phones to our early partner drivers, we all had to roll up our sleeves and figure out how to build a business. I had wanted to experience the pace and craziness of life at a start-up, and Uber certainly delivered! Im tremendously lucky to have spent the last four years with you, and it has been breathtaking to see the team grow so quickly. When I joined as General Manager for London, we had just three team members in the city and a few hundred drivers. Together, we then rolled out our services to more than 40 towns and cities across the United Kingdom, where we now serve almost 5 million riders and more than 50,000 drivers. Since I became Regional General Manager for Northern Europe, I've been proud to lead what is now a team of 300 people across 10 countries. Ive learned a lot during this rapid expansion and, in every market we entered, you could quickly see the impact we had on the way people travelled and lived their lives. While we often talk about the growth weve seen, we can also be proud of the progress our team has made in improving the service for both drivers and riders. Though theres always more to be done, weve taken big strides for a young company. From the introduction of discounted illness and injury cover for drivers, to the roll out of ACCESS for wheelchair users and most recently our Clean Air Plan, there are many initiatives we can be proud of. I know there are many more exciting things to come. Over the course of this year, I've been reflecting on these incredible last four years and what might come next for me. I've also discussed this with Pierre and I'm proud that weve built this business into more than we ever thought possible. And Ive realised that taking a nascent company and helping it scale into a major international operation is what Ive enjoyed most. An exciting new opportunity has arisen that will allow me to apply what Ive learnt here and Ill be able to share more details with you soon. Given some of our current challenges, Im also convinced that now is the right time to have a change of face, and to hand over to someone who will be here for the long haul and take us into the next phase. While I would like to have announced my move in smoother circumstances, Im proud of the team weve built here and am very confident in their abilities to lead the business into the next chapter. Ill work with you in the coming weeks on the best possible transition. Im grateful for everything Ive learned in the last four years. This company and its people will always have a very special place in my heart. Jo Reply from Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Head of EMEA As I just told everyone at the All Hands meeting, were all really sad to be losing such a remarkable colleague and friend. Jo is certainly one the most impressive people Ive had the pleasure to work with and the success of our business in Northern Europe is in large part down to her leadership. The passion, energy and commitment she puts into her work has made her an inspiring role model and a fantastic leader since she joined Uber four years ago. Jo will remain with us over the next few weeks in order to help with a smooth transition, and I look forward to working closely with the excellent team she leaves behind. Tom Elvidge will now report into me and be our acting UK GM while we undergo an internal and external hiring process for that role. Niek Van Leeuwen, GM for the Nordics, Baltics & Benelux, will report into me. On behalf of everyone at Uber, I wish Jo all the best for her exciting new role and the next stage of her career. Thanks so much for your contribution over the years, Jo! Pierre FILE PHOTO - Uber CEO Travis Kalanick attends the summer World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China on June 26, 2016. REUTERS/Shu Zhang/File Photo (Reuters) - Directors at Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] plan to vote on board reforms and whether to pursue a major stock deal with SoftBank Group Corp on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The moves could potentially reshape the ride-hailing company's governance, limiting co-founder and former Chief Executive Travis Kalanick's power as a shareholder and board member and lead to an official kick-starting of the largest private stock sale in history, Bloomberg said. https://bloom.bg/2hH8BdD On Friday, Kalanick said he had appointed former Xerox Chief Executive Ursula Burns and former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain as directors in the face of proposals to dramatically restructure the board. Uber could not be immediately reached for comment outside regular business hours. (The story corrects day in paragraph 3 to Friday, from Thursday) (Reporting by Philip George; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) 2 held for acid attack in Chitwan Police on Monday arrested two persons for their alleged involvement in an acid attack in Chitwan. If you are a shareholder in Franco-Nevada Corporations (TSX:FNV), or are thinking about investing in the company, knowing how it contributes to the risk and reward profile of your portfolio is important. FNV is exposed to market-wide risk, which arises from investing in the stock market. This risk reflects changes in economic and political factors that affects all stocks, and is measured by its beta. Not all stocks are expose to the same level of market risk, and the market as a whole represents a beta value of one. A stock with a beta greater than one is considered more sensitive to market-wide shocks compared to a stock that trades below the value of one. Check out our latest analysis for Franco-Nevada What is FNVs market risk? Franco-Nevadas five-year beta of 1.13 means that the companys value will swing up by more than the market during prosperous times, but also drop down by more in times of downturns. This level of volatility indicates bigger risk for investors who passively invest in the stock market index. Based on this beta value, FNV may be a stock for investors with a portfolio mainly made up of low-beta stocks. This is because during times of bullish sentiment, you can reap more of the upside with high-beta stocks compared to muted movements of low-beta holdings. How does FNV's size and industry impact its risk? A market capitalisation of USD $18.10B puts FNV in the basket of established companies, which is not a guarantee of low relative risk, though they do tend to experience a lower level of relative risk compared to smaller entities. But, FNVs industry, metals and mining, is considered to be cyclical, which means it is more volatile than the market over the economic cycle. As a result, we should expect a low beta for the large-cap nature of FNV but a higher beta for the metals and mining industry. This is an interesting conclusion, since its size suggests FNV should be less volatile than it actually is. There may be a more fundamental driver which can explain this inconsistency, which we will examine below. Story continues TSX:FNV Income Statement Oct 2nd 17 How FNV's assets could affect its beta During times of economic downturn, low demand may cause companies to readjust production of their goods and services. It is more difficult for companies to lower their cost, if the majority of these costs are generated by fixed assets. Therefore, this is a type of risk which is associated with higher beta. I examine FNVs ratio of fixed assets to total assets to see whether the company is highly exposed to the risk of this type of constraint. FNV's fixed assets to total assets ratio of higher than 30% shows that the company uses up a big chunk of its capital on assets that are hard to scale up or down in short notice. As a result, this aspect of FNV indicates a higher beta than a similar size company with a lower portion of fixed assets on their balance sheet. Similarly, FNVs beta value conveys the same message. What this means for you: Are you a shareholder? You could benefit from higher returns from FNV during times of economic growth. Its higher fixed cost isnt a major concern given margins are covered with high consumer demand. However, in times of a downturn, it may be safe to look at a more defensive stock which can cushion the impact of lower demand. Are you a potential investor? Before you buy FNV, you should factor how your portfolio currently moves with the wider market, and where we are in the economic cycle. This stock could be an outperformer during times of growth, and it may be worth taking a deeper dive into the fundamentals to crystalize your thoughts on FNV. Beta is one aspect of your portfolio construction to consider when holding or entering into a stock. But it is certainly not the only factor. Take a look at our most recent infographic report on Franco-Nevada for a more in-depth analysis of the stock to help you make a well-informed investment decision. But if you are not interested in Franco-Nevada anymore, you can use our free platform to see my list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements. The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has met with Pakistan's army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa in Kabul as part of the Pakistani generals visit aimed at repairing the strained ties between the neighboring states. "Both sides discussed regional security, bilateral relations, the fight against terrorism, trade, and transit," the Afghan presidential office said on October 1. A statement quoted Ghani as calling for practical steps toward creating an atmosphere of trust between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Bilateral relations have long been tense, with the sides accusing each other of housing terrorist groups that launch attacks on the neighboring country. Ahead of Bajwas first visit to Afghanistan since he took up the post nearly a year ago, the Pakistani military said he would also meet with Afghanistans military leadership. The visit comes after the White House recently unveiled a strategy to try to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan after nearly 16 years of war. An important component of the new strategy is a threat to withdraw aid and other support for Pakistan if the country does not shut down what U.S. officials said are Afghan Taliban "safe havens" on its territory. Islamabad has denied that it is offering "safe havens" to extremist groups, with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi warning that Pakistan was "not prepared to be anyone's scapegoat." In his address before the UN General Assembly on September 20, Abbasi said, "Taliban 'safe havens' are located not in Pakistan, but in the large tracts of territory controlled by the Taliban in Afghanistan." Abassi also said Islamabad was ready to work with Kabul to "end all cross-border attacks," and that it will continue pursuing its domestic war against terrorists. With reporting by AP and dpa The Afghan government is gearing up to repair a 50-year-old road and tunnel system linking nine northern provinces to the capital, Kabul, in the south. But Afghan lawmakers are not happy with several government departments in charge of looking after the aging Soviet-built tunnel, which has survived multiple wars and still sees more than 5,000 vehicles pass through it every day. Kabul has already awarded a $250 million contract to an Australian firm, SMEC, to begin repairing the tunnel starting next year. The project is slated to be completed in 2021. Lawmaker Habib Afghan, a member of Wolesi Jirga or the lower house of the Afghan Parliament, however, wants authorities to account for all the money the parliament has been appropriating to repair the tunnel in recent years. During the past seven years, the parliament has approved a special budget for the Salang Tunnel, he told lawmakers. If they had been carrying out repairs during this period, we would now have a functioning tunnel able to stay open all year. This would have saved us from so many losses. At nearly 3,400 meters high, Salang is one of the highest road tunnels in the world. Its passes beneath a giant glacier. Snowfall and avalanches often force its closure in winter. Abdul Rahman Salahi, a deputy minister at the Afghan Public Works Ministry, says a complete overhaul of the nearly 3-kilometer tunnel system is planned. We are planning to rebuild the tunnel, galleries, support walls, and small and big bridges, he told lawmakers. We are also planning to rebuild the road passing through the tunnel and galleries. Mohammad Abdul Rajab, head of the Salang Pass Tunnel Maintenance Department, says they are preparing to protect thousands of travelers passing through Salang in winter. Afghan authorities can currently rescue or provide assistance to 10,000 stranded travelers in Salang. Rehmatullah Afghan reported this story from Kabul, Afghanistan. Russia has led its partners in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) with the highest ranking among the group in the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2017-18 Global Competitiveness Report. Russia ranked 38th on the list of 137 countries rated in this years WEF report, while Kazakhstan was next at 57 on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). Other EEU nations ranked were Armenia, at 73, and Kyrgyzstan at 102. Belarus, also a member of the economic grouping, was not ranked. Other countries ranked included Azerbaijan at 35, Georgia at 67, Iran no. 69, Tajikistan at 79, Ukraine no. 8,; Moldova at 89, and Bosnia-Herzegovina no. 103. Pakistan was listed at 115, up from no. 122 a year earlier. Switzerland topped the list, with the United States at no. 2. Singapore was third, the Netherlands came in fourth, and Germany ranked fifth. Global competitiveness will be more and more defined by the innovative capacity of a country, said Klaus Schwab, WEF executive chairman. Talents will become increasingly more important than capital and therefore the world is moving from the age of capitalism into the age of talentism, he added. Countries preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and simultaneously strengthening their political, economic, and social systems will be the winners in the competitive race of the future. The report noted Russias five-point improvement from the previous year, but cautioned that its economy remains highly dependent on mineral exports and prospects remain uncertain. It said weak links include the financial market, particularly the banking sector; aspects of property rights; judicial independence; and corruption, which remains one of the most problematic factors for doing business. Russian Economy Minister Maksim Oreshkin told state-run TASS news agency that his countrys improved ranking was a result of structural reforms we had implemented in the macroeconomic policy sphere." He added that Russia still has things to do, particularly in such areas as competition and introduction of new technologies. The WEF said the index was based on 12 pillars -- institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods-market efficiency, labor-market efficiency, financial-market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation. Washington, D.C, Sept. 30, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) released the following statement in support of the Mayor of San Juan in addressing Puerto Ricos humanitarian crisis: Attacking our leaders on the ground during one of Americas greatest humanitarian crises is not leadership, and it's not going to help the 3.4 million Americans in Puerto Rico get the relief they need. The White House should take a page from the nations mayors who have time and again banded together in times of crisis to send first responders and support our fellow Americans. We need to do whats necessary to save American lives and begin to rebuild any American city. Anything else is simply unacceptable and will result in further loss of life," said USCM President Mayor Mitch Landrieu (New Orleans, LA). "A natural disaster that's become a humanitarian disaster is no time for politics or grievances," said USCM Vice President Mayor Steve Benjamin (Columbia, SC). "More than 3.4 million Americans are desperate for help, which is why mayors from cities across the country, including ones like Columbia, S.C. that have had to recover and rebuild from disaster, are coming together to support the immediate relief and long-term recovery. "We want to help the residents of Puerto Rico. Whenever there is a challenge, mayors are asked to rise and meet the needs of the people. This moment is no different. The nations mayors are closely monitoring the situation, sending our prayers and are ready to do whatever we can to get Puerto Rico the help they need to rebuild," said USCM Second Vice President Bryan Barnett (Rochester Hills, MI). The city of San Juan is a very important city to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The organization has a long history with Puerto Rico. Our first Latino president was Hernan Padilla. We stand with the mayor of San JuanCarmen Yulin Cruzand the people of Puerto Rico, said USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran. ### The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8e55e444-9575-4efe-8f8c-d25aae804d70 New Berlin, Wis., Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- United Heartland, a leading national workers compensation insurance company, announced today that it will offer workers compensation insurance in South Dakota effective immediately. The move reflects the continued expansion of the companys footprint in the central U.S. It currently markets its products in 18 core states. Our entry into the South Dakota market reaffirms our assertion that there is a need for the high-touch, customer service-focused approach to workers compensation that United Heartland excels at providing, said Steve Cooper, president of United Heartland. Additionally, it is important for United Heartland to align with agency partners who value our high-touch service model which allows us to be nimble and responsive to customer needs. Under the guidance of Tracy Bain, regional director for the Milwaukee region, the United Heartland team will explore opportunities for appointing agents and identifying qualified customers within the state of South Dakota. Our goal is to work with South Dakota agency partners who share United Heartlands focus on our six key business segments education, healthcare, long-term care, manufacturing, nonprofits/social services and wholesale/retail, said Bain. We are confident our value proposition and tireless commitment to controlling our customers total cost of risk will be attractive to potential customers in the state. For additional information regarding agency appointments, contact Tracy Bain at 262-787-7464, tracy.bain@unitedheartland.com. About United Heartland United Heartland is the marketing name for United Wisconsin Insurance Company, a member of AF Group. Insurance policies may be issued by any of the following companies within AF Group: Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, Accident Fund National Insurance Company, Accident Fund General Insurance Company, United Wisconsin Insurance Company, Third Coast Insurance Company or CompWest Insurance Company. ### Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3da87482-b8d1-4a17-adf6-cf80488c4a8c HERNDON, Va., Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Command Security Corporation (NYSE MKT:MOC) today announced the award of a new five-year contract to provide armed security services for the Department of State at the U.S. Mission Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Total revenues associated with this award are estimated to be approximately $2.25 million annually or approximately $11.0 million over the one-year base period and the four (4) one-year option years that follow. Work under the contract will commence on or about January 1, 2018. We are extremely pleased with the award of this new contract with the Department of State. This work is strategically important to the Company given the potential global growth of security opportunities with the federal government and the need to provide premier physical security services for this customer, said Craig Coy, Chief Executive Officer of Command Security Corporation. About Command Security Corporation Command Security Corporation and its Aviation Safeguards division provide uniformed security officers and aviation security services to commercial, financial, industrial, aviation and governmental customers throughout the United States. As our credo states Securing All You Value, we safeguard against theft, fraud, fire, intrusion, vandalism and the many other threats that our customers are facing today. By partnering with each customer, we design programs customized to meet their specific security needs and address their particular concerns. We bring years of expertise, including sophisticated systems for hiring, training, supervision and oversight, backed by cutting-edge technology, to every situation that our customers face involving security. Our mission is to enable our customers to operate their businesses without disruption or loss, and to create safe environments for their employees. For more information concerning our company, please refer to our website at www.commandsecurity.com. Forward-Looking Statements This announcement by the Company contains forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about the Company that are based on managements assumptions, expectations and projections about the Company. Such forward-looking statements by their nature involve a degree of risk and uncertainty. The Company cautions that actual results of the Company could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including but not limited to the factors described under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), and such other risks disclosed from time to time in the Companys periodic and other reports filed with the SEC. You should consider the areas of risk described above in connection with any forward-looking statements that may be made by the Company. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any additional disclosures the Company makes in proxy statements, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, annual reports on Form 10-K and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC. Company Contact: N. Paul Brost Chief Financial Officer Command Security Corporation 703-464-4735 VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of Directors of the BC Achievement Foundation is pleased to announce the jurors for British Columbias National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction: Jan Walter, Rick Antonson and Eliza Reid. The 2018 jury members will determine the best works of Canadian non-fiction for the 14th awarding of the prestigious prize. The award longlist will be revealed on November 1, 2017, with the shortlist being announced December 1, 2017. The shortlisted authors will be celebrated and the winner announced at a presentation ceremony in Vancouver in early 2018. Scott McIntyre, Chair of the BC Achievement Foundation noted: "Once again we look to the experience and wisdom of our esteemed jury to help celebrate the inspired writing of 2018 nominees. Another treasure trove for readers and writers alike." About the Jury: Jan Walter Returning juror and 2018 Jury Chair, Jan Walter has spent her life around books: selling, acquiring, editing, publishing, promoting. She began as a bookseller at Mel Hurtigs store in Edmonton, and later joined Hurtig Publishers as editor-in-chief. She then moved to Toronto where she held executive positions with several Canadian publishing companies, including Macmillan and McClelland & Stewart. In 1988, together with writer/editors Gary Ross and John Macfarlane, she launched Macfarlane, Walter & Ross, which became one of Canadas premier publishers of quality non-fiction, publishing over 60 award-winning and bestselling titles. Walter has made her home in Kingston, Ontario since 2004 and is a former Chair of the Kingston WritersFest Board. Rick Antonson Rick Antonson is the author of six books, including To Timbuktu for a Haircut and Route 66 Still Kicks. He entwines travel, history, and memoir when writing about extraordinary places and the people who call them home. An inveterate traveller, visiting places as varied as Iraq, Iran and North Korea, Antonsons forthcoming book is based in Papua New Guinea. He was President and CEO of Tourism Vancouver for over two decades, and is also a former book publisher. Capilano University awarded Antonson an Honorary Doctorate of Laws and the tourism industry conferred recognitions in Canada, Europe, the US, and Asia. Antonson is currently co-scriptwriting a musical play, and delivers his Cathedral Thinking address around the world; he and his wife, Janice, live in Vancouver and Frankfurt. Eliza Reid Eliza Reid, the First Lady of Iceland, is co-founder of the acclaimed Iceland Writers Retreat, an annual event that combines small-group writing workshops with cultural tours to introduce visitors to Icelands unique literary heritage. She was the editor of Icelandairs in-flight magazine from 2012-2016 and was a staff writer at Iceland Review from 2005-2008. In Canada, where she was born and raised, Reid has been published in The Globe and Mail, The Walrus, and The Ottawa Citizen. Until she became First Lady, Reid was a regular commentator on Icelandic current affairs for foreign media, and made appearances on BBC Radio Scotland, CBS Radio, CBC Television and Radio, France 24, and RTE (Ireland). The BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction is awarded annually to the author whose book stimulates our national conversation and shares knowledge about the complex world in which we live. The award is presented by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation, an independent foundation established and endowed by the Province of BC in 2003 to celebrate excellence and achievement in the arts, humanities, enterprise and community service. The award consists of $40,000 for the winning author and $5,000 for each of the remaining finalists. All of the shortlisted titles receive extensive national publicity and marketing support. Background information and a list of past winners is available at http://www.bcachievement.com/nonfiction. Contact: Cathryn Wilson Executive Director, BC Achievement Foundation 604-261-9777 Curfew clamped in Lalpur area of Gulariya Municipality The local administration on Monday clamped curfew at Lalpur area in Gulariya Municipality of Bardiya district following a clash between two groups. spriya wrote: Although most people know that exercise is good for the body, few realize the extent to which it is valuable to the mind. The blood circulates more rapidly after physical exertion, thus allowing all of the bodys organs to operate more efficiently. This increased activity enables the brain to receive more oxygen, thereby creating a higher capacity for concentration. The main point in the argument above is that (A) the greater the amount of oxygen the brain receives, the better the brain functions. Though this is true it is not the sole purpose of the stimulus. It is something that is inferred from the last sentence. (B) exercise is a mental, as well as physical, activity. No where in the stimulus does it mention the mental or physical demand exercise requires (C) exercise helps the brain more than it does the rest of the body. This is an extreme statement and no where in the stimulus does it state this. (D) people can greatly improve their powers of concentration by exercising more often. Though this is possible it is not the main point of the article. Concentration is improved but it does not go into detail the extent of the concentration. (E) exercise serves more than one purpose The stimulus is about exercise and the word "although" in the stimulus suggests that even though it is good for the body as most people are aware it actually helps stimulate the mind too. I chose E Can anyone suggest how to approach this CR .I was confused between two options !!! Can you give us a brief overview of your path to HBS? How did you like the shift from advising to, in your words, owning the solution? Why do you feel you need an MBA? What did you find most difficult in the application process? Did you get the Harbus essay guide as an applicant When you interviewed at HBS, what was the hardest or most memorable question? Do you remember what you wrote about in your Interview Reflection after your interview? What has surprised you about HBS? How is the case method changing the way you think about business or product management? Earlier, you mentioned your reason for pursuing an MBA was mainly related to the network/community, but it sounds like youve gotten much more out of it that you value. Is that fair to say? Can you tell us about your experience as a summer intern at Google? Do you feel aspects of your Harvard education have helped in your role as product manager? You mentioned the perception that the MBA is a two-year party. There have been rumors that you need a lot of money for the social life and extracurriculars at HBS, that it is elitist. Have you found that to be true? Youre the product manager for the Harbus. What does that mean? What motivated you to become product manager? What are your plans for after graduation? What will you miss about HBS? What other Harbus products are in the pipeline? Related Links: Related Shows: you Whats it like to be a Harvard Business School student and Google Intern? Lets find out in todays podcast! Our guest today is Shantanu Misra, currently a 2nd-year Harvard Business School MBA student who just completed a summer internship at Google and will serve this year as the product manager for the Harbus, the independent, non-profit news organization of Harvard Business School.A little background about Shantanu Misra. He graduated from IIT Kanpur in India with a BTech and M Tech in Civil Engineering focused on geoinformatics. He worked for BCG in Mumbai and Singapore until 2014. Then he made a fairly major switch and moved to Switzerland where he became the program manager for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. About one year ago, he started his MBA at Harvard.Shantanu, welcome to Admission Straight Talk![1:45]I did my undergrad in engineering I learned a lot of tech skills, and then pivoted to more of a business role, because I was fascinated by the idea of trying out different industries and solving strategic problems. Thats what attracted me to BCG after undergrad. I got a lot of exposure to different industries, different geographies, and different types of problems. But like any consultant, I wasnt owning the solutions so I was attracted to the opportunity in Switzerland with Gavi.The role I had there was very interesting. Living in a new country gave me space to reflect on my career, and thats when I decided to do my MBA. And that brought me to Harvard Business School.[3:20]Its a major shift. People asked me how I was adjusting to living in Switzerland, and I would say living in Switzerland was easy adjusting to the job requirements was a little more tricky.One difference is that as a consultant, you take for granted the buy-in of the partner organization the machinery runs very fast. But when youre in an operational role, youre part of that machinery you dont have that senior leadership-driven mandate all the time.Another big difference is the level of detail in talking about your solutions. As a consultant you work at a high level. But operationally, you need to be detailed and practical.[7:00]I dont think of an MBA as an investment in the next 10 years of my career its an investment in the next 30,35, 40 years of my career, in terms of the community and resources Ill gain. That for me was the biggest reason.Also, I have interests in public health, public education, etc, and in the MBA Ive been able to work with people who are interested in social enterprise.[8:48]The most difficult thing by far is the essay.The rest of the package is ready youve done the jobs youve done, you have the grades you have, but the thing you can change is how you represent yourself.There are a lot of people who have a similar educational background to mine, and probably similar grades. So I spent a lot of time thinking about how to differentiate myself Its a high risk event, applying for an MBA you only get one or two stabs at it. So you want to do it well.It helps to talk to people you know whove made it, so you can understand how you can stand out in your essay.? [11:13]Yes, I did! For context, we at Harbus publish a guide with 20-25 successful essays.When you read these essays you get a sense of what people do, and what are the content choices people make. Every year when I read the essays, theyre so different.[14:55]I was really surprised when the interviewer opened with a question about one of the hobbies Id mentioned in my application not even in one of the essays about my experience doing street plays in India. Of course I was not prepared for that question, but it really helped me relax, because I was talking about things Id experienced in my college life.[15:55] Interview Reflection is an important part of your application . Reflection is a huge part of HBS pedagogy in general. So I think Interview Reflection is important because it helps give them a more holistic picture of you, and also shows how youll fit with the HBS culture.What I wrote about was the question I just mentioned how it made me relax, thanking the interviewer for that. And then I just reflected on some of the other parts of the conversation.[18:35]You hear a lot of stories about the social life that its a two-year party. What surprised me was the focus on the classroom. The amount of effort the faculty put in for each single class surprised and impressed me the way they design and structure the discussion. The richness of the conversation that happens in the classroom is amazing.[20:50]I think before an MBA the roles you do are more designed to be you contributing as an individual contributor and I think b-school is great for helping you transition to being a team leader. And thats applicable to product management as well.The other thing for me is respect for diversity that comes from being in a room with multiple nationalities, and you realize how valuable that diversity is.[23:30]When you apply youre focused on what you think youll take away from it, and once youre there you end up taking away a lot more. Im really enjoying my experience.[24:25]Its been great!I was working as a product manager. I was building on some of the skills I learned as a consultant you have to be analytical, you have to take everyone along, get initiatives through, etc. At the same time, youre in an operational role, so you have to be really detailed.The muscle Google has to design products is amazing. Brainstorming about solutions that will impact billions of users is fascinating. Its an experience I couldnt have gotten anywhere else.[26:10]The biggest help is that Im from HBS I can reach out to all the other HBS grads working at Google. HBS has the strongest MBA network.The pedagogy of HBS is case-based. When I came to Google I worked with game developers. I remembered Id done a case on game developers it helps build context on real world issues.[29:00]Its a bit unfair to call it elitist or say you need a lot of money. There are people from different financial backgrounds some are on financial aid, and some have a lot of money.But what Ive found is that there is a strong sense of community, especially within your section, and that people are respectful of boundaries. So if youre on a budget, people are respectful of that.[30:30] The Harbus is one of the oldest campus news organizations, operating since 1937. As product manager, I basically own some of Harbuss products, such as the essay guide. We also have an interview guide.Were thinking of launching some other new products. We also have an editorial team that manages our monthly newsletter.[31:40]I had used the product, which was the biggest motivation!Id always had an interest in student journalism, and coming to HBS where we have this great historical asset, the Harbus, I wanted to be involved. And the team is great. So when I was deciding which extracurriculars I wanted to devote my time to (since you cant do everything!), I chose the Harbus.[32:45]The plan is for me to make a plan.A two-year MBA gives you a lot of opportunity to reflect on your career. I want to use this year to reflect on my internship and my interests in tech, public health, etc.[35:20]Being full time in an educational program, the kinds of things you can explore and the opportunity to participate in extracurriculars.The second big thing will be the community. Ive made a lot of close friends. Ill miss that a lot.[37:00]Were coming out with an interview guide, probably next month.It will have real life interview questions from successful HBS students.There are three or four other ideas in the pipeline. We may be coming out with a guide for 2+2 students, since that program has its own unique demands. Get Accepted to Harvard Business School , an on-demand webinar HBS Post-Interview Reflections , a video This article originally appeared on blog. .Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where to apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.Contact us, and get matched up with the consultant who will help_________________ Re: MBA in Japan : any recent feedback ? [ #permalink Oliber, I don't know if I can be of much help. I completed my MBA at Waseda University and will officially graduate in a few days. Although they are aiming for a world-class MBA, I'm afraid they are not there yet. I've had some good classes and good professors, but many were not so good. Most (98%) of my classmates were Asian students, and through them I learned that in their country Waseda University is highly considered. Therefore, for them, getting this MBA makes a lot of sense as it will improve greatly their career possibilities when they go back in their country. I don't know where you are from and what are your future plans, but I doubt a Japanese MBA would be highly regarded in North America or in Europe. The reason I chose this one is because my objective is to work in Japan, and in Japan, the name Waseda is huge. However, getting a job in Japan after an MBA is much harder that I thought. I've been doing job hunting for a few months already, both Japanese style and Western style, and I realize that traditional Japanese companies don't really know what an MBA is and don't really care about it. There are two official ways to apply for a job in Japan : apply as a new graduate or apply as mid-career. I quickly understood that if you have work experience and are over 30, you can forget about new graduate offers. Mid-career is tricky as most companies are looking with someone with the exact experience they are requiring - basically you need to have done the job before. I am over 30, my work experience is all over the place, so you can guess where this is going... really, really difficult. University professors and recruiters can help, but you need to meet the right people at the right time. You say you are looking for an executive MBA, so I guess you have relevant experience, and mid-career job hunting could work for you. Well, I got away from the question... regarding the school, it really depends what your plans are. As someone said before, Hitotsubashi has a good reputation. (although the reputation is not as strong as Waseda - but remember that reputation does not equal quality) A friend of mine just started his MBA in Rikkyo University. I can ask him for some feedback if you'd like. Anyway, give me more details if you want and I'll try to give you as much information as I can. split2 wrote: I think I screwed my Chicago Booth essay (the application sent already), how bad do you think it can be? I felt pretty solid with my presentation but after reading some more analysis, I realized I mainly didn't provide enough "why booth" reasons. the thing about a presentation the way i saw it was keeping things simple. I treated the essay more as of Stanford's "what matter most to you" and wrote general things about myself. The main reason is that I read a really bad analysis saying "anything works" just bring your beliefs etc to the essay/presentation not focusing enough on where exactly to take it. Anyway, now I wonder whether I'm doomed. I would say apart of the essay my application is solid everywhere else. What do you think? Still got a chance? Or thinking about it in a general point of view: how important is the essay for business school ? there's no way to answer this question out of context - i.e. without seeing your essays.I guess the main thing here is to learn from your mistakes. You might want to show your essays to someone and get some critique on them before you move forward.Best,JF A Nigerian lady has taken to her Facebook handle to call out her former course who called her a witch because she turned down his advances. The lady who was identified as Enobong Uche called out Nwoye Ifeanyi, on her social media handle. Uche disclosed that she and Ifeanyi were not on talking terms while in university but he kept sending her messages privately. According to her Facebook post, she even blocked the young man from all her social media handles but he was still persistent until she was called a witch. Enobong Uche with her former course mate Nwoye Ifeanyi READ ALSO: 9-year-old girl shows off her muscles and 6 packs on social media (photos) Uches post reads: Pls u people should come and see what ur course mate Nwoye Ifeanyi sent to me this first day of the month. I dont know who this idiot is as a matter of fact, even in uni days, I never talked to him. He was all up in my inbox since last year asking me out and even talking marriage and of course I declined! Even blocked him on fbk and every social media oooo. Since den, it has been one insult of the other even sending text begging hahaaha. I even sent all our chat history to Ekene!!! I dont understand ooo if this alumni of UNN is going mad Oh I think he is. I am puzzled by this today he claims prophet, tomorrow he claims another thing. You think I dont know how u made ur money???? Its blood chasing u dear not me. I would have cursed u with the anointing of God on my head but I will let God handle u according to Psalm 105:15. DO I KNW U BEFORE???? Beans head. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! Nawa o! Source: Legit.ng - Apostle Suleman has shared goodwill messages with Nigerians on the independence celebration - He rocked a white and green Agbada as he preached to the members of his church - To read all news on Apostle Suleman, check www.legit.ng/tag/apostle-johnson-suleman.html Apostle Suleman has shared a powerful message with Nigerians to celebrate the Independence Day. The clergy man rocked a green and white Agbada as he preached to the members of his congregation. The man of God used the avenue to lecture Nigerians about the administration of President Buhari while affirming that Nigeria would remain as one. The founder of Omega Fire Ministries said Nigeria does not belong to the north, east, south or west. He went on to talk about those in government asking them to have a sober reflection about the things going on in the nation. He talked about hate speech saying there is a thin line between it and freedom of speech. He said this while talking about those who criticize the government. Apostle Suleman preaches about the governance in Nigeria. Source: Instagram, Instablog9ja. READ ALSO: Parent and their 19-years-old undergraduate daughter dies in an auto crash on Independence day Apostle Suleman asked the government to allocate resources appropriately. He asked the government to be more tolerant since people would not stop talking or give up on expressing themselves. He said the government should stop saying people are confrontational. He said paying attention to those who have negative things to say about the government would only amplify things. He gave numerous examples that his followers could relate with while preaching on governance. Nigeria does not belong to the north according to Apostle Suleman. Source: Instagram, Instablog9ja. He used himself as a case study saying he is not tolerant but had to work on that as a result of some incident that happened this year. He made references to his alleged scandal involving Stephanie Otobo while asking her to enjoy her short time of being famous. Apostle Suleman steps out in green and white Agbada. Source: Instagram, Instablog9ja. Apostle Suleman said he is a trained journalist and the media cannot be used against him. He talked about the rudiments of journalism as the members of his congregation clapped and cheered him up. He talked briefly about his alleged relationship with Stephanie Otobo. Source: Instagram, Instablog9ja. He concluded by saying tolerance helped him get through the scandal which he labeled drama. He asked his congregation if he looks like someone who would meet the kind of lady he was alleged to be involved with. However, he said God asked him not to fight his battles by himself and this made him step back. He said he agreed with this saying people will only believe whatever it is they want to even if he took the time to fight the allegations. PAY ATTENTION: Install the latest android app to get updates from Nigerias number one online news platform He went on to say Nigeria has many ethnics and people have to be tolerant as their social values are different. He said analogue strategies cannot be used to handle digital conflicts. He concluded by asking the congregation to tell their neighbours to be tolerant. Source: Legit.ng 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 During his first UNGA speech, US President Trump said, The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy Trump called Iran a rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos. Accusing Irans regime of providing financial support for sectarian proxy groups in Syria and Iraq, was Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. UAE Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, called out Irans expansionist policies and said it plays an important role in destabilizing the region. Also accusing Iran of supporting terrorist organizations, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, was Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, who emphasized any normalization in relations with Tehran hinges on this regime ending its support of terrorism. Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi said the Iran-backed Houthi militias are carrying out Irans interventionist agendas in the region. Kuwaits envoy in the UNGA called on Tehran to bring an end to its threats to regional security. The Cairo-based Arab League closed their September 12th session by issuing a statement condemning Irans meddling in Arabic countries. He said, We call on Iran to end its hostile remarks, provocative measures and media attacks against Arabic countries as such actions are considered flagrant meddling in the internal affairs of these Arab states. We condemn Irans meddling in the internal affairs of Bahrain and the Syria crisis. These interventions can render dangerous results for Syrias future, security, sovereignty, stability and national unity. A new Human Rights Watch report about Irans recruiting of fighters from as far as Pakistan and Afghanistan for the Syria war, indicates that this campaign has even involved Tehrans conscription of Afghan children. On Saturday, media reports said that US Defense Secretary James Mattis accused Iran and Russia of continuing to provide armed support to the Afghan Taliban. On September 14th, Irans state-affiliated Arman daily ran a piece entitled, Irans regional and international challenges, that described the challenges across the region and abroad that the regimes foreign ministry is facing. Still, senior Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei continue to be concerned that their strategic depth is threatened, which may cause domestic dilemmas for the regime in terms of its populace and the Iranian opposition movement. In fact, Khamenei said in June, Had the ill-wishers and plotters not been prevented from their evil deeds in Syria we would have to prevent them in the Iranian provinces of Tehran, Fars, Khorasan and Isfahan, so it is better we do it there. Heshmat Alavi writes in his article for Al Arabiya, Iran is known to use its war machine of terrorism and meddling in other countries as means to cloak its domestic crackdown and predicaments. Interesting is the fact that the Iranian people are realizing how Tehrans regime is becoming weaker by the day. This is seen in their growing number of rallies and the political nature of their demands. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) is an organized opposition movement who is able to motivate and guide protest movements, and this is a major cause for concern in Tehran. The semi-official Fars news agency, wrote a piece warning the entire regime: fear the millions, young and old all waiting for just a spark to set fire to everything Have fear, and know that when the storm arrives, there will be nowhere to hide. All paths will be closed you wont even reach the airplanes steps as the Shah was able to This is believed to be a reference the Shah of Iran fleeing Iran just weeks preceding the 1979 revolution. He is a father of a young girl and is a photography graduate. Towards the end of 2013, Mr. Arabi was arrested by Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). He was thrown into solitary confinement and was subject to torture. His crime was to publish photos of the 2009 uprising in Iran. He also published the cartoon of Supreme Leader Khamenei. He was sentenced for apostasy, blasphemy against Prophet and insulting the sanctity and propaganda against the state. He was first sentenced to execution which then became a seven and a half year prison sentence. Mr. Arabi was also handed a three year prison sentence and thirty lashes for insulting leaders of the Iranian regime. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported that Mr. Arabi, to avoid the death sentence, has been told to show that he regrets his actions and has to spend two years reading over a dozen volumes of the mullahs ridiculous and irrational books about religion. He was also told that he would have to write a summary of what he read. This is an absolutely absurd ruling and it is shocking that the execution sentence will only be removed if he proves that he regrets his actions and if the authorities deem that his behaviour has changed. Amnesty International have demanded the immediate release of Mr. Arabi and have urged authorities to give him access to essential medical care. A few days into his dry hunger strike, the prisoner recorded himself and explained that the authorities are ignoring his legal demands. He said that he has extremely low blood pressure and added that he has stomach bleeding. Despite the huge amount of pressure he is under and his desperate situation, Mr. Arabi urged people to never allow a person to torture you because of holding different beliefs. He added that he has spent a lot of time hoping that the interrogators and judges will have good conscience, although he admitted that it is clear they do not, because if they did he would have been released from prison a long time ago and real criminals would have been locked up instead. Like many of the people in Iran, despite the oppression that aims to keep them down, Mr. Arabi said he is hopeful the rulers of the country will one day be overthrown. He said: I cannot tolerate all this cruelty. I am tired of fighting alone. Nobody helps me. I will die one day. I am sure that the oppressors will be defeated. You will believe that my imprisonment was unfair. I am in a cage and cannot work, therefore, I am dead. A day comes that the judges and interrogators will be tried and our country is no longer in the hands of hypocrites. These Houthi Iranian allies fought five wars against the government forces during the presidential term of Ali Abdullah Saleh, and attacked Saudi Arabia in 2009. They undermined the UN sponsored Yemeni agreement, when their militias entered Sanaa and seized power in September 2014. Saudi Arabia has two goals to achieve in Yemen: To solidify legitimacy of its neighbor, as stability and security in Yemen is vital To protect its borders and territories from chaos, terrorism, and smuggling Saudi Arabia is concerned that the Iranians are behind the Houthis, and that they plan to besiege Saudi Arabia. If it hadnt been for Saudi Arabias advanced defense capabilities, missiles would have caused panic and serious damage in southern cities, writes Abdulrahman al-Rashed, former General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, and former editor-in-chief of the leading Arab daily, Asharq al-Awsat, in an article for Al-Arabiya. He goes on to say that, Riyadh has several good options now that more than one third of Yemen has been liberated and is governed by legitimate forces under the Saudi-led coalition. The first option is for the war to go on, confront hostile forces in Yemen and fight Salehs troops, Houthi militias and al-Qaeda organization, and adds, The second option is to settle with what has been achieved and resume its military support of the legitimate government to strengthen its influence in areas it controls. The third option is to protect its territories and create a buffer zone, south of its borders that include Saada, but he says that the second option is not practical because parties like Iran and al-Qaeda will be active and legitimacy will weaken. He poses a third option of cleansing north of Yemen and creating a buffer zone will unify all capabilities to attack the Houthis in their home. He believes that if successful, this will resolve the crisis, as it is his opinion that it is caused by the Houthis. The Houthis comprise only 3 percent of Yemens residents, and that those who support them possibly double that percentage. Still, the small number of Houthis and their followers does not mean they not dangerous, as they are committed to the fighting ritual of jihad as they interpret it, so the Houthis will continue to pose a threat. Saada is the headquarters of Houthi tribal and military leadership. Although they are militias, and not armies, they are capable of engaging in further confrontations and skirmishes. If the Houthis are stopped in Saada, their rebellion may be stopped, as well. It is believed that Iran will continue to attempt to establish a presence in Syria with Hezbollah, and potentially open a second Syrian front against Israel, as Tehran presently has 1,500 Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria, and the IDF believes that the Islamic Republic also controls over 10,000 fighters from Shiite militias. Additionally, Hezbollah also has several thousand troops in the country to assist Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in his war against rebel groups. PressTV recently reported that Iran announced it successfully tested a new missile with a 1,250-mile range, capable of reaching Israel and US bases in the Gulf. However, the Israeli military agrees with the US that video footage of a ballistic missile test released by Tehran was, in fact, recycled footage from over nine months ago. State television carried footage of the launch of the Khoramshahr missile, where it was displayed at a military parade in Tehran on Friday, as well as in-flight video from the nose cone. According to a Fox News report, two US officials claimed that the video was more than seven months old, and was from a failed launch in late January, when the missile exploded shortly after lift off. The Israeli army believes that while Iran is upholding the 2015 nuclear deal to the letter, it is not necessarily keeping to the spirit of the agreement. Their assessment is that Tehran is preparing itself for the day the agreement ends, and will begin working on developing an atomic weapon as quickly as possible. Hezbollah is believed to possess approximately 120,000 missiles and rockets in Lebanon at this time. The IDF estimates that the Iran-backed group could launch over a thousand rockets a day at Israel, in the event of a future war. The fear is that the group will have increasingly accurate missiles to aim at strategic sites in Israel. The IDF and the Defense Ministry have invested significant resources in aerial defense, but army officers have said that these anti-missile systems will not be able to stop all projectiles. Their assessment said that more accurate missiles would allow the terrorist group to launch a quick, focused attack on Israel, very different from the prolonged 2006 conflict. Israel has repeatedly warned of Iranian entrenchment in Syria, and of the Irans efforts to establish hegemony in the region. The Israeli military is also concerned that in the future, ties between Iran and Russia will fall apart, as their relationship is based on shared short-term goals, and not necessarily ideological similarities. Israeli officials have said that they will take whatever measures necessary to prevent Iran from establishing a Shiite-controlled land corridor stretching from Tehran, through Iraq and Syria, to Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea. It is believed that Israel has has carried out airstrikes on advanced weapons systems in Syria, including Hezbollah positions, but it rarely confirms such operations on an individual basis. Still, in August, remarks by Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel, a former commander of Israels air force, suggest that it had carried out dozens of airstrikes on weapons convoys destined for Hezbollah over the past five years. VOA Learning English presents Americas Presidents. Today we are talking about Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was related to an earlier president with same last name, Theodore Roosevelt. Many Americans call Franklin Roosevelt by the first letter of each word in his full name: FDR. When FDR took office, the United States was in a severe economic depression. The previous president, Herbert Hoover, had tried to improve the economy, but his efforts had failed. FDR defeated Hoover in the election of 1932. He won, in part, by promising what he called a new deal for Americans. Voters did not know what FDRs new deal meant exactly, but many liked his message of hope. Voters also did not know how much FDR would change the country. He remained in office for 12 years the longest of any U.S. president and led the country through the Great Depression and most of World War II. Along the way, he changed the way government affected Americans lives, and the job of the U.S. president. Early life Franklin Roosevelt was born on a large estate in New York, about 140 kilometers outside New York City. He was the only child of wealthy parents. His mother and father made sure he had an excellent education. As a young man he attended a private high school, and then Harvard College in Massachusetts. He also studied law at Columbia University in New York. Young FDR was not an excellent student, however. He was interested in many things outside the classroom, including politics and girls. Two of FDRs interests came together in a young woman named Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, who went by the name Eleanor. She was the niece of a politician FDR greatly respected: President Theodore Roosevelt. On the day when Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were married, Theodore Roosevelt attended the ceremony. In fact, he walked with his niece in front of the guests to her future husband. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt went on to have six children, although one died as a baby. While Eleanor Roosevelt raised the children, Franklin Roosevelt directed his attention to politics. He left a job in a law office to serve in the New York state senate. In time, he was offered a job in the federal government as an assistant secretary of the Navy. FDR enjoyed the job, but he continued seeking other political positions. He tried unsuccessfully for a seat in the U.S. Senate, but did get nominated by the Democratic Party to be its vice presidential candidate in 1920. Although he and his partner lost the race, FDR seemed like he was in a good position for major political success. But then something unexpected happened. Illness and return to politics When he was 39 years old, FDR suffered major health problems. One day he started to feel a pain in his back. The following day his legs grew tired. Then his skin became sensitive. By the end of the week, both his legs were paralyzed. He could not move from the waist down. He remained paralyzed for the rest of his life. The next years were difficult for the Roosevelts. Eleanor and the children helped care for FDR. And he worked hard to recover some of his strength and physical abilities, especially by exercising. While he remained hopeful about his condition, FDR worried about his political career. He did not think the public would accept a leader who could not even walk by himself. So he took several measures. He created a small wheelchair that would not get too much attention. It was made from a dining room chair, with wheels instead of legs. He refused to let photographers take pictures of him being carried or struggling to move, and he found a way to appear as if he were walking. He used a cane or the arm of a partner to balance, and then he swung his hips to make his legs move forward. Using this method, FDR walked to the stage at the 1924 Democratic National Convention. He used the event to nominate the governor of New York for president. That mans bid did not succeed. But FDR showed himself to still be an able politician. Four years later, FDR himself was elected governor of New York. He held the position in the early years of the countrys economic crisis. In 1932, FDR was a candidate for president. He took the unusual step of appearing in person at the Democratic convention to accept his partys nomination. His campaign was such a success that the Democrats took not only the White House, but majorities in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The strength of the Democratic Party in Congress would help FDR become one of the most powerful presidents the country had ever seen. Next week we will continue our story of FDR and his presidency. Im Kelly Jean Kelly. Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Listening Quiz See how well you understand the story by taking this listening quiz. Play each short video, then choose the best answer. Quiz - America's Presidents: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story estate - n. a large piece of land with a large house on it niece - n. a daughter of your brother or sister paralyzed - adj. unable to move or feel all or part of the body swing - v. to move backward and forward or from side to side while hanging from something stage - n. a raised platform in a theater or auditorium where the performers stand 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. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut. South Jersey Industries, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides energy-related products and services. The company engages in the purchase, transmission, and sale of natural gas. It also sells natural gas and pipeline transportation capacity on a wholesale basis to residential, commercial, and industrial customers on the interstate pipeline system, as well as transports natural gas purchased directly from producers or suppliers to customers. As of December 31, 2021, the company had approximately 147 miles of mains in the transmission system and 6,815 miles of mains in the distribution system; and served 384,062 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southern New Jersey. In addition, it markets natural gas storage, commodity, and transportation assets on a wholesale basis for energy marketers, electric and gas utilities, power plants, and natural gas producers in the mid-Atlantic, Appalachian, and southern regions of the United States. Further, the company owns and operates rooftop solar-generation sites. Additionally, it owns oil, gas, and mineral rights in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania; acquires and markets natural gas and electricity to retail end users, as well as provides total energy management, fuel management, and energy procurement and cost reduction services. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Folsom, New Jersey. VirnetX Holding Corporation, through its subsidiary VirnetX, Inc., operates as an Internet security software and technology company primarily in the United States. The company develops software and technology solutions, including secure domain name registry and GABRIEL Connection Technology that are designed to secure communications over the Internet using zero trust network access. It also offers a portfolio of licenses and services, such as VirnetX One, a security-as-a-service platform that protects enterprise applications, services, and infrastructure from cyber-attacks; GABRIEL Connection Technology software development kit to assist with rapid integration of its techniques into existing software implementations; and War Room software that offers safe and secure video conferencing meeting environment where sensitive communications and data is invisible to those not authorized to view it. In addition, the company provides GABRIEL Collaboration Suite that enables seamless and secure cross-platform communications between users' devices. It serves domain infrastructure and communication service providers, and system integrators; and enterprise customers, developers, and original equipment manufacturers of chips, servers, desktops, smart phones, tablets, laptops, net books, and other devices in the IP-telephony, mobility, fixed-mobile convergence, and unified communications markets. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Zephyr Cove, Nevada. The following companies are subsidiares of NRG Energy: 3279405 Nova Scotia Company, 3283764 Nova Scotia Company, 7549709 Canada Inc., 7644868 Canada Inc., 7711565 Canada Inc., AC Solar Holdings LLC, Ace Energy Inc., Agua Caliente Borrower 1 LLC, Agua Caliente Solar Holdings LLC, Agua Caliente Solar LLC, Allied Home Warranty GP LLC, Allied Warranty LLC, Arthur Kill Gas Turbines LLC, Arthur Kill Power LLC, Astoria Gas Turbine Power LLC, Bayou Cove Peaking Power LLC, Beheer-en Beleggingsmaatschappij Plogema B.V., Berrians I Gas Turbine Power LLC, BidURenergy Inc., Big Cajun I Peaking Power LLC, Bluewater Wind Delaware LLC, Bluewater Wind Maryland LLC, Bluewater Wind New Jersey Energy LLC, Boquillas Wind LLC, Cabrillo Power I LLC, Cabrillo Power II LLC, Camino Energy LLC, Carbon Management Solutions LLC, Carlsbad Energy Center LLC, Carlsbad Energy Holdings LLC, Chester Energy LLC, Chickahominy River Energy Corp., Cirro Energy Services Inc., Cirro Group Inc., Citizens Power Holdings One LLC, Commonwealth Atlantic Power LLC, Connecticut Jet Power LLC, Cottonwood Development LLC, Cottonwood Energy Company LP, Cottonwood Generating Partners I LLC, Cottonwood Generating Partners II LLC, Cottonwood Generating Partners III LLC, Cottonwood Technology Partners LP, Delaware Power Development LLC, Devon Power LLC, Doga Enerji Uretim Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Doga Isi Satis Hizmetleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Doga Isletme ve Bakim Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Dunkirk Gas Corporation, Dunkirk Power LLC, EHI Development Fund LLC, EME Eastern Holdings LLC, EVgo Services LLC, Eastern Sierra Energy Company LLC, Ecokap Power LLC, El Segundo Energy Center II LLC, El Segundo Power II LLC, El Segundo Power LLC, Elkhorn Ridge Wind II LLC, Energy Alternatives Wholesale LLC, Energy Choice Solutions LLC, Energy Curtailment Specialists, Energy Plus Holdings LLC, Energy Plus Natural Gas LLC, Energy Protection Insurance Company, Everything Energy LLC, Forward Home Security LLC, GCP Funding Company LLC, GenOn Energy, Geostellar Inc., Gladstone Power Station Joint Venture, Goal Zero, Goal Zero Europe GmbH, Goal Zero LLC, Granite II Holding LLC, Granite Power Partners II L.P., Green Mountain Energy, Green Mountain Energy Company, Green Mountain Energy Sun Club, Gregory Partners LLC, Gregory Power Partners LLC, Hanover Energy Company, Huntley IGCC LLC, Huntley Power LLC, Independence Energy Alliance LLC, Independence Energy Group LLC, Independence Energy Natural Gas LLC, Indian River Operations Inc., Indian River Power LLC, Intellastar LLC, Ivanpah Master Holdings LLC, Ivanpah Project I Holdings LLC, Ivanpah Project II Holdings LLC, Ivanpah Project III Holdings LLC, James River Power LLC, Kaufman Cogen LP, LSP-Nelson Energy LLC, Long Beach Generation LLC, Long Beach Peakers LLC, Long Beach Power LLC, Louisiana Generating LLC, MEC Esenyurt B.V., MEC San Pascual B.V., Maplekey UK Finance Limited, Maplekey UK Limited, Meriden Gas Turbines LLC, Middletown Power LLC, Midway-Sunset Cogeneration Company, Midwest Finance Company LLC, Midwest Generation EME LLC, Midwest Generation Holdings I LLC, Midwest Generation Holdings II LLC, Midwest Generation LLC, Midwest Generation Procurement Services LLC, Midwest Peaker Holdings LLC, Mission Bingham Lake Wind LLC, Mission Del Cielo LLC, Mission Energy Construction Services LLC, Mission Energy Holdings International LLC, Mission Energy Wales LLC, Mission Funding Zeta LLC, Mission Midway-Sunset Holdings LLC, Mission Midwest Coal LLC, Mission Minnesota Wind LLC, Mission Watson Holdings LLC, Mission Wind Boquillas LLC, Mission Wind New Mexico II LLC, Mission Wind Owaissa LLC, Mission Wind Pinnacle LLC, Mission del Sol LLC, Montville IGCC LLC, Montville Power LLC, NEO Chester-Gen LLC, NEO Corporation, NRG Acquisition Holdings Inc., NRG Advisory Services LLC, NRG Affiliate Services Inc., NRG Alexandria LLC, NRG Arroyo Nogales LLC, NRG Arthur Kill Operations Inc., NRG Asia-Pacific Ltd., NRG Astoria Gas Turbine Operations Inc., NRG Astoria Power LLC, NRG Audrain Generating LLC, NRG Audrain Holding LLC, NRG Bayou Cove LLC, NRG Berrians East Development LLC, NRG Bluewater Holdings LLC, NRG Bluewater Wind Massachusetts LLC, NRG Bourbonnais Equipment LLC, NRG Bourbonnais LLC, NRG Brazoria Energy LLC, NRG Business Services LLC, NRG CTA Holdings LLC, NRG Cabrillo Power Operations Inc., NRG Cadillac Inc., NRG Cadillac Operations Inc., NRG California Peaker Operations LLC, NRG Capital II LLC, NRG Carbon 360 LLC, NRG Cedar Bayou Development Company LLC, NRG Chalk Point CT LLC, NRG CleanTech Investments LLC, NRG Coal Development Company LLC, NRG ComLease LLC, NRG Common Stock Finance I LLC, NRG Common Stock Finance II LLC, NRG Connected Home LLC, NRG Connecticut Affiliate Services Inc., NRG Connecticut Peaking Development LLC, NRG Construction LLC, NRG Cottonwood Tenant LLC, NRG Curtailment Solutions Canada Inc., NRG Curtailment Solutions Inc., NRG DG Development LLC, NRG Development Company Inc., NRG Devon Operations Inc., NRG Dispatch Services LLC, NRG Distributed Energy Resources Holdings LLC, NRG Distributed Generation PR LLC, NRG Dunkirk Operations Inc., NRG ECOKAP Holdings LLC, NRG ESA Joint Development LLC, NRG El Segundo Operations Inc., NRG Energy Center Eagles LLC, NRG Energy Center Oxnard LLC, NRG Energy Fuel LLC, NRG Energy Fuel Services LLC, NRG Energy Gas & Wind Holdings Inc., NRG Energy Holdings II Inc., NRG Energy Holdings Inc., NRG Energy Inc., NRG Energy Labor Services LLC, NRG Energy Petroleum LLC, NRG Energy Services Group LLC, NRG Energy Services International Inc., NRG Energy Services LLC, NRG Equipment Company LLC, NRG Fuel Cell CA1 LLC, NRG Fuel Resources LLC, NRG Fuel Transportation LLC, NRG GTL Holdings LLC, NRG Gas Development Company LLC, NRG Generation Holdings Inc., NRG Gladstone Operating Services Pty Ltd, NRG Granite Acquisition LLC, NRG Greenco LLC, NRG HQ DG LLC, NRG Holding Leasing Vehicle 7 LLC, NRG Home & Business Solutions LLC, NRG Home Services LLC, NRG Home Solutions LLC, NRG Home Solutions Product LLC, NRG Homer City Services LLC, NRG Huntley Operations Inc., NRG Identity Protect LLC, NRG Ilion LP LLC, NRG Ilion Limited Partnership, NRG Independence Solar LLC, NRG International LLC, NRG Kaufman LLC, NRG Latin America Inc., NRG Lease Co LLC, NRG Lease Development LLC, NRG Limestone 3 LLC, NRG Maintenance Services LLC, NRG Mesquite LLC, NRG Mextrans Inc., NRG MidAtlantic Affiliate Services Inc., NRG MidCon Development LLC, NRG Middletown Operations Inc., NRG Middletown Repowering LLC, NRG Midwest Holdings LLC, NRG Midwest II LLC, NRG Montville Operations Inc., NRG NE Development LLC, NRG Nelson Turbines LLC, NRG New Roads Holdings LLC, NRG NewGen LLC, NRG North Central Operations Inc., NRG Northeast Affiliate Services Inc., NRG Norwalk Harbor Operations Inc., NRG Ohio Pipeline Company LLC, NRG Operating Services Inc., NRG Oswego Harbor Power Operations Inc., NRG Oxbow Holdings LLC, NRG PacGen Inc., NRG Peaker Finance Company LLC, NRG Portable Power LLC, NRG Potrero Development LLC, NRG Power Marketing LLC, NRG Procurement Company LLC, NRG Project Company LLC, NRG Reliability Solutions LLC, NRG Renter's Protection LLC, NRG Repowering Holdings LLC, NRG Residential Solar Solutions LLC, NRG Residential Solar Solutions Leasing II LLC, NRG Retail LLC, NRG Retail Northeast LLC, NRG Rockford Acquisition LLC, NRG Rockford Equipment II LLC, NRG Rockford Equipment LLC, NRG Saguaro Operations Inc., NRG Security LLC, NRG Services Corporation, NRG Sherbino LLC, NRG SimplySmart Solutions LLC, NRG Solar Arrowhead LLC, NRG Solar CVSR Holdings 2 LLC, NRG Solar Dandan LLC, NRG Solar Guam LLC, NRG Solar Ivanpah LLC, NRG Solar Ring LLC, NRG Solar SC Stadium LLC, NRG Solar Sunrise LLC, NRG South Central Affiliate Services Inc., NRG South Central Generating LLC, NRG South Central Operations Inc., NRG South Texas LP, NRG Sterlington Power LLC, NRG Storage Fabrication & Delivery LLC, NRG Storage on Demand NY LLC, NRG SunCap Leasing I LLC, NRG Telogia Power LLC, NRG Texas C&I Supply LLC, NRG Texas Gregory LLC, NRG Texas Holding Inc., NRG Texas LLC, NRG Texas Power LLC, NRG Texas Retail LLC, NRG Trading Advisors LLC, NRG Transmission Holdings LLC, NRG ULC Parent Inc., NRG Victoria I Pty Ltd, NRG Warranty Services LLC, NRG West Coast LLC, NRG Western Affiliate Services Inc., NRG Wind Development Company LLC, NRG Wind Force LLC, NRG Wind LLC, NRG dGen Advisory Services LLC, NRGenerating German Holdings GmbH, NRGenerating International B.V., NRGenerating Luxembourg (No. 1) S.a.r.l., NRGenerating Luxembourg (No. 2) S.a.r.l., New Genco GP LLC, New Jersey Power Development LLC, Norwalk Power LLC, O'Brien Cogeneration Inc. II, ONSITE Energy Inc., One Block Off The Grid Inc., Oswego Harbor Power LLC, Pacific Generation Company, Petra Nova CCS I LLC, Petra Nova Holdings LLC, Petra Nova LLC, Petra Nova Parish Holdings LLC, Petra Nova Power I LLC, Pure Energies Group, Pure Energies Group ULC, Pure Energies Installation Inc., Pure Energies Solar Services Inc., Pure Group Inc., RDI Consulting LLC, RERH Holdings LLC, Reliant Charitable Foundation, Reliant Energy, Reliant Energy Northeast LLC, Reliant Energy Power Supply LLC, Reliant Energy Retail Holdings LLC, Reliant Energy Retail Services LLC, Restoration Design LLC, Roof Diagnostics Solar Holdings LLC, Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric LLC, Roof Diagnostics Solar and Electric of NY LLC, Saguaro Power Company a Limited Partnership, Saguaro Power LLC, San Gabriel Energy LLC, San Joaquin Energy LLC, San Juan Energy LLC, San Pascual Cogeneration Company International B.V., Sherbino I Wind Farm LLC, Solar Partners I LLC, Solar Partners II LLC, Solar Partners VIII LLC, Solar Power Partners, Solar Pure Energies ULC, Somerset Operations Inc., Somerset Power LLC, South Texas Wind LLC, Station A LLC, Sunrise Power Company LLC, Sunshine State Power (No. 2) B.V., Sunshine State Power B.V., TCV Pipeline LLC, Tacoma Energy Recovery Company, Taloga Wind II LLC, Texas Coastal Ventures LLC, Texas Genco GP LLC, Texas Genco Holdings, Texas Genco Holdings Inc., Texas Genco LP LLC, Texas Genco Services LP, US Retailers LLC, Valle Del Sol Energy LLC, Vienna Operations Inc., Vienna Power LLC, WCP (Generation) Holdings LLC, Watson Cogeneration Company, West Coast Power LLC, XOOM Alberta Holdings LLC, XOOM British Columbia Holdings LLC, XOOM Energy BC ULC, XOOM Energy California LLC, XOOM Energy Canada ULC, XOOM Energy Connecticut LLC, XOOM Energy Delaware LLC, XOOM Energy Georgia LLC, XOOM Energy Global Holdings LLC, XOOM Energy Illinois LLC, XOOM Energy Indiana LLC, XOOM Energy Kentucky LLC, XOOM Energy LLC, XOOM Energy Maine LLC, XOOM Energy Maryland LLC, XOOM Energy Massachusetts LLC, XOOM Energy Michigan LLC, XOOM Energy New Hampshire LLC, XOOM Energy New Jersey LLC, XOOM Energy New York LLC, XOOM Energy ONT ULC, XOOM Energy Ohio LLC, XOOM Energy Pennsylvania LLC, XOOM Energy Rhode Island LLC, XOOM Energy Texas LLC, XOOM Energy Virginia LLC, XOOM Energy Washington D.C. LLC, XOOM Ontario Holdings LLC, XOOM Solar LLC, and eV2g LLC. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 13125882 Canada Inc., 211 E. Russell Road LLC, 4458664 Canada Inc., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES ASIA PTE. LTD., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES BORROWER S.C.A., ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES LLC, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES MIDDLE EAST FZE, ACCUDYNE INDUSTRIES SERVICES LIMITED, ASTRUM IT GmbH, Accudyne Industries Acquisition S.A r.l, Accudyne Industries Canada Inc., Accudyne Industries S.A r.l., Air Dimensions, Air Dimensions Inc., Albin Pump SAS, BOC Edwards Global Low pressure Air business, CISA S.p.A., Cameron-Centrifugal Compression, Comercial Ingersoll-Rand (Chile) Limitada, Comingersoll-Comercio E Industria De Equipamentos S.A., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Dosatron International SAS, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Proprietary Limited, FlexEnergy Holdings LLC, Frigoblock Grosskopf Gmbh, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First (UK) Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings II Inc., GD Global Holdings Inc., GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., GPS Industries, Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp (Canada), Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Limited, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica SL, Gardner Denver Inc., Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver International Inc., Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Investments Inc., Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan Ltd., Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte. Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia s.r.o., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH (f/k/a ILMVAC GmbH), Gardner Denver Thomas Inc., Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Ghh-Rand Schraubenkompressoren Gmbh, HASKEL EUROPE LTD., HASKEL HOLDINGS UK LIMITED, HASKEL INTERNATIONAL LLC, Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, Haskel France SAS, Haskel Sistemas de Fluidos Espana S.R.L., Hibon Inc., Highspeed Newco LLC, Hingerose Limited, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, INGERSOLL RAND ITS JAPAN LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHANG ZHOU) TOOLS CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND (CHINA) INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING CO. LTD., INGERSOLL-RAND CHINA LLC, INGERSOLL-RAND COMERCIO E SERVICOS DE MAQUINAS E EQUIPAMENTOS INDUSTRIAIS LTDA., INGERSOLL-RAND DE PUERTO RICO INC., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL COMPANY B.V., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL SP. Z O.O., INGERSOLL-RAND INDUSTRIAL U.S. INC., INGERSOLL-RAND PHILIPPINES INC., INGERSOLL-RAND SPAIN S.A., INGERSOLL-RAND U.S. HOLDCO INC., IR HPS Holdco. Inc., ITO Emniyet, Ingersoll Rand Cyprus Investments Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Finance LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Investments LLC, Ingersoll Rand Global Ventures LLC, Ingersoll Rand Hong Kong Investments Limited, Ingersoll Rand Inc., Ingersoll Rand Investments (SG) Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll Rand Investments B.V., Ingersoll Rand Schweiz Investments Gmbh, Ingersoll Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (Australia) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand (China) Investment Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Guilin) Tools Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (Hong Kong) Holding Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand (India) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Ab, Ingersoll-Rand Air Solutions Hibon Sarl, Ingersoll-Rand Beteiligungs Und Grundstucksverwaltungs Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Colombia S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (Uk), Ingersoll-Rand Company South Africa (Pty) Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Cz S.R.O., Ingersoll-Rand De Mexico S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Equipements De Production S.A.S., Ingersoll-Rand Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Industrial Ireland Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International (India) Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand International Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Italia S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Italiana Manufacturing S.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Korea Holding Llc, Ingersoll-Rand Korea Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments II S.A R.I., Ingersoll-Rand Lux Investments S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Luxembourg Industrial Company S.A R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Machinery (Shanghai) Company Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Malaysia Co. Sdn. Bhd., Ingersoll-Rand S.A. De C.V., Ingersoll-Rand Services And Trading Limited Liability Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Company, Ingersoll-Rand Services Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Singapore Enterprises Pte. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand South East Asia (Pte.) Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Superay Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technical And Services S.A.R.L., Ingersoll-Rand Technologies And Services Private Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Technology R&D (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ingersoll-Rand Tool Holdings Limited, Ingersoll-Rand Trading Gmbh, Ingersoll-Rand Vietnam Company Limited, Instrum Rand JSC, Interflex Datensysteme, Ir Canada Holdings Ulc, Ir Canada Sales & Service Ulc, Ir France Sas, Kryptonite corp, Lawrence Factor Inc., LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MILTON ROY (HONG KONG) LIMITED, MILTON ROY (UK) LIMITED, MILTON ROY EUROPA B.V., MILTON ROY EUROPE SAS, MILTON ROY INDUSTRIAL (SHANGHAI) CO. LTD., MILTON ROY LLC, MILTON ROY US PURCHASER INC., MP Pumps Inc., Maximum AG Technologies Inc., Maximus Solutions, Mb Air Systems Limited, Nash Elmo, Officina Meccaniche Industriali Srl, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Plurifilter D.O.O., Pt Ingersoll-Rand Indonesia, Robuschi, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, SEEPEX, Seepex (M) SDN, Seepex Australia Pty Ltd, Seepex Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft mit Beschrankter Haftung, Seepex France S.a.r.l., Seepex GmbH, Seepex Inc., Seepex India Private Ltd., Seepex Italia SRL, Seepex Japan Co. Ltd., Seepex Nordic A/S, Seepex OOO, Seepex Pumps (Shanghia) Co. Ltd., Seepex UK Ltd., Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Shanghai Ingersoll-Rand Compressor Limited, Shenzhen Bocom System Engineering Co., Superay, Syltone, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, Tamrotor Marine Comp AS Norway, Tecno Matic Europe s.r.o., Thomas Industries Inc., Trane Technologies, Tri-Continent Scientific Inc., Vacuum and Blower Systems division, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zaxe Technologies Inc., Zeks Compressed Air Solutions Llc, Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, Zinsser NA Inc., and crayon interface. Read More Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. provides early education and child care, back-up care, educational advisory, and other workplace solutions services for employers and families. The company operates through three segments: Full Service Center-Based Child Care, Back-Up Care, and Educational Advisory and Other Services. The Full Service Center-Based Child Care segment offers traditional center-based child care and early education, preschool, and elementary education services. The Back-Up Care segment provides center-based back-up child care, in-home child and adult/elder dependent care, school-age camps, virtual tutoring, and self-sourced reimbursed care services through child care centers, school-age campuses, and in-home caregivers, as well as the back-up care network. The Educational Advisory and Other Services segment offers tuition assistance and student loan repayment program administration, workforce education, and related educational consulting services, as well as college admissions advisory services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 1,014 child care and early education centers in the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, and India. The company was formerly known as Bright Horizons Solutions Corp. and changed its name to Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. in July 2012. Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts. President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the Las Vegas mass shooting from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House on Oct. 2, 2017. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) President Trump on Las Vegas Mass Shooting: It Was an Act of Pure Evil President Donald Trump condemned the brutal massacre of over 50 people and wounding of hundreds more in Las Vegas in his first public remarks on Monday. My fellow Americans we are joined together today in sadness, shock, and grief, Trump said in a speech from the White House. We are praying for you and we are here for you, and we ask God to help see you through this very dark period, he said about those injured and the families of the victims. Trump said he will be traveling to Las Vegas on Wednesday. People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) He thanked the Las Vegas police officers and first responders for their courageous action, saying they saved many lives by finding the shooter so fast. It was an act of pure evil, Trump said about the attack. The gunman fired from the 32nd floor of a hotel tower at an outdoor concert crowd in Las Vegas. The shooter has been identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. He was killed when police swarmed Mandalay Bay Hotel. Trump said that the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are working together on the investigation. In his remarks, the president sought to comfort the victims and their families, saying their loss is unfathomable. God lives in the hearts of those who grieve, he said. In moments of tragedy and horror America comes together as one our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Read More At Least 50 Dead, 400 Injured in Mass Shooting in Las Vegas He said that he and First Lady Melania Trump are praying for every American who has been hurt. We pray for the entire nation to find unity and peace, Trump said. Flag at Half-Staff President Trump ordered the flag of the United States to be flown at half-staff in response to the tragedy. As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless act of violence perpetrated on October 1, 2017, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, October 6, 2017, Trump said in a proclamation. TSRI postdoctoral researcher Joseph D. Schonhoft and graduate student Cecilia Monteiro. Credit: TSRI Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) may have found a way to help doctors diagnose diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's earlier in their progression. A special peptide probe being developed in Jeffery Kelly's lab at TSRI is showing promise as a tool for detecting the early signs of transthyretin (TTR) polyneuropathy, a progressive neurological disease. This probe could enable doctors to implement interventions before degeneration becomes too severe, allowing treatments to be more effective. This probe may also increase our understanding regarding which aggregate structure(s) disrupts the normal functions of neurons. Misfolded proteins misassemble into amyloid in a defined insoluble 3D structure. Since amyloid deposits are a common feature of most neurodegenerative diseases, this structure is considered responsible for a variety of amyloid diseases, from cardiomyopathies to neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, without much direct evidence. Recent evidence suggests that soluble oligomeric aggregates rather than amyloid may, in fact, be the culprit. This TSRI study, focused on making peptide probes for aggregates other than amyloid fibrils, was conducted by postdoctoral researcher Joseph D. Schonhoft and graduate student Cecilia Monteiro. Prior to joining the Kelly Lab as a graduate student, Monteiro was a practicing neurologist in Portugal, where she treated neurodegenerative disease patients, including TTR amyloid polyneuropathy patients. The TTR amyloidoses are amyloid diseases where misfolded TTR assemblies cause neurodegeneration or cardiomyopathy, depending on the sequence of TTR that aggregates. "Cecilia is a physician scientist and came to TSRI with a clinical background, and I am a biophysicist and biochemist. Together we formed a unique interdisciplinary team for this research," said Schonhoft. Some diagnostic strategies detect insoluble amyloids using antibodies designed to bind to them and make them visible to scientists. But before amyloid develops, the body may produce soluble misfolded oligomeric aggregates in a non-amyloid conformation. The TSRI team developed a peptide-based probe that can detect non-native TTR oligomers earlier in the disease progression, before amyloid is easily detected (the probe does not recognize amyloid). The researchers used their peptide probe to detect non-native TTR oligomers in the plasma of a group of patients diagnosed with TTR amyloid polyneuropathy, alongside samples from a healthy control group and asymptomatic carriers of the mutation that causes the majority of TTR polyneuropathy cases. The study revealed that patients with the disease had higher levels of non-native TTR oligomers than either of the two control groups. In addition, a subset of patients who had been treated for the disease with the drug tafamidis (discovered by the Kelly Lab and sold by Pfizer), as well as liver transplant-mediated gene therapy showed lower levels of non-native TTR oligomers. These results demonstrate proof of concept for using the peptide probe for early diagnosis and as a response to therapy biomarker. The researchers are now scrutinizing the utility of their peptide probe in larger numbers of patients in order to correlate the levels of the non-native TTR oligomers with disease initiation and progression. Little is known about which aggregate structure causes these degenerative diseases. "One of the biggest questions in the field is whether the soluble oligomers are a driver of disease. Our approach may be able to answer that question," said Monteiro. Credit: CC0 Public Domain A University of Iowa-led team of researchers has used the gene editing method called CRISPR-Cas9 to disrupt a mutant gene that is responsible for some forms of glaucoma, one of the most common causes of irreversible blindness. The study involves the elimination of the mutated myocilin protein from a mouse model of human glaucoma and cultured human cells through the use of CRISPR-Cas9, which can alter DNA sequences and gene function. Mutations in myocilin are implicated in juvenile- and adult-onset primary open-angle glaucoma. In their experiments, researchers found that removing the mutated protein by disrupting the mutant myociln results in lowered intraocular pressure, which in turn prevents glaucomatous damage to the eye. "As scientists we don't want to just discover a diseased gene, we want to understand what the gene does and, in this case, have a better understanding of glaucoma so that it can be more effectively treated," says Val Sheffield, MD, PhD, Carver Chair of Molecular Genetics at the University of Iowa and an investigator with the Wynn Institute for Vision Research at the University and senior author of the study. "No one knows what this gene does, except that its mutant form causes glaucoma." The research is published online in the Oct. 2 issue of the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, or PNAS. It is the result of 24 years of collaboration between scientists at UI Carver College of Medicine, the Wynn Institute for Vision Research at the University of Iowa, and the North Texas Eye Research Institute at the UNT Health Science Center. Scientists from the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also contributed to the study. Glaucoma is a common vision and neurodegenerative disorder affecting 3 to 5 percent of people over the age of 40. An early precursor to the most common form of this disease known as primary open-angle glaucoma is high intraocular pressure - fluid pressure inside the eye - that damages retinal ganglion axons at the optic nerve and leads to death of retinal ganglion cells that carry the visual signals to the brain, which can cause blindness. Myocilin is a protein found in the trabecular meshwork - a part of the eye that regulates intraocular pressure. A mutation in the myocilin gene can cause high intraocular pressure. Scientists found that genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9 to disrupt the mutant myocilin gene prevented production of the mutant protein, which prevented elevated intraocular pressure in mouse eyes, thus totally preventing this human form of glaucoma in mice. In addition, this same genome editing technology eliminated myocilin expression in perfusion cultured human eyes, that will translate into a unique new therapy to treat myocilin glaucoma in humans. Among deceased in Ontario, Canada, recent immigrants were significantly more likely to receive aggressive care and to die in an intensive care unit compared with other residents, according to a study published by JAMA. The study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the Critical Care Canada Forum. Preliminary evidence suggests that some immigrants may face cultural and logistical challenges in end-of-life care due to several factors, including decreased health literacy or language ability and decreased access to care due to insufficient financial and social resources. Some immigrants may have different end of-life care preferences than many long-standing residents. Robert A. Fowler, M.D.C.M., M.S.(Epi), of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues examined end-of-life care provided to immigrants to Canada in the last six months of their life. All decedents who immigrated to Canada between 1985 and 2015 were classified as recent immigrants. The study included 967,013 decedents in Ontario, Canada, of whom 5 percent immigrated since 1985; long-standing residents were older than immigrant decedents (median age, 75 vs 80 years). Recent immigrant decedents were overall more likely to die in intensive care (16 percent vs 10 percent). In their last six months of life, recent immigrant decedents experienced more intensive care admissions (25 percent vs 19 percent), hospital admissions (72 percent vs 68 percent), mechanical ventilation (22 percent vs 14 percent), dialysis (5.5 percent vs 3.4 percent), percutaneous feeding tube placement (5.5 percent vs 3 percent), and tracheostomy (2.3 percent vs 1.1 percent). Increased rates of aggressive care varied substantially according to region of birth. For example, compared with long-standing residents, recent immigrants born in Northern and Western Europe were less likely to die in intensive care; those born in South Asia were nearly twice as likely to die in intensive care. Increased rates of aggressive care were not explained by differences in age, sex or socioeconomic position. Several limitations of the study are noted in the article. Antisychotics can be damaging in dementia. Credit: University of Exeter A new research report calls for a change in approach in the treatment of psychosis in dementia, to find alternatives to highly damaging antipsychotics. Up to two thirds of people with Alzheimer's disease experience psychotic episodes, yet the distressing symptom is still widely under-recognised and is challenging to treat. Current antipsychotic treatments have little impact on alleviating symptoms, yet can have devastating side effects, leading to 1,660 unnecessary strokes and 1,800 unnecessary deaths in the UK every year. Psychotic symptoms are linked to faster cognitive and functional decline and accelerated death rates. Both psychotic symptoms and treatment side effects are more extreme in other types of dementia, including Parkinson's Disease Dementia and Lewy Body Dementia. In these people, commonly prescribed antipsychotics can be particularly damaging, quadrupling risk of stroke and death. Now, an international group of experts, including researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School, is calling for new approaches to clinical trials to yield effective new treatments for the neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer's. The effort aims to facilitate a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of these symptoms, which include psychosis, agitation, apathy, depression and sleep disturbances. These ideas are summarized in a new paper, "Neuropsychiatric Signs and Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease: New Treatment Paradigms," published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions. The expert group was convened through the Alzheimer's Association Research Roundtable an ongoing effort that brings together experts in the field from academia, industry, and government to address ways to overcome barriers to drug development. Clive Ballard, Professor of Age-Related Diseases at the University of Exeter Medical School, is the lead author for the paper's section on psychosis. He said new treatments that worked in a different way to current antipsychotics are yielding promising results in relieving symptoms without adverse outcomes, but said outcome measures needed to be standardised to ensure they were meaningful to both clinicians and people with dementia and carers. Professor Ballard said: "We have been stuck in this damaging cycle of prescribing antipsychotics for people with dementia, despite the fact that there are minimal benefits and lots of harms as a result. We now urgently need new drugs and new non-drug interventions, so we can improve treatment of these distressing symptoms to millions of people worldwide. "At Exeter we are already developing specific psychological therapies, running clinical trials of novel drug approaches and using-cutting edge genetic techniques to identify new targets for safe and effective therapies and to allow us to use current treatments in a more focussed way." Psychosis and other neuropsychiatric symptoms are often among the first signs of dementia, yet are often not recognised as a warning sign. Together, these symptoms cause substantial distress for both people with dementia and their caregivers, and contribute to people moving into residential care earlier, placing financial burden on the social care system. The section on psychosis is one part of this broader research report on the neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer's. More information: Krista L. Lanctot et al. Neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease: New treatment paradigms, Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions (2017). Krista L. Lanctot et al. Neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease: New treatment paradigms,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.trci.2017.07.001 Credit: Anne Lowe/public domain In patient injury cases, revealing facts, offering apology does not lead to increase in lawsuits, study finds Sometimes a straightforward explanation and an apology for what went wrong in the hospital goes a long way toward preventing medical malpractice litigation and improving patient safety. That's what Michelle Mello, JD, PhD, and her colleagues found in a study to be published Oct. 2 in Health Affairs. Mello, a professor of health research and policy and of law at Stanford University, is the lead author of the study. The senior author is Kenneth Sands, former senior vice president at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Medical injuries are a leading cause of death in the United States. The lawsuits they spawn are also a major concern for physicians and health care facilities. So, hospital risk managers and liability insurers are experimenting with new approaches to resolving these disputes that channel them away from litigation. The focus is on meeting patients' needs without requiring them to sue. Hospitals disclose accidents to patients, investigate and explain why they occurred, apologize and, in cases in which the harm was due to a medical error, offer compensation and reassurance that steps will be taken to keep it from happening again. Positive results The study reports on the outcome of a so-called communication-and-resolution program at two large Massachusetts hospital systems. Mello and her co-authors found that the program not only yielded positive results in terms of liability costs but also led to significant patient safety improvements. "In these programs, hospitals scrutinize every serious harm event to answer the question, 'What can we learn?'" Mello said. "Traditionally, a risk manager's focus has been on the patients who complain about the care or threaten to sue. But every patient deserves to know that what happened to them is being taken seriously." Despite concerns that telling patients about errors and proactively offering compensation could cause liability costs to skyrocket, of the 989 adverse events reviewed for the study from 2013 to 2015, only 5 percent led to malpractice claims or lawsuits. And when the program did lead to compensation, the median payment was $75,000. By comparison, the median payment nationwide in 2015 when plaintiffs prevailed in malpractice lawsuits was about $225,000, Mello noted. "Our findings suggest that communication-and-resolution programs will not lead to higher liability costs when hospitals adhere to their commitment to offer compensation proactively," the authors wrote. Pilot program The authors focused on a program called CAReCommunication, Apology and Resolutionat six Massachusetts hospitals: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Baystate Medical Center, and two of each center's community hospitals. The hospitals demonstrated good adherence to the program protocol, the authors found. Physicians were supportive of the approach, but did ask for better communication about the program and what was happening with their patients. The low percentage of events that led to litigation should reassure hospitals concerned about the risks of being honest with patients, the authors wrote. A likely explanation, according to Mello, is that explaining why adverse events occurred defused patients' anger. About three-quarters of the time, adverse events were not actually due to error, the study said. Rather, malpractice claims frequently arise when plaintiffs perceive that the health care providers communicated poorly or attempted to cover up negligence, the authors noted. "Given the rarity with which communication-and-resolution events resulted in settlements, it is reasonable to wonder whether the programs are worth the time they require," the authors wrote, "but risk managers in our study thought they were. By providing explanations and expressions of sympathy for harms not arising from negligence, communication-and-resolution programs may avert lawsuits springing from misunderstanding." Objectives and improved safety The CARe objectives are to improve transparency surrounding events, improve patient safety, reduce lawsuits and support clinicians in disclosing error or injury. Medical events were bumped to a CARe evaluation if they met a severity threshold of either causing permanent or temporary harm that led to an extended hospitalization, required an invasive procedure or led to at least three outpatient visits. Of the 989 total events studied by the authors, 60 of them entered the CARe program because the hospital received notice that the patient intended to sue. Another 929 entered the program when an adverse event was reported that allegedly exceeded the severity threshold, or that met other criteria. The protocol called for compensation to be proactively offered whenever a violation of the standard of care caused serious harm. Only 9 percent of cases met these criteria. The largest payment made was $2 million. In 181 events, mostly events for which compensation criteria weren't met, hospitals offered to waive medical bills or made other modest gestures, like giving the patients meal vouchers and gift cards. About three-quarters of injuries didn't qualify for compensation because the standard of care was judged to have been meta proportion that is consistent with prior studies of medical injuries. About a third of the injuries weren't caused by the medical care: For example, a patient contracted an infection in the hospital but died from other causes. "These programs are usually talked about as a way to resolve cases of medical error, but what they do more often is encourage communication with patients about non-error eventsas well as systematic evaluation of each event for patient-safety lessons," Mello said. The authors also noted that communication-and-resolution programs "can help hospitals foster a culture of transparency by supporting clinicians in making disclosures." The safety interventions identified in the CARe investigations included new labeling for high-risk medications, color-coded socks for patients at risk for falls, radio frequency identification tags for surgical sponges, improved interpreter services, improvements for managing the selection of implantables after surgery, and a multidisciplinary checklist for breech deliveries. Opioid medications prescribed for pain management after plastic surgery may contribute to the ongoing opioid epidemic, according to a special topic paper in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Plastic surgeons must recognize their patients' risk of developing opioid use disorders and that the opioids they prescribe may be diverted to non-medical use, according to the article by Daniel Demsey, MD, of University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and colleagues. "Surgeon opioid prescribing practices contribute to the opioid addiction crisis," Dr. Demsey said. "Improvements in prescribing practices can improve patient safety." Managing the Risks As for other types of surgery, patients undergoing plastic and reconstructive surgery are commonly prescribed opioid medications to manage postoperative pain. In recent years, increased opioid prescribing has been closely linked to increases in opioid overdose. "The scale of the opioid addiction epidemic is difficult to exaggerate," according to Dr. Demsey and coauthors. They cite studies reporting that 4.7 percent of the U.S. population aberrantly used prescription opioids in 2015. In the same year, nearly 29,000 people died due to prescription opioid overdose. Opioids prescribed after surgery contribute to the opioid crisis in two ways: by exposing patients to potentially addictive medications and by contributing to the street supply of opioid drugs. Patients with previous chronic opioid use are more likely to still be taking these drugs one year after surgery. Even patients who have never taken opioids before are at risk of persistent use. Risk factors for persistent opioid use include previous substance use disorders, mental health problems such as anxiety or depression, female sex and low socioeconomic status. Patients with chronic pain who are already taking opioids are at higher risk of complications or death after major surgery and incur higher health care costs. Many patients don't use all the opioid medications prescribed after surgery, with a risk that these leftover drugs will be diverted to nonmedical use by the patient or others. Most people with prescription opioid use disorder get the drugs from friends and family. Dr. Demsey and coauthors suggest strategies for plastic surgeons to reduce the risks of persistent opioid use or diversion. Patients should be screened for risk factors for opioid use disorder; talking to patients about these risks in a nonjudgmental way may encourage them to use their pain medications cautiously. The patient's primary care doctor should also be informed about the possible increase in risk. For patients at risk, outcomes can be improved by referral to a transitional pain service, including development of an opioid weaning plan. Patients with known or suspected substance use disorder should be referred to an addiction specialist, preferably before surgery. The authors said, "Elective surgery in patients with established substance use disorders should not be performed until follow-up for substance use has been arranged." Other strategies can help to reduce the need for opioids, including the use of combination anesthesia techniques and prescribing nonopioid pain medications after surgery. Educating patients about proper storage and disposal of opioid medications can help to reduce the risk of persistent opioid use or diversion. Dr. Demsey said, "Although we cannot solve the opioid addiction crisis on our own, as plastic surgeons we can make a major contribution." More information: Daniel Demsey et al. Managing Opioid Addiction Risk in Plastic Surgery during the Perioperative Period, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (2017). Journal information: Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Daniel Demsey et al. Managing Opioid Addiction Risk in Plastic Surgery during the Perioperative Period,(2017). DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000003742 White matter fiber architecture of the brain. Credit: Human Connectome Project. Neuroscience research has made incredible strides toward revealing the inner workings of our brains how we make decisions, plan for the future or experience emotions thanks in part to technological advances, but barriers in sharing and accessing that data stymie progress in the field. Stanford psychologists are addressing those barriers through a new way of organizing brain-imaging data that simplifies data analysis and helps researchers collaborate more effectively they call it BIDS (Brain Imaging Data Structure). The easier it becomes to analyze and organize data, said Russell Poldrack, a professor of psychology, the more easily that data can be shared among researchers, leading to more transparency and more progress in understanding the brain. "We've been interested for a long time in finding ways to share data between groups," said Poldrack, director of the Stanford Center for Reproducible Neuroscience. "Sharing data is a good thing because it allows different research groups to reuse data and maximizes its potential." MRI analysis today Thousands of research MRI studies are performed every year generating substantial amounts of data. However, there's no consensus on how that data should be organized. Conceivably, you could have two neuroscience researchers working side-by-side in the same lab analyzing the same MRI scans and recording the data differently. These labs also experience significant turnover with doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars leaving for teaching and other research positions. New researchers entering the lab may need to decipher data in a format they're not accustomed to. The dilemma gets further complicated as new data analysis methods are being developed, providing even more ways to organize the data. For example, Poldrack's group is currently working on a project where participants undergo MRI scans to study their brain activity related to self-control. The data the team collects are images up to 40 or 50 files of the brain in various stages. But transferring these files from the MRI scanner to a format the lab's software program can read requires transforming the files a process that has traditionally been idiosyncratic among different researchers. Without a common standard, it becomes increasingly difficult for researchers to maximize these valuable data sets. It would be like if thousands of U.S. Census takers gathering demographic information on Americans all over the country sent their survey results back in different languages. BIDS, the researchers say, solves that problem by providing a uniform standard. "Basically, we constructed this language where all people collecting brain data understand each other," said Chris Gorgolewski, co-director of the Stanford Center for Reproducible Neuroscience. How BIDS works BIDS is essentially a collection of related apps that help handle different aspects of data analysis and storage. Once a new app is tested and deployed it resides in a cloud-based service, where other scientists can download the apps directly for their own use. The group originally developed BIDS with support from the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility, a global organization dedicated to promoting data sharing among neuroscientists. The Stanford Center for Reproducible Neuroscience has taken the lead in championing BIDS as the standard language for MRI data. In addition to publishing research about BIDS, the center has also hosted two annual workshops, each bringing together about 30 researchers and developers from around the world to learn about and build these apps. The lab also received a $1.4 million grant last month from the National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative to further the development of BIDS. The center's researchers, including Gorgolewski and postdoctoral research fellow Oscar Esteban, have either built or facilitated the building of 22 BIDS apps. Their most recent innovation is the MRIQC tool (MRI Quality Control), which performs quality assessments and large-scale analysis of MRI data, which they discussed in a Sept. 25 article in PLOS ONE. MRI image analysis takes time and involves numerous steps, and often requires external software. The BIDS apps, conversely, are compatible with major operating systems with minimal extra work for users. They are meant to be "plug and play," Esteban said. Transparency and reproducibility Poldrack readily admits that apps that help organize data sound "pretty boring." He said he and his researchers sometimes see themselves as "plumbers" fixing infrastructure. But offering a setting of openness where scholars around the world have access to critical data is worth the work. "The bigger picture for us is transparency and reproducibility," Poldrack said. "There are interesting scientific questions we want people to get at, questions about how our different psychological functions are related to each other. Part of what we want to do is to convince people to share their data when they run a study to do interesting science or reproduce the results." More information: Oscar Esteban et al. MRIQC: Advancing the automatic prediction of image quality in MRI from unseen sites, PLOS ONE (2017). Journal information: PLoS ONE Oscar Esteban et al. MRIQC: Advancing the automatic prediction of image quality in MRI from unseen sites,(2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184661 (HealthDay)As news pours in from Las Vegas on the record level of carnage inflicted by a shooter at yet another crowded public event, psychiatrists urge young people and their parents to not give way to fear. Media reports say retiree Stephen Paddock, of Mesquite, Nev., killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500 at a crowded country music festival on the Las Vegas strip late Sunday. Police later found Paddock dead in his hotel room near the scene of the shooting. The horrific killings come on the heels of other senseless tragedies perpetrated on young people who were simply enjoying a night out. Twenty-two attendees at an Ariana Grande concert were killed in Manchester, U.K., this past May, and 49 revelers were shot down in 2016 at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. In the aftermath of these bloody and random attacks on young people at festive gatherings, the nerves of young would-be concertgoers or club attendees are bound to be frayed, psychiatrists say. Certainly, "for those attending the concert in Las Vegas, their life will be marked as 'before' or 'after' the concert," said Dr. Victor Fornari. He directs child and adolescent psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital, in Glen Oaks, N.Y. "For those who were injured or lost a loved one, the impact of the event may be traumatic," Fornari said. "Trauma coupled with loss may lead to a traumatic bereavement, often colored by so many complex emotions." And for those who witnessed the attack but survived, the psychological impact can be severe, he said. At these moments, the close support of family is key, as is the services of a trained trauma counselor, Fornari said. And what about the millions of young Americans who simply learned of the carnage via media? According to Fornari, people should remember that thousands of concerts and other group events occur nationwide every day, and the chances of encountering violence at any one event remain extremely slim. "Parents need to recognize that attending a concert is generally a safe event," he said. "The acts of violence we have seen are rare events, and should not interfere with young people from attending concerts." Dr. Matthew Lorber, a psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, agreed. "It is natural for parents to be fearful [after such events], but they have to be careful to not teach teens to be afraid of everything, but rather teach teens smart safety precautions," he said. "You do not want your children to be afraid of going out to crowded events for the rest of their lives, and even worse have them avoiding doing it out of fear," Lorber said. "The long-term effects of being exposed to these fear-invoking events can be traumatic, and it is important for parents to limit teens' exposures, and have an open dialogue answering all questions." Agreeing with Fornari, Lorber stressed that for the average young American, "these events are very rare, and the chances of something happening at an event they are at are almost zero." And how should concerned parents address the fears of younger children? According to Lorber, "It is inappropriate to talk about these things to children under 8, although at times they cannot be avoided because of peers talking about them. In that case, parents should address children's concerns, but reinforce that they are safe, their parents will protect them, and there are many more good people in the world who try and help others." More information: For more on talking with children about terrorism, visit the For more on talking with children about terrorism, visit the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Edinburgh researchers have contributed to a Zimbabwean initiative to tackle the threat of growing resistance to antibiotics. The move follows a situational analysis in the country showing that antimicrobial resistance the ability of infections to develop resistance to commonly used drugs will grow if left unchecked. Drug resistance is threatening the effective prevention and treatment of a growing number of infections caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi around the world. In Zimbabwe, this is impacting on human health and the productivity of livestock. Nationwide action A newly launched national action plan will seek to slow the growth of resistance, and ensure that existing antimicrobial drugs continue to be effective. The Zimbabwean Ministries of Health and Child Welfare, Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, and Environment Water and Climate have taken an integrated approach. They hope this will improve awareness and understanding of the drivers of antimicrobial resistance. Strategic plan Strategies will be implemented to mitigate the development of antimicrobial resistance, including effective surveillance. Experts in the country will aim to optimise the use of antimicrobial medicines, such as antibiotics, in human and animal health. They will also develop plans for sustainable investment including in new medicines, diagnostic tools and vaccines. Supporting measures Professor Francisca Mutapi in the School of Biological Sciences was a member of the core national AMR action plan writing team. Professor Mutapi welcomed the inclusion of complimentary interventions, including effective sanitation, hygiene and infection prevention measures, as a strength of the Zimbabwe AMR action plan. The spread of disease is becoming difficult to control as treatments become ineffective. Action is needed to safeguard the effectiveness of existing drugs and to put in place more ways to limit infection spread, says Professor Francisca Mutapi. Credit: Case Western Reserve University A Case Western Reserve University-led study of a promising medication for people with Down syndrome is going global. Brazilian authorities' recent approval of a clinical trial in Sao Paulo not only increases the diversity of participants in the project begun in Cleveland, but also provides an opportunity to double their number. These two factors combined mean that the ultimate results will be that much more credibleand valuableto pursuing successful treatments. The trial is assessing the potential cognitive-enhancing effects of the drug memantine on adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome. Leading the study is professor of pediatrics Alberto Costa, already renowned for his earlier pioneering work on Down syndrome, as well as his deep empathy for affected families. Costa, who grew up in Brazil, began pursuing this research just over two decades agoafter his daughter was born with the condition. The current clinical trial has one additional connection to Brazil: It is funded through a nearly $2.6 million grant from the Alana Foundation, part of Alana, a nonprofit organization based in Sao Paulo. The foundation previously awarded a grant of more than $650,000 to support Costa's research on different medications' effects on Down syndrome with animal models. "We are delighted that Dr. Costa's critical work will extend to our home nation and city," said foundation program officer Claudia Moreira. "By taking this project internationally at this pivotal stage of research, we hope to accelerate and broaden the potential impact of positive findings." Alana engaged with Costa after he published results of a pilot trial that assessed the effects on brain function of memantine, an FDA-approved drug used to treat signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. That study showed dramatic benefits of memantine on animal models, and was followed by another that demonstrated significant, albeit modest effects in a small cohort of adults who underwent memantine treatment. This new, larger study, involving 200 participants equally split between the Cleveland and Sao Paulo sites, seeks to build on findings from the first clinical trial, which ultimately could lead to a much larger, final phase of testing involving at least five sites. Costa and his team began the U.S.-based part of the trial about two years ago, and to date have recruited about 35 of its 100 participants. Roughly one-third the size of Cleveland's metropolitan area, the Greater Sao Paulo region has a population nearly 10 times that of Northeast Ohio. The team at Brazil's Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, led by Ana Claudia Brandao, has just recruited the first 10 participants for the Brazil-based part of the study. The hospital will begin the treatment in October, when the trial medication arrives. "Beyond the access to additional participants," Costa said, "having the world-class Albert Einstein hospital as our partner is another huge benefit to this important research." The Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein and Case Western Reserve University also have recently signed a memorandum of understanding to formalize a strategic partnership in the areas of education and research. The current study consists of 16-week randomized trials, with 16 participants at a time at each site. Half receive the drug memantine, and the rest a placebo. The entire cohort then participates in neuropsychological and clinical evaluations, combined with advanced brain imaging. "The study of brain development is one of the stalwarts of research at Albert Einstein Hospital," said research leader Luiz Vicente Rizzo. "This specific initiative is very dear to us because of what it may represent in the advancement of science, but also because it is the first joint project with Case Western Reserve University in what we hope will be a long-lasting relationship in the field of health education, research and innovation." Among the Alana foundation's earlier grants to Costa is a $1.7 million awardmatched with a grant of the same amount to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That support led to Case Western Reserve's announcement this spring that his team had developed a novel noninvasive technique to create stem cells necessary for studying Down syndrome. The cells, obtained from urine samples, can be grown into many cell types that can more reliably test new medications that may enhance the quality of life of people with Down syndrome. Navigating the intricacies of another country's research review process took much longer than Costa anticipated, which made securing the approval late this spring all the more rewarding. "When I saw the email confirming the second site," Costa said, "I was jumping up and down." Steve Jobs' sandals sold for more than $200,000 Armenian PM accuses Azerbaijani leader of terrorizing Armenian civilians Azerbaijan shells Armenian positions on border again OPEC downgrades its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2022 White House: Biden and Xi Jinping agree on Blinken's visit to China CNN: CIA chief Burns meets with SVR director Naryshkin in Ankara Turkish FM Cavusoglu thanks Ararat Mirzoyan for condolences Putin signs decree allowing stateless persons to serve in Russian army Airbus CEO: There is no question of them breaking off trade ties Armen Grigoryan receives Igor Khovayev Britain and France sign agreement on strengthening cooperation on illegal migration US updates its sanctions list for Russia: Milur Electronics LLC, an Armenian company listed Potatoes prices grow by 20%: expert claims agriculture collapse in Armenia Peskov says Russian-American talks in Ankara initiated by Washington Morgan Stanley: UK and euro zone economies are likely to face recession Xi Jinping hopes for comprehensive dialogue between NATO, the EU and the US and Russia Japan proposes to deploy Australian nuclear submarines Biden calls talks with Xi Jinping at G20 summit frank WB: Debt levels among low- and middle-income countries soared in 2021 Xi Jinping: China does not intend to challenge the U.S. Scholz: Adopting a joint G20 summit statement is a tough task Biden and Xi Jinping oppose use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine Nikol Pashinyan receives Russian co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group IMF head warns of risks for world economy because of rivalry between China and US Irakli Garibashvili: Georgia is ready to promote in every possible way the dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan Red Wings airline launches direct flights from Makhachkala to Yerevan Olaf Scholz: EU should expand its cooperation with Southeast Asian countries Global Leadership Foundation will visit Armenia Kurdistan Workers' Party denies its involvement in Istanbul terrorist attack NATO Secretary General says they must not make mistake of underestimating Russia IRGC resumes strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan French and German central bank heads call for speeding up EU capital markets union Control of U.S. House of Representatives depends on several tight races Artsakh FM speaks with his Transnistria counterpart Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus say they cannot accept migrants Cavusoglu thanks Mirzoyan for condolences on terrorist attack in Istanbul Xi Jinping and Joe Biden begin first face-to-face meeting in Bali Zelenskyy arrives in Kherson Armenian Defense Minister: After expiration of contract service 5 million drams will be provided to servicemen Turkey refuses to accept U.S. condolences after terrorist attack in Istanbul Defense Ministers of Georgia and Azerbaijan sign military cooperation plan for 2023 Russian Foreign Ministry denies reports about Lavrov's hospitalization in Bali Yellen hopes Biden and Jinping meeting leads to engagement on macroeconomic issues Russian Defense Ministry confirms violation of ceasefire in Artsakh by Azerbaijani Armed Forces Artsakh MOD denies accusations of Azerbaijani MOD Azerbaijani Defense Minister holds talks in Georgia Armenian MOD denies another lie of Azerbaijani MOD Germany warns its delegation about Egyptian spies at COP27 NSS of Armenia reveals channel of illegal migration Azerbaijani State Security Service announces disclosure of 'Iranian spy network' Politico: Indonesia, hosting G20, lobbies West to soften criticism of Russia in final communique Ararat Mirzoyan expresses condolences to Mevlut Cavusoglu over Istanbul explosion Iranian lawmakers sharply criticize Aliyev Ambassador-at-Large: Azerbaijan's attacks on Armenia are a terrorist attack Germany needs to diversify its business interests in Asia to reduce dependence on China Head of U.S. Treasury Department says sanctions against Russia should remain in force even after war in Ukraine Natasa Pirc Musar to become Slovenia's first woman president IMF: World economic outlook even bleaker than predicted Pashinyan: Azerbaijan calls Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh 'our citizens' and at the same time shoots at them Turkish Interior Minister announces arrest of suspect in attack on Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul 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 Defense Ministry: Azerbaijani Armed Forces opened fire at Armenian positions Putin and Raisi discuss topical issues of the bilateral agenda Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, on Monday will visit Armenia in order to prepare for the Eastern Partnership Summit taking place on November 24 in Brussels. Commissioner Hahn will meet with the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian, to discuss the priorities of the Eastern Partnership Summit and the deepening of EU-Armenia relations. This is reflected in the new EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and Partnership Priorities which will set the joint policy priorities for the coming years. Accompanied by the Armenian Minister of Education, he will also meet young Armenian students and discuss future areas of cooperation between the EU and Armenia which will focus, among others, on innovation and skills development. Ahead of the mission, Commissioner Hahn said: This is a very important year for EU-Armenia relations as we broaden and deepen our cooperation based on mutual interests. The EU is ready to sign the new Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with Armenia. This, together with the agreed Partnership Priorities will shape our cooperation where we plan to invest, among other areas, in education and innovation, as skills development will be key for Armenias future. My visit will also prepare for the next Eastern Partnership Summit by discussing our joint progress on the 20 deliverables for 2020, which aim to bring tangible benefits to the daily lives of Armenian citizens. In the scope of the visit, Commissioner Johannes Hahn and Minister for Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian will make press statements. YEREVAN. Relations between the European Union and Armenia have improved, EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn said during a presser with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan. It is in our own interest to have strong, stable and prosperous Armenia, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations said. Johannes Hahn added that EU and Armenia would soon sign a new agreement which is the first agreement of this kind in the Eastern Partnership region, and Brussels is especially interested in how this agreement will materialize. The agreement will help demonstrate that it is possible for Armenia to be a part of Eurasian integration process while also establishing enhanced and comprehensive relationship with EU, Hahn said, adding that it can serve as an example to others. The Commissioner pointed to the areas of cooperation with Armenia trade, services, public procurement, intellectual policy rights. The areas of investments are education and innovations. The European Union will continue strong support to businesses, Hahn said and stressed importance of the loans that would be provided in local currency. As to the Eastern Partnership summit scheduled for 24 November in Brussels, Hahn said it would demonstrate strong commitment of all EU member states to further development of eastern neighborhood. Stable neighborhood is in the interests of all of us. The citizens are not only interested in this but they deserve it, the EU official resumed. YEREVAN. Armenia has close ties with the European Union (EU), and it intends to expand comprehensive cooperation in all domains of mutual interest. Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian on Monday stated the aforementioned during his joint news conference with Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, in capital city Yerevan. The European Union provides valuable assistance to the ongoing reforms in our country, Nalbandian also noted, in particular. Our cooperation has recorded important achievements over the past two years. Encouraging contacts between people [also] has an important place on the Armenia-European Union agenda. Our agenda is supplemented with new content. Comprehensive collaboration is conducted between Armenia and the European Union in the most diverse domains. Urgent international matters () also were discussed at the meeting with Commissioner Hahn. I presented to Mr. Hahn the efforts of Armenia and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries [Russia, US, and France] toward a solely pacific settlement of the Karabakh conflict. [And] Mr. Hahn reaffirmed the European Unions unconditional and complete support of the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries. U.K. airline stocks surge Monday after discount carrier Monarch Airlines plc effectively filed for bankruptcy protection late on Sunday evening. Low-cost airline Easyjet plc (ESYJY) was up 4.14% in the opening 90 minutes of trading in London to change hands at 1,267.34 pence and trim their thee-month loss to around 6.62%. Rival Fellow budget carrier Ryanair plc (RYAAY) - Get Free Report was marked 3.14% at 1,678 pence each. Ryanair, which is reportedly looking to poach pilots from Monarch to ease pressure after it cancelled thousands of flights due to pilot vacations, sending shares in the Dublin-based group down 6.7% over the past three months. Meanwhile British Airways owner, International Consolidated Airlines Group (ICAGY) , shares were up 2% in Monday morning trading, to change hands at 606.5 pence. In the early hours of Monday morning, low-cost airline and packaged tour operator Monarch Airlines fell into administration due to mounting costs and the increasing competitive nature of low-cost air travel, making it the biggest U.K. airline to cease trading. All flights have been grounded, leaving 110,000 passengers stranded abroad. The administrators and the Civil Aviation Authority will work together to repatriate the passengers over the next two weeks. The CAA said that it is working with the British government to secure a fleet of 30 aircraft, flying to more than 30 airports, to bring back the passengers. "We are putting together, at very short notice and for a period of two weeks, what is effectively one of the UK's largest airlines to manage this task," CAA CEO Andrew Haines said Monday. European airlines were also up in Monday trading, with Lufthansa (DLAKY) marked 2.72% higher, changing hands at 24.15 and Air France KLM (AFLYY) was up 1.11% to 13.30. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: 1. Struggle to believe this isn't a lie for attention 2. Either way he don't love himself Reply Thread Link sadly, number two is so plausible.. so many self-hating POCs.. I used to be one of them.. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah... I used to be one too. ugh :( Reply Parent Thread Link Same, and sadly my younger cousin is turning out to be one :/ Reply Parent Thread Link I live near the border and ive been meeting a handful of self hating Mexicans lately its crazy. who are actually pro-wall and despise illegal immigrants. trumps america is powerful yo :( Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I saw a black guy waving a confederate flag on his back and wearing a MAGA hat, it truly broke my heart Reply Parent Thread Expand Link really, really hope it's #1 and his 'husband' is getting a shitload of money for it, at least Reply Parent Thread Link his jacket literally says blind for love...so he must be blind to Milo's shittiness right? Reply Parent Thread Link /endpost lmao Edited at 2017-10-01 11:45 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link lol Reply Parent Thread Link YASS Reply Parent Thread Link My eyeballs just rolled back so far into my head they found Narnia. Reply Thread Link Lmfaaao Reply Parent Thread Link lol I'm stealing this. Reply Parent Thread Link omg Reply Parent Thread Link I, too, am stealing this. Brilliant! Reply Parent Thread Link Beautiful comment is beautiful Reply Parent Thread Link My condolences. Reply Thread Link Is he still the only good thing on the show? Reply Parent Thread Link i wouldn't say the only, but the best thing about it, for sure. Reply Parent Thread Link No Allison pills face is the best thing on the show Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I stay genuinely pressed he hasn't spun his career off into a real acting career instead of staying on this sinking ship of a series =/ Reply Parent Thread Link Soo fkn hot omg Reply Parent Thread Link He looks tired asf Reply Parent Thread Link I hate that I find him hot Reply Parent Thread Link i hope its worth it Reply Thread Link wait Reply Thread Link you'd have to be blind to marry milo yiannopoulos Reply Thread Link blind, dumb and deaf tbh Reply Parent Thread Link and desperate for a paycheck. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Disgusting comment and phobic to the deaf and the blind bitch Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lmao id like to be excluded from this narrative thank you fucking much Reply Parent Thread Link I cannot even... Reply Thread Link laughing my motherfucking ass off...this shucking and jiving uncle tom coon ass nigga marrying THAT? Bet. Reply Thread Link omg Reply Parent Thread Link Now, Wendy... How you gonna judge? Reply Parent Thread Link omg[2] Reply Parent Thread Link lol mfte Reply Parent Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiih Reply Parent Thread Link LMFAO Reply Parent Thread Link Mte he better be getting one hell of a check cause bruh... Reply Parent Thread Link lmaoooo Reply Parent Thread Link ScREAAMMMING Reply Parent Thread Link LOL Reply Parent Thread Link hhhh Reply Parent Thread Link She don't love herself. Reply Parent Thread Link nnnnn jesus Reply Parent Thread Link Damn. But did you lie? The self hate is so real... Reply Parent Thread Link ksjdhfkajsdhfjkh Reply Parent Thread Link lol this movie was so scary xD Reply Parent Thread Link omg this scene/character gave me so many emotions Reply Parent Thread Link Love is blind, deaf and dumb it seems. LOVE YOURSELF SIR. Reply Thread Link I didn't know who this guy is (I'm not american) so I google him and I want my ignorance back. Reply Thread Link lmao i've been exactly where you are now & you have my sympathy Reply Parent Thread Link Milo isn't American either. Just another example of the UK exporting its worst to the US. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link oh between this guy and Piers Morgan, UK is really giving the best to US Reply Parent Thread Link He's not American? Well maybe that explains this fuckery. He wants that green card. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i thought he was greek Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i had no idea he was british. apologies for him and piers and corden Reply Parent Thread Link oh between this guy and Piers Morgan, UK is really giving the best to US Reply Parent Thread Link lol he's not even american deport ha Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao Reply Parent Thread Link aw your username and icon! <3 Reply Parent Thread Link Her thread was deleted a while back because she only fucks with dudes pretty much. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Lmao Reply Parent Thread Link She needs to date a rich director/producer and start working again. I miss her dimples and horrible acting. Reply Parent Thread Link Maybe Darren whenever JLaw wakes up. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link your comment made me think of this Reply Parent Thread Link Damn at that video at the source. They look like they're naked and fucking outside. That's fucking intrusive though. Reply Thread Link Stalker paparazzi are assholes. Reply Parent Thread Link Apparently there was an open house next door and one of the attendees saw her over the fence and started recording. Fucked up tbh Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She needs to take a break from men (and women) for a while and learn to love herself. Reply Thread Link Go away with your bi wank. Reply Parent Thread Link MTE, this is probably nothing Reply Parent Thread Link Seriously. Can't a girl hit it & quit it in peace. Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao seriously Reply Parent Thread Link Get it, I guess Reply Thread Link OMG Reply Thread Link Not in broad daylight! heavens! Reply Thread Link okay but if you personally/emotionally have the option of dating a woman...why.......would you ever..........date a man (I AM [somewhat] KIDDING CALM THE FUCK DOWN) Reply Thread Link You don't need the "I am somewhat kidding" disclaimer. Reply Parent Thread Link lol @ "in broad daylight" as if she's doing something scandalous. Reply Thread Link which billionaire this is now Reply Thread Link in broad daylight lmao what kind of weirdo writes this shit Reply Thread Link But the children! I was thinking the same thing. lol Reply Parent Thread Link idk why but this comment and the reply to it is making me laugh really hard. Reply Parent Thread Link someone who only fucks with the lights off Reply Parent Thread Link lmfao Reply Parent Thread Link in broad daylight!!!! but yall still had to use a telephoto lens from behind some bushes. let her get some in peace. Reply Thread Link mte!!! they're acting like it daring to make out in private, outdoors, while the sun is out is the same thing as being in public Reply Parent Thread Link you icon makes me so happy Reply Parent Thread Link mte she is in what appears to be private property so its not like she was seeking attention for this activity, she can do whatever she wants Reply Parent Thread Link who is even filming this lawd. So creepy .. anyway GET IT henty! Reply Thread Link I'm kind of surprised she spends as much time in Australia as she does considering the dog incident. Reply Thread Link Seasons eatings! The weather may be getting colder, but Dining Month on OnMilwaukee is just cooking up, dishing out your winning picks in this years Best of Dining poll. Dining Month is brought to you by Fein Brothers, your premier food service equipment and supply dealer in Wisconsin since 1929. Congratulations to all of the winners, and happy eating for all those who voted! When our readers go all-out for special occasion dining, they've got definite preferences for where they dine. And this year, Five O'Clock Steakhouse pushed up through the ranks and edged out Lake Park Bistro (2016's winner) by a fairly hefty margin. That said, Five O'Clock has been serving up old school supper club favorites for over 70 years, and it's become a go-to spot for diners from both Milwaukee and farther flung locations for special occasion dining. Favorite dishes regulars mention include the king cut filet and New York Strip. But, it might just be the restaurant's old-timey feel and the bar's classic brandy old fashioneds that keep loyal fans coming back time and time again. Top competitors for the splurge spot include last year's winning restaurant, Lake Park Bistro, along with long-time favorite and 2015 winner, Sanford. Runners up: 2. Lake Park Bistro 3. Sanford 4. La Merenda 5. Ardent OnMilwaukee editors' pick: Stella Van Buren Lori Fredrich's pick: Ardent For me, a splurge restaurant should deliver on a number of things: great service, impeccable food, and an experience that can't be had anywhere else. Ardent does all three of these things, and Chef Justin Carlisle and his crew do them well, time and time again. Sign up for the tasting menu and you'll get not only inventive dishes that push the envelope in terms of flavor and preparation, but you'll have a personalized experience during which the chefs deliver the food to your table, offering commentary and conversation about each dish. There's also something very personal about many of the dishes, which pay homage to Wisconsin's best ingredients from high quality dairy to custom-raised beef from Carlisle's family farm in Sparta. Best of all, there's always something surprising on the menu thats uniquely delicious. Photographer Don Usner photographs lowriders, among other subjects related to his lifelong love for Northern New Mexicos natural and cultural history. The cars, he says, are incredible creations, beautiful art pieces. But he adds that his work is more about the people and seeing the cars as an expression of their cultural ethos. Whats exciting and rewarding about this kind of photography is the engagement and contact with people and the exchanges of ideas and inspiration about art. Usner will be teaching a three-day workshop this month at Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, introducing students to lowrider culture and how to photograph it. He shared with PDN some advice hell give his students about approaching subjects, overcoming fear, and making photographs that tell human stories. PDN: How do you get students to see not just cars, but the larger car culture? Don Usner: For me, its about communication. If I form a good relationship with the person Im photographing, and I have a meaningful, warm exchange, thats the most important thing. If I get a good picture also, thats icing on the cake. But the first step to getting a photo is establishing a relationship that is mutually trusting and open. Theres a notion among photographers that you go in and get the shot and get out. Id like to cultivate the notion that its more about forming a relationship that both people [photographer and subject] feel good about. Then if theres a photograph out of it, thats even better. PDN: Whats your advice to students for developing those kinds of relationships? DU: I tell them to be open, to be curious, to be inquisitive and to listen and try and really appreciate what the person is presenting. I also advise that if somebody is not comfortable having their picture taken, you courteously acknowlege that and say and be content with the exchange regardless of the outcome photographically. It lends a sense of trust that allows people to be more themselves, and share more of themselves. PDN: What do you find the students struggle with the most? Whats the biggest challenge for them? DU: People have a fear of approaching strangers and asking to take their picture, and being comfortable in the role of a photographer. That is somehow intimidating for people. I find that students are tenataitve about being open and saying, Heres who I am, I want to know who you are, and I want to tak eyoure picture, and getting past that fear that youre going to be rejected, or that youre violating somebodys personal space. PDN: How do you help them get past that fear? DU: I encourage them to be curious, open, light, respectful, and to show some of themesleves, too. Make it a two-way conversation, and open up avenues for dialogue: I used to have a 57 chevy, or whatever. Its all about the attitude and openness and not being apologetic about the fact that youre a photographer. In my own practice, I have a camera around my neck, I get out of my car, I walk right up to people and the cameras right on me, so theres no secret, and theres no mincing words: Im a photographer, Im here, I want to meet you, I want to learn about you. And Im not ashamed of it, you know? PDN: Whats your advice for students who are introverts, or who arent good conversationalists? DU: Just to be yourself. If youre an introvert, thats OK, but you still have to make contact. And you can do that in the context of: This is kind of awkward for me. Im not used to engagine people and asking to take their picture, but Id like to do it. Its just a matter of honesty. Ive had tremendous introverts do really well, because people relate to that: Oh, yeah Im kind of an introvert, too, and we can do this without a lot of words. You dont have to pretend or project but you have to overcome your own fears of trying to make a point of contact, whatever the tone of it is. PDN: How do segue from making a connection to taking good pictures? DU: It has to be a spontaneous process. If the moment arises, you ask: Can I get a picture of you by your car? Or: Can you show me how this part of your car works? Fortunately, this particular population is proud of their creations and not camra shy. Theyre more than happy to cooperate. Then technique comes in: how to compose a picture, how to include important elements of a car or its environment. I dont like to isolate cars as objects, but to see them in context. Whats the yard like, whats the garage like, whats the family like thats often nearby? Its about the physical environment and cultural enviroment, and tuning into that to find compositions that include elements that tell the story about this culture and these individuals. Its ultimately about telling the story. PDN: How do you get it all into one frame? DU: You look for the salient elements that tell most eloquently the story youre seeing, or that reveal the character of the person youre photographing. As a fallback, you can use a wide angle lens and photograph the car from every conceivable angle. But more intelligently, or sensitively, its noticing that, well, this guy is really into this aspect of his carmaybe its his connection to the mural thats painted on it. Thats where his passion is, thats where hes invested himself, so I want to get him talking about that, and pointing to it or being near it. I was in a guys garage and hes really into speed. On the wall was a picture of his car with the tires really burning up in a drag race. So his portrait was with that [picture] beside him. Its a process of trying to become aware and keeping open to whats presenting itself. Theres always a photograph presenting itself. Its just a matter of opening yourself up to realize it. Usners workshop, Exploring the Lowrider Culture in Northern New Mexico: Capture to Print, takes place October 14-17 in Santa Fe. See complete details at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops website. Bangkok, Thailand. 2 October 2017 A charming landscape, iconic sights, influences from its colonial heritage, rich cultural traditions and friendly locals blend perfectly in Sri Lanka, making it a one-of-a-kind South Asian holiday destination. With three hotels spread across some of the islands most beautiful destinations, ONYX Hospitality Group presents a guide of how best to take it all in when visiting the Resplendent Isle. Start the Trip in the Capital City Make the capital, Colombo, your quick introduction to Sri Lanka. This port city offers a variety of experiences ranging from a spiritual break in the temples, exploration of culture in the museums, taking the vantage point from rooftop bars to a wide range of markets and retail options. The vocal local team at OZO Colombo recommends a late morning visit to Pettah Market and being amidst the energy of the historic streets crammed with fresh fruit, daily supplies and fabrics. This bustling area provides an adrenaline filled discovery through the citys busiest neighbourhood. The dynamic arrangement of heritage buildings, makeshift stores and generations-old shops is like a living museum, offering authentic insights into the local lifestyle and culture, as well as providing a unique backdrop for your photo gallery. Take a Scenic Train Ride The three-hour train journey connecting Sri Lankas capital to Kandy, the cool city located in the inland hills, is a scenic delight. This train ride is not just a mode of transportation to OZO Kandy, but the highlight of the visit itself. The train leaves from the coastal lowlands and chugs up through the hill country past rolling and lush green rice fields, local communities, forests, gurgling rivers and tea plantations. All scenes provide photogenic snapshots of Sri Lankas dramatic scenic contrasts. For the best views, locals recommend sitting on the right side of the train while en route to Kandy. Explore the Birthplace of Ceylon Tea Crucial to the nations economy, Ceylon tea is renowned worldwide and has an interesting 150-year history which can be traced back to the period of the British Empire. In Kandy, the first successful experiments in tea cultivation were made and the first tea plantations were established, making the city a great destination for tea lovers. To learn about the production of tea, marvel at the old machinery, and taste the various blends, the team at OZO Kandy suggest a visit to the Ceylon Tea Museum, located three kilometres from the hotel, or a venture into the countryside to the Geragama Tea Estate. Wander through Time in One of The Countrys Best Preserved Colonial Towns Be transported back to colonial times at Galle Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest remaining European fortress in Asia. The fort was first built by the Portuguese in the 1500s and later fortified by the Dutch. Wander around impressive monuments and museums from Dutch Reformed Church to the iconic Galle Light House. Today the fort is no less vibrant with chic boutiques, cafes and galleries. Destination Amari, a local guide curated by the team at Amari Galle, recommends Stick No Bills, a poster gallery featuring a rare variety of vintage movie posters as well as retro postcards depicting the vibrant colours of Sri Lanka. Lounge around the Beach, Swim, Lay Back, Take a Nap and More Sri Lanka is well known for its beaches. For beach enthusiasts, seeking a day at a beachfront retreat in Galle is recommended. From Amari Galle which offers an expansive beach-facing pool and guaranteed sea views from every room and suite, take a Tuk-Tuk ride to the shores of nearby Unawatuna and get active with watersports such as diving, fishing and boating. To laze the day away, head to the stunning, intimate and isolated Jungle Beach to take a dip in the Indian Ocean. No trip to Galle would be complete without checking out the traditional stilt fishermen at the Ahangama and Koggala Coasts, the best places to catch this centuries-old activity in full action. Rest well after days of exploration at OZO or Amari ONYX Hospitality Group offers three unique hotels in Colombo, Kandy and Galle under its two brands Amari and OZO. Situated a short Tuk-Tuk ride from the city centre, OZO Colombo offers rooms with ocean views, a rooftop infinity pool and bar, and delectable meals at EAT. OZO Kandy is the ideal base for exploring the temples, lush landscapes and the tea plantations. The newly-open Amari Galle offers the street-food inspired Ahara Gourmet Gallery, the sun-drenched Shoreline Beach Club, and a wide range of amenities and services. Until 31 December 2018 at OZO Colombo and OZO Kandy, get 15% off on room rates when booking a minimum stay of three consecutive nights. Discover Amari Galle with this special offer. Get 15% off when booking at least 45 days in advance or 10% off when booking at least 14 days in advance, along with free early check-in for stays until 31 December 2018. Credit: CC0 Public Domain A pilot program reduced absenteeism in elementary schools by an average of 10 percent, according to a new study by Duke researchers. Chronic absenteeism is linked to poor grades, low test scores and eventually, dropping out of high school. While most truancy prevention efforts focus on middle and high school students, the Early Truancy Prevention Program concentrates on first- and second-grade students. The pilot was field-tested at five schools in a mid-sized North Carolina school district. This is among the first programs for primary school students that has been effective in improving absenteeism rates. "This program offers a feasible and effective method for improving communication between teacher and parents, and as one important result improving attendance," said principal investigator Philip Cook, a professor emeritus at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy. "We believe that this result is especially important for at-risk children, helping establish a positive connection to school that we expect to pay dividends throughout their education career." The study appears online in the journal Children and Youth Services Review. Children from disadvantaged homes have higher rates of chronic absenteeism, which may contribute to lower test scores. Also, high school drop-outs tend to have more absences as early as first grade. Reducing chronic absenteeism in the primary grades could improve school engagement, academic performance, and perhaps high school graduation rates. Given the close relationship between primary school students and their teachers, the prevention program has teachers take the lead in helping reduce absences. The program was designed by the university-based research team and staff from a North Carolina school system. To establish a good working relationship with parents, participating teachers were asked to visit the homes of all of their students. Each teacher was given a smart phone with a paid plan to allow frequent communications between parent and teacher. Teachers were provided with attendance data to identify students with attendance problems, and with an online system to help teachers assess barriers to attendance, such as health issues, parental needs or transportation problems. The online system included suggestions for remedies. Also, consultations with staff helped teachers take full advantage of school and community resources to address attendance problems. In the pilot program, 20 teachers were in the treatment group and 20 were in the control group. Teachers in the treatment group reported that home visits had positive impacts on their relationships with both parents and students. In the treatment group, almost 40 percent more parents initiated contacts with teachers by text, phone and in person. Treatment group teachers also reported being satisfied with the program's intervention elements. The program cost about $150 per student, which included the purchase of smart phones and some additional teacher compensation for the additional time required for home visits. The study found strong evidence that the pilot program was effective in reducing absenteeism among students who missed six or more days. It is among the first primary school interventions to do so. More information: Philip J. Cook et al, A new program to prevent primary school absenteeism: Results of a pilot study in five schools, Children and Youth Services Review (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.09.017 Fig. 1. Learning process. Credit: Hitachi Hitachi today announced the development of active-learning dialogue-data based AI technology to enable EMIEW3, Hitachi's human symbiotic service robot to spontaneously "learn" how to respond to questions that it could not previously answer. EMIEW3 clarifies the meaning of enquiries with related staff through dialogue interaction, and in the process, automatically increases its dialogue contents to increase "comprehension" for appropriate responses. Hitachi is currently developing EMIEW3 with view to use in customer service and guidance settings. Using this technology, EMIEW3's dialogue contents can be enhanced by staff without specialist training, simply by responding to queries posed by EMIEW3, and was found to reduce labor-hours for this process to about one-tenth the time previously needed Further, this technology allows EMIEW3 to learn more quickly about products or facilities which may change daily, as well as increase comprehension and correctly respond to customer enquiries. Hitachi is aiming to provide even higher quality dialogue-data based solutions by using this technology. In recent years, in light of companies facing labor-shortage for customer service desks, there is an increasing anticipation for advanced robot-based voice-dialog solutions. Hitachi has conducted several field-tests for customer service and guidance solutions with EMIEW3 through which it has found that due to wide variation in how a customer query might be posed, that in some cases EMIEW3 is unable to comprehend the nature of the question, and thus unable to answer the question. To address this issue, conventionally, a system administrator would need to continuously analyze interaction logs even after commencement of the service, and regularly expand the dialog contents. Recognizing the importance of being able to efficiently expand the dialog contents after the service has been initiated, Hitachi developed active-learning AI technology that investigates questions which EMIEW3 was unable to answer, identifies the causes and clarifies questions that it did not previously understand, to enable EMIEW3 to "learn and grow" through voice-based dialog with staff. The technology developed consists of the following two points: Active-learning technology Machine learning was applied to identify and spontaneously learn about components of the dialog that could not be understood. The technology analyzes the causes of unanswerable questions, and classifies them into two patterns: one where the answer is not registered, and the other, where the intention of the query was not understood due to the question being expressed in an unfamiliar form. In the first case of where the question was understood but the answer is not registered, EMIEW3 will ask a staff member for the appropriate information. In the second case where the question could not be understood due to the way it was expressed, a similar question registered in the question-answer database will be sought, and EMIEW3 will confirms with a staff member if the similar question has the same intent as the query which could not be understood. The new "response" and "query expression" learned from the staff response is then automatically registered in the question-answer database. Fig. 2. Overview of this technology. Credit: Hitachi Technology to efficiently use newly learned query expressions Natural language processing techniques such as morphological analysis and syntax analysis were used to develop technology to efficiently learn new forms of expressing the query. The technology uses morphological analysis and difference detection to find interchangeable components from two different ways of asking the same question, and learns rules about diverse forms of how the same question might be posed (hereafter referred to as rephrasing). Further, syntax analysis and machine learning are used to check if incorrect rephrasing is remembered. Through this, more correct rephrasing rules are formed, and by applying this to other questions, increases the pattern of expressions which have the same meaning. As a result, log analysis by system administrators become unnecessary, and enables daily enhancement of the dialogue contents by simple on-site dialogue between staff with appropriate business knowledge and EMIEW3. Using this technology, Hitachi aims to provide higher quality correct response voice-dialog solutions to businesses with customer service desks. This technology will be demonstrated with EMIEW3 in the showcase at the Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2017 TOKYO, to be held from 1-2 November at the Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho, Tokyo. Demonstration field-tests will also be conducted in collaboration with the Haneda Robotics Lab as part of the Haneda Airport Robot Experiment Project. Provided by Hitachi Credit: Imperial College London FABRICELL, a joint initiative between Imperial and Kings College London, launched this month with a series of talks including a Nobel Prize winner. FABRICELL is a virtual research centre that brings together over 30 research groups and aims to capitalise on the critical mass of world leading expertise in artificial cell science in London. It will consist of a series of labs across Imperial and Kings, as well as formal and informal education and research opportunities. Designing new cells from scratch has two main aims: to provide scientists with new insights into how cells work, and to attempt to harness the power of biology to create new classes of smart micromachines. Members of FABRICELL aim to construct such artificial cells from the bottom up, by hijacking biological machinery (such as DNA, enzymes, proteins, and lipids) and by fusing together living and non-living components. They hope the new cells will perform designated functions seen in real cells such as environmental sensing and replication. At the heart of FABRICELL is FABRICA, a community-operated prototyping workspace that will open in early 2018 at the Molecular Sciences Research Hub, the Department of Chemistry's new home at White City. FABRICELL will also be launching a joint new Masters in artificial cell science and will run 'hackathons' in partnership with the Imperial College Advanced Hackspace. Imperial co-founder Professor Oscar Ces and King's co-founder Professor Roger Morris also say FABRICELL will engage the wider scientific community through a keynote seminar series (Frontiers in Artificial Cell Science) and will connect with government and members of the public through the Molecular Quarter a policy and outreach unit that aims to develop a long-term roadmap for artificial cell science and educate the public with respect to applications in this area. FABRICELL will also expand to support collaborations with industry through the FABRICELL industry club, technology showcases and small-scale funding for start-ups. Working closely and effectively The launch event, held in the Sir Alexander Fleming Building on Imperial's South Kensington campus, was attended by staff and students across College. It was opened by Professor Nick Jennings, Imperial Vice-Provost (Research), who said: "Working across London is increasingly important. To make the most of this opportunity, we need to work closely and effectively together. Nobel Prize winner Professor Jack Szostak talks about the origins of life. Credit: Imperial College London "With this in mind it's encouraging to see the plans and ambitions of FABRICELL. It's a great mix of basic science twinned with innovation." At the launch three speakers then tackled the scientific background behind designing artificial cells, and how their work is making progress in the area. Professor Lee Cronin, Regius Professor of Chemistry at the University of Glasgow, discussed his lab's use of experiments with liquid droplets that appear to simulate the movements of early life components. He also discussed what kind of biological complexity can be considered a biological marker, for example what kind of biomolecules we could consider to be products of life on other planets. Professor Patricia Bassereau, from the Institut Curie in Paris, explored how cell biosystems work using a bottom-up engineering approach. She took the audience through her team's experiments that aims to recreate cellular biomembranes, an important component of cells that allows molecules in and out, and protects the cell's organelles and how these regulate the behaviour of proteins. Exploring the origins of life Finally, Professor Jack Szostak from Harvard Medical School, who won the Nobel Prize in for Physiology or Medicine in 2009, gave a keynote talk on the origins of cellular life. He explained how his work is led by a simple question: is there life beyond Earth? Through a survey of past and present experiments, including those by his own team, Professor Szostak showed that many of the building blocks and simple processes necessary for life can be recreated. To form the building blocks, certain chemicals need to be concentrated together, and Professor Szostak described how this could happen through natural processes associated with hydrothermal activity heat driving chemical reactions on the beds of lakes or oceans. He also showed how these chemicals could come together and form the structures we know are the basis of life on Earth. Finally, with this knowledge, he showed that these specific conditions still exist on Earth, in places like Yellowstone, where the conditions are right to bring certain chemicals together and to cause them to react in ways that form useful structures. While acknowledging there is still lots to be figured out, Professor Szostak ended his talk with a hopeful note. He said: "There are a lot of steps we thought were hard because we didn't know how they worked, but now we do know how they work, they looked easy. There are still lots of steps to investigate. Everything looks hard that you don't understand." A new fly species discovered in Central Park is named after CCNY entomologist and Professor of Biology David Lohman. Credit: City College of New York/David Lohman Introducing Themira lohmanus, a fly like no other, and the most recently discovered species in the popular Manhattan urban oasis of Central Park! The immature insects subsist on duck droppings, and have a strong CCNY connection: Themira lohmanus is named after City College of New York entomologist, and Professor of Biology, David Lohman. But wait! It's not the only species that gets its moniker from the well-traveled entomologist, who's often to be found in tropical forests of Southeast Asia studying the ecology and evolution of insects. There's also Chimaeragathis lohmani, a wasp found in Thailand, and Bulbophyllum davidlohmanii, a soon-to-be-published orchid species found on the Philippine island of Mindanao. "It's not terribly novel to have species named after oneself," shrugs Lohman, citing CCNY Division of Science colleague Amy Berkov, who has multiple beetles named after her. "But new species are not discovered in Central Park very often, so having a New York City-endemic species named after me is rather novel." Yuchen Ang, an evolutionary biologist at the National University of Singapore where the first specimens of Themira lohmanus were analyzed, describes it thus: "A very particular fly, Themira lohmanus has been found hiding under the noses of New Yorkers all this while. First found off Harlem Meer in Central Park, [it] can only breed on duck dung." Ang describes the fly's mating ritual as "kinky" with the male employing unusual methods and appendages. It concludes with the female storing sperm from many suitors and deciding whose sperm to use when she lays her eggs. Themira lohmanus has subsequently been found in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. A fossil natural nuclear reactor site in the Okio region of Gabon. The large uranium deposit present underwent nuclear fission on and off for hundreds of thousands of years some 2 billion years ago. The yellow rock is uranium oxide. Credit: Robert D. Loss Life on early Earth seems to have begun with a paradox: while life needs water as a solvent, the essential chemical backbones of early life-forming molecules fall apart in water. Our universal solvent, it turns out, can be extremely corrosive. Some have pointed to this paradox as a sign that life, or the precursor of life, originated elsewhere and was delivered here via comets or meteorites. Others have looked for solvents that could have the necessary qualities of water without that bond-breaking corrosiveness. In recent years the solvent often put forward as the eligible alternative to water is formamide, a clear and moderately irritating liquid consisting of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Unlike water, it does not break down the long-chain molecules needed to form the nucleic acids and proteins that make up life's key initial instruction manual, RNA. Meanwhile it also converts via other useful reactions into key compounds needed to make nucleic acids in the first place. Although formamide is common in star-forming regions of space, scientists have struggled to find pathways for it to be prevalent, or even locally concentrated, on early Earth. In fact, it is hardly present on Earth today except as a synthetic chemical for companies. New research presented by Zachary Adam, an earth scientist at Harvard University, and Masashi Aono, a complex systems scientist at Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology, has produced formamide by way of a surprising and reproducible pathway: bombardment with radioactive particles. The two and their colleagues exposed water and a mixture of two chemicals known to have existed on early Earth (hydrogen cyanide and aqueous acetonitrile) to the high-energy particles emitted from a cylinder of cobalt-60, an artificially produced radioactive isotope commonly used in cancer therapy. The result, they report, was the production of substantial amounts of formamide more quickly than earlier attempts by researchers using theoretical models and in laboratory settings. It remains unclear whether early Earth had enough radioactive material in the right places to produce the chemical reactions that led to the formation of formamide. And even if the conditions were right, scientists cannot yet conclude that formamide played an important role in the origin of life. Still, the new research furthers the evidence of the possible role of alternative solvents and presents a differing picture of the basis of life. Furthermore, it is suggestive of processes that might be at work on other exoplanets as well where solvents other than water could, with energy supplied by radioactive sources, provide the necessary setting for simple compounds to be transformed into far more complex building blocks. "Imagine that water-based life was preceded by completely unique networks of interacting molecules that approximated, but were distinct from and followed different chemical rules, than life as we know it," said Adam. Their work was presented at recent gatherings of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life, and the Astrobiology Science Conference. Putting it all together The team of Adam and Aono are hardly the first to put forward the formamide hypothesis as a solution to the water paradox, and they are also not the first to posit a role for high-energy, radioactive particles in the origin of life. An Italian team led by Rafaelle Saladino of Tuscia University recently proposed formamide as a chemical that would supply necessary elements for life and would avoid the 'water paradox.' Since the time that Marie Curie described the phenomenon of radioactivity, scientists have proposed innumerable ways that the emission of particle-shedding atomic nuclei might have played roles, either large or small, in initiating life on Earth. Putting formamide and radioactivty together, as Adam and Aono have done, is a potentially significant step forward, though one that needs deeper study. Masashi Aono, left, in the radiation room at the Tokyo Institute of Technology where his team produced formamine by exposing chemicals to radiation. Credit: Nerissa Escanlar "If we have formamide as a solvent, those precursor molecules can be kept stable, a kind of cradle to preserve very interesting products," said Aono, who has moved to Tokyo-based Keio University while remaining a fellow at ELSI. The experiment with cobalt-60 did not begin as a search for a way to concentrate the production of formamide. Rather, Adam was looking more generally into the effects of gamma rays on a variety of molecules and solvents, while Aono was exploring radioactive sources for a role in the origin of life. The two came together somewhat serendipitously at ELSI, an origins-of-life research center created by the Japanese government. ELSI was designed to be a place for scientists from around the world and from many different disciplines to tackle some of the notoriously difficult issues in origins of life research. At ELSI, Adam, who had been unable to secure sites to conduct laboratory tests in the United States, learned from Aono about a sparingly-used (and free) cobalt-60 lab; they promptly began collaborating. It is well known that the early Earth was bombarded by high-energy cosmic particles and gamma rays. So is the fact that numerous elements (aluminum-26, iron-60, iodine-129) have existed as radioactive isotopes that can emit radiation for minutes to millennium, and that these isotopes were more common on early Earth than today. Indeed, the three listed above are now extinct on Earth, or nearly extinct, in their natural forms Less known is the presence of "natural nuclear reactors" as sites where a high concentration of uranium in the presence of water has led to self-sustaining nuclear fission. Only one such spot has been found in the Oklo region of the African nation of Gabonwhere spent radioactive material was identified at 16 sites separate sites. Scientists ultimately concluded widespread natural nuclear reactions occurred in the region some 2 billion years ago. That time frame would mean that the site would have been active well after life had begun on Earth, but it is a potential proof of concept of what could have existed elsewhere long before. Reactions in close quarters Adam and Aono remain agnostic about where the formamide-producing radioactive particles came from. But they are convinced that it is entirely possible that such reactions took place and helped produce an environment where each of the backbone precursors of RNA could readily be found in close quarters. Current scientific thinking about how formamide appeared on Earth focuses on limited arrival via asteroid impacts or through the concentration of the chemical in evaporated water-formamide mixtures in desert-like conditions. Adam acknowledges that the prevailing scientific consensus points to low amounts of formamide on early Earth. "We are not trying to argue to the contrary," he said, "but we are trying to say that it may not matter." If you have a unique place (or places) on the Earth creating significant amounts of formamide over a long period of time through radiolysis, then an opportunity exists for the onset of some unique chemistry that can support the production of essential precursor compounds for life, Adam said. "So, the argument then shifts to how likely was it that this unique place existed? We only need one special location on the entire planet to meet these circumstances," he said. After that, the system set into motion would have the ability to bring together the chemical building blocks of life. "That's the possibility that we look forward to investigating in the coming years," Adam said. James Cleaves, an organic chemist also at ELSI and a co-author of the cobalt-60 paper, said while production of formamide from much simpler compounds represents progress, "there are no silver bullets in origin of life work. We collect facts like these, and then see where they lead." This story is republished courtesy of NASA's Astrobiology Magazine. Explore the Earth and beyond at www.astrobio.net . A study led by a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigator - in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Political Science - has identified community health as a possible contributor to the surprising results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In their analysis published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, the researchers find an association between the public health of a county and the likelihood of a voting shift towards the 2016 Republican candidate, compared with the 2012 Republican candidate. "Across the country, we found that voters in counties with poor public health shifted dramatically towards the Republican candidate in 2016, compared with 2012, an effect that was particularly strong in states where the results changed Electoral College votes," says Jason H. Wasfy, MD, MPhil, of the MGH Division of Cardiology, who led the study. "Although we cannot determine causality from these results, the findings raise the possibility of a role for public health status in determining voting behavior." The authors note that previous studies of relationships between health and voting patterns have found associations between poor health - both physical and mental - and low voter turnout, particularly in older voters. In light of 2016's unexpected shifts in voting patterns in several states - including the best performance for a Democratic presidential candidate in Texas in 20 years and the first victory of a Republican candidate in Wisconsin in 32 years - the researchers investigated potential connections between community health and changes in voting patterns between the two elections. To do this, they combined county-by-county election data for both elections with information from a public health database compiled by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, including data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The public health measures used in the analysis were reported days of poor health; the prevalence of food insecurity, obesity and diabetes; teen birth rates, and the age-adjusted mortality rate. Complete data covering both elections was available for 3,009 counties, more than 95 percent of the 3,142 counties or equivalent regions in the U.S. The primary outcome measured was the difference between the percentage of voters in a county voting for Donald Trump in 2016 and the percentage voting for Mitt Romney in 2012. Across all counties there was an average 5.4 percent shift from Romney to Trump - with 88 percent of counties shifting towards Trump while 12 percent shifted away from Trump. Counties that shifted towards Trump - not all of which were won by the Republican - had higher proportions of white populations, more rural populations and lower average household incomes than those that shifted away from Trump. In terms of public health measures, counties shifting towards Trump also had higher teen birth rates and age-adjusted mortality, but lower rates of violent crime. Counties shifting towards Trump also appeared to have fewer health care resources, including around half the number primary care physicians, per capita, than did counties shifting away from Trump. This association between public health and voting patterns was strongest in the West and particularly in the Midwest, where major voting shifts contributed to the Republican victory. "Even after adjusting for factors such as race, income and education, public health seems to have an additional, independent association with this voting shift towards Trump," explains Wasfy, who is an assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "It's critical to interpret our results as reflecting county-wide ecological associations, rather than individual voting behavior. More than anything, I think these results demonstrate that health is a real issue that can affect people's lives and their decisions. We all need to focus on improving public health as a means of improving people's lives." More information: Jason H. Wasfy et al, County community health associations of net voting shift in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, PLOS ONE (2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185051 Journal information: PLoS ONE Full view of the Nikon 20-cm telescope with Ms. Koyama, reproduced from Koyama's published databook (Observations of Sunspots 1947-1984, ISBN 4-309-25030-0) Credit: Kawade Shobo Shinsha Publishers. Few people have heard of Hisako Koyama, but the dedicated female solar observer, born in Tokyo in 1916, created one of the most important sunspot records of the past 400 years, according to new research. A new study recounting Koyama's life finds she created detailed sunspot drawings for more than 40 years. Solar scientists recently used Koyama's archive of more than 10,000 drawings to establish a continuous record of sunspot numbers stretching back to 1610. This sunspot reconstruction can help scientists better understand the solar cycle and how solar activity influences events on Earth. Koyama's story exemplifies the unheralded role women have played in science in the modern era, according to the study's authors. Koyama was well-known in amateur astronomy circles for decades but her contributions were not widely recognized by professional space scientists until several years ago. Koyama's observations place her among the top solar observers of the past four centuries, alongside names like Galileo, and make her one of the few women to have created a major solar observational record, according to the new study. "Women scientists have been contributing in the sciences for a very long time, whether or not the documentation exists to that fact," said Delores Knipp, a space weather scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and lead author of the new study recounting Koyama's work in Space Weather, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. "This is my first attempt to make sure her record is revealed to a broader community, especially to young women considering science careers." Uncovering Koyama's records Knipp first heard about Koyama two years ago during a presentation by solar scientist Leif Svalgaard, where Svalgaard described the recently-completed sunspot reconstruction project and showed a photo of Koyama at her telescope. "I was astounded; I'd never seen a major observational solar record from a woman," Knipp said. "It stuck in my mind, and I wondered why I hadn't heard of her." Koyama's story stayed in the back of Knipp's mind until she saw the 2016 film "Hidden Figures," which details the role of three African-American women scientists working at NASA during the space race. "I was so taken and inspired by that, and even though I had been thinking about it before, the 'Hidden Figures' movie was the thing that pushed me into gear, and I said, 'I've got to know more about this record from Japan,'" Knipp said. "And at that point I really started digging in to find collaborators who could help with the research." In the new study, Knipp worked with Huixin Liu, a space scientist at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, and Hisashi Hayakawa, a historical research fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in Tokyo to research Koyama's work and document her contribution to space science. Sunspots are temporary dark spots that appear on the surface of the sun, where areas of intense magnetic activity lower the suns surface temperature. Sunspots provide a useful measure of the suns activity and scientists continue to track sunspots today. This sunspot group appeared in October of 2014. Credit: NASA/SDO. Koyama was born in 1916 and graduated from a girls' high school in Tokyo in the 1930s, a rare feat for a woman in Japan during this time. Enthusiastic about astronomy from a young age, Koyama began observing the stars in her twenties. She began observing sunspots in the spring of 1944, using a refracting telescope that was a gift from her father. Sunspots are temporary dark spots that appear on the surface of the sun, where areas of intense magnetic activity lower the sun's surface temperature. Sunspots provide a useful measure of the sun's activity and scientists continue to track sunspots today. Their numbers vary as the sun goes through its 11-year solar cycle. Solar activity like solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which can disrupt radar and radio communications when they enter near-Earth space, often occur when more sunspots appear. Koyama made her first sunspot sketch in 1944 and sent it to scientists at Japan's Oriental Astronomical Association. After an encouraging reply from the president of the OAA's solar section, Issei Yamamoto, Koyama began observing sunspots regularly under Yamamoto's guidance. By 1946 she was making regular solar observations at Tokyo's National Museum of Nature and Science, known then as the Tokyo Science Museum. Koyama drew the solar features she observed, noting important features she saw and the conditions she was observing in. Later that year, Koyama became a staff observer at the museum. She sketched the largest sunspot of the 20th century in 1947 and witnessed a white-light solar flare while sketching sunspots in 1960. Koyama worked for the museum until she retired in 1981, at the age of 65. She used the same telescope to make drawings for her entire tenure at the museum and continued to use it as a museum fellow even after she retired. She chronicled more than 8,000 sunspot groups in her 1985 data book and made more than 10,000 solar sketches over her lifetime, until her death in 1997. Koyama's contributions Amateur astronomers were aware of Koyama's work but it did not come to the attention of the professional space science community until several years ago. To better understand the solar cycle, an international group of scientists reconstructed the number of sunspots seen each year since scientists first observed them by telescope in 1610. The researchers searched through original sunspot observations for the past 400 years and discovered Koyama's work in Japan. They combined her collection of drawings with those of Galileo Galilei, Pierre Gassendi, Johann Caspar Staudacher, Heinrich Schwabe and Rudolf Wolf to establish a continuous sunspot count for the past four centuries. "Those five names are the giants of sunspot records," Knipp said. "And her name comes right along with them. So clearly, her records are in a class of great historical scientific records." Koyama's more than 40 years of drawings proved invaluable to the scientists because few solar observations have been collected by the same person, using the same telescope and using the same observation method for such a long time, according to Knipp. Koyama's records served as one of the official "backbones" of the sunspot reconstruction project, bridging a key gap between records from the early 20th century and those taken during the space age. Scientists will use the reconstructed sunspot record to better understand how the sun's magnetic activity changes over time and how those changes affect Earth. Without Koyama's record, researchers would not have been able to reconstruct the sunspot history with as much confidence, Knipp said. "Miss Koyama's observational skills, her persistence, her consistency, and her keen eye for solar behavior, produced a remarkable record of solar behavior," she said. Koyama's drawings have been digitized by staff members of the Tokyo's National Museum of Nature and Science. More information: Delores Knipp et al, Ms. Hisako Koyama: From Amateur Astronomer to Long-Term Solar Observer, Space Weather (2017). DOI: 10.1002/2017SW001704 Mihai Pop, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland with a joint appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. Credit: John T. Consoli, University of Maryland Communities of bacteria live everywhere: inside our bodies, on our bodies and all around us. The human gut alone contains hundreds of species of bacteria that help digest food and provide nutrients, but can also make us sick. To learn more about these groups of bacteria and how they impact our lives, scientists need to study them. But this task poses challenges, because taking the bacteria into the laboratory is either impossible or would disrupt the biological processes the scientists wish to study. To bypass these difficulties, scientists have turned to the field of metagenomics. In metagenomics, researchers use algorithms to piece together DNA from an environmental sample to determine the type and role of bacteria present. Unlike established fields such as chemistry, where researchers evaluate their results against a set of known standards, metagenomics is a relatively young field that lacks such benchmarks. Mihai Pop, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland with a joint appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, recently helped judge an international challenge called the Critical Assessment of Metagenome Interpretation (CAMI), which benchmarked metagenomics software. The results were published in the journal Nature Methods on October 2, 2017. "There's no one algorithm that we can say is the best at everything," said Pop, who is also co-director of the Center for Health-related Informatics and Bioimaging at UMD. "What we found was that one tool does better in one context, but another does better in another context. It is important for researchers to know that they need to choose software based on the specific questions they are trying to answer." The study's results were not surprising to Pop, because of the many challenges metagenomics software developers face. First, DNA analysis is challenging in metagenomics because the recovered DNA often comes from the field, not a tightly controlled laboratory environment. In addition, DNA from many organismssome of which may not have known genomesmingle together in a sample, making it difficult to correctly assemble, or piece together, individual genomes. Moreover, DNA degrades in harsh environments. "I like to think of metagenomics as a new type of microscope," Pop said. "In the old days, you would use a microscope to study bacteria. Now we have a much more powerful microscope, which is DNA sequencing coupled with advanced algorithms. Metagenomics holds the promise of helping us understand what bacteria do in the world. But first we need to tune that microscope." CAMI's leader invited Pop to help evaluate the submissions by challenge participants because of his expertise in genome and metagenome assembly. In 2009, Pop helped publish Bowtie, one of the most commonly used software packages for assembling genomes. More recently, he collaborated with the University of Maryland School of Medicine to analyze hundreds of thousands of gene sequences as part of the largest, most comprehensive study of childhood diarrheal diseases ever conducted in developing countries. "We uncovered new, unknown bacteria that cause diarrheal diseases, and we also found interactions between bacteria that might worsen or improve illness," Pop said. "I feel that's one of the most impactful projects I've done using metagenomics." For the competition, CAMI researchers combined approximately 700 microbial genomes and 600 viral genomes with other DNA sources and simulated how such a collection of DNA might appear in the field. The participants' task was to reconstruct and analyze the genomes of the simulated DNA pool. CAMI researchers scored the participants' submissions in three areas: how well they assembled the fragmented genomes; how well they "binned," or organized, DNA fragments into related groups to determine the families of organisms in the mixture; and how well they "profiled," or reconstructed, the identity and relative abundance of the organisms present in the mixture. Pop contributed metrics and software for evaluating the submitted assembled genomes. Nineteen teams submitted 215 entries using six genome assemblers, nine binners and 10 profilers to tackle this challenge. The results showed that for assembly, algorithms that pieced together a genome using different lengths of smaller DNA fragments outperformed those that used DNA fragments of a fixed length. However, no assemblers did well at picking apart different, yet similar genomes. For the binning task, the researchers found tradeoffs in how accurately the software programs identified the group to which a particular DNA fragment belonged, versus how many DNA fragments the software assigned to any groups. This result suggests that researchers need to choose their binning software based on whether accuracy or coverage is more important. In addition, the performance of all binning algorithms decreased when samples included multiple related genomes. In profiling, software either recovered the relative abundance of bacteria in the sample better or detected organisms better, even at very low quantities. However, the latter algorithms identified the wrong organism more often. Going forward, Pop said the CAMI group will continue to run new challenges with different data sets and new evaluations aimed at more specific aspects of software performance. Pop is excited to see scientists use the benchmarks to address research questions in the laboratory and the clinic. "The field of metagenomics needs standards to ensure that results are correct, well validated and follow best practices," Pop said. "For instance, if a doctor is going to stage an intervention based on results from metagenomic software, it's essential that those results be correct. Our work provides a roadmap for choosing appropriate software." More information: Alexander Sczyrba et al, Critical Assessment of Metagenome Interpretation a benchmark of computational metagenomics software, Nature Methods (2017). DOI: 10.1101/099127 Journal information: Nature Methods SUMO is specialised software that analyses data from a satellite of the EUs Copernicus Earth Observation programme. Credit: CORDIS The Joint Research Centre (JRC) has released the software of its SUMO maritime surveillance tool, which is helping to protect our oceans by detecting ships engaged in illicit activities. SUMO (Search for Unidentified Marine Objects) automatically scans large numbers of satellite images for the presence of ships. The results can be cross-checked with other maritime data to identify suspicious vessels. The software has been developed, tested and validated by the JRC. It has been used to help fight illegal oil dumping, piracy and unsustainable fishing, contributing to increased maritime security. Making the software open source allows other developers to add additional functionalities to it and improve it further for the benefit of everyone. SUMO takes advantage of the growing use of radar satellites, which are the most suitable for detecting ships because they can 'see' them even in cloudy conditions or at night. Large numbers of images of the oceans are now generated by Earth-orbiting radar satellites, but scanning them for ships is a complex process and would not be manageable without the help of software such as SUMO. Supporting Copernicus The availability of satellite images has hugely increased by the open data policy of the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation satellite programme, which includes the radar imaging satellite Sentinel-1. The data collected by Sentinel-1 and the rest of the Copernicus programme is available for free to all users. The programme will enable the private sector to convert basic Copernicus outputs into information services tailored to specific users, enabling better monitoring of the Earth and at the same time stimulating economic activity. Making the SUMO ship-detection software available as open source enhances the toolset that will enable further practical applications of the Copernicus programme. What SUMO does Designed to be used in fully automatic mode or in conjunction with human operators, SUMO can spot depending on the accuracy of the satellite used maritime objects as small as a 1 metre-sized buoy and can identify a vessel's size and where it is heading. The software is used to support the EU's Vessel Detection System (VDS) to combat illegal fishing, which threatens to deplete fish stocks. The VDS system takes data from EU fishing vessels, which are legally required to transmit their position to fisheries authorities at regular intervals, and compares it to the data it has obtained from analysing satellite images with SUMO. Within minutes, it can tell if activity on the ocean does not match with positions reported, and fisheries inspection authorities can be alerted to investigate. The ship-detection tool has many other applications, including mapping ship routes, monitoring shipping intensity as an indicator of economic activity, helping to identify polluting ships, countering piracy and smuggling, and maritime border control. More information: The SUMO software is publicly available online: github.com/ec-europa/sumo Provided by CORDIS [SII]6717,6731 A direct images of the different filaments of the SNR CTB 109 taken with PUMA in its direct image mode. Left panel corresponds to the northeastern filaments, while right panel corresponds to southeastern filaments. Credit: Sanchez-Cruces et al., 2017. (Phys.org)A team of astronomers from Mexico has lately conducted a kinematics study of a supernova remnant in the Milky Way galaxy known as G109.1-1.0 (or CTB 109). The new research reveals crucial insights into basic properties of this remnant. The findings were presented Sept. 23 in a paper published on the arXiv preprint repository. Supernova remnants (SNRs) are diffuse, expanding structures resulting from a supernova explosion. SNRs contain ejected material expanding from the explosion and other interstellar material that has been swept up by the passage of the shock wave from the exploded star. Studies of supernova remnants are important for astronomers as they play a key role in the evolution of galaxies, dispersing the heavy elements made in the supernova explosion into the interstellar medium (ISM) and providing the energy needed for heating up the ISM. SNRs are also believed to be responsible for the acceleration of galactic cosmic rays. G109.1-1.0 is one such remnant located in the Milky Way's Perseus arm. Previous observations of this SNR revealed that it has a semicircular shell-type morphology. However, the astronomers have not yet definitely determined basic properties of this remnant, such as its distance, age and the amount of energy deposited in the interstellar medium in result of the explosion. Various studies produced significant discrepancies in the results. Recently, a team of researchers led by Monica Sanchez-Cruces of the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City has studied the kinematics of G109.1-1.0, which allowed them to diminish the uncertainties presented in previous papers. Their research is based on observations carried out in June 2015 with the use of a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer known as PUMA. The instrument is installed on the 2.1 m telescope at the National Astronomical Observatory in Sierra de San Pedro Martir, Mexico. "We obtained a set of direct images in H and [SII]6717,6731 A using the PUMA focal reducer without the Fabry-Perot interferometer in the instrument optical axis. The exposure time of each of the direct images was 120 s. We also obtained [SII]6717,6731 A Fabry-Perot data cubes of two regions of the SNR CTB 109," the paper reads. By analyzing the new images, the astronomers found that the distance to G109.1-1.0 is about 10,100 light years, which is consistent with one study published in 2012. When it comes to the age of this remnant, the researchers calculated it to be between 9,000 and 9,200 years. Furthermore, the authors estimated the initial energy deposited in the interstellar medium by the supernova explosion. According to the research, this value lies between 180 and 520 quindecillion erg. The scientists concluded that the remnant's relatively young age and the amount of energy deposited in the ISM, indicate that G109.1-1.0 contains simple pulsars. "The age is of thousands of years and the (E0) is rather typical of SNRs containing simple pulsars," the authors wrote in the paper. Besides determining these basic parameters, the team also found that the remnant's systemic velocity is approximately 50 km/s, while its expansion velocity equals some 230 km/s. More information: Kinematics of the Galactic SNR G109.1-1.0 (CTB 109) arXiv:1709.07986 [astro-ph.GA] arxiv.org/abs/1709.07986 2017 Phys.org The floor scrubber of the year 2000, as seen from the 19th century, complete with attendant human. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Whether it's the use of Terminator imagery, visions of dystopia, or discussions of genomics, it's common practice to use the metaphors and framing of speculative fiction to guide discussion into new and innovative areas. A common theme is a world where humans do less work and machines do more. Why have we not yet reached that point? I recently gave a talk on the implications of blockchain technologies for international trade. This technology can automate work that was manual and error-prone, bringing benefits with less human labour. A colleague from another university reminded me afterwards that the promise of less work in the future was a mainstay of science fiction. Given my interests in smart city technologies, he asked, why did I think that we would finally see a real reduction in human work, as had been promised for so many years? Trend towards shorter weeks reversed To answer this question, we need to return to the mid-late 19th century, when the explosion of science-fiction writing began. Here are some Parisian illustrations of the year 2000. In these pictures, manual effort is reduced to button-pushing and supervision. Machines do the work and, hence, humans do less. But what became of all this saved time? What happened to the leisure-oriented future? A small amount of history is in order, as the 40-hour working week is a relatively new development. At the start of the 19th century, 100-hour weeks were not uncommon, and Australia has a long history of labour movements to develop a liveable working week. The adoption of the 40-hour working week is often interpreted as a boon for workers but, as Henry Ford admitted, it is as much a benefit for employers. Ford observed that fatigued workers made more mistakes. Asking his workers to put in more than 40 hours a week usually cost him more money than he made. John Maynard Keynes, writing in 1930, thought we'd be working 30 hours a week by 2030. Our problem would be too much free time. Credit: Wikimedia Commons We were on track to reducing working hours until 1980, when we went the other way. Working harder, for longer, somehow became desirable. And demandable. Rutger Bregman has explored this at length in his book, Utopia for Realists. He champions a 15-hour work week to remove "bullshit jobs" and to give humans time to do useful and rewarding things. But this is at odds with how we often think about work. Work, and the amount of work we do, frequently defines our value. Overwork is often interpreted as commitment, rather than inefficiency. The visions of reduced working weeks were, whether the authors knew it or not, visions of a more effective workforce. But to admit to doing less work is often interpreted as a proxy for caring less. Given subsistence and thriving are generally related to the job we do, work is not just important in terms of perception, it is vital to survival. So what's different now? Returning to my colleague's question, have we actually reached a point where we could work less and get the same amount of work done? If so, why now? In the developed world, home appliances have greatly reduced the need for physical labour. Fewer people need to be involved in tasks that once left them little time to do much else. For example, the word processor and email have, to a great extent, replaced the dedicated secretarial staff that briefly flourished with the rise of the typewriter. At one time all copies were made with manual scribes, carefully duplicating what they read. Then we had carbon paper. Then photocopiers. Then printers. Then the requirement for physical copy reduced. An entire stream of labour appeared and disappeared as technology advanced. We freed ourselves of one kind of work; we just replaced it with another. The rise of robotics has heralded a new model for labour: one where humans can be removed from the entirety of a task, beyond supervision or programming. But we know that we may not always want to do this. In India, Nitin Gadkari, the minister for road transport, highways and shipping, said: Credit: Wikimedia Commons "We won't allow driverless cars in India. I am very clear on this. We won't allow any technology that takes away jobs." India has 400 million workers, 12.5 million of them identified in transport, storage and communication industries. Putting millions of people out of work is at odds with India's plans to increase the numbers in the workforce. So we have two reasons emerging for why we haven't seen the promised labour reductions. The first is our perceptions of working hours as proxy value of an employee. The second is that few governments want to cause widespread unemployment as this is then linked to social and economic issues. But this is at odds with what we know about work: too much of it is bad for us and the job itself. Working out the post-work economy Until now, these answers have been enough because we didn't really have machines that could replace us. But that has changed in many areas. Planes can land themselves. Cars can drive themselves. Computer-controlled trains run in many subways and airports of the world. In terms of transport, then, humans are rapidly becoming superfluous, except as passengers. And transport is only one example. We can now say "let someone else do it" and have that someone not be human. We finally have the means to sensibly replace human labour, without forcing that work on to someone else. But this does not mean we can simply do that. We need to work out how to support people in a post-work economy. We need to accurately identify which jobs machines can't do. We need to identify how we will be social without the accidental socialisation caused by the necessity of work. We now live in the age predicted by science fiction. It's up to us whether we choose to give ourselves the leisure, or not. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Fathers in colonies of the common marmoset, a small New World primate, split child care duties with their mates, but not all marmoset dads are equally fatherly. Credit: JORDANA LENON/WNPRC Good fathers make for healthier kids, according to a study of some of nature's best fathers: marmosets. Fathers in colonies of the common marmoset, a small New World primate, split child care duties with their mates, but not all marmoset dads are equally fatherly. Researchers at the University of WisconsinMadison sorted two dozen marmoset fathers by playing them recorded infant marmoset distress calls. Sixty percent of the fathers responded to the calls by searching for their source. "These are the fathers that are really motivated to take care of their offspring's essential needs early on," says Toni Ziegler, distinguished scientist at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. "And that shows in the step up the infants get." Offspring of the responsive fathers were far more likely to survive their first 30 days. Eighty-seven percent of the infants born to responsive fathers survived, compared to 45 percent of the offspring of fathers who did not respond to the recorded distress calls. Furthermore, the young monkeys born to attentive dads began gaining weight faster than the offspring of inattentive dads around six to 12 weeks of age. That's the time when the marmosets typically begin weaning, and marmoset fathers take an active role in moving the young from mother's milk to solid food. A family of marmosets lives in the lobby of the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. Credit: University of Wisconsin-Madison "They do these little food calls, and encourage the offspring to come over and taste the food they have. The fathers are the first and most into that," says Ziegler, whose study was published Thursday by the journal PLOS ONE. "It's likely the really interactive fathers are spending more effort to get the young to the food and make this transition work. They produce a better predictive weight gain." Being a doting dad improves the odds for offspring, but taking some of the weight of parenthood off the mothers helps the fathers, too. "If you're getting help managing this big, energetic load from someone who is willing to help carry this extra weight, that allows you to have a postpartum ovulation pretty quick," Ziegler says. "It's to your advantage to be there helping with the child care, so that you will also be right there to help conceive the next set." The researchersincluding Ricki Colman, UWMadison cell and regenerative biology professor, and Megan Sosa, veterinary technician at the primate centerfound that the responsive marmoset dads experience a boost of testosterone when they search for the crying infant in the recording. "The same testosterone response has been seen in human fathers to infant cries," Ziegler said. "It's vigilance. You've got to leap into action to defend that baby." Research on the effect of fathers on human babies tends to explore their absence, rather than relative differences in the quality of fathering. But Ziegler expects better human dads have similar good effects on their kids, and she wonders whetherfor both the marmoset and the peoplegood fathers make offspring who grow up to make good parents. "Meet their early, basic needs, and they're likely to be better off," she says. "Whether that's nature or nurture, and whether it's something that gets passed down, those are the kind of questions we hope we're able to work on down the road." People of the Trobriand Islands sailing in traditional canoe in the Papua New Guinea area. The Trobrianders' language Kilivila is included in the study. Credit: Gunter Senft The 'myth' of language history: languages do not share a single history but different components evolve along different trajectories and at different rates.A large-scale study of Pacific languages reveals that forces driving grammatical change are different to those driving lexical change. Grammar changes more rapidly and is especially influenced by contact with unrelated languages, while words are more resistant to change. An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, have discovered that a language's grammatical structures change more quickly over time than vocabulary, overturning a long-held assumption in the field. The study, published October 2 in PNAS, analyzed 81 Austronesian languages based on a detailed database of grammatical structures and lexicon. By analyzing these languages, all from a single family and geographic region, using sophisticated modelling the researchers were able to determine how quickly different aspects of the languages had changed. Strikingly different processes seemed to be shaping the lexicon and the grammar - the lexicon changed more when new languages were created, while the grammatical structures were more affected by contact with other languages. One fascinating question for linguists is whether all aspects of a language evolve as an integrated system with all aspects (grammar, morphology, phonology, lexicon) sharing the same history over time or whether different aspects of a language show different histories. Does each word have its own history? The present study, by an international team including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, the Australian National University, the University of Oxford, and Uppsala University, addressed this question by comparing both grammatical structures and lexicon for over 80 Austronesian languages. This study applied cutting-edge computational methods to analyze not only a large number of words, but also a large number of grammatical elements, all from languages that were geographically grouped. This allowed for valuable and deep comparisons. Map and family tree of the languages showing the differential locations of significant bursts in rates of change in words and grammars. Credit: Greenhill et al., reproduced with permission from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Interestingly, the study found that grammatical structures on average actually changed faster than vocabulary. "We found striking differences in the overall pattern of rates of change between the basic vocabulary and the grammatical features of a language," explains Simon Greenhill of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, lead author of the study. "The grammatical structures changed much more quickly and seemed to be more likely to be affected by neighboring languages, while the lexicon changed more as new languages were formed". Another of the authors, Stephen Levinson, comments, "This is a bit of an unexpected finding, since many have thought that grammar might give us deeper insight into the linguistic past than vocabulary, but there is still some reason for caution: we compared highly conservative vocabulary with an unfiltered range of grammar variables, and the language family is unusual for the way it diversified during colonization of successive islands, But what is clear is that grammar and vocabulary changes are not closely coupled, even within branches of a family, so looking at them both significantly advances our ability to reconstruct linguistic history." The researchers found that there were specific elements of both vocabulary and grammar that change at a slow rate, as well as elements that change more quickly. One interesting finding was that the slowly evolving grammatical structures tended to be those that speakers are less aware of. Why would this be? When two languages come together, or when one language splits into two, speakers of the languages emphasize or adopt certain elements in order to identify or distinguish themselves from others. We're all familiar with how easily we can distinguish groups among speakers of our own language by accent or dialect, and we often make associations based on those distinctions. Humans in the past did this too and, the researchers hypothesize, this was one of the main drivers of language change. However, if a speaker is unaware of a certain grammatical structure because it is so subtle, they will not try to change it or use it as a marker of group identity. Thus those features of a language often remain stable. The researchers note that the precise features that remain more stable over time are specific to each language group. The researchers suggest, that although grammar as a whole might not be a better tool for examining language change, a more nuanced approach that combined computational methods with large-scale databases of both grammar and lexicon could allow for a look into the deeper past. Russell Gray, senior author on the paper, says, "One of the really cool things we found was that this approach might allow us to detect when and where speakers of different languages were interacting many thousands of years ago". Full moon photographed from Earth. Credit: Gregory H. Revera/wikimedia, CC BY-SA The dream of a human habitat in orbit about the moon came a step closer on September 27, when NASA and the Russian space agency (Roscosmos) signed up to a common vision for future human exploration. The project, a follow-up to the International Space Station (ISS), involves a facility placed in orbit somewhere between the Earth and the moon a region known as cis-lunar space. Seen as a stepping-stone on the way to deeper space exploration, it has been dubbed the Deep Space Gateway, DSG. NASA's new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System, which is still in development, will enable the construction of DSG. It will be supplemented by Russia's less-powerful Proton-M and Angara rockets. However, it is misleading to portray this as a purely Russia-US partnership, because the three other ISS partners (the European, Japanese and Canadian space agencies) are highly likely to be involved too. Since Apollo 17 came back from the moon in 1972, no human has ventured further from home than "low-Earth orbit", an altitude of only 400km in the case of the ISS. The ISS began construction in 1998 and has been continuously occupied by (usually) six crew since November, 2000. Previously planned to last until 2020, the project has been extended until 2024 and could be eked out longer. However it is ageing and many would argue that it should have already been replaced. It has cost somewhere in the region of $150bn. That isn't cheap, but, to put it into context, it works out as about the same as what humanity has frittered away on buying lipstick over the same 20-year period. Artists impression of the view from the DSG. We can expect a comparable or larger price tag for the DSG, which is due to begin to be assembled in the mid-2020s, assuming that NASA can get its heavy-lift Space Launch System ready in time despite a precarious funding situation. Orbits The DSG derives its name because its position beyond the deepest part of Earth's gravity well, the strongest part of the Earth's gravity field, which means you need less energy to launch a mission from there. That makes it a great staging post for departure of human expeditions to the lunar surface and more distant destinations such as Mars. It could also act as a receiving facility for initial examination (and quarantine, for planetary protection purposes) of samples brought back from Mars or other bodies. A NASA Orion craft brings a crew to the Deep Space Gateway in lunar orbit (artists impression). Credit: NASA Unlike the ISS, the DSG would not be continuously inhabited. Current plans call for one annual 42-day visit by a four-member crew, at first. When unoccupied, instruments on the DSG could continue to collect useful scientific data, especially when close to the moon. It won't be placed into a low lunar orbit, but into special points in space such as where the gravitational attraction between the Earth and moon are balanced. This allows it to follow a "near rectilinear halo orbit" (see video below). From the moon's point of view, the DSG would repeatedly sweep low over one pole, offering great opportunities for scientific measurements. At other times the DSG may sit further from the moon, in a halo orbit about a position on the moon-Earth line known as the L Lagrange point. The balance of gravitational forces here makes it possible to "park" a spacecraft to make observations. However, these orbits are only quasi-stable, so some adjustments would be necessary to maintain the DSG in these configurations without floating away elsewhere. The Canadian Space Agency has suggested the use of a solar sail to do most of the work, rather than using thruster fuel. I think that is a great idea, because solar sails, which get a push from radiation pressure, have not yet been trialled adequately to test their potential so this is an opportunity to assess how to best work them. Apart from their use in manoeuvring around the solar system, solar sails may one day propel probes to the nearest stars. The Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit and other animations. The competition The DSG is all still a very long way from reality. However it is a logical next step after the ISS and any long-term multinational cooperative enterprise in space has to be a good thing, given the bickering between nations going on down here on Earth. It may not lead us very quickly to Mars though government-funded projects are often cash-strapped, meaning the plans could lag behind private enterprise efforts such as Elon Musk and his super-heavy-lift Interplanetary Transport System, or BFR. This is only Musk's first step. Speaking at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, he revealed his own ambitious plans for a lunar base followed by rockets to Mars by 2022. Whichever way it comes about, it would surely be inspiring to see astronauts travelling beyond low Earth orbit again. A refurbishable platform such as the DSG somewhere near the moon would offer many ways to study both the moon (personally I'd like to mount an X-ray spectrometer on the DSG to map the distribution of the chemical elements across the lunar surface) and the interaction between Earth and the sun. Possible orbits for the Deep Space Gateway, L1 and L2 are gravitationally special Lagrange points. Credit: ESA, CC BY-SA This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Chatbots need a personality. But what type? Credit: Hadrian/Shutterstock In the future, humans will interact more and more with automated help. Whether it's smart home hardware or chatbots, digital interfaces and virtual assistants rely on conversation for interaction and instruction. The designers of such systems must confront questions regarding the platform's voice or the bot's personality in other words, how to find the right balance between friendliness and impersonality, humour and seriousness, pleasure and friction. This is an issue I touched on in a recent article that showcases some recent theories about the trend towards leisure and play as culturally organising forces in wealthy, western democracies. This trend has led to distinctive sets of conditions for service industry labour, whether the help is digital or human. What is tone? When conversation is the medium through which interactions take place, tone is arguably the defining element that determines character, and therefore brand identity. Apple's voice assistant Siri is already known for its sass. Tone is notoriously tricky to define. In the field of literary criticism, efforts have ranged from I. A. Richard's straightforward notion of a speaker's "attitude to his listener", to Sianne Ngai's more recent interpretation, which emphasises the importance of feeling and mood. After World War II, America had great success exporting its customer-friendly service culture across the world. People in wealthy democracies increasingly expect service with a smile, a cheerful disposition, and a can-do attitude. These expectations are no different in the world of automated help. The teams of writers that work Google's various digital helpers aim to construct an "easygoing, friendly" personality through automatically generated dialogue in response to user queries. Humour and a sense of fun is a key element in the transactions on which service industry labour depends. However, expectations of constant humour and playfulness have the potential to create peculiar hybrids of the fun and the unfun. When 'zany' falls down The relationship between service industry labour, customer friendliness and the complexity and limitations of human emotions is compellingly illustrated in director Ben Stiller's 1996 film The Cable Guy. Professor of English Sianne Ngai refers to the movie as an example of zaniness in her work on minor aesthetic categories. Unlike the beautiful, which provokes more straightforwardly positive responses, the zany is an aesthetic category characterised by feelings that are ambivalent and not always agreeable. In this film, Chip Douglas (played by Jim Carrey), a self-employed cable installer, is recommended to the protagonist, Steven M. Kovacs (Matthew Broderick), and offers a great deal on illegal cable. Douglas' work combines two elements: the interpersonal skills required as he enters the domestic environments to install and repair cable for his clients, and the abstract, impersonal cable network itself. The film dramatises the potential misreadings between the anonymity we desire as clients or customers in such a context, and the emphasis on friendliness and personal intimacy, which increasingly characterise the delivery of services. The example of Douglas illustrates what happens when there is a mismatch between an upbeat tone, and the typical stresses and ennui that come with the demands and routine of work. Ngai identifies this volatile combination of the fun and the "unfun" in the context of work as a key feature of the zany. Ngai's characterises Douglas as a "living version of Facebook", who works fervently and fails spectacularly to keep Kovacs connected to friends and emotionally upbeat. This is very relevant to recent developments in digital help. Digital zaniness The designers and engineers of digital help face interesting questions regarding how they negotiate the balance between superhuman ambitions and the inevitable imperfections that accompany technology. The emphasis on fun, easygoing attitudes, relentless positivity and a limitless capacity to perform is an ideal context for zaniness to thrive. In addition to knowing everything and making daily transactions seamlessly convenient, there is a growing expectation for bots to be a perpetual Christmas cracker, delivering punchline after punchline. David Chen's experiment asking Google Home to tell him jokes for 15 minutes straight seems to herald a grim sub-genre, where interactions with digital help reflect some of the less beneficial aspects of human psychology. There is no strategy more likely to deaden the impact of humour than insisting on or inviting its use as the standard lubrication for interactions. The more bite-sized rhetorical manoeuvres, such as the quip, can very quickly become an unfunny routine, particularly if they are delivered in the broader context of interactive assistance. The ease with which we can access massive amounts of diverse knowledge in networked culture has already created its own peculiar conventions and psycho-social phenomena. If "Google it" becomes a phrase used in the context of generating humour as much as trivial knowledge, then we can expect both humour and the world to change as a consequence. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Future 'fossil'. Credit: University of Leicester The significant scale of human impact on our planet has changed the course of Earth history, an international team of scientists led by the University of Leicester has suggested. The researchers suggest that a multitude of human impacts have changed the course of Earth's geological history, and the scale of these justifies developing a formal proposal that the Anthropocene - a concept improvised by the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Paul Crutzen in 2000 - should be made part of the Geological Time Scale. Rapid changes to the planet include acceleration of rates of erosion and sedimentation; large-scale chemical perturbations to the cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and other elements; the inception of significant change to global climate and sea level; and biotic changes including unprecedented levels of species invasions across the Earth. This is a summary of the findings and interim recommendations of the international working group that has been studying the Anthropocene since 2009. Initially reported to the 2016 International Geological Congress at Cape Town, South Africa, the findings and recommendations have just been published online in the journal Anthropocene. Professor Jan Zalasiewicz from the University of Leicester's School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, said: "Our findings suggest that the Anthropocene should follow on from the Holocene Epoch that has seen 11.7 thousand years of relative environmental stability, since the retreat of the last Ice Age, as we enter a more unstable and rapidly evolving phase of our planet's history." Professor Mark Williams, from the University of Leicester's School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, said: "Geologically, the mid-20th century represents the most sensible level for the beginning of the Anthropocene - as it brought in large global changes to many of the Earth's fundamental chemical cycles, such as those of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, and also very large amounts of novel materials such as plastics, concrete and aluminium, which will help build the strata of the future." The Anthropocene Working Group - which includes University of Leicester geologists Jan Zalasiewicz, Mark Williams and honorary chair, Colin Waters, and archaeologist Matt Edgeworth - has been active since 2009, analysing the case for formalisation of the Anthropocene, a potential new epoch of geological time dominated by human impact on the Earth. Professor Waters said: "The Anthropocene Working Group is now working on such a proposal, based upon finding a 'golden spike' - a reference level within recent strata somewhere in the world that will best characterize the changes of the Anthropocene. Once this detailed work is completed, it will be submitted for scrutiny by the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy of the International Commission on Stratigraphy. "There is no guarantee of the success of this process - the Geological Time Scale is meant to be stable, and is not easily changed. Whatever decision is ultimately made, the geological reality of the Anthropocene is now clear." More information: Jan Zalasiewicz et al, The Working Group on the Anthropocene: Summary of evidence and interim recommendations, Anthropocene (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.ancene.2017.09.001 An audio interview about changes to the Earth with Professors Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams is available here: https://soundcloud.com/university-of-leicester/the-earths-technosphere-shows-how-we-are-permanently-reshaping-our-planet The Supreme Court is leaving in place lower court rulings against internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom and others associated with his now defunct file-sharing website Megaupload. The Supreme Court said Monday it would not take a case in which a lower court ordered the forfeiture of bank accounts, cars, and a property in New Zealand linked to the group. U.S. authorities shut down Megaupload in 2012 and filed charges against Dotcom and several colleagues, alleging they conspired to commit copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering. Two years later, officials moved to have assets forfeited that the government said were proceeds of the alleged conspiracy. Courts found that Dotcom, who lives in New Zealand, and others were fugitives avoiding prosecution in the United States and ordered the assets forfeited. 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Examples of fungi isolated from seeds in a burial experiment at Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Credit: Carolina Sarmiento/STRI A team led by Smithsonian scientists in Panama exposed a key to understanding tropical tree diversity by studying how fungi interact with seeds that linger in the ground. Despite a smorgasbord of species available to choose from, tropical fungi and seeds are picky about associating with one another. Early pairings with a particular fungus may influence whether a seed survives and also may help explain how tropical forests remain so diverse. "Depending on the species of the seed it pairs with, a fungus might kill the seed, hamper its development or, on the contrary, aid its germination," said Carolina Sarmiento, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute fellow and lead author of the new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. These species-specific outcomes are surprising because many of the fungi isolated in the study can colonize various plant species, each with its own chemical and physical seed defenses. "We don't know yet why fungi behave differently depending on the seed species they infect, but these responses are crucial to understanding their survival and growth in tropical forests." To demystify how fungi interact with tropical seeds, Sarmiento and her colleagues buried thousands of seeds from nine native tree species in a variety of forest plots on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. They dug up the seeds after periods underground ranging from a month to a year. After sterilizing the outer surfaces, they cut the seeds in half. They placed one half in a culture tube to isolate any fungi that might have invaded the seed tissue and processed the other half to see if the tiny plant embryo was still alive. Researcher Carolina Sarmiento checks on seeds inoculated with fungi to learn how the fungi impact germination. Credit: Geetha Iyer/STRI The team processed more than 8,300 seeds and isolated 1,460 fungi, identifying more than 200 distinct fungal strains. Each of the nine plant species attracted a distinct community of fungi, despite different amounts of time underground, varying soil types, and even different forest surroundings. The filtering effect of plant specieseven as a seedupon the types of fungi that it attracts provides important insights into the elusive mystery of how tropical forest diversity persists. In the tropics, numerous species grow in close proximity but any individual species is widely scattered and locally rare. Scientists hypothesize that this pattern of diversity might be maintained by specialized pathogens, pests or predators of a host species, which make the local neighborhood hostile to more of its own kind while favoring the growth of unrelated species. "As the density of individuals of a single species increases, diseases are more likely to spread from one individual to another," explained senior author A. Elizabeth Arnold, professor at the University of Arizona. "Most work in this area has focused on seedlings and saplings of tropical trees, but what happens to seeds is less well known." Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow Paul-Camilo Zalamea recovers seeds buried in the forest of Barro Colorado Island, Panama, to study the fungi that might have colonized them. Credit: Rodrigo Arangua/AFP Following up on their results, the researchers inoculated fresh seeds from seven study species with fungal strains isolated during the burial experiment. They germinated the new seeds in a greenhouse, and confirmed that the fungi affected seed mortality and germination in a species-specific manner. "One fascinating result was that if a fungus had a pathogenic effect on one plant species, it was likely to have the opposite effect on another," said coauthor Paul-Camilo Zalamea, a Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow. Project investigator James Dalling, professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, said, "By beneficially affecting some species while keeping others from regenerating, fungi may be the ultimate arbiters of the struggle for existence in tropical forests." More information: Carolina Sarmiento el al., "Soilborne fungi have host affinity and host-specific effects on seed germination and survival in a lowland tropical forest," PNAS (2017). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1706324114 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences This Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017 photo provided by GeoHazards Divison, Vanuatu Meteorological and GeoHazards Department, shows an aerial view of the volcanic cone that has formed in Lake Vui near the summit of Ambae Island, Vanuatu. The evacuation of the Vanuatu island was continuing on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 even after scientists said an erupting volcano had stabilized. A makeshift fleet of vessels ranging from large landing craft to tiny water taxis was moving thousands of people from Ambae island to other nearby islands in the Pacific archipelago. (Brad Scott/GeoHazards Divison, VMGD via AP) The evacuation of a Vanuatu island was continuing on Monday even after scientists said an erupting volcano had stabilized. A makeshift fleet of vessels ranging from tiny water taxis to large landing craft was moving thousands of people from Ambae island to nearby islands in the Pacific archipelago. Vanuatu officials last week ordered the complete evacuation of the island's 11,000 residents, fearing the Manaro volcano might blow in a major eruption. But Brad Scott, a New Zealand volcanologist who is helping in Vanuatu, said the volcano had stabilized over the last few days. He said lava is continuing to erupt from Manaro but is no longer interacting with water as it was in the volcano's earlier and more explosive stage. Government spokesman Hilaire Bule said the latest scientific information it had received was that the volcano was stable and no longer a threat. But he said government ministers would need to meet and agree to lift the evacuation order before the exodus would be stopped or reversed. He said ferries and commercial ships were helping move people from the island and most should have left by Monday. He said about 7,000 people were making the 100-kilometer (60-mile) ocean trip to the island of Espiritu Santo, another 3,000 were being transferred to Pentecost island and about 1,000 to Maewo island. This Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, thermal image shows volcanic vents on the cone that has formed in Lake Vui on Ambae Island. The evacuation of the Vanuatu island was continuing on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 even after scientists said an erupting volcano had stabilized. A makeshift fleet of vessels ranging from large landing craft to tiny water taxis was moving thousands of people from Ambae island to other nearby islands in the Pacific archipelago. (Brad Scott/GeoHazards Divison, VMGD via AP) Ambae resident Lilian Garae said she, her husband and three children were at home packing after being told they would be moved at 6 a.m. Tuesday to Maewo. She said they would have to leave behind their animals, including a pig and three cows, as well as books and belongings. She said they had no family on Maewo. "I'm worried about walking away from the village and the animals and everything in our homes, because we are just leaving them behind," she said. Garae said the volcano was no longer making the booming noises it had last week and was emitting less steam and ash. She said officials had told her she needed to be prepared to leave for two or three weeks. The ash could be smelled in the air and was polluting water supplies, said Joe Cropp, a spokesman with the International Federation of the Red Cross who has been helping on Ambae. In this Sept. 30, 2017 photo, provided by GeoHazards Divison, Vanuatu Meteorological and GeoHazards Department, an aerial view of the volcanic cone that has formed in Lake Vui near the summit of Ambae Island, Vanuatu. The evacuation of the Vanuatu island was continuing on Monday, Oct. 2, even after scientists said an erupting volcano had stabilized. A makeshift fleet of vessels ranging from large landing craft to tiny water taxis was moving thousands of people from Ambae island to other nearby islands in the Pacific archipelago.(Brad Scott/GeoHazards Divison, VMGD via AP) He said people were leaving with what they could carry and making the half-day boat journey, in some cases with 400 others in the military-style landing vessels and at other times with just a couple of dozen others in the zipping water taxis. He said the evacuation seemed to be progressing well, although some people were afraid of what awaited them on the other islands. He said on Espiritu Santo, people were being housed in churches, schools and tents. "Their main fear is they won't be able to return home," he said. The government has deployed about 100 police officers to Ambae to prevent looting, and Cropp said they had a noticeable but low-key presence there. This Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017 photo provided by GeoHazards Divison, Vanuatu Meteorological and GeoHazards Department, shows an aerial view of the volcanic cone that has formed in Lake Vui near the summit of Ambae Island, Vanuatu. The evacuation of the Vanuatu island was continuing on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 even after scientists said an erupting volcano had stabilized. A makeshift fleet of vessels ranging from large landing craft to tiny water taxis was moving thousands of people from Ambae island to other nearby islands in the Pacific archipelago. (Brad Scott/GeoHazards Divison, VMGD via AP) Cropp said most people on Ambae live a subsistence lifestyle by farming and fishing, and few own cars to traverse the dirt roads. Many people live in tin or thatch huts, he said, with perhaps one brick building per village. Vanuatu's government says the evacuation will be completed by Friday and has set aside 200 million vatu ($1.9 million) for the effort. Other countries including Australia and New Zealand are contributing money and supplies. Ambae island is about 400 square kilometers (154 square miles) and has long been volcanically active. A previous eruption in 2005 forced about 3,300 residents to temporarily leave their homes and relocate elsewhere on the island. Ambae is one of about 65 inhabited islands in Vanuatu, which is home to 280,000 people. The nation is prone to natural disasters, with a half-dozen active volcanoes as well as regular cyclones and earthquakes. It sits on the Pacific's "Ring of Fire," the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanoes are common. This Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, photo provided by GeoHazards Divison, Vanuatu Meteorological and GeoHazards Department, shows an aerial view of the volcanic cone that has formed in Lake Vui near the summit of Ambae Island, Vanuatu. The evacuation of the Vanuatu island was continuing on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 even after scientists said an erupting volcano had stabilized. A makeshift fleet of vessels ranging from large landing craft to tiny water taxis was moving thousands of people from Ambae island to other nearby islands in the Pacific archipelago. (Brad Scott/GeoHazards Divison, VMGD via AP) This Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, thermal image shows volcanic vents on the cone that has formed in Lake Vui on Ambae Island. The evacuation of the Vanuatu island was continuing on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017 even after scientists said an erupting volcano had stabilized. A makeshift fleet of vessels ranging from large landing craft to tiny water taxis was moving thousands of people from Ambae island to other nearby islands in the Pacific archipelago.(Brad Scott/GeoHazards Divison, VMGD via AP) 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. JAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ Pundi X, a blockchain startup that aims to make cryptocurrencies an enabler of ubiquitous cashless payment environments across South East Asia, has unveiled the Pundi X POS (Point of Sale) smart device to enable shops, cafes and convenience stores to sell cryptocurrency to a broad cross section of general consumers who would otherwise have little or no access to cryptocurrency. Pundi X POS device installed in retail outlets will enable consumers to quickly and easily buy or sell cryptocurrency using fiat money (Dollars, Rupiah, Baht etc.), bank card, mobile wallet or Pundi X Pass. The purchased cryptocurrency can be stored in a digital wallet or used to make cashless payments to top up phones, pay utility bills or buy goods. When making cashless payments using cryptocurrency, the cryptocurrency is exchanged back to fiat money in real time before buying goods, making the conversion process seamless for the user. Pundi X builds on the existing Pundi-Pundi business model of cashless payment systems launched early 2017, which uses smart phones to scan QR codes and make instant payments in retail and restaurant outlets, and which has already signed up more than 100,000 registered users and over 500 merchant partners in Jakarta. Weve demonstrated the demand for cashless transactions with our Pundi-Pundi QR app which is now established as one of the biggest in Indonesia, following the Alipay model, said Zac Cheah, CEO of Pundi X. Now we are well placed to build on our extensive user base and relationships with leading partners to take cashless transactions to the next level by bringing cryptocurrencies to the average consumer. Less than 1% of the global population owns cryptocurrency despite its tremendous potential because the purchasing process is far too convoluted for the man or woman in the street, added Cheah. Now the mission for Pundi X is to make buying cryptocurrency as easy as buying a bottle of water by providing universal access, anytime, anywhere. Unlike markets such as China where Alipay and WeChat Pay set the standard, cashless payments in Indonesia have been slow to take off in part, because of a low level of just 23% bank account ownership and limited mobile digital payment penetration in a market where consumer purchases are still largely cash-based and offline. Pundi X will fuel its growth with money raised through the issuance of native blockchain tokens in an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) that stands out from other candidates in a crowded marketplace because it already has a track record of successfully building the Pundi-Pundi cashless mobile payment business in just twelve months in a previously under-serviced high volume, mass market sector. The success of the companys business is based on partnerships with leading retailers and restaurant chains including NU Cash, the fintech payment app belonging to one of the worlds largest religious organizations with a membership of 100 million, and Bulog Pay, a cooperative with 25,000 local convenience stores across Indonesia. Pundi X plans to launch services with both NU Cash and Bulog Pay in Q1 2018 that will enable Pundi X to connect with this extensive community. Project implementation will be handled through a partnership with E2Pay, a fintech services provider with close to 20 years experience in payments processing, that provides access to payment gateway technology, as well as to financial institutions and large communities of potential new users. Pundi X has reached an agreement with E2Pay (PT E2Pay Global Utama) earlier this week to integrate Pundi X Tokens (PXS) into traditional financial institutions and to make it available to the mass population of Indonesia. PXS is the gas that will fuel the upcoming ICO and enable participating shops, cafes and convenience stores to sell cash-free both cryptocurrency and goods. Pundi X is aiming to be present in 100,000 stores in cities across Indonesia, the rest of South East Asia and around the world, giving over 100 million users access to buy cryptocurrency at their nearest shops, cafes, or convenience stores. About Pundi X Pundi X is a blockchain startup that aims to make cryptocurrency an enabler of ubiquitous cashless payment environments across South East Asia and beyond. Pundi X POS (Point of Sale) enables shops, cafes and convenience stores to sell cryptocurrency to a broad cross section of general consumers and builds on the success of Pundi-Pundi which is one of Indonesias most popular QR code cashless payment apps. The launch of Pundi X POS is a stepping stone towards an ICO in late 2017 that will provide funding for as many as 100,000 Pundi X POS devices to be installed over the next three years across all target markets. Other Point of sale news: We typically spend more than 2 hours each night dreaming. Scientists dont know much about how or why we dream. Sigmund Freud, who greatly influenced the field of psychology, believed dreaming was a safety valve for unconscious desires. Only after 1953, when researchers first described REM in sleeping infants, did scientists begin to carefully study sleep and dreaming. They soon realized that the strange, illogical experiences we call dreams almost always occur during REM sleep. While most mammals and birds show signs of REM sleep, reptiles and other cold-blooded animals do not. REM sleep begins with signals from an area at the base of the brain called the pons. These signals travel to a brain region called the thalamus, which relays them to the cerebral cortex the outer layer of the brain that is responsible for learning, thinking, and organizing information. The pons also sends signals that shut off neurons in the spinal cord, causing temporary paralysis of the limb muscles. If something interferes with this paralysis, people will begin to physically act out their dreams a rare, dangerous problem called REM sleep behavior disorder. A person dreaming about a ball game, for example, may run headlong into furniture or blindly strike someone sleeping nearby while trying to catch a ball in the dream. REM sleep stimulates the brain regions used in learning. This may be important for normal brain development during infancy, which would explain why infants spend much more time in REM sleep than adults. Like deep sleep, REM sleep is associated with increased production of proteins. One study found that REM sleep affects learning of certain mental skills. People taught a skill and then deprived of non-REM sleep could recall what they had learned after sleeping, while people deprived of REM sleep could not. Some scientists believe dreams are the cortexss attempt to find meaning in the random signals that it receives during REM sleep. The cortex is the part of the brain that interprets and organizes information from the environment during consciousness. It may be that, given random signals from the pons during REM sleep, the cortex tries to interpret these signals as well, creating a story out of fragmented brain activity. As part of the 13th five-year plan of China, the government has made it clear of its determination and support for renewable energy to curb the pollution issue in the country. With limits being placed on coal fired generation, there is an increasing importance of green energy such as wind-powered generation. Across eight provinces in China, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and National Energy Administration (NEA) has introduced a minimum utilisation hours. The central government is serious about enforcing the policy and has issued red alerts to six provinces, which will ban new capacities until their curtailment issues are resolved. In addition, 13 ultra-high-voltage (UHV) lines were built by the government as a solution to lowering curtailment. These developments will show the importance of wind powered energy in Chinas government policy and infrastructure plan. In terms of the worries and confusion in regards to the green certificate scheme and feed-in tariff (FIT) cut, analysts from Maybank Kim Eng Research (MBKE) believe that the concerns are misplaced. Green certificate scheme is similar to Australias carbon trading scheme and should improve the cash flows of the wind power companies. FIT cut is aimed at lower the curtailment of solar energy, which has little to do with wind energy. Overall, the central governments policies are favourable for wind energy and there are hard quotas for provincial governments to meet. This can also be seen with the deployment of Ezions rigs to facilitate faster building of offshore wind mills in China. 1. Huaneng Renewables Corporation (958:HK) Huaneng Renewables Corporation (HNR) is the top buy as it is the best proxy to the wind energy segment. Majority of its power comes from Zone 4 which has the lowest curtailment and highest utilisation rate. The group is estimated to deliver an internal rate of return (IRR) of 12% to 14%. Based on price-earnings ratio (P/E) of MBKEs three recommended stocks, HNR is the cheapest but with the strongest fundamentals. Story continues MBKE believes that the shares of HNR is currently trading at a discount due to unfounded worries about the green certificate scheme and curtailment issues. However, improvements have been seen from the curtailment and growth is expected in utilisation hours for 2H17. HNR counts Fidelity and Value Partners as one of its major shareholders. Value Partners is a notable value investing fund manager in Asia. Analysts from Maybank Kim Eng Research gave Huaneng Renewables Corporate (958:HK) a Buy call with a target price of HK$3.30. 2. China Datang Renewable (1798:HK) China Datang Renewable (DTR) claimed the top spot for having the highest curtailment among the three stocks covered in this article with 21.2% in 2016. However, it is believed that DTR has gone past its worst and have since dropped to 19.6% in 1H17. New UHV lines are expected to further decrease the curtailment and benefit its plants in Inner Mongolia. Given DTRs high gearing ratio of 315%, it is extremely sensitive to fluctuations in its finance cost. However, it is expected for DTRs gearing ratio to lower in the absence of capital expenditure and supported by higher utilisation hours. Analysts from Maybank Kim Eng Research gave China Datang Renewable (1798:HK) a Buy call with a target price of HK$1.25. 3. China Longyuan Power (916:HK) China Longyuan Power (LY) is Chinas largest and most established wind farm company. At the same time, the group is operating coal-fired power plant as well. New UHV lines in Gansu will benefit LY and help it reduce its high curtailment rate. Concerns about its coal fired business should be reduced as coal prices have since declined from its peak. This will help aid the company in its cost and margin pressure in the segment. However, investors may also view this as a diversification away from wind energy and provide a buffer if the plans for wind energy doesnt materialise as planned. Analysts from Maybank Kim Eng Research gave China Longyuan Power (916:HK) a Buy call with a target price of HK$7.10. By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's detained opposition leader, who is accused of treason by the government of strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen, denied the charges against him on Monday in his first comments since his arrest last month. Kem Sokha, head of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) is accused of trying to overthrow the government with help from the United States and of espionage - charges he denies and says are politically motivated. His arrest last month is part of ongoing efforts by the government to silence political opponents and independent media ahead of a general election next year. Earlier on Monday Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge officer who defected and has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, attacked opposition figures as "rebels in the city" bent on staging a revolution. In a three-page letter posted on his Facebook page on Monday Kem Sokha said that he was seeking positive change in Cambodia through the ballot box and not through revolution as charged. "As the leader of the CNRP and a representative of more than half of the country's population, I always choose changes through elections without violence," he said in the letter. Rights groups say Hun Sen, 65, is determined to extend his rule and dismantle the burgeoning popularity of the CNRP, who have gained from public anger over inequality and cronyism in the country under Hun Sen's rule. The U.S. embassy has rejected any suggestion of interference in politics. Kem Sokha's Sept. 3 arrest sparked condemnation from Western countries, and the CNRP has said about half its members of parliament have fled Cambodia fearing a crackdown. In his letter, Kem Sokha called his arrest unconstitutional and urged supporters not to be intimidated. "Please, the Cambodian people, remember that I am with you. Even though my body is in prison, but nobody can detain my conscience," he said. He called on the international community for help. "Democracy in Cambodia is already at its last breathe," he said. A spokesman from Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) said that Kem Sokha had confessed to the charges against him. (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Toby Chopra) The man who founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) and made it the world's biggest microchip producer in terms of contracts announced Monday he would retire next year. Morris Chang, one of Taiwan's most revered business leaders, worked at US firm Texas Instruments and later headed Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute before founding TSMC in 1987. Often called the "godfather" of Taiwan's semiconductor industry, the 86-year-old developed TSMC, a key Apple supplier, into a giant that recorded sales of $29.4 billion last year. "The past 30-odd years, during which I founded and devoted myself to TSMC, have been an extraordinarily exciting and happy phase of my life," Chang said in a statement. He will hand over the reins to Mark Liu and C.C. Wei, who will become chairman and chief executive officer respectively, when he formally retires after the annual shareholders' meeting in early June next year. "After my retirement, with the continued supervision and support of an essentially unchanged board, and under the dual leadership of Mark and CC, I am confident that TSMC will continue to perform exceptionally," Chang said. Liu and Wei have been the company's co-CEOs since 2013. "After I decided to retire at the beginning of this year, I've gradually formed the decision on the dual leadership system. This is my last and probably the most important contribution to the company," Chang told reporters. Rumours of Chang's retirement surfaced earlier this year after he sustained a minor injury at his Hawaii residence, triggering concerns about the state of his health. Analysts expect Chang's upcoming retirement to have only a limited impact on the company's operations. "There a clear roadmap for TSMC with the next focus on artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, and so his retirement won't worry the market too much," said Mason Lee, an analyst at Taishin Securities Investment Trust. TSMC has continued its expansion in recent years. Last year it signed a deal to build a $3 billion plant in the Chinese city of Nanjing, Taiwan's largest single investment in China. The company also announced last month that it would build an advanced chip-making factory in southern Taiwan. British short-haul carrier Monarch Airlines went bust Monday in the biggest airline failure in Britain, prompting the government to take emergency action to return home 110,000 stranded passengers. Monarch and its holidays business went into administration, with KPMG appointed to oversee the financial chaos that has left nearly 2,000 employees having to find new employment. The airline had been struggling financially for a while and won a cash injection a year ago that allowed it to continue flying and fund growth plans, as the sector faced turbulence from Brexit and terrorism. The UK's Civil Aviation Authority described the events on Monday as "the biggest ever UK airline failure." "All future holidays and flights provided by these companies have been cancelled and are no longer operating," it said. The CAA said that the government had asked it "to support Monarch customers currently abroad to get back to the UK at the end of their holiday at no extra cost to them". Passengers are being flown back from numerous countries, including France, Greece, Israel and Turkey on aircraft leased by the CAA. "I got a text message... to say that the airline had ceased business," Irish graphic designer Aine Cassidy told AFP, after returning on a CAA-chartered flight from Menorca, Spain, to Luton airport, north of London. "I thought it was maybe a joke or a mistake so I did a quick Google and saw that Monarch was in trouble." Among planes being leased were Airbus A320s from Qatar Airways, according to the flight-tracking site Flightradar24. "The handling by the government and the CAA was excellent," said David Banks, who returned to Luton with his wife after spending a week in Menorca. "But, by Monarch, some kind of contact would have been nice." Hundreds of thousands of customers will be affected by Monarch's collapse, most of whom have future bookings, the CAA said. "We are quite upset... we don't know anything. I suppose it's just a waiting game," holidaymaker Desmond Morland told AFP in Cyprus after being told he may face a delay returning to Britain. - 'Biggest peacetime repatriation' - The government said it was overseeing what it described as the biggest repatriation since the end of World War II. "This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK," Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said in a statement. "That is why I have immediately ordered the country's biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded abroad." But the Unite labour union hit back, saying ministers rebuffed requests by Monarch -- Britain's tenth-largest airline according to Euromonitor International -- to provide a bridging loan. "Monarch's workforce has worked tirelessly and loyally, with great sacrifice, to try and turn the airline around in the last year," said Unite official Oliver Richardson. "Their hard work has been undone by a government seemingly content to... allow one of the UK's oldest airlines go into administration." By Monday evening 1,858 of around 2,100 employees at Monarch's airline and tour group had been made redundant, KPMG said. - 'Ryanair's gain ' - Affected parties used social media to get their messages across, mirroring a situation a week ago when Ryanair cancelled thousands of flights as it battles to overcome a shortage of pilots. "Monarch customers in the UK: don't go to the airport. There will be no more Monarch flights," the budget carrier said on Twitter. Meanwhile customer Holly-Rae Copeland tweeted: "Just when you think you've avoided Ryanair's flight cancellations, #monarchairlines go into administration on the day of your flight." Blair Nimmo, a KPMG partner and joint administrator, said "mounting cost pressures and increasingly competitive market conditions in the European short-haul market have contributed to the Monarch Group experiencing a sustained period of trading losses". The collapse of Monarch, headquartered in Luton, was meanwhile "good news" for rival airlines, said ETX Capital analyst Neil Wilson. "Shares in Ryanair and EasyJet both rose... as the market reacted to the news of the demise of Monarch after 50 years in business," Wilson said. burs-bcp-rsc/js A senior US general said Monday that he believed controversial Russian military exercises last month involved "more than 40,000" troops, vastly more than Moscow acknowledged, but the event did not involve a simulated nuclear strike. General Ben Hodges, commander of US ground forces in Europe, said Russia split up the Zapad-2017 (West-2017) drills into smaller events to flout international agreements on reporting military exercises. The Russian defence ministry said the joint drills with Belarus on NATO's eastern flank involved just 12,700 troops and were "strictly defensive" in nature, but the show of strength caused consternation in Poland and the Baltic states, which only broke free of the Kremlin's grip some 25 years ago. "My guess is that there probably were over 40,000 service members in this whole-of-government exercise," Hodges told reporters. He said Moscow broke up the exercises into smaller drills to skirt international protocols allowing foreign observers to inspect events involving more than 13,000 troops. NATO was invited to send observers to so-called visitors' days. "But in fact from a professional military standpoint these were all connected," Hodges said. In the run-up to Zapad, NATO complained about Russian secrecy surrounding the event, warning that Moscow could be hugely underreporting the scale of the exercises. Estonia, Lithuania and Germany all said they thought about 100,000 troops would take part. The war games came with tensions between Russia and NATO at their highest since the Cold War due to the Kremlin's meddling in Ukraine and the US-led alliance bolstering its forces in eastern Europe. The last two editions of Zapad, in 2009 and 2013, involved a simulated nuclear strike against Warsaw according to various officials, though NATO itself has never said this. Hodges said that this time, Russian nuclear drills began after the conclusion of Zapad. "I did not see in the scenario what I had seen before, where the scenario starts off with nuclear strike on a Western city," he said. The exercises also involved a display of Russia's "powerful, sophisticated" electronic warfare techniques, the US general added, without giving further details. (PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore) UPDATE: This article has been edited to reflect the amendments made in the post on President Halimah Yacobs Facebook page. President Halimah Yacob will be moving out of her HDB flat in Yishun so as to better ensure her safety and security, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday (2 October). While Halimah had stated that she wished to continue living in her jumbo unit at Yishun Avenue 4, this was subject to security considerations, said MHA in a press release. Following a careful assessment of the arrangements required, the MHA found that security agencies would face several challenges if she were to continue living in her current home. MHA has therefore strongly advised the President to consider moving to another place, the release said. (The) President has accepted MHAs security recommendation. She will make arrangements to move to a new place soon. Responding to the MHAs statement, Halimah said in a Facebook post that she was grateful for everyones concern with regard to my residential arrangements. MHA has just issued a statement about the security challenges they face if I continue to stay in my current home. Therefore, as much as I would like to continue living in my current home in Yishun, I have accepted MHAs recommendation and will make arrangements to move to a new place soon, she added. Halimah was sworn in as Singapores eighth President on 14 September following a walkover victory in the Presidential Election. Thank you for everyone's concern with regard to my residential arrangements. MHA has just issued a statement that I will Posted by Halimah Yacob on Monday, October 2, 2017 Related stories: Police maintained a tight grip in English-speaking Cameroon on Monday a day after the anglophone minority declared symbolic independence, as the toll from weekend clashes rose to at least 17 dead, according to an unofficial tally. Highways in the anglophone Southwest Region remained blocked or filtered by police checkpoints in the early morning, and in the city of Buea the streets were virtually deserted and heavily patrolled. Police and troops set up five roadblocks on the vital 70-kilometre (43-mile) road link between Cameroon's economic hub of Douala and Buea, Southwest Region's chief city, an AFP journalist saw. In the rundown Buea district of Mile 17 -- a reputed haven for separatists -- rocks, hurled in demonstrations on Sunday, were strewn in the streets. Police carried out overnight arrests in one of the city's districts, and left with individuals who were in handcuffs, an AFP journalist saw. On social media, pro-independence campaigners reported a wave of raids and arrests, but it was difficult to confirm their claim. Internet access in anglophone region was poor or cut off. - Rising toll - Amnesty International said "at least" 17 people had been killed by security forces in the country's two English-speaking regions, a figure that concurred with a toll given by official sources, who said two Nigerians were among the dead. An earlier tally compiled by AFP put the death toll at seven, who were shot dead by security forces On Sunday, separatists used the October 1 anniversary of the official unification of the English- and French-speaking parts of Cameroon to declare independence for "Ambazonia," the name of the state they want to create. The violence was the culmination of weeks of mounting tension in the Southwest and Northwest Regions -- home to anglophones who account for about a fifth of the West African nation's population of 22 million. English-speakers complain they have suffered decades of economic inequality and social injustice at the hands of the French-speaking majority, especially in education and the judiciary. Most anglophone campaigners want the country to resume a federalist system -- an approach that followed the 1961 unification but was later scrapped in favour of a centralised government run from the capital Yaounde. But a hardline minority is calling for secession. - 'No longer slaves' - The symbolic declaration of independence was made Sunday on social media by Sisiku Ayuk, who describes himself as the "president" of Ambazonia. "We are no longer slaves of Cameroon," he said. "Today we affirm the autonomy of our heritage and our territory." Both federalism and independence are opposed by the country's long-ruling president, 84-year-old Paul Biya. On Sunday, Biya said he condemned "all acts of violence, whatever their source" and urged "dialogue." The European Union has called on all side to refrain from violence and uphold the law, a position echoed on Monday by France, Cameroon's former colonial power. Amnesty International has called on the government to inquire into the deaths. Cameroon was a German colony from 1884 until 1919, when it was split into British- and French- run entities at the end of World War I. Today's anglophone-francophone rift dates back to 1961, when the British-administered Southern Cameroons united with Cameroon after its independence from France in 1960. At least seven people were killed in Cameroon's restive anglophone belt at the weekend as a separatist group made a symbolic declaration of independence. The separatists chose October 1, the anniversary of the official reunification of the anglophone and francophone parts of Cameroon, to declare independence for "Ambazonia", the name of the state they want to create. Since November, the anglophone minority has been protesting against perceived discrimination. The government deployed security forces at the weekend in English-speaking regions, notably Buea in the southwest and Bamenda, the main town in the northwest and a hub of anglophone agitation. Several people were admitted to hospital in Bamenda Sunday after clashes between demonstrators and police, according to a medical source. "At least one person was injured by live fire" in Bamenda, where the situation was "very tense", a source close to the local authorities told AFP. The "security forces had to resort to tear gas and sometimes to shots to disperse the protesters", the source said by telephone. Bamenda residents contacted by AFP reported "shooting" by the security forces without giving further details. - 'Real bullets' - One of the leaders of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), Joshua Osih, told AFP the security forces were "firing real bullets at the protesters" but stressed that he was not a supporter of the secessionist movement. In Ndop, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Bamenda, two people were "shot dead", according to sources, while one was killed in Kumbo on the sidelines of the protests, city mayor Donatus Njong said. Also in Kumbo, three prison inmates were shot and killed trying to escape while security forces were mobilised for the deployments in anglophone regions, a source close to regional authorities said. A young man was shot dead by security forces on Saturday in the southwest town of Kumba, known as a rebellious city since the start of the protests, sparking clashes between security forces and the local population. "They fired at him during a security operation," a nurse who requested anonymity told AFP. The incident was confirmed by a security source and several local residents contacted by phone. Cameroon's long-serving president, 84-year-old Paul Biya, took to social media Sunday to condemn "all acts of violence, no matter where they come from or who is responsible." The European Union called on all sides to be responsible and "respect the rule of law and avoid any act of violence." The crisis provoked by the protests, which was exacerbated at the start of 2017 when internet access was cut for three months, has intensified in recent weeks with the push to symbolically proclaim independence of the English-speaking regions. On September 22, "between 30 and 80,000" people demonstrated across Cameroon's anglophone regions, according to estimates by the International Crisis Group (ICG). - 'No longer slaves' - The symbolic declaration of independence was made Sunday on social media by Sisiku Ayuk, who describes himself as the "president" of Ambazonia. "We are no longer slaves of Cameroon," he said. "Today we affirm the autonomy of our heritage and our territory." Ahead of the declaration, Cameroonian authorities announced a temporary curb on travel and public meetings across the Southwest Region, adding to a curfew in the neighbouring Northwest Region, also English-speaking. Internet access has been disrupted since Friday, according to an AFP journalist, despite government assurances that there would be no cutting of access in the anglophone areas. The majority of Cameroon's 22 million people are French-speaking, while about a fifth are English speakers. The legacy dates back to 1961, when a formerly British entity, Southern Cameroons, united with Cameroon after its independence from France in 1960. The anglophone minority has long complained about disparities in the distribution of Cameroon's oil wealth. Since November, the anglophone minority has been protesting against perceived discrimination especially in education and the judicial system, where they say the French language and traditions are being imposed on them, even though English is one of the country's two official languages. Most anglophone campaigners want the country to resume a federalist system -- an approach that followed the 1961 unification but was later scrapped in favour of a centralised government run from the capital Yaounde. A hardline minority is calling for secession. President Biya opposes any such changes. In Canada, there has been a continuous effort to research AI by academics and scholars over, even throughout the decades where little progress seems to have been made Editors note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here. Its my opinion that Canada, not the U.S., could become a leading artificial intelligence (AI) hub. Singapore would do well to follow its example if it wants to become an AI hub for Asia, a case I have been putting forward. Indeed, Singapore has a chance to do just that, but the window of opportunity wont stay permanently open. Facebook announced this September that it is tapping into Canadas impressive supply of artificial-intelligence talent and expertise by creating a major AI research center in Montreal. Several big recent advances in AI can be traced back to Canadian research labs, and Facebook is hoping that the new lab may help it take advantage of whatever comes next. Meanwhile, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) opened an AI Lab at the University of Montreal in Canada in August. It will focus on developing core algorithms for use in robotics, autonomous driving, translations, and voice and visual recognition. In July, Googles DeepMind artificial intelligence team announced that its first international research lab is coming to the Canadian prairie city of Edmonton, Alberta. But Facebook, Samsung, and Google are just three examples of the calibre of tech companies that have looked to Canada as a seat of the future AI industry. Lots of opportunity I shared these pieces of news with my LinkedIn network, and it generated quite a lot of buzz. Yes, theres lots of opportunity here in Canada, said David Scharbach, Organizer of Toronto Machine Learning Summit. The government announced a Global Skills Visa that allows companies to bring in foreign skilled workers to live in Canada it takes less than two weeks to process I have a large group of PhDs (approx. 150) for work on part-time AI projects. Story continues Also read: e27 discussions, is Artificial Intelligence an existential risk to humanity? Behind the scenes, there has been a long wait for the recent AI boom. As we know, the field went through many ups and downs over the years since the inception of the idea in Alan Turings famous 1950 paper. In Canada, there has been a continuous effort to research AI by academics and scholars over, even throughout the decades where little progress seems to have been made. Canadas education is excellent due to strong competition with the U.S. and boasts strong academic institutions such as McGill University, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, and Universite de Montreal (famous for its work in AI). However, from the perspective of many in Asia, Canada has not historically been seen as the best place to set up a technology-related business. Thats because its neighbor is the U.S. a superpower competitor with a population of 323 million (10 times bigger than Canadas) and the strongest R&D and academic capabilities in the world. Though Canada is doing well, relatively speaking it has struggled to be recognized as a leading player, especially with its small domestic market. In AI, however, Canada has taken a very decisive bet on the future of the field as a game changer and therefore invested early and heavily. Race just getting started The mid-long term plan for Canadas future as an AI hub should be to nurture an openness to foreign talent through its visa program. As of now, it takes two weeks to get a visa as a software engineer. It can also leverage location advantages by building clusters near the U.S.s main cities, particularly those on the East coast such as New York and Boston. (Montreal and Toronto are home to Canadas primary AI hubs.) Its my hope that Singapore can play the same role in Asia as the regions leading AI hub. The good news is that you dont need to be a big country to achieve it. Market access is more important than market size itself, and having a talent pool with R&D capabilities is much more important than a large talent pool per se. - Featured Image Copyright: amarosy / 123RF Stock Photo The post Singapore should look to Canada to become a leading AI hub appeared first on e27. A Sri Lankan court on Monday remanded in custody a Buddhist monk charged with leading a mob which evicted Rohingya refugees, including 16 children, from a UN-protected shelter. A magistrate ordered that Akmeemana Dayarathana be held for a week pending an identification parade in connection with last Tuesday's attack on a refugee centre near Colombo. Police told the court in Mount Lavinia that the monk was a member of an unlawful assembly, obstructed police and caused disaffection among peaceful Buddhists. "Peace-loving Buddhists were shocked to see a saffron-robed monk behaving so badly," a prosecuting police officer told AFP. "We are charging the monk for causing distress to Buddhists." The raid on the refugee centre, which housed 31 Rohingya refugees, was led by Dayarathana's radical Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa (Sinhalese National Force), which uploaded videos of the attack on their Facebook page. Several other people, including monks, were seen on the video urging supporters to destroy the refugee facility. Dozens of men and women led by monks stormed the building and smashed windows and furniture. Police eventually rescued the refugees who had huddled in upstairs rooms. Five men and a woman arrested over the weekend were also remanded in custody until October 9. The government of the Buddhist-majority country has accused the monks of behaving like "animals" during the attack, which left two police officers injured. The refugees arrived in Sri Lanka five months ago after the navy found them drifting in a boat off the north coast. Before that, they had been living in India for several years. More than 800,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar in recent years. While most are in refugee camps in Bangladesh, a sizeable minority have moved to other parts of South Asia. The Rohingya have been the target of decades of state-backed persecution and discrimination in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, where many view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Extremist Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka have close links with ultra-nationalist counterparts in Myanmar. Both have been accused of orchestrating violence against minority Muslims. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has expressed alarm over last Tuesday's attack. Why the 97% climate consensus is important Posted on 2 October 2017 by dana1981, John Cook John Cook is a research assistant professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, researching cognitive science. Sander van der Linden is an Assistant Professor in Social Psychology, Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab and a Fellow of Churchill College. Anthony Leiserowitz is a Research Scientist and Director of the Yale Project on Climate Change at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. Edward Maibach is a University Professor and Director of Masons Center for Climate Change Communication. Unfortunately, humans dont have infinite brain capacity, so no one can become an expert on every subject. But people have found ways to overcome our individual limitations through social intelligence, for example by developing and paying special attention to the consensus of experts. Modern societies have developed entire institutions to distill and communicate expert consensus, ranging from national academies of science to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Assessments of scientific consensus help us tap the collective wisdom of a crowd of experts. In short, people value expert consensus as a guide to help them navigate an increasingly complex and risk-filled world. More generally, consensus is an important process in society. Human cooperation, from small groups to entire nations, requires some degree of consensus, for example on shared goals and the best means to achieve those goals. Indeed, some biologists have argued that human societies are unable to function without consensus. Neurological evidence even suggests that when people learn that they are in agreement with experts, reward signals are produced in the brain. Importantly, establishing consensus in one domain (e.g. climate science) can serve as a stepping stone to establishing consensus in other domains (e.g. need for climate policy). The value of consensus is well understood by the opponents of climate action, like the fossil fuel industry. In the early 1990s, despite the fact that an international scientific consensus was already forming, the fossil fuel industry invested in misinformation campaigns to confuse the public about the level of scientific agreement that human-caused global warming is happening. As has been well-documented, fossil fuel companies learned this strategy from the tobacco industry, which invested enormous sums in marketing and public relations campaigns to sow doubt in the public mind about the causal link between smoking and lung cancer. However, some academics have recently argued that communicators and educators should not inform the public about the strong scientific consensus on climate change. UK sociologist Warren Pearce and his colleagues recently published a commentary (and corresponding Guardian op-ed) arguing that communicating the scientific consensus is actually counter-productive. John Cook published a reply, which we summarize here. Playing into misinformers hands By the late 1990s, political strategists recognized the importance of perceived scientific consensus. Market researcher Frank Luntz advised Republicans and then-president George W. Bush to cast doubt on expert agreement in order to reduce public support for climate policy. To stall climate policy, he argued, the Bush Administration should seek to convince the public that scientists were still arguing whether climate change is real or human-caused. Evidence Squared podcast on why denialists attack consensus. Luntz was ahead of his time. It was over a decade before social scientists began studying this phenomenon and converged on the same result. A 2011 studyfound that support for climate policy was linked to perceptions about scientific agreement on climate change. This finding has since been independently replicated by other research, as well as randomized experiments conducted in Australia and the United States. Still other research confirmed these results using John Olivers viral TV segment illustrating the issue of false balance to the public. HBOs Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: A Statistically Representative Climate Change Debate. Conversely, telling people that experts disagree was found to decrease their support for environmental policy and other actions, such as vaccinations. To push back against the decades-long disinformation campaign, numerous scientists have made efforts to quantify and communicate the scientific consensus. Meanwhile, disinformers have doubled down on their efforts to confuse the public about the consensus. The commentary by Pearce and company plays into their hands by arguing the climate community should surrender this argument to the misinformers. A misperception of reality In the Guardian, Pearce argued: the public have already heard enough about the scientific evidence to make up their mind, without being fed increasingly esoteric information about levels of scientific agreement valuable media and political attention has been expended on boosting the 97% meme, crowding out deeper conversations about policy framing However, in the United States, only 70% of Americans understand that global warming is happening, and only 58% understand it is human-caused. Further,only 13% of Americans realize the expert consensus on human-caused global warming exceeds 90%. Perceived expert climate consensus across the political spectrum from a nationally representative sample of 200 Americans. Even liberals significantly underestimate the expert consensus on human-caused global warming. Illustration: John Cook Perceived expert climate consensus across the political spectrum from a nationally representative sample of 200 Americans. Even liberals significantly underestimate the expert consensus on human-caused global warming. Illustration: John Cook And multiple empirical studies, conducted in different countries, have found that informing people of the scientific consensus has a small but significant influence on their own subsequent judgements about the reality of human-caused global warming. While discussion about climate policy is urgently needed, establishing and communicating the scientific consensus about human-caused climate change is not a competitor to policy discussion; it is a complement. No one argues that the scientific consensus is the one and only message that needs to be communicated - public responses to climate change are often as complex as society itself. But informing the public about the scientific consensus that the problem actually exists can support the discussion on how to best solve the problem. The argument that we have to choose between debunking the climate policy opponents disinformation about the scientific consensus or engage in meaningful policy dialogue is a false choice. Disinformation about the scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is happening has been used to delay serious conversations about climate policy in the United States and a few other countries. Moreover, the argument that communicators should not talk about a scientific consensus when one exists is deeply troubling. In the history of science, it is relatively rare that such strong agreement emerges about basic scientific facts. When it comes to issues such as the future of our planet, recommending that we withhold this information from the public is unethical. Consensus messaging isnt responsible for climate policy failures American policymakers have struggled to implement national climate policies, but not for lack of policy discussion crowded out by consensus messaging. Click here to read the rest Last Thursday, Democrats and Republicans in the Michigan statehouse unveiled a reform package that could finally banish the Driver Responsibility Fee, a fee attached to traffic tickets that has claimed the licenses of nearly 350,000 drivers for nonpayment. Tom Leonard, the Republican speaker of the Michigan statehouse, introduced a package of bills that would grant amnesty on more than half a billion dollars in debt Michiganders have taken on since the fee was instituted in 2003. As I reported for Slate last Wednesday, the Driver Responsibility Fee is one in a constellation of punitive state policies that have confiscated millions of licenses from the poor for being poor. The fee is a way that Michigan, after punishing debtors with license suspension, binds license suspendees with debt, I wrote. In a state with some of the nations worst urban mass transit, Michigan debtors can find it nearly impossible to hold down their jobs after they lose their licenses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Opponents have long considered the DRF a money grab that had nothing to do with road safety, and in 2014, the state moved to sunset the fees by 2019. But that plan did not address the hundreds of millions in outstanding fee debt that has become more or less permanent for many ex-drivers. Of the $634 million in outstanding DRF debt, stretching over nearly 15 years, the state expects to collect just $20 million next year. Much of the money owed to the state is simply uncollectible, Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said in a statement in support of the reforms. Licenses are suspended when holders fail to pay fines (among other reasons) in nearly every U.S. state, but Michigan has one of the harshest systems, Angela Ciolfi of the Legal Aid Justice Center told the Detroit Free Press last week, in part because the DRF compounds the accumulation of court debt. Michigan also issues mandatory, indefinite license suspensions for anyone with unpaid court debt, with no consideration for the debtors ability to pay. Those policies, which have claimed another 100,000 Michigan drivers licenses, are not under consideration right now but could be in the future, Leonard said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Leonard served as an assistant prosecutor in Genesee County for several years after the fees were enacted. Id see hundreds of individuals every morning buried with these fees, he recalled when we spoke on Monday. Some of them would have $14 or $15,000 in fees, theyd be in tears knowing theyd never be able to obtain a drivers license. The bipartisan packagefour bills from Republicans and three from Democratswould abolish not just the fee but its effects, which fell largely on the backs of the working poor, Leonard said. The bills could pass before the end of the year. Debt forgiveness can be a tricky political sell, given the risk of moral hazard. But in this case, Leonard said, the DRF is so loathed that he has heard support for amnesty even from those who have already paid off their fees. He believes the economic boost to the state of reinstating more than 300,000 drivers licensesand getting those people legally able to work, see friends and family, and pick up their kids from schoolwould far outweigh the foregone revenues. Entrepreneur Robert Herjavec, one of the sharks on ABCs hit Shark Tank, has great advice for small businesses. Advice for Small Business Owners You need to have distinct value, he told Small Business Trends in an interview about his latest project, Small Business Revolution on Main Street. The world is becoming a very noisy place and theres a lot of competition. Dont Reward Mediocrity Herjavec also said the world doesnt reward mediocrity. If youre going to start a small business, you need to be great at something, Herjavec said. Herjavec was also eager to discuss his latest project, a web series called The Small Business Revolution on Main Street, designed to document revitalization of small businesses and the towns in which they are located. Herjavec had some other advice for small businesses he shared during the interview. You really need to know your numbers and you have to have a very clear marketing presence and a brand, he said. Work Together Bristol, Pennsylvania, is the focus of the second season of Small Business Revolution on Main Street. Sponsored by Deluxe, a company providing a variety of small business services, the series brings experts, business and community leaders together, to offer assistance to selected small towns and their business communities. This assistance includes marketing advice, physical improvements and business advice. Shine a Light Amanda Brinkman, a marketing expert at Deluxe Corporation, co-hosts with Herjavec. The Small Business Revolution is a movement where we focus on the importance of shining the spotlight on the small businesses in our communities, Brinkman said. Make an Investment The Small Business Revolution on Main Street was launched to celebrate the Deluxes 100th anniversary. You can nominate a small town for the third season here. Like Wabash, Indiana in Season 1, Bristol got a $500,000 dollar investment from Deluxe as well as help from experts like Herjavec. In addition to his regular appearances on Shark Tank, Herjavec is founder of the Herjavec Group, an information security firm. The acquisition of Sequoia IMS (Internet Marketing Solutions) by Surefire Local is going to bring more advanced internet marketing and SEO solutions to the HVAC industry. Both companies specialize in improving local business performance in todays digital environment. With the expertise from Sequoia IMS, Surefire is going to increase its home improvement market share by adding an expert in HVAC. Surefire is located in Virginia, and Sequoia IMS is based in Pleasant Hill, CA. While they are on opposite sides of the country, both provide solutions to make local businesses more relevant by optimizing their online presence. How Will Small Businesses Benefit From This Acquisition The HVAC industry is dominated by local small businesses. The integration of Surefire and Sequoia is going to give these businesses one source for solutions to capitalize on their digital presence. Surefire offers businesses the ability to control and analyze their local marketing through its single AI data analytics and campaign management cloud based dashboard. Businesses can drive unit economics, increase lead flow, and gain visibility at a single or multiple locations. Sequoias expertise in this sector will bring multi-tier distribution and partnerships with manufacturers, distributors and dealers. So small businesses will see a more efficient marketing effort throughout multiple channels, the company says. We are excited to welcome Sequoias team to Surefire Local, with our combined resources, we will drive even greater results for all of Sequoias clients and welcome more HVAC businesses to Surefire Local, said Chris Marentis, founder and CEO. Mitch Schwartz, CEO of Sequoia, said, This acquisition will instantly give Sequoia the ability to provide world-class brands in the HVAC sector a stronger online presence without missing out on key customer segments. About the Companies Surefire Local serves more than 2,400 local businesses in the fields of home improvement, medical practices, education and retail. The company solves SEO, online advertising, local directory listing, reputation management and drip marketing problems. Sequoia IMS leverages advanced internet technologies and SEO to provide innovative strategies and business solutions. It has 20 years of HVAC marketing experience and counts more than 1,000 HVAC small businesses, dealers, and distributors as customers. Zoho says Cliq is an instant messenger for small businesses but its got more than just IM. The new Cliq is a business chat software that also features file sharing and enables audio and video calls. The ability to collaborate effectively has a great impact on the level of productivity your small business enjoys. And the solution you choose has to deliver in real-time and be comprehensive. Cliq has these two very important features as part of its DNA. Zoho Cliq doesnt just your small business share files and make audio and video calls when needed but also comes integrated with applications you use every day in your workplace. Raju Vegesna, Chief Evangelist at Zoho, told Small Business Trends, Effective communication is crucial in improving overall productivity and therefore, revenue. It should encompass all forms of instant communication, like messaging, file sharing, audio/video calling, etc. What Can Zoho Cliq Do for Small Businesses? In answering this question, Vegesna said, Cliq enables effective communication. Whether you are on the go or working remotely, all your colleagues are a tap away. Small businesses can use it to chat with colleagues, make calls, share files, discuss with groups, share information and more. Having all of these tools under one umbrella is invaluable for small businesses. It means not having to worry about compatibility issues. Cliq is available on mobile and desktop across all the most popular operating systems. But why use Cliq over another IM solution? Vegesna explained, Cliq doesnt work in isolation, it works in the context of business, and it is extendable. With Cliq, you have a wide range of solutions available for your small business that are part of the Zoho ecosystem. And when you are ready to grow, the Zoho cloud platform allows you to extend Cliq for your specific business needs. Cliq also lets your small business create as many public and private channels as needed to collaborate, make company wide announcements and more. And all of your chat conversations can be accessed quickly with Cliqs advanced search. The tool can find any file or piece of text in your chat history in a highly secure environment. Price and Availability Zoho Cliq comes in two different tiers. There is a free version with all the essentials, which is suitable for many small businesses. The paid Unlimited plan is only $3 per user per month for up to 10 users. If you have more than 10 users, the price keeps decreasing. The company says it has one of the simplest pay structures available, and one almost any small business can afford. Cliq is available now on iOS, Android, and Windows mobile platforms, and native desktops for OS X, Ubuntu (64-bit), and Windows (64-bit). What is Zoho? Zoho describes itself as the operating system for business. The company has more than 35 applications designed to run a business entirely from the cloud. Small businesses can get applications for communications, marketing, sales, HR, mail, docs, office and much more. The company serves more than 30 million users across hundreds of thousands of companies in over 200 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Pleasanton, California, and has presence in four countries with 5,000 employees. Carmakers are aware they are being closely watched after Dieselgate, says German Ambassador Joachim Bleicker. Font size: A - | A + The Slovak Spectator spoke to the ambassador also about the labour shortage and how the German investors in Slovakia are responding to it, as well as the migration crisis and how we can prepare if an emergency situation arises again. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The Slovak Spectator (TSS): What is the vision of the EU for the future amongst Germans, and how do you view the role of smaller countries like Slovakia? Joachim Bleicker (JB): For Germans, the EU is our present and future. In order to serve us all, we must make it weather-proof and able to cope with the challenges of globalisation and preserving our European model of a socially oriented market economy and standard of living. Prime Minister Robert Fico is absolutely right when he says Slovakia wants to be in the core. In fact, it is in the core. If you look at the level of integration, youll see that Slovakia is already there. So the question is more if Slovakia will remain in the core. We think it is a very valuable partner and very much needed in shaping the core further. TSS: Foreign ministers Miroslav Lajcak and Sigmar Gabriel have recently signed a memorandum on cooperation between our two countries. Why is this deal important and how can it benefit the countries? JB: It will certainly give new impulses and structure to our cooperation which is already very rich and very good. Both our countries think it would be useful to structure it even better. This new initiative goes back to a proposal PM Fico made when he was in Berlin at the beginning of April on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Treaty of Good Neighbourhood between the former Czechoslovakia and Germany. I was present at the meeting and I saw him make the proposal, as well as the favourable reaction of our chancellor. So now the foreign ministers took it up. As a next step, we intend to prepare an action plan to really connect all the different ideas and initiatives. Hopefully we will sign it next year at the occasion of 25 years of German-Slovak diplomatic relations. TSS: What are, in your opinion, the most outstanding issues that should be part of the action plan? For the third time, there will be the annual festival of visual art in Bratislava Font size: A - | A + More information about travelling in Slovakia Please see our Please see our Spectacular Slovakia travel guide Zuzana Pacakova (31) studied at Sorbonne in Paris and interned at several French exhibition institutions. After she returned to Slovakia, she started organising the White Night art festival. Three years ago, she moved it from Kosice to Bratislava. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement She said she sometimes envies the ability of the Pohoda festival organisers that they can build their own town at the airport. She, on the other hand, has to bring her whole festival to existing structures, persuade officials and companies, and coordinate ships, airplanes, firemen and divers. This means working year round on the festival. White Night in Bratislava takes place on October 7. Sme: You were living in Paris for years dont you miss it? Zuzana Pacakova (ZP): Of course I do. It is a city with an unbelievable atmosphere which cannot compare to Kosice or Bratislava. I miss exhibitions and friends but, on the other hand, I don't miss everyday life spent in the subway and on crowded squares. I am satisfied in Slovakia. Sme: You had a job offer for the Centre Georges Pompidou but instead you returned home. Do you regret your choice? It could have opened the door to another world. ZP: Usually, I don't regret my choices. Everything has its ups and downs. In the seven years I lived in Paris, I worked in several institutions. I could see how professional issues are organised in Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Palais de Tokyo and also in Centre Pompidou. They are all huge giants, machines that sometimes are like banks in their size. I had a splendid experience at these prestigious institutions but I was doing painstaking, small jobs there. The curators there were 50, 60 years old. If I stayed, I would have been just the assistant of an assistant for years, making too many compromises. I wanted to work on my own projects. Sme: You organised the first year of the White Night in a distant form, from Paris wasn't it complicated? ZP: I made the festival in Kosice, in the city where I was born, where I knew every corner and every single room. We organised the first year on a small scale, with local artists the extent and difficulty of the festival can not be compared with today's festival. During summer vacations, I returned home and managed to finish the hardest part of the organisation. Sme: In the first year, vandals destroyed most of the artworks within several hours. Were you discouraged? ZP: We were very disappointed, that is true. We had been working on the artworks for one year, and within a moment they were destroyed. We organised the first year in a very punk and naive way. The works were not guarded, nor insured. After the festival, we tried to educate the public so that people would understand that art should not be stolen, torn from the ground, or kicked. Vandalism is not just a Slovak phenomenon, however also in Paris, some statues were sprayed. We are in a public space, and this has its own specifics. Moreover, people in Slovakia didn't have any previous experience with a similar festival. So we can liken it to a situation in which you come to a gallery for the first time in your life, and you want to touch the artworks. Sme: When you organised this new thing in Kosice, how did the institutions and authorities that needed to approve it react? Did you have problems with them? ZP: It was at a time when the project European Capital of Culture was prepared in Kosice, and such projects were a priority for the city administration, so the approval procedures were simpler. It was worse, though, when we started to organise White Night in Bratislava three years ago. Again, we started from point zero and the rules were uncompromising. Moving from Kosice to Bratislava Sme: Why did you feel the urge to move the festival also to Bratislava? Didn't you prefer to draw Bratislavans to Kosice? ZP: It is very hard to attract them from such a long distance. Moreover, it was advantageous for us from several points of view: we needed to grow, and this was not possible in Kosice anymore be it from the point of spaces or finances. Such a festival is very expensive, and after Kosice ceased to be the European Capital of Culture, they stopped receiving many grants. We have to pay royalties, moving of the artworks, insurance policies, security services, materials, technical devices brought from various places, climbers, divers, scaffolding, a million things. When we wanted to keep pace with other cities which have a White Night abroad, we had to consider which strategy to opt for. In Bratislava, there are more sponsors, more options for financing, we can offer the most expensive artists/artworks in both bratislava and Kosice, but only one third of all artworks are the same in both cities. Sme: How long does it take to prepare the festival every year? ZP: It is a year-long work. We constantly negotiate with artists already now, we have booked some of them for next year's edition. The post-production phase lasts for at least two months after the festival, and then immediately we start to manage new grants, projects, prepare new dramaturgy, search for apt spaces. This lasts for quite a long time and it is a complex process. Sme: Why? ZP: Everyone requires various licenses, permits, and we also have to oblige specifics required by each artist. In Bratislava, we have to coordinate shipping transport, power distributors, structural experts, builders, climbers, scaffolders. In the last phase, these days, around 500 people work at the festival and it is still not enough. Sometimes I envy the Pohoda festival in Trencin that they can build a whole town at the single airport. We have to make the festival in already existing structures, and this is often much more difficult. We have to persuade many people that what we are doing is worth it. In one year, we go through hundreds of meetings with people who don't understand what we explain to them. Sme: How do you remember the atmosphere of White Night in Paris? Do you think you have managed to bring it to Slovakia? ZP: I remember that as a student, I arrived in Paris in September, and a few weeks later, White Night took place it was one of the first events I experienced there. Many talked about it a month earlier, considering it the event of the year. I liked the idea that visual art, which is not as popular as film or music, can bring the whole city outdoors, all generations. I think we managed this also in Slovakia. Sme: In Paris, various galleries are open on White Night. Did you manage in Slovakia to agree with them on this? ZP: Many of them already participate in the programme of this year but it is complicated, that's true. They have to be open all night, and every extra hour is a burden for their budget which is not very big. I think this is largely a financial problem, even though they realise that during White Night they can address a different type of audience than during ordinary opening hours. Ups... and downs Sme: Last year, visitors complained about the enclosed spaces; too many people got packed in some of them. ZP: This is difficult. We charged money for some exhibitions exactly because of this and expected fewer people would come if they had to pay. But the capacities are too small, still, and we cannot blow up the houses to be bigger, and many works have precisely stipulated conditions, that they can be exhibited only in enclosed spaces. They even have the dimensions and type of the room set the width, the height, the depth, often also requiring a room without windows, as the darkness is crucial for them. We had to refuse some artworks, as we were not able to find an ideally apt space for them. For example, we have a great problem with large halls in the centre of Bratislava; there is just the one, the Old Market-hall, and the demand is huge. Sme: You also had to face imitators. ZP: First, I was upset. In Kosice, a White Night was organised in hotels, then on a small train, at a disco. We had the name later patented, as we had to explain to visitors that these are different events that are not part of our dramaturgy. A year ago in Bratislava, the Festival of Light was founded, which took place at a date close to our festival and this is not a fortunate solution. On the other hand, I am happy that various similar events have come to exist, it is just that certain rules should be observed. Sme: I suppose that the name White Night points to the whole city being lit up. ZP: Yes, it is part of the meaning. The event was born at Paris city hall and they did not plan for it to spread across the whole world. In French, nuit blanche also means a night when all the people are in the streets and don't sleep. It is impossible to translate both meanings into other languages. Thus, for some time we had to explain in our context that we are by no means racists. Sme Demolition of four cooling towers of defunct V1 nuclear power plant has started Eight operating cooling towers from the time when both nuclear power stations in Jaslovske Bohunice were generating electricity. (Source: TASR ) Font size: A - | A + The well-known skyline of the nuclear facilities in Jaslovske Bohunice is changing. After Slovakia gradually closed two units of the so-called V1 nuclear power station in Jaslovske Bohunice in 2006 and 2008, their decommissioning is on-going. It is taking place under the helm of the Nuclear and Decommissioning Company (JAVYS), which took over the plant from its original operator, dominant power producer Slovenske Elektrarne. On October 2, JAVYS started dismantling its four cooling towers. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Blasting of the towers was out of the question due to the closeness of the functional neighbouring V2 nuclear power station, explained Miriam Ziakova, spokesperson of JAVYS as cited by the TASR newswire. The 120m-high towers are being demolished by a consortium led by the Italian company DESPE S.p.A. It has 40-years of experience in demolishing, decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The towers should be completely demolished by the end of 2018. The 9 million costs are co-financed from the Bohunice International Decommissioning Support Fund (BIDSF) managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Read also: Read also: Decommissioning costs of V1 nuclear power plant still not fully covered Read more The emptied place will be utilised for industry. The Economy Ministry continues to count on the construction of a new nuclear power station in Jaslovenske Bohunice in the long term. It might replace the V2 nuclear power plant, which continues to be in operation. V1 Nuclear power plant in Bohunice The two blocks of the V1 nuclear power plant with pressurised-water reactors were connected to the power grid in 1978 and 1980. Its twin, the nuclear power station V2, was gradually connected to the grid in 1984 and 1985. Slovakia committed itself to closing and decommissioning the two V1 reactors in 1999, prior to its accession to the EU, even though they were undergoing extensive upgrades that were only completed in 2000. It disconnected them from the grid in 2006 and 2008. The deadline for the end of decommissioning is 2025 while the costs of the complete dismantlement and safe liquidation of the reactors and facilities related to the entire V1 nuclear power plant is estimated to cost 1.1 billion. The speed at which such facilities are decommissioned is driven by minimising radiation doses and the release of radioactive materials, processing public procurement and the monitoring of project implementation. The fourth carmaker in Slovakia has started a massive labour campaign; new workers do not need automotive experiences Alexander Wortberg, operations director of JLR Slovakia in front of the poster with the model Land Rover Discovery. (Source: TASR) Font size: A - | A + This piece has been replaced with a story written by the Spectators staff. The carmaker Jaguar Land Rover Slovakia has officially launched a recruitment campaign to find workers for the brand new plant it is building near Nitra for 1.4 billion. But it is not the only company looking for employees. Other carmakers in Slovakia are looking for new workers, along with the online retailer Amazon building its returns centre in Sered, just about 33 km far from Nitra. The existing carmakers are employing workers from abroad and the fourth car maker is not excluding this type of recruitment either. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The Slovak arm of the British-Indian carmaker is looking for more than 1000 people while it wants to recruit them by March 2018. Around 800 will be operators, who will work in the first shift planned to start at the end of 2018. There are currently around 230 open positions for managers, engineers, technicians, specialists and skilled workers. We are looking for people with a positive attitude; that means automotive or manufacturing experiences are not necessary, said Nicci Cook, HR director at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Slovakia, when introducing the recruitment campaign. The average monthly salary offered to blue collar workers ranges between 900 and 1,800, subject to the position. This is the average monthly income based on a yearly income. It includes a base salary, 13th salary, manufacturing bonus and transport allowance. The carmaker also offers a supplementary pension scheme, life and accident insurance paid by the company as well as bonuses to be provided within a flexible benefit scheme, the so-called cafeteria. Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. operates as a savings and loan holding company for Flagstar Bank, FSB that provides commercial and consumer banking services to consumer, commercial, and government customers in the United States. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Mortgage Originations, and Mortgage Servicing. The Community Banking segment offers various products, such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer and commercial loans, commercial real estate loans, home builder finance loans, and warehouse lines of credit. It also provides other financial services, including consumer and corporate card services, customized treasury management solutions, merchant services, and capital markets services, such as loan syndications, and investment and insurance products and services. This segment serves consumer, business, and mortgage lending customers through its branch banking, business and commercial banking, government banking, and warehouse lending. The Mortgage Originations segment originates, acquires, and sells one-to-four family residential mortgage loans through mortgage branches, call centers, the Internet, and third-party counterparties. The Mortgage Servicing segment offers services and subservices mortgage and other consumer loans; and services loans for its loans held-for-investment and loans held-for-sale portfolios, as well as noninterest-bearing escrow services. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 158 full service banking branches; and mortgages through a wholesale network of brokers and correspondents in 50 states, as well as 83 retail locations and 3 call centers in 28 states. Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Troy, Michigan. Snap Inc. is a social media company operating globally. The company was founded in September 2011 by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy. Originally known as Snapchat, the company changed its name to Snap in order to represent its offerings better as it grew over the years. The companys headquarters are in Santa Monica, California and it is a very tightly held company. The original founders, Evan Speigel and Bobby Murphy own a combined 45% of non-dilutable shares with ownership transferable to the other upon death. The two remain active in the company today serving on the board and acting as CEO (Speigel) and CTO (Murphy). The company was formerly known as Snapchat, Inc. and changed its name to Snap Inc. in September 2016. Snap Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Over the years it has been courted by most of the big tech companies including Facebook and Google but has always opted to remain a standalone company. The business went public in 2017 and raised $30 billion on its opening day which is about 10 times the expected amount. Today, Snap operates as a camera company internationally. The companys main revenue streams are Snapchat, a mobile app for cameras and communications, and Spectacles, a wearable augmented reality device. Snapchat is a camera app that allows users to take pictures and tell stories, the platform also permits ad sales which is an integral part of the revenue and earnings. The companys mission? To empower people to express themselves in todays digital world. Spectacles is a hardware device that can connect with Snapchat to deliver pictures and video from a point-of-view perspective. The company has since made three upgrades to the original version and has a Next Generation model available too. The Next Generation of Spectacles are not intended for sale but will be made available to creators who wish to push the boundaries of video and digital communications. In October 2022 the company reported it had more than 347milion daily active users with more than 250 million engaging with AR each day. The platform had more than 250,000 Lens creators (Lenses are AR experiences) with more than 2.5 million lenses created. There were more than 6 billion lens plays each day and more than 75% of 13-34-year-olds in 20 countries were users. Under Armour, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the developing, marketing, and distributing performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth. The company offers its apparel in compression, fitted, and loose fit types. It also provides footwear products for running, training, basketball, cleated sports, recovery, and outdoor applications. In addition, the company offers accessories, which include gloves, bags, headwear, and sports masks; and digital subscription and advertising services under the MapMyRun and MapMyRide platforms. It primarily offers its products under the UNDER ARMOUR, UA, HEATGEAR, COLDGEAR, HOVR, PROTECT THIS HOUSE, I WILL, UA Logo, ARMOUR FLEECE, and ARMOUR BRA brands. The company sells its products through wholesale channels, including national and regional sporting goods chains, independent and specialty retailers, department store chains, mono-branded Under Armour retail stores, institutional athletic departments, and leagues and teams, as well as independent distributors; and directly to consumers through a network of 422 brand and factory house stores, as well as through e-commerce websites. It operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Under Armour, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The following companies are subsidiares of Lloyds Banking Group: A G Finance Ltd, A.C.L. Ltd, ACL Autolease Holdings Ltd, ADF No.1 Pty Ltd, Addison Social Housing Holdings Ltd, Alex Lawrie Factors Ltd, Alex. 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Group) Nominees Ltd, Lotus Finance Ltd, MBNA, MBNA Direct Ltd, MBNA Europe Finance Ltd, MBNA Europe Holdings Ltd, MBNA General Foundation, MBNA Global Services Ltd, MBNA Indian Services Private Ltd, MBNA Ltd, MBNA R & L S.A.R.L., MBNA Receivables Ltd, Mainsearch Company Ltd, Maritime Leasing (No. 19) Ltd, Membership Services Finance Ltd, Mitre Street Funding S.A.R.L., Molineux RMBS 2016-1 plc, Molineux RMBS Holdings Ltd, Moor Lane Holdings Ltd, NFU Mutual Finance Ltd, NWS Trust Ltd, Nominees (Jersey) Ltd, Nordic Leasing Ltd, Ocean Leasing (July) Ltd, Oystercatcher Nominees Ltd, Oystercatcher Residential Ltd, PIPS Asset Investments Ltd, Pacific Leasing Ltd, Penarth Asset Securitisation Holdings Ltd, Penarth Funding 1 Ltd, Penarth Funding 2 Ltd, Penarth Master Issuer plc, Penarth Receivables Trustee Ltd, Pensions Management (S.W.F.) Ltd, Peony Eastern Leasing Ltd, Peony Leasing Ltd, Peony Western Leasing Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 1) Ltd, Permanent Funding (No. 2) Ltd, Permanent Holdings Ltd, Permanent Master Issuer plc, Permanent Mortgages Trustee Ltd, Permanent PECOH Holdings Ltd, Permanent PECOH Ltd, Perry Nominees Ltd, Prestonfield Investments Ltd, Proton Finance Ltd, R.F. Spencer And Company Ltd, Ranelagh Nominees Ltd, Retail Revival (Burgess Hill) Investments Ltd, SARL Coliseum, SARL Hiram, SAS Compagnie Fonciere De France, SCI Astoria Invest, SCI De LHorloge, SCI Equinoxe, SCI Rambuteau CFF, SW Funding plc, SW No.1 Ltd, SWAMF (GP) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (1) Ltd, SWAMF Nominee (2) Ltd, Saint Michel Holding Company No1, Saint Michel Investment Property, Saint Witz 2 Holding Company No1, Saint Witz 2 Investment Property, Salisbury II Securities 2016 Ltd, Salisbury II-A Securities 2017 Ltd, Salisbury III Securities 2019 DAC, Salisbury Securities 2015 Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 Holdings Ltd, Sandown 2012-2 plc, Sandown Gold 2012-1 Holdings Ltd, Sandown Gold 2012-1 plc, Savban Leasing Ltd, Scotland International Finance B.V., Scottish Widows Administration Services (Nominees) Ltd, Scottish Widows Administration Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Annuities Ltd, Scottish Widows Auto Enrolment Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Europe, Scottish Widows Financial Services Holdings, Scottish Widows Group Ltd, Scottish Widows Industrial Properties Europe B.V., Scottish Widows Ltd, Scottish Widows Pension Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Property Management Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth (ACD) Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Personal Wealth Ltd, Scottish Widows Schroder Wealth Holdings Ltd, Scottish Widows Services Ltd, Scottish Widows Trustees Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Funds Ltd, Scottish Widows Unit Trust Managers Ltd, Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society, Seabreeze Leasing Ltd, Seaspirit Leasing Ltd, Share Dealing Nominees Ltd, Shogun Finance Ltd, Silentdale Ltd, St Andrews Group Ltd, St Andrews Insurance plc, St Andrews Life Assurance plc, St. Marys Court Investments, Standard Property Investment (1987) Ltd, Standard Property Investment Ltd, Sussex County Homes Ltd, Suzuki Financial Services Ltd, Swan Funding 2 Ltd, Syon Securities 2019 DAC, The Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Plc, The British Linen Company Ltd, The Halifax Foundation for Northern Ireland, The Mortgage Business plc, Thistle Financing Holdings Ltd, Thistle Investments (AMC) Ltd, Thistle Investments (ERM) Ltd, Thistle Leasing, Three Copthall Avenue Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (10) Ltd, Tower Hill Property Investments (7) Ltd, Tranquility Leasing Ltd, Trinity Financing plc, UDT Budget Leasing Ltd, UDT Sales Finance Ltd, Uberior (Moorfield) Ltd, Uberior Co-Investments Ltd, Uberior ENA Ltd, Uberior Equity Ltd, Uberior Europe Ltd, Uberior Fund Investments Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments (No.2) Ltd, Uberior Infrastructure Investments Ltd, Uberior Investments Ltd, Uberior Nominees Ltd, Uberior Trading Ltd, Uberior Trustees Ltd, Uberior Ventures Australia Pty Ltd, Uberior Ventures Ltd, United Dominions Leasing Ltd, United Dominions Trust Ltd, Universe The CMI Global Network Fund, Upsaala Ltd, Vine Street IX LP, WCS Ltd, Ward Nominees (Abingdon) Ltd, Ward Nominees (Birmingham) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees (Bristol) Ltd 1, Ward Nominees Ltd 1, Waverley Fund II Investor LLC, Waverley Fund III Investor LLC, Waymark Asset Investments Ltd, West Craigs Ltd, Wetherby II Securities 2018 DAC, Wetherby III Securities 2019 DAC, Wetherby Securities 2017 Ltd, Wood Street Leasing Ltd, and Zurich Insurance Group - UK Workplace Pensions and Savings Business. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Prudential Financial: 210-220 E. 22nd Street SSGA Owner LLC, AIG Edison, AIG Star, AREF Cayman Co Ltd., AREF GP II Pte. Ltd., AREF GP Ltd., ASPF II - Feeder Fund GmbH, ASPF II - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, ASPF II Management GmbH, ASPF III Scots L.P., ASSURANCE, AST Investment Services Inc., Adlerwerke CB Investment LLC, Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Habitat S.A., Administradora de Inversiones Previsionales SpA, Aoba Life Insurance Company, Aoba Life Insurance Company Ltd., Asia Property Fund III GP S.a.r.l., Assurance IQ LLC, Assurance Intelligence LLC, BSC CP LP, Braeloch Holdings Inc., Braeloch Successor Corporation, Brazilian Capital Fund GP Limited, Broad Street Global Advisors LLC, Broome Street Holdings LLC, CB German Retail LLC, CLIS Co. Ltd., COLICO INC., Capital Agricultural Property Services Inc., Chadwick Boulevard Investment Holdings Co. LLC, Cibecue LLC, Coconino LLC, Colico II Inc., Columbus Drive Partners L.P., Commerce Street Holdings LLC, Commerce Street Investments LLC, Coolidge LLC, Coral Reef GP, Coral Reef L.P., Coral Reef Unit Trust, Cottage Street Investments LLC, Cottage Street Orbit Acquisition LLC, DICKENS AVENUE HOLDINGS VI LLC, DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI Ireland L.P., DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI US L.P., Dale/P Minerals Limited Partnership, Don Cesar Investor LLC, Dryden Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Dryden Finance II LLC, EVP II GP S.a r.l., EVP II Horizon GP S.a r.l., EVP II Sprint GP S.a r.l., Edison Place Senior Note LLC, Essex LLC, EuroCore GP S.a r.l., European Value Partners GP S.a.r.l., Everbright PGIM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Flagstaff LLC, GA 1600 Commons LLC, GA 333 Hennepin Investor LLC, GA BV LLC, GA Bay Area GP LLC, GA Bay Area Investor LLC, GA Belden LLC, GA CLARENDON LLC, GA Cal Crossings LLC, GA Collins LLC, GA E. 22nd Street Apartments Holdings LLC, GA East 86 Street LLC, GA JHCII LLC, GA MENLO PARK INVESTOR LLC, GA Manor at Harbour Island LLC, GA Metro LLC, GA TRITON INVESTOR LLC, GA W Paces LLC, GA/MDI 333 Hennepin Associates LLC, GIBRALTAR BSN HOLDINGS SDN BHD, GIBRALTAR INDIA SOLUTIONS LLP, Gateway Holdings II LLC, Gateway Holdings LLC, German Retail Income CP LP, Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, Gibraltar International Insurance Services Company Inc., Gibraltar International Service LLC, Gibraltar Reinsurance Company Ltd., Gibraltar Universal Life Reinsurance Company, Glenealy International Limited, Global Portfolio Strategies Inc., Gold GP Limited, Gold II L.P., Gold L.P., Graham Resources Inc., Graham Royalty Ltd., Green Harvest Asset Management LLC, Green Tree GP, Green Tree L.P., Greenlee LLC, Halsey Street Investments LLC, Hirakata LLC, IVP Fund GP LLC, Impact Investments Bridges UK S.a.r.l, Inter-Atlantic G Fund L.P., Inversiones Previsionales Chile SpA, Inversiones Previsionales Dos SpA, Ironbound Fund LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, Kyarra S.a r.l., Kyoei Annuity Home Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Kyouei Nenkin Home, LINEUP LLC, Lake Street Partners IV L.P., Lotus Reinsurance Company Ltd., MC GA COLLINS HOLDINGS LLC, MC GA COLLINS REALTY LLC, MC Insurance Agency Services LLC, Manor at Harbour Island LLC, Marble Canyon LLC, Maricopa LLC, Market Street Holdings IV LLC, Montana Capital Partners, Morenci LLC, Mulberry Street Holdings LLC, Mulberry Street Investment L.P., Mulberry Street Partners LLC, Mullin TBG Insurance Agency Services LLC, MullinTBG Insurance Agency Services, National Family Assurance Group LLC, New Savanna, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund A LP, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund II - A LP, Orchard Street Acres Inc., PAI Bay Farm LLC, PAI Bayrock Groves LLC, PAI Belvidere Farms LLC, PAI Big Cypress Farm LLC, PAI Corcoran 640 Ranch LLC, PAI DeKalb Farm LLC, PAI Delano 1500 Ranches LLC, PAI Desert Falcon Farms Manager LLC, PAI Flicker Orchard LLC, PAI Good Hope Farm LLC, PAI Hawk Creek Ranch LLC, PAI Hills Valley Ranches LLC, PAI Holly Hill Groves LLC, PAI Hunt Farm LLC, PAI Jackson Bayou Farm LLC, PAI Lake Placid Groves LLC, PAI River Bend Ranches LLC, PAI Wallula Gap Vineyard LLC, PCP V Cayman AIV GP L.P., PEREF II Co-Invest 1 GP S.a r.l., PEREF II GP S.a r.l., PFI EM-Tech Fund I LLC, PG Business Service Co. Ltd, PG Collection Service Co. Ltd., PG Friendly Partners Co. Ltd., PGA Asian Retail Limited, PGA European Limited, PGI Co. Ltd, PGIM AC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM AVP IV GP S.a r.l., PGIM Advisory Shanghai Co. Ltd., PGIM Agricultural Investments GP LLC, PGIM Australia Pty Ltd, PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Fund L.P., PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Partners LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Feeder VI LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Fund VI L.P., PGIM Custom Harvest LLC, PGIM DC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC JV GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC Solutions LLC, PGIM European Financing Limited, PGIM European Services Limited, PGIM Financial Limited, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund II L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives GP LLC, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives II GP LLC, PGIM Foreign Investments Inc., PGIM Holding Company LLC, PGIM Holdings Limited, PGIM Hong Kong Ltd., PGIM INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM INDIA TRUSTEES PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM IRELAND LIMITED, PGIM Inc., PGIM International Financing Inc., PGIM Investments Ireland Limited, PGIM Investments LLC, PGIM Japan Co. Ltd., PGIM Korea Inc., PGIM LTIF Berlin GP S.a r.l., PGIM LTIF Berlin MLP S.ar.l., PGIM LTIF GP S.a.r.l., PGIM Limited, PGIM Loan Originator Manager Limited, PGIM M Campus GP S.a r.l., PGIM Management Partner Limited, PGIM MetaProp Investor LP LLC, PGIM Netherlands B.V., PGIM Overseas Investment Fund Management Shanghai Company Ltd, PGIM Private Capital Ireland Limited, PGIM Private Capital Limited, PGIM Private Placement Investors Inc., PGIM Private Placement Investors L.P., PGIM QUANTITATIVE SOLUTIONS LLC, PGIM REF EUROPE SCSp, PGIM REF Europe GP S.a r.l., PGIM REF Europe Member LLC, PGIM REF Intermediary Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate CD S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Capital VII GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest L.P., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest SCSp, PGIM Real Estate Co-Invest Holdings LLC, PGIM Real Estate Debt GmbH, PGIM Real Estate Finance Holding Company, PGIM Real Estate Finance LLC, PGIM Real Estate France SAS, PGIM Real Estate Germany AG, PGIM Real Estate Global Debt GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Global Master Fund GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles II S de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles S. de R.L. de C.V, PGIM Real Estate Italy S.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Japan Ltd., PGIM Real Estate Loan Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate Luxembourg S.A., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Management Luxembourg S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Mexico S.C., PGIM Real Estate S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate U.S. CORE Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate U.S. Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate UK Limited, PGIM Scots Limited, PGIM Securities Investment Trust Enterprise, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management (Feeder) I LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management Fund I L.P., PGIM Shanghai Company Ltd., PGIM Singapore Pte. Ltd., PGIM Strategic Financing LLC, PGIM Strategic Investments Inc., PGIM Taronga Investor GP LLC, PGIM U.S. Agriculture Fund LP, PGIM USPF VI Manager LLC, PGIM Wadhwani LLP, PGIM Warehouse Inc., PGLH of Delaware Inc., PIFM Holdco LLC, PIIC Limited, PIISC Holdings UK Limited, PIM KF Blocker V Holdings LLC, PIM USPF V Manager LLC, PLA Administradora Industrial SRL, PLA Administradora LLC, PLA Administradora S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional II S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional S.de R.L. de C.V., PLA Co-Investor LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager I LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager II LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Blue LP, PLA Retail Fund I Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LP, PLA Retail Fund II Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II U.S. Carry/Co-Invest LP, PLA Services Manager Mexico LLC, PLAI Limited, PMCF Holdings LLC, PMCF Properties LLC, PPPF General Partner LLP, PR GA SCP Apartments LLC, PRAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP LLP, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP SCOTS FEEDER LLP, PRECO Account IV LLC, PRECO Account Partnership IV LP, PRECO III GP LLP, PREFG Hanwha Manager LLC, PREI Acquisition I Inc., PREI Acquisition II Inc., PREI Acquisition LLC, PREI HYDG LLC, PREI International Inc., PRIAC Property Acquisitions LLC, PRICOA Management Partner Limited, PRISA Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Pooled Manager LLC, PRISA III Fund GP LLC, PRISA III Fund PIM LLC, PRREF Debt Fund Manager LLC, PRREF II Fund Manager LLC, PRU 3XSquare LLC, PRUCO LLC, PRUDENTIAL CAPITAL ENERGY PARTNERS MANAGEMENT (FEEDER) LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP MEMBER LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP REIT LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE 2 LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE LLC, PT PFI Mega Life Insurance, Passaic Fund LLC, Pine Tree GP, Pine Tree L.P., Platinum GP Limited, Platinum II L.P., Platinum L.P., Pramerica Business Consulting Shanghai Company Limited, Pramerica EVP CP LP, Pramerica Financial Asia Headquarters Pte. Ltd., Pramerica Financial Asia Limited, Pramerica Fixed Income Funds Management Limited, Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Pramerica Holdings Ltd, Pramerica Hong Kong Holdings Limited, Pramerica Insurance Agency China Company Ltd., Pramerica Luxembourg CP GP S.a.r.l., Pramerica PRECAP I GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP II GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP III GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP IV GP LLP, Pramerica Pan European Real Estate Scots LP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I Scotland Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital II Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital III Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Limited, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Netherlands GP LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital VI Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Scots CP GP LLP, Preco III Scotland Limited Partnership, Pru 101 Wood LLC, Pru Alpha Partners I LLC, Pru Fixed Income Emerging Markets Partners I LLC, PruVen Capital Partners Fund I L.P., Pruco Assignment Corporation, Pruco Life Insurance Company, Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, Pruco Securities LLC, Prudential 900 Aviation Boulevard LLC, Prudential Affordable Mortgage Company LLC, Prudential Agricultural Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Annuities Distributors Inc., Prudential Annuities Holding Company Inc., Prudential Annuities Inc., Prudential Annuities Information Services & Technology Corporation, Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Universal Company, Prudential Bank & Trust FSB, Prudential Capital Energy Opportunity Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners Management Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Partners Management Fund IV L.P., Prudential Capital and Investment Services LLC, Prudential Chile II SpA, Prudential Chile SpA, Prudential Commercial Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Equity Group LLC, Prudential Financial Inc., Prudential Fixed Income Global Liquidity Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Fixed Income U.S. Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Funding LLC, Prudential General Services of Japan Y.K., Prudential Gibraltar Agency Co. Ltd. Prudential Gibraltar Agency Kabushiki Kaisha, Prudential Global Funding LLC, Prudential Holdings of Japan Inc., Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates LLC, Prudential IBH Holdco Inc., Prudential Impact Investments Mortgage Loans LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Debt LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Equity LLC, Prudential Insurance Agency LLC, Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd., Prudential International Insurance Service Company L.L.C., Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC, Prudential International Investments Company LLC, Prudential International Investments LLC, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, Prudential Japan Holdings LLC, Prudential Legacy Insurance Company of New Jersey, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 1 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 2 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Capital Asset Holding Company LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Funding LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC, Prudential Multifamily Mortgage LLC, Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC, Prudential Newark Realty LLC, Prudential QOZ Investment Fund 1 LLC, Prudential Realty Securities Inc., Prudential Retirement Financial Services Holding LLC, Prudential Retirement Holdings LLC, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, Prudential Securities Secured Financing Corporation, Prudential Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., Prudential Seguros S.A., Prudential Select Strategies LLC, Prudential Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Prudential Structured Settlement Company, Prudential Systems Japan Limited, Prudential Tax Services LLC, Prudential Term Reinsurance Company, Prudential Trust Co. Ltd., Prudential Trust Company, Prudential Universal Reinsurance Company, Prudential Workplace Solutions Group Services LLC, Prudential do Brasil Seguros de Vida S.A., Prudential do Brasil Vida em Grupo S.A., Prudential/TMW Real Estate Group LLC, Pruservicos Participacoes Ltda., QMA JP EM All Cap Equity Partners LLC, Quartzsite LLC, Residential Services Corporation of America LLC, Rio CP LP, Rock European Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock Global Real Estate LLC, Rock Kensington Limited, Rock Marty GP S.a r.l., Rock Oxford S.a r.l., Rock UK Real Estate II S.a.r.l., Rockstone Co. Ltd., Rosado Grande LLC, Ross Avenue Energy Fund Holdings LLC, Ross Avenue Minerals 2012 LLC, SCP Apartments LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERS VI GP LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND VI GP LLC, SHP IV Carried Interest LP, SHP V Carried Interest L.P., SMP Holdings Inc., SVIIT Holdings Inc., Sanei Collection Service Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Sanei Shuuno Service, Senior Housing Partners V LLC, Senior Housing Partnership Fund V LLC, Sterling Private Placement Management LLP, Stetson Street Partners L.P., Strand Investments Limited, TBG Insurance Services Corporation, TENSATOR HOLDINGS LTD, TF Proveedora S.C., TMW ASPF I Verwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, TMW ASPF Management GmbH, TMW Management LLC, TMW Real Estate Group LLC, TMW Realty Advisors LLC, TMW USPF Verwaltungs GmbH, TRGOAG Company Inc., The Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy US Fund GP LLC, The Prudential Assigned Settlement Services Corp., The Prudential Brazilian Capital Fund LP, The Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Prudential Home Mortgage Company Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, The Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd., The Prudential Real Estate Financial Services of America Inc., The WMF Group, Thurloe Commercial Guernsey Limited, USPF V - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, USPF V Carry LLC, USPF V Co-Invest LLC, USPF V Investment LP, United States Property Fund VI GP S.a r.l., VIP Australia Holding Company LLC, VIP Australia Trustee Pty Ltd, Vailsburg Fund LLC, Vantage Casualty Insurance Company, Wabash Avenue Holdings V LLC, Wabash Avenue Partners V L.P., Wadhwani Capital Limited, Waveland Avenue Holdings I LLC, Waveland Avenue Partners I Ireland L.P., Waveland Avenue Partners I US L.P., Wellness Services Ecossistema De Bem Estar Ltda., Wellness Services SRL, Yamato Life, and Yavapai LLC. Read More Recently, in a surprising event, an unexpectedly strong solar storm hit Mars thus creating a sparkling global aurora due to the doubling of radiation levels on the Red Planet. NASA Scientists informed that the solar event took place on September 11 and the sparks created an aurora which was 25 times more bright than any of the previously radiations seen by the MAVEN Orbiter. Since 2014, the MAVEN Orbiter has constantly been studying and analyzing the interaction of Martian atmosphere with the solar winds. Also, the radiation levels produced from the Mars surface was more than double than any other previous radiations as measured by the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) of Curiosity rover since its Mars landing in 2012. The high-level radiations lasted more than two days on the red planet. Elsayed Talaat, a programme scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said that the distributed set of science missions are in right place and right direction for detecting Suns activity and examining the effects and impacts of such never seen before solar events on Mars. The most astonishing thing is that this type of vigorous solar activity is happening at such a time when Sun usually remains dormant and quite in its 11-year sunspot and storm-activity cycle. Recently Earth experienced a similar type of solar flares and aurora lights after the Total Solar eclipse. The solar storm event was so big that it was observed from Earth too. Sonal Jain of the University of Colorado Boulders Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, who is also a member of MAVENs Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph instrument team, informed that the current solar cycle has been an odd phase as less activity was observed during its peak time and intense activity was observed recently during the dormant period or the solar minimum. RAD Principal Investigator Don Hassler of the Southwest Research Institute in the US said that they wanted this type of particular big event to as both their missions were designed to study those type of big and never seen before solar events occurring on the red planet. And this detection of the solar storm will definitely improve their understanding of how such solar events affect the whole Martian environment that is from the top of its atmosphere to bottom of its surface. Related: Aliens new face found on the planet Mars: SEE PIC Growing Potato on the Mars is possible, suggests initial study NASA ready to send humans to Mars as six astronauts emerge from Martian environment safely Adaptive Learning IXL Learning Adds Adaptive Spanish Curriculum IXL Learning, a personalized learning program for grades K-12, has launched its first world-language curriculum, IXL Spanish. IXL Spanish is designed to inspire real-life communication by integrating cultural lessons with language learning. After reading a text about physical education in Mexico, for example, students answer questions about what it's like to attend school in the other country. Audio recordings also include 12 different accents, preparing students for communicating with people in the real world. Other features include: Alignment with popular Spanish textbooks and standards from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages; An adaptive curriculum designed to help students master fundamentals so teachers can focus on speaking practice, small-group instruction and more; Practice involving real-world communication scenarios; Concepts broken down into simple components; Opportunity for unlimited practice; and Analytics tools to identify where students are struggling. IXL Spanish covers Spanish I and is designed for students in middle school and high school. "IXL Spanish is no ordinary world language program. It goes beyond the flat, printed page to provide a world of playful, fascinating online material that you can't resist immersing yourself in," said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning, in a prepared statement. "Through IXL, students will develop such proficiency in the fundamentals of Spanish that they'll become second nature. This is true fluency, and it frees learners to have more creative, lively and authentic conversations." JUBA (Reuters) - Rebels in South Sudan killed four soldiers when they attacked a strategic northeastern town to try to push the government out ahead of a resumption of peace talks, a government spokesman said on Monday. The soldiers came under heavy fire on Sunday in Waat town and 14 were also wounded, said Dickson Gatluak Jock, spokesman for Vice President Taban Deng Gai. The town in Eastern Bieh state is on a transit route used by rebels. "Their (the rebels) main aim ... is to regain full control of the strategic town of Waat from our forces before the revitalization process kicks off in Addis Ababa," he told Reuters, adding that the situation remained tense. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after a long civil war. Fresh conflict broke out in late 2013 in which troops loyal to President Salva Kiir fought soldiers loyal to Riek Machar, the vice president he sacked. The fighting divided the country along ethnic lines. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly 4 million people have fled their homes. Regional body, IGAD, said it would start consultations in the Ethiopian capital in October with members of the transitional government of national unity including Machar and General Thomas Cirilo. Rebels are still trying to oust the government from Waat to allow people to return to their homes there, said Lam Paul Gabriel, a spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Army In Opposition, the main rebel force. "Our aim is to push them out of Waat, to make sure our civilians come back and the revitalization forum will find the civilians at home," he said. It was too early to determine casualties among their own forces as fighting continued, he said. (Writing by Clement Uwiringiyimana; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Newsflare Hundreds of bikers gathered for a Remembrance Sunday event in Yorkshire on 13 November. The bikers came together to pay their respects to veterans and those who have died in past conflicts. It was part of the Yorkshire Ride of Remembrance, which is an event held annually from a bikers cafe near Sherburn-in-Elmet. The event is held at the Squires Bikers Cafe Bar by volunteers who help raise money for good causes. A two-minute silence was held at 11am with one biker playing The Last Post on his bugle, before over 400 bikes, tricycles and scooters proceeded out in convoy to Hemingbrough in Selby, where a church remembrance service was held. The route was 'L plate' (learner biker)-friendly, to allow non-experienced riders to take part too. By Raya Jalabi ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iran deployed a dozen tanks supported by artillery at its border with Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Monday, a Kurdish official said, adding that the move was a dangerous escalation in the crisis triggered by Iraqi Kurdistan's independence vote. "The tanks can be seen from the Kurdish side," an official from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) security council told Reuters, adding that the move was a "dangerous escalation." Iraqs Kurds overwhelmingly voted for independence in a referendum held one week ago, defying the central government in Baghdad as well as neighbouring Turkey and Iran, which fear Kurdish separatism within their own borders. The deployment at the Parviz Khan border point on Monday was part of joint military drills conducted by the Iranian and the Iraqi armed forces in response to the referendum, state media in Tehran said. The exercises began last Sunday, according to Iran's Mehr news agency. The KRG says it plans to use the referendum's result as a mandate to negotiate the peaceful secession of the Kurdish region through talks with Baghdad. KRG President Masoud Barzani said on Monday it was legitimate to hold the vote in the Kurdish areas, including in the multi-ethnic oil city of Kirkuk, also claimed by Baghdad. "Kirkuk is a Kurdistani city which should become an example for the coexistence of nations and religions," he said during a visit to Kirkuk. But Baghdad has rejected any talks with the KRG over independence. It demanded that the KRG relinquish control over its external border crossings with Turkey, Iran and Syria. It also demanded the KRG hand over its airports to federal control. When the KRG turned down those demands, Iraq's central government imposed a ban on international flights to and from the region's two international airports on Friday. The interior ministry said on Monday foreigners stranded in the Kurdish region by the ban would be allowed to exit through Baghdad's airport without having to wait for an Iraqi visa. Many nationalities, especially westerners, were allowed into the KRG without a visa. Baghdad gained the support of Cairo's al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni Muslim learning, on Monday. It issued a statement "rejecting invitations to divide Iraq." Al-Azhar's position could help Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a Shi'ite, rally some support among Iraq's large Sunni minority against the Kurds, who are also largely Sunni. In another effort to present the government as inclusive for all Iraqis, including Kurds, state TV announced on Monday that it will be broadcasting a daily news bulletin in Kurdish. Iraq's defence ministry said on Friday the Iraqi authorities planned to take control of the borders of its autonomous Kurdistan region "in coordination" with Iran and Turkey. The statement did not give details. Nor did it indicate whether Iraqi forces would move towards the border posts controlled by the KRG from the Iranian and Turkish side, or set up checkpoints in the vicinity of these posts in order to control the crossings. Iranian state television on Saturday quoted a military spokesman as saying Iran and Iraq "agreed on measures to establish border security and receive Iraqi forces that are to be stationed at border posts". "We have always respected our borders with our neighbours and any (military) move will be in coordination with Baghdad and our allies," a senior Iranian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Iran has vowed to stand alongside Baghdad in the fallout following the referendum. Allowing Iraq to seize border posts from Kurdish control would further cement Iran's stance to renounce dealings with the Kurdistan region in favour of the central government in Baghdad. Backed by Ankara and Tehran, the Iraqi government has demanded that the Kurdish leadership cancel the result of the referendum or face the prospect of sanctions, international isolation and possibly a military intervention. A small Iraqi force is also deployed on the Turkish side of the border as part of joint drills with the Turkish army. Iran's military chief, General Mohammad Baqeri, met Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar in Tehran on Monday. "Iran and Turkey share the same stance on the referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan and both insist on the sovereignty of Iraq," Baqeri was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA after his meeting with Akar. "The armed forces of both countries will increase cooperation in training and war games," he was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli, Bozorgmehr Sharafeddin and Parisa Hafezi. Writing by Raya Jalabi.; Editing by Larry King) Newsflare At least 80 climate activists gathered at Nantes airport, France, yesterday and took a nap on the floor to denounce the impact of the aerial traffic. Residents and activists complain about the risks posed to the environment along with noise pollution. A curfew from midnight to 6 am was enacted in the city, but people claim to have counted hundreds of violations in the last few months. Activists now want a curfew lasting from 11 pm to 7 am. The footage shows demonstrators wearing pajamas and holding teddy bears while sleeping at the airport. TASHKENT (Reuters) - Uzbek dissident writer Nurulloh Muhammad Raufkhon said on Monday that anti-government propaganda charges against him were a mistake and he hoped to be cleared by an impartial probe. Raufkhon, 62, forced into exile after publishing a book critical of strongman leader Islam Karimov, last week became the first prominent dissident to return to the Central Asian nation since Karimov's death in September 2016. Police detained Raufkhon on arrival on Sept. 27 from Turkey and said he had been charged with calling for an unconstitutional change of the state order and spreading materials threatening public security. He was led away from the airport in handcuffs and underwent questioning the same day. The authorities released him from jail on Sunday, but said the charges were still being investigated. "The charges I face, spreading anti-government propaganda, I think it is a mistake," Raufkhon said in an interview with Reuters at his home. "The idea raised in my book is about abiding by the constitution and I urged (the authorities) not to act against the constitution. I talked about mistakes in policies and tried to say what was wrong." Raufkhon said an impartial review of his book would show "there is nothing against the state" in it. "I'm hoping for the best," he said. Raufkhon decided to return to the former Soviet republic after Karimov's successor, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered some 16,000 people, including the writer, struck off a security blacklist of potential extremists and dissidents in August. Mirziyoyev has also taken steps to liberalise other policies, moving to ease restrictions on travel and foreign exchange, as he seeks to improve ties with the West and attract foreign investment. (Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Richard Balmforth) A woman says shes been fired after her body positive shoot with her fiance went viral [Photo: Facebook/Wolf & Rose Photography] A plus-size woman whose stunning boudoir shoot with her fiance took the Internet by storm has reportedly been sacked from her job because of it. Last month we shared the story of the couple whose empowering body positive photoshoot had gone viral, thanks to the couples obvious body confidence and touching chemistry. Stephanie and Arryn (who prefer for their surnames not to be revealed) wanted to take part in a loved-up boudoir photoshoot as a special way of marking their recent engagement. But after the images were posted to the Wolf & Rose Facebook page, the duo found themselves becoming Internet sensations thanks to the shoots palpable celebration of body love. Sadly though, as well as receiving hundreds of lovely comments from fans thanking the couple for their inspiring message about body positivity, the shoot has had another, less favourable, outcome. Stephanie, who is also reportedly pregnant, has revealed that her employer, Austin Bank Texas N.A., told her they were concerned about how many people would see her photos and how it would reflect on the company, and as a result she has allegedly lost her job. Stephanie says the shoot boosted her body confidence [Photo: Facebook/Wolf & Rose Photography] They said I was topless, and it was inappropriate and were a family-oriented company, Stephanie told BuzzFeed. There was no defending myself, they had made their decision, Stephanie continued. I gave over a year to a company that I worked really hard for and then to have them turn on me for doing something so positive, something that I was so proud of to help myself as a woman it was hurtful. People were pulling out their phones at work and showing the pictures and that was blamed on me. A bank representative told Yahoo Lifestyle that the companys HR policy doesnt allow them to comment on personnel matters. However, the story has been garnering attention on social media with some fans unhappy that such a positive story has ended on a sour note. Stephanie is reportedly pregnant [Photo: Facebook/Wolf & Rose Photography] The photographer who took the stunning images, Bria Terry of Wolf & Rose, has also taken to social media to offer her support to the couple. Story continues I completely understand that it is perfectly within the companys rights to terminate someone, she wrote in a Facebook post. Texas is an at will state, and legally her employer did nothing wrong, but I cannot help but wonder how a company who claims to uphold family values can morally terminate an otherwise model employee who is 20+ weeks pregnant with her first child. Their decision not only stripped her of her insurance which is without a doubt a major necessity while pregnant, but also her paid maternity leave. On the upside Bria Terry has also revealed that Stephanie has already landed a new job. Its hard because Stephanie is 20 weeks pregnant and she isnt yet eligible for paid maternity leave or health insurance, she told Yahoo Lifestyle. And despite everything, the mum-to-be has no regrets about taking part in the stunning shoot. Stephanie doesnt regret doing the shoot, Terry continues. She said if it helped even one person feel more confident, it was worth it. Weve reached out to Austin Bank Texas N.A. for comment. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK. Read more from Yahoo Style UK: Fitspo star shares unedited butt image and an important message about body image This plus size model wants you to know that slimmer doesnt always mean healthier or happier Kate Winslet hasnt weighed herself for 12 years, so should we all be ditching the scales? 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 What's next for SD Gov. Kristi Noem as she heads into her second term? GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip The Palestinian prime minister on Monday is set to lead a large delegation of Fatah officials traveling from the West Bank to Gaza in the most ambitious attempt to reconcile with the rival Hamas militant group after a 10-year rift. In a significant concession, Hamas has offered to turn over all governing responsibilities to Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. But key sticking points, primarily Hamas refusal to disarm its powerful military wing, are likely to complicate or even derail the reconciliation efforts in the coming weeks. Hamas won legislative elections in 2006 and the following year seized control of Gaza after overrunning the Fatah-led forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Since then, Abbas Palestinian Authority has governed only in autonomous enclaves of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, while repeated attempts to reconcile with Hamas have failed. Hamas have not held elections since. In previous deals, including one brokered by Egypt in 2011, both sides professed willingness to reconcile, but ultimately balked at giving up power in their respective territories. They agreed in 2014 to form a national reconciliation government, but Hamass shadow government has effectively continued ruling Gaza since. But conditions have changed in recent years. Hamas has been weakened by years of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, international isolation and three devastating wars with Israel. Gaza today is mired in poverty, with unemployment approaching 50 percent and receiving just a few hours of electricity each day. Abbas has also stepped up the pressure, saying he will no longer pay for electricity shipments to Gaza and cutting the salaries of tens of thousands of former civil servants and policemen who have sat idle since the Hamas takeover. With the election of a new leader, Yehiyeh Sinwar, early this year and Egypt offering to ease its blockade, which has largely shuttered the border crossing that serves as Gazas main gateway to the outside world, Hamas now appears ready to deal. On Sunday, Gaza was filled with a mood of optimism. Workers were painting a white fence outside Abbas abandoned official residence, and a Palestinian flag with the government logo was painted on the front door. On a main downtown street, a huge poster of Abbas and Hamdallah hung outside a souvenir store. Welcome to Palestines beating heart: glorious Gaza, it said. In another positive sign, a team of Egyptian mediators arrived and went immediately for meetings with Hamas leadership. It was the first time an Egyptian delegation has visited Gaza since 2007. Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said the sides will continue their talks in Egypt in the coming weeks to work on a final deal. While conditions have ripened, reconciliation could nonetheless be elusive as these committees get down to work. The obstacles may not appear on the first day, but the bats of darkness, those whose interests would be harmed by reconciliation, may try to sabotage it later, said Ibrahim Abrach, a Gaza political analyst. Here is a look at the key obstacles that lie ahead: The Militants: Hamas controls an army of an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 fighters. This militia is a virtual army, armed with rockets, machine guns and mortars, and has no desire to place itself under Abbas command or to give up its battle against Israel. Khalil al-Hayya, a top Hamas leader, said in a statement that the weapon of resistance is outside all equations and was never up for discussion. A top Fatah official, meanwhile, said Abbas will not accept a situation similar to Lebanon where the Hezbollah militant group is the most powerful actor in the country even while a civilian government ostensibly rules. Abbas will not agree to be an ATM machine in Gaza, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal Fatah deliberations. The Workers: After Hamas took control of Gaza, Abbas ordered his roughly 75,000 employees, including teachers, civil servants and security men, to resign. Hamas quickly replaced them with 40,000 of its own loyalists. Until recently, Abbas continued to pay his workers salaries. The future of these rival work forces, and who will remunerate them, is sure to be a sticking point at a time when jobs are hard to come by in Gaza. The Border: Control of the border crossings with Israel and Egypt are a key source of power for Hamas. These crossings determine who and what comes in and out of Gaza. Hamas has used the crossings to smuggle in contraband, assist its supporters and collect taxes. Abbas is likely to insist on control of the borders, and Hamas is unlikely to give up this power base. We want to have full authority over the crossings. Would they give us that? said the Fatah official. In this case they wont know who is coming in and who is going out. The Rival: Abbas archrival, Mohammed Dahlan, has taken an increasingly active and visible role in the reconciliation efforts. Dahlan was Abbas security chief in Gaza. He moved to the West Bank after the Hamas takeover, but was forced into exile after a falling out with Abbas in 2011. Based in the United Arab Emirates, Dahlan has forged good relations with wealthy Gulf countries and accumulated large sums of money to build a power base in Gaza. Over the summer, Hamas announced a separate power-sharing plan with Dahlan that would allow the former strongman to return to Gaza. Hamas says it remains committed to this deal, while Abbas opposes any role for Dahlan. Israel: Israel considers Hamas, which seeks Israels destruction, a terrorist group. After fighting three bloody wars against Hamas and losing hundreds of its citizens to the groups attacks over the years, Israel is unlikely to accept any deal that ushers Hamas into the Palestinian government. Past reconciliation attempts fumbled because of Israeli and international demands for Hamas to disarm, renounce violence and recognize Israels right to exist. A senior Israeli official said those demands will resurface if the reconciliation efforts proceed. He said Israel still considers Hamas to be a ruthless, mass-murdering terrorist organization that is trying to gain international legitimacy without disarming or accepting the international demands. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the government has not officially commented on the reconciliation process. ___ Daraghmeh reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report. A motorcyclist was injured and is in critical condition, and the intersection at Alameda and 2nd Street NW is closed while Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office deputies investigate. Capt. Craig Seviere said just before 3 p.m. a motorcycle and car were in a wreck in the intersection, though details are still being investigating. He said a man on the motorcycle was injured. Seviere said speed appeared to have been a factor and investigators havent determined if alcohol had a role. He didnt know if the motorcyclist was wearing a helmet. Seviere said deputies are diverting traffic in all directions and the area will have closures into Sunday evening. The sheriffs office didnt identify anyone involved in the crash. Formerly blighted and vacant stretches of Central Avenue are coming back to life, thanks to continuing investment by Albuquerques development community. Transformation of Central Avenue is an ongoing, incremental process. In 2015, the Journal reported that an estimated 60 properties or more had undergone radical improvement in the previous decade, either through new construction or major renovations, for those looking to live, work or play along the avenue. At that time, veteran developer Paul Silverman, whose company was behind the four-story Imperial Building Downtown, predicted that up to $2 billion would be invested in the corridors redevelopment over the following 20 years. Youre basically going to see a new city built, he said then and still asserts. Sharing this vision of resuscitating the corridor, other development teams are thinking big, with hotels, apartments, eateries and breweries, and retail spaces. Our main focus is Downtown, because thats where the most need is, said Silverman of future projects now on the drawing boards. Silvermans company, Geltmore LLC, said the success of those projects will be pegged to the controversial Albuquerque Rapid Transit. Its really going to rejuvenate Central, the oldest road in the town, said Silverman, an unabashed fan of transit-oriented development. The progress (along the ART route) already is amazing: new sidewalks, curbs, lighting and fiber optics. He said future construction along Central will be on the order of four-to-six story structures and that rental housing and condos will fare the best. I dont think you could get enough housing into the pipeline fast enough to serve demographic groups like baby boomers, older millenials and students. The city has laid the cornerstone of Centrals revitalization at Innovate ABQ. The collaborative effort includes UNM, Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and various private entities to create an entrepreneurial hub Downtown, housing students, scientists and fledgling businesses in one spot. The first phase, the University of New Mexico Lobo Rainforest Building, officially opened in August. The $35 million mixed-use building is the first of various structures mapped out for the seven-acre campus. A month after opening, Innovate ABQ was awarded a $1 million grant for a business incubator at the old First Baptist Church at Central and Broadway, next door to the Lobo Rainforest building. The renovation project could begin next year. Also nearing completion or breaking ground soon are several projects that blend elements of the live-work-and-play development approach. They include: El Vado Place, an $18 million project, including nearly $3 million from the city of Albuquerque, will open this fall after transforming a long-shuttered Route 66 motor lodge into a boutique motel, event center, amphitheater, the towns second Ponderosa Brewing taproom and food pods. The site at 2500 Central Avenue SW had been fenced off for years, but in January, Palindrome Development, along with Albuquerques Family Housing Development Corp., began construction and restoration projects on the site, including relighting the historic El Vado Motel sign on Central. El Vado Place also will offer market rate and affordable apartments on the upper floors as well as ground-level retail, said Rick Davis of Family Housing Development. Davis said El Vado Places location near the BioPark will create some much-needed buzz that he predicts will be popular with tourists and locals. Its going to make that whole particular area shine a lot better, he said. A public-private partnership in the heart of Downtown called One Central. The $35 million mixed-use development at First and Central is targeting the millenial generation. The 1.28-acre project includes a massive parking garage and a six-story building with 66 apartments and 44,000 square feet of commercial space expected to be done in March. One Centrals Jerry Mosher built on land contributed by the city of Albuquerque, property that formerly housed a parking lot. Within spitting distance of Central, a development planned for Third and Lomas is in the planning stages, according to Scott Throckmorton of Argus Investment Realty. Back in April, an ownership group spearheaded by Argus acquired the old Bank of America building on Roma, which he is upgrading. Slated for development is a three-quarter acre surface parking lot, where Throckmorton envisions a multi-story development that will accommodate a fitness center and restaurants on the ground floor to capture the courthouse lunch and after-work crowds. Office space is planned for the second floor, and Throckmorton still is researching the viability of a residential component he earlier announced. Throckmorton said the development could be a $15-20 million project and will probably break ground in 2018. The historic 505 Central, which recently opened. Architect Mark Baker, owner of the 58,000-square-foot building, said he has leased 21 of 34 apartments. The apartments range from 384 to 876 square feet and make up the top two floors of the three-story building at Fifth and Central. Rent is between $650 and $1,400, utilities included. Baker said most of the occupants are young professionals. Baker told the Journal he is in the final stages of negotiations for a restaurant and that two tech startup companies are bidding for the corner suite. Baker finalized his purchase from Roger Cox and Associates last November for $1.45 million. I fell in love with the building as an architect, Baker said. And I felt a change of wind coming in Downtown and wanted to invest in the area, long term. Titan Development is moving forward with phase one of The Highlands, a $95 million mixed-use project along Central across from Presbyterian Hospital. The plan is to transform a down-at-the-heels area into a transit-oriented village with apartments fetching some of the citys highest rents; a Marriott Springhill Suites Hotel; multiple retail establishments, and a food hall on par with those in larger cities. The 11-acre community is being developed in conjunction with Maestas Development Group. Phase one will be the 74-unit Broadstone Highlands, consisting of market-rate studio, one-and two-bedroom apartments. The second phase will bring more apartments along with retail and restaurant areas. Kurt Browning, Titans chief development officer, said construction crews are still doing site work, such as relocating utilities. Hopefully, we will go vertical (on the apartments) in early 2018, he said. Behind a chain-link fence, progress is being made in rebuilding a condominium complex destroyed by arson last winter just days before it was to be completed. The Carlisle will be completed by the end of the year, with a furnished model open on Thanksgiving weekend and with move-ins by February, said developer Kenny Hinkes. Half of the 34 units are pre-sold, said Hinkes, who is partnering with HB Construction on the $9 million project. The unsold units range in price from $259,000 to $375,000. I think the Carlisle 2.0 is a much better project, said Hinkes. Hinkes said urban redevelopment is not for the faint of heart. It takes vision and courage, he said of the infill projects now rising along Central, with its miles of strip shopping and cracked asphalt parking lots. I think theres a lot of opportunity for developers to develop quality spaces along the corridor, including apartment and small retail spaces for things like coffee shops and dry cleaners. He, too, believes the ART project will be a growth catalyst. I think youre going to see little clusters of new development around the ART stations, he said. Indeed, hes considering other opportunities. One at a time, said Hinkes. Im a small guy compared to other developers working in the area. Meeting the demands of downsizing baby boomers moving into projects like the Carlisle but who may still have a lot of stuff may be a bit of conundrum, but another Central Avenue developer has an answer: self-storage. A building permit for $5.3 million has been filed with the city by applicant Pulse Ventures LLC to build a four-story, climate-controlled self-storage facility on a vacant lot at 4100 Central Avenue SE, nearing Morningside Drive. The applicant is connected to the development team behind the nearby Platinum Apartments. The plan is to build the 102,600-square-foot foot facility on the half-acre site. Dear J.T. & Dale: Our boss seems to have checked out. About a year ago, he got a divorce; he was devastated. His wife of 20 years left him for another man. Six months later, he met a younger woman and has been with her constantly. Hes taken more time off for vacation in the past few months than he did in the five years prior. Things are starting to fall apart. Clients are getting upset. When I talk to him about it, he says Ill take care of it, but he doesnt. I hate seeing all our hard work being jeopardized because our boss thinks hes in love. Is it OK to say something? Shelli DALE: First off, lets be happy for him. Theres no need for that cynical thinks hes in love. (In my experience, love has little to do with thinking.) Now, lets strategize about making everyone as happy as the boss. J.T.: Which takes us to this: Yes, you can say something. Just be very careful. You cant blame the new romance. (Its not your business.) BUT, you can blame his work schedule/vacation time as having an impact on the business. You might say something like: In the past four months, weve had an increase in customer complaints by 30 percent, and revenues are down 6 percent. We believe the reduced time youve been in the office is part of the reason. We need to devise a plan to stop the decline of the business. What do you suggest? While you cant tell him to stop what he is doing, you can make it clear that his change in behavior requires a new action plan in the office. DALE: I was right there with you till you got to that part about blaming the problems on his reduced time. Instead, lets offer positive alternatives everybody happy, remember. Heres your chance, Shelli, to suggest some reorganization, starring good old Shelli. Suggest, for instance, that you take over dealing with some of the clients or take on other executive duties. Youll soon need a zippy new title to go along with that, and a new pay grade. Love is a beautiful thing, so lets spread it around. Dear J.T. & Dale: I just found out that I make more than my co-worker. She has been here for two years, and I just started. She was stressed one day and said, This isnt worth the $20/hour they pay me. Im getting $25. As a guy, I feel bad because I think equal pay is important. I have two sisters. I want to say something, but then shell tell my boss and Ill get in trouble for discussing my pay rate. Suggestions? Marlon J.T.: Its so good to hear your concern about equal pay. Its a huge problem, and your sisters are lucky to have a brother who understands. That said, you cant tell your co-worker what you make. Every employee is different. You dont know how her performance is viewed by the company; perhaps her attitude or quality of work isnt up to their standards. You could be seen as a more accomplished employee based on what you bring to the table. DALE: There is, however, the chance that she is underpaid because she failed to negotiate her pay when joining the company, or that she has failed to refresh her knowledge of her market value. Because youve just been in the job market, you might be able to help. Youd start by engaging her in a discussion of pay rates at similar companies, or asking her about pay raises at your firm. J.T.: You say, I was wondering, whats the process here for earning a raise? This will help you know whether shes even thought about asking for one. If she says she doesnt know, then you can say: I just started, so its too soon for me, but youve been here awhile. Maybe youre eligible? DALE: That gets the conversation started, and perhaps you can help her to see that she has options if not with the current company, then with a more enlightened one elsewhere. Jeanine J.T. Tanner ODonnell is a professional development specialist and the founder of the consulting firm jtodonnell. Dale Dauten resolves employment and other business disputes as a mediator with AgreementHouse.com. Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via email, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803. (c) 2017 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Rio Bravo Brewing, 1912 2nd NW, celebrated its second anniversary on Sept. 22, and it came with the addition of a new partnership. The Burger Stand, a Taos-based restaurant group, opened its doors, renting a roughly 800-square-foot space in the Rio Bravo Brewing Co. building. The partnership between the two entities is symbiotic, said Denise Baker, co-owner of Rio Bravo. The Burger Stand comes with an ordering counter, but all seating is in Rio Bravo Brewing. The bar offers full service. Customers can order at the bar, and the server they are our servers go and get the food and bring it back, said Baker. The joining of the two companies happened almost by chance. One of The Burger Stand partners, Bobby Joe Grubb, works for Peoples Bank and was having a meeting in the Rio Bravo Brewing meeting room. Afterwards, he asked Baker for a tour. The next week he brought his Burger Stand partner, Robert Krauss to see the space. The two companies began talking, and the partnership was born. The Burger Stand partners are originally from Kansas, said Baker, but theyve gone to great lengths to New Mexico-ize their menu, Baker said. The simple menu of burgers and sandwiches also has weekly specials and is expanding regularly. The burger kitchen is adding green chile to everything in classic Albuquerque fashion, and customer reviews have been very positive, said Baker. Baker said The Burger Stand was a natural evolution for the brewery. Rio Bravo Brewing is not just a brewery, its a destination. The brewery has meeting space, an outdoor concert area and now foods to go with it. The Burger Stand has two other locations The Burger Stand at Taos Ale House and The Burger Stand at Burro Alley in Santa Fe. It opened its first location in 2009. Moktezu-mart Market A new market has opened in the Bricklight District, near the University, but this one has both local and international flavor. Owner Fidel Gonzalez came to the United States 29 years ago from Mexico City. He moved to New York, as many immigrants do, and began pursuing his dream of being a musician. For 13 years, he lived in New York. Eventually he left the Big Apple and spent over a decade traveling across America, dancing and playing music. He saw much of the country, but one place stuck out: New Mexico. I found that I wanted to settle down and start a family. I fell in love with New Mexico, Gonzalez said. It looked and felt like home. It looked like the places I would go to camp as a child, the places outside of Mexico City. Fidel Gonzalez settled in Albuquerque and quickly decided to begin pursuing all of his passions what he refers to as his Holy Trinity. He has a small recording studio that he uses mostly for his own personal music. He performs Aztec dance at ceremonies and events, and most recently he has found a way to work with his third passion, agriculture. Last Wednesday, Gonzalez held the grand opening party for his new restaurant/grocery concept, Moktezu-mart Market, 1215 Harvard Dr. SE. The opening was a celebration, complete with live bands, food and a blessing done with a traditional Aztec ceremonial dance. The market sells only locally grown, organic food from community farms. Our main goal is to support local agriculture across the state, Gonzalez said. According to Gonzalez, the market will begin by selling produce from farms in the South Valley, but expand to include farms from across the state. The store is divided into three sections, said Gonzalez: a local produce section, a section for produced items like goat cheese, salsa and cookies and a kitchen area for making food such as quesadillas, wraps and burritos. Gonzalez said he wants the Moktezu-mart Market to support the community, take care of the Earth and provide students with fresh, healthy meals. We are going to work in a way to provide good food for students at student prices. Filling Phillys Two years ago, Emilio and Renee Vallejo decided it was time to open their own restaurant. Emilio, from Las Vegas, N.M., has worked around food and retail his whole life and dreamed of opening a taproom or brewery. Renee always wanted her own restaurant. So in October of 2015, the couple decided to combine their dreams and open Filling Phillys at 6904 Menaul NE, across from Coronado Mall. The restaurant serves up the Vallejos special brand of Philly cheesesteak. Vallejos said the two had to take an exhausting trip to Philadelphia to eat as many cheesesteaks as possible for research. Filling Phillys also serves numerous local craft beers on tap. Emilio now said the restaurant has big plans for the future. Its gone well. We are already looking at opening our second location, said Vallejos. The Vallejos are looking at a second location on the West Side to open early next year. The goal is to have three locations open by the end of 2018, with the third being in the University area. The planned expansion is building on the restaurants quick success, according to Vallejos. The first location is doing well, and Filling Phillys has recently been slinging Philly cheesesteaks at various events like the Mac and Cheese Festival, as well as having a grill cart at Albuquerque Isotopes games. Vallejos said breweries that dont serve food have also had the restaurant come over to fill their customers with Phillys. Mtuccis Moderno Mtuccis Moderno, a local Italian restaurant, is expanding once again. The eatery opened its third location in Rio Rancho in January and has now purchased the adjoining suite. The addition amounts to 1,400 square feet of extra space and can accommodate 85 people, according to a news release. The need for more dining space and a private room became apparent within a short time after opening, Mtuccis Restaurants partner John Haas said in the release. Construction on the new space will begin by the end of the month and is scheduled for completion in November. Mtuccis Italian opened its first location in 2013 at Coors and Montano. It opened a second location, Mtuccis Italian Market and Pizzeria, close by in 2015. Its third location, Mtuccis Moderno, is in the Unser Pavilion in Rio Rancho, near Rust Medical Center. Mtuccis also has a full catering service. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal For 17 years, the National Hispanic Cultural Center has worked to accomplish its goal of preserving, promoting and advancing Hispanic culture, arts and humanities. But with national in the name, the center has also been working to become a player at that level. And now it is a leader, especially when attendance is considered. The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs reports that during the last fiscal year, the NHCC campus had 226,793 visitors up from 189,933 in fiscal year 2016 making it the most visited state museum for the first time since its inception. When compared with similar institutions in much larger metropolises, the local Hispanic center which features fine art and sculpture galleries, three theaters, a restaurant, a large plaza for outdoor events and educational and genealogical research components is drawing much larger crowds. According to The Museums Council of New York City, El Museo del Barrios 2016 attendance was about 200,000 visitors. The museum was founded in 1969 and is located on Fifth Avenue at 104th Street in NYC. In recent years, that museum has flourished. A few years ago, the museum slashed its days of operation and instituted layoffs and furloughs because of financial problems. In Chicago, both the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture and the National Museum of Mexican Art saw attendance gains in 2016. But they attracted just 25,000 and 165,000 visitors, respectively. And at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, Calif., attendance in its gallery grew by 3,000 in 2016 to a total of 44,331 visitors. The NHCCs profile as a resource is rising nationally as well, with outreach going well beyond the states borders. Our goal is to collaborate with other museums, said Rebecca Avitia, NHCC executive director. Our delay in collaborating wasnt until our realization that we are a player on the national level. For instance, Tey Marianna Nunn, visual arts program director, is curating artist Luis Tapias upcoming solo exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago on Oct. 27. Avitia said the collaboration on this exhibit makes perfect sense because Tapia is a New Mexico artist. The museum is looking to our expertise for the curation of the exhibit, she said. Were really proud to be a full-fledged colleague on this level. Were hoping to reach the next level. The NHCC has collaborated with the with National Museum of Mexican Art in the past, when The House on Mango Street: Artists Interpret Community opened in April 2016. The NHCC was the second institution to display the exhibit, which now tours nationwide. It was curated by Cesario Moreno, who is the director of visual arts and chief curator at the National Museum of Mexican Art. With interest in Hispanic and Latino culture growing on a national level, Avitia said the time is right for the NHCC to focus on stability for the center. We need to shore up our approach to earned revenue and expand the base of our donors, she said. Avitia credits the NHCC staff for the recent gains. Without exception, every employee here carries the equivalent of four positions, she said. We dont have the luxury of a year to plan anything. Its certainly been difficult, but we feel like weve arrived on the national scene. Looking forward, Avitia wants to find ways to collaborate more with the other museums having similar mission within Hispanic culture. There will be a shift, Avitia said. We dont want to duplicate. In order to get to the next level and the transition to stabilize, everything has to be deliberate. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal For six years, La Promesa Early Learning Centers former assistant business manager allegedly diverted nearly half a million dollars from the school into her personal bank account and deposited about $177,000 worth of questionable checks. Like all state charter schools, La Promesa was audited annually by an independent firm a process organized by the New Mexico Public Education Department. But the alleged fraud and embezzlement were not detected until a vendor called the Office of the State Auditors confidential hotline in April to report a suspicious tax form. So how did years of alleged financial misconduct get past the audits? State Auditor Tim Keller told the Journal that the problems at La Promesa are part of a larger pattern. This isnt just about one instance, the state needs to do a whole lot more supporting and overseeing of our education dollars to protect them from fraud, waste and abuse, Keller said in an emailed statement. Over the last several years, weve urged the Public Education Department to step up oversight and provide the training and support our schools need to succeed. Unfortunately, by the time the Department stepped in at La Promesa, nearly $700,000 was already gone. PED spokeswoman Lida Alikhani countered that PED prioritizes quality financial management within all New Mexico public schools. Thats why we conduct annual audits and rely on independent external auditors that are approved by Tim Kellers office to take the lead in these audits and provide us with the correct information to ensure proper financial management, she said in a statement. During this administration the Public Education Department has worked diligently to improve financial performance within schools across New Mexico by stepping up oversight and providing better training and support. Keller said the annual audits are not as exhaustive as forensic audits, which are used to uncover fraud and require special expertise. PEDs independent auditors look at a random sampling of a schools financial documents to find fraud, they would have to get lucky and review documents that reveal the misconduct, Keller said. For instance, if the auditors pulled out a document that looked suspicious, they could flag possible fraud. Keller noted that annual audits have uncovered fraud in other districts. Another potential obstacle: School staff could falsify documents to throw the auditors off track. (School) management is responsible for providing information to the auditors, Keller said. If management literally fakes information like false invoices, things of this nature, you would never know that unless you subpoenaed bank accounts and things like that. Thats what a forensic audit does. Keller said New Mexico has many high-performing, fiscally responsible charter schools, but PED needs to exercise more oversight throughout the year because annual audits cant catch every problem. I think the best thing that would be helpful is if we had confidence in the accountability and transparency that PED was providing for our charter schools, Keller said. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that PED will receive a $22 million federal grant for its charter school system. Part of the funding will support efforts to improve the fiscal and organizational performance of the charter school sector, according to grant documents. For example: PED will use a portion of the grant funds to partner with national authorizing experts and state authorizers to strengthen the quality of charter authorizing practices, particularly financial oversight. The group will develop a set of charter authorizing standards by the end of 2018. The grant proposal includes funding to provide technical assistance and share best practices for financial and organizational management. PED also has taken steps to boost oversight independent from the grant: PED has posted a job opening for a charter school data and financial analyst, a new position to enhance oversight. PED also increased school board training requirements this year. Specifically, new board members must now get two hours of training on financial oversight, within seven hours of total training, from PED before they can cast votes. Additionally, all board members must annually get three hours of financial training from a qualified provider approved by PED. Under state law, about 2 percent of a schools costs can be withheld to help cover the cost of oversight and other administrative support to the school. That money, roughly $18.5 million over a recent five-year period, should be used effectively to oversee charter schools, Keller said. In August, Keller released a report calling for New Mexico do a better job of tracking these funds. Alikhani described Keller as a politician looking for cheap headlines. One of our top priorities will always be to ensure that classroom spending is used properly and well-accounted for, she said in a statement. Thats why we provide regular training to districts and charters in developing their budgets including in an annual training session each year as districts and charters prepare for the upcoming school year. And when districts and charters need help or guidance in managing their budgets effectively, we are always happy to assist in any way we can. Longtime disagreement Keller and PED have sparred over charter school oversight for some time. In March 2016, Keller sent then-Education Secretary Hanna Skandera a letter warning that millions of dollars of funds are potentially at risk and schools are susceptible to fraud, waste and abuse. He noted that fiscal year 2015 audits uncovered 195 findings at the roughly 60 state charter schools, including procurement violations, overspending, lack of sound accounting practices and payroll deficiencies. Many of these findings were repeated from previous fiscal years and have continued to go unaddressed, he said. When the fiscal year 2016 PED audit was released, Keller wrote another letter to Skandera, stating that he remained concerned regarding the adequacy of the Departments support and oversight of charter schools. Keller noted that the overall number of audit findings had decreased to 178 in fiscal year 2016 and recognized that PED was addressing problems at a number of schools, but he said PED should do more to prevent issues. Paul Aguilar, PED deputy secretary for finance and operations, told the Journal in a February 2017 interview that charter school management had improved during Skanderas tenure. We are confident next year we will have fewer findings and still fewer the next year, he said. Management problem The revelations about La Promesa Early Learning Center have put charter school management back in the spotlight. Earlier this month, Keller issued a report outlining extensive fiscal mismanagement at the K-8 state charter school on Albuquerques West Side. According to Kellers investigation, Julieanne Maestas, La Promesas former assistant business manager, diverted more than $475,000 from La Promesa into her personal bank account from June 2010 to July 2016. In addition, she deposited about $177,000 worth of checks that were payable to the former executive director her mother, Albuquerque Public Schools board member Analee Maestas as well as to her boyfriend, who was a school maintenance vendor. The Office of the State Auditor discovered the nearly $700,000 in questionable transactions after a La Promesa vendor called the offices confidential hotline saying a 1099 tax form he received from the school showed $7,128 in checks having been written to him and endorsed by persons other than myself. The vendor said hed never received the money and the work he supposedly did had never been performed. Issues with La Promesas finances first arose in February 2016 after the school submitted a suspicious receipt to the New Mexico Public Education Department for reimbursement. Analee Maestas claimed the $342.40 invoice was for carpet cleaning at the school, but it appeared to have been written over, and the cleaning company reported that it actually worked on ducts at her home. She has denied any wrongdoing. She has also said she did not know about the alleged $700,000 embezzlement and blamed her daughters substance abuse problems. Analee and Julieanne Maestas left their positions at La Promesa in September 2016. Last week, Attorney General Hector Balderas called for Analee Maestas to resign from the APS board. Her attorney said she is innocent and has no plans to step down. Journal staff writer Dan McKay contributed to this report. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal More than 20 percent of suicides in New Mexico in 2014 were committed by veterans of the U.S. military, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The state has one of the highest rates of veteran suicide in the country 59.8 per 100,000 people, compared with 38.4 nationally. According to the data, 91 New Mexican veterans committed suicide in 2014. Most of them were veterans ages 55 to 74. Sonja Brown, acting associate director of the VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, said the majority of those suicides are by those not in the care of the VA, something VA Secretary David Shulkin has said is a nationwide trend. We know that of the 20 suicides a day that we reported last year (nationally), 14 are not under VA care, Shulkin said in a news release on the data. Brown said that means the agency needs the communitys help in meeting the problem head-on. That may be in the form of spreading awareness of the signs of suicidal thoughts or the existence of the Veterans Crisis Hotline. If theres someone who knows of a veteran that may be in crisis, we encourage them to reach out and encourage the veteran to reach out, she said. It should be noted that New Mexico also had the third-highest overall suicide rate in the country in 2014, according to the VAs new data, at 27.5 deaths per 100,000 people. The overall national suicide rate is also on the rise. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide rate among all American adults increased by 24 percent between 1999 and 2014, adjusted for age. In New Mexico, as in every state, the rate of veteran suicide was significantly higher than that of the nonveteran population. Christina Comacho, a suicide prevention case manager at Albuquerques Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center, said New Mexicos rural nature is a challenge for some veterans who may need help. Lack of transportation, the ability to take time off of work, or money to afford transportation may prevent patients from reaching appointments. A lot of times when Im talking to veterans, we base a game plan around that: What are the barriers to you coming in? Comacho said. States in the Western region of the country were found to have higher veteran suicide rates than others. Rajeev Ramchand, senior behavioral scientist at RAND Corp., said in addition to the rurality of those states, the number of firearms owned there may also contribute. Theres even some evidence that as state firearms laws change, theres a decrease in firearms suicide, Ramchand said. In New Mexico, 67 percent of veteran suicides were committed using firearms, 17 percent higher than the country as a whole. Ramchand said the VA is making worthwhile efforts to educate at-risk veterans on proper firearm storage and, in some cases, encouraging them to temporarily remove them from their homes. He also commended the VAs efforts to increase the use of telemental health services, especially in rural areas, but said there have been legal issues involving licensure that have impeded its widespread use so far. Opioid addiction, another issue the country and state struggle with, also has been shown to play a part in veteran suicides. Rates of suicide are higher among VA patients diagnosed with an opioid use disorder, comparable to rates of suicide among VHA (Veterans Health Administration) patients diagnosed with severe depression, according to the VAs 2016 report on veteran suicide. The state-by-state data was released as a follow-up to that report, which examined more than 55 million records. Need help? If you or a veteran you know may be having suicidal thoughts, the Veterans Crisis Hotline may be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling 1-800-273-8255, then pressing 1. This service is also available to veterans who are not under the care of the VA. Sixteen teachers from across New Mexico including eight from the Albuquerque area have been selected as semi-finalists for the 2018 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. A total of seven eventually will be selected to receive the award through a rigorous application process, including site visits from the Golden Apple Selection Committee over the next several weeks. They will receive several benefits, including induction into the Golden Apple Academy of Fellows, a generous professional development fund and a cash prize. The Golden Apple Award sends a message to the community that teachers are indispensable. That is a profound message, and our children hear it, said Golden Apple Executive Director Brian OConnell in a statement. The Albuquerque area semi-finalists are: Cheryl Leung, Desert Ridge Middle School Christopher Ortiz, Ernie Pyle Middle School Donna Schmidt, Desert Ridge Middle School Dale Simpkins, Hoover Middle School Chris Speck, Garfield STEM School Donald Starr, Desert Ridge Middle School JoAnn Isonhood, Hoover Middle School Briana Blech, Lyndon B. Johnson Middle School Alice Webb, Washington Middle School The other eight semi-finalists are: Wendy Walker-Region, Carlsbad Sixth Grade Academy, Carlsbad Cindy Orthman, Eagle Nest School, Eagle Nest Monica Leaming, Tibbetts Middle School, Farmington Christina Parra, Sierra Middle School, Las Cruces Gerald Tafoya, Cochiti Middle School, Pena Blanca Janisse Vazquez, The ASK Academy, Rio Rancho Jessica Sanders, Berrendo Middle School, Roswell This year, 142 teachers were nominated from 26 different cities, towns and villages. Each year, the Golden Apple Foundation of New Mexico honors outstanding teachers for their exceptional work in helping students learn, think and create. 16 Golden Apple semi-finalists Teach Plus New Mexico has selected five highly-effective teacher leaders from the Albuquerque area as fellows of its second New Mexico Teaching Policy Fellowship. During the nine-month program, they will work on key state-level issues, such as quality Pre-K, teacher recruitment and pipeline, and quality professional development for New Mexicos educators, organizers said in a news release. The Albuquerque area Teaching Policy Fellows are: Juan Aragon, Albuquerque Public Schools Ian Sunderland, Albuquerque Public Schools Andrea Infantino, Rio Rancho Public Schools Emily Holtz, Rio Rancho Public Schools Darlene Fortier, Bernalillo Public Schools I am excited to be part of a grassroots education policy initiative informed by the perspective of teaching professionals, and by the lived reality of the school and community stakeholders they serve and collaborate with on a daily basis, said Fellow Ian Sunderland, 6th grade teacher at The International School at Mesa del Sol, in a statement. In the Fellowships inaugural year in New Mexico, Teach Plus teachers helped to create a more balanced and sustainable teacher evaluation system, said Hope Morales, Teach Plus New Mexico Policy Director in a statement. Were looking forward to another impactful year ahead and to helping shape policies that improve education for New Mexico students, she said. The program is designed to help teachers magnify the impact they have in their classrooms through personal interactions with education leaders and opportunities to advocate for policies that will better serve state teachers and students. Statewide, 20 New Mexico teachers have been selected for the Fellowship. The 20 new Fellows come from traditional district and public charter schools across the Land of Enchantment, organizers said. Many of the incoming teachers have won teaching awards and hold teacher leadership roles with their various schools and districts. The other Fellows outside of the Albuquerque area are: Ruth Gallegos, Central Consolidated Schools; Kim OByrne, Shelbi Simeone, Susana Rios, Ph.D., all from Las Cruces Public Schools; Shari Hicks and Dorinda Thompson, Roswell Independent School District; Debra Woodward, Grants/Cibola County Schools; Dawn Bilbrey, Texico Municipal Schools; Brittany Griffith and Jill Hutchinson-Bass, Santa Fe Public Schools; Katelin Cincis, Clovis Municipal School District; Aja Currey, Las Vegas City Public Schools; Kayli Laney, Reserve Independent School District; Edward Pena, Cobre Consolidated School District; and K. Celeste Murray, Farmington Municipal Schools. Since its inception in August 2007, Teach Plus has grown to a network of more than 26,000 solutions-oriented teachers across the country. For more information, visit www.teachplus.org. The organization seeks out top, experienced teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect student success. Its programs are designed to place highly effective teachers at the center of improvements in schools as leaders of their peers and outside schools influencing policy decisions that affect their classrooms. Many Albuquerque residents do not feel safe, and data supports their worries. The citys property and violent crime rates have increased dramatically, with the number of robberies, murders and auto thefts doubling in the last three years. On Sept. 15, over 100 Albuquerque residents came together at four city community centers to discuss public safety concerns they wanted the citys eight mayoral candidates to address. Those issues were subsequently addressed in a televised town hall debate focused on public safety an issue that has replaced the economy as the top concern among Albuquerque residents, according to a recent Albuquerque Journal poll. Most of the time, messages in elections are influenced most by two entities: campaigns through social media or election ads and then through the news media. But for this debate, Albuquerque residents took control of the message, and one by one, stood up to ask the candidates smart, thoughtful questions. Many of the peoples questions were addressed during the debate, but time prevented the community from hearing them all. To honor the work of the town hall participants and further a healthy nonpartisan dialogue in the race for mayor, we share the main issues Albuquerque residents identified. Mental health and addiction as public safety issues access to treatment, drug diversion programs, support for homeless, recidivism of those with addiction. Law enforcement administration and hiring of chief of police, training, retention, increasing number of police officers, use of Crisis Intervention Team programs, community policing, establishing better trust-based relationships between the community and law enforcement. Community pride and ownership support for neighborhoods to look and feel safe, neighborhood beautification. Theft reduction vehicle theft, home burglaries. Gun violence reduction, gun safety and unauthorized gun possession. Cultural and economic divides how to bridge divides, improving education, job creation, after-school programs, adult literacy, diversity training, position on sanctuary cities. City government accountability and coordination effective use of resources, administration results are measurable and regularly communicated to the public, improved cooperation between city, school district and county. Political process mayoral candidates representing a party rather than a nonpartisan election. We invite the candidates to answer these questions and for all Albuquerque residents to continue to work together, ask smart questions and provide our elected officials with thoughtful solutions for the good of our city. The Sept. 15 town hall debate was a partnership between New Mexico First and NBC television affiliate KOB-Channel 4. New Mexico First is a nonpartisan organization that engages people in policy and enables action. It conducts independent research and deliberation on education, health care, the economy, natural resources and good government. More information at www.nmfirst.org. While its important to point out the shortcomings of public education today and lay out a path for improvement its just as important to highlight things that are going right in our taxpayer-funded schools so they can be replicated. Here are three recent examples: Five years ago, UNM reported its four-year graduation rate the percentage of students who graduate within four years of their initial enrollment was a dismal 14.8 percent. This year it has nearly double that. Final figures are not yet available, but interim UNM President Chaouki Abdallah says it will be at least 29.4 percent the highest since the early 80s, according to Terry Babbitt, UNMs vice provost of enrollment and analytics. One key was ensuring students got more help outside the classroom. That meant revamping UNMs Center for Academic Program Support, or CAPS, which offers a wide range of services to students struggling to keep their grades and their spirits going in the right direction. CAPS offers workshops on basics like note-taking, college reading and time management. Theres also the Writing & Language Center where students can get help drafting essays or practicing foreign languages. And the Math MaLL, a computer-centric learning center, helps students working through entry-level math courses. UNM has had to reallocate resources to get the best return on investment. In addition, reforms advocated by the Gov. Susana Martinez administration, including setting a uniform number of credits for graduation, offering financial incentives to taking a full course load and graduating on time, providing clear paths early on that show what courses are needed for a degree in an area of study, and more high school dual-credit courses played a major role. Then-UNM President Robert Frank embraced the states initiatives and implemented or beefed up many of the programs Abdallah is continuing today. Congratulations to all involved in helping more New Mexicans get their degrees in a timely fashion boosting the states brain bank and saving these graduates thousands of dollars in education costs. Until last Sundays front-page story about the Albuquerque Institute of Math and Science (AIMS), precious few knew that the state-chartered school is one of the most successful sixth- through 12th-grade high schools in the nation and the world. AIMS has been rated among Americas top high schools by the Washington Post, Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report. In 2015, AIMS students on average ranked higher than the U.S. average score in both math and reading literacy, according to recently released data. They also had a higher average than Switzerland, Sweden, Korea and every other country that took the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) test. In laymans terms, thats a test taken by 15-year-olds in dozens of industrialized countries. Each schools scores are measured against national averages. Its little wonder that AIMS, which has about 360 students selected by lottery, has an enrollment waiting list of 1,800 kids. Principal Kathy Sandoval-Snider and her staff deserve congratulations and emulation by other schools and teachers. In February 2016, only 71 percent of UNM Law School graduates passed the state bar exam on their first try. Five months later, that fell to 68 percent. Two years ago, the pass rate had been 81 percent. Recognizing something was amiss and knowing exam passage rates are important to prospective law students administrators created a panel to assess the downward trend and quickly came up with a plan of action. The Law School started a new course to help prepare students for the bar exam, identified ways to weave exam-relevant material into law classes and invited bar exam graders to campus for workshops. UNM even helped students cramming for the bar exam with things like child care. The strategies worked: 91 percent of students who took the bar exam for the first time the first time in July passed. The impressive improvement speaks highly of UNM, its Law School, and the faculty, staff and friends of the law school who stepped up to reverse the trend in record time. They, too, have put together some results-driven best practices that should be replicated. Each of the above accomplishments required good data, good tracking of that data, innovative approaches and a willingness by administrators, teachers and students to try new things. The results speak for themselves. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. SOUTHBOUND I-25 GETTING RELIEF: Ngoertz asks in an email, Will there ever be another through lane on Interstate 25 southbound from Paseo del Norte to Comanche? And the question comes because every weekday and sometimes weekend afternoon from about 3 to 6 is a stop-and-go, no-reason slow down just super-saturation of automobiles! Since another through lane was added to northbound I-25 at Comanche years ago traffic is remarkably better, so why not the other direction? New Mexico Department of Transportation spokeswoman Emilee Cantrell has good news. The upcoming project that is planned to start Nov. 6 will begin the extension of a fourth lane for southbound I-25. This project will end just south of Jefferson on the southbound lanes. For northbound I-25, an additional auxiliary lane exit only will be added at the San Antonio off-ramp, which will allow for two lanes to exit. And more help is in the works for southbound drivers. Cantrell says, Future projects will address from Jefferson to Comanche. WHERE ARE THE FRONTAGE ROAD LINES? Ron O. Smock emails, Why are lanes not marked on the feeder roads some call them frontage roads indicating which lane goes straight and which are for freeway entrance? Before resurfacing, these were quite evident (along) northbound I-25 at Osuna and there was no question. (Now) northbound at Comanche is a disaster waiting to happen. Every day, someone crosses two or three lanes, almost taking my front bumper off and then flipping me off as they squeeze in trying to get on the freeway. Same occurs (along) southbound I-25 at San Antonio/Ellison. I am sure there are many other sites around the city. Why cant NMDOT mark these lanes to avoid accidents and road rage? Hopefully the answer is not cost vs. someones life. Its not. NMDOTs contractor is in the process of getting the lane markings down. Cantrell says, After the recent fog-seal treatment,the frontage roads have been re-striped with solid edge lines and the dashed lane lines. Currently, the contractor is working through the area and applying the word and symbol markings to the turn lanes for the driveway access points. When these are complete, the intersection markings will be done. The lane designations at southbound San Antonio/Ellison will change to provide for mandatory double left-turn lanes and a through/right lane. The northbound Osuna/San Mateo approach is also planned to have a right-turn-only lane that will be modified in an upcoming project. MORE ON SCHOOL ZONES: After a letter from a school crossing guard appeared in the column last week, several readers have weighed in: Martha Rider emails a pet peeve with school zones with signs either not up to date, or (that) say when children are present to slow your speed. (The letter writer said to) look for the presence of a crossing guard. But Martha says, The intersection of Comanche and Morris has crossing guards that lean back on service polls, and youre lucky if you can see a piece of their guard vest! I thought it was just the one but have seen others, male and female, do this! Shouldnt their presence be more visible? Jim adds, You left out an important reminder for school zones. The 15 mph sign means 15 miles per hour, not 1.5! And Carolyn Bennett had a run-in with a driver who ignored state Statute 66-7-347, which says in part that when you come up on a school bus stopped with special school bus signals in operation, for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children that you shall stop at least 10 feet before reaching the school bus and shall not proceed until the special school bus signals are turned off, the school bus resumes motion or until signaled by the driver to proceed. Carolyn says the young woman was stopped at a red light at San Mateo and Indian School; she had blown past a stopped bus with red lights blinking on Indian School. I slid down my window, and she did the same with a slight smile: I asked if she did not see the flashing red lights on that school bus shed passed? Oh no, she said, and laughed a little. I asked her if she would have been able to stop if a child darted out. She laughed again, shrugged, and said well, Ill see next time. By that time I was not a happy camper and told her so. She was indignant, so was I. The light changed and she roared off. I doubt she will see next time. So depressing. So thoughtless. And so dangerous. Editorial page editor DVal Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays. Reach her at 823-3858; dwestphal@abqjournal.com; or P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, N.M. 87103. WASHINGTON Nearly 300 species of fish, mussels and other sea critters hitchhiked across the Pacific Ocean on debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami, washing ashore alive in the United States, researchers reported Thursday. It is the largest and longest marine migration ever documented, outside experts and the researchers said. The scientists and colleagues combed the beaches of Washington, Oregon, California, British Columbia, Alaska and Hawaii and tracked the species to their Japanese origins. Their arrival could be a problem if the critters take root, pushing out native species, the study authors said in Thursdays journal Science. Its a bit of what we call ecological roulette, said lead author James Carlton, a marine sciences professor at Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It will be years before scientists know if the 289 Japanese species thrive in their new home and crowd out natives. The researchers roughly estimated that a million creatures traveled 4,800 miles (7,725 kilometers) across the Pacific Ocean to reach the West Coast, including hundreds of thousands of mussels. Invasive species is a major problem worldwide with plants and animals thriving in areas where they dont naturally live. Marine invasions in the past have hurt native farmed shellfish, eroded the local ecosystem, caused economic losses and spread disease-carrying species, said Bella Galil, a marine biologist with the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History in Tel Aviv, Israel, who wasnt part of the study. A magnitude 9 earthquake off the coast of Japan triggered a tsunami on March 11, 2011, that swept boats, docks, buoys and other man-made materials into the Pacific. The debris drifted east with an armada of living creatures, some that gave birth to new generations while at sea. The diversity was somewhat jaw-dropping, Carlton said. Mollusks, sea anemones, corals, crabs, just a wide variety of species, really a cross-section of Japanese fauna. The researchers collected and analyzed the debris that reached the West Coast and Hawaii over the last five years, with new pieces arriving Wednesday in Washington. The debris flowed across the North Pacific current, as other objects do from time to time, before it moved north with the Alaska current or south with the California current. Most hit Oregon and Washington. Last year, a small boat from Japan reached Oregon with 20 good-sized fish inside, a kind of yellowtail jack native to the western Pacific, Carlton said. Some of the fish are still alive in an Oregon aquarium. Earlier, an entire fishing ship the Sai sho-Maru arrived intact with five of the same 6-inch fish swimming around inside. Co-author Gregory Ruiz, a Smithsonian marine ecologist, is especially interested in a Japanese parasite in the gills of mussels. Elsewhere in the world, these parasites have taken root and hurt oyster and mussel harvests and they hadnt been seen before on the West Coast. The researchers note another huge factor in this flotilla: plastics. Decades ago, most of the debris would have been wood and that would have degraded over the long ocean trip, but now most of the debris buoys, boats, crates and pallets are made of plastic and that survives, Carlton said. And so the hitchhikers survive, too. It was the plastic debris that allowed new species to survive far longer than we ever thought they would, Carlton said. James Byers, a marine ecologist at the University of Georgia in Athens, who wasnt part of the study, praised the authors for their detective work. He said in an email that the migration was an odd mix of a natural trigger and human aspects because of the plastics. The fact that communities of organisms survived out in the open ocean for long time periods (years in some cases) is amazing, he wrote. ___ Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears. His work can be found here. SAN JOSE, Calif. Consider a typical cannabis farmer, growing an indoor crop. In a protected, controlled environment, they can grow a profitable mix of high-potency, medicinal marijuana and any number of milder strains appealing to a new market. But the venture comes with both a business and social overhead: high energy bills and a heavy, carbon footprint. Its a big problem, said Tim Hade, co-founder of micro-grid company Scale. It has an impact far beyond cannabis consumption. A recent study estimated a single, indoor marijuana plant takes the equivalent of 70 gallons of oil to grow. Energy demand at Colorados largest utility grew about 2 percent after marijuana was legalized. Hade said the growing industry could wipe out gains the country made in the last decade that kept energy consumption stable even as the population and economy grew. As the legalized marijuana industry expands in California, it could seriously challenge state goals to reduce greenhouse emissions. The cannabis industry is starting to address the issue. Startups are hunting for ways to make growing more efficient. Farmers are innovating and experimenting. Evan Mills, an energy and climate change scientist based in California, said the cannabis industry could make efficiency gains in almost every step of its process. According to Mills research, the total amount of energy used to power marijuana farms is equivalent to powering 2 million homes, with emissions equal to 3 million typical U.S. cars. Mills said the key change in the industry is a trend toward large-scale cannabis cultivation which may prove to be far more energy intensive than the current collection of small-growers. Scale, based in New York, combines solar, battery storage and natural gas generators in a system that can cut energy cost by up to 35 percent. Hade, an Air Force veteran and Stanford Graduate School of Business grad, said the system uses excess heat from generators to fuel air conditioning. With about 30 percent of a farmers overhead spent on fuel and electricity, he said, you have to be sophisticated about energy management. JP Martin, founder of GrowX, a company in the cannabis accelerator Gateway, has focused his company on making indoor growing more efficient. The startup has produced prototypes for an aeroponic growing system, with sensors, lights and a mesh growing medium. Its testing the system with two customers. Martin said the system uses less energy and water than hydroponic growing, and eliminates possible impurities and disease developed from soil. Cannabis grown indoors is often believed to be more potent and is more expensive than crops grown outdoors. Traditional farming is a broken model, Martin said. But even the promise of new technology including energy saving LED lighting, sensor-filled growing pods and a network of artificial intelligence and high-efficiency electronics may not be enough. In this warming world, indoor farming is an environmentally unaffordable luxury, Mills said. Even deep energy savings leave indoor grows as energy-intensive as most ordinary buildings. Some farmers have taken a traditional, natural approach to growing. Cyril Guthridge, owner and operator of Waterdog Herb Farm in Mendocino County, Calif., plants outdoors. He searches for the right combination of plants and environment to produce high-quality strains of marijuana on his 160 acre homestead. He has several friends growing indoors and producing great crops, he said. The process can produce high-quality crops, but is usually three times more expensive, he said. But Guthridge wants to fill a niche for high-quality, naturally grown marijuana. And his farm is off the grid, powered by renewable sources. Nature is providing us with a very good environment, he said. Growers in the True Humboldt collective, in rural Humboldt County, Calif., also strive to produce natural products, with less environmental impacts. The most energy-efficient way to cultivate cannabis in California, said Chrystal Ortiz, a representative for True Humboldt, is using our (California) sunshine as a primary light source. 2017 The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) Visit The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. DENVER An early autumn storm brought heavy snow to northern Colorado mountains on Monday and led to power blackouts for thousands of customers. The National Weather Service said 18 inches (46 centimeters) fell near Steamboat Springs. Red Cliff, south of Vail, reported 14 inches (36 centimeters) and Winter Park reported nearly 10 inches (25 centimeters). About 21,600 customers lost electricity for five minutes or longer starting Sunday night, Xcel Energy said. About 23,000 had shorter blackouts or saw their lights flicker because of storm damage, utility spokesman Mark Stutz said. Heavy snow caused trees and branches to fall onto some lines, and high winds blew other lines into each other, he said. Power was restored to all but about 8,000 customers by mid-day Monday, Stutz said. Most highways were open, but the storm prompted Rocky Mountain National Park to close Trail Ridge Road. It is the highest continuous paved road in the United States and reaches an elevation of 12,183 feet (3,700 meters). The slow-moving storm dragged cold air into Colorado from Canada, National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis Phillips said. This is about the time of year we start to see these systems, he said. The storm was expected to begin moving by Monday night, followed by a couple days of dry weather. Another storm is expected to bring snow to higher elevations of the southern and central Colorado mountains in mid-week, Phillips said, while lower elevations will likely see only rain. PHOENIX Two off-duty Arizona Department of Public Safety employees were injured in the shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas that killed 58 people and injured at least 515 others. A trooper underwent surgery after he was struck in the hand and back side by shrapnel from the gunfire. A DPS criminologist also suffered cuts and scrapes, but wasnt hit by a bullet or shrapnel. Both have since been released from a hospital. A dozen DPS employees were in Las Vegas for a homicide investigators conference. Five off-duty officers from the Mesa Police Department also attended the festival. The department says one Mesa officer suffered a minor injury, though the agency declined to provide specifics on the injury. The Mesa officers werent in Las Vegas for the homicide investigators conference. Police are investigating in the area of San Pedro and Gibson SE Monday afternoon after two people were shot and another stabbed during a fight, according to a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department. At this time, no life threatening injuries have been reported, officer Tanner Tixier wrote in an email. He said officers were initially called out to Eastern and Arizona SE for reports of several subjects being shot as the result of a verbal and physical altercation. Tixier didnt provide any details on the victims names, ages, or genders and didnt say if there are any outstanding suspects. Officers are still on scene and will remain so for an extended period as they determine exactly what happened and which individuals will be facing charges, Tixier said. SANTA FE State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn has dropped out of the race for an open southern New Mexico congressional seat, just 2 months after declaring his campaign. A spokeswoman confirmed Dunns decision. Dunn was speaking at a conference Monday afternoon and could not immediately be reached for comment. However, Dunns son said his father was still considering other possible options including a possible re-election bid and suggested other members of the Dunn family could end up running for elected office in 2018. He just knows the (2nd Congressional District race) is not the right place, Blair Dunn told the Journal. Aubrey Dunn, a Republican, was elected land commissioner in 2014 but announced in July that he would forgo a re-election bid next year and instead run for Congress. He had cited U.S. Rep. Steve Pearces decision to run for governor instead of re-election to the 2nd Congressional District seat as a reason. In recent months, Dunn and three other members of the State Investment Council have been barred from participating in closed-door meetings for refusing to sign an ethics code. Thats prompted Dunn and the others to indicate they might seek a court order, and led to heightened tension between the land commissioner and Gov. Susana Martinez, who is chairwoman of the investment council. The SIC oversees roughly $22 billion in state funds, and its ethics code bars members from disclosing confidential information. Dunns son said the SIC infighting was not a pivotal factor in his fathers political decision, but he acknowledged it played a role. It certainly hasnt made us all that warm and fuzzy about running in New Mexico, Blair Dunn said Monday. Aubrey Dunn has also been embroiled in a legal battle with Democratic land commissioner candidate Garrett VeneKlasen over campaign ads. Dunn, the target of the ads, has filed a defamation suit that could go before a jury early next year. The land commissioner, who owns a ranch near Mountainair, comes from a politically prominent New Mexico family; his father, Aubrey Dunn Sr., served as chairman of the state Senate Finance Committee. His decision to drop out of the 2nd Congressional District race leaves three other GOP candidates in the field state Rep. Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo, Carlsbad pharmacist Jack Volpato and former Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman. There are also six Democrats running for the seat, which has been held by a Republican for all but two of the past 27 years. Dunn still has nearly 15 months left on his four-year term as land commissioner, and his son said Monday that he intends to finish out his term. WASHINGTON One of the chief architects of the sweeping tax revamp proposed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans isnt yet saying whether promised cuts under the plan would be retroactive to the start of the year. To be determined was the response Monday from Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, head of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. There has been speculation the plan, which would deeply reduce levies for corporations, simplify everyones taxes and nearly double the standard deduction used by most Americans, would be applied retroactively to the beginning of 2017. Trump and top administration officials are insisting that the plan would provide badly needed tax relief for the middle class and wouldnt benefit the wealthy. The tax rate for Americans making a half-million dollars or more would drop by almost 5 percentage points as the wealthiest sliver of the nation would reap tremendous benefits. And the plan calls for eliminating the estate tax paid by those with multimillion-inheritances, a boon for wealthy individuals who inherit businesses, investments and real estate. Also slated for elimination is the alternative minimum tax, a supplemental tax for certain individuals, corporations and estates that enjoy exemptions that lower their income tax bills. The plan, the first major overhaul of the tax code in three decades, would shrink the number of tax brackets from seven to three. But its not known how it actually would affect individual taxpayers and families because the income levels corresponding to the three brackets havent yet been specified. It will be up to Congress to fill in many details. Another unknown is how much the plan might add to the ballooning $20 trillion national debt. The tax legislation can advance only after House and Senate passage of a blueprint for the federal budget. The Senate Budget Committee intends to vote on its plan this week, and a companion measure is headed for a House vote this week as well. The new budget plan would permit the upcoming tax measure to add $1.5 trillion over the coming decade to the national debt. Brady said he was hopeful that final budget legislation could be enacted this month, calling it the necessary runway to land tax reform on. All Nokia smartphones released over the course of this year will eventually be upgraded to Android P, HMD Global said several days back. The company expressed its commitment to support its existing mobile lineup in the long term during a product event held in the Philippines on Friday, with one of its officials reiterating that all Android-powered Nokia handsets released in the brands post-Microsoft era are to be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo by the end of the year. The promise presumably extends to the Nokia 2, an upcoming entry-level device thats set to be even more affordable than the Nokia 3 and is rumored to be officially unveiled in the coming days. The Finnish company reintroduced the Nokia brand earlier this year at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Following prolonged research and development, HMD concluded that its new devices are to ship with whats essentially a stock version of Googles operating system. The company previously said it tried developing a custom software skin but was unable to come up with something thats vastly superior to vanilla Android, ultimately opting to pre-install a stock version of Nougat on its contemporary smartphones. By having devices with a nearly unmodified version of Android, HMD is able to push out monthly security patches and major software upgrades faster than other original equipment manufacturers are, as evidenced by the fact that some of its handsets even managed to beat the Google Pixel lineup to a number of security updates. As things stand right now, HMD committed to two major OS upgrades for its 2017 lineup that still mostly consists of mid-range and entry-level offerings which are hence set to be supported for at least as long as Android flagships from the likes of Samsung, LG, HTC, and Huawei are. Android P itself is already in development and will presumably be announced in late winter or early spring, though its currently unclear whether the next major iteration of the mobile OS is to ship with the version number 9.0 or a lower one. Apart from the Nokia 2, HMD may also release one other smartphone by the end of the year, with some recent rumors suggesting that the company is working on a high-end counterpart to its Nokia 8 flagship which may be marketed as the Nokia 9 and adopt a relatively bezel-free form factor. Alphabets subsidiary Google on Monday unveiled a new program for news publishers that will replace its First Click Free policy. The new program targeted at subscription-based websites is called Flexible Sampling and will allow media outlets to select the amount of content the user will be able to browse for free after landing on their websites from the Googles search results page. There will be no set minimum of articles that the website will have to give its visitors for free before the paywall is enforced and, in case of publishers not offering any free content, enlisting into this program will not affect the websites ranking on the search engine. The California-based tech giant has been getting a lot of flak in recent months from outlets like The Wall Street Journal and New York Times for having strict rules related to its previous policy. A growing number of news publishers have been putting their content behind subscriptions and paywalls, which Googles users could circumvent by accessing the websites via search results. The websites that played by Googles rules therefore had to let the visitors read up to three articles for free. In case a publisher denied any free content, Googles bots wouldnt crawl through the whole contents of the website, therefore lowering the search rank of that company. Contrary to the firms previous belief, free samples also didnt lead to a substantial subscriber increase for publishers. Therefore, media giants like News Corp decided to approach Google and have been discussing possible changes to the program so that both sides could benefit, thus creating Flexible Sampling and relevant search engine policy tweaks. Flexible Sampling is coming into effect this week along with the discontinuation of the previous policy. Google is also working closely with several major publishers on creating a long-term strategy and a more user-friendly experience of subscribing to news websites. The company says its looking into simplifying the process of purchasing subscriptions with tools that should benefit both publishers and readers, along with employing machine learning to drive more customers to the right places. Google claims its seeking to treat all news networks equally and help them lead sustainable businesses in in the long term. Google has updated Android Pay with support for new U.S. banks, 16 in total as far as this new crop goes. If youre new to Android Pay and have never used it before, most of if not all of the large banks already support Android Pay and have for some time, so there is a very good chance that your bank or credit union already works with it. As for the new banks that were added today, Theyre all smaller institutions that are either local or regional, including First Federal Bank, Collins State Bank, Peoples Bank, and Washington Financial Bank, as well as quite a few others. At this point Googles mobile payment solution works with a ton of different banks and credit unions, so if youre thinking about diving in and giving it a try, youll be in for some searching to see if the establishment that you bank with is on the list. Its also worth considering that just because your bank may support the platform, it may not support it for all cards that are issued by that bank. Some institutions, for example, only supported certain credit or debit cards, or only supported credit cards from the beginning before rolling support out to debit cards as well. Taking this into consideration you may want to double check with your bank to ensure that support is available for the card that you use. Whats more is that you may have to call your bank anyway to activate the card for use even if you were able to add it to the app, though this might depend on your bank. If your bank isnt in the already supported list of institutions, whether from today or previous updates, not to worry, as Google is pretty consistent with adding new banks and credit unions to the list. For the most part new banks are added at least once a month, and sometimes every couple of weeks. For example, Google just added 24 new banks to the list of supported institutions back on September 24th, which was about a week and a half ago. That said, if your bank isnt supported yet it may be in the near future. HMD Globals Chief Technical Officer, Mikko Jaakkola, has declared that the company will reverse its earlier decision to deny bootloader unlocking to owners of Nokia phones, and will do it one device at a time. On Twitter, Jaakkola asked which device fans want unlocked first, and neither he nor any other HMD Global representatives have chimed in to say that the company has decided on the first device to unlock as of this writing. The entity who reached out to Jaakola about the issue, the Nokia Power User blog, advised that the Nokia 6 should be the first one unlocked since it was the first one sold, followed by the flagship Nokia 8. For the moment, however, the popular vote seems to fall with the Nokia 8. While HMD may be slow with rolling out the ability to officially flash Nokia phones, fans over at the XDA Developers community have managed to figure out how to run Nokias official flashing and servicing tool, which could be a promising development, but would still require workarounds and possibly be somewhat limited without an unlocked bootloader. The Nokia 6 was the first among the new crop of Nokia devices to be released worldwide, and is still the only one available thus far in some territories, which makes it the second most popular choice for a first bootloader unlock. The most popular device on the list so far, the Nokia 8, is a powerful modern flagship with the Nokia name behind it and specs that rival the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Lenovo Moto Z2 Force. This change of heart comes after Jaakkola publicly announcing that the company did not plan on unlocking the bootloaders of Nokia devices. The initial announcement garnered such backlash that Jaakkola decided it was worth bringing the issue to the attention of other company executives. Presumably, this resulted in a green light to begin allowing Nokia owners to unlock their bootloaders. Listening directly to customers on major issues like this is usually only seen in smaller OEMs, which could mean that Nokias grand re-entry into the Android space after years at Microsofts behest will shake up the global market. OnePlus fans looking for a flagship smartphone with a new design might be interested in the OnePlus 5 JCC+ edition which has just gone on sale in Europe. The OnePlus 5 JCC+ stems from a collaboration between OnePlus and fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, and its targeted at smartphone shoppers looking to stand out from the crowd. The OnePlus 5 JCC+ made its official debut on September 22nd in Paris alongside several accessories stemming from the same partnership. The model is available only in Europe for now, and only in a higher configuration with 8GB of RAM. The OnePlus 5 JCC+ edition costs 499 or 559 on the Old Continent, the same as the regular OnePlus 5 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space. Aside from the different design, the OnePlus 5 JCC+ edition comes with the same specifications as the original model, meaning the smartphone features a 5.5-inch Optic AMOLED display with a full HD resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels and Gorilla Glass 5 protection, an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor clocked at 2.45GHz, 128GB of non-expandable flash memory, and a camera setup entailing a 16-megapixel sensor with dual LED flash and another 20-megapixel shooter. Other specifications of the device include a 16-megapixel selfie camera, USB-Type C, 3,300mAh battery with Dash Charge support, fingerprint scanner, and Android 7.1.1 Nougat coupled with OxygenOS. The smartphone also comes with dual SIM support and is compatible with all standard GSM bands, with the Chinese company seeking to position it as a truly global offering. Although its the most expensive OnePlus handset to date, its still more affordable than most other Android flagships released over the course of this year. The OnePlus 5 JCC+ edition has a special writing on its rear case, a red volume rocker, blue power button, and a yellow alert slider, to set itself apart from the regular version. OnePlus and Mr. de Castelbajac also equipped this version with ten unique wallpapers and some other surprises that have yet to be specified. Its a limited edition model and might not be in stock for long, but interested customers in Europe can now purchase it directly from OnePlus, i.e. the companys official website. The Google Pixel 2 XL render has shown up again in a leaked photo, this time without a case on it like the photo that leaked just a little bit earlier this morning. Though pictures of both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL have already both leaked prior to today, more leaks showing up shouldnt be too much of a surprise as Googles event is officially taking place on Wednesday and this kind of thing tends to happen for big device announcements. That said, it wouldnt be too unreasonable to assume that more leaks could show up before Googles event is underway. So far, this is probably the most high-resolution photo of the Pixel 2 XL that has surfaced, at least from a front view. While the design is about what people have likely expected, with it being so close up it gives a much better view of the bezels than previous photos, which appear a little larger here than they have in other pictures, albeit just for the sides as the top and bottom bezels seem to be on par with what was shown or visible in past images that have popped up online. Googles Pixel 2 XL is but one of a handful of hardware products that the Search company is expected to unveil this Wednesday, including the smaller Pixel 2, the Google Home Mini smart speaker, a new version of the Daydream View VR headset, and the Pixelbook, which is a new portable laptop solution coming from Google that is set to offer a premium build and price tag, as well as optional accessories like a stylus pen for the touchscreen display. Google has also been rumored to potentially show off a pair of wireless earbuds, though there is no guarantee that these will actually show up at the event or that theyre still in development, and another recent rumor from last week suggested that Google is developing a competitor device to Amazons Echo Show, which will come with a touchscreen display for interaction and speakers as well as a mic to work just like Google Home. That said, this is also a product which may not show up at the event on the 4th, though its possible that Google could always announce it without showing it off. A render depicting whats said to be the upcoming Google Pixel 2 XL leaked online on Monday, having been shared by known industry insider Evan Blass on Twitter. The source also suggested that the official moniker of Googles next phablet will be the Pixel 2 XL and not the Pixel XL 2, though previous reports on the matter have been highly inconsistent. The image itself seems to be in line with recent reports about the larger member of the Pixel 2 series thats presumed to be manufactured by LG Electronics, as indicated by whats believed to be its FCC certification. The handset appears to be somewhat similar to the LG G6 and V30, adopting a largely bezel-free form factor and a tall display panel with an aspect ratio of 18:9, i.e. 2:1. The render also suggests that the Pixel 2 XL will feature two front-facing stereo speakers and have a screen with visibly rounded corners that stretches alongside the long edges of its case. The Pixel Launcher running on the depicted device is different to the one currently present on the 2016 Pixel smartphones, with its Google Search bar being situated near the bottom of the user interface instead of the top, immediately above the three on-screen system keys. The right edge of the alleged Pixel 2 XL accommodates two volume buttons placed beneath a power key, with the phone itself having no physical Home button on its slim bottom bezel. The top-left corner of the phablet features a single camera thats rumored to be of the 8-megapixel variety, with the leaked device and its case being entirely black. Finally, the source also reiterated the opinion of many industry watchers on the supposed Pixel Ultra, stating that the leak in question was a hoax. The next-generation Pixel devices are scheduled to be officially announced on Wednesday, October 4th, and are expected to become available for purchase in the United States by early November. The smaller Pixel 2 is rumored to succeed the overall design of the 2016 series and hence shouldnt look like the newly leaked phablet, though its said to feature the same internal hardware, including Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB of RAM, at least 64GB of non-expandable storage space, and Active Edge, a technology thats said to be the rebranded version of HTCs Edge Sense which debuted inside this years U11 flagship in the form of a pressure-sensitive frame which can be used for launching apps by squeezing the device. Uber co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick appointed two new members to the companys Board of Directors on Friday, consequently clashing with current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi who called the move disappointing in an internal email to employees. Mr. Kalanick nominated management veterans Ursula Burns and Merrill Lynch for the two currently empty seats on the board which he himself created last year and prompted one of Ubers largest and earliest investors to sue him for fraud in the process of doing so. Mr. Khosrowshahis email to the firms employees explicitly stated he was not consulted on the matter, suggesting that the move is a power play by Ubers former chief who was ousted from the companys top position by the request from several investors, including the one who filed for litigation against him Benchmark Capital. Benchmark is currently in the process of legally canceling the three board seats Mr. Kalanick created last year, one of which he holds himself. Should its attempt be successful, the investment firm would be able to completely oust to co-founder from the company he established in 2009. Many of Ubers investors previously came to Kalanicks defense on the matter but its currently unclear how his latest move will reflect on the relations among the firms top management. The board is now set to hold several votes on Tuesday, though its currently unclear whether its composition will include Mr. Kalanicks new nominees, sources close to the ride-hailing service provider said, as reported by Bloomberg. The first item on tomorrows agenda is said to be the potential sale of some shares to SoftBank, a Japanese tech giant whos been pushing for the largest private stock sale in history, seeking to purchase a $10 billion stake in the San Francisco, California-based startup. Ubers board is also expected to vote on a number of reforms that should limit the internal power that Mr. Kalanick currently enjoys through his status of a board member and shareholder of the tech giant. Ubers co-founder believes the move is an effort to provide more corporate leverage to Mr. Khosrowshahi, an insider familiar with the matter claims. The possible reforms should also pave the way for an initial public offering that Uber is hoping to realize in the next three years, as revealed by its new CEO this summer. Mr. Kalanick previously publicly supported his successor who also praised the 41-year-old multibillionaire, yet the latest turn of events suggests that the relations between the two arent as healthy as they previously made them seem. Google is working on a Made for Google hardware partner program that it intends to debut shortly, 9to5Google reported on Monday, citing several sources familiar with the companys upcoming initiative. No firm details regarding the effort itself have been given, though its likely that the internet giant will allow third-party consumer electronics manufacturers to submit its products for testing in order to obtain a Google certificate they can then use for advertising their offerings. Some technical support on Googles part related to general development documentation and tools can also be expected, though it remains to be seen to what lengths the firm goes to help OEMs develop products made for its existing and upcoming devices and software. Made for Google may be debuted this Wednesday when the Mountain View, California-based company is set to hold a major hardware event and introduce a number of new additions to its product family, including the Pixel 2 smartphone lineup. The Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 will presumably be one of the main beneficiaries of the initiative as such a program would entice third parties to not only produce more accessories for Googles handsets but also allow them to deliver a higher level of quality. Battery-powered portable speakers meant to extend the range of Google Home units could also be one possible result of Googles rumored initiative, with this product category having already established itself in Amazons ecosystem following the launch of Ninety7s VAUX. Its presently unclear whether some previously announced products specifically designed for Googles hardware and services will subsequently be enrolled in the program, with Boses recently launched Google Assistant-enabled QuietComfort 35 II being one of such prime candidates for the hypothetical certificate. Apart from headphones and speakers, Made for Google could also encompass devices like chargers, cases, and gamepads made for the companys offerings. In addition to the Pixel 2 series, Googles upcoming product event is rumored to see the official announcement of the Google Home Mini smart speaker, Chrome OS-powered Pixelbook, and possibly some other devices like the companys first-party pair of earbuds with native support for the Google Assistant. If the firm truly has a hardware partner program in the works, its likely that it already enrolled some manufacturers in a beta version of the initiative and that first devices with Made for Google branding will be commercialized by this years holiday season. Social networking giant Facebook is facing the risk of being blocked in Russia amid concerns over how the company stores the personal information it collects from its users in the country, according to recent reports. Alexander Zharov, Russias head of Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, reportedly warned the Menlo Park, California-based company that the Russian government might decide to order Facebook to cease its operation in the country if the social media titan continues to disregard the countrys laws on how personal data of Russian nationals is to be stored. Existing rules in the country mandate all companies and organizations to locally host the personal data of users or customers using physical servers in Russia itself. The countrys law on data storage that has been in effect since September 2015 aims to put an end to the practice of tech giants hosting personal data of Russians on foreign server farms. Many companies have suffered the consequences for failing to comply with the regulatory framework. The regulation initially faced criticism from many internet companies operating in Russia, though most of them eventually complied with it, Google included. Earlier this year, the countrys regulators forced the search giant to remove LinkedIns mobile app for Android from its Play Store in the country after the Russian government started blocking the companys official website in November. It is not clear, though, whether the Russian government is already planning to officially threaten to ban Facebook in the country as no such moves have yet been made by Moscow. If the situation comes to the point that Russia bans Facebook in the country, the social networking firm could lose an opportunity to significantly expand its user base in a market thats set to drive the next global growth wave of mobile apps, according to a new research published earlier this year. Facebook is hence likely to comply with Russias data storage protection law in the near future, though it remains to be seen how the company approaches the dispute in the near future. Apart from Google, tech giants like eBay, Apple, and Twitter are all already complying with Russias law. It seems like Xiaomi actually managed to set a new record and ship 10 million smartphones in September. This information actually comes from the companys CEO; Lei Jun, so its quite accurate, and you can see Xiaomi celebrating its success in the provided images down below. Having said that, it seems like this will be one of Xiaomis best years in terms of sales, which means that the company managed to get back to the right path. Xiaomi was actually founded back in 2010, and it managed to achieve great success in a really short time span, though last year, the company did not perform all that well. Xiaomi managed to sell only 58 million smartphones last year, which was a disappointing result for this China-based smartphone manufacturer considering that they were able to sell over 70 million handsets in 2015, and Xiaomi was actually aiming to sell over 80 million units last year. Having said that, the company has been selling quite a lot of smartphones in 2017, and its sales in September only confirm that. The holiday season is right around the corner, and Xiaomi is actually expected to sell quite a lot of smartphones before the end of this year, so its sales will probably grow quite a bit from this point on. As already mentioned, Xiaomi did not do that great in terms of sales last year, as Huawei managed to sell around 140 million smartphones, while OPPO was second-placed in the Chinese markets, the company managed to sell 95 million smartphones. Vivo actually did really good as well, as that China-based company shipped out 82 million handsets in 2016. Now, as per some unofficial info, Xiaomi actually managed to sell 27 million handsets in the third quarter of this year, and some other reports claim that the company managed to sell 63 million smartphones in the first nine months of this year (first three quarters), so it seems like Xiaomi may sell over 80 million devices this year, right? Well, it seems that way, the festive season is coming, and Xiaomis sales are usually quite high in the last quarter, so, its definitely possible, but well have to wait and see what will happen. Advertisement Pre-order the Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 6 Popular Types Of Coffee Here's How You're Going To Take Your Coffee Game Up A Notch 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. There are a lot of things were particular about in life. Like who we date, for starters, or the jobs we take; how we like to look most of the time. But arguably the most curtailed item of all, at least for some of us, is the ever-controversial coffee preference. If youre a java fan, you likely have a specific style you like your morning cup, from type (hot, cold brew, latte; the list goes on) to how you take it. While you may be more of a splash of almond milk kind of bro, you may have grown up watching your dad drink it straight black. Although all coffee lovers wish we were part barista (definitely the part where you have endless access to perfect acoustic music and tattoos everywhere with zero remorse), the truth is that at home, your brewing may not be as elaborate. And thats OK. Brush up on the main at-home varieties of coffee, and snag yourself some brewing essentials right here: Drip Ah, the good stuff. If youre a I make my coffee in a coffee pot kind of guy, youre just about as classic as Frank Sinatra. When you make standard filtered coffee, youre typically pouring boiling water through a basket of coffee grounds. In comes gravity, which pushes coffee through a filter (note: this is an important step) and voila caffeination worthy of the gods. Much simpler than the process of making espresso, which is a bonus. Stumptown Hairbender Blend - Editor's Pick One of the Portland-based brands most popular offerings, this coffee features notes of cherry, toffee, and fudge. Used at Stumptown locations in their espresso beverages, this coffee is just as good on its own. $26.08 at Amazon.com Peets Coffee Guatemala San Sebastian Blend This blend from the Antigua Valley of Guatemala is part of Peets line of People & Planet coffees. Rich in cacao, every cup of this coffee supports the education of more than 100 students at the school the Finca San Sebastian estate where its produced sponsors in the surrounding community of San Miguel Duenas. $16.95 at Peets.com Cuisinart DCC-3200 With a glass carafe that holds up to 14 cups of coffee, this Cuisinart coffee maker also features brew strength control which allows you to select how strong you want your java. It is also fully automatic with 24-hour programmability, a self-clean option, and a lesser one-to-four cup setting for when you dont need to caffeinate the whole family at once. Were also on board with the gold tone, commercial style permanent filter because well, one less thing you have to worry about forgetting to buy at the grocery store. $77.43 at Amazon.com Pour Over A favorite among high-end coffee fans, pour over coffee (cue the Chemex) is a simple way to brew: start by boiling water on the stove. Then, pour the hot water over coffee grounds and watch the coffee drip below. Philz Philharmonic Coffee - Editor's Pick If you havent heard of Philz, then youre missing out on one of San Franciscos best offerings. This blend in particular, which is warm and rich like the sounds of the philharmonic orchestra the name references, is rich in cardamom and spice. $44.99 at Amazon.com Bulletproof Whole-Bean Coffee Grown on an estate in Guatemala, these hand-harvested beans are a favorite among Bulletproof fanatics. If you want the full BP experience, brew your coffee, then blend it with Bulletproof Brain Octane and grass-fed, unsalted butter to energize your mind and body for hours. $18.95 at Amazon.com Chemex 8-Cup Classic With 100 Coffee Filters Pour over fans most likely have a Chemex on their kitchen counter. Made with borosilicate glass, this coffee maker displays a polished wood collar and leather tie and comes with durable paper filters as a part of this Amazon bundle. Reviewers praise its ability to make a strong brew without unnecessary bitterness. Plus, the filters are heavier than the ones for typical coffee makers. Say goodbye to that sediment you hate at the bottom of your coffee cup. $57.64 at Amazon.com Iced Coffee When its hot outside, there are few things more refreshing than taking your typical cup with a side of chill. The first thing to know, however, is that solid iced coffee involves more than tossing a few ice cubes into black coffee. Find a specialty kit from a store can help, or making a French press of coffee (extra strong) that wont dilute thanks to the addition of ice. Master this art, and you could be saving a helluva lot of money by staving off coffee shops. MIRA Double-Walled French Press It may look complicated, but trust us its not. Simply measure out your coffee grounds, heat water, let steep for 4 to 6 minutes, and plunge the press. For the times youre using this conventionally, as in not for iced coffee, the double-wall stainless steel design will keep your coffee warm for up to two hours. $22.99 at Amazon.com Cold Brew Within the last few years, single-serve cold brew cans have exploded. Not in the holy-sh*t-its-on-my-shirt way, but in the everyones-selling-them way. Cold brew is kind of like iced coffees cooler older brother. But whats the difference? While iced coffee was at one point warm, cold brew is cool from the get-go. This gives cold brew a lower acidity, makes the drink less watery, and likely has a higher caffeine factor. Blue Bottle Cold Brew Coffee Cans - Editor's Pick This is liquid amazingness. Theres no two-ways about it. Dont let their small size fool you: these pint-size cans pack a caffeine punch, and they also have a bold flavor that true coffee fans can appreciate. $46.00 at Amazon.com Chameleon Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate Theres something to be said for having what feels like a never-ending supply of cold brew right inside your refrigerator. Enter Chameleon cold brew concentrate. Each 32-ounce bottle can make eight different serving. Simply mix together 4 ounces of cold brew concentrate with 4 ounces of water, milk, or whatever you choose atop of ice and enjoy. $72.00 for 6-bottle case at ChameleonColdBrew.com Lattes Admit it, you fancy. To make a latte at home is a skill that few have truly mastered like the heroes in green aprons down the street. Still, its possible, granted you have the willpower to watch that milk, carefully. Nespresso Virtuoplus This is the perfect entry-level machine for your home. Similar to the Keurig method, Nespresso uses capsules filled with ground coffee. After inserted, capsule spins up to 7,000 rotations per minute, blending ground coffee with water and producing the perfect cup. $149.25 at Nespresso.com Espresso Drinks Espressos tend to be either blends, which aim to provide a well-rounded flavor that holds up in any kind of espresso drink, or single-origins, which offer more unique, polarizing flavor profiles. From those basic elements, a huge number of possibilities emerge. Here's what you need to know. Espresso Espresso is its own kind of treat, as well as the foundation of espresso-based drinks like lattes. Its a highly concentrated form of coffee, carefully extracted by shooting extremely hot water at high pressure through a pick of ground coffee with a specialized machine. Its got bright, powerful flavours, offering a significant caffeine kick in a small package. Double Espresso Its what it sounds like: two shots of espresso, combined. You drink it if you want to take more time to appreciate the subtleties of the shot, or just get super jacked on caffeine, since a single espresso doesnt have as much caffeine in it as a cup of drip. Short Macchiato Macchiato means marked in Italian, and, accordingly, this drink is an espresso marked with a little drop of steamed milk. Its a way of enjoying almost all of the intensity of espresso without some of the bitter edge. Long Macchiato A macchiato with higher water content, and thus less potency per millilitre. This isnt necessarily a bad thingremember that scotch drinkers sometimes sprinkle some water in their whiskey. When the flavours are a little less intense, sometimes you can appreciate them more. Ristretto Ristrettos are the real espresso snob drinka super condensed espresso that tends to have really really full flavor, as well as a thick, syrupy mouthfeel. You make this kind of shot by using a finer grind of coffee than you normally would, causing a slow extraction. If you order this at a fancy espresso bar, theyll know that you know what youre doing. Long Black A long black is created when you pull an espresso and then leave the machine on until a larger cup is filled. Water keeps flowing through the puck of coffee after the most potent coffee oils have been extracted, creating a dark, bitter cup of coffee thats similar to filter coffee, but with a slightly smokier flavor profile. While some feel that this ruins the taste of espresso, others are in love with the dark, bold flavor of this preparation. Americano Espresso with hot water from a kettle added. Americanos are called this because its built off an Italian preparationespressobut it comes to resemble an American filter drip, because of all the water added. Generally, this ends up tasting like your typical cup of coffee, but with an extra layer of taste, including the dark, butterscotch-y flavors you find in a well-made espresso. Cafe Latte A North American favourite, which combines a shot of espresso with a big cup of steamed milk. In Italy, this is coffee for kids, but thats no reason to be ashamed to order one in any other country. Its popular for a reason: its a soothing beverage that offers espresso flavor in a really approachable, smooth format. Cappucino The coffee wed recommend having for breakfast. An espresso shot topped with a smallish amount of steamed milk, creating a fluffy, foamy milky treat that still packs a heavy espresso punch. Similar to a French cafe au lait, but with a more pronounced texture. Making a great cappuccino, with a perfect balance of milk foam and espresso, is a real art. Flat White The definition of this one is kind of unclear. Basically, its a slightly smaller latte which was invented in Australia. Sometimes, the milk is steamed less aggressively than it tends to be when youre making a latte, resulting in a beverage with a slightly less thick mouthfeel. But sometimes when you order a flat white, you just get a small latte. Piccolo Latte Simply a small latte, about halfway between your gigantic Starbucks latte and a cappuccino. Its a great middle-ground if you find a cappuccino too intense, but dont want to drink a big cup of milky calories thatll get cold before you have a chance to enjoy the whole thing. Mocha Delicious espresso dessert, made by combining a latte with coffee. Not all mochas are made equal. Some boutique coffee chains offer delicious mochas that feature syrup made from high-end chocolate from Valrhona, whereas some others combine a quickly-made latte with cheap stuff. At its best, the mocha is a wonderful indulgence. Affogato A hot espresso poured over a scoop of gelato or ice cream, traditionally vanilla. This excellent dessert changes as you eat it. The first few spoonfuls are both bitter and sweet, but the drink integrates as you stir it with your spoon, so that the last dollops essentially become fresh coffee ice cream. The Best Espresso Machines Espresso machines are essentially pressurized water guns. They force extremely hot, pressurized water through a puck of finely ground coffee, and, in so doing, extract a high concentration of the volatile flavor-providing oils in coffee beans. Typically, high-quality espresso machines are big, expensive, hot, and loud, simply because they have to accomplish a significant mechanical task. They also come with an attached milk steamer for the production of foam, to be used in cappuccinos, lattes, and so on. Breville BES870XL Barista Express Espresso Machine Making good traditional espresso at home isnt cheap. However, the Breville is a great compromise between terrible, inexpensive machines, and gigantic prosumer machines. It also includes a precision grinder, which saves you counter-space and money. Its high quality makes it our runner up. $423.04 at Amazon.com Aeropress Coffee and Espresso Maker The Aeropress is sort of a miracle. Its an innovative immersion press that makes a low-bitterness variety of espresso in just over a minute. While its not totally traditional, Aeropress coffee can provide the base for a great cappuccino. This is our editors choice. $29.95 at Amazon.com Keurigs This is a category worthy of its own mention. The Keurig, which was launched back in 1998, started as an office wonder for coffee heads. Slowly, machines were made for in-home use. Using a K-Cup pod (or single-serve coffee container) filled with coffee, the machines pierce the foil lid with a spray nozzle, and then press hot water through the pod, brewing the beverage, before winding up in your mug. Keurig My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter For the times that a coffee brand you love doesnt come in K-Cup pods, Keurig has got you covered. Brew whatever java you want with the help of this reusable, refillable coffee filter that easily slides into your Keurig device. $9.70 at Amazon.com Keurig K250 Single-Serve Machine Perfect for any size kitchen, it's ideal for anyone who just wants a quick cup of coffee, no fuss. Complete with a touch screen, users are able to select what size cup they want (up to 10 ounces) and their strength preference. Plus, its 40 ounce water reservoir is easy to remove and fill. $109.99 at Amazon.com The Original Donut Shop Regular Medium Roast K-Cups As simple and uncomplicated as it comes, but still super delicious. Made with Arabica beans, this blend is no-frills, just quality. $14.99 for a 24-pack at Keurig.com 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. Reginald Dwayne Betts was convicted of three felonies. Now he can practice law in Connecticut.Last week, the 36-year-old won approval from the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee for inclusion in the state bar.I'm happy that they made that decision, Betts told The Associated Press. I'm just grateful for the huge amount of support people gave me.Betts was 16 when he was involved in armed robbery and carjacking, leading to his convictions and eight-year prison term. Once out, he graduated from the University of Maryland and won a Harvard University fellowship. He also authored award-winning poetry books and a memoir.Last summer, he graduated from Yale Law School and he passed the Connecticut bar exam in February.His file was flagged when he passed the bar. Though Connecticut does not forbid felons from becoming attorneys, they must prove that they have good moral character and fitness to practice law.Betts, said he wants to become a law professor, is currently working on a doctorate in law at Yale. He recently interned at the New Haven public defenders office and has an offer for a clerkship with a federal judge next year.I think that his story is a remarkable story. Mr. Betts demonstrated his commitment to others who may have lost their way. He has a great deal to offer, in addition to what he has already done, said former Connecticut Judge Anne Dranginis, chairwoman of the committee. Despite years advising American clients including more than half of the Fortune 500, London-headquartered law firm Bird & Bird has no representative office in the US.Thats set to change in mid-2018 though as Two Birds flies west with a San Francisco office as part of a plan to grow the firms presence in the region.It will offer clients non-US law advice but the firm plans to partner with US law firms to provide global coverage.Bird & Bird will back up the new office with heavyweight experience including partner Stefano Silvestri, co-head of the firms international corporate group, who will relocate from Milan; and IP partner Nick Aries, who will relocate from London.Tech partner Roger Bickerstaff, and head of international HR services Ian Hunter will also spend significant time in San Francisco and the office will be supported by teams in Asia Pacific and the firms other locations.Max Bonnell has joined the international arbitration practice at White & Case in Sydney.Bonnell was formerly with King & Wood Mallesons where he spent mpore than 18 years. His practice is focused on international arbitration and commercial litigation, advising clients in multiple jurisdictions in telecommunications, mining, energy, financial services, engineering and computer software."These are exciting times for our business in Australia and across the Asia-Pacific region," said White & Case partner Eric Berg, Head of Asia-Pacific. "We now have more than 40 lawyers in our Melbourne and Sydney offices and Max, a recognised leader in arbitration, brings a practice that fits naturally with our project finance focus in Australia and with our wider disputes practice across the Asia-Pacific region."Just weeks after it announced Australian expansion with a new Melbourne office, Kennedys has announced further expansion in the region.A new Bangkok office has opened, headed by Suraphon Rittipongchusit, formerly a senior lawyer in DLA Pipers insurance and litigation practice in Thailand, who is joined by partner Supreedee Nimitkul and senior associate, Tassanu Chutikanon.The team also includes solicitor Ian Johnston who has relocated from Kennedys in Singapore.Their initial focus is insurance/reinsurance, dispute resolution and corporate work.Kennedys has also announced a new Paris office led by four partners formerly with French boutique litigation firm BOPS Avocats. Well, you don't need to be a Porschephille to figure out the category in which the 991-generation 911 GT3 RS we have here belongs.The mix between the matter shade of blue covering most of the machine's body and the black bits is enough to draw attention like a magnet. Note that the inner graphics of the headlights also come in black - the supercar features the optional all-LED headlights.However, it's the yellow details of the car that truly stand out. The yellow bits can also be found inside the Neunelfer, where they are featured on a multitude of elements. From the headrests (by the way, the seats we have here are shared with the 918 Spyder), to the top of the steering wheel and the roll cage, the color makes sure this is a memorable cabin color combo.The Neunelfer we're talking about was caught on camera in Lebanon, with the machine serving as a track animal in that part of the world.Speaking of the Rennsport Neunelfer, we'll remind you that the German engineers are currently out there, testing the 991.2 incarnation of the track special.The GT3 RS is the only member of the 911 family that hasn't been touched by the mid-cycle revamp. And you can expect the naturally aspirated monster, which we spied last month, to make its debut in the first months of next year. This David vs. Goliath brawl involves a current-generation Clio RS (the car doesn't pack the facelift introduced earlier this year, though), while the said Affalterbach machine belongs to the previous incarnation of the super-sedan.Even so, we're looking at a hot hatch animated by a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine delivering no more than 200 hp, which runs with a four-door machine packing a twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8. And since this is the S incarnation of the E63, we're looking at an overly meaty 585 hp, with the power being sent to all four wheels.Despite the tons of differences between the two go-fast machines, the spicy subcompact manages to stay with the E63. And the secret behind this lies within the Ring experience packed by the Clio RS driver.The aficionado has shared his Nordschleife adventures on YouTube on multiple occasions, knowing the circuit like the back of his hand.We have to mention that the tech setup of the Clio RS helps this machine when it comes to being cast in the role of a giant hunter. With its predictable handling, the Frenchie allows the one behind the wheel to push the machine to the limit with confidence.Nevertheless, as the tons of hot hatch accidents taking place on the Nurburgring show, a driver attempting this kind of spirited driving can't ignore the demons that come with any such track stint (we're looking at you, lift-off oversteer ). Now, the British automotive producer's machines aren't exactly famous for their sprinting abilities. However, this Elise has given up its Toyota motor in favor of a Honda mill.The change has brought a monstrous horsepower boost and that's because this mid-engined machine now packs a modded K20 motor.Honda's turbo-four is infamous for its tuning friendly nature, with the motor easily coping with four-digit outputs. This doesn't seem to be the case here and yet the JDM firepower of the Lotus is enough for the Brit to show the Maranello machine its posterior.The 458 had also been taken down the aftermarket path, albeit only receiving a light touch, which came in the form of a custom exhaust. Truth be told, if we are to check out the aural side of the battle, there's simply no way of comparing the two and such a conclusion would stand even without the aftermarket hardware present on the Fezza (the 458 is animated by a 4.5-liter V8 ).Alas, the two didn't choose a drag strip for their confrontation, going for a highway brawl instead. And don't think that the public road battleground has determined the drivers to show any form of concern.In fact, while the drag race saw things climbing to about 250 km/h (make that 155 mph), the driver of the Prancing Horse kept the throttle welded after the battle was over. And the guy didn't stop hooning until the Italian exotic went past 300 km/h (186 mph). And no, the highway wasn't straight for the entire length of the run. We've brought along a photo that can be used as an x-ray of the said sub-range. This pic shows a 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS spending some quality time with a 2018 GT3 at the Nurburgring - we'll tip our keyboards to the wilco blok automotive photography Facebook page for this image.If we are to talk about the particularities of each supercar, we'll mention that while the GT2 RS does come with the Weissach Package, the GT3 doesn't sport the freshest Zuffenhausen pack around, namely the Touring Package Yes, we did mention that the German carmaker has something for every sportscar taste, but this implies that one's go-fast choice is backed by proper financial resources. We'll remind you that, while the 500 hp GT3 comes with an MSRP of $143,600, you'll have to pay double for the 700-pony GT2 RS.One might wonder how this is translated into the Nurburgring lap times of the rear-engined beasts. Well, we obviously have to start with the recent Green Hell production car lap record of the Rennsport model, which went round the infamous German circuit in 6:47.3. As for the chronograph number of the naturally aspirated hero, this sits at an also-amazing 7:12.7.Those of you willing to see a 100% complete 911 GT family will have to wait until next Sprint, though. That's when the 991.2 incarnations of the GT3 RS is expected to bow, with March's Geneva Motor Show being a likely venue for the debut of the atmospheric track special. Meanwhile, we'll remind you that we recently spied the Gen 2 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, with the prototype sill showing a mix of new and old exterior bits. The European Union and Armenia will sign a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) soon, a senior EU official said during a visit to Yerevan on Monday. Johannes Hahn, the EU commissioner for European neighborhood policy, said the landmark accord will not only deepen the EUs ties with Armenia but also serve as an example to other countries. Its relevance is going far beyond our bilateral relationship, Hahn said after talks with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian. He called the CEPA a blueprint for possible other relationships. This groundbreaking new agreement will help demonstrate that it is possible for Armenia to be part of the Eurasian integration process while also establishing comprehensive and enhanced relations with the EU, Hahn told a joint news conference. Nalbandian confirmed that the deal is due to be signed at the EUs November 24 summit in Brussels that will focus on its Eastern Partnership program of privileged partnership with six former Soviet republics. Armenia has close links with the EU and intends to expand comprehensive cooperation in all areas of mutual interest, Nalbandian said. The EU provides valuable assistance to reforms taking place in our country. The EU Delegation in Armenia said over the weekend that Hahn will visit Yerevan to prepare for the Brussels summit. The commissioner was scheduled to meet with President Serzh Sarkisian and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian later on Monday. The CEPA, which was finalized in March, reportedly contains the main political provisions of a more far-reaching Association Agreement which Brussels and Yerevan nearly concluded in 2013. Sarkisian prevented the signing of that agreement with his unexpected decision to seek Armenias accession to the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. The move was widely attributed to Russian pressure exerted on the Armenian government. Speaking in August, the Armenian president dismissed suggestions that the planned alternative deal with the EU may also collapse at the last minute. We have no reason to not sign that document, he said of the CEPA. 2 October 2017 11:00 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov October 2 marks the 25th anniversary of the occupation of a beautiful region of Azerbaijan Khojavand. The region was occupied by Armenian armed forces during the ferocious Nagorno-Karabakh war. As many as 145 residents of Khojavand died while fighting against the Armenian invasion. Khojavand was established on the basis of Martuni and Hadrut administrative regions after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of Azerbaijan was abolished in 1991. The region has an area of 1,458 square kilometers and its population was about 41,216 people before the occupation. The region includes Khojavand city, two large settlements Girmizi Bazar and Hadrut, and 81 villages. The terrain of Khojavand region is mostly mountainous its height varies from approximately 500 to 2,800 meters. The region has Kurichay, Chaylukh, Aghoghlanchay and some other rivers. Prior to the occupation, Khojavand was mainly an agricultural region. People were engaged in livestock, viticulture, poultry, crop production, vegetable and fruit growing. Khojavand was also famous for its green marble. After the invasion into Khojavand and its occupation, Armenians destroyed the regions infrastructure and depleted its flora and fauna. Data by the Center evaluating the damage inflicted to the environment and natural resources in the Azerbaijani occupied territories says that the enemy has turned the area into a drug plantation. The drug crops planted by Armenians in Khojavand are currently delivered to a number of countries. Armenian invaders plundered natural recourses of the region they cut down trees and transported them to Armenia and other countries as construction materials. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources reported that in Khojavand there are lime fields of 989,000 tons of underground water with the predicted reserve of 90,000 cubic meters daily. Near the Gyrmyzy (Red) Bazaar settlement, there were two samples of plane tree of 600 cm in diameter and 25 m in height, preserved as natural monuments. They were at the age of 1000 and 2000 years, while in Garakand village there was the forest reserve of 0.5 hectares with trees included into the Red Book and representing the tertiary period relict. In Khojavand, the forests of 25.5 hectares dominated by oaks were cut by Armenian occupants. Khojavand also had many historical, archaeological and architectural monuments. These are the ancient Azykh Cave, dating back almost 1.5 million years B.C., which includes six caves where primitive people lived, as well as in the Taghlar Cave, a lot of fortresses of 1-8th centuries, an Albanian Temple of the 10th century, a13th century tomb and many other ancient monuments. Today, 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands, including Kohajvand, illegally remain under Armenian occupation. The Nagorno-Karabakh war, which began in 1988, is still unresolved, and this upsets more than a million of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons, who had to leave their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied regions due to the Armenian aggression. Azerbaijan has long ago stated it is ready to settle the conflict through direct negotiations with Armenia with mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created to resolve this conflict. However, the Armenian side is constantly trying to make up reasons to avoid a constructive dialogue and preserve the unacceptable status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 14:17 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Azerbaijani citizen Shahbaz Guliyev, who is held in Armenian captivity, has experienced serious health problems and was hospitalized in Yerevan. Guliyevs relative informed Report that Shahbaz Guliyev will stay in the hospital in Yerevan for a month. Shahbaz Guliyev together with another Azerbaijani Dilgam Asgarov is kept hostage by Armenian militaries in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan for more than three years. They were detained by the Armenian armed forces in July 2014 while visiting their native places and graves of loved ones in the occupied Azerbaijani Kalbajar region. Moreover, Armenian forces killed the third Azerbaijani, Hasan Hasanov. Later, Guliyev and Asgarov were judged illegally by the unrecognized courts of a separatist regime in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Following an expedited judicial process in December 2015, Asgarov was sentenced to life imprisonment and Guliyev to 22 years. Attempts of Azerbaijan to provide justice and to free the hostages are still unsuccessful. We were shown video containing Shahbaz Guliyevs speech. He said that he had undergone a surgery on gallbladder. After surgery he had serious health problems, and he was put in a hospital after a month, the relative said on October 2. Shahbaz said he had problems with the digestive system, he can't eat. The food is not normally absorbed. Azerbaijans State Committee on Affairs of Refugees and IDPs, the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons and other agencies have repeatedly urged international organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to assist in release of Guliyev and Asgarov, whilst the problem remains topical yet. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 12:00 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova A single institute, which will be engaged in the field of agricultural insurance, will be established in Azerbaijan. This institution will be created on the basis of insurance pool. The Fund, along with the direct insurance activity in this sphere, will also develop new insurance products, Aliya Azimova, the head of the International Finance Corporations (IFC) local representation told Trend. She went on to say that data is being collected for risk assessment in the field of agricultural insurance in order to prepare the first insurance products in the next year. Azimova noted the Azerbaijani government is keen on to use the Turkish model of agricultural insurance, which is called TARSIM. As part of the project, IFC is looking for the most appropriate options for implementing this model in Azerbaijan. TARSIM Agricultural insurance system is now a reference model in the world along with other schemes. TARSIM, the integrated agricultural risk management, is aimed to promote, spread of agricultural insurance and to conduct the necessary applications fast and accurate, in order to protect the farmers against the natural disasters and other risks. TARSIM is seen in the agricultural sector as moving from crisis management to the risk management. Currently, IFC, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Financial Market Supervisory Body (FMSB), is working on a project to improve an agricultural insurance system in Azerbaijan. The Agricultural Insurance Fund will be created within the framework of the implementation of the Strategic Road Map for the production and processing of agricultural products. Azerbaijan, which is keen to diversify its economy on the basis of further development of the non-oil sector, defines agriculture as one the main directions. The fertile lands, abundance of water and climatic diversity create favorable foundation for ever-strengthening agro-sector. Presence of nine climatic zones allows the country to produce a variety of agricultural products and brings about new opportunities for coming up with different types of goods. Azerbaijan has 4.8 million hectares of agricultural land, which comprises over 50 percent of its total territory, of which39.6 percent is arable. Meanwhile, the food-processing sector constitutes an important component of the national economy and accounts for over 38 percent of total manufacturing industry. In the country, agricultural producers are exempted from paying all taxes (except tax for land), in accordance with the Law On granting tax benefits to producers of agricultural products, adopted on November, 2001. Moreover, since 2007, the state has been offering preferences for agricultural producers and entrepreneurs involved in agricultural sector, in order to provide comprehensive support to producers, which helps to create competitive environment. Employment in the agriculture sector hit 1.7 million as of early 2017, which comprises 37 percent of the economically active population of Azerbaijan. The agrarian sector grew by 2.2 percent and agricultural exports by more than 40 percent over the first half of 2017. The revival of agriculture sector plays an important role in the development of rural regions, where 47 percent of Azerbaijan's population lives. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries. Azerbaijan became a member of IFC in 1995. As of December 31, 2016, IFC has invested $473 million, of which $73 million was mobilized from other lenders, financing 56 long-term projects across a range of sectors, including financial services, infrastructure, and manufacturing sectors. In addition, IFC has supported around $80 million in trade through its trade finance program and provided $250 million for Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC). IFC has also implemented a range of advisory projects aimed at encouraging private sector growth. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 16:43 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova The export promotion portal of Azerbaijan - azexport.az received orders worth $310 million from almost 60 countries during the eight months of 2017. The main orders during the reported period related to export of fruits and vegetables, furniture, drinks, commodity goods, products and services produced in Azerbaijan as a whole. The Azerbaijani products have received over 450,000 views through the Azexport portal over this period, making the Made in Azerbaijan brand even more popular in the world, asid Vusal Gasimli, Executive director of the countrys Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication. Gasimli, talking to reporters in Aghdam, said that in the future Azexport will implement other mechanisms to stimulate exports along with export orders, adding that currently the portal is in talks with Amazon, the world's most popular e-commerce portal. A number of products will be placed in Amazon warehouses in the United States, thus, the sale of Azerbaijani products will be possible, especially in the Western Hemisphere, which will further promote the growth of exports in the future. The total volume of non-oil export operations amounted to $965 million during the reported period and the export of non-oil products increased by one third, according to Gasimli. Azerbaijan is eager to penetrate widely in the international commodity markets and expand non-oil exports under Made in Azerbaijan brand. In total, within the promotion of the Made in Azerbaijan brand export missions were organized to China, the UAE, Germany, Pakistan, Qatar, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, was defined as next destination, where Azerbaijani entrepreneurs will present 'Made in Azerbaijan' brand on October 1-4, according to the Economy Ministry. As of today, 92 trademarks of Azerbaijan are protected under the Made in Azerbaijan brand, while the countrys total outputs nears 250 kinds of products in food, light, heavy and construction industries. The brand is highly successful in regional and world markets, and Azerbaijans local output meets all the necessary standards. The country, in general, exported products in the amount of $3.6 billion during the first quarter of the year, the volume of non-oil exports amounted to $253.5 million, which is 10.8 percent more than the indicator of the same period last year. The agricultural exports grew by more than 40 percent over the first half of 2017. Azexport.az was created in accordance with the order "On creation of a unified database of goods produced in Azerbaijan Republic", signed on 21 September 2016 by President Ilham Aliyev. Mission of Azexport.az, managed by the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication is to provide information about products of Azerbaijani origin and becoming the beneficial platform for their sales in foreign and domestic markets. Azexport.az, integrated with the most popular electronic trading platforms makes the products available to potential buyers from anywhere in the world. Being available in the Azerbaijani, Russian and English languages, it acts as a single digital destination for trade, bringing together and connecting local entrepreneurs, international buyers and international investors. The portal offers fast and secure payment to VISA, Master Card and American Express cards owners. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 12:48 (UTC+04:00) Baku Expo Centre will host the Caspian regions major event in the construction field WorldBuild Baku 2017, the 23rd Azerbaijan International Construction Exhibition, which will mark the beginning of Caspian Construction Week on October 18-21. This is a long-awaited event for many experts from various countries, as the WorldBuild Baku exhibition is the most important professional event in the field of architecture and construction, design and maintenance in the region. The WorldBuild Baku is supported by the Economy Ministry of Azerbaijan, State Committee for Town Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, State Housing Development Agency under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, The Union of Architects of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) and National Confederation of The Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of Azerbaijan Republic (AEC). The exhibitions are organized by Iteca Caspian and its partner ITE Group. This years exhibition will welcome over 200 companies from more than 23 countries worldwide. Germany, the UAE and Iran will all have national display booths at the exhibition. This years debutant is Poland. Moreover, this years local participants will demonstrate their products under the Made in Azerbaijan brand, alongside the first time exhibitors of WorldBuild Baku 2017. The Corella brand of paint presented by NB Group is the Registration Sponsor of the WorldBuild Baku 2017 exhibition. WorldBuild Baku will offer an extensive business program which includes B2B meetings between the exhibitors and local distributors. The exhibition will also host a number of professional events in cooperation with the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan. WorldBuild Baku is one of the most effective channels for attracting innovative products and services to the country's construction market, and this year will be no exception; WorldBuild Baku 2017 will cover a full range of building materials, including facade, construction and finishing, windows and doors, paints and varnish, construction machinery and much more. Thus, over the four days of the exhibition, tens of thousands of professionals will be able to learn about innovations in the building industry, interact with leading manufacturers and distributors and introduce the latest technologies to Azerbaijans rapidly growing construction industry. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 13:21 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The illegal visit of Turkish citizens to the Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia caused great discontent and anxiety in Azerbaijani society. Political Scientist Fikrat Sadikhov told Day.az that each country has a certain circle of people, who even being aware of the roots of a conflict, still try to annoy someone, or pretend to be great peacekeepers, human rights defenders who are allegedly somehow able to help resolve the conflict. Of course, the visit of Turkish citizens to the occupied Karabakh is a step against Azerbaijans interests, and if you even consider such actions of questionable content in a different context, for example, as a peace step, they still cannot be justified, since there is the most logical and objective way for that, he noted. The Grave Crimes Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office filed a criminal case under Criminal Codes Article 318.2 (illegally crossing Azerbaijans state borders) against Turkish citizens - Ufuk Uras, Ali Bayramoglu, Said Cekinoglu and Erol Katircioglu , who without documents and consent from relevant executive authorities crossed the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan avoiding checkpoints. That is, they deliberately traveled from territory of Armenia and illegally arrived in occupied Khankendi and other settlements of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. They have been declared in the international wanted list. Azerbaijan also sent an appeal to the Turkish law enforcement agencies in order to detain the four citizens. The expert reminded that the Turkish citizens could appeal to international organizations to demand the enforcement of Armenia to implement resolutions on de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Once they went to Karabakh, they should have required from Armenia to start to liberate the seven occupied Azerbaijani regions around Karabakh. But instead, a bunch of people makes fruitless conversations, and frankly twaddle, which a priori cannot benefit any of the parties to the conflict, Sadikhov said. Therefore, these human rights defenders should bear criminal responsibility under the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, the expert added. These Turkish citizens demonstrated their betrayal and disregard for the interests of Turkey and its closest ally Azerbaijan, Sadikhov noted. At the same time, such steps, made on the initiative of a separate group of people, are not able to harm bilateral close relations between our countries. He added that Turkey has always supported Azerbaijan's position in all political, military, and strategic issues in international forums. The Turkish Foreign Ministry, commenting on the issue, stated that the illegal visit does not reflect the official policy of Ankara. Turkey will continue to support Azerbaijan's fair position on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Ministry said. Turkeys Ministry of Justice, in turn, informed that after verifying the issue, the Turkish side will inform Azerbaijan in detail. MP Rovshan Rzayev, in turn, told Trend that along with Azerbaijan, the Turkish side should sharply condemn the illegal visit of its citizens to the occupied lands of Azerbaijan. He noted that the illegal visit made by the representatives of the fraternal country causes regret. It is an act of their disrespect to the legislation of Azerbaijan. They met with the separatist regime in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and expressed opinions against Azerbaijan, he said. The Turkish citizens visit to our lands occupied by Armenia is a support for the provocative Armenian policy. The MP expressed hope that the issue will be investigated in accordance with the law and measures will be taken against these persons. Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia are considered illegal, and any individuals paying such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's black list. The Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of the country. Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of illegality of visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 17:10 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The OSCE Minsk Group, created back in 1994 to find a peaceful resolution for the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, has failed to make a considerable progress in the peace process, while the conflict continues to threaten regional stability and security. Despite more than two decades of negotiations, the OSCE mediation appears to be a failure amid the daily ceasefire breaches and murders of Azerbaijani civilians lining on the frontline areas. Of course the OSCE is making certain efforts towards reaching a peaceful settlement, but shortcomings and double standards prevent the peace process. Experts, even political scientists say the time has come for changes in the OSCE Minsk Group composition for making effective steps to end the conflict. Political analyst Ilgar Velizade, talking to Echo.az, noted that Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its dissatisfaction with the Minsk Groups activities. The expert reminded that the Minsk Group consists not only of the co-chairing countries, which include the U.S., Russia and France, but also of other states. Therefore, if we assume that the format will be changed, there are many options. For example, all member states of the OSCE Minsk Group can alternately play the role of the co-chairs, Velizade said. Maybe, these countries will have the opportunity to become moderators of the negotiation process. The OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996. The Groups members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden. Velizade stressed that the issue of changing the Minsk Groups composition as a whole can also be raised. Azerbaijan is the country most interested in the issue of the MGs format changing, and other countries agree on what there is today, he added. Speaking about the possibility of Turkeys joining the MG co-chairs, Velizade said that Azerbaijan wouldnt mind Turkeys involvement in the ranks of the OSCE Minsk Groups co-chairs. However, the Armenian side considers this country to be biased. A similar bias has also been demonstrated by France, which is considered pro-Armenian, but it remains among the co-chairs, said the analyst. Velizade noted that it would be also good to involve Spain in the new format of the OSCE MG, as the country knows the specifics of the work, it experienced problems with separatism in practice, so it will be able to provide due support Azerbaijan. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 23:31 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov A group of Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations have protested against the illegal visit of Turkish citizens to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan on September 22. Without documents and consent from relevant executive authorities, four Turks Ufuk Uras, Ali Bayramoglu, Said Cekinoglu and Erol Katircioglu crossed the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan avoiding checkpoints. The Grave Crimes Investigation Department of Azerbaijans Prosecutor General's Office filed a criminal case under Criminal Codes Article 318.2 (illegally crossing Azerbaijans state borders) against them. That is, they deliberately traveled from territory of Armenia and illegally arrived in occupied Khankendi and other settlements of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. They have been declared in the international wanted list. Azerbaijan also sent an appeal to the Turkish law enforcement agencies in order to detain the four citizens. The Azerbaijani NGOs stressed in their appeal that this visit was condemned by the foreign ministries of both Azerbaijan and Turkey. We as NGOs also strongly condemn the illegal actions of the Turkish citizens. Getting acquainted with the past of these individuals, one can see that their love for Armenia is not new anti-Turkic, anti-Azerbaijani steps have always dominated in their activities, the appeal reads. The NGOs further noted that they support the decision of Azerbaijani official structures for the initiation of criminal proceedings against Turkish individuals. 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. 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. Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of illegality of visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 11:33 (UTC+04:00) Indonesian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Husnan Bey Fanani has hailed relations between the two countries. Fanani, in an interview with Azertac, said Azerbaijan and Indonesia have made great strides in terms of development of bilateral relations over the past 25 years. "Today our countries collaborate in various projects and actively promote peace, tolerance and democracy in the world. Indonesia pays special attention to the promotion of inter-faith dialogue both at bilateral and regional levels. The ambassador said that as Muslim countries Azerbaijan and Indonesia cooperate in promoting peace, solidarity and multicultural values. Relations between Azerbaijan and Indonesia are constantly developing. Over the past 5 years the two countries have exchanged almost more than 60 visits. Our countries are also cooperating in the area of education. Each year Indonesia offers various scholarships for Azerbaijani citizens. Over the last few years our countries have closely cooperated in the areas of trade, tourism, investment. Indonesia recognized Azerbaijans independence on December 28, 1991. Bilateral relations between the two countries were established on September 24, 1992. The embassy of Azerbaijan in Indonesia was established in 2006, while the embassy of Indonesia in Azerbaijan was opened in 2010. The trade turnover between the two countries is mostly related to the energy sector, as Azerbaijan is the second biggest supplier of crude oil to Indonesia after Saudi Arabia. Indonesia has been importing crude oil directly from Azerbaijan since 2015. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 11:06 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Azerbaijan respects the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Spain within its internationally recognized borders, Spokesman of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend on October 2. He was commenting on the so-called independence referendum held in Catalonia region of Spain on October 1. We are looking forward to settlement of existing situation by peaceful means on the basis of the Constitution and laws of Spain, he added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 12:08 (UTC+04:00) President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today arrived in Gobustan district for a visit. The head of state first laid flowers at a statue of national leader in the Heydar Aliyev Park in the center of the city of Gobustan, Azertac reported. Head of Gobustan District Executive Authority Adil Mammadov informed President Ilham Aliyev about the work carried out in the park. As part of his visit to Gobustan, President Aliyev has attended the opening of Jangi-Badalli section of the Baku-Shamakhi-Mughanli highway. Chairman of Azeravtoyol Open Joint Stock Company Saleh Mammadov informed the head of state of the works done under the project. Jangi-Badalli section, which stretches from the 55th km to 101st km of Baku-Shamakhi-Mughanli highway, has been expanded to four lanes. The total length of this part of the highway is 46 km, while its width is 27.5 metres. Some 16 underground passages and six overground pedestrian crossings were built along the highway under the project. A bridge measuring 47.5 metres in length and 30 metres in width was also built on the Jeyrankechmaz River along the road. Jangi-Badalli section of Baku-Shamakhi-Mughanli highway underwent a major overhaul as part of the State Program on Socio-Economic Development of the Districts in 2014-2018 which was approved by the Azerbaijani President. The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the highway. Later, President Aliyev attended the inauguration of a newly built 100-seat kindergarten in Gobustan district. The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the kindergarten. All conditions were created here for children. The two-storey building covers an area of 826 square metres. The building features four teaching rooms and four bedrooms. All rooms are supplied with the necessary equipment and visual aids. The kindergarten also has a gym, two computer rooms, a medical center and a kitchen. The landscaping work was done, and amusement facilities were installed in the yard of the kindergarten. President Aliyev also attended the inauguration of Takla-Sundu-Khillmilli highway in Gobustan district after major overhaul. Chairman of Azeravtoyol Open Joint Stock Company Saleh Mammadov told the head of state that Takla-Sundu-Khilmilli highway connects six villages with a total population of 15,000 people. The total length of the highway is 17,2 km, while its width is six metres. Takla-Sundu-Khilmilli highway has two lanes. Under the project, nine bus stops were installed along the road. The head of state cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of Takla-Sundu-Khilmilli highway --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 17:27 (UTC+04:00) President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today arrived in Shamakhi district for a visit, Azertac reported. The head of state laid flowers at a statue of the national leader in the Heydar Aliyev Park in the center of the city of Shamakhi. Head of Shamakhi District Executive Authority Asif Aghayev informed President Ilham Aliyev of the recent projects and landscaping works carried out in the district and in the park. President Aliyev has attended the opening Shamakhi-Chol Goylar-Padar highway. Chairman of Azeravtoyol Open Joint Stock Company Saleh Mammadov informed the head of state of the works done under the project. Construction of the road, which connects 18 residential areas with a total population of 35,800 people, started in 2011. The road is 53km in length and 7 metres in width. The head of state was also informed of construction of Goylar-Gushchu road in Shamakhi district. The 11km-long road connects four villages with a total population of 14,000 people. Later, President Aliyev attended a ceremony to launch a drinking water supply and sewage system project in the city of Shamakhi. Chairman of Azersu Open Joint Stock Company Gorkhmaz Huseynov informed the head of state of the Reconstruction of the drinking water supply and sewage systems in the city of Shamakhi project. The project was implemented under National Water Supply and Sanitation Project co-funded by the government of Azerbaijan and the World Bank. The project provides for the improvement of water supply and sewage infrastructure for 41,000 people. A 8.9km-long main water pipe and a 130km-long sanitation system was built in the city under the project. The project also saw construction of a biological water treatment facility with a daily capacity of 10,000 cm. President Ilham Aliyev pressed a button to launch the drinking water supply system. On the same day, President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the opening of Pirgulu-Damirchi highway after major overhaul. Chairman of Azeravtoyol Open Joint Stock Company Saleh Mammadov informed the head of state of the technical indicators of Pirgulu-Damirchi highway. The 8km-long road has two lanes and is 3.5-4 metres in width. Three bus stations were installed along the road. The renovated highway connects five villages with a total population of 1,600 people. President Ilham Aliyev cut a ribbon symbolizing the opening of the road. Then the head of state viewed Az-Granata LLC`s vineyards, where he was informed of the work done in the vineyards. The vineyard currently occupies an area of 375 hectares. Grape seedlings planted here are the best species brought from France, Turkey and Georgia. A state-of-the-art irrigation system was installed in the vineyard. 250 people are employed in the vineyards, including 200 women. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva have viewed works done in Damirchi village, Shamakhi . Damirchi is one of the most ancient villages in Shamakhi and its history dates back to the 15th century. Renovation of the village saw reconstruction of a village mosque among other works. The head of state viewed Damirchi mosque, which was built in 755. The President was presented with a Holy Quran. The village also features a number of amusement and recreation sites and projects for tourists. One of them is tandoor, which is installed in several places in the village. President Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva tasted a hot tandoor bread. The head of state and first lady then were invited to tea in Damirchi village. They also familiarized themselves with a blacksmith's shop and workshop. President Aliyev also viewed a project of Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum of Blacksmith, which will be built in the village. The President and first lady have viewed newly-created Safari Park Shamakhi. The head of state and the first lady were informed of the activity of AzerEkov Ltd, which specializes in the creation of hunting environment, maintenance of wild ungulates and their adaptation to Azerbaijani nature. Founded in 2014, AzerEkov Ltd joined the International Deer and wild Ungulate Breeders Association (IDUBA). AzerEkov Ltd was created with 420 genetically valuable wild ungulates in several European countries. Nowadays the Safari Park Shamakhi occupies 600 hectares (including 400 hectares of fenced territory). Deer breeding is a type of farming with very good perspectives in this area. The Safari Park Shamakhi nowadays features a total of 790 heads of ungulates, including 260 heads of red deer, 250 heads of mouflon and 280 heads of fallow deer. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 13:33 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The capital assets of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces Relief Fund exceeded more than 85 million manats ($50 million) as of October 1, 2017. Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported that the Funds dollar account has accumulated more than $212,873; the euro account reached 8,636 euros, while the ruble account made up 5,000 rubles. The Armed Forces Relief Fund, established in 2002, targets to ensure development of the Armed Forces in accordance with the contemporary requirements, strengthening the material and technical base and financing the necessary social measures. The Armed Forces Relief Fund is formed on the basis of voluntary donations of individuals and legal entities and at the expense of the other donations not prohibited by the national legislation. Today, Azerbaijani Army is one of the most powerful, highly disciplined armies in the world and the leading in the region, which is equipped with modern military machinery. Azerbaijan leaves behind many CIS and regional countries to take its place among the first 60 strongest militaries of the world, according to the U.S.-based Global Firepower survey center. Azerbaijan provides the National Army with sufficient military budget every year. Defense spending of Azerbaijan determined in the state budget for 2017 made up 2.64 billion manats ($1.5 billion), which exceeds the spending for 2016. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 15:31 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Threats are increasing in the world and conflicts are flaring up, but Azerbaijan is an island of stability and development, said President Ilham Aliyev at a meeting with members of public in Gobustan on October 2. Today, Azerbaijan is one of those countries that stand out for stability, development and progress in the world, noted President Aliyev. Now you are following the processes ongoing in the world. There are many big problems both in economic, political and military fields. Risks and threats are increasing, bloodshed, conflicts, wars are breaking out, and stability is being violated. However, Azerbaijan is an island of stability and development. A well thought-out policy, the unity between the people and the authorities, and the patriotic nature of our people these factors are the basis of our success. The next year will be a year of rapid economic growth, said President Aliyev. Our achievements in economy are reflected both in our statistical indicators and in the reports of prominent international economic organizations. Perhaps, you have heard that Davos World Economic Forum has recently ranked the Azerbaijani economy 35th for its competitiveness. We have advanced by two steps, from 37th to 35th position. This is a great result. I should also note that we rank first in the CIS area. Weve been leading for several years and we are ahead of many developed countries, noted the president. Taking into account the fall in oil prices last year and this year, some difficulties and some economic problems have arisen in our country. Nevertheless, our successful work and serious reforms have been highly appreciated by the worlds first economic forum Davos Forum. This once again confirms that we are on the right path, our economic policy fully meets the interests of the Azerbaijani people, and our country is strengthening, said the head of state. I should also note that, despite the fall in oil prices this year, we have managed to increase our foreign currency reserves. This demonstrates that by conducting a right policy even in difficult years, we have not spent our resources, and in contrast, earned extra money. This money serves the interests of our country and our people. Using these funds, we build schools, hospitals, roads, water lines and strengthen our countrys defense capabilities, added President Aliyev. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 15:09 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli The autumn session of the Azerbaijani Parliament began on October 2 and considered 34 issues, which were previously added to the agenda. Speaker of the Parliament Ogtay Asadov, in his opening speech at the autumn session, lauded the work of the Parliament during the summer and extraordinary sessions. The speaker stressed that during the summer and extraordinary sessions of the Parliament some 268 laws and decisions were adopted. He further reminded that the committees' meetings, within the autumn session, began on September 12. Ogtay Asadov also touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is the number one problem for the Azerbaijani state. He voiced concern over the double standards Azerbaijan faces over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, further stressing that Azerbaijan is tired of double standards. Later, the parliamentarians considered drafts "On legislative work plan of the autumn session of the year 2017 of the Parliament", "On dismissal of Khagani Abdullayev from the membership of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan Management Board" as well as the ratification of the agreements signed between Azerbaijan and several countries. Besides, agenda included the amendments to the law "On military duty and military service", "On road traffic", "On mortgage" as well as draft amendments to the law "On state real estate register", "On state registration of legal entities and state registry", "On combating corruption", "On state border", "On police", "On Central Bank of Azerbaijan", "On investment funds", "On diplomatic service", "On labor pensions", "On museums", "On official statistics", "On sanitary-epidemiological health", "On border troops", "On education", "On animals", "On defense", "On fire safety", "On privatization of state-owned property", "On establishment of Orders and Medals of the Republic of Azerbaijan" regarding establishment of a jubilee medal "100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani Police (1918-2018)", as well as amendments to the Civil Code and Labor Code. The Parliament approved the release of Khagani Abdullayev from the post of the member of the board of the Central Bank, which he has occupied since 2010. Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on economic policy, industry and entrepreneurship Ziyad Samadzadeh noted that Abdullayev himself decided to leave this post in connection with the transition to a new post. The MPs also discussed Azerbaijans joining the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Legal Policy and State Building Ali Huseynli stressed the importance of Azerbaijan's joining this agreement in terms of signing international treaties. The Parliament also discussed new types of alternative penalties in Azerbaijan. Head of the Administration of Azerbaijani Parliament Safa Mirzayev proposed to introduce new penalties to Criminal Code. The four-direction project is aimed at a more humane approach in the judicial process. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 16:25 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova A meeting with Australian businessmen was organized by the Honorary Consulate of Azerbaijan in Perth, Australia on the eve of the Azerbaijani-Australian business forum. The first Azerbaijani-Australian business forum will take place in October in Baku, in which dozens of entrepreneurs from Australia are expected to take part, Honorary Consul of Azerbaijan in Australia Aidan Rzayeva told Trend. The meeting participants were informed about Azerbaijan's economic and investment opportunities, projects implemented in the country in various spheres of the economy. Following the meeting, many businessmen expressed their intention to participate in the business forum in Baku. Most recently, Baku hosted the event dedicated to 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two states. The event was attended by Minister for International Development and the Pacific of the country Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and other officials of Australia, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Samad Seyidov, Head of the Azerbaijan-Australia interparliamentary friendship group and others. In Baku, Fierravanti-Wells also met with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and the sides discussed ways to boost the ties. Fierravanti-Wells expressed great interest in expanding relations with Azerbaijan in political and trade-economic areas, underlining the importance of developing inter-parliamentary cooperation, which is an important component of interstate relations. The Commonwealth of Australia recognized the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan on December 26, 1991. Diplomatic relations between two countries have been established on June 19, 1992. Azerbaijan exports crude oil to Australia. Butter is imported from Australia. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Australia amounted to $2.78 million in January-June 2017, according to Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 19:00 (UTC+04:00) The Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2017 has been held in Baku co-organized by Azerbaijan`s Ministry of Emergency Situations, Asian Disaster Reduction Center and Japans Cabinet of Ministers. Addressing the two-day conference, chairman of the Asian Disaster Reduction Center Masanori Hamada expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Emergency Situations for organizing the event and hospitality shown in Baku, Azertac reported. Touching upon the natural disasters that have hit Asia in recent years, Hamada stressed the necessity of outlining an action plan of the Asian Disaster Reduction Center for the next 20 years. Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov thanked the center and the Japanese Cabinet of Ministers for their support in organizing the conference. Heydarov mentioned that Azerbaijan joined the Asian Disaster Reduction Centers 2015-2035 program along with 180 countries. We need to coordinate our activities in order to effectively manage disaster risks. Therefore, given all of these factors, as a Ministry of Emergency Situations we are ready to join all the initiatives aiming to effectively struggle natural and man-made disasters, Heydarov said. Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Mamore Maecava said that appropriate strategies should be developed to reduce disaster risks. He said Japan has an appropriate plan of action aimed at reducing the disaster risks. Head of the Pacific Office of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Timothy Wilcox stressed the importance of joint activities and cooperation on this front. Department head at Azerbaijans Ministry of Emergency Situations Jalil Guliyev presented a special report on "Disaster Response and Risks Reduction Policy in Azerbaijan in 10 Years". --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 09:47 (UTC+04:00) By Gulgiz Muradova Turkmenistan, a hydrocarbon-rich Central Asian, is still hopeful to see its gas reach the European markets, while Brussels counties talks in this regard. The EU is negotiating with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan over a Trans Caspian Pipeline System, said Anca Paduraru, EU Spokesperson for Energy Union projects. Negotiations are on-going, Paduraru said, when answering on progress of the talks. The EUs objective has not changed. To diversify the EUs supplies, the Southern Gas Corridor aims to expand infrastructure that can bring gas to the EU from the Caspian Basin, Central Asia including Iran, the Middle East, and the Eastern Mediterranean Basin. Few years ago, the European Union intensified search for alternatives to gas imports from Russia. European officials began to push for the completion of the Southern Gas Corridor, designed to bring Azerbaijans Shah Deniz gas to European markets via both the Trans-Adriatic (TAP) and Trans-Anatolian (TANAP) pipelines. But Brussels search for alternative gas supplies didnt stop at the Caspian basin and went as far as accessing Turkmenistans gas supply. The enormous gas recourses of Turkmenistan would reach European markets via a to-be-completed Trans-Caspian pipeline, which would subsequently link up with TANAP. Back in 2015, European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic set a firm date to expect Turkmen gas to reach Europe 2019, but unfortunately Trans Caspian Pipeline System appears no closer to realization in the near term due to a number of obstacles, particularly unresolved Caspian Sea Status. At the time, Turkmenistan is keen on increasing its gas exports to China to 38 billion cubic meters (bcm) this year, a 9 percent jump from 2016. Moreover, the Turkmen authorities achieved some progress over the TAPI gas pipeline to India. Turkmenistan opened about two hundred oil and gas fields so far. Potential hydrocarbon resources of the country amount to 71.2 billion tons of oil equivalent, of which 53 billion falls on the land, and 18.2 billion tons - on marine areas. Paduraru further stressed that the EU is committed and supports Southern Gas Corridor and the role that it plays in the EU's strategy to diversify our energy supply sources and transportation routes, as well as the crucial role of Azerbaijan as ''enabler'' of this grand project. The SGC project is deemed to change the energy map of the region. The $40 billion project, which is expected to start ferrying natural gas into the European Union by 2020, is funded by some of the biggest loans ever granted by international financial institutions. Azerbaijan established itself in the region as a partner that others can rely on, and the SGC grants the country a key role. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 11:15 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Ukraine's "Zorya-Mashproekt" is interested in establishing large-scale and long-term cooperation with Azerbaijani companies in the energy sector, the company's Head of the group for market analysis, Natalia Garkusha told Trend. Garkusha said the company is ready to supply gas turbine equipment with the capacity of 6, 15 and 25 MW for the needs of oil and gas companies of Azerbaijan and for regional power supply and power supply of factories. "Our biggest interest is cooperation with companies who are involved with energy projects based on EPC [Engineering, procurement and construction] contracts, as well as with suppliers of gas pumping units for construction or modernization of existing compressor stations," Garkusha said. She went on to add that the company is interested in participating in oil and gas projects, where gas turbine equipment is in demand. "Such projects include the development of Shah Deniz and Neft Dashlari fields, the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, the extension of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and other projects involving the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR)," Garkusha said. "Zorya-Mashproekt", which is part of the state Ukrainian concern "UkrOboronProm", has already worked in Azerbaijani market. In the mid-1980s, the company supplied gas turbine engines with a capacity of 12 MW for power supply of the Neft Dashlari (Oil Rocks) oil field. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 10:50 (UTC+04:00) Iraqi government forces and allied fighters from Popular Mobilization Units have established control over more than a dozen villages near the northern town of Hawijah, PressTV reported. Iraqs Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced in a statement on Sunday that soldiers from the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), army units and pro-government fighters better known by their Arabic name, Hashd al-Shaabi had seized back 16 villages, including Kanaan, Southern al-Maydan, Northern al-Maydan, Aal-Awashra, Ibrahim al-Saleh, al-Basta, Fallah Farhan and Ain Manat. The JOC added that Iraqi fighter jets had destroyed 8 Daesh pickup trucks in an area linking al-Fathah region to nearby al-Riyadh region. Members of the Federal Police Force also liberated al-Malaha air base southeast of Hawijah, located 45 kilometers west of Kirkuk. Commander of Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat said the recapture of the air base had cut off Daesh supply lines to Hawijah. Meanwhile, an unnamed security source said Warith al-Shimari, a cameraman for Arabic-language al-Nujaba television network, was killed while covering advances by government troops and allied Hashd al-Shaabi fighters near Hawijah. The United Nations says more than 200 people lost their lives and over 380 others suffered injuries as a result of acts of terrorism and violence across Iraq in September. According to the latest figures released by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Sunday, terrorist attacks claimed the lives of 203 Iraqis and left 389 others wounded last month. The worst-affected area was Baghdad province, where violent attacks took the lives of 37 civilians and left 157 others wounded. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 13:12 (UTC+04:00) Turkey's exports increased by 8.9 percent annually to reach nearly $11.3 billion in September. Exports in the first nine months of the year rose by 10.6 percent to $114.7 billion compared to the same period of last year,Anadolu Agency reported with reference to the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM). TIM noted that the exports in the last 12 months had reached $153.2 billion, a 9 percent increase year-on-year. "We have reported increase in exports for 11 months since last November," Mehmet Buyukeksi, TIM chairman, said in the statement. In September, Turkey's exports were affected positively by the high level of the euro-dollar parity, Buyukeksi noted. The average euro-dollar parity stood at 1.1915 in September, according to the European Central Bank. "The positive effect of the parity was around $234 million over exports in the month," he said. However, the overall effect of high dollar to Turkish lira rate had a negative effect of $1.8 billion on the country's exports since the begining of the year, Buyukeksi added. The average USD/TRY rate was 3.5768 in the first nine months of 2017. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 11:24 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva Turkey and Iran, two regional superpowers, will discuss regional issues during the visit of Turkish Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar to Iran. The sides are expected to discuss the Syrian crisis as well as the referendum on independence in the Kurdish autonomy of Iraq, Turkish media outlets reported on October 2. The Kurdish Regional Governments (KRG) held a controversial independence referendum in northern Iraq, including areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, on September 25. Election authorities in Kurdistan announced that the independence referendum passed with 92 percent support. Iraq, Iran and Turkey - countries with Kurdish minorities - have all denounced the referendum as a threat to the stability of a region already beset by conflict, while the United States has expressed similar disquiet. Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he will pay an official visit to Tehran on October 4. In the course of the visit, the Turkish president will meet with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The meetings will discuss bilateral relations, regional issues, the settlement of the Syrian crisis and the situation in Iraq. Speaking at the Turkish Parliament's legislative year reception, the Turkish president said the roadmap that Turkey and Iran will follow in response to the controversial referendum and other regional developments will take shape after this visit. As for Syrian issue, Russia, Turkey and Iran - had agreed on May 4 in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to establish "de-escalation zones" in war-torn Syria. The zones would cover the city of Idlib and certain parts of Latakia, Homs, Aleppo and Hama as well as Damascus, Eastern Ghouta, Daraa and Quneitra. Syria has been locked in civil war since March 2011. According to UN's special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, around 400,000 people have died in the conflict while half the population has been driven from their homes. Government forces are opposed by militant groups belonging to armed formations of various political orientations. The most active are the Islamic State, YPG and PYD. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 13:47 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva Uzbekistan has reduced the excise tax rate for new vehicles manufactured and imported from Kazakhstan since October 1, 2017. The corresponding document was published on the website of Uzbek National Database of Legislation, Forbes Kazakhstan reported. The decision was made in accordance with a resolution "On measures to further streamline Uzbekistan's foreign economic activity" undersigned by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on September 29. Under the document, the excise tax rate for new vehicles manufactured and imported from Kazakhstan (other than those intended for medical purposes) will be reduced to 2 percent of the customs value. Earlier, Kazakh automakers complained to Uzbek National Economy Minister Timur Suleimenov that since 1996 the enterprises of the Uzbek automobile industry exported to the Kazakh market more than 85,000 cars worth $720 million. Cars of Uzbek manufacturers are not subject to customs duties and excises when crossing the border of Kazakhstan. However, supplies of Kazakh automotive equipment to the Uzbek market equaled to zero as the access is blocked by harsh customs and tariff barriers. Kazakhstans Union of automotive industry enterprises KazAvtoProm suggested then to consider the possibility of introducing response measures in relation to Uzbekistan. The union asked the ministry to find negotiating opportunities for revising the Uzbek tariff policy in relation to Kazakh car industry products and assist in organizing its access to the Uzbek market in accordance with the principles of free competition. Car manufacturing is growing at an unprecedented rate in Kazakhstan and significant expansion is planned in coming years. As of November 2015, the number of registered vehicles reached 5 million automobiles, a 63 percent growth from 2013 (a 10 percent compound annual growth rate). On average, there is a car in every second household in the country. However, official car dealers reported a decrease in the amount of sales of new cars by 28.2 percent in first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period of 2016. As much as 29 percent of all cars sold in 1Q2017 were assembled in Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan vehicle market in 2015 boomed 25 percent due to the availability of GM Uzbekistan production for the sharp cut to export. GM Uzbekistan, a joint venture between General Motors and Uzbek state firm UzAvtosanoat, has earlier begun selling all its cars in the Central Asian nation in local currency terms, but using an exchange rate far weaker than the official one. GM Uzbekistan, which produces more than 200,000 cars a year, had previously sold only a few select models, mostly the most expensive ones for sums. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 2 October 2017 18:10 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva The meeting between the presidents of Turkmenistan and Russia Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Vladimir Putin, who arrived in the country on an official visit, has started in Ashgabat, a source in the government reported on September 2. During the high level talks, priority aspects of interstate relations, regional and international policy issues of mutual interest will be discussed. Russia and Turkmenistan support constructive initiatives and proposals of each other put forward within the UN and other authoritative structures, Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlari said in a message. "Our countries demonstrate closeness or coincidence of positions on such key global issues as ensuring universal peace and security, countering the challenges and threats of modernity," the message said. Relying on the mutual good political will, the long experience of cooperation in the trade, economic and humanitarian and cultural spheres and, of course, the historically established ties of friendship and good neighborliness, today the Turkmen-Russian partnership is gaining new meaning, the Vatan newspaper reported on Monday. Following the high-level talks, a solid package of bilateral documents aimed at further activating and building up a mutually beneficial partnership in priority areas is expected to be signed. Turkmenistan and Russia have close positions on such important issues of the global agenda as the preservation and maintenance of universal peace and stability, countering the threats of international terrorism, extremism, disarmament issues and the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan. Both countries cooperate effectively in a wide range of areas, including the trade and economic sphere, energy and transport and communication sectors as well as the agro-industrial complex. Russia holds a leading position in the ranking of Turkmenistans biggest foreign trade partners. In recent years, cooperation at the regional level has intensified, including with Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Astrakhan, Sverdlovsk regions of Russia. More than 190 enterprises with the participation of Russian capital are registered in the Turkmen market, and they execute more than 240 investment projects. Gas supply was one of the strategic areas of partnership between Turkmenistan and Russia until recently. But in 2016, Russia - a traditional buyer - has stopped the purchase of Turkmen gas. In 2015 bilateral trade volume between two countries decreased by 21 percent to $0.97 billion compared to $1.23 billion in 2014. Turkmen exports to Russia fell to $0.07 billion (by 20 percent) while imports fell to $0.90 billion (by 21 percent). --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said a bipartisan fix to the ACA could be ready sometime this week, the Tennessean reports. Here's what you should know: 1. Mr. Alexander said Sept. 29, the bill he drafted with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., should have final language agreed upon today. He and Ms. Murray will review the bill with party representatives this week. 2. Mr. Alexander anticipates submitting the bill to Senate leadership by the end of the week. 3. Mr. Alexander said, "What were trying to do is not just see whether Sen. Murray and I can agree, but whether the two of us can find a significant number of Democrats and Republicans who can agree on a limited, bipartisan proposal that could actually pass." 4. Ms. Murray is "hopeful" the Senate can reach an agreement soon. 5. The bipartisan fix could give states flexibility in the type of policies they approve. The bill would also extended insurer cost-sharing subsidies for two years. Pittsfield, Mass.-based Berkshire Medical Center is moving its endoscopy unit from Pittsfield-based Crane Center for Ambulatory Surgery into the main hospital, The Berkshire Eagle reports. Here's what you should know: 1. The unit will be in the hospital's former radiation oncology area. 2. The unit will feature advanced endoscopic technology. 3. The unit will have several treatment rooms and will offer patients gastrointestinal procedures, colonoscopies and other endoscopic care procedures. Seattle-based Swedish Health's Cherry Hill campus is no longer at risk of losing its Medicare contract after CMS officials determined the hospital is in compliance with Medicare and Medicaid requirements, according to The Seattle Times. CMS threatened to cut off Medicare and Medicaid funding in August at the Cherry Hill campus following an investigation by the Washington Department of Health, which identified numerous patient safety lapses and a culture that discouraged employees from voicing concerns. The campus had 90-days to resolve the issues cited by the state Department of Health. To keep federal funding for the Cherry Hill campus, Swedish Health had to submit a corrective action plan to CMS. Specific details regarding the plan of action that restored the hospital's Medicare status have yet to be released, according to the report. However, the hospital said that many of the deficiencies were already addressed when the termination notice was made public. While the hospital had its Medicare contract fully restored, Swedish Health Cherry Hill continues to face an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, which is separately investigating concerns over patient care lapses, financial incentives for surgeons and appropriateness of surgeries, which were revealed in a Seattle Times investigative report. Copper Basin Medical Center, a critical access hospital in Copperhill, Tenn., closed Sunday. Copper Basin Medical Center has been in a dire financial situation for months. The hospital suspended inpatient services May 9 and laid off more than 15 nurses, according to WRCB. Officials launched a GoFundMe page earlier this year to help keep the hospital afloat. They hoped to raise $100,000 through the campaign, but fell about 94 percent short of their goal. As of Monday, the hospital had received donations from 77 people, totaling $5,559. Copper Basin Medical Center is behind on its payroll, meaning some workers will be waiting for paychecks after they are laid off, hospital CEO Dan Johnson told WTVC. Regarding the closure, Mr. Johnson told WTVC, "We're a small, rural hospital and it's hard for us to adapt with all the changes in healthcare. We had no choice." More articles on healthcare finance: Temple University Health's $5.7M operating loss anchored by Epic installation Ascension's net income more than triples to $1.8B 4 financial, strategic and revenue cycle issues health systems are facing Brentwood, Tenn.-based Quorum Health, the 32-hospital spinoff of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, has sold two Pennsylvania hospitals to Williamsport, Pa.-based UPMC Susquehanna. Under the deal, which closed Sept. 30, Quorum divested 70-bed Sunbury (Pa.) Community Hospital and 47-bed Lock Haven (Pa.) Hospital. Quorum and UPMC Susquehanna signed a definitive agreement in June for the sale of the two hospitals. Quorum is focused on restructuring its portfolio to improve financial performance. The company saw its net loss narrow from $245.1 million in the second quarter of 2016 to $30.6 million in the same period of this year. More articles on healthcare industry transactions: Court approves sale of bankrupt North Carolina hospital OSF HealthCare to pay $185M for 2 Presence Health facilities in Illinois UPMC expands international operations with 50% stake in Rome hospital Boston-based Steward Health Care completed its acquisition of Iasis Healthcare, an 18-hospital system in Franklin, Tenn., Sept. 29. With the acquisition, Steward will become the largest private hospital operator in the nation, overseeing 36 hospitals across 10 states. Officials said the health system will experience projected revenues of nearly $8 billion in 2018, the first full-year of the consolidated company. The 18 hospitals involved in the deal are located in Texas, Arizona, Utah, Arkansas, Colorado and Louisiana. The transaction was reportedly worth $1.9 billion, according to a previous report from The Wall Street Journal. The organizations signed a definitive acquisition agreement in May. Following news of the deal, Iasis Healthcare President and CEO W. Carl Whitmer announced his decision to leave his posts at the health system Friday. Mr. Whitmer spent 17 years at the organization, according to The Tennessean. In a related transaction, Medical Properties Trust acquired the real estate interests of 10 Iasis acute care hospitals and one behavioral health facility, which Steward will operate. MPT also invested $100 million in Steward. The following healthcare organizations shared plans to add jobs since Sept. 18, starting with the most recent. 1. 20 hospitals hiring nurses Here are 20 hospitals and health systems that recently posted job listings seeking nurses. 2. HCA plans to build 3 freestanding ERs, 4 urgent care clinics in Florida Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare plans to invest $32 million to build three freestanding emergency rooms and four urgent care clinics in central Florida. The facilities are expected to create more than 150 jobs. 3. Outcome Health to add 2,000 jobs by 2022 Outcome Health, a Chicago-based health IT company, will add 2,000 jobs in Chicago by 2022. 4. Orlando Health's $37M skilled nursing facility to create hundreds of jobs Orlando (Fla.) Health's skilled nursing facility at the Health Central Hospital campus in Ocoee, Fla., is expected to bring hundreds of construction and healthcare jobs to the area. 5. Missouri hospitals to participate in hiring fair for veterans Various Missouri healthcare organizations participated in a job fair Sept. 26 focused on veterans. 6. Minnesota Security Hospital seeks to fill 50 jobs Minnesota Security Hospital, a psychiatric facility in St. Peter, scheduled a job fair last month to help fill 50 open positions. 7. Children's Hospital Colorado to create 700 healthcare positions Children's Hospital Colorado's new facility in Colorado Springs is expected to create 700 hospital jobs. 8. St. Francis takeover deal expected to create 687 new jobs over 10 years The planned takeover of St. Francis Health in Topeka, Kan., by Kansas City-based University of Kansas Health System and Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health Services is expected to create 687 jobs over the next decade. The attorneys general for Seattle and Washington state filed separate lawsuits against drugmakers Sept. 28 for the companies' alleged roles in the facilitating the opioid epidemic. Seattle's lawsuit names Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Endo Pharmaceuticals, alleging the drug companies used groups such as American Pain Foundation and American Academy of Pain Medicine to "spread false and deceptive statements about the risks and benefits of opioids." "Through this lawsuit, I hope to recoup for the public and the city departments that have had to spend more of their limited resources on mitigating the harm caused by the opioid crisis," said Pete Holmes, Seattle's attorney general, during a joint press conference with Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson. The state lawsuit names only Purdue Pharma and accuses the company of engaging in deceptive marketing tactics to promote the overprescribing of its opioid OxyContin. "Purdue Pharma ignored the devastating consequences of its opioids and profited from its massive deception," Mr. Ferguson said. "It's time they are held accountable and pay for the devastation they caused." Purdue Pharma said it is deeply troubled by the opioid crisis and is committed to being a part of the solution. "As a company grounded in science, we must balance patient access to [Food and Drug Administration]-approved medicines, while working collaboratively to solve this public health challenge," the drugmaker said in an emailed statement to Becker's. "We vigorously deny these allegations and look forward to the opportunity to present our defense." In Washington, prescription opioids and heroin have jointly killed an average of 700 people a year since 2006, according to The Seattle Times. More articles on opioids: Florida governor to propose 3-day opioid prescription limits in 2018 Study: 7-day opioid prescriptions inadequate for certain surgical procedures CDC rolls out opioid awareness campaign Former CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt accused President Donald Trump of "purposely" raising health insurance premiums for Americans after the Trump administration failed to meet a deadline to approve Oklahoma's waiver aimed at reducing residents' health insurance premiums. Oklahoma withdrew its section 1332 waiver Sept. 29 after learning HHS would not issue approval for the waiver by a Sept. 25 deadline. Oklahoma health officials proposed the state's waiver would have reduced health insurance premiums by 30 percent and aided more than 130,000 individuals. In a Sept. 29 tweet reacting to HHS missing the deadline, Mr. Slavitt wrote, "I ran this government agency [CMS] under President [Barack] Obama. Make no mistake. Trump is purposely raising people's premiums." Oklahoma Commissioner of Health Terry Cline, PhD, revealed in a Sept. 29 letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, the waiver required approval by Sept. 25. Dr. Cline wrote this deadline was set following "months of development, negotiation and near-daily communication over the past six weeks," between state and federal officials, including an approval package agreed upon Sept. 22. However, Oklahoma officials said the approval was not granted "with no reason for the delay or timeframe for approval." For more information about Oklahoma's decision to withdraw its section 1332 waiver, click here. Editor's note: This article was updated Oct. 3 at 1:49 p.m. Oklahoma's health commissioner blamed President Donald Trump's administration for missing a final deadline to approve its section 1332 waiver to implement a reinsurance program in 2018. Section 1332 waivers allow states to opt out of specific ACA requirements to implement different health coverage models, as long the models have similarly comprehensive benefits and are as affordable, comparable in terms of number of state residents covered and do not increase the federal deficit. Oklahoma health officials proposed the state's waiver would reduce health insurance premiums by 30 percent and aid more than 130,000 individuals. Oklahoma Commissioner of Health Terry Cline, PhD, revealed in a Sept. 29 letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, the waiver required approval by Sept. 25. Dr. Cline wrote this deadline was set following "months of development, negotiation and near-daily communication over the past six weeks," between state and federal officials, including an approval package agreed upon Sept. 22. However, Oklahoma officials said they learned approval would not be issued by Sept. 25, "with no reason for the delay or timeframe for approval." As a result, Mr. Cline wrote "Oklahoma is forced to withdraw our waiver request." Joel Ario, managing director at Los Angeles-based law firm Manatt Health and former director of HHS' Office of Health Insurance Exchanges, told Becker's Hospital Review the decision "potentially chills state action because people read and see that Oklahoma had been promised an action and they didn't get it. It raises questions about what will happen in other states that put in the same kind of effort" to receive the waiver. For the full letter, click here. A U.S. District Court judge denied the generic drug industry trade group's request for a preliminary injunction of Maryland's law that penalizes drugmakers for price gouging allowing the state law to take effect, according to Reuters. Under the law, which went into effect Oct. 1, Maryland will investigate "unconscionable increases" in prices for older, off-patent and essential generic drugs. Any violation of the measure will cost drugmakers up to $10,000. The Association for Accessible Medicines, the generic drug industry trade group, claimed Maryland's law was unconstitutional since it did not define price gouging and requires intervention by an individual state over a product that is delivered across the U.S. The trade group called for a preliminary injunction to block the state law. U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis dismissed the association's request for an injunction, though the lawsuit will proceed on the grounds that the law is too vague. The judge dismissed the association's other claims. As healthcare shifts toward a more consumer-centric approach, some hospitals are developing their own mail order pharmacies to ship prescriptions right to patients' doors. The process offers healthcare consumers a high level of convenience and creates cost-savings opportunities for hospitals if done correctly, according to Jonathan Kernya, director of non-acute operations for OptiFreight Logistics, a Cardinal Health company. Successful mail order pharmacies require a strong knowledge and stringent oversight of freight and logistics management components hospital pharmacies are not always familiar with. Mr. Kernya spoke with Becker's Hospital Review about the growing trend of mail order pharmacies and shared how hospitals can work with freight and logistics experts to ensure they are shipping pharmaceuticals via financially responsible methods. Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Question: Why are more hospitals shipping pharmaceuticals to their patients? Jonathan Kernya: We can all acknowledge healthcare is moving away from the hospital and starting to gravitate toward the patient's home. That's no different for the pharmaceutical delivery networks. Shipping pharmaceuticals directly to patients eliminates the need to go to pharmacies to pick up a prescription, it is a convenience factor. It can also be more cost effective if the delivery network is set up appropriately. In the last several years, hospitals and integrated delivery networks have become bigger players in the mail order pharmacy space, although some hospital systems have been doing this for more than a decade. Building these mail order pharmacies allows hospitals to compete with commercial mail order pharmacies and better control costs, since they are in charge of both purchasing pharmaceuticals and delivery them to the patient. Q: What are the largest pain points for a hospital when shipping pharmaceuticals? JK: When a hospital decides to initiate a mail order pharmacy, it typically builds the pharmacy from the ground up. Most hospitals choose to go in this direction due to their expertise in pharmaceutical procurement. They can leverage their purchasing power with the manufacturers and distributors to receive lower costs than if they went through a commercial vendor. While hospitals excel at this process, they can often overlook the logistical and freight components of what it will take to build the delivery network and get the right prescription to the right individual. Q: Are hospital pharmacies shipping pharmaceuticals through the postal service or a national carrier? How should a hospital choose their method for shipping? JK: We often see a mix of utilization of the United States Postal Service or a national carrier such as FedEx or United Parcel Service. The type of carrier is largely driven by what the delivery network is trying to accomplish. When shipping inexpensive drugs or pharmaceutical products within local delivery areas, USPS will often provide the lowest cost of freight. However, pharmaceuticals that require temperature control like insulin can be problematic in the USPS network. These products require a more time-sensitive delivery, which is something a common carrier like FedEx, excels at. If the chain of custody is important for the pharmaceutical product being shipped, a national carrier is typically the best option. These carriers have a more robust in-transit visibility mechanism to track a package during the delivery process and offer requirements for a signature upon receipt. These functions are often used when mailing controlled substances, such as narcotics, that have age restriction on who can receive the product. Q: How can a hospital pharmacy keep their expenses low when shipping pharmaceutical products? JK: In a mail order pharmacy environment, freight and logistics will be one of the most expensive costs for a hospital. The best way for a hospital to control these costs is to find an expert to weigh in on the logistics, supply chain and freight component of the delivery network. Look for someone who can provide expert consultation and share advice on which carrier to use and when to use it. The expert should also provide carrier management services. This is an important cost control mechanism because it allows for invoice auditing to ensure hospitals are getting the right price for the right transaction. Hospitals can use this information to build a network of metrics to measure a carriers performance to hold them accountable. This expert can also continually monitor the mail order pharmacy and identify additional value or cost reduction opportunities as the hospital's network grows and evolves. Interested in learning about remote pharmacy services? Register for our upcoming webinar, here. HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, resigned Sept. 29 in the midst of an inspector general investigation, according to The New York Times. Here are five insights: 1. Dr. Price spent at least $400,000 on private planes for government business trips. 2. He offered to pay the government back $51,887, which President Donald Trump deemed "unacceptable." 3. Part of Dr. Price's resignation letter to President Trump read: "I have spent 40 years both as a doctor and public servant putting people first. I regret that the recent events have created a distraction from these important objectives," NYT reports. 4. Don J. Wright, MD, a deputy assistant secretary for health and Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion director, stepped in as acting HHS secretary. 5. Politico broke the story of the secretary's jet expenses Sept. 19. 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 There is no suggestion that the head of Commonwealth Bank's Kiwi operations, Barbara Chapman who announced her retirement on Monday was ever a contender to replace her retiring boss, Ian Narev. But it must worry investors that she is joining a steady withdrawal of talent at CBA, which is not being matched with many deposits. Dare we say, it is starting to look like a run on the bank ... or at least a run from the bank. CBA chair Catherine Livingstone has quickly shaken up the board. Credit:Brook Mitchell Rumours that former Reserve Bank governor, Glenn Stevens, turned down a board role at the bank following the AUSTRAC scandal and he did not return calls and emails from CBD to say otherwise only highlights the challenges being faced by chairwoman Catherine Livingstone. She will soon be losing three directors with only one appointment named to fill the boardroom vacancies. Hugh Hefner, who died on Friday at 91, claimed to be a liberator of American sexuality. You've probably heard about Hefner's limited approaches to women: They could be frisky girls next door who, until competitive pressure from Penthouse in the 70s, were never shown in centrefolds to have pubic hair. Bunnies were told, as an undercover Gloria Steinem was, "We don't like our girls to have any background. We just want you to fit the bunny image." Or they could be uptight prudes, feminists whom Hefner once described as "our natural enemy." Ladies, take your pick! Hugh Hefner, who died on Friday at 91, claimed to be a liberator of American sexuality. The reality was less fun. Credit:MARK J. TERRILL But for all the assumptions that Hef's life was every man's fantasy, he also shortchanged men. He told them the best way to be a man was to treat women implicitly as the enemy, as products to consume. It is a grim, banal, consumerist way of life that, in practice, would deny men the pleasures of being partners to women, sexually or otherwise. Hefner launched Playboy magazine in 1954 amid a flurry of articles worrying that masculinity was in "crisis," under threat from overbearing women. Playboy, with its celebration of leisure, played into some of those critics' fears of weak postwar men, but everyone could agree women were to blame. India's former environment minister says he's appalled by Australia's decision to approve Adani's massive new coal mine in Queensland, and has questioned the Indian miner's environmental track record. Jairam Ramesh has told the ABC the mine would threaten the survival of the Great Barrier Reef, and Adani's record in environmental management in India "leaves a lot to be desired". India's former environment minister Jairam Ramesh in a file picture. "And, if it leaves a lot to be desired domestically, there's no reason for me to believe that Adani would be a responsible environmental player globally," he told the broadcaster's Four Corners program. Mr Ramesh said the federal and Queensland governments had not looked properly at the Adani Group's environmental and financial conduct in India before approving the mine in the Galilee Basin. A woman has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a man she knew at Redcliffe on Monday night. Police were called to an address on Sportsground Street about 7.30pm last night following reports a man had been stabbed in the back with a knife. A woman has been charged with attempted murder after a stabbing in Redcliffe. Credit:Glenn Hunt The injured 82-year-old man was taken to the Royal Brisbane Hospital in a critical but stable condition. A 52-year-old Redcliffe woman was found at the scene and police have charged her with one count of attempted murder. An asylum seeker has died on Manus Island, police have confirmed. "We had a suicide of a refugee at the Lorengau hospital in the early hours of this morning," Manus Island Police Commander David Yapu told Fairfax Media. The Lorengau hospital is 25 kilometres from the detention centre where more than 700 male asylum seekers have been detained. The death is the second suicide on Manus in the past two months. Australia's next fleet of navy frigates will be tailored to shoot down incoming missiles in a recognition of the growing threat posed by rogue regimes such as North Korea. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will announce on Tuesday that the nine "future frigates", which the government wants to start building in 2020, will be equipped with an ambitious combination of the US-made Aegis combat system meshed with locally made SAAB Australia technology. While the frigates are primarily meant for anti-submarine warfare, the inclusion of Aegis will tilt the purpose towards air and missile defence in a clear signal of the government's growing concern about the threat of missiles. "Recent events in our region have proven that Australia's future frigates must be equipped to defend Australia from the threat of medium and long-range missile attacks," Mr Turnbull said in written comments provided in advance of the announcement. Legal Aid Queensland could require more funding if the current trend of increasing numbers of criminal cases continues, board chairwoman Margaret McMurdo says. Ms McMurdo said the body experienced a noticeable increase in grants of aid in criminal matters in 2016-17, consistent with a significant rise in criminal cases across the justice system generally. Legal Aid Queensland board chairwoman Margaret McMurdo has flagged the potential need for more funding. "Through careful management, the resulting strains on the organisation's budget have been absorbed this year, but if the trend continues, additional funding is likely to be needed," she warned, writing in Legal Aid Queensland's latest annual report. In 2016-17 there were 26,451 applications for legal aid grants received for criminal law matters, compared with 24,079 applications the previous year. It was announced today that Irish food safety and traceability company IdentiGEN has secured a major contract in Switzerland which will see it provide DNA based traceability for all Swiss beef. The deal is estimated to be worth in excess of 17m over a five-year contract period and involves use of IdentiGENs DNA-TraceBack system to guarantee the integrity of Swiss beef. IdentiGEN has established a new dedicated laboratory in Zurich and will be working with Proviande, which oversees the Swiss meat industry. The service is being introduced this year for beef and veal and may be expanded to include pork and poultry. IdentiGEN celebrates 20 years in business this year and has its headquarters in Dublin. It has laboratories and offices in Wales, the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic and is exploring further expansion opportunities. Speaking this week, IdentiGEN Switzerland CEO and Group VP for Business and Strategy Development Europe, Thomas Struckmeyer said, "Swiss meat enjoys great trust among consumers, commanding a significant premium. IdentiGENs DNA-TraceBack technology will provide proof that meat products with a Swiss origin certificate are indeed Swiss, particularly for more processed meat products such as meatballs and hamburgers." He added, "This deal demonstrates that DNA identification technology is increasingly scalable and can ensure the integrity of national meat brands. To underscore animal welfare, sustainability and ethical production claims, industry and consumers want certainty on where meat is coming from." Source: www.businessworld.ie The number of UK-based professionals seeking financial sector jobs in Ireland has risen beyond the post-Brexit surge observed in the initial aftermath of the June 2016 vote. This is according to data published today by the worlds largest job site, Indeed. Analysis of the 18m monthly visitors to Indeeds UK site shows a 39% increase in searches for finance related roles in Ireland from UK residents in the three months to the end of August 2017, compared to the three months in the lead up to the Brexit vote. This is an increase on the 37% jump observed in the three months immediately after the vote. The new research also shows that interest in Ireland from European countries excluding the UK has accelerated since after the Brexit vote, suggesting that the lure of London as Europes traditional financial hub could be diminishing. From Europe, searches for finance roles are up 32% in recent months, compared to just 21% immediately after Brexit, suggesting Irelands attractiveness as a location has increased. Looking at specific finance roles, the trend of increased interest from both the UK and Europe for roles in Ireland is also maintained. Over 6% of searches for accountancy roles in Ireland came from the UK in the last 3 months, compared to 3.7% pre-Brexit, and for finance analyst roles, the increase was from 6.0% pre-Brexit to 8.6% now. Commenting on the data, Indeeds EMEA economist, Mariano Mamertino said, "Not only are growing numbers of British people searching for Irish jobs, so too are jobseekers from elsewhere in the EU. In the last three months jobseeker interest from European jobseekers for roles such as finance analyst or accountant has increased at a faster pace than that of UK-based ones." He added, "Indeeds data highlights Irelands opportunity to attract international talent, however addressing bottlenecks in housing, commercial space and infrastructure are essential to ensure Ireland remains competitive and keeps its comparative advantage as an attractive destination for skilled professionals." Source: www.businessworld.ie It was announced today that BT Ireland has secured an exclusive wholesale contract with Sky Ireland to support the TV and broadband providers rollout of ultrafast broadband across the country. BT won a highly competitive tender to secure the multi-year contract, which will see the company provide Sky Ireland with a comprehensive managed service to help bring its ultrafast broadband offering to the market. This will include rural homes to be covered by the National Broadband Plan. As part of the deal, BT will also supply voice over IP (VOIP) services to alleviate reliance on phone lines for voice calls. BT claims the rollout of the technology will bring major benefits to the Irish broadband market, offering consumers more competition and choice of broadband products and a single phone and broadband offering, rather than having to rely on different providers for different services. Speaking today, Managing Director at BT Ireland, Shay Walsh said, "We are delighted that Sky Ireland chose BT to support the next phase of its rollout of next generation broadband technology. Its great news for the market in general, because competition brings choice and now consumers and businesses will have more providers to choose from for phone and broadband services." Managing Director at Sky Ireland, JD Buckley added, "This deal with BT reflects our continued commitment to investment in infrastructure in Ireland and will mean our customers can avail of the highest fibre speeds in the country across the widest possible footprint. It will also allow us to bring fibre to currently underserved rural customers as part of the Governments National Broadband Plan." Source: www.businessworld.ie FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: In Atlanta, Deanna Congileo, deanna.congileo@cartercenter.org ATLANTA Following letters of invitation from the Tribal Council, Legislature, and Election Commission, The Carter Center is deploying a team of observers to the Oct. 3 primary election in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. The Carter Center respects the tribes sovereign status and is conducting this election observation mission with the understanding that these are elections of a sovereign people for their government. The Carter Center conducts its election observation work in accordance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and Code of Conduct for International Observers, which provides guidelines for professional and impartial methods of international election observation. Carter Center observation missions assess the electoral process against the constitution, election laws, and other pertinent legislation of the host nation. The Centers limited expert mission will produce a report that focuses on the legal framework and election day processes of voting, counting, and tabulation. ### "Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope." A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. Vietnam's exports rise to 12.17Mt in first eight months 02 October 2017 According to preliminary statistics released by the General Department of Customs, Vietnam exported 12.17Mt of cement and clinker for a value of US$430.63m in the first eight months of 2017. The cement volume was up 20.5 per cent and the clinker volume up 13.2 per cent over the same period last year. In August alone, exports of 1.38Mt of cement and clinker reached US$54.09m (down 0.9 per cent in volume, but up seven per cent in value against July 2017). Vietnam's average export price of cement in the first eight months of 2017 was US$35.4/t. The highest export prices were to Laos for US$66.2/t, followed by Cambodia for US$52.6/t. Cement and clinker exports in August 2017 averaged US$39.07/t, an increase of eight per cent compared to July 2017, but down 0.6 per cent from August 2016. In August, the price of cement and clinker exported to Southeast Asian countries was high at around US$51/t. Exports to Laos reached the highest price at US$69.2/t, the Philippines reached US$52.8/t and Cambodia US$52.3/t. In contrast, exports to Malaysia reached the lowest at US$29/t, while exports to China and Bangladesh were around US$31/t. Bangladesh was the largest consumer of cement and clinker from Vietnam, with 4.91Mt imported in the first eight months (up 56 per cent YoY), worth US$153.74m. The Philippines was the second largest export market with a volume of 3.15Mt over the first eight months, up 28 per cent over the same period, and valued at US$141.2m, up 23 per cent over the same period. Cement and clinker exports to China in the first eight months of this year increased sharply, up 155 per cent in both volume and value terms compared with the same period last year, although volumes only reached 69,960t. In contrast, clinker and cement exports to Laos, Malaysia, Mozambique and Cambodia plunged 27-46 per cent in both volume and value compared to the same period last year. Published under Summit Materials could be swept up in US consolidtion trend 02 October 2017 As the cement sector continues to consolidate, the number of potential targets with values of more than US$1bn (EUR842m) will continue to fall and quite possibly, Summit Materials will see its position change from being an acquirer of companies - to being a target, reports the Sunday Independent. Follwing, CRH's recent move to acquire US company Ash Grove Cement for US$3.5bn and Martin Marietta's US$1.6bn (EUR1.3bn) payment for Bluegrass Materials, a leading aggregates company, investors will be intrugued to see what Summit Materials next move is. Summit Materials has made more than 57 acquisitions since 2009 and is well placed to continue to complete several deals every year. Summit now operates from 21 states, the most important being Texas, Utah, Kansas, Montana, and Virginia. The management team has been selective in the assets it acquired, ensuring that the company is the number one market player in most areas that it operates in - and within the top three across the entire portfolio of companies it owns. Summit's split between markets is 37 per cent public and 63 per centprivate, with most public spending related to infrastructure. The outlook for both market segments is positive over the next several years as infrastructure spending increases - coupled with increased private construction levels. While the building materials sector is cyclical, many of the indicators in the US suggest private sector construction is in the early stages of an upward cycle. The Trump administration is also likely to focus more attention on infrastructure spending increases in 2018. As it is very difficult to get planning permission for cement production facilities in the US, there is limited new supply entering the market, supporting cement prices for the existing producers. With this positive market supply backdrop, Summit Materials boasts some of the strongest profit margins in the sector coupled with the strongest growth prospects, says the Sunday Independent. With a market capitalisation of US$3.5bn (EUR2.9bn), the company offers the joint attractions of being a possible acquisition target in a consolidating sector - and a company that is the right size to double in value every five or six years if management continue to make accretive acquisitions. Published under Plycem vows to increase competitiveness in Costa Rican market 02 October 2017 Plycem, a new company owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, will fight for a place in Costa Rica's cement market from the first quarter of 2018. The Mexco-based company will operate in Salinas Esparza, Puntarenas, with an investment of US$17m in an area of 50,000M. The project will create at least 200 jobs. Oscar Fonseca, Plycem Central America CEO, explained that the main objective of the company is to produce cement for self-consumption and, secondly, for marketing. The directors said that they have an estimate on the volume of production, but reserved to comment to protect their market strategy. Jaime Rocha, director of the Cement Division of Elementia, the group which owns Plycem, said that the entry of the brand will improve the competitiveness of the market, and explained that the material will also be exported. The competitors in cement distribution will become four when Plycem enters the market. Cement is already imported by Carlos Slim from China under the Sinocem brand. Geannina Dinarte, Minister of economy, industry and trade, celebrated the opening of the new company. "It will add very favourable conditions of greater competition in the market. It is also important because it leads to more innovation and quality, but also pressed for a decrease in the price of the product," he said. "With a fourth competitor in the market, we would be hoping that that can also favour greatly reducing prices." According to an estimate by the Central Bank, the market of cement production, lime, gypsum and similar products in Costa Rica is CRC325.804m (US$598m) a year. Published under Answers in Genesis explains why it is Christian to oppose transgender surgery Christians are told to love their neighbors and to show compassion just as God showed compassion to them. However, should they sit idly by and allow other people to commit sin in the name of love and understanding? This was the question raised by Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis after a Christian group called Faithfully LGBTQ started the Tithe Trans Campaign to raise money to pay for gender reassignment surgeries for transgender people. The surgeries cost around $10,000 to $90,000, and the group is urging people to "put your tithe money where your beliefs are." The group wrote on its website that they want to "share the stories of LBGTQ people of faith" and to "help alleviate the discrimination trans people have faced in the Christian community." Faithfully LGBTQ said that many Christians have imposed "a culture of violence" against transgender people, but Ham would beg to differ. He said that very, very few Christians argue for violence against transgender people - or anyone else, for that matter. "We love them, as we love all people, and want to see them come to repentance and put their faith and trust in Christ as we have and accept God's created order for human life, for he created male and female," he clarified. Society may be becoming more accepting and accommodating of the LGBTQ lifestyle but he believes it is sinful ideology and it would be worse if Christians encouraged people to do something they didn't believe to be God's will. "There's nothing violent about telling someone they are a sinner in need of a Savior. This is biblical truth and it is dishonest not to proclaim this vital truth. In fact, as Christians, if we truly love transgender people, we will warn them about what God has stated clearly concerning sin," said Ham. However, Ham said there are indeed some professing Christians who are "unnecessarily harsh and condemning," so they fail to obey God's command to "speak the truth in love." But Ham said they will be the ones who will stand in judgment before God. For true Christians, Ham said they should take the difficult stand and tell the truth to transgender people - even if it means they will face a backlash. "[They] don't need Christians to surround them and praise their sinful decisions. They need people who love them enough to gently speak the truth and point them toward the only One who gives true freedom from all sin: Jesus Christ," he said. More than 1,000 students at University College Dublin (UCD) have called for the impeachment of their pro-life student union president after she withdrew information about access to abortion services from a magazine for new students. A group of 20 UCD students has launched a petition calling for the impeachment of the President of University College Dublin Students' Union, Katie Ascough after it was revealed that she had removed information about pregnancy help websites, the prices of abortion in other countries and information on abortion pills from the guide given to new students. The decision to reprint the annual guide, 'Winging It', is estimated to have cost the union about 8,000. Ascough made the 'executive decision' to remove the information after she was advised that providing unsolicited information on how to access abortion abroad was illegal in Ireland. It is lawful in Ireland to provide information about abortions abroad, but subject to strict conditions. Ascough's actions have been condemned by four sabbatical officers on the UCD Student Union who believe it was guided by her pro-life views rather than the concern about the legality of giving such advice. Ascough was elected as president in March, after she promised to remain neutral on the issue of abortion. The majority of the student union is pro-choice, according to a vote last November. More than 1,000 students have signed the petition to impeach Ascough, out of a student body of 30,000. Graduate Officer Niall Torris commented to Independent.ie: 'The campaign for the petition has been clear about what their grievances are. The 8,000 spent, the executive order to remove the information on abortion that had been provided before. 'Katie didn't say that she was pro-life in her manifesto. The issue was raised by student journalists and she said she would fully delegate and communicate any issues around the 8th Amendment. Students are outraged by this as they feel she didn't delegate or communicate. 'I think it's good to see students actively holding their student representatives to account for their promises and actions. I think it's encouraging to see UCD students politically involved.' However, two male students, who wished to remain anonymous, told Independent.ie that they feel Ascough has been targeted because of the controversy around the Repeal the 8th campaign. 'Repeal the 8th is a big thing at the moment. Abortion is a hot topic. Just because she's pro-life and they're pro-choice doesn't mean she should be impeached. 'I think anyone who speaks out for pro-life is being lambasted. Anyone who speaks out about pro-life is automatically perceived as wrong. There is so much liberal bias. There is no platform for pro-life. 'We don't have free speech. It's just whatever opinion is popular at the time and then you're lambasted if yours isn't the same. 'I think impeachment is only necessary when people are consistently messing up and are doing things for the wrong reasons. I think this is people really wanting the 8th Amendment to be repealed and they're beating her up because she disagrees.' Because the petition has received more than 1,000 signatures, a referendum on Ascough's impeachment could be called. For it to be effective, 10 per cent of students must vote and the majority must support the motion. Egyptian Church ravaged by sectarian violence in 2013 finally reopens A church in Minya was re-opened on Saturday after renovations in the wake of damage caused by sectarian attacks. The church in the village of Beni Mazar was one of 69 churches attacked in the sectarian violence that broke out following the anti-Mohamed Morsi uprising and post-Muslim Brotherhood sit-in dispersals in 2013. According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in August, 'at least 45 churches came under simultaneous attack in various governorates as soon as procedures to clear the two sit-ins began, resulting in the death of 7 citizens, the torching of 25 churches, the looting and destruction of 7 churches and the partial destruction of 5 more churches. This is in addition to assaults on numerous schools, civic associations and church-affiliated social services buildings.' The renovations were carried out by the Egyptian Armed Forces Engineering Authority, and the church was opened on Saturday by Head of the Evangelical Community Andrea Zaki and the Minya governor. Another church recently restored in the area was St. Peter and St. Paul Church, which was damaged by an attack on 11 December by a suicide bomber allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State. As a result of these attacks, many churches in Minya have been closed for security reasons. Bishop Macarius said that his parish alone, which includes only Minya city and its immediate environs, had 15 churches closed by security order, and 70 villages and hamlets left without anywhere to hold Christian worship. The governorate of Minya has experienced the greatest number of sectarian attacks against Coptic Christians in Egypt, with over 75 in the past six years targeting Christian residents. 'Glamping' pods could be the answer to cash-strapped churches' prayers For churches struggling to get people through the doors on a Sunday morning, letting them stay overnight may be the answer. As champing, basic camping in disused churches, has become increasingly popular, a new Church of England scheme seeks to profit from providing a more glamorous alternative. Instead of bedding down on an uncomfortable pew, guests will be invited to stay in luxurious oak 'pods' which sleep up to six. For up to 890 a week, guests can enjoy their own state-of-the-art kitchen, flat-screen televisions, free wi-fi, wood-burning stove, under-floor heating and private bathroom. All a far cry from the frosty facilities church-goers in rural areas might be used to. Those who hire the pods will enjoy exclusive use of the church during the week, but their stays will have to be tailored so they do not clash with weddings or Sunday services. The scheme, which is being steered by the Archbishops' Council, is intended to meet the problem in rural parishes of shrinking congregations and mounting repair bills. Ruth Knight, Environmental Policy Officer for the Church of England told The Telegraph: 'The aim is for small, quite isolated churches that don't have a community around them to be able to afford to maintain the building'. Rural churches are 'among our most cherished architectural heritage sites', Price noted, and so need to be well looked-after. But their maintenance costs an estimated 100 million a year. The money raised from hiring out holiday pods could make a vital contribution to this expense. St Michael's in Dulas, near Hay-on-Wye, in Herefordshire's Golden Valley, has been chosen as the first church to have a pod installed. The prototype, scheduled to open in 2019, is expected to cost 140,000. It is thought this cost will half as the pods are mass-produced. The scheme faces mixed reactions. According to Tim Bridges, Church Building Support Officer for the Hereford Diocese, the people of Dulas are 'positive' about the idea. 'The church has been closed for ten years, but people are keen not to see the church fall down and want it to have a sustainable future'. The scheme is recognised by locals as being able to provide that future. However, the proposal has been criticised by former Conservative Party chairman, Lord Tebbit: 'I don't think a church is an appropriate place for what would be such a secular use as this, not while it continues to be a working church'. Similarly, Anthony Kilmister, the president of the Anglican Association, described the scheme as a 'step too far'. 'It has the potential to destroy the prayerful atmosphere of many churches. I understand the need for money in the bank, but the spiritual ethos of these buildings must be preserved.' 'Grey's Anatomy' season 14 episode 3 sees huge shock for Dr. Shepherd with news of brain tumor In the next episode of "Grey's Anatomy," Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) deals with the shock of finding out that she has a brain tumor. The trailer for the upcoming installment titled "Go Big or Go Home" was released recently and showed Shepherd in disbelief after the revelation of her brain tumor in her left frontal lobe. Dr. Andrew DeLuca asked her if they should tell anyone about it but she replied, "Keep your mouth shut." She is determined not to let anyone know of her unfortunate plight. It is hinted that her tumor could be the reason why she was incoherent in the past. The pressure of the tumor on the brain can cause the individual to not think straight and make hasty decisions. Shepherd made a couple of ill-advised decisions recently, which included operating on a kid who had a tumor in his jaw. In the last episode, an angry Dr. Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) told her the dangers of that operation but Shepherd still went on with the procedure. The surgery on the kid turned out to be a success but Avery warned her that she was just lucky because the likeliness of failure were much higher. The triumphant doctor just dismissed his anger and opted to celebrate instead. Shepherd dropped by to check out an MRI reading on a monitor with Andrew and his sister Dr. Carina DeLuca. She noticed the tumor on the right lobe and asked who the patient was but the DeLuca siblings just looked at her sadly, which alluded to her being the unfortunate victim. It remains to be seen how Shepherd will deal with her recent development and if she will continue working at the hospital. "Grey's Anatomy" season 14 episode 3 will air on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC. Labour pitches for religious vote as Catholic fringe is launched Catholics for Labour, a new group launched this week at the party's conference in Brighton, is part of a wider drive to reconnect religious voters with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. Since Alastair Campbell's infamous and widely misunderstood 'we don't do God' line, there is a perception Labour is hostile to believers. Just this week the party's faith envoy Stephen Timms told Christian Today churchgoers received a 'lukewarm' welcome in the party and warned Labour 'desperately needs' more religious people. 'There is this sense of "please leave your faith at the door when you join us. You're very welcome to join us but please we're not interested in your faith,"' he told Christian Today. Mike Kane, shadow schools minister and Timms' Catholic counterpart in Labour, agreed. He said there were 3.8 million Catholics in England and Wales and 'Labour ignores them at their peril', according to the BBC. But for Kane, who is MP for the largely working class constituency of Wythenshawe in Manchester, it is not just about starting something new but reconnecting the party to its roots. 'There is a long tradition between the Labour movement since it started and the Catholic Church,' he told Christian Today in Brighton. 'Overwhelming since 1900 Catholics have voted in large numbers for the Labour party. If only Catholics voted Labour every time we would have a landslide majority.' He's right. Data from the British Election Study reveals that Catholics have tended to vote Labour for several decades. But they are losing their grip. Polls show the support for Labour falling among Catholics and support for Conservatives rising, slightly. At the last election Labour's lead among Catholics was just two percentage points when it once stood at 40 in the 1990s. And Mike Kane is looking to tackle that drift, launching Catholics for Britain alongside other senior Labour figures including Emma Lewell-Buck, Jon Cruddas, Stephen Pound, Keith Vaz, Conor McGinn, Andy McDonald and Sir David Crausby. Opening with a mass at St Mary Magdalen, Brighton, on Sunday, Kane said there was standing room only as more than 150 packed into the small building. 'Already there is a real pace and real energy,' he told Christian Today. 'There was a real need for it.' He went on: 'Our key objectives are to give a space for Catholics to participate in public policy debate in the public realm and to bring the rich vein of thought of Catholic Social Teaching to the debate. 'I am talking about human dignity, I'm talking about the preferential option for the poor, I'm talking about the care for creation, I'm talking about making sure the things we produce are for all the people and not just some.' Inevitably Catholics will feel more comfortable with some aspects of Labour's identity for example the emphasis on social justice but less with other aspects. For example the party has a largely progressive, liberal approach to marriage and life issues. But Kane said that was a false premise. 'The party has clear clauses on life issues,' he said, emphasising not all Catholics agree with the Church's stance on abortion and same-sex relationships. 'For those of us who are pro-life those clauses come into effect and we vote with our conscience on those issues. 'Catholics are free to vote as they wish.' It isn't just specifically 'Catholic' issues the group will focus on. Overlooking the sea outside Labour's conference, the conversation turns to Brexit and Labour's divisions. 'The European Union was devised by a number of Catholic politicians,' said Kane. They were based on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. To stop the continent going to war every few years we built a system based on solidarity but also subsidiarity. 'What has been hard about Brexit is seeing solidarity between nations break down,' he added. 'People have felt left behind in the EU debate and we need to see as Christians how we get people to re-engage with their communities, their government, and internationally as well because we are called to participate not just in our streets but across society as a whole and I think that includes Europe.' Asked whether the group would use the Catholic instinct to support the EU to lobby for a softer Brexit he said: 'I think the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity will play heavy on Catholics in Parliament over how we go forward in exiting the EU. We shouldn't' be afraid to bring that voice to the table in the debate.' Traditionally Catholics are left-of-centre economically but conservative on social issues. Kane's group could provide a bridge back to Labour's lost working class voters who baulk at the north London metropolitan liberals at the top of the party. After fighting off a strong UKIP challenge in the north-west to win his seat in a by-election, Kane knows all about the importance of Labour's socially conservative base. But when it was suggested the Conservatives has successfully branded themselves as the party of the family and other socially conservative values, Kane was incensed. 'This has a government that has not seen pay go up in eight years. That puts immeasurable strain on families. This is a government that has taken away child benefit for families with more than two children. This is a government that has cut disability benefit and this is a government that has seen a huge rise in homelessness, in every city, in every part of our land.' This is more than just a fight for a religious voice in Labour. It is a fight for the identity of the party. Stephen Pound, another member of Catholics for Labour, told those gathered at the launch: 'I just do not understand how you can be a Catholic and not vote for Labour.' The challenge will be convincing the UK's increasingly middle-class Catholic population to agree. NVIDIA GTX 1070 Ti release date news: Set to launch as AMD RX Vega 56 rival NVIDIA seems determined to defend its throne from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), as rumors surface regarding the release of its newest graphics processing unit (GPU) tier named GTX 1070 Ti. The new 1070 Ti is set to fill the gap between the GTX 1070 and the GTX 1080, which cost $400+ and $550+ respectively. Since AMD's new $400 RX Vega 56 outperformed the GTX 1070 on several points, NVIDIA's new GPU will reportedly be a stronger competitor to the Vega 56. Anyone holding off on their Vega 56, GTX 1070, or 1080 purchase might want to glance at the GTX 1070 Ti's rumored specifications, as the new GPU will have 2432 CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) cores, a big leap from a GTX 1070's 1920 cores. This new upgrade should put the 1070 Ti closer to NVIDIA's flagship GTX 1080, which has 2560 cores. The stock model of the card will also be utilizing a clock speed of 1607 megahertz (MHz), and users can get a boost of up to 1683 MHz. It will also have 8 gigabytes (GB) of GDDR5 video memory, perfect for ultra high-definition (UHD) displays, 4K gaming, or cryptocurrency mining, should users desire. With the specifications of the GTX 1070 Ti, NVIDIA hopes it can contend with AMD's RX Vega 56, as the latter has been beating the older GTX 1070 model in most gaming and synthetic benchmarks, especially in DirectX 12 titles. In addition, both AMD's flagship RX Vega 64 and the RX Vega 56 have also recently beaten NVIDIA's flagship GTX 1080 and its more powerful version GTX 1080 Ti in "Forza Motorsport 7," which is a newly released DirectX 12 title. The performance gap between the RX Vega 64 and the GTX 1080 Ti was also rather huge at 23 percent. This put NVIDIA in a difficult spot, especially since both RX Vega versions are significantly more affordable than the top cards NVIDIA has on offer. Those interested in upgrading their gaming or mining PCs may have to wait until Oct. 26 for the GTX 1070 Ti to arrive. This release date is not yet confirmed at this point, so buyers may have to wait for NVIDIA's official announcement. Prime Minister under pressure: Theresa May insists government is united Apologising for losing her Conservative Party's majority at a June election, Prime Minister Theresa May responded to her critics on Sunday by saying she had the right strategy to lead Britain and win a Brexit deal. May, who has faced calls from within her party to step down, wants to use the Conservatives' annual conference in Manchester this week to try to reset her agenda, offering money to students and those people she once described as 'just about managing' in Britain. In an interview with BBC television, she dismissed talk of rifts among top ministers, saying they were united on their programme and more importantly Brexit. That came a day after foreign minister Boris Johnson, perhaps May's biggest rival, set out four personal red lines in the complex talks with the EU. But with thousands of protesters just outside the conference centre gates demanding Britain stay in the European Union, May has a long way to go to unite not only her governing party, but also the country after last year's divisive referendum vote. 'We've listened to the message that came from that (June) election. But I've been very clear, I called the election, I led the campaign, I take my responsibility and I'm sorry that some very good members of parliament lost their seats,' May said in an appeal to those party members still angry over the vote. 'What I have is a cabinet that is united in the mission of this government ... and agreed on the approach that we took in Florence,' May said about a speech she made in Italy last month to try to kick-start Brexit talks that had all but stalled. 'Boris is absolutely behind the Florence speech and the line that we have taken.' Arriving at the conference, Johnson was quick to say he was loyal to the prime minister. But he has yet to comment further on his four red lines, which include a transition period of no longer than two years, that he set out on the eve of the conference in what his critics said was a clear move to pressure May. Minster after minister appealed for unity from a party deeply disillusioned by the June election, with several saying the only way to win back voters was to challenge the growing appeal of the main opposition Labour Party directly. 'I think one of the problems we have at the moment and what kind of rankles with me a little bit is that we have got to stop talking about the party,' trade minister Liam Fox told an event. 'The party needs to stop talking about the party and start talking more about the country.' Weakened Following a bullish Labour conference last week, May hopes to fire up thousands of Conservative party members who feel let down by a disastrous election campaign, when their leader was dubbed by critics 'the Maybot' for her repetition of slogans. May is now dependent on the Demcratic Unionist Party for a majority in parliament, and opinion polls indicate Labour is a growing threat, persuading rivals in the party not to try to topple her quite yet. On her 61st birthday, she unveiled new policies to extend a programme to help people buy their own homes and to freeze student tuition fees to try to win back younger people, who have flocked to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. She offered Brexit supporters a promise that she would walk away if she could not get a good deal, saying the government was working on plans for a 'no deal'; and tried to keep pro-EU campaigners onside by saying she wanted an agreement. May's ally and effective deputy Damian Green said he was confident she could lead the Conservatives into the next election in 2022 and criticised those fuelling leadership speculation that hampers 'a job not just for the party but more importantly for the government and the country'. But May has a long way to go to win over doubters. 'If you run any organisation ... and something goes monumentally wrong, as did the election ... then the buck does have to stop with that individual,' said Grant Shapps, former Conservative Party chairman. 'The reality is, every serious person knows, of course she can't lead us into the next election.' Satanic Temple is asking its followers to target Christian bakers by asking them to make cakes 'for Satan' The Satanic Temple is urging its followers to target Christian bakers opposed to working gay weddings by demanding they make cakes for "for Satan." Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, argued in a patheos blog called "According to Matthew" on Tuesday that Christian business owners are discriminating against gay people for refusing to serve gay weddings. He expressed fears that since sexual orientation is not a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, religious business owners might start winning cases at the U.S. Supreme Court. "For this reason, The Satanic Temple has announced a plan for those who feel alienated or oppressed by the privileged status that religion holds over sexual orientation: Request your homophobic baker make a cake for Satan," Greaves wrote. In an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation on Thursday he suggested that if evangelical Christians choose to not work same-sex weddings, "then other people should be allowed to deny them services as well." "I think that's a legally tenable option. It's not a very socially tenable option. We've already gone over this in the Jim Crow era, I think we came up with a kind of social contract that if you're going to run a business and provide services to the public that you need to act within the boundaries of what is within accepted social behavior, regardless of your own religion or whatever else," Greaves said. One of the main cases going before the Supreme Court this fall concerns Colorado cake artist Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop. Phillips is attempting to overturn a Colorado Civil Rights Commission decision in 2014 that found him guilty of discriminating against same-sex couple Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012, when he refused to make a cake for their wedding. Alliance Defending Freedom lawyers representing the cake artist filed their opening brief at the Supreme Court at the end of August. "Tolerance should be a two-way street. Phillips gladly serves anyone who walks into his store, but as is customary practice for many artists, he declines opportunities to design for a variety of events and messages that conflict with his deeply held beliefs. In this case, Jack told the couple suing him he'd sell them anything in the store but just couldn't design a custom cake celebrating their wedding because of his Christian faith," said ADF Senior Counsel Kristen Waggoner at the time. "The First Amendment protects Jack's right to create artistic expression that is consistent with his core convictions. Individuals can support both same-sex marriage and Jack, and people should have the right to disagree on critical matters of conscience." Phillips has explained that he still serves gay customers but does not serve gay weddings, and recently shared that he has received some serious death threats over the case. "Somebody called one day to say that he was on his way and he was going to come shoot me in the head," he said at a panel discussion organized by The Heritage Foundation earlier in September. The baker said in an emotional speech that his main concern was for his daughter and her 4-year-old child. He gave them a call and urged them to stay locked indoors until police took care of the situation. Authorities were unable to trace the phone call, however, and Phillips said that was "the way things went for weeks." This article was originally published in The Christian Post. Teen told he was 'not welcome' at school for identifying as transgender American teen claims he has been banned from the private Christian school he has attended since nursery because of his gender identity. Stiles Zuschlag, of Lebanon, Maine, told Seacoast Media Group he had hopes of becoming valedictorian at Tri-City Christian Academy in Somersworth, New Hampshire, where he had spent his whole school life. However, the school administrator, Paul Edgar, responded negatively when Zuschlag and his mother met with him to inform the school that Zuschlag would be transitioning from female to male. Zuschlag said that he was told that he could not return to the school campus, that he should confess his sins and cease taking the male hormone testosterone. As a result, Zuschlag transferred to Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine, which was more accommodating- allowing him to be called by whichever pronoun he preferred and to use the gender bathroom in which he felt most comfortable. TCCA's school administrator has declined to speak about the case, citing privacy issues. 'To protect the privacy of our families, TCCA admissions decisions and any reasons for these various decisions, are not considered matters for public disclosure,' Edgar said. New Hampshire District 2 Executive Councilor and top New Hampshire education attorney Andru Volinsky said religious schools are allowed to ask pupils to leave regardless of whether they receive federal funding. 'In this day and age, the rights of a religious school are paramount to the rights of a student who goes there because the student always has the remedy of going to another school,' Volinsky said. Nevertheless, she considered the Zuschlag's situation 'heartbreaking'. Zuschlag, who was born with the first name Alija, says he has not felt comfortable in his own body since the age of 10. 'I hung out with the boys and wore male attire, and even acted like a boy.' He describes the decision to change his name to Stiles and to transition to male as 'liberating'. Zuschlag has the full support of his family, and most of his classmates have been prepared to accept him as Stiles. However, several classmates bullied him in school and on social media, citing biblical references 'which were wrong', said Zuschlag, who said he was known as the school's best biblical scholar. Despite the disapproval of his former school, Zuschlag is unshaken about his decision to transition. 'It was obvious to me that God wants me to do this,' he said. In August, it was revealed that authorities in the United States have automatically revoked the tax-exempt status of 23 UK charities this year. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a list of UK charities which have failed to complete the required forms for three consecutive years, which included a number of universities, the Legatum Institute Foundation, the Global Heritage Fund and Education for Health. This may well have been problematic for a number of these charities. However, while many non-US charities are frequently advised, sometimes incorrectly, that they must or should seek recognition of exemption under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c) (3), there are ways of achieving the benefits through other means that are less onerous. Advertising services supplied in the UK are ordinarily liable to VAT at the standard rate. However, in general, the supply of advertising to a charity is zero-rated, subject to conditions explored below. The relief covers advertising of any subject in any media, including TV, radio, newspapers, periodicals, billboards and vehicles. Zero rating also covers the design and production of an advert and includes certain goods closely related to the service, such as a poster. HMRC recommends the charity makes a declaration to the supplier that the criteria for zero rating have been met. Journalism is years behind other professions in how it deals with trauma. So this week, coinciding with Mental Illness Awareness Week, CJR is publishing a series of stories from members of the journalism community whove dealt with mental health, illness, or treatment. We asked each journalist the same two questions: 1) What has been the toll of the profession on your mental health, and how do you manage it? and 2) How can the industry work to better address the stigma still surrounding mental illness within the journalism community? The first dispatch, from award-winning journalist and author Mac McClelland, is below. Its been edited for length and clarity. McClelland is the author of Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story, which chronicles her experiences with post-traumatic stress disorder. Well be publishing more firsthand accounts throughout the week. Special thanks to our friends at BuzzFeed who inspired this series. On her personal experiences: I was diagnosed with PTSD after a particular assignment [in Haiti]. I had a harrowing time and, no exaggeration, that series of events changed the entire course of my life. The way I dealt with it at the time was a mix. I drank a lot and went to therapy. I started to do the things that I needed to do to recover, and I also self-medicated because I had to survive. Luckily, the HR person where I worked (Mother Jones) pointed out to me that this was work-related and so we ended up getting me covered by my job, by the systems [Mother Jones] had in place for treatment. It also changed the way I do my job. Ultimately, its really changed the way I approach assignments. I make sure that there is a level of self-care built into them. For some assignments, there is little or nothing that you can do on the ground. Assignments like that, Ill make shorter. I can still get job done, but I wont burn out. Ill also make more space between the assignments I take, so I can fully reground and recover before I go back out on something. I also turn down assignments that are not the right fit for me emotionally. I recognize in hindsight, I could have been and should have been approaching my job that way to begin with. But thats not a conversation where people are like, Make sure you dont burn out. The whole thing about a journalist, the idea we have, is very hard-charging all the time. They can always be on. Theyre inexhaustible. That reporters are not supposed to have feelings, or human bodies, or needs. That was how I was approaching my job before, and not surprisingly, I became wildly, unspeakably burned out, and was having pretty extreme mental health issues and struggles that I had to deal with for a long, long time. It was one of the most significant events of my life. ICYMI: Police knock down, pepper-spray, arrest, and jail reporter for 13 hours Sign up for CJR 's daily email On fighting the stigma in journalism: I think the first step to combatting stigma, no matter where youre talking about, is conversation. That isnt necessarily a top-down thing. I think more organically, it would be a matter of people in the newsroom, people having various experiences, just talking about them. It would happen more if there wasnt fear of reprisal. Ive been out about my own struggles, and strangers, other journalists, will regularly email me or get in touch, and say theyre having this sort of issue, but they dont want to tell anybody because their job is really intense, and theyre afraid theyll be taken off the beat. Or theyll be given assignments they dont want. Ive encountered other reporters who are writing things about mental health, and they will call me, and theyll say, Do you know other journalists who will talk? Because Ive talked to other ones who dont want to put their name on this. Like they dont want to be on the record as having, or being identified as having, any sort of mental health or emotional issues related to their work. They could be more out if editors and supervisors directly addressed the fact that they would not punish anyone. Punishment is a weird word and strong word, but thats how it feels to journalists. Its a form of punishment to have your job changed or have people think that [you] cant do things. Its like a denial, a refusal to engage with something. If you have someone, and this happened to me, say I need help and then your editor says something like, You could do something else, or We could get someone else who can handle this. That is potentially easier for them [as editors], but it builds stigma and fear. It makes mental health in journalism not a problem, but your problem. If we just take you out of equation, the problem will go away, and we could put someone else on the project. You have to have a culture of acceptance and support. I know thats a big ask, but then people would be less afraid. It would take some time. If it were a matter of policy, We support people in these ways, I think it would make a big difference. CJRs health care reporting is sponsored in part by a grant from the Commonwealth Fund. ICYMI: The story behind a photo no one in the mainstream media wanted to publish Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Meg Dalton is a freelance journalist and audio producer based in Connecticut. She's reported and edited for CJR, PBS NewsHour, Energy News Network, Architectural Digest, MediaShift, Hearst Connecticut newspapers, and more. Follow her on Twitter: @megdalts. Find her on Twitter @megdalts. By any journalistic standard, it was a good get. The black-and-white photograph taken by La Raza Editor in Chief Raul Ruiz captured the pivotal moment when a Los Angeles sheriffs deputy stood on an East Los Angeles sidewalk and aimed his tear-gas launcher into the Silver Dollar Cafe on August 29, 1970. A tear gas missile from the launcher would fatally strike Ruben Salazar, a Los Angeles Times columnist and KMEX News Director who had become one of the few mainstream voices to tackle issues that mattered to Mexicans and Mexican Americans in a city and era when people of color were often absent from media coverage. The investigation into Salazars death lagged in the same ways too many deaths of people of color get buried to this dayauthorities denied wrongdoing while refusing to release investigation results for decades. ICYMI: News organization sets out ambitious Trump plan But while the actions of the deputy may have been in dispute (for lack of any admission of guilt, mostly), Ruiz photos for the now-out-of-print Chicano civil rights publication had indisputably captured a painful, course-altering moment in the citys Chicano history. He knew the photo deserved an audience beyond what could be reached by a self-made newspaper-turned-magazine to tell the untold stories of Chicanos in East Los Angeles. Yet, no one in the mainstream media wanted to publish it. Sign up for CJR 's daily email First, Ruiz and his team of journalists approached a young reporter for KNBC in Burbank. His name was Tom Brokaw, Ruiz says, dropping his voice to mimic the newsmans gravelly on-camera delivery before letting out a laugh. It was near midnight when Brokaw came and looked at Ruizs photosthe broadcaster (whose name is now emblazoned on the local bureau) said he wanted to run with it and promised to call back the next day. Brokaw never called. When Ruiz followed up, he recalls Brokaw saying Cant do it. Cant do it. They just dont want to accept it. Im sorry but I cant. Ruiz turned to a Spanish language television station and struck out againChannel 34 told him the photos would be too inflammatory. It wasnt until Ruiz decided to hold a press conference with the enlarged prints of the images that a city editor from the Los Angeles TimesSalazars own workplaceagreed to coverage on two conditions set by Ruiz: he didnt want pay for the image, but demanded a credit line for the photos. They said Oh Raul, we dont use other peoples bylineswere the LA Times, Ruiz recalls, but in the end the newspaper conceded and printed the images crediting the Chicano journalist. Its an important moment in the history of both Los Angeles as a city, the American West as a region, and the civil rights story on a national level. While the Salazar image is now one of the best-known photographs of the era, many never-before-seen images shot by La Razas photographers, from 1967 to 1977, are among the 25,000 images on display in a new exhibit at the Autry Museum of the West. It offers a peek at an unvarnished catalogue of the early Mexican-American civil rights movement in Los Angeles, one corner of the national civil rights movement of the late 1960s. Its an important moment in the history of both Los Angeles as a city, the American West as a region, and the civil rights story on a national leveland really fits with the Autrys mission of telling all the stories of the people of the American West, says Amy Scott, chief curator for the museum. The Autrys show is part of a network of exhibits across the city that dive into unseen and unrecognized local Latino culture, including the ways the stories of Mexican-Americans were told on the fringes of the media landscape with La Raza. The publication dug into instances of police brutality, inequality, and school segregation in East Los Angeles, and took an anti-Vietnam War stance, earning a reputation as a biased, activist publicationa distinction Ruiz acknowledges with pride. La Raza editors decided we were going to report the news that nobody ever reported, and if you want to call it a biased report, fine, we dont care. The measure of our objectivity was not going to be the critics, Ruiz says. An avid reader, Ruiz had grown up in South Los Angeles scouring the pages of American publications for a semblance of his culture and his experience as a Chicanobut the media had a blind spot. Why should Look Magazine or the LA Times and all that [media] exist for all these years and make a whole lot of money and never say anything about us? Ruiz says in an interview with CJR at his Northridge, California, home. And if they said anything about blacks it was always weird stuff, and there was hardly anything about Asians, much less Middle Eastern folks, or anybody else. As an activist, Ruiz admired Cesar Chavez and his advocacy for laborers rights through United Farm Workersbut like many Chicanos in LA, Ruiz had never worked on California farms. City-dwelling Chicanos had different problems that didnt seem to get any attention. La Raza dove into those issues with a pastiche of poetry, journalism, and photography. Planning for the exhibit began in 2013, Scott says, but its timeliness is undeniable. ICYMI: News organization sets out ambitious Trump plan If La Raza were still around, Ruiz says, it would be covering deportations and the threats to DACA recipients, and the presidents fresh-yet-dated calls to build a wall along the Mexican-American border. The racial resentment that helped elect and continues to define Donald Trumps presidency once thrived openly in Southern California, where for the first time since Eisenhower, even conservative bastions like Orange County voted Democrat in the last presidential race. The same Orange County where, nearly a decade before the US Supreme Court ruled that separate is not equal in Brown v. Board of Education, parents filed a lawsuit in 1943 because local schools were notorious for pushing Mexican and Mexican-American children into inferior schools with curriculums focused on home economics or shop. The intentions were clear and cold: to train an underclass of maids and laborers. Though the parents won the lawsuit, legally ending segregation in California before it ended anywhere else, real advancement lagged, and high dropout rates and low literacy persisted. Ruiz, now a professor of Chicano and Chicana Studies at Cal State Northridge, began studying high school curriculums and facilities, and noted obvious differenceslike how in the richer, less diverse west side of town (in neighborhoods like Beverly Hills or Santa Monica), high schools always had sparkling swimming pools, while none of the schools in the predominantly Mexican neighborhoods in East Los Angeles did. Decades after the Orange County lawsuit that changed California law, East LA schools still offered wood shop and body shop classes rather than college-preparatory courses. Covering education inequality was how La Raza connected to readers in East LAattending school meetings and standing outside high schools to distribute the publication. And when thousands of students walked out of schools to protest poor conditions, in what became known as the East LA Blowouts, La Raza was there. Later, when young Chicanos marched against the Vietnam War (a day known as the Chicano Moratorium), La Raza was there. Many of the photographs in the Autrys exhibit are a revealing look at a lesser-known corner of the Civil Rights Movement. The archive will be accessible through a large, iPad-like display, and the museum will also host large prints of images from the Chicano Moratorium and other major events in local Latino history. *** Devra Weber, who took the above photograph, at the time was a young, social-justice obsessed graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, studying American labor history. She noticed an absence of Latinos and their contributions to the workforce in that history, and in the citys newspapers. The Los Angeles Times was still a pretty right-wing newspaperI mean right-wing for those days, not right-wing for now. I mean were talking Nazis and all sorts of crap nowbut it was right-wing in that it didnt like the Farm Workers Movement and would present the views of growers instead, Weber recalls. She began visiting East Los Angeles to study the communities and work for La Raza. As a self-described Anglo who was raised with Latinos, she recognized how Chavez movement resonated with some Americans, but urban Chicanos were regarded differently in local press. The urban thingthat was a little tighter for whites in the United States, Weber said, noting that while there were anti-immigrant attitudes like the ones seen today on Fox News and alt-right outlets, it was in some ways tamer. Part of that may have been because Chicanos were echoing some of the appeals of many Americans for civil rights in the late 1960s. Often they talk about these movements as separate, but really the Chicano movement had contact with the Native American movement, with the Civil Rights movement and Black Panthers. There are a lot of cross-movement connections that people had as individuals and as groups. And that was something that there needs to be more history written, frankly. But that was also quite exciting about what was going on in that period, Weber said. *** La Raza photographer Luis Garza, who co-curated the Autrys exhibit, recalls how anyone who covered issues that mattered to Chicanos had to be an activist in the sense that the work meant putting your body on the line, and police didnt distinguish between protester or press in Chicano neighborhoods. The publication wasnt just about informing Chicanos, but it also offered a direct challenge to mainstream press and racist institutions. For La Raza, the point was to be undeniable. We created enough that you had to observe and you had to give recognition of what was going on in the community, Garza says, that you systematically have ignored and all of a sudden youre scratching your head and wondering where did this come from? You know lets not be naive, it comes from hundreds of years of intentional suppression. In the end, in many ways, La Razas call for its community to rise up was that echoed one of the earliest calls to American independence: no taxation without representation. Ruben Salazars death was a moment when others in media began to recognize how aggressively the voice of Chicano journalists and activists were being targetedincluding a long piece exploring his death by Hunter S. Thompson for Rolling Stone. Published in 1971, Strange Rumblings in Aztlan was openly critical of the local coverage, with Thompson writing: I had seen the L.A. Times that morning, with the story of Salazars death, and even at a distance of 2000 miles it gave off a powerful stench. The problem was not just a gimp or a hole in the story; the whole goddamn thing was wrong. It made no sense at all. The Salazar case had a very special hook in it: Not that he was a Mexican or a Chicano, and not even [lawyer Oscar] Acostas angry insistence that the cops had killed him in cold blood and that nobody was going to do anything about it. These were all proper ingredients for an outrage, but from my own point of view the most ominous aspect of Oscars story was his charge that the police had deliberately gone out on the streets and killed a reporter whod been giving them trouble. If this was true, it meant the ante was being upped drastically. When cops declare open season on journalists, when they feel free to declare any scene of unlawful protest a free fire zone, that will be a very ugly dayand not just for journalists. True to form, Thompsons story goes on to digress into druggy passages about the price of Seconal and acid, comparisons of local young toughs to Hells Angels, and descriptions of the local habitats of East LAs whores and cons. While Thompson dwelled on his interests and vicesslumming entertainingly for mainstream and mostly-white audiencesit was Chicano publications like La Raza that treated Chicanos with seriousness and had an orientation to serve the community. To this day, Ruiz believes mainstream media tends to rely on caricatures or stereotypes to depict Chicanos. For example, DACA students are frequently profiled to express how exceptional and successful they are, but Ruiz wonders why readers still arent asked to have empathy for immigrant students who struggle or to care for the workers who actually make California the economic powerhouse that it is. The common Latino is still invisible to American media in that sense, and those people deserve the respect and interest of readers. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Shaya Tayefe Mohajer teaches journalism at the University of Southern California and works as a freelance journalist in Los Angeles. Previously, she was the news editor for TakePart.com and a reporter for The Associated Press. She is a graduate of New York University's masters program in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @Shaya_in_LA. An unassuming owner who hired iconic, charismatic editors, S.I. Newhouse, Jr. built Conde Nast into a magazine powerhouse. His death on Sunday marks the end of an era in the magazine world. That phrase, end of an era, has been getting a workout since Graydon Carteran editor Newhouse hiredannounced his departure from Vanity Fair last month. But with Newhouses passing, after four decades at the helm of Conde Nast, its appropriate. Tributes for Newhouse, known as Si, poured in from around the media world. The New Yorkers David Remnick remembered him as a sort of platonic ideal of an owner: In a world of meddlesome owners, worrywart owners, mercenary owners, owners who use their publications as instruments of political influence or social positioning, he bought The New Yorker because he enjoyed what it had been and he wanted it to go on being true to itself, even as it modernized and reached readers in new ways. Politicos Michael Calderone writes that when he started covering media a decade ago there were no other namessave, perhaps, for Sulzberger and Murdochthat warranted as much attention as Newhouse. In a warm tribute, Vanity Fairs Carter called Newhouse, the last of the great visionaries of the magazine business. Below, more on the passing of Si Newhouse. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Other notable stories Developin g : A gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas concert last night, killing at least 50 people, in what appears to be the deadliest mass shooting in modern* American history. Updates here from The New York Times . The Times s reporters in Puerto Rico spent 24 hours reportin g scenes from one day in the life of those experiencin g Marias aftermath . The Washington Post s Margaret Sullivan says the real crisis facing journalism is financial, and she looks at the efforts of some newsrooms to adapt. After Harvey made landfall, Texas Monthly editors scrapped their planned issue and started from scratch on an attempt to tell the stories of those who lived through the storm. CJRs Meg Dalton goes behind the scenes of how to build a magazine in 10 days. In a time of protests on football fields and college campuses, The New Yorker s Jill Lepore has a brief look at the history of free speech fights , from the 1960s to today. *An earlier version of this newsletter referred to the events in Las Vegas as the deadliest shooting in American history. As a statement from the NABJ points out, there have been previous mass killings directed at African Americans, specifically the Colfax Massacre of 1873 and the East St. Louis Massacre of 1917. 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. Back to back hurricanes coupled with retiring, experienced personnel has created a tight adjuster job market. From emails to online jobsites, theres no shortage of firms advertising jobs for cat adjusters in the aftermath of Harvey and Irma. A recent KPMG survey of more than 300 senior insurance executives found that a significant risk insurers face in connection with hurricanes is alack of claim handling personnel. Though the Association of Claims Professionals (ACP) couldnt provide exact figures on the additional adjusters needed by carriers for the two storms, the association did say it was in the thousands. Dave Coons, The Jacobson Group, said his company is in the throes of staffing hundreds of claims adjusters in response to Hurricane Irma in Florida. The two back to back hurricanes have been stressful, said Ken Tolson, CEO, of Crawford & Company, U.S. Property & Casualty division. In many cases, direct instruction and pre-nomination by our clients has enabled Crawford to deploy adjusters locally in advance. This was extremely effective after Superstorm Sandy in 2012; reducing delay and enabling us to avoid bottlenecks caused by publicly imposed travel restrictions in affected states, he said in a statement after Irma. Tolson, who oversees catastrophe services for the firm, said Crawford & Company has accelerated its training program to meet the demand for adjusters. During a catastrophe, Crawford & Company shares resources among its divisions. For example, the firm was holding a systems training class for their adjusters from Canada who will assist in assessing Harvey claims. To help with the storms, ACP member companies sent in additional claims adjustment teams from across the United States and Canada. Coons said that in a scenario such as this one with back to back hurricanes and additional storms still causing destruction it does create an adjuster shortage. The demand is so great right now, he said. The aging adjuster resource pool combined with two category 4 hurricanes that hit two large population centers created stress on the ecosystem, said Tolson. Crawford & Company, a global independent adjusting firm, prepares for disasters all year long, coordinating with clients and reviewing their exposures. Our clients are typically very transparent with us, not only are they contracting with us but often they will contract with other partners, as well, said Tolson. Where loss severity is minor, he explained the firm is handling many inspections remotely through its WeGoLook group to gather photos and limited measurements. Regarding technology, Tolson said Theres tools available to us today that werent available 10 years ago that help address some of that stress on the human resource side of the event. In the aftermath of Harvey and Irma, many insurers reported dedicated, mobile cat units along with in-house adjusters ready to take on claims. State Farm reported it had taken steps to strategically position resources, people and equipment, for further deployment after the two hurricanes. Chubb reportedly activated more than 400 people from among its service center and field resources to respond to customers impacted by Hurricane Irma, according to Bill Turnbull, senior vice president, North American Property Claims. Chubbs catastrophe team is designed to handle more than one event simultaneously, especially during the North Atlantic hurricane season, said Turnbull. According to an Allstate spokesperson, the two storms hadnt yet strained its adjuster roster. Weve had as many as 4,200 claim professionals on the ground from Texas to Florida, and in our catastrophe call center helping customers. We currently have teams of Allstaters with about ten mobile claim centers and catastrophe response vehicles positioned in public places and canvassing neighborhoods in the hardest hit areas. Were also using drone technology and images from aircraft to help settle claims as quickly as possible, Allstates spokesperson said. Loretta Wolters, vice president of media relations for the Insurance Information Institute, said she hadnt heard of an adjuster shortage among the larger insurers shes spoken with. Typically, they [larger insurers] move their adjusters from different parts of the country from one event to the next. For example, they might have had their company adjusters in a part of the country for hail, but that event is almost finished, so they will move to the next event (disaster). For some of small or mid-size insurers that are new to the Florida market, they may have to turn to independent adjusters. Perhaps Florida Citizens might be having a shortage, but the regular market, from what Im told, has enough, Wolters said. Preparation is Key Preparation is critical, said Coons. We establish staffing and contingency plans for these sorts of things well in advance. The recent drop in high cost, high damage events has resulted in a lower need for temporary cat professionals, said Coons. As a result, he said many experienced catastrophe professionals have moved into full time jobs or may have left the industry altogether. Many organizations are contacting the same individuals for similar assignments, said Coons. Jacobson makes sure to establish communications with available adjusters early on to confirm interest and availability for assignments. The firm begins prepping in March or April for the upcoming hurricane season. I think this is pretty much true of most firms who either staff adjusters, independent adjusting firms, carriers and the like. I think everybody has the tendency to start very early, just in an anticipation of what might happen, said Coons. Despite many insurers increasing use of technology, like drones, Coons is not seeing a reduction in the need for physical adjusters. Thats because, according to Coons, the claims area is one of the highest concentrations of individuals that are rapidly approaching retirement in the insurance industry. Recent studies conducted by Jacobson indicate the median age of claims employees is 43 years old, just slightly younger than the insurance industry median age of 45 years, he explained. Even though technology has helped in alleviating some of the need for adjusters to, for example, go up on roofs because now they are using drone technology and things of this nature to help assist in the process, said Coons. The reality is you still need human capital and thats something thats becoming less and less available to us. Insurers confronted with an adjuster shortage will start by seeking out adjusters from other departments and call on retirees for assistance, he said. Typically, desk employees will be deployed into the field and then employees from other departments may be tapped for desk duty or First Notice of Loss handling. The remaining open positions will then be backfilled by temporary workers or independent adjusters. You see companies reaching out to retirees all the time, Coons explained. These individuals are proven, experienced and trained, and they can be really valuable to an organization in times of need. Retirees often feel comfortable coming back to their former employer. These individuals oftentimes feel comfortable coming back because they know the systems, they know the culture, they know the environment, said Coons. Besides tapping retirees and outside resources, insurers are taking the time to introduce claims careers to young professionals, he said. Its really incumbent upon all of us [insurance industry] to pretty much band together to create this level of awareness, said Coons, referring to the year-round campaign called the Insurance Careers Movement. The campaign began out of a collaboration among companies across the industry, he explained, that went on to create insurancecareertrifecta.org to help educate young professionals about insurance careers. Three appeals court judges have overturned a $663 million fraud verdict against a company that makes guardrails found along many U.S. roads and highways. The panel of judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Friday threw out a 2014 jury verdict against Trinity Industries Trinity was accused of fraud for failing to tell regulators about changes it made to guardrails, which critics said made them more dangerous when hit by cars at certain angles. But the appeals court judges noted that the government continued reimbursing states at the same rate for the new guardrails, suggesting it didnt consider the change fraudulent. Federal highway officials later said the design met safety standards in crash tests. The man who sued Trinity on behalf of the Federal Highway Administration, Joshua Harman, had once been a competitor with his own guardrail company. Were disappointed with the decision of the appellate court and were assessing the options, said Karen Dyer, one of the Harmans lawyers. A spokesman for the highway agency said he had not seen the court ruling by late Friday and declined to comment. Dallas-based Trinity said it was pleased with Fridays decision. This ruling affirms our longstanding belief that the (guardrail system) is safe and no fraud was committed, said company spokesman Jeff Eller. The original trial was held in a federal district court in Texas. Shares of Trinity Industries Inc. jumped 9 percent in after-hours trading following the courts ruling. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. County officials in the Houston area have decided to spend $20 million to purchase more than 200 homes flooded during Hurricane Harvey. The Harris County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to use the funds to speed up the buyout process, the Houston Chronicle reported . The county typically waits months to receive funds from federal grants. We want to get to the people sooner rather than later, said Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. Were taking a more active stance. The plan involves purchasing homes in the flood plain in unincorporated areas that were heavily damaged in the storm. Harvey dropped more than 50 inches of rain across the county, flooding an estimated 136,000 structures and causing billions of dollars in damage. Many homeowners in the area have yet to move back into their damaged homes or begin costly repairs. Officials aim to complete some home purchases by the end of October. The effort is part of the countys goal to buy and demolish about 3,300 homes that sit at least 2 feet below the flood plain. If homeowners in the targeted areas refuse to sell, county regulations require they raise their homes more than a foot above the base flood level. Its just the tip of the iceberg of what needs to be done, said Jim Blackburn, an environmental lawyer and co-director of Rice Universitys center for Severe Storm Prediction, Education, and Evacuation from Disasters. The county and other jurisdictions will likely conduct more buyouts in Harveys wake, Emmett said. County officials said they hope to be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or another federal or state agency. FEMA is also looking into ways to speed up the buyout process, said FEMA spokesman Peter Herrick. The Commissioners Court asked the federal government for $17 million earlier this month to purchase more than 100 homes that are at high risk of flooding, based on data from 2015 and 2016. The county likely wont see those funds until next year. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Officials across the state of Florida say the cleanup of debris left in Hurricane Irmas wake could last until the end of hurricane season. In the hard-hit Florida Keys, Monroe County officials say 400 members of the Florida National Guard are helping to remove debris. In the Gainesville area, officials said debris pickups could take three months because many crews were picking up more work in the southern part of Florida. Up and down Floridas peninsula, county officials say tree limbs made up the bulk of the storm debris being hauled away. In Brevard County, officials said Irma produced more debris than Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. Cleanup after Matthew took over a month along Floridas Atlantic coast. Irma made landfall twice on Sept. 10 with significant storm surge, first at Cudjoe Key with 130 mph winds and then again at Marco Island with 115 mph. Residents said the odors of sewage, mold and sawdust still filled the air this week on Cudjoe Key. According to a report by The Citizen newspaper , peoples soaked belongings littered the area, and partially sunken boats floated with furniture, bicycles and other debris in the brown waters of a clogged canal. Publix produce manager Eric Wright and his girlfriend, Kristin Story, an accountant in Key West, said mold damage on their ceiling and walls meant they might not be able to move back into their rented home. It will take a year, at least, to clean all this up, Wright said. In southwest Florida, the Naples Daily News reported that several homes were still flooded in a Bonita Springs neighborhood where residents stacked black garbage bags in3-foot-tall piles at the curb. We couldnt do anything for 12 days. The water was still in my property, said Rodney Malone, who wore a mask while examining walls where mold spores grew above a dark water line left 3 feet from the floor. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Half of them said they would give up the ability to vote in the next two presidential elections. Now a survey from Credible , conducted through Pollfish , offers insight into just what millennials would be willing to do to be free of those loans. The most popular answer the 500 respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 chose for what they would be desperate enough to sacrifice: suffrage. 42.3 million Americans owe a total of $1.33 trillion in federal student loans, according to the U.S. Department of Education . 20-somethings pay on average $351 a month , reports the Federal Reserve. The median monthly payment for that age range is $203. It's not news that millennials are in debt . Perhaps this shouldn't come as such a surprise. According to Tufts University's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, only 50 percent of 18- to-29-year-olds actually turned out to vote in the 2016 presidential election anyway. Although college graduates are more likely to vote than those without higher education, half, it seems, would still prioritize their immediate financial well-being over their democratic influence. They also seem to prioritize ride-sharing apps over the ability to vote. The survey found that 44 percent of the participants would be willing to stop using Uber and Lyft to have their loans forgiven. Young people may have come to rely on those apps to such an extent that they've forgotten ride-sharing isn't Not to mention that there are also taxis. Of all the options presented to them, millennials were least likely to give up texting, even just for a year. So presumably they still value freedom of speech. Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook! Don't miss: watch now For entrepreneurs who want to venture out on their own, success can be as simple as having an idea and the willingness to sacrifice. That was the case for Sadie Beaudet, 33, and Jeremy Roberts, 35. The concept was straightforward: clothing for women made from fabrics for men. "I like the way women's clothing fit, but I liked the patterns and prints of menswear," Beaudet said. That was the beginning of Tradlands, the couple's menswear-inspired clothing company. Sourcing fabrics for Tradlands. Source: Tradlands In 2011, the pair quit their desk jobs in San Francisco. Beaudet had been working as an office manager, Roberts as a photo retoucher. Both were eager for a change. "We wanted to think of something we could love and do together and we decided to start a business," Beaudet said. But Beaudet and Roberts had only $10,000 to start. "We knew we had to bootstrap it, which meant we had to cut all expenses," Roberts said. The pair, then engaged, sold a lot of their possessions, including their car, so they could move to Maine to live largely rent free with Beaudet's brother. They started with a website selling a simple button-up shirt in a few fabrics and colors. In that first year, they rang up $40,000 in revenue, Beaudet said. Looking back, "it felt very touch-and-go, but we were really committed to trying to make this thing work," she added. The same could be said for their relationship: In 2014, they tied the knot in a small ceremony at Beaudet's parents' house (she wore a J. Crew shift dress off the sale rack.) From there, the future started to look brighter. Sadie Beaudet and Jeremy Roberts, the founders of clothing company Tradlands. Source: Sadie Beaudet and Jeremy Roberts Amid the carnage in brick-and-mortar retail and a juggernaut called Amazon that's humbling its competition online, one technology start-up has come up with a motto: "Retail isn't dead, it needs a revival." Enter software-powered retailer b8ta, which sells tech products that don't have an offline retail footprint of their own. b8ta gives a leg up to small technology makers who might not be able to break into big stores, and lets customers test gadgets like smart locks, high-tech skateboards, and connected stove monitors in physical locations. In the process, b8ta hopes to generate excitement about shopping in traditional retail stores again, and giving unknown brands more exposure. b8ta was founded in 2015 by Nest alums Vibhu Norby, William Mintun and Phillip Raub, and has outlets in San Francisco, Santa Monica, Seattle, and Austin, among others. Since launching in December 2015, the company has opened 11 overall locations. According to Norby, b8ta's CEO and founder, the company is trying to alleviate a modern conundrum: Ordering a product and having to pony up the money immediately, without knowing if it does what it claims. "It's a really bad experience as a consumer to put down money first," Norby told CNBC recently. "Sometimes the product takes 18 months to get to market, or never ships," he said. While working for Nest, Norby experienced first hand what it was like to work with large retailers. The CEO said that "retail is hurting right now" with many of the best products being launched and sold only online. In many cases, getting shelf space at all has become difficult and costly. Often, consumers don't see similar products from smaller (and often cheaper) brands, because the more dominant labels take over much of the displays. Demonstrators wave Pro-Independence Catalan flags during a 2014 demonstration as part of the celebrations of the National Day of Catalonia Catalonia's regional leader opened the door to a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain on Sunday after voters defied a violent police crackdown and, according to regional officials, voted 90 percent in favor of breaking away. Despite Spanish police using batons and rubber bullets to disrupt the banned referendum, which was declared unconstitutional by Madrid, the Catalan government said 2.26 million people had cast ballots, a turnout of about 42 percent. Carles Puigdemont's comments followed a television address by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who ruled out independence and accused separatists of trying to "blackmail ... the whole nation". He offered all-party talks on the region's future. Catalan officials say more than 800 people were injured in clashes with Spanish riot police during the referendum, which has pitched the country into its deepest constitutional crisis in decades and deepened a rift between Madrid and Barcelona. "On this day of hope and suffering, Catalonia's citizens have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic," Puigdemont said in a televised address. "My government, in the next few days will send the results of today's vote to the Catalan Parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum," he said. The law of the referendum, deemed unconstitutional by Madrid, foresees a unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament if the majority votes to leave Spain. The law does not set a minimum turnout for the outcome to be valid. The results announced early on Monday were not a surprise, given that many unionists were not expected to turn out to vote. Earlier in the day, the streets of Catalonia, an industrial and tourism powerhouse accounting for a fifth of Spain's economy, erupted into violence as national police burst into polling stations with batons, dragging voters away. The action drew criticism at home and abroad. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson voiced worries over the violence while backing Madrid's view that the vote was unconstitutional. Spain's deputy prime minister said force used by the police had been proportionate. "The absolute irresponsibility of the regional government has had to be met by the security forces of the state," said Soraya Saenz de Santamaria. The euro lost about a third of a U.S. cent after the violence-marred vote before steadying. It touched a low of $1.1776 in thin Asian trade but soon steadied at $1.1801. In the run-up to the referendum, Puigdemont had said he would move to a declaration of independence within 48 hours of a "yes" vote. But the fragmented nature of the polling, with many voting stations closed, could complicate any move to a formal declaration. Puigdemont called on Europe to step in to make sure fundamental rights were fully respected. An Airbus passenger aircraft, operated by Monarch Airlines, taxis at London Gatwick airport in Crawley, U.K., on Oct. 11, 2016. U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Monday Britain's Monarch Airlines ceased operations with immediate effect, leaving 110,000 customers stranded overseas and about 300,000 future bookings cancelled. "We're sorry to announce that Monarch has suspended flights and holidays," Monarch said on Twitter. Monarch: We're sorry to announce that Monarch has suspended flights and holidays. Please check http://po.st/CAA for further information. Tough competition in the airlines sector has been putting pressure on weaker European carriers and driving consolidation, with Air Berlin and Alitalia filing for insolvency this year and seeking new investors for parts of their business. "This is the U.K.'s largest ever airline to enter administration," CAA said. The government has asked CAA to charter more than 30 aircraft to bring back to the U.K. Monarch Airlines customers currently overseas, CAA said in a statement. The government has begun the biggest ever peacetime repatriation effort to return the affected passengers, Department for Transport, Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement. Monarch said on Thursday it was talking to potential partners after a report that parts of its short-haul network would be sold. One of Saudi Arabia's top financial regulators has admitted there are "execution risks" surrounding the huge reforms the country is embarking on, but spoke of the opportunities the changes could deliver. "We see an opportunity to reform and change the country like no time that we've experienced in the past," Mohammed El-Kuwaiz, the chairman of the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority, told CNBC Friday. When asked broadly about any potential challenges, he said that the main risks are around execution. "Whenever you have something which has this high an aspiration level, and this tight a timeline, the challenge is to get it done and get it done with the right level of quality and the right level of sequence," he said. "Our belief, at least in the capital market realm is that actually, at least in the last year the capital market authority and the exchange have done a great job in translating, not just plans, but translating them into execution." Students are now able to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which allows millions of college students to apply for $120 billion worth of federal college aid. Federal aid is essential for millions of Americans who struggle to finance a college degree. Roughly 70 percent of grads leave college with student debt, and over 44 million Americans hold a total of more than $1.4 trillion in student loan debt. Every year, FAFSA provides federal grants, loans and work-study funds to more than 13 million college students, making it the largest provider of student financial aid in the country. "The biggest mistake that people make is not filling out the FAFSA or filling it out late," Karen McCarthy, director of policy analysis for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators tells CNBC. "To students who don't think that FAFSA applies to them, wake up and smell the coffee. You should do it," says Charlie Javice, founder and CEO of Frank, an online FAFSA platform. "It takes four minutes. You are probably going to get 10,000 to 30,000 worth of aid in your first year." of Americans qualify for federal college aid, it can be confusing to complete. These three tips can help you make sure you get the most out of your FAFSA. Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post | Getty Images Do your taxes FAFSA pulls information from your most recent tax return, so it is crucial that you have your taxes squared away before you complete your application for federal student aid, says certified financial planner Matt Chancey. For some students, this may mean filing taxes for the first time. Even if you are only working part-time, it is important that you file your taxes. "Make sure you file your taxes each year if you are making over $10,000 in annual income," says Javice. "When you submit your FAFSA documents, you want them to be as complete and accurate and thorough as possible," Chancey tells CNBC. "If your tax returns aren't all buttoned up, that's going to be hard." File as soon as possible People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Getty Images On Sunday night, it happened again: a mass shooting in America. In Las Vegas, a shooter opened fire at a country music concert, reportedly killing more than 50 and resulting in more than 400 injured, according to police. The shooting has already led to discussions about gun control. Americans have heard these types of calls before: After every mass shooting, the debate over guns and gun violence sparks up once again. Maybe some bills get introduced. Critics respond with concerns that the government is trying to take away their guns. The debate stalls. So even as America continues experiencing levels of gun violence unrivaled in the rest of the developed world, nothing happens no laws are passed by Congress, nothing significant is done to try to prevent the next horror. It has become an American routine for the aftermath of a gun violence to play out this way. More from Vox: The deadliness of the opioid epidemic has roots in America's failed response to crack Star Trek: Discovery meets a new starship and its ominous mission The Good Place's best episode yet is a swirling tribute to modern American chaos So why is it that for all the outrage and mourning with every mass shooting, nothing seems to change? To understand that, it's important to grasp not just the stunning statistics about gun ownership and gun violence in the United States, but America's very unique relationship with guns unlike that of any other developed country and how it plays out in our politics to ensure, seemingly against all odds, that our culture and laws continue to drive the routine gun violence that marks American life. 1) America's gun problem is completely unique No other developed country in the world has anywhere near the same rate of gun violence as America. The US has nearly six times the gun homicide rate as Canada, more than seven times as Sweden, and nearly 16 times as Germany, according to UN data compiled by the Guardian. (These gun deaths are a big reason America has a much higher overall homicide rate, which includes non-gun deaths, than other developed nations.) To understand why that is, there's another important statistic: The US has by far the highest number of privately owned guns in the world. Estimated in 2007, the number of civilian-owned firearms in the US was 88.8 guns per 100 people, meaning there was almost one privately owned gun per American and more than one per American adult. The world's second-ranked country was Yemen, a quasi-failed state torn by civil war, where there were 54.8 guns per 100 people. See chart here. Another way of looking at that: Americans make up about 4.43 percent of the world's population, yet own roughly 42 percent of all the world's privately held firearms. That does not, however, mean that every American adult actually owns guns. In fact, gun ownership is concentrated among a minority of the US population as surveys from the Pew Research Center and General Social Survey suggest. (See chart here). These three basic facts demonstrate America's unique gun culture. There is a very strong correlation between gun ownership and gun violence a relationship that researchers argue is at least partly causal. And American gun ownership is beyond anything else in the world. At the same time, these guns are concentrated among a passionate minority, who are typically the loudest critics against any form of gun control and who scare legislators into voting against such measures. 2) More guns mean more gun deaths. Period. The research on this is overwhelmingly clear. No matter how you look at the data, more guns mean more gun deaths. This is apparent when you look at state-by-state data within the United States, as this chart from Mother Jones demonstrates (See chart here). And it's clear when you look at the data across developed nations, as this other chart by Tewksbury Lab shows. Opponents of gun control tend to point to other factors to explain America's unusual gun violence: mental illness, for example. Jonathan Metzl, a mental health expert at Vanderbilt University, told me that this is just not the case. People with mental illnesses are more likely to be victims, not perpetrators, of violence. And while it's true that an extraordinary amount of mass shooters (up to 60 percent) have some kind of psychiatric or psychological symptoms, Metzl points out that other factors are much better predictors of gun violence in general: alcohol and drug misuse, poverty, history of violence, and, yes, access to guns. Another argument you sometimes hear is that these shootings would happen less frequently if even more people had guns, thus enabling them to defend themselves from the shooting. But, again, the data shows this is simply not true. High gun ownership rates do not reduce gun deaths, but rather tend to coincide with increases in gun deaths. While a few people in some cases may use a gun to successfully defend themselves or others, the proliferation of guns appears to cause far more violence than it prevents. Multiple simulations have also demonstrated that most people, if placed in an active shooter situation while armed, will not be able to stop the situation, and may in fact do little more than get themselves killed in the process. This video, from ABC News, shows one such simulation, in which people repeatedly fail to shoot an active shooter before they're shot: The relationship between gun ownership rates and gun violence rates is well established. Reviews of the evidence compiled by the Harvard School of Public Health's Injury Control Research Center have consistently found that when controlling for variables such as socioeconomic factors and other crime, places with more guns have more gun deaths. "Within the United States, a wide array of empirical evidence indicates that more guns in a community leads to more homicide," David Hemenway, the Injury Control Research Center's director, wrote in Private Guns, Public Health. Experts widely believe this is the consequence of America's relaxed laws and culture surrounding guns: Making more guns more accessible means more guns, and more guns mean more deaths. Researchers have found this is true not just with homicides, but also with suicides, domestic violence, and even violence against police. To deal with those problems, America will have to not only make guns less accessible, but likely reduce the number of guns in the US as well. The research also speaks to this point: A 2016 review of 130 studies in 10 countries, published in Epidemiologic Reviews, found that new legal restrictions on owning and purchasing guns tended to be followed by a drop in gun violence a strong indicator that restricting access to guns can save lives. Guns are not the only factor that contribute to violence. (Other factors include, for example, poverty, urbanization, and alcohol consumption.) But when researchers control for other confounding variables, they have found time and time again that America's high levels of gun ownership are a major reason the US is so much worse in terms of gun violence than its developed peers. "A series of specific comparisons of the death rates from property crime and assault in New York City and London show how enormous differences in death risk can be explained even while general patterns are similar," UC Berkeley's Franklin Zimring and Gordon Hawkins wrote in a breakthrough analysis in 1999. "A preference for crimes of personal force and the willingness and ability to use guns in robbery make similar levels of property crime 54 times as deadly in New York City as in London." But even with the outrage over gun massacres, the sense that enough is enough, and the clear evidence that the problem is America's high gun ownership rates, there hasn't been significant legislation to help solve the problem. 3) Americans tend to support measures to restrict guns, but that doesn't translate into laws If you ask Americans how they feel about specific gun control measures, they will often say that they support them. According to Pew Research Center surveys, most people in the US support background checks, bans on assault-style weapons, bans on high-capacity ammunition clips, bans on online sales of ammunition, and a federal database to track gun sales (See chart here). So why don't these measures ever get turned into law? That's because they run into another political issue: Americans, increasingly, tend to support the abstract idea of the right to own guns. (See chart here). This is part of how gun control opponents are able to kill even legislation that would introduce the most popular measures, such as background checks that include private sales (which have 85 percent support, according to Pew): They're able to portray the law as contrary to the right to own guns, and galvanize a backlash against it. This kind of problem isn't unique to guns. For example, although many Americans say they don't like Obamacare, most of them do in fact like the specific policies in the health care law. The problem is these specific policies have been masked by rhetoric about a "government takeover of health care" and "death panels." Since most Americans don't have time to verify these claims, especially when they involve a massive bill with lots of moving parts, enough end up believing in the catchphrases and scary arguments to stop the legislation from moving forward. Of course, it's also the case that some Americans simply oppose any gun control laws. And while this group is generally outnumbered by those who support gun control, the opponents tend to be much more passionate about the issue than the supporters and they're backed by a very powerful political lobby. 4) The gun lobby as we know it is relatively recent but enormously powerful The single most powerful political organization when it comes to guns is, undoubtedly, the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA has an enormous stranglehold over conservative politics in America, and that development is more recent than you might think. The NRA was, for much of its early history, more of a sporting club than a serious political force against gun control, and even supported some gun restrictions. In 1934, NRA president Karl Frederick was quoted as saying, "I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses." @EvanDickson: Hey @NRA remember this guy? A 1977 revolt within the organization changed everything. As crime rose in the 1960s and '70s, calls for more gun control grew as well. NRA members worried new restrictions on guns would keep coming after the historic 1968 law eventually ending, they feared, with the government's seizure of all firearms in America. So members mobilized, installing a hard-liner known as Harlon Carter in the leadership, forever changing the NRA into the gun lobby we know today. This foundation story is crucial for understanding why the NRA is near-categorically opposed to the regulation of private firearms. It fears that popular and seemingly common-sense regulations, such as banning assault-style weapons or even a federal database of gun purchases, are not really about saving lives but are in fact a potential first step toward ending all private gun ownership in America, which the NRA views wrongly, in the minds of some legal experts as a violation of the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. So any time there's an attempt to impose new forms of gun control, the NRA rallies gun owners and other opponents of gun control to kill these bills. These gun owners make up a minority of the population: anywhere from around 30 to around 40 percent of households, depending on which survey one uses. But that population is a large and active enough constituency, particularly within the Republican base, to make many legislators fear that a poor grade from the NRA will end their careers. As a result, conservative media and politicians take the NRA's support especially the coveted A-to-F ratings the organization gives out very seriously. Politicians will go to sometimes absurd length to show their support for gun rights. In 2015, for example, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) starred in a video, from IJ Review, in which he cooked bacon with this is not a joke a machine gun. Although several campaigns have popped upover the years to try to counteract the NRA, none have come close to capturing the kind of influential hold that the organization has. Some of the groups such as StopTheNRA.com, in part funded by Democratic donor Ken Lerer didn't even last a few years. Kristin Goss, author of The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know, previously told me this might be changing. She argued that newer gun control groups like Everytown for Gun Safety and Americans for Responsible Solutions are much more organized, are better funded, and have more grassroots support than gun control groups have had in her 20 years covering this issue. As a result, Democrats at the state and federal levels seem much more willing to discuss gun control. But supporters of gun control face a huge obstacle: far more passionate opponents. As Republican strategist Grover Norquist said in 2000, "The question is intensity versus preference. You can always get a certain percentage to say they are in favor of some gun controls. But are they going to vote on their 'control' position?" Probably not, Norquist suggested, "but for that 4-5 percent who care about guns, they will vote on this." What's behind that passion? Goss, who's also a political scientist at Duke University, suggested that it's a sense of tangible loss gun owners feel like the government is going to take their guns and rights. In comparison, gun control advocates are motivated by more abstract notions of reducing gun violence although, Goss noted, the victims of mass shootings and their families have begun putting a face on these policies by engaging more actively in advocacy work, which could make the gun control movement feel more relatable. There is an exception at the state level, where legislatures have passed laws imposing (and relaxing) restrictions on guns. In the past few years, for instance, Washington state and Oregon passed laws ensuring all guns have to go through background checks, including those sold between individuals. "There's a lot more going on than Congress," Goss said. "In blue states, gun laws are getting stricter. And in red states, in some cases, the gun laws are getting looser." But state laws aren't enough. Since people can simply cross state lines to purchase guns, the weaker federal standards make it easy for someone to simply travel to a state with looser gun laws to obtain a firearm and ship it another state. This is such a common occurrence that the gun shipment route from the South, where gun laws are fairly loose, to New York, where gun laws are strict, has earned the name "the Iron Pipeline." But it also happens all across the country, from New York to Chicago to California. Only a federal law could address this issue by setting a floor on how loose gun laws can be in every state. And until such a federal law is passed, there will always be a massive loophole to any state gun control law. Yet the NRA's influence and its army of supporters push many of America's legislators, particularly at the federal level and red states, away from gun control measures even though some countries that passed these policies have seen a lot of success with them. 5) Other developed countries have had huge successes with gun control In 1996, a 28-year-old man walked into a cafe in Port Arthur, Australia, ate lunch, pulled a semi-automatic rifle out of his bag, and opened fire on the crowd, killing 35 people and wounding 23 more. It was the worst mass shooting in Australia's history. Australian lawmakers responded with new legislation that, among other provisions, banned certain types of firearms, such as automatic and semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. The Australian government confiscated 650,000 of these guns through a gun buyback program, in which it purchased firearms from gun owners. It established a registry of all guns owned in the country and required a permit for all new firearm purchases. (This is much further than bills typically proposed in the US, which almost never make a serious attempt to immediately reduce the number of guns in the country.) The result: Australia's firearm homicide rate dropped by about 42 percent in the seven years after the law passed, and its firearm suicide rate fell by 57 percent, according to one review of the evidence by Harvard researchers. It's difficult to know for sure how much of the drop in homicides and suicides was caused specifically by the gun buyback program. Australia's gun deaths, for one, were already declining before the law passed. But researchers David Hemenway and Mary Vriniotisargue that the gun buyback program very likely played a role: "First, the drop in firearm deaths was largest among the type of firearms most affected by the buyback. Second, firearm deaths in states with higher buyback rates per capita fell proportionately more than in states with lower buyback rates." One study of the program, by Australian researchers, found that buying back 3,500 guns per 100,000 people correlated with up to a 50 percent drop in firearm homicides, and a 74 percent drop in gun suicides. As Vox's Dylan Matthews noted, the drop in homicides wasn't statistically significant. But the drop in suicides most definitely was and the results are striking. One other fact, noted by Hemenway and Vriniotis in 2011: "While 13 gun massacres (the killing of 4 or more people at one time) occurred in Australia in the 18 years before the [Australia gun control law], resulting in more than one hundred deaths, in the 14 following years (and up to the present), there were no gun massacres." 6) Although they get a lot of focus, mass shootings are a small portion of all gun violence Shares of casino operators fell on Monday after the Las Vegas massacre, the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. MGM Resorts International , which owns the Mandalay Bay hotel near where the shooting occurred, fell 5.6 percent Monday. Wynn Resorts slipped 1.2 percent. Las Vegas Sands fell as much as 2.1 percent before closing higher. Dan Wasiolek, an analyst at Morningstar, said these pullbacks could be short-lived, however. "Travelers seem to have short-term memories, with the exception being a more lasting impact to an area that has seen multiple terror events in a short period of time, as was the case with Paris in 2015/2016 where it took those markets a year to begin to recover," he told CNBC in an email. "Barring another tragic event in the gaming region the impact to travel and operators in the region could likely prove short-lived and pullbacks like these can be long-term add opportunities," Wasiolek said. Officials said that at least 58 people are dead and more than 500 injured after a gunman opened fire at a concert. The Route 91 Harvest country music festival was taking place across the road from the Mandalay Bay, which is near McCarran International Airport on the south side of the Las Vegas Strip. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of last night's shooting, their families, and those still fighting for their lives," said Jim Murren, MGM's chairman and CEO, in a statement. "We are working with law enforcement and will continue to do all we can to help all of those involved." Police say the gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, is dead and he had no known connection to terrorism, according to NBC News. Las Vegas police said that the shooter was apprehended on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay, where he died. It appeared the shooter was firing down at concertgoers from an upper floor at Mandalay Bay, the Las Vegas Review-Journal said. MGM earlier in the morning released a statement via Twitter, saying: "Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night's tragic events. We're grateful for the immediate actions of our first responders." TWEET: Our thoughts & prayers are with the victims of last night's tragic events. We're grateful for the immediate actions of our first responders. CNBC has also reached out to Las Vegas Sands. Wynn Resorts declined to comment. Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, said the association is "closely monitoring the horrific events that took place in Las Vegas earlier this morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with those that were affected, and with the people of Las Vegas and Nevada." "The gaming industry is a tight-knit community and Las Vegas is the beating heart of our operations," Freeman said, adding the association, will "offer our full assistance as the city recovers, and we will strive to honor the victims of this tragic event." CNBC's Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report. watch now Police fired rubber bullets, wrestled protesters, smashed doorways and carted off ballot boxes in several parts of Barcelona on Sunday, as long lines of people voted in an independence referendum that could radically reshape politics across a divided region. The outbreaks of police violence at a handful of polling locations served to heighten tensions in the Catalan capital, potentially boosting turnout for a vote that could have significant consequences for the autonomous region's future, and that of Mariano Rajoy's Spanish government. After polls closed Rajoy made a televised address reiterating that voters had been tricked by Catalonia's political leaders, and that the national police had simply responded in accordance with their orders. Ricard Gene, 56, a commercial lawyer who had volunteered to help at a polling station inside the Miquel Tarradell secondary school in Barcelona's Ciutat Vella - or Old City - said he was shocked by the images of violent police tactics that played out across his city, as ordinary citizens sought to vote in a referendum that Spain's constitutional court had already declared illegal. "We thought it would be hard, but never this hard," he told CNBC as he handed out ballot papers to Catalans who trickled in to the secondary school's entrance hall. He had walked just fifteen minutes that morning from home to his assigned voting location, where the school foyer was filled with tables, ballot boxes and fellow volunteers. By mid-afternoon his team had ushered "hundreds, maybe thousands" of voters through the process. The ballot papers had been printed in secret and delivered just after 8 a.m. local time, while volunteers interlocked arms to prevent national police from capturing them. watch now Voting begun at 9.10 a.m. on Sunday, Gene said proudly, but since that time the computer system used to count votes and check identities had crashed several times. A surging crowd 10 feet deep greeted each group of exiting voters with applause, stepping forward from the front door to allow them to pass, then immediately standing back to re-block the entrance. A handful of police officers watched from a distance, as John Lennon's "Imagine" played through loudspeakers and organizers led chants and repeated clapping. The Catalan government had said 2,300 schools and town halls were designated as polling stations, and ultimately the Spanish authorities closed just a fraction of those. Catalan lawmakers, hundreds of local bureaucrats and roughly two thirds of the 948 mayors in the region had offered up their government buildings to host the poll, and as a consequence many had been charged with sedition and rebellion alongside senior Catalan government officials, who also faced heavy fines. A man dressed in the Catalonian flag confronts officers as police move in on the crowds as members of the public gather outside to prevent them from stopping the opening and intended voting in the referendum at a polling station where the Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont will vote later today on October 1, 2017 in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain. David Ramos | Getty Images The question asked of voters: "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?," required just a simple yes or no response. But the emotions of many standing in line on polling day were complicated. "The behavior of the police makes people who don't want independence, want independence," said a hotel worker called Alice, whose dog stood beside her as she waited for the chance to vote against Catalan secession. But hers was a rare voice on the streets of Barcelona on Sunday, with the Catalan government claiming that around 90 percent of voters had opted for independence. Previous opinion poll numbers suggest that support for independence peaked at 49 percent back in 2013, raising questions about turnout. It may be several days until the final vote numbers are made public, and though critics have undermined the integrity of the referendum as well as its legality, the Catalonian Justice Minister Carlos Mundo asserted that Sunday's results would be binding regardless of participation levels. Catalonia's cultural and linguistic differences are rooted in a centuries old history, but it was only in recent years that the region's representatives began demanding the budgetary and fiscal independence that is currently enjoyed by the nearby Basque region of northern Spain. But Rajoy's Partido Popular has repeatedly blocked negotiations since 2012. Stoked by increasingly vocal separatist politicians, Madrid's intransigence prompted many Catalans to consider a vote for independence that would have attracted far fewer adherents as recently as a decade ago. So what began as a financial disagreement between the two governments over taxation has - thanks to the increasingly heated rhetoric of leaders on both sides - transformed into a visceral, emotional argument over national identity. Spain's long-time military dictator General Francisco Franco banned Catalan as a language, and crushed all separatist sentiment during his long period in power. Over the weekend Catalan critics of Rajoy's center-right Madrid government frequently made comparisons to Franco's fascist forces, as Spanish military police in riot gear prevented the Catalan President Carles Puigdemont from voting in his own district. watch now watch now Sometimes, CNBC's Jim Cramer feels like Bill Murray's character in the film "Groundhog Day" when he talks about the stock of consulting giant Accenture . Like Murray's character, the "Mad Money" host feels like he's re-living the same day over and over again when he pounds the table on Accenture's stock, which almost always pulls back after the company reports its quarterly earnings. "My view is simple: if it ain't broke, don't fix it," Cramer said. "Buying Accenture into even small bouts of weakness has been a hugely winning strategy, and I think it's got more room to run." Cramer said the stock almost routinely gets ignored or pushed down in the wake of "good, but not amazing" quarters despite strong fundamentals and promising growth drivers. He highlighted its long-term trajectory, much of which has been a rally. "When a company's track record is this good, you need to take advantage of the most modest pullbacks to do some buying, and they seem to keep happening after every quarter," Cramer said. "That's why I'd pick up some Accenture stock right here, and then you've got to hope it keeps pulling back in order to buy even more at a lower level." In the Market, Optimism Abounds Getty Images Normally, markets are rattled after events as shocking and deadly as Sunday night's mass shooting in Las Vegas, the largest in U.S. history, take place. But Cramer himself was rattled when stocks, along with the three major indexes, hit all-time highs Monday morning as if the world was as stable as ever. "The stocks rallying the hardest say that things are going great, so we have to note how true believers are frantically putting money to work right into the face of domestic and global uncertainty," Cramer said. Q3's Winners Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images As much as investors may consider President Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve to be stock-moving entities, Cramer found that the third quarter's top stocks didn't have much to do with either. "The truth is, it's much easier for the media to focus on Trump and the Fed than it is to focus on individual stocks," the "Mad Money" host said. "I think that's why it's so much harder to make money in the market if you only pay attention to the daily noise. It's confusing, and worse, it's not really relevant to identifying high quality stocks." Cramer said that realistically, Fed Chair Janet Yellen's prudence has done more to not hurt stocks than to move them, and Trump's market-boosting initiatives haven't materialized yet. So Cramer looked back at the top 10 winners of the third quarter to see what really drove their gains. The Activists At Hain Irwin Simon, CEO, Hain Celestial Scott Mlyn | CNBC Twelve Hot Sectors Finally, as the stock market surges into October, Cramer noticed a dozen unusual stock groups that have been gaining momentum. "Given that we are going into earnings season, it's rather strange, and, I should add, actually incredibly healthy to see so many stocks from so many sectors running into their quarters," he said. "Normally I'd be worried by this kind of action, but if they get hit after they report, I think you can confidently buy them into weakness considering the broad-based nature of this rally." From the bank stocks to insurance, e-commerce and auto parts plays that got a boost from post-hurricane rebuilding in the South, sectors that had under-performed for much of 2017 started to come back, full steam ahead, Cramer said. "Now, the fact is, I could've highlighted another half-dozen hot groups: defense, ag, financial tech, e-commerce. But they've been strong all year," the "Mad Money" host said. "My conclusion: I wouldn't get in the way of these cohorts, I'd just get in them. In my opinion, with the exception of the oils, they're going to keep climbing through the end of the year." Lightning Round: Why You Should Hold Kohl's watch now 1. NRG Energy After more than a year of serious losses and a dwindling dividend, NRG Energy's former CEO, David Crane, was ousted from the energy utility company in December 2015. "His replacement, Mauricio Gutierrez, has done a remarkable job re-establishing the company's finances. He's gone a long way toward making NRG a utility that could one day rebuild its dividend, hence the 50 percent [quarterly] gain in the stock," Cramer said. "I also think, by the way, it could be a takeover target given its national reach and its relatively small $8 billion market cap[italization]. I think there's something there." 2. Michael Kors A central member of what Cramer would call the "left-for-dead cohort," the group of stocks Wall Street has given up on due to concerns that malls are falling out of style, Michael Kors was up 34 percent for the quarter that ended Friday. The apparel and accessories retailer impressed in the third quarter with its popular smartwatch line and $1.2 billion acquisition of high-end shoemaker Jimmy Choo. "[The acquisition] suggests that the business still has a pulse," Cramer said. "Short-sellers don't like to bet against any stocks where they can find a pulse. So, thanks to a combination of short covering and some easy [earnings] comparisons, Michael Kors is working, even if I don't trust it." 3. Gap Stores Up 32 percent for the third quarter, bargain brand house Gap Inc. has also seen a turnaround thanks to a combination of closing under-performing stores and Wall Street warming up to its Old Navy line. 4. Albemarle Cramer said specialty chemical company Albemarle is up 30 percent because of its unique position as a pure-play on lithium, a key component of electric car batteries. "The stock went into high gear after Volvo announced its intention to go all-electric. I prefer FMC as a lithium play, but I recognize that there isn't much stopping Albemarle," Cramer said. 5. Lam Research Short-sellers targeted Lam Research's shares ahead of the third quarter because worries abounded that DRAM units, which Lam's products help build, would drop in price. But the semiconductor equipment company's 29 percent gain in the third quarter has been all about its irreplaceable role in the internet of things, Cramer said. 6. Boeing The top performer in the down, aerospace giant Boeing ran for 28 percent in Q3 due in part to its large order book. "But most of it is a disbelief on the part of the analysts who cover the stock that the Dreamliner's making money," Cramer said. "It's the only large plane model that is doing well, but so what? You know what, it's doing it." 7. CF Industries Cramer attributed the gain in CF Industries , a fertilizer manufacturer, to one sweeping trend. "I think this is purely a function of the fact that the agriculture cycle has come back to life. Everyone's looking for ways to capitalize on it," the "Mad Money" host said. 8. United Rentals This equipment rental giant was Cramer's top recommendation for investors seeking to invest around the rebuilding of Texas after Hurricane Harvey. United Rentals also acquired competitor Neff in August, a lucky strike as a large part of Neff's business is in Florida, which got hit with Hurricane Irma shortly after. "It's better to be lucky than good, but in this case, United Rentals is both lucky and good," Cramer said. 9. Applied Materials Semiconductor maker Applied Materials , with a 25 percent gain for the quarter, saw a similar short-selling situation as Lam Research ahead of the quarter, but Cramer highlighted the company's strong lines of business in all things display. "Let it cool off and then buy," he advised. 10. United Technologies Final Thoughts "Here's the bottom line: the 10 winners all had their individual reasons to rally, although a common theme was the expectation that they wouldn't be doing well coming into the quarter, which brought short-selling, which turned out to be as wrong, as wrong as it could get," Cramer said. "I think the most important takeaway, though, is to stop focusing on Trump and Yellen. Instead, focus on the fundamentals and you'll catch some of these. Yes, you'll do much better." WATCH: Cramer ticks down Q3 2017's winners Some Democrats quickly put a spotlight on gun laws Monday following the deadliest mass shooting in American history. On Sunday night, a gunman perched high in a Las Vegas hotel opened fire on a music festival. The massacre left at least 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. Following the shooting, some top Democrats often proponents of tighter restrictions on guns urged the Republican-controlled Congress to take action to prevent similar mass shootings. "This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren't public policy responses to this epidemic," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a statement. "There are, and the thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference. It's time for Congress to get off its a-- and do something." Murphy represents Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman opened fire at an elementary school there in 2012, killing 27 people, including 20 schoolchildren. The Newtown killings and other deadly mass shootings have prompted national discussions about gun control, mental health and the possible legislative efforts to prevent future massacres. Changes sought by some Democrats, including universal background checks and bans on high-capacity magazines, have not gained traction in the GOP-controlled Congress in recent years. As the circumstances of the Las Vegas shooting were still emerging, it was unclear what legislative changes, specifically, could have limited the carnage. Prominent Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have called previous pushes for stricter gun laws an effort to restrict Second Amendment rights. On Monday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was too early to talk about gun policy, something the administration could talk about "in the coming days." She did not say whether Trump would be open to action on gun policy. Murphy and other Democrats on Monday decried both what they called a lack of action by Congress and an outsize influence on policy by the gun industry and powerful National Rifle Association. In a tweet, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "we can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again." She criticized an NRA-backed bill that includes a provision making it easier to buy silencers, which the House could move to vote on soon. Clinton tweet: Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again. Former Vice President Joe Biden said Congress and the White House "should act now to save lives," adding, "there's no excuse for inaction." Biden tweet: How long do we let gun violence tear families apart? Enough. Congress & the WH should act now to save lives. There's no excuse for inaction. In a statement, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, also of Connecticut, said Congress "refuses to act" in response to mass shootings. He added: "I am more than frustrated, I am furious." Shares of gun stocks rose Monday as traders apparently bet on a pickup in arms sales ahead of potentially tighter restrictions following the shooting. Danish energy powerhouse Dong Energy is to change its name to Orsted, it has been announced. "Dong was originally short for Danish Oil and Natural Gas," Thomas Thune Andersen, chairman of the board of directors, said in a statement Monday. "With our profound strategic transformation and the divestment of our upstream oil and gas business, this is no longer who we are. Therefore, now is the right time to change our name." The past 10 years has seen Dong Energy move away from coal and oil and embrace renewable energy. As well as divesting its upstream oil and gas business, the company has made the decision to halt all use of coal. Carbon emissions have been cut by 52 percent since 2006. By 2023, carbon emissions will have been slashed by 96 percent when compared to 2006, the firm said. CEO Henrik Poulsen said Monday that Orsted was now dedicated to green energy. "Our focus going forward will be on green growth based on our existing business platforms in offshore wind, biomass, green customer solutions and advanced waste-to-energy solutions," he said. Dong's shift and commitment to renewables was highlighted in September, when it was awarded the contract for the biggest offshore wind farm on the planet. The Hornsea Project Two will have a capacity of 1,386 megawatts, which is enough to power more than 1.3 million homes in the U.K. The development, which will be built off the east coast of the U.K., is expected to become operational by 2022. Hans Christian Orsted pronounced "ursted" was born in Denmark in 1777 and discovered electromagnetism in 1820, Dong said. Poulsen said the new name of the business would recognize Hans Christian Orsted's curiosity, dedication and interest in nature. An Extraordinary General Meeting will take place on October 30 to formally decide the change of company name. Equifax 's former chief executive waited nearly three weeks to tell the company's board of directors about the now infamous data breach, as a group of company and outside security experts scrambled to figure out what had happened, according to written testimony prepared for his visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday. Richard Smith, Equifax's former CEO who abruptly retired last week, learned about the hack on July 31 and hired outside legal and investigative experts and contacted federal law enforcement the same week. But he didn't inform the company's board for another 20 days. In the meantime, King & Spalding, a law firm, and Mandiant, a cybersecurity forensic consulting firm, investigated what happened. Mandiant and Equifax worked "literally around the clock" to identify and understand unauthorized activity on its network and the scale of the hack, including whether personal information was taken. The company also contacted the FBI on Aug. 2, he says, and the agency has an ongoing investigation. Smith's prepared remarks were released Monday in advance of his appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday. He's also scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking and the Senate Judiciary committees on Wednesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. But the former executive has also met with the House Oversight Committee. In a letter Monday, the committee's ranking Democrat, Elijah Cummings from Maryland, urged Chairman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina to investigate Equifax's handing of the incident, especially why it waited so long to tell the public. "Equifax conceded that the FBI never instructed or directed the company to withhold from the public information about the breach," the letter said. Rep. Cummings is also seeking all communication between Equifax and a government agency that warned companies in March about a glitch in software that needed to be fixed. According to the testimony, on Aug. 15, Smith learned that consumer personal information had been taken in the hack, and he requested a detailed briefing. Two days later, Smith had a "senior leadership team meeting to receive the detailed briefing on the investigation." The testimony doesn't say who attended that meeting. Smith says he notified the board's lead independent director, Mark Feidler, and executives who run Equifax's business units about the breach on Aug. 22. The full board was told of the breach and the investigation of it on Aug. 24 and 25, according to the testimony. They began developing a plan to help affected consumers. Smith convened a Sept. 1 board meeting to discuss the size of the breach, the ongoing investigation, and the company's public disclosure and response. Smith's prepared remarks were released Monday in advance of his appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday. He's also scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking and the Senate Judiciary committees on Wednesday and the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. The timeline in Tuesday's testimony doesn't specifically say who inside the company other than Smith and the security team knew about the breach before he says he told management and the board. But among the swirl of state and federal investigations that have opened since the breach was disclosed to the public on Sept. 7 are stock sales by three company insiders the chief financial officer and two business heads in early August. Unusual trading activity in Equifax options on Aug. 21, now known to be one day before Smith says he told the lead director, also has drawn scrutiny. An Equifax spokeswoman has said the three executives weren't aware of the breach when they sold $1.8 million of stock on Aug. 1 and 2. The spokeswoman wasn't immediately available on Monday. Equifax has been largely criticized for its handling of the response. Concerned people initially encountered a flawed website, jammed customer service phone lines and confusing information about what remedies were available. It was "overwhelming," Smith says in the testimony, "and, regrettably, mistakes were made." Brian Krebs, who writes about cybersecurity, says Equifax's response given its one month to prepare for a public onslaught, makes the incident even worse. "It boggles my mind how they have mishandled this," he said. It has been known that Equifax didn't fix a flaw in its software that was known to the public for months. That flaw was announced in March, when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told Equifax and many other companies that use the software about it, but Equifax didn't utilize the fix offered by the software developer right away. "It was this unpatched vulnerability that allowed hackers to access personal identifying information," Smith says in the written remarks. Major European bourses closed the first day of trading in October largely in the green, though Spain's IBEX was down 1.21 percent on the back of growing political concerns following Sunday's unofficial independence referendum in the region of Catalonia. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 0.37 percent with most sectors in positive territory. related investing news China is easing its Covid measures. Heres how market pros are playing it European markets The Catalan independence referendum has created a tumult in the southern European country. The regional government said that 90 percent of people voted in favor of independence, while the national authorities said the referendum was illegal. Catalan officials said that more than 800 people were injured during clashes with the police, which tried to prevent people from voting. More broadly, European stocks kept their positive momentum after fresh data releases. Manufacturers in the euro zone reported their most productive month in September since 2011. IHS Markit final manufacturing purchasing managers' index hit 58.1 last month, having reached 57.4 in August. "The euro zone manufacturing sector is in fine form, and likely continued to provide firm support for GDP growth in the third quarter," Claus Vistesen, chief euro zone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a statement. Furthermore, unemployment data in the euro zone remained at their lowest level seen since February 2009. In August, there was 9.1 percent of unemployed people in the region, down from 9.9 percent a year ago. "I just woke up to the terrible news out of Las Vegas. Death is an inevitable part of life and happens for so many reasons that we can't avoid," writes Sandberg , whose husband unexpectedly passed away in 2015. "But for people to be killed so senselessly, for lives to be lost so unnecessarily, is devastating for all of these families and for all of us." Facebook 's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg , quickly expressed her thoughts about Sunday's massacre in Las Vegas in a short, thoughtful message published on her personal Facebook page. At least 58 people are dead and more than 500 have been injured in the deadliest shooting in U.S. history, after a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival across the road from the Mandalay Bay hotel on Sunday night. "My heart goes out to the people of Las Vegas, to the friends and families of those we lost today and to everyone around the world who has lost someone to hate and violence," Sandberg writes. Another prominent leader in tech responded to the violence, too. Billionaire tech investor Mark Cuban tweeted his sympathies. "Prayers to those impacted by the tragedy in Las Vegas. We share the pain of those who lost loved ones and offer hope to those recovering," he says. Getty Images The financial technology (fintech) industry is thriving globally and received $17.4 billion in investment last year alone. According to EY's Fintech Adoption Index, a third of consumers worldwide are using two or more fintech services, with 84 percent of customers saying they are aware of fintech (up 22 percent from the previous year). But users are often unaware that the financial services applications they use count as "fintech", or may not know what exactly fintech and its accompanying jargon means. Here, CNBC explains all the crucial terminology you need to know to understand the sector. Fintech Oliver Burston | Getty Images Financial technology is broadly defined as any technological innovation in financial services. Those engaged in the industry develop new technologies to disrupt traditional financial markets. Various start-ups have been involved in the process of creating these new technologies, but many of the world's top banks including HSBC and Credit Suisse have been developing their own fintech ideas as well. Fintech companies utilize technology as widely available as payment apps to more complex software applications such as artificial intelligence and big data. Cryptocurrency Donald Iain Smith | Blend Images | Getty A cryptocurrency is a decentralized digital currency which uses encryption - the process of converting data into code - to generate units of currency and validate transactions independent of a central bank or government. Bitcoin and ether are the most common form of digital currencies. But there are other forms of virtual cash, such as Litecoin, Ripple and Dash. Bitcoin Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images 'Bitcoin' a term we're more used to hearing even in mainstream finance is the first and one of the most prominent cryptocurrencies used by traders in the world of fintech. It all began when an unknown person(s), under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, designed bitcoin as a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment network without the need for governance by any central authority. In an introductory white paper introducing the virtual currency, Nakamoto defined bitcoin as: "A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash (which) would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution." Blockchain Getty Images Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology (DLT). This means that it maintains records of all cryptocurrency transactions on a distributed network of computers, but has no central ledger. It secures the data through encrypted 'blocks'. Various blockchain experts believe the technology can provide transparency for a multitude of different industries, not just the financial services. The original blockchain network was created by bitcoin-founder Nakamoto to serve as the public ledger for all bitcoin transactions. Ethereum Getty Images Ethereum is another type of blockchain network. It was proposed by a 19-year-old Russian-Canadian programmer, Vitalik Buterin, in 2013. Ethereum differs to the original blockchain in that it is designed for people to build decentralized applications. These are applications which allow users to interact with each other directly rather than having to go through any middlemen, Buterin said, explaining the project in 2014. Ether is the value token of the Ethereum blockchain. It is traded on cryptocurrency exchanges. Regtech Olesky Maksymenko | All Canada Photos | Getty Images Regulatory technology (regtech) is technology which helps firms working in the financial services industry meet financial compliance rules. One of the main priorities of regtech is automating and digitizing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules which aim to reduce illegally obtained income, and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes which identify and verify the clients of financial institutions to prevent fraud. The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority was the first governmental regulator to promote the term. Regulators like the FCA are working with regtech firms on a range of different applications, including AI and machine-learning, to improve the efficiency of compliance in the financial services and cut costs. Insurtech Frederic Cirou | Getty Images Insurtech is a subset of fintech which relates to the use of technology to simplify and improve the efficiency of the insurance industry. A report by consulting giant Capgemini and non-profit insurance industry body Efma last month found that traditional insurance firms are facing increasing competitive pressure due to the emergence of a number of insurtech start-ups. Initial coin offering BrianAJackson | Getty Images An initial coin offering (ICO) is a crowdfunding measure for start-ups that use blockchain. It involves the selling of a start-up's cryptocurrency units in return for cash. ICOs are similar to initial public offerings (IPOs), where the shares of a company are sold to investors for the first time. But ICOs differ to IPOs in that they deal with supporters of a project rather than investors, making the investment more similar to a crowdfunding experiment. Last month China banned ICOs over concerns that the practice is not regulated and can be opened up to fraudsters. Open banking Peter Dazeley | Getty Images Open banking refers to an emerging idea in the financial services and fintech which stipulates that banks should allow third party companies to build applications and services using the bank's data. It involves the use of application programming interfaces (APIs) - codes which allow different financial programs to communicate with each other - to create a connected network of financial institutions and third party providers (TPPs). Proponents of open banking believe that an "open API ecosystem" will allow fintech start-ups to develop new applications such as mobile apps to allow customers greater control over their bank data and financial decisions. Lluis Real | Age Fotostock | Getty Images / Jose Luis Pelaez | Iconica | Getty Images Robo-advisors are platforms that automate investment advice using financial algorithms. They limit the need for human investment managers, thereby dramatically reducing the cost of managing a portfolio. Ricardo Funari | Brazil Photos | Getty Images The "unbanked" or "underbanked" are those who do not have access to banks or mainstream financial services. Various fintech companies have developed products aimed at addressing this portion of society, providing them with digital-only solutions to open up their access to the financial services. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) estimates that there are 10 million unbanked or underbanked American households. Financial inclusion A man begs for loose change on the streets of Manchester in the U.K. Christopher Furlong | Getty Images Financial inclusion refers to fintech solutions that provide more affordable finance alternatives to disadvantaged and low-income people who, like the unbanked/underbanked, may have little to no access to mainstream financial services. This is one of the most important areas for fintech companies that operate in developing markets. Smart contracts Media for Medical | Getty Images Fintech start-up Curve will now let users claim business expenses across multiple bank cards through its app. The London-based firm's app allows its users to link all of their bank cards to one contactless MasterCard. Curve said it hopes to automate the tedious process and remove any friction associated with business expenses. It is predominantly targeted at small business owners and the self-employed. Curve said Monday it would add online accounting software developer Xero to the app, meaning users will now be able to claim business spending across all their accounts. "Everyone hates doing their expenses. It's a tedious, manual job that takes up too much time. But it doesn't have to be that way. Now, Curve will do the job for you, regardless of the bank you use," Arthur Leung, product lead at Curve, announced Monday. "Instead of wasting one day a month on business expenses admin, just connect your cards to a Xero account through the Curve app, and Curve will do your expenses for you. It's effortless." CEO Schachar Bialick envisages a simplified, joined-up financial world whereby customers can do most of their finances on their phone. "There is a host of money services and products that are completely fragmented, they're disconnected from each other. Now if you look at the kind of customer experiences today from different verticals, you will find that the experience we're expecting today is that of convergence," he told CNBC in an interview last week. "One layer of experience which is across all my music, Spotify; one layer of experience which is across TV, Netflix; one layer of experience which is across transportation - it doesn't matter which country I am in - I can open the Uber app and hail a taxi and it will come and the price will be more or less the same. So the experience we're aiming for is a new experience where everything is converged into one place." A GoFundMe campaign is accepting donations for victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night that claimed the lives of at least 58 people and injured more than 500. Set up by Steve Sisolak, chairman of the Clark County (Nevada) Commission, the campaign raised more than $900,000 its first six hours, and continues to accept donations toward its $2 million goal. Funds raised will be used to provide relief and financial support to the victims and families of the tragedy. The National Compassion Fund, which focuses on helping people affected by a mass crime, also has set up a dedicated fund that will be distributed directly to victims of the Las Vegas shooting. A gunman, identified by authorities as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, opened fire on an estimated 22,000 concertgoers at a music festival in the city. Police said at least 10 rifles were in Paddock's possession when he was found dead in a 32nd-floor room of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. It marks the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Goldman Sachs is considering the launch of a new trading operation focused on bitcoin and other digital currencies, a company official said. The investment bank's exploration of a digital currency trading business is still in early stages and may not amount to anything substantial. "In response to client interest in digital currencies, we are exploring how best to serve them in this space," a Goldman spokeswoman said in a statement. Goldman Sachs has taken a more serious look at bitcoin than its peers on Wall Street. Sheba Jafari, vice president on the bank's FICC Market Strats team, was the only representative from a major Wall Street firm to issue reports on bitcoin's price as the digital currency soared earlier this year. Reports from Morgan Stanley and a few other major banks have tended to focus more on the potential applications of blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin that eliminates the need for third-party intermediaries to transact money. Goldman also has a lavish web page explaining blockchain. Top names on Wall Street are divided on whether bitcoin's development is a good thing. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon directly spoke out against bitcoin last month and called the digital currency a "fraud" that "won't end well." Other well-respected investors such as Howard Marks have compared bitcoin to a pyramid scheme. On the other hand, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said last week that digital currencies like bitcoin are "more than just a fad." Bitcoin briefly multiplied five times in price this year from below $1,000 to above $5,000. Although the digital currency plunged by about $2,000 after a Chinese crackdown in September, bitcoin recovered to its highest in nearly a month Monday at around $4,410, according to CoinDesk. Much of the gains come as institutional investors increase their bets on the digital currency. New "crypto-funds" are also launching. The latest tally from financial research firm Autonomous Next last week estimates about 75 such funds now exist. In the meantime, Goldman Sachs could benefit from a new trading operation in a highly volatile asset like digital currencies. The bank reported a 40 percent drop in bond trading in the second quarter. "The smartest Wall Street firms have an opportunity to lead the market in offering financial services to the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry," Matthew Goetz, managing partner and CEO at cryptocurrency investment firm BlockTower Capital and a former vice president at Goldman Sachs. "I think it behooves the smart and more forward-thinking firms to be involved in cryptocurrency," he said, "given the number of new services and business lines that will stem from it as this important new industry continues to build and institutionalize." Consumers flock to Google to learn about health conditions like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. In recent years, the search engine has been looking for ways to put its growing volume of health data to use. Google's News Lab, which is designed to help journalists and researchers use Google tools for storytelling and understanding data, introduced a new tool this week specifically focused on health care and disease. On the website -- Searching for Health -- the lab developed a series of visualizations to show how health-related internet searches map to the actual spread of disease. For example, Google shows that in geographic areas where searches for cancer, heart disease, stroke and depression are high, so are actual occurrences of those diseases. The data also shows trends over time. Google searches for obesity, for instance, have been steadily on the rise for the past decade. Whether Google's data can have a positive impact on public health and disease control is an open question. The site, a collaboration between Google, design studio Alberto Cairo and research and design firm Schema Design, doesn't make any claims that it will. The image above purportedly portrays Google's new Pixel 2 XL smartphone. Google is expected to introduce it alongside the Google Pixel 2 during an event on Wednesday in California. The Pixel 2 XL, as its name suggests, is the larger of the two models and, according to some reports, is built by LG. Given the striking resemblance to the LG V30, LG's latest flagship smartphone, it seems like that rumor will be proven true. The smaller Pixel 2 is reportedly built by HTC, a part of which Google is planning to buy. Google was not immediately available to comment. The picture, leaked by a blogger known for revealing smartphones early, Evan Blass, shows a unique new home screen that appears to show upcoming events, the time until the event and the weather. Google is expected to explain more about its new Android Oreo software, including experiences that may be exclusive to its Pixel phones, during the event. Tweet Additional pictures were posted to Venture Beat by Blass. Police officers point their weapons at a car driving down closed Tropicana Ave. near Las Vegas Boulevard after a reported mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shares of gun stocks rose Monday after at least 58 people died in Las Vegas in what was apparently the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. Sturm Ruger closed up nearly 3.5 percent. American Outdoor Brands , formerly Smith & Wesson, rose 3.2 percent. Suspected gunman Stephen Paddock, age 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire late Sunday night at a concert across from the Mandalay Bay hotel on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip. In addition to killing at least 58 people, the shooting injured at least 515 people, according to a sheriff. Police said Paddock is dead. The FBI said the shooting has no connection to international terror. The gains in the gun stocks apparently came as traders bet on a pickup in arms sales ahead of potentially tighter regulations as a result of the shooting. They may also be betting sales increase as consumers look to more heavily arm themselves for protection in the wake of the shooting. After the Orlando, Florida, and San Bernardino, California, shootings, "you saw a two- to three-month surge in firearms sales," said Rommel Dionisio, managing director at Aegis Capital. The two ISIS-linked attacks "certainly triggered something in the American consciousness about personal safety." Although a national change in gun ownership laws appears unlikely, "certainly on a state-by-state basis you can see states pass tighter gun control laws," Dionisio said. Some leading Democrats, who often support tighter restrictions on guns, called for more action to prevent future mass shootings in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre. Gun stocks have tended to rise after similar shootings. In the month after mass U.S. shootings, Sturm Ruger shares climb an average of nearly 2.9 percent and American Outdoor Brands rises almost 5.4 percent, according to analysis using Kensho, a quantitative analytics tool used by hedge funds. The study looked at 32 instances since the Columbine High School shooting in April 1999 in Colorado. The two gun stocks have fallen sharply since President Donald Trump's election win in November. Gun sales had climbed ahead of the election on expectations a Democratic victory would increase restrictions on purchases. After Trump's win, sales of the weapons dropped and so did the shares. The stocks surged in mid-September after Reuters reported, citing senior U.S. officials, that the Trump administration is working to make it easier for U.S. gun makers to sell small arms to foreigners. As of Monday's close, American Outdoor Brands stock was down 25 percent for the year. Sturm Ruger shares recovered positive territory for the year, up 1.5 percent. Disclosure: CNBC's parent NBC Universal is a minority shareholder in Kensho. The attack on concertgoers in Las Vegas could lead to a shift in security practices at open-air events and hotels, experts said Monday, as law enforcement continues to determine the details of the deadly incident. At least 58 people died and more than 500 were sent to hospitals after a gunman opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, police said. The suspect, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, allegedly shot at festival attendees from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel. The attack will spur some immediate changes to security protocols, said Bruce McIndoe, president of iJet International, which performs as many as 400 hotel security audits globally each year. McIndoe said in an interview that it is likely that hotels will train their security surveillance staff to scrutinize customers with items such as fishing gear, skis and other long, thin items that could be rifles. Manuel Gomez, a former FBI agent, told CNBC that security professionals would likely reconsider future events taking place at outside venues near high-rise buildings. "The answer is to not put hundreds of people in an area where you have hotels or you have other venues that have not been screened or are not secure," said Gomez, who's now president of MG Security Services. "We learned a very hard way that these open-area events are not safe." Audrey Cronin, former director of the Center for Security Policy Studies at George Mason University, said in an email that the details of the Las Vegas shooting were "horrifying," but not unprecedented, in terms of a mass shooter killing a large number of people from a tall structure nearby. She pointed to the 1966 shooting at the University of Texas, in which Charles Whitman killed 15 people by firing from the observation tower in the center of the campus. "It took police more than an hour to end the incident, and they learned a great deal from that," said Cronin, now a professor in the School of International Service at American University. That shooting is sometimes credited with leading to the creation of university police departments. Cronin said that while it is typical for law enforcement to control access to nearby high places before major political events, the shooting could lead to expanded security measures for other types of gatherings. "The question is whether that practice will have to be expanded to non-political situations. Yes, it may include changes to hotel security practices," she wrote. "Unfortunately, our law enforcement practices often must adapt in the wake of major tragedies." In the bigger scope of security, McIndoe said that even some low-risk hotels may now consider baggage screening and metal detectors as the industry conducts a "rethink." Still, McIndoe says those kinds of major security changes are unlikely because of the costs it would inflict on the hotel business model, particularly for Las Vegas properties that are connected to casinos. He does not expect the type of sweeping changes made to the transportation sector after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "Now, it's not going to be like TSA," he said, referring to the Transportation Security Administration. "That's just not going to happen. It would very much disrupt the whole commerce model for a hotel property." Even metal detectors are unthinkable for some venues. "No, it's not going to work. It's never been done; it never will be done," Fred Del Marva, a casino and hotel security consultant, said in an interview. According to McIndoe, the rapid response from local law enforcement actually suggested that the security procedures taken by police were successful. "The security measures that are in place especially in Vegas worked," he said. McIndoe noted that Las Vegas has a 24-hour standing SWAT team and that it was able to neutralize the alleged shooter quickly. Had that not been the case, he said, there would have been a far higher death toll. "That doesn't minimize the fact that a lot of people died," he said. Singapore-listed Global Logistic Properties on Monday said it will buy warehouse owner Gazeley for $2.8 billion (2.4 billion euros). The deal follows two recent multibillion-euro transactions in European logistics, where China 's sovereign wealth fund CIC and Singapore's GIC purchased warehouse groups Logicor and P3, respectively. All are betting on the future of online retailing, which requires three times as much warehouse space to fulfil orders as bricks-and-mortar businesses, according to Aberdeen Asset Management. The home delivery boom is upending the real estate market. At the turn of the century, shoppers could wait as long as 28 days for delivery of goods they had bought online. The compression of that window to 24 hours or less is revolutionising logistics and turning industrial warehouses into desirable assets. GLP, which already owns a $42 billion portfolio in the United States, China, Japan and Brazil, looks to have paid a full price to establish a foothold in Europe. GLP's return on investment based on the income the warehouses bring in is about 5 percent, according to people familiar with the matter. The comparable figure for European industrial assets is typically around 5.5 percent. The figure is also highly sensitive to the assumed value of Gazeley's bank of undeveloped land. More from Breakingviews: Political fiddles skirt UK housing market problem Catalonia crisis is painful distraction for Spain Las Vegas tragedy strikes a U.S. inured to outrage The price partly reflects the quality of the warehouses in Gazeley's portfolio. Approximately 60 percent have been built within the past five years, meaning they are less likely to need the expensive upgrades required to entice long-term tenants such as Amazon. And most of the development pipeline is in the United Kingdom, which is one of the most difficult European countries in which to secure suitable land. But it also signals how attractive industrial real estate, previously one of the sleepier parts of the property market, is becoming to international investors. GLP will put the Gazeley portfolio into its fund management unit and expects to directly own approximately 15 percent after teaming up with sovereign wealth funds and institutional funds eager for exposure to the sector. That could compress yields further. For now, warehouses are the best way to profit from shoppers' online spending spree. For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter. The travel credit saved me $600. The card offers a $300 annual travel credit reimbursement each calendar year, which I earned both in 2016 and 2017. Rather than thinking about the travel credit as savings, however, I like to think about it as a perk that lowers the annual fee: The rebate essentially bumps the fee down from $450 a year to $150 a year. The sign-up bonus earned me $1,500 worth of travel. The sign-up bonus dropped to 50,000 in January, but, at the time I signed up, Chase was offered 100,000 bonus points if you spent $4,000 in the first three months. You get 1.5 cents per point when using them to book travel. That gives the bonus points a value of $1,500, which covers the $150 annual fee for 10 years and that's if I never swipe the card again and therefore don't accumulate any more points. So far, the bonus has covered a handful of trips home to Charlotte, plus flights to Jamaica, New Orleans, Cleveland, San Francisco and Chicago. The bonus points have sponsored several trips home to Charlotte CNBC Make It I will say that $4,000 in three months is more than I would typically spend, and any financial advisor will warn against overspending just to lock in a credit card signup bonus. I worked around this by putting big group tabs on the card when my friends and I went out and asking my family to use it for bigger expenses, like flights or hotels. After I picked up the bill, friends and family paid me back via Venmo. That way, I earned the signup bonus without altering my monthly spending. The rewards points earned me $568 worth of travel. Besides the 100,000 bonus points, I've earned an additional 37,863 points for using my card on a regular basis. That's another $568 that I can put towards travel. watch now Hewlett Packard Enterprise allowed a Russian defense agency to review the inner workings of cyber defense software used by the Pentagon to guard its computer networks, according to Russian regulatory records and interviews with people with direct knowledge of the issue. The HPE system, called ArcSight, serves as a cybersecurity nerve center for much of the U.S. military, alerting analysts when it detects that computer systems may have come under attack. ArcSight is also widely used in the private sector. The Russian review of ArcSight's source code, the closely guarded internal instructions of the software, was part of HPE's effort to win the certification required to sell the product to Russia's public sector, according to the regulatory records seen by Reuters and confirmed by a company spokeswoman. Six former U.S. intelligence officials, as well as former ArcSight employees and independent security experts, said the source code review could help Moscow discover weaknesses in the software, potentially helping attackers to blind the U.S. military to a cyber attack. "It's a huge security vulnerability," said Greg Martin, a former security architect for ArcSight. "You are definitely giving inner access and potential exploits to an adversary." Despite the potential risks to the Pentagon, no one Reuters spoke with was aware of any hacks or cyber espionage that were made possible by the review process. The ArcSight review took place last year, at a time when Washington was accusing Moscow of an increasing number of cyberattacks against American companies, U.S. politicians and government agencies, including the Pentagon. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations. The case highlights a growing tension for U.S. technology companies that must weigh their role as protectors of U.S. cybersecurity while continuing to pursue business with Washington's adversaries such as Russia and China, say security experts. The review was conducted by Echelon, a company with close ties to the Russian military, on behalf of Russia's Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEC), a defense agency tasked with countering cyber espionage. Echelon president and majority owner Alexey Markov said in an email to Reuters that he is required to report any vulnerabilities his team discovers to the Russian government. But he said he does so only after alerting the software developer of the problem and getting its permission to disclose the vulnerability. Echelon did not provide details about HPE's source code review, citing a non-disclosure agreement with the company. FSTEC confirmed Markov's account, saying in a statement that Russian testing laboratories immediately inform foreign developers if they discover vulnerabilities, before submitting a report to a government "database of information security threats." One reason Russia requests the reviews before allowing sales to government agencies and state-run companies is to ensure that U.S. intelligence services have not placed spy tools in the software. HPE said no "backdoor vulnerabilities" were discovered in the Russian review. It declined to provide further details. HPE said it allows Russian government-accredited testing companies to review source code in order to win the Russian defense certifications it needs to sell products to Russia's public sector. An HPE spokeswoman said source code reviews are conducted by the Russian testing company at an HPE research and development center outside of Russia, where the software maker closely supervises the process. No code is allowed to leave the premises, and HPE has allowed such reviews in Russia for years, she said. Those measures ensure "our source code and products are in no way compromised," she said. Some security experts say that studying the source code of a product would make it far easier for a reviewer to spot vulnerabilities in the code, even if they did not leave the site with a copy of the code. In a 2014 research paper, Echelon directors said the company discovered vulnerabilities in 50 percent of the foreign and Russian software it reviewed. Still, security analysts said the source code review alone, even if it yielded information about vulnerabilities, would not give hackers easy entry into the military systems. To infiltrate military networks, hackers would need to first overcome a number of other security measures, such as firewalls, said Alan Paller, founder of the SANS Institute, which trains cybersecurity analysts Paller also said HPE's decision to allow the review was not surprising. If tech companies like HPE want to do business in Russia, "they don't really have any choice," he said. HPE declined to disclose the size of its business in Russia, but Russian government tender records show ArcSight is now used by a number of state firms and companies close to the Kremlin, including VTB Bank and the Rossiya Segodnya media group. Whether the customer is Russia or the United States, overlooked errors in software code can allow foreign governments and hackers to penetrate a user's computer. Exploiting vulnerabilities found in ArcSight's source code could render it incapable of detecting that the military's network was under attack, said Allen Pomeroy, a former ArcSight employee who helped customers build their cyber defense systems. "A response to the attack would then be frankly impossible," Pomeroy said. The HPE spokeswoman said Reuters' questions about the potential vulnerabilities were "hypothetical and speculative in nature." HPE declined to say whether it told the Pentagon of the Russian review, but said the company "always ensures our clients are kept informed of any developments that may affect them." A spokeswoman for the Pentagon's Defense Information Systems Agency, which maintains the military's networks, said HPE did not disclose the review to the U.S. agency. Military contracts do not specifically require vendors to divulge whether foreign nations have reviewed source code, the spokeswoman said. The U.S. military agency itself did not require a source code review before purchasing ArcSight and generally does not place such requirements on tech companies for off-the-shelf software like ArcSight, the Pentagon spokeswoman said. Instead, DISA evaluates the security standards used by the vendors, she said. 'Everyone is happy' Echelon operates as an official laboratory and software tester of FSTEC and Russia's FSB spy agency, according to Russian government registries of testing laboratories and software certifications reviewed by Reuters. U.S. intelligence has accused the FSB of helping mount cyber attacks against the United States and interfering in the 2016 presidential election. Markov, Echelon's president, defended the reviews, saying that "if a vulnerability is found, everyone is happy" because the detected flaw means laboratory experts are "able to demonstrate their qualifications" and "the developer is happy that a mistake was detected, since by fixing it the product will become better." Russia in recent years has stepped up demands for source code reviews as a requirement for doing business in the country, Reuters reported in June. A number of international companies, including Cisco Systems , the world's largest networking gear maker, and German software giant SAP, have agreed to the reviews, though others, including cybersecurity firm Symantec , have refused because of security concerns. Cyberdefense bulwark A top Iranian military official was quoted Friday in state media as saying Tehran won't be pressured by U.S. threats to pull out of the nuclear deal and would be better off without it anyway. Regardless, Iran still appears to be trying to keep the deal from collapsing, and the country's foreign minister admitted as much this week, according to an interview published Friday in the Financial Times. President Donald Trump is facing an Oct. 15 deadline to notify Congress of Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal, the 2015 international agreement that includes the U.S. and five other world powers: Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. "My assumption and guess is that he will not certify and then will allow Congress to take the decision," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, according to FT. Zarif added, "If Europe and Japan and Russia and China decided to go along with the U.S., then I think that will be the end of the deal. Europe should lead." Meantime, Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, took a more hardline stance when he spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 20. Iran "will not be the first country to violate the agreement, but it will respond decisively and resolutely to its violation by any party," Rouhani said. The Trump administration has certified Iran's compliance twice, but experts say it may be willing to reject it this time. A law requires the administration to notify Congress of Iran's compliance every 90 days. "Even if the United States renounces the deal, it doesn't mean that the deal necessarily ends," said Emily Landau, a senior research fellow at the Israeli-based Institute for National Security Studies, an independent think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University. Landau notes that there's still a U.N. Security Council resolution granting authority to the Iran nuclear deal and that would likely remain in force. During Trump's speech before the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 19, the president said, "We cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program." Besides railing against the Obama-era nuclear deal, Trump has been critical of Iran's ballistic missile program and expressed concern Tehran is working with nuclear-armed North Korea. Yet if the Trump administration does decertify Iran's compliance, it's possible North Korea and Iran could expand their military ties. Also, North Korea's paranoid leader Kim Jong Un might see Trump's actions as another reason to distrust the West and close the door to any chance of talks with Pyongyang. "If you intend to abort the deal, you'd better know that we pray God for this, because we would make better progress without the JCPOA," Hossein Salam, Iran's Revolutionary Guard's deputy chief commander declared this week, according to the state-run Fars news agency. The JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is the international deal that lays out terms of the nuclear deal. The Iranian commander added, "The nuclear deal might be your only option, but it is no option for us at all." Some have urged the Trump administration to redo certain aspects of the nuclear deal, including inspection issues or so-called "sunset" clauses. "What's been in short supply is, renegotiate or not, how are the United States and the outside world going to deal with Iran once the sunset clauses come into impact," said Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington public policy think tank. "It's happening faster than people realize." The "sunset" provisions of Iran's nuclear program restrictions start to expire in 2025, and some have suggested lengthening the deal should be part of any renegotiation. "You've got to give something to get something in a negotiation," said Mieke Eoyang, vice president for the national security program at Third Way, a Washington centrist think tank. "So I think it's a real challenge as to what the rest of the world would be willing to give Iran to get something else in this deal." Perhaps not surprisingly, Tehran opposes a renegotiation. "Decertifying the deal doesn't automatically explode the deal," said James Phillips, senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank. "Congress would then have 60 days to decide whether to apply or reapply the nuclear sanctions that were lifted under the agreement and possibly apply new sanctions." The Heritage analyst believes renegotiating the Iran nuclear deal would be the best option, although some suggest there's little if any leverage for Tehran to do so. Phillips sees it differently and believes the threat of new sanctions against Iran might be enough to get the country to revisit deal terms. "Once the deal is decertified, and Congress appears to be on the brink of reapplying sanctions, that could change not only Iran's calculus but also the European allies' calculus," said Phillips. "Because at that point, renegotiation would be an opportunity to save the deal." If the U.S. reapplies unilateral sanctions against Iran's central bank, it could make it tougher for Tehran to repatriate its oil export revenues. And that may force Iran to pull the plug on the nuclear deal. Terrorism experts said Monday they are not surprised ISIS would claim to be linked to the Nevada shooting since it fits a recent pattern of the terrorist group trying to claim credit for high-profile incidents. "It seems like they're desperate for attention and will claim just about everything," said Colin Clarke, a Pittsburgh-based political scientist and terrorism expert for the think tank Rand Corporation. "They've lost so much territory, and they fear they're becoming irrelevant." ISIS, or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the Las Vegas attack on an outdoor music festival and said accused shooter Stephen Paddock, 64, had converted to Islam months ago, according to the Amaq News Agency, an outlet linked to ISIS. Amaq didn't offer any evidence. The shooting killed 58 people and left hundreds of others injured. It is the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The FBI said Monday the suspect in the deadly Las Vegas shooting doesn't appear to be connected to ISIS. The terror group also is sometimes referred to as ISIL, or Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. "We have determined to this point no connection with any international terror group," Aaron Rouse, special agent in charge of the FBI's field office in Las Vegas, told reporters. He indicated the agency would "continue to investigate." Even so, Clarke noted that ISIS did call for attacks on the Las Vegas Strip several months ago. "This would play into their narrative, even though if you look at the demographic of the shooter ... it seems like a stretch to say he was a solider of the caliphate." Experts say since losing Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, ISIS has claimed responsibility for several incidents it had nothing to do with, including an indebted gambler killing 37 people at a Manila casino in June and a false report last month of smuggled explosives at a Paris airport. "We've seen them over the last year, as they start to lose territory, in Raqqa and Mosul, turn more and more towards internet radicalization, trying to claim credit for lone-wolf attacks," said Jasmine El-Gamal, a Beirut-based senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a foreign policy think tank. "So it's completely unsurprising to me that they try to claim credit for this, but there's no proof of it so far." "What it does is that just brings them more media attention, which at the end of the day is what they need more than ever now that they don't have their physical caliphate," El-Gamal added. On Monday, the Defense Department released its updated information on weekend strikes against ISIS and said coalition forces had conducted 69 strikes consisting of 88 engagements, including nearly 30 strikes near Raqqa, Syria, that engaged seven ISIS tactical units and destroyed 20 fighting positions and a supply route. Even though ISIS has lost significant amounts of territory in Iraq and Syria, experts said the terrorist group remains a global threat and probably will for years to come. Seventeen years ago, on the first night that Dr. Gina Piazza was working at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, New York, she and other emergency room physicians had to treat victims of eight separate shootings arriving at around the same time. "I think we saved everybody," Piazza said. That incident was the largest group of shooting victim casualties Piazza has had to deal with at one time in her career. On Monday morning, Piazza, now working in Augusta, Georgia, woke up to hear about a much larger incident. Hospitals in Las Vegas were dealing with hundreds of shooting casualties, the victims of a gunman who opened fire on attendees of a country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort hotel. "It's horrendous," said Piazza, co-chair of the High Threat Task Force at the American College of Emergency Physicians, who also helped respond to victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in New York City. By midday Monday, officials said Las Vegas hospitals were treating a staggering 515 casualties, as the death toll grew to 58. "As the numbers go by, the numbers continue to increase," said Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo. But Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said that medical workers "have told me they've saved lives" in the aftermath of the shooting. Piazza said that since the 9/11 attacks, "hospital preparedness" for events involving mass casualties "has only been increasing." She said that hospitals nationwide prepare for dealing with "any sort of mass casualty incident," which can include not only shootings, but also hurricanes, chemical spills and leaks, and other events. "And because no one hospital can necessarily handle the extreme number of casualties as seen last night, we have to prepare as regions," Piazza said. She said groups of hospitals in geographic areas often run drills to simulate mass casualties and the medical response to them. In July, University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, the Las Vegas hospital that is the only Level-1 trauma center in the state, hosted a mass casualty training session that drew first responders from around the area. UMC is where many of the victims of Sunday's shooting were taken. Dr. Gary Parrish, an Orlando, Florida-based physician who had dealt with victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre in 2016, spoke at the July event. Before Sunday night's shooting spree in Las Vegas, the attack at Pulse was the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. "It's very important for facilities to practice," Parrish told Fox5 Las Vegas, for a story last summer on the event. "They have to practice, practice, practice." Toni Mullan, a nurse at UMC, told Fox5, "It's not a matter of if, it's when." Mullan noted that UMC and other Vegas hospitals had to deal with two mass casualty events in the past two years. One involved a crash of a school bus. The other involved a woman driving up on a sidewalk on the Las Vegas Strip, killing one person and injuring dozens more. "I had the CEO [of the hospital] handing out blankets," Mullan said of the aftermath of the sidewalk crash. "Our marketing people were handling crowd control." On Sunday night, the sheer number of victims overwhelmed emergency medical workers and led civilians at the scene to take matters into their own hands in some cases. One group of civilians tending to people suffering injuries at the scene reportedly asked a woman, Lindsey Padgett, to use her truck to take the victims to a hospital. "We just need to get people over to the hospital," a man said to Padgett, video posted on Facebook shows. "OK, put'em all in the back," Padgett responded. The volunteers packed as "many people in their truck as they could," Padgett told Chicago TV program "WGN Morning News." Piazza of the American College of Emergency Physicians said, "We all have our limits." "There are just so many stretchers that a hospital has," she noted. To prioritize patients, first responders and hospital staff use triage, evaluating who needs emergency treatment immediately, who can wait a bit longer, and who can wait beyond that. Piazza said triage is done at the scene of a mass casualty, and then again when patients arrive at a hospital, and throughout the following hours. "The most serious level of patient would need to be seen within minutes or an hour," she said. Other patients, with non-life-threatening injuries, may need to wait six to eight hours. "Our goal is to identify those who need immediate care, and treat them first," Piazza said. While that is the goal, it sometimes is not achieved at the scene of a mass shooting. An article in 2016 in the journal Critical Care reviewed studies of "re-hospital management of mass casualty civilian shootings." The article noted that "triage at mass shooting incidents can be complicated by the ongoing threat and the mechanism of injury." "Superficial wounds with minimal visible bleeding may be overlying extensive internal damage and internal haemorrhage and the same is true for reverse; severe surface injuries do not always indicate extensive damage of internal organs," the article said. The article also noted that in the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, "the rate of over-triage was 69% measured as patients assigned priority 1 at triage who actually had an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of less than 15." "High levels of over-triage may deprive severely ill patients of the resources needed to treat them," the authors wrote. In Las Vegas, the casualty level is so high that officials have asked for people to donate blood for the victims being treated. "We need blood," Sandoval said. Officials asked that donations be made only at facilities operated by United Blood Services as well as at University Medical Center. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that there was a six-hour-long line of people waiting to donate blood at United Blood Services, and that the center has signed up people to donate through next Monday. Tweet Tweet Tweet In the immediate wake of the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S., some of Las Vegas' conference halls and resorts served as makeshift shelters, housing injured concertgoers and distraught residents. But as the day progressed, streets and hotels were reopening, and so far, most events look to be proceeding as planned, but with added precautions. InsureTech Connect, an insurance innovation conference, is still slated to begin on Tuesday. "While the mood is somber and our hearts go out to the victims of this senseless tragedy, the people of Las Vegas are united in strength and resilience," Jay Weintraub and Caribou Honig, the founders of the annual event, said in a statement. "Las Vegas airport has reopened as have most of the streets and the hotels," they added. "Our venue for InsureTech Connect remains open, and we expect no change in the schedule of events." A representative for the National Business Aviation Association, which will draw more than 25,000 individuals to Nevada on Oct. 10, told CNBC: "For any NBAA event, our top priority is the safety and security of all participants, and we are in coordination with federal, state and local officials to ensure that show participants are in a safe, secure environment." The fact that convention planners were going forward with their events is encouraging for the Las Vegas economy. Still, it's too early to say how Sunday's events will impact Las Vegas' economy, Jeremy Aguero, an analyst at Applied Analysis told CNBC Monday. The main focus into Monday remained making sure people in the area are safe, he said. To be sure, a lot is at stake. Tourism supports more than 400,000 jobs, or nearly half of the region's total workforce, paying $16.9 billion in local wages, Applied Analysis has found. Southern Nevada's tourism industry brought a record $59.6 billion in economic activity in 2016, according to a study by the Las Vegas-based market research firm, which counts the state of Nevada among its clients. According to Aguero, business travelers and conventiongoers, who tend to spend more on their stays, have helped boost economic activity of late. While the total number of visitors to Southern Nevada increased only 1.5 percent, to 42.9 million, in 2016, the number of business tourists climbed 7.1 percent, to 6.3 million, Aguero's firm found. While those questions linger, out-of-town guests were filing into the region for the American Gaming Association's Global Gaming Expo, which also will run as planned Tuesday. The conference, put on in partnership with Reed Exhibitions, will bring more than 26,000 gaming enthusiasts to the city. TWEET "The gaming industry is a tight-knit community and Las Vegas is the beating heart of our operations," Reed Exhibitions Americas' President Herve Desky said in a statement. "AGA and Reed Exhibitions will be in constant contact with local and national law enforcement and our host, Las Vegas Sands ," Desky added. "We will closely monitor the situation and safety remains our priority." The Global Gaming Expo features exhibitions from casino marketers, hotel operators and security experts. The Electronic Retailing Convention is set to start Tuesday at the Wynn Las Vegas , bringing with it 3,000 attendees. Rodan + Fields is holding its annual conference at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, beginning on Thursday and luring 13,500 attendees to the city. And IMEX America, a massive trade show for international buyers, will still happen on Oct. 10, organizers have confirmed. Other events on the docket in Las Vegas this month include a gathering by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, the ABC Kids Expo, the Emergency Medical Services World Expo and Sweet Adelines International's convention and chorus competition. All are expected to bring thousands to the city. Recording artist Jason Aldean performs during the Route 91 Harvest country music festival at the Las Vegas Village on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Country star Jason Aldean was singing on stage at the sold-out Route 91 Harvest festival on the Las Vegas Strip when a burst of semi-automatic gunfire erupted. Not realizing what was happening, he tipped his hat and continued singing. Moments later, he ran off the stage, still holding his guitar, according to videos posted on social media. "It was a horror show," Concertgoer Ivetta Salda the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "People were standing around, then they hit the floor." She said she hid in a sewer. The gunfire rang out from an upper-level floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, which is across the street from the festival, a sold-out three-day gathering. Police said at least 58 people were killed and more than 500 were injured. The death count made it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Until Sunday, the deadliest recent shooting was the June 2016 rampage at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people died. Some of the wounded in Nevada were carried away in wheelbarrows and luggage carts, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, was found dead on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay in an apparent suicide, authorities said. Paddock had no known connection to terrorism, according to investigators. "My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight," Aldean wrote on Instagram. "It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night." The Las Vegas shooting suspect managed to smuggle multiple weapons into his hotel room, turning it into a "fortress," former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told CNBC on Monday. At least 58 people were killed and 515 injured after a gunman opened fire from his Mandalay Bay room on more than 22,000 concertgoers in Las Vegas on Sunday. Police say the suspect, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, then killed himself. "He turned that place into a fortress, with multiple firing positions, lots of ammunition and at least 8 to 10 high-velocity shoulder-fired assault weapons," Swecker said in an interview with "Power Lunch." He envisioned a setup that allowed the shooter not to have to reload but just move on to the next weapon. And accuracy wasn't necessary, he said. "Typically when you're on fully automatic you're not very accurate. But here they are all cued up in a mass, and they don't know where the shots are coming from. And all you have to do is just aim in a general direction." Police told The Wall Street Journal that the shooter appears to have used a fully automatic rifle. Law enforcement authorities discovered a cache of at least 18 other firearms in the shooter's hotel room where he fired upon those below, the Journal reported. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said the suspect brought the weapons in on his own and that employees were in and out of the room and "nothing nefarious was noted." CNBC's Michael Sheetz contributed to this report. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers stand near an ambulance as medical personnel treat a person in the parking lot of the Hooters Casino Hotel after a mass shooting at a country music festival nearby on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fourteen months after a deadly shooting spree in Florida set a record for gun violence in the U.S., another brutal rampage has become the new benchmark. More from USA Today: What we know about what happened at Mandalay Bay Las Vegas Strip shooting: More than 50 dead, over 200 injured Who is Stephen Paddock, named by police as shooter? More than 50 people were killed and more than 200 were injured when a gunman opened fire Sunday night on people attending a country music festival in Las Vegas. It is being called the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Here is a look at other shooting sprees in the U.S.: June 12, 2016: Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, kills 49 people and wounds 58 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando that was hosting a Latin night. Mateen was killed by police. It was the deadliest terror attack in the U.S. since 9/11, and at the time was the worst mass shooting in the nation by a single gunman. April 16, 2007: Seung Hui Cho, a 23-year-old student, went on a shooting spree at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., killing 32 people, before killing himself. Dec. 14, 2012: Adam Lanza, 20, gunned down 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School before killing himself. Oct. 16, 1991: George Hennard, 35, crashed his pickup through the wall of Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. He shot and killed 23 people before committing suicide. July 18, 1984: James Huberty, 41, gunned down 21 adults and children at a McDonald's in San Ysidro, Calif., before being killed by police. Aug. 1, 1966: Charles Joseph Whitman, a former U.S. Marine, shot and killed 16 people from a university tower at the University of Texas in Austin before being shot by police. Aug. 20, 1986: A part-time mail carrier, Patrick Henry Sherrill, shot and killed 14 postal workers in Edmund, Okla., before killing himself. Dec. 2, 2015: Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple living in Redlands, Calif., opened fire at a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health training event and holiday party, killing 14 people and injuring 22 in a matter of minutes. Farook, an American-born U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, worked at the health department. Malik had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in a Facebook post before the shooting. Nov. 5, 2009: U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan fatally shot 13 people and injured 30 others at Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas. Hasan, a psychiatrist, appeared to have been radicalized by an Islamic cleric. He was convicted and sentenced to death. Sept. 16, 2013: Gunman Aaron Alexis, 34, fatally shot 12 people and injured three others at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C. He was later killed by police. July 20, 2012: James Holmes gunned down 12 people in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater. Last year he was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder and sentenced to 12 consecutive life sentences plus 3,318 years without parole. Oct. 1, 2015: Christopher Harper-Mercer, a 26-year-old student at Umpqua Community College near Roseburg, Ore., shot an assistant professor and eight students in a classroom. After a shootout with police, he committed suicide. June 18, 2015: A gunman opened fire at a weekly Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. Nine people were killed, including the pastor Clementa Pinckney; a 10th victim survived. The morning after the attack police arrested a suspect, Dylann Roof, 21, who said he wanted to start a race war. In December 2016 Roof was convicted of 33 federal hate crimes charges, and in January he was sentenced to death. July 16, 2015: Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez opened fire on two military installations in Chattanooga, Tenn. The first was a drive-by shooting at a recruiting center; the second was at a U.S. Navy Reserve center. Four Marines and a Navy sailor died; a Marine recruit officer and a police offer were wounded. Abdulazeez was killed by police in a gunfight. Nov. 27, 2015: A gunman attacked a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., killing a police officer and two civilians and injuring nine others. Robert Lewis Dear was taken into custody after a five-hour standoff and charged with first-degree murder. What is a mass shooting? The FBI defines mass killings as four or more being killed, not including suspects, in an event. The killing may stretch over a day or more and some distance, especially if it includes killings committed in flight or against targeted people. It does not include an extended "cooling-off period" to distinguish this kind of crime from the acts of serial killers. Britain is aiming to give the formal go-ahead to a third runway at Heathrow Airport in the first half of next year, transport minister Chris Grayling said on Monday. Prime Minister Theresa May backed a $22 billion expansion of the London hub last October after decades of government indecision, but it is still consulting on the impact on air quality and overall aviation demand. "Subject to the necessary consultation work and securing the backing of parliament, we are aiming to give it the formal go ahead in the first half of next year," Grayling told the ruling Conservative Party's annual conference. Five of the 10 largest megadeals made in the third quarter of this year were signed in the United States as investors shifted away from Europe, according to a report by Mergermarket. Mergers in the U.S. represented 42.1 percent of all deals made across the globe in the third quarter. The largest megadeal saw the tie up of aerospace firms United Technologies and Rockwell Collins , totaling $29.9 billion. The merger was the second largest deal taking place in the U.S. so far this year. However, global megadeals took a hit in the third quarter. Total volume reached $674 billion across 3,772 deals the lowest quarterly level since the start of 2016. "As firms attempt to adapt to ever-changing political and technological circumstances, global M&A (mergers and acquisitions) has stuttered over the summer, following a strong showing in the first half of the year," Jonathan Klonowski, research editor EMEA at Mergermarket, said in a statement. A Park Service employee lowers the U.S. flags on the grounds of the Washington Monument to half-staff, on October 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. In the wake of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, last year , I witnessed that moment at a Hampton Inn not far from the club where 49 people had been slaughtered by an ISIS-inspired killer. They get word that their loved one was at the scene, they scramble for information and then they make their way to a central gathering point set up by law enforcement for family reunification. But not every family can be reunified. But for the families of the people caught up in the violence, there's an even more awful togetherness. There's a terrible rhythm to a mass shooting, and we all experience it together. The first reports. Conflicting information. Death tolls rising, inexorably rising. I was covering the story for CNBC, and I made my way to the Hampton Inn that was the central gathering location just as law enforcement began notifying families of the names of those who had been killed. It was the worst thing I've ever witnessed. Authorities did everything right they brought in priests, ministers and grief counselors. Mostly what they did at first was hold on to people to keep them from collapsing to the floor. As a reporter, your instinct is to just keep reporting, ask questions, gather information, get the story. But there were no questions I could ask these people. Hundreds of strangers brought together to find that their sons the victims were mostly men in their 20s had been cut down in the prime of life. That was the cruel reality. People were shouting "No, no!" There were scenes of shock, denial, anger. There weren't enough grief counselors to keep everyone from collapsing to the floor. So much grief in one place. Hotel employees gathered the families in a central lobby and walked through the crowd offering water, pillows and a helping hand. But there was really no way to help. No way to bring these men back to life, to undo what had just been done. I remember it was a brutally hot day, and people gradually made their way to the parking lot, shielding themselves from the sun. The moment that had brought them together now sent them back into the world to deal with their pain on their own. There were more family members to call, funerals to arrange. That afternoon at the Hampton Inn was just one incident. These shootings keep happening. Their deadly rhythm does not stop. And each time it happens, I think of the families who can't be reunified, brought together by police, hospital workers and county bureaucrats into some generic venue a convention center, a business hotel and given the news. The awful shock. The searing permanence of their loss. As often as this happens now, I don't suspect that authorities are getting any better at it. I don't suspect it is the kind of thing anyone can get much better at. The Puerto Rico supply chain that had been suffering serious logistical issues late last week showed some positive signs of improvement over the weekend as many cargo, storage yard and distribution companies kept their doors open in order to try and alleviate the backlog of emergency supplies like food, medicine, water and construction materials at San Juan's port. The shipping companies: Trailer Bridge and Crowley A steady flow of trucks started arriving at Trailer Bridge's operations early Saturday morning to pick up containers and bring them to distributors, stores and other clients in Puerto Rico. However, the cycle and flow of the equipment was becoming a concern. The receiving of empty containers after the full containers are picked up and deliveries are made, has been very slow. "If we don't start shipping empties back next week, we won't be able to pick up cargo from the States and bring the island more goods," said Jacob Wegrzyn, vice president and general manager of Trailer Bridge Puerto Rico. The last time Trailer Bridge shipped out empty containers was Friday with 160 empties, which is less than normal. "We need our customers to pick up their containers, and get the empty containers back to us so we can get them back to the States so we can keep the supply chain moving." At Crowley, another major shipping company that operates out of the San Juan port, there were approximately 3,500 full containers in its yard, which is still over the normal capacity of 3,200 containers, but there are signs of improvement. "Flow is slowly picking up," said Jose "Pache" Ayala, vice president of Crowley Puerto Rico Services. One hundred percent of the FEMA cargo had been picked, but only 20 percent of the commercial loads have been sent out which is still too slow according to Ayala. Distributor: Plaza Provision Plaza Provision, a 110-year-old food distribution company that sells to club stores and supermarkets on the island including Sam's Club, Costco and Wal-Mart is also facing supply chain issues. Robert Cimino, CEO of Plaza Provision, says things have been getting better day by day, but almost two weeks after the storm the company still can't depend on scheduled fuel deliveries necessary to keep the generators powering the business operations and warehouse. The family owned business in Guaynabo, which is about five miles from the convention center in San Juan the temporary headquarters for the government's operations and relief efforts is also dealing with not being able to connect with some of its employees due the majority of the communications systems being down on most of the island. "We have 500 employees, of which 10 we have not heard from yet," said Tere Bolivar, director of strategic projects at Plaza Provision. "We're very concerned about their safety." Bolivar, who is also on an executive committee for Puerto Rico's disaster relief fund, has been working with the Center for a New Economy to try get the relief supplies to areas of Puerto Rico that are harder to reach logistically on Sunday, a helicopter full of goods took off from Muniz Air National Guard Base and delivered goods to the island of Vieques. Ninety-five percent of Puerto Rico still remains without power, and only 17 percent of the U.S. territory has cellular service, according to the most recent Department of Energy and FCC reports. Lufthansa A large Lufthansa cargo plane that had departed from Frankfurt, Germany, touched down at the Aguadilla airport at close to 7 a.m. ET on Sunday carrying 80 tons of drinking water, apparel, food and hygienic supplies for the airline's nearly 400 employees who live in the northwest area of Puerto Rico. "Our employees have faced an extremely difficult time," said Pat Foley, CEO of Lufthansa Technik Puerto Rico. But despite their own personal challenges, when Foley arrived at the gates of the airport on the Friday morning after the hurricane, he saw about 100 employees waiting to get into the facility to try and help re-establish operations. Lufthansa Group began organizing the relief flight after Foley was able to connect with the Frankfurt office via satellite phone. "What we saw with our people is that they needed us," he said. Lufthansa Group listened to what Foley was seeing and hearing on the ground and quickly acted to ensure the employees in the region still suffering from the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Maria received the necessary supplies they needed. The suspect, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, was found dead in his 32nd-floor room at the hotel in an apparent suicide, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. Bursts of gunfire rained down on the Route 91 Harvest country music festival across the road from the Mandalay Bay hotel on the south side of the Las Vegas Strip. At least 59 people were killed and 527 injured after a gunman opened fire on more than 22,000 concertgoers in Las Vegas, police said Monday, in what was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Drapes billow out of broken windows at the Mandalay Bay resort and casino Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, on the Las Vegas Strip following a deadly shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas. A gunman was found dead inside a hotel room. Investigators said Paddock had no known connection to international terrorism, and there were no other shooters. Nonetheless, ISIS claimed responsibility and offered no evidence. "We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group," the FBI said. "We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that this is factually, thoroughly and absolutely investigated to be able to bring comfort and peace back to this community." Police told The Wall Street Journal that the shooter appears to have used a fully automatic rifle. Law enforcement authorities discovered a cache of at least 18 other firearms in the shooter's hotel room where he fired upon those below. Another 18 firearms were retrieved from the suspect's house, authorities said late Monday. Videos posted on social media showed large crowds ducking for cover amid sustained blasts of gunfire. Video tweet of people ducking for cover The FBI requested that anyone with video or photos regarding the shooting call 1-800-225-5324. Lombardo said a woman who was a "companion" of Paddock, Marilou Danley, has been located, as were two vehicles associated with the shooter: a Hyundai Tucson and a Chrysler Pacifica, both with Nevada number plates. Police say Danley was not with Paddock when he checked into Mandalay Bay. Paddock was utilizing some of her identification, Lombardo said, adding that police "have had a conversation with her," and that she was not believed to have been involved "at this time." @LVMPD: Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! During the shooting, police told people to avoid heading to the south end of the Strip and said it was investigating an active shooter. Police said Las Vegas Boulevard was shut down southbound at the Tropicana. @LVMPD: Confirming that one suspect is down. This is an active investigation. Again, please do not head down to the Strip at this time. The number of dead surpassed the death toll in the June 12, 2016, rampage at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people were slain. Police said among the injured were two on-duty officers. One was in stable condition after surgery and the other sustained minor injuries. Lombardo also said reports on social media that there were multiple shooters and explosives used were false. President Donald Trump on Monday called the mass shooting in Las Vegas "an act of pure evil," and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with victims' families and first responders. "We are praying for you and we are here for you," Trump said in a live statement from the White House Diplomatic Room. "We ask God to help see you through this very dark period." The president struck a note of unity following the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday night, which authorities say left at least 50 people dead and as many as 400 injured. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil," Trump said. "Our bonds cannot be broken by violence. And though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today -- and always will, forever." Trump also thanked first responders "for their courageous efforts and for helping to save the lives of so many. "The speed with which they acted is miraculous, and prevented further loss of life. To have found the shooter so quickly, so soon after the first shots were fired ... shows what true professionalism is all about." Police identified the suspect early Monday as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a Nevada resident who was found dead in his hotel room. According to a statement from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, "Paddock opened fire on a crowd of more than 22,000 concert-goers from his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel on Sunday evening at approximately 10:08 p.m. The victims were across the street attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert when bullets rang out." Trump tweeted his condolences to the victims of the attack early on Monday morning. Trump tweet. The White House said the president is receiving regular briefings on the progress of the investigation. Police have yet to identify a motive for the killings. Grounded Monarch airplanes sit on the tarmac at Luton airport, south England on October 2, 2017. The largest collapse of a U.K. airline has presented a logistical nightmare: 110,000 passengers stranded abroad. Monarch Airlines flights have been halted and shares of the insolvent airline ceased trading on Monday. Now the British government has launched a massive operation to bring travelers back to the U.K. "We are today mounting the biggest civilian repatriation exercise this country has seen in peacetime," said British Transport Secretary Chris Grayling. How will it work? The country's airline regulator, the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, said it has "wet leased" 34 aircraft from international carriers to repatriate Monarch's customers. Wet leases include crews as well as aircraft. British Airways said it is organizing flights with its partner Qatar Airways for the operation, while the CAA said it's working with El Al and more than a dozen other carriers. The U.K. government will pay the expense, a spokesman for the CAA said. Monarch's demise was driven by high competition and sustained low fares in the short-haul European market. Higher dollar-denominated fuel costs amid a tumbling British pound only added to the carrier's problems. Monarch isn't the only European airline in trouble. Low-cost carrier Air Berlin filed for insolvency over the summer, while budget rival Ryanair had to cancel thousands of flights this month due to to massive pilot scheduling errors. Philip Hammond, U.K. chancellor of the exchequer, speaks to journalists as he arrives for an Ecofin meeting of European Union (EU) finance ministers in Luxembourg on Friday, June 16, 2017. Jasper Juinen | Bloomberg | Getty Images Britain's Finance Minister Philip Hammond has slammed the opposition Labour Party's calls for an overhaul of the U.K's economic model during a speech at the annual Conservative Party conference on Monday. Chancellor of the Exchequer Hammond focused his speech on "building a stronger economy" and defended the free market economy against what the ruling Conservative Party calls Labour's "dangerous and outdated ideology." "Our economy is not broken: it is fundamentally strong," Hammond told delegates gathered in Manchester, according to a transcript of his speech. "And while no one suggests a market economy is perfect, it is the best system yet designed for making people steadily better off over time and underpinning strong and sustainable public services for everyone." "As this model comes under renewed assault, we must not be afraid to defend it," Hammond said, adding: "The market economy frees people and businesses, encourages them to create, take risks, give ideas a go because they can see the results and benefit from their success. "It's the profits from such businesses that underpin our savings and our pensions. And the wealth that a strong market economy creates which, in the end, pays for our public services." 'Failed' neoliberalism At Labour's party conference last week, leader Jeremy Corbyn criticized the U.K.'s "failed" model of neo-liberalism, which broadly advocates a laissez-faire approach to economic policies by governments, allowing for the increased role of the private sector, free trade and deregulation. Corbyn, a well-known socialist, told delegates it was time "that government took a more active role in restructuring our economy." "Now is the time that corporate boardrooms are held accountable for their actions," he told the conference in Brighton on Wednesday. "And now is the time that we develop a new model of economic management to replace the failed dogmas of neo-liberalism That is why Labour is looking not just to repair the damage done by austerity, but to transform our economy with a new and dynamic role for the public sector, particularly where the private sector has evidently failed." Corbyn's attack on the economic model promoted by the Conservatives comes at a time of increasing uncertainty over the U.K. economy, with businesses faced with the unknown entity that is Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa May had hoped a general election in June would give her a bigger majority in parliament and would strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations, but the move backfired when the Conservatives lost many seats to Labour, whose message has resonated with a lot of younger voters. [The stream has ended.] President Donald Trump on Monday called a shooting massacre in Las Vegas "an act of pure evil." The Sunday night shooting, the deadliest in United States history, left 58 people dead and more than 500 injured. A gunman opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on an outdoor country music festival, sending the crowd of more than 22,000 running and ducking for cover. The gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, is dead. Trump said he will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Read more: Trump: Las Vegas shooting 'was an act of pure evil' At least 50 dead, 400+ sent to hospitals in Las Vegas; shooting becomes deadliest in US history [The stream is slated to start at 2PM, ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders briefed reporters on Monday afternoon, following a mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday that killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500, making it the deadliest non-wartime shooting attack in modern U.S. history. Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump called the shooting "an act of pure evil," and said he plans to visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with victims' families and first responders. Police have identified the shooter as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a Nevada resident who later committed suicide in his hotel room, according to authorities. According to police, Paddock opened fire late Sunday night on tens of thousands of concert-goers from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will hold a moment of silence at 2:45 PM, the White House announced Monday. Trump has also ordered that flags on federal buildings be flown at half-staff until sundown Friday, in honor of the victims. Relations between Catalonia's separatist government and Madrid have hit their lowest point in years following an outlawed referendum vote Sunday, deepening a constitutional crisis in Spain. Political analysts and economists are now questioning what could happen next following the vote in Catalonia, which saw Spanish riot police clash with pro-independence voters, leaving hundreds injured. Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters early Monday that 2.26 million people had cast their votes on Sunday with 90 percent of those voting in favor of Catalonia, a wealthy region in north-east Spain, to gain independence. Voter turnout was low, however, at around 42 percent. The vote had been outlawed by the Spanish government and the Constitutional Court but went ahead anyway despite chaotic and violent scenes of riot police trying to prevent voting from taking place, with reports of rubber bullets being used against crowds and footage showing the police wielding batons against voters. Some Catalans responded by barricading polling stations to prevent the police seizing ballot boxes. On Monday, the European Commission called for all parties to "now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue." In a statement on its website, the Commission added that: "Violence can never be an instrument in politics" but also warned that if Catalonia left Spain, "it would find itself outside of the European Union." Around midday on Monday, the head of the Catalan government Carles Puigdemont said legal action would be brought against those "responsible for violence" during the referendum and he sought the removal of all Spanish police from Catalonia, according to Reuters. Throwing down the gauntlet to his counterparts in Madrid, he said the referendum result was "binding". He added that he had had no contact with Spain's central government since the vote and asked for international mediation in the region. A general strike has been called by pro-separatists and unions in Catalonia for Tuesday in protest at what they see as a violation of their rights following the police crackdown. If Catalonia was to go further and declare itself independent that could push the Spanish government to try to seize control of the Catalan government, according to one political analyst. "Catalan First Minister Carles Puigdemont has suggested that the regional parliament will declare the independence of Catalonia this week," Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of risk consultancy Teneo Intelligence said in a note Monday. "This will probably lead Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to activate article 155 of the constitution to temporarily take control of the Catalan government. Aside from the risks associated with sustained protests in the region, the biggest impact of the Catalan issue is still its potential spill over into national politics," he said. Google is hosting a major product event Wednesday in California where it's expected to unveil several new products. The event follows similar ones held recently by Apple and Amazon . Apple showed off new iPhones in September and, just last week, Amazon revealed several new Echo products. Now it's Google's chance to get in on the fun. related investing news AMD catches two upgrades on Wall Street that may signal a bottom in the chip industry's slump Two new Google smartphones are expected to be highlights of the event, but here's a look at everything we expect to see thanks to rumors and analyst notes. Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 smartphones Sabrina Ellis, Director of Product Management at Google, speaks about the new Pixel phone during the presentation of new Google hardware in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 4, 2016. Beck Diefenbach | Reuters As I said earlier, I think Google's new smartphones will be the highlight of Google's event. The company is expected to unveil two new devices including the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, which will follow the Pixel and Pixel XL (pictured above) that were launched last year. The devices introduced last year were extremely hard to find in stock, so the hope is Google has bigger plans to sell more units going forward. It's been reported that HTC is building the smaller Google Pixel 2 while LG may have been selected to build the larger Pixel 2 XL. The Pixel 2 may have some sort of that allows you to launch applications or services by squeezing the sides of the phone -- a feature introduced in the HTC U11. I also expect the latest processors from Qualcomm , sharper displays, better cameras and a good deal of discussion about software. New Google Home Google Home Source: Google Google currently only sells a single smart home assistant called the Google Home. In an effort to compete with Amazon which just announced several new Echo devices across multiple price points Google is expected to introduce a smaller and more affordable (leaked image from the blog Droid-Life pictured below.) Droid-Life If it's anything like Amazon's more affordable Echo Dot, expect the Google Home Mini to have the same features as the Google Home but without the more premium speaker experience. A new Pixel Chromebook Google It's also been reported that Google is preparing to launch yet another Pixel-branded Chromebook called the Pixelbook. It would be the third Chromebook released by Google (the first one is pictured above) and will likely highlight any changes coming to Google's Chrome OS operating system. Google's Pixel Chromebooks typically cost more than $1,000 and are targeted at developers and enthusiasts willing to pay that kind of money, especially since most Chromebooks cost around $300 or so. It's possible Google's Pixelbook will cater to the mainstream market, however, which means Google would need to drop the price. A new VR headset Clay Bavor, VP of Virtual Reality for Google, introduces the Daydream View VR headset during the presentation of new Google hardware in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 4, 2016. Beck Diefenbach | Reuters Google is also apparently ready to launch a successor to its original Daydream VR headset. It's unclear what exactly will change especially since the Daydream VR is comfortable, works well and supports a variety of existing Android smartphones. It's possible this model is cheaper, or that it introduces some sort of new optics that improves the user experience. Android Oreo discussion CNBC.com Google introduced and launched Android Oreo for its existing Google Pixel smartphones without much fanfare. I think we'll hear a bit more about the operating system and how well it works with Google hardware when Google talks about the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. The software experience, especially the Google Assistant, was the highlight of both the Google Pixel and Pixel XL when those phones launched last year. Surprises Motorola Moto 360 Android Wear watch Getty Images SQL DECLARE @Name NVARCHAR ( 50 ); DECLARE @sqlcmd NVARCHAR (MAX); DECLARE @params NVARCHAR (MAX); SET @Name = ' %ra%' ; SET @sqlcmd = N ' SELECT * FROM [TestDB].[dbo].emp1 WHERE Name Like @Name' ; SET @params = N ' @Name NVARCHAR(50)' ; EXECUTE sp_executesql @sqlcmd , @params , @Name ; Now the question is, why are you using dynamic SQL for such a simple query? SQL DECLARE @Name NVARCHAR ( 50 ); SET @Name = ' %ra%' ; SELECT * FROM [TestDB].[dbo].emp1 WHERE Name Like @Name ; "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer so tell me what is way out see my fresh code where %ra% is working instead of protection. SQL DECLARE @Name NVARCHAR ( 50 ) DECLARE @sqlcmd NVARCHAR (MAX); DECLARE @params NVARCHAR (MAX); SET @Name = ' %ra%' ; SET @sqlcmd = N ' SELECT * FROM [TestDB].[dbo].emp1 WHERE Name like @Name' ; SET @params = N ' @Name NVARCHAR(50)' ; EXECUTE sp_executesql @sqlcmd , @params , @Name ; Mou_kol wrote: i thought sp_executesql will prevent that but did not. "sp_executesql" executes sql. The SQL-command has no need to check for injection by the user, as most users will not directly access the database. There is no way you can add strings and magically secure them. If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] Bastard Programmer from Hell sp_ExecuteSQL is when you the Database Developer absolutely needs to create Dynamic SQL, and not for protection. While what you have written appears safe, there is no need for Dynamic SQL and you are only adding a layer of service and reducing performance. Director of Transmogrification Services Shinobi of Query Language Master of Yoda Conditional Hi, I am getting a flat file that's getting number values like integer and decimal values also withing "" like id is also coming as "1" or "100" etc, so in ssis package in Data Conversion its failing, can I get any expression or something to eliminate those double quotes and import the value into the Database with proper conversion everything. I am getting the error message as below: FileFullName: \\xxxxx\\DataExchange\ShieldLink\Test\32 Bit and 64 Bit Testing\Thirty Two Bit.csv, SSISPackageName: ImportPipeDelimitedCSV.dtsx, Source : Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime.TaskHost, ErrorCode : -1071607767, Description : SSIS Error Code DTS_E_INDUCEDTRANSFORMFAILUREONERROR. The "Data Conversion.Outputs[Data Conversion Output].Columns[Copy of Column1]" failed because error code 0xC020907F occurred, and the error row disposition on "Data Conversion.Outputs[Data Conversion Output].Columns[Copy of Column1]" specifies failure on error. An error occurred on the specified object of the specified component. There may be error messages posted before this with more information about the failure. , SubComponent: Data Conversion [2], HelpFiledtsmsg110.rll, HelpContext0, IdofInterfaceWithError{B6F6D221-FC27-4F71-B5A0-597583986C28} This is failing because the values are coming as below: Column1|Column2|Column3| "1"|"Column 2 Value 1"|"Column 3 Value 1" For texts its able to convert properly but for the numerical values its failing is there anything that I can do to eliminate those " and implement Data conversion without any problems thanks in advance. But in some situations I get this error, I am not sure why is this error coming, could it lead to not load data, sometimes even with this warning also we are able to load the Data I think so, but I am not sure, the Warning is as below: FileFullName: \\xxxxx\ShieldLink\Test\32 Bit and 64 Bit Testing\Thirty Two Bit.csv, SSISPackageName: ImportPipeDelimitedCSV.dtsx, Source : Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime.TaskHost, WarningCode : -2147183868, Description : Warning: Could not open global shared memory to communicate with performance DLL; data flow performance counters are not available. To resolve, run this package as an administrator, or on the system's console. , SubComponent: SSIS.Pipeline, HelpFiledtsmsg110.rll, HelpContext0, IdofInterfaceWithError{B6F6D221-FC27-4F71-B5A0-597583986C28} I am not understanding is it a Data conversion issue or some other privileges issue, any help would be greatly helpful, thanks in advance friends. Thanks, Abdul Aleem "There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection." -- modified 5-Oct-17 20:31pm. indian143 wrote: is there anything that I can do to eliminate those " and implement Data conversion without any problems Based on the following - no. Connect to a Flat File Data Source (SQL Server Import and Export Wizard) | Microsoft Docs[^] You might want to review the actual input spec yourself in the hope the docs are wrong. Presuming there is no option, and you cannot get the source adjusted, then you must 1. Take all of the values as strings 2. Add a post process step to convert to correct values (remove quotes and convert to numeric as needed.) Hi friends, I am getting the following message when I am trying to install the Ace 16.0 64 bit drivers You cannot install the 64-bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine 2016 because you currently have 32-bit Office Products installed. If you want to install 64-bit MS access Engine 2016, you need remove the 32-bit installation of Office Products. But here is the thing I am trying to install these drivers with Passive switch as below, still I am getting this error C:\Personal Docs\DownLoads\Ace Drivers>AccessDatabaseEngine_X64.exe /passive Just as it is mentioned here: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-civil-3d/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-install-64-bit-Microsoft-Database-Drivers-alongside-32-bit-Microsoft-Office.html Earlier I did it with Ace 12.0 64 bit drivers, I could able to install both the 32 and 64 bit Ace 12.0 drivers side by side with Passive switch, to do the same with Ace 16.0 its not working is there any Work around to install these 64 and 32 bit drivers side by side, any link, a suggestion anything helps my friends its little urgent - thanks in advance my friends. Thanks, Abdul Aleem "There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection." Use a Virtual Machine (VM). One OS in VM 'A' would have one version and the other VM would have the other. If you actually need both on a single machine in the delivery (production) then you could. 1. Create a service that encapsulates one service and exposes one, not both of the drivers. Call this driver 'A' 2. It doesn't do anything but allow you to run the driver. 3. Run that in a VM 4. On the regular machine (not VM) install the other driver 'B', then you app uses 'B' directly and makes rest calls to the service, via the VM, to run 'A'. --- Solution 1 This might or might not work. And it would take a lot of experimentation. And you MUST check the license agreement to validate this usage. 1. Neither driver should be installed. 2. Install one driver, probably 32 bit one 3. Determine exactly what files were installed. 4. Copy those files somewhere. 5. Uninstall the driver. 6. Install the other driver. 7. Create a library that encapsulates the first driver in the executable itself. So not as an installed driver but rather as a library. Your library exposes the functionality you need. 8. Use your library to get to the first driver and the regular idiom to get to the second. Note that if you can get this to work then it might best to do it with both drivers rather than relying on different access methodologies. Wondering on how much these dot net data structures are used by everyone else ? I prefer to fetch the raw values from said reader, as I rarely need the overhead a table-class introduces. If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] Bastard Programmer from Hell Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH I am trying to make a website like SONGS STORE where people can download there favorite song of their artists.So for this I want a songs collection database.Where can i get this kind of database? Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower! Otherwise you would need to do it like they did, go to the artists/companies and get their permission (contract agreement) to allow you to host their music. Hi, I have some SSIS Packages that are getting executed using a .Net Application, when I execute them in Staging Environment they are properly executing and importing the Data, but when I execute them on Production Server they are not importing the Data, I am unable to debug because its a Production Server, I have enabled Logging on the Packages to write into a Table, still the error message is not much useful any help would be greatly helpful. Thanks in advance. The error message I am getting into the ErrorLog Table is: Execution failed for SSIS Package: BillingDataLoad, Error description: FileFullName: Source Is Db, SSISPackageName: BillingDataLoad.dtsx, Source : Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime.TaskHost, InformationCode : 1074041076, Description : Lookup has cached 16 rows. , SubComponent: Lookup [82], HelpFiledtsmsg110.rll, HelpContext0, IdofInterfaceWithError{B6F6D221-FC27-4F71-B5A0-597583986C28} When I implemented SSIS Logging in my Application, I found that both 32 bit Jet 4.0 and 64 bit Ace 12.0 drivers are not registered on Production Server. But there are 32 bit and 64 bit Ace 14.0 drivers are there, then why Package is not able to execute on Production? Are Ace 14.0 64 bit and Ace 12.0 64 bit drivers not compatible to each other? Another thing is, even though I have Ace 14.0 drivers on my local machine Data tools 2012 is taking Ace 12.0 64 bit drivers when I Create Data flow task using an xlsx file as data source? Why is it not taking Ace 14.0 drivers instead, I am creating the packages with Visual studio 2012 and .Net 4.0. Why is my Package taking Ace 12.0 drivers by default and expecting it to be registered on the Server. Is there any solution for me? Can anybody please suggest me, so any change I have to make should have solid ground because I am going to make that change on the Production server. Please help I need some guidance or a link anything. By the way I tried both the .xls and .xlsx files and run Package under both 32 bit and 64 bit modes in both cases its failing, because 32 bit failing for Jet drivers not registered and 64 bit is failing by saying Ace 12.0 not registered when Ace 14.0 is registered there. Description {0}Excel Source failed validation and returned error code 0xC020801C. , HelpContext {0}0, HelpFile {0}dtsmsg110.rll, IDOfInterfaceWithError {0}{B6F6D221-FC27-4F71-B5A0-597583986C28}, Source {0} Data Flow Task, Subcomponent {0}SSIS.Pipeline, Timestamp {0}9/27/2017 5:03:34 PM, ErrorCode {0}-1073450985 Description {0}SSIS Error Code DTS_E_CANNOTACQUIRECONNECTIONFROMCONNECTIONMANAGER. The AcquireConnection method call to the connection manager "Excel Connection Manager" failed with error code 0xC0209302. There may be error messages posted before this with more information on why the AcquireConnection method call failed. , HelpContext {0}0, HelpFile {0}dtsmsg110.rll, IDOfInterfaceWithError {0}{B6F6D221-FC27-4F71-B5A0-597583986C28}, Source {0} Data Flow Task, Subcomponent {0}Excel Source [2], Timestamp {0}9/27/2017 5:03:34 PM, ErrorCode {0}-1071611876 Description {0}The 'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' provider is not registered on the local machine. For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=219816 , HelpContext {0}0, HelpFile {0}, IDOfInterfaceWithError {0}{AC9502ED-5A99-4CB0-A467-B2AB5A157E70}, Source {0} ImportXlsxFiles, Subcomponent {0}Connection manager "Excel Connection Manager", Timestamp {0}9/27/2017 5:03:34 PM, ErrorCode {0}-1073676245 Description {0}The requested OLE DB provider Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0 is not registered. If the 32-bit driver is not installed, run the package in 64-bit mode. Error code: 0x00000000. An OLE DB record is available. Source: "Microsoft OLE DB Service Components" Hresult: 0x80040154 Description: "Class not registered". , HelpContext {0}0, HelpFile {0}, IDOfInterfaceWithError {0}{AC9502ED-5A99-4CB0-A467-B2AB5A157E70}, Source {0}ImportXlsxFiles, Subcomponent {0}Connection manager "Excel Connection Manager", Timestamp {0}9/27/2017 5:03:34 PM, ErrorCode {0}-1071607038 Package errors count after running the package: {0}6 And another thing I found is, when I saw the Server it is showing the Ace 12.0 drivers in the drivers list, is it corrupted or over written or I need to re register it, etc are my questions. The above is the error message I am getting, I am not getting any error messages for the .csv and .text files only for the excel files. So is there any way I can resolve this issue. And another thing I found is, when I saw the Server it is showing the Ace 12.0 drivers in the drivers list, is it corrupted or over written or I need to re register it, etc are my questions. If I can resolve this issue without much change in the Server like re-registering the Ace 12.0 Drivers etc it would be nice to do that, since those drivers are showing up in the Drivers list. Another thing I did was I installed SSDT 2017 to check if that takes Ace 14.0 drivers by default because I thought the new Versions of Office might have over written the Ace 12.0 drivers but no SSIS still is looking only Ace 12.0 drivers for 64 bit Excel files? I am not sure is it because of the SQL Server Version or SSIS Engine Version or Visual Studio Version or do SSDT always takes only Ace 12.0 drivers for Excel I am not sure, it would be a great help for me if somebody can help me with some guidance or any link etc, any thing helps my friends. I am also searching and applying different options, if somebody has gone through the same and resolved it, it would be a great help. I am not trying to re-post or cross post this in hope of somebody might have gone through the same and can give me the valuable suggestions - Thanks in advance my friends. Thanks, Abdul Aleem "There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection." -- modified 2-Oct-17 13:41pm. If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] Bastard Programmer from Hell Hi all, I have a .Net application which is executing SSIS packages, when I run that application on the Staging Server, it runs fine, but when I run the same App on Production server it doesn't import the Data into Tables from Excel files. When I caught the errors and warnings I get only this Warning, which doesn't help me a lot. Anybody if can suggest me something what to do? it would be great help. I doubt that there maybe drivers missing on the Production Server but until I knew perfectly I can't install anything on Production Server, any advice or a link or even code anything helps me, thanks in advance friends. FileFullName: \\xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx\xxxxxx\Prod\MemberMaint092017.xlsx, SSISPackageName: SgLgReporting_SLMemberMaint_New.dtsx, Source : Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Runtime.Package, WarningCode : -2147381246, Description : SSIS Warning Code DTS_W_MAXIMUMERRORCOUNTREACHED. The Execution method succeeded, but the number of errors raised (5) reached the maximum allowed (1); resulting in failure. This occurs when the number of errors reaches the number specified in MaximumErrorCount. Change the MaximumErrorCount or fix the errors. , SubComponent: , HelpFile, HelpContext-2147381246, IdofInterfaceWithError{9744DAE0-F87A-45FC-B444-89E65C74BBF6} Thanks, Abdul Aleem "There is already enough hatred in the world lets spread love, compassion and affection." could do is stop crossposting[^]. Tips are here[^]. If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] Bastard Programmer from Hell Where can i get a good reference in database design (typical steps of database desining) The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Last April, Microsoft announced it was working with vendor partners on a new class of PC, now known as the Windows S machine. Its intent was to offer a low-cost, limited-capability device that could compete with web-centric, lower-cost machines like Chromebooks and even some tablets and/or smartphones that have replaced PCs for many workers tasks. Google has been quite successful with Chromebooks and its cloud offerings, particularly in the education market, selling millions of devices (through their vendor partners, including Samsung, Lenovo, Dell and HP). Microsofts fear was that the growth of the Chromebook could well seep into markets traditionally covered by Windows PCs. Indeed, Chromebooks and particularly mobile devices like current smartphones, have been impacting several enterprise verticals, such as retail and the services industries, resulting in a subsequent stagnation of PC uptake in those markets and consequent impact on Microsoft sales. Chromebooks still have not been nearly as successful in any vertical as in they have in education, where low cost in a budget-restricted market is driving adoption of $200 devices. But this is starting to change in some verticals as Chromebooks and smartphones make their way into price-sensitive application areas. And while the concept of an under $300, or even under $200 device, running a derivative of Windows was appealing, Microsoft really had no concise message on how companies could use these devices to their advantage other than a relatively vague use all of our cloud-based tools like Office 365 and app store to deliver apps to the locked down devices. So, low-cost Windows S devices have been in a sort of limbo. Microsoft eyes new vertical markets, announces Windows 365 F1 and Office 365 F1 Recently, Microsoft dramatically altered its position with an announcement that may significantly impact it capabilities to sell Windows S devices and push back on the rise of Chromebooks and mobile devices in industry. It announced two products that were aimed squarely at the frontline worker, which Bryan Goode, general manager for Office 365 at Microsoft, defined as 2 billion people worldwide, they are the people behind the counter, on the phone, in the clinics, on the shop floor, and in the field. These workers often are not enabled with a potentially costly and awkward PC platform. [ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ] Although not geared towards the education market where I expect Chromebooks to maintain a clear dominance and continued preference, Microsoft's push into other verticals should bear fruit, especially as traditional enterprise PC vendors will be supplying compatible products geared towards the needs of this class of worker. To this end, Microsoft announced Windows 365 F1 (Office 365, Windows 10, Enterprise Mobility + Security, Skype, SharePoint, Yammer, Groups, Streams and StaffHub) and the less-functional and lower-cost Office 365 F1 (Office online, Skype, Yammer, SharePoint, Teams and StaffHub) at its Ignite conference in Orlando, Florida. Although some of the details of the two products are still confusing, Microsoft basically created two platforms one for larger enterprise customers who already license the Enterprise Windows solutions (Windows 365 F1) and one for smaller businesses that have fewer needs and essentially want some minimal amount of management capability and modest amounts of app capability (Office 365 F1). Why this is critical to Microsoft Of late, Microsoft has been feeling the heat of Google and other online apps running in price-sensitive businesses and on lower-cost devices, including smartphones. While Microsoft has great brand loyalty in the large enterprise segment, thats not the case with smaller businesses where the cost of change from one cloud-based SaaS solution to another is low. By creating a business-first approach to the needs of SME, and even some groups within larger enterprises, Microsoft is providing a reason not to abandon its products in an increasingly price-sensitive world. And empowering workers with the tools on low-cost mobile devices such as the Windows S-books to compete with Chromebooks creates a key defense against the takeover by Google of this space. Of course, the margins for the S-book vendors on such low-cost devices are less than on their established PC lines. Nevertheless, they hope to ride the same Chromebook wave by making very large volumes and hence make it attractive to be in the marketplace. Bottom line: My take on this is that Microsoft is making the right move by providing a viable alternative to heavy infrastructure-supported apps for businesses that need less and are searching for a solution. Ultimately, with the smartphone and Chromebook generation of products, its imperative that Microsoft be seen and actually offer a lower-cost and lightweight alternative to the traditional enterprise tools its known for in a market it had dominated but now finds itself under increasing pressure from new SaaS entrants, particularly Google. This is still a work in progress for Microsoft, and it will take some time to play out to see how successful it will be. But without this effort, Microsoft would surely have lost more ground to new-generation competitors and mobile platforms. Not all that long ago, when reading pre-trailed announcements in conference speeches, my normal response was to wonder what the big surprise would be on the day. Osborne and Cameron in particular loved to have a rabbit to produce from their hat, with a showmanlike flourish. Speculating on whats being held back is a habit Im having to work hard to break because each time in the last year that Ive wondered what the real announcement will be, its turned out that there isnt one, and that the pre-briefed policies were in fact it. So it was with the Chancellors conference speech today. His big cash measure of a Help to Buy boost had been briefed out at the weekend as part of the Prime Ministers pre-conference publicity, and there wasnt much else new in his speech. The task that fell to him, instead, was to take on the role of attack dog not something that is a natural fit with his public persona, it must be said. He made a decent fist of it all this same, reciting the woes of the 1970s and of the socialist economies praised by Corbyn and McDonnell. But, as he acknowledged himself: I have kids; I understand we will not engage them simply by droning on about some previously fought war, I remember the Winter of Discontent! Hes not wrong (though he provided the history lesson all the same). The 2017 election campaign saw no shortage of warnings about what happened on the 1970s. The problem is not that people havent heard the history, but that many voters are willing to flirt with Corbynism regardless. It has always been this way. Even in 1979 when the whole electorate had just lived through the worst of it 36.9 per cent still voted Labour. These were voters who required no history lesson to inform them of the state of the nation. Of the 2017 electorate, many (including me) werent even born when Thatcher came to power. Indeed, its notable that the crossover point from Labour to Conservative in 2017 came at the age of 47 if you were nine years old or above during the Winter of Discontent, youre likely to vote Conservative today. Any younger, and the odds are that you voted Labour in June. It would be unwise to believe that past events retain their power even as they become more distant. The further they recede, the less relevant they appear to modern life, and the easier they are to discount or dismiss. For the same reason, the example of Venezuela has limited strength just like 1979, it is a foreign country which many millions of voters struggle to identify with. The challenge for the Government is obvious: rather than simply warn of the suffering of the past, they must offer something better for the future. But they have no outright majority of their own with which to legislate, and very little money with which to fund anything that they might want to promise. To extend Hammonds historical reference, we should remember that when Margaret Thatcher won power, she famously quoted St Francis of Assisis prayer, which ends: where there is despair, may we bring hope. Now theres a useful lesson from 1979. The Turkish government is opening its wallet in a bid to attract cruise ships back to the countrys ports, as cruise traffic has dramatically fallen off in the Eastern Mediterranean amid geopolitical issues. According to a Hurriyet report, which could not be confirmed, the government will pay $30 per passenger as an incentive on ships carrying 750 or more guests through Dec. 31. It is unclear whether the offer extends beyond 2017, as most cruise lines are already deep in the stages of planning 2019 and 2020 itineraries. The report said that Turkey welcomed some 1.8 million cruise passengers in 2015, and is expecting just over 200,000 this year. Viking Cruises is working on a liquid hydrogen-fueled cruise ship, according to the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA). Plans were unveiled by Viking Cruises' Project Manager Serge Fossat at the NMAs Safety at Sea conference in Haugesund on Friday, Sept. 29. While few details were released, it is assumed that the liquid hydrogen would be used in fuel cells, although that technology is said to be several years away from practical application aboard cruise ships, according to industry sources. Viking is reportedly in talks with the Norwegian state-controlled oil producer and distributor Statoil for a possible bunkering solution. In a prepared statement, NMA Director Olav Akselsen described the plans as very exciting, possibly leading to a zero-emissions powerplant. In the same statement, Vikings CEO Torstein Hagen said he wants to lead the development toward zero emissions, although admitting that it will take time to get there. Challenges include keeping the hydrogen liquid at 423.17 degrees Fahrenheit. It is also highly explosive. Liquid hydrogen has commonly been used as rocket fuel by NASA. It can also be used as fuel for combustion engines or fuel cells. Most of the discussion around cyber security focuses on the role of enterprise IT, how it can best protect corporate and customer data. Companies in the manufacturing and industrial space, however, have to take a much broader approach to security as their products and equipment become connected to the internet. The growing industrial internet of things (IIoT) make those products and the assets used to manufacture them potential points of a cyberattack. The challenge is getting stakeholders on the IT and operational sides within these companies working together on executing a unified security strategy. One company meeting that challenge is GE. A manufacturing giant itself, the company also sells technology to help other manufacturers secure and run their operations. Predix, which GE calls the industrial internet platform, is at the core of those offerings. GE Nasrin Rezai, GE CISO CSO recently spoke with GE Global Chief Information and Product Cyber Security Officer Nasrin Rezai about the companys efforts to meet the IIoT security challenge and her views on the state of cyber security in the industrial space. Rezai is responsible for both product and enterprise cyber security across GEs nine business units. She started at GE about two-and-a-half years ago as CISO of GE Capital. Prior to that, she worked in Silicon Valley at HP and Cisco Systems, and she also served as chief technology risk officer at State Street Bank. How do you balance your role between the product and enterprise sides of the business? Rezai: For the longest time, CISOs focused primarily on the enterprise side. We knew that the physical and digital coming together of cyber incidences was inevitable. In 2015, a few incidences solidified for us that the IT and OT [operational technology] convergence is making it a necessity for CISOs, CIOs, and boards of directors to think about cyber security not just in the terms of the IT shops they run, but all productsanything that potentially exposes the company to a cyberattack. Take, for example, the attack at [domain name registry] Dyn. Hundreds of cameras were used to do a DDoS [distributed denial of service] attack against several small and large cloud providers. Who would have thought that a simple camera can be involved in a cyberattack? From an enterprise responsibility perspective, the scope of the CISO now becomes much broader. I break the industrial space into three parts. The first is what I call OT security. If you have discrete manufacturing like building airplane engines or parts, or process manufacturing like an oil refinery or water purification plant, those manufacturing sites were very much air-gap environments. They were highly isolated and not network enabled. You could be OK with a hard-coded credential or an HMI [human-machine interface] or PLC [programmable logic controller] that had a vulnerability because it was sitting in a very controlled environment. For a lot of industrials, that has now become a problem because a lot of IT has been merged into the management of the OT. The second issue is consumer devices coming into enterprises. They can be components of a large-scale DDoS attack that ultimately impacts the company. Putting those two elements together, a lot of CISOs, CIOs, and boards of directors are asking, How do I think about this holistically? Its no longer about protecting the enterprise, its about protecting the companys assets as a whole. This is not necessarily an organizational construct change between product and enterprise cyber security. Rather, its about bringing the risk management strategy together knowing the critical assets, knowing the reference architecture, having done a risk assessment, having control elements built around that, and creating confidence in your risk posture that the leadership team can live with in terms of dealing with those kinds of attacks. Finally, at the end of the day, its about readiness. If you run cyber drills, do you have your manufacturing personnel as part of those exercises? Does everybody know that if a breach occurs that impacts manufacturing, there are safety practices that IT needs to be educated on? What about the reverse? The need to bring a higher level of readiness into our practices and processes with OT security is absolutely critical. How do you work with the product groups? Rezai: Ill talk about people, process, strategy, and organization. I report to IT on the enterprise side of the house and to the CTO of the company, who sets the strategy and direction for the product side. Product security leaders in every business unit have responsibility to ensure that our cyber policy around product and implementation plansgoals that we set annually around protection of our productsget implemented. I also have dedicated leaders whose job is to build the risk management processes around protection. I report that back to the board on a regular basis. We have done some aspects through merging parts of the organization, and some by working across business units with product security champions. They, in turn, work with product managers in each business to make sure product cyber security is prioritized across the company. We govern it through ongoing review across the company. So security is an integral part of the product lifecycle process, not something added on later? Rezai: Yes. Cyber security is one of our top risks. We take it extremely seriously, and we believe that as a leader in IIOT, its a competitive advantage for us. We have capabilities around asset performance management, service management, and a full lifecyle of industrial optimization. What we bring to the table in IIoT is the capability for our customers to use their data combined with their applications and or platform to get productivity optimization in new ways. There are a couple of models of how this could happen with our industrial customer. One could be that they put all their data consumed by their applications on top of our Predix platform. Another is they go into a mix model. For example, they could do edge processing at the boundaries of their enterprise and some of it in the cloud. The notion protecting that information and having cyber security at all layers of the stack is strategic, and its our competitive advantage. We put tremendous focus and investment in ensuring that those trust and authentication services are built in for customers so they can build their critical capabilities on top of our platform (Predix). What are some of the biggest challenges you face in delivering on this vision? Rezai: Lets go back to OT security--securing manufacturing and the introduction of consumer devices. Putting my practitioner hat on, the challenge is to understand what we have as a footprint. Having a view into the assets in the environment, knowing which risks we are exposed to, and being able to put programs in to monitor and defend against them or to respond to them in the case of an incident. The challenge is the very, very large footprint that GE has, as do many of the other industrials or large enterprises. The opportunity is good risk management practices, prioritization of what we go after, and having good defense in the model where you rely on multiple control points to protect yourself from those kinds of attacks. On the IIoT side, weve put a lot of investment in building a secure end-to-end platform with Predix and the applications that sit on top of Predix. What needs to happen in the industry as a whole to better respond to breaches when they occur? Rezai: One of the good practices is knowing your weak points. Red-team your environment; behave as a threat actor and attack the same set of control points to understand the weaknesses. Combine that red teaming with drills and exercises that bring the human element into the process. Security incidents and breaches are a reality and fact of life for most enterprises. At the end of the day, successful companies that work through the issues respond better and respond fast to their customer base. Customers are understanding and will work with you, if youre on top of it, knowing that we have exercised all our capabilities to understand all our vulnerabilities and practices and that we have a plan to address. A common practice among CISOs is sharing intelligence with each other, and I think thats key. Technology changes constantly, and there are many ways threat actors are getting into enterprises these days. Really understanding those threat actors, knowing their methods and procedures, simulating those methods and procedures, and getting the right people in the right roles who know how to respond are critical success factors for CISOs and the business leadership. How does the sharing of OT threat intelligence compare with the enterprise side? Rezai: Its getting better. If I were to compare the maturity of threat intelligence tactically and operationally, were better on the enterprise side. For example, there are mature research practices and processes on the enterprise side. Its getting better on the IoT side. Again putting my practitioners hat on, because of the nature of OT, there are so many things that have to come together around detection and protection for industrial protocols. Industrials still lack network and scanning capabilities inside OT environments. It remains challenging for OT and IT managers to say These are my unmanaged devices, these are my managed devices, and this is my state of patching. Sometimes you have very old products, multi-generations behind. They are still fully functioning. A lot of the goals and objectives for manufacturing are to get as much capability out of these devices as possible. The challenge is that now they are getting connected to IT networks, and their exposure is greater. Some maturity is being built. Better practices need to come together, but Im hopeful, because I see a lot of younger, innovative technology players offering capability in the OT space. At GE we are working on OT risk management practices to continually optimize manufacturing protection, detection, and response capabilities. Second, and from an industry leadership perspective, GE views cyber security as a competitive advantage and essential in industrial IOT leadership. Our digital industrial applications such as APM and ServiceMax combined with Predix platform enable customers to leverage their industrial asset based information, and further optimize their service lifecycle management. Those end to end models need to also be secure. [Related: Researchers and defenders needed in IIoT] Its improving in both sharing of intelligence and new, innovative ways some companies are tackling it. The wrapper is risk management where CISOs, CIOs, heads of manufacturing come together and make it a company level agenda. Then cyber security improvement will be achieved across the board. What makes you the most optimistic about the future of cyber security in the industrial space? Rezai: Number one, I see among my peers the IT/OT convergence is happening not just at the practical, but also at the strategic level. Were putting our arms around this and looking at it at the enterprise level issue. Im optimistic that when we do it strategically well find solutions. Number two, the innovation Im seeing in the OT space is going to close some of these gaps around network visibility, asset management, vulnerability management and threat intelligence sharing that we havent had in the past. What in the industrial cyber security world keeps you up at night? Rezai: What keeps me up at night is what keeps most CISOs up. Do we have coverage and understanding of our footprint? Do we know all of our risk exposures? Do we know all the challenges that are ahead? Do we have a good enough lens to see some of the political and regulatory dynamics around us? Do we have the right set of automation capabilities built into our practices so that as we broaden our footprint, our response processes can be shortened over time? Are people ready? Do people feel comfortable in a time of crisis? Can they respond well? Have we educated our leadership to some of the challenges? Those are all the things that keep me up at night. I constantly cross-check them against what we are doing and prioritize and reprioritize and communicate. The job is fun, but sometimes nerve-wracking. Read more about IIoT security: Any International Credit Union Day celebrationbig or small, elaborate or modest can boost both the movement and the credit union. Credit unions worldwide have participated in ICU Day since 1948, setting aside one day a year to band together and highlight their shared principles and philosophy. Its a simple way to support the movement and celebrate what makes it powerful. But participating credit unions have also learned there are other benefits to celebrating, such as: Increasing member loyalty, connecting with their communities and improving staff morale. Whether theyre using ICU Day for member appreciation or community outreach, celebrating ICU Day gives credit unions a reason to talk to people about why theyre awesome in a way thats fun and genuine. Regardless of how a credit union chooses to celebrate on October 19, here are four ways credit unions make ICU Day count. 1. Ensure the celebrations funfor staff and members At Atlanta Postal Credit Union, ICU Day decorations play a big part in creating a festive atmosphere. But Jeremy Carleton, member communications specialist at the $2 billion-asset credit union, said the posters and balloons featuring the official 2017 ICU Day theme Dreams Thrive Here are also strategic. Once a member notices a decoration and asks about ICU Day, we have a wonderful opportunity to educate them on why they are members, as well as services we can provide to them and their family who may not yet be members, Carleton said. Decorating, handing out giveaways to members and reminding staff that they belong to a movement for social good by involving them in the celebration all pay dividends. Portland Local 8 Federal Credit Union will outfit staff in ICU Day t-shirts, hand out aluminum water bottles to members and serve a lunch. Our main goal is to engage our membership and get them talking about the credit union with their families and friends, as well as taking the time to acknowledge (them) and thank them for their continued support, said Jaime Garver, CEO at the $35 million-asset credit union in Portland, Oregon. 2.Get out in the community Andrea Finn, digital marketing manager at Royal Credit Union in Eau Claire, Wis., said her team treats ICU Day like a birthday partya reason to celebrate and have fun. Last year Finn and her team at the $2 billion-asset credit union had 1,000 face-to-face interactions with members and potential new members on ICU Day. They performed a number of cash mobs and pay-it-forward chains, handing out giveaways and leave behinds that made an indelible impression. Many people were surprised we even had a free checking account they could open, Finn said. What was really neat was watching them light up as the conversation continued. She actually heard people say, Wow, that sounds like a better way of banking. 3. Use social media to turn ICU Day into a month-long celebration Dreams Thrive Hereoverwhelmingly the top choice in two online polls voted on by hundreds of credit union peopleis a message that CUNA consumer research found consumers need to hear. Credit unions are pretty good at showing how were the socially responsible choice, but we also need to remind people that credit unions are the best place to bank if you want to achieve your biggest goals, Tucker said. By promoting your ICU Day celebration in the weeks leading up to your event, you ensure this message connects with your audience. CUNA provides a free ICU Day social media toolkit featuring playful art that expands on and supports the theme. 4. Tailor the event to your credit union While ICU Day is a movement-wide celebration, how you celebrate can reflect what matters to your credit union. But many savvy credit unions use that message to reflect back on their particular credit union. We are celebrating 75 years of helping our members dreams thrive, said Linda Meza, AVP for Business Development and Marketing at $120 million Cooperative Center FCU. Meza said she loved the theme, and that her credit unionfrom helping members avoid predatory loans to helping them qualify for their first homeis a place where dreams do thrive. She purchased the 2017 ICU Day Design Bundle to gain the extended licensing, access to vector logos and other ICU Day designs to create custom materials that fit the credit unions celebration. Weve already started by personalizing our cornhole set, Meza said. We plan on using the bundle on our social media channels, our lobby displays and banners to help create a fun, festive atmosphere. STORY LINK GBP NZD Tumbles as UK Manufacturing Disappoints UK IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI Misses its Mark GBP Falls New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Still Recovering from Election Stalemate GBP NZD Forecast: Election Woes Liable to Continue Hindering Kiwi Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues: The Pound New Zealand Dollar exchange rate tumbled today as markets responded to news that UK manufacturing activity slipped below forecasts in September.The IHS Markit UK manufacturing PMI dropped to 55.9 in September, below the downwardly revised 56.7 figure in August and lower than the market expectation of 56.4.This fall was predominantly due to the prices of various goods used in the production process soaring to a six-month high, a climb in turn caused by the rising cost of commodities and the current weakness of the Pound.It should be noted, however, that whilst these readings were below expectations, any figure above 50 demonstrates expansion, rather than contraction.Rob Dobson, Director at IHS Markit shared his sentiment on these readings:Although it looks as if the sector made solid progress through the third quarter as a whole, the growth slowdown in September is a further sign that momentum is being lost across the broader UK economy.As a result the value of the Pound plummeted, with many investors worried that the negative representation of the UKs economy could quell possibilities of a rate hike within 2017.Whilst the Kiwi Dollar has managed to capitalise on todays weakness of the Pound, its general outlook remains hampered by the recent stalemate in the New Zealand General Election.Uncertainty continues to ensue in the wake of the hung parliament, with businesses and investors still worried about what future economic policies will result from a coalition.Beyond this, because the election has no clear winner Winston Peters, leader of the New Zealand First Party will be deciding between a deal with Bill English and National or Jacinda Arden and Labour, though he has stated that no decisions will take place until the 7th of October when the final voter tally is counted.Because of this the period of uncertainty is liable to continue for weeks, if not months, further encumbering the Kiwi Dollar.The Pound New Zealand Dollar exchange rate is liable to become increasingly volatile tomorrow on the fortnightly global dairy trade price auction and a range of UK data prints.The dairy auction is a fundamental variable in determining the value of the Kiwi Dollar, with New Zealands largest export, of course, being dairy products.Whilst a jump in prices would historically result in a jump in demand for the New Zealand Dollar, this may be negated somewhat by the recent stalemate in New Zealands general election.For the UK on the other hand, tomorrow will be notable for the Markit construction PMI release, and the release of the transcript for the Bank of Englands (BoE) Financial Policy Committees September meeting.Whilst the meeting in September was notably hawkish, markets will carefully assess said transcript for any new indication that the Bank might be steering towards a rate hike in 2017.If the transcript does offer new hawkish information then GBP NZD will climb. If it fails to provide anything new, however, then GBP NZD will remain at the mercy of this weeks PMI releases. International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements. TAGS: Daily Currency Updates Pound New Zealand Dollar Forecasts Pa. Dems could flip the House of Reps. Here's what that might mean Talking Points: US Dollar may build on Asia-session gains if ISM data tops forecasts British Pound might rebound as UK PMI helps bolster BOE outlook Euro down amid turmoil in Spain, Yen falls on upbeat Chinese data The US Dollar traded broadly higher against its major counterparts in Asia Pacific trade as Fed rate hike speculation continued to build. The currency tellingly rose alongside front-end US Treasury bond yields while gold prices declined. The priced-in probability of a December rate hike implied in Fed Funds futures now stands at 70 percent, up from 63.2 percent a week ago. The Euro underperformed in what looked like a somewhat belated response to weekend headlines coming out of Spain, where police clashed with Catalan voters trying to cast ballots in an independence referendum opposed by Madrid. The Yen likewise traded lower as upbeat Chinese PMI data published over the weekend cheered markets and weighed down the perennially anti-risk Japanese unit. UK manufacturing PMI data headlines the data docket in European trading hours. The report is expected to show that the pace of factory-sector growth slowed for the first time in three months in September. UK economic news-flow has steadily improved relative to consensus forecasts since mid-August, opening the door for an upside surprise that may stoke BOE tightening bets and boost the British Pound. The US analogous manufacturing ISM survey then enters the spotlight. Here too, analysts envision a slowdown but a string of outperforming data outcomes since June hints at the possibility of an upside surprise. That might accelerate the push to reprice the baseline Fed policy outlook for a steeper tightening trajectory, offering fresh fodder for US Dollar gains. Where is the US Dollar heading the last three months of the year? Check out our forecast ! Asia Session European Session ** All times listed in GMT. See the full DailyFX economic calendar here. --- Written by Ilya Spivak, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com To receive Ilya's analysis directly via email, please SIGN UP HERE Contact and follow Ilya on Twitter: @IlyaSpivak Get the DailyFX Asia AM Digest every day before Tokyo equity markets open SIGN UP HERE ! The US Dollar returned to the offensive against most of its major counterparts on Friday, rising against a backdrop of firming front-end Treasury bond yields as the priced-in Fed rate hike outlook continued to steepen. Only the Euro and the Swiss Franc managed to edge ahead of the greenback, shrugging off disappointing Eurozone CPI data that mightve been expected dent the case for tapering ECB QE (at least in the near term). The single currency remains surprisingly well-supported at the start of the new trading week despite political instability in Spain, where police clashed with Catalan voters taking part in an independence referendum opposed by the government in Madrid. The sentiment-linked Australian and New Zealand Dollars are enjoying early gains while the anti-risk Yen is under pressure following upbeat Chinese PMI statistics published over the weekend. DailyFX Economic Calendar: Asia Pacific Holiday market closures in China, Hong Kong and India along with a lull in top-tier economic news flow might make for a relatively quiet session in Asia Pacific hours. Japans third-quarter Tankan business confidence survey amounts to the standout on the data docket. Consensus forecasts call for narrow improvement but this may not inspire lasting follow-through from the Yen considering their limited implications for BOJ policy bets. Indeed, the central bank floated the possibility of expanding its already aggressive stimulus effort just last week. On balance, this might mean that sentiment trends remain at the forefront. FTSE 100 and S&P 500 stock index futures are pointing higher, hinting that a risk-on mood may continue to prevail. The absence of a clear-cut focal point and comparatively thinner liquidity conditions might make markets especially sensitive to headline risk however, warning investors to be especially mindful of kneejerk volatility. DailyFX Webinar Calendar CLICK HERE to register IG Client Sentiment Index Chart of the Day: EUR/USD CLICK HERE to learn more about the IG Client Sentiment Index Retail trader data shows 41.9% of traders are net-long EUR/USD, with the ratio of traders short to long at 1.39 to 1. In fact, traders have remained net-short since Apr 18 when EUR/USD traded near 1.07974; price has moved 9.4% higher since then. The number of traders net-long is 7.1% higher than yesterday and 43.4% higher from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 5.7% higher than yesterday and 9.0% lower from last week. We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-short suggests EUR/USD prices may continue to rise. Yet traders are less net-short than yesterday and compared with last week. Recent changes in sentiment warn that the current EUR/USD price trend may soon reverse lower despite the fact traders remain net-short. Five Things Traders are Reading The DailyFX US AM Digest is published every day before the US cash equity open - you can sign up here to receive this report in your inbox every day. The Asia AM Digest is published every day before the Tokyo cash equity open - you can sign up here to receive that report in your inbox every day. If you're interested in receiving both reports each day, you can sign up here. IG Design Group plc designs, manufactures, and distributes celebrations, craft and creative play, stationery, gifting, and not for re-sale consumable products in the Americas, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It provides celebrations products, including greetings cards, gift wraps, Christmas crackers, gift bags, and partyware products, as well as gift accessories, such as tags, strings, ribbons, and bows; and gifting products comprise frames, albums, calendars and diaries, as well as food and non-food gifts. The company also offers ribbons and trims, sewing patterns, buttons, needlecrafts, and kids craft lines; stationery products, including pencils, pens, notebooks, pencil cases, clips, journals, etc. for use in education, commercial, and home settings; and bin liners, refuse sacks, food bags, and other collateral products, as well as paper twist handle bags. It serves retailers, other manufacturers and wholesalers of greetings products, service merchandisers, and trading companies. The company was formerly known as International Greetings plc and changed its name to IG Design Group plc in June 2016. IG Design Group plc was incorporated in 1978 and is based in Newport Pagnell, the United Kingdom. Intrepid Potash, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the extraction and production of the potash in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Potash, Trio, and Oilfield Solutions. The Potash segment offers muriate of potash or potassium chloride for use as a fertilizer input in the agricultural market; as a component in drilling and fracturing fluids for oil and gas wells, as well as an input to other industrial processes in the industrial market; and as a nutrient supplement in the animal feed market. The Trio segment provides Trio, a specialty fertilizer that delivers potassium, sulfate, and magnesium in a single particle. The Oilfield Solutions segment sells water for use in the oil and gas services industry; and offers potassium chloride real-time mixing services on location for hydraulic fracturing operations and trucking services. The company also offers salt for use in animal feeds, industrial applications, pool salts, and treatment of roads and walkways for ice melting or to manage road conditions; magnesium chloride for use in the deicing and dedusting of roads; brines for well development and completion activities in the oil and gas industry; and metal recovery salt, a combination of potash and salt to enhance the recovery of aluminum in the aluminum recycling processing facilities. Intrepid Potash, Inc. was founded in 2000 and is based in Denver, Colorado. AXIS Capital Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides various specialty insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. It operates through two segments, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Insurance segment offers property insurance products for commercial buildings, residential premises, construction projects, and onshore energy installations; marine insurance products covering offshore energy, cargo, liability, recreational marine, fine art, specie, and hull war; and terrorism, aviation, credit and political risk, and liability insurance products. It also provides professional insurance products that cover directors' and officers' liability, errors and omissions liability, employment practices liability, fiduciary liability, crime, professional indemnity, cyber and privacy, medical malpractice, and other financial insurance related coverages for commercial enterprises, financial institutions, not-for-profit organizations, and other professional service providers. In addition, this segment offers accidental death, travel, and specialty health products for employer and affinity groups. The Reinsurance segment offers reinsurance products to insurance companies, including catastrophe reinsurance products; property reinsurance products covering property damage and related losses resulting from natural and man-made perils; professional lines; credit and surety; and motor liability products. This segment also provides agriculture reinsurance products; coverages for various types of construction risks and risks related to erection, testing, and commissioning of machinery and plants during the construction stage; marine and aviation reinsurance products; and personal accident, specialty health, accidental death, travel, life and disability reinsurance products. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, and markets biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, neuroscience, and covid-19 diseases. The company's products include Revlimid, an oral immunomodulatory drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma; Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; and Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis. It also provides Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia; Yervoy for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; Abraxane, a protein-bound chemotherapy product; Reblozyl for the treatment of anemia in adult patients with beta thalassemia; and Empliciti for the treatment of multiple myeloma. In addition, the company offers Zeposia to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; Breyanzi, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma; Inrebic, an oral kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with myelofibrosis; and Onureg for the treatment of adult patients with AML. It sells products to wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, retailers, hospitals, clinics, and government agencies. The company was formerly known as Bristol-Myers Company. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in New York, New York. The following companies are subsidiares of Tenneco: A.E. Group Machines Limited, AE International Limited, Anand I-Power Limited, Anqing TP Goetze Liner Co. Ltd., Anqing TP Goetze Piston Ring Co. Ltd., Anqing TP Powder Metallurgy Co. Ltd., Armstrong Properties (Pty.) Ltd., Ateliers Juliette Adam SAS, Autopartes Walker S. de R.L. de C.V., Beck Arnley Holdings LLC, CATAI s.r.l., CEDS Inc., Carter Automotive Company LLC, Clevite Industries Inc., Componentes Venezolanos de Direccion S.A., Cooperatief Federal-Mogul Dutch Investments B.A., Coventry Assurance Ltd., DRiV Automotive Inc., DRiV IP LLC, DRiV Incorporated, Dongsuh Federal-Mogul Co. Ltd., F-M Holding Daros AB, F-M Holding Goteborg AB, F-M Holding Mexico S.A. de C.V., F-M Motorparts Limited, F-M Motorparts TSC LLC, F-M TSC Real Estate Holdings LLC, F-M Trademarks Limited, FDML Holdings Limited, FM International LLC, FM PBW Bearings Private Limited, FM Participacoes e Investimentos LTDA, Farloc Argentina S.A.I.C. y F., Federal Mogul (Thailand) Ltd., Federal Mogul Aftermarket Egypt Ltd., Federal Mogul Argentina S.A., Federal Mogul Dis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Federal Mogul Hungary Kft., Federal Mogul Powertrain Otomotiv Anonim Sirketi, Federal Mogul SAS, Federal Mogul Services Sarl, Federal Mogul Systems Protection SAS, Federal-Mogul, Federal-Mogul (Anqing) Powder Metallurgy Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Changshu) Automotive Parts Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (China) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Chongqing) Friction Materials Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Langfang) Automotive Components Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Proprietary) Limited, Federal-Mogul (Shanghai) Automotive Parts Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (T&N) Hong Kong Limited, Federal-Mogul (Tianjin) Surface Treatment Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Vietnam) Ltd., Federal-Mogul Aftermarket Espana S.A., Federal-Mogul Aftermarket France SAS, Federal-Mogul Aftermarket GmbH, Federal-Mogul Aftermarket Southern Africa (Pty) Limited, Federal-Mogul Aftermarket UK Limited, Federal-Mogul Anand Bearings India Limited, Federal-Mogul Anand Sealings India Limited, Federal-Mogul Asia Investments Holding Korea Ltd., Federal-Mogul Asia Investments Limited, Federal-Mogul Automotive GmbH & Co. KG, Federal-Mogul Automotive Pty Ltd, Federal-Mogul Automotive Verwaltungs GmbH, Federal-Mogul Betriebsgrundstucke Burscheid GmbH, Federal-Mogul Bimet Spolka Akcyjna, Federal-Mogul Bradford Limited, Federal-Mogul Bremsbelag GmbH, Federal-Mogul Burscheid Beteiligungs GmbH, Federal-Mogul Burscheid GmbH, Federal-Mogul Canada Limited, Federal-Mogul Chassis LLC, Federal-Mogul Componentes de Motores Ltda., Federal-Mogul Controlled Power Limited, Federal-Mogul Coventry Limited, Federal-Mogul Deva (Qingdao) Automotive Parts Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Deva GmbH, Federal-Mogul Dimitrovgrad LLC, Federal-Mogul Distribucion de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Dong Feng (Shiyan) Engine Components Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul EMEA Distribution Services, Federal-Mogul Employee Trust Administration Limited, Federal-Mogul Engineering Limited, Federal-Mogul FIL-P43 S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul FIL-S43 S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Filtration LLC, Federal-Mogul Finance 1 LLC, Federal-Mogul Finance 2 LLC, Federal-Mogul Financial Services Poland Sp.z.o.o., Federal-Mogul Financial Services S.A.S., Federal-Mogul Financing Corporation, Federal-Mogul Friction Products Barcelona S.L., Federal-Mogul Friction Products Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Friction Products GmbH, Federal-Mogul Friction Products International GmbH, Federal-Mogul Friction Products Limited, Federal-Mogul Friction Products Ploiesti SRL, Federal-Mogul Friction Products S.A., Federal-Mogul Friction Products a.s., Federal-Mogul Friction Spain S.L., Federal-Mogul Friedberg GmbH, Federal-Mogul Garennes SAS, Federal-Mogul Germany Investments Holding GmbH, Federal-Mogul Global Aftermarket EMEA, Federal-Mogul Global Growth Limited, Federal-Mogul GmbH, Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) Limited, Federal-Mogul Gorzyce Sp. z o.o., Federal-Mogul Holding Deutschland GmbH, Federal-Mogul Holding Sweden AB, Federal-Mogul Holdings Ltd., Federal-Mogul Iberica S.L., Federal-Mogul Ignition GmbH, Federal-Mogul Ignition LLC, Federal-Mogul Ignition Products India Limited, Federal-Mogul Ignition Products SAS, Federal-Mogul Industria de Autopecas Ltda., Federal-Mogul Investment Ltd., Federal-Mogul Investments B.V., Federal-Mogul Italy S.r.l., Federal-Mogul Izmit Piston ve Pim Uretim Tesisleri A.S., Federal-Mogul Japan K.K., Federal-Mogul Juarez S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Lighting S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Limited, Federal-Mogul Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Federal-Mogul MP US LLC, Federal-Mogul Motorparts (India) Limited, Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Netherlands) B.V., Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Pinghu) Trading Limited, Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Qingdao) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Thailand) Limited, Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Zhejiang) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Colombia S.A.S., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Holding B.V., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Holding GmbH, Federal-Mogul Motorparts LLC, Federal-Mogul Motorparts Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Minority Holding B.V., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Philippines Inc., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Ploiesti SRL, Federal-Mogul Motorparts Poland Sp.z.o.o., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Pty Ltd, Federal-Mogul Motorparts Services SRL, Federal-Mogul Naberezhnye Chelny, Federal-Mogul Nurnberg GmbH, Federal-Mogul Operations France S.A.S., Federal-Mogul Piston Rings LLC, Federal-Mogul Plasticos Puntanos S.A., Federal-Mogul Powertrain (Netherlands) B.V., Federal-Mogul Powertrain Eastern Europe B.V., Federal-Mogul Powertrain IP LLC, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Italy S.R.L, Federal-Mogul Powertrain LLC, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Mexico Distribucion S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Powertrain Russia GmbH, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Solutions India Private Limited, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Systems S A (Proprietary) Limited, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Vostok OOO, Federal-Mogul Products US LLC, Federal-Mogul Pty Ltd, Federal-Mogul R&L Friedberg Casting GmbH & Co. KG, Federal-Mogul Risk Advisory Services LLC, Federal-Mogul S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul S.A., Federal-Mogul SP Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Sealing System (Nanchang) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Sealing Systems GmbH, Federal-Mogul Sejong Co. Ltd, Federal-Mogul Sejong Tech Ltd, Federal-Mogul Serina Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Sevierville LLC, Federal-Mogul Shanghai Bearing Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Shanghai Compound Material Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Singapore Investments Pte. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Sistemas Automotivos Ltda., Federal-Mogul Sistemas de Limpadores de Para-Brisas Ltda, Federal-Mogul Sorocaba-Holding Ltda, Federal-Mogul Systems Protection Hungary Kft., Federal-Mogul Systems Protection Morocco SARL AU, Federal-Mogul TP Europe GmbH & Co KG, Federal-Mogul TP Liner Europe Otomotiv Ltd. Sti, Federal-Mogul TP Liners Inc., Federal-Mogul TP Piston Rings GmbH, Federal-Mogul TPR (India) Limited, Federal-Mogul Technology Limited, Federal-Mogul Transaction LLC, Federal-Mogul UK Investments Limited, Federal-Mogul UK Powertrain Limited, Federal-Mogul VCS Holding B.V., Federal-Mogul VCS LLC, Federal-Mogul Valve Train International LLC, Federal-Mogul Valve Train S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Valvetrain GmbH, Federal-Mogul Valvetrain La Source SAS, Federal-Mogul Valvetrain Limited, Federal-Mogul Valvetrain Schirmeck SAS, Federal-Mogul Valvetrain s.r.o., Federal-Mogul Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, Federal-Mogul Verwaltungs-und Beteiligungs-GmbH, Federal-Mogul Wiesbaden GmbH, Federal-Mogul World Trade (Asia) Limited, Federal-Mogul World Wide LLC, Federal-Mogul Yura (Qingdao) Ignition Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Zhengsheng (Changsha) Piston Ring Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul de Costa Rica S.A., Federal-Mogul de Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Federal-Mogul de Matamoros S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul de Venezuela C.A., Federal-Mogul of South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Felt Products MFG. CO. LLC, Ferodo America LLC, Ferodo Limited, Fonciere de Liberation, Forjas y Maquinas S. de R.L. de C.V., Frenos Hidraulicos Automotrices S.A. de C.V., Fric-Rot S.A.I.C., Gabilan Manufacturing, Gasket Holdings LLC, Gillet Exhaust Manufacturing Limited, Gillet Pressings Cardiff Limited, Goetze Wohnungsbau GmbH, ISA Installations Steuerungs und Automatislerungs GmbH, J.W. Hartley (Motor Trade) Limited, Jurid do Brasil Sistemas Automotivos Ltda., KB Autosys (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., KB Autosys Co. Ltd., KB Autosys India Private Ltd., Kinetic Pty. Ltd., Kontich, Leeds Piston Ring & Engineering Co. Limited, Maco Inversiones S.A., McCord Payen de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., McPherson Strut Company LLC, Monroe Amortisor Imalat Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Monroe Australia Pty. Limited, Monroe Czechia s.r.o., Monroe Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Monroe Manufacturing (Proprietary) Ltd., Monroe Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Monroe Packaging BVBA, Monroe Ride Performance Sweden AB, Monroe Springs (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Montagewerk Abgastechnik Emden GmbH, Motocare India Private Limited, Muzzy-Lyon Auto Parts LLC, Parts Zone (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Payen International Limited, Piston Rings (UK) Limited, Precision Modular Assembly Corp., Productos de Frenos Automotrices de Calidad S.A. de C.V., Proveedora Walker S. de R.L. de C.V., Pullman, Pullman Standard Inc., Qingdao Tenneco FAWSN Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Raimsa S. de R.L. de C.V., Ride Performance Canada Inc., Ride Performance Japan Ltd., Ride Performance Korea Limited, Ride Performance Mexico Holding LLC, SAXID Limited, Sapav Marketing Ltd, Saxid, Saxid s.r.l., Servicio de Componentes Automotrices S. de R.L. de C.V., Servicios Administrativos Industriales S. de R.L. de C.V., Shanghai Tenneco Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Sibirica Energy Limited, Sintration Limited, Speyside Real Estate LLC, Subensambles Internacionales S. de R.L. de C.V., T&N Industries LLC, T&N de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., TA (Australia) Group Pty. Ltd., TM S.r.l, TMC Texas Inc., TPR Federal-Mogul Tennessee Inc., Taiwan Federal-Mogul Motorparts Co. Limited, TecCom GmbH, Tenneco (Beijing) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Beijing) Ride Control System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Changzhou) Ride Performance Co. Ltd., Tenneco (China) Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Dalian) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Jingzhou) Ride Performance Co. Ltd., Tenneco (MSCan) Operations Inc., Tenneco (MUSA), Tenneco (Mauritius) Limited, Tenneco (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Suzhou) Emission System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Suzhou) Ride Control Co. Ltd., Tenneco (TM Asia) Ltd., Tenneco (TM Belgium) BVBA, Tenneco (Tianjin) Ride Performance Co. Ltd., Tenneco Asheville Inc., Tenneco Asia Inc., Tenneco Automotie Nederland B.V., Tenneco Automotive (Thailand) Limited, Tenneco Automotive Brasil Ltda., Tenneco Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Tenneco Automotive Eastern Europe Sp. z.o.o., Tenneco Automotive Europe BVBA, Tenneco Automotive Europe Coordination Center BVBA, Tenneco Automotive Foreign Sales Corporation Limited, Tenneco Automotive France S.A.S., Tenneco Automotive Holdings South Africa Pty. Limited, Tenneco Automotive Iberica S.A., Tenneco Automotive Inc. Nevada, Tenneco Automotive India Private Limited, Tenneco Automotive Italia S.r.l., Tenneco Automotive Operating Company Inc., Tenneco Automotive Polska Sp. z.o.o., Tenneco Automotive Port Elizabeth (Proprietary) Limited, Tenneco Automotive Portugal Componentes Para Automovel Unipessoal LDA., Tenneco Automotive RSA Company, Tenneco Automotive Second RSA Company, Tenneco Automotive Services Societe Par Actions Simplifiee, Tenneco Automotive Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Tenneco Automotive Trading Company, Tenneco Automotive UK Limited, Tenneco Automotive Volga LLC, Tenneco Automotive Walker Inc., Tenneco Brake Inc., Tenneco CA Czech Republic s.r.o., Tenneco CA Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Tenneco CA Netherlands BV, Tenneco Canada Inc., Tenneco Clean Air Argentina S.A.I.C., Tenneco Clean Air India Private Limited, Tenneco Clean Air Spain S.L.U., Tenneco Clean Air US Inc., Tenneco Deutschland Holdinggesellschaft mbH, Tenneco Eastern European Holdings S.a.r.l., Tenneco Eberspaecher (Beijing) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco Emission Control (Pty) Ltd, Tenneco Etain Societe Par Actions Simplifiee, Tenneco Europe Limited, Tenneco FAWSN (Changchun) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco FAWSN (Foshan) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco FAWSN (Tianjin) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco Fusheng (Chengdu) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco Global Holdings Inc., Tenneco GmbH, Tenneco Holdings Danmark ApS, Tenneco Hong Kong Holdings Limited, Tenneco Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Tenneco Industria de Autopecas Ltda., Tenneco Innovacion S.L., Tenneco International Holding Corp., Tenneco International Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Tenneco International Manufacturing S.a.r.l., Tenneco Japan Ltd., Tenneco Korea Limited, Tenneco Lingchuan (Chongqing) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco Management (Europe) Limited, Tenneco Mauritius China Holdings Ltd., Tenneco Mauritius Holdings Limited, Tenneco Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Tenneco RP Germany GmbH, Tenneco Ride Control South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Tenneco Ride Performance US 4 LLC, Tenneco Ride Performance US 5 LLC, Tenneco Silesia spolka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Tenneco SpinCo Incorporated, Tenneco Sverige AB, Tenneco Walker (Tianjin) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco Zwickau GmbH, Tenneco-Eberspaecher (Dalian) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco-Walker (U.K.) Limited, The Pullman Company, The Tenneco Automotive (UK) Pension Scheme Trustee Limited, Thompson and Stammers (Dunmow) Number 6 Limited, Thompson and Stammers (Dunmow) Number 7 Limited, United Piston Ring Inc., VTD Vakuumtechnik Dresden GmbH, Walker Australia Pty. Limited, Walker Danmark ApS, Walker Electronic Silencing Inc., Walker Europe Inc., Walker Exhaust (Thailand) Company Limited, Walker Gillet (Europe) GmbH, Walker Limited, Walker Manufacturing Company, Walker UK Ltd, Wellworthy Limited, Wimetal Societe Par Actions Simplifiee, and Wuhan Tenneco Exhaust System Co. Ltd.. Read More General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries; and manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food. The company markets its products under the Annie's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, EPIC, Fiber One, Food Should Taste Good, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto's, Go-Gurt, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Helpers, Jus-Rol, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Liberte, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Oui, Pillsbury, Progresso, Raisin Nut Bran, Total, Totino's, Trix, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, Yoki, and Yoplait trademarks. It sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores, as well as drug, dollar, and discount chains. The company operates 466 leased and 392 franchise ice cream parlors. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The following companies are subsidiares of Caterpillar: Advanced Tri-Gen Power Systems LLC, Anchor Coupling Inc., Asia Power Systems (Tianjin) Ltd., AsiaTrak (Tianjin) Ltd., Banco Caterpillar S.A., Berg Propulsion International Pte Ltd., Bucyrus, Bucyrus Australia Surface Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Holdings Ltd., Bucyrus Europe Limited, Bucyrus International (Chile) Limitada, Bucyrus International (Peru) S.A., Bucyrus Mining Australia Pty. Ltd., Bucyrus Mining China LLC, Bucyrus UK Limited, Cat Rental Kyushu LLC, Caterpillar (Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar (China) Financial Leasing Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (China) Machinery Components Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (HK) Limited, Caterpillar (Huainan) Machinery Service Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Langfang) Mining Equipment Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Luxembourg) Investment Co. S.a r.l., Caterpillar (NI) Limited, Caterpillar (Newberry) LLC, Caterpillar (Qingzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Suzhou) Logistics Co. Ltd., Caterpillar (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar (U.K.) Limited, Caterpillar (Wujiang) Ltd., Caterpillar (Xuzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar (Zhengzhou) Ltd., Caterpillar Acquisition Holding Corp., Caterpillar Americas C.V., Caterpillar Americas Co., Caterpillar Americas Funding Inc., Caterpillar Americas Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Asia Limited, Caterpillar Asia Pacific L.P., Caterpillar Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Asset Intelligence LLC, Caterpillar Belgium S.A., Caterpillar Brasil Comercio de Maquinas e Pecas Ltda., Caterpillar Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Brazil LLC, Caterpillar Castings Kiel GmbH, Caterpillar Centro de Formacion S.L., Caterpillar China Limited, Caterpillar Commercial Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Commercial LLC, Caterpillar Commercial Northern Europe Limited, Caterpillar Commercial S.A., Caterpillar Commercial S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Commercial Services S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Communications LLC, Caterpillar Corporativo Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Cote DIvoire, Caterpillar Credito S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., Caterpillar DC Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Digital Services & Solutions SARL, Caterpillar Distribution International LLC, Caterpillar Distribution Services Europe B.V.B.A., Caterpillar East Real Estate Holding Ltd., Caterpillar Emissions Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH, Caterpillar Energy Solutions Inc., Caterpillar Energy Solutions S.A., Caterpillar Energy System Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Engine Systems Inc., Caterpillar Equipos Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Eurasia LLC, Caterpillar FS (QFC) LLC, Caterpillar Finance France S.A., Caterpillar Finance Kabushiki Kaisha, Caterpillar Financial Acquisition Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Aftermarket Solutions Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Australia Leasing Pty Limited, Caterpillar Financial Australia Limited, Caterpillar Financial Commercial Account Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Corporacion Financiera S.A. E.F.C., Caterpillar Financial Dealer Funding LLC, Caterpillar Financial Funding Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Caterpillar Financial Leasing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial New Zealand Limited, Caterpillar Financial Nordic Services AB, Caterpillar Financial Nova Scotia Corporation, Caterpillar Financial OOO, Caterpillar Financial Receivables Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Renting S.A., Caterpillar Financial SARL, Caterpillar Financial Services (Dubai) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services (Ireland) plc, Caterpillar Financial Services (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Argentina S.A., Caterpillar Financial Services Asia Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Financial Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Financial Services CR s.r.o., Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, Caterpillar Financial Services GmbH, Caterpillar Financial Services India Private Limited, Caterpillar Financial Services Leasing ULC, Caterpillar Financial Services Limited Les Services Financiers Caterpillar Limitee, Caterpillar Financial Services Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Caterpillar Financial Services Netherlands B.V., Caterpillar Financial Services Norway AS, Caterpillar Financial Services Philippines Inc., Caterpillar Financial Services Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Financial Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, Caterpillar Financial UK Acquisition Funding Partners, Caterpillar Financial Ukraine LLC, Caterpillar Fluid Systems S.r.l., Caterpillar Fomento Comercial Ltda., Caterpillar Forest Products Inc., Caterpillar France S.A.S., Caterpillar GB L.L.C., Caterpillar Global Investments S.a r.l., Caterpillar Global Mining America LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Equipamentos De Mineracao do Brasil Ltda., Caterpillar Global Mining Equipment LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Europe GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Expanded Products Pty Ltd, Caterpillar Global Mining Germany Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining HMS GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Holdings GmbH, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong AFC Manufacturing Holding Co. Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining Hong Kong Limited, Caterpillar Global Mining LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Global Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Global Mining SARL, Caterpillar Global Mining U.S. Parts LLC, Caterpillar Global Services LLC, Caterpillar Group Services S.A., Caterpillar Holding (France) S.A.S., Caterpillar Holding Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Holdings Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Hungary Components Manufacturing Ltd., Caterpillar Hydraulics Italia S.r.l., Caterpillar IPX LLC, Caterpillar IRB LLC, Caterpillar Impact Products Limited, Caterpillar India Private Limited, Caterpillar Industrial Inc., Caterpillar Industrias Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Industries (Pty) Ltd, Caterpillar Insurance Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Insurance Company, Caterpillar Insurance Holdings Inc., Caterpillar Insurance Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Finance Designated Activity Company, Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Finance Luxembourg S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Holding S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg I S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Luxembourg II S. a r.l., Caterpillar International Product SARL, Caterpillar International Services Corporation, Caterpillar International Services del Peru S.A., Caterpillar Investment Limited, Caterpillar Investment One SARL, Caterpillar Investment Two SARL, Caterpillar Investments, Caterpillar Japan LLC, Caterpillar Latin America Services S.R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Latin America Services de Panama S. de R.L., Caterpillar Latin America Servicios de Chile Limitada, Caterpillar Latin America Support Services S. DE R.L., Caterpillar Leasing (Thailand) Limited, Caterpillar Leasing Chile S.A., Caterpillar Leasing GmbH (Leipzig), Caterpillar Leasing Operativo Limitada, Caterpillar Life Insurance Company, Caterpillar Logistics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Logistics (UK) Limited, Caterpillar Logistics Inc., Caterpillar Logistics ML Services France S.A.S., Caterpillar Logistics Services China Limited, Caterpillar Luxembourg Group S.ar.l., Caterpillar Luxembourg LLC, Caterpillar Luxembourg S.a r.l., Caterpillar Machinery Nantong Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence, Caterpillar Marine Power UK Limited, Caterpillar Marine Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Maroc SARL, Caterpillar Materiels Routiers SAS, Caterpillar Mexico LLC, Caterpillar Mexico S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Mining Canada ULC, Caterpillar Mining Chile Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Motoren (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Motoren GmbH & Co. KG, Caterpillar Motoren Henstedt-Ulzburg GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Rostock GmbH, Caterpillar Motoren Verwaltungs-GmbH, Caterpillar Netherlands Holding B.V., Caterpillar North America C.V., Caterpillar Operator Training Ltd., Caterpillar Overseas Credit Corporation SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Investment Holding SARL, Caterpillar Overseas Limited, Caterpillar Overseas SARL, Caterpillar Panama Services S.A., Caterpillar Paving Products Inc., Caterpillar Paving Products Xuzhou Ltd., Caterpillar Pension Trust Limited, Caterpillar Poland Sp. z o.o., Caterpillar Power Generation Systems (Bangladesh) Limited, Caterpillar Power Generation Systems L.L.C., Caterpillar Power Systems Inc., Caterpillar Power Ventures International Ltd., Caterpillar Precision Seals Korea, Caterpillar Prodotti Stradali S.r.l., Caterpillar Product Services Corporation, Caterpillar Propulsion AB, Caterpillar Propulsion International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Italy S.R.L., Caterpillar Propulsion Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, Caterpillar Propulsion Production AB, Caterpillar Propulsion Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar Propulsion Singapore Pte. Ltd., Caterpillar R&D Center (China) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe LLC, Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Ramos Arizpe Servicios S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar Reman Powertrain Indiana LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Drivetrain LLC, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Renting France S.A.S., Caterpillar Reynosa S.A. de C.V., Caterpillar SARL, Caterpillar Services Germany GmbH, Caterpillar Servicios Limitada, Caterpillar Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Servizi Italia Srl, Caterpillar Shrewsbury Limited, Caterpillar Skinningrove Limited, Caterpillar Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd., Caterpillar Special Services Belgium S.P.R.L., Caterpillar Switchgear Americas LLC, Caterpillar Switchgear Holding Inc., Caterpillar Tianjin Ltd., Caterpillar Torreon S. de R.L. de C.V., Caterpillar Tosno L.L.C., Caterpillar Transmissions France S.A.R.L., Caterpillar Tunneling Canada Holdings Ltd., Caterpillar Tunnelling Canada Corporation, Caterpillar Tunnelling Europe Limited, Caterpillar UK Employee Trust Limited, Caterpillar UK Engines Company Limited, Caterpillar UK Group Limited, Caterpillar UK Holdings Limited, Caterpillar Undercarriage (Xuzhou) Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Underground Mining Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar Used Equipment Services Inc., Caterpillar Venture Capital Inc., Caterpillar Work Tools B.V., Caterpillar Work Tools Inc., Caterpillar World Trading Corporation, Caterpillar Xuzhou, Caterpillar of Australia Pty. Ltd., Caterpillar of Canada Corporation, Caterpillar of Delaware Inc., Centre de Distribution de Wallonie SPRL, CleanAir Systems, Downer Freight Rail, ECM Railway Evolution Romania s.r.l., ECM S.p.A., EDC European Excavator Design Center GmbH, EMC Holding Corp., EMD International Holdings Inc., ERA Information & Entertainment (BVI) Limited, ERA Mining Machinery Limited, Electro-Motive Diesel Limited, Electro-Motive Locomotive Technologies LLC, Electro-Motive Technical Consulting Co. (Beijing) Ltd., Energy Services International Limited, Equipos de Acuna S.A. de C.V., Eurenov S.A.S., F. G. Wilson (Proprietary) Limited, F. Perkins Limited, FG Wilson (Engineering) Limited, GB Holdco (China) Inc., GFCM Comercial Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.N.R., GFCM Servicios S.A. de C.V., Gremada Industries - Assets, Hong Kong Siwei Holdings Limited, Inmobiliaria Conek S.A. de C.V., JCS Co., Kemper Valve & Fittings Corp., Leo Inc., Locomotive Demand Power Pty Ltd., Locomotoras Progress Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Lovat, M2M Data Corporation, MGE Equipamentos & Servicos Ferroviarios, MWM, MWM Austria GmbH, MWM Benelux B.V., MWM Energy Australia Pty Ltd, MWM France S.A.S, MWM Real Estate GmbH, MaK Americas Inc., MaK Americas Inc. (Canada), Magnum Power Products LLC, Marble, Maschinenbau Kiel GmbH, Mec-Track S.r.l., Metalmark Financial Services Limited, Motoren Steffens GmbH, Nippon Caterpillar LLC, P. T. Solar Services Indonesia, PT Caterpillar Finance Indonesia, PT. Bucyrus Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia, PT. Caterpillar Indonesia Batam, PT. Caterpillar Remanufacturing Indonesia, Perkins Engines, Perkins Engines (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, Perkins Engines Group Limited, Perkins Engines Inc., Perkins Group Limited, Perkins Holdings Limited LLC, Perkins India Private Limited, Perkins International Inc., Perkins Japan LLC, Perkins Limited, Perkins Machinery (Changshu) Co. Ltd., Perkins Motores do Brasil Ltda., Perkins Power Systems Technology (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Perkins Small Engines LLC, Perkins Small Engines Limited, Perkins Technology Inc., Progress Metal Reclamation Company, Progress Rail Arabia Limited Company, Progress Rail Australia Pty Ltd, Progress Rail Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Equipamentos e Servicos Ferroviarios do Brasil Ltda., Progress Rail Equipment Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Holdings Inc., Progress Rail Innovations Private Limited, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems GmbH, Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems S.r.l., Progress Rail International Corp., Progress Rail Leasing Canada Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing Corporation, Progress Rail Leasing de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Progress Rail Locomotivas (do Brasil) Ltda., Progress Rail Locomotive Canada Co., Progress Rail Locomotive Chile SpA, Progress Rail Locomotive Inc., Progress Rail Maintenance de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Progress Rail Manufacturing Corporation, Progress Rail Raceland Corporation, Progress Rail Rocklin Corporation, Progress Rail SA Proprietary Limited, Progress Rail Services Corporation, Progress Rail Services Holdings Corp., Progress Rail Services LLC, Progress Rail Services UK Limited, Progress Rail Switching Services LLC, Progress Rail Transcanada Corporation, Progress Rail Welding Corporation, Progress Rail Wildwood LLC, Progress Rail de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pyroban Group, Pyroban Group, Pyrrha Investments B.V., Pyrrha Investments Limited, S&L Railroad LLC, SCM Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd., SPL Software Alliance LLC, Sabre Engines, Servicios de Turbinas Solar S. de R.L. de C.V., Shandong SEM Machinery Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines, Solar Turbines (Beijing) Trading Services Co. Ltd., Solar Turbines (Thailand) Ltd., Solar Turbines CIS Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Canada Ltd./Ltee., Solar Turbines Central Asia Limited Liability Partnership, Solar Turbines EAME s.r.o., Solar Turbines Egypt Limited Liability Company, Solar Turbines Europe S.A., Solar Turbines India Private Limited, Solar Turbines International Company, Solar Turbines Italy S.R.L., Solar Turbines Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Solar Turbines Middle East Limited, Solar Turbines New Zealand Limited, Solar Turbines Saudi Arabia Limited, Solar Turbines Services Company, Solar Turbines Services Nigeria Limited, Solar Turbines Services of Argentina S.R.L., Solar Turbines Switzerland Sagl, Solar Turbines Trinidad & Tobago Limited, Solar Turbines West-Africa SARL, Tangshan DBT Machinery Co. Ltd., Tecnologia Modificada S.A. de C.V., Towmotor Corporation, Traction & Mining Motor Repairs Pty Ltd, Turbinas Solar S.A. de C.V., Turbinas Solar de Colombia S.A., Turbinas Solar de Venezuela C.A., Turbo Tecnologia de Reparaciones S.A. de C.V., Turbomach, Turbomach Endustriyel Gaz Turbinleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited, Turbomach France SARL, Turbomach GmbH, Turbomach Netherlands B.V., Turbomach Pakistan (Private) Limited, Turbomach S.A. Unipersonal, Turbomach Sp. Z o.o., Turner Powertrain Systems Limited, UK Hose Assembly Limited, Underground Imaging Technologies Inc, United Industries LLC, VALA Inc., Vasky Energy Ltd., Wealdstone Engineering, Weir - Oil & Gas Division, West Virginia Auto Shredding Inc., Western Gear Machinery LLC, Wetland Sustainability Fund I LLC, Williams Technologies, Yard Club, Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical and Electrical Equipment Sales Co. Ltd., and okyo Rental Ltd.. Read More By Ssebuliba Samuel: Poll officials will not be allowed to submit poll results without accompanying them with proof of signed forms, during Kenyas repeat elections on October 26th, thats according to the French security firm OT-Morpho . This is one of many steps the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is pushing to seal the loopholes that resulted in the annulment of the August 8 presidential election by the Supreme Court. If the recommendations are implemented fully, all election officials at polling stations and constituency tallying centers will only send signed result forms to the IEBCs transmission system, eliminating the contentious text messages used in the previous election. According to daily nation the French firm, which is supplying information technology services to the IEBC, has employed 400 people to reconfigure the kits and will also be deploying one support engineer per constituency on Election Day. The following companies are subsidiares of TransDigm Group: 17111 Waterview Pkwy LLC, ARA Deutschland GmbH, ARA Holding GmbH, Acme Aerospace, Acme Aerospace Inc., Adams Rite Aerospace GmbH, Adams Rite Aerospace Inc., Advanced Inflatable Products Limited, Aero-Instruments, AeroControlex Group Inc., Aerosonic, Aerosonic LLC, Air-Sea Survival Equipment Trustee Limited, Airborne Acquisition Inc., Airborne Global Inc., Airborne Holdings Inc., Airborne Systems, Airborne Systems Canada Ltd., Airborne Systems Group Limited, Airborne Systems Holdings Limited, Airborne Systems Limited, Airborne Systems NA Inc., Airborne Systems North America Inc., Airborne Systems North America of CA Inc., Airborne Systems North America of NJ Inc., Airborne Systems Pension Trust Limited, Airborne UK Acquisition Limited, Airborne UK Parent Limited, Aircraft Materials Limited, AmSafe, AmSafe Aviation (Chongqing) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Private) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport Ltd., AmSafe Global Holdings Inc., AmSafe Global Services (Private) Limited, AmSafe Inc., Angus Electronics Co., Arkwin Industries, Arkwin Industries Inc., Armtec Countermeasures Co., Armtec Countermeasures TNO Co., Armtec Defense Products Co., Auxitrol SAS, Auxitrol Weston Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Auxitrol Weston Services China Ltd., Auxitrol Weston Singapore Pte. Ltd., Auxitrol Weston USA Inc., Aviation Technologies, Aviation Technologies Inc., Avionic Instruments LLC, Avionics Instruments, Avionics Specialties Inc., AvtechTyee Inc., Beta Transformer Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Beta Transformer Technology Corporation, Beta Transformer Technology LLC, Breeze-Eastern Corporation, Breeze-Eastern LLC, Bridport Erie Aviation Inc., Bridport Holdings Inc., Bridport Ltd., Bridport-Air Carrier Inc., Bruce Aerospace Inc., Bruce Industries, CDA InterCorp LLC, CEF Industries LLC, CMC Electronics Aurora LLC, CMC Electronics Inc., CMC Electronics ME Inc., Champion Aerospace LLC, Chelton Avionics Holdings Inc., Chelton Avionics Inc., Chelton Limited, Cobham Aero Connectivity, Cobham CTS Limited, Cobham Defence Communications Limited, Cobham Defense Products Inc., DART Aerospace, DDC Electronics K.K., DDC Electronics Ltd., DDC Electronics Private Limited, DDC Electronique S.A.R.L., DDC Elektronik GmbH, Darchem Engineering Limited, Darchem Holdings Limited, Data Device Corp., Data Device Corporation, Dukes Aerospace Inc., EST Defence Company UK Limited, Edlaw Limited, Electromech Technologies LLC, Elektro-Metall Export GmbH, Elektro-Metall Paks KFT, Esterline, Esterline Acquisition Ltd, Esterline Europe Company LLC, Esterline Foreign Sales Corporation, Esterline International Company, Esterline Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Esterline Technologies Corporation, Esterline Technologies Corporation, Esterline Technologies Europe Limited, Esterline Technologies France Holding SAS, Esterline Technologies French Acquisition Limited, Esterline Technologies Global Limited, Esterline Technologies Holdings Limited, Esterline Technologies SGIP LLC, Esterline Technologies Unlimited, Esterline do Brasil Assessoria e Intermediacao Ltda, European Antennas Limited, Extant Components Group Holdings Inc., Extant Components Group Intermediate Inc., GQ Parachutes Limited, Guizhou Leach-Tianyi Aviation Electrical Company Ltd, Harco, HarcoSemco LLC, Hartwell Corporation, Hytek Finishes Co., ILC Holdings Inc., IRVIN AEROSPACE LIMITED, IrvinGQ France SAS, IrvinGQ Limited, Janco Corporation, Johnson Liverpool LLC, Kirkhill Elastomers, Kirkhill Inc., Korry Electronics Co., Kunshan Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Leach Holding Corporation, Leach International Asia-Pacific Ltd, Leach International Corporation, Leach International Europe S.A.S., Leach International Germany GmbH, Leach International Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., Leach International UK Ltd, Leach Mexico Holding LLC, Leach Technology Group Inc., MarathonNorco Aerospace Inc., Mason Electric Co., Mastsystem Int'l Oy, McKechnie Aerospace, McKechnie Aerospace (Europe) Ltd., McKechnie Aerospace DE Inc., McKechnie Aerospace DE LP, McKechnie Aerospace Holdings Inc., McKechnie Aerospace US LLC, Mecanismos de Matamoros S. de R.L. de C.V., NAT Seattle Inc., NMC Group Inc., Norco, Nordisk Asia Pacific Limited, Nordisk Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Nordisk Aviation Products (Kunshan) Ltd., Nordisk Aviation Products AS, Nordisk Aviation Products LLC, North Hills Signal Processing Corp., North Hills Signal Processing Overseas LLC, Norwich Aero Products Inc., Palomar Products Inc., Pexco Aerospace, Pexco Aerospace Inc., PneuDraulics, PneuDraulics Inc., Pressure Systems International Ltd, Schneller, Schneller Asia Pte. Ltd., Schneller LLC, Schneller S.A.R.L., Schroth Safety Products, Semco Instruments, Semco Instruments Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Signal Processing Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Skandia, Skandia Inc., Skurka Aerospace, Skurka Aerospace Inc., Symetrics Industries, Symetrics Industries LLC, Symetrics Technology Group LLC, TA Aerospace Co., TA Mfg Limited, TDG Bavaria GmbH, TDG ESL Holdings Inc., TDG France Ultimate Parent SAS, TDG Germany GmbH, TEAC Aerospace Holdings Inc., TEAC Aerospace Technologies Inc., Tactair Fluid Controls Inc., Takata Protection Systems, Telair International, Telair International GmbH, Telair International Services PTE Ltd, Telair US LLC, TransDigm (Barbados) SRL, TransDigm Canada ULC, TransDigm European Holdings Limited, TransDigm Ireland Ltd., TransDigm Receivables LLC, TransDigm Technologies India Private Limited, TransDigm UK Holdings plc, Transicoil (Malaysia) Sendirian Berhad, Transicoil LLC, Wallop Defence UK Limited, Weston Aerospace Ltd, Whippany Actuation Systems, Whippany Actuation Systems LLC, XCEL Power Systems Ltd., Young & Franklin, Young & Franklin Inc., and exas Rotronics Inc.. Read More By Damali Mukhaye Another NGO office has this afternoon been raided by police, this time in Naguru, Nakawa Division. The Uhuru Institute for Social Development was raided by police who conducted a cordon and search operation. The executive director of the institute Leonard Okello confirmed the incident, though he quickly added that he did not know why the police were searching the offices. However, the police spokesperson Asan Kasingye said he was not aware of any such raid. By this evening, the Uhuru Institute office was still under siege by police. This is the third civil society organization office to be raided by police on grounds that they are allegedly funding protests against the campaign on presidential age limit removal. First to be raided were the offices of Action Aid Uganda located in Kansanga and the Great Lakes Institute of Strategic Studies in Ntinda. What to expect at UK Construction Week 2017 the industrys biggest showcase for the built environment in the UK In just under two weeks time the UKs biggest names from across construction will be at the NEC, Birmingham. UK Construction Week is returning for its third year, uniting over 650 exhibitors with 30,000 trade visitors from 10-12 October in what is set to be the largest gathering of the built environment community. Visitors to the UKs largest free construction trade show can expect over 10,000 innovative product launches, educational seminars, opportunities to learn new skills, and perhaps even some controversial debate along the way. Consisting of Build Show, sponsored by EasyTrim, Timber Expo, sponsored by Steico, Civils Expo, sponsored by Finning CAT, Plant & Machinery Live, sponsored by AutoTrader Plant, Energy 2017, sponsored by G2 Energy, Smart Buildings 2017, sponsored by KNX, Surface & Materials Show, sponsored by BLFA, HVAC 2017, sponsored by Flakt Group, and Grand Designs Live, UK Construction Week caters for the entire spectrum of the industry from builders, architects, innovators and consultants, each show provides exhibitors with the opportunity to network alongside decision makers and purchasers while showcasing their services and products to thousands of visitors. Among the exhibitors are some of the industrys best-regarded specialists, including Easy-Trim, Rockwool, Velux, BAXI, Kit Miles, Steico, CAT, Cemex, Gripple, Screwfix, Npower, plus HS2, HP, and a long list of international names, such as Bisen Smart Access Co, Hauff-Technik, Kessel, Randek and the Jiangxi Songtao Bamboo Industry Company. There will also be international pavilions from Turkey, China, Belarus and Poland. Back by popular demand is The Innovation Trail, which appeals to everyone interested in new ways of working, sustainable products and evolving technologies. Confirmed to appear as part of this years line-up are Central Alliance, Texo Drone, Linus Industries, among others. Be sure to visit the BIM Prospects Theatre hosted by BRE at UK Construction Week, which will introduce and educate anybody engaged in the built environment and interested in better information management. In collaboration with Constructing Excellence, six seminar groups of construction domains will be orchestrated by BRE staff and associates. For those interest in elegant structures, the pod home concept from Estonias OODHOUSE will feature at the Surface & Materials Show. Spectators will discover first-hand how quickly and easily these stylish timber and glass structures can be constructed, which are set to be a major talking point at UK Construction Week 2017. Visitors should join BSI at its Construction Forum on Tuesday 10 October 2017 for an exciting and interactive day exploring some of the key trends coming up in the built environment. Planned sessions include Standards Supporting Global Growth as well as Digitalisation & BIM. Offsite construction is a trend which grows stronger every year and the future of housing will include significant prefabrication, offsite assembly, volumetric modular building and automation. This part of the event is supported by the Modular and Portable Building Association, and features the Offsite Theatre, sponsored by Premier Modular, for dedicated debate and learning. Exhibitors including Portakabin, Tremco Illbruck, Tufeco, LHC, and Containex. Building safety, quality and fire prevention remain a priority. Free CPD advice will include changes to legislation on safety, guidance on product safety, and fire prevention strategies. At the event, there will be a demonstration from Exova, which includes a full-scale simulated cross-corridor set-up to demonstrate best-practice installation of passive fire protection measures. Also taking place at the show is IEMAs Skills & Sustainable Infrastructure Conference, which will launch its latest research report, delving into the role that sustainability skills are playing in enabling the UKs Golden Age of Infrastructure on Wednesday 11 October at NEC Concourse Suites 1, 2. With all of this on offer, the UKCW Stage will remain the hotbed of the show, featuring discussions, debates and learning opportunities throughout. Each of the three days will be fronted by celebrity chairs and speakers, including architect and broadcaster, George Clarke, business journalist and broadcaster, Steph McGovern, and architecture critic and TV presenter, Tom Dyckhoff. Other key seminars set to be delivered on the UKCW stage include an update from Heathrow Airports Expansion Programme Director, Phil Wilbraham, and a talk from Mark Farmer, CEO of Cast Consultancy, who will provide an update on the Farmer Review: Modernise or Die and explore whats happened in the year since it was published. As the Official Automotive Partner, Isuzu will be occupying three stands in Hall 9 in the Surface and Materials show. Visitors will find them at stands M50, M150 and M160, where they will discover the New Generation Isuzu D-Max and register for an on-site test drive so they can put the Isuzu D-Max through its paces and even experiment with towing. Additional zones and theatres include Health and Safety, Windows & Doors, Roofing & Insulation, Tools, the Builders Merchants Federation Pavilion, a Development and Regeneration Hub, How to Theatre sponsored by Trimaco featuring product demonstrations, and the Education Hub offering CPDs in partnership with BSI. Nathan Garnett, Event Director at Media 10, which runs the show, said: We cant wait to be back at the Birmingham NEC for our third year. We anticipate that this years UK Construction Week will be our biggest and boldest yet, with a stellar line-up of speakers, exhibitors, sponsors and products, in addition to a packed agenda that will drive and inspire conversation over the course of the three days. UK Construction Week is a unique opportunity to meet a huge number of suppliers, buyers and decision-makers as part of the Hosted Buyer Programme, sponsored by Lloyds Bank. A beer and ale festival runs throughout to lubricate the social wheels, plus a dodgeball tournament and casino nights. For additional information on the full programme of events, free registration, accommodation, and discounted Virgin train travel, please visit www.ukconstructionweek.com Savannah Resources announced on Monday that the results of a hydrogeological baseline assessment would bolster the in-principle approval of its proposed tailings storage facility, adding that key approvals relating to the Block 5 Mahab 4 and Maqail South mining licence applications for copper development in Oman had been received. The AIM-traded firm confirmed it had successfully completed hydrogeological baseline assessments for the proposed tailings storage facility, which would support development at both mines, and which already had approval in-principle from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs subject to studies and test work being presented. It described it as a key study to bolster the TSF's in-principle approval concept, which remained subject to further studies and test work being presented to MECA. The company also reported solid progress towards the grant of mining licences for the first two of a planned series of high-grade copper mine developments in Oman. Regulatory approval or no objection had been received from five ministries for the Maqail South Licence application to date, where the company was targeting open cut development. Additionally, regulatory approval or no objection had received from four ministries for the Mahab 4 Licence application to date, where it was targeting underground development. Savannah also said it had commenced the environmental impact assessment (EIA) into the design and efficacy of the proposed tailings storage facility and copper concentrator / processing plant It said the economic scoping study for the potential mine development was approaching completion, and it was aiming to start mining in the first half of 2018. Solid progress continues to be made towards the award of mining licences for each of the initial mine developments, the processing plant and the TSF, said Savannah chief executive David Archer. We are working towards the mining licences being awarded around the year end, with the licence for the TSF targeted to be granted soon thereafter. In parallel, we have largely completed the economic scoping study for the initial mine developments; this is based on two run-of-mine ore streams being treated at a common, centrally located copper concentration plant with an associated TSF. Archer said the study had been conceived and undertaken so that it could be converted into a detailed design with relative ease and speed, to meet its development timelines of commencing production in the first half of 2018. Furthermore, the proposed plant and TSF have been designed to treat ores from both Maqail South and Mahab 4 but also offer the potential to treat ore from other high-grade copper deposits, located in Oman, adding further potential upside. Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire has criticised the decision to slap a 220% trade tariff on planemaker Bombardier after action taken by rival Boeing last week. The Canadian company is one of the largest employers in NI, with over 4,000 jobs said to be at risk as a result of the US' decision to impose the import tariff. Speaking at the Conservative party conference on Sunday, Brokenshire said the decision was 'unjustified and unwarranted'. "I say to Boeing this case is unjustified and unwarranted. This action is not what is expected of a long-term partner to the UK." Brokenshire called on Boeing and Bombardier to "get round the table and secure a negotiated outcome to this dispute quickly". The US Department of Commerce made the decision to introduce the hefty tariff, which tripled the cost of the C-series group of planes in the US. Bombardier called the ruling "absurd," saying that Boeing was attempting to use US trade laws as part of an effort to "stifle competition," because it had made a "superior aircraft" that was more efficient and comfortable than its own offerings. The NI secretary also called on the political parties in the region to reach an agreement, with Stormont remaining unoccupied since a collapse in power-sharing at the beginning of this year. "Now is the time to look beyond the issues that divide you. Show the resolve you have demonstrated in the past, Brokenshire added. Jo Bertram has stood down from her role as head of operations for ride-hailing app Uber in northern Europe as the company's global chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, arrived in London in order to plead his case to Transport for London for the reinstatement of the firm's licence in the capital. Uber said Bertram's resignation was not related to TfL's decision to not renew the business' London licence, and that she had actually handed in her resignation at the end of August, weeks before the ruling. Bertram told fellow employees that she had "decided to move on to something new and exciting" after four years with the company. "Given some of our current challenges, Im also convinced that now is the right time to have a change of face, and to hand over to someone who will be here for the long haul and take us into the next phase," she said. "While I would like to have announced my move in smoother circumstances, Im proud of the team weve built here and am very confident in their abilities to lead the business into the next chapter." The Californian company launched an appeal against the revocation of its licence and would be able to trade until a decision was reached. Uber's general manager for London, Tom Elvidge, was set to take on Bertram's role until such a time as the company had found a more suitable successor. The European Commission has sided with Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy in the fallout related to Catalonia's tumultuous independence referendum, backing his claim that the vote was illegal but also calling for dialogue between Madrid and Barcelona. Officials in Catalonia have declared the right to secede from Spain after Sundays highly charged referendum where a large majority voted for independence but police use of batons and rubber bullets left more than 800 people injured. According to the officials in charge of the independence vote for the region, which had been declared illegal by Madrid's constitutional court, over 90% of those who voted opted to separate from Spain. "Under Spanish constitution, vote in Catalonia was not legal," a statement from the EU's executive branch said. "Beyond purely legal aspects: the Commission believes that these are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation...We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics." With security forces drafted in by Madrid from all over Spain in an attempt to disrupt the poll, police fired rubber bullets and used their batons against many of those taking part across the region, where polling took place among peaceful protest marches. The official number of injured has risen to 844, with a raft of videos published online showing women and elderly people were among those attacked with police batons, some in polling stations themselves. Rajoy defended the actions of the government, and denied that any vote had taken place on Sunday. "Today, we have not had a referendum for self-determination in Catalonia, Rajoy said in a televised address overnight. "Today, all the Spaniards have seen that our state rule of law keeps its strength and reality, and restricts those who wish to subvert the state of law, and acts with all the legal resources, vis a vis all provocations, and does it with efficacy and in a serene way." 'HOPE AND SUFFERING' Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said the results of Sundays referendum would be passed to the regional parliament for it to make a formal declaration. On this day of hope and suffering, Catalan citizens have earned the right to have an independent state, Puigdemont said. The political uncertainty caused by the fallout from the referendum is unlikely to halt soon, as Barcelona and Madrid continue to debate the legality of the vote. According to Berenberg analyst Holger Schmieding, Catalonia does not have the means by which to enforce independence, which will lead to further talks between its leaders and Rajoys government. If Barcelona declares unilateral independence, the practical consequences would likely remain limited despite a lot of noise including strikes and mass protests, Schmieding said. Catalonia would not have the means, including the fiscal means, to enforce a full independence. Problems would abound soon: who collects which taxes, who controls the regional police etc. At some point in time, Barcelona and Madrid will need to talk. IBEX SUFFERS European markets opened mostly higher on Monday morning despite the tensions in Catalonia, as the Spanish Ibex 35 was the only one to open lower, by 0.78%. Spanish government bonds were under pressure with analysts at Rabobank pointing to the yield on Spain's 10-year bonds widening to around 5.0 basis points compared to Germany, referencing the violent crackdown by Madrid as the catalyst for this move. The result of the vote was not a big shock, Rabobank said: "What was unexpected, though, was the violence used in an attempt to suppress the vote. Catalan officials estimate that more than 800 people were injured in clashes with the police during the referendum. "This violence, in turn, stands to have an important bearing both on how the issue of Catalan independence now unfolds and on political risk in Spain more broadly." The analysts suggested the police violence will enflame tensions and so make it much harder for Madrid to achieve a political solution, could tarnish the image of the central government and, by the same token, galvanise support for the secessionist cause, and is likely to complicate policy-making at a national level "as opposition parties seek to gain political capital from what is arguably a gross PR error on the part of PM Rajoys govt not just as regards the citizens of Catalonia but those in Spain more broadly many of whom are likely to have been dismayed by the footage of yesterdays police violence". #Catalonia Presid.@KRLS dennounces human rights violations by Spain police against Catalan voters. Judge by yourself:pic.twitter.com/mOYk605AXt David d'Enterria *X (@denterd) October 1, 2017 Donald Trump addressed the media from the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House on Monday after having been briefed on Sunday evening's shooting in Las Vegas that claimed the lives of more than 50 people, leaving a further 400 wounded. Earlier in the day, the President had expressed his condolences for the victims via his account on Twitter. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 Trump said that all Americans had been "joined together in sadness, shock and grief" as a result of the "act of pure evil." He said, "The FBI and Department of homeland securities are working closely with local authorities" and would be providing an update shortly. The President said he would be visiting Las Vegas on Wednesday to speak with victims and law enforcement, but in the meantime assured those affected, "We are praying for you, and we are here for you." In response to Trump's comments, country/folk artist Mishka Shubaly took to his Twitter account to call for an immediate tightening of the country's gun laws. Your thoughts and prayers are an empty, hollow insult to the dead and wounded. We need GUN CONTROL NOW. Mishka Shubaly (@MishkaShubaly) October 2, 2017 The Las Vegas Police Department identified the shooter as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada. Paddock had been staying at the Mandalay Bay Hotel since 28 September and, despite extremist group IS claiming responsibility for the attack, had no known links to terrorist organisations, leading authorities to stress that they knew very little about the shooting at the time, as LVMPD Sherriff Lombardo said he was not prepared to label the shooting a terrorist incident. Mesquite police spokesman Quinn Averett said, "We don't have a lot on Mr Paddock," as the Mesquite PD records showed no record of any contact with Paddock. No calls for service, no arrests, or any record of a traffic stop. Paddock's brother, Eric told CBS, "He's not an avid gun guy at all. The fact that he had those kind of weapons is just where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that. Hes just a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite, drove down and gambled in Las Vegas." Paddock had been confirmed as deceased on site, but LVMPD was unable to confirm whether or not his death was a result of a self-inflicted gun wound or police fire. The death toll of at least 50 made the mass shooting the deadliest in US history, surpassing the June 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced on Saturday that the White House had been in direct contact with North Korean officials to discuss the rogue nation's nuclear programme. After meeting with Chinese officials in Beijing on Saturday afternoon, Tillerson doubled down on previous comments, saying the US would never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. "We are probing, so stay tuned," he said. "We can talk to them, we do talk to them directly, through our own channels," noting the US had "a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang." Donald Trump, who had recently taken to referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as "Rocket Man", said the time for talk had passed and the Tillerson was "wasting his time trying to negotiate" with Pyongyang. ...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 Tillerson said it was paramount that both the President and Kim Jong-un cut back on their current line of rhetoric as part of an effort to de-escalate the tensions on the Korean Peninsula. "The whole situation is a bit overheated right now," he said. "Everyone would like for it to calm down. Obviously, it would help for North Korea to stop firing off missiles. That would calm things down a lot." "You'd be foolish to say you're going to sit down and so, OK, done, nuclear weapons gone," Tillerson said of North Korea, which had gone as far as to enshrine its nuclear doctrine into its constitution. "Despite assurances that the United States is not interested in promoting the collapse of the current regime, pursuing regime change, accelerating reunification of the peninsula or mobilizing forces north of the DMZ, North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond pledged to inflict a defeat on Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party, who he also described as 'dinosaurs' during his speech at the Conservative party conference. Hammond told those in attendance that Corbyn was a 'danger' to UK politics, and that a Labour government would 'wreak havoc' on the UK. He also confirmed a 300m investment in railways for the north of England, as well as the extra 10bn for the help-to-buy housing scheme. "They say politics is about the clash of ideas. So we say to Corbyn 'bring it on'," Hammond said. He described Corbyn and his deputy Labour leader John McDonnell as dinosaurs who had broken out of their glass cases. "Let them put their arguments, let them make their case. We will take them on. And we will defeat them. I promise you this: we will defeat them by the power of argument; by our logic; by the experience of history." Hammond attempted to reach out to the younger generation during his speech, saying that the government had to educate people about how the economy works. "We have to explain why and how the market economy works and the role of competition as the consumers friend." "I think we owe it to the next generation to show how Corbyns Marxist policies will inevitably lead us back to where Britain was in the late 1970s." Indivior has submitted a new drug application in the US for a once-monthly injectable schizophrenia treatment and agreed to buy out patent rights from a manufacturer of similar antipsychotic medication. At the end of last week the FTSE 250 company filed an NDA with the US Food and Drug Administration for 'RBP-7000', an injectable version of antipsychotic medication risperidone that is administered via Atrigel, a slow-release drug delivery system. Indivior, which makes most of its revenues from opioid addiction treatments, also said it had paid $12.5m up-front to Durect Corporation for "certain patent rights" to improve protection of RBP-7000, with a further $5m due upon NDA approval of RBP-7000 plus earn-out payments based on a low single-digit percentage of US sales of certain products covered by the patent rights. The patent rights include a US patent that covers injectable sustained-release small molecule drug formulation, as well as pending applications in the same patent family. Indivior's NDA submission for RBP-7000 included the results from a Phase 3 study testing the effectiveness and safety of the drug and a long-term safety study, which found the treatment demonstrated "statistically clinical improvement" compared to placebo based on changes in mean positive and negative syndrome scale total and clinical global impression-severity of illness scores at eight weeks. Vodafone Group announced on Monday that its Vodafone Portugal division, and Portuguese telecommunications and media conglomerate NOS , have signed an agreement to deploy and share a fibre-to-the-home network which would be marketable to around 2.6 million homes and businesses in Portugal. The FTSE 100 firm said both it and its Euronext-traded counterpart would provide reciprocal access to each other's networks on commercially-agreed terms, although financial details were not disclosed. It said the key terms of the agreement included that the total number of homes and businesses to be shared by the two companies would be around 2.6 million, covering both existing and greenfield areas. Vodafone Portugal would gain access to 1.3 million homes and businesses in new areas, consisting of new fibre builds in NOS's current cable footprint, NOS's existing fibre reach in areas greenfield to Vodafone, and building homes in new areas. That would increase its total coverage from 2.7 million to around 4.0 million, reportedly representing 80% of households in the country. At the back-end, Vodafone said each party would deploy, but not share, the link between the central office and the fibre backbone, active equipment and customer-premises equipment. Customer connections and activations would remain independent of each other. Marketing of services across the joint network would begin at the start of calendar year 2018, the Vodafone board confirmed. Both Vodafone Portugal and NOS would maintain complete autonomy and flexibility in respect of their respective retail offers. The agreement is consistent with Vodafone Group's fixed infrastructure strategy, which aims for an optimal mix of build, strategic partnerships, wholesale and buy approaches, Vodafones board said in its statement. As a result of this strategy, Vodafone can already market high-speed services to 98 million homes across Europe, and this agreement extends this to over 100 million. Chancellor Philip Hammond was said to be preparing to announce an additional 300m in funding towards the improvement of rail links in the north of England at an upcoming Conservative Party conference in Manchester. Plans to electrify the Trans-Pennine route had been in doubt, but the new money would see the High-Speed Two (HS2) rail line meet up with faster trains destined for the likes of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds and York after its departure from London. Aside from the so-called 'Northern Powerhouse' rail funding, Hammond was also expected to announce the allocation of 100m for 33 new road schemes across north-east and north-west England, as well as Yorkshire and Humber. A transcript of the Chancellor's speech released ahead of time also suggested Hammond would use the opportunity to launch a defence of free market economics, which he would say was coming under attack from Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour Party. "Our economy is not broken: it is fundamentally strong," the speech read. "And while no-one suggests a market economy is perfect, it is the best system yet designed for making people steadily better off over time and underpinning strong and sustainable public services for everyone." Speaking to BBC radio on Monday, the Chancellor also suggested the 22 November Budget would allow room to help businesses: "What I've said in previous fiscal events is we have the flexibility to respond to support the economy through what is a very difficult period as we negotiate our exit from the European Union. "We will have to be prepared to support the economy as necessary throughout this period." Budget carrier Wizz Air was the standout gainer, benefiting from the collapse of rival Monarch Airlines. Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said: "Usually whats bad for one airline - higher fuel costs, terror attacks, air traffic control strikes - are bad for the sector. Shares in the various players have a tendency to track each other with some consistency. "But the failure of Monarch is good news for rivals. No doubt this takes the heat off Ryanair but it has wider implications. The third airline failure this year in Europe, after Alitalia and Air Berlin, is a symptom of over-capacity and overly-aggressive pricing." Housebuilders were on the front foot, with Redrow, Crest Nicholson and Bellway all higher after PM Theresa May said the government will find an extra 10bn for the Help to Buy scheme to let another 135,000 people get on the property ladder. Electrocomponents was higher ahead of a trading update on Tuesday. Going the other way, Nex Group was under pressure after the electronic trading services provider warned that first-half profit margins will be hit by increased investment in its Optimisations business and ongoing low volatility on its Reset business. Temporary power provider Aggreko was hit by as downgrade to 'sell' from 'hold' at Berenberg, which cut its price target to 770p from 800p, saying the latest re-rating was unjustified. Berenberg noted that the stock has re-rated by 12% since mid-August, most likely driven by an expected cyclical upswing in the US as the company benefits from the recovery and rebuild efforts in the aftermath of recent hurricanes. "This re-rating is unjustified, in our view, and we think any cyclical recovery in the groups North America business will be temporary and offset by disappointment elsewhere," it said. Risers Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,975.00p 3.98% Electrocomponents (ECM) 639.50p 2.98% Redrow (RDW) 607.50p 2.53% Just Eat (JE.) 684.50p 2.39% Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 566.00p 2.35% Card Factory (CARD) 315.30p 2.34% Cineworld Group (CINE) 693.00p 2.29% Bellway (BWY) 3,364.00p 2.03% Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 122.70p 2.00% Clarkson (CKN) 2,916.00p 1.92% Fallers Nex Group (NXG) 620.50p -6.27% Greencore Group (GNC) 184.70p -5.86% Aggreko (AGK) 901.50p -3.99% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 222.90p -2.88% Cairn Energy (CNE) 186.20p -2.77% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,617.00p -2.59% Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,228.00p -2.15% Tullow Oil (TLW) 182.10p -2.15% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 241.60p -2.15% AA (AA.) 165.90p -2.12% Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Mostly cloudy skies with a few snow showers after midnight. Low 28F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 30%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies with a few snow showers after midnight. Low 28F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 30%. From the dynamic streets of Jakarta to the blissed-out beaches of Bali, Indonesia is a country of surreal juxtapositions and staggering diversity. This vibrant and varied nation spreads across 17,000 islands, speaks hundreds of languages, is the worlds 4th most populous country, and boasts a rich assortment of landscapes and cultures. At times it feels like dozens of countries merged into one. Indonesias fascinating customs and lifestyles are a major attraction, but failure to respect them could land a less-savvy tourist in seriously scorching water. Dont be the boozed-up Bali bro getting trashed at Potato Head Beach Club at 10am. Heres what you need to know before you go. Be Respectful Of Religion More than 80 percent of Indonesians identify as Muslim, though their practice of Islam has been influenced by centuries of interaction with Hinduism, Buddhism, and traditional animist beliefs. Islam in Indonesia tends be more moderate than the austere approach to faith associated with many of the Gulf States. That being said, the country as a whole is a conservative and traditions-based society, and visitors should be respectful of the religious practices and institutions they encounter. Indonesias blasphemy laws date back to the 1960s. The country punishes any deviation from six officially recognised religions, as well as acts or words deemed hostile to God, with up to five years in prison. The laws were rarely invoked in their early decades, but have been used more frequently in recent years. A case in 2012, for instance, saw a 30-year-old civil servant jailed for two-and-a-half years for declaring himself an atheist on Facebook. Take Extra Precautions As An LGBT Traveller Indonesia does not have a sodomy law and does not currently criminalise homosexuality, however, Indonsian law also does not protect the LGBT community against discrimination and hate crimes. The country also doesnt recognise same-sex marriage. Under the leadership of president Joko Widodo, LGBT people in Indonesia face growing hostility and intolerance, particularly in the semi-autonomous northern province of Aceh, which has been governed by Sharia law since 2001. LGBT travellers should take extra precautions as the country faces escalating harassment, violence, and police raids. Dont Bet On Gambling You wont find a casino or even a game of bingo in Indonesia. The country has gone to great lengths to ban betting in all its forms, including cracking down on online gambling. Although there are underground gambling operations to be found, police regularly raid these facilities and the punishments can be severe. Tourists must also be on the alert for illegal gambling gangs, which run fixed games that can result in large debts and violence for the victim. Ride Responsibly Driving a motorcycle or scooter without a helmet isnt just a good way to get a concussion, its also likely to score you an encounter with the police. Indonesia takes safety seriously, and riders caught going bareheaded will be fined. Butt Out Indonesia has the highest percentage of male smokers globally, and one of the highest rates of adolescent and child smokers in the world. Cigarettes and tobacco advertising are widespread some have even called Indonesia the tobacco industrys Disneyland. To combat the widespread health crisis, many of the countrys municipalities have regulations in place for smoke-free public spaces. The government now requires no smoking signs in health care units, educational institutions, and the public transportation system, though there is not yet a country-wide ban on smoking in government and private offices, restaurants, and bars. Pornography in Indonesia Be wary if youre wooed by Indonesias racy red light side. Though prostitution is not specifically addressed in the law, officials often interpret crimes against decency/morality to apply to sex work. Nevertheless, the practice still is widespread, tolerated and regulated. Sex workers are easily able to bribe law enforcers to be released from custody after raids. Recent moves to crack down on prostitution have had limited impact so far, but mugging and scams are always a risk for customers. And with sex tourism being such a grey area in Indonesias current political climate, your safest bet is to skip the sex trade entirely. Indonesia also has strict anti-pornography laws that punish possessing or downloading explicit materials with up to four years in prison. Just Say No Indonesias drug laws are extremely strict and should not be trifled with. Possession of Group 1 drugs (including heroin, cocaine, marijuana, MDMA, psilocybin, LSD, methamphetamine, and opium) could get you life imprisonment. Get convicted of trafficking and you face the death penalty. And dont expect the Im a tourist! excuse to get you off Indonesia is infamous for enforcing its harsh penalties on foreigners caught with illicit substances. In 2015, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed on a prison island off central Java for smuggling heroin. In 2005, Schapelle Corby, also Australian, was convicted of smuggling cannabis and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She was released on parole and deported after serving 9 years of her sentence Though the law permits accused drug users to be sentenced to rehabilitation instead of prison time, as a foreigner you run the risk of being punished severely and made an example of. Indonesias zero-tolerance policy is not to be messed with. By Andrew McMaster Every second, more than 20,000 drinks in plastic bottles are purchased around the globe. That adds up to more than 1 million bottles a minute and nearly 500 billion bottles per year. It may come as no surprise then that the largest beverage manufacturer, Coca-Cola, reportedly manufactured more than 110 billion plastic bottles in 2016. The environmental activist group Greenpeace claims that this number has risen by about 1 billion bottles since last year, despite Coca-Colas public campaign to reduce the amount of plastic it uses. We have calculated [Coca-Cola] produced over 110 billion throwaway plastic bottles every yearan astounding 3,400 a second, Louise Edge, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace, told the Guardian. Greenpeace has been campaigning for Coke to stop polluting oceans with plastic bottles over the last few months. The organization reports that plastic bottles are one of the most commonly found items on beaches across the world, bringing a litany of environmental hazards with them wherever they pop up. Once [plastic bottles] are in the environment, they become a hazard for wildlife, wrote Tisha Brown, a campaigner for Greenpeaces ocean team. Larger pieces of plastic can become an entanglement or choking hazard for animals. These larger plastics break down over time into microplastics which have been found in everything from seafood, sea salt and even our drinking water. Greenpeace, for its part, has used a variety of tactics to raise awareness of the soda companys pollutive ways, such as posting fake Coke advertisements labeled Choke and erecting a sculpture of a seagull vomiting garbage outside of Cokes UK headquarters using plastic bottles. All of these measures were intended to raise awareness about the growing need to address plastic levels in our oceans. It has been estimated that there could be more plastic than fish in the worlds oceans by 2050. In response to these concerns, Coca-Cola UK announced several measures aimed at reducing plastic use, including a pledge to increase recycled plastic in its bottles to 50 percent by 2020. Many feel this target does not represent a true commitment to fighting pollution by the company. Amid investigations of the size and scope of Cokes manufacturing process, Greenpeace activists see many of the beverage giants actions as PR moves. We were trying to uncover for the first time the true size of Coca-Colas plastic footprint, Louisa Casson, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace, told CNN. And we are actually seeing them going backwards. Rather than investing more in refillables and reusables, theyve increased their use of single-use plastic bottles over the last decade. Global Citizen campaigns on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, and working to achieve healthy oceans is number 14. You can join other Global Citizens to take action on this issue here. Reposted with permission from our media associate Global Citizen. By Andrew Maynard Elon Musk has a plan, and its about as audacious as they come. Not content with living on our pale blue dot, Musk and his company SpaceX want to colonize Mars, fast. They say theyll send a duo of supply ships to the red planet within five years. By 2024, theyre aiming to send the first humans. From there they have visions of building a space port, a city and, ultimately, a planet theyd like to geoengineer to be as welcoming as a second Earth. If he succeeds, Musk could thoroughly transform our relationship with our solar system, inspiring a new generation of scientists and engineers along the way. But between here and success, Musk and SpaceX will need to traverse an unbelievably complex risk landscape. Many will be technical. The rocket thats going to take Musks colonizers to Mars (code named the BFRno prizes for guessing what that stands for) hasnt even been built yet. No one knows what hidden hurdles will emerge as testing begins. Musk does have a habit of successfully solving complex engineering problems though; and despite the mountainous technical challenges SpaceX faces, theres a fair chance theyll succeed. As a scholar of risk innovation, what Im not sure about is how SpaceX will handle some of the less obvious social and political hurdles they face. To give Elon Musk a bit of a head start, here are some of the obstacles I think he should have on his mission-to-Mars checklist. Planetary Protection Imagine there was once life on Mars, but in our haste to set up shop there, we obliterate any trace of its existence. Or imagine that harmful organisms exist on Mars and spacecraft inadvertently bring them back to Earth. These are scenarios that keep astrobiologists and planetary protection specialists awake at night. Theyve led to unbelievably stringent international policies around what can and cannot be done on government-sponsored space missions. Yet Musks plans threaten to throw the rule book on planetary protection out the window. As a private company SpaceX isnt directly bound by international planetary protection policies. And while some governments could wrap the company up in space bureaucracy, theyll find it hard to impose the same levels of hoop-jumping that NASA missions, for instance, currently need to navigate. Its conceivable (but extremely unlikely) that a laissez-faire attitude toward interplanetary contamination could lead to Martian bugs invading Earth. The bigger risk is stymying our chances of ever discovering whether life existed on Mars before human beings and their grubby microbiomes get there. And the last thing Musk needs is a whole community of disgruntled astrobiologists baying for his blood as he tramples over their turf and robs them of their dreams. Ecoterrorism Musks long-term vision is to terraform Marsreengineer our neighboring planet as a nice place to beand allow humans to become a multi-planetary species. Sounds awesomebut not to everyone. Id wager there will be some people sufficiently appalled by the idea that they decide to take illegal action to interfere with it. The mythology surrounding ecoterrorism makes it hard to pin down how much of it actually happens. But there certainly are individuals and groups like the Earth Liberation Front willing to flout the law in their quest to preserve pristine wildernesses. Its a fair bet there will be people similarly willing to take extreme action to stop the pristine wilderness of Mars being desecrated by humans. Ecoterrorists claimed responsibility in 1998 for burning part of a Colorado ski resort they said threatened animal habitats. Vail Fire Department How this might play out is anyones guess, although science fiction novels like Kim Stanley Robinsons Mars Trilogy give an interesting glimpse into what could transpire once we get there. More likely, SpaceX will need to be on the lookout for saboteurs crippling their operations before leaving Earth. Space Politics Back in the days before private companies were allowed to send rockets into space, international agreements were signed that set out who could do what outside the Earths atmosphere. Under the United Nations Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, for instance, states agreed to explore space for the benefit of all humankind, not place weapons of mass destruction on celestial bodies and avoid harmful contamination. That was back in 1967, four years before Elon Musk was born. With the emergence of ambitious private space companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and others, though, whos allowed to do what in the solar system is less clear. Its good news for companies like SpaceXat least in the short term. But this uncertainty is eventually going to crystallize into enforceable space policies, laws and regulations that apply to everyone. And when it does, Musk needs to make sure hes not left out in the cold. This is of course policy, not politics. But there are powerful players in the global space policy arena. If theyre rubbed the wrong way, itll be politics that determines how resulting policies affect SpaceX. Climate Change Perhaps the biggest danger is that Musks vision of colonizing Mars looks too much like a disposable Earth philosophyweve messed up this planet, so time to move on to the next. Of course, this idea may not factor into Musks motivation, but in the world of climate change mitigation and adaptation, perceptions matter. The optics of moving to a new planet to escape the mess weve made here is not a scenario thats likely to win too many friends amongst those trying to ensure Earth remains habitable. And these factions wield considerable social and economic powerenough to cause problems for SpaceX if they decide to mobilize over this. There is another risk here too, thanks to a proposed terrestrial use of SpaceXs BFR as a hyperfast transport between cities on Earth. Musk has recently titillated tech watchers with plans to use commercial rocket flights to make any city on Earth less than an hours travel from any other. This is part of a larger plan to make the BFR profitable, and help cover the costs of planetary exploration. Its a crazy ideathat just might work. But what about the environmental impact? Even though the BFR will spew out tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, the impacts may not be much greater than current global air travel (depending how many flights end up happening). And theres always the dream of creating the fuelmethane and oxygenusing solar power and atmospheric gases. The BFR could even conceivably be carbon-neutral one day. But at a time when humanity should be doing everything in our power to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the optics arent great. And this could well lead to a damaging backlash before rocket-commuting even gets off the ground. Inspiringor Infuriating? Sixty years ago, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the worlds first artificial satelliteand changed the world. It was the dawn of the space age, forcing nations to rethink their technical education programs and inspiring a generation of scientists and engineers. We may well be standing at a similar technological tipping point as researchers develop the vision and technologies that could launch humanity into the solar system. But for this to be a new generations Sputnik moment, well need to be smart in navigating the many social and political hurdles between where we are now and where we could be. SpaceX / Flickr These nontechnical hurdles come down to whether society writ large grants SpaceX and Elon Musk the freedom to boldly go where no one has gone before. Its tempting to think of planetary entrepreneurialism as simply getting the technology right and finding a way to pay for it. But if enough people feel SpaceX is threatening what they value (such as the environmenthere or there), or disadvantaging them in some way (for example, by allowing rich people to move to another planet and abandoning the rest of us here), theyll make life difficult for the company. This is where Musk and SpaceX need to be as socially adept as they are technically talented. Discounting these hidden hurdles could spell disaster for Elon Musks Mars in the long run. Engaging with them up front could lead to the first people living and thriving on another planet in my lifetime. Andrew Maynard is a professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, and director of the Risk Innovation Lab. Reposted with permission from our media associate The Conversation. Ellwood City-area homes for sale rise in price to $139,000 In Lawrence County, homes for sale had a median price of $86 per square foot, while Pennsylvania's was $169 Mayor Tim Kabats proposed 2018 operating budget was approved Monday with few changes by the La Crosse Board of Estimates. Following further recommendations by the mayor, the board approved cutting $236,146 from the budget to meet the Wisconsin Department of Revenue expenditure restraint program requirements in a move that ensures the city will receive more than $1.4 million from the state in 2018. The consequences of not making the ERP would be very, very significant, Kabat said. The cuts included a $150,000 reduction in health insurance premiums paid, taking $50,000 from the citys contingency fund, delaying the hiring a crime analyst for the La Crosse Police Department for a savings of $20,250 and reducing general expenses by $16,000. While council president Martin Gaul last year advocated increasing the city levy up to the state-imposed limits, this year he said it wouldnt make sense to levy an additional $1.2 million and lose the $1.4 million from the state. It would be counterproductive for us to do anything other than that were looking at right here, Gaul said. However, Gaul criticized the states limitations, which he said create problems as the city grows and needs to incorporate new things into its operating budget, such as a proposed new fire station and its staffing. Its going to get harder and harder to address them all the time as long as we are in the ERP program and limited in how much we can do that, Gaul said. These limits hurt a city like La Crosse. Kabats proposed budget, released Thursday, called for a total levy for 2018 of $34.38 million. The operating budget includes $70.75 million in total spending, compared with last years $34.8 million levy and $69.18 million operating budget. Under the budget, property owners would pay $12.05 per $1,000 in property value next year, a decrease from last years $12.29 per $1,000. We have not done a recalculation to see what (the cuts) does to our (tax) rate. It might lower it by a penny or two, Kabat said. The budget approved by the Board of Estimates will go before the public in November before final approval by the La Crosse Common Council. The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United states and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers workers' compensation, commercial automobile and property, general liability, commercial multi-peril, employers' liability, public and product liability, professional indemnity, marine, aviation, onshore and offshore energy, construction, terrorism, personal accident, and kidnap and ransom insurance products. This segment operates through select accounts, which serve small businesses; commercial accounts that serve mid-sized businesses; national accounts, which serve large companies; and national property and other that serve large and mid-sized customers, commercial trucking industry, and agricultural businesses, as well as markets and distributes its products through brokers, wholesale agents, and program managers. The Bond & Specialty Insurance segment provides surety, fidelity, management and professional liability, and other property and casualty coverages and related risk management services through independent agencies and brokers. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals through independent agencies and brokers. The Travelers Companies, Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York. BEER-SHEVA, Israel, Oct. 2, 2017 -- BGN, the technology-transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), is collaborating with Singapore-based Ram Group to develop a minimally invasive diagnostic sensor for earlier detection and treatment of cancer and other diseases than is possible today. The goal is to develop a sensor that will detect specific antibodies that are known to be signs of emerging diseases in the blood at very low and previously undetectable concentrations. The research project is being led by Prof. Gabby Sarousi in the BGU Unit of Electro-Optical Engineering and the Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology. "We are adapting existing sensor technologies to be able to detect very small amounts of chemical and biological components in fluids and in gas, in concentrations that are much lower than PPB (parts-per-billion)," says Prof. Sarusi. "The results will render any potential treatment, including chemotherapy, much more effective than today, since it will be conducted on cancer at such an early stage that it has yet to manifest itself as a visible tumor." The sensor will be comprised of a miniature light waveguide ring with a diameter of a few hundred micrometers fabricated on a semiconductor chip and coated with chemical or biological receptors. When a tiny amount of liquid such as blood is placed on the ring, the receptors identify and attract the chemical component, i.e. antibodies, which are then identified using optical wavelength analysis. "The sensor we are developing for RAM Group can be used in two different ways: 100 percent optical sensing or one that combines optical sensing with an electronic sensor," Prof. Sarusi says. "We welcome the strong collaboration with RAM Group, which has R&D facilities in Israel," says Zafrir Levi, vice president of business development at BGN. "This technology is another example of the state-of-the-art applied science created here in BGU's labs." ### About Ram Group Founded in 2010, Ram Group aims to revolutionize sensors and analytics technology across the Internet-of-Things and healthcare industries. Headquartered in Singapore, the firm has R&D facilities in Germany and Israel. The company's research has been protected by a wide range of patents, and its staff has been published in over 60 respected medical and scientific journals worldwide. In 2016, RAM Group won the "High-Technology Innovation Competition" for 2016, awarded by the German Federal Ministry of Research for the validation of the company's non-invasive continuous hemodynamic and vital-signs monitoring healthcare platform. This prestigious award is annually sought by some 100 of the top biotech companies in Germany. Visit the company website at http://www.ram.group. About BGN Technologies BGN Technologies is the business and technology-transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel. Located in the heart of the University's Advanced Technologies Park, BGN Technologies is the driving force behind industry-academia collaborations, and supports the University's mission of cultivating a high-tech eco-system within the Negev region. With a track record of over 100 startup companies, as well as partnerships in technology incubators and accelerators, BGN Technologies brings inventions from the labs to the market by fostering research collaborations and entrepreneurship among researchers and students. During the past decade, BGN Technologies focused on creating long-term partnerships with dozens of companies, including multinationals such as: Deutsche Telekom, Dell-EMC, Lockheed Martin, and PayPal, securing value and growth to a diverse ecosystem that surrounds BGU. For more information, visit the BGN Technologies website. About American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision: creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. As Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) looks ahead to turning 50 in 2020, AABGU imagines a future that goes beyond the walls of academia. It is a future where BGU invents a new world and inspires a vision for a stronger Israel and its next generation of leaders. Together with supporters, AABGU will help the University foster excellence in teaching, research and outreach to the communities of the Negev for the next 50 years and beyond. Visit vision.aabgu.org to learn more. AABGU, which is headquartered in Manhattan, has nine regional offices throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.aabgu.org. WASHINGTON D.C. -- Few people have heard of Hisako Koyama, but the dedicated female solar observer, born in Tokyo in 1916, created one of the most important sunspot records of the past 400 years, according to new research. A new study recounting Koyama's life finds she created detailed sunspot drawings for more than 40 years. Solar scientists recently used Koyama's archive of more than 10,000 drawings to establish a continuous record of sunspot numbers stretching back to 1610. This sunspot reconstruction can help scientists better understand the solar cycle and how solar activity influences events on Earth. Koyama's story exemplifies the unheralded role women have played in science in the modern era, according to the study's authors. Koyama was well-known in amateur astronomy circles for decades but her contributions were not widely recognized by professional space scientists until several years ago. Koyama's observations place her among the top solar observers of the past four centuries, alongside names like Galileo, and make her one of the few women to have created a major solar observational record, according to the new study. "Women scientists have been contributing in the sciences for a very long time, whether or not the documentation exists to that fact," said Delores Knipp, a space weather scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and lead author of the new study recounting Koyama's work in Space Weather, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. "This is my first attempt to make sure her record is revealed to a broader community, especially to young women considering science careers." Uncovering Koyama's records Knipp first heard about Koyama two years ago during a presentation by solar scientist Leif Svalgaard, where Svalgaard described the recently-completed sunspot reconstruction project and showed a photo of Koyama at her telescope. "I was astounded; I'd never seen a major observational solar record from a woman," Knipp said. "It stuck in my mind, and I wondered why I hadn't heard of her." Koyama's story stayed in the back of Knipp's mind until she saw the 2016 film "Hidden Figures," which details the role of three African-American women scientists working at NASA during the space race. "I was so taken and inspired by that, and even though I had been thinking about it before, the 'Hidden Figures' movie was the thing that pushed me into gear, and I said, 'I've got to know more about this record from Japan,'" Knipp said. "And at that point I really started digging in to find collaborators who could help with the research." In the new study, Knipp worked with Huixin Liu, a space scientist at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, and Hisashi Hayakawa, a historical research fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in Tokyo to research Koyama's work and document her contribution to space science. Koyama was born in 1916 and graduated from a girls' high school in Tokyo in the 1930s, a rare feat for a woman in Japan during this time. Enthusiastic about astronomy from a young age, Koyama began observing the stars in her twenties. She began observing sunspots in the spring of 1944, using a refracting telescope that was a gift from her father. Sunspots are temporary dark spots that appear on the surface of the sun, where areas of intense magnetic activity lower the sun's surface temperature. Sunspots provide a useful measure of the sun's activity and scientists continue to track sunspots today. Their numbers vary as the sun goes through its 11-year solar cycle. Solar activity like solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which can disrupt radar and radio communications when they enter near-Earth space, often occur when more sunspots appear. Koyama made her first sunspot sketch in 1944 and sent it to scientists at Japan's Oriental Astronomical Association. After an encouraging reply from the president of the OAA's solar section, Issei Yamamoto, Koyama began observing sunspots regularly under Yamamoto's guidance. By 1946 she was making regular solar observations at Tokyo's National Museum of Nature and Science, known then as the Tokyo Science Museum. Koyama drew the solar features she observed, noting important features she saw and the conditions she was observing in. Later that year, Koyama became a staff observer at the museum. She sketched the largest sunspot of the 20th century in 1947 and witnessed a white-light solar flare while sketching sunspots in 1960. Koyama worked for the museum until she retired in 1981, at the age of 65. She used the same telescope to make drawings for her entire tenure at the museum and continued to use it as a museum fellow even after she retired. She chronicled more than 8,000 sunspot groups in her 1985 data book and made more than 10,000 solar sketches over her lifetime, until her death in 1997. Koyama's contributions Amateur astronomers were aware of Koyama's work but it did not come to the attention of the professional space science community until several years ago. To better understand the solar cycle, an international group of scientists reconstructed the number of sunspots seen each year since scientists first observed them by telescope in 1610. The researchers searched through original sunspot observations for the past 400 years and discovered Koyama's work in Japan. They combined her collection of drawings with those of Galileo Galilei, Pierre Gassendi, Johann Caspar Staudacher, Heinrich Schwabe and Rudolf Wolf to establish a continuous sunspot count for the past four centuries. "Those five names are the giants of sunspot records," Knipp said. "And her name comes right along with them. So clearly, her records are in a class of great historical scientific records." Koyama's more than 40 years of drawings proved invaluable to the scientists because few solar observations have been collected by the same person, using the same telescope and using the same observation method for such a long time, according to Knipp. Koyama's records served as one of the official "backbones" of the sunspot reconstruction project, bridging a key gap between records from the early 20th century and those taken during the space age. Scientists will use the reconstructed sunspot record to better understand how the sun's magnetic activity changes over time and how those changes affect Earth. Without Koyama's record, researchers would not have been able to reconstruct the sunspot history with as much confidence, Knipp said. "Miss Koyama's observational skills, her persistence, her consistency, and her keen eye for solar behavior, produced a remarkable record of solar behavior," she said. Koyama's drawings have been digitized by staff members of the Tokyo's National Museum of Nature and Science. ### The American Geophysical Union is dedicated to advancing the Earth and space sciences for the benefit of humanity through its scholarly publications, conferences, and outreach programs. AGU is a not-for-profit, professional, scientific organization representing 60,000 members in 137 countries. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and our other social media channels. AGU Press Contact: Lauren Lipuma +1 (202) 777-7396 llipuma@agu.org Notes for Journalists This research article is open access. A PDF copy of the article can be downloaded at the following link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017SW001704/pdf. Journalists and PIOs may also order a copy of the final paper by emailing a request to Lauren Lipuma at llipuma@agu.org. Please provide your name, the name of your publication, and your phone number. Neither the paper nor this press release is under embargo. Title: "Ms. Hisako Koyama: From Amateur Astronomer to Long-term Solar Observer" Authors: Delores Knipp: Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. and High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.; Huixin Liu: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan; Hisashi Hayakawa: Graduate School of Letters, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Japan, and Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan. Contact information for the authors: Delores Knipp: +1 (303) 492-2393, delores.knipp@colorado.edu Results raise questions about whether the time has come to outlaw sale of combustible cigarettes A research team, led by Dr David Levy at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington DC, modelled the impact for public health if large numbers of cigarette smokers switched to e-cigarettes (vaping) under two scenarios - an Optimistic Scenario where smoking prevalence falls to 5% over a ten year period and a Pessimistic Scenario where it falls to 10%. For the Optimistic Scenario, the researchers presumed similar patterns of e-cigarette use to now and used published evaluations of likely harm reductions. In this scenario, they calculate, replacement of cigarettes by e-cigarettes over a 10-year period would lead to 6.6 million fewer premature deaths with 86.7 million fewer years of life lost. As a result the average 15 year old switching to e-cigarettes would increase their life expectancy by 0.5 years. The researchers then repeated the exercise under the Pessimistic ("worst case") Scenario, in which more young people are assumed to initiate e-cigarette and tobacco use, cessation from tobacco use is reduced, and the risks of e-cigarette use are at the high end of suggested estimates. A 'worst case' prediction of harms from e-cigarettes (ie. where e-cigarettes turn out to be more harmful than the current science suggests) is also used, and greater uptake of vaping among non-smokers is presumed. Even in this scenario, the researchers predict, 1.6 million premature deaths would be averted with 20.8 million fewer life years lost. The estimates do not include any health benefits from reduced disability and exposure to secondhand smoke. The researchers say that their results "can help the [US] Surgeon General and the public health community develop a strategy to reach the 'endgame' for cigarette smoking."* In an accompanying commentary, Dr Marita Hefler from the Menzies School of Health Research in Australia, asks whether it is time to outlaw sales of combustible tobacco products. She calls the ongoing availability of combustible tobacco products "a historical anomaly." Any other consumer product that kills up to two-thirds of its long-term users remaining legal is unimaginable, she says. Even if the political will had existed for a sales ban, until recently no products could match the nicotine delivery efficiency of combustible tobacco with substantially less harm, rendering a sales ban a non-viable option, she explains. "The new continuum of nicotine products presents an opportunity to end the exceptionalism of combustible tobacco, and allow the most dangerous end of the nicotine product continuum to be rapidly, and completely, phased out," she concludes. ### The large number of South Africans with unmet diabetes care highlights the challenges the country faces with rising levels of chronic non-communicable diseases, says a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researcher. The study, published in PLOS ONE, evaluated the prevalence of diabetes in the country as well as the healthcare system's response to the epidemic. The researchers found a higher rate of disease than previously reported, and also found significant gaps in screening, diagnosis, treatment, and control of the disease. "Several factors may contribute to the high rate of unmet need for diabetes care in South Africa across the care continuum, among them problems with access, health-seeking behavior, and health system quality," the researchers wrote. Diabetes accounts for 5.4 percent of deaths in South Africa and is currently ranked second among natural causes of death in the country. In 2013, South Africa outlined a strategy for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that called for a 30 percent increase in the number of patients with controlled diabetes by 2020. The research team constructed a diabetes care cascade in which patients with diabetes were classified into one of five categories: unscreened, screened but undiagnosed, diagnosed but untreated, treated but uncontrolled, and treated and controlled. They then analyzed a sample of 4,083 respondents, among whom 521 had diabetes. They found that of the 10.1 percent of those aged 15 or older with diabetes, 45.4 percent were not screened, 14.7 percent were screened but undiagnosed, 2.3 percent were diagnosed but untreated, and 18.1 percent were treated but uncontrolled. Only 19.4 percent were receiving treatment with the disease controlled. The study provides recent national estimates of the burden and population-level management of diabetes among South African adults. The research integrated laboratory assessment with interviews, allowing the researchers to objectively measure diabetes status instead of relying on self-reported data. "We thus begin to fill the gaps in the evidence base that will allow a targeted response to the growing epidemic of diabetes in South Africa," the researchers wrote. The research team had previously used a care cascade to evaluate hypertension levels in the country. The study also found a higher-than-reported prevalence of diabetes among adults aged 40-plus: 18.9 percent, compared to the 14.3 percent reported by the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) in 2012. Prior estimates were largely based on self-reported data, which fail to capture undiagnosed cases and largely come from sub-national samples or estimates derived from data collected across multiple countries. Although the study's results imply a slightly lower prevalence of diabetes in South Africa as compared to the US, the estimates also suggest that South Africa has a much greater unmet need for diabetes care, with nearly twice the proportion of cases that are undiagnosed. "The current estimates should serve as a benchmark for evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed reforms, particularly the re-engineering of primary care, and motivate policies aimed at redressing unmet need for diabetes care in South Africa," the researchers wrote. ### The study was led by Andrew Stokes, assistant professor of global health at BUSPH. Co-authors from BUSPH include Kaitlyn Berry, global health research fellow; Alana Brennan, global health instructor; Peter Rockers, assistant professor of global health; and Sydney Rosen, research professor of global health. About Boston University School of Public Health: Boston University School of Public Health, founded in 1976, offers master's- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments (biostatistics; community health sciences; environmental health; epidemiology; global health; and health law, policy & management) conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations--especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable--locally, nationally, and internationally. Introducing Themira lohmanus, a fly like no other, and the most recently discovered species in the popular Manhattan urban oasis of Central Park! The immature insects subsist on duck droppings, and have a strong CCNY connection: Themira lohmanus is named after City College of New York entomologist, and Professor of Biology, David Lohman. But wait! It's not the only species that gets its moniker from the well-traveled entomologist, who's often to be found in tropical forests of Southeast Asia studying the ecology and evolution of insects. There's also Chimaeragathis lohmani, a wasp found in Thailand, and Bulbophyllum davidlohmanii, a soon-to-be-published orchid species found on the Philippine island of Mindanao. "It's not terribly novel to have species named after oneself," shrugs Lohman, citing CCNY Division of Science colleague Amy Berkov, who has multiple beetles named after her. "But new species are not discovered in Central Park very often, so having a New York City-endemic species named after me is rather novel." Yuchen Ang, an evolutionary biologist at the National University of Singapore where the first specimens of Themira lohmanus were analyzed, describes it thus: "A very particular fly, Themira lohmanus has been found hiding under the noses of New Yorkers all this while. First found off Harlem Meer in Central Park, [it] can only breed on duck dung." Ang describes the fly's mating ritual as "kinky" with the male employing unusual methods and appendages. It concludes with the female storing sperm from many suitors and deciding whose sperm to use when she lays her eggs. Themira lohmanus has subsequently been found in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. ### A financial incentive for physicians to see patients sooner after discharge from hospital did not appear to influence physician behaviour, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Readmission after discharge from hospital is common, as 14% of discharged patients return to hospital within 30 days because of worsening symptoms, complications from treatment, or new medical problems. Evidence in high-risk patients indicates that early follow-up by a physician after discharge may help patients during this period and reduce costly readmissions. Financial incentives to improve follow-up after hospital discharge have been introduced in other jurisdictions. A fee code introduced to Ontario in 2006 incentivized early physician follow-up after discharge. To understand whether it improved early physician follow-up rates, researchers looked at data on more than 8 million patients discharged home from hospital in Ontario between 2002 and 2015. The study authors excluded newborns and pregnant women delivering in hospital, palliative care patients, psychiatric patients and those in hospital for more than 100 days. This code was claimed by 51% of eligible physicians and cost about $2.1 million annually. "Despite this, there was no sizable impact on 14-day physician follow-up rates, or a 14-day composite of emergency department visits, readmissions or death," writes Dr. Lauren Lapointe-Shaw, a physician and doctoral student in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the University of Toronto's Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, with coauthors. "Physicians with the highest uptake of the incentive had the highest 14-day follow-up rates before and after the intervention, which suggests the incentive rewarded the highest performing providers without modifying their behaviour." Lack of immediacy in incentive payments and barriers outside a physician's control may explain why this policy initiative has not improved follow-up rates. "Despite reasonable uptake, we found no effect of an incentive on physician follow-up after hospital discharge, and no effect on subsequent visits to the emergency department, readmissions to hospital or death," write the authors. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto; Li Ka Shing Institute, St. Michael's Hospital; Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences; Sinai Health System and Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario. ### Colorado State University scientists are partners in a three-year grant of up to $3.5 million from the Department of Energy, aimed at improving how algae-based biofuels and bioproducts are made. The Department of Energy's Bioenergy Technologies Office has announced its support for the project, titled "Rewiring Algal Carbon Energetics for Renewables," led by scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. The funding is part of the federal bioenergy office's Advanced Algal Systems Program, which had previously awarded $15 million in grants to three other projects. The multidisciplinary team includes CSU's Ken Reardon, professor of chemical and biological engineering; Graham Peers, associate professor of biology; and Jason Quinn, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; along with partners at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado School of Mines, Arizona State University, Utah State University, and representatives from industry. The overall project goal set by the Department of Energy is to double the yield of biofuel precursors from algae to about 3,700 gallons per acre per year. Strategies to be used by the team to meet this goal include increasing algal cultivation productivity, optimizing biomass composition, and extracting and separating different types of algal lipids to reduce the cost of upgrading them to renewable diesel. "How can we get photosynthetic microorganisms - namely algae - to grow faster, and how can we do better at converting that biomass into fuel intermediates?" Reardon said. "There is a cost piece to it, but the absolute No. 1 target is productivity." The researchers will use an algae species called Desmodesmus armatus, and will focus on fundamental processes of efficiently channeling carbon dioxide into useful fuel intermediates. A San Diego-based company called Sapphire Energy is a project partner and has pioneered the use of D. armatus for biofuels. CSU's Peers will lead algae strain development for the project, including novel tools for modifying the D. armatus to maximize its photosynthetic efficiency. His research is in how efficiently algae absorb light and convert that energy to biomass, and how much the process can be improved. "Algae are among the best organisms in the world at fixing carbon into biomass," Peers said. His lab will use tools including CRISPR-CAS 9 genome editing to genetically modify the D. armatus and prepare samples for partners at Arizona State to grow and test at larger scales. "I think the exciting thing about this project is the integration of scales, all the way from strain improvements in our labs to the translation of these changes in outdoor conditions," Peers said. "Our overall goal is to connect all the parts associated with biofuel production." Reardon has previously worked on several research projects related to converting biomass into a variety of useful products, including fuels. For this project, Reardon's team will work to ferment carbohydrates in the algal cells into chemicals of interest, including ethanol, as well as a fuel precursor called 2,3 butanediol. Quinn's expertise is in sustainability assessment, specifically life cycle and techno-economic analysis. By integrating the advancements of the other scientists into modeling work, Quinn will allow the team to forecast how strain modifications affect the eventual product's environmental impacts, from start to finish. Other partners on the project will work on the algae-to-bioproduct life cycle, including modification of growing pond conditions, and separating algal solids from water to remove lipids. "We're excited to leverage the strengths of all our partners on this important project," said project lead Lieve Laurens, senior scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "From building on the work already done by Sapphire with the D. armatus strain to Arizona State University's manipulation of optimal outdoor conditions and Colorado State University's research to improve photosynthesis in the strain and fermentation of the sugars - each team member is playing an integral role." ### Using data captured by ALMA in Chile and from the ROSINA instrument on ESA's Rosetta mission , a team of astronomers has found faint traces of the chemical compound [Freon-40] - (CH3Cl), also known as methyl chloride and chloromethane, around both the infant star system IRAS 16293-2422 [1], about 400 light-years away, and the famous comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) in our own Solar System. The new ALMA observation is the first detection ever of a stable organohalogen in interstellar space [2]. Organohalogens consist of halogens, such as chlorine and fluorine, bonded with carbon and sometimes other elements. On Earth, these compounds are created by some biological processes -- in organisms ranging from humans to fungi -- as well as by industrial processes such as the production of dyes and medical drugs [3]. This new discovery of one of these compounds, Freon-40, in places that must predate the origin of life, can be seen as a disappointment, as earlier research had suggested that these molecules could indicate the presence of life. "Finding the organohalogen Freon-40 near these young, Sun-like stars was surprising," said Edith Fayolle, a researcher with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the USA, and lead author of the new paper. "We simply didn't predict its formation and were surprised to find it in such significant concentrations. It's clear now that these molecules form readily in stellar nurseries, providing insights into the chemical evolution of planetary systems, including our own." Exoplanet research has gone beyond the point of finding planets -- more than 3000 exoplanets are now known -- to looking for chemical markers that might indicate the potential presence of life. A vital step is determining which molecules could indicate life, but establishing reliable markers remains a tricky process. "ALMA's discovery of organohalogens in the interstellar medium also tells us something about the starting conditions for organic chemistry on planets. Such chemistry is an important step toward the origins of life," adds Karin Oberg, a co-author on the study. "Based on our discovery, organohalogens are likely to be a constituent of the so-called 'primordial soup', both on the young Earth and on nascent rocky exoplanets." This suggests that astronomers may have had things around the wrong way; rather than indicating the presence of existing life, organohalogens may be an important element in the little-understood chemistry involved in the origin of life. Co-author Jes Jrgensen from the Niels Bohr Institute at University of Copenhagen adds: "This result shows the power of ALMA to detect molecules of astrobiological interest toward young stars on scales where planets may be forming. Using ALMA we have previously found precursors to sugars and amino acids around different stars. The additional discovery of Freon-40 around Comet 67P/C-G strengthens the links between the pre-biological chemistry of distant protostars and our own Solar System." The astronomers also compared the relative amounts of Freon-40 that contain different isotopes of chlorine in the infant star system and the comet -- and found similar abundances. This supports the idea that a young planetary system can inherit the chemical composition of its parent star-forming cloud and opens up the possibility that organohalogens could arrive on planets in young systems during planet formation or via comet impacts. "Our results shows that we still have more to learn about the formation of organohalogens," concludes Fayolle. "Additional searches for organohalogens around other protostars and comets need to be undertaken to help find the answer." ### Notes [1] This protostar is a binary star system surrounded by a molecular cloud in the Rho Ophiuchi star-forming region, which makes it an excellent target for ALMA's millimetre/submillimetre view. [2] The data used were from the ALMA Protostellar Interferometric Line Survey (PILS). - https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/forth/aa28648-16.pdf The aim of this survey is to chart the chemical complexity of IRAS 16293-2422 by imaging the full wavelength range covered by ALMA in the 0.8-millimetre atmospheric window on very small scales, equivalent to the size of the Solar System. The species CF+, which could be considered as an organohalogen, had already been detected, but is not stable. [3] Freons were widely used as a refrigerants (hence the name) but are now banned as they have a destructive effect on the Earth's protective ozone layer. More information This research was presented in a paper "Protostellar and Cometary Detections of Organohalogens" by E. Fayolle et al., to appear in Nature Astronomy on 2 October 2017. The team is composed of Edith C. Fayolle (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, USA), Karin I. Oberg (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, USA), Jes K. Jrgensen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Kathrin Altwegg (University of Bern, Switzerland), Hannah Calcutt (University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Holger S. P. Muller (Universitat zu Koln, Germany), Martin Rubin (University of Bern, Switzerland), Matthijs H. D. van der Wiel (The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, The Netherlands), Per Bjerkeli (Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden), Tyler L. Bourke (Jodrell Bank Observatory, UK), Audrey Coutens (University College London, UK), Ewine F. van Dishoeck (Leiden University, The Netherlands; Max-Planck-Institut fur extraterrestrische Physik, Germany), Maria N. Drozdovskaya (University of Bern, Switzerland), Robin T. Garrod (University of Virginia, USA), Niels F. W. Ligterink (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Magnus V. Persson (Onsala Space Observatory, Sweden), Susanne F. Wampfler (University of Bern, Switzerland) and the ROSINA team. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of ESO, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC) and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA. ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT Survey Telescope. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky". Links * Research paper in Nature Astronomy - https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1732/eso1732a.pdf * Earlier results on this star from ALMA: [ethyl isocyanate - http://eso.org/public/news/eso1718/ and sugars - http://eso.org/public/news/eso1234/ * Photos of ALMA - http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/category/alma/ Contacts Edith Fayolle Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Email: fayolle@cfa.harvard.edu Jes K. Jrgensen Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark Tel: +45 4250 9970 Email: jeskj@nbi.dk Ewine van Dishoeck Leiden Observatory Leiden, Netherlands Tel: +31 71 5275814 Email: ewine@strw.leidenuniv.nl Richard Hook ESO Public Information Officer Garching bei Munchen, Germany Tel: +49 89 3200 6655 Cell: +49 151 1537 3591 Email: rhook@eso.org Improve the quality of beef produced in Brazil, which could increase industry revenue without expanding breeding area, is the goal of a research group. Brazil has the world's largest commercial beef herd, numbering over 225 million heads of cattle, yet only 20% of Brazil's production is intended for export. Because of this, beef ranks tenth on the list of products exported by Brazil, after soybeans, iron ore, oil, sugarcane, automobiles, chicken, cellulose, soybean meal and coffee. Experts suggest that exports could be much larger if Brazilian beef were of a quality similar to that produced in Australia, Argentina or Uruguay. It is in improving the quality of beef cattle that science comes into the picture. In addition to obtaining more tender meat, another goal of research is to improve productivity. To achieve this, genetic improvement techniques are used to breed animals that gain weight more quickly or that better resist disease. "Brazil is the world's second largest producer of beef, in an industry whose 2016 revenue exceeded US$ 5 billion. The cost of producing Brazilian beef is one of the lowest in the world, but in order to expand market importance, beef production needs to adapt to the standards established by importers. Among quality concerns, tenderness, the amount and the type of marbling can influence the sensory characteristics and nutritional value of the beef," said Luciana Correia de Almeida Regitano, a researcher at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation - EMBRAPA and faculty member of the graduate program in Evolutionary Genetics and Molecular Biology at the Federal University of Sao Carlos (in Sao Paulo, Brazil). Regitano explained that in Brazil, over 80% of beef cattle is Nelore. The breed, of the subspecies Bos taurus indicus, originated in India, but it does not produce meat that is as tender as that from breeds like Angus (Bos taurus taurus) that originated in Europe and presents more marbling. "Nelore cattle weigh less and have lower productivity and less tender meat. As a result, their price is lower," she said. Regitano heads up a Thematic Project entitled "Molecular basis of meat quality in Nelore beef cattle", funded by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). The research study is a follow-up to a previous study that enabled the identification of genomic areas associated with the beef's production and quality characteristics. "We initially bred approximately 800 animals for three years on five farms, from birth to slaughter, measuring the phenotypic characteristics such as growth, production, meat quality and feed efficiency. We also collected samples of DNA and subjected them to high density genotyping to determine specific mutations that cover the whole genome. We analyzed more than 700,000 specific mutations dispersed throughout the genome, which provided us with data on the segregation of chromosomal segments," she said. "In 2012, we had another project approved by FAPESP that allowed us to expand the initial study and analyze tissue samples to determine the complete sequence of messenger RNAs and all microRNAs found in the tissue. MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules that modulate how messenger RNAs will be translated into proteins," Regitano explained. The proteins from the tissue samples collected were also analyzed. "We were able to obtain a data set on 45 different phenotypes and sequenced the messenger RNA and microRNA of 200 muscle samples and 30 liver samples, in addition to analyzing proteins from 65 muscle samples. With support from the CNPq, we were also able to sequence the complete genome, each nucleotide of the genome, of 20 animals. This provided a very important set of data from which we have obtained multiple layers of genomic information on a single animal," she said. Genomic tools "Among the objectives of our current study are complementing the analyses of genomic association to include new phenotypes, integrating the analyses of the functional genome (RNA, microRNA and proteins), assessing the significance of the copy number variation (CNV) and training human resources in the fields of bioinformatics and genomics," Regitano explained. Copy number variation is defined as a type of genomic structural variation that includes amplifications and losses of a specific region, which could involve and possibly be one or more complete genes. "We are studying how these alterations could influence the expression of all the genes expressed in muscle as well as the phenotypes assessed," the researcher asserted. The richness of the data obtained led to the publication of a series of articles that are expanding knowledge of the possibilities for using genomic tools that can lead to gains in quality and productivity in beef production. In an article published in the journal BMC Genomics, Regitano and her group identified genes, metabolic pathways and biological processes involved in the differentiation, proliferation, protein conversion, hypertrophy and synthesis of lipids related to the area of the loin eye, a measurement that correlates with the muscularity of the animal and the thickness of its subcutaneous fat, both characteristics that have a direct impact on carcass quality and productivity. The results of the research point to molecular processes related to the deposit of muscles and fat, which are economically important characteristics for beef production. In another article, published in the journal PLOS ONE in 2016, Regitano and her colleagues described a broad genomic analysis of CNVs obtained from 723 bulls. The researchers identified 2,600 regions that represent nearly 6.5% of the complete genome of the animals. The results represented the first comprehensive study of the copy number variations of Nelore cattle, with the identification of regions in which genetic alterations could have important implications in breeding animals whose meat is more tender, thus improving its potential for export and higher prices. ### About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) The Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. For more information: http://www.fapesp.br/en. Thomas Bouchard maintains he was a mediocre student, but his extensive resume says otherwise. In August, Bouchard, 51, of Stanford, Conn., was promoted to brigadier general in the Rhode Island National Guard, an honor preceded by three decades of military and academic excellence and a fondly remembered childhood in La Crosse. La Crosse is a great place to grow up, Bouchard said in a phone interview in September. Its a little slice of heaven the Midwest is Gods country. One of three children, Bouchard lived on Hillcrest Drive in Shelby for 14 years, graduating from Central High School in 1984. Much of his free time was spent outside, playing in Riverside and Myrick parks and boating to sandbars on the river. Fourth of July and New Years Eve fireworks were a favorite, as were lunches at the Bodega, once a full restaurant. Bouchard, nicknamed Rob, was in class of around 300 at Central, and says high school in the 80s meant a lot of long hair and Def Leppard. He favored science classes, particularly chemistry, and says physics teacher Mr. Olson made a strong positive impression on me, as did social studies teacher Mr. Hinten. (Mr. Hinten) really wanted to see us grow into successful young men and women, Bouchard said. (Central) was a great institution...they cared about our learning. It was a school where you could definitely explore the things you wanted to do as a person and grow up in a safe environment. Former neighbor Clyde Benjamin, 84, who watched Bouchard grow up, recalls him being a bit unmotivated in high school, but graduating with a new commitment to success. After school, he set out to do a better job at everything, Benjamin said. He was just an outstanding young lad hes a lad who wont give up. At 17, Bouchard enlisted in the Army Reserve, boarding a bus to Missouri for basic training just three days after graduation. While attending UW-Madison for bacteriology, he joined the Army ROTC, and upon graduating college in 1988, was commissioned as an armor officer in the Wisconsin Army National Guard. In 1989, Bouchard spent a year in Korea as platoon leader with the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry division at Camp Hovey. A year as platoon leader and company executive officer in The Old Guard in Fort Meyer, Va., followed, and in 1994 Bouchard completed the Special Forces Qualification Course and was assigned to command in Fort Campbell, Ky. Upon leaving active duty in 1997, Bouchard joined the Rhode Island National Guard as operational detachment commander in A Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces group, later leading two overseas deployments as company executive officer and in 2006 transferring to Special Operations Detachment Global in Coventry. In 2016 he became J-5 future operations officer at the Rhode Island National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters. Over the years, Bouchard has been deployed to Haiti, Kuwait, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and has earned many military awards and decorations, including the Bronze Star, Combat Infantry Badge and Special Forces Tab. In addition to his plethora of military accomplishments, Bouchard obtained a masters degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College and a masters in business administration from Boston College, and is director and portfolio manager for Deutsche Asset Management. He is married with two children. Bouchard calls his promotion to one star general a tremendous accomplishment. It gives me the opportunity to continue to serve, and help mentor young soldiers and try to improve the organization and make it more mission ready, Bouchard said. Benjamin and his wife, who attended Bouchards graduation from UW Madison and his wedding, flew to Rhode Island to watch the promotion on Aug. 3. I just cant say enough good about Robby, Benjamin said. Hes done extremely well. The Benjamins remain a constant in Bouchards life, serving as his home away from home during visits to La Crosse. Bouchard last returned to his hometown in 2014 for his 30th class reunion, and found while some things had changed, others remained the same. Im glad to see the community doing so well, Bouchard said. It was great to see how (my former classmates) developed into real people some of them are teachers (at Central) now. Im sure Central still has that same wall of lockers and kids running around the hallways and trying to discover who they are. Quantum computer: A Danish-American research team has shown that it is possible to produce 'Majorana particles' in a new 'building material'. The research, led by scientists from Niels Bohr institute, University of Copenhagen, paves the road for new types of experiments - and at the same time represents an important contribution to the construction of the information circuits of tomorrow. Fabrizio Nichele in the lab at Center for Quantum Devices. The scientists keep their samples in the transparent 'cabinet' - in an oxygen-free environment. Photo: Ola Jakup Joensen Ever since Ettore Majorana - legendary and mythical Italian physicist - back in 1937 suggested the existence of a particle that is also its own anti-particle, scientists have been searching for the 'Majorana particle', as it is has come to be known. This far the search has been to no avail A team of scientists from Center for Quantum Devices at Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) and from Purdue University, USA, have - however - recently contributed to the advancement of Majorana research. The blue part of the structure - one half of a wafer - is where the scientists start building the nano wire. Photo: Ola Jakup Joensen Not by finding the elusive particle itself, but by figuring out how to produce a material in which electrons behave in accordance with the theoretical predictions for Majorana particles. The results of the research project are published in this week issue of the scientific journal Physical Review Letters. No charge An anti-particle is an elementary particle - identical to its 'counterpart', but with opposite electrical charge. As seen in the relationship between negatively charged electrons and positively charged positrons. If a particle is also its own anti-particle - which, given it does indeed exist, will be the case with a Majorana particle - it will therefore have no charge at all. The properties that, according to Ettore Majoranas calculations, will characterize a Majorana particle do for a number of reasons fascinate scientists. Obviously because such properties 'packaged' in one particle will represent new experimental possibilities. But also because Majorana-properties are thought to be useful when scientists are e.g. attempting to construct quantum computers - i.e. the information circuits of tomorrow that will have the capacity to process data loads far, far heavier than those dealt with by our present super computers. The nano wire is embedded in spider shaped structures. These structures are here seen through the lense of an optical microscope. The structures sit in rows, two in each row. Photo: Ola Jakup Joensen All over the world scientists are trying to design quantum computers. It's a race - Center for Quantum Devices at NBI is one of the contestants - and assistant professor Fabrizio Nichele and professor Charles Marcus, both representing the NBI-center, have been in charge of the Danish-American research project. "The condensed version is that it is possible to produce a material in which electrons behave like Majorana particles, as our experiments suggest - and that it is possible to produce this material by means of techniques rather similar to those used today when manufacturing computer circuits. On top of that we have shown how this material enables us to measure properties of Majorana particles never measured before - and carry out these measurements with great precision", explains Fabrizio Nichele. Laptop design Two ultra thin sheets - combined in a 'sandwich' - are at the center of the Danish-American discovery, and it all has to do with producing a material based on this 'sandwich'. One of the optical microscopes available to the NBI-scientists. Photo: Ola Jakup Jensen The bottom layer of the 'sandwich' is made out of indium arsenide, a semiconductor, and the top layer is made out of aluminium, a superconductor. And the 'sandwich' sits on top of a so called wafer, one of the building blocks used in modern computer technology. If you carve out a nano wire from this 'sandwich'-layer it is possible to create a state where electrons inside the wire display Majorana-properties - and the theory behind this approach has in part been known since 2010, says Fabrizio Nichele: "However, until now there has been a major problem because it was necessary to 'grow' the nano wire in special machines in a lab - and the wire was, literally, only available in the form of minute 'hair-like' straws. In order to build e.g. a chip based on this material, you therefore had to assemble an almost unfathomable number of single straws - which made it really difficult and very challenging to construct circuits this way". And this is exactly where the Danish-American discovery comes in very handily, explains Fabrizio Nichele: "We are now able to design the nano wire on a laptop - and include the details we go for. Further down the road production capacity will no doubt increase - which will allow us to use this technique in order to construct computers of significant size". Signature of a Majorana particle, shown on a screen. "The horizontal stripe in the center of the figure shows that a zero energy particle appears in a magnetic field in our devices - as expected for a Majorana particle", explains Fabrizio Nichele. Faster road to Majorana At Center for Quantum Devices at NBI, focus is very much on the construction of a quantum computer. Still it is a long haul - the quantum computer is by no means just around the corner, says Fabrizio One of the nanowires central to the NBI-scientist's research. The wire is made out of aluminum. It is approx. 1/1.000 millimeter long, and 1/20.000 wide. Illustration: NBI Nichele: "Materials with Majorana-properties obviously have a number of relevant qualities in this context - which is why we try to investigate this field through various experiments". Some of these experiments are carried out at temperatures just above absolute zero (-273,15 C), explains Fabrizio Nichele: "When you do that - which naturally requires equipment tailored for experiments of this kind - you are able to study details related to quantum properties in various materials. When it comes to constructing a quantum computer, Majorana-particles do, however, represent just one of a number of possible and promising options. This field is very complex - and when, some day, a quantum computer has indeed been constructed and is up and running, it may very well be based on some form of integration of a number of different techniques and different materials, whereof some may be based on our research", says Fabrizio Nichele. Fabrizio Nichele. Photo: Ola Jakup Joensen Scientists working with Ettore Majoranas equations for entirely other reasons than the desire to build a quantum computer, can also benefit from the Danish-American research, explains Fabrizio Nichele: "Our technique makes it possible to conduct experiments that have up till now not been doable - which will also facilitate the understanding of the Majorana particle itself". ### The research project has been funded by the Danish National Research Foundation, the Villum Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and - representing the commercial donor side - Microsoft; the latter joining the project as part of a well established cooperation with NBI. In addition to cooperating with colleagues from Purdue Univcersity, the NBI-researchers have also recently studied Majorana properties working together with scientists from University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. The results of this project are published in a separate article in Physical Review Letters. The article in Physical Review Letters Fabrizio Nichele, PhD and Assistant Professor, Center for Quantum Devices, Niels Bohr Institute, University og Copenhagen, Email: fnichele@nbi.ku.dk WASHINGTON -- Up to 6.6 million cigarette smokers will live substantially longer if cigarette smoking is replaced by vaping over a ten-year period, calculates a research team led by investigators from Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center. In all, cigarette smokers who switch to e-cigarettes could live 86.7 million more years with policies that encourage cigarette smokers to switch completely to e-cigarettes. Published in the journal Tobacco Control, the first study to model public health outcomes if cigarette smoking was replaced by e-cigarettes "supports a policy strategy that encourages replacing cigarette smoking with vaping to yield substantial life year gains," says the study's lead author David Levy, PhD, professor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi. For the study, Levy and a team of 10 investigators looked at such variables as harm from e-cigarettes, and amount of youth uptake, and the rate of cessation among others. Two projections, one described as optimistic and one pessimistic, were made based on different scenarios regarding the relative harms of e-cigarettes compared to cigarettes as well as differences in the timing of smoking initiation, cessation and switching. Both scenarios conclude there still would be considerable premature deaths averted, but also a much larger number of life years saved. The "pessimistic" scenario finds 1.6 million of these former cigarette smokers will have a combined 20.8 million more years of life, while the "optimistic" scenario calculates 6.6 million nicotine users who switch from cigarettes to e-cigarettes will live 86.7 more life years. "In addition, there would be tremendous health benefits including reduced disease disability to smokers, reduced pain and suffering, and reduced exposure to second hand smoke," Levy says. "Even the gloomiest analysis shows a significant gain in years of life if nicotine is obtained from vaping instead of much more deadly amount of toxicants inhaled with cigarette smoke." Levy says the findings might help the Surgeon General and the public health community find a solution to their call to end cigarette smoking. "The 2014 U.S. Surgeon General Report recommended an endgame strategy for the country's tobacco epidemic, but no additional strategy was laid out other than the current status quo tobacco control policies," he says. Those policies include higher cigarette taxes, smoke-free public places, media campaigns, cessation treatment programs and advertising restrictions. "While those policies have been effective over time -- smoking prevalence has decreased markedly over the past 50 years -- their impact has been relatively slow," Levy says. He points out that the most current and substantial research on the use of vaping shows that use of e-cigarettes can effectively help smokers give up cigarettes. "Old policies need to be supplemented with policies that encourage substituting e-cigarettes for the far more deadly cigarettes," Levy says. "Together, these policies as well as regulating the content of cigarettes have the potential to drastically reduce the massive harms from smoking cigarettes." Levy adds, "FDA Commissioner [Scott] Gottlieb recently outlined a strategy of reducing the nicotine content in cigarettes and a harm reduction approach to e-cigarettes. These approaches are right on track. While we know less about nicotine reduction than the other more traditional policies, the evidence to date indicates that this approach also holds promise, especially if smokers are encouraged to switch to e-cigarettes." ### The National Institutes of Health funded the study, which involved scientists from multiple universities and research groups. No industry funds were used. The models used in the study were developed by Levy and co-authors Rafael Meza, PhD, from the University of Michigan and Theodore R. Holford, PhD, from Yale University. Study co-authors also include Zhe Yuan, MS, Yuying Luo, MS, and David B. Abrams, PhD, from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (Abrams also has appointments at Truth Initiative and at New York University College of Global Public Health); Eric N. Lindblom, JD, from Georgetown University Law Center; Ron Borland, PhD, from Australia Cancer Control, Victoria, Australia; Richard J. O. O'Connor, PhD, and Maciej L. Goniewicz, PharmD, PhD, from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York; and Raymond Niaura, PhD, from the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at Truth Initiative. Goniewicz has received a research grant from Pfizer and served as an advisory board member to Johnson & Johnson, manufacturers of smoking cessation medications. The study was funded by grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (R01DA036497), the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (UO1-CA97450), and the National Cancer Institute (PO1-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, D.C. 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 (Facebook.com/GeorgetownLombardi) 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 (Facebook.com/GUMCUpdate) and Twitter (@gumedcenter). Boston, MA - Nearly 40% of the uninsured population in America lives in the suburbs and nearly one in seven suburban residents lacks health insurance. Despite the suburbs' general reputation of affluence, the U.S.'s growing poor population in suburban areas faces substantial barriers to accessing health care--similar to those faced by the urban and rural poor--according to the study. It is the first national analysis comparing health care coverage and access between people living in the suburbs and people in urban and rural areas. The study will appear in the October 2017 issue of Health Affairs. "We rarely think about suburbs when we think about vulnerable populations. Increasing rates of suburban poverty haven't gotten much attention from the public health sector, and policymakers really haven't started to consider what these shifts in the geography of poverty mean for health care access and for health disparities," said lead author Alina Schnake-Mahl, a doctoral student at Harvard Chan School. Poverty has been on the rise in suburbia for a number of reasons: job losses and loss of wealth during and after the 2008 recession; a "return to the city" trend among millennials and empty nesters and subsequent pricing out of lower-income families; more affordable suburban housing options; and international immigration to suburban communities. To explore more about how these shifts are impacting health insurance rates and health care access, the researchers analyzed data from 2005-15 from roughly 2.7 million adults interviewed as part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System, an annual national telephone survey. The findings showed that: The suburbs were home to 44% of the overall population and 38% of the uninsured population, and the uninsurance rate among suburbanites was 15%. The probability of having no usual source of health care in the suburbs was 19%, and for having no routine annual checkup, 34%. Among low-income suburbanites, 36% had an unmet health care need due to cost and 42% had not had a recent checkup. All poor adults--whether they lived in cities, rural areas, or the suburbs--had 8 times higher odds of being uninsured and 1.7 times higher odds of no recent checkup compared to higher-income adults. Uninsurance rates did decline in the suburbs after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014--as they did in all geographic regions--but suburban coverage gains appear to have been more limited than in urban and rural areas. While the uninsurance rate in the suburbs had been lower than in other regions from 2005-14, by 2015 it was essentially the same as in urban areas. Speculating as to why poor suburbanites face barriers to health care coverage and access, the researchers pointed out challenges unique to the suburbs: the relative lack of community health centers and free clinics; safety net hospitals that are far from home with limited public transportation options; providers that may be reluctant to treat uninsured patients; and limited availability of services such as mental health and substance abuse treatment. "In most studies, suburban areas are grouped with urban areas. But suburbs are unique geographies with specific challenges for health care access. Providing services and care to the suburban poor population may require different policies than those typically relied on in urban or rural areas," said Schnake-Mahl. Senior author of the study was Benjamin Sommers, associate professor of health policy and economics at Harvard Chan School and associate professor of medicine at Brigham & Women's Hospital. ### "Health Care In The Suburbs: An Analysis Of Suburban Poverty and Health Care Access," Alina S. Schnake-Mahl and Benjamin D. Sommers, Health Affairs, October 2017, doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0545 Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings. About Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people's lives--not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan School teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America's oldest professional training program in public health. The largest shares of Americans say they oppose the repeal of the Clean Power Plan and the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. Sixty-one percent of Americans think climate change is a problem that the government needs to address, including 43 percent of Republicans and 80 percent of Democrats, according to a new survey from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Those numbers are even higher when only those who believe in climate change are asked. Seven in 10 Republicans and nearly all Democrats who believe climate change is happening think the government needs to take action. When asked about key climate policy decisions, the largest shares of Americans say they oppose the repeal of the Clean Power Plan and the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. While many Americans favor policies that would help the country lower emissions, questions on how much they would personally be willing to pay to confront climate change (in the form of a monthly fee on their electric bill) reveal great disparity. While half are unwilling to pay even one dollar, 18 percent are willing to pay at least $100 per month. "These results put the polarized climate debate in sharp relief, but also point to the possibility of a path forward," said Michael Greenstone, director of EPIC and the Milton Friedman Professor in Economics, the College, and the Harris School at the University of Chicago. "Although half of households said they were unwilling to pay anything for a carbon policy in their monthly electricity bills, on average Americans would pay about $30 per month, as a meaningful share of households report that they are willing to pay a substantial amount. What is particularly striking is that it's projected to cost less than $30 per person to pay for climate damages from the electricity sector. So, while the raw economics appears to be less and less of a problem, the open question is whether it is feasible to devise a robust climate policy that accommodates these very divergent viewpoints." The survey also reveals new insights into how Americans view hydraulic fracturing. The number of people who say they favor fracking more than doubles when presented with evidence that it will save them money, while fewer change their opinion on fracking when presented with environmental or health arguments. Specifically, Americans' support for fracking jumps from 17 percent to 41 percent when presented with evidence that it will save them $250 annually on their personal natural gas bill. Meanwhile, the 41 percent who initially said they opposed fracking increased to 51 percent and 58 percent, respectively, when presented with health and environmental arguments against it. "Public opinion around many energy issues tends to be fluid, with people often defaulting to partisan starting points. But this survey shows an opportunity for consensus building through discussion and debate," said Trevor Tompson, director of The AP-NORC Center. "Majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agree that climate change is happening, and there are signs that consensus could happen on other issues, too." Additional findings from the survey include: Seventy-two percent of Americans believe climate change is happening, including 85 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of Republicans. Nineteen percent remain unsure. Political party and belief in climate change are the main determinants of whether people are willing to pay a modest fee to combat climate change, as opposed to education, income, or geographic location. Democrats are consistently willing to pay more than Republicans. Fifty-seven percent support actions taken by some mayors and governors to honor the goals of the Paris climate agreement despite U.S. withdrawal, and 55 percent think their state and local government should do more to address climate change. A third say they should stick to the status quo. Climate change and energy policy are very or extremely important to 48 percent and 54 percent of Americans, respectively, while at least two-thirds say health care, the economy, and terrorism are important policy priorities. Thirty-five percent oppose the direction of energy policy in the United States, while 45 percent lack an opinion and only 17 percent support the direction. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to favor the direction of energy policy, but they are most likely to lack an opinion. Roughly equal shares of Americans favor, oppose, and neither favor nor oppose the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines. Forty percent of Americans oppose the repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which the Trump administration is reviewing. Thirty-seven percent lack an opinion, while just 20 percent favor its repeal. More Americans lack an opinion on the use of fracking in the United States than support it: 37 percent neither favor nor oppose fracking, 17 percent favor it, and 41 percent oppose it. An equal number of Americans either support or lack an opinion on the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, while the largest number opposes withdrawal: 42 percent oppose it, 28 percent support it, and 28 percent neither support nor oppose withdrawal. Half of those who support withdrawal say the agreement was too costly for the United States. ### About the Survey This survey was conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and with funding from EPIC. Data were collected using AmeriSpeak Omnibus. The survey was part of a larger study that included questions about other topics not included in this report. Interviews for this survey were conducted between Aug. 17 and 21, 2017, with adults age 18 and over representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Panel members were randomly drawn from AmeriSpeak, and 1,038 completed the survey by web or phone, depending on respondent preference. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 4.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, including the design effect. The margin of sampling error may be higher for subgroups. About the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) is confronting the global energy challenge by working to ensure that energy markets provide access to reliable, affordable energy, while limiting environmental and social damages. We do this using a unique interdisciplinary approach that translates robust, data-driven research into real-world impacts through strategic outreach and training for the next generation of global energy leaders. epic.uchicago.edu@UChiEnergy About The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taps into the power of social science research and the highest-quality journalism to bring key information to people across the nation and throughout the world. http://www.apnorc.org The Associated Press (AP) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP. http://www.ap.org NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective, non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, NORC has conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with NORC to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge. http://www.norc.org The two organizations have established The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research to conduct, analyze, and distribute social science research in the public interest on newsworthy topics, and to use the power of journalism to tell the stories that research reveals. Contact: For more information, contact Vicki Ekstrom High for EPIC at vekstrom@uchicago.edu or (781) 789-3078 (cell); Eric Young for NORC at young-eric@norc.org or (703) 217-6814 (cell); or Lauren Easton for AP at leaston@ap.org. The Nobel Assembly has awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Jeffrey C. Hall and Michael Rosbash of Brandeis University and Michael W. Young of Rockefeller University in New York for "their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm." The National Science Foundation (NSF) has provided support to the research of these three researchers, including grants from the Office of International Science and Engineering for Hall and Robash and funding from the Biological Sciences Directorate for Robash. Young served as head of the Rockefeller University unit of the Science and Technology Center for Biological Timing, funded by NSF's Office of Integrative Activities. NSF Director France Cordova issued the following statement on the Nobel announcement. By building a body of research over decades using a model organism -- fruit flies -- these three researchers have given us a clearer understanding about human physiology. The findings of Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young have significant implications for health and wellness, and connect with our daily lives every time we go to sleep or wake up. Their discoveries shed light on a fundamental physiological mechanism, helping to advance and accelerate the field of circadian biology, which continues to produce new breakthroughs. NSF is proud to be associated with the work of these Nobel laureates. It demonstrates yet again that investing in basic research in the life processes of a wide variety of organisms and incorporating knowledge and techniques from across scientific disciplines yields results that benefit society. ### The NSF has awarded $13 million to create the Center for the Physics of Biological Function, a joint endeavor between Princeton University and the City University of New York. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $13 million to create the Center for the Physics of Biological Function, a joint endeavor between Princeton University and the City University of New York that will be headed up by Princeton biophysicists William Bialek and Joshua Shaevitz. The new center will tackle a deceptively simple question: What does modern physics reveal about life itself? Most of the funding is earmarked to bring new people to campus, from undergraduates who will participate in a summer science program to postdoctoral fellows who will be free to work with any or all of the 14 faculty members that make up this new center. In addition, each of the Princeton and CUNY professors will have visiting status at the other university to facilitate collaboration among the six theorists and eight experimentalists involved. "All the labs involved in this endeavor are successful on their own. What we're trying to do is to get them to talk more to each other," said Shaevitz, a professor of physics and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics who also directs the graduate program in quantitative and computational biology. "All of us think there are commonalities and themes -- that aren't being explored -- that link these different systems together," he said. "That takes people. There's no [equipment] that can do that for you. You have to have a scientist who sits there and interacts with two or more different groups and thinks hard about how these all link together." "Many of us have been working together, in various combinations, for many years," said Bialek, the John Archibald Wheeler/Battelle Professor in Physics and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, who also directs the biophysics certificate program for undergraduates. The center's research fellows, tied to no one lab but linked to them all, will have the freedom to create new research projects that draw from many areas. "It's a new way to initiate the science, which I think is really exciting," said Mala Murthy, an associate professor of molecular biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute (PNI). "The critical part here is that you want to start interacting early, so the experiment can inform the theory and vice versa, so the theory builds hypotheses, and then those hypotheses can be directly tested with the next round of experiments," she said. "This back and forth is critical for refining the hypotheses and building new ones, and really advancing the science." That prospect excites many of the scientists involved in the new center. "Faced with the same phenomenon, biologists and physicist typically ask different questions," said Bialek. "The center is exciting because we're assembling a community that's interactive in a whole variety of ways. There's been something bubbling about what you can do at the border of physics and biology," he said. "A special part of the Princeton community has been the especially close collaborations between theorists and experimentalists. Out of these diverse efforts one can see the outlines of something more unified, a physics of life that is expressed through general principles yet engages with the details of particular systems." The researchers are eager to bring young scientists into this "space in between departments," said Bialek. To engage prospective scientists early, the center will organize a summer school for advanced undergraduates. "We want to give them a sense of what the opportunities are, show them what's possible," he said. Summer science programs exist in many places, noted Shaevitz, but none focuses on what Bialek called the "hardcore interaction" between physics and biology. "A lot of times, undergraduate students just don't get exposure to the kinds of research we're doing," Shaevitz said. "Physicists do not typically see biology in their education. ... At the same time, I think traditional biology majors don't necessarily get to delve into the kinds of experiments and the kinds of theories that physicists might be applying to what they're thinking about." With this new center, Bialek and Shaevitz hope to change that. "This is an opportunity to get younger students, who may only have an inkling that they're interested in this stuff, and really show them what the potentials are, the power -- you give them some of the tools to be successful in research," said Shaevitz. The Princeton faculty members in the new center are: Robert Austin, professor of physics, Princeton, experimentalist Bonnie Bassler, the Squibb Professor and Chair of Molecular Biology, Princeton; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, experimentalist William Bialek, the John Archibald Wheeler/Battelle Professor in Physics and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton; visiting presidential professor of physics, the Graduate Center, CUNY, theorist Curtis Callan Jr., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Physics; affiliated faculty in the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton, theorist Thomas Gregor, associate professor of physics and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton, experimentalist Andrew Leifer, assistant professor of physics and the PNI, Princeton, experimentalist Mala Murthy, associate professor of molecular biology and the PNI, Princeton; faculty scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, experimentalist Joshua Shaevitz, professor of physics and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton, experimentalist David Tank, the Henry L. Hillman Professor in Molecular Biology, professor and co-director of the PNI; associated faculty in physics, Princeton, experimentalist Eric Wieschaus, the Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology; professor of the Lewis-Sigler Institute, Princeton; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, experimentalist Ned Wingreen, the Howard A. Prior Professor in the Life Sciences; professor of molecular biology; professor and associate director the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and associated faculty in physics, Princeton, theorist. ### Scientists from RUDN University have classified the distribution of soil microorganisms at different latitudes from tropical to temperate forests. The results of the study were published in Functional Ecology. Billions of species of microorganisms are found in soil. Therefore, a complete match of microbial composition in different soils is impossible. At the same time, similar groups of microorganisms can be found in very remote soils, where the climate and vegetation differ completely. It is obvious that the microorganisms themselves could not "walk" thousands of kilometers, and the transfer due to animals and plants is unlikely. Therefore, the principles of distribution of microorganisms in soils at large distances are practically unknown. Scientists investigated ecological question: How the distribution of microorganisms in soils depends on the habitat properties, vegetation and their interactions. "We have described the distribution of microorganisms in soils at different latitudes at a distance of up to 3,700 km and the factors affecting the distribution. We selected soil samples in forests in various climatic zones in China, have identified the microorganisms, mainly bacteria, and compared the composition of microbial groups in various soils depending on climatic, soil and vegetation conditions," said Yakov Kuzyakov, one of the authors of the paper from RUDN University. Scientists collected soil samples in forests, where plant communities have been stable for decades and centuries. Groups of microorganisms were identified by their DNA in the topsoil. Parallel, the scientists have investigated three large groups of environmental factors: 1) climate-related (average temperature and precipitation), 2) soil properties related (acidity, stable and easily accessible carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus) and 3) plant communities related factors (the amount and composition of plant residues). After studying the distribution of large DNA groups, the scientists concluded about the most important factors for distribution of microbial groups from completely different soils. "We have identified the predictors - the main factors, by which we can determine the microorganisms present in different soils. The distribution of microorganisms is mostly affected by soil properties, less by climate, and much less by plants. We can explain more than 80% of the variation in the composition of microorganisms based on these factors and their interactions," the scientist added. Microorganisms perform various functions: detoxication of pollutants, nutrient mineralization for plants, symbiosis with plants, decomposing plant residues, release of greenhouse gases, nitrogen fixation from the atmosphere, stimulating root growth, and many others. These functions affect both productivity and stability of natural and agricultural ecosystems. "In the near future, we will try to use the approaches and the results we got in this study to agricultural and urban soils. The composition and the groups of microorganisms, as well as the factors affecting agricultural and urban soils, which are affected by humans, certainly differ. Human factor and land use can play a significantly greater role than, for example, the climatic factor for natural soils. If we know the natural and anthropogenic factors of microbial distribution in soils, we can influence their functions - and thus the productivity and sustainability of natural and agricultural ecosystems," the scientist concluded. ### The work was carried out in collaboration with scientists from the Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science (IPCBPSS) RAS, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Gottingen (Germany), Tsinghua University (China), the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR) CAS, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A team led by Smithsonian scientists in Panama exposed a key to understanding tropical tree diversity by studying how fungi interact with seeds that linger in the ground. Despite a smorgasbord of species available to choose from, tropical fungi and seeds are picky about associating with one another. Early pairings with a particular fungus may influence whether a seed survives and also may help explain how tropical forests remain so diverse. "Depending on the species of the seed it pairs with, a fungus might kill the seed, hamper its development or, on the contrary, aid its germination," said Carolina Sarmiento, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute fellow and lead author of the new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. These species-specific outcomes are surprising because many of the fungi isolated in the study can colonize various plant species, each with its own chemical and physical seed defenses. "We don't know yet why fungi behave differently depending on the seed species they infect, but these responses are crucial to understanding their survival and growth in tropical forests." To demystify how fungi interact with tropical seeds, Sarmiento and her colleagues buried thousands of seeds from nine native tree species in a variety of forest plots on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. They dug up the seeds after periods underground ranging from a month to a year. After sterilizing the outer surfaces, they cut the seeds in half. They placed one half in a culture tube to isolate any fungi that might have invaded the seed tissue and processed the other half to see if the tiny plant embryo was still alive. The team processed more than 8,300 seeds and isolated 1,460 fungi, identifying more than 200 distinct fungal strains. Each of the nine plant species attracted a distinct community of fungi, despite different amounts of time underground, varying soil types, and even different forest surroundings. The filtering effect of plant species -- even as a seed -- upon the types of fungi that it attracts provides important insights into the elusive mystery of how tropical forest diversity persists. In the tropics, numerous species grow in close proximity but any individual species is widely scattered and locally rare. Scientists hypothesize that this pattern of diversity might be maintained by specialized pathogens, pests or predators of a host species, which make the local neighborhood hostile to more of its own kind while favoring the growth of unrelated species. "As the density of individuals of a single species increases, diseases are more likely to spread from one individual to another," explained senior author A. Elizabeth Arnold, professor at the University of Arizona. "Most work in this area has focused on seedlings and saplings of tropical trees, but what happens to seeds is less well known." Following up on their results, the researchers inoculated fresh seeds from seven study species with fungal strains isolated during the burial experiment. They germinated the new seeds in a greenhouse, and confirmed that the fungi affected seed mortality and germination in a species-specific manner. "One fascinating result was that if a fungus had a pathogenic effect on one plant species, it was likely to have the opposite effect on another," said coauthor Paul-Camilo Zalamea, a Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow. Project investigator James Dalling, professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, said, "By beneficially affecting some species while keeping others from regenerating, fungi may be the ultimate arbiters of the struggle for existence in tropical forests." ### The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquartered in Panama City, Panama, is a part 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. STRI website. In patient injury cases, revealing facts, offering apology does not lead to increase in lawsuits, study finds Sometimes a straightforward explanation and an apology for what went wrong in the hospital goes a long way toward preventing medical malpractice litigation and improving patient safety. That's what Michelle Mello, JD, PhD, and her colleagues found in a study to be published Oct. 2 in Health Affairs. Mello, a professor of health research and policy and of law at Stanford University, is the lead author of the study. The senior author is Kenneth Sands, former senior vice president at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Medical injuries are a leading cause of death in the United States. The lawsuits they spawn are also a major concern for physicians and health care facilities. So, hospital risk managers and liability insurers are experimenting with new approaches to resolving these disputes that channel them away from litigation. The focus is on meeting patients' needs without requiring them to sue. Hospitals disclose accidents to patients, investigate and explain why they occurred, apologize and, in cases in which the harm was due to a medical error, offer compensation and reassurance that steps will be taken to keep it from happening again. Positive results The study reports on the outcome of a so-called communication-and-resolution program at two large Massachusetts hospital systems. Mello and her co-authors found that the program not only yielded positive results in terms of liability costs but also led to significant patient safety improvements. "In these programs, hospitals scrutinize every serious harm event to answer the question, 'What can we learn?'" Mello said. "Traditionally, a risk manager's focus has been on the patients who complain about the care or threaten to sue. But every patient deserves to know that what happened to them is being taken seriously." Despite concerns that telling patients about errors and proactively offering compensation could cause liability costs to skyrocket, of the 989 adverse events reviewed for the study from 2013 to 2015, only 5 percent led to malpractice claims or lawsuits. And when the program did lead to compensation, the median payment was $75,000. By comparison, the median payment nationwide in 2015 when plaintiffs prevailed in malpractice lawsuits was about $225,000, Mello noted. "Our findings suggest that communication-and-resolution programs will not lead to higher liability costs when hospitals adhere to their commitment to offer compensation proactively," the authors wrote. Pilot program The authors focused on a program called CARe -- Communication, Apology and Resolution -- at six Massachusetts hospitals: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Baystate Medical Center, and two of each center's community hospitals. The hospitals demonstrated good adherence to the program protocol, the authors found. Physicians were supportive of the approach, but did ask for better communication about the program and what was happening with their patients. The low percentage of events that led to litigation should reassure hospitals concerned about the risks of being honest with patients, the authors wrote. A likely explanation, according to Mello, is that explaining why adverse events occurred defused patients' anger. About three-quarters of the time, adverse events were not actually due to error, the study said. Rather, malpractice claims frequently arise when plaintiffs perceive that the health care providers communicated poorly or attempted to cover up negligence, the authors noted. "Given the rarity with which communication-and-resolution events resulted in settlements, it is reasonable to wonder whether the programs are worth the time they require," the authors wrote, "but risk managers in our study thought they were. By providing explanations and expressions of sympathy for harms not arising from negligence, communication-and-resolution programs may avert lawsuits springing from misunderstanding." Objectives and improved safety The CARe objectives are to improve transparency surrounding events, improve patient safety, reduce lawsuits and support clinicians in disclosing error or injury. Medical events were bumped to a CARe evaluation if they met a severity threshold of either causing permanent or temporary harm that led to an extended hospitalization, required an invasive procedure or led to at least three outpatient visits. Of the 989 total events studied by the authors, 60 of them entered the CARe program because the hospital received notice that the patient intended to sue. Another 929 entered the program when an adverse event was reported that allegedly exceeded the severity threshold, or that met other criteria. The protocol called for compensation to be proactively offered whenever a violation of the standard of care caused serious harm. Only 9 percent of cases met these criteria. The largest payment made was $2 million. In 181 events, mostly events for which compensation criteria weren't met, hospitals offered to waive medical bills or made other modest gestures, like giving the patients meal vouchers and gift cards. About three-quarters of injuries didn't qualify for compensation because the standard of care was judged to have been met -- a proportion that is consistent with prior studies of medical injuries. About a third of the injuries weren't caused by the medical care: For example, a patient contracted an infection in the hospital but died from other causes. "These programs are usually talked about as a way to resolve cases of medical error, but what they do more often is encourage communication with patients about non-error events -- as well as systematic evaluation of each event for patient-safety lessons," Mello said. The authors also noted that communication-and-resolution programs "can help hospitals foster a culture of transparency by supporting clinicians in making disclosures." The safety interventions identified in the CARe investigations included new labeling for high-risk medications, color-coded socks for patients at risk for falls, radio frequency identification tags for surgical sponges, improved interpreter services, improvements for managing the selection of implantables after surgery, and a multidisciplinary checklist for breech deliveries. ### Other authors of the study are affiliated with Harvard, Tufts, Baystate Medical Center, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The study was funded by Baystate Health Insurance Company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, CRICO RMF, Coverys, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Massachusetts Medical Society and Tufts Health Plan. The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://med.stanford.edu/school.html. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. For information about all three, please visit http://med.stanford.edu. Print media contact: Beth Duff-Brown at (650) 736-6064, bethduff@stanford.edu Broadcast media contact: Margarita Gallardo at (650) 723-7897, mjgallardo@stanford.edu Among deceased in Ontario, Canada, recent immigrants were significantly more likely to receive aggressive care and to die in an intensive care unit compared with other residents, according to a study published by JAMA. The study is being released to coincide with its presentation at the Critical Care Canada Forum. Preliminary evidence suggests that some immigrants may face cultural and logistical challenges in end-of-life care due to several factors, including decreased health literacy or language ability and decreased access to care due to insufficient financial and social resources. Some immigrants may have different end of-life care preferences than many long-standing residents. Robert A. Fowler, M.D.C.M., M.S.(Epi), of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues examined end-of-life care provided to immigrants to Canada in the last six months of their life. All decedents who immigrated to Canada between 1985 and 2015 were classified as recent immigrants. The study included 967,013 decedents in Ontario, Canada, of whom 5 percent immigrated since 1985; long-standing residents were older than immigrant decedents (median age, 75 vs 80 years). Recent immigrant decedents were overall more likely to die in intensive care (16 percent vs 10 percent). In their last six months of life, recent immigrant decedents experienced more intensive care admissions (25 percent vs 19 percent), hospital admissions (72 percent vs 68 percent), mechanical ventilation (22 percent vs 14 percent), dialysis (5.5 percent vs 3.4 percent), percutaneous feeding tube placement (5.5 percent vs 3 percent), and tracheostomy (2.3 percent vs 1.1 percent). Increased rates of aggressive care varied substantially according to region of birth. For example, compared with long-standing residents, recent immigrants born in Northern and Western Europe were less likely to die in intensive care; those born in South Asia were nearly twice as likely to die in intensive care. Increased rates of aggressive care were not explained by differences in age, sex or socioeconomic position. Several limitations of the study are noted in the article. ### For more details and to read the full study, please visit the For The Media website. (doi:10.1001/jama.2017.14418) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc. Related material: The editorial, "End-of-Life Care Among Immigrants - Disparities or Differences in Preferences?" by Michael O. Harhay, Ph.D., and Scott D. Halpern, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, also is available at the For The Media website. To place an electronic embedded link to this study in your story This link will be live at the embargo time: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2017.14418 Fall enrollment numbers confirmed the La Crosse School Districts decade-and-a-half enrollment slide is continuing. La Crosse is down more than 90 students this year and down 280 students compared with seven years ago, according to Third Friday of September counts provided by the district. Other schools in La Crosse County reported increasing or stable enrollment this year, with Onalaska up nearly 6.5 percent since 2011 and Holmen up more than 4 percent. Countywide, enrollment is up slightly from seven years ago but down 80 students from a high of 16,263 in 2015. Districts provide their September headcounts to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and the numbers influence everything from school budgets to how districts and school boards plan for the future. For La Crosse, the pain of declining enrollment isnt felt immediately, Superintendent Randy Nelson said. For budgeting purposes, the state uses a three-year rolling average to calculate revenue limits and state aid to help districts that experience spikes in enrollment. The district has experienced declining enrollment for over 15 years, Nelson said, a trend the district calculates as it budgets, plans for future staffing and considers the best ways to use school space and resources. Open enrollment has helped the district: More students come into the district from neighboring districts each year than resident students who chose to go to school elsewhere. But like many urban districts, La Crosse doesnt have much room to grow, unlike neighboring suburbs such as Onalaska and Holmen. All of these things play into it, Nelson said. There is still an opportunity for development in the city, but not to grow our boundaries. The Onalaska school district is up 14 students this year to 3,178, and Holmen is up 44 to 3,938. Bangor is up 12 students to 595 and West Salem, which has had steady enrollment in recent years, is up 4 students to 1,818. Aquinas Catholic Schools enrollment also increased this year, by almost 30 students. During the past seven years, the private school system has seen its enrollment numbers fluctuate between 960 and more than 1,000 students. Aquinas began participating in the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program in 2014 and had 142 students enrolled this year, up more than 30 from last year. The choice program allows families with students meeting certain income eligibility requirements to enroll at a private school using public funds. Aquinas High School and Blessed Sacrament School saw strong enrollment numbers this year, Aquinas President Ted Knutson said. He felt families were choosing the Catholic school system for its strong teachers and principals. Open enrollment has been a boon for Onalaska which gained 228 students this year through the state program that lets students attend school at a neighboring district. Onalaska Superintendent Fran Finco said the district resident enrollment and open enrollment growth have combined for an increase of more than 190 students since 2011. Finco said the state funding attached to those new students has helped Onalaska avoid budget cuts. But as enrollment grows, he said, the district will be cautious to set limits on open enrollment to avoid having more students in a certain grade, school or special needs category than staff can effectively serve. Having a steadily increasing population has been a good thing for the district, he said. A molecule that prevents the immune system from attacking cancer may play a similar role with malaria. A new study by researchers at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine shows that targeting the molecule at the right time during infection allows mice to quickly clear malaria. Importantly the treated mice also develop lasting immunity to malaria. The molecule is a checkpoint protein called anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4). In cancer, CTLA-4 is a target for new immunotherapy drugs that prevent cancer from supressing the immune system. In the new study, published in Nature Medicine, the UI researchers show that CTLA-4 is expressed and released by a subset of immune cells called regulatory T cells (Tregs) that are involved in immune suppression. "People have long known that malaria is associated with a huge immunosupressive response, but no one knew the mechanism," say Samarchith (Sam) Kurup, PhD, a UI assistant research scientist and first author on the study. "The CTLA-4 molecule interferes with appropriate immune activation," explains John Harty, PhD, UI professor of microbiology and immunology and senior study author. "Specifically, it interferes with the function of several types of T helper cells whose job it is to drive immune responses against malaria." Malaria is a serious, life-threatening disease across most of the developing world. There are 200 million cases of malaria each year and almost 500,000 malaria-related deaths. The malaria parasite, which is transmitted by mosquito bites, persists in the blood for long periods. Critically, although there are drugs that can cure the infection, humans do not develop immunity to infection, which means a person can get reinfected with malaria year after year. Multiple infections eventually make a person resistant to the severity of the disease symptom, but when the person - usually a young child - experiences their first few infections, the disease can be deadly. Malaria meddles with immune responses In most infectious diseases, a group of immune cells called T helper cells increases in number, cooperates with B cells to make antibodies that clear the infection, then leaves behind memory T and B cells to defend against reinfection with the same pathogen. That doesn't happen in malaria. Instead, there is a period where the T helper cell expansion stalls. During that critical time period, the UI reseachers showed that the Treg population increases. "Our observation that the Tregs went up when the T helper cells stopped going up showed a timing relationship that suggested the possibility of a functional relationship," says Harty, who also is a UI professor of pathology. When the UI team eliminated Treg cells in mice with blood-stage malaria infections, the expansion of the T helper cells did not plateau; they kept expanding and cleared the infection faster. Further experiments revealed that Tregs suppress the normal immune response by continuously expressing and shedding the CTLA-4 molecule, which interferes with the normal immune function of T helper cells. It also interferes with another set of T helper cells (follicular T helper cells) whose job it is to help make antibodies against malaria. "Tregs meddle with these processes through the CTLA-4 molecule," Harty says. Blocking CTLA-4 at the right time during blood-stage infection cured mice of the infection and promoted immunity against reinfections. It even provided protection against challenge from another deadlier malaria parasite. Previous work in Harty's lab found that blocking a different checkpoint protein called PDL1 at a later point in malaria infection also improved the host immune response to malaria. The new work shows that the CTLA-4 pathway is in play at an earlier stage in malaria infection, and shows that the two pathways don't overlap. "Both pathways impede the appropriate activation of the immune system, but in different ways, targeting different interactions, and at different time points," Harty says. "The more we understand how and when these pathways are operating, the better chance we have to rescue them." Of mice and men Harty and Kurup are quick to point out that findings in mice often do not translate easily to human patients, but access to unique human data may help determine if the CTLA-4 findings are relevant in humans. For about a decade, Harty has collaborated with Peter Crompton, an National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientist who works with malaria patients in the African country of Mali. The clinic where Crompton's colleagues work tracks around 700 children year after year. During each wet season, when malaria is endemic, children are diagnosed and treated for malaria, and the team collects blood samples for immunological studies. "This has been a very potent resource for us," Harty says. "When we look at blood samples from the same infection timeframe that we investigated in the mouse, we see some of the same immune changes (expansion of Tregs and upregulation of CTLA-4) are also happening in humans. That does not prove that everything is the same, but at the level of resolution that we have, there is some reasonable similarity." "Practically, we have shown there is a pathway that can be targeted, and although CTLA-4 blockers that are available as cancer immunotherapies are too costly and impractical to use for malaria, there may be other parts of this immunological pathway that could be targeted using other drugs or small molecules, to produce the same effect," Kurup says. The malaria parasite is adept at developing resistance to antimalarial medicines that target it directly, as has happened time and time again. The UI approach focuses on modulating or improving the immune response of the host. "The parasite can't become resistant to that," Harty says. ### In addition to Harty, Kurup, and Crompton, the research team spread between UI, NIH, and Mali, included Nyamekye Obeng-Adjei, Scott Anthony, Boubacar Traore, Ogobara Doumbo, and Noah Bulter. The research was funded in part by grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases the National Institute of General Medical Science of the NIH. A University of Iowa-led team of researchers has used the gene editing method called CRISPR-Cas9 to disrupt a mutant gene that is responsible for some forms of glaucoma, one of the most common causes of irreversible blindness. The study involves the elimination of the mutated myocilin protein from a mouse model of human glaucoma and cultured human cells through the use of CRISPR-Cas9, which can alter DNA sequences and gene function. Mutations in myocilin are implicated in juvenile- and adult-onset primary open-angle glaucoma. In their experiments, researchers found that removing the mutated protein by disrupting the mutant myociln results in lowered intraocular pressure, which in turn prevents glaucomatous damage to the eye. "As scientists we don't want to just discover a diseased gene, we want to understand what the gene does and, in this case, have a better understanding of glaucoma so that it can be more effectively treated," says Val Sheffield, MD, PhD, Carver Chair of Molecular Genetics at the University of Iowa and an investigator with the Wynn Institute for Vision Research at the University and senior author of the study. "No one knows what this gene does, except that its mutant form causes glaucoma." The research is published online in the Oct. 2 issue of the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, or PNAS. It is the result of 24 years of collaboration between scientists at UI Carver College of Medicine, the Wynn Institute for Vision Research at the University of Iowa, and the North Texas Eye Research Institute at the UNT Health Science Center. Scientists from the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also contributed to the study. Glaucoma is a common vision and neurodegenerative disorder affecting 3 to 5 percent of people over the age of 40. An early precursor to the most common form of this disease known as primary open-angle glaucoma is high intraocular pressure - fluid pressure inside the eye - that damages retinal ganglion axons at the optic nerve and leads to death of retinal ganglion cells that carry the visual signals to the brain, which can cause blindness. Myocilin is a protein found in the trabecular meshwork - a part of the eye that regulates intraocular pressure. A mutation in the myocilin gene can cause high intraocular pressure. Scientists found that genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9 to disrupt the mutant myocilin gene prevented production of the mutant protein, which prevented elevated intraocular pressure in mouse eyes, thus totally preventing this human form of glaucoma in mice. In addition, this same genome editing technology eliminated myocilin expression in perfusion cultured human eyes, that will translate into a unique new therapy to treat myocilin glaucoma in humans. ### In addition to Sheffield, other UI and Wynn Institute researchers involved in the study include lead author Ankur Jain, PhD, postdoctoral research scholar; Tasneem Sharma, PhD, postdoctoral research scholar; Kevin Bugge, research technician; Charles Searby, research specialist; and John Fingert, MD, PhD, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences. This study also was the culmination of a close research collaboration with investigators at the North Texas Eye Research Institute (NTERI) at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, including Gulab Zode, assistant professor, and Abe Clark, Regents Professor and Executive Director of NTERI. A team of Irish scientists has discovered that applying pressure to a protein found in egg whites and tears can generate electricity. The researchers from the Bernal Institute, University of Limerick (UL), Ireland, observed that crystals of lysozyme, a model protein that is abundant in egg whites of birds as well as in the tears, saliva and milk of mammals can generate electricity when pressed. Their report is published today (October 2) in the journal, Applied Physics Letters. The ability to generate electricity by applying pressure, known as direct piezoelectricity, is a property of materials such as quartz that can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and vice versa. Such materials are used in a variety of applications ranging from resonators and vibrators in mobile phones to deep ocean sonars to ultrasound imaging. Bone, tendon and wood are long known to possess piezoelectricity. "While piezoelectricity is used all around us, the capacity to generate electricity from this particular protein had not been explored. The extent of the piezoelectricity in lysozyme crystals is significant. It is of the same order of magnitude found in quartz. However, because it is a biological material, it is non toxic so could have many innovative applications such as electroactive, anti-microbial coatings for medical implants," explained Aimee Stapleton, the lead author and an Irish Research Council EMBARK Postgraduate Fellow in the Department of Physics and Bernal Institute of UL. Crystals of lysozyme are easy to make from natural sources. "The high precision structure of lysozyme crystals has been known since 1965," said structural biologist at UL and co-author Professor Tewfik Soulimane. "In fact, it is the second protein structure and the first enzyme structure that was ever solved," he added, "but we are the first to use these crystals to show the evidence of piezoelectricity". According to team leader Professor Tofail Syed of UL's Department of Physics, "Crystals are the gold-standard for measuring piezoelectricity in non-biological materials. Our team has shown that the same approach can be taken in understanding this effect in biology. This is a new approach as scientists so far have tried to understand piezoelectricity in biology using complex hierarchical structures such as tissues, cells or polypeptides rather than investigating simpler fundamental building blocks". The discovery may have wide reaching applications and could lead to further research in the area of energy harvesting and flexible electronics for biomedical devices. Future applications of the discovery may include controlling the release of drugs in the body by using lysozyme as a physiologically mediated pump that scavenges energy from its surroundings. Being naturally biocompatible and piezoelectric, lysozyme may present an alternative to conventional piezoelectric energy harvesters, many of which contain toxic elements such as lead. Professor Luuk van der Wielen, Director of Bernal Institute and Bernal Professor of Biosystems Engineering and Design expressed his delight at this breakthrough by UL scientists. "The Bernal Institute has the ambition to impact the world on the basis of top science in an increasingly international context. The impact of this discovery in the field of biological piezoelectricity will be huge and Bernal scientists are leading from the front the progress in this field," he said. ### The full paper, The Direct Piezoelectric Effect in the Globular Protein Lysozyme, by Aimee Stapleton, Mohamed R Noor, John Sweeney, Vincent Casey, Andrei Kholkin, Christophe Silien, Abbasi A. Gandhi, Tewfik Soulimane and Syed A M Tofail, is published in Applied Physics Letters (October 02, 2017). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4997446. Ends For further information, photographs or to arrange an interview, please contact: Nicola Corless Communications Officer University of Limerick 353-61-234-921 Notes to the editor: Funding: Aimee Stapleton was awarded funding from the Irish Research Council EMBARK Postgraduate Scholarship. Part of this study was also facilitated by a Higher Education Authority grant under the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI 5) to University of Limerick. About Aimee Stapleton: Aimee Stapleton, from Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland, has just completed her PhD in the Department of Physics and Energy at University of Limerick. She used a number of methods, including Piezoresponse Force Microscopy, to study piezoelectricity (electromechanical coupling) in proteins. Before starting her doctoral studies, she graduated with a first class honours degree in Applied Physics. During her degree, she interned at 2M Engineering in The Netherlands, researching laser-based technologies. Apart from her research activities, Aimee has a keen interest in science communication as well as teaching and learning. In 2015, she won the Institute of Physics Rosse Medal Award for best communication of postgraduate research. About the Bernal Institute: The Bernal Institute at University of Limerick is a research institute comprised of 20,000m2 of high-quality, multi-purpose research space in the new science and engineering zone at UL. The Bernal Institute is named for John Desmond Bernal, one of the most influential scientists of the 20th Century who was born in Nenagh, County Tipperary. About University of Limerick: University of Limerick, Ireland, with more than 13,000 students and 1,300 staff is an energetic and enterprising institution with a proud record of innovation and excellence in education, research and scholarship. The dynamic, entrepreneurial and pioneering values which drive UL's mission and strategy ensures that it capitalises on local, national and international engagement and connectivity. About Applied Physics Letters: Applied Physics Letters (APL) features concise, up-to-date reports on significant new findings in applied physics. Emphasizing rapid dissemination of key data and new physical insights, APL offers prompt publication of new experimental and theoretical papers reporting applications of physics phenomena to all branches of science, engineering, and modern technology. University of Pittsburgh launches new NSF-funded national research center for advanced computing in space and other harsh environments PITTSBURGH (Oct. 2, 2017) ... The National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Space, High-performance, and Resilient Computing (SHREC) celebrated its grand opening on Sept. 18 with a ribbon cutting and tours of the facility at the Schenley Place building on the University of Pittsburgh Oakland campus. "Pittsburgh provides an ideal setting to foster and support high-tech research collaboration between industry, academia, and government," said Alan George, the Mickle Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Pitt and founder of SHREC. Dr. George became chair of the Swanson School of Engineering's ECE Department in January. The main research focus of SHREC is "mission-critical computing," which includes space computing; high-performance computing and data analytics; and resilient computing to ensure computer dependability in harsh environments like space or the ocean floor. SHREC expects to bring about $1 million in external research funding to Pitt each year and is funded by the NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program. The University of Pittsburgh is the lead institution of the national research center, and partners include Brigham Young University and University of Florida. "We plan to grow to four or five universities in the next few years and more than 30 industry and government partners," said Dr. George. The SHREC team currently operates two experimental space processors deployed on the NASA International Space Station (ISS) and will add six more in late 2018 or early 2019. NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense deployed the first two processors as part of the Space Test Program - Houston 5 (STP-H5) payload in February. During the grand opening, students offered demonstrations of the SHREC facilities. In the Spacecraft Assembly Room, they showed attendees how they communicate with the ISS and direct space missions from the Pitt campus. "Our focus is student-centered, and the students get to work directly with the computers in space," said Dr. George. "Space technology applies to most of the engineering disciplines, and I would encourage anyone interested in our work to get in touch with us." SHREC will replace the NSF Center for High-performance Reconfigurable Computing (CHREC), which moved to Pitt in January under the direction of Dr. George. CHREC will sunset in December after 11 years of operation. ### Researchers have discovered that New Caledonian crows and kea parrots can learn about the usefulness of objects by playing with them - similar to human baby behaviour. The study, led by researchers at the Universities of York and St Andrews, demonstrated that two types of bird were able to solve tasks more successfully if they had explored the object involved in the task beforehand. It has long been thought that playful exploration allows animals to gather information about their physical world, in much the same way that human infants learn about their world through play. In one of the first direct tests of this hypothesis, scientists studied two bird species, the New Caledonian crow and the kea parrot, to understand how they interact with objects before, during and after a task involving that object. Dr Katie Slocombe, from the University of York's Department of Psychology, said: "Both species of bird are known for exploring objects in different ways. The New Caledonian crow use objects in the wild and the kea parrot is known for often being destructive in its play back in its native New Zealand. "We found that both species were better at selecting the correct tools to solve a task if they had the opportunity to explore them beforehand, suggesting that they were learning something about the properties of them as they interacted with them." The team presented the birds with blocks and ropes of different colours, weights and patterns to explore and play with, before presenting a task where they had to collapse a platform with a ball and retrieve a reward from a pipe with a stick. The ball and stick where later replaced with the blocks and ropes to see whether they could choose the right tool from their earlier play session to complete the task. The team suggests that applying this simple test to other species may shed more light on the different functions of play and exploration and its relation to tool use and physical problem solving. Megan Lambert, PhD student at the University of York, said: "This type of 'latent learning', which occurs without any reinforcement, is thought to be particularly important for animals to be able to use objects as tools in a variety of contexts for creative problem-solving. "Although the birds appeared to learn from their exploration, we found no evidence that the birds changed the way they interacted with the objects after learning they could be used as tools. "This means that the birds did not appear to explicitly seek information about the objects, but rather learned about their properties incidentally through exploring them." ### The research is published in the journal Royal Society Open Science: http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/9/170652 In 1999, a routine study for a pipeline in Tazewell County, Virginia, led to a surprising discovery. Researchers spotted tiny minnows with a black stripe and yellow fins, similar in size and skeletal structure to the Laurel dace, a species native to Tennessee. Further sampling, however, revealed that these minnows were actually a separate species. Named for the upper Clinch River basin where they were discovered, the Clinch dace have been extensively studied since 2005. The most recent study, conducted by researchers in Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment, offers suggestions for further methods of study and conservation efforts. The study, published in the Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, compiles data collected on the Clinch dace from 70 stream segments in Tazewell and Russell counties. The fish, which grow to roughly 2 inches in length, are typically found in forested streams. They prefer to nest in gravel depressions built by larger fish like creek chubs and stonerollers, which provide well-oxygenated nests for their eggs to develop. The tiny Clinch dace, an extremely rare species typically found in forested streams, can serve as an indicator of water quality. All fish surveyed for this study were collected using approved methods and returned to streams unharmed. Photo by Rebecca Bourquin. Lead author Michael Moore, who earned his master's in fish and wildlife conservation in 2016, worked in the field collecting data on the Clinch dace during the summers of 2014 and 2015. "Conducting field work and searching for new populations is like a treasure hunt," he said. "You get to test your predictions, and every time you find a new population, it's exciting because you know the species has a little better chance of surviving." Moore and a team of undergraduate students divided each stream into four 50-meter sections. In two sections, they used cloth mesh minnow traps to capture fish. In the other two stream segments, they used electrofishing, a technique that sends a small electrical pulse into the water to disrupt the fish and make them swim to the surface. In order to accurately describe the current distribution of the species and minimize the risk of concluding false absences, each stream was surveyed twice. Moore kept a list of every fish caught, paying special attention to whether the Clinch dace was found. Using these data, he was able to develop a statistical model to predict the likelihood of discovering the Clinch dace in a particular stream. The results of the study were somewhat bittersweet. Moore, who is now a doctoral student at the University of Missouri, explained that electrofishing proved to be the most effective method of finding the Clinch dace, but even then, detection is difficult because of the species' rarity. "These are extremely rare fish in Virginia," he said. "We found them in less than 10 percent of the small streams in two counties. On the one hand, we were excited to find them in three streams where they'd never been found before, but we failed to find them in two other streams where they had been identified a few years ago." Currently, the Clinch dace is in the highest tier of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' Tiers of Imperilment for all wildlife species found in the state. According to Mike Pinder, an aquatic biologist with the agency, that means that conservation efforts are vital. "Even though we live in a time when we think everything has been discovered, we're still finding new species right here in Virginia," he said. "If we didn't do this work, this species may have been gone soon after it was discovered." Pinder added that because it takes very little to disrupt a Clinch dace population, the species can serve as a good indicator of water quality in an area. Because Clinch dace live in small streams and headwaters, their presence can give clues to the quality of water that ultimately flows into larger rivers and streams around the state. "A single disturbance like a chemical spill can wipe out an entire generation of these fish, so they can serve as biomonitoring tools," he said. "If they're present in a water system, it's a good indication that the water system is healthy. If you see them declining, there may be something wrong." Co-author Donald Orth, the Thomas H. Jones professor of fish and wildlife conservation, noted that there are many things that can be done to help protect Clinch dace populations in the area. "Forested areas near the streams protect the waterway, prevent erosion, and provide shade that keeps the water cool, so any permits that would allow renewed or expanded timber harvesting or surface mining should be scrutinized to make sure they avoid changing the forest cover or water quality," he said. Orth also explained that instituting a monitoring program for the existing populations would help researchers track how the species persists over time and determine if additional conservation or restoration efforts should be added. Currently, Rebecca Bourquin, of Manahawkin, New Jersey, a master's student in fish and wildlife conservation, is collecting DNA samples from eight Clinch dace populations noted in the study to determine their genetic similarities and differences. Bourquin hopes that her research will help researchers and conservationists augment existing populations to prevent further extinctions. "We wouldn't want to take one population and add it into another if they're too genetically dissimilar, so I'm trying to determine whether we can do any sort of translocation and increase some of those smaller population sizes," she explained. In addition to offering recommendations for further study and conservation efforts, the researchers also took time to educate the local community, including elementary and middle school students, about the Clinch dace and its importance to the local ecosystem. "All of these streams are owned by private landowners, so working with them to develop conservation practices is going to be vital," Orth said. "Most of the people we spoke to are really proud and excited that they have a local species that doesn't occur anywhere else in the world. Seeing landowners and students get excited about this species really gives me hope about its future." ### Oct. 2, 2017 - Opioid medications prescribed for pain management after plastic surgery may contribute to the ongoing opioid epidemic, according to a special topic paper in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Plastic surgeons must recognize their patients' risk of developing opioid use disorders and that the opioids they prescribe may be diverted to non-medical use, according to the article by Daniel Demsey, MD, of University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and colleagues. "Surgeon opioid prescribing practices contribute to the opioid addiction crisis," Dr. Demsey said. "Improvements in prescribing practices can improve patient safety." Managing the Risks As for other types of surgery, patients undergoing plastic and reconstructive surgery are commonly prescribed opioid medications to manage postoperative pain. In recent years, increased opioid prescribing has been closely linked to increases in opioid overdose. "The scale of the opioid addiction epidemic is difficult to exaggerate," according to Dr. Demsey and coauthors. They cite studies reporting that 4.7 percent of the U.S. population aberrantly used prescription opioids in 2015. In the same year, nearly 29,000 people died due to prescription opioid overdose. Opioids prescribed after surgery contribute to the opioid crisis in two ways: by exposing patients to potentially addictive medications and by contributing to the street supply of opioid drugs. Patients with previous chronic opioid use are more likely to still be taking these drugs one year after surgery. Even patients who have never taken opioids before are at risk of persistent use. Risk factors for persistent opioid use include previous substance use disorders, mental health problems such as anxiety or depression, female sex and low socioeconomic status. Patients with chronic pain who are already taking opioids are at higher risk of complications or death after major surgery and incur higher health care costs. Many patients don't use all the opioid medications prescribed after surgery, with a risk that these leftover drugs will be diverted to nonmedical use by the patient or others. Most people with prescription opioid use disorder get the drugs from friends and family. Dr. Demsey and coauthors suggest strategies for plastic surgeons to reduce the risks of persistent opioid use or diversion. Patients should be screened for risk factors for opioid use disorder; talking to patients about these risks in a nonjudgmental way may encourage them to use their pain medications cautiously. The patient's primary care doctor should also be informed about the possible increase in risk. For patients at risk, outcomes can be improved by referral to a transitional pain service, including development of an opioid weaning plan. Patients with known or suspected substance use disorder should be referred to an addiction specialist, preferably before surgery. The authors said, "Elective surgery in patients with established substance use disorders should not be performed until follow-up for substance use has been arranged." Other strategies can help to reduce the need for opioids, including the use of combination anesthesia techniques and prescribing nonopioid pain medications after surgery. Educating patients about proper storage and disposal of opioid medications can help to reduce the risk of persistent opioid use or diversion. Dr. Demsey said, "Although we cannot solve the opioid addiction crisis on our own, as plastic surgeons we can make a major contribution." ### Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is published by Wolters Kluwer. Click here to read "Managing Opioid Addiction Risk in Plastic Surgery during the Perioperative Period." Article: "Managing Opioid Addiction Risk in Plastic Surgery during the Perioperative Period" (doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000003742) About Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery For more than 70 years, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery has been the one consistently excellent reference for every specialist who uses plastic surgery techniques or works in conjunction with a plastic surgeon. The official journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and reconstructive surgery, including breast reconstruction, experimental studies, maxillofacial reconstruction, hand and microsurgery, burn repair and cosmetic surgery, as well as news on medico-legal issues. About ASPS The American Society of Plastic Surgeons is the largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons in the world. Representing more than 7,000 physician members, the society is recognized as a leading authority and information source on cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. ASPS comprises more than 94 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States. Founded in 1931, the society represents physicians certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery or The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer N.V. (AEX: WKL) is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2016 annual revenues of 4.3 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide. Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Eronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the U.S. (WTKWY). Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of information and point of care solutions for the healthcare industry. For more information about our products and the organization, visit http://www.wolterskluwer.com/, follow @WKHealth or @Wolters_Kluwer on Twitter, like us on Facebook , follow us on LinkedIn, or follow WoltersKluwerComms onYouTube . For more information about Wolters Kluwer's solutions and organization, visithttp://www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us onTwitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube . Home Currency Exchange Foreign Exchange Buying Property Abroad Tue, 15th November 2022 Buying Property Abroad - Best Exchange Rates Purchasing Overseas Property? Reduce the Cost of Buying Your New Property Abroad. If you are buying a property abroad then you're far from alone; There are plenty of UK residents looking to purchase a property abroad, whether it be as a second holiday home or as their desired home for retirement. The question is not so much why, but how you go about completing this foreign property purchase...and how to avoid the potential for unecessary costs due to fx rates! The Vendor will have to be paid in his/her local currency and so the critical issue becomes the price difference you pay due to the variations in the local currency rate and your payment currency rate. As the completion may take longer, due to the long distance nature of the purchase, just a small fluctation in exchange rates at this critical time, could cost you dearly. It is for this reason that you should always entrust a Currency Exchange Broker to obtain the best possible currency rate for your purchase of the foreign property. Not only can they save you money by offering the most competitive rates, but they are also likely specialists in this type of transaction (buying property abroad) and will be able to offer advice that can speed the completion, or at least limit the extra delays! For the best exchange rates on sizeable transactions, it is usually cheaper to use a specialist currency exchange provider rather than a bank or wire transfer service. The Times Online You should also look into Fixed Term Forward Contracts or Forward Time Option Contracts in an attempt to limit any problems with currency rate fluctuations over this time. If the exchange rate is pretty decent, foreign currency brokers can fix the rate of exchange at today's rate using a forward contract This is very useful if you are uncertain of the final completion date when buying property abroad. Pigeon problems have led to a hefty bill for La Crosses parking utility. The city Board of Public Works Monday approved a $33,000 bid to clean up pigeon feces in the Main Street Parking Ramp, as well as giving parking utility coordinator Jim Flottmeyer the go-ahead to hire another company to seal the area. The city also took the opportunity to discuss pigeon removal efforts. When Main Street Ramp was built, insulation was installed atop the walls surrounding the restaurant portion, which houses Dublin Square, Johns Bar and Lindys Subs and Salads. The pigeons have found their way through that, so over the last 20 years, its filled up with pigeon fun stuff and pigeons, Flottmeyer said. According to an estimate from Dirty Ducts Cleaning, a Madison-based company hired by the city to address the problem, the pigeon poo could cover an area of about 10,000 square feet. The problem came to light with the heavy rainfall at the end of July, when 7 inches of rain fell in La Crosse County. The rain filled the area, washing some, but not all, of the feces out into the ramp behind the restaurants. It was all running out the water spouts into the ramp, and it caused some problems with those customers, Flottmeyer said. Prior to the clean-up, which will include people in hazmat suits removing the dry excrement and debris from the 4-foot crawlspace, as well as disinfecting the entire area, the city will need to seal the area to prevent the pigeons return. The work will be done at night to avoid disrupting the businesses in the ramp. The funds for the removal will come from the parking utilitys operating budget, but La Crosse Assistant Chief of Police Rob Abraham said the department wanted to bring it to the boards attention for two reasons. Obviously, from a budgetary standpoint, we didnt expect to spend $40,000 to remove pigeon poop, Abraham said. The other reason was to talk about abatement. Abraham has been in touch with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which provides pigeon removal services, although the city would need to reimburse the department for its costs. If we dont start thinning the herd, so to speak, in a pretty dramatic fashion, these prices and spending $40,000 to remove pigeon poop can start to add up pretty quickly, Abraham said. Its difficult to tell exactly how many pigeons are downtown, according to Downtown Mainstreet Inc. executive director Robin Moses, but the pigeon population remains a significant one. This month marks the second year of DMIs pigeon-feed contraceptive program, which costs the organization $10,000 a year. While Moses said some people believe the numbers have gone down, the pigeons are still causing problems year-round. In the summer time they can feed in other areas, as the weather starts to get cooler, they come back to downtown because they can find nesting areas, Moses said. I think we need to get more aggressive than weve even been so far, she added. Moses has been working with the parking utility to come up with a solution. If people are still creating areas for nesting or harboring pigeons inside buildings that may have a broken window, were still going to continue to see an issue, Moses said. It has to be approached in many different directions. There are multiple solutions the city can implement that would involve removing pigeons. Theyre an invasive species in the U.S. They compete with other native birds to Wisconsin, Abraham said. Thats really what has to happen. Mike 10 years ago Last Updated: Monday, 16th July 2012 19:40:33 Read the answer... How can I 'broadly' relate the exchange rates quoted on the TOR website (given the NOTE below) and the actual rate I am likely to be quoted (eg. 95% of the exchange rate). PLEASE NOTE: All currency values on this site, as of 31st October 2009, are now sourced from a range of inter bank sources in relation to the British Pound base currency. These rates are updated every 5 minutes to reflect the latest figures presented to us. Prior to this date the exchange rates were obtained from the European Central Bank as per their last data available in relation to the EURO base currency. Exchangerates.org.uk believes this information to be accurate, however does not warrant or guarantee such accuracy. Users of this website are advised to verify any values before using it. Exchangerates.org.uk makes absolutely no warranties regarding any values on this website, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy or availability. Place Your Advert Register or sign in to advertise your job The Conservative Party has come under fire from angry farmers on social media after allowing a major US sugar company to sponsor its conference in Manchester. US sugar company Tate & Lyle Sugars, a major exporter to the UK, is sponsoring the Conservative Party Conference, held in Manchester from 1 October to 4 October. Social media users were keen to spot that the lanyards holding delegate passes had Tate & Lyle imprinted on them. Twitter user Eye said: "Interesting it's not British Sugar. They're obviously more into sponsorship from the US." (Photo: Twitter) Lincolnshire grower Andrew Ward said: "Disgraceful. Conservatives sponsored at conference by Tate & Lyle, who provide foreign cane Sugar. So much for supporting British agriculture." Naomi Langford-Wood tweeted: "Back British sugar. No choice. Tate & Lyle is imported." Major competitor The gaffe means that the Conservatives are advertising a brand which is a major competitor to British Sugar. It comes just days after Defra Secretary Michael Gove and Tory MP Robert Jenrick recently visited the British Sugar factory at Newark to mark the end of the EU sugar quotes. Mr Jenwick said the visit was made to "start a bright new future". The National Farmers' Union has even set up a 'sensory farm' inside the conference, which includes the "pledge apple tree", where delegates can hang a paper apple on the prop to pledge their support for British farming. On the weekend, NFU President Meurig Raymond said the Conference will give the union the "perfect opportunity" to speak to thousands of delegates about the British farming industry. But today, NFU Vice President said: "Early off to Manchester to help man NFU stand. First job, change the lanyard on the pass. You won't build a country on imports." One of the UK's largest supermarket chicken suppliers has suspended production at one of its main processing plants after an investigation allegedly exposed food safety breaches. The 2 Sisters Food Group said staff at its site in the West Midlands will need to be "appropriately retrained" before it starts resupplying customers. Tesco has joined a boycott of the poultry groups West Midlands plant in the wake of a joint undercover investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, Aldi and Lidl have joined the boycott too. Over 12 working days of undercover filming, reporters recorded evidence that the firm, owned by the so-called 'Chicken King' Ranjit Sign Boparan, was putting customers at risk by tampering with food safety records. Changing the records means the meat would be untraceable in the event of an outbreak of food poisoning. When meats of different ages were mixed together, the slaughter date of the newest batch rather than the oldest batch would be used, employees claimed. Some workers also claimed the chicken that supermarkets reject is sometimes repackaged at the factory and sent out again. 'Shocked and distressed' 2 Sisters Food Group said in a statement on Sunday (1 October): "We are shocked and distressed by the allegations and the footage which we saw for the first time on Thursday September 28th. "Since the allegations were put to us by the Guardian/ITV, we have been working around the clock to get to the truth of the matter. "We responded immediately by launching our own internal investigation at our West Bromwich plant and invited the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to independently review our standards. "The FSA has been in daily attendance since the allegations were raised and confirmed that it has not identified any breaches. "However, our internal investigation has shown some isolated instances of non-compliance with our own quality management systems. "We have therefore decided to temporarily suspend operations at the site to allow us the time to retrain all colleagues including management in all food safety and quality management systems. "All colleagues will remain on full pay and will attend site whilst training is undertaken. We will only recommence supply once we are satisfied that our colleagues have been appropriately retrained." 'No evidence' The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said that it had found no evidence of breaches during an inspection of the plant following the allegations. But it said it was still reviewing evidence, saying: "If any incidences of non-compliance are found we will take prompt and proportionate action with the business concerned, working closely with the local authority." 2 Sisters Food Group is the UKs second largest food company by turnover and claims to process around 6 million chickens every week. Defra Secretary Michael Gove has said British farmers will be able to sell more pigs' ears after Brexit. Mr Gove told a fringe meeting at the Conservative conference today (2 October) that Britain will be able export more pigs ears after Brexit. He said leaving the EU would enable UK farmers to do away with ear tags and introduce their own traceability methods on livestock. Gove recently visited Northern Ireland to talk to local farmers there. He said tastes for different cuts of pig could create a scenario for exporting. There are some cuts of the animal that are hugely popular with the British consumer, others a little less. But some of those cuts are hugely popular elsewhere, say, for example, pigs ears are a delicacy in China. He said Britain has not been as successful as we might have been at selling pigs ears to China [because] EU rules dictate that pigs, like all livestock, have ear tags. Unpierced pigs ears are worth more. We will have a fair, competitive advantage we can sell more pigs ears to China and that means there can be more bacon and pork and ham from the other joints of the animal that are popularly sold here. So by selling more sows ears to China we can buy more silk purses for British farmers. Chicken feet and pig trotters The UK Livestock Brexit Group has previously explained that new export markets may exist due to traditionally unfavourable meats. Group chairman Chris Dodds said: While the group's view is that maintaining access to the EU market should remain the priority, we have also opened up export markets that many British consumers may not even realise exist. Products such as chicken feet and pigs trotters have limited demand from the UK consumer, but there is good demand for these, along with prime meat products, in new Asian markets, adding value for UK producers. Farming minister George Eustice has also explained that farmers could gain a financial advantage after Brexit by increasing exports of chicken feet to China. Mr Eustice said farmers had the opportunity to increase exports of the popular snack to China and other regions where parts of the bird are rejected by British shoppers. Ministers have previously agreed a deal to export pigs' trotters to China to increase access to new markets. Green lobby groups are ramping up their support for a call on the ban on 'bee-harming' pesticides amid strong opposition from farming unions. Environmental group Friends of the Earth has released a YouGov survey showing that over three quarters of the UK public (76%) think the government should support EU proposals to extend current restrictions on pesticides to all crops. The survey has been released amid the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester today (2 October), where Defra Secretary Michael Gove is expected to give a speech. Mr Gove is coming under pressure to reveal whether or not the UK government will back the European Commission proposal for a ban on the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides on all outdoor crops. Speaking about neonicotinoids following a speech in the summer where he outlined his vision for a Green Brexit, Mr Gove said new research had raised profound concerns and that he was contemplating the need for further restrictions on their use. Restricted In 2013, three neonicotinoid pesticides were restricted from being used on flowering crops attractive to bees across the EU after it was revealed that they posed a threat to them. However, neonicotinoid treated seeds are still used in other crops - such as wheat. The European Commission is due to discuss the issue later this week (Thursday 5 - Friday 6 October), where Member States are expected to indicate whether or not they support the proposal. The UK public are firmly in favour of extending the current ban on bee-harming pesticides to all crops, Friends of the Earth chief executive Craig Bennett. With overwhelming scientific evidence of the threat neonicotinoid chemicals pose to Britains bees, Michael Gove must commit the UK to supporting a total ban. Farmers up and down the country are already successfully producing crops without neonicotinoids the government and NFU must do more to help farmers switch to less damaging alternatives. Re-authorisation Farming bodies across the EU have stepped up action to call for glyphosate to be re-authorised for fifteen years after the EFSA gave a positive assessment. Ahead of talks next week, European farming bodies including COCERAL, Copa and Cogeca and the NFU have called on EU Member States to re-authorise the use of glyphosate. It comes as news that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) gave glyphosate a positive assessment. The EFSA's assessment, published on 7 September, found there is no evidence that glyphosate is having a harmful effect on human hormone systems. Copa and Cogeca, an EU farming cooperative, said it has "strong scientific evidence" from both EFSA and ECHA to support the re-authorization of the widely-used active substance for 15 years. 'Clean bill of health' NFU Scotland President, Andrew McCornick commented glyphosate has received a "clean bill of health" from the European Food Safety Authority, European Chemicals Agency, World Health Organisation, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. This scientific consensus means that if regulation of plant protection products in the EU is to have any credibility at all, glyphosate must now be re-authorised for a further 15 years including for pre-harvest use, Mr McCornick explained. Whilst the Union has written to all Scottish MEPs to encourage them to support the re-authorisation of glyphosate, it would be invaluable if these MEPs also heard directly from farmers who use glyphosate about what it means for them. It is important that these messages are being spoken about on social media. NFU Scotland will be making its case on social media, using the hashtag #GlyphosateIsVital, and I encourage others to do the same. Let your MEPs and the European Commission know how important glyphosate is for you, and dont assume someone else will be do doing it so you need not bother. As a farming community we need to speak up for glyphosate, so please do your bit. Defra Secretary Michael Gove has said Brexit would mean leaving behind the EU's 'environmentally damaging and socially unjust' Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Mr Gove, speaking today (2 October) at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, said Brexit would allow Britain to develop better alternatives to the CAP. He said outside the EU the UK can do "so much better", especially with the advent of new technology and machinery, such as big data and drones. He also blamed the CAP for damaging natural habitats, biodiversity and wildlife, further pushing Mr Gove's 'Green Brexit' credentials. "The number of farmland birds has reduced by more than half, pollinators such as wild and honey bees have suffered a drastic decline in numbers, and our rivers and chalk streams have seen fish stocks decline and small mammals disappear," Mr Gove said in his speech. "On top of that, the CAP has channeled hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers money to the already wealthy, simply because of the amount of land they have." "That is plain wrong," Mr Gove explained. Mr Gove said his "vision" was for a countryside that was healthier and more productive than ever before. Low-skilled workers Michael Gove also spoke about the issue of farmers having restricted access to labour once the UK leaves the EU, at a fringe meeting organised by the Countryside Alliance. He said low-skilled migrants from the EU will still be able to come to Britain to work in seasonal jobs after Brexit. Mr Gove - a leading figure in the Vote Leave campaign - said EU farm workers should be able to sign up to a seasonal workers scheme after Brexit. The move would allow farmers who are often dependent on fruit pickers from Eastern Europe to 'augment' their labour force post-Brexit, Mr Gove said. Pigs ears The Environment Secretary also hailed the opportunities of leaving the EU saying it will allow the UK to sell more pigs ears to China. He said leaving the EU would enable UK farmers to do away with ear tags and introduce their own traceability methods on livestock. There are some cuts of the animal that are hugely popular with the British consumer, others a little less. But some of those cuts are hugely popular elsewhere, say, for example, pigs ears are a delicacy in China, Mr Gove stated. Responding to Mr Gove's speech, Tom Brake, Liberal Democrat Brexit Spokesperson said the Conservatives' "terrible record" on the environment "cannot be trusted". His call for a green Brexit is a far cry from plans set out by Liam Fox to weaken animal welfare standards and allow imports of chlorinated chicken. We can only prevent overfishing, protect our shared environment and ensure a level playing field for British farmers by working closely with our European neighbours. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has today set out a three-phase approach to move from the current system of farm support under the CAP to a new domestic agricultural policy. With Brexit just 18 months away, a key question British farming needs answered by Government is how the transition from the current system will take place. The NFU has today (2 October) urged the Government to set out plans early to provide confidence to the uncertainty surrounding the farming industry. The NFU's approach and indicative timeline is centred around three phases. The farming union said phase one should deliver "stability and continuity". According to the NFU, an initial two-year phase where the existing CAP measures would be largely preserved, but adjusted where opportunities for minor improvements present themselves, would commence. The NFU said the second phase presents the opportunity for review and assessment work to be carried out, while the CAP legacy schemes would continue for farmers. Crucially, at this stage, the farming union said it should be possible to assess the wider political environment and trading conditions farmers will face in the future following Brexit. The NFU has also called on the government to undertake a detailed analysis during this phase of the Brexit settlement and its impact on farming, as well as assessing the results of pilots and trials introduced in earlier years. Phase three would see the switch to what the NFU calls a "bold and ambitious" domestic agricultural policy. The precise timing of this would depend on the results of the governments impact assessment and a clear understanding of the impact of policy changes on British farming, according to the NFU. 'Certainty' NFU President Meurig Raymond said forming a future domestic agricultural policy presents a "huge opportunity" for Government to set out a framework for support that promotes "profitability, productivity and progressiveness" on British farms. But at the forefront of many farmers minds is the shift from an EU policy to domestic one and what this will mean for their businesses. And this is why a well-thought-out transition as set out in the NFUs three-stage process - is vital to ensuring as much certainty and stability as possible, Mr Raymond explained. Different political decisions and their implementation will have differing impacts on farmings readiness to move away from the current CAP. In reality, with a Brexit settlement that promotes a positive future for British farming, the first two phases could be completed in four years with a new system implemented as early as 2023. But a disruptive Brexit that damages the prospects of British farming would mean maintaining the stability of the current system for a much longer period. 'Appetite for a new way' Mr Raymond said the farming industry's appetite to move to a new way of doing things that promotes greater productivity, protects the environment and guards against volatility in the sector, is needed. He continued: However, past experience has shown that CAP reform decisions have often been implemented in a rush or in the absence of policy certainty, and have created significant delivery problems and delays to payments for farmers. Whilst it might appear attractive to make fundamental changes to the CAP schemes on day one of Brexit, the NFU feels there is a balance to be struck between ensuring regulatory stability and effective delivery of a new policy on the one hand and the ambition for tangible change in our agricultural support regime in the short to medium term post-Brexit. I am very pleased that our vision chimes with the Prime Ministers recent commitment to a transitional period after the UK leaves the EU, which we hope has prepared the ground for both sides to make progress in Brexit negotiations. Transitional period Last month, the Prime Minister promised proposals for a two-year transition period after Britain leaves the EU in March 2019. In her landmark speech in Florence, Theresa May said she wants existing EU market access arrangements to apply during that period and promised Britain would pay its "fair share" into the EU budget. May also said she wanted a creative approach to forming a new UK-EU trade relationship, and that neither Canada nor Norway were attractive models. Farming organisations and rural businesses welcomed May's Brexit transitional period. Rural organisation the CLA is one of those who welcomed Mrs May's speech, and called for their own vision of future farm support, the Land Management Contract, to be noticed by the Government. This system looks at redeploying the public's money in a way that rewards farmers for managing land for the "benefit of society". Nine police forces team up to improve prosecution of rural offenders Rohit Padaki's debut directorial, Dayavittu Gamanisi, is all set for its release and will hit the theatres on October 20, 2017. The film, which had been creating waves of curiosity for its unique subject, is now ready for its ultimate test in the coming month. Okay, we have now told you about the release dates in Karnataka. But, did you know that Dayavittu Gamanisi will have its world premiere release in Australia? Yes, the film will premiere in the 'Land Down Under' on October 15. By the way, the film comprises of an ensemble cast that includes Raghu Mukherjee, Rajesh Nataranga, Prakash Belawadi, Vasishta N. Simha, Sangeetha Bhat, Sukrutha Wagle, Bhavana Rao, Samyukta Hornad among others. Rohit Padaki, who is a renowned lyricist in Sandalwood has, for the first time, donned the cap of director with Dayavittu Gamanisi. Kannada actress, Meghana Raj has appeared in a special number in the film. The film has Anup Seelin's music rendition and lyrical legend, Jayant Kaikini has penned lyrics for a special romantic number in the film. Apart from that, Rohit Padaki has also written the film's story and lyrics for three other songs in the film. The audience have already taken a special liking towards all the songs of the film and its three special teasers that were released one after the other. Apple investigating iPhone 8 screen crackup, battery swelling the most likely cause News oi -Vijeta Apple has confirmed that it is investigating the problem of the screen split up caused in a couple of iPhone 8 models and has claimed that the most probable reason for the problem is battery swelling. iPhone 8 is the latest offering from Apple that is now available in across major smartphone markets throughout the globe. While sleep eludes engineers in Cupertino ahead of iPhone X release, a news related to iPhone 8 just might do the same to buyers. There are reports of iPhone 8 cracking open while the device was charging. The first case was reported in Taiwan. An iPhone 8 buyer had used the smartphone for merely five days and the smartphone cracked open while charging. A somewhat similar case has been reported in Japan where a user claimed that he received an iPhone 8 Plus whose screen was split open. The consumer from Japan vent out his displeasure with the device on Twitter and also posted pictures of the faulty iPhone 8 Plus. Apple reportedly clarified that it was investigating the problem caused in two devices and stated that the issue was most likely caused due to battery swelling. Apple claims that iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus offer better battery capabilities as compared to their predecessor. There are fair possibilities of few devices facing unforeseen circumstances and there is possibly no reason for iPhone 8 users to lose their sleep over mishappenings with a couple of devices. However, if there are more such reports, Apple can find itself in a pool of troubles. We have already seen Samsung facing problems with Note 7. iPhone 8 and 8 Plus also offer wireless battery charging option to users along with an improved camera and a glass back. Moreover, iPhone 8 Plus also boasts the new A11 Bionic chip and an all-new portrait mode. Image Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Fingerprint sensor may become the standard choice for smartphone OEMs: Counterpoint News oi -Priyanka Samsung, ZTE, and LG lagged their rivals with a relatively lower rate of fingerprint sensor integration across their total shipments. The fingerprint sensor is likely to become the standard choice for smartphone OEMs to provide for authentication, while more than one billion fingerprint sensor-enabled smartphones will be shipped in 2018 according to the new study from Counterpoint. The report said that this is driven by a rapid rise in services such as digital payments, mobile banking and the commensurate increase in the need to be able to authenticate the user securely. Neil Shah, Research Director of Counterpoint Research sais that, " Samsung was the market leader within fingerprint-enabled smartphones, contributing to 12 percent market share, followed by Apple and Huawei with 11 percent and 8 percent respectively, during Q2 2017 and in terms of adoption across the total portfolio shipments, Apple and Xiaomi led, followed by Huawei and OPPO. However, Samsung, ZTE, and LG lagged their rivals with a relatively lower rate of fingerprint sensor integration across their total shipments. Chinese brands are already using fingerprint sensors as a differentiator, especially in emerging markets, to compete with local and international brands. They are adding capabilities beyond just unlocking the phones or payments to include gestures to control the camera, gallery and other applications." Shah further added, "Reliability of the fingerprint sensor is the major issue, as most of the capacitive fingerprint sensors can be easily spoofed. However, with the latest fingerprint sensors that have live finger detection, or employ ultrasonic fingerprint sensing technology to create a 3D image of the fingerprints, it is potentially more secure and should be the next factor of differentiation for OEMs." Similarly, Associate director Tarun Pathak, Counterpoint says, "There is an increasing pressure on fingerprint suppliers to match the growing demand of sensors, match the cost expectations to remain competitive and at the same time innovating. Suppliers like Fingerprints, Synaptics & Goodix currently contribute to over half of the total smartphone fingerprint sensors. However, players such as Qualcomm, eGIS, and Silead are positioned to grow with more design wins in coming quarters." Pathak, further highlighting that "The placement and the type of the fingerprint sensor plays a major role in the overall design of the smartphone. The suppliers have their work cut out and will be responsible for many OEM flagship design decisions. Watch out for under the glass and in-display designs in the next wave of flagship launches. Furthermore, customizing the smartphone sensor with a smart home button that can provide gesture support and over the top features like heart rate monitoring can also make it a more versatile sensor." Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications Broadband internet subscriber base grew by 8.80 % for March -June period: TRAI News oi -Priyanka In the wired segment, with 12.92 million subscribers Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited holds 59.63 percent market share while India's largest telecom service provider Airtel has 2.10 million subscribers. According to the new report by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,194.58 million at the end of March-17 to 1,210.84 million at the end of June-17, registering a growth of 1.36 percent over the previous quarter. This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth of 14.25 percent over the same quarter of last year. TRAI said that subscription in Urban Areas increased from 692.97 million at the end of March-17 to 700.96 million at the end of June, and urban teledensity also increased from 171.80 to 172.98 during the same period. Rural subscription increased from 501.61 million to 509.88 million and rural teledensity also increased from 56.91 to 57.73 during the same period. Meanwhile, a total number of internet subscribers has increased from 422.19 million at the end of March-17 to 431.21 million at the end of June-17, registering a quarterly growth rate of 2.14 percent. Out of 431.21 million, wired Internet subscribers are 21.67 million and Wireless Internet subscribers are 409.55 million. The report said that the broadband internet subscriber base grew by 8.80 percent from 276.52 million to 300.84 million during the same period. On the other hand, the narrowband Internet subscriber base declined by 10.50 percent from 145.68 million at the end of March-17 to 130.38 million at the end of June. In the wired segment, with 12.92 million subscribers Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited holds 59.63 percent market share while India's largest telecom service provider Airtel has 2.10 million subscribers. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications NAVFAC Southeast Awards Hurricane Irma Repair Contracts Navy News Service Story Number: NNS170930-05 Release Date: 9/30/2017 1:12:00 PM By Sue Brink, NAVFAC Southeast Public Affairs Office JACKSONVILLE, Florida (NNS) -- Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southeast awarded two task orders, totaling over $16 million, Sept. 28, to URS Group, Inc. of Morrisville, North Carolina, to repair Navy and Marine Corps facilities that were damaged in Florida and Georgia when Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida, Sept. 9 and 10 respectively. An $8.4 million task order will be used for stabilization and repairs at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West, Florida, and another $8 million task order for stabilization and repairs at NAS Jacksonville, Florida; Naval Station Mayport, Florida; Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia; and Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, Florida, also caused by Hurricane Irma. NAVFAC Southeast dispatched a 17-person Contingency Engineering Response Team (CERT) to NAS Key West, Sept. 12 and 13, from NAS Jacksonville to assess the damage. The CERT spent over a week evaluating facilities on base for damage caused as Hurricane Irma slammed the base Sept. 10 as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. Local damage assessment teams were able to provide support locally in Jacksonville and Kings Bay areas to assess the facilities on the bases here in Northeast Florida. "NAVFAC CERTs deploy to assess hurricane or other storm damage to military installations and help installations reconstitute and recover base operations," said NAVFAC Southeast Contingency Engineer Don Maconi. "During this process the team provides documentation so that cost estimates can be provided for each facility on base that may have damage from the storm, they provide public works support, contract administration support, etc. Once the estimates are pushed forward, approved and funded, repairs can begin." Both contracts call for removal of drywall, carpet, ceiling tiles and other items damaged by water intrusion caused by roof damage during Hurricane Irma. The contractor will also provide dehumidifiers and other techniques to dry out the areas and perform repairs to prevent additional leaks and damages. "As work now begins to repair damage from Hurricane Irma we have a team beginning to assess damage to naval facilities in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria," stated Maconi. Work is expected to be completed by September 2018. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 7 shot dead as Cameroon Anglophone protest for independence Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 06:58PM Police and the military in Cameroon have shot dead at least seven Anglophone people as member of the community continue protesting for independence from the majority Francophone nation. The unrest took place Sunday on the anniversary of Anglophone Cameroon's independence from Britain in the country's English-speaking regions. Five prisoners were killed in the jail where they were being held in the town of Kumbo. Donatus Njong Fonyuy, mayor of the town said a fire erupted in the jail and soldiers shot dead five prisoners at around 6 a.m. (0500 GMT). "We don't know what caused the fire in the prison ... But five prisoners were killed by soldiers. Two were wounded by bullets and are at the hospital," said the official, adding that two civilians were also injured in the incident. Reports said soldiers shot dead a demonstrator in the same town after he attempted to raise the blue and white flag of the Ambazonia separatist movement in the local chief's palace. Two demonstrators who had raised the flag were also shot and wounded around midday. Security forces attempted to block pro-independence marchers from entering the city of Buea, a major hub of protests. Witnesses said one protester was killed in the clashes on the edge of the city. A similar protest was held in Bamenda where young men brandishing improvised secessionist flags clashed with security forces. Police used tear gas to disperse protesters trying to march on the regional governor's office. There was no account of casualties in Bamenda. Security was high in Buea and Bamenda as military helicopters circled overhead and businesses remained shuttered for the entire day. Troops from the Cameroonian army's Rapid Intervention Brigade, a unit known for its fight against the militants of Nigeria-based Boko Haram group, were also deployed in the two cities. There were also reports of gunfire although it was not clear whether they targeted the protesters or were only fired in the air. In anticipation of the protests in English-speaking regions, authorities had ordered Cameroon's border with Nigeria closed for the weekend. All gatherings of more than four people had been banned and movement between different parts of the region had been forbidden. Police and the military have yet to comment on the shootings that led to deaths Sunday. A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said security forces were taking restraint in dealing with the fresh bout of violence. "We won't use violence unless there is major cause. There are numerous risks, even terrorist risks. We're keeping calm," said the source. The months-long protests are viewed as a sign of increasing dissatisfaction with President Paul Biya's 35-year rule. Biya said the acts of violence, "regardless of their source and their perpetrators", were deplorable. "Let me make this very clear: it is not forbidden to voice any concerns in the Republic. However, nothing great can be achieved by using verbal excesses, street violence, and defying authority," the president wrote on his official Facebook account. Cameroon, a former German colony under the name of Kamerun, was divided between the allied French and British victors at the end of World War One. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Violence erupts as pro-independence Catalans vote to secede from Spain Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 05:56PM Hundreds of people in Catalonia have been injured in violent clashes with police in the wake of a controversial referendum held in Spain's autonomous region on seceding from the European country. Barcelona mayor, Ada Colau, said in a statement on Sunday afternoon that disturbances across Catalonia earlier in the day had left over 460 people injured. Injuries came after riot police, with full gear, clashed with pro-independence people who had convened in front of the polling stations. "As mayor of Barcelona I demand an immediate end to police charges against the defenseless population," Colau said in the statement. In a separate statement, the Catalan health service raised the number of wounded to 465, with two people in critical condition at hospital. Reports said police responded to assembled voters in Catalonia's capital, Barcelona, with rubber pellets and batons. The violence occurred shortly after police seized ballots and ballot boxes from the Ramon Lull School polling station. The move prompted the voters to chant pro-independence and anti-Madrid slogans, which led to a violent confrontation. Police reportedly broke down doors to force entry into polling stations as people chanted, "Out with the occupying forces!" Over five million people are expected to have cast their votes in 2,315 polling stations across the northeastern region, with more than 200 stations in Barcelona alone. Despite a police crackdown, long crowded queues of people formed in cities and villages throughout Catalonia to cast their votes. However, it remained unclear what action Catalonia's separatist government might take. The Spanish government says the referendum is illegal and the country's Constitutional Court has ordered the vote suspended. Separatist regional leaders pledged to hold it anyway and called on the 5.3 million "eligible" voters to show up for the poll. In order to halt the vote, Madrid had increased pressure on Catalan officials over the past week. It also deployed thousands of extra police from across the country to Catalonia to stop the vote. On September 20, Spain's military police raided the Catalan government offices, during which at least 14 junior officials and associates were arrested and almost 10 million ballot papers were seized. Catalonia, one of Spain's 17 autonomous regions, held a symbolic referendum back in November 2014, during which more than 80 percent of participants voted for independence, according to Catalan officials. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Erroneous' air raid kills 10 Afghan soldiers in Helmand Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 04:51PM Ten members of Afghanistan's security forces have been killed in an airstrike during an offensive against the Taliban militants in the southern province of Helmand. Helmand's governor Hayatullah Hayat said the air raid was conducted in Gereshk district, where the military had been attempting to push back the militants. "The airstrike happened as Afghan forces were pushing to break through the Taliban front line in the strategic area that has been the scene of heavy fighting over the past several days," Hayat said, adding that nine police were injured in the "erroneous" airstrike. The latest deadly incident comes more than two months after a US airstrike killed 16 Afghan police in the same district, large parts of which are under the Taliban control. The Taliban militants have warned that they will be stepping up their attacks until foreign forces fully withdraw from Afghanistan. Afghanistan is still suffering from insecurity and violence years after the United States and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington's so-called war on terror. The invasion removed the Taliban from power, but militancy continues to this day. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan Security Forces Mistakenly Killed In Air Strike RFE/RL October 01, 2017 Afghan officials say 10 members of the country's security forces were killed after the Afghan Air Force mistakenly dropped bombs on their position in the southern province of Helmand. Provincial Governor Hayatullah Hayat said on October 1 that at least nine police officers were wounded in the air strike in Gereshk district. Hayat said that an investigation is under way. "The air strike happened as Afghan forces were pushing to break through the Taliban front line in the strategic area that has been the scene of heavy fighting over the past several days," the governor said. Gul Agha Muslim, a member of the district's local council, said the victims of the air strike were from both the Afghan police and intelligence agency. Defense Ministry spokesman General Dawlat Waziri confirmed the air strike, without providing further details. In July, a U.S. air strike mistakenly killed 16 Afghan police officers and wounded two others in Gereshk district, which has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks between security forces and Taliban militants. The Afghan government is struggling to beat back insurgents in the wake of the exit of most NATO forces in 2014. A U.S. report found earlier this year that the Taliban controls or contests control of about 40 percent of the country, and security forces are also fighting against militants affiliated with the extremist group Islamic State (IS). In August, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new Afghanistan strategy he said was aimed at defeating the Taliban after nearly 16 years of war. Defense officials say the president's new strategy for Afghanistan will try to repeat the success of U.S. 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 U.S. artillery, and air strikes on enemy positions. The U.S. administration, which has confirmed it would send 3,000 extra troops to Afghanistan, is also pressing for NATO partners to increase their own troop levels in the country. With reporting by AP and AFP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghan- security-forces-mistakenly-killed air-strike/28767488.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Afghan President, Pakistan Army Chief Discuss Cooperation In Kabul RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal October 01, 2017 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has met with Pakistan's army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa in Kabul as part of the Pakistani general's visit aimed at repairing the strained ties between the neighboring states. "Both sides discussed regional security, bilateral relations, the fight against terrorism, trade, and transit," the Afghan presidential office said on October 1. A statement quoted Ghani as calling for practical steps toward creating an atmosphere of trust between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Bilateral relations have long been tense, with the sides accusing each other of housing terrorist groups that launch attacks on the neighboring country. Ahead of Bajwa's first visit to Afghanistan since he took up the post nearly a year ago, the Pakistani military said he would also meet with Afghanistan's military leadership. The visit comes after the White House recently unveiled a strategy to try to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan after nearly 16 years of war. An important component of the new strategy is a threat to withdraw aid and other support for Pakistan if the country does not shut down what U.S. officials said are Afghan Taliban "safe havens" on its territory. Islamabad has denied that it is offering "safe havens" to extremist groups, with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi warning that Pakistan was "not prepared to be anyone's scapegoat." In his address before the UN General Assembly on September 20, Abbasi said, "Taliban 'safe havens' are located not in Pakistan, but in the large tracts of territory controlled by the Taliban in Afghanistan." Abassi also said Islamabad was ready to work with Kabul to "end all cross-border attacks," and that it will continue pursuing its domestic war against terrorists. With reporting by AP and dpa Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ghani-pakistan-army -chief-discuss-cooperation/28767492.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Spain: Catalonia Independence Referendum Is a 'Farce' By Jamie Dettmer October 01, 2017 Spain wants to bring a halt to Sunday's independence referendum in Catalonia, calling it a "farce." Enric Millo, Madrid's representative in Catalonia, said Catalonia's president Carles Puigdemont and his team "are solely responsible for all that has happened today and for all that can happen if they do not put an end to this farce." Police in riot gear smashed the front door of a polling station with a hammer in Catalonia Sunday where the regional leader was expected to cast his vote in the banned independence referendum. Scuffles between the police and voters erupted outside the polling center in Sant Julia de Ramis, near the Catalan city of Girona. Catalan leader Puigdemont was scheduled to cast his vote at Sant Julia de Ramis, but instead voted at Cornella del Terri in the province of Girona. Catalans began voting Sunday in the disputed independence referendum, while police seized the ballots of at least one polling station. Spain's Interior Ministry said on Twitter more ballot boxes would be snatched as police continued their deployment in Catalonia. A regional government spokesman said voters could cast their ballots at any polling station, instead of their designated one, since Spanish authorities have sealed off some polling stations and confiscated ballots. Clashes between police and voters were reported in several districts. There are reports of Spanish police firing rubber bullets at voters. A Catalan spokesman says 73 percent of polling stations are open, but their computer system is suffering constant hacking attacks. Jordi Turull, Catalonia's government spokesman, called on Catalans to continue to carry out their right to vote "in a civic and peaceful manner," in the face of police blocking voters from some polling stations. Turull said the police actions are reminiscent of the "repression that is a reminder of the Franco era," a reference to Spain's dictatorship from 1939 - 1975. Spain's Constitutional Court suspended the vote and the Spanish central government says the vote is illegal. Hundreds of people in favor of the referendum camped out in schools and other designated polling places in an attempt to keep them open for Sunday's vote. Millo, the highest-ranking Spanish security official in the northeastern region, said Saturday police had already blockaded half of the more than 2,300 polling stations designated for the referendum vote. He said Spanish authorities also had dismantled the technology Catalan officials had planned on using for voting and counting ballots, which he said would make the referendum "absolutely impossible." Catalan officials said they would move forward with the vote despite the actions taken by Spain's central government. Police have received orders to avoid the use of force. Spanish Culture Minister Inigo Mendez de Vigo said Friday the independence vote violates Spanish law and the government will not accept the results of the referendum. Catalonia represents a fifth of Spain's $1.32 trillion economy and enjoys wide self-government. The region has about 5.5 million eligible voters. It is not clear if the Catalans would vote for independence. Polls in the northeastern region show support for self-rule waning as Spain's economy improves. But the majority of Catalans say they do want the opportunity to vote on whether to split from Spain. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Catalan Parliament to Decide on Unilateral Independence Declaration Sputnik News 04:16 02.10.2017 Ninety percent of more than 2.26 million participants of the referendum in Catalonia voted in favor of region's independence. Catalonia's leader Carles Puigdemont pledged to declare independence unilaterally as the breakaway region has won the "right to statehood". MOSCOW (Sputnik) The Catalan parliament will decide on proclamation of region's independence following the referendum held on Sunday, Catalan Government spokesperson Jordi Turull said Monday. "We will take these results to the society and to the parliament of Catalonia and it is up to the parliament of Catalonia to take this decision indeed," Turull told reporters when asked if the Catalan parliament would proceed to unilaterally declare independence. On Sunday, Catalonia's President Carles Puigdemont said the results of the independence vote would be passed to the Catalan parliament for further procedures in accordance with the referendum legislation. On September 6, the parliament of Catalonia approved the law on holding the referendum, with the support of only two parties. Together for Yes coalition and the Popular Unity Candidacy, with 71 votes out of 135, while the members of other parties left the session in protest. Spain's Constitutional Court has taken the complaint by the Spanish federal government under review, which meant that the law on referendum and the one on transitional period, adopted later, were suspended, but this has not deterred the referendum supporters. The transition law will come into force the next day after people in the wealthy region in Spain's northeast voted in favor of leaving. It will stay in force for about six months to allow for a new parliament to take over. The legislature will then draft the constitution of an independent Catalonia. On Sunday, a number of polling stations opened across Catalonia over the referendum on the independence from Spain. The Spanish government considered the vote illegal and took measures to foil the referendum, including closure of the polling stations and infrastructure facilities for support of the voting and results count. However, Catalan authorities said that 96 percent of polling stations were available for casting votes. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) An armed insurgency started in the English-speaking regions in Cameroon in October 2017, after separatists declared the independence of a nation they called "Ambazonia" complaining minority anglophones were being systematically marginalized in the largely French-speaking country. The crisis escalated on October 1, 2017, when militant secessionist groups symbolically proclaimed independence from the English-speaking state of Ambazonia. Cameroon President Paul Biya declared war against the separatists in November 2017, calling them terrorists. The government said in early 2019 more than 1,200 people had been killed in the fighting but has dismissed the thought of giving up any sovereignty. By mid-2019 the crisis had killed more than 2,000 people in Cameroon. Cameroons military denies abuses against civilians in battling the rebels and accuses the separatists of committing atrocities. Rights groups say both the military and separatists are guilty of brutalities in the three-year conflict, with noncombatants bearing the brunt of the violence. But authorities admit thousands of young Cameroonians have become separatists. In December 2018, Cameroon created the committee to reintegrate Boko Haram terrorists and rebel fighters and who agreed to disarm. By march 2019, Cameroon said three months after creating a commission to reintegrate separatist fighters who agree to disarm, only 20 rebels have surrendered. Separatists fear the commission may be a trap by the military to arrest and punish them. The Swiss ambassador to Cameroon, Pietro Lazzeri, said 20 July 2019 that his country is mediating the political crisis that has plagued Cameroons English-speaking northwest and southwest regions since 2016. spoke in Yaounde about attempting reconciliation after more than 20 people were killed within two days of fighting in the crisis-stricken regions. He said Switzerland is helping the government of Cameroon negotiate with rebels to end the separatist crisis. Cameroon's parliament granted "special status" to two English-speaking regions to try to calm separatist violence that has killed 2,000 people, but the separatists said only independence would satisfy them. The law, passed on 20 December 2019 in a special session of parliament, said the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions would "benefit from a special status founded on their linguistic particularity and historic heritage". The legislation mentioned schools and the judiciary system as part of the special status - a delayed response to protests in 2016 by teachers and lawyers. The reforms were recommended at the end of national talks organised by Biya in October to chart a way out of the conflict. But separatists boycotted that dialogue, saying they would negotiate only if the government released all the political prisoners and withdrew the military from the Northwest and Southwest. "We want independence and nothing else," said Ivo Tapang, a spokesman for 13 armed groups called the Contender Forces of Ambazonia. He said the special status made no difference as no law passed in the Cameroonian parliament should be imposed in Ambazonia. The roots of Cameroonian English speakers grievances go back a century to the League of Nations' decision to split the former German colony of Kamerun between the allied French and British victors at the end of the first world war. Ambazonia - Path to War What started as a strike by anglophone lawyers and teachers in November 2016 degenerated as it was overtaken by separatist groups demanding full independence for the countrys anglophone minority. Violence escalated amid a government crackdown. By February 2018 more than two dozen policemen, gendarmes and soldiers had lost their lives amid the unrest in the anglophone regions, according to Cameroons defense minister, Joseph Beti Assomo. He stated that hundreds of the separatists had either been killed or arrested. Since the secessionists took up arm, attacks by their fighters and a crackdown by the authorities led to the death of at least 500 civilians as well as more than 200 members of the security forces, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG), as of December 2018. Renewed fighting killed 69 people in English-speaking regions of Cameroon, where armed separatists have ordered people to stay inside their homes as the country prepared to celebrate its national youth day. February 11 coincides with the 1961 plebiscite, which separatists identify as the day their English-speaking territory was handed to the French-speaking majority. The government said that as of 11 February 2019 at least six military, 47 armed separatists and 16 civilians had been killed. The separatists sais on social media they killed more troops than the government was reporting. Cameroon President Paul Biya said 01 January 2018 he will destroy all terrorists whom he said were fighting to separate his country or using it as a hiding place for armed attacks on neighboring states. In a message, Biya reiterated he was open for dialogue with the disgruntled English speaking minority in the bilingual country but that his military would deal with armed separatists fighting for the independence of the English speaking regions. At least 500 civilians in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon are detained in overcrowded facilities while scores wounded have fled hospitals for fear of arrest. Other protestors have reportedly been forced to pay US$60 bribes (R800) to be released from detention. Ilaria Allegrozzi, Amnesty International's regional executive, said the mass arrest of protestors, most who protested peacefully, was not only a violation of human rights but was also likely to be counter-productive. "The Cameroonian authorities should release anyone detained only for exercising their right to peaceful protest." The fear of arrest and large-scale deployment of security forces has led to wounded protestors fleeing hospitals fearing arrest. It is reported in at least one hospital, security forces have arrested patients. Prime Minister Head of Government, Philemon Yang led a delegation of North West elite to the region with a message of peace and hope from the Head of State, President Paul Biya. The delegation of elite was on the field since October 15, 2017 to commune, consult and share President Biya's message which stresses peace, reason and the need for things to quickly return to normalcy. The long-simmering crisis in Cameroons English-speaking regions took a dangerous turn with small explosions targeting local security officials, as ongoing protests became increasingly vociferous. Renewed mass protests broke out on 22 September 20172 in major towns and villages across the north west and south west. The aggrieved population took to the streets with placards, whistles and flags of Ambazonia. On 01 October 2017, the anniversary of the official reunification of the anglophone and francophone parts of Cameroon, the anglophone separatists made a symbolic proclamation of independence for Ambazonia, the name of the state they want to create. "We are no longer slaves of Cameroon," said Sisiku Ayuk, who describes himself as the "president" of Ambazonia. "Today we affirm the autonomy of our heritage and our territory," he said. Police patrolled empty streets in Cameroon's restive anglophone belt as a separatist group made a symbolic proclamation of independence on 01 October 2017, a day after a young man was shot dead by security forces. In Buea, the main city in the English-speaking southwest, the streets were mostly deserted as security forces patrolled the streets including the area where the separatists were expected to gather. The anglophone minority has long complained about disparities in the distribution of Cameroon's oil wealth. Cameroonian authorities on 05 October 2017 rejected a report by a human rights group which said at least 100 people were killed by government forces during the past weekend's protests. Initial reports stated 17 people had been killed. On 09 October 2017 Cameroons military said that it had stopped hundreds of Nigerian fighters attempting to enter its territory to join separatist groups in English speaking regions that are demanding for independence. The military intensified arrests of activists despite calls from the United Nations and the international community. Most recently Catholic bishops denounced "barbarism" and "irresponsible use" of force against demonstrators in Cameroon's English-speaking regions. At least 6 armed separatists and a police official were killed and several people wounded in the southwestern Cameroon English speaking town of Mamfe during an attack on a military post on December 2017. The attack occurred after a special envoy from Nigeria assured Cameroon that they want to work jointly to reduce terrorism on their frontiers. Cameroon had complained that armed separatists were using Nigerian territory as a training ground. Cameroon communication minister and government spokesman Issa Tchiroma said hundreds of youths armed with guns, machetes and spears attacked Cameroon's police unit in the English speaking south western town of Mamfe Thursday night. Tchiroma said a policeman was killed and another wounded while dozens of the attackers incurred severe injuries. "Five terrorists were shot dead by the defense forces who retaliated to an attack led by nearly 200 attackers against the Mamfe gendarmes (police) barracks," said Tchiroma. It was the third such attack in Mamfe and the neighboring town of Eyumojock that the government says have killed at least seven soldiers and policemen and wounded several more. Residents report that at least 16 military men have been killed there. Julius Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, president of the self-declared "Republic of Ambazonia", was arrested in neighbouring Nigeria and extradited to Cameroon in January this year along with 46 others. Separatist leaderAyuk Tabe went on trial on December 6 on charges of "terrorism" and "secession". Cameroon President Paul Biya on 13 December 2018 called a halt to the prosecution of 289 separatists from the West African country's western English-speaking regions, his office said. Biya "has decided on... the halt of cases pending in military courts against a certain number of people arrested for offences committed during the crisis in the (anglophone) Northwest and Southwest" regions, a statement said, adding that the measure concerned "289 detainees". Ambazonia - Background The Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) is illegal in Cameroon as it is a secessionist organisation. Long-time President Paul Biya completely ruled out independence, and also strongly opposed the return to a federal structure, which existed in Cameroon from the time it gained independence in 1961 until 1984, when Biya abolished the federal system for a unified Republic of Cameroon. The 4 million English speaking Cameroonians make up 20 percent of Cameroon's population of 23 million. They have long complained that they are treated like second-class citizens by the predominantly French speaking government in Yaounde. The root of the grievances date back to the end of World War One when the League of Nations decided to split Kamerun, a former German colony, between the allied French and British powers. In 1999, the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) declared, mostly symbolically, an independent Republic of Ambazonia, citing a 1995 non-binding referendum on independence in which separatists won out with 99%, and in 2006, after the Bakassi cession, the Southern Cameroons Peoples Organization (SCAPO) declared a Republic of Ambazania (note slight difference in spelling), which included Bakassi as well. Most anglophone campaigners want the country to resume a federalist system -- an approach that followed the 1961 unification but was later scrapped in favour of a centralised government run from the capital Yaounde. A hardline minority is calling for secession. Ambazonia regards itself as a sovereign and the proposal for an Ambazonian-Cameroon confederacy is not an issue for its consideration. Ambazonia is a state with internationally recognized boundaries (fixed by the League of Nations, inherited by the United Nations and which remains so today). In 1958 Ambazonia achieved self-government, then in 1959 the UN passed a resolution severing it from Nigeria, and in October 1960, an independent Constitution was promulgated for the territory. French Cameroon became independent, as the Republic of Cameroon, on 1 January 1960, under the presidency of Ahmadou Ahidjo. Later that year Nigeria gained its independence from Britain and became a Federal Republic. The British-controlled southern Cameroons was then separated from Nigeria and was due to achieve full independence on 01 October 1961. In the British Cameroons, a UN-sponsored plebiscite was held in February 1961. Cameroun was forced to drop the politics of claiming that Ambazonia is part of a single Cameroonian nation. According to Cameroon's statement of claim, the Ambazonian people gave it that mandate through the United Nations plebiscite of February 1961. The northern region voted to merge with Nigeria (becoming the province of Sadauna), while the south voted for a union with the Republic of Cameroon (which took place on 1 October 1961). Ahmadou Ahidjo assumed the presidency of the new Federal Republic of Cameroon. In recent years the English-speaking inhabitants of the former British provinces have sought autonomy or a return to federal government. In the 1990s, tensions increased between Cameroon and Nigeria over competing claims to the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula in the Gulf of Guinea. The Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC) is a group supporting independence for anglophone provinces. The Southern Cameroons National Council was established in 1992 as a result of disagreements within the SDF. There are two factions of the SCNC, the genuine one and one that is being managed by the state to discredit the genuine one. The Southern Cameroonians had independence from 1954 until 1961. However, since 1961, there had been no dialogue between the government and the SCNC. It was also stated that in March 1999 President Biya proposed a referendum to solve the plight of Southern Cameroonians. However this has yet to be conducted. The Government considers the SCNC an illegal organisation because it advocates secession, which the law prohibits. The security forces continue to arrest and detain leaders, members, and supporters of the SCNC. In 2008, for example, the security forces reportedly arrested approximately forty leaders, members, and supporters of the SCNC to prevent them from participating in unauthorised political meetings. However, in accordance with the newly instituted penal code, officials released, pending trial, individuals who were detained for participating in illegal SCNC gatherings. The police have also reportedly put the houses of SCNC officials and activists under surveillance, searched the houses of some SCNC leaders, and disrupted SCNC meetings in private residences. In addition, the authorities have refused to grant the SCNC permission to hold rallies and meetings. Reports indicate that SCNC members found to be participating in group meetings have been arrested and detained. In May 2007 the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) advised that an indiviudal could be served with a court summons, known in Cameroon as a convocation, if found to be carrying a SCNC membership card. The DFAT report also states that it is likely, though not confirmed, that the Cameroon authorities maintain a list of individuals wanted for arrest due to their SCNC membership as opposed to their position within the SCNC. There has been no difference in treatment of Anglophones by the government since President Ahidjo was in power. Anglophones are leaving the country because of the harsh treatment that they receive. Anglophones suffer marginalisation, economic blockage (75 percent of resources come from the Anglophone province) and discrimination. The source stated that intellectual Anglophones have been bought over by the Francophones. According to the SCNC, freedom of movement is a problem for SCNC members because they fear for their lives and are constantly being watched by government authorities. Every day there is a fear of being arrested. Government forces have been known to approach the wives of the members of the SCNC and offer them money in exchange for details about their husbands activities. The SCNC is the leading vehicle for expression of secessionist sentiment in the former British Cameroons region. A 2009 UK Home Office operational guidance note stated that the SCNC advocates complete secession or full independence of the two southern Anglophone provinces from the Francophone majority. The USDOS Reports on Human Rights Practices 2008 Cameroon reports that SCNC is illegal and that individuals found to be participating in SCNC meetings have been arrested. The report states that during the year security forces preemptively arrested approximately 40 leaders, members, and supporters of the SCNC to prevent them from participating in unauthorized political meetings. Jacques Franquin, a representative of United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cameroon stated in 2004 that although in the past particular groups have suffered persecution by state authorities within the country, this is no longer the case. In the past members of the SCNC had faced harassment and inhumane treatment by the police. For example, between 1999-2001 there were some clashes between SCNC members and the police and some SCNC activists were jailed for their behavior. According to a representative of the SCNC, the Ambazonian Restoration Movement (ARM) has been set up by the Cameroon authorities as a fake Anglophone movement with the intention of discrediting the genuine objective for independence. The ARM has offices under the guise of the SCNC in Bamenda and has had demonstrations in Washington, USA. They claim persecution from the authorities and they produce letters to support asylum claims. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DoD Boosts Personnel Aiding Hurricane Relief Efforts in Puerto Rico By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2017 The number of DoD personnel deployed to help their fellow citizens in Puerto Rico jumped from around 4,600 to around 6,400 members, Gov. Ricardo Rossello said during a San Juan news conference today. The governor briefed on all the lines of effort as the island commonwealth strives to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria. Supply ships continue to arrive and the governor and federal officials are working together to ensure food, water and fuel get to the people who need it the most. 'There is Increased Capability' "In terms of personnel, the DoD has increased their presence from 4,600 about 36 hours ago, to about 6,400," Rossello said. "As you can see, there is increased capability and those capabilities are expected to increase." The number of DoD personnel will rise and fall as missions begin and end, Rossello said. DoD personnel are working in support of the Puerto Rican government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- the lead federal agency for disaster relief efforts on the island. After food and water, distribution of gasoline and diesel is the most critical need, the governor said. "We've been increasing the number of gas stations that are open," he said. Building Fuel Stocks, Distributing Food, Water There are more than 720 gas stations open across the island. The island will receive more fuel in the coming days with close to a million barrels of diesel and half-a-million barrels of gasoline arriving on the island. This is important as diesel is needed to run generators providing electrical power for key infrastructure -- such as hospitals -- in areas where Maria knocked out the power grid. The distribution of food and water is a testament to the cooperation between commonwealth and federal capabilities, Rossello said. "It is critical that we can establish what the needs are, what the expectations are and that we can guarantee that the food and water are being delivered to the people of Puerto Rico," he said. Yesterday, 213 containers arrived on the island that will be distributed to the regional staging centers by DoD and FEMA personnel, the governor said. There are still communities where the roads are blocked by landslides or where roads were washed out, he said. Airlifting Supplies While Roads Are Cleared "One of the main efforts that the DoD will take on is making sure that we can air supply food and water to those communities while we establish direct connection through the roads," Rossello said. The governor said the commonwealth will increase the number of regional distribution centers from the current 11 to 25 or more. "The more of these we have throughout Puerto Rico, the easier it is to get food and water for these municipalities," he said. "DoD and FEMA and our government are working together so we can establish these locations and make sure food and water get distributed appropriately." Telecommunications is another critical line of effort and they have restored service to 36 percent of subscribers to date, the governor said. The areas where Maria came ashore -- the southeastern part of the island -- remain without cell service as the commonwealth must get into the area to repair antennas and other telecom infrastructure. Land lines have been totally restored, he said. There are about 8,800 refugees in shelters now and the government will consolidate them into 139 shelters, Rossello said. "We are making sure people get to their homes when they can get to their homes, and providing alternative housing in the meantime," the governor said. Seaport Capacity Increases Capacity in the seaports and airports is increasing, Rossello said. The former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station is the headquarters for the recovery effort and the Air Force is running airfield operations there. DoD personnel are augmenting local medical personnel in some areas of the commonwealth and assets are arriving to deliver medical care to those whose medical facilities are too damaged or blocked, the governor said. The Navy's hospital ship USNS Comfort is expected to arrive at the island October 3 or 4 and will bring its 1,000-bed capability. DoD personnel will establish a logistics effort for two areas on the island where more hospital support is needed, the governor said. Assisting Citizens in Need "The DoD will establish some alternative locations, those being in the southeastern part of the island and in the middle north of the island, so we can get patients to the hospital and the service that they need," Rossello said. "This is another example where the federal government -- FEMA, Health and Human Services, DoD, local government and municipalities -- need to have a critical loop and conversation so we are updated continuously on what's going on," the governor said. The Army Corps of Engineers is working with Puerto Rican officials to rebuild energy production facilities on the island, Rossello said. The governor praised the assistance coming to the island provided by National Guard personnel coming from stateside locations. New York has sent UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and their crews. New Jersey is sending soldiers and airmen to assist, as are 12 other states, Rossello said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump lashes out at Puerto Rico capital mayor for complaining about Hurricane Maria relief efforts People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 14:05, October 01, 2017 U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday lashed out at the mayor of Puerto Rico's capital San Juan, after the latter complained about the lagging relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria. "The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump," Trump tweeted. "Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on island doing a fantastic job," Trump tweeted. The attack came after Carmen Soto, mayor of San Juan, pleaded at a press conference Friday for help. "People are dying in this country. I am begging, begging anyone that can hear us, to save us from dying. If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy," Soto said. The plea immediately raised questions in Washington and beyond whether the federal government has done enough to help Puerto Ricans, who were devastated in the past weeks by Hurricane Maria. Food and fresh water are said to be running dangerously short on the island, and Soto said there is insufficient effort to bring the supplies to those in need. Trump said he will visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday to meet with locals. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory in the Caribbean Sea, with a population of about 3.4 million. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Despite Progress, Half of Storm-hit Puerto Ricans Lack Clean Water By VOA News October 01, 2017 Puerto Rico's governor, Ricardo Rossello, said Sunday that the number of Puerto Ricans in shelters following Hurricane Maria has decreased significantly. "The total of the people in shelter has been reduced. We are about at 8,800 refugees at this juncture and 139 shelters," he said, noting that a week ago there were 500 shelters across the island. "We are consolidating, making sure people get to their homes when they can't get to their homes, and providing alternative housing in the meantime." Rossello also said that the number of U.S. Defense Department personnel on the ground increased to 6,400 Sunday - up from 4,600 just 36 hours earlier. But almost a week and a half after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, about half of the island's 3.4 million residents still lack access to clean drinking water, according to the Department of Defense, while 95 percent are without electricity. Rossello noted that some recovery has been made. He said 51 of the island's 60 hospitals are open, and airports and seaports are receiving shipments. "We have 100 percent of land-line telephones working now," Rossello said, "although we still don't have the robust telecom network ... we're only at 33 percent." He said the island's roads are being cleared, but there are still some communities where the hurricane's devastation has made travel difficult. Trucks, diesel on the way The U.S. Defense Department said 100 trucks carrying diesel and gasoline fuel will arrive by barge in San Juan, the island's capital and largest city, by Monday. There have been complaints that food and other necessities were not being delivered across the island because there were not enough trucks and truck drivers to make the deliveries. Life on the island remains hard, however, with residents lining up in the sweltering heat to get gas, food and cash. VOA's Celia Mendoza, who is in Puerto Rico, says all store transactions are in cash because shops do not have the electricity for card transactions. There are long lines at cash machines, Mendoza reports, with customers hoping to get access to their funds before the machines' generators are shut down when the banks close. Trump Twitter tirade U.S. President Donald Trump followed up Sunday on bitter Twitter criticism the day before against San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who has been critical of the Trump administration's hurricane efforts. "We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico. Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates,......people are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military." he wrote Sunday on Twitter, presumably referring to Cruz in calling out "politically motivated ingrates." Cruz, whose home has been damaged in the storm, is living in a shelter with her family. "There's only one goal and it's saving lives," Cruz said Sunday on ABC's This Week, when asked about Trump's comments against her. "Any dialogue that goes on just has to produce results. All I did last week or actually even this week is ask for help." The Republican president initiated his tweets Saturday, some of which were apparently deleted minutes later, by suggesting Cruz's criticism was instigated by the Democratic Party. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement that it has deployed assessment teams to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to assess oil sites, and chemical facilities in Puerto Rico. The agency says it is also working to assess the conditions of water and sewage treatment plants in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Critics say 'Too little, too late' A three-star general was named Thursday to head the relief effort, and a 1,000 bed hospital ship, the Comfort, departed Friday from its home port in the U.S. state of Virginia to assist in the recovery. But critics say the response may prove to be a case of too little, too late. Russel Honore, who commanded the military response after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said the military deployments to Puerto Rico should have been started at least four days earlier. Health officials say worse days and weeks may still be ahead as authorities battle the massive task of restoring clean water and sanitation, not to mention providing food and shelter. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address China's J-20 stealth fighters put into service Central News Agency 2017/10/01 23:26:06 Taipei, Oct. 1 (CNA) China's most advanced Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter has been officially commissioned into service, the country's defense ministry has recently confirmed for the first time, making China the second nation in the world, after the United States, to have an operational fifth-generation fighter jets. China's Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Wu Qian () also told a press conference on Sept. 28 that flight tests of J-20s were being conducted as scheduled. In an interview with China's CCTV, Yin Zhou (), a People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy rear admiral, said that the commissioning of the J-20 into service with the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) meant that the stereotyped model is currently in initial production. After the PLAAF receives the fighter jets, the air force needs to have its new generation of pilots trained in flight testing of the aircraft and to assure proper operation of specific systems with reference to applicable flight and maintenance manual, Yin said, adding that only when the work is up to the standards in the manual will China begin mass production. Yin said there were about 10 J-20s serving in the PLAAF and China could build hundreds of the fighter jets based on its military needs, economic situation and production capability. Given that the entry of the J-20 into the PLAAF would provide China with a variety of previously unavailable air combat options, Yin said it's likely that the combat aircraft could be deployed to areas in desperate needs to address potential conflicts, particularly in China's east coast area and South China Sea. The J-20 is the fifth-generation fighter aircraft developed by China's Chengdu Aerospace Corporation. It was previously reported that initial production began in 2016 and a number of the planes were delivered to the PLAAF in December that year. (By Ozzy Yin and Shih Hsiu-chuan) Enditem/sc NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address President Xi meets U.S. secretary of state People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:05, October 01, 2017 BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Saturday, discussing U.S. President Donald Trump's state visit to China later this year. "Currently the most important event in our bilateral relations is President Trump's China visit in November," Xi said. "His visit will be a major opportunity for the development of China-U.S. relations." Xi said China-U.S ties have been generally stable, and that he has maintained sound communication with President Trump. Chinese and U.S. teams should implement consensus reached by the two heads of state, grasp the direction of bilateral relationship, respect each other, and focus on cooperation while dealing with differences properly, Xi said. "China attaches great importance to President Trump's visit, and I look forward to working with him to outline and advance our bilateral relations in the years to come," Xi said. He said the teams on both sides should work closely to make the visit "successful and special." China and the U.S. are respectively the largest developing country and the largest developed one as well as two leading economies of the world, Xi said, stressing both sides need to and can cooperate on the bilateral, regional and global levels. "The common interests of our two countries far exceed our differences, and cooperation is the only correct choice," Xi said. The two sides should expand mutually beneficial cooperation and strengthen communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, he said. Xi called on the two sides to handle their differences and sensitive issues through dialogue and consultation, on the basis of respecting each other's core interests and major concerns, so as to maintain stability of bilateral relations. The two sides should continue to encourage and expand people-to-people exchanges and strengthen friendship between the people of the two countries, he said. Tillerson conveyed Trump's greetings to Xi, saying the U.S. president looks forward to his visit to China. Hailing the progress in U.S.-China relations under the auspices of the two presidents, Tillerson said the United States values its relations with China and hopes to increase mutual trust and practical cooperation in various areas as well as to jointly tackle international and regional challenges. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi also met with Tillerson Saturday, stressing cooperation in economy and trade, military, law enforcement and people-to-people exchanges. Yang hoped the two sides would work together to inaugurate the first law enforcement and cyber security dialogue, and follow up on the already-convened first diplomatic and security dialogue, comprehensive economic dialogue as well as social and people-to-people dialogue. Yang said both sides need to properly manage their differences and communicate and cooperate more on major international and regional issues to keep the positive momentum of bilateral ties. Yang and Tillerson also exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Tillerson earlier Saturday. Wang expounded China's stance on issues including the Taiwan issue, and urged the United States to earnestly respect China's concerns and to deal with these issues properly to avoid disturbance to bilateral relations. Tillerson reaffirmed that the United States maintains the one-China policy. Wang and Tillerson also discussed issues including the Korean Peninsula situation and Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US diplomatic channels with N Korea not 'open forever' Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 08:59PM The United States diplomatic channels with North Korea are not "open forever," says the US State Department. Spokeswoman Heather Nauert warned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un Sunday that the US may close the channels. "Diplomatic channels are open for #KimJongUn for now. They won't be open forever," she tweeted. Nauert further asserted that Pyongyang should forget about gaining a nuclear capability. "#DPRK will not obtain a nuclear capability. Whether through diplomacy or force is up to the regime @StateDept," she said. On Saturday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that Washington was maintaining direct diplomatic channels with the government in Pyongyang. US President Donald Trump has said that Tillerson is "wasting his time" by negotiating with North Korea. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," the president tweeted Sunday. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" He later said "Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now?" adding that "Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail." Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang escalated last month, when Trump said on the floor of the United Nations that he would destroy North Korea over its nuclear activities. Trump's threats at the UN did not go down well with traditional US allies like the UK, France and Germany, which have all called for diplomatic solutions while supporting more economic sanctions. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump: Tillerson 'wasting his time' trying to negotiate with North Korea Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 04:44PM US President Donald Trump has suggested that direct communications with North Korea will not resolve the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang, saying that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is "wasting his time" by trying to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump's comments on Sunday appeared to undercut Tillerson's diplomatic efforts despite the escalating tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," he tweeted. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Trump's remarks came one day after Tillerson announced that the Trump administration has opened "lines of communication" with the North Korean government and has sought potential discussions about its missile and nuclear tests. "We have lines of communication with Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout, we have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang," the top US diplomat told reporters after he held talks with Chinese officials in Beijing on Saturday. Tillerson said the US State Department is "probing" through direct channels with Pyongyang whether Kim would be open to talks and under what conditions. "We ask, Would you like to talk?" Tillerson was in China to meet President Xi Jinping in order to make preparations for Trump's state visit to Beijing in November. Trump has taken an increasingly hostile stance toward Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests. In a speech to the UN General Assembly two weeks ago, the US president threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea if necessary. In return, Kim called Trump a "mentally deranged dotard" and threatened to "tame him with fire." Meanwhile, North Korea has continued testing missiles and is threatening to test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean and to shoot down US military aircraft flying near its airspace. Analysts say Trump's threats against North Korea are counterproductive and justify Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile programs that it insists are for self-defense. They say the threats could have an opposite effect, intensifying the deteriorating situation in the Korean peninsula. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump issued directive ordering military, diplomatic bids against N Korea: Sources Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 02:50AM US President Donald Trump issued a directive early in his administration outlining a strategy of pressure against North Korea involving multiple government agencies that led to the use of military cyber-capabilities, administration officials say. As part of the campaign, US Cyber Command targeted alleged hackers in North Korea's military spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, by storming their computer servers with traffic to obstruct their internet access, The Washington Post reported Saturday, citing senior administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump's directive also included "instructions to diplomats and officials to bring up North Korea in virtually every conversation with foreign interlocutors and urge them to sever all ties with Pyongyang," the daily added, further pointing to "significant success" of such conversations in recent weeks as North Korea tested a nuclear weapon and ballistic missiles. The directive also instructed the Treasury Department to intensify economic sanctions against North Korean entities and individuals as well as foreigners who traded with them, noting that those instructions "are reflected in a steady stream of US and international sanctions in recent months." The anti-Pyongyang diplomatic campaign is reportedly "so pervasive" that some foreign governments "found themselves scrambling to find any ties with North Korea." The report then pointed to a recent instance when US Vice President Mike Pence demanded from one country on an overseas trip to break relations with Pyongyang and after officials there reminded him that they never had relations with North Korea, he then told them, to their own surprise, that they had $2 million in trade with the North. The daily further noted that the exchange was described by foreign officials who asked that their country not be identified. The Cyber Command operation "was part of the overall campaign set in motion many months ago," the effects of which "were temporary and not destructive." "Nonetheless, some North Korean hackers griped that lack of access to the Internet was interfering with their work, according to another US official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a secret operation," the report read. It then cited an unnamed official as saying that the directive was not made public at the time it was signed, following a policy review in March, because "we were providing every opportunity as a new administration to North Korea to sit down and talk, to take a different approach." The development came as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asserted for the first time on Saturday during a visit to the Chinese capital Beijing that Washington was in direct communication with Pyongyang. "We are probing, so stay tuned," Tillerson told reporters after talks with Chinese officials. "We ask, 'Would you like to talk?' We have lines of communications to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout. We have a couple, three, channels open. . . . We can talk to them; we do talk to them." However, officials in Washington quickly played down any idea that negotiations were underway or that anything had yet come of the talks, with State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert issuing a statement insisting that "North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Diplomatic Channels Open for DPRK Now, but Not 'Forever' - US State Department Sputnik News 23:50 01.10.2017(updated 02:45 02.10.2017) US State Secretary Rex Tillerson acknowledged that there were open channels for communications with North Korean leader, however, Pyongyang is not willing to engage in a negotiation process. Now Trump's administration is sending a clear message to North Korea. MOSCOW (Sputnik) Diplomatic channels are currently open for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but it will not be always like that, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Sunday. Spokeswoman also stressed that the United States would prevent obtaining of a nuclear capability by North Korea either through diplomacy or force, which is up to the US government to decide. The statements came a few hours after US President Donald Trump said that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was "wasting his time" trying to engage in denuclearization talks with Pyongyang. On Saturday, Tillerson said that Washington had several lines of communication with North Korea, and the country was probing Pyongyang's willingness to engage in denuclearization talks. Later in the day, the US State Department said that Pyongyang showed no interest or readiness to discuss the nuclear problem. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Has Channels to DPRK, but Pyongyang Not Interested in Talks Sputnik News 00:44 01.10.2017(updated 09:14 01.10.2017) Turns out that, despite mounting tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, the United States actually has direct channels for communication with the North Korean regime, however, Pyongyang has shown no interest in talks. MOSCOW (Sputnik) The United States has several channels of communication with North Korea, but Pyongyang shows no interest or readiness to engage in denuclearization talks, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Saturday. "US diplomats have several open channels in which we can communicate with officials within the North Korean regime. Despite assurances that the United States is not interested in promoting the collapse of the current regime, pursuing regime change, accelerating reunification of the peninsula or mobilizing forces north of the DMZ, North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization," Nauert was quoted as saying in the State Department press release. Earlier on Saturday US State Secretary Rex Tillerson acknowledged that the US has been reaching out to North Korea as Washington continues diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Europeans Intensify Lobbying to Preserve Iran Deal By Jamie Dettmer October 01, 2017 Iranian diplomats say they expect President Donald Trump to abandon the international deal restricting Tehran's nuclear activities. They are intensifying their lobbying of European governments, especially the signatories to the agreement, France, Britain and Germany, hoping they can dissuade the U.S. administration from repudiating the agreement. And in the event the U.S. repudiates the deal, then Tehran is urging Europeans not to join Washington in re-imposing sanctions. The Iranians say if Europe and the other signatories, Russia and China, stick with the deal and don't join a renewed sanctions regime, then Tehran will continue to adhere to the agreement. Iran's foreign secretary, Mohammad Javad Zarif, highlighted that appeal in an interview with British newspapers published Saturday, warning that if Europe followed Washington's lead if the Trump administration abandons the deal, Iran would resume uranium enrichment and other aspects of its nuclear program at a more advanced level than before the deal was struck. Trump on deal The U.S. State Department is due to certify to Congress in two weeks time whether Iran has been complying with the terms of the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. Trump has said he has made up his mind already, but hasn't told European leaders his decision, including Britain's Theresa May, who asked him reportedly at a bilateral meeting at the UN last month. Trump has been a stern critic of what his predecessor, Barack Obama, saw as a signature foreign policy achievement. Dubbing it a "bad deal," Trump pledged during his campaign for the White House last year to rip up the agreement. And in New York in a speech last month at the UN, he described the deal as an "embarrassment," saying it was "one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into." Although the Trump administration has not offered any examples of JCPOA non-compliance by Iran, the belligerency of the President's comments has heightened impressions that he's laying the groundwork for the State Department to withhold certification on October 15. The administration is required to report to Congress every 90 days on the deal. Iran's intense lobbying effort has two main purposes, say analysts: to get the Europeans to press Washington not to walk away, and in the event President Trump does, to try to ensure the Europeans don't follow suit a move that could increase strains between Trump's Washington and European leaders to a possible breaking point. European impact The Europeans would be placed in a lose-lose position, if the U.S. abandons the nuclear deal. Under the agreement's provisions, any signatory can require the UN Security Council to vote on a resolution to continue the deal's sanctions relief a U.S. veto would result in the sanctions on Iran snapping back into place automatically. That in turn would present the Europeans with the uncomfortable choice of either complying with a UN resolution or re-imposing sanctions against their own policy views. Either way, it would likely compound increasingly tense transatlantic relations. European signatories to the deal have all publicly defended the nuclear agreement, which placed limits on Iran's nuclear program designed to prevent Tehran from developing weapons in return for a lifting of international sanctions. European ambassadors to the U.S. have been highly visible and vocal in Washington in recent days defending the agreement and insisting Iran has remained in compliance. That conclusion was supported last week by U.S. Marine Gen. James Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who in written testimony to a Senate committee said: "The briefings I have received indicate that Iran is adhering to its JCPOA obligations." Interviewed by National Public Radio, German envoy Peter Wittig, said Friday: "We believe it would be a mistake to walk away from the deal while Iran is complying." European envoys mounted a full-court defense of the nuclear deal last week at a think tank event, arguing Iran is complying with the deal that was struck in July 2015 and implemented since January 2016. German Chancellor Angela Merkel talked midweek on the phone about Iran with President Trump, expressing her support for the deal. Although, according to German officials, she offered a sympathetic ear to the U.S. leader's complaints about human rights abuses by Iran and destabilizing activities in the Middle East, including missile development, Tehran's support for Houthi rebels in Yemen and for groups like Lebanon's radical Shi'ite movement Hezbollah. Part of the European lobbying effort on Trump's Washington from leaders and envoys has been to argue that the nuclear deal shouldn't be sacrificed because of those other areas of concern. And there has been a quid pro quo hint from the Europeans that they will be more forward-leaning and cooperative with U.S. efforts to contain Iran on other fronts. "European foreign ministers tell me that they would join us in confronting other Iranian misdeeds," if the Trump administration doesn't abandon the deal, John Kerry, the former U.S. Secretary of State wrote in an opinion article for the Washington Post published Friday. "Nothing in the agreement is preventing us from facing the challenges raised by Iran on other issues," according to French Ambassador Gerard Araud. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Nasrallah: Secession of Iraqi Kurdistan threat to entire region IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Beirut, Oct 1, IRNA -- Lebanese Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah pointed to the plot hatched to divide the region by separation of Iraqi Kurdistan Region, describing it a threat to the entire region. Speaking to a large gathering of mourners for Imam Hossein (AS) on Ashura night via videoconference in a southern suburb of Beirut, he added that today the region faces a dangerous situation. Dividing the region is part of 'New Middle East' project which failed due to victory of Resistance Movement in the 33-day war in Lebanon in 2006, he said, noting that the plan to divide the region is aimed at transforming Israel to the strongest country to serve as an asylum for all tribes. Warning that secession of KRG heralds splitting the region, he said that the issues of referendum or deciding fate do not matter; rather what matters is dividing the region based on racial and tribal traits. This hazards is among the events the repercussions of which will persist for tens and hundreds of years, Nasrallah said. He singled out Israel as the only backer of secession of Iraqi Kurdistan in the world, saying that this can serve as a yardstick to find out the issue. Elsewhere in his speech, he said that Daesh is nearing its end in Syria and Iraq and it will not take long. Daesh is carrying out suicide attacks to compensate its defeats but they will only take toll from the opposing party and will not bring victory to the terrorist group, he said. Daesh was an instrument that was used in line with destroying the region and tarnishing the image of Islam, he said, noting that but today Daesh is closing to its final days in Iraq and Syria. Israel is the only side which did not suffer losses from Daesh. Furthermore it gained benefits from emergence of the terrorist group, Nasrallah said. He also warned Iraqi Kurdistan's separation will also spread to Saudi Arabia which has more potential for getting divided than other countries. Nasrallah also warned those who think that regional division will create no problem, saying that they are mistaken as in case of regional split, they themselves will never see peace and calm. Regional division means drawing the region toward civil wars that God knows when they end, he said. Nasrallah also stressed the need for maintaining stability in Lebanon, saying that the country's expediency lies in dialogue among the groups and preserving stability. Today, Hezbollah is in its strongest position as Israel has named it as the second regional army, he said. 8072**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Sheikh of snipers' killed in battle to retake Hawijah Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 08:38AM Iraq's Hashd al-Sha'abi says the group has lost a valued sharpshooter during the battle to retake the northern town of al-Hawijah from the Takfiri terror group of Daesh. Abu Tahsin al-Salhi, known to his comrades as "the sheikh of snipers" and "hawk eye", was killed on Friday as he advanced on Hawijah in northwest Iraq, Hashd al-Sha'abi spokesman Ahmad al-Assadi said. The 63-year-old warrior had reportedly taken part in conflicts dating back to the 1973 Arab-Israeli war and is said to have gunned down at least 320 Daesh terrorists, Iraqi reports said. A funeral ceremony was held in his honor in the southern port city of Basra and Hashd al-Sha'abi released a video of the Steyr rifle-brandishing fighter in which he gave a rundown of his career as a sniper. "Today, I gunned down two of them (Daesh terrorists). That's ridiculous -- the minimum for me is four," he says in the footage. In anti-Daesh battles in 2015, "I killed 173 of them, and now I'm at 320," he adds. Daesh, which regards people not subscribing to its extremist ideology as "apostates" and subject to having their blood shed, invaded Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014, overrunning vast swathes of territory in both countries. The onslaught prompted Iraqis to volunteer for the frontlines as the Takfiri group closed in on the capital Baghdad. Hashd al-Sha'abi was among the first volunteer forces which joined the army to push back the terrorists. The joint forces retook Ramadi, the capital of the sprawling western province of Anbar, in December 2015, in one of the most decisive victories against the terrorists. Daesh has, ever since, been losing district after district in the face of advances by the Iraqi army and allied forces. Most notably, the terror group lost the northern city of Mosul, its last urban Iraqi stronghold, in July. Iraqi armed forces are currently in the second phase of a the military operation to liberate Hawijah, one of the last remaining bastions of the Takfiri outfit. The first phase started on September 21, featuring operations aimed at freeing a Daesh enclave surrounding the town. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Netanyahu Denies Israeli Involvement in Iraqi Kurdistan Referendum Sputnik News 17:06 01.10.2017(updated 19:58 01.10.2017) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reputiated the Turkish claims of Israeli involvement in the Kurdish referendum in Iraq. TEL AVIV (Sputnik) Israel has no links to the referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan's independence but sympathizes with the Kurds' aspiration for independence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israel was the only country that supported and recognized the Kurdish referendum in Iraq, adding that Israel though would not be able to help Erbil in the event of an economic blockade. Later Erdogan said that the Israeli intelligence services could have helped organizers of the referendum. "Israel has no links to the Kurdish referendum except Israel's years-long deep natural sympathy for the Kurdish people and their aspirations," Netanyahu said. The independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan was held on Monday. According to the official results of Kurdistan's Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission, 92.7 percent of the voters cast their ballots in support of the independence from Iraq. The independence vote is widely criticized not only by the Iraqi central government, but also by Iran, Turkey and a number of other countries and international organizations. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Islamic State Militants Attempt Ambush in Mosul By Heather Murdock October 01, 2017 Mosul's Old City is covered in rubble and virtually abandoned. Entire blocks are destroyed and many families still haven't found the bodies of their relatives under the crushed buildings. Iraqi forces and locals are slowly trying to make the area inhabitable, with technical teams searching house by house for bombs, more than two months after government forces re-took Mosul. But on Saturday, Islamic State militants hiding out in one of the homes were waiting. "We were shocked when we saw them," said Colonel Tahssen al-Mohammadawi of the Iraqi Federal Police at his West Mosul base shortly after returning from the ambush. "When the soldiers opened the door they were waiting with a gun ready to shoot." The militants fired and a battle ensued. Two fighters were hit by Iraqi grenades and their bodies caught fire. Two more were later killed, one shot on the street. Their bodies were thin, heavily bearded and they were wearing traditional clothes favored by militants in Mosul. Iraqi forces generally do not report casualty figures publicly, but locals said at least one Iraqi soldier was killed and two more were injured. Keeping the peace Security in Western Mosul remains fragile with checkpoints now erected every few blocks. Federal Police share security duties with the Hashd Shaaby, or Popular Mobilization Units, formerly known as Shia Militias in the Sunni-majority city. "We have to re-think our plan for the Old City," said Al-Mohammadawi. It is unknown how many IS militants could still be hiding in the rubble, tunnels and sewers under the city, according to soldiers. And until recently, it was reasonable to believe that some of the tales of surviving militants were false. Ordinary people sneak into the Old City to try to recover their belongings, attempting to evade authorities who have declared it too dangerous for civilians. Young men running and hiding in what was once IS's most treacherous stronghold in Iraq look suspicious to both soldiers and civilians. "People sometimes run away from us because they think they could get in trouble," said Federal Police Captain Baha. "But actually we are trying to just keep them safe." But with so many buildings abandoned, and Mosul's Old City's ideal defensive position on a hill by a river overlooking the city there could be an unknown number of militants hiding out. "I think if there are any left you could count them on one hand," said Col. al-Mohammadawi. "But then again, I didn't think there were any before today." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address World Food Programme: International community should 'rally' for Rohingya relief Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 02:38PM The World Food Programme (WFP) says the international community should "rally" for the relief operation for Rohingya Muslim refugees who have fled violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state. David Beasley, the head of the food-assistance branch of the United Nations, said on Sunday that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh risked "a massive catastrophic disaster." "Bangladesh alone can't handle this. The international community must rally," Beasley said after observing a handout of food to refugees at Kutupalong camp, near Cox's Bazar district. The UN official said the WFP needed $75 million in the next five to six months to meet the current and anticipated food needs. "We need support from around the world because you're talking about a literal humanitarian disaster." "If we don't get the support we need, from health care to proper nutrition and safe water and sanitation and sheltering, this could explode into a catastrophic humanitarian disaster," the WFP head said. In recent weeks, over half a million Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh to escape Myanmar's military operation in Rakhine. Bangladeshi authorities have housed the refugees in a number of existing camps near the border. The WFP says it has already enrolled about 460,000 people in the camps. A program run by the WFP gives the people 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of rice every two weeks for the next six months. Myanmar's forces have been attacking Rohingya Muslims and torching their villages in Rakhine since October 2016. The attacks have seen a sharp rise since August 25, following a number of armed attacks on police and military posts in the western state. The Muslims have been subject to communal violence by Myanmar's military and extremist Buddhists for years. The latest eruption of violence in Rakhine has killed more than 1,000 people and triggered an exodus of the Rohingya to Bangladesh. The latest figures by the UN indicate that more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since violence broke out on August 25. On Friday, at least 60 people, among them women and children, lost their lives following an incident in which a boat carrying Rohingya refugees capsized in rough waters off Bangladesh. Refugees in Bangladesh have told numerous eyewitness accounts of summary executions, rapes, and arson attacks by Myanmar's military since the crackdown against the minority began. Myanmar's government brands more than one million Rohingya Muslims in the country as "illegal immigrants" from Bangladesh. The Rohingya, however, have had roots in the country that go back centuries. They are considered by the UN the "most persecuted minority group in the world." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In Bangladesh, UN food relief agency chief urges support amid massive Rohingya influx 1 October 2017 The head of the United Nations food relief agency called today for an end to the "horrors" driving Rohingyas by the tens of thousands from their homes in Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh. On a visit to the region to rally international support to help ease the humanitarian crisis, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, met refugee families in the new settlements in the Cox's Bazar area of Bangladesh, and reiterated the agency's commitment to supporting people fleeing violence in Myanmar. According to the UN, more than 500,000 Rohingya refugees have poured into Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar since 25 August, having fled their homes after violence erupted in Myanmar's northern Rakhine province. United Nations relief agencies and partner aid organizations are rushing to help cope with the influx. "I have heard heart-breaking stories today, speaking to people who ran for their lives and saw loved ones killed before their eyes. These horrors must stop," said Mr. Beasley. Noting that many of these people were receiving WFP food assistance in Myanmar, he stressed that they will receive WFP food assistance in Bangladesh, until they are able to return home safely. This is Mr. Beasley's first visit to Bangladesh since his assuming office in April. Having been in the region since Thursday, 29 September, he saw a WFP food distribution in an area adjacent to Kutupalong refugee camp, where hundreds of thousands of people have settled in makeshift shelters over the past month. The WP chief also toured the 2,000-acre area that has been allocated by the Bangladesh Government to accommodate the new arrivals. He also saw a WFP e-voucher shop, where registered refugees redeem monthly electronic food vouchers. "WFP started distributing food as soon as the influx began, and has scaled up operations to reach almost half a million refugees in the past month with life-saving assistance," said Mr. Beasley, adding: "We are grateful for the generous support of the donor community that has made this possible." WFP reported today that it has so far distributed rice to some 460,000 refugees, and has also been providing high energy biscuits to more than 200,000 people as a one-off emergency measure when they arrive in the settlements and at border crossing points. As the situation stabilizes, WFP plans to transition to more sophisticated programmes, especially with a view to supporting the nutritional needs of women and children and developing electronic voucher programmes that integrate with markets. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Banned Militant Leader Sues Pakistan's FM for Defamation By Noor Zahid October 01, 2017 A militant group leader in Pakistan is suing the country's foreign minister for his remarks at an Asia Society event last week in New York. A lawyer representing Hafiz Mohammad Saeed sent a $950,000 (100 million Pakistani Rupee) notice to Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday. "An absolute lie and falsehood that Hafiz Muhammad Saeed is one of those persons who had been the darlings of Americans and had been dining and wining in the White House," Saeed's lawyer, A.K. Dogar alleged, according to media reports. The lawsuit calls on Asif to offer an apology within two weeks or face punishment. Defamatory statements are punishable under the Pakistan Penal Code with up to five years imprisonment and a fine, according to Dogar. Refuting recent allegations by the United States and BRICS, an economic bloc composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, that Pakistan harbors violent extremist groups that pose a threat to regional security, Asif denied that his country supports such groups. "Don't blame us for the Haqqanis [the Haqqani Network] and don't blame us for the Hafiz Saeeds. These people were your darlings just only 20 to 30 years back. They were being dined and wined in the White House and now you say 'go to hell Pakistanis because you are nurturing these people'," Asif said, referring to the U.S. support to Afghan resistance movement during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Saeed's lawyer alleged that his client is a "patriotic Islam-loving Muslim" who refrains from consuming intoxicants, which are forbidden in Islam. "I have been advised by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed to tell you that he has never been near the White House, not to speak of [being] wined and dined. It is shocking to know that the foreign minister of my country is accusing Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of taking wine," Dogar said in the notice. Listed as terrorist by US Saeed is a U.S.-designated global terrorist. He has been accused of orchestrating militant attacks against Indian interests in the region, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans. The U.S. government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest. He is also on the U.N. blacklist. Saeed has been under house arrest in Pakistan for the past several months. Saeed leads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa group, or JUD, which has been listed as a sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. State Department for more than a decade. JUD contends it is a humanitarian organization without links to terrorists, but it is widely considered a "front group" for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which has been banned for terrorist activities since 2001. "Saeed, LeT, they are a liability, I accept it, but give us time to get rid of them," Asif said Tuesday in New York. The move by Saeed' lawyer drew some reactions of surprise on social media. "There is irony, and then there is irony. Not sure I can recall any other case of a terrorist suing for defamation," Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, tweeted. "Hilarious. Global terrorist Hafiz Saeed seeks damage to the tune of 100 million from Pak FM Khawaja Asif. Can Pakistan economy afford it?" Indian journalist, Aditya Raj Kaul, tweeted. Pakistani journalist, Naila Inayat, tweeted: "Waiting for Hafiz Saeed to sue U.S. that designated him a terrorist, $10 million bounty could come in handy after all." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistan's Army Chief Concludes 'Constructive' Afghan Talks By Ayaz Gul October 01, 2017 Pakistan's military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, held "candid and "constructive" talks with Afghan leaders on bilateral relations and ways to enhance mutual cooperation to fight terrorism. Accompanied by the chief of Pakistani spy agency, ISI, the general met Sunday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul. The Afghan defense minister and the national security advisor among others assisted Ghani in the discussions, officials said. "Both sides discussed regional security, bilateral relations, fight against terrorism, trade and transit," according to a brief statement issued by Ghani's office after the meeting. It quoted the Afghan president as saying the time has come to take practical steps toward creating an atmosphere of mutual trust. The statement added Pakistan assured of its readiness to cooperate in tackling the threat of terrorism facing both countries and supported Afghan-led efforts to promote peace. The meeting was "candid, positive, respectful, constructive and encouraging in a long time," said Afghan ambassador to Pakistan, Omar Zakhilwal, who also attended the talks. Bilateral ties have been marred by mistrust and suspicion, with both Islamabad and Kabul routinely blaming each other for backing fugitive anti-state militants to plot terrorist attacks against the other. During the one day visit, General Bajwa had been expected to reiterate offers of training for Afghan soldiers and police personnel in Pakistani institutions and emphasize the need for the two countries to resolve differences by relying on bilateral mechanisms and dialogue, according to officials in Islamabad. Insurgents gaining ground The U.S.-backed Afghan government insists that sanctuaries on Pakistani soil have enabled the Taliban to sustain and expand insurgent operations in Afghanistan during the past 16 years. Recent assessments have put the Islamist insurgents in control of more than 40 percent of Afghan territory. Pakistani authorities deny charges they are supporting the Taliban. In turn, they blame the Afghan intelligence agency for sheltering fugitive anti-state militants who are plotting deadly attacks against Pakistan. Washington supports the Afghan assertions. President Donald Trump unveiled his new strategy for the Afghan war in August, and he criticized Islamabad's counterterrorism efforts and urged the country to undo terrorist havens on its soil. Pakistan: Failures aren't ours Islamabad insists it is being scapegoated for failures of the U.S.-led international efforts to defeat the Taliban and stabilize Afghanistan. The Pakistan military says its sustained counterterrorism operations in the past few years have dismantled all "militant hideouts" in the country. It also cites the building of a fence and new security outposts on its nearly 2,600-kilometer border with Afghanistan. Officials say the border management project is expected to be completed within the next two years and is key to deterring illegal infiltration along a largely porous frontier. The Pakistani government also has been campaigning for resolving the Afghan conflict through peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban, and it strongly opposes further militarization of the war, already the longest overseas military engagement in the U.S. history. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address S. Korea says in close cooperation with U.S. on DPRK communication channels People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 14:26, October 01, 2017 South Korea's presidential Blue House said on Sunday that it was closely cooperating with the United States to keep communication channels with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun told reporters via a text message that the government emphasized the peaceful resolution through dialogue of the DPRK issues whenever opportunities were given, according to local media reports. He said the government also expressed its position that dialogue could be of various types, including bilateral and multilateral ones. Park said the governments of South Korea and the United States were closely cooperating in efforts to maintain a contact channel with the DPRK while sticking to a principle that maximum pressure and sanctions would be needed to encourage Pyongyang to return to a dialogue table. The comment came after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. government was in direct communication with the DPRK and had two to three channels open to Pyongyang. Park said the U.S. government had a position that it needs a quiet contact with the DPRK to resolve humanitarian issues such as the release of U.S. citizens detained in the DPRK. The spokesman added that the DPRK has never expressed any interest in sincere dialogue over its nuclear program. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Denies Ukrainian Allegations It Left Troops In Belarus RFE/RL's Belarus Service October 01, 2017 Russia has denied allegations from Ukraine that it left troops behind in Belarus after staging military exercises there, despite Moscow's pledge not to do so. "As far as the Russian troops which took part in the joint strategic exercises, Zapad (West) 2017, they all returned to their permanent bases," Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in an e-mailed statement late on September 30. The denial came after Viktor Muzhenko, the Ukrainian military's chief of staff, made the claim in a September 29 interview with Reuters that threatens to heighten tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, which have been locked in a standoff over Russia's 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its backing of separatists in eastern Ukraine. The September 14-20 war games in Belarus and parts of western Russia triggered concerns in neighboring NATO nations already wary of Moscow's intentions after its annexation of Crimea and military interference in eastern Ukraine. Moscow and Minsk said the maneuvers involved some 12,700 troops in the two countries combined, but Western officials have said the true number may have been around 100,000. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka said on the final day of the exercises that all Russian troops involved in the drills would leave Belarus. The Belarusian Defense Ministry has said that the last train of Russian troops who participated in the Zapad 2017 military drills left Belarus on September 28. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-denie -ukrainian-allegations-troops-still- belarus/28766949.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian forces make fresh gains on southern border with Jordan: Report Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 05:17AM Syrian army soldiers and allied fighters have reportedly managed to liberate nine positions from the grip of Takfiri terrorists along the country's southern border with Jordan. A military news outlet run by the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement said on Saturday that the newly-recaptured positions were all situated to the southeast of the capital Damascus. The Syrian army's attack killed and wounded militants, the report added without elaborating on their number. Hezbollah has played a critical role in the Syrian military's counter-terrorism operations over the past few years. The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has lately retreated from much of the territory under its control amid sweeping advances by Syrian forces on the battlefield. On Friday, Syrian troops thwarted a Daesh attack and wrested control over a road connecting the cities of Palmyra and Dayr al-Zawr. "The Syrian army and its allies completely secured the Dayr al-Zawr-Palmyra highway after foiling the intense attack. The highway has become passable for traffic in both directions to and from Dayr al-Zawr," a Hezbollah media unit said. Dayr al-Zawr, which is located southeast of Daesh's former stronghold of Raqqah, was besieged by the terror outfit in 2014. Syrian government forces, backed by Russia's air cover, broke the siege on the city last month. Last week, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Damascus was close to victory in its fight against foreign-sponsored terrorism in the Arab country. "My country, along with its steadfast people and its brave army and supported by our loyal allies, is marching steadily towards the goal of rooting out terrorism. The liberation of Aleppo and Palmyra, the lifting of the siege on the city of Dayr al-Zawr and the eradication of terrorism from many parts of Syria prove that victory is now within reach," he said. China opposes Syria disintegration: Diplomat Separately on Saturday, China's ambassador to Syria stressed that Beijing supports "Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity" and rejects "any attempt to divide it." Syria's official SANA news agency quoted Qi Qianjin as saying that "only the Syrian people have the right to determine their future... not any other country." He further expressed China's resolve to develop political, economic, educational and strategic relations with Syria. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 2350 terrorists killed by Russian airstrikes in Syria over 11 days Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 12:35AM Russian airstrikes in Syria have killed around 2,350 terrorists and injured some 2,700 more over 11 days, says Russia's Defense Ministry. "Terrorist organizations Daesh and al-Nusra have sustained their most serious losses for the last several months. Due to the effective operations of the Russian forces, they have been seriously weakened," said a statement released by the ministry on Saturday. It added that during the 11 days of operations between September 19 and 29, at least 16 terrorist commanders, 67 outposts, 51 weapons depots, 27 tanks, 21 missile launchers, and 200 armored vehicles were also targeted. "With help from the Russian Air Force, the Syrian army is currently completing the encirclement and destruction of a large Daesh force, numbering about 1,500 fighters, which invaded from Iraq, in the eastern part of Dayr al-Zawr," added the statement. Daesh overran large parts of Dayr al-Zawr province, including its many oil fields, in mid-2014 as it seized swathes of land in Syria and neighboring Iraq. By early 2015, the Takfiri terrorists were in control of some parts of Dayr al-Zawr city and besieged the remaining parts, which were under government control. It is estimated that 100,000 people remain in the government-held parts of the city. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that more than 10,000 people may be living in the Daesh-held parts of Dayr al-Zawr. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address HRW Says Iran Recruiting Afghan Children To Fight In Syria RFE/RL October 01, 2017 Human Rights Watch says Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been recruiting Afghan immigrant children living in Iran to fight in the conflict in Syria. The New York-based rights advocate said in a statement released on October 1 that Afghan children as young as 14 have fought in the Fatemiyun division, an exclusively Afghan armed group supported by Iran that fights alongside government forces in the Syrian conflict. "Iran should immediately end the recruitment of child soldiers and bring back any Afghan children it has sent to fight in Syria," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement. Human Rights Watch said a review photos of tombstones in Iranian cemeteries identified eight Afghan children who apparently fought and died in Syria. Iranian media reports corroborated some of these cases and reported at least six more instances of Afghan child soldiers who died in Syria, according to Human Rights Watch. The advocacy group said that due to misrepresentations of some ages on tombstones could indicate that "instances of Iran recruiting children to fight in Syria are likely more prevalent." "Rather than preying on vulnerable immigrant and refugee children, the Iranian authorities should protect all children and hold those responsible for recruiting Afghan children to account," Whitson said. The Interior Ministry estimated in 2015 that there were 2.5 million Afghans in Iran, many without proper paperwork. Human Rights Watch has previously documented cases of Afghan refugees in Iran who "volunteered" to fight in Syria in the hopes of gaining legal status for their families. There are no official public statistics on the size of the Fatemiyun division but, according to Tasnim News, which is affiliated with the IRGC, it has about 14,000 fighters. Under international law, recruiting children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities is a war crime. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/hrw-says- iran-recruiting-afghan-children- fight-syria/28766934.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Army Reportedly Engaged in Fierce Fighting Against Daesh in Homs Sputnik News 13:16 01.10.2017(updated 16:37 01.10.2017) According to a Sputnik source, the Syrian army and their allies are engaged in fierce fighting with the Daesh terror group near the town of al-Quaryatayn in the province of Homs. DEIR EZ-ZOR (Syria), (Sputnik) Al-Quaryatayn is located at a highway connecting Damascus with the ancient city of Palmyra, 120 kilometers (some 75 miles) from the Syrian capital. "IS [Daesh, outlawed in numerous countries] militants are trying to storm al-Quaryatayn. The army and allied forces are engaged in fighting on the outskirts of the town. The situation is difficult," the source said. The town was liberated by Syrian government troops supported by the Russian Aerospace Forces in spring 2016. Terrorists, who controlled the town, threatened to execute 168 Christian hostages in the event of an assault. The town was encircled and seized only after the hostages had been released. The day before, the Russian Defense Ministry commented on the recent developments in the region, saying that both Daesh and al-Nusra have borne their heaviest losses over the last few months, their attempts to launch an offensive in Syria's western and eastern regions failed. The Russian Aerospace Forces conducted strikes in Syria from September 19-29, killing 2,359 Daesh militants and injuring 2,700 others. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia Puts Not Only Military, But Political Efforts in Syria - Commander Sputnik News 06:45 01.10.2017(updated 16:02 01.10.2017) September 30 marks the second anniversary of the Russian counterterrorism campaign in Syria which is defined not only by significant success on the battlefield but also by diplomatic victories. DAMASCUS (Sputnik) Commenting on the second anniversary of the anti-terror operation carried out by the Russian Armed Forces in Syria at Damascus' request, Syrian commander Brig. General Abdel Majid Abdel Hamid told Sputnik that Russia has played an important role in the Syrian settlement not only through military means, but through political and diplomatic efforts as well. "The Russian political and diplomatic position on Syria which manifested itself in the use of the veto six times [in the UN Security Council] did not allow the United States and NATO hit the country It plays a big role in the success of negotiations [on the Syrian settlement in Astana and Geneva], or, at least, in persuading the countries that support the opposition to send delegations, the efforts in this area are ongoing," Hamid said. The commander also noted that the Russian military support contributed to regaining of 85 percent of the country by the Syrian armed forces. He also underlined the importance of Russia's humanitarian aid. "Russia spread into the heart of almost all Syrians, when it became clear that the main objective of its assistance was to stop the bloodshed and create conditions for the Syrian settlement," Hamid said. He added that Russia's involvement in the Syrian issue was linked to two basic principles the protection of Syrian sovereignty in accordance with the UN Charter and the fight against international terrorism. The commander said that the Syrian people would never "forget Russia's contribution to the fight against international terrorism," "the liberation of Syria from murderers and criminals who were supported by the Arabs and West." Syria has been in a state of civil war for over six years, with government forces fighting against both Syrian opposition groups and terrorist organizations. Moscow has been assisting Damascus since September 2015 at the request of the Syrian government, both through support in the struggle against the terrorist groups and providing humanitarian aid to the residents of the crisis-torn country. Since the start of the Russian operation, the Syrian army has managed to liberate the country's biggest city of Aleppo, the ancient city of Palmyra, as well as lifted the siege of the city of Deir ez-Zor. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran Accused of Recruiting Afghan Children to Fight in Syria By Ayaz Gul October 01, 2017 An international rights defender has accused Iran of committing war crimes by recruiting and sending Afghan immigrant children "as young as 14" to fight in Syria alongside government forces. In a detailed report published Sunday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says its researchers reviewed photographs of tombstones in Iranian cemeteries and identified eight Afghan children who apparently fought and died in Syria. The report charges Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) with recruiting and providing combat training to mainly Shi'ite Hazara Afghans who have settled in Iran after fleeing decades of hostilities in their native country. "Afghan children as young as 14 have fought in the Fatemiyoun Division, an exclusively Afghan armed group supported by Iran that fights alongside government forces in the Syrian conflict. Under international law, recruiting children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities is a war crime," warned HRW. The watchdog noted that Iranian media reports also corroborated some of these cases and documented at least six more instances of Afghan child soldiers who died in Syria. HRW's Middle East director, Sarah Leah Whitson, called on Tehran to immediately end the recruitment of child soldiers and bring back any Afghan children it has sent to fight in Syria. "Rather than preying on vulnerable immigrant and refugee children, the Iranian authorities should protect all children and hold those responsible for recruiting Afghan children to account," she said. The persistent conflict in Afghanistan has led millions of its citizens to take refuge in neighboring Iran and Pakistan. Iranian officials estimate there are around 2.5-million Afghan refugees living in the country, many of them without residency papers. Rights groups have documented cases of Afghans, mostly Shi'ite Hazaras, in Iran who "volunteered" to take part in the Syrian conflict in the hopes of gaining legal status and a monthly income for their impoverished families. Pro-government Iranian media describes the Fatemiyoun Division as a volunteer Afghan force fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Iran is said to have supported and trained thousands of Afghans, including undocumented immigrants, in the past few years and sent them to the battlefields in Syria. Iranian authorities reportedly tell Afghan recruits they are being trained to fight to protect major Shi'ite shrines in Damascus, Aleppo and Raqqa. The tombstones also identified the children's places of death in Syria, and in seven of the eight cases, the tombstones described the Afghan child as a "defender of the shrine," the euphemism the Iranian government uses to describe fighters it sends to Syria, according to the HRW report. HRW in its report has called on the United Nations to investigate alleged recruitment of Afghan child soldiers. Iran has not yet commented on the report though officials in Tehran have previously denied allegations Afghans are being recruited and sent to the Syrian conflict. Iran is reported to have poured billions of dollars into Syria in addition to raising Shi'ite militias from countries with significant Shi'ite population, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, which also hosts millions of war and poverty-stricken Afghans. Pakistan has also long been accused of encouraging Sunni Afghans in the refugee settlements to join ranks of the Taliban waging insurgency against the U.S.-backed government in Kabul. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address We don't need EU membership anymore: Turkey's president Iran Press TV Sun Oct 1, 2017 06:57PM Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Ankara no longer needs to join the European Union, but will not unilaterally quit the stalled talks on accession to the 28-nation bloc. "We will not be the side, which gives up. To tell the truth, we don't need EU membership anymore," President Erdogan told the Turkish parliament on Sunday. He, however, suggested that the bloc still needed Turkey, saying, "If the EU is going to leap forward, there is only one way to do so and it is to grant Turkey membership and start an action of cultural and economic growth." Elsewhere in his remarks, the Turkish president said the EU states had failed to respond to requests to extradite individuals suspected of involvement in the coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, adding, "The EU failed us in a fight against terrorism." The 12-year-long accession talks were effectively halted after Turkey began a massive crackdown on the coup suspects. The EU reacted strongly to Ankara's purging of thousands of people from organizations and institutions over alleged links to the coup attempt. In recent months, Germany and some other European countries have been involved in diplomatic brawls with Turkey on several issues, including the country's human rights record. Germany and Austria have also been outspoken critics of Ankara since the Turkish crackdown began and have said the accession talks must end. On September 3, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a TV debate ahead of Germany's federal elections, agreed with her main rival Social Democrat Martin Schulz that it was "clear that Turkey should not become a member of the European Union," marking a surprise U-turn from her previous moderate stance. In November 2016, the European Parliament voted in favor of halting the membership talks with Turkey over Ankara's heavy-handed crackdown. EU leaders are expected to discuss the issue of suspension of the accession talks in Brussels later in October. Turkey has been trying to accede to the EU since the late 1980s and formal accession talks began in 2005. The EU has opened 16 out of the 35 chapters required for Turkey to join the bloc, but only one of them has so far been concluded. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jailer who saved inmate, tackled shoplifter is honored Forsyth County Sheriffs Major Robert Slater, Vice President of the NCJAA, Henderson County Detention Officer Joey Garren and Henderson County Sheriff Charles McDonald. Detention officer Joey Garren, who helped save a choking an inmate back in June and tackled a belligerent shoplifter earlier in the year, has been named Detention Officer of the Year Award by the North Carolina Jail Administrators Association. Related Stories The honor recognizes a detention officer who has made outstanding contributions to his or her Sheriffs Office in the performance of their duties. Two events led to Detention Officer Garren being nominated by the Henderson County Sheriffs Office; one incident occurring within the confines of the jail, the other occurring while he was off duty and out in the community. On Friday, June 9, Detention Officers Joey Garren and Stephen Darnell were passing out meal trays in special housing. They noticed an inmate had begun to bang on his cell door. The officers responded swiftly, realized the inmate was in distress and called for the door to be unsecured. As soon as the door was open, Garren immediately turned the inmate around and began the Heimlich maneuver. After several thrusts, a piece of food became dislodged and the inmate began breathing normally again. Earlier in the year, while off-duty and shopping at a home improvement store, Garren came across a crime in progress. A shoplifter became agitated when he was confronted by employees and began to swing a metal fence post at them. Joey Garren wrestled the man to the ground and detained him until Hendersonville police officers arrived on scene. The man was arrested and charged with felony armed robbery. Nominees were submitted from across the state who demonstrated initiative in the performance of their duty or for specific meritorious service which resulted in the saving of a life or other significant act. The NCJAA Awards Committee selected Detention Officer Garren to be recognized at a banquet during the NCJAA annual conference in Greensboro. He demonstrates actions that are quick, selfless and with great regard for the safety of our inmates," Sheriff Charles McDonald said of Garren. "We are proud of Joeys commitment exhibited both on and off duty and were grateful to the NCJAA for recognizing the remarkable work of one of Henderson Countys finest. Rachel Carson's expose shocked the world. And we're better for it How IU women's basketball beat Tennessee for a signature win No. 12-ranked IU controlled the game and pace from start to finish and didn't blink when the 11th-ranked Volunteers made a late charge, winning 79-67. Related Related Press Release Onyx CenterSource Appoints Steve Reynolds as CIO Onyx CenterSource, the world's leading provider of hotel commission payment and recovery services, today announced the appointment of Steve Reynolds as chief information officer. CEO Mark Dubrow said the position will be crucial for the company as it continues its global growth and develops new travel technology products. As CIO, Reynolds will have complete oversight of the company's global technology organization. He also is charged with facilitating strategic business decisions that support the company's growth and provide scalability and agility for it to operate more efficiently and deliver new products. Reynolds previously was president and CTO of BT Advisors, Dallas, which provides business technology leadership expertise and services to companies of all sizes. From 2004 to 2012 he was executive vice president and CIO of Harland Clarke, San Antonio, a company that provides integrated payment, marketing and security solutions to financial services and enterprise clients. He was executive vice president and CIO of Pegasus Solutions Inc., the former parent company of Onyx CenterSource, from 1992 to 2003. Reynolds earned a bachelor of science degree in computer science at Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, Texas, and a master of business administration degree at the Jack Welch Management Institute of Chancellor University, Cleveland. ALPHARETTA, GA. Oct. 2, 2017 The Rainmaker Group (Rainmaker), a leading provider of cloud-based hospitality revenue management software, today announced that Ellis Connolly, the company's vice president of hospitality, will moderate a panel discussion at the Stay Boutique Leadership Conference, which will be held Oct. 3-5 at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center in Los Angeles. The conference is sponsored by the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA). Rainmaker is a member of the organization's Inner Circle Club. Connolly will moderate the panel discussion entitled, 'Boutique Tech Update'. In this session, a group of industry professionals will discuss new technologies ranging from mobile solutions to virtual reality marketing programs that are critical to meeting today's consumer expectations. The session will take place Tuesday, Oct. 3, from 2 p.m. 2:30 p.m. in the Centennial Ballroom. "This is a highly relevant conversation, particularly in today's fast-paced and quickly changing hospitality technology market," said Connolly. "Many hotels are reluctant to embrace new technology, but properties that want to remain competitive must do so. The experts on this panel understand the challenges facing our industry and bring a wealth of experience to the discussion." Connolly, who has an extensive background in the hospitality industry, joined Rainmaker in February. As the company's vice president of hospitality, he oversees sales strategy for hotels, resorts and casinos. His job experience includes working with start-ups and large enterprise software companies to achieve revenue and business growth objectives, and he is a frequent industry speaker on a variety of topics, ranging from hotel technology trends to revenue and reputation management. The Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) is the first and only alliance dedicated to uniting the world's upscale independent boutique and lifestyle hotels and small brands. The association helps its members compete successfully with major hotel companies and offers education on how to meet ever-increasing demand from discerning boutique-seeking guests. BLLA, which has more than 1,000 members, is headquartered in Los Angeles. About Rainmaker The Rainmaker Group, a Cendyn company, is the premier provider of revenue and profit optimization solutions to the hospitality industry. Rainmaker's intelligent profit platform helps hotels, resorts and casinos optimize revenue, drive increased profitability, save valuable time & outperform competitors. As part of Cendyn, Rainmaker offers a complete set of software services for the industry, aligning marketing, sales and revenue teams to optimize their strategies and drive performance and loyalty across their business units. To learn more about Cendyn and its suite of hotel revenue management and profit optimization solutions, visit LetItRain.com or www.cendyn.com. About Cendyn Cendyn is the leading innovative cloud software and services provider for the hospitality industry. With a focus on integrated hotel CRM, hotel sales, and revenue strategy technology platforms, Cendyn drives sales, marketing and revenue performance for tens of thousands of hotels across the globe. The Cendyn Hospitality Cloud offers a complete set of software services for the industry, aligning marketing, sales and revenue teams to optimize their strategies and drive performance and loyalty across their business units. With offices in Boca Raton, Atlanta, Boston, San Diego, London, Munich, Singapore, Sydney, Bangkok and Tokyo, Cendyn proudly serves clients in 143 countries, delivering over 1.5 billion data-driven, personalized communications on behalf of their customers every year. For more information on Cendyn, visit www.cendyn.com. Dana Glaze Marketing Manager 470-440-2041 easyHotel, the owner and operator of super budget branded hotels has chosen Hetras, a Shiji Group brand, to provide guests with a fully enabled and automated mobile guest journey, including Hetras Cloud PMS, a mobile guest app, and internet booking engine. Jorge Rodriguez, Marketing and e-commerce Manager explains, "One of the main benefits of Hetras cloud-based PMS is the quality of experience it gives to our customers. The mobile app will allow our guests to check in, book, see the latest offers, and use the phone as a mobile key, underpinning the quality of their customer experience." According to Hauke Lenthe, Executive Vice President of Hetras, "We are proud to have easyHotels on board, a hotel group that wants to move to mobile and digital hotel operations and use true next generation technology. By 2020 around 50% of all global travelers are 'millenials' they spend more time with mobile phones than computers. Our product strategy is open and non-proprietary. We built our public API to allow any third party app or system to connect to Hetras and we run our solutions on any mobile device." About Shiji Founded in 1998, Shiji's aim is to become a "big data" application service platform operator. Shiji has become the leading manufacturer of Chinese hotel information systems after three successful transformations. At the same time, Shiji is gradually expanding from hotel to catering and retail industries, becoming the major software supplier to both industries. Now, Shiji is responsible for approximately 60% to 70% of the market share in the high end sector of hotel and retail industries and possesses a leading position in the catering industry. The estimated annual revenue of Shiji clients can be as high as US$ 740 billion. Shiji has completed three successful transformations since its establishment. It is now experiencing the 4th transformation dedicating itself to be a "big data" driven consumer application service platform operator. Shiji has introduced consulting, IT solutions and data platform services. Meanwhile, Shiji is developing worldwide leading products and technologies aiming for the international market and speeding up its globalization progress. Currently Shiji has more than 50 subsidiaries with about 3,000 employees. About Hetras Hetras is a hotel management system comprising a cloud-based property management system, self-check-in app, booking engine, channel manager and state-of-the-art open API that future proofs your hotel's technology. Hetras is a Shiji Group brand and part of the wide-ranging open hotel and travel technology ecosystem. Being part of the Shiji Group strengthens Hetras' integration with Shiji's travel and hospitality technology ecosystem, ranging from point of sale systems which include hardware and software to enterprise payment processing systems. For more information on Hetras, contact: [email protected]; +49 89 716718510 Hetras Team Hospitality Net today Sign up to our free daily newsletter, The recent hurricanes in the United States and the Caribbean, the earthquake in Mexico, and floods occurring in parts of Europe ought to serve once again to remind us that much of the tourism industry is dependent on Mother Nature. Although we tend to focus tourism security more on human actions such as terrorism or crime, these acts of nature are as or often more deadly than acts perpetrated by humans. We tend to use terms such as "Acts of God" or "Natural Disasters", but in reality many of these disasters are as much a result of poor planning and poor risk management as they are results of acts of nature. All too often humanity has built hotels too close to the sea or on earthquake fault lines. Often we are more interested in the marketing aspect of the location than we are in understanding the location's risks and what we need to do to mitigate those risks. Too many tourism professionals do not know what questions to ask and whom to ask, what are both the human, legal, and economic consequences of a risk, and how to react in case of a risk becomes a reality. This month's Tidbits focuses on some of the essentials of understanding these risks and some of the least successful and best practices during a natural disaster. Some Basics - Each location has its own set of risks; know yours! Although there is no location without some risk, risks are often dependent on a locale's geography. That means that it is not enough to understand that a beach resort is located next to a large body of water such as an ocean. Other factors must also be taken into account. Tourism officials need to understand air currents, local topography, river locations, locations of power plants and in many locations desalinization plants, road conditions and the number of potential roads that can be used for evacuation purposes. - Know not only your own location's risk but also your neighbors' risks. An often overlooked risk is that your location may become an evacuation center for a natural disaster in a neighboring city, state, or even nation. How will you cope with a large scale evacuation to your locale? Do you have a plan to intermingle visitors with evacuee and what unforeseen problems might such an evacuation entail? - Never overlook the potential for a health crisis. During a crisis we are often so concerned about basic needs that we overlook having proper (or at least minimal) health standards and medicines in place. Evacuation centers can contain thousands of people, some of whom may carry simple colds or other illnesses. In such close quarters these illnesses can quickly turn into epidemics that cause additional pain and suffering. Lessons learned - Be prepared before the crisis occurs. As soon as it is known that a potential natural disaster may occur bring in as many supplies as possible. Make sure that you have places that are safe for storage and have thought through both a distribution system and some form or triage or rationing system. - Get back to basics and develop delivery systems. This means that electricity may be lost and simple solutions are often preferable. Are there enough manual can openers, do you have handheld fans should there be no electricity? Is there a way to communicate if cell towers go down or are destroyed? Often lacking the simplest of equipment can cause the greatest problems. - Get control of the narrative and smile. The last thing a tourism location wants to do is turn itself into being a victim. Be prepared to tell your story and body language speaks as poignantly as do words. Encourage smiles, the more positive the body language the higher the levels of cooperation. - Emphasize a sense of community. The more people have a sense of helping their neighbor along with a sense of self-reliance, the faster the healing. Natural disasters bring suffering. However, the suffering can be lowered if people have a sense of community combined with a can do attitude. - Control the narrative. In the recent Hurricane Harvey crisis people from all over the world were surprised at how well Texans treated each other and their guests, and this positive can-do attitude became the main narrative. In New Orleans, on the other hand, the narrative was one of personal helplessness and this negative narrative has impacted the city's recovery. Houston pushed personal leadership. People did not wait for the police, but rather took control and become police adjuncts. The sense of community kept both suffering and acts of crime to a minimum. - Have a single "playbook" and make sure that all first responders, be they from the city, state of national government know what their colleagues are doing. Tourism officials need to both brief these officials and be briefed by them. Never forge that visitors are not only facing all of the hardships that locals are facing, but have less resources and higher levels of anxiety with which to cope. - First responders are human too. During a natural disaster first responders are risking their lives to save others. The tourism industry needs not only to be of service to these people during the crisis but also after the crisis has finished. First responders need to be shown appreciation and no amount of pay can compensate the danger into which they not only place themselves but also their friends and families. - Meet with business leaders and community leaders on a regular basis. Recovery from a natural disaster is dependent on not only government aid but also local businesses. Have a plan in place that will allow businesses, especially pharmacies and food outlets, to get back to business as soon as possible. Once the supply of basics is reestablished than other areas can be attended to. - Pre-think what paperwork will need to be done prior to the crisis. All crisis have a certain amount of bureaucratic paperwork. Attend to as much of the paperwork as possible filled out and done ready to go as soon as possible. Get authorizations pre-written, have orders established throughout the chain of command, and have priorities set long before a crisis hits. - Tell the truth. A tourism industry that lies about its condition will not only lose credibility but will take extra time to recover its reputation and the public's trust. Be truthful about what the problems are and then explain in simple and understandable terms what you are doing about the problems and what your will be a reasonable recovery timeline. Peter Tarlow President Tourism and More +1 979 764 8402 Tourism and More Chris Harrison Named General Manager for Marriott Irvine Spectrum Hotel Marriott Irvine Spectrum, scheduled to open this December, announced the appointment of Chris Harrison as General Manager. Representing a forward thinking, next-gen mindset, General Manager Chris Harrison brings 11 years of experience with Marriott to the soon-to-open Marriott Irvine Spectrum. Harrison will oversee all aspects of the full-service, dynamic hotel with 271 guest rooms including 50 Extended Stay suites, its farm-fresh restaurant Heirloom, Hive & Honey Rooftop Bar, and more than 13,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space. Equal parts business hotel and community social hub, Marriott Irvine Spectrum will break convention with impressive technology upgrades, elevated sound systems, inventive guest rooms, inspiring meeting spaces, all geared toward the new millennia. While rising through the Marriott ranks in Washington DC and Boston, Harrison's previous role was Director of Hotel Operations at Irvine Marriott. Here, he was bestowed the inaugural hotel award in 2014 for best Marriott Hosting Culture for championing Marriott's core values across the company. Harrison earned his MBA from Harvard Business School with an emphasis in innovation and service operations. He is a key leader in Marriott's Emerging Leaders Program and has been appointed Co-Chair of the Innovation team of the Western Region for Marriott. Active in the community, Harrison currently serves as Co-Chair of the Orange County Business Council and newly appointed member of the board of Children's Hospital of Orange County. He resides in Ladera Ranch, CA with his wife Jessie, and three young children. Harrison is passionate about translating the needs of today's business traveler into tomorrow's hotel design philosophy. Under his leadership, he is building an opening team with a millennial mindset to attract and retain likeminded associates and guests. A key part of the opening team will be Marriott Irvine Spectrum's Destination Sales Executive Corey Lombard, who will be responsible for leading the dynamic hotel's sales efforts and initiatives through community relations. Lombard began his career with Marriott International as a Group Sales Manager in the Greater Chicago area, where he oversaw six different properties in downtown Chicago. Lombard later relocated to San Diego, finding warmer winters and a promotion to Destination Sales Executive for the Marriott Del Mar. Most recently, Lombard was a member of executive pre-opening team as Destination Sales Executive for the SpringHill Suites & Residence Inn San Diego Downtown/Bayfront. A rotation of General Managers at Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts will take place in December. Moritz Klein, currently GM at the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof in Frankfurt, will assume charge of the Steigenberger Hotel Hamburg with effect from 1 December. Mr. Klein will also be promoted to a further role as Area General Manager for the Northern Region. In this capacity, he will be responsible for our properties in Kiel and Bremen. Spiridon Sarantopoulos, presently in charge at the Steigenberger Graf Zeppelin in Stuttgart, will take over the reins at the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof. Mr. Sarantopoulos appointment as General Manager will also take effect from 1 December 2017. He will also be responsible for Steigenbergers properties in Bad Homburg, Langen and Deidesheim in his capacity as Area General Manager. At the same time, Bernd A. Zangle will be returning to his southern German roots by swapping his position as General Manager in Hamburg for the same function at the Steigenberger Graf Zeppelin. Thomas Willms, Chief Operating Officer of Steigenberger Hotels AG, explains, These three hotels are highly significant to our company and also form an integral part of societal life in their respective cities. This means that the demands placed on our General Managers are both considerable and diverse. We wish them every success in the tasks that lie ahead. In wake of the tragic Las Vegas shooting that has left more than 58 dead and another 500+ people injured, Clark County Commission Chair Steve Sisolak has set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to raise funds to assist the victims. The GoFundMe page for the Las Vegas victims reads, We are raising funds to assist the victims of the tragic Las Vegas shooting. I am at Clark Countys only level-one trauma center with the victims and their families as we speak, Sisolak said. Funds will be used to provide relief and financial support to the victims and families of the horrific Las Vegas mass shooting. As of this writing the Las Vegas Victims Fund has raised nearly $675,000, including a $50,000 donation made by the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders were approved to move to Las Vegas last offseason and the team is expected to open up their new home in Vegas prior to the 2020 season. The team released the following statement, The Raiders family is shocked and saddened by the tragedy in Las Vegas and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, families and first responders. The heart of the Raider Nation goes out to Las Vegas. The horrific attack went down on Sunday night, when a gunman, identified as 64-year old Stephen Paddock, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino on a crowd of concert goers just across the freeway from the site where the Raiders stadium is planned. The Las Vegas attack is the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. See some ways you can help in the tweets below. Raiders Supreme has teamed up with Italian streetwear brand Stone Island for a dope Fall 2017 line. The limited edition drop is all about outerwear and keeping you warm with nylon puffy jackets, sweatpants, fleece masks, hoodies, t-shirts and six-panel caps. Supreme x Stone Island The standout pieces are for sure the two lightweight Lamy nylon jackets that boast floral designs, feather interior, removable hood and a face mask. The coat is available in black and beige. Other must-have pieces are the water-resistant anorak jackets (in black, blue and yellow) the sweatpants with a reflective graphics and the hoodies. Supreme x Stone Island The collection drops at Supreme flagship stores in Europe and North America on October 5th and will also be dropping via Stone Island stores in Milan, Rome, Florence, Verona, Turin, Forte dei Marmi, Riccione, London, Paris, Cannes, Munich, Hamburg, Sylt, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Stockholm, New York, Los Angeles and Seoul, as well as online in Europe and the UK. For U.S. and Canada, the clothes will be available online. Supreme x Stone Island Supreme, known for its laidback skateboard aesthetic, has been killing it with collaborations for as far as we know. With some of the latest being with DJ Khaled, memory of Michael Jackson, Comme des Garcons, Nike, Rap-A-Lot Records and a ton more. Tyler the Creator spoke on Supreme earlier this summer saying he felt as if he was left out of stuff when it comes to recognition for the new wave of culture, as hes been rocking Supreme for a while before it was considered cool. I rapped about what I really liked, and to me Supreme, and Peg Leg, and Billionaire Boys Club was the flyest shit to me, he said in an interview with Dazed. I didnt give a fuck about Gucci. I didnt give a fuck about what everyone else was wearing. I didnt want to wear no leather pants or Givenchy dog shirt, I thought my fucking Supreme hat and my fucking tie dye tee and my cut-off shirts and my fucking Vans were the fucking flyest shit and you couldnt tell me nothing. Check out more of the fashion collaboration below. Supreme x Stone Island Supreme x Stone Island Supreme x Stone Island Supreme x Stone Island Supreme x Stone Island In 2016, HNHH launched one Spotify playlist to rule them all: FIRE EMOJI: The Hottest Hip Hop Songs Right Now. The playlist is updated regularly and is representative of the best new releases in hip hop and R&B, or at least those that make it to Spotify. Coming off the full-on release blitz that was August, some hip-hop fans may have been expecting a slightly quieter period. However, thats far from what we got, with several massive singles from Gucci Mane, Ty Dolla $ign and Trippie among the standouts that were added to Spotify over the past 30 days. However, the two biggest songs deserve special attention, with Post Malone and 21 Savages Rockstar dwarfing much of the competition and Rich the Kids new collaboration with Kendrick Lamar called New Freezer making a late-month push as one of the most popular songs from September with HNHH fans. Elsewhere, some excellent album cuts from artists like A Boogie Wit Da Hoodies The Bigger Artist, Jhene Aikos Trip and Macklemores Gemini made the cut as well, along with new cuts from DRAM, G Herbo and Kevin Gates also along for the ride over the course of the month. Finally, Young Thug and Carnage debuted their new single Liger shortly before the former was arrested and jailed for possession of marijuana by Georgia police officials. Overall, it was a really strong month for hip-hop music that, while it didnt carry as much fanfare as Augusts release schedule, it was by no means a drop-off quality-wise. Our current playlist contains songs from these projects as well as many others that were bumping throughout the month of September, along with some additional releases from back in August that are still very much a part of the conversation in the hip-hop community. Subscribe to FIRE EMOJI here and stream it below. For more, check out the full archive here. As a resident of Towers Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the 1960s, Marilyn Karlgaard could never have imagined that the facility might one day be named in her honor. But thats what happened Sept. 29, when the universitys largest residence hall became Karlgaard Towers in recognition of Marilyn and David Karlgaard, Blugold alumni whose history of giving to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation includes the largest sum in support of student scholarships in university history. Their financial support for their alma mater exceeds $6 million. The Karlgaards, who now live in Great Falls, Virginia, met as UW-Eau Claire students and married during Marilyns junior year. They were honored at an on-campus rededication ceremony during which the new residence hall name became official. The two towers that make up Karlgaard Towers also have been renamed: Towers South is now Marilyn Karlgaard Hall, and Towers North is now David Karlgaard Hall. David and Marilyn Karlgaard have been towers in their support for UW-Eau Claire students through the UW-Eau Claire Foundation, said Kimera Way, Foundation president. While we cannot begin to sufficiently thank them for the unparalleled impact they have had on students lives, we are thrilled to ensure that their names will be attached to a facility that so many Blugolds call home during their time on campus. Marilyn Karlgaard was one of the first residents of the former Towers South, which was built in 1967 and was a womens residence hall when she was a student. Since establishing the David and Marilyn Karlgaard Computer Science Scholarship in 2002 and then additional scholarships in mathematics and physics in 2010, the Karlgaards have provided some of the largest UW-Eau Claire Foundation scholarships to more than 130 students. In addition, they have funded awards for computer science, physics and mathematics faculty for professional development and to recognize their work toward strategic goals for their academic departments. They also have made investments of matching money when faculty received external grants for improvements in computer science labs. The Karlgaards were the national chairs for the Foundations first major fundraising campaign, Fulfilling the Promise of Excellence. David, a Rice Lake native, graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 1967 with a degree in mathematics and physics. He went on to earn two masters degrees and a doctorate and was co-founder, CEO and president of PEC Solutions Inc., an internet technology consulting firm headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, and an adjunct professor at The George Washington University. Marilyn, a Viroqua native, attended UW-Eau Claire from 1965-68. After leaving UW-Eau Claire, she went on to complete her bachelors degree and also earned a masters degree. She is a retired human resources administrator. Education always has been important in our lives, David said following the announcement of a $4.5 million gift from the alumni couple to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation in 2002. Its the way anybody can rise up and be successful in life. 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 }} This month, head to the Mediterranean to catch the lingering warmth of the sun if youre in need of a short-haul break especially during half term. If you want to go further afield, here are a few ideas for exotic adventures. And if youre planning to escape the winter, have a look at these hot destinations for January. Go now Malta This far south in the Mediterranean, you can still revel in mid-20s temperatures and warm seas. With Maltas relatively short flying time, its a good choice for a half-term holiday. Classic Collection Holidays (classic-collection.co.uk) has a weeks B&B near the Portomaso Marina at the upmarket Hilton St Julians, where dedicated childrens pools, activities and clubs will keep the kids entertained. Starting at 866pp, the holiday includes flights, transfers and breakfast, and departs 16 October. Valletta, next years European Capital of Culture, is only 20 minutes drive away. Rome Temperatures are still nudging 20C in Rome, where crowds have thinned and autumn has tinged everything with a warm golden glow. Cross the River Tiber to Trastevere, one of the liveliest of Romes districts, where youll find intimate squares and buzzing bars. Stay at the four-star Donna Camilla Savelli Hotel, an exquisite 17th-century former convent, whose roof terrace gives you superb views of the city. Citalia (citalia.com) has a three-night break from 561pp, including flights, transfers and breakfast, departing 16 October. Rome in October: still mild but much less crowded (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Seychelles Escape the autumn chill and head to the Indian Ocean archipelago of Seychelles, where you can surround yourself with white-sand beaches. If youre feeling energetic, trek through the rainforests of Morne Seychelles National Park. Set on the main island of Mahe, Constance Ephelia resort overlooks a marine national park and has two sandy beaches of its own. Turquoise (turquoiseholidays.co.uk) has seven nights half board in a junior suite from 2,200pp, including flights and transfers for departures before 31 October. Botswana Take advantage of the flooded Okavango Delta, whose waters draw countless animals in search of water and make spotting wildlife that much easier. Working with new safari company Natural Selection, Aardvark Safaris (aardvarksafaris.co.uk) is running a six-night holiday in Botswana in the Okavanga Delta and the Makgadikgadi Pan staying at the Meno a Kwena, Hyena Pan and Sable Alley tented camps. The price of 4,983 includes international and internal flights, transfers, meals, drinks and safari activities, and departures are throughout October. Book now for January Brazil Dont leave it too late to book a winter holiday in Brazil, as everyone will be on their summer break and snapping up accommodation. Discover the African-Brazilian culture of Bahia state, where you can explore the colonial splendour of Salvador and the intoxicating landscapes of the interior. Journey Latin America (journeylatinamerica.co.uk) has an 11-day holiday in Bahia, which includes trekking through Chapada Diamanta National Park. Costing from 1,264pp, the holiday includes internal transport, accommodation, breakfast, some lunches and guides. International flights are extra. Colourful colonial houses in Salvador da Bahia (Getty Images) India Solo travellers can make use of one of the growing number of solo-only group tours offered by Cox & Kings (coxandkings.co.uk). Its 13-day Best of Exotic South India tour gives a fascinating introduction to this vast countrys southern regions, taking in Hyderabad, Kerala and Kochi. The price of 3,045 includes international and internal flights, transfers, most meals and guides, and departs 30 January. Gran Canaria Enjoy the mild January temperatures from the luxurious surroundings of the five-star Seaside Grand Hotel in Gran Canaria. This classy member of the Leading Hotels of the World has been designed in elegant Spanish colonial style and its within spitting distance of the magnificent Maspalomas sand dunes. Sovereign (sovereign.com) has a weeks B&B from 2,085pp, including flights and transfers, and is for a 20 January departure. Mary Novakovich is editor at large at 101holidays.co.uk Click here to compare flight options with Skyscanner New Delhi, Oct 2 (IBNS): BBC News, on Monday, launched news services in four Indian languages a Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi and Telugu a as part of its plan to expand business in India. It also relaunched a nightly TV news bulletin in Hindi, BBC Duniya, to be broadcast on India News. Director General of the BBC, Lord Hall of Birkenhead, is in India for the launch of the services. Officially opening the BBC Bureau in Delhi, he said, Im delighted to be in India to mark such a significant milestone for the BBC. For decades, audiences in India have trusted the BBC to bring them impartial, independent news, and today millions more have the chance to access the BBC in their own languages. We know the BBC is already held in great regard and affection across India, and we want to bring BBC News to new audiences, particularly the next generation of news consumers. Weve recruited amazingly talented new journalists from across India, and its been an honour to meet many of them today. Im also pleased the BBC is working with new TV partners in India News and Eenadu TV. The new services are available online and on social media, with a Telugu TV bulletin, BBC Prapancham, also starting on Saturday. This will be broadcast on Eenadu TV Andhra Pradesh and Eenadu TV Telangana. This forms part of a significant BBC investment in India, including an expanded news bureau in Delhi with two new TV studios. The Delhi bureau is now the BBCs largest outside the UK. It will become a video, TV and digital content production hub for the whole of South Asia. BBC has recruited more than 150 new journalistic staff from across the country. K.Bapineedu, CEO of Eenadu TV Network, said, The BBC has established its brand name as a credible news channel across the globe. The initiative from the BBC to produce international stories with a global perspective, in the Telugu language and to be broadcast on the ETV Network , will add value to our existing endeavour of reaching the Telugu audience with the highest reach and authenticity. Kartikeya Sharma, Founder and Promoter of iTV Network, the owner and operator of India News, said, "The BBC is known for its well-researched and unbiased content, which will now reach our viewers in a language and format they can easily comprehend. India News is acknowledged as a channel that captures the pulse of the nation and promotes a brand of direct and responsible news coverage. With the coming together of the two, our viewers can look forward to getting a global perspective on stories of international significance from networks they can trust." According to BBC News, it already broadcasts to 28 million people in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil and Urdu, as well as English. The investment in India comes as part of the BBC World Services biggest expansion since the 1940s, made possible by 291m investment from the UK Government. The BBC has already launched news in Pidgin, Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya and Korean, with services in Yoruba, Igbo and Serbian to follow. TV news bulletins in Marathi will be broadcast later this year, with Gujarati following next year, said BBC News. New Delhi, Oct 2 (IBNS): Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will lay the foundation stone for the development of Muktyala to Vijayawada stretch of Krishna River (National Waterways a 4) on Tuesday, in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, according to a Ministry of Shipping release. He will also inaugurate approximately 415 km of National Highways projects worth Rs 1928.46 crores and lay the foundation stone for another 250 km NH projects worth Rs 2539.08 crores. The Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will also attend the programmes. As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the government of Andhra Pradesh on April 14, 2016, NW-4 in Andhra Pradesh is proposed to be developed in three phases The first phase will be from Muktyala to Vijayawada (Krishna River) (82 Km), the second from Vijayawada to Kakinada (Eluru canal and Kakinada canal) and Rajahmundry to Polavaram stretch of Godavari (233 km) and the third phase will include Commamur Canal, Buckingham canal and balance stretches of Krishna and Godavari rivers (573 km) The Vice President will lay the foundation stone for Phase- I on Tuesday. Work on this phase that is development of the 82 km from Muktiyala to Vijayawada stretch has already commenced. Dredging began in the shallow areas in May this year, and the work is expected to be complete by June, 2019. The project will provide an efficient logistics solution to boost the economic growth of the region and facilitate the development of the capital city Amravati during its early development stage as substantial construction material is expected to be transported on this stretch of NW-4, the release said. Temporary Terminal Facilities was awarded in August this year and is expected to be complete by June 2018. For the Permanent Terminal Facilities, work is expected to be awarded by March, 2018 and work to be completed by June, 2019. Night Navigational aids to be taken up in 2018. Three cargo terminals are proposed to be built at Muktyala, Ibrahimpatnam, and Harishchandrapur and four Passenger Terminals are to be built at Durga Ghat, Bhawani Island, Vedadari, and Amravati on NW- 4 in phase 1. The DPR for construction of these seven terminals has been completed. National Waterway No.4 was declared in November, 2008 for a total length of 1,078 km. This length was extended to 2,890 km by NW Act-2016. A proposal for Phase-II has been recommended by IWAI board for PIB/Cabinet. Also, a proposal for formation of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for implementation of the project is under consideration for the approval of Cabinet. The SPV is expected to be formed by November 2017. Guwahati, Oct 2 (IBNS): After witnessing the devastating flood four months back, which led to deaths of over 300 wild animals including one horned rhinoceros, the Kaziranga National Park in Assam reopened for tourists on Monday. Accompanied by state Agriculture minister Atul Bora, chairman of the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) Jayanta Malla Baruah and other top officials of state forest department, Assam forest and environment minister Pramila Rani Brahma on Monday opened the world heritage site for the 2017-18 tourist season. Cutting the ceremonial red ribbon, the Assam forest minister said that, this year the state forest department has opened the tourist season by one month advance. Pramila Rani Brahma said that, many roads inside the park, which are used by the tourists to go jeep safari are yet to be repaired, which were damaged in the last flood. But we have reopened two ranges under the park for both domestic and foreign tourists, Brahma said. The park always attracts both domestic and foreign tourists and we hope maximum tourists will arrive here this year to see world famous one horned rhinoceros, the Assam forest minister said. Over 300 wild animals including 31 rhinos were died in the world heritage site in this year flood. Earlier, the park opened for the tourists between November and April and the park usually remains closed between May and September every year due to flood. On the other hand, the park director Satyendra Singh said that, the damaged roads repairing are continuing hope it will be completed within short period. Now jeep safari will be allowed only in Kohora and Bagori ranges of the park and elephant safari will be allowed only in Kohora range, the park director said. On the other hand, another home ground for rhinos, Pobitora wildlife sanctuary also reopened for the tourists on Monday. MLA of Jagiroad assembly constituency Pijyush Hazarika accompanied with BJP MLA Ramakanta Deuri and other dignitaries reopened the wildlife sanctuary. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) New Delhi, Oct 2 (IBNS): President of India Ram Nath Kovind will pay a State Visit to Djibouti and Ethiopia, from October 3-6, 2017. This will be the first visit abroad by the President after assuming office. The visit to Djibouti from October 3-4, 2017, is at the invitation of the President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh. This would also be the first ever visit at the level of Head of State of Government from India to the Republic of Djibouti since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. President Kovind will be received by President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh. They will also hold meetings later to discuss contemporary bilateral relations between the two countries. India and Djibouti bilateral trade stood at US$284.54 million in 2016-17. India, within the rubric of South-South Cooperation, has extended lines of credit amounting to US $ 49.13 million to the Government of Djibouti for construction of a cement plant, the Ministry of External Affairs release said. Subsequently, President Kovind will pay a visit to Ethiopia at the invitation of the President of Ethiopia, Dr. Mulatu Teshome from October 4-6, 2017. During the visit, President Kovind will hold a meeting with the President of Ethiopia Dr. Mulatu Teshome and review the entire gamut of bilateral relations. Other elements of his programme include interaction with the Indian Community, addressing a business event and delivering remarks at the University of Addis Ababa. Bilateral partnership between India and Ethiopia, which rests on civilizational ties and cultural bonds, now cover all areas of mutual and contemporary relevance, the MEA release said. India is among the top trade, investment and development partner of Ethiopia. Ethiopia continues to be the largest recipient of Indias concessional Lines of Credit in Africa, the ministry said. New Delhi, Oct 2 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday, reminded Indians that October 2 marks the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri, and is an occasion to reflect on how far the country has progressed towards the goal of Swachh Bharat (Clean India). The Prime Minister was addressing an event to mark Swachh Bharat Diwas, the third anniversary of the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission, and the conclusion of Swachhata hi Seva fortnight. Narendra Modi was received by the Union Minister for Drinking Water & Sanitation, Uma Bharti, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs (I/C), Hardeep Singh Puri, the Ministers of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation, S.S. Ahluwalia and Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, on his arrival to attend the Swachh Bharat Diwas celebration. The PM recalled how the Swachh Bharat Movement had been initiated three years ago, amid immense criticism. He said he is convinced that the path that Mahatma Gandhi has shown, cannot be wrong. He said that even if there are challenges, that does not mean one must shy away from them. The Prime Minister said that today people are expressing their desire for cleanliness in one voice. He asserted that Swachhata cannot be achieved through the efforts of leaders and governments but can only be achieved through the efforts of the society. Jan Bhagidari has to be appreciated, the Prime Minister said, adding that today, Swachhata Abhiyan has become a social movement. He said that whatever has been achieved till date, is also the achievement of the Swachhagrahi people of India. The PM tweeted, "An important aspect of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan is the positive impact it has on women." If Swaraj was achieved by the Satyagrahis, Shrestha Bharat would be achieved by the Swachhagrahis, the Prime Minister said. Mentioning the Swachhata rankings of cities, the Prime Minister said they have engendered a positive, competitive atmosphere. Swachhata needs a revolution of ideas as well; and competition gives a platform of ideas to the concept of Swachhata, he said. The Prime Minister congratulated all those who contributed during the Swachhata hi Seva fortnight; he also said that a lot more needs to be done. The Prime Minister gave away awards to winners of national essay, painting and film competitions, and also visited a digital display gallery. Images: PIB Ingrid Constalie, activity director at Vernon Manor, was re-elected vice president of the Wisconsin Representatives of Activity Professionals (WRAP) by a statewide majority membership vote. She was sworn in with three other members of the WRAP executive committee at the annual conference in Stevens Point on Sept. 21. In this role she serves as the state contact on the National Association of Activity Professionals (NAAP) board and attends national conferences around the U.S. to exchange information between WRAP and NAAP. Constalie has been on the WRAP board since 2004, holding the various positions Scholarship Chair, Historian and Government Relations Chair. She presented a Government Relations Update at four annual conferences. She is also the Regional Representative for the Western Wisconsin Activity Professionals. In addition, she has been the Leading Age Wisconsin WRAP representative and the WRAP contact for the Wisconsin Dementia Care Redesign. She has completed Dementia Specialist Training through the Alzheimers Association, is certified in Music and Memory and Chair Chi, is a Board Certified Activity Professional and most recently became a Certified Dementia Practitioner through the National Council of Dementia Practitioners. She has been the site coordinator/accompanist for the Vernon Voices Community Choir that has met in her facility since it began in 1998. She has been a member of the Vernon Memorial Hospice Advisory Board for over thirty years and an active member of the UW-L Alumni Band. She lives in Westby with her husband Bob and Molly, her yellow lab. She enjoys reading, music, cooking/baking and spending time with her family. Ahmedabad, Oct 2 (IBNS): President of India Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated as well as laid the foundation stone of various projects pertaining to the economic advancement of traditional fisherfolk communities in Mangrol, Gujarat, on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that Gandhiji aimed at the overall development of society and believed in the dignity of labour. The people of Saurashtra are known for their hard work, whether in agriculture, trade or other professions. They have improved their lives by dint of their hard work and diligence while facing natural calamities and other challenges of nature, the President said. The President inaugurated projects such as the Jetty and other facilities at Jafarabad Fishing Harbour; upgradation of Veraval and Porbandar Fishing Harbour and Navibandar, Miyani & Salaya Fish Landing Centres, and the Mangrol Rural Water Supply Augmentation Scheme for 45 villages. He hoped that these would boost the economic development of the region and improve the quality of life of the people. The President said that Gujarat has contributed immensely in various areas such as agriculture, industry, education, arts, literature and public life. In fact, coastal Gujarat has contributed to the economic development of the country since ancient times, the President said. Around 48 per cent of the cargo entering or exiting the ports of the country is from the ports of Gujarat, President Kovind pointed out. The state is the largest contributor in the marine fisheries business in India and its share is around 20 per cent of the total trade. He said the projects inaugurated on Monday are very important for the people of Gujarat, particularly the people of Saurashtra. On the occasion, he congratulated the Government of Gujarat and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani for building on the past legacy and working diligently in order to make the projects possible. Bengaluru, Oct 2 (IBNS): Actor Prakash Raj took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, as no one has been arrested so far in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was close to the actor, media reports said. Threatening to return his national awards, Raj called the prime minister "a bigger actor" who deserves the honours instead. Lankesh, a popular journalist who took stands against Right-wing ideology, was shot three times by some unknown assailants outside her residence last month. Her murder bears a resemblance with earlier murders of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and MM Kalburgi. Her brother Indrajit Lankesh told reporters that a lady who stays opposite his sister's house heard the noise of the shooting first which she initially mistook for the sound of fire crackers and later found Gauri's body lying prone. Lankesh, 55, was the editor of a Kannada weekly Lankesh Patrikewas. Gauri Lankesh's murder had sparked country-wide protests. Though the SIT has been formed by the Karnataka government, no one has been arrested so far. Image: Facebook page of Prakash Raj Guwahati, Oct 2 (IBNS) : As a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 148th birth anniversary, the Assam government on Monday has announced to gift Khadi clothes to all the state government employees from next financial year. While attending a function on Monday, Assam Khadi and Village Industries, Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government has decided to gift two sets of Khadi clothes to the four lakh state government employees. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led state government has asked the state Khadi board to execute the plan by March 31, 2018. We will gift two sets of Khadi shirt to men and salwar or Mekhela Chador to women employees. There would not to be any compulsory directive to the state government employees to wear Khadi clothes, Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The gifts will hopefully be given to the state government employees before Rongali Bihu April next. For it, the state government is likely to incur more than Rs 12 crore and the state government had already allocated Rs 5 crore to the Khadi board, Sarma said. The Assam minister said that it will help to revamp the Khadi industry in the state. If the Khadi board can execute it properly, the state government will make school uniforms of Khadi cloth, the Assam minister said. Stressing on Gandhis dream of the spinning and weaving movement that was elevated to an ideology for self-reliance and self government, the Assam minister said that it was for economic, cultural and social reasons and not merely political that Bapu established the Khadi Movement. Assam Khadi and Village Industries board chairman Kamala Kalita during his speech read out a letter from the Assam Chief Minister as the latter was not able to attend the celebrations due to unavoidable personal engagements. In his speech Kalita said that the Chief Minister has consented to grace the occasion of unveiling a bust of Mahatma Gandhi that the Khadi Board has installed at its office premises. The meeting was also attended among others by Kabita Deka, CEO, Assam Khadi and Village Industries board, Meghna Hazarika, Board of Directors, Assam Khadi and Village Industries Board and Bhubaneswar Barman, freedom fighter and former MLA. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Guwahati, Oct 2 (IBNS): Meghalaya police on Monday recovered huge cache of arms and ammunition from Dosorge forest area in South Garo Hills district, which were buried underground by banned outfit Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), officials said. South Garo Hills district Superintendent of Police Abraham T Sangma said that, the South Garo Hills police with Commandos conducted an operation at Dosorge forest area near Chipigittim following inputs from a militant of the outfit, who was arrested on September 29 last. The arrested militant, identified as Bande Ch Marak alias Border, revealed during interrogation that the outfit group has buried huge cache of arms and ammunition at the remote forest area and we have immediately launched operation at the area, the top police official said. The security personnel have recovered one AK-56 rifle with a magazine, one SLR rifle with one magazine, 76 rounds AK ammunition, 13 rounds SLR ammunition, which were buried underground. (Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath) Srinagar, Oct 2 (IBNS): Two policemen were injured when suspected militants hurled a grenade at a police party in North Kashmir's Baramulla district on Monday evening. According to reports, joint Police/Army Naka was established in the town for routine area domination when militants lobbed grenade on the party, resulting in minor injuries of two cops. One motorcycle approached from opposite side and while seeing the Naka Party, it made an about turn. While being challenged to stop, one among the two militants riding the motor cycle hurled a grenade towards the Naka Party, said police spokesman. The aea has been cordoned. Case has been registered and investigation taken up, said the official. (Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri) Srinagar, Oct 2 (IBNS): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has said that her government is trying its best to find the truth behind braid chopping cases in the state. Me and my government servants including police are trying best to crack the case, said Mufti while talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function at Dal lake in Srinagar. In Kashmir, dozens of incidents have been reported from various parts of the Valley, spooking the people, especially women. She said a team of doctors is meeting the victims to help in the investigation. Authorities have so far been clueless, even as the government has announced a reward of Rs 6 lakhs for information which will lead to arrest of braid choppers. (Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri) Las Vegas, Oct 2 (IBNS) : More than 50 people were massacred and at least 200 others wounded, many critically, after a gunman opened fire Sunday night on concert-goers opposite the Mandalay Bay hotel and resort on the Las Vegas Strip, reports said. Police released the updated death toll that kept jumping every hour after the horrific incident at the annual music festival where thousands of people gathered.. While initial reports put the death toll at 20, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police tweeted later that at least 50 were dead. Police said the suspect, a local resident, was killed after a SWAT team burst into the 32nd floor of the hotel from where he was firing at the crowd below. According to reports, the suspect has been identified as Stephen Paddock. Paddock, 64, is from Mesquite, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas and had been known to local law enforcement. The shooting is not believed to be connected to terrorism, NBC News has reported. Right now we believe its a solo act, a lone wolf attacker, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo said. We are pretty confident there is no longer a threat. Authorities said the gunman appeared to have begun firing at 10:08 p.m. local time from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel toward the concert venue across the street. The Los Anegeles Times quoted the Sheriff as saying that police are seeking to interview a woman, identified as Marilou Danley, who is described as the suspect's "companion." She was described as an Asian woman, about 411 in height. We have not located her at this time, and we are interested in talking to her for a follow-up, Lombardo said. Two of the dead are said to be a pair of off-duty police officers who were attending the concert, Lombardo said. Video posted on social media showed the open-air concert fully underway when bursts of automatic gunfire rang out. Dozens of concertgoers dropped to the ground, screaming, while others ran for safety. The shooting went on for about more than 30 seconds before the music stopped, and another burst was heard later. The attack came during the last performances on the final night of the three-day country music festival on an 15-acre lot across Las Vegas Boulevard from Mandalay Bay. Following the deadly incident, all planes were temporarily grounded at the Las Vegas airport. However, flights resumed after some time. Parts of I-15 near the Strip were also shut down, and hotel guests across the strip were being ordered to shelter in place. The freeway reopened later, but offramps near the strip remained closed through much of the night. Seasonal Trend Alert: Soybeans Blue Line Futures - Mon Nov 14, 6:41PM CST March soybean futures have trended higher for 14 of the last 15 years from November 16th to January 9th. The average profit has been roughly 65 cents, while the one loss (highlighted below, 2018) was... MacKenzie Scott acknowledges another $2B in donations AP - Mon Nov 14, 5:23PM CST Megadonor and novelist MacKenzie Scott announced almost $2 billion in donations in a short blog post Monday that emphasized her interest in supporting people from underserved communities $SPX : 3,957.25 (-0.89%) $DOWI : 33,536.70 (-0.63%) $IUXX : 11,700.94 (-0.98%) Hogs Close in Black to Start the Week Barchart - Mon Nov 14, 4:23PM CST Lean hog futures closed the Monday session with 27 to 57 cent gains. The USDA National Average Base Hog Price for Monday afternoon was $2.47 lower to $85.23. The CME Lean Hog Index was $88.63 on 11/10,... HEZ22 : 84.875s (+0.62%) HEJ23 : 94.375s (+0.29%) KMZ22 : 95.675s (+0.82%) Cotton Futures Fall Triple Digits Barchart - Mon Nov 14, 4:23PM CST Mondays cotton trade pulled prices 242 to 330 points lower, which erased all of last weeks gains. New crop Dec cotton closed at 77.06 cents per pound, a 8.22 cent discount to spot Dec. Stock market... CTZ22 : 85.94 (+0.77%) CTH23 : 84.00 (+0.45%) CTK23 : 83.02 (+0.63%) Cattle Close Monday Mixed Barchart - Mon Nov 14, 4:23PM CST Fat cattle futures were mostly 42 to 75 cents lower on Monday, save for a 5 cent gain in the Dec contract. Feeder cattle traded higher, past the Nov contract, to end the day with 22 to 87 cent gains. USDA... LEZ22 : 151.575s (+0.03%) LEG23 : 152.550s (-0.46%) LEJ23 : 156.425s (-0.40%) GFX22 : 176.950s (unch) GFF23 : 179.450s (+0.49%) Soy Futures Fade on Monday Barchart - Mon Nov 14, 4:23PM CST November soybean futures expired at $14.41 3/4 on Monday, a net 1 1/4 cent premium to the now lead month Jan. The other futures faded 5 1/4 to 9 1/2 cents on the day. New crop Nov beans ended the day at... ZSX22 : 1441-6s (-0.94%) ZSPAUS.CM : 14.1160 (-0.65%) ZSF23 : 1442-2 (+0.12%) ZSH23 : 1446-4 (+0.12%) Burma UNFC Peace Talks With Govt Postponed The Peace Commission and the United Nationalities Federal Council meet for informal talks in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Sept 25, 2017. / Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy CHIANG MAI, Thailand The seventh round of formal talks between the ethnic alliance the United Nationalities Federal Council and the government peace commission has been postponed until after the second anniversary of the signing of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) on Oct. 15, leaving the bloc unable to sign the NCA on the anniversary as expected. The upcoming talk is planned to reach an agreement between the government and the UNFC bloc on its eight-point proposal, according to peace negotiators on both sides. Only after the UNFCs proposal is negotiated and agreed to, will the ethnic alliance sign the NCA. Nai Ong Ma-Nge, the UNFC spokesman, said the government would be unable to meet on the blocs proposed date of Oct. 7 due to the Thadingyut holiday, postponing the date until later this month. He added that the proposal needed to be thoroughly discussed and agreed to before signing the ceasefire agreement. The government wants to see the bloc which now includes the New Mon State Party (NMSP), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), Arakan National Council (ANC) and Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP) become signatories, in addition to the current eight ethnic armed groups, in order to further its peace process. The SSPP, which is also a member of a northeastern alliance led by the United Wa State Army, requested to leave the bloc last month. But the resignation can only be accepted at the UNFC congress, held every two years. SSPP representatives have been present at ongoing talks with the government. The first four points of the UNFC proposal were agreed to in principle at the sixth round of formal talks on August 11, according to U Aung Soe, a member of the peace commission. But the rest need to be reviewed and decided on by not only us, as it is related to the Joint-ceasefire Implementation Committee Meeting (JICM) and Joint-ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC), he said. Due to instability and Myanmar Army pressure on ethnic armed groups, including frequent engagements between the Tatmadaw and the northern alliance in northeast Burma; the Tatmadaws interference in restricting a military parade on Mon Revolution Day in August; and its reluctance to allow NCA-signatory the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) to hold national-level political dialogue in the Shan State capital Taunggyi observers have noted that the peace process is in a predicament. The bloc will not deviate from its stance in signing the NCA, said the UNFC spokesman, despite peace expert and stakeholder views during UNFC stakeholder consultations at the end of September that the peace process was deadlocked and the bloc should rethink its approach. The northern alliance, whose members are actively engaged with the Myanmar Army has said it prefers an alternate approach in which the NCA is replaced. The government said it is trying to negotiate with all ethnic armed groups in the country to build peace and prosperity, yet talks with other groups have not been held since June. We are trying to meet with other ethnic armed organizations, of which that are 21 recognized by the government, U Aung Soe said last week. But the government does not recognize the new northern alliance or its Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), and will only meet with the groups individually and not as a bloc, hindering a meeting. Among the 21 ethnic armed groups, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) has said it is willing to sign the NCA only if it covers all Naga people including those living across the border in India. News Diplomats, UN Witness Northern Rakhine Devastation Diplomats and UN officials meet with villagers of Muslim village Ah Nauk Pyin in Rathedaung Township on Monday. / Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy MAUNGDAW, Rakhine State Twenty diplomats who visited conflict-torn areas of northern Rakhine on a government-sponsored tour on Monday called on Myanmar authorities to fully investigate allegations of human rights violations, allow unimpeded humanitarian access and urged the government to allow the UN fact-finding mission to visit. Diplomats and UN officials visited conflict-torn areas of northern Rakhine for the first time since more than 500,000 self-identifying Rohingya Muslims, hundreds of ethnic Rakhine and others fled the area since Aug 25. The tour on Monday was joined by 66 people from foreign embassies, European Union organizations, UN agencies, the cabinet and local news outlets, including from The Irrawaddy. They were divided into three groups and flown to Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships to meet with local peopleRakhine, Muslims, Mro and Hindufrom six villages in the areas. The collective statement by embassies including the US, UK, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey, and Germany, released after the trip on Monday afternoon said as friends of Myanmar they remained ready to work with the Myanmar government to help Rakhine reach its potential and supported the full implementation of the recommendations made by the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. Myanmar government has refused entry to members of UN fact-finding mission to investigate previous allegations of killings, rape and torture by security forces against self-identifying Rohingya Muslims during operations late last year. The foreign embassies encouraged the government to enable the voluntary, dignified and safe return of more than a half a million refugees in Bangladesh to their places of origin. We call once more for unimpeded humanitarian access to northern Rakhine and resumption of life-saving services without discrimination throughout the state, it added. The Turkish Ambassador to Myanmar Kerem Divanlioglu welcomed the Myanmar governments invitation to diplomats and journalists inspect the scene on the ground and said that Muslim, Hindu, and Arakanese Buddhist communities were all deeply affected by the conflict. The Turkish government will continue to provide humanitarian assistance in the region, he said. Switzerlands Ambassador to Myanmar Paul Seger said the situation was different to what he had expected as whole villages had been burnt down. He described the situation as a human tragedy and that he had spoken to some Hindu, Muslim, and Arakanese who had wanted to live together peacefully. The trip was arranged after Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyis diplomatic briefing last month on the Rakhine State situation in which she said despite a large number of people fleeing the area, there were people who stayed behind. We can arrange for you to visit these areas, and to ask [remaining villagers] for yourself, why they have not fled, why they have chosen to remain in their villages, even at a time when everything around them seems to be in a state of turmoil, she said on Sept. 19. The UN said it looks forward to strengthening trust and cooperation with all communities and Myanmar government in a statement released after the trip on Monday afternoon. Three UN representativesthe UN Resident Coordinator, a WFP representative and a senior UN High Commission for Refugees officialjoined the trip. The statement said the UN stands ready to provide its full support to the authorities in responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis in northern Rakhine as well as the implementation of the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State. Border affairs minister Lt-Gen said: We have carried out what the diplomats requested of us and we have not hidden anything or set anything up. The State Counselor instructed me to show places in the community regardless of race or religion. The Union government is working on a roadmap on Rakhine State after meeting with all concerned agencies and government ministries. Monday, Oct 2nd, 2017 (11:53 am) - Score 1,181 The Upottery Parish Councillor and Chairman of the B4RDS (Broadband for Rural Devon & Somerset) campaign, Graham Long, has criticised Devon Council for conducting scrutiny of the regional broadband roll-out project (Connecting Devon and Somerset) in private, with press and public excluded. The CDS scheme is the largest of all the state aid fuelled Broadband Delivery UK programmes in England, although at the same time it also reflects one of the countrys most rural and thus challenging regions in terms of deploying new broadband infrastructure. The Devon and Somerset project is split up into two phases. The original 94m Phase One project involved working with BT (Openreach) to roll-out their FTTC/P fibre broadband (any speed) network to cover around 95% of premises by 2017 (Airband also won a smaller wireless contract), although the estimated figure in terms of premises that can order a superfast broadband (24Mbps+) capable service today is around 87% for both counties combined (this is blamed on the under-performance of the commercial sectors private investment plans). By comparison the 69m Phase Two project suffered a huge delay after failing to reach an agreement with BT in 2015 (here), although they have this year signed several related contracts with Gigaclear and Airband for a mix of ultrafast FTTP and fixed wireless broadband to cover 60,000+ extra premises across the region by December 2019 (the aim here appears to be to deliver 95% coverage of superfast broadband). However Graham Long told a meeting of Devon Councils Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee on 26th September 2017 (Tuesday) that he fears the standing task group of four (now five) councillors, which was setup to scrutinise the CDS project, is failing the public by conducting its work behind closed doors (see the agenda and webcast Graham Longs first section is at 3 mins 18 secs). Graham Long told the meeting: [The task group] takes evidence in private, behind closed doors, with press and public excluded, with witnessed prohibited from recording proceedings and no formal minutes taken. This is contrary to the county councils articles of constitution and the Nolan principles. It is also contrary to the secretary of state for local government, as expressed at the 2017 local government association conference. The Nolan principles say that information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for doing so, although while there may be occasions where confidential data could be discussed it is not clear why all of the related meetings should still be held in private. Graham also noted that the terms of reference for the task group say it will be on-going until the broadband roll-out is complete, which could take a very long time. Graham Long told ISPreview.co.uk: The irony of all this of course is that whilst full Scrutiny Committee meetings are public and webcast for all to see, the Standing Action Group they have now set up meets with witnesses behind closed doors, with press and public not allowed to be present and no formal minutes taken. I was a witness in front of the Standing action Group on Sept 14 and we met in the same room where the webcast was made on Tuesday, but the meeting was private and the webcast system was not used. Making it a Standing Task Group taking evidence from witnesses in camera allows for any subject, not just broadband, to be scrutinised without witnesses being heard by the public and press. The Task Group terms of reference say on timescale, that delegation of witness scrutiny will continue until roll out is complete or the Task Group is fully satisfied with progress which at the earliest is 2019 or even 2023, if you include the Phase 1 BT clawback period when BT pay monies back to CDS under the terms of their contract. CDS could therefore still be running broadband roll-out until then and scrutiny of CDS could therefore be going on behind closed doors for another 7 years. However the committee chairman, Cllr Alistair Dewhirst (note: he is a member of the aforementioned task group), disagrees with Grahams view and claims the councils approach will enable the task group to make faster progress that involves more witnesses. The councillor added that feedback from the witnesses would also be reflected in a report to the public scrutiny meeting on 28th November 2017. In response Graham was quick to point out that this means only the task group will hear what the witnesses (including CDS) have to say, while the public have to make do with the report that the task group write (i.e. the press and public do not hear it from the horses mouth!, said Graham). Enterprise big data aggregator Splunk continues to enjoy rapid growth in the APAC region. Within Australia, the company has continued to increase its headcount over the last 24 months. The increased operations are not purely sales, pre-sales and engineering, but both cloud support and cloud operations have made their home in Australia, with the offices a fully contributing member of Splunk's global 24 hours "follow the sun" support. The experience is similar across the APAC region; the Splunk Japan office has increased headcount and is moving to larger premises in November. The Singapore office has expanded to thrice its size. A Beijing office has opened in China to supplement the existing Shanghai operations. Simon Eid, area vice-president, ANZ, says Splunk has some sizeable customers. Australian success story Atlassian is one, and its own exponential business growth is, in turn, fueling Splunk's regional increase. "It's probably one of our largest customers in terms of capacity," Eid says, "Though a couple of telcos will overtake them shortly." Within Hong Kong two large companies increasing their Splunk footprint are Networld and the Marine Department, says Chern-Yue Boey, vice-president, APAC. "Networld is like Amazon. People can buy and sell, and by leveraging Splunk merchants will know categories that are trending and what's not, and all this data used to be managed in spreadsheets," he said. "The Marine Department in Hong Kong automates how ships come into the dock. Previously, it was consolidated with paper and pen, mapping the path along the water." Along with Atlassian, Eid cites Monash University as a key ANZ Splunk customer. "They started using Splunk for IT operations and security but expanded it around delivering student experience," he said. Eid says Splunk has given the institution insights into how many people are on campus at any given time and where, and this information has helped make tremendous facility improvements. "By using Splunk results, the University can set schedules for where lectures are so people don't have to walk around campus. They can turn lights and air conditioners on and off based on where people really are. It's saved them a lot of money. The data now even helps inform where to place facilities like air conditioners, vending machines, security services ... it really makes sure the customer experience is where it should be," he said. Monash plans to use Splunk further to look at student attendance and marks and be proactive in helping students, intervening early to prevent attrition. "Splunk is focused on finding solutions to customer problems," Eid said. The company seeks to engage with staff at all levels to identify use cases around what can be done with Splunk, expanding to the "art of the possible". This includes running hackathons, where a customer's IT staff and business staff join together to say "here's the data, what sorts of things do you want to ask of it?" "The hackathon uses real data, and because it answers real questions, the applications built typically go into production straight away," Eid says. "It's about getting people's minds into the same problem no matter which part of the business they come from." Splunk also offers workshops around different use cases that can be achieved with the company saying it is keen to focus attention on the "art of the possible", focusing on the true business side of data analytics, transcending its roots as a log aggregator. The writer attended Splunk .conf 2017 as a guest of the company. Enterprise database vendor Oracle today announced Oracle 18C, claiming it is the world's first and only autonomous database. Speaking today at the opening keynote for Oracle Open World 2017, founder, executive chairman and chief technology officer Larry Ellison outlined Oracle's next major software release. "The biggest threat by far in cyber security is data theft," Ellison said. "Preventing data theft is all about securing your data wherever you choose to store your data. We're going to make the case the safest place for you to store your data is an Oracle database, particularly an autonomous database," he said, setting the scene for his talk. An autonomous database, Ellison explained, is highly automated. It will do everything it possibly can to avoid human intervention. Relating back to security, Ellison said: "It's our computers vs their computers in cyber warfare. We have to have a lot better computer systems and automation if we're going to defend our data." "Oracle has new cyber security technology to automate threat detection and then immediately remediate the problem. This new database technology means an automated database can instantly patch itself while running. There's no delay waiting for a human process, or a downtime window." This is the autonomous database, and it's Oracle's vision for Oracle 18C which will be released for different database workloads from December 2017 through 2018. Oracle Data Warehouse edition will be available in December 2017, Oracle OLTP database cloud service in June 2018, and Oracle NoSQL database cloud services by the end of 2018. Each edition will have autonomous functionality by default, and will all be available on-premises, in Oracle's cloud, and on public cloud services, to meet customer requirements. The big thing about an autonomous database, Ellison explained, is the automation of cyber security and the automation of database operations working together. "The database has to be able to patch itself immediately while running when instructed by the cyber security system no delay, it has to happen immediately, and has to happen without human intervention." The technology driving autonomy is "as revolutionary as the Internet", Ellison said. "It's called machine learning, a branch of Artificial Intelligence, or AI. "For years and years, AI did not live up to its promise. There is a new type of AI, machine learning. The applications are revolutionary. It powers self-driving cars, facial recognition better than humans can do, and new applications like an autonomous database and automated cyber security." Machine learning is when computers learn from patterns in data and make predictions. It relies on large amounts of accurate training data. Higher volumes of accurate data increases learning, and increased learning means more accurate solutions to problems. An example of machine learning is anomaly detection, to separate normal from abnormal patterns in data, like detecting cancer from normal cells or detecting the chief financial officer is logging in from a computer in the Ukraine and that is out of the ordinary. In Oracle's case, the new autonomous database will be driven by machine learning absorbed from vast amounts of event logs including infrastructure logs network, server, storage, VM and OS, platform logs database, Java, analytics, and application logs, ERP, CX, HCM and more. This event log training data will enable new machine learning applications across security, like detecting and correcting anomalous events be they logins or unusual SQL queries, and across database operations, such as classifying normal query patterns and automatically tuning the database. On this point, Ellison says the Oracle 18C autonomous database will continuously tune the database based on information it gathers. "This is a big deal," he said, "Nobody else does this. "Oracle 18C is the world's first 100% self-driving autonomous database," he said. "The world's first and only. "This is the most important thing we have done in a long, long time." Ellison continued to state the autonomous database will have total automation, based on machine learning. It would require no human labour to manage the database whatsoever. The database will automatically provision, upgrade, patch and tune itself while running; it will perform automated real-time security patching with no downtime window required and will have no human error. The Oracle cloud SLA will guarantee 99.995% reliability and availability. "We will minimise costly planned plus unplanned downtime to less than 30 minutes per year," he said. In one of many jabs at Amazon's AWS hosting services, Ellison said: "We guarantee your Amazon bill is cut in half, and the lower labour costs are even bigger savings. We will write that in your contract." He said Oracle 18C would perform fully automated database provisioning and management, even for mission-critical scale-out clusters with data centre disaster protection. The user must define policies but the system automatically manages itself thereafter. It will perform automatic provisioning, back-up, upgrades, patching and tuning while running, and without any human administration needed, further cutting errors and malicious behaviour. While this autonomy is the headline feature in Oracle 18C, Ellison noted it also includes a range of OLTP and analytics improvements, including 4x faster in-memory OLTP, 5x faster RAC for high-contention OLTP, 2x faster streaming ingress for IoT workloads, NVRAM ready row and column store, 2x faster in-memory column store, 100x faster in-memory analytics for external data, 100x faster approximate query processing, and more features. Poking fun at Amazon's AWS hosting, Ellison said, "You get all this, but the shock is you must be willing to pay a lot less." He went on to demonstrate the greater performance of running Oracle in Oracle's cloud vs. on Amazon's AWS cloud, and an even greater performance disparity compared to Amazon's RedShift. This performance improvement translates to real cost savings, which Ellison says, is further compounded by the reduction of human labour to run the database. Ellison said Oracle cloud's reliability is 100% more reliable than Amazon with no exceptions in the fine-print, noting Amazon's contracted uptime excludes planned downtime, downtime for adding compute and storage capacity, downtime for Amazon planned maintenance, downtime for database upgrades and patching, downtime for regional outages, and downtime for software bugs. "They may as well have excluded a few more things and just their uptime guarantee is 100%," he joked. By contrast, he stated, Oracle's uptime guarantee is 99.995% including mission-critical workloads, and without exclusions, and is guaranteed to be at least half Amazon's costs for a similar workload. The minimum configuration for Oracle cloud is one OCPU, or Oracle CPU, roughly defined as one physical core of an Intel Xeon CPU with hyper-threading enabled, along with 1 terabyte of storage, for US$300 per month. For database administrators, the automation features of Oracle 18C will allow them to turn their mind to innovation. "Database administrators don't lack things to do," Ellison said. Instead, with Oracle 18C administrators can spend less time on infrastructure, patching, upgrades, ensuring availability and tuning, and more time on database design, data analytics, data policies and securing data. "Oracle 18C is the only self-administering database on the planet," Ellison said. "It's fully automated and fault-tolerant, with real-time security patching, constantly tunes itself to get the best performance, and it's fully automated and will go out and get additional compute resources the moment they're needed but not a moment sooner, so you only pay for what you use." The writer is attending Oracle Open World 2017 as a guest of the company. The US-based global Information Technology and Innovation Foundation research and educational institute claims that joining the Information Technology Agreement an international pact eliminating tariffs on hundreds of information and communications technology products could boost the economies of developing countries by billions of dollars. According to a new economic analysis by the ITIF global tech-policy think tank which evaluated the economies of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Laos, countries could also recover a significant portion of the tariff revenue they would forgo in the form of new tax revenue, making ITA accession a win-win economic policy. The report builds on an ITIF analysis from May which evaluated economic growth and tax revenue gained from joining the ITA and eliminating ICT tariffs in Argentina, Cambodia, Chile, Kenya, Pakistan, and South Africa. Increasing the use of technology across all sectors of the economy is one of the most important drivers of economic growth in developing countries because it enhances productivity, spurs innovation, and bolsters living standards, said Stephen Ezell, ITIFs vice-president and the reports lead author. If developing nations join the Information Technology Agreement and its recent expansion (ITA2), their businesses and consumers will use more technology products because of lower prices, and their domestic ICT goods and services producers can become more deeply integrated in global value chains for ICT production. This will spur significant economic growth for these countries while generating new tax revenues that substantially offset tariff losses. Established in 1996, the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) eliminates tariffs on hundreds of ICT products for its 82 signatory countries. The agreement was expanded in 2015 to add 201 new ICT product lines, with 54 nations signatories to the expanded agreement (ITA2). ITIF has analysed how the increase in ICT imports and lower prices due to tariff elimination under the ITA would spur greater economic growth and tax revenue in four developing countries Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Laos and says major findings include: Joining the ITA would bolster Indonesias economic growth by an estimated 0.35%, or US$5.4 billion in additional output, in the 10th year; Sri Lankas by 0.96% or US$1.4 billion; Vietnams by 0.29% or US$947 million; and Laos by 1.88% or US$476 million. In the 10th year after joining the ITA, new tax revenues would allow Indonesia to recover 151% of forgone tariff revenues (US$1.6 billion); Sri Lanka 47% ($24 million); Vietnam 38% (US$67 million); and Laos 24% (US$14 million). ITA accession matters not just to companies in a countrys ICT goods- and services-producing sectors, but to all enterprises and industries that leverage ICTs and use them to digitalise their businesses and operations. Countries that havent joined the ITA are missing a significant opportunity for economic growth, innovation, and prosperity, Ezell said. Joining the ITA makes countries more attractive locations for ICT goods and services producers and exporters, and sends a strong signal that these countries are open for business. The European Union is likely to chastise Ireland for failing to collect a fine of 13 billion (US$17.6 billion) from Apple which was announced on 29 August last year. A Bloomberg report, citing an individual familiar with the matter, said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, could issue Ireland a non-compliance action as early as this week. The money was initially due by 3 January and the EU had been pushing Ireland to collect, the report said. Apple was ordered to repay the massive amount after the EU said it had found that a number of deals the company cut to do business in Ireland were illegal. At the time, EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Apple's "selective treatment" in Ireland resulted in an effective tax rate of 1% on its European profits in 2003. This rate fell to 0.005% by 2014. Graphic courtesy of the European Commission. "The tax treatment in Ireland enabled Apple to avoid taxation on almost all profits generated by sales of Apple products in the entire EU single market," she said. "Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies this is illegal under EU state aid rules. The Commission's investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years." Once the money is collected, it is to be placed in an escrow account pending an appeal which may take as long as five years. States which are members of the EU can be sued in the bloc's courts in Luxembourg. Fines can be levied by the judges who rule on a case. Vodafone has called on Australia's federal government to act "following yet another damning USO report". Dan Lloyd, Vodafone's chief strategy officer, has published his thoughts on the Australian National Audio Office (ANAO) report on the Telstra Universal Service Obligation Performance Agreement (TUSOPA). Lloyd said: "The ANAO report is the latest in a long list of reports and reviews which has come to the same alarming conclusion government is blindly handing $6 billion of what is ultimately taxpayers money to Telstra with no checks or balances. "The Universal Service Obligation is an outrageous anti-competitive subsidy to Telstra, and has to go. A light is finally being shone on this murky backroom deal. The ANAO report also reveals that the government holds in its hands the power to bring an end to this situation." He said: "The government has an obligation to act given the consistent damning findings in the ANAO and Productivity Commission reports of the gross misuse of taxpayer funds. Government needs to move urgently to a model which delivers the voice services regional Australians want, need and deserve. "Every day that passes is a waste of nearly $1 million, which could be spent delivering real value for Regional Australia. We have no objection to the maintenance of copper lines in some rural and remote areas as we fully understand the importance of these services to rural Australia. "However, as the ANAO recognises, much of this infrastructure has already been shut down, with Telstra pocketing the difference. There are much smarter ways to spend the bulk of the $300 million per year in taxpayer and industry funding." So, what does Lloyd and Vodafone suggest are the "next steps"? Lloyd continues: "As a first practical and obvious step, Telstra should no longer receive USO funding for copper lines and payphones which it has shut down. "Government does not need to wait until the NBN rolls out to make this change as there is no negative impact on regional Australia. Based on available data, it appears approximately 50% of payphones and over 40% of regional copper have been decommissioned over the last 10 years. "This represents a saving of at least $135 million per year, or over $2 billion over the remaining 15 years of the current USO. Every year, the savings could be used to build nearly 300 mobile towers and expand total mobile coverage by up to 70,000 square kilometres. "Over 15 years, that could see over 4,000 new mobile towers built, which would see nearly half the country provided with additional mobile coverage. The USO is a tragic anti-competitive waste of $6 billion of taxpayers money which is selling regional Australia short." SANTIAGO, Chile--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Orosur Mining Inc. (Orosur or the Company) (TSX/AIM: OMI), is pleased to announce the upcoming diamond drilling program at its wholly-owned, high-grade Anza gold project located in the Mid Cauca Gold Belt in Colombia. HIGHLIGHTS Completed C$4 million (US$3.2 million) financing in August 2017 to fund drilling in Colombia Engaged Logan Drilling Group International (Logan) for up to 15,000m of diamond core drilling, contract signed on September 29, 2017 Preparatory work in place to commence drilling in October 2017 Expect first drilling results to be announced in the Companys fiscal third quarter (Q3 ending February 2018) Objective is to delineate maiden resources and further define and expand mineralization potential Ignacio Salazar, CEO of Orosur, comments: We are pleased to announce that the resource definition drilling campaign at our high-grade Anza project in Colombia, will start in October 2017 following the successful US$3.2m financing in August and recent contract execution with Logan Drilling. Orosur is well advanced with its preparatory work for the drilling campaign and Logan is in the process of mobilizing drill rigs to the property at present. We look forward to commencing the drilling campaign before the end of the month. The drilling program is designed to further define and expand the potential mineralization at the Aragon-Pastorera Trend Area (APTA) of the Anza project as well as initial testing of highly prospective targets nearby. The program will include infill and step out drilling with the intent to prepare and publish a maiden NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate for the Anza project. Preparatory technical and logistical work for the first two months of the drilling campaign has been completed and includes the construction of drill platforms for the first 7 holes, an assurance of adequate water supply, and ensuring that all legal, social and environmental permitting are in place. Geological staff and supporting crews are ready while preparatory work for the rest of the campaign is nearing completion. About Anza Anza is Orosurs 100% owned, high-grade gold project in Colombia, which has an active mining license in place. It is located in the Western Cordillera, approximately 50 km west of the city of Medellin. The gold prospect occurs along the Cauca - Romeral fault system that is the locus for Colombias most renown gold deposits. Anza is approximately 60 km south of the Buritica high grade deposit owned by Continental Gold (4.48 Moz measured and indicated (M&I) resource, grading 10.8 g/t Au) As announced in October 2016, initial metallurgical and density test work were completed utilising a combination of gravity concentration, flotation and cyanidation processing, with average gold recoveries ranging from 95.9 96.1%. This is in line with the metallurgical recoveries of development projects and producing mines in the region. The site has existing environmental permits enabling both underground and open-pit mining operations. Access to the project is via a paved road to the town of Anza and a 17 km gravel road operable all year round. The Anza project includes a gypsum mine which has been in operation at the site since 1991. It has excellent infrastructure, with power grid, abundant water and mine facilities on site. The elevation ranges from 700 m to 2,000 m above sea level. The APTA deposit is up to 200 m wide and at least 2.5 km long, with soil geochem showing gold content along the entire 7 km Aragon fault. The deposit is open on strike, at surface and down-dip. Significant drill hole intercepts to date include: Hole Number From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au g/t Ag g/t Zn (%) MAP11 213.0 219.0 6.0 18.26 1.95 0.35 including 217.5 219.0 1.5 72.30 6.90 0.93 MAP20 145.0 186.0 41.0 3.85 1.39 1.25 including 171.3 177.0 5.7 19.84 3.94 1.66 MAP21 224.0 242.0 18.0 14.14 2.05 2.83 including 225.0 229.4 4.4 45.62 5.47 10.59 252.0 253.0 1.0 10.85 1.80 0.67 MAP29 183.0 194.9 11.9 10.57 2.40 1.61 including 185.0 187.0 2.1 40.25 4.85 4.64 MAP33 157.1 179.5 22.4 10.42 1.87 1.56 including 165.0 170.8 5.8 29.49 3.37 2.81 MAP36 198.6 227.5 28.9 3.88 1.68 0.43 including 205.5 217.5 12.0 8.83 2.65 0.59 MAP38 123.4 124.5 1.1 15.40 3.60 1.94 172.0 212.5 40.5 14.09 3.82 1.95 including 179.5 186.0 6.5 70.99 6.34 0.12 including 184.6 186.0 1.4 176.00 15.20 0.39 including 202.0 205.4 3.4 20.89 9.71 4.75 MAP43 65.5 68.6 3.1 7.66 73.04 0.68 167.5 231.5 64.0 1.88 1.88 0.70 including 209.0 214.0 5.0 9.07 3.40 0.70 MAP47 105.0 118.3 13.3 2.24 316.25 1.00 including 106.0 110.5 4.5 4.69 768.89 2.34 MAP48 181.0 195.7 14.7 40.37 9.30 3.41 including 185.5 195.7 10.2 58.03 13.16 4.85 including 187.6 189.5 1.9 219.00 29.50 6.55 The Anza land package, which is wholly owned by Orosur, includes multiple additional highly prospective potential gold targets. In addition to the APTA, there is an extensive area of more than 100 km open to exploration. Favourable topography, existing infrastructure and the existence of a wide low-grade gold envelope in the Anza land package provide further exploration, development and mining upside, all with strong indications of the potential for significant by-product mineralization. Qualified Person The technical information related to the current assets of Orosur Mining in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by independent Mining engineer Miguel Fuentealba, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Orosur Mining Inc. Orosur Mining Inc. (TSX: OMI; AIM: OMI) is a fully integrated gold producer, developer and explorer focused on identifying and advancing gold projects in South America. The Company operates the only producing gold mine in Uruguay (San Gregorio), and has assembled an exploration portfolio of high quality assets in Uruguay, Chile and Colombia. VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - October 02, 2017) - East Africa Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: EAM) ("East Africa" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the signing of a binding memorandum of understanding ("MOU") with Luck Winner Investment Limited ("LW") providing for project development financing of up to US$250 million and a private placement of 52,100,000 units at a price of $0.26 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$13,550,000. LW has also agreed to provide an unsecured loan to the Company in the amount of C$2,000,000. Project Development / Joint Venture The MOU with LW contemplates that a joint venture company ("JVCo") will be formed, with 70% owned by LW and 30% owned by East Africa. LW will invest up to US$250 million into development of East Africa's projects in Ethiopia. East Africa will contribute a proportionate amount of gold valued with a cost price of US$70/oz, of up to 1.5 million ouncesAuEquiv for an aggregate value of US$110 million (See EAM News Release dated July 13, 2016 and resource information below). The parties intend to expeditiously negotiate, finalize and execute a comprehensive joint venture agreement respecting JVCo and the development of East Africa's Ethiopian projects. Private Placement Under the MOU, LW has committed to purchase, on a private placement basis, 52,100,000 units at a price of $0.26 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$13,550,000. Each unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for $0.45 and expiring 24 months from closing. The securities issued under the private placement will be subject to a hold period of four months. The proceeds will be used to continue exploration programs on the Company's projects in Ethiopia and general working capital. Upon completion of the private placement and conversion of the C$2,000,000 loan described below, LW will own approximately 28.8% of the Company's outstanding shares (37.8% on a diluted basis). Also upon completion of the private placement, the Company will cause three of its directors to resign and appoint three LW nominees to fill those vacancies, and the Company may make certain changes to management positions. $2 Million Loan LW and East Africa also entered into a loan agreement pursuant to which LW has agreed to lend C$2,000,000 to East Africa. The loan will be repayable in six months and will accrue interest of 2% per annum. Under the loan agreement, East Africa is required to restructure its existing cooperation agreement with respect to the Magambazi project within 30 days. Upon completion of the restructure, LW has the right to require the establishment of a joint venture for the development of the Magambazi project, which joint venture will be 70% owned by LW and 30% owned by East Africa. The C$2,000,000 loan proceeds will be deemed to be LW's cash consideration payable to East Africa for the joint venture, and any accrued interest would be forgiven. If the loan is not allocated and the interest forgiven in connection with the formation of a joint venture for the Magambazi project, at any time following 30 days after the execution of the loan agreement, LW shall have the right to convert the C$2,000,000 loan principal and accrued interest into units of East Africa at a deemed price of $0.26 per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable for $0.45 and expiring six months from issuance. The securities issued under the loan will be subject to a hold period of four months. Until the loan is allocated for the Magambazi joint venture or is converted into units, East Africa is restricted to use the proceeds of the loan for East Africa's Harvest project's mining license application, the negotiation of an agreement respecting the Harvest project development stage, the restructure of the existing cooperation agreement respecting the Magambazi project, and the renewals of the Magambazi mining licenses if required. Subject Conditions The project development funding and private placement are subject to certain conditions, including but not limited to, the establishment of JVCo, receipt of mining license for the Harvest project, Harvest agreement to develop the project, completion of satisfactory due diligence reviews by both parties, execution of definitive agreements, East Africa's shareholder approval of the creation of a new control person and any transactions as required by the TSX Venture Exchange, and receipt of approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company intends to call a shareholders meeting upon completion of East Africa's and LW's satisfactory due diligence review. More information on the Company can be viewed at the Company's website: www.eastafricametals.com. About Luck Winner Luck Winner, incorporated in Hong Kong Special Administrative region in 2017, is an international mining development and investment company currently seeking to expand its investments throughout Africa. Andrew Smith, P. Geol. and Jeff Heidema, P.Geol., Qualified Persons under the definitions of National Instrument 43-101, have reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. East Africa's Mineral Resources at Harvest and Adyabo. Project Ownership Resource Summary Adyabo 3(Indicated) 100% 446K Ounces AuEquiv Adyabo 3(Inferred) 100% 434K Ounces AuEquiv Terakimti Oxide Update 1 (Indicated) 70% (Permit Pending) 132K Ounces AuEquiv Terakimti Sulphide 2 (Indicated) 70% 348K Ounces AuEquiv Terakimti Sulphide 2 (Inferred) 70% 426K Ounces AuEquiv The resources stated above have been previously disclosed in News Releases. 1Terakimti Oxide Resource update disclosed October 27, 2015; effective date October 18, 2015. Full mineral resource estimate disclosure can be found in the company's press release dated October 27, 2015, available at www.eastafricametals.com or at www.sedar.com. Subsequent to the release of the Oxide Resource update, a review by the resource QP identified an error in the tabulation of mineral resources. The corrected resource information was disclosed via press release on January 11, 2016. Metal prices for gold and silver are $1,300/oz and $17.50/oz, respectively. 2Terakimti Initial Resource Estimate as disclosed in the 43-101 Technical Report dated February 14, 2014; effective date January 17, 2014. Full mineral resource estimate disclosure can be found on the company's website or at www.sedar.com. Metal prices for gold, silver, copper, and zinc are $1,400/oz, $25.00/oz, $3.50/lb, and $0.90/lb, respectively. 3Adyabo project updated mineral resource estimate disclosed via press release dated June 14, 2016; effective date May 31, 2016. Metal prices for gold, silver, and copper are $1,400/oz, $20.00/oz, and $3.20/lb, respectively. Metallurgical recoveries of 97% for gold, 72% for copper, and 50% for silver were applied at Da Tambuk. VANCOUVER, Oct. 2, 2017 /CNW/ - Camino Minerals Corporation ("Camino" or the "Company") (COR: TSX-V) is pleased to report results for eight diamond drill holes completed on the Adriana Zone at its Los Chapitos Project ("Chapitos"), located in southern Peru. Select drill highlights for the Adriana Zone include: DCH-024 intersected 1.31% copper over 82.5 meters, including 2.16% copper over 31.7 meters; DCH-034 intersected 0.85% copper over 94.95 meters, including 2.81% copper over 6.2 meters and 3.16% copper over 6.15 meters. Drill holes DCH-024 and DCH-034 were approximately 100 meter step out holes to the southeast and northwest respectively from hole DCH-012, which intersected 0.93% copper over 96.5 meters, including 2.03% copper over 19.5 meters and 5.01% copper over 4.5 meters. The most recent drilling continues to add to our understanding of the structural and lithological controls of the copper mineralization at Chapitos. The current interpretation suggests the block of very high-grade mineralization formed at the intersection of the feeder structure and a bed of brecciated volcaniclastic. This high-grade mineralization remains open along strike in both directions. Drilling elsewhere on the Adriana Zone continues to confirm the earlier results and extends the mineralization. Holes DCH-028 and DCH-030 confirmed that the mineralization below the discovery outcrop extends to depth and is dipping steeply to the west. Holes DCH-026, DCH-029, and DCH-031, along with hole DCH-024 (all drilled on the Section 205 from Pad-2A), have expanded the zone of bulk tonnage style mineralization, within which is hosted zones of higher grade mineralization. The drilling to date is beginning to outline a substantial body of copper mineralization that currently measures over 400 meters by 150 meters which is open at depth and in both directions along trend. Work continues on the project with step out drilling underway at the Katty Zone and additional drilling being planned for the Adriana Zone. The Company also expects to receive authorization in October to initiate field activities at the Atajo Zone located on a separate trend six kilometers to the southwest of the Adriana Zone. The Company recently received approval of its environmental assessment and negotiated a community access agreement as part of the permit application for drilling at the Atajo Zone. Kenneth C. McNaughton, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., is the Qualified Person (QP) responsible for the Chapitos project. Updated drill sections and summary presentation can be found on the company website at www.caminominerals.com. Table 1: Selected Diamond Drill Results, (1,2) Hole Number Pad # Dip/Azimuth(degrees) From (meters) To (meters) Interval (meters) Total Copper (%) Acid Soluble Copper (%) Adriana Zone DCH-024 Pad-2A 66.50 75.50 9.00 0.36 0.21 -63/205 111.50 137.00 25.50 0.91 0.34 Incl. 113.00 122.00 9.00 1.98 0.78 226.00 308.50 82.50 1.31 0.17 Incl. 263.50 295.20 31.70 2.19 0.11 DCH-026 Pad-2A 196.00 217.00 21.00 0.74 0.69 Incl. -57.5/205 203.50 211.00 7.50 1.15 1.08 248.00 266.50 18.50 0.44 0.19 DCH-028 Pad-2 94.50 134.00 39.50 0.22 0.08 -45/270 161.00 185.50 24.50 1.10 0.67 Incl. 167.50 171.80 4.30 2.54 1.29 DCH-029 Pad-2A 209.00 246.00 37.00 0.31 0.11 Incl. -52/205 231.50 236.20 4.70 0.72 0.23 DCH-030 Pad-2 104.50 127.00 22.50 0.64 0.50 -45/305 137.50 154.00 16.50 0.51 0.12 DCH-031 Pad-2A 61.90 71.00 9.10 0.20 0.09 -70/205 134.80 152.00 17.20 0.16 0.04 351.90 356.50 4.60 0.37 0.01 DCH-032 Pad-1 55.00 84.20 29.20 0.21 0.13 -45/190 100.50 111.30 10.80 0.18 0.06 148.80 157.80 9.00 0.14 0.04 DCH-034 Pad-1 44.00 63.50 19.50 0.22 0.12 -60/190 63.50 158.45 94.95 0.85 0.43 Incl. 101.50 115.00 13.50 0.99 0.60 and 125.60 131.80 6.20 2.81 1.43 and 152.30 158.45 6.15 3.16 0.43 (1) True thickness to be determined. (2) All samples were submitted for preparation and analysis by ALS Chemex at its facilities in Lima, Peru. All samples were analyzed using multi-digestion with ICP finish and fire assay with AA finish for gold. Samples over 1% copper were reanalyzed using four acid digestion with an ore grade ICP finish. Mineralized samples were analyzed for acid soluble copper by being agitated at room temperature in a 5% sulphuric acid solution with the copper content measured by AA. One in 20 samples was blank, one in 20 was a standard sample, and one in 20 samples had a sample cut from assay rejects assayed as a field duplicate at ALS Chemex in Lima, Peru. About Camino Minerals Corporation Camino is a discovery-oriented mineral exploration company. The Company is focused on the acquisition and development of high-grade copper and precious metal projects. For more information, please refer to Camino's website at www.caminominerals.com. Boca Raton, FL, USA, 10/02/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/ Boca Raton, South Florida September 18, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation released preliminary claims data that showed more than 335,000 property damage claims had already been filed in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, totaling almost $2 billion. Hurricane Damage Attorney Andrew Norden has released a video to help victims of Hurricane Irma with property damage to learn about their legal rights when it comes to dealing with an insurance companys claims adjusters. To report your hurricane Irma claim, get a free case review. And that is just the beginning. Irma was the largest hurricane to ever hit Florida, leaving virtually no part of the state untouched. As residents and business owners struggle with the emotional and financial loss, they are turning to their insurance companies for help in recovering from this disaster. And while everyone hopes for the maximum payout for repairs, getting it is not always a given. Which is why you need to understand your legal rights under your insurance policy. Andrew Norden, a leading Florida hurricane damage lawyer, outlines the steps below to file your property damage insurance claim: Typically, a comprehensive insurance policy covers the following: Damage to or loss of your home. Damage to other structures on your property, such as sheds, a pool, decking, fences, etc. Damage to the contents of your home. Compensation for the loss of the use of your home if youre unable to live there. Payments to third parties for liability or medical expenses. Here are the steps you need to take to begin the claim insurance filing process. When You Need an Insurance Claims Attorney If your insurance company has denied your claim or has failed to respond in a timely manner, you may need to call in a hurricane property damage attorney to assert your legal rights and protect your financial future. Unfortunately, insurance companies have been known to undervalue or deny claims when first submitted. This is because they are a business, and their focus is on maximizing profits, not in paying out claims. And because of the widespread devastation across Florida from Irma, your claim will just be one in several hundred thousand that requires review and consideration before any payments are made. This can prove to be a financial hardship for you and your family if your insurance company denies your claim or does not settle it in a timely manner. When it comes to that, you need an insurance claims attorney to fight for you and get you the support you need as soon as possible. Under Florida law, only a licensed attorney can represent you in civil court in your property insurance dispute claim. If successful, your attorneys fees are paid by your insurance company and will not come out of your settlement. If you are experiencing or anticipating any problems with your personal or commercial property damage claim, you can contact Andrew Norden a leading Hurricane damage lawyer with the Osborne & Associates law firm. The firm is providing free case reviews now for victims of Hurricane Irma. About Osborne & Associates Law Firm, PA With over a half-century of combined experience, the civil trial attorneys at the Boca Raton law firm of Osborne & Associates, P.A., have a proven record of successfully litigating complex cases on a national scale. Specializing in property damage insurance claims, medical device and pharmaceutical litigation, medical malpractice, and personal injury cases, the firm has secured multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements and has become one of Floridas go-to firms for all types of civil litigation matters. For more information, visit http://www.oa-lawfirm.com Media Contact: Rene Perras Osborne & Associates Law Firm, P.A. [email protected] (561) 800-0177 source: https://www.oa-lawfirm.com/florida-hurricane-damage-lawyer-offers-info-filing-property-insurance-claims/ Social Media Tags:Florida Hurricane Damage Lawyer, Filing Property Insurance Claims Newsroom powered by Online Press Release Distribution SubmitMyPressRelease.com Like Us on Facebook It's only fair to share... Pinterest Linkedin email Print Kim Oe-sook, left, minister of Korea's Government Legislation, shakes hands with Sandag Byambatsogt, minister of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, after signing an agreement on a work plan for strengthening legislative exchanges and cooperation in Mongolia on Sept. 14. / Courtesy of the Ministry of Government Legislation Ministry strengthens cooperation with Mongolia By Kim Jae-kyoung South Korea has stepped up its efforts to globalize its legal system by strengthening its cooperation with Mongolia. From Sept. 13 to 15, Kim Oe-sook, minister of Government Legislation, visited the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia and the School of Law of the National University of Mongolia to discuss strengthening legislative exchanges and cooperation. "The visit to Mongolia was very meaningful as we identified the country's huge interest in our legal system that enabled rapid economic growth in Korea in a short period of time," Kim said in a recent interview. "If Mongolia adopts our legal system according to its interests and will, a legal system similar to ours could take root in the country," she added. "I believe that our people who want to advance into the Mongolian market would enjoy an environment more favorable to them." During her visit, Kim met with Sandag Byambatsogt, minister of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, and signed a work plan as a follow-up measure to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in 2014. The agreement came as Mongolia has shown interest in the success of Korea's "national legal information system" and asked the Korean government to share its experience of developing the system. Based on the work plan, the two nations will conduct joint research and establish a seminar on the modification of laws from 2018 to 2020. According to the ministry, Byambatsogt expressed his strong willingness to cooperate through the work plan with Korea, saying that he would make utmost efforts to revise existing laws to promote economic activity in the country after considering our advanced legislation. From left, French-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) Chairman David-Pierre Jalicon; European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) President Christoph Heider; Chairman & CEO of AMCHAM James Kim pose with Foreign Investor Ombudsman Jeffrey I. Kim and The Korea Times chief editorial writer Oh Young-jin before the Times Roundtable on Korea's business environment. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk The U.S.- North Korea standoff is sending military tensions high on the Korean Peninsula. Although Korea is often portrayed to be ground for an imminent battle, foreign investors here say this is not the case. They say they are not alarmed and the situation is close to business as usual. So The Korea Times invited them to speak about what they are up to nowadays. _ ED. Ensured security of Korean Peninsula By James Kim As a Korean-American businessperson living in Korea and given my position as Chairman & CEO of AMCHAM, I am frequently asked about the escalating tensions from North Korea. Interestingly, such inquiries come with much seriousness and concerns from my friends and colleagues outside of Korea. People elsewhere seem to believe that all of us here in Korea live in a constant state of fear. I always assure them that is not the case. For those of us familiar with constant noise from North Korea, neither the latest rhetoric from the North nor President Trump's responses have created any significant or new concerns. The readiness of the U.S. and Korean militaries to "fight tonight" is a strong deterrent against any action by the North against South Korea, Guam or any other allies of the U.S. We are also confident that the U.S. and South Korea will refrain from taking any action deemed to be a pre-emptive strike unless there is certainty that it will result in minimal damage to South Korea and its allies. We are assured by our two Commanders-in-Chief, President Trump and President Moon, who have also reaffirmed their commitments to the Seoul-Washington alliance, bolstering our joint defensive posture. The ancestors of modern humans may have gotten genital herpes from the now-extinct relative of humanity commonly known as Nutcracker Man, a new study suggests. Analyzing the DNA of the viruses, bacteria and other life-forms that can infest people reveals not only the origins of human disease but also valuable hints about the lifestyles of past humans and their ancestors. For example, a 2007 study revealed that humans caught pubic lice, aka "crabs," from gorillas about 3 million years ago, while a 2011 study suggested that Christopher Columbus and his crew brought syphilis with them from the New World to the Old World. "We can use data from diseases to reconstruct events that are completely invisible to the archaeological and fossil records," study senior author Charlotte Houldcroft, a virologist at the University of Cambridge in England, told Live Science. [Photos: The Life of Nutcracker Man] Tracing HSV1 and HSV2 Houldcroft and her colleagues analyzed two related viruses. In modern humans, herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) results in cold sores, while herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV2) results in genital herpes. A 2014 study suggested that HSV1 has infected the human family tree, known as the hominins, since at least the split from the precursors of chimpanzees about 6 million to 7 million years ago. That research estimated how long hominins possessed HSV1 by comparing modern human variants of the virus with ones found in chimps. DNA accumulates mutations over time at a relatively constant rate, and by analyzing the level of genetic differences between these viruses, scientists could estimate about when they diverged. That 2014 study suggested that, in contrast to HSV1, HSV2 didn't begin infecting the ancestors of modern humans until sometime between 3 million and 1.4 million years ago. As such, HSV2 must have come from another species, since hominins had already split off from chimpanzee predecessors. "Herpes [viruses] infect everything from humans to coral, with each species having its own specific set of viruses," Houldcraft said in a statement. "For these viruses to jump species barriers, they need a lucky genetic mutation combined with significant fluid exchange." How modern humans got genital herpes The researchers thought the most likely route through which HSV2 invaded the ancestors of modern humans was from African apes through an unknown hominin species. They did not suggest that any hanky-panky helped HSV2 jump the species barrier rather, the intermediate hominin species may have contracted HSV2 through scavenging ancestral chimp meat where the savanna met the forest, with the germs seeping into their bodies via bites or open sores. The ancestor of modern humans, Homo erectus, could then have contracted HSV2 either by scavenging off the intermediate hominin or, say, drinking next to it at a lake, Houldcroft and her colleagues said. [Image Gallery: Our Closest Human Ancestor] While discussing genital herpes over dinner, the researchers suggested finding out which hominin species transmitted HSV2 to the ancestors of modern humans. Their strategy involved analyzing the locations where the ancestors of chimps might have overlapped with four different hominin species that lived in the past 3 million years: Australopithecus afarensis, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis and Paranthropus boisei. First, the scientists reconstructed ancient African climates to deduce where tropical rainforests were located over the past 3 million years, since ancient chimps likely lived there. Next, they looked at where hominin fossils have been unearthed in Africa. "Climate fluctuations over millennia caused forests and lakes to expand and contract," study lead author Simon Underdown, a paleoanthropologist at Oxford Brookes University in England, said in a statement. "Layering climate data with fossil locations helped us determine the species most likely to come into contact with ancestral chimpanzees in the forests, as well as other hominins at water sources." The most likely culprit for spreading genital herpes to the ancestors of humans was the hominin Paranthropus boisei, which roamed across East Africa 1.4 million to 2.4 million years ago. This species earned the nickname "Nutcracker Man" because of its massive jaw and huge molars. "Once HSV2 gains entry to a species, it stays, easily transferred from mother to baby, as well as through blood, saliva and sex," Houldcroft said in the statement. "The genital herpes virus would have crept across Africa the way it creeps down nerve endings in our sex organs slowly but surely." Houldcroft noted that hominin fossils discovered in the future could lead to other candidate sources of genital herpes. Still, "P. boisei is likely to remain a strong candidate," she said. "It is in the right part of Africa during the period of time when HSV2 is most likely to have jumped the species barrier, and it had the opportunity to overlap with human ancestor Homo erectus. Not all new fossil finds will fulfill these criteria as fully as P. boisei does." Underdown, Houldcroft and their colleague Krishna Kumar, an engineer at the University of Cambridge, detailed their findings Oct. 1 in the journal Virus Evolution. Original article on Live Science. A jaguar ambushes a giant jacare caiman high up on the Three Brothers River (Rio Tres Irmaos) in the Pantanal in Mato Grosso, Brazil, on Sept. 26, 2017. A crocodile-like caiman became lunch for a jaguar in the Brazilian Pantanal, and a wildlife photographer was there to document every gruesome minute. United Kingdom-based wildlife philosopher Chris Brunskill shot almost 50 gigabytes of images of the jaguar-caiman matchup, which ended when the big cat dragged its prey into the dense forest on the banks of the Rio Tres Irmaos. Though caimans seem more suited to hunting than being hunted, they're a common meal for Brazilian jaguars (Panthera onca). This one was an ambitious target for the young jaguar, though. Brunskill wrote on his Facebook page that it was the largest jacare caiman he'd ever seen along the riverbanks in the marshland known as the Pantanal. "After a long struggle, she immobilised the giant reptile with the trademark jaguar bite to the back of the skull, and then dragged the huge carcass for over twenty minutes across an open beach into thick cover," Brunskill wrote. [See Photos of the Battle Between the Jaguar and Caiman] Skull-crushing hunters Jaguars are the only remaining species in the genus Panthera found in the New World. They live mostly in South America and the southern portion of Central America, though the occasional wanderer dips into southern Arizona. The species used to range across the entire American Southwest, but were trapped and shot to make way for ranching and other human activities. In the Pantanal, an enormous tropical wetland located mostly in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, jaguars still stalk their prey. They eat at least 85 different species, according to a 1996 report by the cat specialist group for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Caiman are one of those species. Jacare, or yacare, caiman are common species in the Pantanal, according to the conservation site crocodilian.com. Adults grow between 8.2 and 9.8 feet (2.5 and 3 meters) in length. Jaguars may have specifically evolved to hunt prey like caiman: According to the IUCN report, their thick jaws, stout skulls and unique tendency to kill by biting through their prey's skull may be adaptations that allowed jaguars to hunt well-armored reptilian prey like caiman and turtles. Predator matchup Other favorite jaguar foods include deer and tapirs, as well as capybaras, which are the world's largest rodents. In fact, the jaguar captured in Brunskill's photographs charged a group of capybaras several times before pouncing on the caiman, he wrote. Earlier during his trip to the region, Brunskill captured a photograph of another jaguar stalking capybara by the riverbank and a third big cat leaping from the riverbank into the water in a failed attempt to catch a caiman. Brunskill has photographed caiman-versus-jaguar fights before, including shots that made headlines in 2014. (That time, the caiman got away.) Caiman, for their part, rarely seem to kill jaguars. According to Crocodilian.com, they prefer less wily prey, including fish, snakes and snails. Original article on Live Science. Winners of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (L-R) Jeffrey C Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W Young are pictured on a display during a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on Oct. 2, 2017. BERLINThree scientists who made key discoveries on the workings of our internal clock have been awarded this year's Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. The 9 million Swedish kronor ($1.1 million) award will shared by Jeffrey Hall of the University of Maine, Michael Rosbash of Brandeis University in Massachusetts and Michael Young of Rockefeller University in New York. If you've ever worked a night shift or taken a time zone-crossing flight, you know that sleeping out of sync with the planet can be disruptive. Hall, Rosbash and Young found important biological mechanisms that drive our ability to go to bed at night and be awake during the day. In the 1980s, the three scientists isolated the "period gene," which had been theorized to control the biological clock, or circadian rhythm, in fruit flies. Hall and Rosbash then discovered aprotein called PER that is encoded by the period gene and fluctuates over a 24-hour cycle; PER levels build up at night and drop during the day. [Nobel Prize in Medicine: 1901-Present] Achim Kramer, who has a lab devoted to studying the biological clock here at the Charite-Berlin University of Medicine, said the discovery set the grounds for biologists' understanding of the molecular makeup of the biological clock. "Without this, we couldn't argue for later school times on evidence-based grounds; we couldn't look for the best time to take your medicine; we couldn't find an interrelation between metabolic disorders and clock disorders," Kramer told Live Science. "It's not only affecting people in their everyday life in jet lag, school hours and shift work. It's also affecting chronobiologists' arguments for keeping you better in sync the inside time with the outside time." The prize came as a surprise to at least one of the winners. Thomas Perlmann, the Nobel Commitee's Secretary, told journalists in Stockholm during a press conference that when he reached Rosbash by phone this morning, the scientist was silent, and then said, "You are kidding me." Scientists and researchers who gathered here to watch a live feed of the announcement at Charitehad written down their predictions for the winners but no one had guessed Hall, Young or Rosbash would get the award. Most had pegged the winner to be Emmanuelle Charpentier, director of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology here. Charpentier is more than just a hometown favorite; she has been predicted to win the prize for the last few years for the work on the gene-editing technology known as CRISPRCas9. "Science is always good for surprise," said Detlev Ganten, president of the World Health Summit. "I think very few people have predicted the winners." But Ganten added that circadian rhythm research is a "very important topic," that has not yet been fully incorporated into practical medicine. "The Nobel Prize has a great value in discovering great science that is known in a very specialized area," Ganten told Live Science. "Now it comes to the forefront. This will certainly stimulate research in this area." There are still big unanswered questions in circadian research. Kramer said it is not fully understood what role the clock plays in evolution, and it is still "really early days" in translating knowledge of the clock to the clinic. Further research, he said, could answer questions such as "What can we do to strengthen your clock? What can we do to avoid all these pathologies from disrupted or de-synchronized clocks?" Originally published on Live Science. This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The short answer is that cholera has evolved to infect humans, not hippos. Cholera is a disease caused by a curved rod-shaped bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. The disease is characterised by a profuse diarrhoea that resembles "rice water", and can lead to death within hours. Humans contract the disease from water contaminated with human sewage containing the bacteria. As cholera is a waterborne disease, it is prevalent in areas where human sanitation is lacking or less than ideal. Unlike many other diseases, it can't be passed to us from animals, as malaria is from mosquitoes. Once ingested by humans, the bacteria attach to the small intestine wall. There they reproduce, and produce a toxin called choleragen. The choleragen toxin is made up of two parts, called A and B. The B portion attaches the toxin to the cells in the intestine and the A portion chemically forces electrolytes and water from the intestinal cells themselves, thus leading to massive dehydration, diminished blood loss and ultimately death. Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria that causes cholera, only impacts humans, and can only be transmitted to new human hosts via contaminated water. It's likely that the disease mechanism is precisely adapted to human-specific molecules in the cell walls of our small intestine, and the molecular structure of the bacteria's toxins. Over millennia, both the disease-causing organism (pathogen) and host have been evolving counter-strategies against each other: the host to evade the pathogen, and pathogen to invade the host. These battles have led to the bacteria becoming host-specific, and now only able to infect humans. The cholera vaccine works by taking advantage of this close host/pathogen relationship. It inhibits the action of the B portion of the cholera toxin, hence it prevents the bacteria from attaching to the intestinal wall. Other waterborne diseases are caused by other pathogens (although the specific mechanisms or molecules involved differ). In some cases, as in cholera, the molecules required for infection are host-specific. Whilst other pathogens are not species specific, they are often associated with more closely-related species than less closely-related species. For example, foot and mouth disease affects cattle, sheep, deer and pigs, because they are all cloven-hoofed animals (Artiodatyla) and thus closely-related species. Hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibious and Choeropsis liberiensis) are more closely related to cetaceans (whales and dolphins), than humans, and therefore it is not surprising that they have different pathogens. That being said, hippopotamuses, like other animals, are likely to suffer from loose stools (dung) from time to time, whether due to other pathogens, or the quality of the huge amounts of plant material they ingest on a daily basis. Dung is super important in hippopotamus society. Hippopotamus defecation or "dung showering" involves flicking their tail at the same time as defecating to distribute their dung far and wide, hence dung is used to mark their territory and assert dominance. If hippopotamus dung spread a disease like cholera, it could be rapidly fatal for large populations. It is likely that the individuals affected would be removed by natural selection. Those that were resistant, or only mildly affected, would overcome the disease and live on to produce disease-resistant offspring. Over time, it is therefore likely hippopotamuses have adapted to their aquatic environments and thus rarely, if ever, become infected with waterborne diseases. * Email your question to alwayswondered@theconversation.edu.au * Tell us on Twitter by tagging @ConversationEDU with the hashtag #alwayswondered, or * Tell us on Facebook Julie Old, Associate Professor, Biology, Zoology, Animal Science, Western Sydney University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Local News, Crime By Long Island News & PR Published: October 02 2017 Officials: Anthony Parrinello, 27, struck a parked vehicle and continued onto the walkway of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, striking a woman. SCPD have arrested Anthony Parrinello of Babylon, 27, in connection with a motor vehicle crash that seriously injured a pedestrian in Babylon on Saturday, September 30. Babylon, NY - October 2, 2017 - Suffolk County Police First Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that seriously injured a pedestrian in Suffolk County Police First Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that seriously injured a pedestrian in Babylon, New York on Saturday, September 30, 2017 at approximately 6:25 p.m. Anthony Parrinello was driving a 2005 Ford F250 southbound on North Carll Avenue in front of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church at approximately 6:25 p.m. His vehicle struck a parked 2011 Nissan Pathfinder and continued onto the church walkway, striking a woman who was among a large number of people leaving the church after having attended Mass. The vehicle continued southbound, striking and knocking down a statue before coming to a stop in front of St. Josephs Nursery School. Parrinello, 27, of Babylon, was arrested and charged with Driving While Intoxicated. He was not injured in the crash. Parrinello was held overnight at the First Precinct and is scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on October 1. The vehicle was impounded for a safety check. The investigation is continuing and detectives are asking anyone with information about this crash, including cellphone video, to call the First Squad at 631-854-2 815 . Local News, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: October 02 2017 Signs Bipartisan Call for Elimination of Undemocratic Way District Lines are Drawn. Long Island, NY - October 2, 2017 - Congressman Tom Suozzi (D Long Island, Queens) has announced that he has joined current and former members of Congress on both sides of the aisle in signing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to end gerrymandering, the controversial manner by which politicians draw up districts to give their political party a distinct advantage. The brief was signed in support of plaintiffs from Wisconsin who are challenging the way that state has drawn up district boundaries. Suozzi will attend a rally outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday, when the High Court will be hearing arguments in Gill v. Whitford, the case in question. The amicus brief can be read here. The biggest problem in America today is partisan division. One primary root of the partisan divide in Congress is that over 400 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are considered safe seats. If you are a Republican in a Republican safe district or a Democrat in a Democratic safe district you are pretty much assured reelection, regardless of whether youre good at your job," said Rep. Suozzi. Suozzi added, It gets very difficult to compromise if you are set on only pleasing your base. There is no incentive to compromise or to find common ground. The only way to ensure more competitive congressional districts is to get rid of partisan gerrymandering. Im proud to join both Republicans and Democrats in this bipartisan push to have the Supreme Court end gerrymandering and create a system that is fair to voters. School & Education, Local News, Business & Finance By Long Island News & PR Published: October 02 2017 More than 210,000 Students Will Go to SUNY or CUNY Tuition-Free, Including Students Receiving Excelsior Scholarship, TAP, Pell, and Other Financial Aid. Albany, NY - October 2, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that approximately 53 percent of full-time SUNY and CUNY in-state students, more than 210,000 New York residents, are going to school tuition-free thanks to the addition of students receiving the Excelsior Scholarship. The Excelsior Scholarship is the first-in-the-nation program providing cost-free tuition at New York's public colleges and universities. This number also takes into account the very generous New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), Pell and other scholarships. "A college degree now is what a high school diploma was 30 years ago - it is essential to succeed in today's economy. Our first-in-the-nation Excelsior Scholarship is designed so more New Yorkers go to college tuition-free and receive the education they deserve to reach their full potential." Governor Cuomo said. "New York leads the nation in creating equal opportunity for all, and we will continue to work to ensure that access to a college degree is not determined by family finances but rather is available to all who work hard and dream big." So far, approximately 45,000 students have been determined eligible for the Excelsior Scholarship and will attend SUNY or CUNY tuition-free this year, including more than 23,000 who will have their tuition covered through TAP, Pell and other financial aid, and nearly 22,000 who will have their remaining tuition costs covered by the Scholarship. Students who learned of their eligibility for TAP and Pell through the Excelsior Scholarship application process may have otherwise been unaware of their ability to qualify for cost-free tuition. Excelsior Scholarship applicants who met the program's eligibility requirements received cost-free tuition. The number of Scholarship recipients, approximately 22,000 students, aligns with the State's initial projections for year one of the first-in-the- nation program. The number of students eligible for the Excelsior Scholarship will rise each year until fully implemented and, as there are still more than 6,000 applications pending final approval, the number of award recipients for this year is expected to rise. There are currently nearly 400,000 full-time in-state SUNY and CUNY students. The Excelsior Scholarship is being phased in over three years. For the 2017-18 academic year New Yorkers with household incomes up to $100,000 are eligible, increasing to $110,000 in 2018-19, and reaching $125,000 in 2019-20. Students must be enrolled in college full-time and complete 30 credits per year (including Summer and January semesters) in order to receive the funding. However, the program has built in flexibility so that any student facing hardship is able to pause and restart the program, and all recipients can take fewer credits one semester than another in completing 30 credits per year. Students are required to maintain a grade point average necessary for the successful completion of their coursework, and, as the program makes a major investment in the state's greatest asset - our young people - scholars will be required to live and work in-state after graduation for a duration equal to the number of years an Excelsior Scholarship was received. Dr. Guillermo Linares, Acting President of the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation, said, "The dream of an affordable college education is now a reality for tens of thousands of Excelsior Scholarship recipients. I'm proud of the role that HESC has played, and will continue to play in helping students fulfill this dream." SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson said, "Colleges and universities throughout The State University of New York and most importantly - SUNY students - have embraced the opportunity provided by Governor Cuomo's first-of-its-kind Excelsior Scholarship Program, and we are proud to welcome the first class of Excelsior Scholars to our campuses this semester. Increasing access to quality higher education - making it more affordable for more New Yorkers - will mean a brighter future for our graduates, our university system, and our state. We look forward to growing this innovative program and bringing even more students to SUNY tuition-free as eligibility increases over the next two years." Local News, Business & Finance, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness By Long Island News & PR Published: October 02 2017 In support of Jelly and to honor all those affected by this disease, the Aquarium is planning a Think Pink Weekend on October 14th and 15th. Riverhead, NY - October 2, 2017 - In October, the In October, the Long Island Aquarium is going PINK in support of Jelly, their North American River Otter. Earlier this year, Jellys devoted caregivers noticed a small lump developing near her left mammary gland. A team of veterinarians scheduled an exam and discovered that she had a tumor. She underwent surgery to remove the gland and the tumor, which was unfortunately determined to be malignant. Jelly came through the surgery without any complications and has been healing nicely. In support of Jelly and to honor all those affected by this disease, the Aquarium is planning a Think Pink Weekend on October 14th and 15th. Guests who visit that Saturday or Sunday and wear pink will get 20% off their Aquarium admission. The Aquarium will also solicit donations for the entire month of October, to be distributed tothe North Fork Breast Health Coalition. This local organization provides free services and financial support to survivors and those fighting breast cancer in the community. Guests can find out more about this organization at northforkbreasthealth.org At age 11, Jelly is on the older side for her species, but her caregivers are hoping that she has many more years with them at the Long Island Aquarium. She will receive the best care and welfare possible and the staff will make sure she is thriving and comfortable for the rest of her days. You can visit Jelly, along with her son Stark, at the Otter Falls exhibit. About Long Island Aquarium This privately-owned aquarium features one of the largest all-living coral reef displays in this hemisphere, a 120,000-gallon shark tank, year-round sea lion shows, numerous touch tanks, butterflies from all over the world, and more than 100 exhibits and interactive experiences, including Butterflies, Bugs& Birds, Shark Dive, Penguin Encounter, Pirate Snorkel, Shark Keeper, and more! Located in Riverhead, on the east end of Long Island, guests are encouraged to learn about what lives within the local waters, with exhibits showcasing local flora and fauna, as well as exotic, tropical displays. We are entering a new era in health care, where innovative technologies are frequently developed and introduced to health care workers. One of the most groundbreaking developments has been the use of robots to assist surgeons with complicated procedures. However, optimal training of physicians is crucial to ensure this technology is utilized in a safe and effective manner. Since robot-assisted surgeries can place human lives at stake, no one can argue that simulation is one of the safest most ethical training methods. One of the leaders in robotic surgery simulation training is a Seattle-based company called Mimic Technologies, which is the primary vendor for Intuitive Surgical Simulation Training. Mimic has several simulation products on the market, including the da Vinci Skills Simulator (a simulator co-developed between Mimic and Intuitive and sold by Intuitive that connects a high powered simulation computer directly to the da Vinci console to allow for simulation directly on the console) and dV-Trainer (a stand-alone robotic simulator developed and sold by Mimic). Mimic recently introduced FlexVR, the first portable, flexible and storable simulation system for robot-assisted surgery simulation training. We at Medgadget had the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Jeff Berkley, Mimics CEO and founder, during the MIS WEEK in San Francisco to learn more about FlexVR. Kenan Raddawi, MD, Medgadget: Mimic recently introduced a new simulation device called FlexVR. Can you tell us what FlexVR is and the idea behind this new device? Mimic, Dr. Jeff Berkley: Lets start with the issue of training in robotics. If you take laparoscopic surgery training, you can grab a couple laparoscopic instruments, get a shoebox and a ham hock and practice suturing. However, if your surgical device is a robot, it is a little different! It is not very often a hospital can afford a $1.8 million robot just for the purpose of training, so access is very much a challenge. Typically, training on the da Vinci robot takes place in the operating room, usually overnight or on the weekends, when the robot is not being used for surgery. This method limits training materials. Hospitals may have dry labs for practice, but if the robot is being used clinically, usually it cannot be used with animals in a wet lab. Unless you are fortunate enough to have an institution that has a dedicated wet lab system, which is rare, you need to travel somewhere to practice in a wet lab. The learning process for robot-assisted surgery is very challenging. We at Mimic wanted to take the training outside of the operating room. We started with the da Vinci Skills Simulator, which was a big step, and then, we introduced the dV-Trainer. In the last couple years we learned that access is very important. Therefore, the Mimic team thought if we can create a system that is even more accessible than the da Vinci Skills Simulator and the dV-Trainer, we have everything. Another advantage of coming up with a portable simulation system is that most Simulation Training Centers, and almost every hospital, are short on space. It is definitely a major advantage to have a simulator that can be used during robotic training and folded up and stacked away when not in use. We felt if you have this, we can take access to an entirely new level, and that was the main thinking behind the FlexVR. Medgadget: Can you give us more details about FlexVR? Dr. Berkley: FlexVR is a portable simulation unit, which you can actually take home. It looks almost like a large laptop, and it weighs around 40 pounds. The armrest unfolds and hooks to the table. FlexVR has an open 3D screen with an active display shutter glasses. This screen actually looks very similar to the screens we will see on some of the new robotic systems coming out, opposed to the immersive screen on da Vinci. One of the reasons we called the system FlexVR is that we wanted a flexible system with superior adaptability to the rapidly evolving technologies in surgical robotics. Medgadget: Who are the main target users for FlexVR? Dr. Berkley: They are users new to robot-assisted surgery, who have typically not used a robot before. FlexVR is a lower cost entry product. It doesnt have the fidelity of a surgeon console or a dV-Trainer, but it is close. FlexVR is designed for the new user who needs to know how to use the robot, perform basic skills, and/or wants to train for a certain procedure. The idea is that once you have trained on the FlexVR system, you would move on to use the real robot or the dV-Trainer for advanced training. Then, you would proceed to the operating room to do a wet lab. Hopefully, at this point, you are trained to a certain standard so that when you get to your first surgery, you preform on a very high level. There are definitely studies that showed with enough training, you could enter the operating room and perform your first case on an expert level. You dont need 70 to 200 cases to become proficient in robotic surgery. Medgadget: What are some of the compromises that Mimic made in order to build FlexVR? Dr. Berkley: The biggest expense in a simulation interface is haptic feedback. One of the nice things about the da Vinci Skills Simulator and dV-Trainer is that you have a neutralizing force where you dont hold your hands up in the air. This will give you significantly more accuracy and less fatigue. With the FlexVR, we have free-floating grips, so we took force feedback, which is extremely expensive, and we substituted it with tactile feedback (vibration). Therefore, if you are training on the FlexVR and you are outside of the workspace of a real robot, you are going to feel a vibration. If you try to do the crossovers, you are going to feel the vibration. We use tactile feedback to give people a warning, and hopefully, the vibration irritates you enough that it makes the user correct his/her behavior. The use of tactile feedback versus force feedback significantly reduces the cost of the device and is one of the reasons we have this new product that sells around the $30K-level instead of the $100K-level. This becomes very important when considering how simulators get purchased. At the $100K-level, it is considered capital expenditure. We would need to go to a committee, where people are more interested in devices like CT and MRI machines that generate clear revenue. As opposed to training devices like ours, which can lead to significant savings over time, most people like to make money versus save money. By keeping the price of our product low enough, a committee isnt necessary and it changes how the device can be purchased. Medgadget: I recently visited Mimic headquarters in Seattle, and I had the opportunity to trial all of Mimics simulation systems, including the FlexVR. I noticed that Mimic utilizes the same software throughout all of its various training devices. The software was spot-on in teaching how to perform manual dexterity with the robot. However, when it came to learning a procedure, Mimic opted to use videos of real surgeries, with limited interaction available to the trainee, instead of building a fully immersive virtual reality that trains users on the entire procedure. Could you tell us why you took this route and are there any plans to offer complete virtual reality surgeries in the future? Dr. Berkley: I did my PhD in continuous mechanical-based modeling of soft tissue. I would love to be able to tell you that we can model soft tissue perfectly like the human body, but unfortunately, we cant. We can simulate a single task with a few structures, like cuff closure or anastomosis, but when it comes to representing multiple deformable bodies, that is just not something we, or anybody else, has solved. Now remember, we are talking about surgery simulation, which is an $800 million industry. We are not working with large movie or video game budgets, and we have a much tougher problem to solve. We at Mimic use virtual reality for the complex tasks and an augmented reality for cognitive and hand-eye motor learning. We wanted to make sure that users will be able to look at each step of the procedure, but we didnt feel that we have to invest the amount of time and money to recreate it in virtual reality, as there is limited gain for that. The problem with basic skill training verses complete virtual reality training is once you go to the procedure, you have really raised the bar in complexity of modeling. If you take five surgeons and ask them how to perform a certain procedure, they are never going to agree. Its possible that they would disagree on 30 percent of the procedure. If we decided to spend a year plus creating a procedure using virtual reality, and we did it based on a particular surgeons approach, we have limited our audience to one procedure because not everybody performs that procedure. We have also limited ourselves to a subgroup in that discipline since certain users want to learn the surgery using surgeon As approach and not surgeon Bs approach. I can tell you that the interaction is going to be much more detailed as time goes on, but in our mind, our approach of using recordings of actual surgeries is much more economical and practical. Medgadget: Why didnt you use a personal computer to perform what FlexVR does where a user connects the pedals and controllers to a personal computer? Do you think Mimic stopped a step short by not offering such a training device instead of FlexVR? Dr. Berkley: We couldnt get the accuracy and fidelity that we have right now with FlexVR using the standard gaming components that are available in the field. We felt that FlexVR is the device that would have the minimum fidelity we needed, and we would be able to represent the hardware of the robot a little bit better than what a personal computer would offer. We would love to make FlexVR smaller, but here is one of the problems. When it comes to 3D displays, a good projection of 3D images is a function of how big the display is. With smaller screens, you would not be able to obtain good-quality 3D image projection, and it is not going to be nearly as rich as the 3D environment on the actual robot. There was a certain size that we had to use. We still tried to make the FlexVR small enough that you can check it onto a commercial flight. Flashback: FlexVR, a New Robotic Surgery Simulator Lets Docs Practice Anywhere Link: Mimic Technologies by Tanya Gazdik , October 2, 2017 Allegiant Air, MGM Resorts, Chili's, the Las Vegas Visitor and Convention Authority and Live Nation are among the brands that have reacted to the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air announced on its Facebook page Monday afternoon that it would fly families of the Las Vegas shooting victims to the city for free, saying it was heartbroken by the tragedy in its hometown. MGM Resorts is providing crisis counseling to hotel guests or employees affected by the horrific shooting. The hotel company, which operates 13 properties on the Las Vegas strip, also is offering hugely discounted rooms to family members of victims flying to Las Vegas. Some companies and brands reacted to the news and ensuing national wave of depression by delaying campaign launches. Chilis is one national brand that delayed plans to launch new work on Monday. Chili's is very focused internally on taking care of its employees in the area, said a spokesperson for the brand. advertisement advertisement The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the nations largest all-volunteer drug education group ELKS DAP (Drug Awareness Program) are partnering with the YouTube comedy brand SMOSH to introduce the anti-drug program's first digital and social drug awareness campaign aimed at teens. They planned to launch today but have put it on hold, according to a spokesperson. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority had recently announced plans for a new effort called HyperVegas. Those efforts are likely on hold as the bureau posted a hyperlink on its main web page directing visitors to a page with the header How to Help. It includes a statement from LVCVA President Rossi Ralenkotter. The thoughts and prayers of all of Las Vegas go out to the victims and their families, Ralenkotter says in the statement. This was a horrific, yet isolated, incident. At this time, it is important to allow the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police to conclude their investigation into the incident and to attend to the needs of the victims and their families. Las Vegas is a strong community that will work through this tragic incident. We are grateful beyond words to our incomparable law enforcement, first responders and everyone who continues to help victims and their families. "The entire Las Vegas community is saddened by the events that occurred on the Strip on Sunday evening, but touched by the overwhelming support and strength of our first responders and the Las Vegas community," according to the web page, which goes on to list phone numbers to call for those looking for information on loved ones or missing persons. There is also information on where to donate blood in the area. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the entire Las Vegas community thanks you for your support as we continue to heal and help those in need in the wake of this horrible tragedy, according to the web page. Live Nation also issued a statement: We are heartbroken over the tragedy that took place at the Route 91 Harvest festival. To think that anyone would want to inflict harm on a gathering of music lovers is beyond our comprehension. And while we are stunned and grieving over this incomprehensible act of violence, we know that this is a moment when we must come together to prevent more tragedies like this from occurring. Live Nation will do everything in our power to support the victims and their families through the aftermath of this horrendous event and extends our deepest gratitude to the heroic first responders who helped save as many lives as possible. To our Live Nation on-site employees, we cannot thank you enough for your bravery and perseverance over the past 24 hours and will ensure you have the resources and support necessary to heal from this. 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. 01.10.2017 LISTEN Accra, Sept. 29, GNA - Africa's largest airline group, Ethiopian Airlines and Azul Brazilian Airlines have entered a codeshare agreement effective October 01, 2017. Through the codeshare partnership Ethiopian Airlines will add its flight code (ET) in Azul's operations; hence, customers will be able to purchase tickets directly from Ethiopian Airlines sales channels to fly to seven Brazilian destinations operated by Azul. A statement issued in Accra signed by Mrs Hanna Atnafu, Manager Corporate Communications, and Ethiopian Airlines and copied to the GNA said reciprocally, Azul airlines would market on Ethiopian vast network throughout Africa and beyond. Mr Girma Shiferaw, Acting Vice-President Corporate Strategy and Alliance, said 'I wish to thank our colleagues at Azul Brazilian Airlines, for the successful conclusion of this codeshare agreement.' 'The codeshare agreement will entitle our esteemed customers travelling between Asia and Middle East and Africa and Brazil, the best possible connectivity options to multiple Brazilian destinations,' he said. He said the agreement would also underpin people-to-people, investment, trade and tourism ties between Africa and Brazil. He said as a successful Pan-African carrier, they were positioned to collaborate with multiple Airlines with a common ambition and joint effort to expand their footprint to different destinations across the world and that the milestone was a good case in point. Mr Marcelo Bento, Azul's Alliances Director said "the codeshare with Ethiopian Airlines will be very important to strengthen our international presence, especially for customers travelling from Africa and Middle East and Asia to Brazil.' He said passengers now would be able to enjoy the convenience of buying tickets and issuing boarding passes and experience the excellent service of Azul on flights from their country. Initially, Ethiopian Airlines may place its code in Azul's operations from SAo Paulo (Guarulhos) to Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Goiania, Porto Alegre, CuiabA, Foz do IguaAu and Florianopolis. The routes offer fast and convenient connections for customers leaving Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, to SAo Paulo. Moreover, the agreement works reciprocally; allowing both Airlines Customers to enjoy connectivity in their respective Hubs. Ethiopian Airlines currently flies to more than 100 international passenger and cargo destinations in 5 continents, out of which 55 are in Africa. Azul, in turn, concentrates its two largest distribution centers in Sao Paulo (Viracopos) and Belo Horizonte with more than 200 departures for more than 80 Brazilian destinations. Wa, Sept. 29, GNA - High loans delinquency rate still remain the number one daunting challenge threatening the future of the Wa Community Co-operative Credit Union, which had resulted in 28 defaulters being taken to court. Naa Bawa Seidu, the WACCU Board Chairman, who disclosed this during the 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Wa, said out of the number nine cases had been successfully dealt with and the monies recovered while the Union was in the process of obtaining judgment for the remaining 19. 'A fresh list of 20 members has been approved for court in the coming financial year,' he said. Naa Seidu noted that despite the challenges, the net surplus of WACCU increased significantly from GH200,000.00 to GH409,000.00 during the year under review, adding that this performance constituted 67 per cent of the budget for the 2017 financial year. He stated, however, that they were unable to credit members with interest on their savings for the last two quarters of the financial year as a result of some technical problems, but gave the assurance that those problems would be resolved in the coming year for members to be credited with all their interests. The WACCU Board Chairman disclosed that total savings grew from GH8,600,000.00 to GH12,200,000.00 translating into a 42 per cent over the 2016 financial year. While commending the female members and their groups/organisations, Naa Seidu took the opportunity to encourage their male counterparts to step up their game in terms of savings habit. 'Only our male members had the average savings per member being below the institutional average and that was very poor,' he said. Mr Yussif Suleman, the Chairman of the WACCU Supervisory Committee, made a passionate appeal to members to borrow wisely and repay their loans promptly in order not to jeopardise the future of the great Union. He mentioned the review of monthly Internal Audit Report and verification of source documents; review of monthly financial statements of WAACU; review and loan operations; risk assessment of operational activities and checking compliance with WACCU's by-laws among others. Mr. Suleman appealed to all members, especially those in leadership positions, to shelve their individual interests and work collectively for the common good of the Union. 'Let us remember that having unity of purpose was our greatest strength and asset,' he said. GNA By Prosper K. Kuorsoh, GNA 01.10.2017 LISTEN Accra, Sept. 29, GNA - The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has launched the phase II of the Integrated Business Establishment Survey (IBES) report on Thursday in Accra. The report examines operational statistical of business by sector, size of business and focuses on deriving trading account of business, which covers revenue, cost of production of goods and services and the gross profit. It also examined the detail sources of receipt of business and sources of cost of production and capital formation, which covers depreciation, additions to fixed and disposal assets and stock of fixed assets. Mr Baah Wadieh, the Acting Government Statistician said the overall objective of the IBES was to provide reliable, timely and relevant economic statistics to support the formulation and implementation of policies and strategies to stimulate growth in all sectors of the economy. The specific objectives are to obtain data on production, as a basis for government and business analysis and decision making and measure the contribution of each sector and region to Ghana's production. It is also to provide bench mark data for debasing and updating the Gross Domestic Product of the annual GSS survey of industry and other economic series and to provide data needed to estimate and re-base the gross value added for all sectors in the Ghanaian economy. He said key findings from the survey shows that over 70 per cent of all revenue generated by establishment was concentrated only in the Greater Accra (G/A) alone which does not align well with the objectives of decentralization. Out of over three million persons engaged, 36 per cent worked in establishment located in Greater Accra, 16.9 per cent in Ashanti Region and 10.3 per cent worked in establishments in the Western Region. Mr Wadieh said the GSS had over the past years produced policy relevant reports, which if used exhaustively will enhance evidence based decision-making, adding that, the IBES report was another classical relevant policy document. He said IBES was the first economic census ever to be conducted in Ghana, which covered all sectors of the Ghanaian economy. Mr Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, Minister of Trade and Industry said the scarcity of comprehensive statistics on businesses at all levels in Ghana was a major concern to the Ministry and, therefore, the availability of the IBES II report was expected to fill important data gaps in the policy discourse. He said since the last industrial census was conducted in Ghana in 2003, it took a decade to produce another comprehensive set of statistics on businesses, thereby, bringing an end the lack of this type of data which were vitally needed for policy planning at the ministry. Mr Kyerematen said government had no choice than to facilitate all processes that would make the private sector become the real engine of growth. This he said was the only way to the quest for human centered growth and development, as quality jobs would be created to improve the welfare of the populace. 'I believe that the government initiative of one district-one factory would be the beginning of solving this inequality,' he said. He said whilst the regional disparities call for a concerted effort at embarking on policies and programmes beyond the One District-One Factory programme, this will ensure an enabling environment required for businesses in the other regions to attract entrepreneurs. The Trade Minister said even though data collection in our part of the world is a very expensive venture, the positive impact of the use of a good quality data like the IBES II report cannot be over emphasized. He urged support for the GSS in the production of relevant, timely and accurate statistics as Ghanaians are aware of a worry phenomenon associated with undertaking business surveys in Ghana. Dr Philomena Nyarko, a Former Government Statistician said the service sector was still the driver of Ghana's economy according to the figures shown in the report. She said what was coming from the service sector was because of Ghana's oil find and the performance of the insurance industry. She commended the GSS for the good work done, as it was a difficult task to conduct surveys and research for information of a kind in the country. Accra, Sept. 30, GNA - The Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, has launched its 2016 edition of the Ghana Social Development Outlook (GSDO) report. The biennial report examines the progress, prospects, and challenges of social development in Ghana and offers policy prescriptions across various social sectors. Since 2012 the Social Division of the ISSER, has produced the GSDO as a flagship evidence-based research and analysis document. The third edition in the series (GSDO 2016) has thematic areas such as health, education, employment, housing, governance, water and sanitation, energy and environment. The report indicates that in 2014/2015 68 per cent of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates transitioned from junior high school into senior high school; implying the 32 per cent of them truncated their education at the JHS level and were thrown prematurely into the job market. On the health sector, it said maternal mortality declined from 503 in 2005 to 144 in 2014; of which the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) might have played a major role. On sanitation the report said about 32 per cent of rural household in Ghana do not have toilet facilities, while the corresponding figure for rural savannah was about 72 per cent. Professor George Gyan-Baffour, the Minister of Planning, who formally launched the report on Wednesday in Accra, said the report would go a long way to make his work easier as the chairman of the inter-ministerial committee on SDGs. He said: 'We will work closely with you on the data to report on the implementation of the SDGs. We will also work closely with you in monitoring the implementation of the government's coordinated programme for economic and social development of this country, which runs from 2017 to 2024. 'And also with the Medium Term Development Policy Framework 2018 to 2021, which feeds into the national budget.' Professor Gyan-Baffour lauded ISSER for the report adding that government was committed to implement its recommendations for the benefit of citizenry. Prof Felix Ankomah Asante, the Director, ISSER, said the GSDO 2016 comes at a time that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) had ended and we now have the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said a number of chapters of the report were devoted to discuss the legacy of the MDGs on various dimensions of social development policy and practice in Ghana and looks ahead to what the SDGs might mean for the country. On data quality issues, which were carried in the report, Prof Asante said: 'This is an area, which has been neglected. As a country, we are not investing in data collection and neither are we making sure that data collected is of good quality'. 'We can achieve our development goal if we have good data to monitor the progress we are making. For us to be able to monitor the SDGs, we need good data,' he added. He cited that the use of data to make a case for or against a policy was the mandatory towing issue; declaring that 'because of poor data, the reason for which we should have such a system could not be articulated'. Dr Nana Akua Anyidoho, Senior Research Fellow/Coordinator, GSDO 2016, said Ghanaians were very passionate about education; stating that 'as we believe, it is the only way which will help us have a better life'. She said tertiary education has been partially neglected when it comes to policy making, she suggested that more attention should be paid to quality education by assessing learning outcomes. Accra, Sept. 30, GNA - The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority is to finalize a consumer protection directive that would protect the interest and farewell of airline passengers. Ghana has ratified the Montreal Convention of 1999, which deal with passenger rights and protection. The draft passenger rights and consumer protection directive will address consumer protection issues and set out types of compensation for overbooking, denied boarding, delays and cancellation of flights among others. Mrs Joyce Anakwa Thompson, Director, Legal, International Relations/Communication, said the compensation will take different forms including rerouting, issues of hotels, refreshment, and phone calls among others. She said the directive deals with passengers' right and Airport obligations to passengers. She said some of the provisions in the directives are right to care, upgrading / downgrading persons with disability, obligation to inform passengers of their rights and misleading advertising. Mrs Thompson said on compensation, domestic flights will pay 100.00 payable at the Ghana cedis equivalent at a prevailing bank rates, while for Regional flights 300.00 and for International flights 600.00 should be paid. She urged Air operation to get themselves acquainted with the new directive to be implemented adding that any breach of these direction will attract sanctions or punishments. Mr Simon Allotey, Director-Gen, GCAA, said there was a need for more education on the directive for operations and consumers. He said various consumers' initiative have been taken in other countries and it is time Ghana also join in that regard. He said the authority was still opened receiving inputs from stakeholders in the industry to the finally come out with the directives. Mrs Gloria Yirenkyi, Country Manager South African Airline, said the directive seems to be looking at the consumer interest more than the Airlines. 'It seems the directive is over protective of the consumer' she added. She said it will be in the interest of the Airlines to negotiate the compensation fee. 02.10.2017 LISTEN Accra, Sept 30, GNA - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Government of Ghana will host the Seventh Annual Pre-harvest Agribusiness Event on October 19, in Tamale. A statement issued by the USAID Advance Project and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the event was being organised through Feed the Future's Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) project and serves as a platform for farmers to establish business relationships for the 2017 maize, rice, and soybean harvest. 'The event is expected to bring together over 1,000 farmers, buyers, input dealers, manufacturers, government officials, development partners and financial institutions, among others,' it said. 'The agribusiness event aims to expand businesses and forge new partnerships to promote the growth of Ghana's agricultural sector. 'The theme for this year's pre-harvest is 'Keep Going, No U-Turn,' encourages agribusinesses working in the rice, maize and soy value chains to adopt best practices and seek new partnerships, to ensure the achievements made within the industry are sustained,' the statement added. 'The 2017 Annual Pre-Harvest Agribusiness Event promises to be one of the largest gatherings of value chain actors since the inception of the program seven years ago,' remarked Chief of Party for ADVANCE Dr Emmanuel Dormon. 'It is very important for us to use this year's event to celebrate what we have achieved, but also find ways of ensuring sustainability,' he added. The statement said over the years, the event had helped farmers access new market opportunities and higher yielding seeds to increase agricultural productivity. It noted that the event would feature an exhibition showcasing leading agricultural organizations in the areas of seed production, fertilizer, storage, machinery and technology. It said participants would have the opportunity to network with over 1000 agribusinesses. Feed the Future is the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative. With a focus on smallholder farmers, particularly women, Feed the Future supports partner countries in developing their agriculture sectors to spur economic growth and trade that increase incomes and reduce hunger, poverty, and under-nutrition. For more information, visit www.feedthefuture.gov. The Feed the Future Agricultural Development and Value Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) Project, through USAID, is a five-year project implemented by a consortium led by ACDI/VOCA. The project's main goal is to increase the competitiveness of the maize, rice, and soya value chains in Ghana and aims to reach more than 113,000 smallholder farmers by end of 2018. GNA 02.10.2017 LISTEN Accra, Sept. 30, GNA - Ms Otiko Afisah Djaba, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), has said Ghana's economy thrives on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) dominated by women in the informal sector. She said female entrepreneurs continue to work under difficult conditions than their male counterparts but have less access and control over the most critical economic resources such as land and credit and the impediments from negative socio-cultural and political factors. This, she said, has limited many women from achieving their full potential and neglected them to a complementary role in national development. Ms Afisah Djaba was speaking at a policy dialogue on inclusiveness of market women in national development through partnership over the weekend in Accra. The dialogue was held to create a platform for street and market vendors, kayayei, slum dwellers and the entire informal sector workers in Accra to deliberate on critical matters affecting market women who are dominant in the informal sector. It was also to engage policy makers and government appointees on pertinent issues concerning their conditions of work. She use the opportunity to extend her appreciation to the United Nation for appointing President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, as the Gender Champion and Co-chair of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ms Afisah Djaba said statistics in the 2014 World Bank report indicate that women in Ghana are the most disadvantaged in terms of economic, social and political opportunities in spite of constituting about 52 per cent of the population and 49.71 per cent of the active labour force. She said it was also a fact that, females are major wage earners in many families yet their labour was not accounted for whilst the informal sector was again disadvantaged with highly risky working environment with little or non- existent infrastructural support, such as educational facilities, sanitation and health. The Minister said the MoGCSP has undertaken several interventions to propel women's effective participation in economic growth of the country and shown commitment regarding the adoption of vigorous policies and programmes to overcome gender inequality and promote women's empowerment, guarantee the rights of women and children and advance social justice. She said Ghana has adopted a National Gender Policy, 2015 which seeks to mainstream gender concerns in all the planning processes of respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies. 'The Ministry's flagship project, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) cash transfer programme has since its inception provided bi-monthly cash grants to over 943,842 extreme poor individuals as at the end of 2016, out of this figure 56 per cent are women. 'The School feeding programme is another social intervention which is a big opportunity to use Ghana's home grown food and ingredients to provide one hot and balanced meal per day to children of the beneficiary schools to reduce hunger and malnutrition and to increase school retention rate; especially for girls.' The NPP Government has decided to set aside 50 per cent of the Micro Finance and Small Loans Center (MASLOC), funds for female applicants as part of its strategic interventions to ensure gender equality and women empowerment. Madam Mercy Naa Afrowa, President of the Greater Accra Market Women Association, expressed gratitude to the Ministry for showing concern and organizing the programme. GNA By Amadu Kamil Sanah, GNA About 10 people have been confirmed dead after the Yutong Bus they were traveling in from Accra to Kumasi, grazed the side of an oncoming vehicle and veered off its lane at Abepotia, a village near Nkawkaw on Sunday morning. Confirming the incident to Citi News, the Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh, also said out of the 54 passengers on board the bus, 33 sustained various degrees of injury, and are in critical condition at the Nkawkaw Holy Family Hospital. 14 other passengers have been treated and discharged. So far, we have recorded 10 causalities. There were 54 passengers on the Yutong bus that was traveling from Accra heading towards Kumasi. And upon reaching Abepotia, the Yutong bus allegedly after entering a single lane, instead of driving on its lane, drove on the other lane of the oncoming cars, so it grazed a side of a trailer that was coming from Kumasi towards Accra. 10 passengers out of the 54 died on the spot, and 33 are still on admission, and 14 have been treated and discharged. He added that one out of the ten bodies deposited at the Holy Family Hospital Morgue is suspected to be a civil servant, and called on family members who have not heard from their relatives to come and identify the bodies. Driver detained Mr. Tetteh, also confirmed that the driver of the Yutong bus is in custody, but the whereabouts of the trailer driver is still unknown. But for the negligence of the driver of the Yutong bus, this accident is a very very avoidable accident, he noted. By: Nii Amartey Kanarku/Ann-Shirley Ziwn/citifmonline.com/Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo will from October 2 to October 8, embark on a 7-day tour of the three Northern regions, as part of his tour of the country. He will begin his tour with a 2-day visit to the Upper West Region, where, he will on Monday, inspect and commission the Wa Water Supply Project. He will later, in the day, meet with the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, in Wa. The President will round off his tour of the Upper West Region with visits to Lawra, Nandom, Sissala and Tumu, where he will interact with the Chiefs and people of these towns. On Wednesday, he commencing a 2-day tour of the Upper East Region with a durbar of Chiefs in Bolgatanga, and a visit to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital. He will also visit the Vea dam, Tamne dam, and inspect ongoing works on the Bolgatanga-Bawku Road. On Friday, 6th October, President Akufo-Addo will begin his 3-day tour of the Northern Region with a courtesy call on the overlord of Mamprugu land, the Nayiri, Naa Bohigu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga. At Damongo, on the same day, the President is expected to call on the overlord of Gonjaland, the Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Boresa I. At Yendi, on Saturday, 7th October, the President will call on the Regent of Dagbon, the Kampakuya Na, Yakubu Abdulai Andani II; and the Bolin Lana, Mahamadu Abdulai. The President will also be in the Saboba constituency to interact with residents. President Akufo-Addo will round off his tour of the Northern Region on Sunday, 8th October, with a visit to Salaga, where he will pay a courtesy call on the Kpembewura, Babanye Ndefosu II. In the run-up to the December 2016 election, on September 1, 2016, the Kpembewura predicted a 53% margin of victory for the then-presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, when the latter paid a courtesy call on him as part of his campaign tour of the Northern Region. The President ends his tour of Northern Region with a visit to the Avnash Rice Mills in Nyankpala, in the Tolon constituency, before returning to Accra. Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline The CEO of Appolonia City, Bright Owusu-Amofah, has won the Real Estate and Development category at the recently concluded Ghana 40 under 40 Awards. It was organised to identify, honour and celebrate a cross-section of Ghanas most influential and accomplished young business leaders under the age of 40. The awards based the nominations on the commitment to business growth, professional excellence, and community service. Mr Owusu-Amofah dedicated his award to the management, staff, partners, as well as the clients of Appolonia City and its developer, Rendeavour, Africas largest urban developer. Appolonia City CEO at the event My industrious, dedicated and efficient team at Appolonia City have been a force to reckon with. I know this will spur us on to greater heights to offer Ghanaians a unique master-planned city, fulfilling our ambitious vision, he said. The Appolonia City project, a partnership between Rendeavour and the Chiefs, elders and community of the Appolonia stool in Ghana, is the only large-scale city development project in the country that has moved beyond concept development stage and into execution. The project continues to see growth and is expected to catalyse over USD 1 billion of foreign direct investment and employ tens of thousands of Ghanaians over the projects lifetime. All winners at the 40 under 40 Awards were selected by an awarding board. Accounting firm EY compiled entries with further support provided by the Ministry of Business Planning, as well as other institutions. The Twenty-Six (26) assemblies in the Northern Region are to contribute Ghc130,000, which comes to GHc 5,000 each, towards President Akufo-Addos 3-day official visit to the region beginning October 6, 2017. Nana Addo will also be in the Upper East and West Regions during the 7-day trip. A circular sighted by citifmonline.com stated that, in a bid to put together the required arrangements for a successful tour, each assembly is required to contribute the GHc 5,000. The Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) caucus of the Northern Region, later authenticated a GHc5, 000 circular issued by the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC). The said circular went viral on both mainstream and social media, and misconstrued that the Regional Coordinating Council made such request as part of resources mobilization for the upkeep of the Presidents delegation. Dean of the Northern Region MMDCEs caucus, Mohammed Hashim Abdullah, in a Citi News interview corroborated the reports, but dismissed the assertion that it was to cater for the Presidents entourage. According to the Mion District Chief Executive, it was a unilateral decision arrived at the end of the caucus meeting ahead of the Presidents visit. He explained that the measure was adopted to avoid any bloated expenditure by the various assemblies in connection with the Presidents visit, as has happened over the years. This, he noted, is to deepen social accountability and auditing in line with governments corruption fight agenda. Mohammed Hashim Abdullah recalled that there were records of similar occurrences in the past, hence the move to stop it. He said the Regional Coordinating Council would investigate the leakage of the circular to safeguard confidential documents at the various assemblies. He advised public servants to remain neutral and exhibit the highest professionalism during the discharge of their official duties. Although the presidency has its own budgetary allocation, assemblies in all successive governments are often forced to bear part of such cost for the presidents trips, despite the huge financial challenges most of them are faced with, which hampers development. Most of these assemblies have not received their full budgetary allocations from the Central Government, and they also generate very little on their own. Nana Addo to begin 7-day tour of Northern Ghana on Monday The 7-day tour which begins on October 2, will see the President also visit the Upper East and West Regions. It is however unclear whether in both regions with 13 and 11 MMDAs respectively, a similar decision has been taken on the amount to be contributed towards the visit. By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana 02.10.2017 LISTEN It is not only the ministers (priests) that should purify themselves, the congregation should also. This must happen before God would come down to dwell amongst us in the fullness of His glory. There is so much filthiness in the church today. You find people who tell you they are Christians but live like devils. Today, harlots claim to be Christians. Thieves, cheats, cultists, liars are all Christians. Why? Because they bear Christian names and also go to church. And who are you to query their Christianity? They also speak in tongues like you, sing well and involve in all the charismatic displays. But did God not say that He sees beyond the outward displays, that He looks at the inside? We must all come before God in repentance today. We must purify ourselves if we expect His presence to come and abide with us. Look at what happened in Exodus 19; when God decided to come down on Mount Sinai to meet the children of Israel. He first told Moses His intention of bringing them out of Egypt: to be a special treasure, Kingdom of priests and a holy nation to Him. After that, He told Moses to go and purify the children of Israel for He would come down to meet them, "Go down and prepare the people for my visit. Purify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing. Be sure they are ready on the third day, for I will come down upon Mount Sinai as all the people watch (Verse ten). When Moses came to them he relayed God's message, and I love the words he used for that, "Get ready!" Bringing down God's presence needs a conscious arrangement. It takes a process. It involves obedience, discipline and purity. Moses told them, "If you desire it, then put yourselves in order. Purify yourselves! They did just that and heaven came down. The bible said that on the morning of the third day, "There was a powerful thunder and lightning storm, and a dense cloud came down upon the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram's horn, and all the people trembled. Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. All Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the LORD had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook with a violet earthquake. As the horn blast grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply for all to hear. The LORD came down on the top of mountain Sinai... " (Verses sixteen to twenty). Great! When the people obeyed God and purified themselves, He had no choice than to come down with the majesty of His eternal throne. His supernatural manifestation of His presence was the result. The bible said that there was powerful thundering and lightning storms, blasting, fire and heavy smoke. And tell me what can stand these. When we do our part, then we will see God in the fullness of His glory. PRAISE Now, go back to our main story in 2 Chronicles 5. After the priests purified themselves and performed their duties, it became the turn of the musicians. The music ministers and different musical instruments were assembled, and they sang praises to God. They sang that God is good and that His faithful love endures forever. They praised God. We cannot draw down the presence of God without praise and worship; especially the praise that comes from a clean life. When you praise God, the gates of heaven will open for you. Some of us do not know that as you have the gates on earth and in hell, that there are also gates of heaven. For the gates on earth, you use physical keys to open them. For the gates of hell, you use spiritual weapons to unlock. But for the gate of heaven, you must use the prescribed keys - Praise and worship. David gave us an insight into this in Psalm 100: 1-4, "Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth! Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise... " Praise will open (at any time) the courts and gates of God for you. David knew this secret and that was why he said that God's praise will continually be on his lips. He also said that he will sing of His praise all the days of his life, and also to all the generations. No wonder, God could not resist favouring him. No wonder, God gladly said that David was a man after His heart. David was faithful in giving Him His 'food' - praise. He praised him in the morning, afternoon and night. A man of praise and worship will constantly dwell in the presence of the Most High. He will always attract the king of Glory and His hosts around him. I have personally seen hosts of heaven around me during and after long high praise. A man/woman of praise wiil always be a friend of the angels. He/she will never expire in His presence. I totally agree with David on this. One of the things that triggered and sustains my relationship with God and growth in the ministry is praise (and worship). Most of the divine revelations, empowerment and covenants I have with Him also came through this process. Praise will always touch God's heart. So if you want to endear yourself to Him, become from today a man/woman of praise. When I say that I love doing my battles through midnight prayer, it may interest you to know that I spend most part of the period on praise and worship. When you do that (I mean spend hours to praise God in the midnight ), God will lead you to some top secrets of life, secrets of His kingdom, and also take you through His gates and courts. Live a life of praise and thanksgiving and you will always be in the presence of God. Praise Him day and night. Praise Him in your bedroom. Praise Him while driving. Praise Him in the midst of difficulties. Praise Him for He is our maker. Praise Him for He is the king of the whole universe. Praise Him from a holy life. PRAYER After the musicians performed, king Solomon began to pray. Praise and worship before prayer. You can only get things from God (prayer), when His gates have been opened for you through praises. Solomon prayed and reminded God of all His promises to Israel and to his father David. When you pray according to the word and promises of God, you leave Him with no choice than to show up. This is simply because He can never deny His words. You must throw them back to Him in prayer. When you do this He will come down in His supernatural presence to confirm them. Solomon took time to pray. He prayed throughout the whole chapter six of the second chronicles. A whole chapter! It was a comprehensive prayer session. I will always support Christians (churches) praying long enough. It is very true that the longer you stay in the presence of God, the higher His manifestation. We must spend time before God, if we actually want the manifestation of His presence. We must curtail the time and resources we put into wasteful, competitive, ego-boosting programmes and activities, and give more time to real praying. Only then will we start witnessing the fullness of His abiding presence. Till next week, God bless! Rev. Gabriel Agbo is the author of the book Power of Midnight Prayer Tel: 08037113283 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.authorsden.com/pastorgabrielnagbo Kenneth Waltz and Morgenthau would have found contemporary international system very interesting for their confirmation and clear manifestation of their theoretical assumptions. Nuclear proliferation brings into perspective, the real state of the international system, the efficacy of international regimes and compliance in the face of anarchy and the machinations from the unseen hands of security dilemma. Traditionally, countries which had been known to pursue rigorous nuclear programs had much economic clout. If North Koreas economy is seen as an underdog by US secretaries of Defense, then we may not be far from giving credence to claims that North Korea may be receiving funding and intelligence from its soviet colonial master Russia. The regime of young Kim has brought to the core of international relations a new form of realism. In my perspective, the North spearheaded by Kim has nearly fulfilled all the assumptions of realism which I call irrational Realism. Whiles countries are striving to improve the economies of their countries, North Korea is channeling resources to its nuclear program and impoverishing its citizens. I cannot really fathom the rationale behind the Kims aggressive nuclear program. Since 2012, never had a month passed without the world being kept awake with news about nuclear weapons by North Koreas State Media. The current rhetoric has come to rests on the assumption of which state has much nuclear power but little concern has been directed towards the number of fatalities and chemical dangers that innocent citizens would be exposed to if either of these states were to strike. The future is unpredictable and we never know the kind of danger the world would be exposed to, if recent 21st Century terrorists get access to classified nuclear intelligence. North Korea has been no joke since the leadership of Kim Jong-un in 2012. The target of his foreign policies seems to be very opaque. While it tries to deter the US from invading its soils, the South has not been at peace from constant accusations of underhand dealings with the CIA to overthrow his regime. The mass production of these weapons poses great threats to not only its perceived adversary; the US, Japan and South Korea, but the entire world. The state of affairs in North Korea breaches Article 6 of the UN charter. North Korea and U.S relations have remained hostile since the Korean War. These countries continue to threaten each other with their nuclear capabilities. However, the relations between the two countries in recent times keeps escalating. There have been exchanges of words between the leaders of both countries which continue to increase the possibility of a nuclear war between the two countries. This ongoing threat has engendered speculations of a possible nuclear war between them. The nuclear capabilities of North Korea continue to pose a threat to South Korea, Japan and US. They carried out two test launches of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile in June. Trump warned that North Korea would be met with fire and furry like the world has never seen if they continue to do so. Ignoring Trumps warning, North Korea threatened to carry out a test of nuclear weapon on Guam, the tip of the spear of US defense which is a vital US military base. Trump responded again to North Koreas threat on Guam saying, military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed sanctions on the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) on their threat to turn Guam into an unimaginable sea of fire. Could sanctions work? Numerous sanctions have been imposed on North Korea by the UNSC since 2006 yet North Korea seem not to be remorseful about their actions. The UNSC passed Resolution 1718 in 2006 which required the DPRK to stop the test of nuclear weapons and also restricted luxury and military exports such as combat aircraft, missiles, armaments, and nuclear technology. This resolution imposed a set of commercial and economic sanctions on the DPRK after their nuclear test on October 9, 2006. This sanction required member states to inspect Cargos entering North Korea. After the resolution, Dak Gil Yan, a representative of North Korea in the UN at the time said, If US further pressure North Korea, we will continue taking nuclear tests and other physical measures. On May 25, 2009. North Korea conducted a second nuclear test as said by their UN emissary in 2006. This test led to the adoption of Resolution 1874, another sanction by the UNSC in June 2009. This resolution imposed further commercial sanctions on North Korea. In response to the UNSC reaction, the DPRK considered any further sanctions as an act of war declaration. As was stated in the Korean Central News Agency that any new sanctions and blockade on North Korea would be considered as an act of war that would be met with a decisive military response. It further accused US and Japan of adding their own sanctions to the 1874 resolution. On December 12, 2012. North Korea launched a sky-rocket satellite. The UNSC was compelled to adopt resolution 2087 in January 2013. The UNSC imposed additional sanctions on North Korea and further strengthened resolutions 1718 and 1874. The UN further urged several countries to seize and destroy military and research cargos going to North Korea. North Korea conducted a third nuclear underground test in 2013 as the states media announced. This led to the imposition of Resolution 2094 on March 7, 2013 by the UNSC on the DPRK. The idea behind this imposition was to keep North Korea out of the international financial system as they imposed sanctions on money transfers of North Korea. This resolution also beseeched other states to heed to the resolution and apply the sanctions. However, on January 2016 and February 2016, North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test and launched a long-range missile respectively. The UNSC therefore adopted Resolution 2270 on March 2, 2016. This resolution strengthened its sanctions on North Korea by banning the exports of titanium, gold, metals, coal, iron and other minerals. Members of the international community also imposed independent sanctions such as withdrawal from trade agreements with North Korea. Two days after the adoption of the resolution, North Koreas Minister of Foreign Affairs came out with a replied statement, North Korea flatly rejects the UNSC resolution 2270 and will take countermeasures. The supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un also emphatically opposed this resolution and went ahead to threaten that the military and nuclear weapons of North Korea are set for national defense. North Korea continued to conduct another nuclear test followed by the UNSC Resolution 2321 on November 2016. This sanction banned the exports of silver, zinc and copper. China, an ally also banned the imports of coal. Nevertheless, North Korea continued to develop nuclear weapons and conducted numerable nuclear tests. North Korea have carried out close to 15 nuclear tests including the Intercontinental ballistic missile and further threatened to deliver a nuclear warhead. This compelled the UNSC to adopt resolution 2371 in August 2017. This resolution imposed sanctions on the export of lead, coal, iron and seafood. Restrictions are also being imposed on the Foreign Trade Banks of North Korea. Several states such as Japan, China, US and the European Union also increased individual sanctions on North Korea. The UNSC have imposed strict sanctions on North Korea in the aftermath of their sixth and the largest nuclear test. This sanction aims to ban textile exports, ban crude oil export to North Korea, place new restrictions on North Korean government organizations, ban countries from hiring North Korean new workers, issue new measures to thwart North Koreas maritime smuggling, as well as limit the export of fuel and gasoline to North Korea. This new sanction will cost a loss of $1.3 billion to Pyongyangs revenue which will lead to an abysmal decline in North Koreas economy. China and Russia are not much in favor of the recent sanction on North Korea as they argue that strict sanctions could compel the nation to resort to aggressive means through the use of their nuclear weapons. All these sanctions though have worked but have not been able to deter North Korea from their threats. The US ambassador to the United Nations told CNN that the UN Security Council has run out of options and that the US may turn to the pentagon. This means the US may consider taking aggressive measures to stop North Korea. If this happens, it is more likely that North Korea will also strike back which may lead to a nuclear war between the two countries. Though North Korea is now well equipped in arsenal in terms of military and nuclear weapons but should not think of engaging in a nuclear war with the global superpowers else the future will be bleak. North Korea have been condemned without exception for its latest test of hydrogen bomb on September 3, 2017. North Korea will then become a persona non-grata in the International community as no nation seem to support them in recent times. Now China and Russia have consistently told Kim Jong-un that their country would be on its own if they launch any attack. This warning from China and Russia also shows that North Korea will be in isolation should they strike. The US and North Korea should both cooperate in a harmonious manner to foster peace rather than war. It is high time international relations scholarship turn an intellectual eye to solving the worlds problems rather than the incessant espousing of theories that only explains the world but offer little solutions to it. Time is overdue for the UN to be subjected to critical evaluation on its prime role of curtailing some of these threats of global peace. I am not preaching invasion of North Korea by the United Nations but employing all the soft and hard methods and peace building arsenals at its disposal to bring this situation under control is a prerequisite. Baah Acheamfour Justice [email protected] Deputy Minister for Regional and Reorganization for Development, Hon. Martin Agyei Mensah Korsa has called on the people of Brong Ahafo Region to embrace the yet to be created Ahafo region from the Brong Ahafo region. President Akufo-Addo promised the people of Ghana equity and developmental projects which will lead to the transformation of the Nation as well as create new Regions such as Ahafo region, he said. He noted that governance without development leads to poverty but measures are being instituted to quash poverty from this country and for that matter, the people of the Brong Ahafo Region should welcome the gesture by the government wholeheartedly. Speaking at the Mid North Ghana Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) held at Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region under the theme let us arise and build, hon. Martin Agyei Mensah Korsah stated that the creation of the Ahafo region will bring development to the region and Ghana at large. President Nana Akufo-Addo is set to constitute a Commission of Inquiry to advice on how to proceed with the creation of new regions in Ghana. The Council of State unanimously said there is a substantial demand for the creation of new regions, after studying petitions for the creation of new regions which were forwarded to the Council Chiefs in four of Ghanas regions- Northern, Volta, Brong Ahafo and Western Region- submitted the petition demanding for the creation and justifying the necessity for same. The mandate of every government which creates new regions is to bring on board the necessary requirements and resources that will benefit the people in the region, adding that, President Akufo-Addo has done that so embrace and enjoy its benefits. He predicted that from the Commission of enquiries, from Monday would start Gazetting the proposed regions to ascertain the way forward. A lecturer at the Kumasi Technical University, Dr. Solomon Fokuo has charged politicians to quit the unnecessary debate on Senior High School duration and rather find a solution to the high rate of unemployment in the country. According to him, the importance of education is to make the person who has been educated to fit into the society. The long battle of education is all about the individual being able to fit into the society after education and fitting into the society means being employed and respected, he said. In a panel discussion on Otec FMs Kejetia show hosted by Nana Kwabena Agyemang, Dr Fokuo stated that the structure of Ghanas educational system since the time of Brigadier General Sir Frederick Gorden Guggisberg to Ghanas first President the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah, trained people to handle jobs existing jobs to be able to fit into that particular society. He explained that during that period, people spent 27 good years in school after which there were jobs available for them to take so there was nothing like unemployed graduates. But now the educational structure is such that students spend only 22years before completing University, he added The difference between the 27years and the 22years is 5years so looking at this what I can see is that if there are available jobs and the SHS is reversed to even 1year I dont have a a problem but to have students complete school early is the reason a chunk of graduates remain unemployed because the economy is not expanding to take care of those who are completing, he noted. That is where the politicians should focus and not about 2years, 5years, 3years of SHS education because as we speak now government has employed only less than 700,000 graduates in Ghana, he stressed. The minister of planning, hon Prof. Gyan Baffour earlier this week revealed that government is monitoring the current three year SHS system to inform a possible reversion from three to four years as part of plans to ensure quality education in the country. The erstwhile John Kufour NPP administration introduced the 4 year senior school program in 2007 which was later reverted to the 3 years after the NDC took over in 2009. Dr. Solomon Fokuo who is advocating for the 4years education duration at the senior high school level pointed out that the children are being rushed through to complete school but have nowhere to go afterwards. What kind of training are we giving to them, what courses are they offering, are they relevant to the contemporary times we find ourselves, is it about accountancy, is it about entrepreneurship we have to change our curriculum so that it will become relevant to everybody who will complete school to be able to fit into the society, he stated. He added that it is very dangerous for a person who has passed through a lot of training to remain jobless because he can easily become an armed robber and such people are difficult to arrest. 02.10.2017 LISTEN Today, the importance of enhancing any dynamic company's brand by ensuring that its value-chain is alligned with and in sync with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, is not lost on global corporate C-suites. Operating sustainably creates consumer loyalty and helps to increase profits. It is the reason why well-run companies such as Olam respond quickly and positively when environmental activist groups, such as Mighty Earth, investigate their operations and issue reports that paint a negative picture of the impact they have on host communities and ecosystems. We have culled and posted a webpage from the website of the multinational company, Olam, which refers to an agreement it reached recently - at a meeting moderated by The World Resources Institute - when it met in Washington DC with the U.S. environmental NGO, Mighty Earth, which investigated Olam's activities in the Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, as well as other highly forested areas in the world covered by Olam's corporate footprint in terms of third-party raw materials suppliers. One hopes it will inspire the most creative leaders in Ghana's business world - and hopefully get them to examine how their value-chains impact communities and ecosystems across Ghana. And, as cocoa farmers ourselves, we deem it proper to say kudos to Olam for responding so positively to the report by Mighty Earth. Please read on: "Olam Olam and Mighty Earth agree to collaborate on Forest Conservation and Sustainable Agriculture in Highly Forested Countries London, February 21, 2017 Subscribe Downloads Olam-and-Mighty-Earth-agree-to-collaborate-on-Forest-Conservation-and-Sustainable-Agriculture-in-Highly-Forested-Countries (1) (221 KB) Olam Sustainable Palm Oil Policy February 2017 (182 KB) Building-a-sustainable-Palm-Oil-business-Web-version-with-links (2 MB) Response from the Republic of Gabon National Agency for National Parks to Mighty English_RoG (820 KB) Olam response to Mighty report with Supplier Annex_Monday 12 December 2016_update2 (628 KB) In the wake of Mighty Earths 2016 report, Palm Oils Black Box, Mighty Earth and Olam met in Washington D.C. and agreed to move forward on two imperatives: enabling models for responsible agricultural development that support forest conservation whilst addressing poverty reduction and job creation in Gabon and other high forest cover countries; and the need for palm oil traders to collectively strengthen incentives for suppliers in Southeast Asia to avoid deforestation and exploitation of workers or communities. The meeting was convened to discuss the impact of the palm oil and rubber plantations developed by Olam with its Joint Venture partner, the Republic of Gabon, as well as Olams third party palm oil sourcing in Southeast Asia. The World Resources Institute moderated the meeting. Olam agreed to: Suspend further land clearing of forest in Gabon for palm and rubber plantations for a year (a period that can be extended). During this time, Mighty Earth and Olam agreed to support a multi-stakeholder process to develop further specific criteria for responsible agricultural development in countries that have most of their land covered by forests. Continue to implement its time-bound plans to map and disclose more information about its third-party palm oil supply chains in Asia and require its third party suppliers to adhere to the High Carbon Stock Approach (described at highcarbonstock.org) as per its updated Palm Oil Policy. Publish its procedures to address supply chain risks, including independent verification of compliance of high-risk sources. Issue a revised grievance procedure that includes Olams third-party palm oil suppliers and protects the anonymity of those providing input. Olam will continue to routinely investigate and work to remediate any complaints received from indigenous or local communities.Supplement its current sustainability policies with explicit references to protecting peat and ensuring no exploitation of workers or local communities. Mighty Earth agreed to: Suspend its current campaign targeting Olams oil palm and rubber operations for a year, including its complaint to FSC (a period that can be extended). Work with the Gabonese government, civil society, and international experts and stakeholders to advance conservation and responsible development. In a spirit of dialogue and increased mutual understanding, Olam and Mighty Earth jointly agreed to participate in stakeholder events with civil society organisations and government in Gabon, to encourage and support the High Carbon Stock Approach working group to develop clear guidelines for responsible development in highly forested landscapes, and to further explore conservation and restoration initiatives. Olams Co-Founder and Group CEO, Sunny Verghese, said, Olam remains committed to best practice in forest conservation, sustainable agricultural development, poverty reduction and job creation, while noting, we hope these actions can help sovereign countries like Gabon set their own pathways to sustainable development. Mighty Earth welcomes the opportunity to help Gabon develop in a responsible way, and provide a model for conservation in high forest cover countries, said Mighty Earth Chairman, former Congressman Henry Waxman. While this agreement focuses on palm oil and rubber, we hope it creates momentum for action across commodities. World Resources Institute provided important assistance in reaching this agreement by facilitating this negotiation, and helped spur valuable dialogue to advance broader forest-friendly development. World Resources Institute President and CEO, Andrew Steer, noted Balancing forest protection and new agricultural projects can be very challenging, and it is vital for countries, companies and civil society to work together and find common ground. This agreement is a good example of how organisations can come together to agree on a sustainable and prosperous path forward. For further information, please contact: Olam Corporate Communications Nikki Barber, General Manager, [email protected], +44 207 484 8994; +44 7568 108 555 Mighty Earth Marisa Bellantonio, Media Specialist, [email protected], +1-203-479-2026 Buea (Cameroon) (AFP) - At least seven people were killed in Cameroon's restive anglophone belt at the weekend as a separatist group made a symbolic declaration of independence. The separatists chose October 1, the anniversary of the official reunification of the anglophone and francophone parts of Cameroon, to declare independence for "Ambazonia", the name of the state they want to create. Since November, the anglophone minority has been protesting against perceived discrimination. The government deployed security forces at the weekend in English-speaking regions, notably Buea in the southwest and Bamenda, the main town in the northwest and a hub of anglophone agitation. Several people were admitted to hospital in Bamenda Sunday after clashes between demonstrators and police, according to a medical source. "At least one person was injured by live fire" in Bamenda, where the situation was "very tense", a source close to the local authorities told AFP. The "security forces had to resort to tear gas and sometimes to shots to disperse the protesters", the source said by telephone. Bamenda residents contacted by AFP reported "shooting" by the security forces without giving further details. 'Real bullets' One of the leaders of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), Joshua Osih, told AFP the security forces were "firing real bullets at the protesters" but stressed that he was not a supporter of the secessionist movement. In Ndop, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Bamenda, two people were "shot dead", according to sources, while one was killed in Kumbo on the sidelines of the protests, city mayor Donatus Njong said. Also in Kumbo, three prison inmates were shot and killed trying to escape while security forces were mobilised for the deployments in anglophone regions, a source close to regional authorities said. A young man was shot dead by security forces on Saturday in the southwest town of Kumba, known as a rebellious city since the start of the protests, sparking clashes between security forces and the local population. "They fired at him during a security operation," a nurse who requested anonymity told AFP. The incident was confirmed by a security source and several local residents contacted by phone. Cameroon's long-serving president, 84-year-old Paul Biya, took to social media Sunday to condemn "all acts of violence, no matter where they come from or who is responsible." The European Union called on all sides to be responsible and "respect the rule of law and avoid any act of violence." The crisis provoked by the protests, which was exacerbated at the start of 2017 when internet access was cut for three months, has intensified in recent weeks with the push to symbolically proclaim independence of the English-speaking regions. On September 22, "between 30 and 80,000" people demonstrated across Cameroon's anglophone regions, according to estimates by the International Crisis Group (ICG). 'No longer slaves' The symbolic declaration of independence was made Sunday on social media by Sisiku Ayuk, who describes himself as the "president" of Ambazonia. "We are no longer slaves of Cameroon," he said. "Today we affirm the autonomy of our heritage and our territory." Ahead of the declaration, Cameroonian authorities announced a temporary curb on travel and public meetings across the Southwest Region, adding to a curfew in the neighbouring Northwest Region, also English-speaking. The anglophone minority has long complained about disparities in sharing out Cameroon's oil wealth Internet access has been disrupted since Friday, according to an AFP journalist, despite government assurances that there would be no cutting of access in the anglophone areas. The majority of Cameroon's 22 million people are French-speaking, while about a fifth are English speakers. The legacy dates back to 1961, when a formerly British entity, Southern Cameroons, united with Cameroon after its independence from France in 1960. The anglophone minority has long complained about disparities in the distribution of Cameroon's oil wealth. Since November, the anglophone minority has been protesting against perceived discrimination especially in education and the judicial system, where they say the French language and traditions are being imposed on them, even though English is one of the country's two official languages. Most anglophone campaigners want the country to resume a federalist system -- an approach that followed the 1961 unification but was later scrapped in favour of a centralised government run from the capital Yaounde. A hardline minority is calling for secession. President Biya opposes any such changes. Former Member of Parliament for Nantong constituency in the Northern Region of Ghana, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, says he is surprised at the loud silence of former President Jerry John Rawlings and two other persons over the level of corruption that has allegedly bedevilled the Nana Akufo-Addo led government. My shock is this: the loud silence of our founder, former President Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu and Martin Amidu is fantastically noticedthis is an own goal; that we have never sensed this palpable thievery and robbery in this country than we are experiencing today. "I havent seen the series of long thesis that Martin Amidu will write and I havent heard Nana Konadu talking about it; perhaps she was also paid judgement debt so she doesnt see the need to talk about it he said during a panel discussion on Radio Golds Alhaji and Alhaji, Saturday. Former President and founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings and former Attorney General, Martin Amidu are known critics of the NDC. Murtala Mohammed They were a thorn in the flesh of their own party as they consistently attacked members of the erstwhile Mahama administration for being corrupt -- a situation some believe led to the partys defeat in the 2016 elections. Commenting on the controversial A-Plus corruption allegation and its turn of events, Murtala Mohammed indicated that the ruling administration has made history by being the first government that is engulfed in profound allegations of corruption less than a year into its administration What is made known is the disrespect and alacrity with which functionaries of this government are corrupt. "Yet people will come and tell us that Nana Addo is incorruptibleplease those stories be told to the marinesthere is no doubt in anybodys mind that this government in unwilling, unprepared and is not going to do anything about corruption, he added. Accra, Oct. 1, GNA - Madam Sun Baohong, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, says President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo- Addo, had maintained a friendly policy towards China, since assuming office. She said President Akuffo-Addo, was committed to building even stronger relations between Ghana and China. The Chinese Ambassador said this at a reception, held in Accra to mark the 68th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. She said Ghana was the second country in Sub-Sahran Africa, to establish diplomatic relations with China, adding that China-Ghana friendship had a long history. Madam Sun said the first half of this year saw bilateral trade volume between Ghana and China hitting 3.32 billion dollars, ranking sixth among African countries, and registering a 17.5 percent increase. She said Ghana's exports to China, also reached 990 million dollars, with a 91.3 percent increase. The Chinese Ambassador said newly signed engineering contracts amounted to 1,371 billion dollars, and ranked sixth in Africa. She said the two countries' high level of cooperation in the area of hydro electric power generation, construction, aviation, automobile manufacturing and several other areas, demonstrated the mutually beneficial relations that existed between them. Madam Sun said it was crucial that China and Ghana, took advantage of the fast developing momentum of China-Africa cooperation. She said the two countries should explore new areas and modes of cooperation focusing on cooperation on production capacity, equipment manufacturing and infrastructure, and accelerate the connectivity of our development strategies with the aim of complimenting each other's advantages. "Let us work together, to usher China-Ghana relations into the new era of win-win cooperation, and mutual development," said Ambassador Sun. Mr Alan Kyeremanteng, Minister for Trade and Industry, said economic corporation between the two countries has grown over the years and yielded significant mutual gains. He said President Akuffo-Addo's commitment towards the country's economic transformation has received great support from China. The Minister said China had been supportive in several areas of Ghana's development, adding that in the area of human resource development for example, over 4,000 Ghanaian students had advanced their education through Chinese assistance. He commended the Chinese government for facilitating a visit of Vice President Mahmoud Bawumia to China in June, which held great potential for the growth of both countries. The Minister said the two countries should continue to strive and sustain the good relations they had established. The Vice President, Mahmoud Bawumia, graced the occasion as the guest of honor. GNA By Robert Anane, GNA 02.10.2017 LISTEN Accra, Oct. 1, GNA - FBNBank Ghana is in a good position to meet the minimum capital requirement of GH 400 million set by the Bank of Ghana, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer First Bank of Nigeria and subsidiaries, has assured stakeholders. Speaking at the commissioning of a new head office and branch of FBNBank Ghana, Dr Adeduntan applauded the Bank of Ghana for the recapitalization move, saying the resultant mergers and acquisitions would be good to safeguard stakeholder investments and retain confidence in the Ghanaian banking system. 'We are confident of realizing this great feat because we have a proven record of excellence in banking from our parent bank, First Bank, Nigeria,' he said. Dr Adeduntan said First Bank would continue to make the needed investments in its operations in Ghana to grow the business as well as support the structures in place to ensure a vibrant banking sector. He said a strong presence in Ghana was of strategic relevance to the bank's operations as a leading financial institution on the continent. 'The opening of this new head office and branch is a testament to our long-term commitment and a sign of our pledge to deliver innovative banking powered by superior customer experiences, first to our customers and the banking industry as a whole,' Dr Adeduntan said. He lauded the achievement of FBNBank Ghana since the start of operations but urged the staff to see the new head office building as a call to higher service excellence delivery to customers and stakeholders. On his part, Mr Gbenga Odeyemi, the Managing Director FBNBank Ghana, said the opening of the head office was a demonstration that the bank is here for the long haul with the vision to be the clear leader and Ghana's bank of first choice. 'This new head office building, beyond projecting a modern corporate image for the FBNBank Ghana brand is a symbol of the golden standard we are offering to our customers and everyone,' he said. He said the bank prided itself on excellent customer service, which goes beyond the provision of basic services to meeting customers' holistic needs and exceeding the customers' expectations. 'It is about solving the problem the customer brought to the bank, it is also about innovative banking. It is about creative ideas powered by technology to meet the customers' complex needs in an efficient manner,' Mr Odeyemi said. Mr Odeyemi said the bank would be coming up with very strong strategies to motivate Small and Medium Enterprises in their efforts and commended government on the initiative to promote made in Ghana goods. Mr Edmund Nelson, a Director of the Banking Supervision Department of the Bank of Ghana, said as the economy was rebounding, the banking sector needed to be well positioned to support the growth potential of the economy. He said it is the responsibility of the Bank of Ghana as regulator to ensure a resilient banking system to protect the safety and soundness of the financial system. It is in this direction that the Bank of Ghana has set the minimum capital requirement of banks to GH 400 million and given them up to December 2018 to comply, he said. Mr Nelson said the banks would be required to submit a capitalization plan to the Bank of Ghana, adding that the regulator would also encourage banks, where there were challenges of raising the capital single-handedly, to explore merger arrangements as early as possible to meet the deadline. GNA Accra, Oct. 1, GNA - Japan has shown commitment to collaborate with Ghana to promote the food value chain in the country with emphasis on increasing the production and processing high quality rice. At a seminar for stakeholders on Thursday, Mr Imoro Amoro, the President of the Ghana Rice Inter-Professional Body (GRIB) said the rice value chain in the country faced a number of challenges and that the collaborative effort was timely. He said the rice value chain faced challenges with securing concessionary finance for the industry and experienced difficulties in accessing commercial loans, which made it difficult for the cost of production to become competitive with farmers in Thailand and Vietnam. Mr Amoro said the lack of certified rice seeds for Ghanaian farmers also made it difficult for farmers and this is besides the influx of imported rice. He said the inadequate and inconsistent Public-Private Partnerships initiatives towards the convergence of private value chain also hindered the promotion of quality production. He said the inability of farmers to adopt appropriate technologies into the rice value chain was another disturbing factor and called on the youth to take advantage and champion the incorporation of Information Communication Technology in the sector. Mr Tomokazu Ohtani, Mizuho Information and Research Institute Incorporation, said a research shows that interfusion of stones, dark rice, among others were some of the reasons the local rice do not meet the quality it demands. He said to improve the quality of rice by small scale manufacturers and more importantly in the destoning process there was the need for machines to be made available for farmers as the continouss breakdown was affecting their yield. He said for this reason the JICA project was introducing a support system initiative to ensure high quality local rice and promote high value-added domestic rice that would be right for the market. 'This will promote the mutually beneficial development of agricultural sector for both Africa and Japan through utilizing capable technologies to advance high-value added agricultural products,' he said. Professor George Oduro Nkansah, the Director of the Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology at the University of Ghana, said the country needed to develop technologies to suit the Japanese technology of rice production. He said: 'If we are able to cooperate with them or adopt their technologies, it will go a long way to help us in our rice industry as well as the vegetable industry. 'New things come up always and hence we need to update our technologies so we can upscale the quality of our rice,' Prof. Nkansah said. The seminar, attended by Small to Medium Enterprises was aimed at linking investors in both countries to ensure the incorporation of new technologies in the rice industry of Ghana. New products and technologies for improved rice production and cultivation was also introduced at the seminar. GNA By Samira Larbie/Julius K. Satsi, GNA Accra, Oct. 1, GNA - Brussels Airlines, almost two years after the start of it operations in Ghana, has cemented its commitment to the Ghanaian market with the inauguration of its new offices at the Atlantic Towers, Airport City. The new offices highlights the airline's quest to be more accessible to its customers in Ghana and its commitment to be an integral part of Ghana's aviation industry and partner in its growth. Ms Rita Macedo, Brussels Airlines' Country Manager for Ghana, speaking at a cocktail reception to mark the opening of its new office, said: 'It's in line with our structure to be more accessible and to invest in this country,' adding that the location of the office close to the airport made it very easy for their customers and other stakeholders to have access to them. She said Brussels' operations in Ghana since it started operations in October 2015 had been good so far and from the four flights a week at the start of operations in 2015, it had had added a fifth fight this year and hoped to be able to add a sixth in future. Ms Macedo lauded the establishment of the aviation ministry saying it was a very good thing to have a dedicated ministry for the sector. 'For all airlines, not just Brussels, the fact that we have an aviation minister that can take care of our common problems, is very important and I'm sure she'll help us to grow,' she said. Ms Macedo said Brussels will continue to listen to the market to know what it needed and to provide good products at very affordable fares, as it did now, to stay competitive in Ghana. She said the airline, which refers to itself as the most African of European airlines, was very committed to the African and will continue to reinforce its position in Ghanaian market. Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, Minister of Aviation, said the establishment of the aviation ministry by President Akuffo Addo was a huge statement by the government of the importance of the sector and assured that the ministry was working to achieve its vision. She said the aviation ministry had so far had several interactions with stakeholders including all the airlines and had been brought to speed on the operations of the airlines, adding that it will continue with such interactions in order to be involved in happenings in the sector. She noted that while government played its part to grow the sector and to achieve its vision of making Ghana a hub for aviation in the West African sub-region, airlines also had a duty and a responsibility to improve their services for customers. Ms Dapaah commended Brussels for their work so far and urged them to expand their frontiers and operations in the country. GNA By Belinda Ayamgha, GNA Dakar, (Senegal), Oct. 1, GNA - Dr Dimitri Sanga, Director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Sub Regional Office for West Africa (ECA SRO/WA) has said the mandate of ECA could only be achieved, when its flagship programmes are disseminated through a well-rehearsed communication strategy. He said its main mandate to support the economic and social development, encourage regional integration and international cooperation with emphasis on producing and sharing knowledge to support policy formulation and advocacy could fail on the altar of no media direction. Speaking at a workshop for 30 selected journalists towards the formation of a Network of Economic Journalists for West Africa (NEJWA) from the 15 member-regional body of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr Sanga said maintaining a responsible and dynamic partnership with the media would become the swivel to generate the necessary visibility, acceptance and growth. He said a better synergy outcomes are expected from this collaboration with a clear-cut mechanism for capacity building for NEJWA members on ECA priority areas in West Africa to actualize the structural transformation of the region's economies for job and wealth creation. Dr Sanga expressed optimism about the success of the networking and entreated the journalists to be committed and demonstrate brazen professionalism to stimulate the aspirations of the region's development. Mr Jimmy Ocitti, Director of Public Information and Knowledge Management Division, ECA Headquarters, said ECA has metamorphosed overtime to become the premier think-tank entity for Africa, detaching itself from the UN bureaucracy wing and working robustly under the tag-line of 'Africa first.' He said information was therefore crucial for branding purposes and communication strategy development and the partnership with the NEJWA would leverage information between ECA and their publics. 'The principle on which the communication strategy will be notched will feature strong messages, including campaign approach communication, embedded with knowledge delivery and knowledge generation, a catalyst for media relationship in the view to contextualise news content.' Mr Ocitti said 'if you control data, you control the narrative and if you control the narrative, you control data.' Mr Amadou Diouf, Economic Affairs Officer, ECA SRO/WA, said ECA strives on the integrity and authenticity of information it releases to its partners and the public and it has a strategic framework for national statistical development in member states towards building a flagship data system, which could be vouched for internationally. He announced that Cape Verde sought technical advice from ECA in the deployment of technological innovation in transforming its birth and death registry, deducing about 90 percent optimum success in its national civic registration exercise, which Niger is seeking about $ 65 million to replicate. 'This exercise will boost the national development planning and statistical systems as well as identification registration regimes for rapid socio-economic growth." Mr Ochozias Gbaguidi, Chief Sub-Regional Initiative Officer said regional initiatives and coordination of mechanisms would provide the synergy for enhanced development including cost-effective use of resources to optimize for greater efficiency. For these reasons, he said ECA was critically reviewing the impact of the admission of Morocco into ECOWAS in a research and the results would be ready soon to affect decision-making going forward. GNA By Maxwell Awumah, GNA Special Correspondent, Dakar, Senegal A new report from 'Better Than Cash Alliance', an organization under the United Nations (UN) has shown that Ghanaian businesses prefer to pay in cash rather than make payments electronically. The report, titled, 'Building an Inclusive Digital Payments Ecosystem', points out that the total value of payments made in 2016 was 561 billion cedis. Out this figure, 37 percent was made through digital payments while the remaining 63 percent was made through cash. The value of transactions made by individuals was 71 percent cash and 29 percent electronic, while most businesses made 65 percent payments in cash and 35 percent payments electronically. By this, the report shows that most businesses in Ghana still prefer payments in cash. The situation was however different at the government level as government leads in electronic payments with percent 86 percent and 14 percent in cash payments. The Managing Director of Better Than Cash Alliance, Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen explains that the progress in government payments could be replicated in the private sector. The most important message in the report is that the government of Ghana has made incredible progress in digitizing payments as is shown in the 86 percent in the value of all payments, he said. Despite the progress, the report points out that a vast majority of payments by volume are still being made in cash. The report estimates that 98 percent of payments in volume are still currently being made in cash, as individuals continue to purchase essential goods using cash. The strong preference for cash in Ghana is as a result of the high cost of digital payments that are passed on to users. Reacting to the issue, a Deputy Finance Minister, Charles Adu- Boahen assured that government is working with relevant stakeholders to reduce the cost of electronic payments. I think for us as a government the most important thing is to reduce the cost so that financial inclusion could be enhanced in the rural areas. This will help in savings and improve electronic payments, he observed. The report concluded that the centralized National ID system is crucial for expanding financial inclusion in the informal sector. By : Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana Potchefstroom (South Africa) (AFP) - South African fast bowler Morne Morkel is likely to be out of action for about six weeks because of a side strain, team manager and doctor Mohammed Moosajee said on Monday. Morkel's injury adds to a long list of injured South African fast bowlers, with Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Chris Morris already out of action for extended periods. Moosajee was speaking shortly before South Africa wrapped up victory in the first Test against Bangladesh, the first of a scheduled ten Tests during the home season. He said Morkel would have scans on Monday but a preliminary assessment was that he was likely to need six weeks of rest. Morkel left the field after bowling 5.2 overs on Sunday's fourth day of play, during which he took the first two of three Bangladesh wickets which fell before the close. 02.10.2017 LISTEN I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said William F. Buckley Jnr. I've heard it said that people would say bad things about you because it is the only way their insignificant self can feel better than you. I've pondered over the axiom and couldn't help but see the wisdom in it. We were all in this country when, not too long ago, the Bank of Ghana ordered the takeover of two banks by the Ghana Commercial bank because of insolvency. We heard and saw how people who epitomize the word failure gleefully lampooned a man whose accomplishment they would fail to equal even if given a thousand years by the Bearded Old Man above. Dr. Mensa Otabil rightfully replied them when he said people who were down were kicking him because that would make them feel important. Indeed, he hit the nail right on the head when he said his unfortunate situation had given people who epitomized the word insult the temerity to insult him. That is the reality, he concluded, and I agree with him. I've also heard it said that a hypocrite is more dangerous than a dishonest man. This is because a dishonest man deceives and cheats, while a hypocrite betrays and swindles. After pondering over the axiom, I beg to disagree. A hypocrite is as dangerous as a dishonest person because they are one and the same. Hypocrisy and dishonesty are two sides of the same coin. About three weeks ago, we woke up to the shout of corruption, corruption, corruption at the Flagstaff House. Unlike his predecessor, President Nana Dee promptly prompted the police to investigate the matter. The police investigated the allegation and described it as crying wolf where there was none. I was therefore taken aback when news of a tape recording of the accuser and a policewoman surfaced on both the social and traditional media. I've listened to the tape and must admit the content is interesting. But whether doctored or not, one question keeps on ringing on my mind: Where is the corruption that is being alleged in the matter? I asked the question knowing very well that my compatriots and I can identify corruption when we see it. Corruption is when over $2 million is budgeted for capacity building, yet we are not told of even a single person whose capacity has been built. Corruption is when the cost of bus branding is inflated and the loot used in lining pockets. Corruption is when a bespectacled baldheaded greedy bastard colludes with equally greedy government officials to woyomize the state. Corruption is when few trees are planted in the dry season, left to wither and the state made to pay for the cost of thousands of trees. Abusuapanin, I can give a thousand instances of practical corruption, if I so desire. So believe me when I say we know corruption when we see it. Indeed, the traits of corruption are such that one can perceive it a thousand miles away. Frankly, I do not perceive any trait of corruption in this saga. Fortunately, Wofa Kwaku Bee, aka Mr Documents, has managed to intercept the statement the accuser made to the police. Wofa Kwaku read it on Newsfile and there was nothing about corruption in there. Unless maybe the statement Wofa Kwaku read on Newsfile came from a different planet. Ironically, those shouting their voices hoarse on this saga are the very people who defended, and continue to defend, pure thievery and corruption. Hypocrisy it is called, isn't it? Hypocrisy is when you defend a $100,000 Ford Expedition bribe and go about accusing others of corruption. Hypocrisy is defending GYEEDA and SADA scandals and then turnaround to accuse innocent persons of corruption. Hypocrisy is to engage in numerous create, loot and share schemes and then turnaround and call others nation wreckers. Indeed, hypocrisy is when an overused pot goes about calling a fairly used kettle black. I was with a friend when one greedy bastard was blabbing on radio about his party's principles and the Elephant's destructive nature. My reaction surprised my friend and he wondered why I was so angry. I told him I did not have a short temper, but only have zero tolerance for hypocrites. My unsolicited counsel to the accuser is this: I won't insult his intelligence by suggesting he believes his own story. I believe he started the allegation as a prank but was compelled to produce a semblance of evidence to the police to support his prank. Only his continuous insistence to the contrary would make me start having second thoughts about his intelligence. But when next he decides to accuse others of corruption, he should remember that his compatriots can perceive traits of corruption a thousand miles away! See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente! From Agya Kwaku Ogboro 02.10.2017 LISTEN As Nigeria celebrates its independence today from the shackles and manacles of colonialism and slavery, I tend to remember the founding father, Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe. He is of special interest to me because he mentored my African Icon, Kwame Nkrumah. A young Kwame Nkrumah highlighted the fact that his spirit of nationalism was kept alive and kicking by the articles of one Nigerian from Onitsha called Nnamdi Azikiwe. He made a lasting impression on Nkrumah when the latter witnessed him address a meeting of Gold Coast Teachers Association in the 1930s. Nkrumah determined more than ever to go to America and study because of Azikiwe (who was then a graduate from an American University). When Nkrumah was leaving to the States to study, he received a telegram aboard the vessel Apapa at Takoradi containing Azikiwe message which stated: Goodbye. Remember to trust in God and yourself. Nkrumah hinted that these few words, so well timed, at once cheered him. That was a solid message by the man who could have built a Pan-Nigeria free from the troubles of deep-rooted tribalism but for the foolish actions of Chief Obafemi Awolowo as lamented by Chinua Achebe in his essay The Trouble with Nigeria." Nnamdi Azikiwe propounded Zikism which sort to project the African into the limelight. It states that the realization of New Africa can only be possible by the African cultivating spiritual balance, which leads to the practicalization of social regeneration, to realizing economic determination, becoming mentally emancipated, and ushering in a political resurgence. This is what Ibrahim Babangida, a former Head of State of Nigeria had to say about him: "Zik (as he was called) believed in a nation in which people are free to practice their faith without losing faith in our common patrimony, a nation of proud men and women able to hold their heads high among humanity because as Africans they possess a certain dignity. At the tactical level, his belief in compromise meant that he survived major political battles in order to fight the next battle. With regard to the evolution of democracy in our country, our present experience can benefit immensely from politics as it was played by Zik and his contemporaries. In this regard, one thing that marks out men like Zik is that they believe in something. Their political activities were informed by certain core values which subsequently grew into a body of beliefs which largely inspired their politics. Those who followed them understood that they had to abide by those beliefs. In other words, the politics of ideals and ideas were the guiding principles of our founding fathers. In the case of the great Zik, it became fashionable among his adherents and supporters to be a Zikist. But interestingly, Zikism was not synonymous with an ethnic ideology nor did it a divisive cause. Instead, Zikism was more an ideology for African renascence emphasizing the restoration of the dignity of the black man after centuries of colonial imposition and exploitation. It sought to empower the black man in general and the Nigerian in particular to attain great heights especially in the pursuit of knowledge which, for Zik, was critical to the emancipation of the black man. Yet Zikism did not degenerate to the level of a theology for a personality cult. This in fact is one of the refreshing and intriguing facets of Zik's political legacy." In 1959, when Nkrumah as a Prime Minister then visited Nigeria and reached the Eastern House of Assembly at Enugu, Nnamdi Azikiwe honored Nkrumah and made a very powerful speech on that occasion. He stated it is a very special pleasure to us, because Dr Nkrumah is not merely the Prime Minister of Ghana, but is an outstanding pioneer in the fight for the freedom of a sister nation in West Africa. We who are battle-scarred and are now on the verge of attaining our statehood and who eagerly await the great day, 1st October, 1960, when, God willing, our dreams shall be realized, have been especially emboldened by the tenacity of purpose of Dr Nkrumah and his immortal comrades to make Ghana free. Indeed, Ghanas independence is the successful accomplishment of their lives mission. He continued in later paragraphs Mr. Speaker, permit me to add a personal note in this address of welcome to my old friends. It gives me a personal pleasure that is indescribable to have Dr Nkrumah with us in our House of Assembly and to have him designated Prime Minister of Ghana. I remember so well the days, nearly twenty-five years ago, when, in spite of handicaps, many nationalists aspired and struggled together in order to win freedom for the country which used to be called the Gold Coast. I was then a new arrival at Accra and an energetic journalist in charge of the African Morning Post, whose motto was: Independent in all things and neutral in nothing affecting the destiny of Africa. Those were the days when party politics, even at their inchoate stage, reached a crisis at Accra, and for the first time in the history of Gold Coast politics, the Ratepayers Association, composed mainly of the aristocrats, intellectuals and the landed gentry, was decisively defeated by the Mambii Party, the common peoples party. That was during the 1935 municipal election to the Legislative Council. It was not long before I found myself in the warm embrace of the Sedition Ordinance: I and another nationalist, Mr. I. T. A. Wallace Johnson of Sierra Leone, were the first to experience a baptism of fire at a criminal trial under this most unpopular law. It is all history now, it is true, but I can still see the gleam of hope and the dream of greatness which flashed in the eyes of a young merchant of light who left us in Accra in to study in the United States and later covered himself with academic and political honors to the glory of his country and our race. He is now a fellow alumnus and a fraternity brother. On behalf of my Government and the eight million people who inhabit Eastern Nigeria, I salute him as one who has proved himself a victor after many bitter political campaigns, and I congratulate him as the first Prime Minister of the first sovereign and independent State in West Africa to emancipate itself from colonial tutelage. Happy Independence Day to the land of the two horses. Happy Independence Day to Nigeria. [email protected] Inusah Mohammed NB: The Writer is a Youth Activist and a Student of Knowledge. 02.10.2017 LISTEN The President of Breast Care International (BCI), Dr Beatrice Wiafe Addai has called for an extensive public awareness creation of breast cancer in the fight against the disease which has claimed many lives of women out of ignorance. She said through the awareness, the public can be educated and sensitized on the existence and the curable of the dreaded disease. Dr Beatrice Wiafe, who is also the Chief Executive officer (CEO) of Peace and Love Hospitals, said this at African Regent Hotel in Accra on the eve of October 1 as part of activities to usher in the month October, which is declared a Pink Month by World Health Organization (WHO). The month October is set aside by WHO to create awareness to all forms of cancers in every year. Breast Care International (BCI) in collaboration with Delta Airlines, held series of programme at African Regent Hotel and Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra to create an awareness about breast cancer disease. The activities were prelude to this years Breast Cancer Walk taking place at Koforidua in the Eastern region, on 14th of October 2017, with an estimation 40,000 people to participate. The program termed Flash Mob, first in its kind in the country, also introduced the Peace and Love Survival Babies, a baby group of Peace and Love Hospital, to the public, who entertained customers and passengers with music and dance performances. The Survival Babies consists of persons whose relatives have either died or survived breast cancer treatment. The disease is curable and survival, so the public must be aware so that they will report to the hospital early if they find any breasts abnormality for treatment, she noted. She said in spite of massive and vigorous campaign about the disease, the reporting late of the disease among patients to the hospitals, tells that people are still not aware of the disease. Adding, that calls for more intensive public awareness and education. Explaining why they took the campaign to hotel and the airport, Dr Wiafe Addai said we want to insert some kind of innovation in the quest to fight the curable disease. We are not only going to the rural areas, but also to engage those in the cities, who can one way or the other, also create an awareness of the disease to their families and relatives The countrys Director of Delta Airlines Viki Vaughan-Williams, the main sponsor of the program, said as partners in the fight against breast cancer, the company will not relent in its effort to assist BCI in all possible ways. Its also forms part of our corporate social responsibility, she added. Delta Airlines, who sponsored the Walk for the Cure 2016 last year in Kumasi, is also sponsoring the event in Koforidua, the Eastern regional capital, this year. Kampala, 29th September 2017. Wednesday 27th September being World Tourism day, Jumia Travel Uganda hosted 20 Journalists to a Media Trip to Ssese Islands in Kalangala District. Ssese Islands was the official destination for the National celebrations where all stakeholders in the Tourism sector came together to celebrate the day. The celebrations were officiated by the Vice President H.E.Edward Ssekandi who in his remarks called for sustainable utilization of natural resources for tourism development. The focus was to create more awareness on key travel destinations in Uganda and unlock its tourism potential thus contributing to National development. The national hashtag was #TulambuleSseIsland with Jumia Travels being #JumiaTourismDay The trip started from Kampala through Masaka where the team headed to the Ferry in Bukakata which docks in Bugoma. After an hours drive from Bugoma to Kalangala District the team stopped off briefly at the celebrations where they proceeded for a delicious meal at Brovad Sands Lodge. Jumia Travel Uganda was excited to be part of these celebrations and continues to be a big part of the Tourism sector. Country Manager Timothy Mugume says, Domestic Tourism is a big resource for revenue and a big contributor to the GDP. We should tour our lovely country and while at it discover more ways of how we can add value and get value. THE EIGHT national food and agriculture (FAGRO) show has been launched in Tamale, the Northern regional capital. The exhibition which is expected to last for four days is on the theme: 'creating jobs in agriculture'. Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, the General Manager of FAGRO, Alberta Nana Akyaa Akosa, said the exhibition would help the participants to network to improve the sector. She, therefore, entreated potential investors to take advantage of the show. The Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, commended the FAGRO secretariat for choosing Tamale for the exhibition. He stated that his outfit was working to make the agric sector a national success story. Dr Owusu Afriyie-Akoto, whose speech was read on his behalf by Dr Sagre Bambangi, explained that agriculture needs all manner of professionals, and not just the cutlass and hoe bearing persons who can hardly embrace modern best farming practices. From veterinary officers, research fellows, extension personnel and others, the sector remains potentially a major employer, but most people still continue to struggle in search of non-existent white colour jobs, which in the end do not even pay well. I agree certain things were not done right to make the sector as attractive as to bait enough qualified professional to turn its fortunes around but a lot is being done today, he added. According to him, President Akufo-Addo has made it clear that Ghana would not depend on aid but boost home-grown industries and businesses, which can rub shoulders with others elsewhere in the world. Dr Sagre Bambangi disclosed that massive investment in agriculture to strengthen existing systems in the value chain would go a long way to achieve the vision of the president. A great grand-daughter of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, Vanessa Awurama Mensah, has picked an LLB Second Class Upper degree from the Ghana Campus of one of the leading British universities, Lancaster University recently. She was one of the over a hundred students to pick degrees in an assortment of disciplines during the glamorous function which took place at the Movenpick Hotel in Accra. The programme attracted important personalities; one of them the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Iain Walker. The British envoy charged the freshly minted graduates to consider their success as a building block for their future during a speech he delivered at the ceremony. Their graduation, he charged them, should serve as a passport to greater opportunities and not an end to a road. Continuing, he told them not to relish their success inordinately but to be humble in all their undertakings adding that they should invest in networking because of the inherent advantages in doing so which he attested to. Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of the Transnational Educational Group, which played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Ghana Campus of the Lancaster University, Zafar Siddiqi expressed delight in what the tertiary institution has achieved so far. The decision to embark on the establishment of tertiary institutions abroad, he said, was informed by the inability of the current number of such institutions to satisfy the needs of the African continent. The Chancellor of the University, the Rt Hon Alan Milburn in his remarks, congratulated the graduands and pointed out that Lancaster University now operates in 24 countries across the world. Lancaster University, he noted, builds bridges and not walls and pointed at the long-term relationships the school engenders through the graduates it churns out. The British University, he went on, provides opportunities for students regardless of their backgrounds. What they studied, he reminded them, would remain part of their future adding that 'if it is easy, it is now worth doing. It is the hard things which need to be done.' An interesting attraction at the function was the honour done an alumnus of the school, Oheneba Lovelace Prempeh who completed his degree programme at the Lancaster University in 1968. He is the first Ghanaian to complete his education at Lancaster University and was the son of Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II, who reigned between 1931 and 1970. Now a chief, the chartered accountant has worked in several prestigious organizations since his graduation many years ago. It is irrefutable that government over recent years makes much revenue from Muslims who embark on their religious pilgrimage (Hajj) but it is undeniable that the same government is backstabbing or sabotaging pilgrims. For the past years, many individuals couldn't embark on this journey because of issues that could have been averted by dealing with corruption in the Hajj process. There's a modicum of truth in most of the things helms related to Hajj say or do which leaves the future of Hajj in this country blur. We often do not want to associate Hajj with politics since that's how it should have been but truth be told, let me say it as it is, Hajj in Ghana is politically motivated and if care is not taking, future of Hajj pilgrims in Ghana would be "disastrous". As I pen this article down, I wish to let the world know that this year has been the worst year in Ghana's Hajj because of incompetence and corruption. The president of Ghana sworn the Hajj board members some months ago and we believed they were to deliver and not repeat the mistakes of their predecessors but we were disappointed since some of them did not deserve to be there and the helms of the current government ignored it all because of politics. As much as the chairman of the board tried to do his best, he couldn't because of some negative motives for getting there in the first place (I won't comment on that here). Looking at the board, we should give kudos to the finance & "dawah" committee since they delivered beyond expectations. My main concern is about the medical committee which was headed by Mr. Seidu Zakaria, a prescriber and assisted by Dr. Osman Abdulai (A Medical Superintendent). Emphasizing on this committee is very important looking at the role they play, that is the life of pilgrims is in their care but what did we witness? "The life of pilgrims used as a political ball". Mr. Seidu Zakaria exhibited incompetence in leading his committee members and the vast medical professionals he had on his team which consisted of two licensed medical doctors and nurses. Majority of these nurses were not professionals but were made medical staffs because of politics and it should raise eyebrows. The life of pilgrims was at risk from the very day a whole licensed medical doctor was made assistant to a prescriber all in the name of politics. There are proofs that shows how incompetent the head of the medical team is and how corrupt some of the officials are but let's live them in discretion. We can play the usual political games and ignore the real issues. It will seem inconceivable that the vice-president is an aware of the current state of Hajj in this country. As I drop my pen off this paper, I beseech those responsible for Hajj affairs in this country to rethink and do things the right way and stop playing politics with the lives of innocent pilgrims. Written by the Tiyumba [email protected] Former Board Chairman of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof. Anthony Sallah, has defended why his board awarded a contract to UniBank Ghana Limited which placed fourth after a competitive bidding process for the collection of revenue at the hospital. According to him, all the three banks Stanbic, GT bank and UMB, were foreign owned, hence his board's resolve to consider Unibank together with Stanbic which topped the process. Prof. Sallah put up the spirited defense of Unibank in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday. Unibank, while it was not working at the hospital had provided GHc2 million to the Obstetrics and Gynecologist departments for refurbishing, as part of their social responsibilities. So we figured that there should be a local content because we said that as Ghanaians we cannot give the whole business to a foreign bank and in addition, Korle Bu is very big. So we decided to split Korle Bu into two, and let the two banks work together, He explained. Korle Bu terminates Unibank contract Prof. Sallah made the remark following Korle Bu's decision to abrogate the revenue collection contract with Unibank. The management of Korle Bu had complained about UniBank's compatibility shortcomings with End-to-End Hospital Revenue Collection Software, which they said essentially led to revenue losses . The hospital in a press statement, among other things, also said Unibank skipped a meeting to submit proposals for a new software for dealing with the revenue leaks. It said Stanbic Bank successfully presented a proposal, and was awarded a contract to pilot the new software in the entire hospital, which was valued at $240,000. But Unibank debunked the claims describing it as a total fabrication . Prof. Sallah slams Korle Bu Prof. Sallah in the interview also slammed Korle Bu for the claims describing them as mischievous. It was very mischievous for the PRO to come up with a statement without mentioning Universal Merchant Bank as number three. Why did he not mention all the four banks? When asked his assessment of Unibank's performance during his tenure, Prof. Sallah said the bank was excellent. The A-Plus factor The issue came to the limelight following some corruption allegations musician A-Plus, against two presidential staffers, Francis Asenso-Boakye and Abu Jinapor. A-Plus' allegations had to do with a petition by Unibank Ghana Limited to the effect that the management of Korle-Bu had abrogated the existing Memorandum of Understanding with them without any reason, thus treating them unfairly. A-Plus held that the two presidential staffers played a role in the matter, but his allegations were later described as baseless an investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department. By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin A Deputy Chief of Staff, Samuel Abu Jinapor has spoken in opposition to the claim by musician, Kwame Asare Obeng aka A-Plus, suggesting that they had a conversation relating to ongoing feud between Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and UniBank. Mr. Jinapor recounts speaking to A-Plus on two occasions since his appointment as a Deputy Chief of Staff and neither of which focused on current occurrences at the nations premier health facility. Korle Bu has been trending in the media for weeks now after A-Plus accused Mr. Jinapor and his other colleague, Francis Asenso Boakye of corrupt practices by using their superior office to compel the CEO, Dr. Felix Kwaku Anyah, to rescind the decision to disengage the services of UniBank for the collection of revenue on the premises of the hospital. A-Plus in his statement to the police, indicated he had discussions with Mr. Jinapor over the matter prior to it coming into the public domain. But speaking Monday on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM, Abu Jinapor maintained: The only person I have spoken to is the One minute, Thirty seconds (1:30 seconds) conversation I had with the CEO of Korle Bu. Since I became deputy chief of staff I have never ever had any conversation with Mr. Kwame Asare Obeng aka A-Plus bothering to anything in relation to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Deputy Chief of Staff told Kojo Yankson, host of the Show. He, however, admitted interacting with his accuser on two occasions since he assumed the position but that had nothing to do with the issue at hand. That had to with a complaint the musician brought to him about an importer Mr. Jinapor explained: and I found his complaint meritorious and I dealt with it. Beyond 'Hello and Hi my Friend I have had only two separate conversations with him; one was a telephone call and the other when he came to my office, he added. Meanwhile, A-Plus in a Facebook Live post has reviewed his allegation of corrupt practices against the Deputy Chiefs of Staff after one of the accused, Abu Jinapor broke his silence on over the matter on Joy FM Friday. Now that I have come to understand that Abu does not even understand the issue, I will go ahead, like I have said already, and apologize for how I put this whole thing out. Listening to him, he does not even understand. People have lied to him. A-Plus continued: If he was being honest on radio, and I have the impression that he was being honest, and that is all that they told him, then they have deceived him. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Jerry Tsatro Mordy | Email: [email protected], Twitter: @jerrymordy Dubai (AFP) - Migrants making their way from the Horn of Africa to Yemen are frequently abducted and tortured by "criminal gangs", the UN Migration Agency warned on Monday. Despite a war that has killed thousands and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine, some 6,000 migrants enter the country every month, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM). They often come from Ethiopia and Somalia, hoping to make their way overland to the more prosperous Gulf countries to find work. Many are abducted by criminal gangs upon arrival in Yemen and tortured for ransom, according to IOM. "A common technique is to call the migrant's family while allowing burning plastic from an empty water bottle (to) drip on a migrant's skin causing burns and excruciating pain," said IOM director general William Lacy Swing. "Families usually pay up quickly and the migrants continue their journey often to be extorted repeatedly by different gangs before reaching their destination." Dozens of migrants have died in the journey to Yemen this year alone. In August, at least 50 Somali and Ethiopian migrants were deliberately drowned off Yemen by smugglers who appeared to have spotted the coastguard stationed along the coast of Shabwa in the Arabian Sea, according to the United Nations. In March, a helicopter opened fire on a boat carrying more than 140 passengers off Yemen's Red Sea coast, killing 42 civilians and wounding 34. Unconfirmed reports say the majority of the passengers were migrants. The United Nations has said the attack was almost certainly carried out by the Saudi-led coalition, in an operation it said was a violation of international humanitarian law. The UN Human Rights Council last week agreed to send war crimes investigators to Yemen, where more than 8,500 people have been killed and nearly 49,000 wounded since 2015, when an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia joined the government's fight against rebels allied with Iran. At least 17 million Yemenis now face dire food shortages. Another 2,100 people have died in a cholera epidemic which erupted in April and could infect as many as 900,000 people this year, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Deputy Communications director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Chief Biney has stated categorically that the shutting down of over 34 radio stations by the National Communications authority(NCA) is needless considering the numerous options available to them. According to him, the move by the authority does not refund the various monies owed by the institutions that has been shut down. He added the authority could have reached a consensus with owing companies to pay the monies over a period of time. Speaking on Agoo tv's Yensempa show to host Bonohene Baffour Awuah, the staunch NDC member saidm, he could however not phantom why the NCA had to wait for a long time for monies owed them to pile up to outrageous amounts before they taking an action. He has however accused the NCA of not performing their duties but rather seeking political approvals from governing parties on moves they should make. According to the deputy communications director, the NCA had all the time in the world to notify all affected companies of their growing debt but they decided to remain adamant and watch. "It is amazing to know that the NCA had to wait till the amounts owed them rich such high figures. They are not performing their duties. They sit idle an wait for government to tell them an action to take. Shutting them down does not refund the monies owed the NCA" -he said Chief Biney said there has never been an instance where a debtor has been made to pay monies owed an instituion in a day. According to him, even courts allow individuals or institutions pay their debts over a period of time if they are brought before a court. According to the NDC communicator, this move by the NCA will render many jobless. He explained all this could have been prevented if the NCA had performed their duties well. He added the move was needless considering the available options to the NCA. The national Communication Authority issued a statement revoking the licenses of 34 radio stations scattered across the country. According to the Authority, they failed to renew their operation licenses among other offences. It also sanctioned 131 radio stations for various offenses in line with section 13 of the Electronics Communications Act (2009), Act 775 . Aside the revocation and sanctioning, the authority also fined others to the tune GHc 1.24 billion. Ghanas leading drug manufacturing company, Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Center, has been awarded an International Standard Organization (ISO) certificate by the TUV Nord group. The certificate, ISO 9001: 2015, confirms that Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Center passed all service testing, quality and inspection portfolio tests conducted by the TUV Nord group. Presenting the certificate to Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Center at its premises in Accra Thursday, representative of the TUV Nord group, Dr. S. Renade congratulated the management of the company on the successful completion of the test and tasked it to work towards the maintenance of the certificate. Receiving the certificate on behalf of Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Center, CEO for Tobinco Group of Companies, Elder Samuel Amo Tobbin expressed his gratitude to the TUV Nord group and assured them of the companys resolve to maintain the certificate and aim for the World Health Organization (WHO) precertification. He also thanked the entire management and staff of Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Center for their hard work which eventually led to the ISO 9001: 2015 certification. The CEO for Ghana Standards Authority, Professor Alexander Doodoo congratulated the management and staff of Entrance Pharmaceutical and Research Center. He added that Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Center is the second company in Ghana to be awarded the certificate. He assured Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Center of his outfits support in the companys quest to attain the World Health Organization (WHO) pre certification. He called on managers and owners of Ghanaian industries to emulate the move by Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Center. The TUV Nord is a German technical inspection agency which is a leading inspection, certification and testing organizations in the world. Its broad certification, service testing and inspection portfolio encompasses both specific individual tests and also management of complex safety solutions. A unique new series, Ogaal, that will help Somalis cope during the current drought, begins on Tuesday 3 October on BBC Somali. Ogaal will air three times a week, at 5.40pm EAT on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and each show will be 15 mins long. All of the programmes will also be available online at bbc.com/somali Listeners will hear stories from all parts of the country about the impact of the drought and reports of how humanitarian bodies, the authorities and the affected communities themselves are responding. The series is a collaboration from BBC Somali , Radio Ergo, and BBC Media Action and will contain a dedicated segment in each edition that will provide lifeline information. This will include advice on what plans people can put in place to deal with the drought and potential lack of food - and provide examples from what is working elsewhere in the country. Abdullahi Abdi, BBC Somali Editor said: BBC Somalis ongoing commitment to telling the stories of its audience as well as bringing them impartial, accurate reporting is furthered by this great collaboration. This programme will enable us to show the way to survival to the most vulnerable people at this difficult time of drought. Angela Muriithi, Country Director Somalia for BBC Media Action, said: Information is a vital form of humanitarian aid. In light of this, BBC Media Actions collaboration with BBC Somali Service and Radio Ergo to produce Ogaal is a crucial step in helping the 6.2 million Somalis affected by the on-going drought to get answers to basic questions they have on how to survive and cope with the crisis. Questions like how do I find food? How do I know my child is malnourished and needs medical attention? What can I do with the types of food that I do have? How do I prioritise use of the little water I have? As well as broader questions about the humanitarian situation in general and what the government and the international community is doing about it. The programme will also allow the real voices of people who are affected by the crisis and how they are coping to be heard providing a sense of psychosocial support to many affected listeners. Radio Ergo is run by the NGO, International Media Support (IMS). Louise Tunbridge, IMS Programme Manager, said: We are delighted to launch this collaboration in the interests of Somali audiences, who need all the information they can get to help them through these extremely tough times of drought and related hardships. The Ogaal programme brings together our respective strengths and allows the voices and information gathered by Radio Ergo reporters from all over Somalia to be shared among as wide an audience as possible. BBC Somali is part of the BBC World Service and is the most listened to international station in Somalia. It broadcasts to Somali-speaking audiences, providing radio, online and TV content in East Africa, in the Horn of Africa and for Somalis around the world. It reaches a weekly audience of 4 million people. BBC Somali recently began broadcasting its flagship TV new programme -details are here and they can also be found on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram . The programme segment providing practical information and advice to listeners on health, hygiene and nutrition is produced by BBC Media Action, the BBC's international development charity, and funded by the UK's Department for International Development. As with all BBC Media Action content, the BBC retains full editorial control. BBC Media Action is the BBCs international development charity. Their overarching goal is to help people make sense of events, engage in dialogue and take action to improve their lives. They work in partnership with broadcasters, governments, non-governmental organisations and donors to share reliable, timely and useful information. Their projects reached over 200 million people last year and are made up of debate shows, dramas, radio and TV programmes, public service announcements, mobile phone services and face-to-face communication. It is an independent charity funded separately from the licence fee and is supported by funding from development agencies and foundations, and from corporates and individuals. For further information visit them at: www.bbcmediaaction.org International Media Support (IMS) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, working with media in countries affected by armed conflict, human security and political transition. Its specialist humanitarian radio project, Radio Ergo, is run out of the IMS regional office in Nairobi. Radio Ergo has an unrivalled network of local correspondents across Somalia reporting from within their communities. Visit the Ergo website at www.radioergo.org Officials of the Forestry Commission in the Bekwai Municipality of the Ashanti Region, have called on the public to provide information to help them fight against illegal chainsaw operations in the area. According to them, information from the public will complement their efforts in arresting persons who engage in the illegal activities. The call comes after a Bekwai district court presided over by His Lordship Frederick A.W.K Nawurah, handed over a six months sentence to an illegal chainsaw operator, with hard labor, after he was accused of conspiracy to fell timber in the Bosomtwe Forest Reserve without authority. Emmanuel Frimpong, a chainsaw operator and his accomplice, Ebenezer Acheampong, a farmer, pleaded guilty to all charges. The Prosecutor, Detective Inspector Stephen Ofori, told the court that further checks revealed the accused persons have fallen six trees and cut same into lumber for an estimated amount of GHC3,400. He said the activities of the suspects had caused damage to the environment, and will require the Forestry Commission an amount of GHC7, 400 to restore the destroyed vegetation. Ebenezer Acheampong was however granted bail by the court due to ill-health and would report back for his sentence. Bekwai District Forestry Commission Manager, George Agbenoshie, who confirmed the incident to Citi News also appealed to the judiciary to continue applying custodial sentences on persons who engage in illegal chainsaw operations. He maintained that spot fines were not deterrent enough to halt activities of illegal loggers in the area. In a related development, the same court presided over by same judge sentenced a farmer from Merepabeba near Nkoranza in the Adansi South District to six months imprisonment and fine of Ghc 1200. Yaw Sakyi, who pleaded guilty to the charges, was arrested by the Rapid Response team of the Bekwai Forestry Commission at the Dampai Forest when he was felling the Danta tree with a chainsaw machine. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will from Monday, 2nd October, 2017, to Sunday, 8th October, 2017, embark on a 7-day tour of the three northern regions, as part of his tour of the country. President Akufo-Addo will begin his tour with a 2-day visit to the Upper West region, where, he will on Monday, inspect and commission the Wa Water Supply Project. He will later, in the day, meet with the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, in Wa. The President will round off his tour of the Upper West region with visits to Lawra, Nandom, Sissala and Tumu, where he will interact with the Chiefs and people of these towns. Wednesday, 4th October, will see President Akufo-Addo commencing a 2-day tour of the Upper East Region with a durbar of Chiefs in Bolgatanga, and a visit to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital. He will also visit the Vea dam, Tamne dam, and inspect ongoing works on the Bolgatanga-Bawku Road. On Friday, 6th October, President Akufo-Addo will begin his 3-day tour of the Northern Region with a courtesy call on the overlord of Mamprugu land, the Nayiri, Naa Bohigu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga. At Damongo, on the same day, the President is expected to call on the overlord of Gonjaland, the Yagbonwura, Tuntumba Boresa I. At Yendi, on Saturday, 7th October, the President will call on the Regent of Dagbon, the Kampakuya Na, Yakubu Abdulai Andani II; and the Bolin Lana, Mahamadu Abdulai. The President will also be in the Saboba constituency to interact with residents. President Akufo-Addo will round off his tour of the Northern Region on Sunday, 8th October, with a visit to Salaga, where he will pay a courtesy call on the Kpembewura, Babanye Ndefosu II. It will be recalled that in the run-up to the December 2016 election, on 1st September, 2016, the Kpembewura predicted a 53% margin of victory for then presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo, when the latter paid a courtesy call on him as part of his campaign tour of the Northern Region. The President ends his tour of Northern region with a visit to the Avnash Rice Mills in Nyankpala, in the Tolon constituency, before returning to Accra. -Starrfmonline After a successful first mini draw which saw the Konyah Family winning an all-expense paid vacation to Dubai, the ongoing Access Bank Abusua Aky3de3 promo has rewarded another group - the Enam Afi Mana Aidam Family,with a free educational scholarship worth thousands of cedis. Other lucky winners including Almufarik Enterprise, Solidere Investments and VEF Marketing Service, all in the SME category,have also received key-man life insurance covers among many other prizes. Till date, over 500 customers of the Bank have been rewarded so far in the promo with many more left to be rewarded in the upcoming draws. At a brief ceremony held at theforecourt of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) to present the prizes to the winners, Enam Afi Mana Aidam who received the educational scholarship prize on behalf of her family expressed her excitement and commended Access Bank for the innovative reward scheme that encouraged family bonding through healthy financial choices on savings. She added, It is such a relief to know that this money can be used to support my children have a good educational footing. If you are a customer and still doubt that this is real, just take the first step of saving for your future and you could be a lucky winner too. Handing over the prizes to the winners, the Divisional Head of Retail Banking at Access Bank,Mr Stephen Abban, echoed the overwhelming support the promo has received since its inception.All over the country, we have been out in the market places, busy streets, schools, churches, malls and lorry parks, and the story is no different. People are excited and thrilled about the juicy prizes that this promotion offers when they make that decision to save. He also took the opportunity to remind customers that the 1st mega draw in the Abusua Akyede3 promo will be held in October and the winning family will take away a sleek 2017 Hyundai Tucson from Auto Plaza whiles the winning SME will receive a whooping GHs40,000 cash prize. In attendance at the ceremony were customers, media, students as well as Management and Staff of Access Bank. Some students and other customers who were present at the ceremony were also given the opportunity to win some amazing spot prizes through a lucky dip. Being the first ever family savings promo in Ghana, the Abusua Aky3de3 promo by Access Bank is indeed putting smiles on the faces of many families across the country. To join the promo, individual customers will simply have tocreate a group, deposit and maintain a minimum of GHS 500 cedis to win big. SME customers on the other hand will need to maintain a minimum balance of GHS1,000 to be eligible to win in any of the draws. The promotionwhich was launched in July this year to reward both Groups of family and friends as well as SMEs is in partnership with the National Lottery Authority (NLA) under the Caritas platform, Auto Plaza, Wapic Insurance and Ghana Life. The Trade Minister says the government is ready to roll out a comprehensive strategy aimed at combating pirated textiles. Alan John Kyerematen said the measures will bring a lasting solution to the smuggling and counterfeiting of fabrics in the country. He said the Ministry has briefed the stakeholders of the textile industry about the strategies to implement to address the challenges. As a government, we are committed [to addressing the issue], he said. The Minister was reacting to a petition submitted by the Textiles, Garment and Leather Employees Union (TEGLU) Monday. Some members of the Union picketed the Ministry demanding the inauguration of the Anti-Textiles Piracy Taskforce. The Taskforce had been operational since 2010 until it was disbanded earlier this year. General Secretary of the Union, Abraham Koomson told Joy News the counterfeiting of local prints is collapsing their companies. He said production levels of the Unions member companies have been low, a development he blamed on activities of smugglers. We dont have any problem with people importing textiles but it is the faking that we are against, he clarified. Mr Koomson said the Anti-Textiles Piracy Taskforce helped to sanitise the industry when it was set up in 2010, but lamented its inactivity. But the Trade Ministry has assured the Union it is working to ensure that the Taskforce is inaugurated to combat pirated textiles. Weve explained to them [the measures we will put in place] and they have come to an agreement, Mr Kyerematen said. Ghana would soon produce Nanofiber, also called Magic Fibre, to other African countries as M-TEchX Inc., a Japanese company, sets up its production base in the country under the One-District One Factory project rolled out by government. The proposed production plant, is not only expected to employ some Ghanaians in various departments but also make Ghana a hub for Nanofiber with the country earning some foreign exchange to boost the economy. According to Mr Sota, CEO of M-TEchX Inc., Ghana has the right environment for doing business and we look forward for Nanofibre to be developed from Ghana and spread the solution to Africa and rest of the world. he stated. Mr. Joseph Bonney, Executive Director, Africa Region of M-TEchX Inc., disclosed that the desire to establish the company in Ghana is in response to governments call on the private sector to get involved in the One-District One Factory Concept and the congenial business environment prevailing in the country. He disclosed that, the company has had consultations with the various stakeholders in the country and the prospects are very high for a plant to be established soon. When established, the factory would become the focal point in Africa, supplying other countries in the West African Sub-region and beyond. Mr. Bonney reiterated that Ghanaians would be given priority in employment and that efforts would be made to increase local contents in all aspects of the companys operations in the country. M-TEchX Inc., based in Japan, specializes in manufacturing of Magic Fiber which is the product of the Nanofiber created from proprietary manufacturing technology. "We have overcome the main obstacles of conventional technology relating to 'mass productivity', 'lower cost' and 'safety'. Apart from possessing the same characteristics of Nanofiber created by conventional methods, Magic Fiber also inherits the unique features of our proprietary Nanofiber, namely, Microfiber/Nano size effect and Ultra-specific surface area effect, he explained. Its greatest strength lies in mass productivity where it can be commercialized easily. With mass production made possible, high performance Nanofiber products can be manufactured in a stable and consistent way, as well as achieving lower cost.. President Akufo-Addo has extolled former President John Kufour on his receipt of the Wilberforce World Freedom medal for promoting democracy in Ghana. Kufour received the award over the weekend as part of the first ever Wilberforce World Freedom Summit, taking place at Hull University. In a statement congratulating the former president, Akufo-Addo said, On behalf of the Government and people of Ghana, I congratulate my former boss, His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of the Republic, on his receipt of the first ever Wilberforce World Freedom Medal from the University of Hull's Wilberforce Institute. The award is in recognition of his huge contribution to really putting Ghana on the map, politically and socially, and also raising its profile as a centre of democracy and good governance. The Ghanaian people acknowledge with gratitude the honour that has been done them by this award, and congratulate former President J.A. Kufuor on this well-deserved recognition. The Wilberforce World Freedom Summit is hosted and organised by the University of Hull's Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation under the theme: Eradicating Contemporary Slavery. Proceedings focus on contemporary slavery in its many different forms in the UK and around the world and also address policies designed to bring about its eventual eradication. Commonwealth Secretary-General the Rt. Hon. Baroness Scotland, the UK's Independent Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Hyland OBE, and Humberside's newly-appointed Chief Constable Lee Freeman are among a host of high-level speakers. Other key speakers include Aidan McQuade, Director of anti-slavery campaign Chief Executive of the Freedom Fund the rst private sector founder of anti-slavery initiatives and Sir Peter Fahy, Chief Executive of children's charity Retrak and former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester. Johannesburg (AFP) - The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the model shot dead by Oscar Pistorius, expressed outrage Monday over an upcoming US film about how the Paralympic athlete gunned down their daughter. June and Barry Steenkamp said they were "horrified and upset" at reports that the film claimed to tell the story of the 2013 killing from the perspective of Reeva and June, her mother. The Steenkamps stressed they had not collaborated in the project or knew anything about it being made, and said they were still in mourning for their daughter. "Any impression that is created that this is June's view, or that the movie is endorsed by the Steenkamp family, is untrue and incorrect," they said in a statement. A trailer for the movie -- titled "Blade Runner Killer" -- was released on Monday, showing Pistorius and Steenkamp in bed, having arguments before her death and Pistorius opening fire. Parents' nightmare: June and Barry Steenkamp, seen here as the high court handed Pistorius a six-year term in 2016 for murdering their daughter Pistorius, 30, is serving a six-year jail term for murder over the killing of Steenkamp in his house in the South African capital Pretoria in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013. He has always maintained that he mistook her for an intruder when he fired four high-calibre bullets through a locked toilet cubicle. Pistorius became the first double-amputee to race at Olympic level when he appeared at the London 2012 games. In 2016, an appeals court upgraded his manslaughter conviction to murder. The South African state is pushing for a longer sentence, with the case due to be heard in court on November 3. Pistorius vomited in the dock as details of his girlfriend's death were examined during his seven-month trial in 2014 that attracted fevered global attention. The film, which stars German model Toni Garrn as Steenkamp, is due to have a TV premiere on the Lifetime network in the US on November 11. Politics in Africa particularly Ghana is quite interesting and can't stop amusing me. Everyday, we become testimonies of contradictory treacherous media blasphemy emanating from the backyards of self centred political schemers and their surrogates. Well, that sort of vindictiveness and personal scores have persisted for a while and we now gobble them down as wedding wine. That is normal but where objectivity is sacrificed for political survival, then know that people will do everything humanely possible to survive the quite convoluted and apparently unpredictable political culture. That is my succinct observation which you may disagree or probably not understand but let me expatiate in clear terms. In my view, Ghanaians did not vote for NPP because of its mouth watering plethora of promises. I mean the "oneism and freeism." What made the NPP came out with overwhelming victory is their strategy used during the campaign ahead of the 2016 elections. The rehearsed statements on corruption, loot and share, family and friends government, hardship among other notably fanatical slogans, painted the then John Mahama led government as the most "corrupt and incompetent government" This strategy was largely supported by a certain media cabals that were indescribably hungry for political largesse. This plan was executed with precision and the government of the day was almost helpless in self defense. As the government and its communicators were trumpeting its achievements and promising more, the NPP simply used phrases and violent threats to throw dust into the eyes of a vast majority of unsuspecting voters. Well, as indicated in my earlier rendition, that is the order of the day in multiparty democracy in Africa where political desperation and extreme quest to destroy political opponents become a center stage. We might have blindly copied the Western Democracy without appreciating the concept in a more broader perspective relative to our culture. One thing that keeps echoing in my mind is that, is corruption a political canker or social canker? In my personal understanding, it is a social canker that has its root deep into the attitudinal culture of the people. Well, NPP and other analysts think otherwise. Another question is, what constitutes incompetence in governance? When the person fingers out bureaucratic weaknesses and take steps to address them or the persons ability to defend that those bureaucratic defects do not exist? Ponder over the above questions and you may agree with me that needless defense of odds make you very odd in the comity of leadership. That is the exact situation the NPP has found it self in. Ever since, the NPP took over power, they have been many incidences of suspected corruption. This, in many instances, come from their own appendages. We have instances where one "big elephant " was accusing the other of taking goats and cows to facilitate appointment, we have the famous stinking BOST contaminated brouhaha, the unaccounted 5% of the controversial Ken Domestic bond. As if that is not enough, now we have their own, telling us there is corruption going on in the flagstaff house where those surrounding the president are figured. In all these, the president is not interested in knowing the real issues. His appointees are fiercely mounting conspicuously inconsistent defence. Many attempts have been made to kill the issues but they remain alive especially when A Plus remains adamant in his commitment to exposing what he knows of. The government says we should go and sleep and watch them act like Jacks and Killers!!! Just two days ago, District Assemblies were asked to contribute 5,000 each totalling close to 1.3billiom old cedis just to facilitate the tour of the president to the Northern Region. The presidency alone was allocated a whooping amount of about 1.5billion in the 2017 budget. In this matter, people say we should hail him? The lame defence from the local ministry is that it is "ignorant" about the happenings. That is quite interesting. This is just a looting brigade. Simple. It is rather more sickening that he is not even going for official visits but political tours. In my home region, Upper West, the whole town(Wa, the Regional capital) is decorated with NPP flags and not National flags awaiting the president to come and throw largesse to party footsoldiers. Why won't they defend the contribution of Five thousand Ghana Cedis by each District? It is understandable but let's not allow partisanship to erode our common sense. The very districts that government agrees that they lack resources and says it wants to assist with a certain one million dollars each, are the very districts it is siphoning now, from the little revenue they generate from the poor and ordinary people. In the cloak of helping the ordinary people, you drink their blood with pride and says it is competence and that we should keep quite? hihihihi... This is legal dictatorship being implored to enrich few selfish people who rode on the emotions of these very ordinary citizenry into political power. The president who boasts of incorruptibility probably has a limited understanding of this complex social canker or only decides to compromise his niche in the legal profession only for cheap political rhetoric. Corruption is like a web and the president is now found in it and his appendages dining and competing to cut the best parts of the elephant meat. My friend Derbie Raphael calls it "the rotten underbelly of the elephant." In all these counterproductive orchestrations by key elements of government, the competent government insists that we should be praising it. To them( NPP Government), they can neither see nor hear of any wrong doings. Well, that is what happens when you are caught in the very web you claim to so much abhor. Hypocrisy and shame won't allow them to see. I admonish the NPP to hurry up to set up the office of the special prosecutor. They should prosecute those they claim were corrupt. Leave their own out and let them drink and bath in corruption. After all, the illusion of holding on to power persists in their politically adulterated minds!! Any government that borrows to take care of recurrent expenditure is the most incompetent government. At the time that we are talking about industrialisation with its needed infrastructure, if we still borrow to pay monthly salaries of workers, then we are doomed as a country. How can borrowing to pay workers also be away of reducing the public dept stock? Extremely ridiculous!!! Even upon all these borrowing, many workers are still earnestly hoping to get their salaries as thousands of workers are yet to get their September salaries yet they(NPP) are parroting that they are the most economically competent brains the world has ever produced. That strategy of pretending not to see or hear which I call " see no evil, hear no evil" is an embarrassing strategy that shall ruin the electoral fortunes of the NPP soon. Let no one wrestle with them to rise up and fish out their own corrupt officials. Ghanaians are antagonising this self seeking strategy only in silence and we shall see the manifestation in due time. It is just a matter of time. Denis Andaban [email protected] The Local Textiles Workers Association on Monday, (2nd October, 2017) picketed at the Trades Ministry, following the refusal by the ministry to officially set up a task force to curb the issues of importation of pirated goods, and smuggling among others. The workers who were clad in red t-shirts, red hats and other paraphernalia were at the Trade Ministry to picket against the delay in inaugurating a task force to help curb smuggling of fake textiles into the Ghanaian markets. The workers who have on several occasions voiced out their grievances told Citi Business News the situation was getting out of hand hence their intended picketing. A man who gave his name as Kinga member of the textile workers association said the issue is negatively impacting on their business. It used to be happening back then there was a lot of action which helped in at least improving the fortunes of our constituents but that was put on hold by the change of administration. The pirating and smuggling is affecting us so much, now it feels as if it's gotten out of hand that is why we are on the neck of the ministry to aid us with a taskforce to help us wipe them off our markets he said. The General Secretary of the Local Textile Workers Union, Abraham Koomson confirmed that the ministry has issued a letter which stating their readiness to inaugurate a tax force on the 11th of October to ensure their grievances is addressed. According to him, the letter was issued to them whilst they were picketing. He however expresses mixed feelings as to whether the tax force will work diligently to ensure the issues of smuggling and pirated goods are completely curbed. Our only problem is that if after the inauguration they will work as planned because sometimes even after these taskforce has been inaugurated then you see politics set in and that prevents them from doing their work well. Partially we want to see the task force working. He pleaded with the ministry to ensure that the task force delivers their duties without any distractions. If the taskforce is inaugurated they should be allowed to function he added. Meanwhile, Minister for Trade and industry Alan Kyerematen assured that government is working diligently to resolve the issue within the shortest possible time. We have known that this has been a perennial problem dealing with imported textiles which unfortunately has created serious challenges for our local textile manufacturing. As a government, we are committed to making sure that we find a lasting solution to this problem and that is why we have had constant engagements, consultations with all the textile companies at the highest level, the management and the union leaders the minister stated. By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana Buea (Cameroon) (AFP) - Police maintained a tight grip in English-speaking Cameroon on Monday a day after the anglophone minority declared symbolic independence, as the toll from weekend clashes rose to at least 17 dead, according to an unofficial tally. Highways in the anglophone Southwest Region remained blocked or filtered by police checkpoints in the early morning, and in the city of Buea the streets were virtually deserted and heavily patrolled. Police and troops set up five roadblocks on the vital 70-kilometre (43-mile) road link between Cameroon's economic hub of Douala and Buea, Southwest Region's chief city, an AFP journalist saw. In the rundown Buea district of Mile 17 -- a reputed haven for separatists -- rocks, hurled in demonstrations on Sunday, were strewn in the streets. Police carried out overnight arrests in one of the city's districts, and left with individuals who were in handcuffs, an AFP journalist saw. On social media, pro-independence campaigners reported a wave of raids and arrests, but it was difficult to confirm their claim. Internet access in anglophone region was poor or cut off. Rising toll Amnesty International said "at least" 17 people had been killed by security forces in the country's two English-speaking regions, a figure that concurred with a toll given by official sources, who said two Nigerians were among the dead. An earlier tally compiled by AFP put the death toll at seven, who were shot dead by security forces On Sunday, separatists used the October 1 anniversary of the official unification of the English- and French-speaking parts of Cameroon to declare independence for "Ambazonia," the name of the state they want to create. The violence was the culmination of weeks of mounting tension in the Southwest and Northwest Regions -- home to anglophones who account for about a fifth of the West African nation's population of 22 million. English-speakers complain they have suffered decades of economic inequality and social injustice at the hands of the French-speaking majority, especially in education and the judiciary. Most anglophone campaigners want the country to resume a federalist system -- an approach that followed the 1961 unification but was later scrapped in favour of a centralised government run from the capital Yaounde. But a hardline minority is calling for secession. 'No longer slaves' The symbolic declaration of independence was made Sunday on social media by Sisiku Ayuk, who describes himself as the "president" of Ambazonia. "We are no longer slaves of Cameroon," he said. "Today we affirm the autonomy of our heritage and our territory." Both federalism and independence are opposed by the country's long-ruling president, 84-year-old Paul Biya. On Sunday, Biya said he condemned "all acts of violence, whatever their source" and urged "dialogue." The European Union has called on all side to refrain from violence and uphold the law, a position echoed on Monday by France, Cameroon's former colonial power. Amnesty International has called on the government to inquire into the deaths. Cameroon was a German colony from 1884 until 1919, when it was split into British- and French- run entities at the end of World War I. Today's anglophone-francophone rift dates back to 1961, when the British-administered Southern Cameroons united with Cameroon after its independence from France in 1960. The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWC) loses GHc 6 million monthly by operating the Teshie-Nungua Water Desalination Plant. Citi News checks indicate that the GWCL makes payments of GHc 8 million a month to the financiers of the project, although it makes only GHc 2 million by supplying treated water from the plant. The plant has the capacity to desalinate 13 million gallons of seawater a day. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. In this case however, saltwater is desalinated to produce water suitable for human consumption. One by-product of desalination is salt. In April 2015, the Plant was commissioned by Former President John Mahama to process sea water into potable water for consumers in Teshie Nungua and surrounding areas. It is estimated that it serves 500,000 people with an estimated 13 million gallons or 60,000 cubic meters of water. The water desalination project falls under the Accra East Region of the Ghana Water Companys operations. In 2011, the Government of Ghana awarded a contract to Befesa Desalination Development Ghana for the establishment of the sea water treatment plant to produce clean water, which will be channeled into the pipelines of GWCL. Messrs Befesa Limited, an engineering firm, was contracted by the government to build the desalination plant, operate to defray its cost, and hand over to the GWCL after 25 years. The project was executed by Abengoa, a Spanish company, and Sojitz Corporation, Japan's largest importer of rare earth metals. The two hold a 94% equity in the project. The plant was designed, constructed and is being operated by Befesa Desalination Developments Ghana, a joint venture of Abengoa Water Investments Ghana, Daye Water Investment (Ghana), and their local partner Hydrocol. Project cost The total cost of the project is known to be $126 million. The project is a Build, Operate, Own and Transfer project spanning a period of 25 years, with a revenue forecast of about $1.3 billion dollars over 25 year period. This public-private partnership arrangement will see Abengoa operate the plant for 25 years, and then transfer its management to GWCL. The World Bank's political risk insurance arm, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), gave an investment guarantee of $179 million dollars to the project. This was to cover the equity investment and shareholder loan of Abengoa and partners, and a non-shareholder loan and interest-rate swap by Standard Bank Group of South Africa. What are the issues? Some industry insiders have told Citi News that there was no need to have established the Teshie Water Desalination plant because around the same time, the Kpong Water Treatment plant was being expanded to supply over 40 million gallons of water to the Accra East Region. It is estimated that at its peak, the Kpong Plant could produce about 80 million gallons of water per day, and that could take care of consumers in the catchment area. The retrofitting of the Kpong Plant cost the taxpayer about $273 million. However, a strong case was made for the Teshie Desalination plant with reference to the fact that the demand for the catchment area stood at 160 million gallons of water a day. Therefore, the government gave the project the needed push to see its execution. Resistance to the project The Teshie and Nungua areas have had water challenges for years and because of inadequate water volumes, the Ghana Water Company Limited for years undertook water rationing. The introduction of the Desalination plant was to ensure 13 million gallons of water was produced per day, to eliminate rationing and ensure consumers got quality and affordable water. But a bigger problem persisted for GWCL, which is the off-taker under the Water Purchasing Agreement between Ghana and Befesa. A consolidation of all the costs meant that, Ghana Water was buying the water at about GH 6.5 per cubic meter, and selling at the regulated PURC rate of about GHS1.5 per cubic meter. This arrangement meant that the GWCL was losing over GHS4 for every cubic meter of water sold from the Teshie Desalination Plant. Former sector Minister, Alhaji Collins Dauda with Mr. G. K. Dovlo, then-MD for GWCL inspecting the Project Site in 2015 Some of the monthly costs to the Ghana Water Company include an estimated GHc 1.5 million electricity bill. The GWCL is currently unable to pay the Electricity Company of Ghana, which is also struggling financially. The other cost element is the capacity charge, and from Citi News analysis, the GWCL owes Befesa an amount of about $80 million. In November 2015, months after the plant started operations, the GWCL revealed to Citi News that it owed Befesa GHc 43m. Cause for concern GWCL produces an estimated 190 million gallons of water per day with current demand at 250 million gallons of water per day. Only 3 of their 89 urban water supply systems are breaking even and making some good money. These three, Barekese, Weija and Kpong, are basically working to subsidize the operations of the others, according to Citi News research. Any Water Purchasing Agreement which burdens the company financially puts a stress on the nation's water company and may have dire implications. Possible options for GWCL, Govt The Government of Ghana and the Ghana Water Company have two options out of the many available to them in this situation. First, they can continue negotiations and reach a sustainable Water Purchasing Agreement with Befesa and their partners, including the World Bank's MIGA or it can terminate the existing Water Purchasing Agreement and pay-out the debt, the equity or both, based on negotiations. By: citifmonline.com/Ghana Oba Ovonramwen, during whose reign the British looted the Benin Bronzes with guards on board ship on his way to exile in Calabar in 1897. The gown he is wearing hides his shackles. Photograph by the Ibani Ijo photographer J. A. Green. From the Howie photo album in the archives of the Merseyside Maritime Museum 02.10.2017 LISTEN "There was a dim grandeur about it all, and also these seemed to a fate. Here was this head center of iniquity, spared by us from its suitable end of burning for the sake of holding the new seat of justice where barbarism had held away, given into our hands with the brand of Blood soaked into every corner and ........ fire only could purge it, and here on our last day we were to see its legitimate fate overtake it." - H. R. Bacon, Benin the City of Blood. (1) Readers will recall that in a previous article we mentioned that the so-called Benin Dialogue Group has so far not provided the public with any reliable detailed information on the proposed revolving exhibition of looted Benin artefacts in Benin City that is intended to be 'loaned' to Nigeria. This is a very interesting way of dealing with matters of interest to the public in Nigeria and elsewhere by public institutions financed by the taxpayer. (2) We are still waiting for information on the following: a) Which institutions will 'loan'? b) Who will appoint the curator/director of the exhibition, which nationality? c) What are the number and names of the looted artefacts they will 'loan'? d) What are the costs of the 'loan' any interests and fees- to be paid? e) What are the costs of transportation from Europe to Benin City? f) What are the costs of insurance? g) Which insurance company or companies will be involved, Nigerian or Western? h) What is the time-frame for the exhibition start? It will be interesting to know how the Nigerian Government will explain to its people that it is making payments to the British regarding the Benin artefacts that the British stole in 1897 which are now being displayed in Benin City but continue to be under British ownership. The average Nigerian will think the world has been turned upside down. Instead of obliging those who steal to return the objects and pay a penalty, they are now being rewarded for displaying the stolen objects. While waiting for more information, we continue our reflections on a project we think has not been carefully thought out and, in view of the historical background of looting, burning, destruction and general havoc caused by the British invasion of 1897, constitutes an insult to Nigerians and Africans. Members of the nefarious Punitive Expedition of 1897 posing proudly with looted Benin artefacts. There is no need for us to rehearse here the history of the invasion, looting and burning of Benin City in 1897 by the United Kingdom, a country with which the Kingdom of Benin had no common borders, a country from Europe, that set out to establish its hegemony over Africa, some thousands of kilometres away from the British Isles. It was the refusal of Oba Owonramwen to submit to the attempts of imposition of British rule that led eventually to the nefarious invasion. (3) Readers will also recall the collecting methods of Western expeditions to Africa as exemplified by the notorious Djibouti - Dakar Expedition which went through several African countries, including Nigeria, in 1931-1933, stealing artefacts, intimidating, and threatening those who refused to give up religious or cultural objects. (4) At the moment, the German Humboldt Forum, Berlin, is in the process of completion and the looted Benin artefacts in the Ethnology Museum, Dahlem, Berlin, will be transferred to the new institution. Several NGOs, united under the umbrella of No Humboldt 21, have made protests questioning the legality and the legitimacy of ownership of looted artefacts by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. (5) The World Museum, Vienna, formerly Volkerkunde Museum, that has closed its African Section where the Benin artefacts are for 17 years, will be reopening in October 2017. (6) Ever since the looting of some 3500 Benin artefacts, the Oba of Benin and his people have been requesting their return but have had no success. (7) The British have always refused but were not averse to selling them. (8) The major Western museums issued in 2000 a statement, Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums, by which they claimed that artefacts that have long been in the museums, no matter how acquired, have become part of the culture of the countries where they are located; they were not going to repatriate such artefacts. (9) During an International Symposium in 2006, organized within the context of the Benin Exhibition Benin - Kings and Rituals: Royal Arts from Nigeria, the Benin delegation stated that if all the museums holding Benin artefacts returned one artefact each, the Oba of Benin and his people would be satisfied. He got an immediate negative response came from Christian Feest, then Director of the Volkerkunde Museum. (10) The United Nations, UNESCO and other bodies have urged the return of artefacts to their countries of origin but to no effect. (11) We should also remember, particularly as regards security in museums, that the colonialists did not build any first-class museums in all the decades of their rule. Most modern museums in the African countries were built after Independence or shortly before Independence. Moreover, we should remember that the colonialists did not provide any of the African museums with materials and objects of European civilization even though it was always alleged that they were bringing civilization to Africa. Which civilization, European or African? In this, we recognize the lies of colonial propaganda. How were they going to bring European civilization to Africa when they were not even ready to bring European paintings and artefacts to museums in Africa? On the contrary, the European colonialists spent much time and energy in looting African artefacts for their museums at home. Consider the Benin Punitive Expedition and the Dakar - Djibouti Mission as well as the various stealing by adventurers such as Leo Frobenius, not forgetting the activities of the Christian missions in collecting and sending 'heathen' artefacts to Europe. (12) It is against the background of the history of colonialist activities in this area as well as the present conduct of Western institutions, that we must evaluate the proposed revolving exhibition in Benin City. So far, we do not know who submitted the proposal to set up a rotating exhibition of looted Benin artefacts in Benin City with European 'ownership' of the artefacts. Since the proposal is presented in the name of the so-called Benin Dialogue Group, in the absence of any clear evidence to the contrary, it must be assumed that both Nigerians and Europeans bear joint responsibility and paternity of this singular arrangement. Whether there was also an official Benin delegation involved in the decision, is not clear. Oba Ozolua with attendants, Benin, Nigeria, now in World Museum, formerly Ethnology Museum, Vienna, Austria. If the proposed scheme were to be implemented, it would be an important victory for Western States and museums. The project would imply: 1. The renunciation by the Oba, the people of Benin and Nigeria of their rights to seek the return of the artefacts looted by the British Punitive Expedition in 1897 and possibly other artefacts looted/stolen under unclarified circumstances. The rights of the Oba of Benin would have been signed away without his express consent. Can the Oba make such a renunciation without consulting his people? 2. Even though other African peoples and States are not involved in the current discussions and thus have no means of influencing decisions, patterns set up by the project would be applied to them; they would have difficulties in arguing for other solutions, better than what the Nigerians have secured. We should bear in mind that the people of Benin have one of the best claims to recover looted artefacts. Should they fail with their claim, countries like Congo, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Republic of Benin, Zimbabwe and others would have tremendous difficulties to obtain any restitution of their looted artefacts from Western States. 3. Western States and their museums would be the great beneficiaries of this scheme. The West needs no longer have any bad conscience that it has not returned African artefacts looted during the colonial period despite the claims of African peoples for their return. It would be easily answered that the West has organized exhibitions of the artefacts in the corresponding countries. 4. The moral and political pressure from international organizations such as United Nations, UNESCO and ICOM would have been neutralized or at least considerably reduced without the West having to return the artefacts as required by countless resolutions. 5. The poverty of African museums in terms of numbers and quality of African artefacts in their possessions, would have been sealed forever. Where else can they obtain African artefacts of quality, if not from those who looted our artefacts in the colonial period? 6. There would be no hope of possible restitution of African artefacts in future. 7. How much Western States would benefit financially from this scheme has not been stated but if we realize what can be done in the question of insurance, we can imagine the following: a) Extremely high premiums to be paid by Nigeria. b) The relevant insurance would be made with a British or other Western insurance company. Relief plaque with Oba Esigie with Ugie Oro Staff, Benin, Nigeria, now in British Museum, London, United Kingdom. The problems raised by the proposed display of looted Benin artefacts in Benin City are enormous and we cannot pretend to be able to enumerate or discuss them in the absence of detailed information by the proponents. But we have some basic doubts about the scheme. When Italy requested the restitution of looted Italian artefacts that were in several American museums and institutions, the objects were returned, with Italy exerting some pressure on the American institutions - The Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and Princeton University's Art Museum. The Italians organized in Rome an exhibition of the returned looted artefacts entitled Nostoi: Returned Masterpieces (Nostoi: Capolavori Ritrovati (13) Nobody ever suggested having an exhibition in Rome with ownership of the objects remaining with the American institutions that would take them back to the USA. Similarly, when looted objects were being returned to Greece, Turkey or Peru, nobody suggested there could be displays in those countries with the objects remaining in the ownership of those institutions that had been keeping them. (14) When Cambodia asked for restitution from Denver Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norton Simon, Sotheby's and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, no one thought of any loanexhibition. (15) From all requests by States for restitution, there has been straightforward restitution, sometimes after disputes, but it appeared to all that the correct solution was to return the object requested. It is only in the case of Nigeria that the Western museums have come up with a scheme that appears as a return, for the objects are exhibited in the requesting country but, the objects remain in the ownership of the holders. It would be obvious to all that there is here a differentiated treatment. Whilst in most cases, the requested object is returned and the disputes between the parties are settled, in the case of Nigeria, the objects are not returned and the relations between the parties about the object, continue with potentiality for further disputes. In the case of Nigeria, there seems to be a wish to prolong the dependence of Nigeria on the Western States and museums. But why the differentiated treatment for Nigeria? We can only surmise that this is based on the established general disrespect for Nigerians and Africans, evolving from slavery, colonialism and the resultant racism. The worst aspect of this ill-treatment is that it has gone on for so long, some five hundred years, that both the perpetrators and their victims sometimes behave as if they did not realize this. (This ill treatment is very generalized. Look at the usual treatment of Africans at Western airports.) They seek to find other grounds for the differentiation but they find none and remain embarrassingly silent on this discrimination. When other States request the return of looted artefacts, they eventually get them. When Nigerians and other Africans make similar requests, they are met with derision, vituperations and insults regarding their inefficiency made by the very States that stole their artefacts. Illegal holders of stolen objects have the impudence to insult the owners for making claims for return. Perhaps, we should not be too surprised that the museums are proving to be one of the last bastions of racism and colonialism, despite all declarations to the contrary. The renaming of many Western museums into 'World Museums' and the tremendous efforts made by the high priests and priestesses of universalism in Berlin, Chicago, London, New York, Paris and Vienna to convince us that they were created or are there to serve the world and humanity did not deceive or convince anyone but themselves. The histories of the violent acquisitions of artefacts from Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Americas are too well-known to be hidden. Western museums have been true to their original purpose of demonstrating the supremacy and superiority of the conquering and destructive colonial and imperialist powers, guarding in their fortresses the universal loot of the military powers. The links between colonialism, imperialism and museums are too evident to require any further demonstrations. The cynicism of the museums reaches a climax when they pretend to serve the various African and Asian diasporas that have been created in the previous imperial States. The exile, uprooting of many non-Europeans, through the hegemonic Western economic system of exploiting cheap labour, surely cannot be advanced as justification for looted artefacts. Altar Group with Oba Ewuakpe. Benin, Nigeria, now in Ethnology Museum, Berlin, Germany. Can we for a moment imagine that when China requests the return of the thousands of objects stolen from the Summer Palace, Beijing, in 1860, that a similar scheme is proposed? That objects will be displayed in a revolving exhibition in Beijing but they will continue to be in Western ownership and will be returned from time to time to Europe. Can we imagine such a situation? Obviously not. The West has, despite hostility to China, too much respect for that mighty nation and its people to make such a ridiculous proposal. Clearly, there is not between China and the Western States that relation of master and servant, superior and inferior, that would make such a proposal imaginable. The West has no such respect for, or fear of, Nigerians and Africans. These are former colonized and dominated peoples. This lack of respect for Africans has been demonstrated repeatedly. The wonder is that many educated Africans do not seem to have drawn any conclusions on the essential characteristic of 500 years of Afro-Western relationships. (16) The proposal to establish an exhibition in Benin reminds me of someone who has stolen my Mercedes-Benz and when requested to return the stolen vehicle makes the following proposal: I will bring the vehicle at an agreed date and time. Your wife (or wives, I know this is possible in Nigeria and Africa) and children may admire the car, sit in it with you at the steer and we can drive to places you or they choose. At the end of the day, I will take the car back but the next day it can be brought back. You will of course pay for the petrol costs, insurance and any eventual repairs. The proposal also reminds me of someone who has stolen my CDs who makes the following proposals: I will bring the CDs to your next birthday party along with best DJ who will play as long as you want. After the party, we will take the CDs away with us but anytime you need to hear the best African music, call us and we will be with you. The CDs will be kept at the Kalamazoo Hotel music lounge which you know. Readers will by now have drawn the conclusion that I regard the proposed scheme to establish a revolving exhibition in Benin City with continued ownership by the Western States and museums as bad and offensive. It is offensive as far as it constitutes a permanent denial of the rights of the people of Benin to own their own cultural artefacts. The proposal is also a discrimination against African peoples in questions of restitution of looted/stolen objects. It is offensive towards the memory of all those who lost their lives and properties in the notorious invasion of 1897. They treat us Africans as children who should be protected for their own good. This corresponds to the views of the old European philosophers and ethnologists. In colonial times, the Europeans treated their African employees as children and would speak to them in corresponding manner. What the proposed exhibition says is: 'You can have a look at these artefacts but we want them back and cannot allow you to have complete control over them since you are not capable of looking after them well. You are not able to protect them and they will soon be lost. We have to keep them for the sake of humanity'. This is, in effect, also the argument of those Western scholars who say that from a moral point of view, Benin has absolute right to have her artefacts back. They add however that, if this should happen, it would mean African art and art history do not have their rightful place in art history because they would not be represented in British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art, the Louvre and the Ethnology Museum in Berlin. This is a manifestation of the age-long Western belief that they have, perhaps from God, a duty to protect the artefacts of others from their own weaknesses and follies. It is the same spirit which animates a collector like Barbier-Mueller who made huge profits from collecting African artefacts, including many objects from Nigeria, which he sold to the Musee du Quai Branly, even though he was a member of their selecting committee. He declared that the African artefacts in Western collections should never be returned to Africa: We Westerners are the ones who confer the quality of art to these objects. These statues should not return to Africa. (17) An exhibition in Benin City as proposed will constitute a daily insult and provocation for all those who must pass by that museum/exhibition every day. The exhibition might become an object for protest by those who have grievances. Bust of Queen-Mother Idia, Benin, Nigeria, now in Ethnology Museum, Berlin, projected for transfer to Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany. What then is the alternative proposal to the proposal by the so-called Benin Dialogue Group? 1. Treat the request for the return of the Benin artefacts as all other such requests and not invent any self-serving scheme that will prolong the sad history of the notorious looting. 2. The ownership question must be settled before any other matter, such as security or insurance is considered. There can hardly be any meaningful discussion on security when we do not know what objects are to be secured. If only a few items are to be returned, discussion on the issue would be meaningless. Similarly, if only few objects are to be returned, do we need to worry much about their security? Finally, security of artefacts in Nigeria, should be left to the Nigerian authorities. It is their responsibility. If they feel they need the help of other States and their museums, they will say so. Equally, we cannot meaningfully discuss insurance when we do not know what objects, number and quality, are to be insured. Nigeria might decide not to insure certain artefacts. After all, not all artefacts in Western museums are insured. Security and insurance of objects are not constitutive elements of the right of property. It follows logically from the foregoing that the museums should finally state precisely the number of Benin artefacts they are holding. We cannot fruitfully and meaningfully discuss these matters when we are not sure about the numbers and qualities involved. In this context, this writer wrote an article about the difficulty in knowing where the 400 Benin artefacts that used to be in the Field Museum, Chicago, in 2006, are now to be found. (18) There has been no reaction from Field Museum or any other museum. One might have thought that 400 Benin artefacts were important enough for us to want to know their whereabouts. Apparently, museums and their officials do not think so. They have more important matters to worry about than the whereabouts of 400 Benin artefacts. 3. Return a certain proportion of the 3500 objects that were looted. Each museum should return at least 90 per cent of the objects it now holds illegally. There is no reason the Ethnology Museum, Berlin, that holds admittedly 508 Benin artefacts should not return 90 % of those pieces. British Museum could return 90% of the 900 pieces it allegedly holds. The World Museum, Vienna could return 90% 0f the 167 pieces it holds. Queen-mother Idia, and the other famous Benin nobles should return to Benin where they belong and not be kept in the British Museum or in the Humboldt Forum where they are treated as foreigners. It is interesting to note in this context that the other African queen in German captivity, Nefertiti, is considered a' Berlinerin' whilst Queen- mother Idia remains a foreigner, unknown to many. (19) Nigerian/Benin experts would make the necessary selections to ensure that Benin has those artefacts that records its history and represent the ethos of the people. Queen-Mother Idia, Oba Esigie, Oba Akenzua I, Oba Ewuakpe, Oba Ozolua, and all pieces that constitute records of Benin history and culture should be returned. These historical figures have no role in Austrian, British, German, or Dutch history. 4. Agreements should be made regarding the remaining Benin artefacts left in Western museums. 5. Western museums may make replicas of objects they think their people still need to know about after a hundred-year presence of Benin artefacts in their museum. 6. Transportation costs of the artefacts from Europe to Nigeria shall be borne by the relevant museum. 7. Other African States and their specialists should be invited as observers to all meetings of the so-called Benin Dialogue Group. 8. All activities of the Group and its deliberations should be made public and published at a definite site of the internet. 9. There should be discussions on the benefits Western museums have obtained in the 120 years in which they kept the Benin artefacts. For example, the British Museum charged fees for using images of the Benin artefacts. Sylvester Ogbechie has written: 'Not only do Western museums hold African art objects literally in bondage, they assert an ownership claim to copyright of those objects. This is akin to double dispossession of the African producers of these artworks, who are denied physical ownership and alsoclaims to copyright ownership. African cultures and societies who produced these artworks own any intellectual property rights that may accrue to the artworks. Any counterclaim of the sort the British Museum and other 2 Western museums make on these artworks) is false and fraudulent, and completely illegal'. (20) No African finds it easy to accept that in order to use the image of Queen- mother Idia he or she must pay fees to the British holders of an artefact looted by the British in 1897. 10. Copyright issues should be discussed and settled. For instance, should Benin/Nigerian writers pay copyright fees to British Museum for using the image of the ivory hip-mask of Queen-Mother Idia? 11. Any merchandising of Benin artefacts should transfer 70% of the proceeds to the Oba of Benin. 12. Compensation to Benin should be in cash and not in scholarships for training future museum officials. It should not be enough, after all these years of holding illegally the Benin artefacts, to say to the people of Benin, 'Here are some of your artefacts, good-bye'. It is often said that the western museums have looked well after the Benin artefacts. What is not said, is that they have done well with the artefacts. They have derived enormous benefits from the presence of the Benin artefacts in their museums in addition to copyright charges for usage of the Benin images. The 'care argument' is one of those useless arguments that appear at first sight reasonable, especially if one does not have present in mind all the relevant facts. The Benin artefacts had been guarded at the Oba's Palace for some 600 years before they were stolen by the British who had studied the matter beforehand. They were not found by accident. The Foreign Office had reasoned that the proceeds of sale of the artefacts would be enough to cover the costs of the projected invasion. It is not as if marauding troops accidentally found these objects. Experts planned the loot. The objects were found in a Royal Palace and not on a rubbish heap. The view then that somehow those who stole the artefacts had rendered Benin a good service by looking after them well, is therefore nonsense. After they had killed hundreds of people for these treasures, how were they to handle the valuable looted objects? Can a person who has stolen precious objects turn up decades later and plead that he had looked after them well and therefore should be allowed to keep them or be compensated for the care? We have not heard such an argument being offered in any restitution case except when it concerns African artefacts, another reflection of the ingrained Western prejudice that Africans cannot look after their artefacts even in the very moment when the West is stealing 600 years old objects. We need not dwell too long on past iniquities but the present imbalance of ownership of African artefacts as between Western States and African States cannot be ignored and must be addressed and corrected. Those who have used violence to rob others of their resources, including artefacts as in the notorious Punitive Expedition of 1897 and have used unconscionable methods, such as demonstrated in Phantom Africa to loot/steal artefacts, including religious objects and children's dolls, should not be allowed to present themselves as having rendered the victims a great service while still refusing, after hundred or more years, to return some of the stolen objects. Altar Group with Oba Akenzua I, Benin, Nigeria, now in Ethnology Museum, Berlin, Germany. We maintain that our contemporary Westerners appear to be worse than their forbears. Whilst the old colonialists and imperialists seemed to have believed in what they did, our contemporaries appear as cynics and opportunists: they declare themselves as against racism, colonialism, and imperialism and yet are not prepared to give up any of the advantages and objects the evil doctrines brought them. They reject looting but keep all the loot in their museums. Many Westerners who have profited from African art, have even expressed the view that African art objects should never be returned to Africa. Greed seems to be the creed here. The strange and insulting proposal to set up a rotating exhibition of looted Benin artefacts in Benin City where the British Army looted the precious objects must be rejected. The complications and difficulties of the unusual project arise primarily from the unwillingness of contemporary Westerners to admit that the brutal invasion of 1897 was unjustified and the looting of the Benin artefacts, condemnable. They seem to be of the view that their ancestors per se could never have done anything wrong towards Africans. It is the same belief that makes it difficult for Westerners to apologize for colonialism or slavery. The same attitude prevents Germans from accepting their responsibility for the massacre of the Herero and Nama even though the facts recorded by their own officials and writers have led to this conclusion many decades ago. The same spirit animates the Musee du quai Branly that displays without shame on the serene banks of the Seine looted African objects as described in Phantom Africa by Michel Leiris. Quel monde, mon Dieu! (What a world, my God!) But must Africans continue listening to the lame and mendacious explanations that are often offered? If after 57 years of Independence Nigeria has not been able to persuade any of the holders of Benin artefacts (21) through the 'policy of quiet diplomacy' to return even a single artefact (from Western museums and not customs or police seizures), we submit the policy has totally failed and should be abandoned without further ado. Cambodia, Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Turkey and other States that pursued different policies have been more successful. The proposal to establish an exhibition of looted Benin artefacts in Benin City, with ownership remaining with Western museums that have been holding illegally the stolen artefacts for 120 years (hundred years and twenty years) should be rejected. It is our considered and humble submission that it would be in the interest of all concerned - Oba of Benin and the Benin people, the Nigerian Government and its citizens, African States and their peoples - that no such scheme be established. If after honestly considering all the relevant facts, no better solution can be found, the status quo should be maintained and we should continue to strive for full return until the Western States accept that it is wrong to loot artefacts of others and not return, at least, a respectable proportion of the looted artefacts. The proposal to establish a revolving exhibition in Benin, with ownership still remaining with the European States and museums, shows once again that our contemporary Westerners do not fully appreciate the historic significance of the invasion and destruction of 1897 and what it means, not only for the people of Benin and Nigeria but for all African peoples. The significance of Benin as an African civilization that was abruptly truncated by a European power evokes strong feelings in Africa and reminds us of European determination to assume control over our Continent and its resources and to subjugate us for ever. Once again, our contemporary Westerners are missing a great opportunity to make a bold gesture that would not only revive our faith in the honesty and human feelings of the Westerners and convince us of their determination to break with the not so glorious past of their forebears on our Continent. They do not realize that since 1897 the invasion of the Benin Kingdom and the looting of Benin artefacts have come to symbolize more than the artefacts themselves. Evidently many Westerners cannot appreciate how a people feel when their important artefacts which constitute the records of their history have been looted and kept elsewhere for hundred and twenty years. That this is beyond the horizons of many, is not surprising. They have not been at the receiving end of many of the evils of history, slavery, colonialism and racism and all that they imply. Imagine Nigeria had looted important British artefacts, kept some and sold the rest to other West African States, Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Gambia. When requested to return some of them, the African States get together and decide to hold an exhibition of the looted objects in London but retain ownership in the objects. How would the British and other Europeans feel? It is an equivalent offer, however, that Europeans are proposing to the people of Benin and Nigeria. ' The question of the meaning of the 'Benin bronzes' or 'Elgin Marbles' in London 1900 or 2000 is inseparable from the issue of British attitudes towards Africa and the Orient as sites, once for direct military and political colonisation, and now for their post-imperial economic exploitation and indirect manipulation. To return them would imply the belief, on the part of the British authorities, that the peoples of those parts of the world were now capable of competently looking after artefacts that were removed ostensibly on the grounds that the local inhabitants were unfit, because of the 'degeneration' of their societies, to act as their curators. Their return would also imply admission of their illegal possession by the British. Both implications remain largely unthinkable because post-imperial racism continues to be a highly significant aspect of British foreign policy. Though British society may be relatively 'multicultural' now, its ruling elite, like that of the US, is still predominantly white, middle-class and male.' Jonathan Harris. (22) Kwame Tua Opoku. 1 October 2017. Trophy Head, Benin, Nigeria, now in Musee du quai Branly, Paris, France. One of the objects looted by the British in 1897 from Benin, Nigeria. NOTES 1. R. H. Bacon, Benin: City of Blood (pp. 107-108) cited by the great Expo Eyo, Benin; The Sack that was, http://www.edo-nation.net/eyo.htm 2. K. Opoku, European museums to 'loan' looted Benin bronzes to Nigeria https://www.pambazuka.org/.../european-museums-'loan'-looted-benin-bronzes-niger 3. There are many accounts of the invasion of Benin but my favourite is this short account by Sylvester Oakwood Ogbechie: In February 1897, an elite British force of about 1200 men (supported by several hundred African auxiliary troops and thousands of African porters) besieged Benin City, capital of the Edo Kingdom of Benin, whose ruler, the Oba Overawe sat on a throne that was a thousand years old. The British Punitive Expedition used Maxim machine guns to mow down most of the Oba's 130,000 soldiers and secure control of the capital city. They set fire to the city and looted the palace of 500 years' worth of bronze objects that constituted the royal archive of Benin's history, an irreplaceable national treasure. The king and his principal chiefs fled into the countryside, pursued by British forces who lay waste to the countryside as a strategy to force the people of Benin to give up their fugitive king. According to Richard Gott, for a further six months, a small British force harried the countryside in search of the Oba and his chiefs who had fled. Cattle was seized and villages destroyed. Not until August was the Oba cornered and brought back to his ruined city. An immense throng was assembled to witness the ritual humiliation that the British imposed on their subject peoples. The Oba was required to kneel in front of the British military resident the town and to literally bite the dust. Supported by two chiefs, the king made obeisance three times, rubbing his forehead on the ground three times. He was told that he had been deposed. Oba Ovonramwen finally surrendered to stem the slaughter of his people. Many of his soldiers considered his surrender an unbearable catastrophe and committed suicide rather than see the king humiliated. A significant number, led by some chiefs, maintained guerrilla warfare against the British for almost two years until their leaders were captured and executed. The remaining arms of the resistance thereafter gave up their arms and merged back into the general population. http://aachronym.blogspot.com Listen also to the rap by, Monday Midnite - 1897.mov - YouTube 4:22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIzx-n-KdXY Monday Midnite - 1897 - YouTube 4:21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQeY9DMLNeQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2HHWsr3A2M Battle of Benin City -Kingdom of Bronze. From David Attenborough's 1975 television series The Tribal Eye. 4.Michel Leiris, Phantom Africa, English translation by Brent Hayes Edwards, see also K. Opoku, Who Is Afraid of Phantom Africa? - Modern Ghana https://www.modernghana.com/news/800468/who-is-afraid-of-phantom-africa.html 5.See Annex - Resolution of No Humboldt 21,3rd June,2013. It is a pity that no one has found it useful or necessary to consult the European population about restitution of African artefacts. Most Europeans, at least the youth, would tell you that there is no justification for retention of looted African artefacts in European museums. My own experience with talking to young Austrians,15-18 years old, was the shock on their faces to hear that museums in London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna are keeping Benin artefacts that were looted by the British with military force in 1897 and that contemporary Westerners are not prepared to return any of these artefacts. 6. K. Opoku Vienna World Museum is Shrinking https://www.toncremers.nl/kwame-opoku-vienna-world-museum-is-shrinking 7. Petition to British Parliament Appendix 21 in Annex II below. See the exchanges between Toyin Agbetu and Neil MacGregor in Kwame Opoku Is the De-Accession Policy of the British Museum a Farce? www.afrikanet.info The correspondence between Neil MacGregor and Professor Tunde Babawale regarding the 'loan' of the FESTAC icon, Queen-mother Idia, the correspondence between Bernie Grant, MP and Julian Spalding, Director, Art Gallery and Museum Kelvingrove Glasgow on Benin artefacts, can be found in Peju Layiwola and Sola Olorunyomi (Eds.), Benin 1897.com-Art and the Restitution Question, 2010, pp.198-207. 8. British Museum Sold Benin Bronzes - Forbes https://www.forbes.com/2002/04/03/0403conn.htm British Museum sold precious bronzes | UK news | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com 9. K. Opoku, 'Declaration on The Importance and Value of Universal Museums: Singular Failure of An Arrogant Imperialist Project' https://www.modernghana.com/.../declaration-on-the-importance-and-value-of-univer... 10. Report and Comments of the exhibition Benin-Kings and Rituals - Dr ... www.afrikanet.info Home African Art 11. K. Opoku, Did Germans Never Hear Directly or Indirectly Nigeria's Demand for Return of Looted Artefacts? https://www.modernghana.com/.../did-germans-n++ever-hear-directly-or-indirectly-nige.. The United Nations General Assembly has since 1972 passed many resolutions on the Protection and the Return of Cultural Property. Resolution 3026 A (XXVII) of 18 December 1972 Resolution 3148 (XXVIII) of 14 December 1973 Resolution 3187 (XXVIII) of 18 December 1973 Resolution 3391 (XXX) of 19 November 1975 Resolution 31/40 of 30 November 1976 Resolution 32/18 of 11 November 1977 Resolution 33/50 of 14 December 1978 Resolution 34/64 of 29 November 1979 Resolutions 35/127 and 35/128 of 11 December 1980 Resolution 36/64 of 27 November 1981 Resolution 38/34 of 25 November 1983 Resolution 40/19 of 21 November 1985 Resolution 42/7 of 22 October 1987 Resolution 44/18 of 6 November 1989 Resolution 46/10 of 22 October 1991 Resolution 48/15 of 2 November 1993 Resolution 50/56 of 11 December 1995 Resolution 52/24 of 25 November 1997 Resolution 54/190 of 17 December 1999 Resolution 56/97 of 14 December 2001 Resolution 1483 of 22 May 2003 by the Security Council of the UN concerning Iraq Resolution 58/17 of 3 December 2003 Resolution 61/52 of 4 December 2006 Resolution 64/78 of 7 December 2009 Resolution A.67/L.34 of 5 December 2012 Resolution A/RES/70/76 of 9 December 2015 Resolutions adopted by the UNGA on the return and ... - UNESCO www.unesco.org/.../culture/...cultural-property/resolutions-adopted-by-the-united-nati... 12. K. Opoku, Vatican owes Africa the truth | Pambazuka News https://www.pambazuka.org/governance/vatican-owes-africa-truth 13.K. Opoku, Returned Stolen/Looted Art Displayed by Italy ... www.afrikanet.info Home African Art 14.Leading internet sites on art and artefacts report regularly on restitution and returns of artefacts. Looting Matters, Chasing Aphrodite www.theaphroditechase.com/ www.elginism.com/ Museum Security Network Ton Cremers https://www.toncremers.nl/ Paul Barford Portable Antiquities Collecting pbarford.blogspot.com/ Greece Byzantine material returned to Greece http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-returns-to-greece.html http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2008/08/shelby-white-and-greece-antiquities-in.html http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2007/12/marion-true-some-preliminary-thoughts.html Getty returns antiquities to Greece Germany returns 33 smuggled artefacts to Greece - The Archaeology ... https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/.../germany-return... british scholar returns ancient Greek artefacts - Elginism www.elginism.com/20070421/712/ Over 10,600 artifacts looted in WWII returned to Greece | News ... www.ekathimerini.com/.../over-10600-artifacts-looted-in-wwii-re.. Manhattan Da's Office Returns Ancient Sarcophagus to Greece (video) https://www.thenationalherald.com/.../manhattan-das-office-retur.. Over 10,600 artefact's looted in WWII returned to Greece | News ... www.ekathimerini.com/.../over-10600-artifacts-looted-in-wwii-re... Peru Yale agrees to return Machu Picchu artefacts to Peru - Telegraph www.telegraph.co.uk ... World News South America Peru US returns smuggled ancient artefacts to Peru - BBC News www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-2975083 Yale set to return 4,000 Inca treasures to Peru | The Independent www.independent.co.uk News World Americas Argentina and Spain Return Thousands of Artefact's to Peru and Ecuador savingantiquities.org/argentina-and-spain-return-thousands-of-art... Argentina to return 4,500 artefacts to Peru and Ecuador - Peru Reports https://perureports.com/.../argentina-to-return-4500-artifacts-to-p. Mexico Returns Historical Archaeological artefacts To Peru | News . https://www.telesurtv.net/.../Mexico-Returns-Historical-Archaeolo. Turkey King Croesus's golden brooch to be returned to Turkey | World news ... https://www.theguardian.com World Turkey Thirty-nine artefact's returned to Turkey in 2015 - ARCHAEOLOGY www.hurriyetdailynews.com LIFE ARCHAEOLOGY 4,500-Year-Old Rare Turkish Artefacts Is Returning To Its Country Of ... www.look4ward.co.uk Culture After years of denial, MFA to return 'Weary Herakles' statue to Turkey ... https://www.bostonglobe.com/...return...turkey/.../amp.html Germany returns the priceless Achaemenid painted beams to Turkey ... www.cais-soas.com/News/2010/june2010/22-06.htm 15. Cambodia. Khmer artefacts in London returned to Cambodia - The Archaeology ... https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/.../khmer-artefacts. Treasures of the temple raiders return home to Cambodia | The ... www.independent.co.uk News World Asia Returned artefacts Stir New Interest in Cambodian Antiquity https://www.voacambodia.com/.../returned-artifacts...cambodian Khmer artefacts return to Cambodia | Cambridge Core https://www.cambridge.org/...artefacts-return...cambodia/75245B. Looted artefacts return to Cambodia Search The Southeast ... https://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/.../looted-artefacts-ret... Cambodia welcomes New York Met's return of looted ancient artifacts ... www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-11/an-cambodian.../4747226 Met returns looted statues to Cambodia | Asia | DW | 01.07.2013 www.dw.com/en/met-returns-looted...to-cambodia/a-16917307 Norwegian Collector Brings Ancient Artifacts Home - Khmer Times www.khmertimeskh.com/.../norwegian-collector-brings-ancient-a. Metropolitan Museum of Art to Return Two Khmer Sculptures to ... www.metmuseum.org/press/news/2013/cambodian-returns 16. Chinweizu, The West and the Rest of Us: White Predators, Black Slavers, and the African Elite, Random House, 1975. 17.Ce sont nous, Occidentaux, qui conferons a ces oeuvres une valeur d'art. Ces statues ne doivent pas retourner en Afrique www.artscape.fr See also Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller, museum founder and collector who opposed the return of artefacts to their countries of origin theartnewspaper.com/.../jean-paul-barbier-mueller-museum-founder-and-collector-wh Nefertiti, the other African queen from Egypt in German captivity, whom the Germans call Nofretete, is regarded as a German, a Berlin lady whereas Idia, the Benin queen-mother from Nigeria, has not achieved the status of a German or Berlinerin even though the Nigerian came to Germany before the Egyptian queen. Idia was sold to the Germans in the same year as she was abducted by the nefarious Punitive Expedition of 1897. Nefertiti came to Germany, through the agency of the German archaeologist, Ludwig Borchardt in 1913. Thus, when Nefertiti arrived in Berlin, Idia had been there already since 1897. So why is Nefertiti a Berlinerin and Idia a foreigner? I suggest the ground could be the skin colour of the two African queens. Nefertiti, although Egyptian, is portrayed as fair skinned and almost a Caucasian. Idia is solidly dark. The features of the Egyptian queen are assimilated to those of Northern Europeans whereas Idia remains an African woman or if you like, a West African. The merchandizing of the image of Nefertiti has reached extraordinary heights in German long ago. There are no household items, cups, napkins, exercise books, and pencils that do not bear the image of the 'beautiful one'. We have not seen any merchandizing of the image of Idia. You can find bust of Nefertiti in the museum and souvenir shops. Nowhere have I seen the bust of Idia for sale. The merchandizing follows what the museum managers and publicity agents consider appropriate for the vision of beauty. In short, the dark lady is not presented as representing a concept of beauty that the Germans want to project. Tell me there is no racial discrimination here and that the colours and features of the two queens from Africa are not relevant or important in understanding the relationships between Europe and Africa. We may also look at the other Egyptian queen, Tiye, mother-in-law of Nefertiti, who is not given that much publicity and has not been declared a Berlinerin, although both she and Nefertiti came from Amarna, Egypt to Berlin at the same time and are related. Tiya is depicted as having dark complexion and being of Nubian origin. That the skin complexion of the three African queens explains their different reception and perception by Germans can hardly be disputed. Racism in Europe goes far and deep and acts in various circumstances, important and unimportant. The underlying racism in such matters are much stronger than people, especially scholars are willing to admit. Infatuation with Nefertiti reached its climax with Adolf Hitler who wanted to build a gigantic museum in Berlin with Nefertiti at the centre of it all. Hitler finally determined that Nefertiti should not be returned to Egypt as his advisers and John Simon, the great benefactor of German museums, especially those in Berlin, were suggesting. As far as I know, most Germans are not even aware of the presence of Queen-Mother Idia in Berlin. Only one German museum director once expressed admiration for the Benin queen-mother. He is not alone. Her people want her back in Benin City who revere her for her historical role in stabilizing and consolidating the Benin Monarchy. (See Iyoba Idia: The Hidden Oba of Benin Iyoba Idia: The Hidden Oba of Benin ... rainqueensofafrica.com/2012/11/iyoba-idia-the-hidden-oba-of-benin/ Sourced: Nakuru Nzegwu. Iyoba Idia: The Hidden Oba of Benin JENDA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies: Issue 9, 2006.) 18. K. Opoku, Where are the 400 Benin bronzes? | Pambazuka News https://www.pambazuka.org/governance/where-are-400-benin-bronzes see also Philip J.C. Dark, The Art of Benin, A Catalogue of A.W. F. Fuller and Chicago Natural History Museum, Collections of Antiquities from Benin, Nigeria ,1962. 19. K. Opoku, Nefertiti, Idia And Other African Icons In European Museums: The Thin . Edge of European Morality. https://www.modernghana.com/news/160914/nefertiti-idia-and-other-african-ic.htm 20. Sylvester Ogbechie, Crown Fraud: Copyright and Looted Nigerian Cultural Patrimony ... aachronym.blogspot.com/2009/10/crown-fraud-copyright-and-looted.html See Peju Layiwola and Sola Oloruyomi,op.cit.p.6 21. See List of Holders of Benin Artefacts in K. Opoku, ' European museums to 'loan' looted Benin bronzes to Nigeria?' https://www.pambazuka.org/.../european-museums-'loan'-looted-benin-bronzes-nige 22. Jonathan Harris, The New Art History A critical Introduction, Routledge, London, 2001, p. 275 ANNEX I | No Humboldt 21 www.no-humboldt21.de/resolution/english/ STOP THE PLANNED CONSTRUCTION OF THE HUMBOLDT FORUM IN THE BERLIN PALACE! By 2018/19 the City of Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany want the most important culturally political project in Germany at the beginning of the 21st century to have been completed: the project Berlin Palace Humboldt Forum. This project of the century, will be located in the city centre and will cost 590 million Euros. The City of Berlin wants to contribute 32 million Euros to the project. The president of the Stiftung Preuischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation), Hermann Parzinger, first presented the concept in 2011. The concept's title is The Humboldt Forum: 'To be in Touch With as Much of the World as Possible'. Berlin's non-European collections are to be moved from current remote location of Berlin-Dahlin to the city centre. Moreover, the building of the central state library as well as the Humboldt University is to be used. The plan is to establish the Agora, a Forum for Science, Culture and Politics as the heart of the Humboldt Forum. In Parzinger's concept the project's plans are being formulated in superlatives. This will not simply be an outstanding location for the art and culture of Asia, Africa, America, Australia and Oceania. The Humboldt Forum is also to become a unique centre for the research of non-European cultures. A cultural centre of national and international distinction is planned, with which Berlin wants to establish itself as a leading cultural and museum city around the world. We demand that the work on the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace be ceased and that a public debate is held: the current concept violates the dignity and property rights of communities in all parts of the world, it is Eurocentric and restorative. The establishment of the Humboldt Forum is a direct contradiction to the aim promoting equality in a migration society. Explanatory Statement: The State Museums of Berlin are not the legitimate owners of their holdings. The majority of the over 500,000 valuable items from all over the world ended up in Berlin through colonial conquests. The Europeans often even resorted to physical violence, in order to gain ownership of central objects belonging to the colonised societies for example thrones, sceptres and cult objects. By taking the credit for these objects, the city of Berlin receives material benefits as well as intangible advantages up until the present day. We demand the disclosure of the ownership history of all the exhibits as well as adherence to the UN Resolution which is unequivocal regarding the repatriation of cultural artefacts to countries which have been the victims of expropriation. The dialogue concerning the future homes of the plundered art and the colonial loot must be sought with the descendants of the artists and the legal owners of the exhibits. This is particularly important regarding the stolen human remains, which are currently to be found in the possession of the Preuischer Kulturbesitz foundation. Berlin's colonial past is redeemed. It is currently planned that the collections from all over the world will be returned to the palace of the Hohenzollerns, where Berlin's first overseas treasures have already been presented. As it was then, this is about nothing other than representing power and global relevance. For the descendants of the colonised, both national and abroad, it is particularly disrespectful, that this should take place in the resurrected residence of the Brandenburg-Prussian monarchs. The Hohenzollerns were primarily responsible for the enslavement of thousands of people from Africa as well as genocides and concentration camps in Germany's former colonies. Therefore we roundly reject any presentation of objects in the Berlin Palace which were brought to Berlin during colonial times. The cultures of the world are discriminated against, being marked as strange and other. As already was the case during those times when exotic curiosities were displayed in the cabinets of wonders belonging to the Princes of Brandenburg and the Prussian Kings, the Berlin Palace Humboldt Forum will apparently serve the purpose of developing a Prussian-German-European identity. This concern is actually directly opposed to the aim of promoting a culture of equality in the migration society and is being pursued to the detriment of others. The supposed stranger and other will be constructed with the help of the often centuries old objects from all over the world, and the extensive collection of European art on Berlin's museum island will be put to one side. In this way, Europe will be constructed as the superior norm. We reject this degrading form of presentation. We demand that the Preuischer Kulturbesitz foundation makes an effort to ensure that experts from the countries of the global south are involved in presenting their own works in a way that promotes equality of opportunity, has an awareness of power dynamics and focusses on portraying similarities between peoples. The research on non-European cultures is not problematized. The exploration of the world and its populations by European researchers was a colonial project for many years and still affects the regimentation and exploitation of the global south to this day. One of the two people this project is named after, Alexander von Humboldt, was involved in this project to a great extent. The Spanish royalty and its overseas colonial regime, which was based on genocide and slavery, were particularly interested in the results of his expeditions in South and Middle America, and they supported him to the best of their ability. In this way, the Prussian who really discovered America who even stole buried corpses and shipped them to Europe, embodies colonial dominance. Humboldt is not an appropriate person to name an intercultural centre after. The cultural treasures of the world remain exclusively for the good of the people of the north. In the written concept, the President of the foundation, Hermann Parzinger, invites visitors from Asia or the descendants of indigenous Indian or African Societies to the German capital. In an era where people drown daily in the Mediterranean Sea because they have no other means to enter Europe, such an invitation can only be described as cynical. Aminata Traore, the former Culture and Tourist Minister of Mali, put it in a nutshell: Our cultural works enjoy civil rights in places, where even our entire community is denied permission to stay. We demand the Preuischer Kulturbesitz foundation to enable access to Berlin's non-European collections to all people of the world. The looted art must be returned permanently. Moreover, this should take place through the loan the artworks to the countries without any cost to them in order to realize international exhibition projects in all regions of the world where the artworks now located here were created. Berlin, 3rd June 2013. Ivory hip-mask with image of Queen-Mother Idia,Beni,Nigeria,now in British Museum,London,United Kingdom. ANNEX II APPENDIX 21. The Case of Benin- Memorandum submitted by Prince Edun Akenzua I am Edun Akenzua Enogie (Duke) of Obazuwa-Iko, brother of His Majesty, Ondo, knob n'Edo, Oba (King) Erediauwa of Benin, great grandson of His Majesty Omo n'Oba n'Edo, Oba Ovonramwen, in whose reign the cultural property was removed in 1897. I am also the Chairman of the Benin Centenary Committee established in 1996 to commemorate 100 years of Britain's invasion of Benin, the action which led to the removal of the cultural property. HISTORY "On 26 March 1892 the Deputy Commissioner and Vice-Consul, Benin District of the Oil River Protectorate, Captain H L Gallwey, manoeuvred Oba Ovonramwen and his chiefs into agreeing to terms of a treaty with the British Government. That treaty, in all its implications, marked the beginning of the end of the independence of Benin not only on account of its theoretical claims, which bordered on the fictitious, but also in providing the British with the pretext, if not the legal basis, for subsequently holding the Oba accountable for his future actions." The text quoted above was taken from the paper presented at the Benin Centenary Lectures by Professor P A Igbafe of the Department of History, University of Benin on 17 February 1997. Four years later in 1896 the British Acting Consul in the Niger-Delta, Captain James R Philip wrote a letter to the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Salisbury, requesting approval for his proposal to invade Benin and depose its King. As a post-script to the letter, Captain Philip wrote: "I would add that I have reason to hope that sufficient ivory would be found in the King's house to pay the expenses incurred in removing the King from his stool." These two extracts sum up succinctly the intention of the British, or, at least, of Captain Philip, to take over Benin and its natural and cultural wealth for the British. British troops invaded Benin on 10 February1897. After a fierce battle, they captured the city, on February 18. Three days later, on 21 February precisely, they torched the city and burnt down practically every house. Pitching their tent on the Palace grounds, the soldiers gathered all the bronzes, ivory-works, carved tusks and oak chests that escaped the fire. Thus, some 3,000 pieces of cultural artwork were taken away from Benin. The bulk of it was taken from the burnt down Palace. NUMBER OF ITEMS REMOVED It is not possible for us to say exactly how many items were removed. They were not catalogued at inception. We are informed that the soldiers who looted the palace did the cataloguing. It is from their accounts and those of some European and American sources that we have come to know that the British carried away more than 3,000 pieces of Benin cultural property. They are now scattered in museums and galleries all over the world, especially in London, Scotland, Europe and the United States. A good number of them are in private hands. WHAT THE WORKS MEAN TO THE PEOPLE OF BENIN The works have been referred to as primitive art, or simply, artifacts of African origin. But Benin did not produce their works only for aesthetics or for galleries and museums. At the time Europeans were keeping their records in long-hand and in hieroglyphics, the people of Benin cast theirs in bronze, carved on ivory or wood. The Obas commissioned them when an important event took place which they wished to record. Some of them of course, were ornamental to adorn altars and places of worship. But many of them were actually reference points, the library or the archive. To illustrate this, one may cite an event which took place during the coronation of Oba Erediauwa in 1979. There was an argument as to where to place an item of the coronation paraphernalia. Fortunately, a bronze-cast of a past Oba wearing the same regalia had escaped the eyes of the soldiers and so it is still with us. Reference was made to it and the matter was resolved. Taking away those items is taking away our records, or our Soul. RELIEF SOUGHT In view of the fore-going, the following reliefs are sought on behalf of the Oba and people of Benin who have been impoverished, materially and psychologically, by the wanton looting of their historically and cultural property. (i) The official record of the property removed from the Palace of Benin in 1897 be made available to the owner, the Oba of Benin. (ii) All the cultural property belonging to the Oba of Benin illegally taken away by the British in 1897, should be returned to the rightful owner, the Oba of Benin. (iii) As an alternative, to (ii) above, the British should pay monetary compensation, based on the current market value, to the rightful owner, the Oba of Benin. (iv) Britain, being the principal looters of the Benin Palace, should take full responsibility for retrieving the cultural property or the monetary compensation from all those to whom the British sold them. March 2000 http://www.publications.parliament.uk Oba Ovonramwen, during whose reign the British looted the Benin Bronzes with guards on board ship on his way to exile in Calabar in 1897. The gown he is wearing hides his shackles. Photograph by the Ibani Ijo photographer J. A. Green. From the Howie photo album in the archives of the Merseyside Maritime Museum 02.10.2017 LISTEN A former Board Chairman of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has faulted the acting CEO of the Hospital for not informing the Health Minister before taking the decision to abrogate a revenue collection contract with Unibank. Mr Edward Annan said in the absence of the Board, Dr Felix Anyah ought to have sought permission from the sector Minister before taking a decision as important as abrogating a contract. Even though he admits the CEO and the management can take some decisions in the interest of the hospital, he was quick to add that decisions that will have long lasting impact on the hospital should be taken with the approval of the Board which represents the interest of government. And in the absence of a board, the CEO ought to have sought clearance from the sector minister before taking that decision, Mr Annan stated. He was reacting to the contract abrogation controversy involving Korle Bu Teaching hospital, a controversy triggered by musician Kwame Asare Obeng popularly called A Plus who accused two chiefs of staff of corruption. According to the musician, the two Chiefs of Staff, Abu Jinapor and Francis Boakye Asenso were corrupt when they demanded Korle Bu to rescind its decision to terminate a revenue collection contract with Unibank. He argued the two wanted Unibank to be given the contract because the local bank contributed to the NPP campaign in 2016. He has since apologized for his accusations, but maintained the two men were naive in how they handled the whole matter. Korle Bu teaching Hospital in July 2017 took a decision to terminate a contract it had with Unibank for the collection of revenue on behalf of the hospital. The hospital would rather have Stanbic takeover fully in the revenue collection duties, a responsibility they shared with Unibank until the decision to abrogate the contract with the latter was taken. But Unibank was unhappy with the decision taken by the hospital and petitioned the presidency and the Chief of Staff. The Hospital has since rescinded its decision to abrogate the contract with Unibank. It has emerged that the sector Minister, Mr Kweku Agyemang Manu ordered Korle Bu to rescind its decision to abrogate the contract with Unibank. Discussing the matter on Joy FMs newsnight programme, Monday, Mr Eddy Annan who served as Board Chair of Hospital said the CEO erred in bypassing the sector minister to take the decision. One has got to define the roles and levels of decisions the CEO can take. The Board is the owner of the institution which is the government. The minister represents the president on that. The Board runs the company on behalf of government. The CEO runs the day-to-day business of the institution. There are decisions the CEO cannot take unless there is a board. In the absence of the board he has to go to the minister, he said. When he was asked if the CEO had the right to terminate a contract, he said: I dont think he has the absolute power to terminate the contract. I think hes got to ask the shareholder, the owner of the institution which is government Eddy Annan was however convinced that the Banks rather officials of Korle Bu are better placed to collect revenues on behalf of the hospital. Eddy Annan Having led the hospital for a number of years, Eddy Annan conceded that there were lots of revenue leakages when officials of the hospital were tasked to collect the revenue. He said the decision to cede the revenue collection responsibility to the banks proved more effective and actually saved the hospital lots of revenue. Meanwhile the senior staff association of Korlebu (KOSSA) is calling for a ceasefire among contending parties in the scandal. President of the senior staff association Charles Nii Kwade Ofei Palm told Joy News his outfit has met with all the stakeholders in the matter and have agreed on a way forward. 02.10.2017 LISTEN New Castle, Delaware---The Bureau of African Affairs at the US State Department will this week bring together representatives of the Liberian Diaspora for discussion about change, progress, reconciliation, and Liberia's future as the country prepares for its first peaceful transition of power between democratically elected leaders since 1944. On October 10, 2017, Liberia will hold general and presidential elections. This year's presidential election will climax Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's second term presidency. Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf was re-elected for a second term in 2011. She initially ascended to the Liberian presidency in 2005 when she was democratically elected as Liberia and Africa's first female Head of State following the country's protracted civil war, which started on December 24, 1989. She is Liberias 24th elected president. The Liberian Diaspora talks will be held on Thursday, October 5, 2017 at 3:00P.M. at the State Department in Washington, D.C. and it will bring together several eminent US based Liberian Community organizations. The Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA), United Bassa Organizations in the Americas (UNIBOA), Liberia Ministerial Alliance of North America (LIMANA), Liberian Community in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, and several others are expected to be represented at the meeting. According to an ALJA press release issued on Monday, October 2, 2017, attendance and participation in the meeting are by invitation only. ALJA is charged with the responsibility of mobilizing and coordinating US based Liberians for the talks. "Per our conversation, please proceed with starting coordination and planning to convene a group of the Diaspora community on October 5 to discuss the upcoming elections. This would be a follow-up to our last discussion as promised," Mrs. DenieceYeboah, the US State Department's Desk Officer for Liberia and Sierra Leone penned in a September 21, 2017, email sent to the ALJA National President. On August 16, 2016, similar meeting which brought together representatives of US based Liberian community organizations was held at the State Department. The purpose of the Liberian Diaspora talks is to gather diverse views from the Liberian Diaspora on temporary matters that are critical to the sustenance of the Liberian democracy and peaceful co-existence in the country. The August 16, 2016, discussion dwelled on matters regarding change, press freedom, progress, reconciliation, determination, and hope for a stable Liberia. Meanwhile, ALJA will be represented at the high profile gathering by a four man delegation led by the ALJA National President, Moses D. Sandy. Members of the delegation are the Chairman of the ALJA National Board of Directors, Volcano Shelton and National Board member, Samuel Abu. Also, on the delegation is Mr. Jackson T.S. Seton, President of the ALJA Delaware Valley Chapter (Del-Va). ALJA was founded in 1998 in Washington, D.C. and it seeks to promote and foster companionship amongst its members and their American counter parts. The Association is also, committed to the advancement of press freedom and the principles of good governance in Liberia through media advocacy and training. Signed: _______________________ Charles Crawford National Secretary General ALJA Approved: ___________________________ Moses D. Sandy National President ALJA Nollywood veteran, Chief Chiwetalu Agu, has urged all protagonists at loggerheads in the Actors Guild of Nigeria, (AGN) to kill their over ambition for the organization to move forward, adding that no society can progress where there is violence. The veteran actor lamented at the impasse in the association between the parties that have refused to accept defeat and move on. In an interview in Enugu over the week, the actor said that greed has a way of ruining one's career. "I want stakeholders to begin to do away with over ambition. That this post is good for me to occupy is okay, but when you struggle for it for too long and you see that it doesn't work, you can leave it. If you ask me, I am the most qualified to run the affairs of Nollywood. I started my career in 1981 in Enugu so I had been in the scene acting 12 years before the advent of Nollywood, of which I am a pioneer." "There is no way you can talk of the history of Nollywood without me occupying a substantial part of it. I had my theatre group known as the Inspirers in those days. I acted in many NTA programmes, like the Ikoro, produced by Joe Onyekwere; Things Fall Apart' in 1986, after which I put together a soap 'The Advocate which never saw the light of the day. In 1987 I went to Lagos, where I featured in The Ripples produced by Zeb Ejiro. I played the character of Chief Abunna, the Okemilinaezoluora 1 of Etiti and the Odezulumba of Ogbunike town." "I conducted the first ever audition of what later became 'Living in Bondage' a film from the stables of Kenneth Nnebue that produced stars like; Kenneth Okonkwo, Kanayo O. Kanayo and many others. From there we moved on to the production of 'Taboo' , where I played the role of Ichie Ogwu and numerous productions in the 90s. So whatever is happening to our children concerns me. So having come this far, people should look at me to steer the ship of state, but because of my mild ambition, I am where I am today." Why must we insist we must be president, governor, chairman and this and that?" Chief Agu queried. He stressed that it was good to have political intentions but said that such intentions should not continue when such is causing havoc and division among people. Agu charged the parties causing crisis in the guild to kill their over ambition, advising that they withdraw their interest where such was not yielding fruits. The actor also advised the warring factions to look to other areas, rather than kill the industry fighting in vain. "It must not be president. There are many areas you can pilot the affairs of Nollywood instead of insisting it must be president. I address these people as square pegs in round holes; so for God to bless your career, you have to kill your ambition, kill your over ambition. Those who are in crisis, is God blessing them? Do you still see them on-screen or posters? No! They have gone out of the spotlight. We are talking about administration so if it is not good for your head, you quit. Quit and return to your constituency," he said. The all round Nollywood veteran actor further called on the federal government to treat Biafrans with equity, justice and fairness, without which a people should be allowed to part ways in an unequal relationship. Its been another strong weekend for cryptocurrencies. Though still trading below all-time highs, the fallout from China ICO ban is now well behind the market. The total market cap for cryptos is now US$148 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. The market cap is slowly climbing back up to the record high of US$170 billion seen in August. While China continues to dominate discussion in the market, it is no longer wreaking havoc on prices. In fact, it looks as though a new crypto craze has swept other Asian nations. More on that in a moment. For now, though, no one knows what could set off volatility again. After all, there is never a dull moment in the crypto-verse. Heres the latest price roundup (in Aussie dollars): Bitcoin Price: $5,550 +1.426% Ethereum Price: $383 +1.301% Ripple Price: $0.25 +0.564% Bitcoin Cash Price: $531 -3.347% Zcash Price: $341 -3.119% Bitcoin finds a new Mecca China used to be the glorified home of bitcoin. According to CoinDesk, the country accounted for an estimated 85% of bitcoin trading volume earlier this year. Then the government stepped in and China was dethronedbut not dead. Now Chinas neighbours, namely Japan and South Korea, have picked up the slack. These two countries, already strong bitcoin and crypto traders, have reached a new level. And despite a recent ICO ban by South Koreas government, the market continues to rise. It goes to show how resilient crypto prices are becoming to bad news. Chinas ICO ban resulted in cryptos falling across the board for an entire week. Whereas this latest ban was shrugged off in a matter of hours. Quite the turnaround. Nevertheless, the big question mark for bitcoin is now the possibility of another split or hard fork in November. If it goes ahead, expect even more uncertainty than usual. For information on how to buy bitcoin, click here. Ethereum is big in Korea Just as bitcoin trading in Korea is taking off, so too is ethereum. Last week the biggest Ethereum meetup ever was held in Seoul. It included several notable figureheads, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Despite being regarded as the platform for ICOs, Ethereum didnt falter following the ban from the South Korean government. Just seven hours after the announcement, Ethereum had already made up for the market losses from the news. Buterin told local Korean media that Ethereum is bigger than just ICOs, commenting: I would say that Ethereums main benefits are in its generality and in its utility to many kinds of industries. There are applications in finance, identity, supply chain tracking, health care, energy and many other areas. This is a result of Ethereum deliberately being designed as a general-purpose programming platform. Ripple makes waves in Asia Continuing with our Asian theme for the day, ripple has also targeted the region. In an ongoing foray into Asia, ripple has announced a new office in Singapore that will complement ripples Indian office, which was also announced several weeks ago. It will give ripple prime access to work with regional banks in the area. Ripples Asia Pacific managing director Dilip Rao said: Singapore is leading the charge when it comes to streamlining money exchange, remittance and payments systemsOur new office can support this ambition and equally brings us closer to our customer base across the Asia-Pacific region, enabling banks, payment providers and corporates to make instant payments into-and-out of the country using blockchain. The news was enough to see ripple claim third spot in terms of market cap once again. Stealing the spot back from the embattled bitcoin cash. Bitcoin Cash flounders Speaking of bitcoin cash, the altcoin is not faring too well. After making a strong move higher last week just shy of $600 the coin has come crashing back down. And it seems traders are steering clear. Trading volume has stagnated over the past 24 hours. It could be a sign that everyone is looking to the potential hard fork in November for answers. The potential split could be bitcoin cashs make-or-break moment, but only time will tell. Zcashs flash in the pan Last week, Zcash made headlines after a 41% jump in price in under an hour. The price went from $370 to a high of $523 last Thursday an incredible surge before the price eventually corrected itself. The reason for the spike was down to a rumour that Zcash was being listed on South Korean exchanges. Which did in fact prove to be true, but the market just got a little too excited about it. The coin has now fallen back down, but interest continues to grow. Regards, Ryan Clarkson-Ledward, Junior Analyst, Money Morning Ah, the east coast gas crisis. Its still going. Its not going to stop. And now the blame game is in full swing. But before we point fingers at various parties, lets review the situation The east coast of Australia has a looming gas shortage that will hit in the next few years. In fact, its already hit. The thing to understand is that there is no such thing as a shortage in a free market. If there is, prices rise to ensure that supply and demand balance out. Whats happening now is that higher prices are working to destroy demand. And if not enough demand is destroyed, prices will keep rising until the job is done. But its not a completely free market. When prices rise too far, it elicits a political response. Which is what is happening now, and why youre seeing this in the media every other day. How did it get to this point? Put simply, Queensland is one of the few states in Australia to allow onshore unconventional gas exploration. That led to the discovery and development of huge coal seam gas reserves in the Bowen and Surat Basins. This in turn led to the development of a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) export industry at Curtis Island, just off the coast of Queensland, near Rockhampton. The problem, however, was that the LNG export players got overexcited and planned for more gas exports than was available via coal seam production. To make up the shortfall, the exporters sucked gas from the Cooper Basin too, which previously went to domestic and industrial users on the east coast of Australia. This is how the problems started. Now, gas production in the prolific Bass Strait is in decline. State governments in NSW and Victoria wont allow onshore gas exploration and development, despite the presence of huge gas reserves in both states. As a result, east coast gas consumers are paying more for their gas than international consumers of that same gas! Its comical, and yet another sad indication of the state of politics in Australia. There is no foresight, no leadership, no anything at the state or national level. There is only finger pointing. Meanwhile, job losses are looming, as the Financial Review reports: Industrial gas users are facing price demands in new contracts of $10-$16 a gigajoule or higher, in some cases three times more expensive than expiring contracts. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last week issued benchmark prices for industrial users based on LNG spot prices in Asia, signalling that Queensland users should only be paying about $5.87 a gigajoule, while Victorian manufacturers would have to pay at least $2 more to cover the cost of transporting Queensland gas south. That leaves a large price gap and creates headaches for industrial users such as chemical makers, some of which need gas at $5 or $6 to keep their operations viable, said Chemistry Australia chief executive Samantha Read. She pointed to a 2014 Deloitte study that forecast losses of 14,500 manufacturing jobs between 2014 and 2021 if gas prices reached $8-$10/GJ. But at current prices the impact on jobs and the economy is set to be much greater, she said. I wasnt aware Australia had any manufacturing jobs left. If these jobs go due to an energy policy nightmare, it really will be lights out for the manufacturing industry. There is a solution out there. But it will take some time for new supply to hit the market. I have about five junior gas players in the Crisis & Opportunity portfolio that are developing existing projects now to supply a thirsty east coast market. Australia has some of the largest gas reserves in the world. But due to regulatory failure and a nasty energy bear market during 201416, which saw investment in the sector plummet, were now in crisis. No doubt the Reserve Bank will be monitoring all this closely. They will see rising energy costs and its effect on household bills as an unexpected tax. In an environment of flat real wages growth, its certainly not a situation conducive to growing household expenditure. Its just another reason for the RBA to sit on their hands again when they meet to discuss monetary policy tomorrow. Meanwhile, politicians will pretend the economy is strong by generating growth the sneaky way. That is, by targeting population growth through strong immigration. More people means more demand for credit and housing, which means increased demand for goods and services, which in turn creates jobs and economic growth. And politicians can then tell you how good were going, and that if it wasnt for them, things would be much worse. Seriously, why do we keep voting them in? Regards, Greg Canavan, Editor, Crisis & Opportunity Bitcoin has been climbing steadily in the past few days. September was a wild ride for those who own bitcoin. The digital token dipped from a high of US$4,950.72, to a low of US$3,226.41. The crypto now trades comfortably above US$4,000. Source: Coin Desk So whats next for bitcoin? Im sure there will be more dips and scares for cryptocurrencies in the future. But right now, it would seem bitcoins recovery is encouraging more sceptics to convert. Maybe because buyers are continuing to hold on. Or maybe its because there is massive interest in what bitcoin and blockchain technology could do for countless industries. One of these converts is Roy Sebag of the precious metals investment firm, Goldmoney Inc. Sebag first dumped millions of dollars in bitcoins, calling the digital money a bubble. But now he wants to sell you cryptocurrency trading and storage services. As reported by Bloomberg: Sebag, who had originally named his Toronto-based company BitGold Inc.when it was founded in 2014, claims hes not back-tracking. Hes bearish because he expects regulation to weigh on prices as the market matures. Cryptocurrencies fell in overnight trading after South Korea banned initial coin offerings. For the industry to succeed, it needs to be regulated, and once it is, prices wont go up like this anymore, Sebag said in an interview. What were saying is, you guys want this industry to grow up? Then it needs to have standards, its got to be auditable and insurable. What Im excited about is moving the industry in the right direction. Bitcoin to the Mainstream Other companies are also stepping up efforts to bring bitcoin to the mainstream. Bloomberg continues: Bitcoins meteoric rise this year is attracting tons of attention, but most institutional investors are staying on the sidelines as cryptocurrencies are too volatile and dont have the safeguards that most financial assets do. Some companies are stepping up efforts to bring the market to the mainstream, opening regulated exchanges, creating futures contracts, and attempting to list exchange traded funds. Goldmoneys is the latest in these forays. Goldmoney shares jumped as much as 20% after their announcement on Thursday another sign of just how bullish investors are on cryptocurrency. The company has offered investors the option of exchanging bitcoin for precious metals since 2014. Its cryptocurrency holdings got as large as US$10 million in the second quarter, when Sebag decided to sell. Bitcoin was trading at around $3,000. The firm has since accumulated around US$5 million as clients exchange their bitcoin. So if you want to miss out, but want to know a little bit more about the basics of bitcoin, click here. Regards, Harje Ronngard, Junior Analyst, Money Morning 'The big truck is still on ... President Donald Trump View Photos During his Weekly Address, President Trump stated Democrats dont want to cut your taxes, they want to actually raise your taxes, and raise them very substantially. Trump was Mondays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are his words: My Fellow Americans, All American hearts are united with the people of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands who have faced terrible devastation in the wake of two catastrophic hurricanes. We are working night and day in cooperation with territorial and local authorities to assist those in need, to help save and sustain lives, and to begin the long recovery and rebuilding effort. Our commitment to those affected is this: We are with you, we will stay with you, and we will come back stronger than ever. We are sending tremendous amounts of supplies, tremendous amounts of food and water, and we are sending great people to help. I know that its been devastating. I know your police force and everything else has been absolutely hurt, but were sending people to help, and its getting better on a daily basis. This week, I traveled to Indiana to announce historic tax reform for the American people. It is based on four key ideas. First, we will cut taxes on all Working American Families. People will pay a lot less money. Single individuals will not be taxed on the first $12,000 of income earned. And a married couple will pay zero taxes on their first $24,000 of income. After that, taxable income will be subject to just three tax rates12%, 25% and 35%, it used to be 7%. We will also expand the child tax credit, eliminate the credits marriage penalty, and provide a new $500 tax credit for elder-care and other adult dependents. This is the real and lasting tax relief that everyday Americans badly need and truly deserve. This is what working Americans have been after. Second, our framework will make the tax code simple, fair, and easy to understand. Under our plan, the vast majority of families will be able to file their taxes on a single sheet of paper. As part of simplification, we are also getting rid of taxes that threaten to put family businesses and American farmers out of business. Julie Ellingson is a 4th generation cattle rancher in Bismarck, North Dakota. Julie and her familys legacy of hard work should not be taken away when she dies we will eliminate the Death Tax and keep her American Dream alive. Most importantly, her family will long remember, and theyll be working hard for many, many years on their farm. Third, we are going to restore Americas competitive edge so that American businesses and workers can win again. We will cut the corporate rate below the average of our foreign competitorsand we will reduce the top marginal income tax rate on small and mid-sized businesses to the lowest in more than 80 years. Its so important because our companies are leaving our shores and when they leave, they let go of the workers. And then they make their product and they send it back into our country. We dont tax them, we dont do anything. Those days are over. We now have a competitive tax where our companies wont be leaving. Believe me, it wont be happening like it has, its going to be a big difference. Finally, our framework encourages corporations to bring back trillions of dollars in wealth parked overseas, and stops punishing companies for keeping their headquarters in the United States. Thats actually whats happening. Companies that stay in our country are being punished by our tax code. This will switch our current offshoring modela tax system that drives jobs to other countriesto a new American Model. Under this plan, we want our companies to hire and grow in America, to raise wages for American workers, and to help rebuild American cities and towns. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass tax reform and to restore our jobs, our wealth, and our great American Dreams. We will be able to dream again and those dreams will be met. Now it is timefinally for Congress to deliver. The problem we have is the Democrats dont want to cut your taxes, they want to actually raise your taxes, and raise them very substantially. We cant afford to do that as a country, thats why our jobs are leaving, thats why you don t have enough left in your pay check. We want to cut taxes and its going to be the biggest tax cut in the history of our Country. Thank you. God Bless You. And, God Bless America. The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7;45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML. Las Vegas Mass Shooting View Photos Update at 9am: Governor Jerry Brown has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the capitol in remembrance of those killed during the shooting in Las Vegas. The Governor says, Our prayers and deepest sympathies are with the families and loved ones of those killed and injured in last nights tragic and senseless shooting and we stand with the people of Nevada in this difficult time. Original story posted at 7am: Las Vegas, CA Hearts are heavy for Las Vegas this morning. At least 400 people are injured, and 50 are confirmed dead, from a mass shooting at a concert last night on the strip. A gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire from a window of the nearby Mandalay Bay. He eventually turned the weapon on himself. Several guns were found in his room. The Associated Press reports that a California police department had one of its off-duty officers shot during the attack. A group of officers from the Bakersfield Police Department were attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival when Paddock opened fire. State lawmakers are starting to weigh in on the tragic attack, and giving condolences. Democratic US Senator Kamala Harris says, Our hearts break for the victims and their families and our thoughts are with those wounded after the horrific Las Vegas shooting. House Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California calls it a senseless tragedy, and the nation is praying for the victims and family. It is the deadliest mass shooting in the countrys history. - Ondo state police command has arrested another Boko haram member in Ondo state - The terrorist, Mohammed Basha, was arrested in Isua Akoko area of the Akoko southeast local government Area of the state - He said he ran from Borno after the place was too hot for him The police claim it had arrested another Boko Haram member identified as Mohammed Basha in Isua Akoko area of the Akoko southeast local government area of Ondo state. The arrest came days after Idris Babawo, also known as Dikko was arrested in the same location by the state police command. READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu's brother lists items allegedly stolen from his room after soldiers' invasion Femi Joseph, the public relations officer of the command said the suspect was arrested while he was loitering on Isua-Ifira Akoko road by the men of the anti-crime patrol of the command, Punch reports. When the suspect was arrested, he was interrogated and confessed that he was a member of the Boko Haram sect. He said his father is from Niger Republic while his mother is from Maiduguri in Borno state. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app He said when Maiduguri was hot for him he ran to Nasarawa last month and he left Nasarawa yesterday (Saturday) and came down to the southwest to hide here. He also confessed that one Daffo is his team leader while Shekau is still the overall leader of the group. Legit.ng had reported that the Nigeria police on Sunday, September 24, arrested a declared wanted Boko Haram terrorist Idris Babawo in Ondo state. Babawo, 42, also known as Idiko and Nagada, the police said is believed to be number 165 on the Nigerian military's Boko Haram wanted list. You can watch this Legit.ng exclusive video of woman begging Nigerian government to rescue her husband from Boko Haram terrorists: Source: Legit.ng - Paternity of former Abia state governor, Orji Uzor Kalu has been questioned by IPOB - The group made their allegations after the former governor said that Nnadi Kanu has fled to London via Malaysia - IPOB said Kalu need to come and tell the world what he knows about the whereabouts of Nnamdi Kanu The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has questioned the paternity of former Abia state governor, Orji Uzor Kalu. The group in a statement by it's publicity secretary, Emma Powerful also threatened to drag former Orji Kalu alongside the Chief Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai to court over the disappearance of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. The group said Kalu need to come and tell the world what he knows about the whereabouts of Nnamdi Kanu. READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu's brother lists items allegedly stolen from his room after soldiers' invasion The statement read: IPOB through her lawyers will compel Orji Uzor Kalu to appear in court alongside Buratai on the October 17, 2017 to tell the world, under oath, what he claims to know about the whereabouts of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. His laughable assertion that the IPOB leader is in London is confirmation that all along he has been working in tandem with Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, Willie Obiano, Rochas Okprocha and others to slaughter as many IPOB family members as possible in order to please the core North. Any right thinking person, aware of the dubious upbringing of Orji Uzor Kalu and his fraudulent paternity claim against the famous businessman Nnanna Kalu, a man that publicly denied him, should dismiss his latest antics as another calculated attempt to endear himself more to his Hausa Fulani Islamic handlers. The question Orji Uzor Kalu must answer is this, if indeed you are Nnanna Kalus son, why do you tell people you come from Igbere when the man you fraudulently claim is your father is not from there. Our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before his abduction by Nigerian Army has brought an end to the era of cash and carry politics politics of subservience to Hausa Fulani to the detriment of Biafra. That was why he flatly rejected your monetary offer to him to compromise his uncompromising stance on Biafra restoration. Thankfully today you have told the world that Nnamdi Kanu cannot be bought. The politics of selling the interest of the East to the North is why all Hausa Fulani stooges in government houses across the South East ganged up with their Hausa Fulani masters to kill Nnamdi Kanu and proscribe IPOB. Their wish having come through, they are now lining up to exonerate the military because they know their names will be mentioned as accomplices to mass murder of IPOB family members. Orji Uzor Kalu and his co-conspirators must await the fury of the people which is slowly building up. The same way Romans rose against the murderous Brutus and his gang that slayed the popular Julius Ceasar, so will the mob in Biafraland descend on all traitors in no distant time. Planning and executing the mass murder of IPOB members including our leader and looking to cover up your complicity with bare faced lies, will expose and render Orji Uzor Kalu inconsequential and expose him for the Hausa Fulani slave he truly is. The masses will set an example with the likes of Orji Uzor Kalu, Okezie Ikpeazu and Willie Obiano in no distant time that other quislings like them may learn. We have formally instructed our attorneys to add the name of Orji Uzor Kalu as one of those who might help in locating of our leader. He should be prepared to present his evidence in a court of law and be cross examined under oath. The surviving members of Kanu family have all denied ever talking to the lying Orji Uzor Kalu about the whereabouts of our leader, so he should be prepared to mount the witness box because his lies have gone on for far too long. PAY ATTENTION: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that Dr Orji Uzor Kalu while speaking in an interview said the IPOB leader went to Malaysia from where he travelled to the United Kingdom. Watch this Legit.ng video as Nnamdi Kanu's lawyer speaks: Source: Legit.ng - Pastor Tunde Bakare has called on President Buhari to reform Nigeria - He urged the president to salvage the soul of the nation before it's too late - He added that those agitating in Nigeria have a right to do so Pastor Tunde Bakare, the serving overseer of The Latter Rain Assembly, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to restructure the country before it's too late. During a church service in honour of Nigeria's 57th independence anniversary, Bakare, in a sermon titled, Pragmatic Steps Towards Restructuring Nigeria, said the buck to reform the country falls on the president, Punch reports. READ ALSO: Buhari has shown his fixated hatred for Igbos - Ozekhome He said: I must state that, as far as championing the far-reaching structural, institutional and constitutional changes necessary to salvage the soul of our nation is concerned, the words on the desk of the 33rd president of the United States, Harry Truman: The buck stops here, are relevant to President Buhari whose legacy is at stake. Mr. President, the buck stops at your desk and, as always, my earnest prayer is that you find the courage and political will to do what is right at this momentous period in the history of our nation. Bakare added that those agitating in Nigeria have a right to do so. He said: Therefore, those asking for the opportunity to negotiate their existence within the Nigerian state based on their ethnic or cultural identities have a right so to do, as captured in international legal instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Nigeria is a signatory." PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported President Buhari in his speech to Nigeria on independence day said that those agitating for secession did not witness the first civil war and as such do not know the impact on the country. Buhari also condemned some leaders of communities agitating. The president said the leaders have failed to caution their hot-headed youths who are singing the songs of secession. He urged those who witnessed the civil war to recount the horrors to the young ones. Watch this Legit.ng video to see how Nigerians are celebrating Independence day: Source: Legit.ng - Junaid Mohammed said President Buhari's Independence Day speech was dishonest - The former lawmaker said there was nothing unique in it - He said millions of Nigerians were unaware of the agricultural policies the president was talking about Junaid Muhammed who is a second republic lawmaker has criticised President Muhammadu Buharis Independence Day speech accusing him of lying about his agricultural policies. The Punch reports that the lawmaker was reacting to the presidents speech delivered on Sunday, October 1. READ ALSO: Read the first Independence Day address presented by Tafawa Balewa in 1960 Muhammed said there was nothing unique in the presidents speech and that he was even dishonest. He said the agricultural policies mentioned by the president were not true. He said: Frankly speaking, the speech is not realistic. There is nothing and there was nothing meant to be spectacular or unique about the speech of the 57th anniversary. It is celebratory. Where we have a leader who is articulate or is in a firm control of the government, the speech could have been an avenue to mobilise and regain the confidence of the people. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing in the speech to energise, galvanise or persuade me. The government muddled up a speech that should be about matters of national importance with personal reminiscences of being a young officer. This romantic lamentation does not have a place in this speech. Some of the claims the President made were clearly dishonest. For example, he claimed that his agricultural policies have been a success. As far as I am concerned, that cannot be true because I dont even know the policies. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app If I dont, I am sure millions of other Nigerians dont know too. When you see the functionality of a policy, you know it is working. Meanwhile, Chief Mike Ozekhome who is a constitutional lawyer and a right activist lashed out at President Buhari saying he has shown his hatred for the Igbo race. Vanguard reports that in a statement issued by the lawyer on Sunday, October 1, he criticised the presidents Independence Day speech saying it confirmed his fixated hatred for the Igbos. The lawyer wondered why the president did not criticise the activities of Fulani herdsmen and the quit notice issued to Igbos in the north. Watch Independence Day celebration in Abia state below Source: Legit.ng - Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari is confusing restructuring of Nigeria with a break-up - Afenifere said Buhari should separate those agitating for restructuring from those calling for the break-up of the country - The group also said the president is indirectly promoting those working for the break-up of Nigeria Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, on Sunday, October 1, claimed that President Muhammadu Buharis stance on the call for restructuring of Nigeria is an indication that he is confused over the issue. Punch reports that Afenifere, in response to the President Buharis Independence Days broadcast, said he was confusing call for restructuring with that for the breakup of Nigeria. Yinka Odumakin, the group national publicity secretary, said the president should make a clear distinction between the two and work towards rescuing the country from imminent collapse. READ ALSO: Nigeria does not need to take permission from foreign countries - Lai Mohammed Odumakin said: ''Buhari is indirectly promoting those working for the break-up of Nigeria by ignoring the demands of Nigerians for restructuring. ''He should separate those agitating for restructuring from those calling for a break-up of the country. I think he is confusing restructuring with break-up. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app ''Those calling for restructuring are those working to avert the breakup of Nigeria while those opposed to it are the ones working for the break-up of the country. ''Let the President deal with restructuring; if he does not listen to the agitations for restructuring, he is promoting those who are working for the break-up of the country.'' Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the president addressed Nigerians live on national television on Sunday, October 1. Watch this Legit.ng video to see how Nigerians are celebrating Independence day: Source: Legit.ng - ASJA called on the UK to extradite Nnamdi Kanu to Nigeria - The group claimed the IPOB leader was hiding there - It vowed to occupy the UK embassy of Kanu is not extradited The Advocate of Social Justice for All (ASJA) has sent a message to the United Kingdom threatening to occupy its embassy if Nnamdi Kanu is not extradited to Nigeria. In a statement signed by its executive director, Asongo Venatius, the group accused the UK of harbouring a terrorist and said the proper thing to do is to extradite him. READ ALSO: Ex-Kaduna governor Mouktar Muhammed dies in London hospital The group claimed that the leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) fled escaped from Nigeria to Cameroon where he travelled to Malaysia and then to UK. Read the statement below: The proper thing is for the UK to have allowed Kanu answer the treason charges against him in Nigeria before making any intervention. We find it supremely irresponsible for the UK High Commission in Nigeria to have issued its statement seeking clarification on Nnamdi Kanu when it knows it was in cahoots with the terrorist leader. The irresponsible behaviour became diabolic when the UK issued him an emergency travel document in collaboration with crisis merchants. This is the worst form of double standard ever. We are at a loss to understand what the UK Mission in Nigeria or even the home country stands to gain by mischievously sinking so low to aid a terrorist and facilitate his sneaking out of the country. This is a disgrace to the government and people of the United Kingdom, it is a blot that can only be erased by the government of the UK flushing out Kanu and all other bad elements that are trying to sabotage Nigeria. "If the UK truly believes in freedom, it must extradite Kanu, who is facing charges in a Nigerian court, so that those who stood surety to perfect his bail conditions do not end up in jail if he fails to show up for his trial. Even where the UK has decided to spurn the ties that existed between it and Nigeria, we advise it to revisit the ill advised choice of backing a terrorist against the Nigerian state. As the UK should have learnt from initially supporting ISIS terrorists, the attacks by these sick minds would eventually take place on its soil. The Advocates of Social Justice for All [ASJA] therefore demands that the UK High Commission in Nigeria immediately extradite Nnamdi Kanu to stand trial for his crime before his October 17, 2017 court appearance. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app Failure to do this will see ASJA leading Nigerians to occupy the UK High Commissions premises in a manner it has never experienced before in any other part of the world." Meanwhile, the minister of information, Lai Mohammed, said that Nigeria does not require the permission of foreign countries to declare a group as a terrorist organisation. The ministers statement was in reaction to the position of some foreign countries regarding the proscription of IPOB and its declaration as a terrorist group. Nnamdi Kanu's father: Everything about my son is the handwork of God. on Legit.ng TV. Source: Legit.ng - Governor of Ebonyi state, Chief David Umahi says proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra has saved over 12 million Igbo resident - He said there were plans to get the Ebonyi House of Assembly to enact laws prohibiting hate speech in the state - Umahi insisted that IPOB proscription was to avert bloodshed The proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has saved over 12 million Igbo resident outside the southeast region. The governor of Ebonyi state, Chief David Umahi, said there were plans to get the Ebonyi House of Assembly to enact laws prohibiting hate speech in the state. READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu is hiding in UK - Group He said the move is targeted at stopping incessant usage of inciting comments capable of disintegrating the country. At the 57th independence anniversary celebration and 21 years creation of Ebonyi state, at Abakaliki Township Stadium, on Sunday, he said: There is no need to continue with hate speeches. There is no need to continue with violent agitations. We have to dialogue and do everything that will make sure we live in peace. We are stronger when we are together. Theres no need to insult the president. Very soon, we are going to approach the House of Assembly, for a bill on hate speeches and I am happy some states have done something on hate speeches. When we do this, you will prove any hate speech or allegation against anyone, whether you put it on the social media or you write it in a newspaper. We are going to make a law; when you are accusing anybody, a department will be created. They will look at it and you must prove your point and we are going to regulate hate speeches in Ebonyi state. Already, Kaduna state has done it. I told Governor Nasir el-Rufai, to export what he did in Kaduna to Ebonyi state. There is no need insulting other tribes. Theres no need insulting southern governors. The Operation Python Dance II was to ensure security in the zone, Umahi said. The governor also assured all residents of their optimum security, and insisted that IPOB proscription was to avert bloodshed and save the lives of about 12 million Igbo people living in other parts of the country. PAY ATTENTION: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV Meanwhile, Legit.ng had earlier reported that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) questioned the paternity of former Abia state governor, Orji Uzr Kalu. The group in a statement by it's publicity secretary, Emma Powerful also threatened to drag former Orji Kalu alongside the Chief Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai to court over the disappearance of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Watch this Legit.ng video as Nnamdi Kanu's lawyer speaks: Source: Legit.ng - The police in Lagos have arrested over 75 members of Omeiji cult group - Their leader, Franklin was also arrested - Police said the raid was to make sure that criminal elements were not allowed the opportunity to plan and execute their nefarious activities, especially in the ember months Over 75 members of Omeiji cult, including their leader, have been arrested by the Lagos state police task force. The cultists are alleged to be terrorising people in Ipaja and Oshodi areas of the state. The alleged cult leader, Franklin, has been on the wanted list of the police for crimes ranging from robbery to bag snatching and dealing on Indian hemp. The police in Lagos have arrested over 75 members of Omeiji cult group. Photo credit: NAN READ ALSO: Buhari has shown his fixated hatred for Igbos - Ozekhome The chairman of the task force, SP Olayinka Egbeyemi, said the commissioner of police (CP), Edgal Imohimi, directed him and divisional police officers (DPOs) to raid all criminal hideouts/black-spots across the state. We have arrested the most wanted Indian hemp dealer, who coincidentally is the leader of Omeiji boys cult group, Franklin. He has been on the wanted list of the police. The Saturday raid of the criminal hideouts paid off as Franklin and his second in command were picked up with bags of Indian hemp. Franklin has confessed that he was the owner of the weed and that he used to supply the evil weed to his customers at Mushin, Ojuelegba, Fadeyi and Idi-Oro among other places, he said. He said that following the directive of the CP, the task force raided some criminal hideouts where Franklin and 75 others were arrested. He said the raid was to make sure that criminal elements were not allowed the opportunity to plan and execute their nefarious activities, especially in the ember months. He said the raid was a continuous exercise and listed other areas to be raided to include Egbe-Idimu, Iyana-Ipaja (Abule-Oki & Car-wash), Ikotun, Mushin, Bariga, Apapa, Orile-Agege, Ajegunle, Ikorodu, Lagos-Island, Oshodi, Pen-cinema, Berger, Oyingbo, Mile 2, Fadeyi and Ojuelegba. Egbeyemi said aside robbery and gangsterism, the hoodlums also destroyed government property. He added that government would not fold its arm and watch criminals destroy huge investment and infrastructural development across the state. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that after four days in the hands of kidnappers, Emmanuel Adeniyi, an assistant commissioner of police, has been rescued by security operatives. Adeniyi, the officer-in-charge of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCID) in Zamfara, was kidnapped along Birnin-Gwari-Funtua Road, Kaduna state and security operatives promised to ensure his freedom. Watch this video of an alleged ritualists' den discovered in Lagos recently: Source: Legit.ng - Bishop David Oyedepo, the presiding bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, has declared that Nigeria will not be disunited - Oyedepo said the good news is that the country will rise again to glory - The bishop also said that there will be no bloodshed in the country Bishop David Oyedepo, the presiding bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, has said Nigeria will not breakup in spite of its present challenges. He said this in a satellite telecast of the churchs prayer session monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria in Jos on Monday, October 2. There has been agitation for the break-up of the country by some separatist groups but the religious leader has insisted that the country will remain as one. Oyedepo said it was made known to him via divine revelation in 1979 while praying for the well-being of the country that Nigeria would never disintegrate. READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu is hiding in UK - Group He said: ''The good news is that Nigeria will rise again to glory. Nigeria shall not see war; God will visit eternal silence on every religious bigot being used to cause war; there will be no bloodshed in the country. ''Let Nigeria know peace; make this our independence gift; let every religious manipulator be stopped today. We shall not see war in this country again. ''God has given us peace today for the economic and industrial revolution of Nigeria as a great nation. No agent of the devil will cause problems (for this country).'' PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app The Bishop led members in prayer for peace and prosperity of the country. The prayers were also made for God to intervene and direct the government to make policies that would be to the benefit of the people and the country. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the bishop claimed that there was an agenda to Islamise the country but vowed that their move would be thwarted. Watch this Legit.ng TV video of former bishop David Abioye's driver quits Living Faith Church, converts to Islam: Source: Legit.ng - Governor Seriake Dickson has stated that there is an urgent need to restructure Nigeria, as the current structure is not sustainable and would lead to an implosion of the nation - The governor stressed that restructuring does not mean secession, and praised those championing the restructuring debate, as true Nigerian patriots - Dickson noted that in 20 years from now, the country would be highly populated; and so, a credible structure needs to be put in place to address the needs of all groups and tribes of citizens The call to restructure Nigeria has been backed by the governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson, who has also cautioned that the nation will implode otherwise, Punch reports. Dickson made his comments at the King of Glory Chapel at the Bayelsa Government House, after a service to mark the nations 57th independence anniversary celebration, on Sunday, October 1. READ ALSO: Photos: Osinbajo, Obasanjo, others attend 57th Independence anniversary thanksgiving service Legit.ng gathers that the governor described those calling for Nigeria to be restructured, as true patriots. He stated: My view is that there is an urgent national imperative for us to review the country. Maybe some people have problems with the word restructuring, but we have to re-examine our nations foundation and see how we can make necessary adjustments that will promote a more stable and prosperous Nigeria. The structure of the country as it is now is not sustainable. Very often, a number of our leaders misconstrue the call for restructuring to mean secession. No, those calling for restructuring are the patriots of Nigeria because we want to lay a foundation for a Nigeria that will last for the next 50, 100 and 200 years and above to come. Those people forget that in the next 10, 20 years, the country will be one of the most populous nations on the face of the earth. You cant have that kind of high density human population, arguing every day and every time about the injustices and imbalances; there will be an implosion. So, it is best for us now to have a consensus. If there is any problem at all, it is how do we go about it not whether we should attempt a restructuring or review or not. That to me is taken for granted and I am happy President Muhammadu Buhari said he was not opposed to restructuring. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, on Sunday, October 1, claimed that President Muhammadu Buharis stance on the call for restructuring of Nigeria is an indication that he is confused over the issue. Afenifere, in response to the President Buharis Independence Day broadcast, said he was confusing the call for restructuring with that for the breakup of Nigeria. Watch this Legit.ng TV video asking if Nigeria should be restructured or split Source: Legit.ng - A coalition of concerned Nigerian women led by Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, have described IPOB members as misguided advocates of secession, and stated that the unity of the nation is non-negotiable - Ita-Giwa recalled the evils of the 1967 Civil War, and stated that the group stands resolutely for the unity of Nigeria; especially at such a critical moment in the nations history - The group urged those who feel marginalized to complain in a good way, as it noted that employing inciting words and denigrating others in speeches simply to gain relevance, was not in the best interest of the nation A coalition of Nigerian women led by former senator, Florence Ita-Giwa, have stated categorically, that the unity of the nation is not up for negotiation, and cautioned members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to cease their fiery rhetoric, Premium Times report. The women who coalesced under the group, Nigerian Women for Peaceful Coexistence and Unity, made their comments at an event to mark the nations 57th independence anniversary on Sunday, October 1. READ ALSO: Restructuring: Nigerias current structure is not sustainable - Dickson Legit.ng gathered that the group which was also led by Sinatu Ojukutu, the former deputy governor of Lagos; and Kafilat Ogbara, a rights activist, urged members of the outlawed IPOB group, to sheathe their swords. Ita-Giwa stated: Many of us here are living witnesses to the horrors of the Nigerian Civil war between 1967 and 1970. Two million innocent souls were lost in that war. We lost spouses, fathers, and siblings and loved ones. Many of us lost three years of our lives and our parents had to start life afresh at the end of the war. We most passionately call on all such persons to stop forthwith. No nation on earth has ever survived two civil wars. As mothers and grandmothers, we stand resolutely for the unity of Nigeria. The federal government needs to review past reports on the subject of restructuring. Having been a refugee during the war, another civil war should not be encouraged. Our advocacy is coming at a time when the unity of the country is on the tenterhooks. The rising call for Biafra in the south-east and the yet-to-be-defeated insurgency of Boko-Haram in the north-east have been a daily threat to the lives of many Nigerians. Also backing Ita-Giwas words, Ojikutu stated: It is obvious these people never experienced the last civil war and they have no knowledge of the consequences of war. Employing inciting words and denigrating others in speeches for the dubious purpose of gaining relevance has grave repercussions; we passionately call on such persons to stop. If you feel you are marginalised, you can complain in a good way and you dont have to call for secession. We understand the pervasiveness of the issue has forced the FG to deploy the Armed Forces to different parts of the country for the maintenance of law and order. "We however caution that the deployed troops strictly adhere to proper rules of engagement so that the human rights of citizens can be protected. Ojikutu further urged those calling for Nigerias division to tone down their rhetoric, describing them as misguided advocates of secession. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a group, Advocate of Social Justice for All (ASJA), has sent a message to the United Kingdom, threatening to occupy its embassy if the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is not extradited to Nigeria. In a statement signed by its executive director, Asongo Venatius, the group accused the UK of harbouring a terrorist and said the proper thing to do is to extradite him. Watch this Legit.ng TV video asking if the agitation for Biafra will end with the dissolution of IPOB: Source: Legit.ng - Col. Aminu Iliyasu, the divisions deputy director, army public relations says the Nigerian army is expected to begin Operation Crocodile Smile 2 in the entire Niger Delta region - The director says the military exercise would be conducted between October 7 and 28 in the region - The aim of Operation Crocodile Smile 2 is to equip troops with skills in administration, operational, logistics and civil-military cooperation aspects in a military operation Nigerian army troops of the 6 Division in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, are expected to begin Operation Crocodile Smile 2 in the Niger Delta. Col. Aminu Iliyasu, the divisions deputy director, army public relations, in a statement on Monday, October 2, said the exercise would be conducted between October 7 and 28. READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu is hiding in UK - Group He said: In line with the Nigerian armys training directive for the Year 2017, troops of 6 Division, Nigerian army, Port Harcourt, including its affiliated formations and units, located within its entire Area of Responsibility (AOR), which covers the core Niger Delta states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers, will be participating in this years Exercise Crocodile Smile II, within the entire Niger Delta region. The exercise is intended to equip troops with skills in administration, operational, logistics and civil-military cooperation aspects in a military operation, such as the provision of free medical care to host communities, Quick Impact Projects (QIP) and the conduct of sanitation exercises to be undertaken by the troops for the benefit of their host communities and distribution of educational materials to schools. These are parts of armys Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It will also avail troops the opportunity to sharpen their combat skills in the conduct of land based and joint riverine operations. The exercise will also aim at imparting to the troops the importance of equipment maintenance, reconnaissance, inter-service and inter-agency cooperation, effective application of the Nigerian Army code of conduct, as well as strict adherence to Rules of Engagement (ROE), proper handling of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and captured or surrendered hostile elements, in line with international best practices. In a previous report by Legit.ng, the Nigerian army will in the next couple of days commence a military operation in Ogun state tagged Operation Crocodile Smile. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app The brigade commander of 35 artillery brigade, Basil Adoke, made the disclosure at a reception organised by the state government as part of activities marking the 57 Independent Anniversary on Sunday, October 1. The commander said the operation is aimed at addressing security challenges in the state and its environs, Guardian reports. How Nigerians celebrated the 57th Independence anniversary in Umuahia. - on Legit.ng TV. Source: Legit.ng Monday, October 2, 2017 A louisiana Hearing Committee recommends the reinstatement of a disbarred attorney Mr. Jones testified at length about his rehabilitative process that began during his incarceration at the federal camp in Florida. He has also attended and graduated from United Theological Seminary and Bible college, with a Masters of Theology Degree. Mr. Jones is now an ordained Baptist minister and serves as an assistant pastor at Lone Wa Worship Center in Monroe, Louisiana. Also, Mr. Jones wrote a book entitled "7 Prayer Commands: a Response to the Voice of God." In addition to the testimony of Mr. Jones, numerous witnesses testified indicating that Mr. Jones possesses the requisite honesty and integrity to practice law. Character witnesses included Rosiland Jones Lewis, Judge Benjamin Jones, District Attorney Steven Tew, District Attorney John Belton, Judge James Garland Smith and Eva Wilson. In addition to the live testimony, there were various character letters issued by Judge Freddie Pitcher, Jr., Attorney John Hoychick, Jr., Attorney W. James Singleton, Attorney 1. Michael Small, Attorney Allyn Stroud, Retired District Attorney Jerry Jones, District Attorney James Stewart, Retired Judge Jimmy Dimos and Retired Judge Wilford Carter. Criteria No. 6 is satisfied... Based upon the record in these proceedings, including voluminous stipulations and lengthy and detailed testimony, this committee believes that applicant Charles D. Jones has satisfied all of the readmission criteria by clear and convincing evidence. Hearing Committee # 18 recommends that Charles D. Jones be readmitted to the practice of law in the State of Louisiana. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/10/a-louisiana-hearing-committee-recommends-the-reinstatement-of-a-disbarred-attorney-mr-jones-testified-at-length-about-his-r.html - Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria's former vice president, denies commencing his 2019 campaign with bags of rice - Atiku believes that the photographs in circulation are photoshopped Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has cleared the air concerning reports of bags of rice bearing his photographs and inscriptions concerning his plan for 2019. Atiku, who spoke through his Facebook wall, denied that he had started such campaigns. READ ALSO: Read the first Independence Day address presented by Tafawa Balewa in 1960 We've seen this flying around. It's fake. Possibly photoshop. Atiku Abubakar owns a feed factory, employing hundreds, not rice. He hasn't commissioned any posters either, the post stated. Senator Ben Murray-Bruce also confirmed that the photographs were actually doctored. "I just confirmed that this is a photoshopped image. Really sad the lengths people go to when threatened by another's popularity," he said. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app Atiku is believed to be gunning for the 2019 presidential election with many waiting to see if he will contest against Muhammadu Buhari if the latter decides to seek a second term. Legit.ng earlier reported that Atiku Abubakar recently won another massive support ahead of the 2019 general election as he seeks to take over from Buhari. The Fast Forward Nigeria (FFN) said it is supporting Atikus ambition to rule the country as well as his warning and suggestion concerning the need to restructure the country. The FFN said the former vice presidents suggestion on restructuring was the only way for national cohesion. 2019 Presidency: Nigerians reveal why they prefer Atiku to President Buhari - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - MASSOB has said that it is only in interested in Biafra republic not restructuring of Nigeria - President Muhammadu Buhari had warned that his government would not tolerate any agitation for the division of the country - The group said that it would not be intimidated to drop its struggle for Biafra The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has said that it was not interested in the restructuring of Nigeria, but a complete secession from Nigeria. The Punch reports that MASSOBs recent statement is coming on the heels of President Muhammadu Buharis warning that his government would not tolerate any agitation for the division of the country. READ ALSO: Fani-Kayode slams President Buhari over shameful Independence Day speech Legit.ng gathered that while speaking through a telephone interview with The Punch, MASSOBs national director for Information, Sunday Okereafor, explained that the movement would never be intimidated into dropping the struggle for Biafra. Okereafor pointed out that MASSOB began the struggle 18 years ago with agreement that its agitation would be non-violence. He decried a situation where its members were tagged miscreants, maintaining that it was wrong for those seeking for a Biafran nation to be given bad names. We dont want restructuring. There is a difference between restructuring and what we stand for; it is Biafra or nothing. MASSOB supporters and members are not miscreants. Nobody should describe us as miscreants because our style of agitation is not violence. If we are called miscreant, then those calling us such a name are saying Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo and others who fought for the freedom of Nigeria were miscreants. Without Azikiwe, Awolowo and others, who fought for the freedom of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari would not have been the President of Nigeria now. In his recent speech, he (President Buhari) referred to us as some elements; but we are freedom fighters, we are not elements. We are fighting for freedom through our non-violent approach and in line with internationally recognised practice, he stressed. The MASSOBs spokesman argued that secession was not an abomination, adding that since Britain granted Nigeria freedom to be independent, there was nothing wrong for Nigeria to allow Biafra to be. He stressed: Secession is not an abomination; if the President thinks secession is an abomination, why then is he in support of the call that Israel should give Palestine freedom. If he says it (secession) is a taboo, but Britain allowed Nigeria and other former colonies to go. So, there is nothing wrong if Biafra gets freedom. On the controversy surrounding the ownership of Radio Biafra in London, Okereafor insisted that contrary to the claim by the Indigenous People of Biafra, the radio station belonged to MASSOB and its leader, Chief Ralph Uwazurike. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read best news on Nigerias #1 news app IPOB had earlier said in a statement signed by its Deputy Leader, Uche Mefor, that MASSOB and Uwazurike should not lay claim to the ownership of the radio station based outside the country. But Okereafor explained that Radio Biafra was first established in the United States of America before it was moved to London, adding that IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, did not contribute a dime to the establishment of Radio Biafra. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State Of Biafra (MASSOB), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to let Biafrans go. Nnamdi Kanu's lawyer: my client is on a political trial - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng Editors note: It is often argued that Nigerias problems started when Lord Lugard, who was the then countrys Governor General amalgamated the northern and southern parts of the country together in 1914. The argument is that the north and the south would have been allowed to stay separately as a country on their own instead of the forceful marriage by Lugard In this article, Legit.ng gathered that Igwe Omeke explains that some of the Nigerian notable nationalists were babies when the amalgamation treaty was signed thereby raising the question of who really signed the treaty. Nnamdi Azikiwe was born in 1904 (was 10years old when the 1914 treaty was signed). Obafemi Awolowo was born in 1909 (was 5years old when the 1914 treaty was signed). Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in 1912 (was 2years old before it was signed). Ahmadu Bello was born in 1910 (was 4years old before it was signed). READ ALSO: Fani-Kayode slams President Buhari over shameful Independence Day speech Michael Okpara was born in 1920 (the treaty has been signed 6years before he was born) Who and who signed these papers on 1914 and called it amalgamation of the northern region and southern region that we shall live together as one family without war, marginalization, conflict of interest and crisis? These nationalists I mentioned above are still suc*king breast at the time of this agreement. You can't mix red oil and palm kernel oil together to get a good result. You can't play Jazz and Etigi or skelewu in the club house at the same time and expect a good dance. Is it that we are learning how to spell democracy in our country or the teacher does not know how to teach? Our problems started in 1914 because we don't know who signed it and their names and their intentions for signing it. If the so-called imperialists white signed it in the midnight while we were sleeping, the co*ck has crown, we have brushed our teeth, and taken our bath. Our eyes have opened to look for the amalgamation treaty and do something about it. No northerner can sleep with his eyes closed in the southern part of Nigeria and no southerner can do the same in the north. Inter marriage is a Taboo. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read best news on Nigerias #1 news app After 100years, we are still importing toothpicks, going abroad for medical checkup, our lucrative cash crops has gone to moribund, education for all by the year 2050, unemployment is a baptismal name for graduates, a police officer cannot boast of his work because of vestige of his salary, our Obasanjo space center and satellite office at airport road Lugbe Abuja cannot trace the location of Sambisa forest.And I repeat it again, who and who signed this treaty? Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Nigerians reacted to President Buhari's Independence Day speech. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Legit.ng. Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@corp.legit.ng drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors. Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App. Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Legit.ng Opinion page! How do you plan to celebrate this year's independence anniversary? - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng - Presidency has faulted Ohanaeze, the Igbo apex group over comments on Buharis Independence Day speech - The group had claimed that the present administrations anti-Igbo policies fueled agitations in the region - But the senior special assistant to the Buhari on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, urged the group of Igbo leaders to see themselves as partners in promoting peace and stability in the country The Presidency on Monday, October 2, said it was unfair for the Igbo group, Ohanaeze, to blame the recent unrest in the Southeast on the federal government. Punch reports that the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement made available to journalists. READ ALSO: Opinion: Who signed 1914 amalgamation treaty when Awolowo, Balewa, Azikiwe were still babies? Legit.ng gathered that Ohanaeze had in response to the President Muhammadu Buharis Independence Day broadcast said the present administrations anti-Igbo policies fueled agitations in the region. But Shehu urged the group of Igbo leaders to see themselves as partners with the federal government in promoting peace and stability in the country. The presidential spokesman said Buharis message to all community leaders that include the Ohanaeze, in his broadcast was that they have a huge role to play in what happens in their communities and in how their youths behave. He said: President Buhari was not abdicating his responsibilities. He didnt request any political leader to do anything seminal or out of the box. All he said is, talk to your out-of-the-line-youth so that we have some peace. Igbo leaders need not to be on the defensive for the misbehaviour of the IPOB which they rightly condemned. The President was simply saying that the regional leaders also have a role to play in keeping their hot-headed youths in check. Shehu said the Presidents admonition also applied to leaders of every other region of the country, and not only the Ohanaeze from the South East. According to him, elders from every region must step out and speak up whenever their youths go out of line, such as when the IPOB launched what he called unspeakable diatribes against other groups of people in other parts of the country and then started to threaten violence. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android and read best news on Nigerias #1 news app President Buhari was simply calling out the regional leaders to their responsibilities, making them aware of the crucial role they can play. This should not be seen as an attack on the Ohanaeze or on any other regional leaders, he said. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has blasted President Muhammadu Buhari's Independence Day speech delivered on Sunday, October 1 as a 'shameful' one. How Nigerians celebrated the 57th Independence anniversary in Umuahia - on Legit.ng TV Source: Legit.ng Scientists have found that losing the sense of smell is an early sign that a person is at risk of development of dementia later in life. The study entitled Olfactory Dysfunction Predicts Subsequent Dementia in Older US Adults, was published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. From their study, the researchers noted that elderly people who could not differentiate well between smells were at a greater risk of future cognitive decline. In their study 20 percent of the individuals who had a bad sense of smell were twice as likely to get dementia within five years of the study. They write that going by these results, the sense of smell could be used as an early diagnostic marker for dementia. For the study the team of researchers looked at 3000 people between ages of 57 and 85 years. They were given to smell five different odours orange, peppermint, rose, leather and fish. They were asked to guess the smell. The tool they used was called Sniffin'Sticks and it is essentially a felt-tip pen with the different odours instead of the ink. The tools is a well-tested and validated tool that can be applied to studies. For both studies, the researchers used a well-validated tool, known as 'Sniffin'Sticks.' Image Credit: Rob Kozloff, for the University of Chicago Medicine Results showed that approximately; 78.1 percent were deemed to have normal smell - 48.7 percent guess all five and 29.4 percent identified four out of five 18.7 percent guessed two or three out of five and were termed hyposmic 3.2 percent were termed anosmic as they guessed one (2.2 percent) or none (1 percent) out of five All of these participants were followed up for five years. All of the participants who had been unable to identify any of the smells developed dementia. On the other hand 80 percent of those who could identify only one or two odours out of five developed dementia. The connection between sense of smell and dementia was thus established. Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Jayant Pinto, a professor of ENT surgery at the University of Chicago specializing in genetics and treatment of olfactory and sinus disease, in a statement said that sense of smell could be an important early sign, marking people at greater risk of dementia. He noted that the sense of smell is closely connected with brain function and health and that is clear from this study. Study co-author Martha K. McClintock, PhD, the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago also explained that the sense of smell is one of the evolutionarily ancient sense that is the key to human cognition. She added that that the olfactory system has a system of stem cells that can regenerate and grow. So if there is a decrease in the sense of smell, it means that the brain is unable to rebuild key components that are declining with age a key to many different dementias. Pinto explained that predicting dementia is a difficult at present. However for GPs identifying defective sense of smell is an easy method by which they can predict the risk even before mild memory impairments set in. The underlying mechanisms of this condition too could be understood better he explained. Other experts believe that more work is necessary before this sense of smell could be used as a diagnostic tool to detect dementia early. Dr. Pinto agreed saying that more work would be necessary to make it a clinical test. It could however identify those at risk and these at-risk individuals could then be enrolled in early-stage prevention trials for dementia. This would provide deeper understanding of the disease and also help develop strategies to fight it. Pinto said, Of all human senses, smell is the most undervalued and underappreciated - until it's gone. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and supported by Institute of Translational Medicine at the University of Chicago and the McHugh Otolaryngology Research Fund. References Several transgender adolescents are opting to freeze their eggs and sperm with the Britain's NHS to leave an option for parenthood later in life open, according to doctors. Adolescent boys as young as 12, who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria or a gender identity crisis are having their sperms frozen before they go for hormone treatment that would stop their puberty before they could opt for surgeries to change them into a female. Girls with the same condition are also freezing their eggs or ova in a similar manner say doctors. According to the medical fraternity, it is only fair that everyone be given a chance at parenthood should they choose later in life. Professor Gary Butler, head clinician for Britains only NHS service for gender dysphoria in the youngsters said that choosing to change the sex is not a lifestyle choice for a transgender person. They are following their biological and psychological make-up about their identity, he explained. He said that there is a technology available in science and medicine that could help them start a family later so why not give them a right to choose? He said that there are dozens of males who choose to turn into females, who are freezing their sperms first before the change. Girls less than 16 years are also freezing their eggs before they are given the male hormones that halt their fertility. For this process they are first referred to the Gender Identity Development NHS clinic for under-18s at Londons University College Hospital. This is after they have been assessed psychologically at the Tavistock Clinic. The cost of freezing sperm is around 400, plus 300 a year for continuous storage and the cost of freezing eggs is 4,000 for one cycle and an additional 300 for storage annually. Fertility treatments if and when they decide to become parents would costs an additional thousands of pounds say experts. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, former chairman of the ethics committee of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority was critical about this new scheme. He said that essential services are a priority over funds for fertility treatments. Gender dysphoria Gender dysphoria is a condition in which the patient feels that his or her gender identity is a mismatch with their actual biological sex. It is also known as gender identity disorder, transgenderism or transsexualism or gender incongruence. People with a strong and persistent desire to live as their identified sex are sometimes called transsexual or transgender people. These people may opt for sex-change treatment so that their physical appearance is consistent with their gender identity. Biological sex is determined based on the appearance of the infant usually at birth. Gender identity is the sex the person feels themselves to be. This is not a mental illness but is a recognized condition that may need treatment. The condition may appear at a very young age. Normally children begin to identify their biological sex by the age of three or four. This condition is usually manifested as a childs refusal to wear their anatomical sex-specific clothes or dislike taking part in sex specific games and activities. In most of the cases this may be just a normal part of growing up but in a handful this may persist into adulthood. The person with this condition may feel trapped inside a body that does not match their gender identity. This may lead to anxiety or depressive disorders and self harm. This may also affect their choice of sexual partners, display of masculine or feminine behavior, mannerisms and dress codes and self-concept and esteem. Gender identity disorder is not the same as homosexuality. Treatment may involve psychological counseling. For some, however, hormonal or gender reassignment surgery may be recommended in order to change their physical appearance. According to researchers from University of Sheffield, dirty laundry can attract bed bugs and there is a rise in these parasites that bite and carry a host of diseases. Their study is published in the journal Scientific Reports. The authors of the study found that bed bugs or Cimex lectularius are known to be attracted to human hosts. When there are no humans around, they tend to hone in on the smell of humans that remains in their worn clothes. William Hentley, an ecologist at the University of Sheffield and first author on the paper said that this is the first time they have noted that human smell could be a magnet for the long distance spread of bed bugs. The Common Bed Bug, Cimex lectularius, parasite. Image Credit: Pavel Krasensky / Shutterstock Common bed bugs are visible to the naked eye (being around 5mm long). They have a flat oval shaped body when not fed. After they have sucked on the blood of a human they tend to swell up and become darker in colour. They can survive without feeling for months and usually reside in the beddings and clothing. The authors explain that bed bugs had started to reduce in their numbers in the 1980s and 90s. However recently they are aggressively on the rise in terms of numbers. In the United Kingdom for example, their numbers have doubled and the numbers are even greater in the United States. Low cost air travel remains one of the culprits of long distance dispersal of these bugs, say experts. They explored how else these bugs may be crossing the seas. Researchers noted that bags that contained worn clothes were twice as likely to carry bed bugs compared to bags carrying clean clothes. For this study the team of researchers asked a few volunteers to wear white cotton t-shirts and socks. These were worn for around three hours in the afternoon. Then the soiled clothes were kept in plain cotton tote bags. They also took clean clothes and put them in similar bags. In the lab they took 10 bed bugs that had been fed on blood meal (this means they were not starved). The bed bugs were put in the centre of the room that had the four bags, two each with clean and soiled clothes. The bags were kept in a cross patterns at equal distances. Once the bed bugs were acclimatized to the room, the container lids were removed and they were allowed to roam free for four days. Bed bugs and other insects that feed on human blood such as mosquitoes and ticks generally are attracted to humans and animals for feeding with the carbon dioxide that they breathe out. In experiments entomologists use blocks of dry ice to attract these insects. The insects are fooled to believe there is a human because dry ice gives out carbon dioxide. For this experiment too, some of the set ups included the bags of soiled and clean clothes and a block of dry ice to make the insect believe there was a sleeping human around. The experiment was repeated multiple times with or without the dry ice. Results showed that the bed bugs were twice as likely to move towards the soiled clothes as clean ones. They actively went for the dirty laundry and lived inside them especially if there was no dry ice in the room to distract them. To avoid these bugs, Hentley suggests that keeping the soiled clothes in a ziplock bag may be a good idea. He explained that these bugs cannot crawl up smooth surfaces. So keeping the luggage on the smooth metal luggage racks is another tip to avoid bringing the bed bugs from a trip. Bed bugs he warned, can multiply fast. A female can lay three or four eggs a day, every day till death in about nine months. Further highest strength pesticides are incapable of eradicating these bugs. So, to avoid the bugs and their bites, clean laundry is the only solution for now say experts. Meshes in the United Kingdom Vaginal meshes have been used surgically in over 75,000 women in England who undergo surgery to correct stress incontinence and vaginal prolapsed. The surgeries between 2006 and 2016 have used this mesh according to data from the NHS. Experts believe that some of these meshes that have been used have never been clinically tested and this is a disaster waiting to happen. Reports suggest that one in 15 of these meshes that have been surgically implanted have been removed due to complications. They had been used for a 20 minute surgery that is used to correct stress incontinence and prolapsed that results from childbirth. The basic principle of the surgery is insertion of a polypropylene mesh that would support the vagina and the bladder from sagging. In some women the insertion of this mesh is not successful leading to chronic pain that makes it difficult for them to walk or go about their regular day-to-day activities and also makes sexual intercourse painful. Evidence has shown that the mesh that is supposed to be flexible within the body does not always remain so. It hardens and stiffens and can cut into the neighboring organs such as the bladder causing internal injuries. One manufacturer is Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. At present over 300 women from United Kingdom are moving towards legal action against Johnson & Johnson because of their dissatisfaction and complications that arose from this mesh. David Golten, a solicitor at Wedlake Bell LLP, which is representing the women, called this a significant medical case claiming that there could be billions of pounds in settlements that could make this the largest medical case in UK history. On the other side, a spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson said that this mesh has been through rigorous years of clinical research and said that they are confident of their products and these pelvic mesh devices are being used worldwide without complications. Johnson & Johnson loses a case to a woman in Pennsylvania Johnson & Johnson must pay out $57 million in compensation to Ella Ebaugh, 51, who underwent vaginal mesh insertion. This insertion was followed by three surgeries that she had to undergo due to the complications. The mesh had cut into her urethra (tube that carries urine out of the body). This is a serious complication that necessitated a surgical correction. Ms Ebaugh underwent a surgery to correct urinary incontinence that is seen commonly after childbirth. She had had five deliveries that led to her incontinence. She was fitted with Johnson & Johnsons Ethicon vaginal mesh. Soon she started developing excruciating pain on standing, sitting or performing any activity. She had to undergo three surgeries after the initial one to correct the complications and the mesh had to be removed. Despite the surgeries, part of the mesh still remains within her. Ms Ebaugh was awarded her payout after a jury in Philadelphia voted in her favor stating that Johnson & Johnson had been negligent and the mesh was designed defectively. There are more than 1,000 lawsuits at present around the world, including the US, the UK and Australia, against Johnson & Johnson from women who have developed complications. Ethicon plans to appeal the courts decision. They said in a statement, We believe the evidence in the Ebaugh trial showed Ethicons devices were properly designed. Captain Marvel and the X-Men crossover for Revenge of the Brood and Lord of the Brood Captain Marvel and the X-Men are about to embroiled in a two-part Brood-centric story Chinas j-20 stealth fighter is operational. It has small wings and is not optimized to beat other advanced fighters like the US F-22 raptor. Short-range tactical fighters like the F-22, F-35 and J-20 are ill-suited for operations in the Western Pacific where distances are vast and bases are scarce. The same geographic constraints also apply to the Chinese. That means that jets like the F-22 and F-35 need tankers to operate over those vast distances. The J-20 will strike at U.S. bases, tankers and communications nodes to prevent refueling and vastly limiting the operational range and effectiveness of US fighters. The US would also be able to take Chinas bases and refueling capability. However, in a Pacific battle near China, China would have many domestic air bases from which to operate. The J-20 has a stealth airframe and is based on a lot of stolen classified F-35 data. Like the American F-35, the newest J-20 prototypes appear to have an electro-optical targeting system mounted under the nose. That sensor could be Beijing A-Star Science and Technologys EOTS-89 electro-optical targeting system (EOTS). A dedicated air superiority fighter wouldnt need that kind of sensor. The J-20 carries an active electronically scanned array radar (AESA- Type 1475 radar). Michael Rosbash Interview Interview, December 2017 Interview with Medicine Laureate Michael Rosbash on 6 December 2017 during the Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Michael Rosbash answers the following questions (the links below lead to clip on YouTube): 0:00 What was the moment you decided to pursue science? 1:03 What effect did your upbringing have on you? 2:13 Are you more of a morning person or a night owl? 2:39 Do you remember first meeting Jeffrey Hall? 3:57 How did you and Jeffrey Hall complement one another? 4:54 What drove you from competition to collaboration in your field? 6:26 Can we control the biological clock, possibly prolonging human life? 8:19 What are your tips for handling jet lag? 8:56 Is our circadian rhythm like a sixth sense? 10:29 Is it important to have a mentor? 13:33 Whats your advice for young people? 15:33 Where do you do your best thinking? 16:29 How has your family supported your work? 17:20 How do you spend your free time? 18:39 What sports learnings also apply in science? 19:42 What research are you pursuing right now? 21:06 How has your research benefitted humankind? Nobel Minds 2017 Your browser does not support the video tag. The 2017 Nobel Laureates met at the Grunewald Hall in the Stockholm Concert Hall in Stockholm for the traditional round-table discussion and TV program Nobel Minds. The discussion was hosted by the BBCs Zeinab Badawi. Telephone interview, October 2017 My wife said, Start breathing' Telephone interview with Michael Rosbash following the announcement of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2 October 2017. The interviewer is Adam Smith, Chief Scientific Officer of Nobel Media. Michael Rosbash describes the moment he found out he had been awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Interview transcript [Michael Rosbash]: Hello [Adam Smith]: Hello may I speak to Michael Rosbash please? MR: Youre speaking to him. AS: Thank you very much. My name is Adam Smith calling from Nobelprize.org, the website of the Nobel Prize. So I suppose its funny in a way that a prize for working out the molecular mechanisms of the circadian rhythms is announced in a way that disrupts your own sleep cycle. MR: Indeed. [Laughs] Ironic, yes. I hadnt thought about that, I must confess, but absolutely, yes. AS: How did you hear the news? MR: The phone on the night table by my bed woke me out of a deep sleep. And the gentleman Thomas Perlmann, yes, he told me the news. And I was shocked, breathless really. Literally. My wife said, Start breathing. AS: In a way this is something that everyone takes for granted, their adaptation to night and day. But its sort of the original adaptation to environmental influence, isnt it? MR: It is, it is. Before the atmosphere has its current constitution and before nutrition was anything like it is today, the earth rotated on its axis and the light dark cycle impinged on the beginnings of life, yes. AS: And I suppose its hard for people to imagine how different it was 30 years ago when you were starting this work, that you were real pioneers in linking genes to behaviour. MR: Right, its true, its true. We didnt think of ourselves as that, you know everybody Theres an element of craft in the work, you know, were putting one foot in front of the other. Trying to get more experiments to work than fail but in hindsight, yes, theres some truth in that. AS: And the prize is also a celebration, I suppose, of your close working relationship with Jeffrey Hall. MR: It is, it is. Yes. Long, long, long partnership. AS: What made you such a strong team? MR: We were very, we had very Two things, we were very good friends personally, before in fact we started to work together. And secondly we had complimentary skillsets. AS: I gather hes a bit of a maverick, riding Harley-Davidsons and the like. MR: That sort of thing yes. And the like. Yes, thats a good way to put it. Very British and very appropriate. AS: Will we look forward to welcoming you to Stockholm in December? MR: Of course you will. AS: Great, well enjoy your day and thank you for speaking to us. MR: Thank you very much. AS: Thank you. MR: Bye bye. Did you find any typos in this text? We would appreciate your assistance in identifying any errors and to let us know. Thank you for taking the time to report the errors by sending us an e-mail. To cite this section MLA style: Michael Rosbash Interview. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Tue. 15 Nov 2022. 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. AGCO, Your Agriculture Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with partners Strathmore Business School (SBS) in Kenya, Harper Adams University in the UK and Kenya-based The Bridge Africa which runs programmes to prepare graduates for employment, to inaugurate a new agribusiness course. The AGCO Agribusiness Programme (AAP) is being established to develop talent to fill vital junior management roles in African agriculture and the supply chain - currently a major gap in the continent's skills resources. Pictured from left to right: Simon Mwangi, CEO/Founder The Bridge Africa Group Ltd, Kenya; AGCOs Nuradin Osman; Dr George Njenga, Dean, Strathmore Business School and Dr Andy Wilcox, Head of Crop and Environment Science, Harper Adams University, UK. (Image Source: AGCO Corporation) A long-term commitment to skills development on the continent The demand for agriculture to produce more food from less is driving the pace of change in farming practices. The AAP is open to students throughout Africa and is a direct response to the need to bring young talent into the agribusiness sector in Africa. We are extremely proud to have established this comprehensive new agribusiness programme, says Nuradin Osman, AGCO Vice President and General Manager Africa. As a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural solutions, AGCO is acutely aware of the management skills shortage in the African agricultural supply chain sector. Therefore, we have taken the initiative to meet this challenge head-on with a long-term commitment to skills development on the continent. Ensuring that Africa is run from Africa Scheduled to commence in March 2018, the AAP will deliver an accredited two-year agribusiness program through SBS in Nairobi, Zambia and South Africa for up to 25 students aged 20-30, leading to potential job opportunities within AGCO Africa. Going forward, the aim is to extend the programme and offer the course using remote and blended learning techniques. This is a strong business-oriented programme that will provide training in critical skills and develop leadership and strategic expertise to drive African agricultural prosperity, Osman explains. It underlines our approach to ensure Africa is run from Africa. Upon completion of the course, students will have the opportunity to be placed within the AGCO Africa organisation, thus providing excellent job prospects. Its a win-win situation for all those involved. Dr George Njenga, Dean, Strathmore Business School said: Through this partnership, we are confident that we have the capacity to meet the needs of the agricultural sector. The programme will integrate both theoretical and industrial relevance to addressing the current trends in the sector. What happened at the concert venue Videos showed concertgoers running frantically here as multiple rounds of gunfire were being shot. People took cover under the bleachers. Vehicles stopped to pick up victims and carry them away. LAS VEGAS BLVD. E. RENO AVE. V.I.P. area FESTIVAL GROUNDS 200 FEET CROWD MAIN STAGE MANDALAY BAY RD. People fled in this direction GILES ST. NORTH Many victims lay on an area covered with synthetic grass. A video showed people climbing over a fence about eight feet tall. Multiple victims were brought here on metal security barriers, used as makeshift stretchers. Videos showed concertgoers running frantically here as multiple rounds of gunfire were being shot. LAS VEGAS BLVD. V.I.P. area 2 FESTIVAL GROUNDS MAIN STAGE CROWD 1 200 FEET GILES ST. 6 3 5 4 People fled in this direction NORTH By The New York Times 1Videos showed chaos unfolding among concertgoers, while multiple rounds were being fired. 2People took cover under the bleachers. 3Many victims lay on an area covered with synthetic grass. 4A video showed people climbing over a fence about eight feet tall. 5Multiple victims were brought here on metal security barriers, used as makeshift stretchers. 6Vehicles stopped to pick up victims and carry them away. Police officers told people to take cover near the festival grounds. Sunday nights performance was the festivals last scheduled show. Twitter/EirikurH via Storyful Bloodied victims were seen lying on the ground at the festival. David Becker/Getty Images Concertgoers described hearing round after round of gunfire. This shooting was going on for at least 10 minutes, said Jake Owen, a country singer who was on stage with Mr. Aldean when the shooting began. A Frantic Search for the Gunman [The account below is based primarily on recordings of police communications, captured by Broadcastify.com and some individuals.] At 10:08 p.m., an officer on the scene sounds the alarm. We got shots fired, he says. Sounds like an automatic firearm. There is confusion over the next few minutes as officers arrive to scenes of death and mayhem. Its coming from upstairs in the Mandalay Bay. Upstairs in the Mandalay Bay, halfway up I see the shots coming from Mandalay Bay, halfway up. We have an active shooter we have an active shooter inside the fairgrounds! At 10:12 p.m., the scale of the attack becomes more clear as an officer, using law-enforcement shorthand for gunshot wounds, reports in an agitated voice: We have multiple casualties. G.S.W.s in the medical tent. Multiple casualties! But the confusion over the source of the gunshots continues: Shots are coming from Gate 7. Were in front of Mandalay Bay. Were trying to see where the shots are coming from. If anyone can advise if theyre coming from Mandalay. It sounds like its either Mandalay or Luxor, we cannot tell. At 10:13 p.m., the manhunt begins to focus. Its coming from like the 50th or 60th floor, north of the Mandalay Bay! Its coming out a window. Were seeing local flashes in the middle of Mandalay Bay on the north side, kind of on the west tower but towards the center of the casino, like one of the middle floors. The gunman had smashed two windows that have a broad view of the festival ground, the sheriff said later at a news conference. John Locher/Associated Press Even with pandemonium on the streets, one officer has clearly identified where the shooting is coming from: Im inside the Mandalay Bay on the 31st floor, I can hear the automatic fire coming from one floor ahead, one floor above us. Repeating, just be advised it is automatic fire. Fully automatic fire from an elevated position. Take cover. That is correct, its fully automatic fire. Im right below it. Outside, frustration grows. Were taking gunfire. Its going right over our heads. Theres debris coming over our heads. Were pinned down here with a bunch of civilians. We cant worry about victims, we need to snuff the shooter before we have more victims! Anybody have eyes on him, on this shooter? Hey officers, please stay calm, just relax, were trying to get this set up. By 10:20 p.m., there are some indications the shooting has stopped, although it is not clear. Its been awhile since weve heard any shots. Does anybody have eyes on the shooter? A later transmission indicates that the shooting may have ended about 10:25. At 10:24 p.m., officers report from the stairwell just outside the gunmans door. Im on the 32nd floor. The room is going to be 135. Its room 135 on the 32nd floor. I need the SWAT. At 10:28 p.m., as SWAT teams gather on the 32nd floor and the 29th floor, where there have been erroneous reports of another gunman, an officer says that a hotel security officer has been shot. The gunman was at one point in a large suite on the 32nd floor, with windows facing the concert grounds. The diagram below shows the typical floor plan. By The New York Times Over the next 50 minutes, officers secure the floor and ready several SWAT teams. At about 11:20 p.m., they explode a door-breaching device, and enter to find the suspect dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The man, who was later identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, had an arsenal of firearms in the room, officials said. About the Hotel The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino anchors the southern tip of a row of luxury hotels on Las Vegas Boulevard known as the Strip. It is the first major casino north of the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. UP ATS picks up two more accused in Al-Qaeda radicalisation case 30 injured as communal clashes erupt in UP India oi-Vicky By Vicky Two places in Kanpur witnessed communal clashes which left nearly 30 persons including 5 policemen injured. The situation in Param Purwa was partially under control whereas in Rawatpur, people of the two communities were reportedly firing at each other besides fighting a pitched battle with the cops. Trouble began when a Tazia procession - commemorating the death of Imam Hussein ibn Ali, the grandson of prophet Muhammad - took a different route instead of the permitted one. It was supposed to take a U-turn from Jhandewala crossing but went straight through a pocket where another procession for Hindu goddess Durga's idol immersion was being taken. Vehicles set on fire after a clash between two communities during a Muharram procession at Param Purwa in Kanpur on Sunday. Tempers flared quickly and the two sides clashed, pelting stones at each other. Anti-social elements torched a police vehicle, ransacked a police outpost and shops and set afire five two-wheelers in the area. Police fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob but were attacked with stones and bricks, leaving them injured. In Rawatpur, the organisers of Ram Baraat refused to allow the Tazia procession on Saturday night. As the issue was being resolved on Sunday morning, bricks were thrown from a temple on police teams involved in negotiations. Police then resorted to baton charge on the crowd. OneIndia News Chhattisgarh: Home Guard jawans help tribal woman deliver baby on river bank in rain-hit Bijapur India to set up joint theatre commands of tri-services: Rajnath Singh Jammu & Kashmir: Two suspected terrorists killed as army foils infiltration bid in Rajouri Army foils infiltration bid, 2 militants killed in J&K India oi-PTI Srinagar, October 2: Two militants were killed as the Army on Monday foiled two infiltration bids along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rampur and Tangdhar sectors of Jammu and Kashmir. "An infiltration bid was foiled today by alert soldiers along the LoC in Rampur sector of Baramulla district," a defence spokesman said here. Two militants were killed and two weapons recovered from them. The search operation was still in progress. Earlier, the Army foiled another infiltration bid by militants in Tangdhar sector of Kupwara district. An Army official said the soldiers noticed some suspicious movement near the LoC and challenged the suspects. "An exchange of fire took place between the sides," he said adding search operation was launched soon after the gunfire stopped. Further details of the incident are awaited, he added. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 16:39 [IST] Binay Tamang asks BJP to clear their stand on Gorkhaland India oi-Amitava By Amitava October 2, 2017: The BJP leaders could be sailing into rough waters during their future visit to the hills of North Bengal. Binay Tamang, rebel GJM leader has asked the BJP to clarify their stand on the Gorkhaland issue before coming up to the Hills. He also anticipated law and order problems during their Hill visit. "We have got information, with the bandh lifted, State BJP leaders including State President Dilip Ghosh along with the BJP MP from Darjeeling SS Ahluwalia will soon be visiting Darjeeling. We appeal to them to make the BJP's stand clear on the Gorkhaland demand. They should make it clear whether they support the creation of Gorkhaland or not. Let them answer yes or no. In case they fail to clarify the BJP's stand and they face protests and demonstrations in Darjeeling, we will not be responsible" stated Tamang talking to media persons in Darjeeling on Monday. The GJM leader stated that the BJP team is coming up to Darjeeling to support some "old" leaders. "They will be arriving here to prop up some leaders (read Bimal Gurung.) It is an exercise for 2019 elections but the Hills have understood the truth. It could create law and order problems in the Hills. Normalcy and peace is returning to Darjeeling. We do not want any unrest at this juncture" retorted Tamang. Incidentally GJM President Bimal Gurung is now on the run having been implicated in a number of cases. He has also been charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. There is a Look-out notice by the West Bengal CID in his name along with arrest warrant. The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on September 26 had appealed to Gurung to lift the bandh and had assured him of talks with the Union Government within a fortnight on "all related issues." Speculations are rife, specially in the Gurung faction of the GJM camp that there could be attempts of arresting Gurung when he goes to attend the Delhi talks. Gurung had immediately announced the lifting of the bandh that had hit the 104 day mark. The GJM leader stated that the public were unhappy with the BJP and specially MP SS Ahluwalia. "Despite the agitation and death of 10 Gorkhaland supporters the MP failed to turn up to his constituency Darjeeling. The Union Government also remained silent" claimed Tamang. Incidentally on July 21, the Gorkha National Liberation Front had lodged a missing diary with the Darjeeling police and put up "missing" posters in the name of SS Ahluwalia. "It is good to know that with peace and normalcy even our MP SS Ahluwalia is returning to the Hills. He should stay here and enjoy the Hills now as he will not have much to do with Darjeeling after the 2019 elections" scorned Ajoy Edward, Central Committee member of the GNLF. Tamang stated that twice Darjeeling had ensured the victory of BJP Parliamentary candidates. "In 2009 Jaswant Singh emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha elections from the Darjeeling constituency. Again in 2014 SS Ahluwalia won from Darjeeling. During both the elections the BJP manifesto assured to sympathetically consider the Gorkhaland demand. But nothing has translated into action," alleged Tamang. The GJM leader stated that when a GJM team had met BJP National President Amit Shah in Delhi on June 15 and again in June 28, 2017 and questioned him on the BJP's stand on Gorkhaland, Shah had clearly stated that the BJP is yet to take a stand on this issue. "SS Ahluwalia, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture during a recent visit to Tripura had clearly ruled out the bifurcation of both Tripura and West Bengal through the creation of Twipraland and Gorkhaland respectively. BJP West Bengal State President Dilip Ghosh during earlier visits to Kalimpong and West Bengal had stated that West Bengal will not be bifurcated and that BJP does not support the creation of Gorkhaland. Both Ahluwalia and Ghosh has to seek apology for such statements" demanded Tamang. The Hill public will definitely oppose and demonstrate during their visit to the Hills. If the BJP make their stand on Gorkhaland clear before visiting the Hills then the Tamang faction of the GJM would meet them in the Hills. Talking about future programmes of the GJM, Tamang stated that already two rounds of talks have been held with the State Government. "The next round of talk with the State is slated for October 16 in Kolkata. Following this we will concentrate on Delhi where we will meet leaders and the Government with the Gorkhaland demand" added Tamang. OneIndia News Did Prakash Raj really call PM Modi 'bigger actor'? Here is what the actor actually said India oi-Anusha "Prakash Raj calls PM Modi a better actor," said headlines of most channels on Monday afternoon but the video showing the actor making the purported speech indicates a different story. What really did Prakash Raj say about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What's said...n what's not said. For all out there .. thank you pic.twitter.com/zIT7rnkFxb Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) October 2, 2017 The actor on Sunday was invited to speak at an event organized by the Democratic Youth Federation of India. The actor highlighted two issues- one- the Prime Minister's silence on violent tweets by those who he follows on social media over Gauri Lankesh's murder- this most media got right. Secondly, he spoke about giving away his national awards to a politician 'donning a double role'- this reference was, however, not to Prime Minister Narendra Modi but Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. "You must have seen a video from this morning and when I say it, I was confused if the person (Yogi Adityanath) was Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister or a temple priest. He pulled off a double role with ease. When I see such actors, I fell like gifting them all my five national awards. They are bigger actors than me," said the five-time National Award-winning actor. He did, however, condemned the PM Modi for following abusive trolls on social media and remaining mum over the threats, abuses they heap on others, especially in the aftermath of journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder. "Who killed her is not my problem but those celebrating it are. The cruelty and violence of social media are becoming clear. We have a Prime Minister who has turned a blind eye towards the kind of people he follows on social media and the venom they spew," he said. On Monday the actor refused to issue any more clarifications on his statements and chose to refrain from comments. Prakash Raj is the latest to make it to the list of those who have questioned the Prime Minister over his 'following' list on social media. OneIndia News India's stand on Rohingyas gracious so far but housing them would be risky Did Rohingyas enter Mizoram? India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Aizawl, October 2: At a time when the Northeast region of India is on high alert over fears of Rohingyas from Myanmar entering its soil, on Sunday Mizoram home minister R Lalzirliana stated that the state government has not received any report of even a single Rohingya Muslim entering Mizoram. The entire Northeast region shares more than 4,500 km of border with Bangladesh, China, Myanmar and Bhutan. The states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh share 1,643 km border with Myanmar. Hardly, the Indo-Myanmar border areas are being fenced or well-guarded. Moreover, India also has a porous border with Bangladesh, where most of the Rohingyas are currently fleeing to from their homeland. India also fears that Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh might enter the Northeast region through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border. Thus at a time when reports stated that more than 5 lakh Rohingyas have left Myanmar after violence erupted in Rakhine state since August 25, the Centre had alerted the state governments in the region to beef up security to stop any infiltration from both the Myanmar and Bangladesh sides. Lalzirliana said that security forces guarding the borders were instructed to step up vigil along the Mizoram-Myanmar border and Mizoram-Bangladesh border. The Assam Rifles intensified patrolling along the 404-km-long Mizoram-Myanmar international border and more troops were sent to the border areas. Lalzirliana said it is unlikely that the Rohingyas would come to Mizoram as the community's home state of Rakhine in Myanmar is quite far off. Meanwhile, around 170 refugees from Myanmar's Arakan, who entered Mizoram and took shelter in southern district of Lawngtlai, had returned recently. The refugees had fled Arakan due to recent clashes between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Liberation Army (ALA). The Narendra Modi government in its affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court recently stated that the "illegal Rohingya immigrants" pose "security threat" and need to be deported soon. According to an estimate around 40,000 Rohingyas are currently staying in various parts of the country. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 6:25 [IST] Mumbai: Built by Indian Army, new Elphinstone road foot-over bridge is now open for public Elphinstone stampede: 22 victims receive ex-gratia within 24 hours India oi-PTI Mumbai, October 2: The kin of 22 people killed in a stampede at Elphinstone Road station received ex- gratia payment within 24 hours and that its officers travelled to different parts of the country to disburse the money, said the Western Railway. A statement issued by the Western Railway said Rs 1.34 crore have been disbursed to the injured and the deceased. "We have disbursed cheques of Rs 4.85 lakh to the kin of 22 deceased. One dead passenger is yet to be identified," said Mukul Jain, DRM of Mumbai division of WR. He said Rs 15,000 were disbursed on the day of accident itself. The deceased had received the cheques by Saturday. "We had opened a special counter at the KEM hospital to disburse cash to the kin of the deceased for transportation/ rituals of the deceased," Jain said, adding as per the rules when such an emergency-like situation arises, the railways gives a part of the money in cash to meet contingency expenses. He said after the railway minister announced the amount of ex-gratia, a decision was taken to disburse the remaining amount through cheque and railway staffers handed it over to the kin of the deceased by on their doorstep. "Our railway staffers reached the doors of kin of the deceased in not only in Pune, Sangli but Allahabad also to hand over the cheques," Jain said. Cheques have also disbursed to 30 passengers who received minor and grievous injuries into the mishap, the statement said. Twenty-three passengers were killed and 36 injured in a deadly rush hour stampede that occurred on a narrow foot overbridge connecting the Elphinstone Road railway station to Parel station on September 29. Shivaraj Pasalkar, the brother of Priyanka Pasalkar (23) who was killed in the stampede, confirmed receiving the cheque. Speaking to PTI over phone from Pune, Shivaraj said, "Of course, the railways displayed promptness in disbursing the money, but money can never compensate the loss of valuable lives." He said had the railway administration been so quick to take measures about the bridge earlier, then this situation would not have arisen. Jain said apart from Rs five lakh compensation on behalf of the railways, the kin were also eligible to be paid Rs 8 lakh each from Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT). "The registrar of the tribunal has told me that a special Bench of Mumbai Railway Claim Tribunal is being formed to hear the matter of Elphinstone Bridge stampede and the claim for the compensation will be attended to in one month.BJP MP from North Mumbai Kirit Somaiya, who has been taken up the issue of compensation with the tribunal, said, PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 18:17 [IST] Ex-railway min Dinesh Trivedi gets a first-hand taste of 'filthy juice' on train India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia New Delhi, Oct 2: The Indian Railways is never bereft of controversies. After 23 people were killed and more than 39 were injured in a stampede on the foot overbridge linking Mumbai's Elphinstone and Parel stations recently, the Indian Railways has once again hogged the limelight (for the wrong reasons) for serving contaminated juice to former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi on Shatabdi train enroute to Delhi on Saturday. The entire incident was captured on camera by the television news channel, CNN- News18, where Trivedi was seen opening a pack of lemon juice filled with filth. If a former railway minister is greeted with such unhygienic conditions on trains, especially in the premium category ones like the Shatabdi Express, imagine the plight of regular commuters who have to quietly undergo the trauma of eating unhygienic and tasteless food and water on trains. According to CNN-News18 report, Trivedi boarded the Shatabdi to Delhi on Saturday and showed to the news channel the "dirty" lemon juice that was served to him. "Today is Dussehra. I just opened the Fresca lime water and see what I found inside. Have a look at it. This is what we are supposed to drink," he said, showing the pack of juice full of dirt and flith inside. The former minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the "rot" in the railways, including unhygienic conditions. Trivedi lamented that in spite of fares being increased so much, people don't get to drink safe and clean water on trains. He added that commuters must protest against the poor facilities or they will continue to suffer. "We too are responsible for this as we do not protest enough. We take a shot of it, it runs in your channel, people will tweet it and railways will say this is what the company has given us," he said. The former railway minister demanded that the government must cancel Fresca's contract. The catering wing of Indian Railways, IRCTC, delisted the juice brand after Trivedi demanded so for being served juice with filth. IRCTC spokesperson Siddharth Singh said the railways has reacted to Trivedi's complaint swiftly and delisted the brand pending laboratory investigation. "We have delisted the agency pending lab investigation. The brand will not be seen any more on any train for the time being," he said. OneIndia News Gujarat: Dalit man beaten to death for attending Garba event India oi-Vicky By Vicky A Dalit man was beaten to death for attending a garba event in Gujarat. He was allegedly beaten to death by men belonging to the upper-caste Patel community for attending a garba event, in Gujarat's Anand district in the early hours of Saturday. Police said all eight accused in the case have been arrested. According to police, Jayesh Solanki, a resident of Vankarvas area in Bhadraniya village, had gone to see the Navaratri festivities near the local temple when he was allegedly accosted by Sanjay Patel of the same village. Sanjay alias Bhimo allegedly made derogatory remarks about his caste and abused him. As the altercation turned violent, Sanjay along with Chintan Patel, Jignesh Patel, Rutvik Patel, Vickey Patel, Dhaval Patel, Ripen Patel and Dipesh Patel, all residents of the same village, reportedly beat him up. A PTI report said Jayesh was accompanied by his cousin Prakash Solanki and two other fellow Dalits. An officer of Bhadaran police station told PTI that the complaint in the case said that the Patel youths told the Dalits that they "do not have any right to watch garba". The incident is said to have taken place around 4 am. Jayesh, whose head was reportedly banged against a wall, suffered multiple injuries and fell unconscious. He was rushed to a private hospital, where he was declared brought dead. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Petlad, J N Desai, who is investigating the case, said "all eight accused have been arrested and further investigation is underway". The accused have been booked under IPC Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 302 (murder), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Deputy SP (SC/ST cell) A M Patel told PTI it did not appear to be a pre-planned attack. "Jayesh was killed in the heat of the moment, as there was no rivalry between him and the accused. We are probing the case from all angles," the officer said. The Anand incident comes days after two Dalit men of a village near Gandhinagar were allegedly thrashed, in separate incidents on September 25 and 29, by members of the Rajput community, for sporting a moustache. OneIndia News India closer to disintegration, Kashmiri separatists tell Mohan Bhagwat India oi-Vicky By Vicky The Kashmiri separatists have hit back at RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat over his comments on the need for constitutional amendments for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani denounced the BJP-PDP coalition for "their unceasing attempts to tamper with the state's political, cultural, economic and historical status". In a statement, Geelani said, "The RSS chief and all those affiliated with ruling parties both in the state and New Delhi, through their unwise statements....All these steps and their attempts illustrate that India does not want to resolve the Kashmir issue through political means." A spokesman of the moderate Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said in a statement here, "Baghwat should go through the history and he will come to know that Kashmir is a dispute acknowledged by the world's highest forum UN (United Nations)." Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik, in a separate statement, said that "Bhagwat should think of India which is getting closer to disintegration" because of the "anti-minority policies" of the RSS. In his more than an hour-long address on Vijayadashmi, which is also the Hindutva organisation's foundation day, yesterday, demanded "necessary" constitutional amendments for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to be "completely assimilated" with the rest of the country and batted for the rights of Hindu refugees in the state. Necessary constitutional amendments will have to be made and old provisions will have to be changed. "Then and then only, the residents of Jammu and Kashmir can be completely assimilated with rest of Bharat and their equal cooperation and share will be possible in the national progress," Bhagwat said at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur in Maharashtra. Though Bhagwat did not mention it, but the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP have long demanded abrogation of the Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir. OneIndia News AAP vs LG fight again and this is time it is on Gandhi Jayanti Is Mahatma Gandhis murder one of the biggest cover-ups in history? India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Recommended Video Gandhi's assassination: The inside story, history's biggest cover up | Oneindia News New Delhi, Oct 2: On Mahatma Gandhi's 148th birth anniversary on Monday, the question over the role played by the United States intelligence agency to protect Bapu's life has come to the fore. Did the Office of Strategic Services or OSS, an intelligence agency of the US during World War II and a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency or CIA, try to protect Gandhi? This question is one among many raised before the Supreme Court in a petition which has sought the re-opening of investigation into Gandhi's murder, suggesting whether it was one of the biggest cover-ups in history. In his written submission, Pankaj Phadnis, a researcher and a trustee of Abhinav Bharat, Mumbai, who has filed the petition, said telegrams were sent from the US Embassy to Washington on January 30, 1948 after the assassination of Gandhi and one of the reports relating to it still remains classified. He has put on record one of the telegrams "obtained officially" by him during his recent visit to the National Archives and Research Administration, Maryland in the US, during a visit in May this year. Phadnis maintained that as per the "restricted" telegram of January 30, 1948 sent from the US Embassy at 8 pm, Herbert Tom Reiner, disburing officer, was within five feet of Gandhi when he was shot, and with the aid of Indian guards, he had apprehended the assassin. "The said Reiner filed a report on reaching the Embassy later in the evening. However, after 70 years, the said report remains classified. The petitioner (Phadnis himself) has filed an application under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA of US) for declassification of the said report," he said in his written submission in support of the petition, which is listed for hearing on October 6 in the top court. Phadnis has informed the apex court about his communication with the US authorities in which he has mentioned the third telegram sent later the same evening, apparently after the debriefing of Reiner. It has been marked 'confidential'. "The third telegram is the subject matter of my FOIA request and has not been supplied to me," he has told the US authorities, adding he has filed an appeal in this regard. Phadnis, who has also sought a probe to ascertain whether there was a second assassin of Gandhi besides Nathuram Godse, said he was trying hard to get the US documents declassified to know whether there was a "foreign hand". The petitioner, who has been conducting research on the issue since 1996, will be launching an online petition with the White House on October 2 to demand declassification of the third telegram sent by Reiner. In the petition, Phadnis has also questioned the "three bullet theory" relied upon by various courts of law to hold the conviction of accused -- Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte who were hanged to death on November 15, 1949, and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar who was given the benefit of doubt due to lack of evidence. He has claimed that the Justice JL Kapur Commission of Inquiry set up in 1966 was not able to unearth the entire conspiracy that had led to the killing of Gandhi. Inspired by Savarkar, Abinav Bharat, Mumbai, was set up in 2001 and it claims to work for socially and economically weaker sections with a focus on bridging the digital divide. Phadnis has challenged the decision of the Bombay High Court which on June 6, 2016 had dismissed his PIL on two grounds -- first, that the findings of fact have been recorded by the competent court and confirmed right up to the top court, and second, the Kapur Commission has submitted its report and made the observations in 1969, while the present petition has been filed 46 years later. The petitioner said the case is one which concerns the truth behind the real hands or culprits who had performed the dastardly act of assassinating Gandhi and also their hidden agenda of derailing the "Gandhi-Jinnah People-to-People Contact" programme that the Mahatma had planned to embark upon. This plan was derailed because of his assassination, the consequences of which are being felt even now, he contended. Meanwhile, a series of events are lined up to observe Gandhi Jayanti on Monday across the country. Various programmes on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan will follow Gandhi's main mantra of cleanliness across the country. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 7:49 [IST] J&K: Two terrorists killed as Army foils infiltration bid in Tangdhar India oi-Madhuri The Indian Army on Monday foiled infiltration bid in Jammu and Kashmir's Tangdhar by killing two terrorists. Searche operation continues in the area. Earlier in the day, the army said it stopped another infiltration attempt in the Tangdhar sector in Kupwara district. The infiltration attempts came just days after the maiden visit of defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman to Kashmir to review the security situation in the strife-torn state. Officials said she visited the forward areas and was briefed about the "robust counter-infiltration posture along the Line of Control". Kashmir has witnessed an increase in anti-insurgency operations after a rise in militant attacks following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July last year. More than 140 militants have reportedly been killed in the valley this year after security forces drew up a hit-list of top militant commanders. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 19:07 [IST] Nobel Peace Prize 2017: Here are the likely nominees A chef gets nomination for Nobel Peace Prize 2019 and here is the reason Three U.S-born scientists win 2017 Nobel Prize for Medicine International oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Scientists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling our biological clocks, the award-giving body said on Monday. "Their discoveries explain how plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronized with the Earth's revolutions," the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute said in a statement on awarding the prize of 9 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million), reports Reuters. With medicine being the first category, the annual announcements of Nobel Prize winners has begun on October 2 in Stockholm. The recipients of prizes in physics, chemistry, and peace will also be announced during the upcoming week. Each Nobel prize comes with a 9 million kronor ($1.1 million) prize. The winner in economics will be announced next week, likely on October 9. The only one presented in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, the most-anticipated Nobel is the Peace Prize. It is expected to be announced on October 6. Some have suggested the award could go to the negotiators of the Iran nuclear deal, in which Tehran agreed to give up its nuclear-weapons program in return for an easing of financial sanctions. Also believed to be contenders are Syria's White Helmets rescue service, Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, and Edward Snowden, who revealed details of the NSA electronic surveillance program in the United States. LIVE STREAM Hear the breaking news first @NobelPrize Monday 11:30 am (local time in Sweden) Use hashtag: #NobelPrize https://t.co/oEJnf74qCx The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 1, 2017 OneIndia News This cop from Pakistan became a millionaire overnight: Here is how Days after attack, Imran Khan's party to resume long march on Nov 10 With the number of anonymous rogues from Pak rising, here's how BSF is beating down the drones 3 children killed, 8 injured in Pakistani firing along LoC in Poonch India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar At least three children, including a nine-year-old boy and a girl, were killed and eight persons injured on Monday as Pakistan fired on Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. The girl lost her life during ceasefire violation in Digwar sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Also, security forces foiled infiltration bid in Karni sector and the two sides traded heavy fire. Search operation continues, reports ANI. #Visuals Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Keri and Digwar areas of Poonch district (J&K), three civilians injured. pic.twitter.com/LOPXLVoNOc ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 "Pakistan is resorting to heavy firing. We had gone out to farm this morning but had to run back into our homes," a resident told a private TV channel. After the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked shelling and firing at Indian positions, Indian military retaliated strongly and effectively. #Visuals Five civilians injured during ceasefire violation by Pakistan in J&K's Poonch admitted to district hospital. pic.twitter.com/4GXkF4waXG ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 Police official said that Pakistani troops targeted dozens of villages and posts in Shahpur, Kirni and Qasba sectors in the early hours, resulting in the death of a boy and injuries to five other civilians. He identified the deceased boy as Israr Ahmad of Karni sector. The official said the heavy cross-border firing started around 0650 hours, triggering panic among border residents. He said the injured civilians have been rushed to a hospital. (With agency inputs) PM Modi in Bali for G20 Summit, bilateral meetings with key world leaders PM Modi arrives in Bali for G20 Summit, Indonesian President greets him Energy, food crisis to get top billing as PM Modi attends G20 Summit PM Modi holds brief discussion with French President at the start of G20 Summit in Bali President, PM Modi pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar On the occasion of 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat in in New Delhi. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, former PM Manmohan Singh, BJP leader LK Advani also paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi 's memorial at Rajghat. PM Modi posted a short video as tribute to the 'Father of the Nation' which features PM himself invoking Mahatma Gandhi's quotes. - ! I bow to beloved Bapu on Gandhi Jayanti. His noble ideals motivate millions across the world. pic.twitter.com/NFUHMLVCxo Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2017 Also, PM Modi posted another video as tribute to former PM Lal Bahdur Shstri, whose birthday also falls on October 2nd. PM Modi paid tributes to Lal Bahadur Shastri at Vijay Ghat. ! Remembering Lal Bahadur Shastri ji on his Jayanti. pic.twitter.com/88ieTHnZip Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2017 President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu paid tributes at Lal Bahadur Shastri's memorial, Vijay Ghat. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 10:09 [IST] Press Club of India holds protest meet against violence on journalists India oi-Shreya By Shreya The Press Club of India on Gandhi Jayanti held a protest meet against violence on Journalists, demanding action against such acts of suppression of the freedom of press. The protest saw eminent journalists such as Rajdeep Sardesai, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Nidhi Razdan and many more. The journalists took to the street forming human chain around the Press Club, and also staged a walk to the IWPC as mark of protest against the attack on the freedom of press. Speaking to Oneindia, Rajdeep Saredesai said, "Attacks on journalists have become very common now, and it is a dangerous trend. We can see how journalists all over the country have fallen victims to such acts of violence for doing their job. It is time that the Government steps up and take action to curb such atrocities on journalists." The protest comes in the wake of repeated attacks on journalists and rationalists. In less than a month journalists such as Gauri Lankesh was murdered in front of her residence in Bangalore, a journalist in Bihar was attacked by local goons allegedly for his coverage and Sudipto Bhowmick, a journalist from Tripura was lynched while covering a conflict. Many noted personalities from the press today took part in the protest and the walk to highlight how the suppression of freedom of press can have adverse implications on the democratic set up of India. Apart from journalists, people from different walks of life talk part in the protest meet and stood in solidarity with people from the media, demanding freedom of press to be upheld. At least four journalists in the National Capital have filed police complaint after receiving death threats over WhatsApp messages, eminent journalist Ravish Kumar had also written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the plight of journalist in recent times, and how it has become an extremely fearful atmosphere for journalists to work. Today, the journalists present at the press club also signed a petition to be sent to the Home Affairs Ministry demanding a report regarding the pending cases of violence against journalists. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 16:48 [IST] Rise in aviation turbine fuel price likely to affect airfares? India oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Owing to sharp increase in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices every month since August, Airlines may hike airfares by 10-15%. Last Sunday oil marketing companies raised prices by 6%. According to Times of India report, after the latest price revision, aviation turbine fuel will now cost Rs 53,045 per kilolitre in Delhi, up Rs 3,025 per kl from Rs 50,020. These hikes come at a time when the rupee is weakening against the US dollar. Though no airline offially announced the hike, the twin impact of rising price of ATF and weaker rupee leaves them with few options but to raise fares. "We will take a decision shortly on fares. The operating cost has gone up substantially, and we have to pass on the same to flyers," said the official of a full service airline. Besides, most airlines have transferred the cost of regional connectivity cess to passengers from August 1 which the government has started levying on each flights. OneIndia News German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a major electoral setback last week, muddying the outlook for her rule and the future of the European Union. Germanys two mainstream parties, the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democrats both lost substantial support to fringe parties, another sign of global desires for change. Especially shocking to many Germans was the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany Party, which placed third in the election. Going forward, Merkel must navigate a Parliament with six different parties, including significant forces that are opposed to immigration and greater integration with Europe. Germany is the largest economy in the European Union, and potential discord there or a threat of less German involvement in the EU sent financial markets reeling. The eurocurrency fell to a six-week low near $1.17 and could fall further if Merkel cannot cobble together a governing coalition. Perkier hog herd U.S. pig farmers are running wild and now have a record number of hogs, according to a quarterly report the U.S. Department of Agriculture released on Thursday. Total inventories stand at 73.5 million animals, up 2 percent from last year, which knocked prices to the lowest level of the year, trading below 55 cents per pound this week. For consumers, this abundance of pork should lead to lower prices at the store as well, giving savvy shoppers a chance to buy up cheap chops, hams and bacon. Healthier wheat harvest U.S. farmers produced more wheat than expected this year, per the USDA. This summers drought in the Upper Midwest, especially North Dakota, damaged wheat production, but farmers likely produced a sufficient wheat crop. In its quarterly report released on Friday morning, the USDA raised projections for the spring wheat crop and generally showed more wheat for this year than most analysts were expecting. This news knocked Minneapolis spring wheat values to $6.20 per bushel, near the lowest price since mid-June. The same report showed smaller stockpiles of corn and soybeans, which helped boost those markets, trading at $3.57 and $9.73 per bushel, respectively, on Friday. Rahul Gandhi invites Siddaramaiah for sprint during Bharat Jodo Yatra and this happens next [watch] Siddaramaiah launches 'Maatru Poorna', another 'bhagya' in poll-bound Karnataka India oi-Anusha In a poll-bound Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah added another welfare scheme to his list of populist programmes on Monday. Under its new scheme 'Maatru Poorna', the Congress government assures to take care of nutritional and maternity requirements of pregnant women and new mothers in all 30 districts of the state. Many of Siddaramaiah government's welfare schemes- commonly clubbed under 'Bhagya' list- have been subject of praise and scrutiny likewise. The newly launched populist scheme 'Maatru Poorna' is aimed at benefiting pregnant women from the date of registering and new mothers till six months after delivery. Maatru Poorna provides one nutritious meal a day for all lactating and pregnant women who register under the scheme. Anganwadi centres will serve hot cooked meals which will include rice, dal, green leafy vegetables or sambar with boiled eggs, peanut chikki and 200 ml of milk for 25 days in a month to women registered under the scheme. In an effort to improve the health and nutrition of over 1.2 million pregnant and lactating mothers, happy to launch Mathrupoorna scheme. pic.twitter.com/lbxHxteX54 CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) October 2, 2017 The scheme will also ensure counseling and maternity benefits support to new mothers including antenatal and postnatal care with IFA, calcium supplements and deworming. The scheme is the latest addition to the Congress government's long list of populist schemes and comes at a time when the state is preparing to go to polls in 2018. With a fund allocation of 302 crore, Maatru Poorna is being extended to all 30 districts after a pilot program proved successful in four taluks. Siddaramaiah has claimed that with the current numbers, the scheme is expected to benefit over 1.2 million pregnant and lactating mothers across the state. OneIndia News Thanks but no thanks: Pinarayi Vijay to Bhagwat on nationalism advise India oi-Vicky By Vicky The people of Kerala do not need advise on nationalism from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Pinarayi Vijayan said. Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala said while inaugurating the 2017-19 Delhi Union of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), that the RSS considered religious minorities as an "internal threat" to the country. He also said that the RSS chief's allegation that the state government was supporting anti-national elements was a challenge to each Keralite and to Kerala society as a whole. Bhagwat, at a Vijayadashmi celebration in Nagpur in Maharashtra yesterday, had said that in the Left-ruled Kerala and the Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal, "jihadi and anti- national" forces were at work and the governments there were not only indifferent but at times lending a helping hand to them to "appease" a section of the voters for "petty political interests". Rejecting the RSS chief's remarks, the Kerala chief minister has said, "It is a known fact that communal forces play a major role in disturbing the political atmosphere of Kerala. But certain media houses hide this fact and blame the progressive movements and organisations of the state." "The RSS chief has said that the state government was supporting anti-national elements that are perpetrating the violence. But we treat communal forces as communal forces, terrorists as terrorists and criminal acts as criminal acts. "The gentleman and his organisation consider religious minorities as an internal threat to the country. This is the code of principle of RSS," the chief minister said, adding that his government and the Kerala society were in favour of protecting the minorities. Vijayan, who was in Delhi to attend the CPI(M) Politburo meeting, also took a dig at certain media houses. "They say that Kerala is inhospitable and is a killing field. They also say that Kerala lacks press freedom and we kill political opponents. Those who have no idea about Kerala might believe this. "Senior media persons from Delhi came to Kerala to cross-check these facts and they even tweeted that Kerala is completely different from what is being propagated in the national capital," Vijayan said. The Kerala chief minister also said that his government was providing and would continue to provide security to minorities in the state. While referring to the death of Haryana-resident Junaid Khan on a train recently, Vijayan said that communal forces have created such a situation in the country that just because they are Muslims, they can be attacked. "Where are we heading? We don't agree with this. We don't support such acts," he said. He also said that certain corporate-led media houses were trying to malign the image of Kerala. "A recently-formed media house has been spreading derogatory statements against the state. This is against media ethics," Vijayan added. He also referred to the latest report on World Press Freedom Index in which India was ranked at 136 among 180 countries in the world press freedom rankings. "The present media scenario of the country is worrisome. The report also says that extreme right-wing has imposed censorship on media. This is alarming," he said. He also spoke about the killings of senior journalists Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru and Shantanu Bhowmick in Agartala. "It's the intolerance that we can see here," he said and asked the journalists from Kerala who are working here to act as "unofficial ambassadors of the state". Later in a Facebook post, Vijayan said, "In the freedom struggle, Keralites and the state have made memorable contributions. The RSS leader need not impart lessons on patriotism to Keralites." Vijayan alleged that in BJP-ruled states, murders in the name of cow protection and communal polarisation were being justified and efforts were being made to malign Kerala. That will be a journey in the wrong direction, he said. "However big the communal force is, if attempts are made to disrupt the lives of people, the LDF government will not compromise and will not show any leniency towards those who come in between the Constitution and its values," he added. OneIndia News AAP vs LG fight again and this is time it is on Gandhi Jayanti Why Lal Bahadur Shastris slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan holds great meaning today India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia New Delhi, Oct 2: On the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri on Monday, Twitter trends were mostly about the father of the nation and country's second Prime Minister. Some of the trending hashtags on Twitter on Monday were-- #GandhiJayanti, Mahatma Gandhi, #JaiJawanJaiKisan, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Father of Nation, to name a few, honouring two of the biggest leaders of India. Talking about Shastri's popular slogan-- Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan (Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer)--it seems India needs to relook into its policies pertaining to the soldiers and farmers. Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan was coined by Shastri in 1965 to honour the two biggest pillars--soldiers and farmers--of the Indian democracy. The former PM strongly believed that soldiers and farmers are the backbones of Indian society and the nation needs to respect them and take care of their issues. According to The Indian Express, in the trouble-torn Jammu and Kashmir, 38 soldiers were killed between January and September last year. Since September last year till date, 69 army personnel have died in various attacks by terrorists in J&K. It is not just in J&K where our jawans are facing the bullets bravely. The Indian military personnel also face great challenges in the Naxal-hit areas of the country like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, to name a few states. On April 24 this year, 26 brave soldiers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in a barbaric attack by Naxals in Sukma, Chhattisgarh. Thus, every year, India is losing so many brave men of our military forces. Now, as far as the conditions of the farmers are concerned, India is currently witnessing a spurt in farmers' suicide because of the looming agrarian crisis. Earlier this year, the Centre told the Supreme Court that despite a multi-pronged approach to improve income and social security of farmers, over 12,000 suicides were reported in the agricultural sector every year since 2013. Farmers across Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka, to name a few states, have been struggling due to drought. Since last year, drought has severely hit farmers across the country. The agriculture sector is witnessing one of its worst crises, as farmers have lost their crops due to severe weather conditions. Moreover, because of crop loss the farmers have no means to pay back their loans. Although states like Uttar Pradesh have given loan waiver to small farmers, farmers of Maharashtra and TN are agitating to get drought relief funds. This year, we also witnessed the horrific killings of five farmers by policemen while they were protesting at Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. If all these incidents related to farmers and soldiers are not worrisome then we don't know what will wake up the Narendra Modi government to take note of the problems faced by the two communities whom Shastri admired and loved dearly. OneIndia News AAP vs LG fight again and this is time it is on Gandhi Jayanti Indian Embassy in China commemorates Gandhi's 148 birth anniversary International oi-PTI Beijing, October 2: People from all walks of life gathered in the sprawling Chaoyang Park in central Beijing to commemorate 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's by reciting favourite bhajans and invoking his quotes. While a cultural team from the Indian Embassy here sung Vaishana Jana, the famous bhajan included in Gandhi's daily prayer, a batch of Chinese school children dressed in green and white with red scarfs recited some of his most popular quotes of Gandhi compiled by their school. Some of the Gandhian quotes read by the Chinese school children included "the weak never forgive: Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong", "Strength does not come from your physic but from indomitable will", "Greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated". The statue of Gandhi carved by China's acclaimed sculptor and artist Yuan Xikun was installed in the park in 2005, providing an opportunity for all his admirers to pay homage to him. Besides Gandhi, Yuan had also sculpted the bust of Rabindranath Tagore which is displayed in the museum attached to the park. A large gathering of Indian diplomats, including Charge d'affaires B Wilson Babu and Chinese admirers of Gandhi and Indian expats attended today's event. In his speech, Babu said Gandhi's novel advocating for non-violent actions brought down colonialism, greatly influenced freedom struggle and inspired several world leaders such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela in their fight. In due recognition of Gandhi's enduring legacy, October 2 has been designated as the International Day of Non-Violence by UN, he said. While Gandhi's philosophy and ideals are all the more relevant in today's world filled with strife, the values espoused by him provided a way forward to build a just and equitable world, Babu said. The Centre for Gandhian and Indian Studies (CGIS), Fudan University on September 28 conducted a lecture and a round-table conference on the theme - 'Gandhian Thought and International Relations Today' to commemorate the Gandhi Jayanthi and International Day of Non-Violence. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 13:43 [IST] Bihar: Almanacs to be distributed free of cost AAP vs LG fight again and this is time it is on Gandhi Jayanti Netherlands going gaga over Mahatma Gandhis bicycle and his legacy International oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Recommended Video Netherlands going gaga over Mahatma Gandhis bicycle and his legacy | Oneindia News The Hague, Oct 2: Most of us associate Mahatma Gandhi with a stick in his hand and walking the length and breadth of the country as a part of India's freedom struggle. However, a very few would know that Gandhiji also used to ride bicycles, especially during his younger days in South Africa. As people of Netherlands celebrated a two-day-long 148th birth anniversary of Gandhi, a bicycle personally used by Bapuji was on display in The Hague. The bicycle was on display at Grote Kerk in The Hague on Sunday as a part of various activities celebrating Bapu's legacy in the European country. On Sunday, a large crowd participated in "Gandhi March" as a part of "Follow the Mahatma" campaign in The Hague. Netherlands: Ppl participate in 'Gandhi March' as part of 'Follow the Mahatma' campaign being observed on October 1 and 2 in The Hague pic.twitter.com/5SuKZzoFH0 ANI (@ANI) October 1, 2017 The Gandhi March also saw the staging of an excerpt of the opera titled "Satyagraha", inspired by Gandhi's philosophy of non-violent resistance in The Hague on Sunday. The music for the opera was composed by musician Philip Glass and was staged at Grote Kerk in the city. Dutch book "Gandhi--An illustrated biography" authored by Indian writer Pramod Kapoor was also released on the occasion. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 13:16 [IST] At UNSC, US calls on world to tell Russia to stop its nuclear threats Las Vegas: 59 killed, 527 injured in deadliest shooting in US history, ISIS claims responsibility International oi-Chennabasaveshwar By Chennabasaveshwar Recommended Video Las Vegas Shooting: 58 dead, 515 injured , IS claims responsibility | Oneindia News At least 59 people, including two police officers, have been killed and over 527wounded in an incident of mass shootout at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Las Vegas shooting is the deadliest in US history. It surpasses the Orlando shooting at the Pulse nightclub in June 2016 when 49 people were killed. A statement published by the group's Amaq propaganda agency claimed the attacker was a "soldier of the Islamic State". "The Las Vegas attacker is a soldier of the Islamic State in response to calls to target coalition countries," it said. Isis also claimed the gunman "converted to Islam several months ago", without providing more details. The wording of the release is similar to other attacks that have been inspired, rather than directed, by Isis. Las Vegas shooting: Fear, tear captured in pictures Menawhile, FBI says Las Vegas shooter had no connection to international terrorist group."As this event unfolds we have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group," said Aaron Rouse, the special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office of the FBI. "We are looking at in excess of 50 individuals dead and over 200 individuals injured ... Obviously this is a tragic incident and one that we have never experienced in this valley. My condolences go out to the loved ones," said Las Vegas Police. That number for family and friends to get an update on loved ones is 1866 535 5654 Earlier, LVMPD in its media briefing confirmed that "the shooter was local." The police are looking for two vehicles associated with the shooter: Hyundai Tucson Nevada/114B40 and a Chrysler Pacifica Nevada/79D401. Here's 5 deadly mass shooting incidents in USA The shooter was named by police as Stephen Paddock who at 64 years old is the oldest mass shooter in US history. Several rifles were found in his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel where he fired multiple rounds at the concert goers at the Route 91 harvest country music festival. The LVMPD has confirmed that one suspect is down in the operation. The police cautioned people not head down to the Strip at this time "as this is an active investigation." The suspect shooter is dead but his companion Marylou Danley is still at large, according to Joseph Lombardo, the sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan police department. Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! pic.twitter.com/Z83XvcHejH LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 Joseph Lombardo did not give the name of the dead shooter but confirmed he opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. Shooting broke out on Sunday night 10.20pm (local time) during the final performances of the three-day Route 91 Harvest country music festival. The White House says Donald Trump is being briefed about the shooting. He just put out this tweet to express condolences. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 Dozens of patrol vehicles descended on the Strip after authorities received reports of an active shooter near the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Witnesses heard numerous gunshots at the casino hotel, where police tactical teams were searching for the attacker, according to reports on CNN and in the New York Times. #Visuals At least 2 people dead, 24 injured with suspected gunshot wounds at Las Vegas hospital, reports Reuters pic.twitter.com/whLrersFDa ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2017 One Twitter user reported that the Mandalay was on lockdown. Another said that two gunmen were shooting from the 32nd floor of the hotel. At least a dozen people were seen fleeing the building, which was reportedly on lockdown. Active shooter Las Vegas strip I'm ok locked in my room lights off windows closed. Shooter is directly across the street. Shots heard on vid pic.twitter.com/Z4mz3E3bmE Bryan Heifner (@HBryanBHHS) October 2, 2017 Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across Las Vegas Boulevard from the country music festival and the sound of what they described as automatic gun fire. Twenty-six people were admitted to the hospital, University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department tweeted about the incident, saying "Investigating reports of an active shooter near/around Mandalay Bay Casino. Asking everyone to please avoid the area." We're investigating reports of an active shooter near/around Mandalay Bay Casino. Asking everyone to please avoid the area. #LVMPDnews LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 The police requested people not livestream the ongoing operation as it may put their life in danger. Please do not livestream or share tactical positions of our officers on scene. This may put emergency responders in danger. LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 (With agency inputs) Sikh lawmaker becomes first minority politician to lead major party in Canada International oi-PTI Canada Toronto, October 2: A 38-year-old Sikh lawyer on Monday became the first non-white politician to head New Democratic Party in Canada. Jagmeet Singh, the Ontario provincial lawmaker, was elected on the first ballot to lead the party into the 2019 election against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals. He won the decisive first-ballot victory over three other candidates by receiving 53.6 per cent of the vote. "Thank you, New Democrats. The run for Prime Minister begins now," he tweeted after the victory. "That's why today, I'm officially launching my campaign to be the next Prime Minister of Canada," he added. Singh, who has penchant for colourful turbans, is the first member of a minority community to lead a major federal political party. He now has the difficult task of rebuilding the party that lost 59 seats in the 2015 election. "This race has renewed excitement in our party," Singh said, calling the win an "incredibly profound honour". The New Democratic Party is currently at the third place in Canada's Parliament, with 44 of 338 seats. The party has never held power. In the 2011 general election, the party made historic gains only to lose almost a million votes - mostly to Trudeau's Liberals - four years later. Singh said he would focus on issues of climate change, reconciliation with indigenous peoples, and electoral reform, The Globe and Mail reported. He has received attention for his sharp style. Earlier this year, he told the American magazine how his personal style, which includes brightly coloured turbans and well-cut suits, became part of his political brand. During the leadership campaign, he raised far more money than his competitors did and he said he believes he can continue that success as Leader. Born in 1979 in Scarborough, Ontario, to immigrant parents from Punjab, Singh grew up in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and Windsor, Ontario. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Western Ontario in 2001 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from York University's Osgoode Hall Law School in 2005. Before entering politics, he worked as a criminal defence lawyer in the Greater Toronto Area. Canada's defence minister is also from the Sikh community. Sikhs account for roughly 1.4 per cent of Canada's population. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Monday, October 2, 2017, 11:39 [IST] Franklin Lamb Oxford This week's words from the Levant offer contending messages for Israel's and Hezbollah's friends and foe alike: "We are naturally unhappy about the fact that Lebanon will be largely destroyed. Ask Iran why this may well happen? But be assured that it won't drag on for anything close to 34 days like last time. (July 2006). We urge all civilians to leave Hezbollah controlled neighbourhoods." 9/27/2017--- An aide to Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman MK Avi Dichter who asked that his name not be made public. "Netanyahu and his military leadership do not know where a war might lead them should they start it, and they do not have a real picture about what will await them in the next war. I call on non-Zionist Jews to leave occupied Palestine to the countries they came from so that they don't be the fuel of the next war, seeing as they might not have enough time to leave."--- Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah 10/1/2017 during his south Beirut speech commemorating the 10th day Ashoura . The view of many analysts in the Israeli and American military leadership as well as among the Israeli lobby in the US Congress is that Israel must ensure that the next war is short. The shorter the better for many reasons. One being that Washington will not 'green light' a protracted war that kills large numbers of Lebanese civilians. Another one is that the Israeli public and politicians will not accept many Israeli military or civilian casualties. [Diagram courtesy of Maher Allouch. 9/22/2017. This diagram shows Israeli bombsites across Lebanon in 2006. What will the next one look like?] Hezbollah's forces have a history of disciplined and skilled high-risk fighting techniques despite paying a high "martyrs" price. They will likely do so again. And they are preparing expecting, preferring and intending to pursue a longer war: "The longer the better for many reasons". One reason is that both sides are acutely aware that a drawn out war with Hezbollah saturating Israel with approximately 2000 missiles daily will cause nearly unimaginable damage to Israel's military bases, infrastructure, civilian neighborhoods and population. And unless there is a hastily arranged enforceable ceasefire the war will not end even when there is not a lot left of Hezbollah neighborhoods as occurred in 2006. Or of many of Israel's and Lebanon's--- unless mass public protests and demonstrations flood Israel's streets and swarm Parliament, because the UN Security Council will likely be paralyzed as unfortunately has become its recent fate. For a few reasons Israel has not, and likely will not succeed in curtailing a large portion of Iran's arms shipments to Hezbollah which moves them from Syria to where they want to position or store them around Lebanon, or according to source in Daraa, South Syria near the Israeli controlled Golan Heights. A significant reason Israel cannot stop the shipments is the 200 miles Lebanon-Syria sieve-like border created and maintained by centuries of locals smuggling just about anything both ways from literally hundreds of tree covered and mountainous routes traversing the borders. 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). This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. From Counterpunch (Image by Photo by Lolo Manolo) Details DMCA Arriving in Barcelona in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War, Ernst Toller was moved to write, "The most striking experience a foreigner has in Barcelona is that of the functioning of democracy." In 2017 something akin to history repeating is unfolding in the Catalonian capital, where democracy has again been raised aloft as a cause worth fighting for. The scenes of Spanish riot police marching through the streets of Barcelona and other Catalonian towns and cities, attacking civilians with batons and rubber bullets outside polling stations for the crime of attempting to cast a democratic vote on their future, of ballot boxes being seized and elected politicians being arrested -- all at the behest of the government of an EU member state -- you might think are incongruous and incompatible with the EU's self-declared status as a pillar of democratic values in the 21st century, a status enshrined in Article 2 of its very own constitution, the Lisbon Treaty, which reads: "The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail." However Brussels' position of pristine indifference in the face of the grotesque and disgraceful scenes that have unfolded in Catalonia should be no surprise, given the anti-democratic character of its institutions. It should also not go unnoted that just as the EU has essentially washed its hands of the crisis in Catalonia, taking the position that it is an internal matter for the Spanish government and authorities, so the so-called democratic powers in the 1930s stood by as democracy in Spain was extinguished back then, holding to the supine position of "non-intervention." While in 2017 no one would seriously suggest that the Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, is akin to the Franco regime that was adorned in the black tunics and knee length boots of fascism, the hardline position taken against Catalonian separatism lies much closer to fascist than democratic on the spectrum of response both in form and content. It is why Mr Rajoy is now the best friend that Catalonian separatism and independence could have, while at the same time the worst enemy Spanish unity has got. It is why he has now made Catalonian independence a question of when, not if. Regardless of the whys and wherefores of constitutional legality, does the Rajoy government in Madrid really believe that the sight of armed riot police attacking civilians outside polling stations in order to stop them casting a vote is one that will enhance its reputation and democratic credentials in the eyes of the world? Is his government really so blind to Spain's tortured history that it would dare come even this close to resurrecting it? As for those who would claim such historical comparisons are overblown, the chilling sight of protesters giving the fascist salute and singing a pro-Franco anthem at a mass anti-Catalan separatist rally in Madrid in the run-up to the contested referendum in Catalonia is your answer. Separatism carries within it both the seeds of progress and regress, of dignity and despair, depending on how the potency of its passions are handled by the contending parties involved. To treat separatism as a zero-sum game instead of an idea that can only be defeated by another idea, never force, is an invitation to catastrophe. It is why the Rajoy government should be under no illusion that it has set Spain on a path towards ruinous consequences. Even though the Spanish Prime Minister may have legality on his side, as soon as the first riot police officer put his hands on the first woman and dragged her away from the front of a polling station in Barcelona, he lost the moral argument, transforming the Spanish constitution from a shield guaranteeing the protection of democracy and human rights into a sword being wielded to justify their suppression. The Spain that found itself engulfed in civil war in the 1930s was home to the best and worst of humanity. It is a conflict that still today invokes the Arcadian dreams of a world in which the common man is the author of history rather than its victim. Thousands travelled to the country from all over the world to fight and die for that dream. Many of them were the sons and daughters of poverty, but all were rich with the belief and faith in a future defined by the unbounded liberation of human solidarity, relegating cold-hearted capitalism and its bastard child, fascism, to a footnote in history. Yet as recent events not only in Spain but across Europe with the rise of the right and far right have shown, they were unsuccessful. There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come, the French novelist Victor Hugo famously opined -- and he was right. But all the same it would be dangerous folly to consider that the "idea" whose time has come must automatically carry with it the promise of a better tomorrow. Fascism in the 1930s was also an idea whose time had come, nourishing the dark side of the human condition to produce a monster whose ferocity and capacity for death proved every bit as unbounded as the liberation promised by human solidarity. The ugly scenes being played out in Barcelona in our today are but a chilling reminder that yesterday can, unless we are vigilant, also be our tomorrow. As for the rule of law by which Mr Rajoy justified unleashing police violence on this scale, the sentiments of Rosa Luxemburg, delivered in response to the 1919 crushing of the Spartacist uprising in Berlin by a German state that had just begin its descent into the swamp of fascism, retain their resonance a hundred years later: "Order prevails in Berlin! You foolish lackeys! Your 'order' is built on sand." See original here Good news or fake news? Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke and the Trump administration defend their response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, where many of the 3.5 million residents remain without electricity and are desperate for fresh water, food and other supplies. We speak with Laura Moscoso, a data journalist at the Puerto Rico-based Center for Investigative Journalism. She says the death toll is much higher than the government reports, noting, "Our phones have been ringing with many testimonies." This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. AMY GOODMAN: We begin today's show with the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico. Nine days after Hurricane Maria destroyed much of the island's infrastructure, many of its three-and-a-half million residents remain without electricity, are desperate for fresh water, power, food and other supplies. At least 10,000 shipping containers that hold aid are stockpiled at the port, overwhelming the 4,400 U.S. military members who are scrambling to distribute to rural areas where much of the infrastructure is in shambles. On Capitol Hill Thursday, Democratic lawmakers accused President Trump of neglecting millions of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. New York Congressmember Nydia Vela'zquez, who was born in Puerto Rico, said the White House showed far more urgency responding to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which devastated parts of Texas and Florida -- two states that voted for Trump. REP. NYDIA VELA'ZQUEZ: Unfortunately, this administration's response has been inexcusably slow and ineffective. ... To the people who are collapsed in the airport, trying to get off the island; to those of you in houses without roofs, waiting for the power to come back, worried you are running out of drinking water; to those on the mainland who are worried about their loved ones on the island, let me say this: We're going to keep fighting for you. Do not give up. We will not give up. AMY GOODMAN: This comes as the Trump administration responded to pressure Thursday to waive a shipping law known as the Jones Act, that officials said was hindering disaster relief efforts for Puerto Rico. Also Thursday, acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke responded to questions from reporters about aid, about the administration's response. REPORTER: Are you satisfied so far with the federal response? Are you comfortable with what this government is doing? ELAINE DUKE: I am very satisfied. I know it's a hard storm to recover from, but the amount of progress that's been made, and I really would appreciate any support that we get. I know it -- it is really a good news story in terms of our ability to reach people and the limited number of deaths that have taken place in such a devastating hurricane. AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, presidential spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that 10,000 government workers are helping Puerto Rico, including more than 7,000 troops. Three-star general Lieutenant General Jeff Buchanan, commander of the U.S. Army North, arrived on the island Thursday to direct the relief effort. For more, we go directly to San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. We're on the phone with the government and media command center. Laura Moscoso is joining us. She's a data journalist with the Center for Investigative Journalism, an award-winning independent media that is marking its 10th anniversary this year. They are reporting this week that the death toll is higher than the government reports. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Laura. Talk about what you're encountering now. And what about these figures that you believe the death toll is much higher than is being reported? LAURA MOSCOSO: Hi, Amy. Thanks for having us in your program. So, everything that you said on the introduction of our situation in Puerto Rico is still true. We still have people that don't have clean water, that don't have food. We still have people in hospitals that are not being attended to. And we still have all the supplies and resources locked on the ports and the airport. So, nine days after the storm, we are exactly at the same stage. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). TWIN FALLS A nationwide survey looking at the impacts of regulations on trout farmers is only about half completed, but thats enough to indicate regulations are a burden. One-third of the 88 respondents, to date, ranked regulation as the number one problem facing their farm. When those who listed it as second are included, regulation accounts for 68 percent of the responses. Thats much greater than anything else, said Carole Engle, who was in Twin Falls for the combined annual meetings of the Idaho Aquaculture Association and U.S. Trout Farmers Association. The organizations are among the funders of a study to explore how much time and money is spent by the industry to comply with local, state and federal regulations. Engle and her research associate, Jonathan van Senten, are traveling to all the major trout producing states to meet personally with trout farmers to complete the survey. In addition to talking with farmers, the researchers also ask them to share financial information and records submitted to regulatory agencies. All individual data will be averaged across all farms so no single farm can be identified. Rounding out the top problems identified so far are fish health and labor. While the numbers may change once the survey is closed, Engle believes the trends will hold. And shes quick to point out that while regulations are a burden, fish farmers support regulations that are good for the environment. They dont want to sell anyone sick fish or put sick fish in the water or harm the environment, Engle said. They all agree we need regulations. The problem is how the regulations are enforced. As they compile the data, Engle and van Senten are listing each of the permits each trout farmer is required to have. So far, 300 different permits are on that list. Of the regulations that cause trout farmers the most headaches, water discharge permits and interstate fish health are most often cited. Aquaculture facilities are considered point source dischargers and must have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Idaho has approximately 115 permitted operations including state, federal, tribal and private facilities. NPDES permits include monitoring and reporting requirements. Some local or state agencies require additional permits. Seldom do the agencies coordinate the process so that requirements for one permit would satisfy another. Engle expected water-related regulations would top the list because water is integral to aquaculture production. But she was somewhat surprised to see that interstate movement/fish health was a close second. But upon closer examination, it shows how a regulation that alone is not burdensome can become a problem when added to other existing regulations. Aquaculture is included in the new veterinary feed directive. Thats a federal rule that mandates a veterinarian must have a documented relationship with a livestock, poultry or fish producer before writing a prescription for any medicated feed. Although the Magic Valley is home to many aquaculture facilities, many trout farms in other parts of the country are small and are located in isolated mountain areas. Finding a veterinarian who knows trout and is willing to travel that far to visit the farm can be difficult. The Lacey Act introduces transportation problems that Engle hadnt fully appreciated even though she served as the director of the University of Arkansass Aquaculture/Fisheries Center before retiring to open a consulting business. Under the Lacey Act it is unlawful to move fish, animal or plant species across state lines in violation of U.S. or Indian law. Aquaculture producers can be found to be in violation if the water used to transport live fish contains an invasive species. Federal transportation laws that mandate rest periods for truck drivers undoubtedly make roads safer but a 10-hour layover can mean a tanker full of dead fish when moving live fish. Some farmers reported losing markets because of transportation issues. As difficult as it can be to comply with the regulations, trout farmers dont always know when rules have been changed. Only one-third of the respondents said they had been notified by an agency of changes made to their permits. More troubling, to Engle, is that 58 percent of the respondents said they knew someone who had gone out of business due to regulations. That rate mirrors what she saw in a similar study she did for the West Coast shellfish industry. The issue is far worse than I thought, she said. Its not just the cost of the regulation, its all of it. Its how the regulations are implemented and that agencies dont work together. They all agree we need regulations. The problem is how the regulations are enforced. Carole Engle, fish researcher From Mondoweiss The wall at Bethlehem (Image by photo by 'Delayed Gratification' on Flickr) Details DMCA Modern Orthodox Jews are among Israel's strongest backers in the U.S. Think Jared Kushner. Well, the generational split that is occurring everywhere in American Jewry is taking place among the Modern Orthodox, with a minority of young Jews saying they "actively support the Jewish state." The New York Jewish Week has a report on the survey of the Modern Orthodox, written by Hannah Dreyfus. Modern Orthodox represent 4 percent of the U.S. Jewish community, and the survey got 4,000 respondents. "One of the study's most concerning findings, experts say, is a decrease in emotional connection and active support of Israel. While 87 percent of those 55 and older report feeling emotionally connected to Israel, 65 percent of those ages 18 to 34 feel the same way. And while 71 percent of those 55 and older actively support the Jewish state, less than half -- 43 percent -- of Jews 18 to 34 do the same." The angle is buried in the New York Jewish Week article. And these are kids who go to Israel! So they're not all that different from #IfNotNow Jews. Apartheid is just not good for global popularity, and a sea change in middle-age Jewish attitudes (i.e., the establishment) is coming. "'Decreasing political activism on behalf of Israel among the young Modern Orthodox flies in the face of our assumptions,' said [poll consultant Steven] Bayme. The data is particularly unnerving given the common practice among the Modern Orthodox to send high school graduates to Israel for a gap year before beginning college. While decreased attachment to Israel was widely recognized for young people in other denominations -- Birthright Israel began trips in 1999 to address the problem -- this was 'always thought not to be true among the Orthodox,' said Bayme." The survey also reports a fragmentation of religiosity among the Modern Orthodox. More and more going OTD, "off the derech," leaving strict faith. From Information Clearing House Person Reading Fake News Article (Image by mikemacmarketing) Details DMCA The state-corporate media must be in trouble if a BBC veteran like Nick Robinson is getting dirty in the trenches, taking up arms against the "guerilla war" he claims people like me are waging. In a new commentary piece for the Guardian, he argues that media critics -- from the right and the left -- are taking to social media in an organized campaign to discredit what Robinson calls the "mainstream media." Predictably, his article strikes the self-satisfied tone of those who claim to be right because they have come under attack from both sides. Let me delay briefly to point out that critics of the BBC, including myself, are not suggesting -- as Robinson claims -- either of the following: "that we reporters and presenters are at best craven, obeying some diktat from our bosses or the government, or at worst nakedly biased." Robinson, like his colleagues in the corporate media, seems either averse to or incapable of understanding that serious criticism of the corporate media is based on the Propaganda Model, set out in great detail in their 1988 book Manufacturing Consent by Ed Herman and Noam Chomsky. According to that model, structural constraints -- what Herman and Chomsky call "filters" -- ensure journalists conform ideologically to their role in a media system that is incapable of questioning the foundations of the capitalist system of which the media is an integral part. Put at its simplest, journalists like Robinson succeed in the state-corporate media because they are supremely good at promoting the official line. They rise through the ranks while journalists who are too critical fall by the wayside, weeded out in the long selection procedures journalists undergo before they reach the top. In other words, journalists aren't "cravenly taking orders from bosses." Journalists like Robinson are selected for their highly partisan assumptions, because they proudly believe in and promote orthodoxy -- in this case, the legitimacy of the neoliberal system. They manufacture consent for the present economic, political and social conditions, not because they are told to do so but because they fervently believe those conditions are for the benefit of all. If they did otherwise, as Chomsky once famously pointed out to Robinson's colleague Andrew Marr, they would not be sitting where they are -- in the interviewer's chair. Anyone who threatens the legitimacy of this system is treated as a menace, whether it be a progressive like Jeremy Corbyn or a too-nakedly brutal neoliberal capitalist like Donald Trump. And this brings us to the second point. Robinson suggests that the new social media "guerrilas" plotting against the "mainstream media" are somehow indistinguishable from each other in their methods. Those on the right, the Trumpists, are no different from those on the left. In fact, he goes further and argues that progressive-left critics of the BBC are actually learning from Trump's attacks on the media. "Campaigners on left and right have been looking at and learning from the method behind what some regard as the madness of Donald Trump's attacks on the 'failing' press as purveyors of 'fake news.' Italy's leftwing populist Beppe Grillo has described the Italian media as '"the opium of the people -- they hide the truth to reassure you, while you slowly die.' In Germany the rightwing Alternative fur Deutschland party (AfD) has revived the Nazi insult 'lugenpresse,' meaning 'lying press.'" But this is to invert reality. It is an example of the very "fake news" Robinson claims to be worried about. Trump isn't teaching us about "fake news." He's exploiting popular disillusionment with the corporate media -- the understanding that it has a corporate agenda that benefits a tiny elite -- for his own political ends. It is not that Trump rejects that corporate agenda, as progressives do; it's that he is reckless in regard to the image carefully crafted for it by its guardians, the traditional political and media elite. He is not interested in advancing the broader interests of the corporate system, of maintaining its legitimacy; instead, he wants to advance his own personal interests within that system. He is a prime example of the self-destructiveness at the heart of neoliberal capitalism. What Trump and his followers have done is appropriate the linguistic veneer of media criticism, without its intellectual substance, to justify their hyper-selfish agenda. By "fake news," Trump means those who disagree with him and his political program. That is not what the progressive left means. Their goal is to identify when and how the news is misrepresented by the corporate media, and whose interests are being served. Worse for the progressive left, Trump has given ammunition to the enforcers of orthodoxy, like Robinson. The Trumpists' often-empty claims of "fake news" serve to obscure or discredit the reality that the corporate media daily promotes fake news to further its agenda, whether it's in Iraq or Venezuela, or whether it's articles about a comic-book super-villian Putin taking over the US, or another moral panic about supposed rampant anti-semitism in the Labour party. In reality, Trump's scatter-shot claims of fake news are being exploited to shore up the corporate system. There is already a backlash, one being used to justify ever tighter controls over the internet and access to websites offering real critical news. Robinson's claims that the left and right are the peddlers of the same "fakery" in attacking the media is part of that campaign to ensure normal service is resumed as soon as possible. As the saying goes, the corporate media would have had to invent Donald Trump if he didn't already exist. He has become the perfect foil to allow the system to relegitimize itself. [Russia] is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Winston Churchill There is not "a" Russia issue. There are several separate "Russia Issues." Full disclosure: In the nineties, my profession (philosophy professor) took me to Russia seven times, where I presented scholarly papers at the Soviet Academy of Sciences and several Russian universities. Today I frequently correspond by email and Skype with several Russian friends. I find much to criticize about Vladimir Putin and his government and, were I a Russian, I would not vote for him. This essay should not, therefore, be construed as a defense of Putin. The targets of my criticism are the Trump Administration and the mainstream American media. These are the four issues: Issue One: Did Donald Trump and his surrogates "collude" with the Russians? Which Russians? And what is the nature of this "collusion"? Issue Two: Did Russia significantly "meddle" in the 2016 Presidential election? Issue Three: Is Russia an dictatorship, oppressing its people, suppressing free expression, enriching its rulers, etc.? Issue Four: Is Russia our "enemy"? Are Russian strategic objectives a threat to American interests and to world peace? Issue One: Did Donald Trump and his surrogates "collude" with the Russians? The answer to the first question is clearly "yes." Trump and his team have been "colluding" (i.e., secretly working together for mutual advantage) with Russians. But that admission alone does not appreciably advance our understanding. It is doubtful that Trump is deliberately "colluding" to serve the economic or strategic interests of the Russian Federation -- or of the United States for that matter. It should be abundantly clear to all who are more than casually familiar with Trump's behavior and motivations, that the only "interests" that he cares about are Trump interests. And those interests are seriously threatened by Special Prosecutor Mueller's "Russiagate" investigations. From Smirking Chimp (Image by geograph.ie) Details DMCA Earlier this year, the Sisters of St. Brigid invited me to speak at their Feile Bride celebration in Kildare, Ireland. The theme of the gathering was: "Allow the Voice of the Suffering to Speak." The Sisters have embraced numerous projects to protect the environment, welcome refugees and nonviolently resist wars. I felt grateful to reconnect with people who so vigorously opposed any Irish support for U.S. military wars in Iraq. They had also campaigned to end the economic sanctions against Iraq, knowing that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children suffered and died for lack of food, medicine and clean water. This year, the Sisters asked me to first meet with local teenagers who would commemorate another time of starvation imposed by an imperial power. Joe Murray, who heads Action from Ireland (Afri), arranged for a class from Dublin's Beneavin De La Salle College to join an Irish historian in a field adjacent to the Dunshaughlin work house on the outskirts of Dublin. Such workhouses dot the landscape of Ireland and England. In the mid-19th century, during the famine years, they were dreaded places. People who went there knew they were near the brink of death due to hunger, disease, and dire poverty. Ominously, behind the workhouse lay the graveyard. The young men couldn't help poking a bit of fun, at first; what in the world were they doing out in a field next to an imposing building, their feet already soaked in the wet grass as a light rain fell? They soon became quite attentive. We learned that the Dunshaughlin workhouse had opened in May of 1841. It could accommodate 400 inmates. During the famine years, many hundreds of people were crowded in the stone building in dreadful conditions. An estimated one million people died during a famine that began because of blighted potato crops but became an "artificial famine" because Ireland's British occupiers lacked the political will to justly distribute resources and food. Approximately one million Irish people who could no longer feed themselves and subsist on the land emigrated to places like the U.S. But seeking refuge wasn't an option for those who couldn't afford the passage. Evicted by landowners, desperate people arrived at workhouses like the one we were visiting. Our guide read us the names of people from the surrounding area who had been buried in a mass grave behind the workhouse, their bodies unidentified. They were victims of what the Irish call "Greta Mor" -- "The Great Hunger." It was recently, as I tried to better understand the migration of desperate and starving people now crossing from East Africa into Yemen, that I began to realize how great the hunger was. During that same period, in the latter half of the 19th century, there were 30 million people, possibly 50 million, dying of famine in northern China, India, Brazil and the Maghreb. The terrible suffering of these unknown people, whose plight never made it into the history books, was a sharp reminder to me of Western exceptionalism. As researched and described in Mike Davis's book, "The Late Victorian Holocaust," El Nino and La Nina climate changes caused massive crop failures. What food could be harvested was often sent abroad. Railroad infrastructure could have been used to send food to people dying of hunger, but wealthier people chose to ignore the plight of the starving. The Great Hunger, fueled by bigotry and greed, had been greater than any of its victims knew. And now, few in the prosperous West are aware of the terror faced by people in South Sudan, Somalia, northeast Nigeria, northern Kenya and Yemen. Millions of people cannot feed themselves or find potable water. Countries in Africa which the U.S. has helped destabilize, such as Somalia, are convulsed in fighting which exacerbates effects of drought and drives helpless civilians toward points of hoped-for refuge. Many have chosen a path of escape through the famine-torn country of Yemen. The U.S. has been helping a Saudi-led coalition to blockade and bomb Yemen since March of 2015. Sudanese fighters aligned with Saudi Arabia have been taking over cities along the Yemeni coast, heading northward. People trying to escape famine find themselves trapped amid vicious air and ground attacks. In March 2017, Stephen O'Brien, head of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, traveled to Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, and Northern Kenya. Since that trip, he has repeatedly begged the U.N. Security Council to help end the fighting and prevent conflict-driven famine conditions. Regarding Yemen, he wrote in a July 12, 2017 statement to the U.N. Security Council, "Seven million people, including 2.3 million malnourished (500,000 severely malnourished) children under the age of five, are on the cusp of famine, vulnerable to disease and ultimately at risk of a slow and painful death. Nearly 16 million people do not have access to adequate water, sanitation and hygiene, and more than 320,000 suspected cholera cases have been reported in all of the country's governorates bar one." This number has since risen to 850,000. Ben Ehrenreich describes famine conditions along what the Israeli theorist Eyal Weizman calls the "conflict shoreline," an expanding band of climate change-induced desertification that stretches through the Sahel and across the African continent before leaping the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. He notes that this vast territory, once the site of fierce resistance to colonial incursions, is now paying the heaviest price, in disastrous climate conditions, for the wealth of the industrialized north. As the deserts spread south, ever more dire conflicts can be expected to erupt, causing more people to flee. Of a drought-stricken area of Somaliland, Ehrenreich writes: "People were calling this drought sima, 'the leveller,' because it affected all of the clans stretching across Somaliland and into Ethiopia to the west and Kenya to the south." "The women's stories were almost all the same," writes Ehrenreich, "differing only in the age and number of children sick, the number of animals they had lost and the number that survived. Hodan Ismail had lost everything. She left her husband's village to bring her children here, where her mother lived, 'to save them,' she said. 'When I got there, I saw that she had nothing either.' The river and streams, their usual source of drinking water, had gone dry and they had no option but to drink from a shallow well at the edge of town. The water was making all the children sick." Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Quicklink Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them. To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here. Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. Covert state terrorism is based on Hegel's dialectical method: Action ---> reaction ---> solution. The plotters wish to adopt a measure or policy that faces public resistance. So they first orchestrate an action causing public anger; the public then reacts by demanding a forceful response; the plotters then respond to the popular demand by adopting the desired measure or policy, such as bombing another country or increasing police powers. 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 Counterpunch (Image by Photo by Jens Schott Knudsen) Details DMCA Donald Trump decided, despite promises made here and there, that he would renounce former President Barack Obama's policy towards children who had come to the United States without papers. These children, now close to a million, had entered the country with their parents. Obama's executive action, named Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), allowed these young people to apply for a work permit and claim some important benefits of United States residency. To take advantage of DACA, these young people had to come out of the shadows and register voluntarily with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. government, in other words, was able to get information on almost a million people who did not have papers. This act of good faith, to register with the government, will now make it easier for the government to find, arrest and deport them. These young people, the Dreamers, will be arrested merely for having registered with the government and will be sent to countries where they have never lived and whose languages -- in many cases -- they do not speak. Since their parents did not register, and still mostly live in the shadows, these Dreamers will be separated from their families and sent off on their own. Little wonder then that there is widespread anger at this action by Trump, not least because he had promised often not to take this action. Data on the Dreamers are quite astonishing. Over 90 percent of them have jobs and pay taxes (almost $2 billion, according to one study earlier this year). The Dreamers that one encounters are often supremely grateful for Obama's policy since it allowed them to take advantage of state-subsidised college tuition even though later in life they have not been afforded social protections (such as food stamps and government medical insurance schemes). These young people, then, pay into the U.S. exchequer without being able to take advantage of whatever social security net remains for the U.S. population. Trump and his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, make the claim that DACA is illegal. It circumvents U.S. immigration law and gives immigrants without documentation the hope that they, too, can take advantage, at some later date, of such a scheme. To prevent producing an impression that the U.S. government encourages undocumented immigration, the Trump administration wishes to crack down on DACA. It will take at least six months for the government to unravel the DACA program, but even then there are going to be important, and rarely discussed, practical problems before the administration. One study finds that it will take a minimum of $12,500 to arrest and deport each of the Dreamers. Since there are effectively a million Dreamers, the total bill for the repeal of DACA will be $12.5 billion, more than twice the total annual budget of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. How Trump's administration proposes to raise this kind of money to conduct these deportations has not been made clear. A conservative Cato Institute study found that the total cost to the U.S. economy for the DACA repeal would be $200 billion. It found that the average Dreamer is 22 years old, either employed or studying. Since leaving school might result in deportation, a very large number (17 percent) of the Dreamers finish college and pursue advanced degrees. "It is important to note that these estimates are conservative," wrote the authors of the report. Negative impact In fact, the negative impact on the U.S. economy might be much greater than the $200 billion that they estimate. California will be the hardest hit. The departure of the Dreamers will cause a loss of nearly $85 billion to the State. Obama's executive action was meant as a stop-gap measure. Obama had, at the time, asked the U.S. Congress to pass the DREAM Act, which was first introduced in Congress in 2001 and then each year afterwards. It proposes to deal with the significant problem of undocumented people who live in the U.S. The total number of undocumented or unauthorized immigrants in the country is just over 11 million. There has been a slow decline in the entry of undocumented migrants since the U.S. economy slowed down in the wake of the 2007-08 credit crisis. Whereas previously the largest number of undocumented migrants came from Mexico, the numbers from Central America and Asia have now begun to outnumber them. A Pew Research Center study from 2016 found that Indians constitute the largest growing category of undocumented migrants to the U.S. at this time, though in numbers they are behind immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. There are now half a million undocumented Indians in the U.S., an increase of 43 percent since 2009. Across the U.S., desperate protests are taking place against Trump's actions. In New York City, hundreds of people gathered outside Trump Tower to make the case for the migrants, while small towns saw smaller vigils. The protesters are worried not only for the Dreamers but also for the future of their country. Bilingual signs, mostly in Spanish and English, proclaiming that the Dreamers must stay are raised as Dreamers bravely come to the microphones and tell their stories of desperate anxiety. Activist groups such as United We Dream and groups of lawyers and social workers have reached out to Dreamers, informing them of legal options and drawing up petitions to make sure the resistance against Trump's repeal grows. The options are limited. Trump has the right to repeal DACA. Only popular pressure can stop him. Despite the noises from the Democratic Party promising to resist Trump's inhumane agenda, major Democratic legislative leaders cut a deal with him just a few days after he announced his DACA repeal. Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Nancy Pelosi met Trump and cut a deal on the legislative agenda. Trump, Schumer and Nancy Pelosi all made unclear noises about passage of the DREAM Act in the future. Kamal Essaheb (National Immigration Law Center), Greisa Martinez (United We Dream) and Angel Padilla (Indivisible Project) urged these Democrats not to tell the Dreamers to "wait." Time is of the essence. Firm commitment to genuine immigration policy is imperative, they suggest. Five former U.S. Secretaries of Education, those who ran the Department of Education in the administrations of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, wrote an open letter to Congress urging passage of a comprehensive immigration law that would provide shelter not only to the Dreamers but also to their parents and others who had no documentation. Protests on the streets have not adopted a narrow perspective, to ask for an extension of DACA or for the protection only of the Dreamers. The slogans are a variant of "Protection for All," which means that there is momentum from the streets for reforms in U.S. immigration law to protect everyone without documentation. The phrase for this is "comprehensive immigration reform," a term that has come to be emptied of any meaning. Over the past 30 years, politicians have promised to crack down on immigration and to ensure that those who are within the U.S. as undocumented immigrants will get some kind of protection. The legislative leaders seem to have worked out some kind of deal with Trump to protect some undocumented immigrants if he gets some motion on his campaign promise for a strengthened border. This is all merely illusionary. The 11 million undocumented migrants will see no comfort in these deals. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Pool at Lutyens Bungalow (Image by rachaelvoorhees) Details DMCA (This is a reprint from NewsBred). (Facebook has set out 10 tools to check Fake News. A few give-aways are headlines, source, evidence and photos. Indian Express, no surprises here, continues to be the leader of Fake News in Mainstream Media --call it Lutyens' Media). Indian Express today had a four-deck headline on its front page: "Farmers, small business must not suffer, RSS chief tells govt" (Sub headline: Mixes praise for Modi with caution, seeks "new provisions" in Valley). On the parameters set out by Facebook, this is clearly a Fake News. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat never said the "Farmers, small business" are suffering; and even if he thought so, he never addressed it to the government! Indian Express chose "small business" as the essence of Bhagwat's speech even though he had some quite explosive opinions on mischief-makers in today's India: The RSS chief asked for some constitutional provisions of J & K to go; he wanted Rohingyas to be thrown out on security; and he exhorted those involved in cow-protection to keep up their good work and not be dissuaded by sinister coining of word "vigilantism" to make them appear criminal. Pointedly, Bhagwat asked: "Many activists who were peacefully involved in cow protection were attacked and killed. This issue is neither discussed nor being inquired into." (His entire speech can be watched here). Yet, Indian Express found merit in giving a Fake Headline to Bhagwat's speech. They ignored the sumptuous praise which Bhagwat had reserved for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The evidence of their foul play is the headline in its web-edition: "RSS chief praises Modi", some 20 hours earlier before it was fabricated for the print edition! One can understand this anxiety of a mouthpiece of Left ideology to keep harping on India 's economy in view of the forthcoming Gujarat assembly elections. Such assault on India 's economy also finds expression in running down "Bullet Train," more so in the wake of recent stampede tragedy in Mumbai. Thus you have a story running down "Bullet Train" in Lutyens' Media. Today, Express has given big displays to P. Chidambaram, Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray, so much so that it almost makes up the entire Page 9. Never mind, such set of people not long ago were worrying that speed of our trains haven't changed since 1971. This sort of ideology was against metro in cities. Remember the outrage on Mumbai-Pune expressway project? It is this expressway which has made Pune so alluring to corporate and IT sectors. Yojana Bhawan had once declared the Maruti Project as a pipedream. Such ideology couldn't care less that land prices along the Bullet Train would shoot up and bring a great deal of investment, growth and jobs. Bullet Train as such is not a Fake News in Indian Express but when politicians and media work in tandem, who are we to disbelieve our politicians and Lutyens' Media are not part of the same ecosystem which is intent on spreading mischief, a softer version of Fake News? Another such example of acting in concert is on Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, director of a centre in the Maulana Azad Urdu University in Hyderabad . The man has gone berserk in claiming his life is under threat for writing books such as : "Post-Hindu India, Buffalo Nationalism, Untouchable God" etc. Among his suggestions are to say prayers in English. For the last four months, this ecosystem of mischief and fake news are fuelling each other on Shepherd. Yesterday it was Indian Express, today it's Times of India which has splashed his interview in its edit page. No prizes for second guessing that Scroll, Wire etc have long set the agenda rolling. Now all those who interview Shepherd, don't ask him some simple questions: "Sir, why you have nothing ever to say about the discrimination and oppression within Muslim communities?" Or "Sir, why don't you mention the Reservations which the state grants to your oppressed community of Dalit-Bahujan, depriving many meritorious of the upper castes?" Or, "Sir, any views on why the Leftists, whom you support, have zero representation of Dalit-Bahujans in their top hierarchy?" Such agenda is visible everywhere. Today, in Indian Express we have a full page interview with a Magsaysay award winner outlining the system's failure. The less said about Magsaysay awards the better for the CIA-Ford Foundation links in its background are unmistakable. Arvind Kejriwal, or Manish Sisodia, would certainly have something to say on it. Then there are two pages on the plight of manual scavengers in Indian Express. There are many reasons to sympathize with their plight; but every reason to condemn the attempt to link it with Swachh Bharat mission and by inference show it in poor light. Even as the word is pouring in on Swachh Bharat's success. Defending a bigoted monster, an authoritarian egomaniac, unread and totally without a moral compass is no longer an acceptable option for any accountable human being. Blaming every corrupt action on "fake news" reports? This too is no longer an option. Hillary, unfortunately misspoke, calling Trump supporters "deplorables." Calling ignorant voters "deplorable" is an unfair accusation. Ignorance, however is curable, stupidity is not! Meanwhile, being proud of ignorance and blaming every problem on the weakest and most vulnerable of society is the self serving hallmark of every despotic ruling class in the history of mankind. As for protests against the inequities of race and ethnic cleansing, against the very mantra of the Trump base, they are sincere examples of freedom of expression, as are the marches of the alt- right whether we agree with them or not. It is truly sad that Mr. Trump and his Satanic minions are so concerned about a piece of cloth and a song, yet have so little respect for millions of human lives and the tolerance that our flag and anthem actually represent. Taking a knee and holding one's hand over one's heart is hardly disrespectful to the flag or the anthem- it is the same gesture accorded to a fallen soldier. Carrying AK 47's in a "peaceful" march is in no way an honorable gesture, while blaming one's troubles on minorities and immigrants is the inevitable fate of truly inferior human beings. Allen Finkelstein, 9/30/17 From WSWS Vietnam War Photo (Image by flickr.com) Details DMCA The Vietnam War , a film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, written by Geoffrey Ward, narrated by Peter Coyote A 10-part, 18-hour film series directed by veteran documentary filmmakers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, The Vietnam War contains footage, photographs, interviews and tape recordings whose cumulative impact is immensely powerful. It evokes in the viewer a sense of horror. The film provides evidence that the war resulted in more than 3 million dead, the vast majority of them Vietnamese civilians slaughtered by American bombs, artillery shells, napalm and other weaponry. The documentary is a major project, which was undertaken with vast corporate sponsorship. The involvement of Ken Burns, and its broadcast on Public Television, endows the documentary with a semi-official character. It reflects, in objective terms, where a significant section of official American liberal "public opinion" stands in relation to the Vietnam War more than 40 years after its end. Based on this documentary, one is compelled to conclude that this layer of opinion makers has never come to grips with the reality of Vietnam, that is still lying to the world and to itself, and attempting to relativize and justify policies and actions that rank among the most criminal in the 20th century. By rights, the war should have been followed by the American equivalent of the Nuremberg Tribunal, at which all those responsible for planning and supervising the US intervention would have been publicly indicted for their crimes, prosecuted and sent to prison. That never happened, and American public life -- and American culture more broadly -- have suffered ever since from this colossal moral failure. What followed the war, instead of such a fundamental examination of how such crimes came to be committed, was a persistent attempt to salvage something from the catastrophe, to disguise its criminal character, to legitimize it, and to gradually erode what came to be known as the "Vietnam syndrome" -- the pervasive and entirely justified distrust and resistance of the American people toward new foreign military interventions. One of the major techniques employed by the US ruling elite to overcome the legacy of Vietnam was to hide behind the soldiers, the two and a half million Americans who fought in the war, many of them unwilling draftees. Appeals for sympathy for the veterans were employed, in a sort of moral blackmail, to cover up the central issue of the criminality of the enterprise in which those soldiers were ordered to take part. Anyone who rejects the claim that the Vietnam War was merely a "mistake" and demands a more penetrating and critical approach is smeared as denying the suffering and sacrifice of the soldiers. The Vietnam War, broadcast over PBS over 10 nights out of 12 (September 17-28), and now being rebroadcast one night a week, is an example of this technique, although it is done with relative subtlety, and avoids the heavy-handed approach first voiced by President Ronald Reagan (who pronounced the war a "noble failure") and now regularly employed to block critical analysis of the ongoing US wars of intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, etc. The fatal contradiction of the Burns and Novick program is that they show crime after crime -- mass slaughters, breaches of international law, government lying, cover-ups of war crimes -- but these exposures are embedded in an overall narrative which asserts the essential moral equivalency of US imperialism and the Vietnamese resistance. Both sides are shown engaging in ruthless military operations, massacres, assassinations, targeting of innocents, as well as gross misjudgments and systematic lying. The film does interview Vietnamese who played significant roles in the war, both in the National Liberation Front (NLF or "Viet Cong") and in the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). It humanizes the "enemy" in a way that has not been done previously in American television. But this does not alter the basic framework of equivalency, in which the American soldiers are presented as victims of the war, and the bulk of the interviews are conducted with American veterans who discuss the impact of the war on themselves and the comrades they lost in battle. It is true that American soldiers suffered greatly during the war, and deserve sympathy. But that does not justify the American invasion of Vietnam, any more than the sacrifices of Confederate soldiers justified the slaveholders' rebellion in the American Civil War, or the suffering of German soldiers on the Eastern Front in World War II justified Nazism. The American soldiers suffered in Vietnam because the United States invaded that country in order to block its reunification under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. No Vietnamese were killed invading the United States. No American cities or towns were bombed, no American farms were burned, no American civilians died because of the actions of the NLF or NVA. The Burns and Novick film examines the war through the lens of 79 eyewitnesses, the majority of them Americans, most of these soldiers who fought in Vietnam. They discuss their experiences of the war and their return to the United States, when some became activists against the war, and they reflect on the impact of the war on their lives. Almost without exception, the rank-and-file soldiers interviewed appear serious, thoughtful, regretful and fundamentally humane. But the intense focus on the experience of a comparative handful of individual soldiers has damaging consequences. Their personal experiences cannot serve as a substitute for historical and political analysis of the war or provide a politically coherent narrative. Instead, the very attractiveness and decency of the former soldiers is used to buttress a narrative that essentially exonerates the US government of deliberate criminality and mass murder. The film footage of the era is selected and edited with the skill we have come to expect from Burns and Novick, with one additional feature: they make use of the contemporaneous tape-recordings of White House telephone conversations and internal discussions, which show the cynical double-dealing of Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, in a very powerful way. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (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 is tapping in, exploring, assessing, and clarifying this important new way of thinking that has been influenced by the civil rights movement; women's movement; and new, more effective ways of doing business. This will be an important book that can make changes in our world." Dr. Linda Seger, author of twelve books, including the best-selling Making a Good Script Great, Spiritual Steps on the Road to Success and The Better Way to Win. This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. War Crime Trials (Image by Sabatu) Details DMCA ISIS/Daesh have always been place-setters[1] for the U.S Empire and its Coalition of regime-change criminal cohorts. Once Daesh is installed in an area, the area is destroyed and depopulated. Syrians flee from terrorist-held areas, to government -secured areas. Now that the Syrian government and its allies are winning the just war against Western backed, sustained, and integrated terrorists, the West's strategic use of its terror proxies is becoming more apparent. Video satellite imagery reveals, for example, Western military installations ensconced in Daesh territory. This is normal, because the West and Daesh are comrades-in-arms. The fact that the "Kurdish" SDF are transparently aligned with ISIS in Deir ez Zor should be of no surprise either, since the SDF are also aligned with the West and its allies, including of course Israel. Sometimes the terrorists fight each other, but those who pay the salaries and enable the chaos and destruction of Syria are the overlords. The dirty war exists because of the West and its allies and their regime-change partners. There is nothing humanitarian about it, and it is not a counter-terrorism operation. It is a pro-terrorism regime change/dirty war. Syrian refugees, including Christians and minority groups, are flooding back into Syria precisely because the Syrian government is winning. The Syrian government is secular and tolerant. Christians, as an example are not flooding back to Iraq, because the imperial West destroyed that country and the Constitution is no longer secular. Veteran Middle East War Correspondent Felicity Arbuthnot remarks: Iraq was super secular until the invasion of 2003. US did divide and rule like never before. Under Saddam every year all religious buildings, e.g., Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Yazidi etc. were granted equally funds from government to do needed repairs. One never heard of the sectarian terms anywhere -- until the US invasion"[2] Similarly, Yousef Issa writes that The United States contributed to the formation of a new Iraq, doctrinal, sectarian, regional and regional, the foundations of the failed state, Christians were forced to flee and migrate to a more stable and secure world. In Syria, Christians living in areas controlled by the national government did not leave their homes, Along with the rest of the citizens, and in the areas returned by the Syrian Arab Army, the population returned to them, including Christians, despite migrating to more advanced places such as Europe, America claims to help the people, and in fact it seeks to destroy every country that wants to be free from the dominance of puppet system "[3] Western populations should shed their illusions. Our governments are committing war crimes and imposing an overseas holocaust on non-belligerent countries. The West and its allies are terrorizing and destroying countries and they are falsely projecting their own high crimes onto their victims. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). There are two peoples in the world trying to assert their independence-- the Catalans and the Kurds. They want to create their own, independent nations. The great powers of the world are conspiring against them. It's not surprising. When it comes to really big power, really big is good. When it comes to democratization, really big is bad and small is much, much better. The World Socialist Website (WSWS) opposes Catalan independence, in its article, suggesting that the problem is the system and that separation into a smaller state could make things worse. I don't agree. This demonstrates the worst thinking of Socialism-- the idea that bigger and centralized is better. It's one of the things that the USSR got wrong, perhaps the biggest thing. The future is small, not big. Centralization of government is a core aspect of top down power. Centralized regulations are okay, but not centralized government and control. One commenter one the WSWS suggests that making a smaller zoo with smaller cages is not good for the animals. That's true. But it's a bad analogy. Animals do not choose to be in a zoo. People should have a choice. The more I think about, the idea that it's bad for people to assert independence because they might be susceptible to authoritarians is really dumb... and also authoritarian. I spoke last week with Peter Joseph, creator of the Zeitgeist video series and he argues that millions of people die, in the US alone because of "structural violence," ie., structures built into the sociocultural system that exploit, deprive and punish innocent people. So WSWS is right that the problem exists either way. But to ally with and support the fascist, anti-democratic actions of the Spanish government that has sicced 12,000 police to prevent Catalans voting is not only wrong, it is profoundly misguided. WSWS is not always so. I agree with a lot of what they say. But they're wrong here. I'm not the only leftist disagreeing. Jeremy Corbin tweeted: The stakes for these referendums are high. Spain has threatened to prosecute leaders with charges of sedition. Below, the leader of the Catalan state, President Carlos Puigdemont, discusses the implications. Wikipedia offers this background on the Catalan referendum: A referendum held in Catalonia in 2014 indicated that 92% of the 2.3 million voters supported Catalonia's transformation into a state. 80% of the 2.3 million voters expressed their preference that this state would be independent.[27]. Estimates for the turnout as published by the news media ranged from 37.0%, as given in The Economist and El Pas among others, to 41.6% as per the Catalan government's preliminary data. On 9 November 2015, Catalan lawmakers approved a plan for secession from Spain by 2017 with a majority vote 72 to 63. The plan was suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court, but the Catalan government has insisted that it will complete the plan despite the suspension.[28][29] On 9 June 2017, the Catalan government announced that an independence referendum would be held 1 October 2017. However, Spanish courts have declared the referendum to be illegal, and the Public Prosecutor's Office of Catalonia has ordered the seizure of paraphernalia related to the referendum, including ballots, ballot boxes, promotional materials, and websites. RT @jeremycorbyn: Police violence against citizens in #Catalonia is shocking. The Spanish government must act to end it now. at Yago Isasi Parache (@yagoisasi) October 1, 2017 So the vote will not be trustworthy, and not an argument for honest separation. That's too bad. It doesn't answer the question, should smaller states have the right to leave larger ones. That Guardian article, by the way, is " The Guardian view on Catalonia's referendum: the Spanish state has lost." Given the horrific police abuses, there's no question that Catalans have gained in the war of appearances. And while I say the vote is not trustworthy, I'd also argue that separation from a state is not a neat and clean business. Perhaps this is as good as it gets. There were "loyalists" among the colonists who fought for King George. The American Revolution had its opponents among the citizenry. I'll leave the discussion of the Kurdish efforts towards independence to another article. "Peace" clubs in U.S. schools are likely to teach that a local bully is afraid and in need of help. They are much less likely to teach that about entities involved in the actual subject of peace (meaning the absence of war), such as -- to take the example momentarily most prominent in U.S. propaganda -- North Korea. "Ignorance about the Korean war," writes Blaine Harden, "has . . . led to the cartoonish ahistorical understanding many Americans still have of contemporary North Korea. They know that a family of clownish-looking dictators named Kim has created a hermit state armed with nuclear weapons. They know that it is wildly belligerent toward the United States. But most do not know that the fears of North Korea's isolated citizens are firmly rooted in history: they are afraid that Americans might once again raze their country. Thanks to the bombs and napalm dropped by the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, the Kim family is able to stoke anti-American hatred and perpetuate its rule, all while telling a terrifying, fact-based story that most Americans have never heard." The term "raze" could benefit from a bit of elaboration. The United States dropped 30,000 tons of explosives on North Korea, much of it after pilots began complaining about the "scarcity of strategic targets" left standing. The U.S., in addition, dropped 32,000 tons of napalm on the Korean Peninsula, principally targeting civilian human beings where they lived. Still not satisfied, the United States dropped insects and feathers containing bubonic plague and other diseases in hopes of starting epidemics. The U.S.-led war on North Korea may have killed some 20 to 30 percent of the population of the North, not to mention those in South Korea killed by both sides, and killed prior to the war in enormous government massacres in which the U.S. was complicit. Few North Koreans do not have relatives who were killed or wounded or made homeless. So, their government's propaganda rings true and personal to them. The quotation above comes from a new book called King of Spies: The Dark Reign of America's Spy Master in Korea. In this book, Harden tells the story of Donald Nichols, an uneducated, self-indulgent, obese American who never attended college or high school, but who at a young age ruled over his own personal branch of the U.S. war effort in Korea, while following few rules, committing countless atrocities, yet being tolerated by the top officials in the U.S. government for the value they perceived in his work. Reading this account, one comes to an appreciation of how U.S. society really has advanced in the past 60 years. Nowadays, such a man as Nichols would not be kept in such a position. Nowadays he'd be elected president. Nichols was given license to kill, spy, cheat, steal. He sent countless Koreans to their deaths in hopeless or near-hopeless spy missions into the North. Harden describes such people as "disposable" to Nichols, who said his bosses "wanted the answers. And in some cases didn't want to be told how I got them. They knew it meant lives, sometimes many." Nichols also freely murdered anyone he concluded was a double agent. Nichols' career skyrocketed when he formed a tight friendship with Syngman Rhee, the U.S.-based U.S. puppet flown in by the U.S. to rule South Korea in the name of "democracy." Prior to and during the war, Nichols attended mass-executions of suspected Communists ordered by Rhee. Rhee held a bachelor's degree from George Washington University, a master's from Harvard ("Chelsea-Manning-Free-Zone") University, and a doctorate in international law from Princeton (which must be very proud). Rhee's government killed tens of thousands of South Koreans before its war with North Korea officially began. Nichols helped out with a truckload of rifles. Glossed over in Harden's telling is that Rhee also helped to begin the war with the North by sending forces on raids across the border and seeking to provoke the other side. In Harden's telling, Nichols accurately predicted Northern aggression, while the rest of the U.S. military failed to see it or chose not to see it coming. It's worth adding, perhaps, that the information Nichols was passing along to the U.S. was coming in significant part from Rhee, who was not simply observing. His ability to predict the war surely came in some part from the fact that he was trying to start it. While the North's major invasion of the South is understood as the big initial phase of the war, which side actually kicked the thing off is far from clear. When the North invaded, Rhee seized the opportunity to slaughter tens of thousands more of his own citizens suspected of communism, as well as to murder many more through incredible feats of incompetence, including blowing up a bridge in Seoul full of people and necessary for escape. By Harden's account, Nichols added a great deal of competence to the U.S. effort to kill large numbers of North Koreans. He unearthed the most useful information on the other sides' targets and technology and personalities. He recruited defectors and elicited information. He trained guerilla fighters and saboteurs. He wrote brilliant detailed reports. (I haven't seen these reports and wonder how they fit with Harden's later account of Nichols hiring a teacher to assist him with "organization and grammar" when he wrote his autobiography.) When the U.S. finally gave up on the war and called a 64-year timeout, Rhee visited Washington and demanded that the war continue. President Eisenhower then said something to him at the White House on July 27, 1954, that it might be useful for someone to say to both Trump and Russiagate promoters today: "When you say that we should deliberately plunge into war, let me tell you that if war comes, it will be horrible. Atomic war will destroy civilization. It will destroy our cities. There will be millions of people dead. . . . If the Kremlin and Washington ever lock up in a war, the results are too horrible to contemplate." Nichols was known in North Korea and publicly tried there in absentia for his crimes. That this was never reported in the U.S. media, Harden attributes to numerous possible motives not including media obedience to the U.S. government. When the U.S. turned against Rhee it turned against Nichols. He was fired for unclear reasons -- officially for things that had been tolerated for years. He was forcibly restrained, drugged, and electro-shocked, despite the absence of any evidence before or after of psychological illness. His treatment did not benefit him any more than what he had helped do to Korea benefitted Korea. The U.S. military used him for evil purposes, chewed him up, spit him out, and began working on ways to condition the public to reflexively "support the troops." After all, another war in Asia might be coming, and Ken Burns wasn't around yet to help. 3D Cell Culture Market Segmentation, Application, Technology & Market Analysis Research Report 2022 Global 3D Cell Culture Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/731619-3d-cell-culture-global-market-outlook-2016-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/731619-3d-cell-culture-global-market-outlook-2016-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=731619 https://www.linkedin.com/company/wise-guy-research-consultants-pvt-ltd-?trk=biz-companies-cym https://www.wiseguyreports.com Global 3D Cell Culture IndustryGlobal 3D Cell Culture Market is accounted for $375.25 million in 2015 and is expected to reach $1520.15 million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 22.1% during the forecast period. Increasing investment and R&D funding for cell based research, technological advancements and increasing demand for organ transplantation & tissue engineering are some of the factors boosting the market growth. However, high cost of research, and dearth of infrastructure for research in developing countries are anticipated to hamper the market growth. Hence it is an opportunity for players to increase in R&D spending in the growing market to gain the traction.Try Sample Report @By technology, scaffold-based segment dominated the global market with largest share owing to variety of material and structural choices for scaffold. North America accounted for largest share in the global market followed by Europe owing to rising government support, increasing incidence of cancer and introduction of new products in the market.Some of the key players in 3D Cell Culture market include Nano 3D Biosciences Inc, Tecan Trading AG, Corning Inc., 3D Biotek LLC, Reinnervate Ltd, Lonza Group, Becton, Dickinson and Company, 3D Biomatrix, Inc., VWR International LLC, PromoCell GmbH, InSphero AG, Nanofiber Solutions, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Global Cell Solutions, Inc., Sigma-Aldrich Corporation and Merck & Co., Inc.,Applications Covered: In Vivo Applications for Stem Cells Cell Based Assays/Toxicity Screening 3D Printing/Microfluidics Cancer Cell Research Regenerative Medicine/Tissue Engineering Other ApplicationsEnd Users Covered: Hospitals and Diagnostic Centers Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries Research Laboratories Other End UsersTechnologies Covered: Scaffold Freeo Microfluidicso 3-D Bioreactorso Ultra-Low Attachment Plateso Hanging Drop Plateso 3-D Petrisidheso Magnetic Levitations & 3D Bioprinting Scaffold Basedo Micropatterened Surfaceso Hydrogels/Ecm Analogso Solid ScaffoldsRegions Covered: North Americao USo Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptFor Detailed Reading Please visit WiseGuy Reports @What our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsBuy now @About UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.Contact Us:Norah Trent+1 646 845 9349 / +44 208 133 9349Follow on LinkedIn:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt LtdPune 411028Maharashtra, GlobalPh: +91 841 198 5042 Global Alkyd Coating Industry, 2017 Market Research Report https://www.researchtrades.com/discount/1237057 https://www.researchtrades.com/report/global-and-chinese-alkyd-coating-industry-2017-market-research-report/1237057 https://www.researchtrades.com/request-sample/1237057 - Festive Month Offer -20% discount on purchase of reports from 1st October to 31st October.For more offers post 31st October, kindly contact us. * Terms & Conditions apply!!Contact No. : +16269994607 (US),/+91 7507349866 (IND)Email: sales@researchtrades.comAlkyd Coating Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Alkyd Coating industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Alkyd Coating 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.Browse complete report atThe 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 Alkyd Coating 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 Alkyd Coating Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2012-2022 global and Chinese Alkyd Coating industry covering all important parameters.Chapter One Introduction of Alkyd Coating Industry1.1 Brief Introduction of Alkyd Coating1.2 Development of Alkyd Coating Industry1.3 Status of Alkyd Coating IndustryChapter Two Manufacturing Technology of Alkyd Coating2.1 Development of Alkyd Coating Manufacturing Technology2.2 Analysis of Alkyd Coating Manufacturing Technology2.3 Trends of Alkyd Coating Manufacturing TechnologyRequest for sample atChapter Three Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers3.1 Company A3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Product Information3.1.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.1.4 Contact Information3.2 Company B3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Product Information3.2.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.2.4 Contact Information3.3 Company C3.2.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Product Information3.3.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.3.4 Contact InformationWho we are:Research Trades has team of experts who works on providing exhaustive analysis pertaining to market research on a global basis. This comprehensive analysis is obtained by a thorough research and study of the ongoing trends and provides predictive data regarding the future estimations, which can be utilized by various organizations for growth purposes.We distribute customized reports that focus on meeting the clients specific requirement. Our database consists of a large collection of high-quality reports obtained using a customer-centric approach, thus providing valuable research insights. Global Sweetener Market to 8.55% CAGR to 2021 Analysis of Halliburton, Schlumberger, Yokogawa Electric, and Ziebel https://www.marketresearchnest.com/global-distributed-fiber-optic-sensing-market-2017-2021.html https://www.marketresearchnest.com/purchase.php?reportid=264874 https://www.marketresearchnest.com/enquirybuy.php?reportid=264874 MarketResearchNest.com adds Global Distributed Fiber Optic Sensing Market 2017-2021 new reports to its research database. The report spread across 90 pages with tables and figures in it.The research analysts forecast the global distributed fiber optic sensing market to grow at a CAGR of 8.55% during the period 2017-2021.A fiber optic sensor consists of a light source, an external transducer, a photodetector, and an optical fiber, and they measure the properties of light, such as intensity, wave length, and polarization, to sense the surrounding. The change in the properties of light is detected and used to infer the change in the surrounding or the target object. A fiber optic sensor helps in measuring several physical, chemical, and biomedical properties by detecting the changes in the following properties of the target or sensing location.Get more details about report atTechnavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global distributed fiber optic sensing market: Halliburton, Schlumberger, Yokogawa Electric, and ZiebelOther Prominent Vendors in the market are: AP Sensing, Omnisens, OptaSense, and Silixa.The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Seismic downhole measurements. Seismic surveys usually deploy three-component geophones (which convert ground movement into a voltage). Any deviation of the voltage from its baseline is called as a seismic response. However, geophones can measure the seismic information at only a single position. Hence, many sensors need to be deployed in a single setup, which is an expensive as well as time-consuming process. Also, many of the conventional seismic sensors do not work efficiently in extreme environmental conditions.Order a Purchase Report Copy at(This is premium report, Single User License USD 3500 and Corporate User License USD 6000)According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is High tolerance to high temperatures. Distributed fiber optic sensors can handle extreme temperature conditions; they can operate at temperatures up to 751.73 F without getting thermally damaged. This is increasing the adoption of distributed fiber optic sensors in harsh, high-temperature applications. These sensors enable the seamless flow of operations in such applications by helping in monitoring various processes. The oil & gas industry is leveraging this heat-bearing capability of distributed fiber optics sensors and using them to increase the safety of the plants, pipelines, and oil wells.Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is High cost of maintenance. One of the major issues hindering the growth of the global distributed fiber optic sensing market is the high cost of maintenance (including the upgrade from conventional sensors). The distributed fiber optic sensors are developed with advanced features and functionalities, such as attenuation loss control and bandwidth spread, which are increasing their manufacturing cost. The effective installation of several distributed fiber optic sensors sometimes requires the automation of the entire factory operations. Moreover, in certain cases of retrofit applications, the existing communication lines need to be changed, which is a highly capital-intensive process. Therefore, it requires a huge capital investment to deploy sensors throughout an organization, which is hindering the adoption of fiber optic sensors.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Inquire before buying this report atMarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on global industries, organizations, products, and trends.Mr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070 / +44-20-3290-4151 Global T&D EquipmentMarket to 6.90% CAGR to 2021 Analysis of ABB, General Cable Technologies, Nexans, Prysmian, and Siemens https://www.marketresearchnest.com/global-tandd-equipment-market-2017-2021.html https://www.marketresearchnest.com/purchase.php?reportid=264872 https://www.marketresearchnest.com/enquirybuy.php?reportid=264872 MarketResearchNest.com adds Global T&D Equipment Market 2017-2021 new reports to its research database. The report spread across 80 pages with tables and figures in it.The research analysts forecast the global TandD equipment market to grow at a CAGR of 6.90% during the period 2017-2021.Power is generated at a power plant, and the TandD equipment infrastructure is used to transport the generated power to substations and then to electric utility transformers, which deliver electricity to domestic, commercial, and industrial end-users. Components such as power substations, transmission lines, power cables, switchgears, and power transformers are extensively used in power grids and electricity distribution systems. Therefore, they make primary building blocks in a TandD infrastructure. The market is segmented into power cables, transformers, and switchgears.Get more details about report atTechnavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global T&D equipment market: ABB, General Cable Technologies, Nexans, Prysmian, and SiemensOther Prominent Vendors in the market are: AEI Cables, Belden, E+I Engineering, Eaton, Furukawa Electric Industrial Cable, GENERAL ELECTRIC, Hyundai Heavy Industries, International Wire Group, JDR Cable Systems, LS Cable, Mitsubishi Electric, NKT Group, S&C Electric Company, Schneider Electric, SKEMA, Southwire, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Able UK, Brugg Cables, Fujikura, LEONI, PARKER HANNIFIN, TPC Wire & Cable, BHEL, CG, Chint Group, HYOSUNG, Toshiba, and Lucy Electric.The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Growing focus on energy efficiency. Energy efficiency requires energy to be used efficiently throughout the energy chain from production to consumption. In a power grid, the power, in terms of quantity received, is always lower than the power produced at source, this is due to thermal losses owing to electrical resistivity and conductivity of the transmitting material.Order a Purchase Report Copy at(This is premium report, Single User License USD 3500 and Corporate User License USD 6000)According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is Increased demand for power generation. The demand for power has increased exponentially all over the globe, driven by increasing population and rapid urbanization and industrialization. There has been a substantial increase in the rate of urbanization with urban population exceeding rural population for the first time back in 2007. Since then, the rural to urban migration has been steady.Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is Increase in distribution generation. Distribution generation denotes micro generation or small-scale electricity generation through the use of generators or renewables at the point of consumption and is gaining acceptance due to decrease in cost of energy systems such as solar PV and support from the government due to economic and environmental benefits.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Inquire before buying this report atMarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on global industries, organizations, products, and trends.Mr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070 / +44-20-3290-4151 Barcode Printer Software Global Market Key Players Aulux, Labeljoy, LabelRIGHT, TAL Technologies, Bars & Stripes Analysis and Forecast to 2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/2283503-global-barcode-printer-software-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/2283503-global-barcode-printer-software-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=2283503 SummaryThis report studies Barcode Printer Software in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringAuluxLabeljoyLabelRIGHTBarcodeResource.comTAL TechnologiesBars & StripesAzalea SoftwareBulletProof SoftwareZebraBarTenderRequest a Sample Report @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoFree TypePay TypeBy Application, the market can be split intoOffice UseCommercial UseIndustrial UseOtherBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaAt any Query @Table of ContentsGlobal Barcode Printer Software Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Barcode Printer Software1.1 Definition and Specifications of Barcode Printer Software1.1.1 Definition of Barcode Printer Software1.1.2 Specifications of Barcode Printer Software1.2 Classification of Barcode Printer Software1.2.1 Free Type1.2.2 Pay Type1.3 Applications of Barcode Printer Software1.3.1 Office Use1.3.2 Commercial Use1.3.3 Industrial Use1.3.4 Other1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Barcode Printer Software2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Barcode Printer Software2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Barcode Printer Software2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Barcode Printer Software.8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Barcode Printer Software8.1 Aulux8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 Aulux 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Aulux 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 Labeljoy8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 Labeljoy 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 Labeljoy 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 LabelRIGHT8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 LabelRIGHT 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 LabelRIGHT 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution Analysis8.4 BarcodeResource.com8.4.1 Company Profile8.4.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.4.2.1 Product A8.4.2.2 Product B8.4.3 BarcodeResource.com 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.4.4 BarcodeResource.com 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution Analysis8.5 TAL Technologies8.5.1 Company Profile8.5.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.5.2.1 Product A8.5.2.2 Product B8.5.3 TAL Technologies 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.5.4 TAL Technologies 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution Analysis8.6 Bars & Stripes8.6.1 Company Profile8.6.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.6.2.1 Product A8.6.2.2 Product B8.6.3 Bars & Stripes 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.6.4 Bars & Stripes 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution Analysis8.7 Azalea Software8.7.1 Company Profile8.7.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.7.2.1 Product A8.7.2.2 Product B8.7.3 Azalea Software 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.7.4 Azalea Software 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution Analysis8.8 BulletProof Software8.8.1 Company Profile8.8.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.8.2.1 Product A8.8.2.2 Product B8.8.3 BulletProof Software 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.8.4 BulletProof Software 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution Analysis8.9 Zebra8.9.1 Company Profile8.9.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.9.2.1 Product A8.9.2.2 Product B8.9.3 Zebra 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.9.4 Zebra 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution Analysis8.10 BarTender8.10.1 Company Profile8.10.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.10.2.1 Product A8.10.2.2 Product B8.10.3 BarTender 2016 Barcode Printer Software Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.10.4 BarTender 2016 Barcode Printer Software Business Region Distribution AnalysisBuy Now @Continued....Contact Us: sales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US) ; Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ADDRES:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Global Urban Rail Transit Market to Grow 5.25% CAGR to 2021 Analysis of Alstom, Bombardier, CRRC, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Siemens https://www.marketresearchnest.com/global-urban-rail-transit-market-2017-2021.html https://www.marketresearchnest.com/purchase.php?reportid=264796 https://www.marketresearchnest.com/enquirybuy.php?reportid=264796 MarketResearchNest.com adds Global Urban Rail Transit Market 2017-2021 new reports to its research database. The report spread across 71 pages with tables and figures in it.The research analysts forecast the global urban rail transit market to grow at a CAGR of 5.25% during the period 2017-2021.The growing urbanization in the cities and suburban areas has spurred the demand for more public transportation modes. The advances of the public transport systems aid in the overall economic development of the country and help in increased mobility through connected networks. The acceptance of the urban rail transit market has been increasing over the years. The main reason for the growth of the market is the growing congestion in the urban and suburban areas. To overcome the rising concern of traffic and congestion, urban rail transit systems have been adopted globally. This is growing faster in the developing countries, especially in APAC, due to the increasing urbanization.Get more details about report atTechnavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global urban rail transit market: Alstom, Bombardier, CRRC, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Siemens.Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: AmstedMaxion, Astra Rail, Bradken, CAF, DCD Rail, Downer Group, Eolane, INTAMIN Deutschland, Japan Transport Engineering Company, Newag, PKC Group, Promtractor-Vagon CJSC, Scomi Engineering Bhd, Sinara Transport Machines, Skoda Transportation, The Greenbrier Companies, and The Urbanaut Company.Commenting on the report, an analyst from Technavios team said: The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Rise of public-private partnership in developing countries. In developing countries, there exists a lack of infrastructure required for the operations of urban transportation. For the overall economic growth and development of the nation, efficient infrastructure facilities must be developed. The implementation of urban transport facilities requires huge investments. The expenses for such projects cannot be entirely borne by the government because of the huge risk associated with them. In such conditions, the PPP model becomes beneficial because of shared risk and better operational efficiency.Order a Purchase Report Copy at. (This is premium report, Single User License USD 3500 and Corporate User License USD 6000)According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is Growing urbanization and need for sustainability. The urban population was more than 50% of the total global population in 2016. The growth is more visible in developing countries like India, China, and various countries in Africa and Latin America. For example, in China, the urban population increased by more than 40% in 2016 compared with 1960. The rise in the urban population can result in the increasing mobility in urban areas. With the growing urbanization, the primary issue is traffic and congestion associated with the increasing mobility. Therefore, with the growth of the urban population, there emerges a need for more public transportation solutions that offer high capacity transit. Railways is an option, which can overcome the problem of traffic congestion on roads by using a different route for transit, the rails.Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is High initial investment. Rail projects are associated with high investments in the initial phase of the projects. Therefore, they are capital intensive in nature. The initial investments are mainly for the raw materials like iron, equipment and machinery, and labor. The railways are built under the build operate transfer (BOT) of public private partnership (PPP), wherein the rolling stock is done for certain projects or as per client requirement. The initial budget required for the construction of rolling stocks or stations must be borne by the vendors who are assigned the contract. The projects are done on a long-term basis because of which the company must borrow money for the initial financing.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Inquire before buying this report atMarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on global industries, organizations, products, and trends.Mr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070 / +44-20-3290-4151 T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 Market 2021 New Research Study Reportsweb http://www.reportsweb.com/t-cell-specific-surface-glycoprotein-cd28-pipeline-review-h1-2017 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001834449/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW0001834449/buy/3500 ReportsWeb.com published T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28-Pipeline Review H2 2017 from its database. The report reviews top companies involved and enlists all trials pertaining to the company. Report provides latest news for the past three months.Original Content:T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28) - CD28 is a proteins expressed on T cells. It co-stimulates signals required for T cell activation and survival. It enhances the production of IL4 and IL10 in T-cells in conjunction with TCR/CD3 ligation and CD40L co-stimulation.T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28) pipeline Target constitutes close to 8 molecules. Out of which approximately 8 molecules are developed by Companies. The molecules developed by companies in Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, Preclinical and Discovery stages are 1, 2, 1, 2 and 2 respectively. Report covers products from therapy areas Immunology, Oncology, Central Nervous System, Dermatology, Gastrointestinal, Genito Urinary System And Sex Hormones, Metabolic Disorders, Musculoskeletal Disorders, Ophthalmology and Toxicology which include indications Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) , Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Acute Renal Failure (ARF) (Acute Kidney Injury) , Arthritis, B-Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Gastrointestinal Radiation Toxicity, Hypersensitivity, Kidney Transplant Rejection, Multiple Sclerosis, Pancreatitis, Plaque Psoriasis (Psoriasis Vulgaris) , Psoriasis, Sicca Syndrome (Sjogren) , Skin And Soft Tissue Infections, Solid Tumor, Type 1 Diabetes (Juvenile Diabetes) and Uveitis.For more information about this report:The latest report T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 - Pipeline Review, H1 2017, outlays comprehensive information on the T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28) targeted therapeutics, complete with analysis by indications, stage of development, mechanism of action (MoA) , route of administration (RoA) and molecule type. It also reviewsalso reviews key players involved in T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28) targeted therapeutics development with respective active and dormant or discontinued projects.The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, company/university websites, clinical trial registries, conferences, SEC filings, investor presentations and featured press releases from company/university sites and industry-specific third party sources.Report Scope- The report provides a snapshot of the global therapeutic landscape for T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28)- The report reviews T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28) targeted therapeutics under development by companies and universities/research institutes based on information derived from company and industry-specific sources- The report covers pipeline products based on various stages of development ranging from pre-registration till discovery and undisclosed stages- The report features descriptive drug profiles for the pipeline products which includes, product description, descriptive MoA, R&D brief, licensing and collaboration details & other developmental activities- The report reviews key players involved in T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28) targeted therapeutics and enlists all their major and minor projects- The report assesses T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28) targeted therapeutics based on mechanism of action (MoA) , route of administration (RoA) and molecule type- The report summarizes all the dormant and discontinued pipeline projects- The report reviews latest news and deals related to T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28) targeted therapeuticsRequest Sample Copy at- Gain strategically significant competitor information, analysis, and insights to formulate effective R&D strategies- Identify emerging players with potentially strong product portfolio and create effective counter-strategies to gain competitive advantage- Identify and understand the targeted therapy areas and indications for T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28)- Identify the use of drugs for target identification and drug repurposing- Identify potential new clients or partners in the target demographic- Develop strategic initiatives by understanding the focus areas of leading companies- Plan mergers and acquisitions effectively by identifying key players and it's most promising pipeline therapeutics- Devise corrective measures for pipeline projects by understanding T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 (TP44 or CD28) development landscape- Develop and design in-licensing and out-licensing strategies by identifying prospective partners with the most attractive projects to enhance and expand business potential and scopeTable of ContentsList of Tables 3List of Figures 4Report Guidance 5Clinical Trials by Region 6Clinical Trials and Average Enrollment by Country 7Top Countries Contributing to Clinical Trials in Asia-Pacific 9Top Countries Contributing to Clinical Trials in Europe 10Top Countries Contributing to Clinical Trials in North America 11Top Five Countries Contributing to Clinical Trials in Middle East and Africa 12Top Countries Contributing to Clinical Trials in Central and South America 13Clinical Trials by G7 Countries: Proportion of T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 to Infectious Disease Clinical Trials 14Clinical Trials by Phase in G7 Countries 15Clinical Trials in G7 Countries by Trial Status 16Clinical Trials by E7 Countries: Proportion of T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 to Infectious Disease Clinical Trials 17Clinical Trials by Phase in E7 Countries 18Clinical Trials by Phase 19In Progress Trials by Phase 20Clinical Trials by Trial Status 21Clinical Trials by End Point Status 22Subjects Recruited Over a Period of Time 23Clinical Trials by Sponsor Type 24Prominent Sponsors 25Top Companies Participating in T Cell Specific Surface Glycoprotein CD28 Therapeutics Clinical Trials 26Prominent Drugs 27Clinical Trial Profile Snapshots 28Inquire before Buying atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comAbout ReportsWeb:ReportsWeb.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 Global Directional Drilling Market to 4.88% CAGR to 2021 Analysis of Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger, and Weatherford https://www.marketresearchnest.com/global-directional-drilling-market-2017-2021.html https://www.marketresearchnest.com/purchase.php?reportid=264866 https://www.marketresearchnest.com/enquirybuy.php?reportid=264866 MarketResearchNest.com adds Global Directional Drilling Market 2017-2021 new reports to its research database. The report spread across 74 pages with tables and figures in it.The research analysts forecast the global directional drilling market to grow at a CAGR of 4.88% during the period 2017-2021.Directional drilling is the practice of deviating the wellbore along a planned path to a specific location (also known as target location). The target location is predetermined and is at a given lateral distance and direction from the vertical. Directional drilling is carried out as vertically as possible from a given true vertical depth (TVD).Get more details about report atTechnavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global directional drilling market: Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger, and WeatherfordOther Prominent Vendors in the market are: Cathedral Energy Services, Directional Technologies, Ensco, Gyrodata, Jindal Drilling and Industries, LEAM Drilling Systems, MOTIVE DRILLING TECHNOLOGIES, Nabors Industries, National Oilwell Varco, Seadrill, SCIENTIFIC DRILLING INTERNATIONAL, and TRANSOCEAN.The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Technological innovations. The exploration and production of oil and gas are rising in the offshore region. Drilling operations are expanding in deep and ultra-deepwater exploration where the environmental conditions are more challenging. Thus, it becomes crucial to use technology that aids in reaching the target zones and the scope for human error is reduced. For instance, the deployment of motive directional drilling guidance system in oil and gas exploration has pioneered the use of cognitive computing that guides directional drilling process.Order a Purchase Report Copy at(This is premium report, Single User License USD 3500 and Corporate User License USD 6000)According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is Rise in the development of unconventional oil and gas resources. Unconventional oil and gas resources such as shale oil, tight oil, and coal bed methane are not only costly to produce but are also difficult to recover. Operational efficiencies and technological advances have made unconventional resource exploitation feasible and more profitable. Shale gas boom in the US saw the rise in unconventionally produced natural gas supply. Huge discovery of oil sands in Canada has created a wealth of opportunity for oil production. As the world energy focus shifts toward natural gas and heavy oil, unconventional sources such as shale have seen growth.Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is Fluctuations in oil and gas prices. A phase of low crude oil prices has been witnessed that has put additional pressure on oil and gas service providing companies. Most of the companies have experienced this phase of low revenue that directly affects the financial aspect of the company. However, integrated oil companies were still able to absorb most of the pressure as the revenue was generated from the downstream sector, but upstream companies have been affected the most by oil price volatility.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Inquire before buying this report atMarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on global industries, organizations, products, and trends.Mr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070 / +44-20-3290-4151 Smart Rice Cooker Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size and Forecast with Key Players Mentioned Joyoung, Panasonic, PHILIPS Smart Rice Cooker Market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/720843-global-smart-rice-cooker-sales-market-2 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/720843-global-smart-rice-cooker-sales-market-2 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=720843 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/720843-global-smart-rice-cooker-sales-market-2 Global Smart Rice Cooker Sales Market Report 2017 is latest research study released by HTF MI evaluating the market, highlighting opportunities, risk analysis, and leveraged with strategic and tactical decision-making support. This study recognizes that in this quick-evolving and competitive environment, up-to-date industry information is essential to monitor performance and make critical decisions for growth and profitability. It provides information on trends and developments, and focuses on markets and materials, capacities and technologies, and on the changing structure of the Global Smart Rice Cooker Market.Global Smart Rice Cooker market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includes Midea, Joyoung, Panasonic, PHILIPS, SUPOR, ZO JIRUSHI, TIGER, Povos, Toshiba, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Sanyo, Philips, LG, Xiaomi, Aroma, Hamilton Beach, Panasonic.The Global Smart Rice Cooker Market consists of different international, regional, and local vendors. The market competition is foreseen to grow higher with the rise in technological innovation and M&A activities in the future. Moreover, many local and regional vendors are offering specific application products for varied end-users. The new vendor entrants in the market are finding it hard to compete with the international vendors based on quality, reliability, and innovations in technology.Get Access to sample pages @Global Smart Rice Cooker (K Units) and Revenue (Million USD) Market Split by Product Type such as Electric Rice Cookers, Gas Rice CookersMarket Segment by Type 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022Electric Rice Cookers xx xx xx xx xx xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%Gas Rice Cookers xx xx xx xx xx xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%Total xx xx xx xx xx xx xx-Change (%) xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx% xx%The research study is segmented by Application such as Houshold, Commercial with historical and projected market share and compounded annual growth rate.Global Smart Rice Cooker (K Units) by Application (2016-2022)Market Segment by Application 2012 2016 2022 Market Share (%)2022 CGAR (%)(2016-2022)Houshold xx xx xx xx% xx%Commercial xx xx xx xx% xx%Total xx xx xx 100% xx%Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Smart Rice Cooker in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast).This independent research with title Global Smart Rice Cooker Sales Market Report 2017 guarantees you will remain better informed than your competition. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions/countries like United States, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and important players/vendors such as Midea, Joyoung, Panasonic, PHILIPS, SUPOR, ZO JIRUSHI, TIGER, Povos, Toshiba, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Sanyo, Philips, LG, Xiaomi, Aroma, Hamilton Beach, Panasonic. With n-number of tables and figures examining the Smart Rice Cooker, the research gives you a visual, one-stop breakdown of the leading products, submarkets and market leaders market revenue forecasts as well as analysis to 2022.Further it 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 Smart Rice Cooker industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @The study is organized with the help of primary and secondary data collection including valuable information from key vendors and participants in the industry. It includes historical data from 2012 to 2016 and projected forecasts till 2022 which makes the research study a valuable resource for industry executives, marketing, sales and product managers, consultants, analysts, and other people looking for key industry related data in readily accessible documents with easy to analyze graphs and tables. The report answers future development trend of Smart Rice Cooker on the basis of stating current situation of the industry in 2017 to assist manufacturers and investment organization to better analyze the development course of Smart Rice Cooker Market.The research insights solutions to the following key questions: What will be the market size and the growth rate in 2022? What are the key factors driving the Global Smart Rice Cooker market? Who are the key market players and what are their strategies in the Global Smart Rice Cooker market? What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Global Smart Rice Cooker market? What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Global Smart Rice Cooker market? What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Smart Rice Cooker market?Buy this research report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the Global Smart Rice Cooker market.Chapter 1, to describe Smart Rice Cooker Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Smart Rice Cooker, with sales, revenue, and price of Smart Rice Cooker, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the Global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Smart Rice Cooker, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in United States, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, India;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application [Houshold, Commercial], from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Smart Rice Cooker market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Smart Rice Cooker sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Get customization & check discount for report @Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact Us:HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road, Edison, NJ USA - 08837sales@htfmarketreport.comPh: +1 (206) 317 1218 Global Drawer Refrigerator Market to 7.26% CAGR to 2021 Analysis of DOMETIC GROUP AB, Felix Storch, Haier, Middleby Corporation, and Whirlpool https://www.marketresearchnest.com/global-drawer-refrigerator-market-2017-2021.html https://www.marketresearchnest.com/purchase.php?reportid=264856 https://www.marketresearchnest.com/enquirybuy.php?reportid=264856 MarketResearchNest.com adds Global Drawer Refrigerator Market 2017-2021 new reports to its research database. The report spread across 82 pages with tables and figures in it.The research analysts forecast the global drawer refrigerator market to grow at a CAGR of 7.26% during the period 2017-2021.Drawer refrigerators are under-the-counter refrigerators that consist of drawer panels instead of doors. Drawer refrigerators let consumers store drinks, dairy products, meats, and vegetables, providing convenience to consumers. It has now become an essential part of traditional kitchen designs as well as modular kitchens, pubs, bars, restaurants, hotels, recreational vehicles (RVs), marines, consumer and passenger vehicles (CPVs), and quick service restaurants (QSRs). Drawer refrigerators can be customized and can be fit in stainless-steel cabinets with different panel options. They provide additional storage space to consumers and do not occupy much space.Get more details about report atTechnavio recognizes the following companies as the key players in the global drawer refrigerator market: DOMETIC GROUP AB, Felix Storch, Haier, Middleby Corporation, and WhirlpoolOther Prominent Vendors in the market are: INDEL WEBASTO MARINE, Perlick Corporation, Robert Bosch GmbH, SUB-ZERO Group, and Vitrifrigo S.r.l.Commenting on the report, an analyst from Technavios team said: The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is Synchronization with studio apartments. The number of studio apartments has risen considerably in urban parts of the world. The popularity of studio apartments is accounted by the limited availability of space in urban cities. Studio apartments are characterized by a single room that serves as the dining hall, kitchen space, drawing room, and study room. Drawer refrigerators are extensively used in studio apartments owing to their high degree of fit and usability. They can be placed under the sink, table, next to the bed, or under the cooktop. Many customers have started shifting to drawer refrigerators owing to their custom-made build, size, and usability.Order a Purchase Report Copy at(This is premium report, Single User License USD 3500 and Corporate User License USD 6000)According to the report, one of the major drivers for this market is Product innovation leading to premiumization of products. With the advent of technology and product innovations in the global drawer refrigerator market, manufacturers have come up with innovative refrigerator drawers in terms of design, build, quality, features, and storage capacity. The prices of drawer refrigerators, currently, range from $1,000 to $5,000. Consumers are willing to spend for drawer refrigerators that offer features like energy efficiency, customizable panels, and separate compartments designed for individual temperature settings. Product innovation when coupled with the addition of features leads to premiumization of the product. Consumers tend to invest heavily in premium brands that offer maximal value. Premiumization leads to improved customer engagement.Further, the report states that one of the major factors hindering the growth of this market is Higher costs in comparison to small-sized (regular-door or French-door) refrigerators. Drawer refrigerators are priced higher than their traditional counterparts owing to the high degree of functionality associated with them. Traditional refrigerators are stand-up French-door refrigerators that may or may not consist of separate freezers on top. The degree of penetration of traditional refrigerators is high as people have a lot of options to choose from and they are cheaper than other refrigeration products.The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to a SWOT analysis of the key vendors.Inquire before buying this report atMarketResearchNest.com is the most comprehensive collection of market research products and services on the Web. We offer reports from almost all top publishers and update our collection on daily basis to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and recent database of expert insights on global industries, organizations, products, and trends.Mr. Jeet JainSales Managersales@marketresearchnest.com+1-240-284-8070 / +44-20-3290-4151 Global Sodium Sulfate Market 2017 - Alkim Alkali, Lenzing Group, NaFine Chemical Industry Group https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/113522/request-sample https://goo.gl/DWr1rd www.fiormarkets.com Global Sodium Sulfate Market 2017 Forecast to 2022 (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa)Sodium sulfate, or sodium sulphate (Na2SO4); is one of the basic raw materials used in detergent, paper, glass, textile and chemical industries and used in all types of detergents (except liquid detergents) as a filling material. Further, it is one of the ingredients of the frit in the glass industry. Sodium sulfate is widely used for the manufacturing of pulps in the paper industry, for the textile dyeing in the textile sector and for the various chemical substances in the chemical sector as well as animal feeding stuff.Request For Sample Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Sodium Sulfate in Global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversNaFine Chemical Industry GroupJiangsu Yinzhu ChemicalSichuan Union Xinli ChemcialHuaian Salt ChemicalHongya Qingyijiang Sodium SulphateGrupo Industrial CrimidesaMINERA DE SANTA MARTAAlkim AlkaliLenzing GroupS.A. SULQUISASichuan Meishan Tianhe ChemicalSaskatchewan Mining and MineralsHunan Light Industry & Salt Industry GroupPerstorpCordenkaAdisseoAccess Full Report With TOC @Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversNatural Product Sodium SulfateByproduct Sodium SulfateOther SwitchesMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoDetergent and Cleaning Agent IndustryGlass IndustryCellulose and Paper IndustryTextile and Leather IndustryOtherThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Sodium Sulfate market.Chapter 1, to describe Sodium Sulfate Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Sodium Sulfate, with sales, revenue, and price of Sodium Sulfate, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Sodium Sulfate, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Sodium Sulfate market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Sodium Sulfate sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceAbout Fior MarketsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb: Global Ground Coffee Market 2017-2022 Key Players: Eight OClock Coffee, M. Smucker, Jacob Douwe Egberts, Keurig Green Mountain, Kraft Food, Starbucks, Ajinomoto General Foods, AMT coffee, Bewleys, Caffe Nero,.. Ground Coffee Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/2355400-global-ground-coffee-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/2355400-global-ground-coffee-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=2355400 Ground Coffee Market:WiseGuyReports.com adds Ground Coffee Market 2017 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting to 2022reports to its database.Executive SummaryThis report studies Ground Coffee in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringEight O'Clock Coffee,M. Smucker,Jacob Douwe Egberts,Keurig Green Mountain,Kraft Food,Starbucks,Ajinomoto General Foods,AMT coffee,Bewley's,Caffe Nero,Coffee Beanery,Coffee Republic,Costa Coffee,Dunkin' Donuts,Graffeo Coffee Roasting,HACO,Industria Colombiana de Cafe,Luigi Lavazza,Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA,Mauro Demetrio,Meira,Melitta USA,Muffin Break,Paulig,Peet's Coffee & Tea,Strauss,Tchibo,Tim Hortons.Request Sample Report @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoCoffee EansPackaged Coffee PowderBy Application, the market can be split intoHot DrinksFood and SupplimentsOtherBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.For further information on this report, visit -Table of ContentsGlobal Ground Coffee Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Ground Coffee1.1 Definition and Specifications of Ground Coffee1.1.1 Definition of Ground Coffee1.1.2 Specifications of Ground Coffee1.2 Classification of Ground Coffee1.2.1 Coffee Eans1.2.2 Packaged Coffee Powder1.3 Applications of Ground Coffee1.3.1 Hot Drinks1.3.2 Food and Suppliments1.3.3 Other1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Ground Coffee2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Ground Coffee2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Ground Coffee2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Ground Coffee3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Ground Coffee3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Ground Coffee Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Ground Coffee Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Ground Coffee Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Ground Coffee Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Ground Coffee Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Ground Coffee Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Ground Coffee Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Ground Coffee Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Ground Coffee Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Ground Coffee Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Ground Coffee Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Ground Coffee Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Ground Coffee Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Ground Coffee Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2016 Ground Coffee Market Share Analysis5.2 China Ground Coffee Market Analysis5.2.1 China Ground Coffee Market Overview5.2.2 China 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2016 Ground Coffee Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Ground Coffee Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Ground Coffee Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2016 Ground Coffee Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Ground Coffee Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Ground Coffee Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.4.3 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Sales Price Analysis5.4.4 Southeast Asia 2016 Ground Coffee Market Share Analysis5.5 Japan Ground Coffee Market Analysis5.5.1 Japan Ground Coffee Market Overview5.5.2 Japan 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.5.3 Japan 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Sales Price Analysis5.5.4 Japan 2016 Ground Coffee Market Share Analysis5.6 India Ground Coffee Market Analysis5.6.1 India Ground Coffee Market Overview5.6.2 India 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.6.3 India 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Sales Price Analysis5.6.4 India 2016 Ground Coffee Market Share Analysis6 Global 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Segment Market Analysis (by Type)6.1 Global 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Sales by Type6.2 Different Types of Ground Coffee Product Interview Price Analysis6.3 Different Types of Ground Coffee Product Driving Factors Analysis6.3.1 Coffee Eans of Ground Coffee Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.2 Packaged Coffee Powder of Ground Coffee Growth Driving Factor Analysis7 Global 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Segment Market Analysis (by Application)7.1 Global 2012-2017E Ground Coffee Consumption by Application7.2 Different Application of Ground Coffee Product Interview Price Analysis7.3 Different Application of Ground Coffee Product Driving Factors Analysis7.3.1 Hot Drinks of Ground Coffee Growth Driving Factor Analysis7.3.2 Food and Suppliments of Ground Coffee Growth Driving Factor Analysis7.3.3 Other of Ground Coffee Growth Driving Factor AnalysisContinuedBuy this Report @Norah TrentContact Us: sales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US); +44 208 133 9349 (UK)About Us:Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres:WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone :+91 841 198 5042 Transparent Barrier Packaging Films Global Market 2017: Key Players Amcor Ltd., Bemis Company, Inc., 3M Company, Mitsubishi Plastic, AMPAC, Berry Global, Inc., Innovia Films, Toppan Printing Co. Ltd. Transparent Barrier Packaging Films Market 2017 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4098 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/transparent-barrier-packaging-films-market-4098 Transparent Barrier Packaging Films Market 2017Summary:MarketResearchFuture adds Transparent Barrier Packaging Films Market 2017: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, Forecast to 2023reports to its Database.Key Players:The prominent players in the Transparent Barrier Packaging Films market include -Amcor Ltd. (Australia)Bemis Company, Inc. (U.S.)3M Company (U.S.)Mitsubishi Plastic (Japan)AMPAC (U.S.)Berry Global, Inc. (U.S.)Innovia Films (U.K.)Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (Japan)Daibochi Plastic & Packaging Industry Bhd (Malaysia)LINPAC Group (U.K.)The global transparent barrier packaging films market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.45% during the forecast period.Market ScenarioThe growth of global transparent barrier packaging films market can majorly be attributed to increased consumption of processed food items and ready to eat food products. In addition, rapid urbanization coupled with changing food preferences of consumers due to increasing disposable income is expected to boost the market growth. However, rising competition from substitutes such as aluminum foil is the major restraint that could hinder the market growth.Request For Sample Report @Based on end-users, food segment accounted for the largest share in 2016, owing to rising acceptance of packaged food products across the globe. The food products that are packaged using these films contain less preservatives compared to canned food products, helping the health conscious consumers. In consumer goods, the products packaged with transparent barrier packaging films have longer shelf life, less prone to environmental factors such as moisture and UV.The report for Global Transparent Barrier Packaging Films 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.Complete Report Details @Table of ContentsExecutive Summary....3 Market Dynamics3.1 Market Drivers3.2 Market Inhibitors3.3 Supply/Value Chain Analysis3.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis4 Global Transparent Barrier Packaging Films Market, By Material4.1 Introduction4.2 Polyvinylidene Chloride (PVDC)4.3 Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol (EVOH)4.4 Polypropylene (PP)4.6 Others5 Global Transparent Barrier Packaging Films Market, By End-Users5.1 Introduction5.2 Food5.3 Healthcare5.4 Consumer Goods5.5 Others.7 Competitive Analysis7.1 Introduction7.2 Competitive Scenario7.2.1 Market Share Analysis7.2.2 Market Development Analysis7.2.3 Type/Service Benchmarking7.3 Amcor Ltd. (Australia)7.3.1 Overview7.3.2 Type/Service Offering7.3.3 Strategy7.4 Bemis Company, Inc. (U.S.)7.4.1 Overview7.4.2 Type/Service Offering7.4.3 Strategy7.5 3M Company (U.S.)7.5.1 Overview7.5.2 Type/Service Offering7.5.3 Strategy7.6 Mitsubishi Plastic (Japan)7.6.1 Overview7.6.2 Type/Service Offering7.6.3 Strategy7.7 AMPAC (U.S.)7.7.1 Overview7.7.2 Type/Service Offering7.7.3 Strategy7.8 Berry Global, Inc. (U.S.)7.8.1 Overview7.8.2 Type/Service Offering7.8.3 Strategy7.9 Innovia Films (U.K.)7.9.1 Overview7.9.2 Type/Service Offering7.9.3 Strategy7.10 Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (Japan7.10.1 Overview7.10.2 Type/Service Offering7.10.3 Strategy7.11 Daibochi Plastic & Packaging Industry Bhd (Malaysia)7.11.1 Overview7.11.2 Type/Service Offering7.11.3 Strategy7.12 LINPAC Group (U.K.)7.12.1 Overview7.12.2 Type/Service Offering7.12.3 StrategyContinued.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 Solutions, 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.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 US:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Capsule Coffee Machines 2017 Global Market to Reach US$ 9870 million and Forecast to 2021 Capsule Coffee Machines Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1927060-global-capsule-coffee-machines-market-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/1927060-global-capsule-coffee-machines-market-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1927060 WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On - Capsule Coffee Machines 2017 Global Market to Reach US$ 9870 million and Forecast to 2021.The Capsule Coffee Machines industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years, Capsule Coffee Machines market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 11.24% from 4010 million $ in 2013 to 5520 million $ in 2016, The analysts believe that in the next few years, Capsule Coffee Machines market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2021 , The market size of the Capsule Coffee Machines will reach 9870 million $.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comThis Report covers the manufacturers' data, including: shipment, price, revenue, gross profit, interview record, business distribution etc., these data help the consumer know about the competitors better. This report also covers all the regions and countries of the world, which shows a regional development status, including market size, volume and value, as well as price data.The region including: United States, Canada, South America, China, Japan, India, Korea, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Europe as a whole, Middle East Africa, GCC etc. region coverage is very comprehensive, also, the region can be changed as every clients special requirement, only Europe, only North America, only Asia, only single China or only single United States, single country or single region report can also published. As well as the region, all the segment data can be customized, type segment, industry segment, channel segment can be changed as the clients special requirement.This report also provide market forecast data, according the history of this industry, the future of the industry faces what situation, growth or decline, the price trend, market size trend, segment market trend will also be provided in the forecast chapter.The report analyze the manufacturing cost of the product, which is very important for the manufacturer and competitors, raw material price, manufacturing process cost, labor cost, energy cost, all these kinds of cost will affect the market trend, to know the manufacturing cost better, to know the market better.Besides, the report also covers segment data, including: type segment, industry segment, channel segment etc. cover different segment market size, both volume and value. Also cover different industries clients information, which is very important for the manufacturers.Ask Query @Sections:-Section 1: Free--DefinitionSection (2 3): 1200 USD--Manufacturer DetailNescafeLavazzaIllyKeurigPhilips SenseoEupaAAADualitTassimoPacific CoffeeStarbucksContinueTable Of Contents Major Key PointsSection 1 Capsule Coffee Machines Product DefinitionSection 2 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Manufacturer Share and Market Overview2.1 Global Manufacturer Capsule Coffee Machines Shipments2.2 Global Manufacturer Capsule Coffee Machines Business Revenue2.3 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market OverviewSection 3 Manufacturer Capsule Coffee Machines Business Introduction3.1 Nescafe Capsule Coffee Machines Business Introduction3.1.1 Nescafe Capsule Coffee Machines Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2013-20163.1.2 Nescafe Capsule Coffee Machines Business Distribution by Region3.1.3 Nescafe Interview Record3.1.4 Nescafe Capsule Coffee Machines Business Profile3.1.5 Nescafe Capsule Coffee Machines Product Specification3.2 Lavazza Capsule Coffee Machines Business Introduction3.2.1 Lavazza Capsule Coffee Machines Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2013-20163.2.2 Lavazza Capsule Coffee Machines Business Distribution by Region3.2.3 Interview Record3.2.4 Lavazza Capsule Coffee Machines Business Overview3.2.5 Lavazza Capsule Coffee Machines Product Specification3.3 Illy Capsule Coffee Machines Business Introduction3.3.1 Illy Capsule Coffee Machines Shipments, Price, Revenue and Gross profit 2013-20163.3.2 Illy Capsule Coffee Machines Business Distribution by Region3.3.3 Interview Record3.3.4 Illy Capsule Coffee Machines Business Overview3.3.5 Illy Capsule Coffee Machines Product Specification3.4 Keurig Capsule Coffee Machines Business Introduction3.5 Philips Senseo Capsule Coffee Machines Business Introduction3.6 Eupa Capsule Coffee Machines Business Introduction...Section 4 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Region Level)4.1 North America Country4.1.1 United States Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.1.2 Canada Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.2 South America Country4.2.1 South America Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.3 Asia Country4.3.1 China Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.3.2 Japan Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.3.3 India Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.3.4 Korea Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.4 Europe Country4.4.1 Germany Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.4.2 UK Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.4.3 France Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.4.4 Italy Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.4.5 Europe Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.5 Other Country and Region4.5.1 Middle East Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.5.2 Africa Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.5.3 GCC Capsule Coffee Machines Market Size and Price Analysis 2013-20164.6 Three Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Region Level) Analysis 2013-20164.7 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Region Level) AnalysisSection 5 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Product Type Level)5.1 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Product Type Level) Market Size 2013-20165.2 Different Capsule Coffee Machines Product Type Price 2013-20165.3 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Product Type Level) AnalysisSection 6 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Industry Level)6.1 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Industry Level) Market Size 2013-20166.2 Different Industry Price 2013-20166.3 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Industry Level) AnalysisSection 7 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Channel Level)7.1 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Channel Level) Sales Volume and Share 2013-20167.2 Global Capsule Coffee Machines Global Capsule Coffee Machines Market Segmentation (Channel Level) AnalysisContinue.For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comBuy 1-User PDF@ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028. Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings Market Report for Period 2012 till 2022 Chugoku Marine Paints, PPG Industries, Jotun, Sherwin-Williams, Hempel and Others Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings Market https://goo.gl/7V2Lww https://goo.gl/7V2Lww https://goo.gl/7V2Lww http://marketreportscompany.com Global Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely PPG Industries, Chugoku Marine Paints, Sherwin-Williams, AkzoNobel, Jotun, Hempel and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:AkzoNobelJotunHempelPPG IndustriesChugoku Marine PaintsSherwin-WilliamsOthersGlobal Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings Market: Key Channel TypeTwo Components TypeThree Components TypeOthersGlobal Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings Market: Key Application TypeShipsUnderwater structuresOthersGlobal Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings Market. 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The Global Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Product1.2.1.1 Two Components Type1.2.1.2 Three Components Type1.2.2 by Channel1.2.2.1 Ships........................Continue (Global Silicone-based Fouling Release Coatings Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Side Shaft Market Report for Period 2012 till 2022 Hyundai-wia, Siemens Healthineers, Neapco, Nexteer, JTEKT and Others Side Shaft Market https://goo.gl/Ti55eo https://goo.gl/Ti55eo https://goo.gl/Ti55eo http://marketreportscompany.com Global Side Shaft market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Nexteer, KOFCO, Wanxiang, Neapco, JTEKT, Guansheng, GKN, NTN, Hyundai-wia and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Side Shaft Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:GKNNTNHyundai-wiaNexteerKOFCOWanxiangNeapcoJTEKTGuanshengOthersGlobal Side Shaft Market: Key Product TypeRear Side ShaftFront Side ShaftOthersGlobal Side Shaft Market: Key Application TypeRWDFWD4WDOthersGlobal Side Shaft Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Side Shaft Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Side Shaft 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 Global Side Shaft 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Product1.2.1.1 Rear Side Shaft1.2.1.2 Front Side Shaft1.2.2 by Application........................Continue (Global Side Shaft Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Copper Strips Market Report for Period 2017 till 2022 Mitsubishi Shindoh, GB Holding, Wieland, Poongsan and Others Copper Strips Market https://goo.gl/gPeD3j https://goo.gl/gPeD3j https://goo.gl/gPeD3j http://marketreportscompany.com Global Copper Strips Market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Mitsubishi Shindoh, GB Holding, Wieland, Poongsan and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2023, etc.Copper is a light metal with outstanding malleable and ductile properties. It possesses high thermal and electrical conductivity. It is widely used in numerous industrial and antibacterial applications high malleability property of copper and ease of application in machineries during fabrication procedures enables high production rate of precise copper strips at relatively lower cost as compared to its substitutes.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Copper Strips Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:AurubisKMEMitsubishi ShindohGB HoldingWielandPoongsanCHALCOMKMJintian GroupFurukawa ElectricXingye CopperAnhui XinkeCNMCDowa MetaltechOthersGlobal Copper Strips Market: Key Product Type10mm Copper StripsOthersGlobal Copper Strips Market: Key ApplicationMachinesArchitecture and ArtElectric AppliancesOthersGlobal Copper Strips Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Copper Strips Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Copper Strips 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 Global Copper Strips 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Copper Strips Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 10mm Copper Strips1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Machines1.3.2 Architecture and Art1.3.3 Electric Appliances1.3.4 Others1.4 Market Analysis by Regions.......................Continue (Global Copper Strips Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Ship Plate Market Report for Period 2012 till 2022 SD Steel, Xinyu Steel, Hyundai, ArcelorMittal, POSCO, JFE Steel, Chongqing Steel and Others Ship Plate Market https://goo.gl/xRkarZ https://goo.gl/xRkarZ https://goo.gl/xRkarZ http://marketreportscompany.com Global Ship Plate market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Ansteel, Nanjing Steel, Dongkuk, SD Steel, Xinyu Steel, Hyundai, ArcelorMittal, Shougang Group, POSCO, JFE Steel, NSSMC, Baosteel, Valin Xiangtan Steel, Chongqing Steel and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Ship Plate Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:POSCOJFE SteelNSSMCBaosteelValin Xiangtan SteelChongqing SteelAnsteelNanjing SteelDongkukSD SteelXinyu SteelHyundaiArcelorMittalShougang GroupOthersGlobal Ship Plate Market: Key Product TypeGeneral Strength Ship PlateHigh Strength Ship PlateOthersGlobal Ship Plate Market: Key Application TypeTankersBulk CarriersContainer ShipsChemical ShipsOthersGlobal Ship Plate Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Ship Plate Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Ship Plate 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 Global Ship Plate 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Product1.2.1.1 General Strength Ship Plate1.2.1.2 High Strength Ship Plate1.2.2 by Application1.2.2.1 Tankers1.2.2.2 Bulk Carriers1.2.2.3 Container Ships1.2.2.4 Chemical Ships1.2.3 by Regions........................Continue (Global Ship Plate Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Scoop Stretcher Market Report for Period 2011 till 2023 JZhangJiaGang RongChang, Byron, OrientMEd International FZE, Oscar Boscarol, Red Leaf, Ferno and Others Scoop Stretcher Market https://goo.gl/dcqDKQ https://goo.gl/dcqDKQ https://goo.gl/dcqDKQ http://marketreportscompany.com Global Scoop Stretcher market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Zhangjiagang Xiehe Medical, ZhangJiaGang RongChang, Hebei Pukang Medical, Zhangjiagang New Fellow Med, EMS Mobil Sistemler, Etac, Genstar Technologies Company, Red Leaf, Ferno, ME.BER., Byron, OrientMEd International FZE, Oscar Boscarol, PVS SpA, ROYAX and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.The scoop stretcher (or clamshell, Roberson orthopedic stretcher, or just scoop) is a device used specifically for moving injured people. It is most frequently used to lift people who may have a spinal cord injury from the ground, either due to unconsciousness or in order to maintain stability in the case of trauma.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Scoop Stretcher Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:FernoME.BER.ByronOrientMEd International FZEOscar BoscarolPVS SpAROYAXZhangjiagang Xiehe MedicalZhangJiaGang RongChangHebei Pukang MedicalZhangjiagang New Fellow MedEMS Mobil SistemlerEtacGenstar Technologies CompanyRed LeafOthersGlobal Scoop Stretcher Market: Key Product TypeAluminumPlasticOthersGlobal Scoop Stretcher Market: Key Application TypeEmergency DepartmentSportsMortuaryOthersGlobal Scoop Stretcher Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Scoop Stretcher Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Scoop Stretcher 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 Global Scoop Stretcher 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Type1.2.1.1 Aluminum1.2.1.2 Plastic1.2.1.3 Other........................Continue (Global Scoop Stretcher Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Compounding Pharmacy Market Report for Period 2017 till 2022 Advanced Pharma, Doughertys Pharmacy, Institutional Pharmacy Solutions and Others Compounding Pharmacy Market https://goo.gl/2W2WAZ https://goo.gl/2W2WAZ https://goo.gl/2W2WAZ http://marketreportscompany.com Global Compounding Pharmacy Market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Advanced Pharma, Doughertys Pharmacy, Institutional Pharmacy Solutions and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2023, etc.The traditional role of compounding pharmacies is to make drugs prescribed by doctors for specific patients with needs that cant be met by commercially available drugs. For exampleA young child may need a small, liquid dose of a drug made only in adult-dosage tablets.A person may be allergic to one of the ingredients in the commercial version of a drug.A compounding pharmacy would make the proper dosage and form of the drug without any offending ingredients.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Compounding Pharmacy Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:FagronWedgewood PharmaCAPSFresenius KabiPharMEDium ServicesCantrell DrugAdvanced PharmaDoughertys PharmacyInstitutional Pharmacy SolutionsLorraines PharmacyVillage Compounding PharmacyTriangle Compounding PharmacyOlympia PharmacyOthersGlobal Compounding Pharmacy Market: Key Product TypePharmaceutical ingredient alteration (PIA)Pharmaceutical application alteration (PAA)Currently unavailable pharmaceutical manufacturing (CUPM)Pharmaceutical dosage alteration (PDA)Specialized animal pharmaceutical manufacturing (SAPM)OthersGlobal Compounding Pharmacy Market: Key ApplicationConsumers aged 18 and youngerConsumers aged 19 to 44Consumers aged 45 to 64Consumers aged 65 and olderOthersGlobal Compounding Pharmacy Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Compounding Pharmacy Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Compounding Pharmacy 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 Global Compounding Pharmacy 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Compounding Pharmacy Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Pharmaceutical ingredient alteration (PIA)1.2.2 Pharmaceutical application alteration (PAA)1.2.3 Currently unavailable pharmaceutical manufacturing (CUPM)1.2.4 Pharmaceutical dosage alteration (PDA)1.2.5 Specialized animal pharmaceutical manufacturing (SAPM)1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Consumers aged 18 and younger1.3.2 Consumers aged 19 to 441.3.3 Consumers aged 45 to 641.3.4 Consumers aged 65 and older1.4 Market Analysis by Regions.....................Continue (Global Compounding Pharmacy Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 World Veterinary Imaging Market is expected to reach US$ 1204.3 million at CAGR of 4.7% by 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2919 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/veterinary-imaging-market-2919 Veterinary Imaging Market information, by type (Radiology, Ultrasound, CT scan, Endoscopy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Others), by application (Orthopedic, Dental, Oncology, Cardiology, and others); by type of animal (Canines, Felines), by End User (Veterinary Hospitals and clinics, Research centers, and others) - Forecast to 2023Market Synopsis of Veterinary Imaging Market:Market Scenario:Veterinary is the branch of medicine which concern with prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases or injuries in animals. Veterinary imaging is the process or technique of getting visual image of interior parts of animal body for clinical purpose. These devices helps veterinarian in diagnosis and treatment of animal. These devices are designed according to use of it, some of devices are designed for general use while some are designed for a specific type of surgery or operation. Increasing awareness, pet adoption, changing disease pattern in animals and geographic differences are driving the growth for the veterinary imaging market. Veterinary imaging devices manufacturers are investing money in R&D to develop innovative and advance products for the market. Veterinary imaging market is growing steadily. The global veterinary Imaging market in 2016 was about US$ 873.2 million and expected to reach US$ 1204.3 million at CAGR of 4.7% by 2023.Get a sample report atStudy objectives of Veterinary Imaging Market: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 6 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Veterinary imaging market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To analyze the Veterinary Imaging market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective To provide country level analysis of the market for segments by product type, by application, by animal, by end user and its sub-segments. To provide overview of key players and their strategic profiling in the market, comprehensively analyzing their core competencies, and drawing a competitive landscape for the market. To track and analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the global Veterinary Imaging marketSegments:Veterinary Imaging market has been segmented on the basis of type which comprises Radiology, Ultrasound, CT scan, Endoscopy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Others. On the basis of application, the market is segmented into Orthopedic, Dental, Oncology, Cardiology, and others. On the basis of animal market segmented into Canines and Felines. On the basis of end user, market is segmented into Veterinary Hospitals and clinics, Research centers, and others.Regional Analysis of Veterinary Imaging Market:Considering the global scenario of the market, North America is believed to be the largest market for Veterinary Imaging. Moreover the European market is also growing and second largest market for Veterinary Imaging. On the other hand, Asia-Pacific market is expected to grow at the fastest pace in the Veterinary Imaging during the forecasted period. Rest of the World is likely to have a limited but steady growth in the market.Key Players for Veterinary Imaging Market:Some of the key players in this market are: Atlantis Worldwide (US), Canon Inc. (Japan), Diagnostic Imaging Systems, Inc. (US), Fujifilm Holdings Corporation (Japan), GE Healthcare (US), Hitachi, Ltd (Japan), Medical Imaging / IMCO, Inc. (US), Sectra (Sweden), Siemens AG (Germany), Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Japan).Browse complete report atThe report for Veterinary Imaging market of Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain the deeper insight of the market and industry performance. The report gives the clear picture of current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro economical and governing factors in the market. The report provides details information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions.BRIEF TOC1. Report Prologue2. Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Market Structure2.4. Market Segmentation3. Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation3.5 Forecast Model4. Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restraints4.3 Opportunities4.4 Mega Trends4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators5. Market Factor Analysis5.1 Value Chain Analysis5.2 Porters Five Forces5.3 Demand & Supply: Gap Analysis5.4 Pricing Analysis5.5 Investment Opportunity Analysis5.6 Merger And Acquisition Landscape5.7 Upcoming Trends5.7.1 Market Trends5.7.2 Technological Trends5.7.3 Insurance & Regulations5.7.4 OthersAbout 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 usMarket Research FutureMaharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@Marketresearchfuture.Com Compound Semiconductor Market Report for Period 2011 till 2023 Mitsubishi Chemical, Sanan Optoelectronics, Dow Corning and Others Compound Semiconductor Market https://goo.gl/kxvWWC https://goo.gl/kxvWWC https://goo.gl/kxvWWC http://marketreportscompany.com Global Compound Semiconductor Market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Mitsubishi Chemical, Sanan Optoelectronics, Dow Corning and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2023, etc.Compound semiconductors are semiconductors that are made from two or more elements. Silicon is made from a single element, and therefore is not a compound semiconductor.Most compound semiconductors are from combinations of elements from GroupIII and GroupV of the Periodic Table of the Elements (GaAs, GaP, InP and others). Other compound semiconductors are made from Groups II and VI (CdTe, ZnSe and others). It is also possible to use different elements from within the same group (IV), to make compound semiconductors such as SiCRequest for Free Sample Copy of Global Compound Semiconductor Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:IQE PLCSumitomo Electric IndustriesSCIOCSMitsubishi ChemicalSanan OptoelectronicsDow CorningShin-Etsu ChemicalDOWAFreibergerJX Nippon Mining MetalsOthersGlobal Compound Semiconductor Market: Key Product TypeGallium Arsenide (GaAs)Gallium Nitride (GaN)Silicon Carbide (SiC)OthersGlobal Compound Semiconductor Market: Key ApplicationElectronic ComponentsPhotonic DeviceOptoelectronic DevicesIntegrated CircuitOthersGlobal Compound Semiconductor Market: Key RegionAsia-PacificNorth AmericaEuropeSouth AmericaMiddle East AfricaThe Global Compound Semiconductor Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Compound Semiconductor 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 Global Compound Semiconductor 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Type1.2.1.1 Gallium Arsenide (GaAs)1.2.1.2 Gallium Nitride (GaN)1.2.1.3 Silicon Carbide (SiC)1.2.1.4 Others1.2.2 by Application1.2.2.1 Electronic Components1.2.2.2 Photonic Device......................Continue (Global Compound Semiconductor Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Commercial Microwave Ovens Market Report for Period 2025 LG, Samsung, Toshiba, Bosch, Breville and Others Commercial Microwave Ovens Market https://goo.gl/mgQTXq https://goo.gl/mgQTXq https://goo.gl/mgQTXq http://marketreportscompany.com Global Commercial Microwave Ovens Market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely LG, Samsung, Toshiba, Bosch, Breville and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2023, etc.Commercial microwaves are constructed with higher quality materials and designed for superior durability compared to a typical residential microwave. They are also designed for much more frequent and heavy use than a home model. A commercial microwave will typically have a much higher power output than a residential microwave.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Commercial Microwave Ovens Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:GalanzMideaPanasonicSHARPWhirlpoolElectroluxSiemensGE(Haier)LGSamsungToshibaBoschBrevilleMajor applications as follows:Food Service IndustryFood IndustryOthersGlobal Commercial Microwave Ovens Market: Key ApplicationFood Service IndustryFood IndustryOthersGlobal Commercial Microwave Ovens Market: Key RegionAsia-PacificNorth AmericaEuropeSouth AmericaMiddle East & AfricaThe Global Commercial Microwave Ovens Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Commercial Microwave Ovens 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 Global Commercial Microwave Ovens 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Global Market Overview1.1 Scope of Statistics1.1.1 Scope of Products1.1.2 Scope of Manufacturers1.1.3 Scope of Application1.1.4 Scope of Regions/Countries1.2 Global Market Size2 Regional Market2.1 Regional Production2.2 Regional Demand2.3 Regional Trade3 Key Manufacturers3.1 Galanz3.1.2 Company Information3.1.2 Product Specifications.......................Continue (Global Commercial Microwave Ovens Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Agricultural Rollers Market Report for Period 2011 till 2023 Walter-watson, McConnel, Fleming, Rite Way, Horsch and Others Agricultural Rollers Market https://goo.gl/u3Qfrq https://goo.gl/u3Qfrq https://goo.gl/u3Qfrq http://marketreportscompany.com Global Agricultural Rollers market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Degelman, Bach-Run Farm, Remlinger, Walter-watson, McConnel, Ag SHIELD, Horsch, Great Plains, Fleming, Rite Way and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.The roller must be one of the simplest agricultural implements in farming today. It is used to flatten land and also to break up the large clods of soil that are often left behind after ploughing. Initially t were pulled by draft animals, but today agricultural rollers are pulled by tractors as trailed implements.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Agricultural Rollers Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:HorschGreat PlainsFlemingRite WayDegelmanBach-Run FarmRemlingerWalter-watsonMcConnelAg SHIELDOthersGlobal Agricultural Rollers Market: Key Product TypeHydraulic RollersNon-Hydraulic RollersOthersGlobal Agricultural Rollers Market: Key Application TypeAgricultural CerealsAgricultural GrasslandOthers (cotton, corn, etc.)OthersGlobal Agricultural Rollers Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Agricultural Rollers Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Agricultural Rollers 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 Global Agricultural Rollers 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Type1.2.1.1 Hydraulic Rollers1.2.1.2 Non-Hydraulic Rollers1.2.2 by Application1.2.2.1 Agricultural Cereals1.2.2.2 Agricultural Grassland1.2.2.3 Others (cotton, corn, etc.)1.2.3 by Regions........................Continue (Global Agricultural Rollers Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Commercial Helicopter Market Report for Period 2011 till 2023 Robinson Helicopter Company, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Others Commercial Helicopter Market https://goo.gl/FtifPu https://goo.gl/FtifPu https://goo.gl/FtifPu http://marketreportscompany.com Global Commercial Helicopter Market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Robinson Helicopter Company, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2023, etc.Rising use of helicopters in transportation, touring, and VIP movement has fuelled the demand for helicopters over the past few years. Helicopters can be employed in emergency situations as well, since t offer enormous manoeuvrability especially in small space and can reach to any affected area avoiding all the traffic on road as well as any natural calamity such as earthquake and flood. Moreover, these helicopters are equipped with passenger seats, better sound proofing capabilities, and air conditioning. Manufacturers are trying to make more visually appealing, carpeted interior and glossy finished commercial helicopters.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Commercial Helicopter Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.AVIC Helicopter CompanyLockheed Martin Corporation (Sikorsky)Airbus Helicopter (Airbus Group)Leonardo S.p.A.MD Helicopters Inc.Russian Helicopters, JSCRobinson Helicopter CompanyKorea Aerospace Industries LtdHindustan Aeronautics LtdEnstrom Helicopter CorporationOthersGlobal Commercial Helicopter Market: Key Product TypeLight Helicopter (< 4.5 T)Medium Helicopter ( 4.5 to 8.5 T)Heavy Helicopter (> 8.5 T)OthersGlobal Commercial Helicopter Market: Key ApplicationGeological ExplorationHydropower ConstructionAgriculture IndustryOthersGlobal Commercial Helicopter Market: Key RegionAsia-PacificNorth AmericaEuropeSouth AmericaMiddle East AfricaThe Global Commercial Helicopter Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Commercial Helicopter 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 Global Commercial Helicopter 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Type1.2.1.1 Light Helicopter (< 4.5 T)1.2.1.2 Medium Helicopter ( 4.5 to 8.5 T)1.2.1.3 Heavy Helicopter (> 8.5 T)1.2.2 by Application1.2.2.1 Geological Exploration.......................Continue (Global Commercial Helicopter Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution Market Report for Period 2011 till 2023 Siemens, General Electric, Schneider Electric, Eaton and Others Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution Market https://goo.gl/z8vtDu https://goo.gl/z8vtDu https://goo.gl/z8vtDu http://marketreportscompany.com Global Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely ABB, Eaton, Hager, Chint Group, Schneider Electric, Siemens, General Electric and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.The role of the low voltage power distribution system in a building of any kind is to receive electrical power at one or several supply points and to deliver it to individual electrically operated devices. The importance of the power distribution system to the proper function of a building makes it highly critical, meaning the best system and its protection is vital.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:Schneider ElectricSiemensGeneral ElectricABBEatonHagerChint GroupOthersGlobal Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution Market: Key Product TypeFixed TypeDrawer TypeOthersGlobal Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution Market: Key Application TypePower PlantIndustrial SitesCommercial SitesOthersGlobal Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution 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 Global Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Type1.2.1.1 Fixed Type1.2.1.2 Drawer Type1.2.2 by Application1.2.2.1 Power Plant1.2.2.2 Industrial Sites1.2.2.3 Commercial Sites1.2.2.4 Others........................Continue (Global Brazil Low Voltage Power Distribution Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Smart Water Management Market Report for Period 2011 till 2023 Elster (Honeywell), Zenner, Ningbo Water Meter, Arad Group (Master Meter), Kamstrupand, Siemens, Roper Industries(Neptune) Others Smart Water Management Market https://goo.gl/bC6vHf https://goo.gl/bC6vHf https://goo.gl/bC6vHf http://marketreportscompany.com Global Smart Water Management market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Kamstrup, Jiangxi Sanchuan, Suntront Tech Co., Ltd, Badger Meter Inc, Iskraemeco, Arad Group (Master Meter), Huizhong Instrumentation Co., Ltd, Zenner, Ningbo Water Meter, Sensus, Itron, Elster (Honeywell), Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG, Landis+Gyr, Roper Industries(Neptune), Siemens and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.The report counts the information and data about smart water meters. A smart meter is usually an electronic device that records consumption of electric energy in intervals of an hour or less and communicates that information at least daily back to the utility for monitoring and billing. Smart meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system. Unlike home energy monitors, smart meters can gather data for remote reporting. Such an advanced metering infrastructure differs from traditional automatic meter reading in that it enables two-way communications with the meter.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Smart Water Management Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:SensusItronElster (Honeywell)Diehl Stiftung & Co. KGLandis+GyrRoper Industries(Neptune)SiemensKamstrupJiangxi SanchuanSuntront Tech Co., LtdBadger Meter IncIskraemecoArad Group (Master Meter)Huizhong Instrumentation Co., LtdZennerNingbo Water MeterOthersGlobal Smart Water Management Market: Key Product TypeAMR MetersAMI MetersOthersGlobal Smart Water Management Market: Key Application TypeResidential UseCommericial UseIndustrial UseOthersGlobal Smart Water Management Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Smart Water Management Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Smart Water Management 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 Global Smart Water Management 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Type1.2.1.1 AMR Meters1.2.1.2 AMI Meters1.2.2 by Application1.2.2.1 Residential Use1.2.2.2 Commericial Use1.2.2.3 Industrial Use1.2.3 by Regions........................Continue (Global Smart Water Management Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Reed Switch Market Report for Period 2012 till 2022 Harbin Electric Group, Zhejiang Xurui, Nippon Aleph, Littelfuse (Hamlin), RMCIP, HSI Sensing, Coto and Others Reed Switch Market https://goo.gl/Czc8Pm https://goo.gl/Czc8Pm https://goo.gl/Czc8Pm http://marketreportscompany.com Global Reed Switch market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely HSI Sensing, Coto, PIT-RADWAR, PIC, STG, Harbin Electric Group, Zhejiang Xurui, OKI, Littelfuse (Hamlin), RMCIP, Standex-Meder, Nippon Aleph and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Reed Switch Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:OKILittelfuse (Hamlin)RMCIPStandex-MederNippon AlephHSI SensingCotoPIT-RADWARPICSTGHarbin Electric GroupZhejiang XuruiOthersGlobal Reed Switch Market: Key Product TypeBy FormForm AForm BForm COthersGlobal Reed Switch Market: Key Application TypeReed RelaysMagnetic SensorsOthersGlobal Reed Switch Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Reed Switch Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Reed Switch 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 Global Reed Switch 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Product1.2.1.1 Form A1.2.1.2 Form B1.2.1.3 Form C........................Continue (Global Reed Switch Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Iron Chelation Drug Market Report for Period 2017 till 2023 Cipla (India), Natco Pharma (India), Apotex Inc. (Canada) and Others Iron Chelation Drug Market https://goo.gl/ZLLm6M https://goo.gl/ZLLm6M https://goo.gl/ZLLm6M http://marketreportscompany.com Global Iron Chelation Drug market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely Novartis (Switzerland), Sun Pharma (India), Natco Pharma (India), Apotex Inc. (Canada), Cipla (India) and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.The rationale behind using Iron chelation therapy is removing the increased iron burden specifically labile cell iron (LCI) to minimize production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) thereby decreasing cellular and organ damage. Patients most likely to benefit from chelation therapy include those with low or intermediate-1 IPSS risk MDS who have a long-life expectancy and are anticipated to receive more than 20 red blood cell transfusions and/or whose serum ferritin level is >1000 microgram/L. Chelation therapy efficacy can be monitored by monitoring trends and levels of serum ferritin.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Iron Chelation Drug Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:Apotex Inc. (Canada)Cipla (India)Novartis (Switzerland)Sun Pharma (India)Natco Pharma (India)OthersGlobal Iron Chelation Drug Market: Key Product TypeDeferoxamineDeferiproneDeferasiroxOthersGlobal Iron Chelation Drug Market: Key Application TypeTransfusional Iron OverloadNTDT Caused Iron OverloadOthersGlobal Iron Chelation Drug Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Iron Chelation Drug Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Iron Chelation Drug 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 Global Iron Chelation Drug 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Type1.2.1.1 Deferoxamine1.2.1.2 Deferiprone1.2.1.3 Deferasirox1.2.2 by Application........................Continue (Global Iron Chelation Drug Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Prostate Cancer Diagnostics Market Report for Period 2012 till 2022 Beckman Coulter, Myriad Genetics, Genomic Health, Abbott, DiaSorin and Others Prostate Cancer Diagnostics Market https://goo.gl/S4tjoW https://goo.gl/S4tjoW https://goo.gl/S4tjoW http://marketreportscompany.com Global Prostate Cancer Diagnostics market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely bioMeriux, Roche, MDx Health, Beckman Coulter, Myriad Genetics, Ambry Genetics, Genomic Health, Abbott, OPKO, Siemens Healthcare, DiaSorin and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Prostate Cancer Diagnostics Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:Genomic HealthAbbottOPKOSiemens HealthcareDiaSorinbioMeriuxRocheMDx HealthBeckman CoulterMyriad GeneticsAmbry GeneticsOthersGlobal Prostate Cancer Diagnostics Market: Key Product TypeTumor Biomarker TestsImagingBiopsyOthersGlobal Prostate Cancer Diagnostics Market: Key Application TypeA PeriodB PeriodC PeriodD PeriodOthersGlobal Prostate Cancer Diagnostics Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Prostate Cancer Diagnostics Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Prostate Cancer Diagnostics 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 Global Prostate Cancer Diagnostics 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Product1.2.1.1 Tumor Biomarker Tests1.2.1.2 Imaging1.2.1.3 Biopsy1.2.2 by Application........................Continue (Global Prostate Cancer Diagnostics Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Paint Sprayer Market Report for Period 2011 till 2023 HomeRight, Dino-power, BLACK& DECKER, Wilhelm Wagner, Walther Pilot, Larius, Fuji Spray, Golden Juba and Others Paint Sprayer Market https://goo.gl/NDExoX https://goo.gl/NDExoX https://goo.gl/NDExoX http://marketreportscompany.com Global Paint Sprayer market report provides detailed analysis of companies namely ECCO FINISHING, RIGO, Shanghai Telansen, HomeRight, Dino-power, Chongqing Changjiang, Fuji Spray, Golden Juba, Airprotool, Wagner, Graco, BLACK& DECKER, Wilhelm Wagner, Walther Pilot, Larius and Others. This report study includes global market statistics and analysis for example, company performance, historical analysis 2012 to 2016, market forecast 2017 to 2023 in terms of volume, revenue, YOY growth rate, and CAGR for the year 2017 to 2022, etc.The Paint Sprayer is an accessory that, when equipped, automatically applies paints to objects when placing them.Request for Free Sample Copy of Global Paint Sprayer Market 2017Top Company Profiles and Analysis included in this report:WagnerGracoBLACK& DECKERWilhelm WagnerWalther PilotLariusECCO FINISHINGRIGOShanghai TelansenHomeRightDino-powerChongqing ChangjiangFuji SprayGolden JubaAirprotoolOthersGlobal Paint Sprayer Market: Key Product TypeAirless Paint SprayerHVLP Paint SprayerOther Types Paint SprayerOthersGlobal Paint Sprayer Market: Key Application TypeConsumer ApplicationContractor ApplicationIndustrial ApplicationOther ApplicationsGlobal Paint Sprayer Market: Key RegionNorth America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Others)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia and Others)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia and Others)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Others)The Global Paint Sprayer Market analysis report provides detailed value chain for analysis of Global Paint Sprayer 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 Global Paint Sprayer 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.Enquire before Buying @Table of Contents:1 Market Overview1.1 Objectives of Research1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Specifications1.2 Market Segment1.2.1 by Type1.2.1.1 Airless Paint Sprayer1.2.1.2 HVLP Paint Sprayer1.2.1.3 Other Types Paint Sprayer1.2.2 by Application1.2.2.1 Consumer Application1.2.2.2 Contractor Application1.2.2.3 Industrial Application1.2.2.4 Other Applications1.2.3 by Regions........................Continue (Global Paint Sprayer Market Research Industry Report is prepared with the help of extensive primary and secondary sources, directories, journals, newsletters and with the help of third-party application like Hoovers, Factiva, Bloomberg, Businessweek, etc.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. We can provide market insights for any particular region, country across the globe within shortest possible turn around time.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 Global Specialty Snacks Market Report 2017 Key Players are Diamond Foods, LLC, Calbee, Inc., General Mills Inc Specialty Snacks Market, Specialty Snacks, Specialty Snacks Size, Specialty Snacks Segmentation https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3514 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/specialty-snacks-market-3514 Global Specialty Snacks Market Research Report- Forecast till 2023Global Specialty Snacks Market Information- By Product Type (Chips & Crisp, Nuts & Seed Snack, Snack Bars, Bakery Snacks, Popped Snacks and others), By Ingredients (Grains, Cereals, Fruits & Vegetables, Edible Nuts & Seed, and others), By Functionality (Organic, Gluten Free, Fortified, and, others), By Packaging (Pouches, Boxes, Cans, Cartons, and others), By Distribution Channel (Store Based & Non Store Based) and By Region Specialty Snacks Market Forecast Till 2023Request a Sample Report @Study Objectives of Specialty snacks MarketIn depth analysis of the markets segments and sub-segmentsTo estimate and forecast market size by product type, ingredients, functionality, packaging, distribution channel, and regionTo analyse key driving forces influencing the marketRegion level market analysis and market estimation of North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world (ROW) and their countriesValue chain analysis & supply chain analysis of the marketCompany profiling of major players in the marketCompetitive strategy analysis and mapping key stakeholders in the marketAnalysis of historical market trends and technologies along with the current government regulatory requirementsMarket Synopsis of Specialty Snacks:Market Scenario:Specialty foods are made in small quantities and used high quality ingredients in order to provide high value items. Specialty snacks are made with different types of rich ingredients. These snacks offer significant vitamins, low saturated fat & low sodium content and include nuts & seeds, low fat dairy products, and lean cheese and many more.The global Specialty snacks market is anticipated to be driven by the per capita disposable income coupled with the changing lifestyles of the consumer in developed as well as in developing economies over the last few years. Due to the increasing disposable income of the consumers and they are ready to pay extra price in order to acquire the premium quality products. The growing health and wellness awareness among the consumers is also anticipated to be one of the significant factors of the rising growth of specialty snacks market during the forecast period.Key Findings:Europe dominates the specialty snacks market followed by North AmericaAsia Pacific is projected to witness a massive growth during the forecast period of 2017-2023SegmentsSpecialty snacks market has been segmented on the basis of product type which comprises of chips & crisp, nuts & seed snack, snack bars, bakery snacks, popped snacks, and others. Among the product type, chips & crisp accounts to more than one third of the in the global specialty snacks market. Specialty snacks market has been segmented on the basis of ingredients which comprises of grains, cereals, fruits & vegetables, edible nuts & seed, and others. Specialty snacks market has been segmented on the basis of functionality which comprises of organic, gluten free, fortified, and other products. Specialty snacks market has been segmented on the basis of distribution channel which comprises of store based and non-store based. Store based comprises of supermarkets & hypermarkets, convenience stores, specialty retailers, and others. Specialty snacks market has been segmented on the basis of packaging namely pouches, boxes, cans, cartons, and others.Regional AnalysisThe Global Specialty Snacks Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). Among these, Europe is estimated to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period of 2017-2022. This is attributed by the increasing awareness of the healthy food habits and increasing disposable income of the consumers. Also, various new and innovative snack products are launched by the key manufacturers in the European countries which is anticipated to intensify the sales of specialty snacks market in the upcoming decade. North America region is estimated to account healthy market proportion during the review period of 2017-2023.Key PlayersThe key players profiled in the Specialty snacks market are:Kraft Heinz Foods Company (U.S.)ConAgra Foods, Inc. (U.S.)Diamond Foods, LLC (U.S.)Calbee, Inc. (Japan)General Mills Inc. (U.S.)Kellogg Company (U.S.)Blue Diamond Growers, Inc. (U.S.)Table of Content:Executive Summary2. Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objectivs2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Markets Structure2.4 Stakeholders3. Research Methodology3.1 Research Product Type3.2 Secondary Research3.3 Primary Research3.4 Forecast Model3.5 Market Size Estimation4. Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restraints4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges5. Market Trends5.1 Trends In Supply/Production5.2 Trends In Demand/Consumption5.3 Emerging Markets (Supply & Demand)5.4 Emerging Brands5.5 Trade (Import-Export) Analysis5.6 Innovations In Products/Product Type5.7 Macroeconomic Indicators Analysis For Top 5 Producing Countries6. Market Factor Analysis6.1 Introduction6.2 Value Chain Analysis6.3 Porters Five Forces6.4 Supply Chain AnalysisThe Specialty Snacks Market is Segmented under the following regions:North AmericaUSCanadaEuropeEuropeGermanyFranceItalySpainUKRest of EuropeAsia-PacificChinaIndiaAustraliaSingaporeRest of Asia PacificRest of the worldBrazilArgentinaSaudi ArabiaSouth AfricaOthersThe report for Global Specialty Snacks 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 and key opinion leaders to gain a deeper insight into the market and industry performance. The report gives a clear picture of the 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 detailed information and strategies of the top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different markets segments and regions.Browse Complete reportAt 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.Office No. 524/528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar Global Argan Oil Market Healthy Report 2017 Key Players are Zineglob SARL, Argan Liquid Gold, Nadifi Argan Oil Argan Oil Market, Argan Oil, Argan Oil Size, Argan Oil Segmentation https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3752 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/argan-oil-market-3752/ Global Argan Oil Market Research ReportSummaryGlobal Argan Oil Market Information- by Type (Natural, Organic), by Application (Food, Personal Care Products, Aromatherapy, others), by Distribution Channel (Supermarket/Hypermarket, Specialty Retailers, Convenience Stores, E-commerce, Others) and by Region Forecast till 2023Market Synopsis of Argan Oil:Market Definition:Argan oil is extracted from the kernels of argan tree which is found in Morocco. Argan oil has multi-purpose use which makes it more popular among the consumers. Major application of argan oil is found in food and personal care products. Argan oil is used for culinary purpose as it gives a unique flavor to the food. Healthy constituent such as antioxidants, beta amyrine, butyrospermol and lupenol Healthy fats found in argan oil also tend to increase its market value among the health conscious consumers. Argan oil is used in cosmetics and personal care products due to its high anti-oxidant value and rich vitamin-E content. The product is now widely used in aromatherapy and spa as it helps in nourishment of the skin and also exfoliates it.Market Scenario:Increasing health consciousness and awareness among the consumers about healthy oils have a major impact on the argan oil market. The multi-purpose application of argan oil across various industries is also driving the market of argan oil globally. Mass market penetration is leading to introduction of new products and their retail across various regions. High focus on Research and Development has led to innovations and in the product line which has fueled up the market share of argan oil in global market. High demand for food products with enhanced nutritional value is also supporting the sale of argan oil globally.Request for Sample Report @Among the various sources of argan oil, natural sourced argan oil is evaluated to hold a major share. In addition, due to increased demand for chemical-free products the sale of organic argan oil is anticipated to experience surge. Based on various applications, share of personal care products is found to be dominant followed by aromatherapy. Based on the distribution channel, sale through supermarkets and hypermarkets retailers is found to hold a major share owing to one-stop purchase and easy availability of the desired product through the channel.Study Objectives of Argan Oil Market: Detailed analysis of the markets segments and sub-segments To estimate and forecast market size by source, application, distribution channel & region To analyze key driving forces influencing the market Region level market analysis and market estimation of North America, Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world (ROW) and their countries Value Chain Analysis & Supply Chain Analysis of Argan Oil Company profiling of major players in the market Competitive strategy analysis and mapping key stakeholders in the market Analysis of historical market trends and technologies along with current government regulatory requirementsKey Findings: Market share of organic argan oil is found to be growing at a higher rate during the forecast period Top exporters of argan oil include Morocco, Spain, Italy, U.K., and FranceSegments:Argan Oil has been segmented on the basis of source which comprises of natural and organic. Natural sourced argan oil is found to hold a major share due to high consumer preference and lack of awareness about the organic oil properties.Argan Oil has been segmented on the basis of application which include food, personal care products, aromatherapy, others. Personal care products holds a lions share among the various applications based on its skin nourishing properties.Argan Oil has been segmented on the basis of distribution channel which comprises supermarket/hypermarket, specialty retailers, convenience stores, e-commerce, others. Sale through supermarket/hypermarket is growing at a higher growth rate backed up by a convenient shopping experience of the consumers.Regional Analysis:The Global Argan Oil Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (ROW). Middle East and Africa region covered in Rest of the World and has the major market share followed by North America. Developing economy has led to an increase in disposable income due to which Middle East region is projected to generate a high revenue during the given forecast period. The changing consumer preferences for healthy and natural products will support the sale of argan oil in various region during the forecast period. The major importers of argan oil include Morocco, U.S., the Netherlands, China, U.K., and Japan. Based on the higher demand for personal care products especially in female population, the import and export of argan oil in the developed countries is found to rise at a steady rate.Key Players:The key players profiled in the Global Argan Oil Market are Groupe Olvea (France) Zineglob SARL (Morocco) Argan Liquid Gold (U.K.) Nadifi Argan Oil (Morocco) Sidi Yassine (Morocco) Vima Souss (Morocco) Malak Bio (Morocco)The Global Argan Oil Market is segmented under the following regions mentioned below:North America U.S. Canada MexicoEurope Germany France Italy Spain U.K. Rest of EuropeAsia-Pacific China India Australia Japan Rest of Asia PacificRest of the world Morocco Saudi Arabia South Africa OthersThe report for Global Argan Oil 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 a clear picture of the current market scenario which includes historical and projected market size in terms of value and volume, technological advancement, macro-economic and governing factors in the market. This report provides a detailed 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.Browse Access Report @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.Office No. 524/528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar Halitosis Treatment Market US $ 22,153.4 Billion At CAGR 8.58% Expected To Reach by 2023 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3758 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/check-discount/3758 The Global Halitosis Treatment Market report explores by type (pathologic halitosis, others), by indication (respiratory, liver, kidney, gastrointestinal, systemic, others), by diagnostic tests (halimeter, gas chromatography, BANA Test, -galactosidase activity assay, others), by drug treatment (antacids, antiseptics, ranitidine, others) - Global forecast till 2023.Get Sample PDF @Halitosis is a clinical condition characterized by unpleasant odor present in the mouth due to various periodontal and chronic diseases. It has become a social problem affecting large number of people across the world. The most common cause of halitosis is lack of oral hygiene and lack of awareness about diagnosis of this disease. Halitosis treatment market is expected to show a massive growth due to availability of a wide range of dental health care products, increasing geriatric population and rising prevalence of periodontal diseases. The global halitosis treatment market is expected to reach USD 22,153.4 billion by 2023, and the market is projected to grow at a healthy CAGR of 18.58% during the forecast period 2017-2023.Regional Analysis: The global halitosis treatment market is segmented into four main regions namely America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa.The Americas account for a significant market share owing to rising prevalence of gum diseases and extensive use of oral care products such as toothpastes, mouth washes, mouth sprays, etc. In 2013, in the US, USD 810 million was spent for halitosis treatment.Europe is the second largest market in the world whose growth is attributed to an increase in awareness regarding halitosis and products available for its treatment. Furthermore, increasing demand for new oral care products influence the market growth.Asia Pacific region is expected to grow rapidly due to rising prevalence of chronic diseases such diabetes, respiratory diseases, kidney or liver failure with the increasing population. Rising geriatric population suffering from these diseases also contribute to the market growth.In the Middle East & Africa, the market is expected to witness a moderate growth owing to poor economic conditions, and lack of awareness about oral health.Key players of Global Halitosis Treatment Market: Key players profiled in the report are Colgate-Palmolive Company (U.S), All USA Partners LLC (U.S), Dr. Harold Katz, LLC (U.S), Rowpar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (U.S), Abbott (U.S), Listerine (U.S), AstraZeneca (U.S).Get Discount @Major TOC Halitosis Treatment Market:Research methodologyMarket dynamicsMarket factor analysisGlobal Halitosis Treatment market, by typesGlobal Halitosis Treatment market, by sensor placementGlobal Halitosis Treatment market, by applicationGlobal Halitosis Treatment market, by regionCompetitive landscapeCompany profileMarket Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Jim Messina was the White House Deputy Chief of Staff of Operations under President Obama from 2009 to 2011. Senior Advisor to the president, Dan Pfeiffer, called Messina the most powerful person in Washington that you havent heard of in 2012. The Obama veteran is a mainstay in Democratic circles. If the column ended here, youd look at my title, shake your head, and mutter something about Paste being too hard on the Democrats again (we do it because we want them to win, by the way). But alas, it is 2017, and five years is plenty of time to ruin a reputation. Walker Bragman wrote a piece in Paste on June 14th of this year titled Is Jim Messina the Worlds Worst Political Consultant? The U.K.s special election marks the third political battle Jim Messina has been on the losing side of recently. As The Financial Times reported, the consultant was paid 276,000 by David Camerons anti-Brexit Remain campaign, and 400,000 by Italys former Prime Minister for help with his constitutional reform effort. Incidentally, those defeats were so embarrassing they both resulted in the resignation of his employer. The answer is a resounding yes, and yesterdays referendum in Catalonia voting in favor of statehood stacked another L on top of Messinas impressive streak. From June 2016: Congrats to client Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy & PP for their decisive & expanded victory. Jim Messina (@Messina2012) June 27, 2016 Just under 90% of voters (42.3% turnout) backed the push for Spains richest region to declare independence. Prime Minister Rajoy responded by sending police to polling stations, where they injured hundreds of people while trying to stop them from voting. So Jim Messina traveled across the pond to help keep the UK in the EU (narrator: he didnt), tried to aid Italys constitutional reform (haha nope), then backed conservative candidate Theresa May in the UKwhose call for an unnecessary election and subsequent blowing of a 25 point lead to Jeremy Corbyn solidified her as the modern image of hubris. His lone winner in the major European centers sent police out to injure hundreds of his citizens yesterday, all in the name of restricting their right to vote. If youre still wondering how the Democratic Party lost to Trump, these European defeatsand Jim Messina himselfare instructive. Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling. North Central hosting court dedication, home basketball openers Friday PETOSKEY North Central Michigan College has had quite a few history making moments come through the school and athletic program over the last year, particularly the last few months. The Moment - The Birth Of Freeride - Official Trailer: The Bulldog and The Pups: Max McCulloch - Classic V2: Remy Metailler - Kamloops Bike Ranch: 11-Year-Old Ryan Griffith Shreds Whistler: Austrian Airtime: Lil Niks Offseason - Episode I: Ben Chandler - Start Of Something: NZDH Rotorua - Big Bike Mobbin' Amir Kabbani - Raw 60 - My Slope: US Open of Mountain Biking 2017: Unfiltered 1 - CPH feat. Anthony Perrin and Kilian Roth: Sean Ricany - Cultcrew 2017: Live Free or Die - Trailer: Dylan Siggers - 2017: Sean Pettit - 2017: Being - Vicki Golden: Being - Rodney Mullen: Epicly Later'd - Heath Kirchart: Skidsville: A film about the birth of freeride mountain biking. Featuring: Brett Tippie, Richie Schley, Wade Simmons, Chris Lawrence, Dave Swetland, Andrew Shandro, Dangerous Dan, Todd "The Digger" Fiander, Christian Begin, Bjorn Enga, and more! PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR KICKSTARTER! Brook Macdonald leads some of the groms from the Spawn Cycles team on laps at Coast Gravity Park.Max shredding some of his local trails and hucking some very questionable doubles and triples. Thanks to the builders.Maybe the best line I have ever ridden. Props to the builder and community.Ryan Griffith became the youngest person to send Crabapple Hits at the young age of 10. Now at 11, he's hitting them with style.Riding jumps with friends is always a good time.After a hectic race season local SoCal ripper, Nikolas Nestoroff, cruises his hometown trails.Video: Tom Forsey Films.Featuring a host of local and international level talent, including Keegan Wright, Brook Mac, and Matt Walker.A little video project realized with the help of Nico Gilles, Christian Weinmann, and myself. Turn up the volume, lean back, and enjoy the sounds of bikes.The US Open of Mountain Biking 2017 at Mountain Creek Bike Park in Vernon. Congratulations to Neko Mulally on taking the win!Anthony Perrin and Kilian Roth exploring Copenhagen, Denmark during some challenging weather days in August. A video series that highlights the raw side of a BMX trip. The struggle, achievements, noise, peace, challenges, injuries, languages, architectures, cultures, weather, food, people, traffic, travel and jet lag.Ricany getting tech.A Stew Johnson production featuring Clint, Matty, Nutter and Co. is currently underway.2017 shots from the upcoming series by The Burrrlapz, ''Vibes and Stuff.''Pettit had one heck of a winter.Since her debut in Moto X Best Whip at X Games Los Angeles 2013, Vicki Golden has been steadily breaking barriers throughout the motocross world. "World of X Games" takes an inside look at Golden's rise through the ranks in "Being."Take a look inside the most inventive mind in skateboarding, and how overcoming fear and doubt shaped him into becoming one of the most well known innovators and thinkers in the world today.A true skate legend.There's a reason we all love bikes. Because bikes are awesome.Title Photo by: Robb Thompson To check out videos submitted by fellow Pinkbike members that didn't quite make Movie Mondays here Last month the Fanohge Coalition sent a simple survey to all candidates seeking to represent Guam in I Liheslaturan Guahan, as its attorney ge Read more19 candidates take stand on CHamoru self-determination, future status, Marine buildup PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-02 07:43:36 Press Information Transparency Market Research Contact Us Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Rohit Bhisey Internet Marketing Head 5186181030 email http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com # 1003 Words Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: www.transparencymarketresearch.com/Internet Marketing Head5186181030 Global Bioprocess Antifoam Market: SnapshotChemical antifoaming agents are used for the destruction of excessive foam in biological processes. This is because foaming can transform into major problem at the time of large-scale recombinant protein bioprocesses. Antifoams are available in several forms with a range of properties and varied foam destruction capabilities, with the ones needed several times becoming depleted over time.Request Sample Copy of the Report@Antifoaming agents may contain surfactants that may include hydrophobic solids dispersed in carrier oil, liquid single components or solids, and aqueous suspensions or emulsions. Antifoams can affect the growth rates of prokaryotic as well as eukaryotic organisms along with changing surface properties such as lipid content which results in change in permeability.On the other hand, certain concentrations of antifoams are related to detrimental effect on cells and protein production. The effects of these concentrations are dependent on the protein being expressed. This emphasizes the importance of optimizing the concentration of antifoams for bioprocesses. However, very less information is available regarding the biological effects of antifoaming agents and most of it is not recent.Present research suggests that antifoams can have wide effects on bioprocesses, which includes the culture environment as well as the cells. This requires a detailed evaluation of these agents. This is mainly because antifoams are generally added without due regard to their potential biological impact on processes.Antifoams can be divided into fast and slow antifoams that depends on their mechanism of foam destruction. While slow antifoams are often oils that destroy foam over a relatively longer period of time, fast antifoams are usually mixed agents that enter the foam films.Bioprocess antifoam market generally encounters an issue during the biological process which is excessive foaming. Bioprocess antifoam market thus requires a foam control agent, termed as antifoam. An antifoam can be actively used during fermentation or any other process when foaming is an inherent issue. Foaming can disrupt a process as the foam comprises of tiny bubbles which are of mechanical or chemical origin and it interrupts in proper aeration of the cell culture.It is to be noted that an antifoam should meet the need of fermentation industry, perform highly, should possess low toxicity, with neutral odors and taste. Bioprocess antifoam market industry is currently facing many advancements with product developments and advancements. Manufacturers are focusing to develop products with high performance, low toxicity, neutral odors & taste, safe to use, silicone free, easily sterilized, and cost effective. On the basis of various products types available we can segment the bioprocess antifoam market into the following:Water-basedOil-basedSilicone-basedOthers (Ethylene Oxide and Propylene Oxide)The above products are segmented on the basis of their derived sources and we can also segment the bioprocess antifoam market on the composition and type of antifoaming agents available:Silicone Polymeralkoxylated fatty acid ester/vegetable basepolypropylene glycolpolyethylene glycolssilicone oilpolyalkylene glycolResearch shows that antifoams can have different effects on the biological process and hence it is to be ensured before choosing an antifoaming agent for a process. These effects can either be positive such as increasing the volumetric yield of protein, or negative as any growth defect encountered during the production. Silicone based antifoams are projected to be the highest growing market as they offer low surface tension, chemically inert, thermally stable, and completely insoluble in water. The applications of antifoams are not restricted to pharmaceutical industry, as these agents can be actively utilized in food and beverages industry, pulp and paper industry, oil and gas industry, water treatment, detergents, food and beverage, paints and coatings, textile and many others. As the industry is growing it faces various challenges which restraint the market, the use of oil based antifoams and water based antifoams can affect the cell cultures, the silicone based antifoams can also disrupt the culture and hence it is used in small ratios.Based on geography, the bioprocess antifoam market can be segmented into five major regions: North Americas bioprocess antifoam market, Europes bioprocess antifoam market,, Asia-Pacifics bioprocess antifoam market, Latin Americas bioprocess antifoam market,, and Middle East-Africas bioprocess antifoam market. At present, North America observes a leading position in the bioprocess antifoam market, followed by Europe. The major driving factors which have driven the growth of the bioprocess antifoam market, in this region is that the growing demand of the product, high growth of the end use industries, and high manufacturing. Asia-Pacific is anticipated to be an emerging player as various countries like China, Japan and India are emerging with large number of industries, growth in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and increased number of domestic players. Key companies have adopted various new strategies such as new product launches, technological advancements as manufacturing companies are moving their focus towards less volatile products which is increasing the growth of the bioprocess antifoam market.Request TOC of the Report@It is anticipated that with in the coming years there will be an entry of various players along with the existing well-established players in the bioprocess antifoam market. Some of the key companies operating in the bioprocess antifoam market are, Accepta, Bluestar Silicones International, Dow Corning Corporation, Air Products and Chemicals Inc, Ashland, Inc, Evonik Industries AG., and Kemira Oyj. These players are anticipated to stretch their operations through mergers and acquisitions in the coming years making a high market impact which help them to increase their market share in bioprocess antifoam market.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. PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-02 07:44:02 Press Information Transparency Market Research Contact Us Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Rohit Bhisey Internet Marketing Head 5186181030 email http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ # 626 Words Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: www.transparencymarketresearch.com/Internet Marketing Head5186181030 Over the past few years, rise in hazardous accidental cases among children has become a prime concern for manufacturers of medicinal products packaging. Hence, to decrease the mortality rate ratio, child-resistant closures has been developed by the manufacturers. Child resistant closures, one of the security purpose closures, signifies the last barrier, has an important part to play in solving the problems created between the infant and the packaged content. They are subjected to test methods which are enacted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). Packaging manufacturers are aimed to produce closures with child resistant security in accordance with government regulations to prevent potential hazardous to children. Although, for this type of safety packaging, awareness among industries has been increased, knowledge about the subtleties and differences is often lacking. However, child-resistant closures has reduced child mortality from the accidental intake of oral prescription drugs. Henceforth, this million dollar industry is expected to register impressive CAGR near in the future.Request Sample Copy of the Report@Child-Resistant Closure Market: Drivers & RestraintsChild resistant closures market is expected to grow exponentially in the near future, primarily due to the growing awareness among consumers, rising demand for drug packaging in pharmaceutical industry are some of the major drivers of the global child-resistant closures market. Government regulatory procedures like FDA in some of the key nations has led a positive impact on this industry. Though the market seems optimistic in coming years, but preventing children from gaining easy access to medicinal products will not be easy to overcome. However, the global child-resistant closures market is expected to witness upward development during the forecast period 20162024, primarily due to rise in packaging industry.Child-Resistant Closure Market: SegmentationOn the basis of child-resistant closure type, the global child-resistant closure market is segmented into,Reclosable child-resistant closureNon-reclosable child-resistant closureOn the basis of types of caps, the global child-resistant closure market is segmented into,Screw capsROPP capsSnap on capsOthersOn the basis of packaging type, the global child-resistant closure market is segmented into,Strip packsPush and turn CapsTurn and liftSqueeze and turnOthersChild-Resistant Closure Market: Region-wise outlookOn the basis of geography, the global child-resistant closures market is divided into five regions that includes North America, Europe, Asia pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa Demands for child-resistant closures market is expected to generate from developed economies including North America and Europe as the United states of America was the first country to introduce this technology. Government concern towards providing healthcare solutions and key innovation driven by some of the major industry leaders in this region is expected to boost the overall sales of child-resistant closures in North America and Europe. More than 50% of the demand for child-resistant closures is expected to generate from North America and Europe. Asia pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa are in the next trail.Request TOC of the Report@Child-Resistant Closure Market: Key-PlayerSome of the key market players in child-resistant closures are ABA Packaging Corp., Ace Paper Tube Corp, Berlin Packaging, Berry Plastics Corp., American Star Cork Co. Inc, Airlite Plastics Corp., All American Containers Inc., Cincinnati Container Co., Crown Packaging International Inc., Cobra Plastics Inc, Continental Glass & Plastic Inc., Glass Vials Inc. and many others.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geography, technology and applications. PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-02 07:43:45 Press Information Transparency Market Research Contact Us Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Rohit Bhisey Internet Marketing Head 5186181030 email http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ # 827 Words Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: www.transparencymarketresearch.com/Internet Marketing Head5186181030 Glenoid implants are mainly used for hemiarthroplasty. Hemiarthroplasty involves replacing just the joint surface of the humeral head with a cap-like prosthesis without a stem. In shoulder replacement surgery, the damaged parts of the shoulder are removed and replaced with artificial components, called a prosthesis. The treatment options are either replacement of just the head of the humerus bone (ball), or replacement of both the ball and the socket called Glenoid. Implanting the glenoid in a proper orientation is essential for long-term stability of the prosthesis. A malpositioned glenoid may have compromised fixation due to inadequate bony support or incomplete implant seating and may be subjected to increased torques on the fixation surface. The other causes for Glenoid implants are Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, degenerative arthritis, Rotator Cuff Tear Arthroplasty, Avascular Necrosis, and Severe Fractures etc. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, about 53,000 people in the U.S. have shoulder replacement surgery each year. Implantation of a glenoid component is not advised if the glenoid has good cartilage, the glenoid bone is severely deficient, and the rotator cuff tendons are irreparably torn. Glenoid Implants are available in different size, such as small, medium, large and XL. Glenoid involvement in degenerative arthritis varies depends on the type of arthritic process affecting the glenohumeral. For Instance, inflammatory arthritis is associated with central glenoid erosion. The extent and location of glenoid wear should be assessed preoperatively with axillary radiographs, axial CT scans and through the glenohumeral joint, or 3D CT reconstructions.Request Sample Copy of the Report@Achieving long-term fixation of the glenoid is a primary goal in total shoulder arthroplasty. Several methods of fixation have been attempted, including cemented, noncemented, and hybrid or minimally cemented devices. Cemented pegged and keeled components are used most commonly and are provide the most predictable fixation. Noncemented glenoids rely upon mechanical interlock and biologic integration, typically by screw fixation or a combination of screw or press-fit pegs, or both, to achieve an initial fixation that facilitates long-term bone in-growth/on-growth. According to center of disease control and prevention the prevalence of diagnosed arthritis is expected to increase among US population in the coming decades. By the year 2040, an estimated 78 million adults aged 18 years and older will have diagnosed with arthritis, compared with the 52.5 million adults in 2010-2012.Glenoid Implant System Market: Drivers and RestraintsFactors such as Growing prevalence of symptomatic shoulder arthritis, increased patient awareness, technological advancement and expanded medical education and surgeon adoption of total shoulder replacement will fuel the overall glenoid implant market globally. According to National Health Interview Survey, 22.7 million (9.8% of all adults) have arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitation. Factors such as glenoid component loosening, pricing pressure, improper handling of implants are the factors will hinder the total glenoid implant market globally. Glenoid loosening is associated with increased pain, decreased shoulder function, and the need for revision surgery.Glenoid Implant Systems Market: SegmentationThe global Glenoid implant systems market is classified on the basis of product type, Size, end user and regional presence.Segmentation based on product type:Pegged GlenoidsKeeled GlenoidsSegmentation based on Size:SmallMediumLargeXLSegmentation based on end user:HospitalsClinicsOrthopedic Surgery CentersGlenoid Implant Systems Market: Regional OverviewGeographically, the global glenoid implant systems market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America dominates the glenoid implant systems market due to rising obese population. North America is followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a highest rate due to fast disease progression, higher prevalence, improving healthcare infrastructure, economic growth, broadening insurance coverage, expanding private healthcare sector, and increasing awareness amongst people. Glenoid Implant device markets experienced a slowdown in 2012 in Japan, caused by reimbursement protocols instituted by the Japanese government.Request TOC of the Report@Glenoid implant Systems Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players operating in the market for global Glenoid implant are Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Zimmer, Tornier, Inc., Biomet, Exactech, Lima Corporate, Arthrex, Inc., Integra LifeSciences, DePuy Synthes, while there are a range of other smaller players as well. DePuy Synthes and Tornier represent more than half of the total market size due to its most diversified and innovated portfolios. DePuy and Tornier are expected to be the leading players in the arena for another five yearsThe report covers exhaustive analysis on:Market SegmentsMarket DynamicsMarket SizeSupply & DemandCurrent Trends/Issues/ChallengesCompetition & Companies involvedTechnologyValue ChainRegional analysis includesNorth America (U.S., Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil)Western Europe (Germany, Italy, U.K, Spain, France, Nordic countries, BENELUX)Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, Rest Of Eastern Europe)Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand)JapanMiddle East and Africa (GCC, S. Africa, N. Africa, Rest Of MEA) Agriculture Drones Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Agriculture Drones industry with a focus on the Chinese market. Research Trades PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-02 14:58:13 Press Information Research Trades Office No.10, Wing C, Rajhans, Baner, Pune-45, India Pranav Shelar Sr. Business Development Manager +1 6269994607 (US) email http://www.researchtrades.com/report/global-and-chinese-agriculture-drones-industry-2017-market-rese # 450 Words Office No.10, Wing C, Rajhans, Baner, Pune-45, IndiaSr. Business Development Manager+1 6269994607 (US) - Festive Month Offer -20% discount on purchase of reports from 1st October to 31st October.For more offers post 31st October, kindly contact us. * Terms & Conditions apply!!Contact No. : +16269994607 (US),/+91 7507349866 (IND)Email: sales@ researchtrades.com Agriculture Drones Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Agriculture Drones industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Agriculture Drones 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.Browse complete report at https://www.researchtrades.com/report/global-and-chinese-agriculture-drones-industry-2017-market-research-report/1236802 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 Agriculture Drones 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 Agriculture Drones Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2012-2022 global and Chinese Agriculture Drones industry covering all important parameters.Any special requirements about this report, please let us know and we can provide custom report.Chapter One Introduction of Agriculture Drones Industry1.1 Brief Introduction of Agriculture Drones1.2 Development of Agriculture Drones Industry1.3 Status of Agriculture Drones IndustryChapter Two Manufacturing Technology of Agriculture Drones2.1 Development of Agriculture Drones Manufacturing Technology2.2 Analysis of Agriculture Drones Manufacturing Technology2.3 Trends of Agriculture Drones Manufacturing TechnologyRequest for sample at https://www.researchtrades.com/request-sample/1236802 Chapter Three Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers3.1 Company A3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Product Information3.1.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.1.4 Contact Information3.2 Company B3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Product Information3.2.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.2.4 Contact Information3.3 Company C3.2.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Product Information3.3.3 2012-2017 Production Information3.3.4 Contact InformationWho we are:Research Trades has team of experts who works on providing exhaustive analysis pertaining to market research on a global basis. This comprehensive analysis is obtained by a thorough research and study of the ongoing trends and provides predictive data regarding the future estimations, which can be utilized by various organizations for growth purposes. We distribute customized reports that focus on meeting the clients specific requirement. Our database consists of a large collection of high-quality reports obtained using a customer-centric approach, thus providing valuable research insights. PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-02 09:05:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 405 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 Begins Diamond Drilling Program at Keymet Precious Base Metal Property Bathurst, New BrunswickTo 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: October 02, 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.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-02 08:00:13 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 385 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary, Alberta (FSCWire) - Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (TSX Venture:XOP). has issued a press release with the following headline:[[37]]2.5 million Common Share OfferingTo 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 Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited, 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/Canadian Overseas Petroleum LimitedSource: Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (TSX Venture: XOP, LSE: COPL, WKN: A1C29E, ISIN: CA13643D1078)Date: October 02, 2017Time: 2:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-10-02 07:43:17 Press Information Transparency Market Research Contact Us Transparency Market Research 90 State Street, Suite 700 Albany, NY 12207 Tel: +1-518-618-1030 USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453 Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Website: www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Rohit Bhisey Internet Marketing Head 5186181030 email http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com # 639 Words Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: www.transparencymarketresearch.com/Internet Marketing Head5186181030 Technological advancement coupled with feasibility in packaging protection has changed the scenario of the packaging industry over the course of time. Since time immemorial, manufacturers and producers are coming up with different solutions to enhance and protect their products from any unauthorized access, which in turn makes consumers not only meet their needs but also surpass their expectations. Tamper- evident adhesives are one of the evolving technology in adhesives, which offers cost-effective and innovative packaging solutions for specific applications such as pharmaceutical packaging. From the security point of view, tamper evident is the best solution to the packaging industry as it help deter theft while providing convenient asset-tracking abilities for more efficient asset application. Both of these benefits produce real cost savings for industries. This multi- million dollar industry is growing at a fast speed in order to meet consumers demand. For instance, some pharmaceutical manufacturers are focusing in product innovating and adding up more technologies into tamper-evident adhesives in order to improve the security of pharma box packs. By which, the adhesive will leave a clear visible evidence of tampering.Request Sample Copy of the Report@Tamper-evident Adhesives Market: Drivers and RestraintsConstant advancement in the pharmaceutical packaging market has experienced a double digit growth, which in turn has led the growth of tamperevident adhesives market as it deliver a product protection and security needs. Furthermore, the repetitive cases of counterfeiting from the past few years in the pharmaceutical industry is fuelling the tamper-evident adhesives market. For instance, according to WHO, almost 10% of medicines are counterfeit across the globe, which has become a major concern for the food and drug manufacturers.Additionally, some features that is unacceptable for tamper evident adhesives are the type of materials which are being used in adhesives, such as polystyrene, cellulose and thermal plastics do not offer adequate evidence of tampering on the product, which in turn can be a major challenge to the tamper evident adhesives manufacturers.Tamper-evident Adhesives Market: SegmentationThe global tamper evident adhesives is differentiated on the basis of application, adhesives types and technology, that isTamper-evident adhesives by application:Spare partsLuxury goodsPharmaceutical productsWines and spiritsChemical drumsOthersTamper-evident adhesives by adhesive types:Permanent adhesivesRemovable adhesivesRepositionable adhesivesCold temperature adhesivesTamper-evident adhesives by technologyWater basedSolvent basedHot-meltReactiveOthersTamper-evident Adhesives Market: Regional LandscapeOn the basis of region, tamper-evident adhesives finds its market possibility in North America, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, Europe and Asia-Pacific. North America and Europe dominates the tamper-evident adhesives, however, Asia Pacific is expected to be the most promising region in terms of incremental prospects lying ahead for generating high revenue. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are on the trail. Tamper-evident adhesives market is highly regulated in North America and Europe. India and China are the key promising countries driving the tamper-evident adhesives market in Asia-Pacific.Request TOC of the Report@Tamper-evident Adhesives Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players of the global tamper-evident adhesives market are 3M Company, Dupont, KRUSE ADHESIVE TAPE, tesa UK Ltd., Avery Dennison, Nordson Corporation, IRPLAST S.p.A., protectaseal ltd, Stickythings Limited., Palmetto Adhesives, Horizons, Inc and DUNMORE.Going through these points, there is no doubt that tamper evident adhesives market hold good footprint in market in the near future, henceforth, is expected to grow at impressive CAGR during the forecast period, 20162024.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geographies, types and applications. 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. In response to Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico on September 20, a number of agents, editors, and authors in the childrens book community and beyond have joined together to hold an online talent auction in support of Puerto Ricans affected by the storm. All proceeds for the #PubforPR auction, which runs through October 5, will go to local charity organizations, Unidos por Puerto Rico and ConPRmetidos. #PubforPR The cause began to take shape on September 24, when a group of five authors and publishing professionalsNova Ren Suma, Patrice Caldwell, Mara Delgado, Carrie DiRisio, and Kara Thomaslearned of the devastation caused by the storm. Thomas, a YA author, told PW, I had been talking privately with friends about how frustrated we were with the lack of government response to the situation in Puerto Rico. Thomas later connected with fellow members of the childrens book community, in response to DiRisios tweet about starting a charity auction. So many other writers were replying to the thread, asking if they could help, she said. We mobilized via email and came up with a plan for approaching agents, editors, and authors for donations. Once we reached out, the response was enormous. Over the course of the last week, #PubforPR has grown to include many more authors, editors, and literary agents, including Dahlia Adler, Patrice Caldwell, Mara Delgado, Carrie DiRisio, Sierra Elmore, Dana Alison Levy, Lily Meade, Jim McCarthy, Joy McCullough, Yamile Saied Mendez, Claribel Ortega, Emily X.R. Pan, Elana Roth Parker, Kara Thomas, Nova Ren Suma, Mekisha Telfer, and Marietta B. Zacker. Author Mara Delgado, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico, was eager to lend her support. She took on the role of vetting relief organizations, with author Yamile Saied Mendez. From the beginning, before #PubforPR was born, Id been looking into the aid organizations that were popping up, Delgado said. The group decided to raise money for Unidos por Puerto Rico and ConPRmetidos because, she explained, All of us at #PubforPR wanted the funds to go directly to the island. Both of these organizations are in Puerto Rico and understand what Puerto Rico needs at this time and in the months, maybe years [ahead]. Marietta B. Zacker of Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency, who is also from Puerto Rico, said that the project has very much been a collaborative effort. It was immediately evident that anyone would do whatever it took. And we had the skills to do it: reaching out to potential donors, creating the website, organizing and thinking through it all. Much of the fundraising efforts have taken place through social media and direct outreach to connections in the field. A lot of us reached out to our own contacts. I was focusing in on creatives with a tie to Puerto Rico; I knew it would be important to them, she said. Patrice Caldwell, associate editor at Disney-Hyperion, whose family is from Texas, was inspired by the scope of Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Houston; however, she said, I didnt see that happening in Puerto Rico at all. She was part of the initial Twitter thread that got #PubforPR rolling. I dont think it couldve happened without Twitter, she said. Caldwell cited middle grade author Kate Messners KidLit Cares auction for Texas as a model for the effort. She also noted that the initiative has spread beyond the YA community, to include adult authors, editors, and booksellers. Agent Jim McCarthy, v-p at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, came on board when Caldwell invited him and his colleagues to donate items. She pulled me into this big, wonderful group of women who had already gotten so much accomplished. Ive been trying to do more: asking editors and agents not already on our list for additional donations, he said. The community has turned out hugely for the cause. To date, more than 250 editors and authors have donated auction items, including manuscript critiques, books, and artwork. Though the team has had to put a cap on the number of auction items, Zacker encouraged individuals who werent able to donate to seek out other charitable causes, and to help spread the word about the auction. #HelpandHopeforPuertoRico Meanwhile, YA author Sara B. Larson, who recently organized #HelpandHopeforHouston to raise money for Hurricane Harvey victims, has reprised her online charity auction. In this case, all proceeds will go directly to relief in Puerto Rico. Larson said of the decision to bring back the auction, As the footage and stories of devastation and lack of help in Puerto Rico started rolling in, I couldnt stop thinking about needing to do more. The final impetus was when my friend Jessica, who moved from Utah to Puerto Rico with her four children, asked for help raising money and collecting supplies that would go directly to those in need. The success of her efforts for Houston, which raised more than $23,000, provided a foundation for the new initiative. After the incredible response for #HelpandHopeforHouston, I just knew we had to try once more to do what we could to help. The response, according to Larson, has been inspiring. Ive had many authors and donors tell me that the auctions have given them a way to do something. As in the previous auction, donations included signed books, Skype visits from authors, critiques, having a character named after oneself in a forthcoming book, and more. The auction ran September 29October 1 on Instagram. To date, the auction has brought in nearly $9,000. Donations are open through Venmo, @islandhurricanehelp, and PayPal, PayPal.me/islandhurricanehelp. Readers may contact the PubforPR team at pubforpr@gmail.com for more information. Virginia bookstore hosts grand opening; U.K. booksellers prep for new Pullman; inside Amsterdam's book stores; a Hong Kong store shutters; and more. Virginia Bookstore Opens this Week: Bard's Alley bookstore in the town of Vienna is opening this week. U.K. Bookstores Plan Midnight Parties for Pullman: Several bookstores will open at midnight to sell copies of Philip Pullmans La Belle Sauvage when it is published October 19. Novelists Love Writing About Bookstores: The Bradenton Herald in Florida writes about the many mystery novels that have bookstores as settings. Hong Kong Bookstore Shutters: Flowbooks, one of few independent bookstores in Hong Kong, has closed. A Survey of Amsterdam's Bookstores: The Dutch Wannabe blog offers a list of 30 bookstores to visit in Amsterdam. Over 150 media, including many major international broadcasters, registered at Mediapros International Press and Broadcasting Centre (IPBC) in Barcelona ahead of the Catalan referendum. The referendum to decide whether Catalonia will become a separate country from Spain and the escalating tension between the Madrid and Barcelona governments in recent weeks have driven international attention towards the region.According to Mediapro , which established the IPBC to assist national and international media in their coverage of the voting, around 400 journalists from 150 media requested its services.Over 70 TV stations from 50 countries have also requested the live TV feed broadcast from the IPBC, where Catalan politicians have been giving press conferences and a number of political actions took place over the weekend.Among the broadcasters registered at the facilities are the UKs BBC , Al Jazeera, Press TV, Rai, Sky Italia, Russias Channel One, Colombias Canal 4, Chiles Mega and Japans Nikkei. Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used. Azerbaijani authorities say they arrested more than 80 people last month who offered "sexual services," following reports by international rights groups that the government had rounded up dozens of members of the country's gay community. The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry and Prosecutor-General's Office issued a joint statement on October 1 saying that 83 people were detained in raids from September 15 to September 30, based on "requests from citizens." "The reason for the detentions were offers of sexual services to locals and tourists," the statement said. It added that 56 of those detained were ordered to be held for various periods of time, 18 were fined for administrative offenses, and the other nine were warned. Of the 56 who were detained, the government statement said 32 were sent to a "treatment center" to care for "various venereal diseases," including six suffering from AIDS. It said none of those detained were currently in jail. The statement comes after numerous reports by rights activists of a state crackdown against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Amnesty International said last week that more than 100 members of Azerbaijan's LGBT community had been detained and that 48 were sentenced to up to 20 days behind bars. Several of those who said they were detained reported being beaten in custody and not allowed to select their own attorneys, the London-based watchdog said. "Clearly, LGBT community representatives were exclusively targeted in this raid and this was a blatant intimidation attempt by the authorities," said Amnesty, also calling for Azerbaijani officials to release everyone who had been arrested. The government statement denied that LGBT people were targeted but said, rather, that the detentions were carried out to address "violations of public order." Council of Europe Secretary-General Daniel Holtgen said in a statement on October 1 that "this discrimination against sex and other minorities is contrary to the European Convention of Human Rights" and added that LGBT members had the "same rights as others" that should be "respected" by Azerbaijan. Samed Ragimly, an activist who coordinates legal defense for those detained by the government, told the AFP news agency that those who had been arrested were officially accused of "resisting police" and received up to 30 days in jail. Ragimly said two of those jailed "admitted" to engaging in prostitution but that the others had various other professions and "have nothing to do with prostitution." Azerbaijan, which is rich in oil, has been accused by rights group in recent years of authoritarian policies under President Ilham Aliyev. With reporting by AFP Five days after Ramazan Abdulatipov announced he would step down prematurely as Republic of Daghestan head, the Kremlin has still not named an acting successor. That delay is all the more odd in that Russian President Vladimir Putin has already named temporary successors for four other federation-subject heads who resigned last week: Nikolai Merkushkin (Samara Oblast), Valery Shantsev (Nizhegorod Oblast), Igor Koshkin (Nenets Autonomous Okrug), and Viktor Tolokonsky (Krasnoyarsk Krai). The most likely explanation for the continued uncertainty is that Abdulatipov went public with his announcement before Putin had selected a candidate to replace him. That is plausible insofar as the man whom most observers have identified as the most likely choice is rumored to have refused several times already to accept the job. Sergei Melikov, 52, made his career in the Interior Ministry Internal Forces, as did his father, who was a Lezgin (the fourth-largest ethnic group in Daghestan). In May 2014, Putin appointed Melikov presidential envoy to the North Caucasus Federal District; two years later, he named him a first deputy director of the newly created National Guard. Two Daghestani analysts, Khanzhan Kurbanov and Gadzhimurad Sagitov, have stressed to the news portal Regnum the importance of selecting a candidate who is not connected with or vulnerable to pressure from any of the republic's powerful "clans" or economic interest groups. Sagitov, who is chief editor of the independent newspaper Novoye Delo, advocated appointing "a young person not connected with the clans, a good manager and organizer...not necessarily from a business background, but it's important that he should maintain an equal distance from all the republic's interest groups." In that respect, Sagitov said, Melikov might be ideal. But the power and influence wielded by those various clans, some of them believed to be headed by senior government officials, is said to be the reason Melikov has rejected the job three times. The new republic head should also, Sagitov continued, be capable of rejuvenating the leadership, galvanizing the economy, and attracting badly needed investment. Qualifications There are two possible obvious factors that could influence Putin's choice. The first is the unwritten rule that the post of Daghestan leader is held alternately by representatives of the republic's two largest ethnic groups: Avars and Dargins. Abdulatipov is an Avar; his predecessor, Magomedsalam Magomedov, is a Dargin. Some analysts have therefore suggested Magomedov, who since 2012 has served as a deputy head of the Russian presidential administration, may return to Makhachkala to his former post. Other Dargin candidates tipped for the post are Federation Council Deputy Speaker Ilyas Umakhanov and businessman Mukhtar Medzhidov, who served as prime minister under Abdulatipov from February to late July 2014. All three men, however, are identified with specific interest groups. But in light of Putin's apparent indifference to the complex issue of nationality relations (on which Abdulatipov has written widely), there has been speculation that the president will ignore the informal requirement that Abdulatipov's successor be a Dargin. Among the various non-Dargins identified as possible candidates are two representatives of the security services: Interior Minister Lieutenant General Abdurashid Magomedov (a Lezgin) and Lieutenant General Shamsutdin Dagirov (a Kumyk), who heads the Federal Fire-Fighting Service Academy. According to journalist Milrad Fatullayev, Oleg Belaventsev, who replaced Melikov as presidential envoy to the North Caucasus, is actively lobbying for Dagirov. But in light of the demise of the North Caucasus insurgency over the past four to five years, Putin may consider the arguments for naming a "silovik" as republic head less compelling than the need for resolute measures to crack down on the large-scale corruption and embezzlement of budget funds for which the republic is seen by some as a byword. If Putin's primary concern is indeed stopping the hemorrhaging of cash from Daghestan's budget, it arguably makes sense to name as republic head an outsider who is not vulnerable to pressure from the various clans. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Khloponin, who was Melikov's predecessor as presidential envoy to the North Caucasus and thus knows the region well, has been identified as a possible candidate, but the post would be a demotion for him and it is questionable whether he is ruthless enough. Abdulatipov himself told Daghestan's parliament on September 28 that he suggested to Putin several potential successors. But Daghestani journalists have expressed doubt that Putin would be guided by Abdulatipov in making his choice. Fatullayev makes the point that "many of Putin's personnel appointments are totally unexpected and unpredictable, given that he makes decisions based on motives known only to himself." Sagitov similarly told the news portal Caucasian Knot that without the benefit of inside information from a member of the Russian presidential administration, trying to predict whom Putin will name as Abdulatipov's successor is about as scientific as reading coffee grounds. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL Lawyers say the authorities in Russia-controlled Crimea have detained four Crimean Tatars on suspicion of extremism in what activists and the Ukrainian government said was part of a discriminatory campaign targeting members of the Muslim group. The Federal Security Service (FSB) branch in Crimea, which Russia occupied and seized from Ukraine in 2014, said on October 2 that several members of Tablighi Jamaat, a Sunni Muslim movement that is banned in Russia, were apprehended. The head of the Russian-imposed government's committee on ethnic issues, Zaur Smirnov, said that three Tablighi Jamaat cells on the Black Sea peninsula were "liquidated." The FSB did not name the detainees, whom it said would be charged with organizing "extremist activities." But activists and lawyer Edem Semedlyayev told RFE/RL that Renat Suleymanov, Talyat Abdurakhmanov, Arsen Kubedinov, and Seyran Mustafayev were detained after police and FSB officers searched their homes in Crimea on October 2. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maryana Betsa sharply criticized Russia over the detentions. "The cynical searches and detentions are [like] those that were practiced by the NKVD," Betsa tweeted, referring to a predecessor of the Soviet KGB. "We demand that Russia stop its discrimination against Crimean Tatars." Russia has been sharply criticized by international rights groups and Western governments for its treatment of members of the indigenous Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar minority after Moscow seized control of Crimea. The majority of Crimean Tatars opposed the Russian takeover of their historic homeland. Tablighi Jamaat, which was founded in India in 1926, describes itself as a pacifist organization that is not involved in politics. The group was branded as extremist and officially banned in Russia in May 2009. With reporting by TASS and Interfax Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russia destroyed "all critical infrastructure" in the parts of Kherson recaptured by the Ukrainian army over the past week. Zelenskiy said there is no electricity, no communication, and no television in Kherson, adding that withdrawing Russian troops destroyed everything intentionally. "This is what the Russian flag means -- complete devastation," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address after visiting liberated Kherson on November 14, adding all-important facilities in the city and the region are mined. 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. Earlier on November 14, Ukrainian national energy company Ukrenergo said Russia had destroyed key energy infrastructure supplying the entire right bank of the Kherson region and a significant part of the Mykolayiv region. "Most of the liberated Kherson region has been without electricity since November 6," Ukrenergo chief Volodymyr Kudrytskiy said. "We are doing our best to supply people with electricity as soon as possible." The liberation of Kherson at the weekend was one of Ukraines biggest successes in nearly nine months since the start of the Russian invasion. During his visit to Kherson, Zelenskiy said the liberation of the city was "the beginning of the end of the war." Ukrainian army chief Valeriy Zaluzhniy said he spoke with U.S. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on November 14 and told him that the Ukrainian military will not accept any negotiations, agreements, or compromise decisions regarding the end of the war. "I assured that we will fight as long as we have the strength. Our goal is to liberate all Ukrainian land from Russian occupation, Zaluzhniy said on Facebook. There is only one condition for the negotiations: Russia must leave all captured territories," he said in the social media post. Zaluzhniy said he also informed Milley about the operational situation and the priority needs of the defense forces. "The situation at the front is stable and under control. We are closely monitoring the enemy's actions on the border with Belarus and are building a reliable shield to protect Ukraine from the north, Zaluzhniy said. The defense forces, despite the fierce resistance of the occupation forces, continue their offensive in the Kharkiv direction. He said Russian forces are actively attacking areas in the east, including Bakhmut and Avdiyivka, but they are not succeeding. We hold the defense thanks to the resilience of our advanced units and combat-ready reserves. In the Kherson direction, we are conducting stabilization actions and strengthening the defense lines," Zaluzhniy added. U.S. President Joe Biden earlier on November 14 hailed Ukraine's retaking of the city of Kherson as a "significant victory." Biden commented on the development during a press conference after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. "I can do nothing but applaud the courage, determination and capacity of the Ukrainian people," he said. "I think you are going to see things slow down a bit because of the winter months.... I think it remains to be seen exactly what the outcome will be." Biden also raised Russias "irresponsible threats of nuclear use," according to a White House readout on the meeting. The White House announced separately that CIA Director Bill Burns would meet in Ankara, Turkey, with Russian intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russias Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). Burns underscored the consequences if Russia were to deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, according to a White House spokesperson. The Kremlin confirmed a U.S.-Russia meeting had taken place in Ankara but declined to give details. Russian officials have alarmed Western governments by raising the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in Ukraine. The official quoted said there had been no change in the U.S. intelligence assessment and declined to offer further detail on timing of the decision to send Burns to meet with Naryshkin. The Burns-Naryshkin meeting was the highest-ranking face-to-face engagement between U.S. and Russian officials since before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion. Burns was also expected to raise the cases of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, two Americans detained in Russia. Washington has pressed Moscow to release the two in a prisoner exchange. With reporting by Reuters, AP, and RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service BRUSSELS -- Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have presented their nominations for this year's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought -- including Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death in 2010 under Pakistans blasphemy law. Polish MEP Anna Fotyga of the conservative ECR group in the European Parliament said on October 2 that Bibi's "behavior in prison, the dignity she has shown during all these years is the best proof of her being able to represent the dignity of a defender of human rights in the face of the worst fate." Fotyga spoke at a joint meeting of the foreign affairs, development, and human rights committees in Strasbourg. Bibi has been on a death row for almost seven years and her appeal to Pakistan's Supreme Court has been postponed to an undetermined date. She was convicted and sentenced to hang after an argument with a Muslim woman over a bowl of water. Her supporters maintain her innocence and insist it was a personal dispute. Under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam can be sentenced to death. Rights groups say blasphemy laws are often abused to carry out personal vendettas, mainly against minority Christians. Bibi is among six nominees for the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize, which honors individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. The others nominees are Guatemalan human rights defender Aura Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic; Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, co-chairs of a pro-Kurdish party in Turkey; a group of people representing the Venezuelan opposition; the Swedish-Eritrean prisoner of conscience Dawit Isaak; and Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, a human rights defender from Burundi. On October 10, the European Parliament's foreign affairs and development committees are scheduled to vote on a shortlist of three finalists and the laureate is to be announced on October 26. The award ceremony will take place at the parliament in Strasbourg in December. Facebook says it will provide the U.S. Congress with copies of some 3,000 advertisements that the social network says were likely bought by people in Russia before and during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The worlds largest social network on October 1 said the information would be delivered to Congress on October 2, including related data such as who was targeted and how much each ad cost. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg last month said it would give the information to congressional investigators looking into alleged Russian involvement in the U.S. election, although he did not specify when it would be done. In its October 1 statement, Facebook said the material would be given to the Senate and House intelligence committees and to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Facebook previously provided information about Russia-linked ads to U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller, who is also investigating alleged election meddling, people familiar with the matter have told U.S. news agencies. The social network last month said it had found thousands of ads linked to Facebook accounts that likely operated out of Russia and pushed divisive issues during the campaign. U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of meddling in the U.S. presidential election to favor Republican Donald Trump over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Moscow has denied the allegations. Based on reporting by Reuters and AP Jon Huntsman, the new U.S. ambassador to Russia, has arrived in Moscow. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Maria Olsen welcomed Huntsman and his wife, Mary Kaye Huntsman, in a tweet. Huntsman will present his credentials to President Vladimir Putin at a ceremony on October 3, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said. Huntsman, 57, served as ambassador to China in 2009-2011 and as ambassador to Singapore in 1992-93. He was governor of the U.S. state of Utah from 2005-09. President Donald Trump's appointment of Huntsman was approved unanimously by the U.S. Senate on September 28. Huntsman takes over as the U.S. envoy to Moscow at a time of severe tension between Russia and the United States. Ties are badly strained over issues including Russia's aggression in Ukraine, its actions in Syria, and what the U.S. intelligence community says was a concerted attempt to meddle in the U.S. presidential election in 2016. At a confirmation hearing before a Senate panel on September 19, Huntsman said that there is "no question -- underline, no question -- that the Russian government interfered in the U.S. election last year. And Moscow continues to meddle in the democratic processes of our friends and allies." In an article in The Moscow Times on September 28, his predecessor, John Tefft, wrote that the U.S.-Russian relationship has "reached another low point." Tefft wrote that "the American people want the two most powerful nuclear nations in the world to have a better relationship" but that "Americans are concerned and angry about Russian interference in our elections and by the Russian authorities refusal to accept their responsibility for it." With reporting by TASS Iran says its military has held a joint military drill with the Iraqi armed forces amid tensions over a recent referendum on independence in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. The Iranian military announced on its website on October 2 joint military exercises in the country's western border area with units of the Iraqi Army involving armor and artillery units as well as other air units. In its report about the exercises, the semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted the commander of the ground forces of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Pakpour, as saying that "Iran and Iraq have common enemies and they need to ensure the security of their own borders against threats." Meanwhile, an official in Iraq's Kurdish region said that Iraqi and Iranian units began exercises at 11 a.m. local time "only 250 meters from the border." "Iraqi forces are dressed in black and there is a large number of Iranian forces," said Shwan Abu Bakr, the customs chief at the Bashmakh border post between Iraq's Kurdish region and Iran. Election authorities in Iraq's Kurdish region say the September 25 nonbinding referendum on independence passed with 92.7 percent support and turnout of more than 72 percent. Along with the Baghdad government, the United States and other Western powers and the United Nations opposed the vote, as did neighboring Turkey and Iran, which have large Kurdish populations. On September 30, Iranian armed forces spokesman Masoud Jazayeri told reporters that the exercises would be held "in the coming days along the shared border." Jazayeri said the decision to carry out the drills followed a high-level meeting of Iranian commanders where "the territorial integrity and unity of Iraq and the illegitimacy of the independence referendum in northern Iraq were stressed again." Iraqi soldiers last week also took part in a Turkish military drill close to Iraq's frontier. With reporting by AP and AFP Iraqi Kurdish leaders have formed a political council to handle issues related to their recent independence referendum, which was held despite vehement opposition from national authorities in Baghdad. Kurdish news outlet Rudaw on October 1 said the decision was made at a meeting in Irbil led by Masud Barzani, the president of the autonomous region in northern Iraq. The nonbinding referendum on Kurdish independence, held on September 25, passed with about 95 percent of the 3.3 million people participating voting in favor of a spit from Iraq. Turnout was reported at more than 72 percent of eligible voters. Along with the authorities in Baghdad, the United States and other Western powers and the United Nations opposed the vote, as did neighboring Turkey and Iran, which have large Kurdish populations. The new council, called the Political Leadership of Kurdistan-Iraq, will take the place of the High Referendum Council, which organized the vote for independence, a long-held desire of many Kurds in Iraq and elsewhere in the region. Officials said the council was created to establish dialogue with Baghdad and foreign countries following the referendum. Based on reporting by dpa, Sky News, and TASS A U.S. soldier in the coalition fighting against the extremist group Islamic State (IS) has been killed and another wounded in a roadside bombing in Iraq, the Pentagon says. An earlier statement on October 2 said that an improvised explosive device struck their vehicle the day before, without giving the names and nationalities of the casualties. The United States, France, Britain, and other coalition countries have deployed military personnel in Iraq to train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting the IS group since 2014. The coalition is also conducting air strikes. Seven U.S. personnel have been reported killed in the fight against IS militants in Iraq. A French soldier was also killed last month, although it is not known if he died in Iraq or neighboring Syria. IS fighters, who captured large swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014, have suffered a number of major setbacks in recent months. Based on reporting by Reuters and the BBC BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev has signed a law demarcating 85 percent of the 1,280-kilometer Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. According to the law signed on October 2, some 1,171 kilometers of the border between the two former Soviet republics are now considered fully defined. The border issue between the two Central Asian nations has been a major problem since they gained independence in the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. There have been numerous conflicts along the border, in some cases involving gunfire and other violence. The situation started improving following the death of Uzbekistan's long-ruling president, Islam Karimov, a year ago. Karimov's successor, President Shavkat Mirziyoev, has said that improving strained ties with Uzbekistan's neighbors is a major foreign policy priority. A pact on the delimitation of 85 percent of the border was signed in September 5, during a visit by Mirziyoev to Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan's parliament ratified the agreement on September 28. Sections that remain in contention are close to exclaves of Uzbek territory in Kyrgyzstan, Sokh and Shahimardan, and the Kyrgyz exclave of Barak in Uzbekistan. A Russian court has sentenced opposition politician Aleksei Navalny to 20 days in jail on charges of repeatedly violating legislation governing protests and demonstrations. The Simonovsky district court in Moscow issued the sentence on October 2 after finding the prominent foe of President Vladimir Putin guilty of calling for unsanctioned rallies. The sentence means Navalny will miss a demonstration planned in Putin's hometown of St. Petersburg on October 7, the president's 65th birthday. "Old man Putin is so scared of our meetings in the regions that he decided to make himself happy with a small gift for his birthday," Navalny said on Twitter after the ruling. "This is an outrageous decision. We will appeal," one of his lawyers, Olga Mikhailova, said of the court decision. Navalny was facing a sentence of up to 30 days. He was detained by police on September 29 in Moscow and prevented from boarding a train to Nizhny Novgorod to attend a presidential campaign rally in the center of the Volga River city. He was released after being held for about 10 hours, in a move that prevented him from speaking at the rally. Police said that Navalny was detained for repeatedly calling for people to attend unsanctioned public gatherings. Navalny has vowed to keep holding rallies, including the demonstration in St. Petersburg later this month. "We are not going to stop what we do, whatever the obstacles," Navalny told journalists waiting for him outside the Moscow police station after his release. Navalny spoke on October 1 at a rally in the northern city of Arkhangelsk. Since announcing last year that he would run in the March 2018 presidential election, Navalny, 41, a vocal critic of Putin, has opened more than 60 campaign offices in regions across of Russia. He and supporters have held dozens of rallies, including several in recent weeks that have drawn crowds of hundreds or thousands. Russian election officials have said Navalny, an anticorruption activist who received 27 percent of the vote in the 2013 Moscow mayoral election, is not eligible to run in the election because of a felony embezzlement conviction in a case dating back to 2009. Navalny contends that he is innocent and says that case and others launched against him were engineered by the Kremlin to punish him for his opposition activities. Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch said that Navalny's campaign supporters were being "systematically" harassed and attacked by nationalists, Putin supporters, and law enforcement officials. Navalny's national campaign coordinator, Leonid Volkov, and about a dozen activists were detained by the authorities in Nizhny Novgorod on the day of the rally there. A separate Moscow court ruled on October 2 that Volkov committed the same legal violation and ordered him jailed for 20 days. With reporting by RFE/RLs Russian Service, Interfax, AP, AFP, and Reuters A U.S.-based research group on North Korea says a Russian state-owned Internet company has started providing Pyongyang an alternate connection to the global Internet. The new connection comes as the United States is reportedly trying to isolate North Korea's connectivity to the world amid mounting concerns over its nuclear and missile programs. North Korea's primary Internet connections flows through its closest ally, China. That has given the secretive regime access to information, but also allowed it to conduct cyberespionage and cyberwarfare. U.S. intelligence blamed the 2014 hack of the Sony Pictures film studio on North Korean hackers. According to a report by 38 North, an organization housed at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, a Russian Internet company called TransTeleCom began handling North Korean traffic beginning early on October 1. The report said that since that time the TransTeleCom traffic had surpassed the existing Chinese connection, which has been in place since 2010. One of Russia's biggest telecom companies, TransTeleCom is owned by Russian Railways, the massive state-owned rail operator whose top executives are traditionally close to the Kremlin. Russian Railways' former CEO is a close friend of President Vladimir Putin. TransTeleCom did not immediately respond to a query from RFE/RL, but a spokesman told Reuters news agency that the company "historically had a junction of trunk networks with North Korea under an agreement with Korea Posts and Telecommunications Corp. signed in 2009." The timing of the new Internet connection has raised eyebrows among researchers. The Washington Post reported on September 30, a day before the new Russian connection went operational, that U.S. Cyber Command -- one of the U.S. government's main military cyberoperations -- had been targeting hackers at North Korea's military spy agency, flooding its servers with a denial-of-service attack. Like past U.S. administrations, President Donald Trump has struggled to rein in North Korea's accelerating nuclear programs, with the leaders of the two countries regularly exchanging insults and belligerent accusations. The Soviet Union was one of North Korea's staunchest allies and economic supporters, and the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un was trained by Soviet military instructors. But after the Soviet collapse, ties between Moscow and Pyongyang withered. MOSCOW -- Russian media have devoted extensive coverage to police violence that marred a referendum in the Spanish region of Catalonia, painting a picture of double standards in a European Union rattled by referendums and fighting for survival. Calling it an "internal Spanish matter," the Kremlin, however, has declined to comment on the independence vote -- held on October 1 despite a ban by Spain's Constitutional Court -- or on the accompanying violence that saw hundreds injured as police used batons and tear gas against crowds of Catalans. The Russian Foreign Ministry echoed that line on October 2, prompting the Spanish Embassy in Moscow to tweet its gratitude at Moscow's stance on the "illegal referendum." Such official caution notwithstanding, several Russian lawmakers quickly accused Brussels of "hypocrisy" for not immediately condemning the police use of force. The European Union noted the vote was "not legal" but urged "all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue." It added, "Violence can never be an instrument in politics." Some Russian media compared the referendum to a vote Russia staged in occupied Crimea during its military annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014, while others speculated that Brussels "ordered" Madrid to carry out "repressive action" to nip the referendum in the bud. Aleksei Martynov, a political commentator, argued in an opinion piece for the pro-Kremlin tabloid Izvestia that Brussels was rattled by the Brexit referendum and was now using "all possible means" to hold the bloc together. "Emerging from the stupor of animal fear, the Euro-bureaucrats have cursed the very word 'referendum' and today are ready, having transcended their own rhetorical principles, to repressively defend the European Union in its current form through all possible means, but by the hands of national governments," Martynov wrote. He concluded: "Today's events in Spanish Catalonia in any case mark the end of European political romanticism. Harsh, gray days lie ahead. Orwell lives." 'Hypocrisy' Lawmaker Andrei Klimov accused the West of hypocrisy, contrasting its "silence" on the violence in Spain with reactions to events in Ukraine, where Western leaders called on Kyiv not to use force against protesters during the Euromaidan unrest that toppled Moscow-backed President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. In comments to Russian state English-language broadcaster RT, Klimov said: "As far as I remember, they urged Yanukovych with all their might to avoid the use of force. They made him remove his Berkut [riot police] from the Maidan, remove the police, call back city forces. Now we see everything in reverse: the arrival of troops, the national guard, and the use of force." Aleksei Pushkov, a pro-Kremlin lawmaker and chair of the Federation Council's committee on information policy, echoed that sentiment via Twitter: "In Catalonia the police [have] started beating the peacefully protesting people who are not making provocations. PACE and the PA OSCE will definitely not notice this. Democracy!" The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) told TASS on October 2 that it would not comment on the vote because it had no observers present. Earlier, the OSCE office's director called on Spanish authorities to "ensure that police use force only when necessary and in strict adherence to the principle of proportionality." On October 2, RT ran a piece titled Respect For Democracy? that cited a tweet from Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, who called on the European Commission to suspend Spain from the EU over the violence for its "clear violation of Article 2." 'Very Cautious' Writing on Facebook, Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin political commentator and former lawmaker for the ruling United Russia party, said Moscow was taking a "very cautious" position for several reasons. Markov said Moscow believed interfering would be "counterproductive" and also wanted to avoid allegations of interference, in part hoping such behavior would be noted by the European Union. He added: "The allegations in the U.S. are more than enough. Russia is literally being hounded," a reference to the fallout in the United States, where Russia has been accused of interfering in the 2016 presidential election that brought Donald Trump to power. Nonetheless, Markov wrote, Moscow wanted to "underline that the European Union has no moral right to lecture Russia." He added that Russia also had no particular "compassion" for Madrid, which it sees as part of the front of Western powers pressuring Russia with sanctions. "So Russia for the moment is silent, and Russian television stations are focusing on the violence in Catalonia," Markov wrote. Like Crimea RT broadcast an interview given to Austrian television by Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, in which he compared the situation in Catalonia to that in Crimea. In the latter, Russia completed its annexation of the Ukrainian region with a referendum in March 2014 that was widely condemned by the international community. "The referendum in Crimea, as in Catalonia, was held on the basis of the right to self-determination, and its outcome was very clear," RT paraphrased Strache's line of argument. "In order to overcome prolonged confrontation, the European Union should either recognize the results of the people's vote in Crimea or demand that it is conducted again under international control." 'Pandora's Box' Pro-Kremlin lawmaker Pushkov said the referendum was ultimately the West's fault -- and a direct consequence of backing Kosovo when it declared independence from Serbia in 2008. "Let's remember how NATO supported the separation of Kosovo. Moscow warned: this will open Pandora's box in Europe. Catalonia is an effect of the open box." Speaking on October 2 to state news agency RIA Novosti, Klimov drew the same comparison with Kosovo, although he drew a different conclusion. "The European Union and Spanish government will do everything to give the impression that nothing has happened. If necessary, as we've seen, harsh force will be used." And, Klimov said, unlike Kosovo, Catalonia will never be given independence because "no one canceled double standards." Facebook, the worlds largest social network, says it will hire more than 1,000 people to help prevent deceptive advertisements from interfering with elections. The October 2 announcement comes as Facebook is in the process of providing the U.S. Congress with copies of some 3,000 ads that it says were likely bought by people in Russia before and during the 2016 presidential election. "Today we are delivering those ads to congressional investigators," Facebook vice president of global policy Joel Kaplan said in an online post. Kaplan said many of them appear to promote "racial and social divisions." He said that the ads seemed to be linked to a Russian company known as Internet Research, which violated Facebook policies because they came from fake accounts. Facebook said on October 1 that the material would be given to the Senate and House intelligence committees and to the Senate Judiciary Committee looking into alleged Russian involvement in the U.S. election. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said last month the company would give the information to congressional investigators, although he did not specify when it would be done. "Aggressive steps" by Facebook will include hiring more than 1,000 people to bolster its global ads review teams in the coming year, according to Kaplan. "Enforcement is never perfect, but we will get better at finding and removing improper ads," he said. Facebook previously provided information about Russia-linked ads to U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller, who is also investigating alleged election meddling, people familiar with the matter have told U.S. news agencies. The social network last month said it had found thousands of ads linked to Facebook accounts that likely operated out of Russia and pushed divisive issues during the campaign. U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of meddling in the U.S. presidential election to favor Republican Donald Trump over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Moscow has denied the allegations. With reporting by Reuters and AP Ever since Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny began organizing fresh anticorruption protests in March, teachers and administrations across the country have warned students of the potentially dire consequences of such dissent. With Navalny having recently toured major Russian cities and drawn substantial crowds of supporters for his presidential bid, evidence of such pressure on students continues to surface. The latest known incident involves Almaz Imamov, a first-year student in the city of Neftekamsk, in Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan. Imamov, 17, told RFE/RL that his difficulties with administrators at the Neftekamsk Mechanical Engineering College began earlier this year after he joined a pro-Navalny group on VKontakte, the popular Russian-language analogue of Facebook. Since then, he says, he has been called in for meetings with college higher-ups -- and a psychologist -- and claims he was threatened with expulsion. "I asked, 'And what about the constitution?'" says Imamov, who took part in a June protest as part of nationwide demonstrations spearheaded by Navalny. Imamov's case drew attention after he posted an audio recording he made during one of these meetings on YouTube. During the meeting, which Imamov says was held on September 26, a woman identified as deputy college director named Zinfira Salimyanova can be heard scolding the student for using an expletive to describe President Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party "during his talk with a psychologist." "We don't have the right to say such things against our current government," the woman says. "They used to shoot people for that! Stood them right up and shot them, you understand? Nothing changes, except now they don't shoot you." Imamov's mother also attended the meeting, during which the woman said to be Salimyanova threatened to inform police if the student took part in protests. "His position is wrong," the woman can be heard saying. "He is going against our system. He is going against our rules." Attempts to reach Salimyanova for comment were unsuccessful. A man who answered the main phone at the college on October 2 told RFE/RL that school officials had indeed met with Imamov to "warn" him about the potentially negative consequences of taking part in demonstrations for which the authorities have not granted permission. The man, who declined to give his name, said such conversations are standard at the school because such demonstrations could put the students "in danger." He denied that Imamov had been threatened with expulsion. Imamov tells RFE/RL that he plans to "stand my ground." "Most likely I'll appeal to prosecutors to defend my constitutional rights," he says. Grassroots Campaign Navalny, 41, has opened dozens of campaign offices in regions across Russia since announcing late last year that he would run in the March 2018 presidential election, which is expected to hand Putin a new six-year term. Russian election officials have said Navalny is ineligible to run due to a felony embezzlement conviction in a case he calls politically motivated. But he continues to campaign as if he'll make the ballot, holdings rallies in several large cities in recent weeks that have drawn crowds of hundreds or thousands of supporters, many of whom are in their teens or 20s. Ahead of his September 15 rally in Murmansk, his campaign released audio of what it said was a warning delivered to students and a school in the northern city not to attend the event. The school's director denied to the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta that its students had received such a warning. Navalny's campaign chief, meanwhile, posted on Twitter an image of an alleged letter from the administration of Vladivostok urging schools to warn students about the potential legal consequences of taking part in unsanctioned demonstrations. The letter posted by Leonid Volkov was dated September 21, two days before a rally Navalny held in that Far East city. Written by Carl Schreck on the basis of reporting by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service correspondent Artur Asafyev ON MY MIND After nearly 42 months of war, the Russia-occupied areas of the Donbas have become the land that nobody wants. Moscow wants Kyiv to reabsorb the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics" into a decentralized and federalized Ukraine, with the separatist leadership intact, where they would serve as a Trojan horse. And Russia is content to keep the conflict alternatively frozen or on a low boil until it gets its way. Ukraine says it will only reabsorb the territories on its terms -- after Russian forces have left, the separatist authorities disarmed and dethroned, and Kyiv regains control of its border. And Kyiv appears content to keep the conflict frozen until it gets its way. Russia's goal in the Donbas is not gaining territory in eastern Ukraine but exerting political control over Kyiv. And Kyiv knows this and is determined not to let this happen. So 3 1/2 years after Moscow manufactured a conflict in the Donbas, the territories it seized are left in limbo -- and probably will remain so for the foreseeable future. IN THE NEWS Jon Huntsman, the new U.S. ambassador to Russia, has arrived in Moscow. Russia has denied allegations from Ukraine that it left troops behind in Belarus after staging military exercises there, despite Moscow's pledge not to do so. Facebook says it will provide the U.S. Congress with copies of some 3,000 advertisements that the social network says were likely bought by people in Russia before and during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny is scheduled to appear at an administrative hearing on October 2 on charges of repeatedly organizing illegal demonstrations. In the World Economic Forum's 2017-18 Global Competitiveness Report, Russia ranked 38th on the list of 137 countries rated. POWER VERTICAL IN THE MEDIA AND ON THE ROAD Just in case anybody is wondering what I was doing during The Power Vertical's two-week hiatus, here's a rundown: I appeared on The Sunday Show on Ukraine's Hromadske International television (my segment begins at about the 44-minute mark): I spoke on the panel The War Of Narratives In The Information Age at the CEPA Forum in Washington, D.C. I also spoke at the conference Eastern Partners In European Security And Defense in Vilnius. And I moderated the panel Quo Vadis Russia at the Riga Conference. NEW POWER VERTICAL BRIEFING On this week's Power Vertical Briefing, we look at U.S.-Russian relations as Jon Huntsman arrives in Moscow as the new American ambassador. WHAT I'M READING Russia In Syria, Two Years On In a commentary for The Moscow Times, foreign affairs analyst Vladimir Frolov looks at the stakes in Russia's intervention in Syria, two years on. In a piece for the War On The Rocks blog, Mark Galeotti of the Institute of International Relations in Prague looks at the role of Russia's military police in Syria. Active Measures Then And Now Also in The War On The Rocks blog, Laura Daniels at the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin looks at the lessons we can learn from Russian active measures in West Germany during the Cold War. Russia And The Catalonian Referendum Ben Nimmo, a senior fellow for information defense at the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab, looks at Russian interference in this weekend's Catalonian independence referendum. Navalny Vs. Solovyev In his column for Republic.ru, opposition journalist Oleg Kashin looks at the war of words between Aleksei Navalny and Vladimir Solovyev after the anticorruption crusader's report targeting the pro-Kremlin television presenter. Russia's Foreign Ministry has again complained about U.S. law enforcement taking over the Russian Consulate in San Francisco, threatening unspecified retaliation against U.S. diplomats. The ministry issued the statement on October 2 as it posted videos to some of its social-media sites showing agents breaking a lock on the consulate gates and driving vehicles onto the grounds. "The gates leading to the territory of the Russian diplomatic community have succumbed to the aggressive onslaught of the Americans," said one of the more incendiary posts published on the Foreign Ministry's Twitter account. The U.S. State Department said in a statement earlier on October 2 that it had conducted "a walk-through to secure the residential portions of the buildings and confirm that all residents had left the premises." In August, Washington ordered Russia to vacate its consulate in San Francisco and two trade annexes in Washington and New York by September 2. The State Department made that demand after Moscow ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic personnel in Russia to 455 by September 1, which Russian President Putin said meant cutting 755 personnel, in retaliation for new U.S. sanctions against Moscow over Russia's aggression in Ukraine. Putin has denounced what he called Washington's "boorish and unprecedented" actions toward Russia's diplomatic facilities. U.S. officials say the United States has taken no improper diplomatic or law enforcement action. Late last year, U.S. officials ordered the expulsion of nearly three dozen Russian diplomats and the seizure of two diplomatic compounds in Maryland and New York in response to alleged Russian hacking during the presidential election. An Uzbek teacher set himself alight and leaped from the roof of his home, in protest at plans by the authorities to demolish it. The authorities in the Tortkol region in the Karakalpakstan autonomous region of western Uzbekistan say around 500 houses were built illegally and must be bulldozed. (UGC/RFE/RL's Uzbek Service) Maruti Suzuki Chairman has stated that he does not expect corona virus to have an issue with electric mobility segment While electric vehicles (EVs) have generated significant interest among auto enthusiasts, Indias largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is yet to launch an EV in the market. In this space, rivals like Hyundai and Tata Motors have taken the lead with products such as Kona and Nexon EV. However, things could change in the future, as Maruti has confirmed that it is working on an all-electric model of its popular hatchback Wagon R. Initially, Maruti WagonR Electric will be available only to fleet operators and taxi aggregators. RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki believes that Wagon R EV will fulfil the specific needs and requirements of taxi segment. He said that success of eco-friendly vehicles depends of three primary factors acquisition cost, running costs and battery technology. The shift to electric could take time, especially considering the current challenges facing the auto industry. Acquisition cost is a major constraint for customers, as current-gen EVs are quite expensive. Other key issues include lack of adequate battery charging infrastructure, range anxiety and the conventional preference for fossil fuel driven cars. Theres general resistance to every new technology in the initial stages, something that applies to EVs as well. Marutis primary focus is currently on CNG and smart hybrids, which is in line with its commitment to develop environment-friendly cars. CNG and smart hybrids can work as effective alternatives till the time all-electric vehicles become the mainstay across the globe. As of now, Maruti offers factory-fitted CNG option for six of its products Alto, WagonR, Eeco, Ertiga, Tour S and Super Carry. In FY 2019-20, the company created a new record of selling more than one million factory-spec CNG units. Talking about Wagon R EV, theres currently very little info about the car. It is expected that Marutis first electric car will be equipped with features such as digital instrument cluster, steering mounted controls, automatic air conditioning, and a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system supporting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Details about the battery pack are not available, but it is expected that Wagon R electric will have a real world range of around 130 km on a full charge. To increase range, the car could be equipped with brake energy regeneration system. At times of deceleration, the kinetic energy will be converted to electric energy, which in turn will charge the batteries. It is likely that Maruti will invest in building the required battery charging infrastructure prior to launching its first electric car. The company could also partner with third-party infrastructure providers. Along with the standard home charging unit, Wagon R EV could be offered with a DC fast charging option. Expected launch price is in the range of Rs 8 to 12 lakh. It is expected to reach showrooms of select cities in 2021. Launched in India earlier this year at a starting price of INR 9 lakh, 2017 Kawasaki Z900 was re-launched at a starting price of just INR 7.68 lakh, ex-showroom a few weeks later. The reason for price cut is the removal of accessories. Kawasaki India stated that the Z900 which was launched in March, was equipped with accessories. After taking customer feedback, they have launched Z900 without accessories, and thus the price has been reduced. Today, Kawasaki India announced the launch of Z900 metallic spark black colour variant. Apart from new colour, the new Z900 also gets some graphical changes. Price and specs remains same as before. Speaking on the new arrival Yutaka Yamashita, Managing Director of India Kawasaki Motors, said, Our Z900 received a very positive response. I hope that with this new addition, passionate customers those who waited for this colour will be happy. Responding to the requirements of our customers is one of our most important priorities. We, being a premium brand, always strive to maintain a certain class in our products through its appearance and technology. New Z900 replaces Z800 from the company line-up. Loaded with more features, and a more powerful and refined engine, Z900s performance is among the best in segment. 2017 Kawasaki Z900 turns to a new trellis frame and sharper lines. Body lines flow from its front end to the rear. A twin headlamp design with a chiseled cowl, well sculpted fuel tank, minimum overhangs and Z shaped LED tail lamp make up its design language. Commanding a more upright position, Z900 offers better comfort to the rider. Handlebars are flat and wide. Foot pegs are ergonomically positioned alongwith a lowered saddle due to which riding stance is enhanced. A low seat height and slim fuel tank ensure better leg position so a rider can place both legs on the ground during stops. New Kawasaki Z900 Specs Engine 948 cc, Liquid-cooled, 4-stroke In-Line Four Power 125 PS @ 9500 rpm Torque 98.6 NM @ 7700 rpm Transmission 6 speed 0-100 kmph 3.4 seconds Top Speed 240 kmph New Z900 is powered by a BS IV compliant 948cc, in line, four motor engine. This is a downsized engine as compared to the 1043cc motor seen in Z1000. This DOHC, 16 valve engine offers 125 PS power at 9,500 rpm and 98.9 Nm torque at7,700 rpm. Braking system is via dual semi floating 300mm petal discs in the front and single 250mm petal discs at the rear. ABS is offered as standard. Front suspension is in the form of 41mm inverted fork, and rear suspension includes horizontal back link. New Kawasaki Z900 Dimensions Length 2065 mm Width 825 mm Height 1065 mm Seat Height 795 mm Ground Clearance 130 mm Wheelbase 1450 mm Kerb/Wet Weight 210 kg Fuel Tank Capacity 17 litres Front Tyre 120/70ZR17M/C (58W) Rear Tyre 180/55ZR17M/C (73W) Front Brake Dual semi-floating 300 mm petal discs. Caliper: Dual opposed 4-piston Rear Brake Single 250 mm petal disc. Caliper: Single-piston 2017 Kawasaki Z900 measures 2,065mm in length, 825 mm in width and 1,065mm in height. Seat height is at 795mm and ground clearance at 130mm with 210kg kerb weight, and a 17 litre fuel tank. Colors, Competition and Price A host of new color options are being offered on the new Z900 to include Pearl Mystic Gray/Metallic Flat Spark Black, Candy Lime Green/Metallic Spark Black, Metallic Flat Spark Black/Metallic Spark Black, Candy Plasma Blue/Metallic Graphite Gray, Metallic Spark Black (Special Edition). It competes with Yamaha MT-09, Suzuki GSX-S1000, Ducati Monster 821 and the upcoming 2017 Triumph Street Triple. The bike is imported as a CBU (Completely built unit)from Thailand. News Release Straight shot up U.S. 31 to I-94 finally open in Berrien County Last few miles had been unfinished since 2004 because of a lack of money to pay for it. Updated 1:40 a.m. Eastern Sept. 26. ADELAIDE, Australia A leading official of China's space program confirmed Sept. 25 that the July failure of the country's largest launch vehicle will lead to delays to upcoming lunar missions, including one to return samples. Tian Yulong, secretary general of the China National Space Administration, said at a press conference during the 68th International Astronautical Congress here that the investigation into the July 2 failure of the Long March 5 on its second mission was ongoing, with no updates on the cause of the failure. "The Long March 5 is a bigger challenge for China's space agency," he said. "In the future, maybe the end of the year, we will have a clear understanding of the problem." Observers who followed the launch, broadcast live by Chinese television, noted a plume of gas late in the first stage burn, which suggested the failure was linked to an issue with the stage's engines or other elements of its propulsion system. Chinese officials waited until 45 minutes after the launch to announce the launch had failed and its payload, the Shijian-18 communications satellite, failed to reach orbit. Long March 5 is the largest rocket developed by China to date, with a performance similar to the Delta 4 Heavy by United Launch Alliance. The rocket's first launch, in November 2016, was considered a success despite some issues with the upper stage that reduced the accuracy of the desired orbit. The next Long March 5 mission was scheduled for this November, carrying Chang'e-5, China's first lunar sample return mission. That spacecraft will land on the moon, gather samples and return them to Earth in the first such mission to the moon in more than four decades. With the Long March rocket grounded while the investigation continues, Tian confirmed that mission would be delayed. "We plan to adjust the schedule" for that mission, he said, along with Chang'e-4, a lunar lander that will be the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the moon. That mission was scheduled to launch in late 2018, about a year after Chang'e-5. "By the end of the year we will have some detailed information" about the revised schedule for those missions, Tian said. Long March 5 delays are also expected to push back the launch of Tianhe, the core module of China's first space station. That launch was expected some time in 2018 but will likely be delayed to 2019. Tian said at the press conference that the station, when completed in the early 2020s, would be open to international cooperation with a wide range of countries. "In the future, China's space station will be open to all sides," he said. Originally published on Space News. ATLANTA Earlier this month, at the Dragon Con science-fiction and fantasy convention, a representative from the private spaceflight company Blue Origin spoke to a crowd about the company's progress on its two launch vehicles: New Shepard and New Glenn. "Our vision is to get billions of people living and working in space," A.C. Charania, Blue Origin's manager of advanced programs, said during his talk. "It's a very exciting time in the space industry." Dragon Con brings thousands of science-fiction and fantasy fans to Atlanta every year. In addition to popular culture panels, the conference features space-related talks with scientists, engineers and astronauts. [How Blue Origin's Suborbital Rocket Ride Works (Infographic)] New Shepard and New Glenn Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos leads Blue Origin, a commercial aerospace firm that hopes to send people on suborbital and orbital space trips. See how Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft works here (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist) Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle is named after NASA astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space. Shepard's pioneer flight , which kicked off human access to space, helped inspire New Shepard's creation, Charania said. With a crew capsule on top of the rocket, New Shepard is capable of taking six people to an altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers) for less than an hour. "Each seat has access to a very, very large window," Charania said. "It's going to be a very cool and interesting ride into space in this vehicle." The first crewed test flights are planned for 2018, but so far, New Shepard has carried only scientific payloads into microgravity. "There's a very high [scientific] interest in getting microgravity time that's very accessible and very affordable," Charania said. Currently, researchers who are interested in microgravity experiments have limited options. They can put their experiment on a sounding rocket (which can carry small payloads but not humans), or set up on the International Space Station (ISS), which requires working with NASA or CASIS, the agency that manages the laboratory on the station. Or, they can lift off on the so-called "Vomit Comet," a plane that flies in a wave pattern of steep climbs and sharp dives. While the ISS can give weeks or months of steady research time, the Vomit Comet provides it in bursts of only a few seconds (and can be a bit nauseating to travel aboard if the researcher tags along). Alternatively, an Earth-based option involves drop tubes, in which free-falling test vehicles can briefly simulate low gravity. "Now, with New Shepard, you have an additional option where you can put your payload inside the capsule and get several minutes of microgravity time," Charania said. Unlike rockets built by NASA in the past, the New Shepard vehicle reuses both its crew capsule and its booster. The crew capsule returns from space on a parachute, while the booster makes a vertical landing. Blue Origin is also developing the New Glenn orbital vehicle, which is named for NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. Whereas New Shepard is a suborbital vehicle, New Glenn is designed to take payloads into "low Earth orbit and beyond," Charania said. As with New Shepard, the booster of the rocket is designed to be reusable. "We're leveraging the ideas and approaches developed in the New Shepard suborbital vehicle in New Glenn," Charania said. When it comes to having millions of people living and working in space, "You can't get there by throwing the hardware away," he said. New Glenn is still in the planning stage, but several test flights have been planned. The company is shooting for a 2020 debut. "We're opening up the rest of the solar system with New Glenn," Charania said. To the moon Among other things, Charania works on upcoming programs at the company. Those include the Blue Moon project, a proposed lunar lander designed for cargo deliveries to Earth's closest neighbor. While Blue Origin isn't directly working on getting humans to the moon, the ability to reliably resupply cargo should help encourage NASA and private companies to put down roots. "We believe it is time for America to return to the moon this time, to stay," Charania said. Blue Moon, an uncrewed spacecraft, should provide the ability to deliver payloads to the lunar surface, resupplying any lunar colonies that could arise. The vehicle can carry about 10,000 lbs. (4,500 kilograms) to the lunar surface, Charania said. "The moon's relatively close," he said. "That's one of the many reasons we may want to go there." There are numerous scientific reasons to visit the moon, Charania said, adding that the company is interested in possible lunar sample returns. In addition, its proximity makes it a good jumping-off point for sending humans to Mars. Throughout the hour-long session at Dragon Con, Charania lauded the vision of the commercial companies engaged in the current space race, as well as the role of NASA's partnership. He frequently used the adjective "exciting" to describe various aspects of the program. But he wasn't always forthcoming. When asked for more information regarding Blue Origin's rocket designs and testing schedule, for instance, he would often smile and occasionally give a yes-or-no answer rather than elaborating on proprietary information. One audience member asked if Blue Origin had any plans for the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, in 2019, and it was clear that Charania didn't want to go into too much detail. Instead, he gave a tight-lipped smile and said, "We're actively looking at various architectures and things we could do in the next few years." Follow Nola Taylor Redd at @NolaTRedd, Facebook, or Google+. Follow us at @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. New research into old data suggests that ice may hide around Mars' equator. Here, the Red Planet is seen in a vivid Hubble view. A new examination of old data suggests that there might be ice hiding in the Martian equator, even though scientists previously thought that the substance couldn't exist there. Scientists uncovered an unexpected amount of hydrogen when looking at older data from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft dating back to between 2002 and 2009. At higher latitudes, hydrogen generally indicates buried water ice, but this was not believed possible at the equator, according to a statement from NASA. If there is indeed water there, this would help with a future human mission to Mars, because it could mean the astronauts wouldn't need to bring the substance with them for drinking, cooling equipment or watering plants, researchers said in the statement. Instead, the astronauts could live off the land to an extent, reducing the number of resources that need to be trucked (at higher cost) from Earth. [How The Search for Water on Mars in Pictures] Mars Odyssey's first major discovery, in 2002, was also linked to water; the spacecraft found buried hydrogen at high latitudes, and the 2008 landing of the Phoenix Mars lander confirmed that there was water ice. However, at lower latitudes, measurements of hydrogen were explained as hydrated minerals (which other spacecraft have also observed). Researchers didn't think water ice was thermodynamically stable in those areas. For this new study, the researchers analyzed data collected using Mars Odyssey's neutron spectrometer. The instrument is not designed to directly detect water, but by measuring neutrons, it can detect signatures of hydrogen, which can mark the presence of water or other hydrogen-bearing substances. Researchers' reanalysis of 2002-2009 data from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter gave a clearer view of the hydrogen present around the planet's equator, suggesting that the element is contained within water ice. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona) The science team reduced the blurring or "noise" in Odyssey's data using image-reconstruction techniques based on those used for other spacecraft and for medicine, according to the statement. This improved the spatial resolution of the data to 180 miles (290 kilometers), twice the previous resolution of 320 miles (520 km). "It was as if we'd cut the spacecraft's orbital altitude in half, and it gave us a much better view of what's happening on the surface," Jack Wilson, the study's principal investigator and a postdoctoral researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, said in the statement. Using those closer views, the researchers saw even higher levels of hydrogen, suggestive of water. Their work focused on equatorial areas, particularly in zones around the Medusae Fossae formation, an area that includes material that is easy to erode. Previous observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter suggested there might be volcanic deposits or water ice just below the surface. Scientists, however, were skeptical that it was water ice, because "if the detected hydrogen were buried ice within the top meter [3.3 feet] of the surface, there would be more than would fit into pore space in soil," Wilson said. The study's scientists emphasized that more evidence is needed to conclude that the signature indeed comes from water ice. They're not too sure how the water was preserved, they said; perhaps ice and dust flowing from the poles moved through the atmosphere when Mars had a steeper axis tilt than today. However, it's been at least hundreds of thousands of years since those conditions existed, and the water ice deposited back then shouldn't be around anymore, the researchers said. (This would be true even if, somehow, dust or a crust at the surface trapped the humidity underground, the scientists added.) "Perhaps the signature could be explained in terms of extensive deposits of hydrated salts, but how these hydrated salts came to be in the formation is also difficult to explain," Wilson said. "So, for now, the signature remains a mystery worthy of further study, and Mars continues to surprise us." The new work was detailed Sept. 28 in the journal Icarus. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. An asteroid about the size of a bus gave Earth a close shave this morning (Oct. 2), cruising well inside the orbit of the moon. The roughly 26-foot-wide (8 meters) space rock, known as 2017 SX17, zoomed within 54,100 miles (87,065 kilometers) of our planet at 6:20 a.m. EDT (1020 GMT) today. For perspective, the moon orbits Earth at an average distance of about 239,000 miles (384,600 km). At the time of closest approach, 2017 SX17 was traveling at about 16,350 mph (26,310 km/h) relative to Earth, according to researchers at the Center for NEO (Near-Earth Object) Studies, which is based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 2017 SX17 was discovered on Sept. 24, 2017. The asteroid has already been studied by several telescopes and observing campaigns, including the Steward Observatory and Mt. Lemmon Survey in Arizona and the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS 1) at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii. Such observations have allowed researchers to determine that the space rock completes one lap around the sun every 467 Earth days. Today's flyby serves as a sort of prelude to another close encounter 10 days from now. On Oct. 12, the asteroid 2012 TC4 will come within a mere 27,000 miles (43,500 km) of Earth's surface. The asteroid 2012 TC4 is estimated to be 39 feet to 88 feet (12 to 27 m) wide, putting it in the same size class as the space rock that exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February 2013. As its name suggests, 2012 TC4 was first spotted five years ago. Astronomers have been tracking the space rock for weeks now, as part of an exercise to help find and follow asteroids that may pose a threat to Earth in the future. (2012 TC4 itself poses no threat until at least 2050.) Astronomers have discovered nearly 17,000 near-Earth asteroids to date a tiny fraction of the millions thought to lurk out there in our neck of the cosmic woods. Space.com senior producer Steve Spaleta contributed to this report. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Organic compounds were identified in the protostar system IRAS 16293-2422. The young binary system sits in the Rho Ophiuchi cloud in the red circle on the left edge of this image. Organic molecules once thought to be produced only by life-forms have been found in two separate regions of space: a nearby comet and the debris around a pair of forming stars. Previous studies on exoplanets have considered a substance, called chloromethane, to be a biomarker molecule, which means it indicates the potential existence of life. Before now, it was known to becreated by some tropical plants on Earth as well as industrial processes, where it is known as Freon-40. However, the new findings, detailed today (opens in new tab) (Oct. 2) in the journal Nature Astronomy, indicate that the chemical can also form without the help of life. Edith Fayolle, the study's lead author, cautions against drawing too quick a conclusion, though. "It's not a negative, 'no it's not a biomarker,'" Fayolle told Space.com, but "it's not a direct biomarker, I would say." It could still suggest the presence of life, but it is no longer considered a definitive sign. [Alien Atmospheres: The Search for Signs of Life] At the time, Fayolle was a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (she is now at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Fayolle's team identified the chloromethane on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as well as around a pair of protostars in the early stages of forming a binary star system. The discovery was "a bit of an accident," Fayolle said. "I wasn't particularly looking for it." Fayolle was curious about the origin of chloromethane on Mars. NASA's Curiosity rover discovered the compound on the Red Planet, but there's been debate over its origins. Some scientists suggested that the compound could have formed when chlorine compounds, called perchlorates, on the surface reacted with carbon carried by the rover itself as it was analyzing samples. Scientists later confirmed that the carbon and hydrogen in Mars' chloromethane matches that found in meteorites. Therefore, impacts could be one source of the planet's chloromethane, but it could also have formed from smaller molecules on the planet's surface. Fayolle said the origin is far from settled. Fayolle's group first found chloromethane around the binary star system using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in northern Chile. The telescope was surveying the binary stars to determine the system's chemical complexity. The Rosetta space probe detected traces of chloromethane around Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko. (Image credit: B. Saxton/ NRAO/AUI/NSF) The ALMA team was also collaborating with scientists on the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, which led Fayolle to examine that data, too. Rosetta orbited comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for two years until it was steered into the comet in September 2016 at the end of its mission. Measurements sent back by the spacecraft allowed the team to identify chloromethane in the comet as well. Combined, the two discoveries shed light on the progression of chemistry in solar system formation. The results from the protostar system suggest that compounds like chloromethane can form efficiently as stars coalesce, according to a statement by Nature Astronomy. Meanwhile, the data from the comet indicate that these compounds can survive the formation of planets. This supports a continuous model of solar system formation, Fayolle said, rather than one where the heat of star formation causes chemicals to recombine, leaving few compounds unchanged and resetting the system's chemistry."Based on our discovery, organohalogens are likely to be a constituent of the so-called 'primordial soup,' both on the young Earth and on nascent rocky exoplanets," co-author Karin Oberg said in a statement. This suggests that, in addition to forming in the presence of life, compounds like chloromethane may have contributed to its development. Email Harrison Tasoff at htasoff@space.com or follow him @harrisontasoff. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. New York, Oct 1, 2017 (SPS) - The United Nations Security Council will receive a briefing on Western Sahara in October to discuss the situation in this non-self-governing territory, while the UN intends to relaunch mediation efforts from next month with a view to resuming talks between Polisario Front and Morocco. The semi-annual briefing is expected to be conducted by the new Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Horst Kohler. The new UN envoy held discussions with the parties to the conflict, Polisario Front and Morocco and met with representatives of neighbouring countries, top officials of the UN as well as with African Union's Commissioner for Peace and Security. Horst Kohler intends to pay a visit to the region in October with a view to relaunching negotiations, which have been at a standstill since 2012. (SPS) 062/SPS/APS A 30 million for-sale sign has been hoisted over one of Londons most vibrant properties the food market in Brixton. Listed landlord London & Associated Properties plans to sell the covered market, the Evening Standard can reveal. There has been a market on this south London spot since the 1870s, with the specific sites up for sale Brixton Village and Market Row serving the Afro-Caribbean communities who migrated to Brixton in the Fifties. Today the buildings are home to 140 retailers and restaurants. Market Row acts as a thoroughfare between Electric Avenue and Coldharbour Lane, and Brixton Village is nearby. The area has come under fire for becoming gentrified, driving up rents as luxury flats spring up across Brixton. London & Associated Properties bought the covered markets in 2006. It originally mooted plans to redevelop Brixton Village, including building a 10-storey block of homes above it. But locals campaigned against the plans, and the market was given Grade-II listing in 2010, cutting redevelopment options. The properties are let to a division of private market operator Groupe Geraud. Rental income per year for the landlord is 1.3 million Property firms GCW and Lewis & Partners have been appointed selling agents. Opportunistic rivals on Monday ran the rule over the wreckage of the collapsed Monarch airline and holidays business as the low-cost operator went bust, with 2100 jobs at risk. Irish airline Ryanair was expected to poach some of its 400 pilots to sort out its short-term staffing problems, which have seen it cancel thousands of winter services in the past fortnight. EasyJet, British Airways and Vueling owner IAG and Jet2 are also understood to be looking to hire staff and have been tipped as likely buyers for some of Monarchs most popular slots to the sun from airports including Gatwick, Luton and Manchester. EasyJet and IAG declined to comment on their intentions but a spokeswoman for the administrator, KPMG, said it was hopeful that some of the best slots would be sold. However, one airline expert said that the simplest option might just be for slots to be returned to the pool, from which all airlines could bid for them. Shares in rival airlines and tour operators rose as investors saw the potential to reduce the overcapacity in the market, which has been exacerbated by holidaymakers switching from terror-hit destinations to the Mediterranean. EasyJet was the biggest rise on the FTSE 100, up 4% to 1258p. The collapse of Monarch, owned by Greybull Capital, is the third airline failure in Europe this year, following Alitalia and Air Berlin. Monarch has been hit hard by the pounds post-Brexit referendum devaluation and terror attacks. Neil Wilson at ETX Capital said it would take the heat off Ryanair. There are now only really five big carriers operating in Europe: Ryanair, Lufthansa, International Airlines, Air France-KLM and easyJet. Many more mid-sized carriers are limping on but further consolidation may be necessary. Credit Suisse expects the UKs biggest airline collapse to be helpful for the sector to improve margins but could leave customers paying more. The bank said holiday firms Tui and Thomas Cook could be among the winners and their shares rose. A spokesman for Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the veteran airline entrepreneur and major shareholder in easyJet, said prices are likely to rise. Taking capacity out of the system will give operators greater freedom to set prices and increase shareholder value. Most rivals are hoping they will be able to pick up custom from the 300,000 passengers who have holidays booked with Monarch. Around 410,000 have been affected in total. B oris Johnson has told his friends before: I know Im not a team player; but I think I can lead the team. There is nothing new about his ambition or his unerring eye for the centre of attention. Since he was a schoolboy he has had both. What really hurt over the summer was the feeling that he had disappeared from view with his inconsequential overseas trips, and his forlorn efforts to avoid the Brexit mangle. But for a man mordantly aware of the passing of time, the fact the autumn leaves brought news that (thanks to Jacob Rees-Mogg) he wasnt even the favourite among eccentric old Etonians to lead the party was too much. So with his Brexit article a fortnight ago he blew up Mrs Mays Florence speech, and with his Brexit red lines this weekend, he scuppered No 10s plan for the start of conference. Now, with the smile of a man who is enjoying the fuss, he leaves his new bete noir, the Chancellor, to explain away the mess on the breakfast media while he goes for his dishevelled morning jog in front of photographers. Of course, like the Vicomte de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons, he claims these political infidelities are beyond his control and he will protest his love for Mrs May on stage tomorrow but be in no doubt: hes after her crown. The question is: will the Conservative Party let him take it? They are certainly feeling unloved and unled at the moment. The question of who is in charge cannot be dismissed as mere tittle-tattle in bars of Manchester. It completely overshadows this conference. Mrs May survived the immediate aftermath of losing the Tory majority in the election by intimating to her MPs that she would not serve for long. Now she says she wants to lead the Tories into the next election, which could be more than four years away. The bulk of the party know that is not going to happen, but wish everyone would stop talking about it and in her words just get on with the job. That is hopelessly unrealistic. Disunited The question of who is the Prime Minister is, in itself, important. It also goes to the heart of the policy issues dividing the Government at the moment. Are we seeking a softer transition out of the European Union, in which we accept we will have to pay money, allow free movement, agree to the jurisdiction of the European Court, and therefore abide by any new rules the Europeans agree in our absence? That is what the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and much of the Cabinet are willing to accept as a price more than worth paying to avoid crashing out of our countrys economic arrangements with our neighbours. Or is that a betrayal of the Brexit promise to take back control, as Mr Johnson asserts when he sets out his negotiating red lines including the insistence that we refuse to accept new European rules during the transition and reject European Court of Justice oversight? Its no good pretending to the public that the Cabinet are united, as the Prime Minister tried to yesterday, when they patently arent. As her own Chancellor said with admirable candour this morning, we know, on this big issue of how we take forward our exit from the European Union, and what type of relationship we should have with the EU in the future, there are differences of view; nobody is denying that. Its also no good telling the public not to worry while they sort out those differences. Thousands of British businesses, and many international firms, have been waiting over a year for them to be resolved and that uncertainty, as Mr Hammond says today, is damaging the economy. The cry goes up from the Tory faithful: please dont rock the boat or youll let Corbyn in. But until the party decides on who the captain is, and what direction they should be sailing in, they are giving their opponents clear water to steam ahead. T ate Moderns Turbine Hall has been turned into a giant playground with 22 sets of three-seater swings installed as part of its latest transformation. The swings, hanging from a bright orange pipe that runs through the hall and out of the building where more swings are planned, is part of a new project by Danish art collective Superflex. One Two Three Swing! starts at the gallerys Turbine Hall entrance with a huge mirrored pendulum hanging from the ceiling on a 20 metre long cable above a 770 square metre stripy carpet before visitors walk down to the swings. Visitors will be encouraged to have a go on the swings. Superflex - The 2017 Hyundai Commission 1 /5 Superflex - The 2017 Hyundai Commission Superflex - The 2017 Hyundai Commission Alex Lentati Superflex - The 2017 Hyundai Commission Alex Lentati Superflex - The 2017 Hyundai Commission Alex Lentati Superflex - The 2017 Hyundai Commission Alex Lentati Superflex - The 2017 Hyundai Commission Alex Lentati Lead curator Donald Hyslop said the installation, which opens tomorrow, was conceptually clever, sculpturally beautiful and elemental. He said the Danish trio, whose previous work included building a replica of a McDonalds and filming it as they slowly flooded it with water, wanted the pendulum to represent apathy while the swings stood for an idea of movement and power by people coming together and creating an action. Superflex, Lto R: Rasmus Nielsen, Bjrnstjerne Christiansen and Jakob Fenger (Alex Lentati) He said: We have taken a big space and made it look beautiful and when this pendulum moves it is hypnotic. Yes it is instantly Instagrammable and I am a great fan of Instagram but really one of the things this work can do is bring people together and lay down the mobile phone and experience the elemental. There are great pictures, but what you have a real opportunity to do is actually interact with people and talk and swing together so it is not a selfie opportunity, it is a community opportunity. The best exhibitions to see this autumn 1 /14 The best exhibitions to see this autumn Basquiat: Boom For Real Tove Jansson Rachel Whiteread Opera: Passion, Power and Politics Lawrence K. Ho Los Angeles Times Getty Images Harry Potter: A History of Magic Jasper Johns: Something Resembling Truth Jasper Johns / VAGA, New York / DACS, London 2017 From the Vapor of Gasoline Hyundai Commission Cezanne Portraits image courtesy National National Gallery of Art, Washington Dali/Duchamp Monochrome: Painting in Black and White The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow Hernan Bas Gerald Scarfe: Stage and Screen Jake & Dinos Chapman: The Disaster of Everyday Life What you will hear in here is shrieking and laughter and people smiling and there is absolutely nothing wrong with a museum doing that. Tate want to extend the the installation, the latest in its annual series of large-scale commissions for its Turbine Hall, out across south London with the orange pipe and swings appearing in different locations. Mr Hyslop said: It could come out of the ground into a building, it could come out of the side of a pub across to a park, it could go from mult-million pound flats to a council estate. It is a very clear expression from Tate Modern that this is about London, Southwark and the wider community and we are breaking through the walls literally. :: One Two Three Swing! is in the Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, until April 2 and admission is free. Are you going to Oktoberfest? Until fairly recently, this seemingly innocuous question had roughly three answers: Yes / No / October-what? Now, though, its a more complicated affair. Bavarian beer-fests are big business in London, and come in all different shapes and sizes, all across the city. They all differ slighlty, but expect plenty of steins (two pints glass tankards), bratwurst galore and live German folk. So, if you cant make one, theres always another and another and another. Prost! Erdinger Oktoberfest Set to be Londons largest Oktoberfest this year, Erdinger are gearing up for 3,000 revellers at a time sat at their 220 beer hall tables. Organisers say theyre planning on pouring out around 250,000 pints over the two-and-a-half week run. Food includes haxn (pork knuckle), leberkase (meat loaf made from beef or pork), sauerkraut and bratwurst, and therell be live music throughout the day and DJs at night. Oh, and make sure to be outside at dusk; if youre lucky, youll get a glimpse of the sunset over the Thames. The best part about it all? Erdinger beer is made without additives or chemicals, so there shouldn't be too many sore heads the morning after. Tickets from 5. October 5 22, next to the O2, erdinger-oktoberfest.co.uk Pink Oktoberfest An offshoot of Erdingers main event, this one-day LGBT+ takeover is being put together by the organisers of Winter Pride and boasts everything from drag queens in dirndls to lip sync battles, to game shows and rave karaoke. In other words: its set to be a right laugh. Besides all that, there'll also be the usual pull of beer, bratwurst and the rest. October 15, next to the O2, erdinger-oktoberfest.co.uk London Oktoberfest This lot have been going since 2011, so they certainly know what theyre doing. Things stick to the traditional format with an authentic German band, dirndl and lederhosen galore, plenty of bratwurst, schnitzel and pretzel and even more German brews. They even serve Underberg, a bitter German digestif which may well be the devils drink but is, in a perverse sort of a way, a must try. Ticket prices differ depending on which day you head over, but occasionally its free entry. October 5 8, Millwall Park, E14 3AY, london-oktoberfest.co.uk Brixton Oktoberfest Bavaria and Berlin meet the beach at this one as in Brixtons rooftop beach. Besides the beer, theyre serving up steins of prosecco, which sound lethal but tremendous fun. Don't miss Oompah bands covering classic dance tracks, a Berlin techno room, games including Bier Stein Pong and what theyre billing as Wurst Karaoke Ever and street food from Herman Ze German, Mac to the Future and The Lambassadors. Things go on until 2am on Friday and Saturday. Tickets from 10. If you like what you eat there, Herman Ze German are offering the Oktoberfest-themed platter all month at all three of their London sites, in Soho, Fitzrovia and Charing Cross. There'll be German meats galore and steins of their own craft beer, BLCK Forest Brew. October 12 14, Brixton Rooftop, SW9 8JH, designmynight.com Hackney Oktoberfest Not hugely Germanic this one, as youre more likely to head over for the disco, house and dance music than the for authentic food and drink. The line-up features Cal Jader, Jonny Tawn, Hold On, Slim Mike and Papa. There are a few international beers on tap, but given the Brewhouse is hooked up with London Fields Brewery, youre probably best off just raising a glass with the local brews. October 6, The Brewhouse, 369 & 370 Helmsley Place, E8 3SB, residentadvisor.net C lassic seaside holidays are making a major comeback right now, but if gritty arcades and decaying theme parks arent really your thing, the Isle of Wight makes for a perfect non-naff escape for Londoners who havent yet grasped the hipster lure of Margate and Ramsgate. One of its biggest merits is that it's just a 30-minute ferry ride away from the mainland over the Solent Straight, making it an easy play for time-poor Londoners on a budget. In theory, you could be sitting in a sunny beach-side cafe sipping on a glass of wine while watching the waves lapping against the shore just three hours after fleeing from London Waterloo. Here are a few other reasons to take a trip to the island this year. 1. Instagrammable beaches Plenty of UK beaches are little, well, underwhelming on the eye. If youre not being struck by pebbles underfoot, you're trying to brighten up unsightly sludge-coloured sand with a carefully chosen filter. Not in the Isle of Wight, where the beaches look practically Mediterranean. Theres something here for everyone: Kite surfers flock to blustery Brook Chine while families love the miles of golden beach on Sandown. Alum Bay is a local favourite too, boasting multi-coloured sand cliffs and the most incredible turquoise waters to paddle in. In the summer, you might even spot a pod of dolphins swimming off the coast. 2. A destination restaurant The Hambrough Hotel in Ventnor is home to a very well kept secret: its restaurant is one of the best on the island. It lost its Michelin star in 2013, but is still widely loved by locals and gastronomes in-the-know. Make sure you start your three-course feast with head chef Luke Taylors signature Ventnor crab. There are also seven homely boutique bedrooms above the restaurant if you fancy cracking open a bottle of fizz and making a night of it. 3. The Little Gloster Hotel If homely B&Bs are your thing, this Scandi-inspired bolthole is the place to stay on the island. Think: hygge-tastic whitewashed rooms with cosy cashmere throws, animal hide rugs and squashy sofas to curl up on. Nestled in beautiful Gurnard, just five minutes west of Cowes, the terrace rooms have incredible panoramic views of the Solent and the bay, and each come with binoculars so you can do some wildlife spotting during your stay. Theres also an intimate family run restaurant downstairs which was recently featured in the Michelin guide. 4. Go tree climbing If all that sea air hasnt invigorated you enough, why not up the ante and take on a day of good, old-fashioned tree climbing? In Appley Park, Goodleaf Treeclimbing helps daredevils to scale the heights of the islands 70 foot oak trees. Once youre in the canopy, you can soak in the sea views as you relax in a tree top hammock. Sheer bliss. 5. See the most photographed group of rocks in the world The distinctive chalk stacks of the The Needles are one of the most recognisable sights on the island. This classic natural attraction gets its name from a fourth needle-shaped rock, which was likened to a story in the book of Genesis in the Bible, where Lots Wife was turned to a pillar of salt. The fourth rock collapsed in a storm in 1764, but the name stuck. Scenic boat trips operate from nearby Alum Bay, and are one of the best ways to get a close-up view of The Needles. The headland itself gets busy, as do the two gun batteries and Coastguard cottages overlooking the rocks, so make sure you head down early to beat the queues. Shutterstock / ian woolcock 6. Cool camping If you fancy waking up amongst nature, but dont want to endure the unpleasantness of waking up on the hard ground, there are plenty of boutique camping options across the island. Our favourite is Toms Eco Lodge, a 400-acre dairy farm with wood-built eco-pods and yurts with log-burning range cookers and hot tubs. Just a few minutes drive from Freshwater Bay, there are miles of surrounding coast and rolling farmland to explore on foot. In the south of the island, theres also Sibbecks Farm Glamping, where chickens, bunnies and guinea pigs roam freely around luxury safari tents. Community spirit is all part of the stay, so youll be welcome to freshly laid eggs for breakfast and you can help yourself to the farms 'honesty veg patch'. 7. Just-caught seafood Keep an eye out for fishers cafes on the coast, like Ventnor Haven Fishery. These unassuming little spots arent expensive, nor are they fancy, but theyll serve up the lobster of your life. The Blake family have been fishing the seas off Ventnor Bay for decades, so the fishery is a local landmark in the area. Geoff, alongside wife Cheryl run day boats into the bay, meaning the fish and shellfish you eat that day is the freshest possible. Shutterstock / Veronika Kovalenko 8. Potter's delight Handcrafted small-batch ceramics are all the rage right now. Instead of spending a fortune on a pre-made set, why not make your own? Chessell Pottery in Calbourne on the west of the island is a great place to get your creative juices flowing. Its about 7 for paints and brushes, and then you can buy from a range of pots and plates ranging from about 10 up to 50. They'll then glaze it for you and you can pick it up a few days later. 9. Picture-perfect villages Shanklin is a coastal village with a characterful old town that looks like it's straight out of a fairytale book. There are charming thatched cottages peppered along higgeldy-piggeldy streets housing sweet little tea rooms and homemade craft shops. Make sure to stop for a drink at The Crab Inn, a famous sight on many fudge box fronts in the Isle of Wight. Shutterstock / BeautifullyTravelled 10. Writer's retreats Budding writers may find the inspiration theyve been looking for on the island, which was once the home of Alfred Lord Tennyson, who described the fresh sea air as worth sixpence a pint. The seven-mile walk over Tennyson down takes in a picturesque corner of the island where the poet was once a regular walker. Youll take in a perfect view of the Needles, as well as a granite monument in homage to the man himself. T wo women accused of fatally poisoning the half-brother of North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un today protested their innocence as their trial began in Malaysia. Siti Aisyah, 25, from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong, 29, from Vietnam, are suspected of smearing Kim Jong-nams face with the banned VX nerve agent in February at a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur, killing him within about 20 minutes. The women insist they thought they were playing a harmless prank for a hidden-camera show. After asking for the charges to be read in their native languages at Malaysias High Court, the women shook their heads when asked if they were guilty. The two women are the only suspects in custody in a killing that South Koreas spy agency said was part of a five-year plot by the North Korean leader to kill a brother he reportedly never met. Police say several North Koreans suspected of involvement left the country on the day of the attack. Others who holed up inside North Koreas embassy were allowed to leave in a deal with Pyongyang to ease tensions, despite Malaysias anger at the public use of a chemical weapon on its territory. Lawyers for two women, who face the death penalty if convicted, asked the court to compel prosecutors to identify four people still at large and mentioned in the charge sheet as having a common intention to kill Mr Kim. However the judge denied the request. Before the trial started, Aisyahs lawyer Gooi Soon Seng said her client did not know she had poison on her hand when she smeared Mr Kims face and was instead the victim of an elaborate trick. Prosecutors began calling witnesses, including an airport information counter worker and a police officer who were among the first to on the scene after the attack. The prosecution phase of the trial is expected to last about two months, after which the judge will decide if there is a strong case for the women to have to mount their defence. C ouncil leaders today expressed fears over the impact of proposed changes to the NHS across London. They called for plans to downgrade or axe A&E departments to be reconsidered and said efforts to keep people out of hospital in the long term were being broken by short-term demands to cut costs. A poll commissioned by Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham councils found more than 80 per cent of west London residents were opposed to changes at Ealing and Charing Cross hospitals. However there was a similar level of support for improving access to GPs, which the changes seek to achieve. Campaigners also fear that Charing Crosss A&E will be downgraded after 2021, although hospital bosses insist it is expanding, not closing. The BMG Research poll of 1,500 residents found fewer than one in five felt they had been consulted on the changes and 85 per cent opposed downgrading hospitals to local status. It came as the leaders of five north London boroughs wrote to the head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, to express increasing concern that a sustainability and transformation plan, which seeks to reduce the need for hospital care, was being derailed by budget cuts. Havering council leader Roger Ramsey has called on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to drop plans to close the A&E at King George Hospital in Ilford. The leaders of Camden, Islington, Haringey, Barnet and Enfield complained about the focus on rationing services and minimal investment in prevention. A cyclist is suing Tesco for more than 100,000 after a delivery driver allegedly drove into her before running her over as she lay injured on the ground. Chef Kate McElroy, 44, was riding to work when the driver pulled into her path from a side road, according to High Court documents. The collision, at the junction between Southwark Bridge Road and Great Guildford Street, sent Ms McElroy crashing to the ground and under the van. Court documents state the driver then drove over her, crushing her pelvis and leaving her in what police described as a critical condition. The keen cyclist underwent a number of operations and spent 12 days in hospital, where a screw was inserted into her fractured pelvis. She also suffered a fractured fibula, was left in a wheelchair for weeks and remains unable to walk unassisted. Recalling the collision on December 8 last year Ms McElroy told the Standard: I fell backwards onto the road and the bike went flying out from under me. I found myself lying under the truck. I thought he must have heard the crunching of my bike under the wheels but suddenly he started moving again. I was terrified and thought I was going to die as the van drove over my pelvis. I was screaming uncontrollably from the pain as I tried to stand up but found I couldnt move. Another cyclist stopped and held my hand and tried to calm me down. Ms McElroy was taken to the Royal London Hospital. It is claimed she had been riding correctly and was wearing a helmet. She said she still has nightmares and was left feeling suicidal after becoming hooked on painkillers. Ms McElroy, who has since returned to her native New Zealand, is suing for loss of earnings and the physical and psychological damage. It is alleged the driver was going too fast for the road conditions and had pulled out when it was not safe. He is said to have stopped at the scene. Ms McElroy, who had been living in Kennington with wife Leanne Webby, said the only way she feels she can get justice is through civil action because there have been no convictions over the incident. Patrick Maguire, a specialist serious injury lawyer at Slater and Gordon, said: Even though it was clear that the Tesco lorry driver was at fault, the company has done very little to help Kate. She had to commence proceedings in the High Court to seek an order to get Tesco to make an interim payment in respect of funds for her lost earnings and rehabilitation. Tesco have since made an interim payment. A spokesman said: We are incredibly sorry that this happened and our thoughts are with Ms McElroy. We hope to agree a settlement soon. A n alarming increase in bus crashes in London over the past four years is revealed today. There were 28,035 collisions in the capital last year, according to new figures about 5,000 more than in 2013. Nearly 14,000 collisions have been recorded in the first six months of this year. Twenty-seven people have been killed in what are described as collision incidents from January 2015 to June this year. This month two double-deckers crashed into the West Ends Central Saint Giles development, designed by Shard-architect Renzo Piano, within the space of eight days. In August nine passengers suffered minor injuries when a double-decker crashed into a shop on Lavender Hill near Clapham Junction station. Keith Prince, Tory transport spokesman at the Greater London Authority, revealed the latest statistics and said more must be done to improve bus safety. He highlighted the fact that there were 1,231 injuries last year alone, with 1,257 people taken to hospital over the past four years. He also called on Transport for London to bring forward its 12-year target for zero deaths. Mr Prince said: A 12-year target for zero deaths is not nearly ambitious enough particularly when the number of collisions is getting worse. TfLs efforts appear largely focused on improving emergency braking but technology exists that eliminates blind spots and can be retro-fitted to buses. TfL has said it is developing initiatives including the bus safety programme and bus safety innovation fund to reduce collisions and injuries. Further details will be revealed in TfLs formal response to the London Assembly later this year. Claire Mann, of Transport for London, said: We are taking every action possible to reduce the unacceptably high number of people killed or hurt on our streets. This includes introducing better driver training and new technology to limit bus speeds automatically, making road junctions safer and redesigning buses themselves to make them safer for Londons streets. T he Cheltenham Literature Festival is almost upon us, with Hillary Clinton, Andrew Marr and Salman Rushdie among the high-profile figures downing their pens and heading to Gloucestershire from this Friday. But one long-shelved love story is bound to be the hot topic of the week. Charles Spencer, historian and brother of the late Princess Diana, is on the roster, speaking at the town halls Baillie Gifford stage on Monday afternoon. He will speak on the toxic legacy of Charles I, publicising his new book To Catch A King: Charles IIs Great Escape. He will, therefore, surely have dealings with Caroline Hutton, this years festival chair and, incidentally, his ex-wife. The pair married in 2001 and had two children but separated in 2007. Spencer then married Canadian philanthropist Karen Gordon in 2011. Relations between him and his ex-wife are said to be tetchy and it seems unlikely that Hutton, known as Pidge, was the one to put a big tick next to the idea of him as a star speaker. However, the festival, sponsored by the Times and Sunday Times, is part of the same company as HarperCollins, Spencers publisher. Hutton became chair of the festival this year, replacing Baroness Rebuck. During their marriage, Spencer and Hutton founded the Althorp Literary Festival at Charless family estate, which is still going and also takes place this week with Clare Balding, Evan Davis and, of course, Spencer himself among those appearing. - After the death of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner last week, many wondered if his legacy was sexual liberation or oppression. But one element of the Hefs world influence passed us by: UK politics. Former Green Party London Assembly member Noel Lynch emailed to remind us that the party was founded in 1973, first called The People Party. The reason: its founders were inspired by an article in Playboy by Paul Ehrlich on overpopulation. You learn something new every day. Oxford's ex-finest still her college's star No St Hugh's Saint: Aung San Suu Kyi (Getty Images) Last week St Hughs College, Oxford, put a portrait of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi into storage after her reaction to her countrys humanitarian crisis caused an international furore. But it didnt react quickly enough for some. Over the weekend, attendees at an Oxford graduation were given an alumni brochure with Suu Kyi pictured in a section on Life After Oxford. She also still takes pride of place in the 21st-century section of the colleges online alumni section. If St Hughs is seeking a new mascot there are plenty to choose from: Amal Clooney, Barbara Castle and Joanna Trollope all attended. Theresa May, too. But it might not want to admit to that one. Quote of the Day Folks, he hasnae even won a raffle Ruth Davidson reminds conference-goers that Jeremy Corbyn isnt a shoo-in for No 10 Now Sienna gets on her boogie shoes Sunday Night Fever: Sienna Miller (Getty Images/Dave Benett) / Dave Benett Actress Sienna Miller was the perfect sweet city woman last night, hosting a screening of Saturday Night Fever at The Electric Cinema on Notting Hills Portobello Road. Co-hosting with film series Grand Classics and designer fashion site The Outnet, Miller invited actress Liv Tyler and former stepmother Kelly Hoppen for a night at the movies and a Grey Goose cocktail. Miller chose the film herself, saying it had been a particular inspiration. When her ex-boyfriend Jude Law hosted an event for Grand Classics he chose his own film, Alfie. A picture of modesty, that one. --- Fame is in the eye of the doorman. Just ask author Ian Rankin. Someone at my event yesterday asked me how I deal with fame, he tweeted yesterday. That was after security guard told me event was sold out so I couldnt get in. That was just the beginning of the slight for the author of the Rebus novels: a so-called fan at the same event told him that his favourite book by Rankin was Complicity. That was written by Iain Banks. So much for prosecco Birthday May: Theresa May (Getty Images) It is not everybodys idea of a good birthday party, conceded Theresa May, at the Innside hotel in Manchester last night, where she was greeted by the party faithful on the day she turned 61. May had arrived with her husband Philip at about 10.30pm for the bash, held by the 1922 Committee and Conservative Home. Already doing the rounds at the party were digital minister Matt Hancock and Home Secretary Amber Rudd. Champagne was, as is now the fashion, banned and in its stead it came prosecco and beers. She [May] looked a little tipsy, observed one party-goer, a look hitherto not seen in public. Unfortunately, that did not translate into a rock-star performance on stage. Lord Ashcroft, who had acted like her bodyguard from the moment the PM entered the room, led the speeches. May then followed with another barnstormingly dull three minutes on Brexit. Even the rendition of Happy Birthday from the floor sounded novel by comparison. Tweet of the Day Maybe I have 280 characters and Im just exercising restraint, you disgusting uncontrollable animals. Author Saladin Ahmed may or may not be in Twitters 280- character club. Loss of the day: the British Museum has admitted to losing a Cartier diamond ring, bequeathed by an anonymous donor and worth 750,000. If anyone finds it, give em a ring. Listen to the voice of the beehive Oh beehive: Benjamin Clementine (@benjaminclementine) The ever-suave Benjamin Clementine poses with his new album I Tell A Fly, on Instagram. But aside from the beautiful angles in the photography, The Londoner also admired Clementines new hairstyle, which reminded us of a good old-fashioned beehive. Gentlemen, take note, as you will soon have to emulate it. Follow The Londoner on Twitter and Facebook here S adiq Khan showed Donald Trump how to respond to a tragedy when he tweeted his condolences to the victims of the worst mass shooting in modern US history. The Mayor of Londons response was in stark contrast to that of Trump after the London Bridge terror attack rocked the capital in June, with the US President wasting little time in lashing out at Khan. Trump tweeted: "At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed! It came after Khan had issued a statement assuring Londoners not be alarmed at the increased police presence in London in the wake of the attack. Las Vegas shooting: 50 dead and more than 400 hospitalised Over the following days, Trump blasted Khan's response to the London Bridge terror attack for a second time, describing it as pathetic. He wrote: Pathetic excuse by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who had to think fast on his "no reason to be alarmed" statement. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /14 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images Mr Khans response to Mondays massacre in Las Vegas struck a different note, however. He reached out to the victims and their families after 50 people were killed in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire on crowds at an outdoor music festival. President Donald Trump criticised Mr Khan after London Bridge / Getty Images The Mayor wrote on Twitter: A deeply sad day for the city of Las Vegas. London sends our condolences to the victims and their families. A number of people have taken to Twitter to point out the differences in the two responses. One person wrote: Offering condolences to Trump as well, unlike Trump who took an opportunity to smear Sadiq Khan and Muslims after London terror attack. Another added: Noteworthy that Mayor Khan didnt attack the mayor of Las Vegas like Trump did after the London attack. Thank you, Mayor Khan. Thousands fled as the killer named as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock fired from a room on the 32nd floor of a hotel and casino overlooking the Strip. Donald Trump has been briefed on the massacre and tweeted: My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! P riti Patel today backed the Evening Standard investigation into modern slavery and pledged millions to help tackle it. In an exclusive interview with the Evening Standard, the International Development Secretary stressed the urgency of the investigation as she compared it to the fight against terrorism. Men and women trafficked from countries all over the world end up in modern slavery in the UK. The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner believes there are up to 13,000 victims in this country, while others have estimated the total to be even higher. [Modern slavery] is like terrorism, said Patel. If we dont tackle the root causes, the victims will come to Europe via Libya and Italy, and those problems will manifest themselves on the streets of London. Its why the Evening Standard special investigation into modern slavery is absolutely vital. We have to give a voice to people who dont have voices. How we will work to deliver change There are up to 13,000 victims of modern slavery in Britain, according to the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, while some estimate the total is even more. During its investigation, the Evening Standard will be: 1. Helping to force the closure of businesses in London that use slave labour. 2. Working with companies to give survivors of slavery a second chance. 3 Encouraging our readers to report potential slavery cases to the right authorities. 4 Helping those trapped in slavery in London know where they can turn for help. 5 Campaigning for new policies and laws to crack down on slavery, wherever it occurs. Ms Patel has responsibility for British government efforts in key source countries for victims of human trafficking. During a recent a trip to Nigeria she saw some of the conditions that lead to men, women and children being trafficked to Europe. Nigeria is the third most common origin country for victims of modern slavery in the UK. I hadnt appreciated the scale of it, the sheer numbers, the brutality, said Ms Patel. What these victims go through is harrowing. There are 46 million victims of modern slavery around the world, and the profits are on a par with the drugs trade. She told the Standard that 7 million of extra funding would be focused on Nigeria to prevent modern slavery. Worries about corruption mean that DfID does not give money directly to the Nigerian government. Instead it supports alternative local institutions, raising awareness among young women and helping to create job prospects, especially in Edo State, where most trafficked women come from. How to spot the signs of slavery We need to get the word out, so that these young girls know the facts. If they knew more about the rape and starvation and prostitution, they might not be so likely to think the grass is greener. But Britain cannot do it alone, she said. Slavery is a globalised problem, and a lack of co-operation between countries creates loopholes in which criminals can operate. Ms Patel said that modern slavery is a subject on which Britain is taking the lead. The Prime Minister deserves credit for putting the Modern Slavery Act legislation in place, Ms Patel said. She speaks very firmly about the great injustices of our time, and this is one of them. She has given voice to the issue. And intervention on the ground in origin countries is only part of the battle, she added. The message needs to also get through to Londoners, too. We have to intervene, and tell the British public that this is organised criminality, says Ms Patel. Its not just the prostitution rackets, but what happens to the girls, the processes by which theyre brought to UK. Your readers need to be aware of these young girls, and think of them and their futures. These are the people were trying to help. We all need to get our finger out and stop this. Find out how you can help bring modern slavery to an end. T heresa Mays hopes of kickstarting trade talks with Europe this month have faded, a senior minister has told the Evening Standard. Despite her Florence speech last month, offering a transition period with current trade terms and continued payments, ministers think an EU summit on October 19 will rule that too little progress has been made on the so-called divorce issues. The minister said Britain had been the most reasonable of the two sides in last weeks fourth round of negotiations and was prepared for a delay. They have tested us, now it is going to be their turn to be tested, he said. The disclosure is a blow to business leaders who today warned that further delays on a transition deal will force firms to divert jobs and investment away from the UK. Chancellor Philip Hammond said: We are all frustrated at the slow pace of progress over the summer months. He emphasised the importance of nailing down a transition period of around two years to prevent businesses making irreversible decisions. If we dont give business clarity about the future they will have to make decisions assuming the worst possible outcome, he told Radio 4s Today programme. If this months EU summit refuses to sanction discussions about a future EU-UK trade relationship, the next chance will come in December. Most EU officials say privately that this is the most likely prospect. In August, Brexit Secretary David Davis said he hoped to move swiftly on to discussing our future partnership after the European Council in October. The impasse is chiefly over EU demands to nail down a cash payment and for the European Court of Justice to umpire disputes over EU citizens rights. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker told Germanys Bild newspaper he would gladly accept Mrs Mays olive branch if there are really olives on it. Meanwhile a poll has indicated that most Britons are willing to keep free movement rights for EU workers in return for access to the European single market, provided that EU citizens must leave if they fail to find a job or university place within four months. The YouGov survey for pressure group Best for Britain found that 64 per cent would be happy with these terms, while 24 per cent were opposed. The findings suggest that a majority of people who voted Leave would be happy with free movement if the rules were reformed. A Tory conference event featuring Jacob Rees-Mogg has descended into chaos after protesters mobbed the high-profile backbencher. Demonstrators holding up placards chanted "Tories out" at the packed meeting on Brexit. Conservative supporters returned fire, shouting "Labour scum". Mr Rees-Mogg was mobbed by a couple of protesters who harangued him directly about his views on abortion. The MP for North East Somerset, speaking from a lectern, appealed for calm. "Ladies and gentlemen, let us have a proper and thoughtful debate," he said. Karla, who did not want to give her surname, challenged the Tory MP about reports he profited from an abortion drug despite being opposed to terminations in all circumstances. The 31-year-old, from the outskirts of Manchester, said: "I think it is very hypocritical that you profit from a drug that allows for abortions." Mr Rees-Mogg replied: "That story is not true." Mr Rees-Mogg, who has proved to be one of the most popular guest speakers on the conference circuit, had arrived at the Bruges Group event on Brexit to enthusiastic cheers. But as the meeting in the historic Great Hall in Manchester's town hall opened, the group appeared at the back of the packed room and began their chants. Disagreement: Jacob Rees-Mogg is confronted by a protester in Manchester / PA Mr Rees-Mogg said: "I don't mind who stays in this hall or whether they agree with me or not." After around five minutes the protest died down and the fringe event resumed. The backbencher said the demonstration showed the "glorious" exchange of views that can be had in a free country. He said: "We should be really pleased that people want to come to our meetings and engage with our ideas. "It's a glorious thing about our nation. "We are a free country and we are not afraid of people holding other views to our own because we think we can win the battle of ideas. "We don't need to shout. We don't need to scream. "We need calm, considered and deliberative discussion and then we can show Conservative ideas and values are best for this nation. "Let's always be willing to engage with anybody who is willing to come to our meetings." The arch-Brexiteer gave his backing to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who has been viewed as mischief making with his Brexit blueprint and red lines. "I agree with everything Boris has been saying recently," he said. Mr Johnson is one of the "great heroes" of Brexit who has been setting out government policy with "panache, verve and vigour", he said. Mr Rees-Mogg said: "There has been too much crying into our soup and saying it is all frightfully difficult and we are only doing it because the British people want us to do it rather than because we think it is a wonderful opportunity for the nation." He added: "I think the Government has been too Eeyorish about it." P hilip Hammond hit Boris Johnson with a quadruple slapdown over Brexit today as MPs warned the Foreign Secretary may struggle to even get on the ballot paper if there is a leadership contest. The Chancellor stressed nobody is unsackable after the Foreign Secretary angered MPs and delegates by laying out four personal red lines for the Brexit negotiations and called for higher public sector pay rises. Mr Hammond also dismissed Mr Johnsons latest intervention as just noise, flatly rejected as a rhetorical flourish his insistence that a transition period must be not a second more than two years and accused him of undermining the negotiations being led by Brexit Secretary David Davis with Brussels. The Chancellors strong words came as a new poll for the Best for Britain pressure group showed half of voters believe Mr Johnsons views on Brexit are mainly motivated by his personal political interests, compared to 26 per cent for Theresa May and 21 per cent for David Davis. The fresh blood-letting over Europe overshadowed Mrs Mays attempts to get the party to focus on public services after her snap election disaster. Asked whether Mr Johnson should be sacked, the Chancellor told ITVs Good Morning Britain: We all serve at the Prime Ministers pleasure and we all owe the Prime Minister our allegiance and our loyalty within the Cabinet. I have always operated on the principle that it is probably best to believe that nobody is unsackable. Everybody has got to pull their weight within the Government. Mr Hammond stressed that the Cabinet had agreed the Governments position on Brexit which was laid out in Theresa Mays Florence speech last month. We had a Cabinet discussion before the speech and the whole Cabinet signed up to that position, he told BBC radio. The Prime Minister was very precise in what she said. At the moment that points to a period of around two years. I think that gives us some flexibility. On the run: Boris Johnson / EPA Ahead of his keynote speech to the Tory conference, Mr Hammond also emphasised that the more unity the Government could show, the stronger its negotiating position would be with the EU. David Davis is doing a great job in Brussels, but his hand would be strengthened where it is clear that he has a united Government behind him and a clear position, he said. He added that the real process is going on between the Government and the EU negotiating team led by Michel Barnier in Brussels, adding: Everything else is noise. Mr Johnson expressed surprise that his transition period red line had caused such a stir, insisting: If you studied what I said, it was basically Government policy. But former whip Robert Syms MP vented the anger of a number of Tory delegates at Mr Johnson, saying: Most of us just want a few of our more senior colleagues just to shut up and get on with the job. Former education secretary Nicky Morgan said Mr Johnson had to go unless he could show his loyalty to the Government and raised doubts over whether he would get on the ballot paper if Mrs May was toppled or stands down. Writing in The Standard, Ms Morgan said: The Labour Partys moderates failed to stop an extreme leader getting on the original leadership ballot paper, they watched him win the leadership a second time and theyre watching him take over their Party. Conservative moderates will not stand by and watch the same happen to our Party. MPs whittle down the list of leadership contenders to just two, through a series of votes, before party members elect their new leader - so efforts could be made to block Mr Johnson. One senior minister stressed: Hes got to get out of the House before he gets on the ballot paper. Mr Hammond also denied he had texted Mr Johnson at 4am on election night to offer him his backing after Mrs Mays snap election gamble backfired so spectacularly. Although he was in text and phone contact with Cabinet colleagues during the night, he explained: I did not text Boris Johnson during that morning and offer him my support. The Chancellor warned that uncertainty over EU withdrawal negotiations was causing a pause in business investment which was harming the UK economy Adam Marshall, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said businesses wanted a transition period of at least three years,and called for an end to Government infighting over Brexit. Public disagreements between Cabinet ministers in recent weeks have only served to undermine business confidence, not just on Brexit negotiations but also on the many issues where firms need to see clear action from government closer to home, he said. In his speech, Mr Hammond launched a staunch defence of free market economies which came under attack by Jeremy Corbyn at Labours annual rally in Brighton last week. Rejecting the Labour leaders claim that the neo-liberalism which has dominated the past 40 years has failed, the Chancellor argued that the market economy remains the best system yet designed for making people steadily better off over time and underpinning strong and sustainable public services for everyone. He also announced 400 million for transport links in the North of England. Eloise Todd, of Best for Britain, said the polling showed people distrusted the Foreign Secretarys motives. Boris Johnsons antics over the last fortnight have only conformed the impression that hes more concerned about his future than the lives of the millions of ordinary people whose jobs and livelihoods depend on trade with Europe, she said. T he Conservatives will lose every safe seat in London unless they modernise, a potential candidate for mayor warned today. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Syed Kamall said London Tories should consider running campaigns independently from national HQ so they could better reflect the capitals diversity and values. Warning that population changes were destroying the partys majorities in the suburbs, the senior Tory MEP said: I can see, in the long term, us having no safe seats in London if we do nothing. He spoke as a poll showed the Tories sliding backwards in the capital since the general election. The YouGov poll for Queen Mary University of London found the party had slipped from a 33 per cent vote share on June 8 to 30 per cent. Labour has held steady at 55. In the key 25-49 age range for raising families and trying to get on the housing ladder, Theresa Mays party has sunk to 20 per cent while Jeremy Corbyns side has reached 66 per cent. Mr Kamall, who is widely tipped to run against Sadiq Khan in 2020 both are sons of London bus drivers said the Tories were set back at the general election by Mrs Mays campaign, including its focus on immigration controls. Her 100,000 target for net migration made the party appear obsessed with numbers, driving ethnic minority voters to Labour, he added. A lot of things in the election did not work in London, most Conservatives agree. We had no message to appeal to younger voters, including young professionals. We even managed to upset older people and core voters. He said the London party should consider copying Scottish leader Ruth Davidson and create a separate party structure. London is relatively relaxed about immigration, for example. So we need to talk about it in a different way. We should talk about a fair immigration system rather than giving the impression we are obsessed about numbers. I would like to see a debate about what sort of migrants we need to meet Londons requirements. What do firms need to meet our construction needs and staff coffee bars and hotels? Mr Kamall, who was beaten to the 2015 mayoral nomination by Zac Goldsmith, will headline a conference fringe debate tomorrow called Do we have a London problem? He said housing should be the biggest priority as not even young professionals could get a home of their own. The MEP, raised in Edmonton, said demographic changes were seeing the outer London doughnut turn red. When I lived in Edmonton, it was a Conservative seat, which is hard to believe nowadays. Streatham was a Tory seat until 1992. On June 8 Labour turned several safe Tory seats into marginals. Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa Villiers, both Leave campaigners, could face battles to hold on. Ms Villiers has a majority of 353 in Chipping Barnet, compared with 11,927 in 2010, while Mr Duncan Smiths majority in Chingford and Woodford Green is down to 2,438 from 8,386. The YouGov poll will set alarm bells clanging in Tory HQ where party bosses are hoping to fight back in next years borough elections. Education Secretary Justine Greening warned that millions of young Londoners felt excluded from success. The Putney MP said: For the younger generation the link between effort and reward is weaker now than ever. These are people who went to university, have good jobs, and yet are finding thats not enough to get on the housing ladder or enjoy things the previous generation took for granted. Professor Philip Cowley, of Queen Mary, said: The numbers are not good for the Tories and should add to worries about how the party will perform in next years local elections. C hancellor Philip Hammond sent a thinly-veiled threat to Boris Johnson was he told the Foreign Secretary: "nobody is unsackable". Asked whether Mr Johnson should be dismissed from his post, the Chancellor told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "We all serve at the prime minister's pleasure and we all owe the prime minister our allegiance and our loyalty within the Cabinet. "I have always operated on the principle that it is probably best to believe that nobody is unsackable. Everybody has got to pull their weight within the Government." Meanwhile former education secretary Nicky Morgan said Mr Johnson "had to go" unless he could show his loyalty to the Government within days. Warning: Philip Hammond / Getty Images The British Chambers of Commerce also warned that public disagreements between Government ministers were damaging business confidence. The Conservative conference in Manchester has been dominated by speculation about Mr Johnson's leadership ambitions, after he set out his own personal red lines for Brexit negotiations and issued a call for higher public sector pay rises. Mr Johnson has been accused of trying to destabilise Theresa May ahead of the conference as he laid out his vision for leaving the EU in an interview with the Sun on Saturday. Britain should spend "not a second more" than the proposed two-year transition period exiting the bloc and must refuse any further EU court rulings once it departs in 2019, he said. Chancellor Philip Hammond rallied around the prime minister, affirming his "100 per cent support" and denying reports he had sent a 4am text to Mr Johnson on the night of the general election offering him his support for the leadership. He acknowledged that uncertainty over EU withdrawal negotiations were causing "a pause in business investment" which was harming the UK economy, and said it was the duty of all Cabinet ministers to "pull their weight" in support of the Prime Minister. His warning to the foreign secretary came as he tried to keep attention on the domestic agenda, with the announcement of 400 million for transport links in the North of England. Some 300 million will be used to ensure cities like Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, York and Leicester can be linked up with the HS2 high-speed rail route between London and the North. A further 100 million will go into local road schemes to cut congestion and unlock new sites for homes and businesses in the North. T he brother of a man suspected of carrying out the worst ever mass shooting in the modern history of the US today said he was "dumbfounded". Eric Paddock, brother of Stephen Paddock who is thought to have killed over 50 people at a concert in Las Vegas, gave a brief interview to reporters from his home in Orlando, Florida. He said: We are completely dumbfounded, he said. We cant understand what happened. We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims, Mr Paddock told Reuters, his voice trembling. We have no idea in the world. Stephen Paddock is suspected of opening fire from the window of a room outside the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas onto a crowd of concert-goers. More than 50 people were killed and over 400 were treated in hospital. Mobile phone footage shows a packed crowd ducking for cover and fleeing in panic as the bullets rained down during a set by musician Jason Aldean, who was not harmed in the shooting. Stephen Paddock, 64, was from Mesquite, Nevada, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. He had at least ten guns in the hotel room with him at the time, and turned one of them on himself before police arrived. The shooter had reportedly been staying in the hotel room since September 30. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /14 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images The Mandalay Bay massacre is the deadliest shooting in modern US history. Eric Paddock spoke as the US's Homeland Security said there was no "specific credible threat" to other public venues in the US. He said he would issue a further statement later. Barack Obama has sent his prayers to the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, along with many other politicians who also took to Twitter to show their support for those affected by the worst mass shooting in US history. "Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy," read the message on Mr Obama's Twitter. Meanwhile a tweet from US president Donald Trump's account offered his "warmest condolences" to victims and their families. C atalonia's leaders were locked in talks today after declaring that a violence-marred referendum had given the region the right to independence from Spain. Preliminary results showed 90 per cent backed independence on a 42.3 per cent turnout, according to officials. But more than 750,000 votes could not be counted as polling stations were closed by police and ballot boxes confiscated in bloody scenes yesterday. Around 850 people were injured, including 33 police officers, in clashes at polling stations as the national government tried to suppress the illegal vote. Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was today leading a cabinet meeting in Barcelona which was expected to consider asking the regional parliament to vote on an independence declaration later in the week. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and Vice President Oriol Junqueras attend a cabinet meeting after the referendum vote / Reuters However Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has called the referendum a mockery, was meeting other ruling party leaders in Madrid before seeking a parliamentary session to discuss how to confront the countrys most serious crisis in decades. Mr Puigdemont said Catalonia had won the right to become an independent state, adding he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations during the vote. People of Catalonia unfurl their flag / AP My government in the next few days will send the results of todays vote to the Catalan parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum, he said in a televised address last night. The EU has been reluctant to intervene over fears the referendum could stoke separatist movements across Europe. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also stated that the vote was not legal. Protesters line up to confront riot police during the independence referendum / Getty Images Two people were in a serious condition in hospital today while another was allegedly blinded by a rubber bullet fired by police. A woman dragged out of a polling station in Barcelona by police claimed they broke her fingers one by one and sexually assaulted her. Video footage shows Marta Torrecillas being removed from the Paul Claris School yesterday. In a WhatsApp video, Ms Torrecillas claimed: I was defending elderly people with open arms. "They got hold of me and threw me down the stairs and threw things at me. They broke my fingers deliberately, one by one. Halfway down the stairs, with my clothes up, they touched my breasts while they laughed and hit me. Spanish foreign minister Alfonso Dastis said the violence, while unfortunate and unpleasant, was proportionate. Before the referendum a majority of Catalonias 7.5 million inhabitants were believed to oppose independence, but the Spanish states heavy-handed response to the vote may have caused some to switch sides. Catalonias claims for independence go back centuries, but it was under the rule of General Francisco Franco that saw the region and its language severely repressed. N ine out of 10 voters in Catalonia have backed independence in an "illegal" referendum which was marred by violence, officials said. Ninety per cent of the 2.2 million people who turned out to cast their ballots supported independence, a Catalan official said. The result, which Catalonian leader Carles Puigdemont said gives Catalonia "the right to become an independent state", came after Barcelona's mayor announced at least 888 people had been injured in violent clashes. Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull said nearly eight per cent of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. Fifteen thousand votes were still being counted. Spain's foreign minister described the police intervention as "proportionate", but "unpleasant" / AFP/Getty Images Mr Turull said the ballots that gave Monday's preliminary result did not include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids Sunday aimed at stopping the vote. Brutal scenes saw police smash into polling stations and charge on civilians, kicking and stamping on them, while rubber bullets were fired into crowds. Shocking footage emerged of riot police grappling with voters and smashing through windows to break into voting stations. Officers broke down doors to force entry into voting stations as defiant Catalans shouted "Out with the occupying forces!" and sang the anthem of the wealthy northeastern region. Police face voters in the banned referendum / Getty Images Mr Puigdemont said he would make an appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations by the Spanish government on Sunday. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, has rejected calls from the opposition for the UK to intervene with the Spanish government, insisting the referendum "is a matter for the Spanish government and people". Spain's foreign minister said the violence seen as police tried to prevent people from voting was "unfortunate" and "unpleasant" but "proportionate." Spains deputy prime minister said officers had used "firmness and proportionality" as the Government tried to shut down the banned referendum. Hundreds of people are reported to have been injured in the clashes / Getty Images Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Sunday night said "no referendum has been held" as Spain's constitution does not allow for a regional government to unilaterally call a plebiscite on secession. Sunday's referendum, the culmination of years of growing tensions between Madrid and Barcelona, was called despite a court decision to suspend the vote. Catalan leaders said they had to go ahead with it since they had campaigned in the last election on promises to hold a referendum. Thirty-three police officers were said to have been injured in the violence. F BI agents have disputed Isiss claim of responsibility for the Las Vegas shooting massacre after the terror group said the killer converted to Islam a few months ago. The extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack without providing any evidence on Monday. The FBI said the shooter, who has been named as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, has no connection to Isis. Speaking at a news conference, Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse said: As this event unfolds we have determined at this point no connection with an international terrorist group. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /18 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images Isis said the shooter was a soldier who had converted to Islam months ago. It has made exaggerated or false claims in the past. Fifty-eight people were killed and 515 injured after Paddock opened fire on crowds at an outdoor music festival from the 32nd floor of a hotel overlooking the Las Vegas Strip. Thousands ducked for cover and fled in panic as the bullets rained down during a set by musician Jason Aldean. People flee the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas after shooting Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting but say they believe Paddock, who was retired and from Mesquite, Nevada, acted alone. He killed himself after the shooting. Sherrif Joseph Lombardo said authorities believe it was a lone wolf attack. He said the shooting appeared to be unrelated to terrorism and that the suspect was not linked to any militant groups. People flee the scene of the attack in Las Vegas / David Becker/Getty Images Paddocks brother Eric, who lives in Florida, told the Orlando Sentinel: We are completely dumbfounded. We cant understand what happened. He described his sibling as a gambler with "no religious affiliation, no political affiliation", or history of mental illness. Loading.... Mr Paddock added that his brother was "not an avid gun guy at all" and had no military background. Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman said the attack was the work of a crazed lunatic full of hate. In an address to the country, President Donald Trump called the attack "an act of pure evil" and added: "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has." He ordered flags flown at half-staff. About 32,000 people were at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival when the gunman opened fire from the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino at 10.20pm local time (6.20am UK time). Thousands fled as the killer fired from a room on the 32nd floor of the hotel. The gunfire stopped and several people shouted, Thats gunshots! before the shooting started again. Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the hotel. The Strip was shut down and several SWAT teams were seen entering the hotel. There were reports of officers being pinned down by gunfire. The police blew open the gunmans door with explosives and found him shot dead. T he first named victim of the Las Vegas gun massacre saved his wife's life before he was shot dead, she revealed in a heart-breaking tribute. Sonny Melton, a 29-year-old nurse, was among the 58 people killed when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on crowds at the music festival in Las Vegas. Heather Gulish Melton, who lived in Tennessee with her husband, described how he grabbed her from behind and urged her to start running as gunfire rang out. She said she then felt him get shot in the back as bullets rained down on crowds during a set by musician Jason Aldean. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /14 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images Mrs Melton, an orthopaedic surgeon, described her husband as the most kind-hearted, loving man I have ever met. She told Fox 17 News: At this point, Im in complete disbelief and despair. I dont know what to say. Sonny was the most kind-hearted, loving man I have ever met. He saved my life and lost his. Las Vegas shooting: What we know so far She told WSMV: "He saved my life. He grabbed me and started running when I felt him get shot in the back. "I want everyone to know what a kind-hearted, loving man he was, but at this point, I can barely breathe." The couple both worked at Henry County medical centre in Tennessee and had married in 2016. The centres chief executive Thomas Gee said in a statement: The thoughts and prayers of the entire HCMC family are with Sonny and Heathers families. Jordan McIldoon, a 23-year-old man from the Canadian province British Columbia, was also among the dead, the Canadian Broadcasting Company reported. Las Vegas shooting victim: Jordan McIldoon His parents told CBC: We only had one child. We just dont know what to do. A concert-goer posted on Facebook on Sunday night saying that Mr McIldoon died in her arms. Eyewitnesses describe how they fled the Las Vegas shooting Quinton Robbins, 20, of Henderson, Nevada, also died in the attack, his family confirmed. His aunt Kilee Well Sanders described Mr Robbins, a student, as "the most kind and loving soul". Student Quinton Robbins, 20, was also killed in the gun massacre Writing on Facebook in tribute, she said: "Everyone who met him, loved him. His contagious laugh and smile. He was truly an amazing person. "He will be missed by so many, he is loved by so many." Canadian mother-of-four Jessica Kylmchuk, from Alberta, in the Edmonton province, has also been confirmed dead in the shooting. Shooting victim: Jessica Klymchuk / Facebook In a statement, Alberta's premier Rachel Notley, called the incident an "act of violence that is almost beyond comprehension in a time of peace". Twenty-year-old Bailey Schweitzer, from California, was also confirmed dead by her father. Adrian Murfitt, 35, a fishermen, was killed when he was shot in the neck as he was having his photograph taken with his friends. Adrian Murfitt, 35, a fisherman, was shot in the neck / AP The first victims were named as photos emerged showing two windows on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino blown out. The damaged windows on the 32nd floor room that was used by the shooter in the Mandalay Hotel / AFP/Getty Images It is believed Paddock - a 64-year-old retiree from Mesquite, Nevada - used both windows to fire down on the crowd, killing 58 people and injuring 515 more. Police said he used a hammer-like device to smash the windows. Attacker: Stephen Paddock Authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting but say they believe Paddock, who was retired and from Mesquite, Nevada, acted alone. He killed himself after the shooting. Sherrif Joseph Lombardo said authorities believe it was a lone wolf attack. He said the shooting appeared to be unrelated to terrorism and that the suspect was not linked to any militant groups. The FBI shut down Isis's claims of responsibility and that Paddock was a "soldier" who had converted to Islam many months ago. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /14 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images Paddocks brother Eric, who lives in Florida, told the Orlando Sentinel: We are completely dumbfounded. We cant understand what happened. He described his sibling as a gambler with "no religious affiliation, no political affiliation", or history of mental illness. Mr Paddock added that his brother was "not an avid gun guy at all" and had no military background. People flee the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas after shooting Paddocks father was once on the FBI's most wanted list after escaping prison, his brother later revealed. Eric Paddock told reporters that their father Patrick Benjamin Paddock was a violent bank robber during the 1960s and 1970s. A wanted poster described him as diagnosed as psychopathic and considered armed and very dangerous. Las Vegas mayor Carolyn Goodman said the attack was the work of a crazed lunatic full of hate. Loading.... In an address to the country, President Donald Trump called the attack "an act of pure evil" and added: "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has." He ordered flags flown at half-staff. About 320,000 people were at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival when the gunman opened fire from the hotel at 10.20pm local time (6.20am UK time). Thousands fled as the killer fired from a room on the 32nd floor of the hotel. The gunfire stopped and several people shouted, Thats gunshots! before the shooting started again. Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the hotel. The Strip was shut down and several SWAT teams were seen entering the hotel. There were reports of officers being pinned down by gunfire. The police blew open the gunmans door with explosives and found him shot dead. Officials have urged volunteers to come forward and donate blood in the wake of the attack. A t least 50 people have been confirmed dead and more than 200 injured in a shooting in Las Vegas, making the music festival rampage the deadliest gun massacre in modern US history. Revellers fled in terror as the killer fired from a room on the 32nd floor of a hotel and casino overlooking Las Vegas's famous Strip. After police shot dead the gunman, named as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, the number of casualties was still being evaluated by emergency services. Here are the other deadliest single-day mass shootings in recent US history. Pulse nightclub, Orlando, June 2016 On June 12, 2016, 29-year-old security guard Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 58 others in a hate crime terrorist attack on Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Mateen was shot dead by police as they freed hostages from the club. Virginia Tech, 2007 On April 16, 2007, 32 people were killed across two locations at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, by Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old student. Cho then killed himself. Mourners lay tributes to those killed in the Pulse nightclub attack / EPA Sandy Hook, 2012 Adam Lanza, 20, killed 20 children and six adults on a shooting spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012 Lanza had shot dead his mother, Nancy Lanza, prior to the rampage, and later turned the gun on himself. Luby's cafeteria, Texas, 1991 35-year-old George Hennard killed 23 people on October 16, 1991 after crashing his pick-up truck through the wall of Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen. He then committed suicide. San Ysidro McDonald's, 1991 James Huberty, 41, opened fire with an Uzi, shotgun and handgun in a McDonald's in San Ysidro, California, on July 18, 1984, killing 21 adults and children. He was gunned down an hour later by a police marksman. University of Texas, 1966 Former US marine Joseph Whitman killed his wife and mother before opening fire from a tower of the University of Texas on August 1, 1966. He killed 16 and wounded at least 30 before being shot dead by police. Edmond post office, Oklahoma, 1986 Postman Patrick Henry Sherrill killed 14 colleagues in Oklahoma with three handguns on August 20, 1986, before shooting himself in the head. San Bernardino, 2015 Married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik killed 14 when they gunned down staff at San Bernadino's Inland Regional Centre on December 2, 2015. A t least 58 people were killed and more than 515 injured in the worst mass shooting in modern US history when a gunman opened fire on crowds at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas. Thousands fled as the killer named as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock fired from a room on the 32nd floor of a hotel and casino overlooking the Strip. Mobile phone footage shows a packed crowd ducking for cover and fleeing in panic as the bullets rained down during a set by musician Jason Aldean. Long bursts of automatic gunfire can be heard amid the screams and shouts of people trying to flee. The gunman was named as Stephen Paddock, 64 The gunman was found shot dead when police stormed his room, where officers found up to ten automatic rifles. Concert-goers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets. Las Vegas sheriff Joseph Lombardo said Paddock lived locally, acted alone and was not believed to be connected to any militant group. The sheriff said: We have no idea what his belief system was. Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor. Paddock was shooting from hotel windows indiscriminately. Police said they found 10 guns in his room At least two off-duty police officers at the concert were killed. Two other officers were injured, one critically. The death toll, which could rise, makes the attack the deadliest mass shooting in US history, eclipsing the massacre of 49 people at an Orlando club last year. Shooting: People take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival / Getty Images Police were searching for Paddocks companion, or roommate, a woman named as Marilou Danley. They later said they believed they had found her. Donald Trump was briefed on the massacre and tweeted: My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! People flee the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas after shooting About 32,000 people were at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival when the gunman opened fire from the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino at 10.20pm local time (6.20am UK time). The gunfire stopped and several people shouted, Thats gunshots! before the shooting started again. Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the hotel. Las Vegas after the shooting / Getty Images The Strip was shut down and several SWAT teams were seen entering the hotel. There were reports of officers being pinned down by gunfire. The police blew open the gunmans door with explosives and shot him dead. Sheriff Lombardo described the killer as a lone wolf and said rumours of other shootings or explosives such as car bombs in the area were false. One witness told KSNV News, a local station: They were firing from somewhere high, and they were unloading clip after clip after clip after clip. US police respond to the shooting / Getty Images Professional poker player Dan Bilzerian, 38, saw the shooting and posted a series of videos on Snapchat. He said: Holy f*** this girl just got shot in the f***ing head. So f***ing crazy so I had to go grab a gun, Im f***ing heading back. Some kind of mass shooting. Guy had a heavy-calibre weapon for sure. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /14 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images Mike McGarry, a 53-year-old financial adviser from Philadelphia, said he was at the concert when he heard shots ring out. He said: It was crazy I laid on top of the kids. Theyre 20. Im 53. I lived a good life. The back of his shirt bore footprints, after people ran over him. Another witness, who was staying on the same hotel floor as the gunman, said: I was in room 135 and I heard over the police scanner that the shooting came from room 137. It was non-stop I would say well over 100 rounds. I called the front desk and she was remarkably calm and said she was aware of the situation and told us to stay in our room. After around 10 to 15 minutes it just kind of stopped. You could smell the gunpowder. Right before we got out I heard an explosion, maybe a flashbang, but windows were blown out. The cops came on to the floor and they were clearing rooms room by room and six or seven cops came into our room and we were evacuated. People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard / Getty Images Footage shows people being carried on makeshift stretchers, with motorists offering to take the injured to hospital. Some flights destined for McCarran International Airport were diverted. Aldean, who fled the stage, later said he and his crew were safe. He called the shooting beyond horrific. The Foreign Office said it was in contact with authorities in Las Vegas and ready to help any Britons affected. On Twitter, Theresa May wrote: The UKs thoughts are with the victims and the emergency services responding to the appalling attack in Las Vegas. T he Las Vegas gun massacre shooter was the son of a notorious bank robber once on the FBIs most wanted list, his family said. Stephen Paddock, 64, was named by police as the gunman who killed at least 58 people and wounded 515 after opening fire on a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip from a 32nd-floor hotel room on Sunday. Eric Paddock said his brothers involvement had hit the family like an asteroid. The 55-year-old, who lives in Orlando, Florida, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal: We have no idea how this happened. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /18 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images It's like an asteroid just fell on top of our family." The brother said that their father was bank robber Benjamin Hoskins Paddock who was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list until 1977. Notorious bank robber: Benjamin Hoskins Paddock / AP Described as an avid gambler, he spent nearly a decade as a fugitive after springing from a Texan prison in 1968, the Arizona Republic reported at the time. An FBI poster described him as a "psychopath" who should be treated as "armed and very dangerous". Eric Paddock also said his brother had made millions as a property developer and recently sent his 90-year-old mother a zimmer frame. Eric Paddock, brother of the Las Vegas killer, speaks outside his home / AP He described his brother as a gambler who played slot machines and video poker on the Strip while living in retirement. Eric Paddock had earlier told CBS News his brother was "not an avid gun guy at all" with "no religious affiliation, no political affiliation", or history of mental illness. Brother of Las Vegas gunman says there is no logic to explain the mass shooting Stephen Paddock lived in Mesquite, Nevada, 80 miles north east of Las Vegas, with 62-year-old Marilou Danley who had been his partner. She was originally treated as a suspect but police have since ruled out any involvement. Guns and ammunition were found in a search of Paddock's "nice, clean" home, a Mesquite Police spokesman said. He is believed to have killed himself before a police Swat team burst into his room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, where at least 10 "rifles" were found, Clark County sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. "We have no investigative information or background associated with this individual that is derogatory," he added. The motive for the attack on the Route 91 Harvest Festival remains unclear, with FBI Special Agent Aaron Rouse saying Paddock had no connection to an international terrorist organisation. D onald Trump has condemned the Las Vegas shooting massacre as an act of pure evil. In a televised address, the US President delivered a message of unity and said America was joined together in "sadness, shock and grief" following the worst mass shooting in modern US history. The gunman, named as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, opened fire on crowds at an outdoor music festival from a hotel room overlooking the Las Vegas Strip, killing 58 people and injuring 515 more. Mr Trump said he would be visiting Las Vegas on Wednesday with First Lady Melania to meet with law enforcement and the families of the victims. President Donald Trump makes a statement about the mass shooting in Las Vegas / AP Speaking at a press conference at just before 8am local time (4pm UK time), he said: Last night a gunman opened fire on a large crowd at a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, brutally murdering more than 50 people and wounding hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are working closely with the local authorities to assist the investigation. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /18 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images He praised police and first responders for their courageous efforts and said that the speed at which they had responded to the attack was miraculous. He added that emergency services personnel had saved "many, many lives". Mr Trump said the US must be "unified" and that although "we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that binds us today and always will". People flee the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas after shooting In a sombre, measured address, the US president offered condolences to the families of those killed, saying: "We cannot fathom their pain. We cannot imagine their loss. "We are praying for you. We are here for you." Loading.... Mr Trump said flags will be flown at half-mast to honour the victims until sunset on October 6. The proclamation covers flags at the White House and all public buildings, military posts, naval stations and naval vessels throughout the United States and all territories. It also extends to embassies, military facilities and other sites overseas. The president said he and his wife Melania were praying for those who have been lost and wounded, and for "the entire nation to find unity and peace". About 32,000 people were at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival when the gunman opened fire from the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino at 10.20pm local time (6.20am UK time). Thousands fled as the killer fired from a room on the 32nd floor of the hotel. The gunfire stopped and several people shouted, Thats gunshots! before the shooting started again. Concert-goers reported seeing muzzle flashes from the upper floors of the hotel. The Strip was shut down and several SWAT teams were seen entering the hotel. There were reports of officers being pinned down by gunfire. The police blew open the gunmans door with explosives and found him shot dead. A female suspect hunted in connection with the deadly shooting in Las Vegas has been ruled out of the investigation, police said. Marilou Danley, 62, was the focus of a police manhunt in the wake of the shooting, in which at least 58 people were killed. Members of the public had been urged to call emergency services on 911 if they spotted her. The gunman was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock and police initially said they were seeking the woman who may have been the roommate of the shooter. Police said they are searching for Marilou Danley But officials have now announced they do not believe Ms Danley was involved in the Sunday night shooting. Paddock died after police confronted him Sunday on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino-hotel tower on the Las Vegas Strip. Police said he was found with several guns and is believed to have killed himself before officers entered the room. Ms Danley, believed to be Australian, was detained by police as her house was raided in the early hours of Monday morning. Las Vegas shooting: What we know so far Automatic gunfire broke out as music-lovers enjoyed the Route 91 Country Music Festival in Las Vegas. Witnesses described hearing multiple round of ammunition fired over an extended period of time and seeing people drop to the ground injured. Shooting: Emergency services rush to the scene immediately after the shooting / Getty Images One man described lying on his kids to protect them after gunfire broke out at the concert. Mike McGarry, a 53-year-old financial adviser from Philadelphia, said he was at the festival when he heard hundreds of shots ring out. "It was crazy - I laid on top of the kids. They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life," he said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks, after people ran over him in the panicked crowd. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /14 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images A Nevada sheriff earlier confirmed the death toll has climbed to 50 in the attack on a Las Vegas concert Sunday, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. And County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said more than 200 people were wounded including two off-duty police officers. Around 40,000 people were believed to be at the concert. W itnesses have told of scenes like a horror show and described the moment gunfire victims died in their arms after a mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas. More than 50 people died and at least 200 were injured when a gunman opened fire on crowds enjoying the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Chilling video footage shows hundreds of panicked fans fleeing from what sounded like machine gun fire, whilst dozens of others lay injured on the floor. Festival-goer Ivetta Saldana told the Wall Street Journal that musician Jason Aldean was playing the final set when gunfire broke out in the middle of his performance. Panic: Crowds scrambled to get away from the gunfire / Getty Images Ms Saldana, who attended the concert with a friend, said she was forced to hide in a sewer to stay safe and said the scene was a horror show, adding: People were standing around, then they hit the floor. Another music fan was with several people who were hit by bullets when crowds enjoying the Sunday evening concert were fired at. He told abc News that the automatic gunfire sounded like fireworks and described the heart-breaking moment a man died in his arms after he desperately tried to get him to an ambulance on time. There was the first volley and then in the second volley my buddy is like I just got hit and he got hit three times, the shaken concert-goer said. Then people started diving for the ground. It was pretty much chaotic. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /18 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images Lots of people got hit and it took a while to get them out. We had to get them over the fence and hiding under the stage for a while, to be safe. Finally we had to move him because he had three chest wounds. We finally got an ambulance right across the street here and we got two of the guys in and basically the one guy ended up dying in my arms because he he was bleeding. People flee the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas after shooting Professional poker player Dan Bilzerian, who was at the event, streamed footage of himself fleeing from the terror as the popping of machine gun fire could be heard in the background. As he runs, he described horrendous scenes, saying: Holy f*** this girl just got shot in the f****** head. This is so f****** crazy. One witness told KSNV-TV that he heard clip after clip after clip - bullets flying everywhere and video footage appeared to show the sound of a shooter firing for several seconds, before stopping and then opening fire again. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been killed. Concert-goers flee from automatic weapons fire in a shooting in Las Vegas / Getty Thirty-six-year-old Kodiak Yazzi said the music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent performer and fans fleeing for their lives. Mr Yazzi described seeing flashes of light coming from the Mandalay Bay hotel tower high above before dozens of emergency services rushed to the scene. Bryan Heifner was in a room across from the Mandalay Bay and watched the horror unfold from his window. Shooting: Festival-goers described 'horror show' scenes at the concert / Getty Images He told CNN: "Mostly I heard the shots, just so many shots - I just thought it was a semi braking with the air brakes, but then I went downstairs and saw people running and looking for family. "I immediately went back to my room, locked the door, turned the lights off." Twitter user Stefinatrix, who was in the Mandalay Bay hotel said gunfire had been reported from the 32nd floor. Later, she tweeted: I'm on the 6th floor [of the Mandalay Bay]. Shots reported on floor 29 now. Listening to LVPD scanner feed. Security guard shot on 32nd floor. Reports suggested that the person shot in the hotel was the suspected gunman. Police are asking people to stay away from the area. A concert-goer in Las Vegas captured on camera the terrifying moment a gunman opened fire on crowds of people at a music festival. The Mandala Bay resort and casino has been placed on lock-down as police hunted an active shooter after automatic gunfire broke out at the Route 91 Harvest music festival. Police said one suspect was "down" and at least two people were killed in the shooting, with about 26 others injured. One music fan, who was attempting to film the band when shots were heard around the festival, captured the moment on camera. The footage shows a few seconds of the stage before the music is interrupted by what sounds like machine gun fire. Shooting: People take cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival / Getty Images Members of the crowd can be heard screaming in the distance as the shooting continues for almost 10 seconds. The music then cuts out and the man filming can be heard saying thats gunshots! as people around him begin shouting to get down. Panic: Crowds scrambled to get away from the gunfire / Getty Images The panicked crowd then attempt to flee from the direction of the suspected shooter before gunfire erupts again and terrified fans drop to the ground, screaming and crying with fear. The gunman then opens fire for the third time and a woman can be heard screaming help, help. The video then goes black amid screams of dont push as crowd members scramble to get away from the arena. A hospital spokesman said that at least two people have been killed and 24 people injured in the shooting. Shooting: The music fan was filming the concert when gunfire broke out / Drew Akiyoshi A second video, filmed from a height above the arena, shows dozens of people who appear to be injured on the ground as the woman filming shouts theres people laying there, look! At least two killed in shooting at Las Vegas Strip festival Las Vegas police wrote on Twitter: Were investigating reports of an active shooter near/around Mandalay Bay Casino. Asking everyone to please avoid the area. #LVMPDnews. It is not clear how many shooters there were, with some witnesses claiming to have seen multiple gunmen. One witness she was told to stay in her room after the gunfire broke out. "I went to the rooftop, she said. We both saw people running, and bodies hitting the floor." A t least 58 people were killed and hundreds injured when a gunman opened fire on festival-goers in Las Vegas. Thousands of music fans fled in terror as automatic gunfire rang out around the Route 91 Country Music Festival on Sunday night. As details of Americas deadliest shooting emerged, detectives are piecing together information about the gunman. Police said on Monday morning that he had been identified as Nevada resident Stephen Craig Paddock, aged 64. Las Vegas shooting: What we know so far It is believed Paddock used his 32nd floor hotel room to fire hundreds of rounds at crowds enjoying the outdoor country music festival. Police later found him dead in the hotel room, where he had been in possession of as many as 10 rifles. Authorities said he killed himself when police were approaching his room. Police have not yet determined a motive for the deadly shooting, but officers earlier suggested they believed Paddock had been acting as a lone wolf. Shooting: Broken windows on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel where the gunman is believed to have fired from / EPA His brother said his family was "shocked" and "dumbfounded" by the shooting, which is the deadliest in modern US history. Speaking to CBS News in Orlando, Florida, an emotional Eric Paddock described his sibling as "not an avid gun guy at all", and questioned where he got his weapons. He said he was a gambler with "no religious affiliation, no political affiliation" and no history of mental illness. Brother of Las Vegas gunman says there is no logic to explain the mass shooting "He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something", he said. He added: "The fact that he had those kinds of weapons is just ... where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He has no military background or anything like that. "He's a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite and drove down and gambled in Las Vegas." Las Vegas' Sheriff described him as a "distraught person intending to cause mass casualties". "We have no idea what his belief system was," Sheriff Joseph Lombardo added. "Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor and the scene is static." Shooting: A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene / EPA Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Paddock was "a soldier" who had converted to Islam months ago. But it provided no evidence, and senior US officials discounted the claim. According to reports, he had no prior run-ins with the police other than one incident several years ago which the Sheriff did not give details of. He is believed to have been from Nevada, where he lived in a retirement-community home, but had been staying in Mandalay Bay since Thursday four days before the shooting. Loading.... US records show Paddock lived in a three-year-old, 396,000-dollar (297,554) two-bedroom home in the desert town of Mesquite, 80 miles north east of Las Vegas, near the Arizona state border. Guns and ammunition were found in a search of Paddock's "nice clean" home, a Mesquite Police spokesman told reporters. "I believe there were some weapons found and maybe some ammunition," he said, adding that no one was in the house at the time. Local media said Paddock had also previously lived in Reno, Nevada, California and Florida. Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures 1 /14 Las Vegas Shooting - In pictures People run for cover at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Getty Images Concertgoers carry a person away Getty Images Police officers telling people to take cover near the scene AP Broken windows seen on a high floor in the Mandalay Bay hotel facing the scene of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA Concertgoers scramble for shelter Getty Images Festival-goers run while ducking for cover Getty Images A police officer takes cover behind a patrol vehicle AP A couple comfort each other Getty Images Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the festival grounds of the Route 91 Harvest Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty The crowd at the festival Getty Images Concertgoers fleeing Getty Images A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP Police and rescue personnel gather at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard Getty Images Police believe that he shared his home with 62-year-old Marilou Danley and earlier issued a plee for help in hunting her down. She has since been ruled out of the investigation. Detectives and armed officers were searching the home since the early hours. Marilou Danley is believed to have lived with the suspect but has been ruled out of the investigation / Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP Eric Paddock told CBS she was his brother's girlfriend and a nice woman who sent his mother cookies. Described as 4ft 11ins and of Asian ethnicity, she was named initially as a person of interest by police. But Mr Lombardo later said she was out of the country at the time and they did not believe she was involved, although Paddock used some of her ID to get into the hotel where the shooting happened. G ood Morning Britain has been criticised on social media for "blind-siding" Mariah Carey with questions about the Las Vegas shooting. The singer was booked on the show to discuss her upcoming Christmas tour in the UK but the presenters soon switched the subject to the violent incident, which occurred Sunday night, at a country music festival on the Las Vegas strip. Carey was originally criticised for seeming to treat the subject with disrespect by taking part in the interview while lounging on a sofa in front of a Christmas tree, but viewers soon jumped to her defence. "Shame on @GMB using a pre planned @MariahCarey interview to blind side her about Vegas shooting," one viewer tweeted. "Classless tactics & now she's getting stick (sic)." Another viewer tweeted: "Finding #gmb in bad taste this morning, breaking Vegas news to Mariah Carey looking for some sort of scoop or reaction." "Mixing a pre-arranged interview w Mariah Carey (& Xmas tree?!) with awful news from Las Vegas," posted another. "Surreal, unfair to her, poor journalism." Piers Morgan defended the programme's decision to ask Mariah about the Las Vegas shooting, arguing that the breaking news took precedence. "Mariah was booked to do an interview about her UK Christmas tour," Piers tweeted. "Obviously news events in Vegas have now taken precedence." Carey told the show that the shooting was "horrible" and she later tweeted: "Horrified to hear about the shooting in #LasVegas. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. Praying for everyone's safety." At least two people were killed and 24 people injured after a gunman opened fire on a crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music festival in Las Vegas. According to police, a suspect was shot dead at The Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the city's famous strip, which has been placed on lockdown. F ilming for this years series of Im A Celebrity has reportedly been delayed as Ant McPartlin continues his recovery in Los Angeles. ITV bosses are thought to have pushed back initial filming dates for the annual reality show while one half of their presenting duo recuperates in the US following his recent stint in rehab. According to reports, a promotional shoot was due to take place at Pinewood Studios but has now been delayed until he is back in the country. It would have been the first day filming but with Ant away, there is no way they could get started, a source told the Sun. Ant McPartlin in profile Hes gone to get away from the spotlight. Hes in recovery and its important he has time and space. Crew members are due to fly out to New South Wales in the next few weeks to start preparations for the seventeenth series of the show. I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here 2016 1 /72 I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here 2016 Scarlett Moffatt in the Bishtucker trial 'Cavern of Claws' ITV/Rex Scarlett Moffatt is the 2016 winner of 'I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!' with Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly ITV/Rex Joel Dommett, Scarlett Moffatt, Adam Thomas are the final three contestants in 'I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!' ITV/Rex Martin Roberts holds a Lobster in his mouth for his Bushtucker Trial on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!' ITV/Rex Lisa Snowden leaves the I'm A Celebrity 2016 camp ITV Larry Lamb and Martin Roberts have an intense discussion ITV/Rex Danny Baker is the first contestant voted off I'm A Celebrity camp ITV Sam Quek, Ola Jordan, Adam Thomas and Wayne Bridge take oart in The Dingo Dollar Challenge: Get The Measure of It ITV/Rex Martin Roberts and Ola Jordan compete in the Bushtucker Trial: Bush Brewery ITV/Rex Adam takes revenge on Martin for spilling water all over his bed ITV/Rex 'Claim of Thrones' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Adam Thomas, Martin Roberts, Sam Quek, Wayne Bridge in 'Claim of Thrones' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Martin Roberts hugging trees ITV/Rex Adam Thomas gets stuck into the 'Food Factory' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Lisa Snowdon in the shower ITV/Rex Wayne Bridge gets all emotional ITV/Rex Joel Dommett and Carol Vorderman get to grips with 'Simply the Nest' in the Dingo Dollar challenge ITV/Rex Martin Roberts during 'Hell Hollow' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Martin Roberts gets tearful in camp ITV/Rex Danny talks to the celebs about his cancer ITV/Rex The blue and yellow teams battle it out in Hungry Games Part 2 ITV/Rex Ola Jordan showers ITV/Rex Scarlett Moffatt ITV/Rex Sam Quek and Martin Roberts attack the Rank Tanks in The Hungry Games Part 1 ITV/Rex Sam Quek and Martin Roberts during the Rank Tanks in The Hungry Games Part 1 ITV/Rex Carol Vorderman has a massage in camp ITV/Rex Joel Dommett takes part in 'The Great Ascent' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Jordan Banjo, Ola Jordan and Kiosk Keith take part in 'Dingo Dollar Crazy Golf' ITV/Rex Joel Dommett, Scarlett Moffatt, Sam Quek and Carol Vorderman relax in camp ITV/Rex Wayne Bridge, Scarlett Moffatt and Joel Dommett in 'Dingo Dollar Crazy Golf' ITV/Rex Ant and Dec make a controversial joke on Stephen Hawking ITV Scarlett Moffatt pull a face during a moment in camp ITV/Rex Adam Thomas in 'Stranded' the overnight challenge ITV/Rex Jordan Banjo feels a bit homesick on 'I'm a Celebrity .. Get me out of here!' ITV Ola Jordan, Carol Vorderman, Sam Quek and Scarlett Moffatt strike a pose in the jungle ITV/Rex Jordan Banjo and Wayne Bridge in 'Stranded' the overnight challenge ITV/Rex Lisa Snowdon takes a refreshing dip ITV/Rex Scarlett Moffatt during her 'I'm a Celebrity Big Bush Bake Off' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Carol Vorderman during her 'I'm a Celebrity Big Bush Bake Off' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Scarlett Moffatt during her 'I'm a Celebrity Big Bush Bake Off' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Scarlett Moffatt and Carol Vordermanduring her 'I'm a Celebrity Big Bush Bake Off' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Sam Quek consoles Scarlett Moffatt after their 'Tomb of Torment' Bushtucker Trial ITV/Rex Ola Jordan in the shower ITV/Rex Sam Quek, Scarlett Moffatt and Ola Jordan in the shower ITV/Rex Sam Quek, Scarlett Moffatt, Jordan Banjoa, Lisa Snowdon, Wayne Bridge, Ola Jordan, Joel Dommett, Adam Thomas and Carol Vorderman enter camp for the first time ITV/Rex James Jordan wants a mud fight between Sam Quek and Ola Jordan ITV/Rex Scarlett Moffatt's canoe capsizes on I'm A Celebrity ITV Carol Voderman walks the plank ITV/Rex Larry Lamb and Scarlett Moffatt head for camp in the 'Cruel Canoe' Challenge ITV/Rex Carol Vorderman takes a break in camp ITV/Rex Ola Jordan gets used to her new surroundings ITV/Rex Sam Quek parachutes from the helicopter in the Sky Challenge ITV/Rex Wayne Bridge, Joel Dommett and Adam Thomas hit the Jungle shower ITV/Rex Lisa Snowdon looks a tad nervous before her 'Sky Challenge' into camp ITV/Rex McPartlin jetted to Los Angeles last Wednesday with is agent Paul Worsley, following eight-weeks spent in rehab in the UK. The popular TV presenter spoke publically about his battle with alcohol and prescription painkillers earlier this year, thanking fans and his wife for their continued support. Im A Celebrity producers recently confirmed that McPartlin would be returning to front the popular jungle trail show this year, despite his stint in rehab. Ant is doing really well and were expecting him to return to Im A Celebrity, so we wont be resting it, ITV boss Kevin Lygo told Radio Times. T he cast and crew of hit BBC drama Doctor Foster have been banned from social media ahead of the final episode. In order to keep all plot twists under wraps, everyone involved has been told to steer clear of posting anything online before Tuesdays show. Following last weeks dramatic penultimate episode, in which Gemma Foster appeared to mow her car into her cheating ex-husband, producers have been desperately trying to keep spoilers off the internet. Were not allowed to do anything [on social media], cast member Neil Stuke told the Daily Star. Kate finds a photo of Gemma on Simons phone - Doctor Foster I couldnt post any pictures of the Maserati I got to drive in last weeks episode. Stuke, who plays Kates father Chris, added: Everything is under lock and key. The plots are kept top secret. We havent been able to talk to anybody about it I didnt even talk to my other half. Viewers were left shocked during last weeks show after Foster, played by Suranne Jones, finally got the ultimate revenge on Simon. After revealing his infidelity to his new wife, Foster made sure that her ex-husband was left without a home, money or his son. But it seems that there are even more twists and turns in store for viewers, as Stuke has suggested that everything is not as it seems. I think people are going to be really shocked and surprised, he said. The final episode of Doctor Foster is on BBC1, Tuesday at 9pm. F ollowing a dramatic first round, this years X Factor boot camp ended with tears, powerhouse performances and an emotional on-stage proposal. After getting though the first round by the skin of his teeth, Sam Black tried to impress the judges with an a cappella song and ended up proposing to his girlfriend. Despite getting a no from the judges, the plasterer asked if he could do something else on stage before saying his goodbyes. Bringing his girlfriend up onto the Wembley Arena stage, Black proceeded to get down one knee and presented his other half with a ring, finally getting the yes he wanted. I got one yes today, so that will do for me, he said after his emotional audition. Despite impressing the audience, Irish brothers Sean and Connor Price struggled to impress Simon Cowell with their rendition of Begging. After performing Sing by Ed Sheeran and waiting for during a tense deliberation period, they were put through to the Six Chair Challenge. The X Factor 2017 launch 1 /8 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 Unfortunately for teaching assistant SJ, he didnt make it though but Jack Masons version of This is a Mans World earned him a place in the next round. He really came alive on the big stage, said Simon Cowell. Hes adorable. Gary, who became a firm favourite after his room audition also made it through, as did Holly Tandy, who was performing on her 16th birthday. While her rendition of Harry Styles Sing of the Times impressed the judges, Sharon Osbourne was worried that she didnt know her genre, although the judges eventually put her through thanks to her vocals. After her powerhouse performance of Purple Rain, dutch Birgette made it through while it was end of the road for 42-year-old Karen. Jordan, who got Cowell playing the maracas in his room audition with his original song Mexico, didnt manage to recreate the vibe with his boot camp song, which got him sent home. Benji, 17, also sang an original song, inspired by EastEnders characters Mick and Linda, and had the whole arena on their feet. We love your quirkiness and today you really stepped it up. Youre very talented, said Nicole Scherzinger. This page may have been moved, deleted, or is otherwise unavailable. 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. Countries & Areas Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia Zimbabwe A U.S. Air Force X-37B UOV (unmanned orbital vehicle) was launched on September 7th, four months after the last one returned in May 2017. The one that returned in May spent a record 719 days in orbit and again used the automatic landing software without any problems. The recent X-37B launch is the fifth mission for the two X-37Bs the air force has. While the air force reports few details about the X-37B it was difficult to hide the fact that mission 5 used a different launch vehicle; the SpaceX booster. This is important because the SpaceX rocket itself is reusable and the first stage returns to earth and lands upright for refurbishing and reuse. Air force officials noted that the SpaceX design is a fitting match for X-37B which was designed for multiple reuse and autonomous operation. Mission 5 is apparently similar to Mission 4 in that new technologies will be tested and more micro-satellites will be placed in orbit. Mission 6 is scheduled for 2019, using the disposable Atlas 5 launch vehicle normally employed but probably on its way out because SpaceX is cheaper and has had 16 successful landings including twelve successes in a row and all ten in 2017 were successful. The SpaceX landing tests began in 2010. It was eventually revealed that mission 4 tested a new thruster system for mobile satellites that needed to be tried out while in orbit. Also carried were dozens of different materials, possibly including some new spy satellite components to see what the harsh environment in orbit, especially the radiation can do. Such exposure can have unpredictable effects on materials and microelectronics after prolonged time in space. Also carried were ten cubesats (very small satellites) to be released into orbit to perform various experiments. Earlier missions were also successful. The third X-37B mission ended in October 2014 after 675 days in orbit. The second mission landed on June 16th 2012 after 469 days in orbit. The first mission ended on December 3rd 2010 after 224 days in orbit. The official endurance of the X-37B was originally about 280 days. The real endurance appears to be 3-4 times that, at least. The long endurance is largely because the X-37B carries a sizable solar panel, which is deployed from the cargo bay, unfolded and produces enough power to keep the X-37B up there for a long time. The air force has not made public much about what the X-37B has been doing up there for nearly 2,000 days so far. In 2011 the manufacturer revealed plans for a larger X-37C, which would be about twice the size of the X-37B and able to carry up to six passengers. Think of it as Space Shuttle Lite, but robotic and run by the military, not NASA. There are several other similar projects like the X-37C in the works, including one by China. In effect the X-37B is a remotely controlled mini-Space Shuttle. The space vehicle, according to amateur astronomers (who like to watch spy satellites as well), appears to be going through some tests much of the time. The X-37B is believed to have a payload of about 227-300 kg (500-660 pounds). The payload bay is 2.1x1.4 meters (7x4 feet). As it returned to earth, it is designed to land by itself after being ordered to use a specific landing area. The X-37B weighs five tons, is nine meters (29 feet) long and has a wingspan of 4 meters (14 feet). In contrast the Space Shuttle was 56 meters long, weighed 2,000 tons and had a payload of 24 tons. The X-37B is a classified project, so not many additional details were expected to be made available. It's been in development since 2000 but work was slowed down for a while because of lack of money. Whatever the X-37B is now doing up there has been convincing enough to get Congress to spend over a billion dollars on it. What makes the X-37B so useful is that it is very maneuverable, contains some internal sensors (as well as communications gear), and can carry mini-satellites, or additional sensors, in the payload bay. The X-37B is believed capable of serving as a platform for attacks on enemy satellites in wartime. Using a remotely controlled arm, the X-37B could refuel or repair other satellites. All this is estimates because, as a classified project, there is little confirmed information about its payload or mission (other than testing the system on its first mission). It is likely that future missions will involve intelligence work, and perhaps servicing existing spy satellites (which use up their fuel to change their orbits.) For regular satellite refueling missions a larger X-37C would probably be used. This is a scaled up X-37B that would have a much larger (probably over a ton) of payload. The X-37C could be quickly switched between cargo and passenger configurations. The X-37C would still be robotic and not require anyone onboard to control it. The X-37B also demonstrated that it could not be easily tracked while in orbit although at times the X-37B could be elusive for amateur astronomers. The international collection of amateur sky watchers have proved remarkably adept at spotting orbital objects in the past, including classified ones like the X-37B. The amateur orbital observer community has concluded that one thing the X-37B tested was how well it could constantly switch positions, and stay hidden. In that respect, the X-37B was a resounding success. That's because these amateur observers are generally very good at tracking what's up there. One notable incident occurred in 2008 when a U.S. spy satellite fell out of orbit (apparently because of a failure in its maneuvering system). The amateur astronomers were able to track it. If this had not been an American reconnaissance satellite, there would have been no media attention to this, because 4-5 satellites a month fall back to earth. Since most of the planet is ocean, or otherwise uninhabited (humans like to cluster together), the satellites tend to come down as a few fragments, and rarely is anyone, or anything manmade, hit. Before the Internet became widely used after 2000 you heard very little about all these injured or worn out space satellites raining down on the planet. But with the Internet, the many thousands of amateur astronomers could connect and compare notes. It was like assembling a huge jigsaw puzzle. Many sightings now formed a pattern, and a worldwide network of observers made visible the movements of hundreds of space satellites. These objects were always visible at night, sometimes to the naked eye, but unless you knew something about orbits and such, they could be difficult to keep track of. These days, a lot of the activity is posted and discussed at http://www.satobs.org/. But the X-37B has proved elusive, and sometimes became a frustrating challenge to the amateur sky watchers. This is pleasing to American air force officials, who designed the X-37B to be elusive to terrestrial observation and the dedicated (and quite effective) amateur satellite watchers gave the X-37B quite a workout. Another series of major earthquakes hit Mexico City and killed at least 400 people, most of them in the city. Like the last one in 1985 (also in September but more destructive and killing over 6,000) exposed the extent of government corruption as government financed structures (especially schools) proved far more vulnerable (because building codes were ignored) and the large government bureaucracy showed itself to be unable to cope as promised. The only exception was the military and everyone noticed that. The 1985 quake and its aftermath gave a boost to reform efforts and played a large role in eliminating 71 years of one-party (PRI) rule in Mexico in 2000. In 2017 politicians seem to be very aware of the possibility of a repeat and are scrambling to defend themselves or, literally, run away from angry voters. Mexicans are also angry that the drug cartels seem as strong, and violent, as ever and despite a lot more politicians being prosecuted, or voted out since 1985 the corruption levels have been getting worse again. The underlying cause of most of the problems in Mexico is corruption. Most Mexicans recognize that and back doing something about it. That has proved very difficult despite new laws and increased prosecutions and convictions of guilty officials. These epic levels of corruption can be measured. Mexico was recently rated one of the more corrupt (123 out of 176 countries) nations in the world for 2016 while neighbor United States was 18 out of 176 and Canada was nine. In 2013 Mexico was 103 out of 175 showing that the corruption has been getting worse, or at last easier to measure. Corruption in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The most corrupt nations (usually North Korea, Somalia or, since 2011, South Sudan) have a rating of under fifteen while of the least corrupt (usually Denmark) is often 90 or higher. The current Mexican score is 30 compared to 74 for the United States, 82 for Canada, 28 for Guatemala, 36 for El Salvador, 37 for Colombia, 40 for Brazil, 35 for Peru, 31 for Ecuador, for 17 Venezuela, 36 for Argentina, 66 for Chile, 11 for South Sudan, 12 for North Korea, 40 for China, 29 for Russia, and 72 for Japan. A lower corruption score is common with nations in economic trouble. African nations are the most corrupt, followed by Middle Eastern ones. There are other measures for comparison. Both the United States and Mexico have federal forms of government with the states having a lot of independence and power, especially financial. Mexico has 31 states and 120 million people while the U.S. has 50 states and 323 million people. Both countries have problems with state governors being so corrupt that the popular calls for investigations leads to prosecution. Thus from 2000 to 2013 nine American governors were accused of corruption and all nine were prosecuted, convicted and punished. In Mexico nearly all Mexican governors were accused of corruption but only 16 were investigated and only four were convicted and punished. Another measure of corruption is how much more difficult it is to start a business and improve your economic situation in Mexico than in the United States. This can be seen from any number of studies as well as frequent comments by legal and illegal Mexican migrants to the United States. Another nasty side effect of corruption is intimidation or outright seizure of the media by politicians or gangsters who find their illegal activities made public. Using this intimidation approach has become a common characteristic of cartel operations in Mexico. That makes it necessary for traditional media, especially newspapers, radio and TV to comply with cartel threats because these journalists, and the places where they work are known and can be attacked. The cartels often own most of the local police and politicians, so there is no help there. Many journalists who are forced to comply with the threats go underground via the Internet. But even there they must be careful because the cartels are tech savvy and can hire hackers to discover who is reporting on what and where they are living. So even taking these extreme precautions is not enough in Mexico and about two journalists a month are still being murdered by gangsters or corrupt politicians. Recently the government had to insist that no government agency was conducting surveillance activities on journalists who complained that their phones are tapped and their emails monitored and it seemed to be done by professionals. The government agree to investigate the allegations but the basis of the complaints was the belief that corruption was so bad that just about anyone in the government could be bribed or coerced into doing just about anything. Another alarming, and measurable result of all the corruption is the murder rate. It is also on the rise again. West coast areas like Guerrero state have been the most violent for the last few years with a murder rate of over 50 per 100,000. Manzanillo (Colima state) is Mexicos major Pacific seaport and it and nearby Guerrero state have become the new center for cartel violence because a lot of the drug smuggling is shifting to Australia and East Asia. For decades most of the mayhem was on the U.S. border but the United States is no longer a growth market for illegal drugs and has been supplanted by China and other East Asian nations. There is still a lot of violence along the American border as cartels break up and the new factions fight over territory and key smuggling routes. Cartels also control a lot of people smuggling, although that is less lucrative now as the U.S. has been cracking down on illegal migrants. As a result of all this the national murder rate is moving up again towards 20 per 100,000 people. That change has been very unpopular with Mexican voters. In 2015 the murder rate was 16 per 100,000. The high point was in 2011 (22 per 100,000.) It came down after that, to about 15 per 100,000 but now is on the rise again. Mexico has always been very violent and the murder rate was 17 per 100,000 in the mid-1990s. Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa have murder rates of about 20 per year per 100,000. North Africa is 5.9, the U.S. is 5, Europe is 3.5 and Asia is 3.1. While Americans always fear that the Mexican cartels will bring violence, as well as addictive drugs into the country, the actual distribution of the drugs is handled by local gangs. Some of these are composed of Spanish-speakers and many of them are illegal migrants. But the local distributors know that violence is bad for business, especially in areas that are well policed. In Mexico the dynamics are different and the number of drug related deaths much higher. September 27, 2017: The U.S. has put another Mexican drug cartel leader (Fausto Isidro Meza-Flores, or El Chapo Isidro for short) on the most wanted list. A reward of $5 million is offered for information leading to his capture. El Chapo Isidro heads the Meza-Flores cartel which is based on the west coast (Sinaloa state) and the port city of Mazatlan. September 26, 2017: In the north (Chihuahua State) gunmen entered a drug rehabilitation center and killed 14 people and wounded eight. September 19, 2017: Another major (7.1 magnitude) hit Mexico. While the quake was centered off the west coast it did most of the damage in Mexico City (vulnerable because it is built on a dried up lake bed in an earthquake prone area). An even larger one hit (8.1, a modern record) on the same date 32 years ago. There were aftershocks and additional quakes in central Mexico over the next week. September 16, 2017: In the southwest (Guerrero state) soldiers on patrol encountered cartel gunmen dressed as soldiers and a gun battle broke out. Eight cartel gunmen died as did one soldier. This occurred near the port (and resort) city of Acapulco and about 250 kilometers south of the capital. Cartel violence has been particularly frequent in and around Acapulco which is now a very dangerous place. So far this year there have been about ten percent fewer homicides in Acapulco than 2016 but thats still a murder rate of 75 per 100,000 people, more than three times the national rate. Clashes like this are a common occurrence and often get little publicity. September 11, 2017: A location scout for an American TV series (Narcos) was found dead in a remote area of Mexico State, about 70 kilometers north of the capital (Mexico City). While cartels often threaten local journalists and all forms of media, this particular show had not received any threats in Mexico or Colombia, where the last three seasons were filmed. Up until now Narcos covered the battle with (and destruction of) the two major drug cartels in Colombia. That feat had by the late 1990s, set the stage for a dramatic national offensive against drug based organizations that had made Colombia one of the most violent nations in the Americans. Now Colombia has destroyed, driven out or otherwise disbanded most of the organized crime groups (political, drug related and so on) and become the fastest growing economy in South America. Colombia also reduced its murder rate from 70 in the mid-1990s to less than a third of that by 2016. Next door in Venezuela it is a different story because murder rate (currently 90 murders per 100,000 population) has become a major cause of popular discontent and for the same reasons as in Mexico (corruption, soaring crime rate and inefficient government.) Nvidia went to China last week and made a series of interesting announcements having to do with smart cities and autonomous cars. (The video is worth watching.) IBM made an announcement on advancements in tying the Weather Channel to its Watson artificial intelligence engine and targeted marketing. We also found out about Oculus Fall in Love VR project which is kind of like The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, but the significant other is a hot computerized avatar. Intel announced Loihi, a new AI processor that emulates the human brain. All of these things have broad implications for how we will perceive the world in a decade and strangely enough, for how the world will perceive us. Our reality, or at least our perception of it, will be massively changed. Ill offer some predictions about the world we can expect in 2027 and close with my product of the week: an amazing new cellphone-sized camera that can outperform DLSRs. The Smarter Electric Car In another 10 years, we should be close to critical mass in both electric-powered cars and cars that drive themselves. More than 300K people preordered Teslas new Model 3, and 25K have preordered the new Jaguar iPace. Other than supercars, car preorders at this magnitude are almost unheard of and this hasnt been lost on the car companies. Most have plans to ramp up electric car production massively over the next few years, and this is the same time that well also be ramping up autonomous driving. Couple this with Qualcomm and WiTricitys efforts to create wireless charging, which most of these cars will be using, and these cars not only can drop you off at work, but also drive themselves to a recharging station to recover. There is some question of whether youll buy your car or just use Lyft (Ubers survival is in doubt at the moment), and Lyft just partnered with Ford to make this happen. If you do buy a car (or most any other major purchase), youll likely do it virtually. Car original equipment manufacturers already have virtual reality headsets in trial runs at dealerships, with folks like Audi leading the charge. When Jaguar announced and showcased its electric car, the iPace, it used VR, allowing buyers to see and experience the car long before manufacturing lines were even set up. Oh, and there is a pretty good chance that this Airbus project to create an autonomous car that can be carried by a drone will be in production. Now that is cool. The Smarter Home/Office One of the biggest personal impacts of AI will be in the home. One of the problems well likely experience is people choosing to interact with machines that tell them what they want to hear rather than other people who tend to be less willing to be extremely agreeable. The work being done by the Fall In Love VR project, I noted above. You think there are Web addiction problems now wait until the pornography industry gets involved in this. On the positive side, you could get a workout partner who always would be there for you. On the negative side, it will be far harder to catch scammers and telemarketers in the act. This technology will merge with digital assistants and robotics, making it very likely youll have an increasingly intelligent, mobile, smart robot helping you around the house. The initial target market for this will be people who are disabled in some way, even just by age. Im not ready to wrap my head around what fully blending human-like personalities into these robots could do to relationships. As Nvidia showcased during its event in China, these ever-more-intelligent systems will be able to learn just what you like over time, in order to mold themselves into your ideal companion. Im thinking that in comparison, relationships with people will truly suck. Speaking of interaction, we should have real-time translation with proper inflection, as well as a far more advanced speech-to-text capability. Many of us simply may decide to forgo mice and keyboards (last week Microsofts Holographic keyboard display patent became public) , suggesting cubicle farms likely will become nonviable due to the related noise. Ironically, because the proliferation of autonomous cars will make traffic concerns largely a thing of the past (they will better manage congestion, and youll be able to work while riding in the self-driving car), the need to go into work should be reduced massively. Meetings increasingly can be attended by digital avatars, who likely will take better notes than you ever did. Your appliances and equipment will be better able to determine a coming problem, and to automatically schedule a fix, suggesting that extended warranties will be replaced by service agreements. Oh, and we already have robotic vacuum cleaners that map out our homes. Future versions could better secure them as well. Youll be able to conduct searches based on lines spoken in a video to find specific locations corresponding to snippets of audio (that also was showcased at Nvidias event). Smarter Cities At the heart of this latest wave is a focus on monitoring and facial recognition. This is the ability for city officials and agencies to know where you are and what you are doing any time you are out of your home. This not only will make you a ton safer because the increasing number of cameras will identify a crime or injury in progress and more accurately track the criminals and dispatch help but also will provide a far more complete idea of what your interests and priorities are for future city growth and investment. Granted, its likely well still be having a cow over the massive lack of privacy, but that train left the station some time ago. The city in most cases will know where you are, and often even what you are doing. I can certainly anticipate city services that allow you to better track your children and spouse, which could be a huge problem for many members of both groups. Tracking isnt just for people these systems will track cars, trucks, and perhaps even pets (which would be handy for those of us who own runners). By connecting to cars and homes, cities should be able to better manage traffic, utilities, law enforcement and repair services and if you get into trouble, automatically route you to the police station. Wrapping Up This stuff is coming together very quickly. In a few short years, our homes will be able to better clean and maintain themselves, our cars will drive significantly better than we do and will be a ton cleaner, and our cities will pretty much know things about us we likely dont realize ourselves. Where we work, who or what we interact and fall in love with, and the concept of privacy will have changed a lot (Nvidia showcased an estimate that cities will own a billion security cameras in a decade). It will be a very, very different world. The Light L16 camera check out the quality of the pictures it takes is a weird thing to look at. It has a ton of sensors and lenses the 16 in the name refers to the number of lenses the camera has. It looks very strange, but this allows the camera to capture amazing depth of field, and to allow a level of editing and quality hard to find in a DSLR let alone something the size of a smartphone. Light L16Camera One thing initial users have discovered is that to get this quality, you still need to treat the camera like a DSLR, which means you must steady it and be cognizant of the settings. That means for the best shots, youll want tripod. Its currently being offered as a preproduction special of US$1,299, but the initial run apparently is sold out. Once it starts shipping, the price will jump to $1,700 which is still cheap for DLSR quality. I know I virtually never carry my DLSR because the damn thing is so big, but this Id likely carry. Oh, and this is the first generation of the product. Imagine what the second generation will be like. Im fascinated by segment-changing innovative products, and this week the Light L16 is certainly that, so its my product of the week. In early 2016, the security vs. privacy debate entered a new phase after Apple refused to help the FBI unlock the iPhone 5C belonging to Syed Rizwan Farook --- one of the San Bernardino shooters. Eventually, the feds used a third-party to access the device. Now, a federal court has ruled that the agency doesn't have to reveal who helped it, or how much it paid for the assistance. As reported by Politico, three news publications --- USA Today, the Associated Press and Vice Media --- were all suing the FBI under the Freedom of Information act to try and force it to reveal details about the anonymous company and how much it charged to break Apple's older security features. But U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that the information is properly classified national security secrets and therefore exempt from disclosure under the FOIA. She also warned that releasing the company's name would likely make it a target for attack. "It is logical and plausible that the vendor may be less capable than the FBI of protecting its proprietary information in the face of a cyberattack," the court said. "The FBI's conclusion that releasing the name of the vendor to the general public could put the vendor's systems, and thereby crucial information about the technology, at risk of incursion is a reasonable one." In April last year, then FBI director James Comey suggested that the FBI paid around $1.3 million to unlock the iPhone, but during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in May, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said: "I was so struck when San Bernardino happened and you made overtures to allow that device to be opened, and then the FBI had to spend $900,000 to hack it open." It seems that the official cost will remain a secret. "Releasing the purchase price would designate a finite value for the technology and help adversaries determine whether the FBI can broadly utilize the technology to access their encrypted devices," said Judge Chutkan It's widely suspected that Israeli firm Cellebrite was the one who provided the tools to hack the iPhone, though the method reportedly doesn't work on newer Apple devices that feature a secure enclave. But some believe it was a team of gray hat hackers who helped crack the device. Brazil's vice-president-elect and coordinator of the transition team of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government, Geraldo Alckmin, asked Jair Bolsonaro's government for access to complete... | Read More Hugh Hefner with Playboys inaugural issue featuring Marilyn Monroe. Photo: Ian West - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, will spend the rest of his life-after-death lying next to the first woman he really wanted to see naked in his magazine Marilyn Monroe. The mogul was buried in a private ceremony on Saturday afternoon in L.A.s Westwood Memorial Park surrounded by his four children; third wife, Crystal Harris; and Playboy staffers, TMZ reports. Monroe was Heffners first cover girl and centerfold in 1953, and her photographs made Playboy magazine an almost instant success. Hefner bought the plot next to Monroe for $75k in 1992, according to the Los Angeles Times. Im a believer in things symbolic, he told the paper in 2009. Spending eternity next to Marilyn is too sweet to pass up. Malone describes the jumpsuit as, a genderless thing you can function every day in. Photo: Courtesy of Richard Malone Those who are familiar with Richard Malones designs may not immediately associate his avant-garde looks with the words working-class Irish or functional. But thats exactly what Malone says is the inspiration behind a jumpsuit he created for the Museum of Modern Arts new exhibit, Items: Is Fashion Modern?, opening October 1. The striped piece is cobalt blue with spiraling, canary-yellow 3-D accents. Malone says he looked to the jumpsuits history as a uniform for Russian Constructivists in the early 1900s, rather than re-imagining it as Studio 54s outfit of choice in the 70s. Ive never wanted to take the uniform and replicate it for a higher price, Malone told the Cut. Uniforms have a really beautiful place; they really become a part of peoples identity. For me its about looking at the history of the dress and with the sculptural pieces, its important to me that theyre not restrictive. Malone, who has designed clothing for Bjork and Lorde, grew up in County Wexford, Ireland, and worked on building sites where he first became familiar with the practical unitard. I grew up around functional clothes, he says. I was used to workwear, very familiar with the jumpsuit. He went on to to study photography, sculpture, and design at Central Saint Martins in London. This year he won the LVMH Grand Prix scholarship, after launching his eponymous label in 2016. MoMA approached Malone last spring, after the designers show at London Fashion Week, and asked him to design a new piece for the exhibit. The custom jumpsuit is fully functional, created to honor the looks history as well as respond to the museum shows question of whether fashion is modern. The 3-D spirals dont restrict movement at all, a vital component in Malones design. We looked really at the history of the jumpsuit there are interesting [parallels] with Russian constructivism, the idea of, in a really impoverished time, making a genderless thing you can function every day in. Click through to see how the crazy, functional (crazy-functional?) piece came together in Malones London studio. Items: Is Fashion Modern? is on view at MoMA from October 1 to January 28, 2018. Photo: Courtesy of Richard Malone Photo: Courtesy of Richard Malone Photo: Courtesy of Richard Malone Photo: Courtesy of Richard Malone Photo: Courtesy of Richard Malone A young and bespectacled Reese Witherspoon. Photo: Reese Witherspoon/Instagram During the Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night, comedians Stephen Colbert and Nick Kroll kicked off a fundraising effort for the cleanup efforts in Puerto Rico, called the #PuberMe challege. Now, each time a celebrity posts an unflattering picture of themselves with #PuberMe, Colberts AmeriCone Dream Fund will donate $1000. The money will go to One America Appeal, started by five former presidents to encourage relief efforts. The #PuberMe entries have been rolling in on Twitter and Instagram. Check out a few of the gems below from John Oliver, Reese Witherspoon, Kristen Bell, and Amy Schumer. Stephen Colbert Nick Kroll asked me to post a pic of my awkward stage, but I never had one. So here's me lookin' cool as hell! #PuberMe #PuertoRicoRelief pic.twitter.com/UC9a7XtjZa Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) September 28, 2017 John Oliver Samantha Bee Amy Schumer Not that embarrassing, since I currently have the same posters on my wall. https://t.co/62bzzsg6An pic.twitter.com/jyLXV6mVg6 Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) October 1, 2017 Ryan Seacrest Kristen Bell Kumail Nanjiani Reese Witherspoon Chelsea Handler A pair of cowboy boots in the street outside the concert venue after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun/Reuters) CBS Fires Executive Over Shocking Comment About Las Vegas Victims CBS fired the legal executive who wrote on Facebook that she has no sympathy for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting massacre. Im actually not even sympathetic bc [because] country music fans often are Republican gun toters, wrote now-former executive Hayley Geftman-Gold. The Facebook post has since been deleted, but was online long enough to spark outrage. A lone gunman rained bullets down on a crowd of people attending a country music concert on Sunday night, Oct. 1. At least 58 people have been killed and at least 515 injured, police said just before noon on Monday. This individual, who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS, the network wrote in a statement, according to The Hill. Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS, the statement continued. Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families. The Daily Caller spotted the executives comment earlier on Monday. If they wouldnt do anything when children were murdered I have no hope that Repugs will ever do the right thing, wrote Geftman-Gold, who was the VP and senior counsel of strategic transactions at CBS. Geftman-Golds comments went viral online and became the top trending topic on Twitter, The Hill reported. President Donald Trump called the shooting an act of pure evil in an address on Monday morning. Trump later held a moment of silence on the lawn in front of the White House. The president plans to visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Authorities identified the suspected gunman as Stephen Paddock, 64, a resident of Mesquite, Nevada. Paddock fired a machine gun from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Resort and Casino for several minutes. He shot and killed himself just as police entered the room. The barrage of bullets from the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people lasted several minutes, sparking panic. Police said they believed Paddock acted alone and did not know why he attacked the crowd. The ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the massacre, but U.S. officials said there was no evidence of that. The preliminary death toll, which officials said could rise, eclipsed last years massacre of 49 people at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub by a gunman who pledged allegiance to ISIS. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothing, wandered the streets, where the flashing lights of the citys gaudy casinos blended with those of emergency vehicles. Police said Paddock had no criminal record. The gunman killed himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. We have no idea what his belief system was, Lombardo said. I cant get into the mind of a psychopath. Federal officials said there was no evidence to link Paddock to militant organizations. We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group, Aaron Rouse, the FBIs special agent in charge in Las Vegas, told reporters. U.S. officials discounted the claim of responsibility for the attack made by ISIS in a statement. We advise caution on jumping to conclusions before the facts are in, CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in an email. Multiple Machine Guns Lombardo said there were more than 10 rifles in the room where Paddock killed himself. His arsenal included multiple machine guns, according to a law enforcement official. U.S. law largely bans machine guns. Police found several more weapons at Paddocks home in Mesquite, about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Mesquite police spokesman Quinn Averett told reporters. The dead in Las Vegas included a nurse, a government employee, and an off-duty police officer. Trump said he would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with victims, their family members, and first responders. It was an act of pure evil, said Trump, who later led a moment of silence at the White House in honor of the victims. The suspected shooters brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news. Were horrified. Were bewildered, and our condolences go out to the victims, Eric Paddock said in a phone interview, his voice trembling. We have no idea in the world. He said his brother belonged to no political or religious organizations and had no history of mental illness. Their father had been a bank robber who for a while was listed on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted suspects list. Just Kept Going On Video of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on, said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. Probably 100 shots at a time, Smith said. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again. Las Vegass casinos, nightclubs, and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out shortly after 10 p.m. local time. Shares of MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, fell 4.8 percent on Monday to $31.01 a share. Mike McGarry, a financial adviser from Philadelphia, was at the concert when he heard hundreds of shots ring out. It was crazyI laid on top of the kids. Theyre 20. Im 53. I lived a good life, McGarry said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks, after people ran over him in the panicked crowd. Reuters contributed to this report. From NTD.tv People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gunfire was heard in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. (David Becker/Getty Images) Democratic Rep. Says Hell Boycott Moment of Silence for Las Vegas Victims A Democratic congressman said that hell boycott a moment of silence for the victims of the mass shooting in Las Vegas that left at least 58 dead and hundreds injured. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, tweeted Monday that he will NOT be joining my colleagues in a moment of silence on the House floor that just becomes an excuse for inaction on gun control. After the mass shooting that left 49 people dead in Orlando last year, Moulton did the same. Now is not a moment for silence; its a time for action, he also tweeted. He later slammed House Speaker Paul Ryan in a tweet for alleged inaction. On Twitter, Moulton was heavily criticized for playing politics right after a mass shooting. Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, is accused of shooting at concertgoers in Las Vegas from his hotel room. The preliminary death toll, which officials said could rise, eclipsed last years massacre of 49 people at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub by a gunman who pledged allegiance to ISIS. Police said they believed he acted alone and did not know why he attacked the crowd. The ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the massacre, but U.S. officials said there was no evidence of that, Reuters reported. Police said Paddock had no criminal record. The gunman killed himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. We have no idea what his belief system was, Lombardo said. I cant get into the mind of a psychopath. Federal officials said there was no evidence to link Paddock to any terrorist organizations. We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group, Aaron Rouse, the Federal Bureau of Investigations special agent in charge in Las Vegas, told reporters. Reuters contributed to this report. Father of Vegas Mass Killer Was a Psychopath on FBI Most Wanted List The father of Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock was a diagnosed psychopath who robbed banks, fled federal prison, and got on FBIs Most Wanted list, according to the Daily Mail and NBC. Benjamin Paddock was jailed in 1960 for robbing a bank in Arizona. He escaped in 1968 and was on the run for three years. When the FBI caught up with him in 1971, he tried to run one of the agents over with a car, according to archival editions of the Tuscon Daily Citizen, New York Post reported. Since he has utilized firearms in previous crimes, has employed violence in attempting to evade arrest and has been diagnosed as being psychopathic, [Benjamin] Paddock should be considered extremely dangerous, Palmer M. Baken Jr., an FBI agent, said to the Citizen at the time. Paddocks son, Stephen Paddock, killed at least 58 people and injured more than 500 on Sunday night by shooting an automatic rifle from the window of his 32nd-floor room in Mandalay Resort and Casino at a crowd of concertgoers attending a country music festival. Police discovered Paddocks dead body in the hotel room along with more than 10 rifles. His arsenal included one or more machine guns, according to a law enforcement official. Police found several more weapons in Paddocks $400,000 home in Mesquite, Nevada, 90 minutes outside Las Vegas. He lived there with Marilou Danley, 62, who was outside of the country when the shooting occurred. Paddock was a retired accountant. He held hunting and fishing licenses and a private pilots license, Daily Mail reported. Police say that Paddock had no criminal record with the exception of a traffic citation that was handled in court years ago. Authorities are still looking into the motive. The FBI said that no connection to a terrorist group has been found, although the ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack. We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group, FBI special agent in charge Aaron Rouse told reporters. The barrage from a 32nd-floor window in the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people lasted several minutes, causing panic. Some fleeing fans trampled each other as police scrambled to find the gunman. The preliminary death toll, which officials said could rise, eclipsed last years massacre of 49 people at an Orlando nightclub by a gunman who pledged allegiance to ISIS. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothing, wandered streets, where the flashing lights of the citys gaudy casinos blended with those of emergency vehicles. U.S. law prohibits possession of newly manufactured machine guns but allows the transfer of the weapons owned before May 1986 if approved by the government. President Donald Trump gave a solemn address on Monday morning, offering his condolences to the victims, praising the first responders, and calling on Americans to come together in a time of crisis. He brutally murdered more than 50 people and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil, Trump said. He ordered flags lowered to half-staff in a national gesture of mourning and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Reuters contributed to this report. From NTD.tv FBI Denies Las Vegas Shooter Connected to ISIS The shooter responsible for at least 58 deaths in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 1, wasnt connected to ISIS, as far as FBI could tell as of Monday morning, Oct. 2. As this event unfolds, we have determined, to this point, no connection with an international terrorist group, said Special Agent Aaron Rouse, the top administrator of the Las Vegas FBI division, at a Monday morning news conference with Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. ISIS news agency Amaq claimed the shooter, Stephen Paddock, 64, was a soldier of the Islamic State. It also claimed Paddock converted to Islam a few months ago. While the investigation continues, U.S. authorities havent reported any evidence substantiating ISISs claims. Paddocks family havent noticed any possible motivation for the attack. He was just a guy. Something happened, he snapped or something, his brother Eric Paddock told The Daily Mail. Hes my brother, we dont have a very close relationship but we talk occasionally. Theres no rhyme or reason here, it makes no sense. He has no political affiliation, no religious affiliation, as far as we know. This wasnt a terror attack. Paddock lived in Mesquite, a small town of about 18,000 residents on the border of Nevada and Arizona, CNN reported. Authorities are now searching Paddocks home, some 82 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Paddock stayed at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino since Thursday, Sept. 28, according to authorities. Police found more than 10 rifles in Paddocks room. Paddock rained down bullets from his 32nd-floor hotel window for several minutes, taking the lives of at least 58 people and wounding at least 515. Police found Paddock dead in his room when officers broke down the door. Authorities do not believe he had any accomplices. Police say Paddocks record was clean, except for a citation issued years ago that was handled in court. Marilou Danley was identified as Paddocks female companion. She was thought as a person of interest initially, but police have cleared her of any suspicion. She was out of the country when the shooting happened. Paddock held a private pilot license, according to the FAA. People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. (David Becker/Getty Images) First Photo of Stephen Paddock, Las Vegas Shooter, Emerges At least 50 people were killed and more than 400 injured when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday, raining down bullets from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before shooting himself dead, according to police. Police identified the gunman as area resident Stephen Paddock, 64, and said they had no information yet about his motive. Paddock shot himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. Paddock is from Mesquite, a small town 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, and he was known to local law enforcement, NBC reported. His brother, Eric Hudson Paddock of Orlando, told the broadcaster that he had no idea why his brother committed the crime. Mars just fell into the earth, he told NBC. Were completely dumbfounded. His brother, Eric said, he was retired and just a guy who gambled, went to hotels, and went to shows in Vegas. We are completely at a loss, Eric Paddock said. Officials said that the shooting is not believed to be linked to international terrorism. Police responded to reports of a shooting just after 10 p.m. in the Mandalay Bay Resort, Lombardo said. At least 10 rifles were found in Paddocks hotel room, but officials said its not clear what kind of gun he used. Paddock was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Lombardo told reporters. We have no idea what his belief system was, Lombardo said. Weve located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied. Authorities had earlier regarded Paddocks roommate as a person of interest, but later on Monday said they no longer regarded her as related to the case, CNN and Fox News reported, citing police sources. The dead included one off-duty police officer, Lombardo said. Two on-duty officers were injured, including one who was in stable condition after surgery and one who sustained minor injuries, Lombardo said. Police warned the death toll may rise. Gail Davis, who was at the Las Vegas outdoor country music concert on Sunday night, said she saw the shooting. We went there to see Jason Aldean, she told CBS. We were standing, like, maybe halfway up. He came on and about 20 to 10, he sang about five songs and all of a sudden we heard about three or four little pop, pop, pops, and everybody looked around and said, Oh, its just firecrackers. And then we heard pop, pop, pop, and it just kept going and going, and my husband said, Thats not firecrackers. That sounds like a semi-automatic rifle. And then everybody started screaming and started to run. Reuters contributed to this report. People tend to the wounded outside the Route 91 Harvest Country music festival grounds after a shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. (David Becker/Getty Images) First Victim Identified in Las Vegas Mass Shooting A man from Big Sandy, Tennessee was one of at least 58 people killed when a gunman opened fire at a crowded Las Vegas concert on Sunday, Oct. 1. Sonny Melton was killed when the gunman identified as Stephen Paddock shot into the crowd late Sunday, killing at least 58 people and wounding over 515 more. Sonny died a herohe was protecting his wife when the bullets hit him and others among the outdoor crowd of 22,000 people. His wife, Heather Gulish Melton, told Fox affiliate WZTV she was in complete disbelief. According to the station, Sonny is the first victim identified in the Las Vegas shooting. At this point, Im in complete disbelief and despair. I dont know what to say, Heather said in a statement to WZTV. Sonny was the most kind-hearted, loving man I have ever met. He saved my life and lost his, she added. Paddock, 64, is the suspect in what is the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, according to ABC News, where he shot people from the 32nd floor of a hotel tower. According to Sonnys Facebook profile, he is a registered nurse who worked at the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee. Just days earlier on Friday, Sept. 29, Sonny posted on Facebook that he was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas with his wife. As the news spread, many people lefts words of condolences and support on Sonnys Facebook page Monday. God Bless you Sonny Melton, you will always be a Hero. Prayers for his wonderful family. one person wrote. My love and heartfelt sympathy to Sonnys beloved family. Very sorry to hear of his tragic loss. May God Bless you and comfort you. Thinking of you all! wrote another. The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary, eclipsed last years massacre of 49 people at an Orlando nightclub by a gunman who pledged allegiance to the ISIS terrorist group. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothing, wandered the streets afterward. Police said they had no information about Paddocks motive, that he had no criminal record, and was not believed to be connected to any terrorist group. Paddock killed himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. Two senior U.S. government officials told Reuters that Paddocks name was not on any database of suspected terrorists and that there was no evidence linking him to any international terrorist group. One of the two U.S. officials discounted a claim of responsibility that was made by ISIS. There was reason to believe that Paddock had a history of psychological problems, the official said. Lombardo said there were more than 10 rifles in the room where Paddock killed himself. He had checked into the hotel on Thursday. From NTD.tv In Puerto Rico, US Increases Troops to Airlift Food and Water to Communities In Need The Department of Defense (DoD) is increasing the number of U.S. troops helping with relief efforts in Puerto Rico, following the Category 4 Hurricane Maria. The number of Department of Defense personnel deployed to help is being increased from 4,600 to around 6,400. This will add to the 10,000 federal forces already deployed to the island. Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello made the announcement during an Oct. 1 press briefing in San Juan, noting the increase in troop presence was made about 36 hours prior to the event. Remember the DoD is supporting on certain tasks, and logistical tasks, he said, noting that the DoD would increase or decrease the number of troops as they complete work and are assigned other tasks. According to the Pentagons DoD News, the troops are supporting the Puerto Rican government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is the lead federal agency for disaster relief in Puerto Rico. After food and water, the next highest priority is the distribution of gasoline and diesel. DoD News says there are more than 720 gas stations currently open on the island, and the Trump administration has close to a million barrels of diesel and half-a-million barrels of gasoline on the way. This is important as diesel is needed to run generators providing electrical power for key infrastructuresuch as hospitalsin areas where Maria knocked out the power grid, it states. In some areas roads have been blocked by landslides, which has cut off some communities. Rossello said there are two communities, in particular, which have been cut off by the disaster, and one of the main efforts that the DoD will take on is making sure that we can air supply food and water to those communities while we establish direct connection through the roads. The local government will also more than double the number of regional distribution centers, increasing them from 11 to 25, or more, Rossello said, according to DoD News. The more of these we have throughout Puerto Rico, the easier it is to get food and water for these municipalities. DoD and FEMA and our government are working together so we can establish these locations and make sure food and water get distributed appropriately. The government will also consolidate the 8,800 refugees into 139 shelters. Rossello said We are making sure people get to their homes when they can get to their homes, and providing alternative housing in the meantime. The Trump administration signed a 10-day waiver on the Jones Act on Sept. 28, which will allow foreign-flagged ships to carry aid to Puerto Rico. President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Puerto Rico on Oct 3. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said during a Sept. 28 press briefing that Theres a long way to go, but we will not rest until everyone is safe and secure. Our message to the incredible people of Puerto Rico is this: The President is behind you. Trump said on Twitter on Oct. 1, We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico. Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates, people are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military. All buildings now inspected for safety. Thank you to the Governor of P.R. and to all of those who are working so closely with our First Responders. Fantastic job! We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico. Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates, Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 people are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military. All buildings now inspected.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 for safety. Thank you to the Governor of P.R. and to all of those who are working so closely with our First Responders. Fantastic job! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oct. 1, 2017.(David Becker/Getty Images) Las Vegas Shooter Likely Used Illegal Automatic Weapon, Says Former FBI Agent Stephen Paddock fired on people attending an outdoor country music festival from a 32nd-floor hotel room in the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino late on Oct. 1, killing at least 58 people and injuring more than 500. Videos show the chaos as people run and seek cover. Bursts of gunfire can be heard. Details on the attack are still emerging, but according to Marc Ruskin, former FBI agent and author of The Pretender: My Life Undercover for the FBI, the sound of the gunfire strongly suggests Paddock was using an illegal weapon. Ruskin said that going by the sounds in the recordings, its unquestionable that Paddock was using a fully automatic weapon. A full auto is very illegal, and to be in possession of one without a special federal license, its a major crime, he said, adding that such licenses are very difficult to get, are given in very limited circumstances, and I would be willing to bet big money he did not have a permit for that. Ruskin added that while details are still emerging, the sound of gunfire also suggests that Paddock wasnt picking people off like a sniper. It was too rapid for that. Police allegedly found 10 rifles in the hotel room where Paddock eventually killed himself. Several more weapons were found when police searched the killers home in Mesquite, which is about 82 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Having a full auto firearm without a license is a federal crime, Ruskin said. Adding new laws to whats already a big crime is not gonna be a solution. The tragedy is now being politicized by groups that already had agendas regarding firearms. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated on Twitter, The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get. The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 2, 2017 Clinton was criticized for her comments. Talk show host and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch noted that Suppressors only reduce by a few decibels, still same decibel level as a jackhammer. Alexander Muse, a conservative contributor at Fox and Bloomberg, said Clintons base claim also wasnt true. He noted that had the shooter placed a suppressor on an automatic weapon, If anything it would have slowed [him] down. He published a video link showing an automatic weapon melt its suppressor and damage the guns barrel. Furthermore, what you're claiming isn't true. If anything it would have slowed the shooter down. https://t.co/zjmUiipfJk Alexander Muse (@amuse) October 2, 2017 Ruskin said its common for tragedies to be exploited for politics, but noted, politicizing in my view is an exploitation. In my view, its an almost unconscionable exploitation of a genuine mass tragedy. Im for punishing people who have illegal guns severely, but we already have laws in this regard, he said. According to Ruskin, gun laws do have their problems, but the main issue is that laws are often not properly enforced. Ruskin said when he was working as a district attorney in Brooklyn, he frequently saw that judges wouldnt fully punish gun crimes. Under U.S. law, the punishments for such crimes are consecutive. A burglary, for example, could be a 10-year sentence, and if the criminal used a gun, it would add another 10-year sentence, adding up to 20 years. The structure of the sentencing is made to force criminals to think twice about using a gun to commit a crime. But judges often dont give consecutive sentences when it comes to gun crimes. Instead, according to Ruskin, they often make sentences run concurrently, where judges bundle the two 10-year sentences into a single sentencethe gun crime technically goes unpunished. The effect is it nullifies the law if theyre not going to be penalized for using the gun, Ruskin said. These laws already exist, theyre just not enforced. He said rather than trying to use tragedies as political platforms, it would be more constructive to look at practical safeguardschanges that could mitigate such tragedies, or mitigate the damage if something does take place. Ruskin noted, for example, that in the case of the Las Vegas shooter, this guy had a ton of equipment in his hotel room, and if the hotels had security officers trained in active shooter operations, they would have likely noticed this. He would have had to make several trips from his car to his room, carrying big nylon bags filled with military equipment, Ruskin said. Casinos have very sophisticated video equipment. If they see a guy going back and forth carrying a big duffel bag, coming back empty-handed, then coming back again with another one, it should be enough for them to knock at the door. He added that had they witnessed the suspicious activity, they could have also called the police to investigate or called the FBI to take a look with discreet surveillance. That could have been a tip-off if they were appropriately trained and looking out for things like that. Ruskin said, had they been properly trained, they could have taken a more proactive stance, and had someone on their security detail been a bit sharper, there could have been 58 people who were still alive today. More Details Released on Las Vegas Shooting Suspect Las Vegas shooting suspect Stephen Paddock killed himself after killing at least 50 people and injuring 200 more, a law enforcement official stated. We believe the individual killed himself prior to our entry, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, shot himself inside the Mandalay Bay hotel on the 32nd floor, where hed been staying since Thursday. When officers entered his room, he shot and killed himself, police confirmed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. About 10 rifles were found in his room, Lombardo added. Its unclear how he was able to keep the guns from being discovered by housekeeping staff. We have no idea what his belief system was, Lombardo said of Paddock. A senior U.S. government official told Reuters that Paddocks name was not on the database of suspected terrorists. Meanwhile, the woman who was sought in connection with the shooting has been cleared, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Marilou Danley is no longer being sought out as a person of interest, Las Vegas police said, saying that she was living with Paddock in a Mesquite retirement community. LVMPD detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip, police said in a statement. Video of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on, said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. Probably 100 shots at a time, Smith said. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again. Reuters contributed to this report. From NTD.tv People flee the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after a active shooter was reported in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017 . (David Becker/Getty Images) Mystery Woman Screamed Youre All Going to Die 45 Minutes Before Vegas Massacre Las Vegas concert goers say that a Hispanic woman yelled a shocking premonition about an hour before a gunman killed 58 people in a horrific massacre on Sunday night, Oct. 1. Theyre all around, the woman yelled. Youre all going to die! The mystery woman was kicked out of the festival with her male companion, Daily Mail reported. She looked to be in her 50s. The woman is believed to not be the same woman as Marilou Danley, the shooters girlfriend. Danley is Asian and was detained by police and later released. Youre all going to [expletive] die, the woman screamed just 45 minutes before the first shots rang out. Security escorted the woman and her companion out of the venue. A 64-year-old man with multiple machine guns rained down gunfire from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel to country music festival on Sunday, slaughtering at least 58 people in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, before killing himself. The barrage of bullets from the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people lasted several minutes, sparking panic. At least 515 people were injured as some fleeing fans trampled each other while police scrambled to locate the shooter. Police on Monday identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, who lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. They said they believed he acted alone and did not know why he attacked the crowd. ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre, but U.S. officials said there was no evidence of that. The preliminary death toll, which officials said could rise, eclipsed last years massacre of 49 people at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub by a gunman who pledged allegiance to ISIS. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothing, wandered streets, where the flashing lights of the citys gaudy casinos blended with those of emergency vehicles. Police said Paddock had no criminal record. The gunman killed himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. We have no idea what his belief system was, Lombardo said. I cant get into the mind of a psychopath. Federal officials said there was no evidence to link Paddock to terrorist organizations. We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group, Aaron Rouse, the Federal Bureau of Investigations special agent in charge in Las Vegas, told reporters. U.S. officials discounted the claim of responsibility for the attack made by ISIS in a statement. We advise caution on jumping to conclusions before the facts are in, CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in an email. Multiple Machine Guns Lombardo said there were more than 10 rifles in the room where Paddock killed himself. His arsenal included multiple machine guns, according to a law enforcement official. U.S. law largely bans machine guns. Police found several more weapons at Paddocks home in Mesquite, about 82 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Mesquite police spokesman Quinn Averett told reporters. Nevada has some of the nations most permissive gun laws. It does not require firearm owners to obtain licenses or register their guns. The dead in Las Vegas included a nurse, a government employee and an off-duty police officer. President Donald Trump said he would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with victims, their family members and first responders. It was an act of pure evil, said Trump, who later led a moment of silence at the White House in honor of the victims. The suspected shooters brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news. Were horrified. Were bewildered, and our condolences go out to the victims, Eric Paddock said in a phone interview, his voice trembling. We have no idea in the world. He said his brother belonged to no political or religious organizations and had no history of mental illness. Their father had been a bank robber who for a while was listed on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted suspects list. Just Kept Going On Video of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on, said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. Probably 100 shots at a time, Smith said. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again. Las Vegass casinos, nightclubs, and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out shortly after 10 p.m. local time (0400 GMT). Shares of MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, fell 4.8 percent on Monday to $31.01 a share. Mike McGarry, a financial adviser from Philadelphia, was at the concert when he heard hundreds of shots ring out. It was crazy I laid on top of the kids. Theyre 20. Im 53. I lived a good life, McGarry said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks, after people ran over him in the panicked crowd. Reuters contributed to this report. Hong Kong residents took to the streets to protest the Chinese Communist Party's rule on Oct. 1, the anniversary of the Party's takeover of China. (Cai Wenwen/The Epoch Times) 40,000 Hong Kongers March in Protest of Chinese Communist Rule Hong KongAcross mainland China, Oct. 1 marks the day the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took over the country and established the Peoples Republic of China. The regime mandates a week-long holiday meant for celebration. But in Hong Kong, 40,000 city residents took to the streets to protest the CCPs rule, calling the occasion a day of mourning. Hong Kong, which inherited from its time as a British colony constitutional freedoms and relative independence, has witnessed continued encroachment on local affairs by the mainland Chinese authorities since sovereignty was handed back to China in 1997. The parade is an annual affair. This time, protesters held up signs saying, against authoritarianism, and called on the citys Secretary of Justice Rimsky Yuen to resign. Earlier this year, Yuen overturned previous rulings on activists who participated in the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests calling for fair elections. The most prominent of them, Joshua Wong, Alex Chow, and Nathan Law, were sentenced to prison. At a rally held before the march, local activists lamented the regression in freedom, human rights, and the rule of law since the Chinese regime took over Hong Kong 20 years ago. The Hong Kong people will not surrender to authoritarian rule. We will not give up resisting, said Benny Tai, law professor and initiator of a civil disobedience movement to occupy Hong Kongs central business district and call for universal suffrage. This later ballooned into the Umbrella Movement. Mr. Ding, a participant in the parade, remarked that local residents have been dissatisfied with Chinas rule. We dont accept or acknowledge this regime, he said. We did not vote for it. A group of people who have obtained power through violence is now governing over 1.3 billion people, and Hong Kong is included. The same day, adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual practice in Hong Kong also organized a rally and parade. Adherents in mainland China number in the tens of millions, in spite of the practice having been severely persecuted since 1999. Hundreds of thousands have been detained at any one time, enduring torture and abuse. Since 2006, independent investigations have also revealed that prisoners of conscience in China have been the victims of forced organ harvesting to supply organs for transplant surgery, with Falun Gong practitioners being the most often used source. On Oct. 1, Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong called for former Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin, who initiated the persecution, to be brought to justice. Spokesperson for the Taiwan-based Falun Gong Human Rights Lawyers Group, Theresa Chu, who spoke via an audio recording, said that across 31 different countries, more than 2.5 million people have lent their signatures to a petition condemning Jiang. In recent years, mainland Chinese citizens have renounced their membership in the Chinese Community Party and its affiliated organizations, a sign of the peoples disillusionment with the Partys rule. Since 2004, more than 285 million Chinese have renounced the Party via the Chinese Epoch Times website. Translation by Annie Wu Police Swarm USC Campus, Say Theres No Shooting Police swarmed the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles on Monday, Oct. 2, according to officials. There were initial reports of shots fired, but officials said there was no shooting on campus. We can confirm theres been NO shooting on @USC Campus. Systematic search was conducted in coordination with @USCDPS. No danger to community, the LAPD tweeted. We can confirm theres been NO shooting on @USC Campus. Systematic search was conducted in coordination with @USCDPS. No danger to community LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) October 2, 2017 University officials told people to shelter in place, the Los Angeles Times reported. USC officials said that police activity was taking place around 610 Childs Way. LAPD Det. Meghan Aquilar said that there is no active shooter situation on the campus, but that police are seeing a suspect in the area. Police were seen swarming the USC campus afternoon on Monday. There have been no reports of injuries. People run away from gunfire in Las vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. At least 50 people were killed and over 400 injured when a gunman opened fire on concertgoers. (David Becker/Getty Images) President Trump Sends Condolences Following Las Vegas Shooting President Donald Trump responded on Twitter in response to the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed at least 50 people and injured around 400 others. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!, Trump wrote Monday morning. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 The White House said in an official statement that the president has been briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas. We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers. The president was expected to make remarks in person this morning. Deadliest Mass Shooting in US History The shooting took place when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas on Sunday, raining down bullets from the 32nd floor of a hotel for several minutes before shooting himself dead, according to police. The death toll, which police emphasized was preliminary, would make the attack the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, eclipsing last years massacre of 49 people at an Orlando nightclub. Some 22,000 people were in the crowd when the man opened fire, sending panicked people fleeing the scene, in some cases trampling one another, as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concertgoers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack. At least 406 people were taken to area hospitals with injuries, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said. Police identified the gunman as area resident Stephen Paddock, 64, and said they had no information yet about his motive. Paddock shot himself before police entered the hotel room he was firing from, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. Earlier reports indicated that Paddock, who had more than 10 rifles in his hotel room, had been shot by police. Paddock was not believed to be connected to any terrorist group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. We have no idea what his belief system was, Lombardo said. Weve located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied. Authorities had earlier regarded Paddocks roommate as a person of interest, but later on Monday said they no longer regarded her as related to the case, CNN and Fox News reported, citing police sources. The dead included one off-duty police officer, Lombardo said. Two on-duty officers were injured, including one who was in stable condition after surgery and one who sustained minor injuries, Lombardo said. Police warned the death toll may rise. Police are still finding people who had taken cover during the attack, Lombardo said. Video taken of the attack showed panicked crowds fleeing as sustained rapid gunfire ripped through the area. It sounded like fireworks. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on, said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. Probably 100 shots at a time. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again, Smith said. People were shot and trying to get out. A lot of people were shot. Las Vegass casinos, nightclubs and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting broke out shortly after 10 p.m. local time. Reuters contributed to this report People wait in line for aid items to be handed out in San Juan. (Reuters/Alvin Baez) Puerto Rico Union Allegedly Refuses to Deliver US Aid, On Strike Because of Local Law Head of relief effort says only 20 percent of drivers are showing up to work Relief supplies given to San Juan, Puerto Rico, by the Trump administration are allegedly sitting at the ports, as truck drivers with a local union refuse to deliver the supplies. A local mayor and President Donald Trump have accused San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz Soto of playing politics with the failures in the distribution of supplies. A CNBC segment reported that 9,500 cargo containers with medicine, food, and other goods are stuck at the port of San Juan. It noted they need the local truck drivers to move the goods if theyre going to receive the next shipment of supplies currently on its way. CNBC blamed failure to move the supplies on the inability of trucking companies to contact their drivers to get them to go to work and on a lack of fuel for the delivery trucks. Local media have reported a different reason: truck drivers with the Puerto Rican Teamsters Union, Frente Amplio, are allegedly refusing to move the supplies. According to the local TV station WAPA, the strike is over a recently passed law: el proyecto del Senado 525 que da paso a la Ley de Transformacion Administrativa de la Comision de Servicio Publico, also called el Proyecto del Senado 525. The law caused a rift with unions by placing control and regulation of public transportation in Puerto Rico under the local Public Service Commission. Colonel Michael A. Valle, director of the Joint Air Component Coordination Element, responsible for Hurricane Maria relief efforts in the area, told Huffington Post, The aid is getting to Puerto Rico. The problem is distribution Supplies we have. Trucks we have. There are ships full of supplies, backed up in the ports. Valle said the problem is only 20 percent of the truck drivers show up to work. The International Teamsters Union published a notice on its website on Sept. 29 to recruit volunteer drivers from across the United States to help transport supplies in Puerto Rico. It states, the labor movement is working on the ground in Puerto Rico to bring volunteers to meet specific needs. Cruz Soto, a Democrat, held a press conference where she told mainstream news outlets that the Trump administration was to blame for the lack of supplies. She quickly came under fire, however, as news of the delivery strike emerged, and because she gave her press conference while standing in front of pallets stacked with federal relief goods. Cruz Soto was also criticized by other local officials. Guaynabo Mayor Angel Perez Otero said that while other mayors have been joining meetings between, FEMA, U.S. military officials, and Puerto Rican leaders, Cruz Soto has been absent. Ive seen other mayors participating. Shes not, said Perez Otero, according to The Washington Examiner. He added that, contrary to Cruz Sotos claims, We are receiving a lot of help from FEMA and the Red Cross there is lots of help coming to us. Cruz also said, regarding Cruz Sotos criticism of the relief effort, There is a lot of politics in Puerto Rico. Trump also called out Cruz Soto on Twitter. He noted on Sept. 30 that Cruz Soto had complimented his response to the Category 4 Hurricane only a few days prior, but had switched her stance. The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 Trump said poor leadership was to blame for local officials including Cruz Soto, who are not able to get their workers to help. He said they want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 He added, however, that for the more than 10,000 federal workers and troops his administration sent to help in Puerto Rico, The military and first responders, despite no electric, roads, phones etc., have done an amazing job. Puerto Rico was totally destroyed. The military and first responders, despite no electric, roads, phones etc., have done an amazing job. Puerto Rico was totally destroyed. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 Because of #FakeNews my people are not getting the credit they deserve for doing a great job. As seen here, they are ALL doing a GREAT JOB! pic.twitter.com/1ltW2t3rwy Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 Despite the criticisms from Democrats and several legacy news outlets, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello has praised the Trump administration for its response to the disaster. Trump thanked him again, stating on Twitter, The Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, is a great guy and leader who is really working hard. Thank you Ricky! He also thanked Puerto Rico Congresswoman Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon, stating she has been wonderful to deal with and a great representative of the people. Thank you! The Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, is a great guy and leader who is really working hard. Thank you Ricky! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 Congresswoman Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto Rico has been wonderful to deal with and a great representative of the people. Thank you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 A man lays on top of a woman as others flee the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after a active shooter was reported in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. A gunman opened fire on a music festival in Las Vegas, leaving at least 50 people dead. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) Report: CBS Lawyer Writes Shes Not Even Sympathetic to Las Vegas Shooting Victims UPDATE: CBS has confirmed that Hayley Geftman-Gold was fired over her statements. This individual, who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS. Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS. Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families, a CBS spokesperson told Fox News on Monday. Earlier article: A top-level CBS lawyer wrote on Facebook that she is not even sympathetic after the mass shooting at a country music concert that left at least 58 people dead and hundreds more injured. Hayley Geftman-Gold, the networks vice president and senior counsel, wrote on Facebook: If they wouldnt do anything when children were murdered I have no hope that Repugs [sic] will ever do the right thing, according to a message that has since been deleted. A screenshot of her exchange on Facebook was first captured and reported by The Daily Caller and Fox News. Im actually not even sympathetic bc [sic] country music fans often are Republican gun toters [sic], she wrote, according to Fox. Geftman-Gold is presumably referring to the massacre at Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012 that left 20 children and six adults dead. It sparked a mass debate on gun control. A CBS spokesperson told Fox News that the company is looking into the matter. Geftman-Gold started working at CBSbut not with the CBS News divisionsince September 2016, according to Fox News. Her Linkedin and Facebook profiles can no longer be accessed by the public. According to Vocativ, she planned an impromptu Hillary Clinton victory party in Brooklyn on Election Day last year. Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 people from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas late Sunday night, Oct. 1. He reportedly killed himself as SWAT team members attempted to breach his hotel room door. People run away from gunfire in Las vegas, Nevada, Oct. 1. At least 50 people were killed and over 400 iunjured when a gunman opened fire on concertgoers. (David Becker/Getty Images) Roommate of Las Vegas Shooter Is Located The first photo of the mass shooting suspect who killed at least 50 people at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas was released. Stephen Paddock, 64, from Mesquite, Nevada, was identified as the shooter. He allegedly opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival next to the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas. At least 50 people are reported dead and more than 200 were injured. Paddock is believed to have killed himself after the shooting. Marilou Danley is being sought for questioning re the investigation into the active shooter incident. If seen please call 9-1-1! pic.twitter.com/Z83XvcHejH LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 Reports say that he was firing from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel. His companion, Marilou Danley, was located outside the country and detained. Their home was raided. She is believed to be an Australian citizen of Indonesian descent, according to MailOnline. LVMPD detectives have made contact with her and do not believe she is involved with the shooting on the strip, the Las Vegas Police Department told CNN. Marilou Danley is no longer being sought out as a person of interest, they added. Early Monday, police in Las Vegas said that Danley was no longer a person of interest in the investigation, according to MailOnline. No details were given on whether she was suspected of involvement in the case, but she was described as an associate of Paddock, Reuters reported. A police handout earlier said that Danley was being sought for questioning and asked the public to call 911. A Hyundai Tucson vehicle that is understood to be owned by Danley was found by police, according to The Independent. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo noted detectives had found her who he described as Asian, 4 foot 11 inches tall, and weighing 111 pounds. Her LinkedIn profile describes her as a gambling and casino professional who lived in Reno, Nevada. Danley and Paddock are said to be roommates or companions, but their relationship has not been explained by police. According to records, Paddock lived in a three-year-old, $396,000 two-bedroom home in Mesquite, 60 miles from Las Vegas. Thousands of panicked people fled the scene, in some cases trampling one another as law enforcement officers scrambled to locate and kill the gunman. Shocked concert goers, some with blood on their clothes, wandered the streets after the attack. He was not believed to be connected to any militant group, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. We have no idea what his belief system was, Lombardo said. Weve located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied. It sounded like fireworks. People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on, said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona, who had flown in for the concert. He said the gunfire went on for an extended period of time. Probably 100 shots at a time. It would sound like it was reloading and then it would go again, Smith said. People were shot and trying to get out. A lot of people were shot. From NTD.tv Prominent Houston lawyer has purchased a functioning World War II tank and parked it in front of his multi-million dollar house. Tony Buzbee bought the tank from a closing French military museum for over $600,000. He waited a year for its delivery, he told Law.com. Now the M4 Sherman sits on the River Oaks Boulevard. This particular tank landed in Normandy on D[-day] plus four, liberated Paris and ultimately went all the way to Berlin, Buzbee told KHOU. This is a piece of American history. But for this type of vehicle we would not have won the war. His grandfather was an infantryman who landed in Normandy. Buzbee himself is a former marine deployed in the Persian Gulf and Somalia, he told Fox 26. However, the local homeowners association, the River Oaks Property Owners, had some objections. As it is parked on a city street, it impedes traffic and poses a safety hazard, it wrote in a letter to Buzbee. But he said the tank doesnt break any rules. Its not violating any ordinance but for some reason it makes the homeowners association board uncomfortable, he said with a chuckle. The association also wrote that the tank causes serious concerns for neighbors. The KHOU crew spoke to some locals, but none of them expressed such concerns. I wish it was permanent, one man said. I think its an asset. I think, if you watch the cars, everyone slows down and says, wow, thats America. Buzbee wasnt too concerned about the letter. I guess they can ticket it. I guess they can try to tow it. But the truth is, until I decide to move it, it aint going anywhere, he said. He plans to move the tank in about two weeks. Its final destination will be Buzbees east Texas ranch where he intends to play around with it, blow things up and run over things, he said. The tank cant fire shells anymore, but Buzbee plans to strap a machine gun to it. He also purchased some junk vehicles to run over, Law.com reported. For the time being, the tank is playing a more conventional museum role being photographed by passers-by and climbed by local kids. And thats cool, Buzbee said. It reminds people what were all about; what our history is about. President Donald Trump at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey on Oct. 1, 2017. Trump said that he will do what has to be done when it comes to North Korea. (Rob Carr/Getty Images) Trump Says North Korea Talks Futile, Will Do What Has to Be Done President Donald Trump said that talks with North Korea wont help after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson revealed that the United States has three lines of direct communication with the communist regime. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done!, Trump said in a pair of Tweets on Sunday in response to Tillersons comments in Beijing the day before. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 Trump has long been a fierce critic of North Koreas development of nuclear weapons and previous administrations lack of success in stopping its progress. Being nice to Rocket Man hasnt worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I wont fail, Trump wrote in a different tweet. Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 In 1994 then-President Bill Clinton signed an agreement with North Korea under which it promised to cease its nuclear program in return for aid and two light-water nuclear reactors. The regime broke the agreement and in 2006 conducted its first nuclear test. As of now, it has conducted six nuclear tests along with numerous ballistic missile tests. Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 26, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said that for the North Korean regime, nuclear weapons are tied to its survival. My assessment based on the intelligence I have read is that Kim Jong Uns development of nuclear capability and his development of missile technology is primarily associated with regime survival, Dunford said. President Trump warned the Kim regime in his speech before the U.N. General Assembly that the United States could totally destroy the country if it was forced to defend itself or its allies. Defense Secretary General James Mattis made a similar statement early last month, saying that while the United States does not seek the total annihilation of North Korea, we have many options to do so. Following its sixth underground nuclear test in early September, and a subsequent ballistic missile test over Japan, North Korea has been stepping up its rhetoric against the United Statesin particular, following Trumps speech before the U.N., which the regime described in North Korean state media as recently as Oct. 1 as a war declaration. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders dismissed similar claims made by North Koreas foreign minister last month, who had claimed that one of Trumps tweets amounted to a declaration of war. Sanders dismissed the notion as absurd. North Korea also repeated its frequent threat to destroy the United States. The regime also threatened South Korea againthis time, for supporting President Trumps U.N. speech. If a war breaks out on the Korean peninsula, south Korea will be showered with fire of punishment beyond imagination, read an article in North Koreas state media. A Police officer points his weapon at a car driving down closed Tropicana Ave. near Las Vegas Boulevard after a reported mass shooting at a country music festival nearby in Las Vegas on Oct. 2, 2017. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images) Update: At Least 19 Weapons Found in Las Vegas Shooters Room In a new update, police said they found at least 19 weapons in the 32nd-floor hotel room used by 64-year-old gunman Stephen Paddock. Two unnamed sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News that there was a combination of both rifles and handguns in the suspects room. One of those sources also said that there were a total of 19 weapons in the room. Previously, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said there were at least 10 rifles in the room, but he noted that the investigation was still ongoing. Additional specifics about the weapons have not been revealed by police as of Monday afternoon, Oct. 2. The Sunday shooting at the outdoor concert is the deadliest in modern U.S. history, with at least 58 people killed and more than 515 others injured. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives said in a statement that they are conducting urgent traces on firearms recovered from the LasVegas shooting. Were committed to supporting LVMPD, Vegas law enforcement. ATF is conducting urgent traces on firearms recovered from #LasVegas shooting. We're committed to supporting @LVMPD, Vegas law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/j8y8Z6n3qy ATF HQ (@ATFHQ) October 2, 2017 John Cohen, a former Department of Homeland Security undersecretary, told ABC News that recordings of the shooting suggest that the gunman was using an automatic weapon. Listening to the video, it sounds like the weapons were fully automatic, said Cohen, a former police officer, who is now an ABC News consultant. Cohen explained that an automatic gun means that you pull the trigger once and rounds are fired in rapid succession. [The bullets] were coming out very quick, and you heard a large number of shots very quickly. That would be very difficult to do with anything other than an automatic weapon, Cohen told ABC News. He also added that is easy to convert legal, semi-automatic weapons into something else. Its not legal to purchase a fully automatic weapon, but its not that difficult to convert legal semiautomatic weapons so that they are fully automatic, Cohen told ABC News. Recently, the first victim in the mass shooting was identified. Sonny Melton from Big Sandy, Tennessee was among those killed when Paddock shot into the crowd. Sonny died a herohe was protecting his wife when the bullets hit him and others among the outdoor crowd of 22,000 people. His wife, Heather Gulish Melton, told Fox affiliate WZTV she was in complete disbelief. According to the station, Sonny is the first victim identified in the Las Vegas shooting. At this point, Im in complete disbelief and despair. I dont know what to say, Heather said in a statement to WZTV. Sonny was the most kind-hearted, loving man I have ever met. He saved my life and lost his, she added. Pictures of the Jie Shun included in a February United Nations report reveal how it attempted to hide its cargo under iron ore. (United Nations Security Council) US Ally Egypt Caught Sneaking $23 Million Weapons Purchase From North Korea Egypts effort to sneak in over $20 million worth of North Korean military hardware in violation of United Nations Security Council-backed sanctions has strained relations with one of its most crucial alliesthe United States. A United Nations report from late February describes in detail the shipment of rocket-propelled grenades that has spurred an international incident but the report leaves out a crucial fact now uncovered by The Washington Post. At the center of the controversy is the Jie Shun, a ship owned and operated by people with a dubious history of skirting U.N. sanctions. The ships journey began at Haeju port, North Korea on July 23, 2016, and ended 20 days later when it was intercepted by Egyptian authorities on Aug. 11. Besides originating in North Korea during a time of unprecedented trade restrictions, the ship also aroused suspicion during its journey by trying to hide itself from detection. The vessels automatic identification system was off for the majority of the voyage, except in busy sea lanes where such behavior could be noticed and assessed as a safety threat, notes the U.N. report. When it was finally seized and inspected, the Egyptians quickly discovered that underneath a layer of iron ore that appeared to fill the ships cargo hold, were tarps covering 79 crates containing 24,384 disassembled PG-7 rocket-propelled grenades and materials for 4,616 more. The weapons were made in North Korea, states the report. The shipper used a variety of other ways to hide the shipment, including a bill of lading claiming the crates contained assembly parts for the underwater pump that were loaded in Nanjing China. But the shipper also tried to trick its intended buyer, notes the report. The markings on the weapons indicated they were made in February 2016 but on-site analysis revealed that they were not of recent production but rather had been stockpiled for some time. The shipper, listed as Dalian Haoda Petroleum Chemical Co., also tried to hide information written on the crates themselves by covering them with large canvas patches. The Washington Post revealed in a report Sunday that the name of an Egyptian company was stenciled on the crates. The U.N. report made no mention of the intended recipient of the weapons but did note: The destination and end user of the equipment was investigated by the Egyptian general prosecutor. The irony of the situation and its real political dimenions was captured by Andrea Berger, a North Korea specialist who cites Kings College London as her employer on Twitter, but is often quoted as a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California. Egypt interdicted its own consignment of illicit North Korean weapons, and looked like the good guys for a year. Because that was better than letting Egypt keep those weapons. North Korea policy is a world of least-bad options. Egypt interdicted its own consignment of illicit North Korean weapons, and looked like the good guys for a year. Because that was better than letting Egypt keep those weapons. North Korea policy is a world of least-bad options.https://t.co/BxCrRz4fjT Andrea Berger (@AndreaRBerger) October 2, 2017 The Washington Post said that the shipment is behind recent tensions between the United States and Egypt. According to officials who spoke to The Washington Post on condition of anonymity, the Jie Shun incident is one of many secretive deals behind the Trump administrations decision over the summer to freeze nearly $300 million in military aid to Egypt. The post said it is unknown whether North Korea was ever paid for the rocket ship, worth approximately $23 million. For its part, Egypt claims to be cooperating with U.N. officals in finding and destroying the weapons. A statement the Egyptian Embassy in Washington gave the Post claims it is following all the rules. Egypt will continue to abide by all Security Council resolutions and will always be in conformity with these resolutions as they restrain military purchases from North Korea, the statement said. On Demand We have a new story every day on the front page of thephuketnews.com. Also like us on our Facebook page (facebook.com/thephuketnews) and be the first to watch all the new stories. Finally you can watch any segment, any time by going to thephuketnews.com/tv where all the stories are listed for you to enjoy. All our programs can be enjoyed in High Definition when watching on the internet. In-Room VDO What's next for SD Gov. Kristi Noem as she heads into her second term? Her kin signal what Kristi Noem hopes to accomplish in her second term: strengthening South Dakota households through various efforts. Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common problem women experience after childbirth. It can cause significant distress for mothers and negatively impact the entire family. About 80 per cent of new moms experience some emotional upheaval known as the baby blues. They might feel more emotional, irritable or cry easily. In these cases, women may feel emotional for a few minutes at a time, but their moods bounce back quickly. They generally feel better after a few weeks. When a new mother has prolonged periods of feeling sad, anxious, irritable or unmotivated, thats a concern. She might feel so overwhelmed she cant sleep even when the baby sleeps. In severe cases, a woman might feel like she doesnt want to live any more or that the baby might be better off without her. As a psychiatrist, I see the first year postpartum as a high-risk period. Most women who develop PPD will experience some symptoms within three months of giving birth. Yet, symptoms can also build into a major depression over time as the stresses of caregiving responsibilities and a lack of sleep mount. One major risk factor for PPD is having a personal history of depression or anxiety, which is why it is so important for women who are pregnant or want to conceive to take care of their mental health. Some women feel if they can make it through pregnancy, theyll feel better once their baby arrives. But it doesnt usually play out this way sleep deprivation and the demands of caring for a newborn can worsen symptoms of depression or anxiety. A lack of social support is another major factor. This can mean not having enough practical support, like taking care of the baby so mom can get some rest, providing meals or offering to do a diaper run. It could also mean emotional support like friends, family members and partners to validate a mothers feelings and appreciate the challenges of caring for a newborn and small child. Sometimes I meet women who feel discouraged because theyve been told feeding or sleeping should go a certain way. When the reality of the situation doesnt match the advice theyve been given, they sometimes feel like theyre failing as parents. But as a wise colleague once told me, if there was only one right way to parent, there wouldnt be 4,000 baby books written offering different pieces of advice. As well, many women feel pressure to be perfect as mothers. In this age of social media, women are faced with images of parents who appear to have no trouble making gourmet meals, keeping an immaculate house and hosting Pinterest-worthy kids parties all while providing 24-hour care to a new baby. Recent discussions about a wine festival for new moms gave new dimension to some of the societal biases and judgments that women face when they become mothers. It is certainly important to observe safe drinking guidelines, and to recognize that it is not safe to care for a child while intoxicated. It is also important that women affected by PPD receive treatment, and do not self-medicate with alcohol. Yet, my concern is that some of the wine festival criticism seemed to imply adult mothers (and specifically those with mental health symptoms) are unable to make sound decisions about their own alcohol use. There are many opportunities to help women who might be at risk for PPD, sometimes even before symptoms develop. Research shows that interventions such as peer support and supportive home visits from public health nurses can help stave off postpartum depression. When PPD develops, effective treatments include talk therapy, and in more serious cases, medication. Unfortunately, many women worry that having symptoms of mental illness might make it look like they are failing as parents and this can be a barrier to help-seeking. But depression is a real biological disorder no one is to blame for it. In my research, I look for ways to prevent and treat mental health problems during and after pregnancy. One project I am involved with is an international study called PACT for the Cure, which will help scientists better understand why some women develop PPD and others dont. Participants can download a smartphone app and answer questions to see whether theyve ever experienced PPD. If they have, we can send them a saliva kit for DNA analysis to help us in our research efforts to find genetic determinants in PPD. We hope this knowledge will improve detection, prevention and treatment of postpartum mental health problems. As well, the app can help women experiencing symptoms immediately by linking them to resources across Canada. Im also helping develop online postpartum mental health groups and virtual psychotherapy. We want to make these interventions accessible to all women, including new moms who dont live in areas with specialized postpartum mental health specialists or moms who live close to resources but struggle to attend appointments because of unpredictable schedules, competing child care responsibilities or other barriers. If youre a new mom, its important to take good care of yourself. Sleep, eat well, be active and accept support from friends, family and members of your community. And if youre feeling low, its OK to ask for help. Dr. Simone Vigod is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Torontos Faculty of Medicine. She is also a staff psychiatrist at Womens College Hospital, and a scientist at Womens College Research Institute. Doctors Notes is a weekly column by members of the U of T Faculty of medicine. Email doctorsnotes@thestar.ca. SHARE: Jagmeet Singh, a former criminal defence lawyer and Brampton MPP who rose to prominence as an upbeat opponent of police carding and precarious work, will lead the New Democratic Party into the next federal election. The 38-year-old who brashly predicted his own victory won the partys leadership race on Sunday with a commanding 53.8 per cent on the first ballot. He will now leap into national politics without a seat in the House of Commons, as leader of a third-place party thats still reeling from its dispiriting defeat in the 2015 election, when it appeared on the cusp of power for the first time. Singh, whose parents are from India, is also the first leader of a major federal party who is not white. Canadians deserve a government that understands the struggles that people are facing right now, Singh proclaimed before an audience of party faithful at a Toronto waterfront hotel on Sunday afternoon, where his victory was met with thunderous cheers. It takes an act of love to realize we are all in this together, and an act of courage to demand better, to dream bigger, and to fight for a more inclusive and just world, he said. Singh dominated the first round of voting to replace outgoing leader Thomas Mulcair, who has led the NDP since 2012, when he took over in the wake of Jack Laytons death. Of the 65,782 members who voted a 52.8-per-cent turnout Singh received the support of more than 35,000. Ontario MPP Jagmeet Singh won the federal NDP leadership race with a majority on the first ballot Sunday. Charlie Angus, a veteran MP from northern Ontario, placed second with 12,705 votes representing 19.4 per cent of ballots cast. Manitoba MP Niki Ashton, who ran the most left-leaning campaign of the race with pledges for free tuition and universal pharmacare, closely followed Angus with 11,374 votes (17.4 per cent). Finishing fourth was Guy Caron, the lone Quebec MP in the race, who argued the province is integral to the NDPs electoral chances and proposed creating a basic minimum income for all Canadians, among other ideas. Read more: Jagmeet Singhs NDP win turns the tide in more ways than one: Hebert What defeated NDP leadership candidates brought to the race 5 key challenges for Jagmeet Singh But Singh, whose campaign slogan Love and Courage was regarded by many as a nod to the love, hope and optimism expressed in Laytons last public statement, fulfilled the hopes of supporters who saw him as a fresh candidate with the potential to expand the party into new constituencies, such as Singhs own suburban enclave of Brampton. In an interview with the Star on Sunday evening, Singh said his breakthrough as the first person of colour to lead a major federal party will inspire other people who feel left out or disadvantaged. Because other people have broken barriers, it gave me in my life a capacity to even dream of achieving something, he said, pointing to Rosemary Brown, the first Black woman elected to a provincial legislature. Hopefully this next big step his leadership win will inspire a whole host of new leaders across the country, people who never saw themselves represented in positions of power, he said. Singh highlighted four priorities for the NDP under his leadership: fighting climate change, curbing income inequality, pursuing Indigenous reconciliation and changing the electoral system. He railed against the Trudeau Liberals in his victory speech, accusing the party of campaigning as a progressive force and then failing to deliver once in government. Singh told the Star that he believes he can win voters on the left side of the political spectrum by actually following through on his promises. Easy, he said when asked how he will differentiate his NDP from the Liberals. He said theyll actually change the voting system Trudeau repeatedly promised to do so but dropped that pledge earlier this year and stop a court challenge of a human rights ruling that ordered the government to provide adequate funding to health and family services for Indigenous children. Its going to be very easy to point out all the dreams and hopes that people had, that the Liberals touched on, and just didnt implement, Singh said. New NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he plans to fight for the issues New Democrats care about, such as income inequality and electoral reform. Singh won the leadership in a first ballot victory on Oct. 1 in Toronto. (The Canadian Pre In terms of seeking a seat in the House of Commons, Singh repeated that hes open to taking advice on when and where he could run, but made no commitment to try to enter Parliament before the next general election. Singh said he will resign his seat at Queens Park as soon as possible and plans to use his time to engage with Canadians across the country, comparing his situation to when Layton took over the party in 2003 and didnt have a federal seat. Im confident I can follow in those footsteps, he said. Olivia Chow, a former MP and Laytons widow, also brushed off concerns about a seat. She told the Star after Singhs victory that shes certain he can be a strong advocate for NDP priorities, because he has experienced hardships that many Canadians face, such as racial discrimination and struggling with his family to make ends meet. When that shapes your life, it means we have a leader who will connect and who is true to his values, and he will deliver what needs to be done, Chow said. Adam Vaughan, a Liberal MP from Torontos west end and a former city councillor, congratulated the new leader but quickly added that his policies are thin. Vaughan defended the Liberals against the NDP claim that theyve failed progressive voters. He rhymed off policies such as increased childrens payouts to most Canadian families and raising taxes on the rich. I will stand with anybody in this country and put our progressive results against their promises to be a progressive opposition, he said. Another issue that has dogged Singh during his leadership campaign related to state secularism and religious symbols. The issue is being debated in Quebec, a key electoral battleground for the party, where a bill is before the national assembly that would ban people from wearing religious face coverings when giving or receiving public services. Singh, who wears a turban and kirpan knife as a practising Sikh, is staunchly opposed to the bill, arguing it would breach individual rights. His stance has drawn opposition from the NDPs federal caucus; Quebec MP Pierre Nantel recently suggested he may sit as an Independent if the next leader doesnt respect the will of Quebecers on secularism. On Sunday, Singh told the Star that his NDP will present a united front on these issues, ensuring that members of his party would support individual rights and social democratic values. Near the back of the hotel ballroom where Singh was declared leader, a 48-year-old Toronto man named Binder Singh watched with a smile. He said he needed to be here watching history happen, even though six weeks ago he had bypass surgery on his heart. Its about the dream, he said, describing Singhs victory as proof that anyone can achieve greatness in Canada, regardless of their religion or appearance. Canadian politics needed a shift. They needed fresher, younger faces to come in now. And Jagmeet is part of that change, he said. A beard or a turban means nothing now. Key facts about Jagmeet Singh Age: 38 Hometown: Singh was born in Scarborough; lived in St. Johns, N.L., until he was 7; and then moved to Windsor, Ont. Family: He is the oldest of four kids in his family. He is not married and doesnt have children. Occupation: Before entering politics with a failed bid for a federal seat in 2011, Singh worked as a criminal defence lawyer in the Toronto area, after graduating from Osgoode Hall and passing the bar in 2006. He later opened his own law practice. Political trajectory: Singh was elected provincially as an MPP from Brampton just months after losing in the federal campaign, and still holds that seat at Queens Park. He stepped down as the Ontario NDPs deputy leader after entering the federal leadership race. Hobbies: Singh is known for his proclivity for martial arts: hes into Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has competed in the past. Hes also a big bike rider. His rides in different parts of the country through various places across the country are often featured on his Snapchat and Instagram feeds, which he updates constantly. In 2012, he told the Mississauga News that hes an avid reader, saying he went through more than a dozen novels that year. Signature policies He thinks all drugs should be decriminalized and calls addiction a public health rather than a law enforcement issue. If he becomes prime minister, he promises to create a federal ban on racial profiling. This would apply to institutions under Ottawas control, such as the RCMP, he says. Singh is taking aim at temp contracts and proposing to force businesses to hire workers on staff after theyre employed full-time for six months. He also wants to ban unpaid internships and raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour for workers under federal jurisdiction. He wants to hike taxes by 2 to 4 per cent on people earning more than $350,000 per year, create a 40-per-cent estate tax on properties other than primary residences worth more than $4 million, and bring the federal corporate tax rate back to 19.5 per cent from the current 15 per cent put in place by the previous Conservative government. Singh vows to meet Canadas greenhouse gas emissions target of 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025 instead of 2030, which is the Liberal governments target. To do this, he wants a national transit strategy with long-term funding for projects, and to phase out subsidies to oil and gas companies by 2020, among other proposals. A Singh government would change the way people vote in federal elections to a mixed-member proportional system with regional lists of candidates. After two elections, the new system would be put to a national referendum. Read more about: SHARE: OXBOW, SASK.The two-storey cedar home where Shirley Galloway lives with her family was a solitary dot on the Saskatchewan prairie when they moved here 21 years ago. The view from the front porch, once a landscape of rolling hills, horse pastures and lush river valley, has been transformed. Today, Oxbow is surrounded by bobbing, black steel pump jacks and flare stacks burning off hydrogen sulphide and other dangerous gases that rise with the oil and trail off in ribbons of flame over green fields. Late in the afternoon of Oct. 30, 2012, Galloway, a 53-year-old registered nurse, heard screams from the front yard. Galloway dashed out to find a teenage family member vomiting and the air thick with the rotten-egg smell of sour gas hydrogen sulphide (H2S). Galloway, who trains oil workers to survive these same events, knew what to do. She pulled the teen inside, grabbed an air monitor and held it out the door. The reading was off the dial more than 100 parts per million a level immediately dangerous to human health. Saskatchewans oil boom has brought jobs for many. For others, it has brought fear, injury and one death. The number of fracked wells in the Bakken shale oilfield alone increased from 75 in 2004 to nearly 3,000 in 2013, according to a 2016 paper by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The promise of prosperity, similar to its southern neighbour North Dakotas Bakken boom, has been embraced by a province struggling to diversify its economy. A national investigation by the Toronto Star, the National Observer, Global News and journalism schools at Regina, Concordia, Ryerson and UBC has uncovered failures by industry and government to respond to and warn the public about the serious and sometimes deadly threat of H2S gas wafting across Saskatchewan. Read more: Public safety is the number one priority, Saskatchewan government says after toxic gas investigation Saskatchewan has strengthened its sour gas monitoring Documents obtained through freedom-of-information requests and from whistleblowers internal correspondence, meeting minutes, presentations and inspection reports disclose findings of failures in performance by oil and gas companies, including serious infractions, failed safety audits, daily H2S readings beyond provincial air quality standards and a death in 2014. Yet regulatory standards remain largely unchanged and H2S incidents and risks remain hidden from the public. The teen overcome in Galloways yard eventually recovered but missed school for several days with nausea and headaches. H2S can be an insidious killer. Heavier than air, it tends to settle in ravines and valleys. Just above the level Galloways monitor detected 100 parts per million H2S causes olfactory paralysis, leaving a victim unable to detect the rotten-egg smell. Continued exposure at that level may cause death within 48 hours. A person exposed to a highly concentrated plume of the gas at 1,000 parts per million may die rapidly from respiratory paralysis, or over the course of days, from an inflammatory reaction in the lungs. Victims effectively suffocate. The government issued no public warning after Galloway reported the plume at her home because there was no evidence that this was a widespread failure. But inside government and industry offices, documents indicate the seriousness of H2S issues that led to years of meetings, audits and proposed regulatory reforms. On April 7, 2014, government and industry officials deliberated about releasing data that showed H2S hotspots across southeastern Saskatchewan. Government may be accused of hiding information, the notes read. Public will want to know: 1. What are the areas? 2. How is it managed? 3. How is the government making sure its managed? one unnamed official told the meeting. Are we creating a risk by not releasing this data immediately? Despite acknowledging significant public health risks from H2S, at least some officials present expressed concern about sensitivity in this data (because) there are residents living in these areas. No release followed. Three weeks later, government-proposed fines for emission breaches up to $1 million in penalties were rejected by two major industry groups. In a letter to the ministry dated April 29, 2014, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (EPAC) called the proposed penalties unsuitable. A former ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his current job in the industry, says almost every amendment was being rejected. EPAC officials declined comment. Terry Abel, CAPPs spokesperson, said the letter was intended to explain that, in some cases, fines arent appropriate at all If theres an unsafe operation, it should be shut down. It shouldnt be operating. Thats the best way to ensure the public safety is protected. The story of the Bunz family, who lost their son after he was exposed to H2S gas in Saskatchewan as well as others who have made narrow escapes. The proposed fines were dropped. The next month, Michael Bunz, a 38-year-old salesman supplying chemicals to oil and gas facilities, lay in a shack 80 kilometres from the Galloway house, dead after being exposed to H2S. The official incident report filed with the Ministry of the Economy, which regulates Saskatchewans oilfields, makes no mention of Bunzs death. These regulators are really thinking about the economic health of the province, says Emily Eaton, a professor at the University of Regina who has studied the relationship between the oil industry and the government. Eaton is a member of the Corporate Mapping Project. A shift in 2012 from the Ministry of Energy and Resources to a new Ministry of the Economy tasked with regulating natural resource extraction and promoting economic development changed the ministrys role from watchdog to partner, she says. Theyre thinking about returns on investment The industry should really be regulated by those that have the interests of the environment first. Ministry field staff raised this concern at a meeting on July 1, 2015, between government and industry. The role of the regulator needs to be adjusted, the meetings minutes read. The regulators are acting as consultants in some situations. The role of the regulator is to enforce the rules and if the rules are clear and if enforcement is consistent and clear then, cultural changes can be made. In its statement, the ministry rejects criticisms of conflict of interest or lax enforcement. Within the Ministry of the Economy, the petroleum and natural gas division carries out industry regulation, wrote the departments spokeswoman, Deb Young. It is not involved in investment attraction, royalty and tax assessment and land sales. It is solely focused on well, facility and pipeline regulation. That regulation has not included fines or prosecutions. The ministry has not issued a single fine against any industry company for well over a decade, Doug MacKnight, assistant deputy minister responsible for petroleum and natural gas, said in an interview. Generally, we dont have to resort to that, he said. Its usually just a notice to the operator to bring themselves into compliance. Prosecutions have also not been part of the ministrys enforcement practices because non-compliance was dealt with through other enforcement actions, reads the ministrys statement. Other enforcement actions include increased inspections and staff, high-tech equipment for detecting emissions and a $69-million inspection reporting database (which cant be accessed by the public). Still, complaints of illness from residents and workers continue. I will sometimes get faint, like I will fall over and I have to find a seat quickly, says Lori Erhardt, a United Church minister and musician living near Oxbow who believes her chronic illness is related to emissions. I have had a variety of diagnoses, most of them end with i-t-i-s, which means inflammation If something gets inflamed, if its blood vesicles, you feel it through your body. I will sometimes get faint Lori Erhardt United Church minister and musician living near Oxbow who believes her chronic illness is related to emissions Among the five years worth of documents obtained by this investigation is an April 2012 PowerPoint presentation to CAPP members by the director of the provinces petroleum and natural gas division. It includes a map of southeastern Saskatchewan showing a bloom of red and orange circles, labelled critical sour gas locations. Sources say ministry staff pushed to make the data public but senior government officials said theres no goddamn way that is going to be released, according to the former ministry source. Theres an institutional reluctance to make this information public, he said. The public should be able to see all the information that legislators have identified as public information such as sour gas and inspection reports. The ministry statement says the map was never approved for release because some data was out of date, not comprehensive and could provide the public and industry with a false understanding of risk associated with a particular well or facility. After the Galloway incident, the ministry inspected 11 oil and gas facilities. All failed with serious infractions, including releasing H2S at lethal levels that may be exceeding 150,000 (parts per million), Brad Herald, CAPPs Saskatchewan operations manager, wrote to the board of governors in December 2012. Those levels are 150 times the amount that could cause instant death. Among the causes: It is believed that inadequate training on the installation and operation of equipment is contributing to the air quality issues. CAPPs Abel said in an interview the unsafe facilities responsible for those breaches should not have been operating. They should have been shut down, he said. When you follow the rules, processing and production of sour gas is absolutely safe. If you dont follow the rules, it can pose a health risk. So ultimately, those operators at those facilities were responsible. Neither CAPP nor its industry partners made the health risks public. And no ministry fines or prosecutions followed. Internally, CAPP quickly mobilized to develop a public relations and damage control plan: There are growing public concerns regarding the air quality issues in southeast Saskatchewan, Herald wrote, noting a petition and a Facebook page. The Ministry fields one to two public complaints concerning odours per week and the issue is garnering increasing political attention . . . This has the potential to become a broader industry reputation/social license concern and warrants immediate attention by operators in the region . . . Communications is preparing key messages in the event that there is media profile. CAPP received a warning the next month after consulting a scientist with expertise on managing toxic substances, internal emails show. The scientist expressed disappointment noting that H2S failures were so easy to avoid. The scientist urged the industry lobby group to develop and implement a new code of practice to control dangerous emissions and get ahead of the problem by publicly denouncing unacceptable practices. The scientist also recommended that the industry group pressure the province to step up inspections. The ministry, in meetings with industry, proposed similar reforms. In a letter sent in March 2013 then-energy minister Tim McMillan now president and CEO of CAPP warned companies to meet compliance obligations or face escalated enforcement, penalty and/or prosecution. Ministry and industry met four times between 2012 and 2014 to plot strategy, including emergency planning zones, a public communications document, a code of practice and a licensing regime for high-risk, single-well batteries. Those plans were never adopted, a ministry statement confirms. Instead, the Ministry chose to take a risk-based approach to managing the sour gas issue that included increased field inspections and improved data collection. Eighteen wells that had been venting sour gas were ordered to be shut-in in 2012/2013. From 2013 to the summer of 2014, the ministry began implementing an aggressive inspection and enforcement schedule to reduce sour gas emission that included suspension orders against 30 facilities owing to H2S management issues, the statement reads. During that effort, H2S would claim its most high-profile victim in Saskatchewan. Michael Bunz, a salesman for Nalco Champion, died on May 22, 2014, while taking samples in a shed located in a provincial park between Carlyle and Kipling. A valve on the tank broke and oil, water and H2S spewed into his face. An incident report submitted by the tanks owner, Harvest Operations Corp., states simply: Spill occurred as a result of a failed valve. Nowhere does it mention Bunzs death. Instead, his death is marked by a gravestone in a small cemetery near Wawota, where the father of two young daughters lived a few doors away from his parents, Dianne and Allan. The black, polished stone, with an image of Bunz wearing his Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey and hat, calls him Bunzy and reads: In loving memory of Emma and Olivias Daddy. He didnt really talk about those dangers, Dianne says. We knew what its like to work in the oil industry. My husband did for 20 years. We knew about H2S but I wasnt aware that he was going on site and doing the testing. The summer before he died, Allan drove his son to the Nalco office to quit. Michaels brother-in-law, who had worked there, had left and things had been pretty tough, Michael said, marked by long days and heavy workload. He was going to hand his company truck in, and his boss was there he talked (Michael) out of it, Allan says. This company wanted him because he never ever phoned in sick or anything. Hed just go to work. And they offered him more money, so he stayed. Nalco Champion is facing three charges under the provinces occupational health and safety legislation for failing to provide Bunz with a respirator and to ensure he entered a dangerous situation with a second worker. A conviction would result in a fine. The family says they were told by Nalco that the concentration of H2S in the fluids was estimated at 40,000 parts per million, more than enough to bring near-instant death. The company sent reporters a written statement, declining further comment. We remain deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague, Michael Bunz. The safety of our associates, customers and communities is vitally important, and we remain committed to our robust safety policies, protocols and training programs, which include those related to hydrogen sulfide, it reads. Allan, who spent most of his working life in the oil industry, says he learned more about H2S protection when he worked on a pig farm. Every person had to wear an H2S monitor. And Im talking about the pig industry, he says. To me, they were protecting us more at this simple small hog operation in Saskatchewan than the oil industry ever did the entire time I was working out there. The couple reviewed the records documenting years of discussions between government and industry about public health risks and failed audits that were never made public. The couple called it devastating. I go to work every day and I drive down the highway and I talk to my son sitting beside me, says Allan. I say to him tough day there, son and I tell him how I feel . . . I feel him sitting there beside me. How often H2S incidents happen or happened in Saskatchewan remains a mystery. Officially, ministry officials count one death and five documented incidents where a member of the public was exposed to unsafe levels of sour gas near a well or facility site. None of them triggered a public statement by the government. There was no need for public notification since the incident was quickly dealt with at the site, reads the ministry statement. But after dozens of interviews it is clear that H2S incidents involving residents are more common but go unreported or are not recorded properly. This is also true for workers in the oilfield. Only months after Bunz died, Trina Hansen, an oilfield worker and part-time voice actress, was clearing a pipeline near Carlyle, Sask. I could have died Trina Hansen An oilfield worker and part-time voice actress exposed to H2S I could have died, she says. Its almost like you could feel like a heavy air hit your face. Its a really weird feeling. Your first reaction is to inhale. When it hits your face, you breathe it in. Its the weirdest thing. You dont think to hold your breath. It happens so fast. I stumbled backwards. I was so shocked. Disoriented, Hansen got back in her truck and drove a couple of kilometres until she noticed she was losing her peripheral vision. There were white sparkles, iridescent, swirly, super-shiny and bright. I jumped out and started feeling nauseous and couldnt breathe very well. I was trying to catch my breath and dry heaving. My head started pounding. Hansen, suffering debilitating headaches, nausea and sickness, lost her voice for two weeks. This happened three years ago and I still have a hard time catching my breath if I talk too fast. Im very short of breath. Ive never in my life felt like that. It was horrible. Her voice has changed for good it is far deeper and lower than before. I do a cartoon on APTN network and they said my voice totally changed. It changed two octaves pretty much. It used to be high and now it cuts out. Hansen never reported the incident, fearing she would lose her job. Nobody wants to say anything. We know its bad and dangerous. But no one wants to raise a fuss. And being a woman and trying to prove yourself out there, I never claimed WCB (Workers Compensation Board). The economy went down and I have to pay off debt with my trucking money. Four months after Bunzs death, a secret ministry report listed 161 facilities that may be in violation of (the ministrys) sour gas emission control. The catch: time and resources required to investigate and verify violations would take all available field officers over a year. In 2014, inspections of 60 suspicious wells in 2014 turned up 36 more than half that were leaking so badly they had to be shut down. Another audit found 11 out of 12 facilities failed inspection due to H2S venting and found 29 locations that are too close to facilities with high levels of H2S concentrations. Of the 1,352 active sour gas facilities, only 421 31 per cent had proper emission control systems. Almost every site had improper gas measurement, the report reads. Discovered major contamination at two facilities as a result of spill which were not reported to the ministry. The ministry believes that the H2S issue is under control, saying air quality standards are being met and that inspections confirm that companies sour gas management practices have improved. Today 27 full-time inspectors are responsible for the provinces 126,000 wells and its estimated 118,000 kilometres of pipelines and flowlines, operating with a budget of $3.9 million. In 2016-17, ministry staff inspected 18,340 wells, facilities and pipelines. Last month, a team of researchers from Harvard and Northeastern Universities collected data in collaboration with this investigation using the same instruments employed by ministry inspectors to detect emissions invisible to the naked eye. In my experience measuring oil and gas activities in Texas, what struck me was that about a third of the sites we looked at had what we believed to be fugitive emissions and the high density of pump jacks, says Lourdes Vera, a doctoral student in environmental sociology at Northeastern University. Drew Michanowicz, a post-doctoral researcher at Harvard Universitys School of Public Health who led the survey in Saskatchewan, said about one in five of the facilities they visited showed black smoke rising from the flaring stacks of production facilities. If there is black smoke, there is particulate matter that if inhaled is certainly associated with human health effects, he said. If sources of these air pollutants are constantly impacting individuals where they live, work and play, there is the worry that they are experiencing health effects. In interviews with landowners and records in the government database, this investigation has found recent H2S accidents, including three people who say they were sickened by H2S clouds near their homes in the past year. One said they required hospitalization after a near-fatal incident. In January, more than four years after the H2S incident in Galloways front yard, she and her husband were driving home when they encountered a plume of what she believes was H2S gas. She fell ill and stayed home for three days. Ive had arrhythmias, really wicked headaches Ive had bouts of nausea. I wake up at night and have heart palpitations. Galloway wrote to public officials demanding a response. There were no consequences or fines as a result. And no official report of an incident anywhere near the Galloway property that day was filed. That, says Galloway, is just the way it works in Saskatchewan. As a person living in the middle of the oilfield, you have no protection. The government doesnt care. Your MLA doesnt care. The oil companies dont care. Unprecedented Collaboration Behind the Project During the past nine months, an unprecedented collaboration of more than 50 journalists and editors from three Canadian media outlets, four journalism schools and a think tank have worked to chronicle the hidden price of oil in Canada. Collectively, reporters examined thousands of industry and government documents, analyzed terabytes of data and delved into dozens of freedom-of-information requests. The project started with the people, says Patti Sonntag, a managing editor in the New York Times news services division, who launched the project with a grant from the Michener Awards Foundation. Following a tip from a colleague at the Corporate Mapping Project, she did some research and reporting in Saskatchewan last fall. Working with the previous years Michener winner, Toronto Star journalist Robert Cribb, Sonntag created a team of students at the Ryerson, Concordia and UBC journalism schools. Concordia Universitys Department of Journalism volunteered to act as host and headquarters for the project. University of Regina students reported on the ground locally, shot video and developed sources, while students at the other universities aggregated and analyzed data and interviewed experts. Were pulling these four different schools from across the country and looking at it from all different aspects, says Janelle Blakley, a University of Regina student reporter whose team mapped spills data and met local farmers and residents. This collaboration allowed us to really dig into it, where all schools were pulling apart different pieces of it and then coming back and putting it all together. The significance of the data quickly drew intrigue. What emerged was a picture of a few dedicated regulators and even some industry leaders who tried to introduce greater accountability, but these efforts were ultimately overwhelmed by larger forces. You start to understand these figures really do play a huge role in dictating the direction of the Canadian economy and that plays out in the lives of everyday Canadians, says Lauren Kaljur, a graduate of UBCs master of journalism program who has been investigating the concentration of corporate power in Saskatchewans oil and gas industry since the beginning of 2017. To Matthew Gilmour, a recent journalism graduate at Concordia University, after spending months populating spreadsheets and ledgers, theres the human moment where you realize its not just a pocketbook story. Its a human story. And peoples lives are affected. The work continued past the end of the semester in April 2017, with students working alongside veteran reporters at the Star, the National Observer and Global News to shape the stories, seek comments from all sides and publish hundreds of pages of government and industry records, detailing concerns about potentially deadly gas emissions for the first time. Steph Wechsler/ Ryerson School of Journalism Writers/Reporters Robert Cribb, The Toronto Star Patti Sonntag, Michener Fellow P.W. Elliott, University of Regina Elizabeth McSheffrey, The National Observer Data and Documentation Journalist Michael Wrobel, Concordia University Researchers Jennifer Ackerman, University of Regina Madina Azizi, University of Regina Janelle Blakley, University of Regina Cory Coleman, University of Regina Mike De Souza, The National Observer Josh Diaz, University of Regina Brenna Engel, University of Regina Matthew Gilmour, Concordia University Celine Grimard, University of Regina Jared Gottselig, University of Regina Lauren Kaljur ,University of British Columbia Rebbeca Marroquin, University of Regina Matthew Parizot, Concordia University Katie Doke Sawatzky, University of Regina Michaela Solomon, University of Regina Kyrsten Stringer, University of Regina Caitlin Taylor, University of Regina Steph Wechsler, Ryerson University Faculty Supervisors P.W. Elliott, University of Regina Trevor Grant, University of Regina Series Producer Patti Sonntag, Michener Fellow, based at Concordia University Institutional Credits Concordia University, Department of Journalism Ryerson University, School of Journalism University of British Columbia, Graduate School of Journalism University of Regina, School of Journalism Global News The Michener Awards Foundation Corporate Mapping Project Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Parkland Institute University of Victoria Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Watch the televised investigation: Sunday and Monday on Global National at 5:30 CT/MT/PT & 6:30 ET/AT Robert Cribb can be reached at rcribb@thestar.ca SHARE: OTTAWAThe task ahead is undeniably formidable. A rookie on the federal scene, who does not hold a seat in Parliament and is untested with the reins of partisan leadership, has embarked on a quest to bring New Democrats to power in Ottawa for the first time in Canadian history. Not only that hes up against a self-avowed progressive prime minister who preaches taxes on the rich and the urgent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, who may not have changed the voting system but is legalizing marijuana. Can Jagmeet Singh, the NDPs fresh new leader, fight Justin Trudeau for the left half of the political spectrum and win? For David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, Singh, whos 38, represents a solid threat to Trudeau and his Liberal majority. Singhs youthful mode of speech, adherence to left-wing orthodoxy on most issues, and his proven ability to generate buzz could make him a contender for a wide demographic of voters who flocked to the Liberals under Trudeau in 2015, Coletto said. When you think of the voters that both of these parties really need to do well, and thats younger voters, I think Jagmeet Singh has the opportunity to really compete, Coletto said. I look at him as someone who is probably going to be the greatest threat to the Liberals and that coalition theyve put together that was anchored by millennials. Of course, actually drawing them into the NDP isnt going to be automatic. But a key part of Singhs pitch to New Democrats throughout the leadership campaign was his promise to widen the appeal of the party into corners of Canada where it has not traditionally succeeded. His own electoral story is a testament to this. Singh is quick to point out he started his political career by winning a seat in Brampton, a suburban city outside Toronto where the NDP had long been an afterthought. His leadership campaign also claimed to have signed up 47,000 new members during the race. That means more than a third of the total NDP membership was brought in by Singh after he entered the leadership contest in May. Look at what weve been able to accomplish in a few short months, Singh said Sunday during his victory speech. Now imagine what we can build together, all of us together, in two years. Singh was on Parliament Hill Monday, serving up a charm offensive as he met with reporters. I dont know how you do this. Who do you choose? Singh said with a laugh, as he faced a barrage of questions in the Commons foyer. Read more: The story behind the Jagmeet Singh juggernaut: Cohn Jagmeet Singhs victory ushers in new (and youthful) era in federal politics: Teitel What defeated NDP leadership candidates brought to the race New NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he plans to fight for the issues New Democrats care about, such as income inequality and electoral reform. Singh won the leadership in a first ballot victory on Oct. 1 in Toronto. (The Canadian Pre He gave an aw-shucks accounting of a phone call with Trudeau Sunday night, who called to congratulate him on the leadership win. If I was a kid and you told me that in 30 years, Id get a call from the prime minister, I would have told you, I dont know what youre talking about. So it was pretty cool. Im not going to lie, Singh said. He said that Trudeau was very gentle and welcoming, and advised him to stay in touch with the people who brought you where you are, the grassroots. He also talked with outgoing NDP leader Thomas Mulcair who told him that one of the most important things was to enjoy the journey. I will definitely make sure that is one of my top priorities. Singh said he had begun the process to resign his seat at Queens Park. And he reiterated his plan, at least for now, not to rush into seeking a federal seat, though there are vacancies in Toronto and Newfoundland and Labrador. Im comfortable right now with the fact that I dont a seat, Singh said, citing the example of past NDP leader Jack Layton who delayed his own bid for a Commons seat to spend time getting to know the issues that matter to Canadians and spending time with Canadians. Im open to hearing suggestions and counsel on this so I havent made a decision, said Singh. As to where he ultimately decides to run, Singh said its important to have an authentic connection to the riding, noting his past time spent living in St. Johns, Windsor and the Greater Toronto Area. That work outside the Commons will be important for Singh as the NDP looks to win back supporters in the run-up to the 2019 election. Many observers have pointed out that the social democratic party is in debt and well-behind the Liberals and Conservatives in fundraising this year (the NDP raised less than $1.8 million in the first half of 2017, while the Liberals raked in almost $6 million and the Tories received more than $8 million, according to Elections Canada). The newly minted leader of the federal NDP says hes comfortable with not yet having a seat in the House of Commons. Jagmeet Singh spoke to reporters on Parliament Hill Monday. (The Canadian Press) Brad Lavigne, a long-time NDP insider who spearheaded the 2011 Orange Wave campaign under Layton, said the new leader has proven he can pull in donors and supporters. He said hes confident the party will unite behind Singh as they pivot toward the next election. Looking at Jagmeets organizational capacity in this leadership alone, I know that were going to be ready to go for 2019, said Lavigne, who supported Singh during the leadership race. Money aside, the biggest battleground for that coming challenge will be fighting for votes with the Liberals, Coletto said. Singh laid the groundwork for his assault on this front Sunday, when he accused the Trudeau government of essentially lying to Canadians about their intention to run a progressive regime in Ottawa. Singh told the Star it will be easy to paint this picture for Canadians, pointing to perceived government failures on Indigenous reconciliation, electoral reform, climate change, housing policy and more. Colettos firm, Abacus Data, released a study in August that asked 2,000 Canadians a series of questions about how they perceive the major political parties. It found that most Canadians associate the Liberals and the NDP with similar values, including cares about the environment, treat men and women equally and proud of Canada. The overlap in perception means differentiating his party from the Liberals will be a top job for Singh the first leader of a major federal party who is not white as he takes over the NDP, Coletto said. And on this score, Singh is already pointing to his desire for more aggressive cuts to greenhouse gas emissions (he wants to hit the Liberals target five years quicker, by 2025). The former defence lawyer is also talking about fundamental changes to the justice system. This includes his proposed federal ban on racial profiling ostensibly aimed at the RCMP to prevent racial discrimination by police and his call to decriminalize all drugs. If you look at people who are criminalized for personal possession . . . these are people who are often faced with mental health issues, addictions and are poor, he told the Star on Sunday. Our current strategy is not working. Its not reducing harm. Its not actually helping people out, he continued, adding he would like a system similar to Portugals, where resources are devoted to rehabilitation and treatment rather than law enforcement for possession convictions. He slammed the Liberals for not decriminalizing marijuana as they prepare to legalize the drug next summer, hinting that this is another policy where hell be different and more left-leaning than Trudeau in the next election. Its impossible to say how that will play out. In Colettos mind, at the very least, Singh presents an undeniable shift in style and leadership for New Democrats. Im not going to make normative statements about whether he is cooler (than the other leadership candidates) or not, but I think you can easily say that Jagmeet Singh is cooler than Tom Mulcair, on most objective measures, he said. Now its time to see how he matches up with Trudeau. With files from Bruce Campion-Smith Read more about: SHARE: Jagmeet Singh, the newly elected 38-year-old leader of the federal NDP, is two years older than Kim Kardashian and two years younger than Kanye West. In other words, he is practically an adolescent in a line of work where many of his colleagues are expecting grandkids. Not only is Singh youngish; the Ontario MPP is unmarried and has no children. (If he was a single childless woman as opposed to a single childless man, wed probably read a lot more about the leaders empty nest, but thats an issue for another day.) Todays issue is youth. Singh isnt the only spring chicken in the federal political coop. Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is also 38 (though like most conservatives, his soul is around 83). And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau turned 45 last year decrepit for a music festival attendee, but a fledgling in the political arena. And yet, in light of Singhs recent win, Trudeau is now the oldest leader of a major federal political party in Canada. Come Election Day, 2019, it will be Trudeau who is the old man in the race and Trudeau who will fear defeat from a fresher face. This reality isnt just a far cry from 2015, when the Liberal leader was the great young hope of the nation, its also proof that baby boomers long-standing presence in federal politics is fading. Meanwhile affable, social media adept Gen Xers are taking their place. Read more: Can NDPs cool new leader Jagmeet Singh resonate with millennials and become PM? Its about the dream: NDP supporters hail Jagmeet Singhs leadership win 5 key challenges for Jagmeet Singh This is a good thing for a few reasons. First, its great for American magazines that love to run fluff pieces about a Utopian Canada in contrast to Trumps America. You can picture the Rolling Stone headline now: Why any one of these three contenders for prime minister of Canada could save America from itself. But on a more serious note, a young roster of PM contenders is a good thing because it could be a major win for voter turnout among young citizens themselves. In the 2015 federal election, according to Statistics Canada, the participation of voters aged 18 to 24 increased by 18.3 percentage points to 57.1 per cent. Its foolish to claim that Trudeau then the freshest face in the race had nothing to do with this significant turnaround, especially when you look at the fact that so many millennials voted for his party. According to research from Abacus Data and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations, 45 per cent of young Canadians (aged 18 to 25) voted Liberal compared with 25 per cent for the NDP and 20 per cent for the Conservative Party. Evidence indicates that most of the increase in turnout during the 2015 federal election was the result of Canadians under 45 years old coming out in much higher numbers. The lesson here is that a lot of people turned out for a youngish guy. Imagine then, what the turnout might amount to when there are three youngish guys in the race for PM in 2019, all of them peddling different ideas? Some political pundits have argued that Trudeaus relative youth had very little to do with a higher millennial turnout in 2015, making the case that social justice ideas in an older package e.g. Bernie Sanders, 76 were a massive hit with 18-34 year olds around the world. But when I interviewed young Canadians outside exit polls in 2015, they didnt tell me they turned out for an idea. They told me they turned out for the young, relatable candidate. In 2019, theyll have three to turn out for. Perhaps the most positive outcome of a young roster of PM hopefuls is that youth and all of the ideas we attach to it (hope and change for example) will no longer belong to one major party, but to all of them. Ironically, in a race where every major candidate is considered young, the importance of a fresh face cancels itself out. Because when everyone in the running has one, voters swayed by the superficial have no choice but to examine the ideas behind the dudes. Emma Teitel is a national affairs columnist. Read more about: SHARE: OTTAWAUpon becoming Canadas 29th Governor General, Julie Payette made an impassioned appeal for Canadians to tackle serious and pressing global issues like climate change, migration, nuclear proliferation, poverty and population growth. Striding across the front of the Senates red-carpeted chamber, wearing a wireless mic, Payette spoke to more than 400 invited guests and dignitaries, delivering a notes-free and at times quirky address that echoed many of the Liberal governments favourite themes. She hailed diversity as Canadas strength, the value of science and evidence-based decision making and the need to reconcile with Indigenous peoples who she said were the original pioneers and showed us the way. It is a good thing we finally decided to listen again to their wisdom, said the 53-year-old Payette. Twice in the 21-minute speech, the Governor General addressed Algonquin elder Claudette Commanda along with other Indigenous leaders at her installation, in Algonquin. I would like to salute members of Indigenous nations present here and all of those who are listening, she said, according to a translation provided by Rideau Hall. We have to achieve reconciliation for the well-being of our communities and for our children. Payette thanked her parents seated in the room for giving her the greatest gift, unconditional love. They backed her every step of the way to becoming an astronaut, she said. Among the guests who spilled into a building across the street, Payette said there were many eminent scientists, aviators and high flyers, and they would tell you we are all inextricably bound by a part of the same space-time continuum, she said. Were all on-board the same planetary spaceship, but together we can move mountains. With our brains and our smarts and our altruistic capability we can do a lot of good . . . to diminish the gap and inequities that are found here and elsewhere. Above all, Payette said, she values teamwork, the power of dreams and absolute necessity of a support structure, adding this is exactly what shed use her mandate as Governor General to reflect. The second Canadian woman to go into space and the first Canadian to work aboard the International Space Station, Payette spoke of her journey to the vice-regal office as an unlikely one. She said she wasnt expecting the prime ministers call to become Governor General, and her 14-year-old son, Laurier, gave her permission to accept the appointment. Read more: Peoples Governor General David Johnston bids farewell at ceremony Incoming Governor General Julie Payette meets with Queen for the first time Incoming governor general Julie Payette drops fight to keep divorce records sealed But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who hailed her hard work, discipline and most importantly, your passion, said she was a natural for the job. She was, Trudeau observed, a pilot, athlete, polyglot, musician, astronaut, and a mother, who showed the sky was not in fact the limit. Whether as Canadas chief astronaut or as an Olympic flag bearer you represent the very best of what it means to be Canadian, to serve Canada with aplomb and integrity. Hours before, Payettes story was told in a newly unveiled coat of arms that portrays ambition, whimsy and a musical flair. Canadas heraldic authority designed the crest to capture what it saw as the essence of Payette. Flanked by two standing Canada lynx atop a blue borderless planet, the badge depicts an open wing, next to a crown, topped by an astronauts helmet, a musical bar and the motto Per Aspera Ad Astra, which means Through hardship to the stars. Its a motto used by Payette and fellow astronauts, according the Canada Heraldry Office, which researched Payettes background and drew on it for inspiration. The two lynx collars of laurel, or bay leaves feuilles de laurier in French are a nod to her son, Laurier. The open wing is meant to symbolize exploration and liberty and embody our desire to reach higher and expand our horizons, says the Canada Heraldry Office. Payette approved the design created by Claire Boudreau, chief herald of Canada, who said she was inspired by a badge designed by a Quebec artist when Payette flew her first mission into space. I thought that this was very interesting that, already in her past, she had had the occasion to see herself in a design and to describe what is important to her, Boudreau said in an interview posted by Rideau Hall on Monday. Former astronaut Julie Payette arrived on Parliament Hill with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday to be officially sworn in as Canadas 29th governor general. (The Canadian Press) The choice of lynx was Boudreaus. She said the felines represent what she saw when she looked at photos of Payette interacting with people. The way she looks at people she has this strength and direct connection. The animal that came into my mind . . . was the Canadian lynx. For me this animal is a feline, but it has a way to look at its environment, but its discreet at the same time. Payette replaces David Johnston, 76, who was appointed by former prime minister Stephen Harper. Johnston and his wife, Sharon, served in the governor generals office for seven years, beyond the usual five-year term. Payette arrived on Parliament Hill at mid-morning on Monday, the start of a day filled with pomp and ceremony. She was greeted by Trudeau and Indigenous leaders from the Assembly of First Nations, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, the Native Womens Association of Canada and the Metis National Council. At the formal ceremony, she swore three oaths of office administered by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who holds the office of deputy governor general. Payette selected the music for the program. A Tafelmusik baroque ensemble Payette was once a member of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and choir played Mozarts Divertimento. Payette chose Joannie Benoit and Melissa Bedard, who first made their names during the 2012 season of Star Academy, to sing Leonard Cohens Hallelujah. Payette invited Quebecs Ginette Reno to sing the national anthem a closing performance that Payette greeted with a standing ovation, along with the entire audience of Supreme Court judges, MPs, senators, former prime minister Jean Chretien and Payettes predecessors Johnston and Adrienne Clarkson. A 21-gun salute fired by the 30th Field Regiment and a flypast by CF-18 jets marked Payettes departure from the Parliament Hill ceremony, as she headed to the National War Memorial. Onlookers in Mondays festivities praised Johnstons time as vice-regal representative and were curious to see what changes Payette will bring to the role. Karen Doehn, who was visiting the nations capital from New Dundee, near Kitchener, said she was pleased another female was in the role. I think shes with it, as far as society goes and shes quite a bit younger so I think shes at her prime, said Doehn, at the war memorial. With every new person coming into the office, I think youve got to give them time to figure out who they are and see what they are capable of, said Bethany Bisaillion, pipe major of the Sons of Scotland, an Ottawa-based civilian pipes and drums band. With files from Bruce Campion-Smith Read more about: SHARE: SHERBROOKE, QUE.Train driver Thomas Harding knows hes partly at fault for the 2013 Lac-Megantic rail disaster that killed 47 people, but he was following procedure and the tragedy flowed from bad company policy, his lawyer said Monday on the first day of trial. Mr. Harding realizes hes partly responsible for a very serious tragedy and that weighs on him a lot more heavily than the trial, lawyer Thomas Walsh told reporters. Is it human error or criminal negligence? Thats what this case is about. Read more: Four years after Lac-Megantic, the struggle to prevent similar rail disasters continues Lac-Megantic to mark fourth anniversary of rail disaster in Quebec town Jury selection begins in Lac-Megantic train derailment trial Harding and two other ex-railway employees, traffic controller Richard Labrie and manager of train operations Jean Demaitre, are all facing one count of criminal negligence causing the death of 47 people. All three ex-employees of Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway have pleaded not guilty. Crown prosecutor Veronique Beauchamp told the 14-member jury in her opening statement that all three men were each responsible in their own way for ensuring the train was safe, and all three failed in their duties. Evidence will be presented that will show beyond a reasonable doubt, all three were criminally negligent ... they contributed to the deaths of the 47 victims, Beauchamp said. An oil-laden locomotive weighing more than 10,000 tonnes was not properly secured the night of July 5, 2013, leaving it resting precariously on a slope, 10 kilometres away from downtown Lac-Megantic, Beauchamp told the court. Driver Harding brought the train to a stop outside the village of Lac-Megantic and retired for the night. A fire broke out on part of the train roughly 30 minutes after he left. Around 1 a.m. on July 6, 2013, roughly one hour after firefighters put out the flames and turned off the main engine, the train began moving, picking up speed and barrelling into the town. Youll see that the number of brakes applied to the (train) was clearly insufficient, Beauchamp said, referring to Harding, whom she said was responsible for the safe immobilization of the convoy. The evidence shows that Labrie, the Crown contends, never inquired about the security of the train after the fire. Only after the derailment did he ask Harding how many brakes he put on the train, Beauchamp said. Supervisor Demaitre, Beauchamp continued, was told before the derailment that part of the train had mechanical deficiencies. The evidence will show that (Demaitre) didnt take any measures and left the (deficient) locomotive as head of the train block. Never did he ensure that a competent person would be sent to on scene ensure the train parked on the slope was safe. Walsh, who was the only defence lawyer who spoke to reporters Monday, alleged the company had a culture that neglected safety and his client was only following procedure. The people who were responsible for the policy of the company to park an empty train with the engine running thats not Hardings decision. Thats the companys decision, Walsh said. The bankrupt railway companys former owners and managers should be the ones answering questions at trial but they are in the U.S., Walsh added. All of the shortcuts taken were at the expense of safety, he said. The real directors of the company ... received their subpoenas, they decided not to come. The trials first witness was retired Quebec provincial police officer Steven Montembeault, who showed the jury aerial footage he took from a helicopter about 15 hours after the derailment. Light from the setting sun was glimmering on the lake, surrounded by green hills and lush grass of the picturesque town, 250 kilometres east of Montreal. Then the camera pans to what was left of the centre of the village, and zooms in on firefighters putting out pockets of fire across downtown Lac-Megantic as thick plumes of smoke billowed into the air and could be seen for kilometres. Following Montembeault was Jacques Lafrance, of the provincial police, who began showing jurors crime scene photos he took of the disaster. The Crown has signalled it will call 24 civilian and 11 police witnesses, and one expert witness in a trial that is expected to last until December. Walsh said Harding will likely testify in his defence. Beauchamp said jurors will also be shown video and listen to audio recordings of conversations between railway employees the night of the derailment. The bankrupt Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway has also pleaded not guilty to causing the deaths of 47 people and will face a separate trial at a later date. The trial is being held in Sherbrooke, Que,. 150 kilometres east of Montreal. Read more about: SHARE: QUEBECThe accused in the slayings of six men at a Quebec City mosque last January will bypass his preliminary hearing and go straight to trial, the Crown announced on Monday. Prosecutors filed a direct indictment against Alexandre Bissonnette during a brief hearing before Quebec court Judge Jean-Louis Lemay. Crown prosecutor Thomas Jacques also announced another charge one more count of attempted murder with a restricted weapon. Read more: A list of Canadas terror incidents and attacks Accused in Quebec City mosque shooting changes lawyer How police responded to Quebec mosque shooting The new charge involves 35 people, including four children, who were in close proximity when the alleged attack occurred, Jacques explained. But the indictment wont include any terrorism charges, Jacques added. Boufeldja Benabdallah, vice-president of the Islamic Cultural Centre, lamented the lack of terror-related charges. This terrorist act must be recognized and condemned, so that it serves as a strong lesson for Quebec society, Canadian society and ... globally, Benabdallah said. Jacques said the charges reflect what the Crown had to work with. All the evidence gathered by the various police forces involved in this large scale investigation has been rigorously analyzed and the charges laid are the result and the evidence gathered, the available evidence and the current laws in Canada, Jacques said. Bissonnette, 27, now faces six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder using a restricted firearm. Six people, aged between 39 and 60, were killed when a gunman stormed the mosque and opened fire on men who were attending prayer. Jacques told reporters that the evidence disclosure process is also now complete, allowing the Crown to go the direct-to-trial route. The preferred indictment has been filed today the consequence is that there will be no preliminary inquiry in this file and at the next date Dec. 11th, the Crown will be ready to fix the trial date in front of a judge and a jury, Jacques said. The Crown added many factors were considered before going the preferred indictment route, including speeding up the trial date. Its not the only purpose of a direct indictment, Jacques said. Its one of the many factors that has been considered. Among those in the courtroom on Monday were five of the six widows of the victims, attending for the first time. Often in tears, the women left the courthouse without speaking to reporters as did Said El-Amari, who was seriously wounded during the January attack. Benabdallah spoke on their behalf, saying the situation is extremely difficult for the women, noting their pain is not gone yet. They still wait for their husbands every morning and they arent there, Benabdallah said. He said he was pleased a charge was added to reflect the 35 others present inside the mosque and tremendously affected. They were physically, morally and psychologically wounded, and its justice that will play a fundamental role in resolving these wounds, he said. Read more about: SHARE: U.S. President Donald Trumps education secretary, who holds controversial views on publicly funded education, is set to visit Ontario to learn about its public school system. Ontario government officials confirmed Betsy DeVos trip is taking place but wouldnt provide details. U.S. embassy officials provided few specifics, except to say DeVos visit is on Thursday and Friday and involves a study tour to Toronto to examine best practices in Ontarios education system. Secretary DeVos plans to engage with Ministry of Education officials from Ontario and other provinces, visit local schools, and learn about U.S. Consulate support for U.S.-Canada higher education linkages, spokesman Joseph Crook said in a statement. The province often welcomes international delegations who come to look at its publicly funded education system, said Ontario Education Minister Mitzie Hunter. Read more: Betsy DeVos dodges question on whether shed block federal funds for private schools that discriminate Students boo, turn their backs during speech by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Librarian to Melania Trump: Take your green eggs and scram! Were very proud of our education system in Ontario and we welcome international delegations who come here to learn from us and to really meet our great teachers and educators in our system, she said. When asked what lessons the American school system can learn from Ontario, Hunter cited full-day kindergarten, graduation rates, specialist high skills major programs such as agriculture, construction and forestry and inclusive education. DeVos department of education rolled back rules allowing transgender students to use school restrooms of their choice this year. She has also attracted protests recently for revoking a guidance that instructed colleges on how to handle sexual assault cases, saying the previous policy was unfairly skewed against those accused of assault. But much of the criticism directed at DeVos has focused on her positions on public schools, with critics saying she prioritizes the needs of private schools. She advocates for school choice, which includes vouchers that allow kids to attend charter schools which are publicly funded but privately operated or private schools on the public dime. Ontario teachers organizations and unions expressed disappointment at news of the visit. DeVos represents everything a public education advocate opposes, Ontario Teachers Federation president Chris Cowley wrote on Twitter. She should keep her backwards ideas out of Ontario. The head of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation said in a statement that he is extremely concerned about plans to allow DeVos to visit Ontario schools. Ms. DeVos is a vocal proponent of programs that divert government funding away from public education and into private hands, to pay for tuition at private and religious schools, Harvey Bischof wrote in a statement. The Ministry of Education should reconsider this visit and send a strong, clear message to Ms. DeVos and other proponents of privatization that public education in Ontario is not for sale. Read more about: SHARE: Mayor John Tory declared a victory on the affordable housing front earlier this month. Tory said, thanks to his signature housing plan called Open Door, the city is on track to meet an annual target to create 1,000 new affordable rental homes. Over the past three years, we have been working to knock down each of these barriers and finally create housing for those in our city who need it most, Tory said in an opinion piecein the Star Sept. 15. We are finding ways to say yes to developers who want to work with the city. But an analysis of the program to date shows that while multiple projects have received preliminary approval, none of the projects approved under Open Door have been completed, thus failing to meet the target set by council back in 2009. Of the official tally of 1,200 rental units counted as new affordable housing under Open Door in 2017, staff say about half pre-qualify with plans far from finalized. Council is expected to vote on matters related to those units and other aspects of the program this week. Read more: City on hook for $1.6 billion to fix crumbling public housing Toronto to get 2,000 market-rent and affordable units Theres still work to be done, say former Tent City residents While there is also a string of agreements to create affordable housing in the future, experts also say that much of that stock wont be for the people most in need and the city needs to re-examine what affordable means in the midst of a housing crisis. In Toronto, more than 181,000 people are waiting for subsidized housing and at least 5,300 are in the emergency shelter system. Sean Gadon, the director of the citys affordable housing office, said the Open Door program plays a vital role in providing new affordable rental housing that would otherwise not exist. The private rental market will not deliver rents that are affordable on a consistent basis without the intervention and support of government. Wont happen, Gadon said. Open Door was first announced by Tory in April 2015, standing on the contaminated city-owned lands at 200 Madison Ave., near Spadina Rd. and Dupont St. For Open Door developments, the city forgives building fees, development charges, planning fees, parkland dedication and provides tax relief totalling about $40,000 per rental unit. In exchange, the city secures a portion of units at or below the citys average market rent. Those rents are controlled for at least 25 years, so if a tenant moves it cant be jacked up. The Madison Ave. property, after a request for proposal was put out by the city, was sold to developer Madison View Homes Inc. last year for a toonie. In exchange, they will provide 82 rental units at 77 per cent of average market rent for 50 years. Those rental units are part of a total 653 approved in 2015 and 2016. Construction is well underway at just 7 per cent of projects approved for Open Door incentives since 2015. City council approved the provision of $222.8 million worth of investments over five years towards the program with a goal of creating 5,000 new affordable rental units and 2,000 new home ownership units. To date, the city has spent $121.86 million over the last three years to encourage the creation of 1,869 rental units and 596 ownership units. It was 2009, when the city set the goal of the creation of 1,000 new affordable rental homes every year. With 600 units just pre-approved as part of this years tally, the city will fall far short of that goal this year. These units will help keep Toronto affordable for families that want to live and work right here in our city, said the mayor and affordable housing advocate Councillor Ana Bailao in a joint statement to the Star Friday. Its unfortunate that some would try to pick away at this progress rather than join us in advocating for more investment by all governments and the private sector. Council will consider authorizing $27.9 million in incentives for two developments of up to 600 units on unlocked provincial lands in the West Don Lands and at Grosvenor and Grenville streets. But staff are requesting to return in 2019 with updated numbers. As part of the land deal the province mandated that 600 of the 2,000 to be developed units be affordable and the cost of rent. Of the total, 300 must be offered at average market rent or less, 240 at 80 per cent or less and the rest at 40 per cent or less, the ministry confirmed. Greg Suttor, a senior researcher at the Wellesley Institute said if the goal was the creation of 1,000 units each year then counting 600 yet to be fully approved units into the annual target is a bit premature. Its like they are mixing the early fruit and the fall fruit and counting it as the harvest, said Suttor. However, he said, that is not to discredit genuine steps and resources being put into making those units happen and the provincial and federal governments need to boost their financial commitments to making Toronto affordable. I dont think it should be on the citys shoulders. Open Door, a city report reads, is meant to provide options for low- and moderate-income households. But the citys official plan defines affordable as monthly rent at or below average Toronto rent. In 2016, the average monthly market rent for a one-bedroom apartment, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., was $1,137 and $1,341 for a two-bedroom. In central Toronto, the average market rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,336 and a two-bedroom $1,932. The provincial and federal standard for affordable rent is 80 per cent of market value. Kira Heineck, the executive lead with the Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness, said for lower-income earners, people on social assistance or those at risk of becoming chronically or episodically homeless even 80 per cent is an impossible rent, without additional supports. Heineck said as development plans continue to roll out and investments are made, council has a unique opportunity to lead a discussion on what is truly affordable. It is not just the job of the affordable housing office because their mandate to provide affordable housing in the way it is currently defined leaves out a lot of people who cant afford affordable housing. According to data provided by city staff, the Open Door program has secured 855, or 46 per cent of all rental units acquired, at average market rent. Another 704 units were gained at around 80 per cent average market rent, while the rest are 60 per cent or below. Affordable housing staff, with that limit in mind do excellent work to find good projects, but in some instances were probably going to be paying developers to build something theyre probably going to build anyways. And thats always troubled me, said Councillor Gord Perks, a member of the citys affordable housing committee. Theyre coming up with some announcements, he said. They should not be feeling like its job done. There are other paths for the city to secure affordable housing through the standard development application process. As part of those negotiations, which involve compromises on height and density, councillors have been able to secure agreements for affordable units either on-site or elsewhere through whats called section 37 agreements. The province has yet to commit to a timeline for inclusionary zoning, which would give the city the power to mandate a certain number of units in a development be set aside as affordable housing. We are taking some additional time to carefully consider how inclusionary zoning fits into the broader housing agenda. . . we are well-aware of how crucial a difference this tool can make, Myriam Denis, press secretary for Housing Minister Peter Milczyn, said in an email. Between 2015 and Sept. 22 of this year, the city could have created 2,619 affordable units if 10 per cent of all units in developments of 300 units or more were declared affordable, under inclusionary zoning rules. Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. also shows rental units are being built regardless of the citys incentives. The number of rental units built rose steadily from 2013 to 2016, averaging 2,000 units a year. That does not include condo units put on the market as rental. Though new builds slowed earlier this year, according to the firm Urbanation, following the expansion of rent control rules, experts argued it was not yet cause for concern. Kenneth Hale, with the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, said projects developed through significant public subsidies should be designated as permanent, affordable rental housing. Those units are only a small offering compared to what is needed. The people who we really should be focusing our efforts on are those people on the social housing waiting list because those are the people who weve recognized are in the greatest need, said Hale. Whether its average market or 80 per cent of market, none of those people are going to qualify to go into those units. Read more about: SHARE: The nine bullets Toronto police officer James Forcillo fired at Sammy Yatim were part of the same ongoing shooting and should not have been separated into two distinct occurrences at the officers criminal trial, lawyers for the convicted cop argued at the Ontario Court of Appeal on Monday. More than four years after Forcillo fatally shot Yatim, 18, on a Toronto streetcar, Ontario's highest court heard the suspended officers appeal of his conviction and his six-year jail sentence. Central to the appeal is the fact that Forcillo, who was not in court Monday, fired his police-issued Glock at Yatim in two discrete volleys, separated by about five and a half seconds. Read more: Sammy Yatims mother shares her grief: I want people to know we had a beautiful life Bail extended for Const. James Forcillo days before he was due to be jailed Prosecutors defend attempted murder verdict in Sammy Yatim killing Last year, the jury at his trial found the officer not guilty of second-degree murder in connection to the first volley of three shots, during which the fatal shot was fired. But Forcillo was convicted of attempted murder for the second round of six bullets, fired as Yatim was on the floor of the streetcar, paralyzed and dying. Before a panel of Chief Justice of Ontario George Strathy, Justice David Doherty and Justice Gary Trotter, Forcillos lawyers stressed the uniqueness of the case, and what they have called the illogical finding that he was convicted of attempting to kill someone who he lawfully killed just seconds before. This scenario, I think is fair to say, has never arisen before, said Michael Lacy, one of Forcillo's lawyers. It's (Forcillo's) submission that what came to be known as the two volleys of shots were so inextricably intertwined that they formed part of a single continuous transaction Lacy said. The officer, who is suspended without pay from the Toronto police force, is seeking an acquittal or a new trial. His lawyers have also argued the sentence handed down by trial judge Justice Edward Then was severe and that if the conviction is upheld, Forcillo should serve a suspended sentence. Forcillos six-year sentence is one year longer than the mandatory minimum of five years jail time for attempted murder with a firearm, something the officers lawyers say violates the charter. The mandatory minimum sentence for attempted murder with a firearm was never meant to deal with a case like Forcillos, but rather to crack down on mounting gun violence by the criminal element, his lawyers said. The clear purpose of that legislation was to target people who make decisions to pick up firearms, Lacy said, whereas Forcillo was armed as a result of his employment. Forcillos lawyers also detailed what they said were the detrimental effects of being prevented from providing the jury with evidence that would have raised the question of whether Yatim was committing suicide-by-cop. That evidence included text messages, expert testimony and a Google search Yatim made that provided insight into Yatims state of mind, said lawyer Joseph Wilkinson. In that Google search Yatim had asked how to commit suicide without feeling any pain, and Wilkinson said the officers defence lawyers should have been able to present the jury with evidence about the suicide-by-cop phenomenon to lend a different perspective. Wilkinson argued that this perspective was important to counterbalance what he said was the Crown's frequent characterization of Yatim as a person in crisis. Late Monday, Crown lawyer Susan Reid began her arguments in response to the appeal, stressing that the acquittal on second-degree murder but the conviction on attempted murder are not inconsistent. The defences are different and the circumstances were different, she said. Sahar Bahadi, Sammy Yatims mother, attended the appeal Monday, saying before it began that she believes Forcillos conviction will be upheld. I still believe in God. I still believe in justice. I think that (his conviction will be upheld) and he will go to jail, she told the Star in an interview last week. The appeal continues Tuesday. SHARE: Bombardier has a solution to airplane passenger woes. On its spacious, fuel-efficient CSeries airplane, everyone can bring a carry-on. Plus, seats are wide, the cabin is quiet, and windows and washrooms are large. But, as Bombardier has learned, that hasnt been enough for a quick takeoff or soaring sales. Bombardier initially aimed to have 300 firm orders by the time it was certified for commercial service in early 2016, but it wasnt until earlier this year that it surpassed its goal, with 360 orders reported in June. However, 75 of those were from Delta Air Lines, an order that was thrown into doubt last week, when the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it was imposing a preliminary tariff of 220 per cent on the CSeries. The ruling was a result of a complaint made by U.S.-based Boeing, which claimed the CSeries was being sold to Delta at abnormally low prices because of government subsidies. Adding to Bombardiers woes, the World Trade Organization on Friday announced it would review CSeries subsidies at the request of Brazilian airplane manufacturer Embraer. In fact, airlines in Canada and the U.S. have yet to add one the CSeries planes the CS100 and the larger CS300 to their fleets. While Air Canada has a firm order for 45 of the planes, with delivery scheduled by 2022, only two airlines currently fly the vehicle. Between Swiss International Air Lines and Latvias airBaltic, there are a total of 18 CSeries in service. The CSeries airplane program, which at one point was two years behind schedule and plagued by cost overruns, cost Bombardier $5.4 billion (U.S.) over eight years. In 2015, the Quebec government stepped in with a $1 billion cash injection for an equity stake in the CSeries, around the same time Bombardier wrote off $3.2 billion in development costs it didnt expect to recoup. This year, the federal government committed $372.5 million in interest-free loans to Bombardier. Bombardier estimates it will not start generating cash flow from the CSeries until around 2020, but remains adamant its on to something that will change the aviation industry for the better. The CSeries is the first single-aisle aircraft to be built from scratch in the last 30 years, said Bombardier spokesperson Nathalie Siphengphet. We understand the industry and airlines make decisions about their fleet with a long-term view. In terms of competition, Airbus and Boeing offer single-aisle planes, but Bombardier maintains theyre not direct competitors. Unlike the CSeries, Airbus and Boeings planes were first developed as larger jets, then stretched or shrunken to accommodate up to 150 passengers, and are therefore less efficient, Siphengphet said. The CSeries is the only airplane designed specifically for the 100- to 150-seat market, with optimized aerodynamics and advanced technology for that size, she said. Its a market disrupter. CSeries customer Swiss International supported Bombardiers claim that the jet is unique. Back in 2008, when Swiss was looking for a new aircraft, market leaders Airbus and Boeing were showing no signs of developing a suitable airplane for the 100-seater segment, said Swiss spokesperson Stefan Vasic in an email. They were both saying they would not develop a new aircraft before 2020. According to Bombardier, the CSeries is the greenest airplane in its class. At up to 5,400 kilograms lighter than its competitors and with less drag, it has a 20 per cent fuel burn advantage. That reportedly translates to a 20 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions and 50 per cent fewer nitrogen oxide emissions. Its also the quietest commercial airplane in its class. The CSeries is a great aircraft, not just for passengers, but also for cabin and cockpit crews, Vasic said. Swiss pilots say the aerodynamics are great and the engine is powerful and quiet. With state-of-the-art technologies, the Bombardier CSeries sets new benchmarks in terms of both its operating economics and environmental credentials, Vasic said. The CSeries has performed beyond airBaltics expectations and enabled the airline to open 12 new routes this year, the airline said. It also said it will start flying CSeries airplanes to Abu Dhabi in late October. But analysts say Bombardier needs more large customers. It would be great to have someone willing to buy the CSeries for a large portion of their fleet, said George Ferguson, senior airlines and aerospace analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. That, I think, would be a real turning point. Part of the problem is timing. The CSeries airplane has fewer seats than other airplanes such as the Boeing jets that Air Canada uses, which fit 200 to 400 seats. That means airlines would sell fewer tickets per flight of the CSeries. However, when Bombardier was developing the CSeries, fuel costs were higher a barrel of oil in 2010 cost $95 (U.S.) as opposed to todays rates of around $50. Because the CSeries is fuel efficient, Bombardier believed fuel savings would offset less ticket revenue. Back in 2010, we thought there was a real shortage of oil, and fuel prices were going to continue to rise, said Ferguson. At that time, the best edge an airline could get was to be more fuel efficient. Airlines also cant raise ticket prices simply because the CSeries is more comfortable. For most people, the ticket price matters a huge amount, Ferguson said. Figuring out this dilemma will be critical for Bombardiers flying future, despite the news Friday of what may turn out to be a $1.7 billion order for the companys Q400 turboprop, built in Toronto. The companys future is absolutely wrapped up in the CSeries, Ferguson said. To give up on this airplane would be like walking away from commercial aerospace altogether. For Bombardier to succeed, it will need to find the right market, which Ferguson says lies south of the border. Due to its size, the CSeries is best suited to fly within continents like North America and between mid-sized interior cities, of which there are many in the U.S. The population density means U.S. airlines dont need to fly large planes between these cities, like their Asian counterparts do, but theres still enough demand to fill the CSeries airplanes seats. North American fares arent as low as those in other parts of the world, making it easier for airlines to turn a profit using the CSeries airplane. Canadas regionally focused and discount airlines also have the potential be good candidates, Ferguson said. WestJet has said it isnt interested in the CSeries, although it currently uses Bombardiers Q400. Airlines could also use the CSeries to design new direct routes across the Atlantic Ocean. The CSeries is the only plane in its category that could fly out of London City Airport (with a short runway) to New York City, Siphengphet said. Its the perfect aircraft for challenging airports. With last weeks tariff announcement, and a further U.S. anti-dumping ruling expected Wednesday, Bombardiers hope to land Delta or any other American airline has become less certain. For now we will monitor the situation and its too early to speculate, but theres a strong demand for our aircraft. It will likely be operated around the world and in the U.S., Siphengphet said. Bombardier has said it is pushing hard in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well as in China. Read more about: SHARE: A Toronto man, who was held in immigration detention for five-and-a-half years, has launched a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Ottawa. Abdirahmaan Warssama, 54, was detained at two maximum security detention facilities, first in Toronto and later in Lindsay, Ont., from May 2010 to December 2015 while waiting for his deportation to Somalia. Over 2,042 days behind bars, he underwent more than 70 detention reviews but each time an independent panel sent him back to jail, convinced he was likely to flee and fail to appear for his removal until a Federal Court judge overturned his continued detention and ordered Ottawa to explore the possibility of returning Warssama to Somalia and consider alternatives to detention. The sole purpose of his detention was to facilitate his removal from Canada to Somalia. Yet for the totality of his detention, removal to Somalia was never attempted, said Warssamas statement of claim against the federal government filed with the court Thursday. He is seeking $55 million in damages. Despite the fact (that) he suffered from mental health issues, his detention was solely administrative not punitive, and he was not considered a danger to the public, yet at all material times, Warssama was detained in a maximum-security prison. The claims have not been proven in court. The Attorney General of Canada, the defendant, has declined to comment because of the ongoing court process. No statement of defence has yet been filed. While incarcerated, Warssama alleged in the lawsuit, he was subjected to humiliating and degrading experiences, including being strip-searched, physically assaulted, robbed, denied warm clothing and health care, forced to endure freezing temperatures, unsanitary living conditions and lengthy and numerous lockdowns. Warssama came to Canada for asylum in 1989 but the claim was denied in the same year. He was allowed to stay in Canada on humanitarian grounds partially due to his diagnosis with post-traumatic stress disorder. However, he kept moving around and never obtained his permanent residence status. In 2005 and 2006, he was arrested and charged with assault, failing to appear and uttering threats, for which he received a suspended sentence and 18 months probation, as well as a day in jail and 87 days pre-sentence custody. Since hes neither a permanent resident nor citizen, his criminality made him inadmissible to Canada. Warssamas lawyer, Subodh Bharati, said the Canada Border Services Agency had a policy of not forcibly removing people to Somalia and would only deport someone to African country if the person was willing to sign a voluntary statutory declaration indicating ones genuine desire to return. He is not the same person he used to. He is angry and upset . . . He still cant sleep properly. When he is outside, he feels people are following him, Bharati said in an interview. In his statement of claim, Warssama said his unlawful detention was the result of malicious prosecution by the border agency and negligence by the detention review tribunal that was under the Immigration and Refugee Board. The Immigration and Refugee Board ignored evidence and used detention as a means to punish the plaintiff for not signing what it knew or ought to have known was a false statutory declaration, according to the lawsuit. The infringement of (Warssamas) liberty became arbitrary and contrary to the principle of fundamental justice that prohibits limitations that are not related to the legislations purpose. Due to repeated jail lockdowns, Warssama claimed in his lawsuit, he was unable to contact his family and lawyer or receive visitors. On two occasions on May 20, 2014 and August 10, 2014 he was assaulted by other inmates causing him injury and the loss of two teeth, the lawsuit claimed. Warssama, who now lives with his sister, said he still suffers from physical and psychological problems: headaches, nightmares, dizziness, shock, anxiety, depression, emotional trauma, chronic pain, insomnia and weakness. I still have bad dreams from the detention. Its hard to start your life again. You just cant get your life back, he told the Star in an interview. Warssama is still without status pending removal and must report to the border agency every three weeks. He has applied for permanent resident status based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, as well as an assessment of the risk he could face if removed to Somalia. Both decisions are pending. SHARE: More help is coming to ease hospital overcrowding, Health Minister Eric Hoskins pledged Monday as the NDP released figures showing some local health-care facilities operating at over 100 per cent capacity. We are approaching flu season and we are taking every step possible, Hoskins told reporters, suggesting measures like re-opening the closed Finch Ave. site of the Humber River hospital will be announced soon. That proposal would create 150 beds for patients who are in Toronto-area acute-care hospitals but no longer require that high level of care, such as people waiting for spaces in nursing homes or rehab centres. Thats one proposal of many that have come forward that . . . reflect the commitment we made in the (spring) budget to address this, Hoskins added. Were confident in the coming weeks and months that well be able to take steps that will have significant impact. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath was skeptical of the plan, charging in the legislatures daily question period that 150 beds will not fix the mess this Liberal government has helped to create. It is the new normal to hear horror stories of people waiting for days in emergency rooms and being treated . . . in hallways with no privacy and no dignity. Citing figures obtained under freedom-of-information legislation, Horwath said Trillium hospital in Mississauga was operating at between 103 per cent and 109 per cent capacity between last January and May. During the same period, figures were similar for Brampton Civic while Etobicoke General was as high as 122 per cent of capacity, Horwath added. Hoskins replied that some hospitals have been below capacity during the summer but acknowledged that doesnt mean there arent pressures and there arent totally unacceptable instances where people are forced to wait too long. He noted the government announced funding for 500 more beds for the Trillium system last May and has opened a new Humber River hospital, along with another new hospital in Milton among 35 being built or planned across the province. I find it curious, if not bizarre, that Andrea Horwath would seemingly be opposed to the Humber River proposal, which would in fairly short order certainly this calendar year make available an additional 150 beds that could be used for non-acute patients. Hoskins confirmed last week that the government has asked hospitals in the province to come forward with transitional care plans like the one involving Humbers mothballed Finch site. This is about the best care in the best place for the patient . . . That may in some instances be in a hospital, he added. It may be in a different environment and so were not so caught up on where that might be as long as the quality of care is the highest and its appropriate for that individual and it gets them one step closer, hopefully, to returning home. Also under consideration are putting additional supports in retirement homes so residents can live there longer without having to move into nursing homes or hospitals, Hoskins said. He described that option as taking care to where the individual is. Read more about: SHARE: A Progressive Conservative MPP wants a private app company to return $1.5 million in provincial money because of potential links to the Equifax data breach of personal information. Sylvia Jones (Dufferin-Caledon) said Carrot Rewards an app the government uses to promote healthy living with points awarded for taking quizzes or meeting fitness challenges should forfeit funding it received last July. At issue is the fact the Toronto-based company has a contract with Borrowell, which in turn uses Equifax data to give users their credit scores. Read more: Equifax hack only affected 8,000 in Canada, but 145.5 million in U.S., review finds I'm angry about Equifax: Roseman Equifax CEO Richard Smith steps down in wake of massive cyberattack They should return the money, said Jones, noting the government is notorious for handing out funding to private companies with little oversight. We have Trillium grants that are given out to not-for-profits and they have to do quarterly updates, they have to prove the money that was given was spent appropriately, the MPP said Monday. And yet we give away $1.5 million and we dont follow up to make sure its actually being spent the way they promised it would be, she said. Obviously, they have a responsibility to the users of Carrot Rewards to reach out and make sure that they werent breached. Andreas Souvaliotis, CEO of Toronto-based Carrot Insights, was surprised by Joness call, and said the $1.5 million was used by the government to purchase reward points for the app to give out to users. And Jeff Costen, spokesperson for Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister Eleanor McMahon, said the government money was used only for rewards points for health-related quizzes and nothing financial. The (Ministry of Health) invested in Carrot to encourage health and active living and was pleased to make that investment, he said. Souvaliotis emphasized that Carrot was developed in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada and works with a number of agencies and charities, as well as StatsCan. We are not Equifax; we are not even once-removed, he said. We have nothing to do (with Equifax). We are working with good policy-makers to encourage Canadians to live better, healthier and more financially responsible lives. Equifax Canada a division of the U.S. giant says about 8,000 Canadian consumers may have had their personal financial information compromised in a hack of sensitive data by cybercriminals stateside. The company previously estimated that some 100,000 Canadians could have had their personal information compromised before a forensic review by cybersecurity firm Mandiant found the actual number to be much lower. That data could include names, addresses, social insurance numbers, and possibly even Visa and MasterCard numbers. Borrowell, which has a quiz on Carrot Rewards, uses Equifax to provide free credit scores. In a statement to its customers, Borrowell said it is still secure and is in no way directly affected by the breach. Souvaliotis pointed out that Borrowell uses Equifax in the same way that banks and car dealers do. The content for Carrot Rewards is provided by governments and health agencies, which Carrot turns into short quizzes and fitness challenges. Those who successfully complete them receive reward points. Users can choose which loyalty points they wish to receive, including Petro Points and Cineplex Scene, among others. While Souvaliotis said the app does build up user profiles, individual information is not shared. Carrot is also in use in British Columbia and Newfoundland. With files from The Canadian Press SHARE: As one might expect, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked at the daily briefing about the overnight massacre of more than 50 people at a country music concert on the Las Vegas Strip. As one might also expect, some of those questions focused on the debate over new gun control legislation and whether President Donald Trump was considering new regulations in light of the mass shooting. We havent had the moment to have a deep dive on the policy part of that, Sanders said. Weve been focused on the fact that we had a severe tragedy in our country. This is a day of mourning, a time of bringing our country together and thats been the focus of the administration this morning. Can you explain why thats different than Orlando, though, Sarah? NBCs Hallie Jackson asked. That day, he was talking about the travel ban and saying he didnt want congratulations essentially. Why is whats happening now ... Sanders cut her off. Theres a difference between being a candidate and being the president, she said. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump What Jackson was referring to was this tweet from Trump, sent less than 12 hours after the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando last year until Sunday night the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. He tweeted at the time Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I dont want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart! A bit later, he was explicit about tying that attack to the need for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, tweeting What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning. Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough (The perpetrator of that attack, incidentally, was an American born a few miles away from where Trump grew up.) Read more: B.C. man, Alberta woman among 59 killed in Las Vegas concert shooting What we know about Stephen Paddock, the high-stakes gambler behind the Las Vegas massacre Donald Trump condemns Las Vegas shooting as act of pure evil This was candidate Trump, Sanders is arguing, free to make the case for his preferred policy without taking a day to mourn the 49 people who had been killed. As president, Trump refuses to jump into the debate over policy (that he opposes) because its just not right. Undercutting Sanderss claim, though, is that Trump has also jumped to policy solutions in the response to other tragedies since January 20. There was the attack at London Bridge in which Trump tweeted about the need for a travel ban even before the metropolitan police in that city had identified it as terror-related. He tweeted We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety! More recently, the president seized on an attempted bombing of a subway in London to argue that the travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific. These attacks do have the distinguishing characteristic of not being in America, in case that was a critical component of Sanderss argument. (British leaders were not appreciative of Trumps input.) The last tragedy the nation faced excluding the ongoing disaster in Puerto Rico was the twin devastation from hurricanes Harvey and Irma. At that point, Trump took a stand on one matter of policy, downplaying any link to climate change since there have been big storms before those. (Before the storms hit, he repeatedly talked up the scale of the storms, in keeping with his affinity for hyperbole.) That response, though, came well after the storms hit. As for Puerto Rico, Trumps been adamantly defending his administrations response as fully adequate even as the island struggles to recover. Incidentally, Sanders Trumps official spokesperson is herself bound by the candidate rules and not the presidential ones. I think one of the things that we dont want to do is try to create laws that wont create or stop these types of things from happening, she said in response to a question during Mondays briefing about whether Trump would advocate for a bipartisan response on guns. I think, if you look to Chicago, where you had over 4,000 victims of gun-related crimes last year, they have the strictest gun laws in the country. That certainly hasnt helped there. That claim about Chicagos gun laws isnt entirely true, for what its worth, and lax gun laws nearby make it easier to obtain weapons. But, then, we understand that this is a day for mourning, not political arguments. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONThe mass shooting that killed at least 59 people in Las Vegas on Sunday night was the worst in modern American history. Police suspect that Stephen Paddock fired on the crowd at a country-music concert indiscriminately from his hotel room window, killing dozens and injuring hundreds more. If it seems as though the U.S. only just experienced another deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, its because it did. About 16 months ago, Omar Mateen killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando after pledging allegiance to Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, before that, the record was held by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007, in which 32 people were killed. A concert-goer captured the moment a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip late Sunday, killing at least 50 people and wounding hundreds. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing when the gunfire began. (The Associated Press) Obviously any new deadliest incident will have more deaths than the ones that came before. From 1949 to 1991, though, the increase in the number of deaths was only nine. The shooting at Virginia Tech was more than double that in Camden in 1949. The killings in Orlando added 17 more deaths to the total. How many will end up as victims in Las Vegas isnt yet known but its already twice the toll of the deadliest shooting in history as of 11 years ago. That the most recent incident to set a record was only 16 months ago may have been a grim fluke; these incidents are too few to draw a real pattern in that regard. That the next incident to establish itself as the deadliest in American history will mean that more than 50 people will have given their lives, though, is only slightly less alarming than the near-certainty that there will be a next incident. Americas deadliest mass and spree shootings: 1949, Camden, N.J. 13 killed. Howard Unruh, a World War II veteran, walks the streets of Camden killing random people. 1966, Austin, Texas. 18 killed. Charles Whitman fires from a tower on the University of Texas campus. 1982, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 13 killed. George Banks kills five of his children and 8 other people. 1984, San Ysidro, Calif. 21 killed. James Huberty enters a McDonalds and begins shooting. 1986, Edmond, Okla. 14 killed. Postal worker Patrick Sherrill kills 14 people at his workplace. 1990, Jacksonville, Fla. 10 killed. James Pough kills 8 people after his car is repossessed. Hed killed two others earlier. 1991, Killeen, Texas. 23 killed. George Hennard drives his truck into a cafeteria and then opens fire. 1999, Littleton, Colo. 13 killed. The shooting at Columbine High School was the deadliest school shooting to date. 1999, Atlanta 12 killed. Mark Barton kills nine people at brokerage firms in Atlanta after having killed three relatives. 2005, Red Lake, Minn. 9 killed. Jeffrey Weise kills members of his family and then students at a local high school. 2007, Blacksburg, Va. 32 killed. Until 2016, the 32 people killed by Seung-Hui Cho was the deadliest mass shooting in American history. 2009, Fort Hood, Texas. 13 killed. Nidal Hasan kills 13 people at Fort Hood. 2009, Binghamton, N.Y. 13 killed. Jiverly Wong murders 13 people at a small immigrant services centre in southern New York. 2009, Geneva County, Ala. 10 killed. Michael McClendon kills 10 people, including a baby, in rural Alabama. 2012, Newtown, Ct. 27 killed. Adam Lanzas spree at Sandy Hook Elementary including the murder of 20 children. 2012, Aurora, Colo. 12 killed. James Holmes kills a dozen people during a late-night movie screening. 2013, Washington, D.C. 12 killed. Aaron Alexis kills a dozen people with a shotgun. 2015, San Bernardino, Calif. 14 killed. Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik kill more than a dozen people during a holiday party. 2015, Roseburg, Ore. 9 killed. Chris Mercer kills nine in a shooting at a community college in Oregon. 2015, Charleston, S.C. 9 killed. Dylann Roof attends a prayer meeting at a church in Charleston before opening fire. 2016, Orlando 49 killed. Omar Mateen murders dozens at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando after pledging allegiance to Daesh. 2017, Las Vegas 50 killed. Stephen Paddock shoots at a concert crowd from a hotel room on the Las Vegas Strip SHARE: Three Canadian families are grieving today. In a Sunday night attack on the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Nevada, B.C. native Jordan McIldoon and Albertan Jessica Klymchuk lost their lives. Klymchuks death was confirmed by her home provinces premier Rachel Notley; McIldoons, by a relative. A third Canadian victim was identified as Jasper, Alta. resident Calla Medig. Friends and the Jasper Royal Canadian Legion mourned her death on social media Monday night. My heart is numb knowing such a tragedy struck our small community, said Tessa Mac in a Facebook post. Heaven is an even brighter place now that they have you Calla. Klymchuk was the mother of four children, and was in Nevada with her fiance when she was killed. Friend Candace Nicole described her as a gorgeous human being, and said Klymchuks kids were her entire life. She had the biggest heart and she always wore the sweetest smile. Her kids were her entire life and her family and friends meant the world, Nicole said. McIldoon would have turned 24 on Friday, and was only a month shy of finishing his training as a heavy-duty mechanic. In a Facebook posting, Heather Gooze of Las Vegas said she was outside the festival grounds on Sunday. I am with a young man who died in my arms! RIP Jordan McIldoon from British Columbia, Gooze wrote. Her account could not immediately be verified. Read more: B.C. man, Alberta woman among 59 killed in Las Vegas concert shooting We saw people dropping: What eyewitnesses saw as a gunman opened fire on Las Vegas concert Distinctions of terrorism matter: Analysis As news of the deaths hit airwaves and grief rippled north of the border, another Canadian couple still cooped up in Las Vegas Mandalay Bay hotel peered outside at a broken window two floors below. There, a drape blew out from the fractured glass, into the morning wind. Its the spot where 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire Sunday night, killing at least 58 people and injuring 500 before ending his own life. Less than 24 hours later, its being called one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. Theres debris everywhere, Lindsay Sherk who travelled from Ottawa for the festival said over the phone, looking out the window. She watched as investigators paced the now-empty venue, a ghostly scene strewn with abandoned lawn chairs and scattered personal belongings. Graphic video content from social media users show the dramatic events in Las Vegas on Sunday, where a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival. (The Associated Press) The night before, Canadian filmmaker Jode Kechego also watched the scene from above. But standing on the roof of the hotel, as police helicopters began circling above, he was struck by fear that authorities could mistake him for the shooter. I have a big tripod, Im on the ledge of the roof, Kechego, a member of the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, told the Star. Hed been making a time-lapse video of the crowd, when a security guard rushed up to him and asked if he knew what had just happened. As soon as he said that, we heard the gunshots, he said. From his viewpoint, Kechego could see the crowd splinter. He heard several rounds of quick firing, with brief pauses in between, before a series of slower single shots that sounded like they came from another direction. The security guard told him they needed to evacuate. As he was packing up his equipment, he saw a light shine on the roof: it was from the helicopters. Kechego immediately became nervous. Theres a shooting where nobody knows where its coming from, the helicopter has a spotlight on me, and Im a guy with a backpack and a big black case, he said. That did not look good. But he made it inside the hotel, aided by security. Along with around 80 people, Kechego spent the night in the bar of a restaurant on the top floor. No one got much sleep, and they didnt leave until 7:30 a.m. Radio communications from the Las Vegas Police Dept. as the mass shooting unfolded Sunday night captures the frantic moments faced by law enforcement officers as they determined where the shooting was coming from and stormed the gunman's room. (The Associated Press) In the eye of the nights chaos, another Canadian chose to reach for home. 24-year-old Quinn Mell-Cobb called his mom as he ran from the scene. He and his girlfriend Madison Milford were among dozens of Canadians in the crowd, who ran from the stage as the bullets sprayed down. The crowd sought refuge, banging on the hoods of swerving cars as they tried to cross Tropicana Blvd. As they ran, he dialed a familiar Vancouver number. His moms voice came through the other side. [I] told her what was going on and that I wasn't sure if we would be OK, Mell-Cobb wrote in a Facebook message to the Star. He expected his mom to panic; shed always been the kind to worry, no matter what the situation was. But from the other side of the border, she offered solace. She was an immense help and calmly talked us through everything, the whole way right up to arriving at our room, Mell-Cobb wrote. His heart was pulled at one point when Milford stumbled; he thought shed been shot. Its the most terrifying thing you could ever imagine, he wrote. But they made their way back to the MGM Grand Hotel, up to the 20th floor, where they stayed hunkered down for hours. His brother joined his mom on the phone, giving updates as more information emerged. Throughout the night marked by chaos, there was a lot of true heroism in the night, Mell-Cobb told the Star. I saw men carrying kids and women out, others knocking down barricades, just stuff like that, he wrote. Restores your faith in humanity despite having it come from such a heinous act. With files from Metro Vancouver and the Canadian Press SHARE: LAS VEGASThe rapid-fire popping sounded like firecrackers at first, and many in the crowd of 22,000 country music fans didnt understand what was happening when the band stopped playing and singer Jason Aldean bolted off the stage. Thats gunshots, a man could be heard saying emphatically on a cellphone video in the nearly half-minute of silence and confusion that followed. A woman pleaded with others: Get down! Get down! Stay down! Then the pop-pop-pop noise resumed. And pure terror set in. People start screaming and yelling and we start running, said Andrew Akiyoshi, who provided the cellphone video to The Associated Press. You could feel the panic. You could feel like the bullets were flying above us. Everybodys ducking down, running low to the ground. While some concertgoers hit the ground, others pushed for the crowded exits, shoving through narrow gates and climbing over fences as 40- to 50-round bursts of automatic weapons fire rained down on them from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino hotel. By Monday afternoon, 59 people were dead including two Canadians and 527 wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Las Vegas police stand guard along the streets outside the the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after the active shooter was reported. Jessica Klymchuk, of Valleyview, Alta., and Jordan McIldoon, 23, of Maple Ridge, B.C., were among the 59 people who died in the horrific attack that also left more than 500 others injured, including an unknown number of Canadians. Klymchuk was an educational assistant, librarian and bus driver for St. Stephens School, said the Holy Family Catholic Regional Division. McIldoon would have turned 24 on Friday and was a month shy of completing a course to qualify as a heavy-duty mechanic. His parents travelled to Nevada on Monday to retrieve his body, the relative said. You just didnt know what to do, Akiyoshi said. Your heart is racing and youre thinking, Im going to die. The gunman, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, a 64-year-old retired accountant from Mesquite, Nevada, killed himself before officers stormed Room 135 in the gold-colored glass skyscraper. The avid gambler who according to his brother made a small fortune investing in real estate had been staying there since Thursday and had busted out windows to create his snipers perch roughly 500 yards from the concert grounds. The motive for the attack remained a mystery, with Sheriff Joseph Lombardo saying: I cant get into the mind of a psychopath at this point. Paddock had 23 guns in his hotel room, Lombardo said. Two were modified to make them fully automatic, according to two U.S. officials briefed by law enforcement who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still unfolding. At Paddocks home, authorities found 19 more guns, explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Also, several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be turned into explosives such as those used in the 1995 Oklahoma bombing, were in his car, the sheriff said. The FBI said it found nothing so far to suggest the attack was connected to international terrorism, despite a claim of responsibility from Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, which said Paddock was a soldier who had recently converted to Islam. In an address to the country, President Donald Trump called the bloodbath an act of pure evil and added: In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has. He ordered flags flown at half-staff. With hospitals jammed with victims, authorities put out a call for blood donations and set up a hotline to report missing people and speed the identification of the dead and wounded. They also opened a family reunification centre for people to find loved ones. A concert-goer captured the moment a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas Strip late Sunday, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 200. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing when the gunfire began. (The Associated Press) Another Canadian recovering in hospital is Sheldon Mack of Victoria. Sustained 2 gunshot wounds, a ruptured colon, and a broken forearm, Mack tweeted from his hospital bed. My friend used his belt as a tourniquet and cut of the blood, but it all happened crazy fast it seems not real, he said. A fundraising campaign has been started to help another Canadian injured in Sundays shooting. According to a GoFundMe page, Ryan Sarrazin of Camrose, Alta., was seriously injured after being shot at the concert. This fund is to assist medical and travel expenses for Ryan and his family, said Tamara Johnson, who started the page. The fundraiser for Sarrazin, who is originally from Spiritwood, Sask., had raised nearly half of its $50,000 goal by Monday night. More than 12 hours after the massacre, bodies covered in white sheets were still being removed from the festival grounds. The shooting began at 10:07 p.m., and the gunman appeared to fire unhindered for more than 10 minutes, according to radio traffic. Police frantically tried to locate him and determine whether the gunfire was coming from Mandalay Bay or the neighbouring Luxor hotel. At 10:14 p.m., an officer said on his radio that he was pinned down against a wall on Las Vegas Boulevard with 40 to 50 people. We cant worry about the victims, an officer said at 10:15 p.m. We need to stop the shooter before we have more victims. Anybody have eyes on him ... stop the shooter. Near the stage, Dylan Schneider, a country singer who performed earlier in the day, huddled with others under the VIP bleachers, where he turned to his manager and asked, Dude, what do we do? He said he repeated the question again and again over the next five minutes. Bodies were lying on the artificial turf installed in front of the stage, and people were screaming and crying. The sound of people running on the bleachers added to the confusion, and Schneider thought the concert was being invaded with multiple shooters. No one knew what to do, Schneider said. Its literally running for your life and you dont know what decision is the right one. But like I said, I knew we had to get out of there. The brother of the gunman in the mass shooting Sunday night at a music concert in Las Vegas said there's no logic to explain the shooting. Eric Paddock said his brother played video poker to "stay at home in the casino.'' (The Associated Press) He eventually pushed his way out of the crowd and found refuge in the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino, where he kicked in a door to an engineering room and spent hours there with others who followed him. The shooting started as Aldean closed out the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival. He had just begun the song When She Says Baby, and the first burst of nearly 50 shots crackled as he sang, Its tough just getting up. Muzzle flashes could be seen in the dark as the gunman fired away. It was the craziest stuff Ive ever seen in my entire life, said Kodiak Yazzie, 36. You could hear that the noise was coming from west of us, from Mandalay Bay. You could see a flash, flash, flash, flash. The crowd, funneled tightly into a wide-open space, had little cover and no easy way to escape. Victims fell to the ground, while others fled in panic. Some hid behind concession stands or crawled under parked cars. Faces were etched with shock and confusion, and people wept and screamed. Tales of heroism and compassion emerged quickly: Couples held hands as they ran through the dirt lot. Some of the bleeding were carried out by fellow concertgoers. While dozens of ambulances took away the wounded, while some people loaded victims into their cars and drove them to the hospital. People fleeing the concert grounds hitched rides with strangers, piling into cars and trucks. Some of the injured were hit by shrapnel. Others were trampled or were injured jumping fences. The dead included at least three off-duty police officers from various departments who were attending the concert, authorities said. Two on-duty officers were wounded, one critically, police said. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said the attack was the work of a crazed lunatic full of hate. The sheriff said authorities believe Paddock acted alone. While Paddock appeared to have no criminal history, his father was a bank robber who was on the FBIs most-wanted list in the 1960s. As for why Paddock went on the murderous rampage, his brother in Florida, Eric Paddock, told reporters: I cant even make something up. Theres just nothing. Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and that the shooting was beyond horrific. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night, the country star said. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman who professed support for Muslim extremist groups opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. A suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, killed 22 people in May. Almost 90 people were killed in 2015 at a concert in Paris by gunmen inspired by Daesh. Read more: What we know so far about Stephen Paddock Beyond horrific: Las Vegas in photos We saw people dropping: What eyewitnesses saw Distinctions of terrorism matter: Analysis SHARE: YANGON, BURMABurma authorities took foreign diplomats and United Nations representatives on a tour Monday of conflict-torn northern Rakhine state, where a security crackdown has led to an exodus of more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims. Three groups of diplomats were taken to three different areas, said Ye Htut, district administrator of Maungdaw in Rakhine. He did not provide details on the diplomats nationalities. Burma has come under international criticism for barring aid groups, journalists and other outsiders from independently travelling to the region to see the situation there. A previous guided visit for diplomats scheduled for last week was abruptly cancelled. Read more: Conflicting emotions in Bangladesh over influx of Rohingya refugees UN Security Council speaks out against Burma as Rohingya refugee crisis worsens Bangladesh to set up separate shelters for 6,000 Rohingya children from Burma More than half a million Rohingya have fled from the region to Bangladesh in just over a month, the largest refugee crisis to hit Asia in decades. The current exodus is in addition to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who fled prior violence in Burma, where the Muslim ethnic group has faced decades of persecution and discrimination in the Buddhist-majority nation. Bangladeshs foreign minister said Monday that Burma has made proposals for taking back Rohingya refugees. A.H. Mahmud Ali made the remarks after meeting in Bangladeshs capital with a Burma delegation led by Kyaw Tint Swe, a minister in the State Counsellors Office. Our correspondent reports from a sprawling makeshift city that houses hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people, driven from their homes by Burma's military. (The New York Times) Ali told reporters that the counties had agreed to form a joint working group to start work on repatriation. Both countries want to settle the issue peacefully, he said. It was unclear whether Burma would place restrictions on which refugees would be allowed to return home. Most Rohingya have been denied citizenship in Burma, although many families have lived in the country for generations. The Burma delegation did not speak to the media. I see todays development very positively, but we know Myanmars (Burmas) previous behaviour when it comes to Rohingya and their repatriation, said Delwar Hossain, a professor of international relations at Dhaka University. Myanmar did not keep their word in the past, they stopped co-operating with Bangladesh for their repatriation. The latest violence began when a Rohingya insurgent group launched deadly attacks on security posts Aug. 25, prompting Burmas military to launch clearance operations. Those fleeing have described indiscriminate attacks by security forces and Buddhist mobs. The government has blamed the Rohingya, saying they set fire to their own homes, but the UN and others accuse it of ethnic cleansing. Local officials in Rakhine said Mondays tour includes meetings with relatives of victims allegedly killed by militants during violence against Hindu, Mro and Daignets minority communities in Maungdaw township. In the morning, the diplomats were taken to Anaut Pyin village of Rathedaung township, a community of Rohingya Muslims who have not fled, said local police officer Moe Zaw. Read more about: SHARE: BARCELONA, SPAINCatalonias leader on Monday called for international mediation and for the European Union to stop looking the other way in the regions bid to secede from Spain, a day after a violent crackdown by Spanish police trying to block referendum voting. Carles Puigdemont also said that he would file a complaint against Spanish police after officers fired rubber bullets, smashed into polling stations Sunday and beat back protesters with batons. Puigdemont didnt give further details on his legal plans to challenge police, but urged Spains national police reinforcements to leave the northeastern region. But Spanish authorities commended police, saying they professionally and that their response was proportionate. And Spains interior minister said that the 5,000 extra officers deployed to Catalonia would stay as long as necessary. Catalan officials say an overwhelming majority of voters supported independence from Spain, but the central government in Madrid has repeatedly condemned the referendum as illegal, unconstitutional and invalid. The EU and most governments in the 28-nation bloc havent backed Catalonias independence movement, fearful that it could unleash a wave of secessionist movements on the continent. But Puigdemont called for the EU to consider Catalonias desire to break away from Spain as a regional problem, and urged Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoys government to accept mediation. The European Union has to stop looking the other way, Puigdemont said. This is not a domestic issue. The need for mediation is evident. Earlier Monday, an EU statement implored both sides to pull back from confrontation in favour of dialogue. More than 890 people were injured, most of them not seriously, in confrontations with police trying to shut down the voting. More than 30 police officers were also injured. The Catalan president said the regional parliament plans to declare independence in the next days. He spoke after a closed-door Cabinet meeting Monday. The referendum debacle brought Spain and Catalonia closer to a potentially disastrous showdown as each side said Sundays events proved them right and neither looked prepared to cede ground. Rajoy, meanwhile, will meet with Popular Party leaders before seeking a parliamentary session to discuss how to confront the countrys most serious crisis in decades. He also called an afternoon meeting with the leaders of the opposition Socialist and Ciudadanos (Citizens) parties to discuss Spains options. The impasse developed after Catalan authorities decided to go ahead with Sundays referendum even after Spains constitutional Court suspended it. The Spanish central government denies the referendum even took place, while Catalan separatists say it was valid and justifies making a final break with Spain. Catalonia said preliminary poll results showed 90 per cent favoured independence after less than half the electorate voted in a day that saw 893 people injured in clashes with riot police. Catalonias health services said four people remained in the regions hospitals, two of them in serious condition. In addition, 33 police officers were injured. Clashes broke out at a number of voting locations after riot police turned up to prevent people from voting and to confiscate ballot boxes. Some Catalans said both sides were responsible for the mayhem. I am very annoyed for the both sides involved in what happened yesterday, said Eric Tigra, 56. I think both sides involved committed grave mistakes. But we must also highlight that if the people of Catalonia go out in the streets and you dont listen to them then something is not working right. Catalan leaders accused Spanish police of brutality and repression while the Spanish government praised security forces for acting firmly. Videos and photographs of the police actions featured on the front page of news media outlets around the world. In an editorial, leading Spanish daily El Pais blamed the Catalan government for Sundays shameful events but also criticized the Spanish government for its inability to tackle the crisis that began about seven years ago. The newspaper said the day was a defeat for our country. So far, the European Union, the U.S. and most international bodies have backed Spain in its stance against Catalan independence. The EU on Monday urged all sides in Spain to move from confrontation to dialogue. These are times for unity and stability, EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas said. Catalonia, with the vibrant city of Barcelona as its capital, represents a fifth of Spains economy. Polls consistently show that while most of its 7.5 million inhabitants favoured a referendum, they are roughly evenly split on independence from Spain. Those in favour of secession argue that the region contributes more to the national government than it receives in return. Catalonians already enjoy a wide measure of autonomy but the central government still controls taxation and other financial levers, as well as infrastructure projects. Read more about: SHARE: DAVAO CITYPresident Rodrigo Duterte challenged Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to resign together with him before the Congress, saying both officials have been tainted with corrupt practices. At the installation of new Integrated Bar of the Philippines officers in Davao City, Duterte said there was already a case filed against Sereno. Morales, on the other hand, should have acted on cases filed long ago, instead of focusing on the case against him, which was not true. You are in on a selective justice, p, he said, I challenge the two, we will go to Congress, in a simple ceremony, we sign the letter of resignation. Sige nga [Come on]. Then let us open all the books, even yours, he added. ADVERTISEMENT THE CHALLENGE. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, in a speech at the oathtaking ceremony of the newly installed officers and members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Davao City Chapter at the SMX Convention Center in Lanang, Davao City on September 30, 2017, reiterates that he is willing to step down if proven that he has gained anything out of corruption. AFP Duterte issued the challenge after Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang announced that his office was investigating transactions in the joint bank accounts of Duterte and his children that allegedly totaled in the billions. Duterte has denied the allegations and said the documents upon which they were based were fabricated. He also said it puzzled him that the Ombudsman obtained documents showing his alleged bank transactions when the Anti-Money Laundering Council already issued a statement that they did not release any records of Dutertes bank accounts. Sereno is facing an impeachment complaint at the House of Representatives. The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, a pro-Duterte group, has said it will file an impeachment complaint against Morales. In August, detained Senator Leila de Lima said Dutertes attacks on Sereno and Morales showed he wanted them removed from office. In the wake of the new investigation on his bank accounts, Duterte threatened to create a commission to investigate the Office of the Ombudsman for partiality and corruption. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. CAIRODaesh on Monday claimed responsibility for the mass shooting in Las Vegas, saying the perpetrator was a soldier who had converted to Islam months ago, without providing any evidence to support the claim. The FBI later said the shooter, identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nev., had no connection to any international terrorist group. The groups Aamaq news agency released two brief statements hours after the shooting at a country music concert that killed at least 59 people and wounded at least 527. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Daesh, also known as ISIS and ISIL, did not name the suspected shooter, but said he had executed the operation in response to calls to target countries of the coalition batting the extremist group in Iraq and Syria. Police said paddock killed himself after the shooting. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said authorities believe it was a lone wolf attack, and the U.S. Homeland Security Department said there was no specific credible threat involving other public venues in the U.S. Graphic video content from social media users show the dramatic events in Las Vegas on Sunday, where a gunman opened fire on an outdoor music festival. (The Associated Press) Daesh often claims attacks by individuals inspired by its message but with no known links to the group. Before Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history took place in June 2016, when a gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people. The gunman, Omar Mateen, had pledged allegiance to Daesh and it claimed the attack. Daesh claimed responsibility for an attack on a casino in the Philippines that killed dozens of people earlier this year, but police later identified the attacker as a heavily indebted Filipino gambling addict, saying it was a botched robbery that was not terrorism-related. The extremist organization has suffered a string of major setbacks in Iraq and Syria, where it has lost much of the territory it once claimed as part of a self-styled Islamic caliphate. However, the group remains active in recruiting followers on social media, and has repeatedly called for attacks in Western nations. Read more about: SHARE: PARISA man who fatally stabbed two women outside Marseilles main train station had been detained for shoplifting and released the day before the attack, and used seven fake identities in previous encounters with police, officials said Monday. French authorities are studying the suspects cellphone and working to determine his true identity and whether he had direct links to Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, which claimed responsibility for Sundays stabbing. The assailant was killed by soldiers immediately after the attack, the latest of several targeting France. The suspect was identified by his fingerprints, which matched those taken during seven previous incidents registered by police since 2005, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters. Read more: Daesh claims credit for Marseille stabbing that killed 2 women The attacker didnt have any past convictions in France, Molins said. The mans most recent arrest occurred in the Lyon area Friday just two days before the train station stabbing. The man was held overnight for shoplifting, and then released Saturday and the charges dropped, Molins said. Molins said local authorities had no reason to hold him further based on the ID he gave them, a Tunisian passport. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, apparently not satisfied with the explanation, on Monday ordered a probe of the circumstances that led police to free the man, who attacked and killed the young women a day later. The report is due by weeks end, a ministry statement said. While being held in Lyon, the man told police that he did odd jobs, used hard drugs and was divorced, according to Molins, the prosecutor. Its not clear if the attacker had any connection to the victims two cousins who had met for a birthday celebration. Some witnesses reported hearing the assailant shout Allahu akbar! Arabic for God is great and Molins said thats one of the reasons prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation. But no firm evidence has surfaced linking the man to Islamic extremism. Molins said video surveillance of the site showed the man arrived at the station in the early afternoon and sat for a few minutes on a bench outside. He then suddenly jumped up and stabbed one woman several times, then ran away, then came back and attacked the second woman. A woman passer-by tried to intervene, Molins said. The man then tried to attack soldiers patrolling the site, but they shot him dead with two bullets. The suspect was found with two knives and a telephone, but no identity papers, according to Molins. The mans multiple pseudonyms made it difficult to even to find a house to search for more clues, said Yves Lefebvre of the Unite SGP Police union. While it could shock the public, unfortunately it doesnt shock us, the police that the suspect was released the day before carrying out a deadly attack, he said. He said shoplifting usually results in a quick police report and a court summons for a later date, and the suspect is released. Nothing allowed us to suspect there was a threat of radicalization during the (Lyon) arrest, Lefebvre told The Associated Press. He said that while the man didnt provide a residency permit, jails and migrant retention centres are often overflowing, so authorities do not routinely lock up illegal immigrants suspected of minor crimes. However, the interior minister demanded a report to shed full light on the man, procedures followed and the decision not to expel him, the ministry statement said. The Daesh-linked Aamaq news agency said that the assailant was acting in response to the extremist groups calls to target countries in the U.S.-led coalition fighting militants in Syria and Iraq. France has been part of the anti-Daesh coalition since 2014. The Aamaq statement didnt provide evidence of a direct link to the attacker, and its unclear if the claim is merely opportunistic. The small town of Eguilles in southern France was holding a memorial gathering for the victims Monday evening. The mayor said the victims were a medical student from Eguilles and her cousin. Marseilles Saint Charles station reopened Monday under heavy security. Last month, four American college students were attacked with acid at the same station by a woman authorities said was suffering from mental illness. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONThe alleged mastermind of the 2012 attacks on a U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, despises America and when his hatred boiled over, he organized the strike that killed four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens, a government prosecutor told the jury on Monday. Opening statements began in the case against Ahmed Abu Khattala, whom prosecutors describe as the ringleader of the attacks at a diplomatic compound an attack that became a political flashpoint given its timing weeks before president Barack Obamas re-election. Its one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years in a U.S. civilian court at a time when the Trump administration has said terror suspects are better sent to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Read more: Judge dismisses lawsuit against Hillary Clinton by Benghazi families An 18-count indictment against Abu Khattala arises from a burst of violence that began the night of Sept. 11, 2012, at a State Department compound, a rampage prosecutors say was aimed at killing American personnel and plundering maps, documents and other property from the post. Abu Khattala has pleaded not guilty to his charges, including murder of an internationally protected person, providing material support to terrorists and destroying U.S. property while causing death. Stevens was killed in the first attack at the U.S. mission, along with Sean Patrick Smith, a State Department information management officer. Nearly eight hours later at a CIA complex nearby, two more Americans, contract security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, died in a mortar attack. Stevens and Smith choked to death by thick black smoke, John Crabb, assistant U.S. attorney, said in his opening statement. Woods and Doherty were blown apart by mortar, he said. Crabb said Abu Khattala hates America with a vengeance and that his hatred simmered until it boiled over. He killed Ambassador Stevens a man of peace. Khattala, who has a long, grey beard, entered the courtroom and shook hands with members of his legal team. The defendant, who wore a white shirt, monitored his trial through an interpreter. At times, he swiveled in his chair at the defence table. Before the opening statements, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper gave the jury 30 minutes of instructions. I am here to run a fair and efficient trial and to make sure the trains run on time, Cooper told them. You and only you are the ultimate deciders of fact in this case. The trial began in a federal courtroom in Washington, three years after he was captured by U.S. special forces in Libya and brought to the U.S. on a 13-day trip aboard a Navy ship. The case became instant political fodder, with Republicans accusing the Obama administration of intentionally misleading the public and stonewalling congressional investigators, though officials denied any wrongdoing. Some in Congress were particularly critical of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clintons handling of the matter. And the trial itself could have political ramifications, as it is likely to be held up as an example of the effectiveness of trying terror suspects in federal court, at a time when the Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have said they should be sent instead to Guantanamo. It could also renew focus on U.S. interrogation strategies that Abu Khattalas lawyers have argued were illegal. During his trans-Atlantic trip, he faced days of questioning aboard the USS New York from separate teams of American interrogators, part of a two-step process designed to obtain both national security intelligence and evidence usable in a criminal prosecution. He was questioned for days about national security matters before being advised of his rights. A new team of FBI investigators then pressed him some more, this time to produce evidence prosecutors could present at trial. Abu Khattala waived his rights, but his attorneys argued that the trip was so coercive, the waiver shouldnt count. The judge rejected that, and is allowing the statements to be used as evidence. Read more about: SHARE: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREAU.S. President Donald Trumps latest tweets on North Korea, in which he said his top diplomat is wasting his time trying to start talks, were seen by some in Asia as sowing confusion and by others as hard reality. Trumps public rebuke of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillersons efforts he said the nations top diplomat was wasting his time was a sharp reminder of how difficult it will be for the two sides to reach an agreement even if they begin serious talks. A South Korean newspaper condemned Trumps remarks for belittling efforts toward a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue, while a Chinese international affairs expert saw the tweets as a message to North Korea and China. In Hong Kong, a U.S. Navy commander reiterated Trumps resolve to use every lever available to us to convince North Korea to alter its dangerous and aggressive behaviour. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump National holidays in both South Korea and China muted the reaction somewhat, with no regular media briefings by either government. But in a Monday afternoon editorial, South Koreas progressive Kyunghyung Shinmun newspaper said that Trumps remarks were problematic primarily because they show inconsistency in policy. To negotiate with North Korea, consistency is the most critical element, it said. Tillerson made headlines on Saturday when he said in Beijing that the Trump administration is probing North Koreas willingness to talk, though a spokesperson later said that North Korea has shown no interest in talks on denuclearization. On Sunday, Trump tweeted that he had told Tillerson he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The country has conducted a series of missile and nuclear tests that have demonstrated advances in its capabilities. South Koreas largest daily newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, warned in an editorial that any U.S.-North Korea talks should not recognize the North as a nuclear state, or the South would be forced to seek nuclear arms too. The South Korean presidents office declined to comment. A small progressive online newspaper, Voice of People, said in an editorial that Trumps comments are signs of confusion in U.S. policy toward North Korea, though it said the tweet is unlikely to cause a major change in Tillersons position. Such unstable U.S. policy toward North Korea is entirely a burden on us, the editorial read in part. Read more: Rex Tillerson says U.S. has direct channels to talk to North Korea North Koreas rhetoric is the same. Problem now is Trumps reaction that makes this different, experts say Rocket Man shot a rare and risky misfire for Trump: Menon Its not news that Trump and Tillerson have differing opinions on foreign policy, said Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor at Renmin Universitys School of International Studies. In my view, Trump hopes both North Korea and China hear what he said on Twitter, he said. His Twitter comments put greater pressure on North Korea, which is at a critical road crossing now, so it must make a choice. In the meantime, the U.S. hopes China will continue to put pressure on North Korea. Zhang Lifan, an independent commentator in China, said he believes Trumps latest tweets show that the U.S. president is losing patience with North Korea. He said that China and the U.S. need to find a way to resolve the nuclear issue, because past experience shows that negotiations with the North are useless. Chinas foreign ministry did not respond to a faxed request for comment on Monday. Navy Rear Admiral Marc Dalton, speaking aboard the USS Ronald Reagan carrier during a port call in Hong Kong, said the Reagan strike group has an ironclad commitment to defending U.S. allies including Japan and South Korea. Asked about Trump calling Tillersons outreach a waste of time, he said to take that up with the State Department. Dalton said the Reagan would spend four or five days in Hong Kong. He would not confirm South Korean media reports that the carrier would head to Korean Peninsula waters, giving the standard response that he would not discuss details of future operations. South Koreas Yonhap news agency reported Sunday that the Reagan is expected to train with the South Korean navy in mid-October. It cited a South Korean defence ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity. With files from the New York Times Read more about: SHARE: MINNEAPOLISThe U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it wont review Minnesotas civil commitment program for sex offenders, which had been challenged as unconstitutional for rarely releasing residents. The program has faced legal challenges for years. An attorney for the systems more than 700 residents argued the program, which allows people who are deemed sexually dangerous to be committed to a treatment facility indefinitely, amounts to a life sentence and only a handful of offenders have ever been released. In the absence of compulsion by the federal court, it seems unlikely that they are going to make any changes (to the program) because the political leadership in this state wants these folks locked up, attorney Dan Gustafson said. Gustafson said hes disappointed in the decision, but also disappointed for the administration of justice, because that suffered a setback today. Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Emily Piper said reforms have been made throughout Democratic Gov. Mark Daytons term and that she expects more changes to come. The program currently has 720 residents. Even though the program is more than 20 years old, only eight people have been granted provisional discharge and are living in the community under supervision; only one person has been fully discharged. Attorneys argued that the residents rights are violated because they have little chance for release; the fatal flaw in the system is that Minnesota doesnt require a regular review of cases to see if individuals should continue to be committed. Attorneys for the state argued that offenders can petition for release using a simple-to-obtain form. They said the program is necessary to protect citizens from dangerous sexual predators who would otherwise roam free. In 2015, the program was declared unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank, who ordered changes to the system to create a more achievable path to release. But a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision in January and found the program is constitutional. The Supreme Courts decision means the 8th Circuits ruling stands. Gustafson said the federal courts have a history of intervening when states oppress a group of people, and the high courts decision should concern people who believe the federal courts should protect the rights of unpopular citizens. The Minnesota case has been closely watched by lawyers, government officials and activists in the 20 states with similar programs. While civilly committed offenders in California, Wisconsin, New Jersey and other states are allowed to re-enter society after completing treatment, Minnesotas only full discharge didnt come until August 2016. Minnesota also has the highest per capita lockup rate. Dayton has pushed to make changes to the program while insisting its constitutional, and the state started releasing more offenders in the months after the lawsuit was first filed. Dayton has sought more than $20 million to build less-restrictive housing facilities and biennial evaluations to target more offenders for possible release. But state lawmakers have shown little interest in addressing the controversial and politically risky topic while the legal battle progressed. Piper, whose department runs the program, said she expects to continue to seek funding for less restrictive housing and other changes. When asked whether it will be harder to get lawmakers to pay for more housing options without enforcement from the court, Piper said: I expect them to do their job. SHARE: Heres what we know: Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, was found dead on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, police said. Authorities believe he killed himself. At least 17 guns were found in Paddocks hotel room, including several rifles. Paddock was a resident of Mesquite, Nev., about 130 kilometres northeast of Las Vegas. Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the Mesquite police, said the department has had no previous contact with Paddock. The Las Vegas police also had nothing more than a routine traffic violation on Paddock, according to Kevin McMahill, the departments under-sheriff. The authorities searched Paddocks home on Monday morning, finding guns and ammunition, Averett said. A companion of Paddocks was questioned by the Las Vegas police but was not believed to have been involved in the shooting. The shooting began around 10:08 p.m. local time, the police said. The authorities estimated that 406 people were transported to hospitals. There were more than 22,000 people at the concert. Paddocks brother, Eric Paddock, told the Orlando Sentinel hes completely dumbfounded by the shooting, adding that he has made a statement to police. Family members said that Paddock liked country music and was a frequent gambler in Las Vegas. He once texted me a picture that he won $40,000 on a slot machine, Eric Paddock said, Paddocks father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was a notorious bank robber who was listed on the FBIs Most Wanted list from 1969, the year he escaped prison, to 1977, the year before he was recaptured. What we dont know: The suspects motive is unclear. It is not yet clear whether the suspect planned the shooting alone or was working with others. The FBI said Paddock had no connection to any domestic or international terrorist groups. Daesh claimed responsibility for the mass shooting in Las Vegas, saying the perpetrator was a soldier who had converted to Islam months ago, without providing any evidence to support the claim. Before he opened fire late Sunday killing at least 59 people at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip gunman Stephen Paddock was living out his retirement as a high-stakes gambler in a quiet town outside Las Vegas. Paddock, 64, would disappear for days at a time, frequenting casinos with his longtime girlfriend, neighbours said. Relatives also said Paddock had frequently visited Las Vegas to gamble and take in concerts. Eric Paddock said his brother often gambled in tens of thousands of dollars. My brother is not like you and me. He plays high-stakes video poker, he said. He sends me a text that says he won $250,000 at the casino. Eric Paddock said he showed the FBI three years of text messages from his brother and said he had no information whether Stephen Paddock had gambling debts or was financially troubled. I have absolutely no information he lost a bunch of money. The casino would know that, he said. Eric Paddock said his brother previously worked as an accountant but also had real estate investments, including houses and apartments around Orlando. He said Stephen Paddock had no kids and plenty of money to play with. Eric Paddock said he did not know of any mental illness, alcohol or drug problems in his brothers life. Their father was once on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted list. He was a fugitive bank robber and rarely around for either son. I was born on the run, said Eric Paddock. He knew his brother owned a couple of handguns but was shocked at the rapid-fire weapon apparently used by Stephen Paddock in Las Vegas. He said his brother didnt hunt, barely shot his guns and once took Eric Paddocks children on a skeet-shooting trip paid for by the casinos. Eric Paddock spoke in his driveway as he was getting in his car to go with FBI agents to interview his mother, who is in her 90s and who appears to have been the last family member to communicate with Stephen Paddock, about two weeks ago. Eric Paddock said his brother last texted him five days after Hurricane Irma hit Orlando to check if anyone in the family had been affected. He texted and said, Hows Mom?, Eric Paddock said. He said their mother was bewildered, like he was, why Stephen Paddock had shot and killed so many on Sunday. We know nothing. If you told me an asteroid fell it would mean the same to me. Theres absolutely no sense, no reason he did this, he said, earlier. Hes just a guy who played video poker and took cruises and ate burritos at Taco Bell. Theres no political affiliation that we know of. Theres no religious affiliation that we know of. For several years, the gunman lived with his girlfriend, Marilou Danley, in a retirement community in Reno, Nev., neighbours said. They said they interacted with Danley but not with Paddock, whom they described as extremely standoffish. Danley told residents there that Paddock was a professional gambler, explaining their long absences from the neighbourhood. Called Del Webb, the neighbourhood is a relatively new active-adult community of single-family homes with desert views and a clubhouse with a gym and pool. Harold Allred, who lives up the street from the couple, said his wife often ran into Danley in exercise classes or social gatherings. Allred said he and his wife found Danley unremarkable, though perhaps a little odd, and didnt know Paddock. He was reclusive, said Allred, 66. We never met him. Paddock lived in a number of retirement communities. In addition to the Reno home, Paddock and Danley had another home in Mesquite, Nev., said neighbours. In recent years, he had moved to Nevada from Melbourne, Fla. And he had previously lived in Texas and California, where he had married once and later divorced. In Reno, Diane McKay lived next door to Paddock and Danley until July, when McKay moved to a different community, but she said she only ran into Danley occasionally when both women happened to be pulling weeds from their front yards. Danley wasnt forthcoming about her life, and Paddock was aggressively unfriendly, McKay recalled. She only saw him in the mornings, when he went to the clubhouse to work out. Occasionally, he would open the garage door, revealing a large safe the size of a refrigerator. Other than that, the couple kept their blinds closed. He was weird. Kept to himself, said McKay, 79, who described Paddock as small but in pretty good shape. It was like living next to nothing . . . . You can at least be grumpy, something. He was just nothing, quiet. He never went out in the back and enjoyed the back yard, nature. They had a little back yard, 17 feet to the fence and hill. But the blinds were always closed. McKay said the couple was gone for six months last year, which she thought was for a gambling trip. Paddocks family said there was nothing in his past that would suggest violence. Family members said that Paddock spent much of his retirement in recent years frequenting hotels in Las Vegas. They said he listened to country music and went to concerts at Vegas hotels, similar to the one Sunday night where he opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers. Public records show Paddock was a licensed pilot who owned two planes. And he had a hunting license from Alaska. Property records show he had homes in both Mesquite, Texas, and Mesquite in Nevada. He bought his current home in Mesquite, Nev., in 2013, and appears to have been living there ever since. Las Vegas police said authorities searched Paddocks home in Mesquite, Nev., on Monday morning. Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the Mesquite Police Department, said Paddock was unknown to local authorities in the city about 125 kilometres northeast of Las Vegas. Mesquite police have no recorded interactions with Paddock. Las Vegas police said the same. Neighbours at his home in Mesquite, Nev., said Paddock did not seem agitated or disturbed in recent days. I saw Paddock on the golf course about two months ago, said Luis Rodriguez, a groundskeeper at Conestoga Golf Course, which runs right through the retirement community where Paddock lived. There was nothing strange about him. He seemed friendly and happy at the time. Rodriguez and other groundskeepers were shocked when they woke up to the news and realized they had seen Paddock. They say he played alone and that he would stop and say hello to them on the course. At a 55-and-over community in Florida, where Paddock had lived for many years, neighbours recalled strange details about his lifestyle. Don Judy, his next-door neighbour until two years ago, recalled that shortly after Paddock turned 60, Judy saw the inside of his home and was shocked by its appearance. He said it looked like a college freshman lived there. There was no art on the walls, not even a car in the driveway, Judy said, just a dining chair, a bed and two recliners. It looked like hed be ready to move at a moments notice, Judy said. Paddock, however, always seemed on the move, carrying a suitcase and driving a rental car on monthly trips from Vegas to the community near Cocoa Beach. One of the first times we met him, he told me he lived there, in Vegas, said Judy. He explained that he was a gambler, and a prospector. He said he was buying this house to check it out for his mother ... and that if she liked it, he planned to buy another next door with a floor plan like ours. Paddocks brother, mother and other family members lived about an hour away in Orlando and would frequently visit, Judy said. During the two years that Judy lived next door, Paddock never seemed to want for money. A new ShopVac, tools and a never-used ladder appeared in the garage. Paddock and Danley would wave as they left for dinner along the beach. A little while after living there, Paddock left Judy a key and asked him to keep an eye on the rarely used house and to borrow any tools he might want. I thought, wow, this guys a good neighbour, Judy said, who noted no drugs or parties, nothing unusual except for Paddocks gambling. They did seem to always stay up till midnight and sleep in till noon. They always seemed to stay on Vegas time. Computers also began appearing on the breakfast bar, and Paddock once boasted to Don and his wife that hed won $20,000 playing card games over the internet. Then, as quickly as he had appeared, Paddock put up a for-sale sign, Judy said. He never said much about it, just said they were moving back to Vegas, Judy said. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said, We have no investigative information or background associated with this individual that is derogatory ... The only thing we can tell is he received a citation several years ago, that citation was handled as a matter of normal practice in the court system. Authorities said no connection has been found between the gunman and any international terrorist group. Las Vegas police said authorities searched Paddocks home in Mesquite, Nev., on Monday morning. Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the Mesquite Police Department, said Paddock was unknown to local authorities in the city about 130 kilometres northeast of Las Vegas. Mesquite police have no recorded interactions with Paddock. Las Vegas police said the same. Neighbours at his home in Mesquite, Nev., said Paddock did not seem agitated or disturbed in recent days. I saw Paddock on the golf course about two months ago, said Luis Rodriguez, a groundskeeper at Conestoga Golf Course, which runs right through the retirement community where Paddock lived. There was nothing strange about him. He seemed friendly and happy at the time. Rodriguez and other groundskeepers were shocked when they woke up to the news and realized they had seen Paddock. They say he played alone and that he would stop and say hello to them on the course. Authorities said no connection has been found between the gunman and any international terrorist group. After the shooting, Paddock was found dead by officers on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Lombardo said during a news briefing. Police believe Paddock was a lone wolf attacker. Lombardo did not give further details, however, on Paddocks background or possible motivation. We have no idea what his belief system was, Lombardo said. Right now, we believe he was the sole aggressor. Paddock, who arrived at the hotel on Thursday, was found with more than 10 rifles, Lombardo said. Relatives said they knew Paddock owned guns but believed they were legal. On Monday morning, police released a picture of Danley, saying they were searching for her as a person of interest. They later said they she was out of the country, and has been located and detained. Authorities called her a companion of Paddock. Authorities described Danley as Asian, 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 111 pounds. In a statement, Lockheed Martin, the defence giant, said that Paddock had worked for it for three years in the 1980s. Stephen Paddock worked for a predecessor company of Lockheed Martin from 1985 until 1988, the company said in a statement. Were co-operating with authorities to answer questions they may have about Mr. Paddock and his time with the company. The shooting on Sunday was the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, killing at least 50 people and injuring hundreds of others. With files from Star wire services SHARE: Two years ago, running for the NDP in the Toronto GTA, it was my job to shill for Thomas Mulcair and the direction in which he was pushing the party, no matter what I felt. Not an issue; I agreed with Mulcair almost categorically and believed then, as I do now, him to be a smart, decent and honourable man. Mulcair was always going to be hard to elect; he was not Rachel Notley, he was not Megan Leslie or, of course, the late Jack Layton, elevated through death to a mythic stratum. Mulcair was not, fundamentally, appealing. But his defending, in the fateful Quebec debate, Zunera Ishaqs right to wear the niqab at her citizenship ceremony, was the single most tragically heroic moment of the entire election. Mulcair knew it would cost him and the party even then, but did so anyway. You may not agree with him, but what he did in such circumstances is the very definition of principle and integrity. Sure, his campaign team made some bad decisions, but hindsight shows that even the right decisions might not have a made a whole lot of difference. Canadians wanted something well, I cant write something new, as what we have is a reiteration of a former mania but at the very least to be refreshed. They wanted to be in a happier place. They wanted to like their government, and for their government to like them. They wanted something different than either Stephen Harper or Mulcair appeared to offer. Many times, looking back to October 2015, the election strikes me as something of a Greek play in which Harper and Mulcair are two adversaries wrestling themselves to the forest floor, and Trudeau is the plucky young thing who skips in and makes off with the lyre. Thats how change happens, sometimes. The old guard, to paraphrase Trudeau in his immodest Post-election brag to BBC Radio 4, is left in the dust. That said, Mulcair strikes me as having been an exceptional leader and I believe we shall miss him. Had Justin Trudeau been the leader of the opposition during the last government, the likelihood is he would have been bullied in Parliament just as his Liberal Party predecessors Michael Ignatieff and Stephane Dion were, though I suppose it is also possible that an older mans humiliating Trudeau might have won the younger man favour and done in the Conservatives at the polls anyway. But it is unquestionably the truth that Mulcair contained Stephen Harper tirelessly, disinterested as our media was in letting the Canadian public know that. And it is in the pattern of history that great leaders, by virtue of doing their work so well, often bring a community a people, a nation to a point in time in which the very qualities that landed them in their vaunted position are rendered redundant by their success. Mulcairs combative nature made Canadian resistance to Harper and his loathsome team Chris Alexander, Jason Kenney, Kellie Leitch, Vic Toews, more possible in the dark years. And for Canadians to elect someone else when the moment came to put an end to them. Mulcair was Ahab to Harpers whale and went down with him, and unfortunately all a majority of NDP members and an exhausted press could see was defeat. At the NDPs Edmonton convention in April 2016, Mulcair was treated shabbily, though I imagine a part of him must have been relieved not to have to lead a party so hysterically at loose ends that so many at the grassroots were (and still are) desperate for a Canadian Bernie Sanders or Jeremy Corbyn solution. Both losers. Both cranky old white men. Some example. The truth of the last election is that Trudeau was our Corbyn or Sanders; he was the seemingly unelectable anti-establishment figure rallying the young and those whod lost faith in government. We dont need a Corbyn or a Sanders here. What we do need is the NDP and a made-in-Canada way forward for the party that, more than any other, represents those needing representation the most. In the wake of the 2015 NDP loss, media pundits were near unanimous in asking, ludicrously, what is the point of the NDP. In recent weeks, Conrad Black, Rosie DiManno, John Ibbitson and Robin Sears, would you believe, have all found ways to dismiss NDP relevance: the party is not fit to govern, wont ever win anyway; their leadership campaign is tedious and protracted. But heres the rub: the NDP is winning anyway. All an election victory would do is make the win official. We rely on medicare, discuss (feebly) a national child care and pharmacare plan and a living wage. We are pushing the nation-to-nation relationship with First Peoples. We are (ostensibly) demanding better standards for labour, and protecting unions, in the NAFTA discussions. These are all NDP ideas. And if the Liberals did win the last election, as many argue, by moving to the left, it was ground the NDP had staked out already and the Liberals would never have paid attention to if the third party hadnt cultivated it in the first place. The NDP is so much more than according to that pat phrase (so objectionable because it is diminishing) the conscience of Parliament. It is Canadas party of invention, already influencing our politics so much. Go NDP go, I say, and kudos to Charlie Angus, Niki Ashton, Guy Caron, Jagmeet Singh and Tom for what you have already given. Noah Richler is a Toronto writer. His latest book is The Candidate: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail. Read more about: SHARE: By choosing Jagmeet Singh as their new leader, the federal New Democrats have taken a risk. They have selected a candidate with no experience in federal politics, without a seat in the House of Commons, with headgear that could prove a political liability in crucial Quebec and elsewhere. Yet if the party is going to contribute to the political conversation, or have any chance at forming government in the years to come, it could not have made a better choice. Singhs leadership rivals, Charlie Angus, Niki Ashton and Guy Caron, all made important contributions to the race, and each should play a role in the partys future, but none is so well-positioned to hold government to account from the left or to put to Canadians the benefits of a social-democratic alternative. Singh seems almost to have been engineered to neutralize Justin Trudeaus political advantages. The prime minister ran in part on his youthful charisma, but Singh, at 38, is seven years younger (as is Andrew Scheer), and just as compelling a presence. On sartorial style, a Trudeau signature, the impeccably bearded, three-piece-suit wearing Singh, a fellow GQ laureate, provides stiff competition. Trudeau is a boxer; Singh a jujitsu master. Trudeau ran as the candidate of inclusion. With his victory, Singh, the first person of colour to lead a federal political party, becomes an embodiment of that value. A threat on the left is one to which Trudeau must pay particular attention. The richest vein of swing voters in Canadian politics lies on the progressive side of the continuum. Thats where the Liberals made big gains in the last election, and given the governments rhetoric and policy priorities, that seems to be Trudeaus focus entering the second half of his mandate. This creates an opportunity for Singh, not just electorally, but also to shape the political conversation in opposition. Some of Singhs New Democratic critics have accused him of being more like a deep-red Liberal than a true Dipper, but there are important differences between Singh and Trudeau on policy. Planks in Singhs leadership platform, if pursued effectively, could force Trudeau to confront issues he ought to confront, but might prefer to ignore. Singh, for instance, supports decriminalizing possession of small amounts of all drugs, a radical-sounding proposal that is widely viewed among experts as the right approach. Trudeau has said his government has its hands full with pot, but as the epidemic of opioid overdoses grows, so, too, does the need for an urgent response. Decriminalization may well be an essential part of that. Singhs platform also contains a robust plan for systemic criminal-justice reform, an important and overdue project the Trudeau government has been reluctant to tackle. And the NDP policy book, which Singh has indicated he backs in its entirety, contains a number of other ideas that the Star has long argued would be good for the country but which the Trudeau government has largely avoided, including universal daycare and a national pharmacare program. But to force these issues onto the agenda, and to distinguish himself from Trudeau, Singh will have to show a seriousness about public policy that seemed to elude him during the leadership race. He will have to explain how government, through policies and programs, can make love and courage, his viral political slogan, palpable. In a meeting with the Stars editorial board last month, Singh seemed not to understand the difference between policies aimed at addressing inequality and those aimed at addressing poverty. He couldnt provide a ballpark figure of how much money his proposed tax reforms would raise. He seemed unable to offer a cogent policy critique of his rivals platforms. Hell have to do better as leader. Nearly two years into the Trudeau governments mandate, the prime ministers greatest weakness is arguably that his so-called sunny ways have not always been so sunny. With his abandoned promise on electoral reform, his unambitious second budget, his half-measures on transparency and tax reform and his mixed record on Indigenous issues, Trudeau has left himself vulnerable on the all-important left. Singh has the power to ensure that the battle for the progressive terrain over the next two years is a rich policy competition, not a contest between nice suits and empty slogans. Read more about: SHARE: Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (FOXA) - Get Free Report stands to gain from an elevated offer from TV station owner Ion Media Networks Inc. for a joint venture that would combine the companies' local broadcast stations. According to two people familiar with the talks, the potential deal would give Fox as much as 90% of the retransmission fees for its affiliated stations collected by the JV from pay-TV operators. That's a marked increase from where talks stood during the summer, the industry sources said. At present, broadcast network companies such as Fox or CBS Corp. (CBS) - Get Free Report receive anywhere from 50% to 70% of the revenue generated by affiliates owned by TV station groups such as Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (SGBI) , the country's largest. If a deal were consummated, Fox would transfer ownership of its 28 mostly large-metro-area TV stations into the joint venture, combining them with 60 stations owned by ION Media, a privately held company based in West Palm Beach, Fla. Fox's owned-and-operated TV station group includes affiliates of Fox, MyNetworkTV and the CW in 17 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas. A deal with ION Media also would provide Fox with a means to transfer the financial results of its lower-growth stations off its books into the JV. The idea of creating a separate entity to own and operate Fox Television Stations LLC comes amid the increasing speculation that Sinclair will win regulatory approval from the Trump administration for its acquisition of Tribune Media Co. (TRCO) - Get Free Report , a deal valued at $6.6 billion. Fox, which came up short in its own pursuit of Tribune, views a joint venture with ION Media as a means of offsetting the leverage Sinclair would gain by combining with Tribune, which owns 14 stations affiliated with Fox. If regulators did approve the Sinclair-Tribune Media deal, the merged company would own TV stations accounting for 30% of Fox's local network. It also would become the largest owner of local stations tied to any one of the four major broadcasters. By combining with ION Media, Fox would be in a position to transfer its affiliates to ION-owned stations from Sinclair, traditionally a tough bargainer for retransmission fees. Fox, however, did renew affiliation agreements with Fox Broadcasting for five of its stations in August, a signing that sent Sinclair shares surging by nearly 7%. At that time, Wells Fargo media analyst Marci Ryvicker wrote that "If Fox were changing its business model or really contemplating taking its affiliations away from [Sinclair], we don't think either party would have signed this deal, regardless as to its size." The five stations included affiliates in Columbia, S.C.; El Paso; and Reno, Nev. Fox and ION Media declined to comment on a possible JV. Sinclair also declined to comment. A joint venture between Fox Broadcasting and ION Media is complicated by ION's status as a "must-carry" station owner, as proscribed by the 1992 Cable Act. ION Media, like all station groups, must declare every three years whether it wants to be funded by pay-TV operators as a must-carry station or through a retransmission agreement. Yet because ION doesn't affiliate with a broadcast network, it doesn't own programming or a local news operation. Therefore, it relies entirely on advertising while keeping expenses low. As of Oct. 1, ION Media had elected to remain "must carry" for another three years, eliminating the need to negotiate fees with cable and satellite TV operators. While ION's status as "must carry" makes any JV less financially attractive, sources said it didn't preclude a deal from taking place. Additionally, the negotiations may be a move by Fox to gain leverage over Sinclair and Tribune Media for a host of other station affiliates whose contracts come up for renewal in the coming months. For its part, ION Media would gain access to programming and local news, which it doesn't produce on its own, unlike Sinclair or Tribune. By having an ownership stake in Fox's large-market affiliates, ION would benefit from higher growth, affording the company more appeal if it chooses to sell shares through an initial public offering. Fox considered a similar arrangement in April with Blackstone Group LP (BX) - Get Free Report when Tribune Media was entertaining buyout offers. Fox was interested in acquiring Tribune Media to buy back more of its own stations. Sinclair's acquisition of Tribune Media, valued at $6.6 billion including debt, is under review at the antitrust division of the Department of Justice. Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley said in May when the deal was announced that the most likely markets where regulators would seek a divestiture would be St. Louis, Salt Lake City and Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Tribune owns Fox affiliates in St. Louis and Salt Lake City. A Fox-Ion joint venture would create a supergroup of broadcast TV networks that would rival or even surpass the reach of Sinclair, currently the country's No. 1 TV station owner. The group would have roughly 100 stations covering nearly all of the country's major and midsize markets. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: Palestinian internationally recognized Prime Minister answering leader Mahmoud Abbas is expected in Gaza today to make the turn of Fatah which controls the Palestinian Authority as schism with rival Hamas looks edging towards end. Rami Hamdallah is expected in Gaza city to attend reconciliation ceremony between the two rivals. It would be the first visit by the Palestinian Premiere since 2014. Hamdallah will be accompanied by several other cabinet members who are also due to take office in the enclave following collapse of the unity government in 2014. Cabinet member, Ehab Bseisso who heads the culture department is reported to have arrived Sunday to hold meeting with deputies and employees. Hamas which has been controlling the besieged Strip, last month made a U-turn in its policy after accepting to reconcile with Fatah as the Islamist movement faces economic hardship and boycott by major Arab countries namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt. The movement turned to Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fatah security chief in the enclave and a Palestinian protege of Abu Dhabi to help win sympathy from Cairo and the UAE. In a show of good gesture, Hamas Sunday freed five Fatah security men arrested two years ago. The men were accused of harming Gazas internal security. Despite evidence of reconciliation looking good on the right track, several issues including security remain unsolved. Hamas has refused to hand over the security of the enclave to the rival-led government. Two people have died after a gunman opened fire on a music festival near the Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas, officials have said, while police have said a suspect is "down" following the deadly incident late Sunday evening. University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen confirmed to the Associated Press that two people had been killed and 24 others had been injured, 12 of them critically, as a result of the incident, which took place just before 11:00 pm local time. Portions of Las Vegas Blvd have been closed, the police said, and media have been advised to move further from the area of investigation, which took place during a concert at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Officials from McCarran Airport indicated late Sunday that they would divert some flights into the city owing to the police incident. Videos and images circulating on social media suggest several dozen rounds were fired from what appeared to be an automatic weapon at the event, with hundreds fleeing the scene. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: General Electric Co. (GE) - Get Free Reporthas completed the $3.4 billion sale of its water business to the French company Suez SA, a move the U.S. government required before signing off on the merger of the conglomerate's oil business with Baker Hughes. Selling the unit, which employed 7,500 workers and garnered $2.1 billion a year in revenue, streamlines GE's power business as well as its broader portfolio as the company focuses on digital manufacturing following former CEO Jeffrey Immelt's sale of non-industrial businesses like NBC television and most of the GE Capital lending division. It's the second of two transactions GE had hoped to finish this year. The other, the $2.6 billion sale of the industrial solutions unit, was announced at the end of September but may not close until early next year. "By creating a more simplified and focused business, we'll be better positioned to leverage power's strengths across the entire electricity value network," Russell Stokes, head of the power business, said in a statement on Monday, Oct. 2. There may be more deals to come. New CEO John Flannery, who took over from Immelt on Aug. 1, has promised a broader review of the Boston-based conglomerate's remaining businesses, which range from medical equipment to jet engines and locomotives, as he works to improve profit and cash flow. Investors including activist Trian Partners are pressuring the new CEO to address concern that the company's negative cash from manufacturing in the first half of the year suggests it might have trouble maintaining a dividend currently valued at $8 billion a year. GE executives have insisted, however, that the payment isn't in question and that the digital manufacturing company still expects to deliver on its target of $12 billion in cash from industrial operations this year. Flannery has scheduled a Nov. 13 meeting to update investors on GE's outlook and the results of his initial review. General Electric is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer and the AAP team buy or sell the stock? Learn more now. The company, founded by Thomas Edison in the late 1800s, has "to consider everything," Jeff Sprague, a Vertical Research Partners analyst who noted that Baker Hughes undefined is positioned well for a possible spinoff, said in a telephone interview last week. The Baker Hughes deal, completed earlier this year, left GE with control of the combined company, which is publicly traded. Other Wall Street analysts have suggested GE may consider selling assets from lighting to power conversion and even the locomotive division. "The alternatives are to try to grind it out in a cost-cutting and portfolio-simplification story or to try something more dramatic," Sprague said. "Probably the odds favor the former, just restructuring and grinding it out, but I would think they have to be looking at things that could have a bigger effect on the company and change the narrative and change the trajectory of the portfolio. GE climbed 0.7% to $24.35 in the wake of Monday's announcement. The shares have fallen 4.9% since Flannery took over on Aug. 1. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a businessman and two companies with defrauding investors in a pair of so-called initial coin offerings (ICOs) which claimed to be backed by investments in real estate and diamonds. The SEC alleges that Maksim Zaslavskiy and his companies have been selling unregistered securities and that the digital tokens or coins being peddled don't really exist. Zaslavskiy and REcoin allegedly misrepresented the fact that they had raised between $2 million and $4 million from investors when the actual amount was approximately $300,000. The securities regulator is warning investors about the risks of the cryptocurrency-inspired method of raising capital. "Investors should be wary of companies touting ICOs as a way to generate outsized returns," said Andrew Calamari, the director of the SEC's New York regional office. "As alleged in our complaint, Zaslavskiy lured investors with false promises of sizable returns from novel technology." Zaslavskiy carried his scheme over to Diamond Reserve Club, which purportedly invests in diamonds and obtains discounts with product retailers for individuals who purchase "memberships" in the company. The SEC has obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of Zaslavskiy and his companies. Earlier this year, the SEC moved in on the "Wild West" world of ICOs, which has sent the blockchain world reeling. ICOs have been attracting plenty of attention this year. Recently Paris Hilton has backed project called Lydian, which she hyped in a tweet that has since been deleted. There are a number of ICO critics who are voicing concerns. "My biggest concern now is the rapid rise in capital inflows into the crazy concept called ICOs," said Per Wimmer, the founder of Wimmer Financial, a London-based corporate-advisory firm. "That's a big bubble - much more concerning than cryptocurrencies, per se." Recently South Korea has followed the example of China and also banned ICOs. Switzerland's financial watchdog Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA has shared concerns that some ICOs are violating the country's laws against "terrorist financing." "Switzerland and Korea have a decidedly different take on what to do about ICOs," said Perry Woodin, CEO of Node 40. "Where Korea has followed China's lead by imposing an outright ban on ICOs, Switzerland is taking a more moderate approach. The Swiss FINMA Announcement mirrors the SECs bulletin where ICOs will be covered by existing securities regulations. ICOs seem to have a great deal of potential. As regulatory guidance becomes more clear, we should see the entire ICO market mature into a useful vehicle for raising capital." "Because the digital token market is so new, I believe that many investors lack the necessary sophistication to assess or appreciate the viability, sustainability and governance of projects that are raising hundreds of millions of dollars in capital," said Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash. "Such an environment is ripe for abuse, fraud, and waste. Just because the technology is new, bad actors may assume they could abuse investors, so it is reassuring that the FINMA stands ready to investigate abuse and regulation breaches that have harmed investors. Guidance from FINMA will also serve to prevent well-intentioned projects from unintended violations." Here Is One Question Every Investor Should Be Asking About Bitcoin Are you investing in cryptocurrency? Don't miss TheStreet's coverage: The country is shaken up this morning following news of the U.S.'s deadliest mass shooting late last night in Las Vegas. As of this writing, the details are still emerging. The NYSE opened with a moment of silence for the victims. While the big market averages opened higher Monday, shares of MGM Resorts International (MGM) - Get Free Report and other Las Vegas casino operators are being knocked lower in early trading. As of this writing, MGM is down just over 3.5% on heavy trading volume -- the shooter had been staying at MGM's Mandalay Bay Resort on the Las Vegas Strip, and MGM owns the Las Vegas Village complex where the victims were attending a Jason Aldean concert at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Investors are concerned that the shooting could scare tourists away from Las Vegas. But those investors underestimate Americans' reactions to tragedy: Las Vegas will continue its economic rebound. No doubt about it. And shorter term, the bullish price trajectory in shares of MGM that started at the beginning of the summer isn't being derailed here either. To figure out how to trade MGM -- and where Wall Street is getting it wrong -- we're turning to the chart for a technical look. Since bottoming back in the spring, MGM has been enjoying some positive price action. Shares are up approximately 15% in the last six months, but that's not where the story stops for MGM. Since the beginning of July, shares of this casino giant have been forming a price setup that signals another leg higher in the final months of 2017 and that trajectory is unchanged here. The price setup in MGM is an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish continuation pattern that's formed by horizontal resistance up above shares at $34, with uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as shares have bounced in between those two technically important price levels, MGM has been getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout through that technically important $34 price ceiling. Simply put, once shares can muster the buying power to push through that $34 level, it becomes a high-probability upside trade. What makes that $34 level so important for MGM? It all boils down to buyers and sellers. Price patterns, like this ascending triangle setup, are a good quick way to identify what's going on in the price action, but they're not the ultimate reason shares look attractive here. Instead, the "why" is driven by basic supply and demand for MGM's shares themselves. The $34 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a spot where sellers have previously been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above $34 so significant; the move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level. That's good reason to keep an eye on MGM this fall. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned. It's been a good year so far for shares of Lennar Corporation (LEN) - Get Free Report , as the stock is now up 22.5% in 2017. However, it's come off its 52-week highs of $55.75, now trading at $52.58. Investors are hoping the stock is able to trade above those highs when the company reports earnings on Tuesday before the open. Lennar, a Florida-based homebuilder, has been following the industry higher. That industry has been led higher by KB Home (KBH) - Get Free Report , TheStreet's Jim Cramer said from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. KB Home is up another 1.6% Monday to new 52-week highs, pushing its five-day gains north of 16%. Shares have now roared higher by more than 50% so far this year. Cramer's been recommending KB Home since it was at $14 in the early parts of 2016 -- it's now at $24.50 -- and continues to like it, as business is doing well. The homebuilding numbers have been strong and analysts are finally getting on board, reasoned Cramer, who also manages the Action Alerts PLUS charitable trust portfolio. The homebuilding data has also been good. It just shows, investors who are patient with good companies eventually get rewarded on the stock. When it comes to Lennar, analysts expect the company to earn $1.01 per share on $3.23 billion in revenue. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: At the time of publication, Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS had no position in any companies mentioned. Two years ago, billionaire corporate-raider turned activist Carl Icahn launched a campaign urging American International Group Inc. (AIG) - Get Free Report to break itself into three companies with the goal of convincing regulators to remove the mega-insurer's "systemically important" designation and the regulatory scrutiny that came with it. The following year, the insurerwhich had gained notoriety after a $182 billion government bailout during the 2008 financial crisissettled with Icahn, agreeing to install two of his nominees as directors. Publicly at least, the billionaire investor stopped demanding a breakup. He kept most of his stake in AIG, however, even as he took on the role of White House special adviser for regulatory reform under President Donald Trump. Today, his holding of 4.8% is valued at $2.7 billion, making him one of the company's largest shareholders. And on Friday, a little more than a month after Icahn resigned from his advisory role, the group of regulators monitoring AIG and other non-bank finance companies big enough to threaten the U.S. economy if they collapsed, voted 6-3 to remove it from their oversight, lifting restrictions that included potential limits on capital spending. A team of examiners located at AIG to monitor its activities will leave the insurer, and its regulatory costs will drop significantly. AIG estimated in 2016 that its SIFI costs would be between $100 million to $150 million annually. The move, announced well after U.S. financial markets closed on Friday, shocked many regulatory observers, including some who had worked in the Obama administration. During the height of the 2008 financial crisis, AIG's Financial Products unit, which had operations in New York and London, sold billions in credit insurance without keeping enough capital to pay holders in the event of loss. The bill came due when capital markets froze after the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., then the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank. AIG couldn't pay, so the government stepped in to prevent further damage to the U.S. economy. By 2013, four years later, AIG had repaid the U.S. government for the bailout costs, giving U.S. taxpayers a $22.7 billion profit after repurchasing warrants issued to the U.S. Treasury. Josh Esterov, analyst at CreditSights, pointed out that AIG is still winding down some of the securities held by that unit, even though the division had previously been dismantled. He also noted that even though AIG was the first firm designated by regulators as a "Systemically Important Financial Institution," or SIFI, it had yet to contend with tough capital, liquidity and stress test obligations because rules for systemic insurers have not been set up. "With the Trump administration, it was always likely that even if they adopted capital and liquidity standards for SIFIs that they would not have been as tough as perhaps originally intended by the Obama administration," Esterov said. It's now highly unlikely that big insurers will face a federal regulator for their holding companies, he said. As a result, there remains a risk that AIG or another major insurer could develop risky operations without adequate oversight. On Monday, AIG's stock was trading up, at $61.74 a share, giving at least a temporary boost to Icahn's holding. It is unclear also whether the billionaire activist had been informed that a de-designation was in the works during his nine-month stint as a Trump administration adviser, though he said when he left the had never had access to nonpublic information and believed he had avoided any conflicts of interest. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., had raised the prospect in July that Icahn could have urged regulators to remove the SIFI designation. She wrote a letter urging Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin asking him to examine whether Icahn had done so. Mnuchin chairs the Financial Stability Oversight Council, and was among the six members who voted almost completely down party lines to lift the SIFI designation. In her letter, Warren noted that Icahn had begun cutting back in June on his demands for breaking up the company, and she asked whether the billionaire investor, as a Trump adviser and AIG shareholder, had provided input or received information from the council regarding its deliberations on AIG. On Monday, neither the Treasury Department nor Icahn or Warren's office returned requests for comment. In a statement on Friday, Warren said the SIFI decision shows that the Trump administration "cares more about rewarding Wall Street executives than protecting Americans from another financial crisis." Michael Barr, ex-Obama administration assistant Treasury Secretary for financial institutions, said "amnesia" about the causes and consequences of the 2008 crisis will lead to the next one. Neither he nor Warren commented on Icahn's role, and there are a number of other reasons why Icahn may have stopped trying to break up AIG. GE Completes $3.4 Billion Water Deal as New CEO Weighs Further Streamlining The insurer's board decided in March to remove CEO Peter Hancock so it could avoid a proxy war with the insurgent investor. Hancock's successor, Brian Duperreault, told consumer insurance investors at a meeting in May that he didn't come to AIG to break it up. AIG in January closed the sale of its mortgage insurance unit, United Guaranty, to Bermuda-based Arch Capital Group for $3.4 billion. The division was tiny compared with AIG's core life and property & casualty businesses, but its sale did simplify the insurer and likely was supported by Icahn. AIG notes that assets, liabilities and both long-and short-term debt have dropped significantly since 2007, making it a less risky operation. Icahn probably believed that the Trump administration's SIFI rules weren't going to be as tough as the Obama administration had envisioned, so the insurer would face fewer restrictions regardless. "I don't believe Icahn wanted to rush to have AIG split up, especially after Duperrault's appointment," said Esterov. "He was probably swayed that it wasn't time to break up AIG, especially since regulators had not yet approved tough capital and liquidity rules and everyone knew that even if there were new SIFI rules, they were going to be watered down." Now, with the SIFI designation removed, it is possible that AIG will start making acquisitions, noted Esterov. "They have the green light to do acquisitions," he said. Don't miss these top stories on TheStreet: Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) - Get Free Report iPhone X will likely have a surprise supporter hoping that it has another breakthrough super cycle -- its bitter rival Samsung (SSNLF) . That's because the Korean smartphone giant's components division supplies the organic LED screens used as the displays for the 10th anniversary iPhone. Samsung could actually make more money off of the parts used for the iPhone X than it does for one of its own flagship smartphones, according to data from Counterpoint Technology Market Research, the Wall Street Journal reports. Counterpoint estimated that Samsung will earn about $4 billion more in revenue from iPhone X components than the parts used in the Samsung Galaxy S8 in the 20 months after the iPhone X ships on Nov. 3. Most new smartphones are sold in the first 20 months after they launch. Samsung also supplies the memory chips used in the iPhone X -- the component that kickstarted Samsung and Apple's close ties. More than thirty years ago, Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong approached former Apple CEO Steve Jobs about supplying flash memory for the iPad Nano, which set the foundation for what is considered an unusual alliance between two otherwise tech rivals. Samsung's overall business is split into two different divisions -- its products unit and its components division -- a decision that was made in 2011 to address concerns that the components business would leak information about Apple to the products unit, among other reasons. Samsung purchases the parts in its smartphones from its own component division. Apple has continued to rely on Samsung because it's one of the few manufacturers that can build OLED displays at the scale necessary to support Apple's iPhone demand (estimated at 200 million units per year). Samsung also accounted for 97.7% of OLED screen production in 2016. Samsung is believed to be charging Apple between $120 and $130 per unit for its OLED screens, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who's built a reputation for correctly predicting many of Apple's moves. Apple was a part of a Bain Capital-led consortium that made a successful $18 billion bid for Toshiba's memory chip division, which could lessen its reliance on Samsung for that technology. But Apple will likely face some difficulty finding an OLED supplier comparable to Samsung. It was reported that Apple was in talks with Foxconn's Sharp to produce the OLED displays for the iPhone X, but it ultimately went with Samsung for the 10th anniversary device. Samsung seems to have recognized its dependence on Apple, referring to the tech giant as its "best client," the Journal reported. Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer'sAction Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now. Don't miss these top stories on TheStreet: Is the iPhone 8 More Fragile Than the Samsung Note8? Separatists in Anglophone regions of Cameroon on Sunday braved odds and police barriers to protest against perceived discrimination in favour of Cameroons francophone majority. At least seven people were killed as some of the separatists made a symbolic declaration of independence for Ambazonia, the imaginary Anglophone state they want to create. The exiled activist Julius Ayuk Tabe has been appointed as interim leader of the new state. According to Donatus Njong Fonyuy, mayor of the restive town of Kumbo, some prisoners were killed after the jail where they were being held caught fire. About five prisoners were killed by soldiers. Two were wounded by bullets and are at the hospital, he said. In other incidents in Kumbo, soldiers shot and killed a demonstrator and wounded two others who had raised the flag of the Ambazonia separatist movement in the town. A woman was also killed inside her home according to local media. Ahead of the Sunday protest, President Paul Biya has sent in the army to deter the Anglophone secessionists. Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroons communication minister in a press conference in Yaounde, said that there would be no amputation or division of Cameroon. The countrys long-serving president, 84-year-old Paul Biya who is outside the country, took to social media late on Sunday, to condemn the violence. The United Nations and European Union have called on all sides to be responsible and respect the rule of law and avoid any act of violence. As a reminder, dissent in the two regions has been growing over the past year, with protests taking place intermittently. Schools have been closed in the English-speaking regions as teachers called for a strike against what they believe is the overuse of the French language. American Midstream Partners, LP provides midstream infrastructure that links the producers of natural gas, crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), condensate, and specialty chemicals to various intermediate and end-use markets in the United States and Mexico. Its Gas Gathering and Processing Services segment offers services to producers of natural gas and crude oil, including transporting raw natural gas and crude oil from various receipt points through gathering systems, treating the raw natural gas, processing raw natural gas to separate the NGLs from the natural gas, fractionating NGLs, and selling or delivering pipeline-quality natural gas and NGLs. The company's Liquid Pipelines and Services segment transports, purchases, and sells crude oil. Its Natural Gas Transportation Services segment transports and delivers natural gas from producing wells, receipt points, or pipeline interconnects for shippers, local distribution companies, and utilities, as well as industrial, commercial, and power generation customers. The company's Offshore Pipelines and Services segment gathers and transports natural gas from receipt points to other pipeline interconnects, onshore facilities, and other delivery points. Its Terminalling Services segment provides petroleum products, distillates, chemicals, and agricultural products storage services at its marine terminals for commodity brokers, refiners, and chemical manufacturers. As of May 10, 2018, the company owned approximately 5,100 miles of interstate and intrastate pipelines; gas processing plants and fractionation facilities; an offshore semisubmersible floating production system with nameplate processing capacity of 90 thousand barrels per day of crude oil and 220 million cubic feet per day of natural gas; and terminal sites with approximately 6.7 million barrels of storage capacity. American Midstream GP, LLC serves as the general partner of the company. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. The Canadian Army is considering sending five soldiers to Tunisia to provide counter-terrorism training for the North African nations army, Ottawa Citizen News portal reports. The move according to the spokesperson of the Department of National Defence, Daniel Le Bouthillier, is part of Canadas Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building Program. In Bouthilliers words, Canadian Armed Forces personnel are looking at deploying troops abroad to train other nations security forces to augment their ability to maintain security within their borders. If confirmed, the training would comprise of courses covering Counter Improvised Explosive Devices, medical, sniper, tactical intelligence, tactical planning, and infantry skills. Canadian Special Forces have conducted similar training missions in the past to countries such as Jamaica. Tunisia, the only surviving democracy spawned by the 2011 Arab spring, has become part of the top 50 countries most impacted by terrorism after several attack on foreigners in the country in recent years. Tunisia faces a persistent militant threat on several fronts and has also sent more fighters abroad to join the ranks of the Islamic State than any other country. Already there are signs that some of the 5,500 Tunisians, who have gone abroad, according to United Nations estimates, are seeking new targets at home and in Europe. VeriFone Systems, Inc. provides payments and commerce solutions at the point of sale (POS) worldwide. It offers countertop solutions that accept payment options, including contactless, NFC, mobile wallets, and EMV; PIN pads that support credit and debit card, EBT, EMV, and other PIN-based transactions; and multilane consumer facing commerce devices. It also provides portable payment devices, including small, portable, and handheld devices that enable merchants to accept electronic payments wherever wireless connectivity is available; and mobile solutions that attach to and interface with iOS or Android based smartphones and tablets. In addition, it offers integrated electronic payment systems that combine electronic payment processing, fuel dispensing, and ECR functions, as well as secure payment systems for integration with petroleum pump controllers; unattended and self-service payment solutions designed to enable payment transactions in self-service, high-transaction volume, and public transportation environments; and network access solutions. Further, it provides installation, deployment, training, and application development and delivery solutions; project management, client education program, and consulting services; helpdesk support, equipment repair and maintenance, and software post-contract support services; and application libraries and development tools. Additionally, it offers omnichannel commerce, terminal management, and security solutions; and cloud-based managed, transaction payment, and other value added services. It sells its products directly; and through third party and channel partners. It serves financial institutions, payment processors, government organizations, and retailers; petroleum, transportation, and healthcare companies; and quick service restaurants. The company was formerly known as VeriFone Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to VeriFone Systems, Inc. in May 2010. VeriFone Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California. The following companies are subsidiares of Johnson & Johnson: 3Dintegrated ApS, ALZA Corporation, AMO (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd Beijing Branch, AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd Guangzhou Branch, AMO (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd., AMO ASIA LIMITED, AMO Asia Limited (Korea Branch), AMO Asia Limited Taiwan Branch (Hong Kong), AMO Australia Pty Limited, AMO Australia Pty Limited (New Zealand Branch), AMO Canada Company, AMO Denmark ApS, AMO Development LLC, AMO France, AMO Germany GmbH, AMO Groningen B.V., AMO International Holdings Unlimited Company, AMO Ireland, AMO Ireland Ireland Branch, AMO Italy SRL, AMO Japan K.K., AMO Manufacturing USA LLC, AMO Netherlands BV, AMO Nominee Holdings LLC, AMO Norway AS, AMO Puerto Rico Manufacturing Inc., AMO Sales and Service Inc., AMO Singapore Pte. Ltd., AMO Spain Holdings LLC, AMO Switzerland GmbH, AMO U.K. Holdings LLC, AMO United Kingdom Ltd., AMO Uppsala AB, AUB Holdings LLC, Abott Medical Optics, Acclarent Inc., Actelion Ltd, Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Actelion Pharmaceuticals Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Actelion Pharmaceuticals US Inc., Actelion Treasury Unlimited Company, Akros Medical Inc., Albany Street LLC, Alios BioPharma, Alza Land Management Inc., Anakuria Therapeutics Inc., Animas Diabetes Care LLC, Animas LLC, Animas Technologies LLC, AorTx Inc., Apsis, Aragon Pharmaceuticals, Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Asia Pacific Holdings LLC, Atrionix Inc., Auris Health, Auris Health Inc., Backsvalan 2 Aktiebolag, Backsvalan 6 Handelsbolag, Beijing Dabao Cosmetics Co. Ltd., BeneVir BioPharm Inc., Berna Rhein B.V., BioMedical Enterprises Inc., Biosense Webster (Israel) Ltd., Biosense Webster Inc., Branch of Johnson & Johnson LLC (RU) in Kazakhstan, C Consumer Products Denmark ApS, CSATS Inc., Calibra Medical LLC, Campus-Foyer Apotheke GmbH, Carlo Erba OTC S.r.l., Centocor Biologics LLC, Centocor Research & Development Inc., Cerenovus Inc., ChromaGenics B.V., Ci:Labo Customer Marketing Co. Ltd., Ci:Labo USA Inc., Ci:z Holdings, Ci:z. Labo Co. Ltd., Cilag AG, Cilag GmbH International, Cilag Holding AG, Cilag Holding Treasury Unlimited Company, Cilag-Biotech S.L., CoTherix Inc., Coherex Medical Inc., ColBar LifeScience Ltd., Company Store.com Inc., Conor MedSystems, Cordis International Corporation, Cordis de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Corimmun GmbH, DePuy Hellas SA, DePuy International Limited, DePuy Ireland Unlimited Company, DePuy Mexico S.A. de C.V., DePuy Mitek LLC, DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., DePuy Products Inc., DePuy Spine LLC, DePuy Synthes Gorgan Limited, DePuy Synthes Inc., DePuy Synthes Institute LLC, DePuy Synthes Leto SARL, DePuy Synthes Products Inc., DePuy Synthes Sales Inc., Debs-Vogue Corporation (Proprietary) Limited, Dutch Holding LLC, ECL7 LLC, EES Holdings de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EES S.A. de C.V., EIT Emerging Implant Technologies GmbH, Ethicon Endo-Surgery (Europe) GmbH, Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc., Ethicon Endo-Surgery LLC, Ethicon Inc., Ethicon LLC, Ethicon PR Holdings Unlimited Company, Ethicon Sarl, Ethicon US LLC, Ethicon Women's Health & Urology Sarl, Ethnor (Proprietary) Limited, Ethnor Farmaceutica S.A., Ethnor del Istmo S.A., FMS Future Medical System SA, Finsbury (Development) Limited, Finsbury (Instruments) Limited, Finsbury Medical Limited, Finsbury Orthopaedics International Limited, Finsbury Orthopaedics Limited, GH Biotech Holdings Limited, GMED Healthcare BV, GMED Healthcare BV (Branch), Global Investment Participation B.V., Guangzhou Bioseal Biotech Co. Ltd., Hansen Medical Deutschland GmbH, Hansen Medical Inc., Hansen Medical International Inc., Hansen Medical UK Limited, Healthcare Services (Shanghai) Ltd., Hickory Merger Sub Inc., I.D. Acquisition Corp., Innomedic Gesellschaft fur innovative Medizintechnik und Informatik mbH, Innovative Surgical Solutions LLC, J & J Company West Africa Limited, J&J Pension Trustees Limited, J-C Health Care Ltd., J.C. General Services BV, JJ Surgical Vision Spain S.L., JJC Acquisition Company B.V., JJHC LLC, JJSV Belgium BV, JJSV Manufacturing Malaysia SDN. BHD., JJSV Norden AB, JJSV Produtos Oticos Ltda., JNJ Global Business Services s.r.o., JNJ Holding EMEA B.V., JNJ International Investment LLC, JOM Pharmaceutical Services Inc., Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy (Holding) Limited, Janssen BioPharma LLC, Janssen Biologics (Ireland) Limited, Janssen Biologics B.V., Janssen Biotech Inc., Janssen Cilag C.A., Janssen Cilag Farmaceutica S.A., Janssen Cilag S.p.A., Janssen Cilag SPA, Janssen Development Finance Unlimited Company, Janssen Diagnostics LLC, Janssen Egypt LLC, Janssen Farmaceutica Portugal Lda, Janssen Global Services LLC, Janssen Holding GmbH, Janssen Inc., Janssen Irish Finance Unlimited Company, Janssen Korea Ltd., Janssen Oncology Inc., Janssen Ortho LLC, Janssen Pharmaceutica (Proprietary) Limited, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Janssen Pharmaceutica S.A., Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K., Janssen Pharmaceutical Sciences Unlimited Company, Janssen Pharmaceutical Unlimited Company, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. Japan Branch, Janssen Products LP, Janssen R&D Ireland Unlimited Company, Janssen Research & Development LLC, Janssen Sciences Ireland Unlimited Company, Janssen Scientific Affairs LLC, Janssen Supply Group LLC, Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V., Janssen Vaccines Branch of Cilag GmbH International, Janssen Vaccines Corp., Janssen-Cilag, Janssen-Cilag (New Zealand) Limited, Janssen-Cilag A/S, Janssen-Cilag AG, Janssen-Cilag AS, Janssen-Cilag Aktiebolag, Janssen-Cilag B.V., Janssen-Cilag Farmaceutica Lda., Janssen-Cilag Farmaceutica Ltda., Janssen-Cilag GmbH, Janssen-Cilag International NV, Janssen-Cilag Kft., Janssen-Cilag Kft. Branch Office, Janssen-Cilag Limited, Janssen-Cilag Manufacturing LLC, Janssen-Cilag NV, Janssen-Cilag OY, Janssen-Cilag Pharma GmbH, Janssen-Cilag Pharmaceutical S.A.C.I., Janssen-Cilag Polska Sp. z o.o., Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd, Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd (Branch), Janssen-Cilag S.A., Janssen-Cilag S.A., Janssen-Cilag S.A. de C.V., Janssen-Cilag de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Janssen-Cilag s.r.o., Janssen-Pharma S.L., Jevco Holding Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Johnson & Johnson (Angola) Limitada, Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd., Johnson & Johnson (China) Investment Ltd. Beijing Branch, Johnson & Johnson (Egypt) S.A.E., Johnson & Johnson (Hong Kong) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Ireland) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Jamaica) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Kenya) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc., Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc. (DHCC Branch), Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc. (JAFZA Branch), Johnson & Johnson (Middle East) Inc. Service Center (DAFZA Branch), Johnson & Johnson (Mozambique) Limitada, Johnson & Johnson (Namibia) (Proprietary) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (New Zealand) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Philippines) Inc., Johnson & Johnson (Private) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Thailand) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson (Trinidad) Limited, Johnson & Johnson (Vietnam) Co. Ltd, Johnson & Johnson - Societa' Per Azioni, Johnson & Johnson AB, Johnson & Johnson AB Eesti filiaal (Branch), Johnson & Johnson AG, Johnson & Johnson AG (Zuchwil Branch), Johnson & Johnson Belgium Finance Company BV, Johnson & Johnson Bulgaria EOOD, Johnson & Johnson China Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Consumer (Hong Kong) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer (Thailand) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer B.V., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health Care Switzerland Branch of Janssen-Cilag AG, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Holdings France, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (Dominican Republic Branch), Johnson & Johnson Consumer NV, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Saudi Arabia Limited, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Services EAME Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Del Paraguay S.A., Johnson & Johnson Dominicana S.A.S., Johnson & Johnson Enterprise Innovation Inc., Johnson & Johnson European Treasury Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson Finance Corporation, Johnson & Johnson Finance Limited, Johnson & Johnson Financial Services GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Financial Services GmbH (Branch Office), Johnson & Johnson Gateway LLC, Johnson & Johnson Gesellschaft m.b.H., Johnson & Johnson GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Guatemala S.A., Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc., Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions Inc., Johnson & Johnson Hellas Commercial and Industrial S.A., Johnson & Johnson Hellas Consumer Products Commercial Societe Anonyme, Johnson & Johnson Hemisferica S.A., Johnson & Johnson Holding GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Inc., Johnson & Johnson Industrial Ltda., Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC Inc., Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, Johnson & Johnson Innovation Limited, Johnson & Johnson International, Johnson & Johnson International (Belgian Branch) (European Logistics Center), Johnson & Johnson International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Johnson & Johnson International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (Branch), Johnson & Johnson International Financial Services Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson K.K., Johnson & Johnson Kft., Johnson & Johnson Korea Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Korea Selling & Distribution LLC, Johnson & Johnson LLC, Johnson & Johnson Lda, Johnson & Johnson Limited, Johnson & Johnson Limited (Sri Lanka Branch), Johnson & Johnson Luxembourg Finance Company Sarl, Johnson & Johnson Management Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical (China) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical (Proprietary) Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Medical (Shanghai) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical (Shanghai) Ltd. Beijing Branch, Johnson & Johnson Medical (Suzhou) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical B.V., Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices & Diagnostics Group - Latin America L.L.C., Johnson & Johnson Medical GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Medical Korea Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medical Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical Mexico S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson Medical NV, Johnson & Johnson Medical Products GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Medical Pty Ltd, Johnson & Johnson Medical S.A., Johnson & Johnson Medical S.C.S., Johnson & Johnson Medical S.p.A., Johnson & Johnson Medical SAS, Johnson & Johnson Medical Saudi Arabia Limited, Johnson & Johnson Medical Taiwan Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Ankara Branch), Johnson & Johnson Medikal Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Izmir Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East - Scientific Office, Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ - LLC (Lebanese Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC, Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC (Ghana Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC (Kenya Branch), Johnson & Johnson Middle East FZ-LLC Branch (TSO) (Saudi Arabia Branch), Johnson & Johnson Morocco Societe Anonyme, Johnson & Johnson NCB (Belgian Branch), Johnson & Johnson Nordic AB, Johnson & Johnson Pacific Pty Limited, Johnson & Johnson Pakistan (Private) Limited, Johnson & Johnson Panama S.A., Johnson & Johnson Personal Care (Chile) S.A., Johnson & Johnson Poland Sp. z o.o., Johnson & Johnson Poland sp. z o.o. oddzial w Warszawie "Consumer", Johnson & Johnson Private Limited, Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd. Korea Branch, Johnson & Johnson Pty. Limited, Johnson & Johnson Romania S.R.L., Johnson & Johnson S.A., Johnson & Johnson S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson S.E. Inc., Johnson & Johnson S.E. d.o.o., Johnson & Johnson SDN. BHD., Johnson & Johnson Sante Beaute France, Johnson & Johnson Services Inc., Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision Inc., Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision India Private Limited, Johnson & Johnson Taiwan Ltd., Johnson & Johnson UK Treasury Company Limited, Johnson & Johnson Ukraine LLC, Johnson & Johnson Urban Renewal Associates, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Shanghai) Ltd., Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc., Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Ireland Unlimited Company, Johnson & Johnson d.o.o., Johnson & Johnson de Argentina S.A.C. e. I., Johnson & Johnson de Chile Limitada, Johnson & Johnson de Chile S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Colombia S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Johnson & Johnson de Uruguay S.A., Johnson & Johnson de Venezuela S.A., Johnson & Johnson del Ecuador S.A., Johnson & Johnson del Peru S.A., Johnson & Johnson do Brasil Industria E Comercio de Produtos Para Saude Ltda., Johnson & Johnson for Export and Import LLC, Johnson & Johnson s.r.o., Johnson Y Johnson de Costa Rica S.A., Johnson and Johnson (Proprietary) Limited, Johnson and Johnson Sihhi Malzeme Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, LTL Management LLC, La Concha Land Investment Corporation, Latam International Investment Company Unlimited Company, Legal Entity Name, MDS Co. Ltd., McNEIL MMP LLC, McNeil AB, McNeil Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co., McNeil Denmark ApS, McNeil Healthcare (Ireland) Limited, McNeil Healthcare (UK) Limited, McNeil Healthcare LLC, McNeil Iberica S.L.U., McNeil LA LLC, McNeil Nutritionals LLC, McNeil Panama LLC, McNeil Products Limited, McNeil Sweden AB, Medical Device Business Services Inc., Medical Devices & Diagnostics Global Services LLC, Medical Devices International LLC, Medos International Sarl, Medos International Sarl succursale de Neuchatel (Branch), Medos Sarl, MegaDyne Medical Products Inc., Menlo Care De Mexico S.A. de C.V., Mentor B.V., Mentor Deutschland GmbH, Mentor Medical Systems B.V., Mentor Partnership Holding Company I LLC, Mentor Texas GP LLC, Mentor Texas L.P., Mentor Worldwide LLC, Micrus Endovascular LLC, Middlesex Assurance Company Limited, Momenta Ireland Limited, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc., NeoStrata Company Inc., NeoStrata UG (haftungsbeschrankt), Netherlands Holding Company, NeuWave Medical Inc., Neuravi Limited, Novira Therapeutics, Novira Therapeutics LLC, NuVera Medical Inc., OBTECH Medical Sarl, OGX Beauty Limited, OMJ Holding GmbH, OMJ Ireland Unlimited Company, OMJ Pharmaceuticals Inc., Obtech Medical Mexico S.A. de C.V., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., Omrix Biopharmaceuticals NV, Ortho Biologics LLC, Ortho Biotech Holding LLC, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC, Orthospin Ltd., Orthotaxy, PT Integrated Healthcare Indonesia, PT. Johnson & Johnson Indonesia, Patriot Pharmaceuticals LLC, Peninsula Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pharmadirect Ltd., Pharmedica Laboratories (Proprietary) Limited, Princeton Laboratories Inc., Productos de Cuidado Personal y de La Salud de Bolivia S.R.L., Proleader S.A., Pulsar Vascular Inc., Regency Urban Renewal Associates, RespiVert Ltd., RoC International, Royalty A&M LLC, Rutan Realty LLC, SYNTHES Medical Immobilien GmbH, Scios LLC, Sedona Singapore International Pte. Ltd., Sedona Thai International Co. Ltd., Serhum S.A. de C.V., Shanghai Elsker For Mother & Baby Co. Ltd, Shanghai Elsker Mother & Baby Co. Ltd Minghang Branch, Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Ltd., Shanghai Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Sightbox LLC, Sodiac ESV, Spectrum Vision Limited Liability Company, Spectrum Vision Limited Liability Partnership, SterilMed, SterilMed Inc., Surgical Process Institute Deutschland GmbH, Synthes Costa Rica S.C.R. Limitada, Synthes GmbH, Synthes Holding AG, Synthes Holding Limited, Synthes Inc., Synthes Medical Surgical Equipment & Instruments Trading LLC, Synthes Produktions GmbH, Synthes Proprietary Limited, Synthes S.M.P. S. de R.L. de C.V., Synthes Tuttlingen GmbH, Synthes USA LLC, Synthes USA Products LLC, TARIS Biomedical, TARIS Biomedical LLC, TearScience Inc., The Anspach Effort LLC, The Vision Care Institute LLC, Tibotec LLC, Torax Medical Inc., UAB "Johnson & Johnson", UAB Johnson & Johnson Eesti Filiaal (Estonian Branch), Vania Expansion, Verb Surgical, Verb Surgical Inc., Vision Care Finance Unlimited Company, Vogue International, Vogue International LLC, Vogue International Trading Inc., WH4110 Development Company L.L.C., XO1, XO1 Limited, Xian Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd., Xian-Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. Beijing Branch Office, Xian-Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. Shanghai Branch Office, Zarbee's Inc., and Zarbee's Naturals. Read More 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? Defense believes Purdue murder defendant is incompetent to stand trial The defense attorney for accused Purdue murderer, Ji Min Sha, questioned whether Sha is mentally competent to stand trial,. Several cases have been reported of iPhone 8 units bursting open after having battery problems. (Image credit: iFeng) Specifically, devices in at least six countries have been reported to have split when batteries reportedly swelled enough to separate the scren from the rest of the chassis. While there are no reports of injury or fire, Apple says it is investigating. A woman in Taiwan claimed that she was harging the iPhone 8 when it suddenly burst open. A similar scenario played out in Japan, when a user said the iPhone 8 Plus opened and caused the device's screen to separate from the assembly, revealing the internal components. Both handsets were returned and are now with Apple for investigation, according to MacRumors. In a statement to MacRumors, Apple said that that it's "aware" of the problem and is "looking into it." The company didn't say anything beyond that. MORE: 5 Reasons I'm Skipping the iPhone 8 for the iPhone X After Samsung's troubles last year with the Galaxy Note 7 that ultimately forced the company to recall its handset, anxieties are high over possible battery problems. CNET and Reuters have both issued further reports about swelling batteries splitting iPhones, with incidents in at least five different countries. However, there are no reports of battery fires or injury. Apple hasn't confirmed how many devices are affected by the issue, but is looking into it. "Swelling is rare for a new battery so that must mean there is something wrong with these batteries," Lynette Luna, principal analyst for consumer service platforms and devices told Tom's Guide. Most swelling happens because of user error, like using a different charger than what comes with the phone and overcharging with an unapproved charger." It appears from the reports that the iPhone is coming apart due to its battery swelling to an abnormal level and ultimately causing enough pressure to separate the screen from the chassis. It's unclear why that might happen, though those who were affected by the problem weren't injured. "Id say its too early to indicate this is a widespread problem," said Luna. "It could be a random event, especially since there are just six reported cases so far globally. It's not uncommon for devices as popular as the iPhone to periodically have some isolated problems. Look for Apple to closely investigate the matter and find out if there's even a problem to worry about. South Africa trade surplus narrows in August South Africas trade surplus decreased to R5.94 billion in August of 2017 from an upwardly revised R9.33 billion surplus in July, but beating market expectations of a R3.2 billion surplus. Exports increased 11 percent while imports advanced at a faster 16.3 percent. Considering the January to August period, exports increased 5.8 percent and imports decreased 2.1 percent, shifting the countrys trade balance into a R43.5 billion surplus from a R13.7 billion gap in the same period of 2016. Compared with the previous month, exports increased to R103.4 billion from R93.1 billion, led by higher shipments of mineral products (21 percent); precious metals and stones (20 percent); base metals (12 percent); machinery and electronics (12 percent) while those of vehicles and transport equipment fell 17 percent. Major destinations for sales were China (9.9 percent); the US (8.1 percent); Germany (6.8 percent); Japan (4.7 percent) and Botswana (4.6 percent). Imports advanced to R 97.4 billion from R83.8 billion, due to higher purchases of mineral products (65 percent); prepared foodstuffs (36 percent); textiles (27 percent); original equipment components (29 percent) and machinery and electronics (11 percent). Imports came mostly from China (21.3 percent of total imports); Germany (14.1 percent); the US (7.8 percent); India (5.6 percent) and Saudi Arabia (5.2 percent). Excluding trade with neighbouring Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, the country posted a trade deficit of R1.9 billion in August compared to a R2.6 billion surplus in July. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) on 29 September released trade statistics for August 2017 recording a trade balance surplus of R5.94 billion. These statistics include trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS). The year-to-date (01 January to 31 August 2017) trade balance surplus of R43.45 billion is an improvement on the deficit for the comparable period in 2016 of R13.67 billion. Exports for the year-to-date grew by 5.8% whilst imports for the same period declined by 2.1%. Including trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS) The R5.94 billion trade balance surplus for August 2017 is attributable to exports of R103.38 billion and imports of R97.44 billion. Exports increased from July 2017 to August 2017 by R10.28 billion (11.0%) and imports increased from July 2017 to August 2017 by R13.67 billion (16.3%). Exports for the year-to-date (01 January to 31 August 2017) grew by 5.8% from R719.38 billion in 2016 to R761.24 billion in 2017. Imports for the year-to-date of R717.79 billion are 2.1% less than the imports recorded in January to August 2016 of R733.05 billion, leaving a cumulative trade balance surplus of R43.45 billion for 2017. On a year-on-year basis, the R5.94 billion trade balance surplus for August 2017 is an improvement from the deficit recorded in August 2016 of R8.91 billion. Exports of R103.38 billion are 15.2% more than the exports recorded in August 2016 of R89.76 billion. Imports of R97.44 billion are 1.3% less than the imports recorded in August 2016 of R98.67 billion. July 2017s trade balance surplus was revised upwards by R0.34 billion from the previous months preliminary surplus of R8.99 billion to a revised surplus of R9.33 billion as a result of ongoing Vouchers of Correction (VOCs). Trade highlights by category The main month-on-month export movements: R million Section: Including BLNS: Mineral Products +R4 189 +21% Precious Metals & Stones +R2 990 +20% Base Metals +R1 289 +12% Machinery & Electronics +R 928 +12% Chemical Products +R 848 +15% Prepared Foodstuff +R 637 +16% Vehicles & Transport Equipment -R2 321 -17% Total +R8 560 83% Total Movement +R10 284 100% The main month-on-month import movements: R million Section: Including BLNS: Mineral Products +R5 616 +65% Machinery & Electronics +R2 169 +11% Original Equipment Components +R2 076 +29% Prepared Foodstuff +R 916 +36% Textiles +R 878 +27% Total +R11 655 85% Total Movement +R13 674 100% Trade highlights by world zone The world zone results from July 2017 (revised) to August 2017 are given below. Africa: Exports: R27 819 million this is an increase of R2 628 million from July 2017. Imports: R10 897 million this is an increase of R3 100 million from July 2017. Trade Balance surplus: R16 922 million this is a deterioration in comparison to the R17 394 million surplus recorded in July 2017. America: Exports: R10 007 million this is an increase of R1 324 million from July 2017. Imports: R9 953 million this is an increase of R 386 million from July 2017. Trade Balance surplus: R 54 million this is an improvement in comparison to the R884 million deficit recorded in July 2017. Asia: Exports: R31 431 million this is an increase of R4 468 million from July 2017. Imports: R43 661 million this is an increase of R6 929 million from July 2017. Trade Balance deficit: R12 230 million this is a deterioration in comparison to the R9 769 million deficit recorded in July 2017. Europe: Exports: R25 624 million this is an increase of R 514 million from July 2017. Imports: R31 331 million this is an increase of R2 632 million from July 2017. Trade Balance deficit: R5 707 million this is a deterioration in comparison to the R3 588 million deficit recorded in July 2017. Oceania: Exports: R1 396 million this is an increase of R 73 million from July 2017. Imports: R1 459 million this is an increase of R 530 million from July 2017. Trade Balance deficit: R63 million this is a deterioration in comparison to the R 395 million surplus recorded in July 2017. Excluding trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS) The trade data excluding BLNS for August 2017 recorded a trade balance deficit of R 1.89 billion. This was a result of exports of R91.55 billion and imports of R93.44 billion. Exports increased from July 2017 to August 2017 by R8.46 billion (10.2%) and imports increased from July 2017 to August 2017 by R12.98 billion (16.1%). The cumulative deficit for 2017 is R17.08 billion compared to R83.28 billion deficit in 2016. Trade highlights by category The main month-on-month export movements: R million Section: Excluding BLNS: Mineral Products +R4 145 +23% Precious Metals & Stones +R2 207 +15% Base Metals +R1 273 +13% Chemical Products +R 702 +14% Machinery & Electronics +R 684 +11% Wood Pulp and Paper +R 489 +42% Vehicles & Transport Equipment - R2 346 -18% Total + R7 154 85% Total Movement + R8 464 100% The main month-on-month import movements: R million Section: Excluding BLNS: Mineral Products +R5 605 +65% Machinery & Electronics +R2 170 +11% Original Equipment Components +R2 076 +29% Base Metals +R 859 +20% Prepared Foodstuff +R 828 +39% Total +R11 538 89% Total Movement +R12 980 100% Trade highlights by world zone The world zone results for Africa excluding BLNS from July 2017 (Revised) to August 2017 are given below. Africa: Exports: R15 991 million this is an increase of R807 million from July 2017. Imports: R6 903 million this is an increase of R2 407 million from July 2017. Trade Balance surplus: R9 088 million this is a deterioration in comparison to the R 10 687 million surplus recorded in July 2017. Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (Only) Trade statistics with the BLNS for August 2017 recorded a trade balance surplus of R7.83 billion. This was a result of exports of R11.82 billion and imports of R3.99 billion. Exports increased from July 2017 to August 2017 by R1.82 billion (18.2%) and imports increased from July 2017 to August 2017 by R0.69 billion (21.0%). The cumulative surplus for 2017 is R60.53 billion compared to R69.61 billion in 2016. Trade Highlights by Category The main month-on-month export movements: R million Section: BLNS: Precious Metals & Stones +R 783 +7266% Machinery & Electronics +R 244 +17% Prepared Foodstuff +R 192 +18% Chemical Products +R 146 +16% Plastics and Rubber +R 85 +20% Total +R1 451 80% Total Movement +R1 820 100% When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. "Will there be plenty for our son to do?" There are many activities to do in Jamaica. "We were thinking either late October or mid August which would be better weather wise?" Of the two, pick late Oct. August is 'rainy season' in Jamaica. The chance of rain is high. It is also the middle of hurricane season. Lat Oct. is near the end of 'rainy season' and near the end of hurricane season. The chance of poor weather issues is lower than mid Aug., "Want to do the Dunns waterfalls" This is in Ocho Rios, about a 2 hr. drive, one way, east of Montego Bay. " and maybe the Bob Marley thing" This 'thing' is not clear. Are you thinking about: 1) the birth place and grave of Bob Marley? or 2) the Bob Marley museum, recording studio, and his adult home?, or 3) the location of his beach home? Each of these three Bob Marley related sites are located in different locations. The three locations are several hours drive from each other, and from Montego Bay, in different parts of the island. " Also Ricks cafe" Rick's is located in Negril. It is a 90 min. drive, one way, to Negril. " Are these also gonna be suitable for a 13 year old?" Yes. "We are looking at the Holiday inn." This hotel is all inclusive. Hi, I am plannling a trip to Australia soon, and the itineray I have put together looks like this: -7 days in Gold Coast -2 day tour to Fraser Island (to and from Gold Coast) -9 days island hopping in Fiji -3/4 days in Sydney -2d/2n sailing tour in the Whitsundays -5 days in Cairns -3 days in Daintree and Cape Tribulation -3 days diving trip on Great Barrier Reaf I will also have two stopovers in Hong Kong and Singapore. I am considering skipping Fiji and Fraser Island to save time and money, and being able to spend more time at the other places. I really want to go to Fiji, but it does cost a lot of money. Fraser Island because I will have to travel up and down from Gold Coast, and then further to Fiji (or Sydney if I skip Fiji) the next day. So I am worried it will just become a hassle. Regarding Fiji I am also a little worried that I will get bored and lonely there? I am a solo traveller, and thinking of going for this package: https://backpackersworld.com/product/7-days-6-nights-3-islands-fiji-coconut-cruiser-awesome-adventures What to you think? Feel free to come with suggestions and tips for the other parts of my itineray as well! In Arenal, we enjoyed the property and trails of AOL: https://www.arenalobservatorylodge.com/getting-arenal-observatory-lodge-spa . (About 3.5 hrs from Liberia, according to their site.) The property is located about 25 min drive away from La Fortuna, so it is isolated, and the road toward it is tricky, but if you have own car and drive during the day, you should be OK. If you get lucky and see the volcano not in the clouds, clearly, you will be very close to it. They have a few trails on their property, you can see some wildlife, and you can see a volcano from some rooms, as well from the only restaurant with an outside deck. We thought it was beautiful. If you are looking for a hotel with own hot springs, this is not it. You can also stay elsewhere and visit AOL for a day on a pass for US$10 pp. The day visitors cannot use the pool/jaccuzi, and I am not sure they can join the free guided hike at 8:30 am from the reception. If you're looking for "walking friendly" none of the areas mentioned may be right for you. Out of all of these areas the only one in which I've ever done any walking is in Monteverde. We stay at a place where you can walk to town, Santa Elena, and to some restaurants and "attractions". However, you have to be careful, staying off the road, and I wouldn't do it in the dark. I know that there are other places to experience a cloud forest but I recommended the extra driving more to see Arenal. Once you travel to that area, it's fun (in my opinion) to drive up to Monteverde. You can also drive from the Pacific side directly up the mountain. I would never recommend all three (together with a Pacific beach area) if you didn't have two weeks. While I would never rush from place to place, I believe that you have ample time to enjoy each location and, especially in the dry season, the relatively long drive are scenic and interesting. You can search the driving distances but I believe each trip would be between three and five hours at the most. We're all different on vacation but I'd get antsy f I stayed in one place for more than 4 nights. Some thoughts: 1. You mention wanting a mix of smaller places and large cities but your itinerary is primarily large cities. 2. Nikko to Kamakura will involve at least 3 hours of travelling before the train trip to Nagoya. I love Kamakura, but maybe would cut it out in favour of spending more time in Nikko before heading to Nagoya. Is there a particular reason that you're heading to Nagoya? 3. If you do want to include Kamakura (which is truly lovely) you might consider doing it as a day trip from Tokyo. 4. I love both Kyoto and Hiroshima, but would definitely cut a day from Hiroshima and give it to Kyoto. 5. Stay on Mt Koya overnight. It is 3 hours each way from Osaka, which makes it hard to relax and enjoy your day if done as a daytrip. It will also give you a different experience. You could do it instead of your first day in Osaka. 6. Similarly, I would maybe recommend having a night on Miyajima rather than just a day trip. 7. Use 'Hyperdia' to determine if your JR Pass will pay off - it might end up being cheaper just to buy the tickets. I love the convenience of the JR Pass but always check to see if it is worth it first. Not sure if all of these questions belong into the Japan forum:-(( In summer 2018, my son (who'll be 13 then) and I (female, then 44 years old) are planning to travel to Japan and China. So far, the plan is to fly to Tokyo, spend two and a half weeks in Japan, fly to Peking, travel around for another two and a half weeks, then fly back to Tokyo and then back to Germany. We are both experienced travelers, but we have never been in Japan or China. We have been to Bangkok a couple of times, though... Here's some questions: - Are 2.5 weeks a bit tight? My son wants to see Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima. - Is it better to fly or take the train within Japan? - What other places are a must-go with a teenager who's very interested in Sushi, streetfood, Judo (he does that in Germany), Samurai and general history and culture of Japan? I have fairly similar questions for China, as well as a visa question, but I'm not sure if I should post in a china forum again or ask here? Please advise! Thanks all! 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. Florida will open three disaster relief centers Tuesday to assist Puerto Rican families displaced by Hurricane Maria. Gov. Rick Scott said Monday that the centers, staffed by state employees, will be located at Orlando International Airport, Miami International Airport and Port Miami. We know that people will come here, Scott said in Miami at the opening of a Latin American conference. They have family here. They have friends here. Theyre comfortable coming to Florida. And so were going to do whatever we can. Do they need a job? Do they need housing? Do they need to find a family and friend? Is there a host family that could help them? Scott said Gov. Ricardo Rossellos administration asked Florida to lend 1,500 Spanish-speaking law-enforcement officers. Were doing that, Scott said. Were working on sending National Guard. Scotts office did not specify exactly where the centers will be located or the hours of operation. Scott estimated that slightly less than 1 million Puerto Ricans already live in Florida. Asked if the federal response to Maria was slow, Scott would not say. Earlier Monday, Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami characterized it as a terrible response to a horrible tragedy. Im not here to assign blame, Scott said. I know that weve worked hard to make sure we solve our problems in our state, and I know Gov. Rossello is doing [the same] over there in Puerto Rico. My experience by being over there is, I saw people working their tail off. Scott declined to say whether Maria evacuees -- upset at President Donald Trumps handling of the disaster response -- could turn into blue Florida voters casting ballots against the president and governor in future elections. Ive been governor now for almost seven years, Scott said. I reach out to people and talk to people and try to solve problems. I know that people are going to come here from Puerto Rico are going to be hardworking, he added. Theyre going to be part of our society, and my job as governor is to provide as many resources as I can and give them the same opportunity that every other Floridian has. Scotts announcement on Monday followed a written request last Friday from a dozen Democratic state legislators who called for the opening of disaster recovery centers in Florida. The governor also spoke by phone Sunday with at least two lawmakers, including Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs, who earlier emphasized the need for one-stop recovery centers. It went well, Cortes said of his talk with Scott. Hes listening to what were saying. He asked us, what can we (the state) do. -- With reporting by Herald staff writer Patricia Mazzei via @learyreports Sen. Bill Nelson (D): Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims of this horrific attack. As the investigation continues, we will learn more about what led to this tragedy in Las Vegas, but at some point we, as a society, have to stand up and say enough is enough. In Miami, Sen. Marco Rubio (R) told reporters the Las Vegas shooting was a horrible tragedy. An individual acquired weaponry and used it to kill people, and its terrible, Rubio said. We dont know the motivation. Well learn more in the days to come, and if theres public policy that could have prevented an attack like that, then we most certainly would consider it. The problem with many of the recommendations Ive heard in the past is that frankly they would not have prevented any of the attacks.... But I think we need to learn more about what happened in Las Vegas. What we know now is that its been a horrible tragedy, and it appears now to be the largest mass-casualty event -- shooting -- in American history. Gov. Rick Scott opened his Latin America summit in Miami on Monday by asking for a moment of silence for the Las Vegas shooting victims. Your heart goes out to everybody, every family member thats been impacted, he said. I think back to what happened in the Pulse attack, and just sitting down with those families -- theres no words that can console anybody. You never understand the evil in the world, why somebody would do something like this. Scott later told reporters, Its just so senseless.... Im praying for the people that are injured, and I hope they all survive. It had to be traumatic to be there. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami: Condolences to victims + families involved in senseless act of violence in Las Vegas. Grateful to @LVMPD who quickly apprehended the suspect Mario Diaz-Balart (@MarioDB) October 2, 2017 Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Miami: My thoughts are with all those affected by last night's #LasVegasShooting & their families. Grateful for the bravery of our first responders Rep. Carlos Curbelo (@RepCurbelo) October 2, 2017 Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston: While we mourn for the victims, families, survivors and first responders who went through this horrific tragedy in Las Vegas, we cannot stop the conversation there. There was an airport mass shooting in my community in January, and Orlandos Pulse tragedy is a fresh, painful memory. Now we have a new 'worst-ever gun-shooting' tragedy before us. Congress must send more than thoughts and prayers. It must act, and immediately adopt sensible gun control measures. Every Member of Congress has a moral obligation to take immediate action to prevent these senseless gun deaths from happening yet again. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach: Last night, Las Vegas suffered a terrible attack. A gunman opened fire on innocent people at a concert, killing many and injuring many more. As a nation, we are grateful for the response of law enforcement, first responders, and the brave men and women who risked their own safety in order to protect and assist their fellow Americans. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa: I am shocked and saddened by the horrific act of gun violence in Las Vegas. I am praying for the victims and their families and know many across the Tampa Bay area are doing the same. Day in and day out, too many American families suffer the consequences of our countrys gun violence epidemic. Certainly, we can come together to pass common sense safety requirements such as background checks and limits on civilian use of military-style weapons, and to enforce the laws on the books. The sorrow that I and so many around the country feel for the innocent men and women whose lives were cruelly cut short by this heartless act of domestic terrorism is immeasurable. We will never allow these acts of terror to control us but after so many lives lost around our country for so long by public acts of gun violence, we must ask ourselves why this is allowed to continue. We owe it to the victims of these horrible acts of gun violence to take steps that will ensure more innocent lives are not lost to future tragedies. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar: Just last year, our nation witnessed what was at the time the worst mass shooting in our history. It is beyond tragic that we are once again confronted by the unspeakable evil of mass shootings in America. As details of this tragedy emerge, there is no question that this shooting must reshape our nations conversation about guns. More than 33,000 people will die from gun violence this year. And unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of Americans killed every day by gun violence never garner breaking news headlines. Republican Members of Congress have a bad habit of ignoring the devastation brought by gun violence, siding instead with the extreme voices of their party. With each new tragedy that occurs, those who stand in the way of legislation to address our countrys gun violence epidemic are increasingly culpable for its continuation. Today, we come together as a nation to sadly mourn those who lost their lives in this tragic and senseless violence. Let us finally act with a unified voice and with the necessary resolve to stem the tide of gun violence in America once and for all. Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Panama City: Leah and I were heartbroken to hear of the tragic events that claimed so many lives in Las Vegas last night. We are praying for all who were affected by this tragedy. Thank you to all of the officers and first responders who immediately took action. Their bravery saved countless lives. --with Patricia Mazzei -NASA leaders and supporters are protesting on streets across the country to push for electoral reforms - Police have engaged protesters in running battles leading to injuries on both sides - The Opposition wants senior IEBC officials including CEO Ezra Chiloba out of office Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala was on Monday, October 2 put under house arrest by police who blocked him from leading anti-IEBC protests in the western Kenya town. Former Senator Bonny Khalwale was however seen in town leading National Super Alliance (NASA) supporters in the protests. READ ALSO: You did not want me, Otuoma tells Raila after the NASA leader mocked him Police were forced to lob tear gas canisters at the crowds to disperse them with reports indicating that some were fired into county offices. Kakamega County Senator Cleophas Malala who was blocked by police from leaving his house. Photo: Cleophas Malala/Facebook TUKO.co.ke has learnt that police surrounded Malala's home at around 10am thwarting his efforts to participate in the protests. READ ALSO: Protestors and police officers clash in Kisumu as anti-IEBC demos kick off countrywide (photos) He was locked in together with members of his family and other local leaders including Isukha South ward MCA Farouk Machanje who had gone there to strategise on how to conduct the elections. The Senator accused police of throwing teargas inside his home yet there were no demos there. Journalists and locals outside Senator Cleophas Malala's home. Photo: Henry Sunguti He spoke to journalists on phone from his home as they were denied entry to his home. READ ALSO: 7 University of Nairobi students hospitalised,one feared dead from police brutality NASA supporters in Kisumu and Mombasa staged demos with police repulsing them when they started to become rowdy. Kakamega County Assembly deputy Speaker Leonard Soita outside Senator Cleophas Malala's home. Photo: Henry Sunguti Ugly scenes were witnessed in Kisumu as the protesters seemed to overpower officers who ran out of tear gas and had to retreat to Kondele Police Station. Shortly after, the crowds experienced the force of the security officers after they returned with more tear gas and repulsed the demonstrators. I lost my leg in Afghanistan, almost gave up Source: TUKO.co.ke - The government has been stopped from advertising it's achievements in public places - The High Court has issued the ban following an application by a lobby group - The lobby, Katiba Institute is seeking to determine the extent the government violated the electoral law during campaigns - The government will therefore not advertise Jubilee developments and achievements as previously done using #GoKDelivers and #JubileeDelivers The Jubilee administration has been stopped from advertising its achievements in the media. The High Court has barred the Presidential Delivery Unit(PDU) from placing any adverts in print and electronic media as well as on banners displayed in any public places. This after a lobby group sought an order stopping such displays by the government until a case it has filed is determined. The Uhuru administration has been stopped from advertising its achievements in the media.Photo:Uhuru Kenyatta/Facebook. READ ALSO: Boinnet sparks public anger after justifying police brutality According to the Nation, Katiba Institute through its representative Waikwa Wanyoike has sued PDU as well as Nzioka Waita, Andrew Wakahiu and Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua. The High Court order was given on Monday, October 2 amidst demands by Katiba Institute that the government releases information on how much was spent in running such adverts prior to the August 8 election. The Uhuru administration run the commercials under the #GOKDelivers and #JubileeDelivers hashtags. READ ALSO: Protestors and police officers clash in Kisumu as anti-IEBC demos kick off countrywide (photos) The SGR is among the major Jubilee flagship projects.Photo:Star. READ ALSO: Police put Kakamega Senator under house arrest, block him from leading protests They showed the various Jubilee projects like the Standard Gauge Railway, electricity connection, free maternity health care among others. Katiba Institute wants to know whether it was necessary to run such adverts and how much of public money was used. The lobby is also seeking to determine the extent the government violated the electoral law during campaigns by placing such adverts. Babu Owino supporters demand for his immediate release Source: TUKO.co.ke @ByKristenMClark As Florida communities prepare to take in Puerto Ricans displaced by Hurricane Maria, five lawmakers are asking the states top education official to grant flexibility to public schools so they can accommodate additional students in the coming months. In a letter to state Education Commissioner Pam Stewart on Monday, the lawmakers formally asked the state to ensure schools receive additional funding that will be crucial to cover the uptick in student enrollment that wasnt anticipated when the Legislature approved this years school spending in June. They also want Stewart to give schools a break when it comes to certain required enrollment paperwork and constitutionally mandated caps on class sizes. It is extremely important for Florida to be prepared for a large number of evacuees from Puerto Rico, Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs, said in a statement. So many Puerto Rican families have literally lost everything, and we must stand ready to do everything possible to help their children transition as seamlessly as possible to a new school and learning environment. More here. Photo credit: State Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs, talks with House Education Committee chairman Michael Bileca, R-Miami, on the House floor in April. [Florida House] It was fun in the sun on Sunday as the Aranguez savannah was the place to crown winners of t Militants launched 14 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas over the past day. This is reported by the ATO press center. In Donetsk direction, illegal armed formations used grenade launchers and small arms to fire at Ukrainian strongholds near Zaitseve (67km north-north-east of Donetsk). Russian-backed militants also shelled residential buildings on the northern outskirts of this village. In addition, militants launched attacks near Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk), using grenade launchers and small arms. In Mariupol direction, militants used anti-tank grenade launchers and weapons on infantry fighting vehicles to shell Novotroitske (32km south of Donetsk). The enemy also used weapons on armoured vehicles and heavy machine guns near Hnutove (19km north-west of Mariupol). In Luhansk direction, Russian-terrorist groups launched attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine outside Krymske (42.5km north-west of Luhansk), using anti-tank grenade launchers and small arms. ol The autonomous trade measures of the European Union for Ukraine came into force on October 1, 2017. European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom and Ukraine's Trade Representative and Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Trade Natalia Mykolska said this in a joint statement, according to the Ukrainian government website. "Several important agricultural and industrial goods will now get better access to the EU market, as they can be exported tariff-free. This is an important sign of the EU's continued, tangible economic and political support for the Ukrainian people, the country and its reform efforts," reads the statement. In particular, the EU Regulation on autonomous trade measures will top up the quantities of agricultural products that Ukraine can export to the EU under the Association Agreement without paying customs duties. It will also accelerate the elimination of EU import tariffs for several industrial products, as foreseen in the Association Agreement. In terms of agricultural products, Ukraine will have an opportunity to export bigger quantities of wheat, maize, barley, oats and barley groats and pellets to the EU without customs tariffs. The proposal creates opportunities to export bigger amounts of processed tomatoes, natural honey and grape juice duty-free to the EU. These trade preferences will also benefit industrial sectors, for example Ukrainian producers of footwear, fertilizers, aluminum products and consumer electronics. "In the first half of this year - according to Eurostat - trade in goods between the EU and Ukraine increased by 23% and the EU continues to strengthen its position as the first trade partner of Ukraine. Overall, the European Union accounts for around 40% of Ukraine's total exports and we ties between the EU and Ukraine, and support further expansion of Ukrainian exports to the EU, following the trade restrictions imposed by Russia," reads the statement. op Militants have restricted access for the observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in the "DPR"-controlled village of Shcherbak in Donetsk region, according to a report published on the website of the organization. "Three armed men in military-style clothing and with their faces covered had blocked a road junction about 1km east of 'DPR'-controlled Shcherbak (92km south of Donetsk) with a vehicle labeled 'police' in Cyrillic. They prevented the SMM from proceeding further south, citing special operations in the area," the mission reports. Observers said that other civilian vehicles were also being denied passage towards south. "A man in civilian clothes approached the SMM, introducing himself as 'head of police,' and said that since that was a 'pre-border area,' the SMM had to co-ordinate its movement with 'DPR.' Later the SMM was allowed to proceed south towards 'DPR'-controlled Novoazovsk (40km east of Mariupol) only upon escort," the report says. The OSCE SMM informed the Joint Center for Control and Coordination about the incident. op Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree on the inclusion of Ukraine's representatives in arbitration groups between Ukraine and the European Union, the press service of the head of state has reported. According to the document, those included in the arbitration groups are Sergiy Gryshko (Deputy Director General at Redcliffe Partners), Taras Kachka (Deputy Executive Director at the International Renaissance Foundation), Viktor Muravyov (Head of the Department of Comparative and European Law at the Institute of International Relations of Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University), and Yuriy Rudyuk (a partner of the Van Bael & Bellis law firm, Belgium). The decree comes into force on the date of its publication. op Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman believes that bringing perpetrators of MH17 crash to justice is the duty of the whole civilized world. Ukrainian PM said this during the meeting with President of the Australian Senate Stephen Perry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "A common tragedy, which occurred with the involvement of Russian terrorists, consolidated us in a certain historic period. I mean downing of MH17. This is enormous tragedy for us, and we are doing everything that depends on us, cooperating with you, to bring all the perpetrators to justice. Bringing this case to trial in the relevant courts is the common duty of the whole civilized democratic world," Groysman said. At the same time, the Head of Ukrainian Government thanked Perry for Australias support for Ukraine during the difficult time when Ukraine became a victim of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. "Our bilateral relations in this historical period of time are very close, and your visit again testifies to the fact that we should unite our opportunities and deepen our relations," the Prime Minister underscored and expressed the hope that cooperation between states, including economic, would intensify in the future. As a reminder, Malaysia Airlines MH17 Boeing 777 heading from Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur was shot down over militant-occupied territory in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on July 17, 2014. All 298 people on board were killed in the crash. The international group to investigate the plane crash came to the conclusion that the airliner was shot down from a territory controlled by the Russian-backed militants with a missile launched from the Buk missile launcher, previously delivered from the territory of Russia. ol President of the Senate of the Parliament of Australia Stephen Parry has praised friendly interstate relations and promised that Australia will continue to support sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Parry said this at a briefing after the meeting with Verkhovna Rada Speaker Andriy Parubiy. "We continue to support the sovereignty of your state and the sovereignty of your borders," the President of Australian Senate said, noting that the countries have friendly relations at the parliamentary and government levels. "The relations between us are not just relations between the two parliaments, they are also relations between the two governments. We have friends in Ukraine, and Ukrainians also have friends in Australia," he stressed. Parry noted that Australia would be happy to welcome parliamentarians from Ukraine. He stressed that Australia and Ukraine faced different problems but mentioned that the two countries can support each other in overcoming the obstacles in order to work for the benefit of our peoples." ol Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy has said he hopes that the restoration of a friendship group with Ukraine in Australia will facilitate the intensification of the inter-parliamentary dialogue. He told this to journalists after meeting with President of the Senate of Australia Stephen Parry in Kyiv on Monday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "It is very important that the friendship group between Australia and Ukraine resumed its work in Australia, and I am confident that it will be able to intensify the inter-parliamentary dialogue. Parliamentary diplomacy is becoming more and more important in the world," Parubiy said. He added that the visit by the president of the Senate of Australia to Ukraine would be a new stage in relations between the parliaments of the two countries. Parubiy also said that during the meeting he had thanked Parry for supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty and "especially for the preservation and continuation of sanctions against the Russian Federation". He also recalled the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. "This tragedy has demonstrated the global threat of Russian aggression for the whole world... We expressed confidence that as a result of investigative actions the perpetrators of this tragedy will not only be demonstrated, but they will be prosecuted," Parubiy said. op @ByKristenMClark The legal war has officially begun over a highly controversial, charter school-friendly education law Republican state lawmakers pushed through last spring. Palm Beach County School Board members filed a lawsuit this week challenging the constitutionality of one part of House Bill 7069. Another, potentially more far-reaching lawsuit with the backing of at least 14 other school districts including Miami-Dade and Broward counties is still expected in the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, charter school advocates are rallying their forces, too vowing to fight in defense of HB 7069 in the courtroom and also on the political battlefield. Among the weapons theyre preparing: A coordinated public relations campaign highlighting school districts spending, and fielding and funding challengers to school board members statewide who face re-election in 2018 and who have been critical of HB 7069. Were developing a plan and were going to be very aggressive, said Ralph Arza, a former Miami-Dade Republican lawmaker who is now the government affairs director for the Florida Charter School Alliance. More here. Photo credit: Miami Herald file photo. @PatriciaMazzei Florida Republicans don't want to criticize President Donald Trump's administration for its slow-moving response to assist Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. But they're also not going out of their way to praise it. "In hindsight, we all wish we could get those three or four days back," U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio told reporters in Miami on Monday after they asked if Washington could have done more -- and more quickly -- to aid the island. "The good news is, now that Lt. Gen. [Jeffrey] Buchanan is on the ground, it appears that every single day that goes by, they have more control and authority over the reestablishment of logistics." Delicate politics are at play: Republicans expect perhaps thousands of Puerto Ricans to move to states like Florida in the storm's aftermath. Puerto Ricans already tend to vote Democratic. And now some of them are upset at Trump's Twitter jabs at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz -- and at Puerto Rican workers -- after Maria. Will they remember once they move here and go to the polls on Election Day? "I haven't thought about the political dynamic of it, because we're still in the middle of a response to a hurricane," Rubio said. "So, in the short-term, all I've said is, I want us to focus 100 percent on what we need to do to improve the recovery effort. And anything that isn't about that is taking away [from that]. And we have plenty of time in the future to sit there and point to the mistakes that were made, and what could be done better, and what we would do differently, but right now every minute we spend sort of doing that sort of thing is a minute that isn't being spent trying to improve reconstruction and deal with it." Trump plans to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday. Puerto Rico's resident commissioner in Congress, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, estimated in an interview that aired Sunday on Miami's local Univision affiliate that as many as half a million Puerto Ricans could move to the mainland in the coming months. Gov. Rick Scott, a fellow Republican who like Rubio traveled to Puerto Rico last week to view the hurricane's devastation firsthand, announced Monday he will open three relief centers in Miami and Orlando to help new Puerto Rican arrivals. Scott declined to say whether the White House could have acted with more urgency. "I'm not here to assign blame," he said. "I know that we've worked hard to make sure we solve our problems in our state, and I know Gov. [Ricardo] Rossello is doing [the same] over there in Puerto Rico. My experience by being over there is, I saw people working their tail off." Scott wouldn't speculate on whether any new Florida voters from Puerto Rico could take out their frustration against him if he runs as U.S. Senate next year. "I've been governor now for almost seven years," Scott said. "I reach out to people and talk to people and try to solve problems.... I know that people are going to come here from Puerto Rico are going to be hardworking. They're going to be part of our society, and my job as governor is to provide as many resources as I can, and give them the same opportunity that every other Floridian has." Only Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a frequent, outspoken Trump critic who is retiring next year, openly lamented the federal government's handling of Puerto Rico, calling it "a terrible response to a horrible tragedy." She made a point, however, to thank Rubio and Scott for their efforts -- putting them on a separate plane from the GOP president. 6 Police officers advise people to take cover near the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. Uber, the American private car hire, and delivery company has launched operations in Cambodia. Brooks Entwistle, the companys Asia-Pacific business officer, told reporters on Thursday that Uber services would initially be available in Phnom Penh. We are starting and launching here in Phnom Penh. This is our focus city of Cambodia. Everyone knows, as we do in every city where we launched, we make sure we provide the products for riders and opportunities for drivers ... for the cities we have before we think about moving on to the next [ones], he said. The ride-sharing application was created after its founders struggled to locate convenient transportation in Paris in 2008, Entwistle said. William Heidt, U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia, said the introduction of Uber into Cambodia could help ease traffic congestion. Cities across Asia including Phnom Penh are adding tens of thousands of cars to their roads every year. The pressure on infrastructure and environment in many cities has become overwhelming. Uber technologies are providing solutions to these problems by offering smarter modes of transportation, with fewer cars carrying more people, he said. Uber has raised more than $14 billion from investors since its founding in 2009. Its shareholders include TPG Capital, mutual fund giants such as BlackRock, and financial firms Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Pheng Sovicheano, secretary of state at the public works and transport ministry, said the investment showed that Cambodia was open to new technologies, new businesses, and new ideas. Ban Heng, a car owner who was one of the first Cambodians to sign up with Uber, said he hoped joining the service would supplement his income. Uber is very good for me and for additional income, and its also good for other people who want to make more income and own cars. Animals that make the water their home are uniquely sensitive to changes in their liquid world. Oysters are very good at filtering dirty water, and crayfish are very sensitive to changes in water quality. Now scientists in the Czech Republic are using these sensitive bottom dwellers to monitor water quality in a business where clean water matters. VOA's Kevin Enochs reports. Worldwide, fewer women are online than men. In the U.S., women still struggle to break into the tech industry and once there, many find it tough to thrive. On Oct. 5th, Voice of America will hold a town hall at the worlds largest gathering of women in technology in Orlando, Florida. VOAs Michelle Quinn reports. Following numerous Islamic State attacks on Afghanistan's Shi'ite minority in several provinces, the government in Kabul has enlisted hundreds of Shi'ite civilians to protect their religious sites against the growing IS threat. Based on the demands of Shi'ite elders and scholars, and a decision by the National Security Council, local people have been recruited to help protect mosques in Kabul, Mohammad Sadeq Muradi, Kabul deputy police chief told VOA. Monthly salary for members of force The 505-member militia force has received weapons and a monthly salary of around $100 per person from the Ministry of Interior to beef up security around 100 mosques, including Sunni sites, in Kabul, according Abdul Ahmad Yazdan, a member of the Kabul Provincial Council. The recruits have been enlisted in coordination with local Shi'ite leaders and would operate under the Ministry of Interior. Since its emergence in 2015, the Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks across Afghanistan and has been accused of indiscriminately attacking civilians in general and the Shi'ite minority in particular. Last Friday, IS claimed responsibility for storming a Shi'ite mosque in Kabul that killed five worshipers and wounded 30 others. The worshipers had gathered for a religious ceremony to commemorate the death of Hussain Ibn Ali and his family members, one of the grandsons of Prophet Mohammad who had refused, around 1,400 years ago, to pledge allegiance to a political rival whom he viewed as unfit to rule. More deadly attacks In August, IS militants claimed credit for a deadly attack in the country's northern Sar-e-Pul province, killing over 50 Shi'ite Muslims, including children and elderly. In early August, the terror group attacked a Shi'ite mosque in western Herat province, killing and injuring dozens of worshippers. Among the dead was the father of Fatima Qaderyan, captain of the Afghan all-girls robotics team that made headlines last month after managing to get U.S. visas to participate in the International Robot Olympics for High School Students in Washington D.C. The girls were initially denied U.S visas, but following President Donald Trump's personal intervention, they were able to travel to the United States. The Afghan government says the attacks on Shi'ite mosques and seminaries are aimed creating a sectarian divide in the country. The Afghan people believe in religious moderation and do not accept any extreme interpretation that may cause divisions and enmity, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told a Shi'ite gathering Sunday in Kabul. The 2017 Nobel Prize for Medicine has been awarded to three American scientists. Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young were awarded for their discoveries of the molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm. Using fruit flies as a model organism, this year's Nobel laureates isolated a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm, the award committee said. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night, and is then degraded during the day. Circadian rhythms adapt one's physiology to different phases of the day, influencing sleep, behavior, hormone levels, body temperature and metabolism. The prize for physiology or medicine is first Nobel Prize awarded each year. The prizes for physics, chemistry, literature and peace will also be announced from Tuesday to Friday respectively; and the prize for economics on Monday, October 9. The prize comes with $1.1 million. Who are they? Jeffrey C. Hall was born 1945 in New York, USA. He received his doctoral degree in 1971 at the University of Washington in Seattle and was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena from 1971 to 1973. He joined the faculty at Brandeis University in Waltham in 1974. In 2002, he became associated with University of Maine. Michael Rosbash was born in 1944 in Kansas City, USA. He received his doctoral degree in 1970 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. During the following three years, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Since 1974, he has been on faculty at Brandeis University in Waltham, USA. Michael W. Young was born in 1949 in Miami, USA. He received his doctoral degree at the University of Texas in Austin in 1975. Between 1975 and 1977, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University in Palo Alto. From 1978, he has been on faculty at the Rockefeller University in New York. Cambodia's detained opposition leader, who is accused of treason by the government of strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen, denied the charges against him on Monday in his first comments since his arrest last month. Kem Sokha, head of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) is accused of trying to overthrow the government with help from the United States and of espionage charges he denies and says are politically motivated. His arrest last month is part of ongoing efforts by the government to silence political opponents and independent media ahead of a general election next year. Earlier Monday Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge officer who defected and has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, attacked opposition figures as "rebels in the city" bent on staging a revolution. In a three-page letter posted on his Facebook page Monday, Kem Sokha said that he was seeking positive change in Cambodia through the ballot box and not through revolution as charged. "As the leader of the CNRP and a representative of more than half of the country's population, I always choose changes through elections without violence," he said in the letter. Rights groups say Hun Sen, 65, is determined to extend his rule and dismantle the burgeoning popularity of the CNRP, who have gained from public anger over inequality and cronyism in the country under Hun Sen's rule. The U.S. embassy has rejected any suggestion of interference in politics. Kem Sokha's Sept. 3 arrest sparked condemnation from Western countries, and the CNRP has said about half its members of parliament have fled Cambodia fearing a crackdown. In his letter, Kem Sokha called his arrest unconstitutional and urged supporters not to be intimidated. "Please, the Cambodian people, remember that I am with you. Even though my body is in prison, but nobody can detain my conscience," he said. He called on the international community for help. "Democracy in Cambodia is already at its last breath," he said. A spokesman from Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) said that Kem Sokha had confessed to the charges against him. Movement in Cameroons two English-speaking regions remains restricted following deadly unrest Sunday as activists took to the streets demanding independence. Local media report as many as a dozen people were gunned down by security forces. An uneasy calm reigned Monday in Bamenda, a city of a half million in northwestern Cameroon. Reverend Edward Njini said just a handful of people came to his morning service. "A few people came for worship and then we read the communique from the governor. And so we just prayed with them, explained the thing and asked them to go home and stay and worship at home," Njini said. The military was deployed to Bamenda and other towns to stop anglophone separatist groups from declaring independence on October 1st as threatened. Under government restrictions, no one can enter or leave the northwest and southwest regions of the country. Within those regions, people cannot move outside in groups of more than three. However on Sunday, tens of thousands of people across the two English-speaking zones defied the restrictions and came out to rally for independence. Separatist groups did not declare independence, but their supporters hoisted the blue and white flag of their would-be nation, called Ambazonia, in road junctions and some public buildings. They met stiff resistance from the military. A woman shouted for help at Nanga junction, a neighborhood in Bamenda. She said the military was throwing tear gas and beating people indiscriminately. She told VOA that after a teenage boy was beaten to death, the population blocked roads so military vehicles could not continue to enter their neighborhood. She said those who defied the order to stay at home were being arrested. The government has acknowledged people were killed but did not give figures. The military says at least 40 people have been arrested. In Bamenda Monday, soldiers continued sealing what they called suspected neighborhoods and arresting more people. In the northwestern town of Kumbo, the government says three prisoners who attempted to escape were killed by the military. The government said the prison had been set on fire by prisoners. Rights group worries Amnesty International says the reports of protesters shot dead by security forces are worrying and urged the government to lift restrictions on freedom of movement and assembly. John Fru Ndi, leader of Cameroons main opposition political party, the SDF, has condemned the violence. "I don't want bloodshed. I don't want destruction, I have never wanted it. For them to react in the way they are reacting is because they have been pushed to the wall," NDI said. President Paul Biya responded to the unrest on Twitter and Facebook, saying he strongly condemned all acts of violence, regardless of their sources and their perpetrators and calling for peaceful dialogue. Back in the capital, Yaounde, and major towns in the French-speaking regions, rallies are being held to denounce separatist groups. Lawmaker Tabe Tando from the English-speaking southwest read a declaration at a large rally in Yaounde Sunday. "The members of parliament outrightly condemn any action aimed at destabilizing our beloved and beautiful country, reaffirm their attachment to a Cameroon which is one and indivisible as enshrined in the constitution, express their brotherly solidarity to the populations of the northwest and southwest regions, victims of the unscrupulous acts of enemies of the fatherland and peace," Tando said. The separatist groups say the countrys English-speaking minority has been marginalized by French-speakers. President Biya has said he is not open to any negotiation on the form of the state, and that Cameroon is one and indivisible. Catalonia's government said early Monday that preliminary results show that 90 percent of voters in Sunday's referendum want the region to declare its independence from Spain. Regional government spokesman Jordi Turull said 2.02 million of the 2.26 million votes cast were for independence. He said nearly 8 percent of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. Voter turnout was about 42 percent in Catalonia which has an electorate of 5.3 million voters. Catalonia regional President Carles Puigdemont said he would keep his pledge to declare independence unilaterally if the Yes side won Sunday's disputed referendum on secession from Spain. Watch: Catalonia President In a televised address after polls closed, Puigdemont said Catalonia had won the right to become an independent state and urged the European Union to stop looking the other way. The government of Spain, however, forcefully disagreed. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who spoke from Madrid Sunday slammed the vote - calling it illegal and an attack on the rule of law. "At this hour, I can tell you in the strongest terms what you already know and what we have seen throughout this day. There has not been a referendum on self-determination in Catalonia today," Rajoy said. Puigdemont replied, saying Rajoy was bringing shame on his country. "The exterior image of the Spanish state keeps getting worse and today they have reached embarrassing levels that will always be always remembered," Puigdemont said. Officials in Catalonia said more than 800 people were injured when police tried to keep residents from voting. Spain's Constitutional Court had suspended a law passed by the region's parliament calling for the vote, but the referendum was held anyway. Police officers from Spain's national police forces raided polling places in an effort to close them down and halt voting. Video showed police dragging people from polling stations and beating and kicking would-be voters and demonstrators. Puigdemont said he would appeal to the European Union to look into alleged human rights violations in connection with the violent efforts to halt the vote. In Pictures: Catalonia Independence In a statement issued late Sunday, the State Department said the United States supports a strong and united Spain. The U.S. also supports the right to free assembly, the statement said, and urged those involved to act in a way consistent with Spanish law. Several labor unions and other organizations called for a strike Tuesday to protest the police crackdown. Two Eritrean TV journalists who spent more than a decade imprisoned in Ethiopia have been released, according to family members and Eritrean press freedom advocates. The sources told VOA's Horn of Africa service that Tesfaldet Kidane and Salih Gama were released over the weekend. A family member of Kidane said Gama has already left for Eritrea, while Kidane is still in Ethiopia. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Gama, a show host for Eritrea's state broadcaster, and Kidane, a cameraman, were arrested in December 2006 on the Kenya-Somalia border during Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia. CPJ says that in April 2007, Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry presented them on state television as part of a group of 41 captured terrorism suspects. But the two were never formally charged or put on trial. There have been no official statements on their release from the Ethiopian or Eritrean governments. The two governments have little tolerance for perceived dissent or criticism, and usually rank near the bottom on indexes of press freedom. CPJ says that as of 2016, Ethiopia was holding 16 journalists behind bars, while Eritrea was holding 17, some of whom have been in prison since 2001. The family of a former Rwandan presidential candidate is demanding answers a week after she was taken into police custody. Officially, Diane Rwigara has been charged with offenses against state security and forgery following her arrest on Sept. 23. Her family believes the only crime she committed was challenging the authority of President Paul Kagame by running for president. These charges are false; they are totally false, and nobody in Rwanda believes the validity of these charges. Everybody knows its all made up, said Rwigaras brother Aristide Rwigara, who lives in the United States and spoke to VOA. Its punishment to my sister because she was running for president. You dont do that in Rwanda. You dont exercise your constitutional rights. Moved to jail cell Aristide Rwigara said his sisters Diane and Anne, and his mother Adeline, were initially under house arrest and regularly brought into a police station for questioning during early morning hours. In recent days, theyve been held in a jail cell, he said. Human rights groups have accused President Kagames party of harassing opponents and using intimidation to stifle any dissent to his rule. Kagame has led Rwanda since 2000 and was re-elected to a third term in August. The official results showed him winning nearly 99 percent of the vote. Silencing critics? Diane Rwigara is a womens rights activist and vocal critic of Kagame. After she announced her candidacy in May, nude photos of her, which she dismissed as fake, circulated online. Later, she was disqualified from appearing on the ballot due to an alleged lack of signatures and has been arrested twice. This is not her familys first run-in with the Rwandan Patriotic Front, Rwandas ruling party. In 2015, her father, Assinapol, died in a car accident. The family believes he was assassinated, possibly by business rivals. His family unsuccessfully petitioned Kagame to investigate the case, citing his large donations to the ruling party. Aristide Rwigara says his sisters arrest sends a message to all people in Rwanda who might want to criticize the government. Its an act of silencing critics. Its a way of making sure that the truth doesnt get out, he said. My sister (is) very outspoken telling the truth about what's actually going on in Rwanda and tearing apart this false image of this prosperous this utopian image of Rwanda they are selling, (which) is absolutely false. Serve my people the best way they can be served' When confronted with criticism of his human rights record during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York last month, Kagame denied any wrongdoing. It's cynical and absurd that anyone would just be there talking about violations, he said. You know, me as the leader of my own people, to be accused of violating their rights is just an absurd insult. But my answer is simple is to do my best to serve my people the best way they can be served. Anjan Sundaram, a journalist who has spent years covering Africa's Great Lakes region and has written a book titled Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship, about reporters in Rwanda, said that human rights and civil liberties have been steadily eroding under Kagames rule. His hold on power has tightened over the last 25 years, Sundaram told VOA. Weve seen decreasing political space, decreasing space for a free press and the increasing concentration of power in the presidential office headed by Kagame. Signs of trouble ahead Although Kagame won international acclaim for his efforts to promote reconciliation and heal the wounds of Rwanda's 1994 genocide, his authoritarian actions in recent years have left him increasingly isolated. Initially, when Kagame took power in 1994, just after Rwandas genocide, a lot of observers were willing to make allowances for Kagames authoritarian style of leadership believing that it was justified in the aftermath of a genocide. And there may have been truth to that, Sundaram said. Twenty-four years since the genocide, now observers are seeing fewer and fewer justifications for such authoritarian leadership and worrying signs that any transition of power from Kagame in Rwanda will be accompanied by violence. Under recent constitutional reforms, Kagame is eligible to run for two additional five-year terms as president after his current seven-year term ends. That means the Rwandan leader, who turns 60 this month, could stay in office until 2034. Turkeys armed forces chief, General Hulusi Akar, is in Tehran for talks with Irans political and military leadership, including President Hassan Rouhani. His visit precedes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit, scheduled for Wednesday, and comes as analysts suggest the use and threat of and military force are increasingly becoming part of Turkish foreign policy. Analysts point out preliminary talks before a presidential visit are traditionally carried out by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, but note Akars agenda in Tehran had a strong military flavor. Tehran and Ankara have issued thinly-veiled military threats to the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, following its independence referendum last month. It passed with 92 percent of the vote. News agencies on Monday reported the Iranian military had moved up heavy artillery to the Iraqi Kurdish border. The deployment matches that of the Turkish armed forces already massed on Turkeys Iraqi Kurdish frontier, ostensibly for military drills. Turkey is now looking at a change in its foreign policy, noted former Turkish ambassador to Iraq Unal Cevikoz. Turkey is considering the threat of the use of force and the use of force as a viable option for realizing its foreign policy objectives, and that is dangerous. Cevikoz noted a possible increase in the Turkish military's influence over foreign policy. Possible evidence of a growing military role in diplomatic affairs included an August visit by Russian and Iranian armed forces chiefs to the Turkish capital, Ankara. The visits reportedly focused on the ongoing civil war in Syria, where all of these countries have their military forces deployed. Historic military role Such a scenario is not new to Turkey. Throughout the 1990s, the peak of fighting by the Kurdish insurgent group the PKK, the military held sway over much of Turkish foreign policy. In the 2000s, as part of his policy to demilitarize Turkish society, then-Prime Minister Erdogan ended the military role in foreign policy. Turkey believed that if Turkey wants to have a peaceful and stable environment in the Middle East, this could be achieved not through security policies or use of military power, but through enhancing economic cooperation, noted Cevikoz, who now heads the Ankara Policy Center. The 2015 collapse in Ankara's peace process with the PKK, and the Syrian civil war, are seen as the impetus for a recalibration in Turkish foreign policy. When Syria became a very important area where international terrorism is now finding a fertile ground and when the civil war expanded in Syria, I think that saw Turkey is shifting back to its security policies, Cevikoz said. Some analysts see a more robust foreign policy backed up by force as a necessity. In such a turbulent and difficult region with a variety of security threats, Turkey needs hard power as part of a portfolio of instruments to influence regional developments, said Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar with the Carnegie Institute in Brussels. In that sense, hard power in this region is necessary even if it's to advance a diplomatic objective. Domestic policies Domestic politics could also be a factor driving Ankaras more robust foreign policy approach, analysts note. In 2019, Turkey faces presidential and general elections; both are predicted to be close. President Erdogan increasingly has presidential elections in sight, said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who is now a regional analyst. Ankara has strained relations with several of its Western allies. And analysts warn there are questions over its future commitment to NATO as Erdogans rapprochement with Moscow deepens. The Turkish President has described his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as a valuable friend. Erdogan is also looking to improve ties as he heads to Tehran. Cevikoz said if Turkey is "serious about the secularization of its foreign policy," then it will "have to coordinate with countries like Iran and Russia," which are not allies. But that will not be a permanent alliance, he said, which "in a way will leave Turkey as a kind of lone wolf in the region. Hundreds of people took to the streets in Barcelona to protest a police crackdown in Catalonia to stop an independence referendum in the region. Protestors, many of them students, waved the Catalan independence flag Monday and held up signs demanding more democracy outside the headquarters of the Spanish police in Barcelona. Demonstrations also took place in several other Catalan cities, including Girona and Lleida. The violence followed a police crackdown during Sunday's independence referendum. Officials in Catalonia said nearly 900 people were injured when police tried to keep residents from voting in the referendum, deemed unconstitutional by the Spanish courts. Video from Sunday showed police dragging people from polling stations and beating and kicking would-be voters and demonstrators. Spain's Interior Ministry said Monday that more than 430 National Police and Civil Guard agents suffered injuries from the clashes. Amnesty International says its observers witnessed excessive use of force by Spanish police. European leaders on Monday urged dialogue between Spain's government and authorities in Catalonia. A spokesman for the European Commission said the referendum was not legal but said that violence can never be an instrument in politics. The commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation EU, said in a Twitter message that these are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation. EU chief Donald Tusk appealed to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajov on Monday to avoid further escalation and use of force in the standoff. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif left an anti-corruption court Monday without being indicted after his children, who are co-defendants in the case, failed to appear. The court ordered Sharif, his two sons, his daughter and a son-in-law to appear in court on Oct. 9 to face corruption charges. The children are currently in London with Sharif's wife - Kulsoom Nawaz - who is undergoing treatment for throat cancer. Last month, Sharif's wife won his former parliamentary seat in a by-election. Her victory was expected, since the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party is dominant in the central Lahore constituency. The former prime minister had held the seat since the mid-1980s, when he first entered national politics. Earlier this year, Pakistan's High Court ordered Nawaz Sharif to step down from office because he had not reported monthly earnings he received from an overseas company owned by his son. The former prime minister has denied that he received any salary, or knew anything about the payments, which first were discovered after he was elected prime minister for a third time in 2013. Sharif's first term as Pakistan's prime minister, in the early 1990s, also ended abruptly when he was dismissed by presidential decree after being accused of corruption. Back in office a few years later, he was overthrown by a military coup in 1999 and exited to Saudi Arabia along with other family members. Kenyan police have fired tear gas at protesters who are calling for the ouster of election officials the demonstrators blame for the recent botched presidential election. Protests were held Monday in Nairobi, the capital, and the western city of Kisumu. A presidential spokesman has said the government will not replace the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, a decision that has angered the opposition, which has said the panel committed "criminal" acts and that most belong in jail. Last month, Kenya's Supreme Court annulled the presidential election victory of incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and called for new polls. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has continued to condemn the electoral commission. The two men face off again in a presidential vote on October 26. A listing of recent deadly mass shootings in the United States: October 2017: Gunman kills 58 people at a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. June 2016: Gunman kills 49 people at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. December 2015: Couple kill 14 after storming California social services agency, are killed in gun battle with police. November 2015: Gunman kills three after storming Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic; is arrested after hours-long standoff with police. October 2015: Gunman kills nine at Oregon community college before being killed in gun battle with police. July 2015: Gunman kills five at U.S. Navy Reserve center in Tennessee before being shot and killed by police. June 2015: Gunman kills nine people in South Carolina church before fleeing, is captured the following day, awaiting trial. May 2015: Nine killed in shootout between rival motorcycle clubs and police at Texas restaurant. October 2014: Teenage gunman kills four teens, two of whom are his cousins, in Washington state high school before committing suicide. September 2013: Gunman kills 12 people at a naval facility in Washington before dying in a gun battle with police. December 2012: Gunman kills 26 adults and children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut before killing himself. August 2012: Gunman kills six people at Sikh Temple in Wisconsin before committing suicide after being shot by police. July 2012: Gunman kills 12 people during showing of Batman movie in Colorado. January 2011: Gunman kills six people and wounds U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona. November 2009: U.S. Army psychiatrist kills 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas. April 2007: Virginia Tech student kills 32 people before committing suicide. October 2006: Gunman kills five girls in Pennsylvania Amish school before committing suicide. January 2006: Ex-postal worker kills eight before committing suicide in California in rare case of female shooter. April 1999: Two Columbine High School students kill 12 students, one teacher and themselves in Colorado. November 1991: Gunman kills four University of Iowa faculty members and a student before committing suicide. October 1991: Gunman crashes pickup truck into Texas cafe, then begins shooting; kills 23 people before committing suicide. August 1986: Gunman kills 14 postal workers in Oklahoma before committing suicide. July 1984: Gunman kills 21 people at a McDonald's California before being killed by police. More than 16 people are reported dead in twin suicide attacks on a police station in Syria's capital, Damascus. Lt. Gen. Mohammad al-Shaar, Syrias interior minister, told reporters that two terrorists attacked the police station in the al-Midan neighborhood of Damascus with a number of bombs on Monday, before one of them blew himself up. He said the other bomber made it inside the compound, where police killed him, causing his bomb to explode. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 11 people were killed, among them civilians and police officers. There were also conflicting reports that a car bomb had exploded in front of the station. Ambulances rushed to the scene as the area was cordoned off. There has been no claim of responsibility. Damascus has rarely seen such incidents in its six-year civil war, although an attack back in July left at least 18 people dead and a dozen more wounded, according to state media and the Observatory group. The attack was the worst the city had seen since March. No one claimed responsibility. The Syrian capital has previously been struck by the Islamic State group and other jihadist fighters. Last December, three policemen were wounded when a young girl reportedly walked into the same police station in Midan wearing an explosive belt that was detonated remotely. Sam Wustner blew smoke into one of his hives up in Miller Creek, subduing the honeybees that power his business. It was late September, and the honey-producing season was essentially over. Carefully pulling out a rack of honeycombs, he gently brushed away the bees and examined the combs for larvae, and checked the hives honey reserves. Sam, 35, and his brother, Jacob, 34, own about 300 hives in the Missoula area, which make up the root of their family business, Wustner Brothers Honey. They learned the trade from their father, Bert, and have been pretty successful since joining the local retail market in 2011. But this summers weather hit them hard. Their honey yields are down 50 percent from last year, and climate change could mean more of the same. Extreme drought and record-setting wildfire smoke are both factors Wustner pointed to as culprits. This is the roughest year weve seen in two generations of beekeeping, Wustner said. Of course we have to leave enough honey for the bees to survive the winter, so its kind of throwing a wrench in our business model. The issue isnt just affecting the Wustner Brothers. Montana is the third-largest honey producer in the United States, behind only North and South Dakota, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultures most recent statistics. Montana beekeepers grossed $21.5 million last year, more than chickens, eggs and oats combined. Montana has been largely spared by some of the problems facing beekeepers elsewhere, such as parasites and colony collapse disorder, but the drought experienced across the state is taking its toll on the bees. Scott Debnam, a doctoral candidate at the University of Montana specializing in pollination ecology, said bees in Missoula produce all their honey for the year in just a couple of months, but drought is shortening that time even more. If a drought occurs, the first thing a plant does is shut down reproduction in order to save energy and water to survive. Stopping reproduction means stopping nectar production, which is what bees make honey out of, Debnam said. It used to be every 10 years, then it was every other year, now it seems like its every year that theres a drought in the summer. Now everything is already dead the last two weeks of July and August, so all of the nectar needs to be collected in a month and a half less time," he said. Bees need to produce honey to last them through the winter, Debnam said. If nectar stops being produced in July, then bees must start drawing from their honey stockpile early. This means that not only do the bees have fewer weeks to collect nectar, but they have to rely on their honey for longer. The smoke that pooled in the Missoula Valley for weeks at a time as wildfires burned this summer could have had an effect as well. No scientific studies have been done on bees and wildfire smoke, but Debnam said he observed some startling behaviors this summer. We have a hive on a scale, and so we can weigh it in the early morning and in the afternoon, and see how many bees are out foraging during the day, he said. When it wasnt smoky, the hive was 15 pounds lighter during the day. When the smoke really got bad, it was only 2 pounds lighter in the middle of the day. Were talking a 90 percent decrease in flight activity. Thats just one hive, so it cant be relied on as scientifically accurate, but Debnam said it was, if nothing else, very interesting. Most people assume that beekeepers use smoke when working with hives to calm bees down, he said, but actually it preoccupies them. They think a fire is approaching their hive, so they frantically consume honey for the energy to flee. Extreme smoke this summer could have meant bees not only spent less time producing honey, but ate more of the honey they collected earlier in the year. The Montana Climate Assessment, a two-year study published this month, forecast decreasing summer rains in years to come, along with an upward trend in temperatures, leading to more severe summer droughts. However, the study expects spring and autumn rains to increase, but this could pose problems for bees and other pollinators as well. Laura Burkle, a leading researcher at Montana State University, said the changing climate affects the life cycles of bees and plants. The cycles are not lining up as well as they have in the past, which means the flowers are blooming and nectar is available when the bees are less active. People can help bees and other pollinators by planting a mix of crops and flowers that bloom at different times of year, state entomologist Alyssa Piccolomini said. As for the Wustners, they have to roll with the punches. They made the decision to keep their bees in Montana year-round, rather than shipping them to pollinate winter crops in California. That state's vast monocultures, or orchards of a single type of crop, strain bees, which thrive in the diversity of vegetation found here. This means less income for Sam and Jacob Wustner, but healthier, happier bees. Sam Wustner said the company will have to put off doing repair work on its outdated warehouse because of the decreased honey and profits. He is also looking into selling more beeswax products, rather than the raw honey the business is centered around now. Less honey means less work for his few employees as well, and less money to pay them with, which keeps Sam busy throughout the year. Its a tough job, not nearly as romantic as people think, he said. Id like to have a more relaxed, healthy work lifestyle, but the setback of the drought is making that a little harder. People are waiting on line for as long as eight hours in Las Vegas to donate blood to the victims of the worst mass shooting by a single gunman in recent U.S. history. The shooter, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, opened fire on a crowd of more than 22,000 attending a country music show Sunday night before killing himself as police closed in. Paddock shot from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, located across the street from the outdoor concert. Fifty-nine were killed and 527 wounded. In Las Vegas, VOA's Elizabeth Lee spoke with a taxi driver who dropped off a passenger minutes before the shooting began. I dropped a passenger at the Mandalay Bay (Resort and Casino) like 20 minutes before the shooting happened and I was thinking about getting in line at Mandalay Bay but changed my mind and went to the airport. I did hear, like an automatic gunshot from a distance, but I never thought it would be a gun shooting. (I am) shocked, very shocked, said Las Vegas taxi driver Tamirat Shiferaw. WATCH: Sheriff on finding shooter Clark County, Nevada Sheriff Joe Lombardo says along with the 19 weapons found in the hotel room, 18 more guns, explosives, and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found in Paddock's home in Mesquite. President Donald Trump led a moment of silence on the South Lawn of the White House, facing the Washington Monument, to remember the victims. He ordered flags across the country to fly at half staff and will go to Las Vegas Wednesday to meet with first responders and console the victims and their families. The president has called the shooting an act of pure evil. Along with gunshot wounds, others were trampled and hurt trying to climb over fences to get away. Police and federal investigators still do not have a motive. We don't know what his belief system was at this time, Lombardo said. WATCH: Trump on shooting Islamic State is claiming responsibility, saying the gunman was one of its soldiers and converted to Islam months ago. The FBI says there is no evidence Paddock was tied to any international terror group. Investigators say Paddock had a girlfriend, but believe she is in Tokyo and was not involved. Paddock's brother, Eric, is just as baffled as police by his motive. He said the family is horrified and bewildered. He said his brother was a wealthy man with no known political or religious affiliations, no ties with white supremacists and no history of mental illness. Where the hell did he get automatic weapons? He's a guy who lived in a house in Mesquite and drove down and gambled in Las Vegas, Eric Paddock said. Eric Paddock also said their father was a bank robber who was at one time on the FBI's most wanted list. The FBI called him psychopathic and dangerous. But that the brothers had no contact with their father. WATCH: Video footage from scene Addressing the nation, President Trump thanked Las Vegas police for their sacrifices and quick responses during the terrible, terrible attack. To the families of the victims we are praying for you and we are here for you and we ask God to help see you through this very dark period...in moments of tragedy and horror America comes together as one and it always has, Trump said. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders was on the verge of tears as she described some of the heroism of those who sacrificed their lives to save others as the bullets rained down. One off-duty police officer was among those killed, and another two on duty officers were injured, Las Vegas police said in a statement. As the situation at the Route 91 Harvest Festival concert unfolded, people sought safety in the many hotels that line the popular tourist district. The Las Vegas airport is also in the area, and flights there were temporarily halted. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said that there is no information to indicate a specific credible threat involving other public venues in the country, but that additional security may be seen at events and public places. Country star Jason Aldean was performing on stage at the time of the shooting. Hours later he described it as horrific. I still don't know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that me and my crew are safe. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night, he said on Instagram. U.S. Senator Dean Heller, who represents Nevada, called the shooting a senseless, horrifying act of violence, while Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval described it as tragic and heinous. British Prime Minister Theresa May also expressed support, saying Britain's thoughts were with the victims and emergency personnel. Jeff Seldin contributed to this report In Photos: Las Vegas Shooting Festival participants react Other artists who were part of Sunday's main stage lineup at the Route 91 Harvest festival reacted on Twitter. President sends condolences U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Monday morning: "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" Politicians react U.S. Senator Dean Heller, who represents Nevada, called the shooting a "senseless, horrifying act of violence," while Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval described it as "tragic and heinous." British Prime Minister Theresa May also expressed support, saying Britain's thoughts were with the victims and emergency personnel. 4 People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after apparent gun fire was heard in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 1, 2017. The gunman, identified as Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, allegedly opened fire from a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the music festival, leaving at least 58 people dead and over 500 injured. In most of the world, more men are connected to the internet than women. But in Africa, this gender gap has been widening, according to ITU, the U.N. agency tracking the ICT sector. Nanjira Sambuli, who works with the World Wide Web Foundation in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, sat down with VOA's Jill Craig in Nairobi to explain how offline inequalities are being replicated online. The West Bank-based Palestinian prime minister crossed into the Gaza Strip on Monday in a move towards reconciliation between Hamas and the mainstream Fatah party, a decade after the Islamist group seized the territory in a civil war. Hamas announced last week that it was handing over administrative control of the Gaza Strip to a unity government headed by Rami al-Hamdallah, but the movement's armed wing remains the dominant power in the Palestinian enclave of two million people. "We return to Gaza in order to conclude reconciliation and national unity and end the painful impacts of divisions and to rebuild Gaza brick by brick," Hamdallah said at a welcoming ceremony. Forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas lost control of Gaza in fighting with Hamas in 2007. Hamas's reversal was the most significant step towards Palestinian unity since the government was formed in 2014. It failed to function in Gaza where Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008 because of disputes between Hamas and Fatah over its responsibilities. Analysts said narrowing internal divisions could help western-backed Abbas counter Israel's argument that it has no negotiating partner for peace with the Palestinians. "We came with instructions from Abbas to tell the world from the heart of Gaza that the Palestinian state cannot and will not be established without geographical and political unity between Gaza and the West Bank," Hamdallah said. A Hamas police honor guard and hundreds of Palestinians, many of them waving Palestinian flags, awaited Hamdallah outside the Hamas-controlled checkpoint, down the road from Israel's Erez border crossing through which the prime minister and his motorcade passed. "It is a day of Eid, a national holiday," said Abdel-Majid Ali, 46. "We hope this time reconciliation is for real." Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel and the West, made its dramatic step towards unity last month, disbanding its Gaza shadow government, after Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates imposed an economic boycott on its main donor, Qatar, over alleged support of terrorism. Qatar denies the allegation. "The road ahead will be long and hard, but momentum of reconciliation and peace should not be missed," Nickolay Mladenov, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process wrote on Twitter. The unity drive also marked a return to prominence of exiled former Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan, once one of Hamas' fiercest enemies and now a leading figure in regional efforts to pull the territory back into the Palestinian mainstream. Dahlan, based since 2011 in the United Arab Emirates, is behind an influx of cash to prop up Gaza and detente between Hamas and Arab states including Egypt, which hosted reconciliation talks. Israel sceptical Michael Oren, deputy minister for diplomacy in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet, played down the unity drive, saying "it happens every two or three years" and that Hamas remains dedicated to Israel's destruction. "One of the issues is whether Hamas will be able to retainits arms. If it does then it's a non-starter for Israel," he said. Abbas' pressure over the past several months on Hamas to loosen its grip included halting electricity payments to Israeli suppliers, a sanction that caused extensive daily blackouts in Gaza. Abbas also cut wages to civil servants still on the unity government's payroll, a move that deepened economic hardship in an area long under partial blockade by Israel and Egypt, which cite security concerns for border restrictions. Hamdallah, accompanied by security men from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and Hamas forces, was scheduled to hold talks with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and tour Shejaia, a neighborhood heavily damaged by Israeli bombardment in a 2014 war with Gaza militants. On Tuesday, the Palestinian unity Cabinet will meet in Gaza. "The agenda is crowded with ideas and projects," Culture Minister Ehad Bseisso said. "We need to... push the wheel of reconciliation forward, to create a positive atmosphere." In addition to setting a date for holding presidential and parliamentary elections, rival factions will have to resolve the issue of the fate of the 40,000 to 50,000 civil and military staff Hamas had hired since 2007. Russia's top domestic security agency says one Russian border guard has been killed in a shootout with two men who tried to cross into Ukraine. The FSB said in a statement Monday the two men on Saturday opened fire when the officer who approached them in a Russian village that borders northeast Ukraine. One of the men blew himself up and the other was detained. The border guard died of gunshot wounds. The FSB did not provide any other details on the attackers, although unnamed security sources told Russian news agencies the men were militants traveling from the Middle East to Europe. Ukraine's Border Guard Service on Monday denied reports that the men were crossing over from Ukraine, saying no such clash happened on their side of the border. Prosecutors and defense lawyers gave starkly different portrayals on Monday of Ahmed Abu Khattala, the alleged mastermind of the 2012 attacks on U.S. outposts in Benghazi, Libya, that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. A government lawyer said that when Abu Khattala's hatred of America boiled over, he orchestrated the attacks and then triumphantly strode around the attack site carrying an AK-47. Assistant U.S. attorney John Crabb said that later, the defendant was heard at his apartment saying: I attacked the American embassy and would have killed more Americans that night if others had not intervened. A defense attorney, on the other hand, called Abu Khattala a Libyan patriot, who fought on America's side in the war against Libyan leader Moammar Gadafi. He said Abu Khattala didn't mastermind the attack. The lawyer said the defendant simply went to the attack site because he heard there was a protest and wanted to see what was happening. He didn't shoot anyone. He didn't set any fires. He did not participate in the attacks, said Jeffrey Robinson, a lawyer for Abu Khattala. Twelve jurors and three alternates listened as opening statements unfolded in one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years. The trial is being held in U.S. District Court in Washington - a civilian federal court - at a time when the Trump administration has said terror suspects are better sent to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Abu Khattala, sporting a long grayish-white beard, appeared in court wearing a white shirt and dark pants. He has pleaded not guilty to his charges, including murder of an internationally protected person, providing material support to terrorists and destroying U.S. property while causing death. When he entered the courtroom, he shook hands with members of his legal team. He monitored his trial with earphones offering him an Arabic interpreter. At times, he sipped water or swiveled in his chair at the defense table. An 18-count indictment against Abu Khattala arises from a burst of violence that began the night of Sept. 11, 2012, at a State Department compound, a rampage prosecutors say was aimed at killing American personnel and plundering maps, documents and other property from the post. Stevens was killed in the first attack at the U.S. mission, along with Sean Patrick Smith, a State Department information management officer. Nearly eight hours later at a CIA complex nearby, two more Americans, contract security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, died in a mortar attack. Stevens and Smith choked to death by thick black smoke, Crabb said. Woods and Doherty were blown apart by mortar, he said. He said Abu Khattala hates America with a vengeance and that his hatred simmered until it boiled over. He killed Ambassador Stevens - a man of peace. Crabb said the prosecution would show the jury videos of the attack site and Abu Khattala's phone records, which he said showed a spike in activity during the attacks. He said witnesses would include weapons and fire experts and a man named Ali, who was paid $7 million to befriend Abu Khattala and help U.S. forces capture him in Libya. After he was captured, he was taken to a U.S. Navy ship that transported him to the United States. During the 12-day journey, he was first interrogated by intelligence personnel and then by FBI agents. Crabb said Abu Khattala told FBI agents that America was the root of all the world's problems. Robinson said Abu Khattala cooperated aboard the ship and he continued to deny, as he denies today, any participation in planning or masterminding the attack. He alleged that the witness is one of Abu Khattala's adversaries in Libya who would do anything to have him locked in prison. Robinson also said Abu Khattala was a deeply religious man who believes in conservative sharia law as outlined in the Quran, but reminded jurors that in America, people are not prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. The trial, which is expected to last for weeks, is likely to resurrect the political controversy over the attack. Republicans accused the Obama administration of intentionally misleading the public about what transpired at the U.S. outposts and stonewalling congressional investigators. Some lawmakers also criticized then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's handling of the matter. President Donald Trump ordered flags to fly at half-staff Monday as the nation recoiled in horror at the worst mass shooting by a lone gunman in recent U.S. history. We are joined together in sadness, shock and grief, Trump said in a nationally televised address less than 12 hours after the shooting began. It was an act of pure evil. He said he would travel to Las Vegas Wednesday to honor the victims and meet with survivors, one day after he is to visit hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one. And it always has, Trump told the nation. We call upon the bonds that unite us, our faith, our family and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community and the comfort of our common humanity. Our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence and though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today and always will forever, the president said. Standing in front of a portrait of George Washington, Trump offered words of sympathy to the families of the victims. In times such as these I know we are searching for some kind of meaning in the chaos, some kind of light in the darkness. The answers do not come easy. But we can take solace knowing that even the darkest space can be brightened by a single light and even the most terrible despair can be illuminated by a single ray of hope. Trump did not mention guns in his five-minute address, but the Las Vegas tragedy once again brought the issue of gun control back to center stage in the national debate. Former Member of Congress Gabby Giffords. who was gravely wounded by a gun-wielding attacker in Arizona six years ago, spoke to reporters along with her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, pleading for bipartisan action on stricter gun laws. The nation is counting on you, Giffords said. Kelly called the Las Vegas attack an act of domestic terrorism. Weapons of war in the hands of a determined killer with a tactical advantage this was an ambush if there ever was one, he said. Kelly, who along with Giffords founded a gun control advocacy group called Americans for Responsible Solutions, said America must make a choice. WATCH: President Trump's full remarks on Las Vegas shooting House minority leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan Monday urging formation of a Select Committee on Gun Violence to develop common sense legislation. Saying there had been 273 mass shootings in the United States this year, one for every day of the year so far, Pelosi called on her colleague to approve a bipartisan bill now before the House that would strengthen background checks aimed at keeping guns out of the wrong hands. Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton posted two tweets Monday, calling for a ban on gun silencers, and mentioning the National Rifle Association. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get, she wrote. Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders parried questions about gun control at Monday's briefing, saying it was premature to inject politics less than 24 hours after the Las Vegas tragedy. I think before we start trying to talk about the preventions of what took place last night, we need to know more facts, and right now we're simply not at that point, Sanders said. It's very easy for Mrs. Clinton to criticize and to come out, but I think we need to remember the only person with blood on their hands is that of the shooter, and this isn't a time for us to go after individuals or organizations. I think that we can have those policy conversations, but today is not that day, she told reporters, cutting short the briefing to attend a moment of silence on the White House lawn for the victims. Expressions of condolences poured into the White House from around the world. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed shock and outrage. We cannot tolerate such indiscriminate and massive shooting incident for any reason and I resolutely condemn it, Abe wrote. Las Vegas has long been celebrated by people from around the globe, including many Canadians, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote: We grieve with this city and the United States. Such acts only strengthen our resolve to stand together, united. Obama offers condolences Former president Barack Obama was also among those responding immediately to the tragedy. "Michelle & I are praying for the victims in Las Vegas," he posted on Twitter. "Our thoughts are with their families & everyone enduring another senseless tragedy." Obama saw several mass shootings during his eight years in office, including the attack that killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida in June of 2016, that had been the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. He also led the nation in mourning victims of the San Bernardino, California shootings in 2015, the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut in 2012, and the Fort Hood, Texas killings in 2009. In Photos: Las Vegas Shooting Vice President Pence, Former VP Biden Vice-president Mike Pence issued a series of three tweets offering prayers to the victim and praise to the first responders. Former vice-president Joe Biden also used Twitter to express his condolences. Appalled by the senseless loss of life in Las Vegas. Jill and I hold all those affected and grieving in our hearts. International reaction Expressions of condolences were pouring into the White House from around the world. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed shock and outrage. We cannot tolerate such indiscriminate and massive shooting incident for any reason and I resolutely condemn it, Abe wrote. "Japan expresses its sincere solidarity with the Government of the United States and the people of the United States as they try to overcome this difficult time. The mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer expressed his solidarity with the people of Las Vegas, having gone through a mass shooting at a gay night club in June 2016. Terrible to wake up to the horrific news from Las Vegas, Dyer tweeted. Our community stands with Las Vegas during this difficult time. A number of scheduled events were canceled and postponed in light of the tragedy in Las Vegas. Thailands prime minister is visiting the White House, a rare honor for a military leader who seized power in a 2014 coup and has resisted returning the country to democratic rule. President Donald Trump and the first lady welcomed Prayuth Chan-ocha and his wife to the White House Monday, where the two leaders held talks in the Oval Office. "Our relationship on trade is becoming more and more important and it's a great country to trade with," Trump told reporters before turning to the Thai leader and noting, "I think we're going to try to sell a little bit more to you." Prayuths first meeting with Trump comes days after a court in Thailand sentenced in absentia the prime minister he unseated, Yingluck Shinawatra, to five years in prison for criminal negligence. Human rights groups and the United States have been critical of Thailands military intervention, saying there has been an erosion of human rights and democratic freedoms. The prime minister has argued the action was necessary to stabilize the country. U.S. State Department spokesperson Katina Adams told VOA Monday that officials regularly urge Thai authorities, both privately and publicly, to ensure that human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected consistent with Thailands international obligations. She said diplomats remain concerned about continued restrictions on freedom of expression and rights to peaceful assembly. Trump extended an invitation to Prayuth in late April, shortly after he also invited Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, another leader who has drawn international criticism for alleged human rights violations. President Trump is expected to visit Asia next month to attend political and economic summits in Vietnam and the Philippines. He is also scheduled to travel to Japan, South Korea and China. The Trump administration has set out to upend some of President Barack Obama's regulations, which the White House says circumvented Congress in the first place and cost American businesses and the economy billions of dollars. Without any major legislative accomplishments to point to despite the advantage of a Republican-controlled Congress, Trump on Monday was to give a speech highlighting his own directives to agencies. The White House said the president is no longer attending the event following the mass killing of at least 50 people Sunday in Las Vegas. Vice President Mike Pence will lead it. There's plenty for him to talk about, including dozens of executive orders and other scaling-back on a range of issues, from immigration policy to campus sexual assault. There was no sign, though, whether Pence will talk about gun regulations. During the presidential campaign, Trump cast himself as an ardent protector of the Second Amendment and proclaimed that if more good guys were armed with firearms, there would be fewer gun tragedies. After the Orlando nightclub shooting, he suggested that if the club hadn't been a gun-free zone, someone would have been able to stop the bloodshed. Executive orders are less enduring than legislation because a president can overturn a predecessor's policy. Obama reversed some of President George W. Bush's executive orders, and Trump's will be reviewed by his successor. Neomi Rao, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, estimated that Trump's regulations will save about $300 million annually, but she did not explain how Office of Management and Budget analysts came up with that number. Critics of the effort say regulations exist to ensure safety and fairness in the workplace and elsewhere. Public Citizen, a watchdog group, says the rollback of government guidelines are Trump and the Republican Party's craven attempt at self-enrichment and payback to corporate donors. In fact, robust regulation and enforcement are essential to economic prosperity. Some of the major changes Trump has made since taking office in January: Young immigrants The latest Obama policy to fall is the program shielding from deportation hundreds of thousands of young people brought into the country as children and living here illegally. The Trump administration in September said the government would stop issuing new work permits while lawmakers debate whether the protections should be enshrined in law. In explaining his decision, Trump accused Obama of making an end run around Congress to protect those commonly referred to as Dreamers. Obama retorted that Trump's action was a cruel and self-defeating decision tinged with politics. Democratic leaders and Trump said they have reached a deal to protect the immigrants, but Congress has since turned its focus to overhauling the tax code. Climate and environment Trump has vowed to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate agreement through which nearly 200 countries have committed to combat global warming by reducing polluting emissions. He's scrapped an Obama administration policy that let national parks ban the sale of bottled water to fight littering. He's moved to rip up Obama's Clean Power Plan, regulations that sought to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants. His executive order on regulatory reform has been cited by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt as a reason to delay or roll back a raft of Obama-era environmental regulations, from cleaning up water pollution from coal mines to blunting limits on emissions of toxic mercury from power plant smokestacks. The EPA is not among the 10 agencies expected to hold public briefings after Trump's speech on Monday. Education The Trump administration in September scrapped Obama-era guidance on investigating campus sexual assault, replacing it with new instructions that allow universities to require higher standards of evidence when handling complaints. His administration also annulled Obama's accountability rules that were used to identify and help troubled schools and to evaluate teachers. Transgender issues Trump's Education Department has lifted the Obama-era guidance to schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. The president also tweeted out word that transgender people would no longer be allowed to serve openly in the military, reversing an Obama administration provision and sending the Pentagon scrambling to draft new rules. In the meantime, any transgender troops now serving in the military can re-enlist in the next several months, the Pentagon said in September. Muslim Travel His initial executive order temporarily banning travel to the U.S. from several Muslim-majority countries and suspending the U.S. refugee program hit roadblocks in the courts. On his second attempt, the Supreme Court allowed only a sharply scaled-back version of the order to go forward pending arguments scheduled for October. When that order expired on Sept. 24, Trump signed a measure imposing new restrictions on travelers from citizens of Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and North Korea. The Supreme Court then canceled the arguments and gave both sides time to explain whether the matter was now moot. Military hardware for police In an executive order signed in August, Trump told state and local police they could once again have access to grenade launchers, armored vehicles, bayonets and other gear cast off from the U.S. military. Obama had sharply curtailed the Pentagon program in 2015 amid an outcry over police use of military equipment in confronting protesters after several police killings of black men. U.S. President Donald Trump says the government has brought a tremendous amount of food and supplies into storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, following criticism that his administration has been slow to respond to the disaster. Trump told reporters at the White House Monday, It's been amazing what's been done in a very short period of time on Puerto Rico. The president said he will be traveling to the U.S. territory on Tuesday to meet with first responders, the military, and frankly most importantly, we're going to be seeing the people of Puerto Rico. Trump said Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria, which hit nearly two weeks ago, and faces challenges from its poor infrastructure. There's never been a piece of land that we've known that was so devastated. The bridges are down. The telecommunications was nonexistent and it's in very, very bad shape. The electrical grid, as you know, is totally destroyed, he said. Puerto Rico by the numbers Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello told a news briefing in San Juan Monday that more than 720 of the island's 1,100 gas stations are now up and running and that he expects more fuel supplies in the coming days. Puerto Rico relies on fuel supplies shipped from the mainland United States. Rossello said 47 percent of water and sewer services are up on the island and said federal and local authorities are working together to keep 50 hospitals operational. He said U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort will arrive Tuesday or Wednesday. Trump defends administration Rossello has generally praised the response to the hurricane by the Trump administration despite criticism from some officials in Puerto Rico, including San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz. Trump has defended his administration's handling of the disaster, tweeting on Sunday, Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates people are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military." Trump has been critical of the mayor, saying on Saturday that she was told by Democrats, you must be nasty to Trump. Mayor living in shelter Cruz, whose home was damaged in the storm, is living in a shelter with her family. There's only one goal and it's saving lives, Cruz said Sunday on ABC's This Week, when asked about Trump's comments about her. Any dialogue that goes on just has to produce results. All I did last week or actually even this week is ask for help. About half of the island's 3.4 million residents still lack access to clean drinking water, according to the Department of Defense, while 95 percent are without electricity. HONG KONG Forested mountains aside, almost nothing in this city of 7 million people resembles Montana. Thats a major reason Phyllis Ngai likes to take University of Montana students there: to physically absorb the challenge of understanding a radically different culture. From the 88-story skyscrapers doing financial business in three languages to the boxes of rubber mops distributed in parks to fight forest fires, differences abound. This is a place of other extremes, said Ngai, who teaches intercultural communications at UM. Its stimulating intellectually and spiritually. Its also a place to learn about an even more amazing part of the world the Peoples Republic of China. Over two centuries as a British colony, Hong Kong provided the Occidental harbor into the Orient. Since 1997, it has legally become part of China. But it preserves its Western-based traditions of press freedom, common law and financial mobility through a policy of One Country-Two Systems. "This is a super-connector to mainland China and the rest of the world," said Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, Hong Kong's chief secretary for administration. "We're poised to connect to 66 countries." Much of that depends on Hong Kongs devotion to Rule of Law, a term of fierce and frequent conversation as the city continues to roil with public protests over increasing mainland Chinese government oversight. Hong Kongers pride themselves as exemplars of common law tradition and judicial reasoning, said UM adjunct political science professor Anna Conley. Their cases cite United Kingdom decisions, their attorneys are well trained and they have international judges on the bench. Judges are venerated members of the legal community, and their reasoning is provided in detail in their decisions. That differs from the mainland Chinese practice of civil law, which tends to focus more on dispute resolution to preserve social harmony. The court system functions more like a civil service bureaucracy, with frequently closed proceedings and a strong overlay of the single-party political system. President Donald Trumps legal troubles and his verbal attacks on a so-called federal judge who overturned his Muslim travel ban disturbed many legal experts in Hong Kong, who found Trumps disregard of separation of powers undermining their case to maintain a legal culture separate from the mainland. "Hong Kong's rule of law can survive without democracy, but democracy cannot survive without rule of law," Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Executive Council Member Ronny Tong said. "There's no point fighting for democracy if we don't have rule of law. That's the only way we can be different from the Chinese." That hasn't sold well among the Hong Kong Legislative Councils Pan-Democratic party members, who counter that China has systematically shrunk Hong Konger's personal freedoms while imposing more oversight from the mainland. For example, candidates for the city's chief executive post (a combination of mayor and governor) are elected by Hong Kong voters from a slate approved from Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned at the July 2017 anniversary celebration that further calls for independence from the mainland was a "red line" that would provoke harsh response from the central government. But a wide range of Hong Kong observers suspect that China enjoys the city's British-based legal system too much to turn off the "Two Systems" part of the "One Country." It wants its sovereignty acknowledged, and won't tolerate political moves to separate. Show proper respect, it seems to be saying, and you can keep the business party humming. A particular conundrum involves a new high-speed rail terminal in the middle of the city that connects to the rest of China's 3,000-kilometer bullet train network. Mainland Chinese customs and immigration officials staff the station. Does that mean they might try to impose mainland restrictions, such as the blockage of internet services like Google and FaceBook, inside Hong Kong's more tolerant wi-fi atmosphere? Could it lead to more abductions of Hong Kong political activists by mainland police? "I think it's not a matter of argument but sentiment," Tung said. "For many people, there's a deep-seated hatred and distrust of communism. I have no more trust or confidence in Beijing than any of my colleagues in the street. But there will be no more democracy unless China says yes." Two children were killed in an exchange of gunfire between Pakistani and Indian troops Monday in disputed Kashmir, the Indian army said. Twelve other Indian citizens were killed in what the military called an "unprovoked attack" on the Indian side of the heavily militarized Line of Control that divides Kashmir. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian envoy over the violence, citing similar violence on Saturday. "This is the fifth ceasefire violation by the Indian forces in the past 12 days," the ministry said in a statement. Such exchanges of gunfire are common in Kashmir, which has been the cause of two of three wars between the two nuclear powers since 1947, the year they gained independence from Britain. The skirmishes have rendered ineffective a 2003 mutual cease-fire in the disputed territory. India and Pakistan both claim the divided Himalayan region in its entirety. As Vietnam struggles to keep the peace with neighboring China, one of its citizens believes he has something to add to Hanois arsenal: his antique collection. Hoang Van Cuong, who says he can raise tens of millions of dollars by selling everything from royal beds to 2,500-year-old bronze drums, has promised to donate the proceeds to the state so it can support fishermen out in the South China Sea, where Vietnam and China are sparring over the rights to several archipelagos. He expects Hanoi to use some of his money to bolster the military, should clashes break out between the two countries. A portion of the funds would come from China, of all places, because his collection includes porcelain from the Qing dynasty and other Chinese artifacts, attracting scores of dealers from north of the border. The peculiar irony of taking Chinese money to buy weapons to fight China is not lost on Cuong. I dont like Chinese people, Cuong said in an interview at his home in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, cluttered with bodhisattva figures and lacquer tables. But when Im putting things on sale, I need money. I dont mind if its a Chinese person, an American person, or whoever has money, Ill sell. But the truth is, between me and China, I dont like Chinese people. The oil rig In Vietnam, such rancor toward China seems to always linger under the surface, but it burst onto the international stage in 2014 after Beijing parked an oil rig in a part of the South China Sea that both countries claim. That sparked rare, deadly rioting across Vietnam. Authorities quelled the violence, but many Vietnamese are still finding ways to air their objections to China. Fundraisers are a common means for citizens to show their love of Vietnam and displeasure with China, from collection boxes at concerts, to donation campaigns by top newspaper Tuoi Tre. The funds go to Vietnamese fishermen, who are seen as humble national heroes on the frontline of perceived Chinese bullying. Even though the oil rig was eventually withdrawn, Vietnamese have increasingly vented their anger through a boycott of Chinese goods. The political act is pragmatic, too, for shoppers who are suspicious of imported goods from China, from apples that never seem to rot, to toys made of carcinogenic plastic. But its a testament to Beijings influence that its exports remain popular here. The love-hate relationship extends to the communist government in Hanoi, which walks a tightrope between defending Vietnamese territory from China, and cultivating economic and political ties with their much larger neighbor. The ruling elite recognize theyre in a sticky spot. After tensions peaked with the violent riots in 2014, Ho Chi Minh City delegate Truong Trong Nghia told the National Assembly that Vietnam cant extract itself from its reliance on China. Dependence in this case means we want to withdraw but we can't, Nghia said. We know it's not good, but we are forced to continue this dependence. The Vietnamese public is less likely to admit it depends on China. People like Cuong, the antique collector, want their leaders to take a hard line, but at the same time hope for peace. I dont want anymore war here, said Cuong, who witnessed major battles as a UPI photographer during the Vietnam War. Pointing to the antiques around him, Cuong added he might as well sell his fortune because, I figured, if war arrives, everything here would be worthless. US President Donald Trump described the Las Vegas, Nevada shooting where Stephen Paddock, 64 targeted concert goers in the late evening of Oct. 1, 2017 as an "act of pure evil". The president made the statement during remarks about the shooting at the White House, Oct. 2, 2017. One of the Russian-bought advertisements that Facebook shared with congressional investigators on Monday featured photographs of an armed black woman dry firing a rifle pulling the trigger of the weapon without a bullet in the chamber, according to people familiar with the investigation. Investigators believe the advertisement may have been designed to encourage African American militancy and, at the same time, to stoke fears within white communities, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the probe. But the precise purpose of the ad remains unclear to investigators, the people said. The apparent tactic underscores how the Russians used U.S.-based technology platforms to target Americans with highly tailored and sometimes-contradictory messages to exploit divisions in American society over the past two years. The ad was among more than 3,000 Facebook ads delivered to congressional investigators that the company says were bought by 470 accounts and pages controlled by a Russian troll farm, the Internet Research Agency, based in St. Petersburg. The full universe of words and images in those ads has not yet been made public, but early glimpses reported in The Washington Post and other news outlets showed that the Russian campaign frequently sought to widen existing fractures in American society, while also helping to boost Republican Donald Trumps presidential campaign. Among the other Facebook ads shared with lawmakers are those featuring photos of Hillary Clinton behind what appear to be prison bars. This echoed calls by Trump and his supporters during campaign events to Lock Her Up imprison Clinton for using a private email server while she was secretary of state. The Russian disinformation campaign included ads with harsh language and imagery about illegal immigrants. Others highlighted civil rights groups such as Black Lives Matter and support among Muslim voters for Clinton. These ads are racist propaganda, pure and simple, said Malkia Cyril, a Black Lives Matter activist in Oakland, Calif., and executive director for the nonprofit Center for Media Justice. Whether they appear to be in support or in opposition to black civil rights is irrelevant. Their aim is to subvert democracy for everyone by using anti-black stereotypes an idea as old as America. The tools developed by Facebook and other American companies in recent years have given advertisers unprecedented power to identify people susceptible to their messages and to repeatedly deliver targeted advertisements to them over weeks or months as they browse the Internet. The release to Congress is part of a widening government probe into how Russian operatives used Facebook, Twitter, Google and other technology platforms. Those companies have come under increasing pressure from Capitol Hill to investigate Russian meddling and are facing the possibility of new regulations that could affect their massive advertising businesses. In addition to sharing the ads, Facebook is providing information to lawmakers about which users those ads targeted, the views and clicks the ads received, and the methods of payment used by the Russian operatives, said people familiar with the investigation. The ads were viewed tens of millions of times, people familiar with the investigation said. The big picture is that were stepping up tomorrow to help Congress understand foreign interference on the ad platform and to make improvements to the ad platform to enhance transparency, said Joel Kaplan, Facebooks vice president for U.S. public policy, in an interview Sunday. Were committed to doing our part to prevent this type of malicious interference. The company has acknowledged that many of the ads posted by the Russian operatives to sow cultural divisions would not be covered by new safeguards that would apply to ads that mention candidates. Facebook has said most of the ads bought by the 470 pages and accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency focused on social issues and did not name candidates. The company also said it would disclose more information about political ads on Facebook, and was adding security measures to crack down on foreign meddling in its ad systems. Facebook provided few details on what those security measures would entail, except to say that it was adding new documentation requirements in which advertisers will have to certify that they are legitimate political organizations before they buy ads. Facebook also said it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 ad reviewers in the coming months. (Facebook is also in the process of hiring thousands of reviewers to examine other types of content, such as hate speech and live video.) Facebook will now require every group that runs political ads on the social network to publicly post copies of all the ads they have purchased. This change, which Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced earlier, is one for which open government advocates have long clamored. Those advocates have said it is unfair that, unlike broadcasters, Facebook and other online companies are not subject to federal requirements that they disclose the names of groups that are buying political ads on their platforms and the amount they spend, even as social media occupies a growing share of advertising budgets for political campaigns and political advertisers become some of the largest advertisers on Facebook. Facebooks decision to disclose the actual content of the ads goes further than the requirements for broadcasters. Political campaigns currently spend about 25 to 35 percent of their ad budgets online, with most going to Google and Facebook, said Zac Moffatt, chief executive of the Republican-leaning digital strategy firm Targeted Victory. Moffatt said that Facebooks decision to publish the content of ads will push other online companies to do the same, and could also help Facebooks profits because giving political advertisers visibility into spending online will encourage them to make bigger purchases in order to match their rivals. The move by Facebook is a departure from its standard practice, in which Facebook users can only see ads and posts that the companys software algorithm targets directly to them. Twitter said last week that it has also shut down 201 accounts that were tied to the same Russian operatives who posted thousands of political ads on Facebook. Google is conducting its own internal investigation into Russian meddling. Dwoskin reported from San Francisco. Matea Gold and Greg Miller contributed to this report. The Supreme Court will soon hear a case about whether Wisconsin Republicans gave themselves a guaranteed GOP majority when they redrew the states legislative districts in 2011. A new way to test for partisan gerrymandering is a key part of the plaintiffs argument the efficiency gap. Heres how it works. In this imaginary state, there are 20 green voters and 30 purple voters. Even though there are more purple voters, a district plan can be drawn that stacks the odds for green lawmakers to control the state. The partisan plan makes three cracked districts, putting four purple voters with six green voters and making it difficult for purple candidates to win. Boundaries in a cracked district are drawn in a way that intentionally dilute the vote. Nine purple voters are packed into the two remaining districts with one green voter, where purple candidates will easily win. To measure the efficiency gap for this plan, researchers would first count how many votes are wasted by each party. Wasted votes are those cast that do not contribute to victory. Green candidates can win with a six-vote majority in the cracked districts, so four purple votes in each district are wasted. One green vote is wasted in the packed districts. Three purple votes are also wasted, since the purple candidate has more than the six vote-majority they need to win. The difference between the wasted votes on each side is divided by the total number of votes to get the efficiency gap: The efficiency gap measurement was created by Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a University of Chicago law professor who is representing the plaintiffs in the Wisconsin case, and Eric McGhee, political scientist at the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. The measure gives you, in a single number, an indication of which side is benefiting from all of the cracking and packing and how large of an advantage they have, Stephanopoulos said. Heres how this played out in a real state Wisconsin. The states general assembly, the lower house of the legislature, has elections every two years: The map used since 2012 allows Republicans to keep winning control. Research submitted by the plaintiffs found there is a 100% probability that all subsequent elections held ... will also have efficiency gaps disadvantageous to Democrats. [Supreme Court case offers window into how representatives choose their constituents] In its defense, the state says its map complies with traditional redistricting principles, such as compactness. It also said the political geography of Wisconsin means Democratic voters tend to cluster in cities. Packing can create the same effect. That means that their supporters do not translate into representation, McGhee said. Its a form of vote dilution. How Wisconsin compares to other states The efficiency gap measure can be used to calculate a score for any district maps, but the Wisconsin plans stand out in a state-by-state comparison submitted by plaintiffs to the court. There arent many plans that are equivalently egregious as the Wisconsin map, Stephanopoulos said. Heres the efficiency gaps for 2012 and 2014 in the 41 U.S. states where the lower chamber of the legislature is elected by single-member districts. The researchers cautioned that high efficiency gap scores arent the only way to measure whether partisan gerrymandering occurred its one part of the plaintiffs argument that also considers the mapmakers intent and the one-person, one-vote doctrine, which says districts should have equal numbers of residents. The court has previously decided that its illegal to draw district plans that harm minority voters, but they have never declared a partisan plan unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court rejects the Wisconsin maps and decides to adopt the efficiency gap measurement in its decision, more states could see lawsuits. Stephanopoulos said states whose maps were drawn under unified control, where both chambers of the legislature and the governorship were controlled by the same party, are more likely to be challenged. Protesters who want Catalonia to separate from Spain march during a demonstration Monday in Barcelona. (Felipe Dana/Associated Press) The leader of Spains Catalonia region called Monday for help from European leaders in working out the regions move to be independent. The request comes a day after a violent crackdown by Spanish police trying to block Catalonians from voting on whether they wanted to separate from Spain. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said he would file a complaint against Spanish police after officers fired rubber bullets, smashed into polling stations Sunday and beat back protesters with batons. Puigdemont urged Spains national police reinforcements to leave the area. Spanish authorities said police acted professionally. And Spains interior minister said that the 5,000 extra officers sent to Catalonia would stay as long as necessary. Catalan officials say an overwhelming majority of voters supported independence, but Spains central government has repeatedly condemned the referendum as illegal. Most European governments havent backed Catalonias independence, fearing the same thing could happen in other nations. The Catalan president said the regional parliament plans to declare independence in the next few days. So far, the European Union, the United States and most international bodies have backed Spain in its stance against Catalan independence. The E.U. on Monday urged all sides in Spain to move from confrontation to dialogue. "These are times for unity and stability," E.U. spokesman Margaritis Schinas said. Catalonia, with the city of Barcelona as its capital, represents one-fifth of Spain's economy. Polls consistently show that while most of its 7.5 million residents favored a referendum, they are roughly evenly split on independence from Spain. Those in favor of secession argue that the region contributes more to the national government than it receives in return. Catalonians already enjoy a wide measure of autonomy but the central government still controls taxation and other financial levers, as well as infrastructure projects. Associated Press Read more from KidsPost: Britain votes to leave the European Union How has Europe changed over the past century? Festival picks the best gelato in Europe? Meadow Creek Dairys Grayson front) and Appalachian back). The Appalachian was among cheeses that showed impressively next to the famed Parmigiano-Reggiano at the recent Cheese 2017 festival in Italy. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) A few weeks ago, I witnessed an unprecedented moment in the evolution of American artisan cheese. It happened here, in this small Piemontese city, at Cheese 2017, the 11th edition of the grand festival put on biennially by the organization Slow Food. In a pavilion sponsored by the famed and powerful Parmigiano-Reggiano consortium, there was a comparative tasting, served to a mostly Italian audience. But on the plate was something previously unimaginable in Italy: Three American cheeses were served alongside a hunk of aged Parm. At first, the audience seemed skeptical, even amused, by the notion of these American cheeses served next to one of their sacred culinary touchstones. One of presenters from the consortium made a dismissive joke about the green cans of Kraft pre-grated fake Parmesan that many Italians still believe Americans love. [The worlds best places to buy Italian wine: Italy, and one tiny store in D.C.] But as the audience began sampling the cheeses Appalachian from Meadow Creek Dairy in Galax, Va.; an American take on Dutch Gouda from Marieke in Wisconsin; Smokey Blue from Rogue Creamery in Oregon the mood shifted. The tent got quieter as people sniffed and tasted. Husbands and wives exchanged furtive glances. I saw at least four people give each other that classic Italian shaking-hand gesture of the palm turned upward, thumb-and-middle-finger clenched, that basically means, Are you freaking kidding me? One guy, impeccably dressed in a sharp suit and sunglasses, raised his hand and asked Kat Feete, Meadow Creeks cheesemaker, Where can I buy a wheel of this cheese from you? a question several people applauded. Given that Feetes cheese was inspired by the famed Toma from Piedmont, that was high praise indeed. Kat Feete, right, of Meadow Creek Dairy in Galax, Va., and Marieke Penterman of Marieke Gouda in Wisconsin, speak on a panel on the state of raw-milk cheese in the United States. (Alessandro Vargiu/Archivio Slow Food) "This should be a warning to the Italian people," said Simone Ficarelli, marketing and communications manager for the Parmigiano-Reggiano consortium. "We can't get lazy. We should be concerned about the Americans making better cheese than us." Okay, so it may not have been the Judgment of Paris, the 1976 blind tasting where California wines bested France, forever changing the wine industry. But in the world of formaggio, it seemed relatively monumental. American artisan cheese had clearly arrived on the world stage. [The wine tasting that shocked the world and forever changed what we drink] It was these sorts of insights I gleaned from Cheese 2017 in mid-September. I spent several days elbowing through a crowd of more than 300,000 enthusiasts, toothpicking samples of varying pungency from more than 300 cheesemakers from more than 50 countries. This event is the beating heart of cheese! declared Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food, dedicated to preserving local food traditions and cultures. He added that we were among the worlds cheese intelligentsia. I dont know if I joined the cheese intelligentsia. But I lusted after dark-brown, caramel-like Gjetost from Norway, Boeren Leyden cheese from the Netherlands that was spiked with cumin seeds, and the strange, spindle-shaped Oscypek cheese from the mountains of Poland. I fell in love with caciofiore, a sheeps-milk cheese that dates to ancient Rome and is made with enzymes from artichoke blossoms and not animal rennet. I returned three times to the stall where the Robiola di Roccaverano was being offered, sampling the coveted sheeps-milk cheese at two days, two weeks, six months and two years of aging. I was taught how to cut a full wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano. I learned that, in the Alps, cheese made in June will taste much different from cheese made in August, because the cows graze in different pastures. I accepted a skewer with three balls of fresh mozzarella di bufala from a large Campanian man who blared his own cheesy theme song, Viva la mozzarella! Viva la mozzarella! Mozzarella di bufala . . . mozzarella di amor! Visitors to Cheese 2017, the festival by Slow Food in Bra, Italy. (Paolo Properzi/Archivio Slow Food) I never imagined that my life would take a turn in which I would be sitting in a cheese workshop entitled 50 Shades of Mold with 50 other cheese geeks admiring and contemplating the gray mold of the alpine Graukase vs. the blue veins of the mountain pasture Castelmagno vs. the green fungus of the ridiculously rare Tcherni Vit from Bulgaria. Please note the great lactic footprint of these cheeses, said our moderator, Ludovico Roccatello, an educator for Slow Food International. Oh my, yes, the lactic footprint was duly noted. These cheeses were stinky and alive. We oohed and aahed over the funky, gooey, barnyardy Graukase, the crumbly and earthy Castlemagno, and the salty, wild Tcherni Vit which until recently had been illegal and almost extinct in its Balkan homeland. These cheeses almost seemed to speak to us in an ancient language. Perhaps in some other context, mold wouldnt be so attractive, said Roccatello. But here, for cheese enthusiasts, mold is beautiful. [Astoundingly good cheeses that everybody yes, even nondairy folks can eat] Suffice to say, that weekend in Bra was not a place for the lactose-intolerant. Nor would it have an ideal spot for those who are squeamish about raw-milk cheese. Thats because raw-milk cheeses made from milk that hasnt been pasteurized were the cause celebre this year. While great cheeses can be made with pasteurized milk, lovers of raw-milk cheese, like me, believe that pasteurization can strip away a cheeses particular character, flavors and aromas, robbing its uniqueness and sense of place. At the State of Raw Milk Cheese panel on opening day, there was much revolutionary talk of the ongoing battle in defense of raw-milk cheese and of Slow Foods intention to launch a raw-milk movement. Most significantly, Petrini hailed a revival of raw-milk cheese in America. Petrini suggested that a more widespread acceptance of raw-milk cheese by Americans had fueled this renaissance. A workshop called 50 Shades of Mold. (Matteo Bagnasacco/Archivio Slow Food) The following day, at a panel called "Raw in the USA," several American cheese professionals led by David Gibbons, author of "Mastering Cheese," explored this narrative, which seemed to be a lot more complicated. There's no doubt that the quality, quantity and reputation of American artisan cheese is on the rise, as evidenced by how many Italians I saw scarfing down, say, Jasper Hill's Bayley Hazen Blue. But there's actually very little data. Last year, the American Cheese Society, a trade organization of 1,800 cheese professionals, released its first study of artisan and specialty cheesemaking in the United States. Nora Weiser, the executive director, said that her group had underestimated the number of such cheesemakers and that there are more than 900 plying their trade three-quarters of them making less than 50,000 pounds of cheese per year. (To put that into perspective, consider that a billion pounds of cheese is produced each month in the United States, most of it by industrial brands). Just how much artisan cheese-making has increased over the past five or 10 years is still hard to ascertain, except anecdotally. John Antonelli, a cheese-shop owner from Austin who is the president of the society, said that these days about 60 percent of the cheese he sells is domestic, which is a big shift from even a few years ago. The study also found that only 38 percent of American artisan and specialty cheesemakers produce a raw-milk cheese. In the United States, were still in the phase where were trying to prove the safety of raw-milk cheese, Weiser said. That has proved difficult, with a large portion of the American public still frightened by even the idea of raw milk. Opponents cite a National Institutes of Health study that found that 90 outbreaks attributed to cheese between 1998 and 2011 caused 1,882 illnesses, 230 hospitalizations and six deaths. However, only 42 percent of those outbreaks resulted from raw-milk cheese. Yet when high-profile outbreaks happen such as one in March when two people died eating cheese made by celebrated artisan producer Jos Vulto in New York the debate over raw-milk cheeses heats up once again, and the future grows murky. Andy Hatch of Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin won this years Slow Cheese Award. (Alessandro Vargiu/Archivio Slow Food) Several on the panel, including Feete of Meadow Creek and Wisconsin cheesemakers Marieke Penterman of Marieke Gouda and Andy Hatch of Uplands Cheese, vented about the lingering perception of raw-milk cheese in the United States. Feete, whose cheese had earned the applause of the Italians in the Parmigiano-Reggiano tent, told the panel that it was raw milk or nothing for her dairy. For us, this was not negotiable, she said. Sure, its harder to work with raw milk, but you choose your challenges. To that end, the American Cheese Society has expanded its educational efforts, launching a Safe Cheesemaking Hub website to promote the proper production of raw-milk cheese. "The most important thing is that nobody makes unsafe cheese," said Weiser. Raw-milk cheeses must be aged at least 60 days, according to the Food and Drug Administration. That means many of the young, soft raw-milk cheeses you find in Europe are nonexistent in the United States. There has been talk about revisiting this rule, and possibly extending the time period, but the future is unclear. The FDA has also gone back and forth on whether cheese should be allowed to be aged on a wooden board, as many of the worlds great cheeses are. So much of what comes out of the FDA is opaque. How much is based on science and how much is based on lobbying? We dont know, said Hatch, who won this years Slow Cheese Award. Im worried that [President] Trump will strip the FDA budget. Which means less-educated inspectors. Raw-milk cheeses from four U.S. cheesemakers, from left: Meadow Creek Appalachian, Rogue Smokey Blue, Meadow Creek Grayson, Upland Pleasant Ridge and Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) Still, there were plenty of positive signs about the state of American cheese. For instance, more and more artisan cheese is being exported, almost 10 percent something unimaginable a decade ago. Penterman, who was born in the Netherlands and moved to a Wisconsin dairy farm in her youth, drew applause when she told the story of how her Dutch-inspired cheese was now being imported into the Netherlands, Goudas homeland. Yet while many American cheesemakers look to Europe for inspiration, over the course of the festival I heard plenty of boasting about American innovation and how cheesemakers in the United States do not feel bound by tradition. Artisan cheese seems to be where craft beer was about two decades ago. Feete told the story about how her mother had come to Cheese 2005 in Bra as a relative novice, trying to learn as much as she could about making raw-milk cheese and to bring that knowledge home to Galax, Va., in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Twelve years later, the Feete familys Meadow Creek cheeses were being celebrated at what is called the beating heart of cheese. If there is indeed a cheese intelligentsia, they are now very much a part of it. "It's amazing," Feete told me. "People put our cheese in their mouth, and their eyes light up. They say, 'Americano?' " Wilson is the author of the upcoming book "Godforsaken Grapes" (Abrams Press, spring 2018). Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the frequency of the Slow Food cheese festival. It is biennial. Q: My grandson kicked over an antique Chinese dim sum basket I brought back from Macao. The lacquer and mother of pearl finish is now cracked, and pieces fell off. I have most of them, but some are quite small. The basket is about 22 inches tall and 14 inches wide. Do you know someone who can repair this piece with the painstaking care required? Washington A: Several conservators in the Washington-Baltimore area have expertise in repairing Chinese lacquer pieces such as yours. They include Stephanie Hulman, owner of Decorative Arts Conservation (410-645-0580; decartsconservation.com) and Diana Johnson Galante (917-439-6914; dianajgalante@gmail.com). They and others are listed in the online "Find a Conservator" service offered through the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (conservation-us.org). Do a search for people who work on "objects," and then focus on people who list lacquer as among their areas of expertise. Chinese lacquer is a very different material from the kinds of lacquer that you can buy in a spray can or in liquid form at a paint store. Dating to 5000 B.C. and continuing today, Chinese lacquer is made from sap that oozes from a variety of trees in the sumac family. Like poison oak and poison ivy, which are also in this plant group, the lacquer sap often severely irritates skin, although once the resin cures, there is no problem. Your piece, which was probably designed for serving food at special events, had many layers of lacquer over the basic shape, made of wood or bamboo, Hulman said. The first few layers on objects like this are typically thick, with bulking materials such as ash or rice hulls mixed in with the lacquer to smooth out cracks in the wood or bamboo. Over that are typically many thinner layers of lacquer. Black pigment was often added, as in your piece, to give the finish its dark, rich color. Many other additives and recipes for lacquer create other looks and repair challenges that are explored on the websites of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the Getty Museum. In Asia, lacquered objects are often repaired using authentic lacquer. Because the new and old materials have similar properties, the repairs tend to age well with the rest of the finish, greatly reducing the chance of aging cracks, Hulman said. But the trade-off is that if the repairs arent done well, there is no way to remove the new material and redo it, because whatever would take off the new lacquer would also remove whats left of the original. Thats why, in the West, conservators generally opt to make repairs with reversible materials. Hulman and Galante would take this approach. Reattaching the mother of pearl on your piece might call for isinglass, a gelatinous glue made from sturgeon bladders, acrylic, or synthetic resins. Hulman and Galante said that repairing your piece would probably start at about $1,000, but conservators cant give a firm estimate until they examine an object and learn your goals. It can make a big difference whether an owner wants to stabilize an object and prevent further damage or whether it needs to look like it was never damaged. Once it is repaired, Galante recommended that you display your piece where it will be protected. Obviously that includes being out of range of grandkids. But light, too, can do damage. Lacquer is very light-sensitive, and the artifact should be kept out of direct sunlight, and its light exposure in general should be kept to a minimum, Galante wrote in an email. Stephanie Ochoa and her brother Luis try out a Meeting Bowl, a piece of public art thats on display in Arlington until November 1. (Ann Cameron Siegal) Near Arlingtons courthouse, three unusual round wooden objects are attracting attention and exploration by people of all ages. Some think they look like amusement park rides. To Hadley Christiansen, 3, of Arlington, they look like salad bowls. Hadley was close. This urban furniture exhibit, on display until November 1, is called Meeting Bowls. Two of the designers, Emilio Alarcon and Eva Salmeron, from Madrid, Spain, recently visited Arlington to talk about these unique seating areas. Collaborating with two other artists in Madrid, they create interactive public art art that encourages people to become a part of it rather than just being observers. Then they partner with community groups around the world in this case, Arlington Arts to see how their ideas work. A circle is the perfect geometric shape, Alarcon said. Salmeron adds: Its impossible to be silent in a Meeting Bowl. It encourages communication. These unusual seating areas are designed to spark conversation. (Yassine El Mansouri/Arlington Arts) The design, with sides resembling open window blinds, seats eight and gives visitors a sense of looking out from a cozy room. An earlier version of the bowls, which rocked, appeared in New Yorks Times Square in 2011. These bowls will travel to Miami after leaving Arlington. The designers company is called Mmmm . . . , like the sound you might make when coming up with a new idea. For example, Mmmm, what if . . . ? Salmeron said the group chose the name because anyone can pronounce it as they wish. Arlington resident Harvey Fayhee, 7, and his family enjoy outdoor family meetings, often including a child-chosen topic. Harvey and his mom, dad, sister Charlotte and grandma recently sat inside a Meeting Bowl while discussing mermaids. I like these because you can see each others faces while talking, Harvey said. They would give kids, especially shy kids, the chance to get to know each other. You can see the personality of a community, said Salmeron, by watching how people react in and out of the bowls. Alarcon noted, People in the United States seem very interactive, open to conversation. Recently, Stephanie Ochoa, 10, and her brother Luis, 5, visited the meeting bowls while helping their dad with his vegetable stand at the nearby farmers market. After climbing inside and sitting quietly across from each other while looking around the bowl, they relaxed and began chatting. I think this could work, said Stephanie, smiling. Salmerons son, Nico, 10, who lives in Madrid, was one of the first kids to try the Meeting Bowls six years ago. In an email, he described thinking of them then as mysterious and like flying saucers. I know the Meeting Bowls are going to amuse you, Nico said. Would you step inside one if other people were already there? Duke Shackleford, 10, of Arlington considered it while watching people use the bowls as he enjoyed breakfast nearby with his dad. If it was just kids my age, Id be more likely to go in, he said. What is next for Mmmm . . . ? They would like a permanent place for the Meeting Bowls, Salmeron said, and we want to make a playground. Upon hearing of that dream, Duke exclaimed, I would love that! Read more from KidsPost: At corn mazes, getting lost is part of the fun. Where to collect fall leaves Kids in Parks encourages families to hit the trails Dear Readers: Today's Sound Off is about garbage cans left in plain view. We've had several letters on this subject, and here is one of them: Dear Heloise: Why do people leave their ugly garbage cans out in front of their house not just on pickup days, but all the time? Not only is it tacky-looking, but it affects the entire neighborhoods appearance. Many of us keep our homes painted and our yards maintained, but when someone parks a garbage can on the front porch or in front of the garage door, it makes the whole street look bad. Walter D., Newport, R.I. Walter, judging by the letters we get every week, this is an annoying subject for many, all across America. If you belong to a homeowners association, perhaps it can ask everyone in the neighborhood to store garbage cans out of sight. Dear Readers: If you have an old toothbrush, don't toss it out clean and disinfect it, and use it for some of the following tasks: As a dry brush for cleaning dust from knickknacks. Clean bathroom faucets. Clean jewelry (nonabrasive toothpaste works well here). Clean small, narrow-necked vases. Dear Readers: I received several letters from readers who agreed with "The Rules of the Lake House" that guests need to limit their visits and come only when invited. Here are a few responses. Frankly, it exhausts us to have overnight guests. We hear the same comments from our retired friends. Our children live out of state, and one of their visits means cleaning, shopping for groceries, baking and entertaining, and it wears us out! J., via email We love to have our family and friends over, but we also love to see them go. At our ages (74 and 76), we just cant take more than two nights with company! Maryann H. in Denver Im a widower and love to have my daughter and grandkids come for a visit. I just wish theyd leave after three days. Last year, my daughter wanted me to take the grandkids for a month in the summer, and I said, Sorry, darlin, Im too old and too tired for that kind of stress. Jake L., Florence, Ala. Dear Heloise: I read your advice in the Roswell (N.M.) Daily Record. When youre going to be out of town, I would like to advise turning off the clothes washers water valves. The hose can rupture and flood the house. Todd S., Roswell, N.M. Dear Heloise: I donate foam packing pieces to packing stores, and theyll gladly accept them. In some cases, theyll even welcome used cardboard boxes. Patty D., via email Dear Heloise: To keep my spray can of starch from falling off my ironing board, I put a rubber band around the middle and lay the can down on its side. That way, it wont roll off the ironing board. Cathy R., Holly Lake Ranch, Tex. Heloises column appears six days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice . Send a hint to Heloise , P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-5000, or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com . Reporter Rachel Crosby was getting ready for bed Sunday night when a group text message from her editor lit up her phone. "Report of two active shooters at Mandalay Bay," wrote her boss, Carri Geer Thevenot. "Who is available to help?" Within moments, Crosby was on her way to University Medical Center, a few blocks from her apartment north of the Las Vegas Strip. There she encountered the first signs of an unfolding tragedy. She saw a bewildered trauma-room nurse, on a brief respite, fall to his knees as he spoke into his phone. "Jesus," she overhead him say. "It's bad." A few minutes later, as Crosby began calling people in local law enforcement, she learned just how bad it was. "#breaking," she tweeted just after midnight local time. "A police source just confirmed to me that more than 20 people are dead." In the immediate aftermath of what has turned out to be the deadliest mass shooting in recent American history, Las Vegas's leading newspaper, the Review-Journal, became the eyes on the episode for much of the world. The paper quickly confirmed from law enforcement that there was only one shooter involved and that he had killed himself after inflicting a grievous toll on people attending a country music festival across from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Crosby's initial report of 20 soon spiraled past 50. By Monday morning, authorities said the figure was 58 dead, with more than 500 injured. The paper marshaled about 50 of its 140 journalists Sunday night and dozens more on Monday, said Editor in Chief Keith Moyer. In addition to scoops Moyer's sister, a freelance writer in Florida, fed the first interview with shooter Stephen Paddock's brother to the paper the Review-Journal treated the episode as a community emergency, directing readers to blood banks and centers where people could find information about lost relatives and victims. The paper reacted so quickly to the first police scanner reports of a shooting that one of its reporters was inside the Mandalay Bay complex when police declared it part of the crime scene and locked it down, temporarily preventing people from leaving. It was pretty seamless, Moyer said during a brief break in directing coverage Monday. Im really proud of what we produced. Newspaper reporting staffs have been decimated by the rise of the Internet, but the shooting was again a validation of what they do best, Moyer said. Despite staff turnover in recent years, the Review-Journal still maintains the largest newsroom in the state, he said, and with it direct connections to city and county health, law enforcement and emergency-response officials. He suggested the papers reporting of the shooting may counter the narrative that sprang up around it after Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson bought it in late 2015. Adelson's $140 million purchase was first beset by mystery and then by conspiracy whispers. The buyer was initially identified only as a Delaware shell company fronted by a Connecticut man named Michael Schroeder. Adelson and his family did not acknowledge that they were behind the shell company until Fortune magazine and the Review-Journal itself reported their involvement. The acquisition then set off fears that Adelson the largest donor to the Republican Party during the 2012 and 2016 cycles and Donald Trumps leading contributor in 2016 would use the paper to influence statewide politics and to benefit Adelsons Las Vegas Sands Corp. On Monday, Moyer said: "Sheldon Adelson doesn't have anything to do with our coverage. People thought he was dictating our coverage. We don't hear from Sheldon Adelson." (Moyer also distanced his news staff from one of the paper's columnists, syndicated radio host Wayne Allyn Root, who without evidence speculated on Twitter about a "Muslim" connection to the shooting). Adelson has brought additional resources to the paper, increasing its newsroom from about 90 journalists when Moyer started 19 months ago to about 150. Some of that additional reporting muscle may have paid off during the trauma and tragedy of Sunday's mass killing. The paper published stories, photos and videos that were widely shared online, including a concertgoer's video of the scene as automatic gunfire rains down. The Review-Journal typically gets about 3 million unique visitors to its website per month; between late Sunday night and midmorning Monday it had attracted 465,000 people, a 635 percent increase over its usual traffic during that period, according to the paper. Crosby, the reporter, said she was in work mode and numb for most of the night as she reported the story. When details about the shootings were still emerging, she said, she texted her colleagues to take a couple of deep breaths, watch your surroundings, and know where the exits are. However, by Monday morning, returning to her apartment after a sleepless night, she was spent, physically and emotionally. She tweeted this: "Just want to add that [the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department] was kind enough to let me use the restroom inside HQ. Finally got a second to cry." After the D.C. Department of Health began enforcing a long-fogotten regulation that bans dogs from outdoor patios of restaurants and bars, mascot Andypants Sherwood had to be removed from his doghouse on the patio of the Midlands beer garden in the District. (Essdras M Suarez/For the Washington Post) The pleasures of Andypants Sherwood, like those of other dogs, are intense but few. The D.C. Department of Health put a stop to one of them two weeks ago. Andypants, unofficial mascot of the Midlands, enjoys lounging in his doghouse on the patio at the trendy Parkview watering hole. At least he did until Sept. 19, when a city health inspector showed up to tell his owner, Midlands proprietor Peyton Sherwood, that regulators were enforcing a forgotten section of the health code that prohibits dogs from restaurant and bar patios. Since then Sherwood has reluctantly been following the rules and serving an exclusively human clientele. We became a really dog-centric place, and it was really great, he said wistfully. Its just not as cute anymore. The health department's visit to the Midlands, which came on the heels of a similar admonition to the dog-friendly Wonderland Ballroom in Columbia Heights, would turn out to be the opening salvo in a fight that is now echoing through the corridors of D.C. city hall. As news of the crackdown has spread, dog owners have inundated D.C. Council members with complaints, leading to emergency legislation to repeal the ban that will be introduced Tuesday. The Midlands beer garden co- owners Trent Allen, left, Robin Webb and Peyton Sherwood at their establishment with Andypants, Sherwoods dog. (Essdras M Suarez/For the Washington Post) The clash recalls a similar episode this year, when the Department of Health sought unsuccessfully to ban backyard chickens, require licenses for cats and mandate how quickly dog feces must be removed from private property. [Mayor chickens out of fight with fowl-loving residents] In a city transformed by an influx of the young and affluent, the debate over dogs' patio rights has a distinctly new-school flavor. A Twitter account, @PupsOnPatios, quickly sprang up to advocate on behalf of the evicted canines. Some of the affected establishments are in neighborhoods where a middle-class family would struggle to afford a mortgage on Andypants's doghouse. Yet it also has the makings of an old-fashioned political street fight, with council members taking up arms against an agency under the control of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D). Leading the charge is Health Committee Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7), who says that the departments effort to kick dogs off bar patios shows badly misordered priorities in a city struggling with public-health problems that include widespread opioid addiction and a deeply troubled public hospital. Gray, a former one-term mayor widely viewed as a potential challenger to Bowser in 2018, also blocked the health departments efforts to step up regulation of cats and chickens. [Another day, another chance for Gray to needle Bowser] In a letter introducing a Dining with Dogs Emergency Declaration, he referred to those earlier skirmishes, complaining that the health departments limited time and resources are being marshaled to wage Round 2 of the War on Pets and asserting that the agency seems unable to properly prioritize life or death health care challenges over matters of far less concern. His legislation would leave the decision of whether to allow dogs on patios to individual proprietors. Health department spokeswoman Jasmine Gossett declined to address specific questions about what led to the renewed focus on dogs outdoors at restaurants and bars. We are aware of the concerns about the enforcement of the current health code and will review best practices and evaluate the agencys posture on the matter, she said in a written statement. Bowser spokeswoman LaToya Foster said the mayors office would leave it to the experts at the Department of Health to align our regulations with best practices. Mike Amato, a former Obama administration employee who lives in Parkview and until recently enjoyed frequenting neighborhood places such as the Midlands with his wife and poodle-boxer mix, Sammie, said the argument about misdirected resources made sense to him. Somewhere along the line, inside the health department, they made a strategic decision to direct their resources to kicking dogs out of restaurants, Amato said. Thats what really bothered me. Amato, who has also worked in Congress, said he was taken aback by the speed with which his council member, Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1) and Gray got back to him when he wrote to protest the dog ban. I was shocked, he said. They were all very responsive. Nadeau, a co-sponsor of the Dining with Dogs legislation, estimated that she had heard from about 50 constituents over the past two weeks on the issue. This one just really seems like a no-brainer to us, she said. These spaces are really special gathering spaces for our community, and that includes our canine friends. Council member Brandon T. Todd (D-Ward 4), also a sponsor of the bill, said he didnt blame the health department. Their job is to enforce the law, and thats what theyre doing, Todd said. I think the law thats on the books is not reflective of 2017. At the Midlands, Sherwood said hell be watching the upcoming legislative debate closely. So will Andypants. Hes not getting nearly the scratches and love that he got from all of the customers, Sherwood said. BLOOD DONATIONS Blood drives Friday 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Loudoun County Fire and Rescue, 801 Sycolin Rd., Leesburg, 800-733-6727; Oct. 12, 2:30-8 p.m., Ashburn Fire and Rescue, 20688 Ashburn Rd., Ashburn, 800-733-6727; Oct. 20, 1:30-6:30 p.m., St. James Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall St., Leesburg, 800-733-6727. Inova Blood Donor Center Mondays noon-8 p.m., Tuesdays 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Fridays 6 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sundays noon-4 p.m. Dulles Town Center, 45745 Nokes Blvd., Sterling. 866-256-6372 or inova.org/donateblood. FIRST AID First aid/adult, infant and child CPR/AED (Automated External Defibrillator) Fauquier Health Medical Office Building, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. Call for schedule. Registration required. 540-316-3588. $85. HEARING Disability Resource Center Technical assistance through the state Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and presentations to businesses, groups and schools. Third Tuesdays 2-5 p.m., Workplace, 205 Keith St., Warrenton. Call for an appointment, 800-648-6324; TDD, 540-373-5890. Free. MENTAL HEALTH Counseling for sexual violence survivors Provided by Loudoun Citizens for Social Justice. 703-771-9020. Crisis Intervention Treatment and Assessment Center Provides emergency mental-health, substance-use and developmental services to Loudoun residents. Daily 7 a.m.-11 p.m. 102 Heritage Way NE, Suite 102, Leesburg. Emergency services are available 24 hours a day at 703-777-0320. Crisislink Suicide and crisis intervention. Community education, a volunteer crisis response team and CareRing, a telephone outreach program for the elderly and disabled. 703-527-6016, volunteer@crisislink.org or crisislink.org. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services This mental-health nonprofit organization is accepting clients ages 16 to 30 for a coordinated services program with Loudoun County to help young people with their first experience of psychosis find hope and recover. For information, call Lisa Beran at 703-388-6572 or go to prsinc.org. Piedmont Chapter, National Alliance on Mental Illness Serves Fauquier, Orange, Madison and Rappahannock counties. Support group, education classes and events for people living with mental illness and their family members. First Wednesdays 7-9 p.m. Fauquier Hospital, 500 Hospital Dr., Sycamore Room A, Warrenton. 571-426-8213. Mental health first-aid A public education program offered by the Loudoun County Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services to help residents understand mental illness and seek intervention. Go to loudoun.gov/mhfirstaid. Northern Virginia Chapter, National Alliance on Mental Illness Support group, classes and programs for people living with mental illness and their loved ones. naminorthernvirginia.org. PREGNANCY, PARENTING Adoptive family preservation Adoptive families discuss common experiences; registration required. Third Tuesdays 12:30-2 p.m., Ashburn Library, 43316 Hay Rd. Call 703-941-9008, Ext. 23, or email jmellario@umfs.org. Birthright of Loudoun County Free pregnancy tests, baby clothing, transportation and support throughout pregnancy, 823 S. King St., Leesburg. 703-777-7272. Bond Between Us A nonprofit organization that offers support to birth parents when children have been placed for adoption. Fourth Tuesdays 7:30 p.m. Call for location. 703-771-7844. Breast-feeding support Mondays 9:30-10:30 a.m., Fauquier Hospital Family Birthing Center, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. Dad support New and expectant fathers share ideas. First Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg. 703-858-6360. For the Children's Sake A support group for separating or divorcing parents to share advice. Four-hour session weekly. Information: 703-391-8599 or fitsfoundation.org. La Leche League Mother-to-mother support and breast-feeding information. 10 a.m. second Wednesdays in Warrenton, 540-351-6103. Third Fridays 10:15-11:45 a.m., call for location, 703-444-7386. Second Fridays 10:15 a.m., Ashburn Library, 43316 Hay Rd., 703-829-0349. Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon, Panera Bread, 43670 Greenway Corp. Dr., Ashburn, lllashburn@gmail.com. Third Fridays 10:15 a.m., Christ the Redeemer Church, 46833 Harry F. Byrd. Hwy., Sterling, 540-338-4637. Loudoun Fatherhood Program Fathers discuss the joys and challenges of being a parent. Meets every other Saturday for two hours for four months; sponsored by Northern Virginia Family Service. 571-748-2796. Free. Loudoun Nurturing Parenting Program Positive parenting techniques; children attend with parents. Registration required. Call 703-771-3973, Ext. 27, or email nurturingprogram@lcsj.org. Free. Mothernet/Healthy Families Loudoun Program links first-time parents with medical, social and educational resources to give children a socially and physically healthy start in life. Family-support workers meet with participants in homes. English-Spanish translation provided. 703-444-4477, Ext. 217, or inmed.org. New mother support Wednesdays 9:30-11:30 a.m. Inova Loudoun Medical Pavilion, 224 Cornwall St., Leesburg. Babies welcome. 703-858-6360. Online childbirth education program Inova Loudoun Hospital's Web-based program uses animation, videos and interactive activities to guide users through the basics of childbirth, breast-feeding and caring for newborns. 703-858-6360 or thebirthinginn.org/classes. Parenting Alone group For parents who have school-age children and have lost a spouse or partner to cancer. Second Tuesdays 5:30-6:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Call 703-698-2536 or email jennifer.eckert@inova.org. Pregnancy and childbirth support Childbirth Solutions Resource Center, 8393 W. Main St., Marshall. 571-344-0438. Young parent services Support for teenage parents. Loudoun County Department of Family Social Services, 52 Sycolin Rd., Leesburg. Call for times. 703-771-5375. SENIORS Chair yoga Age 55 and older. Mondays 11 a.m.-noon, Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. Wear comfortable clothes. Bare feet or socks encouraged. 571-258-3400. $2 drop-in. Exercise equipment Age 55 and older. Weights, treadmills, bikes and a cardio-glide. Instruction provided. Weekdays 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free. Eye care LensCrafters staff members clean glasses and make minor repairs. Second Wednesdays 1-2 p.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 703-430-2397. Free. Inova Loudoun mobile van Blood pressure checks. Second and fourth Tuesdays 9:30 a.m.-noon, Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling, 571-258-3280; first Wednesdays 9:30 a.m.-noon, Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Laughing yoga for seniors Exercises to improve flexibility and balance. Thursdays 9:30-10:30 a.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free. Loudoun Adult Day Centers For seniors with physical limitations or memory loss, a safe and social environment, therapeutic activities, individualized care and respite for caregivers. Limited transportation. Sliding-scale fees. Weekdays in Leesburg, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., 703-771-5334; Purcellville, 571-258-3402; and Ashburn-Sterling, 571-258-3232. Senior Outreach Services Free and confidential assistance from an Area Agency on Aging case manager. Call for an appointment or sign up at the Senior Center at Cascades. First and third Wednesdays 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 571-258-3280. Senior Outreach Services Free and confidential assistance from an Area Agency on Aging Elder case manager. Sign up in the Leesburg Senior Center lobby. Second and fourth Thursdays 11 a.m.-noon and 12:30-4:30 p.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free. Senior Outreach Services Free and confidential assistance from an Area Agency on Aging Elder case manager. Call for an appointment or sign up at the Carver Center. First and third Mondays, 12:30-5 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 703-737-8741. Free. Tai chi for seniors Stretching and strengthening movements. Mondays 11 a.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Free. Zumba gold class Age 55 and older. Wear rubber-soled shoes and comfortable clothing; bring water and a towel. Tuesdays 11 a.m., Tuesdays and Fridays 1 p.m. Senior Center of Leesburg, 102 North St. NW, Leesburg. 703-737-8039. $24 per month. Zumba For people 55 and older learning Zumba for the first time, or those who prefer a lower-impact version. The fitness program combines Latin and international music with dance. Thursdays 11 a.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 571-258-3280. $12. SUPPORT GROUPS Addiction support Tuesdays 7 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. Email sznnodum@gmail.com or 540-935-8148. Al-Anon Service Center of Northern Virginia A volunteer is available 24 hours with information for spouses, family members and friends of problem drinkers. 703-534-4357 or 877-339-8350. Mondays 8 p.m., Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 125 W. Washington St., Middleburg, 540-554-2747; Tuesdays 7:30 p.m., St. James Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall St. NW, Leesburg, 877-339-8350; Fridays 8:30 p.m., Grace Episcopal Church, 6507 Main St., The Plains, 800-344-2666; Tuesdays 12:15 p.m., Warrenton Church of Christ, Route 29 N., 540-347-7448; Tuesdays 7 p.m. and Saturdays 8:30 p.m., Warrenton Presbyterian Church, 91 Main St., 800-344-2666. Alcoholics Anonymous Various meeting times and locations in Loudoun County. 800-208-8649 or 703-876-6166. nvintergroup.org. Alzheimer's caregivers support For those caring for people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Second Mondays 7-8:30 p.m. Galilee United Methodist Church, 45425 Winding Rd., Sterling. 703-430-9229. galileeumc.org. Alzheimer's caregiver support For those who care for people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Fourth Wednesdays 4-5:30 p.m. The Villa at Suffield Meadows, 6735 Suffield Lane, Warrenton. 540-316-3800. Alzheimer's caregivers support Emotional, educational and social support for family members and friends of people with the disease. Third Saturdays 10 a.m. Loudoun County Area Agency on Aging, 20145 Ashbrook Pl., Ashburn. 703-771-5407 or lesley.katz@loudoun.gov. Alzheimer's caregiver support group Fourth Thursdays 3-4 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 540-903-6831 or alz.org. Alzheimer's support First Tuesdays 10-11 a.m. Spring Arbor Assisted Living, 237 Fairview St. NW, Leesburg. 540-338-6520. Alzheimer's support First Wednesdays 4 p.m. Leesburg Adult Day Center, 16501 Meadowview Ct., Leesburg. 703-771-5334. Alzheim er's support First Thursdays, noon, Lansdowne Woods of Virginia, 19375 Magnolia Grove Sq., Lansdowne. 703-283-6554. Alzheimer's support Fourth Thursdays 3-4 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 571-258-3400. Talk About Curing Autism A nonprofit organization educating and supporting families affected by autism. tacanow.org. Autoimmune support Last Thursdays 6:30-7:30 p.m. Jackson Building, 209 Gibson St., Leesburg. autoimmunesupport@ hotmail.com. Bereaved parent support One-on-one counseling is available. Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814 or scsm.tv. Bereavement support Age 18 and older. Third Mondays 1 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. Sponsored by Capital Caring. 703-957-1800. Breast cancer support For those with new diagnoses or starting treatment. Register if attending for the first time. Fourth Mondays 5-6:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-858-8857. Breast cancer support Fourth Tuesdays 7-8 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Tower, Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-349-0588. Breast cancer support For those who have finished treatment, have had a recurrence or have metastatic breast cancer. Register if attending for the first time. Fourth Mondays 6:30-8 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-858-8857. Free. Breast Cancer Support Assistance Fund Loudoun County residents who have received a diagnosis or have undergone treatment in the past 12 months are eligible to apply for financial assistance. Areas included are wigs, bras, puffs and prostheses, mammograms and medical bills, food and help with utilities, rent or mortgage, and transportation costs. The Pink Assistance Fund has been established by the Loudoun Breast Health Network. lbhn.org. Cancer support Oncology nurses, social workers and spiritual-care providers offer education and support to patients, families and caregivers. Second Mondays 5:30-6:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Sycamore Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-2273. Cancer support "Life with Cancer," for patients, family members and friends. Second Thursdays 7 p.m. Ashburn Presbyterian Church, Room 202, 20962 Ashburn Rd. 703-729-2012 or ashburnpresbyterian.org. Caregiver support Emotional, educational and social support. Encourages caregivers to maintain their physical and emotional health while caring for people with dementia or other chronic illness. Fourth Thursdays 3-4 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. 540-903-6831. Caregiver support and resource group Wednesdays 10:30 a.m.-noon (no meeting first Wednesdays), Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. scsm.tv. Caring for Aging Parents Support group. Confidential. Fourth Wednesdays 7:30 p.m., Family Focus Counseling Service, 20-B John Marshall St., Warrenton. 540-349-4537. CHADD parents support For parents of children with ADD/ADHD. Fourth Sundays 3 p.m. KinderCare, 44051 Ashburn Village Shopping Plaza. chadd.novaloudoun@gmail.com. Chronic illness support Tuesdays 1:30-2:30 p.m. Spiritual Care Support Ministries, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814 or scsm.tv. Coffee and Conversation Support for those discouraged because of illness, bereavement, caregiving or a loved one in the military. Thursdays 10 a.m.-noon. Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. Compassionate Friends For parents who have experienced the death of a child. First Wednesdays 7:30 p.m. St. James Episcopal Church, 14 Cornwall St. NW, Leesburg. 540-882-9707. Creating and Connecting Two-hour art therapy and relaxation workshop for cancer patients. Every other month, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Call for dates. 703-858-8850. Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance of Western Loudoun Saturdays 3 p.m. Purcellville Library, 220 E. Main St., Carruthers Room. Call 703-431-7160 or email kathy@dbsanca.org. Drop-in grief support Second and fourth Wednesdays 1-2 p.m. St. David's Episcopal Church, 43600 Russell Branch Pkwy., Ashburn. Sponsored by Capital Caring. 703-597-1781. Families Overcoming Drug Addiction Support group. First and third Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Sycamore Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. myfodafamily@gmail.com or 540-316-9221. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth and parent support A group in partnership with Metro DC PFLAG. Fourth Sundays 4-6 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Church, 22135 Davis Dr., Sterling. 703-328-6518. Griefshare Nondenominational seminar and support group. Tuesdays 7:30-9 p.m., and Wednesdays, 1-2:30 p.m. Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. Free. Grief support Sponsored by Hospice Support of Fauquier County. Individual counseling available. First and third Thursdays 3:30-5 p.m. Hospice Support Office, 42 N. Fifth St., Warrenton. Registration required. Email hospicesupport@verizon.net or call 540 - 347-5922. Grief support Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Spiritual Care Support Ministry Center, 76 W. Shirley Ave., Warrenton. 540-349-5814. Hospice support Free medical-equipment loan facility for Fauquier County residents. Especially needed are donations of wheelchairs, bedside commodes, rolling walkers, electric hospital beds, shower benches and chairs, adult diapers, lift chairs, Ensure and hospital bed mattresses . 540-347-5922. Look Good, Feel Better For women undergoing or emerging from cancer treatment. Every other month, 6:45-9 p.m., Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Call for dates. 703-776-2820. Free. Loudoun CHADD support Led by Children and Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Third Thursdays 7 p.m. Leesburg Town Hall, lower-level conference room, 25 W. Market St. 703-669-2445. Lyme disease support Fourth Sundays 2-4 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Conference Room A and B, Leesburg. Go to natcaplyme.org or email loudounlymeadvocates@ gmail.com. Lyme disease support Third Thursdays 7-9 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. Call 540-341-8245 or email phillipsgeo@comcast.net. Lyme disease support Age 18 and older. First Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Carver Center, 200 Willie Palmer Way, Purcellville. Email charphealy@yahoo.com. MADD Loudoun victim support For those who have been affected by drunken driving. Third Wednesdays 7:30 p.m. 210 Wirt St., Leesburg. 540-338-6491. Man-to-Man cancer support Sponsored by Loudoun Cancer Care Center, for prostate cancer patients and their families. Second Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Senior Center at Cascades, 21060 Whitfield Pl., Sterling. 703-858-8857 or karen.archer@inova.org. Menopause support Third Thursdays 6:30-9 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg (second floor, Patient Education Room). 703-858-8060. Men's grief support Second Mondays at 7 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Sycamore Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 703-568-3346. Free. Multiple sclerosis support Saturdays 10:30 a.m. Fauquier Hospital Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-349-2826. Multiple sclerosis support Last Sundays, September-June, 2-4 p.m. Cascades Library, 21030 Whitfield Pl., Potomac Falls. Call ahead to confirm. 703-771-4256. Nar-Anon family support For those affected by loved ones with addiction. "Meaningful Mondays," 7-8 p.m., Galilee United Methodist Church, 45425 Winding Rd., Sterling. 703-203-9792; "Wisdom Wednesdays" 7-8 p.m., St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, 37730 St. Francis Ct., Purcellville, 703-606-7125; "Serenity Thursdays," 7-8 p.m. Leesburg Presbyterian Church, 207 W. Market St., Leesburg, 703-606-7125. Overeaters Anonymous For fellowship and support. For locations and times, go to oa.org. Parkinson's social Coffee and conversation. Third Wednesdays 10 a.m.-noon, Tribute at One Loudoun, 20335 Savin Hill Dr., Ashburn. parkinsonsocialnetwork.org or 703-378-7221. Free. Parkinson's support Open to those with Parkinson's disease, their family members and caregivers. First Tuesdays 1:30-3 p.m. Call for Ashburn location. 571-442-8851. Postpartum support Second and fourth Wednesdays 1-2:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Cornwall Campus, 224 Cornwall St., Leesburg. 703-909-9877 or lamckeough@gmail.com. Registration required. Reach to Recovery Home-visit program for mastectomy and lumpectomy patients. Temporary prostheses, exercise instruction and encouragement. 703-938-5550. Sexual assault and incest survivors group counseling Services provided by Loudoun Citizens for Social Justice and the Loudoun Abused Women's Shelter are free and confidential. 703-771-9020. Sexual assault survivors empowerment support Sponsored by Sexual Assault Victims Volunteer Initiative. Child care available with 48 hours notice. Mondays; call for times and locations. 540-349-7720. Spiritual support group For cancer patients, family members and friends. Third Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. 703-858-8850. Stroke support First Wednesdays, noon-1:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Chestnut Room, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. Free. Stroke survivors and caregivers support Second Wednesdays 11 a.m.-noon, Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg, second floor, Patient Education Room. 703-858-6199 or jill.lieb@inova.org. Suicide counseling Third Wednesdays 7-8:30 p.m. Leesburg Town Office, Conference Room 2, lower level, 25 W. Market St., Leesburg. survivorsofsuicideloss leesburg@gmail.com or 703-587-1618. Widows and widowers support Third Mondays 11 a.m. Leesburg Senior Center, 102 North St. NW. 703-737-8039. Women's support Sponsored by Services to Abused Families. Tuesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Confidential location. 540-825-8876. Women's cancer support Woman to Woman, first Wednesdays 6:30-8 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital Radiation Oncology Center, 44035 Riverside Pkwy., Suite 100, Leesburg. Registration required. 703-858-8850. MISCELLANEOUS Brain trauma survivors' brown-bag lunch For survivors and caregivers. First Tuesdays, noon-1:30 p.m., Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg, second-floor Patient Education Room. Call 703-737-3150 or email jberg@braininjurysvcs.org. Free. Child developmental screenings For ages 2-5. Children may not be kindergarten-age-eligible. Sponsored by the Loudoun County school systems' Child Find Center. 571-252-2180. Cholesterol screenings Weekdays, 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Fauquier Health LIFE Center, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-2640. Registration required. $35. Emergency food supplies Loudoun County residents in need can receive a free three-day supply of groceries. Supplies are distributed Mondays through Saturdays by Loudoun Hunger Relief. Call 703-777-5911 or go to loudounhunger.org. Fauquier free walk-in medical clinic Call Thursdays 12:30 to 1 p.m. to register for the clinic, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Patients are seen by appointment Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Fauquier and Rappahannock residents only. Bring proof of address for the first visit. Patients cannot have Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance. Information: 540-347-0394 Tuesdays or Thursdays, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Bistro Senior Supper Club Nutritious meals and fellowship for people 55 and older. Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:30-6:30 p.m. Fauquier Hospital Bistro on the Hill, 500 Hospital Dr., Warrenton. 540-316-3588. $5.49. HEROES (Hometown Enabling Relationships, Opportunities and Empowerment through Support) is a program for military families. Support to military members and families, from predeployment up to two years post-deployment. Assistance includes financial help, job placement, family care and mental-health services. caring@purbap.org or heroescare.org. Loudoun Cares information and referral help line Call 703-669-4636 for help in finding resources for county residents on issues of eviction, utility cutoffs, health care and employment. Motor skill screenings Birth to 21 months. First Thursdays, Blue Ridge Speech and Hearing Center, 19465 Deerfield Ave., Suite 201, Lansdowne. Call for an appointment. 703-858-7620. Free. Northern Virginia long-term-care ombudsman Call 703-324-5861 for help with complaints related to long-term-care facilities. Road to Recovery Free rides to appointments for cancer patients. Call 410-781-6909 or email jen.burdette@cancer.org. Free. Safe sitter classes For girls and boys ages 11-14. First Saturdays except for holiday weekends. 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Inova Loudoun Hospital, 44045 Riverside Pkwy., Leesburg. To receive a Safe Sitter Certificate, students must pass practical and written tests on babysitting and handling an emergency. Take a lunch from home or buy one in the cafeteria. $70, includes handbook and snacks. Registration required. Contact 703-858-8818 or charlene.martin@inova.org. Seven Loaves Food Pantry Individuals and families can receive a three-day supply of food, distributed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m.-noon. Go to sevenloavesmiddleburg.org or call 540-687-3489. Tree of Life Food Pantry Serving western Loudoun County. Food is delivered Wednesdays and Saturdays. 703-554-3595. Compiled by Sandy Mauck Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar Loudoun County and Fauquier County health calendar One of the most buttoned-up institutions in the country will wrestle with the free-for-all culture of the house party as the Supreme Court hears a case set for Wednesday that began in a brick duplex in the District. The weighty legal matters involve policing, arrests and searches in private homes. But those issues are packaged in a case that includes a mystery hostess named Peaches, women in garter belts stuffed with cash and party guests who werent certain who owned the house they were in, but told police that Peaches was a renter who had invited at least some of them. Attorneys on each side used debauched in their filings to describe the late-night bash on Anacostia Avenue a decade ago. They split over whether D.C. police officers called to investigate noise complaints acted legally and reasonably when they arrested 21 people for trespassing and whether the officers and the District government should have to pay upward of $1 million in damages a jury awarded most of the guests after charges eventually were dropped. The outcome of the case may turn in part on how the justices view the loose etiquette of house parties and whether guests need to fully vet a hosts invitation. The nights revelry, and how police handled it, already have sparked debate between two legal titans on opposing political ends of an important appeals court bench in Washington. [Supreme Court to hear case about arrests at D.C. house party] By the time police pulled up to the typically tranquil block in Northeast on March 16, 2008, the party was well underway, with lap dances, low lighting and the smell of marijuana. Some guests and dancers told police they had been invited to a bachelor party. Others said it was a birthday party. Peaches, the purported host, was not there. When officers at the scene phoned the homeowner, he told them he hadnt approved a party. Sixteen of the partygoers filed suit after the charges were dropped, and a federal jury awarded $680,000 in damages that eventually reached nearly $1 million with legal costs added. The city appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. A three-judge panel found that the officers were not immune from legal action for the unlawful arrests, leaving on the hook the city and two police officers Andre Parker and Anthony Campanale. The D.C. Circuit declined to rehear the case sitting with a full complement of judges. That decision prompted a robust dissent from conservative judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, who suggested that his colleagues were creating a new rule divorced from the real world that police officers face and a response from liberal judge Cornelia T.L. Pillard, who insisted that the court had done nothing to weaken protections for police. At issue for the Supreme Court on Wednesday will be whether D.C. police were justified in making the arrests. And, even if the officers got it wrong and did not meet the probable cause standard, whether they should still be shielded from the lawsuit. Government officials, including police officers, generally are protected from lawsuits when they carry out their duties in good faith. The issues involving Peaches and the party house already appear to have divided the Supreme Court. The justices considered the case nine times before agreeing to add it to their calendar. More than two dozen states including Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania and the Justice Department have lined up behind the District government. Attorneys general from 26 states contend that the D.C. Circuit ruling will have vast consequences for police nationwide because officers need to be able to judge whether suspects are telling the truth without being second-guessed. On the side of the partygoers, the American Civil Liberties Union says reversing the ruling would make it harder for citizens to hold police accountable for violating constitutional rights in this case, Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable, warrantless searches of private homes. It was after 1 a.m. when police entered the River Terrace house sparsely furnished with a few chairs and a mattress upstairs. Police arrested the partygoers only after hearing conflicting accounts about whether they had permission to be there, and about the absent host. Reached by phone, Peaches told officers that the owner was fixing up the house for her to possibly rent and then she became evasive and refused to come to the party scene, according to police depositions. After the arrests, at the 6th District police station, some officers debated the trespassing charges, court records show. After officers consulted with the attorney generals office, charges were changed from unlawful entry or trespassing to disorderly conduct. At least one officer objected, explaining that suspects cannot be disorderly indoors, according to the officers deposition. All of the charges eventually were dropped. Despite agreement among lawyers on both sides about the broad outlines of what happened in those early morning hours, lawyers for the office of D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine and for the partygoers diverge over how police should have interpreted what they observed. In the partygoers filing, attorney Nathaniel P. Garrett gives the justices a quick tutorial with a link to an article: How the Kids Do It Now: Partying. House party guests have no reason to ask whether the host is a renter or owner and may not even know the host, he wrote. Officers knew only that the guests were at a house party, engaging in common (albeit debauched) party activities, in a cheaply furnished home in a poor neighborhood, and that they neither owned nor rented the house themselves, wrote Garrett, a San Francisco-based lawyer. While this may be evidence of poor taste or poverty, or both, it is not evidence of knowing trespass. But to the citys solicitor general, Todd S. Kim, it was an easy, reasonable call for police to make the arrests. The officers quickly determined that the partygoers had no right to throw their unauthorized, debauched party in this unfurnished, unattended home, he wrote. Since the partyers had used Peaches to justify their presence, her evasive and untruthful behavior when questioned about it gave the officers reason to believe that she and the partyers had together fabricated their story. [U.S. officials cant be held liable for alleged unconstitutional treatment of noncitizens] Years later, Peaches has not been unmasked in court documents and was never deposed as part of the lawsuit. In siding with the partygoers, the D.C. Circuit said the officers did not meet the probable cause standard required for arrests because they had not considered that the partygoers thought they were welcome. Writing for the majority, Pillard said the partygoers believed mistakenly, it turns out that Peaches had permission to use the house for a party. It was undisputed that the arresting officers knew the plaintiffs had been invited to the house by a woman that they reasonably believed to be its lawful occupant, Pillard wrote. Kavanaugh and three other D.C. Circuit judges dissented and wanted the court to take another look. People involved in criminal activity often assert their innocence to police, Kavanaugh wrote, and it was entirely reasonable for the officers to have doubts about the partyers story and to conclude that there was probable cause to arrest. But even Kavanaugh acknowledged that the evening could have gone differently. Could [police] have broken up the party and then left? No doubt, he wrote. Indeed, in retrospect, that might well have been a better decision. The man suspected of killing a 77-year-old man who was found dead in his apartment in a Fairfax City retirement community in April is his nephew, Fairfax County police said Monday. Phuong Thanh Nguyen, 53, killed Cong Huu Nguyen at the Little River Glen Senior Retirement Community on April 20, before fleeing to Vietnam and later committing suicide, police said. Detectives said the motive in the slaying appeared to be financial gain. Phuong Nguyen was linked to the crime through DNA evidence, and police believe he was the only person involved in his uncles killing. A Virginia medical examiner determined that Cong Nguyen died of trauma to his upper body. Washingtons bike rental system is expanding next year, promising to remain competitive as new, high-tech rivals enter the regions bike-sharing market. Capital Bikeshare is slated to widen its reach in 2018 with the addition of more than 100 stations, hundreds more bikes and a larger coverage area investments that are worth more than $5 million of federal, local and private funds. When we launched in 2010 there were only 100 stations and two jurisdictions, said Kimberly Lucas, the Districts bike-sharing program coordinator. Now, Capital Bikeshare is available in the District and Alexandria, plus Arlington, Montgomery and Fairfax counties. Prince Georges County and Falls Church are joining next year. And they are coming online at a critical time for bike sharing. The District last month opened its market to four dockless bike-sharing companies, allowing each of them to bring as many as 400 bikes to city streets. Some of the start-ups are eyeing expansion into the Washington suburbs. Transportation officials are keeping close watch on the upstarts, not only to determine whether the dockless systems are safely and orderly adapted to the regions needs, but also to see whether they can coexist with Capital Bikeshare. The dockless model gained popularity in China in the past year but is relatively new in the United States. A man uses a LimeBike in Farragut Square. More dockless bike systems are expected in Washington this year to compete with Capital Bikeshare. (Paul J. Richards/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images) So far the new companies have reported solid ridership. Right now we are looking at it as a very favorable complement to what we have on the ground, said Henry Dunbar, director of Arlingtons active transportation programs, which include Capital Bikeshare. We see the benefits of having additional bikes go places where you cant put the docks in, he said. There is some competition, obviously, so Capital Bikeshare will have to stay competitive, but I dont think in any sense we are thinking this is going to be the beginning of the end of us. [Dockless bike-share companies race to Washington] Doubters can look at next years expansion, officials say, which will put Capital Bikeshares distinctive red bikes in new territory from National Harbor to Hyattsville in Maryland, and Reagan National Airport and Falls Church in Virginia. The bike program is a collaborative venture of the member jurisdictions, who under a joint agreement hire New York-based Motivate to run Capital Bikeshare operations. Officials in the member jurisdictions say they have no intention of slowing their Capital Bikeshare plans. But, in welcoming the private bike rental industry, the region could potentially be taking a strategic step to transition into a future of less public funding for bike sharing. The success of the dockless bike systems could influence bike-sharing planning as federal funding dwindles and jurisdictions seek to streamline their budgets. That is definitely a potential and it may not be the worst thing, said Adam Lind, bicycle program coordinator for Fairfax. San Francisco-based Spin is one of several dockless bike systems to venture into the District. (Spin) Bike sharing is expensive, with a 15-dock station costing about $48,000, and each Capital Bikeshare jurisdiction is responsible for the costs of their stations and equipment. They have depended heavily on federal grants to fund capital costs, and some use local revenue to cover operations. In the District, where more than 60 percent of the equipment is located, the usage fees have made the program nearly self-sustainable, officials say. [New Capital Bikeshare app lets you check availability, unlock bikes and buy passes] But that could change if riders are lured to the dockless option, which is cheaper and promises more convenience because rides can be made without having to plan trips around fixed pickup and drop-off locations. The bikes are found through a smartphone app, which also manages the unlocking of the bicycle. Users can leave and lock the bike wherever and whenever they are done. A 30-minute ride costs $1, half the price of Capital Bikeshare. By contrast, Capital Bikeshares 4,100 bicycles are found at more than 480 kiosks scattered across the region. Most of them are in high-demand, densely populated neighborhoods and in the downtown core. Because demand is great during rush hour, riders are often left scrambling to find an open dock to park. That challenge, however, hasnt discouraged use. The program has more than 32,000 members and recently marked 18 million trips. We are the proven entity. The bikes that we have . . . they are holding up seven years now and still going strong, Dunbar said. The whole dockless system in North America has only been around for a few months. We havent even seen these bikes go through one winter to see how they are going to hold up. Supporters are betting that Capital Bikeshares record will keep the system booming in a competitive scene. But long term, there is enough demand and potential growth to accommodate dock and dockless systems. To mark Capital Bikeshare's seventh anniversary, the District last week opened eight stations east of the Anacostia River, delivering on a promise to bring more bike-sharing access to lower- income communities. And there are plans to add as many as 41 stations in the city next year. In Prince George's, officials say they are reviewing vendor contracts before putting in an order for up to 325 bikes and 35 stations that will roll out in the spring. The $1.8 million investment will put bicycles in some of the county's most densely populated areas, including National Harbor and in a stretch of Route 1 from Mount Rainier to Riverdale Park. Alexandria is planning to submit a $650,000 order for equipment this fall, including 10 more docking stations to be installed next spring. The city has funds for 50 stations through 2020, but officials say they will evaluate bike-sharing needs next year before proceeding. Montgomery, which will have 73 stations at the end of the year, is planning about $660,000 in program expansion in 2018. That includes eight stations in the White Flint and Twinbrook areas and a seven-station network planned for the Rock Spring area of North Bethesda. Fairfax, the most recent jurisdiction to join the bike network, is adding three stations in Tysons before the end of the year and plans 11 new stations next year in Reston and Tysons at a cost of about $500,000. Fairfax has approved an additional $2 million to expand Capital Bikeshare when more Silver Line Metro stations open in Reston and Herndon in 2020. And Arlington is moving to acquire 15 more stations next year, including one for the airport. Those additions represent a minimum $600,000 investment, officials said. Capital Bikeshares growth will probably slow in coming years as the region moves from expansion mode to maintenance and replacement of old equipment. Retirement of the programss first batch of bicycles is set to begin next year, as the bikes reach the end of their seven-year life span. The replacement of docking stations made to last a decade will follow three years later. The District estimates that replacement costs will average $1.2 million annually over the next 16 years. If the dockless concept works, some D.C. officials say Capital Bikeshare could explore going dockless in the future, which could save the city on costly stations. Already the operator, Motivate, is looking at the technology, officials say. We have a large investment in Capital Bikeshare, so whatever new bikes the District were to purchase, we would like them to be fully compatible with the equipment that is already on the street, Lucas said. Republican Ed Gillespie, left, and Democrat Ralph Northam are neck and neck in the race for Virginia governor. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) The Las Vegas mass shooting, the deadliest in modern U.S. history, pushed gun control to the front of the neck-and-neck race for Virginia governor on Monday. At a previously scheduled forum in Vienna that was held hours after a gunman killed at least 58 people and injured hundreds, Democrat Ralph Northam and Republican Ed Gillespie offered condolences. But the partisan divide over guns in Virginia, a Southern state with a strong gun tradition that was shaken by the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, was immediately evident. Northam, a former Army doctor who has an F rating from the National Rifle Association, decried what he called a proliferation of guns in society and urged gun-control measures. Gillespie, who has an A rating and an endorsement from the NRA, asked for a moment of silence, later telling reporters that it was too soon to discuss policy. Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who became one of the nation's most prominent gun-control advocates after she survived a 2011 shooting in her district, canceled plans to campaign for Northam on Monday in Virginia. Northam said the cancellation was out of sensitivity to grieving families, although Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, responded to the Las Vegas violence at an afternoon news conference outside the U.S. Capitol. Politics matters, Kelly said. Who we elect matters. Dont let anyone tell you not to talk about politics when we talk about guns. Americans for Responsible Solutions, Giffordss gun-control group, has pledged to spend $150,000 on pro-Northam mailings. Northam is also backed by Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, a group bankrolled by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) that is spending at least $700,000 on his campaign. In light of the tragedy in Las Vegas, today is a day for resolve, said Kate Folmar, an Everytown spokeswoman. In this governors race, Virginians have a clear choice between a candidate who believes we must do much to prevent such tragedies, Ralph Northam, and a candidate who does not, Ed Gillespie. Meanwhile, the NRA, which had planned to run political advertising in Virginia starting Tuesday through Election Day on Nov. 7, delayed those commercials for one week, according to a media buying firm and a Richmond television station. View Graphic The latest stories and details on the 2017 Virginia general election and race for governor. The gun rights group plans to spend more than $750,000 on commercials in the Richmond and Roanoke markets, according to filings reviewed by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Its unclear what they are about; a spokeswoman for the NRA did not respond to requests for comment. The delay in the NRA ads is not connected to the shooting in Las Vegas, said a person familiar with the ad buy who was not authorized to talk on the record and spoke on the condition of anonymity. This is the second time an episode of gun violence has had ripple effects on the Virginia governors race, the nations marquee statewide election this year. The day after the June 13 primary, a gunman opened fire at a congressional softball practice in Alexandria, wounding House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and four others. Democrats canceled a planned unity rally, while Republicans scrapped a victory tour in favor of a prayer in Fairfax. [Rep. Steve Scalise returns to Congress 15 weeks after he was shot] Northam said Monday that the latest tragedy required more than thoughts and prayers. There is a tremendous proliferation of guns throughout this country, and there are tragedies that occur every day because of gun violence that we dont even hear about, Northam said in his speech at the forum in Vienna. We as a society need to stand up and say its time to take action, and stop talking. He later told reporters that such actions in Virginia include requiring universal background checks for firearm purchases and reinstating a Virginia law that restricts purchases to one handgun per month. That law expired in 2012. Northam was scheduled Monday night to appear at a candlelight vigil for Las Vegas victims outside Alexandrias city hall with Lori Haas, the mother of a Virginia Tech survivor and leader of the Virginia branch of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. After his forum appearance, Gillespie declined to answer questions from reporters about whether Virginia should change gun laws in light of the latest mass shooting. The appropriate comments and appropriate response right now is to take a moment and pray. And thats what Im doing, said Gillespie, who appeared emotional. There will be ample time for conversations and policy discussions and politics over the course of this campaign. Gillespie is opposed to further restrictions on guns and promised to reverse an executive order signed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) that bans guns in state government buildings. Guns have long been a major factor in political races in Virginia, home to the NRA headquarters. Before a gunman killed 49 people in Orlando last year, Virginia had the dubious distinction of being the site of the deadliest mass shooting in modern history when 32 people died in the Virginia Tech massacre. After long avoiding gun control, Democrats running for statewide office in Virginia in the aftermath of Virginia Tech and other mass shootings began calling for tougher laws and found they could still win. McAuliffe, who is barred from seeking consecutive terms under the state constitution, embraced his F rating from the NRA when he ran in 2013. Two previous Democratic governors, Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner, were rated F and C, respectively, by the NRA during their most recent election campaigns. Asked about the NRAs upcoming ad buy, Kaine called the Fairfax-based NRA a paper tiger. The problem with the NRA, bluntly, is that theyve morphed from an organization that reflected the views of their members to an organization that just does the bidding of gun manufacturers, said Kaine, who joined Warner on Monday at a previously scheduled Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce event in Falls Church. And gun manufacturers have a basic rule: whenever, wherever, however, to whomever in whatever quantity. Thats what they want. Kaine said he is opposed to a bill pending in Congress that would make it easier to put silencers on weapons. In the shooting in Las Vegas, the sound of the gunfire apparently helped people know where to go to avoid more fatalities, he said. [How Tim Kaines positions on guns evolved after Virginia Tech ] Mike DeBonis and Jenna Portnoy contributed to this report. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of Markus Kaarma, the Missoula man convicted of killing a German exchange student. Kaarma was found guilty of deliberate homicide and sentenced to 70 years in prison for the April 2014 shooting of 17-year-old exchange student Diren Dede. Dede went into Kaarmas Grant Creek garage, apparently looking to steal alcohol. Kaarma claimed he heard a noise and shot Dede with a shotgun. Kaarma first appealed his case to the Montana Supreme Court in late 2015. In February 2017, the state high court upheld his sentence, and later denied a petition to rehear the appeal. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined Kaarma's petition for a writ of certiorari the official request for the Supreme Court to hear the case. The high court accepts very few cases for review, typically reserving its judgments for those that involve significant, unsettled constitutional or legal questions. Kaarma's Supreme Court appeal focused on a smaller number of issues than the one submitted to the Montana Supreme Court. His attorneys, Nate Holloway and David Maldonado, said Kaarmas case dealt with critical questions of the Sixth Amendment: the right to an impartial jury and allowing someone accused of a crime to control their own defense. Kaarmas attorneys argued that his repeated requests to have his trial moved because of intense media coverage in the months leading up to it should have been granted. In a small-town setting, the sensational nature of this charge had a massive impact on the community. A firestorm of publicity ensued, Holloway and Maldonado wrote. They also challenged whether certain jury instructions about the standards of justifiable use of force given at trial should have been allowed by Missoula County District Court Judge Ed McLean. KANSAS High court calls school funding inadequate The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Monday that legislators did not increase spending on the states public schools enough this year, hinting in its opinion that lawmakers fell hundreds of millions of dollars short a year of providing a suitable education for every child. The court rejected the states arguments that a new law phasing in a $293 million increase in funding over two years was enough to provide a suitable education for each of the states 458,000 students. Four school districts that sued the state over education funding in 2010 had argued that the increase was at least $600 million short of what was necessary over two years. In its unsigned opinion, the seven-member court told legislators to enact a new, constitutional school funding law before July 2018, without setting a specific target for how much they must spend. The new law was a response to a ruling from the high court in March that the $4 billion a year the state had been spending on aid to its 286 school districts was inadequate. The figure was set to rise to $4.3 billion for the 2018-19 school year. Associated Press MINNESOTA Court ruling on civil commitment stands The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it wont review Minnesotas civil commitment program for sex offenders, which had been challenged as unconstitutional for rarely releasing residents. The program has faced legal challenges for years. An attorney for the systems more than 700 residents said that the program, which allows people who are deemed sexually dangerous to be committed to a treatment facility indefinitely, violates their rights because it amounts to a life sentence. In 2015, the program was declared unconstitutional by a U.S. district judge, who ordered changes to the system to create a more achievable path to release. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit reversed that decision in January and found the program is constitutional. The Supreme Courts decision means the 8th Circuits ruling stands. In another ruling, the Supreme Court let stand an appeals court decision that found Michigan was treating people on its sex offender registry as moral lepers by saddling them with excessive restrictions. In 2006, Michigan lawmakers changed the law to prohibit registrants from living, working or even loitering within 1,000 feet of a school. Associated Press The day Hurricane Maria swiped through these mountains, the loose, wet dirt started to tumble and roll. It broke through the gate and through the door. It moved with ferocity and determination. It covered and filled everything. It looked like chocolate, said Ferdinand Ramos, a 63-year-old retired police officer whose home was directly in the path of massive landslides. The viscous mud crashed into his living room and kitchen, leaving a shin-high sludge. Then, for almost nine days, Ramos and Norma Jimenez and members of their extended family were trapped on their property. No one came to help. Their home on the remote outskirts of this town 60 miles southwest of San Juan became a prison. Even after they cleaned up inside, they had no way to leave the mud, broken trees and chunks of debris had piled up outside. On Thursday eight days after Maria had passed a municipal utility worker cleared their street. The family had almost run out of drinking water. Their isolated community of Caonillas had received no aid from the local or federal government, residents said. And they had no way to make the perilous trek to town; the winding roads had been obliterated and six of the familys cars had been stored in a garage that collapsed, crushing five of the vehicles and sending the sixth sliding down the mountainside and into a river. So their daughter decided to try hitchhiking to town, desperate for bottled water for her month-old premature baby, Diana. As Jimenez, 62, waited for her daughter to return, she rocked six-pound Diana in her arms, kissing the infants forehead. She left this morning and still hasnt come back, Jimenez said. The Utuado region in the mountains of central Puerto Rico mountains was devastated by Hurricane Maria. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) An unknown number of families are still trapped in this part of Utuado, much of which is inaccessible nearly two weeks after the storm. From the air it is clear why: Mountaintop houses are surrounded by landslides, shredded structures are scattered down mountain slopes, and residents in some areas could be seen waving frantically for help as a helicopter passed. Some of the homes are so remote and in such rugged terrain that getting to them requires extraordinary effort by helicopter or all-terrain vehicle. Pilots cant land in many nearby spots, making it unclear how authorities will reach people before the road infrastructure is repaired, which could take months. Residents are cut off from civilization, in some places at least a four-hour walk to the nearest store. [There was once a bridge here: A devastated Puerto Rico community deals with isolation after Maria] If aid and essential resources have been slow to reach Puerto Rico as a whole, getting help to isolated communities such as Utuado has been taking even longer. In these rural neighborhoods, tucked between mountain ranges and nestled along murky river beds, there is no telecommunication. Some residents recounted coming across Federal Emergency Management Agency officials, none carrying aid only search-and-rescue teams seeking assessments. These are the U.S. citizens for whom the mayor of San Juan has been crying, the people who say they have been forgotten and betrayed by their government in Washington. President Trump has been declaring the federal governments role in Puerto Rico a success, but the people here see things very differently as they struggle to survive. [Trump called San Juans mayor a weak leader. Heres what her leadership looks like.] In the towns I represent, there are people who have no water, said an emotional Sen. Nelson Cruz Santiago, who represents the islands southern region. In Utuado, there is an area where the bridge was washed out and people are screaming from the other side for help. We can hear them, we can see them, but we cant help them. At least three people died in mudslides in Utuado after Maria hit on Sept. 20. Many residents of the Caonillas neighborhood worry that if it rains again, the mountains and roads could buckle even more and come after them again. Hector Ruiz, a utility worker hired by the Utuado municipality to clear its roads, is often the first outsider to encounter stranded families. With a large excavator on Friday, he cut through a mountain of debris that had fallen over Highway 140. He estimated that it will take at least one more month to make the entire highway in Utuado accessible. Ruiz said he came across a community of about 50 homes surrounded by a broken road on one side and a lake on the other. They cant get out either way, he said. People in Caonillas, Puerto Rico, try to clear a road that was wiped out by a mudslide related to Hurricane Maria. Community members are tackling the roads on their own, and they say that almost no assistance or equipment has been provided by local or federal authorities. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) Ana Rosa Cruz escaped from one of those isolated communities on Friday and was walking through Caonillas with her nephew. She emerged from a road covered with tall mounds of broken trees and mud. She was out of breath and exasperated, her shins covered in scratches and gashes from the trek. Cruz, 58, had walked for about two hours just to reach an accessible road. She was carrying empty gasoline containers and had about an hour to go to reach her destination. Since the storm, Cruz had been staying at her mothers home, which had been cut off by landslides. About nine families live there, but dozens more live even farther into the area, she said, miles away from anything. Her mother, who has circulation problems, only had enough fuel to use her generator for two more days. She and her neighbors are forced to drink water from the mountain or from the sky, she said. If she gets sick, we cant get her out, Cruz said of her mother, noting that she has seen helicopters but none of them have stopped. We just wave goodbye, because theres nothing else we can do. [Puerto Ricos humanitarian crisis nowhere more obvious than at hospitals] For Lisandra Torres, 43, who lives down the road from Jimenez and Ramos, her familys sedan is too low to the ground to make it up the muddy, rugged route only a four-wheel-drive SUV would even have a chance. Torres walked for three hours to get to the center of Utuado on Thursday, seeking food and water. Her extended family is almost out of cash, so Torres tried to pick up their benefit checks from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children known as WIC to purchase food and diapers for her grandchildren. But the WIC offices in their town were closed. If my babies get sick, I need to buy medication, said her daughter, Lizbeth Coraliza, 24. A relative tried driving her sister, Angelica Coraliza, 26, to a minimart Friday in a different sedan. That car got stuck four times because of mud and road damage, and other drivers had to help. When they finally made it to the store, they found that it was sold out of water. People purchase ice after waiting in line for three hours in Utuado, Puerto Rico, last week. The ice was $1.50 a bag and one bag per person. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) The Coralizas, like many other families in the Utuado area, can reach mountain springs. The cloudy water works for bathing and cleaning, but many said they wouldnt risk drinking it and definitely wouldnt give it to infants. Jimenezs daughter might not have a choice. The young mother has been struggling to breast-feed her newborn, probably because she is stressed and not getting enough to eat, Jimenez said. If they cant find bottled water, the family will have to start boiling water from the mountain to add to the babys formula. [Hot, isolated, and running out of supplies, parts of Puerto Rico near desperation] And the shortage of food is increasingly grim. Fuljencio Guzman and his 12-year-old son, Kelvin, lost their home, its wooden structure devastated. They are staying next door at Guzmans mothers house. A pantry showed the familys only remaining nourishment: one can of beans, a few cans of tomatoes, saltine crackers and a few potatoes. Even if they could reach the nearest grocery store, they have no cash to buy food, and no banks or cash machines in town are functioning. The Guzmans are limiting themselves to one meal a day, the father said.About 1 p.m. Friday, Kelvin ate some Chef Boyardee and rice probably his only meal until Saturday. A classic car sits on the driveway of a house surrounded by debris and mud in Caonillas, Puerto Rico. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) Another resident, Migdalia Guzman, said she thinks the U.S. government doesnt realize there are communities up here, away from the cities and the television cameras. I think they think no one is here, Migdalia Guzman said. But there are a lot of people here. The storm loosened massive boulders in the mountain slope directly above Migdalia Guzmans home, where she lives with her children. She worries that additional rain could cause another catastrophe. We would all die, she said. When she saw a local government official around town on Thursday, she was told that she should move to a different home because of the risk. We dont know where to go, she said. On Friday afternoon, thunder clapped and dark clouds started rolling in over the mountains. It began to rain. A house sits atop a mudslide in Caonillas, Puerto Rico. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) Hernandez reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Malaysia Two plead not guilty in death of Kim brother Two women accused of fatally poisoning the estranged half brother of North Koreas ruler pleaded not guilty as their trial began in Malaysias High Court on Monday, nearly eight months after the brazen airport assassination that sparked a diplomatic standoff. Siti Aisyah of Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam are suspected of smearing Kim Jong Nams face with the banned VX nerve agent on Feb. 13 at a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur, killing him within about 20 minutes. The women say they thought they were playing a harmless prank for a hidden-camera show. After asking for the charges to be read in their native languages, the women shook their heads when asked whether they were guilty. The two women are the only suspects in custody in a killing that South Koreas spy agency said was part of a five-year plot by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to kill a brother he reportedly never met. Associated Press ITALY Pope meets migrants, prods European leaders Pope Francis pressed his campaign for Europe to open its doors to migrants, visiting a migrant center in northern Italy on Sunday, breaking bread with refugees and insisting that politicians work for the most marginalized people and not special interests. During a busy day in Bologna, Francis spent more than an hour meeting with hundreds of migrants. He hosted a luncheon for asylum seekers and prisoners in Bolognas basilica. I hope your hope doesnt become delusion or, worse, desperation, he said. Francis urged European countries to open humanitarian corridors to let refugees in more quickly. Associated Press PHILIPPINES Leader wont cooperate with anti-graft probe The president of the Philippines said he will not cooperate in an investigation by a key anti-graft agency on his alleged undeclared wealth. In an expletives-laden outburst, President Rodrigo Duterte warned in a speech this weekend of a stalemate as he collides with the Office of the Ombudsman, an independent state agency that investigates officials facing corruption allegations. The Office of the Ombudsman said Friday that it will continue an investigation involving the president and cannot be intimidated by him. Duterte accused the anti-graft body of using fabricated documents in its investigation of his alleged unexplained wealth, concealed in past bank accounts, and said he would not submit to the ombudsmans jurisdiction. I wont submit to the jurisdiction because its a lousy thing, Duterte said. Associated Press 10 security personnel killed in friendly fire: At least 10 Afghan security forces were killed Sunday after the Afghan air force mistakenly dropped bombs on their checkpoint in southern Helmand province, officials confirmed. A member of the Gareshk district's local council said 11 others were wounded in the incident. The victims were members of Afghanistan's police and intelligence services, he said. An Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed the airstrike but did not give details. Colombia and ELN rebels begin cease-fire: Colombia and the Marxist ELN rebels have begun a cease-fire aimed at generating goodwill during talks to end a half-century war that has killed hundreds of thousands. The truce, the first with the ELN, or National Liberation Army, will run through Jan. 9. Austria's 'burqa ban' law goes into effect: A law that forbids any kind of full-face covering, including Islamic veils such as the niqab or burqa, has gone into effect in Austria. The law, popularly known as the "burqa ban," is mostly seen as directed at the dress worn by some ultraconservative Muslim women. 8 dead amid Cameroon Anglophone protests: Soldiers fatally shot at least eight people and wounded others in Cameroon's restless English-speaking regions during protests by activists calling for independence from the majority-Francophone nation, an official and witnesses said. The demonstrations on the anniversary of Anglophone Cameroon's independence from Britain came as a months-old movement against perceived marginalization by the Francophone-dominated government gathered pace. From news services Maura Healey will be the first openly lesbian governor in U.S. history. Here's a look at 20 candidates who made history in the 2022 midterms. Columnist See Rex. Rex is a big dog. Rex is the top dog. Rex has a good job. Rex can fly! Rex has a jet. Fly, Rex, fly. Rex flies to other lands. Rex sits. Rex shakes. Rex speaks. When Rex speaks, Rex thinks he speaks for the U.S.A. See Donald. Donald owns Rex. Rex is Donalds dog. Donald is loud. Donald is big. Donald is bigger than Rex. Donald is mean to Rex. When Rex speaks, Donald tweets. Donald tweets like a bird. Tweet, Donald, tweet. Donalds tweets hurt Rex. Donald says: Bad, Rex! Do not speak, Rex. Rex, you do not speak for the U.S.A. Only Donald speaks for the U.S.A. Rex rolls over. Roll, Rex, roll. Good boy. Rex tells Donald he will not be a bad dog again. Rex tries. Rex tries hard. Rex tries very hard. But then Rex forgets. Rex thinks he speaks for the U.S.A. again. Donald gets mad again. Donald tweets again. Rex rolls over again. Rex is so sad. Rex wants to cry. Rex was a big boss once. He dug for oil. Dig, Rex, dig. Rex made a lot of bones. But Donald said: Do not dig, Rex. Come be my dog. Rex began to think. I will not dig for oil, Rex said. I will not make so many bones. I will be Donalds dog. Now Rex is sorry. Sad, sad, Rex. Rex flies to China. Rex speaks. Rex says the U.S.A. will talk to Rocket Man. Would you like to talk? Rex asks. We can talk to them. We do talk to them. Talk, Rex, talk. Oh no! Donald is mad at Rex. Donald tweets. Donald says Rex is wasting his time. Donald says he will not talk with Little Rocket Man. Donald tweets, Save your energy, Rex. Rex has been bad! Rex does not speak for the U.S.A. Rex whimpers. Rex is in the doghouse. [The crucial White House position Trump has neglected to fill] Rexs doghouse has a name. His doghouse is called State. It is a nice house. Donald thinks Rexs house is too big. Donald wants to make it 28 percent smaller. Chop, Donald, chop. Rex is sad. But Donald is his owner. Rex says: Donald is right. I do not need such a big house. Rex has a plan. Rex will hire his friends to work with him. I will pick them, Rex says. I will give them top jobs. It will be fun. Rex has many friends. Rexs friends work hard. They dig for oil, too. But Donald says: Bad Rex! You may not hire friends. Only friends of Donald can work in your house, Rex. Rex is so mad. Rex growls. Rex barks. Rex wants to bite Donald. But Rex cannot bite his owner. Rex rolls over again. Rex wants to play dead. Rex has a friend named Qatar. Qatar has ships. Qatar wants to sail the ships. But Qatars neighbors will not let Qatar sail. They make a blockade. Rex calls a meeting. Rex is mad. Rex says: Stop the blockade. Rex says: I speak for the U.S.A. Uh-oh. Rex has been bad again. Do not listen to Rex, Donald says. Rexs friend Qatar is bad. Qatar should not sail ships, Donald says. Rex licks his wounds. Rex flies his plane to Europe. Rex is up high in the sky. Rex is having fun. Rex forgets that he does not speak for the U.S.A. Rex says Donald talked about sanctions with Putin. Bad Rex! Donald is mad at his dog. Donald is very, very mad. Donald says he did not talk about sanctions with Putin. Donald neuters Rex. What a shame, Rex. Rex flies his jet to Mexico. Rex says: I speak for the U.S.A. We want to be your friends. Rex has done it again. Silly, Rex. You do not speak for the U.S.A, Donald says. Mexicans are bad dudes. Donald says we do not want to be friends. Rex puts his tail between his legs. Donald likes other dogs better than Rex. Donald lets them work with him in the White House. They are small dogs. They laugh at Rex. Rex says people in the U.S.A. should sleep well. Rex says they should not worry about Rocket Man. The other dogs yip. They yap. They say: Rex does not speak for the U.S.A. Roll over, Rex, they say. Rex rolls over. What did you say, Donald? Donald will send Rex to a farm? Donald will put Rex to sleep? See Rex run. Run, Rex, run! Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbank's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tomasz Malinowski testifies on Capitol Hill on Feb. 3, 2015, in Washington. (Andrew Harnik/For The Washington Post) Columnist In the first national election of the Trump era, more than a half-dozen Obama administration national security officials are running for Congress, which could result in the largest influx of foreign-policy-minded Democrats to Capitol Hill in years. But all of them face the challenge of moving from the world of policy to politics and translating their Washington resumes into arguments that appeal to locally focused voters. Officials from President Barack Obamas National Security Council, State Department and Defense Department have returned home to run for Congress in 2018. Each has a different story, constituency and task at hand. But they all have come to the conclusion that, after long careers in government bureaucracies, their best chance to serve meaningfully is to enter the political fray. But can they convince voters that their foreign policy experience qualifies them to fight on behalf of local issues? That careers in Washington give them the credibility and skills to reform a broken system? And can they raise enough money to win? Some of these Democratic aspirants are entering politics in reaction to what they see as a national crisis caused by the Trump presidency. They argue that only by returning the House to Democratic hands can the country be set on the right track. Tom Malinowski, who served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor under Obama, told me he is running in New Jersey because he sees the United States role and identity as a force for good in the world being squandered by President Trump. The values that Ive been fighting for around the world are the values that are being called into question here in the United States, Malinowski said. It cant be fixed by writing policy papers. It can only be fixed through the political process. Other candidates are not running against Trump at all. Elissa Slotkin is campaigning in Michigan on her record of serving both Democratic and Republican administrations. Before joining the Pentagon under Obama, she was a career CIA analyst and served three tours in Iraq. National security officials often work on bipartisan issues and can credibly claim to put country over party, she argued. What Im most proud of is helping administrations in both parties, she said. These candidates know national security may not feature prominently in their races, with one good exception. Andy Kim, who served as White House National Security Council director for Iraq under Obama, is running in New Jerseys 3rd District, where the largest local employer is Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Other candidates will have to translate their experience for local constituencies. They include Daniel Baer, Obamas ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who is running in Colorado, and Ed Meier, who worked in Hillary Clintons State Department, who is running in Texas. The recent track record of Democratic national security policy officials running for Congress is mixed. Jon Ossoff, a former national security staffer on Capitol Hill, this year lost a special election in Georgia that got national attention and cost millions of dollars. His story illustrates the risk of nationalizing these races. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton, successfully made the jump from policy wonk to politician. He said that national-security-minded Democrats could be the key to taking over purple districts because they tend to be strong on terrorism and fiscally conservative, but progressive on social issues. In order to expand the party and our caucus, its key that we grow the middle, he said. This is the way to a majority. Another success story is Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a former Pentagon policy official who unseated a Republican incumbent in Florida in 2016. Many of the candidates lamented that the Democratic foreign policy community is not well organized to support them. Several groups fund political action around progressive national security issues, but theres no real infrastructure to support national security candidates. The candidates must prove their viability through fundraising, and many will be calling upon the same networks, potentially competing with each other. But their biggest challenge will be to show constituents that despite being absent from their districts for years, they are locally focused. You better have some local cred, said Joel Rubin, a former State Department official who ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year in Maryland. You have to demonstrate why you matter to the locals, and thats a hard thing for people who havent been locally active. He is now a town council member in Chevy Chase, Md. All of these Democratic candidates are determined to prove that it takes someone who knows how Washington works to fix Washington. Trump ran on the opposite idea. Next November, voters across the country will take a look at Trumps results and decide whom they agree with more. Read more from Josh Rogin's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Cliff Sloan, a partner at the law firm Skadden Arps, filed an amicus brief in Gill v. Whitford on behalf of 15 historians of the founding era. Michael Waldman is president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. As the Supreme Court prepares to consider whether gerrymandering can ever be so partisan as to be unconstitutional, some defenders of the practice will contend that its long historical pedigree should immunize it from judicial review. But history tells a different story. Partisan gerrymandering is inconsistent with the democratic ideals enshrined in the Constitution, and Americans since the founding generation have vehemently denounced it. In the extreme form it takes today, with districts drawn to give the controlling party a stranglehold on power, gerrymandering represents an unprecedented threat to our democracy. The case to be argued Tuesday, Gill v. Whitford, comes from Wisconsin. In 2011, Republicans, with control of the legislature and statehouse, rammed through a legislative map explicitly crafted to guarantee that the GOP would maintain its political power and could not be unseated by the ordinary operation of elections. The plan used sophisticated digital tools to ensure that Democrats could not regain control even if they won all swing districts. It was, in effect, a perpetual-motion entrenchment machine. A three-judge court held the plan unconstitutional. Partisan gerrymandering like racial gerrymandering and violations of the one-person, one-vote principle has occurred at various times in American history. But it has been forcefully condemned as unconstitutional at every turn. Patrick Henry, for example, crafted a district to separate James Madison from his political supporters. But newspapers decried Henry's scheme as a violation of the right of a free people to choose their representatives. In the action that gave gerrymandering its name, Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry in 1812 signed a districting bill designed to give his party a decisive political advantage. Opponents objected that the law "inflicted a grievous wound on the Constitution" it "subverts and changes our Form of Government" and "silences and stifles the voice of the Majority." The machinations of Henry and Gerry, adamant opponents of the Constitution, hardly embodied its spirit. The next two centuries saw continued objections to partisan gerrymandering as a violation of our core constitutional principles. For example, in 1870, Rep. (and future president) James Garfield excoriated the practice and objected that "no man, whatever his politics, can justly defend" it. In 1891, President Benjamin Harrison condemned gerrymandering as a form of "political robbery." He declared that its "overthrow of majority control by the suppression or perversion of the popular suffrage" represented "our chief national danger." Other examples throughout our history abound. All this vehement condemnation of gerrymandering as at odds with the Constitution should not surprise. The framers were keenly aware of the corruption of the English system of parliamentary elections, in which "rotten boroughs" and similar devices interfered with genuine democratic expression. Americans in the revolutionary age scorned the British concept of virtual representation, in which defenders claimed Parliament would act wisely even if it was not directly representative. Instead, they embraced actual representation as a central animating principle of the Constitution. Elected representatives would have close ties to their constituencies, and the assembly would be responsive to the popular, democratically expressed will. While omissions from the voting polity (such as race, gender and economic circumstance) now seem glaring, the commitment to actual representation unimpeded by contrived barriers between the electorate and its representatives was fundamental and widely shared. When colonists shouted, "No taxation without representation," they articulated a view of legitimate governance very much relevant to this case. And nobody thought that "representation" meant a government-imposed permanent minority status. Madison understood the abuses that could come from state legislators trying to entrench their own faction. Whenever the state legislatures had a favorite measure to carry, they would take care so to mold their regulations as to favor the candidates they wished to succeed, he warned at the Constitutional Convention. Inequality in legislatures would lead to inequality in congressional representation. It was impossible to foresee all the abuses that might be made of the discretionary power, he said. Partisan gerrymandering violates the framers core principle of actual representation. It likewise conflicts with the First Amendment right to meaningful political speech and association, and with the 14th Amendments extension of constitutional responsibilities to the states. Viewed through the prism of history, partisan gerrymandering is not an accepted and cherished feature of our American system. And the extreme gerrymanders we see today go dramatically further than anything we have seen in the past. They sabotage fundamental constitutional values. For those defending partisan gerrymanders, contrary to their sweeping claims, history is not on their side. A woman drives a car on a highway in Riyadh as part of a campaign to defy Saudi Arabias ban on women driving, on March 29, 2014. (Hasan Jamali/AP) Saudi Arabia is lifting its ban on women driving ["In a sharp turn, Saudi Arabia to let women drive," front page, Sept. 27]. Many liberal Saudis celebrated the news, hailing it as a profound and promising step toward women's rights in Saudi Arabia. I think it is, particularly in regard to men and women's equality in Saudi Arabia. The announcement came as Human Rights Watch raised serious concerns over religious minority rights in Saudi Arabia, accusing the Saudi government of allowing hate speech against Shiite and Sufi minorities. Driving a car is not a human right, but equality and freedom of movement are, and so are freedom of speech and freedom of beliefs. Human rights should be allowed and protected in Saudi Arabia by allowing people of different color, race, gender, sexual orientation and beliefs to live freely and by granting them equal responsibilities and obligations as citizens. No one in Saudi Arabia should be persecuted because of their political beliefs. Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly also should be allowed and protected. Soon, both sexes in Saudi Arabia will be free to drive, but is everyone going to be free to express their own opinion without fear of persecution? Which freedom matters to you the most: the freedom to drive or the freedom of expression and choice? Tareq Alabdi, Sydney Columnist We will never know why. We already know how, but we dont care about that. And we know, beyond the slightest doubt, that it will happen again. There can be no rational motive for mass murder, which means that asking why Stephen Paddock turned the Las Vegas Strip into a killing zone is ultimately a futile exercise. He may have had nominal or imagined reasons for his homicidal anger. But nothing can really explain the decision to spray thousands of concert-goers with automatic weapons fire, killing at least 59 and injuring hundreds more. The attack wasnt terrorism, authorities quickly said, as if this assessment somehow lessened the horror. Would someone please explain to me how that works? Are friends and family members of the dead supposed to feel one way if the murderer yells God is great in Arabic, and another way if he doesnt? What if the killer were to say those same words in English? Investigators and reporters will now sift through Paddock's life for signs of chronic mental illness or sudden psychological deterioration. But what will that search tell us except the obvious? Of course Paddock was disturbed. Who in his right mind mows down innocent strangers at a country music festival? But of the many people who are not in their right minds, which ones are violent enough to commit such a heinous act? There is no reliable way to tell. An announcement like Im about to explode is hardly ever followed by actual detonation. What we do know about Paddock, 64, is that he lived in the nearby town of Mesquite and often came to the Strip to gamble and attend country music shows. We also know, according to Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, that Paddock brought more than 10 firearms to his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. So the how of this tragedy is simple: Our nation is flooded with guns, and the constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms established in the age of single-shot blunderbusses and muskets has been deemed to include military-style semiautomatic assault rifles and other high-powered weapons. Sound from cellphone videos taken during the Las Vegas massacre clearly indicates that Paddock was using a fully automatic rifle meaning that squeezing and holding the trigger unleashed a long, continuous burst of gunfire. Such machine guns were supposedly outlawed in 1986, but there are two huge loopholes: In some states, it is legal to buy and sell machine guns that were made before 1986; and Internet merchants sell kits that convert semiautomatic rifles into fully automatic killing machines. No deer hunter or target-shooting enthusiast needs a weapon intended for war zones a weapon designed and optimized for use by soldiers against enemy forces. But if the Newtown, Conn., massacre of 6-year-olds and 7-year-olds didn't even lead to universal background checks for gun purchasers, let alone a ban on assault weapons, I don't see why anyone should believe things will be different this time around. The Supreme Court has stated explicitly that reasonable gun-control measures are permissible under the Constitution. But can you imagine this Congress and this president doing the right thing? Neither can I. Well need a different Congress and a different president to make progress. But even if I could snap my fingers and change the law, there would still be an estimated 300 million guns in the United States roughly one per person. Which means that the quotidian carnage would continue. Assume Sunday was an average day. If the Las Vegas killings had not happened, nearly 100 people around the country would have been killed by firearms. About two-thirds of those deaths would have been suicides; nearly all the rest, homicides about 12,000 a year. We have become emotionally and intellectually numb to this appalling toll. A mass shooting or a terrorist rampage, on the other hand, rivets the nation. Television networks shift into continuous breaking news coverage. Newspapers rush to profile the shooter, then the victims. The president makes a statement expressing the nations grief. Gun-rights advocates pre-emptively declare that this is not the time to talk about gun control, accusing anyone who does of politicizing tragedy. Gun-control proponents ask: If not now, then when? Everyone agrees we should do something about mental health, but we end up doing nothing. A long series of funerals ends the ritual. We go back to our routines as if there wont be a next time. But there will. And we all know it. Read more from Eugene Robinson's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. You can also join him Tuesdays at 1 p.m. for a live Q&A. Blaine Harden, a former Post reporter, is the author of King of Spies: The Dark Reign of Americas Spymaster in Korea and a consultant to the Frontline documentary North Koreas Deadly Dictator airing on PBS on Oct. 4. To the frustration of President Trump, China seems to be losing leverage over the young dictator next door. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un keeps biting the hands of Beijing elders who provide his otherwise friendless state with fuel, food and diplomatic cover. Those bites have challenged Chinas authority, embarrassed its leaders and stymied U.S.-backed efforts by Beijing to restrain Kims flirtation with nuclear war. Several recent incidents suggest a growing trend: North Korean spies are prime suspects in the sensational nerve-agent killing early this year in Malaysia of Kims half brother, Kim Jong Nam, a resident of the Chinese territory of Macau, where he was under the unofficial protection of China. As Frontline reports this week, Kim Jong Nam had supported Chinese-style economic reforms in North Korea and was seen by some as a possible replacement for Kim Jong Un. The detonation in September of North Korea's largest nuclear device, which it said was a hydrogen bomb, disrupted a summit of world leaders in Beijing, embarrassing Chinese President Xi Jinping. It wasn't the first time. North Korea launched a missile in May just before Xi was to speak to dignitaries. And Xi's new envoy for North Korean relations has not even been allowed into the country. Ignoring repeated warnings from China, Kim has accelerated the frequency and increased the range of long-range ballistic missile tests. At the same time, his regime has blamed Beijing for a "reckless act of chopping down" trust between the countries. What motivates Kim to alienate the affections of an ally that accounts for 90 percent of North Korea's trade? What does he have against China? Totalitarian leaders usually dont explain themselves, and Kim six years in power and only 33 is no exception. But insights into his Sino-belligerence can be gleaned from the back story of his family. In nearly 70 years of dealing with their powerful patrons in communist China, three generations of dictators named Kim have lurched between dependence and distrust, cooperation and contempt. The familys unruly behavior suggests there is little reason to assume as Trump and other U.S. presidents sometimes have that China can impose its will on North Korea. The edgy attitude of the Kim family is likely rooted in the arrest and humiliation at Chinese hands of Great Leader Kim Il Sung, North Koreas founding despot and the late grandfather of Kim Jong Un. Kim Il Sung grew up in northeast China, where in the 1930s he became a guerrilla leader and fought alongside Chinese communist partisans against Japanese occupiers. Without warning, local communists turned on Kim and his men. Several hundred ethnic Koreans were tortured and murdered in a racist purge based on the partys paranoid, and false, belief that they were secretly working with the Japanese. Kim was arrested in China in 1934 and was lucky to survive. He later called the purge a mad wind. . . . [Koreans] were being slaughtered indiscriminately by [Chinese] with whom they had shared bread and board only yesterday. During the Korean War, Kim's bitter memories were compounded by a painfully public loss of face. Kim started the war in 1950 by invading South Korea with the backing of Stalin's Soviet Union. But his army was soon obliterated by a U.S.-led coalition, and North Korea all but disappeared until Chinese forces entered the fight and forced Kim to the sidelines of his own war. China's top general, Peng Dehuai, chided Kim for his "extremely childish" leadership, telling him, "You are hoping to end this war based on luck." Kim would never forget how he was treated. After the war, he made sure that China's role in saving and rebuilding his state was largely erased from official histories. His resentment was compounded in 1980, when China publicly denounced as feudalism his decision to transfer absolute power to his son Kim Jong Il, a succession that made North Korea the world's only hereditary communist kingdom. Ill feelings between North Korea and China have often been mutual. Mao Zedong regarded Kim Il Sung as rash and doctrinaire once describing him as a number-one pain in the butt, Sidney Rittenberg, onetime translator for Mao, told me in 2013. In 1992, China infuriated the Kim family by establishing diplomatic relations with South Korea, the archenemy of the North. Still, Chinese leaders from Mao to Xi have chosen to protect and prop up the troublesome Kim regime, fearing that its collapse would trigger a flood of refugees and lead to a U.S.-allied, united Korea on its border. As North Korea's international isolation has increased along with its nuclear prowess, the Kim regime has become more dependent than ever on Chinese trade. That dependence, however, is clearly not swaying the behavior of Kim Jong Un. He seems to have internalized his grandfather's grudges. Last month, when Kim was calling Trump a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard," a commentary in the Korean Central News Agency attacked the media in Beijing for being "rude" and "shameless." It also said that North Korea owed little to China. The commentary was signed by "Jong Phil," which means "righteous pen," and was the third such anti-China article written by him this year. A China scholar, Adam Cathcart at the University of Leeds, told The Post that he believes Jong Phil is a pen name for Kim. People wait in line to attend the fall session of the U.S. Supreme Court, on Monday, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) The Supreme Court began its new term Monday with liberal and conservative justices seemingly split over the most important business issue of the term, concerning the ability of companies to force workers into individual arbitration over wage and other workplace disputes. [It will be momentous: Supreme Court embarks on new term] A lawyer for the workers told the court that an estimated 25 million employees have signed contracts that the companies say rule out collective action on workplace issues and are authorized under the Federal Arbitration Act. That would, for example, keep those workers from pursuing class-action lawsuits in federal court. But the workers contended that another federal law, the National Labor Relations Act, makes illegal any contract that denies employees the right to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid and protection. That means some sort of collective action cannot be prohibited, the workers say. The advocacy in the case was changed by the political turnover in Washington. The National Labor Relations Board, an independent government agency, agreed with the workers. So did the Justice Department until the election. Then the Trump administration filed a brief siding with the companies. [Supreme Court says arbitration agreements can ban class-action efforts] The justices quickly took sides as well. On the left, Justice Stephen G. Breyer said the companies were proposing a radical change. Im worried about what you are saying is overturning labor law that goes back to, for FDR at least, the entire heart of the New Deal, Breyer said. The court is considering three consolidated cases, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out that in one of them, the dispute is $1,800 in wages. To proceed alone in the arbitral forum will cost much more than any potential recovery for one, Ginsburg said. Thats why this is truly a situation where there is strength in numbers, and that was the core idea of the NLRA. . . . We have to protect the individual worker from being in a situation where he cant protect his rights. But Washington attorney Paul D. Clement, representing the employers, said the courts more recent decisions favoring the ability of companies to force arbitration generally seen as less expensive than litigation and more protective of business interests provide a well-trod path for deciding the cases. Because of the clarity with which the FAA speaks to enforcing arbitration agreements as written, the FAA will only yield in the face of a contrary congressional command, and the tie goes to arbitration, Clement said. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and Samuel A. Alito Jr. appeared receptive to that view. The courts other conservatives, Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch, did not ask questions at the hour-long oral arguments. Kennedy questioned whether the contracts really prohibited employees from banding together. He asked Richard F. Griffin Jr., representing the National Labor Relations Board, whether three employees with the same complaint could go to the same attorney to represent them. When Griffin said yes, Kennedy responded: Well, that is collective action. But Griffin said the act does not allow an employer to choose which type of activities the employees can engage in. Roberts seemed alarmed about the change that would come about if the court rules for the workers. This decision in your favor would invalidate the agreements covering 25 million employees? he asked. Daniel R. Ortiz, a University of Virginia law professor representing the workers, agreed that it would but said it is what the NLRA requires. Breyer seemed to offer what might be a compromise to the case. He proposed taking class actions in federal court off the table and finding that employees must have the opportunity to proceed collectively at least in arbitration. The cases are EPIC Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Ernst & Young v. Morris and NLRB v. Murphy Oil. If Gorsuch was silent in the first argument, he was the center of attention in the second case. Hes likely the deciding vote, which did not bode well for the governments position. The court was rehearing a case in which it split last term, before Gorsuch joined the court. The case addresses confusion over what constitutes a violent felony that requires the deportation of an immigrant. The case was brought by James Garcia Dimaya, a citizen of the Philippines admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent in 1992, when he was 13. In 2007 and 2009, he was convicted of residential burglary. The Department of Homeland Security determined that his crimes could be considered crimes of violence and thus were aggravated felonies that made him eligible for deportation. But Dimayas lawyers said the law was unconstitutionally vague, just as the court in a 2015 opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia had said similar wording in the Armed Career Criminal Act was insufficient. The court last term split 4 to 4 on Dimayas case, so it was reargued for Gorsuch. Deputy Solicitor General Edwin S. Kneedler repeated the governments argument that a criminal case was different than the civil proceedings concerning deportation. The immigration laws have always been enforced through a broad delegation of authority to the executive branch, reflecting the fact that immigration and immigration enforcement are closely related to the national security and foreign relations of the United States, Kneedler said. But Gorsuch was a persistent questioner. He said that the laws use of categories of crimes that make one eligible for deportation, rather than a specific list of crimes, forced judges to do the work of legislators. When Kneedler defended the approach, Gorsuch responded: Really? Even when its going to put people in prison and deprive them of liberty and result in deportation, we shouldnt expect Congress to be able to specify those who are captured by its laws? The case is Sessions v. Dimaya. President Donald Trump stops to talk with reporters and members of the media as he walks from the Oval Office across the South lawn to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, DC on Friday, Sept 29, 2017. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) President Trump's often-controversial foreign policy pronouncements, which have generated criticism abroad, have produced sharp divisions within the Republican coalition, with the party badly split on the issues of trade, immigration, climate change and the value of U.S. alliances, according to a new poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The councils survey finds that Trumps most fervent supporters solidly support his views on these issues, but Republicans with less favorable impressions of the president are far less enthusiastic and are more closely aligned in their attitudes with the overall population. The survey also underscores the degree to which Trump, despite the bully pulpit of the White House, has been unable to shift public opinion in his direction on foreign policy issues. In fact, the opposite has occurred. Public attitudes have moved away from a number of the positions he espoused during his campaign and since. Compared with a year ago, Americans are more positive about the value of trade and see immigration and refugees as less of a threat to the country. More people than a year ago, although not a majority, describe climate change as a critical threat to the country, though fewer are positive in their view of the Paris climate agreement. Trumps most controversial views have yet to find widespread support. As the council notes in its report, The results [of the survey] suggest their attraction remains limited . . . Aside from the presidents core supporters, most Americans prefer the type of foreign policy that has been typical of U.S. administrations, be they Republican or Democrat, since World War II. In office, the president has walked back from some of his most controversial pronouncements. Those shifts have put him somewhat closer to the views of the overall population. But the survey also highlights the degree to which things he said during the campaign captured the sentiments of a portion of the electorate, and how they continue to embrace his worldview. The survey is one more example of how Trumps candidacy and presidency have split the Republican coalition. Last week, those same divisions shaped the Alabama Republican Senate primary campaign. In that contest, former state Supreme Court justice Roy Moore, running as an anti-establishment outsider, defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, who enjoyed the support of the president and the GOP establishment in Congress. On foreign policy matters, two of Trumps signature issues have been trade and immigration. He has talked tough on trade, railing against multilateral free-trade agreements and arguing that they have destroyed U.S. jobs and benefited other countries far more than the United States. He has called the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) one of the worst trade deals. On immigration, he has repeatedly talked about the threat to the country, whether from undocumented immigrants coming from Mexico and Latin America across the U.S.-Mexican border, or those seeking refuge from conflicts in the Middle East. In both cases, there is more support today for positions at odds with Trumps views than a year ago. On three measures of trade whether it is good for the economy, good for consumers like you and good for creating U.S. jobs Americans are more positive than they were in 2016. The view of trade as being good for job creation has risen from 40 percent agreeing in 2016 to 57 percent agreeing today. Perceptions about the value of trade to the U.S. economy have risen from 59 percent to 72 percent. On how trade affects consumers, 78 percent say it is good, compared with 70 percent a year ago. However, a majority of Americans agree with the presidents view that trade and outsourcing are more responsible for job loss than automation, although Republicans are much more likely than Democrats or independents to express that viewpoint. At the same time, 60 percent of Democrats say the presidents policies are likely to do more to harm American workers than to protect them, while more than 8 in 10 core Trump supporters say those policies will benefit workers. The Chicago Council defined this group as those with a very favorable view of Trump. On immigration, 37 percent of Americans say large numbers of immigrants and refugees coming into the U.S. pose a critical threat to the country. That compares with 43 percent a year ago and represents a new low in polling by the Chicago Council since 1990. On a related issue that has long sparked controversy in the immigration debate, 65 percent of Americans say undocumented immigrants should be provided a path to citizenship, with or without conditions. That compares with 58 percent a year ago and 50 percent in 2013. On both questions, however, there are significant partisan differences. Republicans are about three times as likely as Democrats to call immigration a threat. Notably, 15 years ago, a year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the views of Republicans, Democrats and independents were almost identical and positive on the question of whether immigration posed a threat to U.S. vital interests over the coming decade. The biggest changes have come among Democrats and independents, whose concern has steadily decreased. The survey reveals wide differences among Republicans on trade and immigration issues. For example, 53 percent of all Americans say that NAFTA is good for the U.S. economy, including 49 percent of non-Trump Republicans (those who have a less than enthusiastic impression of the president). But just 20 percent of Trump Republicans (those with a very favorable impression of the president) say the agreement is good, while 76 percent say it is a bad for the economy. A similar pattern, although not so large, exists on immigration. The survey finds that 62 percent of non-Trump Republicans say undocumented immigrants should be allowed to apply for citizenship, with or without a penalty. That is close to the population at large. But among Trump Republicans, more than 4 in 10 say they should be required to leave the country. This year, Trump announced that the United States would pull out of the Paris climate agreement. The Chicago Council survey began sampling opinion after that decision and found that more than 6 in 10 Americans were in favor of remaining in the agreement. That is down from 71 percent in 2016, one of the few cases in which attitudes have shifted toward Trumps position. The reason for movement in Trumps direction is that Republicans overall are significantly more negative about the agreement today. A year ago, 57 percent of all Republicans supported U.S. participation. Today that is down to 37 percent with 53 percent of non-Trump Republicans supporting the agreement but just 23 percent of Trump Republicans saying the same. Trumps campaign rhetoric on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alarmed U.S. allies. He described the alliance as obsolete and complained that few NATO partners were spending what they should on defense. As president, he initially appeared reticent to commit his administration to support NATOs Article 5, which calls for common defense if any members are attacked. Eventually, he made a statement of support. Today, almost 7 in 10 Americans say they see NATO as still essential to U.S. security. That is a slightly higher level of support compared with a year ago. Notably, that view is shared by majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents. Even 54 percent of core Trump supporters regard NATO as essential to security. But there are significant differences over how the United States should respond if NATO allies do not step up their defense spending commitments. A majority of Americans say the United States should use persuasion and diplomacy to achieve that goal, but a majority of core Trump supporters favor threats to withhold the commitment to defend NATO partners until they spend more on defense. This is another case in which non-Trump Republicans part company with Trumps core supporters. Slightly more than 4 in 10 Republicans who see the president as somewhat favorable or worse support withholding the U.S. commitment to defend NATO allies, compared with 6 in 10 Republicans who are enthusiastic about the president. Trump has espoused an America first worldview, and his core supporters nonetheless want the United States to assert itself internationally. A bare majority of core Trump supporters say the United States should play a dominant role in the world, while a majority of Americans overall say they prefer that the United States play a shared role with other nations. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll was conducted online from June 27 to July 19 among 2,020 adults with GfKs Knowledge Panel, an online survey panel whose participants were recruited through random sampling methods. Overall results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.4 points, which is higher for subgroups. Scott Clement contributed to this report. Associates of President Trump and his company have turned over documents to federal investigators that reveal two previously unreported contacts from Russia during the 2016 campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. In one case, Trumps personal attorney and a business associate exchanged emails weeks before the Republican National Convention about the lawyer possibly traveling to an economic conference in Russia that would be attended by top Russian financial and government leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, according to people familiar with the correspondence. In the other case, the same Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, received a proposal in late 2015 for a Moscow residential project from a company founded by a billionaire who once served in the upper house of the Russian parliament, these people said. The previously unreported inquiry marks the second proposal for a Trump-branded Moscow project that was delivered to the company during the presidential campaign and has since come to light. Cohen declined the invitation to the economic conference, citing the difficulty of attending so close to the GOP convention, according to people familiar with the matter. And Cohen rejected the Moscow building plan. Nonetheless, the information about the interactions has been provided to congressional committees as well as special counsel Robert S. Mueller III as they investigate whether Trump associates coordinated with Russian efforts to interfere in the U.S. election, according to people familiar with the inquiries who, like others cited in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the inquiry. [Mueller casts broad net in requesting extensive records from White House] Details of the communications were turned over by the Trump Organization in August to the White House, defense lawyers and government investigators and described to The Washington Post. Though there is no evidence that these Russia-related entreaties resulted in further action, the email communications about them show that Trumps inner circle continued receiving requests from Russians deep into the presidential campaign. After WikiLeaks began to publish emails from the Democratic National Committee that were widely believed to have been hacked at the direction of Moscow, Trump said on several occasions that he had no financial ties to Russia. In July 2016, he tweeted, For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia. But the new disclosures add to an emerging picture in which Trumps business and campaign were repeatedly contacted by Russians with interests in business and politics. Trumps son, his son-in-law, his campaign chairman, low-level foreign policy advisers and, now, Cohen, one of his closest business confidants, all fielded such inquiries in the weeks before or after Trump accepted the nomination. The documents also underscore the Trump companys long-standing interest in doing business in Moscow. In a statement Monday, Cohen stressed that he did not attend the economic forum. I did not accept this invitation, he said. I have never been to Russia. Cohen has said he will cooperate with authorities. Alan Garten, general counsel for the Trump Organization, said in a statement that the newly disclosed Moscow proposal needed to be understood in context. Like any other international real estate brand, it is not uncommon for third party developers to submit proposals for potential real estate projects all over the world, he said, adding that only a very small percentage of these proposals are ever pursued. White House lawyer Ty Cobb declined to comment, saying he was not familiar with the documents. The June 2016 email to Cohen about the economic conference came from Felix Sater, a Russian-born real estate developer and former Trump business associate. Sater encouraged Cohen to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, with Sater telling Cohen that he could be introduced to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, top financial leaders and perhaps Putin, according to people familiar with the correspondence. At one point, Sater told Cohen that Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, could help arrange the discussions, according to a person familiar with the exchange. Robert Wolf, an attorney for Sater, declined to comment. The correspondence included a formal invitation to the conference from the Russian leader of the event, according to people familiar with the Trump Organization documents. The invitation included a letter signed by a conference official designed to help Cohen get a visa from the Russian government. The St. Petersburg forum is a premiere government-hosted economic conference held annually under Putins auspices. Business leaders from Russia and other countries convene in what is designed to allow high-level conversation similar to the international business conference held each year in Davos, Switzerland, and at the same time to show off Russian investment opportunities. Following Russias incursion into Ukraine in 2014, the Obama administration actively discouraged American businesses from attending the event. Cohen, Sater and Trump had earlier in 2016 been working on a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The June 2016 email exchange did not directly address that Moscow tower plan, according to people familiar with the correspondence. But Sater was eager to rekindle interest in the project, which had been canceled five months earlier, according to a person familiar with his thinking. The project had begun in the fall of 2015, when Trump was competing for the GOP nomination. Trump signed a letter of intent in October 2015 to license his name to the Moscow developer working with Sater to construct what they hoped would be one of the tallest buildings in the world. In January 2016, Cohen emailed Peskov, Putins spokesman, saying the project had stalled and asking for assistance in pushing it forward. Cohen has said he received no response from Peskov and canceled the deal shortly thereafter. Peskov has said he received the email but did not reply. He said Sunday that he did not remember any discussions about Cohen attending the St. Petersburg economic forum. But he noted that the annual conference is designed to allow attendees to meet with government and business leaders. My job [is] to assist in that! he wrote in a text message. Cohen rebuffed the invitation, and the project was not restarted. Sater, who emigrated from Russia to the United States as a youngster, served time in jail as a young man following a bar fight and then was convicted in 1998 for his role in a Mafia-linked stock fraud. He has also been hailed for cooperating in the past with Justice Department probes in undisclosed national security matters. Sater has had a long relationship with Cohen, whom he knew in high school, and with Trump. A firm in which Sater played a principal role, Bayrock, partnered in building the Trump Soho tower in New York City. And Sater and Cohen met with a Ukrainian legislator in 2017 to discuss how to promote a Ukrainian peace plan to the new Trump White House team. [Trumps former lawyer to testify in public next month in Senates Russia probe] The newly disclosed documents show publicly for the first time that, in addition to Saters efforts, the Trump Organization fielded another inquiry for a Moscow project during the presidential campaign. That proposal originated with Russian billionaire Sergei Gordeev, a Moscow real estate mogul who served through 2010 as a Russian legislator. The discussions about working with Gordeev took place via email between Cohen and an international financier he had worked with in the past, Giorgi Rtskhiladze, according to people familiar with the correspondence. A spokesman for Rtskhiladze, Melanie A. Bonvicino, confirmed the proposal for a Trump-branded residential development, saying a 13-page document with pictures was delivered in October 2015. But, Bonvicino said, Cohen informed Rtskhiladze in 2015 that the Trump company could not pursue the project because it was already committed to another developer in Russia a reference to the proposal being guided by Sater. No letter of intent was ever signed, according to people familiar with the interaction. Cohen and Rtskhiladze did not speak of the project again, Bonvicino said. A spokeswoman for Gordeevs company said he had no comment. Rtskhiladze has had a long-standing interest in working with Trump in the region and pursued a project to build a Trump Tower in Batumi, Georgia, overlooking the Black Sea. Trump traveled to Georgia in 2012 to promote the Batumi deal and was paid nearly $1 million in upfront cash, but the project was never built and was formally canceled by the Trump Organization in December as Trump prepared to take office. In an interview in 2016, Rtskhiladze told The Post he was encouraging Trump to build a tower in Moscow. Everyone wants to build a magnificent tower, Rtskhiladze said. Its challenging, but I think achievable, with that name. Carol D. Leonnig in Washington and David Filipov in Moscow contributed to this report. The Trump administration is preparing to ask for at least $10 billion more in federal relief for disaster recovery in the wake of the latest deadly hurricane to strike U.S. shores, according to multiple people familiar with the plans. The White House is expected ask for another short-term infusion of cash to pay for the response to the damage caused by Hurricane Maria across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to top congressional aides. In the case of Puerto Rico, officials there and some lawmakers on the mainland are clamoring for legislation that would provide tens of billions of dollars in relief and address Puerto Ricos long-simmering fiscal crisis, shore up its bankrupt electric company and plug a shortfall in Medicaid funding. Work on a more comprehensive relief package will continue into the fall, the aides said. This is a disaster, this is something that calls for a plan. You can call it the Marshall Plan or the Trump Plan, but there has to be a plan, said Puerto Rico State Sen. Carmelo Rios. There has to be a plan to make sure that this kind of event doesnt happen again. Rios and other legislators from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands arrived in Washington on Monday for meetings with top agency officials and senior lawmakers about forthcoming relief plans. A planned event on Capitol Hill to draw attention to their campaign for a robust relief package was canceled because of the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Rios, the Puerto Rico Senates majority leader, warned that Congress should act quickly. If it doesnt, he expects 100,000 to 200,000 island residents to relocate, at least temporarily, to the mainland United States in the coming weeks. Parishioners pray as church services resumed at a hurricane-damaged church in Caonillas, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 1. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) Theyre not going to Florida, only. Theyre going to Texas, to Pennsylvania, to North Carolina I have a lot of friends going there because theyre looking for places where they can settle, Rios said. [Trapped in the mountains, Puerto Ricans dont see help, or a way out] In response to the impending influx of Puerto Ricans, Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in all of the state's 67 counties on Monday so that local and state agencies can begin preparing to provide services. With families displaced by Hurricane Maria already present and still arriving in Florida, it is critical that our state is prepared to provide the resources they need upon entering our state, Scott (R) said in a statement. At the White House, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders didnt say when the administration will be asking for more federal funding, but she defended the administrations ongoing response, saying, The federal government is doing everything within our powers and capabilities to first focus on the life-sustaining and lifesaving measures, as well as on the rebuilding process. President Trump, who clashed via Twitter with some Puerto Rican officials over the weekend, is slated to visit the island on Tuesday and is expected to meet with first responders and storm survivors. Congress approved $15.25 billion in federal relief last month to pay for recovery operations after hurricanes hit Texas and Florida. As of Monday, the Disaster Relief Fund, operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, still had about $9.4 billion, the agency said. But the response to storms in Texas and Florida has now been compounded by the devastation across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and officials expect the fund to be depleted in the coming weeks. A political party banner waves over a home damaged by Hurricane Maria, in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, on Oct. 2. (Ramon Espinosa/AP) [Senate approves bill doubling hurricane aid package] The slow pace of response by the administration is frustrating some Democrats, who were hoping to learn by this week how much more money may be needed for temporary relief. But they said they were not provided specific estimates during a meeting Monday. There is no dollar estimate for what is needed, because there is no plan in place, said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who attended the meeting with representatives from the departments of Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who requested the meeting, added that based on initial estimates, I am going to press for at least $10 billion to $15 billion. There has to be an immediate triage plan but also a longer-term plan, he added. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said Monday that he expects the Senate will vote sometime in "the last half of October" on additional disaster aid. Lawmakers are waiting for the White House to send full details of how much federal relief agencies expect they will need to keep up with high demand. I think they will give us a time frame for when we need to act, Cornyn said. Were actively pulling together our numbers and hope to have something to the appropriators later this week. FEMA is required by law to complete a full damage assessment before requests for reconstruction money can be made. By Sunday, the agency had registered nearly 3 million people seeking federal disaster assistance and was involved in ongoing disaster response in 20 states and the two island territories. The complexity of this job and the herculean effort of the people behind me and the federal government has been incredible, FEMA Administrator William Brock Long told ABCs This Week on Sunday. Without a voting representative in the House and Senate, building political support for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will require a bipartisan network of lawmakers with personal ties to the island or who represent districts with large voting blocs from the territories. Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez (D-N.Y.), who represents parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan and was born in Puerto Rico, said that a robust aid package might encourage island residents to stay put and not strain resources in mainland states. "We all know that Puerto Ricans are resilient and will do what it takes, that they're dedicated to rebuilding their island. But there has to be a federal partnership. Otherwise, Puerto Ricans are going to lose hope and leave the island," she said. Kelsey Snell and Nick Miroff contributed to this report. Read more at PowerPost The man who carried out the deadly weekend knife attack in the French port city of Marseille had been detained by police two days earlier and released on the eve of the stabbings, officials said Monday. On Sunday afternoon, the attacker who was later shot dead at the scene stabbed two women to death at Marseilles main train station in an incident authorities immediately investigated as an act of terrorism. The man, whose exact identity remains unclear, had been arrested Friday on suspicion of shoplifting in the central city of Lyon, authorities said. Francois Molins, the Paris prosecutor charged with investigating terrorism cases across the country, said the man had used seven different identities in dealing with police in the past. When he was apprehended in Lyon, he presented police with a Tunisian passport that identified him as a 29-year-old named Ahmed H, Molins said in a news conference in Marseille on Monday. But the prosecutor stressed that it was not clear whether the document contained the mans true identity. In any case, none of the seven identities linked to the attacker appeared on any of Frances terrorist watch lists, Molins said. Late Sunday, the Islamic State, through its Amaq News Agency, claimed that the attacker was a soldier of the militant group, although Molins could not confirm any links between the man and any known terrorist group. While in police custody in Lyon, the man reportedly told investigators that he was divorced, homeless and struggled with drug abuse. Although the identification information the man provided in Lyon indicated that he was in France illegally and Lyon authorities had been weighing deportation he was ultimately released Saturday, Molins said. According to French media, police sources in Lyon said that the man seemed like a petty criminal but that deportation depended on successful identification, which could not be achieved. The newspaper Le Parisien also reported that the Lyon detention center, where the man would have been taken, was full over the weekend. [Exhausted police in France stretched thin by constant security threats] The man attacked two women cousins, both 20 at the Marseille train station Sunday afternoon. Surveillance footage shows him stabbing one of them and then returning to attack the other. He slit one of the womens throats. Since the beginning of 2015, terrorism has claimed 239 lives in France. Although the type of large-scale assaults seen in Paris in January and November 2015 and in Nice in July 2016 have largely been replaced by smaller-scale, isolated attacks, national security remains a contentious issue. The Marseille attack comes at a particularly fraught moment: On Tuesday, Parliament is slated to vote on security provisions proposed by President Emmanuel Macron. The provisions would give authorities heightened powers to conduct house arrests and home searches. Critics say such broad authority would jeopardize civil liberties, especially for French Muslims. Technically, authorities already enjoy some of these powers under a set of extrajudicial allowances known as the state of emergency. That security regime has been in place since the day after the November 2015 Paris attacks, and Macrons proposed measures would replace it when it expires Nov. 1. Read more: Survivors of Nice attack struggle with psychological wounds Tracing the path of four terrorists sent to Europe by the Islamic State Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Honor guards march during the unveiling ceremony for an imposing bronze statue of Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian inventor of the fabled AK-47 assault rifle, in central Moscow on Sept. 19. (Maxim Zmeyev/AFP/Getty Images) If the Kremlin had a court sculptor, Salavat Scherbakov would be it. The 62-year-old artist has spent the past decade erecting homages to various heroes of Russias political elite, including a 78-foot statue to Prince Vladimir of Kiev in the shadow of the Kremlin and another to the czarist-era prime minister Pyotr Stolypin, an icon of Russian President Vladimir Putins. In an interview in his basement workshop in Moscow, Scherbakov portrayed himself as a mere executor of government commissions riding a wave of patriotic interest in historic Russian figures. These statues dont exist because a sculptor thought them up, he said. They come from a deeper place. The people, the government, historians. This idea emerges, for instance, among the people that we need a statue to Patriarch Hermogenes of Moscow. My goal is to get involved and then execute it at a high level. Take a walk along Moscows eight-lane ring road, by the spruced-up office towers and restaurants, and youll find Scherbakovs latest statue, perhaps the most controversial of his career: a middle-aged Mikhail Kalashnikov in workmens clothing cradling the assault rifle that bears his name, the AK-47. Salavat Scherbakov, 62, the sculptor of the Kalashnikov statue, stands in his basement workshop in Moscow. (Andrew Roth/Andrew Roth/The Washington Post) It's no secret that Russia is on something of a statue spree and one that favors conservative heroes. Last year, the city of Oryol, south of Moscow, unveiled the country's first statue to Ivan the Terrible. Soviet-era statues, like one to the writer Maxim Gorky, have reappeared in the capital following its latest makeover. And last week, a bust of Joseph Stalin was unveiled in a Moscow park honoring Russia's past leaders. But a statue to the creator of the worlds most prevalent assault rifle really touched a nerve. To some, elements of the sculpture including the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon with a spear equipped with a Kalashnikov rifle sight are emblematic of a new government militarism. [Putin cant seem to find a national idea for Russians, so hes proposing a law to do it] At the 25-foot bronze statues unveiling on Sept. 19, Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky described the AK-47 as a true cultural brand of Russia. Medinsky heads the Russian Military Historical Society, which regularly grants commissions to Scherbakov and was responsible for the Kalashnikov assignment. I am always amazed at how those close to our government always turn out to be such vulgar and talentless figures, Marat Gelman, a liberal gallery owner who used to work in the leadership of a Russian state television channel, wrote in an online post. I think the answer is that Scherbakov is a simple executor, and no artist. He did what the government wanted. . . . The author is Medinsky. Scherbakov's work often nods at current events and the bristling relationships between Russia and its neighbors. In 2010, he erected in Moscow a statue called the Memorial of Military Glory to replace a similar statue demolished by the government in Georgia (the two countries fought a war in 2008). The 2015 statue to Prince Vladimir laid claim to a figure that Russia shares with Ukraine, even as the two countries were mired in conflict over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine. In the interview, he defended the statue of Kalashnikov, which he said he originally envisioned without the rifle before realizing people wouldnt know who it was. Among people, Kalashnikov is a positive figure, he said. The gun is made for the defense of the motherland, and everybody, in every country, loves their motherland. We didnt see it as some homage to militarism. We just wanted a positive statue. As we spoke, Scherbakov fielded nearly a dozen phone calls. A blogger had earlier discovered that a bas-relief on the statue depicted not a Soviet AK-47 but part of another gun, a Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle used by Nazi troops. The news that the statue showed a weapon developed by a Nazi gunsmith (and particularly a model that possibly inspired the AK-47) had created a scandal. And Scherbakov, who had admitted the mistake and pledged to correct the statue, was still battling to contain it. Scherbakov said he believes the opposition to the sculpture is politically motivated. Those with aggressive feeling toward this statue are driven because theyre unhappy with this countrys larger political plan. And we know how society is split here, he said in his office. But we believe that the president has set the right course for this country, and as he was elected by the absolute majority, it isnt quite right ethically to force your views on others. [Russian artists rally as corruption probe targets theater director] Scherbakov was born a decade after the end of World War II into a family of artists. His grandfather, he boasts, studied under the Russian sculptor Sergey Volnukhin. When Scherbakov was 7, his grandmother sent him to study sculpture at a Moscow youth center called the Pioneers Palace. Later, he studied sculpture in college and then joined a factory. In the 1990s, he said, there were few government commissions and he made a living largely as a private artist. Ive been doing this, covered in clay, my entire life, he said. His workshop is filled with the religious and historical figures beloved by Russias establishment. In one corner sits a likeness of Vasili Oshchepkov, the martial arts expert who brought judo to Russia. (Putin is a black belt.) In another, theres Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, who was repressed under Vladimir Lenin. Scherbakov said he has met Putin four or five times at unveilings of his statues, including those to Stolypin and Prince Vladimir and one called The Wings, a reflection on the price of victory in World War II, in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya. Hes pretty busy, and you dont really get a chance to talk to him for a long time, he said. Hes very careful talking about the work. Of course he has his opinion, but he has specialists and he listens to you, too. He denies that he has any special connections to the organizations doling out grant money, including the Russian Military Historical Society, which has commissioned more work by him than by any other sculptor. Some of those projects are considerable: The statue of Prince Vladimir cost more than $2.5 million. There are no secrets here, he said. We win competitions. This is honest work. Scherbakov keeps a bust of Boris Yeltsin on his desk, unusual for a time when the former leader Russia's first president is under a cloud among Russian patriots. Several times during the interview, he repeated the dictum "Leaders reflect their people." He was the right president for the moment when we had to come out of communism, Scherbakov said. Gorbachev was the right president for his time, he carried out his role. And Yeltsin was right to pass it all on to Putin. Read more: Russia held a big military exercise this week. Heres why the U.S. is paying attention. Why bashing Morgan Freeman, of all people, is suddenly the rage in Russia A Russian love story about Nicholas II and a ballerina leads to death threats Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news In a symbolic step toward ending a decade-long rift with Hamas, the Palestinian prime minister visited the Gaza Strip on Monday, though major obstacles still lie in the way of rapprochement. A crowd of hundreds welcomed Rami Hamdallah, a representative of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, after he passed through the Erez border crossing from Israel to enter Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. Footage of the event showed well-wishers cramming rooftops and balconies, and some waving yellow Fatah flags, as Hamdallah made his way through packed streets. We came back to Gaza to end all signs of division and rebuild, Hamdallah said at a televised news conference. There will be no Palestinian state without Gaza. Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 after bloody street fighting when Fatah refused to recognize Hamass election win and give up control. Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority, has been responsible for administering areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In recent months, Egypt has brokered talks aimed at bringing the two sides together. In what was seen as a gesture of goodwill, Hamas invited Hamdallahs unity government, led by Fatah, to take control of administrating Gaza last month. Hamas also dissolved its own administrative committee and said it was ready to hold elections. Hamas now isnt interested in ruling Gaza alone, said Ghazi Hamad, a de facto foreign minister for Hamas in Gaza. We want to stop bleeding and have one political system and save our power and energy to struggle against Israel. [Gaza once looked to the sea for relief. Now the water stinks.] Hamas has struggled to rule under years of blockade by Israel, but Fatah also has imposed punitive measures against the militant group in recent months, requesting that Israel cut its electricity supply and ceasing payments to government employees in the strip. Husam Zomlot, the chief representative of the Palestine Liberation Organizations Washington office, said the meetings in Gaza mark a milestone in the Palestinian quest for an independent state. The PLO is recognized by more than 100 states as the representative of the Palestinian people. We have declared war on the division, he told reporters Monday. We intend to go all the way to make sure that Gaza is back to the central authority, that Gaza is back as an integral part of our occupied territories and a future state. Gaza and the West Bank are divided geographically by Israel, which also controls movement between the two Palestinian territories. Hamdallah met with Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yehiya Sinwar and is expected to head a Tuesday cabinet meeting in Gaza. U.S. Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt said that the United States would be "watching these developments closely." The United States stresses that any Palestinian government must explicitly and unambiguously commit to nonviolence, recognition of the State of Israel, acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties, and peaceful negotiations, he said in a statement. Past efforts at reconciliation have been derailed over issues including the dismantling of the Hamas armed wing, which still remains a major obstacle. The two sides would also have to agree on what happens to tens of thousands of employees of Hamas's shadow administration in Gaza. "We've tried before, but we've failed, despite hundreds of attempts at reconciliation," said Hamad, citing security and Hamas's desire to join the PLO. Hamad said he expects Israel to oppose efforts at unity and attempt to disrupt them. In the past, Israel has denounced negotiations with a group that does not recognize it. Israel and the United States classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. But Israeli officials have recently said that improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza is in Israel's security interests. Israel has waged three wars with Hamas since it took control of Gaza, retaliating against rocket attacks and other violence by the militant group. "We will judge any kind of conversation between Hamas and the Fatah organization according to specific parameters: First of all, are they willing to accept the existence of Israel in this area? Second, are they going to stop shooting and creating terror actions in Israel? And third, do they look to a future of living side by side?" said Yoav Galant, an Israeli cabinet member and former Israel Defense Forces commander responsible for Gaza. "If the answer to these questions is positive, there is a lot to talk about," he said. "If the answers to these questions are negative, nothing has changed." Carol Morello in Washington contributed to this report. Read more: Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news A man accused of setting off a pressure-cooker bomb in New York City that injured 30 people was a "soldier in a holy war" bent on carrying out a murderous plot with maximum carnage, federal prosecutors said Monday at the start of his trial. Ahmad Khan Rahimi researched online, bought ingredients and assembled bombs after watching how-to videos, they said. He designed it. He built it, Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Crowley said. He filled it with explosives and deadly shrapnel and he planted it on the street. Rahimi planted a pipe bomb at a charity race in Seaside Park, N.J., that exploded but didnt injure anyone, prosecutors said. He went back home, then took a train into Manhattan and planted two pressure-cooker bombs, they said. One didnt go off. The other, hidden near a large trash bin in the busy Chelsea neighborhood, detonated at about 8:30 p.m., sending the 100-pound trash bin flying into the air. The blast shattered windows and scattered bits of metal. Rahimis defense attorney, Meghan Gilligan, asked jurors to keep an open mind about the case and said the government would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her client is guilty. Rahimi was briefly removed from the courtroom just as his trial opened Monday. He interrupted proceedings to speak with U.S. District Judge Richard Berman and was escorted out. He returned after the prosecutions opening statement and apologized for the outburst, telling the judge he hadnt been able to see his wife since his detention. It was not my intention to make a scene, he told Berman. He said he has barely seen his three children and hasnt seen his wife once, because she is not approved to go to the detention facility where he is being held. Rahimi sat down and had no other outbursts as the case progressed. The 29-year-old, who lived with his family in Elizabeth, N.J., is not charged with terrorism, but he has been charged with crimes including bombing a public place, using a weapon of mass destruction and interstate transportation of explosives. He was shot by law enforcement officers during his arrest two days after the attacks. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. The bomb that exploded in Chelsea knocked Helena Ayeh, an architect who was headed home, off her feet. She told jurors Monday that she couldnt see or hear. She was bleeding heavily, and her knees were bruised. Ayeh said shed suffered a deep cut in her right eye, and the metal barely missed slicing her eye in half. She said she eventually recovered her vision. Photographer Jane Schreibman told jurors about calling in after discovering the second unexploded pressure cooker. She said she noticed the pot with wires sticking out on the street and a white trash bag near her home. She initially thought it was just a childs science experiment, she testified. But it nagged at her. It was lingering, she said, so she called 911. The bomb squad showed up and removed the device. Prosecutors said Rahimi was arrested carrying a notebook with writings that included such passages as the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets. Crowley called him a soldier in a holy war against Americans, and New York and New Jersey were his battle grounds. Rahimi also has been charged with attempted murder in New Jersey because authorities said he fired at police officers during his arrest. Details of the shootout wont be included in the federal trial. Opening statements are set to begin Monday in the trial of Ahmad Khan Rahimi, accused of setting off bombs in New Yorks Chelsea neighborhood and New Jersey in 2016. (Mel Evans/AP) Weeks before he allegedly planted bombs in New York City and New Jersey, federal officials say Ahmad Khan Rahimi had a jokey text conversation with a relative about explosives and government surveillance. Dont wanna find any bomb plans, the unidentified relative texted him in August of 2016, according to court records. This is not the place to joke, Rahimi replied. Too late they reading our messages, the relative answered, adding IF THE NSA IS READING THIS I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING. Rahimi then replied: Give them good reason to invade my privacy. On Monday morning, Rahimi will go on trial in Manhattan federal court, accused of detonating a bomb in the Chelsea neighborhood on Sept. 17, 2016, that injured 31 people, sent a dumpster flying, and sparked a frantic manhunt for the suspect. He also left a bomb in New York, detonated one earlier along the course of a charity 5k race in Seaside Park, N.J., and dumped a bag full of pipe bombs outside a train station before trying to disappear, according to investigators. The two-day manhunt ended when police officers in Linden, N.J., approached a man sleeping in the doorway of a bar. Investigators say the 29-year-old Rahimi pulled a gun from a fanny pack and started shooting. One of the bullets struck an officer in his bulletproof vest. Rahimi was badly wounded in the shootout. [Who is Ahmad Khan Rahimi?] While in the hospital recuperating, Rahimi made several incriminating statements to FBI agents, but Rahimis attorneys argue that those exchanges were improper because their client was suffering from grave injuries, in and out of consciousness and in no condition to waive his Miranda rights. Prosecutors have said they will not try to use those statements at trial. Court records show they have a wealth of other evidence. Besides the text messages, there are emails from 2012 showing Rahimis interest in violent Islamist militant propaganda, sales records indicating he bought the material used to make pressure-cooker bombs and pipe bombs, and video that captures him leaving his neighborhood in New Jersey and traveling to the bomb sites. There are also videos shot outside his residence on the day the bombs were planted that show a figure who appears to be Rahimi carrying multiple bags, video of his arrival at Penn Station in Manhattan, video of his movements and specifically leaving one of the bombs on West 27th Street. Investigators say they have fingerprint evidence tying Rahimi to the bombs, according to court records. Prosecutors also hope to show the jury the mangled trash container that was sent flying, allegedly after Rahimi placed one of the pressure-cooker bombs inside it. The most damning evidence, however, may be the letter written in a notebook Rahimi was carrying when he had the shootout with police. Stained by blood and torn in places, the letter is addressed to the U.S. government and describes his anger over U.S. foreign policy, indicates his admiration of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, and ends with the declaration: Inshallah the sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets. Gunshots to your police. Death to your OPPRESSION. Rahimi, whose last name is sometimes spelled in government documents as Rahami, faces a possible life prison sentence if convicted in what is expected to be a two-week trial. He also faces separate charges in New Jersey for the bombs allegedly left there. Counterterrorism officials have described Rahimi as a lone wolf who was not part of any broader conspiracy, but someone inspired by terrorist propaganda much of it from overseas who decided to act on his own. Prosecutors say a laptop in Rahimi's home contained 14 issues of al-Qaeda's "Inspire" magazine, which included various bombmaking recipes. The case also shows the difficulty of preventing terrorist threats even when there is a hint of danger. The FBI briefly looked into Rahimi in 2014, after they learned his father had made comments to others indicating his son might be involved in terrorism. But that investigation ended after an FBI review found no links between Rahimi and terrorist groups. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/10/2017 (1869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A major renovation project making most of Manitobas legislative chamber accessible is historic and could influence governments in Canada and beyond, Speaker Myrna Driedger said Monday morning. The $1.45-million project raised the floor of the chamber three-quarters of a metre and made all of the front and back benches, the Speakers chair and the clerks table accessible to wheelchairs. We had no idea how in the world we could make this more accessible, Driedger said while giving the media a tour of the chamber floor. We are in a small footprint, we are in a horseshoe that makes any change difficult. Any change could not be allowed to disrupt the heritage appearance of the chamber. WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chris Sobkowicz was the first to use the wheelchair ramp after a ceremony Monday to reopen the newly renovated Manitoba Legislature Chambers. A ramp would have to stretch the length of the chamber, she said. Lifts are a very in-your-face kind of intrusion. We wanted something that would be more discreet. Instead, an advisory committee came up with the idea of raising the chamber floor and the Speakers chair, reducing the grade of a ramp to the left of the Speakers chair that allows wheelchairs to reach the floor of the chamber, and a separate ramp to Driedgers chair. Its still looking the same, but it is so incredibly different, she said. Manitoba is inviting delegations from throughout Canada and the British Commonwealth to check it out in January. Its fabulous, theres hardly a slope. Its not obvious, its seamless, advisory committee member Chris Sobkowicz said after navigating his wheelchair to the chamber floor. Now, he and other wheelchair users can think about being cabinet ministers or even the premier if they run for office, and they can apply for jobs with the clerks staff, he said. However, the plan could not allow the removal of the step separating the second row from the first and third rows, where the fixed desks do not have openings wide enough for many wheelchairs. We couldnt make it 100 per cent accessible, because the footprint just isnt big enough, Driedger said. Two of the 60 seats had to be removed. The legislature has only 57 members, but the original designers installed 60 seats at a time there were about 40 MLAs, to allow for future population growth, she said. Lynn Selman, the project manager for the accommodation services division, said most legislatures are based on the British House of Commons, with a centre aisle and rows of tiered seats, disadvantages not present in the Manitoba design. Selman said the original cork and marble have been left intact underneath an identical new cork floor, and new railings along the ramp match the originals. The entire perimeter of the chamber is now accessible. Justice Minister Heather Stefanson and Sports, Culture and Heritage Minister Cathy Cox pointed out that there is far more room now behind the front-row seats, so a wheelchair can get in easily. Driedger would not say where MLA Steven Fletcher will be sitting when the session resumes Wednesday. Fletchers wheelchair was accommodated in the back row of the government side, but he was kicked out of the Progressive Conservative caucus in the summer and will sit as an independent. They havent consulted me, but I suspect Ill be in the rafters behind that post in the public gallery, Fletcher said with tongue in cheek, gesturing to the back row at the top of the chamber. More likely, hell be situated in the back row on the opposition side, he said. It feels great to reach the floor for the second time, said the Assiniboia MLA. Early in his term last year, he brought in his own ramp to try it out. This is a great, positive moment, he told other wheelchair users. nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/10/2017 (1869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. City hall ignored pleas on Monday from representatives of city construction firms and unions to hire local, and awarded a $180-million contract to a southern Ontario company. Councillors on the environment committee awarded the contract to upgrade the South End Sewage Treatment Plant to NAC Constructors Ltd. Officials from the water and waste department recommended the NAC Constructors bid, pointing out it was the lowest and the firm was qualified to do the work. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS South End Water Pollution Control Centre But Peter Wightman, executive director of the Construction Labour Relations Association of Manitoba, and Marc Lafond, president of the Manitoba Building Trades Council, told the committee consideration should be given to local firms or firms that maintain offices and facilities in Winnipeg when bids are comparable. The Manitoba construction industry is under attack from other contractors coming into our province, Wightman told the committee, explaining that local firms face legislated restrictions when trying to win contracts in other provinces that out-of-province firms dont face when bidding for work in Winnipeg. Lafond said he would like the city to adopt a proposal that when the price difference between the top two bids is less than five per cent, city hall would award the contract to a local firm. Wightman said that while price is important in awarding a contract, the city should also consider whether the firm is local and will be employing local residents, participating in the local apprenticeship program and offering training to young workers. The plant has been undergoing extensive upgrades and renovations to comply with provincial regulations on emission standards. According to an administrative report, the work involves site-wide mechanical and electrical upgrades, a new 66-kV substation, a new chemical/electrical building, a new grit and screening building and a new plant-control system. The contract is expected to be completed in 2021. The four bids presented to the committee included: NAC Constructors Ltd., $179.997 million PCL/T&M joint venture, $181,869 million Graham-Aecon joint venture, $186,991 million Suer & Pollon Mechanical, $246,623 million Wightman said the plant upgrade could provide several years of work for hundreds of local tradespeople whose impact on the local economy will be greater than that from sub-trades brought in from other provinces, adding the bid from PCL should be considered local because it maintains an office in the city and has a commitment to hire local subtrades. City officials told the committee that the restrictive conditions proposed by Wightman and Lafond would place the city in contravention of the terms of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and the Canada-Europe Free Trade deal. Although the local representatives were unsuccessful at city hall, the committee requested a report on the viability of their proposals. Its worth looking at, said committee chairman Coun. Brian Mayes, adding he wants to know if Manitoba firms do, in fact, face restrictions when bidding on work in other provinces. Mayes said hes supportive of adopting a procurement policy that would allow city hall to award a contract to a local firm if its bid is within five per cent of the lowest bid. We need to know if weve signed agreements that would limit our rights to do this, he told reporters after the meeting. aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/10/2017 (1869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Winnipeg police will be installing more barricades at large events to protect crowds against drivers who use vehicles as weapons, in response to a dramatic downtown attack in Edmonton Saturday night. We expect to introduce some new products probably this year, Winnipeg police Deputy Chief Gord Perrier said. One of those will be mobile barricades that can be put up for special events and later removed. Event organizers may also look at permanent infrastructure changes, he said. On Saturday night, a police officer conducting crowd control outside Commonwealth Stadium was sent flying after a man crashed through a barricade and slammed his vehicle into the police cruiser. The attacker then stabbed the police before fleeing. Later that night, the attacker, in a different vehicle, deliberately drove into pedestrians, injuring four. A Somali refugee faces charges of attempted murder, participating in a terrorist activity and dangerous driving. Meanwhile, Perrier said more high-powered carbine rifles are also being deployed by Winnipeg police in the event of an active shooting occurring, such as the massacre in Las Vegas Sunday night. A lone gunman opened fire on an outdoor concert, killing at least 58 people and wounding about 400. Large-scale active shooter events, or bombings, are occurring more frequently in the Western world, Perrier said. I think theres going to be a lot more emphasis on (security at) public events by everybody involved. But he stressed police must assess risk at any event otherwise it could be just wasting resources. We spend a lot of time assessing threat levels, and what is an appropriate response, he said. Police departments and other agencies involved in mass criminal events share information more than ever. After last years mass shooting that killed 49 people in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Winnipeg police met with police and health officials from that city. It was to go through what happened, what went well, what didnt go well, and what learning opportunities can we take from that, he said. Perrier said there is also more information exchange between police and health agencies in this effort. However, he was cautious about how much information to divulge. People perpetrating these acts do their research, as well, he said. Perrier passed along the police services sympathies to people of Edmonton and Las Vegas coping with tragic events on the weekend. bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/10/2017 (1869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. For the past few years, when October rolls around, I have been given the opportunity to write an article highlighting Dwarfism Awareness Month. Over the years, this article has primarily focused on facts about dwarfism, where Ive previously shared that 75 per cent of little people come from average-height families, or that roughly one in 40,000 infants is born with a form dwarfism. I have told you that dwarfism is the result of a genetic mutation on the fourth chromosome that happens at the point of conception, and I have reminded you that the term midget is an offensive word that must be removed from your vocabulary. Finally, I have shared some of the struggles that people living with dwarfism encounter on a frequent basis. This year I felt it was time to balance things a bit by highlighting a different aspect of living with dwarfism: support. Support for people with disabilities can come in many forms. For those with mobility restrictions, having accessible walkways, options for fully accessible public restrooms, the kindness of a stranger to see beyond the disability, or simply being invited to join in the discussion about accessibility improvements can make a huge difference not only for practical reasons, but also because these gestures and accommodations represent an ideology of inclusiveness. When these types of gestures or accommodations are not present, the opposite message is sent, which makes you feel unwanted or not valued to some degree. Inclusivity is an important notion for people with disabilities; in the workplace, inclusivity and supportive behaviour from your employer are essential to your success and your overall well-being. Over the course of my career, I have had the pleasure and in some cases, displeasure of experiencing different types of corporate culture and varying degrees of support for the notion of inclusivity. On the wrong end of the inclusivity spectrum, a company that I used to work for (which, ironically, is no longer in business) contemplated disciplining me for not properly locking a door which had a locking mechanism located at the top of the door frame about eight feet off the ground and a motion detector that wasnt able to register my four-foot frame. No stool, ladder or any other device had been provided, or even considered, to help me execute this task, and I was forced to stand on an overturned cart to attempt to lock the inaccessible door. At the time of this incident, I felt quite depressed because I take pride in my career and my reputation, but felt helpless in this situation because my employer did not take the time or effort to understand my situation. This incident, in retrospect, was a blessing in disguise as it paved the way for me to find my current position working for a fantastic company that is understanding, supportive, encouraging and, most importantly, inclusive. I work for Price Industries Ltd, a Winnipeg-based multinational corporation that, upon my hiring and prior to assessing my performance, while I was still a probationary employee, genuinely invested in me. They hired an ergonomic consultant and made special arrangements for customized furniture, all in an effort to ensure that I was comfortable at work and set up to succeed. This type of support can be expensive and is not necessarily an option for every business that hires a person with a visible disability. In many cases, the extent to which Price made accommodations for me would be financially prohibitive for a smaller business. However, the idea of support and inclusiveness, and the questions that were asked about my comfort at the workplace, created an environment where I felt valued, supported and prepared for a meaningful career. These gestures and accommodations can be applied beyond the workplace, in almost every facet of our lives, whether it means looking beyond the disability and getting to know someone, or simply asking the right questions. October is Dwarfism Awareness Month. Dwarfism is a visible disability like many others, and regardless of what type of disability you have, the one thing we all have in common is that what we are looking for is understanding, compassion, caring and support. Samantha Rayburn Trubyk is president of Little People of Manitoba. For more information on Little People of Manitoba, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @LPManitoba or visit our website littlepeoplemanitoba.wordpress.com. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 02/10/2017 (1869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Two Winnipeg churches are planning to redevelop their building or property in a bid to breathe new life into their struggling operations and enhance the community. East Kildonans Immanuel United Church is partnering with both SvN Architects + Planners and Discovery Homes to build a 21-unit townhouse-style condominium development on a surplus piece of land behind its Golspie Street building. The condos would be targeted to area seniors and first-time homebuyers. About five of the units will be wheelchair-accessible. Osborne Villages Augustine United Church is hoping to partner with SvN and ReSolve Project Management Ltd. to redevelop a portion of its historic River Avenue building. SvN ARCHITECTS + PLANNERS Augustine United Church is planning a redevelopment of a portion of its historic River Avenue building, which will include the creation of a 10,000-square-foot daycare, in an effort to better engage the community and create new income. That project would see space within the church redeveloped to create a 10,000-square-foot daycare, a 5,000-square-foot dance studio and not-for-profit arts centre, a new church sanctuary and performing arts centre, and a 7,000-square-foot space for the Oak Table Inc. community ministry, which provides meals to low-income, unemployed and homeless people. Both projects are in the early stages. Discovery Homes application to have the Immanuel church property rezoned for multi-family development is scheduled to be considered by the city this month, while the Augustine church project is still in the fundraising stage. Barbara Myers, a local urban planner with SvN, said redeveloping church-owned buildings or land is one of those classic win-win scenarios. She said many churches are struggling financially, with dwindling attendance and revenues and soaring maintenance costs for their buildings. Many of them also have excess land or large buildings with excess space, which could be converted to other community-oriented uses and create new income for the church. Its a quiet little secret that nobody really realizes, but its a tremendous opportunity for Winnipeg, she added. By redeveloping their properties, they achieve two things: they create some financial stability (for the church) and they do good work for their community. Its a really fabulous combination. Myers said SvN is also in discussions with about seven Winnipeg churches interested in redeveloping their surplus land or part of their building. Theyre all at various stages of very early development. Theyre having assessments done of their properties and theyre having discussions with their congregations I would love to see more churches get into these discussions with developers, or with us at SvN, and move in this direction because everybody wins. Discovery Homes general manager Gordon Gray said it is also in discussions with several other local churches that are interested in doing a multi-family development on their property. But those talks are also still in very early stages. He said if the application is approved, Discovery could begin marketing the Immanuel Village condos in November and could begin construction in early 2018. Bob Kenyon, chairman of the churchs Back 40 committee, said hell be surprised if the city doesnt approve the project, noting theyve already held two open houses to get feedback from area residents and modified design plans to address some of the neighbours concerns. Plus the property is just sitting there vacant, and you are putting 21 families there who are going to all be paying (property) taxes, and supporting businesses, schools and community clubs, he said. Kenyon said church officials arent sure exactly how much money will be made from the project, but he noted the land had an appraised value of about $450,000 and the church will get a portion of the profit from the sale of each condo. SvN ARCHITECTS + PLANNERS Immanuel United Church plans to add condo units behind its Golspie Street building So its a significant amount of money, he said. He said the church will use some of the money to sustain its operations and will donate some to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg, which is the archive for all curated materials related to the residential school system. Were all on treaty land and they need some support in order to operate so we want to help them out as much as we can, he said. The condo development will consist of three buildings designed to create a village. The units will range in size from 780 square feet to 920 square feet and Gray said the average price will be about $270,000. How quickly the project is completed will depend on how quickly the condos sell. We could build all three buildings in one calender year but if sales are slow, then it will span two or three years, he said. Myers said the rental income from the Augustine United Church redevelopment project would help bring financial stability to Augustine. The new daycare would be run by Splash Early Learning Centre and the dance studio would be occupied by NAfro Dance Centre, a not-for-profit arts centre thats home to independent artist collectives, dance schools and performance troupes. The Oak Table space would include a new commercial kitchen and the new church sanctuary and performing arts centre would include a new stage, exhibit lighting and an updated sound system. Myers said the conceptual drawings for the Augustine project have been completed and the fundraising drive is underway. She wasnt sure how much money the church hopes to raise and a spokesperson for the church could not be reached for comment. Know of any newsworthy or interesting trends or developments in the local office, retail, industrial or multi-family- residential sectors? Let real estate reporter Murray McNeill know at the email address below, or at 204-697-7254. murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca The Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has deployed security forces along Indias northeastern borders to prevent thousands of Rohingya refugees entering the country. The Rohingya are fleeing ongoing military violence in Myanmar (Burma). New Delhi also plans to expel around 40,000 Rohingya already in India. On September 22, Reuters reported that Indias Border Security Forces (BSF) had been authorised to use rude and crude methods to block the refugees. One official told the news agency, We wont tolerate Rohingya on Indian soil, he said. R.P.S. Jaswal, a BSF deputy inspector general leading patrols in the east Indian state of West Bengal, admitted that his troops had been ordered to use chilli grenades and stun grenades. Chilli grenades cause severe irritation and temporarily immobilise people who are targetted. On Wednesday, the Hindu reported that the BSF had pushed back Rohingya trying to cross into the northeastern Indian state of Tripura. The newspaper claimed this was the first such incident since Indias home ministry ordered the BSF on August 19 to stop the refugees. The newspaper has also reported that the chief ministers of Assam and Manipur had instructed border forces to prevent the fleeing Rohingya coming to their states. Assam and Manipur are ruled by political allies of Modis Hindu-supremacist Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP). The Tripura state government is controlled by the Stalinist Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM)-led Left Front. A recent editorial in Peoples Democracy, the CPMs web site, criticised government attempts to deport the Rohingya but did not defend the right to asylum or oppose New Delhis violent border actions. Instead the publication cynically called on the government to provide the Rohingya with identification papers so they could be sent back when the conditions are conducive. During his visit to Myanmar last month, Prime Minister Modi endorsed government claims that the military violence in the Rakhine state was in response to extremist attacks. What is occurring in Myanmar is the opposite. The long-standing oppression and military violence against the Rohingya has been intensified under the new ruling regime headed by Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi. The Burmese military has exploited minor attacks by insurgency groups in Rakhine to unleash a murderous ethnic-cleansing program against the minority Muslim community. Over half a million Rohingya have fled Burma since August, with about 400,000 entering Bangladesh and tens of thousands crossing to India. The BJPs backing for the Myanmar regime is driven by Indias geo-strategic ambitions. Encouraged by its strategic partnership with the US, New Delhi wants closer relations with Myanmar in order to isolate Chinas influence in the region. Modis hostility to the Rohingya is also connected to its anti-Muslim communalism, which is used to divide the Indian working class and divert the rising political opposition to the governments austerity measures. In line with this reactionary agenda, the BJP is also stepping up its political and military provocations against Pakistan. The Congress Party, Indias other main bourgeois party, is encouraging the BJPs reactionary attacks on the Rohingya. Congress spokesman Ajay Maken has recently declared that the influx of refugees is a serious issue and appealed for an all-party conference to formulate Indian policy. The BJP has tabled a constitutional amendment to the 1955 Citizenship Act in the Indian parliament. It states that minority communitiesHindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christiansfrom Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan shall not be treated as illegal migrants. The reactionary amendment fails to include Muslims from these countries. Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh claimed that Rohingya were not refugees and slammed anyone criticising the governments crackdown. Speaking last week at a seminar organised by the National Human Rights Commission, Singh declared that human rights for Rohingya had been raked up but that they were illegal immigrants and posed a threat to national security. Whitewashing the military repression unleashed in Rakhine state, Singh said, I am sure Myanmar will take positive steps to take back the Rohingya. He claimed that Indias actions were not in violation of international law because it was not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Fillipo Grandi, however, recently rejected this claim, stating all countries, irrespective of whether they had signed the convention have obligations under customary international law. They have obligations not to push people back to places where they would face these serious harms, he said. Early last week, the Indian government submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court countering a petition filed by two Rohingya, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir. The two refugees are attempting to prevent their deportation, arguing that they had fled Burma, because they faced violence, bloodshed and discrimination. The case is to be heard on October 3. The home affairs ministry affidavit stated that the Rohingyas continued stay in India was illegal and posed serious security threats. It claimed that the refugees could have links with ISI, the Pakistan intelligence agency, Islamic State and other extremist Islamist groups. The affidavit called on the court to allow the executive to make the decision on illegal immigrants. In other words, this will allow the government to hand over these refugees to the Burmese military. Workers in India must oppose the Modi governments anti-democratic actions against the Rohingya refugees. The Rohingya are victims of the pro-western government of Suu Kyi and her military backers. They must be given asylum and allowed to live in safety with full democratic rights wherever they choose. For the first time since the collapse of the Third Reich 72 years ago, a right-wing extremist party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), has entered the German Bundestag with a double-digit election result. As was the case with Hitler's NSDAP (the Nazis), however, the rise to prominence of the AfD is no political accident. Under conditions of the deepest crisis of capitalism since the 1930s, neo-fascist forces are being deliberately built up by the ruling class to enforce its policy of militarism, domestic rearmament, and destruction of social rights against growing popular opposition. The seeds from which the AfD has grown are evident from any examination of the more than 90 AfD deputies who will take up seats in the Bundestag on October 24. Most of the deputies have been either recruited directly from the state apparatusin particular the military, the judiciary and the policeor were previously members of one of Germanys mainstream parties. Hardly anyone more embodies the close links between the AfD and the capitalist establishment than its leading election candidate, Alexander Gauland. The 76-year-old AfD vice chairman was a high-ranking functionary in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the state of Hesse for 40 years before he founded the AfD in 2013. In his long political career, Gauland worked for the Frankfurt Judiciary and the Federal Ministry of the Environment. From 1987 to 1991, he headed the Hesse State Chancellery under his mentor, Prime Minister Walter Wallmann (CDU). During the Bundestag election campaign Gauland publicly praised Hitlers Wehrmacht and also called for the casting out of Aydan Ozoguz, Germanys Integration Commissioner, to Turkey. In fact Gauland has always represented far right and militaristic positions. As a CDU member he complained of Germanys disturbed relationship with military force and lack of appreciation of the Bundeswehr. Germans would finally have to abandon their all embracing pacifism, he said, because the decisive questions of the time would be decided by iron and blood. The second AfD chairperson, Alice Weidel, is a product of the sharp turn to the right of the entire ruling class in recent years. Wendell advocates strict neo-liberal policies and was groomed and promoted by influential political circles. As a so-called gifted student she received support to complete her doctorate from the Konrad-Adenauer Institution, which is affiliated to the CDU. Prior to joining the AfD in 2013, she worked in the asset management business of Goldman Sachs and Allianz Global Investors Europe in Germanys finance hub, Frankfurt am Main. Many other AfD deputies also have close ties to politics and big business. About one-fifth are employed as entrepreneurs or consultants for larger companies and groups. Twenty-one deputies are former members of the CDU or its Bavarian sister organisation the Christian Social Union (CSU), eleven were formerly in the neo-liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) and five stem from the SPD. Norbert Kleinwachter (representing the AfD in Brandenburg) was previously active in the Electoral Alternative for Labor and Social Justice (WASG), which merged with the Stalinist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) to form the Left Party in 2007. The AfD faction in the Bundestag also includes a comparatively large proportion of policemen and soldiers. These include military advisors such as former Bundeswehr Colonel Rudiger Lucassen, who also worked for NATO, and the soldier Rene Springer, a personal assistant to Gauland. Another former officer is Peter Felser, who, together with the right-wing extremist publisher Gotz Kubitschek, published a book with reports on the military deployment of the Bundeswehr in Bosnia. Gerald Otten (AfD Bavaria) is a former combat pilot and colonel in the army reserve. He is currently Eurofighter Sales Director at Airbus. Representatives of the police include the Leipzig Police Commissioner Lars Herrmann, the deputy spokesperson for the AfD in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, Martin Hess, and the police trainer Wilhelm von Gotberg. In 2001, former CDU member von Gotberg courted controversy by describing the Holocaust as an effective instrument to criminalise Germans and their history, and citing approvingly the Italian neo-fascist Mario Consoli. Judges among the AfD deputies include such infamous figures as Jens Maier. At a meeting in the spring organised by the ultra-right magazine Compact, the second-ranking AfD figure in Saxony sought to exonerate the Norwegian far-right terrorist, Anders Breivik, claiming that Breiviks mass murder spree resulted from despair arising from alien cultures. Two other far-right representatives of the legal community are the prosecutor Thomas Seitz and senior public prosecutor Roman Reusch (Berlin). Nearly half of the AfD parliamentary faction belong to the national-conservative and far-right wing of the party, which increasingly and publicly embraces the traditions of Nazism. Ulrich Oehme, an insurance broker from Chemnitz, stuck up posters in the election campaign bearing the Nazi election text Everything for Germanyalthough the slogan has officially been banned. According to party members, the deputy chairman of the AfD in Saxony, Siegbert Droese drives a blue AfD-combi auto with the plates L-AH1818the initials of Adolf Hitler. Speeches by representatives of the ethnic-nationalist AfD faction named The Wing, which will enter the Bundestag with a large number of deputies, recall 1933. Jurgen Pohl, a close companion of the neo-Nazi Bjorn Hocke (AfD-Thuringia), declared in the election campaign, it was a biblical challenge to deport all illegal aliens. At a conference of the Thuringia AfD he threatened: You are still sitting up there, you cowards ... But once again righteousness will reign and the people will judge. Then God help you! The entry of this fascist scum in the Bundestag is a direct result of the revival in Germany of an aggressive foreign policy and great-power politics, actively pursued by all the capitalist parties. As was the case in the 1930s, the preparation of new wars by the ruling class goes hand-in-hand with the spread of extreme nationalist and racist filth and the building of a new far-right party. In what amounts to a public slap in the face, US President Donald Trump yesterday tweeted that his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Manthe presidents abusive term for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Flatly ruling out any deal with Pyongyang adds to the already high tensions and compounds the danger of war. Trumps tweet not only undercut his secretary of state. It also was a provocative shot at Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, with whom Tillerson had just held talks. Beijing and Moscow have been pushing for a resumption of negotiations with North Korea on the basis of a so-called freeze-freezethe US and South Korea would halt joint military exercises, in return for North Korea halting missile and nuclear tests. While the White House has repeatedly rejected the Chinese proposal, Tillerson suggested on Saturday that the US was open to talks with North Korea and was sounding out the possibility. We are probing, so stay tuned, he told reporters travelling with him. We ask: Would you like to talk? We have lines of communications to Pyongyang. Were not in a dark situation. After he left his meeting with Xi, Tillerson said it was crucial that tensions be lowered. The whole situation is a bit overheated right now, he said. If North Korea would stop firing its missiles, that would calm things down a lot. When asked if that applied to Trump, who threatened North Korea at the UN with total destruction, Tillerson replied: I think everyone would like for it to calm down. US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert immediately downplayed Tillersons remarks, saying North Korea had shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding de-nuclearisation. The Trump administration is insisting that the only deal acceptable to the US is one in which North Korea completely dismantles its nuclear arsenal and facilities and abandons its nuclear and missile programs. In his comments, Tillerson made clear that the US would not accept an agreement along the lines of the 2015 deal with Iran and would demand far harsher conditions. We are not going to put together a nuclear deal in North Korea that is as flimsy as the one in Iran, he said. Trumps tweet yesterday was another blunt warning that nothing short of the Pyongyang regimes abject capitulation to US demands would halt the drive to war. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done, he added. Later yesterday, Trump fired off another crude and ignorant tweet, declaring: Being nice to Rocket Man hasnt worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, Obama failed. I wont fail. Kim Jong-un, of course, has been in power only since 2011, when his father Kim Jong-il died. As for the so-called failures of Clinton, Bush and Obama, all three US presidents took a menacing and provocative stance toward North Korea. Clinton and Bush effectively sabotaged the agreements reached with Pyongyang in 1994 and 2007 by not abiding by the terms. The only difference between Trump and his predecessors is that he is openly threatening a catastrophic war against North Korea that could result in millions of deaths and drag the world into conflict. Trumps bellicose and reckless threats are responsible for placing the Korean Peninsula in a precarious situation where a relatively minor incident, whether accidental or deliberate, could trigger an all-out conflict. The Pyongyang regime can only conclude that it must prepare for an imminent US attack and that any move toward negotiations would be pointless. Any deal struck with Washington would lead only to further demands and, in any case, would not prevent US military aggression, as the killing of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has demonstrated. Trumps countermanding of Tillerson as he was in Beijing underscores the fact that the US confrontation with North Korea is also aimed at China, which Washington regards as the chief obstacle to its dominance in Asia and the world. Xi and the Chinese leadership must assume from Trumps tweets that any understandings reached with Tillerson over North Korea are worthless. Tillerson was in China to prepare a visit by Trump in November. Beijing not only has agreed to punitive UN sanctions on North Korea but imposed some of its own. Just days before Tillersons visit, Chinas ministry of commerce announced further sanctions against North Korea, giving North Korean businesses and individuals located in China, as well as joint Chinese and North Korean companies outside North Korea, just 120 days to close down. Trumps tweets undermine any collaboration between China and the US. An article in the Washington Post on Saturday revealed that Trump signed a secret executive directive to engage in a broad range of aggressive activities against North Korea soon after conducting a policy review in March. According to a senior administration official, the directive instructed diplomats to press every country to sever ties with Pyongyang and the US Treasury to prepare escalating sanctions. It also authorised the military to use its cyber-warfare capabilities against North Korea. Having failed to bully North Korea into accepting US demands, Trump is preparing to launch a war of annihilation. He is carrying out one military provocation after another to goad Pyongyang into actions that could be exploited as a pretext. Over the past two weeks, the US military has flown two B1 strategic bomber missions close to North Korea. The first engaged in a live-fire exercise in South Korea. The second involved the most northerly flight along the North Korean coastline this century. The Pentagon announced last week after holding talks with South Koreas national security adviser Chung Eui-yong that the US military would send more strategic assets to South Korea on a rotational basis. The term strategic assets covers a range of military hardware, including nuclear-capable bombers, submarines and warships. Proposed budget cuts to the Montana Department of Corrections would close a care facility for frail inmates, leave youth sex offenders without a primary housing program and end plans to create a new drug addiction treatment center that observers say was sorely needed. The cuts would require the state to lay off dozens of workers, adding to the workload of existing staff. More responsibilities would fall to local law enforcement. And routine overcrowding at county jails would almost certainly get worse. State officials must cut $40.2 million over the current biennium from the DOC one of the hardest-hit departments under the proposed cuts or find another way to balance the budget. Gov. Steve Bullock will have the final say on budget cuts and has urged lawmakers to raise taxes to lessen the blow. A legislative committee meets Monday and Tuesday to make recommendations. The cuts come amid efforts to reform Montanas criminal justice system and save the state money in the long run by reducing crowding at jails and prisons, shifting more responsibilities onto probation and parole services and improving treatment opportunities statewide. Now budget cuts could jeopardize those cost-saving reforms. Closing the infirmary The cuts call for closing the Lewistown Infirmary. The infirmary has been open to male prison inmates since December 2012. State officials had stressed the need for the facility for more than a decade. The infirmary houses 25 low-security inmates with chronic health conditions. Many are confined to a bed, use walkers or wheelchairs, or require monitoring to prevent falls. Others have poor eyesight or hearing and issues such as dementia, heart disease, diabetes or cancer. Housing them in the state prison would strain the prisons resources, exacerbate crowding and could pose a threat to inmates health, putting the department at risk of being sued, it warned. The state prison already operates at or over capacity on most days. The department is currently looking for facilities outside of the state prison that could care for and house the inmates if the infirmary closes. Youth services Proposed cuts to youth services would force the department to close the seven-bed Youth Transitions Center in Great Falls, eliminating the centers 11 jobs. The center is the primary home for youth sex offenders leaving juvenile prison who arent yet ready for parole. The youth currently living at the center would be moved back to Pine Hills, the juvenile prison in Miles City, where 10 jobs would be eliminated. Money for youth offenders mental health, chemical dependency and sex offender treatment would also be reduced. Jail crowding Jails are consistently at or over capacity, creating concerns statewide about inmate and officer safety and growing costs to counties. The state is taking a multi-pronged approach to ease crowding, but proposed cuts hit most of the efforts. The cuts would eliminate $5.5 million in new funding to reduce the number of state inmates being held in county jails by paying for added bed space at prerelease and treatment centers. Cuts would also eliminate money to hire six new positions to write pre-sentence investigation reports. (PSI reports contain mental health and other information judges must consider at sentencing.) Reform proponents had said it was taking too long to write the reports, slowing down cases and adding to jail crowding. But a new 30-day deadline aimed at speeding up the process would be impossible to meet if the six positions were eliminated, the department said. The cuts call for closing the state boot camp and canceling plans to repurpose it as a 60-bed chemical dependency treatment facility. The facility was underutilized, while the states treatment facilities have long wait lists. Proponents had said the plan would help Montana address widespread meth use and reduce jail crowding. (And lawmakers had said the change would not eliminate any state jobs in Deer Lodge, which lost 35 earlier this year when a state agency relocated.) Other state efforts to ease jail and prison crowding face cuts, including certain chemical dependency treatment centers, county matching grants for mental health and crisis intervention, and new initiatives to expand housing options for offenders. Cutting contracts The proposed cuts call for reduced payments to regional prisons in Glendive and Great Falls; the Crossroads Correctional Center, Montanas only private prison; and the Missoula Assessment and Sanction Center. Under the best-case scenario, this would reduce or eliminate programming in the facilities, threaten officer and inmate safety, dramatically slow inmate movement through the correctional system, compound overcrowding, and put the state at greater risk of being sued, the department wrote in its budget note. Under the worst-case scenario, the facilities could opt to end their contracts with the state, forcing the department to find new placements for 1,037 inmates. Tom Green, warden at Dawson County Correctional Facility, said the county is waiting to see if the full cuts are implemented. If they are, county officials would indeed consider ending their contract with the state, which would free up bed space for jail commitments from Dawson County and any other county willing to pay for the bed space. We will not ask our taxpayers to subsidize the state of Montana in their shortcomings, Green said. Its just not going to happen. President Donald Trump tweeted with restraint about last nights shooting in Las Vegas this morning offering warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting adding God bless you! Trump tweeted after being briefed by Chief of Staff John Kelly on the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history; 50 are dead and more than 200 injured after a gunman. Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival, from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, as Jason Aldean was performing on stage. Veep Mike Pence tweeted far more extensively than POTUS. The State Department also sent condolences: Donald Trumps tweet: My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 White House tweeted: The President has been briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers. The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 2, 2017 Veep Mike Pences tweets: Our hearts and prayers are with the victims & the people of Edmonton & we condemn the cowardly terror attacks that occurred late last night. Vice President Pence (@VP) October 1, 2017 To victims, families & loved ones affected by this senseless violence in Las Vegas, Karen & I are praying for you & offering our love Vice President Pence (@VP) October 2, 2017 To the courageous first responders, thank you for your acts of bravery. Vice President Pence (@VP) October 2, 2017 State Department added official condolences: Story continues We join many at home and abroad sending our thoughts and condolences to the victims and families of the attack in #LasVegas. Department of State (@StateDept) October 2, 2017 Eric was the first Trump family member to weigh in: My thoughts and prayers are with the people of #LasVegas. Eric Trump (@EricTrump) October 2, 2017 Sister Ivanka tweeted as well: 1:2 America woke up this morning to the horrific news of a devastating mass shooting in Las Vegas. Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 2, 2017 2:2 Our collective hearts are breaking for the victims and their families. #lasVegas Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 2, 2017 First Lady Melania Trump tweeted: My heart and prayers goes out to victims, families & loved ones! #PrayForLasVegas Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 2, 2017 Local officials took to Twitter to send their thoughts. Las Vegas Gov Sandoval: A tragic & heinous act of violence has shaken the #Nevada family. Our prayers are w/ the victims & all affected by this act of cowardice. Governor Sandoval (@GovSandoval) October 2, 2017 Nevada Senator Dean Heller: Senseless, horrifying act of violence in Las Vegas tonight. Praying for all the victims & those impacted by the tragedy. Dean Heller (@SenDeanHeller) October 2, 2017 Related stories Las Vegas Shooting To Test Donald Trump's Stance On Machine Guns (Commentary) LAPD To Tighten Security At Large Public Gatherings In Wake Of Las Vegas Shooting Cirque Du Soleil, Blue Man Group Cancel Shows In the Wake Of Las Vegas Shooting Various shows have been canceled following a deadly shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday. Las Vegas biggest resort groups are canceling shows in the wake of Sundays deadly shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival. A spokesperson for MGM Resorts tells ET that Mondays shows at all of their properties have been called off. The company owns a string of resorts, including Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, which was at the center of the devastating shooting and is home to Cirque du Soleils Michael Jackson ONE. All other Cirque du Soleil productions in Las Vegas have also been canceled for Monday, as have performances by the Blue Man Group. As the tragic events unfolded, all Cirque du Soleils theatres were immediately put into lockdown in collaboration with local authorities, Cirque du Soleil and Blue Man Group said in a statement. Audience members that were attending the shows have since been authorized to leave the theaters. For the time being, none of Cirque du Soleils employees have been identified amongst the victims. EXCLUSIVE: Concertgoer Describes What Horrific Vegas Shooting Was Like On the Scene (Exclusive) TAO Group, which owns Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, announced the venue would be closed on Monday, with DJ Ruckus scheduled set canceled. Nightlife heavyweight Hakkasan Group, meanwhile, shared that they are working with authorities and that the well-being of our guests and our staff remains a priority. Steve Aoki is scheduled to play the companys Omnia club at Caesars Palace on Tuesday, while Lil Jon is on Thursdays lineup at MGM Grands Hakkasan club. Penn & Teller has also canceled their scheduled performance on Monday. Out of respect for our Las Vegas community and the tragedy of last nights events, Penn & Teller have canceled tonights performance at The Rio Hotel & Casino," the duo's rep tells ET. Concerts scheduled for later in the week along The Strip include Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez and John Fogerty. No word yet if there are plans to cancel any of these shows as well. Story continues Vegas isn't the only town canceling events out of respect for the tragedy. ABC announced on Monday that Dancing With the Stars contestants will not do their traditional after show interviews on Monday. In addition, the Empire State Building will go dark on Monday night "in sympathy for the victims and those affected by the attacks in Las Vegas." WATCH: Mariah Carey 'Horrified' to Learn of Las Vegas Shooting Right Before a Live TV Interview The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that more than 50 people died and more than 500 were injured after a gunman fired shots at the festivals audience from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay. Jason Aldean was performing at the time of the incident. See more on the tragedy below. Related Articles A mass shooting at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Sunday night has left at least 20 dead and 100 wounded, police have said. Witnesses reported that that a gunman opened fire reportedly with a fully automatic weapon from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino. Police later engaged the gunman and killed him, said Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, according to NBC News. The shooting began just as Jason Aldean began his show at on the final day of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival, the Washington Post reports. Right now we believe its a solo act, a lone wolf attacker, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters early Monday, according to the Los Angeles Times. We are pretty confident there is no longer a threat. Aldean called the scene horrific, but said he was safe in an Instagram post early Monday. Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight, he wrote. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate A post shared by Jason Aldean (@jasonaldean) on Oct 2, 2017 at 1:17am PDT We are safe... our angels were definitely watching over us tonight. No words for what happened... Just horrific. Praying for everyone???? A post shared by Brittany Aldean (@brittanyaldean) on Oct 2, 2017 at 1:19am PDT Witness Ivetta Saldana told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, It was was a horror show. People were standing around, then they hit the floor. According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, an active shooter was reported near the Mandalay Bay Casino. Police advised people to avoid the area and they shut down the south end of the strip as well as freeway traffic on the I-15 from Tropicana to Russell Road. Some flights destined for McCarran Airport were also diverted due to the reported shooting, according to the airport. Story continues RT @EirikurH: Shooting in Las Vegas. People fleeing (video from the Mandalay Bay hotel) pic.twitter.com/FhCcbbaa2G James (@Chillednigga317) October 2, 2017 The Route 91 Harvest Festival, which was headlined by Jason Aldean on Sunday night, was taking place near the reported shooting. Witnesses described hearing multiple shots, according to reporters on the scene. According to the Los Angeles Times, the shooting left at least two people dead and 24 others injured. This is a developing story. As the enmeshed complications around President Donald Trump and his administration continue to proliferate, author and columnist Michael Wolff whose book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House sits atop the New York Times bestseller list has been making headlines again. In a characteristically oblique and furor-inducing move two weeks ago, on [] President Donald Trump is skipping his planned interview with Fox News anchor Sean Hannity scheduled for this Wednesday in order to travel to the scene of the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, Fox News announced Monday. The interview was to take place in front of a group of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents at the Morgantown Theatre in West Virginia. Hannity and Trump were set to discuss tax reform, the economy, and news of the day, and there was to be time allocated for a Q&A session with the audience at the end of the interview. According to a statement from a Fox News spokesperson, the network is looking into rescheduling the interview. On Sunday night, a man opened fire from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino on the Vegas Strip with a high-powered assault rifle, targeting the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival nearby. At least 58 people have died and more than 500 were injured in what is now the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Police subsequently identified 64-year old Stephen Paddock, a resident of nearby Mesquite, Nevada, as the shooter. S.W.A.T. officers breached Paddocks room with explosives, though he appears to have killed himself before police entered the room. Police also said that at least 10 weapons were found in Paddocks possession. FBI agent Aaron Rouse, who oversees Las Vegas for the bureau, dismissed a claim by the Islamic State terror group that Paddock was one of its operatives. We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group, Rouse said. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that this is factually, thoroughly and absolutely investigated. The shooting broke out at the end of a Jason Aldean set, with some witnesses reporting that they had heard possibly hundreds of shots and saw at least one officer down. Videos posted to Twitter show concertgoers sheltering in place as gunshots are heard ringing throughout the area. Story continues Related stories Cirque du Soleil Cancels Monday Night Las Vegas Shows in Wake of Shooting Joss Whedon, Julianne Moore, Lady Gaga Implore U.S. to Enact Stronger Gun Control CBS Fires Legal Exec Over Las Vegas Shooting Comments Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts! On Shark Tank, Yunha from San Francisco stopped by to pitch a meditation app called Simple Habit. The offer of $600,000 in exchange for 5% of the company was not quite Zen enough for the Sharks and Mark Cuban was not having it. With Yunha already having a great deal of cash flow, he felt like she was there solely for commercial reason, that is, to get her app on television. She's a gold digger, Cuban said. Fortunately for Yunha, Richard Branson was fortunately there to come to her defense. Offering her $300,000 for 10%, Cuban interrupted with a no, joking (or maybe not joking) that it had to be $600,000. I think the water just has to go, said Branson as he threw his cup of water on Cubans face. Yunha was basically driven to tears by the Sharks and ultimately didnt take any offers, which might be for the the best. Seems like these guys could use a meditation app or something. Those with long experience in the legislative arena know and fear one thing in common a special legislative session. Why? Because they are universally called for very short periods, usually only a few days or at most a couple weeks. Laws and budgets can be changed significantly with almost no time for the citizens of Montana, who are supposed to be represented by the legislature, to even know whats going on, let alone analyze and provide input on the bills being considered. Its not how law should be made, nor budgets adjusted and, being in the minority in both chambers, could very well backfire on the Democrats. Although the legislature has the power to call itself into a special session, generally it is the governor who issues the special session Call. To his credit, Gov. Steve Bullock has already said he wont do that unless Republicans are willing to agree to consider raising revenue. Right now Bullock has legal authority and responsibility to adjust state budgets by 10 percent in times of revenue shortages. While the budget cuts being considered are painful and Bullock has said he didnt sign up to hurt people, there is still a significant advantage in having the decision of where and what to cut coming from the Democrat governor as far as Democrat spending priorities are concerned. Perhaps its a sign of the loss of legislative institutional knowledge and inexperience due to term limits especially with special sessions but it sure seems as though Democrat legislators requesting a special session simply dont understand what can happen if one is actually called and the dangers are many, especially for the minority party. For one thing, while its entirely understandable that Governor Bullock would limit the Call of the Session to only bills raising revenue, neither the governor nor the minority Democrats have the power or votes to limit the session to revenue enhancing bills. Under legislative rules, it takes 76 votes out of 150 legislators to expand the Call of the Session. What that means is that the Republicans, who have way more than the 76 required votes could, with a simple vote in the House and one in the Senate, decide to open the session to adjust not just revenue, but spending and any of the many issue areas normally considered in a regular legislative session. So how real is the possibility that Republicans would immediately expand the Call of the Session to cut budgets instead of raising revenue? Well, consider that Sen. Llew Jones, a Conrad Republican who chairs the powerful Senate Finance and Claims Committee, through which all budgets and state spending must go, had this to say to reporters: Tightening the governments purse strings is the place to begin, adding, I will not support permanent tax increases during these down times. While its understandable that Democrats would want to preserve the spending priorities they feel are important to their constituents, its extremely naive to believe the Republicans wouldnt want to do the same thing. In this case, their goal would be the core Republican belief in shrinking, not growing, government exactly as Sen. Jones has already said. For those who have been through special sessions and know their pitfalls, the Democrat legislators asking the governor to call a special session are asking for more trouble than they know especially given they dont have to votes to control the agenda, let alone the outcome and it could backfire horrendously on the very priorities they hold most dear. [PIANO MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] Just another day of looking beautiful for these two gorgeous people. Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes were spotted out in N.Y.C. last night after Gosling hosted the Saturday Night Live premiere, and the lovebirds looked just as amazing as you'd expect. The 36-year-old La La Land star made his second appearance on SNL last night, hosting the show's premiere for its 43rd season. Naturally, Gosling attended the after party, which was held at Tao Restaurant in N.Y.C., and Mendes was there to celebrate, too. For the late-night party, Gosling wore a patterned V-neck sweater, topped with a light-wash denim jacket. He paired the look with blue slacks and casual brown shoes as he held hands with his 43-year-old wife. The Hitch actress looked equally chic in a pink-and-blue patterned jumpsuit, which she wore with chunky black platform heels. Mendes rocked a smokey eye and voluminous curls as she strolled alongside her husband. This was a rare public appearance for the couple, who are known to prioritize their family over red carpet events. "What people don't know about me is that I love being home," Mendes told Shape earlier in the year. "Instead of hitting the red carpet, I'd rather be with our girls." Last night was definitely a special occasion, though, and we love seeing Gosling and Mendes all glammed up! A federal agent was gunned down in the parking lot of a grocery store in Clay County, Fla., on Sept. 26. Shelby Floyd-Berrios heard the shots and rushed to help, even though shes five months pregnant. Shelby Floyd-Berrios, though 5 months pregnant at the time, helped save the life of a fallen federal officer who was shot. (Photo: Facebook) I had no other option I saw him go down, and there was no choice in my mind, Floyd-Berrios told First Coast News. I wasnt going to let someone lay there and die. Floyd-Berrios had undergone some training as a nurse. The mother-to-be is a hairstylist at the nearby Great Clips salon. Security footage shows her rushing out to where the officer lay bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. At the time, Floyd-Berrios had no idea if the shooter was still active. The officer, whose name has not been released to the public, was taken to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition, although deputies reportedly said he has a positive prognosis. Update on the shooting investigation in the Publix parking lot on Oakleaf Plantation Parkway An officer with Customs Posted by Clay County Sheriff's Office, Florida on Wednesday, September 27, 2017 The shooter has been identified as 18-year-old Thomas Jacob Lewis. At the time of the shooting, Lewis had an active arrest warrant for the sale and delivery of narcotics. According to police, Lewis was driving a convertible BMW through the parking lot of the Publix grocery store. He drove up behind the officer, opened fire, and sped off. Lewis then turned the gun on himself. He was still behind the wheel at the time and crashed into another car after shooting himself. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Social media accounts belonging to Lewis appear to show a reverence for gang culture, including posts critical of police officers. On Tumblr he posted numerous pictures of guns, women, money, and drugs. His last tweet, posted the day of the shooting, reads Payback time bitch. Payback time bitch JAKE LEWI$ (@jakel1099) September 26, 2017 Police speculate that Lewis was paranoid about the warrant for his arrest and perhaps thought the uniformed officer was following him and then ambushed the officer. Were not exactly sure what the motive was behind this, said CCSO Chief Wayne McKinney. The officer was wearing police clothing, a badge, and a shoulder holster. At the time he was shot, the officer was carrying groceries back to his car. Story continues The wounded officer is not a police officer, but rather a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent. Theres no known connection between the officer and Lewis. Witnesses report that Lewis was acting strangely right before the shooting. It just seems like one guy was extremely paranoid he felt like a guy was following him and thats when he turned around and opened fire shot [the officer] several times, a witness, who didnt want to be named, told First Coast News. Lewiss mother has issued a statement to the media saying: As the mother of Jake Lewis, I can only express my horror and grief at yesterdays events. Although Jake no longer lived with me as a result of the structure and discipline that I attempted to place on him, I loved him dearly and he would still text me. When the Clay County Sheriffs Office called me yesterday regarding his arrest warrant, I contacted Jake immediately and begged him to turn himself in. I would ask first for your prayers on behalf of the wounded officer and our law-enforcement community as they face danger every day. Second, I ask for your prayers for a grieving family that will try to remember Jake from better times. Finally if it is in your heart I ask for your prayers for the soul of my deceased son. Thank you for your patience and privacy during this difficult time. As Floyd-Berrios applied pressure to the fallen officers wounds, she realized she recognized him from somewhere; hed been a customer in her salon. Shelby Floyd-Berrios talks about saving the life of the officer, who turned out to be a customer in her hair salon. (Photo: First Coast News) Hes a really sweet and noble gentleman and he deserves our respect, he serves our community, she said. I hope [hes] doing OK and comes back into the salon because [he has] a big hug waiting on him. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. The largest mass shooting in U.S. history happened in Las Vegas last night, and this is what we know Facts are still pouring in about Sunday nights mass shooting in Las Vegas the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. As of right now, 50 people are confirmed dead and over 400 have suffered injuries from the attack. The gunman has been identified as Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old retired man from Mesquite, Nevada. The shooting took place during Jason Aldeans performance at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Aldean was immediately taken offstage as people realized something was wrong. Then, witnesses shared that concert goers hit the floor and the gunfire seemingly lasted forever. According to NBC News, Paddock acted alone. He did so from the 32nd floor of Las Vegas Mandalay Bay hotel. Officers found Paddock dead in his hotel room, and Las Vegas Police Undersheriff Kevin McMahill told CNN that officers found at least eight weapons in Paddocks possession. WATCH: Witness video shows 22,000-person concert as gunman opens fire from 32nd floor of Las Vegas hotel. https://t.co/OMMlwif54N pic.twitter.com/PhKnK8fMdM NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) October 2, 2017 At least one responding police officer was killed and several other officers were injured during their raid on Paddock. Couple uses their truck as a makeshift ambulance to carry victims of the Las Vegas shooting to the hospital. https://t.co/BZcrV0KCzL pic.twitter.com/JDMW9sTpRR Good Morning America (@GMA) October 2, 2017 Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said during a press conference that officials are currently attempting to figure out Paddocks motive. The Washington Post reports that police have located Paddocks traveling companion, Marilou Danley, and currently have her in questioning. Story continues Updated: Las Vegas death toll rises to 50, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history https://t.co/fqX3roJBk4 pic.twitter.com/SenlIwjPss Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 2, 2017 Local hospitals are full of injured victims, and the death toll is expected to rise. If youre in the Las Vegas area, check out your local clinics here to donate blood to victims who need it. Were sending our prayers and thoughts to every single person affected by this immense, unnecessary tragedy, and holding our loved ones close today. Jay Z returned to the Saturday Night Live stage this week as the first musical guest of the 43rd season. And, as many of you expected, he really delivered. Hov performed two tracks off his critically acclaimed album 4:44; the first of which was "Bam" featuring Damian Marley. Hov wore Colin Kaepernick's jersey during his performance, as a sign of support for his national anthem protest. The second was a stripped down performance of "4:44," an apology record to Beyonce for Jay's alleged infidelity. If you missed tonights season premiere, hosted by Ryan Gosling, you can check out the performances in the video above and below. You can also watch Goslings hilarious opener here. Jays SNL appearance comes just weeks after two other major performances. At the beginning of September, he headlined the 2017 Budweiser Made in America Festival, where he he was joined by surprise guest Meek Mill. Shortly after, Jay co-headlined the Meadows Music and Arts Festival with a 90-minute set, which included performances of Izzo (H.O.V.A.), Where Im From, Family Feud, and The Story of O.J. Jay dedicated the latter song to Colin Kaepernick and anyone that was held back. On Oct. 27, the 47-year-old rapper will kick off his 4:44 Tour in Anaheim, California. The tour will include stops in Phoenix, New Orleans, Toronto, and Chicago, before wrapping up Dec. 21 in Los Angeles. Continue Reading On PigeonsandPlanes More from PigeonsandPlanes PureWow King Charles is taking on yet another important role that was previously held by his late father, Prince Philip. This week, the royal family released a brand-new portrait of the monarch, as he officially takes on the role of Park Ranger of Windsor Great Park. In the photograph, His Majesty is standing next to a giant oak tree in an open field while the sun shines brightly. King Charles looks like a whole new man in the pic and is dressed in a camel-colored suit and holding a cane in his hand. Vi A new season means that new drama is only starting to unfold in the fictional worlds of "Days of Our Lives," "The Young and the Restless," and "The Bold and the Beautiful." With November sweeps quickly preparing to approach, all three soaps have stepped up their game when it comes to the mind-blowing revelations. In case you missed a minute of the interrupted bliss, sneaking and conniving to find new information, or the unexpected secrets that were exposed, here are the four biggest moments that happened this week: "Days Of Our Lives" (NBC) Bonnie Gets The Dirt Days of Our Lives Photo: NBC She has been waiting for a way to sink her claws into Victor (John Aniston) while she poses as Adrienne (Judi Evans), and now, Bonnie (also Evans) may have found her ticket to what she wants. While overhearing a phone call between Victor and Xander (Paul Telfer), Bonnie realized that there was more to the story when it came to Victor hiring Xander to kill Deimos (Vincent Irizarry). Now, sje is waiting for the right moment to reveal what she knows and use it to her advantage. The Double Wedding Descends Into Chaos Days of Our Lives Photo: NBC The big day finally arrived for Paul (Christopher Sean), Sonny (Freddie Smith), Abigail (Marci Miller) and Chad (Billy Flynn) to all say their vows and become married couples. Things seemed to be going well as Sonny and Paul began reciting their vows.However, when Abigail opened her mouth to begin reciting her vows to Chad, a crashed came in to the churchand he is their worst nightmare because he only brings havoc with him when he comes to town. "The Young And The Restless" (CBS) Lily Makes A Decision About Her Marriage It's been a tough decision for her to make, but Lily (Christel Khalil) has finally decided what to do when it comes to her marriage to Cane (Daniel Goddard). After kicking him out following an affair that resulted in a pregnancy, as well as other bad behaviors, Lily has decided to make things official and file for a divorce. She wanted to make things work with Cane, but had admitted that his having a baby with Juliet (Laur Allen) is something she will never be able to get over since she cannot conceive another child. Story continues "The Bold And The Beautiful" (CBS) Wyatt Warns Liam After finally learning the truth about Bill's (Don Diamont) crimes and Liam's (Scott Clifton) blackmail, Wyatt (Darin Brooks) confronted his brother. He was stunned when Liam offered to make him his partner and have him run Spencer alongside him, officially shutting their father out of his own company. Though the idea was hard to resist, Wyatt did, and he left Liam with an ominous warning that he would need to watch out, because Bill wouldn't hesitate to exact a cruel revenge on him. Liam was sure he woudl be fine, but Wyatt could have a point. To see how these stories continue to play out next week, tune in to "Days of Our Lives," weekdays on NBC, "The Young and the Restless," weekdays at 12:30 p.m. EDT on CBS, and "The Bold and the Beautiful," weekdays at 1:30 p.m. EDT on CBS. Related Articles Sundays horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas once again shines a light on a nation awash in guns, with relatively few restrictions on their purchase or possession. In Nevada, like in most states, its legal to openly carry long guns, like rifles and shotguns. No permit is required for this sort of display. That means people are allowed to walk down the Las Vegas Strip with a military-style rifle slung over their shoulder, although casinos and other private businesses can bar those individuals from their premises. Its also legal in Nevada to own a fully automatic firearm, such as a machine gun, though federal regulations require owners to pay a $200 fee and submit to an extensive federal background check and fingerprinting, which can take up to a year to complete. This weaponry is regulated under the National Firearms Act. Some states have laws specifically restricting machine guns, but most dont. Because of the rarity of these weapons, however, fully automatic firearms can be incredibly expensive usually between $20,000 and $30,000, said Benjamin Bunker, a Las Vegas attorney who specializes in firearms-related matters. If he was gonna buy a full-auto machine gun, he wouldve found a dealer online selling it, they would have entered into a purchase agreement, hed pay the guy, the guy would then transfer the full-auto machine gun to a dealer, and then the dealer holds on to that gun until the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] gives him the green light, said Bunker. There are plenty of firearms on the black market. But illegal full-automatic machine guns are a top priority for ATF, and are harder to find, said Bunker. That said, Nevada does not specifically restrict open carrying of machine guns. Nevada doesnt make any distinction, semi-auto versus full auto, said Bunker. Authorities have not yet publicly identified any weapons the gunman used on Sunday, but confirmed that the shooter rained down fully automatic gunfire on a crowd of concertgoers, killing at least 58 people and injuring more than 500 from his perch on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay casino. Las Vegas police said there were at least 10 firearms in his hotel room, including long rifles. Story continues Typical military-style rifles are semi-automatic and are not capable of automatic fire, but they can be illegally altered to do so. Nevada does not restrict this popular type of semi-automatic weaponry, nor does it limit high-capacity magazines. Most states dont. Nevada also is whats called a shall issue state for concealed carry permits, meaning that anyone who is qualified to possess a handgun under state and federal law will be approved to get one. The state legislature rolled back handgun registration requirements in 2015, which gun advocates saw as a positive move to keep firearms owners from having to fill out additional paperwork. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. At least 58 people were killed and more than 500 were injured when a gunman opened fire on a country music festival in Las Vegas Sunday night in what is now the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Sole aggressor Stephen Paddock, 64, who lived in a retirement community in nearby Mesquite, shot at concertgoers at the Route 91 Harvest Festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, across the street from where the event was being held on the Las Vegas Strip, police said. SWAT teams were sent to the hotel following the first reports of the shooting around 10:08 p.m. They used explosives to blow open the door to the hotel room, where Paddock was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. Sheriff Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said numerous firearms were discovered in the room. Heres how you can help the victims of the attack. Donate Blood Those in the Las Vegas area are asked to donate blood to help the hundreds injured in the shooting. Anyone wishing to help is asked to donate blood for the injured victims of the Strip shooting, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement on Monday. United Blood Services will start taking donations at 7 a.m. at two locations: 6930 W. Charleston in Las Vegas or 601 Whitney Ranch Drive in Henderson. UMC will also be hosting a blood drive in conjunction with United Blood Services. It will be held at UMCs Delta Point Building located at 901 N. Rancho Lane. There will be updates as to the exact time of the blood drive as more information is available. People began lining up to donate in the early morning hours Monday before some locations even opened. If you're in Las Vegas and want to be a hero -- donate blood. They're desperate for supply to save lives. Here's where to go: pic.twitter.com/DBU86yQtmY Alheli Picazo (@a_picazo) October 2, 2017 If you would like to donate blood for the injured victims of the Strip shooting visit the Labor Health & Welfare Clinic, 7135 W. Sahara. LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 Pic from inside blood donation center on W Charleston. Packed. You can help too @KTNV @BethFisherTV pic.twitter.com/tPemr6ikyq David Schuman (@david_schuman) October 2, 2017 Come to 6930 W. Charleston Rd to donate blood to all of our Las Vegas family pic.twitter.com/EdpLqUyeX3 Christina Lombardi (@c_lombardii) October 2, 2017 Donate Money Those unable to donate blood can give money to organizations helping the victims. Newsweek points to the Southern Nevada chapter of the American Red Cross, which accepts donations online, by phone at 702-369-3674, or by mail at 1771 E. Flamingo Road, #206B, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89119. Story continues A GoFundMe set up by Steve Sisolak, Clark County Commission Chair from Las Vegas, and other pages are being created to raise money for victims, as well. (Photo: David Becker via Getty Images) Trauma Counselors The Mandalay Bay Resort tweeted Monday afternoon that it was in need of certified trauma counselors to help those in need. We are in need of certified trauma counselors. pic.twitter.com/zroSqEoc1T Mandalay Bay Resort (@MandalayBay) October 2, 2017 Following the tragic events in Las Vegas last night, crisis counselors are available for any guest or employee who needs to speak w/ someone pic.twitter.com/AqMBA3ZTVJ Mandalay Bay Resort (@MandalayBay) October 2, 2017 Looking For Loved Ones Those looking for information about loved ones still missing are asked to call 866-535-5654. Additionally, Facebook has turned on its safety check feature for those in the Las Vegas area. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. For families looking to locate missing loved ones, please call 1-866-535-5654. LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 Facebook turns on safety check for Las Vegas https://t.co/DWNFzc9Fnc pic.twitter.com/zKFnuRBKWO Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) October 2, 2017 Support Gun Control Legislation People who back stricter gun control measures should contact their state and federal elected officials. This 2015 guide details how to contact your elected representatives. Nevadas gun laws are some of the most lax of any state. (Photo: David Becker via Getty Images) Also on HuffPost People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A cowboy hat lies in the street. VIDEO: Rapid fire from shooter(s) in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/jgzCTQRUZP Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) October 2, 2017 Las Vegas police search for the gunman while protecting fleeing fans. Fans run from the Route 91 Harvest festival after a gunman opened fire. Others dive for cover. Some fans drop to the ground. People run from the Route 91 Harvest festival. People scramble for cover. HORRIFIC SCENE: Do not let this be called anything else but DOMESTIC TERRORISM. AP reports 2dead 13critical & dozens injured. #MandalayBay pic.twitter.com/q7faKkCPpN Eduardo Samaniego (@EduSamani) October 2, 2017 A man in a wheelchair is helped away. People run for cover. EYEWITNESS: Chilling footage of moment active shooter opened fire on concert goers near Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/7OfAwg0ReO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017 A person takes cover amid the shooting. A person runs barefoot from the shooting. Police officers stop a man who drove down Tropicana Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard, which had been closed. A pair of cowboy boots lies in the street outside the concert venue. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Alison Bevege SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia dispatched a naval vessel to Vanuatu on Saturday to help the South Pacific nation evacuate all 11,000 inhabitants from the northern island of Ambae as an erupting volcano threatens to shower down burning ash and acid rain. Vanuatu ordered the full evacuation of the island after the nation's largest volcano, known as Manaro Voui, began emitting volcanic gas last weekend. Vanuatu has maintained its danger rating at threat level four, the second highest, as a flotilla of ships including ferries and commercial vessels has begun moving the population to the nearby islands of Maewo, Pentecost and Santo. More than 6,000 people have already gone to emergency shelters on the South Pacific island. The Australian amphibious landing ship HMAS Choules left for Vanuatu on Saturday morning with specialists and supplies, the government said in a statement. Vanuatu called for international help through the FRANZ partnership, which groups France, Australia and New Zealand, and aims to evacuate the island by Oct. 6. The volcano is crowned by crater lakes which make it more dangerous, said vulcanologist Christopher Firth of Australia's Macquarie University. One of the lakes is directly above the eruption, increasing its explosive potential and posing the threat of a deadly lahar: a boiling mud flow down the side of the mountain, Firth said. Australia has committed A$250,000 ($196,000) for supplies including food, water, shelter and hygiene kits, and will assist in aerial surveillance, the statement said. New Zealand has also given aid including water, sanitation and hygiene kits and has made NZ$100,000 ($72,000) available for the response, Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee said on Saturday. Vanuatu, a sprawling cluster of more than 80 islands and 260,000 people, is on the geologically active Pacific Ring of Fire and its Tana island active volcano is a major tourist attraction. Ambrym island, in the center of the Vanuatu archipelago is also erupting from two active cones and is rated at a threat level three, a minor eruption. (Reporting by Alison Bevege; Editing by Richard Pullin) Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site. Thousands of cars are damaged or destroyed by floods every year, but don't assume they all end up in a junkyard. Some, in fact, are repaired and resold in other parts of the country without the buyer being aware of the car's water-logged history. The recent flooding in the Northeast, which damaged an as-yet unknown number of cars, serves as a reminder that consumers need to be vigilant when buying a used car after a big storm, even if they dont live near the storm area. Thats because flood-damaged cars are often transported well beyond their original region after major storms to locations where consumers may be less aware of what warning signs to look for. Water can ruin electronics, lubricants, and mechanical systems. It may take months or years, but corrosion can find its way to the car's vital electronics, including airbag controllers. Consumers need to carefully inspect any used car before buying one (or pay a mechanic to do it). Consumer Reports' chief mechanic, John Ibbotson, says to avoid vehicles with signs of deep water exposure "even if a vehicle looks acceptable and may be working when you inspect it." That's because the long-term effects of water damage can haunt buyers for the life of the car. Too often, when an insurance company declares a flood-damaged car a total loss, that information isn't communicated to potential buyers. Once a flood car is totaled, its supposed to get a new title, called a salvage title. Those titles are usually plainly marked (known as being branded) with the word salvage or flood. In some states, this warning is shown on the title as an obscure letter or number code. Totaled cars are typically sold at a salvage auction to junkyards and vehicle rebuilders. Reselling them to consumers may be legal if the flood damage is disclosed on the title. Those salvage title cars can't be registered until necessary repairs are made and the vehicle is reinspected by officials. Then the vehicle is given a rebuilt title, which allows it to be registered for consumer use. Story continues But as Consumer Reports found years ago in an investigation of "rebuilt wrecks," some flood-damaged vehicles reappear with clean titles. Be especially wary of any used car being offered with a "lost" title or with only a bill of sale. One useful online tool for car shoppers is the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS), which helps consumers run background checks. This system aims to crack down on the practice of title washing, when cars that have been totaled (or stolen) get clean, new titles in states with lax regulations. However, if the vehicles owner didn't have comprehensive insurance coverage at the time of the flooding, or the repair bill didnt exceed a certain level, the vehicle might not get a salvage or branded title at all. There are only a few states that offer a flood title, which requires a history of any flood damage. Carfax offers a free flood damage check in addition to the vehicle history reports it sells. These checks show the "possibility of flood damage" based on area history and registered address for the car at the time, and whether the vehicles title shows a reported flood history. For a basic check, the National Insurance Crime Bureau offers a free VIN-check service, although it doesn't use as many data sources as some paid providers do. Of course, vehicle history reports are not all-inclusive and are no guarantee that a vehicle is problem-free, but they're a valued aid in screening potential cars. Ultimately, a detailed inspection is a consumers best protection. How to Spot a Flood-Damaged Car Water damage can be hard to detect, but Consumer Reports says you should look for some telltale signs: Inspect the carpets to see whether they show signs of having been waterlogged, such as smelling musty or having caked-on mud. Brand-new carpets in an older vehicle may be another red flag. Check the seat-mounting screws to see whether there's any evidence that they were removed. To dry the carpets effectively, the seats must be removed and possibly even replaced. Inspect the lights. A visible waterline may still show on the lens or reflector. Inspect the difficult-to-clean places, such as gaps between panels in the trunk and under the hood, for mud and debris. Look on the bottom edges of brackets or panels, where grime wouldnt settle usually. Look at the heads of any unpainted, exposed screws under the dashboard. Bare metal will show signs of rust in flooded cars. Check to see whether the rubber drain plugs under the car and on the bottom of doors look as if they have been removed recently. That may have been done to drain floodwater. If youre from an area affected by a flood and have a car that wasnt damaged, be aware that buyers might suspect it was. Have a mechanic inspect your car before you put it up for sale so that you can present potential buyers with a clean bill of health. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright 2018, Consumer Reports, Inc. Buea (Cameroon) (AFP) - At least seven people were killed in Cameroon's restive anglophone belt at the weekend as a separatist group made a symbolic declaration of independence. The separatists chose October 1, the anniversary of the official reunification of the anglophone and francophone parts of Cameroon, to declare independence for "Ambazonia", the name of the state they want to create. Since November, the anglophone minority has been protesting against perceived discrimination. The government deployed security forces at the weekend in English-speaking regions, notably Buea in the southwest and Bamenda, the main town in the northwest and a hub of anglophone agitation. Several people were admitted to hospital in Bamenda Sunday after clashes between demonstrators and police, according to a medical source. "At least one person was injured by live fire" in Bamenda, where the situation was "very tense", a source close to the local authorities told AFP. The "security forces had to resort to tear gas and sometimes to shots to disperse the protesters", the source said by telephone. Bamenda residents contacted by AFP reported "shooting" by the security forces without giving further details. - 'Real bullets' - One of the leaders of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), Joshua Osih, told AFP the security forces were "firing real bullets at the protesters" but stressed that he was not a supporter of the secessionist movement. In Ndop, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Bamenda, two people were "shot dead", according to sources, while one was killed in Kumbo on the sidelines of the protests, city mayor Donatus Njong said. Also in Kumbo, three prison inmates were shot and killed trying to escape while security forces were mobilised for the deployments in anglophone regions, a source close to regional authorities said. A young man was shot dead by security forces on Saturday in the southwest town of Kumba, known as a rebellious city since the start of the protests, sparking clashes between security forces and the local population. Story continues "They fired at him during a security operation," a nurse who requested anonymity told AFP. The incident was confirmed by a security source and several local residents contacted by phone. Cameroon's long-serving president, 84-year-old Paul Biya, took to social media Sunday to condemn "all acts of violence, no matter where they come from or who is responsible." The European Union called on all sides to be responsible and "respect the rule of law and avoid any act of violence." The crisis provoked by the protests, which was exacerbated at the start of 2017 when internet access was cut for three months, has intensified in recent weeks with the push to symbolically proclaim independence of the English-speaking regions. On September 22, "between 30 and 80,000" people demonstrated across Cameroon's anglophone regions, according to estimates by the International Crisis Group (ICG). - 'No longer slaves' - The symbolic declaration of independence was made Sunday on social media by Sisiku Ayuk, who describes himself as the "president" of Ambazonia. "We are no longer slaves of Cameroon," he said. "Today we affirm the autonomy of our heritage and our territory." Ahead of the declaration, Cameroonian authorities announced a temporary curb on travel and public meetings across the Southwest Region, adding to a curfew in the neighbouring Northwest Region, also English-speaking. Internet access has been disrupted since Friday, according to an AFP journalist, despite government assurances that there would be no cutting of access in the anglophone areas. The majority of Cameroon's 22 million people are French-speaking, while about a fifth are English speakers. The legacy dates back to 1961, when a formerly British entity, Southern Cameroons, united with Cameroon after its independence from France in 1960. The anglophone minority has long complained about disparities in the distribution of Cameroon's oil wealth. Since November, the anglophone minority has been protesting against perceived discrimination especially in education and the judicial system, where they say the French language and traditions are being imposed on them, even though English is one of the country's two official languages. Most anglophone campaigners want the country to resume a federalist system -- an approach that followed the 1961 unification but was later scrapped in favour of a centralised government run from the capital Yaounde. A hardline minority is calling for secession. President Biya opposes any such changes. Saturdays UFC 216 main event between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee will not be one of the biggest-drawing fights of the year. The interim lightweight title fight in Las Vegas, on paper, is one of the finest fights of the year, with the all-action Ferguson carrying a nine-bout win streak into the bout and the upstart Lee earning his spot by winning five in a row, the last four via finish. Even paired on a double bill with UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnsons rescheduled attempt at setting the company record for most successful title defenses in his match against Ray Borg, though, this card is likely to continue a string of events which have done underwhelming pay-per-view buy rates and television ratings. But maybe the short-term shouldnt be the focus this time. Maybe Ferguson vs. Lee should be considered a building block for the future, something that will be looked back at in hindsight as a turning point, even if it doesnt seem so right now. Were a full year into the UFCs new ownership era. WME-IMG purchased the company from previous owners Zuffa for an eye-popping $4.2 billion in the summer of 2016. The year since the purchase featured the sort of turbulence that inevitably comes with a change of ownership of a large company, regardless of the particular industry. Harsh cutbacks left familiar faces like announcer Mike Goldberg and popular retired fighters Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes without jobs, as new ownership sought to cut costs. Front-office types with deep institutional knowledge, from longtime matchmaker Joe Silva to ace PR man Dave Sholler left of their own choosing. Former co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who initially retained a minority share in the company, recently divested entirely. Then there were the industry-specific issues. Old ownership got out when the time was right. Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey fueled the UFC to its highest peak in 2015-16. But the new group came in just in time for the tail end of the hot run. Story continues WME mishandled the promotion of Rouseys UFC 207 fight with Amanda Nunes; by focusing all the attention on WME client Rousey and none on Nunes, they were unable to make a star out of Nunes when it should have been easy after Nunes waxed Rousey in under a minute. McGregor, meanwhile, boxed Floyd Mayweather. And problem child Jon Jones returned for one big fight with Daniel Cormier, then got flagged by USADA for an anti-doping violation that could put him out of action as long as four years. Tony Ferguson (L) and Kevin Lee face off during a media event at the UFCs headquarters in Las Vegas. (Getty) For nearly all of this, you can give WME-IMG a mulligan. This was their first year in the business. No matter what consultants who dont know an armbar from an armchair might be telling them, mixed martial arts is a highly specialized business and theres quite a learning curve. This isnt just another factory making widgets. But now theyve had some time to figure it out. Now they have their people in place. Nows the time to show that this vaunted Hollywood agency is the entity to carry this sport into the next era. And that brings us back to Ferguson, Lee and Saturday nights fight. Both of these fighters are the sort of competitors who should be able to break through and become stars, albeit in entirely different manners. Ferguson, the A-side of the bill due to his long winning streak, is more the sort of competitor who builds up a following due to a hard-charging style that makes for exciting fights. The Ventura, California, native doesnt necessarily have superstar charisma he plainly marches to the beat of his own drum and doesnt seem to care whether the fans love him but hes got the sort of fearlessness that true fight fans dig. Just this week, Ferguson got into a near-skirmish at a press event in Los Angeles with former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. Ferguson, a lightweight, didnt back down from someone who outweighs him by about 80 pounds. Thats the same sort of crazy that endeared fans to B.J. Penn, a former lightweight champ who once fought former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Lyoto Machida. Ferguson (22-3), who has six finishes in his current win streak, has earned postfight bonuses in each of his past five fights. He might not be the next McGregor, but theres no reason he shouldnt have the drawing power of, say, a prime Frankie Edgar. Then theres Lee (16-2), who is the B-side of the fight, but seems to have the highest ceiling as a potential breakthrough star. The 25-year-old from Detroit has likewise proven he can get the job done in the cage, having won nine of his past 10 and earning postfight bonuses in two of his past three. But Lee is also the sort of brash persona who cuts through the clutter and grabs attention. Lees a natural on the mic, a flashy dresser, and hes not afraid to mix it up on social media. Or at news conferences, for that matter. Lee got into an altercation at an event building up to a UFC Fight Night main event with Michael Chiesa after Lee made a comment that Chiesa perceived as being disrespectful of his mother. That led to their bout in Oklahoma City, which Lee won via first-round submission, garnering 905,000 viewers for an otherwise run-of-the-mill event on a Sunday night in late June, a solid number for a night and time thats hardly prime time for fight watching. So maybe thats why we shouldnt be too concerned with where the PPV number lands for UFC 216. Circumstances have made it such that its not going to be a blockbuster, regardless. Rather, lets see what WME can do with the winner of the main event. Will the UFC develop one of these two undeniable talents into a real drawing card three fights down the road? Whether they can should be as clear of an indication as any whether WME-IMG will be able to figure out this whole mixed martial arts thing. Follow Dave Doyle on Twitter and Facebook More UFC 216 video on Yahoo Sports: By Julie Gordon (Reuters) - Jagmeet Singh, an Ontario provincial lawmaker and practicing Sikh, was elected on Sunday as leader of Canada's left-leaning New Democrats, becoming the first non-white politician to head a major Canadian political party. The 38-year-old lawyer, whose penchant for colorful turbans and tailor-made three-piece suits made him a social media star, was elected on the first ballot to lead the New Democratic Party into the 2019 federal election against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals. "Thank you, New Democrats. The run for Prime Minister begins now," Singh tweeted. Singh secured 54 percent of the vote, defeating three rivals to become the new head of the NDP, succeeding Thomas Mulcair. The results of the vote, conducted online and by mail, were announced at a party meeting in Toronto. The Toronto-area politician, who led in fundraising since joining the race last May, had been touted by supporters as someone who could bring new life to the party, which has struggled since the death of charismatic former leader Jack Layton in 2011. Singh's profile was boosted in early September after a video went viral showing him calmly responding with words of love to a heckler who interrupted a campaign event to accuse him of wanting to impose Islamic Shariah law in Canada. "His skill, in being able to diffuse the situation, it understandably appealed to a lot of people who ended up supporting him," said Christopher Cochrane, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto. Cochrane added that Singh's ability to connect both with young people and ethnic minorities would make him a "force to reckon with" when competing against Trudeau in 2019. Trudeau congratulated his new political rival on Twitter on Sunday, saying: "I look forward to speaking soon and working together for Canadians." The NDP is the third largest party in the federal Parliament, with 44 of 338 seats. The party lags well behind the centrist Liberals and right-leaning Conservatives in political fundraising this year, according to Elections Canada data. Singh will now focus on rallying supporters and targeting center-left voters who helped propel Trudeau's Liberals to a decisive victory in 2015. There are hurdles ahead. Singh does not have a seat in the federal parliament and will have to win one in a special election. He also needs to persuade voters that his party can form a government, although it has never held power federally. There are also questions over whether he will have success in Quebec, Canada's mainly French-speaking province, where overt signs of faith are frowned upon. (Reporting by Julie Gordon in Vancouver; Editing by Sandra Maler and Peter Cooney) A disturbing video has emerged of the exact moment a gunman opened fire at an outdoor concert on the Las Vegas strip Sunday night, killing 50 people and leaving hundreds injured. See images from the deadly attack: A video captured by concertgoer Andrew Akiyoshi shows Jason Aldean performing his hit "When She Says Baby" on stage at the Route 91 Harvest music festival just moments before what sounds like machine gun fire erupts over the music. Aldean initially continues the song until his music cuts out. Realizing that something had gone awry, the country star can be seen sprinting off the stage. After Aldean's exit, another round of gunfire can be heard ringing out through the venue, prompting mass hysteria to break out. Patrons can be heard screaming and urging each other to "get down." WARNING: The content of this clip is extremely disturbing: According to preliminary police reports, the massacre left 50 dead and more than 400 injured, which would make it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, surpassing the 2016 Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando, Florida, which left 49 dead. The shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, rained down bullets on the outdoor concert venue known as Las Vegas Village from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, which is across the street from the arena. Although police haven't released any statements about the official motive behind the attack, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the shooting, according to the group's news agency. The militant group said the attacker had converted to Islam a few months ago. RELATED: Hollywood reacts to the shooting : Paris (AFP) - US banking giant Citigroup has requested a licence in France for brokerage activities which it is planning to move out of London after Brexit, a senior executive was quoted as saying by a French business daily Monday. James Cowles, who heads up Citi's operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, told Les Echos the bank was trying to keep as many options open as possible. He said the recent labour market reforms adopted by the government of President Emmanuel Macron made France a more attractive place to do business, and Citigroup was interested in adding several activities to its banking operations in Paris. Competition has heated up in recent months between cities hoping to lure business from London once Britain leaves the European Union in March 2019. The terms of Britain's exit from the bloc are still unclear, but many financial firms are planning for a possible move of their EU operations into the bloc. Frankfurt, which is home to the European Central Bank, is widely seen as being in the lead to attract London financial exiles. In July, Citigroup informed its staff it was converting a German subsidiary into an investment firm to transfer the headquarters of its EU brokerage activities there. It said Frankfurt was the first choice given the city's infrastructure and the staff it already had in place there. However Citigroup also already planned to boost its presence in other cities that have been seeking Brexit business, including Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and Luxembourg. Cowles noted that Citigroup had already moved its European banking operations to Dublin in 2016, before the Brexit vote. Cowles told Les Echos that London would still remain Citi's operations across the Europe, Africa and Middle East region. He said 6,000 of the the bank's 19,000 Europe-based employees are in London. He said Citigroup believes Brexit would affect no more than 100 to 200 jobs. Following the events at the Route 91 country music festival in Las Vegas, a Mariah Carey interview with Good Morning Britain has been found by some to be in poor taste. Carey was scheduled to appear to promote her U.K. Christmas tour, but when asked about the largest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, the image of Carey lounging on a couch in front of a Christmas tree seems inappropriate. @GMB Terrible events in Las Vegas. Let's get the views of Mariah Carey in front of a Christmas tree! Irrelevant and inappropriate. #getagrip Steve King (@SJK2807) October 2, 2017 Host Piers Morgan acknowledged during the interview that theyd put Carey in a tough spot, saying, Its obviously a massive story. Its not why you were appearing on our program. I think what were gonna do is take a break and going to speak to you in the break about how we should go forward. Horrified to hear about the shooting in #LasVegas. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. Praying for everyone's safety Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) October 2, 2017 While some took issue with Carey, others took aim at Morgan for springing this on her on live television. Morgan fired back in a series of tweets, saying, Mariah was booked to do an interview about her UK Christmas tour. Obviously news events in Vegas have now taken precedence, followed by, We told Mariahs people before the interview. Her reaction seemed very relevant given shes a performer who often has residence in Vegas. Story continues Check out Mariah Careys cringeworthy performance at VH1s Hip Hop Honors: The 90s Game Changers: Read more from Yahoo TV: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below. Donald Trump has responded to an attack on festival-goers in Las Vegas in which at least 50 people have died, making it the deadliest mass shooting in US history. "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!" he wrote. The shooting, late on Sunday evening at a country music festival close to the city's casino strip, left more than 200 injured. The US President tweeted his condolences around five hours later, at just gone 7am, Washington DC time. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr Trump had been "briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas". Ms Sanders said that "we are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers". Mr Trump is due to visit the storm-ravaged US territory of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, having engaged in a public spat with officials on the island after they accused him of inaction following devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. There has been no comment from the White House on whether that trip will be rearranged in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre. Following the attempted bombing of a Tube train at Parsons Green station in London last month, Mr Trump tweeted that it was an attack by a loser terrorist and called on authorities to be proactive. Police in Las Vegas have said they are not treating the mass shooting as an act of terrorism, despite Nevada state law defining terror as any act that involves the use or attempted use of sabotage, coercion or violence which is intended to cause great bodily harm or death to the general population. Story continues Theresa May and Boris Johnson were among the first world leaders to respond to the killing. The Prime Minister said her thoughts were with the victims and emergency services following the "appalling attack". The Foreign Secretary said he was "horrified" by the shooting, adding: "The United Kingdom stands with the American people against this indiscriminate violence. My thoughts are with all those caught up in it. "The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is in contact with Las Vegas authorities to establish whether any British people were caught up in the attack and we are ready to help however we can." Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Egyptian delegates arrived in Gaza Sunday on the eve of a fresh attempt at reconciliation between the strip's Hamas rulers and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement, an official said. West Bank-based Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah is to make his first visit to Gaza since 2015 on Monday, aiming to crown a rapprochement between the rivals after a decade of animosity and outbreaks of violence. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Hamas head Ismail Haniya called Abbas on Sunday evening to discuss preparations for Monday's visit, but it did not give any details. The initiative is backed by Egypt which will be closely following the talks, intended to prepare for a transfer of power in the Gaza Strip from Hamas to Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA). "An Egyptian delegation, including Egypt's ambassador to Israel Hazem Khairat, and two other high ranking Egyptian intelligence officers, arrived in Gaza" from Israel, Mohammed al-Maqdama from the PA office that coordinates with the Israeli authorities told AFP. Hamas said in a statement that Haniya and Hamas Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar met the Egyptians on their arrival. Palestinian media reports said that PA culture minister Ehab Bessaiso also arrived, taking charge of his ministry's Gaza offices and meeting staff. Hamas and Fatah, which dominates the PA, have both expressed confidence that the latest unity initiative will fare better than the failures of the past. Hamas, blacklisted as a "terrorist" group by the European Union and the United States, won a landslide victory in 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections. It ousted Fatah from Gaza the following year after wrangling over the formation of a new government degenerated into bloody clashes. Since then, Abbas's limited power has been confined to the West Bank which is under Israeli military occupation and is located, at its nearest point, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Israel-Gaza border. The Palestinian schism is seen as a major obstacle to a peace agreement between Israel and a future Palestinian state combining the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The EU executive urged Spain to talk to Catalan separatists on Monday, condemning violence but also calling for unity, a day after Spanish police beat people trying to vote in an independence referendum in Catalonia. Edging into a minefield it has tried hard to avoid, despite a danger for stability in Spain and the euro zone, the European Commission issued a cautiously balanced statement. It voiced trust in Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's ability to manage this "internal matter", but also called for dialogue and reminded Madrid of a need to respect citizens' basic rights. "We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics," the Commission said in a statement read out by chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas, just before Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont asked for EU mediation. [nL8N1MD1EW] Pressed by reporters, Schinas declined to say specifically that the EU was condemning Spanish police tactics, though it was their actions at polling stations on Sunday which mostly shocked fellow Europeans and generated public pressure that saw other governments including Germany and France call for more dialogue. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker spoke to Rajoy later on Monday after being in contact over the weekend, though the EU spokesman declined to say whether the Union would mediate, an unusual step for Brussels to take within one of the bloc's own member states. Aides said Juncker spelled out the Commission position and was also "in a listening mode". Donald Tusk, the former Polish prime minister who chairs summits of EU national leaders, said after his own conversation with Rajoy that he shared the Spanish premier's constitutional arguments but also appealed to him to find ways to prevent a further escalation and the use of force. The Commission statement also supported Madrid's line that the vote, which Catalan leaders said recorded a huge result for independence, was "not legal" under Spain's constitution. Brussels has in the past given little or no encouragement to separatist movements inside the European Union, whether those of the Catalans, Scots, Flemings or others. "These are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation," it said. Any breakaway state would have to leave the EU and re-apply to join, the statement also noted. Even that could only happen if the split were amicable. This distinguishes Scotland, which held a referendum agreed with London in 2014, from Catalonia, where Spain's Constitutional Court has said the 1978 constitution forbids secession. UNEASE IN EUROPE For all the reluctance of other Europeans to be drawn into the dispute in public, there has been growing unease in Brussels about the way the conservative government in Madrid has handled the confrontation with Barcelona, reviving emotions rooted in 20th-century civil war and dictatorship. As pictures of heavily armoured Spanish police clubbing women on the ground stunned Europe on Sunday, the few governments that spoke out included those of Scotland, Slovenia, which emerged from the bloody collapse of Yugoslavia, and Belgium, where repeated rounds of devolution have averted a final split between French- and Dutch-speakers. On Monday, Berlin joined the calls for dialogue, warning against a "spiral of escalation". Germany's BDI industrial federation warned that splitting the highly industrialised region from Spain would be very damaging for both sides. (Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Peter Graff) (Reuters) - A Las Vegas off-duty police officer, a nurse from Tennessee and commercial fisherman from Alaska were among at least 59 people killed by a gunman who opened fire on a Las Vegas country music festival before killing himself. The following describes some of the victims: CHARLESTON HARTFIELD Charleston Hartfield, 34, was the off-duty Las Vegas police officer among those killed, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing people who knew the officer. "He was probably busy helping others," Hartfield's friend Troy Rhett told the newspaper. "I don't know a better man than Charles." The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which did not identify the fallen officer, reported the death on Twitter. SONNY MELTON Sonny Melton, 29, of Big Sandy, Tennessee, saved his wife, Heather Melton, just before he was shot dead, she told WSMV-TV in Nashville. "He grabbed me and started running when I felt him get shot in the back," she told the NBC affiliate. Sonny Melton worked as a registered nurse, media reports said. ADRIAN MURFITT Adrian Murfitt, 35, was a commercial fisherman in Anchorage, Alaska, the Alaska Dispatch News reported, which said he was at the concert with his best friend Brian MacKinnon. The pair was taking a picture and a bullet went through Murfitt's neck, MacKinnon told the paper. DENISE BURDITUS Denise Burditus, 50, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, attended the concert with her husband Tony, WVVA TV in West Virginia reported. She posted a photograph on Facebook just minutes before the gunman opened fire, the NBC affiliate said. SANDY CASEY Sandy Casey was a special education teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School in California, KGTV in San Diego said. Casey was among a group of Manhattan Beach Unified School District staff, the ABC affiliate reported. ANGIE GOMEZ Angie Gomez was an alumnus of a high school in Riverside, California, according to the Southern California News Group. "Riverside Polytechnic High School PTSA confirmed 2015 alumnus, Angie Gomez, was killed in the Las Vegas shooting," reporter Beatriz Valenzuela wrote on Twitter. Story continues JENNIFER TOPAZ IRVINE Jennifer Topaz Irvine was a family law attorney based in San Diego, according to CBS News. A coworker and friend identified Irvine as a victim to a CBS correspondent. JESSICA KLYMCHUK Jessica Klymchuk, 28, of Valleyview, Alberta in Canada, was a librarian and the single mother of four children, the Globe and Mail reported. It said she was visiting Las Vegas with her fiance. "She's a very good mother. She's raised four beautiful children," Klymchuk's grandmother Margaret told the paper. RHONDA LEROCQUE Rhonda LeRocque, of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, was a wife and mother, devout Jehovah's Witness and worked for a Cambridge design firm, the Boston Globe reported. LeRocque attended the concert with her husband Jason and their seven-year-old daughter, who were not injured, the newspaper said. "Rhonda would do everything to be the best mom and the best wife she could be," LeRocque's sister, Jennifer Zelenski told the paper. JORDAN MCILDOON Jordan McIldoon, 23, of Maple Ridge, British Columbia in Canada, was also killed, the premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, said. McIldoon was a heavy-duty mechanic apprentice and about to start trade school, CBC News reported, which said he was attending the festival with his girlfriend. McIldoon died in the arms of a woman named Heather Gooze, CBC said. RACHAEL PARKER Rachael Parker was a records technician with the Manhattan Beach Police Department in California, where she worked for 10 years, the police department said in a statement. Parker attended the concert with three other off-duty police department employees, police said. JENNY PARKS Jenny Parks was a teacher with Westside Union School District in Califonia, KABC-TV in Los Angeles said. "She touched many lives," a GoFundMe page set up for her said. "She leaves behind her husband, Bobby and young children, Bryce and Leah." QUINTON ROBBINS Quinton Robbins, 20, of Henderson, Nevada, studied at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and worked in local government, Newsweek reported. His aunt, Kilee Wells Sanders, confirmed his death in a Facebook post: "He was the most kind and loving soul. Everyone who met him loved him. His contagious laugh and smile. He was truly an amazing person. He will be missed by so many." LISA ROMERO-MUNIZ Lisa Romero-Muniz was a secretary at Miyamura High School in Gallup, New Mexico, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. In her most recent role, Romero-Muniz offered encouragement and support to students during disciplinary proceedings, the newspaper said. She was described as outgoing, kind and considerate, it said. BAILEY SCHWEITZER Bailey Schweitzer, 20, was from Bakersfield, California, her brother told the Bakersfield Californian newspaper. SUSAN SMITH Susan Smith, 53, was a school office manager in Simi Valley, California, the Ventura County Star reported, citing a school district representative. Smith was an ardent country music fan and worked at an elementary school for three years, the newspaper said. NEYSA TONKS Neysa Tonks, of Las Vegas, who worked at Technologent, an Irvine, California-based technology company, was also among the victims, the Los Angeles Times said. She was the mother of three boys, according to a GoFundMe campaign created by Technologent. "Neysa brought joy, happiness, fun and laughter to so many of us. The senseless tragedy in Las Vegas Sunday has unnessarily (sic) taken her from our community," the GoFundMe page said. (Compiled by Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago and Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by James Dalgleish and Andrew Hay) On Sunday morning, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long spoke with Fox News about the devastating post-Maria situation in Puerto Rico, and let's just say things didn't go so well. In his discussion Long referred to the hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico as "the most logistically challenging event the United States has ever seen," prompting the internet to ask the following question: "R u serious, bro?" SEE ALSO: Trump to Puerto Rico: Show us the money Long's response came after "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace played a clip of San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz shutting down Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke. After Duke called the Trump administration's response to Hurricane Maria a "good news story" Cruz said, "Dammit, this is not a good news story. This is a people are dying story. This is a life or death story." Wallace asked whether Long felt it's a mistake for people in Washington to refer to the relief thus far as "a good news story" when millions of people are still seriously struggling. "Look, were not going to be satisfied until the situation is stabilized. And the bottom line is, is this is the most logistically challenging event the United States has ever seen and we have been moving and pushing as fast as the situation allows," Long said. Once Twitter users heard Long's comments they began to cast some doubt, reminiscing over various other preeeeetty intense logistical challenges that the U.S. has managed to overcome. Normandy. Dunkirk. Berlin airlift. Pacific theater. ZoomZoom (@ZoomsZoomz) October 1, 2017 Yet SOMEHOW we can get personnel and supplies to the #InternationalSpaceStation pic.twitter.com/OCGPgzMpRn cassandracarolina (@cassandra17lina) October 1, 2017 Aside from landing a human being on another celestial entity and then returning him home safely with less computing power than my iPhone? Luke Margolis (@LukeMargolis) October 1, 2017 We literally have a military that can land in the middle of the dessert and have a fully functioning city in a day. Do better @FEMA_Brock Dem Texas Girls (@TexDem16) October 1, 2017 This from a country that landed people on the moon, fought two world wars, built dams on raging rivers. But supplying an island? Way hard. Chris Floyd (@empireburlesque) October 1, 2017 The Berlin airlift is a great example, we didn't even have naval options, we pulled it off with 1948 era cargo planes. Michael Balla Jr (@The_NavigatorBR) October 1, 2017 Astronauts planted an American flag on the goddamn Moon https://t.co/yPR5nn6hVE Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 1, 2017 Dear @FEMA_Brock: Um, remember WWII? Berlin Airlift? Desert Storm? Sending a man to the moon? WE ARE A SUPERPOWER. ACT LIKE IT. https://t.co/PQFTWBnT1U Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) October 1, 2017 My father-in-law was a combat engineer in both the European and Pacific Theaters during WWII. He would beg to differ with Brock Long. https://t.co/kt1kouuPrp Havanese_Plz (@SedonaRockss) October 1, 2017 Would you agree those feats were also a tad logistically challenging, Long? Story continues A bit later in the interview Wallace went back to address Long's comment, giving him a chance to further explain but the administrator continued to defend his words. "Its not only a logistically complex event, just getting to the islands and being able to support an island that was hit not just by one major hurricane but two within basically a 10-day period ...The ports were damaged. The airports were damaged," he said. "I think there is a frustration from people who are making attacks on them that aren't grounded in the reality of an incredibly difficult logistical situation. And that's causing all sorts of people to say things that they probably shouldn't say," Long went on. Despite the public's outrage with the lack of proper relief in Puerto Rico, President Trump has praised FEMA for its efforts several times on Twitter. He even took it upon himself to so thoughtfully remind everyone on Friday of the logistical situation, by announcing that Puerto Rico is "An island, surround by water. Big water. Ocean water." We can only hope FEMA steps the heck up and summons whatever inspiration drove America to land on the moon and fight two world wars to help Puerto Rico, fast. CORRECTION: The clip of Mayor Cruz was played on "Fox News Sunday" on the national Fox network. The first victim of the Las Vegas mass shooting has been identified as Sonny Melton, a Tennesee man who was celebrating his one-year anniversary with his wife at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday night. Melton had checked into the event on Facebook with his spouse, Heather Gulish Melton, just hours before the deadly attack that left at least 58 dead and over 500 injured. Shortly after news of the shooting broke, a friend of Melton's commented on his Facebook check-in to see if he and his wife were safe, writing, "Hoping y'all are ok man!!!!" Tragically, comments offering condolences to Melton's family began pouring in shortly thereafter. Photo: Facebook According to Melton's Facebook page, he was a registered nurse who worked at the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. Melton's wife Heather confirmed his death to WSMV, saying that her brave husband died while shielding her from gunfire. "He grabbed me and started running when I felt him get shot in the back," she told the station. "I want everyone to know what a kind-hearted, loving man he was, but at this point, I can barely breathe." Here are the victims of the deadly attack: By Marc Leras and Emmanuel Jarry MARSEILLE, France/PARIS (Reuters) - Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by a soldier in the southern French port city of Marseille on Sunday in what officials described as a "likely terrorist act". Police sources said the suspect had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) in Arabic as he attacked the women, aged 17 and 20, at Marseille's main railway station. Two police sources said one had her throat slit while the other was stabbed in the chest and stomach. An Islamic State militant was responsible for the attack, the group's Amaq news agency said. The assailant was shot dead by a soldier from a military Sentinelle patrol, a force deployed across the country as part of a state of emergency declared after Islamist attacks that began almost two years ago. "We have until now managed to avoid such dramatic incidents (in Marseille). I think it was a terrorist attack and the individual who was killed seems to have had several identities," Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin told reporters. Paris was rocked in 2015 by multiple attacks that killed 130 people. In 2016 a gunman drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people. Both of these attacks were claimed by Islamic State. Other countries, including Britain, Germany and Belgium, have also suffered attacks by militants using knives, guns, explosives and driving vehicles at crowds. Some 200 police officers cordoned off the area and all roads were closed to traffic. A witness told Reuters she saw a man take out a knife from his sleeve and then stab a young girl and then a second woman, shouting what could have been "Allahu Akbar". "BARBARIC ACT" Speaking in Marseille, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the man had initially killed one woman and looked to be running away before returning to attack a second woman and then rush toward soldiers from the Sentinelle force who arrived on the scene quickly and shot him dead. Two police sources said the attacker had been carrying a butcher's knife, was around 30 years old and of North African appearance. One source said he was known to police for common law crimes, while another said digital analysis of fingerprints had come up with several aliases. "This could be an act of terrorism, but we cannot confirm it fully at this stage," Collomb told reporters. French troops are part of a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and has thousands of soldiers in West Africa fighting al Qaeda-linked militants, operations that have made these groups urge their followers to target France. Security forces have increasingly been targeted by militants in knife attacks. A man wielding a knife attacked a soldier in a Paris metro station on Sept. 15. President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter he was "disgusted by this barbaric act" and praised the calmness and efficiency of security forces. French lawmakers are due to vote on a much-criticized anti-terrorism law on Tuesday, which would see France come out of its state-of-emergency in November, although some of the powers would be enshrined into law. The number of military personnel on the ground is also due to be reduced slightly, although the force is being adapted to make it more mobile and its movements less predictable. "The presence of Sentinelle soldiers, their speed and efficiency ensured that the death count was not bigger," police union official Stephane Battaglia told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Jean-Francois Rosnoblet in Marseille, John Irish, Danielle Rouquie, Caroline Paillez and Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris and Mostafa Hashem and Eric Knecht in Cairo; Writing by John Irish; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Matthew Mpoke Bigg) In times of crisis, can you trust an algorithm to deliver the most accurate and up-to-date news you're craving to get? SEE ALSO: A troll explains why he tweeted a fake 'missing dad' picture from the Las Vegas shooting In the aftermath of the Las Vegas shooting that left more than 50 dead and 200 injured, the answer seems to be a big fat no. This is the Google search result when you look up the name of "Geary Danley," who is currently at the center of a 4chan-inspired conspiracy theory that wrongly identifies him as the gunman: Image: google news/screengrab Two out of four results are 4chan threads from the online lair of the alt-right, /pol/, which is infamous for trolling and spreading misinformation and fake news (another is Iranian state-funded Press TV). That Google News algorithm would put 4chan threads on top of search is crazy enough, but it gets even more nonsensical when you consider the whole conspiracy at the core of it. It all started after police named Marilou Danley as a "person of interest" following the mass shooting. She was later located and identified as companion of the dead suspected gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. But before that, 4chan /pol/ was abuzz with people doxxing the woman and trying to find links that could direct them to the suspect. They found this guy, Geary Danley, who they alleged was married to Marilou and who liked several anti-Trump, left-wing pages. That makes him the perfect target for some alt-right trolls, who immediately posted threads on 4chan /pol/ claiming he was identified as the suspect: Image: 4chan/pol/screengrab Image: 4CHAN/POL/SCREENGRAB Image: 4CHAN/POL/SCREENGRAB Some 4chan threads have now been deleted in the light of police finally naming the suspect. But it's worth reiterating: The dead gunman's name is Stephen Paddock, according to police. UPDATE Oct. 2 10:20 a.m. PT: Google released a short statement promising it would continue to make "algorithmic improvements". Story continues Google statement on how a 4chan thread identifying the wrong man as LV shooter showed up "in the news" pic.twitter.com/9dOTvQ5Qgt Daisuke Wakabayashi (@daiwaka) October 2, 2017 It also appears the problem hasn't been limited to Google. Reporters and users online noticed Monday that Facebook's trending topics page was surfacing results from Kremlin-sponsored media outlet Sputnik News. Facebook later said its Global Security Operations Center noticed the posts but their removal was delayed and the company "deeply regrets" the confusion caused. Right now, FB's trending topic page for the Las Vegas shooting features two (2) posts from a Russian propaganda outlet. pic.twitter.com/jDR1V0zzPy Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) October 2, 2017 Another reporter, meanwhile, pointed out what happens when you head to YouTube. facebook and google news are a mess, but as usual theyve got nothing on first page of (logged out, incognito) youtube results pic.twitter.com/FEPFwZKt7e John Herrman (@jwherrman) October 2, 2017 As the number of people killed or injured in Sunday nights shooting in Las Vegas continues to climb, so does the share price for gunmakers. On Monday, just after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, gunmakers saw a boom in their stock prices: American Outdoor Brands Corp. (previously Smith & Wesson), Sturm, Ruger & Co., and Vista Outdoor climbed by 2.3 percent, 3.7 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, in morning trade, according to MarketWatch. Gun maker stocks soaring in US premarket - American Outdoor Brands up 5%, Sturm Ruger & Co. up 4% #mandalaybay pic.twitter.com/DHEZTmTpo1 Trista Kelley (@trista_kelley) October 2, 2017 Gun shares often rise immediately after a mass shooting. In fact, American Outdoor Brands has repeatedly told investors that speculation surrounding increased gun control at the federal, state, and local level and heightened fears of terrorism and crime affects demand. Gunmakers made millions after the mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut; San Bernardino, California; and Orlando, Florida. The motive is fairly clear: When people get scared, they look for and buy things (e.g., guns) to protect themselves. One study in California found that handgun sales after a mass tragedy, at least in one case, spiked even more among people who lived close to the event. (Photo: Ethan Miller via Getty Images) Overall, since the election, gun sales have actually been on the decline. American Outdoors stock had fallen 46 percent since the election (as of Friday) while Sturm, Ruger & Co.s stock fell 20 percent and Vista Outdoors stock dropped 40 percent. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A cowboy hat lies in the street. VIDEO: Rapid fire from shooter(s) in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/jgzCTQRUZP Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) October 2, 2017 Las Vegas police search for the gunman while protecting fleeing fans. Fans run from the Route 91 Harvest festival after a gunman opened fire. Others dive for cover. Some fans drop to the ground. People run from the Route 91 Harvest festival. People scramble for cover. HORRIFIC SCENE: Do not let this be called anything else but DOMESTIC TERRORISM. AP reports 2dead 13critical & dozens injured. #MandalayBay pic.twitter.com/q7faKkCPpN Eduardo Samaniego (@EduSamani) October 2, 2017 A man in a wheelchair is helped away. People run for cover. EYEWITNESS: Chilling footage of moment active shooter opened fire on concert goers near Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/7OfAwg0ReO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017 A person takes cover amid the shooting. A person runs barefoot from the shooting. Police officers stop a man who drove down Tropicana Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard, which had been closed. A pair of cowboy boots lies in the street outside the concert venue. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Scenes from Las Vegas mass shooting Crime scene tape surrounds the Mandalay Hotel (background) after a gunman killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 200 others when he opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada on Oct. 2, 2017. (Photo: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images) (Originally posted on October 2, 2017) See the countdown of our most popular galleries of the year! See the rest of our 2017 Year End features >>> _____ A gunman perched on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas casino unleashed a hail of bullets on an outdoor country music festival below, killing 58 people and injuring 489 others as tens of thousands of concertgoers screamed and ran for their lives, officials said Monday. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. SWAT teams using explosives stormed the gunmans hotel room and found he had killed himself, authorities said. He had as many as 10 guns with him, including rifles, they said. There was no immediate word on the motive for the bloodbath. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said authorities believe it was a lone wolf attack. And the U.S. Homeland Security Department said there was no specific credible threat involving other public venues in the U.S. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing Sunday night at the end of the three-day Route 91 Harvest Festival in front of a crowd of more than 22,000 when the gunman opened fire from inside the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street. The gunman was identified as Stephen Craig Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada. He had checked into the hotel room on Thursday, authorities said. (AP) Read more from Yahoo News: A surreal scene as Las Vegas returns to business after Sunday massacre Portrait of a mass killer: The details dont add up Las Vegas, a soft target, long feared an attack Now I Get It: Why havent authorities named Las Vegas gunman a terrorist? Photos: The front page: How newspapers portrayed the Vegas massacre Photos: Makeshift memorials pay tribute to Las Vegas shooting victims _____ See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr. The Republican-led Congress failed to reauthorize the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) over the weekend, spreading uncertainty and panic among some states that funding for the program would dry up and threaten the lives of the nine million U.S. children enrolled in the program. Lawmakers missed a Sept. 30 deadline to reauthorize the Clinton-era initiative, which provides insurance coverage for kids in families with lower to middle-class incomes at the cost of some $14 billion per year. Because of the way its funding is dispersed, however, money will not run out for most states immediately. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said last week that an overwhelming number of states have some money to continue to spend on the program. So think that in other words, theres a few days leeway there might be a few weeks leeway, he added. But I cant be specific because I dont know but its too bad its not done right now. The situation in each state varies, but some states will need funding sooner than others. According to Medicaid officials, which help manage the program, California, Arizona, Minnesota and North Carolina will run out of CHIP funding by December. Officials in Minnesota, in particular, have warned they will need to take extraordinary measures to continue coverage in October. Officials in Utah have said they might have to freeze enrollment. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, respectively, announced the contours of a deal early last month that would reauthorize CHIP for five years and boost its funding for several years. But momentum for a bill to reauthorize CHIP and find a way to pay for it was stymied late last month when Republicans decided to take another swing at repealing the Affordable Care Act. The hyped effort known as Graham-Cassidy ultimately suffered the same fate as prior attempts to rescind Obamacare, but not before consuming two weeks of precious time and energy in the Senate ahead of the Sept. 30 CHIP deadline. Story continues Adding even more must-do items to its packed legislative calendar, Congress on Sunday also failed to reauthorize billions of dollars in funding for the nations 1,400 community health centers, which serve some of the neediest Americans. The health centers program in question was formed under a provision in the Affordable Care Act. There seems to be a nonchalance about this funding stream in Washington that simply does not match the reality on the ground, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Friday. Also on HuffPost 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. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Hillary Clinton has launched a scathing attack on the National Rifle Association - calling for people to stand up to the powerful gun lobbying organisation and demand greater gun control. In a series of tweets published in the hours after 50 people were killed and more than 400 injured in the Las Vegas shooting, the former Democratic presidential candidate offered her sympathy to those caught up in the massacre and those members of the emergency services scrambling to respond. Yet she also focussed criticism on the powerful NRA, the most influential gun rights lobbying group in the country which helps fund political candidates across the nation who reject demands for greater gun control. Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 2, 2017 In addition to demanding the right to bear arms - something they claim is afforded to them in the Second Amendment - the NRA has pushed for scrapping current restrictions that make it more difficult to buy silencers for guns. Among those lending their voices to the campaign are Donald Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots, she wrote. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get. She added: Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again. The NRA endorsed Mr Trump in last years election, an announcement that at the time came at the earliest stage in the political cycle. Mr Trump told an NRA gathering: The Second Amendment is under a threat like never before. Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun candidate ever to run for office. And, as I said before, she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. She wants to take your guns away. She wants to abolish it. Story continues The NRA spent more on the 2016 elections than it had ever done - a a minimum of $36m, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics. The organisation said Mr Trump was by far the largest beneficiary, with the NRA spending more than $21m to help him: $9.6m on adverts and other pro-Trump materials, and another $12m attacking Ms Clinton. During the election, the issue of gun rights became a major issue of disagreement between the two candidates. While Mr Trump promoted himself as a staunch defender of gun rights, Ms Clinton said she felt sensible regulations on who was able to buy weapons and the need for background checks, did not break with the idea of the Second Amendment. Mr Trumps eldest son has emerged as a leading voice in the campaign to overturn restriction on the sale of silencers, or suppressors. Restrictions on their sale were first introduced during the administration of Franklin D Roosevelt, and advocates say the sound of a gun being fired acts as a loud, obvious safety signal for people to take cover, run the way other way or simply be alert. The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 2, 2017 A bill introduced earlier this year by Republican Jeff Duncan, a congressman from South Carolina, seeks to frame the issue as public health matter, saying that gun owners risk suffering hearing damage without access to silencers. Mr Trump JR paid a visit to a manufacturer of suppressors in Utah, SilencerCo, where he tested its products. I love your product, Mr Trump Jr, a keen hunter, said in a promotional video published by the company. Its just a great instrument. Theres nothing bad about it at all. It makes total sense. Its where we should be going. Tehran (AFP) - Seven reformists in Iran including a brother of ex-president Mohammad Khatami have been given one-year jail terms and banned from all political and media activity for two years, one said Monday. "I can confirm this report but we will have to appeal," university academic Mohammad Reza Jalaipour told AFP in a text message. Lawyer Hojat Kermani, quoted by ILNA news agency, named four of the other reformists convicted as ex-deputy parliament speaker Mohammad Reza Khatami, former legislator Mohsen Safaie Farahani, Azar Mansouri, a member of an advisory panel for president Khatami during his 1997-2005 term, and Hossein Kashefi. The lawyer said all five had been found guilty of "anti-regime propaganda", but he could not specify the charges against two other convicted reformists, ex-MPs Ali Shakouri Rad and Mohammad Naimipour, because he had not represented them. In apparent reference to the seven, Tehran prosecutor general Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said last week they had been sentenced to jail "and other terms", but without providing details. The seven were leaders of the Islamic Iran Participation Front which authorities dissolved in 2010 following a wave of unprecedented protests against the re-election the previous year of hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi forces on Monday launched an attack against jihadist-held areas southeast of the Islamic State group's bastion of Hawija, the operations commander said. Government forces and the Hashed al-Shaabi, an alliance mostly of Shiite militias, are fighting to retake the northern town of Hawija after expelling IS from large parts of the territory they seized in Iraq in 2014. "The Counter-Terrorism Service and Hashed al-Shaabi have started a broad operation to liberate Rashad and nearby villages as part of the second phase to liberate Hawija," Lieutenant General Abdel Amir Yarallah said. The Hashed al-Shaabi confirmed the offensive and said it had retaken five villages west of Rashad, which is 35 kilometres (20 miles) southeast of Hawija. On September 21, Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition launched an offensive to retake a jihadist enclave around Hawija, swiftly taking the town of Sharqat on its second day before pushing on towards Hawija itself. On Friday, they started the battle to retake the town itself, one of the last IS bastions in the country along with a stretch of the Euphrates Valley near the border with Syria. People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival - Getty Images North America The Islamic State has claimed the Las Vegas concert shooting which left more than 50 people dead and hundreds injured, however US officials have said no there is no known link to international terrorism. Through Islamic State of Iraq and the Levants official Amaq news channel, the group said the suspected gunman, Stephen Paddock, 64, converted to Islam a few months ago. They said the attack, the deadliest mass shooting in US history, was carried out by a soldier of the caliphate and was done in response to calls to target coalition countries. In another statement released hours later, Isil referred to Paddock by the nom de guerre Abu Abd al-Barr al-Amriki and said he had answered a call to arms by its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In an audio message released on Thursday Baghdadi exhorted his followers to wage attacks against the West and "besiege them in every corner". Isil often claims attacks by individuals inspired by its message but with no known links to the group. 50 dead in Las Vegas shooting, in pictures US officials have said they are examining the claim, but are yet to find any evidence linking the shooter, who fired as many as 300 rounds from a hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, to any organised terrorist group. Police said Paddock, of Mesquite, Nevada, killed himself after the shooting and that there was reason to believe that he had a history of psychological problems. Despite popular opinion, they do not claim everything, said Shiraz Maher, a lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. They have not, for example, said anything about the Edmonton attack at this stage. By contrast, Marseille was claimed very quickly. When ISIS does claim something, theres usually some degree of actual connection. In brief | Worst US mass shootings Amarnath Amarasingam, a senior research fellow at the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, told the Telegraph that the way in which Isil claims attacks was based on an established methodology. Story continues A lot of fighters I've asked were clear that there needs to be some connection, some contact and so on, he said. This makes logical sense, because their claims have to have some legitimacy. Their news agencies require credibility like any news agency. What I think is happening these days is that the linkages are getting sloppier and less rigorous. He pointed to claims of responsibility which later turned out to be false, including of an attack at a casino in the Philippines in June which police maintain was an indebted gambler with no link to the group. Isis has claimed that the gunman who killed more than 50 people in Las Vegas converted to Islam several months ago. The group did not name Stephen Paddock, the man identified by police as the shooter, in a statement released via its Amaq propaganda agency. The Las Vegas attacker is a soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to appeals targeting coalition countries, it said. The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam several months ago. The claim was prefaced with the phrase a security source to Amaq Agency a phrase frequently used after attacks that were not directed by Isis. Its latest claim could not immediately be verified and Paddocks supposed conversion to Islam has not been confirmed. Paddocks apparent suicide also conflicts with jihadi ideals of martyrdom, which normally sees Isis-inspired attackers kill themselves in suicide bombings or by forcing security forces to shoot them dead. Police said the 64-year-old white American opened fire from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel, where he had multiple weapons and is believed to have killed himself. More than 50 people have been confirmed dead and 200 injured in the shooting, making it the deadliest in US history. The shooting started shortly after 10pm local time, with footage showing concert-goers throwing themselves to the ground and running as several extended rounds of automatic gunfire rang out. Police initially said the shooting was not being treated as a terror attack but no updated statement has been made since Isis released its claim. It came days after Isis released a speech purporting to be from the group's leader. A 46-minute audio recording appeared to show Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi praise the jihadis killed in the battle to retake Mosul and other former Isis territories. He urged followers to intensify one attack after another against the infidels, following a spike in global terror attacks. Security officials and experts have long warned that Isis will seek to maintain momentum and legitimacy through terror as its so-called caliphate dwindles in Iraq and Syria. Story continues It came after the group claimed responsibility for a stabbing attack that left two young women dead in the French city of Marseille earlier on Sunday. Isis was also linked to a car and knife attack in Edmonton, Canada, where a police officer found a flag used by the group in the perpetrator's car. Isiss news agency Amaq has released a statement claiming that Sundays mass shooting in Las Vegas was carried out by a soldier of the caliphate. Stephen Paddock, who lived within driving distance of the city, has been identified by police as the suspect responsible for the deaths of at least 58 people at a country music event after he fired on the crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino. The shooting is believed to be the deadliest in modern US history. Police initially said the incident was not being investigated as a terrorist act. The Las Vegas attacker is a soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the operation in response to appeals targeting coalition countries, a short statement from Amaq said on Monday afternoon, followed by a second in which Isis claimed 64-year-old Paddock had converted to Islam several months ago. The claim of responsibility for the bloodshed, which cannot be verified, is an unusual one for Isis. Paddock is believed to have killed himself before police managed to enter the room and act which in jihadist teachings, unlike martyrdom in battle, is not prized. A social media profile, which supposedly belonged to the suspect shows him taking a shot of alcohol, has caused consternation among Islamist extremist sympathisers online. The suspects brother, Eric Paddock, told media he was dumbfounded by Sunday's events, not mentioning whether his brothers behaviour had changed in recent months or whether he had converted to Islam. While it is rare for Isis to claim an incident in which it appears to have no direct connection to a suspect, the organisation has made several inflated or demonstrably false claims for incidents around the world as pressure on its crumbling self-styled caliphate increases. Senior US officials told Reuters they had no reason to believe Isis was linked to the Las Vegas attack. The claim that Paddock was a soldier of the caliphate comes, however, after a rare public statement from the organisations secretive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who called for followers to intensify one attack after another against the infidels in countries involved in the US-led anti-Isis coalition, squeezing the group out of its territory in Syria and Iraq. Story continues The 46-minute-long recording is the first audio of Baghdadi in almost a year. Analysts believe it was released in an attempt to shore up supporters morale with the fight for the jihadists capital of Raqqa in Syria reaching its endgame. In the same 24-hour period as the Las Vegas incident, two women were stabbed to death in an attack also claimed by the extremist organisation at a train station in Marseille, France, and four injured in Edmonton, Alberta in two separate attacks carried out by a man suspected of links to extremist ideology. Isis often waits for an attacker to be killed before making claims it inspired or directed the incident. The France attack, in which the unidentified assailant was shot dead at the scene, was quickly claimed by the group again as an incident inspired by Baghdadis renewed call for terror attacks. In Edmonton, an unnamed Somali national was taken into custody after hitting a police officer with his car and later ramming a truck into four pedestrians. Police said that an Isis flag was found on the dashboard of one of the suspects vehicles. No one was killed in the incident. Isiss official channels have not made any reference to it. Despite its news agencys claims, there is no supporting evidence yet that Isis is directly connected to either the Las Vegas or the Marseille attacks. Police investigations in all three cases are still underway. Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday denied Turkish claims of covert involvement in Iraqi Kurdistan's recent independence vote, reiterating however his "sympathy" for the Kurdish people. On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel's intelligence agency played a role in the September 25 referendum, citing as proof the waving of Israeli flags during celebrations for the overwhelming "yes" victory. "This shows one thing, that this administration (in northern Iraq) has a history with Mossad, they are hand-in-hand together," Erdogan said in a televised speech. Speaking at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu noted Turkey's support for the Islamist Hamas movement which rules Gaza, before denying Erdogan's charge. "I can understand why those who support Hamas want to see the Mossad wherever things don't work out for them," Netanyahu said in remarks relayed by his office. "But Israel had no part in the Kurdish referendum, aside from the deep, natural and years-long sympathy of the Jewish people to the Kurdish people and its aspirations," he said. Israel has been the only country to openly support Kurdish independence, with Netanyahu backing "the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to attain a state of its own." Netanyahu did not specify how and where such a state should come into being. Turkey fiercely opposed the referendum and has threatened sanctions against the region, reflecting its worries about its own sizeable Kurdish minority. Country singer Jason Aldean performs during the Route 91 Harvest country music festival at the Las Vegas Village on Oct. 1, 2017, in Las Vegas. (Photo: Mindy Small/FilmMagic) Jason Aldean was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas when the mass shooting that left more than 50 people dead and 200 injured occurred on Sunday. Needless to say, he is shaken up. Tonight has been beyond horrific, he posted on Instagram Monday morning. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate. Tonight has been beyond horrific. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate A post shared by Jason Aldean (@jasonaldean) on Oct 2, 2017 at 1:17am PDT His wife, Brittany Kerr Aldean, who is pregnant with their first child together, was also there, according to her Instagram. We are safe our angels were definitely watching over us tonight, she wrote. No words for what happened Just horrific. Praying for everyone. We are safe our angels were definitely watching over us tonight. No words for what happened Just horrific. Praying for everyone A post shared by Brittany Aldean (@brittanyaldean) on Oct 2, 2017 at 1:19am PDT Aldean was the nights headliner at the festival when what appears to be a lone gunman opened fire from a perch high up in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas Sunday night, Good Morning America reports. The shooter was later found dead on the 32nd floor of the hotel. Other performers included country stars Jake Owen, Big & Rich, Luke Combs, and Dylan Scott. There were reactions on social media from them as well. Owen first wrote in a panic, sending a message to his 4-year-old daughter. Story continues Gun shots!!! Vegas. Pray to god. Love you guys. Love you Pearl. Jake Owen (@jakeowen) October 2, 2017 He later updated as things calmed down a little. Praying for everyone here in Vegas. I witnessed the most unimaginable event tonight. We are okay. Others arent. Please pray. Jake Owen (@jakeowen) October 2, 2017 Gun shots were ringing off of the stage rigging and road cases. No one knew where to go..thank you LVPD and responders for keeping us safe Jake Owen (@jakeowen) October 2, 2017 Luke Combs also shared that he and his band were safe. Active shooter at @Route91Harvest in Vegas. We're safe. Love you guys. Luke Combs (@LukeCombsMusic) October 2, 2017 Me, the band, and crew are all safe. Been a long night, gonna try to get some sleep. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. Luke Combs (@LukeCombsMusic) October 2, 2017 Same for Big & Rich: Everyone in the B&R camp is ok thoughts and prayers to everyone in vegas at #Route91 Big & Rich (@bigandrich) October 2, 2017 Dylan Scott had already left for the airport. Prayers to everyone at @Route91Harvest in Las Vegas. We are ok, had literally just left for the airport. What is wrong with this world!! Dylan Scott (@DylanScottCntry) October 2, 2017 Read more from Yahoo: Kaley Cuoco is back at the horse ranch! The actress recently shared a series of videos of herself riding her horses via her Instagram account. In one of her videos, Cuoco revealed that she will not be participating at the Sacramento Horse Show next week, but the actress is excited for Delmar. In the video, Cuoco rode on her horse, Vulcan, who took some time off after a horseback riding competition in Colorado. In a follow up post, Cuoco shared a video of herself riding the same horse. Vulcan successfully completes one jump, and the actress and her friends are ecstatic. Cuoco may have some time to spare for her upcoming horseback competitions because the actress is on a short break from filming Big Bang Theory Season 11. After last weeks premiere, the hit CBS series wont return to the network until Nov. 2. But Cuoco and her co-stars have already filmed up to episode 5. In fact, details from episodes 2 to 5 have already been shared via a fan-made spoiler account for Big Bang Theory. On Nov. 2, episode 2, titled The Retraction Reaction, will air. It will center on Leonard (Johnny Galecki) getting interviewed by NPR on Physics, and it wont go well. Episode 3, titled The Relaxation Integration, will air on Nov. 9, and it will center on Sheldon (Jim Parsons) struggling to pick a wedding date for his and Amys (Mayim Bialik) big day. The Explosion Implosion will be about Howard (Simon Helberg) and Sheldon having a touching conversation about their families. Episode 4 will air on Nov. 16. Episode 5, titled The Collaboration Contamination will air on Nov. 24, and it will see Penny (Cuoco) and Leonard using Bernadettes (Melissa Rauch) parenting book to try and control Sheldon. Howard and Amy will also be working at the lab for the first time, and this will trigger jealousy on Rajs (Kunal Nayyar) and Bernadettes parts. Big Bang Theory Season 11 will have a total of 24 episodes that will span until May 2018. It will return to CBS on Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. EDT. Story continues Kaley Cuoco Photo: Getty Images/Alberto E. Rodriguez Related Articles Ohio governor John Kasich has hit out at his own party, stating he will no longer be able to support the GOP if it doesnt fix itself. Speaking in an interview with CNNs State of the Union, the former presidential hopeful denied rumors he was looking to become an independent, but criticized the Republican Party over its anti-immigration and anti-trade stance. If the party cant be fixed, Jake, then Im not going to be able to support the party. Period. Thats the end of it, Kasich said in an interview with CNN host Jake Tapper. 08_07_kasich_01 Reuters I mean, Im worried about our country and my kids future. But have I given up? Of course not," he added. If the Republican Party is going to be anti-immigration, if its not going to be worried about debt, if its going to be anti-trade, this is not where our party can be," Kasich explained, when asked about the Alabama Senate primary race between controversial former judge Roy Moore and Luther Strange. Moores win was seen as a victory for former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who backed the anti-gay candidate over Trumps pick, Strange. Asked if he believed Moores win demonstrated the direction the GOP was going in, Kasich told Tapper: I certainly hope not. But asked if that meant he was toying with the idea of becoming an independent, Kasich explained: No, not at this what Im saying to you is we need to fix it. On Sunday morning, Kasich also suggested President Donald Trump was mishandling the situation in Puerto Rico, following comments he made about the country being in debt and the mayor being nasty to Trump on the order of the Democrats. When people are in the middle of a disaster, you dont start trying to criticize them, Kasich said. You have to ignore it and be bigger than the nonsense. Related Articles Jim Dawson worries most about three types of people: the newbie, the one with buck fever and the veteran hunter. The retired hunter safety instructor has seen all three and knows those are often where mistakes with firearms and subsequent injuries occur most. You get nervous. People new to firearms, no matter what age, get nervous and fumble and dont handle firearms well, he said. It doesnt mean someone new to guns shouldnt use them, but it does mean they need to be extra aware of the possibility for errors. Another concern is a hunter in the heat of the moment, he said. Whether its buck fever or a pheasant explodes out of the grass, people lose track of themselves. Lastly: is the longtime hunter or shooter who has become cavalier, he said. Accidental firearm injuries to hunters are relatively rare there are usually fewer than about 10 a year in Wyoming that result in injury or death but Dawson said the concerns are still real. So for those hunters this year who are new to the sport or might need a quick refresher, Dawson offered up his quick and dirty safety tips for handling firearms. First, the National Rifle Associations three basic rules: Treat every gun as if its loaded. Never point your firearm in a direction you dont intend to shoot. Keep your finger off the trigger. Those are things that cant be overly emphasized, Dawson said. If a firearm is treated as if its loaded, even if its an accidental discharge its going in a safe direction. Beyond those basics, he also offered more specific rules hes garnered from years of teaching firearm safety: Take shells out of your shotgun before you get in your vehicle or cross a fence. Theres no legal requirement to take shells out, he said, but national statistics show most accidents happen within a 10-yard radius of vehicles and fences. Never lean a gun against a vehicle or fence. Antelope hunters you will see get out of the vehicle and getting organized, they will lean their rifle against the vehicle, whether to tie a shoe or button up, then the rifle slides and discharges. Dont hunt with a live round in the chamber. Its much safer with the action closed on an empty chamber and you see something you want to stalk or harvest, then you chamber a round, and if you decide not to harvest it you unchamber the round and proceed to hunting again. Clearly identify your target and beyond your target before you shoot. Its easy to have tunnel vision. Kim Kardashian does a lot to take care of her bleached-blond hair. (Photo: Getty Images) Kim Kardashian debuted a new hair hue in early September, when she showed up to New York Fashion Week with silver-blond locks. The 36-year-old reality star knows what shes doing when it comes to creating shock value for fans, and her move delivered, leading to immediate debate over the Khaleesi-inspired look. Although first glances at Kardashians hair led many to believe that it might have been a blond wig that she was rocking, she later took to her website to confirm that it was her natural hair that was bleached. And now shes admitting that its difficult to keep up with. Products that the star uses for her colored hair. (Photo: Snapchat/Kim Kardashian) Blonde is high maintenance, Kardashian wrote in a Snapchat in which she displayed a plethora of hair products being used to keep her bleached blond on point. In her post about how she achieved the light locks, the KKW Beauty mogul gave credit to her hair stylist, Chris Appleton, for spending a total of 17 hours to transform her naturally dark hair. She called the super-intensive process SO worth it and hopefully still thinks so after having a taste of the upkeep. Blondie A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Sep 21, 2017 at 9:48am PDT Expert colorist Rebekah Nash tells Yahoo Lifestyle about Kardashians touch-up process, explaining the products and tools used to maintain both the health and color of her hair. While Redkens Up to 7 product (used to lighten hair up to seven shades) is available for salon use only, a protectant like Olaplex is something that Kardashian, or anyone looking to achieve her hue, can use in her at-home care. Olaplex is a three-step system used to protect the hair at a molecular level. In this photo, the Olapex oil is used, which is step one, Nash explains. Think of it as an antibiotic that heals previously damaged hair while preventing further damage. When becoming a bleached blonde, you can use the step three for at-home maintenance to prolong the treatment. Another at-home treatment that Nash recommends is Redken pH Bonder, which can be used in the same way as Olaplexs step-three product. But she also suggests using a hair mask about once a week. Taking care of Kardashians colored hair, both in-salon and out, is definitely time-consuming. But whatever the cost of the stars upkeep, fans are all for the look. Story continues Kim with blonde hair literally gives me life @KimKardashian Haley Brown (@_hbrown00) September 29, 2017 i need to take a moment to appreciate the fact that @kimkardashian has kept her blonde hair for this long it's a blessing i'm so thankful caroline (@sk8rhoe911) September 29, 2017 As a hairstylist, I really would love to pick whoever did @KimKardashian blonde hair! What sorcery! That is literally magic. AJ (@xmeow_lexx) September 27, 2017 Is it mean to change my wallpaper from me and my boyfriend to a pic of @KimKardashian with her nice new blonde hair???? Molly (@mollyhadss) September 21, 2017 Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Labour MP Emma Dent Coad continues to slam the royal family, and even Prince George was not exempted from her criticism. Dent Coad, a member of parliament, recently criticized Kate Middleton, Prince William and the rest of the royal family for their lavish spending, especially on outfits. She made sure to point out Prince George's expensive clothing and how one item costs as much as food for a family of four. "When Prince George goes to school, they [the media] look at his jumpers and, you know, 150 ($200) for a jumper, that's a food bill for a family of four for a lot of people and that's outrageous and people are outraged by that," Dent Coad said (via Express). Earlier on, Labour Councillor Ken Ritchie also mentioned the royal tot during his speech. "We had all the media attention recently when Prince George started school. We don't know if he will grow up to be as bad as his grandfather or maybe his great grandfather. Or that he will be as bland as his father," he said. "All we know is that at some stage George will be king, unless we change the system or unless he has an unfortunate illness or accident. We can get rid of them if we don't like them, in an election of course, I'm not suggesting anything more drastic than that." Richie's speech reportedly prompted the listeners to shout "Shoot them!" and "Guillotine!" In the MP's rant about the royal family, she also accused qualified Apache Prince Harry of not being able to fly a helicopter and suggested that Philip was not faithful. Dent Coad also called Middleton "stupid" and "vulgar," as well as mocked Queen Elizabeth, 91, by calling her "the dear old thing." Meanwhile, Prince George was recently escorted by his father, Prince William, to his first day of school at Thomas's Battersea on Sept. 7. The father and son even posed for an adorable first day of school portrait. Middleton was suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, so she missed the chance to escort their son to school at the time. Story continues Prince William is reportedly in charge of taking Prince George to school every morning as a pregnant Middleton rests at home and continues to battle severe morning sickness. Just a few weeks later, however, Prince William confessed that his son no longer wanted to go to school. "I just dropped George off and he didn't want to go," he said (via Hello!). Meanwhile, Louise Smith, a mom-of-two, previously gushed over her meeting with the Duke of Cambridge and stressed how the royal parents struggle with the same issue as ordinary parents like them. "It was really exciting meeting William. He told me he'd just dropped Prince George off at school and he didn't want to go. Sounds a bit like mine really," she said. Prince George Photo: Getty Images/Richard Pohle Related Articles Initial reports following Sundays mass shooting in Las Vegas show that it is already the deadliest in modern history. The shooting during a Jason Aldean show left at least 50 people dead and at least 400 injured. While many of the details surrounding the shooting still remained unclear, Nevada has some of the most relaxed gun laws in the country. No state permit is required to purchase a rifle, shotgun or handgun in Nevada, nor is a permit required to possess any of the above firearms, according to the National Rifle Association. While it is against the law to carry a concealed firearm without a permit, Nevada allows for the open carrying of a firearm without a permit. The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence graded Nevada a C- for its gun legislation. Nevada does not regulate unsafe handguns, impose a waiting period on firearm purchases, or prohibit the transfer or possession of assault weapons, large capacity ammunition magazines, or 50 caliber rifles. It also does not limit the number of firearms that may be purchased at one time. Furthermore, the state allows a person to possess, purchase or sell a machine gun or silencer that is legally registered and possessed in compliance with all federal laws and regulations. It appeared that 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, the suspect in the shooting, had at least 10 guns inside his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. We located numerous firearms within the room that he occupied, Las Vegas Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said at a news conference. Alls we know is that they were rifles. The phrase #guncontrol quickly began trending on Twitter Monday morning following the shooting. People used the platform to rail against relaxed gun laws and implore the president to implement more stringent laws, while others lashed out at the politicization of the shooting. President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences after the shooting Monday, but it appeared unlikely that any concrete gun legislation would be implemented. Trump himself has long heralded gun rights and ran a campaign that railed against the eight-year assault on gun rights by former President Barack Obama. Story continues You have a true friend and champion in the White House, he told the National Rifle Association during an April speech. No longer will federal agencies be coming after law-abiding gun owners. No longer will the government be trying to undermine your rights and your freedoms as Americans. Instead, we will work with you, by your side. GettyImages-856538172 Photo: Getty Images Related Articles At least 58 people were killed and more than 489 wounded when a gunman opened fire during a country music concert in Las Vegas Sunday night, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The suspected shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, was found dead in his hotel room on the 32nd floor of at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, from which he had been firing at the crowd attending the outdoor concert across the street. Police said they found numerous firearms in Paddocks hotel room. At this time there is in excess of 50 deceased and over 200 injured individuals. LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 Prior to Sunday nights massacre, the deadliest shooting in recent history had taken place at a nightclub in Orlando, Fla. in June 2016, where 49 people were killed, not including the gunman, Omar Mateen. Mateen, 29, had opened fire inside the popular gay club Pulse at about 2 a.m. on June 12, 2016. According to police, the shooting which authorities described as a domestic terror attack quickly turned into a hostage situation as the 300-plus people inside the club tried to escape. Mateen was killed by SWAT officers approximately three hours after he began shooting. (AP/Yahoo News) It was initially reported that 20 people had been killed in the attack, but at a news conference later that Sunday morning, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said the death toll was approximately 50, a number that included Mateen himself. The U.S. has a long history of mass shootings. Prior to last years attack in Orlando, the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting had been the deadliest, with 32 fatalities in addition to the shooter. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: A convention attendee looks at rifles displayed at the Rock River Arms booth at the 2016 SHOT Show in Las Vegas: Ethan Miller/Getty Images A mass shooting in Las Vegas has become the deadliest in US history, and some say the states gun laws are to blame, with New York's Police Commissioner Brill Bratton calling them "a reflection of insanity". A lone gunman recently opened fire on a concert in a Las Vegas casino, killing 50 and injuring more than 400. Police say the gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, had at least 10 weapons inside his room at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Witnesses say the gun used in the shooting sounded like an automatic, possibly military-grade, assault rifle. Nevada capitalises heavily on machine gun tourism, and was ranked the 22nd-best state for gun owners by Guns & Ammo magazine. Below is an overview of the states gun control laws. Who can buy guns in Nevada? Nevada law does not require gun owners to have a permit to purchase or carry rifles and shotguns, according to the National Rifle Association. Carrying a handgun, however, does require a permit. The state of Nevada does not require weapons to be licenced, although Clark County, in which Las Vegas is located, does. The state requires background checks through a licenced dealer for all gun sales, including those completed privately and online. Convicted felons, drug users, people deemed mentally ill, and those convicted of domestic abuse are prohibited from buying guns. Where can you buy guns in Nevada? Nevada residents can buy guns from a dealer, a private citizen, or website. There is no mandated waiting period for sales. Where can you carry guns in Nevada? Nevada is an open-carry state, meaning residents are allowed to carry firearms openly in public. It is legal to carry a gun into a bar, restaurant, or casino even while consuming alcohol. Many casinos have no gun policies, but these do not carry the weight of law. It is illegal to openly carry weapons into a government building, airport, school, or childcare facility. Is there a limit on what kind of guns you can buy? Fully automatic weapons are illegal across the US, unless they were purchased and registered prior to 1986. Semi-automatic weapons, however, are legal in Nevada. Automatic weapons fire until the ammunition is used up; semi-automatic weapons require the trigger to be pulled for each shot. Story continues There is no limit on magazine capacity, or the number of bullets a gun can hold, in Nevada. Police and medical workers on Las Vegas Boulevard South after the shooting (REUTERS) Is there a limit on how many guns you can buy? No. Why are Nevada's gun laws so permissive? Semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines were banned across the US in 1994. But that law expired in 2004, and attempts to renew it have failed. Congress introduced more than 100 gun control proposals between 2011 and 2016, according to CBS News. All of them failed. In Nevada, attempts to restrict gun sales have been similarly ineffective. The state passed a law last year requiring background checks for all gun sales, including those completed privately or online. But the state attorney general ruled that the law is unenforceable, since it requires the FBI to run the checks and the FBI refuses to do so. Stephen Paddock brought an arsenal of weapons into the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas before opening fire on a crowd at a country music festival Sunday night, police said. We are still going through the search warrant but [he had] in excess of 10 rifles, Joseph Lombardo, the sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, told reporters at a Monday morning press conference. According to Lombardo, Paddock opened fire at about 10 p.m., as an estimated 22,000 people attended the final day of a three-day Harvest music festival, headlined by country music star Jason Aldean. Mandalay Bay Resort is adjacent to the concert venue. The 50 deaths and at least 400 injuries make the attack the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, surpassing the 2016 massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The gunman in that case committed suicide after killing 49 people dead and wounding 58. The Las Vegas gunman, Paddock, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound when police breached his 32nd floor hotel room, authorities said. Paddock, 64, lived in Mesquite and had been staying at the hotel since Sept. 28, according to police. VIDEO: Rapid fire from shooter(s) in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/jgzCTQRUZP Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) October 2, 2017 Witnesses reported hearing what theyve described as automatic gunfire for more than five minutes. Its not yet clear how many rounds of ammunition were fired, sending frantic concertgoers scrambling for cover. The gunfire just kept coming, Robyn Webb told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It was relentless. Authorities have not specifically identified the weapons used by the gunman. Assault rifles, manufactured by several gunmakers, are available for purchase by anyone who can pass a background screening. They are typically sold as semi-automatic, meaning they fire one bullet for each squeeze of the trigger. Story continues An automatic weapon, sometimes known as a machine gun, can fire continuously when the trigger is held. Federal gun laws allow possession of pre-1986 models, which can be purchased in most states by law-abiding citizens who pass a background screening, pay a tax of $200, and register the gun with the federal government. Its unclear if the weapons used in Sundays shooting were legally owned and purchased by the shooter. The massacre will likely reignite the debate on gun control, particularly in Nevada, which has some of the most relaxed gun laws in the United States. Firearm owners there are not required to have a license, and do not have to register their weapons. The state does not prohibit the sale of assault rifles, and places no limits on the number of firearms an individual can possess and the capacity of ammunition magazines. Authorities are likely to release details on the weapons used in the shooting once they finish examining items seized. The gunmans motive was unclear. We have no investigative information or background with this individual that is derogatory, Lombardo said. An undated photo of Stephen Paddock (Photo: CBS video) This is still an active investigation. The FBI asked anyone with videos or photos concerning the shooting to call 800-225-5324. Tips? Feedback? Send David Lohr an email or follow him on Twitter. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Also on HuffPost People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A cowboy hat lies in the street. VIDEO: Rapid fire from shooter(s) in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/jgzCTQRUZP Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) October 2, 2017 Las Vegas police search for the gunman while protecting fleeing fans. Fans run from the Route 91 Harvest festival after a gunman opened fire. Others dive for cover. Some fans drop to the ground. People run from the Route 91 Harvest festival. People scramble for cover. HORRIFIC SCENE: Do not let this be called anything else but DOMESTIC TERRORISM. AP reports 2dead 13critical & dozens injured. #MandalayBay pic.twitter.com/q7faKkCPpN Eduardo Samaniego (@EduSamani) October 2, 2017 A man in a wheelchair is helped away. People run for cover. EYEWITNESS: Chilling footage of moment active shooter opened fire on concert goers near Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/7OfAwg0ReO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017 A person takes cover amid the shooting. A person runs barefoot from the shooting. Police officers stop a man who drove down Tropicana Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard, which had been closed. A pair of cowboy boots lies in the street outside the concert venue. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Devika Krishna Kumar and Alexandria Sage LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A retiree armed with multiple assault rifles strafed an outdoor country music festival in Las Vegas from a high-rise hotel window on Sunday, slaughtering at least 59 people in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history before killing himself. The barrage of gunfire from the 32nd-floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel into a crowd of 22,000 people came in extended bursts that lasted several minutes, sparking panic as throngs of music fans desperately cowered on the open ground, hemmed in by fellow concertgoers, while others at the edge tried to flee. More than 525 people were injured - some by gunfire or shrapnel, some trampled - in the pandemonium adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip as police scrambled to locate the assailant. Police identified the gunman as Stephen Paddock, 64, who lived in a retirement community in Mesquite, Nevada. They said they believed he acted alone and did not know why he attacked the crowd. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the massacre, but U.S. officials said there was no evidence of that. At least a dozen people were in critical condition at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where all of the injured were taken, a spokeswoman said. The preliminary death toll, which officials said could rise, surpassed last year's massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, by a gunman who pledged allegiance to Islamic State. The dead in Las Vegas included a nurse, a government employee and an off-duty police officer. Shocked survivors, some with blood on their clothing, wandered streets, where the flashing lights of the city's gaudy casinos blended with those of emergency vehicles. Police said Paddock had no criminal record. The gunman killed himself before police entered the hotel room from where he was firing, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo told reporters. "We have no idea what his belief system was," Lombardo said. "I can't get into the mind of a psychopath." Story continues Federal officials said there was no evidence to link Paddock to militant organizations. "We have determined to this point no connection with an international terrorist group," Aaron Rouse, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field office in Las Vegas, told reporters. U.S. officials discounted the claim of responsibility for the attack made by Islamic State. [nL8N1MD53T] "We advise caution on jumping to conclusions before the facts are in," CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in an email. MULTIPLE GUNS Lombardo said there were 16 firearms in the room where Paddock killed himself, some with scopes and some that appeared to have been modified to convert them to fully automatic weapons. Lombardo said the gunman apparently used a "device similar to a hammer" to smash the windows from which he fired. Police found at least 18 additional firearms, some explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition at Paddock's home in Mesquite, about 90 miles (145 km) northeast of Las Vegas, along with "some electronic devices that we are evaluating at this time," Lombardo told reporters. Chris Sullivan, the owner of the Guns & Guitars gun shop in Mesquite, issued a statement confirming that Paddock was a customer who cleared "all necessary background checks and procedures." "He never gave any indication or reason to believe he was unstable or unfit at any time," Sullivan said, adding that his business was cooperating with investigators. He did not say how many or the kinds of weapons Paddock purchased there. The shooting, the latest in a string that have played out across the United States over recent years, sparked a renewed outcry from some lawmakers about the pervasiveness of guns in the United States, but was unlikely to prompt action in Congress. Efforts to pass tougher federal gun laws failed following a number of mass shootings, including the 2012 massacre of 26 young children and educators in Newtown, Connecticut, and the June attack on Republican lawmakers practicing for a charity baseball game. Nevada has some of the nation's most permissive gun laws. It does not require firearm owners to obtain licenses or register their guns. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, on Monday called on House Speaker Paul Ryan to create a select committee on gun violence. "Congress has a moral duty to address this horrific and heartbreaking epidemic," Pelosi wrote. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to bear arms, and gun-rights advocates staunchly defend it. U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has been outspoken in his support for the Second Amendment. The White House said on Monday that it was too soon after the attack to consider gun control policies. "Today is a day for consoling the survivors and mourning those we lost," presidential spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said at a news briefing. "It would be premature for us to discuss policy when we don't fully know all the facts or what took place last night." Trump said he would travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with victims, relatives and first responders. "It was an act of pure evil," said Trump, who later led a moment of silence at the White House in honor of the victims. The suspected shooter's brother, Eric Paddock, said the family was stunned by the news. "We're horrified. We're bewildered, and our condolences go out to the victims," Eric Paddock said in a telephone interview, his voice trembling. "We have no idea in the world." He said his brother belonged to no political or religious organizations, and had no history of mental illness. Their father had been a bank robber who for a time was listed on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list of fugitives. Speaking to reporters from his doorstep in Orlando, Florida, he described his brother as "a wealthy guy" who liked to play video poker and take cruises. He seemed to have been settling into a quiet life when he moved back to Nevada from Florida. 'JUST KEPT GOING ON' Video of the attack showed terrified crowds fleeing under rapid gunfire as the shooter took aim from a distance of around 1,050 feet (320 m). "People were just dropping to the ground. It just kept going on," said Steve Smith, a 45-year-old visitor from Phoenix, Arizona. "Probably 100 shots at a time," Smith said. Las Vegas's casinos, nightclubs and shopping draw some 3.5 million visitors from around the world each year and the area was packed with visitors when the shooting started shortly after 10 p.m. local time (0400 GMT). Mike McGarry, a financial adviser from Philadelphia, was at the concert when he heard hundreds of shots. "It was crazy - I laid on top of the kids. They're 20. I'm 53. I lived a good life," McGarry said. The back of his shirt bore footmarks from people who ran over him in panic. Shares of MGM Resorts International, which owns the Mandalay Bay, fell 5.58 percent on Monday to $30.77 a share. (This version of the story has been refiled to correct death toll in headline to 59) (Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen, Chris Michaud and Frank McGurty in New York, Susan Cornwell and Mark Hosenball in Washington, Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Ali Abdelaty in Cairo and Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Grant McCool, Jonathan Oatis, Andrew Hay, Toni Reinhold) A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer stands near the scene of a mass shooting at a country music festival: Ethan Miller/Getty Images At least 58 people have been killed in the Las Vegas mass shooting, with 515 people injured, according to police. The number may have increased to 59 in the few minutes it took Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo to brief reporters. As the hours go by, that number continues to increase," Mr Lombardo said. The night before, a Nevada resident had opened fire on a concert near Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Mr Lombardo said the shooter used a hammer-like device to break open the window of his 32nd-story room and rain gunfire on the concert-goers. Police believe he was armed with at least 10 weapons. The man identified as the shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, killed himself after the shooting, police said. Mr Lombardo maintained the shooter acted alone, although one woman remains a person of interest. The woman, Marilou Danley, is out of the country, but has made contact with officers. Mr Lombardo said the department plans to "engage" her as soon as she returns. Mr Paddock had no prior criminal record, Mr Lomabardo said. While ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, an FBI spokesperson said the agency had determined no connection to any international terrorist organisation. Mr Lomabrdo said the law enforcement agencies had completed their search of Mr Paddock's room at Mandalay Bay, and were turning their attention to his property in northern Nevada. FBI agents were on the scene and awaiting a search warrant at the time of the press conference. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson underscored the severity of the incident, which has been deemed the deadliest mass shooting in US history. "This is a weapon, and a man, of mass destruction," Mr Wolfson said. FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino on October 2, 2017, after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada (REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus) Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman praised the actions of first responders and the everyday residents of Las Vegas. She said off-duty police officers in the crowd had helped victims find shelter, and passerby had ushered those fleeing the scene into their cars. Story continues "This is a crazed lunatic full of hate. We dont know much about his background," she said of Mr Paddock. "But its certainly not an extension about what we believe in." Congresswoman Dina Titus, who represents Nevada's first congressional district, offered similar praise. Thats the kind of people we have here in Las Vegas, who are willing to reach out and help one another," she said. Officials are asking for donations of blood to help the more than 500 wounded. Donations should be made to the United Blood Services or University Medical Centre in Las Vegas. People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard: David Becker/Getty As America reels from the worst gun massacre in US history, many are asking how they can help the victims of the Las Vegas shooting that left more than 50 dead and at least 500 injured. Las Vegas police are appealing for blood donations as hospitals struggle to cope with the overwhelming demand for resources. "If you would like to donate blood for the injured victims of the Strip shooting visit the Labor Health & Welfare Clinic, 7135 W. Sahara," the force wrote on Twitter. If you would like to donate blood for the injured victims of the Strip shooting visit the Labor Health & Welfare Clinic, 7135 W. Sahara. LVMPD (@LVMPD) October 2, 2017 How to help and find loved ones. Please share #PrayforLasVegas pic.twitter.com/v0xaV3SAIm City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) October 2, 2017 Las Vegas City Hall appealed for residents to visit the United Blood Center at 6930 W Charleston and 601 Whitney Ranch Drive in Henderson. But officials warned donors to make an appointment to avoid waiting in long queues. Getting reports of a long wait at the Charleston United Blood Services. Make an appointment because they need blood: https://t.co/zrkwsLtuy8 City of Las Vegas (@CityOfLasVegas) October 2, 2017 Those not in the immediate vicinity are also being encouraged to offer financial assistance. A Go Fund Me page set up by Clark County Commission Chair Steve Sisolak "to provide relief and financial support to the victims and families of the horrific Las Vegas mass shooting" has already reached $64,657 (48,700). Story continues People are also being encouraged to donate to the American Red Cross, which accepts donations on its website, by phone in the US at 702-369-3674 or via mail at 1771 East Flamingo Road, #206B, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89119. Officials are also calling for eyewitnesses to share any footage of the attack with police to help them piece together events of the devastating night. Chaos ensued after the shooter, identified as 64-year-old Nevada resident Stephen Paddock, fired an automatic weapon from his 32nd-floor hotel room at revellers attending the Route 91 music festival on the strip below. He was found dead in his hotel room by police who are now working to understand his motive and how he was able to orchestrate such a devastating attack. Authorities in Las Vegas said they are not treating the mass shooting as an act of terrorism, despite Nevada state law defining terror as any act that involves the use or attempted use of sabotage, coercion or violence which is intended to cause great bodily harm or death to the general population. Isis said Paddock had recently converted to Islam and claimed responsibility for the attack, a claim that could not immediately be verified. The FBI has denied Paddock had links with any international terror organisation. DEER LODGE A recent Facebook posting by a teenager in Deer Lodge was perceived by some as a threat to the teen's school and other students. And while an investigation by the administration and police found it wasn't a credible threat, it prompted school leaders to take a closer look at their emergency response plan. Powell County High School superintendent Rick Duncan said that social media was active with inaccurate information, creating hysteria, so some parents kept their kids home from school on Sept. 25, fearing for their safety. "We felt there was no threat (Sept. 25), but law enforcement was at the school during the day as a precaution. I sent an all-call voice message to parents to assure them their kids were safe." In the wake of the that incident officials would not expound on its nature trustee Jennifer Nicholson called for a public meeting Wednesday to address the emergency response plan, and about 50 parents and students attended. They expressed concerns about how the school responds to a variety of crisis scenarios and the lack of adequate communication between the school and parents at those times. COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED As a result, a 16-person committee will be established to revise the emergency response plan taking into consideration the suggestions presented during the meeting. The committee will consist of Duncan, Principal Kerry Glisson, four teachers, four parents, four students, law enforcement, fire department, and elementary district superintendent Rod Simpson. The high school conducts eight drills a year for intruders, fire, earthquakes, and high winds. Those unannounced drills are coordinated with the alarm company and law enforcement. There are also protocols for hazardous material spills, bomb threats, assault/terrorism, and suicide, but at this time no drills. Parents urged consideration of drills for a bomb threat or an active shooter, asking who determines a threat and how it is handled. They also asked about mental health counseling for students after such an event, including a perceived threat or when there is an accident or student suicide. Duncan responded that if there is an active shooter or threat of a firearm, the situation is investigated immediately by the school and law enforcement and the school is locked down. Procedures for lockdown or evacuation to alternative locations were explained as well as how handicapped students are assisted during an evacuation. SOCIAL MEDIA THREATS Parents also want a plan for a perceived threat where social media is the driving force and asked how a perpetrator is disciplined. Duncan explained the law allows the administration to suspend a student for 10 days, but expulsion requires a hearing before the school board. Trustee Nicholson asked if there could be drills for prevention, protection, and recovery with communication testing to assure parents know to keep their kids home and to notify teachers so they don't walk into an incident. Duncan said in the event of an emergency or a snow closure day, a voice message, text, and email are sent to teachers, bus drivers, and each student's primary phone number and an announcement is put on the local radio station KQRV. He said on Monday at noon he sent a voice message, text, and email to each student's primary phone number. Apparently some parents received them, but others, even primary phone contacts, did not. For parents in Elliston, Avon, Garrison, and Gold Creek areas whose youngsters start getting on buses at 7 a.m. and those with students who walk or drive to school, the timing of such notices was a big concern. Various communication enhancement methods were discussed, including a parent or teacher calling tree and posts on the school website. Coordination among the high school, junior high, and elementary schools was also encouraged since families may have students in any or all of them. The school boards of both districts will have a joint public meeting in the near future to discuss emergency response plans. The meeting will be held at the community center on a date to be announced. Asked about students whose parents cannot get to the school during an emergency to pick up the kids, Duncan said, "We will not abandon children until they are picked up, and bus drivers won't leave them at the bus stop without notice." The questions and suggestions discussed at this meeting will be considered by the emergency plan committee; when a draft is complete, there will be opportunity for public review. A mother of two who was gunned down during Sunday night's mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert died in the arms of her husband of more than 30 years. Denise Burditus, of West Virginia, was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas Village with her husband, Tony, when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd, killing at least 58 and injuring more than 500 concertgoers. Denise, 50, was struck by gunfire and tragically succumbed to her injuries. "It saddens me to say that I lost my wife of 32 years, a mother of two, soon to be grandmother of five this evening in the Las Vegas shooting," Tony Burditus wrote on Facebook. "Denise passed in my arms." Denise had taken to her own Facebook account just hours before the attack to share a photo of her smiling with her husband at the concert venue. The two were reportedly high school sweethearts. According to WSAZ, the couple had been eagerly anticipating the concert for months. Sunday's massacre left at least 58 dead and more than 500 injured, which makes it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, surpassing the 2016 Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando, Florida, which left 49 dead. These are the victims of the Las Vegas shooting: Other victims of the attack who have been identified include Sonny Melton, a Tennesee man who was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival with his wife on Sunday night, and Quinton Robbins, a 20-year-old student at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Two Canadian victims, Jessica Klymchuk and Jordan McIldoon, also died during Sunday night's massacre, according to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. An off-duty Las Vegas police officer, whose name has not yet been released, was also confirmed dead. RELATED: Politicians respond to the attack: Survivors of the Las Vegas strip shooting spoke of bullets flying everywhere as the gunman unloaded clip after clip after clip. They told of screaming country music festival-goers crawling for shelter, seeking whatever scrap of cover they could find as the bullets rained down on them. With terrified civilians still hiding out in backstreets, the first of the wounded were driven away in whatever vehicles could be found, with one victim being given CPR in the back of a truck. When the first shot was fired, said one festival-goer, it sounded like a firecracker. And then it ended up not sounding like a firecracker at all. Speaking five minutes after the shooting, the witness told KSNV-TV that the gunman fired clip after clip after clip. Bullets flying everywhere, he said. Everybody running. It was really bad. The bullets, he added, were ricocheting everywhere ... They were firing from somewhere high, and they were unloading clip after clip after clip after clip. The sheer volume of fire was so great, it left the witness convinced erroneously, it is now believed that more than one gunman had been involved. It was hundreds of shots, he stressed. It wasnt sounded like. It was hundreds of shots. The shots just kept coming, said Christine, a middle-aged woman, who had been attending the Route 91 Harvest festival with her husband. The shots just kept coming. Witness describes how people hid under her car for safety after shooting in Las Vegas https://t.co/nGJ60uDM5r pic.twitter.com/vtf8XlOO81 CNN (@CNN) October 2, 2017 She told CNN: Everyone was literally lying on top of each other and trying to get out of the way. Story continues When we got down [from our seats], there was a man shot right there. He was all bloody and he was unconscious. We ran, and everybody is hiding everywhere. They were hiding under the bleachers [seats], and the stanchions, and anywhere they could. And everybody is telling us to run, run as fast as you can. Taylor Benge, a 21-year-old concert-goer, told reporters of seeing bodies of people just lying in pools of blood. About five feet to the left of me, he said, there was a man with a bullet wound to his chin. He was just lifeless on the ground. Amid what he described as a relentless onslaught of 200 to 300 shots, Mr Benge said he and his sister threw themselves to the ground, before eventually running for an exit. They escaped unhurt, but covered in the blood of others who had been less lucky. My jeans are covered in someones blood, said Mr Benge. My T-shirt is covered in someones blood, my sisters whole leg was covered in blood. Professional poker player Dan Bilzerian filmed himself running from the festival and gave a graphic description of how he saw a young woman shot in the head in front of him. With the sound of continuous shooting clearly audible behind him in the video, he said: Holy f***, this girl just got shot in the f***ing head. This is so f***ing crazy. After escaping unharmed, Bilzerian filmed himself claiming he had armed himself with a gun and was now returning to the scene of the shooting. Concert goers were told Youre all going to f***ing die less than an hour before the Las Vegas shooting started, it has been claimed. A woman in the crowd is said to have yelled the warning about 45 minutes before the Route 91 Harvest festival became the venue for the worst mass shooting in US history. After her outburst, it was claimed, the woman and her male companion were made to leave the venue by security. Less than an hour later, an attack began that left at least 50 people dead. Witness Brianna Hendricks, said the woman had been behaving strangely before her outburst. Ms Hendricks, who had been in Vegas to celebrate her 21st birthday, told Mail Online: There was a lady who came running up behind us in the concert and she started to play with people's hair, acting crazy, and she told us that we're all going to f***ing die. She said they're all around us and we were going to die. Ms Hendricks said the woman had claimed her boyfriend could not breathe in order to push her way through the crowd to the front row. She said: It seemed she was telling us to either warn us, or she was part of it and she was telling us because she knew we were going to die. It was so scary. It felt like she had knowledge of what was about to happen. Ms Hendricks returned to the Mandalay hotel about 15 minutes before the shooting, and witnessed the subsequent carnage from her hotel room. It makes me feel uncomfortable, said Ms Hendricks. I thought it [the womans warning] had a correlation [to the shooting]. She described the woman who gave the warning as Hispanic, probably about 5ft 5, [with] brown hair, and said the womans boyfriend was also Hispanic. The authorities have yet to comment on whether the womans warning was just a bizarre coincidence, or whether it actually did have something to do with the mass shooting. Story continues After the suspected gunman Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old white man, was confirmed dead, police said they had also located his room-mate Marilou Danley. Earlier, when appealing for information to help locate Ms Danley, police described her as 62 years old, Asian, 4 foot 11 inches tall and weighing 111 pounds (50 kg). When announcing that Ms Danley had been found, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo made no comment on whether she was alive or dead. Madrid (AFP) - Several left-wing Spanish politicians on Sunday demanded Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy resign after police used force to block voting in a banned independence referendum in Catalonia, injuring dozens of people. Barcelona mayor Ada Colau said Rajoy, the leader of the ruling conservative Popular Party (PP), "had crossed all red lines". "He is a coward who does not live up to his state responsibilities... as a result he must resign," she told reporters. Colau demanded that police stop their crackdown against the referendum, which Spain's central government and the courts have deemed illegal. At least 92 people were injured in Catalonia in clashes between police and protesters over the vote, two of them seriously, a spokeswoman for the Catalan government's health department said. Spain's interior ministry said 12 police officers had been injured in the clashes. Police have baton-charged and fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds protecting polling stations in Barcelona and other towns and cities. Videos posted on social media show police dragging voters from polling stations by their hair, throwing people down stairs and attacking Catalan firefighters who were protecting polling stations. "To open a new scenario of dialogue and coexistence, it is necessary to send the PP and Ciudadanos to the opposition," Pablo Iglesias, the leader of far-left party Podemos, said on Twitter in reference to the PP's allies in parliament. "If something breaks Spain it will be because the PP and those who support it in parliament continue to destroy democracy," he added in messages accompanied by pictures of injured protesters, some of them bleeding. Pablo Echenique, a leading member of Podemos, wrote on Facebook that the PP's policies in Catalonia, could "fracture a society and destroy a country". "You have to remove the tumour before it kills the patient," he added. PP spokesman Fernando Martinez-Maillo defended the government, saying that "the only ones responsible for what is happening in Catalonia today is (Catalan president Carles) Puigdemont, the government of Catalonia and its partners." Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton sent a letter to thousands of Montanans two weeks ago stating that we need election reform to thwart voter fraud in Montana based on how mail-in ballots had been handled in recent Federal elections. Stapleton reports that in the recent congressional election to replace Ryan Zinke, 381,416 votes were cast and that 1,833 mailed-in ballots were not counted. He wants election reform to greatly reduce this number; he further states that far too many people are voting other peoples mail ballots. Stapletons allegations about fraud are stunning and, because they totally lack evidence, irresponsible. No Montana citizen was charged or convicted of voter fraud in the last election (and police investigated some claims of fraud). There was one mail-in ballot actually voted in Missoula County where election officials missed that someone other than the named voter signed the affirmation envelope transmitting the ballot. There is no evidence of any other improper vote being counted in Montana. Stapleton that apparently does not understand the difference between the use of absentee ballots, which are used in federal, state-wide elections, and which a voter must specifically request, and mail-in ballots, the term Stapleton uses, and which apply only to total election-by-mail events, with no open polling places, such as state law allows for school elections, sewer district elections, etc. No fraud evidence Of the 1,833 absentee ballots not counted in the last election and with which Stapleton suggests there is rampant voter fraud, 831 were not counted because the voters failed to sign the affirmation envelope. Another 596 were rejected because they were delivered to election officials too late, under state law, to be counted. No statutory election reform is going to validate the ballots of voters who fail to follow existing law and dont sign the affirmation envelope containing their ballot, or who do not submit them timely. No fraud there. This leaves, in the last election, 363 absentee ballots not counted because of mismatched signatures on affirmation envelopes (this is a signature not the voters, either a different name or a forgery; it is most typically one spouse signing for the other). Every absentee ballot is tracked by election officials; every signature is compared to the voters signature on his or her voter registration card. State law explicitly requires election officials (typically, the clerk and recorders office) to contact every single voter by the most expeditious method available whose absentee ballot cannot be accepted for any reason to try to have the voters do what is necessary to make them valid. Gallatin count In Gallatin County, for example, 648 voters were contacted by phone and by letter when their returned ballots either were unsigned or had a mismatched signature. This was every single unacceptable ballot. Of these, 383 voters took corrective action in a timely fashion and their ballots were counted. None claimed fraud in this process. In the end, 336 absentee ballots were rejected: 141 had no signatures, 71 were mailed too late to be counted, 124 ballots had mismatched signatures that the voters whose ballots were sent in did not clarify. None of these ballots was counted, in accordance with law. A similar process was followed by every county election office. Every voter whose absentee ballot is found to be irregular or not appropriate is, by law, contacted by the county election office. Those offices cannot make people vote or unilaterally correct their errors. But, in almost all cases, they do reach the voter and tell them how to correct an improper ballot so that it can be counted. Why would Stapleton make the alarming and disquieting claim there was voter fraud in the last election when there clearly wasnt? How can our secretary of state not know the difference between mail-in ballots and absentee ballots? These questions raise serious issues involving Stapletons judgment and competence. Stapleton should address them directly for the benefit of all Montana voters. -- Tom W. Stonecipher practices law in Bozeman. Montana Craft Malt and Butte-Silver Bow are about to sign a lease agreement allowing a $15-million malting plant to be built and operate at the Montana Connections Business Development Park west of town. The new malt business led by Buttes Ron Ueland would pay $1,000 a year to lease 8.6 acres in the Tax Increment Financing Industrial District (TIFID), with an option to buy it later for $2,000 per acre. But the pact says the county recognizes the value the plant will bring to the community as a barley malting facility. The TIFID board has recommended commissioners approve the lease, which it could do Wednesday night. TIFID administrator Kristen Rosa acknowledged Monday that the annual lease payment as well as the possible purchase price were on the low side. But the county and TIFID are looking at the bigger picture. We feel that it is a fairly incentivized land cost because we are looking for job creation and tax (revenue) creation and diversification of the economy, she said. There is a big public benefit to having this happen. Ueland announced in January that he and other investors planned to build a plant in Butte to make malt for craft brewers. It would employ 10 to 15 people and produce up to 10,000 tons of malt each year. They later chose the countys business park as the site of their plant. Besides his love and bias for Butte, Ueland said, it was a great location for his and other businesses because of plentiful, pristine water available from Silver Lake. Montana Craft Malt will use barley grown exclusively in Montana to produce a variety of specialty malts for the craft brewing industry inside and outside of the state. Ueland said Monday that if commissioners agree to the companys strategy and the lease/buy pact, We will be working with everyone to break ground yet this fall and be in production in 2018. The new company had planned to locate the plant near Scoular Grain inside the TIFID but decided on a different parcel a little to the west. It is still inside the business park but would be closer to possible new railroad extensions. The county recently began a big initiative to extend rail connections from the nearby Port of Montana to more of the business park, saying it could entice more companies to locate there and grow the local economy. The lease/buy agreement says Montana Craft Malt is responsible for getting all utilities from a nearby public right-of-way to the actual plant, but the county will use its best efforts to provide rail spur to the premises at its cost. It was big for us and others to take advantage of this industrial park, and rail connections are a big selling point," Ueland said. I just think its good for the industrial park. TIFID board chairman Todd Tregidga said Ueland recognized the benefits of being close to a possible rail spur, even though it was not yet in place. Both sides agreed to the new location, Tregidga said, and the overall arrangement should benefit everyone. It is a $15-million investment, and it will create jobs, and its doing exactly what our district is trying to accomplish by adding value to Montana products, he said. MUSCATINE In February, Maritza Lopez Campos, a senior social work student at the University of Iowa, found herself deep in the stacks of the university library. She had recently been hired by a curator, Janet Weaver, as a student assistant. Though it was out of her discipline, her advisor had recommended it. Weavers curatorial focus was on the Iowa Womens Archives, but since 2005 the archive has been putting resources toward the Mujeres Latinas Project. The project aimed to preserve the history of Iowa Latinas, their families, and their communities. The work was built on the publications of Grace Nunez who researched, wrote, and conducted oral histories about the early history of Mexicans in Davenport and Bettendorf. The project recorded more than 100 oral histories of communities that include Madison, Des Moines, the Quad-Cities and Muscatine. Campos first responsibility with the project was to start reading. Weaver brought ream after ream of text block to her. And as Campos said, what she read surprised her. I started learning about the history itself, Campos said. I think it validated my experience. It validated my existence. It validated me being there at the University of Iowa. Campos grew up in Sioux City. Her parents sent her to a mostly white Catholic school and though she said the experience challenged her, it was fatiguing. When she first began at the University of Iowa, things only got worse. I thought, 'This is the University of Iowa. This is going to be a breeze. I went to high school with majority white students. This is going to be OK. But that was not the case, Campos said. I had to find my own communities to be involved with and my own support system. Especially because many places, I wasn't welcome. She said the experience of learning about the lives of Latinas who made a place for themselves in Iowa was empowering. I think it is really important to know (Iowa's Latino history), Campos said. We've been here for a very long time. Even before the 1900s. There are records of a few people coming in that spoke Spanish in the 1700s. I think especially in the climate that we are in right now of always assuming that any person that looks brown or has certain physical features are probably here undocumented or here recentlythat's just not always the case, Campos said. Campos and others from the university presented this history at Muscatine Community College on Saturday. Campos explained that Latino peoples began appearing in Muscatine around the turn of the century. And though many of their stories find a root in Davenports Cooks Point barrio, Muscatine an area of industry is a locale with a still growing population. In 1956, Sister Irene Munoz, a Spanish-speaking nurse and nun turned social justice activist, responded to Vatican II by trading her habit for street clothes and moving to Muscatine. Between 1967 and 1982, she provided medical services to migrant workers through the Muscatine Migrant Committee. The recordings of the Mujeres Latinas Project feature several recordings of Munoz. Among them is a recounting of her witnessing a woman who had not received prenatal care, dying of hemorrhage in childbirth. I thought, dear God, there is something wrong here, Munoz said. The archives at the University of Iowa have a 1967 flyer created by the Muscatine Community Effort Organization calling for a boycott of H.J. Heinz Company products to pressure Iowa growers to improve wages and working conditions for migrant farm workers in Iowa. Let us leave the chickens in the chicken shacks, and the pigs in the pig pens, reads the flyer. And we better move into better housing and lets join with the great boycott of grapes with Cesar Chavez. Lets support them and at the same time support ourselves. But work together and help every migrant worker of the United States and support them with all we have. Among the attendees was Nick Salazar, president of Muscatines chapter of League of United Latin American Citizens. He said the presentation came at good time. "We live in a time right now where there is a lot of xenophobia. There is a lot of stereotyping and a lot of discrimination, Salazar said. What we want to do here is enlighten our community about the contribution Latinas and Latinos have made to our history within the broader picture of the Iowa's immigration process. This is nothing new because we've been here before. Salazar said he hopes that the events name, Migration is Beautiful, would reframe how people think about new comers to the country. We are a nation of immigrants and this event is to remind everybody that migration is beautiful, Salazar said. While the migration process can be rough, can be deadly, that misses the whole point of the process. If it means improving their lives and the lives of their families can we criticize them for moving? We don't live in a world where people have to live in the shadows. Guaynabo (Puerto Rico) (AFP) - Alejandro Araujo whiles away the day doing jigsaw puzzles. At night, he sleeps on a hammock on the patio, machete at his side. Now that some streets have been cleared of branches and rubble Hurricane Maria left behind, middle class residents of Puerto Rico's capital San Juan's outskirts are afraid, and straining to keep up hope. Ten days ago, Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and left the American island of 3.4 million people isolated and without electricity with damage so grave, much of it appeared to have sustained devastating damage to infrastructure and homes. In San Juan, residents spend their days lining up in sweltering heat to buy ice, fuel, water and scarce food. In some areas where there is cellular coverage -- sometimes it is in the middle of a road -- you see swarms of residents adjusting telephones in the air to contact loved ones. Many have not drunk anything cold in ten days. The heat is stifling. Those who go to work do so mostly because their businesses have generators. Others have to be patient. In middle-class Guaynabo, outside San Juan, the Araujos -- Alejandro, Juana and their son Xavier -- are just hoping life gets back to normal. It's not easy to stay on top of the latest developments in a disaster most believe is unprecedented here. They hear often contradictory news by word of mouth, listen to the radio, and walk instead of driving to save gas. They feel vulnerable because looting was reported on the island just after the hurricane on the morning of September 20. "As a precaution I sleep outside with the dog, and with a machete in my hand, because I prefer to have something in my hand than to feel helpless," says Alejandro Araujo, a 53-year-old computer expert, in his back yard. Without electricity home security alarms do not work and neighbors are organized to blow the horn of their car if they see strangers prowling around. "Obviously the police are very busy on a number of things. There has been less vigilance and the number of people wanting to take advantage of the situation has increased," says Alejandro. Story continues Authorities have not said how many people were arrested after the megastorm. But businesses have told news outlets there was widespread looting, especially right after the storm. Gas stations, with long lines snaking around and around, are being guarded by police and in many cases armed private guards. "People are getting desperate. I'm not afraid of anyone, but there are other people who are not leaving their homes because of the fear that they will get robbed, or get seriously hurt," said Brian Lafuente, the manager of a gas station in San Juan. Thursday, Governor Ricardo Rossello said federal officials would be sent in to work alongside local officials to "protect the property, health and safety of all our citizens." He did not say how many. - "We are privileged" - Regardless, capital area residents say there are not enough police. The Araujos feel vulnerable -- and disinclined to venture from their home. She is a psychologist and university professor; he depends on the internet to do his job. Neither one has anything to do. "This situation has made me come up with projects, such as knitting a sweater. I started to embroider, to do things that were important to me, just to try to drain the anguish of everyday life," says Juana, 59. With no internet, electricity, telephone or television, everyday life is affected in the smallest things. For example, the family now goes to sleep at about nine o'clock at night. They spend the afternoon chatting with neighbors. Alejandro is putting together a puzzle, Juana puts the edge on a curtain and Xavier, 16, spends the day making origami figures. And they read. "We have food to eat. We have a roof over our heads. Nothing really happened to us, we are privileged that way," says Juana. But the hurricane still had an impact on everybody here, even the lucky ones. "I felt like the most insignificant being in the universe. I felt totally insignificant. Microscopic," she added. Police hunting for the female "associate" of a gunman who killed at least 50 people attending a concert inLas Vegassay they have "located" her. The city's police force said the male suspect was a local resident named as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock. He was confirmed dead early on in the investigation, leaving officers searching for a 62-year-old woman named asMarilou Danley. Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said investigators had found the woman, who he described as Asian, 4 foot 11 inches tall and weighing 111 pounds (50 kg). Police said they don't believe Ms Danley, who was located outside the US, was involved in the shooting. The incident unfolded on Sunday night after Paddock opened fire on an outdoor country music festival from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Casino. Concert-goers reported hearing what they described as automatic gun fire during the shooting. Thousands fled as bursts of gunfire could be heard for more than five minutes. Police said Paddock had used Ms Danley's ID documents to check into the hotel, which initially led to speculation that she was in the hotel at the time of the attack. A Hyundai Tucson vehicle understood to be owned by Ms Danley was also found by police. Her LinkedIn profile said she was a "gambling and casino professional" who lived in Reno, Nevada. Between 2010 and 2013 she worked as a "hostess" for the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa. There is no listing for her employment since that date. A police officer stands guard while passengers enter the Marseille Saint Charles train station, a day after a man fatally stabbed two women outside the train station, in Marseille, southern France - LR A man who fatally stabbed two women outside Marseille's main train station had been detained for shoplifting and released the day before the attack, the Paris prosecutor has confirmed. The individual, who was shot dead by patrolling soldiers shortly after the attack, had used seven aliases before killing the two women - cousins both aged around 20 - at the main train station in Marseille in an attack claimed by Isil, said Francois Molins, the Paris prosecutor. Sunday's killings were the first in France's second-biggest city, on the southern coast and home to a burgeoning population of French Muslims and North African immigrants. It followed a string of stabbings around Europe claimed by, or blamed on Islamist radicals. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins Credit: BERTRAND GUAY/AFP Anti-terror prosecutors have opened an investigation into "killings linked to a terrorist organisation" and the "attempted killing of a public official". Mr Molins confirmed that the attacker had shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) while launching the deadly attack with "a 20cm blade". The prosecutor confirmed that the man, who didn't appear to have French residency papers, had been detained for suspected shoplifting at a department store in the Lyon region on Saturday before being released shortly afterwards without charges. At the time he was carrying a Tunisian passport issued in 2014 stating that he was born in Bizerte in 1987 and went by the name of "Ahmed H". He was unknown to French intelligence and had a blank criminal record. He told Lyon police he was a hard drug user and homeless. Authorities are pinning hopes on an iPhone found on the suspect for clues to his true identity and motives. This is the moment armed police shot dead the attacker at Marseille train station Credit: Paul-Louis Leger/NEWZULU The victims were cousins from the eastern French city of Lyon. One was studying in Marseille and the other was visiting her for the weekend. One had her throat slit by the knifeman, who was seen on video camera footage striking his first victim from behind and then fleeing - only to return to launch a frenzied attack on her cousin. Story continues Mr Molins praised the heroism of an unknown female passer-by who struck the assailant with a flag holder, knocking him over. The knifeman then got up and rushed towards a group of soldiers, who shot him dead with two bullets after shouting warnings. Isil's Amaq propaganda agency later said he was "from the soldiers of the Islamic State", however it was unclear whether the claim was opportunistic. The incident came only days after Isil released a recording of what it said was its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urging his followers to strike their enemies in the West. France is a leading partner in the US-led international coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, where the jihadists are being driven back. On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that he was "deeply angered by this barbaric act," and said he shared the pain of the families and friends of the victims. The deaths come as parliament prepares to vote tomorrow on a controversial anti-terror bill that will transpose some of the exceptional powers granted to the police under a 22-month-old state of emergency into national law. France has suffered several major terror attacks since January 2015. The worst violence took place in November 2015, when 130 people were killed in synchronised shooting and suicide attacks across Paris. Eight months later, 86 people were killed when an extremist drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the resort city of Nice. It was the first in several attacks around Europe using vehicles as weapons. A mom took to Facebook to try to find the owner of a stuffed dog left at a highway rest-stop womens room. (Photo: Facebook/Katie Hoeppner) A mom who found a stuffed dog at a highway rest-stop womens room has launched a national search to find its owner. On Sept. 30, a woman named Katie Hoeppner posted a plea on Facebook. I know this is a long shot, but please share this I stopped at a rest stop on Iowa Interstate 80 Eastbound and found this little guy in the bathroom wondering where his family went. As a mom, I know exactly what its like to have a child whos frantic when they lose their Stuffy. I decided to rescue him and bring him home until we can find his owner. She continued: I dont know his name, so I named him George. George was my co-pilot home, wore his seat belt without a fuss, picked the music on the radio, and ran some errands with my family. Im adding pictures to show Georges endeavors and captions to go along with it. The 34-year-old added, Please help me get George back to his family!!! He is currently on his way to my home, but Im happy to mail him wherever he needs to go. Hoeppner uploaded 24 photos featuring George in hilarious scenarios: Meeting her 9-year-old daughter Bentleighs stuffed raccoon Mokey, lounging on a sofa watching television with Hoeppners 12-year-old son Grant, shopping at an arts and crafts store, and sipping a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks. (Dont worry little human owner, the rescuer mom made the 9 year old order decaf, Heoppener wrote in the caption.) The photos have been liked 5,000 times, received almost 5,000 comments, and shared 27,000 times in far-flung places such as South Carolina, New York, Michigan, and Nebraska. I was heading home from visiting a friend that day and stopped to use the restroom, where I saw the stuffed animal, Hoeppner tells Yahoo Lifestyle. As a mom, I just thought, OMG, what if that belonged to my kid? She snapped a few photos George driving her car, strapped into a seat belt, and scrolling through iTunes and posted them to Facebook with a request to share them. She also filed a report with the Iowa Department of Transportation, which shared Hoeppners Facebook post. When Hoeppner got home, her post had exploded with shares and comments, and after a friend encouraged her to make the post public, Hoeppner decided to roll with it. Story continues Although Hoeppner has received mostly positive comments for her efforts, some have also asked, How could you have taken the toy from the bathroom? and advised her to return it. However, given her daughter is so attached to her own stuffed raccoon It goes everywhere with us, including Disney shes convinced shes doing right by Georges owner. Social media searches have resulted in reuniting children with their lost lovies. In July, a 4-year-old boy named Luke lost his favorite teddy bear (named Teddy Bear) at a Dallas airport. After launching a search party on Twitter and Facebook, the airport located the toy, which was with an employee who was keeping it safe. In the meantime, Teddy Bear had a ball hanging with the pilots in the cockpit of a plane and assisting workers on the tarmac. When Luke and his buddy were reunited six days later, his mother told ABC, He jumped up and down like a crazy man. And in 2015, a 6-year-old boy named Owen who was distraught after misplacing his stuffed tiger Hobbes got him back from the Tampa, Fla., airport in which he was lost but not before the toy had a proper vacation with ice cream and naps by the pool. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. (Photo: Facebook/Jessica Grays Hunting Adventures) Following in the footsteps of President Trumps trophy-hunting sons is Jessica Grays an outdoor enthusiast whose Facebook post about killing a moose in Alaska has been drawing the ire of many. A huge congratulations to my partner in crime on harvesting this monster bull! Grays wrote in her Sept. 19 post featuring a slew of photos from the slaughter, the centerpiece of which features Grays posing with a hunting partner, both grinning, alongside the felled beast. Many years guiding these big animals and now he has one of his own! Alaska is seriously amazing and I count myself lucky for getting to come back every year! Weather hasnt been on our side and may be stuck a little longer The post has elicited more than 100 comments, the majority of them expressing anger and disgust and calling for karma to deliver its response to Grays and her cohort. Among them: You are one disgusting ugly vile wench. Nature is something to stand back and admire. Not to murder, cut its head off, and nail to your wall. I can only pray that one day, karma returns the favor, and your head ends up on someones wall. What horrendous cowards these people are! Not hunters al all. Just murderers killing defenseless animals with high-powered guns. No skill there, just weak acts of [cowardice] by despicable insecure idiots. (Photo: Facebook/Jessica Grays Hunting Adventures) Wow, that was a gorgeous animal. Did you kill him to feed your family for the winter? Just wondering, because I wouldve loved to have seen him, from a distance, on my next visit to Alaska. You think youre a big shot because you were able to take down this gorgeous animal with a bullet? You disgust me. It truly is beyond my comprehension that anyone gets joy and excitement out of killing magnificent animals. Something is definitely lacking in trophy hunters like you, probably a soul. Though her post did bring on about 40 likes, more than 120 reacted with angry emoticons and a handful with sad. (Photo: Facebook/Jessica Grays Hunting Adventures) Adult moose can range in size from 800 pounds to twice that and can be almost six feet tall, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which reports that about 175,000 to 200,000 moose are widely distributed throughout Alaska, and that annual harvests range from about 40 to 1,200, depending on the region. Hunting the animals in the state is legal and done by lottery in some regions; in other regions, licensed hunters can take part in general moose hunts. Story continues Grays did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyles request for comment. (Update: Grays eventually did send a lengthy response. It said, in part, I find it unfortunate that the day after we as a nation suffer the greatest loss of human life in the tragic Las Vegas shooting; that instead of coming together as a nation to preserve and honor the sanctity of human life, I have received hundreds of death threats from the anti hunting community For me hunting is a part of who I am, I am very passionate about it. It has been my husbands dream to harvest a moose for over 20 years. I value the animals life and the process it takes to hunt them. Nothing goes to waste Hunters bring billions of dollars each year to conservation programs. I travel the world giving to conservation so that the animals will be around for my children and theirs to come. Managing wildlife is a balancing act. If we do nothing the numbers animals will drastically decline and we wont be able to enjoy them, let alone our posterity. But with management we are protecting and preserving these animals and helping them THRIVE in the wild!) Her story of bragging on social media and then facing a resulting takedown is similar to that of the Trump sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, who have posed alongside dead trophy animals including a leopard and crocodile, prompting critics over the years (led in part by Mia Farrow) to call them out for being in poor taste and murderers. In 2014, a game-hunting cheerleader by the name of Kendall Jones also inspired outrage and even a Change.org petition, demanding that Jones be banned from Africa; some claimed that the furious criticism of her was fueled by sexism. The biggest controversy of this kind of recent years was, of course, the saga of Cecil the Lion the 13-year-old king of the forest who was shot and killed in Zimbabwe by American dentist Walter Palmer. As a result, Palmer was publicly vilified for his actions and eventually said he felt regret over the hunt. Much of this weeks blowback over Grays appears to have been encouraged by the Facebook page Coalition Against Trophy Hunting, Poaching & Animal Cruelty, on which a post on Monday features Grays posing with a host of slaughtered and stuffed lions. Check her page out, the post urges. A lot more photos than this please share/tweet name/shame (with her ego? the shame part will take a lot of work. Go for it). Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. A leader of the Mormon Church, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reaffirmed the faiths opposition to same-sex marriage during a conference Saturday. The speech denouncing same-sex marriage was by Dallin H. Oaks a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the governing body of the church. We have witnessed a rapid and increasing public acceptance of cohabitation without marriage and same-sex marriage. The corresponding media advocacy, education, and even occupational requirements pose difficult challenges for Latter-day Saints, said Oaks. We must try to balance the competing demands of following the gospel law in our personal lives and teachings even as we seek to show love for all. The church theologically opposes the practice of same-sex marriage at a time when it has gained widespread acceptance. The churchs tone has gone back and forth between strict adherence to dogma, and speaking more compassionately. Many religious institutions find themselves threading a needle between upholding traditional faith values while contending with changing social norms. Last week a number of conservative members of the Catholic Church accused its leader, Pope Francis, of supporting heretical positions. Pope Francis has taken a softer approach to divorced catholics and the ability to re-marry. In his speech to the nearly 16 million Mormons throughout the world, Oaks said that followers must remain faithful, despite peoples attitudes around them changing. Even as we must live with the marriage laws and other traditions of a declining world, those who strive for exaltation must make personal choices in family life according to the Lord's way whenever that differs from the world's way, said Oaks. The twice-yearly meeting is meant to announce news and give guidance to the churchs followers. Another member of the churchs leadership, Quentin L. Cook, used the occasion to denounce racism. Cook called attitudes of white supremacy morally wrong and sinful. The faith banned men of African descent from becoming members of lay clergy until 1978. Story continues The church is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the conference took place. Related Articles The herpes simplex virus affects us modern humans in two forms as cold sores (HSV1) and as the more insidious genital herpes (HSV2). But during the early stages of our evolution about 7 million years ago, the branch of hominids that eventually led to Homo sapiens had left behind the HSV2 strain completely. How, then, did this now-widespread sexually transmitted virus (over one of every six people between the ages of 14 and 49 in the United States has genital herpes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) manage to become so prevalent among modern humans? In a paper published Sunday, scientists think the answer lies with an extinct distant ancestor called Paranthropus boisei. That P. boisei is not even from the genus Homo is enough evidence that this proto-human was not directly a part of the lineage that led to our own species. However, we share almost 99 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, and P. boisei evolved roughly 2.7 million years ago, long after our ancestors had already split from the branch that went on to evolve into our closest living relatives. Scientists use the unofficial term hominins to refer to all the early proto-human species and those that followed them following the split from what were at the time ancestors of modern chimpanzees. So, by that classification, P. boisei is, like H. sapiens, a hominin. Hominids, on the other hand, is a collective that refers to all the great apes taken together, which includes us and all other extinct species of the genus Homo, chimpanzees and bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. P. boisei walked on two feet, was heavyset and had a brain that was roughly 40 percent the size of a modern humans brain. The British researchers who published the study suggest in their paper it contracted HSV2 while feasting on meat of chimpanzee ancestors, the infection carrying over either through bites or through open sores on the body. Paranthropus boisei Photo: Louise Walsh Story continues However, HSV2 must have been restricted to the mouth mostly, where HSV1 already resided in many hominins, making them resilient to HSV2. But that changed when HSV2 found a more conducive home for itself and adapted to a different mucosal niche in the genitals. The actual human ancestors around at the time, likely H. erectus, probably came in frequent contact with P. boisei in places like watering holes. And that contact undoubtedly sexual in nature on occasion allowed HSV2 to make its way back into the lineage, the scientists suggest, adding that H. erectus likely hunted and consumed P. boisei, ingesting HSV2 in the process. Herpes infect everything from humans to coral, with each species having its own specific set of viruses. For these viruses to jump species barriers they need a lucky genetic mutation combined with significant fluid exchange. In the case of early hominins, this means through consumption or intercourse or possibly both, senior author of the study Charlotte Houldcroft, a virologist from the University of Cambridges Department of Archaeology, said in a statement Sunday. To arrive at their conclusion, the researchers modeled a large number of possibilities for the transmission of HSV2 from chimpanzees to the many hominins that roamed Africa at the time. They looked at climate data, changes in topography, fossil locations and geography to finally narrow down on P. boisei as the culprit who is indirectly responsible for giving genital herpes to anyone who has it today. The paper also suggests another transmission route. A direct Homo ancestor, H. habilis, may have been first infected by HSV2 from ancient chimpanzees, primarily through butchering and consumption of meat. It was H. habilis that, mainly through sexual contact, passed the virus on to P. boisei, which in turn infected H. erectus. Once HSV2 gains entry to a species it stays, easily transferred from mother to baby, as well as through blood, saliva and sex. HSV2 is ideally suited to low-density populations. The genital herpes virus would have crept across Africa the way it creeps down nerve endings in our sex organs slowly but surely, Houldcraft said. The paper, titled Network analysis of the hominin origin of Herpes Simplex virus 2 from fossil data, was published online in the journal Virus Evolution. Related Articles Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images, Getty Images [2] On October 3, the second day of the new term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that likely poses the most momentous question on its docket: Should it, for the first time in history, strike down a states electoral map on the grounds of partisan gerrymandering? Gerrymandering a term coined in 1813 to describe a practice that goes back to Colonial times refers to the intentional drawing of electoral district boundaries in ways that stack the deck in favor of one partys candidates, entrenching that partys control for multiple elections to come, even if the party loses majority support in the interim. In the upcoming case, Gill v. Whitford, the alleged gerrymanderers are the Republicans, and the body is the Wisconsin State Assembly, where, in 2012, GOP candidates won a supermajority of seats while winning fewer than half the total votes. Because state legislatures also draw electoral districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, gerrymandering impacts that body too. After the same round of redistrictings that led to the Gill lawsuit, the Republican Party won a 33-seat majority in the 2012 races, even though Democratic candidates outpolled Republicans by more than one million votes. The bias embedded in those redistrictings still overshadows the upcoming 2018 midterms. In addition, the caustic hyperpartisanship that characterizes national politics is at least in part a result of gerrymandering, which creates a plethora of safe seats for incumbents of both parties. Those representatives have disincentives to work across the aisle, lest the more extreme factions of their own party field a candidate to challenge them in the primaries increasingly the only remaining contested elections. With the upcoming 2020 census the event that will trigger the next round of electoral map redrawing the stakes of the case could not be higher. its critical that the court act now, says Michael Li, a senior attorney with the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, which studies elections law. If it doesnt, Big Data and technology are about to make things much worse. While the current beneficiaries of extreme gerrymandering are congressional Republicans, this case isnt about Republicans or Democrats. Story continues In Gill, a group of Democratic voters challenged Republican-controlled redistricting in Wisconsin in 2011. In 2012, under the new map, Republican candidates for the state assembly garnered a minority, 48.6%, of the total votes cast, yet won a supermajority of seats 60 out of 99. In contrast, Democrats would have had to capture 54% of the statewide vote a once-in-a-generation landslide, by Wisconsin standards in order to come away with even a simple majority, according to evidence presented at trial in May 2016. A three-judge federal district court in Madison, voting 2-1, struck down the plan last November, finding that it intentionally discriminated against Democratic voters on the basis of their political viewpoints in violation of their free speech rights under the First Amendment and their equal protection rights under the Fourteenth. Though the Supreme Court has invalidated racially motivated gerrymanders, it has repeatedly refused to strike down purely political ones even while recognizing that the practice was pernicious. In its 2004 ruling in Vieth v. Jubilerer, where the court, by a 5-4 vote, declined to intervene in a partisan gerrymandering case from Pennsylvania, every justice agreed that such machinations were incompatible with democratic principles and that excessive injection of politics into redistricting was unlawful. Yet historically, the court has declined to wade into the inherently political quagmire of district mapping. A decision ordering the correction of all election district lines drawn for partisan reasons would commit federal and state courts to unprecedented intervention in the American political process, wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in his concurring opinion in Vieth. Whether the Court and especially Kennedy, who was the swing vote in Vieth will now reverse tack in the upcoming case, will likely hinge on whether, in its view, advances in technology have changed the landscape since Vieth. Partisan gerrymanders have become more common, more severe, and more durable in their effects since this court last considered their constitutionality more than a decade ago, argues attorney Paul Smith in a brief for William Whitford and the 11 other voters challenging the redistricting. This is the product of better map-drawing technology utilizing more sophisticated voter data about an increasingly polarized electorate. Smith, who argued the unsuccessful voter challenge in Vieth, will also argue next months case. Fortunately, technological advances cut both ways, Smith will argue. There are now objective, mathematical metrics that judges can use to decide whether a legislative map is unconstitutionally partisan, he maintains. In the past, the court has cited the absence of such tools as the basis for its refusal to intervene in partisan gerrymandering cases. While the court has not hesitated to strike down racial gerrymanders reasoning that judges can easily determine whether one impermissible factor, race, played a role it has found no principled basis for condemning partisan gerrymanders, where judges are asked to divine when an intrinsically political process becomes too political. Smith and many of the outside organizations and individuals supporting his clients position about 30 amicus briefs have been filed supporting the plaintiffs insist that neutral tools for drawing that line do now exist, and that the lower court relied on several. But Wisconsin Solicitor General Mischa Tseytlin, defending the 2011 redistricting, argues in his brief that the lower court based its decision on the same social-science hodge-podge and cherry-picked metrics that the court has repeatedly rebuffed in the past. Tseytlin represents Wisconsin elections commissioner Beverly R. Gill and five other defendant state officials. If the court were to strike down Wisconsins map, claims the Republican State Leadership Committee in an amicus brief one of 14 filed in support of Wisconsin it would politicize the courts and go far beyond intervention in the political thicket; it would impale the judiciary on its thorns. U.S. congressional seats are reapportioned after each decennial census. Reapportionment often requires redistricting at the state level. If a single political party can win control of all levels of a state government in time to command that process, it has the opportunity to gerrymander. Historically, both parties have gerrymandered when given the chance. Recognizing an opportunity in early 2010, the Republican State Leadership Committee set up the Redistricting Majority Project (REDMAP) to try to win Republican control of state legislatures in key battleground states. In March 2010, Republican strategist Karl Rove stressed the importance of the groups work in a Wall Street Journal article subtitled, He Who Controls Redistricting Can Control Congress. Redistricting in a few states, including Wisconsin, he wrote, could determine which party controls upwards of 20 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nationally, Republicans won big in the 2010 midterms the election then President Barack Obama called a shellacking. In Wisconsin, Republicans won control of the statehouse for the first time in more than 40 years. Its leadership then tasked a private law firm, in consultation with a political scientist, to select the new electoral map. In a secretive process, computer simulations were run of voting outcomes under different mapping scenarios, the district court later found. The goal was to maximize the number of seats that Republicans could capture with even a minority of votes, according to the court. The manipulations employed standard gerrymandering techniques, known as packing and cracking. Packing means massing the bulk of the opposing partys voters into a very few districts, which are effectively conceded to opposing party candidates. Cracking means dispersing the rest of the opposing partys voters into the remaining districts, where they are expected to be a permanent minority. By creating many more cracked districts than packed districts, the party in charge of redistricting hopes to achieve enduring control of the legislative body. After the final map was selected and submitted to the legislature for passage, one of its drafters told the Republican caucus, The maps we pass will determine whos here 10 years from now. Most observers believe the plaintiffs face an uphill battle at the Supreme Court. The roadblock is the legal concept known as justiciability. Under longstanding precedent, federal courts decline to decide inherently political questions called nonjusticiable on the grounds that judges have no principled basis for doing so, and that such matters are best left to the elected branches of government. In Vieth, the four liberal-leaning justices voted to strike down the Pennsylvania redistricting plan. The four most liberal justices today are expected to do the same in Gill. The four most conservative justices, on the other hand, found that partisan gerrymandering disputes were nonjusticiable. The late Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for that faction, explained that the Constitution clearly contemplates districting by political entities, so some degree of political calculation in the process was inevitable and permissible. For this reason, courts lacked judicially discoverable and manageable standards for resolving allegations of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering. Crucially, Justice Kennedy joined neither faction in Vieth. His separate opinion defines the narrow opening through which the Gill plaintiffs must try to squeeze. While Kennedy agreed with Scalia that the plaintiffs in Vieth had presented no neutral standard for deciding the case, Kennedy left open the possibility that, in the future, some other challenger might succeed in doing so. The prospect of technological change lay at the heart of his reasoning. Technology is both a threat and a promise, he wrote. On the one hand, if courts refuse to entertain any claims of partisan gerrymandering, the temptation to use partisan favoritism in districting in an unconstitutional manner will grow. On the other hand, he continued, these new technologies may produce new methods of analysis that could facilitate court efforts to identify and remedy severe gerrymandering. To prevail, then, it seems that the plaintiffs must convince Kennedy (or, perhaps, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who was not on the Vieth court) that he was right on both scores. The first challenge is the easier of the two to meet. There is compelling evidence, assert political scientists Bernard Grofman and Ronald Keith Gaddie in their amicus brief, that the 2010 redistricting cycle yielded partisan gerrymandering of a magnitude that is qualitatively and quantitatively different from what we have seen in the past as much as three times more partisan bias than in the 2000 redistricting cycle. As for the tougher part proving that neutral analytical tools are now available the plaintiffs relied at trial on a family of statistical analyses called partisan-symmetry tests, which many of the amici supporting the plaintiffs have also endorsed. Partisan symmetry is simple to define, writes Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken in a brief she co-authored on behalf of herself she is an elections-law scholar and four experts in the quantitative analysis of elections. A set of districts are symmetrical when reversing the outcome of the election flipping each partys average district vote totals would also reverse the number of seats won. Heres what that means and doesnt mean. Importantly, partisan-symmetry tests do not require that votes and outcomes be proportional a notion that the court has rejected in the past. They do not require, for instance, that if one party wins 51% of the electorate, it must also win about 51% of the assembly seats. What these tests do say is that if a 51% Republican victory translates into, say, a 60% Republican majority in the legislature, a 51% Democratic victory should also translate into an at least roughly comparable Democratic majority. This was clearly not the case in Wisconsin. Partisan symmetry has near universal support within social science and has withstood robust testing, Gerken writes in an email to Yahoo. But the availability of partisan-symmetry tests was brought to the courts attention once before albeit cursorily in a 2006 gerrymandering case, and the majority at that time, including Kennedy, were unswayed. In addition, Wisconsin Solicitor General Tseytlin mocks the particular species of partisan-symmetry test that the plaintiffs focused upon at trial, claiming that it would find that one out of every three legislative maps drawn in the last 45 years has impermissible partisan effect. (The plaintiffs contest that claim.) Ultimately, if the challengers cant win over Kennedy with their technology-based arguments, they might yet have one last hope. That one stems from the opposite of technology: the human condition and its corollary, mortality. Kennedy is now 81. There has been frequent and widespread speculation about his impending retirement. A landmark condemnation of partisan gerrymandering would become part of his legacy. This may be his last chance to write it. _____ The parents of a Canadian man who was killed during Sunday's mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival have spoken out in the wake of their son's tragic death. Jordan McIldoon, a 23-year-old man from Maple Ridge, British Columbia, was confirmed dead by his parents, Al and Angela McIldoon, on Monday. The pair told the CBC that their son was attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival with his girlfriend and that they were expected to return home on Monday night. "We only had one child," they told the outlet. "We just don't know what to do." Photo: Facebook A relative of McIldoon who did not wish to be named told the National Post that his parents were currently traveling to Nevada to retrieve their son's body. Another Canadian, Jessica Klymchuk, also died during Sunday night's massacre, according to Alberta Premier Rachel Notley. Klymchuk was a mother of four vacationing in Las Vegas with her fiance, according to CityNews Toronto. Other victims of the attack who have been identified include Sonny Melton, a Tennesee man who was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival with his wife on Sunday night, and Quinton Robbins, a 20-year-old student at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. An off-duty Las Vegas police officer, whose name has not yet been released, was also confirmed among the fatalities. RELATED: These are the victims of the deadly Las Vegas shooting: After the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history left at least 58 people dead, plus the gunman, and more than 500 injured at a music festival in Las Vegas late Sunday night, lawmakers responded by offering thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families. President Donald Trump tweeted Monday morning to offer his warmest condolences and sympathies. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 Soon after, Vice President Mike Pence tweeted similar sentiments. To victims, families & loved ones affected by this senseless violence in Las Vegas, Karen & I are praying for you & offering our love... Vice President Pence (@VP) October 2, 2017 ...The hearts & prayers of the American people are with you. You have our condolences and sympathies. Vice President Pence (@VP) October 2, 2017 To the courageous first responders, thank you for your acts of bravery. Vice President Pence (@VP) October 2, 2017 In a statement to reporters, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders affirmed that Trump was being briefed on the situation. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers, she said. Nevada lawmakers, including the governor and U.S. senators, expressed their sympathies and affirmed that they were working with local officials to respond to the violence. A tragic & heinous act of violence has shaken the #Nevada family. Our prayers are w/ the victims & all affected by this act of cowardice. Governor Sandoval (@GovSandoval) October 2, 2017 Senseless, horrifying act of violence in Las Vegas tonight. Praying for all the victims & those impacted by the tragedy. Dean Heller (@SenDeanHeller) October 2, 2017 Spoke with Gov. Sandoval and Attorney General Laxalt and will continue to monitor the situation. Dean Heller (@SenDeanHeller) October 2, 2017 My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and wounded in last nights vicious and senseless attack outside the Mandalay Bay Resort, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said in a statement, before thanking first responders and offering support to local officials. Story continues A few lawmakers, mostly Democrats, noted the need for more than just thoughts and prayers. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) was among them: Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This senseless violence must endthoughts and prayers are simply not enough. We must act to prevent this from happening again. Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) October 2, 2017 Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was wounded in a mass shooting in 2011, said that no person should endure the horror Las Vegas experienced last night. Heartbroken by the scene our nation is waking up to this morning. No person should endure the horror Las Vegas experienced last night. Gabrielle Giffords (@GabbyGiffords) October 2, 2017 Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, who have become prominent gun control advocates, held a press conference on Capitol Hill later in the day, imploring Trump and members of Congress to take action. What were hearing today at the Capitol and the White House are thoughts and prayers. Thoughts and prayers are important. We send our thoughts and prayers, too. But they are not enough, Kelly said. Your thoughts and prayers arent going to stop the next shooting. Only action and leadership will do that. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) wrote in a series of tweets that it is not sufficient to just offer thoughts and prayers, and he criticized his colleagues refusal to take real, meaningful action to curb gun violence. Congress must engage in a robust debate about commonsense ways to keep guns, particularly military-style weapons, out of the wrong hands. Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) October 2, 2017 And Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who became a fierce advocate for gun control following the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, did not mince words. The thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference, he said in a statement. Its time for Congress to get off its ass and do something. Yet Sanders insisted that it was premature to discuss policy changes regarding guns and urged people to wait for all of the facts. Theres a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country, Sanders said Monday during a White House press briefing, before also offering her thoughts and prayers. See more politicians reactions below. America woke up to heartbreaking news from Las Vegas. We stand united in our shock, our condolences, & our prayers. https://t.co/dKqjJqPIpu pic.twitter.com/B67cklsBkS Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) October 2, 2017 Keeping #LasVegas in our thoughts this morning after the horrific news. If you're trying to locate missing loved ones, call 1-866-535-5654 Leader McConnell (@SenateMajLdr) October 2, 2017 Horrified and heartbroken by the awful tragedy in #LasVegas last night. Praying for those lost, wounded & waiting for news from loved ones. Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) October 2, 2017 Such a senseless tragedy in Las Vegas. This horrific act has our nation praying for the victims and their families. May God bless us all. Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) October 2, 2017 Praying for the victims and first responders in Las Vegas and our country right now. This shooting was a horrible and cowardly act. Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 2, 2017 Lifting up in prayer all impacted by last night's despicable shooting in Las Vegas & all 1st responders on the scene https://t.co/1Yb9NeHx9w Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 2, 2017 Our hearts are heavy for the victims of the terrible attack in Las Vegas, their families and for all who have been affected. John Kasich (@JohnKasich) October 2, 2017 Im praying for all the victims, their families, and our first responders in the #LasVegas #MandalayBay shooting. Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) October 2, 2017 Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their family members affected by the terrible tragedy in #LasVegas. Mike Enzi (@SenatorEnzi) October 2, 2017 My heart breaks for Las Vegas - prayers to families and loved ones. The nation's conscience must be galvanized. Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) October 2, 2017 MA is praying for the victims, families & 1st responders in #LasVegas. Deeply saddened & horrified to learn of this senseless mass shooting. Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) October 2, 2017 Heartbreaking news out of Las Vegaspraying for the victims, their families and our country. Fla. AG Pam Bondi (@AGPamBondi) October 2, 2017 Thoughts & prayers for #LasVegas victims and their family members. What a heartbreaking, horrific tragedy. #PrayForLasVegas Louie Gohmert (@replouiegohmert) October 2, 2017 Praying for the victims and their loved ones following the horrific shooting in Las Vegas - and grateful to all the brave first responders. Sen. Maggie Hassan (@SenatorHassan) October 2, 2017 Read the latest updates on the shooting here. This article has been updated with additional lawmaker responses. Also on HuffPost People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A cowboy hat lies in the street. VIDEO: Rapid fire from shooter(s) in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/jgzCTQRUZP Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) October 2, 2017 Las Vegas police search for the gunman while protecting fleeing fans. Fans run from the Route 91 Harvest festival after a gunman opened fire. Others dive for cover. Some fans drop to the ground. People run from the Route 91 Harvest festival. People scramble for cover. HORRIFIC SCENE: Do not let this be called anything else but DOMESTIC TERRORISM. AP reports 2dead 13critical & dozens injured. #MandalayBay pic.twitter.com/q7faKkCPpN Eduardo Samaniego (@EduSamani) October 2, 2017 A man in a wheelchair is helped away. People run for cover. EYEWITNESS: Chilling footage of moment active shooter opened fire on concert goers near Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/7OfAwg0ReO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017 A person takes cover amid the shooting. A person runs barefoot from the shooting. Police officers stop a man who drove down Tropicana Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard, which had been closed. A pair of cowboy boots lies in the street outside the concert venue. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Andrea Shalal BERLIN (Reuters) - Critics of a new hate speech law in Germany are upbeat that it can be revised after its Social Democratic sponsors vowed to drop out of the ruling coalition following last month's national election and go into opposition. The German parliament in June approved legislation that will allow authorities to fine social media networks up to 50 million euros if they fail to remove hateful postings promptly, despite warnings that the law could limit free expression. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives will start talks in coming weeks on forming a new coalition with the environmental Greens, who abstained from voting for the law, and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), who opposed it outright. Germany has some of the world's toughest laws covering defamation, public incitement to commit crimes and threats of violence, with prison sentences for Holocaust denial or inciting hatred against minorities. But few online cases are prosecuted. The new law, which came into effect on Oct. 1, gives social media networks 24 hours to delete or block obviously criminal content and seven days to deal with less clear-cut cases, with an obligation to report back to the person who filed the complaint about how they handled the case. Failure to comply could see a company fined up to 50 million euros, and the company's chief representative in Germany fined up to 5 million euros. Opponents argue the law could damage free speech because the threat of fines will prompt social media companies to censor more content than really necessary. Facebook and Twitter and other social media platforms are scrambling to adapt to its requirements and avoid hefty fines that the law forsees in the event of violation. The departure from government of Justice Minister Heiko Maas, an SPD member and main driver behind the new hate speech law, offers critics a new chance to get the law overturned or at least revised, according to politicians and industry groups. Nicola Beer, secretary general of the FDP, vowed in a Tweet to make the law "the shortest-ever in force." Konstantin von Notz, digital spokesman for the Greens, told Reuters his party would press for "a new start" in many policy areas, including the hate speech law and cyber security. Bernhard Rohleder, head of the IT industry association, told the Handelsblatt newspaper on Monday that if it succeeded in forming a government, the new coalition should "correct the mistake and eliminate the law without replacement." Marie-Teresa Weber, who heads the group's consumer law and media policy department, said the legal experts considered the law unconstitutional. "The new coalition should rescind it before the courts do so," she said. Parliamentary experts said it might be tough to overturn the law completely, but it would likely to be tweaked in coming years once authorities begin to implement it. Affected individuals or companies could also challenge it as unconstitutional, they said. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Richard Balmforth) A national conversation on U.S. gun laws soon re-emerged on Monday after a Las Vegas gunman left 58 dead and over 500 wounded in the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was one of the first to criticize the NRA in the wake of the deadly shooting, saying the "grief wasn't enough." Women's March co-founder Bob Bland took the NRA to task with punchier language, though, posting on Facebook a message that reads, "NRA = American ISIS." RELATED: Progressive responses to deadly Las Vegas shooting Nevada is one of 45 American states with open carry gun laws, and many Twitter users quickly pointed to the state's more lose gun restrictions as part of the harmful context in which gunman Stephen Paddock operated on Sunday night. Paddock reportedly had 18 to 20 guns in his hotel room from which he fired off rounds -- some of those guns fully automatic weapons. "The NRA wants to pass a bill allowing the legal purchase of silencers," Heather Whaley wrote. "People ducked and ran in Las Vegas because of the sound of gunfire." The NRA wants to pass a bill allowing the legal purchase of silencers. People ducked and ran in Las Vegas because of the sound of gunfire. Heather Bucha Whaley (@HeatherWhaley) October 2, 2017 Sen. Chris Murphy was quick to criticize his Capitol Hill colleagues who feel "afraid" of the gun industry's lobbying power in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, saying it's time for Congress to "get off its ass." President Trump and congressional leaders held moments of silence for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting on Monday, and some were little impressed with that show of solidarity. "Your campaign took $30 million from the NRA last year," Molly Knight said of Vice President Mike Pence. "Save your prayers for something else." Designer Rey Ortiz created a controversial gown slamming Donal Trump. (Getty Images) Former Project Runway contestant Rey Ortiz designed a controversial black evening gown with gold letters that read F*** Trump. Ortiz has used his creation as a political statement to criticize the presidents efforts or reported lack thereof to help the community of Puerto Rico, which was devastated after being hit by Hurricane Maria. The sparkling dress is now going viral. The U.S. territory is in crisis. Thousands have lost their homes and are struggling without power, food, and water. Celebrities including Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, and Lin-Manuel Miranda have urged the president act to help the island. Ortizs dress debuted at the Project Runway WERK Fashion Show at last years Austin Pride. The native of Puerto Rico tells Yahoo Lifestyle, The dress was designed and executed by me before I even thought he had a chance on winning the election. It was the closing piece for my collection, and even though I knew it was controversial language, I thought that I had to go down to his level, he says. I think he is a misogynist and con artist liar, racist, and a so on. It was the presidents tweets toward the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday that pushed Ortiz to repost his controversial gown on Instagram with various news headlines regarding the matter. F U C K T R U M P @fashionbyreyortiz #fucktrump #puertorico #puertoricostrong @lin.manuel_miranda @carmenyulincruz #donaldtrump #fucktard #notmypresident A post shared by Rey Ortiz (@fashionbyreyortiz) on Sep 30, 2017 at 12:13pm PDT In his early-morning messages, Trump slammed San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for publicly criticizing the Trump administration for its slow response to the crisis. Story continues Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017 Ortiz shared with Yahoo Lifestyle that since Trump became president he has made it a priority to keep up with his politics, something that didnt interest him before. I will not be silenced. Now the Puerto Rico situation has made me even more worked up, since Im from there. My dress is here to stay, he says. I will use my art as much as possible, since my resources are not many. I can share my two cents. The designer has made other pieces to reflect his political frustration toward Trump. Former NSync member Lance Bass wore Ortizs Love Trumps Hate jacket on the red carpet for the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. @fashionbyreyortiz Thank you for the mention @billboard Repost from @billboard using @RepostRegramApp Ain't that the truth. #VMAs | Jamie McCarthy/Getty A post shared by Rey Ortiz (@fashionbyreyortiz) on Aug 28, 2016 at 4:50pm PDT #lancebass in @fashionbyreyortiz #bomber #jacket photography by @tatephoto A post shared by Rey Ortiz (@fashionbyreyortiz) on Aug 28, 2016 at 10:34pm PDT The designer shared that he has another controversial creation in mind. As long as Trump and his followers keep opening their nasty and big mouths, the dress will keep getting more and more popular, he says. I often think if I should start designing the impeachment one. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. This Bride had two dreams for her wedding: to hold the ceremony in the backyard of her childhood home and to wear her mother's wedding dress. And while the carefully preserved gown fit her like a glove, rain threatened the other dream. At the last second, the weather looked like it would clear, so the sweet Bride decided to delay the ceremony which ended up being her best decision! She quietly waited in her parent's bedroom for the sun to reappear, and for the first time in months, she was able to sit and soak in all that was happening that day. Ashley Baber Weddings and Legendary Events are the duo who pulled off this outdoor wedding just minutes after the rain, and we've got the pretty photos by Virgil Bunao Photography to share with you here. From the Bride... William and I had our wedding in my parents' backyard, which had always been a dream of mine growing up. It is a magical backyard: eight acres of beautiful valley filled with green grass, big trees, fragrant honeysuckle, merry creeks, and dragonfly ponds. So the morning of my wedding day, I woke up in my childhood bedroom. It felt right. The walls that had seen so much of my life story so far were now sending me off into a new chapter. Two lovely young women from Aura Hair & Makeup arrived bright and early to do up the ladies. William and I decided just to have our siblings in our bridal party, so my future mother-in-law, Rose, my future sister-in-law Jordan, my mother, and I gathered in the kitchen for beautification. I also asked my dearest friend, Meghan, who has been my surrogate sister since middle school, to come and hang out with us. She brought her brand new baby girl, Elizabeth, with her, and everyone took turns cooing over the baby when they weren't in one of the hot seats. There were some very happy moments of exchanging gifts, working on last-minute homemade crafts with my little brother, Tanner, hugging beloved grandparents as they arrived, and watching the final preparations under the tent outside. At some point, the boys arrived, and I hid on the kitchen floor behind the island while they headed down to the basement for their own preparations. Don't worry; it is a very sexy basement, with a pool table and ping pong table to keep them occupied. But I loved the idea of William and I getting ready for our big day in the same house. Once it came time to change, I dressed in my parents' master bedroom while William donned his suit directly below in my dad's office. The nearness was such a fun tease.In addition to getting married in my parents' backyard, my second childhood wedding dream was wearing my mother's dress. I grew up looking at pictures of my mom in her bridal gown and thinking she was (and is) the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Well would you believe it? that dream came true as well. We took the dress out of the sealed box, where it had been residing under my parents' bed for over 30 years, and it fit perfectly. Perfectly! All we did was add an inch or so of lace to the hem because I am taller than my sweet mama. And I wore flats, which I would have done anyway because of the whole backyard wedding thing. (And the I-hate-heels thing.) So it was a very special moment when my mom helped me into the same dress that she had worn on the day she married my father. I also wore a pearl necklace from my paternal grandfather who passed away in 2013, a sapphire ring from my maternal great-grandmother, and a pearl bracelet that William sent up to me from the basement that very day. I felt quite literally wrapped up in love and family. Also, I will add this nifty suggestion from my mom for any Brides or Grooms reading: Find a perfume or cologne that you love but which you wouldn't wear every day. Only wear it the week of the wedding and on your honeymoon. Then, if you ever wear it again in the future for an anniversary or special occasion, that scent will immediately take you back, since your sense of smell is the one most closely tied to memory! I chose Jo Malone's Peony and Blush Suede, and that scent now magically conjures some of my happiest memories.Once we were all dressed, it came time for the father-daughter first look. We had a tradition in my family that my little brother and I always sat and waited at the top of the stairs on Christmas morning until my parents gave us official permission to come down. At various intervals, we called out, "Is it okay to come down yet?" until they replied "Alright!" with camcorder in-hand. It seemed fitting to sneak upstairs in all my bridal glory and call out, "Is it okay to come down, Daddy?" He followed tradition and replied, in a chipper voice, "Alright!" I descended that stairwell and felt so much love and appreciation for my family waiting below that I thought I would burst. My paternal grandfather, who is normally a tough teddy bear, probably lost it the most. I was doubly glad to be wearing my mother's dress, knowing how much it meant to the man who bought it the first time around.The weather predicted rain, and the sky sure looked ominous, so I resigned myself to the "Rain Plan" and quickly moved on. After months of worrying about the weather, it suddenly wasn't important now that I was hours away from marrying William. That was all I cared about. I just wanted to get married. Pictures were a bit of an improvisation because the rain started coming down and coming down sideways. But Virgil Bunao and his photography team worked wonders. I am forever grateful to have had Virgil by my side throughout the day. It was imperative to me that I feel comfortable, relaxed, and myself with our chosen photographer, because in some ways, that is the person you see the most on your wedding day. When I met Virgil, I immediately fell in love with him. And when he journeyed to New York to shoot our engagement photos, William did, too. Virgil filled our day with laughter, joy, fun, and calm, and he let us be one hundred percent us, one hundred percent Hanley-and-William. And he took some gorgeous, unparalleled photos while he was at it.Once guests began arriving, I went back into my parents' bedroom to hide. Originally, the guests were supposed to head straight down to the ceremony site a bridal path lined with enormous oak trees that formed a natural cathedral but because of the rain, they all ended up in our living room and kitchen. I could hear the chatter grow and swell as more and more people arrived. Then my dad came in and said something unexpected and a little miraculous: "Hanley, I think this rain will pass if we delay. Do you want to get married down on the path if possible?" I hesitated for just a second and then gave him a fervent yes. So we delayed! And I entered into one of my favorite memories of the day. I got to sit quietly in my parents' bay window, all ready to go, and just wait. It was the first time in days, maybe weeks, that I had sat still and basked in the moment. I could hear all those voices in the living room, the voices of people I loved, who had come just to support us, to witness for us. William and I are both actors, and it felt a little bit like what we call "half hour," when the audience is taking their seats and you are getting ready to go on. I was in a real-life dressing room, sitting through a real-life half hour, waiting to go on for the most real-life of performances. And somewhere nearby, William was waiting, too. I cherish that moment so deeply. The moment before. And sure enough, the rain stopped.The incredible team of Ashley Baber Weddings and Legendary Events, who between the two companies did everything from planning to tenting to catering to portable restroom-ing, rushed down to the ceremony site and dried off all of the seats, pulled tarps off of seating areas, got the outdoor bar ready, set out the lawn games, and basically did their best to hide the fact that we had just endured several hours of torrential downpour. Slowly the living room got quieter as guests made their way outside. I could hear our two dear friends, Trevor and Andrew, playing guitar and singing through a setlist that William and I picked out together down on the path. I watched from the bay window as our co-officiants, William's best friend, Quin, and a beloved minister from my childhood, Reverend Wolf, headed down. Soon, only my father and I were left. After a moment of panic when we realized I had left William's ring in my bedroom and my poor dad had to race back into the house to get it, we headed down. I hid behind a lace parasol that my mother bought for me since there was no way to disguise our approach. Once we arrived, I handed off the parasol and hid behind my father instead. The music changed, and the ceremony began.William didn't want us to see each other before the ceremony so that he could get an undiluted emotional wallop as I walked down the aisle to "Sweet Thing" by Van Morrison. I clung to my dad's arm, shaking all over with the importance of the moment, and tried to take in all the faces as I walked by. But the face I was most excited to see was waiting at the end of the aisle, beaming at me. William and I wrote our ceremony script together, a mixture of traditional liturgy and our own ideas, a balance of the secular and the sacred. The best example of this: When Revered Wolf said the traditional "If anyone here can show just cause why these two people should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace," Quin countered with "Conversely, if anyone here can show just cause why these two people absolutely SHOULD be married, please reach below your chairs and do not keep your peace at all, but make a joyful noise in support of their union!" And guess what? We had taped kazoos to the bottoms of all the chairs. It gave us a wonderful chance to really look back at our guests and soak up the sight of them, feeling their positivity and blessings pouring over us. William and I also said both traditional vows and our own vows that we wrote independently so as to surprise each other. Holding William's hands, staring into his beloved, beautiful eyeballs, making promises to each other, and feeling the loving presence of our guests, our witnesses, our village... That was my favorite moment out of the entire day. I LOVED our ceremony.Unbeknownst to our guests, the Big Fun Brass Band from New Orleans snuck up behind them during the ceremony, and as soon as we kissed and were announced husband and wife, they struck up a rendition of Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, more popularly known as "If I Had Words," as our recessional. Once William and I reached the end of the aisle, I picked up my parasol, the trumpets really blared, and we danced our way up to the house in a good, old-fashioned, NOLA-style Second Line Parade! We had bought white umbrellas for the guests as their party favor to protect them from rain or sun (or both, as it happened), so everyone grabbed one as they left their seats and we paraded to the reception. Along the 5-minute route, we had a drinks stand and passed appetizers, because eventually William and I stopped, turned around, and made the Second Line Parade into a Receiving Line so that we could greet all of our guests. This way, everyone had sustenance while they waited. We took our photos while the guests enjoyed a very Hanley-and-Willliam-esque cocktail hour. There was a Bacon and Biscuit Wagon (two of our favorite things) with multiple kinds of bacon, biscuits, and spreads. In addition to the regular open bar options, we offered two delicious craft beers specially-made for us by our friend Matt Curling, who will soon be opening up his own brewery called Variant Brewing in Roswell, GA. William's beer was a Centennial-style IPA and mine was a raspberry gose. There was beer pong, corn hole, etc. and all with the fabulous brass band music bouncing along in the background. Thankfully, my childhood friend and professional videographer, Chandler Mays, of Bright Elephant Productions, beautifully captured the whole day, so I have a sense of the fun that was had while we were elsewhere.William and I took a moment to ourselves so that I could change into a reception dress a fabulous, lightweight gown by Modern Trousseau with pockets that looked like the playful baby sister of my mom's dress and so that we could just be alone for a second to revel in our newly-married state. Then we made our grand entrance into the big tent and ran straight onto the dance floor. We commissioned the brass band to compose a version of "Clair de Lune" as William and I both love that song, and it turned out to be a great, jazzy, danceable rendition and a very unique first dance song. Then we bid a grateful farewell to the wildly-talented Big Fun Brass Band, and the truly show-stopping Atlanta Showstoppers took over for dinner and dancing.The two things I hear the most from our guests about our wedding are: 1) I loved your vows, and 2) THAT BAND, THOUGH. The Atlanta Showstoppers are the best wedding band on the planet. They can play anything and everything and sound like the original band while they do it, and they are as kind and lovely as can be as human beings. I barely got to speak to anyone because we were all so busy dancing like maniacs. My favorite mishap: William danced so hard that he literally ripped his pants open, from belt buckle to crotch, and he had to borrow a pair of my little brother's khakis for the rest of the night! Thank goodness the wedding was in the backyard!If it isn't apparent already, William and I really wanted our wedding day to be filled with our personalities, and I think the way we exited the wedding is one of the best examples of that. We had discussed a fun, old car, but that was a little more expensive than it was worth, so William came up with a brilliant Plan B. We are both runners, so what if we literally ran out of the wedding? I loved it, and we decided to go whole hog. We created a hand-painted "Start" banner; we made "race bibs," mine with the number 64 and his with the number 16, for our wedding date, 6/4/16; he wore a "Just" sign on his back and I wore "Married" on mine; we tied penny-filled PBR beer cans attached to strings to our waists and they dragged along the ground behind us; we replaced our wedding shoes with running shoes; and we wore headlamps on our foreheads to light our way into the dark. Our guests lined up with sparklers, creating a kind of runway for us, with the start line at the end, and with a big huzzah, and maybe a bit too much speed, we ran off into the night and into our lives as a married couple! In a kind of perfect circle from the beginning of the festivities when I could hear our guests in the living room, we could hear people cheering in the distance behind us as we jogged through an otherwise quiet and still evening. We traveled a full mile together, and it was actually magical to have another chance to soak in the moment, to revel in what we had just done, to honor the fact that we were now an official team, and though we had our village behind us, our marriage was now ours. The wedding was just the beginning.I cannot thank my parents, our families, our friends, or our vendors enough for that day. While things went awry and some balls were dropped and it rained off and on the whole day, none of that matters. It is forgotten in the glow of all the things that went absolutely right, often in ways I could never have predicted or planned. That would be my last piece of advice to any Brides or Grooms: lay the foundation and then let the day happen. Live it. It really is just the beginning! Many blessings to you! Photography: Virgil Bunao Photography | Cinematography: Bright Elephant Films | Event Planning: Ashley Baber Weddings | Floral Design: Legendary Events | Wedding Dress: RL Couture Bridal Design & Alterations | Catering: Legendary Events | Hair + Makeup: Aura Hair | Officiant: Quin Gordon | Officiant: Reverend John Wolfe | Ceremony Musicians: Trevor Vaughn and Andrew Pastides | Ceremony and Reception: Bride's Parents Home | Cocktail Hour Musicians: Big Fun Brass Band | Decor: Legendary Events | Photo Booth: ShutterBooth | Reception Band: Atlanta Showstoppers Madrid (AFP) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Sunday that the rule of law had prevailed in Catalonia because an independence referendum in the region prohibited by the courts had been blocked. "Today there has not been a self-determination referendum in Catalonia. The rule of law remains in force with all its strength," he said in a televised address. Security forces "performed their duty" in Catalonia and respected a court order to prevent voting from taking place, he added in his first public comments on Sunday's banned referendum. "It would have been easier for everyone to look the other way," the conservative prime minister said. The referendum was a "real attack on the rule of law... to which the state reacted with firmness and serenity". "We have fulfilled our obligation, we have acted according to the law and only according to the law," he added. At least 92 people were injured clashes between police and protesters, two of them seriously, a spokeswoman for the Catalan government's health department said, out of a total of 761 people who went to hospitals and health centres. Spain's interior ministry said 33 police officers needed medical treatment. Police baton-charged and fired rubber bullets to disperse crowds protecting polling stations in Barcelona and other towns and cities in the Catalan region. Videos posted on social media showed police dragging voters from polling stations by their hair, throwing people down stairs and attacking Catalan firefighters who were protecting polling stations. Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said police had used "indiscriminate force" against people demonstrating "peacefully". Police had closed 319 polling stations set up for the referendum, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull told a news conference. The Catalan government had said on Friday this it would have some 2,300 polling stations across Catalonia but it was unclear how many actually opened. Story continues Several leftist Spanish politicians have demanded Rajoy resign because of the police crackdown against the protesters. But the prime minister blamed the unrest on the Catalan government. "The responsibility for these acts solely and exclusively falls on those who promoted the rupture of legality and coexistence," he said. He called the referendum a process that "only served to sow division, push citizens to confrontation and the streets to revolt." "I will not close any door, I have never done it," the prime minister added, suggesting he would be willing to negotiate with Catalonia to try to satisfy the region's demands for greater autonomy. "But it will always be within the framework of law and democracy," he said. Polls show Catalans are divided on the question of independence but the vast majority back a legal referendum on the issue to settle the issue. From Harpers Bazaar UK Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling have kept their relationship mostly out of the public eye. Mendes rarely joins Gosling on the red carpet for premieres or award shows; Gosling rarely joins Mendes for her New York & Company events. "What people don't know about me is that I love being home," Mendes told Shape in its April issue of why she doesn't do a lot of public events with Gosling. "Instead of hitting the red carpet, I'd rather be with our girls." But an exception was made last night when Gosling hosted Saturday Night Live. Paparazzi caught him and Mendes, smiling and walking hand-in-hand at New York City's Tao Restaurant, where the SNL after-party was held. You Might Also Like Sydney (AFP) - An asylum-seeker being held on one of Australia's remote Pacific island camps was found dead Monday, rights groups said, in a suspected suicide that has once again thrown Canberra's treatment of refugees into the spotlight. Australia sends asylum-seekers who try to enter the country by boat to processing facilities on Nauru and on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, with those found to be refugees barred from resettling in Australia. Conditions in the camps have been widely criticised by refugee advocates and medical professionals, with reports of widespread abuse, self-harm and mental health problems. Sydney-based Refugee Action Coalition said Monday that a 32-year-old Tamil man from Sri Lanka took his own life at a hospital Manus Island, where he was being treated for self-harm. It is the second apparent suicide on the island in the last two months, with an Iranian man found dead in August. "Once again, such tragedy highlights the acute vulnerability of refugees and asylum-seekers under Australias 'offshore processing' approach, and the need for proper care," the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement Monday. A PNG court ruled last year that holding people on Manus was unconstitutional, and Canberra is set to shut the detention centre by the end of this month. It has tried with little success to relocate the detainees to third countries like Cambodia, or settle them elsewhere in PNG. Last week, a first wave of refugees departed from the Pacific camps for the US in a deal struck with Washington under former president Barack Obama. The pact has angered President Donald Trump who has begrudgingly agreed to accept an unspecified number of people who can fulfil rigorously-vetted requirements. But it remains unclear what will happen to those not taken by the United States. "UNHCR has long urged that the planned closure of the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre must only take place in the context of continued critical services," the UN refugee body added. Story continues Australian immigration data as of July 31 said nearly 800 men were being held on Manus, in addition to 371 men, women and children on Nauru. Amnesty International said the latest death is the sixth related to Manus and the ninth overall attached to Australia's offshore processing. "This death proves, yet again, that offshore processing is untenable, and must end immediately," Amnesty Pacific researcher Kate Schuetze said in a statement. The Australian government Monday said it was aware of the death in Manus but directed any further queries to PNG authorities. Moscow (AFP) - A Russian court on Monday sentenced opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who wants to unseat President Vladimir Putin in next year's election, to 20 days in jail on charges of repeatedly violating a law on organising public meetings. "This is a gift to Putin for his birthday," Navalny quipped in a Moscow courtroom. The sentence is seen by Navalny's supporters as the latest attempt by the authorities to thwart his improvised election campaign, which has seen him travel around the country over the past months. As a result, Navalny will not be able to lead a major rally he had planned in Putin's hometown of Saint Petersburg on Saturday, when the Russian leader will celebrate his 65th birthday. In an address from the courtroom after the verdict, Navalny called on his supporters to use the occasion to take to the streets not only in Saint Petersburg but across the country. "Do not give up, keep resisting," he said. "We do not want to see in power these impudent, hypocritical, deceitful, stupid loafers who fancy themselves gods. They are not gods. We are the masters of our country!" The charismatic anti-corruption campaigner, 41, has said he wants to stand for president in the election next March, but electoral authorities have said he is not eligible because he is serving a suspended sentence for fraud. He was detained on Friday as he was preparing to travel to a rally in the provincial city of Nizhny Novgorod. He was accused by police of repeatedly violating a law on organising public meetings, which is punishable by up to 30 days in jail. Authorities say Navalny and his supporters have not received permission from local officials to hold the Nizhny Novgorod rally, though Navalny claims it was authorised. "This is an outrageous decision. We will appeal," one of his lawyers, Olga Mikhailova, said of the ruling. "It is unfair and unlawful and truly absurd." Story continues Putin, who has led Russia since 1999, is widely expected to seek and win another six-year Kremlin term. The campaign has yet to officially open. After Navalny declared his bid he was hit by a new wave of legal obstacles and attacks, and even had to travel to Spain for eye surgery after one assault left him almost blind in one eye. He has been briefly imprisoned before, being detained before arriving at his last two rallies in Moscow on March 26 and June 12, both of which were not authorised by the city, serving 15 and 25 days. Undeterred by the seemingly predetermined election outcome, Navalny has pressed ahead with his presidential bid. - 'Old man Putin scared' - He has been gathering crowds of supporters across Russia, seeking to shift public attitudes and battle political ennui in places such as the Pacific port of Vladivostok. "Old man Putin is so scared of our rallies in the regions he's decided to make himself happy by giving himself a little gift for his birthday," Navalny tweeted after the ruling. "It's safer this way." Last month the Council of Europe's decision-making body, the Committee of Ministers, urged the Russian authorities to allow Navalny to stand for election despite his suspended sentence. It said he and his co-defendant, former business partner Pyotr Ofitserov, continue "to suffer the consequences of their arbitrary and unfair convictions." The Russian justice ministry accused the Council of Europe of putting political pressure on Moscow ahead of the elections. Political analysts say that the growing atmosphere of intolerance towards dissenters has prompted a surge in radical feeling in Russia, with verbal threats from Kremlin supporters at times giving way to physical attacks. But many have applauded Navalny -- whose ally Boris Nemtsov was assassinated in 2015 --- for his decision to keep up the fight at a time when many opposition figures have chosen to leave the country or stay quiet. Bernie Sanders is leading criticism of President Donald Trump over how he is tackling the natural disaster in Puerto Rico. The Vermont senator hit out at Trump on Sunday in an interview with CNNs State of the Union, explaining he believed the presidents comments on the country were unspeakable. The president has made a number of contentious statements on Puerto Rico since it was devastated by Hurricane Maria, which left at least 90% of its residents without power or running water. Bernie Sanders Justin Sullivan/Getty Images In an early statement on aid to the island, Trump mentioned the amount of debt the country was in, stating last week in a series of comments on Twitter: Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble. Its old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with, he added. Trump also hit out at San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for expressing her disappointment at how Trumps administration was handling the crisis, in comments Sanders suggested were unacceptable. The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump," the President tweeted this weekend. "Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort, he added. His comments have prompted ire from Sanders and other lawmakers who have suggested Trump should not hit out at Puerto Rico while it is in dire need of help. It is unspeakable and I dont know what world Trump is living in. People in Puerto Rico are suffering one of the one disasters in the history of that island, Sanders told CNN, also explaining he believed the president was acting differently towards the people of Puerto Rico, who are U.S. citizens, than he was towards those suffering the effects of hurricanes in Florida and Texas. Story continues Yeah I think we have a right to be suspect that he is treating the people of Puerto Rico a different way than he has treated the people of Texas or Florida, the senator added. His thoughts were shared by Ohio governor John Kasich, who also said in an interview with CNN on Sunday, Trumps comments were ...not appropriate. I mean when people are in the middle of a disaster, you don't start trying to criticize them." While Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer told CBS Face the Nation: The president, instead of tweeting against the mayor of San Juan, who's watching her people die and just made a plea for help, [should] roll up his sleeves and get to work here. Related Articles Parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting at the launch of Sandy Hook Promise in Newtown, Conn., in 2013. (Photo: Dylan Stableford/Yahoo News) The mother of one of the children killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting tore into Congress following Sunday nights mass shooting in Las Vegas. Nelba Marquez-Greene whose 6-year-old daughter, Ana Grace, was killed in the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn. tweeted her frustration over the U.S. governments inability to take action on gun violence. Related slideshow: Scenes from Las Vegas mass shooting >>> I dont know what to say besides this is on every congressperson who said in 13: There is simply nothing we could do, Marquez-Greene wrote in one of 18 tweets early Monday. I dont know what to say besides this is on every congressperson who said in 13: There is simply nothing we could do. #LasVegas #Newtown Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 Twenty-six people including 20 children were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14, 2012. In the weeks that followed, President Barack Obama pressed Congress to enact stricter gun laws, but the effort failed. Their lack of courage and/or ability to take meaningful action on issues that most matter: healthcare, violence, climate, etc is outrageous Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 At least 58 people were killed and more than 489 others were injured on Sunday night when a gunman opened fire from 32nd floor hotel room overlooking a country music concert in what officials say is the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Today you got 50 + new reasons I take a knee. My heart, my prayers, my ACTIONS are with the victim families. #LasVegas #Newtown Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 Marquez-Greene scoffed at those who blamed the shooting on the media and its coverage of political divisions exposed by President Trumps administration. Story continues Oh, please. Newtown happened well before trump was elected. We need sensible gun legislation and we need it now. #LasVegas #Newtown https://t.co/V3BBfuIYDL Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 For that person or any person to blame media for this is reprehensible and irresponsible. Blame your congress. #Newtown https://t.co/UekZg5Mgri Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 The shooter in Las Vegas was identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a white male from Mesquite, Nev., police said. Officials believe he killed himself before a SWAT team breached his hotel room. How come we only want to talk when it fits our own narrative? Please. Help mothers keep children safe from gunviolence. #lasvegas #Newtown Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 Anxiety, depression, PTSD- daily. Losing a loved one like this is a death sentence. We move forward for our son. Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 I will also say this: I lost Ana in Newtown which means even though we arent white I had the sympathy of the world. #Newtown #LasVegas Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 Guess what folks? Gun violence and grief hurt in EVERY zip code. In every color. Grieving mothers need your help. #LasVegas #Newtown Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 In America we value guns, flags & fake acts of patriotism over people, pain & real acts of courage. #LasVegas #TakeAKnee #EndGunViolence Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 There is no such thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time when a 6 y.o. gets shot. There are only cowardly congresspeople. Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 Did you know u have congress people who rather than talk about gun legislation implied that we hadnt prayed hard enough? Marquez-Greene wrote. There is no such thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time when a 6 y.o. gets shot. There are only cowardly congresspeople. As a final thought & reminder to @MooreSenate & congress, this is the little girl u said I shouldve prayed harder for. #Newtown #LasVegas pic.twitter.com/vwLg22GwG8 Nelba Marquez-Greene (@Nelba_MG) October 2, 2017 _____ Read more from Yahoo News: Ottawa (AFP) - Jagmeet Singh was named leader of Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP) Sunday, the country's third biggest political force after Justin Trudeau's Liberals and the Conservatives. Singh, 38, won almost 54 percent of votes in the first round of voting against three other candidates. He will replace charismatic Thomas Mulcair as the leader of the party. "Canadians must stand united to champion the politics of courage over the politics of fear, the politics of love to fight the growing politics of division," Singh said, speaking after the results were announced. The speech was particularly poignant in the aftermath of a suspected terrorist attack in Edmonton early Sunday, which saw a man stab a police officer and deliberately ram pedestrians during a high-speed chase in a rented truck. Criminal lawyer Singh -- born into a Punjabi Indian family in Scarborough, Ontario -- often wears a brightly colored turban and usually wears a Kirpan, a sword or knife carried by Sikh men which is banned in certain places in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Singh on his election. "I look forward to speaking soon and working together for Canadians," he wrote on Twitter. Singh is a member of the Ontario provincial member parliament, not of the federal parliament in Ottawa -- meaning he cannot press Trudeau during the daily question period. He hinted during his campaign he would not immediately seek a seat, which would require the resignation of an elected official to give him a place in a constituency where he could easily win. Mulcair, who became NDP leader in 2012, was forced out in April 2016 when 52 per cent of delegates at the party's convention voted in favor of choosing a new leader, following defeat in the 2015 election. Crime scene tape surrounds the Mandalay Hotel (background) after a gunman killed at least 58 people. (Photo: MARK RALSTON via Getty Images) The deadliest shooting in modern American history took place on Sunday night, when 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock killed at least 58 people and injured hundreds more at a country music festival on the Las Vegas strip. The Islamic State militant group quickly took responsibility for the mass killing on Monday through its Amaq news agency. The FBI and local police have disputed the claim, saying there is currently no indication of any connection between Paddock and an international terror group. For several reasons, there has been increased skepticism of ISISs claim this time around. If the militant groups statements turn out to be groundless, however, that would be unusual. ISIS rarely takes official responsibility for an attack without having played a role in it. Sometimes that role is limited to ideological inspiration for the attackers, but there is usually some justification for the groups claim. In Paddocks case, there is little immediate evidence to indicate that he had ties with ISIS or supported its ideology. His family said that he never expressed such extremist views to them and that he had no religious or political affiliation. Paddock is not known to have traveled to Syria, Iraq or Libya as some ISIS-related attackers had, including the suicide bomber who killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, earlier this year. He is also a good deal older than the average age of Americans charged with offenses related to ISIS, which is 28. Unlike many other mass killers, he was not previously known to federal authorities and had no criminal record. A police officer stands in the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue on Oct. 2 after the mass shooting. (Photo: Ethan Miller via Getty Images) Analysts who monitor ISIS messaging and attacks have expressed puzzlement since the group took credit on Monday. Rita Katz, head of online terrorism tracker Site Intelligence Group, tweeted that it was the strangest of all the ISIS claims shes seen. For the most part, the militant groups statements about the deadly attack followed a now familiar pattern in how the extremist group claims responsibility. But there were subtle peculiarities. Story continues The group initially sent out a fairly boilerplate statement claiming credit and referring to Paddock as a soldier of the caliphate, which is the standard language it uses for attackers. Then ISIS followed up with an uncommon second message, which asserted that Paddock had converted to Islam several months ago. Later in the day, ISIS sent out another statement that identified Paddock by the name Abu Abd El Bar, but still offered no supporting evidence for its claim. ISIS has become increasingly desperate for propaganda victories as it loses territory in Iraq and Syria. Although it has maintained a certain degree of reliability in its credit taking, some analysts noted that some of its claims in recent months have raised questions. ISIS took credit for an attack on a Manila casino that killed 32 people in June, but Philippine police denied the crime was terror-related and said the attacker was a gambler deep in debt. The investigation into what led Paddock to kill so many people in Las Vegas is still in the early stages. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Spanish riot police forcefully descended on polling stations and rallies in Catalonia on Sunday, as the region held a independence referendum that the countrys government in Madrid had attempted to stop. The referendum saw police use rubber bullets and batons in their operation to seize ballot boxes and shutter voting sites. At least 800 people were injured in the crackdown, according to the Catalan regional government. The shocking scenes of unrest and violent tactics of the police brought international attention to Catalonia, with the subsequent chaos from the actions to stop the referendum giving additional weight to the symbolic independence vote. Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters on Monday morning that 90 percent of Catalans voted yes, but turnout in the disputed referendum was only around 43 percent of eligible voters. The violence threatens to deepen the longstanding divisions between Catalan separatists and the Spanish government, putting pressure on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and ensuring that the issue of independence will only become more prominent in the days to come. Images and videos circulating from Barcelona, the capital of the autonomous region, and other cities across the area showed officers violently shutting down a peaceful referendum, albeit one banned by Spains central government and deemed illegitimate by the countrys courts. Footage captured police smashing through glass doors and dragging away dissident citizens attempting to protect polling stations. Spanish Civil Guard officers scuffle with a woman outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum. (Photo: Juan Medina / Reuters) Some protesters tussled with authorities, leading to several arrests and reports that at least 12 officers had been injured. In a further sign of the divide between regional authorities, Spains riot police got into confrontations with Catalan regional officers and firefighters attempting to allow the rallies and referendum to proceed. Spains police closed nearly a hundred polling stations in all, and arrested several protesters. Story continues Firemen and people face off Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain Oct. 1, 2017. (Photo: Juan Medina / Reuters) The clampdown also deepened political divisions between Catalan government officials and Spains leadership in Madrid. Tensions over the referendum have been rising for months as the vote approached, and as violence erupted on Sunday both sides blamed one another for the situation. Barcelonas Mayor Ada Colau called for Prime Minister Rajoy to resign following the crackdown, saying he is a coward who does not live up to his state responsibilities. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, meanwhile, claimed that the police actions would eternally shame the country. Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station for the banned independence referendum on Oct. 1, 2017. (Photo: Juan Medina / Reuters) Several leftist Spanish politicians also joined in the calls for Rajoys ouster, adding to the prime ministers political woes. He is currently the head of a relatively fragile minority government that has already run into trouble in recent weeks from political partners protesting his handling of Catalonias bid for secession. Rajoy defended the police actions on Sunday as a justified response to Catalonias attempts to break the rule of law, while denying that a referendum had taken place, emphasizing the lack of participation and the illegality of the vote. But although Rajoy has always had the support of the European Union and the courts in rejecting the legitimacy of Catalonias referendum, the harsh response from authorities could embolden the separatist movement. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Scuffles break out as Spanish Civil Guard officers force their way through a crowd and into a polling station. (Photo: Juan Medina / Reuters) The level of support for independence in Catalonia is not entirely clear. Polling was scarce in the lead up to the election, but a survey from July showed that only around 41 percent of people in Catalonia favored independence. Most major European Union officials were largely silent over the events in Catalonia, although some figures including Belgiums Prime Minister Charles Michel and the EU parliaments Brexit chief Guy Verhofstadt condemned the violence. Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon, who has pursued a second independence referendum for Scotland in the United Kingdom, called Spains actions wrong and damaging. This post has been updated with the Catalan governments announcement of results and turnout figures. A woman screams towards Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station. People protest as police try to control the area at a polling station in the referendum vote. Police and gendarmerie crew intervene to stop voters in the Catalan independence referendum. Riot police drag a member of the public away from a school being used as a polling station. Clashes between voters and the police injured hundreds on Sunday. Police seized ballots and closed polling stations during the vote. Riot police clash with members of the public outside a school being used as a polling station for the banned referendum. There were several arrests amid the demonstrations. Police fired rubber bullets in some areas and used batons. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Barcelona (AFP) - Spain's King Felipe VI intervened dramatically Tuesday in the crisis over Catalan leaders' bid for independence, accusing them of threatening the country's stability and urging the state to defend "constitutional order." The 49-year-old king abandoned his previously measured tone over tensions with Catalonia as the standoff dragged Spain into its deepest political trouble in decades. He spoke after hundreds of thousands of Catalans rallied in fury at violence by police against voters during a banned referendum on independence for their region on Sunday. Catalan regional leaders held the vote in defiance of the national government which brands it illegal -- as did Felipe on Tuesday. "With their irresponsible conduct they could put at risk the economic and social stability of Catalonia and all of Spain," he said of the Catalan leadership. "They have placed themselves totally outside the law and democracy," he said. "It is the responsibility of the legitimate state powers to ensure constitutional order." - Mass protests - Police unions and political experts warned earlier that Spain's government risks losing control of the north eastern region. It is considered Spain's worst political crisis since an attempted military coup in 1981, which was defused by Felipe's father, King Juan Carlos I. Crowds in Barcelona on Tuesday yelled for national security forces to get out of the region, branding them "occupation forces" and raising their middle fingers at a police helicopter circling overhead. Barcelona football club refused to train as part of a strike. Officials said the strike slowed down public transport and paralysed freight shipments in the port of Barcelona. It also closed down tourist sites such as the city's emblematic Sagrada Familia Church. Protesters rallied in the afternoon and a further demo started in the early evening, with demonstrators dancing in a central Barcelona avenue and beating drums in a carnival atmosphere. Story continues "The streets will always be ours," youngsters in the crowds yelled. City police put the number of demonstrators at 700,000. - Anger at police 'repression' - Pictures of police beating unarmed Catalan voters with batons and dragging some by the hair during Sunday's ballots drew international criticism. Some demonstrators said they were not pro-independence but came out to protest Tuesday in reaction to the police violence. "The important thing is for the people to be united," said one such voter, Rachael Moya, a social worker. "I am here because of what happened the other day. The people should be allowed to vote and we should fight against police repression." Catalan regional leader Carles Puigdemont said nearly 900 people had received medical attention on Sunday, though local authorities confirmed a total of 92 injured. Four were hospitalised, two in serious condition. The national government said more than 400 police officers were hurt. - Police besieged - Protesters overnight besieged Catalan hotels where state security forces were lodged, police groups said on Tuesday. "They are fleeing from hotel to hotel, hiding like rats," said the spokesman for Spain's main police union SUP, Ramon Cosio. Two hotels said local authorities had ordered them to ask police officers staying there to leave. Spanish authorities "are losing control, it is clear," Javier Perez Royo, a constitutional law professor at the University of Seville, told AFP. "And the government of the nation is taking steps in a very dangerous direction." - 'Inciting rebellion' - A rich industrial region of 7.5 million people, Catalonia accounts for a fifth of Spain's economy. It has its own language and cultural traditions. Its claims for independence date back centuries but have surged during recent years of economic crisis. Spain's national government and courts have ruled the independence referendum illegal and Madrid blames the Catalan authorities for the tensions. "We see how day after day the government of Catalonia is pushing the population to the abyss and inciting rebellion in the streets," Spain's Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said on Tuesday. He said his government would take "all measures necessary to stop acts of harassment". - Emergency talks - Puigdemont declared Sunday that Catalonia had "won the right to an independent state". He has appealed for international mediation to help solve the crisis. His regional government claimed that 2.26 million people took part in the poll, or just over 42 percent of the electorate -- but the vote was held without regular electoral lists or observers. The regional government said 90 percent of those who voted backed independence, but polls indicate Catalans are split. Puigdemont has said he will present the results to the region's parliament, where separatist lawmakers hold a majority. Sri Lankan police said Sunday they have arrested six people in their hunt for a mob led by Buddhist monks who attacked Rohingya refugees last week. The government of the Buddhist-majority country has accused the monks of behaving like "animals" during Tuesday's attack on a centre housing Rohingya Muslims including children on the outskirts of Colombo. "We have identified the monks who led the attack," an officer involved in the investigation told AFP on condition of anonymity. "We have deployed three teams to arrest them." Two police officers had to be hospitalised after the attack, in which monks and their supporters threw stones and smashed windows and furniture. Five men and a woman have already been arrested and a government official said several police officers were also under investigation for failing to prevent the violence. The refugees had arrived in Sri Lanka five months ago after the navy found them drifting in a boat off the island's north coast. Before that, they had been living in India for several years. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar in recent years and while most are in refugee camps in Bangladesh, a sizeable minority have moved to other parts of South Asia. They have been the target of decades of state-backed persecution and discrimination in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, where many view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Sri Lanka's extremist Buddhist monks have close links with their ultra-nationalist counterparts in Myanmar. Both have been accused of orchestrating violence against minority Muslims in the two countries. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees expressed alarm over Tuesday's attack and urged Sri Lankans to show empathy for civilians fleeing persecution and violence. The 31 Rohingya refugees, including 16 children and seven women, were evacuated by the police and accommodated at a former detention centre in the south of the island for their safety, according to the government. The brother of Stephen Paddock, the suspected gunman in the Las Vegas shooting that killed more than 50 people, has said that his family have been left stunned by the news. We have no idea. We're horrified. We're bewildered and our condolences go out to the victims, Eric Paddock said in a brief telephone interview with Reuters, his voice trembling. We have no idea in the world. Police believe Mr Paddock shot himself just ahead of their arrival. He allegedly shot down from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Hotel at a crowd of 22,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the famous Vegas Strip. Country music star Jason Aldean was performing on stage at the time of the shooting, around 10 pm local time. Police officers and medical personnel stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, 2 October: AP Photo/John Locher Mr Paddock is from Mesquite, Nevada approximately 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The New York Times has reported he was known to Las Vegas police, but only for a routine traffic violation. He was not known to the Mesquite police at all, according to Quinn Averett, a spokesman for the Mesquite police. Mr Paddock had over ten rifles in his hotel room, where he had reportedly checked in three or four days ago, according to Sheriff Joseph Lombardo. Police are set to search Mr Paddock's residence as well. Las Vegas Police have not called this a terrorism event, however it may qualify as one under Nevada state law. The law defines terrorism in the state as any event that "is intended to...cause great bodily harm or death to the general population." There have been reports that terror group Isis has been celebrating the event on their channels, but that is not an indication it was directly involved. Police questioed a women believed to be a companion of Mr Paddock's, Marlilou Danley, but have since cleared her of any involvement in the shooting. Mr Paddock's alleged motive is unknown as well as whether there were any other people involved in the planning and commission of this heinous crime. More follows Patrick Benjamin Paddock, shown in an FBI wanted poster The Las Vegas shooter's father was once on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. Stephen Paddock killed more than 58 people when he opened fire on a concert in Las Vegas, spraying a concert with a hail of bullets. He shot himself before he could be apprehended. And it has now emerged that his father, Patrick Benjamin Paddock, was known as a violent bank robber during the 1960s and 1970s. His crimes made him one of the most notorious criminals in the US during his heyday. An FBI poster that is available online says that the Las Vegas killer's father diagnosed as psychopathic, has carried firearms in commission of bank robberies and reportedly has suicidal tendencies and should be considered armed and very dangerous. Local news reports soon after his crimes were reported said that neighbours "couldnt believe that the colorful businessman, then 34 years old, was involved in crime". Another report says that he was captured in 1978, when he was running a bingo parlor. A picture from Paddock's entry on the FBI's most wanted website (FBI) He had been removed from the most wanted list a year before, because "it was felt he no longer fit the 'Top Ten' criteria", according to the FBI's official website. The older Paddock was also involved in a violent attack in Las Vegas, according to a contemporaneous report in Tucson's Daily Citizen. When he was apprehended by the FBI, he attempted to run down an agent using his car, the report said. Paddock himself had no criminal record apart from a traffic violation, according to Las Vegas police. The detail is the one strange piece of information to emerge about the man behind the massacre, which is the deadliest mass shooting in US history. People including his brother, who first reported their father's notoriety, said that Paddock's life was surprisingly normal and there was nothing to indicate he was planning such an attack. His brother, Eric Paddock, said he was a peaceful man who moved back to Nevada, where gambling is legal, partly because of his fondness for video poker. Story continues "He's never drawn his gun, it makes no sense," Paddock said from his doorstep in Orlando, Florida. His brother had a couple of handguns he kept in a safe, perhaps a long rifle, "but no automatic weapons." Eric Paddock said he had helped his brother move away from Central Florida's humidity to Nevada. The two were last in touch last month, texting about power outages after Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida. The first photo of a man believed to be Stephen Paddock - the Las Vegas gunman who killed at least 50 people in the worst shooting in US history - has been released. Paddock reportedly arrived in Las Vegas from his home in Mesquite Thursday, when he checked into a hotel room in the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino. He stayed there until Sunday, when he broke his 32nd floor window, and open fired on a crowd at an outdoor country music festival across the street. At least 58 people have been reported dead, and another 515 have been taken to the hospital. Police did not immediately provide possible motives for why Paddock decided to open fire on concert goers. Paddock's body was found alongside at least eight rifles, which were not noticed by anyone working at the hotel in the days before the attack. House keeping had reportedly entered his room several times, but did not notice anything worrisome. It's not clear if he had the weapons in the room in the days leading up to the attack, or if he had moved them into his room Sunday before the shooting. In an interview in Florida, Paddock's brother said that he had no idea why is brother would have been pushed to become the worst mass shooter in modern American history. He noted that he had helped his brother to move to Nevada several years ago and that he wasn't aware of his brother owning any assault rifles during that time. He said he was "dumbfounded" by the news that his brother had orchestrated the attack. "There is no reason we can imagine why Stephen would do something like this," Eric Paddock said. "We have no idea how this happened. It's like an asteroid just fell on top of our family." Paddock reportedly had a pilot licence, and had worked as an accountant before retiring. People in his 55-plus community in Mesquite appeared to not have a close relationship with Paddock, according to reporters on the ground in Mesquite. He lived there with a live-in girlfriend. Mr Paddock, the brother, told reporters that their father had at one point made the FBI's 10 most wanted list for robbing banks. He did not note any other significant issues he was aware of that may have motivated his brother to attack. Las Vegas officials say that the shooter used a 'weapon of mass destruction': REUTERS Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson says that the shooter in the deadly massacre in Las Vegas used a "weapon of mass destruction". "This is a weapon, and a man, of mass destruction," Mr Wolfson said during a press briefing. "This was a classic WMD. This was a weapon and a man of mass destruction, he said. This doesnt involve politics. All of us are Nevadans. Were working to get through this. At least 58 people were killed and 515 more injured after a gunman shot an automatic rifle at concert-goers Sunday night, according to Las Vegas police. Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo said that police believe the suspected gunman had used a "device similar to a hammer" to break the windows in the 32nd floor hotel room from which the shooter targeted victims below. Police have identified 64-year-old Stephen Paddock as the gunman, and have said that he took his own life before police were able to apprehend him. Paddock lived northeast of the city in Mesquite, where he owned a home in a retirement community. It wasn't immediately clear what may have motivated Paddock to open fire on the concert-goers. "This is a crazed lunatic full of hate. We dont know much about his background," Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said. "But its certainly not an extension about what we believe in." Las Vegas police dispatch first began receiving emergency calls reporting gunfire at the hotel just after 10 pm local time. Paddock was able to shoot at his victims down below at a country music concert for several minutes, according ot reports. He had at least eight guns in his hotel room. Nevada has some of the loosest gun laws in the United States, and has no limitation on the number of guns that can be purchased at one time. It is legal to own, purchase, or sell machine guns there if the weapon was manufactured before 1986. The state has no law regulating large-capacity ammunition magazines, according to the Law Centre to Prevent Gun Violence. Ms Gonzalez, fifth grade teacher at Atlas Preparatory Academy, a Choice school, reportedly told police she wanted the child to see that someone cared: Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office A primary school teacher has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old pupil because she wanted to make the "chronically depressed" boy happy. Katherine Gonzalez, 25, from Wisconsin in the US, was arrested on 5 March and charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. She pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault of a child in August, and was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Ms Gonzalez, who worked as a fifth-grade teacher at Atlas Preparatory Academy, reportedly told police she wanted the child to see that someone cared. Police said she told them the boy was chronically depressed and admitted telling him things to make him happy. According to the criminal complaint, the victim told police he and Ms Gonzalez had been communicating over Snapchat before she picked him up in her car, which is when the assaults took place. The two touched each other's private parts through their clothes, prosecutors said at the time. Although the relationship between Ms Gonzalez and the student never escalated to sexual intercourse, Judge Mark Sanders said it warranted a serious sentence in order to teach others to exercise better judgement. During her sentencing on Tuesday, Ms Gonzalez tearfully apologised, saying her actions had been unthinkable. She said treatment she had undergone in the last few months while on bail had helped her have fewer flashbacks from when she was sexually assaulted in college. Officials with the school sent a letter home to parents in March announcing that one of the teachers had been placed on administrative leave. The letter, which was signed by the executive director, of the school, reportedly stated that the Milwaukee Police Department was investigating a report that accuses a teacher at the school of having inappropriate conduct with an underage student. Donald Trump was properly quick to offer sympathy to those caught up in the Las Vegas horror. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting, he tweeted early on Monday morning. God bless you! A few hours later, he stood sombre and serious to address the nation from the White House. We are joined together in sadness, shock and grief, he said, wearing a black suit and a black and white tie. Our unity cannot be shattered by evil and our bonds cannot be broken by violence. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 The President is going to be making a lot of such comments this week a week that may prove to be his most testing yet since he entered the Oval Office. On Tuesday, he is to fly to Puerto Rico, where his response to the devastation left by Hurricanes Maria has been criticised by many residents and the mayor of San Juan. On Wednesday, he will fly to Las Vegas and seek to offer comfort to those whose lives have been utterly torn apart by the massacre, and thank those who rushed to help. At least 58 were killed and more than 500 injured. Trump was quick to earn praise for his words and manner. John King, CNNs chief national correspondent, was among those to say that Trump had sounded presidential. Many will feel it is a testament to how low expectations have fallen in regard to Trumps behaviour that for him to tweet a message of condolence and read resolutely from a teleprompter, is considered exceptional. There is a pattern into which the events after a mass shooting in the US follow. There is the initial stunned shock, the press conferences by various authorities, the requests to donate blood, the slow trickle of details about the person responsible, and the victims. Then come vigils and marches and acts of remarkable kindness and solidarity. Story continues Then, at some point, come the questions about how to stop such events from happening. Some like Hillary Clinton issue demands for greater gun control and take on the power of gun rights groups such as the National Rifle Association. Others insist it is not appropriate time to do so. Trump is certainly unlikely to raise such questions. Last year, he was very quickly endorsed by the NRA as its candidate for president and the organisation spent $21m (16m) to help him, made up of $9.6m on adverts and other pro-Trump materials, and another $12m attacking Clinton. When he was endorsed, Trump told the media: The Second Amendment is under a threat like never before. Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun candidate ever to run for office She wants to take your guns away. She wants to abolish it. Before he reaches the casinos and sunshine of Nevada, Trump will travel to Puerto Rico. Over the weekend as criticism of the governments response to the struggling island grew Trump began a barrage of attacks on Carmen Yulin Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, who had appeared on television sobbing and saying: We are dying here. He said the mayor had been persuaded to criticise the government by Democratic politicians and the Fake News media. Results of recovery efforts will speak much louder than complaints by San Juan Mayor. Doing everything we can to help great people of PR, he said. Few felt that Trumps behaviour was appropriate. More were stunned at his willingness to involve himself in a fight with a low-ranking politician, whose island had been left struggling to find fuel, food and clean drinking water. Thin-skinned, immature and vain perhaps, but not fitting of the highest office in the land. At the while, Trump also appeared to be undermining the diplomatic efforts being undertaken by his most senior diplomat, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, to negotiate with North Korea. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man, he said. Save your energy Rex, well do what has to be done! Nobody would pretend that seeking to comfort and unite the nation after tragedies natural or man-made is an easy task. Barack Obama said he steeled himself every time there was a mass shooting, for he knew he would be obliged to offer words and emotions that were never enough to salve the pain of those suffering. Trump may surprise everyone. He is a better orator than his critics would admit and in smaller settings he can be personable and warm. If he simply sticks to the script, avoids a fight with Cruz, and seeks to offer support in Las Vegas, his actions will have be deemed presidential. In truth, he could do so much more. WASHINGTON President Trump condemned the mass shooting in Las Vegas in remarks from the White House Monday morning, calling it an act of pure evil. He offered words of praise for the courage and quick actions of first responders and sought to provide words of comfort for grieving families. At least 58 were killed and hundreds injured in the shooting at a country music concert outside the Mandalay Bay casino and resort on the Last Vegas Strip late Sunday night, making it the worst mass shooting in the United States in modern history. Trump said he had directed that flags be flown at half-staff in the memory of the dead and that he would travel to Las Vegas Wednesday to meet with law enforcement and victims of the attack and their families. President Trump makes a statement about the mass shooting in Las Vegas at the White House on Oct. 2. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP) I want to thank the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and all of the first responders for their courageous efforts and for helping to save the lives of so many, the president said. The speed with which they acted is miraculous and prevented further loss of life. To have found the shooter so quickly after the first shots were fired is something for which we will always be thankful and grateful. We are joined together today in sadness, shock and grief, Trump said. He offered words of comfort for family and friends of the victims, saying that he and first lady Melania Trump were praying for them. Hundreds of our fellow citizens are now mourning the sudden loss of a loved one, a parent, a child, a brother or sister, Trump said. We cannot fathom their pain; we cannot imagine their loss. To the families of the victims, we are praying for you, and we are here for you and we ask God to help see you through this very dark period. To the wounded who are now recovering in hospitals, he continued, we are praying for your full and speedy recovery. We pledge to you our support from this day forward. The president, speaking in measured tones, called for national unity and spoke of the bonds between citizens. Story continues In moments of tragedy and horror America comes together as one and it always has, he said. We call upon the bonds that unite us, our faith, our family and shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community and the comfort of our common humanity. Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence. And though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens it is our love that defines us todayand always will, forever. Read more from Yahoo News: Following the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, President Donald Trump on Monday offered his sympathy to the victims, but made no mention of Americas pervasive gun violence either in his tweets or his prepared statement from the White House. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 At least 58 were dead and more than 500 injured after Stephen Paddock, 64, began shooting at the thousands of attendees of the Route 91 Harvest Festival from the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel in Las Vegas. When police breached his room at the Mandalay Bay hotel, they said they found Paddock dead of an apparent self-inflicted wound. He had at least 10 guns, they added. Some hours after his tweet Monday morning, Trump read prepared remarks from the White House, called the shooting an act of pure evil and commended first responders and local officials. He also offered his prayers and announced that he plans to visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Melania and I are praying for every American who has been hurt, wounded or lost the ones they loved so dearly in this terrible, terrible attack, he said. We pray for the entire nation to find unity and peace, and we pray for the day when evil is banished, and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear. President Trump makes a statement on the mass shooting in Las Vegas from the Diplomatic Room at the White House on Oct. 2, 2017. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters) Not mentioned in statements from Trump and the White House: the issue of guns. When asked at Mondays White House press briefing whether Trump would consider gun reforms in response to the shooting, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was not appropriate to discuss the matter. Theres a time and place for a political debate, but now is the time to unite as a country, Sanders said, before offering her thoughts and prayers. She also said it was premature to discuss policy when we dont know all of the facts. Story continues Yet in the past, Trump has speculated on the motives for violence before any official information was confirmed. He decried the explosion at a London tube station last month as the work of a loser terrorist and used the attack to promote his own travel ban on Muslim-majority countries. At other times, the president has been conspicuously silent in the face of atrocity. He condemned many sides in the Charlottesville, Virginia, white supremacist rally in August that killed a counter-protester. Two days later, he denounced racism. But in the days that followed, he returned to blaming the white supremacists and counter-protesters equally for the violence. At Mondays press briefing, Sanders repeatedly dodged questions on why Trump had previously weighed in on gun violence without knowing all of the facts like in 2016, when he hastily responded to the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, by promoting his then-only-proposed travel ban. Sanders argued the situation was different because Trump was merely a presidential candidate at the time. There is a difference between being a candidate and being a president, she said. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story wrongly reported that Trump didnt immediately respond to the Charlottesville violence. This story has been updated with Trumps remarks Monday morning and Sanders remarks Monday afternoon. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A cowboy hat lies in the street. VIDEO: Rapid fire from shooter(s) in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/jgzCTQRUZP Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) October 2, 2017 Las Vegas police search for the gunman while protecting fleeing fans. Fans run from the Route 91 Harvest festival after a gunman opened fire. Others dive for cover. Some fans drop to the ground. People run from the Route 91 Harvest festival. People scramble for cover. HORRIFIC SCENE: Do not let this be called anything else but DOMESTIC TERRORISM. AP reports 2dead 13critical & dozens injured. #MandalayBay pic.twitter.com/q7faKkCPpN Eduardo Samaniego (@EduSamani) October 2, 2017 A man in a wheelchair is helped away. People run for cover. EYEWITNESS: Chilling footage of moment active shooter opened fire on concert goers near Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/7OfAwg0ReO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017 A person takes cover amid the shooting. A person runs barefoot from the shooting. Police officers stop a man who drove down Tropicana Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard, which had been closed. A pair of cowboy boots lies in the street outside the concert venue. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump decried the massacre of at least 58 Las Vegas concert goers as an "act of pure evil" Monday, but refrained from addressing calls for gun control or an unproven claim of responsibility from the Islamic State group. Delivering televised remarks from the White House, Trump ordered that flags be flown at half-staff until sunset Friday, offered prayers for the victims and announced he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday. Trump did not address an IS propaganda agency's unverified claim that one of its "soldiers" who had "converted to Islam" months ago was responsible. White House officials also refused to comment on that claim "at this point" saying the local authorities' investigation was "ongoing." The FBI says it has so far found "no connection" between international terrorist groups and the Vegas attack. Calling for unity, Trump instead tried to console the nation -- an act that has become a grim rite of passage for modern US presidents as each mass shooting rekindles the divisive national debate on gun control. "In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one -- and it always has," Trump said. "Our unity cannot be shattered by evil. Our bonds cannot be broken by violence. And though we feel such great anger at the senseless murder of our fellow citizens, it is our love that defines us today -- and always will, forever." But in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, that unity was difficult to find. - 'Right to bear arms' - Police have identified the heavily armed gunman behind the Sunday night massacre in Las Vegas -- the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history which left more than 500 injured -- as a 64-year-old Nevada resident named Stephen Craig Paddock. Paddock apparently killed himself before a SWAT team breached his hotel room overlooking the concert venue, recovering at least eight rifles. Story continues Trump's vanquished election rival Hillary Clinton hit out at the gun manufacturers lobby -- the National Rifle Association -- which has backed a congressional push to make it easier to obtain a gun silencer. "The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer," tweeted Clinton, whose Democratic Party has tried in vain to introduce lasting gun control measures despite the national scourge of mass shootings. "Our grief isn't enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again." The issue of gun control is highly sensitive in the United States and Trump's own views on the issue have changed markedly over his years in public life. After the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where 20 six and seven-year old children and six adults were mowed down by a disturbed 20-year-old, Trump appeared to favor stricter rules. Back then, president Barack Obama -- who often called Sandy Hook the worst moment of his eight year presidency and recalls even his Secret Service detail in tears -- called for the deadlock to be broken and for Congress to act. At that time Trump tweeted: "President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in #Newtown Connecticut." But since then Trump -- whose White House bid was eagerly endorsed by the NRA -- has positioned himself as a staunch defender of the constitutional "right to keep and bear arms." US Senator Chris Murphy, who was the congressman for Sandy Hook, renewed a call for action in the wake of the Las Vegas attack. "Nowhere but America do horrific large-scale mass shootings happen with this degree of regularity," he said. "This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren't public policy responses to this epidemic." Donald Trump has continued his tough rhetoric on North Korea, stating on Sunday that negotiations with Kim Jong Un were a waste of time and promising he would not fail to deal with the situation. Taking to social media on Twitter, the president once again hit out at the North Korean leader in a series of tweets on Sunday. Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail, Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday, in comments that appeared to leave out the detail that Kim Jong Un only took over from his father six years ago. Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017 His tweet was met with mixed reactions on social media, with some users praising Trump for his tough-talking reaction to the situation with North Korea, while others suggested the president did not appear to know how long Kim Jong Un had been in power and said he appeared to be looking to start a war. It's like you'd truly prefer nuclear war to negotiations, Steven Boyer wrote in response to Trumps tweet. You're an idiot monster. 09_29_Trump SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images Earlier in the day, the president also addressed comments made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that he remained in discussions with officials in North Korea, despite there being no official relationship between Pyongyang and Washington, The Hill reported. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man, Trump tweeted. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" he added. Story continues The president has not shied away from entering into a war of words with the isolated nation and has not ruled out military action over North Korea; previously promising to respond to threats from the country with fire and fury, in comments that were criticized by lawmakers from both parties for being overly provocative. Related Articles WASHINGTON President Trump on Monday tweeted his condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert that left at least 58 dead and hundreds wounded. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! he wrote. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 The president has been briefed on the horrific tragedy in Las Vegas, said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders in a statement. We are monitoring the situation closely and offer our full support to state and local officials. All of those affected are in our thoughts and prayers. We are with you, she said on Twitter. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the senseless tragedy in Las Vegas. We are with you. Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) October 2, 2017 In the past, Trump has struggled to unite the nation in times of tragedy and shown an unusual willingness to set aside the presidential role of comforter in chief for a more pointed and partisan back-and-forth, especially in the days following major events. Trump spent the weekend tweeting attacks on the media and the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, over reports that aid for the Hurricane Maria-battered island has been slow to arrive, leaving most of the territory without power and water. The Las Vegas shooting is the deadliest since the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in June 2016, after which Trump tweeted Appreciate the congrats! and said he was being praised for being right on radical Islamic terrorism. On Monday, Trump tweeted from his personal account and was retweeted from the official presidential account. The motive for the shooting in Las Vegas remains unclear. Story continues Vice President Pence used his official account to send three tweets offering prayers, love, condolences and sympathies to the victims, their families and loved ones. He also thanked the Las Vegas first responders. To victims, families & loved ones affected by this senseless violence in Las Vegas, Karen & I are praying for you & offering our love Vice President Pence (@VP) October 2, 2017 The hearts & prayers of the American people are with you. You have our condolences and sympathies. Vice President Pence (@VP) October 2, 2017 To the courageous first responders, thank you for your acts of bravery. Vice President Pence (@VP) October 2, 2017 Our collective hearts are breaking for the victims and their families, tweeted presidential aide and first daughter Ivanka Trump. 1:2 America woke up this morning to the horrific news of a devastating mass shooting in Las Vegas. Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 2, 2017 2:2 Our collective hearts are breaking for the victims and their families. #lasVegas Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) October 2, 2017 Related slideshow: Scenes from Las Vegas mass shooting >>> _____ Read more from Yahoo News: By Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed the prospect of talks with North Korea as a waste of time a day after his own secretary of state said the United States was maintaining open lines of communication with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Trump wrote on Twitter, using his sarcastic nickname for Kim and seeming to contradict the top U.S. diplomat. Trump, who has traded insults and threats with Kim in recent weeks amid escalating tensions over Pyongyangs nuclear and missile programs, later tweeted that his White House predecessors, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, had all "failed" on North Korea by "Being nice to Rocket Man, So why would it work now?" he asked. Kim succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, as North Korean leader in 2011, during Obama's administration. Previous presidents negotiated with Pyongyang but ultimately failed to prevent it from pressing ahead with its internationally condemned weapons programs. Tillerson disclosed on Saturday that the United States was directly communicating with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programs but that Pyongyang had shown no interest in dialogue. "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" Trump said. Tillerson said during a trip to China that the United States had multiple direct channels of communication with Pyongyang, the first such disclosure from the Trump administration, and that it was probing North Korea to see whether it was interested in dialogue. Tillerson expressed hope for reducing tensions with North Korea, which is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. "We are probing, so stay tuned," Tillerson told a small group of reporters. "We ask: 'Would you like to talk?'" He said the United States had "a couple of, three channels open to Pyongyang." AIDES DOWNPLAY COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS A senior Trump administration official, asked for clarification about Trump's Sunday morning tweets, played down the significance of the communication channels. "At a time when North Korea is continuing its provocations, the president does not think now is the time to negotiate with them," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official also said that to the extent that diplomatic channels exist between Washington and Pyongyang, they are aimed at securing the return of Americans detained by North Korea. R.C. Hammond, an adviser to Tillerson, denied that his boss had been undercut by Trumps tweets and rejected any suggestion that the secretary of state should resign. "Let's resign the idea of resignation. The President just made it clear to the Kim regime the diplomatic offer on the table is cooling," Hammond said on Twitter. He also downplayed any contacts. "Channels have been open for months. They've been unused and cooling for months," Hammond wrote. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert made a similar point on Sunday. "Diplomatic channels are open for #KimJongUn for now. They won't be open forever," she wrote on Twitter. U.S. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, wrote on Twitter: "If Tillerson is wasting his time, its only because his boss fails to understand the catastrophic consequences of war on Korean Peninsula." Trump's rhetoric on North Korea has run the gamut, from personal attacks on Kim to veiled military threats, from a denial of any interest in talks to an insistence that he would prefer a diplomatic solution. After announcing new U.S. sanctions on North Korea last month, he acknowledged diplomacy was still possible, asking: "Why not?". But he has also frequently declared that he had military options at its disposal, although U.S. officials and outside experts have long said a U.S. strike on North Korea would risk massive casualties. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland; Additional reporting by David Shepardson and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Peter Cooney) President Donald Trump took to Twitter Sunday morning to tweet foreign policy objectives on North Korea. I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man. Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done! said Trump across two tweets. The president has taken to calling North Koreas leader, Kim Jong Un, Rocket Man, because of the countrys continued testing of missiles. The tweet comes after Tillerson acknowledged Saturday that the U.S. State Department has had a direct back-channel line of communication with North Korea, despite growing tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. We have lines of communication to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation, a blackout, said Tillerson to reporters while on a visit to China. We have a couple ... three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them. The U.S. technically does not have official diplomatic relations with North Korea, but the U.S. State Department has communicated with North Koreas through its representatives at the United Nations (U.N.), according to the Associated Press. I think the most immediate action that we need is to calm things down. Theyre a little overheated right now. And I think we need to calm them down first, said Tillerson. Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles. That would calm things down a lot. North Korea this year has been aggressively improving its missile and nuclear weapons programs, showcasing is abilities to the world through its continued tests. North Korea tested its sixth and largest nuclear weapon at the beginning of September, claiming that it was a hydrogen bomb. North Korea has also tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles this year that experts believe theoretically have the range to hit the continental U.S. North Korea is known for their blustery rhetoric often disseminated through its state media wing, but the country has found a verbal sparring partner in Trump. In a September speech to the U. N. General Assembly, Trump called Kim Rocket Man again and said that he was on a suicide mission. Trump also threatened to totally destroy North Korea. Related Articles With so much to watch on TV it can be difficult to plan ahead. But were here to help! Here are the five shows you wont want to miss this week. The Gifted: Monday, Oct. 2 at 9 p.m. on Fox Not X-cited for the latest extension of the X-Men franchise? Dont worry you dont have to have seen a single one of the movies (or FXs Legion, for that matter) to enjoy The Gifted, a fugitives on the lam story set within the mutant-populated corner of the larger Marvel universe. The Mayor: Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 9:30 p.m. on ABC Brandon Michael Hall and Lea Michele headline ABCs promising new comedy about an aspiring rapper who unexpectedly becomes a political rather than a musical superstar. Frontline: North Koreas Deadly Dictator: Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) The invaluable documentary series takes an oh-so-timely deep dive into the story behind Kim Jong-uns rise to power and the lengths hes gone to keep North Korea under his control. Rillington Place: Thursday, Oct. 5 on Sundance NOW Tim Roth vanishes into the role of British serial killer John Christie in an imported three-part miniseries dramatizing one of the Sceptered Isles most notorious murder cases. Spielberg: Saturday, Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. on HBO For his 70th birthday, HBO gifts Steven Spielberg with an authorized documentary tribute that explores his career with commentary from friends, family, collaborators, and the Bearded One himself. Srinagar (India) (AFP) - Two children were killed Monday during an exchange of gunfire between Indian and Pakistani troops in disputed Kashmir, Indian authorities said. Twelve civilians, including two women and two teenage girls, were wounded on the Indian side of the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) that divides the restive Himalayan region. A police statement said firing from Pakistan had killed a 10-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. Indian army spokesman Colonel N.N. Joshi said soldiers retaliated after "unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars" from the Pakistan side in the Poonch sector at the southern end of the unofficial frontier. Later Monday, Pakistan's foreign ministry summoned the Indian envoy over the latest round of fighting. Senior official Mohammad Faisal condemned "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by India on Saturday and Monday, which authorities said left three civilians dead and five others wounded in the Rukh Chakri and Rawalakot sectors along the Line of Control. "This is the fifth ceasefire violation by the Indian forces in the past 12 days resulting in the shahadat (martyrdom) of 11 civilians, including five women, and injuries to 37 others," the ministry said in a statement. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both countries claim the territory in full. The nuclear-armed neighbours regularly exchange mortar fire across the border despite signing a ceasefire in 2003. Tensions reached dangerous levels in September last year, with each side blaming the other for cross-border raids. Gun battles on the border are frequent with deaths and injuries reported on both sides. Last month Pakistan said a five-year-old girl had been killed when she was hit by a bullet fired from the Indian side. New Delhi has said Pakistan initiates cross-border firing to help anti-India rebels cross into Indian-administered Kashmir to launch attacks. Islamabad has denied the allegation and said it provides only diplomatic support to the Kashmiri campaign for self-determination. Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah, left, and Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Huong - AP North Korea was behind an audacious plot to kill the estranged half-brother of dictator Kim Jong-un, the Malaysian prosecution in the trial over his murder alleged on Monday. Kim Jong-nam, 45, was publicly assassinated at Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13 by two young Asian women who smeared his face with VX, a chemical weapon the United Nations has described as a weapon of mass destruction. They have been charged with murder, along with four other unnamed people, who remain at large. The Malaysian police have named four North Koreans as suspects after they left Kuala Lumpur for Pyongyang on the day of the killing. Only the two female suspects, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, appeared on Monday at the opening day of the trial at the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, both wearing flak jackets. They have pleaded not guilty to the boldest political assassination in recent times, claiming they believed they were taking part in a TV prank show. Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of Kim Jong-un, in pictures They face the death penalty if convicted. Opening the prosecution, Muhamad Iskander Ahmad rejected their version of events, claiming their actions showed their intention to kill and that they had practised for the hit beforehand. However, prosecutors have also accused the North Koreans of helping the women carry out several practice runs in Kuala Lumpur shopping malls before they attacked Kim as he checked in for a morning flight to Macau. The prank practice carried out by the first and second accused with the supervision of the four who are still at large was preparation to see through their common intention to kill the victim, the prosecution said in its charge sheet. Kim Jong-un | A history of executions - family, allies and rivals The womens defence lawyers demanded in court that the prosecution immediately name the four other suspects so that they could prepare their case, but Judge Azmi Ariffin dismissed their request. Story continues Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, one of the lawyers representing Ms Huong, has said that the absence of the four North Korean suspects left a big gap in the prosecutions case. Following the opening proceedings, he told The Telegraph the defence intended into blame North Korea during the course of the trial when the appropriate witness takes the stand. South Korea and the US have accused the North of murdering Kim, who had criticised the regime after falling out of favour with his father Kim Jong-il before his exile in Macau. It is believed his half-brother Kim Jong-un saw him as a potential threat to his rule. A Malaysian police officer who escorted Kim to the airport clinic was one of the first two witnesses to address the court on Monday. Indonesia's ambassador to Malaysia Rusdi Kirana (C) speaks to journalists ahead of the trial of suspects in the assasination of North Korean leader's Kim Jong-un's half-brother Credit: EPA Mohamad Zulkarnian, 31, gave a dramatic account of his final, agonising moments, his eyes red and surrounded by liquid, as he pleaded with the officer to walk slow, my eyes are blurred. Mr Zulkarnian waited outside the clinic as medical staff fought to save Kims life after he collapsed as the toxic VX nerve agent rapidly shut down his central nervous system. I noticed the man slumped on a chair and the medical staff were giving emergency treatment, he told the court. Juliana Idris, an airport information officer, and the first person Kim approached for help, was the second witness out of 30-40 expected to be called by the prosecution over the next few months. She testified that he told her two women had attacked him from behind. His hands were shaking a bit, I dont know why, she said. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The University of Southern California said on Monday on its Twitter feed that there was no evidence of gunfire on campus and told students to go about normal activities, after earlier reports of possible shots being fired on campus. The Los Angeles Police Department, which conducted a search with campus police, said in a tweet, "We can confirm theres been no shooting on USC Campus." The school had said earlier that there was police activity near Fertitta Hall on its University Park Campus in Los Angeles after unconfirmed reports of gunshots. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas and the Los Angeles Bureau) The US is no stranger to hacking North Korea, but it's usually in a bid to directly thwart the country's military ambitions. Now, however, those attacks are being used as a diplomatic strategy. The Washington Post has learned that President Trump ordered a broad pressure campaign against North Korea that led to the US conducting a denial of service attack against North Korea's spying office, the Reconnaissance General Bureau. The move flooded the RGB's servers with traffic that effectively strangled their internet access, including the Bureau 121 group responsible for the North's hacking campaigns. And while it clearly didn't change Kim Jong Un's mind, it does appear to have had a practical effect. Reportedly, the initiative was designed to be temporary and only lasted for half a year -- Trump signed the order in March, and it ended on September 30th. It wasn't destructive, either. According to the Post's sources, however, North Korean hackers were complaining about the ability to do their jobs during that period. North Korea certainly isn't going to get much sympathy. With that said, it raises questions about the use of cyberattacks as a pressure tactic. It no doubt sends the message that the US can cripple a hostile country's digital warfare capabilities if it wants, but there is the concern that it could escalate an already tense situation. After all, North Korea is the sort of country that claims you can declare war with a tweet -- while that's hyperbolic, it might interpret a denial of service attack as an act of aggression that merits revenge. On Sunday night, a man opened fire on a crowd of concertgoers in Las Vegas, killing at least 58 people and wounding more than 500. It is one of the deadliest mass shootings in history. As usual, members of Congress quickly put out milquetoast statements offering their thoughts and prayers, without any indication that they will follow up with legislative action. And the National Rifle Association, the group most responsible for creating a nation awash in easily obtainable firearms, went into hiding. Nevada, like many states, has extremely lax gun laws. Its completely legal to walk down the crowded Las Vegas Strip with a machine gun out in the open. As of Monday afternoon, the NRA had not yet put out a statement on the shooting or acknowledged it on Twitter. A spokesman did not return HuffPosts request for comment. The group has canceled a weeks worth of advertising, which was set to begin Tuesday, aimed at Virginians in next months state elections. The NRA has done a very good job of making a lot of people feel that more guns are the answer in America. More people carrying more guns in more places make us more safe. And thats simply wrong, said Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. When events like the tragedy in Las Vegas happen, the NRA goes quiet because they realize that the myth that theyve been peddling to the American public has the possibility of being exposed. The NRAs standard response to mass shootings is to go initially silent, then come out in full force. Anyone looking for contrition from the gun lobbying group in the wake of the Vegas tragedy will likely be sorely disappointed. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre advocated for more guns to stop mass shootings, famously saying, The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Two days after the June 2016 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, a top NRA official blamed the Obama administration and political correctness for the shooting. Story continues Im sure right now theyre huddling and trying to create a message that would make them not vulnerable, Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said of the NRA. They have legislation they want to protect. But unlike years past, this will not be an opportunity to say, you better buy guns because the president is going to confiscate them. While Barack Obama was in office, the NRA constantly warned gun owners that the president was going to take away their Second Amendment rights. Having Obama in the White House was very good for their business. Watts said that now, with a Republican Congress and a Republican president, the NRA will have to change tactics. What weve seen them do is because they dont have a bogeyman in the White House, theyre trying to make Americans afraid of one another, she said. Theyve gotten very involved in the presidents culture war. Theyre very involved in the national anthem-kneeling drama going on nationally. Theres a lot of dog-whistling from the NRA because they want us to be afraid of one another. The Las Vegas shooting doesnt fall into any of those categories, she went on. This is a 64-year-old white man, as far as we can tell, who was a retiree in Nevada. This is the demographic of an NRA gun owner. Congress famously failed to enact meaningful gun safety legislation in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, where the shooter killed his mother, six other adults, 20 children and then himself. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who represented the district as a congressman, has made fighting for gun violence prevention his lifes work. I realized that I was not going to consider myself a success in public service if I didnt deliver on something here, Murphy said on an episode of the Candidate Confessional podcast earlier this year. And that still scares the hell out of me. Im now four years into the Senate and I have not delivered any meaningful federal legislative success on this issue. And to the extent I will run for re-election, it is in part because, boy, I just cant imagine hanging up my spikes and having to sit down with [one of the parents] or whomever and tell them, Yeah, I didnt get it done. Listen to the full episode here: Both Watts and Gardiner said they are frustrated by observers who say it isnt possible to fight the NRA. Watts pointed to progress made at the state level, noting that gun safety advocates have passed many good gun laws at the state level, and we have stopped so many bad bills, because we now have a grassroots army that can go toe-to-toe with the NRA. That Congress has not acted on [universal background checks for gun sales] yet means only that we need to work harder to get them to do it now, Gardiner said. On Monday, the White House said it would be premature to discuss gun policy. The NRA spent more than $30 million to get Donald Trump elected. Want more updates from Amanda Terkel? Sign up for her newsletter, Piping Hot Truth, here. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. People hug and cry outside the Thomas & Mack Center after a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. A cowboy hat lies in the street. VIDEO: Rapid fire from shooter(s) in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/jgzCTQRUZP Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) October 2, 2017 Las Vegas police search for the gunman while protecting fleeing fans. Fans run from the Route 91 Harvest festival after a gunman opened fire. Others dive for cover. Some fans drop to the ground. People run from the Route 91 Harvest festival. People scramble for cover. HORRIFIC SCENE: Do not let this be called anything else but DOMESTIC TERRORISM. AP reports 2dead 13critical & dozens injured. #MandalayBay pic.twitter.com/q7faKkCPpN Eduardo Samaniego (@EduSamani) October 2, 2017 A man in a wheelchair is helped away. People run for cover. EYEWITNESS: Chilling footage of moment active shooter opened fire on concert goers near Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas pic.twitter.com/7OfAwg0ReO Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) October 2, 2017 A person takes cover amid the shooting. A person runs barefoot from the shooting. Police officers stop a man who drove down Tropicana Avenue near Las Vegas Boulevard, which had been closed. A pair of cowboy boots lies in the street outside the concert venue. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The family of Stephen Paddock say they were blindsided by news their relative is presumed responsible for the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The 64-year-old Nevada man has been identified as the gunman who opened fire on an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas late Sunday, killing at least 58 and wounding more than 500. Watch: Victim of Orlando Massacre Was Ariana Grande's Backup Singer at Disney The alleged killer's brother, Eric Paddock, lives in Florida, where he told reporters he has spoken with police about the shooting, which has left the family "dumbfounded." "We cant understand what happened," said Eric Paddock, who said he last spoke to his brother after hurricane Irma. "We have absolutely no idea whatsoever... I cant imagine. When you guys find out why this happened, let us know. I have no idea whatsoever." Another person who identifies as a member of Paddock's family took to Facebook to distance herself from her now-infamous relative. "First off I want to express my deepest sympathies to everyone affected by this massacre, I am as shocked and appalled as anyone about this senseless act of violence," Nicole Paddock wrote Monday. Nicole Paddock called it "disheartening" to learn that Stephen Paddock, her uncle, was identified as the gunman. "But I did not know very much about him. Sometimes I would see him in Las Vegas when I was there visiting other family, but these encounters were casual and infrequent. It has been well over a year since I have had any contact with him. I cannot speak to what possibly motivates someone to do something like this nor what his specific motivations may have been. He never came across as religious or political. "My family and I are still in shock by this news and my heart goes out to all of those who lost or had loved ones injured in this tragedy. I am at a loss for words." Story continues Police, meanwhile, have not released Stephen Paddock's motive for the shooting. Authorities say they found Stephen Paddock, who they believe targeted victims at street level from his 32nd floor Mandalay Bay hotel room, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Footage from outside the famed Las Vegas strip resort shows what appeared to be the shooter's shattered hotel room windows. Among the hundreds of victims was an off-duty officer with the Bakersfield, California Police Department. He was taken to a hospital for nonlife-threatening injuries, according to a statement. Watch: How the Tony Awards Honored the Victims of Orlando Nightclub Massacre Several of the departments officers were off-duty and were reportedly attending the concert when the gunfire erupted. The FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were assisting local authorities with the investigation, the agencies said. Watch: Mourners Weep Over Coffins Following Palm Sunday Massacre In Egypt Related Articles: More than 50 people have been killed Sunday night when a gunman opened fire on a Las Vegas outdoor concert in a scene witnesses could only describe as nightmarish. Perched from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, a Nevada man identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock rained bullets on the massive crowd of about 22,000 with an automatic rifle that concertgoers say he repeatedly unloaded, paused to reload, then emptied again into unsuspecting revelers. Watch: How the Tony Awards Honored the Victims of Orlando Nightclub Massacre "The shooting would just stop... like they were reloading," a witness named Gail Davis told CBS News. "As we're running there's people laying everywhere. People were bleeding. One man was holding his girlfriend saying, 'I'm sorry,' because she was shot in the head." While the shooter reloaded, Gail and others recall the crowd ran en masse to flee from sound of bullets that would soon start again. When that happened, concertgoers would again hit the ground. "We were in the front having a good time. All of the sudden we heard pop, pop, pop, pop, pop," a Canadian couple told CBS News. "Every time he stopped, we got up and made our way to the fence. And he started shooting again and we would hit the ground." One witness guessed this happened about a dozen times. "It kept happening and happening," said a nurse who was in attendance at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. "There were short increments where there were breaks. But it felt like, it continued for 20 minutes straight." The nurse fled, only to turn back when her sense of duty as a health care provider kicked in. "The guy next to us, got shot. But we went back, because I'm a nurse, and I just felt that I had to, so I went to three different scenes," she recalled. "The first one was okay, the second one was worse, and by the time I got to the third one, there were just dead bodies. Like, there's like six. And they were all young people." Story continues Through the nightmare, the nurse said "normal citizens, doctors, cops, paramedics" who had arrived as country music fans quickly came together as practiced professionals determined to aid the injured. "It was completely horrible, but it was absolutely amazing to see all the people come together," the nurse said. More than 500 people were injured in the shooting, some of them critically. With the death toll already at 50 as of early Monday, the Las Vegas incident has officially replaced Orlando's Pulse nightclub massacre as the deadliest in modern American history. Cops would later find Paddock dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the hotel room, surrounded by as many as 10 firearms, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Monday. Authorities had been alerted to his location thanks to a smoke alarm that went off in the room, presumably triggered as a result of the shots fired. Watch: Victim of Orlando Massacre Was Ariana Grande's Backup Singer at Disney Police say they have located a woman identified as his "companion," Marilou Danley, who was wanted for questioning, but she is not believed to be a suspect. Authorities, however, said their investigation of the shooting and Paddock's possible motive, is ongoing. President Donald Trump reacted to the shooting in a tweet early Monday. My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2017 Country megastar Jason Aldean was on stage when the shooting began. He is seen in video from the concert fleeing the stage as the shots ring out. Tonight has been beyond horrific, Aldean wrote on Instagram. I still dont know what to say but wanted to let everyone know that Me and my Crew are safe. My Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved tonight. It hurts my heart that this would happen to anyone who was just coming out to enjoy what should have been a fun night. #heartbroken #stopthehate. The FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were assisting local authorities with the investigation, the agencies said. As this story continues to unfold, please check back with InsideEdition.com for updates. Watch: Mourners Weep Over Coffins Following Palm Sunday Massacre In Egypt Related Articles: DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen's Houthi forces shot down a U.S. surveillance drone in the capital Sanaa on Sunday, the Houthi-controlled state news agency SABA reported. The Houthi movement and its ally former president Ali Abdullah Saleh control much of northern Yemen, including Sanaa, and are battling a Saudi-led coalition that is trying to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The United States backs the Saudi-led coalition by providing it with intelligence and weapons. "A military source said (Houthi) air defense shot down a U.S. MQ-9 surveillance drone in Jader area in the Sanaa province," SABA reported. A Reuters photographer said the drone came down at around 11 am local time in a crowded area on the outskirts of the capital, but there were no reports of any casualties. The charred wreckage of the aircraft was carried out by the Houthis aboard a Toyota pickup truck. The Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen's civil war. It began in March 2015 when the Houthis advanced on Hadi's interim headquarters in the southern port city of Aden, forcing him to flee the country and seek Saudi help. The war has caused a humanitarian disaster in the country, where more than two million people have been displaced while around 750,000 are suspected to have been infected with cholera. (Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Mark Potter) Sanaa (AFP) - Yemen's Huthi rebels, who are locked in a deadly war with the Saudi-supported government, on Sunday said they had downed a drone on the northern outskirts of the country's capital. Huthi-run media said the Shiite rebel camp's anti-aircraft defence had brought down an MQ-9 Reaper, an unmanned aerial vehicle which is produced by the United States. No casualties were reported. Neither Saudi Arabia nor the United States had yet responded to the report. An AFP photographer at the scene said dozens of residents rushed to examine the debris from a burning aircraft at the northern entrance to the capital Sanaa, which is controlled by the Huthis and their ally former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The aircraft had no discernible flag, but the Huthi-controlled SABA news agency said the drone had been US-operated. Yemen's years-long war has produced one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with poverty and port blockades compounding the deadly violence between the Saudi-backed government and an alliance joining the Huthis and Saleh. For decades sworn enemies of Saleh, who ruled Yemen from its unification in 1990 until 2012, the Huthis joined ranks with the strongman in 2014 and forced out the government of Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, Saleh's successor. Saudi Arabia and its allies in an Arab military coalition joined the war the following year in a bid to curb the reach of the Saleh-Huthi alliance. More than 8,500 people have since been killed and nearly 49,000 wounded in the conflict, according to the World Health Organization. The MQ-9 Reaper, with a 20-metre (66-foot) wingspan and a maximum payload of more than 1,800 kilograms (nearly 4,000 pounds), can carry a range of weapons including missiles and laser-guided bombs. Hamas and Fatah have signed quite a few agreements so far in a bid to resolve the rift between them, and primarily to divide authorities and control, but have reached a crisis each time. What are the parties still insisting on and how will they reach understandings on the recent agreement signed by the factions? Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The common belief in Ramallah is that Hamas is interested in shaking off the dull civil control burden in Gaza, but keeping the more glamorous military control. In May 2011, Fatah and Hamas dropped a bombshell by announcing they had reached an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement (the Cairo agreement), under which an independent government would be established and elections would be held with the participation of both sides. The headlines screamed reconciliation, but what happened in practice? Nothing. PA and Hamas representatives in preparation meeting ahead of Gaza visit A year later, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashal met in Qatar and announced they had reached an agreement to establish a government and hold elections (the Doha agreement). The agreement led to a lot of statements and zero action. Another year went by, and Fatah and Hamas declared once again, following a series of meetings in Egypt, that they had decided to implement the first Cairo agreement from 2011 (the second Cairo agreement). As expected, this joint declaration didnt lead to any progress either. In 2014, the parties launched negotiations again, this time in the Gaza Strip, and signed a new agreement (the Shati agreement) to establish an independent unity government and hold elections. Surprisingly, the parties established a technocrat government led by Rami Hamdallah, after which the Hamas government was dissolved. Soon enough, however, Hamas complained that the governments activity was focused on the West Bank and that it was completely neglecting the strip. Presidential and parliamentary elections were never held. Three years later, the strips neglect had prompted Hamas to create a sort of shadow government in Gaza, euphemistically known as the administrative committee. In response, Abbas imposed tough sanctions on Gaza, which led to a humanitarian crisis. Then the parties got together in Cairo again and announced a new agreement, under which Hamas would dissolve its shadow government and the Palestinian government would resume its activities in the strip (the third Cairo agreement). This partial historical review does not include the Mecca agreement, the Sanaa agreement, the Damascus agreement, etc. Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sanwar (Photo: AP) In light of past experience, it isnt surprising that many players in the region, including the Palestinian public, are suspicious and dismissive of the new agreement. The Hamas leaders are the only ones going out of their way in public to prove how serious they are. The organizations political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, issued a public message Saturday stating this is what Hamas wants and has decided to do. We know the road to ending the rift will be long and filled with setbacks and decisions requiring courage, but we are certain we have begun the movement to destroy the dividing fence, he said. Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sanwar, a gentle soul, announced several days ago he would break the neck of anyone who tries to sabotage the reconciliation. Fatah, however, isnt rushing to embrace Hamas announcements. The decision to dismantle the shadow government received a chilly response from Abbas. Two weeks after the dissolution of the Gaza committee, he has yet to lift the sanctions imposed on the strip. After following Hamas conduct in the past decade, I believe they wont honor the agreement, says a source in Ramallahs political leadership. Their promises cannot be trusted. Senior PA officials head to Gaza The ceremonial and festive part of the agreement begins Monday, when Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah enters the strip through the Erez Crossing with all his ministers. It will be his first visit to Gaza since 2014. Hamdallah will be accompanied by the Palestinian intelligence chief and Abbass confidant, Majed Faraj, Palestinian police chief Hazem Attallah, and likely also the head of preventive security, Ziad Hab al-Rih. A delegation comprised of senior officers from the Palestinian security services entered Gaza several days ago and held a preliminary meeting with Hamas members on Friday. Senior officials from the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate were expected to arrive in the strip Monday to oversee the talks between the parties. These officials are very familiar with the situation on the ground. One of them served in the past in the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv and in the Egyptian representatives office in Ramallah. They will hold their meetings in the PAs desolate presidential residence in Gaza. Will Hamas give up its military wing? (Photo: AFP) Barring any last-minute changes, Egyptian intelligence chief Khaled Fawzy is expected to arrive in Ramallah on Tuesday. He will meet with Abbas and then travel straight to the Gaza Strip through the Erez Crossing. At the same time, the Palestinian government will convene in the strip for a festive meeting before regaining control of the government ministries. The PA officials are expected to return to Ramallah on Wednesday. Fawzys visit to Ramallah is the Egyptians way of letting Abbas know they see him as a key player in the move. The Palestinian president, by the way, is leaving for a one-day visit to Jordan on Monday, although its unclear whether the purpose of the short trip is to update King Abdullah on the talks with Hamas. The Palestinian government and PA officials major and complex visit to Gaza is expected to be mostly ceremonial. At this stage, the parties likely wont discuss the essence of the reconciliation and the serious obstacles they are facing. The rest of the discussions will likely be held in Cairo, far from the cameras. Main problems faced by parties The crossings - Abbas wants to gain control of the Rafah Crossing in the hopes of eventually bringing to an organized opening of the crossing. Hamas is very interested in opening the crossing, as it will significantly ease the 10-year blockade on the strip. Its unclear, however, whether Hamas would agree to grant the PAs security apparatus exclusive control of the crossing or whether it would seek to have representatives supervising it, like in the Erez Crossing, where a Hamas checkpoint is followed by a PA checkpoint. The military wing - In all the appeased statements issued by Hamas leaders, there has not been a hint of willingness to give up the organizations military wing and its arsenal. On the contrary, senior Hamas members Moussa Abu Marzouk and Mahmoud al-Zahar have clarified the weapons of the resistance are non-negotiable in the reconciliation talks. Fatah, on the other hand, is willing to give them a chance, but its hard to see Abbas giving up and allowing Hamas to apply the Hezbollah model in Lebanonin which the civil control is in one entitys hands and the military control is in another entitys handsto the Gaza Strip. Abbas and King Abdullah. Meeting in Jordan on Monday (Archive photo: Getty Images) The Quartet hasnt welcomed the reconciliation, but it has clarified it supports the PAs return to the Gaza Strip. US President Donald Trumps special envoy, Jason Greenblatt, said in a recent tour of the Gaza border that the PA should regain control of the crossings. Both the Quartet and the Americans avoided referring directly to Hamas. Mondays festivities in Gaza will likely produce images of hugs, kisses and statements about unity, brotherhood and the same blood flowing through the veins. But in the Fatah-Hamas history, it is well known that festive declarations do not equal reality. Will the tough situation in the strip finally prompt Hamas to give up control, keeping the theoretical option of taking over the entire PA in future elections? Will Abbas waive his demand to disarm the military wing? Will Mondays warm handshakes turn out to be a repeat of the empty handshakes witnessed in Cairo, Doha and Shati? At this stage, its seems neither Abbas nor Haniyeh have the answers. US intelligence has successfully thwarted the smuggling of over 30,000 rocket-propelled grenades from North Korea to Egypt, the Chicago Tribune reported on Sunday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The foiled smuggling attempt strained ties between Washington and Cairo and was one of several secret deals that led the Trump administration to delay nearly $300 million in military aid to Egypt, the Tribune reported. According to the report, Washington warned Cairo in August of a vessel that was flying a Cambodian flagbut actually came from North Koreawhich was making its way toward the Suez Canal. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Photos: AFP) Months after the capture of the ship, the UN investigation found the shipment was bound for Egypt itself. Pyongyang and Cairo tried to hide their tracks with a complex arrangement in which Egyptian businessmen ordered millions of dollars' worth of rockets from North Korea for the country's military, according to both US officials and Western diplomats who spoke to the Tribune. Egyptian President al-Sisi meets with US President Trump (Photo: AP) While Egypt insisted it will "continue to abide by all Security Council resolutions and will always be in conformity with these resolutions as they restrain military purchases from North Korea," US officials confirmed to the paper that the shipment was stopped only after American intelligence agencies had alerted the Egyptians about it. It was unclear whether North Korea ever received the estimate $23 million payment for the arms shipment, the Tribute report noted. US President Donald Trumps special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt publicly called on Palestinians Monday to recognize the State of Israel and commit to nonviolence in what was a rare layout of the White Houses preconditions to kick-start peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Uploaded on his Twitter page, Greenblatt, who has paid several visits to the region in a bid to inject energy into the moribund peace talks, said The United States stresses that any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the State of Israel, acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties, and peaceful negotiations." Jason Greenblatt (Photo: EPA) In addition, Greenblatt praised Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and his Fatah delegation for visiting the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to undertake the most ambitious attempt to reconcile the rival political factions since the Islamic militant group seized control of the enclave over a decade ago. Hamdallah with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza (Photo: AP) As the Palestinian Authority Cabinet visits Gaza today in preparation for the October 3 cabinet meeting, the United States welcomes efforts to create the conditions for the Palestinian Authority to fully assume its responsibilities in Gaza, as noted in the September 28 Quartet statement, he declared in the brief. We will be watching these developments closely, while pressing forward with the Palestinian Authority, Israel, and international donors to try to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, he continued. Rami Hamdallah began his visit with a message of reconciliation, shortly after arriving in a 30-vehicle motorcade through the Erez border crossing separating Israel and Gaza. He was accompanied by a large delegation of Fatah officials from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, dozens of aides and armed bodyguards. Photo: AFP Upon entering the Gaza Strip, Hamdallah said that he hoped the cooperation would succeed, and that the main beneficiary of the division between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas is Israel. "We return to the Gaza Strip once again to end the division, and I commend the factions and civil society members who have joined together to bring it to an end, Hamdallah stated. Greenblatt with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Photo: Photo: Reuters) "It is time to take responsibility," Hamdallah added. "The only factor that benefits from our division is the Israeli occupation. We praise Hamas for the dispersion of the administrative committee and look forward to working closely with all factions and components of civil society for the benefit of our people in the Gaza Strip. The success of the government depends on its ability to carry out its actions in practice. We will continue to resist the Israeli occupation until the blockade over the Gaza Strip is lifted and the crossings are opened." 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 [] Interim Executive Director Josefina Hurtado, a native of the Napa Valley and long-time community leader, has been selected as the permanent executive director of Puertas Abiertas Community Resource Center. After conducting a nationwide search, Hurtado was selected as the ideal candidate to lead the nonprofit based in Napa, said a news release. She has been with Puertas Abiertas for more two years where she served as program director. The board was unanimous in finding that Josefina is the right person to lead us into the future," said Puertas Abiertas board chairman Conrad Perez. Hurtado will bring to her new position many years of experience working with Napas Latino/immigrant population. The position was vacated when Melissa Patrino relocated with her family out of the Bay Area. Hurtado has been the interim director since July. Puertas Abiertas serves more than 1,200 families annually. Kaiser Permanente celebrated first responders from the Napa-Solano area last week during an event at the Vacaville Medical Center. We are lucky to have these dedicated first responders serving our community every day, said Chris Bandy, MD, trauma medical director for Kaiser Permanentes Vacaville Medical Center. We are proud to honor them." Over the past few weeks, local residents nominated someone who works in emergency medical services who went above and beyond in protecting or saving lives, or helped with efforts that are focused on injury prevention. The nominees and selected finalists represented emergency agencies in Napa and Solano counties. The three finalists included Captain Jose Martin of the American Canyon Fire Protection District. Martin was on vacation with his family near Indio, California when they witnessed a single-car accident. With one passenger ejected, and two in the overturned vehicle that was now on fire, Martin knew he was in the right place at the right time. He quickly checked on the ejected passenger, who had suffered numerous fractures, and then along with the help of his brother and another bystander, focused their efforts on rescuing the two passengers trapped in the burning car. The three were able to extract both occupants and Martin performed CPR on one passenger until local first responders arrived. That victim died a short time later. Martins quick actions helped prevent additional casualties. Officer Josh Toney of the city of Napa Police Department was also honored. Martin and Toney each received a framed commemorative certificate. AMERICAN CANYON A group of property owners has raised concerns about the traffic that Napa Logistics Park will produce in and around American Canyon, saying more needs to be done to stem the expected flow of cars and trucks from the large commercial project. A representative for the property owners appeared before the American Canyon Planning Commission on Sept. 12 and tried to delay approval of a development agreement between the city of American Canyon and the developer of Napa Logistics Parks Phase II. Scott Greenwood-Meinert, a partner with the law firm Dickenson, Peatman and Fogarty in Napa, testified before the planning commission that he represented a coalition of similarly situated property owners that will be affected by the project. The coalition is concerned with traffic issues now and in the future in this area, said Greenwood-Meinert, who did not reveal the names of his clients. Napa Logistics Park is situated on the northwestern edge of American Canyon, west of Highway 29 and south of Napa County Airport. If fully built out, the project would provide 2.9 million square feet of space for warehousing, e-commerce, manufacturing or office use. Greenwood-Meinert, who said the coalition does not oppose Napa Logistics Park, added that the property owners believe this projects traffic generation burdens are not adequately addressed, and the environmental impact report for Phase II acknowledges this problem at great length. The City Council and Planning Commission certified the environmental report for Phase II in December 2015, but not before adopting a resolution that included Findings of Overriding Consideration because of the projects significant and unavoidable impacts on traffic. A traffic study authorized by the city concluded the new business park would generate 1,310 vehicles during peak morning commute time and 1,243 vehicles during the afternoon peak unless there are efforts to reduce that. Orchard Partners, developer of Napa Logistics Park, agreed to invest in road infrastructure and use a Travel Demand Management program which would seek to reduce the number of vehicles coming and going from the business park to ensure trip generation does not exceed 780 vehicles during the morning peak hour and 704 vehicles during the afternoon peak hour. If they exceed these limits, the developer would pay a penalty to the city. Greenwood-Meinert insisted Orchard Partners needs to do more to alleviate traffic problems so other developers arent left holding the bag in the future for what will be very expensive improvements. He asked what the city intends to do to solve traffic on nearby streets, such as Green Island Road and Kelly Road, plus Highway 29 traffic, he said, that Napa Logistics Park will exacerbate. A larger traffic blueprint is already long overdue, according to Greenwood-Meinert. We believe this project does not contribute enough to that solution. He requested the Planning Commission postpone voting on the development agreement for Napa Logistics Park Phase II, and instead convene a meeting of stakeholders to hammer out a real traffic plan for this area. Commissioners did not act on Greenwood-Meinerts request, but did unanimously approve a resolution recommending the City Council approve the development agreement. Ernie Knodel, a partner with Orchard Partners, said he was unaware of the coalition until that night at the Planning Commission meeting. This is the first Ive heard of them, he told the commission. But I will be happy to sit down with them and exchange business cards. Knodel also said his company has already agreed to pay substantial fees to the city to help with traffic improvements. Weve gone to extraordinary measures to ensure we contribute the best way we can to help alleviate some of the traffic concerns, said Knodel. Colette Meunier, the citys contract planner overseeing Napa Logistics Park, informed the Planning Commission that the developer will pay $4.7 million toward building a new segment of Devlin Road so it connects with Green Island Road. She also noted that Orchard Partners has agreed to help pay for projects on Highway 29, including the intersection with Airport Boulevard/Highway 12 and Soscol Ferry Road/Highway 221. It began as a girls weekend in Las Vegas, three Napa women enjoying country music by the Strip. It ended in a gauntlet of gunfire, panic and death all around them the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. More than 22,000 spectators packed an outdoor arena Sunday night for the finale of the Route 91 Harvest festival, where the country star Jason Aldean took the stage as the final act. Fifty yards away, stage left, Sonya Sparks Niebling settled in her lawn chair, as did her adult daughter Jenica Fox and Nieblings friend Patti Myers. The Vegas weekend at Route 91 had become a tradition for the three in recent years, along with other festivals on the West Coast. Fifteen minutes in, during Aldeans third song, Niebling heard it. Everyone was standing and dancing, and then you heard a pop-pop-pop-pop and it sounded like firecrackers. And then tons of gunfire came and the speakers blew, she said Monday morning by telephone from her hotel in Las Vegas, less than 12 hours after the attack at the festival ground below the Mandalay Bay hotel. All of a sudden the music stopped. Everyone was screaming and it was like, OK, something happened, said Myers. We thought it was some crackling on the speakers. Then all of a sudden, everyone started running. You saw people falling, dead or maybe injured. There were three big shots, off in the distance, recalled Fox. At first I thought, Are they lighting fireworks off the Strip? but I didnt see anything and I told Patti, Well, thats weird. Then I started hearing weird shots, almost like an electrical sound. I looked at my mom and then the stage went dark. Then I saw people getting hit and falling, and I told my mom, Get down. Get down on the ground! She was panicking and I said, You need to get down! We saw falling, blood, screaming and more gunfire and it didnt stop for the longest time, Niebling continued, frequently pausing for tears and gasps. We threw ourselves on the ground, and we put our lawn chairs on top of us and laid over each other. Then other people said to us, Get up! Go! Run! We just saw people falling, bam, bam, bam, bam. People are getting shot; we just saw people falling and trampled and blood, blood everywhere, and people with babies and strollers and people in wheelchairs all trying to get out. The chaotic flight of terrified fans-turned-targets left the three Napa women scrambling for a way out. We started crawling on the ground and more and more people were trampling each other and running, Fox said. I said, We have to get up and go! There was nowhere to exit; people were shoving their way under the bleachers. There was a lady next to me who had her son who looked about 12, and her baby in a front pack. It was pretty much chaos. The shots would fire again and wed had to get down on the ground. They kept coming and coming and I thought, When will it stop? I thought the shooter was on the ground, the way everyone was reacting. In the blind chaos of thousands fleeing gunfire seemingly coming from all directions, Niebling, her daughter and her friend scrambled toward a beer booth, only to find a gate barring the way out. Some guys that were really strong or had lots of adrenalin they moved the gate away for us, recalled Myers. We were afraid of being trampled; you think of it happening in the movies, but you dont think it can happen here in real life. When the shooting finally stopped, the three women ran from the arena and across a parking lot toward the Tropicana hotel. Once there, they first took cover in a hallway, then hid for about an hour behind the Tropicanas registration desk with about 20 others, according to Niebling. Later, security guards announced that no gunman was in the Tropicana contradicting wildfire online rumors of assaults on multiple Vegas hotels but also ordered people to stay where they were while a SWAT team swept the premises. People were screaming, bloodied, saying they couldnt find their sons or daughters, said Niebling. They were helping this one girl who was having a panic attack. Its all a blur. Around 2:30 a.m. four hours after the shooting began a public-address announcement called on those fleeing the attack to go to a downstairs conference room where police officers frisked people and checked their bags. Finally, at 5 a.m., Niebling, Fox, Myers and the others were allowed to leave the Tropicana and return to their own hotels. Shortly thereafter, Las Vegas police identified the killer as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot near the smashed-out window of a 32nd-floor room at Mandalay Bay the place authorities said was the launching point for the massacre. Videos and photos of the shooting proliferated on social media within minutes, but Niebling instead reached out to her husband, Jon, while she could. I called him right as it was happening told him we were being shot at, and we didnt know what was going on, she said. We really thought we were going to die. Everyone was falling around us. As the hundreds of rounds rained down on concertgoers, Myers also put in a hurried call to her 24-year-old son, Matt. I told him I loved him, didnt even know if I would live to tell him, and he could hear the shots in the background, she said. As of Monday afternoon, at least 59 people had died and more than 500 were wounded, according to authorities. But Niebling and her traveling companions escaped physical injury, save for some scrapes from crawling down to lay low during the gunfire. Their emotions were another matter. I keep hearing the screams and the shots, she said, her voice seizing. It didnt sound like it was ever going to stop. It just went on and on and on and on. Patti Myers sister was arranging to drive her back to California and already, she could not imagine herself returning to the Las Vegas music festival, or any event remotely as large. Im leaving for Ireland on Wednesday, and I dont know if I can be around all the crowds, she said. You cant even know what its like; the sounds that sound like a gunshot are embedded in my head. They just keep going over and over and over. Fox, who with her mother was to fly home to the Bay Area later Monday, wanted to believe she could keep up her concert trips, but admitted Im not quite sure yet. I feel you shouldnt live in fear, but I dont know. Is a Giants game going to be next? Opus One Winery has been ordered to pay more than $10,000 in monetary relief for contaminating the Napa River with grape waste last year. An undetermined amount of grape waste from the Oakville winery was accidentally pumped into the river in October during the 2016 harvest, Opus One CEO David Pearson said Wednesday. The pump was set up so that rain water from the winerys parking lot would get pumped into the river, but when rain got into and leaked through a container of pomace, red water went into the drain system and was pumped into the river. The pump was on when it shouldnt have been, Pearson said. When the winery was notified of the spill the next day, they responded immediately. The pump has been adjusted so it no longer directs into the river, Pearson said. Its a onetime incident that made us very upset, he said. We take our stewardship of the river and the environment very seriously. No assessment or analysis was made to find out exactly how much waste was deposited into the river, according to Pearson. The Napa County District Attorneys Office filed a complaint against the winery in Napa County Superior Court last week for allowing potentially harmful wine waste to pass into the river and for engaging in unfair business practices. A final judgment was signed by Judge Diane Price and filed in court on Monday. Opus One Winery was ordered to pay $869 to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and $993 to Napa Countys Planning, Building and Environmental Services department for costs associated with the spill. The winery was ordered to pay $5,000 in civil penalties to the Napa County District Attorneys Office and an additional $5,000 to the Friends of the Napa River to be used for enhancement of the river. Money gained from civil penalties will be split between the county's fish and wildlife propagation fund and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Fish and Game Preservation Fund, Assistant DA Paul Gero said Tuesday. Opus One, which is currently undergoing construction, was also ordered to submit a final version of its Operations & Maintenance Manual within 30 days of construction completion to the Napa County department of Planning, Building and Environmental Services. Pearson said that he hopes the construction, which will expand the winerys terrace as well as provide more rooms for barrel aging, will be completed in early 2019. Editor's Note: This story has been edited from its original version to clarify which organizations will be receiving funds. Napa Police reported the arrest of a 34-year-old resident in connection with a stabbing Saturday night. At 8:30 p.m., officers were called to the corner of Arboreo and South Franklin streets after reports that a woman had attacked a man with a knife, according to Sgt. Nick Dalessi. The victim, a 59-year-old Napa resident, was taken by American Medical Response ambulance to Queen of the Valley Medical Center with a stab wound near his shoulder, Dalessi said. His identity and condition were not immediately available Sunday afternoon. Police found 34-year-old Christine Carter Camp, whom police described as a family acquaintance of the victim, inside a backyard in the first block of Arboreo, behind the home of a family member, according to Dalessi. When Camp refused to leave the yard, police formed a team to negotiate with her and safely take her into custody, Dalessi said. After several minutes, Camp emerged from the yard with her clothes covered in blood, but again disobeyed police orders, leading an officer to fire a bean-bag gun at her, according to Dalessi. Two canvas-filled rounds, each filled with 1 ounce of weights, struck the woman, one in the leg and the other in the arm, and caused her to fall to the ground, he said. Having subdued Camp, police took her first to the Queen for observation, then to the Napa County jail for booking, Dalessi said. Camp faces felony allegations of assault with a deadly weapon as well as violating her probation in Napa County. The events leading to Saturday's attack, and any possible motive, remain unclear, according to Dalessi. Last month's election in Germany proved to be a "debacle" for Chancellor Angela Merkel, as the German daily Der Spiegelput it. Not only did the two mainstream parties, Merkel's Christian Democrats and her coalition partner, the Social Democrats, suffer a shocking loss of support, but the openly xenophobic Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won 12.6 percent of the vote and will now have 94 representatives in the Bundestag. Both German commentators and outsiders - including me - had been far too sanguine about the outcome. Like almost all of its European neighbors, Germany will henceforth have a relatively fragile center and noisy, robust extremes. The United States, with its two-party system, is now the great anomaly of Western politics. Yet American voters seem to be as deeply divided as Europeans and along essentially the same lines. The American debacle of 2016, in which one major party became the host body for the parasite of nationalism, is far graver than the German one. And this compels what might seem an odd question: Why should the American exception continue? Of course, I recognize that our 165-year-old two-party system won't disappear anytime soon. Our first-past-the-post electoral rules enormously advantage the large, existing parties. And since the U.S. Constitution dictates that presidential elections in which no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes are decided by the House of Representatives, a multiparty system could throw every election into the House and thus make a mockery of democracy. So let's treat the idea as a thought experiment. Political fragmentation in the West seems to be a deep phenomenon and not just a passing response to the economic crash a decade ago. In an article I wrote about the French election this spring, I argued that the four chief candidates in the first round of balloting represented pro- and anti-globalization parties of the left and the right. The Socialists, the left-of-center consensus party of the postwar era, had simply disappeared as their former working-class base abandoned them for the nationalist right or the hard left. This phenomenon has been repeated across Europe: Social democratic parties have been crushed everywhere save England, where Labour has thrived by recasting itself as a frankly socialist party. (The French Socialists, in contrast, are social democrats.) In Germany, as in France, both the center-left and center-right parties suffered major losses, with the Social Democrats falling to a historic low of 20.5 percent. Increasing numbers of voters, especially the less educated, are repudiating what they see as transnational, progressive values, above all the liberal openness to immigrants and refugees, though also the wish for a stronger European Union. The same dynamic runs, in effect, underground in the United States, where the two-party system masks the depth of an internal breach. The obvious case is the Republican Party, now virtually deadlocked between a laissez-faire and even libertarian elite - think of the Koch brothers - and a resentful, nationalist rank-and-file that elected as president one of its own, or someone who claimed to be. One side is eager to exploit the forces of globalization; the other views those forces as a mortal threat. The New York Times recently reported the astonishing news that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has replaced Barack Obama as the favored voodoo doll of fired-up Republican voters. The Democrats are currently in too reactive, and too inchoate, a state for their internal contradictions to become fully manifest. But the lesson from Europe is that working-class whites are becoming less and less receptive to what they deem elite values. In the United States, that means openness to immigration and to "diversity" in all its forms, affirmative action and the like. The Democratic leadership is now torn between those who want to reaffirm the party's commitment to progressive values and those who want to reach out to working-class and middle-class whites who voted for Donald Trump. Those voters are probably not coming back, just as French factory workers who pulled the lever for Marine Le Pen will not return to the center-left. They might, however, vote for an anti-globalization socialist - that is, Bernie Sanders or someone in his mold. The split between the Sanders wing and the Hillary Clinton wing of the party is bound to widen as the 2020 election approaches. The Democrats could become almost as incoherent as the Republicans. The United States increasingly feels like a four-party country trapped inside two parties. What would it mean for those on the left and right flanks to be gathered under their own banners? A rough ride, to say the least. Many Germans are terrified about the prospect of a formally empowered AfD. "This is an attack on our liberal democracy," one German editorialist wrote. As has happened in Sweden and a number of other European countries, Germany will form a governing coalition organized around fencing out the extremists. Liberals of all stripes, in effect, will make common cause against anti-liberal parties. Is that better or worse than a system where the anti-liberals are able to gain control over a mainstream party? I put that question to Josef Janning, an expert in German politics with the European Council on Foreign Relations. "I think it's better to have more parties," he said. "While it appears to be a weakness of the European party system, it can actually be a strength. It gives an opportunity for these fringe parties to express themselves but also to become an object of disillusion." Fringe parties, he said, tend to tear themselves apart, as France's National Front now seems to be doing. A multiparty system allows those on the flanks to rise and fall "without taking along with them the party structure of the party they have hijacked." A multiparty system also allows citizens to recognize both what separates them and what binds them together. Millions of French voters concluded that they could easily live with Emmanuel Macron's economic liberalism when the alternative was a party fueled by racial resentment. The competition of four parties crystallized the act of choice and reminded voters of the republican values they deeply cherished. In the United States, those on the center-left and the center-right might find that their essentially hopeful attitude toward the world matters more than their disagreement over the size and role of the federal government. Is this a dream we should indulge? I also ran the idea past Sean Wilentz, the American historian and authority on political parties. Wilentz argued that while political conflict has been every bit as sharp in the United States as in Europe, the two-party system has "institutionalized" that struggle by allowing it to play out inside each party and thus has proved remarkably effective in holding the country together. Wilentz acknowledged that no American party in memory, if ever, has been as extreme as today's Republicans, but he expects, or rather hopes, that the party will explode and then be compelled to refashion itself in a more sustainable form. In any case, my thought experiment did nothing to advance his hopes of Democratic victory in 2020. My own kindred thought is that by hiving off the Deplorable Party from the body of the GOP, we could hasten the day when bullying nativism becomes, as Janning put it, an object of disillusion. One might even do the same with the Occupy America Party. My thought experiment is not a real proposal, but neither is it just whimsy. The fact is that our politics really have become different from what they were - more fragmented, more extreme, more ideological, and more globalized, in the sense that the forces that shape European politics shape ours as well. The era when Obama could hopefully insist that we are all red, all blue, already seems terribly far away. There is no reason to believe we will get back there anytime soon. Posted by Mark Williams | October 2, 2017 You may not know the international technology company called Continental although you may be familiar with its car tire division but it's looking to change the way you interact with your pickup and trailer. During the 2017 State Fair of Texas, Continental is debuting three innovative technology systems that could make it into the next generation of pickup trucks. Among the innovations that could make life a little easier for pickup owners is a wireless system that allows a driver to communicate with a pickup via a clever chip embedded in something like a belt buckle or small wristwatch (think Fitbit) or in a ring. The system would allow pickup owners to lock or unlock a truck, and start it, via a proximity sensor rather than a push-button key fob. Continental also is showcasing a remote-control system for hydraulically assisted tailgates that allows owners to open and closed the tailgate much the way they do electric windows in a pickup. And if hands or fingers are on the tailgate, the system is sensitive enough to recognize that and prevent bodily harm. The system provides a bed-mounted computer-controlled strut that can be made smaller and less obtrusive, and could be quite handy when loading the bed with lumber or cement for a weekend project. Continental also is showing a wirelessly controlled trailer module that operates trailer lights and brake controller functions. In much the same way we can use smartphones to control the lights, climate and security in our homes, the Continental setup allows the brake, turn signal and emergency lights to be controlled wirelessly, thereby preventing failure due to questionable wiring connections through couplers or hardwired connections. The system also allows for multiple cameras running through the pickup's navigation screen to provide views of the cargo inside a trailer as well as what's behind the vehicles. Much of this technology will eventually make it into some next-generation pickup trucks our money is on the next GMC Denali but no doubt Continental will be collecting mountains of data from those at the State Fair of Texas willing to share their thoughts about the real-world technology that needs to be on the next generation of pickups. We've never found pickup truck owners to be shy about expressing themselves. The 2017 State Fair of Texas runs through Oct. 22 at Fair Park and offers one of the biggest pickup-heavy auto show displays in the country. Cars.com photos by Mark Williams; Continental images People visit a hops farm during the the third British Columbia (BC) Hop Festival in Abbotsford, east of Vancouver in Canada, on Sept. 30, 2017. The one-day event celebrated the end of the hops harvest here on Saturday, which ran for about three weeks starting at the end of August. Hops are small cone-shaped buds that are used to season abeer, providing bitterness, aroma and flavor. (Xinhua/Liang Sen) by Evan Duggan VANCOUVER, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Wearing a crown of green, coiled hops vines, Cody Brownell stood in a farmyard with two friends, sipping a cloudy and frothy beer from a small glass. The beer he was drinking was a specially made India Pale Ale brewed by Driftwood Brewery, a small craft brewery from Victoria, British Columbia (BC). Brownell and his friends were among about 1,500 fresh beer lovers gathering at the third annual BC Hop Fest on Saturday in Abbotsford, located just east of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The one-day event celebrated the end of the hops harvest, which ran for about three weeks starting at the end of August. Hops are small cone-shaped buds that are used to season a beer, providing bitterness, aroma and flavor. Photo taken on Sept. 30, 2017 shows ripe hops during the the third British Columbia (BC) Hop Festival in Abbotsford, east of Vancouver inCanada. The one-day event celebrated the end of the hops harvest here on Saturday, which ran for about three weeks starting at the end of August. Hops are small cone-shaped buds that are used to season a beer, providing bitterness, aroma and flavor. (Xinhua/Liang Sen) The festival, held at the farmyard of BC Hop Company, brought together about 40 BC craft breweries. They have their casks set up under tents and pouring small samples of their fresh beer. "This is actually the beer that kicks off the wet-hopped season for me," Brownell said, taking another sip. "It's also one of the ones that run off the shelves really quickly. These are some of my favorite beers. That's why I love coming to this festival." The owners of this hops farm launched the festival three years ago as Canada's only fresh beer festival, said Donna Dixson, the festival's manager. For a beer to be considered "fresh," the hops used to brew it must be picked and sent to the brewing kettle within 24 hours, she said. "Fresh beer is only available at this time each year." A woman tastes a small glass of fresh beerduring the the third British Columbia (BC) Hop Festival in Abbotsford, east of Vancouver in Canada, on Sept. 30, 2017. The one-day event celebrated the end of the hops harvest here on Saturday, which ran for about three weeks starting at the end of August. Hops are small cone-shaped buds that are used to season a beer, providing bitterness, aroma and flavor. (Xinhua/Liang Sen) The event started with 17 breweries serving up their fresh beers at the farm, and now the number has risen to 40. "Every brewery that comes here is required to bring a fresh-hopped beer," Dixson said. "It's a really unique opportunity to be able to sample that." The Canadian province has been going through a mini hops-farming renaissance over the past five years. In 2012, farmers here produced hops only on about 50 acres of land. Now the area has expanded to 400 acres, with small-batch "craft" breweries mushrooming in cities like Vancouver and Victoria. After pulling a lever, Mauricio Lozano, owner of Vancouver's Faculty Brewing, poured beer into a small glass for a customer. Pointing to a field of recently-harvested hops vines about 20 feet to his left, he said the hops in this beer came from there. "It's like having asparagus in the spring," he said. A woman smells a piece of hops cone during the the third British Columbia (BC) Hop Festival in Abbotsford, east of Vancouver in Canada, on Sept. 30, 2017. The one-day event celebrated the end of the hops harvest here on Saturday, which ran for about three weeks starting at the end of August. Hops are small cone-shaped buds that are used to season a beer, providing bitterness, aroma and flavor. (Xinhua/Liang Sen) Lozano said early fall is his favorite time of year because he has to come directly to the farm to get his order of hops personally from the farmer. Time is of the essence. "You have to get the hops done on the day of the harvest," he said. He noted that beer drinkers at his Vancouver brewery have taken a major interest in who is making their beer, and how they are doing it and that the interest is now spreading to how the hops are curated. "They love to hear that story," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 03:15:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NAIROBI, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government should increase investments in social safety nets for elderly people including modern health care, monthly stipends and housing to prolong their lives, campaigners said here on Sunday. Kenyatta Maitha, Kenya country director of HelpAge International, said improving the welfare of senior citizens is key to realizing economic growth, social renewal and political stability in the east African nation. "Kenya must protect gains attained in the advancement of rights and privileges for the elderly population," Maitha said. "The country has made notable progress in provision of quality medical care and monthly stipends for the aged thanks to political commitment and progressive legislation." Policymakers and campaigners who attended an occasion marking International Day of older Persons on the outskirts of Nairobi agreed that policy reforms and vigorous public awareness was required to ensure that the physical and emotional needs of senior citizens are met. Maitha hailed the Kenyan government for establishing a robust social protection scheme for the aged that has ensured they are well fed, clothed, housed and attended to by qualified medical personnel. "At present, an estimated 900,000 older persons in Kenya are enrolled in one form of cash transfer program. We hope the government will increase the monthly stipend for elderly people to ensure they live in dignity," said Maitha. Kenya is signatory to HelpAge International's Age Demand Action(ADA) campaign that involves lobbying governments to give policy and financial priority to issues affecting the older citizens. The decade-old campaign has pushed for enactment of laws that combat abuse of and discrimination against senior citizens in employment and provision of basic amenities like housing and health care. Esther Wamera, an 80-year-old Kenyan campaigner, said that advocacy combined with strategic dialogue with opinion shapers has injected fresh impetus in efforts to alleviate the plight of senior citizens. "We have demanded improvements in healthcare for older people, and are no longer queuing in health facilities thanks to enactment of new laws. We also have a national health insurance scheme," Wamera said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 03:45:42|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close by Burak Akinci ANKARA, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Turks are fond of their guns which are historically an immovable but now an unwanted component of Turkish culture and traditions. However, their proliferation has become a social scourge as a result of a spike in personal armament in a country where each year nearly 3,000 people are involved in gunfights, mostly lethal. More than 1,500 people were killed by individual gun violence in the first eight months of 2017, according to data gathered and published last week by the Umut Foundation, a well known NGO that heads anti-gun lobbyists in Turkey. The data, which was released to mark World Disarmament Day on Sept. 28, also showed that individual armament increased by 27 percent compared to last year. The Umut Foundation's report was prepared with information gathered from national and local media regarding gun violence. "Unfortunately, we were faced with the reality that individual armament increased due to the lack of precautions in our country," a statement released from the foundation said. According to the incidents that took place in the media from the beginning of 2016 until September 2016, a total of 1,990 murders were committed, whereas 2,525 incidents stemming from individual armament took place from the beginning of 2017 until Sept. 22. In the same time period this year, 1,575 people were killed due to gun violence and 2,670 others were injured. The report said there are 25 million individual weapons in Turkey, of which 85 percent are unlicensed. "This problem has gained alarming proportions, and it is very serious. There is a dramatic rise in homicides with personal guns. Everyday 10 people are killed in Turkey this way," explained to Xinhua by Ayhan Akcan, a psychiatrist and an expert on gun control who proposes a severe monitoring by the state on firearms. "Only around 15 percent of guns are registered and it's quite easy to get one," he said, pointing out that gun ownership is something cultural in Turkey, as a result of "an oriental mentality," as he describes it. "It's a sign of virility in rural areas but also in big cities. Each year dozens of people get killed by stray bullets during marriage ceremonies or other festivities because the merry company shoot randomly in the air to celebrate the event," told Dr Akcan. According to the foundation, the problem of individual armament is being ignored in Turkey, thus the number is steadily increasing. The lack of deterrent punishments, low price of weapons, ease in obtaining an unlicensed weapon from the internet and not enough effort to raise awareness on the issue contribute to the rise of individual armament. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 04:25:49|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close Photo taken on July 14, 2017 shows locally sourced beef from Cameron, Texas, at a local market in Houston, the United States. The United States has reached agreements with China on final details of a protocol to allow it to export beef toChina, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on June 12. In 2003,China shut its market to American beef after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as Mad Cow Disease, was detected in the United States. (Xinhua/Yi-Chin Lee) by Peter Mertz DENVER, the United States, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Two months after China and the United States reached a deal to reopen Chinese markets for U.S. beef in July, as part of the 100-day action plan to boost economic cooperation, American beef was back on China's menu. "By getting our foot in the door we hope to develop a long lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with China," said Craig Uden, President of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. The year after the 2003 ban took place amid concerns over mad cow disease, American beef exports to China dropped from 3 billion U.S. dollars to 1.1 billion U.S. dollars. By 2018 - market insiders predict beef sales will be 3.8 billion U.S. dollars to China alone - with no limit in sight. "It's impossible to overstate how beneficial this will be for America's cattle producers," Uden said. Out of the nearly 170 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. exports to China in 2016, food, feed, and drinks made up only 20 billion U.S. dollars, according to the USDA, revealing lots of room for growth in the food sector. "Quality beef is what the Chinese consumer wants," Richard Phillips told Xinhua. Phillips, General Manager of Agri-Product and Foods Department of China Certification & Inspection Group (CCIC) North America, is busier than ever these days inspecting and certifying U.S. beef farms to do business with China. "Fourteen years ago, China's economy was still developing - and we've grown at such a rapid rate that lots of people have money and have become rich," Phillips told Xinhua Friday, adding "they want good products from the United States." Currently, China is importing most of its beef from Australia, according to Phillips. Quality concerns and a consumer demand that exceeds domestic production by 25 percent in China give a good chance for U.S. President Donald Trump. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claimed last month that, "President Trump is doing more to improve the U.S.-China relationship than any president in decades," and cited the beef deal as "even more concrete progress." "The Trump government doesn't want a trade imbalance," Phillips said, noting that U.S. soybean exports to China currently total 13 billion U.S. dollars and the sky is the limit with beef. So in a headline last week, Agri-Pulse, a company based in Washington D.C. providing weekly report of the latest in agricultural information said, "meat packers are lined up to do business with China." But some producers told Xinhua they will proceed with caution. "Our product is very perishable and it poses a big impediment to ship to China," Taylor Smith with the Kansas City Steak Company told Xinhua. Kansas City currently only ships inside American borders, but the prospect of selling to China is alluring, despite the potential complications, Smith said. "I think the Chinese-American beef relationship will work," said California businessman Glenn Nemhauser. Texas is the largest producer of beef in the United States, followed by Nebraska, Kansas, and California. Interestingly, Phillips has been busy inspecting facilities in 10th-ranked Montana, where many cattle ranches have expressed interest in selling to China. "It's a really smart place for China to put in investment and to partner with Montana to have a really good packing industry and processing plant here," Fred Wacker vice president of the Montana Stockgrowers Association said at a roundtable meeting early September organized by U.S. Senator Steve Daines in Bozeman of Montana. Wacker argued that would help bring down logistic costs and guarantee stable supply of high quality beef to China, a win-win deal for both sides. But none are as seasoned as Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, who started doing business with China in 1971, even before President Richard Nixon's historic 1972 visit. In 2001, Tyson merged with Shandong Food to build a modern, cutting edge poultry processing facility in Shandong Province. In 2008, Tyson built modern processing facilities - according to global production standards - in Jiangxi Province near Shanghai. And the following year, Tyson initiated another joint venture in Shandong with three poultry plants - providing quick service restaurants and retail outlets with chicken, as part of Tyson Rizhao in Juxian Industrial Park. Tyson knows how to do business in China, and company executives were ecstatic at the already increased business across the Pacific. In 2015, Tyson, hiring 115,000 people who work at more than 300 facilities worldwide including 90 in the United States, had 42 billion U.S. dollars internationally in revenues, up from 36 billion U.S. dollars in 2014. "Our top people just returned from China, and we're incredibly busy there," a spokesperson told Xinhua Friday, not ruling out significant expansion in China for the food-processing giant. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 05:25:58|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TRIPOLI, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Libya's House of Representatives (parliament) and the Higher Council of State agreed to reconstruct the UN-backed presidential council of the government of national accord, a parliament member said on Sunday. Mohamed Lino, member of HoR on Sunday said representatives of the the parliament and the state's council agreed to separate the Presidential Council from the Government of National Accord and to reduce the Council's members to a president and two deputies. Lino also said the agreement "is not final until officially approved by the parliament and the state's council." He also said that two points of dispute remained unsettled: appointing a president and two deputies for the presidential council, and the post of the supreme army commander. The UN Support Mission in Libya sponsored a dialogue meeting in Tunis between Libyan representatives of the Libyan political rivals that started on Tuesday in order to introduce amendments to the current political agreement, a road map proposed by the mission's chief that aims to end the country's political stalemate. The agreement, which was signed by Libyan parties in December 2015, faces serious problems in the implementation of its provisions because of the rejection of the parliament to some articles. Article 8 of the political agreement is one of the main obstacles facing implementation, which states that all senior military and security leaders are named by the presidential council, and that the president of the presidential council is the supreme commander of the armed forces. The eastern-based parliament and the army commander General Khalifa Haftar demand the post of the supreme commander of the army would be the parliament, leaving the appointment of senior security and army officials to the legislative authority. Libyan parliament Speaker, Aqila Saleh Issa, also opposes the composition of the presidential council, calling for reducing the number of the presidential council's deputy presidents from nine to only two. The presidential council of the current government of national accord has been appointed based on the 2015 UN-sponsored political agreement. However, the country remains politically divided amid insecurity and unrest. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 07:01:11|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close MEXICO CITY, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Negotiations to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will become thornier as talks progress, Mexico's Senate said in a report released on Sunday. As NAFTA members Mexico, the United States and Canada begin to tackle the more contentious issues, and the demand for concessions grows in order to preserve the two-decade trade deal, the negotiations will turn complex, lawmakers said. Following the end of the third round of talks in Ottawa, "the negotiation will become increasingly more complicated," with the three partners delving into the details in some 12 trade areas, the report said. One of the toughest issues for Mexico will be labor regulations, the Senate noted. Canada and the U.S are demanding Mexico raise workers' wages to bring them more in line with North American standards. But Mexico is so far refusing to budge, since low pay is one of its industry's major competitive advantages over its two partners. Canada's biggest private sector union has weighed in on the issue, saying that if Mexico doesn't improve its labor standards, NAFTA should be ditched. Mexico has been arguing that labor rights are a domestic matter. "Mexico made clear its position to not give in to the demands of its partners in the sense of including binding commitments in the matter of labor policy in the text of the treaty," senators said, in a statement no doubt designed to reassure the business sector. Mexico is also wary of a U.S. initiative to draw up a list of agricultural products it aims to protect seasonally from NAFTA region imports. "The proposal goes against Mexico and Canada's shared goal to have the new regional agreement guarantee freer trade," the senators said. Mexico is also chafing at a U.S. proposal to change rules of origin, especially on autos and auto parts, so they include "higher NAFTA content and substantial U.S. content." In other areas, the U.S. wants to scrap the chapter on dispute resolution, which Mexico and Canada are in favor of retaining. In addition, says the report, "there has been talk of significant differences, specifically between the U.S. and Canada, in relation to the aerospace industry." "Despite the challenges to be faced in upcoming rounds, the Mexican negotiating team will maintain its constructive stance and will not accept an agreement that fails to increase the opportunities for greater regional exchange," lawmakers said. Last week's third round did see progress on several fronts, such as the inclusion of a chapter on small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), designed to boost the sector in the region. Advances were also made in telecommunications, e-commerce, customs and other areas. The fourth round is to take place from Oct. 11 to 15 in Washington. Negotiations began on Aug. 16, on the insistence of U.S. President Donald Trump, who claims the trade agreement has hurt U.S. industry and employment, and unfairly benefited Mexico. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 07:12:51|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Photo taken on Oct. 1, 2017 shows flower parterres in Beijing, capital of China. Beijing is decorated with ornamental flower beds to add festive air of China's National Day, which fell on Sunday. (Xinhua/Li He) Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 07:11:13|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close by Juan Limachi LIMA, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Latin America's Pacific Alliance is looking to do away with non-tariff obstacles to trade between its members Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, according to a top Peruvian businessman. The president of the Peruvian chapter of the trade bloc's Business Council, Mario Mongilardi, said the measure aims to boost the flow of trade, people and services between members of the five-year-old organization. "We are at a stage in which we have to remove the non-tariff barriers, such as registries, prior permits and licenses, which are interfering with the trade flow," Mongilardi told Xinhua. "We already have a free trade agreement" between bloc members, he said, so what needs to be done now is to standardize and streamline regulations and regulatory bodies overseeing such issues as food safety and sanitation. "Today, what we want is to have a single sanitary registry, for example, that can be applied in all four bloc partners," said Mongilardi, who is also president of the Lima Chamber of Commerce. Tariff barriers are not an issue, since they are at acceptable levels and need no adjustment, he said. "Free trade agreements have always tended to eliminate tariff trade barriers, but the reality is that in the modern world these tariff barriers no longer exist," he said. In the past two decades, tariffs have fallen significantly, but other obstacles to trade persist, he said. "Most countries have tariff rates that are quite low, so having a free trade agreement no longer represents the advantage it did 20 years ago," he added. The bloc is also closely following the negotiations to update the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, Canada and the United States. As Latin America's No. 2 economy, Mexico is a key alliance partner, and any protectionist measures imposed against it by the United States would have repercussions, acknowledged Mongilardi. "All protectionist measures go against the direction all the world's countries are going in. We have to understand that open markets benefit everyone to the extent that our citizens have the ability to choose from among a greater quantity of offerings," he said. Countries should bet on greater competitiveness, not protectionism, he said. "What we have to promote is competition, so prices come down and our products' level of technology and competitiveness goes up," he said. According to Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, the alliance is also looking to promote integration with other markets. To that end, on Oct. 23, the bloc will begin a first round of negotiations towards a trade agreement with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore. Endorsed in 2012, the Pacific Alliance is a regional integration initiative, currently with four full member states. The Pacific Alliance represents a market of 217 million consumers. Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the headquarters of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency in Moscow, Russia, on June 8, 2016. (Xinhua/SPUTNIK) MOSCOW, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Moscow may consider taking retaliatory measures if Washington keeps the pressure on the Russian media working in the United States, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday. "People should understand that if they create conditions under which journalists face a physical threat, if they experience physical threats due to their activities, the retaliatory measures would follow. It is not our choice," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by Russia's Sputnik news agency. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice asked Russia's state-controlled broadcaster Russia Today (RT) to register its U.S. office as a foreign agent, a move seen as "illegitimate" by Moscow. According to Zakharova, the U.S. authorities are also targeting Russia's state news agency Tass and other Russian newspapers and journalists in addition to the RT. The spokeswoman called the U.S. campaign a "huge mistake," adding that Moscow had never expelled foreign journalists from Russia by revoking their accreditation or ending their visas. Washington has been accusing Moscow for months of interfering in the U.S. presidential election last year, although the latter have repeatedly denied these allegations. The RT is among the institutions suspected of working on behalf of the Kremlin in its support of then Republican Party candidate Donald Trump. It is widely expected that Moscow could retaliate by starting with U.S. government-funded media outlet Voice of America which currently also operates in Russia. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 08:46:25|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close HONG KONG, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong Express Airways canceled 18 flights between Hong Kong and three destinations in Japan and South Korea from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8, leaving over 2,000 travellers affected. According to Hong Kong Express, the only low-fare airline in Hong Kong, the canceled flights on Sunday are round-trip flights between Hong Kong International Airport and Japan's Kansai International Airport (KIX). Other canceled flights will be those between Hong Kong and Japan's Chubu Centrair International Airport(NGO) as well as South Korea's Incheon International Airport(ICN) scheduled from Oct. 2 to 8. According to Hong Kong Express Airways, all the 2,070 passengers affected by the cancellations had been rearranged to take other airlines' flights or fully refunded as of Sunday evening. Hong Kong Express Airways CEO Andrew Cowen said at a press conference that the cancellations was a tough but only choice of the airline since the company discovered there would be shortage of about five to six backup crew members each day during the holidays. The airline decided to cancel those flights, otherwise there would be many risks to the safety of flights if the crew members on duty ask for emergency leave during the holidays, the CEO said. The airline said most of the affected passengers have been arranged to take other airlines' flights with assistance of two local travel agencies. The airline issued an apology on Sunday to those affected passengers. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region(SAR) government said it is closely reviewing the aftermath of the cancellation. The Civil Aviation Department has met with high-level executives of the Hong Kong airline and asked the airline to submit detailed report about the cancellation within one week. Hong Kong Consumer Council lashed out at the airline for its irresponsibility, saying that the cancellation would not only impair passengers' confidence of the airline, but also affect Hong Kong's reputation as an international aviation hub. Hong Kong Express commercial director Jonathan Hutt said, "I would like to offer my profound apologies for the flight cancellations that have affected the travel plans of some of our passengers during this important holiday season." Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 09:01:30|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close TAIYUAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A father and his two sons in north China's Shanxi Province have made a giant collage of silk, cotton and beads. The four-meter by two-meter work, a copy of a famous mural at the Yongle Temple, contains 35 human characters. It took Yan Xiangjun, his father and his younger brother, two and half years to finish, using nearly 50 kinds of material. "My father did the faces and other details, while my brother, apprentices and I did the bodies," said Yan. The technique, called Changzhi Dui Jin (Changzhi collage relief) unique to Changzhi City dates back 400 years. By putting pieces of cotton and silk together and onto a board, the collages or mosaics have a three-dimensional effect. Instead of a traditional way of drawing sketch first, Yan's father made the faces first. The eyebrows were made by removing the warp thread, leaving only weft thread of silks, said Yan. The dragon head at the emperor's chair, for example, is stuffed by 106 tiny packs of silk, with the smallest part less than 2 mm, he said. To make their work resemble the original mural, they experimented with various colors. "We have seven kinds of green in our collage to imitate the original portrait," he said. Located on the northern bank of the Yellow River in Ruicheng County, Yongle Taoist Temple was built in the 13th and 14th centuries during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and took about 100 years to construct. It is known for its exquisite murals totaling 960 square meters. "Combining the famous mural and the collage technique, is a perfect way to pass on our intangible legacy of Shanxi," he said. In late August, the collage won the special golden prize for art and craft at the Third Shanxi Cultural Industries Fair. A reception celebrating the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China is held in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, south China, Oct. 1, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Shen) HONG KONG, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- The continuous development and prosperity of the motherland not only gives Hong Kong strength to rise to challenges, but also provides opportunities for Hong Kong to explore new directions for its development, Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said Sunday. Lam made the remarks at the National Day Reception in Celebration of the 68th Anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Recalling her personal experience when she visited Beijing as a university student in 1979, Lam described the pace of development of the Chinese mainland during the past decades as "astonishing." "After nearly 40 years of reform and opening up, China has made big strides forward: from managing to stand on its feet to becoming prosperous and strong, and is now the second largest economy in the world," she said, "The quality of life of its people has continued to improve. Internationally, China plays a very important role in various areas such as politics, economics, technology and environmental protection." Lam said that during the past 20 years, leveraging its position as a special administrative region of the PRC, "Hong Kong has witnessed, participated in and benefitted from the continuous reform and opening up of our country...Hong Kong people have acquired a better understanding of our country and fostered deep emotional bonds with the people in the Mainland." "As long as we capitalize on our strengths, stay focused, seize the opportunities before us and stand united, I am sure that Hong Kong can reach even greater heights," she said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 09:36:38|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close CANBERRA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- More than 40 thought leaders from Asia convened in Australia for a week-long workshop focused on powering communities. The Second Lateral Learning Program on Smart Grid Technologies and Implications for Inclusive Development workshop was officially launched at the University of Melbourne in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday. Reihana Mohideen, the coordinator of the workshop and expert at the university's Melbourne Energy Institute, said that the workshop was hoping to solve the issue of energy access in South Asia. "The impact on local economic development, health and wellbeing, education and mobility is huge," Mohideen said in a media release on Monday. "Without electricity, school days and study times are shorter, women can't travel at night and maternal mortality rates and deaths for children under five years old rise." Participants in the workshop will be able to draw on research by the Melbourne School of Engineering and ABD to work on energy storage capacity and social issues surrounding energy transition. "Access to energy, and electricity, is a human right. We're working with senior government representatives to improve the grid and service delivery to meet the challenges of accessibility, including increased demand, and social issues," Mohideen said. "Using the latest technology in renewable energy, we want to empower countries to meet the consumer needs of rural and urban communities who currently might not have energy access, or if they do, only have it for a small number of hours a day." "We need pathways, plans and policies that don't leave marginalised people behind. Ensuring access and equity is an issue in not just developing countries, but places like Australia too where energy prices are rising," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 10:01:45|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close CANBERRA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has called for Australia's legal smoking age to be raised to 21. Forrest, who has a net worth of 4.5 billion U.S. dollars, along with his wife Nicola has established the Eliminate Cancer Initiative (ECI), a lobby group which is working to raise the smoking age to 21, a move it said would save lives. The group is also looking into suing big tobacco companies to the tune of billions of dollars for the cost of smoking-related illnesses. Any lawsuit would be based on a landmark 2015 Canadian decision which saw smokers awarded 12.5 billion U.S. dollars. Forrest, who served as chief executive officer (CEO) of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) from 2003 to 2015, said in a statement Monday that tobacco companies had to be held accountable for the suffering they caused. "Nearly 90 percent of adult smokers start as children. By the time they reach 21, they are hooked and become lifelong customers of big tobacco," Forrest said. "When tobacco causes many times more cost to the nation that it ever brings in revenue, and creates extreme suffering before palliative care and death, there is something seriously wrong with any government in the world, particularly ours, tolerating it." "We need to stop fuelling big tobacco preying on our vulnerable youth." Ronald DePinho, a director of ECI and former President of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in the United States, said that the "Tobacco 21" plan could inspire the world to follow suit. "Tobacco 21 is a child health issue that must be addressed with urgency, as hundreds of Australian children experiment with tobacco products every day," DePinho said. The proposal to put the burden of smoking-related health costs back on the tobacco industry was welcomed by the Australian Council on Smoking and Health. "The biggest impact of a successful legal action would be to hasten the demise of the tobacco industry in Australia," Maurice Swanson, President of the council, said. "We're aiming for a smoke-free Australia by 2025 and this sort of action by Andrew Forrest would put another nail in the coffin of the tobacco industry." Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 10:36:52|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close WUHAN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- "I am so stunned to have received this award," said 56-year-old British entrepreneur Simon Haworth who was granted this year's Friendship Award in Beijing Friday. At the Great Hall of the People, Simon with others received Friday China's highest honor granted to foreigners, for his contribution to the country's development. "I just start out on my China journey and there are many who have travelled far further than I have," Simon said. For Simon, his business in China may have just begun, but for his family, their China story has lasted for more than 140 years and crossed six generations. About five years ago, Simon came to Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, and began his business in a bio-industry park there. At that time, he did not know the connection between his family and China until he found his grandmother Dorothy Gaddum's diary. "My family has been in close contact with China for 140 years," said Simon. Back around 1874, Simon's great-great-grandfather, Henry Gaddum, set up a company importing silk from Shanghai. Then in 1887, Henry sent his eldest son Harry to Shanghai to learn business management for two years, which he described as the "best two years in my life." Gaddum's company imported silk thread from China till the 1990s. Simon's uncle, the then-owner of the company, had also visited China many times. Dorothy and her husband visited China in the 1960s and their experiences were in her diary. "Look, this is exactly the bridge behind us," said Simon, pointing to a cigarette package pasted in the diary with a picture of the Yangtze River Bridge. "The bridge is high enough for any boats to pass under, and has two layers with the road above and the railways below," Dorothy wrote in her diary. Besides Wuhan, Dorothy also wrote about other cities after her visits in 1963 and 1967, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Harbin and Jinan. Dorothy mentioned that "Chinese people were all very curious about us" and that they "attracted great crowds". However, compared with that time, Simon said the situation has completely changed now. "We are sitting here by the Yangtze River and speaking English. It is very normal. It is such an international place." The family's China story continues. Five years ago, Simon came to Wuhan to set up his biotechnology company. In 2015, the municipal government of Wuhan granted him the Yellow Crane Friendship Award in recognition of his contribution to a city eager for foreign investment and technology. The award is the highest honor that the city with a 10 million population gives to a foreigner. Simon also turned his attention to cultural exchanges between China and Britain. By establishing a youth exchange project, he wanted to eliminate misunderstandings or prejudices between people in the two countries. Walking along the banks of the river and looking at the bridge, Simon said "I believe I am building a bridge, a bridge between here and Britain." Simon's elder son, George, 24, has come to Shanghai for internships. His second son William is looking forward to coming to China. "My seventeen-year-old daughter came to my office last Wednesday said 'It is time I learned Chinese,'" Simon said. For Simon's family, China is the future. "I believe it's China's turn now. Everything is in place here." "I hope in the future I am able to repay China's friendship by welcoming Chinese visitors to Britain and to my home, and by helping Chinese investors access the best technology that Cambridge, Britain and Europe can offer," Simon said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 10:46:55|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close A man takes a look at the poster of Chinese movie "Xuan Zang" in Nay Pyi Taw of Myanmar on Oct. 1, 2017. Chinese Film Festival 2017 kicked off at the Aungthabyay Cinema in Myanmar's capital of Nay Pyi Taw on Sunday, with two Chinese movies -- "Xuan Zang" and "Kung Fu Yoga" depicting the religion and culture of China. (Xinhua/U Aung) NAY PYI TAW, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Film Festival 2017 kicked off at the Aungthabyay Cinema in Myanmar's capital of Nay Pyi Taw on Sunday, with two Chinese movies -- "Xuan Zang" and "Kung Fu Yoga" depicting the religion and culture of China. The week-long event, sponsored by the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar, will last until next Sunday simultaneously in Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon. The film festival was inaugurated by Myanmar Minister of Information Pe Myint, Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang and 2013 Miss Universe Moe Set Y. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Pe Myint expressed belief that the film festival would help promote organization-to-organization relations apart from people-to-people relations based on the long-lived "paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship, mutual understanding and respect between Myanmar and China. "We can enjoy the beautiful natural sceneries, life style, tradition, together with the elegance of the artistes in their performances and skillfulness of the technicians in their terrific creation," he said. "Such film festivals also serve as the facilitator for the progress of the film industries, economic relations and friendship of the two neighbors sharing a long common border. Apart from these benefits, the festival also gives wonderful experience to the audiences," he said. Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang underlined the historical significance for the festival to take place on Oct. 1, China's National Day, in the Myanmar capital, saying it not only helps pass on the traditional friendship between China and Myanmar but also aspire prospects of better bilateral relations in the future. He hoped the event would further enhance cultural exchange and cooperation between the two countries in the sectors of movie and TV. In August this year, China's Guangxi Broadcasting Service (GXBS) and Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) began joint broadcasting of Chinese TV series in Myanmar under a contract between the two sides. The episodes of Chinese TV series "Hello, Chung" or "Mingalaba Chung" , once very popular with the Chinese audiences, were aired by the MRTV with Myanmar voice dubbing. The series, which depicts the stories of common people overcoming life difficulties with strength and determination, also received popularity with Myanmar audiences. Standing Member of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Committee and Minister of Information Fan Xiaoli underlined the move as a historical landmark in media cooperation between the two countries, saying that the successful airing of the program has built up a friendship bridge between the two countries and created opportunities to let Myanmar people know about China. "The long and enduring China-Myanmar friendship has now come to a new stage with the two sides working in cooperation extensively in multi-sectors, especially in the media sector," Pe Myint said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 11:11:59|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close ZHENGZHOU, China, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Mr. and Mrs. Mollison have travelled several thousand miles to China just to fulfil their dream to learn Chinese Kungfu in its birthplace. After learning Chinese Kungfu in Shaolin Temple and Wu Dang Mountain, the Mollisons from Canada eventually came to Chenjiagou village in central China's Henan province. Small as the village is, it is renowned as the birthplace of Tai Chi. James Gordon Mollison, 58, fell in love with Chinese Kungfu when he was a little boy. Looking back, James is happy that Taichi has grown to become an internationally recognized sport. "I didn't think Tai Chi is Chinese Kungfu when I first saw it in 1984, it's so different, soft and slow, less physical and dangerous, not like Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do which can beat others easily," said the retired computer analyst, "Very few people knew about Tai Chi in 1980s, and it was difficult to find a teacher." Chen Xiaowang, a master of Chen style Tai Chi born in Chenjiagou, also had the same experience as Mollison. "Some foreigners have mistaken Tai Chi for some sort of cooking method because Tai Chi picture was on the cover of some cookbooks." "Now it's different in Europe and North America. Many people like to practice Tai Chi, and everybody knows that it's a kind of Chinese Kungfu which is good for health." Chen added. Chen opened more than 100 Tai Chi halls in about 70 countries and regions and taught more than 300 thousands students to learn Tai Chi. According to Taichi researcher Yan Shuangjun, there are about 300 million people in the world practicing Tai Chi now. Needless to say, James is among the Taichi lovers and under his influence, his wife Joanne also took to the sport. The couple came to China last summer, first in Xuzhou, a city in Jiangsu province known for its Kungfu tradition. They later visited Shaolin Temple twice and Wu Dang mountain and then came to Chenjiagou in May. "I had job and two babies to raise, so I had no time to learn Kungfu, but I supported my husband to learn. I retired last year, and I like Tai Chi very much now." Joanne said. "This is our first trip to China, some people told me that Chnejiagou was the birthplace of Chen style Tai Chi, so I came here," James added. They practiced Tai Chi in a small wood everyday and Mollison can do four styles of Tai Chi and Joanne can also do it very well. James started to practice Tai Chi from 2001 and benefitted from his hobby after he broke his left leg in a motorcycle accident in 2009. "My doctor said that I recovered quickly than others. I believed that Tai Chi made me stronger," James said, adding that he also finds inner peace through Taichi. "I have no plan to leave here, I love this lively village." James said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 12:47:12|Editor: Liu Video Player Close MADRID, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Sunday gave a televised speech defending government actions following violent clashes which left hundreds injured in a banned referendum. The prime minister said "today there has not been a self-determination referendum" and that "our state maintains its strength and reacts and acts with all its resources against any kind of provocation." Rajoy also defended the decision to send in police force to stop the voting, which was earlier deemed illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court. "My first obligation was to obey the law and to make sure it was obeyed," he said, adding that security forces had acted with "firmness and serenity" in stopping the Catalan referendum. He said that the referendum had produced "attitudes that should be repugnant to anyone who believes in democracy," and blamed Catalan leaders for the violence. "I want to make it clear that the only people who are responsible are those who have venerated the law," said Rajoy, who insisted his government had "done what we had to do." "We are the government of Spain and I am the prime minister of Spain. We acted with the law and only with the law and showed our democratic state has the resources to react to this attack on our unity." Online videos posted Sunday showed that police officers armed with batons clashed with voters at polling stations in Catalonia. According to Catalan health authorities, more than 800 people received treatment at hospitals after being injured by police during Sunday's disputed referendum. Two people are in serious conditions. Meanwhile, Spain's Interior Ministry said 33 police required treatment as a result of the clashes. Local reports said more than 5.3 million people had been called to cast their vote in the referendum. About 2.26 million people took part in the banned referendum, with 2.02 million voted for independence, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said in a press briefing late Sunday. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, speaking shortly after Rajoy's speech on TV, said Catalonia's citizens "have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic." The region, with a population of 7.5 million, accounts for about a fifth of Spain's economic output. Residents in the region mostly speak Catalan, a language that some believe is a dialect of Spanish but others argue to be a totally different one. The region, discontent of the "disproportionate support" it has received from the Spanish government considering its contribution to the national economy, attempted to stage an independence referendum in November 2014, only suspending the move following stern gestures from the government and the Constitutional Court. "My government, in the next few days will send the results of today's vote to the Catalan Parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum," Puigdemont said. The regional leader also urged the European Union to stop looking "the other way" as leaders of most EU members declined to take stance on the referendum, only saying it is Spain's internal affairs and political parties should resolve their differences via dialogue. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 12:57:14|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 security personnel were killed after Afghan aircrafts mistakenly pounded government forces positions in Gereshk district of the southern Helmand province on Sunday night, a security official said Monday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 13:17:17|Editor: Liu Video Player Close LISBON, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Socialist Party was the big winner in Portuguese local elections on Sunday in what Prime Minister Antonio Costa described as the "biggest electoral victory in its history." It might have been a good night for the center-left Socialist Party (PS), but it was a disastrous one for the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), the party leader of which Pedro Passos Coelho told local news outlets that he would not immediately step down, but may not stand for re-election in internal party elections in January. With the results of 13 out of the total 308 municipalities are to be declared, the PS had won control of 153 town halls, already surpassing its 2013 tally of 150. The PSD had claimed 76, making its 2013 total of 106 impossible to reach. The PS took the likes of Beja, Almada and Matosinhos and re-elected mayors in three of the largest municipalities in the country, Sintra, Gaia and Lisbon. Victory in the capital was secured by incumbent Fernando Medina. Assuncao Cristas, of the Central Social Democratic-Popular Party alliance, came in second, relegating the PSD candidate, Teresa Leal Coelho, to third, a historic low in the capital for the main opposition party. In Porto, independent Rui Moreira was voted in for a second mandate, with the PS candidate Manuel Pizarro second and the PSD's Alvaro Almeida third. The PSD has thus slumped to the third place in Portugal's two major cities. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 13:22:18|Editor: Liu Video Player Close LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 security personnel were killed after Afghan aircrafts mistakenly pounded forces positions in Gereshk district of the southern Helmand province on Sunday night, a security official said Monday. "The bloody but erroneous air attack took place in Otrang village of Gereshk district on a position where Afghan troops were involved in operations against Taliban insurgents," the official told Xinhua, but refused to be identified, saying authorized officials would brief the media. The victims, according to the officials include army and police personnel. Meantime, spokesman for Helmand provincial government Omar Zawak has confirmed the incident, saying "10 Afghan military personnel were killed" in the attack. The poppy growing Helmand province, with Lashkar Gah as its capital 555 km south of Kabul, has the scene of Taliban-led insurgency over the past decade. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 13:27:20|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A 10-year-old boy was killed and five other civilians wounded Monday in skirmishes between troops of India and Pakistan on the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir, Indian police said. The two sides exchanged fire in Kerni and Dhingwar sectors of frontier Poonch district, about 180 km southwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "Today morning Pakistan violated cease-fire in Kerni and Dhingwar sectors of Poonch," an Indian police spokesman said. "Due to firing in Kerni, a 10-year-old boy was killed and two others were wounded, while as in Dhingwar sector three civilians were wounded." On Friday, Pakistan army said Indian firing killed two civilians and a trooper on their side. "Indian troops resorted to unprovoked cease-fire violation along LoC in Rakhchikri, Rawalakot targeting civil population with heavy weapons," a statement issued by Pakistan military's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. "Two civilians including a women were killed while a trooper from army patrol assisting evacuation of civilians also came under Indian firing resulting into his killing. Besides one civilian and three soldiers were also wounded in the incident." Over the past two weeks, the troops from both sides posted in the frontier locations are resorting to cease-fire violations and targeting each other's positions and civilian areas. The flare-up has also triggered civilian migrations. Both New Delhi and Islamabad accuse each other of resorting to unprovoked firings and violating cease-fire agreements. The troops of India and Pakistan intermittently exchange fire on the 720 km-long LoC and 198 km IB in Kashmir despite an agreement in 2003 to observe a cease-fire. However, the cease-fire remains in effect. LoC is a de facto border that divides Kashmir into India and Pakistan controlled parts. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. It is unclear what prompted the fresh stand-off between the troops of two sides. The two countries are currently at loggerheads with each other. There has been no considerable improvement in the relations of the two countries or resumption of bilateral relations ever since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India in 2014. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 13:37:22|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A retired Indian Army officer has been asked by the authorities in the northeastern state of Assam to prove his Indian identity. In fact, Assam police have registered a case at the Foreigners' Tribunal against Mohd Azmal Haque, who retired from the Indian Army last year as a junior commissioned officer after serving 30 years, for being "an illegal immigrant" from Bangladesh. The next date of hearing at the tribunal is Oct. 13. "I will go to the tribunal on the 13th with my documents and lawyer," Haque, who lives in Chayyagaon barely 70 km from Assam's capital Guwahati, told the media. But the retired Army man is very disappointed with the sudden developments. "I am very sad, I cried a lot. My soul is broken... After 30 years of service I have to face such insult. If I were an illegal Bangladeshi, how could I serve the Indian Army?" Haque said. Assam shares a 262-km-long porous border with Bangladesh and illegal immigration from the neighboring country is a sensitive issue in the state. India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in Assam last year, promising to end illegal immigration by sealing the border. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 13:47:26|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed on a framework for working towards "peaceable environment conducive to political process essential for an enduring Afghan peace and regional stability," local media reported on Monday. The reports, citing a statement from the army of Pakistan, said that Pakistan's Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa paid a day-long visit to Afghanistan on Sunday for the first time since he assumed office in November last year. During the visit, Bajwa held talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul, during which both sides agreed on the framework for working towards "peaceable environment conducive to political process essential for an enduring Afghan peace and regional stability." "There was also a consensus on regular and focused dialogue at multiple levels to evolve bilateral process for minimizing misunderstanding, managing crisis situations and enhancing cooperation in order to bring peace and stability in the region," the army's statement said. On his part, the Afghan president said that Afghanistan and Pakistan are friendly countries and together both shall move towards enduring peace and stability. "Issues related to long-term peace, cooperation against the shared threats, coordination between respective counter-terrorism campaigns to restrict space for non-state actors, intelligence sharing, trade and commerce, and people-to-people contacts were discussed," the statement said. The army chief offered Pakistan's complete support in achieving shared interests in war against terrorism including training and capacity building of Afghan Security Forces, it said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-10-02 14:12:32|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close OTTAWA, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Sunday condemned the incident that ended up wounding five people including a police man in Edmonton Saturday night, calling it a terror attack. In a statement, Trudeau said his government and Canadians stand with the people of Edmonton after the attack. "I am deeply concerned and outraged by this tragedy." A man attacked a police officer with a knife Saturday night and hit four pedestrians on busy downtown when running away. The suspect is reportedly a Somali refugee once investigated for espousing extremism. The injured police officer was taken to hospital and treated for non life-threatening injuries. The four pedestrians suffered from injuries that ranged from "broken arms to brain bleeds." Police believe the unprovoked attacks were acts of terrorism. While the investigation continues, early reports indicate that this is another example of the hate that Canadians must remain ever vigilant against, Trudeau said. "We cannot -- and will not -- let violent extremism take root in our communities," said the Canadian prime minister. "We know that Canada's strength comes from our diversity, and we will not be cowed by those who seek to divide us or promote fear." "Edmonton is a strong and resilient city, and I am confident that its citizens will support one another to overcome this tragic event," he added. Canadian politicians and Muslim community leaders are also cautioning against potential community backlash after the suspected terrorism attack in Edmonton.